Living Things

I have been a fan of Linkin Park's since I was in primary school. I first heard "In the End" during my "rebellious" phase. Even though I grew out of doing everything I could to aggravate my parents, my love for Linkin Park remained. They were my first real band, in my tweeny world of Britney Spears (cringe) and the Backstreet Boys (gag).

I have to tell you, their latest album, Living Things, is not the same Linkin Park that I first fell in love with. Which is not to say that this isn't an awesome album because it really is. It has Chester Bennington belting it out with Mike Shinoda rapping along. It's been a while since they did that. The last two albums have had one or the other, not both at the same time.

This album was super good, light-years better than Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns. But I still kinda miss their more "grrrr...." sound from Hybrid Theory and Meteora. 

  

Lego Animals

I was watching Euro News the day before yesterday and there was an article on a zoo in New York which had sprinkled a couple of Lego animals in among its real-life residents. I shudder to think how much effort this must have taken, although the results definitely seem to be worth it. 

This is a drive by the Bronx Zoo to educate its young visitors about the threat to wild animals caused by pollution and habitat destruction. I think this is a super cool idea because, seriously, what kid doesn't love Lego?

Here are some pictures of the exhibits:

Building stuff with Lego for educational purposes? Some people have the best jobs ever.

Anywhere But Here

It is pretty freaking cold in Pretoria today which has led me to play another game of "anywhere but here". Today I'm going to Turkey. The cool thing about Turkey is that it has some incredibly beautiful beaches and has a whole bunch of historical landmarks that would make this history buff squeal with delight. 

Here are some pictures of the places you cam visit while in Turkey. I think I'd sell an organ to be able to see some of these sights. They are that beautiful.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul                                               

An interior view of the Blue Mosque

Kleopatra Beach in Alanya

Bodrum Castle in Bodrum

Breathtaking stuff, right?

Oddly Sexy

Charlie Sheen is on the cover of the South African Rolling Stone this month. I've always been kinda indifferent to him, only really paying enough attention to shake my head after hearing about some of his more... outrageous antics. 

But this cover picture has forced me to reevaluate my opinion of him. I still think he's a moron. But he's, dare I say it, kinda sexy.

Maleficent

I was watching E! News the other day and I saw that Disney was in line to make a movie about Maleficent, the villain in Sleeping Beauty. How freaking cool is that?!

Even cooler is the fact that Angelina Jolie is going to play the title character. I'm not normally a big fan of hers (I was on team Jennifer) but she really fits this character.

In this movie, we're going to see what it was that turned Maleficent into the crazy bi...witch that we saw in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. It will show the events that occurred before she cursed baby Aurora, which will give viewers some insight into what she was like before she was this badass that we all know today. 

Also starring in this movie are Elle Fanning as Sleeping Beauty, Sam Riley (no clue who he is) and Sharlto Copley (a local yokel). 

Cartoon Maleficent

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent.
Isn't she scary?

Sadly for us though, Maleficent is only coming out in March 2014. It's a super long wait but hopefully it'll be worth it.

Born of Silence

Born of Silence is the fifth book in The League series. It's set waaaay in the future where people ride around in spaceships and don't live in different countries but on different planets. Not normally my thing but I really enjoy Sherrilyn Kenyon's stuff.

This book is about poor Darling Cruel (who is a guy) and his spectacularly awful life. Darling is the prince of the Caronese empire, who is forced to live with his abusive uncle until he comes of age (30). Darling does what he can to protect his widowed mother and younger siblings from his uncle's wrath, even going so far as to pretend he's gay to cover up for his mother's illicit affairs. 

Darling pretends to be this passive, effeminate guy when he is anything but. What people don't know about Darling is that he's a member of the Sentella, an organisation that opposes the League and it's brutal domination over the United Systems. Darling falls in love with Zarya, who is the leader of the Resistance. This situation is less than ideal because the Resistance is working to overthrow the Cruel family. So, like Shakespeare said, the course of true love never did run smooth.

This book was really funny in some parts. Maris, Darling's best friend, is side sidesplittingly funny. He was without a doubt my favourite character in this book. Plus we see some old favourites like Nykyrian, Hauk and his brother Fain, and Syn. But there were also some heart wrenching bits, like Darling's torture and his treatment at the hands of the aristocracy.

The League in reading order:

1. Born of Night

2. Born of Fire

3. Born of Ice

4. Born of Shadows

5. Born of Silence

Happy reading everybody!  

The Chronicles of Nick: Infinity

Aaaaaannnd I'm back! Sorry that I've been so scarce everybody but I'd kinda blown through my internet usage last month. The 'rents threatened my life and limbs if I made them pay any more money to Vodacom than they already are. 

Since I haven't been on the internet for what feels like forever, I caught up on my reading. I've read two books so far, both by Sherrilyn Kenyon. 

Infinity is the first book in the Chronicles of Nick series. I really like this series. It isn't out of this world brilliant but it is extremely entertaining. Infinity starts us off by introducing us to Nick Gautier (pronounced Go-shay). Those of you who have read the Dark Hunter series (another one of my favourite series) will recognise Nick and several other characters. The story is set in New Orleans, where Nick lives with his sweetheart of a mother. Nick is what some people would consider "trailer trash" and because of this, people aren't very nice to Nick or his mom.

Turns out Nick is a pretty big deal in the supernatural world. He has the potential to be a true hero or he could be the guy who ends the world. It all depends on the choices he makes. The Chronicles of Nick will be taking us through Nick's journey. Since the series is an offshoot of the Dark Hunter series, it would be fun if you read that too but you don't have to. It just fills in some of the gaps.

I found myself laughing quite a bit in this book and cringing at other times. Seriously, I hope Kenyon is just using her imagination (which is pretty twisted) when it comes to the mean, petty things the "villains" in her books get up to. I don't like to think that she's had personal experiences like that or has ever dealt with people that... bleugh.

As an aside, I'm really glad I went to high school here and not in the States. Not to cause any offense or anything but American high schools sound awful.