Some of....Something or Other

So it's been a while since this movie came out in theatres, but it came out just a couple of weeks ago on DVD, and of course I bought it the first day.  I believe that there was a gross miscarriage of justice, as this incredible movie was incredibly underadvertised!  It is actually one of my top favorite superhero movies, along with Thor (directed by Kenneth Branagh, the most amazing Hamlet ever!), Superman Returns (with 2 of my favorite superhero scenes ever), and the first Iron Man movie.  This three-title list, by the way, took some time to determine, there are so many great superhero movies out right now!  I could keep going, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, X-Men Wolverine.....ok, you get the point.

I love though the detail you get of Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique's lives, how they came to be who they are in the later movies.  Mystique's character makes far more sense now, as does Beast for that matter.  The movie does a great job at both character development as well as action.  I admit, though, it was definitely a switch to see Kevin Bacon as a bad guy, but he certainly does a great job!  The right amount of normalcy, given the fact he's a mutant bad guy, combined with the right amount of out-right creepy, given that he's, well, a Nazi war criminal.

I'm very excited that while they may be making a lot of X-Men films, they are definitely not lacking in quality.  Keep it up, guys!  It's much appreciated!

Some of That--Tangled

It was pointed out to me recently (yesterday) that I don't update this blog often. Ok, practically ever. I think this is my third post this year... Anywho, I was actually at the theater to pick up some pizza hut pizza (which they have at the concessions at the theater at the Gateway), and decided I wanted to take some time to myself and actually see a movie. Go figure, eh?

As I typically do media reviews here, it makes this the perfect place to give my take on Disney's Tangled:


I love this picture--it captures the humor of the movie, and a humorous movie it is! The characters are so well-defined. If it doesn't come out in their words and actions, Disney did a fantastic job of bringing it out in their design. Fortunately for us, Rapunzel outshines them all and brings out the best in everyone she meets! (What would you do if you were trapped in a tower for eighteen years?)

Rapunzel meets her first stranger when he climbs her tower to escape a magnificent horse with hounddog-like abilities. As in many a relationship they get of to a rocky start, but soon her dream sweeps them both away into adventures with single-handed concert pianists, frying pan duels and shining golden hair. I loved it. I absolutely loved it, and always will, I daresay. The passion, the humor and the artistry make this a movie to watch over and over!

Some of This--My New Camera

It occurs to me every once in a while that I haven't updated this blog since January. I figured it was about time.

On our family vacation I purchased a new camera. I have loved taking pictures for years, and decided it was time to get myself a basic digital camera. I took several hundred pictures over the course of just a few days, and have carried my camera with me ever since. I don't pull it out very often, but here are a few moments I was able to capture:

These two pictures were taken when Mom, Sarah, Jane and I went to visit Megan in the hospital after her surgery.

Michael did very well at his piano recital, the first of his I was able to attend. When I asked him the night before if wanted me to go, he said "I don't care". When I asked if he would be sad if I didn't make it, he said "Yes". Good thing I kept going, eh?

This was the day that little Nicole was blessed. After their sacrament meeting, family and friends gathered at Lisa and Christian's house for a great picnic :)

I kept my camera trained on Dalton a while one night, this picture is probably my favorite of those. What a charmer!

One of my employees made this for me after I gave her a couple of whoppers. I love my gals :)

After my Pontiac quit working, I hitched a ride from my mom to work. We were on our way to drop Michael and his friend off at school when I saw this scene. The world seemed split in half, one side shadow the other light. I was thinking of trying to paint this picture, though I'm quite skilled enough yet to capture it on canvas.

I was at the hospital the other day and noticed that the bed I was next to me was named "Kelli". I got a kick out of it, and was glad to have my camera. Morgan's shoes matched perfectly, so of course I couldn't pass that up. The other bed in the room was named "Ducky", and I confess I found that quite humorous :)

I'm sure there will be more pictures to come. For the time being, I have a couple events I want to blog about on my main blog, so make sure to check that one out too :)

Some of This-Ranger's Apprentice

I began a new experience a few years ago: I started reading, and fell in love with, a series of books published first in another country. This series of books has been written and published, I believe to completion, in Australia. After reading book 3 or 4 I confess I was sorely tempted to order the rest of the series, balking only at the knowledge that the shipping charges from Australia would place the books out of my reach for the time being. I have waited with varying degrees of patience as each book has been released here in the US.

So what is this series? The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. He began writing the series, if I recall correctly, for his son. They aren't perhaps at the same level as Tolkein, or my own favorites Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce, but they tell a compelling story of a young boy chosen as an apprentice by a legendary Ranger, the heart of the intelligence corps of the country Araluen. Pulling from many different cultures, John Flanagan guides his young character as he learns his craft and brings something special into the lives of those around him. Epic battles, fierce adversaries, harsh environments and more shape young Will into a well-prepared and dynamic Ranger.

Book 7 was released this last week, and I welcome the addition to the series. It covers the last year of Will's apprentiship, which had been skipped when book 4 jumped several years into book 5 with Will taking up his first posting as a full Ranger. Erak's Ransom takes Will, the legendary Halt (his trainer), Ranger Gillan, and Will's friends Horace and Princess Cassandra (addressed through most of the series as Evanlyn) with a crew of Skandian sailors (much like Vikings, I imagine) to the arid desert lands of the Arridi people, who have taken Erak (the Skandian leader and friend to Will, Halt, Horace and Evanlyn) as a prisoner and are holding him ransom.

One of the things I love the most is how John Flanagan introduces his young readers to the various methods used by his characters-in regards to the Rangers, the concepts of stealth, highly advanced archery, gathering information and knowing how to use it. Few authors take the time to show their readers in such detail how to analyze what the characters do, mentioning such things as the fact that those in pursuit of someone rarely look up, and how if you're severely dehydrated in a desert you shouldn't gulp down as much water as possible when the opportunity comes around but sip it slowly. While I know that if I tried to employ some the concepts I've been introduced to I wouldn't really meet with the success of characters crafted and written to follow a certain plot-line, I find them all fascinating. I now eagerly await the US release of books 8 and 9 and highly recommend the series to you :)

On a side note, I did finally get myself a wall calendar. No castles, no waterfalls, but a full year of beautiful horses :)

Some Of the Other--Wall Calendars

I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday. I braved the Black Friday evening shopping crowds in search of good books. Oddly enough, I didn't purchase a single one. I did, however, look at a few different styles of yearly wall calendars. I've never really been much of a one for wall calendars, but I seem to keep finding myself looking at my apartment walls, hoping to find that I put one up and forgot about it knowing I'd need it later. No such luck ;)

The first calendar I looked at was a New Moon one. I had seen the movie with my cousin on Wednesday, and was curious what pics they would use. Edward was the featured pic for my birth month, but I figured I'd pass considering I actually wouldn't care to look at most of the characters the rest of the year (though January wasn't too bad, thank you Jacob). I later picked up one featuring different castles. The one on the cover (the same one for my birth month, oddly enough) was a beautiful, enchantingly mist-covered palace that touched the fantasy loving, hopeless romantic in me. I was sorely tempted, but set that one down to check out the waterfall calendar next to it.

After looking through a few more (including ones on historic Salt Lake City, France, and custom motorcycles), I finally left without purchasing anything, thinking wistfully of the day I would finally wise up and get one to put on the wall, so that I could forget all about it until later.

Some of That--The Librarian

So a few years ago TNT came out with a movie about The Librarian, who is in charge of guarding not only the largest collection of books ever (of course), but also many mystical, mythical, memorable artifacts, including but not limited to the Ark (both Noah's and that of the Covenant), Excalibur, Pandora's box, and many many more. Starring the charming Noah Wyle, aka Dr. Carter from ER, the movies are hilarious, cheesy in the extreme, and highly entertaining. The first one follows him as he is hired as The Librarian and travels to the amazon in search of the Spear of Destiny. The second movie finds him following in his father's footsteps to the mines of Solomon, and the third, of which I've only seen part, is the search for the Judas Chalice. The second one costars the actress that plays Fiona on Burn Notice, and the third costars the actress that plays Kate Beckett on Castle. Yay!

TNT had a marathon showing all three movies on Sunday. I had the first two playing in the background as I played around online and read my fav HP fanfic, but knew that I wouldn't be home for all of the third and so recorded it--thank goodness for ye olde VCR :) My good friend Lisa Murri gave me copies of the first two on dvd, and now I have the third. They may not be too solid on facts, but they are definitely a good way to have a good time :)

Some of This--Music

How often do we think about the effect that music has on us? I like to listen to music in a wide variety of settings- while getting ready in the morning, on my way to work, at work (provided I'm in the office with my own playlists, not listening to practically endless repetitions of Sesame Street songs (literally endless, I still hear them in my dreams sometimes)), on my way home from work, while cooking dinner/washing dishes/cleaning the apartment, at parties, occasionally at restaurants (usually only italian ones get away with this), if I have to take the train, definitely at church.

I have one playlist in particular that I started using back in the RE/MAX days, putting it at a minimum of two years old. I don't have many playlists. I usually just toss a bunch of songs onto one list and then do a bulk delete of the ones I decide don't fit. I then fine tune it over the next couple of weeks. Over the process of a few months I'll listen to it every day multiple times a day, sometimes adding a new song, other times deleting one that I'm finally sick of. I recently decided, as I have done once or twice in the past, that I'm ready to retire my current playlist. With this in mind, I tossed about 48 songs, some new some not, on to an entirely new list and set it going today. As I wasn't really in the office until I had already been at work for over 9 hours, I was fairly worn out and just couldn't get into about half the songs on my list. I did, however, listen to "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus a handful of times.

This song is striking a chord lately. I've liked it ever since it came out, but it seems to be making itself the theme song for my spot in life right now. So I ask: what's your theme song? It can be something inspiring, something steady, or something completely off the wall (I think I once had "If I had a million dollars" for one of mine :) ). Post if you'd like, but this is an invitation to consider the music you've been listening to, be it on mp3 or in your subconscious, and think about how it's impacting your attitude. I think it's kindof cool what you learn about yourself in the process :)