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ToM Dracone

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Blog Entries posted by ToM Dracone

  1. ToM Dracone
    Well, it's been a while.
     
    Not only since my last entry, but since this blog started, too – August first was its one-year anniversary. In celebration of that, I've redecorated The Memory of Trees in an MNOLG theme, and more is to come...
     
    As to why this didn't happen two and a half weeks ago, then: there are a lot of reasons. One, the forums were still offline, so there was really no point in my doing anything. I also was still in rapture over having acquired Hahli and Matoro Mahri and was unlikely to focus on something other than them for some time. Two, when the forums did come back online, the masses still had premier abilities, and many were taking full advantage of them, making the blog section far more crowded than I like to post amid.
     
    Three, after they had come back, there was only a day before I went off to the Berkshires (like last year; one could call it a family tradition) for the weekend. The most memorable things about it were an absolutely riotous production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (the four lovers ran around the theater during intermission, calling for each other, just to name one great moment) and a beautiful night sky, with more stars than I have ever seen in my life.
     
    But I was not idle! Despite not doing anything blog-related, I did get a fair bit of other art-stuff done. I traced the Mahri font from Hahli, Hewkii, and the Mahri's logos (and Kongu's, once I got back), made an icon for my Mahri folder on Brickshelf and a new one for my Bionicle folder, finished that drawing of Pridak, and then CGed it this past week.
     

     
    (first three link to the image; last to its topic)
     
    And, last but in fact the opposite of least, I got a new computer! iBook G4, with Mac OS 10.4.3. It is glorious. I've been having page-loading problems since I got back – finally getting a computer that can support OSX (my old one had too little memory) fixed that, and every other problem I had been having. Woohoo!
     
    So, now that I'm officially back on BZP, I have stuff to post. Or will, soon. A revamp of Matoro Mahri (which a fair few of you have already seen), a BBC 45 entry, maybe Nox (you know, the MOC that got made into a fake 2008 set picture), ramblings on Hahli and Matoro, and hopefully a couple of art things, too...
     
    *boing*
    ~ ToM
  2. ToM Dracone
    *surfs over the tidal wave of new blogs, singing Valkyrie calls* I am partly returned!
     
    By "partly," I mean that I am no longer in New York (empty-handed in the way of Mahri, unfortunately; there was no real opportunity to go to a Lego store, and the Times Square TRU had a very mocking banner for the Mahri above the Bionicle section but no Mahri themselves yet), and thus have some degree of computer access again, but am instead in Delaware and not truly back yet.
     
    Since the entire point of going to New York was to see Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, most of this entry shall be devoted to discussing it. Feel free to skip to the end if you have no idea what I'm talking about. This cycle, performed by the Kirov Opera (Company?) at the Metropolitan Opera, was by far the strangest Ring I've ever seen – it's the first I've seen live, but as my mom teaches a course on opera I've seen a fair few recordings on video.
     
    Wotan in Das Rheingold looked exactly like Celeborn (aside from the spear and eyepatch). Froh had long, rainbow hair. Fricka looked like she was wearing a vase on top of her head. (Freia, fortunately, had both an excellent costume and actress wearing it.) The Giants were these solid rock behemoths with no articulation to speak of. And the set – the elements of which were repositioned throughout the four operas – was just strange. The scenes were dominated by four enormous, humanoid statue-like things bent and moved from scene to scene. These were accompanied, sometimes, by innumerable strange, waist-high statuettes without clear form or function that my uncle and I dubbed "shmoos." But words cannot convey the oddity of these things. If I find a suitable picture, I will have to show you. The lead singers were often visually accompanied by extras, who would perform something like slow-motion ballet around the stage. A group with long, glowing neon strings falling from their heads appeared in the Rhine scenes. There was a flock with tangled, glowing red wire on their heads who represented fire, for instance in the forging scene or around Brünnhilde's rock. There was also a troupe dressed in torn, decayed-looking black and red costumes who trudged onstage during purely orchestral parts of Götterdämmerung and struck various despairing, dying poses. The overall effect was quite nice, I thought.
     
    As for Die Walküre, performing Ride of the Valkyries with eight Valkyries already onstage at the beginning simply does not work, as half of them explicitly come onstage throughout the scene. However, the way they staged it was very good, though unusual. The Valkyries looked perfect as well, even with their extravagant, glittering, feathered headdresses, which looked far cooler than I had expected them to. The piece remains, musically, my favorite in all four operas. For this production, though, my favorite scene had to be Brünnhilde's appearance to Siegmund, because the staging was striking and Brünnhilde herself was perfect. Close contenders are Wotan's visit to Erda in Siegfried, Waltraute's plea to Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, and of course Ride of the Valkyries itself.
     
    The performance of Siegfried was superlative, even to one such as me who isn't very fond of much before the third act. There was, for instance, no dragon. The forging scene they did really well, using the 'fire-maidens' as the fire in the forge. Erda's scene was great, too, despite her indescribably strange costume, through a combination of an amazing voice for Erda and a perfect Wotan (he had a different costume than in Rheingold. The extras were also an interesting touch, with some of them dressed, I swear, as mushrooms. Which is a fitting entourage for the Goddess of the Earth.
     
    Götterdämmerung has always been my least favorite, and this production had its share of eccentricities. Hagen, for instance, looked like he was wearing a bridesmaid's dress. Gutrune was carried offstage by six men at the end. There was no funeral pyre. Brünnhilde delivered her final speech as the only person onstage, rather than to a crowd, and then afterward solemnly surrendered the Ring to the Rhinemaidens and walked offstage instead of throwing herself onto the (nonexistant!) pyre.
     
    There were also cast changes between performances, something unusual but understandable with the four operas being performed in four nights. (There's usually a night off after Walküre, and sometimes after Siegfried as well, as I'm sure you know if you've read this far.) The Wotan we had for Rhinegold and Siegfried was better than that in Walküre, for instance. We also had three different Brünnhildes, of whom the first was the best overall. The third and final one had the best voice, but was a little too plump and short to look like Brünnhilde – a problem only for her role, since as a Valkyrie Brünnhilde is tall and not necessarily thin, but well-built. But her voice was nearly perfect. Interestingly, the actress who played Brünnhilde first came back as Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and the difference between them was striking. My image was that in that scene, Waltraute looked like a hawk, but Brünnhilde more like a hen... But she was nonetheless incredible in her impassioned rage scenes.
     
    And yes, I did wear a cape to Götterdämmerung. It attracted many looks and one direct compliment, and I will post a picture as soon as I'm back on my (or my dad's, to be specific) regular computer...
     
    So, overall, I had great fun, both at the opera and away. Staging aside, it was a wonderful performance. Makes me want to see the Ring again. Among other things I saw the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters, which is (are?) quite a nice place... I attempted to read some of the Latin text in Medieval books there and in the Natural History Museum, and managed to make some headway into one passage, but a combination of difficult-to-read script and my limited vocabulary made everything else much harder...
     
    And if you've read this far, bravo (or brava); if you knew everything I was talking about, bravissimo indeed!
     
    We got back yesterday afternoon and did indeed go to the midnight release of Harry Potter. It was fun as well, but there was this flock of people a year or two younger than me (they were more or less your stereotypical high school freshmen) who kept talking to me whenever I came near them. It would have been quite funny if they hadn't staked out in the young adult section, where I would have liked to browse, but I eventually escaped with Sabriel and went to read leaning against a pillar in the science fiction section. Eventually midnight came and a line was slowly formed. Whatever appearances there were to the contrary, there was a method to the madness, and one my mom and I finally got in line, we got the book very quickly.
     
    I'm about halfway through it now – I like to make things last, but stopping has been quite the task... Which means no posting spoilers anywhere around this blog (or even jesting invented spoilers; those annoy me). If you do, so help me I will freeze you in a giant ice cube and leave you in the entrance hall to drip until I'm finished. No, I don't know which entrance hall, but I'm sure I can find one...
     
    Das ist kein mann!
    ~ ToM
  3. ToM Dracone

    Things To Do

    By ToM Dracone,

    As I mentioned last entry, I'll be going down to Delaware (the home of most of my mom's immediate relatives) tomorrow and spending most of the rest of July there. I'll have highly varying amounts of computer access, starting at regular, then none at all, and then I might be able to get on ever few days or so. Not sure how that last one will work out.
     
    Things I intend to do there:

    GET HAHLI. And maybe Matoro, too...
    go up to New York City for most of next week to see Wagner's Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung! Hm, maybe I could convince my mom and uncle to go to a Lego store while we're there and get a Mahri or two...
    wear a cape to at least one of the aforelisted operas
    obtain and read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and see if my suspicions are correct. Yes, going at midnight.
    re-read The Lord of the Rings
    finish several drawings (or at least their lineart), among them one of Pridak before the Pit, and one of Hahli, Jaller, and Kongu Mahri looking out over a cliff at some rather dangerous beasties, as well as one of Hahli in her Matoran form
    hopefully, finish a short story or two that I've been working on... For the moment, however, I've done several banners to complement my Mahri avatars and posted the revamped Toa Tiome. Go check them out!
     
    *flexes his webbed fingers and examines his feet, which have now begun to resemble Nuparu Inika's*
    ~ ToM
  4. ToM Dracone
    Now that the Mahri are occuring in stores, they have an amazing mini-site and animations of their own, and there's been plenty of time for my opinions on them to stew since their appearance at ToyFair, I figured I'd post my current thoughts on them.
     
    Jaller – Ho hum. Not bad, but not exceptionally good either. I might get him – I never got Jaller Inika, so his Inika bits (the many of them) would be effectively new for my purposes... and the orange double-sockets I could use.
     
    Kongu – Take the dark green, color it black, make it Nuparu, and I would not complain. In fact, it would be rather perfect. Except for the absurdly wide shoulders. I still think he looks like a quintessential Onu-Toa: short, bulky, wide-shouldered, large-masked, and with heavy weaponry. But this is utterly horrible as Kongu, who is supposed to be light, sleek, bright-colored, and tall. But in and of itself, it's not a bad set. The fact that he looks rather cool in the Mahri teaser animation tempts me... as do his recolored pieces...
     
    Hewkii – Hewkii Mahri has a design that could be very cool. At the moment he has long, spindly arms, short, thin legs, and a wide, bulky torso and mask: not a good combination. But make his legs longer and bulkier, shorten and flesh out his arms, and rearrange his color scheme slightly, and he would look quite cool. The shape of his mask has grown on me (I still dislike the lack of a mouth connection), and I could use the spike ball halves and his black Inika feet for several MOCs. Those and the desire to revamp him to live up to his full potential mean I'm almost certain to get him.
     
    Nuparu – The one Mahri I absolutely refuse to get. He has gaping holes in all his limbs and armor that is almost nonexistant from many angles; his mask is silver when no other part of his body is; his chest armor is misaligned with his hips despite the fact that the two were designed to be aligned. And I rather dislike how the Volitak looks in the first place. The silver Metru chest piece on his back is still strange (and the neon green clashes with his eyes and visor), but I like the principle – an air tank of sorts. His shield is his only redeeming quality in my eyes, since I can get black Piraka feet from Hydraxon.
     
    Hahli – *angelic chorus* Solid dark blue Inika pieces. Wings. A totally awesome mask. Get rid of the red Cordak ammunition, and you have a strikingly cool color scheme. Replace the lime with light blue, and you have perfect Hahli.
     
    Matoro – Matoro would be on the same level as Jaller if not for two interest-grabbing things: white Inika body and black tubes. Good color scheme. Nice claws. Interesting piece arrangements. Not perfect, but pretty good in my eyes... though he would, of course, be better straight-backed...
     
     
    The Mahri mini-site does its job remarkably well: it makes the six look cool. Kongu looks remarkably good in the movie, Hewkii's form is striking in the animations in his game, and all six sitting in the Toa Chamber have an air of majesty and power... And so, as it currently stands... Hahli and Hewkii – definitely getting. Matoro – very likely. Kongu and Jaller – possible. Nuparu – utterly no.
     
    Maybe I'll do another entry on the Titans and playsets, in the same vein as this one... At the moment I'm using the wallpaper of the empty iconic circle in the backgrounds of all the Mahri's canister shots. It's a very cool design.
     
    *goes off Mahri-fishing again*
    ~ ToM
  5. ToM Dracone
    Hm. My watermelon appears to be growing tentacles. Never had that happen before.
     
    I, however, now have webbed hands!
     
    Also, look for the revamp of Tiome I mentioned last entry in the BBC forum tomorrow, as that's the last time I'll have to post him before leaving for vacation in Delaware on Thursday. Unfortunately still without Hahli Mahri... But I'll hopefully be able to get her while down there.
     
    I think Jaller Mahri's put a spell on me, too... I find myself wanting his set more and more (not having Jaller Inika)...
    ~ ToM
  6. ToM Dracone

    Mahri Madness

    By ToM Dracone,

    I'm currently having fun in Chaos in the Deep. I've been rebuilding Tiome into a sleeker, lighter form to be more aquadynamic, so I hope to have that up before I leave (but I'll still be sort of around) on Thursday. I could really use a dark grey Kaukau; all I have in the way of Tiome-ness are white and orange, and white is for Tiome Inatu, and I don't want to use orange on this form...
     
    I also made a slew of avatars featuring the Toa Mahri recently, which can be viewed by clicking on Kongu below. Do feel free to use. I'm currently using the one of Hahli... a mark of how much I like her...

     
    I have yet, however, to find Hahli (or any of the Mahri, for that matter) in stores...
    ~ ToM
  8. ToM Dracone
    And possibly playsetic, too, but that would look odd in a title. Continuing the last entry, because I have nothing else to blog about...
     
    Gadunka :: YARGH. It's a walking, eating, giant head with limbs. My immediate reaction was, and remains, dislike. Intriguing though his body construction is, I just don't like how he looks, at all. I would like him better in the tiny size he was before his encounter with the Mask of Life... As he is, the only appeal he has to me is his plethora of dark blue. If I found him at a very low price, I might get him just for that. But that's the only condition under which and reason why I would buy him.
     
    Hydraxon :: My favorite of this year's titans (or warriors, as they're being called). Like Hewkii Mahri, he has potential, but some design flaws. Skinny legs with wide shoulders (even wider than usual, thanks to his shoulder-mounted blades), messy upper legs, and as a matter of personal taste I just don't like the blades behind his head or his "mask." It's too small, too thin, too rectangular for me. Overall, he has a very thin, sleek appearance and a very simple design, which makes me think he ought to have been a $15 set like Nocturn, who was similarly simple and slim. I have full intentions of getting and revamping him. Plus, he has a variety of useful pieces – black and silver Piraka feet, a silver Pridak blade, silver Kalmah armor, and a slew of for some reason iron grey robot arms.
     
    Maxilos and Spinax :: His box art makes him look the best (that is, in my opinion, some of the best box art Bionicle has seen in years), but other pictures reveal otherwise. Admittedly, being full of holes is understandable for a robot and useful underwater, but that doesn't make it look good. I've resolved not to get him, but Maxilos has one particular very nice bit about him – his shoulders. They have full realistic articulation: up and down, front to back, thanks to the Throwbot limbs in there. If his holes were filled in, he would be a perfect new body for Makuta in my eyes, and does look rather cool as it is, just too holey and blocky for me. The iron grey, dark grey, and red color scheme is, of course, a perfect match with 2003 Makuta. And I still don't like his "mask" much. Spinax neither interests nor appeals to me aside from the silver Piraka armor and Ehlek spines.
     
    Karzahni :: Oh, the temptation! Dark green Mantax and Pridak feet. Blended lime/dark green Mantax armor. Dark green Vakama Hordika heads I could care less about, as I neither have a use for them nor like how they look on this set (but a recolored old piece is good on principle). I really dislike Karzahni himself, but he has some very nice pieces. I could use the Takadox blades, too. Bow-legged, rather bulbous in shape, and Karzahni is supposed to be tall, black and gold, and imposing. This looks more silly than intimidating to me. But I may yet get the set...
     
    Idris :: If she were sold by herself, I would buy her instantly. Dark blue Ruru, dark blue Bohrok limbs (I still don't have any), and the Hewkii shoulder spike is very good as a blade. Plus she has Kongu Mahri's new eyepiece. She, combined with Karzahni's pieces, may persuade me to get the set – if I can find it on sale. Sarda is not worthy of note. (Idris, by contrast, is so cool that she gets her own listing.)
     
    Lesovikk :: Lime green Faxon. Lime Piraka body. Awesome. He has a very nice appearance, the silver of his feet working with his chest and shoulder pads – if Kongu Mahri had been built this way, he would have been glorious. I like the bike, too, using Nidhiki's leg construction; with a bit of refinement and covering up gaps, it would be perfect. Having looked at the instructions, I like the use of Mantax's armor – it gives a nice slope down to Lesovikk's seat. It also has the best attachment for the Cordak blaster after Maxilos.
     
     
    ... Maybe I'll do the playsets another entry. Maybe not. For now I'll say that I like the Toa Terrain Crawler the best, as it is very clearly an undersea machine (despite being made a Rahi in the story). The portals on the middle section, the presense of a claw arm, the various steering wheels and air tubes, and the Faxon-shaped visor all lend to the aquatic appearance, which is good. I also like the Carapar-headed beastie, for some reason. It embodies the strangeness of the deep sea creatures one finds in the pit – four arms and two tails...
     
    And as it stands once again... Hydraxon, Lesovikk – definitely getting. Karzahni and Maxilos – possible. The former more than the latter. Gadunka – more or less utterly no.
    ~ ToM
  9. ToM Dracone

    They Are Coming

    By ToM Dracone,

    We cannot get out!
     
    ...
     
    Sorry.
     
    This really ought to be titled "They have come," but I couldn't resist. Because the last three little pieces have indeed come, and now Reidak is completed at last!
     

    ~ ToM
  10. ToM Dracone

    Hahli Mahri

    By ToM Dracone,

    She's not a revamp of Reidak (still waiting for the peices on that; there was a delay in shipping), but I like her, too. Took ... three days, I think, CGing on and off. Fast by my standards. Hahli is both my favorite Mahri and my favorite Bionicle character overall, so I rather enjoyed this. Click the image above to go to the topic.
     
    Hopefully Reidak's pieces will arrive today...
    ~ ToM (still a Hahli fanboy)
  11. ToM Dracone

    Aestas Advenit

    By ToM Dracone,

    Does anyone else find it interesting that the Summer Solstice seems to be a ubiquitous celebration (to judge by the numerous blog entries around here about it), while the Winter Solstice and Vernal and Autumnal Equinoces are virtually ignored?
     
    Seeing as I've made entries for the former two of the above three, I absolutely had to make one for the Summer Solstice. I have nothing to say about it, however, except that it would be most interesting to have a full moon the night afterward...
     
    Now that I'm generally back to normal (I ate a sandwich for lunch today; it was an adventure), I might as well get around to the stuff I've been meaning to do this summer. CG a picture of Hahli Mahri, finish some other drawings and pieces of writing, continue (dare I attempt to finish?) QfLD...
    ~ ToM
  12. ToM Dracone

    Wisdom Teeth

    By ToM Dracone,

    Ow...
     
    As I announced yesterday, I got my wisdom teeth extracted today. All four of them. It hurts.
     
    They gave me this type of anesthesia that left me conscious throughout the whole thing, but with no memory at all – something I'm actually quite thrilled with. One, I don't remember the procedure (just getting fillings is traumatizing enough), and two, I have no memory at all of the "recovery" phase because it was still in effect. Which means that, coupled with a copious and constant supply of painkillers, I have yet to feel any excruciating pain from this whole ordeal.
     
    But that doesn't prevent a constant background ache, hurting whenever I try to close my jaw. :annoyed2: I want it to be this time next week, when everything should have healed and I can eat solid food again. I haven't eaten anything all day; no appetite...
     
    *crawls off to have some tomato soup and then go lie down on the couch again* I envy all those who either have no wisdom teeth at all or have mouths big enough to fit them.
    ~ ToM
  13. ToM Dracone
    Well, what are you going to call it when Aiyetoro, Matoro, and Toromaga are in the same shot?
     

     
    Yes, it's the return of the Tohunga! The novelty has yet to wear off, especially since I've spent half my time lying on the couch re-reading Harry Potter and fiddling with them in the past few days. Though not so much yesterday and today. They're fuuuunn! I've also been coming up with names for the unnamed Tohunga from the MNOLG1... I'm very fond of Onu-Koronans, I've discovered.
     
    Taipu and Aiyetoro coming out of a tunnel
    Looks like it was the tunnel to Le-Wahi...
    Taipu standing in the sun
    And wandering through Le-Wahi...
    Aiyetoro in the earth under the porch
     
    That was in the brief period of sun we had today... For most of the rest, it's been really stormy. Really stormy. Gales of wind, heavy rain, lightning... Perfect conditions to write about the Inika. I think you guys will like this new story...
     
    The pain from my wisdom teeth seems to have subsided; now I have one spot left on the lower left, but I'm not sure if it's actually the socket, or if it's a different tooth (one of my late molars) or even the side of my tongue...
    ~ ToM
  15. ToM Dracone
    I wonder if the Kanohi Rua would do anything to help with things related to wisdom teeth...
     
    ...What?
     
    My swelling seems to finally be going down – I still can't close my jaw fully, but I dared to eat solid food today. Half a sugar cookie, of all things. It tasted very good.
     
    Still wishing it were next week and all this were over...
    ~ ToM
  16. ToM Dracone

    Latin!

    By ToM Dracone,

    Yesterday was the last day of school for me – getting exams back, then listening to Senior Study Project presentations, and finally the Honors Convocation, or in other words awards assembly.
     
    It was a wonderful day for me. First, I got a 100 on my Latin final, which shocked me – I had gotten fere mixed up with forte, but Dr. Jones accepted my translation of it, and I thought I had gotten some other stuff wrong... (I got an 89 on English, which was better than I had hoped... and an 88 that became an A with the curve on Algebra. Eh. Those were my two lowest.) I also finally learned that I got a gold medal in the National Latin Exam... Then, in the honors convocation, I was given the Latin prize! There are a bunch of academic recognitions (followed by miscellaneous awards), and... I got the Latin one! *boing*
     
    I also spent most of the day with Katie, Sam, and also Juhi, two juniors and a senior respectively. Which is usually not possible because I'm a sophomore. They're always fun. Katie got one of the awards (she also got the Latin prize last year), and in the presentation speech Dr. Jones described her as "She cuts through nonsense like a bazooka through a Teletubby." Which is hilarious.
     
    Penultimately, I acquired BL7 today. My reaction to it can be summed up as "... Woah."
     
    And finally, I love Idris's set almost as much as I love Hahli in general. I wish she were sold by herself.
    ~ ToM
  17. ToM Dracone
    What? My blog looks a lot like Le-Wahi...
     
    Yesterday was my four-year anniversary of joining BZP! Yes, leave it to me to be late. I spent the end of yesterday afternoon and evening first writing a new short story – there was a thunderstorm and I was inspired to write about the Inika – and then watching Dead Man's Chest. So I didn't get around to posting here.
     
    I guess you could call listening endlessly to the Le-Koro party music (without having the MNOLG open!) my celebrations. That and finally updating my avatar and banner. I prefer the celebration music from the end of the Lewa vs. Onua video, but there isn't a separate file for that... I've also toyed with the idea of redoing my blog design in MNOLG-style images of Le-Wahi. But I dunno. Maybe I'll do that for the blog's birthday...
     
    So... woot! I originally joined BZP just to participate in the Vahi giveaway in 2003... And I still have yet to obtain an orange one. Hm.
    ~ ToM
  18. ToM Dracone
    Finals are ovah.
     
    Yes, with an h. French was pretty easy yesterday – apparently I got a 93. Then history was really easy, but took so long that I finished after the full two hours were up. By scribbling the end of my essay as the teachers were going around collecting.
     
    Today, Algebra 2x was remararkably straightforward. Almost easy – there were no surprises, nothing obscure and insanely complicated, just stuff that we had gone over in review. Not even all the stuff on the review sheet was on it, which was quite thrilling. (Though Henry got us all panicked beforehand by trying to remember how to solve the inverse trigonometric function of a different trig function, like Arcsin(cosx), something we hadn't done.) I know I got one question wrong by mixing up inconsistent and dependent systems, but otherwise I may have gotten everything right, because I checked almost all of my answers on my calculator...
     
    Latin was, of course, easy. I guessed on two words, one I had seen but didn't remember the meaning of, and another I had never seen but guessed correctly to mean "relatives." Woot!
     
    *listens to The Memory of Trees and relaxes, only one day, Monday, of school left*
    ~ ToM
  20. ToM Dracone
    Bio exam: really easy. Entirely multiple choice. Almost all the questions were unchanged from the tests during the year, so I remembered a lot of the answers just by that...
     
    English: AAUGH. Utopia. Utopia! Too many questions about it! It was the first book we read this semester, and I have barely any notes on it. I was flipping through it for review during the few hours between exams and by chance found what turned out to be the answer to one of the short answer questions, but on another one I had absolutely no idea what the answer was. Then I thought one of the passage identifications was Ariel speaking to Prospero in The Tempest, but it turned out to be Pospero addressing the audience in the epilogue. In other words I got it completely wrong. So there go ten points right there. Aaaaaaargh.
     
    I also spent about half the day with a random hair clip in my hair because Leigh Ann picked it up and decided to stick it there... It was an interesting experience.
    ~ ToM
  21. ToM Dracone
    You're probably getting exasperated with the incessant stream of Tohunga in this blog, so I'll get to the non-Tohunga news first ( ), that I have final exams next week. I may have English and History switched, but I think this is how they go:
     
    Tuesday:
    Biology – Not hard. Entirely multiple choice, but some can be tricky...
    English II – Mm... harder. Because a lot is written answers, and though I know the texts pretty well, there are a lot of them...
     
    Wednesday:
    French IIIe – Pah! C'est du français. C'est facile.
    World History II – Lot to know, but it looks like aside from that and being a lot longer it's like our usual tests... Which are time-consuming more than they are hard. But I always wind up forgetting something on History exams...
     
    Thursday:
    Advanced Algebra – AAAUGH. My hardest class ever. I hate vectors. A lot of the stuff I've had to re-learn because we haven't used it in ages... I just know I'm going to panic and forget how to do something or make a mistake something really basic.
    Latin III – Easiest final of all. Even more so than French. Very last final, and during the conflict exams slot, so there's barely anyone in the gym with me... It's pretty much a relaxing experience.
     
    Then just one more day of school on Monday, to get exams back and listen to a variety of presentations and speeches and award-giving, and then it's summer vacation!
     
     
    Now, Tohunga!
     
    Toromaga in a tree! There's actually a real Tohunga like this in the MNOLG, but I realized today it's a perfect Tohunga form for Toro. So it became such!
    Hanging from a different branch...
    Aaaand falling out of the tree.
    Takua in a different willow tree than Hahli, the sun behind him
    On the railing, shining in the sun
    A scene from the MNOLG episodes from 2002, with Takua, Nuparu, and Kongu plotting against the Nuhvok in Le-Wahi
     
    Lord Beckett: "You're mad!"
    Jack: "Thank goodness for that, 'cause if I wasn't, this would probably never work."
    ~ ToM
  22. ToM Dracone

    Blue Moon

    By ToM Dracone,

    There's a Blue Moon tonight...
     
    Second full moon in a month, for those who don't know – a rare occurence. Some calendars will list this full moon as being on June first, but they lie. The full moon occurs this evening, making it the second one in May! It's getting near the end of being a real Blue Moon for me over here on the east coast, but those further west still have time to go and bask in its majesty. (If they're interested in such things.) It figures, of course, that there's heavy cloud cover over here tonight...
     
    Not that the moon is actually blue. But it's still cool. The Witch's Datebook describes it as a potent time for spellcasting, and that spells case by the light of one Blue Moon are said to last until the next. Fitting, of course, being a full moon in the first place, and augmented by being the second in the month...
     
    Good time for the Astrologer to be doing something... I could easily see her at the Ta-Wahi cliff with the telescope focused on the blue moon, the night cold and still around her, power in the air...
    ~ ToM
  23. ToM Dracone
    They're so fun!
     
    Onepu, Nuparu, and Taipu emerging from a tunnel
    Two Onu-Koronans with a Huna and a Miru in a quarry
    One of those watches another Onu-Koronan with a Hau hoisting himself out of a hole
    Talvi stands guard on the porch railing
    Lumi pondering
    Hahli coming out of a clump of dense foliage, the sun filtering gently through the trees above
    Hahli again, practicing Willpower in a willow tree (with a little help)
    Marka in a wet bush, for some reason
    The Astrologer observing the dawn
     
    I want to build as many of the MNOLG Tohunga as I can. Just because I love both the MNOLG and the Tohunga therein... and I like the title of simply "the Astrologer" better than "Nixie."
     
    Jack Sparrow: "...Cuttlefish."
    ~ ToM
  24. ToM Dracone
    ...What? I had to title this one interestingly somehow.
     
    Just got back from seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End... It's my least favorite of the trilogy, without question. Overall I disliked it, but it had its great moments. Unfortunately, the things I dislike far outnumber the things I like.
     
    Barbossa was great. Best pirate captain ever, and acts it. As was the monkey.
     
    Jack was... okay. Hardly as funny as in the first two, methinks. I really hated his entrance scene, whereas I absolutely loved his entrances in the first two. Otherwise... *shrugs* I'd have to see it again to judge.
     
    Plot: nnnnn.... I liked the premise, but not the execution. In fact, one part of the premise I absolutely love, because they bring in nymph of Greek mythology, even if she's rehashed into something completely different – I really, really hated how that was brought about. I would have done it so differently. I also generally disliked the ending. About a minute after it was over, my mom and I had come up with one that we both liked so much better and left everyone happy. It has since replaced the actual ending in my mind. I will have to post it some time.
     
    Don't get me wrong; there are still parts I liked. The first part of the movie, up until Jack's first scene, I really liked – and yes, <dd>, it takes place in Singapore! (Unfortunately, in my eyes, it went downhill from there.) There was the typical extraordinarily illogical bit in the climax that was just hilarious. Scarlet and Giselle got to slap Jack.
     
    There were then, however, other illogical plot elements. And then they introduced one thing in particular into the plot continuing Dead Man's Chest which was completely unnecessary, and without which everyone could have lived happily ever after.
     
    Curse of the Black Pearl remains my favorite by far. In fact, it's my favorite movie in general. At World's End, however... Meh. It has its great moments (there's one line of Barbossa's that I just love), but mostly I disliked it. A lot of the humor is in a severely different style than the original, so...
     
    Among my favorite lines:
    "Captain Barbossa. Welcome to Singapore." – Captain Sao Feng
    ~ ToM
  25. ToM Dracone
    Thanks to Makuta Master, as of Monday I am in possession of five of the Bionicle sets I have wanted ever since the beginning...
     
    The Tohunga! Jala (with Nuparu) was the only one I had had up till now. I've wanted these five since 2001. I'm ecstatic.
     
    Kongu on the porch railing, very bright in the morning sunlight
    Kongu again, with Matoro in the background
    Onepu coming out of the earth at the base of a tree
    Matoro, looking a little lost
    Maku and Huki hidden away in the ivy
    Group shots!
     
    In addition, today was another day I spent mostly in the yard, and I discovered that we have a mouse living in a burrow near the base of another tree. It was rather surprising – I had thought it was a chipmunk earlier, but today was the first time I saw it clearly. Quite a pleasant find.
     
    I want to get a group shot of Onepu, Nuparu, and Taipu (at the sacrifice of Huki) tomorrow... One of Jala may or may not appear. He clashes with the yard.
     
    *bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce* ...
    ~ ToM
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