Kerrelyn Sparks ~ Love At Stake Series Review

The first book of Kerrelyn Sparks I stumbled upon was The Virgin and The Vampire. That was 2 years ago. I made a mental note to purchase this book when I have the money. Money was never enough during my college days and I forgot about it competely as time went on.

Two days ago I was surfing the website of my favourite author and it just came to me in a jolt: what was that book I was supposed to buy? Something about vampires and romance and Greece...then the title popped up: Vampire and the Virgin or something like that. True enough I googled the title and the black and white cover brought back my memory. Yes, this was the book I am supposed to purchase! Heh heh...
Sorry to say this but I didn't buy the books: I downloaded ALL the eight books. =P

Then I read: the 8th installment of Ms. Sparks' Love at Stake series have made our day again...

The 8th book? You mean, there's more?

I googled her website and true enough, the whole list of her books where there: How to Marry a Millioaire Vampire(book 1), Vamps and the City(book 2) and the list goes on.

Here I'd like to note something: the titles of her books are like wordplays of famous bestselling books/series/Tv and so on.

Book 1:
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire is similar to Julia Quinn's How to Marry a Marquis.

Book 2:
Vamps and the City- isn't this obvious? Sex and the City!

Book 3:
Be Still My Vampire Heart is a wordplay on Be Brave My Little Heart(i forgot who wrote it)

Book 4:
The Undead Next Door-a wordplay on the 1980's cult classic thriller 'The Stranger Next Door'.

Book 5:
All I Want For Christmas Is a Vampire. Even the dimwitted ones can see through this: All I Want For Christmas(add is a vampire)

Book 6:
Secret Life of a Vampire - Secret Life of a Shopaholic.

Book 7:
Forbidden Nights with the Vampire - The title is a wordplay on a very old romance novel Forbidden Nights With The Duke.

Book 8:
The Vampire and The Virgin. A wordplay on D.H. Lawrence's The Virgin and The Gypsy.

Book 9:
This is the most blatant wordplay of all: Eat, PREY, Love.

So you see, even though her stories are original her titles are not. I guess it is forgiven because,

a) Her writing style is very engaging and witty.
b) Intelligent plot. It's something you could believe happen.
c) Actual ancient facts about Vampires are used here without overdramatization.
d) Character development is good. There's no wounded soldier turning cheerful clown in 5 pages.
e) You could understand the characters.
f) You see another perspective of vampires. Ex: Vamps actually laugh at the idea of Dracula apparently.
g) Don't we all love to see how a mortal and a paranormal creature managed to make it in the end?

Anyhoo, there were a few annoying cliche's like the female vampire speaking with an accent, having a temper and think of nothing but food, sex, dress like tramps and preen about with other female vamps. Wish the female vamps would be credited with some intelligence and some girl power. =/

Quick facts from the first book:

Roman Draganasti is a 500+ year old vamp who is the pioneer of Romatech Industries: a company responsible of producing synthetic blood that saved vampires and mortals alike. Having lived so long he started to feel very empty and depressed. Until he broke his fang trying to bite a sex toy filled with synthetic blood and he needed a dentist before the sun rises or else he would be a one-fanged wonder for centuries to come.

Shanna Whealan is a dentist on the run after witnessing something she shouldn't have seen. On a boring night shift in her clinic, the thugs from her past tracked her down and was saved by a beautiful man who insist she fix his tooth. Refusing to fix his tooth(fang actually) yet she on the run from the thugs, she found safety in the most outrageous place(or person) possible: a vampire who wants his tooth fixed.
But she doesnt know it's a real fang and he's a vampire...
So the story picks up from there and A LOT of juicy stuff happen before they all live happily ever after.

I can only say I am beyond anticipation for the next book. Now, where is my dashing and dangerous bloodsucker?

The book covers:

 And her latest installment:

DragonBall Z Evolution (review)

I know I am a year or so late from watching this movie but it largely due to what I have heard from people who have watched this: lets just say it wasn't pleasant. It took me many months to muster up courage and watch Hollywood's rendition of the cult classic manga DragonBall Z.

A little background info: I have always been a fan of Dragonball as long as I remember. I have collected ALL of the comics and wouldn't mind reading it over and over again. Here I'd like to tell that my review of this movie would be honest because I know the comic like the back of my hand.

Now, I sat my with my mom last night and steeled myself to watch it.
For an excrutiating 2 hours or so.

The result is-wait for it- ABOMINATION. ABYSMAL. CATASTROPHE.

                               Pictured: A masterpiece of Epic Fail.

Can you rate a movie ZERO out of TEN? I sure want to.

I can write down a list of what was horribly wrong about this movie.

a) Goku was not an 18 year old teenager who goes to school. He was a 12 year old boy(at the beginning) who hunted for his meals in the wood, is an illiterate and didn't know the difference between a man and woman till much later. They made him too smart here. Goku was no smarter than a rock.

b) Chichi was not the popular girl in the school who hung out with the popular guy. She too, was around 12 years old when she met Goku and made him promise that he would come back to marry her. Goku never went after her like a sick puppy.

c) Bulma was not a multiple PHD holder. She was a 16 year old schoolgirl who happened to be a genius. She doesn't need all those degrees to prove she's smart. She did have a fleeting romance with Yamcha. With reminds me-

d) Yamcha was a street bandit(he is in the movie too). He was not, however, a blonde and he was not, ironically a 'ladies man'. Yamcha was scared to death of women till he met Bulma. And that too, took a while. Also, he did not meet Bulma in a hole in the middle of the road. She was hiding from a village mafia and happened to meet Yamcha in his trailer, with Goku of course.

e) Muten Roshi is a sleazy old man, perverted to the core. But HE DID NOT live in the big city slums with an underground apartment. He lived in a small island with a fucking turtle. He also did not behave as in if he was on acid 24-7.

f) Piccolo was not EVIL. He never was, just VERY misguided. His friendship with Goku had changed him into a better man. Also, he DID NOT wear a black cape black suit. He was wearing a white-purple combat suit! Goku was NEVER his reincarnated evil minion. The part of him changing into a were-gorilla was true but that was because he was a Saiyan not because he was a Namekian hitman.

g) Gohan, Goku's grandpa died of old age. No one killed him.

h) There were no Buddhist temple with Hindu incantations to trap Piccolo in. It was purely qi energy by those who have mastered the art of Ma Fu Ba.

h) Goku did not kill Picollo by toasting him with his qi energy. He used his head(literally) to headbutt directly to Piccolo's chest that caused his ribs to puncture his lungs. THAT'S how he died.

I) Goku took ONE FUCKING YEAR to learn Kame Hame Ha with KRILLIN in MASTER ROSHI'S HOUSE. Not in a Buddhist temple or in 7 days like the movie implied.

j) Now that I mentioned it: where the fuck is Krillin??? How did they leave out such an important character?

k) Akira Toriyama was the executive producer. A well-known eccentric: he prolly agreed to this film to see Hollywood getting Number 2 smeared on their faces. It must be on purpose. Why would he do this to his own comic? Stephen Chow have a lot answering to do.


This movie sucked ass. I am never watching it again. Torture, that's what it will be.
To make a Dragonball live-action movie was too ambitious. There was too much to consider: the costume being number one. How are they gonna handle the bizarre hairstyle of Goku?
Next, the character: who will they cast? Can you really find a living person that resembled the anime characters??? Watching the movie, the racial tension was to apparent.
They need to think about a lot character and the story sequence. There were many important part in the comics that were left out in the movie. It's was blasphemy. And from Book 1 to 10 alone there were already about 100 characters introduced: both major and monir alike. They left out so much of DBZ that this movie looked more like a SPOOF of DBZ.

Dont watch this movie of you're a DBZ fan, please. You will walk away, your soul polluted.

Spoiler:
Even if you did watch this movie, there's only one person worth giving credit too. It's the guy acting as Piccolo, James Marsters. Though his overall appearance could only sum up to 30 minutes he was still the best character.

Endhiren Review

 

The most expensive Tamil film made in this decade: it hails as a bold and daring approach to the conventional Tamil movie genre and it does not dissapoint its audience.

Story: 4/5(shouldn't have dragged the climax scene =/)
CGI: 5/5(a very fresh approach and something new and...bold)
Acting: 5/5(SuperStar Rajnikanth does not fail you in this movie. But then again, when has he ever failed us? -Baba is forgiven-
Aish...well, I was never her fan so I might be just a teeny bit biased =P
Danny Dengzopa well, I am impressed. Just wow-ed me @o@)
Plot: Top-notch. Need I say more?
Overall: Step aside Muthu/Padaiyappa/Badshah/Talapathi-a new classic is here!


I will admit I never liked or respected Tamil films before this because to me they were the same old thing:
boy meets girl, they fall in love, they cant be together, boy must proof his worth, girl swoons, parents agree, and they live happily ever after.
How thrilling.

Endhiren is mostly intellect, humor and logical sequences of events. No over-the-top sentiments, performances or the tiring solo-ironman-who-had-instant-karate-lessons-within-2 seconds gig.
Dont expect to see Vadivelu's slapstick jokes or Vivek's political jokes. Rajni took that job and delivers it with an ease you forget the missing comedians.

Rajni is Dr.Vaseegaran: a genius specializing in mechascience who created a super humanoid that surpasses an average human being's abilities-scanning a book for a few seconds and memorizing the entire shit is just ONE of them. Watch the movie to find what else his robot can do whom he named as Chitti.
Minor spoiler here: check out Chitti when he turns 'bad'. You will shit bricks out of the sheer awesomeness.
Check out Chitti reciting a love poem in an audience of ballistics officers. Priceless EPIC scene!!!


Rajni as Chitti was remarkable. Morphing into Chitti, Rajni becomes a robot. His appearence was also made 'fakey' to make him look..well like a robot pasted with artificial human skin. His movements, gestures and reactions: very mecha! You would expect a prototype robot to behave in such fashion!

Dont ask me about Aish, I really dont know what else to say about her role in the movie except for being the required heroine and eye-candy for audiences, she a great dancer but in once song she was wearing this purple costume and she was flapping in those like a chicken. I laughed-no really I did.
Anyway, for fear of her fans bombarding into my blog and going psycho: I shall stop here. Zip.

Characters in Endhiren are regular people with neutral personalities. There arent stylized movie characters.
You can relate to the characters in the film(except for Aish who comes across as a highly unlikable ditzy character). I need to shut up here before her fans put up a protest in front of my house. XD
You dont find self-sacrificing comrades, the loyal underdog who has Hammer Space loyalty or those irritating errand boys that hand on to every word of the main character.

I strongly recommend you people out there to give this movie a chance. see for it yourself.
It's worth your buck.

Rajnikanth as Dr.Vaseegaran

The only man who can look THIS good at the age of 63. 

Rajni as 'good' Chitti:

This is Chitti still innocent: notice the David Bowie hairstyle? Oh yeah...MONUMENTAL.

This is Chitti  turned rotten egg:

Badassery becomes you. BD


And as an off-topic rambling:

Dont you people out there dare compare this movie to Bollywood movies. DO NOT insult the Tamil film
industry by comparing us to those insipid celebrities and mundane movies of Bollywood.
The reason for this hostility towards our Hindi speaking half- a lot of Bollywood fans dont like this movie,
and I think it's largely due to the jelousy that a TAMIL film had break the record as the 'New Generation'.

Endhiren belongs to us Tamilians and it is in a class of his own. You Bollywood-ers can suck it up.

Sano Ichiro Series by Laura Joh Rowland

Anyonewho doesn't know the Sano Ichiro series by the author above is really missing a good set of detective books. For you mystery junkies out there you should read this. The main character Sano Ichiro is a very intelligent man who cannot rest till he fights for justice. A commendable trait in a man living in feudal Japan. His wife lady Reiko possess the same knack for solving problems and eventually join forces with her husband to help him investigate. A very unconventional woman for that era: she is brave, loyal, intelligent and extremely radical. A trait that makes her likable to many.
Here I'd like to write about my favourite character. It's none of those main characters often featured in most of the series it's actually a minor character. She is none other than Lady Yanagisawa, wife of the arch enemy of Sano Ichiro, Chamberlain Yanagisawa.
It's pretty odd to like such an insignificant character isnt it? Allow me the privilege of explaining.
Lady Yanagisawa, an  unattractive women who is said to have a dour face and melancholic dispositiom. She is described as having little talent for personal communication, had a sad childhood and eventually a sad marriage. The world seems to be against this woman doesnt it? That is precisely why I like her: she is the mirror image of myself. A woman who doesn't often show her good qualities because she isn't given a chance to do so.
Call her a sick woman or a villaness, she is just a woman who had very little love her entire life. She had no love from her family due to her 'plain' features, very little suitors for the same reason and lead her to being an insecure and withdrawn person. You could say she's just a victim of bad misfortune. Had her situation been reversed she would have been a very different woman since she is the daughter of a very influential family in ancient Japan.
Her one meager and short lived happiness came from her marriage with her beautiful husband, the Chamberlain Yanagisawa. She craves for his attention and love but alas, Chamberlain Yanagisawa swing the other way, much to her despair. Dismayed that he would never come to love her, her sadness deepened.
When she found herself with child she thought there was a way at last to make him acknowledge her existence. Woe becomes her when she found out she had given birth to a retarded girl. Seems like life sucks for her, hmn? Her husband ignored her completely by then. Despite having a family, she was alone. That is the most cruel fate to befall a lonely woman.
She suffers from severe depression and this can be seen by her unhealthy habits like spying on the ceiling of his office, eavesdropping on his lovemaking to his many male paramours, arranging her feeble minded daughter to kill Reiko's son Masahiro in a guise of innocent play acting that would lead to his death to inflict suffering towards Reiko and trying to thwart Sano's investigation by hiring 'backstage people'.
She did out of anger that Reiko have what she does not: a faithful husband, a happy marriage and a 'normal' child, plentiful life and of course beauty.
I feel sorry for her. She deserves happiness too and perhaps karma from her past life is paying it's toll.

And many may not have noted that Lady Yanagisawa inherited her husband's surname and had been addressed as such since then? I have always wondered...what's her given name? Reiko is Lady Sano, Midori is Lady Hirata , then what's her name? Keiko? Sakura? Akiko?  Anyone knows?
I can feel myself in this woman's shoes for my fate is no different than hers: unloved, deemed insignificant by those around her, not blessed with beauty she feels the throes and mockery of being plain. She's torn between her envy and respect for Reiko. I would admit this though, however commendable Reiko's character is, she comes across as annoying to me.
She has this vanity in her that that she led a good life and suffered little hardships. Brought with love by her single father, married a very good man and had an intelligent child. She seems oblivious of other people's pain. She's one of those women who has too much in her life and it is only natural for other women to feel bitter at her good fortune.
What woman doesn't want what she has?

Chicken Curry Recipe.

Desired number of Chicken pieces(my personal favourite-8 chicken wings)
Curry Leaves(5-6 leaves)
Ginger-Garlic Paste(2 tbspns)
6 cloves of crushed garlic
2 medium sized onion diced small.
4 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks, 2 star anises and 4 cloves
2 big tomatoes(cut in quarters)
2 big potatoes(cut in quarters)
Curry powder
Red Chili powder
Turmeric powder
Cumin powder
Oil
Salt to taste

*can replace the vege's with carrots too if you like.

Prepare:
Wash the chicken thoroughly and add 2 tsp of turmeric powder. Mix well. Add Cumin powder. Mix well. Add 2 tbspn curry powder. Mix well and let them marinate while you prepare other ingredients. =)

1. Peel 6 garlic cloves and crush them.
2. 2 onions dice them small.
3. 2 big potatoes and tomatoes cut them in quarters.


Get Start:

1. Pour oil into a cooking pot and let it heat up. Low fire remember.

2. Add cinnamon, star anise, cloves, onions, garlic and cardamom pods. Leave them in the pot till their are fragrant. The cardamom should pop.

3. When cinnamon sticks start to 'open up', add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Stir for a while. Add chicken and immediately close pot with lid. Let the chicken cook for 5 minutes.

4. Take off lid and stir till the chicken is mixed well.

5. Add 2 cups of water. Stir till they mixed. Add 2-3 tablespoons of curry powder and mix well. Add the vegetables and stir. Add 2 tspns of red chili powder.

6. Close the lid and let them simmer.

7. When the curry starts to boil add 2 pinch of salt. Stir well and close the let let the curry simmer again.

8. Let this be for 30 minutes. Stir during intervals.

9. After 30 minutes close the gas and you're done. ^^




                        Chicken Curry taken under yellow light               

Anime Review: Itazura Na Kiss.

Let's just say that this is the most adorable manga ever made in the 90's.
I actually watched the anime first and then the manga.
I was shocked.
I'll tell you why.

First of all I will comment on the artwork. The artwork in the anime was such a startling difference to the manga and the anime was TEN TIMES better than the manga.
People who watched the anime first than the manga would be solely disappointed. Otaku's have a habit of watching the anime first and then read the manga and some does it vice versa.
I was shocked to see Tada Kaoru's artwork in the manga because her drawings are no different than the scribbles of a 5 year old. Seriously, it VERY bad. Cruel as I may sound, this is the truth.
I wonder how her scrappings have been passed for artwork and published.
The publisher/editor/whoever's in charge of screening mangas before commercializing them had to have a big-heart that looked pass the mangaka's scratches and see the wonderful story behind it.
Truly, the story itself is just so adorable.
It's about this girl Kotoko having a huge crush on the popular guy in school, Naoki.
Kotoko is an easy going girl but otherwise a total loser. She's in the 'stupid students' class and always fails her exams.
Naoji is the school's prodigy.
Kotoko is either stupid or innocently ambitious for wanting a guy like that.
She boldly gave him a love letter where he just rejected her like no more than a piece of trash.
Ouch.
Fastforward, Kotoko's new house had been eaten to the ground by termites(how is that possible???) and had to temporarily stay in her father's friends' house who not-so-coincidentally is Naoki's family.
Talk about rotten luck.
Naoki's mother is very excited to have a girl in the house as she had always wanted a daughter and her secret intention is to match-make Kotoko to Naoki.
The rest is history,

The manga had never been finished due the mangaka having a freak accident while moving into her new home: she was moving something upstairs when she slipped on the stairs and hit her head on the table edge. She died instantly. Thus the manga had never had a conclusion. The was an uproar among the fans as they were waiting for her new release was due soon.
Fans are dissapointed to know(or the lack of it) what might've happened to Kotoko and Naoki in the end. No one knew what was the mangaka's plan.
The anime had conjured up it's own ending. The lovely couple got married and had a daughter and Kotoko quit her job as a nurse and Naoki became the top surgeon in the country.
They were both 26 years old in the end.

I recommend EVERYONE  to watch this anime and read the manga as well in respect to the mangaka. Just bear with her scribbles and you would soon find out that you wont mind it.

Tampons

Okay, I have always wanted to use a tampon. Not because Im a pervert or a rebel but because of my monthly flows and how thats talking up a lot of pad money. I have to use THREE different kinds of pads you know?
Maxi ones for my first days, heavyflow for my second days and slim for my third day. There will be an amount of vaginal discharge on the fourth days but I dont want to use my ultra slim just for that.
Pantyliners are useless.
So the next best thing that can absorb that excess fluid without having me to waste pads is:

Tampons.

I was skeptical as first as when I first suggested this to my mum she was livid.

She said that only non-virgins can wear a tampons and if people see you buy a tampon they will think badly of you.

Okay....mum knows best , right?

Wrong.

Sometimes, you just have to figure things out for yourselves. Take a risk a little. Tampons can cause Toxic Shock Syndrome and it's kinda fatal.

That kinda held me up too.

But I decided to be my own master today and bought tampons without my mum and sister knowing it.

They were in a bookstore and Watsons was just nearby so...I kind of crept out and bought it in a flash. I knew what I was looking for.

Then I hid in my satchel and until I got home I was nervous like a sinner in church and when I was truly alone and private(no pesky sisters and apocalyptic mums knocking my door).

I followed instructions on the booklet they provided. I had also read MANY articles about tampons beforehand before making my big decision.

My first try was a disaster. It was painful and although I got the MINI superglide, it was painful. The tearing and stinging pain was unbearable. I remembered those many articles explaining that first tries are ALWAYS awkward and you need to use a lot before practicing.

My first attempt was a disaster but my second attempt(after 2 hours or so) was successful. I remembered(yet again) that if the insertion was to 'frictional' it is recommended that one use lube. Like Vaseline. I rubbed Vaseline on the tip of the tampon and WOW it was smooth!

I had little pain. I found that the squatting position to be the best for me. It widened my vaginal opening and I know the length of my yoni.

Tampons are to be inserted halfway in the vagina, not too near the cervix.

Tampons must always be according to your needs.

The tampon I chose was OB SuperGlide Mini which was just the size/length and thickness of your pinky finger.

First timers are recommended this apparently. Upon insertion in the vagina you should feel it's inside there. If there was any pelvic contractions or vaginal pain stop using. Your vagina may be a little small or tight.

Tampons are not popular in Malaysia. You could only get 2-3 brands of tampons.
One is OB(the one im using) and the other is Playtex. We Malaysians are big fans of pads.

There's the type without applicator and there's one without applicator.

Im using the one without applicator. You just unwrap the plastic covering, pull the string and insert. It's really simple really.

I guess I need to buy tampons from now own without my mum or pesky knowing it.

Let us just hope there's no side effect of some sort.