The End of Summer

It's been a long and short summer for me this year and somehow in the midst of all of it I have not posted any entries to my beloved VOX blog, so here I am to remind you all that I am still alive and have not yet abandoned this journal.

I regret to say my summer has in a way been uneventful as I am just now realizing I really didn't go anywhere special. But that's alright. Aaron came to visit and we had a lot of fun. Went to DC. Hung out. Ate stuff. Saw fireworks. Etc. The other exciting events were lots of entertaining media presented itself to me in the form of new books, movies and CDs. Materialism, aaah! ... but.. seriously. (Isn't that the name of a Phil Collins album?)

We all know that the final Harry Potter book was released this summer, not long after the film adaption of book 5 was put in theaters. Again, enjoyed the film but felt it was too short. The first movies I enjoyed more because, well, the books were shorter and they didn't have to edit out so much of the tale. Either way, they are always enjoyable and should be viewed as separate entities from Rowling's novels. As much as we'd like to last each Harry Potter film to be 8 hours long, Hollywood doesn't permit it.

Before you reply to me asking how I enjoyed Deathly Hallows I'll remind you now I have not read it yet. Gasp! I know. But I read Order of the Phoenix directly before the film came out. That's how I am with the HP books for some reason. I am however currently reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I am a person with very strange reading habits. Let me just put it that way

Next up we have Stardust, a small adult fairy tale novel written by my favorite author, Neil Gaiman, got the big screen treatment I always hoped it would get. I totally adored the film version of this novel. The actors and actresses were primo and it had all of the fun and wit and cleverness of Neil with its own original elements. This was the book I read to 'get into' Neil Gaiman and it worked quite well. In fact, the movie is now one of my favorite films. It has all the things you want in a fantasy movie. You want to go and be amazed and laugh a bit and have fun and be scared and see a happy ending and Stardust gives you all of that. I can't wait to get the DVD -- but to tide me over until then I've found that a gorgeous limited edition hardcover of the original illustrated novel is available and I picked it up at my local Border's. It's $40 retail which is quite an investment, but Amazon has a pretty good deal on it right now. It's got new text and art in it that you'll want to see. You can check that out here. Also, if you enjoy fantasy films, Neil Gaiman's writing, or going to the movies in general, please go see Stardust out in the theaters while you can! Now that I've pimped out Neil's stuff, maybe he will write me a letter someday and say "Dear Mary, you are awesome. I'm going to write you a story about dragons and mischievous cats! Love, Neil."  ... Well, not really, but a girl can dream, can't she?

My list of excitement does not end, for the most looked forward to release of the summer for me was Darren Hayes' third solo album, This Delicate Thing We've Made. This 2 CD masterpiece of pop is quickly ascending in my ranks of favorite albums ever. It has the elements which ultimately made Savage Garden my favorite band of all time some 10 years ago. While definitively a pop record, it has a vast array of varying sounds and styles that keep it interesting and unique to the genre. Not one song will sound the same. You will crack a grin at the cleverness of Darren's lyrics; sometimes haunting, sometimes romantic and sometimes full of biting wit. As you listen you get a very good idea of which musicians have inspired Darren and you are also reminded thoroughly that this man is indeed a child of the '80s. While he employs the use of electronic sounds more and more in this record it is not generally in a futuristic way but more in a way that shows how he was inspired by the 'roots' of electronic genres past and somewhat present. If you only listen to two tracks on this album, let them be "Who Would Have Thought?" and "A Conversation of God", for I feel they are among the strongest work he's ever done. Personally, though, I believe almost every song on this album is brilliant, and currently have the entire thing on repeat in iTunes. Want to listen to this album for free to see if you like it? Talk to me and I'll hook you up. *wink wink nudge nudge*

That's it for now.