Sunday, December 21, 2003

Vacation

No updates until 2004. I hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season.

Friday, December 19, 2003

Christmas Carols

Wondering about some of the lyrics to the carols you are hearing and/or singing? Check out these sites:

http://www.cameron.edu/~mikel/christmas/songs.html

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ai251/xcarol.html

http://www.night.net/christmas/songs12.html-ssi

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Cool Site

This one's mostly for N: Robot Hall of Fame

Going to see Lord of the Rings?

Some helpful tips for those of you going to see the Lord of the Rings can be found at:
What Not to do during Return of the King

A bunch of us are going Saturday nite, around 7-ish and I just know that I'm going to feel the overwhelming urge to do one or more of these, so my apologies in advance to my movie buddies....

OED Newsletter

Oxford English Dictionary Newsletter
Lots of interesting tidbits in the current issue. I haven't even explored the archives yet... Read somewhere (altho' now I can't find it) that the Daleks from Doctor Who were named because of a dictionary (or encyclopedia?) set that covered "dal - lek" and that reminds me of George Lucas naming R2-D2 after liking the way it sounded one day when he used the shorthand form to ask for "Reel 2, Dialogue 2."

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Sadness

I just learned that someone I knew committed suicide. It's been a rough day. I didn't know him well, but it's still been hard. Everyone I've talked to has expressed surprise, because he was an upbeat, enthusiastic person who enjoyed life and his part in it. Shock, dismay, bewilderment. I just don't understand....

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Pirates Extras

More DVDs definitely need to include blooper reels. The Pirates one is thoroughly enjoyable, although much too short...

I'm split on the deleted scenes: some of them I thought they really should have left in and some I'm glad they cut. Mom and I disagree on a couple of them. I didn't take notes, but here's a few thoughts:

What I'm glad they didn't include:
1. The scene in the jail when Jack pulls his gun on Will. I think it would have overdone the "opportune moment" line.
2. When the two pirates are watching Elizabeth put on the dress and the one pirate's eye comes out and he chases it. They didn't need to do that twice.

What I wish they'd left in:
1. The further explanation by Norrington about why he's going after Will and his questioning Elizabeth about her acceptance of his marriage proposal.
2. The "peas in a pod" scene between Jack and Elizabeth.

There was more, but that's all for now.

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

Stay tuned...

Due to technical difficulties, comments on the blooper reel and deleted scenes will be delayed until Friday. The movie was as great as always: Johnny Depp is brilliant and the special effects are second to none. It seems too good to be true that I can now watch this anytime I want...

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Finally!!

The Pirates of the Caribbean DVD is here!!! The show, complete with rum (of course!), begins promptly at 6:30 (thanks, Sharon!). I'm especially looking forward to the deleted scenes and the blooper reel. In my humble opinion, more DVDs need to include blooper reels. Tune in tomorrow for reactions...

Friday, November 28, 2003

Thanksgiving Movies

Well, Mom and I went to see Haunted Mansion and Brother Bear yesterday. You all know what huge Disney fans we are, so it hurts to say this, but it's the truth: now that we've seen them, we feel no great need to see them again (unlike Pirates of the Caribbean which we've seen 8 times in the theatre and are counting the hours until the DVD arrives on Tuesday).

Haunted Mansion was a treat for fans of the theme park attractions as there were lots of props, scenery, and characters from the ride (the audience actually started clapping when the four singing heads showed up). Unfortunately, the plot was predictable and the acting was stiff (Eddie Murphy's performance as an animated dragon in Mulan was much better). Nice visual effects.

Brother Bear should have gone straight to video. It's actually a very scary and violent story. There was a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, and I still haven't decided whether it was in character or not, probably because I didn't really care for the characters one way or the other.

Tonight I'm going to watch something to remind me that Disney can do it right. Let's see... Monsters, Inc.? Lion King? Sleeping Beauty?

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I'm thankful for:
My family, including the cats
My friends
I have an apartment, job, health insurance, car
some of the world is at peace
all things Disney
books, music, movies
laughter
chocolate
Christmas is coming...

There's more, but those are some highlights for now. Don't eat too much....

Welcome!

Hopefully this will encourage me to update this site more.... Stay tuned....