CelestialFamily

This song was mentioned several times in the book, so I thought I would include it with my review:



A glimpse into the life of the "Weird" Watsons from Flint, Michigan. Told from the perspective of the 10 year-old son, Kenny. Kenny tells us his experiences of dealing with his delinquent bullying brother Byron and his rule following, kind-hearted sister Joetta (Joey). Kenny's parents are finally pushed to follow through with the threat to take Byron to stay with his strict grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. The family takes a trip to the South with the families old car, "The Brown Bomber" and momma's notebook laying out their itinerary in detail. Once in Alabama the children are introduced to the sultry nights and oppressive heat of the day... and the oppressive hatred that is punctuated by a bombing at the Sunday School.

The first several chapters describing the family and the actions of Byron and his bullying were off putting. The author doesn't let Byron become a one dimensional character. The incident with the bird shows a sad, but redeeming quality in Bryron. The book hit its stride once the Weird Watson's hit the road. I have traveled enough with road trips with my family and seen that clinched jaw and wild eyed star on my husband to get connected with the family. The part where Byron says, "No cars, no cow, but I counted yo' momma six times already." Then Kenny replies, "That's your momma too, stupid!" makes me think of several conversations among my kids in the car and at the breakfast table. Byron's character at the end is fully redeemed by helping Kenny through the aftermath of the bombing. I like that the characters are all a shade of gray.
The epilogue was a great addition to the book and one of my favorite parts said, "They are the people who believe that as long as one person is being treated unfairly, we all are. These are our heroes, and they still walk among us today."
Definitely give this book a read. This would offer a wonderful springboard to a family discussion on Civil Rights, bullying, road trips, and life in different parts of the country.

:::::::::::Shrek Forever After

I took Eve to see Shrek on Thursday afternoon to keep a promise I made last month. The message of the movie, to appreciate your life, was a great. The alternate reality was hilarious. The interaction between Rumplestiltskin and the witches was a hoot. Donkey and Puss were their crazy, reluctant, side-kick selves. The site gags with Puss sliding down the ropes was too funny. We had a great time singing too.

Here is a great site for finding all of the songs in the movie in order of their appearance.
I have enjoyed all of the soundtracks from the Shrek movies. I have this image in my head that somehow I went to school with the folks selecting the music because I enjoy them all so much. I thought this new song was amazing "Darling I Do" by Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz:


I'm one of those folks that sits and reads the credits to films and this song by Maxine Nightingale that I fondly remember from the late 70's was fun to sing along:



::::::::::Robin Hood:::::::


Last week, my mom and I got to use our free movie tickets to see Robin Hood. Michael and Aaron had gone earlier in the day and gave it a positive review. I already like Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, so I was game to go to see the film. This telling of the Robin Hood story was well done. Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride who makes a promise to Robert Loxley's sword to his father to make amends for taking it and going to battle. Reluctlantly Robin agrees, but has to make a minor stop to return the crown of the dead king first. When Robin gets to Nottingham he is asked by Loxley's father to pretend to his dead son, so that his daughter-in-law, Marian, will not lose the family estate.
Cate Blanchett as Marian is a strong woman (I love strong woman characters)who defends her family and land against the smarmy Sheriff of Nottingham played by Matthew McFadyen (who was made not dreamy like he was as Mr. Darcy for this film), then the forces led by the evil Godfrey. Russell Crowe has the presences in each film that he is given a leadership role to pull it off convincingly. I loved him in Master and Commander and in Gladiator too.
The fight sequences are many, but suprisingly, not gory. The bloodiest part of the film is in the credits and is done in life action with a watercolor overlay. Totally funky effect to have the credits using the watercolor. This is a quintessentially cool date movie. It has action, drama, romance, history and a plot (some movies never get around to the plot part...or good actors...). The scenery is magnificent, as well. Check this one out.

If you’ve ever asked for directions in Georgia it is very likely that you have been told at least once to “turn left at the red light”. I used to respond by saying something to the effect of, “How about I stop and wait until it turns green and then turn left?” This usually is met with a puzzled look on their face, as if they don’t even realize that they had encouraged me to break the law and potentially risk my life. You see in the south when you ask for directions the term “red light” actually means the next intersection with a traffic signal no matter what color it happens to be showing when you get there. I’ve learned to just enjoy this little colloquialism. I don’t bring it up to criticize well-meaning people who are just trying to help out, but I do get a little chuckle when I hear it.
Yesterday a friend showed me this story. This lady took the advice of Google Maps at the expense of her own common sense. She got hurt. And now she thinks it’s Google’s fault? I’d be willing to bet that this same person would “turn left at the red light” and then insist that it was the well-meaning guy at the Citgo’s fault for using a southern colloquialism that got her hurt.
It really amazes me how frequently people completely turn off thier brain and then think it's somebody else's fault.

I am looking forward to this book that I pre-ordered from Amazon.com:


I enjoy seeing what new and clever idea Bakerella has come up with and presented on her blog. I have used her ideas for Apple Pops and Smiley Face Pops.

I also ordered this cupcake book. Cupcake obsessed much?!



::::::::::::Book Reviews:::


Flavia de Luce in the little village of Bishop's Lacey is a young chemist and solver of mysteries along side her faithful Gladys (her bicycle). I loved the line about Flavia's character, "I'm keen on chemistry and I enjoy making scrapbooks."
When a puppeteer and his assistant comes to town Flavia notices that the puppeteer knows more about the village and some of its residence then he says. The hanging death of a village child from years before is brought up again when the puppeteer uses the child's likeness in one of his puppets.
Flavia's home life includes an aloof philatelist father, a vain and talented sister, Ophelia, and a bookworm sister, Daphne. She also has a need for a cast iron stomach due to the family's cook, Mrs. Mullet. Dogger, depending on how he is handling his post war trauma, is the family butler, gardener, and groundskeeper.
The book is well paced and Flavia's desire to make sense of her surrondings using observation and science draws me in. The village setting allows for a close knit community and also for whispered secrets. Ancient history among the villagers provides depth to the characters and possible motivations.
Overall, I enjoyed the first book a bit more, but Alan Bradley uses his descriptions of characters and scenery superbly. I liked this book and look forward to the third book in the series.



I requested this book from the library because I was curious about the craft of thinking something up and then presenting it to others in a humorous way. A common theme with the writers was to write what you know. Also not to overwork the joke. I like to help Rachel's Girl Scout troop with their skit each spring. One of the moms said that our girls are known as the F Troop of Girl Scouts, so I thought it was appropriate to get a few pointers to get down their ideas. Some of the tips that seemed to fit with how I like to work is bouncing off ideas in a group. I find that someone says something that leads to something else quite funny. Another tip was to sit and write. Get it down and then work with the ideas. I always tell the girls when we are talking about skit ideas to know their audience. Ours is usually girls from 7-17 and women leaders, so our jokes and gags need to be varied.
Being obsessive compulsive seemed to be a common thread among the comedy writers, so if you are witty, observant, and must eat the same cereal everyday at 7:18am you might be a future comedic writer. Some writers are very well read, while others are just observant of their surrondings. The more you read the more material you have to use. If there is no center to the characters, Harold Ramis said, you just have whimsy which is not powerful.
You are unique, so work with what you've experienced. Todd Hanson from The Onion had this great advice, "If you want to do something creative, you should have a better reason for wanting to do it than to make money. If you want to make money, my advice is to sell shoes or go into banking." He suggests writing your own paper for fun.
I also liked what Dave Barry said about comedy's origin lies in the mutual understanding that "we live in an extremely dangerous, scary world, run by all kinds of forces over which we have no control. And we're all gonna get sick and die."
One of the writers interviewed was Jack Handey who writes about his "Deep Thoughts". One of the ones he shared that hit just the write note with me was, "Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff." The combination of sentimental and felonious is hilarious.
There are 21 comedy writers interviewed in this book and it is interesting to hear how they work. If you are curious about such things then give it a read. Be aware that there is some salty language peppered throughout the interviews...or should I say peppery language?




We finished this family book read a few days ago. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have put together another great adventure. The choice of words sets each scene magnificently. The book might play better to a slightly older child. Light and fluffy, these books are not. Sinister forces have returned to collect the starstuff caches in London and from Neverland. Children are put in perilous situations. The evil characters are described vividly and it is not a pleasant sight.
I got sucked into the book immediately, while Rachel (12 years-old) said she had a hard time feeling a connection to the characters. The book is well paced with several small chapters that keep the action moving, while giving the sub stories definition. Barry and Pearson add levity to the book by keeping a Disney-like interaction between Hook and Smee. The dialogue with these characters always makes me laugh.
I recommend this book for older kids and teens who like intense adventures.

Smiles!

My apologies for not getting this published sooner. It ended up buried on my desk and I just found it today. How this works, is that this year Michael and Victoria have Stephen and Shelene. Stephen and Shelene have Reuben and Angela, etc. Each year after this one, we’ll rotate names, so Michael & Victoria will have Reuben & Angela next year, Stephen & Shelene have Melissa & Matthew, etc. If there are any questions, feel free to comment below.

Giver	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin
Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria
Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene
Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela
Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew
Benjamin & Missy	Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura
Lettitia & Justin	Michael & Victoria	Stephen & Shelene	Reuben & Angela	Melissa & Matthew	Marcus & Laura	Benjamin & Missy

I believe the plan for the younger generation is still to draw names out of a hat.

Giver	→	Receiver
Nicki	→	Christoper
Noah	→	Kyra
Dakotta	→	Tabitha
Rachel	→	Teresa
Aaron	→	Gabby
Eve	→	Isabel
Makayla	→	Alfredo
Tabitha	→	Aaron
Jackson	→	Noah
Holly	→	Rachel
Gabriel	→	Eve
Joe	→	Spencer
Rebecca	→	Holly
Corinna	→	Gabriel
Elliott	→	Afton
Gabby	→	Joe
Spencer	→	Robert
Kendall	→	Nicki
Teresa	→	John
Kyra	→	Rebecca
John	→	Kendall
Christopher	→	Corrina
Afton	→	Dakotta
Alfredo	→	Elliott
Robert	→	Makayla
Isabel	→	Jackson

When I was about 10 or 12 I went to my Dad’s office with him at CDC. He had to work on a project and I thought it was cool to hang out at his office in a real laboratory. I have a feeling that I was a lot like Noah an I was probably asking him far too many questions. Rather than just shut me out completely he looked for something that would keep my interest and yet still allow him to have an independent thought. He had a book on his desk that he handed me to read while I waited for him to finish his project.
The book was Aha Gotcha by Martin Gardner. It was a really fun read about several mathematical paradoxes and logical fallacies. Gardner used some very simple stick figures to illustrate each problem. This made it very appealing for a geeky little boy. The science was very deep but the cartoons made it fun to read.
This book was my first introduction to the concept of critical thinking. I frequently fall back on the lessons I learned by reading it. Gardner teaches us to not accept things at face value and look a little deeper into the problem and try to find the real solution and not just the paradox that you first perceive. I get a little chuckle when I see a magic trick and realize that I know the core of trick thanks to Gardner.
I was saddened by the news that Martin Gardner had died this weekend. I need to be sure that I do my part to make sure his legacy lives on. Yesterday I pulled my dad’s copy of Aha Gotcha off the shelf and thumbed through it. I’m gonna make a point to share it with my kids tonight.

Stardust The Movie:
The movie was better the book. I would probably give it a four and a half star rating. With extra points for the discreteness of "those" scenes. *wink* Overall the plot is very original and the humor is better than most fairytale love stories too.

Stardust the book Neil Gaimen:


I give the book three stars as in I liked it, but was probably less clever than the movie. *le-gasp* ANd points off for the language and not discrete enough "scenes". Must I say.. Say no more.

This conversation took place while driving three ten year-old boys who are unapologetic geeks to the movies.

Noah: I'm telekinetic
Me: Oh really? Well if you're telekinetic raise my hand.
pause
Me: But I really am telekinetic.
Boy1: Oh Yeah, prove it.
Me: I can make everybody in this car suddenly lurch forward.
At this point I was coming to a stop anyway so I hit the brakes a little harder that I normally would have.
Noah, Boy1 and Boy2: (in unison) That's not telekinetic. That's just kinetic.

Horesradish by the Infamous Lemony Snicket:

It is just really a collection of quotes that "Lemony Snicket" has made up, but they are absolutley brilliant! I make fun of my mother for ripping up pieces of paper and sticking it in to bookmark pages, but now I understand. Thank you The Santana/Randolph Family for giving me this splendid book. ***** Five stars! To truly understand the morose genius behind this book you have to read it. WHich is an activity I highly recomend!... No seriously.

I try to make it a habit to read books that are outside of my comfort zone. I just don’t think it’s healthy to walk around and only accept input that just reinforces what you already know or want to believe. So that’s why I decided to read No Apology: The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney.

Some have accused me of being an antagonist who just goes against the grain of those around me because I enjoy that. I’ve done a fair amount of introspection on this subject and I can completely accept why they might come to that conclusion. I do have a tendency to play devil’s advocate just for sake of a discussion. It often gets interpreted as having opinions that I don’t necessarily have. I find that I have to careful not to adopt an opinion or belief just because I took that position in a discussion. A few weeks ago I had a discussion about organic gardening with a friend. He took one side and I took another. My real views on the subject are on the same side of the aisle as the position I took with him, but I do not share some of the extreme positions that I used rhetorically in our discussion. Those points were just brought up to get both of us to think about the issue.

Spending so much of my life around other Mormons I get a lot of people who just assume that I’m a fan of Romney. I personally believe that many of these people would vote for him just because he was a Republican and a Mormon without doing any further research on his positions and views. So quite a few times I’ve asked people leading questions worded something like “How do you feel about Romney’s position on X?” They then give me their view on X and assume that since they are Mormon and Republican that the two must jive. All too often they do not and it is apparent that they haven’t really done their research on the positions of the man they trust with their vote.

So with this in mind I read No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. Now that I’m finished I think I’ve probably spent more time vetting this one particular candidate than I have ever spent on any other. I’m sure it’s the frequent subtle and not so subtle encouragements to give him my vote that have caused me to really be sure that I understand him. I just felt like I had to be sure that my opinions on Romney were based solely on the fact that I had gathered the facts on his positions and weighed them on their merits. I felt I had to make a conscious attempt to resist the knee-jerk reaction of going against the grain.

Had this book omitted the introduction I would have been able to accept it easier. Before chapter one even started Romney gives a list of things that the book is and what it is not. One thing he claimed that it was not was an attack on his opponents. Unfortunately, much of the book is exactly that, an attack on the policies of President Obama. As Seinfeld would say, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” I think many of the President's positions deserve criticism. It’s just a little misleading when your introduction says you weren’t going to go down that road. The very title of the book is thinly veiled criticism of what he and other conservative have dubbed President Obama’s apology tour. I think an honest admission of fault is a sign of greatness and not a sign of weakness. I think we all know how hard it is to patch thing up with a friend or a family member when one side refuses to admit any wrong-doing. That being said I too think the President took it a little too far by showing up everywhere with his heart on his sleeve. I would add that all through this section I was very proud of Romney for always referring to the President as “President Obama” and not by a pejorative like so many other conservative writers do. Romney is a class act and his respect for the office even when he disagrees with its policies is something more of us could learn from.

If I were ever to vote for Romney it would be because of his profound understanding of finance and economics. His track record has proven this again and again. He has also showed that he has a clear ability to explain his position. The man is articulate and truly brilliant. I can’t for the life of me figure out how he lost the nomination. Perhaps it was that he was too articulate and didn’t have the folksy charm or the “wanna sit down and have a beer with” image.

I took a little bit of issue with his criticism of the Fair Tax. He has a different strategy for tax reform, actually one that I agree with more than the Fair Tax. But I was disappointed with how he defended his position. A common way to attack the Fair Tax has been, rather than to judge it on what it really is, to quote a few critics’ opinions of what it might look like once implemented and them destroy that straw man. He took the same tired path of ignoring the reduction in cost once the imbedded tax is removed and even increasing the new tax to a percentage that isn’t even proposed. Now, as I said, I actually like Mitt’s plan a little better since it doesn’t create such a huge windfall for the extremely rich. He just could have defended his position without having to take the same, logically flawed position that so many others have taken before him.

While speaking about Islamic fundamentalism Romney praised Jefferson for helping to create a form of government that is separate from religion. I found his praise of Jefferson comforting but also a little hypocritical from someone who so frequently uses his own religious views to attract votes and even thinks he is a better candidate because of his Mormon faith.

The chapters that I really found the most disheartening were the several chapters where he kept repeating the call for the U.S. to go back to its Cold War military strength. Romney’s foreign policy is little more than "peace through superior firepower" and might makes right. If we aren’t the world’s police officers then who would you choose? I found this false question amusing, and a little sad.

With these criticisms you might find it hard to believe that I am actually a little swayed towards voting for Romney based on reading this book. Right now his economic positions might be just what we need. I also was swayed by his immigration position (i.e. doing more to keep the most qualified immigrants in as well as protecting the borders). Despite my serious disagreements with his foreign policy right now his economic policies and tax reform ideas may be just what this country needs. I sure don’t see myself voting for him yet, but thanks to this book I’m more open-minded about him and I feel like I understand his views.