A Tale of Two Cities

So a good friend of mine turned me onto this album, and I say "thank you friend, thank you". This band is AMAZING! I highly recommend this one! Head on over to amazon for a preview of tunes on this album. It's about $.50 cheaper than itunes.


Check out his website here...

www.mrhudson.com

or visit his myspace here...

www.myspace.com/mrhudson


Since this album Mr. Hudson has actually went solo and has a new album out called Straight No Chaser unfortunately is currently only available as import. The first single which is available for download on itunes is titled Supernova---->> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlWuaqJ_APE and features one of my favorite artists, Kanya West. Their voices compliment each other perfectly. Mr. Hudson also accompanied Kanye on his 808's and Heartbreaks album on the the song Paranoid. You can listen to it here-----> www.kanyeuniversecity.com

Check it out, no really check it out.

Talent

I found this kid while surfing around the net for photographers. He is self taught and a phenomenal artist. I urge you to have a look at his site, and if like me, your a photographer, you will appreciate his extraordinary talent.


www.joeyl.com

Another image

In April of this year I visited Chicago to see my favorite band. My best friend and I took a drive downtown and around Navy Pier. I took this while driving and holding my camera out of the sunroof. I know, I'm a really safe driver!

My 50 books for 2009

I took on a 50 book challenge this year on my book club website, Shelfari. I managed to accomplish my goal and am starting a new one already. Here are the 50 books that I read along with a short review of sorts and whether or not it is still on my shelf to be red again.


1. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins~ I absolutely loved this book. So many good lessons about life and love in this one. On my keeper shelf

2. Old Yeller by Fred Gibson~ I always meant to read this when I was younger but just got around to it. Great story about loyalty, between a boy and his dog, a sad but worthwhile book.

3. The Object of My Affection by Steven McCauley~ WOW I didn't think when my best friend suggested this one that I would actually enjoy it, but everything he's ever suggested has been good so I don't know why this would have been any different. Fun read. On my keeper shelf

4. Planet of The Apes by Pierre Boulle~ One of the best books I have read to date. I finished it in one day. On my keeper shelf.

5. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury~ This was my first experience at science fiction and my oh my I'm hooked! A lot about societies and taking things for granted. I love Ray Bradbury!! On my keeper shelf.

6. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury~ This book was very different from anything I have ever read, but I loved it. The way Ray B. details the scenes and characters in his writing amazes me. You can almost hear and smell the places. On my keeper shelf.

7. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor~ Good book. Not what I was expecting and I was pleased. On my keeper shelf.

8. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk~ What can I say? I love this author:0) On my keeper shelf.

9. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk~ Refer to the last review:0)

10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho~ A philosophical book full of inspiration. On my keeper shelf.

11.Duma Key by Stephen King~One of the best from this author. Creepy just like a King book is expected to be. On my keeper shelf.

12. Cujo by Stephen King~ A psychological mind trip. Keeper shelf.

13. Pet Semetary by Stephen King~ Disturbing in all the right ways. Keeper shelf.

14. The Green Mile in 6 Parts by Stephen King~ I enjoyed reading this in the six different parts. They did a good job adapting it to the big screen.

15. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown~ Amazing, kept me in suspense the whole time. Couldn't put this one down. Keeper shelf.

16. The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin~ Hilarious! Love his writing:) Keeper shelf.

17. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory~ My first historical read. Very much enjoyed it, and have since acquired more books by the author. Keeper shelf.

18. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossini~ One of my top 10 books I've ever read! Love love love this book! Keeper shelf.

19. 1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossini~ Disappointing. Was expecting more after reading his first book.

20. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding~ Bleh! Hated it. Struggled to get through it. I did however learn a new word that I kind of enjoy...F**KWITTAGE!

21. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach~ A feelgood, inspirational story. Keeper shelf.

22. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan~ What? Torture getting through this. This book caused me to set a new rule of "if I don't like it within 50 pages, I put it down.

23. Sphere by Michael Crichton~Disappointing because he's one of my favorite authors.

24. IT by Stephen King~Fantastically and thoroughly Steven King!

25.Interview With The Vampire by Ann Rice~Huge Louis fan~Keeper

26. Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See~ absolutely loved it. On my keeper shelf:)

27. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman~ I wasn't prepared for how good this book would be. I had read conflicting reviews, but enjoyed the movie and was delighted at the differences in the book. So score another for the "book better than the movie list". On my keeper shelf.


28. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer~ Good book

29. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer~ Not as good as Twilight but still worth the time to read.

30. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove~ Hilariously written! I laughed all the way through it:o) Love love loved it!~ On my keeper shelf.

31 Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix~ Of course I loved it!!~ Keeper shelf

32.Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince~Refer to #31 review~Keeper

33. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows~ Ditto.

34. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories~Tim Burton~ What can I say about this book, except that it couldn't have been written by anyone else:o)

35. Bloodsucking Fiends ~ Christopher Moore~ Fun story with some great offbeat characters. A comical story of a vampire, love CM.~keeper.

36. The Constant Princess~by Philippa Gregory~ This book was just o.k. Definitely not as good as The Other Boleyn Girl.

37. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery~ Lovely lovely book! Brilliantly written and full of eye opening lessons about us as "grown ups".~ Keeper shelf~:o)

38. Bag of Bones by~Stephen King~Good book, but not my favorite SK, and it took me too long to read it.

39. You Suck~ Christopher Moore~ Funny funny funny! I laughed my a** off. Vampires have never been so funny:o) Great characters, he's so right on!~Keeper shelf:o)

40. Siddhartha~Hermann Hesse~ Heavy read but good stuff~ Keeper shelf

41. Dandelion Wine~Ray Bradbury~Amazing book! [3 Ray Bradbury~ Keeper

42. The Wizard of Oz~ L. Frank Baum~ Wonderful book, and I wasn't expecting to find it vastly different than the movie. A delightful read~Keeper

43. First They Killed My Father~Loung Ung~ Heart wrenching! Well written story that resurrects the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and the suffering of millions of Cambodians.~ Keeper

44. Survivor~Chuck Palahniuk~ Good book, but not quite my favorite by this author. I did like the cult storyline though.

45. The Stand~Stephen King~ AMAZING book, excellent story with great characters!~ Keeper

46. Lamb~Christopher Moore~Funny! Not my favorite C.M. book, but definitely worth reading

47. Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone~J.K. Rowling~re-read.~keeper of course

48. The Stupidest Angel~Christopher Moore~Hilarious, weird, and fantastically written. Just the way I like my CM books!~keeper

49. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets~Re-read~keeper

50. Flaming Iguanas~Erika Lopez~I laughed from beginning to end! Uniquely written, loved it!~Keeper

I will miss you Patrick Swayze

The Wizard of Oz

So I have always assumed that the movie closely followed the book. I mean ever since I was a child I have known and loved this story, so I was surprised at the differences between book and movie. Now don't get me wrong, I adored the movie, how could I not? It's like a right of passage, a tradition. Every child knows about and has seen The Wizard of Oz. Starting this book I thought I knew what to expect, the story, characters ect. ect. ,but the further I got the more I kept saying " whoa, now just wait a gosh darn minute here". The base story was the same of course, little Dorothy, with Toto...yes, yes that's right, but there was no old cranky woman trying to take Toto, or Dorothy running away. No traveling fortune teller?...hmmm. The story in the beginning was much simpler than that, which was refreshing actually. Of course further down the yellow brick road I traveled, right about the point where she meets the Tin Man, whoa!!! I had a quite the shock! The story of how he became the Tin man really threw me. I wasn't prepared for his story to be so, shall I say, gruesome. In fact, the Tin Man was continually violent throughout the story, all for good reason of course, but it still shocked me. Of course I don't hold it against him hehe. The trip down the yellow brick road was so much better in the book too. The town made completely of china with the dainty china people, the Quadlings, whose heads were flat and could crush your body. I mean come on, how fun is that? I loved loved loved this book. Just a little FYI, the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't have a huge role in this story. Not compared to the movie of course. Highly recommend this one:o)

Dandelion Wine

I recently found myself in a place that "we readers" find ourselves from time to time..."what to read next?" I can say with complete acceptance of the fact that I have a book addiction or fetish, or obsession, or maybe it's just that I am actually a true lover of books. The smell, the feel of the pages in my fingers, the anticipation of a new adventure, or any number of other metaphors to describe the things about books that make me go all nilly willy inside my belly. As I saying, I recently found myself sitting by my bookshelf pulling a book off and reading the first few pages and thinking "nah, it's not the right time for this one". I decided to walk away from the shelf (even though it called my name over and over) and give myself a break from what could have been a "forced read". You know that feeling of reading something just because it's there and it's something you have been meaning to read, even though you aren't really 'feeling it'? So I decided to get online and do some browsing when I found myself on favorite blog site (Padfoot and Prongs) which is really no surprise. I check for daily updates, new posts, reviews ect. ect. On this particular day Prongs had posted a Happy Birthday post to one of my most favorite authors Ray Bradbury. Of course it was a lovely post and by the time I had finished reading it my mind was set on what book to venture into. Thank you Prongs!

DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury is about a boy who has a magical summer, after he realizes, "I'm alive, I'm really alive!" He starts to notice things in a much different way, including his family, friends, and the people in his neighborhood. The story goes into events that took place that summer with Doug, his brother Tom, his family and the surrounding town. He experiences joy, fright, loss, and adventure. This book was amazing to say the least and I found myself caught completely up in this story, as I always tend to do with a RB book. I haven't read a "bad" book by this author. Each one is beautiful, and mysterious, and full of sights, sounds and smells. It's true! The writing style of Ray Bradbury is so completely...well you just need to read him for yourself. Why take my word for it?