Devil's Due Not

January is not a normal month for scary movies to come out. By scary I mean horror or thriller films. So when I saw previews for Devil's Due coming out in January I got excited. It was coming out right before my birthday and I went cool, a scary movie in January. I can't wait to see it. Yeah, I should have just waited for it to come out on DVD or better yet streaming on Netflix.

I convinced a friend of mine to go with me to see it and I owe that friend a movie refund for torturing them with something so terrible. It was filmed to look like all home video footage, not found video footage, but happening in the present video footage. About thirty minutes in, I leaned over to my friend and said I'm getting motion sickness. The constant moving of the camera was not making it fun to watch. Both of us breathed a sigh of relief when people snuck into the couple's home and put in stationary cameras to watch them. At least those parts of the movie were static. Then finally, the douche husband started putting the camera down on surfaces to film his conversations.


Oh yeah, the husband, lives his life looking through a fucking digital home camera lens. What kind of life is that? Put the thing down and make memories you have to remember and not look at a video for. And then at some point two kids in the film end up with a video camera, it is like the whole family lives their lives looking through a lens. That kind of annoyed me, all the people living life through a camera lens.

Besides the motion sickness this film did nothing for me. I didn't flinch once, I didn't shriek once, and I didn't even have to worry about covering my eyes and ears (although I'm working on not doing that) once. What kind of scary movie is that? Too tame unless you build up your own tension. Seriously, the movie was lame and nothing to exceptional happened. OK, the end when the wife has to deliver the devil baby was kind of cool, but that was it. The rest was just boring and slow. Oh and the first communion scene was pretty cool. Overall, this not a film I would recommend if you are looking for a good scare, it won't happen. Unless I'm just desensitized but I don't think that is it. I really don't think that is it.

Save your movie money and go see something else. To my dear friend, I owe you a movie to make up for this dismal piece of work I made you see.

Alice in Wonderland or Weirdoland

Last night Tony and I settled in to watch the 1951 Walt Disney classic Alice in Wonderland. You know the movie with the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Caterpillar, Queen of Hearts, and those seemingly lovely flowers that sing All in a Golden Afternoon. Yeah, this movie is nothing like what I remember it being as a kid.

OK, so it has been awhile since I've been a kid, but you can kind of remember what watching cartoon movies was like. They were entertaining and enjoyable and you never got the context. We didn't care, we were kids, we were entertained, we laughed at what we understood and stared with blank expressions at what we didn't. Watching Alice in Wonderland then was just a fun thing to do, laughed at Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, and for me I'm sure I ran around screaming, "Off with their head!" Last night, I was dumb founded but what I was watching.


I felt comfortable watching the beginning, Alice being a terrible kid by not listening to her sister's lesson for the day and instead daydreaming and sing some song about what her imaginary world would be like. And then that damned White Rabbit comes hopping along with the famous,
"I'm late / I'm late / For a very important date. / No time to say "Hello, Goodbye". / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late." Alice takes off after him, what the hell prompted that? He didn't invite her along and she just figures she'll tag along and then she takes that plunge down the rabbit hole and all hell and confusion breaks loose.
 

There is no story to this movie!!!! It is just a jumbled mess of some girl wandering through heaven knows what world full of weirdos. And hello, the drug references? Were we brainwashed as children to think she was just eating cakes or had our eyes just not been open to that vice yet? The Cheshire Cat makes no sense and is just plain mean. Seriously, nothing makes any sense. That Queen of Hearts is a bitch and a cheat and should have her own head removed. Then it turns out to be a whole fucking dream! Kind of like that one season of Dallas with the shower that the whole previous season was a dream. You got screwed. As an adult watching this movie I felt screwed over because it was just a clusterfuck of nonsense.

Don't go ask Alice.

There are other classic Disney movies that have stood the test of time when I watch them. Alice in Wonderland is not one of them in my opinion for me. Oh well. I'm sure it was great when I was little, but now, not so much.

**All pictures were sourced from IMDb and are the copyright property of Disney.**

2014 A Month of Letters Challenge

I don't remember when I heard about this challenge or where, but it was something right up my alley. It is similar to National Novel Writing Month which happens in November and encourages the participants to write a novel in a month. This however is A Month of Letters and it takes place during February, what better month to write letters. Basically you are challenging your self to mail one piece of snail mail, yes that is mail that is sent through the United States Postal Service with a real stamp, each day that the post runs in the month.

I'm challenging myself to this again this year. Last year, in 2013, I didn't do so hot towards the middle and end of the month. Things were overwhelming for me last year so it kind of makes sense, but still it felt like a disappointment. I got lots of great letters, postcards, and handmade items like envelopes and stationary. I'm telling you the people that participate are inventive and creative. I'm more buy cute stationary, postcards, stickers, and postage. It works. All that matters is that this a unique group of people that still like getting tangible pieces of paper in the mail.

Why am I telling you this? My hope is to share some of the unique things I get during the month from the various participants. I want to share their love of mail with you. I have a huge love for getting things in my mailbox. It is a thrill I have had since I was little. If I manage to make anything interesting I'll share it too.

If you want to try it, sign up and give it a go. You can unlock different achievements and you might even make a few new friends by putting pen to paper.

The Shining by Stephen King & Stanley Kubrick's Film (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!)

As I have mentioned in the past couple weeks I have challenged myself to read 25 books this year. I have finished my second one of the year, The Shining by Stephen King. The book was originally published in 1977 and was the source material for the Stanley Kubrick film by the same name. Since I finished the novel I decided I wanted to watch the movie again to fully talk about my experience. Then I thought I need a good way to set up my blog post and how I wanted to accomplish that. So here it is, what my brain decided was the best way to discuss the book, the film, and then both.

The Shining by Stephen King

This was my first time reading a novel by King. My only other experience with King was listening to a book on CD during a road trip to some conference. Reading King is way different then listening to it and I don't think I will ever listen to another of his books on CD. There is something enriching about reading the words King put on paper that no audio CD reader can breathe life into.

This book captured me from the very beginning and never let me go, I mean it, I was having dreams about this book for the last few weeks. It was engaging, kept me on edge, and I had to know how it was going to end for everyone involved. There were a couple times when I was reading at night before bed and Tony would come in after me and scare me because I was so wrapped up in what I was reading. I don't remember the last time a book did that to me.

I determined that there were four main characters in King's novel. Most will recognize the Torrance family unit (Jack, Wendy, and Danny) as central characters. I argue that the Overlook is also a main character. The hotel itself acts like a living and breathing entity with its own desires to quench. It inserts itself into the lives of the other three with bizarre intentions. It turns the family against each other and puts Danny in the middle of all three.

Danny is the force that connects all of the story together. Without him it wouldn't work. Jack and Wendy need him but so does the Overlook. If you take him out of the novel it crumbles. His "shine" is incredible ability and I think some people have it in real life. Those that perceive events from the past or snippets of the future to me have the "shine". Danny's is incredible and he uses it to his advantage in the book. Using it to save himself, using it to track things in the Overlook, and finally not being afraid of the gift he has.

I really enjoyed this book, every word, every detail. The story told was woven into each paragraph elegantly and flowed gently like a babbling brook. It had calm moments, intense moments, and everything in between. I felt different every time I picked it up to read and the story took me through every emotion I could possibly feel. In the end, the novel built up my tension, scared and shocked me, and in the end left me feeling relief.

I highly recommend reading this book. I am looking forward to reading King's follow up to this, Doctor Sleep.

The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining came out in May of 1980, so it is almost 34 years old (like me). The screenplay was written by Kubrick and Diane Johnson, King had no part in the film adaptation. IMDb list the film in the genres of horror/mystery which seems fitting enough. In my opinion though there is very little of King's book in the film.

After viewing the film again I now see how very little of the book is in the actual film. It is more like the book was the source material and then Kubrick and Johnson kept what they wanted and discarded the rest. I know, they can't put everything in the movie, but they also don't need to rip it apart at the seams.

The film on its own stands as a great scary movie that will still scare the hell out of some people if they are sensitive enough. Jack Nicholson's character, Jack Torrance, is freaking insane from the beginning of the movie all the way through the end. It is of course hidden at the start and comes out later, but shit he gets freaky. The hotel is a freaky place with the long corridors, huge ballroom and lounge, the hedge maze, all of it makes for lots of scary turns if you had no idea where you were going.

The acting by Nicholson and Duvall is amazing. If you read through the trivia on IMDb you will find that Kubrick was a demanding director requiring numerous takes of the same scene. For them to do this had to have been exhausting and emotionally draining. The intensity is palpable from watching them on the screen. They are by far the hardest working actors in the film. 

Then there are the things that could have been left out because, well they didn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. First the elevator with all the blood gushing out of it, just not needed at all. The scene where Wendy (Duvall's character) sees the costumed dog and man in one of the rooms, you only know about that connection if you read the book; same goes for the woman in room 267, but it was the '80s so I guess Kubrick wanted to show a naked lady. Oh and the shot of all the skeletons in either the Gold Ballroom or the Colorado Lounge, I couldn't tell, but seriously what the fuck?

Kubrick in my opinion made a movie that he wanted and loosely used the novel by King as a jumping off point. But that's Hollywood, movies get made how directors, producers, and studio executives want it made which is not always what the original author had intended.

The book vs. the film

By far I enjoyed the book if I'm going to honestly weigh one against the other. As stand alone pieces of work I enjoy them both. If you take them together, the book is far more superior. What I really want to talk about here is the differences that I feel were something that mattered to me.

The Overlook itself is much more of a player in the novel then the film. I think the film lost something because the hotel was just a building and not the living creature in the book. I feel what made the Overlook a primary player was that in the novel it kept coming to life at various points. In the film, it came to life fully once when Jack went in the Gold Room and met Grady, otherwise it was just an empty shell.

Next is the character of Wendy. In King's novel she is a very independent, strong willed, take no bullshit mother. In the film she comes off weak and someone that is easily pushed around. I like Wendy in the book because she also seems to be the one person that the Overlook can't get to. As much as I loved Duvall in the movie, the book Wendy was way cooler.

I want to burn the hedge maze and replace it with the topiary animals in the book. Those things would have been scary as hell on film. The maze doesn't have that same feeling. Plus Hallorann fighting one of the lions would have made for some amazing film especially when he sets it on fire. Alas, it was most likely monetary reasons and the fact that there is a whole back story to them would have made it impossible to include. But at the end of the day, creepy topiary beats creepy hedge maze everyday.

And by far the biggest, bad ass, incredible part of the book that the film didn't do, the ending! The film ending is flat and that's all I can really say about it. The ending in the book, is just an amazing piece of literature. It builds and pulsates the reader to the ultimate and final climax. The good battling out against evil, salvation and devastation. As I have mentioned the book brings the Overlook to life, the end kills it dead. So dead, it can't be revived and live to see another day of horror. It isn't a happy ending by any means, Wendy, Danny, and Hallorann will never be the same as they were when the book started but they aren't any weaker, just changed from having come face to face with pure evil. But it dies, the Overlook dies and doesn't take anyone good with it, the heroes for lack of a better term survive. Jack doesn't, but he was lost to the evil nature of the hotel, it took his soul over and turned it black, used his past against him, and in the end it wasn't Jack that Wendy stabs, but the Overlook, the Overlook itself killed Jack. I can not say enough about the ending of King's book it was just brilliant.

Final Thoughts

I know that there are more novels to read by King and more films that are based on his work. This was my first time delving into both on my blog. I feel I might be long winded on the topic, I hope not. I look forward to my next bout of book vs. film. It might not be King since there are many great books that have been adapted to film and many crappy books that have made the same leap. I'm sure I can find another that will get me just as excited as this one did.

 

Why Are There Seven Mattress Sizes?

As I was falling asleep last night I started to wonder about the different sizes of mattresses. I have discovered there are seven, SEVEN. Why on earth do we need seven different mattress sizes? Wouldn't three or four be enough to choose from? What people in the history of making beds determined the sizes and the names for that matter. It is all very curious.

Tony and I sleep on a standard king size bed. The bed measures 76" X 80". It is impossible to find sheets for it.  That being said, it fits us just fine along with our two cats and one dog that sleep on it with us. We seem to all have plenty of room, just kind of depends where the animals have camped out. We used to sleep on a queen size mattress which measures 60" X 80". So it is smaller width wise but not length wise. That worked fine for us too, we have our mattress in storage since we got the king size bed, but I think it is starting to wear out and might need to be changed out soon.

Dream king size bed set-up.

When we go to visit Tony's parents, we sleep on a full (a.k.a. double) size mattress. The full measures 54" X 75", much smaller than even the queen. Sleeping on that size is interesting to say the least. We both toss and turn and sleep in awkward positions that we constantly are sleep fighting over the space of the bed. It is also funny because Tony is too tall to actually fit on the full length of the bed so his feet are always falling off.

This is an awesome full size bed set-up.

My sister sleeps on a twin, at least I think that's what it is. The twin measures 39" X 75" and is perfect for just one person, or two if you don't mind squeezing in close. It works for her and that's what matters.

Isn't it cute?

The other sizes out there are the twin xl, full xl, and California king. I like the CA king, it is longer then a standard king but narrower. Most college dorms are outfitted with twin xl and oh the joy to find those sheets.

I'm just curious about all of this. Why did colleges decided that twin xl was a good size for a dorm room. Why do couples tend to sleep on queen or king size beds instead of a full or full xl. What person says yeah I want a king size bed, but it has to longer than a standard king. At some point in the history of beds, people were making these decisions and someone said, yeah I like that idea, let's do that. It just boggles my mind. Does it boggle your mind? Make you ask why? I'm not even going to go in all the other types of beds there are: captain's beds, water beds, murphy beds, trundle beds, and day beds. The mattress thing is enough for one night.

Knocked Up

No, not me. I am not knocked up. I did however see the movie last night for the first time. You know the one, with Seth Rogen.

Knocked Up on IMDb

 

It was funny, light hearted, but a very serious subject matter. Have you ever had that experience, get really drunk, meet a guy, have sex (unprotected in every way), and then get pregnant? Me neither and thank goodness I never have. There are however many who have and end up in a similar situation. What those people do is up to them, but I think the movie took a positive spin when the characters of Allison and Ben decided to try and see if things would work out with them as a couple.

 

Through the film to shadow Allison and Ben is Allison's sister's marriage. Pete and Debbie are having their own life crises to deal with. Debbie is convinced Pete is cheating and drags Allison and Ben into that. Pete is dealing with his need for space and time away from his family. I think this provides some grounding for Allison and Ben to see because eventually, even if they don't get married, that will be some of their life with a child.

 

Tony and I found parts of the film very funny. Tony's favorite though was in the bonus features of Paul Rudd saying bubbles. My favorite part was when Allison and Debbie are running through the store to find pregnancy tests and clean off the shelves buying multiples and all different kinds. I was hoping to find a clip of it, because the whole thing is hilarious. Even better is when Debbie takes one and then picks up one of Allison's and Debbie thinks she is pregnant. Seriously, I wonder if that happened to me if my sister and I would be that crazy.

 

We both agree that one of the best scenes happens between Ben and Pete when they are in Vegas and high on mushrooms. That I was able to find a clip of so you can enjoy part of what we found funny, Knocked Up - Vegas and Chairs. When watching this scene last night I realized that Pete makes a good point, hotel rooms, especially in Vegas, have many different chairs in one room. Next time I'm in Vegas I'm going to count how many different chairs are in my room.

 

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It was a great diversion and pulled me in to the movie's reality. I would watch this again. The characters are believable, the story is believable, and in the end, Ben comes around to being an adult. We all have our growing up to do and we do it in our own time. This movie has that coming of age story, a love story (well two love stories), and those funny moments we have in life.





New Year's Resolutions or Goals for 2014

I was awake in the middle of the night and while trying to go back to sleep, I was thinking about the things I wanted to accomplish in 2014. Then I began to think what is the difference between a resolution and a goal. I turned to the dictionary to help with a basic understanding.

     Resolution - noun, 1: the act or process of resolving: as the act of determining; 2:
     something that is resolved

     Goal - noun, the end toward which effort is directed: aim

Looking at those two definitions, I guess they are kind of the same, but I think people resolve to do something but then need the goals to reach the resolution. Confusing I think. To that end, I decided I wanted to set goals for 2014 and not resolutions. If I reach the goal then it has resolved itself essentially, right.

Here are the goals I'm setting for myself in 2014:

1. First and foremost, I have to find a job. The feelings I develop when not working make me wonder why I can't find a job since I desperately want to work and be a contributing member of the economy. I think this will happen early this year, fingers crossed.
2. Complete two Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) courses. The CIC is an insurance industry designation that some look at as a sort of college degree. There are five courses that cover various topics including Personal Lines, Commercial Casualty, Commercial Property, Life & Health, and Agency Management. I completed Personal Lines last year so I have four more to go. I have five years to complete the program, but I think sooner is better. I'm already signed up for one this year, Agency Management, which I will be attending in February. The course is 3 days divided up as 2 1/2 days of lecture with and an essay test on the last 1/2 of the third day. It is no easy feat and many of those working towards the designation stay at the hotel to study every night to pass. I want to pass so I study and stay focused.
3. I want to lose 10 pounds. This is a worthy goal considering how much I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Plus 10 pounds is doable. I can do that in 12 months. I know I can.
4. Take at least one college course in spring, summer, and fall. I recently changed my major to paralegal studies and applied to College of the Canyons. If I can do most of them online it shouldn't be a problem. I do need to make an appointment to go to the college and speak with an advisor to determine what general education and major courses I have to take to finish. But one a semester is doable. I can focus on that, especially with libraries opening again on Sundays.
5. Complete the additional courses needed to obtain the Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) Elite status. I think there are only three maybe four I have to take to do this. These are kind of easy as a lot of it is a step down version of the CIC classes. I already have my CISR the elite status is new and I want it.
6. Read 25 books. I'm keeping track of this thanks to the website Goodreads. They offer a challenge and you get to pick how many books you want to read in the year. I thought 25 was again a reasonable number for me. I love to read and I have gotten away from that passion and want to rediscover it. I've already finished one book and I've got a good start on my second book.

That's a lot of goals for one year. Spread it over 12 months and I'll be busy for the whole year. I just have to keep them in the back of my mind that this is what I have set myself for. These goals that in December will have a resolution of some kind, either completed or not completed. I will take any and all encouragement you want to give. If I can remember I will keep my readers updated on my progress. Here's to a successful 2014.

Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis

2014 has started off good so far, I'm on day 2 and can't complain. I'm hoping this year to read a bit more then I have in past years and I started on that journey at the end of last year by actually picking up a book! Holy cow. I love to read, I always have since I was a kid, it just kind of ebbs for me now once in awhile. I want rediscover my passion for books (yes the paper kind that you have to hold open with two hands sometimes).

I have been on a site called Goodreads for a few years now, but never used a lot of it. It has a place to mark books you want to read, are currently reading, or have read. You can also make special "shelves" so I have one for my favorite books (hint there's only two on there right now). It also offers polls, giveaways, quotes, and you can follow authors and friends. I signed up through Facebook, but you can also sign up directly on the site and then connect Facebook to it. The site allows you to rate and review books and once you have 20 books rated (not reviewed) the site offers recommendations.

I found out from a friend that the site also offers a reading challenge, how many books do you intend to read this year and a progress tracker. I've challenged myself to read 25 books in 2014 and I finished my first one. Yes it counts because I finished it in the new year. So that means one down and twenty four more to go. I can do this. I have lots of books to read. I have already picked out my next book, The Shining by Stephen King. I got it as a Christmas present from a friend that shares my love of all things scary (although I'm sure she laughed when I ran out of the monsters thing at Universal Studios last summer). OK so I like scary, but not haunted houses, haunted corn mazes, or anything else where someone can jump out and scare the daylights out of me. At least not yet, I'm going to work on that too, enjoying the fun and not being so scared by the stuff that I can see everyday on my TV.

Anyhow, I finished Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis and shared my thoughts and opinions on Goodreads. I realized that I also needed to share it with my blog so here is my review of the book that is also on Goodreads. As usual I try not to give anything away and keep it simple. Nothing is worse then a spoiled ending, unless you like that kind of thing, then I will be happy to spoil any ending for you including movies. Here it is my review, if we can call it that, of Guilty Wives:

This was my first James Patterson book. I picked it up at the bookstore because the cover said, "If you've never read JAMES PATTERSON, start here." The book was interesting and it kept my attention. It is divided into four separate "books" that cover a different time frame of the story, this made it flow really well as I could tell when the action was happening and understand the passage of time. I enjoyed the lead character, Abbie, who was a tough, don't mess with me woman. She never gave up or gave in and I found that pretty cool based on what her character was going through. The book did drag during "Book" two so I had to finish that quickly to not lose interest, the chapters focus on the criminal trial the wives endure. It was just kind of boring and as I pushed through I knew I could not possibly be disappointed. In "Book" four is when all the twists and the resolution appear. I never expected the book to end the way it did and was pleasantly surprised with it. I had my suspicions but then I would read something to make me second guess and in the end I was proven that my suspicions at one point were right on track. Overall, it was a fun read and the fact that it all happens in France is kind of cool since I've never been there. It has me interested in reading more of Patterson's works.