What movie did they see?

I just read a review of the Chronicles of Narnia in Time, and I can't figure out what the guy's talking about. Maybe it all comes down to having movie reviewers who are illiterate. If they can't read, then they certainly haven't read the books on which the movies they review are based. This would at least give a reason for their thinking that Narnia is a rip-off of Harry Potter.
I mean, good grief, these books were written in the 1950s - unless C.S. Lewis had some amazing psychic powers, I'm pretty sure he never read any of the Potter books which weren't written until decades after his death.
As to the similarities (?) to Tolkein, they were friends who read their books to one another as they were writing them. These guys knew each other's work, and also knew the original backgrounds of the mythic elements they were using.
OK, now you're (perhaps) wondering what I thought of the movie. I found it spectacular. Unlike the Time critic, I found the child actors to be quite excellent. Perhaps he's never experienced emotions beyond fear of explosions and the joy of destruction in a film, but Lucy actually portrayed a very wide range of emotions very well. The special effects were quite special, and the changes made to the story line from the book were quite acceptable to me. By that I mean that I understood that they had only a 2hr period to give us all the background that the expository text of the book would normally convey, so they added a scene or line here and there to give us a quicker glimpse into the relationships among the siblings.
About the only thing I missed (and they almost gave it to me) was the part where the children ask the beavers if it's safe to be around Aslan. The response is that of course he isn't safe - he's not a tame lion, after all - but he's good. They came to it at the very end when Lucy and Tumnus are watching Aslan leave, and I felt it worked well there, but it was still missed at its original spot.
All in all, I loved the movie, and would happily go see it again. I certainly hope they've had enough box office success to assure us at least the next installment in the Chronicles!

Narnia

At last! The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is opening today, and I'm there! Got my tickets bought, now it's just a matter of waiting and eating popcorn.
I have heard only one even slightly disappointing review so far, and from what the guy said, I don't think he knows the books, so I'm still going in figuring this is going to be spectacular.
Aslan Rocks!

Report on NaNoWriMo

I'm sure you're all dying to know the outcome of National Novel Writing Month. As you probably remember, the goal was to come up with a draft novel of at least 50,000 words. As you probably don't know, I simply don't write rough (nor hardly even first) drafts; I write a finished work, pretty much right as I go along.
Given that, I figure I don't have to get as many mere words placed one after another in order to count myself as successful. (Yes, this is, in fact, a big batch of rationalizing after the fact, but bear with me nonetheless.) As I finished more than 10% of the stated goal of 50,000 words (in fact, I have the first 6,992 words of a novel ready for publication as I write this), I figure I'm way ahead of those who now have to slog through 50,000 words of drek, mining those five or six thousand words worth keeping.
I may post an excerpt at some point, but only if you beg.

Have we all quit Phonics cold turkey?

Grrr.
OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system:
What is it with people who can't pronounce familiar? It's not spelled furmiliar, so why is it constantly pronounced as though it were?
It's not just random stupid folks either - it's supposedly educated television news personalities - oh, sorry, I "meant" journalists.
Good grief, people, look at the word, think about its origin, this isn't rocket surgery (I loved that line in the Eggo syrup commercial). This is coming from the same root as family - you don't go back to your furmily home for Christmas, do you? I didn't think so. Right then, everyone stop it; just pronounce this word correctly so I don't have to get phonetic on you.

Grand Excitement!

It's hard to believe, but we're nearing the mid-point of October. That, of course, means that it's barely more than two weeks to the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to those in the know).
I've got far too many ideas for stick shaking, but I plan to press on with my newest concept, and I'll invite you all to view my progress. I'll post the occasional excerpt here, as well as basic info on how it's going. That way, my huge reading audience will be ready for the publication of the next in an ever-growing line of novels from Grand Teuton Press. (Interested in a great book? check out our online store at www.lulu.com/grandteuton)
I can hardly wait to get my words down on paper (or display, or whatever). If you want to be a part of National Novel Writing Month, check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org - you'll have a blast!

Tradition! 

What a trip!

Well, we just got back from our huge trip to Newfoundland which took us through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Manitoba, Ontario, and back to Michigan. Oh, somehow we missed Newfoundland - perhaps it was the $5 and $6 gallons of gasoline? perhaps it was the $100+ ferry rides to and from the island? I pity the poor folks who count on tourism for their livelihoods these days, it can't be an easy time for them.
Still, we found Voyageurs National Park quite spectacular, even without a boat, and the Thunder Bay / Lake Nipigon region is still wonderful, and the Fall colours were in full swing, let me tell you. Bizarrely, once across the bridge into the UP, the colors went back to green, as if a switch had been turned, or a time zone crossed (no thanks to Rogers wireless - grr! the bane of my cell phone existence, at least as far as the time was concerned. Since when is Thunder Bay in the Mountain Time Zone? No one there seemed to think they were, as evidenced by the time checks on the Giant (www.giant.fm), but my phone resolutely pronounced a time off by 2 hours, despite being reset twice! Once we were near the Sault, however, things were back to Eastern Time, and all was well with the world.
I suppose I'll put pictures up somewhere, but man, that's good gouda up there, and amethyst to die for. Who knew that a Sleeping Giant and a quacking duck could coax a hydrophobic dog (no, not rabid) into the bay of Lake Superior? Not we, at least not until we saw it with our own, startled eyes!
OK, enough for right now, I just wanted to get back to a little blogging after my total withdrawal from the virtual world into the real (natural) one. More to come, eh.