The Breakfast Club

This is one of my favorite scenes in The Breakfast Club. Sorry the quality isn't the greatest:


Yes, this movie is almost pointless and somewhat slow at parts. Let's face it; not a whole lot happens in detention. But this movie is all about finding ways to entertain yourself in an otherwise boring situation and making friends in the process. It also takes some time to delve into the adolescent psyche to discuss what makes people who they are. All the characters are necessary to make The Breakfast Club the 80's classic that it is, but without Johnny Bender, this movie would be a dud. Because of him, I can watch this movie over and over again. Follow this link for a classic Bender moment. Embedding wasn't allowed on this one, but clicking is well worth your time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8qb9TRqZsM

My Girl Has Happy Feet

My roommate, Melissa, loves the movie, Happy Feet, and brought it back from Utah one weekend, hoping that I would watch it with her. I had remembered seeing Happy Feet previews a long time ago and seemed to remember it looking potentially cute and maybe even funny, so we sprawled out in her room to watch the movie. Forgive me for not conforming to P.C. standards, but this movie was gay. We didn't even finish it. Basically, it's a bunch of singing and dancing penguins. I don't know what I was expecting.


I think I would have liked this movie if I were six; however, I am nearly four times six, and I couldn't make it through.

Melissa was kind enough to turn it off so we could watch My Girl instead--a movie I hadn't seen since I was six, ironically enough--and it turns out I still enjoy it. If you haven't seen it, you really should take the time. It was filmed back when Macaulay Culkin was still a cute little boy. The main character is eleven-year-old Vada, who is being raised by her father (Dan Aykroyd) in a funeral home. Besides this unusual living situation, she feels responsible for the death of her mother, who died shortly after Vada was born, so it's no wonder that she always thinks she is dying of something. Her best friend, Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin), says this is Vada's way of dealing with her fear of death. Jamie Lee Curtis is also a prominent character as the love interest of Vada's father. This movie is both funny and sad, and I love it.

Just Shoot Her With a Silver Bullet Already!!

Blood and Chocolate

By Annette Curtis Klause

Genre: Supernatural
c. 1997

pp. 264

-- Summary: Vivian Gandillon has a secret; she and her family are werewolves. When she begins to fall for Aiden, a human boy, she puts her secret and her whole pack in danger. Things get even worse for the pack when mangled bodies begin to show up around town. Can Vivian find a way to stay with Aiden and protect her pack even if she is behind the mysterious killings?

-- My Thoughts: To be perfectly honest, I didn't like this book at all. I felt there was only one scene which was well written. The character develpmont was weak and the characters were on more than one occasion unbelievable. I wasn’t convinced of Vivian’s feelings toward Aiden or vice versa. Also, the character of Gabriel, who is basically the head of the werewolf pack, was confusing. I thought I had him figured out but then at the very end, he seemed a lot kinder and capable of love than he did through the rest of the book where he was a jerk through and through. The idea wasn't bad (as you can see with the success of a book like Twilight), but I only found a few portions of the book engaging. There is also some sexual content that isn't explicit, but I didn't feel it was necessary. In this case it was just another turn off. The book has also been adapted as a movie, which I hear at least has a better ending. I'm a little curious to see it, but I'm afraid I will enjoy it just about as much as I enjoyed the book. Perhaps I will make another post in the future letting you know how that went :)

Gotta Love Your Controversy Every Once in a While: Phillip Pullman's "The Golden Compass"

Last semester I had the opportunity to take a Young Adult Fiction class. We had to read a total of 25 books by the end of the semester and we had to cover certain categories. For my fantasy choice, I chose to read the controversial "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. You can read a little bit about the book and its being banned here.

I decided to read the book for a couple reasons. I saw the movie in theaters and that generally encourages me to read the book if I haven't already. Also I must admit that the controversy is part of what enticed me to read it. After seeing the movie, I couldn't really see what the big deal was. I knew there was apparently meant to be Atheist theology embedded in the story but I couldn't see it (most likely because they appear more in the book than the movie :) go figure). So I decided I couldn't judge the story for myself until I actually read it.

Here's a little background for those of you who don't know already. The book is set in a world much like our own. However, each person has a daemon, which is essentially a person's soul that follows them around in animal form. The protagonists are a young orphan girl by the name of Lyra and her daemon, Pan. It's one of your innocent embarking on a journey type of stories. There are a group of people known as Gobblers who capture children that they think won't be missed such as orphans. Lyra's quest first starts when her best friend, Roger, is captured by the Gobblers. To make this summary very, very brief, Lyra must travel to the north to save her friend and disrupt the work of an organization called the Magisterium. Where does the golden compass fit in? The compass, known as the Aletheomiter if I remember correctly, will answer any question as long as you know how to read it. It was given to Lyra, but she soon finds that there are people who would do anything to get it from her hands and keep her from fulfilling the destiny that she doesn't even know she is meant to be a part of.

At first I didn’t think I was going to like the book. It was okay, but it didn’t pull me in from the start. I also found the beginning a bit confusing. In one aspect that works with the story as we view the story through Lyra’s eyes, and she knows very little of the world outside of Oxford where she grew up. However, it took a long time for Pullman to explain what daemons are and the sort of laws or taboos that come with them. When he finally does describe them, we only get small bits at a time, so a complete picture isn’t created until at least halfway through the book.

I really began to enjoy the book from about the time Lyra meets an armored bear, Iorek Byrnison, to the end. She meets Iorek halfway through the book FYI. That is where I began to feel connected to the characters and that drive to finish just so I could know what happened. That alone makes me want to read the rest of the series. As far as the controversy is concerned (most of it actually stems from the third book in the series), Pullman doesn’t hide the fact that the Magisterium is essentially a branch of the Catholic Church. The Magisterium also conducts experiments on children which may also be open to controversy. Neither of these things bothered me when I read the book. I was a little bothered by the children experimentation when I saw the movie since slthough we don't see them being probed or tortured or anything, we see the aftermath when Lyra finds one of the children who has escaped.

I suggest that you don't judge this book by it's controversy before you try to read it for yourself. There are plenty of banned/challenged books that are wonderful. Have a look for yourself! Or even a second glance! Now I understand that some books have been banned reasonably, so be wise in your choices. But there are challenged books Madeliene L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" that I just have to stand up for!

There are two more books that follow "The Golden Compass" which are "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass".

Decadent Biscuits

I got this recipe from my next door neighbor. I made them two days in a row, and my roommate could not stop telling me how "decadent" they were. They are super easy, super fast, and super delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tbs baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine ingredients in a medium sized bowl and stir until just mixed. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until biscuits just start to turn a golden brown.

These will puff up quite a bit. I didn't realize this the first time I made them, so I ended up with rather large biscuits.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I stole this recipe from my lovely sister-in-law, Laura. The first time I ate one I couldn't stop eating them. There were at least two dozen and I, with the help of my brother Stuart, ate pretty much all of them in one night. Laura wasn't very happy... But that's how good they are!! When Megan and I made them, they turned out a little differently for reasons unknown to me. But they were still very good!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1-2 cups chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Mix Peanut butter, brown sugar, baking soda and egg.
Add chocolate chips and mix well.Drop onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350’ for 9 minutes.
Be sure to cool for 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack - they're crumbly soft.

And then, of course, the only thing left to do is eat them!!! Just don't eat them like I do...