Running through my head

My musical taste has been described by others as "sad", and by other people I mostly mean the boy.  His taste tends to be on the harder louder side, while I tend to enjoy softer, melodic and lyrical tunes.  So recently I have been obsessing over a new ditty.  So I thought I would share it with all of you.

We are Young by Fun

After the beginning part, I have to say I really the "we are young" part as it goes down.

It has been a while

Hey there folks.  Well somehow life got in the way of computer time, somehow I can't find it in me to be all that upset about it.  However Night Trees was feeling neglected and I just can't have its sadness on my conscious.  So I welcome myself back to your world...  lucky you.

Well since we last spoke I had the great privilege to go on vacation.  A much needed and highly anticipated vacation.  Off to Panama I went...  boy in tow. 

Cool things I learned about Panama
They speak Spanish, though lots of them know at least some English, which was lucky for me since my Spanish pretty much stops after what Dora taught us, so Ola. 
They have no army, which is cool to know they are peaceful.
They celebrate mardi gras, they shut down the streets and dance and drink and go crazy.
They paint their houses every December, and by paint I mean yellow, orange, pink, or turquoise.  very colourful.
It is freaky hot. 
They have mountains.
All the resorts are on the pacific side, not the Caribbean.
The panama canal is huge, and getting bigger.  They made it where forrest just used to be.
Their bartenders make good drinks :)
They have scented toilet paper, which is strange.
Cashews grow on top of fruit.
While there we went on a boat tour through the canal and saw lots of monkeys. 
While there we went zip lining through the jungle, which was not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. 
They use American money.

I also learned travel makes me sleepy, and as fun as it is I miss home. 

Enjoy some panama photos.

that's how cashews grow

Beach time

The boy zip lining

At the movies

Last night we went to see The Woman in Black, but since it was bookworm Wednesday I left the review for today.

Mostly I wanted to see the movie because I love Daniel Radcliffe and I love scary movies.

Radcliffe was lovely, and I only momentarily thought of him as Harry Potter, mostly when he was on a train, and a little when there were portraits up the staircase.  However scary..  this movie was not.  It was rather slow, which could be fine for the creep factor, I don't always need blood and guts.  However it didn't build on anything.  One of the first things that happens when he gets to the house, is that he sees the woman in black.  I mean really, once you see people it is hard to believe that he would stay at the house.  He is alarmingly calm in the face of all that is going on.  It was just really hard to believe.  (and I understand that I am saying a ghost story is unbelievable, but it goes beyond the belief in any supernatural phenomenon.)

I wouldn't say don't go.  The lady behind me in the theatre seemed generally scared, though I guess I would suggest not being as jaded and desensitized as I am

Bookworm Wednesday

hey!!  It is bookworm Wednesday, on a Wednesday, at least it is going to be Wednesday for the next hour, so go me.  Anyway this week's review is

The year of the flood by Margaret Atwood.

The plot itself is rather difficult to describe, so for your benefit here is the amazon.com synopsis.

"The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.
Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...
Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...
By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive."

First off when i read this book I did not realize it was part of a series, and though it read like a stand alone, I am sure there was information in the first book that would have been helpful both in filling in details and flushing out characters.  

Second, I did not enjoy this novel all that much.  Though I do enjoy dystopian futures, I felt that this book was written in a manner that made me feel like I wasn't quite "in" on it.  Atwood's characters are compelling, and the storyline was interesting but I never felt immersed in the story.  I just couldn't find it in me to care all that much about what was going on,  and after four hundred pages of my commitment the ending left me going "huh?"  Not much of a payoff.  (of course learning this is a trilogy explains that at least in part).

Atwood is heralded as being a literary master and this novel on many other sites has nothing but glowing reviews.  To me however I found it a little confusing, and more than a little improbable.  The world is ending but all the characters live to run into each other at terrible times.  Atwood's end of world females are reduced to sexual fodder, and though that is nothing new in the end of times writings, it was somewhat surprising coming from this source.  

All in all it is not a recommendation on my part, unless you have a lot of time and perhaps if you had read the other book first.  

Bookworm Wednesday (on a Thursday)

Lately much of my time has been consumed painting, we have decide to repaint the living room.  So I forgot all about bookworm Wednesday, but fear not, a review is coming your way.

Today's review is

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

100 Cupboards is a children's book, and all the descriptions that I have read say it is for 9 to 12 year olds.  It is still a good book. It is simple but interesting.  The book stars Henry York, a young boy that moves to the country to live with an aunt and uncle after his parents go missing.  While sleeping in his new attic bedroom in his new farm house home, Henry discovers a cupboard behind in the wall that leads to another world.  Upon further exploration there appears to be 99 cupboards.  

The story revolves around discovering why there are these cupboards, and how Henry is somehow attached to them.  

The story is interesting in a way that all good adventures on.  It has intrigue and just a little suspense.  The characters are kooky ( though I admit not all that deep )  The only disappointment is the ending.  I really believe this should have been a stand alone endeavour,  However it is the first of a trilogy.  I found the second and third books take off in a completely different and confusing direction.  

I recommend the first book, and leave you to your own discretion as to whether you want to continue with the trilogy.

Dandelion Fire

The Chestnut King

In my head

Having a rather Can-con kind of day.  Today's head is full Walk off the earth.  A cute little band from Burlington who recently made it big on youtube.  Their cover of Gotye's "Somebody that I used to know" has over 40 million views.  That is crazy, First off I love the song, I have always been one of those people who really likes songs for their words.  I mean I like a good tune, but it is second to really good words for me.  I find that the bands who write the kind of lyrics that I like often have very simple stripped down songs, that can be quite haunting.  Second Walk off the Earth did a very cool little video where they were all playing the same guitar, which I find very impressive.

Lucky me I get to see Walk off the Earth in concert this weekend.  Hope you enjoy.

Or enjoy the original.  Song styling is quite similar and Gotye also has a cool little video.

Obsess much?

Sometimes I become obsessed with things.  Sometimes it is a book, like the hunger games, or hairy potter.  Sometimes it is food, like when I had small english muffin pizzas everyday for dinner for a week.  I just like to enjoy a lot of something for awhile.  I love book series because you get a chance to really know the characters, and live with them.  I miss them greatly when the series ends, or worse when I have to wait months for the next volume to come out. 

Lately my obsession has been Dr. Who.  Now I admit I am late to the Dr. Who game, since I believe they are currently on season 6 or 7 (of the reboot) but last year at Christmas we got the box set of season 1, and this year we got the David Tennant years, which is 2,3, and 4 plus all the specials.    So we started watching and now I am obsessed.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Dr. Who.  It is an amazing BBC programme that originally ran from 1963 until 1989.  It then rebooted in 2005.  We follow the adventures of The doctor, who is the last of the time lords.  He travels through time and not unlike the littlest hobo has many adventures and then moves on.  Now as a time lord one can regenerated, which is actually a nifty way of continue a show when one no longer wants to play the lead role, hence its very long run. 

The amazing thing about the show, is its characters their wit humour, and the precision with which they deal with time travel.  I myself am a huge science fiction lover, but I believe the doctor has a great general appeal for those who don't.

I have been watching so much lately that I sometimes talk a little affected.  The British really do have way better slang than us "other" English speakers.

So I suggest watching if you aren't already.