spark #5

Storybook endings, fairy tales coming trueDeep down inside we want to believe they still do

And a secret is taught, it’s our favorite part of the storyLet’s just admit we all want to make it too

EVER EVER AFTER - CARRIE UNDERWOOD

28. deathly silence

20. when i was

42. stuff

43. words

44. mixtape

24. another earth

4. we love

CONTENT

35. blogger feature

22. place

mermaids

one piece

A-Z fantasy movies

blythe

DREAMING

LIR

spark #5fantasy

ON THE COVERPhotographer: Gisela StarckModel: Frederike ScheibeLocation: Forest near Münster, Germany

The Photo is a symbol for the emotional connection between the human and the nature. The human is tonal integrated in the nature, so that they merge to a mystical unity. The human mourns with the nature, he sympathizes with the nature. The warm colours, the light and the cryptic atmosphere in the picture, catch you deep inside and stir you. It is sadness, it is loneli-ness, but it is also liberation and independence. It is simply living with all senses.

the closet 365

Spark is created by Riyandini Putrieditor/creative director/founderDEA KARINAeditor

Contactemail : sparkismagazine@gmail.comtwitter : sparkmags

AnggitA OktAfiAnA DewiYogyakarta, Indonesia

She is a moody person, who loves photography and music.anggigagu.blogspot.com

MirA AsriningtyAsYogyakarta, Indonesia

Own a space called “Lir” and Editor-in-Chief of “Huff ” magazine.thepicnicgirl.blogspot.com

sArA AnnHamilton, ON CanadaShe is a graphic designer and she also does fashion illustrations.skycream.tumblr.com

JAne HyunJOO williAMsOnVirginia, USA

I love playing with my Blythe dolls, doodling and drawing ddalki diary.ddalkijane.blogspot.co.uk

freDerike scHeibeMünster, Germany

I´m addicted to photog-raphy and fashion.www.theprettyvacuums.blogspot.com

Ang lAMVancouver, BC Canada

She can never be a geolo-gist for she love fashion way too much.ang-closet365.blogspot.ca

sArAH lAwrenceChicester, UK

I discovered my true su-per power was drawing. sarahillustrates.com

clAritA Pinky DiOrisAYogyakarta, Indonesia

I’m pretty much young, kinda wild and mostly free. Your next favorite mess.pitamerahmuda.blogspot.com

kurniADi wiDODOYogyakarta, Indonesia

A procrastinating bum with a camera.kurniadiwidodo.blogs-pot.com

spark #5 CONTRIBUTORS

I’m getting older. Everyday. And I hate it be-cause people expect to meet the mature me. It sucks! Because I want to quit that game and I don’t know how.When you’re getting older, you also have some more responsibilities as an adult, like voting for the next president maybe. It is a big step of your life! But in fact, I don’t really care about it.The one that matters for me is you couldn’t act like a child anymore because that’s not how it works. You can’t take your steps back. You should keep walking forward. Never look back. Why can’t I dance under the rain? Why can’t I let myself play with Barbie?Aw, growing up sucks. Peter Pan is alright!

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But maybe, unlike me, you love growing up. Lucky you.In this issue, I would like to talk about witches, magic, and adventure! In fantasy movies, I learned that everybody wants to have their own adventures. Or their game, if I may say (yes, I watched too much Gossip Girl nowadays).

You don’t have to lose the girl to be a woman. —Eleanor Waldorf

I think she has a point. Enough said.

Thank you for you who have been there for these moments. I really appreciate it, thank you very much.

Riyandini Putri

Have you ever felt like you are run-ning very fast just to stay in the same place?Phoebe — Phoebe in Wonderland

I always drew mermaids as a child - I grew up by the sea, so was obsessed withtrying to spot them in the water! This pic-ture is of me and my childhood friend,Amina, as mermaids. The only difference is now I have blonde hair! —Sarah

Mermaids

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Imagine that you and a handful of your most trusted friends are aboard a ship. But no, we’re not talking about some smooth sail-ing in a beautiful sunny day. You’re in a horrible, oh-crap-look-at-those-towering-waves kind of weather, complete with roaring thunderstorm and a raging whirlpool ahead of you. And as if those aren’t terrifying enough, a group of warships is also on your tail firing their cannons at you, while at the same time an enormous sea monster the size of a four stories building is coming straight your way with its jaws wide open.

Now, if like me, you belong in the miserable majority of “common people”, the normal reaction of witnessing such madness would be to freak the hell out and proceed to pass out in about ten seconds, most likely right after ruining your underpants. But if you’re one of the happy-go-lucky crews of the Strawhat Pirates, for whom the very concept of being normal is pretty much non-existent, all that mess is just another day of business in the high seas of the Grand Line. Come what may, they will punch, slash, kick, and basically break through whatever being thrown at them. Nothing will stop them because the prospect of another grand adventure is always waiting ahead. Welcome to the fantastic world of One Piece!

One Piecewords: Kurniadi Widodo

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To the uninitiated, let me break down the basics: One Piece is a highly popular Japanese manga (comic) first serialized in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine. Written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda, it was started in 1997 and is now the best-selling series of all time in manga history. The manga has been licensed and translated to many languages, and has also been adapted to animated TV series and movies which are just as popular. Interestingly, even though the Shounen Jump is mainly directed towards the teenage male demographics, a recent (2011) poll conducted by the popular Japanese TV station NHK actually shows that up to 88% of One Piece readers are people above the age of 20. And there’s also a significant girl fanbase too, although the series doesn’t necessarily have much girly features.Alright, so it’s famous. But what’s the hype all about an-yway? Let’s start with the premise of the series. Twenty two years before the story starts, a legendary Pirate King by the name of Gold Roger was publicly executed. But right before his death, the extraordinary man defi-antly announced that he kept his most precious treas-ure, One Piece, somewhere at the end of the world, and with a grin on his face challenged everyone to go and get it if they can. And thus, the Golden Age of Pirates started. All over the world, countless bands of pirates would roam the seas in search for the ultimate glory. One of them, the Red Hair Pirates led by its charming captain Shanks, would one day stop at a small, peaceful

port of Windmill Village. There, the crews often hung out in the local bar and tell stories of their adventures and exploits. One little kid in particular named Luffy D. Monkey was so enthralled and idolized these men so much that he declared that one day he would take to the sea himself and become the next Pirate King by obtaining One Piece. Understandably, everyone laughed at his foolish, far-fetched dream. But years later, the boy really left the village for good. He is now halfway around the world, with an ensemble of mis-fits strong enough to defeat notorious pirate groups, caused ruckus wherever he goes, and has attracted the attention of the powerful World Government. Now the captain of the infamous Strawhat Pirates, Luffy is ready to take on the whole world. As you can see, the initial premise is pretty much the basic formula of any adventure story. But God is in the detail: it’s how Oda develops that basic formula which sucessfully elevates One Piece far above other series. While the story does start with a rather generic and predictable template (go to new island - find trouble - defeat the bad guys - gain new ally - repeat), slowly but surely it evolves into something more nuanced, with complex backstories revealed, twists and turns abound. Characters you thought were mere extras turn out to be significant and linked to recent events, long after their introductions. Even the themes within the story have evolved. While they were mostly lighthearted at the earlier part (friendships, chasing your dreams, etc),

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recent chapters have begun to address more serious and deeper issues, such as race equality, government censorships, the many facets of ‘truth’, and many more. But don’t think that One Piece deals with those is-sues with an overly heavy mood. Far from it, even. The series is well known for its humorous tone. Oda is a joker, and it really shows through his art and ideas expressed in the story. Oda’s drawing style is cartoony, often with disproportionate exaggerations and impos-sibly quirky characteristics. He’s not afraid to be silly. And actually this is exactly why I think Oda is truly and secretly a genius: Beneath the over-the-top silli-ness on the surface, behind all the wacky antics and crude humor, there’s actually a well-thought-out core idea which unites the whole things together. He clev-erly packages an expansive saga with an easy-to-digest apperance. Not every writer could do that.Another wonderful thing which One Piece is known for is definitely its colorful and highly imaginative world. This is truly a place where you can (and should) put all your logic aside for a while, and you will just have to accept everything the way it is, the way Oda designs it to be. He takes different elements from various cultures, myths, and legends from around the world (ours, that is), then mixes them all up, stripping them from their original context, and lastly adding his own original flavor (mostly sense of humor) for good measure. The result is something which is partly fa-miliar, partly whimsical, and totally awesome. Among the magical places you can visit in the One Piece world

include: A winter island where it’s snowing all year round, a whole kingdom on the sky, an island wholly made out of gigantic mangroves, mermaid palace on the deepest ocean floor… the list goes on and on. Not to mention all the strange and curious devices and contraptions: telephones which are really talking snails… wait, what!? Check. Remains of shellfish which can be used to store and release energy? Check. A train which seemingly rides the ocean waves? Check. And don’t even get me started on all the amazing characters, races, and creatures! There are all sorts of people with cool power (for example, a guy who can casually freeze the ocean then ride across it with a bicycle), while con-versely there are people and characters with silly power (There’s a guy who uses his booger as explosives…). You will encounter mermaids and fishmen. Giants who’ve been dueling each other for a hundred years. People with tiny wings. A skeleton musician with an afro. The majestic Sea Kings. Simply said, the way Oda depicts all these characters in his story makes me want to go there and experience all those things firsthand. Most people who like One Piece do. So what’s the downside of all this? There has to be at least one, right? Well, with the current 67 volumes (680+ chapters) this title now has, it can be a pretty daunting task to begin reading at chapter one, if you’re truly new to it. But I can assure you, it’s a wonderful journey, and those who embrace it will surely be hand-somely rewarded. Sail on!

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A-Z Fantasy Movies

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Tim Burton makes this story looks different. Yes, he does. It is darker. But, we love Alice, don’t we? (I do love Alice shoes and dresses, by the way. Well, I want to be her!) I think all of us already knows who Alice is. I don’t want to waste your time ex-plaining who she is. And we already love her.

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

It is about Jesse who becomes friend with the new girl at school, Leslie. They happen to be neigh-bor and make their own kingdom across the river from their houses. They named the kingdom Tera-bithia. They are The King and The Queen. The kingdom is filled with monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants. As the palace they have a house tree! Don’t you think their kingdom is wonderful?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Charlie lives at a small house near Willy Wonka chocolate factory. He always wants to know what is inside the fac-tory. Lucky him, he becomes one of the five kids who get golden ticket to come into the factory. Who knows that Oompa-Loompa works there! The factory itself is so ahmazzing. It is so beautiful. You just want to have one for yourself. The fact that it is chocolate factory makes it even remarkable.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as twin witch who want to release Aunt Sofia from the mirror. Aunt Agatha trapps Aunt Sofia into the mirror because she will marry George. Aunt Agatha also keeps the moon stone to herself. Ah, how selfish she is. So kids, already got your lesson from this movie?

words: R. Putri illustrations: A. O. Dewi

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Enchanted (2007)

A princess who lives at her fairy kingdom, is sent to the real modern world by an evil queen. Princess Giselle is a true princess. She seems so fragile. She is confused by the complicated world. Lucky her, she meets this dude, Rob-ert, and his daughter, Morgan. Prince Edward comes to bring Princess Giselle back. But after spending several days on this world, Princess Giselle has learned many things, including dating. “You know most normal people get to know each other before they get married. They date,” as Robert said. Princess Giselle wants Prince Edward to date her first before the come back to fairy kingdom and marry. Long story short, Princess Giselle knows that her true love is Robert. Yeah, end of the story. Happily ever after exists everywhere, by the way.

Finding Neverland (2004)

Have you ever thought about your very own Neverland? What happens there? Could you imagine?I don’t know exactly how is mine. It always changes, I guess, since I’m never sure of everything. If you ask me what happens there now, I couldn’t really tell. Maybe it is on its rest status which everything is in peace, noth-ing hurries, just nothing related to task or deadline, even school.It is about James who already found his Neverland since his brother, David, died when he was a little kid. James was kind of dying too because his mother only wanted David. He was a boy. Long story short, James is grown up. He has a wife. He already has his life. One day in the park, James meets the Davies family. Four boys. At this point, he’s already attached to them since their first conversa-tion. And good for James, it also gives him inspirations to write his play. James didn’t know where it is going at first. He had no idea. As long as he spends so many times with the boys, he finishes writing his play. He writes about the times they spend into magical story. The boys never grow up. They stay the same forever.I do really adore this movie. It is not only the Peter Pan story. It is more like how he got his inspirations. It does need wild imagination to turn it become magical story. I think I’m obsessed. Ah, Neverland. How whimsical.

Gulliver’s Travel (1996)

Lemuel Gulliver is a sailor who becomes lost at the sea. He becomes a giant at the Land of Liliput and liliput at the Land of Brobdingnag. I think all of us already knows the story, few or many, as we already read the book at our school (maybe years ago). In this movie, it captures Gulliver who is at home after eight years of absence. Yes, he is finally home (we know it’s gonna happen, don’t we?) He tells his story and is consid-ered insane. People is cruel sometimes, no?

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Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

How do you feel if you have a moving home or, even better, a castle? It also has front door which could lead you to several different places. Ah, how astonishing! Also, there are so many magic (it always makes me excited). Ah, you ask who is Howl. Well, Howl is a wizard. And part of him is Calci-fer, the fire demon, the source of the castle’s power. Howl could transform himself as bird-like, but each trans-formation makes it difficult for Howl to return to human form. Also, things become more complicated because of love and war is involved. Yes, a girl falls in love with Howl. Her name is Sophie. The war happened because of the disappearance of Crown Prince. Somehow he got a spell blasted on him then he became scarecrow. But a kiss from Sophie could break it, though. The war is useless, by the way.

Inkheart (2008)

Don’t you think that bringing the characters out from book is a great thing? Well, Mo doesn’t think so. His talent makes Dustfinger, Gwin, Capricorn and Basta out from the book and his wife, Resa, into the book. He is called Silvertongue for this talent and the book is Inkheart written by Signor Fenoglio. Meg-gie, his daughter, was a baby when it happened. Twelve years later, while Mo and Meggie are on the way to an old book shop, they meet Dustfinger and Gwin. Capricorn is looking for Silvertongue so he could make them to do what he would. Later, they know that Maggie is also Silvertongue. So, Capricorn makes Meggie bring The Shadow out of the book. Well, it is a happily ever after story. So, don’t worry. But people seem to love the book better than the movie. Maybe you should give the book try.

Jumanji (1995)

I love this movie. I do want to have a Jumanji, a board game which could make scary (if you’re a coward. But if you were Wednesday, you would consider them as your pet) creatures come up (okay, I’m lying. I don’t ever want to have it). Alan and Sarah decide to play Jumanji, they don’t know what the conse-quences are. On Alan’s first move, he is sucked into jungle. Sarah gives up on it after being attacked by African bats. Twenty six years later Judy and Peter played Jumanji, they also don’t know the consequences yet (I think Jumanji should be burnt. But please let me try first, okay?) It turns out that Judy and Peter participate in the game which is started twenty six years ago. There is lot of panic on the city that is caused by Jumanji. Long story short, the game is over. But Jumanji would never vanish. Jumanji calls you. When you hear drumbeats, be careful, maybe it is Jumanji.

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Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

What are you doing if you are a thir-teen year old witch? Make fun of your friends? Nooo. You should do one-year-training-far-from-home. In this training, you’ll go to big town or city and find out what your skill is. If you already know it, fortune telling maybe, then lucky you! But if you don’t, just be cool, or excited, but don’t be sad. Or if you are Kiki, you finally know that your skill is flying and you could run delivery service. It is just like DHL, but cooler because YOU would FLY to deliver eve-rything. So, yay for no traffic jam. But be careful of planes and birds.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

And now, this time, a castle in the sky! (We should learn to have wild fantasy). Full of treasure trove and beautiful things, and well it is in the sky. Not just a castle, but a land! First, you should find Laputa. You could get to know the direction through a crystal on Sheeta’s neck-lace. Second, you need your friends to go there because you’re not selfish to be at Laputa alone and maybe you’ll need their help. Third, when you’re already there, don’t forget to enjoy it. For-get your camera. If you’re taking too many pictures too seriously, maybe you’ll forget where you are.

Matilda (1996)

Matilda Wormwood is a sweet and genius girl. She loves to read books. And the best of all, she could do telekinetic power, she could move things without touch it (I learnt it, and failed). But life seems hard for her because of her grouchy parent, Harry and Zinnia, also mean principal, Mrs. Trunchbull. Lucky her, she has Miss Honey as her teacher. Miss Honey is always kind to Matilda. Actually, Miss Honey is Mrs. Trunchbull niece. After her parents died, Mrs. Trunchbull kicked Miss Honey from her house. Long story short, Mrs. Trunchbull leave the town and Miss Honey go back to her house. Wormwood family is going to move to Guam because FBI uncovers enough evidence to pros-ecute Harry. But Matilda won’t go anywhere, she wants to be with Miss Honey. Matilda even already has adoption documents! Ah, clever girl. Life would become easier for her from now on.

Night at the Museum (2006)

Don’t you ever think that the Tyrannosaurus at the muse-um is really alive? Well, it is. At night! It is so funny that the Tyrannosaurus, named Rexy, behaves like a dog (I want to have a dog! It would be named Rexy, maybe). The exhibit at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History comes to life at night, caused by an Egyptian artifact. Larry Daley, a new night security guard, has so many adventures then. Talking to Theodore Roosevelt (he is so wise, by the way), Attila the Hun, miniatures, even Pharaoh! (Pharaoh speaks English by the way, he learnt it from many years as an exhibit in Cambridge) How exciting!

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Only Yesterday (1991)

Taeko is a 27 year old working in Tokyo. She has lived in Tokyo since a kid. Eleven year old Taeko en-vied her friends who had relative at countryside. Taeko decides to take a vacation to visit her elder sister in law at countryside to help with the safflower. She got so nostalgic. Some-how, she remembers her 11-years-old-girl memories. How she was, how she had been. Sometimes, our fantasy isn’t so far from our past, what do we want when we were a child. Maybe we dream to live somewhere else. We dream to have simple life (but life doesn’t have less meaning). For Taeko, live at countryside is part of her dream since a kid. And this vaca-tion makes her dream comes true.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

It is more complicated than you already think (or it was just me?) This movie is one of opposites and reversals, like reality versus fiction, good versus evil, innocence versus adulthood, feminine versus mas-culine, and overworld versus underworld. There are also some symbols which could tell you about the unspoken things. This movie describes the quest of a young girl, Ofelia, unable to cope with the harshness of the world, where repression crushes her innocent and playful spirit. It has been shown that children respond to an unbearable reality by dissociating into a fantasy world, where magic, adventure and wonder are to be found and she could be everything which she wanted. I’m afraid that the magic kingdom, Un-derworld, doesn’t really exist. Maybe it is only exist in Ofelia’s head.

Queen of the Damned (2002)

Do you love vampire stories? Well, it is one of them. Do you love vampire who becomes front man of a band? Well, here you are, at the right path. Combining The Vam-pire Lestat and the Queen of the Damned novels into one screenplay was damned to suffer massive story cuts because of the intricate and detailed background of a dozen or so characters involved. But if you haven’t already read the books, maybe it is okay for you to watch this movie without feeling cheated and have any expectations at all.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

It takes place in northern Finland, Korva-tunturi mountains, where an archaeological expedition digs out the real Santa Claus. However, this may not be the white-beard-ed Santa Claus most are familiar with but the much meaner Santa, from Finnish folk-lore. Young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter/butcher by trade, capture the old man and attempt to sell him to the company sponsoring the dig (they want to sell Santa!). All the local children begin to mysteriously disappear while Santa’s “elves” will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. This movie is too scary for me. Yeah, it is not your kind of Christmas movie playlist.

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Stardust (2007)

I think all the fairy tale has been told. But I was wrong. This movie gives a new idea (I can be wrong though). The star is fallen from the sky. Her name is Yvaine. She is a star who looks like human, except her hair and face is glowing. The witches want Yvaine because they want to take Yvaine’s heart to give them immortality. The princes of Stormhold want Yvaine because she holds the ruby that will give one of them title to the throne. Tristan, a young boy from a village outside Stormhold so called Wall, wants to present the fallen star for Victoria to prove his love for her. But well, the fallen star isn’t just a rock which makes things become more complicated for Tristan. Ah, I told you the spoiler (sorry).

Toy Story (1995)

The toys are really alive when human isn’t around! Don’t you feel like, “I know that! It isn’t just my fantasy. I know that it would happen.” Andy is a kid who owns so many toys, part of them are Woody (a cowboy doll), Buzz Lightyear (a space ranger who doesn’t believe that he is a toy), Mr. Po-tato Head, Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex (yes, a t-rex!), Hamm (a pig), Bo Peep (a beautiful doll, Woody’s lover), army of soldiers, and so on. Woody acts like a jeal-ous kid because Andy has a new toy, Buzz. I think, in this movie, it is about how Woody realizes not to be selfish. The good thing is Woody would always help his friends who need help. Yes, he is a good toy leader.

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Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Max lives with his sister, Claire, and mom. He is lonely because Claire and his mom seem to have their own world, they don’t give enough attention to Max. Max somehow has his very awesome fantasy. I think he lives it. Then, one day he runs away from home (Max likes to wear his wolf costume, almost, all the time). He runs away from his home, from reality, into his fantasy world. He makes his way to the woods and to the waters edge. There he finds a small boat and set out on the open sea, leaving everything behind him. He comes across an island and goes ashore. There he finds a group of monsters in turmoil. Yes, monsters my darling. And no, I’m not afraid of them.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonder (1970)

Valerie is thirteen years old. Her first period has just begun. She is exploring a new thing. She dreams about lustful vampires who prey upon her youth, including erotic desire, aggression and fantasy. She has a magical earring which her mother gave to her. It seems like it makes her look at the world as it really is (but who knows if it was only her fantasy?). She watches people married from her house and she looks at a scary man on the crowd. She sees couples making love. Well, I think it is time when she transform become a woman, I believe.

Underworld (2003)

It is about vampires and Lycans, a species of werewolf. As you already know, they are not friends. There is a war between them. But again, there is couple which happens to be Selena, a vampire, and Michael, half Lycan and half vampire. The story happens around them. Love, disappointment, and war.

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

Sci-fi also takes part on our fantasy. We know that mutants exist. In our dream, mutants are the hero. We could depend on the peace of this world from them. But sometimes, even in our dream, the so-ciety is afraid if mutants can’t control their power. They are afraid that mutants want to be the king of the world. They are afraid about their powerless. Maybe we should just don’t over think it. Maybe we could just simply dream about roses.

Yolanda and the Thief (1945)

This movie wasn’t successful on its era. It is a pity that the audience wasn’t impressed by the plot. Astaire, the main male character, himself conclud-ed, “This verified my feeling that doing fantasy on the screen is an extra risk.” Maybe it was. But now we do love, a lot, fantasy movies. This is a musical movie, actually. I think you should give it a try no matter how the review is.

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Danny and Walter played a board game called Zathura. During each turn, the game provides a card with instructions, but the two quickly realize the cards affect reality. Does it makes you remember about something? Yes, Jumanji! Ac-tually Zathura is the sequel book of Jumanji, but unlike the book, the film contains no Jumanji material and does not mention any Jumanji events. It is like Jumanji, but in outer space! I consider this movie is beyond awesome.

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I saw Blythe dolls on internet the very first time in 2005 and wanted to get one. But since I couldn’t find it anywhere near me, I couldn’t or didn’t get one. I didn’t trust online shopping at the time.In 2006, I decided to order my first Blythe doll, Samedi Marche from a store called Toy Tokyo in NY. When I received her, I was the happiest person in the world. I got my second Blythe doll, White Magic Night from Toy Tokyo while I was traveling in NY. And I got the rest of my dolls from ebay.I have 14 Blythe dolls, 1 Middie Blythe and 1 unopened Blythe doll.I sent my 2 Blythe dolls to Japan to get the plastic surgery that means that they got their eye colors change, their hair rerooted, and their faces sanded and carved, all of these steps improves the look of these doll. My good friend, Natsuko performed the plastic surgery and I’m satisfied with the result.I have recently started to do my own sur-gery on my dolls. I have found that while it can be challenging, it is very rewarding to see the end result. I also have gotten sewing patterns to make clothing for my dolls. I am glad that I can add more to this hobby and give all of my girls my own unique style.They like to go grocery shopping with me, a baseball game with me and even sight seeing with me. We are always catching the attention of people near us and we don’t mind people staring at us. We talk about outfits, hair styles even make ups some-times. —Jane

Blythe

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This morning I wake up as usual, then I go to school. I wait the bus for 20 minutes, it is much longer than usual. Finally the bus to my school arrives, I hop on aboard and sit right next to the window. But the scen-ery outside looks different, for some reason the streets I usually go through has changed into villages with so many people walking and passing by. I got panic… it looks like I got the wrong bus. I decide to get down, but when I do, I no longer see villages, but the ocean… Oh my, I can breath in the water, I could swim! I swim, I don’t know why my school is at the bottom of an ocean trench… oh my.I get inside the class. But when I open the door, sud-denly I’m in a traditional market, and somehow I’m al-ready with a bunch of catfishes in a bucket… it feels so crowded… and slippery. I see someone reaching for a friend of mine and then hitting his head. And… and… oh no… that hand is reaching me… it takes me and a hammer is closing in on my vision. I close my eyes, trying to hold the pain that may occur… and then my head hurts… then I stand up and try to get back on my bed… I just fell. —Anggi

When I Was...DREAMING

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Dreaming. Everyone must have experienced it at least once in their life. I’m actually wondering how blind people manage their dreams but anyway that’s not what I want to talk about here. Theory says that peo-ple wouldn’t remember 100% of our dreams so just let me tell you what I’ve remembered so far. I’ve dreamed about extremely nonsense things like when I was a huge fan of Super Junior -that k-pop group filled with cute guys- I dreamed that I met them and one of them were like, interested and wanted to know more about me. I cried when I wake up. Such a lunatic labile fan girl I was back then. I also really believed that if we dreamed about someone, it meant that this particular person missed us. I was hoping that the superstition was right when I dreamed about an ex for a few times in a row. Never prove it, tho. I didn’t actually need it.Some dreams that made me feel guilty was when I dreamed about the death of some people I know, and the funny thing is, I wasn’t even close with them. People told me that those kind of dreams mean that the people will live long. I’m hoping it, really, or else it would make me feeling guiltier. Also when I was a kid, I dreamed about two or three times that my little brother died. The dream usually came after I fought (literally) with him. I usually woke up crying as if he was really dead, then I looked at his bed beside mine. He was sleeping peacefully, then I realized that I do love him so much. That should be a sign that I’m not allowed to fight with him anymore, right.Writing about dreams here made me realize that I barely dream about nice things such as being a mil-lionaire or having a cute husband. Another fun thing about my dream was when I dreamed that my boy-friend cheated on me. He was kissing his ugly ex in front of me and I was exploded. I was still upset when I woke up and text him right away, madly. Few hours later after he woke up, he called me and he was like, “Why are you even upset about that silly dream? So now what do you want me to do?” It is funny how dream could control your sanity, but it is also relieving that we can always run off from the bad dreams, and thus realizing that reality is not that bad. —Pinky

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Lir was once a dream; but as soon as I put it in paper, I saw a blueprint of the fantasy. Over the next few years, it was built with passion and love. The idea was sim-ple, it was meant to be a little hideaway where people can peacefully read, mingle, meet and greet, and share warm thoughts. We love to feel the air full of conversation lingering and fluttering like invisible butterflies. Thus, we de-cide to uninstall any hot spot internet access in order to keep it even more peaceful for everyone to have quality time with friends. Instead, we provide a read-ing room completed with all the food that’s coming straight out of the storybooks. May it be butterbeers, Homemade Ginger Ale, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Set, or as simple as milk and biscuits. The recipe is growing and changing depends upon what fresh ingredient we get that morning.We try to make everything as homemade as possible..so that we could put more love in it. Sometime, we even sing to our homemade yoghurt just to make it taste slightly richer. We want everyone feel like they’re visiting grandma’s home where everything are quaint, familiar, and the foods are not fancy yet comforting.

We love everything that was made with care and by hands. That’s why we also enjoy having craft work-shops and selling handmade goodies from local crafter in our curiosity shop; side by side with the distinc-tive antique items selection we hand-picked. We also gather people with same interest in some clubs, cook-ing classes, and events we create.Still in the same building, we have a small-yet-busy alternative art space where young artists are freely display their work and new talents are provided with enough space for a solo exhibition and exploration. Sometime, the exhibition was a result of idea clubs we have. Other time, it was an old dream comes true of the young artist. Either way, we love having them shar-ing their ideas of beauty to the world. We believe that creativity can always burst out from such an unintended moment. In a corner of an old town, through all small-clubs rose from this place; we try to be a witness of such precious moments in our life while having a sip of warm spice tea.

Let’s just say that Lir is a place where fiction and reality mingles. —Mira

Lir.Lire (fr)/ to readLair (en)/ hideaway place

Chosing to have fun in life is often more fruitful than chasing perfection. —Garance Dore

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Another EarthIllustrator: Sara Ann

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Deathly SilencePhotographer & Stylist: Frederike Scheibe

Model: Julia Rosendahl

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The mexican skull make up: mysterious, colorfull and one of the biggest hypes on the fashion runways at the moment. In my opinion it embodies passion and fan-tasy. It is a huge symbol for the creativity and the changeability of the fashion and beauty industry.It fascinates you. In combination with the soft field atmosphere of my pictures, it makes you dream. For me the pictures are fantasy. They under-line the weakness, the softness, the beauty of a person, of the world. They wake your heart like a fresh breeze and the mellow colors embrace and warm it. Just like a fairytale. Get inspired.

— Frederike Scheibe

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The Closet 365

Huh?!This is a common reaction I get from people when they first heard about my blog. I am sure there are many questions floating in your mind that needed answer to now and I find the quickest way for me to give you an overview of my blog and a little introduction about myself is through the five W’s

Who am I? Why I blog?“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not” –Denis WaitleyThis is a question I ask myself a lot too. Aside from my name is Ang Lam, it took me a while to figure out who I really am. I am an ordinary girl who wasted 20 years of her life doing basically everything she does not like. She spent all her high school years being a science nerd and in her university years, she took Geography as major. Yes! Geography, a course that has nothing to do with fashion or makeup. Working at a job where I see death almost every month and being the primary caregiver for a family member who is suffering from cancer makes me wonder, “if I die tomorrow, what will I regret not doing?” and this is when I realize where my passion lies. Throughout my life so far, I have given up many things but the only things that I held on to was fashion and makeup. Not wanting to feel regret, I throw about all my doubts, all my shyness and decided to chase after my dream. So you ask who am I, I am an ordinary girl with a dream!

What I blog about?In my blog, you can see anything from my extraordi-nary outfit looks styled by me to extreme makeup tu-torials along with my little life story. Some said I have a weird style while others claim I have an avant-garde style. Take a look at my blog and let me know what you think of my style!

When did I start my blog?The Closet 365 was born on April 25th, 2012. Yes, it is only a few months old and I already feel so grateful for having this blog. It gives me a chance to meet so many people through their blogs who share the same passion as I do and to become friends with some of them.

Where do I get my inspiration from?I get my inspiration from all sort of random and weird places maybe because I am a weird girl, which is why I am more attracted to checking out crazy extreme makeup or tattoos art even I don’t have any. My emo-tion and basically everything that is around me plays a big part in inspiring my looks. On days I feel gloomy or sad; my mind tends to come up with all the dark and black objects or characters. For instance, zombies will pop up in my mind and I will start browsing all the extreme zombie makeup despite how scare I get from looking at the pictures. I love prints, arts and paintings a lot that I would spend hours just browsing through them. I also get my inspiration from my readers as well as all the bloggers from around the world.

Name: Ang LamHometown: Hong KongBlog: ang-closet365.blogspot.caBlogger since: April 2012

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This outfit takes me back into my childhood. It’s so girly and makes me feel like a princess from Disney cartoon. When I was a little girl, I always imagined myself as a little princess and all my friends are prin-cesses too.In this outfit I was wearing laven-der top, this white feminine skirt and necklace that I got from Oasap. First time when I saw this necklace I knew that it must be mine. It is a lond and glitter necklace. It reminds me exactly of those keys that have had all of these various princesses to unlock their houses and mild.I really love that necklace and I en-joy wearing that.

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AzrA begzADiclajune16.blogspot.com

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“The truth is that when one is still a child-or even if one is grown up- and has been well fed, and has slept long and softly and warm; when one has gone to sleep in the midst of a fairy story, and has wakened to find it real, one cannot be unhappy or even look as if one were; and one could not, if one tried, keep a glow of joy out of one’s eyes.”

— Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

Once Upon A Time

I’m So Young — The StudentsBright Young Thing — Albert

Hammond, Jr.Judy and the Dream of Horses

— Belle and SebastianGrown Up — Sea Lions

Me vs. the World — Halo Friendlies

I Wonder — DiffuserWhen Will My Life Begin —

Mandy MooreNot Your Birthday —Allstar

WeekendMiracles Happen —Jonny BluOn My Way — Phil CollinsAlmost There — Anika

Noni RoseThat’s Amore — James Marsden

That’s How You Know — Amy Adams

Sea of Love — Cat Power

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