You too can be Pilgrimized!

See that picture to the right? See my new profile picture? Pretty cool right? Now where would I, and perhaps you, get something like that? I'll tell you, dear reader. On the official website for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, users can create an avatar based on the drawings of Brian Lee O'Malley. You can choose gender, skin, hair, eyes, clothes, accesories, etc. to make it just your own. It'll even give you a rating to tell you how epic your avatar is. How awesome is that?

Give it a try. The site is listed on the bottom of this picture, along with the release date for the movie. Mark your calendars, it's going to be AWESOME!

Paranormal Activity: A contemplation on what makes a 'scary' movie

Last night I watched Paranormal Activity, at home and in the dark with candles. Earth Hour had just ended, so I figured I'd keep the candles on and add to the spooky atmosphere. Not the wisest decision as it turns out. This, my dears, is the first time in a long time that a movie has truly rattled me; beating heart, dread in my stomach, sweaty palms, the works. By the time the ending came around I was watching through a blanket covering my eyes. I was able to get to sleep later that night however, though I had to keep my door closed and was extra cautious about walking around in the dark (though I should be doing that anyway; stubbed toes are not fun). And no nightmares to report, which is what many of the film's reviews promise. But still, very much rattled.

Now I'm usually not such a scaredy cat when it comes to horror movies. I can get creeped out, or grossed out, or maybe unsettled, but often I'm not actually frightened. In fact I'm a pretty big fan of the genre. I've always been interested in the spooky, fantastical side of life; hence my passion for vampires and shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural. The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Psycho, are all classic films and I have seen each one without any major ill effects. The Evil Dead trilogy may not be classic, but they're definitely cult favorites and favorites of mine as well. Most of the time I just find movies and shows like that entertaining, maybe creepy, sometimes even thought provoking, as occasionally a deeper message can be hidden in the blood and gore.

So what makes Paranormal Activity an exception? A number of reasons I think. First, it's a documentary style film. The audience is made to believe that what we're seeing is "lost" footage, a la The Blair Witch Project (another low budget, fan driven horror hit), something we maybe even weren't meant to see. Whereas most horror movies are staged and special fx'd to the point that it's almost comical, PA hits closer to home; literally, as every single frightening event takes place in this average couple's middle class house. What we're seeing is made more believable as it almost works within the realm of possibility, that this could happen to you.

Secondly, I'm not a fan of things that all of a sudden pop out at you in the dark. That's a big reason why I don't do haunted houses at theme parks (The Haunted Mansion and the Tower of Terror at Disney World being obvious exceptions). As the camera moved through the house in PA late at night, or even as it sat stationary in the bedroom at like 3 in the morning, you never knew what was coming. That freaks me out.

Thirdly, the whole movie builds up steam as you go. The activity starts off slow, and in the middle of the film I was even beginning to wonder if this was really as scary as everyone says it is. My concerns were very much allayed, as gradually the events become more frequent and more menacing, leading up to a pretty darn frightening ending. That building of suspense just made it all the more horrifying.

I put off watching the alternate ending until today, just because after all that I wanted to tackle it in broad daylight. After seeing both (kind of; I had to turn my eyes away a few times), I just have to say that the original ending was way better. It was a lot more startling and left a sense of mystery.

So a good movie overall, and a unique experience for me. It's a unique movie in general, as it took a whole lot of people "Demanding It" on the film's web page to give it a wide release. It's an example of how the Internet is affecting the film industry in this day and age.

As I lay in bed last night, trying to keep my back to the door, I remembered two of my favorite acronyms; WWBD? and WWAWD? Longer versions are What Would Buffy Do? and What Would a Winchester Do? They'd kick the scary thing's rear end, that's what. Keep that in mind as you watch PA or any movie that really freaks you out. It worked for me.

Anytime you've been scared by a movie? Post away.

New Harry Potter site and, FINALLY, a date for the theme park

So two pieces of news for us muggles.

A) There is finally a set date for the opening of the new Harry Potter theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, at Universal Studios in Orlando. June 18th. A little later than the 'spring' opening we were originally promised, but not by much. Write it down people. A truly historic date. As soon as I'm able, you know I'll be there.

B) A new official Harry Potter site from Scholastic has just gone live. All 7 books, quizzes, lots of terminology. Oooohhh, geek overload.

Now if only the next movie was coming out before November, we'd truly be in business.

Fanfiction: When the fans want more, more, more!

Last night I, as the ultra cool & hip librarian that I am, held a program at my library about one of my favorite topics; the world of fan fiction.

Fan fiction, you say? Some of you may be familiar with the concept, others not so much. As I explained to the pair of teenaged girls I ran my PowerPoint presentation for, fan fiction (also written as fanfiction) is basically stories written by fans featuring settings and characters from their favorite TV shows, movies, comics, etc. These stories are done without the authorization of the original work's creators, and are written by fans for fans and not for profit, as it would be illegal to try to profit off them due to copyright laws. It's considered part of fan labor, which is an even broader term describing the wide variety of things fans create to pay tribute to what they're fans of, like art, youtube videos, etc.

Some of the non-geeks among you would perhaps think that all of that sounds like a colossal waste of time. Well, aren't we just a touch cynical, non-geeks who would think that way?

A. As long as you're not holed up in a basement somewhere watching hours of taped shows surrounded by memorabilia you spent your life's savings on and can't remember the last time you saw natural light, there is nothing wrong with being a fan. Period. Most fans are normal, everyday people (Yo!) who happen to feel very passionately about their favorite shows or movies or whatever. And I'd just like to point out that sports fans don't get half as much flak as the people who populate Fan Expo every year. There, I said it. But I digress.

And B. The point I was trying to make by introducing this concept to teens in my catchment area is that fan fiction is a great way to express yourself creatively with something you enjoy and probably think about a lot anyway in terms of 'what if?' scenarios. It's a very inclusive form of writing, as you can, depending on the rules of the site you frequent, write about almost anything about...well, almost anything. Plus you can practice your writing doing it, just in case you decide to try to publish your own original works.

Most authors or creators are fine with this, so long as no one's making money. J.K. Rowling has gone on record saying she supports fans who want to play around with her characters. But there are some authors who are so not okay with it. Anne Rice would be one. Part of me gets that, as writing is such a personal thing, and I don't know how I would feel if people were messing around with what I created. But at the same time, I'm like 'Be flattered you created something that has captured people's imaginations'. But that's one thing to keep in mind if you decide to write fan fiction of your own; be respectful of the author's wishes.

I am not ashamed to say that I've written a couple of stories myself. They're published online, and I've gotten some positive comments on them by a few people, so yay! I write under a pen name, however, just in case you try to look for them yourselves.

So I spent about an hour giving the skinny on what fan fiction entails, and it takes that long at least to go over it all. Terminology, history, rules, regulations. But for this post, I'll just give you a couple of links to follow. Most sites will have rules and terms listed for you to take a look.

Fanfiction.net is my favorite site, and is just about the largest, most popular fan fiction site you can find, where many different fandoms are listed. The site has gotten some flak for choosing quantity over quality, and you do have to be careful looking through it, still I like to think of it as the site for the masses, as you can post almost anything you'd like where most other sites have very strict rules on grammar, spelling and content.

Fiction Alley.org is one of the more famous Harry Potter fan fiction sites, and their strict rules for posting stories pretty much guarantees that you'll find well written works. If you want to post one yourself, however, it gets much more complicated (take a look at their rules for posting and you'll see why).

There's a lot more out there to look at. Again though, be careful, be respectful, and don't send anything to the original authors or creators; they may not support your writing it in the first place and they won't read anything created by fans to protect themselves.

Having said that, happy writing and reading!

My profile picture and what it has to do with Mad Men

Some of you may be wondering about my profile picture. Am I some kind of artist on the side? I wish. My latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (see their link on the left) provided a tip on a neat feature found on AMC's website for their show Mad Men, which in turn led to that little retro number you see on my screen.
I confess I have yet to see Mad Men. It has been highly praised by critics and the Emmys, but last I checked this drama about advertising execs in the 60s was still trying to find it's audience, and I'm still trying to find where it airs in Canada. But, given the chance to redesign myself as a classy 60s woman, as the show's website allows you to do, I jumped at it
The game is very easy to use, but because it gives you so many options to choose from to create your new look it also requires a lot of thought. First you have to decide of you're a "suit" or a "skirt" (not overly PC, but true to the time period). Then you select a body and skin type; trying to stick close to myself I went with pale skin and with the medium body shape. The thin body shape was way too thin and real women have curves, gosh darn it! You're then able to choose your hair color and style, your eyes, your nose (not too many flattering options in that category I must admit), your eyebrows and your mouth (cigarette optional). The best part was choosing the clothes and accessories, all great classic styles. What to wear, what to wear? I ended up choosing the fiery red dress with black gloves, pearls and a doughnut (What? I like doughnuts!). Finish off by choosing a background and then you can download your creation as a picture or as wallpaper.
It's a great feature, and I totally recommend it. You never know, you may be a closeted advertising exec from another decade. As EW says, you'll be 50% cooler. Go try it at amctv.com.