Well, I owe a shitload of comments, emails, and assorted other things to a whole bunch of people (even my Twitter has been pretty silent these days), and I'm sorry, but everything is going to have to wait till after my exams. This week is my birthday, and I'm driving to Hamburg for a concert that day. The week after are the exams, but after that I'm all yours. See you soon. :)

June's buy list is early, because I'm 89% sure that I won't be buying any books in the next few days. 74% sure.


( Yeah okay, it's fifty-fifty, but let's not dwell on my failings ... any more than need be, anyway. )

Re-re-posting this from effex's DW post, the list of links at the beginning is hers, the coding was posted by misshallelujah, available here. Originally posted by one_hoopy_frood.

A list of links re: the Iran election:
( List of links. )

---

If you are reading this right now, you have more luxury than someone in Iran could ever hope for right now. If you are watching TV or a video on youtube, updating your status on Facebook, Tweeting, or even texting your friend, you are lucky. If you are safe in your home, and were able to sleep last night without the sounds of screaming from the rooftops, you need to know and understand what is happening to people just like you in Iran right now.



They are not the enemy. They are a people whose election has been stolen. For the first time in a long time, a voice for change struck the youth of Iran, just as it did for many people in the United States only seven months ago. Hossein Mousavi gained the support of millions of people in Iran as a Presidential candidate. He stands for progressiveness. He supports good relations with the West, and the rest of the world. He is supported with ferver as he challenges the oppressive regime of Mahmoud Amedinejad.


On Friday, millions of people waited for hours in line to vote in Iran's Presidential election. Later that night, as votes came in, Mousavi was alerted that he was winning by a two-thirds margin. Then there was a change. Suddenly, it was Ahmedinejad who had 68% of the vote - in areas which have been firmly against his political party, he overwhelmingly won. Within three hours, millions of votes were supposedly counted - the victor was Ahmedinejad. Immediately fraud was suspected - there was no way he could have won by this great a margin with such oppposition. Since then, reports have been coming in of burned ballots, or in some cases numbers being given without any being counted at all. None of this is confirmed, but what happened next seems to do the trick.

The people of Iran took the streets and rooftops. They shout "Death to the dictator" and "Allah o akbar." They join together to protest. Peacefully. The police attack some, but they stay strong. Riots happen, and the shouting continues all night. Text messaging was disabled, as was satellite; websites which can spread information such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and the BBC are blocked in the country. At five in the morning, Arabic speaking soldiers (the people of Iran speak Farsi) stormed a university in the capital city of Tehran. While sleeping in their dormitories, five students were killed. Others were wounded. These soldiers are thought to have been brought in by Ahmedinejad from Lebanon. Today, 192 of the university's faculty have resigned in protest.



Mousavi requested that they government allow a peaceful rally to occur this morning - the request was denied. Many thought that it would not happen. Nevertheless, first a few thousand people showed up in the streets of Tehran. At this point, it is estimated that 1 to 2 million people were there. (Personal note: I've heard reports that it might have been 3 million-- but nothing is confirmed at this point). Mousavi spoke on the top of a car. The police stood by. For a few hours, everything was peaceful. Right now, the same cannot be said. Reports of injuries, shootings, and killings are flooding the internet. Twitter has been an invaluable source - those in Iran who still know how to access it are updating regularly with picture evidence. Women are being brutally beat.

Tonight will be another night without rest for so many in Iran, no older than I. Tonight there is a Green Revolution.

For more information:

PICTURES:
Here - from Boston.com
Here - on Flickr

NEW INFORMATION:
Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish - near constant updates
ONTD_political live post - Collated information, pictures & etc in the comments

ON TWITTER:
@StopAhmadi
@ProtesterHelp
@IranElection09
@IranRiggedElect
@Change_For_Iran <-- no tweets for a while, which is worrying :(
@NextRevolution <-- absolutely heartbreaking

ETA: SIGN THE GLOBAL PETITION! 25,000 signatures and growing! http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/protest-against-the-june-2009-coup-detat-in-iran.html

دنیارابگوییدچطورآنهاانتخاباتمان دزدیده اند
Tell the world how they have stolen our election



(original post by one_hoopy_frood here.)

Aaaand it's the somewhat belated May entry.

Out of deference to my right arm, which is half a step up from "useless" thanks to my (still!) inflamed shoulder muscle, I'll keep it relatively short.
( Cuttify! )

Since I sadly haven't gotten around to doing a "Books I've bought this month - what, quit looking at me like that!" post lately, you'll get one for April and May now [ETA: Okay, split post. Also: O hai thar, similar execution of slightly different content, bookshop ! No copycat moves intended. ^^]. With pictures! And a short comment! [I know, awesome, right? ;)]

( More below the aesthetically pleasing cut ... )

Viva la vida metropolitana!

I feel like hyperventilating a little.

Because I just spent most of the day reading bandslash. Like. Fall Out Boy.

This is especially vexing, since I really am into music, but hardly ever know anything about the bands I listen to. As in, I sort of had an idea of what Pete Wentz looks like, and also that Gerard person (*dodges kawaiipansy 's incoming karate-chop*). Beyond that, nada.
[Although I will say that I've been reading AFI RPS for years.]

An hour or so ago, I googled "Patrick's thighs". ;_; How far can you sink? Honestly. *headdesk*
[Also see: Further Proof of How I Have No Shame Whatsoever.]

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, bookshop !

There was a comment with a link, like "Read this and you'll fall in love with bandom!". I figured, what the hell, hasn't happened so far, not going to happen now.

When will I ever learn?

So, if you want to, like, know what I'm doing, or reading, or the things that I'm angry about, I would suggest heading over to Twitter for the time being.

My LJ posts are usually an accumulation of things that occur during the day. Twitter is ideal for me, even if I sometimes feel the restraints of 140 characters, in that I occasionally long to express myself more clearly than possible through this medium [without spamming everyone with ten or more consecutive messages.]

So. What have I been up to?

• First, there was #amazonfail. If you don't know what that is, you can ask or google, but I'm feeling too lazy right this second to hunt down any of the links. Also, AUGH. Still angry.
• Then, university started again. Spent the better part of the day hunting down the exact dates and times for all my classes, which are sadly irregular this semester. But! I have a Digital Media seminar, which is basically about Photoshop! And there's the History of the Book seminar, which promises to be interesting.
• The first volume of Death Note: Black Edition finally came out, and lo, it is awesome.
• I might have the slightest tan. It's a miracle!
• I kind of hate that Tweetie for Mac does not recognize &hearts;. Also, it's slower than the Firefox plugin, which is saying something.
• I'm 53 books away from cracking 2,500 books over at LibraryThing. Considering the fact that I have yet to enter almost all the books upstairs, the books in the office(s), and the books in the library, that's .... not a lot. A lot? Jury's still out.
• Ordered first six volumes of the Hikaru no Go re-release. It's so pretty! YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS FOR ME TO RESIST TEH SHINY.

Seriously. It was sunny all day long, and warm enough to go out in a shirt and short pants! Amazing!
Oh, and across the street from me, someone is playing the saxophone! ♥
The atmosphere in Berlin today and tonight is exactly the kind of cheerful metropolitan bustle that I looooove. I'm a city girl, deep down. :D

(Ooooh, and earlier today, I got the confirmation that I'm now officially a teacher with Studentenring. It's essentially a glorified tutoring job, but my hourly wage is actually higher than my father's, so yay!! ^^)



Summer, here I come! :DD

And now have some music (especially recommended for the fans of mellow female singer-songwriters among you):

Annett Louisan *points below*





Annett Louisan - Metro

Yeah, so March? Not a good month, at least in the 'limiting money spent on books' way. Otherwise? Fabulous!

Ahem. In chronological order this time around. Just because.

1. Takehiko Inoue - バガボンド画集 WATER
2. André Meier - Die kleine Aussteigerfibel: Landleben für Anfänger von A bis Z
3. Volker Held - Osterspaziergang: Geschichten und Gedichte zum Osterfest
4. Hattie Ellis - Lust auf Tee: Entdecken, zubereiten, genießen
5. Carol Akiyama - Japanese Grammar (Barron's Grammar Series)
6. Peter S. Beagle - We Never Talk About My Brother
7. Cassandra Clare - City of Glass (Mortal Instruments)
8. Michel Lienard - Fantastic Ornament: 110 Designs and Motifs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
9. Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons - Watchmen
10. Dave Gibbons - Watching the Watchmen [signed]
11. James Jean - Fables Covers: The Art of James Jean Vol. 1 [Absolutely fantastic, highly recommended!!]
12. Max Hodges - Japanese Kanji Flashcards Vol. 2, JLPT Level 2
13. Tsugumi Ohba - Death Note 13 - How to Read [first edition w/ card]
14. Nikolaj Gogol - Die schönsten Erzählungen

Earlier this month, I read an article about the future of print media vs. ebooks, and how ebooks would save so-called "power book-buyers" (as called by the publishing industry, apparently) money, but only after 20 years or so of only buying ebooks.
What exactly is a power book-buyer then, you ask?
Why, it's the age group from 20-29, who buy an average of 4.7 BOOKS PER YEAR.
Yeeeeeah. If I buy 4-5 books A MONTH, it's a cold day/month in hell, and I haven't been able to use the computer OR leave the house. Wtf, people my age, wtf.

1) Comment to this and I will give you 3 people.
2) Post this meme with your answers.
3) Provide pictures and the names of 3 people.
4) Label which you would marry, shag, and throw off a cliff.


curse_of_avalon gave me: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, or Captain Jack Sparrow ....

( Read more... )

Or my flist, as the case may be! ^^

Just checking in to let you know that I'm going to be in Ireland from - well, later today, until next Thursday. I probably won't have much internet access or I'll be horribly hung over / dead from cultural overload, so I wouldn't expect either posts or comments (or answers to any emails) out of me for the time being. Sorry to all of you to whom I still owe an answer or anything else! ^^;

If anyone should really need to contact me, I guess you can always ask mitani for my cellphone number. :)

So, I'm sitting here, sipping my delicious cup of caíapó tea (maté, pineapple, guava), thinking: I buy way too many books.
But what to do about that? I'm notoriously bad about sticking to resolutions. So I figured if I listed the books I buy every month here, I'd be held accountable by more people than just myself. (Or really I just want to spam you with embarrassing recent buys. Ahem.)

It's still early in March, so you also get my January and February lists!
The books are (except consecutive books in a series) in reverse chronological order. Just so you know.

February:

1. Jim C. Hines - The Stepsister Scheme
2. So Hee Park - Goong 4
3. Japanese Kanji Flashcards Vol. 1, JLPT Level 3 & 4
4. Sarah Monette - Mélusine

January:

1. Fiona McIntosh - Royal Exile: Book One of the Valisar Trilogy
2. K. E. Mills - The Accidental Sorcerer (Rogue Agent)
3. Tite Kubo - Bleach 31
4. Tite Kubo - Bleach 32
5. Tomoko Hayakawa - Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge / Perfect Girl 15
6. Akira Amano - Reborn! 1
7. Akira Amano - Reborn! 2
8. So Hee Park - Goong 1
9. So Hee Park - Goong 2
10. So Hee Park - Goong 3
11. Lisa Valdez - Passion
12. Der Große Larousse Gastronomique
13. Alan Weisman - The World Without Us
14. Trudy Canavan - The Magician's Guild (Black Magician Trilogy)
15. Trudy Canavan - The Novice (Black Magician Trilogy)
16. Shana Abé - The Dream Thief (The Drakon)
17. Shana Abé - Queen of Dragons (The Drakon)
18. Ann Bishop - Daughter of the Blood (Black Jewels)
19. Ann Bishop - Heir to the Shadows (Black Jewels)
20. Ann Bishop - Queen of the Darkness (Black Jewels)
21. C.L. Wilson - Lord of the Fading Lands (Tairen Soul)
22. C.L. Wilson - Lady of Light and Shadows (Tairen Soul)
23. C.L. Wilson - King of Sword and Sky (Tairen Soul)
24. Oda O'Carroll - Dublin (Lonely Planet Encounter)
25. Bin Zhang - Benjamin: One Day
26. Jonathan Stroud - Heroes of the Valley
27. Joe Abercrombie - Before They Were Hanged (First Law)
28. Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr. Y
29. José de Alencar - O Gaúcho
30. Machado de Assis - O Alienista
31. Jennifer Rardin - One More Bite (Jaz Parks)
32. Elizabeth Guest - Night Life (Pharaohs Rising)

IN OTHER WORDS: FAAAAIIIL. >_>
Granted, eight of these are ebooks, but still ... -_-u

YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS, I DON'T EVEN CARE WHETHER YOU ALREADY KNOW OR NOT, OR WHETHER THE ALLCAPS ANNOY YOU, BUT

PRINCE OF TENNIS IS BACK!!

Shin Tennis no Oujisama, chapter one, out now. You can download the Japanese raw here, there's also an English translation available. A detailed summary can be read over at ann_applecore 's LJ.


IS ANYONE ELSE AS EXCITED AS I AM?

( Potential spoilers under the cut, yo. )

I'M REALLY HAPPY, CAN YOU TELL?

1. Quote of the Day:

"If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done."

-- Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Blind" by Jay Horinouchi, via Tokyomango. Cute, no? ^_^ This is what the artist has to say:

I had just graduated from college so I was confused about a lot of things... finding the right job, working through a relationship, etc. The left side represents going with the grain, doing what's expected of me and finding contentment in what everyone else finds contentment in (very Japanese). The right side represents going against the flow, even if I'm alone in doing so. I wanted to evoke the thought of who really is "Blind" in this kind of scenario? To blindly follow your heart or blindly follow the crowd, which is worse? Haha, did that make sense?

4. Ginormous doujinshi-related post in the works - scanning and writing up brief reviews takes up time, so I'm going to do it tomorrow or so.

5. My schedule for the next two weeks:
kawaiipansy and I have a reputation to uphold, so it'll probably be 10 sights a day and more. We usually take in a *lot* of culture on any given trip, because we both figure that we can party anywhere, but how often are you going to be in Paris/London/wherever, right?

6. I had a whole post all written out about Racefail 2009 - and then I realised that I really did not want to post it, or think about it anymore. Especially since the underlying sentiment of that post-which-will-never-be can be summarised as: "Sigh."

7. I was surfing around the Shogakukan website, searching for more info about that ginormous German-Japanese dictionary they released, when I stumbled upon their company philosophy:

Though it is not possible for publications to solve the world's problems, they are capable of sowing small seeds that move people's hearts in a positive direction. It is the task of publications to sow seeds that bear fruit in our lives and bloom as flowers. That is our philosophy.

I thought that was quite beautiful. You know, for a corporate identity thing. :)

... which have accumulated over the past few days.

1. The new Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen trailer looks fantastic visually, but I get the feeling that there's just so much going on, it might be too much for one film. But we'll see. (Also, I'm quite sure the shot at the beginning is the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and let me tell you, the Eiffel Tower should not be visible in this particular shot. But I guess they think we won't be able to recognize the place as being Paris if we can't see the Eiffel Tower.)
2. I went to see The Reader with Jule last night, and it was actually really good! I was kind of surprised. The end was heartbreaking, and I think I'm lucky to have read the book before, or else it would have been worse. They did however manage to have some really funny parts, which worked great to break the building tension for a bit. It was also sort of funny watching it in the original English, being, you know, German, having read the book in German, and knowing pretty much all of the German actors. Was Kate Winslet supposed to speak with an accent though?
3. I was going to see Robyn tonight, but the show was cancelled. Bleh. They said they'd re-schedule, but who knows whether I'll have time then?
4. Has anyone read any of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen? My Dad (who mostly shares my taste in reading material, which is also why we own most books twice, once in German and once in English) recently bought the first book, and the cover art looks gorgeous. I'm v. v. tempted.
5. My doujinshi order has just cleared customs! :D Won't have to wait much longer.
6. Do I really have to wait this long for new episodes of Leverage? Come on!

P.S.: I'm, uh, kind of signing up for boxofmagic? Don't know what will come out of it though.

... the Transformers movie, with the commentary on, and it's so pretty in HD, I can't stand it.
But now I have a dilemma. I have a definite craving for Captain Lennox/Sam Witwicky fic, but I'm having difficulties finding any. There's lots of Bumblebee/Sam though.
I'd even take Josh Duhamel/Shia LaBeouf RPS! They of the weird surnames! Please? Pretty pretty please?

ETA: If I imagine reading fic over at this community, looking at that background, I'm sure that I would "MEGASCREAM" real soon. @_@

Just to prove that I'm not just spending all my internet time reading fan fiction, this is where I spent the better part of the last hour: EUR-Lex
It's a portal which lets you access all the current European Union law, such as treaties, legislation, case-law, and legislative proposals. You can also read the Official Journal of the European Union (somwhat dramatic capitalisation courtesy of EUR-Lex).

Now granted, I was using it to find out whether there's a legal loophole for me to get out of paying import taxes on the porn I'm importing from Japan, but still! Right?
I found out lots of interesting stuff that I'm probably never going to need again. For example, the article I eventually read on exceptions from import taxes granted further exceptions in reference to a contract between France and Andorra from 1867. Way to keep track!
Which brings me back to how in the German Civil Code, there is are several articles about the Unification of Bee Swarms.
The thought never fails to amuse me.

This is all to say that I ordered a huge pile of doujinshi from JPQueen! Almost all Prince of Tennis, some Reborn!, one original, one HikaGo, one Death Note and that one really pretty original doujinshi by Naono Boura. Mostly I just went and bought almost every NEGAHYST doujinshi they had in stock. Ahem.
Seeing as how I haven't ordered anything from them since 2007 (!!), I figured I'm due. This also means I can update my doujinshi list again! Score! :D

In unrelated news, after being supremely indecisive about this topic (and also my pollsters heavily favouring Franz Ferdinand) I've decided to go see Joshua Radin. ^^
I'm not really being contrary, it's just that ...

• the Franz Ferdinand tickets are pretty expensive (in fact, almost three times as expensive as the Radin tickets) and I'm kinda low on cash (see further up in this post)
• Franz are playing at Columbiahalle, a location of which I am not overly fond
• Radin is playing at Lido, which is pretty much my favourite club
• ... and he is being supported by Maria Taylor, which, bonus.

At least curse_of_avalon will be happy, since she's the only one who voted for him. ^^

Re: The Reader

I've heard this film mentioned numerous times, but it was always Kate Winslet this, Oscar contender that, so I didn't pay much attention. I'm not much into most so-called "critically acclaimed" movies, and the only "serious" Academy Award winners I have ever watched succeeded quite soundly in sucking the joy out of life, as far as I'm concerned.
I didn't make the connection until just now, that The Reader is actually Bernhard Schlink's Der Vorleser. Which I have read, and found a bit tiresome, but okay. It's not Deutschstunde, that's for sure. That one is still causing me flashbacks of evil.
But really, Kate Winslet as Hanna? Seriously? Not that she isn't a good actress, because she is, but I just ... I can't reconcile my image of Hanna with hers. Might have to re-read the book though.

Hrrm. Well, I'll watch it anyway, to see what they made of it. Anyone else watch it? Thoughts?

P.S.: Please take the poll in my earlier post and/or comment, if you haven't already! :D *puppydogeyes*

Note to self: "be my Charles de Gaulle - uh!" are much less like likely to be the partial lyrics of a song than, say, "be my cherry cola", even if the latter is a little eccentric.

Different song, same band, which made me smile all day (despite the weather being awful):

Miss Alissa - Eagles of Death Metal

Which reminds me! I have a dilemma - both Franz Ferdinand and Joshua Radin are playing on March 25th, which should I go and see? I DEPEND ON YOUR ANSWERS.

Poll #1347564 Music!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

But which gig to attend?