Classic Movies

Last night my wife and I decided to watch Robin Hood, the old Errol Flynn version. I love it. She loved it. I find it hard not to appreciate how great a film it is, especially when you take the time to learn how much work went into making it.

The composer for the film, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, wrote the music to be in the same key as the voices of the actors while they were speaking.

The sets included the great hall of a castle, built from scratch - no CGI or special effects to make it seem larger.

Every arrow shown striking a target was fired by Howard Hill, unofficially known as "The World's Greatest Archer." Any cast member who had to be hit wore a sheet of balsa wood under their costume and Hill shot them, past every other person on set, right in the middle of scenes. Again, no tricks, no special effects. If you see a character get shot in this movie, they were actually shot, with perfect accuracy, by hill. And apparently, even with the balsa wood to protect the actors, it still packed a whallop.

It's only really now, as an adult, that I can appreciate the amount of work and craft that went into a movie of that scale. It was a different time for filmmaking. Everything was experimental. But even then the core elements of performance and scriptwriting were the foundation for the story. It's incredible to look back and see how people took on those challenges to manage what must have seemed impossible in order to tell the best story they could, to see how many things have changed and what has stayed the same. And also, perhaps, to compare what we've gained in filmmaking to the things we have lost.

What about you? What are some of your favourite classic movies?

Picture This #5

Picture This

This meme was originally called Daily Dose and it was hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly, but she stopped doing it :( and I just Love it SO MUCH! So I'll keep doing it but with a name of my own :) Picture This is a meme where I feature Lovely Pictures I find Between here and there and it's featured on Mondays :)

 & One More ♥

My First Design!

As you guys know, on Friday I started promoting that I could help you our with making your Blog Button or the Design of your blog. And today I finished my First Blog Design for Delphina Reads Too Much and I am supper exited!

Her Blog Went from This:

 To This:

Change of Background, Header, I installed it and I also did a button for her blog:

I'm really happy and Delphina is really happy with her Blog :D!

I also made a few Buttons for Obsessions of a Bookaholic:

What do you guys Think?

If you're interested in me helping you out with your Blog or Buttons send me an e-mail! This is FREE! I'm studying to be a Digital Graphic Designer so this is really helping me out to practice and I just LOVE it!

IMM #26

In My Mailbox

IMM is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

You can skip the video if you like. The moronic person that is me was in a hurry yesterday and totally forgot to place the camera the right way! urgh! this things always happen to me u_u, sorry 'bout that!
Here's a link in case you want to see the epic fail x)

In The Mailbox:

 Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
I ordered this book 3 weeks ago on e-bay... better late than never. it only cost 4 bucks so, no hard feelings x)

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
This book came highly recommended by Jennifer from Some Like It Paranormal and Heather from Nightly Reading, speaking of which, a part of Heather's Review is in the back of the book!! Eek! so exited, go check her review :D!


For Review:

Angelfall by Susan Ee
This book has been a buzz lately and has some really high ratings, so I did not hesitate in sending a review request! Already got it, already read it, already reviewed it! it was AWESOME and the covers is reeeeally pretty also! You can see my review Here ;)

That was all for me this week! I'm start classes on monday, which is a bit sad, I was enjoying having control over my life, but there's some people I've been missing during the holidays, and I can't wait to see them again :)

so, What did YOU got in Your Mailbox :) ?

Angelfall - Susan Ee

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Date Released: May 21st 2011
Publisher: Feral Dream
Pages: 255 pages
Date Read: January 20, 2012
Format:  pdf
Source: Author

Summary:

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

From Goodreads

My Review:

I've always been a big fan of apocalyptic movies, lots of people turn away from them, but they are my favorites, so when I saw this book was about the apocalypse I didn't hesitate to request it! It's actually the first book I read in the genre and wow! it was soooo good. all of those 5 star reviews were right :3 I'll stop my rambling and begin reviewing:

The book starts and we meet Penryn, a not so normal girl. Aside from the fact that the apocalypse started and Angels -not nice and pretty. More like mean and I-want-them-to-die kind of Angels - are taking over the world, Her mother has mental problems and her little sister is in a wheelchair. To make things worse her sister is kidnapped by Angels, and God knows what they will do to her, so Penryn is on a mission: Save her sister no matter what.

The book jumps right into the action, there are very few 'calm' moments, which was really good. Lots of hear racing moments and lots of: "Oh. My. God. You have got to be kidding" moments, Luckily Penryn wasn't alone to face them [her mom sort of gets lost] but she's being accompanied by a hot Angel that apparently isn't so bad: Raffe.

Raffe is the romantic interest of Penryn, though he doesn't show that much interest in her through the book, but by the ending all of his emotions show, Oh God The Ending! I was crying! not bawling or anything, more like a little tear here and there and some *sniff sniff* it was sooo good and I ♥ Raffe! seriously! everything was in slow motion for me, from the horrible things that happened to [SPOILER Highlihght:] Penryn's sister! I mean what the hell did they do to her? and what is she now? and the scorpion things and Raffe's Wings! and Arg!! I was TORN APART! I'm telling you! TORN!!!

So yeah, I found it a bit hard to get into the book in the begging, even though it was full of action and great stuff, I wasn't really into it. But by the end I was so immersed that, like I said, everything turned into slow motion. Oh and one more thing, I Loved that Susan Ee is Fearless! she was not afraid to describe graphic and grueson things, I love that she went all the way, because usually books tend to be sugarcoated, but this one was not afraid, so I really think that makes it that much more good :)

Maybe my review doesn't make that much sense but, what really does have to make sense is the fact that you have to read it. If you like Bad [and hot] Angels, creatures that come straight out of nightmares and lots of action then this book is for you :D!

and now I'm dying for a sequel... Special Thanks to Susane Ee for letting me review her book!

“I never kid about my warrior demigod status."
"Oh. My. God." I lower my voice, having forgotten to whisper. "You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I’ll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That’s what you are.”

“It is not the gentle kiss of a couple on a first date, nor is it the kiss of a man driven by simple lust. He kisses me with the desperation of a dying man who believes the magic of eternal life is in this kiss.”

And one More Spoiler Quote [Highlight] and if you haven't read the book DO NOT READ THIS QUOTE, I'm serious. Stop. Really. Especially you Jennifer, you read really fast and something tells me you want to read spoilers :P  Like I said, this quote tore my hear in two:

"“How long did you resist?” asks Uriel. “Did you push her away? Did you tell her she meant no more to you than any other animal? Oh, Raffe, did she die thinking you didn’t care about her? How tragic. That must just tear you to pieces.” Raffe looks up with murder in his eyes. “Don’t. Talk. About. Her.”"

Graffiti Moon - Cath Crowley

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Date Released:  February 14th 2012 [US edition]
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 272 pages 
Date Read: January 07, 2012
Format: ARC
Source: Netgalley

Summary:

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

From Goodreads

My Review:

I've always loved to write, and if I were to ever write a book, I would want to be just like this one. No doubt.

The writing style was really good! and the humor! Oh God I was laughing so much! especially at the sarcastic remarks! "This did not comfort me." That was my favorite line! [probably doesn't make sense if you haven't read it. You must]

It had the perfect valance of Lighthearted and Deep Situations! It was full of real art references and just in general, I would not hesitate to call this book a work of art. Delicate and just about perfect.

The support characters where great, Lucy had such a great sense of humor and I loved being inside her and Ed's minds. and Ed is my new boy crush ^^

I you haven't read it then What Are You Waiting For??!?!?!?!?!

It's worth Gold

“Emma Forest?" Jazz asks. "His ex is the girl with the big...?"
"That's the one," Daisy tells her.
Jazz looks at her chest. I pat her shoulder. "Guys care about personality too."
"Girls like me started that rumor.”

“Every time he looked at me I felt like I'd touched my tongue to the tip of a battery. In art class I'd watch him lean back and listen and I was nothing but zing and tingle. After a while, the tingle turned to electricity, and when he asked me out my whole body amped to a level where technically I should have been dead. I had nothing in common with a sheddy like him, but a girl doesn't think straight when she's that close to electrocution.” 

Energy Levels

This has been my wife's first week back at work and we've had to start getting up at 6:30am again. I don't mind, because it means I get a lift into work and I get more time to get settled at my desk, have my coffee, and do a bit of writing or editing before work starts. In fact, I pretty much got my first book written almost entirely in the hour before work started and on lunch breaks. I owe quite a lot to these early mornings.

But damn if it isn't hard to adapt to sleeping almost a full hour less each night. We've been getting to bed earlier, but sometimes (like last night) we wind up staying up late because something catches our fancy on tv. Last night it was Dylan Moran. We are eating a lot healthier which will hopefully help with our energy levels. I've been taking vitamin B complex as well as multivitamins & iron. Don't know where I'd be without those. I also perform Reiki on myself to help keep myself feeling focused and relaxed.

And coffee. Coffee is my friend. I'm no good to anyone before I've had my first coffee.

What do you guys do to help alleviate flagging energy levels?