The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

This is a sweet novel about a woman who, after being repressed all of her life, breaks free.
Valancy Stirling is a twenty-nine year old woman, unmarried, living with her mother and elderly cousin in turn of the century Ontario. Valancy is your textbook old maid. She's not very pretty, is quiet and subdued, and has never once been anyone of distinction. Every day of her life has been a disappointment and all she's ever wanted was one day of happiness, little does she know, her life is about to change forever. After a small act of rebellion, she decides to visit a heart doctor about some odd palpitations she's been having. She eventually learns that she has a very serious heart disease and has maybe a year to live. Valancy decides to stop living in fear of what other people might think or say, and starts doing and saying things she's always kept inside. She also leaves her mother's house to go work as a caretaker of an ill girl whom she went to school with who had an illegitimate child, and who's father was a known town drunkard, much to the horror and disapproval of her family. There is a man named Barney Snaith who visits this house on a regular basis to visit these people, and who holds something of a speculatively dubious reputation himself. As Valancy interacts with these people more and follows her own thoughts and wishes above those of other people's, and is finally needed by others, she begins to grow into the person she has always wanted to be.
The author was a bit wordy at times, giving descriptions that were a little too long about family members or situations or even quotations from novels Valancy enjoyed, but overall these didn't detract from the plot overmuch. There were also some annoying spelling errors, Valancy spelled Valance, Snaith spelled Smith, 'an' instead of 'a', things like this. They were few and far between, but still noticeable. I don't really find these annoying as I find it kind of a game to spot these errors in novels, but if that does annoy you they are here. They story is better than it's errors though, so I would recommend that you read it despite the spelling.
This was a very sweet novel. We are introduced to Valancy in all of her spinsterly misery. She was born into a tight-knit, very judgmental, upper middle class family. Her family does, and always has, pick on her for being unmarried and unattractive, and generally ignore her if they're not using her as a butt of one of their jokes. However, there is a hidden fire in Valancy that no one in her family can guess at, and after discovering her imminent death, decides that she need not be a slave to her fear anymore and let that fire out, as she won't be alive to have to deal with the gossip-mongering disapproval of her family. Events lead her to be living in the Muskokas, scenic cottage country a couple of hours north of Toronto, and the novel becomes a celebration of nature. The author describes the wildlife Valancy encounters with majesty and splendour. Her descriptions of the lakes and forests are magical. I have been to Muskoka and it was beautiful, but after having read this book I feel that I must go again, in winter this time.
The title of the book, the Blue Castle, makes reference to Valancy's dream castle. The place where she would mentally go when her physical life seemed unbearable. As the novel progresses, the Blue Castle moves from Valancy's dreams to the world she's living in. It represents her happiness, and as she openly becomes the person she has always been inside, her Blue Castle seems that much nearer.
This novel  was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon and many others. The Blue Castle is one of her few adult novels and holds all of the charm and magic that her young adult novels have. I would definitely pick up this author, not just this book. There have been film adaptions to many of her stories, including: Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, Emily of New Moon, and Jane of Lantern Hill. If you don't want to read the novels (which I recommend that you do) at least watch the films. They're all heart-warming, charming, slightly romantic stories with strong characters and whimsical prose. Do it.

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

The Gale family is an interesting one. Things seem to work in their favour more often than not, you could even call them special... Or witches, same difference.

Alysha Gale is a 24-year-old who, after losing her job, is forced to move back home with her extended family. Her family is large and in each others business and runs on something of a coven-like structure. The women rule the roost, and power increases with age. Things are normal, if depressing for Alysha, until the day when she receives a letter from her eccentric grandmother, stating that if she is reading this letter, her grandmother is dead. This is concerning news because it takes a lot to kill a Gale woman, and if you attack one you attack them all. Her grandmother's letter instructs her to go across the country to manage a store she was running there, and to settle any affairs she had outstanding. When she makes her way to her grandmother's store, she finds that the store is not as ordinary as your normal junk shop may be, nor are its patrons, and not is the town. On top of the everyday weirdness, she discovers that a sorcerer (not a friend to witches) has sent his apprentice to keep an eye on Alysha to make sure she doesn't interfere with his... plans. There's a big threat coming to town, and if the sorcerer's afraid, it's definitely something powerful and not good. What will Alysha do about the apparent danger in the city, not to mention some... interesting characters she comes across.

I enjoyed this novel, though it took a while to get off the ground. The author sort of just throws the reader into the culture of this family without really taking time to explain the rules or behaviours. In a way it's interesting because that is how a stranger would approach a culture like that, learning bit by bit along the way. On the negative side however, a more effort is spent at the beginning of the book guessing at what's happening and trying to figure out just who this family is and what they are than your average book requires. This writing technique also subliminally adds to the clannish nature of the family and the difficulty one would have actually getting to know them as an outsider. That said, once you are introduced, the family culture it is pretty intricate and fun. I liked Alysha as a main character. She was lost and unsure of who she was or where she was going pretty much throughout the entire book, but despite that, she always took challenges head on and ultimately had the spirit of a leader and a fighter. That spirit grew stronger as the novel progressed. There was good character development throughout the book. Most of the main characters and even some of the minor characters showed various levels of growth over the span of the story. Both the plot as well as the character development were well thought out and provide the reader with a lot to pay attention to. She also has a lot of fun with the dialogue, letting her characters be both bitingly sarcastic and comfortable with some puns, which can be fun in moderation. Overall this was probably not the best contemporary fantasy I have ever read nor the most gripping, but it is a fun read with interesting characters and an engaging plot.

The author is Canadian and the story takes place in various Canadian cities, so there is a bit of Canadiana that the author plays around with throughout the story, so if you know something about Canadian culture you'll be slightly entertained or annoyed, but if you don't then you might be slightly confused at times.  A disclaimer for younger readers is that there is suggested sexual content. There are no explicit scenes but there is plenty of suggestion, and sex is linked to how the witches manage their power and how the family dynamic works. It's a good in between books book.

Chloe (2009)

Chloe is a psychological thriller about a middle-aged woman who suspects her very flirtatious husband of cheating on her. After her husband missed the surprise birthday party she'd planned for him, the couple go out with some friends and she ends up meeting an escort in the bathroom. She then hires this escort, Chloe, to tempt her husband to see how he will react. Chloe then reports back to her with the various events that occur.

This movie had the potential to be very good, but didn't quite hit the mark. There are some great actors in the cast and they play their roles very well, the atmosphere was also pretty spot on. The problem is actually with the plot. The movie spends far too much time setting up the story and characters and building the overall plot, which is fine and is expected in movies of this genre... so long as all of that building sets up the audience for some sort of logical catharsis. But that's not the case with this movie. The climactic 'twist' came a little bit out of left field. When it was tied in to previous events in the plot, the resulting dilemma seemed too passionate and emotionally charged for the events that it supposedly stemmed from. So much time was spent building the story and the suspense, but at the same time.. not enough time and effort went into explaining Chloe's motivation and perspective, which made the whole film fall short of actually being good. It wasn't a bad film by any means, but it will disappoint you on an intellectual level.

Being Erica – Season 1

Being Erica is a show about a woman who is disappointed with where her life has ended up and as a result ends up seeing this therapist who sends her back in time to reconcile herself with regrets she has about her past. I thought the concept for the show was pretty interesting and I thought that the events of the past she went back to reconcile were relatively universal landmarks that are relatable to the audience. She gets sent back to situations like her bat mitzfah, her first sexual experience, the university group that could have landed her her dream job, event that went both well and not so well with friends and family, and in one episode she was even sent back to before her birth to better understand her parents.

One of the things I liked about this series was that at no point in any of the times Erica goes back in time is she able to alter the chain of events that have happened. She has a list of regrets that the therapist, Tom, sends her back to and she may change her perspective or may do something different from what she did in the past, but the resulting action that happened originally will still happen. The only difference is that she understands the situation for what it is and comes to realize that she is not to blame, or if she is, to own up to her faults and change her perspective or current actions to make things right. So really, even though this sounds sort of like a science fiction with all the time travel, it is more of Erica's rumination of her life and the actions she takes to own her life and make it what she wants it to be.

I thought that the characters were interesting and sufficient attention was paid to each of the minor characters. everyone in the show is given a story (minus Erica's boss, who is discussed more in the second season) and everyone is given a little bit of depth. We learn about Erica more and more with each episode as we see her struggle with her past, so needless to say that Erica grows as a character and who we see at the beginning of the series is somewhat altered from the person who we see at the end. An interesting show to say the least.

 

 

Pirate and the Penguin by Patricia Storms

This story is (as you might have guessed) about a pirate and a penguin. The pirate lives a life on the seas plundering, pillaging, and the like, but as it turns out, this pirate is getting a bit sick of the whole 'pirate thing' and begins wishing for a quieter life. In the antarctic there's this penguin, and just by looking at him you can tell he's out of place. He's wearing a sweater because he's cold all the time, and instead of sliding around on the ice like the other penguins, he dreams of adventure and travel. So the penguin and the pirate each decide to leave their homes to find a place where they can fulfill their desires and end up where the other left.

This story is a 'you can be anything you want' kind of book, as one could assume from reading the first couple of pages. The penguin wants what the pirate has and vice versa, and the story comes to a close with them switching places and being happy. It sounds like it would be a rehashing of a cheesy, over-played plot that's been so watered down by politically correct sentiments that it's lost any value whatsoever as a decent story... but surprisingly this is not the case. The story telling is fresh and fun and the illustrations are colourful and animated. It's a fun read with a nice little moral.

Road to Avonlea- Season 2

The second season of Road to Avonlea is just as lively and full of character and spunk as the first one. The first season ended with Sarah deciding to stay in Avonlea with her family instead of returning to Montreal with her father, and the second season takes up where the first left off. This season focuses on allowing the audience to acquaint themselves with the residents of Avonlea, instead of using the people of Avonlea to develop Sarah's character, which is what I felt the first season did more. In many of the episodes Sarah doesn't play an inciting role as she did in the first season, she's just more along for the ride here, which unfortunately foreshadows future seasons. I personally most enjoy the episodes that focus on the king family, and while I value and enjoy the time given to going into the lives of some of the other town members, I wanted the story to focus more on the king children/ adults. I loved Marilla and Rachel in Anne of Green Gables, I already know who they are and have watched the Anne movies enough times over to have familiarized myself with their personalities and dynamic. Seeing them in Road to Avonlea is nice and provides familiarity, but I find that I don't really enjoy the episodes focused on them as I do when they're just side characters as I already know who they are.

The focus on other people provides the viewers with an outside perspective of the King family. This is one of the reasons this show is so rich and intricately woven. The story isn't told from just one perspective, but from many perspectives. So one minute we are seeing from the perspective of one person, and the next from another who shows us a different perspective on the first person. So for example, if we were to see from Hetty King's perspective, we would see her pride and sense of honour and need to do what's right, but from say, Rachel Lynd's perspective, or many of the other town's people, even Sarah sometimes, Hetty is stubborn and heartless and cares only for the King name. so we get two sides of the story.

This is as good, if not better than the first season as the children are a bit older, and therefore a bit better at acting, and the characters and story are fleshed out a bit more. Great continuation.

Book Of Dreams by O Melling

 I enjoyed the first three books in this series and this one was a great conclusion. The heroine is a bit sad at having moved to Canada and wants to return to Ireland so she's very morose and takes interest in nothing. To top it off she's starting grade 9 in a new school and has no friends. Then a mysterious boy transfers into her class and sticks up for her when the teacher yells at her (he yells at her because she was looking out the window aka trying to get into fairy land) this incident is important because though she tries to get into fairy land she can't because she's blocked by something, and this will determine her quest for the rest of the book; to find out why she can't get in. Also, there's something not quite normal about the new kid.
 
All in all I'd say a pretty decent book. I think that this one, more than the others, is about finding yourself. The battle the heroine goes through in this book is an inner struggle. At the beginning of the book she can't even use her magic because she's so depressed, but she gets stronger and overcomes things. Plus, once again she goes it alone. Unlike the previous heroines who were questing to save/ find someone, she was questing for herself, though granted, this time round she has a partner in crime. great conclusion to a great series.

Chronicles Of Faerie by O Melling

 I believe I first read this series is grade eight for a book report... and boy has it stuck with me since then. This ranges as one of the first 'adult' fairy books I've read and inspired me to further my fairy obsession. And when I say adult I don't mean 'adult', I refer to the fact that this story isn't about the fairies we use to entertain children. Stories like this one draw their content from the fairies of mythology, from Irish/ British myth and legends.
 
In this book there are three stories, there is a fourth and concluding story, but that's not in this edition of the book. Basically, the series focuses on different girls and their interactions with the fairy world. 

In the first two, The Hunter's Moon and The Summer King, there are two girls and one get taken away by the fairies because she has caught the eye of a fairy king and we the readers are left with the girl left behind, who goes in search of the missing girl. The girl the reader is with eventually comes into contact with the fairies (which takes a lot of work as we might imagine) and she discovers that there is a problem. 

In the first it was the Hunter's Moon, a monster that demanded sacrifice (which they fought) and in the second the problem's focus is on (you guessed it) the Summer King. I won't go into a lot of detail because it's been a while since I've read them and I don't want to spoil anything. The third story is a bit different than the first two it's called The Light- Bearer's Daughter and there's only one girl in the story... the light bearer's daughter (the title's are really helpful). The girl in this story is half fairy (that would be the light- bearer side) and she goes in search of her fairy mother. This story is continued in the final installation, or I should say expanded upon because there is something of an appropriate ending in this book.
 
All of the stories have strong, proactive heroines and are rich with fairy lore, making the possibility of fairies come alive for a new, younger generation. A good thing about the series is that the characters from the previous books will make an appearance later on in the series as a minor character, kind threading it all together.
 
I strongly recommend this series. I have very fond memories of it when I was younger and have actually purchased it not that long ago. It's a great intro to faeries for those who are unaware, and for those who are, well its a fun ride. It's aimed towards a late elementary school, early teen audience, but can be enjoyed by anyone with a like interest. It's pretty well written and doesn't take much time to get through. I recommend.

The Reminder by Feist

This CD's on a lot at work, and I have to say that it isn't that bad to listen to. If left to my own devices, I would probably only listen to one or two songs of my own volition, but the CD in itself has a nice easy flow to it. Some songs can be rather melancholy if you're in the appropriate mood, but on the whole I'd say it's a light-hearted, easy-going album. at the very least worth a listening to, even in passing.

All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman

This was a good story. The protagonist, who is just a normal guy, know all of these people with 'super powers', but they're odd super powers, like he's dating The Perfectionist, who makes everything perfect. There was a guy who's super power was to take tension away from people, so he was always invited to parties, and my personal favourite, The Spooner, who would sneak into the houses of lonely women to spoon with them. These kinds of things. So it was more of an an everyday interpretation of a super hero, making specific human characteristics super. Because the super powers were so 'common' each interaction the protagonist had with a super hero seemed like a journey within the self because we, of course, all have at least a little of every 'power' within ourselves. So in that respect its an interesting read. But the ending is cute, even if you don't get over analytical like some (>.>).

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2003)

This movie was kind of slow paced, but once you kind of set yourself to that pace, it was pretty good. I think at one point they said the story is pretty universal among the Inuit, in the credits or the 'how it was made' part. It's basically about this guy named Atanarjuat, the fast runner, and it takes us through his life. The way it's told, now that I look back on it, has many of the same aspects as some of the less fantastical legends I've heard. The plot had a kind of 'epic' feel to it I guess. 

It was a very... real movie. There was no Hollywood drama or special effects, you felt like you were right there with them. It was a fascinating look at Inuit life and culture, and was pretty well done

Oh What A Feeling Volume 2

I really enjoyed this compilation. I'm usually hesitant in the compilation department because I enjoy variation... I can't listen to the same kind of music for too long without getting somewhat frustrated, but this collection was great! So many different genres were represented, and by fabulous artists no less. They have the classics like the band, The Guess Who, Rush and such, but they also have modern stuff like Barenaked Ladies, Our Lady Peace and Great Big Sea. There are also the much appreciated presence of artists such as Susan Aglukark, Snow, and Ashley Macisaac. ... it's good.
 
Of course it doesn't have everything... it's true completion could only come with some hard core metal.. which they understandably lack (as it's not exactly mainstream or easy listening.. but w/e)
 
This is the first of this series I've encountered, but I think I will check the others out. Decent overview.

Flags by Maxine Trottier

This story portrayed the forced Japanese emigration during the WW2 period. Many many Japanese families were sent back to Japan because the government thought they could be used as spies, even though many of these people were born in North America.
 
The story is about a girl who goes to visit her grandmother. The next door neighbour is an older Japanese man and the girl goes over to help him with his garden every day. The garden is something she's never seen before, it has no flowers or plants, it's mostly rocks and has a pond with koi fish, which she feeds. Then one day her grandmother tells her that many Japanese people are being sent away, and she finds out that the old man is one of them. She sits with the old man watching the sun go down and promises him that she'll look after his garden for him. After a while a new couple moves in and tears up the garden, replacing it with a western style garden. The girl takes the fish and sets them free and a stone and when she gets home she starts a small rock garden of her own.
 
I thought this was a good way to relay the information in picture book form. It tells the reader what happened and lets them feel the sadness, but does it gently.

Little Mosque on the Prairie

I really enjoyed this show, I watched the season as it first came out on tv. It was really entertaining. It's basically a sitcom about this mosque in the prairies. I loved how the first episode started, and is very much why I started watching the show. It begins with the new imam for the mosque, Amaar, is flying over to the town, Mercy, but gets stopped at the airport because he's Muslim. And the security guards believe in earnest that this guy could be a terrorist and ask him questions and treat him like he's mental, and Amaar replies sarcastically to their questioning, not really taking it seriously. Basically responding like anyone would to a ridiculous circumstance. It's great though, maybe look up the clip on youtube.
 
The mosque has an interesting collection of people. both conservative and liberal. The show is funny and fast paced. What's also interesting to look at is the relationship between Amaar and the Christian priest they share the building with. They're very charitable towards each other, making the point that the religion doesn't really matter.
 
It's a pretty good show, and came at a pretty good time to combat some of the negative and illogical stereotypes some people hold towards Muslims. It's a great sitcom. 

 

Souvenir of Canada (2006)

I was walking through my semi local video distribution.. place, when I came across this film. The title reminded me of something cheesy, an equivalent to that DVD with the burning log (why), but I saw that Douglas Coupland was the narrator so I took a closer look.

As with any attempt at a representation of a collective identity... not everyone will agree on this summation of 'Canada', and Coupland states this in the movie, that trying to pin down 'Canada' is like trying to hold onto water, or something to that effect, and it's true. Especially something like Canada, which takes pride in the fact that so many different perspectives comprise our nation as a whole. the whole cultural mosaic thing, but at the same time, there are some things that people living in this country will all be able to relate to, and Coupland attempts to gather some of these objects and ideas, all of a physical nature.

Coupland approaches this 'finding of Canada' two ways. First, he uses his own history as a sort of example for some of the concepts he comes up with. While this might seem problematic, as we're not all from not only that part of Canada, but have different backgrounds/ family dynamics/ etc., the fact that he uses his own story as a foundation didn't get in the way of my relation to the main points he was making. The relation to nature, the relation to the space... I couldn't apply all of what he said to my own experience, but I could relate everything he said to someone I know, if not to myself.
And the second part was he went about building this 'Canada house', which was essentially a house he had painted completely white inside and filled with different items of Canadiana. It was interesting to see what he included.

While I don't think this is by any means a full picture of what a Canadian identity is, it's definitely a start. Sometimes it's hard to see your own identity because you're too close to the subject, and maybe taking an outsider's perspective helps with the analysis. It was an interesting movie, quirky. I'd definitely pick up the book.

Young People Fucking (2008)

I came across this film on IMDb through Sarah Polley oddly enough (she got a thanks for it) so decided to watch it and I'd have to say it was pretty good. The title suggests that there will be a lot of sex, and while that's true in theory, it's not so much about the sex as it is the relationship between the couples. It actually skipped over the sex at points to move from one couple to the next. It was more about the relationships. 

The movie followed 5 couples through one sexual experience. The couples were named according to status 'the couple', 'the friends', etc. and the movie was cut up into the stages a couple goes through when they have sex. In each part we'd get to see how the stereotypical type of couple would react to each other in that stage of the process. All of the couples go about it differently and they have problems... it's very 'real'. I was kind of surprised watching it because in a lot of movies the sex scene is always smooth and.. well, sexy, but in this movie the couples talked to each other a lot throughout the whole movie. There was a lot of doubt on both sides and for every situation there was at least one point where you thought it wasn't going to happen. They made mistakes, or it was weird and they had to fix it. Basically it was a movie about the social aspect of sex. It wasn't as contrived as the big Hollywood, action movie, sex scene. It was a story about how different people who love each other in different ways wanted to get together, and how they did. But as I say, there wasn't any more nudity in it than you'd find in a contemporary teen comedy, and it has a substantial story line that's actually trying to say something about the romantic life of sex.

It was funny and it was romantic. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone age appropriate. Most of the movies coming out today with sex scenes idealize and stereotype sex, but don't actually go beyond the physical. Because of this it could be said that sex in the media is poorly represented and is cheapened by either the desire to draw people to a movie as a selling point, or to keep the story line going because the plot is sorely lacking in anything worth telling a story about. This movie takes apart the sex we see on TV and goes beyond the physical, makes it relatable to real life, actually has something decent to say.

Road to Avonlea season one

This is a great series. I have watched and enjoyed Anne of Green Gables before and was prepared for the world I was walking into, but I enjoyed it anew, as if walking into it for the first time. It's a story about a girl who gets sent off to live with her deceased mother's family for some time because her father is in some legal trouble, and how she slowly becomes a part of this small town. It's a fantastic period piece. To my knowledge, the setting and costumes are spot on and the sentiments of the time are also present, which is really refreshing. I mean I respect the fact that the present day takes pride in political correctness, but back in the day women couldn't vote, and a lot was placed on religion... and it's nice to see that history wasn't changed for the sake of present ideals.

At times the acting was somewhat contrived, but overall I'd say the actors did a great job. Even where the actors didn't quite do it for me, the characterization and plot stepped in and changed my mind. The characters are really compelling and they all have a story to tell. They have fire and spunk, even the quiet ones or the ones who barely make their presence known. The main characters had very strong personalities. Sarah is very proud and stubborn and little to nothing will get in her way enough to stop the course of action she's chosen... but at the same time she's reserved and thoughtful. Aunt Hetty is also very stubborn and strong (.. pretty much all of the women in this series have a strong voice, the plot is moved by them collectively). She doesn't like showing emotion and is at odds with several people because of the wrongs she perceives they have committed against her. She's very set in her ways. Olivia is very whimsical and counteracts Hetty's tough exterior. I won't go into all of the characters because there are a lot, but the two who aren't in the immediate family I'd like to mention would be Felicity and Peg Bowen. Felicity is Sarah's cousin and is very spiteful and petty, but at the same time, when she's nice you can feel the force of her character utilized in a positive way and are grateful for it. She's an interesting character because you sometimes can't decide whether you should like her or hate her. Peg Bowen is the town 'witch'. I really enjoyed this character because she's outside the norm and can be the voice of reason, I thought she was well done.

The episodes are basically events that open up the community a bit in some way or another, and Sarah's always the cause. it's kind of like that movie Pollyanna in that respect, but much more multifaceted.

This series isn't half as well known as it should be, but I find that those who know about it tend to really love it. And just a note. Make sure that if you watch this series, you watch the version produced by Sullivan Entertainment and not Disney. Disney chopped out pieces of the story and changed the music, their version is called Tales from Avonlea. Stay away.