August 2016 Wrap Up

I haven't been on here a lot recently. I'm sorry about that but I have a very good reason that I will not mention yet.

But here's a hint...

Not going to say anything else until I get a few things situated first.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

IGGLES

This month was the 3rd IggleCamp!!

I was in Troop Impala. Unfortunately I am not a Supernatural fan so I didn't do any of the watch-a-longs. But I did participate in the Photo Scavenger Hunts. 

I love that I have been a part of this online camp for the past three years (even though I didn't get to participate as much as I planned...see above)

My first troop was Marshwiggles and last year I was part of Troop Hakuna Matata.

This camp is how I made all my twitter friends.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Oklahoma HEAT

100 Degrees and 100% Humidity. 

That is what every day feels like now.

I just cannot escape it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basically that is it for August. My birthday is this week and I have some STUCKY plans for my cake this year. Should have the pics up Friday.

I also won season tickets to the Tulsa PAC for all the touring musicals this season. The first one is in September, Newsies! Hopefully I will have something to write about and the time to write it. Of course I am in my planning stage for HallowFest16, which will be all Tim Burton related.

Better things are coming!

Iggle Camp Scavenger Hunt Pictures 2016

It's IggleCamp time!

I'm in Troop Impala this year. 

I love the Photo Scavenger Hunts so of course I had to participate. Although I am missing one, the blanket fort. But I managed to get the rest. They are in order.

Literary Fixation- The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold has been on my "To Be Read" list for a while. Again I watched the movie before the book.

I knew that this would not be a happy go lucky type of book. Still it was hard to read. After finishing it I just felt morose.

Possible spoilers ahead

------------------------------------------------------------------

The story starts with the narrator, Susie Salmon, talking about her murder. The majority of the book centers not on Susie herself, but on her observations of the people she left behind. Susie is able to watch the Earth from her version of Heaven. She not only watches but she knows what people are thinking and feeling.

This includes her murderer.
The story takes place over about a decade. The Salmon family never truly comes to terms with the loss of Susie but they slowly grow to live with the void she left.   

After seeing a film and then watching a movie it is hard not to compare the two. I will say that the movie doesn't do the book justice. The characters of Susie's siblings, Lindsey and Buckley, are not explore enough in the film. In the book they are focal points. Their dealing with Susie's death and the break up of the family as well as everything that comes with growing up in general.

It has been awhile since I watched the film but I don't think it included the Heckler brothers, Samuel and Hal, who are pretty important figures in the book.
Samuel is Lindsey's soulmate. She turns to him after Susie's murder. Hal is Samuel's older brother. He becomes a surrogate older sibling/parent to the Salmons. The Heckler brothers really step up with mom Abigail runs away from her family.

The book spans from Susie's murder forwards throughout the years until her sister Lindsey is married and has a child named after Susie.
One of the things that disturbed me is that there isn't any real resolution with the murderer, Mr. Harvey. After killing Susie he gets away and continues to kill people until a "random" icicle sends him to his death. He never gets caught despite everyone knowing he did it. I know this book is set in the 1970's but even then there had to be some form of interstate communication when it came to murderers.
Two other characters that Susie watches intently are Ray and Ruth. Ray was Susie's first and only kiss. A foreign boy at school that loved her. She was carrying a love note from him when she was killed. He becomes friends with Ruth after Susie dies. Ruth is the last person Susie had contact with on Earth before her "soul" left. Because of that Ruth is now haunted by "ghosts". She can sense and even see the "ghosts" when she is in an area where they died.

While I think this is a good book I doubt it will ever be a re-read for me. It just left me feeling a little bit depressed. 

Faux Foodie- Mini Boston Cream Pies

It's Faux Foodie time!

This time we made mini Boston Cream Pies.

The first step is making the pastry cream. We used a recipe from Joy of Cooking. Making this cream is a bit tricky. It can easily turn into scrabbled eggs. The trick is to slowly add the hot liquid to the egg yolks so that it heats the eggs gradually.

After the pasty cream is finished into the refrigerator until it is time to pipe it onto the mini cakes.

We used a basic yellow cake for the cupcakes. Trying to get them all even is a hassle but I feel like we did a decent job. Once they cold we took them out of their wrappers and sliced them in half.

Piping the pastry cream onto the bottom halves of the cakes and then putting the tops back on. This is starting to sound a little dirty.

Here is where our Boston Cream pies differ from other ones. Instead of using a chocolate frosting we used a semi-sweet chocolate ganache. It is make from heavy whipping cream, semi sweet chocolate chips and a splash of vanilla. I know it is not the traditional route but it is amazing. We just poured the ganache on top of the cupcakes, yummy. Since I made these with my mom I just have to let you know she had the idea for adding the extra chocolate chip on top. 

Star Trek Beyond Review

There is a symmetry to my seeing Star Trek Beyond in the actual movie theater. The last film I saw in an actual movie theater prior to this year's Captain America: Civil War was Star Trek (2009). Absolutely loved it. Went on a quest to all the Burger Kings in Tulsa to find all the promo glasses, which I still have in their boxes. Since my mom and I have been on a roll this year in going to see movies this one was a no-brainer.

I don't like to write full synopsis in my reviews, wikipedia does it better, instead I will tell you what I liked and possibly what I didn't like about this film. There will be spoilers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

By now we know the main crew in this Star Trek alternate universe, still in this film there is more time spent on some characters that needed a bit more fleshing out. Included in this are Scotty, Sulu and Chekov. They are given more screen time and have more to do compare to previous films. Something I really enjoyed was the mix matched pairing that happened; Kirk & Chekov, Spock & Bones, Sulu & Uhura and Scotty with new ally Jaylah. This gave the characters and actors a chance to expand themselves in the circumstances and change up the chemistry between actors. I must address that in the light of the recent passing of Anton Yelchin (Chekov) it was nice to see him have a good amount of screen time especially with Kirk.

Idris Elba's Krall was a really good villain. I did not recognize him until the end. (BTW I tried to go into this film as uninformed as possible of spoilers and casting. I thought it would be interesting to see it that way).

My favorite parts included every scene with Spock and Bones. It might just be that I love this version of Bones no matter who he is with. My mom really liked the scenes with Scotty and the new "Lassie" Jaylah. Honestly I really liked Jaylah. Kirk will always have to rescue a damsel in distress, because he's James T Kirk, but at least Jaylah holds her own for the most part. Should the Star Trek reboot series continue I would like to see her involved with the Enterprise crew. Perhaps she can take up the mantle that will be left by Chekov. I do wonder if they will make more of these films. They could end it now as a trilogy. And continuing on after the loss of a main actor will always be difficult.

Back to the film. For a two hour film the pacing is pretty good. The action scenes are a bit difficult to watch on a movie screen. A little disorienting but not so bad that it ruins anything. Maybe a film about space needs the audience to feel disoriented. 

My mom's only complaint was the "trite" building up to the show between Kirk and Krall and that Kirk could have taken him out earlier. This is where we differ. This is an action/ sci-fi film. It needs that tension. The buildup and the showdown. And Kirk has to give the villain a chance to do the right thing because Kirk is a hero. Yes Kirk had the opportunity to stop him but would he still be a hero if he did that? Not to Kirk himself. He must give every chance for redemption, that is who Captain Kirk is.

Basically to sum it up. I loved it. Go see it.

Dammit Jim...  

Netflix Picks- August 2016

This month Netflix hasn't added anything new that I feel like recommending. Instead I thought I would theme this month's choices.

Here are some of my "guilty-pleasure" movies and films.

As always: As of the time I am writing this all of these films and tv shows are currently streaming on Netflix USA but that could change at any minute.

Grease 2

This movie is a disaster on so many levels but I can sing most of the soundtrack by memory. Hated the lead male character. But the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are great, even though I could have beaten up these T-birds. 

Favorite songs: Cool Rider, Let's Do It For Our Country and Reproduction

Liv and Maddie

I somehow stumbled upon this Disney show...and I liked it. It's like a modern day Patty Duke Show. Bonus points for actually having Ms. Patty Duke herself guest star. For Buffy fans, you might recognize the mom, she played Anya's demon friend Halfrek and Spike's former crush Cecily.

Heathers

I grew up watching Heathers. It is a dark comedy and may not be for everyone but Christian Slater is perfection as JD and I wanted to be Winona Ryder's Veronica (still do). I have been obsessed with the musical version of Heathers. I plan on seeing a local theatre production of it around the end of the month. If you like this movie listen to the Heathers The Musical soundtrack. Theatre Girl Scream

40 Days and 40 Nights

After watching Penny Dreadful I am reminded how adorable/hot Josh Hartnett is. 40 Days and 40 Nights is a rom-com using the Lent as the abstaining plot device. As far as early 2000's rom-coms go this is pretty good even when it is embarrassing to watch.  

Birthday Wishlist 2016

My birthday is in less then a month.

I thought it would be fun to make a geeky birthday wishlist. Hint hint family and friends that read this ; )

Labyrinth Funko Pops

(picture from Funko)

Everytime Funko asks what new Pops we want I always say David Bowie or Labyrith. And this month the whole Labyrinth set is coming out! I need them all.

T-Shirts from Jordanene

(Pictures from Jordanene.com)

I want the Agent Carter "I Know My Value" shirt and the Bucky version of (ie red and gray) "I'm With You Til The End Of The Line" shirt. I really like the style of Jordanene's shirts. Fandom people will get them but non-fandom people will just think they are interesting saying. Win all around.

All the Marvel

I am a big Marvel fan. Especially the Captain America/Avengers/Thor movies. I also love Agents of Shield and Agent Carter. You really can't go wrong with getting me anything in this area.

Captain America: Civil War will be out on DVD in September. Need this!

But there are also a ton of Marvel Funko Pops I am missing.

(Pictures from Funko)

Currently missing from my Marvel collection: Winter Soldier (Civil War), Agent Carter, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Vision, Loki, Couslon and Agent May.

Alice (or the entire inventory of Hot Topic)

(Picture from Hot Topic)

Having read my blog you probably know that I love all things Alice and Wonderland (not a big fan of the Tim Burton versions though). Hot Topic always has some great Alice swag. Currently wanting this bag.

Also Hot Topic is full of everything I love including Harley Quinn, Who merch, American Horror Story, Zelda...so much. 

Game of Thrones Mystery Minis

(Picture from Entertainment Earth)

I love Funko Mystery Minis. Especially the Game of Thrones ones. There are getting hard to find in the real world right now. Screw Pokemon, I must collect all the GoT minis.