King Arthur Movie Tristan

Enjoy your weekend everybody, it's supposed to be a rainy one here, but I don't mind, that's good weather for reading :o)


Here's a few Friday meme's I found:



Friday fill in's


1. For me negativity is the opposite of creativity.

2. The Host was the last excellent book I read.

3. I like fill-ins because they are kinda fun.

4. In nature I like looking at anything scenic like the ocean, mountains, botanical gardens....

5. Someone who knows what they are doing should win the US elections.

6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was yesterday when my daughter did her voice impersonations.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching tv and relaxing, tomorrow my plans include whatever I'm in the mood for and Sunday, I want to relax some more and bake a cake!





Friday Fun


1. What are your top five favorite authors? What genres do they write?

I love:

-Jane Austen: the classics, romance

-Stephenie Meyers: Y/A

-Dean Koontz: Horror/Suspense/Mystery

-Stephen King: Horror/Suspense/Mystery

-Alice Hoffman: fiction






2. What are your favorite genre(s) to read?

It depends what I'm in the mood for. I tend to read horror and romance alot, I know these are opposites, but hey, if the horror novel, has some romance to it, I'm on cloud 9 :) I also love books with lots of drama, such as Lisa See's 'Snowflower and the Secret Fan'.




3. What are you reading right now?

The Wednesday Sisters






4. What are the last three you read? What’s next?

I've read 'The Host', 'Everlasting' and 'Heart Shaped Box'

Now I'm reading 'The Wednesday Sisters' and want to read 'Beneath A Marble Sky' next.





5. Name one book you think I should try out! Thanks.

Well, it's hard to pick just one, it depends what you're in the mood for. If you're wanting a great read with lots of drama, try out
'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingslover. That novel is one of my favorites, but you'll need your kleenex, it's a tear jerker. If you're in the mood for a sweet read, a bit of romance with vampires added in to the mix, try out Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight'. If you want a great 'I see dead people' type read, I suggest Dean Koontz's 'Odd Thomas'. And last but not least, if you're in the mood for just a plain good old story, pick up Alice Hoffman's 'The Ice Queen'








Friday Five

"With the following phrases, post a single image of the strongest thought/idea that pops into your head."


1.) Favorite Food:

rice & beans:








2.) Least Favorite Food:

peas






3.) Favorite Thing:

reading:





4.) Least Favorite Thing:

housework:






5.) A phobia:

OMG, it was hard to find this pic and post it.






6.) An addiction:

via NY POST:

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people."

Ms. Sarandon. Loved you in Bull Durham. Really, it's a great movie and you were pretty good back then. However, we really have enough leftist blow hards here, so if you are, unlike Alec Baldwin, serious, please choose Italy.

I found out about this cool contest over at j.kaye's book blog, and it sounded like fun, so I figured I'd give it a try. Read on for the basic gist:



maggie reads: name your homeplace contest

To play, look around your surroundings and create a name that best represents the ole homeplace.

So I looked around, and since Spring is here, and my garden is a bloomin' I decided to look there first.

'My Sweet Escape'

I came up with this title because I love being home, and during the spring/summer months, you can often find me outside curled up in my hammock reading or crocheting while my kids play. My flower garden makes for a pretty view.

title: Heart Shaped Box

author: Joe Hill

pages: 366

first line: Jude had a private collection.

genre: horror

rated: 4 out of 5










Famous musician Judas Coyne collects rare and grotesque items. He lives with his current goth girlfriend, Georgia a.k.a. Marybeth, and his pet dogs Angus and Bon. When his personal assistant, Danny, tells him there is a ghost for sale on the Internet,
Jude buys it for $1000.00.
The package arrives at his door, it is a black heart-shaped box, inside is a suit belonging to a dead man. Jude just puts the box away in his closet and forgets about it until one day he sees an old man in his home, wearing the suit.






Turns out the suit belongs to one of Judes ex-lovers, stepfather. Anna was manic depressive and has passed away, apparently by committing suicide. Now her deceased stepfather, Craddock McDermott, wants his revenge on Jude.






The old man has black squiggles where his eyes should be, and he tends to show up everywhere Jude goes. Sound creepy? Very. This book really scared the heck outta me. I am the type that when reading a book, gets very into it, so it's no surprise I was really scared while reading certain passages in this one.



Craddock was a hypnotist in life, and used this knowledge to hurt others. Now that he is haunting Jude, he can make Jude and others do whatever he says. The sound of his voice is mesmerizing. He is trying to get Jude to kill his girlfriend, then himself.

Craddock had spent most of a week now trying to make Jude kill himself. Jude had been so busy resisting he hadn't stopped to wonder if the price of surviving would be worse than giving the dead man what he wanted. That he was sure to lose, and that the longer he held out, the more likely he would drag Marybeth with him. Because the dead pull the living down.

I really enjoyed this book, Joe Hill, is the son of none other than Stephen King.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This read was scary, creepy and intense. It has lots of twists and turns, and is full of some unexpected surprises.
I liked the main character, Jude and his girlfriend, Georgia. You want them to figure out a way to get rid of this ghost, yet it seems impossible for them. Craddock is insane and he's very scary.

Craddock McDermott moved in stop motion, a series of life-size still photographs. In one moment his arms were at his sides. In the next, one of his gaunt hands was on Georgia's shoulder. His fingernails were yellowed and long and curled at the end. The black marks jumped and quivered in front of his eyes.

It's been a while since I've read a book that scared me. This read was long overdue. I think the last book that spooked me like this one was Salem's Lot.





visit the author's website: http://joehillfiction.com/




this has been part of the following reading challenges:

suspense & thriller

TBR

100+

Triple 8



this book has also been reviewed by ladytink

I just had to post this, I'm hoping the movie will be good. I loved Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series.
I can't wait for Breaking Dawn to come out.




Here's a trailor for the Twilight movie, it looks decent. Only I don't know who could ever play Edward for the movie. In the books, he's perfection.

Did you hear about the two blondes who froze to death in a drive-in movie? They had gone to see 'Closed for the Winter.'
************************************************
A blonde was driving home after a game and got caught in a really bad hailstorm. Her car was covered with dents, so the next day she took it to a repair shop. The shop owner saw that she was a blonde, so he decided to have some fun. He told her to go home and blow into the tail pipe really hard, and all the dents would pop out. So, the blonde went home, got down on her hands and knees and started blowing into her tailpipe. Nothing happened. So she blew a little harder, and still nothing happened. Her blonde roommate saw her and asked, 'What are you doing?' The first blonde told her how the repairman had instructed her to blow into the tail pipe in order to get all the dents to pop out. The roommate rolled her eyes and said, 'Uh, like hello! You need to roll up the windows first.'
************************************************
A blonde was shopping at Target and came across a shiny silver thermos. She was quite fascinated by it, so she picked it up and took it to the clerk To ask what it was.
The clerk said, 'Why, that's a thermos..... it keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold.'
'Wow, said the blonde, 'that's amazing....I'm going to buy it!' So she bought the thermos and took it to work the next day.
Her boss saw it on her desk. 'What's that,' he asked?
'Why, that's a thermos..... it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold,' she replied.
Her boss inquired, 'What do you have in it?'
The blond replied..... ...'Two popsicles and some coffee.'
************************************************
A blonde goes into work one morning crying her eyes out.
Her boss asked sympathetically, 'What's the matter?'
The blonde replies, 'Early this morning I got a phone call saying that my mother had passed away.'
The boss, feeling sorry for her, says, 'Why don't you go home? Relax and rest.'
'Thanks, but I'd be better off here. I need to keep my mind off it and I have the best chance of doing that here.'
The boss agrees and allows the blonde to work as usual. A couple of hours pass and the boss decides to check on the blonde. He looks out from his office and sees the blonde crying hysterically.
'Are you gonna be okay?' he asks.
'No!' exclaims the blonde. 'I just received a horrible call from my sister. Her mother died, too!'

As a young minister in Kentucky, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be buriedthere.

I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the open grave, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. The digging crew was eating lunch.I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave.

There I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told them that this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul.

As I preached about 'looking forward to a brighter tomorrow' and 'the glory that is to come,' the workers began to say 'Amen,' 'Praise the Lord,' and 'Glory!' The fervor of these men trulyinspired me. So, I preached and I preached like I had never preachedbefore, all the way from Genesis to Revelations.

I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked the men, and walked to my car. As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I heard one of the workers say to another, 'I ain't NEVER seen nothin' like that before, and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for thirty years!'

I have become a fan of Rondi Adamson the last year. Unfortunately, she is usually turning up at The Star or The Globe and Mail, the two dailies I don't regularly read. Today however, she turned up at The Sun, which I managed to catch without having to resort to those internets.

A different slant on the various Maxime Bernier "scandals," noting that what his "spouse" was wearing at his swearing in is minor compared to the fact he is allowed to declare her a "spouse for travelling purposes," and fly her around at taxpayer expense, after dating her only a few months:

For Bernier to designate Couillard -- a woman he had apparently only dated briefly -- a "spouse" is setting the limbo bar so low for what constitutes a "spouse" that a wee beastie could dance its little way under it. It is also inconsistent with the outrage at Couillard's decolletage last summer. Why the priggishness there, but not in her "spouse" status? Surely social conservatives should be offended.

Fiscal conservatives should be troubled, as well...

Prior to running for election in Beauce, Bernier had served as vice-president of Quebec's leading free market think-tank, the Montreal Economic Institute. In his previous incarnation, he would have been unimpressed with someone's girlfriend -- flat or big-chested -- tagging along on the company dime.

I submit that this piece was probably written before Bernier's resignation (although not before the news of the envelope-gate). However, I would suggest that Adamson makes a good case for his resignation even before the top secret envelope under the pillow routine, and would guess that PM Harper had pencilled Bernier for a shuffle during the summer when nobody was paying attention.

how I felt all those years:

Clark said that he does not have a political affinity for any of the current federal parties, noting that he was a "political orphan."

When Joe Clark is running the Conservative party, a conservative guy like me was pretty much an orphan.

Now will the press please stop treating this guy like he has an ounce of credibility?

I found this fun meme:

Give Me Five movies you'd choose to have along if you were stranded on a desert island (that happened to have electricity, a tv and dvd player).

It's hard to choose just 5, but here's my top choices:


1.
Gone With The Wind: because it is one of my all-time favorite films, and books too. I am very annoying while watching this film, I can pretty much quote the whole thing.


2.
Scarface: Another one of my favorites, again, very quotable. And I love Tony Montana.



3.
The Notebook: I love this movie, and this one scene especially. It's a great sappy love story and i'm a sucker for a good romance.



4.

Titanic: Another great love story, this is the kind of movie that I just have to watch whenever it comes on, I never tire of it.


5.

Rocky: What a great movie. I just want to get up and throw punches when I watch this one.

'Yo, Adrian!'

Too bad the local good guys, the Kitchener Rangers, couldn't solve the Spokane Chiefs to win the Memorial Cup in Kitchener yesterday. But there was entertainment for everyone when the cup fell apart during the on-ice celebrations.



The look on those poor kids faces, and lets face it, they are kids. Captain Chris Bruton, who is 21, was handing it too Trevor Glass, who is 20. They look like they are thinking, "oh man, were in trouble now."



h/t to Joanne for the video clip

I have been at two events with union speakers the last month. At the first, an in plant celebration of the launch of the new Challenger, Jerry Dias, assistant to Buzz Hargrove and, I'm told, the next CAW President, spent his time at the mike taking pot shots at Jim Flaherty. This was a celebratory function. Everyone else talked about the great car, the great company, the great workers. Jerry Dias whined about someone who wasn't there. I was standing beside a guy who was the head of one of our locals chapters (i.e. chairperson for one of the companies), and he says to me with a roll of the eyes, "classy guy."

Ten days later I went to the "hurry up, get the vote in during a long weekend, we only have six months to get this done" ratification vote for a new contract. Local bargaining committee is not even in place yet, but we have one day to decide on the contract. So naturally you would assume it would be an informative meeting: you would assume wrong.

Instead CAW economist (and Globe and Mail columnist) Jim Stanford spends over an hour explaining why we had to sign the contract now: note the difference; not why we should like the contract, but justifying the contract they got. The reason they negotiated early, and got us the contract they did: Evil money traders, Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty. An hour of cheap political shots, very little real information.

I mention these stories to explain to the wife why there's cornflakes all over the kitchen. It's Buzz Hargrove's fault, honey. You see, after these two events, I thought cheap political points where OK, that's what we do. Then I open todays Toronto Sun and voila:

Cheap shots at Premier McGuinty are unfair
By BUZZ HARGROVE

Oh, grow up Buzz!

So when Bob Runciman and Howard Hampton stand in the legislature and question giving money to a company who is laying off a few thousand Ontarians, it's a cheap shot, and unfair to boot (unfair, by the way, is the official whine of the CAW).

On the other hand, attending a corporate celebration, or an unrelated contract ratification meeting, political thoughts are fair game. But doing so in the legislature, not so fair. Or rather, poking Conservatives in the eye, with other peoples money, is fine. Poking Liberals is cause for another bottle to go with the glazed chicken in truffle sauce.

One thing is becoming clear, I was right three months ago, Buzz is running in the next election, and auto-workers got sold down the river to accommodate that ambition.

******

Update: Progressive blogger Mack the Hackistan (i.e. Kevin Wilson) has written a piece for Now Magazine Blowing off Buzz.

First off, let me wish my fellow U.S. bloggers a Happy & Safe Memorial Day.

And enjoy your weekend everybody :o)



This past week, I finished reading & reviewingEverlasting & The Host. I enjoyed both, but The Host is now one of my favorite books. It was a great read. Hard to put down, it even had a nice love story in the mix.



Other than that, I'm happy about the 3-day weekend and expect to get some more reading done. I have so many books to read, it will be hard to pick one.

Here's what I have lined up:

Which do you recommend I read next?




Heart Shaped Box







Eragon




The Wednesday Sisters





Beneath A Marble Sky

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go,
only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, orHe'll teach you how to fly! "The power of one sentence!
God is going to shift things around for you today and let things workin your favor.
If you believe, send it.
If you don't believe, delete it.
God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. If you need God to open some doors for you...send this to alll you friends.
...Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...

20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don ' t Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It 'In.'
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write 'For Smuggling Diamonds'
7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy.'
8. Don t use any punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go.'
12. Sing Along At The Opera
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don ' t Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can ' t Attend Their Party Because You ' re Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won!, I Won!'
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives, They ' re Loose!!'
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'
20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......Send This E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile. It ' s Called Therapy.

A picture is worth a thousand words..pass this one on to new drivers or soon to be

The Honda rider was traveling at such a 'very high speed', his reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. Police estimate a speed of 155mph before the bike hit the slow moving car side-on at an intersection. At that speed, they predicted that the rider's reaction time (once the vehicle came into view) wasn't sufficient enough for him to even apply the brakes. The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 10 feet from where the collision took place. All three involved (two in car and rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Motorcycle Fair by the Police and Road Safety Department. The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license. At 155 mph the operator is traveling at 227 feet per second. With normal reaction time to (SEE-DECIDE-REACT) of 1.6 seconds the above operator would have traveled over 363 feet (21 yards more than the length of a football field) while making a decision on what actions to take. In this incident the police indicate that no actions were taken.

title:
Everlasting

author: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss


genre: historical romance


pages: 326

first line: She knew his name was Raven Seabern, that he was here at Westminster Castle in the service of his king, and she was aware of something else as well, that the tall, raven-haired Scotsman was staring at her again.


rated: 4 out of 5 stars




Lady Abrielle of Harrington was coveted by many well-bred nobleman in London.
Abrielle's stepfather, who was supposed to be honored for his service, is denied his title and wealth. Now being disgraced and not suitable for a nobleman, she has no choice but to marry the hateful Desmond de Marlé in order to save her family from disgrace and poverty.



Abrielle meets Raven Seabern, and is drawn to him right away. But she knows she cannot be with him, she is betrothed to another.

'Straightening to his full height, Raven cast his gaze about as though admiring the scenery surrounding them, but only Abrielle had his attention. He was not surprised by the realization that he had remembered the lady in infinite detail. But then, no other woman had come close to ensnaring his heart as she had done during their initial meeting.'

Raven is hot, plain and simple.

Long haired Scottish dude, wielding a sword...hmmmm... I'm thinking Gerard Butler....





The romance is sweet and the two of them have chemistry from the start. Raven saves her several times from harm. Abrielle keeps trying to resist him, he won't give up on her. *sigh*

'Without warning or hesitation, he bent his head and brushed her parted lips with is own. Abrielle's mind went blank and then exploded with sensation. His kiss was slow, hot, sweet, thick honey pulling her under, to someplace far away and deep inside, someplace new and exciting.'

This is my first time reading Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. I always love finding new authors to read. Sadly she has passed away in 2007. I will be reading more of her novels.


Visit her website: http://www.kathleenewoodiwiss.com/




This has been part of the following reading challenges:

RRC

TBR

100+

historical fiction

triple 8