We just got our shipment of Fancy Nancy readers in at the library (Yea!!!) and while thumbing through the books, I realized my new goal in life. My dream is to own a chair that looks exactly like this:
It’s kind of hard to tell from the picture, but Miss Fancy Nancy is sitting in a chair that is upholstered with children’s book covers (well, not literally I hope, but with fabric that has children’s book covers on it). From where I sit I can see The Giving Tree, TheStory of Ferdinand, The Hobbit, and one of the Narnia books. It is much better if you go look at the real cover of Fancy Nancy and the Dazzling Book Report.
So, when I live in my house in the English countryside, and I am sitting in my personal library, this is what I am going to be sitting on.
This was going to be a comment on Jen’s previous post, but I thought it’d be too long & I should just write an entry about it… I’ve decided to finally Netflix the BBC 2-disc, 5(?)-hour-long version of Pride and Prejudice! Are you guys proud of me?? It always seemed so daunting before. I haven’t had the attention span or time for movies lately, but Jen’s post put me in a British mood, and man, am I up for anything with Colin Firth right now. And according to Netflix, I’m going to LOVE it. 🙂
But do I need to re-read the book first? I read it my senior year of high school, but I don’t think I got much out of it then. Hmm, I really do sort of want to read it now. Well, I can’t get the movie until after Halloween anyway, so maybe I’ll try to read it first.
Why do I have to wait until after Halloween? Because you HAVE to watch scary, thrilling, and/or suspenseful movies on Halloween! I’m trying to decide what I should watch. I’m already planning on Wait Until Dark, a very suspenseful movie from the ’60s starring Audrey Hepburn & Alan Arkin.
Who doesn't love old movie posters?
I have a lot of Hitchcock movies on tape that I’m considering, but do you have any suggestions? Feel free to suggest super-scary films, but I’ll admit in advance that I can’t watch any of those because I live alone. I can only do those during the day. And sometimes not even then. I watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose one day last year in broad daylight & it freaked me out. But I really liked it and I watched it again when I wasn’t alone.
So to sum up this very rambly post, BBC Pride and Prejudice after Halloween = a go! Halloween movie suggestions? Leave a comment!
I am going through a phase now where I love all things British. Actually…..it isn’t really a phase, because I’ve been obsessed with the UK ever since I went there eight years ago. Well, if there is one thing the British know how to do, it is comedy. Well, one of the funniest movies I have ever seen is Death at a Funeral.
It came out a few years ago, and I am really sad that I didn’t get to see it with a theater full of people, because that would have been an experience to remember. I originally checked this out from the library because it has Mr. Darcy in it (Matthew MacFadyen not Colin Firth), and it was totally worth it.
Not only does it have the very gorgeous Mr. MacFadyen in it, but his real life wife, Keeley Hawes, plays his wife in the movie. She is totally adorable and they are so cute together (she was also pregnant when they were filming so you’ll notice she hides behind a lot of pillows and is shot from the neck up).
Alan Tudyk is also in it for all of you Firefly fans out there. He shows off his great British accent skills (which I first discovered when he was in A Knight’s Tale a million years ago) and walks around naked for most of the movie. It also has the guy from Love Actually who goes to America and hooks up with all those Wisconsin girls. He looks sooooo much cuter in this movie with his shaggy haircut.
Kris Marshall from Love Actually
This movie is so hilarious it is hard to describe. I think one of the best parts about it is that everyone is so proper and British (and of course it does take place at a funeral) but there are so many outlandish things that happen. There’s nudity, a bad drug trip, attempted murder, blackmail, and a very disgusting bodily function joke.
I think one of the reasons this movie is so hilarious is that it is directed by Frank Oz. For those of you who don’t know, Frank Oz is also known as the voice behind Miss Piggy. I can only imagine how much fun it must have been to be on that set. There is an excellent gag reel at the end that shows just how fun it probably was.
I love this movie because it is nice and short so it is a good one to pop in if I am in need of a good laugh. It also gives me my British fix for the day, which is much needed. Here is the gag reel that I mentioned earlier. It is funny how unprofessional and giggly the British actors are (I’m looking at YOU Matthew!!). Oh, and it is not suitable for all audiences because British people like to curse (or maybe it’s actors).
Also, just on a side note, I ADORE the house that it is set in. I’ve decided that when I make my millions being a children’s librarian I am going to live in a house just like it in the English countryside.
So hip and nostalgic! (which is such a fabulous combination) I just get completely floaty and starry-eyed while I watch the demos on their website–it is as if they have somehow harnessed the power to capture weddings at their best–they are the cliche that is not cliched. How wonderful are their “Hello Guestbook” smiles?! Hmmm, maybe someday when I am a wealthy Reference Librarian I will hire them to follow me on a British Holiday where Steve and I will wear striped shirts and wave at the camera from a small dinghy.
I had to post about this because it is so closely related to my “Fictional Characters” series. I really want to live in England because not only is it totally awesome, but they do fun things like take polls of the most romantic characters in literature! Do we do fun stuff like that here and I just miss it?
So here are the results of the poll:
1. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
2. Richard Sharpe of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series.
3. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
4. Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
5. Rhett Butler of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind
6. Mark Darcy, of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary
7. Captain Corelli of Louis de Berniere’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
8. Henry DeTamble of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife
9. Gabriel Oak of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd
10. Rupert Campbell Black of Jilly Cooper’s The Rutshire Chronicle
Now as you know, I am a HUGE fan of Mr. Rochester………..but I am not sure if he could be described as “romantic.” I found this poll on Entertainment Weekly, and I totally agree with Tina that there were times when Mr. Rochester was not all that nice to Jane and definitely not romantic. I still adore him, but I don’t think he would be my #1 choice for this poll.
Mark Darcy
I think it is funny that Mr. Darcy is on here twice. I would argue that Mr. Darcy of Bridget Jones fame is very romantic, and Fitzwilliam does do some pretty wonderful stuff for Elizabeth and her family, but is it romantic??? Also, I thought The Time Traveler’s Wife was an awful bore, so I would definitely strike him from the list. And wasn’t that Sharpe guy a total womanizer??? I’ve only seen one of the movies, but that was the impression that I got. And embarrassingly enough, I haven’t read any of the other books. *hanging my head in shame*
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Here are some of the things I would add to the list. I am not sure if my choices would be considered coming from “literature” but, well, tough.
I would put both Boris and Michael from The Princess Diaries series on the list. I would also put Boris ABOVE Michael on the list. WHAT? I know that is a pretty blasphemous statement, but if you really think about it, Boris is kind of the ultimate romantic guy, which is why he ended up with the ultimate romance-seeking gal, Tina. And he plays the violin, which, in my opinion, is the most romantic thing ever. But don’t worry, I still love Michael the best.
Michael, Just Cuz I Can
I would also grudgingly put Mr. Edward Cullen on the list. As emotionally manipulative and scarily possessive as he is, you gotta admit that he is a pretty romantic type of guy. And, I have no doubt that if the poll was done in America he would come in first (at least with the 10-35 crowd, cuz that’s who seems to be reading it at the library).
I would also have to include Zach from Impossible by Nancy Werlin. I adored this book and Zach really stuck with me. He was a great romantic guy-next-door-friend-of-the-family character. If only people like that actually did live next door the world would be a much better place.
Strangely enough, I would also put The Count of Monte Cristo on this list. He is not really a romantic guy per se, but the whole time I was reading the book his character just had this mysterious confident aura that I find very, very sexy. Wait, is sexy the same as romantic? Did I just totally contradict what I wrote earlier?? Oh well, I don’t care, The Count of Monte Cristo has a romantic feel to me so I say it would make the list.
I almost forgot to add Peeta!!!! Peeta from The Hunger Games is soooooooo romantic! He manages to say and do the most romantic things in the most terrible of situations. Can you imagine how sweet he would be if you were able to live a normal life with him???
So, what do you think? Can you believe that Rochester beat out both Darcys?? This poll did give me some nice titles to add to my to be read list.
Jen
P.S. In the EW post, she mentions that one of her co-workers suggested Logan from the Baby-Sitters Club. Heehee! But didn’t he actually join the club, which is a pretty romantic thing for a high school boy to do.
Yuuuummmm so Steve and I went to Dairy Queen tonight, and I was feeling a little saucy so I actually ordered a blizzard other than cookie dough. So what was this seductive temptress/seasonal flavor? It was none other than than that cheerful Girl Scout staple Tagalong cookie! (I was such a frazzled state as I frantically tried to make the decision–it wasn’t until the very last second that I blurted out “TAGALONG” to the cashier)
SO GOOOOOOD! Peanut-buttery, chocolaty, ice-creamy cookiely perfection! I would like to thank three important women for this heavenly treat: 2. Lou Hoover, for making Girl Scout cookies the best thing ever (for more on the Hoovers, see Jill) 2. Jen, for introducing me to Girl Scout cookie + ice cream, and thus, allowed me to believe in its possibilities. and 3. Eleanor Roosevelt, for telling me to scare myself.
Today I was disheartened by a comment made on the 17th of October. I did not approve it, and plan on deleting it. But I wanted to put it in this post to talk about something that makes me angry and disappointed. The comment was for a post by ngtAmber, Proof. It is a picture of Dumbledore (Richard Harris era) with a speech bubble that says “I heart Michael Gambon!”. I trust most people would find the humor in this, but sadly most people just didn’t grasp the concept. That’s ok though. It was humorous to see the comments pointing out that the picture wasn’t of Michael Gambon. But then someone had to be rude.
Alexa from the UK said on 10/17/09, “Thats not Michael Gambon you bint…”
Being from the US, I had never heard the term bint before but it didn’t feel very nice to me. So I googled the term. On one site it says that bint is slang in the UK for bitch. On another site it said that bint is a term for a naive female, often perceived as stupid. In whatever form the term was meant, I am deeply offended that anyone would ever think to apply it to Amber, or anyone else on this site for that matter. I will have you know that Amber, Jen and Jill are some of the smartest, nicest and most creative people I have ever known or met.
One thing that I enjoy about keeping this site is that all of the comments made have been clean. Nobody has ever felt the need to use a deragatory term (at least I’ve never seen a pending comment like that before). Sure some people have disagreed with some things we wrote, but they were intelligent enough to use their words respectfully.
There is an alarming trend on the internet – outright rudeness. With the anonymity that a computer screen affords, people feel that they can ditch common courtesy and say mean, rude and outright obnoxious things to other people. I have seen comments where people have wished death upon others. What is up with that?? How can we be so callous?!
In the future, I would hope that our readers would continue to keep showing their ability to use their words in a way that conveys their point intelligently and respectfully. I know I appreciate it and I would bet my last dollar that Jen, Jill and Amber appreciate it too.
Also, if you leave a comment that is disrespectful or uses derogatory terms, you will not see it published as we will delete it. I don’t think this is censorship, just a way to keep our website as friendly and enjoyable as possible.
Every single week I clean my apartment. I am actually becoming more and more anal about it as I get older. While I clean, I always put in a movie as nice background noise. One of my favorites to put in, but always a dangerous choice is Sky High. It’s dangerous because I find myself stopping to watch certain parts and inevitably end up sitting through the whole last half not cleaning at all.
I am actually one of the few people who can admit to seeing Sky High in the theater. I went with a friend to the Brickyard 400 a few years back and we stayed with her aunt and uncle. We entertained her little cousin one day by taking her to town and going to the movies. Sky High was the kid’s movie that sounded the least boring. I was not excited because from the commercials on tv I thought it looked cheap (see: the costumes and cheesy special effects) and a total rip off of all the big superhero movies that had just come out. Well, my friend’s cousin loved it, my friend hated it, but I secretly adored it!!!!
The story is about Will Stronghold, the son of the two greatest superheroes ever, going off to Sky High for his freshman year. Will is played by Michael Angarano who is (or was, I can never keep up with these things) famous for being Kristen Stewart’s real life boyfriend, and being in the same movie as Lindsay and Amber: The Final Season. The only problem is he doesn’t have any powers yet.
First of all, this movie is hilarious!!!! The adult cast is pitch perfect. Kurt Russell as Will’s dad is so great! He is clueless and arrogant and kind of dumb and it is wonderful. Dave Foley as Mr. Boy is soooooo funny, but Dave Foley is funny in everything he does. But best of all is that Farva from SuperTroopers plays Ron Wilson, Bus Driver!!! (By the way, did you know there is going to be a SuperTroopers 2!!!!!)
Those lucky sidekicks
I also love all the kids in the movie. Zack who glows, Magenta who turns into a guinea pig, and Ethan who melts are all so cute! But Layla is probably my favorite. She gets to wear really cool clothes, her power is manipulating plants, and her mom can talk to animals!!! I totally want to be Layla. But if I could pick any power, I would probably want to have the ability to duplicate another person’s appearance and masquerade around as them. Hmmmmm, who would I be……..?
Layla and her totally sweet Homecoming dress
The one thing I really love about this movie, and it is kind of silly, but I can’t help it, is that when Will gets his powers and is swept up in the popular crowd, he doesn’t become a jerk. The standard formula in these movies is to have the main character get all popular, abandon their old friends and start to act like a total asshat (see: Mean Girls). Will doesn’t do that, which is so refreshing. He does get a little overwhelmed by everything, but he never acts like a jerk.
Mr. Warren Peace
I think that everyone should watch this movie because it is so fantastic!!! If you like high school movies, superhero movies, or funny movies, this is something you will enjoy. It also has the best character name ever: Warren Peace (who also happens to be really hot, and WELL over 18 so it’s okay). Here are some of my favorite quotes from this awesome movie!
“There is no smoking on school grounds…….or freezing or bursting into flame.”
“Sidekicks will please stop ordering hero sandwiches.”
“Way to go Popsicle.”
While watching a dummy get sliced up during the save the citizen game: “Do you remember when we used to use real citizens?”
“Oh. My. God. I made out with an old lady.”
And then, probably one of my favorite last lines from any movie ever (a little spoiler-y, but if you don’t know what’s going to happen after the first 15 minutes then you haven’t been paying attention): “In the end, my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. But hey, it’s high school.” Truer words were never spoken.
Yesterday’s essay was How do you feel about Wednesday. If you haven’t answered, please do so here!
Today’s essay is from the 2009 Wake Forest application:
What outrages you?
Oh goodness. I think I could probably go on and on about what outrages me, but I will stick to the most current thing that outrages me and then also the tiny things that outrage me.
First – the most current thing that outrages me. People in Hollywood sticking up for Roman Polanski. I’m (not) sorry, but he admitted to having sex with a 13 year old girl after she repeatedly said no. Even if she had said yes, it would have been statutory rape and wrong. But she said no, no, no! Rape itself is a rage worthy topic, but what really gets me outraged is all the people who are like “Lighten up guys, it’s not a big deal.” Yes, I know the victim has said for people to get over it, and I think they should – by putting Polanski away in jail and making him serve the time he should have served years ago. Then just stop talking about him. The only reason the victim wanted all this to stop was because the media made her out to be the one who instigated everything. Whoa, I am feeling way outraged right now because I started writing about it all. How could people be such dumbasses?
Now on to my little outrages. I have a very big thing about people eating. I do not want to see your food after you put it in your mouth. I do not want to hear it. I do not want to hear you bite your silverware. I do not want to hear you belch (and then most times not say “Excuse me”). I do not want to hear you sniffle a million times when you could go to the bathroom and wipe your nose or just wipe your nose on your sleeve. I especially do not want to hear you chomp on your gum. These things go beyond mere pet peeves for me. The other day I was in Borders and someone kept sniffling in my area. I tried to ignore it, but after 5 minutes of this guy sniffling once every ten seconds I wanted to scream at him. But of course you can’t just do that in a public place because you’ll look insane and people will think you need to be hosed down. And what’s with guys belching and thinking that it’s cute? It’s not cute guys. And girls, it is ESPECIALLY not cute when you do it. If you burp and say excuse me, you are forgiven, because I am completely aware that burping is a natural bodily function that has to happen. But seriously, it is rude to expel gas and then not say excuse me. I do not include expelling gas out of your rear end, because let’s face it – that scenario is almost always embarassing and who wants to own up cutting the cheese?
I don’t know if any of you are mental_floss afficiandos, but if you are you will probably recognize the title of this post. Yesterday mentalfloss.com posted a fun article, 11 Offbeat College Essay Topics by Katie Naymon. Even if you don’t read the magazine or even the website, this article is worth checking out.
I thought it would be fun to write the essays and share them on the blog. I realize this is for the college application and that my answers will be way different now that I am about a year and a half out of college, but I think that makes it even a little bit more fun.
The first essay question is from the University of Chicago (from the 2002 application – not sure if it is still in use today):
How do you feel about Wednesday?
Well, today is Wednesday. And quite honestly I feel like it has been forever since the week started and it will be forever until the week is over. So right now I feel pretty negatively about Wednesday. Also, I hate how people call Wednesday “Hump Day”. That sounds dirty to me and I don’t like hearing it.
Back in college I had some friends who would throw Hump Day parties. I do not remember attending one single Wednesday night party. I do remember being pissy when I then had to listen to how much fun everyone had while I was stuck doing homework and making sure I got enough sleep so that I could get up and go to class. Thursday classes were always the smaller discussion classes that counted attendance towards grades, so I always showed up to those (lectures on the other hand….well…I tried…but hey I graduated so I at least have that going for me).
On the other hand, Wednesday used to be my favorite day in high school because of the clubs that met then. So… when you boil it down, asking me how I feel about Wednesday isn’t really fair because based on the time you are asking me, my answer could vary quite a bit.
High school Lindsay: Wednesday is awesome! I totally wish it could be like Double Wednesday every week!
College Lindsay: Wednesday f’ing sucks. Why don’t you make yourselves useful and go get me some chocolate milk and a rice krispies treat?
Today Lindsay: Eh, it depends on the weather.
How do YOU feel about Wednesday? Please submit answers for consideration into Lindsay’s College of Fantastic Awesomeness.
ook covers (well, not literally I hope, but with fabric that has children’s book covers on it). From where I sit I can see The Giving Tree, The Story of Ferdinand, The Hobbit, and one of the Narnia books. It is much better if you go look at the real cover of Fancy Nancy and the Dazzling Book Report.
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