Undefeated and Deep Thoughts...

Yes, our swim team is undefeated!!!! Two summers in a row, plus 4 from 2007 makes us a total of 16 meets straight undefeated. We didn't think we were going to make it against Black Horse Run this past Tuesday. We were all unbelievably tense as we waited and waited for the score... some of the Black Horse Run swimmers were already celebrating, but the score was TCC 255.5 to BHR 239.5!! Much screaming and cheering exploded from our team. It was a very close meet, and BHR has some amazing swimmers. However, the mostly-homeschooled team continues to prove that we are just as capable of swimming as "normal" people are...

And as to my "deep thoughts"... It has come to my attention that so far in my life, I have yet to meet ANYONE (and therefore, particularly no men) who completely agrees with every Biblical belief I have. Let me explain what I personally mean by Biblical.

I have many beliefs that may not be definitively laid out in the Bible, but all of my strong beliefs are grounded in my understanding of the Bible. If I didn't have a Biblical reason for some standpoint, then I hope I would be able to easily reconsider my opinion. However, the ones with Biblical reasoning are very important to me, and as they are all related to my Christian beliefs, I would never be able to give them up lightly.

This is troubling for me, mostly because I've realized how very unlikely it would be for there to be a "someone" who would agree with me. And as the woman, if I chose to follow a man that didn't hold my beliefs it would be my duty to relinquish my beliefs for his. (Of course, I am still speaking of "bigger deal" issues and not minor things... I don't intend to become a female clone of my future husband)

But that is not the final dilemma. What I am trying to figure out is if I need to have more faith in God, or if some of my opinions are too strong. What is really important enough that I would reject a godly, honorable man if he disagreed with me? Or should I be trusting God to bring me a man that believes exactly what I do?

I realize that I'm being very silly to be worrying about this already, but I figure I can't hurt anything by trying to puzzle it out and pray about it ahead of time. It would be so much more painful if I already had a suitor that didn't agree with me and I had to have this time of deliberation. Right now, while my mind is still cleared of any partiality to any man, I have time to evaluate which of my beliefs are truly grounded in conviction from God, and which may be just opinions that I have formed and glorified on my own.

It is very intriguing...

~Lizzie

The Year I was 15 - Pictures!!

So I was gonna do a really long post on how sad it was that's I'll never be 15 again, and how I didn't really want to turn 16, and maybe a recap of how my life as a 15 year old was. But that inspiration only lasted about 5 minutes.
Then I suddenly had a much better idea! And so, I will post my favorite pictures that I took while I was 15, complete with titles/awards i.e: Happiest, cutest, best pose, coolest... etc.
I collected all my favorites, & there turned out to be 250-ish, so obviously, they're not all gonna be here. :)
Enjoy!

Happiest:

Mark & Aaron after some good defense

Prettiest:

Cherry flower

Cutest:

Aaron & Joel. Aww. :)

Randomest:

Bubba, the Italian trucker

Funniest:

A goofy group shot at Goodberrys

Coolest:

Sean playing baseball

Most Different:

A sunbow & power lines

Most Interesting:

A truck silhouetted against a sunset

Best Without People:

An orange sunset

Coolest Colors:

Bright blue & pink sunrise over the ocean

Coolest Focusing:

Wine glasses

Most Colorful:

Another run for the Hawks

Best Action Shot:

Jacob & Chris playing basketball

Best Portrait:

Joel at the beach

Best Light:

Shadow sitting in the sun

Best Pose:

Jordan & Reid after winning a close game

Most Candid:

Nathan & Jessica on the Sunfish

Most Descriptive:

A couple at the State Fair

Most Professional:

Reid playing basketball

Awesomest:

Eric playing basketball

Favorite of Me

me. :P

And 10 honorable mentions... ones I like just as much, but they just didn't get a title:

yay, there it is. I'm really thinking this should become a tradition for me... :)

The Way We Live Now

I know I've gotten complaints before about my negative reviews. But I figured out why I prefer negative reviews: I like to give spoilers when I review, and out of respect for the movies I really like, I avoid spoilers. For movies that disgust me, I have no scruples spoiling the plot for two reasons; out of spite for the movie, and in confidence that no one would want to see the movie after I share the spoiler. So with that said...

"The Way We Live Now" was horrible. I'm sorry to say it about an Andrew Davies movie, but there it is. It was an interesting movie, I have to give it that, but the ending is such that you just think, "Wow, I just blew 5 hours of time that I could have spent watching the long version of Pride and Prejudice instead."

There are several interwoven plot lines. First, there's the young lady, Henrietta, who lives in England with a mother somewhat like Mrs. Bennet and a jerk brother (played by Matthew MacFadyen! Mr. Darcy! I'll never be able to watch the new Pride and Prejudice again. Ever). She "falls in love at first sight" with her cousin's ward, Paul (who's in charge of the construction of a railway in America). Paul "loves" her too, and her cousin, Mr. Carbury, is also in love with her. So the two men are at odds because they both want to marry her. Paul has a problem though: he's already engaged to an American woman.

Henrietta's brother, Felix, is a gambler and a cad. He has a woman he flirts with in the the country, and a rich woman in the city that he wants to marry, but only for her money. The woman in the country has a good man who wants to marry her, but she won't marry him because she thinks she's in love with Felix. And the woman in the city, Miss Melmotte, is starved for love and rather odd, and falls head over heels for Felix. Her father, Mr. Melmotte, is a greedy, rich Frenchman who is heading the board for Paul's railway. But Mr. Melmotte doesn't actually intend to BUILD a railway, he just wants to get people to buy the stock and then take all their money.

So. Felix proposes to Miss Melmotte, and tries to get her father's consent. He will NOT consent, because Felix gambled away all his money and is basically penniless, and Mr. Melmotte could get much richer men for his daughter. Miss Melmotte tries to convince Felix to run away with her, because she really loves him, but he only wants the money that she won't get unless she marries with her father's blessing and will not run away until she mentions that she has a lot of money of her own. She steals some money for a train ticket and ship passage, which he spends gambling and getting drunk. While he slouches off home to his mother (who dotes on him in a sickening way) she is trying to meet him. But she is "arrested" for stealing, and taken back to her father, who won't allow her to see Felix. Miss Melmotte manages to get a note to Felix's sister, Henrietta, who delivers the note to her brother and then returns with his message to Miss Melmotte: "he is giving her up. He doesn't love her, and never did." Miss Melmotte is heartbroken.

Paul tries to convince his fiancee, Mrs. Hurtle, to release him so he can ask Henrietta to marry him, but she refuses, and claims that he cannot break the engagement because "only the woman can dissolve an engagement." Finally, she tells him that if he spends one more night with her and takes her to the beach before he goes to Mexico (to oversee the railway) then when he comes back he can choose the woman he really wants. While they're at the beach, they run into Mr. Carbury, who is none too pleased to see his competition in company with another woman after all the trouble that Paul took to "steal" Henrietta from him.

Felix's country woman comes to the city to marry him, but he has no intention of marrying her. He just uses her for a little fun, putting her off about getting married, "Oh, of course, sometime..." He finally blurts out that he never intended to marry her, and she storms off. He chases her, and just then, the good man that STILL wants to marry her shows up and lays Felix flat with one punch. (That was good! Best part of the whole movie!)

Paul comes back from his trip and asks Henrietta to marry him, and she accepts. But Felix knows about Mrs. Hurtle and when Henrietta announces her engagement, he tells her the whole story. She talks to Paul and he tells her that he was trying to break everything off with Mrs. Hurtle, and that he thought it was already over between them when Mrs. Hurtle showed up in England claiming otherwise. Then Henrietta visits Mrs. Hurtle, and Mrs. Hurtle leads her to believe that she and Paul are still involved. So she breaks off the engagement.

Paul finally finds out about the railway scam, and leaks to the newspapers. Mr. Melmotte is ruined and commits suicide. Miss Melmotte, however, is still rich from the money in her own name that she refused to share with her father and goes off to live her life, hardened by Felix's betrayal.

Mrs. Hurtle comes to see Henrietta and confesses that she deceived Henrietta, and that Paul had been faithful to her, at least for the past 2 years. Henrietta still refuses to forgive him. He stops by one last time before he leaves for a second railway opportunity, and she hides on the stairwell while he give her mother all sorts of "I'll always love her" and "I wish her the best" messages. And then he leaves. And she runs after him. And we can only hope they live happily ever after.

And the last shot you see is Felix, with a new conquest in sight.

Miss Melmotte should have found someone to really love her, Henrietta should have married Mr. Carbury, Paul should have been devastated and gone crawling back to Mrs. Hurtle, Mr. Melmotte should have been put in jail instead of the escape of suicide, and Felix should have been left miserable in some way. Or at least shaped up and acting like a man. I didn't like it. At all.

However, the filming was spectacular, the acting was very good and if you don't mind a more "real life" kind of ending, then it's a pretty good movie. Personally, it left me feeling disgusted. But maybe that's just me.

~Lizzie

Broadway is losing it!!

What do you think of when someone mentions Broadway? I think of "Wicked" and "West Side Story." "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King" (even though I'm kinda undecided about the respectability of those two). And, my ultimate, all-time favorite, "Phantom of the Opera." "Shrek the Musical"?? NO!! No, no, no, no, no!!!! The stupidest children's movie ever! How about "Monsters Inc" or "Toy Story"? Both of which would be bad enough on Broadway! Intelligent people do NOT pay $85 - $135 (just a guesstimate) for a CHILD'S show! Are you going to take little Johnny and Emily up to NYC and pay more than $500 to let them see something they won't even appreciate? Are YOU going to want to see a "baby" Broadway show?

Jessica told me about Shrek going on Broadway at swimming (was it last week?) and we were disgusted enough then. Jessica, you need to look at the Broadway listings. Decent shows (like Phantom) are the MINORITY. Guess what else I found is on Broadway? "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush" starring Will Ferrel. Are you KIDDING me?!?!?

The final blow: Phantom is going OFF Broadway.

Broadway, you have officially lost ALL my respect and the respect of every decent American who still knows what a good show is. You have crumbled under the pressure to dumb down and become nothing better than extremely expensive mind-congealing TV muck on a stage. And by the way, what in the WORLD were you thinking with Ariel's costume for "The Little Mermaid"?

Well, I was going to post a picture so those of you who may not have The Little Mermaid videos on YouTube could understand what I was talking about. But I guess I'll have to post a video. *huge sigh* Like those instruction manuals that warn that toasters are hot, I feel compelled to mention that her top consists of two, um... shells.



And now after watching that video, I have another rant. First of all, I can't believe that they twisted the story so that SHE is the one who saves the day and that the actress says it's important in our day and age. I would say that our day and age makes it MUCH MORE important that the MAN still be the hero. And secondly, I always have and always will hate the line in that song, "maybe on land, they understand, that they don't reprimand their daughters... bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand..." She is not bright; she's disobedient and... and I don't remember the story very well, but she deserves a lot more than a reprimand. So there.

~Lizzie

Gossip and Flirting

Some sins are obvious, and very black and white. At least in the Christian understanding. Or maybe I should just say that they've always appeared so to me. For example, I've always known that any sort of deception was a lie, and little white lies are still lies. Stealing, even if it was just an M&M from a sibling, is still stealing. And so on, and so forth. But two sins I've never quite figured out (and some might say that flirting isn't a sin anyway, but for the purposes of my discussion let's just assume it is).

I will start with gossip. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "gossip" as:
Function: noun
2 a: rumor or report of an intimate nature

To relate sometimes questionable or secret information of a personal nature
Synonyms: blab, talk, tattle
Related Words: bandy (about), circulate, noise (about), rumor; disclose, divulge, reveal, tell; hint, imply, insinuate, intimate, let on, suggest; inform, report, snitch, squeal, tip (off); babble, spill; confide

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. - Proverbs 11:13

A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. - Proverbs 16:28

A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man (or woman, naturally) who talks too much. - Proverbs 20:19 (parentheses mine)

Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. - Proverbs 26:20

My dad has told me that gossip is "saying something negative about a person for the purpose of lowering that person in other people's opinion."

The four Bible verses I have shared say that a gossip "betrays a confidence" (twice), "separates close friends" and "without gossip a quarrel dies down."

So, using all that information above, my conclusion is lengthy. Gossip is anything:
Maliciously negative
Betraying a confidence (secret)
Causing a division between friends
Fueling a quarrel
Questionable of a personal nature

You really have to use a measure of your own discretion, and in cases such as these it is certainly better to err on the side of silence.

Flirting has been more difficult for me to determine for myself, and is certainly something that is harder to conclude.

Once again, the Merriam-Webster definition:
Flirting
function: verb
2 a: to behave amorously without serious intent: to show superficial or casual interest or liking

To show a liking for someone of the opposite sex just for fun
Synonyms: dally, frivol, trifle
Related Words: josh, kid, put on, razz, rib, tease; fool, lead on, string along; play (with), toy (with)

The LORD says, "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles." - Isaiah 3:16

My dad has told me that I should just treat guys like I would any friend, and as nothing more. But I've always wondered if teasing a guy is flirting, even if I would say the same thing to a girl? According to Merriam-Webster "tease" is a related to flirting (see above), but is that all sorts of teasing, or a particular kind? To emphasize my point, here is the definitions of "tease."

3 a: to disturb or annoy by persistent irritating or provoking especially in a petty or mischievous way
b: to annoy with petty persistent requests
c: to persuade to acquiesce especially by persistent small efforts
d: to manipulate or influence as if by teasing
e: to make fun of
5: to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it

Number five, when arousing an impure "desire or curiosity", is obviously part of the more evil type of flirting, but what about all the others? I enjoy employing a bit of harmless and kindly-meant teasing every now and then, especially with my friends who take it well.

I guess what I've been trying to do with this post is figure out for myself what I think is wrong and right. I believe I have never said anything that could be construed as flirtatious or gossipy that I wouldn't have my parents hear, but sometimes I wonder if I merely comfort my guilt with that thought, instead of considering if my behavior really meets God's approval.

You may be wondering that I didn't come to a conclusion about flirting, and that is because I am still pondering it. But my final thought is that what mostly constitutes gossip and flirting comes from your heart, and if your heart is pure and listening to God, then pure behavior will naturally follow, even if your purity looks different from someone else's.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing all this. I guess I'm just one of those people who makes any musing or thought public in hopes that someone will offer encouraging advice, constructive criticism, or possibly, even gain some insight for themselves. If nothing else, writing it all out has certainly helped me organize my thoughts, and I would love hearing anything my readers have to say.

~Lizzie

Prince Caspian, Take Two.

So we bought the DVD. (Couldn't resist.) And just watched it again. First of all, the cover is making me sick. It looks so Disney. Sarah even pointed out a sprinkling pixie dust. HOW is that related???

So, with the second watching I've already resigned myself to the fact that they ruined almost everything. (For a more complete review, you may check back to my original post: Prince Caspian) But this time I was actually a little more annoyed with it. I remembered liking Ben Barnes' (Caspian) acting, but this time it struck me as lame. Sometimes he's okay, sometimes... not. And I noticed several phrases from the Pevensies that seemed too modern even for London in the early 1900's, and especially for Narnia.

My disgust and abhorrence for Caspian and Susan's romance has only increased. But now I think more that Caspian doesn't deserve Ramandu's daughter. He and Susan are perfect for each other. Too bad he can't go back to London with her and be replaced by a cooler Caspian who can act.

They've dumbed it down til it's just like all the other greasy cheeseball Disney movies. As a matter of fact, I gagged over so many of the lines this second time that I saw it that it almost equaled High School Musical for gag-worthiness. It's all Andrew Adamson's fault. I despised and loathed Shrek so completely and instantaneously that I didn't even finish watching it. And THAT was the man honored with the responsibility of taking a literary work of art like Narnia and making it a movie? Ah, my feelings require an overly cheesy and dramatic exclamation... "Narnia is about to be annihilated!" *sobs*

Thank goodness for Michael Apted! I'm hoping and almost praying that Voyage of the Dawn Treader will manage to overcome the reputation of its precedors and be more than just another slimy, idiotic Disney movie.

Sarah and I watched the credits. Please don't ask me why, we usually watch the credits in movie theaters, and we watched the credits tonight. Anyway, I noticed some very amusing titles that people were credited with. For example: "2nd 2nd assistant director." Yes, that's two "2nd's." And: "'a' camera 2nd assistant camera." Others were prop-buyers, "2nd payroll assistant" and chaperones. All listed in the credits. Oh, and they also mentioned that the piano used for that production was a Steinway maintained by Steinway and Sons, London. Which I thought was cool. Apparently they actually had a piano... for the music recording I guess. I should watch the credits again and see who the artist was that played the piano.

And now I will avoid watching Prince Caspian.

~Lizzie

Elsie Dinsmore

The Elsie Dinsmore books by Martha Finley were very popular amongst Christian homeschool girls back when I was younger. I even knew a guy who read them. I've read them several times over the course of my life, and my impressions each time were very interesting.

The first time I read them I was 8. I thought Elsie was amazingly perfect. The way all the "good" people treated each other was sickeningly sweet, and the "bad" people weren't too awful. They actually came up with some pretty funny remarks.

The next time I was about 10. I noticed that Elsie actually wasn't perfect; there were at the most, two instances where she was slightly less than perfect. Their interaction with each other were still so sweet as to be sickening, but the "bad" people seemed worse.

I read them again when I was 14. By this time I realized that Elsie definitely wasn't perfect, but still close enough as to put me to shame. Strangely, the the over-use of "dearest" and "darling" in conversations was only becoming more unpleasant for me, even as I realized that Elsie wasn't as good as I'd originally thought, and that the "wicked" relatives were worse than I'd previously thought.

I thought when I'd read them at 14 that I'd probably already changed my opinion as much as I ever would, but I just began reading them again this week, and my opinions have continued to change. Elsie, far from being perfect, really has some pretty petty and childish moments. She and her father are very prejudiced against the "lower class," and while they are kind, they avoid contact unless to preach the gospel. This is particularly annoying to me as I would qualify as the lower class in their million-dollar world. Their frequent use of endearments annoys me even more than it did 3 years ago.

Besides that, their slaves do everything for them, and in one book Elsie admits that she's never so much as put on her own shoes and stockings, and they proclaim themselves tired after something as ridiculous as a carriage ride! And Elsie, as a grown woman, is requested by her father that she not carry her own child! A baby! And I know many 9-10 year old girls who quite frequently carry 2-year-old's with little difficulty. They are pathetically weak, susceptible to disease, and, dare I say, lazy!

The final straw has been this fourth book. Perhaps I will be able to recover some of my former interest in these books, but right now my Southern pride is aroused. They are supposed to be southerners, but they hide in England for the duration of the Civil War, chiding the South for attempting to succeed, from across the Atlantic Ocean. The Civil War was, as some people don't know, actually over state's rights. The federal government was becoming too powerful, so some Southern states decided to leave the Union. I wish the South had won, I think our country would be in a much better position today if they had. I'm completely disgusted with Martha Finley for creating such awful characters.

I can't read them any more. I wish I'd left the Elsie Dinsmore books as a pleasant childhood memory. Perhaps I can erase my memory of this reading and remember it as I did: a fairy-tale story of a little girl too perfect to be real.

~Lizzie

Brace Yourself

When you see the rushing wind, feel the pouring rain
Hear the thunder now, as the clouds roll in
And you’re blinded by the lightening
Do you also hear that still, small voice saying
It’s okay, you’re not alone
You may be scared to death but I won’t let you go
You may think the sky above is falling
But can you hear Jesus calling?
"Jesus Calling" ~ 33Miles

Thus begins four years of Barack Hussein Obama as the president of the United States. Be prepared for much worse than you were expecting. Trust me, it’s best to imagine the worst. Then you might be pleasantly surprised. Hoping that it won’t be as bad as you thought only sets you up for disappointment. That’s what I get for hoping that McCain would make it. Now I’m fully expecting everything I didn’t want and more: the banning of homeschooling, the beginning of communism, the return of terror attacks, schools becoming training camps for “Hitler” youth, the persecution of Christians, infanticide, the end of the world and the return of our Lord. Actually, the return of Jesus doesn’t fit on that list, because that would be a good thing that I will hope for my whole life. I did want to get married and have a dozen kids first though.

Something gives me the feeling that Obama might not be just ‘an’ anti-Christ, but maybe THE anti-Christ. Yes, I know many people have been suspected of being the anti-Christ for approximately 2000 years. And no, I haven’t really researched it, mostly because I’m freaked out about Obama enough as it is and I have plenty more pleasant ways to spend my time than reconciling his description to the description in the Bible. Not to mention that it’s enough for me that he’s been called “the Messiah” (which he does not deny), that he’s proclaimed himself to be our Savior and that so many people like him despite his creepiness. If Obama gets mortally wounded, I won’t be the least surprised when he rises from the dead…. on the third day. Just horrified and disgusted.

Don’t panic, life on earth has always been pain and frustration cushioned by little pleasantries and sweet moments. It’s just that I only recently realized it. And believe it or not, I'm actually a happy person sometimes... mostly when I don't have time to think about deep things.

Does 'easy' rhyme with 'greasy'?

~Lizzie

By Popular Demand

Here is a review of a movie that I like! Unfortunately, like all realistic people, I can't help not being *perfectly* pleased, but nevertheless, the enjoyment of this movie outweighed the slight flaws of a little flat acting and a bit too much preachiness.

Time Changer was a really good movie. As a Christian movie, it definitely has a 'B' movie flavor, but they did a really good job making their point interesting. Russell Carlisle is a young professor at a Bible college in 1890, and has written a book that he is hoping his colleagues will endorse. The other men must all unanimously agree to endorse the book, and only one refuses. Dr. Anderson has a slight disagreement with a statement in Dr. Carlisle's book. A seemingly very slight disagreement, which frustrates Dr. Carlisle, as his publisher is anxious to print, and is asking for the endorsement as soon as possible. Dr. Anderson invites Dr. Carlisle to his house to settle their differences.

Upon arriving at Dr. Anderson's house, Dr. Carlisle is sworn to secrecy, and then introduced to a time-traveling machine. Dr. Carlisle doesn't believe that time travel is possible, but Dr. Anderson gives him instructions about the "new world" he will be in, and persuades him to stand in the portal. Dr. Carlisle is transported to 2000, amid some outdated special effects of lightening flashes, and glittery particles left behind floating to the floor.

In 2000, he realizes what Dr. Anderson intended for him to realize: his statement that teaching good morals without Jesus would be beneficial to society, particularly if the people in the society don't want to hear about Jesus, is wrong. Without Jesus' authority, morals mean nothing. He confronts a little girl who stole his hotdog: "Don't you know stealing is wrong?"
"Says who?" Demands the girl as she runs off, having relinquished his hotdog.

He runs into many more shocking things, including an immodestly dressed mannequin, people kissing on TV, God's name being blasphemed in a movie and people in a church being uninterested in the service and more interested in all the activities (among which include going to the blasphemous movie).

After meeting a Christian librarian who helps him with some "research", and a "good" laundry owner named Eddie, Dr. Carlisle prepares to go back to 1890. He visits the church and gives an inspiring message about the culture. Then he stops by Eddie's laundry and gives him a Bible (written in his own language, Spanish) and shares the gospel. On his way back to the alley where the time machine will beam him up, he notices that he's being followed by two cops in the church who have been suspicious of him. They demand an explanation just as the time for his departure is arriving. He has time to tell them that Jesus is coming back and that he was a messenger before the time machine collects him. "Dude, I think we just missed the rapture" one cop mutters as he disappears.

Back at home Dr. Carlisle revises his book and finds a little boy he reprimanded in the beginning of the movie. The young boy tried to steal some marbles, and Dr. Carlisle told him it was wrong; now he tells young Roger about Jesus (and gifts him with a bag of his own marbles).

And thus the happily-ever-after-the-end.

Please be aware that I expect uproarious praise for finally posting a positive review, and certainly do NOT want to hear any criticism for the first movie I selected. I realize that those of you that had issues with my opinion on Eagle Eye will probably disagree with the principles portrayed by this movie, however, the point was that it was a positive review. And I really did like the movie. So there.

~Lizzie

*shudders*

I watch movies to escape real life. I DO NOT watch movies to see the hero killed right after the heroine finally gives in and admits to loving him. That was probably the worst movie I've ever seen in that respect.

I have two main rules for entertainment: 1. The good people always live happily ever after and 2. The bad people either realize the error of their ways, or are punished for their misdeeds and rendered incapable of interfering in the happily ever after of the heros and heroines.

Now I'm depressed. Is entertainment supposed to make you depressed? I DON'T THINK SO!

~Lizzie

Never watch trilogies..

Pirates of the Caribbean, LOTR, X-Men .... all started out okay/good and ended terrible. It's like the producers go, "Ah, I know, let's sucker some people in with 2 great movies and then bum them out with the 3rd. If we all do it, they'll never suspect that we're intentionally disappointing them, they'll just think it was slump. And then we do it all over again with another trilogy. And what really great is that when the first movie comes out, they won't know it's a trilogy, so even if they figure it out, we can still grab them with the first movie and have them so hooked on the story-line that they'll watch the others anyway, even though they know that it'll be horrible."

The director of the Bourne trilogy messed it up though. He did an entirely good series and woke up the public, and now we can recognize horrible endings. I'm not sure whether or not to be grateful. Anyway, all that to say, *spoiler*

Never watch the X-Men series. At the end of the trilogy, the hero kills the heroine to protect humanity when all he had to do was give her a shot. And it would have been just as easy to give her the shot as kill her. It royally stunk.

I can't believe the ratio of movies I like to movies I despise.

~Lizzie

Barbie

I was just cleaning off my bookcase and found one of my old Barbies. My sister and I spent hours of our childhood playing with these dolls. I never really understood why my dad disliked them so until just now, when I suddenly realized how fake Barbie looks. And I don't mean in the sense that she's made of plastic.


Everything about her is impossibly "perfect." Impossibly thick and perfect hair, flawless skin, a completely impossible figure (which the dress disguises as more believable) and ridiculously long legs considering her that they are almost 2/3's of her entire height.

This is to show how ridiculously small her waist is.

Her eyes are freakishly huge with a permanent sparkle, her nose too small to allow adequate breath, and her mouth is set off by one perfect tooth. And you can't see it in this picture, but in each cheek she has one perfect, delicate dimple.

This was my "me" doll. Given the unvarying face and figure, what made her "look like" me was the green eyes and red hair. I didn't consciously think it, but somewhere inside, I always thought I'd grow up to look exactly like her, from the large green eyes, nearly invisible nose and perfect dimples to the tiny waist. But certainly minus the plastic lines.

Never mind that as a child I was short, pudgy and had the crookedest teeth ever. Not to mention no sign of dimples (my brother Joel got them). Oh, and did I mention my freckles?

With a role-model like Barbie, it's no wonder there are so many girls who are starving themselves and getting plastic surgery to try and achieve a Barbie-like "perfection." I'm not sure if Barbies are still popular. It's been a long time since I've meandered down the sparkly pink toy aisle at Wal-Mart. But I hope that little girls aren't still being inundated with this false view of beauty. Barbie should at least have room in her tiny torso for internal organs.

~Lizzie

Prince Caspian = Awesome!

So here's my PC review.

Acting: I'm not really great at judging acting, but I thought it was good. Better than the first film. Not awesome though. I didn't notice anything particularly great about it, and nothing made me wince either. The four kids have gotten better at their acting, and everyone else cast were just good actors. It made everything nicer, and less painful than LWW. :)

Directing: I'm not a big fan of Andrew Adamson's directing. There's nothing wrong with it, I just don't care for it.

Digital Effects: These were really good. I have a strange obsession with CG stuff and I always notice when it doesn't look real. I didn't notice anything in this one. Probably the least realistic thing in there was the river god, and he really was OK, 'cause I've never seen a river god other than him. :D
Aslan was amazing. He was so big, and beautiful, and completely looked like he was really there.
There were moments when Reep looked less than perfect, but mostly, he was awesome!
The effects in this movie were better than the first film.

Music (score): I didn't really notice it, except when some one was actually singing. So that a good thing in my opinion. It means that it was good.

Cinematography: Very nice. No complaints on that one. I did kinda wonder about the lighting in the treasure room though...

Adaptation: First with the script. It was cheesy. Not as cheesy as the first film, but still cheesy. There were some good lines, and some funny lines, but they all seemed to have a bit of cheese sprinkled on 'em.
The best lines were the ones straight out of the book. I was so happy when they put Ed's line, "I left my torch in Narnia" in there! Also millions of other little details. The planets crossing paths at the beginning. The fireworks as Caspian runs away. The chess piece. The apples. Ed fighting Trumpkin. Trumpkin shooting the bear. Pattertwig actually being in the movie. Ed delivering the duel challenge to Miraz. Peter hurting his sheild arm during the duel. Peter walloping off the Telmarine lord's head. Aslan saying that because Caspian doesn't think he's ready to be king, he is. Reep losing his tail, and getting it back because the other mice are willing to cut off theirs. And some others I've forgotten.
There were some changes I didn't like, but some made sense. I didn't exactly like the night raid on the Telmarine castle, but if they had put in the movie only what was in the book, it would've been rather short.
Peter's character change I didn't really like. Making him so arrogant... but he got better, and it added drama to the movie. Which could be a good or a bad thing.
The change in Susan I liked even less. It wasn't necessary to make her fight. It only made the movie less realistic. (Like she could really be strong enough to throw an arrow hard enough to kill some one who's wearing armor!) Susan and Caspian's romance I didn't like either. It was very unnecessary. There was some stuff in the book that hinted at then flirting, so that was fine. The kiss was WAY to much though. I just hope that I still feel that Caspian's worthy of Ramandu's daughter in VotDT.
I was very sad when they didn't put the part where Lucy wakes everyone up in the middle of the night to follow Aslan, and Ed is the first to see him besides Lucy. That was a rather big change, making Aslan come in later. It was good, and it worked well. It's just too bad they didn't have that bit in there.
There was also some changes I liked. (amazing, right?) The calling back the White Witch scene wasn't all that different from the book, just more creative. It was a great moment for Edmund too. When he broke the ice, I just felt like shouting "go Edmund!!" Actually, there was alot of parts where I felt like doing that. :D
I imagine that it was extremely hard for them to adapt Prince Caspian, you can just read the book and tell. It's not cinematic at all. So they did good for what they had. Maybe they could've done better, but they did good.
The violence didn't bother me at all. It's nice when the violence is more realistic. It was actually closer to the book that way too.

Costumes: I liked the costumes. Everything was neat and creative. The difference between the Temarine costumes and the Narnian ones was very nice.

Makeup/Prosthetics: That was very nice too. I didn't care for Lucy's hair, but I got used to it fast. Caspians hair could've been dirtier, (the Narnians didn't have showers or shampoo after all.) And Susan's hair at the end didn't look great, (I think I have problems with curling hair) but it's OK.

Overall: It. Was. Awesome. There was a few thing I didn't like, but the huge amount of things I loved made up for them. I wish they hadn't made some of the changes they did, but it'll be alright. Edmund was great!! He is even more my favorite character now. I can hardly wait 2 years for him to be a more main character in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

--Sarah

Prince Caspian

We saw the midnight showing of Prince Caspian (and the theater was almost empty! I expected more fans would be there for the first showing.) and I have now stewed over it long enough that I can write a lengthy opinion on it. Be warned that there are spoilers, and that my opinion is most decidedly negative, so if you haven't seen it yet and hope to enjoy seeing it, please don't read any further.

The very first moments in the movie began destroying Peter and Susan's characters. Susan is looking at a magazine when a young man introduces himself and says that he's seen her around the school that she attends. He asks her name and she lies, obviously in disgust of him. Lucy runs up and calls Susan just after she tells him that her name is Phyllis. Lucy came to get Susan because Peter is in a fist fight. Cops break up the fight, and Susan asks Peter what it was about "THIS time." And Peter replies that the person bumped into him and then demanded an apology.

Peter and Caspian have a very rocky relationship. Both seem to not like the other, and Peter is very arrogant and demands power. He seems proud of his status as "High King" and unlike in the book, seems to want to reclaim his throne, rather than help Caspian claim HIS throne.

Susan fights all during the movie in a very feminist manner, including dive-bombing the Telmarine castle on gryphons. I've never liked Susan very much, even in the books, and the way she was portrayed in both of the Narnia movies so far just disgusts me. I have a lack of respect for Anna Popplewell's acting and everything in the movie annoyed me. Especially how the romance between her and Caspian was played up. She kisses him at the end and I was nearly gagging. Don't get me wrong, occaisionally I enjoy romance, but this... ugh. Anyway. Moving on.....

Actually, not moving on. Now I have to rant about how the romance ruins Caspian before I move on to what else I hated about Caspian. I'm so mad that they made Caspian appear to be in love with Susan. Now I won't be happy in Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Caspian marries Ramandu's daughter, because it will seem like he's being unfaithful to Susan, even if she does drive me crazy. Augh, I can't believe how terrible this all is. I am SO glad that Andrew Adamson won't be doing any more Narnia movies!

So anyway, the rest of what I hated about Caspian. Oh, wait, changed my mind. What I liked will be a shorter list, and therefore easier to write. I actually kinda liked Ben Barnes' acting. Amazingly enough. But I didn't like him as Caspian. I like how he looked. He looks like I wanted Caspian to look. I liked his accent. And I liked when he meets Aslan for the first time, and Peter, Susan, Edmund and he are kneeling and Aslan says, "Rise, kings and queens of Narnia" and Caspian remains kneeling. That was cool. And that's all I liked about Caspian.

I absolutely loved Edmund. That's the good thing about this movie: as much as it made me hate Peter and Susan, it doesn't really matter because they aren't in Voyage anyway. Edmund was awesome. I loved that he helped Peter in his fight, even if the fight was stupid, and I loved when he stabbed the ice that the White Witch was in, and I loved his line after he destroyed the Witch to Peter "I know, you had it sorted" (Peter was gazing at the witch in spellbound stupidity). Skandar Keynes did a great job with his part. And I was ecstatic at the end when they included my VERY favorite line from all the books "Bother, I left my new torch in Narnia!"

Lucy still kinda irritates me. I don't like Georgie Henley. But I liked Lucy much better in this movie, and I anticipate liking her even better in Voyage. She was really cute when the Telmarine army was marching over the bridge of Beruna, and she stood at the other side with her tiny little dagger held up like a sword.

I'm wildly excited about Reepicheep!!!! He was sooooooo perfect!! I've never seen a picture in the books or anything that perfectly captured how I imagined him, but they really did it. He was exactly right. Absolutely perfect. (Infinitely better than the horribly huge costume in the BBC version... *choke*) Everything about him was PERFECT. And they included the bit about his tail, which I had been so scared they would leave out.

I hated that they had a battle at the Telmarine castle (which was a huge failure and made Peter look like an idiot) before having the battle after the duel. I liked how they did the duel. That was pretty cool. The battle afterwards was ridiculous though. There were hardly any Narnians and tons of Telmarine troops and yet somehow the Narnians weren't wiped out.

But as long as I just try to forget about everything that I hated, it's so nice to finally have the perfect image of Reep, and I really liked Edmund. So hopefully, Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which is my favorite book) will be good. I trust Michael Apted to do a good job. (You can't imagine my disgust when I found out that the director of 'Shrek' was going to do Narnia. I hate Shrek.) I think it's set up perfectly for Michael Apted to refresh the series.

~Lizzie

Heil Hillary!

Hillary Clinton is at Wake Tech today. (It's free! Who wants to go throw rotten food with me?) I'm too disgusted to start ranting about how much I dislike her. I'd be here all day and no one would read it anyway. So I'm going to let this pic speak for me.



~Lizzie

Politics and Religion

Back when we had a decent selection of presidential candidates, I was hoping Thompson would make it. Now that it's basically between McCain, Obama and Hillary, I'm just hoping for a male.

But I was just thinking.... while it's definitely good for Christians to try and keep this country the way it should be.... this is a fallen world. God's already decided to destroy it. There's really no hope for this world. And that's fine, because this is not anyone's eternal home anyway! I'm here...... for what? To give God glory. And sometimes God's glory shines better when circumstances aren't that great.

That said, I certainly don't mean to say that Christian shouldn't care about the state of this country. I'm very opinionated about a lot of things, my top being abortion. I cannot stand to see all the animal-rights tree-huggers who care more about animals, inanimate plants and the environment (not that it's wrong to care about them! They just have a misplaced importance in my opinion) than they do about all the tiny innocent humans who are killed every day just because they inconvenience their selfish parents. Yes, the Twin Towers attack was horrible. But at least those 3000 Americans were killed by our enemies. 4000 Americans are killed every day by American doctors.

Another thing I can't stand is when Christians compromise their beliefs to fit with this secular culture. The Bible should be every Christian's top authority, yet there are so many Christians who will try to explain how the Bible fits with science instead of considering that maybe science should be fit to the Bible! There are so many compromise theories about Creation that it's not even funny. My least favorite is Theistic Evolution. This is the idea that God "started" the world and it evolved as evolutionists claim after that. This is definitely the easiest way to fit God into evolution, but it's also completely against how the Bible says Creation happened.

So anyway. That's just a really unorganized rant about some of my views. If anyone wants something clarified/elaborated upon, a friendly argument, or to share their views, I'll be more than happy to explain, debate and/or listen (or rather, read). :D

~Lizzie

The Moment of Truth

I stumbled upon a show of that title yesterday evening. Fortunately I didn't see the whole thing, but from what I gathered of the few disturbing and horrible minutes that I did view, apparently this show is paying people to get up on stage in front of the world, with their friends and family there, and answer questions that shouldn't be asked, and definitely not answered; at least not in public or on TV!

The question I saw them ask this man was, "Is your wife the most attractive woman you've ever dated?" He beat around the bush, and finally (trying to soften the blow, I guess) said, "She's attractive and beautiful and I love her, but no." I have 2 points and a wishful comment.

1) Attractiveness is an opinion, so they shouldn't have had the robotic voice announce that that answer was true. (It seems that they think they are capable of determining the truthfulness of answers.)

2) That question should never ever be asked, especially in front of the wife and ESPECIALLY if the answer is "no"! I'm not sure why, but women desperately need to feel attractive. Not super-model-gorgeous, but at least attractive. And I imagine that it would be somewhat important to a woman that her man think that she is the most attractive woman he's ever seen. Obviously I wouldn't know for sure though. And once again, she doesn't have to be the PRETTIEST or most beautiful, but most attractive. There's a difference that I'm probably incapable of intelligently explaining since I should be asleep right now.

Wishful comment: The absolute perfect answer to that question (that the woman would love to hear) is this: "She is the most attractive woman on earth, I love her with all of my heart, and she's the only woman I've ever dated/courted."

So, for those of you who are curious, the wife was indeed present, and she looked close to tears at his answer of "no." And just for the record, she was extremely beautiful. Aaaand, I don't recommend that any of you view that show because the next question made me scramble to turn the TV off.

~Lizzie