The Drastic Fantastic

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Liebster Award

Heather from the Charmed Life Chronicles, nominated me to receive the Liebster Award! How generous of her! It’s nice to know that other people look at my blog besides my sister ha ha!

Here’s how it works:

The award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers (yep, that is certainly me) and then the award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.

If you receive the award, there are a few rules to follow…

o Each blogger nominated must post 11 things about themselves

o Then answer the 11 questions the tagger has asked

o Blogger must then create 11 questions of their own to ask the bloggers they decide to nominate

o They must choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate and link them on their blog post

o Bloggers must be notified of their award!

o No tag backs!

I play the violin but I would love to learn the cello.

If I could buy any car I would buy either a new Jeep Liberty or an Audi R8.

I secretly wish I had to wear glasses. Somehow I think

they would make me look smart.

I am a Gemini.

I still know all of the words to the opening of the
Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

The first concert I ever went to was Garth Brooks

I read People, US Weekly, and Entertainment Weekly every week.

About twice a year, usually around March and August, I get the
urge to listen to my collection of Christmas Music.

Every day, as I am driving to work, I sing at the top
of my lungs in my car.

I love Cocoanut and Cocoanut smells of any form. Shampoo, body wash, dessert, pina colada smoothies

I also love tickets. Movie tickets, plane tickets, concert tickets. I don’t discriminate.

Now, here are the 11 questions that Heather wanted me to answer.

1. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

I would have to Chicago, Illinois or Denver, Colorado

2. What is your all time favorite book?

I would say the Great Gatsby or 1984

3. What is something you love doing but

don’t have time to these days?

Read the pile of books that I have waiting for me at my apartment

4. Do you feel older or younger than your real age?

I think I act more mature than others my age but I feel younger than I actually am. I can’t believe how the time is flying

5. If you could meet any celebrity, alive or dead, who would it be?

Alive: Michael Buble, Hugh Jackman, or Idina Menzel

6. If you could battle one movie villain who would you battle?

I don’t know that I would battle him but I think the greatest movie villain of all time is the Joker from the Dark Knight.

Love Heath Ledger!

7. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas

8. What technology product could you not live without?

My Laptop or my Ipod

9. If you had 24hrs to do whatever you wanted, and money was no concern, what would you do?

I travel to New York. I would see the Statue of Liberty, eat incredible food, and go see a show on Broadway

10. What is your favorite made-up word?

Smurf. In the urban dictionary smurf means awesome, great or cool. I also use smurf to describe a certain shade of blue =-)

My actually favorite word in obsequious.

11. Who do you look up to the most?

My mom. I value her opinion a lot.

Now, onto my questions I want the 11 bloggers I tag to answer:

1) Were you named after anyone?

2) What is your favorite Cereal?

3) Favorite Smells?

4) What are you listening to as you drive in your car? CD, MP3, Podcast, Radio?

6) Would you rather be deaf or blind? Why?

What are you reading right now?

7) If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

8) What is your favorite movie?

9) If you could get front row tickets to any concert, who would you go see?

10) What is the first thing you notice about people?

11) What t.v. shows are on your TIVO?

Here are the bloggers I am tagging:

Confessions of a College Angel
Country Mouse Claire
Sanderson Smith Story
Adventure in Italia
Living Laughing Loving
Holly Enjoying Life
Enjoying the Journey
This Life of Mine
Not Too Shabby
Curiosity Runs in my Veins
State of Change

Monday, December 10, 2012

Movie News and 411

Movies Opening This Weekend (December 14^th)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Save the Date

New Trailers

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Oblivion

After Earth

Christmas is coming up so here is a clip from The Santa Clause

Disney Heads Back Down Rabbit Hole for 'Alice in Wonderland' Sequel

Frankly, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner with as much money as Alice in Wonderland made in 2010 (over $1 billion worldwide) and all the name-dropping Disney does for the movie on various films that its producers have gone on to make. Variety has word that Disney is developing a sequel to Tim Burton's take on the classic tale that featured Mia Wasikowska as the title character, but advertised Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter like nobody's business. Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King writer Linda Woolverton will script the sequel for Disney (she most recently wrote Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie). Click to read more.

Warner Bros Picks Up 'Boston Strangler' Pitch for Casey Affleck to Star

Though Ben Affleck has been all over the place promoting Argo, his brother Casey Affleck has been pretty low key lately. This year we only heard him on the big screen providing his voice to a character in the underrated stop-motion animated flick ParaNorman, but he has some other films on the horizon. We'll be seeing him in Ain't Them Bodies Saints at Sundance in January, and Out of the Furnace fromCrazy Heart director Scott Cooper will arrive sometime next year hopefully. But now he's just landed a new thriller called Boston Strangler which Warner Bros. just picked up from a pitch about the infamous 1960s murderer. Jump here to read more.

Josh Trank's 'Fantastic Four' Reboot Now Set for March 2015 Opening

Briefly: Get ready for a meet 'n greet with a new Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, the Invisible Woman and Human Torch in 2015. 20th Century Fox has scheduled a release of March 6th, 2015 for the nextFantastic Four movie, to be directed by Josh Trank of Chronicle. Sounds like the next two years of Trank's life will be all about Marvel's first superhero team. The date was posted by ERC BoxOffice (viaComingSoon) in a tweet: "Reboot City. Fox's new Fantastic Four will hit theaters 3/6/15." While we haven't heard any casting for this yet, Chronicle star Dane DeHaan already got the Harry Osborn role in the next Spider-Man, and we know Mark Millar is overseeing Marvel projects at Fox. This one has a script written by Jeremy Slater. Stay tuned.

'Seven Years in Tibet' Writer Hired to Script New 'Salt' Sequel Draft

About a year and a half ago, Salt writer Kurt Wimmer was hired to script a sequel to the action thriller starring Angelina Jolie in a role that was actually reworked for an actress after originally being written for a male lead. However, Jolie was not very impressed with what Wimmer came up with and it was assumed the project was dead since she wasn't going to commit with Wimmer's script. However, it sounds like Columbia is still keen on a sequel as Heat Vision reports they've hired writerBecky Johnston for the sequel. The studio has long wanted a new writer to "reconceive" the script, but Johnston is an odd choice. Continue Reading.

Joel Edgerton Joining Natalie Portman in Western 'Jane Got a Gun'

With the stunning Natalie Portman heading into Western territory with Jane Got a Gun, and Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) joining her in the film from We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsey, this film already has our attention. But now the deal is even sweeter as Deadline reports Joel Edgerton (Warrior, The Great Gatsby) is now in talks to join the cast. The story follows a young woman (Portman) whose outlaw husband stumbles home pumped full of bullets, so she must reach out to a former lover (Fassbender) to help protect her homestead from the criminals who are on the way to finish the job. Read more Here.

2 Weeks until Christmas and Les Miserables!!!!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Sunday Social 27

1. Favorite Holiday Movies/TV Specials?

There are so many great Christmas movies that it’s too hard to choose.

There are two Christmas Specials I am looking forward to this year.

Tomorrow December 10

December 22

2. Do you do any volunteering during the holidays if so what? If not what would you do?

I haven’t been doing much volunteering but my work is hosting an angel tree program. I work at a bank and each of our branches are accepting donations and we will all buy presents for needy families in our area.

3. Favorite toy received as a Child for the Holidays?

And my very own whiteboard

4. What was your must have item in high school for the Holidays?

My favorite Christmas gift in High School was my violin.

5. Item you begged for the most and never got?

A Puppy

6. What do you do on Christmas Eve?

Like I mentioned before we usually have dinner and a white elephant exchange with my family. We usually have a program at my church, where we sing hymns and read the Christmas story from the Bible. We don’t usually have set traditions aside from these. One year my family and I read the Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson before we went to bed. Last year we spent the evening at my Aunt’s house playing games and it turned out to be a blast.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Amazing Animals-LuLu the Pig

On the morning of 4 August, 1998, Jo Ann Altsman suffered a heart attack while vacationing in the north woods of Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, USA. Alone ¹, apart from the family dog Bear (who did nothing but bark at Jo Ann after she collapsed and tried to summon help by breaking a bedroom window of the mobile home), she lay on the floor yelling:

Somebody help me! Please help me! Call an ambulance!

Jo Ann, who had had a heart attack just 18 months earlier, was panic stricken. Another member of the Altsman 'family' was at hand though. LuLu, a housebroken Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig came to Jo Ann's aid. The pig was bought as a 40th birthday present for the Altsmans' daughter, Jackie, a year earlier. Going whale-watching for her birthday, Jackie asked her parents to babysit LuLu until she returned. It became apparent over the next few months that Jackie didn't really want LuLu, remarking to her parents she'd pick up her new pet:

Next weekend, next weekend.

The Altsmans soon became attached to LuLu, even as the piglet gained weight from a smallish 4 pounds to a more porcine 150. It was lucky however, that Jack and Jo Ann Altsman chose to keep the animal.

The Rescue Pig

LuLu took one look at Jo Ann and after 'crying ²' for a moment, crashed through the doggy/piggy door of the mobile home and into the fenced-in yard. Lulu had never left the confines of the yard (except for a walk on a leash), but somehow she managed to push open the gate to get to a nearby road.

Witnesses reported that LuLu would wait until a car approached, then calmly walk out into the road and lay down in front of the oncoming vehicle. Drivers predictably honked and swerved, and one man later confessed to stopping, but being unsure of what the creature was laying in the road he was too afraid of getting out of his car to investigate. When a driver failed to stop, LuLu would return to Jo Ann to check on her, and then leave again to try and summon help. After about forty-five minutes the determined pig finally managed to persuade a young motorist to stop and follow her to the Altsman's mobile home. Entering, the young man called:

Lady, your pig's in distress.

Jo Ann feebly replied:

I'm in distress, too. Please call an ambulance.

The man, who remained anonymous, telephoned the emergency services and paramedics quickly arrived. When LuLu attempted to ride along with Jo Ann to hospital by climbing up into the back of the ambulance, the paramedics had to gently let her know she had done enough for one day. In her rush to get out to find help, LuLu had cut her pot-belly on a sharp edge of the too-small doggy/piggy door. However, this was the only injury she sustained; remarkable considering she lay on a busy highway for lengthy periods of time trying to stop cars.

Alex

Oi
Kwibi

Leo

Toby

Monday, December 3, 2012

More Movie News

Movies Opening This Week (Dec 7th)

Hyde Park on Hudson

Playing for Keeps

New Trailers

The Words

Admission

So Undercover
Beautiful Creatures

Star Trek

'Stranger Than Fiction' Writer Hired to Script Columbia's New 'Jumanji'

As we heard this past summer Columbia Pictures is working on a new adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's classic children's book Jumanji. There's no director attached to the project yet, but Sony has taken one smart step forward by landing Stranger Than Fiction writer Zach Helm to script the new take on the 1981 tale of kids who have to deal with the dangers of the jungle when the titular board game starts unleashing animals and more as they play. We're not sure if this new take will be similar to Joe Johnston's film from 1995, which departed quite a bit from the source material, or if it will be more faithful to the book. Read more here.

Cate Blanchett Becoming Wicked Stepmother for Disney's 'Cinderella'

After stepping back into Peter Jackson's Middle Earth and reprising her role as Galadriel in The Hobbit, it looks like Cate Blanchett has yet another legendary story to tell. The Wrap reports that the actress is in talks to play a lead role as the wicked stepmother in Disney's upcoming remake of Cinderella, which is set to be directed by Never Let Me Go helmer Mark Romanek after nothing really panned out with talks of him directing The Lost Symbol for Sony. The studio acquired this project back in 2010 fromThe Devil Wears Prada writer Aline Brosh McKenna, but Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) has done a rewrite. Click here to read more.

Matt Damon is Reuniting with George Clooney for 'Monuments Men'

After teaming up with George Clooney for three heists in Ocean's 11 and two sequels, it sounds like Matt Damon is going to help the actor and director track down some stolen goods this time. Deadline has word that Damon is in talks to join the cast of The Monuments Men, the next directorial gig for Clooney who will also star in the film. The film already features an incredible cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and Hugh Bonneville in the story of a hand-picked group of art experts chosen by the U.S. government to retrieve artwork stolen by the Nazis. Read more here.

Nicolas Winding Refn to Direct 'The Equalizer' with Denzel Washington

Congratulations, Sony. You now have my attention for this adaptation of the 80s TV series The Equalizer. The project sounded like it might have a chance to be cool with Denzel Washingtontaking the lead role just over a year ago. But now Variety reports Drive and Bronson director Nicolas Winding Refn currently has an offer to direct the film, and negotiations for a deal should begin soon. Richard Wenk (The Expendables 2) is behind the script, and apparently a lot of directors, including Gavin O' Connor (Warrior) and Pierre Morel (Taken) were after the job. But Washington gave his seal of approval for Refn to direct. Click here to read more.

James Marsden Joining Elizabeth Banks in Comedy 'Walk of Shame'

After wowing audiences with her bizarre outfits and insane makeup in the supporting part of Effie inThe Hunger Games earlier this year, Elizabeth Banks is stepping into a lead role in a new comedy called Walk of Shame from Little Nicky director Steven Brill. ComingSoon has done some digging and they've discovered that James Marsden (The Notebook, Hairspray) has come aboard to star alongside her. Brill, who is famous for writing The Mighty Ducks and the underrated Judd Apatow-produced comedy Heavy Weights, also wrote the script for Walk of Shame. Marsden and Banks in a comedy together? Sure, why not? Read more here.

In honor of Christmas here is a clip from Elf

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Sunday Social 26

1. What is your favorite holiday season tradition?

My family usually has big dinner and white elephant gift exchange on Christmas Eve. It is so much fun, that I usually look forward to our Christmas Eve party more than Christmas morning. I love it.

2. Do you have a certain holiday movie you watch more than others? If so what is it?

I have a couple of Christmas movies that I really love.