Monday 21 September 2015

400 Questions About Me

...Because apparently I'm feeling slightly suicidal tonight?

Section One: Basics


1. Name: Karen
2. Nickname(s): Kat (online nickname)
3. Birthday: 16th Nov 1993
4. That makes you: 21
5. Where were you born: Melbourne, Australia
6. Location right now: Same as above
7. Shoe size: 7-8 (Australian women sizes? I assume it differs elsewhere)
8. How many piercings?: none
9. Tattoos?: none
10. When you wake up you're: grumpy
11. When your about to sleep you're: somewhat of an insomniac
12. Zodiac sign: Scorpio
13. Chinese sign: Rooster
14. Righty or Lefty: Righty
15. Innie or Outie: Innie
16. School: Yes I did that.

Section Two: Looks


17. Nationality: Australian (with South African & all over Europe heritage)
18. Hair colour: Brown
20. Weight: nup
21. Height: err 160-ish cm
22. Braces? Had them ages back
23. Glasses? yes

Section Three: Private Life


24. Do you have a boy/girlfriend? Yes
25. If so, who? His name is Matt
26. If not, do you have a crush on someone? -
27. Who has a crush on you? No idea?
28. Ever cheated on your bf/gf? No
29. Who was your first kiss: James
30. Who was your last kiss: Matt
31. Are you a virgin? No
32. Ever had a threesome before? No
33. NQ - Ever been swarmed by ladybugs?: WHUT... no?
34. Have you ever been in love? yes
35. Broken any hearts? probably 1
36. Got your heart broken? no
37. Ever liked a friend? yes
38. What happened? That would be Matt, guess you can piece it together

Section Four: Past Relationships


39. How many relationships have you been in? 2
40. How many were serious enough to count: both
41. Who were those serious ones: James and Matt
42. NQ- Who used to be your best friend: I dont get these NQ ones, wtf do they mean
43. What made them different: Well I'm still with Matt
44. What happened: I broke up with him, it got weird.
45. Best boy/girlfriend: Matt
46. Worst boy/girlfriend: James (not much choice here is there)
47. Ever been kissed: I think you can probably guess that
48. Who do you want back: n/a
49. Who do you regret: dont really, it worked at the time
50. Why?: -

Section Five: Favourites


This section I will choose ONE random favourite (of many) for each so I'm not here a full 24 hours. Generally I'll try pick the first one that comes to mind.

51. Song: Blackbird - Alter Bridge
52. Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy
53. Food: burgers
54. Drink: tea
55. Store: JB Hi Fi
56. Television show: Game of Thrones
57. Holiday: that I've been on? Israel or America
58. Book: LightBringer series by Brent Weeks
59. Ice cream: Golden Gaytime (Yes it's actually amazing)
60. Sweets: I'm not fussed -anything except licorice (ew)
61. Crisps: Does that mean chips? Pringles.
62. Type of music: METAL \m/ (power, prog, folk & symphonic is where its at)
63. Artist: Kamelot & Apocalyptica
64. Word: ...okay I honestly have no idea
65. Time of day: Night
66. Dressing: Like on salads? Balsamic
67. Alcoholic drink: Cider
68. Colour(s): Purple, Black, Blue
69. Piece of clothing: ...My band tshirt collection?
70. Character: erm ...I'll go with The Doctor from Doctor Who (10th is my fav)
71. Smell: something sweet and tasty... pie?
72. Shampoo: Tresemme
73. Soap: anything nice smelling
74. Smiley: X'D
75. Board game: Well I am one of those weird people that like monopoly
76. Sport: None
77. Number: 666
78. Quote: "Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?" -Edgar Allan Poe
79. Animal: bunny :3
80. Actor: Going at random, I shall pick Peter Dinklage.
82. Vegetable: Avocado
83. Fruit: Mango
84. Place to be: somewhere where there's internet, some good books or some pleasant company
85. Thing in your room: sah many D: um... my cyndaquil plushie
86. Gum: Not very into gum. i dont care, nothing too minty.
87. Shape: circle. mmm pie. (and pi haha ;-;)
88. Country: Australia & Finland
89. Mall: Shopping Centre (darn you Americans). I guess I'll go with Chadstone, because it's HUGE and has basically everything in it
90. Car: idk something fun looking and probably expensive. A Ferrari maybe?
91. Boy's name: I don't have one?
92. Girl's name: ^
93. Family member: well thats mean... not my brother.
94. Restaurant: Favourite random food place atm is this little chinese takeaway shop I found near my house quite recently. It's great.
95. Movie place: I guess Hoyts at Melbourne Central since that's where I go most often
96. Person to go to the movies with: all my friends, why just one?
97. Noise: See music.
98. Brand of shoe: Converse I suppose
99. Brand of clothing: Don't really have one, I'm not big on clothes shopping
100. Body part of a chicken: wings are tasty
101. Swear word: PERKELE. It may not be english, but it's fun to say
102. Month: November, it's heading towards Summer (here in Australia) AND it's my birthday
103. Possession: one possession? nope I couldn't choose just one
104. Team: I don't really care for sports. Wildcats?
105. Season: Spring/Summer (when its not too hot)
106. Radio station: PBS (106.7) a nice little local station that has some great metal shows sometimes
107. Magazine: Don't read any
108. Favourite grade: perhaps 6. Primary school was nice and easy. And we flew to Canberra for school camp that year.
109. Least favourite grade: 12? It was far too much effort and study and bad things.
110. Teacher: I had a few favourites, basically the usual nice ones and ones that could actually teach. Especially my year 12 art teacher
111. Least favourite teacher: I've forgotten her name now, but my year 11 maths teacher was THE WORST. She seemed smart enough but couldn't teach for shit. It was terrible.
112. Subject: At school? Art I guess.
113. Subject to talk about: meh, none really

Section Six: Family


114. Who's your mum?: My mum is my mum :P
115. Who's your dad?: see above but replace "mum" with "dad".
116. Any step-parents?: nope
117. Any brothers?: yup 1.
118. Any Sisters?: no
120. Coolest: none
121. Loudest: mum
122. Best relative: I have some fun cousins I guess?
123. Worse relative: And an annoying uncle...
124. Do you get along with your parents? Most of the time yes
125. With your siblings? Sometimes
126. Does anyone understand you? probably -at least most of the time
127. Do you have any pets?: Yes
128. If so, what kind and name? a rabbit named Fluffy (we didn't name him, he was adopted with the name!) :P
129. If not, what do you want as a pet?: MORE BUNNIES

Section Seven: School


131. Are you still in school? no
132. Did you drop out?: no
133. Your current GPA: I'm assuming you want the score I finished school with? 93.something-I-forget (or a maximum of 99.95) Our school marking system is weird.
134. Do you buy or bring lunch?: a mix of both
135. ABC's?: what does that even refer to?
136. Favorite class: At school art.
137. Play any sports at school?: Hockey, indoor soccer
138. Are you popular? wasn't at school
139. Favourite memory: I can't think of anything fun :(
140. Most humiliating moment: probably any school speech ever. i seriously hated those.
141. Most funniest moment: most funniest. Well you're good. Any moment with my friend Rachel. She laughs at everything. it's amazing
142. Most scared moment: Well I did once have a nightmare that I was stuck in my school and whenever I tried to get towards the exit the walls would grow or move or I got strangely lost and couldn't find it anymore. That was a crazy dream...

Section Eight: What do you think of when you hear


145. Chicken: Tasty
146. Dog: Woof
147. Christina Aguilera: Is she even around any more?
148. Ricky Martin: Livin la Vida Loca
149. 50 cent: eugh rap >_>
150. Poop: wtf?
151. Beach: summer
152. Desert: hot
153. Water: tea
154. Osama: bin laden?
155. Love: heart
156. Your little brother: I dont have one..
157. Butt: poop
158. Clowns: midgets
159. Wonder: woman
16o. Brown: hair
161. Banana: smoothie
162. Sex: yay?
163. Parents: kids
164. Homosexuals: rainbows and fun?
165. God: meh

Section Nine: Do you believe in


166. God: no, not really
167. Heaven: no
168. Devil: 666 the number of the beast
169. Hell: no (my religion doesn't even have a proper 'hell')
170: Boogey man: hahahaha
171. Closet Monsters: Monsters Inc? yes it was totally a documentary
172. Fortune tellings: no
173. Magic: in a sense, yes.
174. Love at first sight: yes
175. Ghosts: no
176. Voo-doo dolls: no
177. Reincarnation: no
178. Yourself: sometimes?

Section Ten: Do you


179. Smoke: no
180. Do drugs: no
181. Drink alcohol: yes
182. Cuss: is that your weird way of saying swear? If so then yes. Or rather, fuck yeah.
183. Sing in the shower: not usually
184. Like school: not much
185. Want to get married: undecided
186. Type with all of your fingers: most of them, maybe not all
187. Think you're attractive: to some extent, i guess?
188. Drink and drive: no
189. Snore: not that I know of
190. Sleep walk: don't think so
191. Like watching sunrises and sunsets: sure, why not

Section Eleven: Have you ever


192. Flashed someone: no
193. Gotten so drunk til you threw up everywhere: no
194. Told that person how you felt: yes
195. Been arrested: no
196. Gone to jail or juve: no
197. Skateboarded: no
198. Skinny dipped: no
199. Rock climbed: not properly
200. Killed someone: no
201. Watched porn: yes
202. Gone on a road trip: yes, sort of?
203. Went out of the country: yes
204. Talked back to an adult: I am an adult, fuck you.
205. Broken a law: yes
206. Got pulled over: no
208: Cried to get out of trouble: yes
209. Let a friend cry on your shoulder: yes
210. Kissed a brother's or sister's friend: no
211. Kissed a friend's brother or sister: no
212. Dropped something on the floor and let someone eat it anyways: yes
213. Moon someone: no
214. Shop-lifted: don't believe so
215. Worked at McDonald's: nope
216. Eaten a dog: NO
217. Give money to a homeless person: no
218. Glued your hand to yourself: no
219. Kissed someone of the same sex: no
220. Had a one night stand: nope
221. Smoked: no
222. Done drugs: no
223. Lose a friend because of your ex: no
224. Slap someone for being stupid: yes
225. Had cyber sex: no
226. Wish you were the opposite sex: probably sometimes
227. Caught someone doing something: sure... "doing something"
228. Played a game that removes clothing: I dont think so
229. Cried during a movie: no
230. Cried over someone: no
231. Wanted to hook up with a friend: well my boyfriend & I were friends for about a year before we started dating
232. Hooked up with someone you barely met: not really
233. Ran away from home: no
234. Cheated on a test: yes

Section Twelve: Would you


235. Bungee jump: preferably not.. maybe if you paid me
236. Sky dive: no
237. Swim with dolphins: yes, sounds fun
238. Steal a friend's bf or gf: no
239. Try to be the opposite sex: try to be? how... whut.
240. Lie to the police: depends on the situation
241. Run from the police: probably not
242. Lie to your parents: yes
243. Backstab a friend for your own well being: probably not
244. Be an exotic dancer: no
245. NQ- Kill the president: the prime minister? hmmm maybe haha

Section Thirteen: Are you


246. Shy: sometimes around new people
247. Loud: not usually
248. Nice: yes
249: Outgoing: not really
250: Quiet: yes
251. Mean: no
252. Emotional: not usually
253. Sensitive: no
254. Gay: no
255. Strong: not really
256. Weak: don't think so
257. Caring: yes
258. Dangerous: probably not
259. Crazy: yup
260. Spontaneous: sometimes
261. Funny: I have my moments
262. Sweet: sure
263. Sharing: sharing is caring?
264. Responsible: yes
265. Trustworthy: often
266. Open-minded: I try to be
267. Creative: somewhat
268. Cute: idk you'd have to tell me
269. Slick: ...errr I'm going to say no
270. Smart: perhaps
271. Dumb: occasionally do have blonde moments but I reckon everyone does
272. Evil: not generally
273. Ghetto: what even... no...
274. Classy: not really
275. Photogenic: no
276. Dependable: yes
277. Greedy: i dont think so
278. Ugly: no?
279. Messy: I have an organized chaos sort of style
280. Neat: sometimes
281. Perverted: not usually
282. Silly: no?
283. A B****: no
284. A Good Listener: sometimes
285. A Fighter: no?
286. A Party Animal: nah
287. A Game Freak: nope
288. A Computer Freak: probably not

Section Fourteen: Future


289. Dream job: well I'm studying to be an electrical engineer. No idea what actual job i want though
290. Dream house: something nice and big at a decent location? Like where I live now.. except I live with my parents.
291. Husband/Wife: well I'm still unsure on the marriage thing
292. Kids: unsure
293. Names: future names. For my uncertain kids. pfft
294. Pets: ALL THE BUNNIES... or cats. I like cats.
295. Car: I already have one. It's just quite old and not very pretty.
296. Age you would want to get married: unknown
297. Best Man/Bride's Maid: o.O
298. Honeymoon: yes please? haha

Section Fifteen: Your friends


299. Best friend: Well that's rude, just one?
300. Known the longest: Rachel
301. Craziest: Janise
302. Loudest: Nick C
303. Shyest: erm.. idk
304. Best hair: Matt (yay for boys with long hair :3)
305. Best eyes: idk?
306. Best body: yeah no idea
307. Most Athletic: none haha
308. Hot-Tempered: no idea again
309. Most impatient: yep nup
310. Shortest: uh oh.. it's between Janise, Rhiannon, Johanna and Rachel.
311. Tallest: I think Giffo. Could be wrong.
312. Skinniest: perhaps Purcey
313. Best singer: idk I feel like I haven't heard that many of them sing for some reason
314. Funniest: nah idk, I have funny moments with all of them
315. Can always make you laugh: Ben
316. Wish you talked to more: I reckon I talk to most of them a lot?
317. Wish you saw more: Janise
318. Who drives you insane after a while: Rachel. She's insane in a fun way.
319. Who you can stay around forever and never get sick of: So many of them :D
320. Ever lose a friend because you took it to the 'next level': no.
321. Whose always been there when you need them: My Door 11 family. You know who you are :3
322. Who is like your family: See above.
323. How many friends do you have?: According to Facebook, 422. A lot of them are randoms from my school who I haven't seen in about 4 years though.
324. How many are really close? At least about 20 of them?

Section Sixteen: The last


325. Thing you ate: some medjool dates
326. Thing you drank: apple crumble tea... T2 is awesome.
327. Thing you wore: You mean what am I wearing now? My pyjamas...
328. Thing you did: Went to my cousins 18th birthday dinner thing
329. Place you went: cousins house
330. Thing you got pierced or tattooed: don't have any, never have.
331. Person you saw: My mum?
332. Person you hugged: Probably Matt... or perhaps someone at the party I can't remember?
333. Person you kissed: Matt
334. NQ- Person you beat to a juicy pulp: errr don't believe I've ever done that. Stupid NQ.
335. Person you talked to online: Door 11 group chat
336. Person you talked to on the phone: haha I dont even remember. Probably my mum, she's basically the only person who actually calls me.
337. Song you heard: Currently listening to All of My Angels - Machinae Supremacy
338. Show you saw: TV show? The Blacklist (watching season 2 currently). Stage Show? The Lion King (See my previous post). Band's show? Must have been Blind Guardian, gosh that was a while ago though.
339. Time you fought with your parents: can't remember.
340. Time you fought with a friend: can't remember
341. Words you said: Probably good night to my parents?

Section Seventeen: Now


343. What are you eating: Nothing
344. What are you drinking: Nothing, finished my tea at the start of this damn thing
345. What are you thinking: Why am I even doing this?
346. What are you wearing: Still my pyjamas, you asked that already!
347. What are you doing: listening to music, contemplating the meaning of a 400 question quiz thing about my life, obviously I must have been ridiculously bored or majorly procrastinating. Perhaps both.
349. Hair: Had a haircut yesterday, so it's quite nice at the moment actually
350. Mood: getting sleepy
351. Listening to: see previous section
352. Talking to anyone: nope
353. Watching anything: not at the moment

Section Eighteen: Yes or No


354. Are you a vegetarian: NO
355. Are you a carnivore: YUS
356. Are you heterosexual: yup
357. Do you like penguins: sure
358. Do you write poetry: no
359. Do you see stupid people: EVERYWHERE
360. You + Me: whut? yes?
361. Do you like the Osbournes: what Ozzy? Sure..
362. Can you see flying pigs: no
363. Do you sleep with stuffed animals on your bed: not on my bed, but there are some in my room
364. Are you from Afghanistan: no... so random
365. Is Christina Aguilera ugly: Not really? I guess
366. Are you a zombie: Don't think so? Grrr Arghh
367. Am i annoying you: Yes
368. Do you bite your nails: no
369. Can you cross your eyes: sometimes can, sometimes only half
370. Do you make your bed in the morning: nah
371. Have you touched someone's private part: well i did say I'm not a virgin so... I think you can probably answer that one yourselves

Section Nineteen: This or That


372. Winter or Summer: Summer
373. Spring or Autumn: Spring
374. Shakira or Britney: FUCK YOU. Britney only because of Children of Bodom's cover of Oops I did it Again? That counts, right?
375. MTV or VH1: VH1... they might actually play music, right?
376. Black or White: Black
377. Yellow or Pink: Yellow
378. Football or Basketball: neither
379. Mobile Phone or Pager: mobile phone
380. Pen or Pencil: pen. Unless I'm drawing.
381. Cold or Hot: Hot
382. Tattoos or Piercings: Tattoos
383. Inside or Outside: inside
384. Weed or Alcohol: alcohol
385. Coke or Pepsi: coke
386. Tape or Glue: tape
387. McDonald's or In-n-Out: in-n-out doesn't exist in Australia so I haven't had it but I'll take it over McDonald's anyway.

Section Twenty: Opinions


388. What do you think about classical music: I don't really listen to it, but I appreciate it, and I love metal covers of it.
389. About boy bands: they can go die.
390. About suicide: It sucks?
391. About people who try to force their opinions on you: they suck?
392. About teen pregnancy: wtf people, control yourselves and use protection.
393. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years: hopefully with a good job
394. Who do you think you'll still be friends with in 5 years: hopefully most of the people I'm friends with now
395. About gay men: Should feel free to go do what you do I guess?

Section Twenty-One:


396. Do you have a website: I'm posting on it now if you wanted my blog.
397. Current weather right now: a pleasant 14 (Celsius) according to Google.
398. Current time: 2.15am
399. Any shout outs: Bailey. You better give me that chocolate you promised.
400. Last thoughts: Is it over? D:

Monday 7 September 2015

To Read

This is the start of my list of books that I want to read at some point in the (hopefully) near future. I say start of it, since before starting this blog I hadn't actually created a list of books before although I previously have had one for TV shows.
I hope to keep increasing this list, and reading from it too if I can find the time and the physical books since I much prefer physical copies to digital. Thankfully there's lots of libraries within about a 15 minute drive from my house so that shouldn't be a problem.
This list will take me AGES to read as it is, but please do suggest things anyway!

Author last name - Series Title (Title of first book) #books out/#books total
Author last name - Title of standalone novel

To Read


Series

  • Abercrombie - First Law (The Blade Itself) 3/3
  • Abraham - The Long Price Quartet (A Shadow in Summer) 4/4
  • Bennett - The Divine Cities (City of Stairs) 3/3
  • Brett - Demon Cycle (The Painted Man) 5/5
  • Brooks - Shannara (The Sword of Shannara) 29/30?
  • Brown - Red Rising Trilogy (Red Rising) 3/3
  • Butcher - The Dresden Files (Storm Front) 15/20?
  • Canavan - Kyralia Series (Magician's Guild) (3 + 1 + 3)/7
  • Card - Pathfinder Series (Pathfinder) 3/?
  • Carmody - Obernewtyn Chronicles (Obernewtyn) 8/8
  • Cashore - Graceling Realm Books (Graceling) 3/3
  • Chima - Seven Realms (The Demon King) 4/4
    • Chima - The Shattered Realms (Flamecaster) 2/3
  • Chima - The Heir Chronicles (The Warrior Heir) 5/5
  • Cook - The Black Company Series (The Black Company) 10/12?
  • Corey - The Expanse (Leviathan Wakes) 7/9
  • Crichton - Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park) 2/2
  • Douglas - The Axis Trilogy (BattleAxe) 3/3
    • Douglas - The Wayfarer Redemption (Sinner) 3/3
  • Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen (Gardens of the Moon) 10/10
    • Esslemont - Novels of the Malazan Empire (Night of Knives) 6/6
    • Erikson - Kharkanas Trilogy (Forge of Darkness) 2/3
    • Esslemont - Path to Ascendancy (Dancer's Lament) 3/3
  • Fiest - The Riftwar Cycle (Magician: Apprentice) 30/?
  • Friedman - Coldfire Trilogy (Black Sun Rising) 3/3
  • Goodkind - The Sword Of Truth Arc 1 (Wizard's First Rule) 11/11
  • Grossman - The Magicians (The Magicans) 3/?
  • Hair - Moontide Quartet (Mage's Blood) 4/4
  • Hancock - War God (War God: Nights of the Witch) 2/?
  • Hobb - Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice) 3/3
  • Jordan & Sanderson - The Wheel of Time (The Eye of the World) 14/14
  • Kaufman/Kristoff - The Illuminae Files (Illuminae) 3/3
  • King - The Dark Tower (The Gunslinger) 8/8
  • LaFevers - His Fair Assassin (Grave Mercy) 3/3
  • Lynch - Gentlemen Bastard Sequence (The Lies of Locke Lamora) 3/7
  • Maas - Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass) 6/7?
  • Marion - Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies) 2/4?
  • McCaffery - Dragon Riders of Pern 24/?
  • McCammon - Matthew Corbett (Speaks the Nightbird) 5/?
  • Moorcock - Elric (Elric of Melnibone) 6/6
  • Ness - Chaos Walking (The Knife of Never Letting Go) 3/3
  • Pierce - The Song of the Lioness (Alanna: the first adventure) 4/4
    • Pierce - Protector of the Small (First Test) 4/4
  • Pratchett - Discworld (The Colour of Magic) 41/41
  • Pryor - Doorways Trilogy (The House of Many Rooms) 3/3
  • Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicles (The Name of the Wind) 2/3
  • Ryan - Raven's Shadow (Blood Song) 3/3
  • Sanderson - Mistborn (Mistborn: The Final Empire) 3/3
    • Wax and Wayne (Alloy of Law) 3/4
    • 2 more future series in same world (?)
  • Sanderson - The Reckoners (Steelheart) 3/3 + 1 short story
  • Sanderson - Stormlight Archive (The Way of Kings) 4/10
  • Sanderson - Warbreaker series (Warbreaker) 1/3?
  • Sanderson - Elantris series (Elantris) 1/?
  • Sapkowski - The Witcher (The Last Wish) 5/?
  • Scalzi - Old Man's War (Old Man's War) 6/?
  • Snyder - Study Series (Poison Study) 3/3 Study + 3/3 Glass
  • Stiefvater - The Raven Cycle (The Raven Boys) 3/4
  • Zelazny - The Chronicles of Amber (Nine Princes in Amber) 10/10

Standalone

  • Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
  • Carmody - The Gathering
  • Carmody - Scatterlings
  • Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
  • Cline - Ready Player One
  • Fry - The Liar
  • Gaiman - Neverwhere
  • Gaiman - American Gods
  • Gerritsen - Gravity
  • Lovecraft - The Best of H.P. Lovecraft
  • Ness - A Monster Calls
  • Orwell - 1984
  • Zusak - The Book Thief

Sunday 6 September 2015

The Lion King Musical


I went to see The Lion King musical this weekend at the Regent Theatre here in Melbourne. While I do enjoy the occasional musical, I don't generally go to many theatre productions (mostly due to costs), so this was a great experience for me.
I have actually seen The Lion King on stage before, but that was about 10 or 11 years ago and I was too young to remember much detail. Seeing it again now was like a nostalgia-filled journey back to my days of falling in love with the movie and watching it over and over and over again.
Please note, photos in this blog are NOT MINE as we were not allowed to take any photo or video footage during the musical. I had to go find some photos online just to share the sheer scale of it and the magnificent costuming. Please do click on them to zoom in -you can hardly get any of the detail from the thumbnails! Honestly I don't know how the giraffes learn to walk on all those stilts, never mind the elephant which, among other animals, walks down the aisle through the crowd during the opening song of the show.
In addition, I didn't pick up a brochure so I don't know any of the cast's names, sorry about that!

I'm in love with the costumes and staging of the production -even though I wasn't close enough to see all the detail nor the makeup, it still left an impression. Favourite costume of the night goes to the cheetah (or was it a leopard?); I can't even guess the amount of training and practicing that actor must have gone through to perfect the movement. After the show I just had to look up how the actor controlled the face of the cheetah puppet, as I wasn't close enough to see the strings (see above photo).

While there were a lot of positives about the show, unfortunately I found the actors of Mufasa and Scar lacked something. While I didn't expect a James Earl Jones or Jeremy Irons, I still found that Mufasa wasn't able to engage me with his singing, and Scar's "Be Prepared" -one of my favourite songs from the movie- was somewhat lacking as well.


On the other hand, the child actor for Simba was great! Though for my favourite characters of the night, I'd have to go with Rafiki, Zazu and Timon. Rafiki was an incredible singer -she opened the entire musical with the powerful introduction to The Circle of Life, but also had many parts through the show, including some parts not directly from the movie. Zazu's actor had to juggle controlling puppet-Zazu, speaking, singing and acting with a lot of movement and comedy, yet he pulled off the role perfectly! It was a close call between Timon and Zazu as which character received the most laughs from the audience.
My personal favourite joke of the night was the scene when Zazu had been caged up by Scar. When requested to sing something "with a little more bounce in it," rather than 'Coconuts' Zazu broke out into the chorus of 'Let It Go'!


Though I generally love the Timon/Pumba dynamic, I feel like Timon really outshone Pumba in this version. I'm not sure whether it was the acting, the singing, or just Timon being all round excellent.

And finally, overall the show was fantastic and I'd highly recommend it to any Lion King or musical fans young and old! All the classic movie songs as well as some new additions and a 15 minute interval bring the show to almost 3 whole hours of fun.

Friday 4 September 2015

My Gig List

A list of every concert I've been to (or in the case of some of the earlier ones, remember being to).
Festivals (small & large) down the bottom.
If possible, at some point in the future I'd totally love to do some metal gigs in Europe as well as 70,000 Tonnes of Metal in America.

These are gigs I've been to or have tickets booked for.

Most Seen International bands: 
(x4) Kamelot, Apocalyptica
(x3) Alter Bridge, Slash ft Myles Kennedy, Steel Panther

Most Seen Australian/Local bands: 
(x12) Triple Kill
(x9) Voyager, Toehider
(x8) Lagerstein
(x7) Trigger
(x6) Barbarion, Valhalore
(x5) Caligula's Horse


Headlining Band(s) Opening Band(s) Date
Disturbed Trivium, As I Lay Dying 24 Apr 2011
Stonefield (Melbourne University Event) 2012
Barbarion (Melbourne University Event) 2012
Tripod (Melbourne University Event) 2012
Alter Bridge & Steel Panther
29 Feb 2012
Slash ft Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators 26 Aug 2012
Apocalyptica Be'lakor 01 Sep 2012
Barbarion (Melbourne University Event) 2013
Evermore (Melbourne University Event) 2013
Epica Eyefear 21 Apr 2013
Kamelot Anarion, Divine Ascension 07 Jun 2013
Amorphis Datura Curse, The Eternal 14 Oct 2013
Barbarion (Melbourne University Event) 2014
Orphaned Land  (Free Acoustic show) 21 Mar 2014
Orphaned Land VIP Voyager, Orsome Welles 22 Mar 2014
Voyager Caligula's Horse, Toehider 12 Jul 2014
Barbarion Horizon's Edge, Abraxxas, Dark Earth, Rum Runners 25 Jan 2015
Slash ft Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators & Steel Panther
26 Feb 2015
Voyager, Klone Glass Empire, Branch Arterial 29 May 2015
Blind Guardian Divine Ascension, Bane of Winterstorm 19 Jun 2015
Hammerfall VIP Taberah, Elm Street 13 Oct 2015
Alestorm Lagerstein, Troldhaugen 29 Nov 2015
Nightwish Taberah 11 Jan 2016
Voyager
Leprous
Teramaze 6 Feb 2016
Epica Voyager 20 Mar 2016
Caligula's Horse Chaos Divine, Enlight 8 Apr 2016
The Living End Bad//Dreems, 131's 23 Jun 2016
Apocalyptica VIP We Lost the Sea, Sydonia 23 Sep 2016
Symphony X Black Majesty 11 Oct 2016
Disturbed Twelve Foot Ninja 12 Nov 2016
Alter Bridge VIP Like a Storm 6 Apr 2017
Voyager The Algorithm 12 May 2017
Dragonforce Teramaze 21 Jun 2017
Branch Arterial Toehider, Sentia, Tell Amarosa 30 Jun 2017
HakenOrsome Welles, Teramaze29 Sep 2017
Caligula's Horse I Built the Sky, Branch Arterial 30 Sep 2017
Wintersun Orpheus Omega, Claim the Throne 2 Nov 2017
Lagerstein Demonhead 9 Dec 2017
The Butterfly Effect Rival Fire & Osaka Punch 11 Mar 2018
Gogol Bordello
14 Mar 2018
Steel Panther (Double Set)
15 May 2018
Imagine Dragons The Temper Trap 16 May 2018
Lagerstein Horizon's Edge, Sudden State, Triple Kill, Haunted Steel 15 Jun 2018
Toehider & Troldhaugen
27 Jul 2018
Triple KillTrigger, Beast Impalor13 Oct 2018
The Omnific &
Osaka Punch
Terrestrials, Slow Talk10 Nov 2018
Primal FearSinner, Horizon's Edge16 Nov 2018
Kamelot VIP (Melbourne)Valhalore, Vanishing Point4 Dec 2018
Kamelot VIP (Canberra)Valhalore, Immorium6 Dec 2018
Kamelot VIP (Sydney)Valhalore, Saralisse7 Dec 2018
Dead Letter CircusCircles21 Dec 2018
AlestormRumahoy, Triple Kill9 Feb 2019
LagersteinBarbarion, Great Leap Skyward13 Apr 2019
Omnium Gatherum &
Orpheus Omega
Trigger, Triple Kill, Primitive20 Apr 2019
Avantasia
14 May 2019
EluveitieVictoria K, Suldusk18 May 2019
KorpiklaaniTroldhaugen, Beast Impalor24 May 2019
KarnivoolSoutheast Desert Metal5 Jun 2019
Haken VIPI Built the Sky8 Jun 2019
ToehiderLogic Defies Logic, Inferiority Complex11 Jul 2019
VoyagerChaos Divine12 Jul 2019
ToehiderBeautiful Bedlam, Mike Toehider Mills acoustic set25 Jul 2019
The Butterfly EffectThese Four Walls, Hammers31 Aug 2019
Apocalyptica (Plays Metallica by Four Cellos) VIP28 Sep 2019
SoilworkDesecrator, Mason2 Nov 2019
KalmahValhalore3 Nov 2019
LagersteinTriple Kill23 Nov 2019
Opeth
13 Dec 2019
COVID-19 Death of 2020/2021 Shows
Birds of Tokyo + Melbourne Symphony Orchestra23 Jan 2021
Triple KillTrigger, Demonhead, Ironstone2 Apr 2021
Orpheus OmegaTriple Kill25 Feb 2022
Caligula's HorseAcolyte, Future Static16 Mar 2022
LagersteinWitchgrinder, Atomic Riot, Dracorex22 Apr 2022
VoyagerAcolyte, the Stranger20 Aug 2022
Lagerstein (on a boat!)23 Sept 2022
The Butterfly EffectCaligula's Horse, Thornhill14 Oct 2022
SoilworkIn Malice's Wake, Eye of the Enemy4 Nov 2022
AlestormValhalore, Stormtide25 Nov 2022
~Future Shows~
Osaka PunchTerrestrials, Flynn Effect, Seas of Titan22 Apr 2023

FESTIVALS

Soundwave - 28 Feb 2014


Alter Bridge
Amon Amarth
Heaven's Basement
The Living End
Volbeat
Gwar
Crosses
Avenged Sevenfold

Soundwave - 22 Feb 2015


Slash ft Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators
Apocalyptica
Godsmack
Papa Roach
Judas Priest
Slipknot

Soundwave 2016 is officially dead :'( RIP Soundwave

Progfest - 27 Jan 2018

Enlight
Acolyte
Branch Arterial
Toehider
Voyager
Orsome Welles
Leprous

Download Melbourne - 24 Mar 2018


Sabaton
Gojira
Amon Amarth
Good Charlotte
Arch Enemy

Forge (I) - 14 Jul 2018

Triple Kill, Trigger, Valhalore

Forge (II) - 14 Sep 2018


Holy Diver, Panik, Hidden Intent, Lagerstein

Lagerfest - 15 Sep 2018

Barbarion, Catalano, The Bottlers, Dead City Ruins, Lagerstein

Melted - 3 Nov 2018

Fictitious Me, The Ascended, Triple Kill, Trigger



Forge (IV) - 15 Dec 2018

Great Leap Skyward, Trigger, Triple Kill, Hybrid Nightmares



Progfest - 26 Jan 2019

Image result for progfest 2019 melbourne
M0dal1ty
Mushroom Giant
Toehider
James Norbert Ivanyi
Chaos Divine
Skyharbor
Monuments
Glass Ocean
The Ocean

Download Melbourne - 11 Mar 2019


Voyager
Anthrax
Alien Weaponry
Rise Against
Devilskin
Judas Priest
Ghost
(Partial sets:) Slayer, Halestorm, Behemoth

Prog In the Hills - 14 Jun 2019

Beautiful Bedlam, Mushroom Giant, Toehider

Forge (?) - 5 Jul 2019

Ironstone, Triple Kill, Orpheus Omega, Lord

Southern Gathering - 13 Oct 2019

Image may contain: 1 person, text


Trigger, Silent Knight, Black Majesty, Vanishing Point, Turilli/Lione Rhapsody

Wacken Metal Battle Melbourne - 7 Mar 2020 

(date change since poster)
Triple Kill, Larry Leadfoot, Torrential Thrill, Cam Bird, Annihilist

Download Melbourne - 20 Mar 2020 - Cancelled due to COVID-19

RIP






Thursday 3 September 2015

Anime & Cartoons List

While I haven't seen nearly as many animated shows as live action ones, I still have found a few to enjoy! This doesn't include things I watched as a little kid, since I probably don't remember those (aside from if I rewatched them more recently).
And the same goes here as it did for live action shows: please don't post spoilers (preferably of anything, but especially not from those that I'm not yet up to date with), and feel free to recommend me anything else you think I'll enjoy!

Completed/Up to date

  • Avatar: the Last Airbender
  • Avatar: the Legend of Korra
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
  • Dragon Ball
  • Dragon Ball Z
  • Detroit Metal City
  • Gurren Lagann
  • Naruto
  • Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

In Process/Did Not Finish

  • Naruto Shippuuden
  • Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
  • One Punch Man
  • Death Note
  • The Devil is a Part Timer
  • Wakfu
  • Unlimited Blade Works/Fate Zero
  • Blue Exorcist
  • Mirai Nikki

To Watch

  • Space Brothers
  • PsychoPass
  • Code Geass
  • Metalgear Solid
  • Mushi-shi
  • Blue Submarine
  • Stein's Gate
  • Btoom!
  • Cowboy Bebop
  • Hellsing Ultimate
  • Trigun
  • Evangelion

Wednesday 2 September 2015

TV Shows -To watch!

Here's the list of shows I've been meaning to watch, or recommended to watch and haven't gotten around to quite yet. This list also includes some shows that have been announced and not yet released (those are mostly towards the bottom of the list, but otherwise this list is in no particular order).
Some of these shows I may have seen literally 1 or 2 episodes of -but not enough to consider putting in my watched/watching list.

To Watch

  • Taboo
  • The Night Manager
  • Outsiders
  • The Whisperers (cancelled, 1 season cliffhanger ending apparently)
  • Narcos
  • Limitless
  • The Player
  • The Shannara Chronicles
  • The Expanse
  • The Dresden Files
  • Fringe
  • The 100
  • The Librarian (3 tv movies + tv series)
  • Vikings
  • Skins
  • Farscape
  • Falling Skies
  • Hemlock Grove
  • Haven
  • Hannibal
  • Burn Notice
  • Ashes To Ashes/Life On Mars
  • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Watched some when it came out)
  • Unforgettable
  • Kyle XY
  • Hex
  • Quantum Leap
  • Alphas
  • Surface
  • Lost Girl
  • How to Get Away with Murder
  • Mr Robot
  • Warehouse 13
  • Sleepy Hollow
  • Peaky Blinders
  • The 4400
  • Homeland
  • Orphan Black
  • iZombie
  • The Frankenstein Code
  • Real Humans
  • The Returned
  • Continuum
  • 21 Jump Street
  • Sanctuary
  • Salem
  • The Frankenstein Chronicles

Tuesday 1 September 2015

A Couple of My Favourite Books

Unfortunately, I don't have a list of all the books I've read over time. That would be one mightily huge list. But instead I'll provide a list of some of my favourite series.
I was originally thinking of writing up a list of all the books I own, then realized I haven't even read all of them yet! Plus I have quite a few, so it's easier to just select a few of my favourite ones.
If you'd like to know more about any of these series/authors, feel free to ask!

In no particular order:


A Couple of My Favourite Books

  1. J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter, 7 books
    • Don't think this needs any explanation, really.
  2. George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire, 5 books (so far)
    • For those unaware, A Song of Ice and Fire is the book series name for Game of Thrones, I started reading them just after I watched the first season of the show.
  3. Garth Nix - The Old Kingdom Trilogy, 3 books + 1 book of short stories
    • Australian author whose books I first read towards the end of primary school/start of high school but still love. A series about necromancers, magic, undead and a talking cat-thing.
  4. Brent Weeks - The Night Angel Trilogy, 3 books
    • Basically, about a boy who becomes an assassin. There are some great original magic concepts in this series all based in a dark, gritty world.
  5. Brent Weeks - Lightbringer, 3 books (so far)
    • Weeks' 2nd series is, in my opinion, even better than his first. In this, the magic system is based of colours of light and their properties. Some people are only able to manipulate one colour, the monochromes, others two or rarer still three. But per generation, only one person, the Prism, is able to manipulate all 7 colors: subred (infrared), red, orange, yellow, green, blue and superviolet. Each has different consistency and uses and it's all very cool I'll leave it at that.
  6. Matthew Reilly - I own all of his books... including 2 series: Scarecrow and Jack West
    • Reilly is the writer to go to for action books. If you liked Dan Brown, but want something with a bit more James Bond style action? This is it.
    • Scarecrow series, 4 books (so far) + 1 novella: My personal favourites, the main character is a marine name Shane Schofield, call sign Scarecrow, and the series is all about him and his team getting in the craziest situations and the (mostly) getting out of them again. This includes explosions everywhere, car chases, killer whales, the American President, you name it!
    • Jack West series, 3 books (so far): Think Indiana Jones in book form.
    • Standalone novels, 5 books: one is about an alternate universe where the world is obsessed with hover car racing (Hover Car Racer.. duh), and the most recent of his books is The Great Zoo of China: think Jurassic Park with dragons instead of dinosaurs.
  7. Christopher Paolini - The Inheritance Cycle, 4 books
    • I read Eragon and Eldest when I was a lot younger, soon after they came out and really enjoyed them, so of course I then had to read Brisingr and, eventually, Inheritance. To be honest, they were much more enjoyable when I was younger, and I didn't so much like how the series was ended, but for the sake of nostalgia, I feel they deserve a place on this list.
    • Please disregard that the movie Eragon ever existed, it's one of the worst things I've ever seen! It's on the level of Dragonball Evolution and Avatar the Last Airbender for live action movie failures.
  8. Phillip Pullman - His Dark Materials, 3 books
    • These ones are fairly classic reads, talking 'daemons' that accompany their humans everywhere, a magic compass, a lot of travel in between universes, and somewhat of a negative commentary on the role of churchs and religion in history (if you're into that sort of thing).
    • Of course, the first book in this series was also made into a movie, and while some of it does differ to the series it's still not such a bad adaptation from what I remember.
  9. C. S. Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia, 7 books which I have in one large volume
    • More classics, I'm sure everyone at least knows about them from the movies, but this is another series I really enjoyed when I was younger, and haven't reread in a while.
  10. Steven Erikson & Ian C. Esslemont - Malazan Book of the Fallen
    • An epic fantasy series if there ever was one, I only started reading this series a few months ago (towards the end of June in fact) and am just past halfway of the series overall (as of the end of August), and I must say, though it does have a few ups and downs in terms of more interesting characters and continents and storylines, there are definitely more ups. Some people do find it difficult to first get into the series because not very much is explained of the world or magic system beforehand, they just send you right into the story, but I loved it!


I feel like I'm missing a lot of series that should probably be on this list, and may or may not add to it later, but as you can see, for the most part I really enjoy fantasy books and wouldn't have it any other way.