Hey, Let's Cross The Sea And Get Some Culture

First and foremost I'd like to congratulate myself as this is my 300th post on this blog. It only took three years and lots of news, movies, books, music and gossip to get to this point. There may have been some cynical opinion sprinkled in there.

Now, on to the reason for this post. Prince Caspian, the second (written) book in the famous C.S. Lewis series The Chronicles of Narnia. The movie brings back the four characters from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Lucy, Peter, Ed and Susan Pevensie to find themselves in Narnia at the call of Prince Caspian, the heir to the throne of the Telmarines.

In my honest opinion, Walden Media (the production company for the Narnia films) did another fantastic job with Prince Caspian. The film lasts almost two and a half hours. Each moment of the film is great, filling the screen with amazing visuals, wonderful action and the verbal wit that only CS Lewis can add to a story with so much scriptural basis.

Also, the length of the film only helps tell every detail that was originally written in the book, only with some CGI enhancements, of course.

Recommended? Absolutely. I think I'll be seeing it one more time.

Don't Leave Me Dry

After months of waiting, I finally got to watch The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon en francais). The film is the adaptation of the memoir written by French journalist Jean-Dominique Baubey. It details his experience living with Locked-in syndrome - a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body.

Baubey, used his ability to blink as his mode of communication. His therapist and dictator for the book would list off letters in order of frequency and he would blink when the correct letter was spoken. The memoir took about 200,000 blinks to complete with each word taking about two minutes to get through.

The story in itself is so fascinating, heavy, sad and inspiring and paired with a beautifully filmed screenplay is worthy of so much more credit and award than I feel it's received. Please watch this film as soon as you can.

Jesus Was An Only Son

Here's a cool article on New York Times that highlights the upcoming book "The Wine Trials", a book that set up a wine tasting with over 530 unidentified wines using 500 volunteers.

The results are not shocking, but they're still interesting. A $10 bottle of Washington Champaign was preferred more than a $150 bottle of Dom Perignon. Similarly, the Trader Joe's signature wine, Two-Buck Chuck, the cheap ($2.95 per bottle) California Cabernet Sauvignon, topped a $55 bottle of Napa Valley cabernet.

Many reviewers of the book and study seem to think that the findings will "rattle a few wine snobs." But as the old (or is it new?) saying goes, "You drink what you like." And it appears that many like the least expensive wines. Hey, so do I. And I think this is a great way to differentiate between an inexpensive wine and a "cheap" wine. I think there's a difference.

I Have The Napkins To Dry Your Eyes

Does he have it? Pundits are saying 'yes.' Clinton is bleeding money...even going so far as donating upwards of $5 million to her own campaign. And with a hefty win in North Carolina and a close call in Indiana, it appears that it may be the end of the road for Clinton. At least I hope so.

And all the while McCain is sitting back comfortably and watching the Dems make the GOP look like the most tame and cordial party ever.

Pray for the people of Burma. With more than 23,000 confirmed deaths and much more damage to homes, businesses and farms, this is yet another disaster that's simply heart wrenching. And, I know it's technically called Myanmar, but I was born in 1980 and it's Burma to me. Just pray for that nation, will you?