Movie Reviews Part 1

I've seen a bunch of movies in the last few months, and many of them were really enjoyable, so I'm going to tell you about them! Stay tuned for more....

Easy A
This movie was a lot of fun. It posed some good questions and had a great sense of humour. The lead actress was really great – Emma Stone – I hope to see her in more movies in the future. It’s definitely not for a young audience though – I’d give it a 14A at minimum! My biggest complaint is how they portrayed Christians – either as hypocritical or totally unaware. We’re not all like that that, I promise!

Despicable Me
SO CUTE! Definitely on my to-buy list! My favourite line: “HE’S SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE!” I loved everything about this movie – it was just a happy cartoon with a great message about the importance of family, and some awesome humour. Is it just me, or does the ‘bad’ guy remind you of Bill Gates?

Nanny McPhee Returns
I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Nanny McPhee movie, even though it had Colin Firth in it. But I wanted to see a movie, and this was the best thing playing! I liked it a lot more then I liked the first one – there was only one scene that was so cheesy that I actually squirmed. It’s set during WWII, and has a star-studded cast – I counted four Harry Potter stars in it! The plot line was pretty good, and Maggie Gyllenhaal was brilliant as the over-worked mum.

The Other Guys

“I’m a peacock – you gotta let me fly!” The fact that Mark Whalberg could deliver that horrible line TWICE in one movie nearly killed me! I laughed intermittently for a couple of days about that. He and Will Ferall play a couple of inept cops and they are hysterical. Trevor and I were both really entertained by this movie. But for violence, language and sexuality, I’d definitely give it an R!

New Books to Read!

One of my favourite authors, Diana Gabaldon, had a guest blogger today who talked about an interesting book series I've never heard of, and I always like finding new authors! It was a fun post because the author, KC Dyer, blogged as if the books' main character was writing. I'm going to add A Walk Through a Window, and Facing Fire to my 'to read' list...

http://voyagesoftheartemis.blogspot.com/2010/10/guest-post-to-entertain-you-as-i-wing.html

Star Wars Fun

A recent purchase of mine...
http://www.heruniverseshop.com/Products/Empire-Strikes-Back-Thermal-Hoodie__HUN-ESB-THERM.aspx

This is a fun blog I follow....
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/06/sunday-sweets-star-wars.html

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2010/08/star-wars-sweets.html

Recent article....
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/10/the-making-of-the-empire-strikes-back-201010?currentPage=all

Watch Yoda and Darth Vader in the recording studio for TomTom GPS...
http://starwars.tomtom.com/voices/index-starwars.php?Lid=1&voice=hansolo

Waste!

This site has some really neat photos of urban decay, a subject I find fascinating.

http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/index.html

The photo of all those book mouldering away in this old library really irks me though - what a WASTE of books! I'd love to give them a good home... :( I wonder how they came to be left there?

Kid's Books

Books and reading are my hobby. I've never counted my book collection, although I do have it catalogued, but I imagine that I own hundreds. My www.weread.com profile has 4,374 books on it - and almost 2,000 of those are books I've read! (The others are on my 'to read' list.) I started reading when I was something like 4 , with Anne of Green Gables and Alice in Wonderland, and I haven't stopped since.

I've recently started following the very entertaining Cake Wrecks blog, and I discovered this older post that just made me smile...cake tributes to children's books! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is great!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/05/sunday-sweets-reading-rocks.html

Thoughts on Turning 30 - Pearls Before Swine

In my case at least my dreams of romance came true! And I've done a bit of travelling, although no where near as much as I'd like to. And I often do spend time on the weekend at Rona...and new windows this year made me very excited.

Any tips on how to rediscover my inner adventurer?! I'm thinking about going to university...do you think 30 is too old? I think I just might get more out of it now then I would have if I'd been in a position to attend university at 18!

This comic is especially poignant because Rat is usually the sarcastic one given to picking on others more then genuine introspection. I love Pearls Before Swine - it usually makes me smile, and occasionally has made me laugh out loud. I highly recommend following it daily...especially if you love a good pun!

Book Trailer - The Exile by Diana Gabaldon

Diana Gabaldon is a fabulous author who's books I have enjoyed for about 11 or 12 years now. They're detailed historical fiction and the writing just sucks you into another time and place.

WARNING: Parts of the stories are graphic, both violence-wise and sexually. I would call them R rated and not let me kids read them until they were out of high school, if then... :P

This is a trailer for her new 'graphic' novel (haha!) which looks very exciting....

Book Recomendation

There are many authors I like, and quite a few who's blogs I follow. One of my favourites is Maria V. Snyder. She writes mostly fantasy, and she's got a new book that just came out - the third installment of a trilogy. This trilogy is a spin-off of a previous trilogy, so there are 6 books to explore the fantasy world she's created.

You can check out an interview with her here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30706

News from Hippos

As some of you know, I went to Israel on an archaeology dig in the summer of 2008, and totally left a bit of my heart behind. It was the most incredible experience of my life, and I keep up on the news from the new dig teams at "my" site every summer. This year they found something really cool, and the news articles about it came out today. I WISH I had been there!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100916100503.htm

http://www.newswise.com/articles/goddess-of-fortune-found-in-sussita

July

So, as per usual, I got a bit behind! July was a busy month, what with going to Edmonton for the youth gathering, Trevor working tons of overtime, and then going to the Okanagan for an extended weekend.

The youth gathering was lots of fun, but pretty stressful for me. It's the first time I've ever been in charge of youth and nothing but (no event coordinating responsibilities) and it kept me hopping. We had 13 youth, and head counting filled up a lot of my time! I roomed with a friend I don't see often, so that was fun, and there were good speakers and good music. AND there was a Tim Horton's right in the same building as the dorms - bonus!

At the end of July Trevor and I went to the Okangan for a few days, and we left in the middle of the week. We spent a night at Buffalo Mountain Lodge in Banff, and went to the hot springs. We got eaten ALIVE by mosquitoes - they were huge and everywhere - I was itching for weeks after!

The Okangan was beautiful as always, and we got to visit with lots of people, eat lots of good food, and hang out at the beach, so it was exactly what I was looking for in a holiday.

I also saw "Despicable Me" during July - such a cute movie - I highly recommend it!

If you're a Star Wars fan, I also highly recommend this website: http://heruniverse.com/
I haven't bought anything yet because I'm trying to restrain myself and not buy one of everything, but I definitely will be getting something soon! 2010 seems to have been my Year of the Geek, what with all the concerts and whatnot I've gotten to go to, so finally spending some money on some fan gear seems like a good way to top off the year!

Star Wars in Concert

A few weeks ago we went to Star Wars in Concert at the Saddledome.

There were costumes

There were big screens

There was an orchestra

And there was great movie footage!

I heart Star Wars...

Final Days in Florida

After doing the Disney thing for a few days, and on the Friday morning of the Memorial Day Long Weekend, we checked out of our resort and headed for a few days on the coast. My perfect idea of a totally relaxing holiday involves sitting on a beach, and since they're in short supply in Calgary, I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to go to one!

We went to Sanibel, which is a tiny island just off Florida's Gulf Coast, near the city of Fort Meyers. It's uniquely located in the currents, and is known for being an excellent place for sea shell collectors due to this. And it's beautiful!

Lots of shells on the bottom - had to wear shoes or end up with cut feet!

I spent a lot of time doing this, and came back with lots of shells.

We went on a sunset boat cruise, and the first mate got this fluke shot of us, the sunset and a flock of pelicans. Lovely!

We left Sanibel early Monday morning and booked it back to Orlando to catch our flight back to Calgary. Our trip home was a gong show due to a cancelled flight out of Toronto, but we made it! I'd definitely go back to Florida again - it's warm, humid, sunny and surrounded by ocean, which makes it pretty much perfect in my books! :)

Florida Days 6 and 7

May 26 (Trevor's birthday) was our first day at Epcot.

We had lunch in France - so yummy!

We stayed late in the park for the fireworks, and all the buildings around the lake were lit up. This is the Canada pavilion.

Our second day at Epcot we mostly visited the Land pavilion and the Sea pavilion.

The Sea pavilion was my fave! :)

Florida Days 4 and 5

Day 4 in Florida (the Monday of the Canadian long weekend) was spent sleeping, resting, eating and shopping.

Yummy lemon filled Krispy Kreme

Day 5 was spent at the Magic Kingdom - hence the Captain Jack impersonator! He was really spot-on.

The Swiss Family Treehouse - one of my first and favourite movies of all time

Florida Day 3

Our third day in Florida was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios for Star Wars weekend. Totally awesome.

Nothing says "good morning" like a display of Imperial might

Pretty much the best ride ever. They're re-doing it this summer, for the first time since the original series came out. I'm glad I saw it before it went all Clone Wars.

It's Indiana Jones! Actually, his stunt double, but he's got the hat so it's ok.

Queen Susan, me, High King Peter. The lighting was too bad and the camera nearly dead, so I didn't get a picture of Prince Caspian's armor, but it was there. *swoon* :)

I would have uploaded a picture of the Toy Story ride, which was my absolute favourite, but I was having too much fun to take a picture!

And if you ever happend to find yourself at Holywood Studios, I highly reccomend the buffet at Hollywood and Vine - SO good!

Florida - the first two days

We had a great time in Florida...this is the first of a series of posts with a few photo highlights...check out my webalbum for more!

We arrived in Orlando on a Friday afternoon, and after checking into our resort (thanks to my in laws and their timeshare!) we headed to Downtown Disney for sightseeing and dinner. On Saturday we drove to the coast and spent most of the day touring Kennedy. We went to church at a Lutheran church in Viera, and finished up the day with dinner at Coco beach. Much fun!

Ogopogo made it all the way from Kelowna to Downtown Disney! With a little help from the Lego store...

The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Centre

Sunset at Coco Beach

Catching Up

I can't believe last time I posted was the end of April! Is anyone even still reading this thing? :P

One of the highlights of the past few months was getting brand new windows and outdoor in all the townhouses in our complex. They look really nice and will hopefully be excellent for our resale value. They really perk the place up.

In early May I went to a Jeans and Classics Abba tribute at the Calgary Philharmonic. It was fabulous - Dad said they really sounded and acted like the real thing. That was before my time so I can't comment on that, but it was a lot of fun. I can't recommend the Philharmonic enough! They have a really exciting line up for the next season that I'm looking forward to. You should check it out!

I also went to Stars on Ice, which was a good show. I totally forgot to take a camera, which was disappointing. Virtue and Moir skated, and so did Joannie Rochette. I haven't been to Stars on Ice in about 10 years, so this was a good time to go and cheer for our Canadian Olympic medalists!

Stay tuned - hopefully in the next couple of days I'll write a post about our epic trip to Florida - it was so much fun! If you're dying for a sneak peek, check out my web album for some photos and a few pithy comments. :)

Expo Photos

"That's ok, I let the droids get away too."

Calgary Comic Expo

Data - Brent Spiner

Dr. Carson Beckett - Paul McGillion

Lando Calrissian - Billy Dee Williams

Spock - Leonard Nimoy (and Mayor Dave Bronconnier, but we can ignore him!)

Last weekend we went to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. If I could sum it up in just one word, it would be 'zoo'! I spent most of the weekend in lineups, which was a frustrating waste of time, but the people watching was great. :) I was so overwhelmed though, I forgot to take pictures of all the interesting stuff going on. I mean, it's not every day you see a stormtrooper taking the escalator!

Gallery: Calgary Comic Expo (Calgary Herald website)

Apparently 'Spock' is retiring from movies and tv, to focus on his photography....and I hope I'm half that spry when I'm 79! Wow!

Brent Spiner is really funny, and said that he's thinking of retiring too. And then he had this whole conversation with himself where he talked himself into not retiring. He was REALLY entertaining.

And Paul McGillion was super funny too - he had lots of good stories, and switched back and forth between Scottish and Canadian accents all the time. He was born in Scotland but his family moved here when he was a baby, so he's a Canadian citizen, as well as being an Atlantian.

Billy Dee Williams was really disappointing...he didn't have any good stories, and the people asking him questions had a really hard time getting him to talk.

One of the most fun things about the weekend was all the costumes - watching Captain Kirk pose with Stormtroopers was very entertaining. I saw a couple of girls who were dressed as wounded red shirts, complete with fake blood. There were a few Jedi, a couple of Boba Fetts and Darth Vaders, and one Han Solo. There were a few Princess Leias, one 7 of 9, and far too many women wearing not nearly enough in the way of clothing...sci fi really has quite the niche on objectifying women! I didn't see a single Captain Janeway, sadly! She's the best Star Trek Captain ever.

It's funny - I'm enjoying my memories of the expo much more now then I enjoyed the actual experience. I guess I have some perspective on the crowds and lines, and remember the good over the annoying. Most people were polite and patient, but I encountered a couple pushy people who made me really cross. I left on Sunday thinking that I wouldn't go back again, but now I'm remembering all the good stuff, and I probably will go again next year.

Apparently I'm a bit more of a crazed sci fi fan then I thought I was, because I actually SQUEALED when I got a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy sitting at a table signing autographs. Oh, and I almost touched Paul McGillion...actually, I almost walked right into him as I walked out of the bathroom without looking both ways first...I may have geeked out just a little bit at that. :)

I'm going to post a few pictures of fun costumes I found on the Comic Expo Facebook group, since I don't have any of my own to post, sadly. Maybe next year I'll be there in a costume of my own! :)

Did you know...?

You should read this blog post...I've been following this lady's blog for a while now, and it's been very interesting - her life is so different from mine.

Today's post was really something else...
http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/2010/04/chicken-for-dinner.html

I'm more then a little creeped out! I know that the meat industry wasn't so good, but actually seeing deformed baby chickens...well, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words. Maybe it's time to try more organic meat from the farmer's market...

Photos

Heather and I at Star Trek

Matt Maher at Break Forth

Youth at Grotto Canyon

The past three months...

The last three months have been pretty busy, as I'm sure you can tell if you've been eagerly awaiting my long-delayed update. :)

We got back from NS without any trouble, and my friend Jenn came to visit. We were roommates in Israel, and it was really nice to see her again!

Heather came for a visit, and we went to the CPO to see "The Music of Star Trek", narrated by the actors who played Q and The Doctor. It was really fun! I enjoyed it a lot. I was expecting a higher percentage of attendees to be in costume though...the most elaborate one was this woman who dressed as Kai Winn, perfectly detailed right down the the paper mache Orb of the Prophets she carried around with her. Talk about dedication!

We went to Edmonton for Break Forth at the end of January. Such a great conference! Maybe the best Break Forth we've ever been to. We are now Matt Maher groupies...if you've never heard of Matt Maher, you should Google him...he's a great worship leader/song writer from Arizona, who's actually originally from Newfoundland. There were so many great speakers and bands, and the info they've released on next year's line up looks just as good. You should go!!

You may have heard that I gave up Facebook for Lent...I haven't missed it much, either! I've been so busy, I don't know how I ever had time for it before.

I spent a fair bit of time watching the Olympics, which I've never done before. I watched both the opening and the closing ceremonies (I LOVE the closing) and most of the figure skating. Virtue and Moir were so incredible - I'm really glad I was able to see them skate.

Last month a few youth and I met up with some youth and leaders from another church and we went hiking at Grotto Canyon. It's out by Canmore, and it's the coolest place. I've been there twice before, but never this time of year. The canyon was basically a giant sheet of ice, and we hiked up it. It was slippery going in a few spots, but coming back down was the worst, because the downhill slant made it way too easy to get going too fast to control. So I ended up sliding down a lot of it on my butt. Lucky I wore my snow pants!

I've also been busy running a youth fundraiser, organizing our trip to the youth gathering in July, helping Trevor with church music stuff, housework, reading, visiting with friends, and the endless round of errands which never seem to go away.

Last weekend we were at Rona, and we got backed into by a guy who "couldn't see us because the sun was in his eyes". There's a huge dent in our passenger side front door, and it's probably going to need to be replaced. My poor baby :( And it's such a hassle! Grrrr...

Today I'm at home keeping an eye on the guys installing our new windows. The whole condo complex is getting them, and about time! The windows we had are original to the building, which was built in the late 70's. They don't slide properly, they don't do a thing to keep out the cold, and a lot of people are having problems with them getting covered in condensation, which then rots the window frames. I'm really looking forward to not having to shrink wrap our windows next winter! Right now I've got the cats locked in the bathroom to keep them out of the way, and they're not happy, poor things!

Ok, time to see if I can get into my kitchen to get some lunch...

NS Part 1

Mom and sisters - family gathering at my cousin Charlotte's

Kids and cats...

Birthday Cake

Merry Christmas!

I'm counting down my last few minutes of work...and then I'm not back here till January 7th!

Early tomorrow morning we're off for two weeks in NS - I'm looking forward to it. It's been 2 and a half years since I was home at all, and something like 4 since I was home for Christmas. I still have a lot of packing and laundry to do tonight...and 3:30 AM is going to come awfully early...eeep!

Stay tuned for photos of Christmas in NS - it's been a while since I used my camera, and it's due for a workout.

May you find joy in Jesus, the reason for the season!

Junk Mail

Did you know that if you tend to get a lot of personally addressed junk mail, you can go here...

http://www.the-cma.org/public.asp?WCE=C=47K=224217

and register to be removed from their mailing lists?

Traffic

It's been a crazy week for commuting. I am getting very sick of spending so much time in my car! I keep meaning to rotate my collection of cds, but I keep forgetting. So yesterday, during my trip home from work, which took more then twice as long as it usually does, I was BORED.

I usually listen to Shine FM, and between 4 and 5 pm they take requests. I don't normally use my cell phone much while I'm driving, but I was moving so slowly I might as well have been parked, so I called in to request a song. It took a couple of tries, and I was about to give up, but then I got through.

They entered me in a draw, and said they'd try to fit my song in before 5:00 (it was already like, 20 to 5) so I didn't think I would hear it.

Just before 5 they called back to say that I won the draw! I won a pizza and passes to a Hitmen game, and my song was the last one they squeezed in. It was very exciting - I never win anything. :) Although now I have to drive all the way down to the Shine office in the south to pick up my passes, which I'm not even going to attempt to do until the roads are better!