Snow Mum.

So, my mom is quite the seamstress, and my sister and I finally took an interest in her talent this summer and learned how to sew. I found this pattern here and since I think we're all obsessed with the holiday season, they might be fun to make. What do you think? I don't know a ton, but I would be happy to share pointers that Mama J. has passed along. Oh, she is so wise.

Project?

Hey Ladies, ok I stumbled upon this through a friend (Catherine Stevens) and I think these headbands are absolutely adorable. But they might be a little pricey and we are in a recession and all, so then I thought, I'll just make one! And then I thought, this would be the perfect little project for the Culture Club. What do you guys think?

We could go pick out material and any other things we want to use together and then just go back to someone's house and work on them, maybe while we watch one of the movies? The website is marielizabethcouture.blogspot.com

It has a ton of different designs and patterns there to inspire us. Anyways, it was just a thought, let me know what you think.

Some really quick movie reviews....

I watched this film classic during my intro to film class at BYU (one of my most favorite classes I ever took at that institution). And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Part of my enjoyment could have been brought about by the fact that this was the last film that we watched and I had all the semester's lectures on analyzing film still fresh in my mind so that I was truly able to recognize how innovative and rule braking the cinematography was for this film at the time that it was created. Sometimes its hard for our younger generation to watch older films with the lack of realistic special effects or out-dated humor and acting quality. But this film was so creative for its time that I didnt have much of a transitional moment where I had to prepare myself for a typical old movie. The filming angles and framing are so unique. 

The plot was also thought provoking as well. It causes you to think of questions such as "what would people think of my life after Im gone?" "In the end what is the most important thing in life?" "What would I remember from my life while lying on my death bed?". Although the actual characters never fully found the answers to these questions for Kane's life the viewer does get a glimpse at the very end, and my interpretation is that although Kane was so successful and rich the thing most important to him (although he never expressed this until on his death bed) where his memories of being with an actual loving family.

I also enjoyed finally seeing many references from this movie that I have heard all my life, in their real context. "Rosebud....", "Xanadu". So many actors and films refer to this movie, and now, finally I can catch those jokes and references. 

I would definitely recommend this one.

I finally got to watch the original version of this movie on Halloween this year. And as many of you know, I hate scary movies. Im sensitive and dont have the ability to watch a scary movie and then sleep soundly with all the lights off. My most common reaction is to stay up the entire night with all the lights on watching G rated movies to try to get the images out of my head, I get scarred pretty easily. I used to do alright and I saw a ton of horror films, but one day like a light, I just switched. So I accepted to watch this film hesitantly.  I had seen the shower scene over and over agin in my film class so I thought I knew what to expect. But after the shower scene happened (and it happened way earlier that I ever expected) The film was gripping. I was on edge the whole time. I think that a good scary movie shouldn't have to rely on countless deaths and endless blood and gore to scare you. A really well written and acted plot is all that it takes to intrigue and totally scare the viewers, without any psychological or evil-spirit-inhabiting-your-body residual effects. And that is exactly what this film was. The definition of a psychological thriller. There was very little blood and surprisingly you never see a knife enter someone's skin. I oddly enough thought it was a great movie. I would definitely suggest it for your next halloween night.

Just got on CD

     

I thought that I would make my commute to work down in Orem more productive. Any suggestions or reviews that you want to pass my way so my listening can be more productive?

(yes this is enough listening for about a years worth of commutes, hopefully I get into them enough that I will continue to listen to them while doing chores at home)

I know I should have done this much earlier with my commute to BYU every day before I graduated but that driving time was better served as quiet-my- time where I didnt need to be studying or anything just time to relish my own thinking time. (dont worry I would still drive very safely, non of those daily accidents on I-15 ever involved me......knock on wood) 

Warm you soul its so good...

This is my new favorite treat! It is the right combination of cranberry orange with a tiny "plant" flavor that comes off more as a spice flavor. I have always had a love hate relationship with herbal teas. Growing up I liked the idea of drinking warm tea but every tea that I had just tasted like a watered down version of something that might have been good with a planty sometimes dirt-y (not to be confused with "not clean" but actually tasting like dirt) aftertaste. But in my recent years as an adult I found out that I can make my own tea however I want, which makes all the difference. I like to have this tea with:

-rally warm water (non of this luke warm stuff)

-TWO tea bags for just one mug

-two spoonfuls of sugar (helps the medicine .....tea......go down......)

-and a good helping of Half and Half (straight from the fridge into the hot tea, cause warm cream just curdles up and makes a nasty texture to your tea)

I also really like to make a very Yummy iced tea with my peach and berry teas, but Ill save those recipes until next summer (unless requested before then).

Movie List Ideas

Here is a list that was compiled by my Film Class Teacher of her favorite movies to analyze: (I cant vouch that all these films are good as I haven't seen them all) And if you like more older options than check out the link of movies under "Suggestions and Inspiration".

The Queen

March of the Penguins

An Inconvenient Truth

Iraq in Fragments

The Illusionist

Super Size Me

Hotel Rwanda

Edward Scissorhands

Duck Soup

Anything by M. Night Shyamalan

-Lady in the Water

-Sixth Sense

-Unbreakable

-The Village

On the Waterfront

Casablanca

Seven Chances

Any Alfred Hitchcock Films

-Psycho

-Vertigo

-Rear Window

-The Birds

-Lifeboat

-Strangers on a Train

-To Catch a Thief

To Kill a Mockingbird

12 Angry Men

Gone with the Wind

Wait Until Dark

Funny Girl

My Fair Lady

Roman Holiday

Breakfast At Tiffany's

Sabrina

Sundays in the Park with George

D.O.A

Double Indemnity

The Maltese Falcon

Out of the Past

Public Enemy (1931)

The Third Man

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Hero

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Blue Kite

House of Flying Daggers

My Darling Clementine

The Man Who shot Liberty Valance

Shane

Jeremiah Johnson

Rio Grande

Whats up Doc?

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Bride and Prejudice

Z

New York Doll

The Great Train Robbery

Chocolate

Arsenic and Old Lace

Princess Mononoke

Howl's Moving Castle

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Lady Vanishes

Color of Paradise

Hearts in Atlantis

The Bicycle thief

Memoirs of a Geisha

Spirited Away

Walk the Line

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Stangers on a Train

The White Countess

My Neighbor Totoro

The Triplets of Belleville

Finding Neverland

The New World

Out of Africa

Amadeus

Chariots of Fire

West Side Story

Ben-Hur

The Bridge on the River Kwai

42nd Street (1933)

About a Boy

the Long Walk Home (1990)

Il Postino

400 Blows

Paradise Now

Secondhand Lions

Lawrence of Arabia

2001: A Space Odyssey

Citizen Kaine

Solaris

American Graffiti

Holes

Chronicles of Narnia

Seven Samarai

the Road Home

3 International Films that I really loved are:

-To Live (its chinese, beautiful, about forgiveness, and is very symbolic with its use of the color red, much like the "sixth sense's" use of red)

-Life is Beautiful (total waterworks but very meaningful)

-Mostly Martha (The original german version not the american "No Reservations" version is an interesting study on one woman's battle with OCD and expressing emotion)