Almost-Anime Review: The Legend of Korra!

When Legend of Korra finally aired on Sunday, April 22nd, I squirmed with anticipation. Legend of Korra is a run-off of Avatar: The Last Airbender series, an anime-like television series made in America. I really loved watching Avatar, and when I finished the final episode, I thought to myself, Nickelodeon needs to make another series!!!!!!!! And they did, creating the Legend of Korra which was initially supposed to be a miniseries but then expanded into an actual show.
When I saw the first trailer for Legend of Korra, which depicted a water-bending girl riding on a large white dog through a city, my first thought was “YEAAHHHHHH!” And my second thought was “Hell YEAHHHHHH!” because what series is more deserving of a follow-up show than Avatar?

Did I mention that this story introduces metal bending as a new type of bending?

Although Korra doesn't have to learn it, it still plays  a prominent role in the show.

I went online and watched the Legend of Korra trailer again, and I just couldn’t wait to see it! But of course, I did wait. And admittedly, I forgot the date it was supposed to air until I scanned the channels on the television and found that The Legend of Korra was just about to start. Lucky me! So I began to watch it. I caution you that this post will be full of spoilers from the first three episodes, so if you do not want to read them, stop now!
In the first episode we meet Korra, the new avatar who is a headstrong, determined, feisty 17 year-old. We also meet Katara, Korra’s grandmother. Katara, unfortunately, informs us that almost everyone else from the old series has passed away. This episode also introduces the other main characters. One of them is Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s airbending son, who Korra ends up running away with to finally learn airbending, the only style of bending she has not yet mastered.
In the city, Korra spots a group of guys bullying an older man with their bending skills. She promptly steps in to save the day, but ends up going too far and gets arrested. Tenzin picks her up from the government building and expresses his frustration towards her. He explains that she is not to go anywhere in the city and should stay on the island where he lives. She is supposed to learn how to airbend, but after noticing that the city has a Pro-bending arena, a place where benders fight each other as a sport, Korra forms other plans.
After becoming frustrated with Tenzin and his “stupid” meditation and airbending ways, Korra sneaks out to the arena where she meets Bolin, a funny, delightful earthbending pro-bender. He invites her to watch the match even though his brother, Mako, frowns upon it. Mako seems serious, dark, and brooding which fits his personality seeing as he is a firebender. 
Both brothers are about to take part in a pro-bending match.

How to Pro-bend

You’d have to watch one to understand how it works. Mako and Bolin team up with a waterbender and enter, but the waterbender ends up not showing up for the second match. Mako and Bolin need another player, and Korra opts to play using her waterbending abilities. She fails miserably at dodging the opponents’ water, fire, and earthbending attacks because she is so clumsy and ends up making her team lose one round. When they start up again, Korra is pushed to her limits and almost causes the team to lose until she grasps the flowing, feather-like movement of air bending. She uses Tenzin’s teachings to bring the match around, and their team ends up winning the game.
Tenzin, who is at first outraged to find that Korra had disobeyed his orders, races to get her from the arena. When he sees how she has learned the techniques he had been trying to teach her, he realizes he shouldn’t have been so hard on her. He lets her join Mako and Bolin’s team.
While Mako, Korra, and Bolin practice their bending in the arena in the morning, the arena owner shares that they will need to pay him a large free to enter the tournament. Bolin volunteers to go do circus tricks on the street with Pabu, his pet fireferret, to earn money. While Bolin is out “making money” (one coin), he is greeted by a bending gang member who shows him a wad of cash and tells Bolin that if he he does a favor for the gang he will be paid with that money.
Bolin wants to help out his friends and so he carelessly agrees to the service.
When Mako gets home and calls for Bolin, no one replies. Mako thinks that Bolin went to visit Korra and goes to check for him at her house. When Korra says she never saw him, Mako explains that he thinks Bolin had probably gotten into trouble.
To search for Bolin, Korra and Mako ride Korra’s dog, a creature named Naga who is also part panda apparently, around the city.

Naga, Korra's Polar dog

Korra and Mako end up finding out that their best lead is to go to an event called the “Uprising” which they found out about from a guy who preaches against benders. The man claims that the benders’ time should come to an end because all they do is oppress the people. He says that the tide will turn for both nonbenders and benders alike at the Uprising which is to take place that night.
Korra and Mako attend the Uprising in disguise. They find thousands of people standing around a stage. On the stage is a caped and masked man who calls himself Amon. Amon tells the crowd that his family was killed by a firebender, and his face was permanently scarred by them. He says that the common people should get to take control of their own lives instead of having benders tell them what to do. He explains that even the Avatar who says she is fighting to bring balance to the world should get her powers taken away. Amon claims that he can get rid of a bender’s powers forever. He then has his minions lead the major bender gang lords onto the stage. One of them happens to be Bolin who I guess got taken instead of the real gang lord.
One by one the gang lords fight Amon, and one by one they get their powers taken away.
Mako tells Korra to provide a distraction by making the room fill with mist from tanks on the sides of the room. Korra does this and right before Bolin is about to have his powers taken away completely, the room fills with a cloud of mist, Amon disappears, and Mako grabs Bolin away. The three back together again fight off Amon’s followers, and escape on Napa.
Amon knows they escaped and tells his people, “What better way to show people what I can do than by letting the Avatar share the message?”
What a great start to a great show!!!

Scary Amon! :O

I really enjoy this show so far because it takes the concept of the previous Avatar series and revamps it with a new kickass character, cast, and storyline. I think this will end up being one of the only shows I actually watch on television, especially because of its opportune show time at eleven on Saturday mornings and also because of my general interest in the plot.
I can’t wait to learn more about Amon in the show. I have a sinking suspicion that he is the young nonbender who Zuko went to live with temporarily when he was an outcast in the episode titled “Zuko Alone.” I usually fail at predicting things so this might not be very likely. Besides he’d be over seventy years old! But we’ll see.
The other characters each have great, unique personalities, but at the same time remind me of the old faces from Avatar: The Last Airbender. This show has a new take on the avatar world and new voice actors to go with it.
Janet Varney voices Korra, and while she doesn’t have any other voice acting experience, I can tell she’s a practiced actress and that she’ll be great for the role, especially since her voice really captures the hope in Korra’s heart.
David Faustino, Mako’s voice actor, matched the character to the tee. He has this serious, morose tone that makes it clear from just hearing the voice that he is playing a dark, sullen teenager. He has already done other voice acting roles in shows like Scooby Doo, American Dad, and the Winx Club so this will certainly be interesting, and I know he will really bring a lot to the table because of his extensive experience.
The last voice actor I will be reviewing is the man who voices the villian, Amon. He is the awe-inspiring Steve Blum who I look forward to seeing at anime conventions near me. He has voiced many anime characters, including Orochimaru from Naruto and Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop. Check out the full list here. Anyways, he has the most voice acting experience, and I AM SUPER EXCITED that he has a part in this show. His voice just sends chills down my spine. He is the epitome of a villainous figure! Well his voice is. I mean look at him! He’s just so adorable and nonevil looking. He couldn’t harm a fly.

You think I'm scary??

All the other voice actors and actresses did fine jobs. I’d like to applaud the people who voiced Tenzin’s children. They were both adorable and hilarious.
Another thing I need to point out is the animation. The anime-style drawing was very detailed, especially with regards to the city. The animators took a lot of time in their work, and it shows. I really enjoyed the mature style of art which, let’s face it, we don’t see much, if ever, in American television. Take Phineas and Ferb and Spongebob for an example. Their animation styles have no detail at all. The details and beauty of the colors of this show are such a high point in my mind. The different shades and hues add a whole new experience and depth to the series. It is really a beauty to observe.
And those reasons among many others are why I am sitting in front of my television at 9:35 A.M. itching for the next Avatar episode to come on at 11. Legend of Korra is the highlight of my cartoon Saturday, and I am really thankful that Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (the creators and producers of Avatar: The Last Airbender) decided to create another show! It is such an enticing find.

How aesthetically pleasing is this?

Anyways, here are all the episodes:Source 1 and Source 2

Or you can watch it on Nickelodeon, every Saturday at 11 am!
Please check out my other blog posts and thank you for reading!
Thanks to Miriamchan for the edits! She did a great job.
Also thanks to Rachel for her quick edit.
Tune in next time for my parody review of the top five songs on the billboard!

The Best and Worst of the Hunger "Games" of 2012

Let the Hunger Games begin! And may the odds be EVER in your favor.

Wouldn’t it be cool to participate in the Hunger Games? Well… except for the part when everyone dies. But could you imagine the thrill of being out in the wilderness, surviving off of your own cunning wit and skill? All virtually straight from your living room? If you haven’t, I have. And I have compiled a list of real Hunger Games that will test your skill, knowledge, and survival abilities on the computer, iPhone, and in real life. I’ll be ranking them from best to worst in each category, so join me as we uncover the real(free) games that for us could recreate the Hunger Games.

Hunger Games: Computer Games:
(Links will be provided at the end of the post)
1. The Hunger Games Adventures: Beta! This came in first place because overall it was the best. It was the easiest to understand how to play. Additionally, it is the most interactive, most addictive, and longest game. While it still needs a lot of improvement, it  maintains the bases for a great Facebook game, resembling Sims Social, Frontierville, and other games of the sort. I rather enjoyed the music. And the game had a plotline. For example, Katniss taught me how to use a bow and arrow. I went to the Hob to get soup in exchange for a bird I had killed. I went to Peeta to get bread for Katniss. While some items cost Facebook money to buy, a lot of stuff was available for free. The characters look as ugly as your uncle, but other traits made up for it. The game was both easy to understand and to play. It fit the Hunger Games story line, and you advance by completing chapters filled with different quests. All together, it is a fascinating Facebook game that models the book. While I do not highly recommend it, I feel that you should check it out sometime because it isn't all that bad.

I am now cooking meat on the fire.

2. Trial by Fire. This game has two parts. Trial by Fire and Tribute Trials. Trial by Fire is interesting because it is a simulator of the actual Hunger Games. You are asked questions and given a certain amount of time to answer them. Based on your answer you either advance in the game or die. I made it quite far before getting killed by my supposed ally. So much for befriending people and saving their lives. Anyway, I invite you to test your luck in this game. Tribute Trials starts off by showing you a lot of pictures. When you click on a picture, you are then asked a “what would you do?” question. It tells you what skill you are conveying when you answer the question. At the end, it tells you what you did well and what you need to work on. While I’d recommend playing Trial by Fire, Tribute Trials is very long and not as interesting. Still, they both had really dramatic music and were really well made. 

This is what I got for saving someones life!.

3. Hunger Games- The Game. This game places last because it sucks. First, you have to sit through a commercial before you can even begin playing. Once the commercial is over, you can’t even play the game. I have tried repeatedly to get past the Cornucopia and have failed every time! The best part of this was the stupid drum music. I don’t understand this game, and it is poorly made. All together it is a fail. Not recommended at all. It is a complete waste of time. Unless you guess the trick. PS. That was not a challenge. Or was it?

"May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!"

That about wraps it up for the Hunger Games as far as computer games go. There aren’t many out there yet, but I expect more to be made in the future. 

Next up is...


iPhone/iPod touch App games:

Run, Katniss, Run!

1. The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire. This is by far one of my favorite games. At first, I was a little bit confused seeing as they don’t provide directions as to how to play, but it was actually quite simple. Basically, the game consists of Katniss running by trees. She can either run on the ground or on the trees. You can make her switch by dragging your finger across the screen. The whole time you are running, Tracker Jackers will try to kill you. You can tap your finger on a tracker jacker to have Katniss shoot an arrow at it. Slowly, it will progress from Tracker Jackers trying to sting to trying to shoot you with their poison to wearing shields and trying to shoot you. Although it’s a simple game, the graphics are good, and like any other great iPhone game, it provides for hours of pointless entertainment. I recommend this game for any iPhone/iPod touch game lover. It won’t disappoint.

This was one of the easier questions!

2. Ultimate Trivia: The Hunger Games. This trivia game tests your knowledge on both the book and movie. It asks about events that happen in the book and who played whom in the movie. This is really only for people who are at least avid fans. If you answer enough questions correctly on easy, you can move on to medium and then hard. This game is not for the weak minded. It is fun though, and I recommend it because if you read the books, you get to see how much you really know of them and can see if you are a true fan, which I clearly am not with a score of 15/20 on easy. 

3. Hunger Games: The Hunt. This is the worst iPhone Hunger Games game simply because it doesn’t offer enough. It functions as a hidden object game in which you travel to the different places in the Hunger Games to find objects that have to do with the book. The reason I ranked this so low was not only because of the obnoxious music, but also because it only offers one level for free. It doesn’t give you unlimited amounts of hints, so you can easily not be able to advance, and it’s just really hard to identify any of the objects without seeing what they look like first. My favorite games are Hidden Objects games, and this was one of the first ones I hated. I would never recommend this to anyone because it sucks.

Can you find the number 13?

Now that we’ve explored the realm of Hunger Games apps, we will take a look into the most interesting games you will ever play, and also the most challenging ones. You can play these games in real life. Not on the computer and not on the phone, but in real life. These games also don’t involve killing other people, which is also a plus side. One being more epic; the other being more practical. Let us begin.
Real-life Games:
1. My friend Rachel found this first idea when she watched a video from the Vlog Brothers. It involves playing Hungry Hippos and eating cookies. But there’s a catch. Half of the cookies you make by putting in disgusting food like mushrooms and turkey. The other half you put in delicious foods in like Gushers and marshmallows. Then after they’re done baking in the oven, you put the bad cookies on a plate labeled bad and the good cookies on a plate labeled good. When you’re done, you play Hungry Hungry Hippos. The losers have to close their eyes and choose a bad cookie. The winners get to choose good cookies. I played this game with my friends, and it was a blast. Maybe that was because I won every single time though. Haha. Regardless you should still try this game out with your friends. Watch the video below to get a better understanding of how it’s done. This should be the Hunger Games movie trailer. HAHA.

Let's all go play in the woods for four days and pretend to kill each other.

2. I saved the best for last with this one. This idea comes from Harrison Miller, a Senior in high school who will be attending college at Yale in the fall. He will be attempting to create a real life simulation of the Hunger Games. I can’t say much about this because it’s top secret, but basically it will be the closest thing to the real Hunger Games as possible. There will be twenty-four tributes, a cornucopia, and weapons. As I promised, no one would die, but this game will be intense. To become a tribute you have to be in shape and have to know your way around the wilderness. . Harrison explains, “This stuff is really serious. Like in order to qualify as a tribute, you have to have wilderness survival skills. I mean, the game makers even considered using poison ivy at one point!” It is truly amazing stuff if I do say so myself. While Harrison shares that his game will be unique to Yale, it just goes to show that with a bit of creativity and imagination you can come up with a great game too. In Spring I’ll be doing a full report on the game during which all secrets will be revealed.

Thank you for reading my blog about the Hunger Games. 

The Hunger Games Adventure: Beta!

Hunger Games: Trial by Fire

Hunger Games- The Game.

All of the apps can be found in the Apple store.

I'd like to thank Harrison Miller for allowing me to interview him.

A special thanks to Rachel for the edit.

And Miriam-chan for the quick edit.

Tune in next time for my review of the Legend of Korra, and thank you for reading.

Day of Silence: Fighting Evil with Duct Tape

This year my school started a Gay-Straight Alliance club. Basically it’s a cool club where we listen to a lot of guest speakers and participate in activities which help us increase support for LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights. We go to a lot of events to support the LGBT community, and we eat a lot of food. Also, our club provides a safe place for LGBT youth to be who they are and not have to worry about prejudiced people. Unfortunately, some members of the LGBT community don’t have such a support system, which is why we decided to partake in the Day of Silence. You can understand what it encompasses just by reading the name. It is in essence a day during which participants choose to be silent. But that is only on the surface. It is also a day of hope and understanding for the LGBT community. The voluntary silence undertaken by participants symbolizes the forced silence members of the LGBT community undertake when they have to hide their sexuality.

This sums it all up quite well!

We are being silent to honor the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders who have been oppressed and prevented from being who they truly are because of consistent fear of being bullied or taunted by those around them. We are also being silent to pay tribute to those who have been mistreated or killed because of their sexuality. 
You might be asking, what does silence do to help the LGBT community? Well, I believe the saying: “Actions speak louder than words.” By being quiet, we are speaking out against the injustice that other people have had to put up with at the expense of the intolerant. 
According to a documentary called the Trevor Project, “More than 34,000 people die by suicide each year.” To put this frightening statistic in perspective, LGBT youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and suicide is one of the leading causes of death in youth aged 15 to 24. I don’t know about you, but I think suicide rates like that should not be tolerated, and people should work harder to prevent LGBT youth from feeling so hopeless that they believe death is the only way out. 
I understand that my school is pretty open towards the LGBT community, but I think it’s still really important to engrain the importance of freedom for all into everyone’s mind. People think they can just get away with saying whatever they want, but they do it at the expense of others.
I have heard some people say that they don’t see a reason in partaking in the silence. They claim that it wouldn't make bullies stop being bullies and wouldn’t make people change their minds about LGBT people.
Here’s what I have to say to them. “You’re wrong that there’s no reason to do it.” What people have to realize is that the point of this, at least at my school, isn’t really to stop the hateful people, but it’s to help other people become more aware of the cause and to help them perhaps speak out now that they are aware of the effects this taunting and negativity has on others. Maybe if they see someone who hasn’t been through all of our assemblies and talk sessions about how horrible bullying is and about how gays should be able to live how they choose saying something like “fag”, they’ll tell that person to stop because they know how hurtful that language is.

Cards we handed out to people had this written on them.

Another reason to do this is to experience what those who have to deal with prejudiced friends and family and isolation have to go through. This takes a lot more dedication to practice. What I mean to say is, by participating in the “Day of Silence”, people have to give up talking, texting, Facebook, sitting with friends, and every other mode of communication for the day. They would have to give up friends for a day, which in perspective is a small sacrifice seeing as some members of the LGBT community live in isolation every day. I didn’t do this. I typed on the computer, wrote notes down, and mouthed words. I thought by just not being able to talk, I would be able to understand how they might feel. But it didn’t work. So if you want to really step into these people's shoes, don’t communicate.

Loneliness faced by some LGBT people. :(

Anyways, how about my experience right? Well, I found it quite easy to stay quiet. The hardest parts were not being able to answer questions posed by teachers, not being able to say thank you to those who helped me by doing things like opening doors, picking up stuff that I had dropped on the floor, and helping me with homework problems (a small thumbs up accounted for that), and not being able to say “Bless you” to people who sneezed. AKA, it was hard not being the polite (sometimes), clumsy nerd that I am.
I only broke the silence five times, and all of these breaches were after seven o’clock at night, so I think I did quite well. I broke the silence the first time to sing U Remind Me by Usher, but I stopped after the first few bars. The next time was to tell my sister I would be watching Harry Potter later on in the day. The third time was to sing again! I sang Beekeeper's Daughter by All-American Rejects. Then the next time was to tell my mom that our dog had thrown up all over the carpet and not my cat, so I wouldn't have to clean it up. The final time I spoke was to say “Come!” to my dogs so I could walk them. See, all perfectly good reasons/accidents. I think I may have a singing problem though… 

I wish I looked like this when I sang.

I was able to give out a few cards to people and spread the word so I think I did a pretty good job at spreading awareness! Next year I hope to convince more people to do it and to spread more awareness. This was definitely a difficult, but great, experience and I recommend that you participate in the Day of Silence next year if you weren't able to this year. It’s a unique experience that helps others. Thanks for reading my blog. Next post will be on The Hunger Games!
Special thanks once again to MiriamChan
And Rachel for the edits.

Day of Silence info: HERE!

Holy Musical B@man!: The Superhero Fiasco

If you enjoy singing, dancing, Batman, and of course, watching people dance around in underwear, then Holy Musical B@man! (HMB!) is the show for you!

Team Starkid, a media and musical theater production company which produces musicals like A Very Potter Musical, Starship, and Me and My Dick, released HMB! online on April 13, 2012. I was really excited to see it because I enjoyed all of Starkid’s previous productions. This one did not disappoint.

I started watching  HMB! at 6:55 am on April 17^th before school. I wasn’t able to watch much; the opening still managed to draw me in. Even though the show started off slowly and was a little confusing for me because I have never seen the Batman  movies, it eventually picked up speed. When I returned to my computer to watch it again at 5 in the afternoon I had already become wrapped up in the musical and was laughing hysterically.

Joe Walker, who I’m going to talk about first because he is my favorite, did a fantastic job portraying his character. His acting style resembled that of Jim Carry. Walker had an exciting, refreshing, exaggerated air about him. Every scene he was in and every role he played put a smile on my face. Joe Walker played Voldemort in A Very Potter Musical (AVPM) and Umbridge in A Very Potter Sequel (AVPS). He once again portrayed his character expressively, and he’s really, really awesome and hot so props to him!

Dylan Saunders, who played Dumbledore in AVPM, fulfilled his role as narrator in HMB! stylishly. He should be a Disney(old Disney) movie narrator! That would be epic. While his role as narrator is not the most amusing, Saunders also got to showcase his acting talent by playing a few other superheroes and villains throughout the show(maybe even Batman?).

Brian Holden, who played Lupin in AVPS, did a great job in HMB!, and I found his character to be the funniest. Everyone in this musical is so adorable. Adorable and hilarious and totally awesome. Even though Darren Criss doesn’t make an appearance, there are plenty of other talented guys to go around.

One of them was Chris Allen who played Duder in Little White Lie, a little know miniseries by Starkid. He recited his lines with a great accent and realistically portrayed the fat, old man. He was perfect for his character, and I loved it!

Jeff Blim is a new Starkid hottie on the scene… even though the audience can’t really see his true appearance because of the excellent make-up and costuming. That’s why I included the mouth watering picture! He looks so tasty. ;) After you watch the show you’ll understand my pun.

Jeff Blim

The last guy I will be talking about is Nick Lang. Even though he only made a short appearance in Little White Lie, he played an adorable, cuddly, charming lil’ guy in this show. I think he’s really quite old, but he could just as well be my little brother. Gosh, I just wanna pick him up and put him in my cutie pie coffee. That sounds a bit awkward. LOL.

I’d have to say this show is very male dominated. Even the actresses played male characters! However, this is not necessarily a bad thing because there was a lot of bromance and camaraderie between the men.

Because there were so many guys, the girls who made an appearance really made impacts on me. Sadly, they didn’t play major roles… probably because of the stereotype that boys are better super heroes and villains than girls, but I thought they did SUPER in the roles they were given!

Lauren Lopez (Malfoy in AVPM) played both girls and boys in HMB!. She let her pants down in her role as a guy. I guess that’s sort of her trademark thing.

Thought I'd show an attractive female for a change... Lauren Lopez

Also, I’d like to commend Jaime Lyn Beatty (Ginny in AVPM). She makes a kickass super. She has a rockin’ voice, and I wish her leading character was more dominant because it was A-MAZING!

Now before I go any further, I have to admit that I haven’t seen any Batman movies. I’d like to point out though that after reading the comments beneath the video; I gathered that the show’s characters, plot, and setting all match up accurately to the Batman comic books. If you like Batman, you will love this!

The dance choreography in the show was great. I didn’t notice too many blunders in scripting, and the singing was flawless, regardless of the fact that neither Darren Criss (Harry in AVPM) nor Joey Richter(Ron in AVPM) were in the show.

The costumes and make-up which I mentioned earlier were fantastic!!! Check out the custom-made Converse shoes on each of the characters. Magnificent!

All in all though, this show was executed perfectly. It was definitely darker than AVPM, but the musical’s darkness was very fitting because of the comic book theme. It was suspenseful and mysterious in a hilarious way and kept me captivated during the whole show.

The music by Nick Gage and Scott Lamps was hilarious. I especially liked the songs about Patriotism, Friendship, and the F word. LOL. There is a lot of use of the F word in HMB!. It’s like someone dropped multiple F Bombs on the whole show!

BOOM BOOM BOOM

The show was also well written by Matt Lang and Nick Lang. They did a great job once again!

I clapped at parts of this show even though I watched it alone. In front of a computer.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed HMB!, the one qualm I had about it was that I felt the show needed more new characters. And more dominant characters at that. Every performer in the show is super talented, so needless to say the leads were all amazing. However, the ensemble is just as good, so I felt that some of the supporting actors deserved larger roles so that their talent could be showcased. Also, I’d have to say they should have used more props. They replaced props with improv which… didn’t really float my boat.

STARKID HUG!

All in all, HMB! is a great show with many, many laughs. The end made me want to hug myself and everyone else. BIG CUDDLY HUGS! EVEN ONE FOR YOU MIRIAMCHAN! They could have improved in a few minor things, but the overall show was impressive. And… at the end you have a fantastic surprise of tights and underwear waiting for you. So WATCH THIS UNTIL THE FUDGING END!!!! I’m glad I watched it all! It was worth the time because it amused and captivated me. Superhero fans and nonsuperhero fans will love this show, and you will too!!

Watching HMB! made me realize what I must do… don my tights and tightey whiteys and cape and fight evil! Oh yeah!

Justice Fighters

Here are a few memorable quotes from the show (sadly HMB! isn’t as quotable as I would have liked it to be):

“The plane... It was left to me by my dad, my dad that's dead. My father is dead. I have a dead father.”- Batman
“I'm Bat Wayne, no, I'm Bruce Man, F***! Can I start over?” –Batman(obviously)
"Dick, I'm gonna tell you something... Something that I've never told anyone before... Except for a couple of my ex girlfriends... And my last butler... And my new butler."- Batman
“You’ve got x-ray vision. You can see girls totties whenever you want! You are cool man!”-Batman

And now a few puns because this show was FULL of puns:
“Parting is a sweet sorrow.”- Sweet Tooth
“Dear Batman, I’m sorry I can’t take your plane. I don’t have anywhere to stick it… I follow you on the web.”- Spiderman

Please comment, follow, and whatever else. Thank you for reading! Tune in next time for a blog about how I survived a whole day without talking.

Special thanks to Miriamchan for the Edit.
And thanks to Rachel for a few quick edits as well.

HMB!: Awesomeness!

AVPM:Totally Awesomeness!

Little White Lie:Duder is a Spy! Awesomeness!

Free HMB! songs:Free Awesomeness!

More free songs(illegal, I think, so if you die, consider yourself warned): I love free stuff!

Also check out Batman:The Dark Night Rises in theaters on July 20th. AKA in a forever while.

Pottermore Mania: The Pottermore Experience

I learned that Pottermore was finally available to the public a day before I could actually experience it. At the time, I was on vacation in Washington DC and did not have access to a computer. My friends all changed their Facebook statuses to things like “OMG POTTERMORE!” and “EVERYONE GET ON POTTERMORE”, and I just felt… really, really left out. The next day when I got home, I booted up my computer and set out to sign up for the website that was created by JK Rowling and released to beta testers on July 31, 2011. 

Yes, finally!

I had heard about the website and read about it much earlier than the beta release, but due to my ignorance, I was unable to snatch the opportunity to be a beta tester. So, I chugged down my gallons of antidepressants (aka ice cream) and researched Pottermore like a crazed nerd. I dreamt about the sorting, the e-books, the additional content, and, of course, the chance to experience the World of Harry Potter which I had grown to love so fondly.
I’d rather enjoy the experience first-hand than hear about how my friend got her freakin’ awesome new wand and got sorted into Gryffindor, which by the way is obviously the house I would get into.

My friend sent me this....

JK Rowling claimed it would be open in October, but it took six additional months for it to actually be released to the public. And so, like an anxious Harry Potter student I signed up and waited for the much anticipated… confirmation email. After ten minutes of refreshing my email I decided it wasn’t coming and so like any other practical almost-wizard, I created another account. Both emails arrived at the same time, and I quickly clicked on the link to the site. I was greeted, not by Harry Potter and his friends, but by a message saying, “We’ll send you an email to let you know when you can explore Pottermore.”

Disgruntled, but determined to achieve success, I went into the refrigerator, got more ice cream, grabbed my wand, and paced in front of my computer, refreshing my inbox page so often and so quickly that one would think I was using a spell! The anticipation was giving me a heart burn, and I kid you not. I come home from hours of flying expecting to be greeted by a lovely website of new, totally awesome Harry Potter lovin’ to find I had to wait a long time to get it!
My spirit was beginning to flounder. I resorted to listening to the dreaded Rebecca Black. My poor, weak fingers were getting tired of hitting the refresh button, when the amazing letter arrived. “Your journey begins here!” I squealed and began muttering like a madman. It was finally happening! I moved my hand over the link and clicked…

OMGOMGOMG, I GOT IN! I was so happy, so overjoyed. My life was complete. I looked out at the destiny that lay before me *felt reborn. I got to experience my Harry Potter fantasies. Creating spells, defeating the dark lord, kicking wizard ass. 
I went through a magical gateway and was led to the main page. First I was told to explore Chapter One where I was greeted by a story on Harry Potter and his arrival in Privet Drive. This brought me to an interactive picture of the Drive, and I clicked the hell out of everything hoping to unlock some new awesome Harry Potter stuff. My friends quickly added me. If you’d like to add me, my username is: PixieWizard28168. So boss. I know.
Apparently the website advances based on the concept of Chapters. As you complete the chapters you get the opportunity to unlock new things like a wand, brewing potions, and other amazing goodies. The chapters each introduce a new perspective to the story, with small tidbits of input from JK Rowling about the chapter and the part you are at.

Information from JK Rowling about the Dursleys' house.

So without further ado, I can no longer afford to write, for I have a new world to explore full of new magical adventures and a totally awesome new life… of reading about Harry Potter on the computer. It is definitely one of the most amazing new things of 2011-2012 since the last Harry Potter. If you'd like to delve in, HERE is the link and have the time of your lives! Don’t miss my next post on Holy Musical B@man.

Special Thanks To Miriam-Chan for the Edit.