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!!

Happy moment :-)

I'm happy right now. :) My brother just started playing "Chicken Friend" (Zac Brown Band) and I got up and started two-stepping! It was great!! Anyway, just sharin' that with you!


"I like my chicken fried, a cold beer on a Friday night! A pair of jeans that fit just right, and the radio up!"

New blog!

Hey everyone! I'm just letting you know a friend and I have started a new blog!! We really don't have much on it yet, but feel free to check it out! It's : http://ourlittlerandomness.blogspot.com/

Have a

very happy

Thanksgiving,

everyone!!

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...)

Meme!!

Woohoo, one week til Thanksgiving!! Here's the rules for the meme:

1: However many days are left til Thanksgiving, name that many things your thankful for.
2: Tag at least two other people for this meme and leave a comment on there blog to let them know!
3:Optional: Say why you're thankful for them.

:::::::::::::::::::

Here's mine:

1: My Faith
2: Family
3: All my friends
4:^*especially* Louise and V (Okay, maybe that's two, but I don't know where I would be without them!!)
5: Narnia
6:Peanut butter!!!! (Where, I ask you, would this world be without peanut butter??)
7: Theatre!! =D

Eee! and so many more!!

Alright, I tag... I tag... if you're reading this and you have a blog, I tag you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Random updates

Hey all! A few quick updates before I have to go.

1. The play I'm in(the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; I'M MR. BEAVER!!!) is going quite well. We just finished a long, but long rehearsal in which we finished blocking the whole thing. It's kind of upsetting though, because the scene that has like 70 percent of my lines is the most boring scene in the whole play! I mean, it's a pretty key scene, but it's all talking. I'm trying to work a few lines into the script to make it more interesting, but...eh, it's a working progress. It's a cool play, though.

2. I've decided that the movie "Eragon" isn't fit to be called "Eragon", or have ANYTHING to do with Alagaesia. At all. My friend and I watched it the other night and were screaming the whole, entire time. Actually, we ended up wadding up a bunch of paper throwing it at the TV screen. It was pretty fun.

3. Math is going better (I only missed one question on my last test!!), and English is still frustrating. Logic is fun, though.

4. I finished learning Fur Elise, finally!!! I worked on it all summer by myself, and it's all done now!! Yay!

5. I'm re-reading The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander, because I'm writing a fan-fic about one of the characters and I realized that I should probably research it a little bit more. They're one of my favorite book series' ever! (right up there with the Fairy Tale Novels (Regina Doman) and The Chronicles of Narnia)

That's about all I can write right now, but further bulletins as events warrant!! Cheerio!!

(Oh, I forgot to mention that the word "threads" isn't in the dictionary!! I was so upset because Scrabble probably could have been won if it was a word! It sounds like it should be a word, and I'm spell-checking it on here and it's a word, but it wasn't in our unabridged dictionary! Isn't that weird??? that's all)

*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.

*Sighs & shakes head* Cinderella...

Have you ever thought about certain impracticalities in fairy tales? Don't ask me why, but I do it on a regular basis. I was actually just thinking of the seemingly flawless Cinderella in this light the other day. Here are my thoughts:

1: So Cinderella loses her mother at an seemingly early age. Her (apparently wealthy) father remarries to this overbearing woman who has some, unexplained hatred for Cinderella. (Poor girl!!) She also has two step-sisters who are repeatedly cruel to her (Cinderella). Then her father dies, the only family she had left. She is then made to be a servant in her own home by her step-mother. Doesn't it sound like, after all that, that she would have some serious psychological baggage? Maybe that's why she talks to the mice...;)

2: The prince: Cinderella sneaks out the ball, and meets the prince. After one night of knowing each other, they get married.
Is there something wrong with this picture?

3: Glass shoes. How very practical. Especially for dancing.

And I'm not even going to start on the pumpkin.

Now, I know that they're only fairy-tales, and they're supposed to be "magical"(And I love them!), but sometimes it's interesting to put a practical light over them.

The Princess Bride

I read The Princess Bride by William Goldman, recently, and I loved it! I saw the movie before I read the book, and I sorely expected the book to be far less interesting than the movie. I was wrong.

The story takes place in the fantasy land of Floren. Buttercup is by far the most beautiful woman in the world, and thus the conniving Prince Humperdink decides to take her as his wife. Buttercup wishes to decline, saying she has already found her true love, Wesley, that she believes has been killed by pirates. In the end, she agrees, and was about to marry him when...

Overall, the actual plot is rather dull. But the quirks and characters are so vibrant and lively and...different that the book is now one of my favorites.

One of the quirks of the book is that the author, William Goldman, tells the tale as he had supposedly heard it when he was a little boy. So while he's giving the story, he'll also come in and out giving his commentary on what was happening, what he "cut out" of the story, and his hilarious experiences when apparently reading the story as a child. It's kind of hard to explain, but the story wouldn't be the same without it. Goldman has such a hilarious sense of humor that I was laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it.

You have to watch out for some bad language while reading it, and in the first chapter or so a rather innappropriate theme is brought in, but it goes away quickly. Those are about the only drawback I can think of at the moment.

Hilarious, alive, and imaginative all acurrately describe the book (and the movie is equally interesting), and I highly recommend it for 10 and up.