Within Temptation

Yesterday it was time for the long-awaited concert with symphonic metal band Within Temptation. There has been some troubles with this concert. The date was first set in March at Store Vega in Copenhagen, however at the end of last year the singer of the band announced that she was pregnant and thus the entire tour was moved. My concert was moved to October 25th. Soon the venue was sold out and to be able to get more people to the concert the venue was changed to KB Hallen (where I previously have seen both Nightwish and Disturbed). However about a month ago there was a fire at KB Hallen and for some time I was worried the concert would get cancelled, but instead they changed the venue again to a place called Falconer Salen.

When we got to the right place (after a very nervous (on my part) walk from Copenhagen Central Station to Falconer Salen) we discovered that the new venue was a real fancy place. Big glass walls and everything. We got inside, payed for wardrobe, bought our tour T-shirts, got something to drink and entered the hall. I had read nothing about a support, for a moment I though there was none. But turned out that there was. It was a three-piece metalband called Triggerfinger. Although I remained unimpressed by the music I was throughly amused by their performance and I looooove their image; three men properly dressed in suits. The singer/guitarist had a backslick, the bassist was bald with sunglasses and he never said a word, the drummer was as hyperactive as drummers are supposed to be (as was the singer/guitarist). I liked their performance, but I probably won't listen to them again since I didn't enjoy the music. A live band through and through.

The support played for about 30 minutes, then we had to wait another 30 minutes while the crew fixed the stage and then they got on. I haven't listened much to their knew album. It's different from their other stuff and I wasn't overly impressed with it. But this tour was to promote that album and thus I knew they were going to play songs from it and in the end it wasn't that bad. I actually came to like a few songs. Albumwise (newest first) these are the songs played (may have missed one or two):
The Unforgiving:
Shot in the Dark
In the Middle of the Night
Faster
Fire and Ice
Iron
Sinéad

The Heart of Everything:

Final Destination

The Howling

What Have You Done

Our Solemn Hour

The Silent Force:

See Who I Am

Stand My Ground

Memories

Angels

Mother Earth:
Mother Earth
Ice Queen

I loved that they had a huge screen at the back of the stage that either showed the official music video or a videoclip made for the song. The screen also gave away which song would come next. When the intro was shown/played for Stand My Ground I swear the ceiling lifted. This was the only song where Sharon told the crowd that we could sing along if we wanted to. And if we did! Wow. Same thing happened when What Have You Done started. It was perfect. They were very good at getting the crowd going and there was always loads of arms up in the air, heads banging and people jumping up and down or singing along. All of those make for a perfect concert experience. One of the best made-for-concert songs was Our Solemn Hour. All those "Sanctus Espiritus" were perfect as crowd chants. What Have You Done was second best, the crowd really screamed "What have you done now?" everytime that line showed up in the lyrics.

Any song I'd wish they'd played, but they didn't? Maybe It's the Fear or Hand of Sorrow or The Cross... Would Deciever of Fools be a good concert song?

I'll end this post with the two videos that made me like Within Temptation back in 2005 (especially the first one):

Stand My Ground

Angels

Les Misérables in Malmö #2

Today it was time again and I'll try to write something of a more professional review. But I'm still quite the newbie at theatre and musicals so my expectations and opinions may be somewhat faulty and well... childish.

Scenography. I was impressed with the scenography last time as well. The wolf still sticks out like a sore thumb though. I still not get that one. Although I loved the Paris scene where all the extras press together and spread their arms it somehow seemed less amazing this time. Still an impressive scene though.

I still love the bar scene. It's a drunken place with raggedy, drunken, happy people (probably the way it was until they woke up the next day, hung-over, and only to discover they'd been robbed). I hate hate hate Lovely Ladies. I hate how the extras are marionnette dolls. The misery of the scene may be kind of accurate, but weren't the whores kind of bold women? Didn't you have to "have some balls" (lacking a better expression) to be able to continue living on as a whore? Still don't like the whole cage-thing with Cosette, nor the Christmas tree shaped bushes. I found myself approving of the barricade. It seemed accurate to me that the barricade consisted of whatever sturdy material the students had been able to come across to help build it. The actual use of guns (cap guns) made it seem more real. All in all I like the scenes.

Jean Valjean. Dan Ekborg's Valjean has grown on me. Before going today I listened through the soundtrack of Les Misérables in Stockholm in 1990 and Tommy Körberg's Valjean sounds kind of, well, bored. he's boring to listen to. While Dan Ekborg puts loads of feeling into his voice. It's not just lines here. He's not just standing about saying his lines, but he's actually moving and acting and actively taking part in each scene he's in. I like his Valjean a lot. The way he's dressed also seems appropriate in my eyes.

Javert. Fred Johanson. Do I need say more? He's like a mixture of Norm Lewis and Roger Allam. With a voice similar to Norm Lewis' and facial expressions similar to Roger Allam, he makes for the ultimate Javert. He's incredible! Also his proper completely black clothes are very fitting. I like the top hat.

Fantine. It was Karolin Funke this time 'round as well. I'm still not impressed by her. Not only because of the producer obviously having a hard time finding a blond girl in Sweden (the wig bothers me), but because she looks nothing like I picture Fantine. I picture Fantine as a very beautiful fairly young girl (as beautiful as Cosette grew up to be). I'd set her maximum age at 25. The foreman is supposed to have the hots for her and I get the image that she's somewhat younger than the other girls working at the factory. They accuse her of being a whore (obviously she's more good-looking than the other girls and they're jealous). She sings of her man "taking her childhood in his stride" so she can't have been very old when she got pregnant. Karolin Funke looks somewhere between 35-40 and she's a squat woman. The clothes and the wig bother me. I don't like her at all in this production.

Mr. Thénardier. This time (I made sure of it) I got to see Peter Harryson as Thénardier and I liked him. He wasn't as lively as David Lundquist but it wasn't necessary. He got the job done and he did it well. He may be a little too old for how I picture Thénardier but otherwise I like his performance. He wasn't just sitting around, but he was moving about and he used his facial expressions and the feelings in his voice. He was perfect at the Wedding! Still don't like the ragged clothing of Thénardier, but I really liked how they dressed him in the Wedding. Also the perfect Thénardier in my book is Alun Armstrong. They got it right the first time! Matt Lucas is great too...

Mrs. Thénardier. Kajsa and Tiffany had mentioned how Marianne Mörck wasn't any good so I made sure that I got to see Evamaria Björk as Mrs. Thénardier again. She's great. I love how she's doting on Éponine and how she's pretending to be loving of Cosette when Valjean shows up. She puts on a great show. I also like how they've dressed her.

Little Cosette / Little Éponine. Same little Cosette as last time and she seemed less nervous this time. She's adorable and she sings Castle on a Cloud (I Himlens Slott) as perfectly as Mia Jenkins whom I love as Cosette. It was a different little Éponine though and she wasn't as great as the other one. The other stuck her tongue out at Cosette, teased her when she had Cosette's doll. This one behaved like a spoiled child but she only showed some kind of expression towards Cosette when Valjean put on Cosette her dress and she managed to look extremely envious and pouty. The dressing of Cosette is actually very fitting. The dressing of Éponine is less so. If she's so spoiled she should be dressed as a princess in a frilly dress like her mother.

Gavroche. Oh my my! This Gavroche was sooooo cute! I just wanted to grab him and bring him home. He was obviously nervous, but he still made a better show than the other kid. This Gavroche may have been 7 years old while the other kid we saw last time could have been about 11. His (this one's) Little People was perfect and he actually managed to shout "Listen to me!" before they all went quiet anyway. The introduction of Gavroche in Look Down (Gavroches Sång) is still too measly, but that may just be the Swedish language... He's dressed perfectly and his news paper boat hat in the beginning is extremely fitting. I cried when he died.

The students. Marius is still hot (and tall!). Philip Jalmelid makes a very convincing Marius. Enjolras (Anders Gjönnes) seemed to be less nervous this time and made a good job at being a convincing leader. I love love love Grantaire (Glenn Daniel Nilsson). I love how his playing around with his wig and being all theatrical. I've never really payed any attention to Grantaire before but this time I rather looked at him than at Enjolras. I like their clothes but I'm not that happy about the (very revealing) striped pants (they have to be stuffed with a sock or something, right?) I also like Grantaire's relationship with Gavroche! As per usual I didn't really pay any big amount of attention to Feully and Courfeyrac.

Marius. As mentioned above he's tall. He managed to hit his head in the ceiling of the cage! He's awkward but still very gentleman-y in front of Cosette. He seems the most grown up of his friends and he's very good at stepping all over Éponine's feelings as usual. He has the best clothes out of all the students. No striped pants to be seen anywhere. He's a skilled singer and he knows how to express sadness with his eyes.

Cosette. I'm not a big fan of Cosette. I do not like her in any way. Emmi Christensson, however, made a much better Cosette than Mathilda Ahnell. I don't know what else to say about her. We are always given very little of Cosette. Emmi sings well and she can act a happy lovefool very well. The feelings were present in her voice when she begged Valjean not to die yet at the end. Her suspicious looks from a distance at the Thénardiers at the wedding were very well done. The dress could have been of a different colour though. Yellow/Gold is usually not a very flattering colour for blonds.

Éponine. Same Éponine as last time. Ida Högberg sings great. Her voice is fitting of Éponine. But it's hard to feel any kind of compassion when she looks like Little My from Moominvalley in a punk rocker outfit. I hate her clothes so much more when she's all grown up than when she's little. What was the producer thinking?! A Little Fall of Rain made me cry again, though so there's no problem acting on her part.

Extras. David Lundquist (Thénardier last time) served as an extra this time. I'm seriously wondering if he shouldn't be diagnosed with something regarding too much energy. He's a clown. As soon as he steps out on stage he steals the attention from everyone else. This didn't make me like him better, if possible I now like him even less. Although he made a great job playing the bishop in the beginning! Speaking of extras. I've already mentioned that the marionnette doll whores bother me. What else bothers me is that the soldiers are dressed like traditional London soldiers. I mean, come on! Doesn't the producer know any better or did he just think those hats look cool? I also hate that all the servants are dressed in a fashion 100 years out of style. The musical takes place in the 19th century, not the 18th. No powdered wigs, okay?!

Translations. I listened through all the Swedish songs from Stockholm 1990 to know something of the songs when I got there today. Imagine my disappointment when I discover that they've changed the lyrics at a fair few places! Also mayor in Swedish has 4 syllables (borgmästaren) so when Javert sings "but monsieur maîre" it sounds very forced and wrong. Do You Hear the People Sing (Folkets Sång) sounds very weird in Swedish although the both songs basically sing the very same thing in the very same order. I don't like the Swedish version of On My Own (För mig själv) maybe because "I love him" in Swedish has 5 syllables (Jag älskar honom) but it doesn't work with the song so instead she only sings "I love" (Jag älskar). Songs I do like in Swedish are Red and Black (Rött och Svart), Drink With Me (Drick Med Mig) and One More Day (Än En Dag).

Rött - för blod från arga män

Svart - för gamla tiders hat

Rött - för sol i gryningen

Svart - för natten som blir dag

A Harry Potter questionnaire

This is supposed to be one of these things that answers one question a day. But I don't like the thought of having forced themed posts for a whole month. So I'll do them all in one go :)

1. Your favourite book?
Tough one. During the gap between fourth and fifth my favourite was Prisoner of Azkaban, although later on I liked Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. I think I have to say Deathly Hallows.
2. Your favourite film?
Once again Deathly Hallows. Both of them. Thanks to the book being split into two films they managed to make the final story the best one. The other films are just abysmal, although the first two are quite well-made as well.
3. Is there any of the film adaptations that have made you angry because they've ignored important parts of the book?
Goblet of Fire is without doubt the worst film. But the only film that has made me angry instead of just disappointed is Half-Blood Prince, which tend to be more of a high school romantic drama than a real Harry Potter film. I know that there's a lot of love and couples in the sixth book, but the main story is Dumbledore's lessons with Harry, teaching him about Voldemort and Horcruxes which we don't see that much of in the film. Also, Dumbledore's death left me completely unemotional in the film, whilst I had to read it three times over and over in the book (while crying) to actually realise that it was true and that left me feeling empty and sad for days.
4. Favourite male character and why.
Albus Dumbledore. Already in the first book he became my hero. My would-be go-to person. Not even what was revealed about his past in the final book could remove him from that pedestal. This is also why I hated Michael Gambon's portrayal of him. I loved Richard Harris, although a bit more lively would have been good. So the greatest Dumbledore would have been portrayed by a Richard Harris who wasn't sick with cancer.
5. Least favourite male character?
I think I have to say Cornelius Fudge, although this is a hard one. He seems sympathetic enough in the first two, three books and then he's transformed into this proud, ignorant, indifferent, negligant bastard. I just want to smack him.
6. Favourite female character and why.
Minerva McGonagall. She's a wonderful person. She's so strict and yet she's a person who loves Quidditch. She's patriotic towards her House and she loves her students. She wants to protect them and hates it when she has to punish them. I love Maggie Smith's portrayal of her. Especially in Deathly Hallows part 2. I also love that we are given her full background story at Pottermore :D
7. Least favourite female character and why.
Easy. Dolores Umbridge. She's sort of made to be hated.
8. What House would you want to be in?
I think I would be a Hatstall. I think it would be between Ravenclaw and Slytherin and I wouldn't mind either. I don't want to be in Gryffindor, that much I know. I don't think I'd want to be in Hufflepuff either. Pottermore sorted me into Slytherin, and after googling and reading all of Rowling's Welcome letters and descriptions of the Houses I feel like Slytherin suits me the best, although I thought myself a Ravenclaw for years.
9. What do you think would be your favourite lesson?
Probably Charms. Possibly Defense Against the Dark Arts.
10. Horcruxes or Hallows?
Hallows.
11. What character would you say you are most like?
As a child I resembled Hermione most. I'm still an incorrigible know-it-all. But I don't think I'm that Hermione-esque anymore. I think I'm kind of a mix of Bellatrix-Hermione-Minerva...
12. Favourite ship?
I've read the most fanfics shipping Harry/Hermione and Harry/Draco. Although I must say that my own favourite ship is Albus/Minerva ^^
13. Least favourite film?
Goblet of Fire.
14. Team Voldemort or Team Harry?
Do I have to pick a side? I think I'll have to say Team Harry. Simply because I'm liberal and Team Voldemort in my opinion stands for oppression and conservatism.
15. Who would be your best friends at Hogwarts?
In the Marauders' time it would've been Lily and Severus. In Harry's time I'm not so sure. Maybe Ginny and Luna?
16. Favourite professor?
You have to ask? McGonagall!
17. Favourite Harry Potter actor/actress and why.
Another tough one. Maggie Smith (McGonagall) or Evanna Lynch (Luna) for favourite actress. Alan Rickman is simply the best actor on the set.
18. Least favourite book?
Order of the Phoenix. Thinking back now that book distinctly shows the signs of her (Rowling's) writer's block.
19. Do you prefer the books or the films?
Books. Not even glancing at the films.
20. If you had to meet one member of the cast, who would it be?
Evanna Lynch. Unless I can count Rowling into the cast? In that case, definately Rowling!
21. Out of all the characters that died, if you could bring one back, who would it be?
Fred. I feel so sorry for George having to lose his twin.
22. Harry Potter or Twilight?
Isn't that something of a stupid question? I'll answer with this picture:

23. Any part of the books/films that makes you cry?
Books: the deaths of Dumbledore and Dobby. When Harry uses the Resurrection Stone.
Films: Death of Dobby.
24. Any particular scene you wished would have been put in the film but it wasn't?
I'm a huge fan of Quidditch in the books and in general the films have contained way too little Quidditch. A scene I would have loved to see on screen is for instance the Quidditch final in Prisoner of Azkban. Also there's way too little of Keeper Weasley and Grawp in the sixth film, but the sixth film is lacking in most areas.
25. Nineteen years later. Are you happy how it turned out, or do you wish something was different?
Actually I was sincerely hoping that Harry wouldn't survive and that both Harry and Voldemort would die. I'm not a fan of happy endings and I was extremely disappointed by the epilogue when I first read it. I've gotten somewhat accustomed to it now but I'm still not a big fan of the extremely obvious ending.
26. If you could be able to work one spell without a wand what would it be?
I'm considering Impervious, the water-repellant. Would make umbrellas completely useless and that annoying drizzle wouldn't be as annoying anymore. I'm also considering the Disillusionment Charm. Imagine to be able to go practically invisible at will! :)
27. Would you rather own The Invisibility Cloak, The Resurrection Stone or The Elder Wand?
The Invisibility Cloak. Easily.
28. Do you listen to Wizard Rock? What do you think of it?
I used to listen to Harry and the Potters. The lyrics were hilarious at first, but after hearing them over and over for some time I got kind of sick of them and stopped listening to Wizard Rock altogether. My favourite songs at the time were The Foil (Malfoy), Luna Lovegood is OK and The Dark Lord Lament.
29. Did you enjoy A Very Potter Musical?
Seeing it is on my to-do list :)
30. What affect has Harry Potter made on your life and how much does it mean to you?
I think I've covered this question before. So I'll just redirect you to my previous post:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

Plants vs. Zombies

I watched Love play this on his computer last year I think, or maybe even in 2009... Anyway, quite recently he bought it for his PS3 and he and Will played it for a while. I gotta say it's friggin' impossible not to watch it while someone is playing it. Love pestered me for a while and wanted me to play it. But I hate the controllers for video games. I can't use them without button-mashing. However yesterday I gave it a try and went Walnut Bowling :P Turned out that it was surprisingly fun and yesterday evening I started playing the adventure and  played through four levels xD I will continue today I think. All studying is postponed! We'll see...

Gameplay. First level of the adventure.

This guy sucks at playing.

Walnut Bowling gameplay. 

This guy sucks too. I think it's the same person...

While looking for gameplay videos on YouTube to put here I found a gameplay from a Nintendo DS version. If I can find that one... My average student performance will drop really bad! Still the way this person plays the game... Wow... Just wow... It's so bad:

Love Never Dies

I wanted to wait for the 25th Anniversary album to be released before I listened to the sequel, but I wanted more Phantom. I looked in vain for a recorded DVD-version of the musical, but when I found none I downloaded the concept album instead and read the synopsis on wikipedia. Since it's a sequel I had no hopes for it, sequels are usually not as good as the original. I don't know if it's equally good (I hate the Vaudeville stuff) but it's great in a different way than Phantom of the Opera. I love how the characters have evolved. I also love that it's "my" Phantom and Christine (Ramin and Sierra), exactly as it should be.

I've listened through the musical 2½ times and I have three favourite songs, and no, my three favourites do not include the most known 'Til I Hear You Sing (lyrics), which I find simply boring. There's nothing in it that appeals to me. My favourites here are Beneath A Moonless Sky (lyrics), The Beauty Underneath (lyrics) and Devil Take the Hindmost (lyrics). I'm one of those who can see The Beauty Underneath. Listen to the song! I can relate to it so much! Beneath A Moonless Sky is simply beautiful and shows their (Phantom and Christine) true feelings for eachother. Devil Take the Hindmost is the song where the Phantom challenges Raoul and I love it cause he (the Phantom) seems so proud and sly. I love it!

There are so many twists and turns in this story that I don't know what else to say without spoiling the whole thing. But I can tell you as much as that the opera in Paris was burned down by an angry mob, the Phantom was believed to be dead, but with the help of Madame Giry and Meg he was smuggled to America where he built Coney Island with their help. Raoul has turned into a drunk gambler and sourpuss with huge debts. Christine hasn't sung in years but she's had a very succesful European career and she's invited to launch her American career... where? At Phantasma in Coney Island. Invited by a Mr. Y. This story takes place 10 years after Phantom of the Opera and we have moved from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. All the candles have been exchanged for electricity and I'm not sure if I like this development.

Another thing that I like about this musical is that the story reveals more about the relationship between Christine and the Phantom. It reveals that Christine really loved (loves!) the Phantom and when he finds out about this his self-confidence gets a huge boost. The timidity is exchanged for pride and he challenges Raoul.

I'm torn as to whether I want to see this musical if it comes to Sweden or if I get a chance to see it in London. I mean, it won't be "my" Phantom and Christine. I wonder if that's because I totally adore Ramin's voice and his Phantom, or if it's because I'm sceptical as to whether anyone can portray the Phantom as well as he does. I learned that playing the Phantom has been a dream of his and that usually make for great portrayals.

Three Phantom-related posts in one week... Yep, I'm pretty much lost. I tried to play the soundtracks in French (1991), Swedish (1990) and English (25th) for Les Misérables yesterday. But there's something missing, suddenly.

Music of the Night

Seeing the Phantom of the Opera gave me a huge fangirl crush on Ramin Karimloo. Since Monday I've been looping this song over and over on YouTube:

His voice is amazing, this song gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it! Look at his eyes! The expression in them is absolutely wonderful. The way he whipsers "touch me, trust me" is amazing. His final tone in "night" is incredible. I also love the way he portrays the Phantom as bold but still awkward. If you take a look at his hands, he never really touches anything, he's just holding her in place. Still he seems to want to get close to her, but everytime she seems close to kissing him or touching his mask/face he turns away, suddenly shy. I love it! I can't stop watching it! It also helps that he manages to look cute/handsome even with the mask on!

Thing is I have to force myself to listen to other kinds of music, other artists, other groups, because my brain stops working when I hear this song.

The Phantom of the Opera

When I showed Les Misérables 25th Anniversary to Love he was, as I was before, enthralled by Ramin Karimloo who played Enjolras, one of the students. Partly because he's insanely hot and handsome, partly because he's a great singer and actor. I looked him up to see what else he'd done and found out that he was going to reprise his role as The Phantom for the 25th Anniversary in October. Love and I wanted to see it in London of course, but the tickets sold out in less than 30 minutes. We were somewhat sad about that until Tiffany mentioned that they were going to show it live from London in Malmö  on October 2nd. We immediately went to that cinema's webpage (Spegeln) to book tickets, but they were all sold out. Then I got the idea to check the similar cinema in Lund (Kino) and it turned out that they had tickets left! We immediately booked three tickets (me, Love, Kajsa) and yesterday it was time.

The show began at 7.30pm with an introduction of how the musical came to be with interviews with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh and several others who helped the musical come to life. At 8pm the musical started. I can tell you right away that I'm not a big fan of opera. The arias of the sopranos usually gives me a headache, that said I have nothing against male opera. As soon as the show started I started thinking: "Where is the Phantom?", "I want the Phantom!". He's the only character that I've found interesting when I've read short plot descriptions. But then I also have a thing for Beauty and the Beast-ish stories, my favourite always being the Beast.

The music wasn't as fun and upbeat as the music of Les Misérables, still it was extremely beautiful. My favourite is the kind of heavy score called The Phantom of the Opera. But I also enjoy Music of the Night. All the others sort of flow together. The song with all the notes is kind of fun to listen to :)

I love the climax and the final scene. I wasn't disgusted by his face when she removed her mask at the end. Not because I knew that it was make-up, but because I never look at people's faces first. I look at their eyes, their manner of moving, their manner of speaking, I look at their general behaviour. All I wanted to do was to comfort the poor soul. He's a wonderful character who's been forced to live a hard life because of an unfortunate facial distortion. I can't do anything but to feel sorry for him and want to help him.

I loved this musical and leaving the cinema I felt really happy. I had enjoyed this musical a lot. I've gone and went all cultural! Never thought that would happen :P

I realise that I've almost only talked about the Phantom here, but I love this character.

I'll end this post with the song that got me interested in the Phantom of the Opera to begin with:

Alice: Madness Returns

Okay, so I started playing this game yesterday. I must say that I love the screenplay, the screenwriting, the game is beautiful! However it's always leaving me frustrated, increasingly frustrated. My game sessions always end in me rage-quitting. Why? Because I'm a n00b at platform gaming and since Alice is among the upper level platform games, I'm in way over my head here. I'm a turn-based game geek and I'm totally out of my league here. I originally set my game play level to Normal, but had to admit crushing defeat and rage-quitting in tears and changed the level to Easy.

I manage some jaw-dropping amazingly beautiful dodge-attack moves, solely by button-mashing. I'm a button-mashing n00b. But I'm still clumsy with the controls, I misjudge the space between platforms and if this game counted deaths I'd be aiming for the World Records - this is why I never managed to play Super Mario, cause I died at every goddamned hole and turtle. This is why I'm glad that this game does not give you a specific amount of lives, just a health bar and an unlimitied amount of tries.

So this far I've been jumping on mushrooms, shooting pepper at flying pig snouts, shrinking to get through key holes and flying on steam. I've met the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter and The Duchess. Now I'm at the end of chapter one and the Hatter's Domain. All I have to do to move on is to defeat a humongous Menacing Ruin that keeps shooting fire at me. But if I managed to kill three tea-shooting Eyepots which were assisted by three Insidious Ruins, I guess I'll be alright as soon as I figure out this guy's weak spots (do not tell me). My favourite enemy? Probably the Madcaps at this point.

Another thing I like about this game is that you collect teeth as you collect coins in Super Mario, and lifepoints are in the shape of red roses. Despite my continuing rage-quitting I do like this game and I will finish it, although it will take forever, and all of my blood, sweat and tears :P But it's a good game, every major fight leaves me with my hands shaking from adrenaline :D

Les Misérables in Malmö #1

About the headline... We have already booked tickets to go see it again, because sometimes the actors change. Anywho...

Yesterday evening I, Love, Kajsa and Tiffany went to see Les Misérables in Malmö. I was really looking forward to it, although I was a bit sceptical and wondered whether I would agree to the Swedish translations. For some reason it seems impossible to sing pompously and majestically in modern Swedish and for some reason they always have to make the lyrics somewhat oldfashioned.

(All links to Swedish songs are from the 1990 musical in Stockholm)

Anyway we sat down and waited for the show to start. The intro was great and I didn't even react to the fact that they had changed Valjean's number from 24601 to 25601 (simply because 4 contains two syllables in Swedish and it doesn't work in the song) until Love told me so. Speaking of the intro, can someone explain the wolf to me? I liked Dan Ekborg as Valjean, although it bothered me for ages that I had seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember where. Of course Fred Johanson was absolutely spiffing as Javert, but who'd expect otherwise?

Continuing on to Fantine (Karolin Funke), I thought she looked old and it bothered me that she wore a wig. I mean how hard can it be to find a blond girl suitable to play Fantine in Sweden? Seriously? Her voice was spot-on (I Dreamed a Dream / Jag Drömde en Dröm), and her performance was nice. Another small detail that bothered me was the colour of her dress. I want Fantine to be dressed in white because Cosette sings of a woman all in white in Castle on a Cloud (I Himlens Slott) and I've interpreted that as she's singing about her mother, but she doesn't remember that it's her mother. Little Cosette and little Éponine were amazing though. I'm also not too sure about the general performance of Lovely Ladies (Sköna Damer) because they had made most of the extras who were whores were dressed as marionette dolls for some reason.

I liked the Swedish version of Master of the House (Herre i sitt Hus), but I was so disappointed in David Lundquist as Thénardier. He looked ragged and disgusting, somewhat like a zombie. I've seen pictures of the regular Thénardier, Peter Harryson, and it's still not how I picture Thénardier, but at least he doesn't look slimy. Madame Thénardier (Evamaria Björk) was very convincing and I liked her performance a lot.

Moving on to Paris. Gavroche sounded too cute in Stockholm Swedish. Maybe I'm spoiled with Robert Madge, but even the French 1991 version of Gavroche is cockier. We all agreed that Cosette (Mathilda Ahnell) sounded to opera-y to be fitting for Cosette. But the students were awesome! The guys portraying Enjolras (Anders Gjönnes) and Marius (Philip Jalmelid) are hot! :) I actually prefer the Swedish version of Red and Black (Rött och Svart) on the other hand the Swedish version of Do You Hear the People Sing (Folkets Sång) was bad. The translation was bad. The English version is true to the French original, while the Swedish has a meaning somewhat resembling the English/French ones. It's still a battle song, but not as awesome as the English/French ones.

I liked the stage, I can say as much. I also liked the Sweeney Tood-esque costumes and aura of the play. I liked how they had set up the scene of Master of the House, the whole bar was awesome. Still don't get the wolf though. Can someone also explain why the bushes in the park later on was formed as Christmas trees? Or why Cosette is in a cage?

During intermission we were nerdy enough to stay seated instead of stretching our legs, use the toilet and buy sweets. We sat there discussing the play thus far and comparing it to the original book, the French version, the original London cast version, 10th anniversary and 25th anniversary. None of us liked Éponine (Ida Högberg). Why does she resemble a Joker with a big fat green bow on top of her head? We liked her voice and her singing but not how they had styled her appearance.

The second act started and there was not much new to tell. I liked to watch the fighting at the barricade, it was well done. It was also my first time seeing the death of Gavroche. I cried some when Éponine died, which I didn't when I watched 25th anniversary, so I thought it was well done.

When it was all over we got out of the stage room, decided not to go to the stage door to get autographs and walked out through the doors while singing Do You Hear the People Sing. All in all it was a great night :)

Coming home I booked another viewing almost immediately. Today I've been listening through the soundtrack in French and Swedish. I've also found some songs in Danish and I also stumbled across some songs in Japanese! Gavroche sounded too cocky there! xD

Edguy

Yesterday I went to Malmö with Love to go to my second Edguy concert. It was the same venue as when they performed there in 2009. I was a little worried, cause their new album felt too much power metal, I love the heavy metal part about them, but I'm always second-guessing the power metal part. This time Malmö was also the first city they went to on their Age of the Joker Tour 2011, which meant that we set the standard for all the other cities xD Kind of cool.

Unfortunately just like last time they had two support acts, but this time there was no pleasant surprise like H.E.A.T, this time it was simply boring. The first band, Fullforce, was your generic power metal band (thing with Edguy, and especially Tobi, is that all other power metal sounds mediocre). The only fun thing about that band was to watch the drummer who seemed to be having the time of his life and enjoying drumming way too much :D The second band was called Kottak and I soon learned that their frontman was the drummer of the Scorpions; James Kottak. But you know why the drummer is always in the back, both on stage and on press footage? It's because drummers are not supposed to be frontmen or singers. It was bad. Really bad. They sounded like a punk band trying to be metal. Their lyrics were on the same intellectual level as Ramones, but without the humour. If they had toned down the disted guitars a bit they would have sounded more like a punk band and it would've sounded so much better than what it did now. Kottak's performance actually made me want to leave for some fresh air and not having to listen to the noise. Kottak was too American, too obnoxious and made too much of a big deal out of being from L.A. He's almost 50 years old! Stop acting like you're 15!

It took forever for the roadies to fix the stage for Edguy and my mood dropped to the bottom. But it soon switched back up again when they finally got on stage. Tobi's energy was contagious. The show started with the intro of Mysteria ("Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the freakshow") and thus it took me a while to realise that they weren't playing Mysteria when they got on, but Nobody's Hero off of the new album. Tobi got the entire audience going. I don't recognise the songs off of Age of the Joker yet (the new album), and Tobi was aware that many hadn't learned their new songs yet but still got us going. Still they played many songs off of the new album. The older songs, however, got the most cheering from the crowd as usual; Tears of a Mandrake, Lavatory Love Machine, Superheroes, Ministry of Saints, Vain Glory Opera and the encores Land of the Miracle and King of Fools. King of Fools is my absolute favourite song by them and just like it was last time, I knew it would be in the encore, because it is one of their most popular songs. Land of the Miracle, Tears of a Mandrake and Vain Glory Opera are all really old songs, both Land of the Miracle and Vain Glory Opera being from the 90s and Tears of a Mandrake from 2001. It was my first time hearing Land of the Miracle live and Tobi mentioned that it had been a long time since they last played that song, but it worked amazingly well live!

On a sidenote I can mention that the girl in front of me caught a plectrum, as did the guy to my left and the girl to my right caught a drumstick... Why can I never catch anything? :(

"We live to fight the hand of doom. We got the pride to strike a fool. Vain Glory be my wicked guide." 

- "Vain Glory Opera", Edguy 1998

Keep on railing at what I believe

Call me insane and I'm proud to be

And I walk the wicked way

We don't wanna be like you

Don't you get that King of Fools?

We don't mind your life is trite

You are the King of Fools

We are never gonna be like you

We don't follow King of Fools

You're the blind to lead the blind

Everything is as it should be after a concert; my neck and throat are sore from all the screaming and headbanging. Going to bed yesterday my ears rang. Going out of the venue the chilly night air was the most lovely thing in the world, being sweaty from all the jumping, headbanging, screaming and waving hands. Getting back to Lund that McFeast was the most delicious thing I had eaten that day (I was so hungry and so thirsty). Went to sleep around 3am, got up again around 11am. Tonight it's time for Les Misérables in Malmö! This weekend is already amazing!  

Swedish Idol 2011

This show started in 2004, but the only part I've ever been interested in are the auditions cause it's fun to watch people making fools of themselves. But last year there was a guy who got me interested in the show; Jay Smith. He also ended up winning the whole thing, and I have a fangirl crush... on his voice. I can listen to his versions of Like a Prayer and Heart-Shaped Box over and over. He was my favourite from the auditions. He auditioned with Black Jesus:

Anyway Jay's success in last year's Idol got me hooked on this year, and I wasn't disappointed. First day of auditions in Stockholm this wonderful girl shows up. Her name is Moa, she's 16 and she's incredibly cute!

Audition:

Solo in final auditions:

Last day of auditions in Stockholm this girl is "kidnapped" to the auditions after a tip made by her sister. She's also 16 I think. Her name is Linnea, but called Lini, her voice makes my heart tremble.

Audition:

Solo final auditions:

In Falun a boy shows up called Mikael. He's 17 and he looks so sweet. His voice makes him sound like a woman, which is incredible. He's the sweetest character... 

Audition:

Solo final auditions:

Then there are of course others that are amazing as well, but these three are the ones I follow with utmost attention, I want one of them to win! The jury is guessing that it may be a girl winning this season, cause there are so many young girls that are amazing this year. Two of them that still makes me dumbfounded that that little girl can be so amazing are Frida and Amanda, both 15. 

Scandinavia and the World

Scandinavia and the World is an amazingly funny web comic about country stereotypes. This far we've seen most of Europe, some Middle Eastern countries, some Asian countries as well as America, Canada and Australia :) There are a little over 200 strips there and most of them are really quick reading. What takes time is you trying to stop laughing. These two are my favourites:

Italy invented the Latin alphabet, but the Nordic countries have to mess with it, obviously.

Finland's computer is acting up.

Another thing I love is that here England is portrayed as the father of USA, Australia and Canada. There are a lot of pictures, not as many comics, that show this relationship and this is one of my favourites:

Enjoy your reading :) Don't forget to read the descriptions of every comic as well! You might learn something :)

Nostalgia

Lately there's been a lot of nosalgia around here. We've been looking through old cartoon intros in Swedish on YouTube. I even made a playlist that will continue to grow little by little. Yesterday we only looked through Disney intros like Gummi Bears, TaleSpin, Duck Tales and Rescue Rangers. Not to forget Pokémon, Digimon (although not in Swedish) and Sailor Moon! I also had to look through my favourite song of my favourite cartoon film when I was a child; the Swan Princess:

Yesterday ended with me finding and downloading four out of six complete seasons of Gummi Bears in Swedish!

Today however I was more inclined to old Cartoon Network shows, so while I looked at the PowerPuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory intros, I accidentally came across an old cartoon that I remember that I absolutely loved and that scared the hell out of me at the same time; Courage the Cowardly Dog. I first came across the intro in English and by some easy clicking I soon enough found it in Swedish as well, and right now I'm downloading all the 52 episodes :) There will be a Courage marathon here as soon as I have the time! Seems like I was morbid already when I was 10 years old!

However speaking of old cartoons. I remember one cartoon I used to watch, before I was old enough to go to school, so about 5 years old. I don't remember much except that there was some kind of purple space alien who lived in a cave down on earth and was friends with two children, one boy and one girl... Other than that I don't remember anything, except than I liked it. Anyone?

There's also this show that I distinctly remember. The Ketchup Vampires. Can't seem to find it in Swedish though, only found the intro in German (of all languages?) on YouTube:

Movie nights

The last three weeks Love and I have been having "movie nights" every Sunday. We get to choose a film every other week. I started to choose and I chose Titanic. Simply because Love had complained so much about it being so bad. Point is last time he saw it he was 10 years old. Titanic isn't really made for 10-year-old boys to like. I like the film because it looks so big-time. Especially the scene where the ship is sinking and the water is rushing everywhere. That is the best part of the film according to me :) I also love to watch the dresses Kate Winslet wears. After the film was over Love had to admit that it wasn't as bad as he remembered.

Week after that it was Love's turn to choose and he chose to watch Shawshank Redemption, simply because I hadn't seen it and because it's the top of IMDB's top 100. When we started watching it I remembered having seen bits and pieces from it before. However I liked it a lot. I've realised that I usually like films that star Morgan Freeman. Shawshank Redemption is a real feel-good movie and I recommend it!

Last week was my turn and I started to educate Love in film history, as Kajsa has been doing with me. We watched Arsenic and Old Lace, an old Cary Grant film. It's a Halloween comedy so it's kind of morbidly funny, but most of the time just funny. It uses shadows to make things scary, something that has kind of disappared now that we have all those CGs and special effects. I like the entire old-fashioned feeling about it :) CHARGE!!!

Tonight we are going to watch Silence of the Lambs. Love wants to see it since he hasn't seen any of the Hannibal Lecter films! O.o Tonight's gonna be awesome! The weather is just right too...