Multitasking

I’m a bookworm.


On average, I’m reading three books at the same time. I have one by my bed, one on audio when I’m gaming by the computer and one on my mp3 for when I’m at work or walking the dogs. I’m reading a horror short story collection by the bed, listening to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods by the computer and listening to The Harper Connelly Mysteries by Charlaine Harris at work and during walks.

Harris wrote the Sookie Stackhouse series that led to the tv-series True Blood starring (among others) the very talented Canadian actress Anna Paquin (who’s not only married to her True Blood colleague Stephen Moyer but also received an Oscar at the tender age of 11 for her part in The Piano). So far, I’ve stayed away from the Stackhouse novels because I like the tv-series (who can’t like Alexander Skarsgård?) so much but figured that Harper was safe to spend some time with. Good choice. I like Harper Connelly. I’m listening to the third book now. Awesome. Recommended.

Annars då? Dagarna går sakta såhär efter en fantastiskt lyckad helg. Det kan vara så att jag blivit attackerad av en förkylning men jag föredrar det framför magsjukan som gick på jobbet när jag jobbade 12-timmarsdagar. Kan vara dags att sova men jag vill inte. När jag kollade senaste Castle-avsnittet (det sista för tredje säsongen) upptäckte jag hur trött, sliten och medelålders Nathan Fillion (också en otroligt duktig kanadensare) ser ut. Då slog det slog mig att jag aldrig kommer att få se honom i rollen som Mal Reynolds igen. ALDRIG. Då kom tårarna. Jag skyller allt på att jag är trött.

It’s not an easy thing to lose hope. There’s no button to pound now Wash. No miracle.

Vampire Diaries - we're through

I’m now officially done with anything to do with The Vampire Diaries. I just finished The Vampire Diaries – The Return: Shadow Souls by L.J. Smith only to realize that I’ve got four books left in the series. As if I'd bother.

What really ticks me off is how the tv series could become so dull and tedious after only a season and a half (if there’s only one character left to appreciate – Damon Salvatore/Ian Somerhalder – I’d say there’s nothing left to see) when, at least, the novels keep getting you confused with all the far-fetched twists and turns and creatures from all kinds of cultures to put the main characters in deep doo-doo.

Like so many other authors, L.J. Smith suffers from making her characters infallible. Elena Gilbert, the girl we all (including all the other characters of the novels/series) follow in awe, is invincible. The fantasy genre of books is full of these characters (ever read an Eddings book?) that can (almost) never lose and always come out alive at the other end no matter what obstacles they run into (mostly thanks to their awesome godly strength or wit or cunning or whatnot).
Also, it annoys me that they had to change the name of the town from Fell’s Church to Mystic Falls when it had a perfectly good name to begin with.

Bah.

True Blood - Season Three

Yes people, against better judgement as I should be studying Politics, I just finished the third season of the highly acclaimed vampire series True Blood and as much as I hate to admit that another Skarsgård has taken both Hollywood and me by storm, he has.
Considering the strangely abrupt ending for all characters involved I’m not expecting another season (though there is a season four in production as we speak) but to be fair it’s been a fun ride and the vampire legend has been used, or abused according to others, yet another time. Personally, I enjoyed the sexual theme throughout the whole series, mostly because that’s what the original Dracula (the one by the crazy Irish guy, Bram Stoker, you know) legend was about; the Count Dracula came from the East to invade the British Empire and suck the pure virginal blood of poor innocent British women through penetrating their necks with his sharp teeth (important word being “penetrating”, the Victorians weren’t as innocent as their Queen wanted them to be after all…).
Also, I enjoyed this third season because I'm a big Lafayette fan and got more than I could ever hope for of him (“You a witch who’s a nurse who’s a dude. Holy shit, I guess I lucked out then, huh”).
So. If we're going to complain about something we can always talk about vampire teeth looking like something a feral tiger would have, the ridiculous amount of supernatural creatures included and all small insignificant characters to keep track of. Simplicity works. It did in the first season, why not now?
Lastly, I’d like to make a small Swedish to English dictionary simply because I can and was freakishly surprised when Swedish turned out to be the language the vampires spoke amongst themselves (on the other hand I was also surprised to find the female agents of the series Chuck to speak Swedish as well. Lets face it, Swedes are taking over Hollywood!), but I’ll resist this once.
Perhaps another day.

True Blood - säsongssammanfattning 2

Andra säsongen av True Blood var mycket mer engagerande än den första (kan bero på att man redan känner karaktärerna och därför kan börja leka med storyn, d'oh) men samtidigt en säsong med massor av ibland förvirrande detaljer. Världens sämsta slut.
No, correction - det var ett fantastiskt säsongsavslut men eftersom jag kollat igenom serien på.. hmm... en dag, så kunde den gott fortsätta lite till.
Jag har fått en helt ny respekt för Alexander Skarsgård (avsnitt 9 imponerade i alla fall mig).

...but still, no, I do NOT see what the fuss is all about.

True Blood - säsongssammanfattning 1

1 av mina 3 favoritkaraktärer blev mördad, en annan råkade ut för något ännu oförklarligt i sista avsnittet. That's all I'm saying.
Å andra sidan kan jag flika in att serien i sig är helt ok, men inte riktigt så exalterande och sexig som alla påstår och varken Skarsgård eller Moyer faller in under vad jag tycker är våldsamt hett.
Hm.