Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

WARNING!
This journal contains
SPOILERS!!!





So, depending on which geek circles you dwell in, this past weekend was flippin' HUGE!

With every passing year I grow older, more lonely and curmudgeonly, but it is some comfort I still have some geeky excitement left in me, and the two premieres that occurred within hours of each other this weekend did manage to kindle a little warmth in my withered, evil little heart.

For me at least, it's kind of hard to believe it's been four years since "Avatar; the last Airbender" the animated series wrapped up. Series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko were evidently satisfied with the epic conclusion they brought their saga to... But also evidently liked the job security, so they decided to do a sequel to the series.
(Not that I'm blaming them mind you. I'd like some job security. xD)

So, "Avatar; the Legend of Korra" launched via special premier on one of the official websites yesterday.

So, was it worth the four-year wait?

Well, speaking as someone who hasn't owned a television in about two years, who deliberately avoided watching all trailers for the series so as to be surprised as possible when the thing finally did premier, I'd have to say it was totally worth it!

Granted I've heard some people gripe about it, but I say, for what we got, we got quite a lot.

First of all, we have not only the amazing Andrea Romano returning as voice director, but we also have Steve Blum... Steve Floppin' BLUM portraying, what I can only assume is the series' main antagonist.
For those of you who weren't around in the late 90's, early aughts when "Cowboy Bebop" was new, when we, the fans were waiting with baited breath for the much-anticipated followup feature film to satisfy the awesome American reception of the series, I can't tell you how perfect Steve is for this part.
Granted, we got him as Mugen in "Samurai Champloo" and even the titular character in "Wolverine and the X-Men," and he was good in those, but this is the kind of suave, thinking-above-the-curb, dark, heavy, brooding characters he was BORN to play... I'm excited about this.

We have Korra herself, of course, and I think she works rather well as the protagonist of the series. While the creators were in danger of running down the cliched "Untouchable female badass" road, I'd say they hit the character balance quite well, and I think she can cary the series quite well.
Plus, she rides around on a big white dog named "Naga" ... Reminding me quite forcibly of my late, fluffy white dog Nina.


And of course, perhaps the main base of the series, the base that this series seems to attract like white suburban kids to ineffectual environmentalism... the shippers.

For those of you not in the know, much of the fan discussion of the OG animated series centered around the potential romantic involvement's of the characters. And even before the series officially debuted and all we had as a fan base were sketches of the characters and brief glimpses of the backstory, we still have shippers flocking to this series and casting their speculations.

Last time, the majority rule vote seemed to lean toward "Zutara," I.E. to have the series main female protagonist ship with the brooding, angry antihero, as opposed to "Kataang," wherein said heroine would wind up with the kindhearted protagonist.

In spite of fans demands, Mike and Brian went head and told the story they wanted to tell and went with their original vision and the series ended with "Kataang"

I would put Vegas odds on Brike learning their lesson from last time around and giving the fans what they want in this incarnation of the series.

So I'm going to make the call that Korra is going to end up with the stiff, dickish Mako, and the kindhearted Bolin is going to die decrepit, alone and unloved.

So, to reiterate, I'd say the series was more than worth the wait.
And I'd say that having a 70-year gap which allows the one industrialized nation out of the four to make great technological leaps within the world was a stroke of brilliance. For most of the world of the 4 nations, a wheelbarrow was as high a technology as you can get... Now the main location is a thriving metropolis with electricity, radio and automobiles. I for one, love it.

And for those of you who were disappointed; I think you set your own personal bars far too high.
I for one avoided all trailers for this series so I could be as surprised as possible at the premier... And I might have had a few... Beverages too.


Well, moving away from one fan base and onto another!

So, I was a late comer to "The Hunger Games," ... Kinda.
I'm always a day late and a dollar short on what's the popular reading fad these days.
Back in last '10, early '11, most of my literarily-inclined for ends were telling me I should read "The Hunger Games."
Of course after I did read the trilogy around the end of summer last year, everyone was telling me I was behind the times and should be reading "Game of Thrones"... Which I still haven't. (Nor do I have HBO so I'm not watching the series either.)

Overall I was quite impressed with the series. It wasn't the best book series I've ever read, not by a country mile. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. Hell, I don't think this was a remotely bad series at all. I'd openly recommend it to anyone who likes, like me, to read.
Hell, I have the whole trilogy on audiobook (because sometimes I'm in the car, or am otherwise just too lazy to read) and I'm not sorry about my purchase in the least... Plus they're good lisntnin' for those long car rides!
(It's like TV!!... For just your ears! )

Now, if you're a huge fan of dystopian fiction (And who isn't, really?) Then you can see the parallels between this trilogy and perhaps the two best-known Dystopian literary works of all time, Eric Blair's "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World.
Hell, after I finished the series I was going to do a whole journal entry about the dystopian parallels between it and these two masterpieces.
... But then I found out Suzanne Collins based the themes of the books more on ancient gladiatorial combat and Greek mythos than she did dystopian satire and I felt like an idiot. xD

So, overall I'm glad I read the series and I think Suzanne deserved every goddamn red cent she makes as a successful author... Hell, with the business this movie's doing, the full trilogy's practically assured... Those movie rights can buy a lot of peace of mind. xD

So what did I think of the movie?

Well, for one thing, try holding a jumbo diet coke in your bladder for the full 2 1/2 hours, but that nitpick aside, I really enjoyed it.

Now, naturally they have to change SOME things from the book. Film and books are a completely different medium with different needs. Changes are not only inevitable, but essential.
And in this case, I'd say they did a pretty good job.

For example, you have the Mockingjay pin, which in addition to providing a cool poster, serves as kind of a motif of the series.
In the book, the mayor's daughter gives Katniss the pin as a district token.
In the movie she finds it at the hob and Greasy Sae just gives it to her on a whim.
I personally like what the film did there. It took this thing that ends up being a huge part of the arc of the series and made it's finding practically serendipitous. As if katniss was fated to find it in a pile of junk at her local black market.
Granted, the route they took in the book may be more true to life, but the movie route works poetically.

And take the death of Seneca Crane.
In the book it's done offscreen (so to speak.)
We're just told by Snow that Crane was dispatched for bothing the games. The Capital is just that badass and evil they'll shoot a motherfucker like it ain't no thang.
In the movie, Crane is simply locked in a room with the same nightlock berries Katniss and Peta almost offed themselves with. No dialogue, no nothing. Just some understated cinematic elegance.

Now, granted I have my little gripes with the movie.
This is a movie about a battle royale bloodbath, and it should have been rated R... But naturally they wanted as many people to see it as possible so they toned down the gore. (it might be too much to hope for an unrated directors cut.)

And yes, I did get a little misty-eyed when Rue died... I'm partially dehumanized, but not completely so.

All in all, I would call this a fairly faithful and enjoyable adaptation.
I recommend that you all go out and have a good time at the movies.
(See it and you might get laid. xD)

So sit back and stat kung fu-fighting [link]
Or become a fan of Seneca Crane's beard on Facebook [link]

And soar like a leaf on the wind.

[link]

I was born on a rock where the stars didn't shine,
now I soar like a leaf on the wind,
The clouds were polluted, the sea filled with brine,
now I soar like a leaf on the wind,
I swore to myself that above it I'd rise,
Sail over the mountains and into the skies,
To see the stars brighter than man can devise,
I'd soar like a leaf on the wind.

When governments quarreled, I was called to the fight,
to soar like a leaf on the wind,
I offered my wings to the side I thought right,
to soar like a leaf on the wind,
Now after two sorties, my boat ran aground,
My captors with laurels of vict'ry were crowned,
When the killing was over, my freedom I found,
to soar like a leaf on the wind.

I wandered the whole 'verse, I went where I'd please,
adrift like a leaf on the wind,
I spent a whole month trying to juggle geese,
adrift like a leaf on the wind,
But wherever I went, there was one thing I'd lack,
The stars, they were calling for me to come back,
Farewell to the land and Ni-Hao to the black!
Once more I'm a leaf on the wind.

The Renshaw Boys begged me; Tanaka he raved,
to soar like a leaf on the wind,
Serenity's crew had the one thing I craved,
as I soared like a leaf on the wind,
The moons and the planets each have their own charms,
But the heavens I sought were in Zoe's strong arms,
A warrior, a Goddess, to keep me from harm,
as I soar like a leaf on the wind.

Now sometimes I carry a gun when I roam,
though I soar like a leaf on the wind,
With puppets and dinosaurs, I'm much more at home,
as I soar like a leaf on the wind,
Laughter was always my ally in life,
And humor has always deflected my strife,
It got me through torture, it won me my wife,
and I soar like a leaf on the wind.

It ain't easy to pilot a ship that can't turn,
but I'll soar like a leaf on the wind,
Can't pull crazy Ivans, can't go for hard burn,
but I'll soar like a leaf on the wind,
Now, once you've made sure that the signal gets through,
There's one final thing that I want you to do,
Put me where I'll see stars, so that I can see you,
and I'll soar like a leaf on the wind.