I don’t know what to do with myself anymore

June 16, 2015July 16, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I started reading Game of Thrones in mid-October, and have been reading the series exclusively since then. I recently finished A Dance With Dragons, thus making official, catching-up to the series as a whole.

I don’t really know what to do next now.

I’ve been carefully watching the television series, not to binge too hard, as to surpass storylines that might’ve spoiled books, but now that I’m caught up to the books, I suppose the rest of the TV series is fair game, although there’s lots of allegation that some events of season five are supposedly spoilers to things that would theoretically be in the unreleased sixth book. So I guess I might avoid season five, although I have gotten to a point in season three where I’ve begun to notice some dramatic turns in the plot that deviate from the books.

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J.K. Rowling ripped off Castlevania II

June 1, 2015July 16, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

MomoCon related: to all like two new visitors I may have of people looking for pictures of themselves, I’m currently in the midst of editing photos when I’m not writing about nonsensical stuff like this. I didn’t take that many pictures at the convention, so check back later on this week, and they’ll all likely be up no later than week’s end.

Anyway, over the weekend, I found myself watching the tail end of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince on television, and I had this amazing revelation, when Dumbledore was telling Harry the general idea of how Voldemort had immortalized himself by use of horcruxes. And how all seven of them had to be located (and destroyed) so that Voldemort could be made mortal again, so that he could be vanquished once and for all.

Granted, I’ve seen the film before long before this past weekend, but I never thought about it until recently; but the revelation was that I had heard this exact plot before, and it was literally almost two full decades before Half-Blood Prince had even been released. It’s basically the exact same concept as Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest.

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Too bad I’m quite fond of my iPad

September 23, 2014July 19, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Because this is where I’d say that if I read another book with what becomes an obvious Mary Sue, I’d throw it out the window.

The definition of a Mary Sue is oft-debated and up to the reader’s interpretation, but for the most part, I personally see Mary Sues as characters in stories that are interpretations of female authors themselves, but melded into these idealistic forms that core characters of the story ultimately fall for.

Over the span of the last year, I’ve read far too many novels where one of the main characters are obviously Mary Sues. I’m not entirely sure why this keeps happening to me, but I have a tendency to gravitate towards novels involving people with mental illness, are spiritually broken, or are simply socially distant from the rest of the world. This type of blueprint appears to be the primary breeding ground of Mary Sue characters, because I simply cannot stop running into them. It’s probably because I’m a romantic at heart, and I like the idea of people down on their luck stumbling across the chance romance, but it’s becoming apparent that the chance romantic interest stands a high probability of becoming a Mary Sue.

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D*C 2014: Actually partaking in programming

September 5, 2014July 13, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Picture progress notice: I’m going to be spending the better part of the weekend processing images. If all goes well, then next week will be a series of gallery posts, from each day of the convention.

I know I’ve “bragged” about how very little advertised as convention programming genuinely appeals to me to a point where I really wish to participate in a panel or a show, or anything that requires waiting in a long and time-sucking line. The fact is, I still glance at guest lists and panels regardless, it’s just that I ultimately don’t bother with them once the convention begins. I’d rather wander around and take pictures and chance into running into friends and acquaintances as opposed to waiting in lines. It’s not to say that I’m not interested in them, it’s more the fact that the reward of seeing or meeting doesn’t outweigh my love for flexibility.

I broke this trend this year, ironically, in spite of my most recent manifesto about how convention programming doesn’t appeal to me, when I went to go meet an author whose works I’ve really enjoyed over the last few years, Jonathan Maberry.

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I Am Legend, southern style

April 30, 2012June 30, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

If you were to tell me that I Am Legend took place in Montgomery, Alabama, I would be inclined to believe you. This is a picture of downtown Montgomery, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and there isn’t a single soul in sight. I am literally standing in the middle of the street, with no fear at all of any oncoming cars. Because there simply are none. I really imagined that this is what Robert Neville felt like when wandering about in Los Angeles in the story, notating any dark and shady crevices in which vampires could be hiding in.

Apparently in the god-fearing south, and then deeper in, in Montgomery, they fear him just a little bit more, to the point where they go into complete hiding altogether on Sundays outright.

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The 2011 Book List

January 19, 2012June 29, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Amazingly, with the amount of things I’ve been doing on a routinely basis, I still found time to read a few books this past year. Gone are the days where I’d pound out 30+ books, but at least I can say that I read more in 2011 than I did in 2010 (18 vs. 17). As is kind of the norm for anyone who reads a lot, we tend to get pickier, and more selective of the things we read, and when in doubt, there are authors or subjects that we fall back onto. Such is quite prevalent in my 2011 list of books, but for the most part, I can’t say that I didn’t find some degree of enjoyment in the things I read in the last year.

The Book of Basketball

By Bill Simmons

A gigantic thick book that encompassed way more about basketball than my existence was aware of, but Simmons’ writing style and personality is one that appeals to me a lot, because it reminds me of me somewhat. But what I really liked the most about the book was the countdown of the top NBA players of all time, and that Simmons is as high on Tim Duncan as I am, and ranked him within the top-10 all time, which I can agree with. No-decision.

The Silent Man

By Alex Berenson

Gradually, I’ve been making my way through the John Wells series as I’ve obviously become a fan of Alex Berenson’s writing. So far, out of all of the stories, I would have to say that The Silent Man probably had the most abrupt and sudden climax out of them. It’s like you’re reading through the book, and you’re cognitive of the fact that you’re running out of pages, and the main conflict is not yet resolved yet. And then suddenly, a lot of hints and clues come together immediately, and then just like that, conflict resolved. But it was not that predictable, which is something I could appreciate. Win.

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