My New Favorite Thing*

*I still love my last Favorite Thing though, so if you see any more visual representations of song lyrics, please tell me!

Do you remember the Google commercial during the Super Bowl that told a story through searching?  There was one about studying abroad in France, falling in love, etc.  Yesterday, I saw this blog that discussed a few Google Search Stories for fictional characters!  Hello, greatest idea ever!!  Apparently Sesame Street released two Google Search Stories for Bert and the Cookie Monster.

Here’s Bert’s story.

Awesome, right?

Then I found a Harry Potter one created by the VlogBrothers.

And THEN I realized…you can create your own.  So. Much. Fun.  Here’s the one I did.  Enjoy!  🙂

Have fun creating your own!  Don’t forget to share in the comments!

– Jill

Even Forbes Can’t Escape the Twilight Phenomenon

I learned the other night from the Colbert Report that Forbes’ list of the 15 richest fictional characters was recently released.  I vaguely remember hearing about this  list in the past, but I’ve never paid attention.

This year I decided to check it out, and it is very interesting.  Coming in at #1 is none other than Carlisle Cullen.  Heeheehee!  I guess it does make perfect sense, since he has Alice to help him out.  The thing that made me laugh really hard was reading about how the list was put together.  Apparently people from Forbes study the character’s source material to discover the extent of their wealth.  I get a big kick out of imagining people from Forbes pouring over the Twilight series.  *Giggle*

I think the list itself is pretty great.  Anything that includes Scrooge McDuck, Richie Rich, several superheroes, two classic tv characters, Mr. Burns, and Lucille Bluth is okay in my book.

Only the vampire is richer than me!!!

Jen

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Eleven

I just finished reading Anne of Green Gables for the very first time.  Wow, that is one awesome book.  I would like to compliment Ms. Montgomery on doing a wonderful job of developing well-defined characters.  I will admit that although I did adore Gilbert, the character that I really fell in love with was……………….

Matthew Cuthbert

Now, I know many of you are thinking, ewwwww, he is like, really old.  Well, yes, in the book he is sixty years old, but I am talking about a 35-ish year-old Matthew.  I have a feeling his personality and character were probably very similar at 35 and 60.

In my head, a young Matthew Cuthbert totally looks like Logan Bartholomew.

Why Matthew?  Well, he is basically my dream guy.  Matthew Cuthbert is painfully shy, almost to the point of being a hermit.  He is terrified of all females besides his sister and his neighbor Rachel Lynde.  So I would never have to worry about him EVER cheating on me, because he runs away at the first hint of estrogen (not that he would ever cheat, because he is a truly GOOD person).  He is not comfortable in social situations and does not like to hang out with people.  I would love to be with someone like that!  95% of the time, I would choose staying at home with a good book or a favorite movie to going out and doing things.  I have to deal with the public all day at work, and the last thing I want to do at night is go out and mingle with the masses.  Matthew could sit and read the farm reports and I could read a Jane Austen novel.

Speaking of farm reports, he is a really hard worker.  He keeps that farm going almost all by himself, which is pretty impressive considering he is using antiquated machines and tools.

One of the best things about Matthew is that the woman who managed to win his heart would be one lucky lady indeed.  He is obviously a very caring (if quiet), loyal, and respectful man.  When Anne comes into his life, he treats her like a rare treasure that he can’t believe he is lucky enough to be around.  I think he would feel the same way about the girl who was lucky enough to date him.

My absolute favorite part of the book is when Matthew decides that Anne needs a new dress.  It is awesome for many reasons.  It is one of the only times in the book when we get to see into Matthew’s thought process at length.  Not only does he notice that Anne’s clothes are not as nice as the other girls’ dresses (a man noticing clothing!!!!!  Snatch this man up fast!!!!!), he remembers that she wants puffed sleeves!!!  Let me tell you that I don’t have much experience with guys buying me clothes, but I can say that it has been an unmitigated disaster whenever they try (dad, boyfriends…..none of them can get it right).  Matthew knows exactly what to do to give Anne what she wants.  Now THAT is a sign of a great man.  Not because he knows about clothes, but because he pays attention to his loved ones and actually listens to what they have to say (that’s what’s great about a man who never talks…..it’s because he is listening).

So yes, I would date Matthew Cuthbert and we would live at Green Gables with Marilla.  We wouldn’t have kids because I don’t want them, so there would still be the need to get the orphan boy from Nova Scotia……so the Anne story could still play out as planned.

I think one of the reasons why Matthew stands out so much is that there are so few men like him around today.  He is a rare one indeed.

Jen

P.S.  And yes, Richard Farnsworth will always be the real Matthew Cuthbert to me.

What Fictional Names Are Your Favorite?

I just read this little post on EW that linked to the newest update on popular baby names.  Apparently, parents are naming their kids after their favorite characters in books, tv shows, and movies.  Pretty soon the world will be teaming with Sookies, Bellas, and Renesmes.  *Shudder*  If you actually name your child Renesme, I’m sorry but I can’t be your friend.

I do not plan to have kids, but I always notice cool names when I am reading and think, “Hmmm, that would make a good name for a pet.”  I have my two cats right now, but in the future I hope to have another hamster, a dog and maybe two more cats.  I am obviously not opposed to using fictional character names since I have a cat named Hermione and had a hamster named Buffy (may she rest in peace).

Here are some of the names I am holding onto for the future.

Jacob Remus for a dog (from Twilight and Harry Potter)

Toot and Puddle for two cats (from the Holly Hobby picture books)

Rochester or Chester for short for a hamster (from Jane Eyre)

Dug for a dog (from Up)

Temp for a hamster or cat (from Gregor the Overlander)

Some of these names are kind of out there, but I figure that I am allowed a little more freedom with my pets than people are with their kids.  (Seriously, if you name your kid Renesme, they WILL hate you.)

What fictional names would you use for your children/pets?

Jen

RIP Buffy

Who Is The Most Romantic??

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.

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Ten

Edward Fairfax Rochester from “Jane Eyre”

I will be the first to admit that I am a latecomer to the Jane Eyre party.  I had not read the book and didn’t know much about the plot (probably explains why I did not understand The Eyre Affair AT ALL).  Then I got the 1997 A&E version from Netflix.  It was pretty good.  I liked the story and LOVED the setting.  I was not fond, however, of the guy playing Rochester.  He yelled all of his lines which made him sound like Daddy Warbucks from Annie.  But I liked it enough to pick up the book.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  It was super romantic and I really loved the character of Jane.  Then I decided to try another version of the movie and watched the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens…….well…….wow.

Now, whenever I read Jane Eyre, Toby Stephens will always pop into my head.  He is the perfect Mr. Rochester.  Some might say he is a little too attractive to play the “ugly” Mr. Rochester, but seriously….who is really going to complain about that?

I would date Mr. Rochester because I totally dig the dark, brooding, tortured thing he has going on.  I know it is such a cliche but I do not care.  He sits around and scowls most of the time he’s onscreen, but that is okay, because that makes it even better when he gives Jane a little smile.

And even though he is gruff on the outside, he is such a teddy bear on the inside.  He takes care of Adele even though she is not really his responsibility.  He also sees right through the horrible Blanche Ingram, which is something that most guys could not do.  And the fact that he falls for Jane is incredibly sexy.  Brains and personality over beauty!!!

I also adore the fact that even though he would be so much better off if Bertha just disappeared, he puts himself at risk just to try and save her (at least in the movie, I can’t remember if that happens in the book).

Okay…..now if you haven’t seen the Masterpiece version of Jane Eyre, you need to go run and do it right now!!!  In my humble opinion and being the expert that I am (having read the book, ahem, a week ago) it is the perfect adaptation.  Thankfully, it doesn’t spend too much time dwelling on the non-Rochester parts (the Reed house, Lowood School, and Morton).  And those parts are made interesting by the fact that Georgie Henley plays Jane (you may remember her as Lucy from the Narnia movies) and the guy who plays St. John is freaking gorgeous (but you are still wondering what Rochester is doing the whole time he is onscreen).  Ruth Wilson is absolutely phenomenal as the older Jane.  When you first see her, you say, yep….she’s plain alright, but by the time she’s been onscreen for an hour you see how beautiful she is.

And Toby Stephens……well……….ummmm….yes please!  I honestly wouldn’t care if he had a whole army of people locked up in the tower.  Ex-girlfriends, mistresses, wives, housekeepers, illegitimate children……I would not care.  I would totally run away to the Mediterranean with him.  But I do not have Jane’s high moral standards.

Here’s one of my favorite parts of the movie.  I was happy to see that most of the dialogue is lifted straight out of the novel.

I am very glad that I finally joined the rest of the world and understand the awesomeness of Jane Eyre.  Mr. Rochester will now take his place right up there with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightly.

Jen

P.S.  If you are like me, and feel the need to purchase this wonderful DVD, and if you love extra features like deleted scenes and commentaries and the like DO NOT buy the regular version on Amazon because it has no extras.  If you want the special features (which includes some good interviews with Ruth, Toby, and the director and screenwriter) you must buy The Bronte Collection.

A Literary Mystery

I recently finished reading the first book in the original Nancy Drew series – The Secret of the Old Clock.  (By the way, I did finish all of those books in the picture I took of that library trip…and then proceeded to check out about 8 more.)  We all know Nancy lives in River Heights, but this book never actually says where River Heights is.  SO, I am concluding that River Heights is a fictional town in…drum roll, please….IOWA.

Here’s the facts:

— A quote from page 26 of The Secret of the Old Clock:  “Like a true daughter of the Middle West, Nancy Drew took pride in the fertility of her State and saw beauty in a crop of waving green corn as well as in the rolling hills and the expanse of prairie land.”  I may only have lived here for a year and a half, but that sounds like Iowa to me.

— The book also mentions a town named Masonville.  There is totally a Masonville, Iowa!

— Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the first 25 books in the series under the name Carolyn Keene, was born in Ladora, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa.  Don’t believe me?  Go here.  (Seriously, go there, it’s awesome!)

According to Wikipedia, The Phantom of Pine Hill (book 42) indicates that River Heights is in or near Ohio, and Counterfeit Christmas (#102 of The Nancy Drew Files) implies that it is one hour east of Chicago, but obviously, the ghostwriters got it wrong.  River Heights is definitely in IOWA.  Mystery solved!

jill

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Nine

Jake Perry in “Sweet Home Alabama”

Now, first of all I will say that I do not like “Sweet Home Alabama.”  There are many things that I like about it (Ethan Embry and Reese Witherspoon reunited years after “A Far Off Place,” discovering that Patrick Dempsey was still alive after “Can’t Buy Me Love”), but I can’t stand Reese Witherspoon’s character in this movie!!  She is so mean and soooooo does not deserve Jake at all.  She lies to her fiance, oops check that, she lies to everyone, and the way she behaves in the bar scene is completely unforgivable.

I saw this movie in the theater and I own it now because I won it at a Simpson College bingo night.  (It was actually a very scandalous situation…my friend hid this DVD among the other prizes and when the first girl won, I could totally tell she was looking for it.  Then I was the second person to win and went right up and pulled it out of its hiding place.  The other girl gave me the dirtiest look…I still feel guilty about that.)

Anyway, Josh Lucas plays Jake Perry who is Reese Witherspoon’s husband that she wants to divorce.  There are a million reasons why I would date him, but mainly, my Gosh, have you seen those blue eyes of his!!!!!  This movie was the first thing I had ever seen him in and I remember being so mesmerized in the theater by those baby blues of his.  I kept thinking, who is that gorgeous man????

But it isn’t all his good looks, Jake is a good old Southern boy who is covered in grease the first time we see him.  When he walks out of his house holding a random car part and his face all messy, my heart skips a beat.  He is a loyal friend who still hangs out with the same people he did when he was a little kid.  His idea of fun is playing pool at the local bar and drinking beer with his friends on top of the water tower.  That is so all I need to make me happy.

He drives a pick up truck, which is something that I truly miss living here in the suburbs.  But he also has a plane, which means I could live down South with him and then fly up to Iowa to see my family and friends every month.  He is a glass blower, which is pretty much the best job ever.  I could be the librarian in the little town and hear all the local gossip while he is raking in the money with his glass business.  Plus, he appears to be the sweetest guy in the whole world because even though Melanie is sooooo mean to him, he still loves her (or he is just a glutton for punishment).

So, I would definitely have no qualms swooping in and dating Jake because Melanie sooooooo does not deserve him.  Here is part of my favorite scene, where he is all greasy and dirty and has a very amusing encounter with a window shade.

Jen

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Eight

It has been a long time since I have done one of these, but I have been saving up for a good one….

Ned the Piemaker from “Pushing Daisies”

I only started watching “Pushing Daisies” last Monday, but I completely fell in love with it the moment I watched the first episode.  I whipped through the first season in three days just in time to watch the season premiere on Wednesday.  This show isn’t for everybody, but I think that everyone should give it a shot.  It’s like a cross between “Penelope” a Tim Burton movie and “CSI.”  The basic premise is this:  Ned can touch dead things and bring them back to life.  There are two little quirks to this gift.  The second time he touches something he has brought back to life, it dies again, and if he keeps someone alive for more than a minute, someone else has to die.  Oh, and he brought his childhood sweethear Chuck back to life and now they love each other, but can never touch.

So enough of that background mumbo-jumbo, here is why I would date Ned.

Ned is played by Lee Pace, who is really hot.  He has a very “British” look to him.  I don’t really know what that means, but that is the vibe I get when I look at him.  He has an extremely sexy voice.  His smile always looks just a little bit devilish.  Also, when his hair starts to grow out, he has a piece in the front that kind of looks like a toupee, and I find it really endearing.

He makes pies for a living, which is something that I could never master.  I love pie, but whenever I try to make one, something bad always happens (it’s always that dang crust part that I get wrong!).  I could be his official pie taste tester since he can’t taste the pies himself (he brings dead fruit back to life to use in the pies so it would just get all moldy again if he ate a piece).  And the best part…he named his restaurant The Pie Hole.

He’s a very inventive guy.  He can’t touch his dog Digby (because he also brought him back from the dead) so he has a special wooden arm thing that he uses to pet him.  The using dead fruit thing is also very smart because it saves money.  He also invented an ingenious contraption so that Chuck could sit in the front seat of the car with him with no fear of unwanted contact.

He can say things like “It’s not weird, it’s magical” without sounding corny or hokey.  And when he needs to create a diversion, he sets someone’s car on fire, which is pretty awesome.

Also, if I was dating Ned, first of all, he could actually touch me, so he wouldn’t be in so much agony all the time, secondly, I could pet Digby for him, and thirdly (is that a word?) I could totally steal all of Chuck’s really awesome dresses that look like they are from the fifties.

But wait, now that I am typing this I feel totally bad.  For the first time, I don’t want to steal Ned away from his fictional soulmate.  My heart is too happy watching Ned and Chuck be all cute together, so I think I will just admire him from afar and not even think about actually dating him.

Here is a video set to a very ironic Beatles tune (shout out to Amber!) that shows just how darn cute they are:

And here is another cute video where you can actually hear his voice, see Kristen Chenoweth (YEA!) and hear the wonderful Jim Dale narration from the show:

Jen

P.S.  The first season is like 18 bucks at Amazon!!!

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Seven

I thought now would be a nice and timely opportunity to post this next entry considering all of the hullabaloo surrounding the coming “Breaking Dawn” release:

Jacob Black from the Twilight series

Now I know that 95% of Twilight fans are firmly planted on the Team Edward side of the forest.  I know that most fans even go far enough to compliment their love for Edward with an absolute loathing of Jacob.  I know this because many of my friends and even my sister adhere to that way of thinking.  I completely understand why everyone goes gaga over Edward, but I guess I just don’t get the hatred of Jacob.  I am not trying to convince anyone to switch teams, because I would fail before I even started, I just want to explain some of the reasons why I would choose to date Jacob over Edward.

1.  I would feel so much more comfortable around Jacob.  I get really intimidated around good looking guys and Edward’s picture should be in the dictionary next to good looking.  Bella always goes on and on about how she feels so uncomfortable around him and all of his perfection.  Jacob is not perfect and that is what makes him awesome.  He might not be human, but he makes mistakes just like I do and I know he could laugh right along with me when I get food all over myself or wake up with a huge pimple.  If any of that stuff happened around Edward, I would just be mortified.

2.  If I am going to snuggle up to something, I would rather it be warm and furry than cold and granite-like.  Enough said.

3.  Jacob would be fun to hang around with.  Now I am not saying that Edward doesn’t do fun stuff, but Jacob is just as fun.  We could go on lots of adventures together and he could help me conquer my fear of water, heights, and motorcycles.  He could also fix my car when it breaks down.

4.  I would feel much safer among the werewolves than the vampires.  Apparently hanging out with vampires is not a very safe thing to do.  Bella has already had so many vampires try to kill her or plan to kill her that if I were her, I would run right back to the werewolves.  They seem to keep to themselves more and not get involved in all this international intrigue stuff.  And as for the whole, “what if he gets all mad and rips half your face off?”  Well, I would say you aren’t risking much more than if you were dating a vampire.

5.  He isn’t controlling and I wouldn’t have to change for him.  Two very big problems I have with the Twilight series are Edward’s control issues and the fact that Bella will eventually have to change who she is just to be with him.  These are not good things in any relationship, no matter what reasons and excuses lay behind them.  In Eclipse Edward tries to control who Bella sees and where she goes.  Even though it is for “her own safety” it still really rubs me the wrong way every time I think about it.  If my real boyfriend did that, I would kick him to the curb so fast…

6.  Not much competition.  Eventually, when literary characters come to life and join us in the real world, I will not have to fight the huge screaming mob of 10-70 year old women fighting to be with Edward, I will casually join the queue next to Jacob and only have to worry about sharing him with a few other people.

Now I am not saying that Bella and Jacob should end up together (I would actually never say that because I think Bella is incredibly annoying and whiny and Edward and Jacob both deserve better) because we all know she is destined to be with Edward.  I just wanted to promote Team Jacob one last time before I settle down with “Breaking Dawn.”

I’ll leave you with a picture of my Jacob, Steven Straight:

Jen