Tag: review

Posted in Books

My Name is Asher Lev

Posted on by Rachel

Why did I like this book?
I don’t know.
It’s the only book I’ve been forced to read in school that i actually enjoyed.
First of all, this is a very character driven novel. And I love Asher Lev. He is the greatest. I connect with him in some weird way. He’s a Jewish boy trying to find a balance of religion and family and passion, struggling to find a point where it doesn’t feel like you’re going to fall of the edge of a cliff if you move too quickly.
His passion is art (if you don’t like art I don’t think you’d get as involved as I did). It’s more than his passion, it’s the substance of his existence. He doesn’t like the things the Jewish religion allows him to paint, however, he’s not sure if he wants to give up his tradition and way of live to pursue some vast, unknowable, dangerous dream.
This books takes him from a young boy to a man, and every step of the journey he is met with confusion, fear, opposition, and enlightenment. His father is overbearing, his mother is haunted, and he is much too good for the world.
Now that you’re hanging off a cliff, I won’t give away the ending!! hah hah. This is not a cliffhanging book, but it’s a thoughtful portrait of the life of a Jewish boy in America during WWII who loves art.
and that’s all.

suggested for: bored people, artists, atheists, Jews, Mormons, Catholics, WWII veterans, Protestants, Buddhists, hungry people, relaxed people, mature people.

and here’s a joke

how many mystery writers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Two, one to screw it in almost all the way, and another to give it a surprising twist at the end.

Posted in Music

BLG Concert Blog!

Posted on by Bri

SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR SUMMER

Band order:

The Maine

Metro Station

Good Charlotte

Boys Like Girls

    My throat is STILL sore from screaming so much. I think there may have been a moment of insanity where I bellowed “I love you” at Boys Like Girls that didn’t really help. There will definitely be more concerts in my future.

Jeanne, a friend from Hollins who lived in the town where the concert was, my grandma, and I stood outside in the hot rainy Texas weather for a little over two hours. Yes, Texas is all you’re getting. After eating at a nearby Hard Rock Cafe and realizing it was raining too hard to go back to the hotel, there wasn’t much else for us to do. Plus, the crowd outside the theater was growing steadily and we wanted to be inside as soon as possible. A local radio station blasted music for us at a booth they set up, so the multiplying indie kids could sing along while they waited. The rain stopped and started, but for the most part pounded constantly on the pavilion that the hundreds of us stood under.

Getting inside was a flurry of security guards, pushing, shoving tickets at the checkers, and holding onto Jeanne and grandma so we wouldn’t get separated. Our seats were on the balcony above the stage and to the right (our left). I was a little disappointed we weren’t down right in front of the stage, but for my first concert, I was also a little relieved. Plus, watching the crowd was almost as fun as watching the bands, as it turned out. (Mosh pits! Crowd diving! Mosh pits!!)

We were in out seats about forty five minutes before the show started, but it passed quickly with me hyperventilating, Jeanne laughing at me, and my grandma looking anxious.

The Maine had the opening act. I hadn’t heard of them before, but found I enjoyed their music. They did a great job warming up the crowd, and even though I wasn’t standing up and dancing yet, I was already having the time of my life. Metro station came up next, with a ten minute set change in between. They didn’t talk to the crowd as much, but you could feel the energy in every song. I’d never heard of them before either, and I still wasn’t standing, but I felt the excitement growing.

We tried going downstairs to buy a concert teeshirt, but the crowd was so thick downstairs between acts that we soon gave up. There was a fifteen minute set change before Good Charlotte, so I snapped more pictures of the crowd.

As soon as GC came onto stage, I jumped out of my seat. They immediately started in on one of my favorite song’s, The Anthem. Having not know the words for the first two bands, I sand along with vigor. Unfortunately, due to my gratuitous screaming for the first two performances, I was already starting to lose my voice.

The lead singer worked the crowd brilliantly. Jeanne and I were screaming, dancing, throwing up our arms, sweating, and I was bellowing all the lyrics I knew. Other songs they played included I Don’t Wanna Be In Love, Hold On, Little Things, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. By the time they ran off stage, I was sweating so badly you would have thought I’d just taken a shower. A hot, bad smelling shower. But I didn’t care. I couldn’t talk much, because I wanted to save my voice for Boys Like Girls. I knew every one of their songs. I would be singing all of it. And I would be dancing and screaming like a madman.

 

Ok, so since this is already a really long blog, I’m gonna post about BLG tomorrow (bonus!) and post my pictures.

Posted in Movies

Edward Scissorhands Review

Posted on by Godfather

When you hear a title like this, what do you think of? A dark bloody horror flick, or at least thats what I thought. This is further backed by my experience with “Sweeny Todd”, another Tim Burton film. So I go in, expecting all this gratuitous blood to be splashed around in my face. Boy was I wrong. Not only does it have little blood, but also barely any swearing. Heck, if I had just checked the rating, it was PG-13, but to me it could have passed as a stronger PG. Man, I really should pay more attention to that kinda stuff so I won’t be looking past the T.V. during the scenes I thought would get intense (I don’t like lots of blood ok? OK?????). Anyhoo…

Again, this movie just blew me away from what I thought it would be, but thats in a good way. I love a movie that will be different and still be able to pull it off. Contrast comes to mind with Burton, since he likes to put bright colors into his movies when there are some darker characters coming into these scenes. I have only seen this done in his movies, and thats why I’ve become a fan of him. The story progresses at a great pace, keeping me entertained through the comedy and drama the whole time. To me, most movies really can’t balance these two elements, they either have too much comedy which will make you not care about the characters, or too much drama which will bore you (an exception to this is if the drama is just excellent). Edward on the other hand pulls off both perfectly. This has to be one of the only movies that has gotten me to tear up (proof of a REAL man, this should make up for my looking away from the screen every so often… right?)

Acting in it was also phenomenal. Johnny Depp has to be one of the more talented actors in Hollywood, seeing as he can pull off a troubled “person” (Scissorhands), a play writer (Finding Neverland), a creepy gothic barber (Sweeny Todd), and a drunk pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean). The rest of the cast play their roles with just as much believability and emotion. This movie has also just confirmed to me that Tim Burton is a genius. With a resume of this movie, “A Nightmare Before Christmas”, and a musical that can make someone who hates them actually stand the singing (Sweeny Todd), he has to be one of the better Directors out there. Would someone please get this guy an Oscar already? The writing is top notch as well, making for some great scenes and comedic situations.

Ok, so was there anything that I didn’t like about this movie? Really the only thing about this that I didn’t think was right was how he ends up with scissors for hands. Now, I don’t want to ruin anything for all of you, but I really have to get this out. If you don’t want for a little bit of the movie to be spoiled (and I mean, its not even a big part of the story) then just go to the next paragraph. Why would an inventor make a human being robot thingy, and then instead of just WAIT to put hands on until he has actual hands, put scissors in the place of them? Couldn’t he have put on carrots or something non lethal instead? Makes NO sense to me…

Other than that though, the whole movie is just everything it should be. Everyone should really see this movie, unless you have something against scissors, hair cuts, hedge trimming, great movies, or Tim Burton. I would have to give Edward Scissorhands… 48/50 Ducks (yes, you read it right, ducks. Amanda, you should know that this will never stop)

Posted in Music

It’s five minutes to midnight!

Posted on by Bri


I first heard about this band on a friend’s MySpace. He had a song of theirs, Thunder, on his profile, so I looked them up and have been in love ever since.

When their self titled CD came out, I bought it immediately, and was not disappointed. All of the songs put me in a different mood, and each is diverse and fresh.

On my MP3, there is one song I skip over most of the time, their slowest track, entitled Holiday. The song is alright, maybe a little slow for my taste,  but what bothers me is the lyrics. “When I was younger I used to be wild/wild as an elephant’s child” Then, “Wise as an elephant’s eyes.” What is this random fixation on elephants? I’m so confused. As a person who generally picks a song for it’s lyrics, this track will forever be under my skin.

Sounds Like: All American Rejects, Cartel, Good Charlotte, Nine Days, Run Kid Run

Best Track: Dance Hall Drug

 

I decided to post this one today in honor of the concert I am attending tomorrow… BOYS LIKE GIRLS SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR SUMMER TOUR!!! WOOO!!! So next week I’ll do a review on one of my favorite bands at the first concert I have ever attended. So stay tuned!

Posted in Books

My New Calling

Posted on by Rachel

Is reviewing books. I’m not sure how well this will go over since the books I read don’t usually appeal to a ton of people.
But get over it, you don’t have to read it.

Here is an example: I recently finished House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and now I will review it for your viewing pleasure.

First off, I like Nathaniel Hawthorne. He’s very witty; throwing in these metaphors that you wouldn’t normally consider but that made a ton of sense when you think about it. I chuckled aloud a couple times. I enjoyed his writing style, even though it did tend to ramble-and I mean ramble. Long descriptive passages.
Also, in recent years, I traveled to Boston and went on a day trip to Salem, where I saw the very house that inspired Hawthorne’s novel. That whole town is creepy. The house is definitely not an exception, so I was excited to read his book about said house.

Second off, the characters are great. They are all very flawed and very human, not the normal beautiful girl and the tall dark handsome bachelor. The main character is an old woman named Hepzibah and I LOVE HER! There is also her cousin Pheobe, who is young and zealous and not annoyingly perfect like some other book characters. There’s Clifford, the mysterious and more than a little crazy brother, and the infamous Judge, whom nobody likes. A lot of the central conflict in this novel is between the characters.

Third, the plot was…subtle. I read the jacket of the book and I was like sweet! mysterious deaths, old creepy house, weird people! (that’s what I like reading about 😀 ) After about the first five chapters, however, there was not more than one mysterious death, no creepiness, and no real issues. I had a hard time figuring out what was going on, you really have to pay attention. This book is very much a character driven novel, but it helps to know what’s happening. So i stopped reading it for awhile cause it just wasn’t what I expected it to be. This is a classic?? kind of stuff.
So if you are not accustomed to reading too many 19th C authors, or classics in general, you will want to look at the plot outline on sparknotes. it will make you excited to read and or finish this book. (yes I’m lame, but hey, whatever it takes to finish). A book is not enjoyable if you don’t know what’s going on. So know what’s going on. TGFS.

Fourth, it was a good book. Unusual, and thoughtful, and appropriately creepy.

But if you’re not into setting out blocks of time in which to read, or you just hate books published before 1900, I suggest you look elsewhere.

So long, happy reading….

Posted in Books

HOLY AMAZINGNESS!!!!

Posted on by Bri

For those of you who have not looked at the shoutbox, there is a message from Brian Mandabach, author of Or Not!!! He must have done a search for mentions of his name (look at the “books I’m reading” block on the bottom right of the page), and came to here!! Isn’t that awesome?? So I think this calls for a full-blown review of this incredible book.

 

Cassie is a fourteen year old non-conformist living in a non-tolerant world. She has an older brother whose girlfriend is her self-appointed older sister and parents who really care about and understand her. The story is about her coping with several different events in her life, and her take on the world around her.

When I was reading this, it was like talking to myself. I like to think I’m fairly non-conformist (but yes, I do shave my legs. I just like the feel of it), and her sarcastic, creative way of describing things reminds me a lot of myself and my friends. It’s written in first person, which I love, and in journal form, which is also cool, because you really get to understand the character. I tend to write and read first person character-based stories, as opposed to third person plot based ones, because reading about a person is like making a new friend. And Cassie seems to be someone who I would realy get along with.

There isn’t much to complain about in this book, it had the perfect mix of unhappiness, cynicism, sarcasm, good character traits, and bad character traits. There are a ton of things I disagree with Cassie about, but if Mr. Mandabach can write a character that I disagree with but still love and connect to, that truely marks him as an excellent writer. He captures perfectly the essence of being a teenager, and he really seems to understand how we think. Cassie may be a little advanced and strong minded for a 14-year-old, but I have to admit, I was a lot like her. Still am, as a matter of fact. But I’m not average, and neither is she. I know people are always complaining that books have too many heroes and not enough normal people, but why would you want to read a book about an average joe doing average things? We read books to get away from reality, but not so much that they’re completely ridiculous. Even fantasy and science fiction have ties with reality. Mr. Mandabach’s book, Or Not, is something I would reccomend to anyone.

Posted in Entertainment

Laptops are the shizz

Posted on by Bri

Woo I can watch movies while working on my laptop now!! Life is goooood, man.

Wow after you drink coffee your breath tastes reeeealy bad.

Oh, I had an art club fundraiser tonight. We were doing face painting at the Food Services Banquet for the kids of the cafeteria workers. I painted lots of butterflies, a couple of cats, two candy canes, and some random other things. Apparently, last year kids started asking for dragons, and no one knew how to draw them. So this year we designated the only drawer there. Well, the only specific drawing student. Right off the bat, like four kids wanted dragons. I was the butterfly girl.

So we’re watching “Kindergarten Cop”. Arnold is funny, just because he isn’t trying.

Why does he have a ferret? Why the crap does he have a ferret?? Seriously? That better come into play later, or I will forever hold it against the movie industry. FOREVER.

Wow that lady is small.

Miss Sholwolsky. Nice. She’s friggin tiny.

Aww little kids are so cute. Except for the ugly ones. But there aren’t many ugly little kids until they get to about fourth grade.