Halloween

In light of our recent discussion of fear and the media, and because Saturday is Halloween, I thought I'd recommend some great movies with a little bit of a spooky feel to them, but definitely not along the lines of It or The Birds. First, of course, is the classic Hocus Pocus--what a great Halloween movie with witches, spells, ghosts, and even a zombie. Next, I love The Addams Family because "they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky..." A couple recent favorites that aren't really recent are Mike Meyer's So I Married an Axe Murderer and an early Tom Hanks movie--The Burbs. Both of these are funny, quirky, and have a slight spooky feel. Hopefully, these not-so-frightening selections help you narrow down your Halloween night movies--and prevent nightmares!

How far we've come...

At our house, we have an extra hard drive set up only for movies next to our flatscreen...kind of sick, I know. It has probably about 250 movies on it that we've bought and downloaded or have through iTunes. Let's just say, between this and Netflix, we have plenty to keep us occupied. And, whenever someone new comes over, my husband always has to pull up Surf's Up to show them the amazing graphics of the waves. He misses surfing tons, but I think I've seen the last scene of the movie about twenty times--who knew penguins were so adept at paddling out and hanging ten? That movie (and other recent cartoons) and the loaded hard drive make me realize how far we've come in technology...let's take a trip back in time: Remember when we had to browse the huge bookshelves of movies and insert the VHS (and it was never even called that because that's all there was) and sometimes hope the machine wouldn't eat it, just to watch poorly defined cartoon figures (has anyone noticed Snow White doesn't really have a nose?) on our monstrous TVs as there was no such thing as a flat-screen? This was all in our lifetimes! But you know what, even with all this, we were happy!

Tyler

So, my husband and I decided to go to the dollar theater instead of do homework on Saturday afternoon to see The Proposal. Since our four month old, Tyler, is still pretty portable and really easy-going, we usually just pack him along with us. He fell asleep for the first half of it and then he decided to watch with us for the last part of it. We usually don't let him watch TV or movies with us, but when you're in the theater, what do you do? Anyways, as he sat watching the huge screen with super wide eyes, it made me realize that I need to be very careful with what I allow him to watch. Also, here's a picture of him in the bath...I just thought it was cute.

Bon Apetit

I have very little spare time, but my favorite hobby is cooking/baking. I love to make tasty things in the kitchen and, luckily--since we have to eat--I get to do this almost everyday. On my last birthday, I received a subscription to Bon Apetit magazine. This was perhaps my favorite gift and it just keeps giving every month. I received the Thanksgiving issue a couple weeks ago and have already scoured it all over for delicious recipes. The brown sugar-pecan cupcakes with caramel pecan frosting were amazing, as was the pear ginger crisp, and I've heard great things about the steak with mixed peppercorns and pomegranate glaze. Homemade chicken pot pie with fresh thyme is for dinner tonight, as it's a little chilly outside. All I have to say (and I think my husband would agree) is thank goodness for magazines like this!

The Devil in the White City

I’m not sure what my very favorite book is currently; however, a book that I read within the last couple years and really enjoyed is called The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen. This book is nonfiction and tells two intertwined stories: one story is the planning and preparation for the 1892 Chicago World Fair and the other is of a serial killer in Chicago at the same time who uses the fair to his advantage to murder his victims.
One of the reasons I really enjoyed this book was the fact that it is nonfiction. I learned so much about the time period in which it took place and I also learned many interesting facts about that time period. For example, the tune to the song “there’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance…” came from the fair needing a catchy tune for one of their exotic villages with snake charmers. Also, the Pledge of Allegiance was created in response to the fair because the nation wanted something that all of the school children could recite at the same time to feel united. In addition to this, the Ferris wheel was invited for the fair to rival the Eiffel Tower (which was built for the Paris World Fair just a short time before). Of course, the story line of a real-life serial killer was hauntingly interesting and I found myself unable to put it down.

Yester-years Favorite Book

When I was younger, one of my favorite books was Anne of Green Gables. I really enjoyed this series because of the imagination that Anne had and the mischief that she got into with her friends. All of the dreams and adventures that they took part in were magical to me and I wanted to be there with them and share in the fun. They became very real characters and friends to me and I enjoyed learning more about them and sharing in their lives with them as they (and I) grew up. Even though the setting of the book was set int he late 1800s/early 1900s, the characteristics and dreams that Anne had were the same as mine. Essentially, I felt that I could relate to her. Also, one of the main themes of all the books was that of friendship and, as a young adolescent girl, having a best friend was of the utmost importance to me.

Addiction

I wonder if it's healthy how "attached" I am to some of the shows we watch. For example, we recently became addicted to NCIS this past summer. In fact, we were so addicted that we had to search for old episodes on the internet to get our fix. When Hulu didn't have what we needed, we finally had to turn to less than reputable websites with subtitles in various Asian languanges scrolling across the bottom (a little distracting) or episodes in which the audio and visual were so out of sinc that we could only glance at the screen for brief periods because it was too painful to try to watch for any length of time. But, you do what you have to when you're a junkie, even if it causes a little pain. Luckily for us, the new season started, so we're forced to cut back to just one episode a week...we'll see how this intervention goes. :)

Vegas, baby!

My husband and I met up with his parents in Las Vegas over last weekend. While we were there I noted several things. First, media's ability to bombard and overwhelm--there were so many forms of entertainment and media, all displayed in huge flashing lights. Also, we were able to take part in a form of media I'm not as frequently exposed to--stage performances. We went to the Beatles LOVE performance of Cirque du Solei. I was truly impressed by the talent (and strength) of those performers and the message they portrayed. And it was all live! The other thing that struck me was just the huge impact that one particular band--the Beatles--can have on so many people and across generations. I wonder if anyone will ever top them? They are amazing!