King Arthur Movie Tristan

I found a couple new reading challenges and couldn't help myself, so I joined them. They sound like fun and I can't wait to get started.




There is only one rule:

1) You must commit to reading 6 historical novels over 6 months.


my picks:


After reading 'The Constant Princess', I'm hooked on Philippa Gregory...




Queen's Fool
by Philippa Gregory






Virgin's Lover
by Philippa Gregory





The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory




Atonement
by Ian McEwan




(of course I had to throw in a Jane Austen book here)



Persuasion by Jane Austen








The Viscount Who Loved Me
by Julia Quinn






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Quest the First



Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

my picks:



Enchantment
by Orson Scott Card





Coraline
by Neil Gaiman





Eragon
by Christopher Paolini





Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine








Princess Bride by William Goldman

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Just a few memes I felt like blogging about:


Saturday Special


~Time Tells All~

(Fill In The Blanks)



1. It's 1:00pm on Sunday and I'm usually cooking at this time.




2. It's 6:00pm on Monday and I'm usually helping my kids with homework at this time.




3. It's 9:00pm Wednesday and I'm usually watching tv at this time.




4. It's 4:30pm on Friday and I'm usually at work at this time.





manic monday



If you could have any music group or musician play at a party, who would you hire? U2...I love them.






Name three things to be happy about today.

1. My family is healthy, 2. I don't have to go to work, 3. It's the weekend.




How do you release frustration?

I go for a run or do something to distract myself, like crochet.



Daydreaming on Paper


List your favorite television shows, past and present.


I love to watch TV, I have to be careful not to become a couch potatoe.
I'm a reality TV addict, I like Survivor, Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, Celebrity Apprentice. I used to watch MTV's Real World, until it got too trashy.
As far as non-reality tv shows, I like LOST, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Nip Tuck, Pushing Daisies, Oprah, Leno, X-Files and a few more.






Have a good weekend....

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory


rated: 5 out of 5





"I am Catalina, Princess of Spain, daughter of the two greatest monarchs the world has ever known...and I will be Queen of England."




This is the story of Catalina, Princess of Spain who would become Queen Katherine of England the first wife of Henry VIII. It begins when Catalina is just 5 years old.
Catalina, the the Spanish Infanta, has been raised to think of herself as the future Queen of England and has been betrothed to Arthur, the Prince of Wales, since childhood.



Catalina has no doubts in her mind that she is destined to be Queen of England.
Her parents, Queen Isabel of Spain and King Ferdinand of Aragon are both rulers and warriors.



When Catalina is 15, she is sent to marry Arthur and leaves her home and family in Spain behind. She becomes the Princess of Wales. She is homesick, but she knows this is her destiny. She and Arthur end up falling deeply in love, which is rare considering they are forced to marry. They plan on how they will rule England together once they become King and Queen. But they are only married 5 months before Arthur becomes sick and dies suddenly.




'I love him so deeply. I did not know that I could ever love anyone like this. I can feel myself growing in patience and wisdom, just through my love for him. I step back from irritablility and impatience, I even bear my homesickness without complaint. I can feel myself becoming a better woman, a better wife, as I seek to please him and make him proud of me. I want him always to be glad that he married me.
I want us always to be as happy as we are today. There are no words to describe him....there are no words.'








On his deathbed Prince Arthur makes her swear she will marry his younger brother, Harry, and eventually become Queen and rule England the way they planned together. Harry is just 10 years old at this time.

Catalina is left a widow but refuses to gome home to Spain.
Her plan is to marry Prince Harry, like Arthur wanted. She swears that her marriage to Prince Arthur had been unconsummated, this way she can marry Harry.


After seven years, the King dies and Harry choses Catalina for his bride, and they are finally wed. Catalina is finally Queen of England and can rule as she always wanted. She becomes 'Katherine Queen of England' and Harry becomes 'King Henry VIII'.




'They carried Catalina from the Tower to Westminster as an English princess. She traveled in a litter made of cloth of gold, carried high by four white palfreys so everyone could see her. She wore a gown of white satin and a coronet with pearls, her hair brushed out over her shoulders. Harry was crowned first, then Catalina bowed her head and took the holy oil of kingship on her head and breasts, stretched out her hand for the scepter and he ivory wand, knew that, at last, she was a queen as her mother had been: an annointed queen, a greater being than mere mortals, a step closer to the angels, appointed by God to rule His country, and under His especial protection.'






Catalina suffers alot throughout this story. Her true love Arthur dies and she has to marry his brother. Catalinas mother dies and she never sees her again after she leaves Spain to marry Arthur. Her father abandons her once he sees that Arthur died and she was useless to him. The point of her marrying Arthur and becoming queen was to create an alliance between England and Spain.

She desperately wants to have children, most of all a son so he will one day be King. And her husband Henry is selfish and spoiled, she has to put up with is infidelity as well. But throughout her life Catalina remains 'constant', never giving up, always overcoming obstacles.








I don't read much historical fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It was just a juicy story, full of drama, backstabbing, heartache & romance. I liked Catalinas character, she was a strong woman, very naive at first, but determined. I like the love story between her and Arthur.
I will be reading more of Philippa Gregory novels.

You can read more about Catalina, Princess of Spain here & Henry the VIII by clicking here.






visit the authors website:
http://www.philippagregory.com/






this book has also been reviwed by : My Reading Adventures

Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday I suggested instead of the athletes who have worked their tails off being told not to go to the games, the politicians should stay home and let the Chinese officials stand around talking to themselves:

No delegations of VIPs, no official visits, no junkets to Bejing. If all the leaders in the free world would do so, it would send a powerful message. I know it could be Stephen Harper's only chance to take his kids to an Olympics, I know how important it is for our betters to see and be seen at these events, but there will be other junkets, other opportunities to hob-knob.

Today the National Post "came up with" the same idea, not once, but twice. In their main editorial, Punishing China, they actually go one step further:

In view of all this, Canada must find a meaningful way of communicating its disgust with Beijing's actions. At the very least, Stephen Harper's government should announce that Canada is boycotting the Games' Aug. 8 opening ceremonies (an idea that is also being explored by several European countries). We should also announce that no federal officials will attend the Games. (emphasis mine).

I like the idea of boycotting the opening ceremonies, that's a nice addition. As the Chinese are trying to tell the TV networks what they can and cannot broadcast, they too should refuse to broadcast the opening (they won't, but they should).

The second article in question is Father Raymond J. De Souza's This time, don't look the other way. A very good article by one of my favourite Post writers, De Souza deconstructs why we shouldn't be ignoring the Chinese actions in Tibet, why China is the most "Ghastly" nation on earth:

Is there a regime more ghastly than that of the People's Republic of China?

Is any other government that so systematically suppresses all religious liberty, erecting religious bureaucracies to which believers are required to belong in order to worship? Is there any other regime that still imprisons and kills bishops, priests and monks who fail to swear loyalty to the state? Is there any other country where the entire population is subject to child-bearing control, with forced sterilization and abortions for those who decline to submit to state rules on family size? Is there any other regime that executes thousands of its citizens annually, the majority for the crime of challenging the ruling party? Is there any other country accused (by credible sources) of executing religious dissidents, harvesting their organs and selling them? Is there any other regime more dependable in its support of the worst kind of evil around the world (Darfur)?

Even the vile regimes in Saudi Arabia, Cuba, North Korea and Zimbabwe do not compare to China across the breadth of its human rights violations.

And De Souza's solution? Not surprisingly:

The Prime Minister, preferably in joint action with opposition leaders, should announce that no federal political officials will attend the Beijing Games. (emphasis again mine).

Hmm, where have I heard that before? Although I confess De Souza does a far better job explaining why, and makes a far more convincing case than I did.

You've played in your last playoffs.

Speaking of which, will you Leaf fans please shut up now - you are really REALLY not going to make the playoffs, and anything cannot happen once you get there.

The last month has been about nothing except getting a worse draft pick, hope you enjoyed it.

Back "in the day," 25 or so years ago, I tended towards the drink a bit. Not a house drinker either, a barfly. One night a buddy and I were at the Cannonball in Bramalea (is it still there?) and we got sitting with this guy who had, literally, just sold the farm. He was sitting with (if I remember correct) $80,000 in his pocket and was on what you might modestly call a bender.

He decided to include us in his good time and the drinks were soon coming almost faster than we could drink them (almost). We did a thing were we would come up with a drink we had never had, and suddenly we were drinking three of them. I recall a few white Russians and black Russians, but truly little else. I have no doubt that guy woke up a few weeks, or months later with no farm, no money and one hell of a headache.

I thought of that guy today while reading about the Ontario budget delivered Tuesday by Dwight Duncan. Dalton McGuinty's Liberals have decided to spend any surplus they find. In Tuesday's budget that was an extra $5B they "found" and will promptly spend. As Terence Corcoran put it:

If the province had collected an extra $10-billion this year instead of $5-billion, it would have spent it.

He's dead right, and that's exactly what they said, if we have it, we spend it. $5B, $10B, $20B. It's really the same spending approach as the guy who sold the farm at the Cannonball: he hadn't budgeted on the money, thus it was found money, "hey lets go on a bender." At the end of the day he had nothing to show for the sold farm, but boy, what a hangover.

It makes you wonder: what kind of hangover are Ontario taxpayers going to wake up with when Dalton and Dwight have finished spending our found money?

Emma by Jane Austen




I recently watched PBS Masterpiece Theatere version of 'Emma', as part of Becky's Mini Austen Challenge. I've been watching
PBS Masterpiece Theatere Complete Jane Austen, they are playing the film adaptations of Jane Austens novels. So far, my favorites have been Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and of course Pride & Prejudice.




The novel 'Emma', is about a young single lady, who loves to play matchmaker. However, Emma starts to run into complications in her matchmaking. It's a cute story, and I like the characters.



click here for the complete novel online





In the PBS version, Kate Beckinsale plays Emma Woodhouse. Sad to say, I didn't enjoy this version at all. I just didn't like the cast. And this version was almost boring.








........................


However, my favorite is the film version where Gwyneth Paltrow plays Emma and Jeremy Northam plays Mr. Knightley.

They have one of my favorite romantic scenes in the end.





"I cannot make speeches, Emma:"—he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing.—"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am.—You hear nothing but truth from me.—I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.—Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover.—But you understand me.—Yes, you see, you understand my feelings—and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice."





And this film version captures the humor of the novel really well.




'Dear Diary, Today I tried not to think about Mr. Knightly. I tried not to think about him when I discussed the menu with Cook... I tried not to think about him in the garden where I thrice plucked the petals off a daisy to acertain his feelings for Harriet. I don't think we should keep daisies in the garden, they really are a drab little flower. And I tried not to think about him when I went to bed, but something had to be done.'








In this version, Ewan McGregor plays Frank Churchill. What more could you want from a movie? lol









'Maybe it is our imperfections which make us so perfect for one another.'








Did you know?
The movie
'Clueless', is based on Jane Austens novel 'Emma'?





A few good Jane Austen sites:
http://www.austen-beginners.com/index.htm

http://www.austen.com/index.html

Waste Land and Other Writings
by T. S. Eliot

'First published in 1922, "The Waste Land" is T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, and is not only one of the key works of modernism but also one of the greatest poetic achievements of the twentieth century. A richly allusive pilgrimage of spiritual and psychological torment and redemption, Eliot's poem exerted a revolutionary influence on his contemporaries, summoning forth a rich new poetic language, breaking decisively with Romantic and Victorian poetic traditions.'





-----------------------





Now that lilacs are in bloom

She has a bowl of lilacs in her room

And twists one in his fingers while she talks.

“Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know

What life is, you who hold it in your hands”;

(Slowly twisting the lilac stalks)

“You let it flow from you, you let it flow,

And youth is cruel, and has no remorse

And smiles at situations which it cannot see.”



I smile, of course,

And go on drinking tea.

“Yet with these April sunsets, that somehow recall

My buried life, and Paris in the Spring,

I feel immeasurably at peace, and find the world

To be wonderful and youthful, after all.”






The voice returns like the insistent out-of-tune

Of a broken violin on an August afternoon:

“I am always sure that you understand

My feelings, always sure that you feel,

Sure that across the gulf you reach your hand.



You are invulnerable, you have no Achilles’ heel.

You will go on, and when you have prevailed

You can say: at this point many a one has failed.



But what have I, but what have I, my friend,

To give you, what can you receive from me?

Only the friendship and the sympathy

Of one about to reach her journey’s end.



-Portrait of a Lady by T. S. Eliot

Ouch. Caledonia Resident Merlyn Kinrade answers Michael Bryant's amateurish Caledonia videos with a few of his own:

"This video is the result of a Minster of the Ontario Government, Michael Bryant, coming to Caledonia and making light of the critical situation in Caledonia. Mr. Bryant we sincerely asked you last fall to meet with us. Why not accommodate our request to meet rather than producing You Tube videos?"

"Tim's is a great cup of coffee, you get the pulse of the community by going where the issues are." That's the kind of 10 second zinger politicians would kill for.



"There's a great fishing spot by the dam, but the river is somewhat polluted since the Province hasn't funded a new sewage treatment plant."

As I noted before, Kinsella called Bryant's videos smart use of new technology, but it's never smart to give your opponents the chance to get in the last word, and that's exactly what Bryant did. Not just that, but a couple of guys in Caledonia did better, more professional videos than Bryant did, that's not good.

Score Merlyn Kinrade 1 - Michael Bryant 0.

If there is any truth to the rumour Buzz Hargrove is running for the next federal Parliament, he should resign as head of the CAW immediately!

The CAW is currently beginning the process of negotiating a new contract for it's members at the Big 3 auto plants. It is going to be a fractious negotiations, with the Big 3 demanding wage concessions, including possibly two tier wages as announced last year in the UAW agreement. I can tell you from the shop floor, workers are expecting an ugly fall. So as this process begins members have every right to expect the person leading the union will be fully committed to the process. It appears, however, that Hargrove is fully committed to something else:

Ottawa is abuzz with rumours that the CAW's Buzz Hargrove will run for the Liberals in the next federal election.. and he plans to take on a big fish....

Rumour has it that Buzz Hargrove will run in Toronto, against NDP Leader, Jack Layton...

If that's Hargrove's plan, fine. But CAW members need him on the job at this critical moment, not eyeing the next job. He can re-pay the members for all the free advertising the CAW has given the Liberal party in the past couple of years, then resign immediately.

As Hargrove himself admits that a strike is possible this fall (and many would say likely), and many observers believe likewise that an election is possible this fall, it beehooves Hargrove to come clean before negotiations begin. I for one don't want to be on strike and having the union's leader resign for his next job in the middle of the strike. Nor do I want to be on strike to prove how tough the next Liberal candidate for Toronto-Danforth is. Finally, as a member in good standing in the CAW, I don't want to be paying for advertising, positive or negative, for Hargrove's political campaign.

So Buzz, to put it in language you union guys understand: I demand you agree, in writing, to finish your current term as President of the CAW, or resign immediately.

Like many people I have been following the Tibet protests closely and waiting to see what would happen. I have been thinking about the possibility of a boycott, and confess to be squeamish about it. Many of the young athletes who have trained their asses off will never get another chance. They deserve their kick at the Olympics, and unless things get much worse in Tibet, I can't support a call to take the Olympics away from those athletes.

Politicians, however, are a different kettle of fish. I have been thinking for about a week now that the politicians/world leaders should definitely boycott the Olympics. No delegations of VIPs, no official visits, no junkets to Bejing. If all the leaders in the free world would do so, it would send a powerful message. I know it could be Stephen Harper's only chance to take his kids to an Olympics, I know how important it is for our betters to see and be seen at these events, but there will be other junkets, other opportunities to hob-knob.

Last Tuesday French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner suggested the European Union should boycott the opening ceremonies, and yesterday Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he would boycott the opening. All well and good, but a complete boycott by all official delegations would be far better.

Don't lets use our athletes as pawns, lets use our political class as pawns. No 2008 Olympic junket for politicians and bureaucrats.

Now if I could just find a bumper sticker.

The NDPs job, according to Elizabeth May, is to defeat Stephen Harper - period. Thus, they should join forces with the Greens to eliminate Stephen Harper's Conservative government:

I have people coming over and saying, 'I'm going to vote Green because I think the NDP is more interested in eliminating the Liberal party than in restoring to power a government that actually cares about issues I care about.' My advice to (NDP Leader Jack) Layton which is open and really in the spirit of co-operation -- rethink the policy of constantly denigrating the Greens and acting hostile towards us.

Which makes you wonder, what is it about politics that Elizabeth May doesn't get? Let me guess what this co-operation would look like - the NDP wouldn't run a candidate in Central Nova, the Green's don't run in Toronto-Danforth and maybe Trinity-Spadina. Because the best way to eliminate Stephen Harper is to elect Elizabeth May. (Of course, Toronto-Danforth and Trinity-Spadina are pretty safe NDP seats, so what's in it for Jack Layton?)

Back when May made her deal with Stephane Dion, I made the following comment:

If Elizabeth May is only interested in knocking off Conservatives, if she doesn't want to unseat a Liberal or New Democrat, what's the point of the Green Party? Why doesn't she just join one of those two parties?

It still stands. It is not the NDP that is in the way of the Greens unseating the Conservatives, and it's a Jacobian Piece of Impertinence to suggest it is, it is the Greens syphoning votes away from the Liberals and NDP. And don't tell me, as May suggests, that the Green Party "draws (support) from all the traditional parties." If you're reason for being is that "we cannot afford more than one term of this (Stephen Harper's Conservative) government," you aren't going to draw support from the Conservative party.

If defeating Stephen Harper is your only reason for being, Elizabeth May, fold up the Green Party and stop syphoning votes from the parties that could defeat them.

One last thing. May talks about a positive campaign:

I believe that if we have an election that focuses on issues and not spin and attack ads, the voters will exercise their wisdom.

But isn't the following, by nature, negative?

Not just specific trades in different ridings, but an effort to be more collaborative so that we can figure out -- in a first-past-the-post system -- can we work together to ensure that (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper enjoys a one-term period as prime minister.

We cannot afford more than one term of this government.

If all you want is to defeat the other guy, that is the very definition of negative campaigning. But that is not really what Elizabeth May wants: Elizabeth May wants a seat for herself, regardless of the costs to everyone else.

I try to eat healthy, I do. But sometimes I just want junk food - sometimes I want a piece of chicken that's been dipped, battered and fried. And when that day comes, I love Kentucky Fried Chicken.

You have to wonder, do the people at KFC really believe customers will come to eat grilled chicken?

Kentucky Fried Chicken customers will be greeted eventually by lighted "Now Grilling" signs, starting in coming weeks in select U.S. cities.

Storefront signs will be altered to promote the new product - called Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

Louisville-based KFC, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., hopes grilled chicken will lure back health-conscious consumers who dropped fried chicken from their diets, or cut back on indulging.

Health conscious consumers are not coming to KFC regardless of what the sign says. And sometimes, even us health conscious guys want a bucket of grease.

I watched the movie Becoming Jane this weekend. I don't know how close to the truth this plot comes to Jane Austen's life story, but it does make for a good movie.










Set in England in 1795, the movie is about 20-year-old Jane Austen, an aspiring writer who wants to marry for love instead of marrying for money and social standing. Her father, a church pastor, wants Jane to be happy, while her mother wants her to marry someone wealthy so that Jane’s life will be easier than her own.


Then of course Mr. Tom Lefroy shows up and Jane falls in love with him, but *sigh* Tom is not wealthy, and is dependant on his uncle for money.






I really enjoyed this movie and will have to add it to my DVD collection.

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves. "What are you doing in there?" She asked.
The rabbit replied: "This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?"
To which the lady replied "Yes."
"Well," the rabbit said, "I'm westing."

Singer Sheryl Crow says she is set to work with Fleetwood Mac sometime in the near future:

I don't want to make any official announcements, but I will say that we definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we'll see what happens.

Crow would, apparently be replacing Stevie Nicks, who has indicated she would leave Fleetwood Mac without keyboardist Christine McVie, who herself retired in 1998. While no time line was given, Crow suggested this could happen next year.

I for one, think Sheryl Crow would look good in those long flowing Stevie Nicks dresses.

Or not.

Well, it's over and Heather Mills gets $50M and a tattered reputation for four years marriage. Hope she found it worth it. While the judge ripped her a new one, indicating her evidence was "inconsistent", "inaccurate", "less than candid" and that "overall she was a less than impressive witness." He also said her view of her marriage was "make-belief." But never let it be said that Heather Mills doesn't think higher of herself than the rest of the human population does: "...it was an incredible result, in the end, to secure my and my daughter's future, and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with - because you know it has been my life for 20 years."

Eliot Spitzer ho Ashley Dupre got some pay back for her wild ways this week. Girls Gone Wild was set to pay her $1M for promotion work. It was soon discovered, however, that Dupre had already done some free work for the video firm, letting it all hang out as a Girl Gone Wild a few years ago. And that is how you say, buh-bye to $1M Ashley.

I am on the mailing list of this two-bit record label that I don't recall subscribing to, but probably did. I get occasional e-mails from them, usually highlighting new releases from artists I have no or little knowledge of. But occasionally, I get personalized e-mails from the rap group The Beastie Boys. It is my firm belief these messages are why God (and Bill Gates) invented the delete key. This week, however, I got an interesting message from the Beasties:

hey all, things are really getting intense in tibet now. i just hope that all of the suffering that these protesters are enduring leads to some positive change. below is a news bulletin that i got this morning. please take the time to write to your local congress representative and ask them to get to work. it would be sad if what is happening in tibet now had no constructive result...

I am of the shut up and sing school of musical thought, but this one gave me pause. I agree very much with the sentiment that the international community needs to do more for Tibet, but I still wish I wasn't getting e-mail updates from The Beastie Boys on the subject - [Delete].

The weekly Led Zeppelin update, courtesy of Ramble On:

Canadian Eggs, a Canadian folk music magazine has named Raising Sand as the critics choice for top folk album of 2007... Plant has received numerous awards through the years, but it may be a safe bet that critics choice for top folk album is not one of them, until now.

Congrats also to Levon Helm, who's excellent album Dirt Farmer came in at 5th.