Fantastic Mr. Fox

My boyfriend and I saw the movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox, on Tuesday evening. It really was fantastic! Way better than The Men Who Stare at Goats... but anything is better than that movie! ;) The animation was very unique and Wes Anderson did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the original story by Roald Dahl. George Clooney played a "fantastic" Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep played the voice of Mrs. Fox. The cast list was impressive and each actor did a great job voicing their respective characters. Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Eric Anderson voiced some of the other key characters. The humor was appropriate for both children and adults; my boyfriend and I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. The movie is rated PG, so any time they wanted to use a swear word, they would say "cuss." So, for example: "What the cuss!" or "Are you cussin' kidding me?!" I laughed every time! I noticed Wes Anderson tied in some props from past movies to this one. A train similar to the one found in Darjeeling would circle around the farm property and Mr. Fox and his assistant were often found sporting black bandit hats/masks, similar to the red hats found in Life Aquatic. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves animation, the direction of Wes Anderson, and just wants a good laugh!

"A shapeless wad of goat cheese"

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a laugh-out-loud film directed by Grant Heslov and is based on a true story. Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a local journalist, sets out to report on the Iraq war after his marriage fails. While waiting to cross the border into Iraq, Wilton meets a special forces agent by the name of Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). Cassady reveals there is a private, psychic military unit called the First Earth Battalion, lead by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). The goal of the First Earth Battalion is to end the war, until Django, the battalion’s leader, goes missing. The adventures of Wilton and Cassady lead them to the discovery of another psychic soldier, Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), who ultimately warps the mission to achieve his own desired ending.

The phenomenal cast list, Star Wars-inspired tricks, and twisted humor are really the only things this movie has got going for it. The trailers do a wonderful job of attracting potential moviegoers, but the 93-minute movie fails to deliver. Some critics say The Men Who Stare at Goats “looks like it was more fun to make than it was to watch” and “is a shapeless wad of goat cheese.” Unfortunately, I have to agree with them. For anyone interested in seeing the movie, visit Red River Theaters in Concord, NH. They have many other movies playing, as well, if you decide to skip out on T.M.W.S.a.G :)

AK Designs Custom

The product I am going to focus on is a line of custom jumper ear nets (for horses) and the business is real! I started it up in August 2008 and have since sold over 120 ear nets. They are sold in a local tack shop (horse equipment store) that I work at and I also have a website that I created using a free site builder. At the time, I wasn't sure how well sales were going to be so I opted for the free website! www.akdesigns.weebly.com

Since sales have been better than expected, I am going to get a real website with a real domain name. I plan on making the website myself as I do web design, along with making the ear nets. I purchase the ear nets in bulk from overseas and then I order the colored cord trimming from various stores online. I sew all the cord on by hand, and one ear net with two trims takes me about 45 minutes. My current project with the ear nets it to make 35 of them by the end of December! They are going to be Christmas gifts for riders at a farm and their farm colors are hunter, burgundy, and old gold. (See photo above)

Micro-fiction Piece

Run to Stand Still

Painting: Run to Stand Still

8 x 8 / oil on panel

Artist: Lisa Rae Winant

Patrick returned home from a taxing day at the office. He worked as an assistant to the CEO of a large company and his job description could be summed up in two words: “office slave.” Monday through Friday, nine to five, you could find Patrick bustling in, out, and around the office; running errands for the CEO and anyone else that needed a hand. Patrick was the best in the business. He memorized all the top clients and business partners’ phone numbers by heart and had everyone’s e-mail addresses perfectly organized in an online address book. He made sure to update important information the second he received it and never had a “to-do-pile” of papers on his desk. Patrick was efficient, friendly, and organized; everything a CEO would want in his assistant.

Patrick had worked as an assistant to the CEO for ten years. The pair became great friends inside and outside the office, but Patrick was starting to feel under appreciated and under paid. After ten years of hard work, Patrick was hoping to get a promotion, or at least a hefty raise. Unfortunately for Patrick, none of these things occurred. Three years passed since the ten-year anniversary of Patrick’s assistant position, and he continues to “bust his rump” for the same CEO. Sometimes when we work extra hard and run ourselves into the ground, doesn’t it feel like we are standing still and not receiving the recognition we deserve?

My Impassioned Assignment #1

I'll admit it. It took me forever to try and come up with a topic I am passionate about. I suppose I am passionate about many things: my family, horses, riding horses... anything along those lines, but nothing of public interest. I am passionate about my country, which gave me the idea of writing about how obsessive people are of Michelle Obama and her style, and how ludicrous the obsession is!

Just about every time I log into my AOL e-mail, I go through and read the news headlines on the page. About nine times out of ten, you can find an article that has to do with Michelle Obama and her hairstyle from the previous day or the outfit she wore on vacation. Yes, she is the young, stylish First Lady, but I think the media are way too critical of her appearance.

For example, one day she'll be sporting her signature chin-length hairstyle, complete with bangs swept across her forehead, and the next day her hair will be pulled back into a shorter, more sophisticated style. The day she sported the new 'do, you would think the world was ending! The media and "Twitter-world" went nuts! Everyone thought Mrs. O had chopped her signature dark locks, when really, her hair stylist just gave her something different!

Another example of the obsession over Michelle's style is the day the Obama family left for vacation and were headed out to the Grand Canyon. She was photographed wearing slate blue khaki shorts that were mid-thigh length. Many news outlets criticized Michelle's shorts, saying they were "too short" and that type of dress was "inappropriate for the First Lady." They were going hiking. In the desert! Not to church! Just let it go! What would you wear hiking in the desert?! A business suit?!

I'm fairly certain that the issues (the economy, troops overseas, healthcare, workforce, you know...) facing our country today are much bigger and more important than worrying about what outfit or hairstyle Michelle will surprise us with next.

And so it begins...

This is the first official blog entry of the Fall semester for Media Writing class. Not so sure I like the colors of my blog so I'm sure they're going to change many times.