So Many Stars!

Jen wrote recently about an upcoming animated movie, and I’m going to continue the trend.  You’ve probably seen previews for Aliens vs. Monsters, the 3-D DreamsWorks movie that comes out Friday.  I’m not a huge fan of DreamsWorks, and although I’m a Stephen Colbert fan, I wasn’t that excited about it.  …UNTIL I imdb-ed (um, yes, you can use it as a verb) Will Arnett the other day.  I had no idea how many big name movie stars are in it!  Besides Stephen Colbert and Seth Rogen, who I could tell were in it from the previews I’ve seen on tv, and Will Arnett who I discovered yesterday, here’s who else is in it:  Rainn Wilson(!), Paul Rudd (love him), Amy Poehler (love her), John Krasinski (!!), Ed Helms (Andy!), Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth!), Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, and Renee Zellweger.  Is that ridiculous or what?!  Now I really want to go see it!  Anyone else up for it?

P.S.  I’d try to embed a movie trailer, but my internet is not being very friendly today.  Sorry!  Here’s the link of one on youtube instead:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ObWzBuMIk

I’m Back!

I haven’t done one of these in a long time, but I had some spare time today and some great books I wanted to talk about.  First up is the Rebecca Caudill nominee Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.  Not only does it have an awesome cover, it also has a chapter titled “Life, the Universe, and Everything” which, if you don’t know what that means, you should find out now.  Next is the fantastically amazing Wake by Lisa McMann.  Finally, I talk about (or try to talk about) Chalice by Robin McKinley.

The highlights of this vlog include Addie bumping my laptop from the back and an appearance by the barking dogs upstairs.

Enjoy!

Jen

P.S.  Here is an awesome book trailer for Wake.

Cloudy With a Chance of WTF??

I can see the illustrations in my head……the detailed line drawings……the coat closet with the silverware and plate hanging on the door…….I loved the way the giant slice of pizza looked so shiny and delicious…….staring at the last page, I could almost smell the mashed potatoes too.

I am, of course, describing one of my favorite picture books, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Ron and Judi Barrett.  We used to make my mom read that to us so many times that she eventually put a ban on it because it made her feel ill.  I dreamed of being able to walk outside and stare at the sky to see what I would I have for breakfast.

This is an amazing book because it still resonates with kids today.  I mean, come on, who wouldn’t love to see giant food falling from the sky.  The enormous pancake on top of the school is probably also very high on everyone’s lists.

I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that they were making a movie of it……..

Well….

There really are no words, but I will try………shocking, appalling, terrifying, horrifying, blasphemous………just watch and see for yourself.

I almost couldn’t make it through the whole thing, but at least they kept the giant pancake.

Jen

P.S.  I know there was an actual tragedy that occurred today, but being mad about something silly like this is helping take my mind off of it.

“Can I Have This Dance?”

So I was innocently surfing the Internet today after work and I found this picture of Zac Efron:

I am officially a dirty old woman for appreciating this as much as I do.  I just thought I would share it with the rest of you so that you could all feel inappropriate as well.  Here is a link to the rest of the pics.

Jen

P.S.  I almost called this post “Right Here, Right Now” but decided against it.

Illinois Laughs in the Face of the Scientific Community

I was very very sad when Pluto was demoted from being a planet.  It has always been my favorite of all the planets (being the smallest and the cutest of course) so when I heard it was no longer one of the original nine I was mad at all the scientists.  I imagined them sitting in their big lecture halls coming up with ridiculous new things they could announce that would make people pay attention to them, all the while laughing their “evil plan laughs”  mwahh hahhhh hahhhhh.  (No offense to any scientists who read this blog……I love you Lindsay!!!)

Well, that was over two years ago, and I have comes to terms with the fact that “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” will no longer help me remember all of the planets with all the new dwarf ones floating around out there.  I am currently weeding our science collection at work and getting rid of all the space books that focus heavily on the makeup of the solar system that were published pre-Pluto’s demotion.

Well……..them Illinois had to go and declare that Pluto is STILL A PLANET……..if only in the state of Illinois…………what??

I’m sorry, but with all the problems that are happening in Illinois right now (thank you governor with a name I can’t spell) not to mention what is happening in the rest of the country, the Illinois Senate is wasting their time on THIS!!!!  Not a wise move guys……….it kind of makes you look like idiots (as evidenced by the tone of this article in Scientific American) and it will only confuse the poor students and teachers (not to mention librarians) of this great state.

Yes, I was sad when Pluto’s status of planet was harshly taken away, but I am going to have to agree with the scientists on this one.  When people, especially politicians, try to mess with scientists, they just end up looking stupid.

Anyway, rant complete.  I’ve got to figure out what I am going to do with all the space books now.  Ugh.

Jen

My Music Collection Is Confused

Did anyone else hear about the news of Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams getting engaged a few weeks ago?  I hadn’t even realized they were dating!  It kind of blew my mind.  I mean, it’s Mandy MOORE and Ryan ADAMS.  They’re so different.  At least I’m assuming they’re so different because of how different their music seems to be.  Mandy Moore will always be a young poppy “Crush” singer/Lana Weinberger in my head, and I just would never have called her and Ryan Adams the folk-rock(?) “New York, New York” singer to connect.  But what do I know?  I guess it works.

P.S.  I can’t vouch for anything Mandy has done post-The Princess Diaries soundtrack (“Stupid Cupid” is a MUST listen…so catchy!), but I like a lot of Ryan Adams songs.  I recommend his cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, “Come Pick Me Up” (which was played in Elizabethtown), “Gonna Make You Love Me” (played in Sweet Home Alabama) and “When the Stars Go Blue” (which was covered by Tim McGraw and some people on One Tree Hill).  Enjoy! 

- Jill

I Think I Might Be A Little In Love With The Rock

Okay, I know we are supposed to call him “Dwayne Johnson” now, but he will always be The Rock to me. I know that he is nothing like the guys that I normally have crushes on, but there is just something about him that is really kind of awesome.

I didn’t even know who he was until my boyfriend-at-the-time forced me to go see “Walking Tall” (probably payback for making him sit through many, many chick flicks). Well I actually really enjoyed the movie, mainly because Mr. Johnson is very, very nice to look at. I also love the movie “The Rundown” especially at the end when he goes all crazy with the guns. But that is not why he is so awesome……I think he is so great because he can totally laugh at himself, which is made clear by the fact that he is not afraid to go on “Hannah Montana” and let Miley and Lily get him all dolled up in a wig and makeup.  When he screams “I look like Grandma Rock!” it is pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Well, over the weekend Mr. Johnson hosted SNL and I missed it. I haven’t really paid attention to that show in a long time, but thank God for hulu! I love this clip of “The Rock Obama.” No matter what your political affiliation, you have to admit it is a very great sketch. I love it when he smashes the phone!

Jen

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