The desolation of Smaug

What made me happy today? The desolation of Smaug.
The boyfriend and I went to see 'the hobbit: the desolation of Smaug' yesterday. Neither of us particularly like the first movie, as it's tormentingly slow at times. But the reviews for the second one were really good, so we decided to go ahead and see how this one shaped up.
*Warning: spoilers ahead*
I have to say, we weren't disappointed. The movie has it's flaws, true. There's some questionable science in the movie, it could have done without the romance angle and should have ended 20 seconds earlier. I mean, Peter Jackson could have ended the movie with Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) saying 'I am fire. I am death.' Instead, he ended the movie with Bilbo (Martin Freeman) saying 'What have we done?'
But the movie has a much better pace. The characters are portrayed much more coherently, and the awesomeness is just everywhere. Except for Thranduil, whom I wanted to slap in his face more than once.
Visually, the movie is simply stunning. And there were some nice casting surprises as well! Stephen Fry as master of Lake Town to name just one.
I also had a small nerd moment at the start of the movie. 2 white mice near Martin Freeman :-) if you don't get that, go watch the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy ;-)
Enjoy your weekend !

Year of the nerd!

What made me happy today? Year of the nerd!
It was a very calm day at work, so I decided to take the afternoon off. I still had some overtime :-)
After the cleaning had been done, I decided to take a look at Buzzfeed and stumbled across this article that made my whole day! And the nerdiness will continue today, as I'm heading to the movies with the boyfriend to see 'the Hobbit: the desolation of Smaug'. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman and Orlando Bloom.
Enjoy your Friday! And please excuse me while my inner nerd keels over.

I did not see that coming.

What made me happy today? I did not see that coming. (See what I did there? No? Keep on reading, I'll explain!)
Many months ago I wrote this blog about one of my all-time favorite webcomics. Dominic Deegan, the grumpy seer, created by Michael Terracciano (aka Mookie).
On May 24th of this year, after 11 (!) years, Dominic Deegan ended. Michael started working alongside Garth Graham to create the wonderful Star Power. A few weeks back, I started re-reading Dominic Deegan, and I was thinking about how glad I am it's still online and how sad I'd be if it goes online.
Now, somewhere, someone must have heard this, because a bit later (Nov. 25th) Michael announced that he'd be releasing the first parts of Dominic Deegan as an omnibus. And on December 2nd, it was finally time to pre-order. Which, of course, I did that same morning. Du-uh.
But what I didn't see coming was that I'd get a very nice thank you email from Michael with a picture of Sparky (Dominic's alliteration loving, smart-ass, 'death from above' cat). That made my whole day! Plus, the 'I did not see that coming' is referring to the fact that Dominic is a seer, and that the email it came from is scrymail.
If you love Dominic Deegan, head on over to the store and pre-order your copy at a special price (until Dec 31st, after that the price will go up)! If you don't know Dominic Deegan, head on over and check it out. It's amazing!

The Stanley parable

What made me happy today? The Stanley parable.
Yesterday evening, my BF and I went out for dinner with his parents. Afterwards, we were talking about games. Suddenly, the BF takes my chair, drags me in front of his PC, put my hands on the mouse and keyboard and said 'Here, play this'.
This turned out to be a demo of a game called 'the Stanley parable'. Originally a Half Life mod, it's now a full game. The demo is the introduction to the game. But it's not your average demo. This one, as well as the full game, is different from anything I had ever played before. Different in a frustrating, but good and amusing way though!
Be warned, it's a very addictive game. Trust me. I got home last night, got the game on Steam and played for an hour. I've been playing it for the better part of today as well. I even asked my BF why he introduced me to this game.
There's a reason this game gets high review scores. The Stanley parable has a Metascore of 90, and I really recommend it!
However, it's hard to explain what the Stanley parable is about without spoiling it all. So I suggest you head on over to Steam and get the game. Add me while you're there! I'm Elentariel on Steam. You can thank me later for the awesome game.



Or yell at me because you're completely addicted ;-)

Lightning Bolt

What made me happy today? Lightning Bolt!
I finally got around to listening to the entire new Pearl Jam album, called Lightning Bolt! Two singles, 'mind your manners' and 'sirens' were released, prior to the complete album.
Lightning Bolt is somewhat reminiscent of the older Pearl Jam, but has some fresh new sounds. My personal favorite songs are 'sirens' 'infallible' and 'pendulum'. Reviews of this album are widely varied, some call this the best album by Pearl Jam so far, others call it mediocre or worse. I didn't look at the reviews before getting the album, so I could give it a listen with an open mind.
In my opinion it's a great album, although it doesn't have songs like 'Jeremy' or 'Alive' on it. 'Sirens' still tugs on my heart-strings every time I hear it. But I kind of miss the raw edge the older songs sometimes seemed to have.
Still, I love it! Eddie's voice is magnificent :-)

Sirens

What made me happy today? Sirens!
I'm not talking about the mythical sea-creatures, or the ones on an ambulance. I'm talking about the new song 'Sirens' by Pearl Jam. It was on the radio this morning, and I immediately loved it! The lyrics, the guitars, everything! I've been a fan of Pearl Jam since 'Ten' :-)
It even comes with a video clip, you can watch it here. Which it great, because Pearl Jam hadn't made a clip in years!
Eddie for president! ;-)

Lucky shot!

What made me happy today? Lucky shots!
These incredible once in a lifetime shots! Take a look, and be amazed!
(I know, short post, but work is keeping me rather busy)

Good guy Tesla

What made me happy today? Good guy Tesla!

Nikola Tesla. Inventor, engineer, (mad) scientist and way ahead of his time. In my opinion one of the lesser acknowledged great minds of his time. And I'm not alone in that sentiment. Check out this comic by the Oatmeal.
So when you switch on your lights this evening, don't forget to say thank you to Mr. Tesla :-)

Internet!

What made me happy today? The internet!
The internet is awesome. Well, as long as you don't feed the trolls.
I live on the internet. Most of my days are spent working on a computer, with a lot of emails. A lot of my free time is spent on the internet as well. Facebook, Twitter, Skype, gaming, news, music, videos etc.
But I love the internet so much because it has put me into contact with a few amazing people over these past years. People I otherwise never would have met. And it allows me to stay in touch with friends and family who don't live that close to me.
And you can buy stuff on the internet too :-) So yay internet!
But again, whatever you do: don't.feed.the.trolls.

Porta Nigra

What made me happy today? Porta Nigra being the best way ever to start my vacation!
I'm not going to do an extended review of the shows here, as they were all great (though not all of them were my thing). But the vibe in the room was so great! There was a lot of love :-)
I got hugs from Tomas, Rose and Fredrik (Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio) and from Nicolas (Empusae, Triarii, In Slaughter Natives) as well. And like I promised Tomas and Rose, I was there, front row!
It was an amazing, epic, music-filled day. I'm still so happy, some of the bands gave me the feeling that I was being wrapped in a cocoon of sound.
So yeah, one very happy me :-)

Mumbo jumbo

What made me happy today? A bunch of mumbo jumbo!
I had an off day today. Hey, they can't all be good ones. I had a terrible nightmare which woke me up, and after that I could not sleep any more. Work was hard as well, I spent most of my day alone in a room surrounded by binders and binders full of papers I had to check for inconsistencies.
But the great thing is that when I posted that I was having an off day on my FB and Twitter, people immediatly started to cheer me up. With a multitude of things!
- a video of nice Russians
- funny Pintrest pics
- genius ideas: the geek edition
- Good guy Greg
- sandwich art
- Space oddity
Of course the last one could not be left from this list! Those of you who know me well know what a space freak I am :-) I will admit that I'm going to miss Chris Hadfield's videos, photos and FaceBook / Twitter updates from space. They usually made my day every day. It's thanks to him I now know how to wash my hands and cut my nails in space, how to make a PB&H sandwich there and what happens when I wring out a wet washcloth. But I'll admit: I'm happy he made it back to Earth safely :-)

Elfen Lied

What made me happy today? Elfen Lied.
Yes, it's another anime. And it's another one that's really worth watching!
Unless you're a bit squeamish, in which case you shouldn't. This anime has a rather high body count, especially in the first episode (I think 23 in 5 minutes). They also didn't skimp on the blood. There's a lot. Plus some severed limbs and a demostration of how to kill a men with a ballpoint pen. By now you're probably thinking it's a horror anime but it isn't. An a small warning here, there is some nudity present.
The series develops a great character development angle, a new strain of human called Diclonius, some fan service (as always) and a lot of epicness. And break out the tissues id you're sensitive, because there will be tears. I know there were for me! Just be aware of the fact that this anime started airing before the manga was completed. As such there are some differences between the two story lines, especially towards the end.
Also, if you're an art fan: be sure to watch the opening credits, as it's drawn in Gustav Klimt's styke, with some El Greco handgestures.

Epicness

What made me happy today? Let me answer that with another question: what do you get when you ask the Gainax studio, the studio that produced Neon Genesis Evangelion (and a bunch of other anime) to create a saturday morning breakfast cartoon? Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, also known as Gurren Lagann.
This mecha anime is 27 episodes (and two movies) of pure, sheer epicness. If you have never seen it, I strongly suggest you do. But heed my words: do not watch the last 8 episodes + the 2 movies in one go. You will cry, a lot; you will feel very drained and the only thing that you'll want to do is crawl into bed. I made that mistake. Not fun. Unless, of course, you are immune to this or like it.
I really love TTGL. The drawing style is neat and clean. The characters are very well developed and really evole throughout the series. The storyline is extremely epic, even though it all starts small. It ends on a huge scale. There's a lot of humor in the story, but also drama etc. It's hard to describe, as so many emotions come in to play at times. But be prepared, there are going to be episodes when you'll need a tissue. Either because you're laughing so hard or crying. And to top it all off: Boota! Don't know who Boota is? Watch the series!
If you haven't seen it, this may be a spoiler: I really do not like Viral. Gives me the creeps.
Another major plus for this anime is that (again, potential spoiler here) not everyone of the main cast lives until the end of the series. I'm not telling you more, just watch it. You can thank me later :-)

Webcomic Wednesday 2

What made me happy today? Dominic Deegan has gone full-scale epic!
Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire is a webcomic created and written by Michael 'Mookie' Terracciano. (DD FB page)
Months ago a friends gave me the link to this webcomic. I was having a hard time dealing with a lot of stuff and in some way Dominic Deegan allowed me to escape from it all for a bit. But that's not the only reason I like it.
It has puns, oh so many puns; epicness; magic; love; betrayal; so many different races and places; family; a multitude of jokes; the occasional dash of sadness and so much more. I'm not going to tell you too much about it, just go and check it out for yourself.
Sad thing is: this comic has been going for ten (!) years, and will end somewhere in May this year. That means that the wrap-up of the story is starting. And boy, oh boy, is it epic! Every morning I check and see what happens next, and it just gets more amazing each day. I can't wait to see how it will all end! Too bad the comic only updates on weekdays, especially because Michael has a tendency to end the week with a cliffhanger.
One suggestion: if you decide to check it out: start from the beginning (here) so you don't miss anything!
So long story short: you should totally check out Dominic Deegan! I love it, it has helped me through some rough times! So thank you, Michael Terracciano for creating this wonderful webcomic, I can't wait to see your next project :-)

Bring it, world!

What made me happy today? Feeling so ready to take on the world!
Let's be honest here for a second: nobody likes Monday. I mean, you just had two days off from work; you got to sleep in and stay up late. And if your weekend was anything like mine, it was an awesome one :-)
And then, at 5.30 in the morning the alarm goes off. It's pretty cold outside, with a chilly wind and snow. So I bundled up and walked to the station to get on the bus. Which, of course, was late (snow in Belgium). When I got to work and opened my emails, I found out that somewhere something went pretty wrong and I had to fix it. Which basically meant 4 - 5 hours of re-work. I could have gotten angry or sad about it; I could have complained or I could have let my head hang. Instead I decided to put on my big girl panties and boots :-) and I got a cup of coffee. After which I started working on the problem. And turns out it wasn't that much of a mess at all! Success!
That basically made me feel ready to take on the world. Well, at least ready to give Peter and Dilbert a swift kick in the behind. Which I totally did! Amazing for a Monday :-)

List

What made me happy today? A whole list of things!
One year ago today, my goddaughter was born :-) She is the most precious, amazing little girl ever. It's fantastic to see how she's evolving and learning new things all the time. I love her so much and I'm glad my sister and brother in law chose me to be her godmother!
I got a very tasty sandwich at work, for free! Who doesn't like free food?
Plus, my arm is hurting less after yesterday's scan. 40 minutes in the same position with a coil around my elbow and a weighted bag on my hand. Au. But it has subsided back to the old levels so it's bearable again.
And finally, it's Friday 3 cheers for the weekend!
Hope you have a good one, I know I will :-)