TV Thursdays (3)

TV Thursdays is a weekly meme in which you discuss this weeks television shockers and stinkers, and next weeks hopefuls. If you would like to join the fun come here to Bloody Bad and leave a link to your post in the comments section.

The theme is what have you been watching this week?

It was premiere week so I took in a lot of my regular shows and a couple of new ones as well.

I watched CSI and I wasn't disappointed. It started with everyone frozen in time at the CSI lab with people fighting and bullets flying! And I'm so glad Laurence Fishburne joined the cast...Morpheus, he really does know Kung Fu!

Fringe: I just can't get enough of this show. Anna Torv is brilliant in this as well as Joshua Jackson. We've got alternate universes, Leonard Nimoy, telepathy, conspiracies, etc!

Medium is my favorite! We ended last season with Allison in a coma after brain surgery. Would she have her medium super powers back? It was a great season opener and am excited for more!

I also tried Flash Forward. It was gripping! I'm hooked...I'm not sure how long they can hold onto it, where it will lead, but I'm willing to see! The entire world blacks out for 2 minutes and seventeen seconds and sees glimpses of their futures. What caused it or who and why?

And I took a gander at The Forgotten....let's just say it's already forgotten...

Honest Scrap Award and Others...

Woot!

Honest Scrap award
Thanks to Velvet of the vvb32 reads

This is the Honest Scrap award. It is for those bloggers who write from the heart. The rules are to pass it along to seven bloggers and then list 10 honest things about myself. Here are those deserving of this honor, bloggers who write from the heart and touch me because of it:

1. Colette of A Buckeye Girl Reads
2. Nicole of Books and Bards
3.Brizmus Blogs Books
4. Maria of Fly High
5. Jennifer of Between the Lines
6. JoAnn of Lakeside Musing
7. Lisa of Lit and Life

10 Honest Things

1. I love animals, especially my two cats.
2. I'm scared to death about being a mom and not screwing up my little boy's life.
3. I'm a huge Trekkie, I just love all things Star Trek!
4. Sometimes I fear death.
5. I love peanut butter.
6. I want to travel the world one day, UK, Japan, Greece, just to name a few.
7. I speak Spanish.
8. I had an eleven pound baby.
9. I'm on a YA kick right now and all things supernatural for reading.
   
10. I collect DVDs and playing cards.

Let’s Be Friends Award

Given to me by Yesterday's Tuna.

The award is for:

Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.

I would like to pass this award along to:

1. MariReads
2. Reading Rocks
3. Reality Bites...Fiction Does it Better
4. Simpleng Kaligayahan
5. A Slice of Life
6. Stacy's Books
7. Stitch Girl Stitch
8. The Bumbles Blog

Super Commenter Award

Comments make my day. Seriously. And here's thanking some people who have made me feel great and have inspired me to keep going with the blog :

1. Velvet at vvb32 reads

2. Colette of A Buckeye Girl Reads

3. The Bumbles Blog

4. Brizmus Blogs Books

5. Lisa at Lit and Life

The Lemonade Award

Details:
The Lemonade Award is a feel good award that shows great attitude or gratitude.

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

- Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
- Link your nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

I'm only doing seven...

1. Nicole of Books and Bards

2. Lovelylissie at Vintage Joy

3. Velvet at vvb32 reads

4.Colette at A Buckeye Girl Reads

5.Lisa at Lit and Life

6. Maria at Fly High!
7. Orchid at the Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Wondrous Words Wednesdays (2)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun. (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.)

From Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter

1. "Voila, scads of new words, like army, apparel, and logic." Origin: Unknown

A great number or quantity. I figured that's what it meant from the sentence, but I'd never heard that word before!

2. "...moribund oddities like whom." Origin: Latin moribundus mori- dying, bundus- adjective.

In a dying state, on the verge of extinction. I think the first time I heard this word was in the movie Music and Lyrics uttered by Hugh Grant's character. So when I saw it again in this book I thought I would officially look it up! Glad I did. It's such a great word.

Forgotten English: Eye-bite

Eye-bite: To bewitch an animal with the evil eye. Northern England.
--James Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, 1855

Scotland's Last Witch

September 22, 1944 Scottish medium Helen Duncan was released from incarceration after serving nine months for a trumped up vagrancy charge. She had apparently foretold of the sinking of the HMS Barham and predicted it to an audience in 1943, which was several months before the announcement of the loss. British officials feared she had knowledge of the D-Day invasion and, therefore, decided to imprison her before she could reveal it.

She was convicted under the all-but-forgotten 18th century Witchcraft Act, but was later repealed in 1953 due to this result. Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited Duncan in prison and it was he who decided to repeal the out-dated law. Helen Duncan was the last person publicly persecuted for sorcery.

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The orange flames waved at the crowd as paper and print dissolved inside them. Burning words were torn from their sentences.

Never Slow Dance With a Zombie by E. Van Lowe

"Dirk just told the funniest joke," I said.
"Dirk is a zombie!" She practically spat the words at me.
"I know. That's what made it so funny. The punch line was Mmmmmmmmaaaaaargh! Hysterical." I laughed freely, pretending I was laughing at the ridiculous punch line.

These are two of the ones I'm reading. The Book Thief is so beautiful, I just love it. And Never Slow Dance With a Zombie is just a riot!

Monday Movie Meme: School Days

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Is hosted by The Bumbles. Leave your link here and in my comments section if you so desire!

The theme this week is all on movies that bring back the good ol' school days! I was always the nerd who loved heading back to school so since I graduated college each year I've been missing the whole experience...oh well, upward and onward. Here are some movies that bring back memories both good and bad!

1. Pretty in Pink (1986)- I really, really wanted Ducky to win the girl in this one...Andrew McCarthy just didn't do it for me. But it's a John Hughes classic!
2. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)- Hughes really wanted Molly for the part, but I think Lea Thompson was a better pick anyway!
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)- How the popular girl goes unpopular from fighting the undead!
4. Grease (1978)- My favorite high school musical of all-time! I still have the words memorized.

And I'm just going to throw in a couple of TV shows that also spoke to my teenage angst at the time when I watched them: My So-called Life (1994) with Claire Danes and Veronica Mars (2004) with Kristen Bell.

Movie Review: Mansfield Park (1999)

Release Date: November 19, 1999

Director: Patricia Rozema

Summary:

At 10, Fanny Price, a poor relation, goes to live at Mansfield Park, the estate of her aunt's husband, Sir Thomas. Clever, studious, and a writer with an ironic imagination and fine moral compass, she becomes especially close to Edmund, Thomas's younger son. Fanny is soon possessed of beauty as well as a keen mind and comes to the attention of a neighbor, Henry Crawford. Thomas promotes this match, but to his displeasure, Fanny has a mind of her own, asking Henry to prove himself worthy. As Edmund courts Henry's sister and as light shines on the link between Thomas's fortunes and New World slavery, Fanny must assess Henry's character and assert her heart as well as her wit.

Austen purists probably won't appreciate this one...Fanny Price isn't the mellow and submissive heroine from Austen's novel. She writes and she's quite spunky. But if you don't think about that too much and just enjoy the movie for what it is, it's a pleasant surprise. Mansfield Park is my least favorite of Austen's novels so I thought this was a fun interpretation despite the many liberties taken. The acting was also superb and I thought Edmund was pretty darn handsome as well!

Interesting Trivia: Johnny Lee Miller who plays Edmund actually played Fanny's younger brother in the 1983 version of Mansfield Park.

Memorable Quotes:

Fanny Price: Well, Lady Bertram is always suffering near-fatal fatigue.
Susan Price: From what?
Fanny Price: Usually from embroidering something of little use and no beauty... not to mention a healthy dose of opium every day.
Susan Price: Your tongue is sharper than a guillotine, Fanny.
Fanny Price: The effect of education, I suppose.

This is part of the Everything Austen Challenge.

My First Book Club!!!

I've never ever been a part of a book club before so when I found out that a bunch of women in my church congregation were in one I decided to join on up! We met for the first time last Tuesday and it was so fun. We talked about the books that we all love and what ones we want to do til January.

We're actually doing two for October: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I just started The Book Thief and is beautiful so far. The language is just beautiful. He has an amazing ability to bring life to his words. And Death narrates the story, which is just, can I say it? 'Totally Wicked!' And I've heard great things about The Help so that what is on its way to my house.

November: These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. I've been wanting to read this for awhile now so I am very excited!

December: We thought we would slow it down for the Christmas month so we're reading a short story called The Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. I hear it's a very inspirational story and just perfect for the holiday season!

January: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I haven't heard a lot about this one, but everyone in my book club has been pretty excited to read it so hopefully it is!

So wish me luck! Woot!

Book Review: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

The Jane Austen Book Club:

Summary:

In California's Central Valley, five women and one man join together to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book. I loved learning about the characters and all their foibles. None of them are perfect and it shows. Fowler really delves into their backgrounds and thus we see a bit of why they are the way they are today. The movie had a hard time showing this since they could only fit so much into a two hour movie. So now reading the book I know a bit more about why they do the things they do.

I also loved the way all these different people can come together over Austen and liken her novels unto their own lives. We also see how Austen can subtly influence the lives of those who read her. I just loved the way the characters interacted with each other. Lots of times they didn't even like each other, but eventually they see the beauty in each other and love grows.

It's a wonderful read for any Austen fan and just a great read in general!

A fun quote:

"There was something appealing in thinking of a character with a secret life that her author knew nothing about. Slipping off while the author's back was turned, to find love in her own way. Showing up just in time to deliver the next bit of dialogue with an innocent face."

This is part of the Everything Austen Challenge

Book Review: Zombie Blondes by Brian James

Zombie Blondes:

Back Cover Summary:

From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town, she felt there was something wrong.
A lot of houses were for sale, and the town seemed infected by an unearthly quiet. And then, on Hannah’s first day of classes, she ran into a group of cheerleaders—the most popular girls in school.
The odd thing was that they were nearly identical in appearance: blonde, beautiful, and deathly pale.
But Hannah wants desperately to fit in—regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: if she doesn’t watch her back, she’s going to be blonde and popular and dead—just like all the other zombies in this town. . . .

My Review:

I really, really wanted to like this book...It started out pretty good. We have Hannah and her father and we learn how they're always moving from town to town and that her father has some mysterious past as an ex-cop. And poor Hannah just wants to fit in, but the only person that befriends her is the freaky kid Lukas. She just wants to fit in, especially with the beautiful and popular cheerleading squad lead by Maggie.

I never really warmed up to Hannah, she was just too eager to please, too selfish, and too stupid and thus easily led. But I never got the dread of the zombies in the sense that you could really just pack up your things and head out of town and never be bothered again. Here's Lukas complaining about all these zombies and he'll be next, but never leaving and when Hannah finally realizes that there's zombies she just gives up hope and assumes she'll eventually become one too....Hello, it's called getting in a car and gettin' the hell out of Dodge, for cryin' out loud!

Just too many unanswered question for me and the ending was just too rushed and unbelievable. It had a nice start, but then fizzled out at the end. Too bad, I really, really, really wanted to like this book....

This is part of the RIP Challenge and the Helluva Halloween Challenge.

TV: The Vampire Diaries--More Vampire Lovin'!

Can I just say that this show is supernaturally wicked fun????!!!!! I haven't read the books yet, but they are on my list. I guess I just can't get enough of those bloodsuckers. It all started with Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer....I just love those bad guys trying to be good and messing up all the time. So now we have Stefan Salvatore, trying to pass as a high school student in order to be with the one he loves...Elena, and of course, trying really hard to not eat her and her friends!

So I'm wondering how he even knows she existed...I guess I'd have to read or wait for the series to unveil...plus the plot on IMDB says Elena is torn between two vampire brothers....from the looks of it Damon just wants to eat her and mess with his good-two shoes brother...so maybe he's a bit like Spike and falls for her despite his evilness!

I guess the only thing that bothers me is that all the high school girls look absolutely perfect...their hair, clothes, makeup, bodies are all just too done up...where are the regular people, the short and chubby or at least the not as pretty friend? In that sense it makes it a bit harder to relate to.

It's not my Buffy, but it's still great and entertaining vampire mayhem!

Wondrous Words Wednesday (1)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun. Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.

My New Words:

Pirates! by Celia Rees

1. scudding: run, move quickly, to run before a gale with little or no sail set.

2. vertiginous: Apt to change quickly; unstable; whirling; spinning; rotary.

I really wanted to write these words with the sentences I found them with, but I forgot when I first saw them and now the book is back at the library! So I will try to do better next week! I love learning new words. Language is just so exciting!

Book Review: Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn (1995)

Summary from back cover:

In a remote Maine inn, where Cynda is supposed to be reconnecting with her father and his new family, she is also falling in love for the first time. But this isn't a typical teenage romance. The object of her affection, Vincent Morthanos, is older and worldly, with pale, aristocratic good looks. And he has a secret—a secret that could destroy Cynda's family, unless she can free herself from love's deadly embrace.

My Review: I've been on a YA fiction kick and especially paranormal with Halloween around the corner along with a few related challenges, so when I saw this at the library it looked really fun and interesting, so seductive. It really wasn't.

Cynda comes to live with her dad, stepmom, and half-brother up in cold Maine and the inn that her father and stepmother own and run. But it's haunted! Maybe I'm too used to vampires trying to be good like Angel from Buffy, Edward from Twilight, and now we have the Vampire Diaries. But when the mysterious stranger shows up, I as the reader, knew he was evil! Why couldn't Cynda? Or the rest of the family? The little boy knew, the cat, and even the next-door neighbor! So I'm reading about all her goo-ga's over Vincent and it's pretty sickening. I knew what was coming and I couldn't stop it. I really wanted to be bamboozled like Cynda and her parents, and be shocked at the end that he was bad to the bone! But it wasn't to be...

It was a really fast read, but predictable and the characters were just a bit too annoying for my taste.

This read goes toward my R.I.P. Challenge and Helluva Halloween Challenge.

Teaser Tuesdays (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current reading

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) sentences from that page

4. BE CAREFUL TO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPOILERS

5. Share the author and title too, so other TT participants can add it to their TBR lists if they like your teaser.

I'm reading Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn. This is going towards my RIP challenge and Helluva Halloween Challenge. I picked this up randomly at the library last week because I just absolutely loved the cover! So seductive!

My Teaser:

This close to him, I was conscious of his smooth skin, his dark hair, his long fingers. He smelled of spices, sweet and aromatic. His sweater was cashmere, as thick and soft and strokeable as Ebony's fur. He was beautiful, I thought, almost unearthly in his perfection. How could such a handsome man empathize so completely with my loneliness? Surely he had no end of friends and admirers.

Ok, so it's a little more than two sentences! But I thought this was a good paragraph!