The Gruffalo

Nominations for the 2011 Academy Awards were announced this morning (see the full list here) and there was one nomination in the Best Short Film (Animated) category that caught my eye - The Gruffalo!

M. received this book from our good friend Emma when she was born and it has since become a favourite of our whole family. Everything about this book is wonderful - the rhyming, the illustration, the story - and the follow-up, The Gruffalo's Child, is just as delightful.

You can view the trailer on YouTube and hopefully I'll be able to track down a copy on DVD.

Attack of the giant mushrooms

Today was a busy day filled with nothing so instead of writing actual content I am going to post one of my favourite photos that I took recently.


Alice Lake Provincial Park, Squamish, BC, September 15, 2007

PS. Go see No Country for Old Men. It was disturbing and gripping and soooo good! Javier Bardem is seriously creepy in this film.

Into the Wild

A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.

From "Family Happiness" by Leo Tolstoy

It doesn't happen very often these days that a Hollywood movie makes me stop and think but such was the case after seeing "Into the Wild" tonight. A. and I had a good discussion after the movie and it seems like we both took something different away from the movie. Was Chris McCandless selfish or searching for something that was missing in his life or both? This movie was beautiful and sad and thought-provoking and I highly recommend it.

Book 12

I finally gave in and read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown despite telling everyone that I never would. The movie is coming out soon, as you all know, and A. said he was taking me to see it whether I liked it or not (well, maybe not those exact words.) I figured if I had to see the movie I might as well read the book and I admit it - I actually liked it. Yes, Brown is obviously a big fan of the thesaurus but the story was interesting and I definitely didn't see the ending coming. I still don't know if Tom Hanks was the right choice to play Robert Langdon but I guess I'll leave that judgement until I see the movie.

Speaking of movies, A. and I have started to make a habit of going to the movies on Friday nights and last weeks pick was Stick It starring Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, and Vanessa Lengies. It was supposed to be like Bring It On with gymnastics and while the comparison is appropriate, “Bring It On” is still the superior movie. “Stick It” was funny and showed some brutal gymnastics mishaps and I’d definitely recommend seeing it, either in theatres or when it comes out on DVD.