tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39286837897426505852024-03-05T01:14:31.687-05:00Reading and Writing and Movies, Oh My!Anything and everything to do with what I'm reading, writing and watching.Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-38078414922622437452012-09-11T17:43:00.002-04:002012-09-11T17:43:58.334-04:00Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hà has only known Saigon. The sights and smells of the markets, her own papaya tree. This is her home but the Vietnam War is encroaching upon her life quickly. It’s already taken her father away to fight and it has come for her home. Despite reservations of leaving, not knowing how their father will find them, Hà’s family is forced to escape the North Vietnamese army. They board a ship, not knowing where their future lies. Cramped on a stalled ship after several days at sea they are rescued and the refugees are taken to the US. Hà’s family is sent to live in Alabama a strange world with no papaya tree </span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hà</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> can call her own. Together, Hà’s family become accustomed to their new life, learning the language, the customs, religion, all while enduring the teasing and distrust from their new neighbors, but never forgetting who they are or where they came from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cover alone is enough to make someone stop and pick this book up. Add a well written verse, that is beautiful, at times heartbreaking, and you almost have a perfect book that you will never forget. With just a few carefully selected words, Thanhha Lai makes you feel what Hà feels, which means keep the tissues close. But she will also make you smile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can’t imagine what it was really like evacuating Saigon during that time. I’ve only known moving across the country but to a new state with a shared language and coworkers who I had previously met. To leave in a rush of panic and confusion with no idea what will become of you; it takes a brave person to experience all that and all throughout this book I kept wondering if I could be as brave and resourceful as Hà and her family. I really hope so if such a situation ever arises and I admire anyone who has had to bravely leave their home not knowing what the future will be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hà is wonderful. She’s a very real little girl with hopes and dreams. You feel her frustration as she attends school in the United States, as well as her triumph when she outwits a bully. She’s defiant and refuses to let the fact she’s the youngest or a girl let anything stop her. She is also very brave. With very little complaint she endured the hardships her family faced when they evacuated Saigon and then suffered the cramped living spaces of the ship they escaped on with little food, space or privacy. She is someone to be admired and I think all little girls should read her story.</span>
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Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-46518688620408900162012-09-03T18:29:00.000-04:002012-09-03T18:29:35.355-04:00Labor Day Catch-All<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have a couple of updates for reading challenges and other miscellaneous happenings, so I’m going to write about it all in this one post so hold on tight as I switch gears often!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, Venessa and I have been enjoying the newly renovated Lake Jackson Library Branch. We had been looking forward to this all summer and it was worth the wait. The renovated building is larger, well lit and includes more shelf space, a lot more computer terminals and seating. The children’s section has the best spot near the windows making it bright and cheery, the YA section has some comfy reading nooks and my favorite spot is the reading room.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On our first visit Venessa checked out the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and has watched it nearly every day (we recently renewed it for another week because she couldn’t part with it). I think it’s cute because I recently discovered The Black Stallion and The Black Stallion Returns is streaming on Netflix. I grew up with both of those movies and watched them constantly, especially The Black Stallion Returns. And do you know how I watched them so much? By checking them out from the library!</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Season 7 of Doctor Who premiered on September 1st, did you see it? I bought it through Amazon and I think it’s an okay start. Daleks are Daleks and I feel like we’ve been there done that with them and I’m more excited about next weeks episode with dinosaurs on a spaceship. But if this season continues with more stand alone type adventures, I’m all in. I’m also very curious how the new companion will work out because <b>SPOILER ALERT</b> she was a human turned into a Dalek who was destroyed in this episode. How does she go from destroyed human-Dalek to companion? We’ll see! And another thing, am I the only one not on board this Amy-Rory divorce because Amy can’t have any more children? This seemed odd considering Amy is smarter than that and should know Rory by now and remember that he did wait 2,000 years for her. And I know they didn’t get to raise River but she’s still around, she’s still their daughter and it felt like she was forgotten in this episode. They did make up but there's probably more challenges to come for those two so I guess we’ll see how this works out. <b>END SPOILER ALERT</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On the reading front, the <a href="http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/summer-in-discworld-terry-pratchett-reading-challenge/" target="_blank">Summer In Discworld reading challenge</a> hosted by Tales of the Marvelous has ended and I was pathetic. I only read two Discworld books which I don’t find as very impressive stats but of course, they were great reads and I know I can always count on Discworld to lift me out of a reading funk. Check out the review site for the Summer In Discworld challenge to see what others thought of Discworld: <a href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/links.php?owner=MarvelousTales&postid=27May2012a&meme=9886" target="_blank">http://www.blenza.com/linkies/links.php?owner=MarvelousTales&postid=27May2012a&meme=9886</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And here are my two reviews:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/guards-guards-by-terry-pratchett.html">Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/08/night-watch-by-terry-pratchett.html">Night Watch (Discworld #29)</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With the end of summer and Halloween just around the corner you know what that means... the <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-vii" target="_blank">R.I.P. VII reading challenge</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yes, it’s back and this will be the second time I will be participating. I think Carl can see my bookshelves from his part of the country. Last year I participated in the <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/Fragile%20Things%20Group%20Read">group read of Fragile Things</a> by Neil Gaiman because I happened to have a copy. This year there will be a group read of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and I also happen to have a copy too. I’m hoping Venessa will finally let me read it aloud to her. She says it’s scary but this is the same little girl who would cover her eyes while watching <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-just-big-ball-of-wibbly-wobbly.html">Doctor Who</a> but would then sneak out of bed to watch over my shoulder. So, back to the <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-vii" target="_blank">R.I.P. Challenge</a> which runs from September 1st through October 31st. This challenge, or rather, experience, has different levels to participate and can include any book/short story/movie/TV show that fits within these categories:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mystery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Suspense</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thriller</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dark Fantasy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gothic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Horror</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Supernatural</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Visit <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-vii" target="_blank">Stainless Steel Droppings</a> for more details. I’m not going to commit to a level this year. I’ll just see what I read and watch. I’ve already started reading The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente which fits in nicely as a Dark Fantasy and it is absolutely wonderful so far. Other books I have on my shelf that I’d like to read for R.I.P. are:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>World War Z by Max Brooks</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (for the group read)</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Cold Blood by Truman Capote</span>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hell by Robert Olen Butler</span>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Pötzsch</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Orphan's Tales: In The Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente (Currently reading)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson (I asked for this book because it was a group read last year)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We’ll see what movies I’ll watch. I’m going to try and get a viewing of Army of Darkness in and Evil Dead 2. I’ve also been watching Dark Shadows off and on over the last three months so I’ll probably watch some more. So if you want to see all the action here’s a link to the review site: <a href="http://ripviireviewsite.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://ripviireviewsite.blogspot.com/</a> and blog or not, everyone is welcome to participate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So that’s it! Hope everyone has been enjoying their three day weekend!</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-37175674500318388022012-08-30T18:27:00.000-04:002012-08-30T18:27:00.567-04:00Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #29)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Commander Sam Vimes is about to be a father. But he has been forbidden from his wife’s side. What’s a good copper to do besides wear a hole in the carpet pacing? Catch bad guys! And Carcer, known murderer, bad guy extraordinaire, has been spotted and the Watch has him surrounded. Joining the hunt is the best thing Sam can think of to keep him occupied. But a harrowing encounter with Carcer atop the Unseen University Library during a freak magical storm sends Vimes and Carcer back in time. Their presence alone disrupts the thread of time but when Carcer murders John Keel, the man who mentored a young Sam Vimes, the older Vimes must assume Keel’s identity and mentor himself if he is to be the Sam Vimes that he is. Even if time has been disrupted certain events must take place: teaching a young Sam how to be a copper, being the face of a revolution and grabbing hold of Carcer to bring him to justice and back to the timeline they belong in. If Sam fails, the life he knows, will never be or have been.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh time travel what a tangled web you weave and Pratchett handles it wonderfully though there were moments that confused me but I think that’s just the nature of time travel and this is Discworld after all. Night Watch is also quite dark and gritty, and I’m often surprised by this at times because the humor and fantasy elements are hilarious and outrageous. Pratchett doesn’t shy away from violence and the truth and motivations behind the mob mentality, rebellions and class warfare. There’s also plenty of light moments and comedy. I don’t know how Pratchett is able to balance everything out but he does. There are moments that make you cringe, nod your head in agreement, stifle a laugh; his books are very engaging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I really loved seeing the younger versions of Sam, Colon, Nobby and Vetineri. A skinny, street urchin, pickpocket Nobby is the cutest, filthiest thing ever and Vetineri is just as sly and smart as an assasin just as he will be a sly, two-steps-ahead-of-you patrician. And of course, Sam is Sam, always the copper, always determined to do what is right and he has become one of my favorite characters, not just from Discworld, but also from the fantasy genre altogether.</span><br />
Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-23699211974111076982012-08-23T17:45:00.002-04:002012-08-23T18:02:51.151-04:00Every Day by David Levithan<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every Day by David Levithan is about A. A wakes up in a different teenager’s body every day. A is not sure why it happens, A just knows it does and there is nothing A can do about it. So A lives the life of that particular teenager for a day, trying not to disrupt their routine. That is until A ends up in the body of Justin and A meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. Forgetting the rules, A will do whatever is possible to be with Rhiannon, even if it means exposing A’s unusual ability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m not really sure what prompted me to read Every Day by David Levithan. The cover didn’t really speak to me and I’ve been wary of young adult books for a while until I read Railsea. Maybe because I enjoyed <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/railsea-by-china-mieville.html">Railsea</a> so much that I was willing to give YA another chance. Whatever the reason, I requested it from Net Galley and decided to give it a try 4th of July morning. I ended up getting sucked into it and spending 3 hours reading in bed. While I still like Railsea better I did enjoy Every Day very much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A having no gender was hard to relate with at first and I couldn’t help but feel that A was male because in the beginning of Every Day, we meet A in Justin’s body. Over time, though, as the story developed and I got to experience A living a day in the life of different teenagers, it became easier to see A as this non-gender consciousness who is still a person, who can feel and love and was just as comfortable in female bodies. It was interesting to read over time how comfortably A was able to occupy male and female bodies without being troubled with how to behave in their bodies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The romance between A and Rhiannon was not really my favorite part which were the experiences in the bodies. The writing is simple enough to breeze through this but it leaves an impression as each experience is described, such as A’s experience as an overweight boy and the effort of carrying so much weight around, the young immigrant girl who worked all day cleaning houses to the point of exhaustion and there was also a young girl who was so depressed I was moved to tears. Just the description of what it feels like to hate living in your own body; that disconnect between the body and mind that even A was affected by it is just heartbreaking and gives you just the smallest peak at what it's like to experience such depression. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then there was Zara and her girlfriend. The two of them together was just so beautiful and uplifting. I just loved their hidden romance, which was so tender and their friendship side that they showed to the world was filled with understanding and respect. They were not ashamed of their feelings and even Zara’s mom, though never saying out loud that she knew about them, expressed in her own way how she was completely accepting and supportive. It was a very refreshing read and my favorite part.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Though I didn’t care much for the romance, it did help drive another interesting part of the story, such as A using the body of one teenage boy who ends up believing he was possessed after the experience and is determined to find out what happened to him and why. This storyline, along with the other experiences really made Every Day very interesting and one I would likely read again. Also, as far as I know, this is a standalone, but the way it ends leaves it open for the imagination but also leaves a little something for a sequel. If a sequel does happen, I will be reading it to find out what happens to A.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>* Every Day by David Levithan will be available on August 28th, 2012.</i></span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-53475457187683517482012-08-21T19:25:00.000-04:002012-08-21T19:25:48.855-04:00What’s going on?<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, just being a slacker. I've taken an unscheduled break from blogging and it’s not that I don’t have anything to write about. In fact, I have several books lined up. So instead of making excuses, I’ll give a reading update and hopefully this will get me back to my blogging schedule:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Every Day by David Levithan</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Night Watch (Discworld #29) by Terry Pratchett</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Currently I am reading <i>The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet by Arturo Pérez-Reverte</i>, and I’m also reading aloud to Venessa, <i>The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also, here are my new library picks:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Little Women by Louisa May Alcott</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Camouflage by Joe Haldeman</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This weekend I have plans to visit our local library branch. For the past three weeks it’s been closed as they move into their renovated location, right next door and today was their grand re-opening. We’ve been watching their progress as we drive by and have been anticipating this move because they will have a lot more space and the plans looked great. Venessa and I are really looking forward to seeing their new space because this is the branch that’s closest to us so we’ve been regulars there all summer before they closed for the three weeks.</span><br />
Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-3977106664298122962012-08-06T19:02:00.000-04:002012-08-06T19:58:50.743-04:00Singin' in the Rain at the All Saints Hop Yard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last Saturday, the <a href="http://allsaintshopyard.com/" target="_blank">All Saints Hop Yard</a> hosted an outdoor movie night. The movie of choice and one near and dear to my heart: Singin’ in the Rain. On a warm night under the stars, with some beers and lightning flashes miles away we spread out our blankets on the grass to watch this amazing movie. We had a blast and we were even part of the entertainment as my daughter and her friend were up and dancing throughout most of the movie. They even got some compliments after the movie from a group of attendees who said they were enjoying their dance routines more than the movie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It had taken me years before I finally got around to watching Singin’ in the Rain. I had always loved musicals, watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Grease dozens of times with my mom and sister. But it wasn’t until the <a href="http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx/" target="_blank">AFI’s list of 100 greatest American films</a> did I finally get around to watching it. I was on a mission to watch every movie on that list and while I haven’t completed that goal yet, I did watch all the movies in the top 10 and Singin’ in the Rain was one of them. I remember when I watched it for the first time with my sister and how this movie had us laughing til we cried. Since then I’ve seen this movie dozens of times and since I own a copy on DVD we watch it constantly. So if I own a copy, why did I pay a cover charge to see it? I wanted to experience this movie with others and see their reaction. From what I could hear from the laughter and the humming, my family and I were not the only one who were enjoying it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Singin’ in the Rain has so many iconic scenes it’s hard to pick a favorite part. All the dance routines and songs are fun and full of joy and you can’t help but tap your foot and sing along. Gene Kelly is dreamy, Donald O’Connor and Jean Hagen are hilarious, Debbie Reynolds is charming and don’t even get me started on Cyd Charisse with those gorgeous legs of hers and that sassy performance with her and Gene Kelly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What’s also fun about this movie is its mini film history lesson as silent movie stars transition to talkies after the surprise hit of The Jazz Singer (which if you haven’t seen is an excellent movie too). I’m also big into behind the scenes stuff that goes into making movies and there’s some fun trivia that goes with Singin’ in the Rain:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Donald O’Connor, who smoked four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day, was physically exhausted after performing Make ‘Em Laugh, but then had to to re-do the entire scene when the footage was ruined.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gene Kelly was a tyrant and would yell at poor Debbie Reynolds because she couldn’t dance and Donald O’Connor was afraid of him too. But of course they gave their all and were true professionals.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jean Hagen, actually dubbing Debbie Reynolds, whose character Kathy Seldon was actually dubbing Jean Hagen’s character, Lina Lamont! (Confusing I know but hilarious once you got it figured out)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gene Kelly performing Singin’ in the Rain when ill with a temperature of 101!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This movie also gave me one of my all time favorite quotes from Lina Lamont (who is a quote machine!) “<a href="http://www.hark.com/clips/mfrhhbjmht-what-do-they-think-i-am-dumb-or-something" target="_blank">What do they think I am, dumb or something?</a>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And while I love all the musical sequences when I think about it my two absolute favorites have to be Fit as a Fiddle and Moses Supposes. I was a violinist for five years in school and one of the most important things about playing in an orchestra is your bow movement and staying in sync with everyone around you. There are even notations on your sheet music telling you which way your bow should be going at certain points. So when I watch Fit as a Fiddle I’m even more impressed with that extra degree of difficulty when you watch Donald O’Connor and Gene Kelly dancing together all while keeping the bow movements in sync. Also the song is super catchy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In Moses Supposes, again, there’s that extra difficulty when Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor are dancing side by side on the desk. That is a small desk! And that is precision dancing there. Again this song is super catchy too (and these two are spiffy in their sweaters and slacks) and it’s not uncommon in our house that we end up humming a song or two from this movie, usually this one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So count me as a fan for life of this movie and if you haven’t seen it yet, and are a fan of musicals, give it a try. You won’t regret it. And thank you to the All Saints Hop Yard for a great evening and I’m looking forward to more outdoor movie events.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-29398272348896604652012-08-02T19:47:00.000-04:002012-08-02T19:47:25.969-04:00A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Twelve year old Mary O’Hara is having a rough time. Her best friend has just moved away and her beloved granny is in the hospital. One day Mary meets a mysterious woman named Tansey who claims to be the ghost of Granny’s mother and she needs to pass on a message to her daughter. Mary does not doubt this claim and with the help of her mother, Scarlett, they help Tansey to deliver her message to her daughter with an impromptu road trip to the past that strengthens the bond between these ladies, mothers and daughters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was such a delightful book to read. Mary is clever and very cheeky, despite her protestations that she is not being cheeky at times. She has a very healthy relationship with her mother and grandmother and the three of them together were some of my favorite parts, despite most of their visits taking place in a hospital. But you feel the love and respect they have for each other. It's so refreshing to read their story without any resentment or past family dramas (which there are none, thank goodness) creeping in to overshadow their time together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also really like Mary’s musings regarding her changing relationship with her older brothers feeling she doesn’t really know them anymore. I could relate in a way. Growing up, my sister and I spent a lot of time with our cousins, three brothers, and we were all close in age and got along fairly well. But as we became teenagers we drifted and started doing our own thing. I could also relate to Mary and her minor annoyances with her mother. It’s something that happens to all of us as we grow and begin to become our own person but they get along well and love and support each other. The dialog between the two of them is fun and charming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But this book was not just about Mary. It was also about her mother, Scarlett, and Scarlett’s mother, Emer, and Emer’s mother, Tansey, the ghost. Four generations of ladies who spend an evening together reminiscing and providing comfort for each other. It's also about change, growing up, life and death. This was a quick read but it definitely packed an emotional punch. I found myself crying at the end and it made me want to hug my daughter, mom, and grandmother. Don't let the possibility of tears scare you away. This is still a book I would love to read again and highly recommend.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-87352104559692666232012-07-30T18:10:00.000-04:002012-07-30T18:10:36.877-04:00New On The Shelf: The Library Edition<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All summer I’ve been making weekly visits to the library with Venessa. It’s a way to get out of the apartment for a bit without spending money and to stay out of the Florida humidity as much as possible. It’s also to help Venessa find books that interest her enough to want to sit and read on her own. It’s helped but we’ve had to go through a lot of different chapter book series to find the ones that interest her, which have turned out to be the Ivy & Bean and Babymouse series. She’s had a good mix of other books as well that helped her complete her second Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Log. So this last Saturday we went to B&N to get her free book for completing the reading log. She chose Underworlds: The Battle Begins by Tony Abbott and I also got her the Brave Junior Novelization. I had planned the bookstore trip so we’d be there for storytime but unbeknownst to me, until I heard the announcement, The Cat in the Hat would be making a visit. We ended up not bothering with storytime because suddenly my eight year old daughter has a phobia of people in animal costumes! She wouldn’t even look at The Cat in the Hat!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We lingered for a bit then left. The main library branch was hosting an event so we went to that and with no furries in sight, Venessa had a good time. There were several stations with themes such as Scary Stories, Night Animals and The Night Sky. They had snacks, stories and activities. We ended up staying for the entire event, the whole two hours. Of course I got in some browsing for myself while we were there. When we first arrived we had a large sack of books to return. I told Venessa we should probably take it easy and not check out so many. Did I listen to my own advice? Of course not! I’m not ashamed to admit that some books I saw at B&N I made note of and was fortunate to find at the library (having a Goodreads app on your phone with easy access to your To Read shelf is not necessarily a good idea). So basically what I’m trying to say is that <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-reading-2012.html">my Summer Reading plans</a> are out the window.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Not pictured: Spoiled by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai and The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-27894789802268531392012-07-26T17:44:00.000-04:002012-07-26T17:44:26.338-04:00Bunheads by Sophie Flack<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bunheads by Sophie Flack is the story of Hannah Ward, a nineteen-year-old dancer with the Manhatten Ballet company. Hannah is a corp member but dreams of becoming a principal dancer. Dancing is all Hannah has ever wanted to do; It’s all she’s ever dreamed about her whole life. Then she meets Jacob, the cute musician who helps her see there’s more to the world than just ballet. Competition is fierce at the Manhattan Ballet and this is what Hannah has always wanted... or is it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First, let’s take a moment to admire that book cover. It’s definitely one of my favorites and one I can’t stop looking at. As a little girl I always wanted to take ballet. I went through a phase of checking out every <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/61754-satin-slippers" target="_blank">Satin Slippers book</a> from our local library. I love ballet: the music, the pointe shoes, the precision, the gracefulness... but this life was not to be for me and that’s alright. There’s books such as Satin Slippers and Bunheads, as well as movies like Center Stage to get a peek at what it’s like to be a dancer in this world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really enjoyed Bunheads. I loved getting this brief glimpse into the love, dedication and frustration a dancer feels. Sophie Flack is a former dancer so all the details are there to make the backstage drama come to life. The friendship/rivalry amongst the female dancers was very interesting too. That was my favorite part of this book; that it did mostly focus on the female dancers friendship. There was a love triangle with two men vying for Hannah’s attention. Usually I’m not for love triangles but they were not the main force driving Hannah. Dance was and eventually whether she would continue to pursue her dream as a principal dancer, so the love triangle wasn’t too big of a deal for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I feel like Sophie Flack could of delved deeper into what drove Hannah to be so devoted to dance and why she began to question that devotion. But this is Flack’s first novel so I won’t criticize it too much. Overall I enjoyed it as a quick read and its insight into ballet. I’m looking forward to more from Sophie Flack and I hope she continues to tell us more stories within the dance world.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-40584719015003903282012-07-24T18:55:00.000-04:002012-07-26T12:02:02.672-04:00Black Is The New White by Paul Mooney<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don’t know why it happened this way but for some reason I bookended the reading of Black Is The New White by Paul Mooney with two YA books. I had just gone from <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-other-words-crew-deaths-are-feature.html">Redshirts</a> by John Scalzi to <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/361411917" target="_blank">Every Day</a> by David Levithan, and I found myself at a reading standstill where I was not quite sure what book I wanted to read next. I ended up skimming through the list of books on my reader and seeing Black Is The New White made me pause. I remembered how the last <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/03/peek-under-londons-skirts-and-my.html">non-fiction book</a> I read was a refreshing break from fiction so I went ahead and started reading. I’m glad I did. Black Is The New White was just what I needed. It was a good, heavy dose of reality after reading a book about secondary characters looking to control their own fates from the narrative and a consciousness that hijacks a different teenage body every day. All very fantastical stories that I discovered after reading them that I needed something to reground myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Paul Mooney is a writer, actor, comedian who has worked on or appeared on several TV shows and movies such as Sanford and Son, Good Times, Chapelle Show, The Buddy Holly Story and Bamboozled. He was also very good friends with the late Richard Pryor and it’s in Black Is The New White where we get a really good look into their friendship as well as Paul Mooney’s experience in Hollywood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The insight into his friendship with Richard Pryor is very interesting and candid. He doesn’t hide or make excuses for Richard’s drug problems and speaks openly about them. But he also doesn’t let you forget how talented Richard was and the mark he left as a great comedian. I think the hardest part for me was reading about Richard’s battle with MS. My mom was diagnosed with MS and there were lots of late night ambulance calls when my mom’s legs would go numb and she couldn’t walk and she would spend weeks in a rehabilitation hospital to recover only to have to go through the entire process again six months later. Even though my mom hadn’t deteriorated to the point Richard had it’s still incredibly hard to watch someone you love suffer when they can’t get their body to respond the way they want it to. Reading about Richard Pryor and Paul’s thoughts brought back a lot of painful memories and I understood how hard it was for Mooney to see his friend go through such a debilitating disease.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I found fascinating was seeing the different aspects of the entertainment industry on the West Coast in Black Is The New White, while around the same time as <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/01/drama-actors-education-by-john-lithgow.html" target="">John Lithgow’s book, Drama: An Actor’s Education</a> over on the East Coast. Both books roughly cover the same time period and they both offer an interesting look into TV, movies, comedy clubs and theater. But Paul’s experience is extremely frustrating to read about, to know how many doors were shut in his face because of the color of his skin. It’s inspiring that despite his struggles he persevered and didn’t change who he is as a person in order to make certain people more comfortable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you’re easily offended or don’t like to made uncomfortable when someone points out what’s wrong with our society or makes fun of it, this may not be the book for you. For me, I really enjoyed Paul Mooney’s honesty and thank him for it.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-3502608109030282252012-07-19T21:35:00.000-04:002012-07-19T21:35:12.889-04:00Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Usually this would include a video review with Venessa but she wasn’t in the mood to participate. She did however read The Promise Part 2. Twice. And so have I. That's how much we love this series.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2 picks up immediately after <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/storytime-with-venessa-avatar-last.html">Part 1</a>. Now that Fire Lord Zuko is reluctant to force the relocation of the Fire Nation colonists from Yu Dao, Aang and Katara travel to Ba Sing Se hoping for a peaceful resolution between the Earth King and the young Fire Lord, taking a bit of a detour when they visit Aang’s fan club. Sokka decides to join Toph at her metalbending school and finds she has her hands full with a firebending master coming back to reclaim the building that had once been his before the Harmony Restoration Movement and which Toph has been using for her metalbending school. Sokka, hoping for a calm resolution, suggests Toph’s metalbending students face the firebending master’s students. The problem is, Toph’s students have not mastered metalbending. In fact, they haven’t even been able to bend metal at all! And while Zuko’s under a lot of pressure by both Fire Nation citizens and his promise to the Earth Kingdom, his relationship with Mai has been neglected and she stands up for herself in a very surprising way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Part 2 we get to spend more time with Aang and we see a bit of Zuko too but we’re mostly following Toph’s story. I think Aang got short changed again. I was hoping to see more of him and how he’s developed but mostly what you get is fan girls squeeing over him which was already done in Book 1 Episode 4 The Warriors of Kyoshi. This time he is much more mature about the situation but I feel like we’ve been there done that, so let’s move on please. Things get more interesting once he and Katara meet with the Earth King but that is brief, yet troubling, and I hope to see more of Aang the Avatar in Part 3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This was, like I said, Toph’s story and I really enjoyed it. She’s still herself, calling her student’s lily livers and yelling at them. We learn that after her experience teaching Aang earthbending she found she loves teaching. She believes in her students and it eventually inspires them to want to succeed. Toph is full of confidence and self assuredness, the very opposite of her students; three individuals who have never been challenged before and have never had anyone expect anything from them. Seeing the start of Toph's metalbending school is very interesting. For her to go from just three students to the Republic City police force with a well earned statue that stands in front of the building in her honor is a treat. I also really liked the moments between Sokka and Toph. You see a deep friendship and respect for each other. There are also some really great exchanges and comic moments as they conspire to trick her students into bending </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">metal</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The end to Part 2 has a very unexpected twist near the end. Zuko’s girlfriend Mai is not happy with the way he has been hiding things from her and she makes a very bold decision that leaves him reeling but to find unexpected comfort from Suki. I don’t have any problem with this and I can't wait to see where this leads to in Part 3. It’s still a very surprising turn of events though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It ends with the Earth King feeling like Zuko has broken his promise and insists that all Fire Nation colonists leave the Earth Kingdom for good. Or else... Does this mean another war is brewing? Will Avatar Aang be able to keep the peace? I don’t know and we have to wait until <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13611440-avatar" target="_blank">September</a> to find out!</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-69065297465071703142012-07-17T19:32:00.000-04:002012-07-17T19:36:08.041-04:00Happy Birthday to my Blog!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spool32/5045502202/" target="_blank">Will Clayton</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I didn’t post anything yesterday, or last Thursday, like I usually do because I wanted to hold off and take a breather in order to celebrate my blog’s 1 year birthday! Today, one year ago I started this blog with my first post, a review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/harry-potter-and-thank-you-michelle-for.html">http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/harry-potter-and-thank-you-michelle-for.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(This also happens to be my sister’s birthday so Happy Birthday, Michelle!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Early last year I had been keeping track of books I read with a <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/from-facebook-to-here.html">Facebook app</a>. But I was only limited to so many characters when I wanted to express what I thought about a book. Also, I don’t really like to consider them reviews. I like to think of them as what I’m feeling about a particular book or movie. Sometimes I'll have lots of thoughts and sometimes a book won't leave much of an impression.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, here I am and as a 1 year birthday treat for my blog I created a <a href="https://plus.google.com/100327229909682362889/posts" target="_blank">Google + Page</a> and a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ReadingAndWritingAndMoviesOhMy" target="_blank">Facebook Fan Page</a> for my blog. In the right sidebar you’ll find direct links to both so can follow and like them if you want to connect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s interesting looking back at the first 5 posts. I really had no direction or schedule. I eventually found my groove and remained focused on just sharing my joy and frustration with what I’m reading and watching. I’ve been having a great time and look forward to another year and more. And now, I’d like to share some of my favorite posts and reading challenges I’ve experienced so far:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/09/x-marks-spot-of-some-first-class.html">Being “okay” with the X-Men reboot</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/10/mom-movie-memories.html">Celebrating the memories of my mom</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/10/little-solace-comes-to-those-who-grieve.html">Being frightened by a house that grows on the inside but not on the outside</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/RIP%20Challenge">My first reading challenge</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/11/da-ta.html">Being thoroughly confused by Modelland</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/12/nanowrimo-its-wrap.html">Becoming a Nanowrimo winner!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/12/snuff-by-terry-pratchett-review.html">My first trip through Discworld</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/01/o-captains-my-captains-i-fear-there-is.html">For the love of a Captain</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-just-big-ball-of-wibbly-wobbly.html">Discovering the Doctor!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/2012%20Science%20Fiction%20Experience">The fun of the Science Fiction Experience</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/kid.html">Crying over Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/fateful-magic-flames-await-deep-in.html">Ending the mini Carol Kendall reading challenge with The Firelings</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers-and-marvel-movie-marathon.html">Mother's Day Fun</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/Once%20Upon%20A%20Time%20Challenge">Enjoying the experience of another reading challenge</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/atomic-robo-and-fighting-scientists-of.html">Discovering Atomic Robo and the Action Scientists</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/railsea-by-china-mieville.html">My first China Miéville book</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Legend%20of%20Korra">Becoming enamored with a well crafted cartoon that young and old can both enjoy</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/brave-new-kid-on-pixar-block.html">A mother/daughter movie that can’t be missed</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/Storytime%20With%20Venessa">Enjoying storytime with my daughter Venessa</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As a thank you to everyone who has visited and commented I’d like to give away some bookmarks! The cut off to sign up for some bookmarks will be Friday, July 20th. After that we can connect through <a href="http://twitter.com/rwm_ohmy" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and direct message (you can unfollow me afterwards, I won’t be offended) so I can get mailing address info or you can email me at <a href="mailto:rwm.ohmy@gmail.com">rwm.ohmy@gmail.com</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you again to site visitors, fellow bloggers, friends and family who have supported me! Here’s to another year (and more!) of ranting and gushing over my favorite pastime! </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'd like to leave you with a preview of what to look forward to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/313759780" target="_blank">Avatar the Last Airbender The Promise Part 2</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/361411917" target="_blank">Every Day by David Levithan</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/364786918" target="_blank">Black Is The New White by Paul Mooney</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/220187163" target="_blank">Bunheads by Sophie Flack</a></span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-82917241252752023962012-07-09T20:22:00.000-04:002012-07-09T20:22:06.822-04:00“In other words, crew deaths are a feature, not a bug…”<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ensign Andrew Dahl has been assigned to the xenobiology lab aboard the flagship, Intrepid. Even though Away Missions are not necessarily part of his job description, there is always the opportunity for him to serve on one along with the famous Captain Abernathy and Commander Q’eeng. But Dahl begins to notice something strange aboard the Intrepid: crew members scurrying out of the senior officer’s path, he is often left alone in the lab when Q’eeng arrives “unannounced” everyone having left for “coffee” or to “check inventory”. There’s also the magic box that does impossible things and away missions that really serve no purpose but always end with the senseless death of a crew member.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After enjoying <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/02/these-fuzzy-wuzzies-are-no-bears-and.html">Fuzzy Nation</a> by John Scalzi I was excited to read his latest, Redshirts; especially when I learned what it would be about. If you are familiar with Redshirts in the Star Trek universe, you know they don’t always fare well on away missions. I was curious where he would go with this and I was looking forward to the great dialogue I liked so much in Fuzzy Nation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Redshirts, I got the dialogue and while I think I understand what Scalzi was going for, I felt a little let down. I was hoping for something a little more sinister behind the demise of the poor redshirts. What I got was a silly premise straight out of a bad sci-fi show, with bad science and someone saying something very dramatic . The characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out; a little too one dimensional where any of them could have come and gone without much notice. This is what I think Scalzi wanted to present but it wasn’t what I was looking for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was able to take something away from this as a wannabe writer so it’s not like this book is a waste of time. There are some funny moments that make you laugh out loud. There are also some sentimental moments contained in the three codas at the end. So even though I was disappointed it was still a good read and there are lots more Scalzi books out there I'm sure I'll really enjoy.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-58289394290928091472012-07-05T19:46:00.001-04:002012-07-05T19:46:50.366-04:00Did Not Finish: The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Normally I wouldn’t write about a book I didn’t finish reading. Earlier this year I attempted Count to a Trillion and The Difference Engine. But with both of them I only got about 50 pages in and decided they were not for me at the time. I still intend to return to them. The Company Man, however, is a different matter. It has joined the club along with Anna Karenina and Quicksilver: books that started out interesting, that I got more than halfway through, then gave up in frustration. With The Company Man I read up to page 361 of a 454 page book. I think I’ve earned my right to talk about it. And this is how mad I am at it. I can’t even be bothered to write my own summary so I’ll include the one from <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8077923-the-company-man" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“<i>The McNaughton Corporation is the pinnacle of American industry. They built the guns that won the Great War before it even began. They built the airships that tie the world together. And, above all, they built Evesden-a shining metropolis, the best that the world has to offer.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>But something is rotten at the heart of the city. Deep underground, a trolley car pulls into a station with eleven dead bodies inside. Four minutes before, the victims were seen boarding at the previous station. Eleven men butchered by hand in the blink of an eye. All are dead. And all are union.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Now, one man, Cyril Hayes, must fix this. There is a dark secret behind the inventions of McNaughton and with a war brewing between the executives and the workers, the truth must be discovered before the whole city burns. Caught between the union and the company, between the police and the victims, Hayes must uncover the mystery before it kills him.</i>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is an alternate history. The McNaughton Corporation brought a lot of advanced technology to the world that they prevented WWI and there are now airships in 1919. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This book is also a thriller, with union workers and whether they are sabotaging factories on their own or on the orders of some mysterious union leader named Mickey Tazz. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s also a murder/mystery with an unsolved murder in the beginning, as well as the trolley full of dead union workers that shows up. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s also a paranormal element with Cyril Hayes and his special talent and some strange, shadow/ghost creature that appears and a mysterious red object that falls from the sky. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And there are the secret inventions McNaughton is working on... </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think we've got genre overload here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I guess we’re supposed to care about the following three people: Detective Donald Garvey, the street-wise, divorced detective. Samantha Fairbanks, the ingenue brought in my McNaughton to work with and rein in Cyril Hayes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really don't know what I'm supposed to think about them with what we're given about these three:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hayes, is “The Company Man”, who uses his talent to spy on McNaughton workers. Apparently his motivation is to fix a mistake he made earlier where he blackmailed some executive who was so scared and stressed about the dirt that could be used against him he committed suicide. So Cyril is trying to bounce back from that but instead of being Mr. Fixer he just causes more of a mess, dragging Samantha and Garvey along with him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Garvey’s story is all mixed up. He’s trying to solve a murder that occurs in the beginning of the book, but that gets ignored when the trolley full of dead union workers shows up. The first murder victim may or may not have had ties with the union workers, who are then ignored because Garvey ends up shooting some other union worker - who was attempting to rape Samatha (don't even get me started why this even had to be added to the story) - so then it turns into a story of trying to clear his name. He’s also divorced and I guess that’s supposed to give him some depth but I think being a detective frustrated with his job would have been enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Samantha is just dragged along for the ride and she’s basically there to prove herself. To who? I don't know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Character-angst overload now? And why didn’t Samantha get a dramatic backstory?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be caring about in this book. It jumps around way too much. And all these details I guess are meant to create a richly detailed world and characters but it just confused me. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also was not able to get a real feel for the city, what the buildings look like, what the style of clothes were or the cars they drove.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And then there was this:</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Andersson frowned into his beer mug. “Tazz has said <u>nothing</u> about the trolley murders.”</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“Really? <u> Nothing</u>?”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“Nothing,” said Andersson.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“Not even anything about the Red Star?”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“He is not <u>coming out</u> anymore.”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"What? <u>Coming out</u> of where?"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“Union men died, Andrew,” Andersson said softly. “A lot of union men. There is danger, they say. He is in <u>hiding</u>.”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“<u>Hiding</u>?”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>******</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“Well, internally they say it’s <u>marketing</u>,” said Hayes.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Andersson frowned. “<u>Marketing</u>?”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>******</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Hayes thought quickly. “These machines…Do they have little crystals? Are they like <u>lamps</u>, that light up blue? Some big, some little?”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“<u>Lamps</u>?” said Andersson, confused. “No, they did not say they were lamps.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">See the underlined parts I marked; the repeating of a word in the form of a question. In just one conversation it happened 8 times! And it wasn’t just with certain characters. I happened a lot. I don’t know if it’s stylistic or what but it kind of drove me nuts because it just stood out way too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">BUT despite some of my issues I was still enjoying it. I still found myself curious and wanting to know what was going on, despite the weird leaps in time and logic. I was still on board until I read this line:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“She was asleep on the bed. He walked in carefully, moving as softly as he could. Her thumb was just inches from her mouth, as if she were just a few years out of infancy.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So instead of describing Garvey looking upon someone he loves, and glad to find her safe, Samantha is described as if she’s a child. Huh? I know she is young but so far at this point in the story she's proved capable of taking care of herself. Maybe someone else would not have been bothered by this line and maybe I’m reading too much into it but it just pushed me over the edge with this book. Sometimes I’m able to read through the bad. I mean, look at <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/02/consider-plasmoids.html">Legacy</a>. But Legacy ended at 345 pages of plot holes and not making a whole lot of sense, where The Company Man just kept going and I couldn't take it anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’d read reviews for this author’s other books that sounded good so I was really looking forward to reading this one. It is really disappointing to put in so much effort but then end up having to walk away from it. I don’t like not finishing a book after investing so much time into it. That’s why there are not many that I’ve done this with. But I'm going to have to let this one go.</span></div>
</div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-14226952737394573912012-07-02T18:26:00.000-04:002012-07-02T18:37:03.676-04:00Summer Reading 2012<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I wasn’t really planning on writing up anything about what books I plan to read this summer. But Carl over at <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/diving-in-to-summer" target="_blank">Stainless Steel Droppings</a> put up a Mr. Linky and I thought, why not, backlinks are never a bad thing. This will also give me a reason to brag about Venessa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Barnes and Noble has a <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/container/stores.asp?PID=43671" target="_blank">summer reading program</a> going on. Read any eight books, record them in the reading journal provided by B&N, bring it it and get a free book. Well, Venessa has already read eight books and is on to her second reading journal with two already added to that! I’m so proud of her. The free book she picked out was Half Magic by Edward Eager. The library also has a summer reading program so she’s been keeping track of her books in the journal they provided. The library gives out stickers each week to mark their progress. She’s reading a mix of graphic novels like the Avatar series and Babymouse, along with some chapter books like the Ivy & Bean series. I also have her read aloud to me. Last week she read Father Bear Comes Home and Little Bear’s Friend to me. These were books I grew up reading and I’ve handed down my battered copies to Venessa. If you’re curious what books make for good reading for an eight year old, I created a shelf on Goodreads with the books Venessa has read so far this summer: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6116848?shelf=venessa-s-summer-reading-2012" target="_blank">http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6116848?shelf=venessa-s-summer-reading-2012</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As for me, this summer I plan to read Night Watch and Thud! by Terry Pratchett. They are part of the Discworld series so they’ll be read for the <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/summer-in-discworld.html">Summer In Discworld reading challenge</a>. Currently I’m almost done with Redshirts by John Scalzi. I’m hoping to get to The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson, The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma and A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton. The other day me and a friend were bashing 50 Shades of Grey and it somehow led to how much the Anita Blake books disappointed me. My friend suggested the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton. He said it’s completely crazy and trashy but no matter how nuts it was he couldn’t stop reading so I will see how that goes with the first book. I will also try to squeeze in The Thief by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott and The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett. The Clive Cussler book has a cover that caught my eye so when I saw it at the library it was an impulse grab. I’ve never read any Cussler so we’ll see how that goes as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We’ll see how any of this goes since I’m a mood reader and right now I’ve been feeling like I’m in a reading slump. I haven’t been blown away with my latest reads and it’s been disappointing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So now it's your turn. Tell me what you will be reading this summer.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-77500872592011908722012-06-28T17:51:00.000-04:002012-06-28T17:51:53.512-04:00Brave: The New Kid on the Pixar Block<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I first saw the teaser art and trailer for Brave I was excited. 1) It wasn’t a sequel 2) It looked beautiful and 3) It featured a female protagonist. At our house we are all Pixar fans and we each have our favorite. Mine is The Incredibles. My husband, Ratatouille. My daughter... all of them. Pixar has set the bar high when it comes to great storytelling and beautiful, detailed animation and I think Brave fits in nicely. I tried not to give too many details about Brave, but just in case, I will say there could be some minor spoilers here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brave is the story of Merida, a Scottish princess who wants to change her fate. To keep peace amongst the four ruling clans, the eldest son from each must compete for her hand in marriage. But Merida rebels against this notion and it creates tension amongst the clans. Headstrong Merida does not realize what her actions could lead to and runs off, only to return with a spell that backfires on her and now she must fix this horrible mistake before the clans declare war.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I started reading the reviews I read some comments that it's good but not as great as the rest. I then began to think, “Isn’t that what they said about the others like, WALL-E and Up?” I mean, there was a lot of people going ga-ga over the first few minutes of both WALL-E and Up but look at the rest of those minutes. Who really talks much about the rest of WALL-E and Up? It’s usually the nearly dialogue free beginning of WALL-E and Carl’s life story in Up that gets talked about. We can all admit that those are great but we should also admit that the rest of those movies do fall a bit short in the middle and end. But we still enjoy them and they are very unique in their own way. So maybe Brave is not as great as the rest, but can we really say the others are the greatest of the greatest amongst the Pixar movies? I don’t think so. It doesn’t seem fair. They are all still very good; each one telling a different kind of story and they each affect and speak to us differently. So we can have our favorites but I just don’t like trying to rank them, or comparing them and I think Brave fits in nicely with the rest. It could also just be a case of Brave is the new kid on the block and we need time to get to know this new Pixar movie, which makes sense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some of the other criticism I read was that this was a lot like a Disney movie which just made me think, “Oh, no! How could it be like any of the movies we practically grew up watching and loving and still talk about?! What a nightmare!” But there was a bright spot I noticed: that this was a mother/daughter movie. I read this in a couple of reviews and after that everything else just faded into the background. A mother/daughter movie?! When was the last time we had one of those? So what is the first thing this movie shows us? A mother playing hide and seek with her little girl. I nearly lost it. It was so sweet and hit so close to home. I was seeing myself and my daughter up there. And more importantly there was not a single DEAD MOTHER OR EVIL STEP MOTHER TO BE SEEN. And the movie just grew into something more wonderful for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the years go by our jobs as mothers, parents really, is to prepare our children to be responsible adults. And sometimes our children don’t want to. And that’s what I saw on screen. Merida wanted to run free, to do whatever she wanted. Her mother, Elinor, wanted her to be cautious, as all mothers do. She also wanted her daughter to take her other lessons seriously. But Merida's mother never said outright she couldn’t shoot a bow and arrow, or ride her horse anywhere. She never said Merida could not have fun. In fact, we see Merida and her mother having fun together and bonding in two flashbacks. But Merida is a rebellious teenager and when the lines of communication break down and nobody is listening, there is trouble and that’s what happens here. Merida wants to change her fate and she does this by getting a spell to change her mother’s mind. And what happens? The spell goes horribly wrong and Merida blames everyone but herself. A typical teenager/young adult, right? But she knows she has to fix it. Fixing it includes listening, bonding together to work through this and ultimately admitting you made a horrible mistake. And we get a mother and daughter meeting in the middle. Elinor realizes that Merida needs more time and Merida knows that it’s time to take on more adult responsibility. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can see some of the Disney-ness when it came to a bear attack that was reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. We do have Merida making a deal with a witch, like The Little Mermaid. But Ursula had a hidden agenda to get to King Tritan through Ariel. The witch in Brave does not. And at the end of The Little Mermaid, Ariel gets the guy, her dreams come true. Ariel caused a lot of trouble and there were zero consequences for her. She was rewarded. What kind of lesson is that? This did not happen in Brave. We have resolution but in the end Merida doesn't exactly get what she wanted in the beginning. She will get more time to mature but she realizes she has to grow up still. She will have to be an adult whether she likes it or not but she can still be herself and make her own choices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can go on about how beautiful the animation is, the voice acting is wonderful, there are fun, colorful characters and great comedy. But I think we’re at a point where that is what we expect from Pixar and they do not fall short there so I really don’t need to say much more. I will say please check out this movie. If you enjoyed movies with talking fish or talking toys, two robots falling in love or an older, retired gentleman flying off for adventure in a house lifted by thousands of balloons, you will enjoy Brave too. It definitely makes a nice addition to the Pixar family.</span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-46181222305640981622012-06-25T19:07:00.000-04:002012-06-25T19:07:11.374-04:00The Legend of Korra: Season Finale<span id="goog_1542537324"></span><span id="goog_1542537325"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is it, the Season 1 finale of The Legend of Korra. Over the weekend Venessa I watched all ten episodes leading up to the one hour finale that consisted of Skeletons in the Closet and Endgame. This has been a fantastic series. Re-watching all the previous episodes has show what a carefully crafted piece of storytelling the Legend of Korra is and it has been a joy to experience. In Episode 11, Skeletons in the Closet, we learn the truth that Amon has so carefully hidden and we get our Endgame in Episode 12. </span></span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spoilers from here on out...</b><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Republic City is now under the control of Amon and the Equalists. Korra is hiding underground with Asami, Bolin and Mako. Korra and Mako have been scouting the city disguised as chi blockers and getting a bit cozy.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Amon is using Air Temple Island as his headquarters where he’s been systematically stripping the Republic City police force and the White Lotus guards of their bending. The United Forces soon arrive under General Iroh’s command but they are not met with any resistance. That is until they are hit by underwater mines and are then attacked from the skies!</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The United Forces have never faced a threat like this before and it doesn’t take long for the Equalists to destroy the battleships. Korra does what she can but the Equalist’s air power is too much to withstand. </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">General Iroh is knocked into the water by a torpedo blast. Fortunately Korra is there to pull him back up and takes him back to the underground tunnels New Team Avatar have been hiding out in.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The fleet is lost but General Iroh informs them that a second wave of reinforcements are on the way. With Gommu’s help a message is sent to Commander Bumi (Tenzin’s brother) about this new air threat and to wait for Iroh’s signal before approaching the city. They plan to take out the Equalist's air fleet but Korra decides to stay in the city. She’s tired of hiding and plans to face Amon. Mako volunteers to stay with her. General Iroh doesn’t like the idea but gives in, saying his grandfather would respect the Avatar’s instinct and so will he. Sending Naga along to watch out for Bolin, Asami and General Iroh, Korra and Mako then make their way back to Air Temple Island. Their plan is to ambush Amon, so Korra leads Mako through a secret way into the temple. Inside an attic they are shocked to find an imprisoned Tarrlock. And it is Tarrlock’s story that gives us this episodes title, Skeletons in the Closet. Tarrlock reveals he is Amon’s brother! And that’s not all. Not only are Tarrlock and Amon brothers, but Amon is a waterbender and a bloodbender! Doh, there goes your revolution Amon! So it was already revealed that Yakone, the gangster from Korra’s flashbacks who gets his bending taken away by Avatar Aang, is Tarrlock’s father, making him Amon’s as well. Yakone fled Republic City afterwards with a new face and identity and settled down in the Northern Water Tribe, got married and had two sons: Noatak (who we know as Amon) and Tarrlock. They led a happy life until Noatak and Tarrlock discovered they were waterbenders and Yakone’s true nature began to show through once again as he began training his sons.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One day Yakone revealed who he really was and how his bending had been taken away by the Avatar. He wanted his sons to avenge him, to take back Republic City and destroy the Avatar. Once the boys mastered waterbending, they began to learn how to bloodbend, first starting out on animals, then forced to bloodbend each other. The event created a rift in the family with Noatak running away, not to be seen again until recently when brothers once again faced each other. After Tarrlock finishes his story, Korra realizes that Amon uses his bloodbending to take a bender's power away. Knowing this she can’t think how he can be beat without him bloodbending them. But she does come up with a plan. With the information they now have on Amon being a bender, they will undermine his revolution by revealing the truth... </i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We continue with Asami, Bolin and Iroh on their way to the secret air field. There they plan to tear up the runways to prevent the planes from taking off. As they approach, Asami wonders why there are fence posts with no fence but they soon discover why.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meanwhile, back in Republic City, Korra and Mako are disguised as chi blockers once again to infiltrate Amon’s rally. Korra reveals her presence as well as the truth about Amon in front of the thousands who have gathered. But Amon continues with his charade, even revealing his face, “scar” and all.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Since Korra’s plan didn’t work the way she had planned, she and Mako prepare to leave. But Amon reveals another card up his sleeve...</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Back at the hidden air field, Asami, Bolin and Iroh wake up, tied up and behind bars. Hiroshi Sato, Asami’s father, approaches them and tries to convince Asami to see things his way. She refuses and Hiroshi doesn’t like that at all. He then reveals he intercepted Iroh’s message to Commander Bumi and knows where they are in order to annihilate the reinforcements. But with a little help from Naga (and Pabu) they are able to escape.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Asami takes a seat inside a mecca tank and Iroh goes after the planes.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Back in Republic City, Amon threatens to rid the world of airbending. Korra tells him to let the airbenders go. Amon says come and get them and they do.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They clear the stage of Equalists and release Tenzin and the kids. Backstage they separate, Tenzin and the kids go to get Pema and the baby, while Korra and Mako try to distract Amon. But Korra and Mako are not able to hide from Amon for long. He captures them with bloodbending and as </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mako watches unable to do anything, </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Amon then takes away Korra’s bending!</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meanwhile, Iroh is hot on the trail of the air fleet. He’s able to bring down all the planes before they can even leave Republic City. Back at the air field, Bolin tears up the runways while mecca tanks try to stop him until Naga comes in to stop them. Asami destroys the planes that are left in a hanger and is confronted by her father who is also in a mecca tank. They fight and Asami is down but Bolin comes in on Naga to back her up. The distraction is enough for Asami to get back up and teach her father a lesson. In Republic City, Korra is weakened and Mako is still under Amon’s bloodbending control when Amon’s lieutenant (Mustache Guy) faces him after witnessing Amon bloodbending. Amon attacks his lieutenant then goes for Mako, intent on taking his bending away. But Mako is able to fight through the bloodbending and hits Amon with lightning.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mako picks up Korra and tries to escape but he’s not able to get far. Amon stops him with another bloodbending attack. Amon tosses Mako around like a rag doll then comes in again to take away his bending. Korra gets up to try and stop him and manages to airbend!</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Amon tries to stop her with bloodbending but she fights through it and blows him out of a window into the bay. Seeing Amon tossed out the window and apparently drowning, his supporters turn against Korra, until Amon waterbends himself back up, scar-less, in front of everyone who now see that Korra was telling the truth about him earlier.</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His true identity revealed, Amon has no choice but to run and manages to get away. He then goes back for his brother Tarrlock. Everything is lost but they still have each other. Awwww…</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Everyone is reunited on Air Temple Island and we get a quick glimpse of Bumi as he sails in with his fleet and Tenzin does not seem all that pleased that he will have to deal with his brother now. Amon, or rather, Noatak and Tarrlock are speeding away on a boat where Noatak entertains delusions of reconnecting with his brother as Tarrlock looks on not entirely convinced by Noatak’s plans. Tarrlock then takes one of the Equalist’s gloves and holds it over the gas tank and…</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>We return to the Avatar training facility where Katara has tried to restore Korra’s bending but has not been able to. Korra, feeling lost without the rest of her bending leaves so she can be by herself. But Mako follows and confesses his true feelings for Korra, that he loves her. But Korra does not want to deal with it and runs off. On her own looking out at the ocean, Korra starts to cry when she is approached by who she thinks is Tenzin but turns out to be Aang!</i></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aang reveals to Korra that she has connected with her spiritual self, that it was after hitting her lowest point that she is open to the greatest change. </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And then we get to see what we have all been waiting for… Korra in the Avatar State!</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And Korra goes on to bend all the elements, in front of an astonished Mako. She jumps into his arms and tells him she loves him too.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMg4laC9qr9vTTrJu7pxi5Y-_IAFqT2Es9euTAg-4_aNch_4TYJh64pkBpgtVfHn8hGnP58vT9Ezb4eCHlHLQ0wQOue88jHdOzYzv1cyLs2XkWYz0ELfFLTE4JICTIiFGnHw1JhyZruvs/s1600/legendofkorra_mako-korra-kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMg4laC9qr9vTTrJu7pxi5Y-_IAFqT2Es9euTAg-4_aNch_4TYJh64pkBpgtVfHn8hGnP58vT9Ezb4eCHlHLQ0wQOue88jHdOzYzv1cyLs2XkWYz0ELfFLTE4JICTIiFGnHw1JhyZruvs/s1600/legendofkorra_mako-korra-kiss.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But let’s move on to something more important than Korra’s love life; Korra restoring Lin’s bending!</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And they all live happily ever after… until Season 2!</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So many revelations and twists and turns I hardly know where to begin. We definitely got our resolution: We found out who Amon is and what turned him into this Equalist tyrant. We got Korra learning to airbend. Mako finally make up his mind. Lin’s bending has been restored. And of course, Korra connecting with her spiritual side and achieving the Avatar State.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m happy, what about you? Pretty much everything I guessed was wrong but that’s fine. Amon was using his bloodbending to block bender’s powers, not a chi block. I did guess that Amon and Tarrlock might be related but I didn't want to commit to how and Tarrlock had no idea who Amon was until after his bending was taken away so it doesn't count, considering they each had their own agendas. I had hoped Korra would reach the Avatar State before Amon had taken her bending but I’m really liking the way this happened. It gives Korra her own journey, it’s not a repeat of Aang’s. They are two very different Avatars caught up in very different circumstances and I enjoyed watching their stories and the way they each handled these trials. I also love learning about these new layers involved with the Avatar State.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Korra is great. She's strong and smart. She relies a lot on her muscle and bending but she's shown she is clever too. She's made mistakes but she's learned from them. She can lead and stand up for herself and her decisions but she will also listen to what others have to say. She will be a great Avatar and she's a character I don't mind my daughter looking up to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm glad Asami didn't turn on her friends and there was a mature resolution between her and Mako that was handled well. I'm not fully on board the Mako and Korra train but we'll see what happens with these two in Season 2. At least Mako wasn't as annoying and had some great moments in this finale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now for our villains: Amon and Tarrlock. Two sides of the same coin, twisted and tormented by their father, Yakone to try and take back Republic City in very different, yet very wrong, ways. Of course, the Big Bad was Amon but </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I liked Tarrlock for that extra element of suspense and drama he added to the mix. I also like him as the man who had nothing left to lose and decided to help Korra and in the end rid the world of a very dangerous bloodbender. That had to be a tough decision, to kill yourself and the brother you thought lost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really liked Amon as the villain. He had crazy ideas but he seemed so cool, calm and collected, always one step ahead of our heroes, yet completely mentally unstable. I love that the only way to defeat him was not just with physical power but mental, to turn his followers against him; his own power of words turned against him. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He would have struck again if Tarrlock hadn't done anything.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let’s talk about Korra’s bending being taken away but she’s able to airbend. Was is simply that it unlocked her airbending or rather it was there all the time but she was too reliant on her other bending that once those were out of the way she could airbend? Then it could be asked, but why wasn’t that blocked like the others? I have a feeling Amon wouldn’t be able too. He’s never encountered airbenders before. There are plenty of fire, water and earth benders to practice on so he may not have been able to remove Tenzin and his children’s bending. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The whole sequence of the air attack on the United Forces felt so much like the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was so scary to watch! Then again with Iroh taking out all those planes before they could attack Bumi’s fleet. Those were definitely pulse pounding moments. Someone watched a lot of war movies. And I have the sudden urge to watch Wings now (no, not the TV show but the very first Academy Award winning <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_(film)" target="_blank">movie</a>).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPQ16Z-hoonANreAaIquTRdk-pCmVfP1YAipKmjPfdPZKFYvsQON3pQ2uckj5JzFqTds7xbBnlsTxreEdCQqR8JYajDf9fdUU3qhZ4s09uVdeFr9MmtxAVRV24uvvviG7p2WDcFaCKAc/s1600/legendofkorra_more-fleet-attacks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPQ16Z-hoonANreAaIquTRdk-pCmVfP1YAipKmjPfdPZKFYvsQON3pQ2uckj5JzFqTds7xbBnlsTxreEdCQqR8JYajDf9fdUU3qhZ4s09uVdeFr9MmtxAVRV24uvvviG7p2WDcFaCKAc/s1600/legendofkorra_more-fleet-attacks.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bumi looks like a wild one! I hope we get to see a lot more of him (and General Iroh) in Season 2.</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u>Memorable Moments:</u></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Korra redirecting the torpedo</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGuJ1EBoFJ2HAyoVxdiOtbUx3gL0HH2enzD3b5Nrn8Z0dzl0VCYz9rf1Vd5HOx7s4EwtgXwH_gWEl3QB6mK7vAN_phfkvSZfT55K7if3FebCadogb6smThrlfmK4WJxDDOS0Jte3Eiz0/s1600/legendofkorra_korra-redirecting-torpedo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGuJ1EBoFJ2HAyoVxdiOtbUx3gL0HH2enzD3b5Nrn8Z0dzl0VCYz9rf1Vd5HOx7s4EwtgXwH_gWEl3QB6mK7vAN_phfkvSZfT55K7if3FebCadogb6smThrlfmK4WJxDDOS0Jte3Eiz0/s1600/legendofkorra_korra-redirecting-torpedo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This shot as General Iroh goes after the planes on his own</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The past Avatars</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmkRNrlg1A7wShALs07FN0lljIUWmczwE7nfF7khB6JUmI3p7nopYWYvm72fvehqvwTcevJW-yx6sEUCkvHqpYQuOk_kVTRjzGoCo5d1oHb0qJr9QD9IyHC1VK06D5bVri5yWi2ekg_Q/s1600/legendofkorra_past-avatars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmkRNrlg1A7wShALs07FN0lljIUWmczwE7nfF7khB6JUmI3p7nopYWYvm72fvehqvwTcevJW-yx6sEUCkvHqpYQuOk_kVTRjzGoCo5d1oHb0qJr9QD9IyHC1VK06D5bVri5yWi2ekg_Q/s1600/legendofkorra_past-avatars.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lin earthbending!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2J1BXVPnReEOwND8gr1LHX30fYwb2AgYEdSWN6vbw7ZU93z-IaxKEGcpWlObK6-2b_0bkq6Spc9yE_mMsvypncrI7HZWe24QVr21zrjftnhlvqeTIw6VklolFUZRVvrLU_08B6FTSmI/s1600/legendofkorra_lin-earthbending.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2J1BXVPnReEOwND8gr1LHX30fYwb2AgYEdSWN6vbw7ZU93z-IaxKEGcpWlObK6-2b_0bkq6Spc9yE_mMsvypncrI7HZWe24QVr21zrjftnhlvqeTIw6VklolFUZRVvrLU_08B6FTSmI/s1600/legendofkorra_lin-earthbending.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Growing up I didn't watch shows like this. The closest I can think of was The Secret of NIMH; something dark and intense. I am very glad smart, mature animated shows are being created for both kids and adults to enjoy without feeling like we're being talked down to but still giving us a good laugh. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am going to miss having a regular show to watch with Venessa as we wait for Season 2. We looked forward to each new episode and had a great time flipping out together. I am so very impressed with this show and look forward to new adventures with Korra. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlgMlTCIOWN4YQY8VAsxhnh5b7Pj63qwTr1HxVM1Y7ljkwz0_WD-dScn0tQne3OBReE_fvWzm12O4i2Re7hYr0cmHs48hy1YHXj17xSDFf9dei7QkIWVIqHebQBcqQ5NJ2i2cLOeRbWE/s1600/legendofkorra_korra-aang-statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlgMlTCIOWN4YQY8VAsxhnh5b7Pj63qwTr1HxVM1Y7ljkwz0_WD-dScn0tQne3OBReE_fvWzm12O4i2Re7hYr0cmHs48hy1YHXj17xSDFf9dei7QkIWVIqHebQBcqQ5NJ2i2cLOeRbWE/s1600/legendofkorra_korra-aang-statue.jpg" /></a></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-70907516103160340802012-06-21T17:55:00.000-04:002012-06-21T17:55:47.348-04:00Once Upon A Time There Was A Reading Challenge...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1OOgz69RXSEI1VtVkqHB2wI3mcNWf5U_xRQo560c3oxnp1L5xcCF08dwTsoX29VlusuDqVocU7FV3JgcEJq_TWhPioRB5ArOaAUrFCK26tpyfsywMPOeEVoyiTgJxZ9fDOt7LvOMjLM/s1600/LittlePrince250_OUAT6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1OOgz69RXSEI1VtVkqHB2wI3mcNWf5U_xRQo560c3oxnp1L5xcCF08dwTsoX29VlusuDqVocU7FV3JgcEJq_TWhPioRB5ArOaAUrFCK26tpyfsywMPOeEVoyiTgJxZ9fDOt7LvOMjLM/s1600/LittlePrince250_OUAT6.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spring is over and summer has officially begun and that means it’s the end of the Once Upon A Time Reading Challenge. I had a wonderful time with the books I read and I enjoyed seeing what others were reading. I discovered some new books that have been added to my TBR pile and I was able to talk about the books I love. I want to thank Carl at <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/" target="_blank">Stainless Steel Droppings</a> for hosting such a great event. I’m already looking forward to next year. And even though the Once Upon A Time Challenge is over, I still have the <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/summer-in-discworld.html">Summer In Discworld</a> going strong, so all is not lost. Below is a list of books, an animated series and the one movie I enjoyed during this challenge:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/03/throne-of-crescent-moon-by-saladin.html">Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/03/thief-of-bagdad.html">The Thief of Bagdad starring Douglas Fairbanks </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/gammage-cup-by-carol-kendall.html">The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/whisper-of-glocken-by-carol-kendall.html">The Whisper of Glocken by Carol Kendall</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/fateful-magic-flames-await-deep-in.html">The Firelings by Carol Kendall</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/storytime-with-venessa-avatar-last.html">Avatar The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1 Graphic Novel</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/oh-and-do-take-his-wig-will-you-we.html">Going Postal by Terry Pratchett</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/storytime-with-venessa-girl-who-could.html">The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/Neverwhere%20Group%20Read">Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman</a> (Group Read)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/06/guards-guards-by-terry-pratchett.html">Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Legend%20of%20Korra">The Legend of Korra Animated Series</a> (Spoilers if you have not been keeping up)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I didn’t embark much into fairly tales, mythology or folklore so maybe next year. I committed to <i>Quest the First</i>, which was to read 5 books in each of the categories. I think I met my goal and then some.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Overall I had a great time and a big thank you to everyone who stopped by for a visit and a chat. I also found some new blogs to visit and I look forward to seeing what they are reading so we can chat some more. I recommend taking a look at the review site </span><a href="http://onceuponatimevi.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. If you’re looking for a good book to read, I’m sure you’ll find it there.</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-8356775843580060032012-06-19T17:13:00.001-04:002012-06-20T19:00:18.997-04:00The Legend of Korra Episode 10: Turning The Tides<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With each episode I always make sure I sit and watch with Venessa to experience each one for the first time. It also provides an arm for me to grab and let me tell you, it’s happened quite a bit. There’s also a lot of couch jumping. By Venessa, obviously, not me, duh. So it’s been like this for the last 3-4 episodes or so: a lot of arm grabbing, shoulder shaking, jumping up and down, laughing and squealing in fright. Yesterday, there were some tears to add to the mix. You know that whole scene in Spinal Tap, about the amp going to 11? This episode was an 11 and then some; upping the ante and the intensity factor at least 100 times more than the whole series so far in my opinion. I fear for the finale, I don’t think my heart can take it. And I feared writing the recap that follows because I didn’t know if I wanted to relive what happened all over again. But, I will...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>SPOILERS</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The episode begins with Korra getting some much needed rest. Then after a good home cooked meal, Korra tells everyone what happened to her, Tarrlock’s true identity and about Amon showing up to take away Tarrlock’s bending. A council member attacked my Amon worries Tenzin and Asami confronts Mako about the kiss between him and Korra. Before Tenzin heads to Republic City, he asks Lin to look after her family. Pema is only too happy to take advantage of Lin’s generosity.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>When Tenzin arrives in Republic City, he is too late. The Equalists have attacked the other council members and Tenzin manages to escape when they come for him. That’s when all hell breaks loose as strategic blasts go off throughout the city. Republic City is under attack and the New Team Avatar rush to help. We find out Korra can’t drive and Mako has been banished to the backseat. Tenzin arrives at police headquarters but it’s not long before it comes under attack. As Tenzin tries to lead those that are left to safety they find themselves surrounded.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>New Team Avatar arrive just in time to save Tenzin, who for the second time, was almost captured by Equalists. But their work is not done yet when they look out across the bay and see Equalist airships heading for Air Temple Island. Of course, unborn children always choose the worst time to be born so Pema goes into labor as the airships are coming for them. Lin stands her ground to protect Pema and the children, but is soon overwhelmed. When it looks like this is it for Lin, who should come to her rescue but Jinora, Ikki and Meelo! They are able to hold off the first attack in time for Tenzin and New Team Avatar to arrive. Tenzin and the children meet their new brother but there’s no time to enjoy the happy moment. More airships are on the way. They decide to split up, to regroup and return to fight another time. The members of the White Lotus hold off the Equalists while Lin, Tenzin and his family leave on Oogi. Korra, Asami, Bolin and Mako leave on Naga. But the airships are hot on the trail of Oogi.</i></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lin turns to Tenzin and his family, tells them “Whatever happens to me, don’t turn back”, then makes the jump to the closest airship.</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Lin manages to take out one of the ships. As she starts on the second, she is captured. The second airship breaks off its pursuit of Tenzin’s family but Lin is brought before Amon and her bending is taken away!</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Republic City has fallen, the police force has been captured by Equalists, but General Iroh and the United Forces are on the way. But is it too late?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let’s start with the hard part first, like ripping off a band aid quickly; Lin Beifong losing her bending. This was so heartbreaking. I don’t know which was worse: hearing her tell the others not to look back for her, leaving us to think we wouldn’t see her alive again, or her bravely facing Amon as he took her bending. Not even a tear from her. But not a dry eye amongst most of us fans I’m sure. She has nerves of steel and was not about to let the last airbenders fall into Amon's hands or betray Korra. Toph would be so proud. Meelo said it for all of us: That lady is my hero. Ugh, I’m about to cry writing this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, next up: General Iroh. It’s obvious this young man is related to Zuko from the original series (voice actor is the same too). I’ve only heard through the internet grape vine that Zuko has a daughter. Since Zuko was the oldest out of the Gaang, I’m going to say this is likely his grandson and Zuko would be old enough to have a grandson as young-ish as General Iroh seems to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And grr, I knew Tenzin would get himself into trouble heading back to Republic City. Thank goodness Asami’s father had her take those self defense classes. She single handedly took down five Equalists to save him. And once again Mako is annoying but it was about time we finally see someone redirect the electric charges that has been used against the benders. I’ll just move on and complain that there wasn’t enough for Bolin to do and I’m not counting him worrying about parking tickets then pointing out mustache guy. This episode was also a bit Korra-lite too but she did a lot in the last one so I’ll let it pass. But at least we got to see the airbender kids show off!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've already <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/legend-of-korra-episodes-2-7.html">said it</a>, that Amon is using a really good chi block to take away someone's bending, or rather, to give the impression it's been taken away. I think Tenzin made it very clear a few episodes ago, that only an Avatar can take away someone's bending permanently and that's that. So what's Amon plan? To attempt to "take away" Korra's bending in order to trigger the Avatar State, then he'll go in for the kill because it's only when you kill an Avatar in the Avatar State that you can stop the cycle, otherwise a new Avatar will be born. It's never been discussed what happens if the Avatar ceases, other than there will never be another. What if that also rids the world of bending as well? Which is ultimately Amon's plan. So anyways, that's what I think...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>Memorable Moments:</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The set up to the Equalists attack on the council members with them posing as "innocent" exterminators and window washers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Seeing Republic City under attack from Air Temple Island</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can feel Tenzin’s helplessness as he looks on unable to stop these events on his own</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Preparing to attack Air Temple Island</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jinora, Ikki and Meelo coming in to help Lin</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SloWUdG6I2IAahcYCPFZQZ7LJlNojPluVv67lP6ppmtvfG9FSmIRL9M_MHXda_nNUKlHDU2y4VOgi7jjO4q7JYPg_3eTaWVs9sOu9nH1JNNqMYyOCijin4xlbwIRjrchiLKUU_7erW0/s1600/LegendofKorra_NagavsMustacheGuy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SloWUdG6I2IAahcYCPFZQZ7LJlNojPluVv67lP6ppmtvfG9FSmIRL9M_MHXda_nNUKlHDU2y4VOgi7jjO4q7JYPg_3eTaWVs9sOu9nH1JNNqMYyOCijin4xlbwIRjrchiLKUU_7erW0/s1600/LegendofKorra_NagavsMustacheGuy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The hope that help is on the way</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really don’t know what else to say. I love this series. This episode was just packed with action, there was no room to breathe... it was fantastic! It looks like we’re possibly heading into an Empire Strikes Back ending and yes, this one was pretty close but this was just Han Solo being encased in carbonite. We haven’t even gotten to the Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father revelation yet! </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Side note: Oh my god, Google Docs actually had Vader in its dictionary!) </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m just happy I can enjoy such a wonderful, well thought out show and to be able to share the experience with my daughter. RIP Lin’s bending (for now, because darn it I won't believe it's permanent!) and whether I’m prepared for it or not, on to the finale!</span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-17952285944903874112012-06-18T20:29:00.000-04:002012-06-18T20:29:22.791-04:00Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Captain Sam Vimes of the Night Watch is a drunk. There is a dragon loose in his city. Why is there a dragon? They’ve been extinct for ages. But some overly ambitious Elucidated Brethren have summoned it and it’s wrecking havoc on poor Ankh-Morpork and Sam will not have it! So that means Sam is going to have to sober up, his men will have to find their courage to stop it. And with luck - quite a bit of luck, actually - perhaps they can manage to not get killed along the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Back <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/12/snuff-by-terry-pratchett-review.html">when I read Snuff</a> I became a fan of Sam Vimes. I met him at a point in his life where he’d already achieved so much, he is a husband, a father and Commander of the City Watch, having gained a few more titles along the way. I’d always wanted to see what he was like before that and I got my opportunity to do so in Guards! Guards! This Sam is so very different yet he is the Sam I met in Snuff. In Guards! Guards! we meet Sam for the first time, drunk and mumbling to himself in the gutters. He is just a captain of the Night Watch, with only two men under his command. Not much is expected of them and they actually prefer it that way. But Sam will not stand by to let a dragon destroy his city. When he came to his senses and knew he would have to do something about it I couldn't help but feel proud of him; that was the Sam I got to know in Snuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also got to meet Lady Sybil Ramkin, Sam’s future wife (I am not considering this a spoiler since I already wrote about her in my Snuff review), an eccentric heiress who is an expert on swamp dragons, the very small brethren of the very large dragon causing chaos. She also plays a big part helping Sam and the Night Watch towards a future or being more than just mall security. It’s also nice to see the beginnings of their romance. They’re so cute!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Patrician is back too and this book just made me <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/oh-and-do-take-his-wig-will-you-we.html">like that guy even more</a>. I also got to meet some new people: Colon, Nobby, Carrot, the Librarian and Errol, the swamp dragon. I’m not sure if Errol makes much of an appearance in other books but I had to talk about him because he plays an important part in the fight against the dragon menace. We learn from Lady Sybil that swamp dragons will often re-work their plumbing, sometimes with messy results, but Errol manages a way to re-work his plumbing that made me do a double take before realizing that what I read was what I read. It’s so delightfully hilarious and silly (and gross). Colon and Nobby are the grizzled veterans; grizzled veterans in the way that they know where all the good watering holes are at. The Night Watch takes on Carrot, a human raised by Dwarves (visions of Elf can not be helped with this scenario). Carrot is very naive and the conversations he has with Colon and Nobby are great when they try to explain how the non-Dwarf world really works. And there’s the Librarian, a wizard-turned-orangutan after a spell gone awry, who does not concern himself much with the goings on of humans but when someone dares steals a book from his library he is dead set to find it, even if he must communicate by charades.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A great cast of quirky, unique characters... check! Excellent and witty dialogue... check! A laugh out loud storyline... and check! I’m sensing a pattern with these books and I’m liking it. So far, the 3 out of 3 I’ve read have been fantastic. I have not been disappointed and once again I’m looking forward to more!</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-88576147134695890502012-06-14T17:55:00.000-04:002012-06-14T17:55:52.874-04:00Railsea by China Miéville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ve been blogging for almost a year now. As a blogger, I visit a lot of other blogs and I’ve been seeing China Miéville’s name mentioned here and there on the ones I visit but I’d never read anything that he’d written yet. I knew I would have to at some point. Then I happened upon Railsea, his latest, on Netgalley and thought why not jump in with his new young adult novel. I’m so very glad I did!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Railsea is the story of the blood stained boy, Shamus Yes ap Soorap. Sham witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt. It’s thrilling, exciting and exhausting. The captain of the moldywarpe train, the Medes, however, is after a much bigger prize than the moldywarpes they usually hunt. It’s her philosophy; the giant, tan colored moldywarpe that took her arm long ago. As Sham spends more time on the railsea, he believes there has to be more than just being a doctor’s assistant and hunting moldywarpes. A chance encounter with a wrecked train and a discovery of mysterious images pointing to a way out of the railsea, Sham finds his own philosophy. But as he investigates further he soon finds himself hunted by pirates, scavengers and the local navy. They all want to know what Sham does about these mysteries images. It could lead to treasure, riches or it could change the world that they know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first part sets up life on the railsea, what it’s like for Sham on his first moldywarpe hunt. You get a real sense of what life is like on the rails; the sights, the smells and the danger. It’s such an unusual dystopian, fantasy adventure. Sham lives in a world ruled by the rails. It’s just endless railroad tracks that zig zag everywhere, where the ground underneath the rails are filled with mutated rodents of unusual size. Then we get to the discovery of the mysterious images which his captain tells him to ignore but he doesn’t. This leads to Sham poking his nose where it doesn’t belong and which eventually sets off a series of events that turn the end into a full blown action adventure. And there’s the secret revelation which has an ending that reminded me of The Planet of the Apes movie. Not as epic, but it’s surprising and very interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really liked the style of the storytelling. It reminded me of when I read Snow Crash. We’re in this new world and we’re not given a checklist of how this world works. Details are revealed a little at a time, whether in the course of travelling the railsea or small teasers that occur between chapters. It feels like if I were to ask for a timeline of events that led to this railsea future, China Miéville would provide me with one that was very detailed with names and dates; that’s how real the world building felt to me. This is something I didn’t get with the other dystopian fictions I’ve read; that feeling that this could really be our future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sham is a very believable character. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He is not perfect and he makes realistic mistakes. He's </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a typical teenager who ignores good advice, who wants to explore, who wants something bigger and better but when he gets it, it’s not what he thought it would be. I found it very easy to connect with him and understood his curiosity and admire him for being so determined.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I really enjoyed Railsea and recommend it highly. It’s one of those books I’d love to have on my shelf because I know I’ll be visiting Sham and the railsea again.</span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-53676328365737768882012-06-12T22:42:00.001-04:002012-06-20T18:34:04.448-04:00The Legend of Korra Episode 9: Out of the Past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left;">I don’t know if I can love this show any more than I already do. It just keeps building and building toward a bigger pay off, but revealing just enough details here and there to satisfy our instant gratification needs. Below is a recap of what happened in Episode 9 Out of the Past and I’ll discuss my thoughts next. </span>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tarrlock imprisons Korra in a metal cell leaving her in some shack far up in the mountains. Tenzin gets a call that Korra has been taken by Equalists. When he goes to City Hall to find out what happened, Tarrlock lies, saying Equalists attacked him and Korra and that he tried to protect Korra but he was unable to. Lin hears the news and, still injured, suits up and busts Asami, Bolin and Mako out of jail. While trapped, Korra meditates and finally connects with Aang’s memories. That means we finally get to hear what a forty year old Aang sounds like! And Toph still calls him Twinkle Toes! Anyways, back to business. We get the arrest and trial of Yakone, a gangster accused of using blood bending, which is illegal, obviously, to intimidate innocent citizens of Republic City. Lin, along with New Team Avatar, minus one, go to recruit Tenzin to find Korra. Lin believes that where Korra is, her officers will be there too. They find a secret network of tunnels used by the Equalists and while inside Mako is unusually worried about Korra and Bolin tells Asami about the kiss between Mako and Korra. While in the tunnels, Lin senses her officers but no Korra but when they rescue the officers it’s too late, their bending has been taken away. Mako interrogates an Equalist and they find out they don’t have Korra and they didn’t attack City Hall. Tenzin realizes Tarrlock was lying and that he has Korra but the Equalists are alerted to New Team Avatar’s presence and there’s a thrilling escape through the tunnels with Lin displaying some really incredible earth and metal bending.</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once they are safe we return to Korra meditating and we see Yakone’s trial, where Sokka is sitting in as a council member on the proceedings. When Sokka announces Yakone is guilty and sentenced to life in prison, it doesn’t seem to disturb Yakone one bit because he begins to blood bend everyone in the room! Back to New Team Avatar who confront Tarrlock, who then denies taking Korra, but Tarrlock’s assistant admits seeing Tarrlock take Korra and that Tarrlock is a blood bender. As Lin and Tenzin attack, Tarrlock blood bends everyone in the room and escapes. We then return to the flashback where Yakone escapes but Aang, using the Avatar State, is able to overcome Yakone’s blood bending control and after a chase through the streets stops Yakone and finally puts an end to him, by taking away his bending.</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Korra realizes Aang was trying to warn her about Tarrlock, who she knows to be Yakone’s son. That’s when Tarrlock returns and he is not all that happy with these turn of events. He plans to leave, to start a new life somewhere else and wants to take Korra along as a hostage. As he goes to make preparations, who should he run into but Amon and his backup singers!</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tarrlock tries blood bending on them but Amon is not affected by it! Then he goes on to remove Tarrlock’s bending! Amon orders his chi blocker backup singers to electrocute the metal box Korra is in to subdue her but she’s too clever for them and manages to avoid being electrocuted and once they open the box, she escapes. Korra is eventually found by Naga who had tracked her down and carries her safely back to Republic City where New Team Avatar find her, bruised and exhausted.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oh boy, another exciting episode that answered some questions, such as what those flashbacks Korra was experiencing were all about and whether Lin would find her officers. It also brought up another question: how was Amon able to break free from Tarrlock’s blood bending? And whether Amon and Tarrlock are related in any way or know each other on a personal level when they were young? It may not really matter if they are related but perhaps they had been working together but Tarrlock saw his chance to make a break from Amon to further his own ambitions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the flashback, when Aang took away Yakone’s bending there was no light display like the one when he took Ozai’s bending away. After seeing that, it could be said that Amon can truly take away bending since there was no light display when he has done it. BUT, there is a difference in the placement of their hands. Aang and Amon both place a thumb on their victim’s (not sure if this is really the right word when Aang does it, but I can’t think of anything else right now) forehead, but Amon places his other hand on the back of their head while Aang places his hand on their chest. So I think the theory still stands that Amon is using a very good chi block. Which I think is supported by this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sokka telling the story how he defeated Combustion Man (or Sparky Sparky Boom Man, whatever you prefer) by hitting him in the forehead with the boomerang (that always comes back!). I was rereading a recap last week of a past A:TLA episode regarding the episode of Combustion Man that made me really believe that Amon is just blocking someone’s bending with a unique chi block, the way Combustion Man’s chi was blocked by the boomerang and in an earlier episode, a pebble. Then we have Sokka here being very specific about the way he defeated Combustion Man.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Over on <a href="http://republiccitydispatch.com/" target="_blank">Republic City Dispatch</a>, someone (don’t remember who) has the theory that Aang has done something to the Avatar State, which could explain why Korra hasn’t achieved it yet. But I don’t believe this because why would Aang leave Korra defenseless? Look how it helped him when he was young and in the flashback. So why hasn’t she achieved the Avatar State yet? Before Aang fully tapped into and controlled the Avatar State, it was always triggered because he was either angry, his life or the life of others he cared about were in danger. He was also twelve and a very scared little boy with a huge burden on his shoulders. Korra is seventeen and quite a formidable young woman who knows herself, is completely confident of her abilities and has been training to be an Avatar in an ideal situation, where Aang returned to a world at war for a hundred years and had a year to learn three other elements and had to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. There have been moments when it would be useful for Korra to use the Avatar State but when I think about it, she seems to have more control over her emotions in times of stress and is able to get out of situations on her own or where she’s incredibly lucky, like her first encounter with Amon. So, I think it’s there for her, but it’s just not the time for her to use it and she’s been doing fine on her own without it. So far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some other thoughts, a friend and I were IMing and trying to come up with who Amon could be related to from the original series that would tie them together but also create an epic revelation about him. We haven’t really come up with anyone yet and we’re leaning towards The Promise graphic novel series that might provide the answer, especially with its removing the Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom storyline. And my friend has read Part 2 so she probably sees something more to it than I am right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mako was a little annoying. Dude, look, we get it, you care for Korra too but you were acting really weird about it in front of Asami, alienating her. And if Asami turns against Korra and the rest of them because she’s jealous, I will not be happy. Let’s not go there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When proofreading the summary I wrote for the episode, I noticed how nicely Yakone’s attack and escape was followed up with Tarrlock’s; just a chip off the old block, isn’t he?</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u>Memorable Moments:</u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meelo crawling over a sleeping Tenzin to answer the phone</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lin suiting up</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Does she work out?</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lin pulling up Bolin’s fly with metal bending</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The moment when Korra bursts through the flames to make her escape</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, only one more episode left, then it’s the one hour finale on June 23rd!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/legend-of-korra-finale-extended-saturday-june-23rd-N14915-07.html" target="_blank">http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/legend-of-korra-finale-extended-saturday-june-23rd-N14915-07.html</a> (fortunately I’ve already trimmed my fingernails so there are none to chew)</span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-750508688609592942012-06-11T21:19:00.000-04:002012-06-11T21:19:21.167-04:00Atomic Robo and the Fighting Scientists of Tesladyne<div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few weeks ago I read this Cracked <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-8-stupidest-defenses-against-accusations-sexism/" target="_blank">article</a> that briefly mentioned Atomic Robo. The article linked to the <a href="http://www.atomic-robo.com/" target="_blank">Atomic Robo website</a> where I explored and read <a href="http://www.atomic-robo.com/the-promise/" target="_blank">The Promise</a> which guarantees:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- No angst</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- No “cheesecake”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- No reboots</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- No filler</span><br />
- <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No delays</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After reading the rest of The Promise, I was really impressed, especially with the no "cheesecake" and the fact you can pick up any issue and enjoy a fun adventure. This also sounded like something that I could read and enjoy with Venessa. I have to say, after picking up and reading Volume 1, Atomic Robo and the Fighting Scientists of Tesladyne, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which covers Issues #1-6, I am even more impressed by this comic series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, I'm no comic expert, but I do have some knowledge of storylines and what is out there. And I do enjoy a good comic/manga series (Elfquest and Fullmetal Alchemist are just two examples). Lately, I've been reading a lot about the ridiculousness of book covers and comics (two examples can be found <a href="http://www.jimchines.com/2012/01/striking-a-pose/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/04/hey-everyone-stop-taking-this-picture-no-i-mean-it" target="_blank">here</a>), particulary those that focus a lot on T&A, or rather, the impossible body bending way women are drawn/posed to feature their T&A. I never really noticed it before and the more I’ve read up on it, the more I don’t want to have to deal with it. It also partly started a few years ago when I gave up on the Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake series. I’m just tired (or maybe a little too old?) of these types of fantasies or having to be subjected to them. So when I read about Atomic Robo (and especially it's no "cheescake" promise) I had a feeling this was going to be worth investing some time into.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Atomic Robo is the creation of Nikola Tesla, a robot with automatic intelligence and powered with atomic energy. In exchange for Atomic Robo's help in a top secret military operation, Robo is granted American citizenship and goes on to found Tesladyne, an organization of Action Scientists who then become the go-to task force of all sorts of science-y weirdness. In Volume 1 we get a series of adventures that pits Robo against his nemesis, Baron Heinrich von Helsingard, for the first time, and where Robo exploits the monologuing villain's weakness. There’s also a taste of what Robo experiences when a friend passes with a fond recollection of a picture taken of him compared to the thousands of times he's been photographed throughout his career. We also get a storyline of</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> a two year mission to Mars where Robo finds out there is no reading material on board because Stephen Hawking profiled him incorrectly, leading to Robo spelling out a message in rocks on the surface of Mars letting Stephen Hawking know what he thought of that blunder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s adventures with giant ants where the Action Scientists debate the cause of the mutation while Robo would rather get the job done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And there’s fun with a steam powered pyramid filled with clockwork mummies, which the Egyptian government would like stopped, but not destroyed so they can research it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s all very episodic, it’s got action, adventure and it’s a lot of fun. There are moments where it jumps back in forth in time but it’s not confusing. There’s also some great back and forth dialogue amongst the Action Scientists and a fun camaraderie between them and Robo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I love the art as well; clean lines, bright colors, nothing confusing about what is going on. Also, in the copy that I got, there are some B Stories in the back that explore Robo in different styles that are a lot of fun. I really, <i>really</i> enjoyed these first six issues and I’m looking forward to reading more adventures of Atomic Robo.</span></div>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-20727294066815894612012-06-07T18:44:00.000-04:002012-06-07T18:44:05.420-04:00Summer In Discworld<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, I’m still in the middle of the <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/03/once-upon-time-challenge.html">Once Upon A Time Challenge</a> and all is going well. But that won’t stop me from joining along on another reading challenge. This one took no second thoughts about participating. It’s the Summer In Discworld challenge hosted by <a href="http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Marvelous</a>. So you know what that means?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lots of Discworld!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ve already dipped my toe into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld on two occasions, with <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2011/12/snuff-by-terry-pratchett-review.html">Snuff</a> and <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/oh-and-do-take-his-wig-will-you-we.html">Going Postal</a>, and I’m looking forward to more! And of course, I am all <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/weekend-fun-book-fair-new-books-mothers.html">stocked up</a> so this gives me a good excuse to haul these books out of the bag they've been sitting in since I bought them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, it’s all about having fun and enjoying the experience of this strange flat world that sits on the back of four elephants who stand upon a turtle floating through space. There will also be a group read for Going Postal, which I recently read and loved and can’t wait to see what others think. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">More details can be found </span><a href="http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/summer-in-discworld-terry-pratchett-reading-challenge/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m a bit late writing this since the reading challenge started on June 1st, but it continues on through August 31st so there is still lots of time to enjoy a silly adventure or two in Ankh-Morpork. So join along if you can, you won’t regret it! And don’t forget to check out those who will be taking the plunge as well: </span><a href="http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/summer-in-discworld-reviews/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/summer-in-discworld-reviews/</a><br />
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P.S. I'm about 100 pages into Guards! Guards! and it's fabulous!<br />Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3928683789742650585.post-13756555638383724812012-06-05T21:13:00.000-04:002012-06-20T18:34:04.442-04:00The Legend of Korra Episode 8: When Extremes Meet<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alright, I’m going to see if I can do this. I’ve already caught up with sharing my thoughts on The Legend of Korra, Episodes 1 through 7, found <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/legend-of-korra.html">here</a> and <a href="http://readingandwritingandmoviesohmy.blogspot.com/2012/05/legend-of-korra-episodes-2-7.html">here</a>. I’m thinking that each week I’ll include a write up after each episode airs from now on. I was going to wait until the end of the season but this last episode just had so much going on that I just couldn’t wait and had to comment on it. If I can handle this I will comment on each episode every Tuesday (as long as the wifi continues to rock, as it has been lately, because I don’t have cable so I watch each new episode online and Nick uploads the new ones on Mondays). These will be filled with spoilers because I want to talk about it and I can’t do so without revealing everything. So, what happened in When Extremes Meet...?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A whole lot of awesome, that’s what!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>We begin with Asami, Bolin and Mako moving to Air Temple Island. Lin Beifong has stepped down as Chief of Police, Republic City’s new police chief, Saikhan is introduced and he has no backbone and will be reporting directly to Tarrlock, of course. Tarrlock rattles Korra’s confidence, telling her she’s only a half baked Avatar, which leads to a conversation with Tenzin who urges Korra to meditate on the visions she’s experienced thinking Aang’s spirit is reaching out to her. Asami, Mako and Bolin help too letting her know they got her back and together they form the New Team Avatar and capture some escaped convicts and chi blockers. Tarrlock is not happy with Korra going rogue but makes up for it when he introduces a controversial law enforcing a curfew on all non-benders. When the law is approved by all the council members, except Tenzin, Team Avatar happen upon an “Equalist Rally” of “armed” non-benders and Korra is reminded she is the Avatar to everyone, not just benders.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>When Korra tries to intervene, the situation worsens when Tarrlock refuses to listen to reason and has the so-called Equalists rounded up and Asami, Bolin and Mako are arrested.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>When the combined efforts of Tenzin and Korra don’t work to get her friends out of jail, Korra goes to face Tarrlock alone. We get an intense fight between Korra and Tarrlock where we find out Tarrlock is a blood bender and it’s not even a full moon!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Talk about extremes meeting! Tarrlock is fighting dirty and completely abusing his power not only as a bender but as a council member. He’s a great villain! I love how he twists and manipulates things with his words. It’s exactly the thing Amon is fighting against with the Equalists. This is not going to turn out well. And this new law against non-benders is edging very close to Nazi Germany and segregation territory. This is scary and is very deep stuff for a Nickelodeon show!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apparently I missed that little detail that blood bending is only possible on a full moon. So how can Tarrlock do so when it’s not? And who taught him? So many questions! Even in Korra’s flashback the man on trial, Yakone, looks to be using blood bending, even on Aang! What is going on here?! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And are the flashbacks a way for Korra to connect with her past lives? Why hasn’t Korra reached the Avatar State? Does it have something to do with the blood bending happening in the flashback? And where is Tarrlock taking her?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This episode really propels the story forward. It’s intense and going into a very dark place. But it’s just creating even more questions! I love it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u><b>Theory:</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tarrlock could be the son of Yakone. But what do they want? A world of only benders? See more questions!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>Memorable Moments:</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meelo flirting with Asami</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ikki asking Asami if she knew that Korra likes Mako and Korra’s reaction</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fart bending. Gross.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The high speed chase through Republic City and Asami's excellent driving skills on full display and her quick thinking utilizing the benders abilities</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Korra’s fight with Tarrlock was intense and they sure beat the hell out of each other</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Things are are just going to get even more interesting. Check out this clip from Episode 9: <a href="http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/legend-of-korra-109-find-the-avatar-clip.html" target="_blank">http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/legend-of-korra-109-find-the-avatar-clip.html</a> Tarrlock just doesn’t quit! This gives me goosebumps! What is he up to?!</span>Sarah Biblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982750915764594045noreply@blogger.com0