The second instalment of the epic Horus Heresy legend sees the beginnings of rebellion. A betrayal by the commanding officer on Davin brings Horus and the Mournival (his elite champions and advisors) to the moon of Davin on a quest for revenge and justice. But they all get more than they bargained for, the moon of Davin, the betrayer, it is all a part of an intricate plot. A plot to kill Horus.

When Horus is injured and on his death-bed, desperate measures must be taken to save the most important soldier in the Universe. Unfortunately they are left with only one choice: to take Horus to Davin’s surface and leave him in the Snake Temple to be administered to by its priests. Despite the entire idea being completely against the Emperor’s teachings, the desperation of those left to make the decision means that any measures will be taken to save Horus’ life.

Up to this point we have the traditional war-torn savagery of the Warhammer 40K universe. But as Horus is on his death-bed, we have a kind of A Christmas Carol scene where Horus is visited by a ghost to be shown the future of the universe to try to convert him over to the dark side. As this is the turning point of the entire Warhammer universe it just feels weak, insubstantial and not entirely convincing. After this halfway point not much happens, the intrigues continue to build, but most of the plot of this novel has already been told. The thing is, it’s still gripping. The petty intrigues, and lies and schemes keep your attention. This is not the blockbuster of the first book, but a good solid second instalment (similar to The Empire Strikes Back), which can’t help but fail in its turnabout of the Warmaster, but other than that continues to entertain.

Can’t wait for the third instalment.

“Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” o la segona paròdia de l’univers Star Wars que fan els de la sèrie de la Fox, “Family Guy”, que es distribueix en DVD i Blu-ray a partir del 22 de desembre d’enguany.

Em 2007 o seriado animado Family Guy/Família da Pesada fez uma paródia de Star Wars: Uma Nova Esperança, que foi um enorme sucesso de público e crítica. Agora o dublador e criador da série Seth MacFarlane, vai parodiar O Império Contra-Ataca, que ganhou o nome de Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side. Confira o primeiro trailer:

Vídeo do usuário moviegoodsposters do youtube

Hilário! Impossível não rir com o encontro de Chris Griffin/Luke Skywalker com Carl/Yoda. Melhor ainda com Stewie como Darth Vader, Peter como Han Solo e Brian como Chewbacca.

Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side será lançado em DVD, Blu-ray e no iTunes no dia 22 de dezembro nos EUA. Como fiz quando foi lançada a primeria paródia, assim que o episódio sair na net conto para vocês todos os detalhes desse episódio especial.

Trailer da segunda parte da paródia de Uma Família da Pesada com a trilogia Star Wars.

Okay here’s something looks really cool. The new trailer for the forthcoming Family Guy special episode Something, Something, Something, Dark Side… has been unveiled.

The episode will see the cast give tribute to the movie The Empire Strikes Back and is a follow on from the previous special Blue Harvest, which itself was a parody on the original Star Wars, A New Hope. The trailer meanwhile is a absolute direct remake of the original TESB trailer.

The DVD and Blu-ray will be released December 28th, 2009.

Mon corps est là
Ma tête n’y est pas
Un regard un peu flou
L’envie de me blottir dans ton cou
Les heures s’écoulent,
Une esquisse de moi un peu saoule

Hallucination !

Je n’habite pas là
J’habite dans tes bras.

Je vis dans un monde parallèle surprenant
Fait de : quand ? de si, et de “Attends”
Ma peau et mes sens gorgés de toi
Doivent vivre dans ce décor sournois

Absurdité !

Je n’ habite pas là
J’ habite dans tes bras

Qui pourrait comprendre ?
Je suis une autre à s’en méprendre !
Et ce silence qui me pèse
Contient les mots de mon malaise
Week ends pervers empreints de ton absence
Me plongent dans l’indolence

Monchalance !

Je n’habite pas là
J’ habite dans tes bras.

Sudah senin lagi. Apa yang harus dilakukan.
Hari ini Es1 sepertinya juga sudah datang.
Target hampir terpenuhi. Tapi beban kerja tidak ada satupun yang selesai.
Mau apa ini…..

Je vois la montagne. Je me crois déjà en haut.
Ne suis je pas un oiseau ?
Plus dure sera la chute
Clament les bruts
Qui se lèvent le matin
Pour aller au turbin
Je travaille moi monsieur.
Et moi, j’aime ma dame.

Désir !
Plaisir !
Avenir ?

La vérité est-elle dans le fond du sac
La vase du lac,
Ou bien dans le creux du ressac ?
L’indécence est-elle dans l’incandescence,
La turbulence, la danse,
Ou l’indolence et le rance ?

Lune et soleil !
Nuit et jour !
Roméo et Juliette ?

Je fais tapis, impair et peut-être déjà perds
Risque inique pour les plus verts.
Du passé faisons donc place nette
Au diable les amulettes,
Car le conditionnel grommelle,
Le futur semble un mur,
Même le présent est violent.

Espoir !
Liberté !
Réalité ?

Mes lèvres sont gercées.
Pas assez de baisers,
Pour l’enfant gâté délaissé.
Je revendique et je milite,
Je ne veux pas de limite,
Ni d’hiver implicite.

Beauté !
Amour !
Absurdité ?

Je vois la montagne. Je me sens un jour en haut.
Le sentier semble si beau.
Viens mon amour, j’ai pris du feu et de l’eau.

Looking at the current music industry, I find it interesting how a lot of the biggest stars have attached themselves to one another.  Beyoncé and Jay-Z are considered the golden couple of R&B / hip-hop, and although they are both megastars and extremely talented in their own right (and have lots of independent ventures, and carved out their own careers independently before getting together), it’s the fact that they are together which makes them seem almost invincible.  When you listen to some of Beyoncé’s love songs, you can imagine her singing about Jay-Z; when she has a song like “Diva” which exudes confidence in a hip-hop style, you assume that Jay-Z had something to do with that attitude.  Even if it’s not the case.  Likewise, on Robin Thicke’s new song “Meiplé”, Jay-Z raps about Beyoncé being the “black Brigitte Bardot”.

Running with the Beyoncé example, she teams up with artists such as Shakira and Lady Gaga (whoever’s hot, basically) to cement her status as one of music’s elite.  Just like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, or Timbaland and Nelly Furtado.  Relationships-wise, remember the furore over Britney Spears and Justin back in the day?  Their relationship elevated them to supernova-level megastardom, and was a massive element in their fame and success.  Interestingly, when they broke up, things just weren’t the same.  I think as members of the public, we like a couple who are balanced musically and seem to fit each other personally – it seems like fairytales can happen.  And when they self-destruct and we’re forced to admit that the fairytale was something created by the public and the media that the celebrities could never live up to, it’s just not the same.  I’m sure that there are some people who would attribute Britney’s entire marriage to Kevin Federline and her subsequent meltdown to the fact that her and Justin broke up, regardless of the reasons behind that breakup or the other factors in Britney’s life that added to her downward spiral (and subsequent resurgence).  I think that the same is happening with Rihanna and Chris Brown at the moment – however good their music / dancing / fashion might be, the fact that they were part of a couple – however much they would deny it to the paparazzi – made them seem that little bit more gilded in superstardom.  Now that they’ve split up, regardless of who beat who, they’re both experiencing some backlash (despite the fact that in both cases, their new material is certainly up to par, if not better, than their previous work).  What’s up with that?

I was thinking about this not because I ruminate daily on Beyoncé and Rihanna’s love lives, but because the same kind of thing has happened at uni.  Consciously or not, several of us within our course have paired off – not in a romantic sense, but just attached ourselves to one best friend.  There’s Pete and Emma, Penny and Daisy, Julie and Clare, among others – and of course me and Mike.  Talking about Mike and me, we’re the unofficial ‘leaders’ of our group – everyone seems to look to us whenever we speak in class, whenever someone needs to volunteer to do something in the group, organising social events.  I dread to think what would have happened if one of us didn’t smoke – we wouldn’t have had the chance to gel so instantly (on the first morning, Mike came up to me and said “Do you smoke?” “Yes.” “I thought it was you outside.  THANK GOD.  I smoke too!” and that was it!).  But I still think that because of the people we are, we would have found each other before too long.  It’s interesting how we seem to attract others around us, be they members of the aforementioned pairs, or others.  At first, there was a pair of the two youngest girls, Jenny and Sian, but as time’s gone on, Jenny has started to explore life on the dark side (i.e. she’s hanging out with me, Mike and Vikki) and loosened up to have some fun.  There’s a sense of charisma and magnetism that pairs who get on well exude without even much effort.  I wonder if those in our group who don’t come out for social drinks, who turn up to uni alone and go home alone, are enjoying it quite as much?  I know that the point of the course is not to have fun and socialise, but I like to work hard and play hard, and I think it’s a good balance for getting the most from this experience.

The funny thing was one night recently when Mike couldn’t come out.  I was still the social ringleader, but I did have a couple of comments such as “So what is Mike doing tonight?”  ”How is Mike?” “You won’t smoke as much tonight since your smoking partner isn’t here.”  Me and Mike texted during the evening (he was sad he couldn’t be there, I was updating him on the scandal and gossip as the night progressed), but I thought it was interesting how people still kinda saw me as the ringleader, but thought that he and me were inseparable to the point of knowing each other’s business inside out.  I told Mike about it on Sunday when I saw him, and we laughed at the fact people seem to have the conception that we cannot exist without one another (I’ve heard one person say “Mike loves you, he follows you everywhere!” when I don’t see it as following, I just see it as a natural gravitation towards one another) – last time I checked, I managed 23.8 years of my life without Mike, and he managed even more without me.

Once you become a part of a “power couple” in whatever sense, does that make you inferior when you act on your own?  As much as I enjoy being part of the “Mike & I” leadership party, I’m still my own person.  Me and Mike have a lot in common, but we’re different in a lot of ways too, and I don’t need him to function.  And vice versa!  I think that having a companion or partner in crime makes you feel stronger, bolder and more confident, but it doesn’t mean that without the other person, you’re nothing.  I wonder what Jay-Z thinks about his position in hip-hop’s elite, and whether this position would be compromised were he to divorce Beyoncé tomorrow.  Sometimes a friendship or relationship brings along with it a certain amount of social bank or clout, but that’s not the sole reason why we should be friends with anyone – we just gel with people and connect from there.  Because at the end of the day, people may see a certain facet of us in the public eye – whether we’re celebrities or just day-to-day people – but behind closed doors or in the privacy of our own relationship, we have that connection for reasons people don’t understand unless they’re willing to plumb the depths below the surface.

Sure, the New York Yankees are the 2009 World Series Champions, and sure, they were most definitely the best team this whole season… but I still hate their guts.

Douches. A whole bunch of 'em.

People who also felt that layer of slime on their body when the Dark Side clinched their 27th title know precisely what I’m talking about. It’s not that everyone on the team is a jerk, it’s because they are wearing pinstripes.

It is because they are a part of Steinbrenner’s ball club.

It’s because they are the Yankees.

Other than the people living in the Bronx, the ones who root for this ballclub are people who know nothing about the sport or the cheapskates (Basi excluded) who don’t have the cojones to pick another team. Seriously, why go for a team that is made to win? Why go for a team that is stacked with household names like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, and Andy Pettite? It’s because they don’t know any better.

That’s why I hate the Yankees.

Well, one reason.

If there’s something else you can expect in the playoffs, it’s the players growing out their beards. They have them because they’re superstitious; it’s something that can always be found in a stadium even though it’s not talked about that often. Chicago Cubs fans are superstitious — we blame a goat for our lack of World Series appearances. People’s superstitions are part of the fun with America’s favourite pass time. So, why don’t the men above have beards? Team policy? Well, guess what…

I hate the beardless Yankees.

The greatest thing about this decade is that they’ve only won one title in ten years. And if I’m lucky, they won’t win one for another ten. Not years, decades. That’s what I’ve put up with being a Northsiders fan. That’s where I stand.

I love the lovable losers.

I loathe the Yankees… and always will.

We all have positive and negative emotions. This is normal, natural, and is a very good thing. Every positive emotion has a negative counterpart. We have been taught that there is something wrong or twisted and evil about our negative emotions, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Our negative emotions exist to tell us that there is something wrong that needs to stop. Our negative emotions are born of pain and exist to help put an end to pain. They are dark and frequently destructive, but that is there purpose, that is there function, and it is a very good thing that they do exist. Joy and sorrow are twins both born of the idea that something is or was wonderful. Pride and shame are there to condition you for excellence. Fear and worry tell you that there is a danger while hope and confidence tell you how good your chances are. Love tells you something is valuable or useful while hate tells you that something is destructive and dangerous. Is there anything wrong with the fact that I hate getting kicked in the crotch? It is a very painful experience and I would be quite alright if I never have to experience it again. Hunger and stress tell you that there is a need and satisfaction and peace tell you that, for the moment at least, all is well. Every one of these emotions, both light and dark, exist to help you and guide you. They are part of you, they are advisers and friends and you need to accept and listen to them for your own good. This does not mean that they are always right, but it does mean you need to listen. If your emotions are telling you something important and true you need to listen and act on it. If your emotions are telling you something untrue than you need to listen in order to find the flaw and change your thinking appropriately. If you do not know what your emotions are trying to tell you or what you are feeling, just ask yourself.

If you ask yourself and you expect an answer, you will get one. It may take a bit of time to learn to translate the signals from your feelings into words, but you can do it, if you take the time and effort to learn. It seems a little odd, given our culture, but it really does help the process of self realization and growth when you learn to talk to yourself, or at least to different aspects and parts of your personality. It doesn’t have to be out loud, but sometimes it does help. Sometimes you will get an answer in words, sometimes just in feelings. If you are asking where a feeling came from you may get mental images and visions or just a sense of knowing and remembering, but you will eventually get an answer if you relax as deeply as you can, then ask and allow yourself to answer. Sometimes your conscious mind will answer and sometimes you will get an answer from deep within you mind. As a heads up, your different emotions will tend to have different voices associated with them. The voice of love and the voice of hate sound different than each other in your head and both of those sound different than your rational mind, but all are still a part of you. And it really does help in dangerous situations when you can get to a point where instead of just a general feeling of fear you get a voice in your head that says “Run.” And it takes more time still to learn to let go and to get to a point where you find yourself running before you consciously know why. But, it is a survival skill to learn to get out of your own way and to let your fear take over and act quickly and let your rational mind catch up once you’re already moving. To act on instinct and from your gut, instead of always from your head is something useful and a virtual necessity in any truly dangerous situation.

Emotions really only cause problems for you when your knowledge and understanding are out of sync with reality. If you view something as either more dangerous or less dangerous than it really is, than your fear and confidence will reflect that false image rather than the true one. If you think you are stronger than you are than you are likely to put yourself into situations that you cannot handle safely. If you think that you are weaker than you really are then you avoid trouble that you are perfectly capable of handling by yourself. And, in fact you weaken yourself in either scenario, either through injury or atrophy. If your sense of value is warped than you end up searching for and craving things that you do not need, and end up not getting enough of what you do need. The remedy to all of these problems lies in meditation. Meditation improves intelligence and creativity. As you become more intelligent and more rational you can realize and see and can accept the truth. You can let go of the unhealthy and diseased ideas and bring yourself into sync with reality. As your view of reality becomes more and more accurate your emotions will balance out and reflect an ever more true and accurate picture of life. Your mental picture may never be truly complete or accurate, there will always be errors and misunderstandings, but it is in your best interests to continually do what it takes to make it as complete and accurate as you can.

… the following was an interview conducted by one of my friends with me at my request. The only parameters giving for the interview were that it should concentrate on my writings as of late. The interview has been redacted for clarity, dramatical effects, privacy issues, and censorship in the manner shown below:

(words in parenthesis) denote actions of the interviewee and interviewer in the point of view of third person and in accordance to my memory.
[ellipses] inside brackets denote omitted words, ellipses with no brackets are used to denote hesitation as is my particular style of writing. Ellipses are 3 periods in a row: …
[words] inside brackets indicate inserted words.

Interview was transcribed from a recording. My friend’s name is omitted and in place I use [Friend].

Her – (eyes open wide) Well Javi, I’m so excited about doing this interview with you. Thank you for inviting me to do so and thank you for coming out!

Me – (smiles) Well I thought you were just excited to see me…

Her – (smiling) Ah yeah! Especially since you never have time for your favorite […] girl. But however odd this request seem I thought it was a great idea since I am a fan of your writing, and am curious about some things… spending time with you and catching up is just double the pleasure double the fun.

Me – Well thank you [Friend]… it’s good to see you too.

[…]

Her – Okay so lets jump right into it. You’ve always written so much, but you don’t always share, and for a little bit there you stop writing all together. Now you are writing again, but never before had you shared with me such gloomy stuff as what you’ve written in the last… what 3 weeks? So what’s up with that? That [stuff] is pretty depressing.

Me – (leans back half smiling and hesitates) It is [Friend]… but it was something I thought to be important to do… and I’ve learn so much…

Her – So are you depressed Javi?

Me – The simple answer to that is no… but depression has it’s many stages… but no, I don’t really ever get depressed out of the blue like that.

Her – So you enter this… stage on purpose, no?

Me – Yes.

Her – (shuffling through papers) in the writing we are considering Javier, you often describe a voyage into the darkness and in a poem… you wrote of sinking into the pits of human despair and savoring sadness and pain… what does that mean? I mean how is this voyage and savoring actually occurring?

Me – (looking down into space) Without giving my poem interpretation… the best way I can describe it is this: I see the dark side as all the evil, sadness, pain and negativity that… occurs or is experience in this world. In the dark side you are either… the perpetrator or a victim… . Of course victims often become… perpetrators. It’s like when someone cuts you off in traffic… and you… do what I’ve seen you do (both smile). I guess it’s human nature to return evil with evil… and in that way and others we are all experiencing the darkness…

Her – Okay…

Me – My voyage into the darkness is not as a perpetrator, in the sense that I am not going in to harm others… or myself, or do things that are harmful… and it’s not as a victim in the sense that I am not allowing harmful things to happen to me. I am more like narrator, no… like a camera man, even better a photographer!… viewing and recording in the dark side… sometimes from the point of view of the victim sometimes from the point view of the perpetrator, sometimes just a wide shot…

Her – I see…

Me – Except that my focus is actual feelings more than events… those feeling I savor in the sense that I… you know.

Her – Of course. It must take great vision and self control to be able to do something as such…

Me – [Friend] great art requires and immense amount of control… (smiles)

[…]

Her – (smiling and teasing tone) so Javier, you sure this wasn’t about missing that girl… with hot legs, the great kisser as you described her?

Me – (sarcastic tone) Ha ha, no… but I can write something about her if you like…

Her – Okay!

Me – Okay!

[…]

Her – Javi how much longer will you stay in this [gloomy] stage?

Me – (smiles) I am done, all I had to do is see you [Friend]…

Her – […] seriously now…

Me – No, seriously speaking I am done with it.

Her – What are you walking a way with?

Me – It’s been a sobering experience… and don’t let Darth Stewie fool you, the dark side is not much more funner.

[…]

Her – Shall we go grab a bite to it?

Me – (slaps hands together) Let’s do it!

Thank goodness October is now just a hazy memory of H1N1, fevers, pneumonia, pleurisy, ER and doctor visits, chest x-rays and heavy duty antibiotics. 

Remember that full-on sneeze I was a recipient of?  It brought H1N1 into my house.  The H1N1 gave my otherwise very healthy 11 year old daughter a nasty case of pneumonia.

Obviously I have not had much time to spend blogging.

October is best forgotten anyway, I think.

How has November begun?

One word:  CHAOS

Halloween, time change, full moon and preschool are not a good mix.

I have conferences starting next week.

I have 40 “report cards” to fill out this weekend.

I may have to brush up on my teacher code if the chaos in what was once a rather orderly classroom does not subside.

Help…

Mrs. V