Book Magic

Till later,
Lilian White

Understanding Comic Books & Graphic Novels

If the world of comics & graphic novels fascinates you,
then you probably have wondered before what is going on behind the scenes.

How do the writer and illustrator go about creating such a complicated and sophisticated piece of art, such as a comic book or a graphic novel?

How do they chose the colours, the sequencing of the panels, the shapes and sizes of the panels?
How does a comic book manage to convey a whole story with so few words?

How is the narrative constructed?

How do we read wordless panels?

What is the panel, the gutter, the bleed, and closure?

I am presenting you 4 fascinating and remarkable books about the world of comic books & graphic novels.
The history, the creation, the stylistic methods, strategies of the narrative, the way to decompose and analyse them, and also some of the finest published examples in the section of the sequential art.

Here they are:

More about the book on Goodreads.

More on Goodreads.

More on Goodreads.

More on Goodreads.

"Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In Reading Comics, critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics-from Alan Moore to Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim to Chris Ware-and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. Reading Comics is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them."

                                         --Back cover of Reading Comics, by Douglas Wolk

Ka-BOOM,

Lilian White

Shelfies!

Bookcase selfie.

As if we were not nerdy enough!

Shelfies are the new trend of the cyberspace.

They can be defined as selfie pictures in front of your bookshelves. Ideally, you are in the picture. For shy people or those in denial to show their face, a shelfie can be just a picture of your bookshelves.

Addressed primarily to book lovers/maniacs or to those that have more than one bookcase at home. Or more than two, or three...

Book lovers are most of the times really proud of their bookcases where books are stored with great care and pleasure. Bookcases can be the altars/shrines of the house.

So, you can imagine how excited some people are about the invention of the shelfie. Indeed it is a new form of narcissism that can give a great deal of pleasure!

I want to see your shelfies!
Post your photo in the comments bellow!
(You can be in the picture, or it can just be your bookshelves.)

Here is my shelf. Unfortunatelly,
I don't have my whole collection in London with me.

LET THE   S H E L F R E N Z Y   BEGIN! ! !

Lilian White

Note: Hogwarts Letter Never Reached Receiver

Friendly reminder that anyone born between 1985-1998 didn't get their hogwarts letter because Voldemort’s ministry wiped out the record of muggleborns

via inkblot-meringue.tumblr.com

Source: tracey-hummel

3 Short Animation Films Worth Watching

Short Animated Films on YouTube

The other day I came across a very interesting animated short film and as I kept looking in the related/recommended videos on YouTube I found out that there are many talented creators of animations promoting their work.

Have a look at these 3 and if you are interested dig deeper in their websites or YouTube.

Description quoted directly from the YouTube videos.

Get Out

Gary, is a madman, shut up in a padded cell which he refuses to leave. He has a phobia about doors and lives in an imaginary world where he feels secure. A psychiatrist uses different plots to try to get him to leave the cell, but with no success. Finally he has to employ force.

This Way Up

A.T Shank & Son have a bad day at the parlour when a falling boulder flattens their hearse. Emotional and literal pitfalls lie in wait for the odd couple as they make their way cross country with just a coffin for company. This short animated caper puts the fun back into funeral as their journey

The Backwater Gospel

As long as anyone can remember, the coming of The Undertaker has meant the coming of death. Until one day the grim promise fails and tension builds as the God fearing townsfolk of Backwater wait for someone to die.

The Backwater Gospel (2011) 09:39 | Animation - Horror Thriller
Produced at The Animation Workshop (www.animwork.dk)

Till later,

Lilian White

Frozen through the eyes of Tim Burton...

If Tim Burton drew Frozen...

A Japanese girl helps us discover the alternative magic of Disney's Frozen

Yoko is the name of the Japanese girl who likes drawing pictures, as she states in her tumblr. Surfing the Internet about Tim Burton, I came across this hidden treasure.

Yoko created some pictures based on Disney's animation Frozen in the style of Tim Burton's drawing and here's the results:

I believe that she has done a very good job and that she depicts very well the melancholic romanticism of Burton. The big eyes and skeleton figures of the characters remind us very clearly of the famous director/producer's style. The pictures make me dream of how the outcome would be if one of the most beloved directors of Hollywood met a magical story like Frozen.

And that's not all of it!...

It's worth to take a glimpse at Yoko's tumblr here and see the rest of the pictures!

Useful links:
Frozen on IMDB click here
Yoko's tumblr click here

Frost hails,

Lilian White

Le Club des Incorrigibles Optimistes

The Incorrigible Optimists Club: A Review

The book Le Club des Incorrigibles Optimistes was written by the French writer and TV script writer Jean-Michel Guenassia in 2009.

Guenassia attempts to capture the feeling and the pop culture of the '60s in the City of Lights, Paris. Being sociopolitical, cultural and very personal, the book deals with the war in Algeria, the golden times of rock 'n' roll and the critical decade of adolescence of Michel Marini, the protagonist.

Michel joins a chess club in the back room of a bistro that is named Le Club des Incorrigibles Optimistes (that is The Incorrigible Optimists Club), where he meets influential figures like Joseph Kessel and Jean-Paul Sartre along with other idealists from communist Eastern countries of Europe.

The book is very engaging. The characters stay with you until after you have finished the book and I personally found it very hard to let them go off my mind even months later. It's very simple in language and what it tries to say, but very sophisticated and well-written and the same time.

It leaves you with several unanswered questions in the end, but the aim of the book is not to offer you the whole story, rather the part of the story that has the most to say.

Splendid book!
A book that I would read again.

Find out more in Goodreads.

Till later,

Lilian White

Suggested TV Series: American Horror Story

American Horror Story Season 1

American Horror Story (AHS) centers on a family that moves into a haunted house in Los Angeles. It sounds very cliché, but the director, the casting, the soundtrack and the amazing atmosphere will convince you it is worth a try. 

It provides a good insight into American stereotypes and recurring themes of the American culture.

AHS deals with moral issues as well as with relationships on various levels starting with the relationship of a person with his/her own self, extending to family relationships, romantic and sexual relationships, but also to business and neighbourhood relationships and friendships.

It shows the very realistic and various reactions of people when faced with dead ends, moral dilemmas and psychological breakdowns. In the stressful psychological chaos they have inside, all the characters present diverse rationales and reasonings and each of them chooses to make a different set of decisions.

And all that wrapped up in a most atmospheric soundtrack and gloomy sensations. It offers plenty food for thought and a lot of motivation for our imagination.

If you feel like the modern horror movies have nothing new to offer anymore and if you are tired of always being able to predict the ending of a thriller, because modern productions follow the same plot-recipe for years, then you should give American Horror Story a try!

Lilian White

“Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.”

I like the sound the wind makes when it shakes the tree leaves.

I like it when I see fog over a lake.

I like to go to the cinema, because you can literally feel every sound in a movie, like the cling of the teacups or a quiet breath or the opening-closing of the lips when an actor speaks.

I like to take a walk on a gravel path because I love the sound my feet make on gravel.

I like to observe people's hands.

I like to sit alone on my couch and watch a movie by myself.

I like the smell of pasta when it is being cooked.

I like to watch my favourite movies over and over again.

I like to go through old photos from time to time.

I like a hot cup of tea.

I like to imagine alternative responses during a discussion.

I like the smell of book pages.

I like libraries. They are magical places.

I like the sound my pen makes when I tap it on an open thick book.

I like to read. A lot.

I like the smell of drugstores.

I like cooking. It's like a simple, daily alchemy.

I like depressing poems.

I like to give different names to people. I think that there is a name for everyone that suits him/her better than the one s/he has.

"Curiouser and curiouser..."

Lilian White 

The Teacher Book of Secrets: Classroom Fun Projects

Classroom Fun Projects & Assignment Ideas

I currently teach classes of English in a private language school and there is nothing I love more than assigning to my students entertaining projects. These little projects can be anything, from writing an essay, to writing a story or drawing a picture. I  think that motivation and fun is a huge means in the process of learning a foreign language and I see that my students confirm this belief of mine everyday.

1.Draw/Describe your dream lesson/class

Every child has a dream lesson that isn't taught anywhere in the world. From dinosaurs to spaceships and princesses, the subject can be anything a child can imagine.
Just tell your students to draw the cover of their dream class book or write a short essay describing the lesson they always wanted to do at school, and you'll be amazed by the stundents' imagination and creativity!

2.Everything in lists

Print and hand out a piece of paper that asks your students to fill out a list. The list could be about anything. Depending on your class's level, you can find an easy or a more difficult subject. For example, 10 of my happiest moments or 10 future goals. Literally anything. It does not matter as long as you engage your pupils to use the language properly and creatively.

I find that this kind of "projects" are more fun and motivating and are as much effective in engaging a child to use the language as conventional essays are.

3.Creative writing

Everyone can write a story. Narrow down your topic to Christmas or Halloween let's say and ask from your class to write a short story or a fairytale on this topic.

4.Theme project

Decide on a theme you like (the students and you) and then divide the 'labour'. Let's assume we have the theme Ireland. A student will have to write down and bring a small background history of Ireland, another child will have to find information about traditional Irish cuisine, another one will have to write about Irish music or dances or famous people or writers or anything you can think of! When everybody has the information ready, do a class presentation. This way, children learn and practise many skills, such as research, vocabulary, expression, writing, etc.

There are many more classroom project ideas one can think of with a little imagination. Maybe we talk again about this on a later post.

Until then best wishes,

Lilian White

Famous Tombstone Inscriptions

Gravestone epigraphs of famous people

I am Providence 

Howard Phillips Lovecraft
(Swan Point Cemetery; Providence, Rhode Island)

ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ (greek)

Jim Morrison
(Pere Lachaise Cemetery;Paris, France)
{in translation: True to his own spirit.}


Quoth the Raven,
"Nevermore."
Edgar Allan Poe
(Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery; Baltimore, Maryland)

And alien tears will fill for him
Pity's long-broken urn,
For his mourners will be outcast men,
And outcasts always mourn.
Oscar Wilde
(Pere Lachais; Paris, France)


Against you I will fling myself,
unvanquished and unyielding, O Death!
Virginia Woolf
(Monk's House, Rodmell, Sussex, England)


Cast a cold eye
On life, on death
Horseman, pass by!
William Butler Yeats
(Drumcliffe Cemetery; County Sligo, Ireland)


Steel True, Blade Straight
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(Windlesham Estate; Crowborough, Sussex, England)
[In 1955 the bodies of Conan Doyle and his wife, were moved to a grave at Minstead Churchyard, Hampshire.]

Called Back
Emily Dickinson
(West Cemetery; Amherst, Massachusetts)
{self written}


I had A Lover's Quarrel With The World
Robert Lee Frost
(Old Bennington Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont)


Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted.
Sylvia Plath Hughes
(Heptonstall Churchyard;Heponstall; Yorkshire, United Kingdom)


I am Providence
Howard Phillips Lovecraft
(Swan Point Cemetery; Providence, Rhode Island)


Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life

without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless...
Brandon Lee
(Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington)

10 Things House MD Taught Us

Life Lessons by House MD

There are some series, just like some books or films, that are rare to find and most most precious. This is because, when you find them and if you are able to get into equal frequency, they change your worldview forever. So, series can be instructive other than fun. Let's see only some of the life lessons we learned from House MD.

10 Things House MD Taught Us

1. Everybody lies.
2. Everybody dies.
3. You can't save everyone.
4. The truth begins in lies.
5. Observing is more efficient than asking.
6. You won't always be praised for your work.
7. Life is not fair-get used to it!
8. If you find your boss strict and unfair, maybe a good look of the real world will change your mind.
9. It is not easy to pretend that there is no elephant in the room.
10. You should know thy self and feel comfortable about it, because no one cares if they mess with your self-esteem.

PS: As I said, these are only some of the lessons we learned from House. More of them in a following post...

To be continued...

Lilian White

The Dresden Files: An Introduction

Book Series by Jim Butcher

Diaries of a fan

Every time I get the chance to recommend a book to someone, it is almost impossible not to talk about The Dresden Files. And since this is a personal blog, I will tell you the story from my own perspective. I think it was about 2008 when I won the first Dresden Files book, Storm Front, in a draw on the radio. Back then, I didn't even know the existence of the book series or the author. I later learnt that the book I won was the first of a series. I have to tell you that I read the whole book in one breath. I liked it so much that I got the second and the third book and I still keep going till I finish all the books in the series. I just can't stop telling everyone about The Dresden Files! I think that I would do a very good job if Butcher hired me to promote his books! -laughs

A connoisseur's guide

The Dresden Files is a book series by the American author named Jim Butcher. The series consists of 14 books with a 15th book being expected to come out in May 2014.

It is about a wizard, Harry Dresden, who lives in Chicago in our contemporary era. Harry runs an office where people come asking for his services as a wizard. He also assists the Chicago PD Special Investigation as a consultant when there is a case of paranormal nature. In his world they exist all kinds of supernatural entities, like demons, werewolves, spirits, ghosts, ghouls, fairies, vampires and many other monster-like creatures, thus making the book suitable for every taste.

I personally think that Jim Butcher has his own, unique style of writing and very cleverly combines action with fantasy, seriousness, emotion and sarcastic humour. He created a character that reminds us a bit of a superhero like Batman and a bit of the guy next door. He made us believe that Harry is always out there, almost being killed by magic.

How the first book was written:

Jim Butcher was taking a writing class in 1996 and started writing the Storm Front book under the supervision of his teacher, Deborah Chester.

"When I finally got tired of arguing with her and decided to write a novel as if I was some kind of formulaic, genre writing drone, just to prove to her how awful it would be, I wrote the first book of the Dresden Files."

— Jim Butcher in "A Conversation With Jim Butcher", 2004

Since the first publication in 2000, the series became a great success and have won many awards and prizes. Apart from the paperbacks and the hardcovers, there have also come out many short stories, several graphic novels and an RPG (role playing game) all based on the Dresden Files. In addition, "The Dresden Files was adapted to television in 2007 by the Sci-Fi Channel, and was cancelled after one season" (Wikipedia).

The Dresden Files books

1. Storm Front
2. Fool Moon
3. Grave Peril
4. Summer Knight
5. Death Masks
6. Blood Rites
7. Dead Beat
8. Proven Guilty
9. White Night
10. Small Favor
11. Turn Coat
12. Changes
13. Ghost Story
14. Cold Days
15. Skin Game

Useful Links

You can read about the author on Wikipedia and also on his website.

Here are all the books in the series.

References

"The Dresden Files" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Jan 2014. Web. 20 Jan 2014.

McCune, Alisa (2004). "A Conversation With Jim Butcher". The SF Site. Retrieved 2008-02-04.web.

The story behind Jack-o'-lanterns

A folklore tale of Halloween

The origins of the jack-o'-lantern

Jack-o'-lanterns are made by carving and giving shape to pumpkins. They are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits. But where did they come from? How did they become associated with Halloween?

There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern, which in lore, is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":

On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil who tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. The carving of the pumpkin has not been a very old custom and did not associate with All Hallows' Eve until the 19th century. Since Halloween (originally, All Hallows' Eve) is a celebration dedicated to the memory of the dead, saints and believers, jack-o'-lanterns are also in memory of a lost soul and provide us with the haunting atmosphere as needed for that day.

Tale quoted from Wikipedia.

Information by Wikipedia.

Boo!

Lilian W.