Books with Bite: The Historian

Ok so by now we really know that I'm a sucker for a good vampire book/film. Especially if that vampire's name happens to be Lestat, the lovely Brat Prince. But I digress. Anything that references Dracula is obviously going to be snatched up by me (Bloodline for one, which I genuinely enjoyed. And reviewed! *cough*) so when I found The Historian in my school library I had to read it. It has quickly become a favorite.

Plot: The plot is beyond intricate that's for sure. A hunt for Dracula seems pretty straightforward, but all the traveling and delving into history that the respective characters do makes your head spin at times. The storyline is split into three main segments and it jumps around three characters' point-of-views. One is the daughter, who finds her father's letters and begins to learn about the tragedy that befell him as he sought Dracula. The second is of the father's history professor, who began the quest long before and gave up when he realized the danger. The third, (and the majority of the book) is the tale of the father's own long quest to find the now missing professor, uncovering deadly secrets and being hunted along the way. Unfortunately, the ending is a bit anticlimactic after all of the wonderful buildup, but everything else makes up for that.

Characters: The characters have very complex, developed personalities and I never dislike any of them (A huge bonus) The only complaint I have here is that perhaps the emotions of the characters tend to be a bit muted at times. There are exceptions, but sometimes their feelings seem sort of...detached? All the same, I liked all of the characters that you were meant to. I loved the portrayal of Dracula in particular.

Setting: Well she really nailed this one. The elaborate descriptions of every place they visited took my breath away. I felt like I was actually there experiencing things firsthand, and it definitely encouraged my interest in seeing more of Europe beyond Sweden.

Romance: Yes! A book that doesn't just focus on the romance between the characters. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance, but I'm so sick of it being the focus of every book currently written. This was a nice change. A few small scenes, nothing huge that takes away from the wonderful vampire-tracking plot. And they're all meaningful relationships! Hurray!

Additional Details: Being a bit of a history enthusiast, all of the tidbits thrown in about various cultures and the focus on Constantinople made me squeal with delight. It's ridiculously accurate and detailed when it comes to the backgrounds of the people and cities they travel to. I learned so many things about Europe that I'd never even heard of before. Also, you hear bits of history from many different points of view. You recognize the bias some of the characters have, and can understand where it comes from. Then, there are moments where the history is told plainly, no sugar-coating, but not dehumanizing Dracula himself, as some adaptations have tended to do. Yes, he was a monster, but at some point he was very human. (We're speaking fictional vampire Dracula here) Everyone always talks about Dracula the Vampire. What about Dracula the soldier? Or Dracula the child and political hostage?

Also, this is either a bonus or a warning depending on the mood you're in, but this book is huge. Huge. I'm a really fast reader, but this took me a lot longer than normal. So if you're looking for something a bit more substantial to last you, this is the book for you.

So summary. Really good book. Completely recommended. Lots of vampires. Go read!

Young Dracula

 Me and my vampire shows right? I've seen 'em all. Normally, they crash and burn or just get ridiculously boring/disappointing (Anyone seen Moonlight?) This one however, is different. I first saw it when I was probably about 7 years old. We were in Sweden and my cousin was watching TV so I plopped down and joined him. I was completely fascinated by the vampires and ended up watching a couple of episodes. Of course, being so young I forgot all about the show as soon as we got home. About a year ago I had a flashback to that trip and remembered the show. I couldn't remember the name of it, so I set about googling until I finally found it. And thus, my love of Young Dracula reappeared.

First off it's British and played on CBBC so if you're over there you might get reruns every so often. Secondly, it's a kids show. Do I care? Not really. It's so over-the-top cliched and campy that I'm laughing too hard to even be bothered with the fact that it's for "children". Hey, I'm sixteen. I can play that card right? Not to mention, they'd never let us have a kids' show like this down in the good old USA. We might scar our children after all.

So what's it about? Well, the Dracula family has been driven from Transylvania and have decided to start a new life in England. Vlad wants nothing more than to lead a normal life, which is rather difficult to do when your father (Count Dracula himself) is trying to turn you into a "dark creature of the night". The Count spends half his time trying to corrupt Vlad and get him to accept his heritage, and the other half bullying Renfield to find him a 'peasant' to drain.  As you can imagine, they don't really fit in. Throw an evil (No, really) jealous sister, vampire obsessed neighbor, and wanna-be vampire hunters into the mix and you've got an even bigger problem.

Ok, so it's cheesy. Horrendously so. But I love it so much. The Count is my favorite character, he cracks me up. If you want a silly, quirky, vampire-themed show to waste time on then you definitely need to check this out. The second season is even better than the first, it gets rather dark actually. The third season targets an older audience, mostly teenagers. Also, the budget is much bigger so better effects. I believe season 4 is coming out sometime in October and I'm anxiously awaiting it.

In other news I recently discovered that Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston (LOKI. Eep!) are teaming up to do a vampire movie. That high pitched squealing you hear is the sound of my fangirling and will probably stop in a few days...probably. No promises.

Tale of the Body Thief Movie

Yes, that's right. Lestat is coming back to the big screen. I'm not sure whether to jump around and squeal in excitement or sink to the floor in dread, clutch my hair and moan 'Why cruel world....why?' until someone asks what's wrong. I fell in love with the Interview With the Vampire movie despite refusing to see it for years because it had Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in it. It exceeded my expectations and Tom was just...perfect. Then there was Queen of the Damned which I hate to even mention. We all know what a disaster that was. I don't even know what happened... Personally, I'm hoping one day they'll revisit The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned and give them proper films.

I would be all for this movie save for one fact. They have to find two actors that can capture the essence of Lestat. Two. It's hard enough to find one. But the whole plot of the movie is centered around Lestat being in a human body for some time so they'll have to find an actor who can play the maniacal vampire and one to play the maniacal vampire trying to cope with human senses while looking completely different. Yeah, this will be fun.

Good luck measuring up to this.

But hey, I'm not going to denounce it till I see it and I won't be missing it for the world. So far, I've only heard that they're working on the script. But if anyone knows anything else feel free to leave some info down below :)

More Hannibal Lecter and Dracula Adaptions?

Well I think we've all realized people have long run out of ideas for movies and shows. I mean, count all of the horror movie/superhero remakes and *gasp* old content in 3D they've done in the past couple of years and it's clear they've run out of original material. Now NBC is helping to contribute to this seemingly never-ending pattern. They've latched on to both the Hannibal Lecter AND Dracula franchise once again. My initial reaction?

Frankly, I found it hilarious. Now I love Hannibal and adore Dracula, but how many adaptions can you squeeze out of a book before it runs dry? Obviously they're going to try again. Here's the general rundown of the two shows.


Hannibal

 There will be no twisted romance/whatever you want to call Starling and Lecter's bizarre relationship. The show is going to strictly focus on Hannibal's time as a free man while in the company of Will Graham. (The fanfiction slash writers are going to run away with this one. *facepalm*) Pretty much, it''s taking place when Dr. Lecter is still in the law enforcement's good books and is a well respected forensic psychiatrist.

This time, Lecter won't be promoted as the bad guy, but as Will's mentor of sorts. (And we all know how that turns out.) He'll be helping to profile and catch the serial killers the FBI are after. Brian Fuller, who wrote the script, claims "There is a cheery disposition to our Hannibal. He's not being telegraphed as a villain. If the audience didn't know who he was, they wouldn't see him coming," which has the potential to be either very pleasant or disastrous.

Directing the show is David Slade, who's also done 30 Days of Night (Good.) and Twilight: Eclipse (We're not even going to go there.) Playing the part of Will is British actor Hugh Dancy. (If anyone's seen Blood and Chocolate he played Aiden. Also, if you haven't seen Blood and Chocolate...don't. The book is much better.) Playing Hannibal is Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.

Right now, the series is scheduled for thirteen episodes and if it's successful will renew for another thirteen.

Problems I foresee

• Hannibal Lecter is a very complex person. There's all sorts of intricate quirks in his personality that are very hard to pull off. As amazing as Anthony Hopkins was in the movies I still don't think he managed to capture the essence of Hannibal in the books. (I think Brian Cox actually came a little closer in Manhunter.) The acting required to portray Hannibal has got to have the right amount of I'm-a-genius-with-a-little-crazy-thrown-in but has to capture his impeccable manners and unnerving calm at the same time.
• There are already five films featuring Hannibal Lecter. I've seen them all and read the books. Sometimes enough is enough. Movies and shows tend to get worse and worse as you drag them out and even sequels are usually questionable. I would be so disappointed to find myself losing interest because I've seen too much. It's like listening to a favorite song so much that one day you wake up and realize you can't listen to it anymore despite how much it means to you.
• If Fuller gets his way this show will go on for 7 seasons. I don't care how successful the show is. There is no way the plot is holding up that long. Look at Supernatural! Into the eighth season and it lost any semblance of a good plot three seasons ago. It's only stayed alive this long because people don't want to let go.

...Of course despite all my protests I'll be tuning in as soon as this thing is on. We'll see how it goes.


Dracula

Another one? Well, here we go again....

Ladies and Gentlemen, our new Dracula.

The show was approved for ten episodes before a pilot was even shot. This means NBS was either very impressed or is just jumping on to the ever popular "Vampires are cool now" bandwagon. It has Jonathon Rhys Meyers (from the Tudors) playing Dracula, who's in London posing as an American Entrepreneur. (Obviously, he's worked hard to get rid of that accent of his...) In reality he's out for revenge and ends up falling in love... yada yada yada. Haven't we heard this somewhere before? Oh oh oh! and guess what? She happens to be a reincarnation of his dead wife. If you listen very carefully you can hear Bram Stoker banging on his coffin and begging to be let out so he can set a few things straight.

Problems I foresee

• Yet another romantic twist on Dracula. Don't get me wrong, I swoon just as much as any girl when I see a handsome vamp seduce another lovely lady. I happen to enjoy romantic Dracula adaptions. It's just that I think the romance of the original Dracula comes from a darker place. It's the suspenseful atmosphere and actions of the evil count, who is in the end is really irredeemable. It's the way the book is written to horrify (Even if nowadays we're rather hard to horrify it's the idea that stands.) and I don't think you were ever really supposed to like the count. He was the monster. I'd like to see another adaption where Dracula is cruel and uncaring and just downright out for blood. No falling in love this time. (I'd probably end up liking him even better.)
• I've already snarked about this, but talk about beating a dead horse. Unless you've got a revolutionary Dracula adaption that's going to blow our minds then get your greedy hands off of Bram Stoker's work! 
• It's been said it'll be a "big, sweeping, international soap opera that's young, sexy, and supernatural". This scares me. We do not need another vampire show made only to enthrall unsuspecting teenagers. We have True Blood and The Vampire Diaries for that.

...Yes, I'll also be watching this one. I really hope it exceeds expectations. But if not, at least we get an attractive vampire in Victorian London to stare at. ^^

In other news, NBC is ALSO doing a remake of The Munsters (We just can't win can we? Leave our classics alone!) and have asked for a script for a modern take on Frankenstein. I just...can't even...we're doomed.

Books with Bite~ Bloodline

The last post didn't end on such a cheery note so I'm back to make it up to you with a sappy vampire novel. A while back I read Bloodline and I believe I promised a review. If I didn't, well you're getting one anyway! An itty bitty one, because it's hard to not give anything away.

Overview: The book is kind of an 'unofficial' sequel to Dracula. It centers around a few of the descendants of the original people who faced the Count. Like Dracula, it's written through letters, journal entries, etc. In particular, the book focuses on John Shaw (Who's parentage you discover later) and Mary Seward, the daughter of Dr. John Seward.

John returns from WWI, injured and delirious. He has visions of his time in the trenches and the monstrous actions of his commanding officer Quincy Harker. He barely believes some of the things he faced in the war and confides in his nurse and love interest, Mary. When Harker shows up in town and begins to seduce his sister (Lily) John has to face his fears and Mary sets out to unravel the secrets surrounding Harker.

What happens next is reminiscent of a second Dracula, as the characters go through the trials their predecessors did. They'll have to sacrifice much to prevent to House of Dracula from rising again.

Characters: You're supposed to hate Quincy Harker, but you're not without sympathy for his plight. I honestly like him best out of anyone in the book. He has reasons for what he does and he's undoubtedly charming. John is supposed to be sweet, brave, and noble, but I saw through to the real cowardice far before it affects the events in the book. Lily is sweet, gentle, and generally brainless, the mental reincarnation of Lucy. (Which happens to be the reason I detest her in the original Dracula. Sorry.) Mary is logical and hard-headed, a nice break from novels set in older eras where the girls flounce about and swoon constantly. The other assorted villains and friends are a bit flat. But they do their job and move the plot along.

Plot: Normally, I can predict most of the events in a book, but this one honestly got me a couple of times. It gets rather complicated and there are plot twists a plenty, but I really enjoyed the end result. She certainly doesn't let the suspense drop for one second.

I'd give it an 8 out of 10 as far as vampire books go. It's fairly original, vividly descriptive, and the vampires aren't fluffy fangless wimps. I love how she stayed true to the original Dracula, but managed to create a unique twist that really made it her own. Seeing the different points of view of the characters creates a world that isn't black and white. The deal closer for me though, is the description of John's time in the trenches. That's definitely worth reading the book for.

The sequel, Bloodline: Reckoning, is even better than the first in my opinion. I might do a review for that eventually, but suffice to say if you like this one, and you end up liking Quincy Harker, then read the sequel. It actually made the romantic in me squeal a bit.

Can we get an enthusiastic cheer for real vampires?

Quick Dark Shadows Review

Eeeeeep!

I could really just leave it at that, but you deserve a bit more elaboration. ^^

It's been getting average reviews but don't let that put you off, I thought it was pretty good. Was it new? Revolutionary? No, but it was another psychotic trip into the craziness that is Burton's mind. A lot of people are sick of Johnny Depp playing the pasty-faced, quirky character, (Do I even remember what Johnny Depp looks like without makeup..?) but I think he brought new life and character to Barnabas Collins. No, its nothing like the original. At all. However if you keep an open mind I think you'll find the film enjoyable.

The movie had me cracking up in that whole "This is so awkward I can't help but laugh and hide my face in my hands" kind of way. And they kept the best parts out of the previews that's for sure. It just goes to show you can't judge a movie by what they advertize. I especially loved the Alice Cooper shtick. And how many of you honestly kept a straight face when Barnabas hypnotized someone? Seriously, the fingers! (I CAN'T believe I couldn't find a gif for that...)

There were a few parts they could have left out. Like Carolyn's "problem". I didn't think that added anything to the movie really. And sometimes instead of going for campy humor they could have given a scene a darker undertone.  They never really found the right balance and it frustrated me because this didn't quite live up to its amazing potential. But they really were pulling out all the stops with fun cliches.

I also really liked the wardrobe choices.

This dress. I want this dress. While we're at it I'll take the necklace too.

How many people searched for Barnabas' cane after watching the old series or movie? I fell prey to the urge and frantically googled only to find that replicas are $400. Oops. Dream crushed. Brb, crying. T.T

All in all, it isn't particularly creative for Tim Burton, and the second half is a bit disjointed and pales compared to the first, but if you have some time to kill I suggest you pop on down to the closest theater and give it a go.  I think its worth seeing and Depp is a riot.

New Books

I got new books! This is always an occasion for sharing :3

We'll start with the most known one. Cassandra Clare's books have been spreading with widespread popularity lately. This is the second book in her Infernal Devices series. I've been meaning to get this for a while actually and I devoured it in one sitting. While I think The Infernal Devices series is a bit too similar to The Mortal Instruments I actually prefer it.

Reasons to read this:

• Tessa and Will seem to spout literary references left and right
• There are little snippets of poetry at the start of each chapter
• 18th century London. Need I go on?
• Tessa's two love interests (Of course...) are both charming in their own ways (though my heart goes out to Will)
• There are nods to steampunk EVERYWHERE.

If you haven't read the Vampire Chronicles then shame on you!  I'm taking your goth card right now. Hand it over. ;)
No but seriously, Anne Rice is a genius. When I first read Interview with the Vampire way back when, (that means I can't actually remember when) I fell in love. Poor younger me was scarred for life when she read The Vampire Armand and learned a few things.

Reasons to read this:

• Lestat is charming as usual .
•  Listening to him describe his outfits makes you want to start desperately searching the interwebz for said items. (The Lady of the Manners said something like this on her livejournal and I just spazzed out in agreement...)
• We get to see a *ahem* different side of Lestat. I find the time spent in his predicament awkward every single time I read it but I do love it.
• Beautiful writing. I'll admit sometimes I scrunch up my nose at some of the things described (Ahhh I would elaborate, but I don't want to give anything away just in case...), but her style is captivating.

 

After rereading Silence of the Lambs I remembered just how much I love these books and bought Hannibal. It's...this is one of those books that really sucks me in. I think its a million times better than the first and will stand by that no matter what other people think. Its just...I don't even know...

I have a confession to make. As amazing the acting was by Anthony Hopkins in these movies I hate him in the role. I'm not putting down his performance, its just that my fixed image of Lecter (Lithe, sleek black hair, etc.) just clashes so much with Hopkins. He was really 15 years too old for the part when he played him, thus exaggerating the age difference between Lecter and Starling more than it was, and causing them to change the end of the movie from the book. I'm sorry, I want the Cannibal and FBI agent together. I can't help that I'm twisted.

Reasons to read:

•  Hannibal Lecter. That's it really. That's all you need to read this. 
•  Its far more disturbing than the first book I think. It gave me chills, in a very good way.
•  Not everything is black and white in the whole good vs. evil struggle.
•  The conversations, psychoanalyzing, and banter between Clarice and Lecter bring up some thought-provoking points.

World Goth Day is coming up! What's everyone doing? 

Thrifting Haul + Vampire Diaries Finale

I still don't have a picture of my new hair. Yes, I know, I know! It'll be up next time. Sorry about that :3

But I went thrift shopping with a friend and got a few new amazing things! If anyone out there doesn't thrift, do it. Trust me. You can find so many lovely things out there that no one else will have and it barely costs you anything.

Goodwill

I liked Pretties enough when I read it to add it to my shelf. I mean, what's 99 cents really? And that thing takes plastic surgery to a whole new level.

Through Violet Eyes is something I've never read before. The summary states that there are people with violet eyes (Ok, who saw that coming?) who can expose the face of a murderer and someone is killing them off. Oh, what the hell. *Throws in cart*

Unwind was also pretty enjoyable. Abortion has been outlawed, but when teens turn a certain age their parents can have them "unwound" (taken apart for your organs) and it's not considered murder because the organs "live on" through the people that need them. Yeah, that makes sense.

I also found The Silence of the Lambs which is one of my all time favorite books, but I already lent it out to someone so no picture.

This bow tie belt was $1.99! and it's got SPIKES. :D

This bracelet was actually hidden deep in the purse bin. Alexis and I had ransacked everything else and decided to dig around. Normally I would be all like "The pink! The pink! It BURNS!" but it was really cute and only $1.99.

I don't actually know what this is supposed to be...but I saw polka dots and snatched it up for 99 cents. I need another blazer, one with a chest pocket, preferably red or black. Once I locate one I think I'll stick this in the pocket.

Plato's Closet

Crappy picture. Sorry :/

This dress. is. AMAZING. I nearly left it on the rack but Alexis forced persuaded me to try it on and I grabbed it because it was only $10.


Dots

Ok, Dots isn't really a thrift store, but we raided it so it's going on the list. This pretty scarf was $5.

 I left behind a red blazer and now I'm beating myself up over it. I thought I should put the money to another scarf, tie, and necklace, but now that I have that polka dot thing...*sigh* I'm a miser and it was $20...but....WHY DIDN'T I BUY IT?? It made me feel like a ringmaster. <3

 I'm going to jump onto the "popular vampires" bandwagon and admit that I absolutely loooove the Vampire Diaries. It's one of my guilty pleasures. The finale was beyond what I would have expected and here are some of my thoughts. Warning: spoilers and possible fangirling ahead.

• Elena is a complete bitch to Damon. The poor guy loves her and is obviously the superior choice...

• Stefan should crawl in a hold and die. He's seriously pathetic. GET AWAY FROM ELENA. SHE DOESN'T NEED MORE ANGST.

• Didn't we just get rid of Klaus last episode? Is he seriously back already?

• Oops, Elena's a vampire. Well, that sucks.

• Elijah is back! Oh how I've missed him and his fancy clothes. I miss his old, oddly endearing haircut...

I loved that floppy hair...

It's Ok, we forgive you. You still look good ;)

Anyone else notice how much they LOVE to kill characters off in that show?

The Walking Dead

I'm sick. Lovely. If you were hoping for a post on Zombies I'm sorry ^^ The title actually represents how I feel right now. When you've got chills in 85 degree weather you know you're sick. Not to mention in that little bit I just wrote, there were a million typos I had to go fix because of my tired, clumsy fingers.

I really hope I can go to school tomorrow. Normally, I wouldn't really care either way, but we have EOC testing this week. Just my luck right? However, the good thing about being sick means I sit on the computer all day and have time to find all of you amusing things!

Like this wonderful classification of vampires :3

Amazing isn't it? I figured I should at least give one nod to the little undead theme I mislead you about. Hehehe.  I was going to do an educated post on trad goth bands or Deathrock or something of the kind for those new to the subculture, but right now my brain is mush, so that post will be coming sometime in the future when I can actually think again. As for today, I just have more entertaining pictures for you.

This unfortunately made me laugh, causing an immense coughing fit.
Brain~ Note to self: When sick, do not laugh. Ever.
Self~ But, but...
Brain~ NO LAUGHING.

I feel compelled to inform you that I have have a GIANT slight, minor, tiny obsession with the Cure. If I had my way they would rule the world and eliminate the inferior musicians from the face of the earth. (Doesn't that sound fun?) So really this was all it took to cheer me up. From now on I will bookmark this picture and look at it whenever I'm having a bad day. It has magical healing properties.

*Blinks. Squees. Falls over*

I'm going to retreat to my bed now, and hopefully sleep off the plague.

New Book and Vampire Spotting

SO today I went to the school library expecting to pick up the usual murder mystery novel or, as I'm more prone to do, check out a book I've read a million times because I'm incapable of finding something good that isn't full of teenage angst and sparkling vampires.

I happened to look at the graphic novel section to find that they STILL haven't managed to include anything but Naruto and other well known shonen manga in their dismal selection. Not to say there's anything wrong with shonen. I like shonen. My favorite manga in the whole world is Rurouni Kenshin and I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'll defend it to the end. But they don't even have good shonen(or manga period). There is one copy of the fifth volume of Hellsing in there somewhere...which is awesome because, you know, Dracula, but other than that...nothing.

Anyhoo, I chanced upon a book sitting on one of the shelves called Jack the Ripper: Comprehensive A to Z. This just about made my day. It seems very informative and I believe it contains 16 essays on the numerous theories surrounding the story. I haven't started anything except the list of dates of important events pertaining to the case, but I'll let you know what I think when I'm done.

The only problem I have with learning about Jack the ripper (Or heck, even hearing him mentioned) is that I don't imagine someone like this...

Pretty convincing ripper if you ask me.

But as a result of watching Kuroshitsuji, I see this...

Black Butler's idea of the ripper...

Considering Grell is a flamboyantly gay, insane Shinigami(essentially a grim reaper) with a penchant for chainsaws and stalking handsome butlers you can see how my mind's image of our old friend Jack is somewhat changed. Don't get me wrong...I love Grell to death (I'm cosplaying him for Halloween actually) and this anime is littered with gothy undertones which makes me love it more....
but...
...
...
...let me give you one more image to sum up the extent of this "ripper's" personality...

Sometimes there are just no words.

So hopefully I'll be able to banish the thought of Grell from my mind and simply enjoy the contents of the book. Wish me luck! Now, this post is becoming filled with things of the Japanese persuasion which wasn't my intention. I might be a little obsessed ...let's move on shall we?

I spotted a vampire! Would you believe me if I said I saw Lestat at school? Well, not really but...close enough. We had students from Cambridge and Rollins visit. They held a series of mini debates in our auditorium (to prepare for a debate at a nearby college later that night on the "stand your ground" law.) The first guy from Cambridge was the spitting image of Lestat. I kid you not. What caught me was the hair. It was long and blonde and just screamed Lestat.

 We all remember Lestat's hair right?

I hope he didn't notice me staring in awe...
You could speak to the debate teams after school but I couldn't because I would have missed my bus. Its probably a good thing though... Not everybody would consider being compared to a homicidal (and charming!) vampire a compliment, and I think I might have gotten a few strange looks when time came to ask for a picture...

As for the actual debates, I got to see two of them. The first one was a little more personal as it dealt with dress code and freedom of expression. I was a little biased because I'm already against some of the rules at our school (No tanktops. You might see a *gasp* shoulder. Its not like we live in Florida or anything) so I agreed with Rollins though Cambridge probably argued the point better. The second one I saw had to do with cutting off foreign development money in order to secure more women's rights in the Middle East. Cambridge just wiped the floor with Rollins. Must have been some kind of vampire hypnosis. 

What I don't understand is how people can be so rude. I don't care if you're bored. Some of us are actually enjoying the debates, believe it or not, and your manners are a distraction to the people on stage and your fellow classmates. As a general rule here are some things not to do when in an audience...

• Yell across the room to friends. Whispering quietly to a friend seated next to you is not the same as waving your hands about your head and calling their name as loud as humanly possible. How could this not be distracting?

•  Continue to enter and exit the auditorium frequently. Ok I understand if you've got an urgent need to use the bathroom, we've all gotta pee at some point, but those doors were slamming nonstop and I know there weren't that many of us in there. Please for everyone elses sake, stay in or out.

•  Eat food. I love food as much as anyone else but crinkling chip bags are irritating to no end. You can't help but leave crumbs in the seats and then there are the people who just throw their wrappers on the ground. Someone does have to pick that up you know...

• This last one should be obvious but...don't be on your phone. Its beyond rude when the people on the stage should have your attention and you're babbling on about who broke up with who and how the guy on stage has "the sexiest British accent". (Technically wouldn't Americans have the "accent" anyway?)

Well I apologize for the mini-rant...
I hope you all have had a lovely day :)
Until next time~