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Once Upon a Time Review 11/11/12 – Becoming the Wolf and Bad Dreams

/ Ajmorse / 2 Comments

I enjoyed the Emma-centric episode much more than Red’s for some reason…and I think a lot of that had to do with the love story. Red’s was great too, but the wolf pack seemed to lack credibility. I think if they expanded the flash back through a few episodes, Red’s relationship with her mother, or lack there of, would have made more sense to me.

Disclaimer: Spoilers in this review!

Photo credit: ABC.

In Story brooke, Red gets framed for the murder of Gus the mouse and another man by Spencer/King George as he tries to take his revenge on Charming. For some reason, he has it in his mind that Charming is not as good as every thinks he is and wants to reveal that he really is just a lowly Shepard who can’t lead his flock sufficiently or whatever. Mainly, I just think King George is dumb.

In flash back enchanted forest world, we pick up some time after Snow and Red join forces, (after Red has to leave her village for killing Peter and everyone discovering she is a wolf.) Red discovers a wolf pack and coincidentally her mother is with them, surprise! Granny lied again! The pack teaches Red how to become the wolf and in doing so, she can control it.

Meanwhile, Henry is still haunted by dreams that turn out not to be dreams, but a limbo of some kind. Whenever someone endures a sleeping curse, according to Mr. Gold, they return to that limbo in their sleep and to unimaginable horrors. He does, however, give Henry a medallion or potion of some kind that will help Henry control what happens in that world. On the house! Interesting. But, we are not fooled Mr. Gold! Magic ALWAYS comes at a price!

Henry also discovers Aurora in limbo with him and introduces himself and so the episode ends with Emma and Snow in shock. How can their friend dream about Emma’s son, a person she’s never met?

Some Observations:

  • I personally hoped the dreams had something to do with another big bad…sigh. The queen of hearts seemed like such a fantastic idea! But plus side: Emma and gang now have a way to communicate with Story brooke.
  • Rumple so easily giving up a magic solution to Henry for his problems. On the house he says…but remember how giddy he was to teach Regina her magic?
  • The mob and the whole “Kill the beast” feel to the end of the episode. Where was Gaston?
  • Oh! King George burned Jefferson’s hat, his only hope for a portal to enchanted forest world. Charming almost lost it. Maybe he really is just human after all?

Highlights:

  • Granny with that cross-bow again! She’s so awesome.
  • Charming as sheriff. Still looks good. Yep.
  • Ruby and Gus the mouse scene…I wonder when Red will have some kind of romance in her life?
  • Loved seeing the closeness between her and Belle, too!

I can’t believe we have to wait a whole two weeks just to see what’s going on in this dream world of Aurora’s and Henry! Ugh! Does this mean more flashback world of the sleeping princess? Hope so!

A sneak peek below:

Hurricane Sandy – Check out these cool pics!

/ Ajmorse / 2 Comments

Well, still getting battered by the hurricane up here in upstate, NY and probably will until tomorrow evening, (the wind outside right now is terrible!) Can feel the cool air blasting through the cracks in the windows and downstairs in the basement the water is creeping slowly across the floor as it seeps into the house…

The power went out for about four or five hours and we broke out the candles. Ate dinner to candlelight, wondered at the silence when all the humming of machinery is turned off and I cradled my phone to my chest and then sorrowfully shut the power off to save the battery for tomorrow.

I did grab my camera, which was fully charged (and clung to that – yaay an electronic device!) and was able to take some pictures of the storm.

Was playing around with the light settings and got this…(I am not a photographer by any means but like taking good pics as well as anyone), but imagine my surprise when I got this!

Anyway, well the power came back on an hour ago, we turned the TV on to check out the news and I thought I’d share these pics. I’m a tad nervous because I have to be out and about tomorrow – so fingers crossed!

Prayers and thoughts go out to those that were seriously impacted by this storm!

In Medias Res Part 2 – Chicken and Rice Soup

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Picture taken by my cousin, Mark. Watch out Mr. chicken…that’s a bull!

So, as emphasized in my last post, my creative writing teacher was big on the phrase “In medias res,” which means in the middle of things. She encouraged us with various prompts to start out our stories in the middle of the action and let the exposition flow through in the narrative.

I loved those prompts, so I thought I’d share one of my stories from that 15 minute exercise. I wrote all of it in that 15 minute journal session, and very little is changed from the original with the exception of added commas, and a few extra adjectives here and there. I’ve always meant to add more to the story, but it always seemed so neat leaving it the way it is.

I believe the prompt was something along the lines of “write a prompt of a family situation, made up or real and include a body part or some catastrophe. Start the narrative in the middle of the drama. Go!”

***(FYI, this is completely made up. Although I do have an uncle named Donald.)

Chicken and Rice Soup

So Uncle Donald dropped his teeth in the chicken and rice soup, and there they were grinning stupidly up at us, like they were about to start yammering about how maybe too salty the soup was or start shivering – chattering back and forth – yak, yak, yak, yak, yak.

We all stood around the pot of soup in silence, staring down at it. Me, Aunt Josie, Uncle Donald and Daryl, my brother. Uncle Donald’s toothless mouth wore a grim expression.

I thought that if we broke the silence that would be it, and the teeth would start talking back up at us. I felt a smile tug at the corner of my mouth, felt it want to yank up to one side and let out a large gurgley sort of laugh. Daryl caught my expression and coughed into his rough callused hand. He wore a black t-shirt, his jeans baggy like always. Aunt Josie went and got the tongs.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” she fretted and scooped the teeth out and set them down on a paper towel.

Uncle Donald cleared his throat. “Might want to want to wash them off, Josephine,” He said. He only used her full name when he was being real serious.

She had wandered into the kitchen and set the tongs in the sink. “The tongs?” she asked him.

“Not just the tongs,” coughed Daryl into his hand. Aunt Josie returned to the Dining room.

“Now, now,” she chided, although she wasn’t scolding. “These things happen.”

Uncle Donald got up with a grunt and took his teeth into the bathroom.

“Yeah, only in our family,” I said when Uncle Donald’s back had disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Daryl and I started laughing.

(In which it ends, and I’ve tried to add more but just can’t seem to get the same innocent frankness of the narrator. Who is a young girl about twelve or so named Charlie. Leave some thoughts below if you want to!)

Once Upon a Time Review 10/14/12 – Ogres, Emma and a Parent’s Love

/ Ajmorse / 4 Comments

Well, after going on hiatus from here for a while, I’ve come back with an idea. I will now only review shows that I think are worthy of viewing. I like trying new shows and giving people a heads up on great TV and what to avoid – but this girl just doesn’t have the time. After wheedling out the shows that I think will make or break it this season, I think I will stick to my reviewing of Once Upon a Time and a new one I have high hopes for – Arrow.

That being said…Once Upon a Time certainly knows how to pull the heartstrings!

Disclaimer: Mild spoilers in this review!

Photo credit: ABC.

Sunday night’s episode of Once Upon a Time seemed to focus on this theme: a parent’s love, and what said parent may or may not do for the sake of their child.

The back story focused on Snow and Charming; and Snow meeting Charming’s mother. Lancelot makes an appearance as a knight for hire working for King George, and admits that he has fallen from grace because of a woman. All I can say is that I am relieved that they gave this Lancelot a new face and have not fallen into the cliché of making Lancelot the Casanova of the Round Table; like what we’ve seen in various movie renditions. More of his story to come, I’m sure!

Snow, Emma, Mulan and Aurora spend some quality time together in this episode and I have to say I am impressed with the way these characters are coming together. Pairing two unlikely characters (Mulan and Aurora) together was a risky business, but I am loving the comradery we are seeing between these two. They are learning and growing from each other and I love how Mulan is just the right amount of bossy and caring for the princess Aurora that we can’t help but care for her some, too.

I also love seeing Emma in a world where she is not comfortable, because it is also forcing her to grow as a character. Emma is hard to sympathize with at best because she has always been so cold. I, personally love her complexity. But in this episode we are reminded again why she is so closed off and the scenes between her and snow are much more poignant because of it.

Some other observations:

  • Regina’s joy at getting a call from Henry. We love the boy, but a woman’s heart can only be broken so many times. Once again we are left feeling sorry for the evil queen.
  • No Mr. Gold in this episode, but that’s alright. Lots of Charming, though, to make up for it!
  • King George is in the Storybrooke world, too! (Alan Dale) Lost fans will recognize him as Charles Widmore.

Highlights:

  • Henry’s new code phrase, “Operation Scorpion.”
  • Snow saving her daughter from the ogre.
  • Snow flipping Princess Aurora over her shoulder and telling her to get over her crap and find new ways to channel her anger. Will be interesting to see how she finds ways to do this.
  • Emma loaning the jacket to the princess, who says, “What kind of corset is this?”
  • Jefferson’s reunion with his daughter.
  • Cora, Regina’s mother. The big bad is also in the Enchanted Forest world, huh, go figure.
  • And lastly, Emma admitting her anger to Snow and her realization that she is not good at being a daughter, because she never had someone to put her first before.

This scene between Snow and Emma really moved me. (It’s also because I am a sap and get too attached to characters that I love.) But there were a few times in this episode where the tears were just at the surface. Another great example of good character development and growth. Another great episode!

Here’s a sneak peek of the next episode:

Contact Me If You Dare

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Well, today was a busy-work day on the blog. Decided to create a new Contact Me page where you will find an email address to contact me as well as a Facebook page. It’s up there. ^

I stupidly created a new Facebook account, not realizing that I only needed to create a new page from my current personal account…sigh. Sometimes the older I get the more I don’t understand technology. It used to be so much easier when I was younger and now all the sharing capabilities and networking and everything is starting not to make sense to me anymore. 😛

It’s all brilliant of course but it’s like trying to keep up with a race where the lead runner is always running too fast! The important thing is to have contact information for future reference, of course. And a way for your viewers to know what you are up to…etc.

Anyway, here is a link to the page I just created today: www.facebook.com/amandagreyfiction

And my email address of course:     amandagreyfiction@gmail.com

Happy blogging people!

Ramblings of a Distracted Writer

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Glider at Harris Hill, NY.

Well…was thinking about what to post…(I know I’ve been rather quiet lately.) But I do have some good news!

Got a job interview next week at the airport near me and I hope everything works out fine. The job doesn’t have many hours to it, but I figured what the heck…it’s something and NOT retail!

Also, I hear there are some pretty good flight benefits working for an airline…so that’s something! And it will give me something to do…(been sooo bored lately!)

Wish me luucck!

This weekend has been another busy one for me, so will probably not get to post again until Monday. Been thinking about the purposes of this blog and I realize I have been distracting myself. The idea is to help advertise myself and my writing, not use the blog to distract me from writing! (Oh, the woes of a distracted writer!)

I want to focus more on writing itself and getting this book together. Not sure how much time I’ll get to spend on here, if I do get this job, but I am very excited nonetheless. My goal is to make writing a full-time career of mine, but there is nothing wrong with it being a part-time job as well! 🙂

The Beauty of Fall

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Trees starting to show their color in a field next to my house. Hopefully we will get some sunny days soon…

Although, I hate the cold weather, I sometimes forget how lucky I am to live in area where I get to witness the changing of the seasons.

To see the beauty of fall: the robust reds, the bright, yellow-greens and oranges of all different shades; light orange, red-orange and some the color of grapefruit.

Bright yellow trees on the corner next to my house.

The smell of the crisp, cool air, the wind that’s got a bite to it; the smell of wood smoke, a hint of sweet, tart ripe apples. Yeah, this is fall, my fall, and I realize I appreciate it a bit more this year than I ever have before.

I don’t know, maybe I’m getting old…Maybe I’m finally realizing that although new places are fun and exciting to see…sometimes, nothing can beat the comfort of home!

Colorful trees in the field behind my house.

New page “Short Stories”

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I created a short stories page, so for those who were interested in some of my writings, you can go check it out!

It is the story that I just posted recently about the Planets having dinner. Thank you all for the wonderful likes and views. 🙂  I will certainly add more stories to the page as time goes on.

I wish I could make it its own drop down menu…but I don’t think this theme supports that. :/ Hmm…will have to do some research, probably.

Happy Reading!

Revolution Review – When the world goes crazy, what will you care about?

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Well, for starters – I’m hooked!

With the characters that we see so far, the mystery, and the eerie yet beautiful scenes we see of broken down buildings, cars with plants in them, candlelight and goats…Revolution is stunning in that it brings a world to our eyes that is chilling yet thought-provoking.

From the very get go, the focus is on the electronics and how as children, Charlie and Danny are glued to the television set. When all those material and worldly possessions disappear, what is the focus?

Children. Family. Love, togetherness. The things that should matter now, but somehow get pushed to the side. I love how it makes you think: When the world goes crazy around you, what will you care about?

As for characters that caught my attention: We’ve got a comic relief of a man who used to work for Google, and who is allergic to bees; a young, hott militia man, an Uncle Miles who just might be some kind of super man, and then there’s Charlie.

A strong, young woman with a purpose and with a goal, who just happens to carry a cross-bow and wears a leather jacket. She’s stubborn, but she’s got compassion, too. And any one who has a reason to keep fighting is going to keep fighting, especially when it’s for someone they care about.

My one complaint about her: if you’re going to look so bad-ass, why must you have a cute militia man save you all the time? Although, I love the start of romance there…forbidden, no? Sexy and interesting…I’d love to see more of him too!

So far, we’ve got great things to keep me tuning in next week. The promise of romance, a great world, characters that need more explaining about, and the question that everyone wants answered: Why did the lights go out in the first place?

To quote my sister: “I have yet to decide if this will be a good enough substitution for LOST.” And me too.

There hasn’t been many shows that have been able to fill the LOST-void, but at least Revolution has one thing about it that is similar: One question answered and we only have about twenty more!

I cannot wait for next week!