New Period Movies/Shows

A couple of weeks ago, I had a desire to watch a romance. Not just any romance, but a period romance. A movie with beautiful dresses, witty women, and handsome men in top hats. I wanted a declaration of love followed by an amazing kiss and a happily ever after. And I knew many movies that fit this description, but I wanted something new. Something that would surprise me. So I asked around and looked at my trusted period channels on YouTube. I came up with some hits, and some misses.

So, for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure), here are the new period movies (and one TV show) I discovered.

Lorna Doone (2000)

I had seen this on one of my YouTube channels, and had heard friends mention it, but I really didn't know anything about it. After two friends told me it was great, I decided to watch it. I was very pleasantly surprised! It was lovely, with just about everything that I wanted. But at the same time, it made me want to eat Lorna Doone cookies. . . . 

The gist is this. The time period is the 17th century. John is intent on avenging the death of his father, who was killed by the Doone clan. Then he meets Lorna, who happens to be the "queen" of the Doones. They fall in love, and must fight for what they most want--marriage to each other--but things keep getting in their way. There is a Doone who wants to marry Lorna and will have her or no one else can. There is the mystery of Lorna's mother. And of course, John's vengeful heart against the Doones. It was described to me as "like a Scottish version of Romeo and Juliet, but without the suicides."

The Buccaneers (1995)
This is not recommended. So, just keep that in mind if you decide to go watch it. The story follows for American girls as they go to England in the mid to late Victorian era to find rich and/or titled husbands. The story focuses mainly on the youngest girl, Nan. This is not a happy way to spend 5 hours. Only one of the girls ends up in a happy marriage, and we barely see her. One ends up unhappy in her marriage and cheats on her husband. One ends up in a loveless marriage with a man who only married her for her money and keeps a mistress. And Nan ends up married to a brute who rapes her, abuses her, and is also a homosexual (keep in mind, homosexuality was illegal at this time). I think the ending was supposed to be happy, but since it involved infidelity, I had a hard time thinking it was. If Nan had chosen love over a title and money, she would have been happy in the second hour and I would have been happier too. (Be aware that there is one scene of non graphic rape, and one scene of attempted rape. Though you shouldn't watch this movie anyway, so this warning is unnecessary.)

Barbara Cartland adaptions:
Barbara Cartland was a writer of historical romances during the 20th century. I have never read her novels, but I have heard that they are better than the movies. Keep in mind, that I am judging these based on the fact that they were made in the late 80s/early 90s, and as such, contain a bit of cheese. (And floppy haircuts for the men, and anachronistic makeup and hair for the women.)
A Hazard of Hearts (1987)
This was the best of the three adaptations I watched. It has a young Helena Bonham Carter as Serena. It's Regency time period. Serena's father is a gambler, and in a game of dice loses not only his money, but his house and his daughter to the evil Lord Wrotham. Lord Justin Vulcan wins back the house and Serena, but not before Sir Giles kills himself. Lord Vulcan then takes Serena to his home, which is rumored to be haunted.

I like that there is romance, as well as a bit of swashbuckling in these movies. The romance in this one is probably the strongest of the three, though the kiss is cut short. (Also, there is an attempted rape, but it's not graphic, just some struggling.)

A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990)
A young girl and her aunt go to Monte Carlo incognito in the late Victorian era. The aunt seems intent on her niece marrying royalty, though the girl falls in love with English Lord Robert Stanford (played by Marcus Gilbert, who also played Lord Vulcan in A Hazard of Hearts). The beautiful niece has also caught the eye of a Rajah. Again, there's some swash buckling, and men riding to the rescue.

Duel of Hearts (1991)
Probably my least favorite of all the Cartland movies. Possible because Marcus Gilbert wasn't in it. . . .

Anyway, Lady Faye is intent on proving that Lord Brecon did not commit a murder that he is suspected of, so she says she is Miss Frye and gets a job as his mother's companion. This movie is a bit like Jane Eyre, with the mysteries of the house, etc.

"Garrow's Law" (2009-2011)
This was a three season TV show, and I loved it! If you liked Amazing Grace (2006), I think you'll like "Garrow's Law". They are similar not only in time period (late 18th century), but also in that they both tell the story of a man intent on making changes. William Garrow was an English barrister who, among other things, invented the phrase "Innocent until proven Guilty." The TV show isn't very accurate, historically, when is comes to the life and cases of Garrow, but instead, it uses Garrow as a character to show real cases that came to the Old Bailey court at the time Garrow was practicing. I loved seeing someone fight for what he thought was right. And there is a bit of romance, too.

Bert & Dickie (2012)
This is the story of the English skulling team that won gold in the 1948 London Olympics. They were placed together five weeks before the Olympics and had to learn how to be a team, put aside their differences, and learn to trust each other. It's one of those feel good, triumphant, sports movies, and it did have me tearing up a bit in the end. The hard thing about this is that Matt Smith played Bert Bushnell, and I just couldn't get past thinking of this as the Doctor. It's the way he talks! He just talked like the Doctor. I've never had that problem with any of the other actors that have played the Doctor. In fact, at one point he asks some for change so he can use the "phone box" and I kind of giggled a little to myself at that. But it was an interesting story. Even more interesting is that the Olympics used to have art competitions.

So, there you go. Three good movies, one good TV show, two so-so movies, and one movie that is not recommended.

Murder! Murder!

I love murder mysteries. I really have no idea why--I don't like scary things, I don't like puzzles--but there is something about murder mysteries that just draw me in. Here's the thing though, I'm horrible at figuring out "whodunit." For example, the other day, I was reading an Agatha Christie book, which I had seen the adaptation of, and I still couldn't figure out who the murderer was! That's just pathetic. So, lately while I've been watching the Marple series (or any murder mystery), I'll come up with about two people who I think could be the murderer--which can, of course, change throughout the episode. There is also usually a secondary mystery, so I'll choose the person who is behind that mystery too. I'm rarely right with the murder, except for the other day when I was watching "Murder is Easy" and halfway through I thought to myself, "the murder is either person A or person B." And guess what! It was person B!! I was so proud of myself that I kind of wanted to brag, but even I realized how lame that would be.

One thing about watching and reading murder mysteries is that I start mistrusting everyone in them. I will frequently say, "Oh that guy is definitely going to be bad. He wants the attention so much!" When really that character is one of the good guys. Oh well, trust no one, right? ;)

Anyway, all of that was just leading up to me sharing some of my favorite murder mystery TV shows with you:

Bones
About a team of scientists (called "squints") working in the fictional museum The Jeffersonian, headed by Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel), a forensic anthropologist who works with bones. They work with FBI agent Seely Booth (David Boreanaz) to solve murders where the body and cause of death are not easily identified. What is amazing to me is how much bones can tell about a person--not only their age and sex, but illnesses, place of origin, diet, and previous injuries, as well as ones sustained after death.

Castle
Mystery writer, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), gets permission to follow Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and her team around New York City as they solve hurders. Castle's research and connections help them with their cases, as do his mother and daughter--though mostly unknowingly. Castle is a fun character, with all of his crazy theories, and his geekiness. Kate is sensible, but humors him at times.

Inspector Lewis
A British television show that takes place in the wonderful city of Oxford. Inspector Robby Lewis (previously Chief Inspector Morse's sergeant, from the TV show Morse) (Kevin Whately) is a Northern bloke without a lot of fancy learning, while his sergeant, James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), is an Oxbridge educated man who almost became a priest. Lewis has street smarts and experience while Hathaway helps him navigate the world of Oxford University and highly educated society as they solve murders of every kind. The ME, Laura Hobson (Clare Holman), is almost equal in importance and cleverness as Lewis and Hathaway (and I would say Holman almost steals the scenes she is in).

Marple
A little old woman, Miss Jane Marple (Geraldine McEwan or Julia McKenzie, depending on the season), helps the police solve murders all over England, including her own town of St. Mary's Mead. There are a lot of famous British faces to be seen in every episode, and it's amusing to see how Miss Marple leads the police to the right clues, earning their trust, and in the end, gathering everyone together to tell the story of the murder. Not every episode is a true Agatha Christie Marple story, and some are greatly changed, but they are still a lot of fun!

Whitechapel
Another British television show. This one takes place in Whitechapel, in East London. Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) just received his own team, which is essentially led by Sergeant Ray Miles (Philip Davis), when someone starts copying the Jack the Ripper murders. The first season (3 episodes) focuses on catching the copycat Ripper, with the help of ripperologist Ed Buchan (Steve Pemberton). The second season is another copycat, this time of the Kray twins from the 1960s. Buchan helps them again, which leads to him becoming a permanent member of their team in the third season. Since some of these murders can be a bit graphic (especially the Ripper murders), those scenes are filmed in such a way that hints at the gore without really showing it.

Sherlock
If you haven't heard of BBC's Sherlock by now, I want to know what rock you've been living under! This series takes the Victorian Sherlock and updates him to modern London. The update is seamless and inspired. Sherlock Holmes (the ever marvelous Benedict Cumberbatch) is still as brilliant and condescending as he ever was before as he solves the most unlikely of cases. Helping him is Doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman) and DI Lestrade (Rupert Graves, seriously this cast is amazing). The writers are self proclaimed Conan Doyle fans, so the plots are usually pretty true to the original story, just with updates to make them work in the 21st Century. But there is still 221B Baker Street, the violin, Mrs. Hudson, and even a deer stalker cap every once in a while. And, of course, Moriarty (Andrew Scott). Season 3 has just started filming and will be shown in the US on PBS in 2014.

Pushing Daisies
A quirky series that was greatly under appreciated in it's original run. It's about the Pie-maker, Ned (Lee Pace), who has a very unique talent--he can bring the dead back to life, but only for a minute, or someone else has to die. When he touches them again, they go back to being dead forever. He reluctantly helps Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), a private detective, solve murders by asking the victim if they know who killed them. They also get the help of Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), Ned's childhood sweetheart, who Ned brought back to life and kept alive past one minute, meaning he can never touch her or she'll die again. It's a weird sounding concept, it's actually a very colorful and upbeat show. The murders are so ridiculous, that it feels okay to be making fun of them.

So, those are some of my favorite murder mystery shows. All of them have good characters, which I appreciate, so don't go in expecting CSI with their cookie-cutter, apathetic, poser characters. And, also, I'm sorry if I get you into these shows and you spend the next year trying to catch up on them all. Really, I am sorry, but have fun while you do it!

Characters: Hawkeye Pierce

I've been thinking a lot about characters, especially since I've started the second draft of my novel (chapter one is done!!). Mostly I've been thinking about what makes a good character, and the kind of characters I think are good characters. This leads to questions like, What is the characters motivation? Why does the character react the way they do? Do you feel attached to the character (whether in a good or bad way)? Is the character believable?

Which leads me to the character of Hawkeye Pierce on "MASH." There are so many characters in literature, film, and TV that are fantastic, but I recently watched an episode of MASH that impressed on me just how good of a character Hawkeye is.

Before I go into the specific episode, I just want to talk about Hawkeye. At first glance, he's a sarcastic, light hearted prankster. He makes jokes while in surgery, and seems to live his life to drive his tent mate crazy. But the more you watch, the more you realize that the jokes are really just a cover, that he actually feels for humanity, and is deeply affected by the war and what he sees.

This brings me to the episode that I feel shows the character of Hawkeye Pierce the best. It's from season 4 and called "The Late Captain Pierce." In this episode, Hawkeye, through some clerical mistake, is declared dead. At first Hawkeye takes full advantage of that--refusing to work, and hosting his own wake, among others. Then, when he can't seem to reverse the declaration, he becomes worried about his dad back at home thinking he's dead. In frustration, at the end of the episode, he climbs onto a morgue bus and lies down, saying he's dead so he might as well leave. This culminates in the part of the episode that made me cry.

BJ gets on the bus to try and reason with Hawkeye, to which Hawkeye responds: "I'm tired of death. I'm tried to death." And then this:

[Choppers approaching]
Hawkeye: [sighing] Wounded.
BJ: Klinger says a lot.
Hawkeye: I don't care. I really don't. They'll keep coming whether I'm here or not. Trapper went home, they're still coming. Henry got killed and they're still coming. Wherever they come from, they'll never run out.

This one scene shows just how downtrodden the war has made Hawkeye. All of the joking is a front, something he can hide behind, something that keeps him sane, but then there are times when he is reminded just what it all means. The wounded will keep coming, and he'll have to keep working on them, watching some of them die while sending others back out to fight some more.

This is why I think Hawkeye is a great character--he's complex, with his jokes and his sad moods, the things he fights for, and his sarcasm; he's got a history, a family back home, and education, and friends; and he's empathetic. The trick to making a good character is making sure that they have depth, instead of just one side. Not only are shallow characters boring to read, but they are unbelievable as well.

I'm not a professional writer, but I try my hand at it and I read like crazy, so this isn't any kind of professional advice, just my own little musings.

Doctor Who Workout

Today I did my first Doctor Who workout (just finished it in fact), which I got off of Pinterest and can be found here. Oh man, am I out of shape! Since I've seen all of the episodes (except the Matt Smith ones) more than once, I just chose an episode to do this with. So my workout today was to "The Unquiet Dead" (the Charles Dickens one).

It was a little hard to not just get caught up in the episode, but I had the workout taped to the side of the TV to help me remember, and I'm sure once I get more used to what I'm supposed to do, it will be easier. This episode may not have been the best episode, but when I wasn't doing one of the tasks, I made sure I was standing, stretching, or going onto my toes. Also, the part about the "catchphrase" I made to include "Bad Wolf," which was said in this episode. I ended up doing a lot of jumping jacks, because "Doctor" gets said all the time--it being his name and all. Another thing I'm going to add is a plank during the theme song at the opening.

So, it was bearable. It was fun to watch something, and it isn't constant doing something all the time. And the workout will change some depending on what episode it is, so you aren't just doing the same thing all the time, which is nice. I think I may come up with my own Doctor Who workout in the future, and maybe some for the other shows I watch during the week.

Anyway, I guess in summary, this is a good way to start working out, especially since I don't generally like exercise (I know, I'm kind of ashamed of it) and since I don't have an xbox kinect on which to play Dance Central (seriously, I never wanted an xbox before and now all I want to do is get one so I can get all four Dance Centrals and annoy the people living below me).

Another update on my New Year's resolutions: I started the second draft of my book last night and wrote three pages! Not too shabby. And I've kind of started the preplanning stage of my Canadian vacation. This will be the first vacation by myself, and I really have no idea what I'm doing, so, that's fun.

Hope that your resolutions are still going strong! If not, it's never too late to start!

Moving Out and Up: My Geekery is Showing

So, I don't have pictures of the whole apartment, but here are pictures of my Doctor Who themed bedroom!

Here is a wide shot of my bedroom. The other photos will show close-ups on the more interesting parts of the room. (Though I do want to point out the two decorative pillows my mom so nicely made for me, and the AMAZING Doctor Who afghan my sister knitted for me last Christmas at the end of the bed.)

This is from season 5 of the new series (the first season with Matt Smith). It hangs above my desk and is basically the awesomest thing ever.

Not Doctor Who, but still geeky. No room of mine would ever not have books in it. This isn't even half of the books I own and I'm continually getting more.

When I was 16 my parents let me pick out a bed for my new room in our new house. I always wanted a daybed, so that's what I picked. Across the back is a star (above), a moon, and a sun.

The flannel sheet set my parents bought me soon after (I think the Christmas we moved into our house).   They are getting a little worn, but let's face it, they are awesome! (I think that it's interesting that 6 years before I ever started watching DW, I was so into stars and the heavens. Actually, it's not that interesting. I watched Star Wars and Star Trek. And space is beautiful.)

You'll remember my banner from earlier this year. This is from season 3, with David Tennant.

This is the door to my own personal TARDIS, AKA my bathroom. And you'll see why in the next picture.

It's bigger on the inside!! My closet is in the bathroom, making it literally bigger on the inside from the outside. Also, it travels through space! Not even kidding! Every morning I check the weather on my iPhone while drying my hair, and almost every morning my phone says that I am in a different city (none of which are the city in which I live). So, space travel. Still working on the time travel aspect.

There you go! My geekiness for all to see!

And this concludes the series of "Moving Out and Up".

A TARDIS ipod case!

Okay, I am so geeky. But I absolutely love Doctor Who. It's practically an obsession. :) Anyway, last week I was thinking about how I needed to make an iPod case to better take care of my poor ipod (now that it's three years old . . .). But something that was really important to me about the case was that I wanted it to have some sort of pocket or something for me to put my headphones in since I'm really hard on headphones (two pairs in the past year alone) and thought maybe if I had a pocket I wouldn't just wrap them around the 'Pod and hopefully that would make them last longer.

So, I went onto pinterest (which is so dangerous. It's like a blackhole. Which is the reason I don't have one) and looked around at iPod cases. It was so fun to see the things people come up with! I really liked this idea (I'd also seen it done with a teddy bear) with the cute little arms "holding" the headphones. And then I got to thinking about how I have so much blue felt left over from when I made this banner in May. Instantly I thought, "I should make a TARDIS case!" Which I then spoke out loud. And my mother (who is basically a genius) said, "You could make doors that open and close!"

I used this tutorial as a kind of starting place, and then I went off on my own! As you can see in the left corner, I was having some problems with the applique film, as I had never used it before. I also made the mistake of writing "Police Box" on with fabric paint before attaching it to the felt. This meant that when I ironed on the applique film, it kind of melted the paint a little bit. My cutting and sewing isn't perfect, but it just makes it look a bit more cartoony, which is totally fine! I hand sewed the panels on the doors and went around twice, making sure that the stitches were different the second time around. Then I just got out the sewing machine and attached the elastic and sewed up the sides!

I'm actually kind of proud of myself. Maybe I can be crafty . . .

Sunday Special: Ripples

One of my favorite TV shows is "Joan of Arcadia," which was canceled more than 7 years ago. Every few years or so, I get on YouTube and watch the entire two seasons. The main premise is such: Joan is a typical teenage girl, until one day God decides to talk to her. Appearing in various forms, God asks her to do a variety of tasks. In the middle of the first season, the idea of "ripples" is introduced. Ripples can be either good, or bad. Joan doesn't always get to see the ripples of her actions, but they are always there. One of my favorite times of when she gets to see the ripples is God asks her to take the school bully to school, but she doesn't feel like it made a difference. God tells her it does.

I like this idea of ripples; that everything we do, every decision we make, affects more than just us. A ripple starts at one point, then it spreads, getting ever wider and encompassing more and more of the surrounding area. Our decisions may start with us, but never just end there. Good or baad, the ripples keep going on and on.

What kind of ripples are we sending out?

I really do believe that our decisions, our everyday decisions--where to get a job, what to read, who we talk to--they all will change the world. Maybe not the same way curing cancer will, but the way a butterfly flapping it's wings in China does. Somewhere down the line it could became a hurricane. Every ripple we send out changes something and someone.

We may not always understand why God asks us to do something, or inspires us to do something, but there is always a reason. It will probably benefit us, but it will send out ripples that will affect others. The first drop in the pond never sees where it's ripples go.

I hope my ripples are good.

You Can Learn from TV!

So, I was proofreading a novel at work and came across this word:

anticlimatic

Well, now, someone else would just overlook this word. But not me, no sir! Because I used to watch TV (used to . . . ha!) and I learned something from it.

See, I used to watch this TV show called "Joan of Arcadia." In one episode, Joan is talking to someone (well, God) and she says "That's mad anticlimatic."

God looks down at her. "Anticlimactic. Anticlimatic means that you're . . . against the weather."

That was 7 years ago that was on TV, and I still remember that. I will not be tripped up by anticlimatic ever again!!

Hi, I'm Whitney and I'm an Anglophile

Those of you who know me very well, knows that I LOVE England. I love the country, I love the culture, I love things that come out of England (sweets, people, history, news, movies, television, books). If I could, I would move back to London in a second. Or any other city/town in England.

Well, today I'm going to talk about my favorite BBC shows. English people and English humor, I'm all for it. In fact, there was a time last year after I had gone through my BBC TV phase when I started watching an American fantasy show and couldn't even finish watching the first episode because "they don't have English accents!" I'm not that bad all the time. I swear!

Anyway, here are my favorite BBC shows starting from the oldest (with some links to scenes):

Fawlty Towers (1975)

*Hint: If you like Monty Python, you will love this. It has John Cleese in it.

*Synopsis: About an incompetent inn owner and the guests that come and stay in his hotel.

*Hilarious! One of my favorite episodes involves Germans.

All Creatures Great and Small (1978)

*Hint: Just watch the first three seasons. They took a 8-year break or something in between the third and fourth seasons, and changed one major actor. I don't think I made it through the first episode of the fourth season.

*Synopsis: About a young man who becomes a veterinarian in a small York town pre-WWII.

*Absolutely hilarious! The members of the town are so funny. There are also some very heartwarming parts. I remember this one part about a man and his dog that made me cry. Based on the real life and memoirs of James Herriot

As Time Goes By (1992-2005)

*Synopsis: Two people who fell in love when young find each other in their "golden years" and fall in love again.

*Okay, there is so much good to say about this series. First: Dame Judi Dench. Second: Geoffrey Palmer. Third: Alistair. The great thing about this is that it just shows that people can fall in love no matter what stage of life they may be in. And it's funny

Marple (2004?)

*This one is hard to say because they are actually little short minis instead of an actual series. Started in 2004, I think. There are a lot of Miss Marple's out there, but Geraldine McEwan is the best.

*Synopsis: A little old woman uses her skills of observation to solve mysteries.

*Just homey and fun to watch. Miss Marple is a wonderful little lady. Based on the book series by Agatha Christie

Doctor Who (2005-present)

*Hint: So, I don't really know where to put this because it is actually a continuation of the 1968 series. But you don't need to watch all forty years to understand it. And if you do want to go back and watch some of the older ones, watch Tom Baker's doctor. He's one of the best.

*Synopsis: About a time-traveling alien called simply Doctor. His adventures with his companions as he fights other aliens and saves the world, and the universe.

*Everyone who knows Doctor Who has "their" doctor. My Doctor is David Tennant, the tenth doctor. The Doctor is satirical, serious, funny, scary, good, kind, and intense. Watch it, you will love it. Sometimes I just have to go back and watch all my favorite episodes (which ends up being almost all of them).

Robin Hood (2006)

*Hint: So much better if you watch with someone and make cookies. :)

*Synopsis: It's Robin Hood, there's not much else I can say.

*It's a little cheesy. But fun. Everyone needs a little Robin in their life.

Merlin (2008-present)

*Synopsis: The story of the young Merlin as he tries to hide his magic in a kingdom where it is illegal all while saving Prince Arthur with it.

*I really like this, but I've been having a hard time watching the third season, though I'm sure it is just as good.

Sherlock (2010-present)

*Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes updated to this time. Follow him and Dr. Watson as they solve mysteries and deal with the mysterious Moriarty.

*This is absolutely wonderful! It has a very dry humor, which is actually pretty characteristic of the English. Be warned though, watching the first season will leave you wanting much, much more!!

So, there you go! Maybe next time I'll tell you all about my favorite British miniseries! Have a good one.

These Are Going to Date Me Someday . . .

Here are things that I remember from my childhood, things that someday will show how old I am:

Seeing Vanna White actually turn the letters on Wheel of Fortune, instead of just touching the screen (which she doesn't even need to do).

Watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and seeing how crayons are made during the "Picture Picture" segment.

Coloring with markers that would stain clothes, walls, skin, and carpet if they didn't stay on the paper.

Shining Time Station and the little conductor.

Having to leave town and drive for about 30 minutes to go some place to eat.

Going to Arctic Circle for fast food because it was the only fast food place in town.

Playing with homemade playdough and kitchen utensils.

Listening to "Mmmbop" by Hanson on my sister's Walkman/tapedeck.

Wearing cut off shorts and two shirts with the sleeves rolled up so you can see the color of the shirt underneath.

Being born in the 80s and growing up in the 90s--remembering the Y2K scare.

Having a civilization's textbook that said "East and West Germany will never be one again." (Or maybe that's dating my sixth grade textbook and not me.)

Having a television that was incased in wood and had knobs that you turned instead of buttons.

Going to Disneyland for my seventh birthday the year the Indiana Jones ride opened. There was no California Adventure and the 3-D movie starred Michael Jackson (I thought he was a woman, even back then).

Rolling the car windows down by hand.

Our first DVD was A Bug's Life that we got free with our new iMac. We didn't have a DVD player so we had to watch it on the computer.

Listening to Christmas albums on our record player (again, this actually ages my parents more than me).

Oregon Trail was the best computer game ever!

All we needed to be happy on a summer's day was some chalk, a blank driveway, a popsicle, and the sprinklers.

Riding our bikes to the grocery store and getting Shastas for 25 cents.

We only needed 7 channels, and even then we only watched 3.

The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday.

TGIF on ABC every Friday!

We didn't need toys with batteries, just our imagination.

Speaking of toys: troll dolls, beanie babies, furbies (::shudder::), Barbie before she underwent breast reduction, legos, and care bears.

The first CD I bought myself was 98* Revelation. Man, I loved that CD.

I was just thinking about how different things were when I was little, but it seems to be such a short amount of time. What kinds of things are different from when you all were kids?

Review: BtVS

So, today I got a DVD in the mail from Netflix (oh, Netflix, you are the joy and the bane of my existence!). It was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Here's a little back story on the movie:

Joss Whedon wrote the script, but he hated what they did with it, so he walked off the set and never came back. See, Whedon wanted the movie to be a bit more serious than the producers were envisioning it. His disappointment led him to create Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) which remained on TV for seven years.

Here's my review for the movie: it was absolutely ridiculous. The vampires looked stupid; the fight scenes were laughable; the story moved too quickly; and the acting was pretty bad. I saw a review that said it was the 80s movie of the 90s and it basically was. Maybe if I wasn't almost all the way through Buffy the series, I would have liked it better, but I doubt it. It seemed like a pretty low budget movie--especially considering the television series had better effects in it. I mean, the vampires didn't even dust! How boring!

Another complaint I had against it was the length and timing. In a 40 minute episode, Buffy not only saves the world, but is able to make a speech about something or other, go to school, slay a vamp or two (while making clever little quips), and go on a date with whatever guy (undead or no) she might be dating at the time. It took 86 minutes for the movie to do that, but the timing was so off! It took too long for her to learn she was the slayer, and then all the fights were way too short, and the climax came and went almost without me realizing it. So in some ways it was too long and in others it was too short.

I can see how Joss would be disappointed. Everything else I have ever seen done by him has been witty, but serious, with great character development and clever use of cinematography. And I'm glad that he took it upon himself to right that wrong by creating the series because I have been enjoying it immensely.

So, I wouldn't recommend Buffy (1992) to anyone. If you want some serious and fun vampire butt kicking, watch the series instead.

Quality TV

Okay, so I realize that Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn't, in general, the best television show ever made. But if you never watch it all the way through, there are three episodes that you should definitely watch:

Hush (Season 4, Episode 10)- an amazing non-use of dialogue

The Body (Season 5, Episode 16)- powerful and real, my roomie and I were in tears

Once More, With Feeling (Season 6, Episode 6)- fun use of musical elements

I think you'll enjoy them.

And so it begins . . .

Well, it's Memorial Day. I was thinking about this today--can you wish someone a happy memorial day when it's about remembering the dead? Just a thought.

EFY started today! For those of you who don't know what exactly this means for BYU students, let me 'splain. Just picture hundreds of 14-18 year olds. Now, think about those teens having about two hours off everyday and what that means for student employees at places like, say, the Creamery on Ninth. Yeah. It's fun.

So after work today, I decided to come home and watch some Angel and Buffy episodes while eating pizza. Holiday means no class, which means lazy Whitney. Oh yeah!

So, you all have a great holiday!

The Helpless is Calling . . .

. . . so where is Angel and his team of paranormal experts? 'Cuz I've got a nasty Cold Demon that is slowly killing me with a scratchy throat, itchy ears, stuffed nose, and racking coughs.

So, um, Angel, you think you can vanquish this thing for me? The sooner, the better.

Thanks.

Because of Doctor Who . . .

. . . I am scared of the following things:

1. mannequins

2. fat people who fart too much

3. trampolines

4. broken clocks

5. kids looking for their mummys

6. gasmasks

7. mirrors

8. scarecrows

9. mortuaries

10. reality TV

11. cats

12. weird tasting chips

13. cafeteria food

14. bluetooths (blueteeth?)

15. TVs

16. people repeating what I say

17. young kids who draw/color

18. scribbles

19. hospitals

20. traffic jams

21. statues of angels

22. old professors with fob watches

23. British Prime Ministers

24. the sound of drums

25. bees

26. cruises

27. weight loss pills

28. kid geniuses

29. libraries

30. double shadows

31. turning left

32. four knocks

33. double decker buses

34. rhinos

35. 4 somethings and a lizard

36. children with red balloons

37. political campaigns

38. christmas trees

39. zippers

40. Santa Claus

41. marionettes

42. Shakespeare

43. bell towers

44. nannies

45. pigs

46. "Jingle Bells"

47. blinking

Yes, because of Doctor Who, I am a paranoid freak. Brilliant.