30 Day Book Challenge- Day 3

Okay, so I'm months behind on this and it's appalling. I'm ashamed of myself but as I'm on a train for the next 6 hours I figured I would give myself time to write out some of these blog posts.

Day 3: Book That Makes You Laugh.

This book is part of a series I love a lot. It's the fifth book of the series and definitely not the only one to make me laugh but it is the one that makes me laugh the most. It introduces a whole host of new characters from diverse backgrounds ranging from a former child actor to a Gamorrean pilot into the series. These characters chosen for their piloting skills second behind other skills which combined make them ideal for infiltration missions somehow mesh together and with a notorious prankster in their midst they get up to all sorts of mischief and pranking of not only each other but their enemies too. One of the most memorable involves Ewok humour and continues through into later books.

All in all it is a fantastically written book by Aaron Allston who continues the series in such a way as to be worthy of the preceding books as well as with more humour than any of those books.

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And that is all for Day 3. I will have another post up hopefully tomorrow or later this week. I do have several that need to be typed up first.

10 Years- We Remember

It hardly seems like 10 years since the hijacking of four planes and the attack of the World Trade Centres and the Pentagon. Yet 10 years later we remember 9/11.

There are many things that have occurred in the past 10 years; War in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, attacks in London, bombs in Bali, and the death of Osama Bin Laden which was a moment that many had been waiting for since the attacks. But the biggest change is the sense that none of us are safe. The attacks shook the world and the sense that we in western nations are safe is one that will probably never be regained fully.

I guess the one thing that really comes to mind at the moment when talking about that sense is a quote from Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden

"But I've learnt something now. Corrie, we were still innocent. Right up to yesterday. We didn't believe in Santa Claus but we believed in other fantasies. You said it. You said the big one. We believed we were safe. That was the big fantasy. Now we know we're not, and like you said, we'll never feel safe again, and so it's bye-bye innocence. It's been nice knowing you, but you're gone now."   (pg.107.)

It's definitely a changed world we live in now. I can't imagine what it is like for those who were born after the attacks on this day. They will forever share a joyous occasion with one of the most heinous acts. I can only hope that they will come to understand the whole story behind the date.

May all those who died in the attacks both directly and as a result of actions to help those in the attacked buildings be remembered. May the family's of those once again come to know joy and move on from this tragedy.

May we around the world remember and work towards a better and more peaceful world.

30 Day Book Challenge- Days One and Two

Ok so I just started the 30 Day Book Challenge on Facebook yesterday. I had considered doing one of the other 30 day challenges you can find such as those for music and movies but I decided books were more appropriate to me so went and found the book challenge. While on Facebook I only need to put up an image of the book and the name. I decided I would post on here as I go through the challenge giving reasons behind the choices.

So here are Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 1: Favourite Book

It won't come as a suprise to those who know me well that my favourite book is Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden. The reason I love this book is that it has made me and many other people reconsider the capabilities of teenagers and myself. It treats teenagers as something more than slaves to technology(though for some that is entirely true). John Marsden's writing speaks at the same level as the age group he wrote it for. He doesn't write down to his readers and treat them with the condescension that many people treat today's teenagers with. He lets the reader decide for themselves what they will take from the story. He focuses on the characterisation and doesn't try to encompass an entire epic plot. This is one of my favourite things about it. It lets me imagine what I want with the settings by not confining the story to a specific place or city.This book has been translated into multiple languages and although it is undoubtedly set in Australia(exact location to be decided by the discerning reader) it has become popular in many of those countries. Fans stretch from Australia, Japan, Sweden, USA, South America right around the globe. I definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone whether they be adults or teens.

Day 2: Least Favourite Book

 

My least favourite book by far(and I do have a few books I dislike) would have to be Emma by Jane Austen. I had to read this for year 12 English and before I started reading it I was actually looking forward to it. That didn't last. To me this book dragged quite a bit. Before I even finished the first page I fell asleep. That has never happened before or since for anything other than maybe a text book and even then I can't actually think of any occasion when I fell asleep on a text book. To sum it up simply this book to me was a book written for whom the modern day equivalent would be blonde bimbo's. I am neither blonde nor a bimbo. I told my teacher as much; she wasn't very impressed. Also the fact that we had to compare this novel to the film Clueless didn't work in its favour. I had to force myself to sit and watch that and still only made it half an hour in at most. I think I eventually forced myself to Chapter 12 of this and watched the film instead but I don't remember even from that what happens. I don't know what happened to my copy as soon as the HSC was over. I think I gave it away. I don't recommend this book to anyone.

Stop: Artist at Work

Stop! Here is an artist at work with simple raw talent and she works it well.

I first heard Priscilla Ahn one day probably about five months ago searching through YouTube or possible just video surfing recommended videos and such. It was either that or my brother sent me the link to one of her songs. However I found it really doesn't matter. What does is that I discovered and added to my list of music I love, another amazing voice.

Her voice has something of an etheral quality to me. Pure but with something of a raw edge that brings it back down to earth just a touch. I love it. And her lyrics are also beautiful. But the best part of it is she is a true musician. She isn't relying on flashy backing bands to make the music and make her song stand out she is doing it all herself. She plays the guitar and I barely notice it there because her voice is the instrument that carries the song.

She is not alone in these talents. Other artists for me hold the same talent; Laura Marling, Clare Bowditch, Lenka, Ben Harper, Emiliana Torrini, Jack Johnson, Missy Higgins, and George(Katie Noonan and Tyrone Noonan being the vocalists of this band are both stunning) just to name a few.

With all these artists I can sit there and listen to their albums on repeat and just zone out to a place where nothing can bother me and the lyrics speak to my soul(okay maybe that is a little cheesy sounding but it really is true!).

This is not to disparage other artists either who do have backing bands and such to help make the music because I love those bands and artists as well in no shortage but I have to say my favourite music is always that which goes back to the acoustic where you can just turn on and zone out to another place- if you haven't yet you should try it. Nothing is more relaxing than just listening for the nuances in the voice and the music itself and how they work together to create what can only be described as beautiful music.

So sit back and relax to the pure tones of Priscilla Ahn or whoever else it is that takes you away to amazing musical happy zone and just feel.


~~Random Logic~~

My Country- A Land of Sweeping Plains.

I wrote this one a few days ago on new years day... with pen and paper. Just got around to posting it.

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If there is one poem I adore unreservedly it would be My Country by Dorothea Mackellar. It is a poem that epitomises Australia at its best and worst and my love for it. Many people only know one verse of this poem but it has become probably the best known piece of Australian poetry apart from The Man From Snowy River by A.B.Patterson also known as Banjo Patterson.

And as I travel on this train from Sydney to Wagga Wagga on the first day of 2011 I am reminded about what makes Australia what it is.

The fields flash past rolling over the hills. They are green and golden all at once. Scrubby brush and grasses cover some whilst trees dot others. Bales of hay are rolled and spread over fields- waiting to be covered perhaps and taken to a shed. Sheep and cows graze in the fields. The sheep run awat from the train line across the field as the train passes. A foreign entity in their existance.

Some trees are little more than skeletons of a former life. Bare branches and trunks. Perhaps they were victim to fire or simply ceased as they were with their bare branches reaching out and up like gnarled fingers.

I look a bit closer out the window and I see the wire fence which withstands nature though with the help of the farmer and marks the edge of a field. Closer still and yellow wildflowers, small and bright grow across the ground and along edges of tracks in bunches.

The bank rises away from the tracks the earth a bright shade of something akin to the colour yellow or orange made so by the sandstone and clay whilst other areas are bright ochre.

A stand of trees all vibrant shades of green gives way to more fields. Dams created by those who farm the land stand full of water given by recent rains.

Telegraph poles with wires swooping between them mark the path of the railway.

A rail crossing barrier, arm down and bells sounding flashes by in the blink of an eye; and as this passes me by I see what makes Australia. And I feel insignificant.


 ~~Random Logic~~

Girls like Sci-Fi too!

There are a few thing I have been told or heard many times in my thus far short lifespan...

Girls don't like Sci-Fi.

Star Wars is for boys.

You like science fiction? Awesome!

And everytime I hear these I am reminded of the fact that I am percieved as being part of a female minority. I'm a geek. And proud to be one! I love Star Wars and Stargate. Farscape and Firefly. I can out-trivia most male friends on the finer points of certain movies *cough cough* Star Wars *cough cough*

What I don't love however is being told that I'm strange for liking these movies and TV shows and that I am a minority. I simply don't believe it!

I recently attended a sci-fi event in Sydney called Gate to the Sanctuary. The main drawcard was Amanda Tapping- better known as Samantha Carter on Stargate or more recently as Helen Magnus on Sanctuary on which she is also an executive producer. She is the most successful sci-fi actress around at the moment. She starred in all ten seasons of Stargate: SG-1 as well as appearing in a season of Stargate:Atlantis and now two full seasons of Sanctuary plus the third season which is currently airing. And she loves it. The talk she gave and the questions she answered were enlightening. I could tell she is a geek herself. But enough of who she is...

Despite the fact that the person I went to the event with was female, I thought that with Amanda Tapping as the drawcard that the majority of the audience would be male. Or a large portion of it at least. I know my brother loves her and I'm sure there are countless male Stargate fans out there who have had dreams of her, but this wasn't the case. The overwhelming majority of the audience was female! I loved it. To me it proved that females who do love science fiction ARE NOT a minority. 

Then it made me think.

Why is it seemingly so hard to find females in everyday life who like sci-fi. What makes guys believe we are a minority. Is it that many females suppress this part of their personality because they believe it will make them unpopular? Do they do it so they won't get teased? It is well known that females can be the harshest critics of those around them, and often present a false facade to the world.

To me this is a shame. 

The greatest example of this is a young girl in the US recently who became the focus of thousands of messages of support from fellow sci-fi fans both male and female. She was getting teased and bullied at school for carrying a Star Wars water bottle because it was for boys.

Why should we have to hide who we are. I have never felt the need to hide what I am. Maybe that's because I grew up in a family where we are who we are. In fact it was my father who got me into science fiction in the first place. As a kid growing up my sister had a stuffed Ewok toy which I always envied. I started reading Star Wars and other science fiction novels before I left primary school. I was borrowing them from the 'Adult Fiction' section of the library. My biggest gripe in highschool was the severe under-representation of science fiction amongst the novels in the school library. And I did my best to read all that I could find. I also managed to make friends with girls who love science fiction. Sure we'd gossip and talk about make-up and such, but we would also sit there and watch Stargate, Star Wars or Star Trek just because we could. Not to mention earning myself the nickname Darth Vader as a joke from a fellow student.

And then I went to Finland. And managed to addict one of my best friends from there to Farscape. She was already a sci-fi fan so it wasn't very hard but she sat there and lost sleep watching Farscape episodes online at 2am in the morning. Even yesterday I managed to get another friend to watch the first episode of Farscape and become a bit of a fan from that single episode. 

I see no shame in showing what I am. If anything the moments I spend with my friends are made that much more entertaining in moments where we let loose on our inner geek and revel in jokes which to many would make no sense.

To me there is no shame in being female and a fan of sci-fi. To me the greatest shame is in those that feel like they should hide who they are, and what they are and present a false facade to the world. 

To all the the ladies out there- Robyn, Shelann, Jemma, Joey, Priscilla, Sylvia, Sarah, Beth, Tiffany, Kailyn, Amy, Niamh, Sophie, Annette, Ashley, Courtney, Cassie and the dozens of others I know and haven't listed:

We are who we are chicas! Show it! Be proud! Scream it to the world! 

 

WE ARE NOT A MINORITY. 

WE EXIST. 

WE ARE FEMALE AND WE ARE GEEKS!

~~ Random Logic ~~

To Be Me

I will not be
More than I am
And I will not be less
For to be more is impossible
To be less is to lie
For I am who I am
And I can only be me
But to be me is to be fallible
And so I will be more
And so I will be less
And there will be one
Who will know me
When I am more
And when I am less
And to them
I will simply be
Me
And the fallacy
Becomes truth
And the impossible
Becomes possible
For they have seen all sides
And will know all of me
So that nothing
Is impossible
And nothing is a lie


~~Random Logic~~