Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Deep Space Nine: Episode 1 "Emissary"

For the longest time, DS9 was not available on Netflix, and I had to be content with buying as many episodes I could with whatever iTunes money I could get my hands on. My mother isn't a big fan of DS9. She says it's because of the format of the story - that it happens on a space station and not on a starship - that she doesn't like it - and because she doesn't like it, I couldn't hope for her to buy any of the seasons of the show. I honestly was prepared to start buying it for myself once I went to college. Thankfully, Netflix finally made it available for Canadian viewers and I didn't have to dish out any of what precious little money I have.

I'm reviewing the two parter pilot of DS9 for the 2017 Sci-Fi Experience, because I'm a sci-fi nerd, and Star Trek is one of my favourite sci-fi giants. I'm doing this for fun, and not for money, just saying.

DS9 opens in the midst of a terrifying battle between the Federation and the invading Borg. This episode begins during The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds", after Captain Jean-Luc Picard was kidnapped by the Borg and assimilated so they could take over the Federation. In the subsequent battle, the ship the main character of the episodes - Benjamin Sisko - served on was destroyed and he ended up losing his wife.

I know the real reason why my mother doesn't like DS9 - it's because the series takes a lot of time to focus on the Bajoran's religion and faith in "the Prophets", inter-dimensional alien beings who don't perceive time like people in the normal universe do. I like the series because it involves the Romulans a lot more than The Next Generation did, and they play more of a friendly role towards the end of the series where they're allies with the Federation.

This episode felt like a satisfying introduction to a series that lasted as long as this one did. The beginning was terribly sad, but it quickly gave way to a fascinating side of Star Trek that I look forward to seeing through to the end.

Some notes:

- DS9 starts out differently than the other shows. It starts out in the middle of the conflict between the Federation and the Borg at Wolf 359.

-Why the heck would they go into battle with ships laden with civilians? Wouldn't it be more logical to drop the civilians off before going to battle? Send the ships without civilians in first!

2017 Sci-Fi Experience


2017 Sci-Fi Experience
Host: Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings (sign up here)
December 2016 - January 2017
Goal: Review as much of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager as I can; review my copy of The Transformers: All Hail Optimus comic omnibus, and read my copy of Star Trek - Green Lantern: The Spectrum War again.

Honestly, I totally forgot that this was coming up - all thanks to college - so that leaves me with only a month to appreciate what has come to be my all time favourite genre of fiction ever. Thankfully, I remembered, and this is my chance to breathe life back into my blog, since my studies have prevented me from posting here. :3

"Reviews":

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Day One of College Life

So, I’m finally at college, and today is day two of Orientation (today is day two, even though this is my first day living on my own at college). Despite the fact that I want to ball my eyes out every other minute due to the fact that I am now no longer with my family, and because they’re now driving back home, which is at least 500 kilometers from the college is, everything is okay-ish. My feet don’t hurt (yet), all the sessions are getting kind of boring and somewhat repetitive, the little coffee shop in the atrium is cute and serves great drinks (I tried one this morning before I went to Library Orientation - it was an Iced Chai Latte with a shot of white chocolate syrup (it was so good!). I can’t wait to try their “London Fog” beverage (I think it’s tea) when it gets a little cooler), and everyone’s really friendly and happy, and some are downright hilarious.
But the climate is a lot different from where my home is. It’s dryer because it’s the prairies - and while it’s only getting cooler and more fall-like up at home, it’s still hot here. And the heat here is oppressive. It saps my energy while I walk from my dorm room to different buildings between sessions.
It’s kind of lonely here, because the college is in a small town. The town is so small that the only chain-store here is an IGA, and there’s only half the banks here compared to what we have at home (so they don’t have my bank). I can look out my dorm window and see nothing but a couple of houses and endless prairies. If I look sharp enough to the right out my window, I can see a lone wind-turbine - which is part of a larger wind-farm but it’s out of view. The land is so flat here that I can see that lone turbine, even though it’s over 20 kilometers away (I know because I drove past it).
I was so excited to come here, and I’m excited about the prospect of learning something that can further me in life, but I really miss my family. I really wish they hadn’t had to leave. :’(

Monday, August 22, 2016

Heart Thumping, Mind Wheeling, Hail Thrashing - TORNADO!

(Sorry for the long post)

Summer can be a dangerous time for some. More dangerous than a simple sunburn or the risk of skin-cancer. The weather phenomena called the 'tornado' is a destructive force that strikes every summer - it's expected on the North American plate, where the conditions are just right.

Growing up, I always had a morbid fascination for tornadoes. When I say "morbid" I mean: "I find this fascinating, yet also terrifying". The mechanics of how tornadoes formed fascinated me, but the destruction and the lives they took frightened me to death.

I never thought I would ever have to hide from the threat of one. Sure, when my mother, grandmother, cousin and I were travelling across Canada when I was six, we drove through this weird cloud that stretched across the highway that had lead us about halfway across Saskatchewan. Mom could barely see and I can remember how her shrieking had my heart dancing in my throat - an experience I hadn't endured before, since I was only six and that was the first time I remember being out of my home province since I was 2 years old (though my parents traveled to the USA a lot when I was younger than that).

A few years later, my mother and I discovered that the weird cloud, that acted like a solid wall of dust, was caused by a tornado. We never saw a tornado, and the dust seemed to just hang in the air. It was by God's prevention that we hadn't hit the tornado as we drove through its cloud, and that everyone that drove through it (the highway was packed with cars that day - that's why Mom was shrieking so much. She didn't know if she could slow down, speed up, or whether or not she was still on the road since we really only had about 20 feet of visibility in front of the nose of the car).

That was as close to a tornado as I would ever get, I thought, up until last night.

It's one thing to run into a tornado when you're outside of your home province, it's another when a tornado decides to visit you in your backyard.

Since I was six, my family has moved one province over, from British Columbia to Alberta. I live so far north in Alberta, in the Taiga Biome where it's normally wet and void of the conditions needed for a tornado to develop. The only thing different from my childhood home on the west coast is the fact we get thunderstorms here, and it's not as humid, or wet.

I've heard over the last few years that tornados have begun to pop up down south. A couple years ago a tornado touched down on a farm outside of Whitecourt, a town/small city only an hour away from when I live, and dissipated before it could leave the farm's boundaries. Edmonton has been struck by a couple devastating tornadoes... but I honestly didn't think one would touch down so close. Edmonton is farther from the Rocky Mountains than I am, thus leaving it open for the volatile mixing of cold air from the Rockies and the warm air from down south.

Last night, my brother came back from summer camp orienteering (it's soccer themed and he's been looking forward to it all year) and warned us that there was a tornado watch, something that was a surprise. The weather was so calm and peaceful. The wind was gentle and it was actually cool and slightly rainy. Dad jumped outside and looked up at the sky while I peered out the bay window in our living room. At 9:30 in the evening, it was still light out despite the fact it would be gone in the next 30 minutes. But when I looked out that window, a dark, ominous cloud was creeping across the sky, like a black ooze.

Mentally, I went "uh oh", since the last time I saw a cloud like that, I was in the car with my mom as we went to pick my brother up from VBS. The thunder and lightning were fierce, and the rain had poured from the roof of the church with the intensity comparable to someone running several water hoses an just letting the water splatter loudly to the concrete of the parking lot. The rain drops that hit my face and back as I ran from the car to the safety of the church felt like bullets and were at least the size of my thumb.

My mind flashed back to that storm, and how it had terrified me then. I wasn't looking forward to facing such a terrifying storm so late at night, not after the recent memory of a fierce thunderstorm that hit at six in the morning in late June (I think...), where a tree across the yard was struck and the thunderclap was so loud that it sent my cat running from my bedroom and caused me to jump out of fright and nearly scream.

I went about checking the Weather Network app (last night), and I was presented with a terrible surprise. According to the Weather Network, the tornado watch had been upgraded to a tornado warning! A tornado watch is when meteorologists see that the thunderstorm is behaving in a way that it could produce a tornado and devastating side-effects like harsh winds, hail, and driving rain. But a tornado WARNING is when a storm chaser or someone watching the storm has seen rotation at the base of the cloud (think the swirls left by the whisk in your home-made whipped cream or how the water in your kitchen sink sometimes when it spins and then forms a funnel shape as it goes down the drain).


I've never felt such fear before! Dad went out onto the deck again, and watched the sky since there was still enough light to see by. He said that the clouds were going west, then were going north, then east. They were going everywhere, and I knew something was going on since clouds did not do that.

So, after some debate on what we should do (should we ride it out on the main floor or should we go downstairs into the basement?) I ran down into the basement and grabbed one of the cat carriers. Rushing back upstairs, I located my cat and stuffed her into the carrier and carried her downstairs. Dad rushed outside to shut the quad shed since it is one of those flimsy tarp ones stretched over a frame, and he didn't want it to blow away, and I prayed that he would be safe.

Once Pebbles was downstairs, I packed up my laptop, my mother's laptop, my kindle, and some books. I couldn't remember if my laptop is insured and I need it for college so I wasn't going to take any chances. Dad made it inside as the storm began to hammer the house with hail, harder than I've ever experienced before. I was lamenting our outdoor kitties because they must have been so scared! I love them so much, and even if the tornado was weak enough to not cause too much damage if it came through the property we were renting, the shed the cats take shelter in is so weak and the old barn they like to explore has sat on a strange slant since the day it was built several decades ago.

F-0, or "cold-core" tornadoes as they call them when they're as weak as a dust devil but still appear to be a tornado, are still strong enough to lift mobile homes and blow over cat sheds.

I'm still trying to deduce if it was a wedge tornado or a tornado cloaked by rain by this shot.


We all hunkered down in the unfinished basement, on the little decorative couch my mother hopes to refurnish someday, and to help take our minds off the storm raging outside, I opened my laptop and we continued to watch The Flash episode we had been watching before my brother came home (Season 2, Episode 1, in fact, since I had bought it from Google Play). At some points I couldn't tell if it was the wind shrieking outside or the sound effects from the show, but I kept my mouth shut.

After the episode was over, we watched "The Unicorn Song" by the Irish Rovers on Youtube, and a clip from the Irish Rovers TV show. By then, the storm seemed to have quieted down, and moved off, so we let my cat out of the carrier, shut down my laptop, and moved upstairs.

It was too quiet after the rattling caused by the hail which drove us downstairs. I honestly thought we were going to lose something - a storm had never been so fierce to us before. My dad had checked Doppler radar on his phone and the part of the storm that eventually created the tornado in the pictures I showed in this post passed right over us.

If you can zoom in, there's a tiny triangle of a funnel cloud smack dab in the middle of the picture.

Stupid me has always wished to experience a tornado for the rush, but now that I've experienced a near-miss, I wish I could go back and slap myself. This experience was NOT fun, there was no rush! I suppose it was a by-product of my morbid fascination with tornadoes, and I know better now.

I want to go see if there was any damage left behind. I'm hoping my dad will take me today before it gets too dark.


Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Book Review: The Artisan's Wife

The Artisan's Wife. Judith Miller. 2016. Bethany House Publishers. Pages: 333. [Source: Netgalley / Bethany House Publishers review program]

Ainslee McKay's world is shaken when she discovers her twin sister has not only eloped with a man she barely knows but now Ainslee must fulfill their obligation at a tile works in Weston, West Virginia. Ainslee must learn the ropes and, if she can keep the tile works profitable, her brother will help her sell the business. 
When Levi Judson arrives and shows Ainslee his designs for new tiles, she's impressed by his skill and passion for the business. But he's hiding his true reason for coming to Weston. And Ainslee knows he'd be crushed to learn his plans for a long career at McKay Tile Works are in vain since she intends to sell. Can the growing feelings between them survive if the truth comes to light--or is a future together as untenable as the future of the tile works itself?


~~~

Rating: ★★✩✩

I was sorely disappointed with this novel. At points I thought the story was going well, but then the jumbled plot soured my opinion of the story. When I chose to read and review this novel, I expected that the story would revolve around Ainslee and how she struggled to keep the fact that she wanted to sell the tile works from the man she fell in love with. Instead, Ainslee's older brother drops the bomb in front of the man she loves, a man who is one of her employees (that's why she was trying to keep the secret from him). And she wasn't madly in love with him at the time - yet.

I couldn't get into this novel, and not because it was the third novel in a series (something I didn't know when I requested the novel). The interactions, reactions, and the way the characters felt stilted, unrealistic to me. I know that Judith Miller put a lot of time and energy and thought into the story, but I didn't like it.

The plot felt strung out. The tension that could have been gained was let go half-way through the novel (the secret about wanting to sell the tile works), and the sudden appearance of "awful" Aunt Margaret and subsequent death seemed unneeded and pointless to the story - it probably would have seemed less pointless to me if I was forewarned about the novel being the third in its series and I had read the first two instalments. There wasn't enough forewarning about Aunt Margaret for her part to mesh with the rest of the story. 

I wish I liked the story more, because I really did like Ainslee. And I really felt for her when her twin sister took off on her and eloped. But that wasn't enough.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Come Over, Let's Lecture Economically & Get Educated



If you're confused about the title of this post - let me let you in on a little secret.

*crooks finger* A little closer... I have to whisper... well, not really.

The title of the post spells "college", because that's what I'm going to be talking about in this post.

Yes, this time of my life has finally arrived - well, will arrive, since I'll be arriving at the college I'm going to be attending in 3 weeks, give or take a few days. I'm going to be a college student, and I've stuck with my desire to study in Digital Media.

The reason why I'm writing about college is because it occured to me that I won't have as much time on my blog when my days will be filled with classes and studying. And when I have free time, I'll probably spend it either reading, writing, or even, *gasp*, hanging out with any friends I might have managed to gain.

But I'm so excited for the days in which I'll be able to fill my mind with interesting information again. I'm not looking forward to the tests, though. But if I want to learn about something new, I have to endure tests.

The lineup for the courses of the fall semester seem extremely interesting. I'll be studying the Torah and film and premiere stuff. I can't wait!

Friday, July 22, 2016

The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew. The Chronicle's of Narnia #1. C.S. Lewis. 1955. HarperCollins Publishers. Pages: 221. [Source: Childhood Gift]



He never finished what he was going to say for at that moment something happened. The high-backed chair in front of the fire moved suddenly and there rose out of it - like a pantomime demon coming up out of a trapdoor - the alarming form of Uncle Andrew. They were not in the empty house at all; they were in Digory's house and in the forbidden study! Both children said "O-o-oh" and realized their terrible mistake. They felt they ought to have known all along that they hadn't gone nearly far enough. 

 • •

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had.

 • •

The Magician's Nephew continues to be my favourite Narnia novel. It's not because it's the first novel, no, it's because of what Digory and Polly have to go through and what they see on their way to and while they're in Narnia.

I can still remember the day when my father gave me my boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia - I was in second grade, I think, and I was getting ready to go to an assembly with my father at the school I was going to (Comox Elementary, which has sadly been closed down). He handed me the boxed set and let me open it, and told me he would read the books to me whenever he could. And he did, though the last novel I remember that he read to me was The Horse and His Boy. I read the rest by myself because my father, I guess, soon became too busy to just sit down and read to me.

The story starts with Polly playing out in the garden when a boy peeks his face up over the wall dividing his garden from her own. The boy, who she was soon to learn was named Digory, was crying because of how ill his mother was getting. After that meeting, they become good friends and go regular little adventures, you know, the kind kids like to do.

But one day, they go up into the attic and decide to try and go explore the empty row house attached to their houses. But they make a grave mistake and accidentally enter into Digory's attic, where they discover that his uncle has converted the attic into a study...

This has to be my most favourite Narnia novel. There's so many things that happen in it that make me think. Think, think, THINK, think, THINK! And I love it when a book makes me THINK.

One of the parts of the books that makes me think the most is the part when Digory and Polly appear in Charn and take in what's left of that world. The fact that Charn's sun is red and "tired"-looking immediately makes me think that Charn's sun was a red giant - which is a star that has reached the end of it's life. It was hanging low over the horizon, so it made me think that it had probably swelled from its original size and took up most of the sky by the time Digory and Polly got there. Charn was an old world, and yet the sun had always been large and red, according to Jadis.

The fact that Charn was no more by the time Digory and Polly's adventure in Narnia was over unsettles me a bit, and I don't know why. 

I deeply love C.S. Lewis' style of writing in this book. It makes it sound like a lovely fairy-tale and it sucks me in every time I open this story. I look forward to the day I can read it to my kids, like my father did to me.

One thing I wish I could do, though, was find one of the sets of green and gold rings that Uncle Andrew created. I would love to explore the Wood between the Worlds, just to see what other worlds there could have been. My curiosity always gets to me like that. What other worlds were there other than ours and Charn and Narnia?

Note: I never realized, until now, that Digory and Polly lived in the Victorian era, when Sherlock Holmes still solved mysteries and the thought of motor-cars were still a bit of a ways away...

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Star Trek: From History's Shadow

From History's Shadow. Dayton Ward. Based on the concept created by Gene Roddenberry. (Star Trek: The Original Series).  2013. Pocket Books. Pages: 427. [Source: Bought]

He heard breathing and the rustling of clothing. Muscles tensing in anticipation of a confrontation if not a full-blown firefight, Kirk stepped around the stacked containers and levelled his phaser at the figure standing in the open. It was the Vulcan, who appeared flush and disheveled. At his feet lay what could only be the particle weapon detected by Spock's tricorder.

"That is my only weapon," he said, standing in place and holding his hands away from his body. "I am not a threat. It is my counterpart who should concern you."

~~~

I've had this pocket book sitting in the data-banks of my iPad for 6 months to a year. I can't quite remember when I bought it, I just remember that I wanted to read it very badly since it sounded like it was quite exciting. And I wasn't disappointed. Did I love From History's Shadow? Yes, yes I did.

From History's Shadow starts out with the crew of the Enterprise just having returned to the 23rd Century after the whole incident with Gary Seven in the Original Series episode "Assignment: Earth". They've barely been in their century a day before a disturbance in a cargo bay has them slamming on the brakes so they can go investigate.

What exactly is causing all that fuss in the cargo bay, anyway? Turns out, Enterprise somehow gained a couple of stow-aways when it was in the 20th Century.

One of the reasons why I grabbed this book was because Mestral was in it. Mestral is a Vulcan character from the only Star Trek: Enterprise episode I've ever watched - "Carbon Creek". The reason why I like him so much is because he decided to stay on Earth after kind of falling in love with a Carbon Creek resident named Maggie. The thought that Mestral, a Vulcan, decided to stay and live amongst the human race, which at the time was extremely interested in the concept of alien invaders, is an interesting concept.

I liked the action and the cohesiveness of the plot of this story. Despite the fact that there were at least four points of view at any given time, I understood what was happening at each point and the only times I felt lost were when I returned to the story after stopping in the middle of a scene. Each and every character read like they were supposed to. Sometimes I felt that the situations weren't described as much as they could have but in every scene my imagination took over and compensated because there was enough information!

At the end of the novel, when one of the characters, a James Wainwright, is retired and old and slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's Disease, a breaking news TV spot pops up on his TV, showing a picture of a very familiar UFO. After several encounters with a similar-shaped ship which was under the command of Captain Kirk when he was in his prime, Captain Janeway's starship pulls the memories of his times chasing aliens and seeing things out-of-this-world from the depths of his mind where they had long since been buried.

What I would have liked to have seen at the end was Mestral visiting James after he saw the image of Voyager on the TV, since they had a bit of a working relationship halfway through the novel. You know, just to see how he was doing since Mestral would have hardly have changed at all. But it didn't happen. Oh well.

Note: The reader of this novel would have to be extremely well-versed in the Star Trek universe to get a lot of what happened in this novel. I just squeezed in thanks to my curiosity and due to the fact that I'm finally watching Star Trek: Voyager from the beginning.

This novel takes elements from:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Assignment: Earth".
  • Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday" with a cameo by Captain John Christopher.
  • Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Future's End & Future's End, Part II"
  • Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Carbon Creek"

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Movies That Have Left Me Dissatisfied

This was something I just wanted to share, since it occurred to me that, lately, I've been subjected to certain stories that have made me want to scream with frustration. Only one novel I've read in recent memory has had this affect on me, and that was The Phantom of the Opera.

But this post is about the movies that left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, literally.

I don't really know why I wanted to make a post about it, but I guess I wanted to talk about story endings. I know that there are effective ways to end a story, but some of them end up being totally unnecessary. Really, some endings I've seen on movies have just left me frustrated and furious.

Here is a list of movies that have made me frustrated:


  1. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
  2. The Amazing Spiderman 2
  3. Star Trek Generations
  4. Maze Runner & Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
  5. The Pretender: Island of the Haunted

Usually, I'm pretty tolerant about how a story is crafted, due to the fact that I'm a realist 50% of the time. Real life often doesn't allow for happy endings of "happily ever afters". So when something doesn't go perfect for the main characters, then I'm fine. Because that's realistic. Though, even though I'm fine with it, that doesn't mean that I'm happy about it, lol.


1. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life


One evening, Mom was flicking through the channels when she stumbled across this movie. She went "eh, why not?" and changed to it. When I was little and I was just becoming coherent enough to play computer games (I've been playing video games since I was five - and computer games are more challenging than video games, I swear! lol) I discovered Mom's copy of the Tomb Raider CD-ROM disk. I quickly discovered that I could only make it through a quarter of the first level before I would make it to a stone bridge in this cave where I would be taken down by a couple wolves (and where exactly did those come from???) and GAME OVER would be thrown up onto the screen.

The reason why I was dissatisfied with this movie's ending: Terry had to be such a overgrown baby in the Cradle of Life. Didn't he realize that if he took Pandora's Box, he could, eventually, be the last living man on Earth (if he opened the box) or would eventually become a victim of the plague contained within the box (if he sold it)? I was really disappointed that he was greedy enough to try to push past Lara in the Cradle so she was forced to shoot him. I really liked Lara and Terry as a pair.


2. The Amazing Spiderman 2


I really enjoyed the first Amazing Spiderman movie, so I thought I would love this movie just as much. At the beginning, it was exactly what I expected, but then it quickly spiralled into something less than what I was hoping for. I sympathized for Max Dillon/Electro - one of the villains.

The reason why I was dissatisfied with this movie's ending: Gwen's death. The subsequent twisting of Harry Osbourne's mind because of his inherited disease so that he was eventually so desperate to live that he labeled his childhood friend - Peter Parker - his enemy. And he killed Gwen! I fully believe that Peter should have been able to save Gwen despite how intense his battle with Harry was, but the writers decided that she had to die instead of actually getting to fulfil her dreams. (Oh, and if you can't figure out why she died when Peter clearly caught her - well, the sudden stop caused by Peter catching her with his webbing snapped her back).


3. Star Trek Generations


I like this movie. I loved how it brought the original Star Trek series and The Next Generation together through finding Captain James T. Kirk in the Nexus. One thing I didn't like about it, though, was the fact that Data just had to swear as the Enterprise-D's saucer-section crash-landed. Was that exactly necessary? I thought people had almost completely discarded the instinctive need to swear? I know Data was trying out his emotion-chip, but still--

The reason why I was dissatisfied with this movie's ending: Captain Kirk's death. Probably every Star Trek fan agrees with me - Kirk's death was unnecessary. He had plenty of time to get off of that catwalk before it fell. I knew that he was out there distracting Soran so that his rocket would blow up on him, but Kirk could have started running for solid ground as the rocket exploded, or he could have run over to somewhere else. I really wanted to see how Kirk would have reacted to the 24th Century.


4. Maze Runner & Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials


Where can I begin? For one thing, I really don't like dystopian films or novels, but the action in the first movie had me intrigued. I got to like the characters, even though dread throbbed in the pit of my stomach. I was intrigued from the beginning of the first movie because I wondered if these kids were on some other planet, and were being dropped off by machines left over from the human race and that the human race no longer existed. But then I quickly learned that, no, the teenagers were not on another planet, but were actually on Earth, and Earth has been hit by some sort of catastrophe caused by the sun?? I'm not sure since it's only called "The Flare". Apparently there was a massive solar flare that must have weakened every human's immune system that a plague of epic proportions swept through the population of the planet. I didn't like The Scorch Trials at all, and spent the time my family watched it building Lego as it droned on in the background.

The reason why I was dissatisfied with these movies' ending: I admit, I liked the action in these movies, but the endings left me with bitterness to end all bitterness in my mouth. With the first movie, when they killed Chuck off - they didn't have to kill Chuck off! But probably it happened in the book (I haven't read the book). The ending of the second movie frustrated with how Teresa betrayed her friends for W.C.K.D. even though it was made very apparent that W.C.K.D. is evil. Really, Teresa??!?


5. The Pretender: Island of the Haunted


The Pretender has to be one of my favourite cat & mouse-themed TV shows of all time. In each episode, Jarod - the main character, the "pretender" - goes about helping someone who was wronged, like a security guard who was killed by a couple of police officers who broke into the bank he was guarding and made it look like he was the criminal. Or the family of an pilot who was accused of being drunk when he was flying a jet (so it crashed and he died) so they couldn't get his pension. And all the while he teases and taunts the organization who kidnapped him when he was a kid and exploited his genius for their research. More often than not, I wish the Pretender had gone on for more than four seasons and two movies.

The reason why I was dissatisfied with this movie's ending: This is the second movie of the two movies produced to help tie up the TV series since the Pretender was cancelled, leaving it at a very tense and suspenseful situation. The reason why I was dissatisfied with the ending of this episode was the fact that it revealed why Jarod was taken by the Centre when he was a child. He was taken because of a prophecy. But that's not entirely the whole reason why I wasn't happy with ending - viewers were left with Jarod still on the run. What I wanted was for the entirety of the Centre to be gone, destroyed, so Jarod could settle down, start a family, and find his mother, father, and sister. After all, wasn't that his goal and was what he had been striving for the entire show?

~~~

Now, those are the movies, that I can remember, that have frustrated with their endings. They leave me going into overdrive with my thoughts. I overthink about it until, ultimately, I have to abandon it knowing I can't change them. So all I can do it fume quietly about them, lol.

But every writer has a reason for an ending that may annoy me, but sometimes those endings really don't make sense, or entirely unnecessary.

What movies have driven you up the wall, or driven you crazy?


Thursday, July 7, 2016

Murder On the Orient Express


Murder On the Orient Express. Agatha Christie. 1934. William Morrow Paperbacks. Pages: 365. [Source: Bought]

After watching the "Mummy On the Orient Express" episode of Doctor Who, I was curious about the original form of the story by Agatha Christie. I really didn't think about it, though, until I saw the novel at Chapters. It was on a display case with a sign stating "Sherlock's Bookshelf". I was drawn in by the sign because I was experiencing a Sherlock kick at the time.

I had this novel for a long time before I decided to read it. And it wasn't until I took a good look at it that I realized that it was the 10th book in the Hercule Poirot series. So I was a little apprehensive when I finally dove in.

When I began to read, I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't know who Hercule Poirot was so when I was introduced to him I never really connected to him. I couldn't see what his personality was like, so it was like I was sitting back and kind of watching the action from the distance. Though I did start to feel like I was in the story as the mystery became more and more intense.

I always like a good old mystery. This was a good mystery and I can see why it's considered Agatha Christie's best. I couldn't deduce who was the culprit until the very end, and I like it that way. I usually can deduce who's the culprit is about three quarters of the way through the novel - I don't know how or why, I just do sometimes.

But I was really happy with it. It really made the last five days go like the wind.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Fluffie Selfie

Today, after my mother and I came home from grocery shopping, the power went out twice, despite the fact that we weren't being bombarded by a violent storm, and the wind hasn't been all that terrible.

I guess we were using too much electricity and it popped the meter's breaker. It's hot, muggy, so we had the air conditioner on so we could cook hamburger on the stove and sausages in the oven, and we had a few lights on, Mom and me were watching TV, I'm charging my computer, the clothes dryer was on, and we had a couple window-fans on for circulation. It was too much, I guess, since the house we're in was built before 1979 or something.

I went out and took down the power meter number and our address (since we're renting and we have a P.O. Box, so we have no idea what our renting address is), and Fluffie followed me out to the road. I managed a selfie after I was done writing down the information.


Not my best picture - I'm usually pretty photophobic. But this is the first time I've managed to take a selfie with Fluffie, and she was all too happy to oblige.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

The Phantom of the Opera / Le Fantôme de l'Opéra


The Phantom of the Opera / Le Fantôme de l'Opera. Gaston Leroux. 1909-1910/1911. Bantam Classics. Pages: 338. [Source: Library]

When I borrowed The Phantom of the Opera from the library, I didn't really know what I was getting into. I thought that the story would start out with the main characters, which I assumed were the Phantom and the girl, which I later learned was Christine.

But no, The Phantom of the Opera began with a group of characters that had nothing to do with the story at all, and that was when my frustration began.

I was disappointed with The Phantom of the Opera because I my mother told me that it was Phantom/Christine-centric. Yes, the story revolves around Christine and the Phantom, but not as much as I had thought. Hoped. Instead, as I read, I felt removed from the action, unable to connect with the characters.

It was torture for me to get through this novel. In fact, it read less like a novel and more like an autobiography/Leroux's personal opinion of what happened. I went in wanting a novel and didn't get what I wanted.

So, I did not like The Phantom of the Opera. I did not like Erik/The Phantom, nor did like Christine. Christine didn't feel real. She was out there. She infuriated me. I connected with Raoul, more than anyone else because of how Christine played with his heart! She would go to him, and then leave, over and over, and it made me so MAD at her! In my head I imagined throwing the book across the room, and throttling her.

But I made it to the end, and Raoul finally got the girl. I guess I can be slightly pleased with that ending. But, oh boy, I'm never going to pick this book up again.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Cats & Flowers

Today, I went out and braved the heat because my little darling, Marcelle, has been noticeably losing weight. She's the runt out of all our outdoor kitties and I guess she wasn't getting as much as the others. So, I went out, found her, and gave her some food away from the others so she could relax and eat. Boy, she sure enjoyed it! I must remember to do this every day so that she bulks up enough before winter. She needs to be able to butt in and get the food herself when I'm away at college.

While I was out there, watching her eat, I noticed how beautiful it was outside, so I decided to take some pictures. I wanted to share them with you guys :3


My marigolds. They're finally blooming, and hopefully are doing their job of warding away mosquitos. I got them in three colours because I wanted the gradient. I'm so glad they held the colour! I thought they were a random coloured breed of marigold, like the mini pansies I grew last year.


My outdoor cat, Marcelle. She loves to pose for pictures - every time I start snapping, I can hardly find the will to stop! Such a sweetheart. She's the cat I wish I could bring inside, because I would not want to lose such a sweet personality to something "normal" in nature - such as an eagle, hawk, or owl. The house we're about to move into doesn't have enough room for her, but I would like to think that when I have my own place I will bring her inside.


My brother's cat, Fluffie (yes, it's spelt with an 'IE'). By far the third most snuggly cat out of the outdoor bunch. Hardly ever does she look into the camera, lol.


My brother's cat, Flumpy. She's the second most snuggly cat out of the outdoor bunch, since she almost always makes a bee-line to me when she sees me. She's also the only long-haired kitten that came out of both litters that graced us last summer, and we have no idea why. That long fur is super silky soft, though.

It was the perfect day for taking pictures. I think those marigolds were working and doing their job since I wasn't bit while I was outside ^^

I'm going to miss these kitties while I'm at college. I really need to start taking pictures of these guys so I can put them in a photo album. I want to be able to look at them whenever I can. But I'm sure going to miss touching them and talking to them :'(



Sunday, June 26, 2016

My Thoughts on Sherlock Holmes

I've wanted to watch this for a few years, and since it's one of the few movies I haven't read a review for on Plugged In (a review website by Focus On the Family), I didn't know really what to expect. Outside of a relatively "normal" mystery in Victorian London.

To tell the truth, I was unsure about how much I'd like a Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock - but I was quickly proven wrong. There were several times that I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I think my absolute favourite part of the whole movie was when Sherlock jumped out of a window with an electrically-charged fork-thing in hand and ended up face-planting on the cobble-stone street below.

Now, when I said I was expecting a "normal" mystery, I meant something along the lines of: someone's murdered and they end up chasing the murderer all around the city.

Someone was murdered, several people in fact. But this is where it gets really weird.

More often than not, I forget how weird the Victorian era. The Victorian era was filled with strange beliefs and odd rebels who wished to push the boundaries of science. And that was the backbone of this Sherlock Holmes story.

The movie opens with Sherlock making his way down into a stone room under a large, multi-floored building, taking out bad guys as he goes. Soon, he comes upon a balcony looking over the room and peers down at a strange ritual taking place. Low, evil-sounding chanting fills the air as a young woman writhes on a stone table. The chanting's coming from the man in a long, ornate robe, a hood obscuring his face. As the chanting continues the young woman slowly lifts a knife, poised to thrust it into her own chest.

But before she can do that, Sherlock is there, taking out bad guys.

The chanting, robed bad guy is arrested and locked away - and it turns out that the scum-bag is a lord, Lord Blackwood in fact. And he's known in London's most prominent cult as the most evil individual to them, that he wields dark magic.

I wasn't exactly comfortable with how much of the cult was in the story, because it was borderline Satanist and there were pentagrams and rituals, etc. But I enjoyed the characters - I think Watson was my favourite. I love the Victorian era, even if London in that period was really depressing.

I really hope that the sequel is a little more normal, even if that normal is Sherlock and Watson chasing after Moriarty at night. I just don't like to watch movies that make me squirm in my seat. Though I did laugh...

Monday, June 20, 2016

My First Hub!

I never really thought I would "advertise" that I had written a HubPage, but I guess I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm active on HubPages now! I'm not quite sure what the theme of my pages will be, but my first Hub is about how to build a Hobbit character ^^

Here's the link to it: http://hubpages.com/literature/So-You-Want-to-Create-an-Original-Hobbit-Character

Friday, June 3, 2016

My Thoughts on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

When I was little, it had to be when I was in either Grade 2 or 3, I came home to find that my father had gotten me the complete The Chronicles of Narnia box set. As frequently as he was able, he would sit me on his lap and read to me. I believe he managed to get to The Horse and His Boy before he stopped reading to me because my brother wouldn't sit still and life got in the way.

This film version of the movie is my favourite. Based on the second book of the series, I think it does very well with the story-line, though it has been a while since I've stopped to read it. Either way, I enjoy this movie, and wished that I had sat down to watch it again sooner. I used to watch it over and over when I was younger, but it seems I've not touched this one for quite a few years.

One thing that occurred to me while I was watching this was how the people of Narnia had no idea what a human was at first glance, but they seemed to remember that humans existed before. And humans did exist in Narnia prior to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - they were brought there by Aslan himself at the dawn of Narnia's creation. But they all seem to have left and/or died out, and the only known human population exists down in Calormen.

Calormen, to the south of Narnia, separated from Narnia by Archenland.
Honestly, it does bring up the question of why Aslan didn't just bring two brothers and two sisters up from Calormen, because they are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, even if they don't live on Earth. But since I've been a Narnia fan for as I can remember, I know that Aslan probably brought Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy from Earth and to Narnia so he could bring both worlds together.

C.S. Lewis was very meticulous with the contents and themes of his stories.

What I love most about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the fact that it's an allegory to Christ's crucifiction. In both the book and the film of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, before Aslan opens up a portal to Earth through the stationary tsunami (or sky, as it was described in the book), this conversation happens:

/\

' "You are too old, children," said Aslan, "and you must begin to come close to your own world now."

"It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"

"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.

"Are - are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.

"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. "You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there." '

\/

In this conversation that I decided to borrow from the fifth book of the Narnia series, it hints at the fact that Aslan is actually Jesus, and that he decided to take on the form of a lion in order to guide four children. When I say that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an allegory to the crucifiction is because Aslan died on the stone table (which represents the cross), taking Edmund's place like Christ took on our sins so we could be forgiven ^u^

I love ever aspect of this movie, despite the fact that it shortened the story-line a bit because it was obvious that they didn't want to make the movie as long as, say, The Lord of the Rings. And if they added all the details in the movie probably wouldn't have been suitable for kids and the rating might have not been a mere "PG" - and might have inched closer to "PG-13". Or dare I say. "R" like the third extended Hobbit movie (though it probably wouldn't have made it that far since they probably still kept the gore low key)?

I chose to review this as a Period Drama because the Pevensie children originate from World War II London. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were evacuated from their home in London (I always assumed it was London since it was being bombed, though I could be wrong). The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe exists as a high fantasy that exists in both the WWII era and the medieval era.

As a parting note I would like to say: even after all these years, I still like how the phoenix was summoned during the battle. And I can't wait to watch and review Prince Caspian!


Thursday, June 2, 2016

Period Drama Challenge April & May Tag Questions

1. What period dramas did you view in April & May?
I viewed The Princess Bride and Belle in April. Unfortunately, I didn't view anything in May. I was busy in May with trying to get a job and reading From This Moment and working on my poem collection project "Blue Jays & Rainy Days". I aim to fix that this month, before I'm caught up with moving to our new home :3 I also attempted to watch "To the Ends of the Earth" last month but couldn't even stomach the first episode. :P

2. Do you prefer to watch period dramas that have a happy ending or a bittersweet ending?
I prefer happy endings over bittersweet ones. I remember watching a Civil War era film some years ago about a Yankee soldier and a foal, and in the end the soldier died during a battle shortly after he and a soldier from the south worked to pull the foal out of the river in the middle of the battlefield. The Yankee soldier was the main character! He wasn't supposed to die!

3. What media forms do you prefer to use when watching period dramas (i.e. purchased DVDs, rented/borrowed DVDs, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu)?
I prefer to watch DVDs I've purchased and I use Netflix liberally, since ordering anything from the library takes too long and my town doesn't have a rental store anymore. I also don't have CraveTV, and Hulu's not available in Canada yet.

4. Which period drama character's wardrobe would you like to own?
I would have to say that I would love to either have Dr. Julia Ogden's (Murdoch Mysteries) wardrobe or Olivia King's (Road to Avonlea) wardrobe. They're both so spectacular! Even though I'd rather not have to wear a skirt.

5. What period dramas are you looking forward to viewing in June 2016?
I hope that I can watch either a few episodes or an entire season of Murdoch Mysteries. Thankfully, each season isn't very long, but if I want to have a life outside my computer, I might only be able to view a few episodes :/ I might also watch one of the Chronicles of Narnia movies, if I'm able to find them. I think either The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Prince Caspian may be in my family's massive black movie case...

I might also watch Tuck Everlasting, since I've been wanting to watch it again, but I have to borrow it from the library.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Book Review: From This Moment

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From This Moment. Elizabeth Camden. 2016. Bethany House Publishers. Pages: 352. [Source: Netgalley/ebook from Bethany House Publishers' book review program]

Romulus White has tried for years to hire illustrator Stella West for his renowned scientific magazine. She is the missing piece he needs to propel his magazine to the forefront of the industry. But Stella abruptly quit the art world and moved to Boston with a single purpose: to solve the mysterious death of her beloved sister. Romulus, a man with connections to high society and every important power circle in the city, could be her most valuable ally.

Sparks fly the instant Stella and Romulus join forces, and Romulus soon realizes the strong-willed and charismatic Stella could disrupt his hard-won independence. Can they continue to help each other when their efforts draw the wrong kind of attention from the powers-that-be and put all they've worked for at risk?

~~~

When I requested From This Moment, I was drawn by the potential for a good mystery hinted at in the synopsis. And I wasn't disappointed. It was one of those times that I wished Bethany House Publishers was able to send me a physical copy of the book so I would be able to keep it after I reviewed it! It's definitely going to be a book I'm going to add to my collection, just so I can read it again sometime.

There were so many things I loved about this novel, from how real the characters were to the mystery and the thrill I get when we don't know who is friend or foe. Romulus was my favourite character by far. He was so 3D is was crazy. He's definitely the kind of man I would like to marry some day - not because he runs a magazine or because he's handsome. I'd marry him if I could because of his personality.

This novel was one wild ride, and was oh so realistic. I felt like I was there, in Victorian Boston, watching as the streets were dug up so the subway could be built. The dynamics between characters were as real and volatile as if they were happening in real life.

I was quite surprised at how rough the constabulary was with Stella. When two constables barged their way into Stella's boarding-house room, I nearly had to swallow my heart! I guess I was really surprised since I'm used to Murdoch Mysteries, a mystery series that takes place in Victorian Toronto, where a couple of the regular characters are constables at Stationhouse 4. Constables Higgins and Crabtree are actually gentlemen with whoever they interact with.

I guess I learn something new every day. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would like to read it.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Thunderstorms

Today is the second day in a row, and the second time this season, that I have listened to the rumblings of distant thunder - a sound I've missed over this last winter. There's something about the sound of electricity hotter than the surface of the sun while it's ripping the sky apart that I find so fascinating.

When there's a thunderclap, I listen as it echos on forever. There's something comforting to me about listening of the acoustics of the sky as if it were a massive instrument...

These thunderstorms remind me of the project I've been working on for the last couple of months. It also reminds me of my love to listen to rain as I read a good book. It has been raining a lot here, and I'm grateful since Fort McMurray wasn't all that far from where I live. With the rain we've been having, we're just a tiny bit less like a tinderbox. I hope.

I currently have three novels on the go, but I've stopped to focus on only one since it's the one Bethany House Publishers sent me to review. It's titled From This Moment, and it's by Elizabeth Camden. I am absolutely in love with it. It's a Victorian mystery, and boy, it feels like a mystery. I believe that you guys - if you like mysteries - will absolutely devour it like I am.

The other two novels, the ones on hold, are The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and Star Trek: From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward. I'm enjoying them both, and I look forward to getting back to them once I'm done the review novel.

The project I'm working on is a collection of poems about spring, titled Blue Jays & Rainy Days. I was inspired to write it after seeing two Blue Jays in one day not long after the snow disappeared and buds began to appear on the trees. It's spring themed, and I hope to have it published through Pronoun before I head off to college in August.

I find myself enjoying writing poems a lot more than I did when I was younger. I guess, back then, I just didn't see the point of criptic messages strung out in the form of a poem.

But I love writing them now - and the haiku of all forms is my favourite! I just hope I'm structuring them the right way... lol.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

The Beginnings of The Scavenger

Recently, I came up with an idea for a novel series revolving around a family, and maybe  some unrelated characters that might come into the lives of this family. I'm really quite interested in it, and I thought I would share some spoiler-less bits with you.

I was inspired to start creating this story, titled A Galaxy So Fickle: The Scavenger for now, after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens again with some friends. The whole concept of having to scavenge on a nigh-inhospitable planet struck my muse, which began to formulate and create a world totally different than Jakku, but still inhospitable enough that my main character would have to scavenge.

I didn't want my character's story to sound too similar to Rey's on Jakku - and in all honesty Scavenger is still in development - so I decided that my story would take place on a snowy world to distinguish it from Jakku. The difference between my world and Jakku is that on Jakku, the scavengers had to work and scavenge interesting ship and technological parts in order to trade for what looks like a gummy/Jello hybrid and instant bread (just add water!), which is pretty much the only food you could get on that world. I don't know where the water comes from, really.

On my world, water is common, because all you have to do is scoop up some snow, put it in a pot, and heat it until it melts. And half the time scavengers are scavenging for food in the forms of trapped animals (wild animals are something Jakku blatantly lacks), and fruit that hangs from trees that have adapted to the cold.

Speaking of the cold, that's the main danger that the denizens of my world have to compete with. Instead of having to worry about staying hydrated or getting too hot on Jakku, the people of my world's main worry is that they have to stay warm. They can't stay out too long or they may freeze.

The name of my world is Torvel, the only planet in the hospitable zone around its parent star Monovella. I'm having so much fun worldbuilding for Scavenger, and I hope that one day I'll feel comfortable enough to write it out and have it published :3

Thursday, April 21, 2016

My Thoughts on Belle


The year is 1769.
Britain is a colonial empire and a slave trading capital.

When I saw Belle on Netflix, I thought it looked like a rather interesting story. I don't see very many Period Dramas about those who do not have light skin.

Belle is about Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsey, the biracial illegitimate daughter of a British naval officer and an African slave. Her father lost track of her until he found her again in the slums and took her home. She only really knew him for a few hours before he had to go back to sea, and he died out there before ever coming back.

Belle is full of themes about racial inequality, about how the colour of your skin, way back then, placed you in a class of respect no matter what your social class was. If you were white, you were fine. But if you were black, or even half-black, you were dirt. Because blacks were slaves.

But Dido wasn't a slave. Her father had money, he was wealthy, and she inherited it all when he passed away.

In the beginning, the Murrays and her new aunt were a little shocked and didn't know how to really go about this since Dido was the bi-product of an extremely sinful act and she wasn't white. But what I loved was that they grew to love her in a way that she was a member of the family.

I loved how accurate the film was to the time period and the fact that Dido eventually found the love of her life. I also loved how Dido was a real person, even though she's been hidden by time. Thankfully, she sat still enough to have her picture painted, so we know what she looks like to an extent.

I found it very interesting how Belle took place around the time of the Zong massacre - where a British captain and crew threw the entire quantity of slaves off the ship and let them drown because the drinking water was running low and the slaves were "diseased". The slaves were diseased because they were packed too closely together, and the ship passed by eight ports where they could have gotten water. According to history, the captain and crew did this in hopes of claiming insurance money on the slaves, which would amount to more than what they would have gotten for sick slaves. But thankfully, it was ruled that the insurance companies pay nothing to the Zong crew and it was thought to be one of the events that eventually lead to the outlawing of slavery all-together.

I'm also glad Dido didn't choose to marry the rich guy. His family was really only seeking after her money, anyway.

It was a relatively satisfying movie, and it helped remind me what society had to go through to get to where we are today.

The conversation that stuck with me...

William Murray (Dido's great-uncle): "This is not about Miss Lindsey."
John Davinier: "Of course it is! It's about all of us! ...It's about everything. ...Everything that's important!"
William Murray: "Mr. Davinier, ... the world is a devastating place. You must protect your emotions if you wish to prevent matters of law and...love from devastating you."

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

My Thoughts on The Princess Bride

It's been a while since I've watched this movie, and suffice to say, I really wasn't in the mood to watch a romantic-comedy. I was more in the mood for just a romance. But oh well.

The main characters of this film are Buttercup and Wesley (the farm boy). How Wesley met Buttercup is simple: he met her when he signed up to be her farm hand (not shown in the film, obviously happened before the beginning of the film). Buttercup loved nothing more to order him around when she wasn't riding her horse around her property or doing whatever she did with her farm that she could do without Wesley's help.

The film is rather quite vague about the early events of their relationship, but what I do like is that it does make it clear that their attraction with one another wasn't instantaneous. Wesley was the first one to fall in love, and I guess that it was apparent enough that Buttercup knew, but I feel that she didn't immediately reciprocate. In fact, as it shows, Buttercup doesn't realized she's fallen for Wesley until Wesley leaves to go and "seek his fortune", since he had nothing for Buttercup. He wanted to marry her, but he needed the money.

Unfortunately, during his boat-ride to wherever he was going to find work, the ship he was on was attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts, and he was seemingly lost at sea. Buttercup learned of this, and fell into a great depression.

Now, I know this doesn't sound like much of a comedy - yet - but this is because this movie, and the book it was adapted from, were very well done. In various writing curriculum I've gone through, The Princess Bride has been mentioned at least once due to its beautifully-done plot. If this movie started out as a comedy right from the get-go, I believe it wouldn't be as much of a cult-classic as it is regarded as today.

What I like most about this film is the fact that it is different from the average movie-adaption. Instead of dumping us right into the world of the story, it starts out in the "real world". There's a young boy (not named), and he's down with a bad cold or the flu. There's only so many comics or 8-bit video games one can play before they become utterly and all-consumingly bored. His grandfather comes over with an early-Christmas present in hand, knowing exactly how to break his grandson's boredom, even though the boy might not be so willing to sit and listen to what he might think is a "sappy love-story".

I loved how Wesley looked as the Dread Pirate Roberts/The Man in Black (I have something for men with British accents wearing bandit masks, apparently).

The only thing I didn't like about the movie is that the grandson used Jesus' name in vain (like, was that exactly necessary?!), and the fact that Inigo used the b-word while fighting the six-fingered count at the end of the film.

And why, oh why, did I keep hearing the word "indigo" instead of "Inigo"?? Their accents kept making me insert a "D" into the name!

Despite all that, these are my two most favourite quotes:

Shortly after Wesley saved Buttercup after she was kidnapped:

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something."

And when Inigo was fighting the six-fingered count:
"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"

Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia, a review

The Battle for Skandia . John Flanagan. 2006. Puffin Books. Pages: 294. Price: USD $8.99/$11.99 CAN. Setting: Skandia. ISBN 0142413402. [S...