aka. Jade's Book and Movie List for 2008! Ta-da!

-- which basically consist of anything before June and then monthly records from then on because I fail at remembering things more than a few hours ago in any form of detail. The list includes movies I saw at the cinema, followed by random movies/serials that I watched at home (including movies that I have seen before and were just watching for the hell of it) and then finally books I've read. Books include any research for my stories/novels, but excludes anything I've been forced to read for uni. And yes, I do tend to read six or seven books at once-- I have a very short attention span.

( teh list 'o' osom )

I am so very, very bored.

*is at uni*

And it's fucking cold. No srsly. I live in Australia! It's meant to be all sunshine and heat and desert and beaches, but no. They decided to build my uni on a bloody hill, didn't they? Here enteres wind chill. Which lowers the temp by at least 5-10 degrees. Bisnitch. It was only 4 degrees at uni yesterday. FOUR! WTF?!

Anyways. I'm already over uni. And it's only day three lol.

The good news is I'm hardly ever at uni anymore. 6 contact hours a week-- aw hell yes! As opposed to fifty bazillion like last semester. Although I have a motherload of written work to do. Whatever.

Uni is severely cramping my Supernatural style though which is most definitely not cool. Not at all. But so far I have not succumbed and watched Supernatural instead of doing my work. Give it a couple of weeks though and I'll never be getting any work done. lol

Went and saw The Dark Knight on Monday finally. It's fucking awesome. Srsly. There are no words to describe just how awesome it was. It would have to be, for me, the most entertaining movie I have watched all year-- which until this point was a position held by Iron Man. Joker is crazy, I want to have Lt. Gordon's children (literally and figuratively) and I spent most of the movie wanting to high five Lucius Fox lol.

Well I should prolly go and assault Unibooks and see if they finally have my reader in for Legal System-- the one that I now only have... *checks watch* 45 minutes to do the readings for until the workshop. Bastards.

Oh and men suck this week. True story.

BTW: Eisley and Ladytron are my new fav bands of the mo. Don't worry Snow Patrol and Rumble Strips-- I still love you guys too. Promise.

I think I'm going to have a love/hate relationship with Virology this semester.

We don't start back until next week, and we already have an assignment that we need to get started on. *cries* And since this is a third year subject and I'm only a lowly first year, I'm freaking out lol. The actual assignment itself isn't so bad-- pick a journal article on current research into a virus and then give a 20 minute presentation critically analysing the paper. I'm one of the few who don't actually mind standing up in front of people and giving presentations-- after teaching 12-16 year olds Army-style lessons for 6 years, I have lost all fears for public speaking.

However, do you think I can acutally understand this paper?! I have to look up every second word it feels like lol. Not to mention The Cochrane Library, which usually gives me a wonderful, wonderful Cochrane review of current research goodliness, doesn't have one West Nile Virus (my topic). It has one on every other major type of flavivirus, but not WNV! *cries*

Meh, just means I'll actually have to trawl through the journal sites myself. A job I loathe (which is why I'm on here bitching instead of working).

Sigh. I might just go watch some more Supernatural. Or The Middleman. I'm falling in love with that show as well. Who can resist a show that's almost solely built around witty banter and pop culture references? I know I can't lol.

Okay, so today must obviously be a "I love Dean Winchester" day.

Is this fate of a typically obsessed Supernatural fangirl? That they're both too witty and charming for their own goods and have a wonderful habit of making the other one completely speechless to ever really love one more than the other (I still think Padalecki is hotter though).

MY GOD SAM! Why do you always make things ten times more difficult than it needs to be?!

*coughs* Nevermind.

*watches Dean and Sam struggle up an elevator shaft* You idiots! She's already upstairs, so its fine to take the stairs! Besides, she totally already knows you're there.

My entries never make any sense when I'm in the middle of watching stuff lol. My bad. Whatever.

I am officially in love with Sam Winchester. Cos he is the only one on the planet that can make Dean flustered and speechless and grouchy. And that makes me a very happy fangirl lol.

*snorkles as he does it again*

ANYWAY. I've also discovered today that not only am I fangirl, I am a technologically, gadget-obsessed fangirl. I mean, I keep a sonic screwdriver in my pen jar on my desk. My Supernatural gadget obsession? Well... I've always wanted a palm pilot because it would be much easier for me to keep track of... well, everything. And now that I've seen Sam's slightly dated, but still sexah Palm Treo mobile-- I totally want one.

But they're not popular in Australia. In fact, it's been a real bitch to find any outlet that sells one or a carrier that will put one on plan. So I have to buy one outright. Sigh ><; Damn this whole living in Australia thing.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Famous last words on Supernatural. Seriously, my favourite part of every episode is laughing at the idiots that get attacked by whichever spirit is coming after them. Cos 9/10 they bring it on themselves! And that makes it even more hilarious.

Supernatural, why did I not watch you before?! It's like love at first creepy opening.

So yeah, this week was totally meant to be me getting all my readings out of the way before the new semester starts because for some stupid reason I decided to pick two of the most ridiculously work/reading-intensive electives on the face of the planet. Hella interesting, but still. The point is I was meant to.

Then I decided to check out Supernatural.

*headdesk*

What the hell is wrong with me. I know better than to get into a show just before I go back to uni lol. I'm never going to get any work done now. And I wouldn't be that interested if Jared Padalecki wasn't just too damn hot for his own good. And Jensen Ackles ain't that bad either. Which, funnily enough was the whole reason I never got into the show in the first place-- I was sick of everyone going on about just how hot they were and never hearing anything about the show itself. Supernatural came out in Australia during that time period that stupid shows like Charmed was winding down and Medium had come out and I was refusing to watch it based on that precedent.

Truth be told, even if I hadn't been biased I probably still wouldn't have liked the show until now.

But besides all that... the whole reason I finally got into the show? A fanmix called "Black Ships Ate The Sky" by irreparable. And yes, it's Sam/Dean (if that idea squicks you out, I totally do not care, so don't bother commenting). And it's just awesome. So anyway, after listening to that a few hundred times in the last couple of days (and reading way too much fanfiction) I've finally started watching the series.

Hence my current inability to concentrate on my introduction stuff for criminological theory.

But hey, the eye candy makes up for it.

On only a slightly related note... who else thinks that Snow Patrol's "Make This Go On Forever" is a perfect Ten/Rose song? *puts both hands up*

I'm sad.

Why? Because I'm actually excited about watching Doctor Who on telly tonight. Season Four. I've already seen and I still can't wait to watch it. That's it, I've gone mental.

On the plus side, Dexter is on after DW so that makes me even happier lol.

And screw fanmixes for randomly making me fall in love with Supernatural and giving me the urge to watch the whole series from the beginning. I go back to uni in a week. I won't have time to watch craploads of telly. Why would you do this to me? *sniffles*

The components for an awesome day:

a) being at Mhairi's house
b) not waking up until 11am
c) randomly going into town (w00t for Mhairi getting P2's!)
d) chinese food
e) window book-shopping
f) haigh's dark chocolate
g) patrick wolf - the libertine

That is all.

I've decided I really like the term 'rakish', Don't ask me why. I just do.

I've recently been doing a lot of navel comtemplating, as it's sometimes called. Which I tend to do when I don't have a working mp3 player (and is consequently the whole reason I have one). I've come to the realisation that I am completely and utterly bonkers. And not in the endearing, albeit slight offputting way either. More in the "Mummy can we cross to the other side of the street to get away" kinda way.

I am an emotional person. And incredibly insular (not sure used in the true meaning of the word OR spelt correctly but whatever-- isolated and turned inward comtemplatively). This is generally not a great combination. I'm the one that cries at the stupidest times (which is never when it's considered socially acceptable to cry) and changes moods with an ease that borders on manic. This has a tendency of driving everyone I know insane-- not to mention myself.

The point, which I'm getting to, is that I decided yesterday that I'm not emotional enough. Or actually, maybe it was more that society as a whole isn't emotional enough, although since I can't get into the brain of everyone else that is one of those general statements that I try desperately not to use, we'll stick with personal experience and use of the 'royal We'.

Within the last two months, I have become obsessed with Doctor Who (amazing how everything in my life seems to be connected to this damn show), although the actual mechanics of why I'm obsessed aren't that important, neither is the content of the show itself (not really). More the point is that I haven't been that absorbed or excited or worried about anything in an incredibly long time. It was emotion that shook the core of me. I might go as far to say that I haven't felt anything that strong for years, but could safely say four or five months.

Which got me to thinking. My emotional range seems to be so average. We watch television, see plays, listen to music, read books where the characters no matter the situation experience such rawness of feeling. It's not just anger, it's rage and fury; not just happiness but contentedness and exultation. All I can think is EPIC (I really do overuse that word, but it seems fitting). In our everday lives, emotion seems to be on such an average scale-- I get upset but never enough that I want to yell and scream and throw things; happiness makes me smile, but not cry or throw my arms around the nearest person or laugh, truly laugh until my sides and my heart hurt from the mirth of it all. Writers and directors show us these extremes (maybe that's what people love about fiction), but are they written because they don't exist and we wish they dis? Or because they can exist, but people need to be shown what they are like (a kind of measuring stick)? Or do we weave them into fiction because such extremes could hurt us or crush our souls too much so by keeping them confined to imagination they can become less real, less immediate?

I'm rambling, unsure of what I'm saying. But I just need to pour this all out. And I really need to do a software clean-install on my iPod.

The soul. I'm not sure whether I 'believe' in the soul (we wont get started on my concept of belief tonight-- I'm not sure I have the words). The scientific part of me, the part that sits in lectures on neurons and blood pressure and scientific inquiry every day can't wrap my head around it. But we are so fundamentally different in the way we think, feel; in our morality and personality (a combination of nature and nurture), that even if the soul doesn't exist physically; the individuality that is me, the complex nature of me constitutes a soul for lack of a better term. It cannot be saved, it just is.

I want to experience the full range of emotion, even if it kills and destroys my 'soul'. Ruins my mind. I want jealousy to clutch at my guts; I want lust to claw at my insides and make my head all giddy, I want to feel excrutiating pain to the point beyond comprehension. Rage, passion, insecurity, loneliness. The entire rainbow, the complete rollercoaster ride.

Please don't think I'm being depressive and that I want to go into a little corner and wear heavy eyeliner and slash my wrists. That's not the point of this post. I'm just saying that I feel like that there is something more to aspire to-- the craving to be emotionally passionate in all I do. We spend so much time keeping our inner thoughts and feelings so private that we do ourselves a disservice. We crush one of the most amazingly human things about us-- the ability to demonstrate and vocalise feelings. Why leave it up to the generally one-sided simulacrums in literature? Why don't we experience this first hand? Surely it would be more satisfying.

YES!YES!YES!

I have one. My very own sonic screwdriver! And I have now completely jumped that barrier from being a fan to manicly obsessed. I can't stop playing with it either as it makes the most awesome sonic sound on the planet! Hehe. It's totally living in my bag from now on.

So between getting my own screwdriver and finally finding out the name to the song on the radio that I've been loving for months (which has been driving me crazy)-- Axle Whitehead - I Don't Do Surprises; I have had a brilliant day!

I'm begging and pleading with the people that know more about how to make fanvids and mixes and stuff than I do, because if I don't somehow get this out creatively I think I'm going to go mental--

Please, please, please could someone make a Doctor/Rose vid, fic, mix, wallpaper, icon-- I don't care really, that features "Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)" by the Kaiser Chiefs?

I really am rubbish at visually creative output, but the song has just got in my pysche and makes me think of Doctor/Rose every single time. Does anyone see it? The title of my post, from the song, just seems to nail it on the head for me atm, but the lyrics are just ARG! Gorgeous. And the guitar is brilliant.

No srsly. I will make passionate love to whoever picks the music for Doctor Who Confidential. Muse! *fans self*

I have no words about Journey's End. I'm gonna have to watch it again. And squee. And then maybe try writing something coherent.

But, I am putting the link to the writing journal Angkast that I share with my friends, because it's just been put together by Steve of awesome and so far, we're actually putting stuff up on it. And I have a million ideas and scenes that I'm trying to get down quickly (which probably explains why my DW story has been pushed to the side). None of it is beta'd because by the time we finish the torturously slow process of finishing any part, we just want to get it up somewhere. But you know, feel free to comment and the like.

There's four of us writing atm. And you can seriously see the difference between our writing styles. Mhairi tends to write slightly humourous and easy to read stuff that borders on sarcastic (Cian), Kath writes in a way that allows her writing to be turned in a kind of visually and grammatically artistic piece (Rulana), Steve is very good at descriptive writing and scene setting (Zeke) and I... hmmm, I'm not really sure what kind of writing I do as Armeny-- sarcastic I suppose. Maybe overly dramatic... like everything is life and death.

I think once we get more done, it will be a very interesting read.

I just need to finish Part Five. Sigh. Off to work then, I suppose lol.

You know you've reached new heights of boredom when I'm sitting at my best friends house watching her brother play Trackmania. For the record, I loathe Trackmania. In infinite and creative ways.

URG. 12 hours before I can even think about downloading Doctor Who. Sigh. My friends are trying to cleverly avoid mentioning even related to Doctor Who in fear of me either going into super!rant mode or spontaneously combusting. It's a near thing either way.

On the up side, I finally FINALLY got around to downloading the rest of season one of Veronica Mars, so I can actually find out what happens. Which has been bugging me to no end for almost a year because I only had up to episode 16, and for anyone who doesn't know Veronica Mars, that's when it all starts getting good. Really good. Really, really good.

Also watched the pilot episode of a show that will be coming in autumn to the US called Fringe. Yes, it stars Joshua Jackson and yes, he sucks in the role, but his character is sarcastic and awesome. What is the show about you may ask? Well, it's basically X Files for the new generation-- except it seems to be based in science instead of with aliens. Ummm, plane gets brought down where everyone's died from the genetically engineered disease and the only person that knows anything about is the genius that engineered it-- a crazy doctor/ex-professor that's locked up in a mental hospital. The only person allowed -by law- to see him is his immediate family (Jackson), so the FBI goes to find him and drag him back to the US. Ends up being a massive conspiracy blahblahblah and there we go-- premise for the series.

It doesn't sound nearly as good when I try to explain, but really-- it's not as bad as it sounds.

Mmmmm... I can smell green curry of awesome so I must go.

Cos I seem to be in a meme mood this week (read: bored), and well chloe_2450 has done it, so yeah. Meh. Whatever.

Ninja'ed from madskellig 'cos she always nicks the good memes lol.

1. Bold what's true.
2. Leave plain what's false.
3. Add one of your own at the end.


Oh and for anyone that was interested: I got Casanova today and it was BLOODY BRILLIANT! So glad that I got fed up and decided to buy it on DVD instead. Although I must say... David Tennant's hair in that movie is painful. It really, really is. Everyone else's hair was outrageous and not reminiscent of the period-- so why was a little bit of gel out of the question? *coughs* Anyway... it is kinda funny cos he uses the same accent and way of speaking that he uses for The Doctor and sometimes it really is like watching a promiscuous!ten. lol.

Oh. And house inspections suck.

I'm not going to go into super!rant mode about "The Stolen Earth" because my comments on various journals have pretty much summed up how I feel about that episode (moslty of it was incomprehensible nonsense but hey, that's pretty good since I only saw it about half an hour ago). I then preceeded to get into fight with my friend about whether the series was better or worse off because it was made by hardcore fans.

I of course, think it's brilliant. This got me into thinking about what it is about this new Doctor Who that I like so much.

Do you what it is the most? It's fucking epic. The size of the show, the stories, the characters, the fandom, even the whole concept of time and space is just massively epic. It's entertainment-- pure entertainment. It's not there to make us think (although it most certainly can) or make political commentary. It's been created purely for the audience to enjoy themselves. As RTD always says in his interviews or on Confidential if on Monday all the kids at school are playing Daleks vs. Time Lords or walking like Cybermen or trying to sonic doors open (okay, that would be me *blushes*) then the show has been a success. Considering within the two months that I've been absorbed into Doctor Who and the related fandom, my mind is full of time and space and brainy specs and sonic screwdrivers and torchwood,

I like the emotional elements of the new series... although I think in season three they went a little too far and the whole Astrid Peth thing was just ridiculous, but I think in season four with the addition of Donna as a mate instead of a love interest, the emotional range has just vaulted over the previous seasons. More and more, we see the Doctor going through an amazing ranges of emotional responses from arrogance to fear (that terrified look in Midnight when he's paralysed kills me).

Well, I'm off to bed. Have to get up and go into work to catch up on all the work I was too hungover to do today (which was a long story which did not end well at all). Then it's home to watch The Quatermass Experiment AND Secret Smile. I think my computer decided to take pity on my "stupid drinking leading to stupid hangover" ways and finished downloading while I was out last night.

The best thing about holidays-- everyone finally wants to go out drink cos their lives are no longer life or death struggles with assignments, deadlines and the like. I don't know whether it's because I've actually gone out and worked before I went to uni but for the record-- no life or death struggle. It's just uni.

Anyway. The point is! Totally been missing out on getting my drink on. Sad for me, I know.

However, exams for first year MedSci's are *finally* over and with the absence of a conveniently placed MedSci pubcrawl, we're all going into town to get sloshed. Originally, it was just going to be Mhairi and co. being that I am of the opinion of "Thank Rassilon-- she's back in the bloody country!" but it kinda melded into what will be a night of awesome.

Followed by work tomorrow. Sigh. Actually that reminds me to SET MY ALARM NOW so I don't oversleep like I did after pubcrawl *blushes* My bad.

Torrent update: Quatermass hates me. Srsly. Secret Smile loves me however and that makes me happy, because who doesn't want to see David Tennant being a smexah, vindictive, deranged bastard? Although it will prolly hate me tomorrow when I go to download Doctor Who and DW Confidential lol.

Anyways. Must be off. Drinking fun and mystical journies to be had.

Note to self: try to not to trip over own geekiness-- no matter the urge to recite 'Candy Mountain' while drunk. Thanks. Love me.

Today is technically the first day of my holiday break from uni. And I am completely and utterly bored.

I spend all semester waiting for holidays and then when they get there I get so pathetically bored that I can't wait to get back. It's a vicious cycle.

In fact I was so bored last night, I went on a late night trip to the uni library-- just cos it would be something to do. Urg.

And since when I'm bored I tend to turn into facebook-photo!whore...