Examination
Maybe you think I'm an idiot? Well, here's my chance to prove you right. I don't know how many of you have even heard about some of the items I'll review here, but these are my opinions.
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I've been listening to the Serial podcast, which you can find at serialpodcast.org, since the beginning, and I tell you honestly, I've completely missed the meta dialogue. I just now came to understand it. (To quote my favorite teacher ever, Tina Janc, I had an "Aha! moment.") The producer, Sarah Koenig, who will probably, and deservedly, win all kinds of awards for this podcast, is trying to tell the masses about the flaws in our outwardly appearing perfect justice system. I don't mean the justice system is perfect, but that even when it appears to have handled a case perfectly, it also has flaws. Sometimes big ones. I've been so wrapped up in the murder mystery and the interviews that I haven't really heard what is being told. It's a good story though. What I find troubling is that this thing has been a year in the making and it just happens to land in time for a couple of big side steps by the justice system. It makes me believe that there really are great big ol' holes in the system, and surprisingly an interpersonal discovery that I don't want to believe it. I want to believe in a system that works. A system that brings justice and peace to the people. A system that isn't corrupted by racism and prejudice. I want to believe in it, but I don't think I do. To clarify, I do not blame the individual laborers of the system. I have very close friends and family on that side, and I can't thank them enough for the work they do. What I'm actually concerned about is a piece from the Pledge of Allegiance that we, as Americans, learn as kids, "and justice for all." We've heard it. We've recited it. We believed it. Is it just the notion of naive children to believe in a pledge of allegiance to a country that owes us nothing? Or are these words conjectural? "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I don't know. You decide. 
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 I said that I would eat something I've never had, and this certainly qualifies. Ashley found a recipe for cauliflower crust pizza on Pinterest. (Imagine that, right?) But the thing that actually got me interested was that it was mostly healthy. Okay, I can do "healthy" foods, but how the heck can you turn a vegetable into pizza crust? Let me tell you, it's a lot of work. The fist step after washing was to chop up a head of cauliflower into florets. That part was easy. (Read as: That was the part she let me do.) The next step was supposed to involve a food processor to chop it down into rice-sized bits. Well, you see, Ashley and I don't own one of those. We do happen to have a blender. Oh, and a Magic Bullet... Please take my advice here. USE A FOOD PROCESSOR! The blender just kind of mashed the vegetable up and made it harder to pat dry. That, we decided was our mistake. I'll save the step-by-step and get to the part you really want to read about. The pizza was actually really good. Now, we didn't go all out and hand make our own sauce, or buy the best pepperoni, however, it is my belief that if we had it would have been even better. The crust was tasty. It was well seasoned and just a little crispy. We used an Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, finely shredded mozzarella, and just a pad of butter. (You could probably season it however you'd like.) It didn't quite have the right consistency, and you couldn't pick it up without it falling apart. That said, I barely noticed I was eating cauliflower except for the chunks I found from our dismal chopping job. I'm sorry, but there isn't much else to tell about it. We are going to attempt it again in the future, because we agreed that it was just filling enough for the two of us. Pair that with a light salad and we'll have a nice little meal. Go find a recipe and try it yourself, fool! Coming up: which summer blockbuster movies am I most excited to see?!!   I'm going to lead off by telling you this is a rave review of an international pop-star's album. So, now you know what you're getting yourselves into.
This album combines elements from Goulding's second studio album, Halcyon, and adds tracks that are specially mastered for iTunes. I assume it is to help promote her current tour, also titled Halcyon Days. I'm sure the North American stint of the tour won't be as well received as the European, but it will certainly be a great show. Since I initially listened to this album I have binged on anything "Ellie Goulding". I've listened to just about everything I could and I've watched a lot of music videos and live performances. Now, stop judging me, ya jerks. I wasn't sure how I felt about the album at first. I recognized a lot of things that are typical with pop albums; catchy beats, builds, repeating hook. Those aren't the things that caught my attention. The thing I liked right away was the way she enunciates. Yes, there is a unique quality to her voice, but it's muddied by the way the lyrics are shaped in her mouth. The lyrics themselves are an accomplishment in pop music. I don't know what I was expecting, but in some ways they come across as intelligent. I guess I'm just used to our dumbed down American versions of music genres. (It's just an opinion, folks. I like Justin Timberlake as much as the next guy.) There are some true anthems on this track list. Songs like, "Anything Could Happen", and "Explosions", are probably going to get stuck in your head, and the hit singles "Burn", and "Lights", will make you hit replay. "Dead In The Water" is probably my favorite song on the album. It's softer, but powerful, and it sounds like it belongs on a movie soundtrack about some dystopian world. I was going to include a couple of songs that I didn't really care for, but the more I listened through the tracks, the more I liked them. The best thing about stumbling across this album is that I get to walk away with a new appreciation for an artist I know very little about. That's possibly my favorite thing about any kind of music. Discovery. Finding something new and sweet to your ears. As individuals we are all tuned differently, so what works for me may not be your kind of nectar. There is a really interesting cover of Alt-J's, "Tessellate" on the album as a bonus track; which is the track that brought my attention to Goulding. I absolutely love An Awesome Wave by Alt-J from start to finish. I couldn't believe she did a cover of "Tessellate". And to my surprise it's stupid-good. It has an ethereal feel with a haunting melody. (Even more-so than the original.) In fact, I liked the cover so much I gifted it to my sister. I'm just trying to spread the word that Ellie Goulding is not what you would expect, and you should all check her out. Next time I'm going to eat something I've never had!!! ...hopefully not anything weird.  So, for Valentines Day my wonderful girlfriend, Ashley, did something incredible for me. (Get your minds out the gutter, ya freaks!) She bought me the entire Harry Potter Blu-Ray collection! *Nerd Squee* The most exciting thing about it was that she hadn't seen them all. And as for the last few movies, I haven't seen them since they were in theaters. I also had the advantage of having read the series. I'm not going to bore you with my review of the books, because that would be a long, long review. The end result would be that I liked it so much I can't believe it's a real thing written by an actual person. It isn't something that was written by someone who's been dead for decades or centuries. J.K. Rowling is still very much alive. Have you ever been on pottermore.com? I'll admit it, I have. And I was sorted into the Hufflepuff house. (At least I'm not a Slytherin...) Besides, the dreamy Cedric Digory was a Hufflepuff.
Okay, I've rambled long enough. I'm not going to review these movies individually. I want to review them as a series. My reasoning behind that is because I feel each of these movies stands up as a success on its own. I think there were quite a few things wrong with the series as a whole compared to the books. However, this is always the case when comparing a movie to a book. These 8 movies are really fun to watch. I want to put the emphasis on fun. At times we were laughing together, and at other times we watched in awe. For me, it was like sharing one of your favorite things with a kid who is discovering how much they love it too. I didn't expect Ashley to love this series like I do, and maybe she didn't. But she enjoyed the experience that got us to sit down together and get engaged in something. That's why these movies are special. They are about the same group of friends and they are played by the same actors. (Other than Dumbledore... and what happened to Crab?) It makes it easier to feel attached to the characters. Even kids can watch and follow along. It makes for a very good family film series. So, time for my favorites. I really liked "The Sorcerer's Stone". It sets a perfect tone for the rest of the series. My favorite of the series is "The Prisoner of Azkaban". It successfully transitions the series into a darker place that it eventually comes down to. Also, it stars Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. Gary. Freakin'. Oldman! That was my favorite book as well. It wasn't a perfect adaptation, but its content was still pretty well in tact. I also liked "The Goblet of Fire", but mostly because of Fred and George Weasley. They were hilarious in it. Poll Time! After we watched the series I felt like I needed more. (As a fangirl often does. LOL!) So, I took a poll to find out which house my friends would want to be sorted into. Keep an open mind, folks. My friends are pervs.
So, I found this interesting. Other than my brothers, whom know nothing about Harry Potter, making ridiculous claims, it was an even race. Obviously, Gryffindor was the winner, but it was neat that others found so much interest in the other houses. (Myself included.) It makes me think that maybe the Harry Potter universe extends farther than I had ever imagined. It has landed in most of our households as one medium or another, and it has made its impression. I don't think we will see another series as impactful as this one for a long time. COMING UP: I'll review and album or a live show. That is, if I can take this Alt-J record off the turntable. (It's so good.)  I recently read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. (I like young adult novels. Get over it.) My sister convinced me that I should read it since there is a movie coming out on March 21st. It's one series that I always just walked past while I was browsed for something new to read. Truthfully, without Sarah's nudge, I probably wouldn't have picked it up until sometime after the movie came out on Blue Ray and I finally decided to rent it. I'd seen the trailers. It looked... alright. I mean, I can tell that they are trying to cash in on the success of the Hunger Games series. However, I set that aside and did one of the things I love most in the world. I got lost in a book. Divergent, in short, feels like all the other dystopian novels in the recently popularized genre. It delivers quite a different intro than I am used to, because you know right at first that something big is going to happen. And you won't have to wait for the close of the trilogy to see what that will be. The story takes place about a hundred years into the future in what we would recognize as Chicago. (Although, I don't remember it stating where it was.) It's told in first person through the main character, Beatrice Prior, who has just turned 16 and is preparing for the day she must choose to which of the 5 factions of society she will belong. This is the part I stop summarizing the book. (It's because I hate when someone does a review and summarizes for most of it, and then says, "It was dumb.") I actually liked this book a lot, and I look forward to reading the remainder of the trilogy. It was tough for me until about chapter 5 though. It is a lot like "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins in the beginning. In fact, I purchased this digitally, and I had to bookmark and check to see if it was the same author. That isn't a bash against either author, but tonally speaking it is the same result. There is some really great attention to detail in this story when it comes to the surroundings of the characters. I think that's probably why the location isn't actually disclosed. Besides that, the place they are in no longer matters in this version of the future. The only negative note I give this is the unnecessary romance that only really takes place near the end of the book. The rest of the time there is a great magnetism and tension between the two love interests that makes me wish she had waited to flush it out a little longer. (Probably just my male perspective.) Ultimately, this book has me extremely excited to see the movie starring, Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet. I know they have changed some things just by viewing the trailers, but hopefully not to the detriment of the story. If you haven't read the book, I always suggest a good read, and if you have, let me know what you think of the movie. Coming soon: I review the Harry Potter movies and find out why it's probably a good thing you wouldn't get to choose your Hogwarts house. |
AuthorI discovered reading and writing for fun when I was in the 4th grade and I haven't been able to stop. I discovered my musical talent when I was 12 and started a band with my brother and my best friends. I have been on a journey of discovery that has shaped and molded my tastes for music, reading, writing, art, food and extracurricular activities since I was a high school freshman. And I'm not quite finished, so come along. Archives
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