Prometheus: Avant Première - First Impressions

I saw the midnight showing of Prometheus last night! 

I didn't even know it was coming out until fellow blogger and author, Michael Offutt tweeted about it. He mentioned it was being released in Europe one week earlier than the US, and I was like, 'Really? Going to check this out!' And he was like, 'No fair,' and I was like, 'Hahah I'll watch it on my Mom's TV and think of you,'and he was like, 'it comes out in the theatres dumb- dumb.' And I was like *facepalm* 'D’oh!'


Okay, I’m paraphrasing a tad but that's basically how it went down. Trust me. But anyway, I got bummed right after because I really hate watching English movies in French. With the new French TV system, we can watch a lot of English movies/series in the original version. Plus, the closest movie theater that offers the English version is a four hour drive away. ):  Anyway, where was I... oh yeah, signing off twitter before I say anything else incredibly stupid to share with the rest of the twittersphere. 



Back to Prometheus... Do you have any idea how much it cost to get movie tickets over here! I hadn't been to the movies in years...except for Avatar so I guess it wasn't THAT long ago. But still, Prometheus cost me 12 € for the midnight showing, plus 1 € for the 3D glasses (13€ comes out to about $16). Remember when movie tickets cost $5? Anyway, tack on 5.10 € for a 250cl bag of popcorn that tasted like the biodegradable packing peanuts and low-fat salt.
There's no such thing as low-fat salt, Elise.

I know, but if there was, this is how I would imagine it tasting like-bad. Can I continue?
Is this a multiple choice question?

SO, we're up to 18.10 € for tickets, glasses and popcorn.
Plus, 2.70€ for a small Coke, 
5.20 € for a bag of 200g M & Ms, 
AND the two hour car ride that cost 9.60€ in tolls (not including gas). 

Grand total: 35.60 € ~ ($ 44.40 )  Getting to bed at 3:30am and remembering why I don't go to the movies often, priceless *starts crying*.

So where was I? Oh yes...

I don't like watching horror movies. But, when I was younger and obviously braver, I watched the first three Alien movies so I felt I could make an exception. Plus, this was an opportunity to see something before folks in the US. So, I decided to suck it up, wince through the bad French voice-over just to bring you this AWESOME post *eye rolling*. Man, I need to lay off the caffeine.

In short: Prometheus was good but not great.

The visuals and special effects were brilliant. The 3D effects did not outweigh the story line and the movie moved along beautifully. The ship's interior design was awesome as well as all the holographic projections. But, it will not live up to everyone's expectations. 


This is where you STOP reading if you don't want to read a few spoilers. 


I'm a big chicken when it comes to horror/scary movies so naturally, I was expecting to jump out of my seat during the show and pee pee myself. But, it never happened. Not even once during the whole two hours and three minutes. The only part that made me squirm was (SPOILER) the abortion scene. The low scream factor may actually disappoint some people and in my opinion, Aliens was scarier. That being said, I prefer the premise of Prometheus but it did leave me with a few questions and I'm afraid they've set this up for a sequel. Also, the last scene was a bit, meh. I would have (SPOILER) made the head turn for a final mini-head strike at the audience, it was 3D after all. 

Anyway, I'm exhausted here and not up to writing a full movie review. Instead, I've opted to list a few random thoughts and commentary I jotted down during the movie. Note: Some of these are quotes, some are not. Remember, I watched this in French so the translation may be a bit off. Also, a lot of this isn't going to make a whole lot of sense until you watch the movie (I'm doing this on purpose to avoid spoiling you too much).

Movie starts:

Wow.
Entering atmosphere on LV223 - awesome.
Prometheus - awesome.
Nature doesn't draw straight lines.
I love the space suits, much better than the Michelin man costumes.
RTO 1, I want one please.
Holloway is hot. Vickers too.
Mapping out dome with Fun Balls! I want some.
Can you fix that? Perhaps.
Storm! Go, go, go!
I can't believe you dropped the head.
David, you sneaky android.
It's a termite mound!
DNA match?
Big things have small beginnings.
Vickers doesn't like the accordion, huh.
Are you a robot?
My room, 10 min.
Gazpacho (What? No cornbread?)
Biologist is stupid.
Holy wine cellar Batman!
I want to play with the marshmallow eggs.
Space chart is sick.
Ew.
WTF? A zombie? (someone needs to e-mail me and explain this. I didn't understand why this one didn't follow the normal pathology.)
Revelations.
It's a trap spaceship!
Sometimes to create, you must destroy.
They changed their minds?!
In the words of my generation: Up yours!
Run! She's going down!
Bag the head and blast off.
I smell a sequel.
Fin.

So there you have it. If you enjoy sci-fi and don't mind a lot of unanswered questions, then Prometheus is for you. 


Let me know if you're planning to watch this. I'd be interested in hearing what you think. (:   

Savory Sunday: Mediterranean Hors D'oeuvre Cake

Amazing how yummy food looks when you photograph it
with a tight zoom....

Served cold, this is a typical cake I like to serve as an hors d'oeuvre or during l'apéro. Your three main ingredients are feta cheese, red peppers and black olives. Obviously, not the kind of cake you'd spread icing on, but that 's what the French call these kinds of preparations. So basically, you  preheat your oven and mix the following into a bowl:

3 eggs

150 g of flour (~1  1/3 cup)

10 cl of sunflower oil (~6 tbsp)

10 cl of milk (~6 tbsp)

1 packet of baking powder

100 g of shredded gruyère cheese (~1 cup)

100 g roasted red peppers (~1 cup)

150 g of feta cheese cut into dice size pieces (~1 1/2 cup)

80 g of pitted black olives (~ 3 oz) 

   

Dump it all into a cake mold and throw it into the oven at 180°C (~350°F) for about 45 minutes.

Now remember, I'm terrible with anything that requires putting food into an oven. Every time I try oven cooking it's like flipping a quarter, heads and it'll come out ok, tails and something will go wrong. Last night, the coin landed on its edge. I think the problem is me trying to do a million things at once and forgetting stuff in the oven. A timer would work, I just have to remember to set the darn thing. So as you can guess, I forgot to pull the cake out and it over cooked. Instead of 45 minutes, it sat in the oven at 200°C for an hour. Oops. But miraculously, it still came out tasty! Go figure. The crust was a bit darker and crustier than normal, but I liked it.  (:

Things I Miss About the States, Things I Love About France

My last post in this series was about things I miss from the States. It was not an exhaustive list (not by a long shot) and I'll continue it later. But today, I thought I'd mention a few things I enjoy about France. Remember I'm focusing on the little things so I'm not going to drone on and on about the rich history, and the to-die-for architecture or the food...well not in this post anyway (;


Two hour Lunches

Yes, you read that right, the post office is "closed on Mondays" in many
areas. In fact, lots of stores closed on Mondays, but this is NOT one of the
things I love about France.

The French have a love affair with food and lunch is no exception. In fact, lunch from noon-2:00pm is SACRED! Most stores, banks, and even the post office in most towns close for lunch. The only exception you'll find is really in the big cities and Paris. But regardless, you do not bother a Frenchman in the middle of lunch. If you trip on a hatchet and it's 3 inches into your thigh, blood squirting in all directions, and the clock reads 1:30pm, you wait the 30 minutes before calling for help. Okay, so I may be exaggerating just a tad, but hopefully you get the point. What is nice about a 2 hour break however, is that it gives you enough time to enjoy a nice cooked meal (it doesn't have to be fancy) and unwind a bit before tackling the rest of the day. Lunch on the go is not nearly as common over here as it is in the States. Even my kids have 2 hours off. I pick them up from school everyday at noon, bring them home for lunch and bring them back at quarter to two. Sure it's time consuming having to cook for everyone and yes, there are days that have me swinging in the cuckoo's nest, but I like to know what my kids are eating. And I'm not the only mother that brings their kids home for lunch either. But as much as I like having them here for lunch, it won't last. The school is building an new cafeteria and next year they'll go a few days a week to eat with their classmates. I think that's important for them too. 


Pétanque


I. Love. This. Game. But don't get that statement confused with me actually being any good at it. If I'm on your team, chances are we're going to lose. But for some reason, sucking at this game doesn't turn me off from playing. Now, pétanque (similar to the Italian's Bocce ball) is a male dominated sport, but it can be played with the whole family. And yes, it is a sport! You can play pétanque just about anywhere except for maybe the living room. We have a typical kids plastic set, but the real ones are heavy, metal balls, made in France.

My kids plastic pétanque set

The goal is to get your ball as close to the cochonnet (the little red ball) as possible.
In this shot, my ball ended up in Spain.

Crackmeupology: Garfield

...and write my wip for me!

Jon?

Lightning Flashed: Flash Fiction Blogfest

I just entered Cherie Reich's 2nd annual flash fiction blogfest. This is a great way to meet other bloggers/writers and see other writing styles. But you don't have much time so check out her blog post Here and give it a go. Below are the blogfest rules from Cherie's post:

Here are the rules:

1. Entries must begin with the two words: Lightning flashed.

2. Entries must be 300 words or less and be in prose. I'm not versed enough in poetry verse to judge it properly.

3. Entries must be posted on your blog between May 21 - 23.

4. You must sign up in the linky below to have your entry be counted.

On May 25, I will announce the six finalists and open voting through May 28th.

On May 29th, my third year blogversary, I will announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as a random winner selected from the participants list. All ties will be broken by Random.org.

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And here is my entry weighing in at 285 words:

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Lightning flashed in her eyes as she unsheathed her crystal flyssa. It was time to start killing monsters.

She stood completely relaxed with a loose grip around the hilt of her elegant sword. She let the razor sharp tip flirt with the ale soaked tavern floor as she sized up her opponents. It was a cocky stance, but after 200 years of battling ghouls and their bastard hybrids, an on guard stance would be a waste of energy. Besides, she wanted to have a little fun tonight, it’s not like anyone was waiting for her at home.

Her first move—flawless. Dropping on one knee and spinning 180 degrees, the flyssa cut through the air on a horizontal plane slicing across the soft underbelly of a charging ghoul. Shrieks filled the air as entrails tumbled to the floor. Two attackers immediately charged from either side. She sidestepped the first hitting the ghoul with the back of the hilt and with a reverse cut, sliced the other’s head clean off. Thump. Then, another ghoul came at her on the left. No time for fancy footwork, a quick shuffle step and an over the head vertical cut to the top of its crown was enough. The ghoul staggered to a halt, its mouth gaped open in a muted scream as the top of its head opened like a book.

She scanned the room for more attackers but the tavern had cleared out with one exception, a woman sitting cross-legged on the bar in a dress made for sex. Relaxing her stance she wiped her sword clean on the rags of her victim, sheathed the weapon, and zeroed in her gaze back on the woman at the bar.   

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So this entry is a little on the "what the eff?" side, sorry. But what can I say...it's been one of those weeks. 

Looking forward to reading all your entries though!!!! (:

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Savory Sunday: Enjoying The Simple Things

What I admire about the French is their ability to enjoy the moment and the simple things in life. It doesn't have to be complicated to be beautiful nor elaborate to be savory. 

Chabrin: Mixture of goat and sheep milk.
Dry-cured organic sausage.

The combination of goat and sheep's milk makes one of my favorite types of cheeses. Moist and smooth, this cheese called Chabrin beats out what you find in the States. Add to it dry-cured sausage, a hunk of French bread, a glass of red wine, and voilà, lunch is served. 


Note: The AB stamp on the sausage label means "agriculture biologique."  It's the French 'Certified Organic' label. 

Blog Love and the Kreative Blogger Award

A big internet thank you to Amanda Heitler for awarding me the Kreative Blogger Award. If you haven't already visited Amanda at Drama, Dice and Damsons, then I strongly suggest you hop on over. Amanda has a great sense of humor, she's a historian, drama teacher, and talented writer to boot. I feel lucky to have met her during the A-Z Challenge!! (:


Here are the rules:


1) Thank and link back to the awarding blog. (Well duh!)
2) Answer the following 7 questions.
3) Provide 10 random factoids about yourself.
4)  Pass this on to 7 deserving others.


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1) What's your favorite song?


This is an impossible question to answer because I don't have just one, plus they change all the time depending on my mood. I love songs from the movie My Fair Lady, but also enjoy classic rock, reggae, pop, dance, the list goes on. I put up samples of what I'm listening to every couple of days on my side bar if you're really interested. 


2) What's your favorite dessert?


Again, this is an impossible question to answer. I live in France, pastry capital of the world. So anything made of chocolate or coffee, oh and caramel. Crepes lathered in Nutella is also high on the list. :D


3) What do you do when you're upset? 


Depends on what kind of upset. Angry upset, I like to go for a run. Sad upset, and I usually don't have the energy to run, so I get it all out on paper. 


4) Which is your favorite pet? 


I really wish this was not one of the 7 questions, but I'll answer it honestly (heads up, this is not a happy response) 


I have to say my cat Oscar. I got him through the SPCA on Sept. 14, 2001. He's been my companion, my snuggle cat ever since. He moved from apartment to apartment to house with me and even flew across the ocean with me. Two days ago he got hit by a car. I found him in a ditch on the side of the road. Both back legs are paralyzed. The local vets don't know if it's permanent.  I'm taking him tomorrow morning to the city of Nantes where they are better equipped and may be able to find a solution. The thought of possibly having to euthanize him is devastating.


5) Which do you prefer? Black or White
Black


6) What is your biggest fear? 
Other than losing my children, I'd have to say the ocean. I almost drowned in the Atlantic ocean when I was 12. A lifeguard swam out and saved my life.  


7) What is your attitude mostly? 
Pessimistic


10 random factoids: (I'll try to make this a little less depressing)


1) I used to be a tomboy when I was a kid and played football with the guys until, I grew a pair of boobs and realized, I kept getting tackled even when I didn't have the ball.


2) I went bungee jumping when I was 16 and skydiving when I was 17.


3) In my next life I want to be a fighter jet pilot.


4) I ran a 5K last week dressed as a ladybug along with 2000 other women participants.  


5) I owned and rode a motorcycle during my junior year in college. It was a red, 250 Honda Rebel.


6) I have holes in most of my socks. No joke.


7) I studied insects in college.


8) I can't watch zombie movies or anything with zombies in it. Zombies scare the crud out of me.


9) I can tell the difference between mouse, rat, and American cockroach droppings.


10) I love going outside and blowing bubbles with my 2 amazing kids. 


I'd like to pass this award to:


1) Cristina dos Santos at Once Upon A Time
2) Elliot at So close, but...
3) Honey at Stories to Share
4) Jennifer Fischetto
5)Jessica at Just Following A Dream
6) Melissa Maygrove
7) Tia Bach at Mom in Love with Fiction