This summer I consumed a fair amount of media while I was away. Plane rides around the world are pretty long. So, here's the list and a brief summary of my impressions of what I read and watched.
LOST: I really liked this television series. The first season kind of bothered me a bit because it had little plot direction, but the detailed character profiles help understand who these people are as the story progresses. I think it was probably a very frustrating series to watch while it was still on because so many things are left unanswered, but it has amazing continuity when you watch it all at once. The ending is very controversial, but I think it wraps the story and answers my questions. I appreciate that the writers tried to conclude their series rather than have it stop abruptly, as the fabulous Joss Whedon series did. Overall, I enjoyed watching LOST. I recommend it, but you need to be patient.
Brave: Brave was so good!! The plot is pretty predictable and not terribly creative to get its message across, but the execution is really fun. My favorite characters were the three younger brothers; everything they did made me laugh. Beautiful animation in the moment when Merida shoots the arrow. It easily facilitates conversations about if parents listen to their children. I left very happy. Make sure to watch past the credits! There's an additional scene.
Howl's Moving Castle: Now, this was not a first-time watching for me, but I watched this movie in China when I was having a lazy day, and it reminded me why I love it so much. The animation is fantastic, the plotline is fun, and it reminds me of the Animated Film Club from high school.
How to Train Your Dragon: I have not seen this movie until this summer, and that has been a mistake. I actually watched it three times in one week because I liked it so much. The animation of light, water, and fire is amazing!!! I loved the way they brought life to the dragons to make them transform, and the human characters were quite funny. The soundtrack of this film is superior.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More with Feeling:" I ended up re-watching this episode (and actually buying it) because I had a thought while frustratedly studying Chinese characters that I was just "going through the motions," which is the opening song of the episode. At this point, I can sing along to all of the songs and recite most of the lines along with the episode. I also watched a bunch of behind the scenes videos, and it made me love the episode and series even more. It's just awesome.
WIGS: This webseries, free on YouTube, is all about women in the modern day. There are multiple story lines about individual fictional women and they air one at a time. I started watching WIGS when it began in the spring, and I think there are eight out right now, and my favorite is Lauren. I highly recommend watching this channel, because it is extremely relevant and important.
Other Webseries I love: Squaresville, Job Hunters, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (seriously watch this!!!)
Anna and the French Kiss: This novel by Stephanie Perkins was a fun, kind of fluffy, summer read. It is about Anna, a high school senior whose father decides to send her to School of America in Paris (SOAP) for just the one year. It follows her journey through the year when she has to adjust to living in a foreign country where she does not speak the language, living independently, having to make new friends, and still go to school. She ends up falling in love with her best friend, drama ensues, and the it concludes. I think my favorite part was that I read about Anna feeling helpless because she couldn't speak French while I was going through the same thing in China. Highly recommend as a fun book!
Rossum's Universal Robots: I will admit, this was a book assigned for a class that I dropped and couldn't sell back. However, I decided to read this play after watching Joss Whedon's Dollhouse because one of the final episodes makes a reference to it, so I wanted to understand what it was talking about. The play is about a company that manufactures humans, but the humans are missing any extraneous parts, including free will, except over time the robots take over the world and kill all the humans. The play follows the humans in charge of creating the robots as they deal with both the business and ethical sides of the manufacture of people. It's good, but unless you have a specific reason to read it, it's less easy to get through than a fun novel.
I think that's about it for things I went through during the summer. I mean, in China I saw Peking Opera, an acrobatics show, and a puppet show, but I wrote about those in my China blogs, so I exclude them here. I'm currently reading American G-ds by Neil Gaiman, but I'm not very far. I like it so far, but there's about 500 pages to go. I've mostly been watching stuff on BBC in the mornings and Doctor Who specials when they're on. I'm super psyched for the new season to start on Saturday!!!!
Today is awesome because I put together a scrapbook and have Tae Kwon Do tonight.
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