Little Talks

So now that Christmas is through, the next thing to look forward to is New Years. And with the new year comes...a new episode of Sherlock! So here is a Sherlock Holmes quote.

I have a nice long shift tomorrow, plus it's the holidays, so this may be the last post I do in a while just because I (like many of you) will be celebrating Christmas with my family. So, if I don't post again then I would just like to take a moment to say "Merry Christmas!" Argo is based on a true story about the 1980 escape of six American embassy workers from Tehran after the embassy in Iran was attacked and all of the people were captured and/or killed (except for the six who escaped). The small surviving team found safety in the home of the Canadian Ambassador (played by Victor Garber, who is actually a Canadian!). Meanwhile, in the U.S. a CIA agent (played by Ben Affleck) devised a plan to get them out by pretending that they are Canadian filmmakers scouting out a location for a new sci-fi movie. In order to make it authentic, a studio had to put all of the proper processes to do the work on this film (which they never actually intended to create). Of course,...

Singin' in the Rain is more than a romance. It is actually about the invention of talkies (movies with sound). This gives some good insight into the shift that happened in the movie industry at the time. The movie shows us the struggle of one of the industry's most popular acting duos: Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont (completely fictional people, not actual Hollywood stars). Lina is a good actress, but the problem is her voice. When the studio wants to make a movie full of speaking and singing, Lina doesn't understand why she is no longer suitable for the part. Meanwhile, Don has met and begun to fall for Kathy Selden, a stage actress. The two of them, along with the studios musician (and Don's best friend), Cosmo Brown, devise a plan to record Kathy's voice for the parts instead. You can see what problems might come from that. Things I remember thinking during this movie: Kathy and Don fell in love ridiculously fast. Cosmo's dance number was crazy (in a good way)....

Well I can't believe it, but it's almost Christmas. In the spirit of the season, today's Sunday Sayings will be about the holiday.

This movie is really just something to watch if you want an easy plot and some goofy humour. The minions are still their adorable selves, and for the most part the humour is rather childish. This movie is about the minions' search to find a boss before they worked for Gru. Three of them end up working the world's most popular villain, Scarlet Overkill. I really don't have much to say about this. For myself and my friends who really enjoy the Despicable Me movies, we found Mionions to be a bit of a let down. For my friend who, for some reason, didn't really like the Despicable Me movies, this was apparently an improvement. One thing I will say is that we brought my friend's 7 year old brother to the theatre when we watched it and e quite enjoyed it. He was very nervous because he thought (as children do) that maybe Kevin was not going to be okay. But family movies always end well. A really good movie for kids, or maybe fun to watch once in a while if you just want so...

For the next week, leading up to Christmas, I would like to do one blog post a day to make up for my long absence, and as a Christmas gift to you all (because I just know this is what you've always wanted 😜). So I watched the first two Jurassic Park movies not too long before I saw the new Jurassic World. My fisrt impression was that the dinosaurs and the environment were much better quality. Not that the originals were extremely fake, but the dinosaurs in Jurassic World were monstrous and very well made. They got much more screen time, which actually had quite a different impact on the feel of the movie. Instead of the whole thing being psychological like the original movie, where you are watching the people enter dangerous situations and waiting for the dinosaurs to appear and strike, this took the gore and jump scares of the second movie to a whole new level. The technology allowed for the dinosaurs to be on screen far more, and to do much more than before. This leads me to my ...

So I don't know where time has gone. It appears that exams and assignments just eat up the hours, days, and weeks. By the time I realized I was neglecting this blog, I was too busy to post anything to make up lost time. But now I'm back, and I would like to make it up to you by doing a little retrospective look at season 5a of Once Upon A Time. And I will do my best not to spoil things for you. I would like to begin by saying that Eddy and Adam are back and they mean business! I have always loved the writing of this show, but they had me hanging on at every turn, never knowing quite what to expect. Some plot twists I saw coming, others I would never have picked up on. They write the characters so well that after 4 seasons I am sure I'm not the only fan who can often predict what characters are going to do just because we've gotten to know them so well. But Adam and Eddy also realize that people are only human, that people have flaws and act selfishly and go against th...

I really need to be working on a project so I'm going to make this quick. I just came across an article that said that the word of the year for 2015 is the crying face smiley emoji. If you're like me, you're thinking: but that's not a word, that's a picture! And you would be right. But think about your texting habits. For some people this may not be true, but how often do you use emojis to add meaning to what you are saying, or send only an emoji as a reply to a message? I know that I do it to let people know that I'm joking, or to show that what I was just talking about is really annoying and how I'm sooo not impressed. (I was going to add emojis to show you what I mean, but then I realized that my computer doesn't have an emoji keyboard so that doesn't work. Sorry). The point is, it may not be a word, but we have loaded those little yellow faces with meaning, a meaning which is often far more complex to express in words. Essentially, we are usin...

Hello everybody! Can you tell I have been swamped? I forgot that I hadn't posted a Sunday Sayings this week. So let me take this opportunity to do some shameless advertising for the Tim and the Glory Boys tour. Here is the link for tour dates (and tickets): http://timneufeldmusic.com/tour-dates/ If you live in the GTA, the boys will be in Mississauga this Friday. Here's your really late Sunday Sayings:

My sincerest apologies. I had an exam today, so I was focussed on studying last night.

There are so many thoughts trapped inside my brain, being squished into corners to make room for everything I'm studying. I promise that when I get the chance, I will share them all with you.  For now, let me tell you about this most inspirational movie. Produced by Angelina Jolie, Unbroken  is based on the life of Louis Zamperini. Louis was a troubled young boy, often running from the cops. Then one day he joins the running team, breaking records with almost no effort. His big brother became his trainer, putting him on a better path. Eventually, Louis got to go to the Olympics in Germany. Unfortunately, the then 19 year old runner came in 8th. He did, however, run one of the fastest final laps ever in the 5000 meter run. Within a short while, WWII would consume the world, and when America finally joined the fight, so did Louos Zamperini. And everything would go downhill from there. His plane crashed, leaving only a few of them alive. Eventually, he and two others would spend ...

For all my Canadian readers out there (yes, I do know that I say that a lot) happy thanksgiving!! This weekend has been a great one for enjoying the fall and spending time with family, at least for me. I hope it was the same for all of you. I am very tjankful this year for just the little joys in life: my amazing best friends who are more like sisters to me, the time that I get to spend with my little sister when she's home from school, everything that my parents do for me, my health, my life, time spent with extended family, the beauty of nature, the warmth of the sunlight, and so much more. I only wish I had taken more time to reflect so far this weekend, but I was too caught up enjoying myself. So I will leave you with this great little reminder as I sign off for the night.

I have a question: have you ever just taken a leisurely stroll through downtown Toronto in the rain? Most of you probably haven't because you have never been to Toronto, and maybe you never will because you don't live anywhere close to it. But if you do get the chance, try it out. When you're in Toronto (or any big city), it's very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the busy city. And quite often one becomes so preoccupied with reaching their destination that it's not hard to miss everything going on all around you. But the other day I was out of class early and I knew I had time to kill, so when I stepped outside and had to put up my umbrella, I hesitated just long enough to look around me and see how beautiful the city looked against the hazy grey sky, everything glistening with water. Even the temperature was comfortable for going for a walk. So I decided to stroll slowly to my destination, taking in the streets - which at that point where partia...

I am so sorry that I forgot to post a Sunday Sayings this week. I had work and then I was watching the CSI finale and I totally forgot. As I say this, I realize there aren't any regular readers of this blog, or at least none that I've ever heard of, but still I apologize if there is anyone out there who looks forward to these. So here is your Sunday Sayings on Tuesday.

School is taking away all of my time again, so I apologize that my posts are few and far between. But fear not, another awesome blog post is coming your way right now. Towards the end of May, my family went on a brief vacation to New York City! So unique! To see some (iconic) shots, go to my Back From Vacation post (will fix that up with a link later, sorry). P.S. I did take those photos, and others, those just seemed like the most recognizable ones to share with you all. Anyways, while we were there, we had to go see a Broadway musical. It would be a travesty not to. So unlike my post on Once (will also attach this link later) this one is about the musical that came from the movie, rather than the movie that inspired the musical. We chose Finding Neverland because we knew it would be a good story, and we'd heard great reviews. Plus, as fans of Glee  my sister and I were excited to see Matthew Morrison on the stage, where his career began. And our parents, having watched Cheers , w...

This one has some thoughts that come with it. I know I've done an extensive post of superhero stuff before, but I like to bring them up once in a while. This is partly because I wasn't as drawn to them when I was a child, for whatever reason, as I am now, so now I want to talk about them. Although, that seems to be true of our society as a whole right now. I was listening to a message today, and the preacher was asking why it is that we are so drawn to superheroes. His little boy came up and said that it was because they have special powers and because they save people. The speaker pointed out that it's because they affirm our feelings of needing to make a difference in the world. They inspire us to make a change and help others. But we also aspire to their fame and glory. All of these are true. But my first real exposure to superheroes came from the X-Men. And I'll tell you something: none of those things were part of what drew me to this crew of mutants. What I co...

If you're like me, and you absolutely love Disney, then no matter how old you are, you were just waiting for this movie to come out so that you could watch it. The commercials looked too perfect! Plus it's Marvel too, so that's an added bonus. Warning : due to the nature of this movie plot there will be spoilers in order to summarize any plot. Read at your discretion . Hiro is a young robotics genius, who we later lean takes after his big brother, although it is implied that Hiro is far more intelligent as he is offered super early admission to his brother's university. Anyways, he creates nano bots which can essentially become and do anything a person wishes, so long as said person is wearing the mind control helmet thing (sorry I don't know the technical name). His brother encourages him to show them off at a science fair. But I'm skipping ahead. His brother, Tadashi, has created a personal health care assistant robot named Baymax. He shows this off to H...

I am so sorry that I missed yesterday's Sunday Sayings. I was so busy working and moving my sister out this weekend that I forgot all about it. So here you go:

Considering my last post, this one seems a little out of order; I know. I still need to see the next Captain America, but I'll take whatever I can get. As mentioned in a previous post, I watched this one for my birthday. Best birthday ever!! This is the newest Marvel movie (besides Ant Man) so I'll try not to spoil things. But if you haven't seen it and you don't want to know any more about it, use discretion in reading this. The movie opens in the midst of a fight between the Avengers and Hydra at a fort the latter group is using in Eastern Europe. They are experimenting on people using Loki's sceptre, attempting to create "weapons" to use against the Avengers, and others. Pietro "Quicksilver" Maximoff, a speedster, and his twin sister Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff. She is able to severely hinder the team, starting with Iron Man. She is able to play off of his greatest fears. However, he successfully retrieves the sceptre. Examining i...

(Some content added on July 1, 2016 - I rewatched the movie, and realized I had more to say about this film.) As always, please avoid reading if you don't want spoierls. My favourite Avenger's story begins in Captain America: The First Avenger  (which I'm sure so many of you have seen by now). I love Steve Rogers' humble beginnings. Steve is a small, quiet American boy whose one goal is to be able to fight for his country in World War II. Unfortunately, due to his size and health complications, they don't want him. He is more disappointed when his best friend Bucky is accepted. When a doctor assisting the army realizes how badly Steve wants to join, he lets him in. Everyone seems doubtful and confused when the poor young man can barely keep up in exercises. They prove their reason for choosing him by tossing a grenade at the group. While all the qualified soldiers run for cover, Steve willingly throws himself on the grenade. They see that he has the kind of patrioti...

Warning: if you haven't seen this, there may be spoilers. You've been warned. In a surprisingly serious role, Melissa McCarthy plays a newly divorced single mother, who moves in next door to the rough-edged, miserly Vincent (played by Bill Murray). Vincent is not a nice guy, and he doesn't appear to be a very kind or friendly person. Unfortunately Maggie (McCarthy) has to work off shifts as a nurse at the hospital, so she occasionally has to leave her son, Oliver, in the care of Vincent. They have some odd experiences, as Vincent exposes Oliver to things that a child probably shouldn't know or see. However, Oliver also realizes that Vincent is not such a terrible man. He is actually a kind man in his own right, but he doesn't seem to want people to know that. Oliver, however, does see it. He meets Daka, a prostitute (or "lady of the night") whom Vincent has taken a liking to. But Daka is pregnant, and it is unclear whether it is Vincent's child, althou...

Today's quote is a little late and I apologize for that. For some reason, this weekend I keep forgetting what day I am living in. Still, better late than never. This is a quote I am surprised to say I have never heard before. I discovered it while pleading with Siri to answer a question which it refused to answer and when I asked "why not?" It told me this: It seems so quotable that it should be one of those famous lines that everyone knows. If you're like me and you've never heard it before, take note. I think it has a really great message.

So this weekend I went camping with my sister and my two best friends, whom I've known for over 10 years. It was rainy, then it was hot and sticky. But I loved every minute of it. It was our first time camping on our own, but it didn't feel like it. I had such a good time even though it was just a short weekend in the woods. So here are two quotations to aum up my weekend and encourage you all to find a few good friends and just get away for a while. Now I would like to share a revelation I had this weekend. First let me say that I love camping. But I realized that we third world humans think that a good vacation is going into the woods and getting eaten by bugs with no real shelter, just a tent. Why is that? I love it and I just can't tell you. I guess it's just being in nature. And it helps to have great company.

Maus: A Survivor's Tale  by Art Spiegleman This post discusses both Maus I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began This is yet another unique non-fiction book I discovered through school. It is the story of Vladek Spieglman, a Polish Jew during his life leading up to and in the midst of World War II. The author and artist is Art Spirgleman, his son. The narrative being told is only part of the vision that Art had because his mother passed away a while before he decided to write the book, an his father was so upset by everything that he had burned her journals. For this reason, the story is completely from Vladek's perspective, so when Art's parents get separated, he doesn't always know what happened to his mother in that time. Through it all, it was so amazing to see just how much Art's family survived, despite all odds being against them. The retelling is framed by the discussions between Art and his father, the story jumping betwe...

How's is everyone's weekend going? Do you think if I ask that some of you will actually answer? So many questions, so little time. Anyways, I went to a wedding reception/garden party last night so I'm a little tired, but I am still taking the time to ensure that I do my weekly post for you guys. In the spirit of marriage, here is a quotation about love:

Army of Lovers: A Community History of Will Munro I know that it seems like I thoroughly enjoy everything I read and watch, but that's not true. The main reason is that I watch and read things I know or think that I will be interested in. This, however, was another of the books I was assigned in my non-fiction course. I am uncertain how I feel about this book, less because of the style and more because of the story being told. This books is the story of Will Munro being told through excerpts from interviews with friends, family, and aquaintances of the youn man who became a figurehead and celebrity in his little (but growing) community. He was an artist, a gay rights activist, a volunteer youth helpline worker, etc. He was the figurehead for a small, previously unrepresented community.  From the stories, he seemed to be the strangest party animal, a really unique artist type, but also a completely self-sacrificial giver. He brought people together. The part of the book th...

Today is national sister's day, so I wanted to share a quote about sisters (since I've got one of those).

The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman) This book is a first for me because it's my first comic book! (Besides Archie Comics) And it's extra special because it is non-fiction. That is to say that the characters and the plot (if it can be said to have plot) are all real, or are simply hypothetical/metaphorical. It is a book describing the author's trials and joys in doing long-distance running that was also made to function as a motivational/how-to book for runners. There is little summary I can give you, but let's see what I can do. Matthew describes his struggles with "the blerch", his greatest running experience, some do's and don'ts for running, and more. The illustrations are extremely cartoony and often over exaggerated, but they serve to emphasize the writing and make it easy and enjoyable to follow. Rather than tell you more, let me give you a sample (part one of the book is available on...

Today's Sunday Saying isn't very deep, but it reflects the feeling of summer. I'm suddenly realizing how quickly summer is slipping by and I'm not ready for it to be over. I was planning on doing so much more reading (and far less working). I wanted more time to hang with my girls before we all go back to school in the fall. I wanted a tan! Unfortunately, it is the nature of things to go against your expectations. My summer hasn't been exciting, but it has been a nice break. Besides, there's still time left. Make the most of the rest of your summer! (I'm going to try doing that by finishing The Complete Sherlock Holmes. )

The Portrait of Mr. W. H. by Oscar Wilde I decided to take a non-fiction class last semester, despite my selective taste for fantasy and fiction. And I actually really enjoyed it. Who knew there were so many creative ways to write non-fiction? Anyways, this book is one of the ones we read. Unfortunately, I didn't quite find it to be one of those unique works I just spoke of. Let me explain. This book is essentially Oscar Wilde's way of sharing a theory about Shakespeare's sonnets (though whether or not he believes it is hard to say). The theory, briefly, is that the poems are written to a young Willie Hughes who acted in Shakespeare's company. The flaw with the theory is that there is no evidence of this Willie Highes outside of the sonnets. The theory is framed by a story of several men discussing the theory, and the rest is written from the narrator's perspective as he finds evidence to support the theory. One man, who dies for his theory (as it is one...

Once  is likely a familiar title to many of you as the name of a very popular Broadway musical that has been around for several years now. And if you guesse that my blog was about that, you are somewhat right. I have not actually been lucky enough to go see that performance. I have, however, seen the movie upon which the play is based. That's right! I bet you probably didn't know it was a movie. For those who haven't heard of the musical or didn't understand the premise, it is about an Irish singer-songwriter (male) who meets a European immigrant (female) who plays piano and sings. The two work together to make their music and get a demo CD in the hopes of turning their passions into a career. It is the classic storyline of boy meets girl, and so boy falls for girl (and girl, somewhat more reluctantly, falls for boy) and boy faces the risk of losing girl. It turns out that the young, single mother is actually still married but her husband is at home. I don't remembe...

Sorry I've been absent so long guys (and gals). I have no excuse for the pastseveral  weeks except being tired from work, but last week I was volunteering in the mornings and working in the afternoons. But take heart, for I am determined this week to do more blogging. Bonus: today you get this blog AND Sunday Sayings. This movie is another one that I watched during Christmas break (yes, I know I'm still behind). As always, I don't want to get too into it and reveal the whole story, but I will summarize for you. Based on a true story. Young Alan Turing is a mathematician of the highest calibre who is recruited to help the English understand and decode the German "enigma" machine. A small number of linguists and mathematicians make up the team that works hard every day to figure out the cipher before midnight when the code will change. The team gets mad when Alan won't help, but they will soon realize that he is working on a machine (which he calls Christopher...

I know I'm almost pushing the "Sunday" thing here since it's almost Monday, but better late than never. (I was out watching the Minions  movie). I'm going to be busy this week, but I've been slacking on my posts due to work and I would like to try to make that up to you.

I recently rediscovered Demi Lovato's "no makeup monday" selfies, and I know we still have a little bit o time until Monday, but for today's Sunday Sayings I would like to do a No Makeup Monday edition. The idea is to promote natural beauty and self confidence in order to teach girls that looks aren't that important, but also that everyone is beautiful in her (or his) own way.

So for those of you keeping up on world events, this weekend has been a particularly important one for the LGBTQ community. I am sure some of you have already noticed, but I want to let you know now that this blog is for expressing my views and so it will reflect my Christian beliefs. That being said, I want everyone to know that I do not hate gays. I have a relative who is gay, and I love them and their spouse and children very much. However, this does not mean that I feel that their lifestyle choices are right. Living in Canada, legalized gay marriage is not a new concept to me. But the changes in America are an indication of the direction that the world is headed. I don't always like to say this (as there is progress constantly being made all over the world) but America is at the forefront of every major change in the world. If attitudes in America have begun to change, it won't be long before the rest of Western society follows. I don't feel that it is the responsibili...

Let me explain a little something about The Hobbit  movies: my friends and I made it a Christmas tradition over the past three years to watch the newly released films during the Christmas break. Of course this means that we need a new Christmas tradition. 😝 But seriously, this means that I haven't yet made it to the point in the list where the things I am blogging are things I've read or seen in 2015. I really need to work in that. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies  is the throes instalment in the Hobbit  movie franchise. I realize that I have planned this out very poorly. You see, my blog didn't exist when I watched the first two movies, and so those blog entries do not exist. But I don't want to have to go back that far to work on blogging those. I apologize if you haven't seen the others and this causes spoilers or confusion for you. That is not my intent. So Smaug is out of the mountain and intent on attacking the people of Laketown. The remaining elves and...

Happy Father's Day to my amazing dad and all the dads out there. You are appreciated more than you know.

Yup, that's right, we've already made it to the end. So sad 😢. Thursday (I'm sorry I didn't publish Thursday) my friend and I watched season 3 of the amazing Sherlock.  The third season shows some more advances in filming methods, a bit of a re-emergence of the need to capture modern settings in most shots, some new special effects, and a development of all the main characters. The Empty Hearse After two years, Sherlock has finally been freed from the lies that Moriarty created. Anderson, and other believers in Sherlock Holmes, begin to theorize about how Sherlock may have actually survived this event. (Anderson, as shown in a pre-episode not present on the DVD but probably still on the Internet, has been tracing activity that he believes points to Sherlock still bein alive and in Europe. Other believers join with him to theorize a  little later on, but they too think he survived somehow.) We are then shown clips of a man being chased, caught, and tortured in Eastern E...