Distractions

Books:

Just finished The Help.  I couldn't put this down and actually gave myself a headache reading it.  I love the way it is written.  I love the story.  The only criticism I have is that the ending was too nice.  Considering the political reality of the south in the 60's I was expecting much more serious consequences for the action of the characters.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by Margaret Hubert.
Since I am cognitively challenged more often than not I find written instructions hard to follow.  I've been trying to learn crochet to combat boredom but have been having trouble following the instruction books.  Because this one has large photos it is easy for me to learn from.  It also shows lots and lots of different stitches.  The format is so easy to follow.  After teaching the basic stitches it has large photos of sample squares followed by the instruction on which stitches to use to replicate it.  While there are some patterns in the book the majority of the book are the sample squares.  They start easy and get progressively harder until you are making 3D flowers.  Right now I have a copy from the library but I like it so much I'm probably going to get my own copy.

Movies:

Ladies in Lavender
I found this hidden gem on Netflix.  How can you go wrong with a Judi Dench movie?  Two older women who are sisters find a young man washed up on shore near their house.  They decide to nurse him back to health.  An unexpected plot twist made this a very enjoyable movie.  I highly recommend it.

X-Men First Class
Yes, I managed to get to the cinema with my husband!!  This is the first time we have gone since last year and the first time I went in my wheelchair.  Yay!!  We had a great time and loved the movie.

Jane Eyre
This is one of my favorite stories.  Second only to Pride and Prejudice.  I found an old version with William Hurt as Mr. Rochester on Netflix.  Mum and I watched it.  Much of the story had been chopped out to make it two hours long.  I also wasn't too happy with William Hurt's interpretation of the character.  That said we did like the movie.  My favorite is still the latest BBC version which is three hours long.  That one has kept most of the story intact and I love the character interpretations.  Mum had seen an older version with Orson Wells.  She couldn't remember much of it since it was so long ago.  I'm looking forward to seeing the new one that just came out in the cinema.

Ethan Frome
I had never read this classic book.  It was probably the wrong movie for me to watch considering my own situation but I couldn't resist a movie with Liam Neeson in it.  Great movie even though it is a bit dark.  I don't want to reveal too much of the plot just in case you haven't seen it/read it before.  Lets just say it is about what happens to a marriage when the wife become chronically ill and the husband can't deal.  The movie itself is well done and well acted.  Just be prepared for the darker nature of the movie.

Practical Magic
Great movie.  Great cast.  How can you go wrong with Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Aidan Quinn and Stockard Channing?  This is a chick flick and my Mum and sister enjoyed it as much as I did.

Dangerous Beauty
Not a kids movie.  Full frontal nudity and adult story line.   That said it is an excellent movie.  Great story and great acting.  A woman in Venice confronted with the choice of an arranged marriage, exile in a convent or becoming a courtesan.  This is based on a true story.

Falling For Grace
An okay chick flick love story.  Standard mistaken identity Cinderella story.  No surprises.

Death at a Funeral
LOVE the English version with Mathew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice fame)!  This is dry British humor to the max.  I had to rent it again so that my Mum could see it and we were both snickering through the whole thing.

Toy Story 3
Nice family movie.  Fairly predictable plot.  I think I am most fascinated by the animation itself.  I am continually amazed by the detail in the animation.  It is just gorgeous.  Being raised on Disney animation I am just blown away with the details that can be done in the digital realm.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
I finally watched this again.  A great Terry Gilliam movie and Heath Ledger's last movie.  The first time I watched it I had severe brain fog and got totally lost and couldn't follow the plot.  This time I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Hubby watched this time around and he loved it as well.  Strange plot.  Great acting.  Love the costumes.

TV:

TV so bad you just have to watch it:  Tekwars.  OMG, this is horrible.  Probably some of the worst TV I've ever seen.  This is based on the equally horrible books written by William Shatner (Star Trek's Captain Kirk).  Of course he stars in the series.  I watched two episodes one night at two in the morning when I was bored out of my mind.

Borderline TV:  Beauty and the Beast.  I still can't make up my mind on this one.  I saw several episodes when it first aired in the 80's and found it oddly fascinating despite the fact that it is marginal TV at best.  I think it is probably one of my guilty pleasures.  Odd story line.  Odd characters.  Standard plots.  Dated costumes.  Something fun to watch if you are bored.

More Borderline TV: The Jeff Dunham Show.  I love his stand up routine.  He is a gifted ventriloquist and has several Comedy Central specials posted on Netflix.  I laughed my socks off during his specials.  The TV shows don't seem to have the same effect on me.  Not sure if it was due to my mood at the time or the fact that the material seems to run along the same lines and once you've seen several of his shows it all seems to be similar.

Great TV:  I've watched all of the episodes of Dresden Files (a warlock series), Glee, BBC's new Sherlock series and Eureka (a witty light hearted SF series) twice.  I'm still working on X-Files, Farscape, Dr. Who, Merlin, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Spongebob.  Do you see a trend here?  Can you tell I'm an SF junkie?