Howl's Moving Castle

Ok. Here we go again with Studio Ghibli's production, Howl's Moving Castle. Coincidently, I also looked up the times on the internet for the tv guide and found out that this was on. As advertised by Johnly, I decided to check it out. Like an obsessed fan, I did my little research (after I watched the movie) about this film and was surprised that it actually was an adaptation from a book by Diana Wynne Jones, which was published in 1986. I even watched a trailer on YouTube to grasp what the movie is like. Boy oh boy..Was I excited. Across my forearm, lies the faded memory of yesterday's scribble of the timing.

Usually Mother would be upstairs talking things over with her husband but when good things are on, they somehow always manage to sense it and come down stairs to bother me. It's not that I don't want them there but it's just that Mother talks through the movie and when I give a piece of my mind, she shushes me. Life is full of injustice.

However, I was expecting them to go upstairs in the first part of the movie as I remembered them leaving when I was watching Nausicaa of The Valley Of The Winds. But no, Mother seemed to entralled and found it amusing and stayed. Like a good puppy, her husband stayed next to her faithfully. Those two are almost inseperable and I had to beg him to let Mother and I go on a holiday by ourselves next February..Anyways, back to the story. From the beginning, it was already captivating and exciting. I could hardly contain my rapture. These images are from http://onlineghibli.com/ once again.

It was a rather weird movie in a sense that some parts were left for you to figure it out in your own mind rather than bluntly straight-forwardly telling you the story. It leaves an air of mysteriousness and adventure. Sometimes I wish my life was as exciting and mysterious like this.

What I find most mysterious from Studio Ghibli's movies are the male characters. Not all of it but from Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. In Spirited Away, a male character called Haku, acted as if he had a split personality to help save Chihiro. Similarly, Howl did the same for Sophie as he saved her and he had split identity. (Watch both of those movies and you'll understand =P) The differences though comes in with their personality. Haku has a matured personality despite the fact he looks like a boy and Howl has an immature child-like personality that is prominently shown when he sulks and starts melting when Sophie accidently changed his bath water and turned his hair orange. I love both of this two characters more than their female counterparts.

Howl

Haku

Other things I've noticed that are similar between these two movies are:

• Both male characters end up passed out near the end of the movie


• Both male characters can fly; Haku as a flying dragon and Howl as an oversized mutated swallow

Well that's from my observations anyway..

Howl- I Love This Character!! Not to mention Haku too..Much more handsome than his dark hair though.

Overall, it is also a heart-warming journey to self-discovery, courage, passion, sacrifice and love. It's a 5 out of 5 movie and deserves lots of credits. However, take the time to watch it as it is kinda deep at parts and you really have to decipher it. But as for me, I LOVE it!!

Here's a little trailer of this movie with the lovable soundtrack, "Merry-Go-Round of Life"

Nausicaa: The Valley Of The Wind

Lately I've been pretty obsessed with films that have been directed by Hayao Miyazaki. If you are wondering who he is, Miyazaki is the director of Studio Ghibli's work. Some people may have heard of Totoro: My Neighbour and Nausicaa of The Valley Of The Wind. If you still don't know who he is, he's the director for the famous Spirited Away. Thanks to his movies, I've become seriously addicted to the music composed by Joe Hisaishi for the soundtracks of those movies.

Lately I've been chatting and figured there are more Studio Ghibli movies and was deciding to save up and purchase some. SBS, I thank thee. My little wishes has been fulfilled. Last Sunday, at 10:15pm, they aired Nausicaa of The Valley Of the Wind. Haha and thanks to my addiction to internet surfing that I found out that it was on. Boy was I glad!

Looking back at Studio Ghibli's work, you can definitely see some differences as they advanced on in years. As Nausicaa was a film in 1984 and considered a Studio Ghibli's first film. You can definitely see some similarities in the style of drawing in the film. It was pretty good and loved the deeper insight towards the detriment of the environment. Miyazaki's wild imagination allows him to create creatures and things we's never think of and subtle elements are used to convey the message to his audience. Here's bits and pieces from the movie. I got these from http://onlineghibli.com





If you really like a heart-felt movie and anime combined, this is a movie to watch. For me, I would rate this a 4 out of 5 stars. It's simply fabulous!

My First Earnings From Blogging?

As a blogging newbie, I discovered ads. At first I would have thought that it is normal for some blogs to have ads. Until I realised that they actually pay you to have their ads put up. Call me slow- I knew that ads can earn revenue but didn't know that blogging can be so helpful. Honestly I've been so busy with school work this year, I forgot about blogging.

Well. I hope I start earning something. Even a little would pay off. Wish me luck peeps!!

Me-Sha = New Baby Sitter

Suffering from a late night yesterday due to my addiction to blogging and chatting, I was awoken by a loud knock on the door. With only 6 hours worth of sleep, I lazily slopped around the room trying to find a decent pair to clothes to match with. I grabbed the nearest t-shirt which was recently bought which is in fashion with today's faded cartoon characters. Mine had the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street saying Me Love Cookies. That is true.

The first stop was in Brisbane to see Andrew's daughter's daughter, Phebe Lee (Yes, Mother's husband is a grandfather. He has a grandson and now a granddaughter). Phebe was about 6 weeks premature as she was due in late February next year. She was tiny!!!! It was the first time I've seen a baby in an incubator. Her skin was pink and translucent as you can see the veins beneath it (Forgot to mention that Phebe is only 6 days old). I did not take any photos as I did not want to provoke the nurses' hawking eyes.

A cool mosiac work found infront of the hospital. Quite a wonky cross. Can't figure out whether it's a P or a cross. Make up your mind!

Later we headed to my mother's friend's house in Underwood. She had a 2 month old baby named Vanessa. With cheeks so chubby it was hard to resist the temptation to pinch it. And yes I admit it. I pinched Vanessa's cheeks. Lightly of course - I don't think I want the baby's mother to be upon me! Vanessa's older brother, Samuel was having his afternoon nap but Sophia, the mother of Vanessa and Samuel, decided that he had enough sleep and woke him up to bring him out. The last time I saw him, he was just a tiny one and couldn't walk. Now he's this toddler of a year and a half and walking! He looks like an animated doll.

Baby Vanessa and oh!-so-pinchable-cheeks. And no, her name is not Mesha Chow. I'm just too lazy to tag blog address on.

Baby Samuel last year. Florian was there too. Hehe.. Jan.. don't drool on my page please.

Samuel was a shy kid when his mother brought him out. Speaking in Cantonese she asked him to say hello but all he would do is to turn away. Late when he eventually warmed up to us, he decided I should be the baby-sitter. For me, it was definitely strange.

Here's one fact about me: Babies don't like me. They cry whenever I want to hold them and this was proven to me by the countless times I tried carrying one. Whether it's the way I carry them or something, I couldn't figure it out. Vanessa is DEFINITELY one baby I like. All she'd do is sleep, drink milk, fart, poop and the cyle continues. And when she sleeps she doesn't wake up unless you out her down. She likes human contact. Finally, I found a baby that does not cry when I carry her!! ~Woot~

Then another strange thing happened. When Samuel started warming up to us, he came up to me and looked at me and stretched out his arms and waits. Baby language = I want to be carried. Me?? Surely I was dreaming. Mother was always the one that babies go to but this toddler wants me? I must be doing something right nowadays.

Older Samuel now -sitting on a shoe rack eating his dried guava in a boy on the table like a good boy. That is until he showed his cheeky grin. Then you know he's up to something.

So I became the sitter, he'd grab a stool, come over to me and point it. Yes. He did that and he's only 1 and a half. Pretty smart for a toddler eh? His mother also told us that when he wants to be carried when his sister is getting the attention, he'd grab a pillow, put it next to his mother, point to the baby and then point to the pillow and then open his arms out-stretched, indicating that it's his turn to be carried. Cute eh? What's more, he likes helping his mother with his sister and seems to enjoy babies eventhough he's still considered one himself.

Samuel has a toy mop. You'd be thinking "Why did his mother ever buy him a toy mop when he's not even a girl?". Well, get this. Apparently he found it in the toy shop and did not want to let go. So they bought it for him. Samuel also has a magazine which he wanted to show me and only me, of pictures with babies in it and other toddler equipment. His face filled with glee and a smile and he would clap when a picture of a baby showed up and he would look at me. Sweet kid.



It certainly changed my mind on some baby issues I used to have but it still does not change my mind about having my own. Both women today told me that it was extremely painful. Maybe I shall consider adopting one when the time is right.

Me and Baby Vanessa.

Ah..My Dinner.. Tortellini Pollo..Mmm

*BURPS* Hehe..well it was a good dinner *Rubs tummy*

Nightwish & Lacuna Coil

This is a rather old experience of mine but I thought that it should be recorded down, so here goes. As a huge fan of Evanescence, you do what all the fans do - Listen to their songs, view their videos and have a slideshow of them on your myspace (well maybe that's just me). However, the slideshow was premade by the others and it suddenly had a picture of Nightwish. Unfamiliar with it, I just ignored it. The slideshow incident was the second time I bumped into their photo. Apparently some people compare Evanescence with Nightwish though their styles of music is different.

For fun, I went to YouTube to investigate this band and the first song that popped up was Wish I Had An Angel. Wow. I was breath taken as it was everything I loved - a mix of classical and metal so it didn't have much of the grunting that normal takes place in metal music. The other song that was also displayed was Nemo which actually means "nobody" in Latin. Fascinating.

Their songs soon got stuck in my head and I knew that I had to have one of their cd's. So out to the plaza I go and looked real hard for it. A few shops I went to did not have it but determined as I am I went to Virgin Music and they have it! I bought Nightwish's Once immediately. As soon as I got home, the cd went straight into my cd player and the first song I played was Wish I Had An Angel.

Ignorant as I can get, I thought this was a new band until I Wikipedia it. Nope. They are even older than my beloved Evanescence. Nightwish was formed in 1996 whilst Evanescence was formed in 1998. Ok maybe not that much older but surprising I did not hear about them. Maybe KL doesn't really like the idea of metal in Malaysia. It's true - most of my music life in Malaysia consisted of what I heard on radios and they were like pop, R&B and etc. You just don't get enough metal! Even Evanescence the first time I heard them was shocking as I thought they were rather heavy. Now? Haha..not heavy enough. I live to seek a heavier but still symphonic band.

Not long after, I was criticised by a fuckwit for my support of Amy Lee being the best singer I've personally heard, I kept hearing news about Lacuna Coil and the same thing happened - Got hooked onto their song Heaven's A Lie.

Yeah I must admit they are pretty funky but since I viewed their concerts on YouTube, the lead singer, Cristina Scabbia doesn't sound too good live. Amy Lee still sounds the same on stage as her songs.

When I found Nightwish I was pretty excited until I realised through my "extensive" research that the lead singer, Tarja Turunen was fired. I was pretty upset as I thought it was the end of the band until they said that they found a new singer. I heard their new single Eva and it was pretty good. The new singer, Anette Olzon has a pretty high vocal range to make-up for the classical training that Tarja had. They proved to be pretty consistent so I was satisfied again. But then of course I enjoyed Tarja more as I enjoyed classical singing with metal. I particularly enjoyed this song called Sleeping Sun. This video I just posted was a remake and I find it equally as good as the old one which can be found here :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gmDWvGKLzBE

~Happy Watching~