The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2011 05:01 AM PDT MUSIC and fashion always go hand in hand as long as we can remember – Elvis with his rhinestone jumpsuits, The Beatles with their bespoke suits and Cher with her over-the-top dresses. However, it was Madonna who brought high fashion to music when she commissioned the l'enfant terrible of the fashion world, Jean-Paul Gaultier, to design her stage outfits for her Blonde Ambition Tour (which gave us the iconic cone bra!). While their movie star colleagues still command attention when it comes to fashion, music artistes are rising fast in the world of fashion. Now, more than ever, female music stars are upping their glam ante on the red carpet. Gone are the days where a designer dress is good enough. Now, it's all about the accessories, hair, shoes, make-up ... the whole nine yards. These singers have to change their looks every now and then to keep things fresh. In its special fashion issue, Galaxie takes a look at 11 music stars who are blazing the red carpet with their sense of style. While some of them take fashion risks (Lady Gaga, Rihanna), many others like Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez stick to what they are comfortable with. "Style, to me, is supposed to be fun, (and reflective of) who you are. My personal style is more classic," said Gomez who has launched her own fashion line, called Dream Out Loud. What's Gomez's fashion tip? "I think less is more so don't try to wear anything too revealing. And lots of accessories! You can always change an outfit by adding a scarf or a bangle." Apart from fashion, music lovers will enjoy Galaxie's profile on indie heroes All Time Low. The band is currently enjoying mainstream success, thanks to the pop-rock single I Feel Like Dancin'. While some fans have accused the band of "selling out", All Time Low maintained that the band has always experimented when it comes to music. "It's definitely not something we've really explored before, but at the same time, it was very much a natural process and was really fun to write," lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth said about single I Feel Like Dancin'. On the gossip front, Glee's Dianna Agron clarifies her sexuality and Ryan Reynolds opens up about his failed marriage to Scarlett Johansson. For fans of David Archuleta, Galaxie is giving you the chance to meet the American Idol cutie! Win tickets to his upcoming concert in Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, as well as exclusive meet-and-greet passes. All these and more in the July 1-16 issue of Galaxie magazine, out on newsstands now. Galaxie, voted Entertainment Magazine Of The Year in Malaysia, is published fortnightly by Star Publications (M) Bhd. Find us on Facebook (facebook.com/GalaxieMagazine), Twitter (@galaxiemag) and galaxieblog.com.my for daily dose of entertainment news. – Gordon Kho Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2011 05:00 AM PDT Hourglass Author: Myra McEntire Publisher: EgmontUSA, 400 pages FOR 17-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern belles, soldiers long forgotten, a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants to stop seeing the apparitions so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organisation called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past. Between Here And Forever Author: Elizabeth Scott Publisher: Simon Pulse, 256 pages ABBY accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible. Until the accident. Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her. She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she'd never seen. Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could. Fixing Delilah Author: Sarah Ockler Publisher: Little, Brown, 310 pages LIFE is not perfect. Delilah Hannaford understands that, but what she cannot fathom is why everything that could possibly be bad seems to happen to her. After the death of her father, losing her friends, and having a boyfriend who is not a boyfriend, Delilah wonders if things could ever get better. And then the Hannaford family heads off to Vermont for the summer, and layer by layer, the family's secrets – both past and present – unravels. And Delilah wonders if the truth is what she really needs after all. Across the Universe Author: Beth Revis Publisher: Penguin, 398 pages SIXTEEN-year-old Amy made a decision to give up many things – her school, her friends and her partner – but the hardest to take was giving up her own planet. Cryogenically frozen on a starship along with her family, Amy is awoken 50 years earlier than she expected before reaching New Earth. Everything has changed: the people are monoethnic, there is no free will, and difference has been eliminated. Amy quickly realises that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction but a botched murder attempt and her frozen parents could be next. However, things get frosty when one of her murder suspects, Elder, is the future leader of the ship and the love subject that she could have never seen coming all along. Me … Jane Author & Illustrator: Patrick McDonnell Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 40 pages IN his characteristic heartwarming style, Patrick McDonnell tells the story of the young Jane Goodall – a real-life primatologist – and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals", until one day she finds that her dream has come true. On The Seesaw Bridge Author: Yuichi Kimura Illustrator: KowshiroHata Publisher: Vertical, 36 pages STUCK on this see-saw bridge for what feels like an eternity the two, once rivals, slowly begin to open up to each other. They disclose their feelings and their history to each other. Upon learning that their lives are quite similar, and that their fate might be the same, they devise a way to get off the bridge together. However, this will require utilising the see-saw bridge's unpredictable movement to its fullest, as their only hope is to be launched off the bridge before it falls into the raging river below. Nine Little People Who Lived In A Chest Author: Wee Su May Publisher: MPH Publishing, 209 pages SYLVIA'S mum, Marjorie, gives her an ugly wooden chest. That very night, Sylvia hears strange sounds and gets the shock of her life when she realises that the carvings on the chest have come alive. She befriends Tuktu and his little family and is told that they have a condition that can only be cured by another little family that lives in another chest. In this story, Sylvia goes through many adventures to find the other chest, while keeping Marjorie in the dark. Eventually, she manages to track down the other chest. There is an emotional reunion between the two little families who are related and used to belong to one chest. Then the search for the materials needed for the antidote begins. Will Sylvia let Marjorie in on the secret and can they race against time to make the antidote and save the lives of Tuktu and his family? The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life With The Chimps Author: Jeanette Winter Publisher: Schwartz & Wade, 48 pages THIS is another account of Jane Goodall's life, written by acclaimed picture book biographer Jeanette Winter. Follow Jane from her childhood in London to her years in the African forests of Gombe, Tanzania, to her worldwide crusade to save these primates and their habitat. Young animal lovers and Winter's many fans will welcome this fascinating and moving portrait of an extraordinary person and the animals she dedicated her life to. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2011 04:52 AM PDT Ever wondered how the rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron began? We love the Transformers. In our younger days – which is to say, last week – we'd spend hours playing with the toys, making "krik krak krik kruk!" sound effects while transforming robots into cars and back. We love everything about the Transformers, and we can tell you odd bits of trivia like who were the first combiners (the Constructicons), what was Bumblebee's original alt-form (Volkswagen Beetle), and the name of Optimus' old girlfriend (Ariel/Elita One). We're sure you have friends like us. However, to truly appreciate the Transformers comics, one would need to be an absolutely massive Transformers nerd. This is because the Transformers comics have an incredibly storied history and possess way, way more depth than what you'd expect from a series that stars robots blasting the ever-loving snot out of each other. This brings us to the three Transformers comics that we're reviewing today. Local publishers Pelican have licensed these titles from IDW Publishing, making them affordable for the masses here. They're all tied to the live-action Dark Of The Moon movie, but while their on-screen counterparts are content with engaging in chaotic melees of explosions and lasers, the robots in the comics instead focus on character development, drama and storytelling. No, seriously. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: Foundation explores Optimus and Megatron's violent "sibling rivalry" back on Cybertron, while they were still under the mentorship of Sentinel Prime. It's an engaging story that takes us into the minds of the two great leaders; here, we see Prime's internal struggle to be "the good guy" in a ruthless civil war, and we learn why Megatron loathes his "brother" so much. Meanwhile, in Rising Storm, we get a peek at the upcoming challenges that the Autobots will have to face in Dark Of The Moon. Rising Storm doesn't develop the characters as much as Foundation did, but it does tease us with an inkling of the sinister plot that the Decepticons have cooked up. This is a comic book that's not afraid to blow up a few well-liked characters to highlight the dangers and tension in the Autobot-Decepticon war, and it firmly establishes Shockwave as a cold, logical, villainous badass. All said, Rising Storm's greatest achievement is that its story of trials and triumph made us anticipate the movie more eagerly than even the movie trailers could. Both these prequel comics add a juicy layer of characterisation to the robots you'd only recognise in the movies as "the pink one that turns into a motorbike" or "that F-16 guy". Unfortunately, the comics also add a lot of complexity. Foundation and Rising Storm have links to not just the Dark Of The Moon movie, but also to the various comics and adaptations that surround the entire Transformers series. So, there are plenty of details and backstory that a new reader will miss out on. The standalone story arcs in each book will still be enjoyable, but you might start asking questions like "Why are the Arcee sisters three separate-but-connected robots?" or "What's the deal with the Autobot Science Division and the Cybertronian Defence Force on Cybertron?" (Answer: read all the adaptation and prequel comics for the previous two movies.) Ironically, while the prequel tie-ins add a lot of extra flavour and narrative context to the overall story of the Transformers, the Dark Of The Moon Movie Adaptation itself is something that's best avoided altogether. The Movie Adaptation isn't bad per se, it just attempts to do the impossible: it tries to create a sensible story out of what's essentially a glorious festival of action, explosions and CGI effects, as directed by Michael Bay. That's like asking Shakespeare to script a play about wrestling; the action portrayed in the adaptation will never match up to the real thing, and any attempt to weave in a narrative of tragedy and the triumph of the human spirit (or robotic spark) will be muddled by the fact the source material's really just about people beating up one another. Our recommendation is for you to pick up Foundation and Rising Storm if you're a big fan of the Transformers series. The Movie Adaptation, meanwhile, should be best skipped in favour of actually watching the movie. There are a lot of things in these comics that'll keep the Transformer lover in you happy, but if they aren't enough then you can do what we're doing right now: playing with the toys while waiting to get tickets for Dark Of The Moon. Krik krak krik kruk! Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Foundation, Rising Storm and Movie Adaptation graphic novels plus related Transformers titles are available now at MPH book stores nationwide. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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