I am Ironman

Yesterday was the premiere of the movie "Ironman"... and I was able to twist my friends' rubber arms and convince them to go :)

It. Was. AWESOME.

I know pretty much nothing about Ironman from the comics, but this movie had a coherent plot, lots of fun explosions, humor (lots of great funny parts not spoiled by the ads), and most importantly GOOD ACTING.

Robert Downey Jr, for all his substance abuse, is a fantastic actor. Everything I've seen him in, I've enjoyed. Like Johnny Depp. He's good at every roll he plays.

Anyway, I was so thrilled by a good Marvel comic movie that I decided to take a look at other Marvel movies and see how they compared to Ironman:

List of Marvel Comics made into movies
(what did we do before wikipedia?)

Blade (1998) - I saw this and remember thinking it was okay. 'Course, I was a teenager at the time.

X-Men (2000) - What happened in this one again? I enjoyed the first X-Men movie. It was the sequels that ruined it for me.

Blade II (2002) - Didn't see it. Didn't think enough of the first one to bother.

Spider-Man (2002) - I have a deep love for Spider-Man, in all his incarnations, which sometimes borders on obsession. My friends can vouch for this. So, I'm biased when I say that this was (at the time) the best Marvel movie I had ever seen. *LOVE* Spider-Man!

Daredevil (2003) - In spite of Ben Affleck being cute (but he's no Spider-Man), this movie did nothing for me... except promote Evanescence, which is now one of my favourite bands.

X2 (2003) - I loved Nightcrawler. Other than that, meh.

Hulk (2003) - I think Marvel is pretending this never existed, and I don't blame them. I do find it hard to believe they didn't learn from their mistakes, and another Hulk movie is in the works.

The Punisher (2004) - Didn't see it... no wait, I think I did. That's how memorable it was.

Spider-Man II (2004) - It's only my deep devotion to you, Spider-Man, that makes me continue to watch your increasingly bad movies. Doc Ock was amazing. That subway scene nearly made me snort pop out of my nose.

Blade Trinity (2004) - I *almost* saw this because Ryan Renolds is in it, but in the end, even that wasn't enough to convince me to see Wesley Snipes as a rogue vampire... for the third time.

Elektra (2005) - Huh? Didn't she die? Why is she back? No, really. This movie was so bad, it would have been better to leave her dead.

Fantastic Four (2005) - Wasn't there a scene with Jessica Alba in either her underoos or nothing, standing on a bridge? I'm pretty sure this whole movie was made *just* for that scene.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) - This movie was so bad, it made me sputter with outrage while I was watching it. What have you done to my beloved (but not quite as beloved as Spider-Man) X-Men??

Ghost Rider (2007) - Okay, I find Nicholas Cage to be really drippy, but this movie wasn't that bad... especially compared to the previous 7 Marvel releases.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) - Yeah, not even my profound love of Spider-Man could make me see the good parts of this film. Sandman was a good bad guy... I like Topher Grace... bad ass Peter Parker looked like he joined Good Charlotte. It was terrible. I was sad for days.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) - I haven't seen this one. I like the Silver Surfer's story, but I somehow doubt this movie will do it justice, since every other movie seemed to be so terrible. Maybe I was still hurting from the deep betrayal I felt over Spider-Man 3.

Ironman (2008) - HALLELUJAH! MY FAITH IN MARVEL IS RESTORED!

at least until...

*sigh*

Books!

I'm moving. That means I'm going to try to get rid of some stuff. For those of you who know me, you'll know how difficult that is for me :)

Anyway, here's a list of books that I've decided I can part with. If anyone wants any of them, tell me your best offer. Please note that if you don't live within pick-up distance, you'll have to pay for postage. I'm moving, so money is going to be tight for a while :)

Unwanted books will probably be dropped off at Goodwill or somewhere, along with the rest of the stuff I no longer want but can't sell / give away.

P.S. All books are used, unless otherwise said. They're all in one piece, though. I try to take good care of my books.

BOOKS:

FICTION PAPERBACKS
- The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- The Scions of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist
- The Losers by David Eddings
- Kings by George V. Henderson (this was an author-published book I bought because I felt sorry for the guy sitting in front of Coles with a stack of books. It's signed, but honestly the story itself is pretty crappy)
- The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings
- Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond E. Feist (conclave of shadows book 1)
- King of Foxes by Raymond E. Feist (conclave of shadows book 2)
- Shadow of a Dark Queen by Raymond E. Feist (serpentwar saga book 1)
- Rise of a Merchant Prince by Raymond E. Feist (serpentwar saga book 2)
- Rage of a Demon King by Raymond E. Feist (serpentwar saga book 3)
- Shards of a Broken Crown by Raymond E. Feist (serpentwar saga book 4)
- Krondor the Betrayal by Raymond E. Feist (riftwar legacy book 1)
- Krondor the Assassins by Raymond E. Feist (riftwar legacy book 2)
- Forging the Darksword by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (darksword book 1)
- Doom of the Darksword Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (darksword book 2)
- Triumph of the Darksword Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (darksword book 3)
- Legacy of the Darksword Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (darksword book 4)
- Darksword Adventures: The Complete Guide to Venturing in the Enchanged Realm of Thimhallan by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
- The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
- Shadow Moon by George Lucas and Chris Claremont (sequel to the movie "Willow")
- The Diamond Throne by David Eddings (elenium book 1)
- The Ruby Knight by David Eddings (elenium book 2)
- The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings (elenium book 3)
- Domes of Fire by David Eddings (tamuli book 1)
- The Shining Ones by David Eddings (tamuli book 2)
- The Hidden City by David Eddings (tamuli book 3)
- The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams (memory, sorrow and thorn book 1)
- Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams (memory, sorrow and thorn book 2)
- Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country by Rosalind Miles
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
- The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn
- Stargate by Pauline Gedge
- Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead
- Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell (library discard but in good condition)
- Clothar the Frank by Jack Whyte
- Whistler by Roger Taylor

FICTION HARDCOVER
- Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks
- Krondor Tears of the Gods by Raymond E. Feist
- Shadow Dawn by Chris Claremont & George Lucas
- The Elder Gods by David & Leigh Eddings
- The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough

NON-FICTION AND LITERATURE
- "Manga Mania: Fantasy Worlds" by Christopher Hart
- Two Spanish Picaresque Novels: Lazarillo de Tormes & The Swindler
- Goethe Faust Part One (Penguin Classic 1958)
- "Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion" by Donald Keene
- History of Rome (published 1884)
- Castglione "The Book of the Courtier"
- "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole
- Japan: A Country Study
- Classical Gods and Heroes: Myths as Told by the Ancient Authors
- Atlas of Classical Portraits (1898)
- "Jesus" by Michael Grant
- Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius (1919)
- "Le Morte d'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malory (volume 1)
- "Mega Manga" by Keith Sparrow
- Horace Odes - books 1-3 (1953; in Latin)
- Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe by Merry E. Wiesner (2nd edition)
- Italy in the Age of the Renaissance 1380-1530
- The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome
- Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides
- Seneca: The Tragedies Volume II
- Women's Life in Greece and Rome
- Studies in Etymology by Charles W Dunmore


Okay, give me your best offers!

Trying to think of a post

Let's see... something must have happened during the past week for me to blog about...

I visited London on Friday/Saturday, just to make sure that Dee and Sam were still talking to me ;) It was lots of fun - I miss that city! It made me long for my university days when almost all my friends were in one place. Ah, nostalgia.

Hamlet helps me pack in the most unhelpful way possible

While in London, Dee and I looked at lots of pretty dresses (which, unfortunately, I can't show you) and did some knitting (which, fortunately, I can show you!)

I'm pleased to say that with Dee's help, I finished my gauntlets! Right in time for summer.... d'oh! We got Sam, did some shopping, ate some yummy ice cream... it was lots of fun! (Don't worry Sam, I won't post the picture of you eating ice cream) ;)

We were each knitting from one end of the ball, like Lady and the Tramp - only with yarn
(and no dogs)

The finished gauntlets

And I started making a lacy scarf, using a pattern Dee found for me.

It's the Montego Bay Scarf, and I'm using the sock yarn Heather and I won during the sock scavenger hunt (since I dislike knitting socks). I'm debating whether or not to scrap the Toronto sock (the one that's in all the scavenger hunt pictures) and either start over or give up. I haven't decided yet.


Huh. Apparently I did have some things to post about :)

Gah!

It's my 6 day stretch at work. Nothing is going right this week.
I'm in need of a chuckle, so I present to you some of my favourite LOL pictures from I Can Has Cheezburger:




I'm off to London on Friday (yipee!) where I will hopefull have some zany adventure about which I can post next week. Until then, I've just got to get through today and tomorrow...

Amusing

This came through the Graphic Novel listserv I'm on...

Power Corrupts

Enjoy :)


(Okay, I admit it. I try to do this too with the YA manga that ends up on my desk. But if there's someone waiting, I usually send it to them first... unless it's something I'm *dying* to read... or unless the waiting list is too long)

Easter Lamb

On the Easter long weekend, I cast on for my first stuffed animal.

If you're on Ravelry, you can click here to take a look at what the finished product is supposed to look like. If you're not on Ravelry, you're going to have to wait until I post pictures of my lamb.

So anyway, I now find myself with a bag of lamb bits... does anyone know how to do seams?


Also, Heather, can I use the rest of your bag of stuffing?

(I had to take that shot *really* fast
Apparently Hamlet has developed a taste for lamb)

Eventually my Easter lamb will be a cute little lamb of spring... and not assorted limbs.

A few pictures

Well, it's been an exciting week for me. Tuesday was the super fun sock scavenger hunt, Wednesday I was a judge for Battle of the Books, and today I'm home sick.

Fortunately, I've only lost my voice (and gain some terrific sneezes) which prevents me from working but doesn't keep me in bed all day (although I have already had a nap)

So, I'm going to post the few pictures I took from the Sock Scavenger Hunt. Pretty much all the pictures are on Heather's camera, but I'll get them from her as soon as I can!

(Warning: this post will be picture heavy!)

This is a gargoyle on the *very* top of Casa Loma

Heather outside the Prince's Gate - it was very windy!

A self portrait of me (windy, windy day)

Hee... Heather told me not to put up the picture of her with beer...
One of them was mine.
(sorry Heather)

Mike enjoys the Yarn Harlot's new book

8 hours of mostly walking around Toronto, but it was worth it!
Heather and I won some pretty yarn!
(mine is on the left, Heather's is on the right)

VICTORY!

A final shot with the socks, and my friend Nancy

Phew! So those are my pictures. I'm going to make myself some soup...