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Palace time!
When we got to Schloss Schönbrunn these people with oak leaves in their hats were holding a very small parade outside.
Never found out why, but that one at the back looks like he's trying to sneak off into the crowd.
Read the rest of this entry »
When we got to Schloss Schönbrunn these people with oak leaves in their hats were holding a very small parade outside.
Never found out why, but that one at the back looks like he's trying to sneak off into the crowd.
Read the rest of this entry »
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:Austria; picspam; travel
Alright, let's get through some more of these photos. It's entirely my fault that there's so many of them, but I just have a thing stained glass windows, you guys. I can stop any time I want to, ok? I just don't want to.
The first few days we spent at this fancy-pants hotel in the countryside a little way outside of Vienna. It has a biotope-pond pool thing with an imperturbable koi carp and a lot of dragon flies and water-striders.
Beethoven wrote his 9th symphony in a nearby town, so they put up a plaque.
Plague pillarrrr. Giving thanks that the plague left the town.
Read the rest of this entry »
The first few days we spent at this fancy-pants hotel in the countryside a little way outside of Vienna. It has a biotope-pond pool thing with an imperturbable koi carp and a lot of dragon flies and water-striders.
Beethoven wrote his 9th symphony in a nearby town, so they put up a plaque.
Plague pillarrrr. Giving thanks that the plague left the town.
Read the rest of this entry »
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:Austria; picspam; travel
The internet at the flat has been fixed, and I've got a small backlog of entries to post.
First of all: on Wednesday, I went to the midnight launch of Terry Pratchett's new book, I Shall Wear Midnight, at the Waterstone's in Piccadilly Circus.
The queue in front of the store was longer than I expected. Oh hey, I guess Terry Pratchett is pretty popular. ¬______¬
The bag the book came in. I see what they did there.
There was a Q&A/"In Conversation" bit with Tony Robinson, and then we all lined up to get our books signed. You can see a bit of the person dressed up in a witch's outfit! I tried to get a better picture of her, but the queue was too quick for me and swallowed her up.
I didn't manage to get a proper picture of Terry Pratchett himself, but here's one from his Facebook page:
I would've liked to shake his hand or at least thank him for signing my book, but it was all kind of quick and assembly-line-ish. Well, there were a lot of people there, so it's understandable.
The book~
Officially signed with an official signature.
And there's a print of the cover art inside. :3
I got the book around 11pm Wednesday night, and I finished it last night at 2am. I didn't mean to stay up that long, but it's hard going to sleep when you're near the end of a good book. And this book was really good; I wasn't that impressed by Unseen Academicals, but I Shall Wear Midnight defiitely made up for that one's deficits.
I always forget how much I love witches books until I read one; they invariably have great characters and a wonderful atmosphere. I've also missed out on some of the Tiffany Aching novels... I guess I dismissed them because they were meant to be for kids. So that's an oversight I'm going to have to go remedy as soon as possible, because she is a total badass.
Also without spoiling anything, a Discworld character I adored when I was younger and had given up any hope of ever seeing again is in this book, and it makes me really happy. :D
That's it for tonight, tomorrow I'll get on with finally posting my Austria pictures.
First of all: on Wednesday, I went to the midnight launch of Terry Pratchett's new book, I Shall Wear Midnight, at the Waterstone's in Piccadilly Circus.
The queue in front of the store was longer than I expected. Oh hey, I guess Terry Pratchett is pretty popular. ¬______¬
The bag the book came in. I see what they did there.
There was a Q&A/"In Conversation" bit with Tony Robinson, and then we all lined up to get our books signed. You can see a bit of the person dressed up in a witch's outfit! I tried to get a better picture of her, but the queue was too quick for me and swallowed her up.
I didn't manage to get a proper picture of Terry Pratchett himself, but here's one from his Facebook page:
I would've liked to shake his hand or at least thank him for signing my book, but it was all kind of quick and assembly-line-ish. Well, there were a lot of people there, so it's understandable.
The book~
Officially signed with an official signature.
And there's a print of the cover art inside. :3
I got the book around 11pm Wednesday night, and I finished it last night at 2am. I didn't mean to stay up that long, but it's hard going to sleep when you're near the end of a good book. And this book was really good; I wasn't that impressed by Unseen Academicals, but I Shall Wear Midnight defiitely made up for that one's deficits.
I always forget how much I love witches books until I read one; they invariably have great characters and a wonderful atmosphere. I've also missed out on some of the Tiffany Aching novels... I guess I dismissed them because they were meant to be for kids. So that's an oversight I'm going to have to go remedy as soon as possible, because she is a total badass.
Also without spoiling anything, a Discworld character I adored when I was younger and had given up any hope of ever seeing again is in this book, and it makes me really happy. :D
That's it for tonight, tomorrow I'll get on with finally posting my Austria pictures.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:I like books they are my friends; Terry Pratchett
The internet in the flat is broken, and it probably will be for at least the rest of the week while Virgin and BT try to figure out what is going on and how to fix it. So since I can't post the pictures from Austria yet, have this paragraph from one of the books I was reading at the library last week, instead:
— Understanding Early Civilizations, B.G. Trigger
Can we just all agree at this point that the Aztecs/Mexica were the craziest dudes this side of the AD/BC divide? Other people invent sports when no wars are going on, but no, that just wasn't good enough for them; they missed that invigorating atmosphere of death and bloodshed too much.
In addition to wars of conquest, highland Mexican city-states engaged in xochiyaoyotl (flowery wars), which consisted of carefully prearranged, 'friendly' battles between rival states. Soldiers were killed in these battles and prisoners taken, but military action was restricted to the battlefield and the overt political status of the participants was not altered, at least in the short run, by the outcome. The rationale for these contests was to capture prisoners for sacrifice to the gods. Flowery wars were said to be waged when not enough wars of conquest were occuring.
— Understanding Early Civilizations, B.G. Trigger
Can we just all agree at this point that the Aztecs/Mexica were the craziest dudes this side of the AD/BC divide? Other people invent sports when no wars are going on, but no, that just wasn't good enough for them; they missed that invigorating atmosphere of death and bloodshed too much.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:Archaeology; the batcave is broken
Sorry for not posting for so long, guys! Last week I went to Austria with my parents for my dad's birthday. While we were there I found some greyscale Copic markers for super cheap! ♥___♥ These didn't scan very well, partly because my pretty new scanner doesn't acknowledge "Cool Gray No. 1" as a colour distinct from white, but here's me trying them out in my little sketchbook:
The Austrians have a silly word for cream that sounds like the German word for colonel. Yyep.
Dragonflies are actually little helicopters.
My bag died. T__T I've had it for about 12 years and I haven't been able to find one as awesome as it yet. This is a good excuse to get a new one if I ever find one as good, since it is getting a bit scruffy, but I'm still using it for now.
On the weekend we were there, Nickelodeon was showing seasons 1 and 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender in a big recap marathon kind of thing, I guess, and I managed to catch a few episodes in the evening. By which I mean I watched one and then couldn't stop despite not wanting spoilers. It was kind of on my to-watch list already, but now I need that show in my life.
Tomorrow I might post some photos from the trip. I've been dividing my days since I got back between preparatory reading at the UCL library and practising watercolour painting. (I'll show you the results of that sometime soon, as well.) I've been neglecting the internet a little, but life is good. <3
The Austrians have a silly word for cream that sounds like the German word for colonel. Yyep.
Dragonflies are actually little helicopters.
My bag died. T__T I've had it for about 12 years and I haven't been able to find one as awesome as it yet. This is a good excuse to get a new one if I ever find one as good, since it is getting a bit scruffy, but I'm still using it for now.
On the weekend we were there, Nickelodeon was showing seasons 1 and 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender in a big recap marathon kind of thing, I guess, and I managed to catch a few episodes in the evening. By which I mean I watched one and then couldn't stop despite not wanting spoilers. It was kind of on my to-watch list already, but now I need that show in my life.
Tomorrow I might post some photos from the trip. I've been dividing my days since I got back between preparatory reading at the UCL library and practising watercolour painting. (I'll show you the results of that sometime soon, as well.) I've been neglecting the internet a little, but life is good. <3
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:Austria; travel
Chairman Wow: what are you up to?
Cubed2D: watching an anime
Cubed2D: confusingly called 'i my me strawberry eggs'
Chairman Wow: ...
Chairman Wow: sounds good
Chairman Wow: XD
Cubed2D: about a guy who tries to get a job as a sports teacher at a high school, but the head teacher is sexist and will only employ females because males are all savages with no love in their hearts etc etc
Cubed2D: so he dresses as a lady to get the job
Chairman Wow: awesome
Cubed2D: the rules: all female characters cannot trust males. all males are perverts and cannot be trusted. all male character have to be perverts. main character is the only sensible person in the entire world (disregarding the whole I should dress as a lady to get this job bit, rather than you know... finding another job)
Chairman Wow: yep, sounds definitely like reality
Chairman Wow: what was that about sexism hurting men, too....? :P
Cubed2D: heh
Yep.
A propos, I keep meaning to link to this article, but, you know, no internet: 5 Stupid, Unfair and Sexist Things Expected of Men. Very interesting stuff.
While I'm linking, I found a much better website for my math studying than the one I was using previously: Paul's Online Math Notes. The one before was kind of wishy-washy about the right terms and notation, which bothers me. >_> This one is looking much more useful.
I'm home for a day or two, mainly to watch Sherlock, and True Blood with my mum. XD (It's kind of cool watching a show with my mum. We were looking at the True Blood merchandise on the Forbidden Planet website earlier. Maybe I should find her some fanfic to read...)
Second episode of Sherlock was kind of disappointing. Not as much fun banter, and Chinese circus smuggler gangsters? Idk, guys, idk. Quite Holmes-style in a way, but I kept waiting for the opium den to show up. :|
I'm gonna be home again next Monday, because my family and I are going to Vienna for a week from Tuesday, so I may prepare a bit of a picspam entry to post then.
Cubed2D: watching an anime
Cubed2D: confusingly called 'i my me strawberry eggs'
Chairman Wow: ...
Chairman Wow: sounds good
Chairman Wow: XD
Cubed2D: about a guy who tries to get a job as a sports teacher at a high school, but the head teacher is sexist and will only employ females because males are all savages with no love in their hearts etc etc
Cubed2D: so he dresses as a lady to get the job
Chairman Wow: awesome
Cubed2D: the rules: all female characters cannot trust males. all males are perverts and cannot be trusted. all male character have to be perverts. main character is the only sensible person in the entire world (disregarding the whole I should dress as a lady to get this job bit, rather than you know... finding another job)
Chairman Wow: yep, sounds definitely like reality
Chairman Wow: what was that about sexism hurting men, too....? :P
Cubed2D: heh
Yep.
A propos, I keep meaning to link to this article, but, you know, no internet: 5 Stupid, Unfair and Sexist Things Expected of Men. Very interesting stuff.
While I'm linking, I found a much better website for my math studying than the one I was using previously: Paul's Online Math Notes. The one before was kind of wishy-washy about the right terms and notation, which bothers me. >_> This one is looking much more useful.
I'm home for a day or two, mainly to watch Sherlock, and True Blood with my mum. XD (It's kind of cool watching a show with my mum. We were looking at the True Blood merchandise on the Forbidden Planet website earlier. Maybe I should find her some fanfic to read...)
Second episode of Sherlock was kind of disappointing. Not as much fun banter, and Chinese circus smuggler gangsters? Idk, guys, idk. Quite Holmes-style in a way, but I kept waiting for the opium den to show up. :|
I'm gonna be home again next Monday, because my family and I are going to Vienna for a week from Tuesday, so I may prepare a bit of a picspam entry to post then.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:anime; IM lulz; linkage; sherlock holmes; true blood; tv
I'm moved in to the new flat! We haven't got internet yet & I don't feel
like writing a big long post on my phone, but I'm gonna attach some photos
so you can see how wonderful this place is. :D
I changed my location to "London" on Twitter and Facebook this morning. So
far I love it here.
like writing a big long post on my phone, but I'm gonna attach some photos
so you can see how wonderful this place is. :D
I changed my location to "London" on Twitter and Facebook this morning. So
far I love it here.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:email post; life; picspam; the batcave
Sometimes you just have to let the capslock flow, though, you know? It's good for the soul. Also, if anything's going to put me in a capslocking mood it's some good Holmes action.
So, I was on the Isle of Wight this weekend, and it was very nice and I'll post pictures later, but first:
I saw Sherlock on BBC1 tonight.
FFFFFFFF.
It was SO GOOD. EVEN CAPSLOCK IS INSUFFICIENT TO EXPRESS MY GLEE. SO WELL ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT DAY SETTING. (They use first names all the time, lol.) AND THE WRITING WAS SO GOOD. AND THE ACTING OMG. AND WITH THE TEXT ON THE SCREEN AND STUFF AH I LOVE IT. LOVE IT. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY FOR THE NEXT ONE? T__________T I'm gonna go find my Complete Sherlock Holmes and re-read the first case later.
I did kind of figure out who the killer was before anyone in the show, which was LAME. Maybe it's just because [SPOILER] those "Don't Take Unlicensed Minicabs" ads creep me the fuck out so I'm distrustful of cab drivers. Sorry cab drivers. >_> [/SPOILER] But really, it was kind of obvious, right? "Who do we trust even though we don't know them?" What else was it going to be.*
BUT I DON'T CARE because the characterisation was THE BEST. AND OMG MARTIN FREEMAN. AND OMG BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (WHAT KIND OF AMAZING NAME IS THAT ANYWAY) EVEN THOUGH I'D NEVER HEARD OF YOU BEFORE.
And now I should go to bed. Probably hopefully signing the contract for the flat tomorrow! If the estate agent calls me.
*Or maybe I am just really clever. Let's go for that. *nod*
So, I was on the Isle of Wight this weekend, and it was very nice and I'll post pictures later, but first:
I saw Sherlock on BBC1 tonight.
FFFFFFFF.
It was SO GOOD. EVEN CAPSLOCK IS INSUFFICIENT TO EXPRESS MY GLEE. SO WELL ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT DAY SETTING. (They use first names all the time, lol.) AND THE WRITING WAS SO GOOD. AND THE ACTING OMG. AND WITH THE TEXT ON THE SCREEN AND STUFF AH I LOVE IT. LOVE IT. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY FOR THE NEXT ONE? T__________T I'm gonna go find my Complete Sherlock Holmes and re-read the first case later.
I did kind of figure out who the killer was before anyone in the show, which was LAME. Maybe it's just because [SPOILER] those "Don't Take Unlicensed Minicabs" ads creep me the fuck out so I'm distrustful of cab drivers. Sorry cab drivers. >_> [/SPOILER] But really, it was kind of obvious, right? "Who do we trust even though we don't know them?" What else was it going to be.*
BUT I DON'T CARE because the characterisation was THE BEST. AND OMG MARTIN FREEMAN. AND OMG BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (WHAT KIND OF AMAZING NAME IS THAT ANYWAY) EVEN THOUGH I'D NEVER HEARD OF YOU BEFORE.
And now I should go to bed. Probably hopefully signing the contract for the flat tomorrow! If the estate agent calls me.
*Or maybe I am just really clever. Let's go for that. *nod*
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:CAPSLOCK; geeking out; sherlock holmes; tv
On Tuesday we went to see the first Gundam Zeta film at the Barbican. It takes some kind of skill to condense an entire episode into a two minute scene. It might not be the best way to convey plot or character development but, you know. It's a skill.
Actually, the film wasn't bad. The bits with new art were really pretty, especially. I've been spoiled now. Going back to watch oldschool stuff is going to be disappointing. XD
Before the film we went to a teppanyaki place where we had a pretty badass chef who made us an onion volcano!
Adam (Tim's brother) got a video of it:
It tasted delicious, as well.
Actually, the film wasn't bad. The bits with new art were really pretty, especially. I've been spoiled now. Going back to watch oldschool stuff is going to be disappointing. XD
Before the film we went to a teppanyaki place where we had a pretty badass chef who made us an onion volcano!
Adam (Tim's brother) got a video of it:
It tasted delicious, as well.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:anime; food; GANDAMUUU; video
Wow, I am on Tim's laptop and he has the screen on an insane resolution that makes all these pictures look tiny.
My Pokemans, let me show you etc.
Haunter and Piloswine are my favourites from my current party in HeartGold. :3
I was listening to this episode of PodCastle when I drew this. That has nothing to do with the drawing, but it's a pretty good episode.
Spaaaaace.
I'm feeling pretty good about my art lately. I've been improving quite a bit, and I also know hat I can get a lot better still.
----
I forgot to bring a book to Tim's house, but luckily he has a manga collection to raid.
I read All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga yesterday, and it made me feel feelings. I liked some of the stories better than others — I spent the entire second chapter going "What. What the fuck. What." but even so, I can sort of see where it's coming from. Sort of. I'm not sure. I really enjoyed the rest of them, anyway, and I'll think I'm going to read it another few times soon.
I also went through the first five volumes of Ikigami by Motoro Mase, pretty much in one go. They're good, but kind of a downer when consumed all at once. It's set in what I think is a near-alternative-future, in which a more totalitarian Japanese government randomly selects one young person a day to die, allegedly to make the rest of the citizens appreciate life and be more productive members of society.
The protagonist is one of the officials charged with delivering death papers to those chosen 24 hours before their scheduled time of death. But, at least at first, he only appears at the beginning and end of each chapter, which tells the story of what one particular person does with their last day. So, while it's showing you the different ways in which people react to their own inevitable death, and being tragic or heart-warming or depressing, it also slowly gives you a feel for the kind of society these people are living in and how it's shaped by the law. The atmosphere — the bureaucracy and constant fear of being overheard by secret police — reminds me a lot of stories set in the DDR. I think the next few volumes are going to be particularly interesting, as the main character's doubts about his job and his society look like they're about to reach a tipping point.
My Pokemans, let me show you etc.
Haunter and Piloswine are my favourites from my current party in HeartGold. :3
I was listening to this episode of PodCastle when I drew this. That has nothing to do with the drawing, but it's a pretty good episode.
Spaaaaace.
I'm feeling pretty good about my art lately. I've been improving quite a bit, and I also know hat I can get a lot better still.
----
I forgot to bring a book to Tim's house, but luckily he has a manga collection to raid.
I read All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga yesterday, and it made me feel feelings. I liked some of the stories better than others — I spent the entire second chapter going "What. What the fuck. What." but even so, I can sort of see where it's coming from. Sort of. I'm not sure. I really enjoyed the rest of them, anyway, and I'll think I'm going to read it another few times soon.
I also went through the first five volumes of Ikigami by Motoro Mase, pretty much in one go. They're good, but kind of a downer when consumed all at once. It's set in what I think is a near-alternative-future, in which a more totalitarian Japanese government randomly selects one young person a day to die, allegedly to make the rest of the citizens appreciate life and be more productive members of society.
The protagonist is one of the officials charged with delivering death papers to those chosen 24 hours before their scheduled time of death. But, at least at first, he only appears at the beginning and end of each chapter, which tells the story of what one particular person does with their last day. So, while it's showing you the different ways in which people react to their own inevitable death, and being tragic or heart-warming or depressing, it also slowly gives you a feel for the kind of society these people are living in and how it's shaped by the law. The atmosphere — the bureaucracy and constant fear of being overheard by secret police — reminds me a lot of stories set in the DDR. I think the next few volumes are going to be particularly interesting, as the main character's doubts about his job and his society look like they're about to reach a tipping point.
Comment, foo! // Comment at LJ
Tags:manga