(no subject)
I said I was going to make a long entry and now I can't think of anything to say. That said, this is probably still going to turn into a Russian novel. I'm such a blowhard. :(
...What do you know, it did. This is looooooooooong, so I'm lj-cutting in sections.
First, school! Had my first class on Tuesday, as Monday was Labor Day. Animation III looks like it'll be a good class; the teacher has an outstanding reputation, and Concordia is generally pretty loose about what they accept for student films. You get a harder time if you want to do a narrative, in fact XD;;; Anyway, I showed the teacher the concept art I'd done for my idea and he liked it, and promised to help with animating the background. The only thing is that the class is late at night (6-10 PM) which is tiring for me, especially because it's a long and lonely bus ride home. Hopefully I can earn my license and drive home instead of waiting in the cold for the bus every week...
Anyway, he told me it sounded good and to have a storyboard ready for next week. Errrr. *is nervous*
Second class I have this year (I'm only taking two, hahahaha. They're both very intense courses so it's not as if I'm a slacker... right?) is Japanese III. The program this year looks to be much higher level than last year's; the teacher wants two to four hours of study before each class, and looking at the assigned readings, the text is more difficult and more technical than we've had until now. I think that if I didn't play video games and read manga I wouldn't have been able to understand it. As it is, after class everybody said they couldn't follow the teacher's lecture (it was all Japanese, and rather fast.) I didn't really have trouble with the language, but the explanations of what was due when confused me. Fortunately, it's all written up in WebCT (which I had never used before, both Vanier and Concordia being less techy than Dawson and McGill.)
So my first Japanese class was yesterday, and I have another tomorrow (it's three days a week, Monday Wednesday Friday). Since I have Thursdays completely off, I did my Japanese homework and went to the library. Lately I've been reading mysteries (guess why 8D); I'm not familiar with the genre at all except that a) I love Alexander McCall Smith and b) I can't stand Agatha Christie. I know, weaksauce. XD; I don't really know the major names, much less what I like or dislike in the genre yet, so I've just been pulling books off the shelf that sound interesting.
P.D. James writes extremely well, but the atmosphere is a little chilly and it's hard to get attached to the characters. She has an incisive grasp on human nature and a way with words that make her still worth reading, even if you don't really like mysteries. I think, anyway. Dennis Lehane (whose novels we got as a gift from a family friend) writes despairing melodrama that almost reads like shoujo manga (I found myself drawing pictures of the doomed OTP in the series); it's really snappy and fast-paced. Both Faye and Jonathan Kellerman do neat thrillers that feel pretty similar (or maybe I just think so because I read their Double Homicide, which has a short novella by both) although I think Faye's characters swear more often than her husband's. I took out another one of hers, to try to cement my opinion.
But you know what is fun? John Mortimer's Rumpole books. And do you know why?
Lawyers, my dear. The whole book (er, series) is filled with lawyers, and goofy prosecutors Rumpole sails right past, and silly judges, and crazy witnesses, and even crazier clients. Plus you have scenes where he interviews the client in jail, and cross-examines, and looks for evidence. It's not at all Phoenix Wright (for one thing, Rumpole seems to lose pretty often, and is also not nearly as emotionally involved with his cases), but it feels sort of like Hoshikage Soranosuke, uhhh, Marvin Grossberg is narrating. Very P.G. Wodehouse, with Rumpole campaigning for the right to smoke and eat meat, and dealing with the social life of his wife. I rather like that kind of British humor, though, so it's fun; but to be honest with you the main appeal for me is OH HEY LAWYERS!! It's not the thrill itself, it's the cousin of the thrill, if you know what I mean? Entertainment by association. <- very very lame
Now I just need something with some angsty prosecutors and I will be 100% manzoku! Er, satisfied.
Also, over the past week I have been watching Avatar: the last Airbender on Youtube (be quiet, I haven't got cable) and enjoying it to BITS. I know it's an American cartoon that mimicks anime, but it's really really good! The animation in the fight scenes between elemental masters (or just kung-fu fighters) seems quite smooth to me, though it does dip after the season premiere. Also, the characters are a lot of fun, and you get attached to them pretty quickly! (I, ahem. Really like Zuko. XD;;;;)
The setting is very interesting, with four countries each based on a real-life place; the Water Tribe is basically Inuit, which I really liked since it's not often that you get Inuit characters on kids' TV, aside from government-sponsored programs of course. The background to the plot is the usual Asianish nonsense (restore balance to the four elements, blablabla) but at the same time there's clearly a lot of research going into the show in terms of the different fighting styles and even the text in background images and such (signs and scrolls and even the show's logo are written in classical Chinese, which I thought was a good touch.) I know they blend a lot of stuff from different cultures together, so I don't know what an Asian person would think of it, but I really like it. It definitely feels like it's aimed for a slightly older age group, especially as the show doesn't pull its punches very much - you can see injuries and can infer death, even if there's no blood.
That said, there's still a lot of silly comedy. And American shows are much snarkier than Japanese ones, it takes some getting used to. ^^; (I'm sorry, I just really don't watch television aside from some anime now and then! I know, I'm a hermit.)
...What do you know, it did. This is looooooooooong, so I'm lj-cutting in sections.
First, school! Had my first class on Tuesday, as Monday was Labor Day. Animation III looks like it'll be a good class; the teacher has an outstanding reputation, and Concordia is generally pretty loose about what they accept for student films. You get a harder time if you want to do a narrative, in fact XD;;; Anyway, I showed the teacher the concept art I'd done for my idea and he liked it, and promised to help with animating the background. The only thing is that the class is late at night (6-10 PM) which is tiring for me, especially because it's a long and lonely bus ride home. Hopefully I can earn my license and drive home instead of waiting in the cold for the bus every week...
Anyway, he told me it sounded good and to have a storyboard ready for next week. Errrr. *is nervous*
Second class I have this year (I'm only taking two, hahahaha. They're both very intense courses so it's not as if I'm a slacker... right?) is Japanese III. The program this year looks to be much higher level than last year's; the teacher wants two to four hours of study before each class, and looking at the assigned readings, the text is more difficult and more technical than we've had until now. I think that if I didn't play video games and read manga I wouldn't have been able to understand it. As it is, after class everybody said they couldn't follow the teacher's lecture (it was all Japanese, and rather fast.) I didn't really have trouble with the language, but the explanations of what was due when confused me. Fortunately, it's all written up in WebCT (which I had never used before, both Vanier and Concordia being less techy than Dawson and McGill.)
So my first Japanese class was yesterday, and I have another tomorrow (it's three days a week, Monday Wednesday Friday). Since I have Thursdays completely off, I did my Japanese homework and went to the library. Lately I've been reading mysteries (guess why 8D); I'm not familiar with the genre at all except that a) I love Alexander McCall Smith and b) I can't stand Agatha Christie. I know, weaksauce. XD; I don't really know the major names, much less what I like or dislike in the genre yet, so I've just been pulling books off the shelf that sound interesting.
P.D. James writes extremely well, but the atmosphere is a little chilly and it's hard to get attached to the characters. She has an incisive grasp on human nature and a way with words that make her still worth reading, even if you don't really like mysteries. I think, anyway. Dennis Lehane (whose novels we got as a gift from a family friend) writes despairing melodrama that almost reads like shoujo manga (I found myself drawing pictures of the doomed OTP in the series); it's really snappy and fast-paced. Both Faye and Jonathan Kellerman do neat thrillers that feel pretty similar (or maybe I just think so because I read their Double Homicide, which has a short novella by both) although I think Faye's characters swear more often than her husband's. I took out another one of hers, to try to cement my opinion.
But you know what is fun? John Mortimer's Rumpole books. And do you know why?
Lawyers, my dear. The whole book (er, series) is filled with lawyers, and goofy prosecutors Rumpole sails right past, and silly judges, and crazy witnesses, and even crazier clients. Plus you have scenes where he interviews the client in jail, and cross-examines, and looks for evidence. It's not at all Phoenix Wright (for one thing, Rumpole seems to lose pretty often, and is also not nearly as emotionally involved with his cases), but it feels sort of like Hoshikage Soranosuke, uhhh, Marvin Grossberg is narrating. Very P.G. Wodehouse, with Rumpole campaigning for the right to smoke and eat meat, and dealing with the social life of his wife. I rather like that kind of British humor, though, so it's fun; but to be honest with you the main appeal for me is OH HEY LAWYERS!! It's not the thrill itself, it's the cousin of the thrill, if you know what I mean? Entertainment by association. <- very very lame
Now I just need something with some angsty prosecutors and I will be 100% manzoku! Er, satisfied.
Also, over the past week I have been watching Avatar: the last Airbender on Youtube (be quiet, I haven't got cable) and enjoying it to BITS. I know it's an American cartoon that mimicks anime, but it's really really good! The animation in the fight scenes between elemental masters (or just kung-fu fighters) seems quite smooth to me, though it does dip after the season premiere. Also, the characters are a lot of fun, and you get attached to them pretty quickly! (I, ahem. Really like Zuko. XD;;;;)
The setting is very interesting, with four countries each based on a real-life place; the Water Tribe is basically Inuit, which I really liked since it's not often that you get Inuit characters on kids' TV, aside from government-sponsored programs of course. The background to the plot is the usual Asianish nonsense (restore balance to the four elements, blablabla) but at the same time there's clearly a lot of research going into the show in terms of the different fighting styles and even the text in background images and such (signs and scrolls and even the show's logo are written in classical Chinese, which I thought was a good touch.) I know they blend a lot of stuff from different cultures together, so I don't know what an Asian person would think of it, but I really like it. It definitely feels like it's aimed for a slightly older age group, especially as the show doesn't pull its punches very much - you can see injuries and can infer death, even if there's no blood.
That said, there's still a lot of silly comedy. And American shows are much snarkier than Japanese ones, it takes some getting used to. ^^; (I'm sorry, I just really don't watch television aside from some anime now and then! I know, I'm a hermit.)