Roswell Rocks!

I was so excited when I got my hands on the whole Season 1 to 3 DVDs of the Roswell TV show starring Jason Behr, Shiri Appleby, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, Katherine Heigl, Colin Hanks, and more. The show was on TV2 back when I was in secondary school, around the year 2002. I haven't watched it for so long that I don't remember the plot that well. I think that I've watched every episode. Maybe...

Well, now I can watch any episode anytime I want! Cool, huh? When I'm bored or lonely at my hostel, I can watch my Roswell. There are 17 DVDs altogether and each DVD contains 4 episodes. Now, I'm only watching DVD 5. 12 more to go! Yeah, the more the better!

Anyway, I just checked out Wikipedia about the Roswell High books for young adults. Max, Liz, Isabel, Michael, Maria are so different in the books! For example, in the books, Max Evans is blond! However, in the TV show, he's brooding brunette. And Liz in the book is of Spanish descent? Shiri Appleby doesn't look Spanish to me.

There are 10 books in the series but the TV show has 61 episodes! Wow!

Hmmm...but in Popular, I saw the Roswell books in a box set - 5 books altogether if I'm not mistaken. Ah! We'll see. Now, I just want to watch my Roswell DVDs! =D

Calvin & Hobbes - The Best Cartoon Ever!

I started reading Calvin & Hobbes when I was in my primary school years mainly because it was a comic! The comics are colourful, humorous and incredibly entertaining. I used to read C&H for hours. Calvin is smart yet stupid at the same time.

He uses big, bombastic words but he is frightfully hopeless in Math. His best friend is a stuffed tiger toy, Hobbes, which he imagines is a real and talking tiger.

He detests girls and loves to bully his classmate and neighbour, Susie Derkins. I truly enjoy the ones where there are Calvin and Susie. Susie is smart and friendly. Unfortunately, Calvin stubbornly remains unfriendly and hostile towards her. However, it may be possible that he likes her!

He frequently gives his teacher, Miss Wormwood, lots of headaches. He is also afraid of Moe, a big but not-that-smart bully who always asks him for money. Moe calls Calvin ‘Twinky’.

Calvin is also afraid of his teenage babysitter, Rosalyn. Rosalyn also considers him a little monster but she baby-sits him because she needs the money for college. Something always goes wrong when she comes over to baby-sit him for the evening.

His mom loves to throw him out of the house as he is always making a mess in there. His dad tells him things, which are not quite true. It seems that Calvin’s dad is a resemblance of the comic’s author, Bill Watterson.

The characters in Calvin & Hobbes never grow old. Calvin will be 6 years old forever. It would be awfully interesting if he did grow. But, I guess Mr. Watterson had no plans of making him older!

It’s still fun reading the comics anyway. =D I wonder how many Calvin & Hobbes books are there in total. There is a box set - The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - that includes ALL of Calvin & Hobbes comics and would be a must-have treasure for any Calvin & Hobbes fans. It is also priced at a whopping $90.00!

American Idol - Classic Entertainment

I watched American Idol last night on 8tv to be entertained. =D Yeah, I enjoy watching this show immensely. You get to see weird people auditioning to be the next Idol.

There was this gay-like fella whose name was Ian Bernardo who went to try to impress the judges. He wore a white shirt with ‘Ian Bernardo’ printed on it and he donned a fur kind of scarf around his neck, I think. He was walking up and down the streets of New York telling complete strangers that he’s the next American Idol. Haha! He was extremely confident of himself and he talked big.

When he got in the audition room, he began to sing and dance. Horribly. He refused to leave and started telling the judges that they had made a huge mistake or something. He claimed he’ll be bigger and better than Taylor who, Carrie Underwear, Reuben and Kelly! Honestly, this guy was hilarious! He should be a comedian instead of an American Idol.

I waited for the next person trying out with anticipation. I like this show!

A bubbly, bouncy girl named Nakia was good too. She started with ‘Dancing In The Street’ and got the judges dancing along with her. After that, they asked her to sing another song and she sang ‘Dreaming of You’ by Selena. This time, she did not impress the judges that much. They said her tone all was out and no, she can’t go to Hollywood to be the next Idol. It was really heart-rending. She left the room a totally different person. She cried and the other people outside clapped and cheered for her.

Some people were so desperate to get the yellow piece of paper. They begged and fought and gave the judges a hard time. Questions like:

‘Where did I go wrong?’

‘Why didn’t you like me?’

were thrown at the judges. They pleaded, begged like crazy but the judges were adamant. Decision was final. And they could not take it. They are still acting stubborn because they want to be an Idol.

These people should just get over it and move on with life. Like how the judges always advised those who did not make the cut. They should realize that they cannot please everybody.

There was no Malaysian Idol last year, wasn’t it? What happened? I can’t wait for the next one. Not that I’m auditioning. =D

The School at the Chalet by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

The School at the Chalet sounded interesting to me and I thought it would be a fun book to read. Little did I know that the beginning was so hopelessly boring! Therefore, it took me quite a long time to finish this book and unfortunately, I could not read other books yet. I tend to read one book at a time, so in order to read the next one, I have to finish the one I’m currently reading.

Nonetheless, the book got better after reading about ¾ of it. When I finished the book, I wanted to read more of it! I’m keen to read what adventures Joey, Madge, Grizel, Juliet, Simone, and the others will have in the books that follow The School At The Chalet. That would not be a problem because Elinor M. Brent-Dyer wrote over 60 books about the Chalet School.

Madge, Dick, and Joey are the Bettany siblings. They have no parents and struggling to support themselves. Then, Madge decided to start a school in the Austrian Tyrol. I did not know that it would be so frightfully easy to start a school but anyhow, Madge did it. Initially, the school had very few students but it grew as the time went by.

I found this school story somewhat familiar with Enid Blyton’s school stories. It was also amusing that the girls insisted on keeping up with what English schools in England did. Play pranks. The students at the Chalet School consisted of different nationalities. The German students were excited to play pranks because they wanted to feel being in an English school. The only thing they did not have was a midnight feast like how Enid Blyton’s schools had.

Of course there are tragedies, excitements, rows with various kinds of people, making new friends, silly students, etc. It was dull in the beginning because all everyone did was introduce themselves to each other. Things sped up when the girls began to play pranks on one another and there were the consequences.

I also learnt new German words too, for example, mittagessen or lunch.

I am looking forward to reading more Chalet School books.

Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

I really like this book especially the ending, which was very touching. Harriet M. Welsch thinks she is a spy and she acts like one too. It's quite funny the way she peeps into people's houses to see what they are doing and what is going on. She is 11 years old and keeps a notebook. It is like a diary to her. She writes notes in her notebook frequently and feels utterly lost without her precious notebook.

She has a nurse and she is affectionately known as Ole Golly. Harriet is very close to her and she will give Harriet useful advice. Usually quotes from poems. Only Ole Golly understands Harriet's need to always write in her notebook.

Harriet has 2 best friends, Sport and Janie. Sport likes to cook (he has to cook anyway because his father is a writer and he's in charge of the cooking) while Janie dreams of being a scientist. Her main goal is to create a chemical that will blow up the whole world. Yeah, really eccentric.

One day, Harriet accidentally lost her notebook. Unfortunately, the notebook fell into the hands of her classmates. She wrote some nasty things about them and they sure did not like it. They grouped together and went against Harriet. They refuse to talk or acknowledge her or be her friend. She became even lonelier when Ole Golly resigned from her job as her nurse. The term nurse here is not your hospital nurse. A nurse is something like a nanny or governess.

Then, Harriet's parents thought she has some psychology problem and sent her to see a shrink. Well, things soon got better after that. This is a thoughtful book and is a great read for everyone. Enjoy!

Soap Operas

Do you like to watch soap operas or any series on TV? Soap operas or dramas can be very addictive. If you just sit down in front of the television for an hour and you get the story, you'll want to know what happens next. To know what will happen, you have to watch it again the next day, right? Yup, it is the same for me.

I used to watch ‘Yo Soy Betty, La Fea’ or 'I am Betty, the Ugly' a few years ago. It is a Spanish show and they spoke in Spanish. Gracias or muchas gracias were the first few Spanish words that I've learnt from watching the show. I also used to go to school the next day and discussed the show with my friends who watched it too. We used to laugh about Betty’s antics or what Armando or Patricia said to Betty. Betty is smart but physically unattractive as she wears big glasses and has unruly hair. She is also head over heels in love with her boss, Armando. Patricia is kind of like her enemy.

After the show ended, I never really followed any soaps anymore. But now, there is this Indonesian series called ‘Bawang Putih Bawang Merah’ shown on TV3. I watch it because my mom switches on the TV in the afternoons. She followed the story at first but got sick of it as Bawang Putih also known as Alya was always crying! I didn’t like her crying very much too. The cast of ‘Bawang Putih Bawang Merah’ are good-looking and their acting were mediocre but it can still grab the attention of the viewers. No wonder it is one of the popular shows in Indonesia. It won some Panasonic award or something; I’m not quite sure.

But I have this one and only one question. Why, oh why does Bawang Putih cry all the time??? Can’t she stand up for herself and fight against the evil Bawang Merah (Siska) and finish the problem for once and for all? And I’m tired of seeing Bawang Merah’s smug look on her face each time she makes Bawang Putih suffer. Okay, since I am so dissatisfied with the show, the question is why am I still watching it right? Hehe… Well, I don’t watch it every afternoon, only some.

Then there is also Alya’s fairy. She is like a guardian angel to Alya and I wish I had one too. Everybody would like a guardian angel too! Frankly, I think that Alya is still alive for the story to go on is because of the fairy who had helped her a thousand and one times. Without the fairy and Alya’s stupidity, there will be no Bawang Putih Bawang Merah show.

This drama is a modern version of the Malay folktale Bawang Putih Bawang Merah where Bawang Putih can sing beautifully and Bawang Merah has a horrible sounding voice. One day, the Sultan went out on a stroll and he heard beautiful singing. Then, I guess someone told him where the singer lived and he went to the house.

Well, Bawang Merah tried to persuade the Sultan that it was her who sang. The Sultan did not want to be fooled so he asked that the 2 sisters sang. Bawang Merah sang first. Oooh, how horrible she sounded! Next was the heroine, Bawang Putih’s turn. The Sultan fell in love with her at that moment. You know what happens next then. The Sultan and Bawang Putih got married and lived happily ever after.

How To Walk in High Heels - The Girl's Guide to Everything by Camilla Morton

A really catchy title, don't you think? This was my Christmas present by my sister who is always trying to make me behave more like a lady. Sometimes I listen to her advice and sometimes I try to defend myself. =) Anyways, this book is helpful in a way, with lots of great tips and witty suggestions. It teaches you how to lead the life similar to a celebrity or a princess.

It even mentioned that a 5 cm heel is considered practically FLAT! Moreover, the higher and the thinner your heel is, the higher your status will be. So girls, better invest in a pair of really good and high high heels in order to receive more attention because duh! you will become really tall and easily noticed! It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

I liked one where the title is How to Change a Nappy. There are other eye-catching titles too. It even has tips for the low-tech girl. You can learn how to use a printer, how to ebay, know the different parts of a computer, which is the keyboard, the monitor and the mouse (it does not bite), and more.

In fact, almost everything a girl needs to know is in this book. Well, like I said, almost. So, don't go expecting that everything can be found in this book.

How to Survive New Year's Eve, How to swim in shades, How to sound like a politician, How to use a knife, spoon and fork, How to love champagne, How to find and delete viruses, How to make popcorn, How to change a light bulb, etc. And if you can't do it, take a step back and let a man finish the job for you. No point getting your well manicured nails dirty or broken. That's a popular tip in there.

Lastly, I guarantee you'll learn a tip or two, which you may find useful one day. And to all the girls: enjoy being a girl! There's nothing more you could ask for.

Forever by Judy Blume

Katherine met Michael Wagner at a New Year Eve's party. It seemed like instant attraction between the both of them, I think. Katherine feels that she has never felt so strongly about any guy before. With Michael, she's nervous yet happy to be with him.

Just like the title - Forever, Katherine and Michael thought that their love would remain forever. Both admitted that they really loved each other and Katherine decided to go all the way with Michael. And just like what Katherine's mom told her, 'once you start having sex, you can't go back to holding hands'. It's completely true. Katherine and Michael can't keep their hands off each other and are always finding opportunities to be alone together.

Then came summer time. Katherine's dad insisted that she accepts a job to teach tennis at a camp, which Jamie, Katherine's younger sister, is going to. Initially, Katherine is reluctant to spend 7 whole weeks away from Michael. She would miss him soooooo much! But, her dad would not take no for an answer. So, she went to camp. She and Michael kept in touch by writing letters everyday.

At the camp, Katherine meets new friends and is attracted to another guy. She feels guilty at first because she thought she was betraying Michael. However, when Michael went to the camp to see her, she decided to be honest with him.

When I visited Amazon.com, many reviewers claimed that this book is a must-read for teenagers so they would know about sex and first love. To me, the story was going fine, but when it came to the part where she fell for another guy, I felt funny. I mean, if she was soooo much in love with Michael, how could she fall for another guy so quickly? It seems to me that Katherine is fickle-minded and doesn't know what she wants.

Well, this book is okay. It's easy to read, quick to finish, and Judy Blume is an excellent writer!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

An uplifting story of four good friends, Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget. This summer, they are turning sixteen. And this summer, they won't be spending it together. Carmen is going to South Carolina to spend more time with her dad ( her parents are divorced ), Lena is going to Greece to visit her grandparents, Bridget will be going to soccer camp in Baja, California, and only Tibby will be staying home while working at Wallman's.

The Pants. Carmen bought it at a thrift store and had not bothered to try it on. She did not think it will fit her at all and was planning to throw it away. But Bridget spotted it and asked Carmen to give it to her. Bridget tried it on and insists that her 3 friends try it too. Miraculously, the pants fit all of them comfortably and making them look really good in it. Thus, they believe it contains some unspeakable magic and decide to take turns in keeping it. On condition that they follow 10 rules, which they made together.

They vow to do something great in them. And when they are back together again, they would share with one another their stories of their achievements or downfalls during the summer.

This book has been made into a movie, and if I'm not mistaken, it was not shown in Malaysian cinemas although the VCD is on sale. The 4 best friends are played by Amber Tamblyn (Tibby), America Ferrera (Carmen), Blake Lively (Bridget), and Alexis Bledel (Lena).

I haven't watched it yet but the book was quite okay. I don't pretend to be over-enthusiastic about it but it's a good read. =)

Pretty Book Plates

Have you heard of book-plates before? Well, if you haven't, then it's high time that you knew about it. According to my ever-faithful OXFORD Advanced Learner's Dictionary, a book-plate is 'a piece of paper, usually with a printed design, stuck in a book to show who owns it'.

When I was around 10 years old, I received a book as a present for scoring high marks in a subject. There was a piece of green paper with my name and class printed on it, stuck on the inside cover of the book. I guess that can be counted as a book-plate too although it's not very attractive-looking. =/

Anyway, fret no more! There are so many kinds of book-plates to choose from. And they are really, really beautifully illustrated either in colour or in black and white. I have added a new link on the side bar of this blog, which will lead you to a bountiful supply of book-plates. The website's name is My Home Library.

My Home Library is not the only website that offers free book-plates. There are a number of other sites too. If you want to find them, just type in 'book plates' in any search engine and you can start your very own book-plate collection! Have fun!

The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge

I read this book twice and I can't wait to read it again. It tells the story of Lilli Stubeck, who arrived at the peaceful town of St Helen with her intriguing but unlikeable family. The narrator in the book is Kit Quayle. He is one of the few people whom Lilli trusts. He is able to tell this story because Lilli had left him her black book in which she had written down the events of her life in St Helen.

To begin with, Lilli's family is dirt poor and they survive by scavenging and begging. Then, there is the wealthy and powerful Miss Dalgleish. She encountered Lilli while waiting for someone and Lilli ended up doing small chores for Miss Dalgleish in exchange for a few shillings.

One day, Lilli's family decided to leave St Helen. But, Miss Dalgleish refused to let them leave with Lilli. She wanted Lilli to stay with her and she promised she would see to her education. Thus, Lilli remained in St Helen and lived in Miss Dalgleish's amazing but mysterious house surrounded by high wooden walls.

As time went by, Lilli emerged as a cultured young woman and one of the cleverest girls in school. There were also boys as well as men who showed interest in her but she simply brushed them off. Lilli continued living with Miss Dalgleish until one day, her mother and younger brother, Jackie returned unexpectedly.

This book is an absolutely good read and recommended to anyone who wants to know about the interesting and fascinating tale of a girl who does things her own way.