RIP Yllas

My dog died this morning. Her name is Yllas and she is a beautiful German Shepherd who’s been in my life for over 11 lovely years. I use the present tense here because, regardless of what mainstream religions and beliefs say about animals not having souls and whatnot, I cannot believe that a creature with a personality and life as vibrant as hers could just cease to exist in some form. So even though I may not be able to touch her, or play with her, or watch her ears perk up in excitement when she hears the word ‘sausage’, I know that somewhere she’s able to run and play like she hasn’t been able to for the last few months she’s been with us.

That’s not to say that I’m not sad, I’m devastated, I’ve been crying like crazy all morning since my brother came to tell me she’d collapsed and that it was time to say goodbye. She’s been sick for a while and we all knew she wouldn’t be around much longer, but that knowledge doesn’t really prepare you for when you actually have to watch her being driven away and know that she’s not just going to the park again, but that she’s not coming home this time.

But though I do mourn her loss, I refuse to let my every thought of her be permeated with sadness, because ever since she was brought into our home on Christmas day 2000 she’s been helping us create memories full of joy right up until this very morning. I don’t think she ever met a person who didn’t fall in love with her; even people who don’t like dogs, or don’t like Alsatians couldn’t resist her when she turned her pretty eyes on them and demanded to be petted or played with, and even if they tried she’d just nudge her head under their hand or tap them with a paw until they relented. 

So instead of curling up in my bed and crying into a cup of tea like I did when I watched my parents’ car drive away with her 2 hours ago, I’m going to smile and light a candle in her memory and think on all the times she made me or other people smile and all the little characteristics and quirks that made her uniquely Yllas, and I’m going to share them with anyone who cares to read this because she loved people and she deserves to be remembered by freaking everyone.

So here goes;

• The way she used to nibble at the concrete patio when she was a puppy; that little quirk is what made my mother pick her over her litter-mates.
• The way she loved sausages – I mean truly truly loved them – and how even the mere mention of them got her excited. Whenever we had sausages for dinner we made extra for her or she’d just look at us all offended and make us feel guilty.
• How she got excited when it snowed and she could spend hours just running around in it.
• When anyone was crying or looked sad, the way she’d just come right up to them and rest her head on their lap and just sit with them until they’re done.
• Her ‘hyper-mode’; when she would randomly start running around the house like a maniac, peeking her head around doorframes until you moved towards her and then running down the hall as fast as she could then running back, circling the lounge and returning to the doorframe to start again; this could go on for hours.
• She wouldn’t take no for an answer when she wanted to be petted. She would force her head under your hand (she did this a lot when people were working on the computer) or she would poke you with her front paw. When she wanted attention no-one could deny her.
• She was the tug-of-war champion. I can’t count the times she managed to pull people from their chairs and drag them across the room until they conceded their defeat.
• Her massive ears; bigger than any German Shepherd’s ear had a right to be.
• We had to keep making up new words for ‘park’ because she’d keep learning what they meant and get excited when it was mentioned.
• She loved playing with water. Her favourite game was having people spit water between their front teeth at her and she got excited when she saw people take bottles of water from the fridge, expected them to play with her.
• She didn’t discriminate. Sticks, branches, skinny trees, they were all the same in her eyes and she would try her damndest to bring them home.
•   She loved having fallen leaves thrown at her.
• You couldn’t walk into a room with her in it without her rolling onto her back for a tummy tickle.

There’s so much more I could say, but I think I’ll leave it there. 

I’ll see you later baby-girl, but until then have fun playing with Grandad and all your doggy friends who passed before you. No doubt you’re already off somewhere taking advantage of being able to walk again to get up to mischief.

I love you so much my beautiful little girl and I will never ever forget you.

Everyday I'm tumblin'

I have tumblr now! Isn't that exciting... My friend hassled me into setting one up a few weeks ago, but I've only recently got around to properly organising and using it and... bugger. 
It's kinda taking over my internet life. My inner fan-girl just will not let me stop squeeing and loling at all the funny gifs and fandom pics which she just HAS to reblog and add her ever so witty comments to ¬¬ it's not healthy I tell you! But alas, I expect this behaviour will continue for the forseeable future so I shall post the link here http://gbgeek.tumblr.com/ and also on my links page so that you may share in my fangirl joy.

Now, I have to go get ready as I am seeing Avengers for the 3rd time in just over an hour and I can't let Loki see me in my current state.

Birdie out -

Dictionary Bookmark

Today, whilst splurging a veritable fortune on books in my local Waterstones, I happened across what is potentially the most awesome thing I have ever found in a bookshop; dictionary bookmarks. They’re the same size as a regular bookmark with an elongated keyboard and control pad composing the main body and a small screen at the very top which peeks over the pages when the book is closed. 

I almost had a nerd-fit when I saw them.

The essential premise is that whenever you come across a word you don’t know or understand whilst reading you can simply type it into the bookmark and it will give you the definition. I can’t even describe in words how amazingly useful and convenient that would be. Sadly, such awesomeness comes with a price-tag of £19.99 which, while certainly reasonable, I struggled to accept spending 20 quid on a bookmark when I had already spent over £100 today. 

I’ll most likely be going back to purchase one and stare in awe at it when I’ve had a chance to build up my bank account a bit, but for now I shall just have to lust after it from afar.

Birdie out -

Where is all the Loki merch?

I was in Cambridge the other day visiting a friend at uni and decided to pop into their Forbidden Planet store to check out how the Cambridge geeks stock up on merchandise. As I was standing in the queue waiting to pay for my copy of Dollhouse: Epitaphs* I noticed the racks of Avengers Assemble merchandise stacked on the shelves. As in the Forbidden Planet megastore in London and other shops I’ve searched, I failed to see a single piece of Loki merchandise; there was tons for all the heroes, I think even Nick Fury and Coulson got a look in, but no Loki. 

Now, Loki is one of my favourite characters in the entire Marvel Universe and my absolute favourite in the Avengers franchise, so I find this very irritating. I mentioned my annoyance to my friend and it was another customer in the queue who responded that her sister had complained of the same problem, like wise I’ve discussed the matter with several other people all of whom agreed that Loki was severely underrepresented in the merchandise front. Now, I’m well aware that there are plenty of Loki products available on the internet (I vaguely remember seeing something about a Loki perfume…) but that’s really not the point. I like to be able to fuss and fiddle with things and squawk about how “I’m not sure” before I make up my mind about buying them and I feel that I have been denied this chance and surely the fact that other people are having similar problems means it’s something that should have been addressed in Marvel’s marketing plans.

Well, now that I’ve got that off my chest I’m going to go sulk whilst bitterly perusing Loki products on the internet.

Birdie out -

 

*Dollhouse: Epitaphs is a comic book mini-series that ties in to the Dollhouse television show. It doesn’t add a huge amount to the whole Dollhouse plot, but it is entertaining and provides a little extra insight into the character of Alpha and expands on Ivy’s importance.

Acting out

Just got home from an introductory meeting at the local drama society, which I went to on a whim after hearing a friend was heading over after meeting me today. I’m having trouble deciding if I should go back or join properly. 

On the one hand the people were all really friendly and I’ve loved drama and acting since I was a little girl; I only gave up my dream of being a professional actress just over 2 years ago when I realised how hard it would be to get into acting as a career and dropped my Drama and Theatre Studies a-level for a more practical English Literature and Language course (which incidentally led me to my current Linguistics degree, so it’s not all sadness and gloom).

On the other hand, it could potentially be quite time consuming and gaining a First Class degree in order to help secure a place on a good neurolinguistics master’s programme will be my main focus for the next 2 years.

The play they’re currently producing is apparently much smaller and more sedate than their usual fare, so I figure I should wait and see how things are in the full swing of the season before making a firm decision, though I would so love to get involved in acting again if I have the chance.

If all goes well I may be encouraging those of you around London to come see me perform at some point. :P Watch this space.

Birdie out -

Abercrombie and Fitch

So I went to Abercrombie and Fitch for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago. My friend was super excited about introducing me to it and kept asking if I could smell the perfume yet as we were walking down the road, but I was adamant that I could only detect the scent of mouldering vegetables that seems to permeate the backstreets of central London... it turns out I could in fact smell the perfume :S How the hell are they popular?

The building it was in was lovely, all classical stone architecture, wood panelling and wide, twisting stair cases, typical of Central London. I was actually rather sad that it was denied its grand purpose in favour of being a base to flog a bunch of overpriced t-shirts in a room so poorly lit that you can barely see what you’re paying for. Now I couldn’t care less about people spending extortionate amounts of money on fairly un-extraordinary clothes, if wasting their cash makes them happy then power to them, I’m not gonna go off on a rant about feeding the poor or donating to charity or any of that cliché bollocks, because at the end of the day, if you’ve got the money it’s yours to do with as you like.  I’m simply baffled by how these places get so hyped up. I could get nicer, more interesting clothing from most high-street stores, without having to pay extra for a desirable label or brand name. 

Apparently the promise of semi-naked men is a draw for many, although all the models I’ve seen outside any of their stores are total butter-faces (does that even work for guys? Buthis-face? Buttis-face? Whatever, they have alright bods and average everything else, swoon?) so I really don’t think they count as a legitimate reason to fumble about in the shadows amongst a crowd of squeeing girls who look at you weird if you’re not dressed to impress and ‘dancing’ staff who really just sway awkwardly in the corner and get in the way. 

Honestly, that does nothing for me. I'd rather be in a shop where the lights are bright enough to see by, the music quiet enough that I can actually hear my friends' opinions and the whole place not be so crowded that I can't stop for two seconds to look at something without getting in someone's way.

Well I’ve been meaning to go on a shopping trip, I’ve still got £75 worth of gift cards from my last birthday to spend, but I don’t imagine A+F will be on the agenda :S

Birdie out.

The Amazing Spiderman Trailer

So I’ve just watched the 3^rd and apparently final trailer for The Amazing Spiderman which is due to come out in cinemas in July. Honestly, the trailer I saw in the cinema a couple of days ago didn’t really make me that bothered about seeing it but this one has definitely got me more excited. For one I’ve been wanting to see The Lizard brought to life since the previous series of Spiderman movies began and from the looks of the trailer I don’t expect to be disappointed.  For another the script writers appear to have included more of the cheeky sarcastic humour that I love from Spiderman in the comics, and which I found sadly missing from the older movie series as well as a providing a more interesting and complex back story than seen in the previous 3 films.

On a somewhat more speculative note, starting off a new Spiderman series that entirely ignores the existence of the previous films has got me wondering about where they’re going with this. Having seen the Avenger Assemble movie twice now, my friends and I have been discussing possible additions to the team for the potential sequel implied by the stinger. One of the thoughts that came up was that they would need at least one more flyer or someone with a similar ability that wouldn’t leave everyone helpless to the effects and limitations of gravity; Spidey would fit that part perfectly. After all he was a part of the Avengers in the comic books and Marvel did a similar remaking of The Hulk when the first Avengers movie was being conceived and set up.

Now, I may be completely wrong, but I will absolutely be staying post credits to check for stingers when this film hits theatres and I’ve got everything crossed that I’m right because this wittier, less awkward Spiderman would mesh perfectly with the current Avengers line-up.

Birdie out.

P.S. Happy Star Wars day; may the fourth be with you.

Avengers Assemble - As awesome as expected!

Just been to see Avengers Assemble, it was even more epic than I was expecting, and I was expecting something huge! As expected on the opening weekend, the cinema was packed and I was desperately grateful for the extra space and better view granted by my VIP seat, even if the Westfield London cinema is redonkulously expensive. I was slightly miffed that a foolish woman came in late and then proceeded to fuss over her seat right in front of me, blocking my view just as Loki appeared on screen for the first time; I’m a massive Loki fangirl so I was somewhat enraged and was not silent in my displeasure. At least the rest of the crowd were respectful of the momentous occasion and we didn’t have to deal with people talking all through the film.

So now I’ll do my level best to explain how and why this film is AMAZE! with a minimum of spoilers, which will be difficult because it just so hilariously quotable, but here goes…

To everyone who has yet to see it and has been led to believe that it is the “greatest super hero movie of all time” as per the rumours on the grapevine, you will not be disappointed. It was excellent from start to stinger, a fact that is due in equal measure to the excellent characterisations and script writing. The action started up as soon as the lights went off in the theatre and was kept pretty consistent throughout the whole movie, a combination of poignant moments and perfectly timed humour carried the story along even when no fists were flying, and a few sharply surprising events kept the suspense from falling (one particular moment left me properly stunned). The actual main plot isn’t hugely innovative, (villain plans to take over earth, heroes attempt to stop them but villain stays ahead of them, heroes eventually work together to defeat villain) it’s the subplots, subtle embellishments and the wide range of different characters, as well as the interesting ways in which the characters and their abilities work together that make Avengers Assemble so exciting.

Characterwise, we get the same humorously cocky Tony Stark that has developed through the Ironman films, although with a couple of character developments influenced by his relationship with Pepper.

Natasha’s skill set is broader than shown in her minor roles in previous films, and we actually get a chance to see her personality, which is nice, as well as some of her history with Clint Barton (aka: Hawkeye). 

Personally I felt Clint was the weakest in terms of characterisation, though this may be due to having significantly less of his backstory revealed than other characters (my friend suggested that a joint Black Widow – Hawkeye standalone film might have potential, which I agreed could work considering how closely their stories are linked in both the film and the comics). 

Bruce Banner and The Hulk instigate a surprising amount of comical moments which help to pull the movie out of his otherwise quite depressing backstory. His interactions with Stark were unexpectedly amusing and refreshing too, offering a little extra insight into both of their characters.

Steve Rogers (Captain America) is portrayed adorably in his attempts to understand the modern world and references to pop culture, and provides an interesting comparison to Thor, the other Avenger not entirely familiar with modern day earth.

Thor is quite different from his characterisation in his standalone film, slightly darker and more serious than previously, he also offers a witty humour that was decidedly lacking from his character’s previously more light hearted comedy. Like Natasha, we see more of Thor’s abilities than in previous films, with much greater emphasis placed on his ability to manipulate lightning, which I personally think was a good decision considering that Captain America and The Hulk both represent the super strong and resilient heroes and it could have been tedious to have Thor equipped with the near exact same abilities. Thor’s interactions with Loki also offer an interesting contrast to the other characters’ simple dislike of him and their brotherly relationship is depicted perfectly even as they try to kill eachother.

Which leads me to Loki. As I mentioned earlier, I am a huge Loki fangirl, both in regards to the Marvel character and the god from Norse mythology, and I genuinely couldn’t have been much happier with his representation in this film. Avengers brings much more of his persona as the god of mischief to his character, giving him a wry sense of humour that wasn’t found in the Thor movie which overall made his character significantly lighter and even somewhat more likeable. We get to see more of him actually fighting, rather than just angsting, in Avengers too which makes him appear even more awesome than he did in Thor (which I had thought near impossible – colour me impressed). Followers of the Norse myths will also pick up on a little nod to myth-Loki towards the end of the film that other viewers may not notice as significant (look up his interactions with the Dwarves in the myths if you want to get it). Tom Hiddleston’s ability to shift emotions so quickly is what really makes his character stand out and adds an extra dimension to his persona, bringing in the God of Lies persona in such a way that you’re never entirely sure of his motivations or convictions. I am exceptionally pleased to see that IMDB already has him listed in the Thor 2 lineup, which is due to come out next year.

And if all that hasn’t encouraged you to go see it then a 97% fresh rating on Rottentomatoes.com should do the trick, those guys are exceptionally hard to please.

But when you do, do yourself a favour and stay after the credits. As has become the norm in the Avengers series there is a stinger that gives a very strong suggestion of a sequel, or at the very least provides insight into the plot of the next film in the Avengers circle of films. The number of people who left as soon as the credits started rolling was actually quite surprising – have they not watched the other films? Did they not notice the pattern? Regardless the chance of another Avengers movie had my friend and I debating possible storylines and additions to the crew of heroes before we’d even left the theatre, so even after the excitement of Avengers Assemble calms down there will still be plenty to discuss and get psyched up about, though it will be a few years yet before we see the whole gang back together again, Ironman 3 doesn’t start filming until next month and if any new heroes are added they will likely have their own films to bring out before they hit the big one. Not to mention that Avengers apparently doesn’t even come out in America until Friday (which is amazing, the UK never gets the good films first O_O).

Aaaand I’m getting excited thinking about it again – I’ll be keeping a very sensitive ear out for info on the upcoming films, no doubt about that!

Now go! Go see this thing of beauty and be awed by its awesomeness – but don’t forget to stay for the stinger!