Posts Tagged ‘shopping’

Of vigilantes and hot, sweaty man-hugging

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

The SpiritI saw The Spirit at the Jam Factory this morning with Sylv. Since we went to the very first session of the day we had the whole theatre to ourselves! That was great. The movie—not so great, but still entertaining albeit on a superficial level. The excitement died down the instant we left the cinema.

Essentially the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is former rookie cop Denny Colt, brought back into the world to rid Central City of the bad guys, namely the Octopus (Samuel L Jackson). He has the begrudging blessings of the Chief Commisioner Dolan (Clearly Commissioner Gordon and Batman have a far healthier work relationship than Dolan and Spirit ever had…) who doesn’t exactly approve of the Spirit’s methods. Well, shock horror there.

I’ve always thought that Frank Miller is a mad genius but lately his work has been nothing short of confusing, bizarre and way beyond the post-post-post-post-modern. And yes, his misogyny and sexism is duly noted (Selina Kyle the whore much?). But in spite of all this, I still enjoy most of his new stuff since he dares to push his audiences to the limit. The only work of his I simply could not handle was The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Completely unnecessary and ultimately infuriating.

I have not read any of Will Eisner’s work (yet), so I guess my opinion on the film adaptation could have been much worse. Miller’s brash over-the-top style oozes long-winded, unintentionally hilarious monologues, gratuitous violence, obscure references to other comics and femme fetales sporting bizarre outfits and kinks. Did not expect (and yet not surprised) to see a Nazi homage/spoof in the film, with Samuel L. Jackson playing the mad Josef Mengele-like “experimenter” and Scarlett Johansson sporting a prissy dominatrix get-up a la camp!SS- she-wolf. Was rolling my eyes at this spectacle the whole time. It reminded me painfully of Miller’s fascist villains in All Star Batman and Robin series and The Dark Knight Returns. Eva Mendes’ character Sand Saref (which in my mind was sans-serif, go figure that) is painfully irritating even for a femme fatale, while Sarah Paulson’s Ellen Dolan is the “resilient” down-to-earth lady in the sideline. A scarlet woman and an innocent damsel for our swashbuckling superhero. Hoo-hah.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (I’d give it more like 2.85)

What was way more awesome was watching the X-MEN Origins: Wolverine and Watchmen trailers back to back beforehand. Bloody brilliant. I truly cannot wait! That said, I intend to purchase the Watchmen graphic novel, but am not sure whether I want the paperback or the hardback. There are so many newly released books related to the film. Talk about marketing for the weak-willed masses.

And breaking news: apparently a Dark Knight sequel may be set for release in 2011, as hinted by the film’s executive producer himself, Michael E. Uslan (also responsible for pretty much every Batman production in motion picture). I think I may be warming a bit more to this idea now…

Have spent nearly half of my pay in one day on comics/books:

  • Over and Over: A Catalogue of Hand Drawn Patterns – Michael Perry
  • The Perils of Pleasure – Julie Anne Long
  • Batman: The Long Halloween – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale
  • Batman: Private Casebook – Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen
  • Batman #685 – Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen
  • Amazing Spiderman #853 Variant Third Printing (the Obama issue, lolz) – Mark Waid, Phil Jimenez

Geebus, I don’t know how to save money…

Anyhow, some weeks ago I had applied for a web designer job at Lincraft, and had forgotten about it following my project with a new client, but I got a rejection email today. Ah, well. C’est la vie. I can’t travel to Clayton regularly anyway…

You know, after last night’s epic Australian Open men’s singles final, I am totally shipping Federer/Nadal. They are so awesome and so lovely! :D Can’t they both be number 1 together? :(

Nadal and Federer

TENNIS-OPEN-AUS-NADAL

Australia Tennis Open

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Posted in Film, Life, Rating: 3 | Comments Off

More Sunday Bargains

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

I went to the Coburg Trash and Treasure market again this morning. Only the weather was srsly stinking—miserably cold and windy and changeable to boot.

Still, I got a really good bargain—20 various sized photo frames for $5:

They’re probably the most common things you’ll find in these markets, but it just so happens I’ve been looking for some decent and CHEAP frames for my photos and artwork, etc.

I regret not buying these weathered vintage Mills and Boon novels though—they’d have been great fun to make graphics/illustrations out of. eBay’s a bitch when it comes to vintage items.

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Flea Market Love

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been taught the value of thrift, and despite my sometime dalliances with overspending, I am generally a fiscally responsible person—I baulk at the idea of paying $100 for a pair of jeans or the brand name of an ordinary-looking shoe when I can get something similar for far less, and I am wary of blindly following stocktake sales’ supposed slashed prices. So, it comes as no surprise that we loves teh flea markets! Not just for the bargains, but for all the quirky, weird things that you encounter! It’s brilliant for those days when you’re having creativity drought. I love retro kitsch, and there is no better place to find it than at a flea market (or a car boot sale, or a trash and treasure, or a second hand market, or the Sunday market or a thrift market, or whatever you like to call it). Apparently the world’s largest flea market, not counting eBay (hah!) is in the US, spanning from Kentucky to Alabama, 450 miles wide (about 724km, that’s almost the distance from Melbourne to Sydney!). God I would love to travel along there. It’d be like a road trip plus a shopping spree at the same time.

Craft BargainsI got these craft supplies at the Coburg Trash and Treasure Market (the one with the still existing Village movie drive-in, which is probably the closest to my house, and has a bit of variety) last Sunday. Haggled them down to $5 for all, but the savings are still huge since I’m always going to Lincraft and Spotlight. At least I’ll have enough eyelets and clips to last me a while!

My frequent market haunts on Sunday:

  • Coburg Trash and Treasure Market
    Coburg Drive-In, Newlands Road, Coburg
    8am – 2pm
    New and used goods for sale.
  • Rubble and Riches Market
    Leakes Road, Laverton
    Trash and treasure stalls
  • Pipeworks Market
    400 Mahoneys Rd, Campbellfield
    Open 9am-5pm
    Fresh produce, aquarium, pet shop, plants, furniture, carpets and rugs, homewares, giftware, technology, memorabilia, pictures and frames, mens, ladies and childrens wear.
  • Queen Victoria Market
    Cnr Elizabeth and Victoria Streets, Melbourne
    Closed Mondays and Wednesdays, opens at 6am
    Melbourne’s famous fresh produce market. On Sundays becomes a huge general goods market.
    * The Suzuki Night Market is also worth checking out if only for the lovely summery atmosphere! Begins 26 November 2008–25 February 2009!

There are plenty of other worthy markets, especially in the eastern side for more exotic riches, like Prahran Market or South Melbourne Market but I don’t go beyond my home in the north-west that often. There’s a comprehensive list of flea/art/craft markets in Melbourne here.

Have I introduced my newest tenant in my bedroom/studio/study/library?

Super hot action figure, no? If you remember, I bought it at Armageddon. I find myself staring at the extremely well defined muscles quite frequently, kudoes to the designer. Speaking of Batman, I cannot wait for Detective Comics #850, which technically should be released today, but we are always a day ahead of the United States. Damn.

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Posted in Inspiration | 2 Comments »

Holiday! Celebrate!

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

So it’s been a hell of a month lately! I finally finished second year uni last Monday. That Monday was one of my worst Mondays ever, and that’s saying quite a lot, but in amongst all the travelling from north to west to east to in-between, printing mock-ups (and muck-ups) and bookbinding setbacks, there was that massive shower of relief that washed over me when I set that folio down onto the desk in studio, and exited the campus with a somewhat triumphant feeling. The victory didn’t kick in until I was binging on glorious junk food in QV with Steph, and having a good nervous chortle about it afterwards. Not particularly looking forward to the end of November which is when results are released, but meh, c’est la vie.

Jim LeeMore excitingly though, Cam and I went to the Armageddon Expo at the Exhibition Centre on Saturday. I was totally not planning to go this year, but I passed several bill posters in Essendon with multiple Batmans gazing at me, daring me not to come, so how could I not go, eh? That was when I found out Jim Lee, THE Jim Lee, Master of All Comic Art, was making a guest appearance. And we know how difficult it is for the famous people I personally am interested in to come to my shithole of a hometown. It was a bitch lining up to see him though, worse than meeting the film celebrities, but it was ultimately worth every exasperating, exhausting minute. I had nothing worthy to say; I guess I was pretty much speechless. He asked if we were tired. He said he was tired. He asked one of the supervisors (one of the worst I’ve ever encountered at a major event) for “sodas”. I thanked him for coming here or something along those lines, and asked for a photo afterwards. It was all over in under a couple of minutes, but you could not wipe the grin off my face if you tried. I was Catwoman personified. xD

Me and Doug JonesOn a more lively note, Doug Jones was the better entertainer. He is possibly the most warm and down-to-earth celebrity I’ve met. The second we greeted him he was cooing all over us—we were “adorable” and he just “wanted to pinch [our] cheeks” (which he did). I’ve never thought myself as adorable, but there you are. I waxed lyrical about his role in Hellboy, and he was very gracious. He talked about the scene portrayed in the photo still he was signing, and I think I managed to maintain conversation despite my utter gobsmacked speechlessness. I think I meant to ask if there was a Hellboy III in the works, and what was it like playing a drunk, singing, aquatic creature. Oh well.  In short, he was brilliant. And the whole convention was really quite fun. It’s so cool to be a part of the geekdom, and having people from all ages speaking the same language as you. It was like the time when I went to the final Harry Potter book launch parties in the city at 9am in freezing July weather. A kinship of sorts. Marx was right about this stuff being the opiate of the people, no?

What I ended up with (quite an expensive but so-damn-worth-it haul):Armageddon Goodies

More photos at my Flickr page.

I’m participating in NaBloPoMo instead of NaNoWriMo this month. So I’ll be sporadically posting on both Eveninghour and my LJ. No more inactive Jen. ;]

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The Knight is Dark indeed

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

You know, Melbourne has an awful lot of brilliant independent bookshops, galleries and cultural avenues that I don’t know half about. Well, not really, I just don’t have the means to go to said places. I wish I lived next to Hoddle St, Bridge Rd, Chapel St, Brunswick St, Gertrude St or Clarendon St. Pooh. No, I live in a working-class suburban hole.

The Royal Melbourne Show is in its final two days, and the Melbourne Anime Festival (better known as Manifest, such a clever name, eh) has just kicked off. I cannot afford either, nor do I really care for it nowadays… although I should like to go to the latter just for all time’s sake. Or when I come up with a snazzy costume to wear. Perhaps next year. I was checking out the Show’s website which lists the assortment of showbags. Once upon a time, I eagerly waited for the Herald Sun to publish the exclusive liftout. It still does, of course. Just the other week on a busy morning peak-hour train to the city I was stuck between a delightfully hyperactive school girl and boy who were ecstatic when an old man gave them said liftout from his paper. Oh boy. It was a long ride to Flinders St…

Anyway, I was browsing through the utter crap when I found two Batman showbags (I pretty much surmised these would appear). The lameness and marketing scheming is just the same as it always was. Each showbag has a bunch of rejected factory items, barely dusted off from sitting too long in boxes, with value figures and then a significantly cheaper price.


Methinks the Batman Spy Ear would come in handy. Or the Batman Inflatable Mallet—you never know when you’ll be tempted to give an enemy a thorough pounding! Perhaps the Batman Sweat Band would be for more immediate use, given the fact that spring has sprung its springy self into Australia, and the intense heat is upon us once again.

A window sticker for $3.95? Are you effing serious?

It’s all very confusing, these concoctions of Batman. You have good ol’ Batman, then Batman Dark Knight, oh and don’t forget Batman Gotham Knight. Are there more than two personalities of the Bruce Wayne/Batman identity?

As for Video of the Week, I’m plugging my own! I made this 30 second clip for my digital imaging project; it was made with After Effects CS3 plus some help from Photoshop and Illustrator. The subject matter will surely not be unfamiliar to you:

I like yesterday’s Friday Five, merely for the fact that I can’t answer any of the questions single-handedly:
1. Who is your favorite author?
Why are we only allowed one? I suppose Paullina Simons comes close to being my number one; I’ve pretty much loved all of her books (although I have yet to read Tully, Eleven Hours and Road to Paradise; I is bad, I know!) I have favourites for genres:

- Classics: Dickens, Austen, Gaskell
- Contemporary: Sarah Dunant, Sarah Waters, Tim Winton, Ian McEwan, John Marsden, Tim Bowler, Nick Hornby
- Historical: Irene Nemirovsky, Tracy Chevalier
- Crime/Thriller: Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich, Alan Furst
- Fantasy/Horror/Sci-fi: JK Rowling, Anne Rice (earlier works only!), Jasper Fforde, Tamora Pierce
- Romance: Kathryn Smith, Sylvia Day, Liz Carlyle, Lara Adrian

This is only a select few; can’t rack my brains right now.

2. What is your favorite book/series?
I cannot stop at one…

North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
The Bronze Horseman – Paullina Simons
Harry Potter – JK Rowling, for reasons far too obvious
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Thursday Next Series – Jasper Fforde
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Persuasion – Jane Austen
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier
The Girl in Times Square – Paullina Simons
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Summer Garden – Paullina Simons
The Quantocks Quartet – Ruth Elwin Harris
The Immortals quartet – Tamora Pierce
The Song of the Lioness quartet – Tamora Pierce
The Protector of the Small quartet – Tamora Pierce
The Magic Faraway Tree – Enid Blyton

Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type – Michael Perry
The TASCHEN All-American Ads series – ed. Jim Heimann

3. Who is a book hero you most wish to be like?
I wish I had Elizabeth Bennet’s sparkling wit, Hermione Granger’s sheer brain power, or Mr Knightley’s never-failing courtesy towards everyone, or Tatiana Metanova’s amazing resilience, also the latter’s beauty; not to be crude or anything, but the thought is there when I read the passages, you know. I envision a modest yet goddess-like figure, very beautiful indeed. With an equally gorgeous man. Eh, fiction really makes reality suck in these instances, eh. I am one of those many Asian women blessed with a complete lack of chest, and all height and skinny arms and chunky thighs. *sighs* Moving on…

4. Who is a book character that you envy?
Hermione Granger—she gets Ron Weasley in spades, and she has an incredible brain and resilience in the worst times. But I don’t envy her situation—it truly is hard times.

5. Which book do you wished you lived in?
Ooh, that would have to be Enid Blyton’s Enchanted Wood and the Magic Faraway Tree. I would love to visit the Lands above the Tree, like The Land of Goodies, The Land of Parties, The Land of Take What You Want, The Land of Treats…

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Oh technology how I adore and detest you

Monday, September 15th, 2008

I am currently working on my PC at the moment-I haven’t been on this thing properly for what must be months! I work constantly on the Macbook since I have all the latest programs on that thing, the most recent program added being Adobe AfterEffects (I am finally learning how to use it in my digital imaging class!). Right now I’m listening to The Dark Knight score (I “serious”ly can’t get enough of it) on the desktop and it sounds like a sound system in comparison to the Macbook’s inferior speakers. (So imagine what a true sound system must sound like to my ears) There is an advantage to working on a 19″ screen than a 13″ one when it comes to print design… I hate how the PC doesn’t have a keyboard short-cut for em-dashes and en-dashes… it’s become second nature to me to reach for the Cmd+Shift+Hyphen keys. =/

I’ve been doing a bit of eBaying lately! I bought two items last week: an embossing tool (which should have got here by now, hrrmmm) and more excitingly last night I got this poster:

I aim to get all the Dark Knight posters eventually. They’re so gorgeous, especially the one with Joker behind the mirror wall scrawling “Why So Serious?” in blood/red paint/who knows and the ubiquitous Batman in front of the building brandishing the burning bat symbol. Am currently bidding on Batman: The Animated Series, Complete Season 1 DVD set but I don’t think I can get that. Well, who knows!

Anyhow, I totally recommend getting the Firefox Companion for eBay from Firefox Add-ons! It is totally awesome, and much easier to keep track of when auctions end, with nifty pop-ups like the one below:

I watched Hellboy during lunch–s’been a while since I last saw it! I didn’t realise until now that Rupert Evans, aka Frederick Hale from North and South, my favourite period drama ever, was in it, nor that David Hyde Pierce voiced Abe. I’d recognise that voice anywhere nowadays, having watched Frasier possibly hundreds of times. Anyhoo, looking forward to seeing Hellboy II. Looks set to be another spectacular dark fantasy.

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