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Slippers and Songs (Brodyr Alarch #1)
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In the realm of Holmfirth, far from Melthkior, Princess Tesni finds herself ensnared in a curse that...
Brothers Grimm Fairytale Retelling Welsh Gods Fantasy Romance Brodyr Alarch
David McK (3547 KP) rated The Return of Sherlock Holmes in Books
Feb 25, 2024
Sherlock Holmes DIDN'T die at The Reichenbach Falls.
That's despite his creator (Arthur Conan Doyle) getting fed up with writing about him, and (supposedly) killing him off at that location during The Adventure of the Final Problem - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story.
You do have to wonder, however, just how dedicated to that decision he was as he left himself an 'out' ("Holmes body was never found"), finally succumbing to public demand - and a boat load of money - to resurrect the character roughly 10 years after he had been killed off (with the earlier-set The Hound of the Baskervilles being released in the interim period).
This, then, is another collection of short stories, with the collection I read including:
"The Adventure of the Empty House"
"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
"The Adventure of the Priory School"
"The Adventure of Black Peter"
"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
"The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"
"The Adventure of the Three Students"
"The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"
"The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"
"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange"
"The Adventure of the Second Stain"
As before, thoroughly enjoyable all!
That's despite his creator (Arthur Conan Doyle) getting fed up with writing about him, and (supposedly) killing him off at that location during The Adventure of the Final Problem - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story.
You do have to wonder, however, just how dedicated to that decision he was as he left himself an 'out' ("Holmes body was never found"), finally succumbing to public demand - and a boat load of money - to resurrect the character roughly 10 years after he had been killed off (with the earlier-set The Hound of the Baskervilles being released in the interim period).
This, then, is another collection of short stories, with the collection I read including:
"The Adventure of the Empty House"
"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
"The Adventure of the Priory School"
"The Adventure of Black Peter"
"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
"The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"
"The Adventure of the Three Students"
"The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"
"The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"
"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange"
"The Adventure of the Second Stain"
As before, thoroughly enjoyable all!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Happy Feet Two (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Mumble is back and dancing his way back into our hearts. Happy Feet Two is a follow up to the 2006 Academy Award winning movie, Happy Feet directed by George Miller. Mumble (Elijah Wood) is now married to Gloria (Alecia “PiNK” Moore, who replaced the late Brittany Murphy) and they have a son, Erik (Ava Acres).
Mumble struggles to help Erik with his insecurities and inability to find his own heart song and dance steps. Erik ends up running away from Emperorland with a couple of friends, following the love struck Ramon (Robin Williams). Unsuccessful in love within Mumble’s penguin community, Ramon decides to head back to Adelieland and falls for Carmen (Sophia Vergara) who, of course, plays hard to get. So begins Ramon’s hilarious attempts at trying to win Carmen’s affection. While on their adventure, Erik and company stumble across Sven (Hank Azaria), a puffin that is mistaken for a penguin who can fly. Erik becomes enamored with Sven’s ability to fly and attempts to follow in Sven’s footsteps.
Once Mumble has found the runaway chicks, he forces them to return to Emperorland. Upon their return to home, they find a landslide has caused an iceberg to shift and ends up trapping their colony with no way out. Mumble must find help before it’s too late. In flies the self-help guru and fraud Sven to come and teach the penguins how to fly. Meanwhile, other animals in peril are an elephant seal (Anthony Lapaglia) and a couple of codependent krill named Will (Brad Pitt) and Bill (Matt Damon) who realized that their only place in life is to provide sustenance for the whales. Unwilling to succumb to their fate, the delusional Will forces the terrified Bill to swim away from their swarm and become omnivores in an attempt to move up the food chain.
In the end all these stories tie together to show a strong sense of community among different species. I do believe George Miller seems to have taken more of a commercialized approach when creating this movie. Miller once again attempts to send an eco-message regarding global warming with Happy Feet Two. Unfortunately the sequel’s message does not create the same emotional and heartfelt impact as its predecessor. Miller focused more on entertaining and visuals and less on the actual storyline which was very choppy and quite odd at times.
The animators definitely give Pixar a run for their money with their amazing Antarctica scenery details, their incredible animal close-up shots, the undersea moments with the krill and spectacular action sequences. The movie may not have had the substance of the first movie; however it was definitely enjoyable to watch. There was lots of dancing, singing and great laugh-out-loud moments; an absolute visual delight.
Mumble struggles to help Erik with his insecurities and inability to find his own heart song and dance steps. Erik ends up running away from Emperorland with a couple of friends, following the love struck Ramon (Robin Williams). Unsuccessful in love within Mumble’s penguin community, Ramon decides to head back to Adelieland and falls for Carmen (Sophia Vergara) who, of course, plays hard to get. So begins Ramon’s hilarious attempts at trying to win Carmen’s affection. While on their adventure, Erik and company stumble across Sven (Hank Azaria), a puffin that is mistaken for a penguin who can fly. Erik becomes enamored with Sven’s ability to fly and attempts to follow in Sven’s footsteps.
Once Mumble has found the runaway chicks, he forces them to return to Emperorland. Upon their return to home, they find a landslide has caused an iceberg to shift and ends up trapping their colony with no way out. Mumble must find help before it’s too late. In flies the self-help guru and fraud Sven to come and teach the penguins how to fly. Meanwhile, other animals in peril are an elephant seal (Anthony Lapaglia) and a couple of codependent krill named Will (Brad Pitt) and Bill (Matt Damon) who realized that their only place in life is to provide sustenance for the whales. Unwilling to succumb to their fate, the delusional Will forces the terrified Bill to swim away from their swarm and become omnivores in an attempt to move up the food chain.
In the end all these stories tie together to show a strong sense of community among different species. I do believe George Miller seems to have taken more of a commercialized approach when creating this movie. Miller once again attempts to send an eco-message regarding global warming with Happy Feet Two. Unfortunately the sequel’s message does not create the same emotional and heartfelt impact as its predecessor. Miller focused more on entertaining and visuals and less on the actual storyline which was very choppy and quite odd at times.
The animators definitely give Pixar a run for their money with their amazing Antarctica scenery details, their incredible animal close-up shots, the undersea moments with the krill and spectacular action sequences. The movie may not have had the substance of the first movie; however it was definitely enjoyable to watch. There was lots of dancing, singing and great laugh-out-loud moments; an absolute visual delight.
Turkey Crossing
Podcast
This is a podcast about education and my attempt to use classroom 2.0 tools in my classroom. I...
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Morning in the Burned House in Books
Feb 11, 2019
Though I really cannot remember the last time I read a book of poetry, when I spotted this library discard by the well-respected Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, I could not resist. I was hooked with the first poem, as I felt that these words could have echoed from my own thoughts -- a feeling that continued with many more poems in this book. I also loved that she did not feel the need to make her poems rhyme or follow any specific rhythm. I believe the technical term is free verse. At any rate, it was much more freeing to read than the typical poetry I remember from my school days. I find myself also growing in respect for the author, as I think it is rather courageous to publish a book of poetry, even for an established author like Margaret Atwood. Poetry somehow feels more raw and closer to the heart of the author than a lengthy work of fiction. Though I have jotted down bits of poetry in private moments, I would not dare share most of it with anyone. Some of my favorites are "A Sad Child", "Red Fox", and "Helen of Try Does Counter Dancing", but I found something to like in every poem. I highly recommend this very enjoyable read, even if poetry is not your cup of tea.
Erika (17789 KP) rated 7 Days In Entebbe (2018) in Movies
Mar 25, 2018
I'm not going to put a spoiler alert on this because this event occurred in '76, so obviously everyone should know how it ends.
The movie opens with this modern dance number, and I was immediately confused. I wondered if I'd sat down in the wrong movie. It didn't make sense to me at all in the beginning. From the beginning, I was trying to figure out which side the movie was taking. A lot of the movie consisted of the Prime Minister of Israel and his cabinet trying to decide what to do. I like political thrillers, so I didn't mind the film going in that direction.
I like watching anything with Daniel Bruhl, and he did well in this film. Denis Menochet was a nice surprise in this film, he was excellent as the flight engineer. I had to look up his name, because the only other film I've seen Menochet in was Assassin's Creed, and I'll always remember him because he delivered a few savage lines.
Now, back to this dancing: it annoyed me, UNTIL THE END. Holy crap did it work when it was cut in with scenes of the IDF coming in. There are a collective gasp in the theater. It's only for these last scene that I rated it very good vs good.
The movie opens with this modern dance number, and I was immediately confused. I wondered if I'd sat down in the wrong movie. It didn't make sense to me at all in the beginning. From the beginning, I was trying to figure out which side the movie was taking. A lot of the movie consisted of the Prime Minister of Israel and his cabinet trying to decide what to do. I like political thrillers, so I didn't mind the film going in that direction.
I like watching anything with Daniel Bruhl, and he did well in this film. Denis Menochet was a nice surprise in this film, he was excellent as the flight engineer. I had to look up his name, because the only other film I've seen Menochet in was Assassin's Creed, and I'll always remember him because he delivered a few savage lines.
Now, back to this dancing: it annoyed me, UNTIL THE END. Holy crap did it work when it was cut in with scenes of the IDF coming in. There are a collective gasp in the theater. It's only for these last scene that I rated it very good vs good.
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