So last year the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was released with Daniel Craig (playing Mikael Blomkvist) and Rooney Mara (playing Lisbeth Salander) as the stars. Having seen the original Swedish version, I thought the American version would be more tame and toned down – oh how wrong I was. The rape scenes were much more intense (and had me cringing throughout), and the depictions of the rapes/killings that were committed by the murderer (as well as the near-rape of Blomkvist) were much more graphic than the Swedish version. Rooney played her role well, and definitely helped Salander seem more psychotic than her Swidish counterpart (played by Noomi Rapace). Daniel Craig also suited his role well – okay, maybe not as well as Michael Nyqvist did in the original- but hey, what can I say, I’m biased; dat body.
Would I suggest this movie to others:
Well, yes and no. I definitely think there are more worth while movies out there.
I know I’ve been absent for an obscenely long time… I do apologize. Admittedly a lot has been going on in my life – but I’ve decided to start writing again! Er, not writing, but blogging. The content of my blog might change a little – I’m probably going to throw a little more stuff about music and gaming in, to.
So, to make a long story short – Over the past 8 months I’ve broken up with the guy I was with when I started the blog, attended two semesters of college, had a short relationship with the dickiest guy I have ever met (Dickiest? Is that even a word? I guess it is now.) , and got back together with my love of 3 years. I now have a job at Subway (making sammiches like every good woman should!) and have both quit and returned to WoW.
But! As my first returning post I’ll grace this page with a poem =D
Like a flower it blooms
Swelling as a great tide in my chest,
Pouring, rushing through me
Tumbling from my mouth in golden sound,
A song, a purest epiphany to the human mind.
Soaring as a great bird of prey,
Wind lifting my wings only to disappear from me again;
A magestic rollar coaster- exhilaration;
Twisting and jumping like a pup new to the world,
I rejoice in the joy that has grown within
Fed by the depths of our love.
It was a year after he died. A year since everything had changed. A year since he had scarified himself for the better of Barthae. A year since my life had been shattered.
Kneeling at his tomb, my memories took me back. Back to a time when everything was peaceful, when ashes didn’t cover the ground, or my heart. His image danced in front of my eyes, a strong young man practicing his sword measures, smiling at me from the courtyard. He asked nothing of me, took nothing for granted. Unspoken between us lay a river of emotion, powerful as the force of a storm.
The sound of footsteps brought me back from my revere. “Lisha. It’s time to go.” I turned to meet my butler, Marin. “It is growing dark, M’lady. We cannot stay here any longer – the forest is not safe after dark.”
I glanced back for a moment, my eyes scanning the plaque one last time.
“Even the greatest heroes must fall.
Your name will be spoken for generations to come.
Rest sweetly in the arms of death, son of kings,
Our prince in heaven,
Syreth Amranth”
I am not, by any means a practiced Haiku writer. In the past, I found them too simplistic, too short. As I have become more experienced, their simple layout is what has become more and more appealing to my (what tends to be) simplistic poetry format.
Amrael awoke in a cold sweat, emotion still coursing through him. He lifted a hand to his cheek brushing away the hot tears pouring out of him. It was just a dream, probably brought on by his exertions the night before. He rolled out of bed, feeling his wounds throb painfully. After dressing hurriedly, he leapt out of the church window and made his way towards Thiru’s stall. This is stupid. He wove through the crowds, lost in thought. She’s just going to turn you away again.
Amrael felt a tug on his cloak, and he whirled around. “Sir, the Duke requests to see you. He says it’s important.” He glared down at the dirty urchin boy who had given him the message. “He did, did he?” “Yeah. ‘E says it can’t wait.” Amrael sighed inwardly. Aristocrats are so pushy. He nodded silently, and handed the boy a gold coin. The urchin grinned, and ran off, yelling a “Thanks!” behind him. I guess Thiru will have to wait until another time. She’ll be there when I get back. Unease knotted his stomach as he remembered the dream, then laughed at himself. It was a dream, nothing more.
“Amrael. There you are.” The duke stared placidly at the cloaked figure, his withered hands clasped around a chalice of red wine. Red, like Thiru’s blood… Amrael shook himself. This is not the time. Catching the motion, the Duke raised an eyebrow. Amrael gave him an apologetic look. “Long night.” The Duke glared, coughed, and continued. “Do you remember the task that I charged you a week ago?” Amrael nodded. “Very good. Then you remember what I agreed to give you in exchange?” Again, Amrael nodded. “I do.” “Excellent. I have summoned you here to give you a warning. There is an assassin that has been sent to take your life by one of your old enemies.” The Duke stroked his chin. “But of course, you don’t have to worry about that, do you?” His eyes took on a dangerous glitter. “Kill her.”
Blinding light. White, fierce, coming from above him – or was it below him?- like the pain in his body. A moan of anguish, and with an effort, the figure pushed himself to his knees. His handsome, angular features were sharply defined by the light that had previously been shining directly in his eyes. From his back sprouted black wings, which he tentatively moved. Warmth dripping down his hands. But from where? He looked down at his long, elegant fingers, which suddenly were dripping in ruby red, leaving puddles on the ground. His nose flared at the scent of blood. But who’s? Not his. This was human blood.
The blue spheres of his eyes darkened. Not again. No. He was not a mindless animal, and did not kill without thought… except once… “Amrael!” The voice was high pitched, feminine. It sounded like the owner was in pain. “Amrael! Please! Stop the pain. Stop the pain, please!” Thiru. It was Thiru. Amrael tried to yell out to her, but suddenly the breath had been sucked out of him. He looked around frantically, but still the blinding white light held his vision captive. He beat his great wings, attempting to lift himself from the ground, but suddenly his body felt leaden. “NO! Thiru, no. It wasn’t me. I would never. Just hold on. I can save you.” He screamed the words, but still no sound. Then he saw her, laying in a pool of blood, her chest torn open, eyes staring blankly. He felt hot tears trickling from his eyes, panicked. He ran to her side and tried to staunch the flow of her blood, trying to heal the wounds that he seemed to have made, unknowingly. He knew he was too late, but still he tried, desperate. He attempted once more to speak. “Thiru… Thiru… don’t go. I love you. Don’t leave…Thiru I swear it wasn’t me… I swear” She seemed to hear this time, and raised her eyes to his, her breaths ragged. “You… I…never….love….” The light faded from her eyes, and the breath stopped. Amrael screamed, then shook her, not believing that she was dead, not believing that she was gone. He lowered his lips to hers, sobbing, desperately trying to kiss her awake. Then rage overtook him. He knew now who had done this. Amrael’s eyes were wide, animalistic. His fist slammed into the ground next to him, a growl emanating from him. “Haven’t you had enough? Isn’t taking my life in your kingdom enough?” He stood, yelling his challenge to the heavens. “IS CONDEMNMENT NOT ENOUGH TO PAY FOR WHAT I DID?”
We downed the 5th boss of Firelands last night – Alysrazor
Yes, as you can see, she’s a giant flaming bird. The fight itself isnt difficult – one of those fights that just takes practice. The fight has four phases that keep repeating until you kill her – one in which she spawns two different types of adds, druids that must be dps’d down and interrupted, and two giant baby birds that must be tanked. These fixate on the closest person when they hatch out of their flaming eggs, so it goes without saying that the tanks must be the ONLY ones near them. Not only that, they must be periodically be “fed” giant lava bursters (which spew flame that, if more then about one tick is taken, can be deadly), or else they throw tantrums during which their damage is increased significantly. Luckily, you can sate them even during a tantrum. If one of the tanks’ adds throw a tantrum they MUST use a big damage reduction cool down and avoid lava bursters’ fire like the plague. On top of the birds, the tanks (and everyone else, for that matter) must avoid standing in the center of the room during this phase. Alysrazor periodically flies through, cleaving all targets in front of her (if you are unlucky enough – or stupid enough- to be standing in the center you’ll take heavy damage). One dps (we used a shadow priest) needs to pick up three feathers (which will hoist you into the air) and dps her. Oh, and the tanks have to dps down the birds before the next phase otherwise they’ll get rolled by the bird and tornadoes. Also
The next phase is actually pretty simple – it just requires a lot of coordination from all raid members. Alysrazor lands, spawning a ton of tornadoes, each rotating in a different direction. YOU MUST AVOID GETTING HIT AT ALL COSTS. Every time a tornado passes you, turn and follow it. You should be doing a circle or a zig zag pattern.
After this phase. Alysrazor will fall to the ground, exhaused. Two druids spawn, which the tanks must interrupt periodically. Dps burns the boss like hell until she goes into the next phase.
During this phase, Alysrazor will once again be in the air. Everyone minus the tank currently tanking her (yes, there is tank swapping) needs to stack up behind her (she does a nasty cleave). Tanks should use a big cool down when they have the bird, otherwise there is a good possibility they will get two shotted. After this phase is over, the entire cycle I just went over will repeat.
As a tank, I found it extremely helpful to have dps trinkets for this fight, since during the first phase killing the birds is completely on the tank. As a paladin, it was helpful to have 2set in both t12 and t11 equipped due to the damage increases from both. Also, if you’re having issues getting your add down, have a hunter put his pet on your target – it makes up that extra little bit that you can’t seem to get (yes, personal experience here -once I got rid of my t11 twoset I couldn’t kill the bird on on my own, even with a dps relic and 2 dps trinkets).
This fight, we have confirmed, can be both 2 healed and 9 maned – the attempt in which we actually got her down was both.
Gamer, writer, aspiring programmer. I blog to share things of interest that float in and out of my life with others, hoping they can get some pleasure out of it.
