Coraline in 3D (and catching up on the book meme).
I'm tired and just want to watch Justice League or something, but I've already put off posting about the outing with sunflower_mynah aka Mysti on the 18th for a few days. XD Admittedly, I've had work.
On the 18th of May, for some youth animation festival thingy, they were showing Coraline in 3D, and there'd also be Making-Of scenes and talks by people who'd worked on it. I found out when they were selling tickets during the World Free Comic Book Day celebrations at work, called Mysti, invited her along, and bought two tickets.
Due to my lack of black sweaters with silver stars on them (I doubt I could pull off a blue wig and yellow mack), I decided to dress as Death from The Sandman, just for fun (sans white makeup and eyeliner though) and because all black is cool and I love that pendant. Hence the long black skirt, the black top, and the ankh necklace. (The feathery hairband is due to my lack of hats. >_> )
I bought a piece of sodalite for her as a gift since there's this nice little New Age shop which has a lovely variety of crystals near our meeting-place; when I went to pay the lady told me there was a buy-one-get-one-free deal for that particular range of tumbled crystals, so I picked out a pretty bloodstone for myself too. I really wanted this large and absolutely gorgeous piece of lapis lazuli, but it was $35. ;_; Met Myst, gave the sodalite to her and we walked to The Cathay and I insisted on getting popcorn, because it is not a cinematic experience without popcorn. :P
Coraline in 3D was AWESOME. After the movie ended, we watched a bunch of behind-the-scenes and making-of stuff, and then Marc Shapiro talked to us about stop-motion animation in Coraline. The sheer amount of work and patience and detail for ONE FRAME is mind-blowing, and thinking of the detail in the movie and the amount of work and patience that must have gone into it is almost scary. I can't believe Coraline's tiny clothes were knitted by hand. O_O And the intricate sets!
Coraline's facial expressions were achieved by removing the lower half of her face and replacing it with another one with her mouth in a slightly different shape/position for each frame. Her eyebrows can be moved too. I was trying to take a photo of some of the lower face halves, but was surrounded by others trying to do the same and being shoved, and someone's hand appeared at the same time that I clicked. Considering what happens in Coraline, Myst and I agreed that it was apt. XD
Some of the original figures of Coraline, her father and the cat used in the film. I <3 that cat. <3
Later Mysti and I went to have lunch at this lovely little place where the food was very reasonably priced and with the main courses came a free flow of drinks and ice cream! Free flow of hot chocolate! :9
Myst's meal still makes me giggle: that main course is clearly spicy, but that broth looks nice and clear and mild, doesn't it? It was deceptively clear; it turned out to be very spicy as well. XD According to Mysti, it was fine on its own, but in conjunction with that main dish...
I had nice, normal spaghetti aglio olio with mushrooms. XD And two mugs of hot chocolate, and a bowl of delicious soft-serve ice cream. All in all it was an awesome day; thank you, Mysti. <3
On to questions 11 to 15 of the book meme!
11. Do you own multiple copies of any book? What are they? Why do you have multiple copies?
Hmm. I have e-book backups of tons of my books, but they're e-books, so they don't count. XP And since I've gone through and culled my bookshelves a few times over the years to make space for new books, I doubt I have any double copies left. I used to have double copies of one of my Narnia volumes (a pretty one-volume collection of The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Horse and His Boy), and also my Rowling biography, and Christopher Paolini's Eldest - all second copies were given to me as gifts. I've since given away all the double copies.
However, one day when I can afford the cash to buy a book I already own, I'm getting another copy of Good Omens, because my current copy is autographed by Neil Gaiman and so I am far too protective and paranoid to take it out of the house. Also, it's a 1991 edition (older than I am!) and I know the new edition has interviews with both Gaiman and Pratchett at the end, and although I've already read those I want my own copy. So one day if I can afford the indulgence, I'm getting myself another copy. (And if I can afford that indulgence, I might also hopefully be able to afford the indulgence of getting an Author's Preferred Text version of American Gods; mine is the 'normal' 2002 Harper Torch edition with the lightning and the road on the cover, but I've read the Preferred Text version, and I know it has a little bit of bonus material and also some awesome interviews with Gaiman at the back. Like with GO, I want my own copy. XP )
Hmm. Just checked one of my other shelves and realised I do have a double copy of an Austen novel. XD I own the individual volumes of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, and then I was given a three-book collection comprising Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Northanger Abbey. So yes, right now I own two copies of Sense and Sensibility since I already had the individual volume before being given the three-book collection since I wanted the other two. I'm not giving away the first one though; it's one of those beautiful black-cover Penguin Classic editions and was bought as a gift for me in London by my uncle.
12. Book borrowing - do you use the library? Do you prefer to try before you buy? What about lending your books to friends? Are you a good borrower, do you remember to return books?
I don't use public libraries much, actually; however, back when I was a student, I always made extensive use of the school library. I nearly always had books on loan from the school library at any point in time. XD I'm lucky; the libraries in my primary and secondary schools and my junior college always had great selections. And in some cases I prefer to try before I buy, like when I bought Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches; I liked the premise and the summary, but the fact that it apparently featured a romance between the human heroine and an accomplished male vampire had me wary because of Twilight. Reading a bit of the beginning and flipping through made me decide to give it a go though, and I'm glad I did. I would also like to borrow Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid first; I've heard good things about it but would rather try before I buy. However, with anything written by Gaiman, Pratchett or Tolkien, I know it'll be good and so I fork over the cash. XD So yes, unless it's an author I know and love, or I know about the book and am assured of quality, I try before I buy.
I'm not a good lender though, because I'm anal-retentive about book care. I lent Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time to Gena recently and was repeatedly telling her to be careful how she held and opened the book because I didn't want creases on the spine, and reminding her to use a bookmark instead of dog-earing the pages. This is because I know Gena treats her books abysmally; seeing the state of her Eng Lit texts last year had me in almost physical pain. I wouldn't dare lend her my copy of GO or LOTR, that's for certain. However, I know Mysti takes good care of books, so I would have no problem lending books to her.
Borrower... it depends. I borrowed a book from minselding the last time we met, and I went home and finished it that night; if I was able to meet her the next day I would have returned it, but we've both been busy. However, I will return it the next time I see her. :D However, I borrowed a couple of bags full of books from a friend of my dad's - mostly Tolkien's Lost Tales and some heavy-duty encyclopaedias on Ancient Egypt and the geography of The Odyssey and so on. I tried reading some of The Book of Lost Tales Vol 1 but it's pretty dry at times and heavy, rather like the Silmarillion and some of his other work like The Children of Hurin and The Tale of Sigurd and Gudrun; I love them all but they took me ages to get through. Plus, I've gotten sucked into The Dresden Files right now. So if I'm just not in the mood or don't have the time to read your books, it may take ages; I never forget whose books they are though.
13. Do you reread a lot? Why (not)? Name a book you have reread many times.
Gods, yes. It would be easier to name books I don't re-read.... on second thought, that would be hard too. XD I think my record would be for Neil Gaiman's American Gods; I read that about ten times in the first six months of 2009. I also read it once this year and I'm fairly sure I read it last year too. I haven't had time to read The Lord of the Rings in JC but I read it twice or thrice in 2005 and once a year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. I don't know how many times I've read the first five Harry Potter books, or Good Omens. And I've loved Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre since I was 8, so you do the maths. XD
In fact, most of the time when I get a new book, I read it twice. The first time I'm generally rushing through, reading fast, because the plot has me on my toes and I can't wait to find out what happens next. After I'm done, I read it again, and this time I take my time and read a little more leisurely, taking in small details of description and characterisation and noticing tiny bits of foreshadowing and so on. The only exceptions are if I didn't like the book that much, or if it was too thick and would be too time-consuming (not that that stopped me with Tolkien and Gaiman) or if I'm reading a series and I have the next book right there and want to know what happens next. I definitely read through the whole of the Lucifer comics at one go (though I'm rereading individual volumes as the fancy takes me) and though I've read the Ramses series twice, it was once last year and once this year, and one book after the other. Right now I'm reading The Dresden Files and since I have all the e-books I'm rushing reading through them one after the other (I'm three-quarters through Summer Knight right now). I do plan to buy the actual books for re-reading purposes though!
14. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
OH GODS. I hate this question. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME CHOOSE. =< The Hellblazer comics are awesome, the Ramses series is wonderful, Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms and Feet of Clay are amazing, and those are just the ones I read for the first time in the past few months (second in the case of Ramses). Don't get me started on the old favourites I re-read. Plus right now I'm reading The Dresden Files and it is epically awesome. :D
15. Do you recommend books to other people? If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
Do I recommend books to other people? Is the sky blue?
Oh man, one book? XD Not one series? I certainly recommend Good Omens to a lot of people and I'd love it if more of my friends had read GO and the Discworld books and Sandman and Lucifer. I'm not sure I'd force one book on everyone though; my recommendations are tailored to the person, usually. I know some people might not enjoy GO or the Discworld books as much because half the humour comes from understanding the dry little asides and in-jokes and references.
Hmm. Either Harry Potter or The Hobbit? I dunno. I'd have to force them all to watch The Omen before making them read Good Omens so the next time they see The Omen it'll be ruined in a good way like it was for me. XD I do wish my uncle was familiar with GO so I could tease him about the fact that his cat is named Cat. And since my sister's already read GO, I wish she'd read steadfast 's Manchester Lost and Paradise Thwarted; she acts like Jen's Archangel Michael most of the time and I've told her so and she's amused and proud of the fact, going on about her awesomeness and flaming sword and how she'll smite me for not acknowledging her awesomeness. I mostly look at the ceiling/sky and go WHY ME?
See, this is why I cannot do all 30 questions at one go like sunflower_mynah did; it'd be novel-length. XD I do have to work the early shift tomorrow though, it's now 12.20AM and I need to wake up by 6.40AM, so I need to post this and sleep!