I adored this movie. I want to watch it again right now. This is the Japanese Alice in Wonderland, for those who don’t know. You need to see it.
I am just getting into this series of Batman comics. It’s a set of 13 comics, all based around calendar holidays, and they are dark and sinister and superb. Highly recommend.
And finally….
I just noticed the humorous little gem that’s on the spine of Bust Magazine. What’s up with magazines putting weird non-sequiturs on their spines? Nylon Mag does this a lot. I need to look this up.
Links of the Week Oct 8-14
Hey there! Didn’t have a lot of free time this week, so only a tiny list this week of things that I liked around the internet.
(Disclaimer: All images in this post are from a Flipcam, therefore, they are of the worst quality anyone has ever seen. I apologize in advance.)
Well, here it is, the entry where I talk about my first ever experience at New York Comic Con.
When I got there they wrapped the gigantic crowd through a labyrinth of rooms and hallways and stairs and then they led us through this gigantic room where we walked back and forth until we reached the end. And then who decided to jump ahead of me in line?
BOOM. Stan Lee. Hey how’s it going. One of the most influential figures in the entire comic book universe. I knew he was going to be at Comic Con, but I didn’t know I would be THAT CLOSE to him. I was freaking out. Here is the video of it.
I really really really enjoyed the convention. There was just so much cool stuff to look at. I also talked with some really interesting comic book artists about their work and how they got started and I really admire their talent. If I could draw, I would make comics.
I also had no idea what to expect, going into this on my own. I was all concerned on whether my outfit was too weird or if it was strange that I was going by myself, or that I sometimes I get the Marvel and DC universes mixed up and I would look stupid if someone quizzed me on it, or that I’m really a newcomer into this whole game.
But none of that happened, it was so refreshing how non-judgemental everyone there was. Seriously, they were all just happy to be there. You could be wearing street clothes, or you could show up in a full on Princess Leia bikini and know nothing about Star Wars and everyone would be okay with that. No inhibitions or shame. (But if you were to opt for the Princess Leia bikini, just be prepared for the barrage of people who will want to take pictures of/with you.)
Also, FREE STUFF. I only bought two things, and I was carrying around bags FULL of stuff. Mostly free comics and buttons and flyers and business cards, but there are some real gems in there.
Basically, at the end of the day, it was just an afternoon of fun looking at all of the crazy costumes and flipping through comics and smiling and talking to dudes about how much I love Nintendo 64.
Wow, gotta go to class right now. we’ll make this quick.
Ohmigosh, why are you so happy Melanie? Is it:
A. You’re wearing a ridiculous tee shirt today
B. Your really attractive boyfriend is going to visit soon
C. You have an internship interview this weekend
D. You’re just so gosh darn excited for Comic Con in two weeks
E. You just bought $5 tickets to see Girl Talk at your university on the same day?
F. EVERYTHING?!
Yes, everything. I am happy about everything right now.
Oh my gosh, October 8th is going to be a busy day for me.
Shirt: Brother’s (sorry Al I’ll give it back Christmas maybe.)
Shorts: Hollister
Shoes: Target
Characters of the 90's: The Powerpuff Girls
After I wrote Clarissa’s post, I immediately thought of a bunch of other 90’s characters -real and fictional- that were very deserving of their own post. Our next set of characters was an obvious choice, the illustrious Powerpuff Girls.
The Powerpuff Girls debuted on Cartoon Network in 1998, and the show ran until 2004. To me, this frame of time represents the heyday of Cartoon Network. After we were just about to grow out of watching Rugrats and other childrens’ programs on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network came along with a slew of shows that were directed at kids aged 7-10, but could still be appreciated by preadolescents and teenagers as well. The Powerpuff Girls was one such show.
You know how those opening credits went. How could you possibly ever forget it? It was drilled into your head at the beginning of every episode, so that as soon as you heard the first syllable, your mouth automatically followed suit. The 90’s were a time of sing-songy opening theme songs (ex. the Pokemon theme, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme, the Friends theme..), which really attached the viewer to the program.
This show really got me at a time when I was really really into things being magical and cute, so I was immediately hooked. Kindergartners with superpowers? Aww.
One thing immediately noticable about the girls is that they are stereotypes of how little girls act. We have the uppity, intellectual leader who thinks she’s daddy’s favorite (Blossom), the overly sensitive one that cries every episode (Bubbles), and the aggressive one who wants to beat everyone up (Buttercup).
….oh my god…that reminds me of an eerily similar connection to 2000’s pop culture..
The fact that the girls are stereotypes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They all had checks and balances on each other. That’s why it was essential that they always stayed in a team. Whenever Buttercup would go off to fight on her own (as she was prone to doing) she would never win because she was missing her two counterparts. And when Blossom thought she was too good for everyone, she would try to do her own thing, that failed for the same reason. And Bubbles….well actually Bubbles would never go off on her own.
That’s why it was hard to choose a favorite Powerpuff Girl. They were awesome as a group, but individually? Blossom was a leader, but she was also a snob, Bubbles was cute and sensitive but she was a wimp, and Buttercup was strong but she was mean. Again, checks and balances.
I always thought the names on the show were pretty clever. You had Sara Bellum, the Mayor’s sexified secretary who made more educated decisions than he did, you had Mojo Jojo, a maniacal little monkey, The Gangrene Gane who were gross and sickly, Sedusa, who was a seductress that used her hair to attack people. And then there was Him.
The humor of the show was actually pretty deep for the age group that it was aimed at. As a kid watching the show, I didn’t think it was laugh-out-loud funny (most of the humorous references went over my head), but seeing it when I’m older, I find there’s a lot more absurdist humor. As an “adult” viewing the show, it’s not so much centered around the girls anymore. The girls don’t have a lot of depth to them. Rather, it’s about the ridiculousness of the society that the girls live in.
The Powerpuff Girls show executes wit and satire surprisingly well, and it is all presented nicely in the form of a cutesy kid’s show. Thank you, Craig McCracken.
(PS: Did you ever watch the episode that spoofed the Beatles? You don’t remember?! Well then, ENJOY!)
A fair, a fair, my kingdom for a fair!
Yes, the title makes no sense. But it is Friday night and I have a cold and nothing makes sense right now.
Now prepare for a barrage of Durham Fair photographs.
CHEESE BURGER CAKE. How did it only win second place? That thing is beautiful! Reminds me of this cake from Rockstar Diaries.
They were giving out samples of EVERYTHING at the fair today! Samples of hot sauce, olive oil, fudge, energy drinks, tea, chocolate covered pretzels, dippin’ sauces of every variety (and I had to try every single thing, because I love free stuff), and the McDonald’s trailer was handing out free mini mocha frappes! Adorable!
Didn’t do the rides this year, or the arcade games. They are less fun as you get older and you realize that they just suck your wallet dry.
Saw this giant inflatable coke bottle in the distance and was immediately drawn to it.
I love inflatables.
And what would the fair be without baby bunnies?
We saw other animals, too, but the bunnies were the highlight of the whole animal section. I saw a rabbit that was bigger than my dog. That’s the stuff of nightmares. And those white rabbits with the red eyes? Those terrify me. Reminds me of the killer rabbit from Monty Python. Yeah, I’ll stick with the cute baby bunnies, thanks.
Delightful day at the fair. So what’s next on the weekend agenda? Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel!
(I’m going to bed now.)
let them eat cake
Well yesterday was kind of a big day. It is our wonderful university’s 75th birthday weekend (I know, a baby compared to most others!) and it kicked off on Thursday with a birthday cake from the wonderful Charm City Cakes. I really really really hope that the creation of this cake ends up on the show.
Oh yes, this is only a fraction of the mob that gathered. And it was hot under that tent. I kind of feared for the well-being of the cake.
But after all of that hullabaloo, I got my slice of Charm City cakes. It was a vanilla cake with raspberry and vanilla buttercream. Sooo good and rich. I think I got a slice of the unispan (that bridge-looking thing), the best part of the entire cake.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been really really excited about this for a while now. So it was a good moment.
As a new week begins, the nails take on a new design.
My advice: You don’t need more than a bottlecap’s worth of alcohol to wet all ten nails. And also, the smaller the newspaper font, the better.
The characters of the '90s: Clarissa Darling
I was a little bemused when the Vh1 aired the mini-series I Love The 90’s in 2004. My friends and I watched I love the 80s and 70’s (and all of their sequels) religiously. When I Love The 70’s ended, I was eagerly anticipating I Love the 60’s (which has still not been made) and instead Vh1 gave us I Love the 90’s.
Even though I was 14, I felt that the series had come much too soon, that the 90’s were indistinguishable from the current decade. Now that we’re completely separated from the 1990’s by the progressive 2000’s, I’ve embraced the decade of my birth as a simpler time with superior children’s programming. I was a child back then, but (probably starting around 1994) I became influenced by the very same mediums that influence me now. Books, TV, movies, and music.
The first ‘90’s style icon that comes to mind is the precocious Clarissa Darling of Clarissa Explains It All.
(The most recognizable Clarissa graphic on Tumblr. The pie chart is actually depicting what motivates Americans.)
Clarissa’s frequent use of graphics drew me in as a kid. They occasionally popped up in other Nickelodeon programs, but they were mostly the trademark of this show. As charismatic as Clarissa was, she did tend to go on and on in her monologues and the graphics usually helped illustrate whatever she was talking about.
And of course, Clarissa’s vibrant wardrobe:
Every kid in the 90’s dressed like this, but to a far lesser degree. There were kids in headbands, kids in ripped jeans, kids with weird graphic tees, kids that wore crazy jewelry everyday, but no one combined all of the elements into a true Clarissa-approved ensamble. She wore every single thing that was cool in the '90s AT THE SAME TIME. And she looked ridiculous, but she looked awesome.
With the resurgence of '90’s fashion, liberty prints, overalls, Doc Martins, even scrunchies (and other things that you probably banished from your closet the minute you hit puberty) are now highly coveted “vintage” items on Etsy and Ebay. (Side note: I can now sympathize with my parents at the feeling of things younger than me being called “vintage”. When they actually aren’t.)
But if you’re smart and you’re longing for the days of yore, you’ll go for the cheaper alternative and find authentic '90’s treasures in your local thrift shop, where Clarissa’s closet lives on.
That’s it for now. Expect more '90s characters in the near future.
(All images are screenshots from the show, Clarissa Explains it All, but I got them from the sites Pull Teeth, The Neave, and Ferg Face.)
