Book Review

Summary: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's book by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.

The story was originally inspired by Roald Dahl's experience of chocolate companies during his schooldays. Cadbury would often send test packages to the schoolchildren in exchange for their opinions on the new products. At that time (around the 1920s), Cadbury and Rowntree's were England's two largest chocolate makers and they each often tried to steal trade secrets by sending spies, posing as employees, into the other's factory. Because of this, both companies became highly protective of their chocolate making processes. It was a combination of this secrecy and the elaborate, often gigantic, machines in the factory that inspired Dahl to write the story.

I've read this book several times. I happened upon the movie and decided to read the book again. It is so good, it's one of my favorite Roald Dahl's books. His books are a must to any children's library!

Movie Night!

Summary: Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descents into the jungle, he is slowly taken by the jungle's mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill.

This movie,  Apocalypse Now, stars Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Laurance Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, and Dennis Hooper. This movie was unlike any Vietnam war movie I have ever seen.  It had some very unexpected graphic parts and the ending had a crazy twist!! If you like war movies, I would definitely recommend this movie!

Book Review

Summary: Tally Youngblood is close to turning 16, the age when she can be turned into a pretty. Being a pretty is fun. You have certain privileged that uglies don't, but then Tally meets a girl named Shay who doesn't want to turn pretty. Shay has introduced Tally to things that she has never seen or heard of, like David. The day before Tally and Shay are able to turn pretty, they pull a huge prank on the new uglies, but afterwards, Shay explains to Tally that she doesn't want to turn pretty. She told Tally that she wanted to go to the Smoke with David. Before Shay runs away, she gives Tally a not with encrypted directions to the Smoke just in case Tally decides to leave. Shortly after Tally turns 16, she goes to get the operation but the doctor says there's a problem, then she is taken to Special Circumstances and is given 2 choices; get to the Smoke and activate a special tracker (one that has been disguised as a heart pendent) to help the authorities locate and bust the rebels living in the Smoke, or stay ugly forever.

After reading The Hunger Games Trilogy, I was looking for a new series of books to read. I was told that The Uglies books were good (Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras). So I acquired a copy of the first book. I thought this book was pretty good. It had the futuristic feel like The Hunger Games, but they are a little more girly.  This book started out really good, then got slow toward the middle, then picked back up in the end, hooking you into reading the next book. I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd book,  Pretties!

Movie Night!

Summary: Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbors. He begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his high society fashion-consultant girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his visiting nurse Stella to investigate.

Tonight I watched Rear Window. An Alfred Hitchcock film starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. I thought this was one of the best Hitchcock movie I've ever seen. It was very good and kept your attention until the very end, when you found out for sure who the murderer was. If you enjoy murder mysteries, this is a movie for you to watch!!

Merry Christmas!!

Tree at Rockefeller Center!

The Lucky One

Some girls from work and I are all reading The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks. It's his latest book to be made into a movie. The plan, read the book now, and go see the movie in April. I finished the book tonight.

Book Description: In his 14th book, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks tells the unforgettable story of a man whose brushed with death lead him to the love of his life.

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden steak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his luck charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the women in the photography out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the women he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart -- destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

I thought this was a fun little read. It was probably the only Nicholas Sparks book I've read that didn't make me cry. Can't wait for the movie to come out. Here is the movie trailer! Enjoy!

Movie Night!

Summary: Through the eyes of "Scout," a feisty six-year-old tomboy, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD carries us on an odyssey through the fires of prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama. Presenting her tale first as a sweetly lulling reminiscence of events from her childhood, the narrator draws us near with stories of daring neighborhood exploits by she, her brother "Jem," and their friend "Dill." Peopled with a cast of eccentrics, Maycomb ("a tired and sleepy town") finds itself the venue of the trial of Tom Robinson, a young black man falsely accused of raping an ignorant white woman. Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's widowed father and a deeply principled man, is appointed to defend Tom for whom a guilty verdict from an all-white jury is a foregone conclusion. Juxtaposed against the story of the trial is the children's hit and run relationship with Boo Radley, a shut-in who the children and Dill's Aunt Rachel suspect of insanity and who no one has seen in recent history. Cigar-box treasures, found in the knot hole of a tree near the ramshackle Radley house, temper the children's judgment of Boo. "You never know someone," Atticus tells Scout, "until you step inside their skin and walk around a little." But fear keeps them at a distance until one night, in streetlight and shadows, the children confront an evil born of ignorance and blind hatred and must somehow find their way home.

I have read the book and seen the movie several times, and it does not disappoint. It is a great movie for all ages, and offers great lessons from times past, but is still relevant today. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, I would recommend them both!

Rock Of Ages Official Trailer!!

The Rock of Ages movie trailer is finally out! This movie is based on me and John's favorite Broadway musical. We saw it in New York with the original cast and then again in Houston. I can't wait to see the movie to see how it measures up. Here is the trailer. Enjoy!

Book Review!

Summary: The Alchemist details the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to the pyramids Egypt to find treasure. He then tells a lone gypsy about this treasure. As he leaves, the gypsy mentions one thing: If he does find the treasure, she wants 10 percent of it. On the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity, disaster and learns a lot about himself and the ways of the world. One of the significant characters that he meets is an old king named Melchizedek who tell him about discovering his personal legend: what he always wanted to accomplish in his life. And that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core philosophy and motto of the book. During his travels, he meets a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima who explains to him that if he follows his heart, he shall find what it is he seeks. Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who tells about personal legends. He says that people only want to find the treasure of their personals but not the personal legend itself. He feels unsure about himself as he listens to the alchemist's teachings. The alchemist states "Those who don't understand their personal legends will fail to comprehend its teachings." It also states that treasure is more precious then gold. 

I thought this book was a simple and delightful little book. It only took me a few days to read through it. But it's a great little adventure story full of life's little lessons. I would recommend this book to people of all ages!

Movie Night!

Tonight I watched Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. This movie starred Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, and Sterling Hayden. This was also James Earl Jones movie debut. 

Summary: U.S. President Merkin Muffley is on the hot line to Moscow with some rather embarrassing news for the Soviet premier: "Hello, Dimitri....I'm fine....Now then, you know how we've always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the bomb....The bomb, Dimitri. The hydrogen bomb....Well, now, what happened is that, uh, one of our base commanders...he went a little funny in the head....and he went and did a silly thing....He ordered his planes to attack your country." A comedy about an accidental nuclear attack? One that ends with total annihilation, thermonuclear apocalypse? Preposterous! Stanley Kubrick thought otherwise. In the end his thinking prevailed. The mad saga revolves around a psychotic Strategic Air Command officer, Gen. Jack D. Ripper, who lets loose his B-52 bomber squadron on the Soviet Union. Ripper takes this unilateral action because of his paranoid belief that Communists are sapping and contaminating "all our precious bodily fluids" as part of their plan to take over the world." Unbeknownst to Ripper, his attack will trigger the Russian's ultimate weapon, the Doomsday Machine, a diabolical retaliatory device set to blow up the planet.

This movie was a little crazy. In that they had a warning at the beginning stating that this movie is totally fiction and that our US Government would never plan an attack like this on on the Soviet Union. It was an entertaining movie though. Here is a famous scene from the movie. I had seen this clip before, probably in an Oscar montage. Here ya go!

Product Review!

After going to the zoo, John and I stay in and cooked dinner. John really wanted a waffle maker, so we went to Target, got a waffle maker, and we spotted this Red Velvet waffle mix. It was fun making them, but they look tastier on the box then they actually were. Their saving grace was the vanilla bean & cream cheese frosting. It was delicious!

Houston Zoo!

This weekend Me, John, and Lacey went to the Houston Zoo. It was a perfect day for it. The weather was nice and it wasn't to crowded. My favorite part of the zoo, besides seeing some turtles, was getting to feed the giraffes! Here are a few pictures of the day.

 

Feeding the giraffes

 

Rhinos

 

This one made me think of Can

 

This giraffe wanted nothing to do with us,

he just wanted to gnaw on the rope.

 Baby Elephant

Turtle!

Turtle!