Skyfall: New James Bond Movie Review By Matt Doran, Guest Writer

I had the privilege last night of seeing the new James Bond movie, 'Skyfall,' in theaters in Argentina. This is certainly the best Bond movie since 'Goldfinger', and Daniel Craig has now put his stamp on the character - and the series - in such a way that you'll forget about Sean Connery. Daniel Craig is James Bond now, and what a Bond he makes.

This film feels like a close sequel to the excellent 'Casino Royale'. It delivers on that movie's potential in a way that the lackluster 'Quantum of Solace' never did. Kudos to the director, Sam Mendes, who has massively exceeded all expectations.

Javier Bardem shows up as a deliciously creepy and repulsive villain, certainly the most memorable the series has had Jaws (who was a henchman and not a proper villain, but hey, let's not get technical here).

The Bond girls are a bit forgettable; Berenice Marlohe is beautiful but fails to make a strong impression, while Naomie Harris is plucky and likable but not quite lustworthy.

The movie has a number of sharp references to previous films in the series, but it never feels beholden to its predecessors. We're on fresh turf here much of the time, with meaningful deaths, serious questions about Bond's fitness (physical and otherwise) for duty, and a sharper dynamic between Bond and M than the series has ever had. We also get a compelling look into Bond's past, territory the series has never ventured into previously.

'Casino Royale' was 'Batman Begins' makeover for James Bond. In the same vein, 'Skyfall' is a homerun follow-up that outshines its predecessor, much the way 'The Dark Knight' was.

With a killer soundtrack and the best theme song in many years, courtesy of Adele (clearly relishing the chance to belt out a Bond song), this movie is the complete package and will certainly stand as a classic. I'm a die hard Bond fan and have seen all of the movies numerous times; I will be back in theaters to watch 'Skyfall' again for sure. This is a great Bond movie - maybe the best ever - and just a great movie, period.

And best of all, as the closing titles inform us, James Bond will be back. I'm looking forward to it.

Cloud Atlas: Movie Review By Emily Rose Doran

Because Cloud Atlas (now playing) is such a multifaceted film, it is difficult to determine which of its aspects is most deserving of my immediate attention.

Certainly, its actors must be commended. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Hugo Weaving (to name a few) each adopt several different roles, which, when totaled, must account for nearly twenty individual characters. If that were not impressive enough, each of these characters is from a different period in history, and each possesses a unique personality, intellect, social standing, and vernacular. Hugo Weaving, for example, manages to execute the role of an assassin in one story; then, in another, he dons an apron and converts into a female nurse who intimidates and abuses the residents at an assisted-living home.

Such transformations, however, though achieved brilliantly by the cast, would not have been possible without the physical alterations created using makeup and costumes. Indeed, these modifications enable the actors to morph seamlessly into characters of varied ages, ethnicities, and genders, while maintaining enough of their original features so that they are recognizable. There are a few glitches in this process, of course (Hugo Weaving, try as he may, cannot mask the fact that he is a man, though this only adds to the comedy of that particular story), but, overall, it works very well.

My Post-Facebook Life ("Post" for Now, Anyway)

I deactivated my Facebook account about one week ago. I was disappointed that I had let myself spend so much time there. So many times throughout the day, when I had a free moment or two, I would sign in and see what was going on with friends, family, and acquaintances. I was also getting annoyed by some of the negativity, such as one friend who seemed to criticize almost every one of my posts, and another who is so far to the left that I was getting nauseous reading her posts. In her defense, I’m sure that my conservative leanings make her sick. I’m also about as pro-life as you can be (except that I believe in capital punishment for heinous crimes when there is no doubt about guilt) and all the sickening news regarding the fight to end abortion was starting to make me very depressed.

There are certain things I really miss about Facebook, so we’ll see how long I can hold out. I really miss a couple friends’ very funny posts about their kids and all the silly things they say. I miss seeing photos of friends and family. I miss the feeling of being connected to these people, most of whom I truly do consider friends, not just acquaintances. So we’ll see how long I can hold out.

On the other hand, I seem to have so much time now that at first, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. That probably sounds ridiculous considering the fact that I am still homeschooling three children, have three part-time jobs, and a lot of household responsibilities. I remembered that I had started writing a book about homeschooling and had made a promise to myself to finish it by April, 2013. I shelved it when we got the horrible news that my father-in-law was dying in April. He passed away in June. So, a few days ago, I remembered the book and the promise to myself and started working on it again. There is a lot of work to be done: a lot of writing and even more rewriting. We’ll see if I can make the deadline; I doubt it.

In the meantime, know that if you are my facebook friend, I miss you! Please send me an e-mail and let me know that you either miss me, too, or you are really glad and relieved that I’m not still on, constantly posting prolife news! ; )

Take a Stand Against Abortion This Weekend

Pro-life advocates have a busy weekend ahead with two important events: Run for Their Lives 5C Charity Walk on Saturday morning and Life Chain on Sunday afternoon.

Run for Their Lives 5C Charity Walk begins with check-in at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 6 at Brighton Church of the Nazarene, 7679 Brighton Road, Brighton. The cost to participate is $20 for the first ticket and $10 for each additional ticket in the same group or family. Included in the fee are a t-shirt and a chocolate treasure map leading walkers one mile into downtown Brighton where they will be instructed to stop in at designated shops for chocolate treats. All proceeds benefit Pregnancy Help Clinic, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending abortion by providing practical help to mothers who are dealing with unplanned pregnancies. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance by visiting the following link:  www.PregnancyHelpClinic.com/RunForTHeirLives

Pro-life advocates will have another chance to take a stance against abortion on Sunday, October 7 from 2 to 3 p.m. by standing along Grand River Avenue for the annual Life Chain. Signs with slogans such as “Abortion Kills Children” and “Lord, Forgive Us and Our Nation” will be ready for pick-up at Pregnancy Help Clinic, 7743 W. Grand River in Brighton, starting at 1:30 p.m. the same day. Life Chain is a national event during which participants peacefully stand, holding signs, and pray for an end to abortion.

In Praise of Roasted Garlic

My husband and I discovered several years ago that we love roasted garlic. I used to add two or three bulbs to the roasting pan when I was cooking a big “Sunday” chicken, along with carrots and onions. Only recently, however, have I realized that this nutritious, flavor-packed powerhouse is beyond great when added to almost any soup or sauce. Some of our garlic-infused favorites are navy bean and split pea soups, mashed redskin potatoes, and tomato sauce.

If you have discovered that sautéing chopped onions in extra virgin olive oil adds a whole new dimension to so many dishes, then you probably know that if you want to add garlic, you add it when the onions are almost done, since garlic burns easily and gets bitter when overdone. I used to cook garlic this way all the time, with mixed results depending upon how long I let it stay in the hot pan. Too many times, I tried to do a few things at once and would accidentally overcook it, resulting in the dish having a slightly off taste. I finally decided to try gently roasting the garlic first and then adding it to the pot. I used the word “gently” because it really only takes about 45 minutes in a 350 oven for the garlic to get soft enough to squeeze. Any longer than that, and you may burn it.

When the garlic feels soft to the touch, remove it from the oven and let it cool until you can comfortably handle it. The easiest and fastest way to remove the delicate cloves from their papery covers is to pierce the round part that was attached to the plant with a paring knife, going carefully around the circle. Pull that part off.  Then, turn the bulb over and, holding it above your simmering soup, sauce or mashed potatoes, squeeze it until every clove is in the pot. Mix well. The rich, deep flavor that this adds cannot be overstated. It has completely reformed many of our favorite concoctions, most notably soups, such as navy bean and split pea. Occasionally, I will add it to mashed potatoes to give them a different, “gourmet” flair. Now, I always add roasted garlic to my tomato sauce because it has made such a drastic improvement. The sauce is great with spaghetti, of course, but also with all other pasta dishes as well, including my favorite addiction, lasagna. But that’s a whole other story!

Daydreams

I was just doing dishes and thinking about listening to some music on my i-pod. I thought that maybe I would listen to Journey, a favorite from my younger years. I was imagining how listening to an old favorite can, in a way, transport you to that earlier time, and all the images of my childhood surroundings started to come to mind: My bedroom with the receiver, turntable, cassette player and speakers set up on a six-foot long cherry dresser; the wallpaper that I picked out with tiny blue, red and pink flowers which my mother said was almost exactly like the paper covering my nursery walls in the home we left before my fourth birthday; the twin bed with the tall, cherry four-poster and the red and white toile bedspread  from an elegant shop in Petoskey, Michigan.There were also hardwood floors in a medium-oak shade and a beautiful Persian-style rug near the door. In addition, there was a massive walk-in closet, almost unheard of in houses made in the sixties. My room was also well-lit by two large windows on adjacent walls.

In this daydream, I really wanted to see Mom, Dad and my sister, Amy, again, as they were then. I would love to see my Dad when his hair was still mostly pepper, with just a little salt. I would love to see him when he was still strong, vibrant, in the middle of his very successful public relations career, on-call to field problems for his company at any given time. His flashing, dancing blue eyes never missed a trick. I’d love to see Mom’s face again, the way it was then, when the heavy load of troubles she already bore hadn’t yet become her undoing, as in the last few years of her life, when she seemed to have given up hope. My sister – sharp, witty, strange, but not yet labeled as a paranoid schizophrenic. Now, looking back, there were a lot of signs that something was not right with her, even from the beginning. But, during this peek into the past, I am willfully seeing her happy, in kind of an observant way, as though she is just enjoying watching everyone else. As a child, she always watched me and once confessed to a therapist (and later, my mother) that she constantly felt as though she came up short in comparison. At this moment, however, there is just peace and happiness.

If we ever can travel through time, this is where I would go: to my old house in southeastern Michigan, where I grew up, spoiled and catered to by parents who were raised with nothing following the Great Depression and wanted to give us everything. I didn’t appreciate it then, as kids don’t. I would love to be able to summon my young parents, once again, to sit on the black vinyl sofa under the Calder print, a reproduction of a statue that was outside my Dad’s office in downtown Detroit, and watch as Amy and I would “perform” yet another song for them.  I would love another chance to “interview” my Dad as I played a make-believe talk show host named Gladys Bagman and he pretended to be some very interesting celebrity, golf pro, or English gentleman.

I recently attended the Bat Mitzvah of my mom’s first cousin’s daughter, and having some extra time, we drove to the my childhood home since it was only about fifteen minutes from the temple.  My husband waited in the Trailblazer at the end of the drive while I walked up to the front door.  Even after all these years—about 40 – it still says, “Amy & Nancy live here. Yeah!” on the red brick under the house number sign to the right of the door.  I couldn’t believe that it was still there—that someone hadn’t tried to clean it off many years ago.  It made me happy to think that perhaps the people who live there now don’t want to clean it off.  Maybe they like to see it and imagine two little girls and some happy times and laughter that once filled those rooms.  

Getting Ready for College Writing

As a veteran homeschooling parent with twenty successful years of experience, plus work as a writer and editor, I sometimes get calls from parents whose teenage children need help writing. What I concentrate on when I tutor this age group is mastery of a basic, five-paragraph essay. If your child knows how to properly organize and construct this type of paper by the time he graduates, he will be well on his way to academic success in college. There is a simple, almost mathematical formula for constructing such an essay. If your child follows these steps and applies my top two tips, success is only a matter of time: Know the material;  jot down whatever comes to mind, otherwise known as freewriting; create an outline; draft a strong thesis statement and solid topic sentences; pay attention to organization and flow; and rewrite if necessary.

If the student is new to essay writing, it is best to first assign descriptive or narrative essays that are based on personal experience. These don’t require research, so a bibliography is unnecessary. A descriptive essay can simply be about which restaurant makes the best pizza, and a narrative essay can be about the student’s best or worst day. Since the subject matter is familiar, the actual writing and structure of the paper become the focal points, so the teacher or tutor will more easily see where help is needed, if any.