I heard a rumor last year that Philip Pullman’s children’s novel, The Golden Compass, also known outside of the U.S. as Northern Lights, would soon be made into a film. Today, I found the official Web site and trailer.

Apparently, the film stars Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, and Daniel Craig (you know him from Casino Royale) as Lord Asriel. Somehow I thought Mrs. Coulter had brown hair… but oh well! The production stills look reaaaally cool.

Must-see links:

• His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass Wikipedia page
• Official Golden Compass Web site, goldencompassmovie.com
• Official Golden Compass blog

December 2007… I can’t wait.

Good morning, fellow denizens of the blogosphere! (It actually isn’t morning yet, but it’ll be midnight in approximately thirty-seven minutes… just thought I’d get a jump on the new day.)

Finished Harry Potter 7 a long time ago (which I will not comment on, to avoid spoiling it for others). It only took me less than two days. Needless to say, my self-imposed isolation has also ended.

Earlier this evening, my father prepared a splendiferous dish of cooked cauliflower and bean curd, as well as a dried bean curd salad (bean curd, chopped green onions, and soy sauce). They were simply heavenly. I don’t know whether it made it into anyone’s consciousness, but I wrote a while ago that I’ve recently converted to the vegetarian lifestyle. Yeeeees, I jest not. It’s been going on for several weeks now. I still like meat, of course… especially the fish and the ground pork that goes into a lot of my favorite Chinese tofu dishes. And the mussels, the squid, the jellyfish, the escargot, and the fried fish my cafeteria serves…! Yes, all very dear friends of mine. But I’ve lately realized that vegetables are, well… EXCELLENT. To think I’ve never before appreciated their relative inexpensiveness, their delectable flavor, their vibrant colors, their high water content and nutritious value… ah, I was a fool…

Ah, anyway. Some vegetarian links. Here you go.

• GoVeg.com
• VegCooking.com
• Spoon Revolution (recommended)

And… don’t forget! Nothing is a finer accompaniment to a dish of stir-fried cauliflower and bean curd than the dulcet tones of the Thai pop duo, Golf-Mike! Very pretty, yes? (I just wish they’d perform some more hip-hop pieces, and lay off on the romantic ballads…)

Geesh… I need to update my installation of WordPress soon.

Ahem, attention, my fellow North Americans mobbing bookstores in the pursuit of Harry Potter 7 (or lazily sitting at home, hopefully not downloading the illegally scanned text from the Web): Whatever you do, do NOT visit the Harry Potter 7 Wikipedia page (link reluctantly provided here… don’t think about clicking it!)!!! A very detailed plot summary chock full of spoilers is featured in plain view, complete with the series’ conclusion, and if you desire to preserve the sanctity and wonder of the sacred, magical reading experience, avoid it at all costs!!!

On the other hand, here’s an informative article about the book’s release so far in the rest of the world, which is quite safe to peruse.

The official U.S. release is only one hour away!

In other news… my father bought a gigantic watermelon. Ooh-la-la! Tomorrow I’ll have a delicious watermelon sharbat smoothie.

Note: I shall be in complete media seclusion until I obtain a copy of Harry Potter 7 and finish reading it completely. This is to avoid any mention of spoilers from TV, radio, friends, and unfortunately other bloggers. Until then, therefore, Jenny-fa Land will be in total lockdown. Hope to resurface soon.

Sincerely, Jenny-fa.

Jenny-fa has returned from Europe. About two days ago, in fact. I’m still somewhat severely jet-lagged, and my self-esteem recently took a blow when French aviation security personnel confiscated my sunscreen lotion. T_T (Waaaaaaaaaah, I was just trying to get back into my own country… what did you have to do that for???)

Countries visited (in chronological order): the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, and France. Yes, the Vatican City is its own, extremely tiny country; it’s completely enclosed in the city of Rome.

My favorite country by far was the Netherlands, aka Holland. The Dutch are the world’s healthiest and happiest (read: least depressed) people, and they have that famous Red Light District in Amsterdam, where I took a leisurely stroll one memorable afternoon. You know it’s one of the safest areas of the cities because there’s video survelliance on every corner and personal bodyguards for the prostitutes? Prostitution is completely legal there… they have their own union and even pay dues. Anyway, our group was walking through a very, very narrow alley (perhaps only 3 feet wide) with the prostitutes’ windows on each side (we could actually see them inside, scantily clad in glow-in-the-dark lingerie and wielding whips), and two of them slid their windows open and stood there, watching us tourists pass by. But right as I was about to walk past those two ladies, a young Dutch man coming from the opposite direction came to that exact point and was stopped by the prostitute on my right with the end of her whip, who said to him in English, “Stop. Playtime?”

Now, that was just plain alarming; those two were directly in front of me, practically in my face, and I couldn’t squeeze past around them… so, in my nervousness, I quickly ducked underneath the prostitute’s arm bearing the whip and made my escape between them.

However, I have resolved that the next time I visit Amsterdam, I’d say hi to one of them.

Did I enjoy my trip to Europe? Not entirely. As I predicted before, too much social interaction among my tour group. And I hated German food so much, I vowed I would forgo meat when I returned to the U.S., and now I’m a self-proclaimed lacto ovo vegetarian.

Gakuto-san, an aspiring weatherman? He just cracks me up.

(This is the last embedded YouTube video, I swear!)

On another note, did you know that frozen peaches taste like popsicles? Yeah, but only sweeter and less… melt-y.