Reading List - Part three

February 11, 2009

Sheesh - it seems that all I must be doing is reading - well, no - I have just started traveling again.

Today I finished The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Mar read it earlier and said I should read it. She was right. It is easy to read and it does explore some good views of the human experience. In essence, Carnegie Mellon University has a lecture series where they ask their professors to give a Last Lecture - what would they tell people if it was their last chance to tell people. The interesting part of this one was that Randy Pausch had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so it was really true. I would recommend it to anyone. Enjoy it and then think, what would I tell people if I had to give a last lecture.

This year's Reading list.

2/11 - The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

2/9 - Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

2/1 - Next - Michael Crichton

Book Club

Mar had her book club for Relief Society. this month the reading was The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. She liked it even though the French word usage was a little bit hard. she also got the tape and listened to it. And then we checked out the 1992 version of the movie. That was interesting to watch with Mar - "That didn't happen in the book." "And that didn't happen in the book." "That wasn't even in the book." We still really liked the video.


Mar would recommend this book.

Reading List - Part two

February 9, 2009

Today I finished Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. Why would he read that, you may ask. Well, the first reason was that it was one of the 501 books on my list. The second reason was that I already had it on my book shelf. The third reason was that it was captivating - truely captivating. I really enjoyed it. Yes you can see Mary Martin in some of it. And you can see Walt Disney in some of it. You can even see "Hook" in it. But it is just fun to read. Here is one of my favorite lines, as the Darlings are hurrying home, trying to be in time to keep the children from flying away to Neverland (not NeverNeverLand):

"Will they reach the nursery in time? If so, how delightful for them, and we shall all breath a sign of relief, but there will be no story. On the other hand, if they are not in time, I solomnly promise that it will all come right in the end."

I think I could see myself writing like that.

By the way, the next time you order a Double or a Salad at Wendy's, you have J. M. Barrie to thank. Before Peter Pan, there was no name of Wendy. He made it up for this story.

(A very nice copy - with tidbits of information - wonderful pictures - and CDs for those who don't want to really read - and its on my book shelf.)

This year's Reading list.


2/9 - Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

2/1 - Next - Michael Crichton

Reading List

February 1, 2009 - Sunday

My reading list this year just got started. I finished Next by Michael Crichton. It is a tale of genetic science run a-muck in the United States and elsewhere. For my part I found it hard to keep up. Too many characters in too many different scenarios doing to many different things in too many plot lines. Some of the plot lines actually met at the end, but some of them just wound their way through the book and just ended. It was a hard one to follow. The language was pretty coarse in some spots and there were some "adult situations". On my sliding 1 - 5 scale - about a 2.

Physical Fitness - Recognized

January 25, 2009 - Sunday

In our stake of the church, they have a program to help motivate people to go out and get exercise - to stay physically fit. It is not a big deal, and for a lot it is not very motivating. It was for me. I actually decided to do it and really keep track. Here is how it works. Your get 1 point for exercising. That can be a 1 1/2 mile walk or run. It can be working out. It can be biking for 1/2 hour. It can be swimming. It can be playing an aerobic sport. You have to keep track of your points. Then, if you get 200 points in a year, that is good for a bronze award, 300 gets you a silver award, and 400 for a gold medal and award. That means more than one point per day for gold - so running 3 miles is 2 points (and you can't get more than 3 points in one day.) I really kept track and it really did motivate me - and I made 427 points last year. Today they passed out the awards. There were five men who got gold - I was one of them.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Movie Critics Corner

Here are some of the movie Mar and I have seen and our ratings of them. We have seen these movies over the past two months.

Note that we are highly regarded as movie critics and our opinion is always sought by others as they plan on wastin' - I mean spending their hard earned cash. All ratings are on a 5 point scale - and I just interpreted what Mar said into the scale.

1 - Yeck - who made this.

2 - I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

3 - Okay. Not bad entertainment.

4 - Good movie. Gets a hearty recommendation.

5 - Only 10 movies ever made got a 10 - and I can't remember what they all are.

X-File: I Want to Believe

After all of the bad publicity this got, we still rented it. Was it great? No. Was it horrible? No It was just what X-Files should be. Conflicted Scully. Weird Mulder (who looks better with a beard than he does clean shaven and old.) And just enough weirdness to keep suspense.

Mar - 3 Lar - 3

Traitor

A real drama. The plot was a little hard to follow. The good guy was a bad guy, but maybe not. At least you didn't want him to be. A little bit slow at times. Well acted. Not for the young.

Mar - 2.5 Lar - 3

Narnia: Prince Caspian

Okay, Mar fell asleep. I didn't. I thought it was good. Mar fell asleep. This may be one of those movies that it is hard to follow and really get involved in if you haven't read the book. Now if you hadn't read the book or hadn't seen The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - just forget it. You won't have a clue what is going on. Good effects. A little romance.

Mar - 2.5 Lar 4

Eregon

A dragon movie. And a few years old. A lot of people didn't like it, particularly those who read the book. I only read the first chapter of the book, so I was not one of them. We both liked it. Mar liked it more than me. Unfortunately, there will probably not be any sequels.

Mar - 3.5 - Lar - 3

Get Smart

I didn't see it. Mar did. She said I shouldn't waste my time. Too bad, cause the trailers made it look fun.

Mar - 2

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Don't get too excited. But it was fun. Not a well made movie. Not at all believable. Not good effects. But it was fun. It is a hard one to rate. It's not great entertainment for adults. It's not great entertainment for kids. But it was exactly what it set out to be.

Mar - 3 Lar - 3

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon King

Boring with none of the life of the first two Mummy movies. It took us three nights to get through it.

Mar - 2 Lar - 2

The Riddle

We got this from Redbox cause there was nothing else there. It is British. Sometimes the British accent is hard to follow. It bounces all over the place. It's weird. All in all - it is a loser.

Mar - 1.5 Lar - 1.5

Australia

I made you wait till the end for the good one. We went to this one in the theatre. First of all - don't take small kids. It's too long and you'd have to explain too much. The cinematography is outstanding. The acting is good. The story is far-fetched, even for a story about Australia. However, it is put together so well you can pass it in spite of some flaws. It was good.

Mar - 4 Lar - 4

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Book Club

Margaret went to her book club tonight. There were only 5 ladies there but they still had a good time.

The book this month was Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. Margaret liked it very much. By the way, the protagonist is not the fairest, except in . . . wait, I shouldn't tell you that. Maybe you should read it yourself. Mar says you will enjoy it.