A Quick Heads Up

I have been ill this week. I've got a cold which started on Tuesday and has progressively worsened.

I think I'm now over the worst of it...I hope.

So anyway due to being ill I didn't prepare a random Friday post this week... but I thought I'd drop you a quick line about the coming month (being sick has also done away with my ability to type - it's taken me twice as long as usual to type this as I keep missing letters and running words in to each other).

Monday see the start of the Blogging From A To Z Challenge April 2013 - there is still time to sign up and prepare by clicking here.

Last week I revealed my theme for this year... and I'll be honest I haven't written one post yet. I was going to do it this week but my head has been all befuddled for the above mentioned reason.

Luckily my theme involves a dictionary so I should be ok... even if I am planning on taking part in the first session of Camp NaNoWriMo 2013 which also starts on Monday - I'm a glutton for punishment aren't I?

Due to all of this I will not be posting any random quotes, Teaser Tuesdays or random Friday posts  during April.

Anyone else signed up for the A To Z Challenge this year? Or Camp NaNoWriMo 2013?

Is anyone else under the weather?

Or are there any other weirdos out there who like me have opted for all three?

...although the ill part isn't technically something I chose to take part in...

Teaser Tuesday

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is simple - all you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments.

So here are my teasers this week:

Her pristine uniform stood out a mile; she may as well have carved 'new girl' into her forehead with a scalpel. Eyes burned into the back of her skull, and even though she knew this would pass in a matter of hours, she hadn't anticipated how wretched it would make her feel.

Page 13, Hollow Pike by James Dawson

This book counts towards the New Authors Challenge 2013 hosted by Literary Escapism.

Random Quote #128

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it. 

Wislawa Szymborska

Down The Rabbit Hole

So last week end me and my sister went to the Birmingham MCM cosplaying as two versions of Alice from the video game Alice: Madness Returns.

It was a lot busier than it was last year - it was absolutely packed! And we kept getting stopped by people wanting to take our photo - so there are pictures of me who knows where on the internet now!

So I thought I'd share some of my own photos.

Me!

My sister!

Alien Vs Predator... and a random man

There were actually two Darth Vaders

There were loads of people dressed up as all sorts of things. And we found another Alice! My sister got a photograph of us together :)

In fact my sister got a lot more photographs than me - she's much more comfortable with walking up to someone, prodding them in the arm and asking for a photograph.

I kind of took them as and when I could. 


So some of the angles aren't the best as I wasn't really asking people to pose for said photographs.

They're off to see the Wizard... with a random man in tow!

That's my sister's arm on the left.

Cookie!

Like I said my sister took a lot more photographs - and she has even made a video slide show of them.

So go to her blog - The Novice Cosplayer - and check them out!

The Big Reveal

Today is the day of The Big Reveal.

Ooh... mysterious isn't it?

Hosted by Some Dark Romantic and Brits In The USA all you have to do today is reveal your theme for the Blogging From A To Z Challenge which is fast approaching - eek!

Well my theme isn't all that exciting really... although it should be educational (unless you know every single word in the English language).

Basically I am going to go to my dictionary...

The pencil is there to show that this is a big dictionary!

...and for each letter of the alphabet I will post the definition of the first word I come to that I don't know (I certainly don't know every word in the English language).

So I will be expanding my vocabulary (and possibly yours) for this years challenge.

If you click the links near the top of this post for Some Dark Romantic and Brits In The USA you can go and discover some more themes for A To Z 2013.

Teaser Tuesday

I am currently still reading the same book as I was last week...

However I went on a longish train journey on Saturday and rather than take the 500 page hardback I was reading I took a 300 page paperback.

So I'll use that for my teaser this week.

So let's get this show on the road. Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is simple. All you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then skidaddle over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments.

So here are my teasers this week:

He hadn't heard the man reload the weapon, but he took no chances. He jumped down a couple of steps, pointed the pistol at the floorboards where he now knew the man was lying, and pulled the trigger twice.

Page 23, The Titanic Secret by Jack Steel

This book counts towards the New Authors Challenge 2013 hosted by Literary Escapism.

Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest

Today is the day of the Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest as hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

And really the clue is in the title with regards to what this blogfest entails.

Now I have listed my top ten... which took me a while to narrow down. But they are not in any particular order as they come from multiple genres.

I judge a film to be a favourite if I can watch it over and over again without it losing any of its charm or whatever it is that compels me to keep re-watching it.

So this is going to be a video/trailer heavy post... and I won't explain why I like each film because with some of them I just can't explain why I like the film in question.

So away we go:

Face/Off (1997)

The Punisher (2004)

You've Got Mail (1998)

Singin' In The Rain (1952)

Ghostbusters (1984)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

The Sword In The Stone (1963)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Without A Clue (1988)

Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (1989)

Honourable Mentions

There were a couple of films that didn't quite make it in to my top ten but I wanted to mention them anyway.  

The Crow (1994) - trailer

The Shining (1980) - trailer

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - trailer

If you click the link at the top of this page you can go and find the link list over at Ninja Captain Alex's blog.

Random Quote #127

To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation. 

Yann Martel

Madness Has Returned!

My Alice costume is complete!

Last week I posted photos of my vorpal blade and other bits and pieces. This week I bring you photos of the actual costume.

Now obviously I haven't done my hair and make-up like Alice in these photos. Hopefully on the day I will get some photos of the full effect.

Please excuse the stupid face I'm pulling in the first photo... it is impossible for me to have a photo taken of me looking normal. If I try for normal my eyes seem to weld themselves shut in every photo. So it's either stupid face or miserable as hell! I went for the first option as you can see. And please ignore all the crap in the background.

Mission complete! :)

Teaser Tuesday

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is simple:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then go to Should be Reading and add you link to the comments... and check out some other teasers too.

So here are my teasers:

'How did they catch it?' It was a stupid question: as far as Trixie was concerned Daemons didn't exist, so how could they be captured?

Page 50, The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

For me this book counts towards the New Authors Challenge 2013 hosted by Literary Escapism.

Random Quote #126

Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonises it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The Evolution Of A Vorpal Blade

There's just over a week to go until the Birmingham MCM and it is update time cosplay wise.

 

All I've really got to do now to complete my Alice costume is make the bow for the back of my apron and finish putting my buckles on elastic for the boots.

So today I thought I'd show you how my vorpal blade evolved from some foam board, newspaper and glue in to the finished article.

Stage 1

Stage 2

It appears that my phone doesn't like my duvet cover!

Stage 3

Blogger decided it wanted this photo portrait instead of landscape

Stage 4

Blogger didn't like the orientation of this one either

So as you can see from this sideways photo my pendant, vorpal blade and the skull for the middle of my bow are all complete. All made with a mixture of foam board, cardboard, newspaper, glue, acrylic paint and on the blade/handle permanent marker. The pattern on the handle of the knife isn't as vibrant as I'd like - for some reason the glue made it fade... but it didn't on the blade itself - weird!

Hopefully this time next week I should have the full costume finished... if not I'm in trouble!

Teaser Tuesday - And Now For Something A Little Different

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy!

All you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments.

This week I'm reading a book of plays written by Agatha Christie so my teasers might seem a little odd compared with ones from other fiction.

A fantastic photo of the cover don't you think?

So here they are:

AUDREY: (Rising, reproachfully) You shouldn't have done that, Nevile.

NEVILE: Why not?

Towards Zero - Page 144, Witness For The Prosecution And Other Plays by Agatha Christie

Random Quote #125

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.

Robert Fulghum

Book Review: Become by Ali Cross

Disclaimer: I received Become by Ali Cross free as a First Read on Goodreads.

Become is a paranormal urban fantasy. It has a good story line - Desolution (Desi for short) is the Devil's daughter after all, so of course the story line is good. She's the Devil's daughter but she doesn't want to follow in his footsteps (or should that be hoof prints?). And then she ends up on the mortal plane where problems arise: angels, demons, you know the usual teenage stuff.


There were a couple of moments of 'What? So that means...? How come...?' where I was a little confused. How old is she supposed to be again?

Just when you think you've got the whole plot nailed down something new appears to change that. There were twists and turns, things you didn't see coming, or maybe you did.

Now I liked the story and I would probably have picked this up and read it whether I had to pay for it or not. However, to be honest, when I got to the end I didn't really care what happened next.

I may read the next one, I may not. There just isn't anything making me think 'Ooh what's going to happen next?' like with some series I have read (or am still reading).

Other than that it is a quite good read.

3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads

This review can also be found on Goodreads.