I want to do a quick follow up on my post from yesterday due to a comment I received on it. In the post from yesterday, I discussed the military and how I believed that those in the military were usually manipulated to think that they were going off to fight for some glorious cause; when in reality they would be killing innocent people for a corrupt government. However, I didn't go into nearly enough detail as I should have with my opinion and thus caused a little confusion. I'd like to thank my Aunt Michelle for her very thoughtful comment on my post, and close my idea a bit.
I do believe that our country needs a good military- for defense purposes. For when other countries attack US. But the issue I have with war is that the last time I checked, we had gone and stuck our own nose where it didn't belong due to oil or some other such trivial matter; and the country we invaded had retaliated. That, in my opinion, is not any of our military's business. You're literally sending people to go die over-seas for a cause they may not know anything about. Can you imagine explaining to a grieving family that their child had just sacrificed their life so that some big government-funded corporation could make a better deal? I can't see that going well. I mean no disrespect to those who recognize the corruption- and obviously; there are those who do. In the end, it's their choice and if they believe they are called to defend our country; then by all means have at it. In today's world, it does seem like things can happen out of nowhere... a beautiful example being all the bombings going on. I'm just completely against people who get manipulated to the point that they can't see what's in front of them. Those who join knowing exactly what they are going into have at least a good portion of their wits about them. That, I hope, ties up the loose ends from my last post. Good day. - Maddie
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"Accept no one's definition of your life; Define yourself." That's a quote by Harvey Fierstein. So who is Harvey Fierstein? Glad you asked! Harvey is a Tony Award winning actor, best known for his work in Hairspray and Torch Song Trilogy. I have seen neither, to be honest, but that is who he is.
Harvey has a hell of a quote here though, and I wish that both of my daughters will follow his advice. To be happy, you truly must live for yourself and do what you believe will make you happy. While money isn't everything, recognize that it helps to have some money, so try and find something that will make you happy, while still giving you the ability to bring home the bacon... or at a minimum some ham and eggs. No matter how you decide to define yourself, if you work hard, you should be able to reach your goals. Remember, the best paths are not always straight and narrow. Sometimes you may have to leave the well-worn path and strike out on your own in a new direction. Do this, but have an idea of where you want to go beforehand. When I started my own business, I knew I wanted to work from home and spend more time with my children. I created a business that achieved my goals, while also allowing me to do what I loved to do. After my wife and I separated due to her illness, my business could no longer survive in its current form since I had to little girls to raise on my own... one of them being a baby. Something had to change. Slowly I changed things in my life to allow me to continue to follow my path. I struggled for many years as I brought in nannies to help me to raise the children and did what I could to help Sharon fight her addictions and get on with her life. My solutions were not enough, though, and my situation remained untenable. After letting the nannies go, I spent about a year with no income coming in, while I took care of my daughters and looked for solutions. My Mom came to live with us in 2013 after my father died, and her help was enough to allow me to regain a client. All of the work was "in-house" however, and I could not use those reports to gain new clients. I was between a rock and a hard place. The money coming in was enough to pay the bills, but was not enough to rebuild the business. After a year and a half of living off of retirement savings, I needed the income to keep afloat. My divorce was amicable, but costly and with the drain on my savings, I was not in a position to drop the client who was supplying me with the in-house work, and look for clients where my reports were marketable for all. Finally, in 2014, I decided to put my business on hold and go back to corporate work. Although I no longer run my own business, I still work from home daily, and I can still raise my girls and home school them during the day. In the end, is it your work that defines you? Or something else in your life? For me, it is something else. When people ask me now, I tell them I am an analyst, or a writer, for I am both. At the same time I am a teacher and a Father, and a Sensei. Hopefully, I am also a good friend to some, a good brother and a good son to others. For my daughters, I know I am a good Father. And in the end, THAT is how I define myself. Today I read a new book called ''How Many Ways Do You Cut A Pie.'' Squirrel was walking along and then she saw a sign that said ''pie contest Today'' signed Pig. She wanted to win. So she made a pie. It was too hot to eat, so she put it by the window. Just then mouse came by. ''My,'' said mouse ''what a fine pie''. Can you cut the pie into two pieces, one for me, and one for you? ''No'' said squirrel this pie is for the pie contest. If I win I will share my pie with you. Squirrel won first prize! She then made another pie to share with her friends.
Ashleigh Have you ever listened to a song with a happy and light beat and a cheerful tone, and then listened to the lyrics to discover that they are miserable or dark at best? I play music while I work often, and I use Spotify to do so. I put it on shuffle and let it run through. A moment ago, the song 'Fun' by Troye Sivan came on, and I noticed a certain message in it that I wanted to speak about. So, below are the lyrics and before you read my opinion; think about what YOU think it means. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
But don't you wanna see the world, boy All the countries and the stars, boy Just don't look them in the eyes, boy You just gotta take their lives, boy Let me take you for a drive, boy Oh I swear you'll feel alive, boy All you gotta do is trust that I'm being true And do it for the people who love you Let's go have fun, you and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun You and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun Listen to what I tell you You'll see, my son Now you know what you gotta do Let's go have fun When you're standing on the line, boy Don't go looking for goodbye, boy Yeah, you gotta set them free, boy 'Cause you know that's what they need, boy Yeah, you're gonna make them proud, boy 'Til they put you in the ground, boy All you gotta do is trust that I'm being true And do it for the people who love you Let's go have fun, you and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun, You and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun Listen to what I tell you You'll see, my son Now you know what you gotta do Let's go have fun Let's go have fun Let's go have fun, you and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun You and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun Fun, you and me in the old Jeep, Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun You and me in the old Jeep Ride around town with our rifles on the front seat Fun, you and me in the Middle East Shooting at rocks, bullets cocked in the midday sun I think the song is clearly speaking about war. And while the song may get a bit repetitive; I'd like to dwell on the first verse a bit. It is literally talking about the delusion that the world offers up as glory for fighting in wars. They give the false image that you will get to see new places and that it will be thrilling; and that you'll be seen as a hero... but at the same time, to mindlessly follow order. "Just don't look them in the eyes, boy. You just gotta take their lives, boy". Don't look too close, don't see the truth. Just kill without reason. "All you gotta do is trust that I'm being true, and do it for the people who love you." Honestly, the message of being seen as a hero is strong in this song and it's sad because in today's world, it's true. Anyone Jo Shmo who goes off to the Army is automatically made out to be some kind of hero... and I'm sorry, but I just don't see it. Call me young, immature, or anything else, but in my opinion signing your life away in your most vital years where you could, I don't know, be getting a college degree or starting a family, is extremely foolish. Even worse, the cause for which you sign your life away! To go invade a country for monetary reasons; or for some non-renewable energy source... I don't see how anyone is still buying that. Have we not learned where war has left us in the past? Apparently not. I don't know where I was even going with this... I just think the country is manipulated; particularly the youth who think that the Army is the desired life. You may be seen as a hero; but do you really want to be known as a hero for supporting a corrupt cause? It's rather bittersweet, isn't it. We go to war to find peace and agreement. And that is every bit as bittersweet. - Maddie This quote is possibly one of the best I have come across in a long while... and recently; I've come to find more appreciation for it. As I've been slowly getting older (odd to be hearing from a 14 year old, but hey, we age too) I've been finding more and more reasons why silence is better than talking, and that isolation can sometimes be a lot better than being social. For one, my house is constantly noisy due to my little sister being young; so any moment of pure silence and relaxation is much appreciated. My house in general is loud- my family do not hesitate to make noise; be it with loud music, cooking, cleaning, yelling, talking, phone calls, or anything else.
-side note- The quietest times for me are often in the very early morning, before anyone else is awake. I usually make myself a cup of tea and watch the sun rise; before doing a little work and then resting on the couch. - In any case; that was NOT the point of this post! What I'd like to point out is the fact that too many people open their mouth to spread hate, negativity, and worry nowadays. I hear it and see it almost everywhere; online and in reality, and it sucks. In my opinion, life is too short and life after death isn't guaranteed. We were all placed on this one planet to get along and coincide; and instead, we go to war with each other. We're so desperate to learn about the life on other planets; when we can't even accept those of our own kind who are slightly different. It's ridiculous how hateful we, as humans, can be towards each other and it's really un-necessary. This being said, I think all of us can do with a bit of silence for once. We become so angry, so willing to antagonize others in the heat of the moment, and it's awful. So I have a challenge for my readers; as a way to calm down and be happier. This challenge may be a bit big, but I want you to try and at the end of next week, leave me a comment telling me about your experience. Here goes! I wants you to: - take at least one relaxing, long bath. - make yourself a cup of green tea every morning. - find 30 minutes every day to sit and meditate. - take at least 15 minutes every day outside in a secluded area, enjoying nature. - refrain from saying negative things to others. - if angered, take deep breaths until calm. - don't speak unless what you are about to say has some sense of positivity in it. There's too much hate in the world. Let's beat it back a little. Good luck, good night, and treasure the silence. - Maddie Today I'm going to talk about what I like about math. I like adding the best. I like adding because it doesn't take as long for me to do as subtracting does. I hate subtracting because it takes so long to do!
Ashleigh Okay, this post is going to be a little different than my usual missives. Earlier I had read an article by a Woman who titled her piece "Required Reading: The 40 Books That Changed Susan Orlean's World". The post was written in 2010, so I don't think I am stepping on anyone's toes by doing a similar article.
Below, I am going to list twenty books that changed my way of thinking. Not all of the books made earth-shattering changes to the way I think, but they all had some impact. If you leave a comment mentioning one of the books, I will write a blog post telling you how my thinking changed after reading the book. Here we go:
Well, there are my 20 books that had an impact on me. I have read hundreds of books over the years, if not thousands. Many of them were serial science fiction or spy books, and those too, had an impact on my thinking. Everything I read can have an impact on my thinking, because I try to keep an open mind. In all honesty, I think teaching your children to love to read is one of the best things you can do for them. Believe it or not, I do not have cable or any other type of TV coming into my house. My girls are allowed to watch DVDs, but not obsessively. This gives them a lot of time to read. For many years, Maddie read a book a day. Nowadays, she still reads, however, much of what she reads now she finds on the internet. Some of THAT, is likely of dubious worth. I hope that she soon returns to reading books as well as whatever it is she reads on the internet. PS - If you have nothing to do, pick up one of the books above. They are well worth the read! Maybe they will change your way of thinking as well! "Live the life you've imagined." This is a quote by Henry David Thoreau. I have a love/hate relationship with Thoreau. I found Walden tedious and boring. I also think he was a bit of a hypocrite. There are many things known about Thoreau that were not mentioned in Walden that occurred in and around the time that he was writing that book. I doubt that many people who like Thoreau and what he stands for have ever really read Walden, or have bothered to find out about him more deeply than saying the first line or two they have read on Wikipedia.
What I like about Thoreau is that he wrote persistently, and that he wrote on a number o varied subjects that oftentimes related to nature. Over the many years that he wrote, a sort of philosophy emerges, that is subtle. In fact, once you realize it, a second reading of Walden, while still tedious, becomes a bit more enlightening. I must say that what I really like about Thoreau is that he has a number of good quotes. He wrote a lot in his 44 years, so I am not really surprised. Here are some of my favorites by Thoreau, and then I promise I will get back to the headline quote:
So let me get to the headliner. I think what Thoreau is trying to say here is that so many people feel trapped and do not follow their dreams, and he believes that it is a huge mistake! Work towards your goals. You'd be so surprised how far it can take you. My dream had always been to get away from the city. I loved the appeal of country living. Less traffic, less people and a slower life style. In 1999, I moved from Old Bridge to Pennington. At the time I felt that I had moved to the country! I had farmer fields within eyesight of my property, a stream ran along the side of my house and my office had a view overlooking the stream and the woods it was flowing through. Taxes were high, and after driving only a mile from the house I would end up in some semblance of the traffic I despised. By 2005, I was ready to move again. This time, we looked five states away from where we were. And, Jackpot! We moved to an area where we were truly happy. Although my wife has died since moving here, I do not think she died because we moved here. Her alcoholism had been progressing for years before we moved ( I know now from reading her diary), and would have killed her whether we stayed in New Jersey or not. Yet, before she died, we had at least three years of happiness in our new home before things got crazy and out of control. Now that Sharon has passed, My daughters and I are once again happy in our country home. The dreams Sharon and I were following are working out. We always wanted one of us to stay home with the children so that there would always be a parent there for them during the day. We also decided early on that we were going to home school our children. These were the main parts of our dream. The living in the country part was our reach dream. I was working from home, but all of my clients were in the New York/Connecticut area. We followed our dream, though, and moved to New Hampshire. Our dreams were realized (in a way) and I am happy in my home in the country. The only part of my dream that did not work out, was that Sharon is no longer here with us. Unfortunately, some parts of our dreams are always going to be out of our control. Right now, I am living the life I imagined 15 years ago. Except my wife is not here enjoying the fruits of our labor. I have new dreams now too. And I am actively trying to bring those dreams to fruition. Live the life you imagine doesn't necessarily mean to throw everything to the side and start down a new path right away. To me, it means imagine what will make you happy, and then work towards that goal. As you go along, your dreams may change... and that's okay. Let your imagination run wild, and then work towards the dreams that will make you happy. Nothing is too unreasonable, if you really want it, and you are willing to give up whatever it takes to achieve it. That's right sunshine, there is a cost for living your dreams. The cost won't always be monetary. It may involve moving away from people you love, or it could involve you having to change your lifestyle. Nothing comes for free. In time, you'll find that some dreams will be worth pursuing no matter the costs. While others won't be worth the costs necessary to achieve them. My point, though, is that if you never chase your dreams, you'll never know what those costs are, and whether or not they are worth what you would have to give up. No one can answer those questions for you. What would make you happy? And what are you willing to give up to reach it? Sometimes, you just might find that the happiness you are seeking is already here and you just didn't realize it. Good luck on your journey. And if our paths cross at sometime in the future, let me know you have read this post. I'll buy you a cup of coffee, and we can discuss what dreams we have imagined, and what steps we are taking to make them a reality. Today I read a new book called ''Polka-Dot Puppy.'' Polka-Dot Puppy did not have a home.
People ignored him. Others just didn't see him. Then while he was walking he saw a bakery. He saw cookies,cakes, and pies. But on his way in he couldn't even grab a cookie He kept on walking until he saw a toy store. He saw toy cars, toy animals, balls, and dolls. He went to a grocery store. He looked in the window,and he saw hamburgers, hot dogs, milk, and cheese. But the sign said No dogs allowed. It was getting dark. A watchman came by and gave him a pat. He laid fast asleep, then he smelled something. It was a fire! He barked, and barked until the fire fighters came. The firemen then adopted him. Ashleigh "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." That's a quote from Morpheus from the Matrix. Some of you may never have seen the movie, so I'll try not to spoil it for you. I will say that it's a movie that seems to take the story of a Christ-like figure (Neo) and mix his story with Buddhist thought and technology. Since all of those topics interest me, I found the series to be awesome. Watch them when you have the time, I think you'll like them.
To get back to the quote, I think it is obvious what he means by it. We all, to some extent, know what we need to do in life to be _______ (fill in the blank). Yet knowing what to do, and actually doing it are two different things. I'll give you a good example. I have metabolic syndrome. This is a disease which is hereditary and is oftentimes a predecessor to diabetes. My Dad had diabetes, as did my grandmother and my sister. I so far, have not gotten it. One of the things that I can do to avoid the next step is to avoid carbs. One of the disastrous facts about this disease is that when my body has either sugar or carbohydrates, a signal gets sent through my body to store away what ever I am eating as fat because my body is starving. I likely did not explain that very well, but what I am trying to say is that whenever I eat carbs or sugar, my body sends a signal to store whatever I eat as fat. The signal will last for around three and a half days too, so one little slip up on eating carb and I can plan on storing 3-5 pounds of fat over the next few days. Ever wonder why some people have a very tough time losing weight or seem to gain weight very easily when they don't seem to eat that much? Metabolic syndrome is the reason why. Well, the path to health for me is to avoid carbs and just get a minimal amount of carb intake each day through the vegetables I eat. I KNOW the path. The problem is that it is a very difficult path to walk. I can do great for a long time on the diet and really lose weight (I have lost about 65 pounds at the point of my greatest loss). The problem is that if I break it once, I will gain weight really quickly...even if I get right back on the path. My downfall, at the moment, seems to be the movies. I can do great all week and walk by cookies and pasta without eating any. But put me in a movie theater, and I have an extremely tough time walking in without grabbing a bag of popcorn. And the minute I do, I am destined to gain weight over the next week! Like I said, I know the path, yet walking it can be a struggle, particularly if my path happens to go through a movie theater! That's a very simple example of how we can know the path, yet have trouble walking on it. Deeper examples might include honesty (with ourselves and with others) integrity, courage, and how we treat people. I guess my point is that knowing the path is not enough. To get anywhere (in any aspects of our lives), we need to walk the path. Too many times when you remind someone that they were to do something you will hear them say "I know, I know!" and it sounds as if they are mad at you. In actuality, they are not mad at you, but at themselves for not walking the path. By reminding them, they are seeing one of their shortcomings, whether it was your intention to show them that or not. Thus, they get disappointed in themselves and take out that disappointment on you, the bearer of the bad news. Folks only you can decide what path you will take in life. Others can point the way, so that you know many trails (for there are many ways in life), but in the end you must be the one to choose the path you take. Choose wisely, for if you stray off the path too often, you may find that others who are walking that path, may have left you behind because they no longer had confidence that you actually wanted to walk that path. Can we take a moment to discuss the difference between these two commonly confused words, please?
con·fi·denceˈkänfədəns/ noun
con·ceit kənˈsēt/ noun
Okay. Now that that has been established; I think you can see the difference. Conceit takes confidence to a whole new level. Conceit; in my opinion at least; is when you don’t know when to stop talking about yourself to others. You may be confident or you may be insecure, but whatever the case may be- you never shut up. You don’t shut up about how talented you are (even though you may not be), you don’t shut up about how attractive you are, you don’t shut up about how everyone loves you, and you don’t shut up about how fucking wonderful you are. And quite frankly, it’s annoying! I am an advocate of the whole “self love” and learning to love yourself movement- but this is ridiculous! In my opinion; confidence is something you have that you don’t share with others. You keep it to yourself; and in doing so your confidence is radiant and others can tell you’re confident just from how you act. Because YOU know it. You don’t have to constantly walk around telling everyone or reminding everyone of your brilliance; they just get that from you because you naturally are. I personally believe that it’s great to have confidence. I think it’s wonderful when people appreciate themselves; and take pride in what they do and how they do it. That’s great! What isn’t great is being so insecure or so full of yourself that you feel the need to rub it in everyone’s face and even tear others down to build yourself up. That’s just awful. “Confidence isn’t walking into a room and comparing yourself to others. Confidence is walking into a room and not having to compare at all.” - Maddie Today I read a new book called ''Little too-Tall.'' Little too-tall wanted a friend. Parrot said ''you cannot fly'' and off he flew. Monkey said ''you cannot climb a tree" and away he went. Hippo said ''you cannot swim'', and away he went. Then she
saved an Antelope and a Zebra from a Lion. And they became friends with her. Ashleigh This post is going to be relatively short; because I honestly don't think much more needs to be said about this quote. I don't think there are too many moments that ARE valuable to people until they become memories... because you don't know the significance of the moment until later. Unless, of course, it's a moment you KNOW will be special. For example, the birth of a child, or a wedding, or something along those lines. However; most moments are insignificant to us until later; when they gain more importance due to other events taking place.
For example... memories I have with my mom are invaluable to me; and unfortunately when she was alive I didn't get to make many large memories with her... nor did I cherish the smaller moments. I took her being around for granted; and in the end I really wish I hadn't. I guess I fooled myself with the idea that she COULDN'T die young. Obviously enough; she could and did. So I cling to the few good memories I do have with her; because while memories of playing barbies or dancing or trying on clothing with her didn't have much meaning to me when I was little; they mean the world to me now that she is gone. So I guess this post has two messages... one; don't take moments for granted and try to cherish everything... and two... don't ever, EVER take human life for granted. It can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. - Maddie Last night Maddie and I went to the movies to see Super Man vs. Batman, and I must say I was sorely disappointed. To me, it seemed everything was wrong with the movie! The movie ran for 2 and a half hours and none of it was really appealing Batman/Bruce Wayne came off as a mumble-mouthed sadist, while Superman came off as a lovesick puppy. The movie started essentially in the middle of the plot and then used flashbacks and dream sequences to kind of show why some things were happening. Even so, the movies still came across as just thrown together scenes of action and violence. I wouldn't have minded that if it was good action scenes... but it wasn't. My favorite scene was a car chase with the bat mobile chasing an 18-wheeler, but yet still having trouble keeping up. Granted, they were shooting a lot of things at Batman, but still, he couldn't stop an 18-wheeler? The fight between Batman and Superman was anticlimactic and stupid. Batman uses kryptonite to weaken Superman and then decides that breaking a sink over his head was the best way to harm him. The fight goes on for a few minutes, and then, when Batman is finally ready to stab Superman with a kryptonite spear and kill his sorry ass, Superman mumbles to save Martha, and Batman gets confused enough to let Lois Lane come and explain that Martha was Superman's Mom and that she was being held captive. (Both Superman's Mom and Batman's Mom seemed to have been named Martha... what a lucky break for Superman!). One of the worst things about the movie, in my opinion was the casting. Most of the characters seemed a little off to me. In fact, the only actor who seemed to pull his role off was Superman. Batman mumbled his way through the movie sounding as if he had a couple too many scotches before heading out to fight crime. In fact, that might explain why at one point, the best way he could think of to stop Superman was to break a sink on his head. The scene might have been funny if he had hit him with a kitchen sink... you know he hit him with everything he had including the kitchen sink! But instead, it looked like an old fashioned bathroom sink. So even that scene was ruined. Probably the worst-cast character was Lex Luthor. In the comics, and in prior Superman movies, Lex Luthor has usually been bald, evil, and highly intelligent. This time, they got an actor who looked and acted more like James Altucher than Lex Luthor Above left is Jesse Eisenberg in his role as Lex Luthor. On the right is a picture of James Altucher. Below is a picture of Gene Hackman playing his iconic role as Lex Luthor. Now granted, while we all know that Eisenberg is no Hackman, if you had to guess which role Eisenberg was trying to pull off, Lex Luthor or James Altucher, by just looking at the pictures how would you guess? Oddly enough, Eisenberg even sounds like Altucher in the movie. Definitely not a Lex Luthor type character! By the way, I find James Altucher to be brilliant for what he does... he's just not really a Lex Luthor-like character. The next casting mistake, in my opinion, was the choice of Wonder Woman. Nowhere in the movie, by the way, did they mention that the woman who joins Batman and Superman in fighting the monster is Wonder Woman... you are just supposed to know that. Still, not to be a spoiler here, but it's Wonder Woman. Not to take anything away from the acting here; I think Gal Godat did the action scenes reasonably well, and in fact said her lines well too. In fact, she said one of the few lines that actually made me smile throughout the whole film, when she first meets Bruce Wayne. My problem is that she just doesn't look like what Wonder Woman has always been portrayed to be. To me, Gal looks more like the pissed-off Italian waitress at my local pizza parlor back in New Jersey when I was growing up than she does Wonder Woman. Maybe I read too many comics growing up, or watched too much TV during the 70's, but my idea of Wonder Woman is a voluptuous black-haired beauty with well, wonderous breasts. It comes out in the comic and it certainly came out in the TV show. I mean Lynda Carter was Miss World prior to becoming Wonder Woman! No one watched the show because they thought she was a great actress, or because of the plot. The guys watched it to see what they were going to have her do this week that might make her fall out of her top! She never did, but most of the males watching the show always kept hoping! Gal Godat is on the left and Lynda Carter is on the right. Below is the girl I would have chose as Wonder Woman. I guarantee you if they chose her, the picture would have got an "R" rating though and likely made millions more from poster sales! Okay, now that I have put some eye candy up for the boys, I'll put some up for the ladies. Another miscast, in my opinion, is the movie's choice for Aquaman. Now, keep in mind that Aquaman only got a cameo spot in this film. He wasn't really introduced. But still, what we saw of him made him look more like a wild undersea vagrant than the old Aquaman from the comic book. Indeed, I would think it is more likely that this Aquaman would harpoon a dolphin with his trident and eat it raw, that speak with it telepathically. I know its hard to tell a character's personality from a short thirty-second grainy video in a movie, but take a look at the picture below and tell me what you think that guy is gonna do! That is one spooky lookin' dude! Give him a long overcoat and a bottle of Boone's Farm and stick him in an alley in any city in the U.S. and it won't be long before the cops would be rousting him for something! Alright, so if its not politically correct to call him a vagrant how about an evil Moses. Whatever you think he looks like, he certainly doesn't look anything like the dude below. Finally, I'd like to finish up by saying a few words about Lois Lane. I find that no matter who plays Lois Lane, they always do a good job. And Amy Adams is no exception. She's cute, vulnerable, and drops off of buildings really well. Meanwhile, she still plays a tough as nails woman reporter that just happens to get saved by Superman a lot. Even so, I must say that my favorite Lois is Noel Neill, She played Lois Lane on TV back in the 50's (I saw them as re-runs of course! I'm not that old!). I liked her because she was pretty, a go-getter, and while she played an intelligent character, I was always amused that she couldn't figure out that Clark Kent was Superman. She had a crush on Superman back then too!
Here's a weird little fact for you. Everyone knows that Betty Grable was the number-one pin-up picture among G.I.s during World War II. Most people don't realize that the number-two pin-up was Noel Neill! Anyway, that little fact aside, I think that something was lost from the Lois Lane character now that she is shacking up with Superman. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked the bathtub scene in the movie with Amy Adams... I just couldn't figure out how Clark Kent ended up in the bathroom when he walked into the apartment with his arms full of groceries. To me, some things are just better left to the imagination! Anyway, this post has gone on long enough. If you haven't seen this movie yet, wait for the DVD, its not worth the time, effort or money to go to the movie theater for. And with that, I'll leave you with three pictures of Lois Lane. The one on the left is Noel Neill. The one on the right is Margot Kidder, my second-favorite Lois. At the bottom is Amy Adams, probably my third favorite. If any of you care, Noel Neill is still alive, by the way. She is 96 years old. Naturally, she didn't age as well as Superman, but hey then again, she is not immortal. I read a new book today called ''Ice-Cream Cows and Mitten Sheep''. David saw the farmer milk the cows. At the dairy the milk will be made into butter, milk to drink, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt. He saw the wool of the sheep made into yarn.
It was used for a sweater, scarf, slippers, and mittens. The hens laid lots of eggs. to fry, scramble, boil, and put in an Easter basket. Ashleigh |
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