The Holiday Books Are Here!

That means time for holiday story reading. I have a few on my shelf I have started to read. Reviewing will be following soon. I love Santa and all the stories that have to do with him. The Autobiography of Santa Claus books by Jeff Guinn are one of our favorites to read. It is his first book, there are three in the series. Each one builds on the other, giving a different insight through the eyes of Santa and Mrs Clause. The history in them are great. Although this is a Historical fiction it is an enjoyable read. In my opinion, Jeff uses his great writing ability to transcend one to the era of the beginning of Santa's journey. Not to mention the people who inspired him along the way. I will guarantee you will never look at history the same way after this read. As well as it will be hard to put down this book.

I will be reading Mary Higgins Clark's "Dashing through the Snow" this week. It is also co-written by Carol Higgins Clark. Carol lives in New York City and is an actress as well. She is the daughter of Mary. They have co authored several books. This one I am reading the setting is in New Hampshire. In a small Old fashion town. A group of folks have just won the Lottery and a second winning ticket is in the neighboring town. A mystery begins just before the towns "Festival of Joy" gets started. A Private Eye begin to do some investigation and the small town is awaken to new secrets hidden within the so called tranquil old fashion town. Well that is all for now. My reading begins tonight. More later.

Why not pick up a Holiday book to read. It can make the season more enjoyable.

Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

At times I feel like Dorothy in OZ. Everywhere I look there's new unsure things popping up. Some are just out of site, just around a corner. There are too many to see at one time, some come at you are the same time. Making it hard to choose, will I chose the wrong one, will it give me nightmares, Does it make any sense and Can I figure out what the meaning of it is. By now you are wondering what am I talking about.

Well it's the Fall line out on the networks. They started this week and not just one network but all the networks. Competing with each other on the popular days. So let's look at some already aired.

Monday there were several airing. The Event, Molly and Me and Lone Star. Castle competed with Hawaii five O and Chase.
Tuesday was a little better on the line up this week. NCIS, NCIS-LA, Detroit 187,Glee, the Good Wife, Rising Hope and Running Wilde. There are more however these are the ones I liked to watch.
Wednesday we viewed the new seasons Undercovers and The Defenders. Of course Hellcats , The Whole Truth as well as Criminal Minds also aired.

I thought I would give my take on these shows this week. It was hard to watch all of them at the same time. With today's technology there are several ways to catch up on the ones missed.One can DVR them, go on line to the networks, and On Demand network has them within the 24 hours of airing time.So I didn't miss out on the one I wanted to watch.

Eat, Pray Love- the Movie

Hubby and I went to see the movie "Eat Pray Love". When we walked into the theater I notice mostly women there. I saw some of the previews and really wanted to see it. Hubby surprised me and took me. Now I will tell you this was truly a Click Flick.It was great for my hubby to take me and sit through it.

Julia Roberts plays Liz Gilbert who after years of marriage finds herself lost in knowing who see is. All her friends tell her to just go with the flow and through her marriage she will develop her identity. Marriage has its ups and downs and she is just in the downs now. You have a good man who loves you and that should be enough. However that is not enough for Liz. She see it as a personal problem that she is unhappy. Needs to find herself and in order to do this she must separate from her marriage life. Trying to do this in her own town is not working. She is a writer of plays and books. Her writing is suffering due to her self-searching.

The decision is made by her to travel to find herself and what she is to become. It is explained that she had been in relationships since high school and never on her own. With out being on your own, living by yourself and just enjoying life by yourself one can not real know who they are. Their self being is molded by others, how they are expected to be in this world.

I found the former statement so true. Liz's travels take her to Italy where she learns about herself and eating to enjoy the food and not just for health or looks. Then to India to learn about her inter-being and how to look at herself through Prayer and Meditation. Onto Bali where she is learning who she really is and about Love and how to enjoy Life and Love too. There are many profound thoughts that are mentioned. As well as a truthfulness in the journey.

This was a great Movie. My rating will be a 7 out of 10. This rating is based on it being a Click Flick. My thouoghts are the movie, although well put together, was a bit slow in some areas. Felt that the storyline could have been a little more detailed. This was a long movie over 2 hours and at a time I felt myself saying.... Boy this is dragging on.... Make that decision and let's go..How long have I been here?

I love long movies but if that feeling of this is a long movie happens, it doesn't encapsulate you and transport you to a different world, where one says "Is it over already" and it's been over 2 hours. Now hubby says he didn't get it, but he was happy to take me there. So, that means is it not intended for Men. Therefore take a girlfriend and go. It is worth the ticket.

Now I will have to read the book!

The Expendables-My Review

This Movie is truly an action packed one! Hubby wanted to go see it, I thought it would be a good one. Well, there really wasn't a good story line.
The story line (I got out of it) was as follows;

There was a Rogue CIA agent who decided to control a country. He thought he would get richer. It became clearer that the CIA wanted him taken out. Contracting a group of Militants, known as the Expendables, to do the Job.

If you love real shoot-em-up and graphic movies, then this one is for you. Personally we thought it was too violent and way too much blood flying. Noticed a few folks leaving the theater early on. I too would have, however I wanted to see it through in order to do a good review.

I would give this one a three out of ten on my scale. Mostly because the content was lacking in my opinion. Felt there could have been a better story line with the Characters. One other thing is, there was way too much gun shooting, appendages being cut off and killing. During the movie there was a sense to theater cheering going on. This I understood completely, we always want to see the good guys win. However my stomach had a sick feeling in it. Cheering the killing hundreds of people just doesn't sit well.

On a positive note, As Stallone movies go this was a good one. Stallone loves action pack films. He is good in them and knows how to keep it flowing. There was very few down times in the action pack of this show. The action parts moved along quickly and kept your heart rate up. One could really get into this one, if you are a Stallone fan. Some of the audience was yelling and cheering, as to be giving support to the characters actions.

Therefore the three rating I give is according to how the audience reacted as well as my view on the over all Movie content.

One last note, Hubby gives this a one of of ten. His view is too much blood and violence as well as he was disappointed in the movie content. One slow part was when a character reflected back to a time. Hubby felt this part lasted a little too long on a thought. The tears were totally out of place for the characters. "The only positive thing is the ending when we walked out!" was the statement made by hubby. That's my mans short review for you.

This is not a kids or teen movie at all. If you have a weak stomach, you need not to view this one. I would not see this one again and it will not be on my Library shelf .

Photo icon courtesy of the Official expendables Movie site.

Inception- the Movie

Ever had a dream and in it you want to control the outcome? This is what this movie is about. Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is in the business of controlling dreams. He is great at it, that is getting in and out of the dream state and getting into another persons dream. Now there is this theory that one might be able to change a person mindset by planting a thought in their mind while in a dream state.
Sometimes it is hard to realize if you are in a dream or not. However in this movie you know when the dream state starts and ends. Or maybe by the end of the movie you will question that thought.

I like this movie and would rate it a 7 out of my 10 scale. You see at times the movie seen too long and a thought comes to mind...How long have I been here, it seems like all day....wasn't this movie only 2 hours? Therefore the... I'm bored let's move on thought is present. There is a lot of action and some of it is just mind blogging. Where did these people come from and why are they trying to kill the group and Cobb. The confusion causes a mind warp and it takes away for the movie line and your ability to stay focused.
Now there was some things that where great. Like some of the scenery and special effects. Just like a Dream things just didn't make sense. You know what I mean, When you dream things pop in that your mind says... What is that? or how did that get here?
The Movie is based on Dreaming so that is why I give it a 7. I think it portrayed ones dream well, with a little control in it. The thought of one being able to implant a thought to change ones direction in real life, is a little scary. One leaves to theater with a sense of can that really happen? Oh... the thoughts I thought!

Follow me Friday-A little about this blog.

Well I thought I would do follow me Friday here on this blog.
I love doing reviews. Sometimes it reminds me of my High School days. You know the English 11 & 12 days, when you had to write reviews. I also took theater class and have to write one on Plays, mostly Shakespeare ones. One time it was on one that had Danny Kaye in it and then there was "A Street Car Named Desire". I love to read and watch movies so to have a site just dedicated to that was my desire.
Now there are a few more movies out there we will be viewing this weekend. So my reviews should be up next week.

Oh, one interesting note... I received an award from the International Blogging Recognition Council (IBRC) for this blog. Now I am not sure what that means. However some group of judges viewed my blog and articles and decided it was worthy of this award. I was honored that someone saw fit to enter this blog. The company is a Green supporter and if you read my other "Living Healthy with Auntie E" blog, one would know I like that. I just might have to join and support their site.

Now this Follow me Friday post is to bring more traffic and followers to your site. You too can join in just follow this link to "Still on the Verge" and enter your Blog URL.

"SALT" the Review

This Movie came out on the 23 of July. I read it was compared to James Bond, to my mind it is not a James Bond type show. I love all the James Bond films and do not think this can be put in with that group. Now with that said.....
I loved this Movie, the intrigue and suspense was put together nicely. Evelyn Salt has been captured by the North Koreans and she is believed to be a spy by them. They torture her pretty good. After some time she is released into the Americans hands and begins her life as an Agent for an American Intelligence Agency. She is now married to a German Scientist and they are about to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Upon Leaving the job for the day, she is informed that a Russian defector has been detained and they need her to interrogate him(she speaks Russian). This one action starts a roller-coaster of events. The movie does not slow down from then on. It will keep you on the edge of the mind, no time to figure things out. The Pace and events outcomes surprise you each time. It truly is a roller coaster of a movie. We enjoyed it, even the ending was a shock! We just sat there stunned.

Photo taken from theater Poster I have and cropped

Movie Reviews. Two Popular Ones Out Now

We have seen several movie these past weeks. The first one I would like to mention is:
The Last Airbender.
This one was seen both in regular format and 3D. I loved this movie! Wasn't too sure I would, however it has a great story line and keeps one on the edge of your seat. It's Graphics are great, they carry you away to the places and makes your mind believe you are there.
Here is the story line:
It has been over a century, since the Avatars have been able to keep peace in the world. Killed off by the Fire Nation and now the Fire Nation wishes to rule the world. They have killed off all the airbenders and are working on controlling the Earth-benders. Now there is also Waterbenders. This nation is still very powerful. The fire nation is working on a plan to eliminate them. Only there is a problem they have not anticipated, One Airbender is still live!

This movie is great in both Formats. I would give it a 10 on my scale. Will diffidently be purchasing the DVD when it comes out. A great Movie for the whole family.

The next one was:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice --- A Disney movie.
I so wanted to see this one. Seeing the previews made my desire great. Hubby and I went.
Now the story line is;
It has been centuries since the sorcerers ruled the kingdoms. During the last days some of the great ones were bottle up in a nest doll. All of their powers contained in that vessel. There was one sorcerer, instructed by Merlin to protect the vessel and keep it safe until the time came for the a New Powerful Sorcerer to come up. We are now in the 21st century and the Sorcerer has emerged only he does not know he is it. Now the Century old Sorcerer must convince him and train him to fight using his powers.

Over all The movie was okay. It had some great moments and a okay story line. I was disappointing in the amount of detail and animation used. With Disneys abilities in creating a great imagination into the unknown, I found they missed the opportunity in this film. I will give it a 6 on my rate scale. I think this is a good one to take younger kids to. It is not that Scary and would be a great family choice. As for the older child, the one who loves the intrigue and action pack, this is not the one for them. That is my opinion.

A Great Addition to the Kitchen Library.

ICE POPS
by
SHELLY KALDUNSKI


Do you love Popsicles? If so, this is a great book. It has over 40 recipes for all kinds of Ice Pops. You can make ,Creamy, chocolaty, fruity, and even some creative ones. There is even a section on different containers to use, some every household things like cups and pans, or maybe things most only bring out during holidays. The "How to" section is a great tool, it will help involve the kids in the making and deciding what container to use. I love all the recipes and ideas.
Hey the summer heat is on here and if in your neck of the woods it is Winter, there's always room for an ICE POP!

Eclispe the Movie

We went to see Eclipse with my daughter and hubby. She has read all the books, stated this was the best one yet. However the book was better. Some things were not in the movie from the book. I know that is what happens in Hollywood, they can not make a movie base only from a book. I was so hoping for once they would. My daughter said the movie would be a very long one if they did. I guess I will have to read the book.

Back to the Movie...The opening was a little strange. I had an idea it was the movie however it didn't start with the Movie title. A boy was being chased, per-say, One could not see by whom. Then it just ending with no more mention of it til half way through the movie. That's when it clicked for me.
The Movie line is a old rival want to kill the Cullen clan. Who is behide this Madness is not known by anyone. Bella learns more about the Wolverine Clan. Bella and Edward and Jacob are still trying to get along. Jacob really hates Edward. Will they ever make peace over Bella?
There is still killing and fighting in the movie. I didn't think it was as bloody as the first two. Would I see it again? Probably not, this was a one time movie for me. It did keep me intrigued however had no appeal for a second showing for me. I think I will read the book for this one.
I will give it a seven one my scale of ten. Thought it was great for the tweens and teens, Would not consider it for anyone under 13. As far as a family film.....Not so great.... but then again I do not think it is suppose to be.

Knight and Day- The Movie.

This movie was Action pack with some romance. Reminded me of a James Bond affair movie. The scene is a spy bumps into a girl and their path can not be broken. Tom Cruise who plays the spy, is great. As usual he does well in every movie he's in. Cameron Diaz who play the Girl is delightful and gives the impression she really is innocent of all the doings. I really love the Action and intrigue. the Movie goes to a lot of places and the scenery is fantastic. The ending was truly a surprise. We laughed and held our breath in this showing. I would rate it an 8 in my book. A must go see movie this summer, Just to get out of this madness and escape to the Movie Lands' Madness.

Clash Of The Titans Review

We saw this movie in 3D today. Have grown to like 3D movies however this movie was not a great one. Warner Bros/ Legendary Pictures has not cornered the 3D effect on this movie. Trying to understand why this 3D is not up to par to me was hard. I finally decided because this not being a animation movie per say, using real actors and trying to make them appear in 3D seems to be the problem. Their 3D was not clear and refined, causing a shadow on the screen. It looked like the actor was elongated rather than in 3D and some was just blurred. Some scenes of the movie seem to not be in that 3D mode.

As far as the movie, a remake of the Clash of the Titan from years gone by. I like the movie and the action in it. Think I would of enjoyed it better in regular 2D form. The Clash of the Titans is about Zeus and Hades fight to rule the world. Zeus is not happy with the earthlings not praying to him anymore. Hades convinces Zeus that he will be able to bring them to their knees and bring them back to Praying. Hades does have another plan in store, him becoming the ruling god. Now the people need a savior one who can fight and win against the Cracken, Hades creation's. Perseus believes he can destroy the Cracken and win the war against the gods. So the journey begins to learn How to succeed and free the earthlings from the gods control.

I would rate it at a 6 out of 10. Mostly due to the 3D. However there was some desert fights that just was a class C movie scene. It did not have any language or sex in it,making it a good family flick. In my opinion the fight scene where not bad. Although some of the contents could be scary for the smaller ones. Nightmare city for them, the PG13 is a good rating for this movie.

A New Look and Some New Books

I have been playing around with blogger template design. I will probably be working on the text colors for a while trying to figure out how to change them.
Went shopping to the book store over the weekend. Picked up several books.
Here is a list of the books I picked up.

• "Hello, cupcake" I just loved this book, it has so many cupcake ideas. We all know we eat less cake if it is a cupcake. Can use imagine a cupcake that looks like mash potatoes or corn on the cob. What fun for summer time picnics.

• "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes", Learning how to make bread can be so easy and not take long at all. the prep time is less then five minutes. Just think it will cost about 40-70 cents per loaf and you will have a fresh out of your own oven.

Now for reading;

• "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"
• " The Forgotten Garden"
• " The Time Traveler's Wife"

I am looking forward to reading these.

The Doll People

The Doll People

By Ann M. Martin, Laura Godwin, Brian Selznick

Ever wonder what goes on in your house when you are sleeping or not at home? You know do the toys come alive. Have you come home and your child can't find that favorite toy. How about that " I don't know, it wasn't me" statement. The one all us parents say "well we are the only ones in this house.... ARE YOU SURE?
This is a delightful book, one that is sure not to let you put it down. Ann Martin writes with such feeling one can have so many emotions running thought their heads. Oh and all those questions answered. I guarantee you will never look at a toy the same after the read. So grab the book and what ever you do don't throw that toy away... you might be messing with the balance of the Doll world.

The Lightning Thief Review.

Went to see the Lightning Thief. What a great family movie! I really haven't seen one like this in a long time. The Story line was very good.
Story Line:
There is a boy who is the son of Poseidon, god of the seas. Now the boy, Percy Jackson, has no idea who he is. The gods are mad about the lightning bolt being stolen and believe that Percy Jackson has it. They are about to start a war on earth if it is not return by him at certain time. So the story line begins it's intrigue and suspense.

The special effects were outstanding. In every scene we became more involved with the movie. I really like the traveling in the underworld. That made me feel as if I would never want to be there. Towards the end there was a fight. It seemed like the whole theater was cheering Percy on. Maybe not by words but in thought, holding our breathe and yelling in our minds.
The writers did a wonderful job. No language or sex in the whole movie.
I really like that it was a clean show. It reminded me of the story lines of Sinbad and Hercules and the gods. I believe there is a very good chance many sequels will evolve.
A word of advice;
Stay in the theater during the credits, there is a surprise scene half way through them.
I would rate this a 9 out of 10. Only because I would have loved for it to have been 3D.

"Valentine's Day"- Movie review.

went to a premier of Valentine's Day last night. The movie is about six couples and their lives on Valentine's Day. One proposal of marriage, one new beginning, one marriage of many years, one of perhaps a deceit, one of teen love and the last one was a surprise. It is rated PG13, for a good reason. There was lots of sex and sex talk, language and things in my mind unappropriated for even teens. I would have rated it R. Over all I was not impressed with the Movie. Felt it was disjointed, they tried to interact the couple together but somehow to was very hard to follow. Felt I had to figure out who was who. Not a chick flick in my eyes. A chick flick is one that we girls can just get lost in and leave in a romantic mood. I also am not a fan of some of the lifestyles portrayed in the movie. Really wanted to leave early on, but I stay to do this review and it was a premier, fully paid for by the Movie company.
It did have some well known actors such as;
Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Shirley Maclaine, Topher Grace, Queen Latifah, George Lopez, Jamie Fox, Taylor Swift , Taylor Lautner and many more.

There was some comedy, with all those funny actors there had to be. For an hour an a half movie it was okay. I would not see it again. Felt they would have been better to showcased two couples or one family. Too much information in too little time frame. Hard to follow the characters. I will only give it a 4 out of 10.

Avatar Review

Created this blog in March of 2009. I love reading books and thought it would be great to write reviews. Hoping My daughter, who is an avid reader, would co-author. That did not happen, she is a teen and very busy in that teen life. Thinking for some time how to rework this blog, to meet more people and have more traffic. Still wanting it to be a review blog,I came up with this. I go to the Movies and use products as well as read magazines, manuals and books. since occasional I review movie and such other things on my other blogs, My thought is to do them here. More like a " What did I think of that" blog.
A new change was in store, Still thinking of a permanent one, any suggestions? I would prefer it to have my name evolved, since I have other blogs. My name makes it easier for my followers to get to know me as they travel from blog to blog. I admit my blogs do create a picture of my personality. And Now for........

The Avatar Review:

Hubby and I went to see Avatar on Saturday. We saw it in 3D, I usually do not like 3D. Hearing a lot of comments on the 3D, I decided 3 D is was. When first hearing about Avatar, I was not interested in seeing it. Even seeing the previews at the theater, did nothing for me.
Then I notice blogger talking about it, saw some spots on TV shows. Told my hubby I wanted to see it in 3D. So off we went Saturday on a date to the movies to see Avatar in 3D. Do not care for those 3D glasses but the one ones we had were great. It really impressed me that the theater started the previews in 3D, that gave my eyes time to get adjusted to the glasses.

The opening to the movie was a little confusing. One really had to pay attention to what was going on. It went pretty fast and I did not think I had a good enough knowledge to figure it out.
About 10 minutes into the movie it Clicked, for me (those were the longest 10 minutes). There were a few slow spots but. not that bad.

Here is a synopsis of the Story line;
It involves identical twin brothers, One brother is a marine and one a scientist. The Scientist brother is involved with a study on going at a different planet. He is being trained on earth to speak their language and know their ways. He is unfortunately killed before he can work on the project. The Marine brother is cohorts to take his brothers place. Oh yeah you got it, he knows nothing of the project or the planet. So he is thrust into a land he know nothing about. The planet is in a conflict with the Sky People. So the question is; Will the twin brother be able to help the planet and/or the sky people?

The Movie has both human actors and animation. The animation was very good. Like nothing I have seen before. The 3D was excellent, and in my mind necessary to make this a Hit. We really felt like we were viewing this as a stage play. Played in the outdoors on another planet. We were merely watching from the air. Okay I am going to say it! Like a god in those old movies, who watched the planet people fight. Some of you know the ones. Only this was more detail and real. It was not like a dream, in my opinion. More like an out of body experience. I really enjoyed the movie, thought it was nicely written, and the action fighting was good. I would recommend it to you.

A Few Rubies On My Self

This is a Ruby Tuesday Post
To Participate or see other Ruby Tuesday Post click on the Ruby Tuesday Link above.


RED Books..I see a lot in my Library. Decide on posting some of my favorite reads.

Top book is one of my favorites.
It tells everything you want to know about Snowman.
Some humor mixed with history.
When did the first snowman appear? and....
What about that Burl Ives Song about Frostie?

Shelf Life is a collection of Short stories.

Cooking is a lovely pass time,so I had a post a cook book.
Wilton's book of candy.
The contents give you the knowledge to make every piece of candy one needs.

What ruby book am I about to read.....


Oh yeah I love watching "Castle" on TV. The other day I was at the Book Store and saw a table with his New Book. Funny thing is last weeks episode had Richard Castle signing his New book at a Opening Party. So, of course I have to read it! Every one on the show was reading it and the whole season was about him writing it.

To Kindle or Not...

Hubby asked me the other day if I would like a Kindle. Not sure what I think about them. I know some bloggers who promote them and daughter orthodontist has one. He has nothing but good things to say about it. My only draw back is I like books. You see I like browsing through them, seeing the covers, reading the front and back flaps and holding the book. Now the Kindle can read to you, pick up where you left off reading and it seems to have other handy functions. Do you own one? What do you think about the Kindle? Is it a good choice to get one. I will always be drawn to books, it will take some time for me to get use to the new technology in reading gadgets.