MP / Kelsey

Scary Disney? With Guillermo del Toro!?

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:41:48 GMT

This has the potential to be the coolest thing ever (CLICK NOW)!

Pleasepleaseplease do not mess this one up Disney! Kids need a good scare now and then, and I love creepy animation so please let this be awesome! 8DDD

Happy New Year! And my review of The Princess and the Frog

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:33:50 GMT

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and a happy New Year. I can't believe it's already 2010... I'm not going to be a teenager anymore in November, and that's something that still hasn't sunk in. D=
I don't really have many resolutions. I just want to get along with my brother better, attend more church events, update my deviantart more often and grow in my artistic abilities. Everything else is either not all that important, or I just don't feel like worrying about it. There are some things I'd like to happen, but I'm not going to feel like I've wasted the year if they don't. Worrying about things all the time is overrated.

Later I'm going to come up with my list of movies I've seen this year and which were the best/which I enjoyed most, but first I'll post my review of The Princess and the Frog, which I got to see yesterday afternoon with my mom. I'm not going to warn about spoilers because as long as you've seen the theatrical trailer you won't be spoiled by anything in my review anyway. Anything not mentioned in the trailers here is very mild, and shouldn't count as a spoiler.

I've been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw the trailer. Not only was Disney finally coming out with another traditionally hand-drawn animated film, they were putting a really neat twist on a classic fairytale. And I also felt it was about time we got an African American Princess. The more I learned about the project, the more I loved it, just like I did with Coraline, and John Lasseter, Ron Clements, John Musker, and their team of animators did an awesome job. It wasn't perfect, but it was still well worth the price of the tickets, and I believe it even deserves a second...third...maybe fourth viewing. And that's just in theaters. The main characters are great (independent heroin, hilarious male lead), the villain is fun and has got a really catchy song complete with Disney Acid Sequence (probably the coolest I've seen since 'Be Prepared'. Not better than it, but in the same range of coolness), and it's got amazing 2D animation that makes you go "How'd they do that???"
Not to mention, Naveen and Tiana are adorable as frogs. True, there could have been just a tiny bit more buildup to them falling for eachother, but the way the film handles their relationship is still better than some of Disney's older couples. There's character development, bonding through a musical sequence (it's Disney, it counts), etc.

Oh and in case you haven't already heard of this monstrocity, don't fall for the cheap (and believe me, I mean CHEAP) rip off they're actually selling in the DVD section at some stores (I'm looking at you, walmart). Video Brinquedo, a company in Brazil that likes making cheap knock-offs of popular films in the most terrible quality in order to make money, have already made a rip-off of TPATF. You can see Microsoft Sam freaking out about it here if you like. www.youtube.com/watch<input ... ></input><input ... >

Writer's Block: The Best Action Adventure Epic Ever

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:57:06 GMT

What’s the best action adventure epic ever made?

Sponsored by AVATAR. In theaters December 18. Buy tickets now.

View 243 Answers

Lord of the Rings. You can't argue...you just can't.

Roy Disney.... :(

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:34:59 GMT

I like to think of him as a hero of the Walt Disney Company and it's animation department. After all, without him, the Disney Renaissance likely wouldn't have happened. And the awesome "Save Disney" movement, and making sure PIXAR didn't just fade away....

And now he's gone. The last member of the Disney family active in the company, which he fought so hard for. Roy, you did your best to keep the spirit of Disney from dying at the hands of money-hungry, thick-headed CEOs, and didn't fail to act when you saw things going downhill. You're one of the biggest reasons I have such fond memories of the Disney films I grew up with, and you will be sorely missed.

Well, Fudgemonkies....

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:04:30 GMT

My resource page exploded or something and now most of the sources are missing from the list. o___o<input ... ></input><input ... >

I have no idea how I'm going to track down all those names.

Why must I be so indecisive?

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:51:55 GMT

Well, it's come to it. It's the time of year when awards get handed out to the best films, and of course I've had my eye on the animation category.
awards.omg.yahoo.com/blog/23-animated-field-up-for-grabs

So it's Coraline vs Up and TPATF.....

The only way to decide which to root for is eenie meenie miney moe. o___o

Icons, icons, multifandom icons

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:19:26 GMT

This time I have:

-El Laberinto del Fauno / Pan's Labyrinth (4) + 1 banner
-Coraline (2)
-9 (5)

-Credit is <3

-RESOURCES

-NO HOTLINKING! CLICK THIS IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!

1	2	3	4

I also made a banner to go with this set:

I noticed I accidentally cut out part of Coraline's pajama sleeve in one of my other icons, so I went back and fixed it. I also experimented with a different style and made a new icon altogether:

5	6

7	8	9	10	11

Oh, and this is totally unrelated to anything right now, but I went to Target today and got the 4 Disc Bluray/DVD combo pack for 'Up'! WHOOOHOOO! o3o
You know, despite the fact I don't have a Bluray player yet. I'll just watch the DVD included with it until I do.

Writer's Block: First Things First

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:46:19 GMT

What’s the first thing you do when you log into your computer everyday?

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Check my Deviantart. Forget myspace and facebook, that site is downright addicting.

Birthday!

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:41:32 GMT

I don't have any cool graphics or anything, but all the same....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH! :D
*hugs*

WHOA! O_O

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:16:46 GMT

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS WAS POSSIBLE!
Watch the whole thing! There's a dragon at the end!

MY HAIR IS BLUE! 8D

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:36:14 GMT

Woooo, last Halloween of my High School career was fun!
Fun, and really stressful too. I got manic panic dye all inside the shower and my dad flipped. Spent this morning and early noon scrubbing it out with rubbing alcohol and stuff. I am now banned from ever dying my hair at home again. If I ever want to do something AWESOME with it again (which I will.....I freaking love my hair like this! I wish I could keep it blue instead of getting it washed out!) I have to get it done at a salon or at a friend's house.

BUT....

It was really worth it because not only will I have awesome shocking blue hair for the rest of today, but also because while I was hanging out with my friend last night, we went to see Cirque du Freak. It was great, don't listen to the critics or the box office numbers.

I will post pictures of my costume later. Now, I must go to the laundramat (I know I spelled that wrong) with my mom because our dryer died.

Did I mention that I love my blue hair? XD

The Art Geek in me is now staring at the screen in horror.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:53:22 GMT

Ironically, I had just finished cutting out the felt stars for my Coraline sweater when I found this on Neil Gaiman's journal:

'Coraline' director Henry Selick leaves Laika Studio

.......

Okay, well...that was really unexpected. I'm just going to go hug my Jack Skellington plushie and Coraline key and mourn.......

I just can't get my head around the idea that Henry Selick is no longer leading the team of animators he's been working with for so many years....I hope that whenever he does his next project, he will be able to hire at least some of them despite the split. I just can't imagine him directing a stop-motion picture without the guys that worked on The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline with him.

Bluueee o3o

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:54:39 GMT

I am now safe from H1N1.
But let me tell you....
Two Hours in line, outside
Forty degrees.
Thin jacket.

NOT FUN. D=

Oh, and I've decided to go as Coraline for Halloween. The friend I'm going trick-or-treating with is definitely going to mock me. xD
But this means I have to find a blue sweater (saw one on Victoria Secret's website, but it has to be in-store too because I don't have time for shipping), something to cover my ankle boots with to make them blue, blue hair (be it a wig or hair dye), and a black cat plushie by Friday or early saturday. And THAT means I'll have to convince my mom to buy this stuff for me because I have little money. Maybe enough for the sweater.

The part that really worries me though is the hair. The only wigs of the correct length and color I've found are online, and like I said, there's no time to wait for shipping. Since I have short hair though (and I'm getting it trimmed on Saturday morning), I might be able to dye it. However, I'm such a screwup at these things I'm scared to do it myself. I could ask my hair stylist to do it, but I don't know if they have anything other than permanent dye at the salon, and I don't want to have permanent blue hair. Does anyone know if salon stylists generally let people come in with hair dye they bought, and just give it to the stylist to mix and apply? Or better yet, do they have semi-permanent or wash-out hair dyes at most salons?

I'm not sure which would be more akward. Going to church the next day with bright blue hair, or going to my AP English, History, Cooking, and Government classes on monday with slightly faded blue hair. XD

EDIT: My mom just gave me permission to use manic panic on my hair! Yes!

9 review and horrible movie popcorn

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:20:50 GMT

You know how people curse alcohol to the ends of the earth after getting a hangover?
I'm feeling that way about movie popcorn right now.
My mom and I got to the theater around mid afternoon to see 9. Neither one of us had gotten the chance to grab anything to eat (we were originally just going out for a hair appointment, and my mom decided to surprise me by taking me to the film), and the movie was supposed to start in only twenty minutes, so we went and got a large bag of popcorn to split instead of two small bags. The trailers hadn't even started by the time my mom and I got halfway through the bag despite my efforts to save some for the movie. About 10-20 minutes into the movie, my mom went and got a refill. And now, I've got a very strong, lingering taste of synthetic popcorn butter in my mouth. Also, about five minutes ago I discovered the health risks behind that stuff (apparently the fumes from the fake butter actually gives the factory workers a disease that causes lung failure), so....yeah, not feeling too thrilled with that synthetic butter.

However, I did like the movie. I think they could have spent a little more time on character/story development and dialogue, but overall I enjoyed it. And I liked the little nods to the original short, plus the added characters. 3 and 4 are adorable with their childlike curiosity and sense of mischief, 7 makes a nice double role of the motherly figure and female warrior, 6 has an appealing artistic-schizo vibe, 2 is the eccentric old guy you just can't help loving, and 5 is just like he was in the original short: the timid best friend. The only characters I didn't really like all that much were 1 and 8, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to. That said, I think it's meant to be symbolic that the two places the characters take refuge in are an old church and a library, while the villain abides in an old factory. On one hand you have spiritual knowledge that looks at the past to learn from old mistakes, and on the other there's the knowledge of industry built on reckless ambition and corruption. The machines are knowledge and power without soul or conscience, while the "stitchpunk" characters exist because by having a soul and using that advantage for the good of each other and the world.

The film is also full of great visuals. I love all the textures and imperfections the CG animators used in their designs. It's definitely a far cry from the overly smooth, plastic look seen in a lot of computer animation on the market. One of the reasons I like 2D and stop-motion so much is that you can see all the imperfections and flaws and texture of handmade work, so I was very pleased this movie tried to replicate a more realistic feel. Heck, it makes some of the detail in Wall-e look sub-par, and that film also used some very gritty texture.

Now, a word of warning: this movie is very cruel in a lot of places, and any kids that tag along should be notified that it's not going to be a jolly "Monsters vs. Aliens" romp (parent groups have less reason to complain that way). In fact, you should probably just tell them it'll be more like Coraline and they'll be prepared for some of the scares.

Finally, thanks to Erica I was able to find out some very interesting back story on the scientist in the film. If you see the movie, this link will provide some very intriguing details afterward. movie9.proboards.com/index.cgi

Icons to come soon.

Writer's Block: Clock Punching

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:06:24 GMT

What was your first job?

View 552 Answers

I don't know. No one's hired me yet.

I thought this was pretty cool.

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:37:52 GMT

11 Year Old Plays Pirates @ Yahoo! Video

School, and the Watchmen

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:02:36 GMT

Well, I've officially completed my first week of my last year of high school.
...
Man, it's weird saying that. It feels like only a few months ago I was just escaping from middle school and trying to start new as a Freshman. The "starting over" didn't take full effect until Sophomore year though. Maybe that's why it doesn't seem so long ago. Or maybe time really does speed up as you get older. Oh well, enough of that.

I cannot say just how glad I am to finally be free of math, science, and foreign language. Now all the classes I have are things that either interest me, or I don't mind so much. I'm taking two English classes, one on World Literature, and another college level English class for writing and studying philosophy. The latter was the class that I had to do summer reading for, and I already love it. The novels I read were good (I actually had to put Hitchhiker's aside for the time being because it made me laugh too much and instead read a WWII novel called The Book Thief.), and the teacher is really cool (also, he apparently decided to go into teaching after he met the English teacher I had last year!) . My brain almost exploded on Friday though when we started looking at Plato and other philosophers, but it was the good kind of thinking-induced headache.
Aside from the English, I have a US History class (with a GOOD teacher that makes it fun), a Government studies class, an art class, a cooking class, and of course orchestra and study hall.
I'm so excited for this year, but a bit nervous too. I mean, it's really the last year of high school. It doesn't feel like it, but it is. Of course, I don't want to leave without doing something out of the ordinary (or what's ordinary for me anyway), so I've decided that on the last couple days of school this year, I'm going to get my hair dyed a crazy color like blue or something. I've always wanted to do that, so why not now?

One last note: I just read Watchmen (like, a couple hours ago). I'm not sure what to make of it. I've heard that a person that hasn't really read a lot of American comic books won't get as much out of Watchmen as avid comic book readers, so that might be it. But on the whole, while it was well written, the whole thing left me feeling uneasy. And I also found it difficult to connect with the characters. The only ones I really had sympathy for were Laurie and Dan. I liked Rorschach because he was cool, but I didn't like his pessimistic attitude. On the other hand, it was philosophical and the portrayal of superheroes as really messed up people was new and interesting. Some things in the book are really haunting though, particularly the side plot of the pirate comic and it's significance to the "villain's"(still not sure if I should call him that) story. And the six pages of total carnage near the end.
Basically, I think it's good, but it didn't blow my mind away like "Oh wow, this is so awesome!". It just gave me something to think on, which is good. And some disturbing images.

I guess I just need to get over the shock of the scale in this story. I did read it in the span of two days after all. Maybe I should've stretched it out more.

Writer's Block: The Perfect Kid-Friendly Laptop

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:15:57 GMT

From the design to the features, what should the perfect kid-friendly laptop include? What would you leave out?

Sponsored by WePC.com. You dream it. ASUS builds it. Intel Inside®

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It would come with videos of kids playing outside and reading books. Then it would shut down and end with a screen saying "Get off your lazy bum, go outside and have a real childhood!"

Seriously, that's just one more screen to keep them in the house all day. Children should be riding bikes, playing ball, reading, and interacting with each other, not wasting away in front of some pixels. We already have videogames and TV. Why give them one more thing to hypnotize them? If the plan is to create a laptop with educational material, then fine, go for it. Leapfrog has primitive versions of that anyway. But don't give them mindless games for the sake of entertaining them. It's bad enough I see little kids with cell phones, texting away instead of talking.

Simultaniously Cute and Creepy

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:54:53 GMT

Here are the Coraline icons I promised. I wanted to do more "creepy" icons than what I ended up with, but I'm thinking of saving those for a later date. Specifically a post completely dedicated to icons with a spooky vibe some time in October. I need to keep working on making good icons out of screencaps with really low lighting anyway.

(also, this time I have the numbers placed above the icons. hope this doesn't confuse anyone)

-Credit is <3

-RESOURCES

-NO HOTLINKING! CLICK THIS IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!

1	2	3	4

5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

13	14	15	16

17	18	19	20

21	22	23	24

Feedback, as always, is appreciated.
And I wish 21 would stop staring at me.... o_o

EDIT:
Why is there a massive gap between my hotlink warning and the icon table? o.O I can't seem to fix it.

Writer's Block: Bite Me

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:29:01 GMT

From Dr. Polidori's Lord Ruthven to Stephenie Meyer's Edward Cullen, the annals of vampire lore are filled with attractive, charming bloodsuckers. Which one would you most want to be bitten by?

View 513 Answers

S P I K E ! From Buffy!

He would kick Edward's sparkly ass in two seconds! (No offense to those that prefer their men shiny) And look ten times sexier whilst doing it. With character depth, a roguish exterior, and that sexy cockney accent, I don't really care if he's trying to eat me or turn me.

I have a prankster in my hard drive

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:46:33 GMT

All the notes for Life on the Color Line have been filled in, finally. After reading about the rough childhood/early adulthood of a boy who lived in the 1950s on both sides of the racial divide, I decided I needed to read something a bit lighter with more laughs. So, instead of going straight to Call of the Wild, I'm going to start reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I'm really excited about.

The icons are going to take longer than I expected. About Wednesday or Thursday morning I turned on my computer and discovered that the 100 screencaps I had taken from my Coraline DVD were gone, as my computer somehow decided all on it's own that it should restart itself and delete recent files. This didn't bother me too much, as it gave me a valid excuse to watch the movie again, so I retook the caps and continued making icons. Last night , I dicided to work on a digital painting and the icons simultaniously, and all of a sudden I got the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, that fiendish error screen that has made itself the feared enemy of all Windows users and those writing term papers. Not only did I lose what little progress I'd made on the painting and all the screencaps (AGAIN!), but I lost some other files that I was actually planning on keeping for a while. None of this stuff was at all important (compared to an essay or something else related to my education), but it is a bit annoying. I guess my computer just wanted to have some fun and mess with me again like it did when it turned some PNGs into JPEGS a while ago. At least it's not being downright evil and messing up anything important.

And yes, I do often talk about inanimate objects like they're people. Feel free to question my sanity if you like. I already know it's not completely in order.
Now, I suppose I'll go and watch my movie again. (Maybe the computer likes it too and just wants to watch it again?)

ps. I should come up with a name for my laptop...

I have cake. <3

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:29:19 GMT

Augh, I forgot Walmart likes to edit curse words out of CDs. Sure, I'd prefer the writers to find other ways to express emotion (others have done it successfully after all), but come on, why do they have to cut that part of the singing out all together? Now my favorite song on my Coheed and Cambria CD doesn't make sense, all because Walmart didn't like 3 words (one of which was not even a curse word!) Why couldn't they just do what Guitar Hero did and turn those first two words into something else? That very same song is on Guitar Hero and they managed to edit it without butchering the thing. The lyrics still made sense and all was well. Now I have to find the original CD. And because I've opened the censored one I can't return it and get 7 bucks back. I still can't find where it says it's been edited. They probably hid that warning so people like me would still buy it.

I found yet another reason to stick to Target. </rant>

I finally finished that memoir. About 40 pages in I decided to take meowbooks advice and write the notes in afterwards, so I'm trying to finish that within a couple days so I can start Call of the Wild. I also decided what to read after that for the assignment: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Speaking of books, last week after walking out of Borders, I discovered a tick at the base of my skull. I don't know where that came from, considering we were in a city-type area, but...ew. Later we found some swollen lymph nodes on my neck, so we're watching it to see what happens. I feel fine though, and my mom called the doctor this morning and she doesn't think it's lyme disease.

On another note, my brother just turned 15 today. Yikes! I'm so used to thinking of him as a little kid, so this is kinda weird. He got like, no toys for presents, which is also weird. Nope, he has an mp3 player, a gift card, etc. My reality is more warped than usual now. o.O But I have cake. Cake is good.

Also: Another icon dump is coming up. I've discovered that I have the most fun making icons out of animated films, and the Coraline DVD comes out tomorrow, so that's probably going to be the bulk of what I post.

Writer's Block: Not So Genius

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:23:49 GMT

Which modern invention do you think the world would be better off without?

View 502 Answers

Disney-sponsored pop singers/bands.

Writer's Block: To Infinity and Beyond!

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:20:14 GMT

Are you interested in intergalactic travel? What would you hope to discover?

Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

View 481 Answers

Only if I can travel in the TARDIS.
And I'd like to discover a planet with a multi-colored sky, huge ice towers, and shape-shifting natives. Oh and tiger-people, because that would just be awesome.

ACT Score....dundundun

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:30:01 GMT

I got my ACT score in the mail today. I'm not all that surprised with the stats, but I'm not sure I like the score either. I did great on the English, especially the reading, but math didn't go so good. The scores weren't bad exactly , but they were a bit below what I'd been hoping for.

Alright, I'll come out with it. I got a 22. The highest you can get is a 36, so it's not terrible, but it's nothing to be excited about either. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that the math ection didn't drag me down below the 20 mark, but I feel like I could have done better. Maybe a 25 or 26. I'll probably go with retaking the test and see if I can't bring it up a little. If not, oh well. At least the portions I did well in are the ones I'll be studying in college.

Speaking of school, I still need to start my summer reading. I usually don't procrastinate on reading anything, but I'm still wary of this new note taking method the teacher wants us to do. Heck, the whole concept of reading a book and taking notes on it the same way you would a boring lecture is alien to me. I get writing in the margins, highlighting, or making up a commentary in your head, but pausing to write things down in a notebook as if it's a scientific specimen just seems odd to me. But who knows, it might catch on. There's also the fact that I still haven't picked my second "read what you like!" book.

I'll start tomorrow though. If I don't, I won't let myself open up adobe until I've gotten at least halfway through the memoir.

unimportant side note: I got to visit the local comic book shop for the first time in months! And they had NECA products for the Nightmare Before Christmas for me to fawn over. :)