"It's a philosophy book!": A "Mockingjay" Review

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After completing this series, I can say that I was satisfied. The first two books left me feeling bitter and HUNGRY for more... Eh?! Like that?...no? Ok.

All puns aside, I really enjoyed reading this book. At times, I did get bored, or sped through certain part which I felt were "fillers", but for the parts that mattered I was kept on the edge of my seat. This is definitely NOT a children's book. Heck, I barely consider it a book for teens. The depictions of violence are raw and Collins has no mercy while describing scenes of horror and bloodiness. Despite the lovely cover, this is not a warm-fuzzy read.

I really do admire the clear path to maturity that this series has gone through. I'll admit that I absolutely hated the main character, Katniss, for the first book. In the second, I was terribly annoyed by her and her inability to let information pass through her skull that the reader had most likely already figured out pages ago. I started Mockingjay expect to be just as annoyed, but the character finally grew on me. Throughout, she slowly developed into a mature adult, albeit not the way average children should grow. In this book we see her as a human, scarred by the atrocities of war so much that she breaks. I don't believe for a second that society would ever become as barbaric as Panem or as idiotic as the citizens of the Capitol, but you certainly can draw similarities to events in history. Just because it was anceint Rome doesn't mean real-life human beings didn't watch prisoners being torn apart for entertainment. In essence, Collins illustrates to us a point which we all already know: WAR IS BAD. DON'T DO IT. Yeah...we know. (So why do we keep going?)

Now, the reason I like this book the most is because of the varying forms and displays of morality. We see Peeta, who seems to be a genuine dove of peace. (Although, he did coldly murder someone in the first book. No one's going to bring that up again? Anyone? Okay, moving on.) Gale who is definitly bent on serving revenge on the coldest plate in the freezer. (By the way, I still don't buy the Kat/Gale romance. Totally dry.) And even the good ol' Prez Snow with his utilitarian attitude (also, he's a vampire... I'm obviously kidding, but read the book and you'll see what I mean). Katniss constantly flows through different morality models, which makes total sense for a person in her position. Hurt them before they hurt you first? Do eyes for eyes really make the world blind? Does a chance at freedom really justify the slaying of innocents? Conflicting views and questions of morality and human rights in a time of war and opression. Gotta love it. It's the philosopher in me...

So if you're like me, wondering wheter or not to finish the series, my answer is this: Just finish it. You may not like it as much as I did, but it's a series... What kind of lamer just quits halfway through a series? You wouldn't quit watching Merlin after Season 2, would you? (Okay, I did...bad example... Still, go read the darn book!)


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Batman Cupcakes

It was Labor Day, or some other day of the week where I didn't have to work, and I call up my cousin and say, "Hey, want to hang out and bake Batman cupcakes?"  Of course she said yes because, honestly, who turns down free cupcakes?

There's not really a recipe to these.  It's just out-of-the-box cupcakes.  I grabbed whatever cake mix looked good at the time (I think it was double fudge or something.  I don't know.  Don't care.  Deliciousness is all that matters).  Same goes for the frosting, except it needs to be yellow for obvious character reasons.  I also grabbed a couple tubes of tiny "drawing frosting" so that I could draw 30 Bat-signs.  

The best one

The saddest one

One thing about the frosting: frosting out-of-the-box-cake or cupcakes usually results in the cakes falling apart if you're not delicate while applying the frosting.  The only thing I can think of to prevent this is to get softer frosting or make it softer somehow, but I have no idea.  I'm not a pastry chef...

Anyway, these were good.  I made a ton of them and took them to work the next day (so it was Labor Day that I made these).  I don't think many people were that amused by my cupcakes because a total of 5 were eaten that day.  So, I took the rest home and my roommates and I gained 5 pounds that week.  Regardless, I had fun with these, and I want to start baking more.  Maybe next time from scratch.  And Superman cupcakes.  Actually, drawing a bunch of Superman symbols with tubes of frosting sounds like hard work... 

Little Notes: Why We Need the DVR

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an actor that I really like.  Really, really, really like.  I like his face...  He's a pretty good actor too.  Well, JGL was a host on Saturday Night Live last week, so naturally I was excited.  Also naturally, I missed it.  No problem!  We have a DVR!
My roommate: "I forgot to record SNL."
Me: "...I'm moving out."
Okay, I really wasn't that upset, because we can watch it On Demand.  However, while watching the SNL episode, I noticed that something was off.

Oh yeah, that's right.  They freaking cut out the host introduction!  Those introductions are the best part about SNL having famous celebrity hosts.  All I wanted to do was watch JGL stand on stage, look cute, and crack a few jokes.  Even worse; I was watching Ellen and JGL was a guest.  They noted that he had done sexy Magic Mike-esque dance.  What the hell?  And I missed it?!  I hate On Demand.  And AT&T U-Verse.  And Life.

Honestly.  What was I doing Saturday that was more important than watching this?

Also, Mumford and Sons were the guest musicians, but they were also cut out.  *Le sigh*.  Off to YouTube, I go.

Little Notes: "Mighty Morphlin' Power Rangers"

I'm currently reading Catching Fire, the sequel to the recently popular Hunger Games.  While reading the book, I notice that the narrator often mentions a substance called "morphling".  Now most things in this dystopian future that the author created are like upgraded versions of modern objects or animals (e.g.- a "mockingjay" is a genetically altered bird).

I assume "morphling" is an altered version of morphine, or morphine mixed with some other substance, and I'm sure it will be explained later in the book.  But, for now I'm getting more amusement out of imagining that the author really has no idea what morphine is, heard someone talk about it one day, and just spelled it and pronounced it how she thought it would be.  You know...  Like how the Rugrats talk...