Where Are the Updates?

Some of you may be wondering what's going on with Liz and Valerie due to the lack of posts of late. Is there just nothing interesting to post about? Did they finally run off to a secluded island to start their own country? (After watching the Florida gubernatorial debate last night, this was greatly considered.) Or did Liz finally get arrested after trying to kidnap Donnie Yen? All of these are plausible, yet sadly not the case. Is it too lame to say they've been busy? Well, Liz now has three jobs and, for awhile there, Val was working two positions at her one job.

Never fear. Things are starting to slow down and soon Liz and Val will be back at it. The Fort Lauderdale Supercon is this weekend and there will probably be much to post about it on Monday. So sit tight kids, and maybe, ya know, go outside or something. (Or write a novel...Val and Liz are.)

NaNoWriMo Ho!

Last year, Valerie totally failed to complete a novel in a month. This year, however, will be different; she will write the next great American novel if it kills her. Okay, maybe it's not that serious, but she will definitely be putting the proverbial nose to the grindstone and working her tail off to hit 50,000 words.

For those not in the know, November is National Novel Writing Month. You have one month--yes, just one--in which to write a 50,000+ word novel. Click on the icon at the bottom of the page if you'd like to join the thousands of crazy--er, creative people toiling to cross the finish line!

Cake du Jour

Valerie loves the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. She owns all but one of them, in fact, and there are many. So this little gem amazed and astounded her, and also makes her wish that she had a lot of money and an impending birthday to celebrate. Or a friend who could bake REALLY well.

Then again, who would want to eat such a masterpiece?

Probably Liz.

Hollywood Remake du Jour

As a general rule, Liz and Valerie are firmly opposed to what can affectionately be termed "film recycling" or perhaps "lack of creativity" or even "movie mangling."

However, they are eagerly awaiting their chance to see Martin Scorsese's film The Departed, based on the amazing Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs.

Liz and Valerie's opinions will be forthcoming, but so far, the critical feedback is good. With such a great foundation to work with, it would be really tough to screw it up, but anything is possible. Optimism abounds.

Lynch Mob

The ineffable David Lynch has a new movie coming out. Liz loves Twin Peaks, but Valerie has never had a soft spot for Lynch's work. Her thoughts?

"It's like A Christmas Story, where the kid waits and waits to get the decoder ring, and he gets the ring, and the message is just a stupid ad for Ovaltine. Except in a David Lynch movie, THERE IS NO MESSAGE."

Alert: Coffee Addicts

Start checking your couch cushions for loose change: as of today, prices on Starbucks coffee beverages are going up by a whole five cents. Multiply that by the gazillion cups of coffee they sell and suddenly you've got Scrooge McDuck swimming around in an Olympic-sized pool of nickels and pennies. Isn't capitalism great?

Movie-in-Progress du Jour

Hayao Miyazaki, who Liz and Valerie love for his many awesome movies, has started work on his next feature film. No title yet, but the odds of it not being awesome are extremely low.

Liz wishes she could go home right now and watch Kiki's Delivery Service. Valerie's in the mood for Spirited Away. Both of them are stuck at work. Sometimes, life is just not fair.

Babies Everywhere!

It's no secret that Liz likes to keep up to date on all happenings of the Hong Kong entertainment scene: what movies are in the works, what singer performed at a charity event, what hot guy is dating what hot girl. All of these are important things that she generally has to excitedly tell Valerie about (though Val doesn't get quite as excited).

Today, Liz decided to share some exciting news with the rest of the candle readers. Nicholas Tse (that's right, awesome hair boy) finally admitted that he married Cecilia Cheung (one of the cutest pop singer/actresses). At first, Liz's dreams of becoming Mrs. Tse were crushed, but she soon realized that this event would prove better because Nic and Cecilia could make possibly the cutest babies ever. (Yes, cuter than the Brad and Angelina spawn.) You can see them together in Chen Kaige's The Promise and imagine little Tse-Cheungs making the world a more beautiful place.

After Tony Leung and Carina Lau, Nic and Cecilia are probably the coolest Hong Kong couple around. Now Liz will just have to dream about marrying Shawn Yue or Jaycee Chan.

Word du Jour

Valerie uses this word all the time. It's a little silly, actually. But it's a great word.

recalcitrant: stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.