Janet is Hungry

I found a great blog called Janet is Hungry. Check it out. I will be visiting her when I need to make my meal plan! You can click on the link on my blog to get to her site. It is in the Blogs I frequent section on the sidebar.

Book Recommendation

"The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear," by Don and Audrey Woods is a classic book that every child should have the chance to enjoy. My mother read it to my sisters and I when we were little and I now have gone through two copies reading it to my children. I so enjoy it. I also enjoy "Quick as a Cricket" by the same authors. 

Superior Saturday

The sixth book in The Keys to the Kingdom series, Superior Saturday, was released today. Of course we rushed to the book store to get it! We read the prolog and two chapters aloud tonight as a family, then we had to put it down because it was bed time. Actually, my husband is reading on as we speak. As soon as we finish it I will give it a proper review. If you have never heard of this series, you must get it. It is a great book for the whole family. This is a great series to give to boys, although girls enjoy it just as much. The author is Garth Nix. If you can find the audio books, the actor that reads them is great! I know the library has had them in both counties and states I have lived in. For now, happy reading.

 

Film Festival Sneak Peak

Tonight I went to the Temecula Film Festival Sneak Peak. This is running every Thursday night in a vacant business suite for 7 weeks. The films that are shown are films the Film Festival Committee are considering for the festival. After a film is viewed, each viewer fills out a questioner about the movie. Depending on the ratings from the viewers, the movie will or will not be shown at the festival. 

The first film we saw was a feature film tentatively called "Still Water". This film is a thriller, so it is exciting. The directing is sharp, and the cinematography is appealing. The acting is surprisingly good, giving it a Hollywood feel, as opposed to "filmed in the back yard." The writing was unpredictable, although my husband did call it. There was great character and story line development. I felt like the writer did a good job with the flow of things. Overall, very professional and a movie I would recommend, although it was a little crude...but what thriller isn't. 

The next film we saw was a short. It was called, "The Amazing Renaldo". This was a very cute movie with cheesy acting and a low budget feel. However, I am convinced that is the way the director wanted it to feel. I do not feel like they were trying to do something out of their league and fell short. It was very entertaining and funny. A definite feel good movie I would love to have around to show people at a party. Quirky and artistic.

The third and last film we saw was also a short. It was called, "Swimming." This was a slow, low budget film that had a touching story with a little quirkiness thrown in. The acting of the supporting characters and extras was a bit weak, making it feel like you were watching a movie being made. The main characters were fluent though. Interesting story worth the time it takes to watch it. I enjoyed this film. It touched an abstract part of me. 

It was neat to be able to be a part of this process. Considering going again.   

Restaurant Review

Today my mother and I went to a new restaurant in Temecula called Rodrigo's Mexican Grill. It is decorated well with unique architecture like thick wood slated walls and geometric lamps. Classy Mexican art graces the walls, but it is not overdone. There is this great wall hanging at the front hostess desk with ceramic plates hanging from a wood slate. The waitress was very attentive... ok a little too attentive. My mom and I were there maybe 30 minutes and she came to our table about ten times. I think the combination of her being new and it not being very busy at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, made her a little anxious to serve! I honestly have never had that problem before. I was tempted to tell her something different every time she asked how everything was, just to keep her busy. However, I kindly replied that everything was great. 

The food was typical California Mexican. (So glad to be back!) It wasn't anything particularly special, but good. The chips were a little thicker than I tend to like, but that is a matter of preference. The salsa was great. Fresh, spicy and smooth. I had the two shredded beef taco meal with rice and beans. My mom had the lunch tostada. We both had iced tea. The iced tea was great! Our meals were both lunch specials which cost around $8 each. Not too bad for an air conditioned, classy atmosphere, midday lunch, with an exceptionally attentive waitress. So, would I recommend it? I really feel neutral about it. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but if asked about it, I would say it was good.  

PRINCE CASPIAN REVIEW

Today our whole family arrived at the local theater to the first showing of the day to see "Prince Caspian". We went to the 11:45am showing and I was surprised at the lack of a crowd. My husband pointed out that not everyone is a stay at home mom that can go to the movies in the middle of the day. Huh. 

Well, we were full of anticipation, excited to see our beloved book on film...and were completely let down. The movie was horrible. So horrible that I am tempted to seek out the director and slap him in the face. Too harsh? Well, you might feel the same way if you were a lover of the book. It was so far from the original that I don't think they should be able to call it "Prince Caspian". They completely changed the story, leaving out crucial information, not building characters at all, and adding scenes and circumstances that weren't even a part of the book. They even added Queen Susan and Prince Caspian falling in love with each other!!!! They even kissed at the end. That wasn't even a thought in the book!!! Peter was a whiny brat throughout the whole movie, whereas in the book he is noble and acts like the high king, and he and Caspian got into a full blowout, even drawing swords on each other. I left the theater enraged at the sheer gull of the director. It was like he said, "C. S. Lewis didn't know what he was talking about. Let me change it into something to get ratings." A side note: It was really for a little older crowd as it was scary and there was a lot of killing.

So, I'm sure you know this by now, but I would not waste my money on seeing it. Even if you've never read the book, it wasn't done well enough to pay $9 to see it. Rent it from a Red Box for a dollar when it comes out.