Tag - I'm It! (And Movie Reviews, Too!)

My lovely friend Brooke tagged me with this fun little assignment, so I shall put my answers down here. I don't know enough people who blog to tag six people, but I'll at least tag Judy!

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Sooo, six unimportant things...

1. I love fiddling with all sorts of artsy things - painting, drawing, jewelry making, candle making, and of course photography, to name a few.

2. I love reading, and much prefer it to watching movies or TV shows. I like the characters and scenes to develop in my imagination, rather than being laid out for me in a movie or TV show.

3. I usually can't stand movies that are adapted from novels, as I find that they always tend to leave important parts out, and add things in that were never in the books!

4. I love to cook and bake, and while I cheat a lot these days, I generally prefer making things from scratch rather than using mixes.

5. I've always been drawn to Ancient Egypt, and to England in older times (around Medieval times), so I'd love to be able to travel to both places and spend some time in the old structures.

6. I have a very hard time finding shoes that fit properly, so when I do find some good ones I tend to buy at least two pairs.

There are my six things, I've linked to Brooke, and now I just have to let Judy know that she's tagged!

Now, in spite of my second statement in the above exercise, I do enjoy watching the odd movies. Especially good horror movies. I don't like the blood and gore ones - to me there is no need to get so graphic, and it just spoils the psychological horror element. I like horror movies that build the suspense up, provide good but non-gory jump moments, and that make me think and use my imagination. One of my favourite horror movies is The Changeling, which a lot of people find quite boring as there isn't a lot of action in it. However, I think it's done very well, with nice build-ups, and some very unnerving moments, with nary a gory scene to be witnessed! Unfortunately those kind of movies are few and far between these days, but I did come across four of them recently that I really enjoyed.

I should clarify that, because I actually bought these movies quite some time ago, but it wasn't until recently that I actually got around to watching them. The first one I watched was The Grudge. Not Ju-On, the Japanese original (although I'd love to see that), but the American version with Sarah Michelle Gellar. I was really not expecting to enjoy it, but it was on sale, and I'd heard a few people talk about how much they loved it. To my surprise and delight, I really liked this movie. It's definitely one that makes wonderful use of the psychological build-up, and it certainly makes the viewer think. I actually found myself looking over my shoulder a couple of times after watching this movie, and that's very unusual for me! I'm really impressed with the movie and the Japanese director - he certainly knows how to work the horror thing. He did a great job of building up the scares, and kept any gory stuff to a bare minimum.

I went out and bought The Grudge 2 after that, and was surprised to find myself enjoying it almost as much as the first one. Again, I found it to be very well done, and there were a couple of interesting twists that I wasn't expecting. I normally don't find sequels to be all that good, so this one was a refreshing change of pace. The Grudge 3 is being filmed this year, last I heard, but it looks like they will use a different director, which I think is probably a big mistake. I will probably buy it (it's not being released in theatres, but is going straight to DVD), but I'm a bit worried as to how they will pull the third one off.

The next movie I watched was White Noise, which was another movie I was not expecting to enjoy. Still, it had been on sale when I got it, and I just had a feeling that it would be good to pick up. I'm glad I did, as I quite liked it. It wasn't my favourite movie, but I thought it was quite well done, and I liked the fact that it was another one that wasn't gory. I don't normally watch the movie with the commentary on, but I did for this one, and the director indicated that there had been some scenes that were fairly graphic. They decided to cut them in order to keep the rating, and I'm very glad they did, as I know that the graphic nature of those scenes would have spoiled the movie for me.

One of the things I liked most about White Noise is that I found it fairly believable as far as the recording of EVPs went. I've done some EVP work (electronic voice phenomena), and I have to admit that this movie actually had me thinking that I might not want to do any more! However, I got over that fairly quickly, especially since I did find the antagonist side of the story to be pretty unbelievable - at least to me. Even so, it was done well, and was quite entertaining.

In the last couple of days I've watched Stephen King's Rose Red, which was actually a mini-series on TV. I'm glad I didn't watch it on TV though - it would have been most annoying to go through 6 episodes of it. With the DVDs I was able to watch it all at my own pace. I have seen a few movies that were made from Stephen King's books, and I have to admit that I haven't liked any of them. The books were wonderful, the movies not so much. However, Rose Red was written as a mini-series, not as a novel, so I figured that would make a huge difference - at least for me. I was right - it did make a difference, and I really enjoyed Rose Red. This was another tale where the build-ups were done very well, the scares were quite good, and there was no gratuitous gore involved. There were even some quite humourous moments. The sets and special effects were very well done, and the cast were very well matched to the characters. If you're a Stephen King fan, I would definitely recommend that you see Rose Red.

One other movie I watched was The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. Now, I've read the books, and I adored them, so I was quite nervous about this movie. It certainly wasn't my favourite movie, but I have to say that I really did enjoy it. The cast was a quirky bunch who totally suited the quirkiness of the subject material. I really got a kick out of watching them get into the parts. What really surprised me was that the directors remained quite true to the books. There were parts I would have liked to see in there, but of course with time and budget constraints, not everything can be included. Overall I thought they did a very good job with this movie, so I think that if you've read the books, you won't be disappointed with the movie. To me, it just added a little something to the whole experience, and after all, the books are quite the experience!

I'm done babbling on about the movies now, and I shall wander off to have a little nap, I think. I still have a few movies sitting in the cupboard that I haven't watched yet, so maybe I'll haul one of them out later! Have a good evening, everyone!

EDIT: Oooh, I almost forgot! You may have noticed - or maybe not! - that I've made a couple of changes. I've changed the main picture on my page, and I've changed my profile picture. The main picture is one that I took the night of the eclipse - the moon peeking through the trees. I love that shot, and I decided it would be very nice on the blog. The profile picture is a full moon shot I took shortly after I got the new camera. I figured it was fitting!

Watch the Birdies!

As promised, another entry! I'm sure some of you will need smelling salts after this - two entries from me in one day! Actually, there will be yet another entry today, because I figured that with this batch of pictures it was best to post the other stuff I had in a separate one.

This morning I was out with the dogs, and of course hauled my trusty camera out with me. Lady got me up at the ungodly hour of 7:30, so I was literally up with the birds, who were just starting their daily routines. I see Blue Jays around here occasionally, but I never have my camera with me at the time. This morning I looked in the neighbour's tree, and to my delight a lovely Blue Jay landed in it. Unfortunately I had my camera set on automatic (due to the funky light at that hour of the morning) and discovered that automatic and digital zoom don't work too well together. Oh well, at least I got a picture! There's also a bonus picture of a squirrel in the same tree. I didn't see the little dude until I started zooming in to catch the Blue Jay. Here they are!


Pretty Blue Jay


Cheeky Squirrel

This next batch is of a couple of House Sparrows (also known as English Sparrows) who are setting up a nest in the neighbour's eaves. There are House Sparrows nesting in his eaves every year, and I have to wonder if it's the same couple, or at least some of their offspring. I think it could be the same pair, because over the years they've stopped giving everyone who walks past holy hell, and have taken to just keeping a sharp eye on us. So they've obviously gotten used to us being nearby.


Hanging Out On the Wall


Hanging Out On the Front Fence


Keeping An Eye On Me From the Back Fence


The Other Half of the Couple Near the Nesting Site


This Drainpipe Seems To Be a Favourite Perch


Another Couple of House Sparrows (Perhaps Relatives?) in the Neighbour's Tree -
One of My Favourite Shots!

I was out a little later and discovered a couple of very tiny birds in our tree out back. They are probably about a third of the size of the House Sparrows, so you can imagine how tiny these little ones are. This one was obliging enough to stand still just briefly enough for me to snap a picture. It took quite a bit of searching, but I finally found out what kind of bird it is, and I've had it confirmed by a couple of other people who have them in their areas. This is a Common Redpoll, which is a type of finch. Very lively little dude, and very pretty.


Common Redpoll

So there you have it - some of the neighbourhood wildlife! There are so many different birds in our neighbourhood that it's a bit mind-boggling - I've never seen such a variety in one area before moving to this neighbourhood. I'm starting to develop more of an interest in the different types that we have here, so you'll likely see more pictures as time goes on. At any rate, that's it for this entry - on to the next one!

Don't Faint!

Okay, don't faint or anything, but I'm back! Things have been crazy at work for the last several months, so I haven't had the energy to get to the old blog for awhile. I'll try to do more entries from now on, but we'll see how that goes. At any rate, I'm back for the moment, and I have pictures! What a surprise, huh?

The lunar eclipse was lovely the other night, and I got some very nice pictures. I didn't get quite as many as I would have liked, because I hit a wrong button in the dark and screwed up all my settings, so I had to reset the camera. At least I managed to get a few shots before I made that wonderful mistake, so here are a few of them:













I had to fiddle with settings to get the last picture, and finally found one that worked - the fireworks setting! It's going to take awhile to get my settings back to normal, but thankfully I was able to get something that worked for the last shot.

I've had a very nasty cold/flu all week, so I was kind of laughing at myself that night. I was standing out on the sidewalk in my nightgown and winter coat, and I was thinking that probably wasn't the brightest thing to be doing while I was sick. But I think the fresh air actually did some good, and I had fun getting the pictures, so it was worth it. I'm starting to feel a bit more human today, although the damned cold is still hanging in there quite tenaciously. Hopefully it's on its way out.

I have some other pictures to post - once again taken in nightgown and winter coat! I will post them in a separate entry, so I'll close this one and get to work on the next batch of pictures!