An Hour a Day Keeps the Melting Away, Supposedly

As we've all heard, today is Earth Hour day, where we all shut down our non-essential lights for an hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

Of course, at 8:30 PM tonight, I will promptly turn off all the lights in my puny dorm room. With a room that small, there is no non-essential light.

But for the people in houses, I hear that many are planning to sit out the hour in total darkness. Way to go, guys! I expect that a lot of people will do the same, especially with all the hype and excitement I saw in twitter earlier today. It's always good to know that my friends back home are trying to be somewhat environmentally friendly, I think it's something they do to make up for the horrendous energy consumption every christmas. (Honestly, maybe they should do earth hour in the middle of christmas season to cut back on all that energy wasted on those giant, shiny Santa on the front yard)

Earth Hour began in 2007, when 2.2 residents in Sydney turned off non-essential lights for an hour. According to the statistics released by EnergyAustralia, the electricity consumption in Sydney for that one hour was 10.2% lower. The newspaper The Herald Sun compared this to taking around 43,000 cars off the road for an hour. Sound good for my lungs.

Of course, in the past few years, Earth Hour has grown to be a global movement. Last year, it was estimated that 1.8 billion people participated. This year, the numbers are expected to still grow. And not only from individuals, many renowned TV channels have been known to suspend broadcast during Earth Hour, encouraging people to turn off more of their utilities. Famous landmarks also turn off their lights for Earth Hour.

Earth Hour launched the campaign I Will If You Will this year. They described it in their website as a "simple promise and a challenge" where you can "dare anyone (your Facebook friends, co-workers, celebrity crushes) to accept your challenge and help protect the Earth or accept the challenge of someone else." You accept a challenge in exchange for people's participation in another program, if I'm not mistaken. The stuff people have promised to do sounds pretty cheeky, like doing the polar bear swim (what the hell is that?). My favorite has to be the one where some guy promises a 2.5% reduction in global CO2 emission if all countries join the UN En.Lighten initiative. Smart man.

Either way, Earth Hour is probably one of the bandwagons everyone actually should jump on. Here's the pledge, which everyone should totally sign.

We'll take an hour of darkness for the promise of a brighter sky.

Sadder Childhoods (and Happier Moms)

Who doesn't remember wanting to push the shopping cart in the supermarket for the first time? And sitting on the special seats they had at the back of the cart?

I think a lot of us could relate to running down supermarket hallways pushing shopping carts, but if this fad catches on, we might all say goodbye to shopping carts. Not that the idea of walking around unburdened in a supermarket isn't attractive, of course.

Welcome to the future, ladies and gentlemen, where ladies (and the occasional men) can shop simply by pressing pictures of products while they commute to work and have the desired products packed and shipped to their homes the next day.

Tesco homeplus supermarket had this display, resembling fully-stocked supermarket shelves, installed in a subway station in Korea, allowing customers to shop via their smartphone on their way to work/school/whatever and having the products shipped to their customer's address.

I have to say, amazing doesn't even begin to cut it. Imagine how much time it would save, especially since we all spend a couple minutes waiting for the subway anyway. What if we get rid of physical supermarkets altogether and just shop semi-online like this? Then we won't entirely violate the Cave Man Principle where we need to be physically able to touch things because technically we'll still be using our kinesthetics to shop, but it's just a lot easier without putting them in a cart and carrying them home.

I'm sure a lot of husbands/boyfriends would be relieved knowing that they won't have to accompany their respective ladies grocery shopping anymore. Ha.

I think I'd certainly miss being able to check off things from my shopping list by seeing what's in my cart, but what if we can sync our list with the online shopping list and have the system remind us if we're missing anything?

Well of course, this is practically online shopping, but the display and the feeling of actually shopping and picking things out probably gives much more satisfaction. For one, we don't sit around our computer and get fat, though we miss out on the chance to weight training by not carrying the items home ourselves.

Makes me wish I live in Korea just so I can try this out! No chances it will be set up in the NY/Philly/DC subway system?

Of course, it can always come to Indonesia...in a couple decades. We're suckers for trends though, it'd be a lovely change. I don't know if it'd impact the job market if we replace physical supermarkets with this though, I don't think the cashiers will be too pleased to be replaced by a computerized system altogether. I suppose the packing/shipping/customer service/personal shopper industry created by the new system could make up for it. Thoughts?

Via designboom

The Happy Bookworm

Jorge Luis Borges once said that he "[had] always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."

I was doing my usual stalking of articles in ArchDaily when I stumbled upon an article discussing the new library of the University of Indonesia, and I must say, I was quite impressed.

Not only was it unusual for any building in Indonesia to be publicized on a major architecture site, it was even more unusual that this building was part of a university campus. I felt really behind on the new buildings back home when I realized that the building had been operating since May of 2011, though.


The structure was designed by architecture firm Denton Corker Marshall and was selected through an open design competition. Here's an excerpt describing the structure from ArchDaily:

"The circular landform is eroded on the lakeside opening up an amphitheatre with mature mahogany trees overlooking the lake. As well as identifying the main entry, this erosion allows light into the interior volume. The mound houses book stacks within five storeys, located on the outer edge of the circular plan. Beneath an insulating soil cover and concrete roof, rare manuscripts, books and research/reference materials are stored in a stable ambient temperature away from direct sunlight. Solid stone cladding and narrow bands of glazing further reduce heat gain, reducing the air conditioning load."

The building collects rainwater on site, recycles waste water and minimizes energy consumption by using the natural light and natural insulation provided by soil and stone, hence dealing with water scarcity and heating/cooling issues in the library complex. The greeneries also boast the maintenance of existing plants and vegetations, some of which are types that require minimum maintenance, hence reducing the need for watering, etc.

Compared to a lot of building standards back home, this sounds like a revolution.

Here are some more pictures from Kaskus user mikoo:

The interior boasts ceiling-high racks and ramps for vertical access.

The back of the building, showing the soil insulation and light holes for natural lighting.

I hear there's an ATM and a coffee shop in the building; how convenient. I don't dig how the atm sign completely does not fit in the design. Neon lights, seriously?

Maybe I should've followed my mom's advice to find a college nearer to home. This kind of beats our Pattee library on design, I mean, the stacks are creepy to sit around in alone at night. But hey, our reading rooms are hella comfy.

Vincent Says

This cracked me up in the middle of the night. Via Geeks are Sexy

Treasure Planet

I think most people would have heard by now, but this National Geographic article got me super excited last week. This news totally had my national pride/geek nerves tingling, if that made sense.

As little as I actually know about outer space, I have to admit that outer space has fascinated me for as long as I remember. You could tell, if you saw how badly ripped my Children's Encyclopedia on the Solar System was. Then that year when I was eight, when NASA had the rocket to mars will carry your name initiative and everyone signed up on the website (especially because internet had just become big among us kids that year, it was so fascinating). Then even now, every time I go to the smithsonian, I always stop by the Albert Einstein planetarium at the Air and Space Museum to watch a show.

Pretty things in space.

Personally, I've always been curious about the theory of the big bang and dark matter and whatnot. That, and about the battle between the Sith and the Jedi, and how the Millenium Falcon flies. Oh, and the Death Star.

You get it, fascination of space, of sci-fi and stuff. Distant planets, aliens, etc, etc.

Back to the NatGeo article, it said that a team of scientists in the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany had found what was thought to be the oldest planet in the universe, formed less than a billion years after the Big Bang at what was considered the dawn of the universe. By then, our Milky Way galaxy hasn't even been completely formed yet.

Artist's rendering of the two oldest planets orbiting their star.

There's honestly a lot more info about the planets' lifespan and all that in the article, which I do believe will explain much better than I can about the issue.

Fascinating, really, to think of the existence of planets and stars beyond our realm of sight. More fascinating to think of how old they are and what seems to be eternity. Makes you believe even less in superstitious things like 2012 and the rapture and stuff. Of course, damnation by natural destruction led by human activities seem plausible, yet.

It is said that it is unlikely that these two planets will survive another 13 billion year, which I unfortunately will not live to see. Planets and stars are so incredible, they make you feel so small and insignificant. Even the span of 75 years is considered a long time, and yet stars live for billions of years. You would think you're relatively big in the equation of everything, but we don't even know the span of everything yet.

The biggest question, as always, is if the universe is endless. If one day you could really hit a point where you can't travel anymore, and realize that we're stuck in a sphere. Or we're actually part of an online game for some supernatural superpower or the sort, and the map just ended (they need to update with a new patch, please).

This is making me feel smaller than ever.

But back to the article. One of the things that amazed me the most was the fact that the team leader (this was, I swear, discussed in the NatGeo Indonesia article) was Indonesian. So for once, a rarity, this blogpost is a tribute to a fellow Indonesian, Dr. Johny Setiawan.

I creepily googled the guy and found his legit personal website. You think I only do that with K-Pop stars? Ha, think again. On that note, I haven't been able to locate tour schedules for BIGBANG's 2012 world tour. 

Of course the rest of the team is awesome as well, it's just that my nationalistic blood gets pumping every time I hear a major, world-changing achievement by an Indonesian scientist.

Always excited to spread good news like this. Yes, we are a fully evolved, non-primitive race who value intellect. And no, I do not ride elephants to school.

It's always so much more preferable to read these kinds of articles instead of reading articles discussing how inept development in our country is, which isn't entirely true, methinks. 

Unimpaired

Today the fashion industry is ever so brimming with new ideas, new concepts and new designers. There's always a new trend on the way, and everyone is constantly thinking of what's in season and out of season.

Here's a brilliant design idea by fashion label Xeni: Xeni Collection, a label that caters couture-quality attire for people with physical impairments. Their label offers garment specially made for wheelchair users and for those who find zips and buttons difficult to use.

Designer Ann Oliver is a former architect suffering from multiple sclerosis, which caused her to lose mobility in her hands as well as confined her to a wheelchair. Realizing that many others are in her position, she set out to help women who have troubles with conventional clothing. “I want to engage with my customers to design fashionable garments that provide solutions for as yet unrecognized requirements,” she says.

For example, for wheelchair users, the garments are cut at the rear to make putting it on/off while sitting down easier.

The Marianna dress from Xeni Collection being worn and the back view, clearly showing the cut-out.

And for the users who find buttons and zips difficult, Xeni Collection have equipped their attires with magnets to latch close their clothes easily. For example in their Jacobite Jacket, the buttons have been replaced with magnets, as seen in the pictures below.

I love how the Xeni Collection makes no sacrifices in style to accommodate the different consumers, in fact, they look as chic and classy as ever. While managing to adapt it to those who have trouble dressing themselves, Xeni manages to maintain the aesthetics of their pieces.

Truly fashion for the unconventional.

Via Ecouterre

Unemployed

This is an old image from toonhole that I just had to post because it always gets a giggle out of me. At least until I realized that I'll be graduating next year, and I've got no job lined up.

I surely hope that won't be me in ten years. That would suck.

Cleaning Out My Closet

So, it's been a week since the news got out and the hype spread and whatnot, and I know it's pretty late, but this post has been sitting at the back of my pile of blogpost drafts and I just thought it should go out to see the light of day...sometime soon.

But, as many of you have probably heard, Indonesia's Ministry of Religion have been on an anti-porn spree recently. I think it started with our infamous Minister of Communications or whatever his proper title is (see, I never get their proper titles translated properly), who went on his own anti-porn spree, allegedly having threatened RIM to ban BlackBerries if they don't make any effort to ban porn on their device.

Cheeky, cheeky.

But as the story goes, they're been trying to get porn banned from the net in Indonesia. Just like they've banned social networking sites in China (I hear). (Pity about those proxies, really.)

Campaigning against pornography isn't anything new, really, a lot of people do it for religious reasons. I just was hoping that our country hasn't fallen too far off the democratic scale to be weighing religion as the basis of our laws/constitution. Also, I just think it'd be rather pointless when I'm sure they'll come up with a way around it within a day or two. Really.

Of course, I do think that pornography is often demeaning and related to sex-crimes, etc, etc. We can go through the list, naming prostitution rings and girls being kidnapped from their hometown as modern day slaves, but there are a lot of (somewhat) respectable people working out of their own will and wants too. And that truly is a large crowd they cater to, imagine, half of the world population is male!

Besides, as much as I'd prefer my prospective lovers to not be enamored by porno stars, pornography is so common that you don't really think much of it anymore. I mean, it's kind of gross and off-putting personally to be watching other people going at it, but it's hard to find anyone who's never seen a porno.

Then of course there's the issue of it being some sort of a sinful act. It gets a bit worrisome when the government tries to make sure you don't go to hell for a minor misdemeanor, yes? I mean, it's one thing when your parents/school counsellor/religious preacher does it, it's just a bit of an overkill when the government tries to do it.

Anyway, enough about the anti-porno thing. It's not something I'm entirely against, anyway. See, what had me worried is the next move by the Religious Minister. He said something that sounded primevally misogynistic for 21st century (democratic) standard.

Here, direct quote via The Jakarta Globe:

“We think that there should be general criteria [on how women should dress], for example women’s skirts should pass their knees,” [Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali] said.

Well there's a hint for me to start cleaning out my closet. Off with ye' short skirts and hot pants.

I place dress codes in high regards, really, I do believe that clothes must suit the occasion, and that, yes, short skirts/shorts must not be worn anywhere formal/scared. Like to prayers and weddings. And the office.

But banning them altogether seems to be too much. I think there should be freedom to dress (appropriately). Of course, some short skirts are inappropriate for a lot of occasions, but banning them? Surely the women of my country knows how to dress properly most of the time.

Then again, a couple months ago, when a girl was raped on a public transportation, our city Governor made a remark about her wearing short skirts, which made her a target. I'm sure everyone's worried about safety and whatnot, but I don't think anyone who was raped deserved to be told that she/he was at fault. As a matter of fact, I don't think "she dressed provocatively" is a defense to anything.

I mean, what kind of shithole teaches its women to be carefully not to be raped instead of teaching its men NOT to rape?

"Girls, dress appropriately, otherwise it's your fault if men rape you."

Oh wow, I thought we got over that medieval mindset a good couple decades ago.

Really, you see girls lounging around in skimpy bikinis in broad daylight in front of the student HUB and it's not like someone comes up to them all of a sudden and tries to jump them for wearing such skimpy clothes.

The next time someone tells me "Oh, but our culture is different." to justify scantily clad women being raped, I'd love to punch them in the face. True, we have different standards of "scantily clad" and "public", but what kind of culture is OK with justifying rape? Rape is never justified.

Of course, the way some girls wear their skirts even at school these days are inappropriate. For the moral, self-respecting reason that you probably shouldn't let anyone see your knickers. But just because you could see their thighs, it doesn't mean you suddenly have a justified reason to lose all human sense and turn into some hormone-driven, nymphomaniac animal on mating season.

In fact, they could be in their birthday suits and no one, NO ONE would have the right to rape them.

I really do think dresses should be appropriate for the occasion, but there's no need to make us look like nuns because you can't keep your men well-educated enough to stay in line. By all mean, sir, do continue your quest to embed the moral ethics into our daily lives, but it'd be better if you choose your targets properly.

You could, perhaps, start by teaching the men basic moral obligations to protect women and not treat them like household goods. As far as I know, you shouldn't be able to trade us for goats/cows anymore. We might be a democracy, but beneath that glittering metropolitan that is Jakarta, the suffragettes have plenty of reason to come back fighting on the streets.

To end this post with a slightly less depressing take on sexism and gender-equality, here's one of my favorite comics from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

C-c-ch-chaos

It's really sad how I'm stealing this post from 9gag, but here it is. I heard a couple rumors on twitter about the demonstration yesterday, I guess they really did one. It is really pathetic how I found these pictures on a gag site instead of on the news, I guess information travels fast in the web these days. That, and I haven't read the news today. On the other hand, these are some nicely taken photos. This must be one of the rare days when I'm glad not to be home..

UPDATE: I called home an hour ago and heard mixed responses about the demonstration. Apparently a lot of people were stuck in traffic for a few hours more than they usually are, but my dad told me the main roads were emptier than usual. Not quite sure what's happening, but definitely not a 30% rise on fuel prices. Tsk, gossip travels fast...

Fantastic Baby

This is a very late post. End of February this year, the K-Pop band BIGBANG released their newest album, Alive. Of course, being the fangirl that I am, I bought their album off iTunes almost immediately.

TOP. The only asian guy who can probably pull off blue hair and still look like that gorgeous.

My first thought was that their sound had changed a bit, maybe got too synthetic for my liking, and much more like Western Pop than before. Then I started to wonder how TOP could maintain a straight face while singing boom shakalaka in Fantastic Baby. Of course, when you're that good-looking, a lot of things are forgivable.

In the end, after listening to the album a few times, I found the songs more likeable than I had initially found them to be. In fact, despite me wincing at the translation of the lyrics, I've been hooked on their Bad Boy for a few days now. Probably partially out of regret for not being able to go to NYC to stalk their shooting of their videoclip, no thanks to the three exams I had impending the following week...

I liked the suited-up approach to their last album, Tonight, a lot better than the crazy costumes for the Fantastic Baby MV, but I guess the craziness must be part of the entire futuristic theme. Too much like LMFAO costumes for me to like though, I much preferred the classier GD & TOP MVs from their debut album.

BigBang performing a song from the album Alive in Inkigayo.

GD & TOP in their debut album in 2010.

Not that that's stopped me from stalking all their new MVs and live performances, as well as random behind the scene videos. Especially ones of SeungRi teaching a bit of the dance moves from each performance: any girl would swoon. I like their live performances more than their MVs though, they looked cooler to me, especially the ones they did in Inkigayo. As performers, both in the vocals and the dancing, Big Bang gets better year after year. And all their songs are always fun to dance to, so if you happen to live near my residence hall, be warned. That crazy chick dancing near the window on the third floor, that's probably me.

Paranoiaaaaargh

As an aspiring writer, I feel like this meme explains how I feel most of the time when I'm writing something. Dun dun dun.

With a Bang and a Flash.

So another friend of mine introduced me to one of his favorite photographers. I'm happy to say he has officially become one of my favorite photographers too.

Maybe it's a tinge of nationalism, because we're both Indonesian. I must say though, his work stood out a lot compared to the many of the works I've seen back home. I stopped subscribing to magazines back home a few years ago and I stopped reading them completely when I left to go to the States in 2010. I don't remember the fashion photo montages to be anything special, so imagine the shock I received when I opened this blog and here was this fabulous photographer snapping fashion shoots back in Indonesia.

Makes me want to go home and send fanmail to this guy.

Here are some of his recent works, posted on his blog. Ladies and gentlemen, the works of Mr. Arseto Adiputra.

I love how he really sets the tone of his works by manipulating the contrast and the colors, like how the shoot with the suits had more subtle, dark tones while the shoot at the beach had bright, contrasting colors that really stood out against the gorgeous blue sky. Pretty, pretty colors. Somewhat mesmerizing to stare at. I'd say his works are revolutionary in comparison to the photoshoots I've seen in the magazines a couple years ago, but I might just be behind on the current art scene back home.

Lovely works, really, applaud him I must.

Of Monsters and Men

Recently, I've had the song Love Love Love by the the Indie Folk band Of Monsters and Men on replay. But the monsters and men I was talking about in my title is of an entirely different nature.

Recently I've read Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. Again, this is a friend's recommendation. I wasn't so sure what to expect when he said it was sci-fi/fantasy. I was thinking Star Wars meet Lord of the Rings, but the Night Watch didn't prove to be that epic. It was a lovely read nevertheless: slightly dark, but mostly comical.

I love how Duke Sam Vines always cringes when watching his younger self. And Pratchett successfully made me want to strangle Carcer. When I read the synopsis, I was afraid it was just going to be another cheesy, standard time travel story about love (and maybe some dragons versus cellphones gag) and heroism, but I'm glad I read this book. I feel like I've been converted into a comic fantasy fan, they sure are lovely to read.

Pratchett invites us to the Discworld, a world where law-enforcing officers are merely keeping safe appearances and where the single ruler is corrupt (and hegemony still exists). There, Sam Vines is part of the Night Watch, what he labels as decent men (too visually unappealing for the Day Watch) trying to make a living. Some want to join the infantry but can't. Some enjoy the free benefit of leeching off citizens for free meals. Some act like a gangster mob and demand payment for protection. And, miraculously, some genuinely want to protect the people.

Sounds familiar? These problems are pretty much ubiquitous in our own world.

The Night Watch makes us think, it criticizes the corruption that we ourselves face, but it also criticizes how most people in Ankh-Morpork (like those in our own countries), does nothing about it. Of course, a revolution occurs at the end of the book, though the revolution is more of a staged farce, with people like Reg Shoe claiming a Socialist stance but ending up with a Ruler who isn't must different from the fallen Lord Winder. Of course, this is what happens a lot of the times in our own countries as well.

Egypt, for example, practically ends up back in military hands even after a so-called democratic election is held after the fall of Mubarak. Funny how the world works.

Pratchett makes us cringe at the situation in Ankh-Morpork and makes us cringe at ourselves. He makes us laugh at the disorientation that the people of Ankh-Morpork face in their crisis, then makes us laugh at ourselves.

Lots of gags and comical scenes in Night Watch. In fact, you tend to read them in a serious tone, because the characters are facing trouble after trouble, but then you realize (a second to late), how funny the scenes are.

Duke Sam Vines is presented as the noble, near-incorruptible hero of Ankh-Morpork. After being thrown back in time, he leads his old Night Watch squad by replacing his former mentor, John Keel, who was murdered by a criminal that came to the past along with Vines. We watch as he takes control of the crowd, orders his man around and ultimately lead the revolution. See, those who know history are not bound to repeat it, and that's what Vines want to (and at the same time, doesn't want to) do.

The readers are whisked off to the fire of revolution, then to the incessant (slightly foolish) banter of the nobles, then to Sybil's intense childbirth, then to Carcer's murderous intents, to the Night Watch mourning their dead, to the cavalry deserters getting taunted by their grandmothers. The Night Watch is a melting pot of everything.

Definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone. Meanwhile, I'll be on the hunt for more Terry Pratchett books from now on.

See you soon, Discworld.

Pretty Cakes and Bloody Arrows

Continuing on The Hunger Games fad from the last post, I'm pleased to say I've depleted my stock of marshmallows. Send me some attached to a silver parachute, anyone?

More on the movie adaptation, I forgot to mention that I was disappointed that some of the scenes form the book got cut out. Like Madge giving Katniss the Mockingjay pin. And the mutts being some kind of respawns of the dead tributes. And the fluffy scene where Katniss tells Peeta that he doesn't "have much competition anywhere." I mean that scene makes me cringe, but in a good well-I-guess-that-is-cute way. But the style of the movie was great, it really brought the audience into the arena with Katniss. I loved the scene when they arrived at the Capitol, you could immediately feel the hype coming from the Capitol crowd. Jennifer Lawrence played Katniss' social awkwardness very well, too. I thought Peeta's on-air confession about his crush on Katniss was too melancholic, but the scene where he sniffs around with Caesar was adorable.

On the topic of adorable, I found these pictures via buzzfeed. It's a Hunger Games themed wedding. Pretty pictures. I couldn't find who the photographer/model/agency was who did the original post though, the article didn't say. Sorry about the lack of credits :(

It'd be lovely if they actually did a short scene of Peeta and Katniss' actual wedding on the third movie. On top of that, I vote a 76th Hunger Games be held to fight for the first slice of cake.

Direction, Direction.

Here's where I'll go from here.

I was thinking it over these past few weeks I've been absent and I figured it'd be best if I stop writing all these angsty posts about being lost. Of course, then I'd have to write about something else, but I'm sure I can figure out what to write soon enough.

I mean, I talk so much, there must be something I can write about.

On a completely unrelated tangent, I've been writing fanfictions again. Yep. After that ridiculous half-a-decade hiatus. Consider it an extended AFK period.

The recent stories I've written are on Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy, which I found quite interesting. Not as interesting as the insane hype that surrounds it though; I've never seen so many people in State College's movie theater. I've only recently read the three books, and only because two of my good friends fervently recommended it with an exact same list of why they like the books. I found it creepy that they didn't know each other.

First of all, I'll have to warn you all that I WILL spoil the story.

When I started to read the first book, I thought I wouldn't like it. And true, there was little description and the overall style was a bit too simple, but I quite liked the plot. I wasn't too fond of the overly perfect main character, but I like the idea of people fighting to death in an arena. Suzanne Collins' writing style also got better over the course of the three books, I found the third book much more visually rich (and poetic) than the first book had been. I liked the mentally-disturbed Peeta of the third book too, I thought that was a good change of pace in Peeta and Katniss' romance.

Although the love triangle slightly reminded me of Twilight, I have to say Gale and Peeta made a much better impression on me. Peeta as a baker was a lovely character, and Gale as a hunter sounded handsome. I thought Collins did a great job giving them both opposing characters and talents and I love how they both acknowledge their imperfection. I particularly love the conversation between Peeta and Gale in the Mockingjay, when they both somewhat acknowledge each other as a rival but laugh it off. I thought that was a very cute moment.

I wasn't too fond of the scene where President Snow told Katniss that he "[knows] about the kiss" between her and Gale. I thought it was too overdramatized. He's a president, not a middle-schooler. Not that I dislike drama. In fact I liked Collins' dramatic tones in the many battle scenes. Like the scene where Bogg's legs were blown off, the way she wrote it made me stop breathing in anticipation and flinch when I read the next sentence.

I was quite upset that Finnick died, too. I always like rooting for the good looking contestants. Hehe.

I liked the repetition of the Hanging tree song throughout the third book. I thought the use of repetition and symbolism in that one really tied the story together. All in all quite a charming plot, worth reading for a light read.

The movie, which came out last week, was also quite good. Director Gary Ross did a great job portraying the confusion and the panic of the first few sequences of the movie through the rapidly panning cameras, which gave me a bit of a headache (for all the good reasons). I felt that the movie somewhat decreased the depth of Katniss', Peeta's and Haymitch's characters because you couldn't really voice out what they were thinking in a movie. But the filmography was great, you got a lot of great shots that really portrayed the panic in Katniss' viewpoint. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson wasn't overly dramatic about their character, I think overall they did a good job.

In truth, the first book wasn't much of a wealth of descriptions, so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of costumes and settings, but I think the film did pretty well in depicting the book. I wasn't quite satisfied with the effect of the flames on her robe when she was on the chariot though, I think it could've been doctored better. I don't know if it was meant to look like that though, so maybe it was just me. I was glad to finally know what the Cornucopia looks like, though. I always thought it was a giant, golden horn protruding from the ground. I'm quite pleased to know I was wrong.

Now switching to a more superficial stance, Lenny Kravitz was a very good-looking Cinna. And I think Liam Hemsworth should get more air time to please fangirls.

I think Woody Harrelson should be given a fake beer belly in his role as Haymitch, but as usual, he plays the comical, annoying middle-aged man very well.

All in all, I'm quite excited for the second movie. They are making it, right?

Also, watching The Hunger Games on the big screen made me curious about Battle Royale. I heard it's quite similar, though Battle Royale is said to be much more violent and grotesque. Of course, The Hunger Games was also aimed at the young-reader audience.

On a side note, all that scenes of Peeta decorating cake made me hungry for cake. I've been getting fatter munching on marshmallows 24/7...which I will continue to do, bringing us to the end of this blogpost!

See you all soon.