The Voice

I watched The Voice tonight for the first time tonight, and I have to say that I enjoyed it more tha I thought I would. Even though a good portion of it was wailing and forced vibrato, the Javier's and Dia's originals were impressive.

I found it amusing how the judges were totally into it when their 'star pupil' performed, but then acted completely indifferent to the other singers (especially Christina, gosh). Since tonight was the finale, the four finalists and the four judges put on a rockin' show.

Suprisingly, I am very interested in finding out the winner. But of course, they will have to have a long show before they announce the winner, because they like to go on and on and on. I probably won't tune in until the last ten minutes.

My Review: 2 out of 5 stars. The two songs that I enjoyed weren't enough to give it a good rating. My main issue is that there's too much hype and not enough talent. These people don't seem to really know how to sing. They don't know technique. They just like to damage their vocal chords and hop around like a little kid that needs to go to the bathroom. I think that is why I enjoyed Dia's song the best. Her performance of her original song was less hype and more talent. I really hope she wins. Fingers crossed!

The King's Speech

I just finished watching The King's Speech, and I have to say, I was very impressed. It was amazing how such a simple plot as a man overcoming his stutter could have such deep meaning. I know that other people think that the film is overrated, but I found it to be a well done, very touching story. Not to mention, the acting was exceptional on Colin Firth's part, as well as an enchanting performance by Geoffrey Rush.

So, my review: 4.5 out of 5 stars. As I mentioned above, the story was good. The acting was good. It was all good. To the people who thought it was a boring movie, shame on you for not listening. If you had listened, perhaps you would have been able to appreciate what a great movie it was. Maybe you think that I praise it too much, but I don't think so.

What made the movie for me was how he overcame emotional problems as well as mechanical problems. It inspires me to look back into my own childhood at the problems I faced there. I won't explain what those problems were, but that's what came to mind after watching this movie. He conquered over his emotions and Colin Firth did an excellent job portraying that here. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

Animal Hybrid #3

This week's animal hybrid is a Bushbaby + Toby Mac = BushMac Baby

I don't think of people as animals, but when I saw my Toby Mac poster on my door, then saw the little, pink bushbaby stuffy, I couldn't resist. I was planning on coloring it, but I never got around to it. I almost forgot to post it entirely. If you look at the time, you'll see how close I cut it. Nevertheless, here is Animal Hybrid #3.

Another Fondant Adventure

So hey, the fondant is back! This time it didn't go quite as planned. The fondant was very moist, and didn't hold together very well. At all. We had been planning on covering the two-layer cake with one big piece of fondant, but because it wouldn't work with us, we decided to cut circles out and layer them over the entire cake.

The circles and the flower were Nita's idea. Thanks Nita. ;)

As you can see in the picture on the right, the circles on the right side weren't staying on quite right. I hope they will stay on long enough for us to eat it tomorrow at sunday school.

Either way, I'm satisfied with the results of the cake. However, I have not mastered fondant yet. Not even close.

Austrian Sweets

A friend of mine went to Austria with her family and stayed there with her brother and his wife. She explored and admired and had a smashin' good time. She took tons of pictures of the fam, buildings, statues, and most of all, the amazing food. I swear, she took a picture of probably every dish she ate there, which made me extremely hungry.

While they were gone, I went and cleaned their house once a week. So, now that they're back, they came and visited me today. They paid me for the cleaning, and also gave me delicious Austrian yummy things. I received two packages of Manner, which are hazelnut sugar wafers, and Kinder Schokolade, which looks like a milk chocolate candybar. The only thing that I've tried so far are the Manner cookies, but I'm super excited for the chocolate.

The kid on the chocolate box kind of reminds me of Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but maybe that's just me.

Amelie

My mom and I watched a French movie together last week. It was called Amelie. The sweet, innocent beginning when Amelie is born and then in her childhood puts the story in a pleasant mood.

One night while Amelie is in her apartment, she discovers a rusted tin box hidden in the wall. The box is full of childhood knick-knacks and pictures. She decided to find the owner of the box. If it makes him happy, she would dedicate her life to doing good things for other people. If not, too bad.

When she finds him and returns the box, he is hit with nostalgia from his childhood. He is happy that the box has been returned to him.

So begins Amelie's journey.

Throughout the movie, she does anonymous kind things for other people. My favorite scene is when she takes the arm of the blind man on the street and leads him down the sidewalk, excitingly naming all the things she sees to the man, so he can feel like he can see again. Their walk lasts less than a minute, but when she leaves him, you can tell that he is happier than he has been in a long time.

Farther along in the movie, Amelie sees a man drop a photo album in the street. She decides to return it to him, but at the same time, she is shy about him. So, she asks him to meet her in different places, but never has the courage to go and talk to him face to face.

Finally, he goes to the place where she works, and one of Amelie's friends tells him where she lives. They finally meet. And then they fall in love.

It ends with Amelie and her true love riding through Paris on his motor-bicycle, and everyone else happy because of what Amelie did for them.

It was a very cute movie. However, it was R-rated for sexual content. Yeah, there was a lot of sexual content, but it talked about sex in such a light, silly way it didn't seem terrible.

My Review: I gave Amelie 4 out of 5 stars. It was a perfect blend of happy and melancholy. The whole overall feeling of the story was very satisfying. Because of the sexual content, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under the age of 17. Even if they can handle seeing a lot of naked women doesn't mean they should. I know the movie sounds really dirty now, but I mean c'mon. It's a French movie.

Audrey Tautou gave an excellent performance. There were so many parts in the movie that I didn't mention that were probably worth mentioning. But that would take a very long time, and I'd prefer that you go and watch the movie for yourself.

I think that what I love most about this movie is how simple it is. She doesn't find the need to change the world. She just makes it a happier place one person at a time.

The Letters

I have a stack of letters.

As I recieved them, I had kept them in my piano bench. But when the letters stopped, I tied them together with a shoelace and put the stack in a shoebox which I hid away for safe-keeping. And, as awful as it sounds, that's how I handled the friendship as well...

Sometimes I open the shoebox, and admire my little stack of memories. I never open them, never even untie the shoelace, because I am afraid of the guilt that would find me there.

He used to be a good friend. More than a friend actually. For one naive and wonderful month, we experimented on what it meant to have a relationship, as it was new to him, and somewhat new to me. All my relationships before had been long distance and almost imaginary. And they all broke my heart. But this guy, he was tangible. He was more than just a phone call away. He was there.

I remember when we started to call eachother 'sweetheart'. There was something about the word that put my heart at peace and complete bliss. It was being loved. No more second place. It made me first, and special, and wanted. I wanted to hold on to it with both hands and cling to it, no matter what it took. Anything to be called 'sweetheart' one more time....

But I knew I couldn't. When I realized that I was in love with this feeling more than I was in love with him, I broke it off (my parents' disapproval played a big role in this decision also). I broke his heart.

Then came the letters.

They started out as being our secret way of communicating, to go undetected by my parents' radar. At first they were genuine. We talked about what was going on in our lives and the comic in the paper that morning that had reminded me of him. But as time went on, and as my piano bench was beginning to overflow with letters, it turned into a hiding game.

He felt uncomfortable talking to me in person, so he continued to write letters that became more and more meaningless. I always sent one back, even though we both knew our hearts weren't in it anymore.

We finally agreed to stop going through the motions. We would try to just talk in person for now on. But it never was the same as it was last October. We had both changed. And even now, I feel like I don't know him anymore. And that's my fault.

I took all the memories and all the feelings, put them in a stack, tied them together with a shoelace, and hid them away in the outermost part of my brain. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to open them up and relive them. But the fear of the guilt and the longing I will find there is almost overwhelming....

I'm sorry Batman.

Marley Isn't Going to Heaven

Marley and Me, another addition to the legacy of dog movies, was on TV tonight. So, of course we had to watch it.

Everything was going fine until it got to the part when the dog is about to die. My little brother was starting to get emotional. Finally he let it out. "Doggies don't go to Heaven!" And he was tearing up. I was finding this quite amusing. So to make it worse, I said, "Well, at least they don't go to Hell where they belong."

Poor guy was so upset. In the movie, they began to give Marley the lethal injection. My brother was crying, and I was laughing. Perhaps, I was a little too harsh? But I mean, c'mon, he's twelve years old! He should be able to handle it.

I have to admit though, I let a little tear out, too. I'm a sympathetic cryer, and Owen Wilson was really upset. I couldn't help myself.

Chocolate-covered Strawberries

Tonight, I made chocolate-covered strawberries, which I suppose you already guessed.

In a way, I feel like I cheated. I used a premade container full of chocolate that you put in the microwave and stir until it's nice and smooth. Then you dip the strawberries in it, place them on waxpaper, and chill them in the fridge for a few minutes. Voila.

It was called Dolci Frutta, and I would recommend it. It was fast, easy, and yummy So what if it's cheating? They were delicious. Maybe next time I'll do it a smidgy more fancy. I was thinking of making "tuxedo strawberries", or at least getting some white chocolate to drizzle on top next time.

The possibilities are endless.

Animal Hybrid #2

ANIMAL HYBRID MONDAY

Animal Hybrid #2: Dolphin + Deer =

Wouldn't it be fun to ride one of these, or is it just me?

Miki Falls: Spring

Today at the library I was looking for some good manga to read, when I came across a series that I hadn't seen before. It was called Miki Falls. There were four books in the series, named for each season. So, the first book was called Spring. It looked interesting, so I checked it out.

The storyline starts out pretty simple. It starts out with a girl named Miki, who has no interest in boyfriends, opposite of her boy-crazy friend. At the beginning of senior year, she becomes fascinated with the new boy in town, Hiro, who seems to have a lot of secrets to hide. He's a loner, and intentionally pushes everyone away. But Miki's curiosity gets the better of her.

After giving him a gift basket with no satisfying results, she begins to harass him with constant greetings at school, which gives his little loner status a kick in the pants. When he finally confronts her about it, he opens up a smidgy and they become friends.

However, when he begins to feel threatened that his secrets will be uncovered by Miki, he ends the friendship. But don't worry, a heated argument isn't enough to supress her curiosity. She begins to stalk him. She watches his every move, ducking behind crates whenever he glances her way.

Now is when the plot gets a little strange. Going undetected, she starts noticing that he secretly watches different people around town, with no connection to eachother whatsoever. She also notices that there is a pigeon that follows him around as he scrutinizes people and writes down notes (Hiro writes the notes, not the pigeon).

Towards the end, she breaks into his house and finds out his secret. *SPOILER ALERT*

It turns out that Hiro is part of a secret society of celestial beings on a mission to keep love from becoming extinct. I know that sounds a little wacky, but it suprised you. Right?

So, my review: I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It was a satisfying read and the artwork was very nice. However, for a romance manga with only four books, I was suprised that the actual romance hasn't even appeared. Another thing that I didn't really like was that it wasn't written in the traditional manga style, which is when the book is read from right to left. Of course, this didn't alter the story one bit, but I wish it had been written in that format. One thing that I enjoyed about this book was that it covered fantasy, romance (a little), and a little action-adventure. Overall, it was a good story, and I can't wait to read the next book. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Animal Hybrid #1

WELCOME TO ANIMAL HYBRID MONDAY.

Every Monday, I will share with you an animal hybrid I create. AKA, two animals morphed together. This week's animal hybrid is the....

Meerkat + Alligator = MEERAGATOR!!!

I realized afterwards that I should have named it the "Allikat", because it sounds a lot like "Alley Cat". But unfotunately, the poor thing is going to stay the MEERAGATOR. Sorry..

Making Fondant

A couple months ago, I began experimenting with fondant. It is quite simple, but a good mixer i s needed. Don't even try to do it by hand. Your hand will fall off and explode into a bloody mess.

Fondant

1. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup shortening and 1 cup light corn syrup.

2. Mix in 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp clear vanilla extract (almond extract can be used instead of vanilla. It is just as delicious).

3. Gradually mix in 2 lbs confectioners' sugar (yeah, it's a lot) or until it is a stiff dough and not sticky.

4. To use, roll out the dough on a clean surface that has been dusted with the sugar until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick or thinner.

5. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes (roll it onto the rolling pin, then roll it out on top of the cake. Don't attempt to just pick it up and put it on there because it will crack) or cut designs out with cookie cutters to put it on cupcakes or cookies. The sky is the limit!

My first time making fondant didn't go exactly smooth. I left in the fridge overnight before I used ut, which made it much harder to roll out. Also, I hadn't figured out that you need to roll it onto the pin to put on the cake, so there were some cracks in the surface, which I tried to cover with piping letters over it. It turned out looking like playdough, but tasted delicious. My friends were very satisfied with the cake.

My second time around with the fondant went much more smoothly. Right after I mixed it into a dough, I put some red food coloring into it and worked the dough with my hands just enough so it was a pink and white tie-dye looking design. Then, I rolled it out and cut circles out of it with a plastic cup. After that, I put them on cupcakes that had been dirty-iced (meaning, iced with frosting so the fondant will stick properly) with buttercream frosting. The result was a delicious batch of yummy, pink cupcakes. (It made a lot more than this, I just used fewer in the picture. Sorry the lighting in the picture is so bad).

So, that is how to make fondant. I am going to experiment more, for sure, and I will let you know what other amazing fondant adventures I have.

True Beginning

So now I have a laptop. Mwahaha. I can blog every single day. Look out cyber-world, here I come. Hm...So this blog is officially a blog. No more 'once-a-month' ridiculousness. This time it is for real. Obviously, this post isn't that real. But from now on, I promise to deliver. Cross my heart.

Hope to die.

It's amazing how much more ominous that line looks when it is removed from the rest of the text. Watch...Hope to die. See? It's just not the same.

Pictures, short stories, recipes for fondant... It will be here. I will launch it into the endless void of my disaster blog, I promise. Don't worry little endless void demons. You will know how to make fondant shortly. Cross my heart.

Hope to die.

Goodnight little endless void demons.