More Music!

I had said in this post, that I would some day in the future post the music video for the song "Going Home" from the movie Gods and Generals. Here it is, along with another video to the same song. (But a different movie!) Enjoy!

Note to the guys, in the Gods and General's music video, the singer wears a dress with a low cut neckline. Just a heads up!

And the other one...

Meeting Regina Doman

at the Illinois Catholic Homeschooling Conferance, was a wonderful and exciting experience! I was thrilled to meet one of my favorite authors ever, as were the rest of the fans in my homeschooling group. So, after her talk, we did a little cheer for her.

Toss the books with hate and greed! We've got just what you should read!

Listen up! We'll have you knowFairy Tale Novels are the way to go!

Shadow of the Bear and Black as Night,Waking Rose are the best in sight!

Go Regina! Go go Regina! Take your pen and write again!

Go Regina! Go go Regina! Take your pen and write some more...

F-A-I-R-Y T-A-L-E-S!

What does that spell? FAIRY TALES!!!!

Some day, my Bear (or Fish!) will come!

*conclude with laughing and clapping*

The rest of the conference was great, but nothing could compare to meeting Regina Doman!

Why live in the light, when the night seems so irresistible?

Love comes softly. That is how I describe my reaction after reading The Midnight Dancers, the lastest in the Fairy Tale Novel series by Regina Doman. After reading it through one - very quickly, as I usually read - I admit I was not as impressed and enthralled as I had been after reading Regina's other books The Shadow of the Bear, Black as Night and Waking Rose. I liked it very much, I just was not sure how much. A few hours later, I picked it up and started it again - somthing I only do with the Fairy Tale Novels. By the time I finished it again, I was in love.

Why did love come softly this time? I think prehaps because it is a very different kind of book from its predecessors. The most obvious difference, is that it is not about Bear, Blanche, Fish and Rose, the heros of the former books. This story focuses on Paul Fester, a student from Waking Rose, and a 'new girl', Rachel Durham.

Second difference, this novel centers around a philisophical idea -as I believe it was refered to - something the former books didn't do. Hence, this is not a book you can read through quickly (like I did). If you do, chances are you won't take in and grasp that idea, and if you don't, chances are you won't enjoy the book as much. Reading the quote by Dietrich von Hildebrand - it can be found in the "A Little Bit About This Book" at the end - helps to understand what the 'philisophical idea' is. I refrain from quoting it here. If you wish to know what it is, buy the book on June 1st and read it.

Rachel Durham hereself is a different type of girl from Blanche and Rose. I won't get into details, but I shall say that, in most respects, the Brier girls and Rachel are like... day and night. ;-)

So was it a good book? Absolutly! Regina once again captures your interest from the begining, building up to an intensely wonderful climax. Again, she leaves you with a satisfying, beautiful, and romantic ending.

Sometimes love comes softly, but it does come.

The Return to Narnia

It was May 16th. The day we had all been waiting for, for so long. The day my friends and I had been planning for and talking about for moths. Now it was here.

As I sat watching the opening footage of the new movie Prince Caspian, I could hardly believe that I was really there, watching it. It just didn't seem real. After all those movie trailers that I watched, I thought. All those months of looking at every photo shot I could find over and over again... all the discussion and speculation, now I am finally going to see it!
Is this real? I wondered.

Watching Caspian riding for his life, it finally sank in and I began crying in awe, excitement, amazement and gratitude for the gift I had been given in being able to see this movie. I have never felt that way about any film ever before. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, going to see a film for the first time. Never again will you have the feeling of sitting in a dark theater, straining to see what will happen next, because you've never seen this film before.

I knew right away that this would be not be anywhere near a faithful adaptation of the book, but I didn’t care. I had anticipated that fact, and made up my mind that it wouldn't ruin my enjoyment of the movie. I was here to have a great time. And I certainly did. I walked on air for two days straight after leaving the movie theater. Right now, hearing the music or seeing pictures would be enough to send me into raptures again.

After the first moments of disbelief, I was sucked into the action and had eyes and ears for nothing else. I giggled with delight as Reepicheep (He is sooo cute!) leapt on to the scene; my heart ached as hundreds of Narnian's were massacred due to messed up battle plans. I hated it when the credits stopped rolling.

I will admit that the movie did have its flaws (though few.) Example, for the majority of the movie, Peter was a complete jerk. (For those of you who have heard of my "engagement" to him, I have seriously considered ditching Peter for Reepicheep. ;) I can, however, understand where he was coming from, I might have even acted the same way if I were him. He 'repented' so to speak, so I might get married to him after all!

What I disliked the most was the fact that the filmmakers left out the gradual sightings of Aslan by the Pevensie children. They included Lucy being able to see him, but seemingly 'forgot' that as they walk down the river gorge and to Aslan's How, Edmund, Peter and Susan one by one are able to see him as well.

Also, was it just me, or have the centaurs started dressing differently since the Golden Age of Narnia? It seems to me that I remember them with a bit more clothing on their upper halves. Compare Orieus and Glenstorm.

On the positive side, I loved how the relationship between Lucy and Aslan was portrayed. By seeing Aslan through the eyes of Lucy, you were brought much closer to him then in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He seemed warmer, more touchable, more real. I felt that I knew this Aslan better then I did in the LWW. Those little glances between Aslan and Lucy every now and then were fantastic, you could tell they must have been reading each others thoughts. Both of them were great!

And as for what has to have been the most controversial element in the whole film (hands down without a doubt) the Caspian/Susan romance, I have to say that it was very nicely done. With the possible exception of the farewell scene, it was never made the focus of attention, definitely being a side issue - from my perspective anyhow. The infamous kiss wasn't nearly as bad as it appeared in the trailer, because now you saw it in context and it seemed a natural thing for Susan to do. Now, don't hit me over the head, but I shall come out and say it - I liked the kissing scene. The romance was great too. (There now all you who hate it can come chasing after me.)

One of my favorite parts was listening to the wonderful musical score underlying the action. Much of the music was re-played from LWW, bringing you back to Narnia. I love the score for these films, and have listened to the LWW soundtrack over and over until I know every minute of it. I actually was able to predict when scenes in PC were going to switch by listening to the music and remembering what happened at that point in the LWW. (I was right, of course. It even switched to the scene I thought it would.) The credit songs were not the quality of the first film -also, I don't really care for that kind of music - but the first one did fit with the closing scenes of the movie really well.

For the movie - in the absence of Susan and Lucy's dresses - I looked at photos of their hair-do's and my sisters and I went with their hairstyles. My hair was similar to Susan's when she was wearing her purple dress, and I wore it like that the next day because I couldn't have done otherwise. =) Oh, and I did bring with my Prince Caspian (see below post). He enjoyed the film almost as much as I did, so he tells me.

Overall, I absolutly loved this film and I look forward to seeing it again - and again and again. It was wonderful to be brought back into Narnia once more, even a Narnia that differed from the books. I eagerly await setting sail on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.

Ps. Yes, I admit now that Caspian has a Spanish accent! Though really, I still can't figure how you heard it from the few lines he said in the trailer. A bit distracting a times, but cool none the less.

Time to Celebrate!

Because today is my 6 month Anniversary of Blogging!

Time for cake!

Cookies!

Punch!

and party favors!

Well, it has been a fantastic Six months with this blog, I can hardly believe that time has flown by so fast! And to think that a year ago I didn't even know what a blog was! What got me thinking about my own blog was (who else?) Regina Doman and Claire! After reading the book Waking Rose, friends of mine (the Twiddles/Lil' Red Riding Hood/Paul Revere/ect, if you ever read the comments) kept telling me about things on Regina's blog, so I started visiting there. Then I rememberd that Claire had a blog, so I began visitng there, and pretty soon I was starting to write blog posts in my head. So, after a bit of persuasion, my mom and dad agreed to let me start This! And that is why you are all sitting in front of your computer, staring at my blog page instead of doing something productive like, oh, mowing the lawn. But you don't mind, do you?

I want to thank all of you who have helped me get my blog up and running, given me ideas for post, helped with re-decoration, techincal problems and the like. I also want to thank everyone who reads or has read my blog, whether from the first posting (whaddya know! It was even a Thursday!) or somewhere else along the line. Thank you for all the wonderful comments! (Just a hint, I LOVE getting comments from people. I get so excited when I go to my dashboard and their are a lot of comments! If you don't know how, I will post a post about commenting soon!)

So, enjoy the cake, cookies, punch and everything! And celebrate

6 months!

Never Fear! Prince Caspian is Near!

It's almost here! Just 4 more days until the movie that thousands of people have been waiting for arrives at the big screen! I have been getting excited about this for a long time, but I didn't realize just how excited I was... until our diocese newspaper ran an article about Prince Caspian and I jumped all over my bedroom shouting while I waited my sis' to finish reading it. I was -to put it mildly - totally thrilled. I am not the kind of fan who dreams of up-coming movies all day long, buys every fan related thing in sight, or kisses Prince Caspian good-night, but I get excited in my own 'quiet' way.

So I was curious about what everyone was planning for the big day, and instead of creating a poll, I decided to take a more 'personal' (and fun) approach, and write a post. So please, let me know what you are doing in the comment box. Are you sewing a costume? Are you organizing a big group from your church, school, whatever to go see it? Are you going at 12:01 in the morning? (Wish I was, but I doubt it.) Are you going with a few close friends?

Also, if you voted in the poll to your...left, no right! I'd like to know what you voted for as well. I personally am looking forward the most to seeing Peter duel with Miraz and metting Reepicheep!

As for how I am getting ready... well, first off, (as some of you know) I won Peter in a duel with a friend of mine, so I am waiting to see my betrothed in his latest film. (Though I have heard he has a 'chip on his shoulder', so if that is the case, I may break of the engagment. *gasp* Did I just say that?)

Alas, I am not sewing a dress, (no time or fabric!), like Elenatintil is (she is doing a remarkable job!) but, I am going on the 16th with with a rather large group of friends so that should be really fun! Oh, that includes my Prince Caspian as well.

After all, how could I not bring him to his own movie? I got this little guy right after the Lion the Whitch and the Wardrobe came out, and decided to name him Caspian. I think he looks like a Caspian, don't you?

Anyhow, he is coming with as well! (And he is very excited!) He isn't so sure he wants to kiss Susan though. I told him that he doesn't have to, he replied, "Yes I do!". "Why?" said I. He said "I am Prince Caspian!"

Which reminds me... am I the only one who can't hear Caspian's accent? I have been told by many peope that he has one (Spanish), but I just can't hear it. *sighs* Well, I will go listen again.

The soundtrack comes out today! How many people are planning on buying it?

3 more days! (Yeah, it took me two days to write this thing.)

3 more days!

Today in 1863

"The South suffers a huge blow as General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds suffered in battle and accidenally caused by his own men. His last words: "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees".

Derby Day

The Run for the Roses. The First Saturday in May. The Greatest Day in Horseracing. The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports. All these are names for the Kentucky Derby.

For those of you who don't follow horseracing, the Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter race held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. As one sports announcer said "The day of the Kentucky Derby is the one day, where the eyes of the world are fixed on Louisville Kentucky."

And why is that? The Kentucky Derby is not the "Test of Champions", the grueling mile and a half that the Belmont Stakes is, but it has proved to be the making of champions. 11 out of the 134 winners of the Derby have gone on to win one of the greatest achievements in racing: The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

The Triple Crown is comprised of three races: The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. Only 11 horses have ever won, the last being Affirmed, 30 years ago. Year after year, viewers wait to see if that year will be the crowning of a new champion. Since Affirmed, 10 horses have won both the Derby and the Preakness, but have missed winning the Belmont, one only by a nose. Every year after the Derby, viewers ask: "Could this be the year? Could this be the horse?"

Many of the horses in past years could have, but didn't. There is no guarantee that I am right, but this year, I'm going to say that I believe that the winner of this year's Derby, Big Brown, could very well be the horse.

He was the favorite for the Derby this year, but there were a lot of doubts. This colt had only raced three times in his career, could an untried horse deal with the Derby? He was starting from the 20th post position, the very far outside of the track. The last, and only other, horse to win from that position was Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.

But against all odds, he did it; and did it wonderfully. He had clear sailing the whole time, riding on the outside, back near sixth place. Towards the end, his jockey said he told Big Brown to go, and away they went. When you see above-views of the race, it is amazing to watch him literally take off. You can see an almost instant increase in speed, as he flies ahead to win by three and three-quarter lengths. It was, quite simply, breathtaking. In my humble and inexperienced, and certainly not qualified opinion, I think he has enough in him to easily run a mile and a half. His bucking off his jockey, not long after the race, is at least reason to believe he has plenty of energy to.

On a sadder note, to what was a triumphant day, the filly Eight Belles, who placed second, collapsed a quarter mile past the finish line. She had broken both front legs, and had to be euthanized immediately. She had no leg to stand on in order to attempt recovery; unlike two years past winner Barbaro, who, in the end, also had to be euthanized.

It now remains to be seen, whether Big Brown, the victor of Derby Day, can capture the elusive Triple Crown. Can he do it? Well, I think he can.

If you are interested, I would advise visiting other Derby related sites

* The Kentucy Derby Official Site

* Photo Gallery

They CAN"T be serious! Can they?

I really couldn't believe it when I saw it. Watch the TV spot below of Prince Caspian, and then let me know what you think. My thoughts on this will be in the comment section.

Actually, I can't get the video on here, but click on this link. And then come back and let me know what you think.