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 |   Reflections and ruminations from a modern day Alice - Life is Wonderland |
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Reflections and ruminations from a modern day Alice - Life is Wonderland  Welcome to the place were I chronicle my own falls down dark holes and adventures chasing white rabbits! Come on In, Take a Bite, You Never Know What You May Find... "Curiouser and curiouser." Alice in Wonderland    |
| Blog Harbor Challenge - Day 11: It's Oscar time! You get to put together your all-time best Oscar ballot! Movies don't necessarily have to have been nominated for an Oscar or even be an awards-type film (if you truly think the Best (Quality) Picture you've ever seen is Caddyshack, or that Ryan Reynolds' turn as Deadpool will never be surpassed by the performance of another actor, that's totally okay as long as you honestly believe your selection is the pinnacle of achievement in that particular field. Not your favorite, not your guilty pleasure, not the one you'd like to win... your honest-to-God pick for the best representation of each category. Think of this like Fantasy Football for movies! BIG SIX CATEGORIES (REQUIRED) Best Picture: Mr Holland's Opus Best Director: Guillermo del Toro for Pan's Labyrinth Best Actor in a Leading Role: Richard Dreyfus, for Mr. Holland's Opus Best Actress in a Leading Role: Charlize Theron, for Monster Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Jared Leto, for Dallas Buyer's Club Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander, for The Danish Girl Wasn't sure if these had to all be current Oscar contenders or not so I just used my all-time favorite picks for each. Mr. Holland's Opus is an amazing, uplifting movie with a stellar cast about a composer and music teacher who's only son is born deaf. It is a marvelous story about human spirit and is a wonderful tribute to the impact great teachers have on their students. My all time favorite movie and worthy of accolades abounding in my humble opinion. Richard Dreyfus's portrayal is heartfelt and engaging and was an easy first choice for my Best Actor pick. I love Guillermo del Toro for all his quirky and visually compelling work. He is a fresh force in the industry and I like that he doesn't easily slip into the mold. Best Actress was easy too. Charlize Theron is one of the most beautiful actresses to grace the big screen but her role in Monster of a female serial killer is such a departure for her that it sticks with me as one of her most standout roles. As convicted murder, Aileen Wuornos, she is physically repellent but incredibly compelling. Largely sympathetic, her performance is visceral and gut-wrenching and very memorable. I am certain she won the oscar for this role. Another actual Oscar winner, Jared Leto, delivered a painfully compelling performance in Dallas Buyer's Club as a man dying from AIDS. He transformed his body and in one particular scene, looks to be nothing more than skin and bones. The whole cast was incredible in this film but Leto's was the standout for me. Lastly, Alicia Vikander, as the loving wife of the artist Einar Wegener, is as moving as she is beautiful. She never wavers in her support of her husband as he becomes one of the first people to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. The camera loves her in all the scenes, whether she is joyous or grief-stricken. Her performance is so memorable for its credibility and the incredible range of emotions she reflects for her character. |
| Blog Harbor Challenge Prompt - Day 10: Only 33 films in film history have managed to surpass $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Of those films (listed below for your reference), which one(s) do you think is/are the most overrated/undeserving of being on this list? Which movie do you think should be on this list but isn't? Tell us why! Furious 7? Seriously? I do not get the appeal of these movies. Each one seems more steeped in incredulity than the one before it. Despite a cast that is largely likeable and appealing, I just can't suppress actual reality long enough to accept the things this movie asks me to believe about cars. I think it ran its course before they got to Furious 7 - no pun intended. As far as what movie isn't on here that should be...King Kong, the non-stop thrill ride from 2005 featuring Jack Black and Adrian Brody. By all definition, the movie is a blockbuster - large scaled and epic. I'm surprised not to see it on the list, it certainly ranks up here with Jurassic Park. The movie grabs hold of you and its ceaseless action for nearly two hours. From creepy, violent natives and an emotional and engaging giant ape to enormous man-eating bugs to vintage images of a New York griped in the great depression era...it is a cinematic wonder. I'm very surprised to not see it on this list. |
| Blog Harbor Challenge Prompt - Day 9: Guilty Pleasure Day! What movie is your greatest guilty pleasure? The movie you know is terrible, but can't help watching every time you channel surf and happen across it? The movie you're almost afraid to admit you like, and yet find yourself popping in the DVD player or streaming a few times a year anyway? Confess your guilty pleasure and tell us what you like about it! Recently, after the untimely passing of David Bowie, I hosted a Labyrinth viewing party in my house. I was very excited to introduce one of my favorite movies from my youth to my daughter. She loved it, from start to finish. She loved the music and the muppets and the "bog of eternal stench". She delighted in the weird characters, the shriveled apple-faced goblins and the heroine. My husband abandoned us about midway through. Admittedly, years and years later watching it again, I found it pretty cringe-worthy at parts. The special effects were pretty pedestrian and the dialogue pretty lacking in substance. It was not by any stretch of the imagination, a great film. BUT, there was Bowie...and his music and his terrible,but awful catching "Magic Dance and Chilly Down" numbers. There was that horrendous 80's hair and glam, and there was, dare I mention it, the Goblin King's impressive....ball juggling skills...(what did you think I was going to say?..." All in all, the reviewing of this classic clearly redefined it in my mind as one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies. |
| Blog Harbor Challenge - Week 2, Day 8 Prompt: Movie franchises are movie series that are connected by a common character, setting, or other overarching piece of material. They can be open-ended (James Bond, Fast and Furious) or finite (Harry Potter, Hunger Games), centered around a shared universe of content (Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe), or continuations/re-packaging of a popular initial film (Despicable Me, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mission: Impossible, Toy Story, Transformers). For today's prompt, tell us what your favorite movie franchise is, as well as your favorite and least favorite movies in that franchise. I was in high school when the first Jurassic Park was released. We saw it together, a group of eight or nine of us, collectively screaming and jumping whenever the Velocirapters had their screen time. I recall how the missing goat, shown only a few scenes prior in the T-Rex pen, effectively forshadowed the harrowing attack on the park vehicles. We were expecting it but it still thrilled and frightened us. It is one of my favorite franchises and all the movies offered something different and I can't say there was one I really didn't enjoy. The third installment is probably the weakest for me. I loved the return of the original cast member, Dr. Grant, but it wasn't as compelling a story line as the others. My favorite would be a toss up between the first and the fourth movie, Jurassic World. I loved the homage they paid to the first film in the latest installment. I thought Chris Pratt and his trained pack of Velocirapters was fresh and exciting and injected a new life and rush into the franchise. I am anxiously awaiting the new one due out this summer. |
| Prompt - Day 5: A lot of people are talking about the revival of the 90's sitcom ROSEANNE. What other 90's popular sitcoms would you like (or have preferred) to see brought back? Some ideas: The 70's Show. Friends, The Fresh Prince, Freaks and Geeks, King of the Hill, The Drew Carey Show, Ally McBeal, Married with Children. What others can you think of? I think Wings was a great show. For someone who works in aviation, many of the characterizations were spot on. It was funny and endearing, loaded with favorites. It felt uniquely fresh back then, there wasn't anything else like it and I think a revival would be certainly interesting. Will and Grace has recently enjoyed a revival - I think Mad about You would make for a good reboot as well. |
| Blog Harbor Challenge Week 1 Prompt - Day 4: Let's get nostalgic today. Let's talk about that one show that you were really sad to see canceled or just couldn't understand why in the world was canceled. Tell us why you loved it and if you know what brought its demise, share that too. When I was a kid growing up in the 80's there was a show that I think only aired one, glorious and cheesy season. It was the one hour of television we would all agree on and my siblings and I would park ourselves in front of the television each week to watch the next installment of Tails of the Golden Monkey. Set in the beautiful and exotic South Pacific, the cast featured a swashbuckling cargo plane pilot and his one-eyed, highly communicative Jack Russell and several other colorful regulars. The pilot, Jake Cutter, was a very Indiana Jone-esque character who flew a old Grumman Goose seaplane on various exciting missions to remote and dangerous spots. It was a flashy show, part treasure hunt, part rom com. It was filled to the brim with Raiders of the Lost Ark- level adventure and thrills, romance and comedy. This show had everything which is why is easily captured the collective attention of our family. It was an ambitious show that had to be expensive to produce, the likely reason for its excruciatingly short run. We were all truly saddened when it was cancelled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdFN6agkNnQ Another vintage 80's show, which I would deem a close second favorite, suffered the same cruel fate. Bring Em Back Alive stared Bruce Boxleitner as a big game hunter. It ran for two or three seasons max. It's premise ran in a similar vein, high action adventure and a swarthy leading man with no shortage of ladies. Danger, adventure, cheesy theme music...hallmarks of great television in the early 1980's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzGc-w0Pqag "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Day 1570 April 5, 2018 Prompt: Write a Spring Bucket List. Heading into a threat this weekend of our second April snow storm, it is difficult to focus on Spring let alone a Spring Bucket List. I am looking forward to the small seasonal victories, like the green tips of Spring daffodils busting through the ground and the maniac chirping of the returning birds. I'm looking forward to spreading fresh new mulch and perusing the seedlings and planning the garden boxes. I'm looking forward to opening the Tiki porch, festively adorned with our fake lighted palm trees and colorful LED string lights. This Spring we have plans to hike up Lantern Hill, and start a Sunday morning family hike and trail tradition...a plan so far thwarted by cold morning temps and a Winter that refuses to give up its frigid hold on New England. "Blogging Circle of Friends " DAY 1967 April 5, 2018 In a blink of an eye ??? I don't know, you tell me what happened. The morning surf rolled over my toes making soft giggling noises as it ran over the damp sand and crushed shells. It was early but I still felt the sun at my back, warming me through my linen dress. The toddler at my feet sat, splashing and laughing in the shallow water, her chubby arms covered with sand up to her elbows. There were very few people on the beach this early. The beachfront balconies were largely vacant expect for an older man sipping from a coffee cup and a young girl reading, her long legs covered by the beach towel. It was a rare moment of peace. Soon the resort would wake and discharge a stream of people into the sands and a swells. They'd pitch their umbrellas, fire up their grills and turn their nosy children loose on the wide stretch of beach. I bent down and slathered a bit more sunscreen on my daughter's exposed back. She laughed, looking over her shoulder and blinking at me with her soot-black lashes. She mumbled something incoherent and bubbly, and then turned back to her splashing. The waves rolled, large and lazy swells that seem to loose their momentum as they came toward the shore. Far out something large and black dotted the blurred horizon, the early whale watching tour heading out to rich feeding grounds of St. George's Bank. Then, about twenty feet directly in front of where my daughter sat in her ladybug print bikini. a narrow, smooth shape broke the surface of the water. I ventured in closer a few more feet, waiting. In front of my eyes, three more gray backs broke the surface, the slick dorsal fins slipping out then disappearing in the waves. Dolphins I realized, with a burst of excitement. I reached down and scooped up my daughter, trying to restrain myself from jumping. I pointed, trying desperately to help her connect with the site. Repeating, "look, look" over and over again and the pod swelled and multiplied - less than 100 feet from where we stood. The gentle waters seemed to suddenly be teeming with dolphins, breaking the surface of the bay and regular intervals. I counting maybe 25 or 30 animals but it was impossible to be sure. I heard the delighted gasps from the girl on the balcony then footfalls as she ran down the stairs and onto the beach for a closer look. The man with this coffee joined us a few minutes later, fumbling with a large, lack camera at his neck. It was an amazing site, a private show for the few of us privileged enough to share the beach at such an early hour. Before I heard even one flash and whirl of the man's canon, they were suddenly gone. In the blink of an eye, the large pod had left us and gone back out to deeper waters of the outer Cape. |
| Blog Harbor - Blog Challenge Week 1 Prompt - Day 3: Okay, time to interject a little fantasy into this. If you could put yourself into any TV show as an active character, which show would it be and tell us about the character you'd play. Would you prefer to be yourself or someone much more exciting? I like to think I am realistic even when it comes to placing myself into fantastical scenario. As much as I would love to inject myself as some action-packed, swashbuckling character in an action or thriller series like Westworld or CSI, I think I'm much more suited to one of those minor but important roles. I'm reluctantly less like the brave and brash Eva Green from Penny Dreadful than I'm comfortable admitting. I think I'd be that knowledgeable but reclusive librarian who helps discover the meaning behind secret messages or the nerdy lab tech who discovers the one clue that solves the entire case for the sexy, driven detectives. I might not get a lot of screen time but my interjection is essential and I get to have my "moment". Yeah, that seems more like me - less flash and sizzle but more substance. Of course, I'd have to have great hair though...a girl still has to have a little vanity after all. "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" DAY 1569 April 4, 2018 Pick 3 random items that all have something in common and write a creative piece about that 'something'. Shopkins, Slime and Legos...all the odious little things that occupy the free time of my eight year old daughter. Seemingly random and unrelated, these three things have much in common. For example, they are adept at hiding. They have the ability to lie undetected in the corners of the room, at the base of the stairs or in the folds of the carpet, until they are discovered by the soles of my bare feet. Apparently they all like to travel, not content to stay within the confines of their containers. I frequently find them strewn about the house or, even more boldly, under the seats and floor mats of my car. Perhaps most insidiously, they all share some bond with my daughter who can identify them all if not by name, but by the virtue of her ownership. Even the Slime has been lovingly labeled. The result of this unfortunate truth is that she will know if one or more has gone missing, a victim of the vacuum or in a fit of rage cleaning. These odious little things mock and torment me, preserved at least for the time being by the adoration of a child. My only hope in the war against their vapid, plastic, evil empire is that children are fickle creatures. One day, they too will replaced by some new interest and then...armed with my trash can and valiant vacuum, I will come for them! "Blogging Circle of Friends " DAY 1966: April 4, 2018. Title Prompt : April in [insert the name of the city your live in or the one you were born in]. April in Norwich paints our wide streets with the white, billowing blooms of cherry blossoms. The local high school is less than a quarter mile from our old colonial and it is a sprawling campus covered in lush greenery and rows of cherry trees. Each year in April they explode in the beautiful, heavy blooms for only a few short weeks. Eventually the cherry blossoms are tugged free by the elements and cover the sidewalks and pavement with their scattered remnants. While they are in bloom however, they transform the somewhat urban landscape to something softer and more picturesque. Its not uncommon to see a stray wedding party or couple using the cherry blossoms as a backdrop for photos. Set against the historic homes and buildings, the pink and white bows swaying in the Spring air, make for a lovely setting.  |
Blog Harbor Challenge - Week 1, Day 2 Prompt - Day 2: This time let's discuss that one show, with the character that just doesn't seem to fit. You wish you could just pluck them out of the show and replace them with someone else. What show is it and why don't you think they fit? I'm not sure I watch enough TV to be able to address this question. I tend to be selective about what I watch to begin with and if I thought a show was miss cast in anyway, I might not even continue watching it. Thinking back over the shows I do watch, the series I binge-watch more accurately, I'm not sure I could name one character that seemed out of place. The only thing that oddly comes to mind is the Wiggles. It was an Australian children's show my daughter used to watch when she was a toddler. It was filled with all the typical fodder aimed at preschoolers and featured four men who were supposed to be the Wiggle brothers. They were defined by the colors they wore, purple, red, blue and yellow and from time to time one or two of the "brothers" would be swapped out for a new cast member. My daughter never missed the changes no matter how subtle the show tried to be. The Wiggles always made a point of talking directly to their audience, connecting with all the kids who's parents would shed out big bucks to go to their shows when they came on tour. The kids would wait anxiously to see their favorite Wiggle live only to find that the Red Wiggle Greg they were expecting, had an entirely different voice and face. For some reason the revolving door of cast changes always bothered me, like the musical dance numbers would somehow mask the fact that these were just actors doing their leg of a tour of duty singing silly nursery rhymes until something better came along. Silly maybe but that's about all I've got on topic today. |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" DAY 1568 Prompt--April 3, 2018 Prompt: What does the idea of global living mean to you, and do you think it is wise and doable? Global living in my mind means living in such a way that you are mindful of that sustainability of the planet. You live a life dictated by active conservation. You live in such a way to minimize your own carbon footprint and work toward preserving the planet's resources for the global community. Do I think this is wise...absolutely. Do I think it is doable? That is a harder question to answer. I would like to think that the evidence of a world in decline; massive floats of oceanic trash, rapidly diminishing polar ice, depleted farm lands, fish populations and mass extinctions, would be enough to encourage a massive human shift in behavior. Sadly, those things are largely ignored by the general population, and worse, labeled part of an elaborate hoax perpetrated by liberals by the political elite. The truth is, most people are just out there trying to live their best lives, myself included. They make choices of convenience that often fly in the of practices that are better for the health of the planet. They may want to do the right thing. They may be diligent recyclers, they may use organic produce, fertilizers and cleaning products. They may get a water cooler in their home rather than buy cases of bottle water. They may elect to observe Meatless Mondays and drive a hybrid car. Every day they might decide to make a series of small changes that may not seem to have an impact, but combined with others, over time...could have a huge influence over the future of global resources. "Blogging Circle of Friends " DAY 1965 April 3, 2018 Think about the last time you traveled to a different state and write about some part of the trip. This past August we took a family vacation to Cape Cod. I had my reservations about going there during the busy summer months but the lure of the National Seashore and the relative proximity to home outweighed the majority of my concerns. The trip took just about three hours to get to the town of North Truro where we were staying at a bayside, beachfront family resort. Everything about that trip was just amazing. The morning we left for home I felt a pain of withdrawal that has never quite left me. We had planned the four day trip to include all our favorite things to do including one full day out at the shore, or as I told my daughter...the real beach. Herring Cover beach is one of several in outer cape. It is a wide stretch of soft sand, punctuated at low tide by a tidal river that runs mid-beach and up to 3ft deep in portions. My daughter delighted in exploring the sun-warmed band of water almost as much as she loved playing in the surf line. Despite it being August and the height of tourist season, the beach seemed to be less densely populated than any we had back home. You could easily stake out a spot of your own and not feel the crush of people on top of you at every side. The waves were moderate that day and it took very little effort to coax my timid daughter into the rolling swells. It was much harder to get her back out. Even the bright purple flags warning of potential shark sightings proved to not to be a deterrent. She loved those hours spent in the sun on the most perfect beaches in our part of the world. |
| "Blogging Circle of Friends " DAY 1964: April 2, 2018 Prompt: Poetry? Yes or No. Why or Why not. Poetry was never the chosen medium for me to express myself. I always needed the forgiving flow of prose. I enjoy poetry however and have tremendous respect for authors who can pen it so effectively. I appreciate the lyrical quality of the poem but some of my favorites are freeform pieces that don't subscribe to more traditional stanzas and rules. I love TS Elliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats", the collection of his poems that inspired the famous musical. Lewis Carroll is another favorite who's poems pepper one of my favorite pieces of literature, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Pablo Neruda's poems are beautiful in Spanish and when translated into English, are just as lovely and compelling.... I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off. I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers; thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body. From Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda's In my opinion, poetry is a beautiful art form. It is a timeless and essential form of expression. "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" DAY 1567 Prompt--April 2, 2018 Prompt: What classic book would you love to have reviewed when it was first published? Why? Hands down it would have to be DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. I would have love to comment on his rich, lush language. As a sometimes writer of erotica, I would have loved to give homage to one of the pioneer's of the genre. Lawrence's portrayal of a strong women exploring her own sensuality despite a rigid society could also be declared as a brave piece of feminism as well. This book gave credence to idea of the female sexual identity. It is no surprise that it was banned, controversial for much more than just its beautifully crafted scenes of intimacy. I would have loved to be a voice of support for the book's merit and for this author's immense talent. |
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