Narnia Tags x TWO! ( I love Narnia. I really do)

...And a TAG! If you are tagged, it is because I see you as a true-beyond-reason friend of Narnia (what other's refer to as "The-total-and-complete-Narnia-geek/nerd/whatever). Directions are... to simply write what comes into your head about Narnia, be it words, sentences, or pages.

.:.:.:.

What is it about Narnia..? The feeling it gives you when you read it.. It sort of leaves you longing for more. It's so rich, so moving. Everything about it is so... I don't know what the word is. But for some reason, you don't tire of them. Every time you read them, you see something more, something deeper.

Forgiveness. Truth. Trust. I see these displayed so much throughout the stories.

Then the longing, especially in the "Last Battle" for me, is so wonderful and terrible all at once. I try to touch on what exactly it is I feel but in the end, I can't really express it; I want to laugh and cry all at once. To quote my mother, "It hurts so good."

While I'm on the "Last Battle" streak... I just read the last paragraph of said book. It is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the entire series, and the entirety of all in the book world. It never fails to make me want to cry (and often, I do), to sort of give you that tight feeling in your chest like you want to cry tears of joy and sorrow all at once! (yes, I am very aware this sounds supremely cheesy. )

Call me a dork if you wish, but I truly have a passion for Narnia, and all things concerning it. I kid you not, there have been days when I would think about nothing but Narnia. I truly wish I could convey the feelings I have. But for the moment, I shall end this ramble with, what else, the last paragraph of the "Last Battle":

"And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but things began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Pardon me while I grab the tissue box.

.:.:.:.

Whilst I am on the Narnia streak, I found this on Lyceria's blog and stole it:) filling out my own answers;

NARNIA~Favorites

~Fav. Narnia Book? The Last Battle!

Fav. Character? ASLAN, Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund, Mr. Beaver (okay, so I'm a little biased on that last one...)

Fav. Pevensie? Edmund or Lucy ( I don't like picking favorites!)

King or Queen (of Narnia)? Um... Ever? Queen Lucy the Valiant, King Tirian, Queen Swanwhite, etc.

Fav. Talking Animal? Aslan (of course) and REEPICHEEP!!!! My hero!!! XD

Fav. Gift from Father Christmas? Either Lucy's vial or Susan's bow & arrows & horn

Fav. Weapon? Aslan's paws :)

Fav. Antagonist? The White Witch

Fav. "added scene" in movies? Ohh, um.. anything BUT The farewell kiss in PC!!!!

Fav outfit (in movie)? Mr. Beaver's Armor (LWW)!!!! Then, Susan's coronation dress (LWW) Susan's farewell dress (PC), and Grown-up Queen Lucy's hunting dress (LWW) and pretty much any other outfit in there :)

Fav. Line or quote from book or movie? From the book: The last paragraph from the "Last Battle!!!!!" (Didn't we just go through this?) And then from the movie... anything Mr. Beaver said in LWW (XD), annnnnd.... yeah. I could go on for awhile, but I won't

"WHO DO YOU LIKE BETTER?~
Mr. or Mrs. Beaver? Mr. Beaver (I'm a *little* biased, as I said. Having played him and all...)

Orieus or Glenstorm? Orieus

Peter or Edmund? AGH! I don't know!! *thinks a minute* Edmund I guess

Susan or Lucy? Lucy the VALIANT and the NON-TRAITOR!!!

Jadis or Miraz? Jadis

Jill or Eustace? ... Both!

Drinian or Rynelf? Drinian

Reepicheep or Trufflehunter? REEPICHEEP!! (With no offense to Trufflehunter (he's great too), what kind of a question is that?)

Trumpkin or Nikabrik? Trumpkin

Polly or Digory? Digory

Bree or Hwin? ...yes.

Aravis or Shasta? BOTH!!!!

Rilian or Tirian? Tirian; I think he has a stronger character.

Coriakin (the magician or Ramandu (the star)? I really don't know.

.:.:.:.

For the first thingy, I tag... Viola (who doesn't have a comment board so I HOPE that you read this!), & Lyceria

For the second, I tag.... you. If you've read this (Which I see you HAVE) you've been tagged!

Cheerio!!

Pics From The Play!! ( a couple)

As many of you know, I was Mr. Beaver the play "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". These are a little late in coming, but here are some pictures of the production! It was really a ton of fun. Except for my make-up. Which I didn't care for.

The scene with about 90 percent of my lines. Just sitting at the table...

"PETER! Untie him and give him some water!" At which point, during our first show, Peter flung the water canteen into the audience. (on accident) So I was like: "There you go again. (Pause. He wasn't doing anything) Well get it!" The whole audience laughed.

Yeah, that would be the make-up I wore... it wasn't my favorite... (And yes, I took out my earrings for the show)

The End & The Beginning

... of the play, at least. Yes, I just finished the first performance of, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". It was for a bunch of children from... a school that I don't know the name of, at the moment. So really, it was kind of like another dress-rehearsal, which was helpful, because we were a bit discombobulated . Props missing, lines forgotten, missing characters, etc. etc. The usual stuff.

I didn't appear til the end of the first act, but I was told that the beginning looked really fantastic. Though, some of the cast members were simply shaking before they went on, but they did great, in my opinion. For a few of them, it was the first play they had been in, so it was a sort-of scary-fun for them. But I think we all enjoyed it and we all had fun.

I somehow managed to remember my lines, but (and I a not saying this judgmentally) quite a bit of improv. was required for *certain* parts. Actually, this was funny, let me tell you; This is how it was supposed to go: The Pevensies & Beavers are traveling down the aisle towards the stage. suddenly, we hear jingling bells! "Oh my! The witch!" we say, and then hide. *Spoiler* Then Mr. Beaver *ahem, me* goes to see who it is, and lo and behold, it isn't the witch but Father Christmas!! Lovely scene, right?

Well today, we traveled down the aisle, reached the stage and-- no bells. We waited a sec, then I said, "Do you hear those bells? HIDE!!" No matter that the audience couldn't hear the bells I was talking about. Eek. But wait, I'm not done yet! *grins mischievously* Our Father Christmas (who was also our director, FYI) had a bit of trouble getting into costume. He was putting it on as he walked behind the set! So he's going "Ho ho ho!" and all that behind the stage (and then he's supposed to walk into view). That's my cue to say to the Pevensies, "Oh, come out! It's not her! You'll not believe who it is!" So I said it, they came rushing out of their hiding place, and-- Father Christmas didn't appear. So we wait a minute, and he's still not there! "Hm, I wonder where he got to!" was my brilliant improvisational idea.

But really, all things considered, it went well. We had a ball! We have another show tonight, and one more tomorrow. (Thus, as the title of the post says, "The End (Of the first play) & the Beginning (of the rest)

Wish me broken limbs!!

Prince Caspian... Part two!

Hm, I suppose it's about time to post this, as it's been a bit since part one came out... so here it is!


Prince Caspian: A movie Review; Part Two


*BEWARE of spoilers*

Something I really enjoyed about the movie was the character of Edmund; I was grinning every time he came onto the screen! They made him funny in a way that kept him real! I was glad that they showed him more "grown up" than the last movie. He was a definitely pro on the list of pros and con's in the movie!

And now, one of the larger conflicts I had with the movie (and one that I know most of you have been waiting for me to mention): the Susan/ Caspian situation. It is said by many that it was more natural to have it than not to; and I agree, for the most part. They are close in age; she's a pretty girl; he's a good lookin' guy; they're both teens, and whatever else. It was cute-ish in the beginning, but I don't believe that it needed to amount to the kiss. It was quite unnecessary if you ask me. A warm hug would have been quite enough, in my opinion, to convey ant feeling they had.

Though, do note that I think it was fine & in character to have Susan flirting with Caspian; I just don't think it needed to be mutual. Because, before you start arguing, this ruins a concept that I very much enjoy in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,": The once-in-a-life-time, true-as-can-be, no-doubt-about-it, love-at-first-sight between Ramandu's daughter & Caspian. This is one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

To be fair, it can be looked at this way: Susan and Caspian didn't kiss. Susan kissed Caspian. Then, Caspian pushed her away slightly and hugged her. But still, I don't believe that it was necessary to Narnia. (I mean they hardly even talked in the book

Wow, this is much longer than I intended. Anyway, onto another subject; the biggest of all, in my mind: Aslan. I believe they down-played much of his... I don't know the word for it, but it's what makes him Aslan. For instance, when Lucy asks Aslan what would have happened if she had done otherwise than she did, in the movie, Aslan says something along the very-similar-lines of, "No, child, we are never told that," *(Which, I noted, is often how adults talk to younger children, as in "Let's go get our jammies on!" when you just mean that it's time to get into there PJ's ). Instead of implying that he did know what would have happened, and it wasn't her place to know. In the book, it's much more like, "What would have happened child? No, no one is ever told that." He's not saying that he doesn't know (because he does); just that he's not going to tell her. And overall, as I said, he just wasn't as majestic and all-knowing as he should have been. It seemed to me that he just didn't have as big a part as he should have had... I'm just rambling now, please excuse me.

Overall, the whole theme of forgiveness and redemption was downplayed, if you think about it. If I start going on about this I'm afraid that I shall go on in paragraphs again, so I shan't say more on this subject, but leave you to ponder thus.

And so I shall close. As a movie, nothing more, it was fine. As Narnia, however, it leaves a lot to be desired.

*Side note* And I must say that I'm very glad that Andrew Adamson will not be directing "Voyage of the Dawn Treader"!!! Michael Apted will be directing this one. I've seen one of his films (Amazing Grace; a must watch!!!!!) and I am quite satisfied with his work. =D Though I was upset that, in addition to a new director, a new composer is being added to the crew! I'm sure he'll do fine, but I really like Harry Gregson-Williams' work. Except, in PC, it was rather repetitive of the first movie; there wasn't much "new" stuff. Here I go again... I'll leave you in peace to not listen to my ramblings!

*Another side-note* There was much else in the movie I didn't care for, and much else that I liked. But I am sparing you! (For now... I may post another review later when I've calmed down...)

*And a Drumroll Please* ...Prince Caspian!!

Alright, here it is. I know that (those of you who know me) you've been wondering where it is. So now, I present to you:


Drum-roll Please...


Prince Caspian: A movie review.


First of all, I would like you all to note that I am probably one of the biggest self-proclaimed Narnia-Nerds that you'll ever meet. That said, there's two ways to look at the show: One is as just a movie, the other is in comparison to the book. I will try to be as fair to both sides as I can.


Where to begin.... When we went to the show for the first time (we went to the midnight opening!!), I was so busy saying things like, "Ugh, that's wrong." " THAT'S wrong." " What is up with that??!!" " Ex-cuuuuuuuuuuu-se me??" " What happened to this?" But when I watched it a second time, I was able to enjoy it more as a movie, but sadly, not necessarily as Narnia.

*SPOILER**SPOILERS**SPOILERS!!!*

One of the problems I had with the movie was how quickly it moved in some scenes, and dragged on in others. For instance, the setting up of the plot was about ten minutes total, from where the movie went straight into battle scenes, arguments, and whatever else. The night raid & the closing battle seemed to drag on for much longer than I deemed necessary.

Another thing (there's so many! I'll have to be brief. Maybe I'll split this into two parts...) The portrayal of Peter. I was rather upset by the way they changed his character. Actually, to be fair, they didn't actually change his character, they simply, caricatured certain faults. (He's rather a Gary Stu in the book...). To be blunt, they made him arrogant. Basically, "I'm right, I'm king, you're wrong, you're prince." That's how I interpreted what was going on between Caspian & Peter. The latter was trying to be king again, when it wasn't his time. Quite frankly, I was wondering what happened to, "We didn't come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it." (Prince Caspian, Chapter 12, pg 184) I suppose they did thus to make Peter more "real", and they could add some heated arguments throughout the movie


And dear Reepicheep. I was ecstatic that they made him similar in appearance as to his character in the book, but oh dear: What did they do to his character?? His personality?? All out the window for sarcasm. I loved the way Reep was always for honor and defending his people. I don't know, maybe it was his pride I found interesting. But he has always been my favorite talking animal of Narnia. (Come on girls, we know that if Reepicheep were a man in our world, we'd all want to marry him.) But in the movie they just made him darned sarcastic all the time!! It was funny the first time, but then...

As this is already longer than I had planned,I will continue in part two of this review.

Narnia Declawed!

*disclaimer: I didn't write this. It was supplied by thelionscall.com*


A few years back it was believed that HarperCollins, publishers of the Narnia books, meant to rewrite them and remove all evidence of Christian allegory. This was not true, but it does makes one think: What would the stories be like without the Christian influence?Here's my attempt:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter--oh, wait, he was a disciple. Keys to the kingdom and all that. Well, then: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Susan--oops, that name's based on the Biblical Susanna. And wasn't there a Santa Lucia, too? So: Once there were four children whose names were Percy, Sybil, Edmund, and Lana.

Moving right along, these four kids entered a magical land via armoire. There they became involved in an epic struggle of good versus evil--oh, wait, there's no such thing as absolutes. No one is all evil. The Witch is just misunderstood. She probably had an unhappy childhood. Oh, and we can't keep calling her the Witch. The implies censure. We'll call her pagan--no, that might remind people that there's an opposite to paganism, such as religion. Ah! We'll call her a Child of Nature. So, these four kids join forces with the local inhabitants and try to overthrow the Witch--er, Child of Nature (despite her very stable and mutually beneficial reign.) However, lacking any true leadership (That would mean Him, and we certainly can't include Him.), the children and other rebels soon are turned into overlarge paperweights.

Huh, well, that won't sell. Let's try this: We'll include Him, but only after a fashion. So, the children go to meet Aslan and Edmund is rescued. Then Nature Girl comes to claim the traitor, according to ancient law. Aslan, not being a type of Christ, cannot die and be resurrected, so he has to give Edmund back, to fulfill the law. Nature Girl kills Edmund (but he had it coming, after all), and the four thrones are never filled.

No, no. That won't do. Well, how about this: Nature Girl comes to claim Edmund, and Aslan says, "No, that's just tough. You can't have him. I don't have to honor the law my old man put into Narnia years ago."--wait, that implies creation. Can't have that. Aha!: The Witch, er, Child of Nature, comes for Edmund, and Aslan eats her (So what if it was supposed to be a parley? Getting to eat your enemies during a truce is one of the beauties of situational ethics.). Everybody else lives happily ever after, including the wolves, hags, efreets, etc. who are shown the error of their ways and reintegrated into society. The four children, not satisfied with the concept of "divine right of kings," hold elections to see who will be the new president of Narnia. Some dwarf, who was never given fair opportunity for advancement in Nature Girl's regime, gets the job. The kids go back through the wardrobe. Book sales plummet.

The End.

Random Rambling: Should there be a more detailed Narnia?

*note: LotR stands for Lord of the Rings; CoN stands for Chronicles of Narnia*

A certain friend and I were talking, (she's a LotR freak and I'm a CoN geek) and certain friend said that she didn't like CoN because there's not enough detail. But she loves LotR because of all the description! (If you have not read LotR, then I shall sum up a bit of J.R.R Tolkien's lovely description: pages. Upon pages.) Certain Friend said that if he (C.S. Lewis) had wanted to target a higher age group, he should have put in more description. Without all the description, he was seeming to target a group of three-year olds, and he's just really not telling us what it's like there.

I, on the contrary, believe that one of the beauties of the Narnia series is that there isn't a ton (i.e, pages upon pages) of description. It's like C.S. Lewis leaves whatever lies beyond the wardrobe door up to us. We get out of it what we put into it. Whereas in LotR, everything is very defined, and it seems that you're just watching what is going on, not being a part of the story. (honestly, in the three times that I've read LotR, I've skipped the parts of description and lineage) Anyway, I suppose I'm just rambling on, so I'll stop now, but please tall me what you think on the issue.