My blog moving experience

April 25, 2006 at 12:09 am (All)

I'm testing out the Qumana blog editorhere and attemtpting to cross post to my BookLover blogas well as my WordPress hosted blogsince my InMyBooksWP hosted on Yahoo server is down. AND it appearsI'm not the only one. My IT colleague at work actually advised me to select another host, just not Yahoo — he hasn't heard great things about their web hosting services.  I should heed that warning.

Yep, it's been a tumultous journey to say the least. Since last Tuesday, I've been trying to set up a WordPress blog on Yahoo, since I already have a Yahoo ID, and I've read that the partnership with WP allows WP user to easily add several tools such as a built in Flickralbum, and several other goodies that come with activating a WP blog on Y! Selected a few themes (see below) and finally settled on the Narnia theme. Then, disaster struck when I tried to import my posts from Blogger but couldn't.  I trawled the support forums and tried various methods and suggestions, reading and re-reading the installation instructions over and over and over. I was up at it for two night straight trying all kinds of tricks to get this done.

I was ready to tear my hair out, when I suddenly decided to test out the import tool by setting up one hosted on WordPress.com, and so I did. The posts imported beautifully, I'll just have to set up the links and bookmarks. Then it hit on me that I can import the RSS feeds from this or even the blogger posts into my Yahoo-hosted one. I did that on Sunday late morning but the comments and the posts were a mess — everthing were thrown into a mix altogether. And the comments were imported as individual posts, divorced from the posts they were supposed to be 'married' to.

So, last night I trawled the forums again to find a solution, but having not much sleep the previous night, I had to call it the day after tweaking the design template and achieved the results I was after.

So, I came back home early, meaning before 7.15pm so I could settled the kids in earlier and start working on the problems, only to have the server giving me problems. If this thing works, I'm going to retain my Blogger blog, sinc eit's so easy to work with, limited in functions as it is.  But at this stage, I have more faith in Google technology than Yahoo.

It seems I may have to start looking for another host for my domain. But that's another post I guess.

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Aaarg .. I must be mad to even attempt this!!!

April 22, 2006 at 1:28 am (All)

Got my own domain, setup this WP-blog, hosted on Yahoo, but the blogger posts and comments refused to be imported.

I’ve simply lost count of the number of attempts! I’m going to give this blogger’s tips a try tomorrow. And if that don’t work ….

I’m in for the night.

Thanks, Maili and Kristie, for dropping by!

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Seeing things??

April 18, 2006 at 11:24 pm (All)

Nope! That’s just me trying to migrate me blog to my new WP one, but first I’ve got to restore the template.

So if things appear a little screwy the next few days, hang on …
Be back with the new adey when I’m done.

TTFN

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Hilarious Heiress for Hire

April 16, 2006 at 5:15 pm (All, Authors A to M, Books, Chick Lit, Romance)


I was experiencing what those gorgeous Georgians would call ennui, only in this instance it's a reading slump I've fallen into trying to get past the half-way mark of Judith Ivory's The Proposition, when I decided to give the latter a rest and try reading Heiress for a change on Friday.It turned out to be a good choice after all. Reading the synopsis, you would have dismissed this as nothing more than another contemporary fluff, something of a spoof of the reality TV show, The Simple Life.

But this is a truly surprising find for me. It was a hilarious, laugh-a-minute great read, perfect for that entertaining break between period and serious literature that I badly needed to recharge myself on my reading journey. [Not to mention the TBR challenge].

Her play of words and cliches as well as references to current icons of pop culture were right on the dot. She had me laughing from beginning to end. Try this for the opening sentence:

There were some things money couldn't buy. For everything else, there was her
father.

and this punch line for the ending sentence of the book:

Sharing her life with the people she loved? Priceless.

I haven't read many authors who has taken on MasterCard's famous tagline and made it very humourously her own. This romantic comedy is funny and engaging with its timeless theme of opposites attract and finding love in the most unexpected places and time.

McCarthy has also created main characters who may appear stereotypes of their upbringing, but she has also given them layers and insecurities that the current generation of readers can relate to. Their hang-ups about their attractiveness to the opposite sex, competency as a parent (on the hero Danny's part) and being worthy of love make them less than perfect, but realistic, reallylikeablee people.This was what worked for me in this book. I couldn't put it down! Started it in the evening and finished it before midnight, taking only time out for meals, bedtime tuck-in for the kids and toilet breaks. A feat in itself that was only made possible because it was a public holiday.

Reading the author's journal where she tells of the inspiration behind her novella, Lady of the Lake, which is part of the anthology, When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys, I'm already very intrigued by the plot and likely to pick it up just to see where the bikini mishap takes Violet and Dylan.So, if you're sorely in need of some laughter, with a tiny bit of tacky humour thrown in, I'd recommend this for the sheer entertainment it'll bring.

But now, I've to return to some serious pondering of The Proposition and the classic romance and high adventure to be had in The Princess Bride.

Later …

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Dangerous To Love Thornton

April 13, 2006 at 10:25 pm (All, Authors N to Z, Books, Romance)

Dangerous

Picked up this book from a rental 'cos I couldn't remember if I'd read it. But when I settled down one week night last week to read, memories started flooding in by the end of page 2, and I recalled this is one of the books by Thorntonthat I enjoyed.

She writes such intense romances, and in this instance the relationship between hero and heroine is tempestuous, wildly passionate and at times reckless.

Dangerous. Wild. Reckless.

Those were the words that crossed Serena Ward's mind when she met Julian Raynor. But she never thought they would also describe her relationship, and marriage, to him.

Our star-crossed lovers met when Serena was disguised as an aspiring actress while stowing Jacobites to safety, and needed to steer clear of the militia when they surprised a check on the tavern she was gambling at. She thought to make use of Julian, only they both ended up in bed but parted on acrimonious terms. Julian, who is really a Renney, has vowed to avenge his parents' death on her father, so when he learnt of her true identity, he manipulated her, with the help of her footman and some friends, into a hasty wedding.

His excuse was to get at her father through her, at first, but he's also wildly attracted to her, having tasted her passion on that unfortunate night. They couldn't foresee the dangers and treachery headed their way which could either destroy the love/hate relationship utterly, or really strengthen their feelings for each other.

What I like about this story is the tumultuous turns of events that draw out the romantic tension, making me eager to chase the plot and character development. Elizabeth Thornton is a master at that, and reading this again brought back a lot of fond memories about this book and her other great works. Tara challenged us to pick up an old favourite and read it again to see if we still like it.

Well, this is one of the more memorable ones of Thornton's I've read in the past, and I'm glad to report that I still like it. Although compared to some of [her] other books I've read, this isn't my most favourite. Still, I quite enjoyed the story and the characters. I think Thornton is one of the few romantic authors who improve with time

Now for the second part of Tara's challenge … to 'read something you didn't exactly love in the past and see if it improved with age'. Hmmm … that would be the one I kept putting off, and my pick for April's challenge. Will be reading that next after I'm done wit Judith Ivory's The Proposition.

Have fallen into a slump with the latter as I've been busy finishing up the church website and one other web project at work. But now that we're having a long weekend since tomorrow's Good Friday, I hope to finish that off.

Oh, and I've decided to keep Dangerous to Love. Let's see how I feel about it 5 years down the road. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the launch of her next book, The Bachelor Trap, to be released the week after.

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Bolly-GOOD Romance: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

April 9, 2006 at 10:38 pm (All, Books, Movies & Videos, Romance)

I was very excited when the package from Amazon arrived yesterday with Flirting with Pride and Prejudice : Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece edited by Jennifer Crusie and So You Think You Know Jane Austen? : A Literary Quizbookby John Sutherland and Deirdre Le Faye.

But the most exciting package to arrive was the one with the DVD Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (or Straight from the Heart). I first saw this movie on local TV 4 or 5 years ago, and since then I've been trying to locate a DVD of it, so when I was placing my orders for the above two books, I simply had to have this. Besides starring one of my favourite Bollywood actresses, Aishwarya Rai, the film's character, Vanraj, played by Ajay Devgan made me swoon with his noble and selfless love for the heroine, Nandini (Rai). The cinematography is simply stunning.

There's a brief synopsis over at IMDB for those who wish to know the storyline. [Edited: there's also a Wiki page and great reviews here and here].

I cried over a number of heart-achingly tender scenes. Heart aching because Nandini married the wonderful, strong and reserved Vanraj, who truly has a heart of gold, and loves her so very much that he was willing to go all out to unite her with her first love. But she refused to let the past go, and chose to cling on to a love that could never have borne fruit, because the flippant Sameer (played by Salma Khan) could never give her up for her own happiness as Vanraj did.

Sameer struck me as a spoilt mummy's boy whereas Vanraj is the more matured, stable and considerate family man who will cherish Nandini. Although she didn't really appreciate his sacrifice, nor understood the pain and suffering he's silently and stoically bearing, as well the love and passion that's simply smoldering in his eyes whenever he gazes at her (God, she is so blind to the love that's just staring at her!… at first), he trudged on without complaint, and just simply commandeered the entire operation of tracking down Sameer (supposedly in Italy although the setting is Hungary) for her.

Vanraj's father couldn't fathom why his son would send his wife, whom he's deeply in love with, to her lover and wondered how he could take the pain of relinquishing her to another man. Vanraj explains,

Love isn't selfish. It lies, not in your [own] happiness, but in the happiness of the one you love. [Although] the moment will be painful for me, but her one smile will erase all my pain."

My tears just rolled at that point. How could you not love a man like him? The viewer can't help but hang on rooting for Vanraj. The die-hard romantic in me simply just kept on praying and hoping that Nandini would choose to return to him. They struck a truce just before they visited the village where Sameer lives, and agreed to start their relationship again as friends. When she was accidentally shot on the way back chasing down Sameer, he was so remorseful (he's the one who attacked the robber on a moment of bravado and rebellion, and caused his gun-totting accomplice to misfire) and worried for her safety, he went to a chapel to pray for her.

There, he met Sameer (but didn't get to learn his name) who questioned why God should wish for man to suffer hurt. Vanraj replied

He gave us sorrow so that we can learn how to love.

How true! Vanraj also told Sameer that

God is not between us, He is within us.

But I digressed …

Anyway, by the time she has recovered, Nandini has already grown to admire Vanraj's upright character, and I suspect she started to have some feelings for him as well. They were travelling on a tram to a bar (where Sameer is supposed to be performing) without tickets cos they were down on funds, they faced being ousted by the ticket inspector if they couldn't produce any. Nandini quickly suggested that they pretend to be locked in embrace so that the conductor couldn't get any response from them and had to go away. Only they became quite engrossed in the moment. So it wasn't much of a surprise when they ended up dancing at the bar after another futile search.The climatic scene came when Sameer's mother contacted Vanraj and gave them his whereabouts, appealing to him to help reunite Nandini with Sameer. I felt a great sense of satisfaction when Nandini turned Sameer down,

You have taught me how to love, but it is my husband who has taught me to abide by it.

and chased down Vanraj for this final scene, my absolute favourite, on a beautifully lit bridge:

Nandini: Must you go away?

Vanraj (shook his head): May I say something?

Nandini: Yes?

Vanraj: I can't live without you.

She held out both of her clenched fists; he chose the right one with the mangelsutra (spelling?) — the sacred symbol of marriage — fastened it around her neck and they embraced. This final gesture has significant implications as she has not worn it since their wedding, so her willingness to present it to Vanraj and for him to tie it signifies a renewal of their marriage vows, and of her acceptance of his love and her duty towards him. I like to think that his willingness to put her happiness above his own has moved her more deeply than she admitted and perhaps, made her fall in love with him in the end.

I watched some of my favourite chapters again this afternoon, relishing some of the poignant moments, especially the ending, and shedding more happy tears. This has got to be one of the best Bollywood romance I've seen so far, apart from Bride & Prejudice (which is also good, campy fun and stars Aishwarya).Ooh … and I couldn't resist putting this little bit. One of the reasons I like this movie so much is the lead actor Ajay. He is so full of suppressed passion and angst, while at the same time exudes such strong, silent dependability you can't help but melt in the intense emotions swirling in his eyes. Since I've known of him before Clive Owens' King Arthur caught my eyes, I have to say that Clive Owens bears a passing resemblance to him, and could've passed off as a fairer version of this prolific actor, who's also an Arien.

If there's one Bollywood romance you have to watch, this is it. I could go on raving about it, but here's a little confession. I'm always embarrassed about movies that make me cry, but I was openly crying while watching this and not a bit self-conscious about it at all. It affected me deeply at some level and the message is so beautiful that I'm not ashamed of being maudlin about it.

[Update: found some articles on Ajay here, here and here (picture of him not that great)].

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Birthdate Meme

April 9, 2006 at 8:54 pm (All, Fun)

Came across this over at McVane's and decided to give it a shot. Out of the entries for 31 March, here are my selections:

Three events that happened on my special day:
#1993 – Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow.
I remember catching the movie because of this, sort of as a farewell gesture … the part where he came out of the grave spooked me. He is the son of Bruce Lee, after all, and I simply had to watch the movie.

#1998 - Netscape releases the code base of its browser under an open source license agreement; the open source project is given the code name Mozilla, and would eventually be spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
I luuurve their Firefox web browser with the tabs and live bookmarks.

#2004 – Google announces Gmail, the first web-based mail service to offer 1 gigabyte of storage.
What can I say? Another great creation!

Two important birthdays:
#1732 – Franz Josef Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
He's the Father of Symphony

#1811 – Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist and inventor (d. 1899)
Ahh … chemistry lessons wouldn't be the same without the burner named after him

One interesting death:
#1945 – Anne Frank, German-born diarist (b. 1929)
Reading her diary was a revelation to me. My teenage literature lessons were all the more engaging because I could relate to what she aspired to and dreamt of. She would have so much to contribute to the world had she lived.

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The Deal with Liz Carlyle

April 7, 2006 at 10:48 pm (All, Authors A to M, Books, Romance)

This book is one hell of a great read, I'll tell you. And it's all thanks to Liz Carlyle's imaginative story-telling and brilliant character development.I was hugely entertained by the sparring between the heroine Aubrey, the finicky and very particular housekeeper at Castle Cardow, and the hero, Giles, the Earl she works for, although he chooses to stay as far away from his ancestral pile of stone as possible, preferring to exchange correspondences with her on household matters from safe London.

As fate would have it, they were bound to meet and clash before finally falling for each other, but Aubrey has a secret that when revealed, could either drive them apart or …

I was quite intrigued reading the prologue … my curious self couldn't resist trying to guess her secret past. Sure enough, by the end of that prologue in which the heroine arrived at the Castle to meet with an irascible war hero, who's overseeing the castle on the Earl's behalf, I already suspected that she's not a widow, and that she's definitely nobility.

Carlyle had me reeled in by the time I was done with chapter three, after a mysterious death forced the confrontation between H/H. Sparks flew and tempers ignite as the battle line is drawn, and each try to resist succumbing to the strong attraction.

And although I had already guessed the circumstances of the death halfway through the book, and foresaw a few plot developments which would arrive at Giles proposing to Aubrey, I kept on reading for the chase, the sizzling tension and the final, very satisfactory conclusion. The making out scenes were hot and sensual, just as I remembered her from The Devil You Know. They are both stubborn people who enjoy being in control of their life and work, so it was rather amusing to see both of them behaving a little out of character fighting the pull of passion.

No wonder Kristie, Sybil and Tara have only praises for LC. This book has only spurred me on to unearth some of her earlier works. I think there was another one Sybil and Tara recommended — A Woman of Virture, which sounds interesting.

Oh well, I'll track them down after the two new ones I bought recently, not to mention the pile building up, then. Thanks, ladies!

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Anime Mania: Twelve Kingdoms

April 4, 2006 at 10:54 pm (Anime, Movies & Videos)

By now, some readers would have noticed that I do, on occasion, go ga-ga over selected Anime (Japanese animation) series. Twelve Kingdoms is just such a great experience for me.This series is an adaptation of the novels by Fuyumi Ono, and what is refreshingly different about this series is that, there isn't (gasp!) a romance subplot at all. Which is an unusual departure for Anime. But the show is packed with political intrigue, bloody battles with monsters and some real interesting lessons on governing a kingdom.

Briefly, the story tells of how an ordinary 17-year old (high?) school girl was approached by a silver-haired noble-looking man, who swore allegiance to her as his Queen, and subsequently drawn her into a parallel dimension/world that is at least a couple of hundred years behind modern Japan. While there, she was pursued by a political rival who sought to end her reign by sending tonnes of monsters to assassinate her. She has to uncover her enemy, overthrow an imposter queen, quell a civil uprising and in the process, learn what makes a king great.

For an in-depth look at the plot look up the episode guide, or go to this wiki page for the history of this show and a list of related links. I shan't bore non-Anime lovers here with a blow-by-blow account of each subplot/chapter.

What I like about this series, besides it being a time travel fantasy tale … just my type of story … is the growth witnessed in the main character, Youko, as she faced danger after danger, and transformed from an apathetic, timid and complacent conformer to a courageous, wise and sincere ruler who believes in being true to herself and open in her governance instead of masking her thoughts and feelings, just as she would suppress her magical sword from revealing visions of her inner world with a bespelled sheath. She's not afraid to admit that she is ignorant and willing to learn the culture and understand her people. I think her pro-democratic, liberal views and sensitive handling of people may shock the people of those times (rules and systems are from a bygone era) but will stand her in good stead.

Besides the storyline and the inspiring lead character, the show is filled with other fascinating characters, such as the sacred Kirin, mythical creatures in the show empowered with heaven bestowed ability to choose the ruler for its home kingdom. Then, there's a dishy-looking En ruler, Shoryu, who has supposedly been in power for 500 years, to add to the attraction of the show. Actually, I was secretly looking out for a relationship to blossom between him and Youko, but he became mentor to Youko in the early parts of the story and remained her good friend and ally even after she succeeded to the throne of the Kei Kingdom. Yeap, no romance there at all to distract the viewer from the main plot.

Another interesting point about the show is the setting's similarity to the Warring States of ancient China. That was the period when excellent masterpieces like Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdom were written. The history buff in me got sucked right into the show, which will end its run (with Japanese dialogue, been watching the videos with Chinese dialogue) on the local arts channel right about next week. But no worries, I've got the video for when the withdrawal sets in. A pity that the series is left at ep. 45, as there are quite a number more before the whole series of novels is covered. Oh well, it's time again to settle down for another patient wait until the studio cranks up production again.

Until then, if you can read Chinese, this wiki page gives a very thorough analysis and history of the show, while this site has great graphics. Otherwise, check out the reviews over at Cassie's.

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Desperate Measures?

April 3, 2006 at 10:55 pm (All, Webwatch)

Came across this story on USAToday two weeks ago and was tickled by the desperate measures marketers (uh, oh … that could well be me) go through to reach female web surfers.One partcular case study caught my attention as it features … … tada … creating your own mini romance! And guess who is the proponent? Oral B! Curiosity piqued, I followed the link to BrushwithRomance to have some hilarious fun.

The concept was ingenious, but I have to question their taste using A Martinez, Tia Carrere and Fabio as the three choices of lead characters out of which site visitors (hopefully mostly women) could select one to create their own mini romance … yep, right down to cheesy lines (they're absolutely cringe worthy, I swear!) and humourous twists. Tia as heroine material was fine, but Fabio???

Man, the people at Oral B ought to trawl reader sites and author blogs before they fix it in their head that he's what female web surfers, a large proportion of whom, I'd bet, are romance readers, would envision as a romance hero. So what if he's been on numerous book covers, which by the way I loathe?

Of course, I went with Tia. She's a far better choice than the other two. Now, if they had cast someone else like Clive Owens, Colin Firth, Matthew MacFadyen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen or Sean Bean … hmmm, yummy.

But then, I wouldn't want to insult these dishy males with the cheesy lines they'll be made to live down with for eternity.

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