The Spanish Movie Week was a mightily exhausting affair. The bookending weekend days were fine (weekend, duh), but the Monday-Friday middle was something of an endurance test. Eight hours of jolly accounting (by some lucky alignment of the stars it was the first week in many with practically no overtime at all, which, yay!), then a quick trot to the city center, four hours of movie watching and drag myself home for some sleep. Next day, repeat. By Friday, I was already somewhat distraught.

( my collected thoughts about the Spanish Movie Week )

In other news, I finally finished 'Ben Hur', the Never-Ending Movie. Well, the chariot race was quite splendid, I'll give it that. Also, it had a very sensible villain, whom I like a lot. The sets and costumes were top-notch. However all that was totally overshadowed by the Super Extra Happy Ending (they were cured of leprosy, for fuck's sake), the general tone of in-your-face earnestness and Charlton Heston's manly expression of Noble Suffering, which was extremely grating. On the side note, I found Charlton Heston completely unattractive which was weird because from some angles I thought he looked remarkably similar to Michael Fassbender and Michael Fassbender is HOT.

No other films watched, not even because of general laziness, but because I'm going through the Jigsaw Puzzle Full Immersion Phase at the moment. I bought myself four new sets, they finally arrived last Saturday, and I won't truly rest before I have every single one done. I'm already three in and getting ready for the fourth one, so I'm doing pretty great. The last one looks fiendishly tough, though.

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I've hit kind of a snag when it comes to watching movies. Not only because of the never-ending 'Ben Hur'. I'm simply in the phase when I don't feel like watching anything. Sort of a movie-watching apathy. Well, I get those. I've learned over the years that the best remedy is swift decisive action. Today starts The Spanish Week at one of Kraków's cinemas and I already have the tickets for all its 14 features nice and ready. Not because Spanish cinema tickles me all that much (it's alright, I guess, I've got nothing against it) but because I have to break through the hold-up. I already have the tickets, now I have to see the actual movies, don't I?

Not that the Spanish Movie Week isn't a bit of a gamble. Monday to Friday I have exactly one hour to get from my beloved place of employement into the cinema seat. Which is very much doable. Well, if you don't take into the account the fact that somehow I've already had to put in about 15 hours of overtime in March alone. Seriously, why is March always such a shitty month? Anyhow, I try to remain optimistic.

I might not have much success with movie watching at the moment, but my book reading is going just fine. I'm on book no. 7, which means I'm well on schedule (the schedule being 24 books a year, meaning 2 books a month - a sadly unimpressive limit, but that's all I'm capable of). What I've accomplished thus far:

( my book reading tracker )

Reading now: Joe Abercrombie's 'Best Served Cold' (I'm yet not as sucked in as I expected to be at nearly a 200-page mark, but there is still, like, 600 pages to go, so I still have my hope up), Norbest Horst's 'Todesmuster' (first person narration, which is bad, since my German is not good enough to distinguish honest narration and character's commentary that easily) and, totally randomly, a Polish book about Australian cinema after 1960. It's funny how all my reading nowadays seems to be divided into SF and fantasy in English, police procedurals in German and non-fiction in Polish.

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I'm back again, then. It looks like I'm fated to make a comeback every few months. And I know, the impact dissipates with every repetition. Well, tough.

At least my thesis is done with and I'm officially, FINALLY, not a student anymore. Quite frankly, the thesis defense was something of a no-event the second time around. A spattering of customary nerves a few minutes before going in, perhaps, but no emotions, really. Apart from some frustration.

I mean I already had a degree anyway, it's not like I needed another, and I was just going through with the whole thing for the sake, I don't know, propriety? As silly as it felt to still be bogged down in all this student stuff way after it was supposed to be over, it would have been a waste to just quit so close to the finish line. So, now I have two degrees, not even two different ones, two identical degrees, just on slightly different subjects. Go me. The second one cost me, in effect, only one extra year of college, so I suppose it's not all bad. I can brag now to be twice as educated as my peers, which is, naturally, a sham, but I have a diploma to prove it so at least it looks true ;)

Anyway, I'm a free woman at last, now that I cast off the shackles of irksome education. Which means that's I'm free to go on working 40 hours a week (plus overtime) for the next 30 years till my well-earned retirement. At least I don't have to think about general autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity anymore when I come home from work. That's something.

Damn, I sound bitter. I swear I'm not. I'm genuinely relieved.

What have I been doing with all me free time, then? Watching movies, reading books, staring into the bottomless pit that is the Internet for hours, talking inanely to my fish and occasionaly making an effort to be social. Business as usual, in other words. Well, apart from the fish, who is a new addition to my life. New, as in, I've had it since November. I never really wanted a pet because I knew I would worry too much about it all the time (and I do), if it's well enough fed and healthy and, you know, happy. I was kind of forced into having one, though, since I got it on my birthday and it's not like I was just going to flush the poor creature down the toilet just to avoid having extra stress in my life. So now he just floats there gamely in his little bowl on the shelf. François Truffaut I named him, because it somehow seemed fitting. He swims around sometimes in a very nervous looking manner and I hope it's just how he rolls and not because I've given him neuroses.

I'm in the process of watching 'Ben Hur' at the moment. Mostly because it's the next on the list of yet-unseen-by-me movies that are on the biggest number of iCheckMovies lists, because apparently that site now dictates my life. Damn, what a long movie it is. No movie needs to last over 200 minutes, seriously. I feel I've been watching it forever. I'm not joking here, I actually started in February, but as I can't seem to manage more than 20 minutes in one sitting and most evenings I just try to avoid even thinking about it, I still haven't finished. Sometimes I think it will never end. I've already done my 20 minutes today, but now that I've rested a bit, perhaps I could stomach 10 minutes more.

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I'm kinda addicted to iCheckMovies. It has lists! So many lists of movies. I love lists! I'm totally a List Person! Checking things off gives me sooooo much joy it's almost perverse. And they give you awards if you check off enough films (well, if you watched enough of them - checking dishonestly is a deplorable habit, it goes completely against the List Etiquette)! I love awards, too! I've got 35 so far but I crave more. I want them ALL.

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The past Saturday I did the following things:
1. I made lasagne, and since the only thing I had available that I could put into the oven was this huge cake baking form and I don't really believe in a lasagne with less than three layers, I made about 5 kilograms of it. Seriously, this monster kept all the people in the flat fed for two days. And it was delicious.
2. I bought myself a bathing suit after trolling the biggest shopping mall in the city for two hours. It is one of these scary places were you go in and walk forward and forward and the shops seem to never end and after the first hour there is this panic rising inside of you and you don't remember anymore where you came in and where you should come out. Anyway, the season for bathing suits is clearly over so the pickings were very slim (on the other hand, the prices were very low ;) but I was a trooper. Therefore I am now a proud owner of a pink-orange animal print bikini. I kid you not. The thing looks totally absurd but also kinda awesome.
3. I spent over 2 hours in a gym. That included running on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Which means 4 km. If I had run a bit longer, I probably would have had to be carried away in a stretcher.
4. I watched two and a half episodes of True Blood. Season 3 is way more entertaining than Season 2. Russell Edgington, The Vampire King of Mississipi, is by far the best nutter on this show yet.
5. Went dancing for exactly one and a half hours. According to the original plan it was supposed to be 3 hours but I put my foot down. I said that if they really are this cruel to make me go clubbing after I ran 4 km on a fucking treadmill, then I am the one in charge of watching the time. And that after exactly one and a half hours I am putting my jacket on and I am heading back to the car. Which is precisely what happened. Not that I didn't have fun. My logic is, when I actually get to the club (and, believe me, it is not easy to get me there, as my preferred form of socializing is staying home and paying cards while sipping something alcoholic) I might just as well make the most of it. The result is, I usually end up being that person who gyrates on the dancefloor with the most enthusiasm and involvement. No matter how much I didn't want to go. Well, I kinda had to go that particular night, because is was Sabina's last night in Poland this year (Monday morning she flew away to officially begin her 6 months stint as a foreign exchange student on Canary Islands. There is a reason I needed that bathing suit). I couldn't really say no to her. I put up a really good fight but everyone knew I would cave in in the end. Even me.
6. Fell unconscious.

After a Saturday like that I decided to do NOTHING on Sunday. With great success, I might add.

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Living without Internet feels like living without a bloody arm. I know that some people manage, either without Internet or without an arm (and respect for that, especially for the latter) but I just can't fathom how. Anyway, I came home from work yesterday (this, btw, still feels weird; it's been 6 months and I'm still not completely comfortable with the fact that I am now officially a Person with a Job) and my Internet connection sputtered and died for, like, the fourth time this month. Seriously, enough. It goes out, we call the Internet people, yell at them and they usually fix it the next morning (of course it always breaks down after 6 pm, when the People Who Can Actually Fix Technical Problems have already left). It gets old very quickly. Well, the Internet is back now, obviously, but my soul still feels sore from the whole experience.

Yesterday, I decided to take preventive action and before the lack of Internet managed to kill my will to live, I roped my flatmate into having a movie night. Ah, movie nights, the magical cure.

We felt like going international so we watched the following:

1. Pedro Almodovar's 'Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios', which was, basically, a romp. It really is amazing how his more recent films seem almost tight compared to the orgy of colour and random plot that was his earlier work. I'm having a hard time deciding which I prefer. Also, a young Antonio Banderas as a Kissing Maniac.

2. Gareth Evans' 'Merantau', which was, unexpectedly, a pretty good movie. Both plot-wise and even acting-wise. That caught me by surprise because, frankly, the only reason I watched it is because it has Silat in it and I'm a bit obsessed with Silat at the moment (Silat is badass, people). But let's just leave the fairly well developed plot, not inexpertly tackled social issues and pretty inspired cinematography aside and just say that the fights were bloody glorious.

There was supposed to be a Number 3, too, because a movie night feels incomplete with less than three films, but Sabina was slowly losing consciousness and I'm not heartless. Instead I read a book. I'm not implying here that, fueled by the No-Internet rage, I read a 450-pages book in one sitting (though that would be neat). I just pushed though the last 50 pages. The book in question was 'Consider Phlebas' by Iain M. Banks, also the first Iain M. Banks novel I read that ended in a satisfying manner (a statement that would be much more meaningful if I have read more than three). I often have trouble with the endings. They usually feel anticlimactic to me, not because they are badly written but because, with all the time and energy I put into reading, I expect to get more and more out of it as I go along and this constantly rising level of reading experience is just damn hard to sustain even by someone as skilled as Banks. It's funny how I can watch a crappy movie with barely a wince and with books I complain at every fucking imperfection, robbing myself of fun in the process. It's like I need to change the set-up of my brain.

Anyway, 'Consider Phlebas' is a good book. One small note to Mr Banks, though: if you put your main character in mortal danger five times during the first 150 pages, it kinda dilutes the impact. It was very ingenious, every one of that five times, true, but moderation is the key. Also, titles like that are dangerous because the might ignite in the reader a strong need to find herself a T.S. Elliot poem and read it. I don't like being blindsided by a sudden desire to read poetry.

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I hardly believe I'm doing this.

Three years, people. Well, I'll better get this thing rolling before I lose my courage. It's one of those Now or Never moments.

Things happened during my Lost Years. Lots of things. Nothing particularly grand or terribly exciting but I've always been of a firm opinion that life is about distance, not speed, so I'm quite satisfied with the result, anyway.

Finished school and got my degree. I should already have two, actually, but my second thesis is still not cooperating and stupidly refuses to write itself. Then I went and got myself a job. The universe turned out to be of benevolent nature after all, since I somehow managed to find myself a fairly well paid one that does not require getting out of bed before 8:30 am. On the other hand, I'm an accountant. And I work for A Corporation. Terrifying thing is, I don't even seem to mind it that much.

Still living in the same place I did, even though it is a bit of a shithole. Well, moving is just too much bother. The roster of flatmates went through some changes over the years, I still abide. Well, I'm nothing if not consistent. One of my bestest friends moved back in, which is a good thing. Another moved out, which is not, but she did it to pursue Life and All, so I can't really fault her for that.

Got myself an honest-to-god boyfriend, who I managed to stomach for most of a calendar year (no, seriously, I was genuinely impressed with myself). Got dumped by said boyfriend for, I suppose, not giving a shit (I'd be more angry about it if it wasn't true). Lost myself a parent, which I did give a shit about, but, hey, that's life. Had to happen sometime.

Taught myself to cook, which turned out to be quite fun. I don't really cook all that often but it's nice to know that I can. Still can't swim or drive properly, but we can't have it all.

Started going to a gym (still reeling from the shock). Started wearing high heels on a routine basis (I know, for shame. They really do make your legs look better, though.) Grew my hair out a bit (but still too scared to try colour). Inserted a few non-black things into my wardrobe (baby steps).

Watched lots of movies. Close to a thousand actually, which I'm absurdly proud of. Read about 50 books. Which makes me feel like an illiterate. Oh, and I finally beat my comic book addiction down to a manageable size. Took me some time, that one.

All in all, my Lost Years (I capitalize with genuine relish, it enhances Drama) have treated me well. It's high time for them to end, though. I kinda missed recording my thought processes quasi-publicly. It tickled my hidden exhibitionist streak. So, yeah, I think I might really be back.

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Sorry for falling off the map without giving any notice, folks. That was rude, I apologize. ( This is me venting about my current school life )

Anyway, the school has been basically draining the lifeforce out of me lately and I really didn't feel up to the challenge when it came to the Internet. Well, frankly, I still don't but sometimes you just have to suck it up and move on. So I'm updating. A bit, at least.

( This is me rambling about comics )

( And this is me talking very very briefly about tv shows )


There's really no telling when I'll be back again. With the school being the way it is, I simply have no energy for regular updates nowadays (or 'semi-regular' since I've never actually been a regular updater, let's not kid ourselves). I'm not announcing a hiatus here, I probably will show up here and there, with either actual posts or just comments. I just don't know when. Sorry. Just bear with me. Please.

ETA: Ok, I am actually announcing a hiatus. Sorry. You are all great people and believe me when I say this: it's not you, it's all me. The disorganized, lazy, undependable me. I'm really REALLY sorry.
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That's the one I've waited the most impatiently this month. And... well, it's not exactly what I expected.

( X-Men 203 'Blinded by the Light, part 4' )


'X-Men First Class' is, unsurprisingly, adorable again. Bobby and Hank go on a road trip. It's really as simple as that. They visit weird places, go to a casino, eat boiled peanuts, camp, gossip on their friends' love lives, help a few people run from a hurricane and bond. Not even one villain in sight. I love it. And Julia Bax' art looks remarkably similar to that of Roger Cruz so there is no jarring shift here. I still prefer Cruz but I think I actually like Bax' Hank better. And she drew this little picture of Scott with a Yay!face, which is too perfect for words:


'Cable & Deadpool' takes us into WWII to meet Captain America and his teenage sidekick, Bucky ('Seriously, who gives a teenage kid a machine gun and says, "Go get them"?' - word, Bob). It's good issue. Bob acts twitchy, Deadpool, amazingly, manages to hold a serious conversation with Captain America and Bucky the bloodthirsty, foul-mouthed psycho sidekick is thoroughly entertaining ('He's a lot feistier that the history books said'). However, as much as I like Bob the Agent of Hydra, I miss Deadpool doing the recap page. And narrating of course, but I'm pretty sure Bob's square thought boxes stint was just a one-off. He whines quite amusingly, though: 'We walk for miles. Captain America and Wade never get tired. Apparently, Bucky refuses to. I'm very tired and my feet hurt. I watched 'Band of Brothers' and this feels nothing like that.' Hee.

The murder investigation plotline in 'Iron Man' man is definitely starting to heat up and I'm positively intrigued now. Points on great character design with Gadget and how nicely it ties with the Mandarin plot. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like this 'talking to the dead' thing but so far I'm still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Oh, and Roberto de la Torre's art is as breathtaking as ever.

'Avengers The Initiative' continues to be great fun. I like the twist in the end. I like how the on-going threads with MVP not being quite dead, Hardball kinda working for evil people get handled. I like Gauntlet's family and big bunny, little bunny. I like neurotic Gyrich and his 'I frickin' hate that woman. You run a full background check. See if she's paid all her taxes'. I like 'the clue in the locker' move. I actually like everything here. Even Steve Uy's art. Even though his Tigra and Sally Floyd are obviously wrong. And his black people should be blacker. Otherwise, it's just dandy.

'The Order' is visibly a book with an certain formula that will probably get annoying if they keep it up for too long but, for now, it works perfectly. And Matt Fraction made himself the most interestingly fucked-up team in the whole Marvel Universe (ok, other than 'Thunderbolts' but they are all psychos so it's easier for them). The best issue yet, hands down.

'Immortal Iron Fist' is practically a kung fu movie in a comic version. A good kung fu movie in a comic version. A good kung-fu movie in a beautifully drawn comic version, even. In other words, I'm quite delighted. And Danny's duel with Fat Cobra is easily wins The Best Fight of the Month Award. Oh, and there is this great Heroes for Hire cameo (I'm less delighted with the annual, partly because it has Howard Chaykin and I hate Howard Chaykin and his square jaws, partly because it makes a great deal of how Danny going to see this historian dude is crucial for his immediate survival and how he needs some answers right freaking now because otherwise the world is doomed and then he doesn't even ask any questions. Where is the logic in that? Also, I'm really not that fond of flashbacks.



As for the tv eps that I managed to catch already, 'Shark' was, as usual, pretty bland (and I don't like the new guy since the Young, Brash and Angry Hotshot thing doesn't really work for me here and, also, Sam Page was prettier), 'Grey's Anatomy' was more or less alright (on the one hand it got back that light and quirky vibe it was famous for, on the other, I don't like that Lexie girl, they are mistreating Callie and Alex had bad hair) and 'House' was so great I almost didn't miss Chase at all (it has the Janitor the Emergency Duckling, House and Wilson biggest power play ever and, to boot, a genuinely interesting medical case with a surprise ending, what more could you possibly want? oh, right, Chase). Now I'm gonna get my hands on 'Bionic Woman'. It has Starbuck, it can't be bad.

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My favorite cartoon is back! Well, one of the reasons it's my favorite is because I don't watch any other one but I'm still ridiculously happy about it. I missed you, 'Avatar'.


( New X-Men 42 'Children of X-Men' )


Also, 'Captain America' continues to be utterly engrossing despite the fact, apart from Iron Man in the supporting role, it holds no characters that I actively like and a few that I actually actively dislike. The first 'Marvel Comics Presents' proves to be a mixed bag with the nice starts to the Hellcat (Stuart Immonen, yay!), Omega Flight (part 1 of 12, though? isn't it an overkill?) and the seems-random-so-far-but-I'm-quite-positive-it-really-isn't crime storylines on the one hand and a rubbish Spider-Man piece about his billion counterparts from other dimensions on the other (which, I guess, leaves the Thing story in the no man's land part of the scale for being ok but too sappy). 'World War Hulk' mostly annoyed me, especially that it's four issues in and only now we see one of the Illummnati try to explain to Hulk that they did not, in fact, kill his wife and kid. 'World War Hulk Frontline' keeps on the trend of being actually better than the real thing it's supposed to accesorize. I hope Sentry throws Hulk into the sun next month, even though I do realize it's extremely unlikely. I also hope 'Secret Invasion' will be good enough to let me forget about all those failed giant crossover events Marvel has been dishing out left and right over the recent years. Even though I do realize it's extremely unlikely.


So that you don't think that my media life consists solely of cartoons and comics - because that would be sad - I assure you that I watch proper movies too. I would love to add that I also read proper books but that would be a lie. So I won't.

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The new tv season is dangerously close and, as usual, I'm downright scared. I'm nowhere near ready for that. Except 'Stargate Atlantis'. I'm always ready for 'Stargate Altantis'.

On to my main point, this week's comics pull:


( New Avengers 34 'Trust, part 3' )

( X-Factor 23 'The Isolationist, part 3' )

( X-Men: Emperor Vulcan, part 1 )


Heroes For Hire continue their Hulk adventure, are fairly entertaining and, as usually, wonderfully drawn by Clay Mann. The back-up Scorpion strip is nice too, though, sadly, John Bosco is no Clay Mann, and it contains this lovely exchange - Paladin: 'I trust my Academy Award is in the mail, Agent Sareva', Agent Sareva: 'No, but I've just arranged to have your payment wired to that Cayman Islands account number you gave us. Which, I presume, is what you'd prefer anyway.' Ok, that probably counts as an un-cut spoiler. Please, don't beat me up.

Also, I've caught up with 'Thor', which turns out to be a solid comic. The main premise
with Thor rebuilding Asgard is certainly fascinating. I'm not completely happy with this particular issue because Iron Man suddenly turns up and acts stupid. And I really don't like my Iron Man to act stupid. The rest is ok, though. As for the art, I like Oliver Coipel, but he draws an ugly Thor. I wish Donald Blake was back, he was prettier.

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About the imminent 'Messiah Complex' crossover:

( the cut, because, possible spoilers? )

Oh, and the 'Iron Man' trailer looks spiffy so far. Ok, so they went a bit over the top with all the flying at the end but there's still the joyous fact that Robert Downey Jr. seems to be playing Robert Downey Jr. (the role you surely remember from 'Zodiac', or 'Wonder Boys', or 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang') and that has always been my favorite in his repertoire. Really, I love Robert Downey Jr.

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'Girl in the Fireplace' won the tv Hugo and that makes me annoyed. Seriously, I hated that one. I even would be happier if that SG-1 episode won and there really is no love lost between me and that show.

Well, at least the other results were more sensible. Not even one matches my preferred choices, which I find shockingly unsurprising, but they are good stuff, too.

Now, comics:


( Uncanny X-Men 490 'The Extremists, part 4' )

( Incredible Hulk 110 'Warbound, part 5' )

( New Warriors 4 'Defiant, part 4' )


In other news, 'Ms. Marvel' is in the middle of the most entertaining storyline since, well, ever, though that's mostly due to her new support staff being rather fun (yay, Machine Man! yay, more screen-time for Agent Sum!) as Ms. Marvel herself is as bland as always. Also, in 'Iron Man - Enter the Mandarin' mini, Iron Man battles the Mandarin. It's still the first issue, so he doesn't get very far with that but he does it with acceptable, though not terribly high, level of entertainment. Joe Casey I remember from his stint with the X-Men, which went more or less ok (apart from the X-Corp storyline, which did not go well at all) and brought me Stacy the Prostitute, one of my favorite X-Men ever. Eric Canete I never heard of before but I like him already. His Iron Man looks a bit, uhm, funky there but he draws a mean Mandarin.

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The Hugo Awards are announced tomorrow and, since I actually did manage to read all the nominated short forms this year, I'm able to make informed private choices.

( my informed choices )

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Better late that ever, right? And I don't think there was any need to rush with the review anyway. We'll probably see another issue around November.

( Astonishing X-Men 22 'Unstoppable, part 4' )

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I've always thought that the Frankenstein Mix project is a nifty idea. So, as a sign of support I've decided to, well, actually participate.

( THE FRANKENSTEIN MIX 16.0 )

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A bunch of comic-book reviews. One from the last week's batch:


( New X-Men 41 'The Quest For Magic' )

And some from this week:

( X-Men 202 'Blinded by the Light, part 3' )

( X-Men First Class 3 'Island X, part 2' )

( Cable & Deadpool 44 'Head Games' )

That's it for today, children. Tune in soon, there will be more.

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Tomorrow four new X-Men issues come out and I'm so excited about it it's almost obscene. And very very sad. I decided to distract myself with movies, then. Well, truthfully, these are the movies that I saw two weeks ago, but, since writing movie reviews has been like pulling teeth lately, it took me some time to get down to them.


( Quentin Tarantino's 'Death Proof' )

( Len Wiseman's 'Die Hard 4' )

( David Fincher's 'Zodiac' )


By the way, I caught all these movies when I was still in Wrocław because when the film festival came to an end and I still had two prepaid days left at the hostel and my friend was not coming over as was previously arranged because she very untimely broke her leg and I just refused to go clubbing in a strange city alone, after a day full of obligatory sight-seeing and shop-traipsing when I asked myself 'How shall I amuse myself in the evenings?' there wasn't even a moment's hesitation before 'oooooh, more movies' popped up. Which I suppose puts the final tally at 47 full-lengths and 74 shorts. All that in thirteen days, mind you.

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Marvel X-Land appears to be doing really well this year, but with X-Factor it really struck gold. The series was, hands down, the best thing to come out of the whole 'House of M' circus, and, two years later, it's still going remarkably strong. I'm practically in love with it.

( X-Factor 22 'The Isolationist, part 2' )


I realized that I really shouldn't complain about 'New X-Men' as much as I do. I just got through all the pre-Decimation issues (my Modus Operandi with my every new comic series is to read a few most recent story-archs and then gradually work my way backwards) and they were really pretty bad. Verging on dreadful, even. And so vanilla, that it was downright sickening. I don't even want to think about some of the art, because Paco Medina? That went right against my gag reflex. Anyway, Kyle & Yost, you might have made some missteps, true, but the two of you were a bloody salvation to this title.

Now, that I've got through all the New Mutants/X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, X-Men First Class and X-Factor past issues and reached reasonably far into the Uncanny and Adjectiveless X-Men history, I think it's high time I got my teeth into 'Cable and Deadpool'. Judging from the four latest issues, the book looks like loads of fun.

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For some unfathomable reason, writing comic book reviews seems much easier that writing movie reviews, so here we are:


( X-Men 201 'Blinded by the Light, part 2' )

( X-Men First Class 2 'Island X, part 2' )

( New X-Men 40 'The Quest For Magic, part 4' )

( Cable & Deadpool 43 'With Friends Like These' )

( Uncanny X-Men 489 'The Extremists, part 3' )

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So I'm back. Well, frankly, I got back last Thursday but first there was this whole 'oooh, regular sleep and food!' excitement and me meeting with various people and subtly bragging about the glorious time I had in Wrocław and they didn't. you know the drill. And then my PC croaked up on me. On a Saturday, no less, meaning it was full five days before I got it back. It was supposed to be four days but apparently people at the computer store are cretins. All in all, very irritating.

After almost two weeks of no-computer Wrocław time, with yet another five no-computer days (and no cool movies to distract me with) I was going seriously stir-crazy. I was so bored that I actually read that 'Harry Potter 7' that my sister in some strange wave of sibling love sent me from London. It was so nice of her when she said that she ordered me one that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I stopped reading the series at book five. Some commentary about HP might crop up later but if I forget (or if I'm too lazy) to actually do that, let me just tell you now that it was ok. I'm not too happy about some plot developments but basically Rowling managed to dig herself out quite cleanly.

Anyway, here's my slightly belated film festival report. 44 full-length movies (which I boldly interpret as a 50-plus-minutes category) and 74 shorts. No actual reviews because, knowing my usual speed, I'd probably be still writing them in October. Just basic categorizing, then:

( THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ERA NEW HORIZONS )

On the whole, the festival was a blast. Most of the movies were great fun, Wrocław is just as beautiful a city as I remembered it and the weather was quite ok. Yes, this year is I lived a fair bit from the city center which meant a lot of extra legwork and, me being a lazy creature who complains promptly whenever a prospect of physical effort arises, I'd normally see it as quite a bother. However, when you put good movies at the destination point, my internal need for wailing and whining usually dries up pretty quickly. If it's actually good movies in great quantities at the destination point, then I'm even moderately eager for a morning walk. So there. Happy happy happy.

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So tomorrow I'm off to Wrocław to partake in a ten-days-long film orgy otherwise known as Era New Horizons International Film Festival. I don't even have a schedule put together this year which might bite me in the ass yet, but it's not like I won't have plenty of time between screenings to figure out my next moves so it'll probably sort itself out. God, I hope.

Anyway, I'm going be incommunicado for a bit more than two weeks (first the festival, then Wrocław sightseeing, then Poznań sightseeing and, then, well, probably a lot of exhausted sleeping). Hmm, not that I've all that hyper-active lately with my lj-life. It might even be hard to tell the difference. Just saying that, for a change, it will not be the case of 'Magda not posting anything because she's too lazy to do so', but of 'Magda not posting anything because she's busy living the Life of Adventure and Excitement'. Oh, I love those.


In order to get myself into the movie-watching spirit I caught some of the movies offered by the Czech Month at the local cinema. Well, when I say 'some' I actually mean 'two'. Namely Sasa Gedeon's 'Návrat idiota' (aka The Idiot Returns) and Petr Koliha's 'Vychova divek v Cechách' (aka 'Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia'). Czech cinema really has a unique feel to it. It's perpetually hanging between sadness and amiable grotesque. 'Návrat idiota' is definitely drifting towards the former, with its distinct lirical ambience, 'Vychova divek v Cechách' hovers more or less in the middle. These are not great pictures, certainly not the best Czech cinema has on offer, but they are alright. And they manage something only few movies are able to accomplish. They are getting better as they go along. Now, that really doesn't happen often.

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I've been spending way too much time on comics lately than is seemly, so let's at least make something constructive out of it. Reviews, then:


( X-Men 200, 'Blinded by the Light, part 1' )


( Uncanny X-Men 488, 'The Extremists, part 2' )


( X-Men First Class 1, 'The Job Shadow' )


( New X-Men 39, 'The Quest For Magic, part 3' )

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I just got my braces set which means that my teeth hurt so much that I'm seriously starting to contemplate knocking myself unconscious. Which would be a pretty extreme move so best left as a fall-back plan rather than the main course of action. For now, I'm just going to think happy thoughts, I'll see that that works.


Oh, a happy thought. I met roguem on Sunday. Like, in person. Still feels a bit surreal. An amazing girl, she is. Funny, clever and pretty. You practically don't get any better. Seriously, roguem, you rock. Hard, plain and simple.


Oh, movies. Another happy thought.

( Allen Coulter's 'Hollywoodland' )

( Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Nuovo cinema Paradiso' )


And a book. These happy thoughts just keep on coming.

( 'The Algebraist' by Iain M. Banks )


And for a nice finish, my dear volleyball boys won again. And it's the final round, just six teams left, people, so that's, like, extra good. Especially that the Brazilians got finally slayed by Bulgarians so we are the only undefeated team left. Go, we.



Well, happy thoughts or not, my teeth still hurt. Time to try this unconscious thing, I think.

I basically spent the last three days reading X-Men comics. Which wasn't supposed to happen. The result is that I have an exam in about four hours and I haven't even started on the studying. Well, better late than never, right?


But first:

( Steven Soderbergh's 'Ocean's Thirteen' )


( Tim Story's 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' )


( Ronny Yu's 'Huo Yuan Jia' )


Also, 'Rescue Me' is finally back. So far I only watched one episode (because then I started reading the damn comics and couldn't stop) but since there are only twelve episodes ahead, it's probably better to pace myself anyway. Now, shortly, ( ... )


The Polish volleyball team continues to glide through the World League with delightful ease. Ten wins, no losses, which puts us on a par with Brazil (who, I'm pretty sure, are robots). Still two games before the final phase, but since the Bulgarians proved this weekend to be less of a threat than I feared, I'm relatively calm about the whole affair. Go, us.

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