Reviewing the reviewers
Jan. 17th, 2006 01:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gogmagogDamn BPAL, they really know how to get me to buy smelly stuff. They've just introduced a frickin' Chaucer scent (Parlement of Foules). That's cheating! >F
Anyway, because I'm sure y'all were waiting with bated breath for me to pick up with the BPAL reviews again, here ya are!
THE HESPERIDES
The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera's sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.
In the bottle: Kinda like rubbing alcohol.
Wet: Like slightly tart green and yellow apples with a bit of a floral undertone, perhaps?
Dry: Dry it's no longer tart and crisp, like a fresh apple, but sweeter with a spicy tinge, like the apples in apple pie.
Verdict: It's nice, but not really a keeper for me. I actually got a mostly empty imp as a frimp from a swap, and then as it happens I got a full frimp of this from the Lab with my last order. So if any of you other BPAL fiends wants to try it, lemme know!
GLUTTONY
Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel.
In the bottle: Sickly caramel.
Wet: Less sickly caramel, with a nutty undertone. It smells kind of like Bailey's tastes, actually...maybe that's the combination of the hops with the other stuff?
Dry: The sickliness has come back, and in addition the nuttiness has transformed into a more coconutty undertone, which reminds me even more of Bailey's.
Verdict: Ehhh, not so much for me - while I don't dislike Bailey's, I don't really want to smell like it. XD
CERBERUS
Proceeds go to the Animal Assistance League of Orange County. Cerberus, the Three-Headed watchdog that guards the gate to Hades. Loyal, dutiful and ferocious to its master’s enemies, but possessed of a distracting fondness for honey cakes and the song of the lyre. A deep, rumbling scent, warm, soft and as cozy as a dog by a hearthfire, but with a fierce and feral soul: deep chocolate, deeper musks, with a dash of fig, bittersweet walnut, and the wild essences of juniper berry, cubeb and rum.
In the bottle: Kinda like Robitussin.
Wet: Mmm, much nicer. Unlike the other chocolate scents I've tried, this one isn't so overpoweringly chocolatey. I think the reason I was getting Robitussin was the fruity sweetness of the fig with the juniper berry. I wasn't sure exactly what cubeb was - though a quick Google turned up this - but it smells good, and that's all that matters, right?
Dry: It's blended much more thoroughly. It's sweet and slightly spicy, and kinda woody (I know I'm doing a horrible job describing it).
Verdict: Yes, please. Too bad it's an LE - still, I'll enjoy using up the imp.
Anyway, classes start up again tomorrow (well, today now, I guess, since it's after midnight). Fortunately I have a very good schedule this semester - no classes before 1 p.m. and Fridays off, though I do have evening classes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. However, I'd probably still better get to bed so that I can get my full ten hours before having to go in to class. So I will leave you with links!
Let's Positive Linking!
- Apparently the Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) was based on Orson Welles. Which homage I'd never realized before but now wonder how in the hell I missed it. XD
- A funny-ass song that anyone who's ever dated a gamer will find extra-hilarious. It starts off slow, but by the end I was laughing my ass off. (From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jokersama.)
- Even though the Donner Party is famous for cannibalism, apparently the Donner family itself didn't practice it. Which is good to know, I guess.
- Jack Thompson wants to ban Sims 2. Because apparently it provides a playground for pedophiles and has realistically rendered genitalia under the blur. (Which, no. I've seen screenshots with the anti-blur patch, and the Sims look like Ken and Barbie dolls.) Lord, what fools these zealots be...
- On the other side, here's a negative review of Narnia that bashes it for being too Christian. I have no problem with it bashing Narnia per se, or even for disliking the "religious themes," it's just that it seems kind of shriekingly, aggressively, reactionarily atheistic. It's like the moment this person heard that the writer intended it to be a Christian allegory, a little siren in her head turned on blinking "warning, belief approaching - FIRE TORPEDOES!" Especially when her main complaint is "C.S. LEWIS WAS CHRISTIAN AND THEY'RE PROMOTING THIS MOVIE IN CHURCHES!" Which, y'know, are both true, but kind of irrelevant to the movie itself.
(And really, as religious allegory it's kinda piss-poor - not only did I not notice it when I first read them as a kid, but even now I'm like, "wait, but if Aslan is Jesus how does that work if he's already the great king of the forest? Shouldn't he be like a lamb or a mouse or something meek?" So I don't quite understand how this reviewer got "OH MY GOD THEY'RE INCULCATING CHILDREN WITH EVIL CHRISTIAN VALUES" because, seriously, if that's the case? They're shockingly incompetent.)
...Also, according to this article 43% of Britons don't know what Easter celebrates. :O
- And while we're on the subject of assy critiques, here's one of a Jewish comic book that takes the opportunity to slam ALL graphic novels. Because apparently graphic novels are INCAPABLE of being an art form, despite the fact that they're combining words and pictures, both of which can be an art form on their own. I guess there must be some kind of chemical reaction when they come together that emits anti-artisticor possibly death rays, that's the only explanation I can come up with for such sheer idiocy.
- And finally on the "stupid review" front, here's a review from Orson Scott Card of Aeon Flux. The entire article is about how Aeon Flux is too much like the video game it's based on, which makes for a bad movie, and then moves out to a criticism of video games in general (though he does give props to Katamari Damacy). There's only really one problem with it: AF is not based on a videogame, but on a series of MTV shorts from the early (mid?) 90s. ...It's called research, Orson, you might wanna look it up. (And yes, I realize the logical problem inherent in that sentence.)
Anyway, because I'm sure y'all were waiting with bated breath for me to pick up with the BPAL reviews again, here ya are!
THE HESPERIDES
The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera's sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.
In the bottle: Kinda like rubbing alcohol.
Wet: Like slightly tart green and yellow apples with a bit of a floral undertone, perhaps?
Dry: Dry it's no longer tart and crisp, like a fresh apple, but sweeter with a spicy tinge, like the apples in apple pie.
Verdict: It's nice, but not really a keeper for me. I actually got a mostly empty imp as a frimp from a swap, and then as it happens I got a full frimp of this from the Lab with my last order. So if any of you other BPAL fiends wants to try it, lemme know!
GLUTTONY
Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel.
In the bottle: Sickly caramel.
Wet: Less sickly caramel, with a nutty undertone. It smells kind of like Bailey's tastes, actually...maybe that's the combination of the hops with the other stuff?
Dry: The sickliness has come back, and in addition the nuttiness has transformed into a more coconutty undertone, which reminds me even more of Bailey's.
Verdict: Ehhh, not so much for me - while I don't dislike Bailey's, I don't really want to smell like it. XD
CERBERUS
Proceeds go to the Animal Assistance League of Orange County. Cerberus, the Three-Headed watchdog that guards the gate to Hades. Loyal, dutiful and ferocious to its master’s enemies, but possessed of a distracting fondness for honey cakes and the song of the lyre. A deep, rumbling scent, warm, soft and as cozy as a dog by a hearthfire, but with a fierce and feral soul: deep chocolate, deeper musks, with a dash of fig, bittersweet walnut, and the wild essences of juniper berry, cubeb and rum.
In the bottle: Kinda like Robitussin.
Wet: Mmm, much nicer. Unlike the other chocolate scents I've tried, this one isn't so overpoweringly chocolatey. I think the reason I was getting Robitussin was the fruity sweetness of the fig with the juniper berry. I wasn't sure exactly what cubeb was - though a quick Google turned up this - but it smells good, and that's all that matters, right?
Dry: It's blended much more thoroughly. It's sweet and slightly spicy, and kinda woody (I know I'm doing a horrible job describing it).
Verdict: Yes, please. Too bad it's an LE - still, I'll enjoy using up the imp.
Anyway, classes start up again tomorrow (well, today now, I guess, since it's after midnight). Fortunately I have a very good schedule this semester - no classes before 1 p.m. and Fridays off, though I do have evening classes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. However, I'd probably still better get to bed so that I can get my full ten hours before having to go in to class. So I will leave you with links!
Let's Positive Linking!
- Apparently the Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) was based on Orson Welles. Which homage I'd never realized before but now wonder how in the hell I missed it. XD
- A funny-ass song that anyone who's ever dated a gamer will find extra-hilarious. It starts off slow, but by the end I was laughing my ass off. (From
jokersama.)- Even though the Donner Party is famous for cannibalism, apparently the Donner family itself didn't practice it. Which is good to know, I guess.
- Jack Thompson wants to ban Sims 2. Because apparently it provides a playground for pedophiles and has realistically rendered genitalia under the blur. (Which, no. I've seen screenshots with the anti-blur patch, and the Sims look like Ken and Barbie dolls.) Lord, what fools these zealots be...
- On the other side, here's a negative review of Narnia that bashes it for being too Christian. I have no problem with it bashing Narnia per se, or even for disliking the "religious themes," it's just that it seems kind of shriekingly, aggressively, reactionarily atheistic. It's like the moment this person heard that the writer intended it to be a Christian allegory, a little siren in her head turned on blinking "warning, belief approaching - FIRE TORPEDOES!" Especially when her main complaint is "C.S. LEWIS WAS CHRISTIAN AND THEY'RE PROMOTING THIS MOVIE IN CHURCHES!" Which, y'know, are both true, but kind of irrelevant to the movie itself.
(And really, as religious allegory it's kinda piss-poor - not only did I not notice it when I first read them as a kid, but even now I'm like, "wait, but if Aslan is Jesus how does that work if he's already the great king of the forest? Shouldn't he be like a lamb or a mouse or something meek?" So I don't quite understand how this reviewer got "OH MY GOD THEY'RE INCULCATING CHILDREN WITH EVIL CHRISTIAN VALUES" because, seriously, if that's the case? They're shockingly incompetent.)
...Also, according to this article 43% of Britons don't know what Easter celebrates. :O
- And while we're on the subject of assy critiques, here's one of a Jewish comic book that takes the opportunity to slam ALL graphic novels. Because apparently graphic novels are INCAPABLE of being an art form, despite the fact that they're combining words and pictures, both of which can be an art form on their own. I guess there must be some kind of chemical reaction when they come together that emits anti-artistic
- And finally on the "stupid review" front, here's a review from Orson Scott Card of Aeon Flux. The entire article is about how Aeon Flux is too much like the video game it's based on, which makes for a bad movie, and then moves out to a criticism of video games in general (though he does give props to Katamari Damacy). There's only really one problem with it: AF is not based on a videogame, but on a series of MTV shorts from the early (mid?) 90s. ...It's called research, Orson, you might wanna look it up. (And yes, I realize the logical problem inherent in that sentence.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 07:36 am (UTC)Oh Yosi, I'm kinda busy tonight but tomorrow we are so gonna snark this article to death like we did with the WIMMIN IN GAMING LOL BOOLEAN article(s) :D
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 03:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 02:43 pm (UTC)Aslan's always talking about his father's kingdom and how awesome it is, also. XD The major place I feel the allegory fails is the creation of Narnia (in that it was directly created by Aslan, and not by his Dad), but I'll let it slide because I love Aslan! :D
I didn't get it when I was a kid either. XD I'm not Christian, but if I were I'd totally believe in an Aslan-like Jesus.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 03:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 10:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 04:33 pm (UTC)Narnia's Allegory
Date: 2006-01-17 09:22 pm (UTC)Re: Narnia's Allegory
Date: 2006-01-18 03:44 am (UTC)Christ was no king. He accepted not title, he demanded no title. He merely said, "Stop being fucktards to eachother." And lo, it was good.
Re: Narnia's Allegory
Date: 2006-01-18 01:10 pm (UTC)