House at the end of the Street

I more or less randomly decided to watch House at the end of the Street with Jennifer Lawrence when I saw it on netflix. I did check out the first few comments first and it seemed like it wasn't a supernatural movie so I gave it a go. It was pretty good. Not like spectacular or anything, but not bad. I liked the twist. This movie was just scary enough to be fun, but totally not scary enough to keep me up at night. And there is nothing supernatural in it at all. I don't really have anywhere else I'm going with this review I just thought I'd pop over here and say, well, what I've said.

The Curse of the Vampire

Yesterday I finished reading The Curse of the Vampire, by Karl Alexander. It started slow and boring and I had to make myself continue to read. But then it got going.

Now I'm not really going to say this was a bad book, really. It was just confusing. Maybe because it has nothing to do with vampires! Yes, this might be a bit of a spoiler because it's not confirmed till the end, but why should you have to go through some 300 pages just to find out that this book is actually about reincarnation? So if you came for the vampire you're going to be sorely disappointed. The back of the book leads one to believe it's about vampires by saying that this girl who's a movie star is filming in Transylvania and gets attacked in the Vladimir castle. There is one character who may or may not be a vampire, it's never confirmed, and when we see things through this person's viewpoint they have no idea that they may be one. The only thing we do know is this person can turn into a bat. There is nothing else, no blood sucking, nothing.

There's a lot of other confusing things about this book too. For example she has a great life, husband, kids, awesome mansion in the woods, movie star life, and she goes all emo about the darkness within, and everyone is way too concerned and horrified by this. The book also makes references to real life people's studies on the mind and stuff and I dunno, this isn't an area I really know a lot about. I have absolutely no interest in reincarnation or if a soul of someone can pass down through generations. So maybe my lack of knowledge left me with a giant question mark above my head through most the book.

So, basically, if you're into reincarnation, sure, maybe you'd be entertained. Me? I'm still kinda lost here. Why exactly was this book so inappropriately titled and described? Was the author scared no one would read it and thought he had to trick people into it? Either way, it's going in the "get rid of" pile.

Now for spoilers.

So she turns into a monster. When it happens she can't remember what she does. The only explanation offered her at the end is because she's connected to this guy who is a descendant of Vladimir who happens to be Vladimir reincarnate and he doesn't know it. And she's connected to him because he bit her when in bat form. He doesn't remember this because a doctor gave him a prescription that brings out his own inner monster. And she turns into a monster whenever he does. When he turns into a monster he kills people who are descended from the people who condemned Vladimir's lover to death way back when. And she is the lover reincarnate. When she changes into a monster she stays the same on the outside but when she sees herself in the mirror she sees a monster. When she tells her husband about what she sees in the mirror he is horrified and draws a picture. When he shows it to her later she freaks out and tries to kill herself. Wha?

I don't understand why this reincarnate of the woman from centuries ago is so overly dramatic. Going on and on about her inner darkness and what a monster, a horrible person she is. And, why? Because she was accused of being a witch and burned for it? This makes her inner soul so dark and demented and turns her into the most horrible of monsters that apparently freaks out everyone who even so much as gets a vague half-explanation of it?

I'm also raising my eyebrows at the whole "So what if you had an affair, everyone does it, who cares" attitude in this book.

More nails in the coffin

So apparently there's going to be a Star Wars Rebels animated series. Here's hoping they update the animation style causer seriously, Clone Wars was so 90s. But anyway, if you thought them cranking out a movie a year was bad this will be even worse! I mean, even sequels are easier for them to get the canon right on than this. You have to dig into obscure books and comics to get all the details for the inbetween ROTS and ANH era. I mean has anyone ever even heard of Tales from the Empire or Tales from the New Republic? Thought not. But on the off-chance someone has heard of them and read them I think they should include him, focus on his family and stuff. He has a great story to tell. A part of me dearly hopes but the rest of me shuts that part down and stomps on it and calls it an idiot for daring the hope. And just who is Garm Bel Iblis, you ask?

Garm Bel Iblis is a forgotten character. He was introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy, I believe. He's from Corellia. He was movie-canonized in ROTS in the deleted scenes because he had sent a representative to the senate to act in his place and his representative was in the deleted scenes (so, Disney, don't you go forgetting this!!! He is a MOVIE CANON character! You CAN'T write him out!). After the Empire was made he was targeted because it was believed he was stirring up trouble (and indeed he was working with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa to start the Rebellion and was one of the original founders of the Rebellion) and he barely escaped the bomb that took out his family. But who wants to explain all that in a 23 minute episode? Even if they did try the stupid newbie fans of today wouldn't know who he is. The only books they've managed to struggle through are the travesties Karen Traviss wrote, and maybe a handful of other Clone Wars books (though I do admit the Medstar duology was pretty awesome, and I actually really enjoyed Shatterpoint because it's anti-Mace even though he's the main character!). They don't know who Zahn is, they don't remember Stackpole, and Allston-who?

There's a lot more to consider besides just Garm Bel Iblis's fate. There's a lot more books and comics that need consideration than just the Thrawn Trilogy. The ROTS-ANH era does have a lot of unknowns but I hope they don't forget about what is known... (warning: here lie spoilers for several books and comics)

Natasi Daala was overlooked at the Imperial Academy on Carida due to being female, so she made an electronic persona who was male, and this bright young student intrigued Tarkin who followed up on this person and found it was actually Daala, and they got together. (though I like to think Daala did that for the sake of promotion and not cause she actually liked him!)

Han was an orphan on Corellia when he was picked up by Garris Shrike who taught him how to commit assorted crimes and used him in swoop racing to earn money. Han ran away and smuggled spice, falling in love with one of the people trapped in the spice factories. He rescued her. But she left him and he joined the Empire. He got thrown out for rescuing a Wookiee slave, and started drinking heavily. Chewie stuck around and cleaned Han up. Han went back to smuggling, met Lando, etc etc. Han was contacted by Bria (the woman from earlier) to help her and her Rebel friends for a large sum of money. Han promised his friends money to help but once it was done Bria gave them nothing and Han's friends turned on him for lying to them. (thus why Han thought Lando would be upset with him in ESB)

Ackbar was a slave to Tarkin.

In the Outbound Flight book (I think it was) it's mentioned that Palpatine has been having visions of invaders from Unknown Space, which is why he's so military-oriented. (and honestly if he wasn't taken down the Yuuzhan Vong would have had a pretty good fight waiting for them) So if the sequel movies are going to have Vong in them I would like a reference to Palpatine's visions in this show. But, please don't show any actual Vong yet!

And don't introduce the Chiss! omg, yes they're awesome but the galaxy at large doesn't know about them yet, except for maybe a handful of planets along the edge of the Outer Rim. And if they decide to go for Thrawn please remember he's not a big character yet! He was shuffled to the Outer Rim because he's an alien. He doesn't make a big scene till later. You can't have him being all running around doing stuff and then suddenly disappear for several years in between the OT and the Thrawn Trilogy.

If they want to try to incorporate some of the older books they can't forget to read them. For example, Corran Horn worked for CorSec and his mom was killed in a speeder accident. I think a few episodes about Corran Horn would be excellent. As long as they get his story right. Corran's grandfather was a Jedi, and his grandmother hid with his grandfather's best friend and Corran never knew until much, much later. (In light of the PT Jedi I have to presume Corellian Jedi were only loosely associated with the Jedi Order) And don't forget Corran's partner who later marries Wedge!

If they must include Wedge don't forget his family owned a refuelling station above Corellia that exploded when criminals (pirates?) pulled away too fast and fuel got out. Wedge escaped because he was away with Booster Terrik (who is another person they shouldn't ignore). And don't forget Wedge's sister. She ran off with Baron Soontir Fel and together they had like 4 kids or something. But don't include all that because Soontir Fel and joined the Chiss and Wedge hasn't heard from his sister in forever.

Please, please do not do any cut away *hint hint*s where you show Luke doing stuff. This show is not for Luke, it's not about Luke, don't include him. And on that note Obi-Wan can't be in it either. He's changed his name and become a hermit. He can't go off doing stuff. And Yoda has that escape pod that's probably only good for one or two flights so he can't go off doing stuff either so leave him alone!

Yes, Force Unleashed was cool, but is it canon? Or is it semi-canon? I never found out. Games are looser canon than any other form, I believe.

And while we're talking about iffy canon let's not forget the Tales comics! In one it shows Leia's interactions with Tarkin. In another it shows Leia's first meeting of Palpatine. Yes, being iffy canon they can re-write that but I don't think they should.

I don't think they should include Talon Karrde because at that point in time he wasn't really doing anything for the Rebellion.

For giggles you can include Borsk Fey'lya. That'd be fun, actually. Unless he joined later, I really can't remember.

Cut it out with the Mandalorian stuff. I love Boba to pieces but give it a rest already. Especially as we move away from Clonetroopers go to Stormtroopers. Remember some Stormtroopers are clones of high officers as gifts to them to honor them or something. And some Stormtroopers are real people (Davin Felth, anyone?). Oh, and don't include Boba, please, my heart can't take it anymore. You're already running him into the ground, just stop, now, while people still have some shred of respect for him.

Also might be nice to show Ysanne Isard running around. Even if she doesn't say anything, if she's just in the background.

And there's probably a lot more I'm forgetting about.

Augason Farms Butter Powder

So I was out of butter the other day and wanted to make tuna helper, which requires butter. Well, about 3 years ago Rosaur's had a bunch of Augason Farms stuff on a big display so we had got a bunch. These are cans of dried foods that last pretty much forever. One of the cans was a can of butter powder. I'd link to it on Amazon but their price on it is insane, so here's the Wal-Mart link.

This stuff is amazing. It's 1/2 a cup of powder to 1 ¹/₂ tsp water = 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) of butter. I was dubious about how little water they wanted me to use but since I dump all my ingredients in and then start cooking and tuna helper needs water anyway I shrugged it off. As I was cooking it it smelled weird but it tasted just fine.

So yesterday I tried it in chocolate chip cookie brownies. I mixed the powder, water, and sugar and... wow! I've used butter in various states of softness from almost hard to melted in cookies before and none of them worked as well as this stuff did. It mixed wonderfully. It mixed thoroughly. The 1 ¹/₂ tsp water was indeed enough. The brownies baked beautifully and set up really well. These were the best brownies I've ever made.

This is definitely a product I'll be keeping around from now on!

The Revenant

Tommy seems a lot better today. Took a goodly amount of naps (didn't time them but I reckon about 1 hour and 45 minutes total, much more normal) and didn't seem to be in as much pain. I feel better too.

So the second book I read was a short one. Like 225 pages. I don't normally read ghost books. But I've had this one on the shelf for a long time and I felt ok with reading it now. It's The Revenant by Brana Lobel.

It is about a boyfriend/girlfriend who live together in an apartment building that used to be an old house where something bad happened long ago and has echoed through the years to haunt them. It starts as a scary story and ends scientifically. It almost felt like the author had left off at some point and someone else finished it for them. The scary parts are scary, of course, but the scientific ending kind of throws you and makes the rest of the book not so scary. Which can be good if you're like me and still get childish nightmares after ghost stories, lol.

Was it good? Yes and no. The main character is despicable and a horrible person. But the story draws you in and doesn't let you go. So if you can overlook the main character's flaws (flaws as a person that is, not flaws as a fictional character) it's very enjoyable. And I found it very easy to overlook her lifestyle because the story was so good.

One thing I found kind of funny that has nothing to do with the story or anything is that the previous owner of this book underlined various words that I guess they wanted to look up the meaning of someday. I knew some of them, which made me feel smart, but others I had to look up too. Also some of the page corners had been folded over to mark pages. OMG AUGH! *head-a-splode* Use a bookmark, people, come on! Don't ruin books just cause you're too lazy to find a marker. Even a torn off piece of an advertisement or junk mail will do! A business card! Square of toilet paper or piece of paper towel or napkin! Something, anything, just don't fold the corner of the page!

On to the semi-spoiler portion of this:

The scientific part is that it turns from being about ghosts haunting people to about time travel! Yes, that's right, the apartment is "haunted" because that area happens to have a time travel portal or whatever around it. But this is one of the stupid methods of time travel. See, the boyfriend goes back in time to save a woman who died in the past. However it was this woman's death that was such a big part of the time travel and haunting thing. Without her dying the book would not exist. There would be no conflict, no reason for the boyfriend to go into the past to save her because she would have already been saved. This is how my view of time travel is. Like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban's time travel. However the time travel presented here is one used in other media. Another book I read explained it as each jump in time makes a new parallel universe. So this version isn't really bad so much as it makes no sense to me.

Another thing is I didn't see what connection the boyfriend and girlfriend really had with each other. I believe the hauntings made them think they loved each other more than they actually did. Which I guess isn't necessarily bad, I just wish someone in the book had said so.

Finally finished 50 Shades

I managed to finish two books recently. I'm behind on talking about them because my keyboard broke and I had to wait for a new one because I use a usb one. I do this because the keyboard built into my laptop has most the keys broken off (started with 2 keys coming off with a cat ran across it and it went from there... it's been a slow 2-year process) so typing on it was excruciatingly slow and I had to stick to short sentences or I'd have gone insane. Now I'm going insane due to a super mega teething baby who only took one 30 minute nap the other day and two 30 minute naps yesterday. We're on one 30 minute nap for today and he's watching Color Crew right now which is keeping him more or less entertained.

Anyway, I finished 50 Shades of Freedom. There will be spoilers as my mind is so exhausted from Tommy's teething that I can't think enough to separate this into a non-spoiler and a spoiler-full thing. Seriously, that super super high pitched scream makes my ears feel like I'm going up and down super fast and they don't have time to pop before the next pressure change so I've had a constant headache the last few days. But I have to do this because I want to start a new book (haha as if I could concentrate with a squirming screaming baby on my lap, and yes I have changed his diaper, fed him, and given him tylenol and he has a mountain of toys around him) and I don't want to start forgetting things about the others I've read.

So I think her way of drinking tea is stupid. Like, really, one quick dip of the bag and that's it? That means you're drinking, what, vaguely flavored water? If I'm wrong correct me, but I let my bags steep for the recommended 3-5 minutes, usually more.

I think she was out of line to get mad at him for being mad at her for getting pregnant. I completely agree with him on this. She had one thing to remember and she failed. I mean, seriously, I can't be the only one who spends the 2-3 days before her period experiencing at least a little anxiety and then there she is not even caring if she takes her birth control. Yes he was in the wrong for going off and getting drunk, but can you blame him? He takes care of everything and gives her one simple little task. Go get one stupid shot every few weeks. She can't even handle that much responsibility? Then I guess it's a good thing she married a rich guy.

Also I hope people who work desk jobs take their jobs more seriously than she does. It seems like every other day she's leaving early and she spends ages writing personal emails every day. Course being the boss means you can do that, I guess.

The car chase was bizarre. So this person knew where his parents lived but not where he lived? Or was the intent to ram them off the road? Or... wait, whaaat?

The ending of the book was awkward. Like "Oh here's some random stuff I wrote that I wanted you to see so here it is". It almost felt like those "And here's a preview of the next book" add-ons. But I'm not really complaining cause I did enjoy it.

btw, I totally thought Jack was gonna be Christian's brother. Way back in book 1 when we first meet Jack he's got red hair. And he has mannerisms identical to Christian's. It's even hinted at when Ana thinks the mannerisms are familiar. And then we find out they're from the same town. And that Jack's older. And that they have similar, ah, tastes. The books were hinting at it very heavily. I thought for sure that Jack's dad cheated on his mom and Christian was the result and that's part of what broke up their family and why Jack hates Christian so much, because his illegitimate brother made it so well in the world and got all the luck. And then we find out they're not related. So I have to wonder was it planned to be the big surprise (he's not his brother!) or was it poor writing that mislead me?

Those are my complaints. Everything else was the usual fantasticalness. I mean, yeah they're trash, but they're good trash. They're easy summer reading when your mind is turned to mush and you want a fun story to read. And I totally wanted to go back and re-read them once I'd finished, lol. But I'm not going to, not yet. But I do see myself reading them again later. I will say that's one good thing about the akward add-ons at the end is that it made me want to reread them.

I'll talk about the other book maybe tomorrow. Or later. We'll see.