Running With Quills: A timely, and not so timely, topic

Friday, February 01, 2008

A timely, and not so timely, topic

It's 7:40 on Friday morning, and it just occured to me that it's my turn to blog. As I got my coffee together and toasted a cherry pop tart, I tried to come up with something really wonderful to blog about. I've been so impressed with my sister Quill's posts lately - boy they're good!
Unfortunately... my brain remained numb, churning over my to-do list for the day.

I looked out the kitchen window at the icy landscape. You see, we had a thick, freezing rain overnight so everything is coated in shiny ice. The radio is already announcing several wrecks. I just got back from Florida and lovely 70 degree weather - and then this! We're supposed to get snow on top of the ice, and then more sleet and freezing rain. I suspect it'll be nasty for a bit.

On my reader loop, we're all comparing nasty, snowy, freezing weather, and BEGGING for spring to get here - sunshine, flowers, birds and butterflies... So my timely subject is: what's happening weather-wise in your neck of the woods?
If you're a nice, balmy place, tell us about it!
If you're sharing the same icky weather that Ohio has, be careful.

My husband, who knows I'm not a cold weather friend, brought me home a beautiful and fragrant hyacinth flower. There are 5 blooms, and now my entire office smells of spring. I love it. I can't wait for milder breezes to nudge aside the cold, and for early spring flowers to start poking up from the earth.

But until then, I'm not about to let the nasty weather keep me inside - not when it comes to seeing movies. So that's my not-so-timely topic.

Will you brave the weather for something you want, like a trip to the theater? I tell you, after writing all week, I just really, really need a trip to the theater. The movies I've seen recently are:

Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I didn't like it. It was one of the movies that to me, seemed pointless. Very, very odd.

National Treasure, Book of Secrets. This one was surprisingly fun. I say surprisingly because I'm not a fan of Nick Cage. But it worked.

No Country for Old Men. GREAT movie... until that "What the heck?" ending. But still pretty good.

Cloverfield. LOVED it. It's been a long time since a "scary" movie had me jumping in my seat. I hope there's a sequel!

Rambo. Wow. One of my favorites, but I tell you, no horror movie anywhere has more gore than this one. I'm not sure an R rating was sufficient for the level of violence. The scary thing is, the violence is real for the setting. So very sad. An engrossing movie.

Enchanted. Saw it with my grandson and son, and it was just too adorable! Anyone with children should see it.

Game Plan. Again, very cute! And the Rock is just plain fun.

This Saturday we'll be home for a UFC event on Pay per view - yay! - but on Friday and Sunday we'll probably catch a flick. On our list of available "to see" movies are:

The Eye,
Untraceable,
and There Will Be Blood.

My #1 "can't wait to see" movie, though, is IRONMAN.
Check out the trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/large_trailer.html
It's not out until May - which is one more reason to anticipate spring!

So, what movies have you seen, or are anticipating?

And while we're chatting... wish me luck on the official release of HARD TO HANDLE, starting next week. New releases always bring me a lot of angst.

Stay warm, drive carefully, and keep smiling!
HUGS,

Lori

23 Comments:

Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Good luck on HARD TO HANDLE. I'm sure it will fly out of the stores. You do such a terrific job with those alphas and the fascinating world you've created.

--Jayne; 7:03 AM
Margaret said...: Goodness, Lori. For a minute there, I thought you saw all those movies in one week! Had to read back before I saw "recently".

Congratulations on the release next week. It's on pre-release from amazon.com for me.

I live east of you in Lancaster County PA. Our weather is always hit or miss. We had ice which turned to rain around 9am. At 5am, I saw my grandddaughter's high school was on a 2 hour delay. I don't know why I check this out every time. It's not like I have any responsibility to get her there. After 49 years of rasing/taking care of various kids, old habits die hard. Or never die, probably.

So, it cold and rainy in Amish land at the moment. I would love some snow to cover all the ugly boring landscape.

Jayne, if you see this, I am reading SIZZLE AND BURN now. Raine and Zack are walking back to her hotel after dinner. Love the chemistry between them. Kewl as the kids say.

Margaret; 8:11 AM
Shelli Stevens said...: I don't get to the movies much. (That whole single mom/writer = no social life for Shelli) My daughter DID just turn four though and we've tried to make it through two movies. Bee movie and The Chipmunks.

I really, really, really, want to see Enchanted. I hear such great things. But I'm not willing to watch it in chunks. You know, the every ten minutes, 'Mommy, I have to go potty' style of watching. I want to see it all non-stop and get that *Sigh* moment I hear about.

I have no desire to see Sweeny Todd. I thought I was just weird. Glad to hear someone finally thought it wasn't very good :); 10:53 AM
Tina said...: WEATHER:
I live in central Kentucky and my particular spot apparently has a pass when it comes to the worst weather (at least most of the time). If there are severe thunderstorms and tornardos, they hit in all of the surrounding counties, but seldom here. The worst of the winter will usually stay to the north of the Ohio River or pass over and hit Eastern Kentucky. That said, it started at 40 degrees at 7 am and it's in the low 30's, now. It's possible that all the rain from last night's rain will cause the roads to freeze by the time evening rush hour begins, but when I was coming back to work from lunch, there were black and scary clouds all around--and a shaft of sunlight shining down directly overhead. (Even still, the grocery store will be crowded with folks that look like they announced an invading army laying siege to the city as opposed to a possibility of snow mixed with rain and there won't be a carton of milk or gallon of water left on the shelves.)

FLOWERS:
Your husband brought you Hyacinths! I love those because they smell so wonderful! Unfortunately, I've had to ask mine to just not get me live flowers because they die almost instantly. I can kill a plant quicker than anyone that I know.

MOVIES:
I agree with you about Sweeny Todd. It was beautifully rendered--and pointlessly, disturbingly violent. I didn't like the song lyrics & the Judge was a caricature of evil. For that matter, I didn't really like any of the characters. Hard to care about what happens to any of them when they are all so appalling (or, as with his daughter, so under-developed that they could have been played by cardboard cutouts).

I haven't seen any of the other movies you mentioned yet, but I'd like to see Enchanted and Cloverfield.

No Country for Old Men. GREAT movie... until that "What the heck?" ending.

That sounds like what I thought about 3:10 to Yuma. It was a great movie that I was enjoying a lot--and then the ending made absolutely no sense. I thought it was because it was a remake but I saw the original right afterwards. The remake differed in a lot of ways, but not in the ending. (If anyone understood that ending, please email me and explain to me why Crowe's character did what he did.)

Best of luck on the release! I'm looking forward to getting it sometime next week!; 10:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Well, I hate to say, but the weather where I live is pretty tolerable - Hawaii! We have been having some high winds and cool temps (by Hawaii standards), high in the mid to upper 70's. It has also been raining off and on, but we really need the rain, so can't complain about that. I used to live in Ohio and Minnesota so know what you all are going through. That's why I live here now.

Movies...I cheat, I work at a theatre part time and get to see movies for free. Other movies that Lori didn't mention...

P.S. I Love You. Take lots of tissue as it's a real tear jerker but Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler were wonderful.

27 Dresses. Romantic comedy with Kathering Heigl and James Marsden. Some really cute/funny moments in it.

Atonement. Keira Knightly. A fabulous movie. It's only playing at limited theaters so you may have to hunt for it, but it's worth it.

There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day Lewis. His first film in quite a few years and he was excellent. A period piece, but definitely worth the effort.

Juno. I didn't expect much from this one, but it sneaks up on you and you walk out really glad you took the time to see it. It's the first movie I've seen Ellen Page (Juno) in. She did a fab job of playing a 16 yr old pregnant teen.

Upcoming movies I'm waiting for:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Coming in May
IronMan
Defintely Maybe (with Amy Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine)
The Spiderwick Chronicles - opens this month
Fools Gold - just because I like Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Comes out next week and should just be fun.
Horton Hears a Who - for the kids, coming in March. It's a remake, but great voices (Steve Carell, Jim Carrey)

I better stop. I could go on and on.

I'm sending warm thoughts to all who are dealing with snow and ice.

Aloha,
Kathy H.; 11:11 AM
Stella said...: Lori: My bookseller will call me when HARD TO HANDLE comes in--hehe. I'm in a reading frenzy and can hardly wait to get my hands on that number.

I've been seeing the shorts for AMERICAN GANGSTER and, maybe I'm strange, but it looks very good to me.

Sweeny Todd--Nope, not for this woman.

Lori--I always appreciate your rundown on movies, thank you.

Your husband is a sweetie, but you know that. Isn't it always the little, thoughtful things that resonate most?

Weather in a word: Disgusting. And here in the NW we're relatively fortunate as long as we don't try to drive over any passes since they've been mostly blocked by avalanche for days.

Stella; 1:01 PM
Lori Foster said...: From your mouth to shoppers' ears, Jayne! LOL Thank you.

Margaret, I see around 2 movies a week. :-) Way fun and relaxing - at least for a few hours.
;-)

Lori; 1:04 PM
Lori Foster said...: Shelli, I have to say that Sweeny Todd was once of the worst movies I've ever seen. We almost left in the middle of it.
I also saw Chipmunks with the grandson. Wasn't it adorable!? ALVIN!
LOL

Lori; 1:05 PM
Lori Foster said...: Tina, the good thing about blub flowers is that when they die, you save them, plant the bulbs, and in the spring you have them again!
:-)
They DO smell so delish!

I saw 3:10 to Yuma and yeah, that ending... I think it's a new fad or something.
:-P

Lori; 1:07 PM
Lori Foster said...: Kathy, you're a movie buff like me - except that you enjoy the chic flicks, and I tend toward horror and action. ;-)

Stella, American Gangster was FABULOUS!!! See it, for certain.
(And you know, it's based on a true story/real person. Fascinating stuff!)

Lori; 1:09 PM
Anonymous said...: sending you warm wishes from sunny Australia! Although today we have rain here (mid north coast of new south wales) it is still very humid. Australia's weather is very extreme at the moment, with flooding in central Qld (lots of flooding around S/East Qld in the New Year), wild rain/wind storms with hail in Sydney yesterday (4th time this season)and drought throughout the rest of the country. Nothing like being different!

I think most Australians talk about the weather, well in my family we do anyway! My nan always asked if we 'brought the weather with us'.

My garden is a riot of colour at the moment and the lorikeets and grass parrots are feeding up on all the bottle brushes and greveillas. We have many kookaburras, cockatoos and galahs who like to wake us up early with their laughing and screeching. No gentle calming songbirds around here!!

27 Dresses was a real chick flick. I took (dragged?) my partner to see it. He couldn't understand why all the women sighed when John Marsden came on the screen...

Best of luck with the new book Lori... I am off to take the boys to the beach... raining or not!

Tina
Australia; 3:29 PM
byrdloves2read said...: Looking forward to reading Hard to Handle, I've really enjoyed your other two about fighters.

Thanks for the link to the Ironman trailer. What a hoot! When that robot comes out shooting I laughed so hard. I've sent the link to some guy friends.; 4:47 PM
Aussie Dee said...: just bought Jayne's Sizzle and Burn today 02/02/08.

it is currently 29.2oC.

Saw "Enchanted" a while ago, just great, and isn't he gorgeous?; 11:17 PM
Lori Foster said...: Oh Tina, I would SO love to see your garden and the riot of colors! I would also love to hear the noisy birds. LOL Around here, we have blackbirds and hawks and geese still hanging around. They make a racket and eat a lot of cat food we put out - which means occasionally one of them gets eaten by the cats!
Beach! Beach! I want to be back on a beach!
Hugs, and have fun,

Lori; 6:34 AM
Lori Foster said...: ByrdLoves - isn't that the best trailer ever!? It really shows you what impact music has. The music for that trailer totally rocks.
Same with the music to Rambo. "Bodies" is one of my favorite songs, and when it starts during the movie... holy cow, it gives ya chills!
Music can make or break a movie, imo.

Oh, and THANK YOU for the nice compliment on my books. I soooo hope you enjoy Hard to Handle!

Hugs,

Lori; 6:36 AM
Lori Foster said...: Hey Aussie Dee, I hunted everywhere for Jayne's book before my trip to Florida, but I guess she was sold out around here. I'm heading out again today and hope to find it.
I settled on Julie Garwood's Shadow Music and loved it. But then, I'm positive I'm going to love Jayne's too!
Enchanted was wonderful, and yes, if you're talking about Patrick D, he is muy gorgeous!
I don't know what those temps are - I only do farenheit. LOL
Lori
Hugs,

Lori; 6:38 AM
Lori said...: Hmm. Well, weather wise, we were supposed to have six hours of freezing rain last night followed by tons of rain. Instead, we got a bit of freezing rain followed by rain... today, it is supposed to be +7 celsius... and then tonight freeze again. That has been the story of much of our weather of late.

I have been swamped so the last movie I saw in theatres was I Am Legend. This weekend or next, I am going to see Cloverfield. I want to see Untraceable and Iron man and There will be Blood (I love Daniel DaY Lewis and the previews are chilling). 10000 BC looks good as well.

On DVD this weekend, I am watching (in between marking sessions) Sunshine and War.

I LOVED Hard to Handle. Great work, Lori. It was a fun read with lots of steaminess and action. And I got all excited when I saw the preview for the second installment of Servant.... So can't wait for that one!!!!!

Lori M.; 7:44 AM
aussie dee said...: www.onlineconversion.com is what you need then Lori, it'll do temperatiure, currency, dress sizes estimates and a lot of other things, I use it when writing to my email pal.; 2:56 PM
aussie dee said...: I would like an opinion please this was on another author's website and I would know if you think its true.
Samuel Johnson once said, "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."

anybody? :); 3:03 AM
Lori Foster said...: Lori M., you got it aleady! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Yay!
And I just know you'll love Cloverfield, because we almost always enjoy the same movies. ;-)

Lori; 5:52 AM
Lori Foster said...: Hey Aussie, thanks for that link. I'll check it out!
As to the author quote... it's all a matter of attitude.
ANYTHING can see a great effort if you chose to look at it that way.
For me, writing is such a pleasure that I often I'm working hard.
Also, "effort" is in the eye of the beholder. LOL. If you've ever cleaned someone else's toilets, then writing will seem like a walk in the park.
I LOVE writing, so I don't think about it as work. But when I look back at the hours I've put into it, of course it's an effort.

Okay, overall I just think it's a dumb quote. LOL

Hugs,

Lori; 5:54 AM
Ranurgis said...: I'm really looking forward to HARD TO HANDLE since the poor guy got hurt and had to bow out of the championship while aiding and abetting Simon and his girl. I wish you great sales with it.

As for movies, I'm the one who has seen about a dozen movies in a theater since I returned from Europe over 28 years ago. It's still the old movies that I really love.

I saw "The White Dawn" (1974) on TV yesterday. It was mainly because I've got the book by Canadian James Houston somewhere. He was the commissioner or some such official in the Northwest Territories before he wrote this book based loosely on an incident that happened in 1896. Being the blood-and-gore sissy that I am, there were elements that I couldn't watch. (There were actual seals killed during the filming because the Inuit who were most of the actors in this film still used them as their main source of food.)

The film also showed a polar bear being killed. This, however, was not real. The animal was brought from a zoo in the U.S. (and apparently returned there) and had a hard time with its "natural" habitat. The author's son, who watched the filming, recounted that the producers flew in chocolate-covered donuts every week by 727. The crew always got a few, but most of them went to the polar bear. They were his favorite food. LOL. It's little tidbits like this that make this particular series of old movies so much more fun.

BTW, the non-native actors were Warren Oates, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Timothy Bottoms. They were the only ones who spoke English. The rest was just in subtitles or grunts.; 8:12 PM
majikgodss said...: Apparently we have the same taste in movies! I thought the same about Sweeney Todd. I knew it was going to be depressing, but it was even more depressing than I thought. I'm glad I saw it once (and I heart Johnny Depp) but I won't be seeing it again.

National Treasure was really good and Enchanted was super cute. Have you gone to 27 Dresses? I thought it was great.; 12:48 PM

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Friday, February 01, 2008

A timely, and not so timely, topic

23 Comments: