So, I'm sitting here listening to some of my favorite music and got the idea that maybe I should write a bit of an explanation. About what? Well, about me, I guess.
You see, I've been living in Australia for over 8 years now. It's a long time to be away from friends, family and all the things familiar to you. Visits home are great because I spend a lot of the time stocking up on things I missed and people and places I remember from my childhood because, I'll be honest wit you, as similar as Australia and Canada are...they are still DIFFERENT.
In some ways, I think it would have been easier to adjust to some things here if they had been more different to what I was used to. When everything is so much the same, you forget and begin to expect things to be a certain way, which means it's kind of a bigger jolt when it isn't. I gave up a lot of things when I came here, changed habits and what not, and one of the things that fell by the wayside for a long time was the parts of me that were 'country'.
Sydney is a huge sprawling internationally recognized city. It has its lower ends and very up market areas, its cultural districts and its trends. It is very commercial and forward yet still a bit backward and stuck in the past...an odd combination that has taken me a long time to get used to and it still bugs me at times. But it's very urban. The closest thing to truly rural Australia that you get here in Sydney is probably the Royal Easter Show, otherwise you have to drive for about 3 hours before you start to see more of the country heart of the place. Which is why, when I moved here, the cowboy boots, the big belt buckles, the turquoise jewelry and so forth all got packed away. I wanted a change and I wanted to blend in.
I eventually came to realize some things, though. I missed it and it will always be a part of me, no matter how deep into the city feel I get. I wouldn't exactly call myself a redneck, but there's a big part of me that rolls my eyes at some of what I see in the city. Spending my summers out on the family farm, life was so easy! It was quiet and peaceful and you didn't have to worry about makeup or getting dirty or meeting expectations. You got frustrated with something, you hopped in the truck or on the back of a bike and just went off for a while.
So, the country stuff came back because, as much as love girly things and dressing up, I missed the simplicity of my boots and jeans and plaid shirts. *laugh* And then the looks started.
I'm a pretty eccentric person and I do costuming. I'm USED to people giving me odd looks when I'm doing that. But walking into a shopping center with my cowboy hat on, a plaid shirt and boots...I think I got more stares than I usually do.
Sydney doesn't see their 'cowboys' often...and they don't quite look the same as North American ones do. Rural Aussies seem to be more heavy work boots, singlets and low brimmed dusty hats that MIGHT have had a shape at one point. They're beer cans in stubbie coolers and lawn chairs with cattle dogs panting next to them. It's a different image, so I don't quite match.
I grew up in a city but I also grew up in the country, around horses and cattle, dirt bikes, rodeos and demolition derbies. When I think back to the first music I can remember hearing on the radio, it was country. Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline...that was my childhood. Then came Reba McIntire, George Strait, Garth Brooks and then Shania. I had friends among the local First Nations kids...and enemies too. I grew up aware of the modern issues of the Native American/Canadian tribes and had run ins with some, which probably affected my thoughts about them for some time, but I was also fascinated with their history and their culture. I grew up hearing stories about Coyote and Grandfather Raven and How Bear Lost His Tail. I learned how to bake bannock bread and about pemmican because the explorers that founded my country used it to survive on. (Something, I just found out, that got picked up by Australia explorers like the ill fated Burke and Wills) I remember being invited to learn how to make dreamcatchers with a class of native students...something I've made many of since and never forgotten how to do.
As I got older, I began researching and learning about my own genetic heritage, being Norwegian, and learned about the Norse mythologies and culture. What I found was that many of the things that fascinated me about the Native American culture were echoed, sometimes strongly, in my own heritage. The art styles, the crafts, the reverence given ravens and the stories of tricksters...all have such strong similarities that I am no longer surprised that there was a viking settlement so early in history up in what is now Newfoundland. I'm sure that the cultural similarities would have made communication easier between the two groups, despite the language barriers.
The western country elements I wear and love have many layers of significance to me, these days, many of which I could expand on for pages but I won't. The connections to my heritage and childhood, my country and family being the gist of it. The stares continue here in Australia but I've gotten used to that, too, and it makes me laugh sometimes. I like shaking things up, a little.
X-Posted to LJ
Sep 19, 2010
Sep 13, 2010
Bullet, Not Death...Yet
I just completed reading the most recent offering from Laurell K. Hamilton in her Anita Blake book series, the simply titled Bullet. You would think we would be nearing a conclusion at some point soon, since this is book 18 of the series plus two side stories, but that doesn't seem to be the case just yet.
Certainly, events are unfolding and changing for Anita Blake and her troop of weres, vamps and other assorteds but not nearly as quickly as I kind of expected. The book deals mostly with the aftermath of the explosive death of Marmee Noir and, as usual, with the ever expanding and evolving powers of Anita herself. As usual, things don't go according to plan and there doesn't appear to be a nice sparkly happy ending looming any time soon for the tiny brunette and her many lovers but some good things do happen. For one thing, there is another emergence of the ever moody Richard Zeeman but this time some good seems to come of it. Of course, no Anita Blake novel would be complete without her jumping in the sack with a wide variety of people, both intended and not.
Having read these books from the very beginning, I remember when this girl was all about the Catholic upbringing and the 'not before marriage' declarations. While many of the books have de-evolved down to, essentially, slightly plotty smut, I am one of the readers that don't mind it too much. Ms. Hamilton does usually take time to give the story some plot and evolution and attempts to tie the sex in with what is actually happening. There are reasons for most of it, anyway. And had we spent the last dozen or so books still dealing with Anita's original moralistic hang ups, I probably would have stopped reading by now because there is only so much pent up sexual tension a person can read before going nuts. *coughtwilightcough* I know there were quite a few readers who were turned off the books over the years because of the sex but I find that easier to handle than the excessively puritan ideals would have been. If Anita had been surrounded by all these gorgeous and available men all this time and had NOT gotten laid, I wouldn't have found her very realistic and would have wanted to strangle her. Really. :)
Anyway, as far as books go, it was an enjoyable read for someone who has been a constant fan of the series. It doesn't give quite as much story as I might have liked and things are starting to seem a bit slow in coming to fruition, but if things pick up really well in the next book then everything should be fine. This could just be the small lull before the shit storm. I'm kind of hoping it is because, as much as I enjoy her writing, there is only so long Ms. Hamilton can milk this cash cow before even her most devoted readers jump ship.
Oh, and if you're someone completely new to the series, DO NOT start here! *laugh* Not only might you be turned off by the story but you'll probably be a bit confused. I do very much recommend going back to read the first books where Anita's life is all about raising zombies, helping out the police and ganking the occasional psychotic evil vampire. You just may want to stop reading by about book 8 or 9 because that's when things really start to go a little Harlequin fantasy romance...in full detail.
Certainly, events are unfolding and changing for Anita Blake and her troop of weres, vamps and other assorteds but not nearly as quickly as I kind of expected. The book deals mostly with the aftermath of the explosive death of Marmee Noir and, as usual, with the ever expanding and evolving powers of Anita herself. As usual, things don't go according to plan and there doesn't appear to be a nice sparkly happy ending looming any time soon for the tiny brunette and her many lovers but some good things do happen. For one thing, there is another emergence of the ever moody Richard Zeeman but this time some good seems to come of it. Of course, no Anita Blake novel would be complete without her jumping in the sack with a wide variety of people, both intended and not.
Having read these books from the very beginning, I remember when this girl was all about the Catholic upbringing and the 'not before marriage' declarations. While many of the books have de-evolved down to, essentially, slightly plotty smut, I am one of the readers that don't mind it too much. Ms. Hamilton does usually take time to give the story some plot and evolution and attempts to tie the sex in with what is actually happening. There are reasons for most of it, anyway. And had we spent the last dozen or so books still dealing with Anita's original moralistic hang ups, I probably would have stopped reading by now because there is only so much pent up sexual tension a person can read before going nuts. *coughtwilightcough* I know there were quite a few readers who were turned off the books over the years because of the sex but I find that easier to handle than the excessively puritan ideals would have been. If Anita had been surrounded by all these gorgeous and available men all this time and had NOT gotten laid, I wouldn't have found her very realistic and would have wanted to strangle her. Really. :)
Anyway, as far as books go, it was an enjoyable read for someone who has been a constant fan of the series. It doesn't give quite as much story as I might have liked and things are starting to seem a bit slow in coming to fruition, but if things pick up really well in the next book then everything should be fine. This could just be the small lull before the shit storm. I'm kind of hoping it is because, as much as I enjoy her writing, there is only so long Ms. Hamilton can milk this cash cow before even her most devoted readers jump ship.
Oh, and if you're someone completely new to the series, DO NOT start here! *laugh* Not only might you be turned off by the story but you'll probably be a bit confused. I do very much recommend going back to read the first books where Anita's life is all about raising zombies, helping out the police and ganking the occasional psychotic evil vampire. You just may want to stop reading by about book 8 or 9 because that's when things really start to go a little Harlequin fantasy romance...in full detail.
Sep 4, 2010
Updates & Thoughts
Just realized that it has been a while since I last updated this so I figured I should get off my lazy butt and do something about that.
I had sort of meant to do some movie reviews, one for Inception and one for The Expendables, but it seems silly to do it now. Plus, do I REALLY need to tell everyone to go watch Inception? I mean, really, I think word of mouth did a great job on its own in getting people out to see that flick. Talk about a bit of a mind bender but I did really enjoy it. Not something I think I would watch over and over again but definitely worth a couple watches. The second time you see it, you notice different things, pick up stuff you missed on the first go around. I do recommend going to YouTube, though, and looking up an interesting little video regarding the main musical cue in the film. You know that deep, booming sound they use for the ads? Yah, has a very interesting connection with a certain Edith Pief song...the same song they use as a 'wake up' cue in the film!! The film is chock full of connections like that. Oh, like the girl who plays the wife? Is well known for her role in another film as...wait for it...Edith Pief. The layers (ha ha, get it? Layers...) of this film are kind of insane. I love the girl named Ariadne, though. I mean...she's the maze maker, right? Well, the mythological lore is that Ariadne was the one who gave Theseus the ball of thread to help make his way through the Minotaur's MAZE. Like I said, layers.
Go watch it, if you haven't yet! Bloody hell. *laugh*
Okay, so mini review there. :P And go watch Expendables because it's fun and funny and just great to see so many major action stars in one flick. It's a huge, mindless, testosterone filled blow up fest but entertaining.
Meanwhile, still using the ipad...it goes everywhere with me and is again the instrument of my current blogging. So far, the only thing I think I wish I could change is to make it just that tiny bit more computer like. To be able to access files and folders a bit would be good and word processing situations seem to be a tiny bit of a let down but that hasn't been an issue for me yet. Oh yah, that and the whole no directional arrows on the internal keyboard. That's still a pain once in a while but they may change that with a firmware update. Otherwise, all is good. I think I've become surgically attached to the damn thing, though. Guess I can't make too many cracks about people and they're iphones now but at least this is, technically, an actual computer. *shrugs* Need to hunt down a different bag/backpack thingy, something that will carry all of my purse gear and the ipad at once if I need to. Much easier for traveling because atm I'm carrying my purse and this in a separate shoulder bag. Easy but still an extra bag.
Oooh, got a look at the new ipod Nano's! I'm drooling, I will admit it. I love my Nano but these new ones are TINY! Along with a full tiny touch screen, it clips on and is about half the size of the current Nano. Just another toy to add to my list of things to get as soon as I can.
M's been laughing lately. I'm not a major tech head but I guess I look a little like one now when at my desk in the office. I have the laptop open, the ipad docked with the external keyboard, my cellphone next to me...all I need is some sort of uber cool over-head display and my set up would look awesome. Maybe when M gets around to updating his Mac monitor, I'll snarf the older one and put it on an arm. Yes...plans I have. *does evil steepled fingers*
I have three books to read through right now so when those are done, I'll post reviews on them. One is the newest Anita Blake novel, Bullet, one is called Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder and the third is the newest vamp diaries book from L.J. Smith. While not a huge fan of the show, I was a fan of Smith's books as a teen so it's funny to see them back in print and have her writing for them again. Makes me curious so I'll give it a go. Just too bad they haven't decided to reprint her Secret Circle books as well. Maybe soon.
That's all for now. Will attempt to not leave it so long again. I've had this blog just over a year now and still haven't done too much with it but I'm slowly feeling my way along.
PS...using the Kindle app on ipad? Lots of fun and SO convienient. I still like to buy certain books for the collection physically but others are great as digital Kindle books...and no shelf space required! I imagine the physical Kindle, which I almost bought prior to getting the ipad, is almost as cool. :)
I had sort of meant to do some movie reviews, one for Inception and one for The Expendables, but it seems silly to do it now. Plus, do I REALLY need to tell everyone to go watch Inception? I mean, really, I think word of mouth did a great job on its own in getting people out to see that flick. Talk about a bit of a mind bender but I did really enjoy it. Not something I think I would watch over and over again but definitely worth a couple watches. The second time you see it, you notice different things, pick up stuff you missed on the first go around. I do recommend going to YouTube, though, and looking up an interesting little video regarding the main musical cue in the film. You know that deep, booming sound they use for the ads? Yah, has a very interesting connection with a certain Edith Pief song...the same song they use as a 'wake up' cue in the film!! The film is chock full of connections like that. Oh, like the girl who plays the wife? Is well known for her role in another film as...wait for it...Edith Pief. The layers (ha ha, get it? Layers...) of this film are kind of insane. I love the girl named Ariadne, though. I mean...she's the maze maker, right? Well, the mythological lore is that Ariadne was the one who gave Theseus the ball of thread to help make his way through the Minotaur's MAZE. Like I said, layers.
Go watch it, if you haven't yet! Bloody hell. *laugh*
Okay, so mini review there. :P And go watch Expendables because it's fun and funny and just great to see so many major action stars in one flick. It's a huge, mindless, testosterone filled blow up fest but entertaining.
Meanwhile, still using the ipad...it goes everywhere with me and is again the instrument of my current blogging. So far, the only thing I think I wish I could change is to make it just that tiny bit more computer like. To be able to access files and folders a bit would be good and word processing situations seem to be a tiny bit of a let down but that hasn't been an issue for me yet. Oh yah, that and the whole no directional arrows on the internal keyboard. That's still a pain once in a while but they may change that with a firmware update. Otherwise, all is good. I think I've become surgically attached to the damn thing, though. Guess I can't make too many cracks about people and they're iphones now but at least this is, technically, an actual computer. *shrugs* Need to hunt down a different bag/backpack thingy, something that will carry all of my purse gear and the ipad at once if I need to. Much easier for traveling because atm I'm carrying my purse and this in a separate shoulder bag. Easy but still an extra bag.
Oooh, got a look at the new ipod Nano's! I'm drooling, I will admit it. I love my Nano but these new ones are TINY! Along with a full tiny touch screen, it clips on and is about half the size of the current Nano. Just another toy to add to my list of things to get as soon as I can.
M's been laughing lately. I'm not a major tech head but I guess I look a little like one now when at my desk in the office. I have the laptop open, the ipad docked with the external keyboard, my cellphone next to me...all I need is some sort of uber cool over-head display and my set up would look awesome. Maybe when M gets around to updating his Mac monitor, I'll snarf the older one and put it on an arm. Yes...plans I have. *does evil steepled fingers*
I have three books to read through right now so when those are done, I'll post reviews on them. One is the newest Anita Blake novel, Bullet, one is called Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder and the third is the newest vamp diaries book from L.J. Smith. While not a huge fan of the show, I was a fan of Smith's books as a teen so it's funny to see them back in print and have her writing for them again. Makes me curious so I'll give it a go. Just too bad they haven't decided to reprint her Secret Circle books as well. Maybe soon.
That's all for now. Will attempt to not leave it so long again. I've had this blog just over a year now and still haven't done too much with it but I'm slowly feeling my way along.
PS...using the Kindle app on ipad? Lots of fun and SO convienient. I still like to buy certain books for the collection physically but others are great as digital Kindle books...and no shelf space required! I imagine the physical Kindle, which I almost bought prior to getting the ipad, is almost as cool. :)
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