Christmas is most likely the busiest cooking time of the year. Most of you, like me, have lots of memories about Grandma's jello salad, Aunt Jane's chocolate meringue pie, and Mom's turkey (or ham). Not only do these things bring back good memories, but they also make me hungry.All of us have a favorite Christmas treat. Mine is...uh (this is a toughie)...probably Peanut Butter Blossoms. Here is the recipe:

When I think of Christmas, I immediately think of the music. It is one of my favorite things about the holiday. It brings back a lot of memories from when I was little. The most memorable songs being from one of Alabama's Christmas tapes (cassette). When I hear those songs, it reminds me of driving to town to go Christmas shopping, going down to visit my grandparents in Georgia, and the excitement on Christmas eve. Not only do I like listening to old favorites, but new ones too. I have grown to like Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas', Downhere's 'How Many Kings', and many more new classics (I think that's an oxymoron). Does Christmas music bring back memories for you? What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?

I will be attending the Rebelution Conference in Washington D.C. this week. Be on the lookout for pictures of the trip after the 24th. Here is the promo video for the conference. Be sure to visit the blog to learn more about the conference and how you can attend one near you. God bless.

Recently I have been thinking about movies. I was inspired by a recent post I saw to give out awards to my favorite movies. So here is a list of categories and their winners:


Heart and Spirit:
This award goes to a movie based on a book and is judged on the capture of the heart and true spirit of the book.


BBC Chronicles of Narnia



Capture of Character:
This also awards a book to screen adaptation.
This is judged by the best character portrayals

Alright. I know I have been slim on posts (non-weeklygeeky???) lately, but I have been very busy! I told my mom today "Do you know tomorrow will be my first full day at home since last Monday (the 6th)?". That's pretty crazy, even for me. Anyway, this Weekly Geek looked pretty cool. Here it is:

This week's Weekly Geeks asks you to tell us about your globe trotting via books. Are you a global reader? How many countries have you "visited" in your reading? What are your favorite places or cultures to read about? Can you recommend particularly good books about certain regions, countries or continents? How do you find out about books from other countries? What countries would you like to read that you haven't yet?

Use your own criteria about what you consider to be "visiting" -- whether a book is written about the country or by a native or resident of the country.

For fun, create one of these maps at this website ticking off the countries you've read books from - you might be surprised how many (or how few!) countries you've read. Include the map in your blog post if you're so inclined.

Feel free to tell us about any actual world traveling you've done in addition to your literary travels.

When you're done with your post, come back here and sign Mr. Linky with the post address. Then be sure to visit your fellow Geeksters to see where in the world they've been. Happy traveling!

After spending a lot of time racking my brain over all the countries I have visited in novels, I finally finished and here it is:




How many countries have you visited? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Let tyrants shake their iron rod,

And Slav'ry clank her galling chains,

We fear them not, we trust in God,

New England's God forever reigns.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton too,

With Prescot and Cornwallis join'd,

Together plot our Overthrow,

In one Infernal league combin'd.

When God inspir'd us for the fight,

Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc'd,

Their ships were Shatter'd in our sight,

Or swiftly driven from our Coast.

The Foe comes on with haughty Stride;

Our troops advance with martial noise,

Their Vet'rans flee before our Youth,

And Gen'rals yield to beardless Boys.

What grateful Off'ring shall we bring?

What shall we render to the Lord?

Loud Halleluiahs let us Sing,

And praise his name on ev'ry Chord.

Though I'm really not very good at it, I love trivia. Put books and trivia together and you've got a perfect match. So I thought it would be a fun Weekly Geek activity for us to come up with some book trivia questions to ask each other.

So take a moment, don't stress about it all, and write down five to ten questions that pop into your mind. You could center all your questions around a particular theme or genre, maybe something in which you specialize. Or ask questions about one certain book. Or teach us about your favorite author through your questions.

You could do really easy ones that you know we'll all get or really hard ones that will challenge even the best of us.

Once you post your questions and add your link here, be sure to go around and answer the questions posted by everyone else. Remember, no fair Googling! At the end of the week, don't forget to do another post with the answers to your questions.

And most importantly, have fun!

1. "The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves: but there must have been a very strong sun overhead, for this green daylight was bright and warm."
2. "[For] when they had crossed the sandy beach they found all silent and empty as if it were an uninhabited land, but before them there were level lawns in which the grass was as smooth and short as it used to be in the grounds of a great English house where ten gardeners were kept. The trees, of which there were many, all stood well apart from one another, and there were no broken branches and no leaves lying on the ground. Pigeons sometimes cooed but there was no other noise."

1. "'Thats the worst of girls,' said Edmund...'They never can carry a map in their heads.' 'Thats because our heads have something inside them,' said ___"
2. "Lie there, vile engine of sorcery...lest your mistress should ever use you for another victim."
3. "Now attend to me. I want-I mean Aslan wants- more nuts. These you've brought aren't nearanything near enough. You must bring some more, do you hear? Twice as many. And they got to be here by sunset tomorrow, and there musn't be any bad ones or any small ones among them."

1. Slave, Tash, Twins
2. White, Hope, Evil

Rebecca was written by Daphne du Maurier, and was first published in 1938. It was an instant seller, and du Maurier became a celebrated author of her time.

Plot:
A young woman, who's name is never revealed throughout the story, is working as a companion for a wealthy American, Mrs. Vanhopper, vacationing in Monte Carlo. There she meets Maxim de Winter, and after two weeks of car rides, dinners, and activities, he asks her to marry him. She accepts, and after their honeymoon, goes to live at his family mansion: Manderly.
When she arrives, she realizes how difficult it will be to forget his previous wife, Rebecca, who she has heard so much about. No one seems to be able to forget the young women, who had died in a sailing accident. Especially Mrs. Danvers, the house keeper and Rebecca's personal maid, who tells the newly-wed that she could never replace Rebecca, and that Maxim does not love her. The new Mrs. de Winter is beside herself. She is uncomfortable in every room, she has no control over the house, and Rebecca's shadow stands between her and Maxim. Then, something shocking is revealed about Rebecca's death.

My Review: (Caution:Spoilers)
I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. One of the things I found interesting, was du Maurier's unique writing style. The character's emotions were clearly portrayed, and I was able to feel some of those emotions as I read: shyness, excitement, uneasiness, frustration, and fear. Second, I absolutely loved Maxim and (what's her name:). I also didn't notice until the end, that she and Maxim were so much alike. She is terrified of strangers and new people and is constantly thinking about what other people say about her. Maxim also is the same way: dreading attention from the inquiry, and worrying about the damage of his family's good name. All in all, this is a very good book, and it earns a spot on my 'Top Ten' favorite books list.

Note: This book contains mild language.

The Movie:
There are several adaptations of this book.

1. The first was by Alfred Hitchcock, as his first American film. I have seen this version, and it is pretty good. Hitchcock dwells more on the suspenseful side of the story, so I did miss some of the relationship of Maxim and Mrs. de Winter. Other than that, it was really good! I do recommend that you read the book before you watch the movie.
2. The second starred *sigh* Jeremy Brett as Maxim. Unfortunately only bits and pieces of this film are available on the internet, because of copyright issues. I do think I would like it better than the first, because Jeremy Brett would be able to play the compassionate side of Maxim and the eccentric (crazy) side of him also.
3. The third was made in the 90's and starred Charles Dance as Maxim. From what I understand this was more about Maxim and Mrs. de Winter, and Rebecca was not as big a part as in the other adaptations. And, Rebecca was shown in flashbacks, a small mistake, because you don't have to see her to know she is there. Hitchcock had the camera move as if someone (unseen) was walking. This was just brilliant on Hitchcock's part.
   

This Weekly Geek was a Summer Reading post. I thought this would be a good opportunity to share my planned summer reading which is: 'The Imaginary World of C.S. Lewis'. I plan to read all of his fictional novels, and write my reviews here. Books I have read before, will be reviewed (i.e. The Chronicles of Narnia), except for 'Til We have Faces, which demands a re-read. Here is the complete list below:

• The Pilgrim's Regress (1933)
• Space Trilogy
  • Out of the Silent Planet (1938)
  • Perelandra (aka Voyage to Venus) (1943)
  • That Hideous Strength (1946)
• The Screwtape Letters (1942)
• The Great Divorce (1945)
• The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
  • Prince Caspian (1951)
  • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
  • The Silver Chair (1953)
  • The Horse and His Boy (1954)
  • The Magician's Nephew (1955)
  • The Last Battle (1956)
• Till We Have Faces (1956)
• Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1961) (an addition to The Screwtape Letters)
• Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964)
• The Dark Tower (1977)
• Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis (ed. Walter Hooper, 1985)

Well, once again another successful year of Masterpiece Classic has come to a close. Although not as good as last year's, there were several good episodes. This year's adaptations were easy to rate:

#6. The Old Curiosity Shop: I was very disappointed in this last episode! There was little plot, little character development, and not enough time was spent on developing the story. When it went off, I said "Whatever" and went to bed. A very pitiful way to end the season compared to last year's Cranford.

#5 Wuthering Heights: To me, this story was pretty confusing. If you haven't read the books, you'll probably have the same results. Now Tom Hardy was pretty good as Heathcliff, but better in Oliver Twist. Also, this story didn't grip me as much as the others did. My biggest problem with this movie was probably because...I don't like Katherine. Moving on.

#4 Oliver Twist: Of the few adaptations of this story I have seen, this is my favorite. First of all the cast was great. Beginning with William Miller as Oliver Twist, who met every expectation as the character and who demonstrated very fine acting abilities. Then Adam Arnold as The Artful Dodger was absolutely excellent, and portrayed his character well. Sophie Okonedo as the compassionate Nancy, Timothy Spall as eccentric Fagin, and Sarah Lancashire as the corny Mrs. Corney were also good. However my favorite actor in this movie was Tom Hardy as Bill Sykes, who is currently one of the best actors of this time. As far as everything else, the story was complete, the cinematography was good, and the music was...well, interesting.

#3 David Copperfield: This Dicken's classic starring Daniel Radcliff, is definitely a favorite. The screenplay was good, and the actors were brilliant! Daniel Radcliff and Ciaran McMenamin as David Copperfield, Maggie Smith as Betsey Trotwood, Pauline Quirke as Peggoty, and Zoë Wanamaker as Jane Murdstone were my favorites. My favorite scenes in this movie are when Betsey Trotwood tells Mr. Murdstone off, and when Uriah Heep is banished to Australia. (That's what I call sweet revenge!).

#2 Little Dorrit: Runner up in this list is Little Dorrit. This was very good, and most of it is due to my sudden love for the characters. Above all, my favorite is Mr. Dorrit, followed by Arthur Clennam, John Chivery, Amy Dorrit, Flora Finching, and Pancks. In this movie, I think the characters kept the story going, because there seemed to be some inconsistencies. Here is a comment I left about this film, on my sister's blog:

Things have certainly picked up speed here. I was thinking the other day: "I feel like Dickens is writing my life story, because everything is confusing and nothing is coming together. Thankfully, though, he is not. God has everything planned out, from start to finish, and in the end everything will come together. For His glory!"

So much has happened this week. I finished Rebecca (the review will follow shortly), I watched the last installment of Masterpiece Classic, and I have started Peace Like a River (which is really good, so far). I hope to get some posts up, this week. No need to fear dedicated readers!

Also, thanks to Matt&Beth, I have gone around with this song stuck in my head all week long. A funny video for LOTR fans. (Ok. It might have been that I watched it at ten o'clock at night, too). See it here. I will post soon.

-Selah

For awhile now, I have been trying to learn how to play Cathedrals on my guitar. The hardest thing about this song is the beat and the strumming pattern. Yesterday, I watched this video of Jump Little Children's live performance to look at the strumming pattern and... I found it! There is actually a quick upstroke at the end of each line (with the chords I am using, that would be C* and E). Get the chords here. Anyway, it is a pretty neat song. I think I might record it soon, so keep an eye out for it. Here is Cathedrals by Jump Little Children:

Earlier this year I started playing around with some tunes on my guitar. I have composed a few small things, but nothing major.

For my birthday, my mom and dad gave me a Platronics .Audio 10 Microphone. It's really nice, considering it was under twenty dollars. The sound quality is very good, also.

I have had a hard time trying to find a nice recording program that was free. I found one called Power Sound Editor (Free). It works fairly easily, especially for the beginner, and had an easy-to-navigate interface. This program has alot of effects to edit your tracks with and it allows you to record from a microphone, stereo mix(records from computer speakers), cds, and import mp3 audio tracks. You can also save your audio as a project and an mp3. However, there are quite a few downsides. First of all, it does not let you work with multiple tracks. This causes a problem when you sing to a track, and when you mix other tracks. Second, the screen does not have a horizontal scroll, so it crams the audio (Is it 'spectrum'?) into a small screen, making it hard to find specific areas in the track, which is hard to deal with when it comes to adding effects. Then a friend told me about another program called Audacity that has all the same features as Power Sound Editor. I downloaded the 1.3.7Beta version and gave it a try. It was better, even though it didn't have as many effects. The screen has a horizontal scroll, and you can mix multiple tracks. This comes in handy when you sing. As, you record the singing part (put on headphones), the first audio track will play, allowing you to sing with the instrumental track.

So, this recording was made with Audacity. I had a hard time naming it, but I will take suggestions. I hope you enjoy it!

Calling all christian film supporters! April 13th-18th The Widow's Might is coming to a theater near you. The Widow's Might was the winner of the 2009 San Antonio Christian Film Festival. This movie was written and directed by 19 year-old John Moore from Kaufman, Texas. I had the chance to view this movie with some friends a while ago and I thought it was very well done. If you do go see this movie, (and I encourage you to), do not do what I have a tendency to do: Expect Hollywood technology and acting. Don't get me wrong! The movie was fantastic! But if you don't go in with really high expectations, you will like it even more.

Plot:
Let me explain...no, there is too much...let me sum up(I can't remember all of the movie). A young man is trying to enter a prize-winning movie into a film-maker's contest. He is inspired by a widow, and the (unfair)taxation of her land. When he decides to base the movie around her situation, a young news reporter, in direct competition with him, is out to hurt his name and give him a bad reputation. Despite being talked bad about and accused of leading a religious sect, he rallies his community's support and conquers his own doubt, to make the movie a success.

My Review:
While this is not flashy, in-your-face, high technology (which I don't like), it is very well made. The sets are beautiful, the cinematography is great, the acting is better than normal(for low-budget films), and the plots are original.

So, if you believe in supporting encouraging young, christian film makers, to give us the family-friendly movies you want, go and support this movie!

Links:
The Widow's Might Website
John Moore's blog
Find where this movie will be playing near you (this make take a few moments)

I sincerely apologize for the lack of posts recently. Things have been really busy on the farm lately. My mini rex rabbit had given birth to six kits in mid-march, I planted lettuce and onions in our garden, my sister's goat kidded last week, and the grass grew 2 feet (just a small exaggeration). With this in addition to web design classes (which I just finished), school, 4H, and (of course) guitar, I have had very little time to blog. But I am planning on spending the next week catching up on new posts.

Next to autumn, spring is my favorite time. So, here is a video I made with a poem by Emily Dickinson. The field in this video is actually behind my house (for better quality, it may be necessary for the video to load). To view the poem, go here.

My sister, bookwormans, joined 'Weekly Geek' (haha) and published a post on "Worst Movie Adaptations". I am in total agreement with her. You can see her post, here.

I was going to start this blog at the beginning of January, and here we are at the end. Even though it is a little late, here is a recap of 2008. First, here are the Top 40 Christian Songs of 2008 (some of my favorite songs are on here). In December, Patrol Mag released a list of the 50 best faith-inspired albums of 2008. This list is a good place to check out some new artists. You can then look up the artist's names, here, and listen to their songs. Now in 2009, you can stay up to date with your favorite artists, and their most popular songs, here. If you are interested in listening to some of my favorite songs, just scroll down to my jukebox.
In addition to listening to music, I also play guitar. So in 2005, I bought an "Epiphone" guitar, played around with it, and kept it in a corner in my room. Last January, I picked it up to start learning some songs. With some help from some friends, I was soon playing at my church. Now, I can play 22 songs, 3 at church, and the rest at home. Here is the list of songs I play at church: