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Zatth

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Blog Entries posted by Zatth

  1. Zatth
    Day five, character five. Today's chapter sees the introduction of Ice Master Extraordinaire Valendale!
     
    And now that all the characters have been introduced, this comedy will return to a weekly schedule. I purposefully released the first 5 chapters in a week so that readers could get acquainted with both the characters and the structure of the Comedy. Now, finally, a semblance of a plot can quasi-begin to emerge!
  4. Zatth

    Hiatus

    By Zatth,

    Sp, BIONICLE is ending. I'll take a 30 day hiatus until I can absorb this fully.
     
    Goodbye until December, everyone.
  5. Zatth

    On Meeting David Mitchell

    By Zatth,

    If you know some facts about me, one of those might be my freakishly great love for Cloud Atlas (the book and the movie). I could rave about both and their merits, but that'd take more than one blag post.
     
    So you can imagine my joy when I heard David Mitchell would be appearing at D.C. to promote his new book. I squealed.
     
    So I got almost late to the event but made it, and had a wonderful time. Mitchell is such a humble and fabulous person, and I respect him much more for being such a unique author and wonderful person. He also answered my question, and gave me some quotations I won't forget for a long time.
     
    And here's what he signed in my copy of The Bone Clocks

     
    So as I head to CT to judge a high school tournament in Yale during the weekend, I will be devouring this book. I might rematch Cloud Atlas too.
  6. Zatth
    So I just got back from watching Tomorrowland, and I'm feeling kind of giddy and... I dunno, but I wanted to write a little something. Let me say, first off, as just a movie Tomorrowland isn't anything spectacular or game-changing. It's a movie, yeah, but that's about it.
     
    However, as info on the movie was leaking out slowly a few months ago, it caught my eye that it was planned as a sort of "origin story" for the Tomorrowland theme park at Disney; the thinking was that other parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, etc) already had origin stories of sorts through previous movies, so why not do the same for Tomorrowland?
     
    I remember going to Disneyworld as a 9 year old (I remember because that's when I saw the Metro at the LEGO store) and falling in love with the Tomorrowland park. I truly thought, more than at the other parks, that what was around me was functional, that this park was the future, and that this was all waiting to come to be. Granted, I've always been a bit of an unhinged dreamer, but this park, I think, had a strong impact on me that pushed me to sci-fi. Years later I found myself seeking out many of these stories and authors, reading Verne, Douglas Adams, a lot of Isaac Asimov, and I was interested and all, but I didn't get it. I think, looking back, I had no one to explain or talk me through these stories and their context, and so I never really got them. Seeing the "future" was one thing; reading (Especially for someone for whom English was a second language) was a bit tougher.
     
    Around the time I was 12 I began reading dystopian novels for fun (my thinking was, "Hey, we're gonna probably read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World in school so why not get a leg up?) As people saw me reading these, they engaged in discussions with me, which made these realities more palpable and real than anything else.
     
    No wonder, then, that I've never questioned the state of the future in the minds of our generation.
     
    What I mean by that, is a phenomenon we all know well: it appears that our conceptions of the "future" are based around dystopia, technological ruin or acceleration, starvation, desolation, disease, self-destruction, etc. I read a great article a few days ago that compared previous generations, that saw a man land on the moon, that got to discover how planets looked for the first time, that actually strove to go out there, while we got stuck with a world that saw the destruction of two shuttles, the canceling of funding, and the idea that "inventing", of any kind, wasn't really a lifestyle. And so, in a way, we've become a generation that sees the "future" through bleaker lenses. Just as sci-fi is used to examine the world through another sense (and, in a way, reflects the real world of the time), the stories of Asimov were bright and futuristic, while the stories of our time are much sadder.
     
    And then a movie like Interstellar comes around. I loved reading what Christopher Nolan had to say about it, and how it strove to use science to inspire viewers to not give up, to continue with the idea that there was still something out there to explore. It's true that Interstellar was grounded in science as much as it could, but the marriage between scientific reality and artistic lenses made it a hodgepot of all types of interests coming together to say "Hey. The world and the future looks bleak. But there's still hope."
     
    And then Tomorrowland comes along. And throughout the movie it became clear that it was similar to Interstellar, but more accessible as it is aimed mainly for kids. And yet, if you approach the movie the same way you do Interstellar, you're still left feeling elated, feeling hopeful. The final scene of the movie features
    suggesting that no field is superior to the other, that it's the task of math, science, the arts, all together, to create the future.
     
    I know that, at a time when it seems like the future isn't gonna get better, it's hard to dream. But I am so happy for Interstellar and Tomorrowland; they produced in me a similar effect that 9-year old Pablo got at that park of the future, the difference being that now, as an adult, I have agency to go out there and make my dreams a reality. I am glad for these movies, because they offer hope for a population that is comfortable, or grew up with, sadness and dystopia as the norm. And I am so happy that there's a little bit more hope in the horizon
  8. Zatth

    Hope

    By Zatth,

    I'm sitting in a flat in the centre of Oxford, doing a semester-long program.
     
    A year ago, we never would've imagined that I could live alone. That I could live alone in another country, without my doctors and parents. That I could study and be myself and learn and make mistakes and keep growing.
     
    I'm sitting in my (not really mine) creaky black chair, putting aside a one-page essay I have to finish, in order to read breaking news.
     
    Around 30 minutes ago, the announcement came that the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group have reached an agreement on the fifth and toughest part of a possible peace accord. They're saying the conflict should end, at most, by March 2016.
     
    I've been on this earth for 20 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 3 days. Of those, none have known a day of peace in Colombia. For the first time, I (and so many of us) will know what it means to live in a time of peace.
     
    I've often felt naive, too optimistic for my own good. But there are days here and there when the universe and those around you remind you that, sometimes, it's good to be hopeful and to dream the impossible. Because maybe, just maybe, the impossible can come to be.
     

  9. Zatth

    LIVESTREEEEAM

    By Zatth,

    HEY Y'ALL GUESS WHAT BLACK SIX OTHER BZP STAFFIES AND MYSELF ARE DOING A LIVESTREAM ON NINJAGO (TV AND MOVIE) AND YOU SHOULD JOIN BECAUSE IT FEATURES MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
  11. Zatth

    Waffle

    By Zatth,

    So I got from a Waffle, I mean WACFL, and I didn't do that well. If that wasn't bad, I have a fever, and are really sick. Whoopee.
  12. Zatth

    I Cannot Wait

    By Zatth,

    to finish Cloud Atlas, as well as the release of the movie.
     
    Because I will be reviewing the heck out of both.
     
    Because they are beautiful.
     
    'Nuff said.
  14. Zatth
    So as luck would have it, I live right by D.C. (explains the BrickFair VA connection), and so when I first heard of An Evening with Neil Gaiman, I (literally) jumped at the chance to see one of my favourite authors.
     
    I just came back from the event, and wow.
     

     
    Granted, the guy was very humorous. If you've read Good Omens, fear not, the man is a witty in real time as he is funny in his prose.
     
    I'm just floored by his answers, his philosophy, his ideas and explanations. It's great to meet those you're a fan of, but he really blew me away. He also made me want to work even more on my writing, so this is a sort of apology to my parents/extended relatives/anyone else who hoped someday Pablo would grow up and get a real job (granted, my major is in Language Arts for Education, but I'm just using it as a way to do both); I ain't quitting' on this yet.
  17. Zatth

    Brickfair

    By Zatth,

    For a review, check KanohiJournal.com.
     
    However, I have left BrickFair a new man. Why? I've decided I'm too old to play with LEGO, but never too old to build with it. From now on, I'll concentrate on building better things and arranging my LEGO collection. They may have been some of the best days of my life. I met LEGO fans for the first time, met some staffies, built a giant LEGO glass of milk, met Steve Witt (he is pure WINrar, BTW), and got awesomesauce LEGO.
     
    Now to arrange my LEGO collection.
     
    BTW, thanks to everyone I met at BrickFair, it really was a blast!
  18. Zatth

    A Mystery Explored Ch 2

    By Zatth,

    Chapter 2 is out!
     
    I finished my Science final yesterday, so one of the first things I did was finish the second chapter. Hope y'all like it, and feel free to comment on the Review Topic!
  19. Zatth

    Much Stuff, Man

    By Zatth,

    So a lot of stuff hapenned today:
     
    *I got Skopio after waiting for a month
     
    *I played Halo 3 and came up with an idea with Toa Phoenix
     
    *I saw how the first chapter of KoS's audiobook for RotGB was posted. Yay.
     
    In general... I guess life is good.
  21. Zatth
    that can hide how much I loved the Guardians of the Galaxy movie or the sets.
    Here's my review of Starblaster Showdown, and props to you if you find all the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 references.
     
    http://bzpower.com/story.php?ID=6983
  23. Zatth

    If You Ever Want To Talk

    By Zatth,

    I admit I'm very privileged. I admit I cannot fully empathize with a lot of you because we haven't had the same life experiences. I know I'm some online person hiding behind a Kanohi Zatth.
     
    But I am here for you. I'm sure everyone else on this site is, but I just want to put it in writing.
     
    There is too much oppression, hatred, and sadness in this world, and nobody deserves that. As an immigrant (and third world kid), chronically ill, mentally depressed, demiromantic 19 year old, I know I can't empathize with everything, but I will listen to anything and everything you ever want to say or think about. I've been trying to change my ways and learn to be a more toleran and open person, and if nothing else, your talking to me about things will open up my eyes and make me want to make a bigger change.
     
    Talking to me might not do much. Whether it's because you've never met me, or don't trust me, I totally get that. But this is, more than anything, an open invitation to talk with me about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. It can be silly, it can be nonsensical, it can be looking for someone to vent to and not want or wait for an answer.
     
    Just remember that there are always those who will love you and will accept who you are, in any and all facets. This is an open invitation to PM me about anything at any time. Y'all are loved, and y'all matter to me.
  24. Zatth

    NaNoWriMo 2015

    By Zatth,

    Made a topic for BZPers to discuss/plan/worry over NaNoWriMo! Head on over there to exchange novel/NaNo info, pitch ideas, and in general see there are many of us who are wild enough to try and write 50,000 words in one month!
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