Every since I’ve begun training for the marathon, I’ve had to pay attention to something in which I’ve never even given much of a thought:  my feet.  You just can’t throw on any old shoes and go running.  That might work in the short term, but in the long run (sorry for the pun), you’re feet are going to kill you in you are wearing the wrong shoes.

When I started my training a few months ago, I just put on an old pair of running shoes, and I quickly realized that I was going to have some serious injuries if I didn’t get some new kick.  The new shoes worked but the first week was like running on razor blades.  I took them off from a run, and I had two pretty wicked blisters.  Then I realized that certain socks prevented blisters, so I had to change my socks.  All of a sudden, my feet, to which I barely had given a thought most of my life, were taking up a lot of my attention.

Now forgive me for taking up so much time discussing feet.  For some folks, feet are pretty disgusting, and I must admit, when I those toenail fungus commercials are on TV, I get a little queasy.  I cannot even begin to imagine how dirty and disgusting feet were back in Jesus’ day.  They clearly wore shoes back in Rome, and they even called them an early version of the word “sock” but they really were just loose fitting sandals.  We don’t get socks as we know until the late 1800’s and Nike didn’t produce shoes until 1964, so feet in Jesus’ day were pretty sore, filthy, and probably petty disgusting.  Yet, in this week’s passage, God is going to call those feet, that were dirty and bruised and who knew what their toenails looked like without clippers, beautiful.

They are not beautiful because of any outward appearance, which is always the case in scripture.  Beauty in scripture always comes from within as something lives out the purpose for which it was created.  No, feet are beautiful because of the wonderful and grand mission in which they fulfill.  In fact, they fulfill the mission that God gives to the His people, the church.  So this week, as we continue in our series in Romans, let’s ask this Big Picture Question:

Big Picture Question:  What grand and beautiful mission does God give the church?

If you would like to join Sovereign King for worship, we meet each Sunday at 10:30am, and you can find directions to our space at http://bit.ly/1byggC

Okay, so ya’ll were pretty much on to me in the poll about my Top Secret Cross Training Exercise.  (I’d surely like to know which one of you voted for “Other” and typed in “12 oz. curls after a run!”  Confessions, anyone?)

So you guessed it.  My cross-training exercise of choice is:  Tap Dancing.  This is only mildly remarkable because I hadn’t danced in a group/team/class since high school.  And I’d only even put on tap shoes a couple times in my adult life.  I would have had better chances at success being a hockey player or a nuclear scientist.

But I thought I’d give it a whirl since my little princess is The Dancing Queen and my darling ninja has decided to take dancing lessons to make her a Better Hockey Player.

Photo Credit

So I see this sign:  Beginning Adult Tap Lessons–Try It!  And I think:  how hard can it be?  After all, I’m an athlete, a runner.  I signed up for the class, thinking it would be fun, but wouldn’t really qualify for anything mildly aerobic. 

Imagine my surprise when I learned that there were very few times that tap dancers actually ever stopped moving.  Think of it as the equivalent of jumping rope for 45 minutes while trying to learn new ways to move your feet, remember these ways in varying patterns, have each move of your toe or heel make a particular noise at a particular moment,  figure out how not to run into the other dancers in the room (all 15 years younger than you, of course) and, if possible, to do all this while not falling down on your larger-and-older-than-the-rest-of-the-group’s fanny. 

So maybe this actually was exercise.  Yes, definitely. 

Way different than running.  Which is, for me, essentially a solo endeavor and in which the tricky footwork consists of exactly two moves:  thump, thump.  And the biggest challenge consists of willing yourself to go farther or faster. 

So the tap dancing thing has been a welcome way for me to get that aerobic exercise without pounding on my old joints once a week.  It’s given me a chance to focus my mind a different way than I’m used to, which is a welcome brain-stretch.  It’s given me a chance to educate some whipper-snappers in the reality that indeed, Thriller and Bust-A-Move were, not that long ago, songs that real people danced to, not just some funky retro music.  And it’s given me yet another opportunity to laugh at myself, because truly–I’m quite a sight to behold, let me tell you. 

And just today, another thought occurred to me.  Happy Feet.  Oh, yes.  It makes total sense that I would love tap dancing, since I am a penguin. 

One of my running heroes, John Bingham, refers to himself as “The Penguin.”  He refers to a time in his early running career where he envisioned himself as a swift and beautiful, muscular animal, running mightily, at which time he passed by a storefront and saw his reflection in the plate glass, where he saw something closer to:  a penguin.  Are you a Penguin?  Click this link to find out:  You Might Be a Penguin If…

How does this penguin business relate to tap dancing? 

Of course, this runner would love tap dancing.  This runner is a penguin.  And in both persuits, my feet are truly happy.

As we mentioned in our last post, we ended up checking out of the B&B we were scheduled to be in due to lack of internet service and distance from where we needed to be.  Sad, because it was a cute little place but where we ended up…OH BOY!  We feel like we are living in a condo!!  Before we left, Tina was so happy because they had a washer and dryer and since she only brought 6 pair of undies (not sure what she was thinking!), she has been giving a new meaning to the word “commando” for a couple of days.  Needless to say, she now is “covered!”  

Our living room

Our bedroom

Our morning was a little off due to having to find a new place to stay and then actually getting there but all ended up ok.  Tina and I have been doing an awesome job, I must say, staying in the moment and just allowing things to happen as they will.  This keeps us in a state of squeezing everything we can out of every moment we are here.

We ended up taking the half-day afternoon tour headed to The Cape of Good Hope.  This area is the southwestern most point of South Africa and is where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet.  Thabani was our tour guide and he was a hoot!!  We were in the van with a couple from Austria and another couple from Whales.  Thabani was cracking jokes the whole time about where each of us were from.

Tina and Thabani

Chris and Tina at False Bay overlook

It was a quite eventful ride (it took about an hour and a half) and we stopped a few times along the way.  As we were passing a beautiful beach off of the Atlantic Ocean, Thabani pointed out to us the FULL-TIME shark spotters on the beach.  The shark spotters sit up over the cliff with binoculars and have different colored flags that warn the guard on the beach if there is a shark in the area.  This happens quite often due to the fact that the sharks mistake the people for seals!   If you saw the movie “Jaws” – that is the shark we are talking about.  They are ALL OVER the waters in Cape Town!!  (Vin you would be in heaven!!)

False Bay

We then stopped to see the penguins and found out their nickname is the “Jackass Penguins” due to the fact that when they make noise apparently they sound like a Jackass!  (A few people I know came to mind….  )  They so reminded me of the movie “March of the Penguins!” 

Penguins

"Happy Feet"

Tina and I then decided we had to use the restroom and upon entering the stall noticed a box on the back of the toilet.  To our surprise and laughter (loud enough for the entire place to hear!) there were boxes of FREE condoms in every stall!  Seriously though, this is a way South Africa is educating people on safe sex so as to prevent the spread of AIDS.  (NO – Tina and I did not take any!!) 

Only Tina and I would take a picture of condoms!

We started our drive again and were warned about the WILD BABOONS!  These guys are EVERYWHERE!!!  Apparently, they have been fed too much by tourists so are now on the violent side and actually try to jump in peoples cars to get food.  We passed a mama and her baby on the side of the road….SO CUTE!! 

Baboon mama and baby

We finally almost got to our destination when we stopped again for a bit to climb up to a lighthouse overlooking the Indian Ocean.  It became very apparent as to why they call Cape Town the “windiest city in the world!”  Tina almost had to cash in my life insurance policy because I literally almost got blown off the edge while going up.  TINA IS MY HERO…SHE SAVED MY LIFE!!  (tears of joy and gratitude flowing).   We were so “blown away” at the top, we decided to take the Funicular (a flying Dutchman-kind of cable car) back down mainly due to the fact that I was having a hard time remembering where I put my life insurance policy!!

Lighthouse view-you have no idea what it took to take this picture!!

"Funicular" car

Once we got back to our “palace” we decided to order pizza and beer.  We were soooo happy!  We also noticed that this is the first post that we do not have a picture of us drinking an adult beverage….on the other hand,  we also just noticed that we talked about drinking an adult beverage and happen to be drinking one as we type so maybe this whole paragraph is totally pointless! 

On to tomorrow where we are going to be…wait for it….DRINKING!!!  (full-day wine vineyard tour!!)

Here's for "hoping" for a good day tomorrow...

As we become more and more passionate about the environment, perhapse the most important thing is to instill those same priorities in children and the most exciting and fun way to do that is to share the love of movies.

Indeed, what better way to educate a child to be respectfull towards the world that surrounds him than through cartoons with loveable characters and an interesting story.

Wall-E (2008) and Happy Feet (2006) are examples of environmental movies for children that were both popular and provoked debate amongst the public.

One the one hand, picture the planet without people, without plants, without life of any sort, save a small sized trash compacting robot and a whole lot of trash. This is opening scene of Pixar’s Wall-E (2008).

The story of a little robot that manages to make it to outer space, find love and at the same time the means to save our dying Earth – all in a hard day’s work.

While what’s left of the humanity have turned into robots or rather slugs, orbiting space indefinitely because the earth is inhabitable.

Carried in floating chairs so they don’t have to walk, doing nothing but drink food from a cup and stare at the tv screen they are permanently attached to.

On the other hand, animated drama/comedy Happy Feet depicts the life of free penguins in the Antarctica versus being trapped in a marine park exhibit.

Although director George Miller insists the story didn’t start off as an environmental message, he said: “In Australia, we’re very, very aware of the ozone hole and Antarctica is literally the canary in the coal mine for this stuff. So it sort of had to go in that direction.”

With a final taking of approximatively $198 million in the United States alone, about eight times the figure for the much-discussed Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” environmentalists said “Happy Feet” provided a rare chance to spread their messages on global warming, overfishing, and the dangers of oil spills to an audience that doesn’t usually follow public policy.

“The generation that will be seeing this movie, the children, will be the ones facing the critical issues when the big problems are going to happen – possible global fish extinction in 40 to 50 years” for many species, said Matt Rand, director of the marine fish campaign at National Environmental Trust, a Washington-based advocacy group.

With takings of $224 millions in the USA only, Wall- E was an even bigger box-office hit. The movie became a real player in the environmental discussion.

Thanks to it children were interested by what was going on and started asking questions about how we should prevent the apocalyptical vision of the Earth we see in the animated movie. At the end Wall-E became a real learning tool, disguised as a fun, simple love story.

Svetlana Loschatova, mother of 9 year old Yvan said: “After walking out of the movie theater my 9 year old who obviously totally enjoyed the movie said: that was made to teach humans a lesson. I of course pushed him a little further and he explained, we can’t keep being mean to the Earth.”

So let’s hope that there are more environmental friendly movies for kids to come!

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In Socks ! ! !

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This is what happens when your wee little feet gets cold.

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Aren’t socks very helpful in warming those toes?

‘Course, who said you can’t have fun with it.

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It’s these simple crazy things you do that bring smiles in the most unexpected ways.

As much as it warms the feet, it also warms the heart.

(And we do need that, don’t we? )

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Happy Pink Saturday!.

Thank you Miss Beverly for hosting this event.

For other pink stuff, drop by How Sweet the Sound.

To learn more about the event, click on the “Pink Saturday” logo

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A general disclaimer about the list to follow ought to start with noting that most lists of this sort are pretty much bullshit anyway, designed to ignite pointless debate and sell women’s health magazines or ad spots on VH1, and this one may not be much different really. However, given that this is an internet blog site, and the end of a decade is approaching, fate holds that a list must be made. I thought about whether it should be billed as the 40 “best” videos of the past decade, or the 40 “most significant,” or the 40 “most favoritest of BTO” but in the end we’re opting to call it something altogether different and stupid and just get on with things. Special shout to Skim the Fat, where from I got most of these images, is that site still going? Anyhow, numbers 40 through 30:

40. “It’s Official,” 2005

An overall pretty awesome video marred by a Kanye-heavy soundtrack and a few too many Lenny Rivas quotables, Kayo Corp’s stab at a “Trilogy” featured the national debut of gap-gliding Kenny Hoyle and SF sweatpants fan Robbie Holmes, alongside solid turns from all-stars Jackson Curtain, Karl Watson and a damn Marcus McBride part. I don’t know if Marcus McBride is the Z-Ro of skateboarding, exactly, but he’s something. “Official” probably could’ve done with more Richard Angelides and some editing where Quim Cardona was concerned but this video is one that probably doesn’t get rewatched as often as it should. Chany Jeanguenin skates vert in it.

39. “Skate More,” 2005

Daewon Song’s self-reinvention for a post-picnic table world helped vault him to SOTY status off the back of DVS’s debut full-length, but the Python-flavored “Skate More” also boasted the feel-good part of the year straight from the happy feet of Jeron Wilson who floats the slickest heelflip that Jason Dill had ever seen. 2005 was a banner year for Keith Hufnagel as well, putting out two ollie-riffic sections, and this DVS video also offers a glimpse of the ever-shifting Dill in his New York denizen phase and the mixed bag that is Jereme Rogers’ best part to date; also Busenitz/Zered Basset and a more-interesting-than-usual Mikey Taylor contribution.

38. “Get Familiar,” 2006

Chris Hall’s sneakerhead-financed East-by-West coast document should’ve maybe leaned a bit heavier on the retro elements, like I always thought the electro songs used for the intro clips would’ve made an interesting soundtrack for the whole thing. “Get Familiar” though was a worthy addition to a long line of self-produced East Coast videos with a pretty stacked lineup in a still-skinny Bobby Worrest, a skinnier yet Zach Lyons, EE vets Barley and Forbes and the resurgent duo of Joey Pepper and James Craig (the backside bigspin flip is a career highlight). Curveball parts come from Daewon and Mark Gonzales before gun-slinging Darren Harper controversially closes the video with some baggy denim stylings, crazy pop and that silly floater of a switch frontside shove-it.

37. “Waiting For the World,” 2000

It’s kind of fucked up how John Rattray’s section in this video was this devil’s bargain that earned him the glitz and glamour associated with Zero, Elwood and Osiris sponsorships, while at the same time siphoning away Blueprint’s heaviest dude, but these things happen. Nowadays WFTW looks kind of dated, especially Paul Carter’s Osiris pants and the Souls of Mischief song, but in 2000 the video itself was a serious stylistic push forward (the intro in particular) and generally served as a statement of purpose for the British skateboard scene, especially for those of us outside it, putting everybody onto the likes of Paul Shier, Colin Kennedy, a pint-sized Nick Jensen and the loopy genius of Mark Baines, leading up to John Rattray’s Britpop-powered star turn.

36. “Cash Money Vagrant,” 2003

There was really no reasonable or feasible way for Anti Hero to try and follow up “Fucktards” but their stab at a semi-conventional video in the midst of restocking the team for the concrete park decade is laudable enough and a fun one to throw in now and again. Young(er) and dirty Frank Gerwer does half his frontside k-grinds on Firm boards and Tony Trujillo rejects the Transworld gloss that helped mold his SOTY bid, alongside contributions from Cardiel, Hewitt and most of the other Anti-Heros that matter. It’s short, there is a little lo-fi themed skit that ties the whole thing together and they make it safely to Benecia at the end (spoiler alert). Interestingly, this site is selling a copy for $1300.

35. “Dying To Live,” 2002

In some ways it’s easy to bag on this vid, what with Jamie Thomas’s very dramatic intro, the beginning of Adrian Lopez’s career slide and Jon Allie’s sort of boring opener part. But as with most Zero productions the editing is sharp, the music fantastic and there is enough good here that “Dying to Live” probably can be considered fairly underrated at this point – Ryan Smith in his young and hungry days, paired with Nirvana, Matt Mumford to Queen, bespectacled Lindsay Robertson’s crushing slow-mo intro, and Chris Cole kickflip backside noseblunting a damn handrail amid a characteristically ridiculous part that capped his fresh-to-hesh migration. And, it had a sweet friends section, something that’s kind of fallen by the way-side in recent years.

34. “7 Year Glitch,” 2002

It seems like forever ago that New Deal even was a company and most of these dudes have been scattered to the four winds at this point, and where Fabrizio Santos is concerned, this all may be for the best. But this video, which preceded New Deal’s folding pretty quickly, contains one of the better Ricky Oyola lines captured on video, a lot of good Europe footage before all the spots were played, and the type of diverse lineup that’s generally been tossed in favor of appealing to this or that sub-sub-demographic. There is vert skating and Rob G has a nice run that’s filmed via a stationary long-lens, also, Chad Tim Tim at the early stages of being underappreciated for more or less ten years. Probably you could trace Kenny Reed’s nearly decade-long wandering in the international wilderness to the filming of this project, and maybe the marathon backside 5-0 to backside tail in particular. The one with the kid on the bike.

33. “Baker 3,” 2005

The Baker Bootleg video formula refined and distilled, taking the sometimes-interminable 90-minute slogs through the chopped-n-screwed Baker world and squishing it into something resembling a more straightforward format. Baker 3 also introduced the world to polar opposite ams Antwuan Dixon and Theotis Beasley, and helped Bryan Herman transition from a browless Reynolds fan to a grown up hardflipper with a world-class 360 flip. Somewhere in there Spanky skates to Morrissey (I know!) and Reynolds stretches his editing legs with some weird effects. Thinking back on this vid now I remember being vaguely shocked that Erik Ellington was capable of backside noseblunting a handrail, and after reading the recent Greco interview, I’m reminded that it was a bummer he didn’t end up using the Queen song for his comeback section.

32. “Bon Appetit,” 2003

This video rightfully put Cliche on the global map, even though it retreaded that tiresome Yeah Yeah Yeahs song for the nth time and wasted so much top-drawer footage on endless region-specific montages – where is the rationale, I ask you, in sprinkling JJ Rousseu nosegrinds here and there in some Japan part when he could’ve had a full-length section to himself. French Fred’s editing choices aside, “Bon Appetit” dodges classic status but still boasts Lucas Puig’s best part to date (the nollie backside noseblunt), Jan Kleiwer getting his Hufnagel on, Rousseau in top form and a part from when Cale Nuske’s knees still worked that contains exactly one line, which is sick. Also, you should know that Ricardo Fonseca’s ponytail is meant to symbolize the virility of the European skate scene as a whole.

31. “Cheese & Crackers,” 2007

Chris Haslam and Daewon Song conspire to build a better mini-ramp mousetrap. Kind of like if the Tilt Moders got locked in a garage for a weekend with a miniramp and a sheet of high-powered blotter acid. When street skateboarding moves beyond its current love for manageable transitions this video could possibly become the current era’s “1281″ but there’s a general retardedness that helps smooth out the troublesome physics problems associated with doing blunts behind a curtain, and all manner of other nonsense these dudes get into. Friends section features Carroll and Alex Olson and the human dynamo that is Giovanni Reda, remember, and Lewis Marnell’s bonus part is nice also.

Hei dere!

Etter Halloweenfeiring for mange av dere så er det nå den første November. En mnd til jeg blir 17, en mnd til jul og nyttår og to måneder igjen av 2009. Tenk dere det! Vi er snart i 2010, ganske merkelig og skremmende hvor tiden fyker i fra en. Det er nå man skal nyte resten av år 2009, er det ikke?

Min Halloween gikk til Kvadrat med Tore, Kristian og Inger-Eli. Jeg fikk kjøpt meg leggvarmere og to filmer, å Tore kjøpte seg Tekken 6 og “Skjult” en norsk film med Kristoffer Joner med. Han er definitivt den beste norske skuespillern til nå, etter min mening. Men også Varg Veum!

Tore og meg kjøpte masse snop og sånn, å glodde på Skjult, en litt sånn egen Halloweenfeiring. Like så greit, tanken på at ingen av oss er så glad i Halloween.

Skjult var en ganske bra film, mente vi begge to! Syk mor, takk gud for at jeg har en normal og grei mor. Haha for den! Og stakkars Kai og Peter som fikk gjenomgå ting av moren til Kai. Jeg sitter såklart igjen med endel spm, som;
- Hva moren til Kai gjorde mot Kai og Peter
- Peter og Kai var ikke der sammen, fordi Kai trodde at Peter var død, så hvor var Kai når Peter ble tatt av moren til Kai?

En rekke spm, men det er vel litt av poenget i filmen, eller?

Har du ikke sett den, så bør du det. Kjempe bra film, spennende og fengene.

Ha en god kveld videre.

30 Years + 52 Days

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It’s about that time to start going through all of my stuff and decide what I absolutely must hold on to and what I can get rid of, sell, donate, you name it.  This is hard for a card-carrying pack rat like myself.  Sure I don’t pay any conscious attention to most of my accumulated “stuff” until I have to dust and/or move it.  But it’s all part of me—of my history—and I like to be surrounded by things that made me happy at one time.

I know, I sound so…obscenely sentimental.  Ick.  I have to get over it.  And fast.

Why?

As soon as I leave for Australia I’ll be technically homeless.

How is that for The New Twenty?!  I wonder how I would have reacted at age 20 if my age 30 self traveled back in time and told me how much my life would be in flux/disarray.  I was a slightly arrogant age 20 year-old and I certainly had some pretty big ideas about how my life in the fab lane would look…

“Surprise!  You’re NOT going to be a published novelist and award-winning screenwriter.  You’re NOT going to have houses in Manhattan, Malibu, & London.  And hahahahaha.  You’re definitely NOT going to be madly in love with an amazing man who is your ultimate life partner and soul mate.  But you’ll develop quite the palette for slightly dirty martinis with extra olives (yes, I know you think you hate olives, but you’ll evolve).  And ok, you won’t be published or rich, but the fact that your life is in such utter gutter-ville you’ll be able to complain about it all the time in a blog.  Oh, what’s a blog?  It’s a widespread writing/publishing platform on the internet.  How much do you get paid for that?  Psssssssh.  NOTHING.  And you’ll be $100,000 in student loan debt.  Sounds fun, eh?  Ciao, see you in 10!”

Anyway, I did this whole homeless thing to myself because not only can I not afford to keep my apartment while I’m away (I’ve got enough bills I can’t get rid of already), but I don’t love my apartment enough to go through the hassle of trying to sublet it.  It’s already annoying enough to try and get someone to move in one month before my lease is up.  Plus I have no idea what the New Year has in store for little, old me…

As we all know this year’s economy has been total shit.  Ever since my first job as a grocery store clerk at age 15 I have landed pretty much every job that I applied for…until this year.  Maybe I was just really lucky before this black hole of national unemployment, but I like to think that I was a good job candidate who was prepared for and knew what she wanted.  Last fall when the contract for my second part-time job (writing for new media) suddenly ended (they couldn’t afford to renew our team), I desperately sent out resumes to any not-completely-soul-crushing full-time job possible.  After all, I was about to turn 30 and didn’t want to be working 60-hour weeks for $10/hour as a PA (Production Assistant…a.k.a. the set bitch, for those of you non-film/TV industry people), yet I couldn’t afford to only work part-time.

But all those decent-ish jobs, as well as jobs I was way overqualified for, were like shooting stars or miracles.  I believed they existed; yet they were impossible to get hold of.  There are too many smart, talented people in the same sinking lifeboat as me.  I could blog on and on about how many friends and family were laid off (and still are), but I have a feeling you all know what I’m talking about.

For baby screenwriters out of film school it was—and still is—the pits.  Not only are shows drastically cutting back the number of entry-level positions on writing staffs (and those few gigs you have to know an important someone and/or have representation to try and land them), but the film spec market is dying.

I was a writer before I was a screenwriter and so did a bit of soul searching.  Is it film/TV that makes me happy or it writing that makes me happy?  Do I have to work in “the biz”?  Or could I branch out to other forms of creative writing expression?

I settled on the latter…but the story doesn’t suddenly turn up roses, as journalism isn’t much better these days.  While chatting with a local coffee barrista who is applying for documentary/cultural film fellowships, I mentioned I may apply for my Ph.D. next fall in creative writing or journalism.  She has a Masters in journalism and lamented how hard it is right now in those programs because so many journalists are out of work that they’re competing for the spots in the top schools.  If you can’t do, teach, right?  So basically…it’s not easy being a writer these days…

Still, if you’re only looking for work in one city you’re limiting yourself, right?  Kind of like if you live in Santa Monica and only date guys who live on the Westside you’re limiting yourself.  After all there are a lot more writing opportunities in New York, and even San Francisco has some exciting possibilities with Silicon Valley, Pixar Studios, and the surrounding universities.

So while I want to stay in LA I am open to the idea of moving if a great job (with medical benefits, thankyouverymuch) presents itself elsewhere.  That means I don’t want the restrains of another lease or a ton of stuff to lug around should that happen.

Which brings me to some tough choices.

A couple of dear friends graciously offered to either let me store some boxes in their garages and/or crash on their couch for a few days.  This doesn’t mean I can keep every knick-knack, nor overstay my welcome.

SO.

What do I do about my beloved, beaten brown cowboy boots?

These puppies have been with me since before graduate school.  I wore them every day I could get away with it, even way after the cowboy boot fad wore waaaaaay off.  If you’ve never owned cowboy boots you can’t appreciate how truly comfortable they are.  They gradually form to your feet, so imagine Birkenstock insoles, but in costume-esque shoe form.  And I still think they look adorable with a mini jean skirt, no matter how ratty the heels and edges.  But they’ve reached the point of no return (meaning no matter how much I pay a shoe cobbler to fix them he can only do so much).  So.  Do I trash them?  Can I?  I mean, sure, they’re too shabby to wear to dinner, but running errands?  Are they worth the space they’ll take up in my extremely limited storage space?

Have you ever seen a homeless person carrying around ratty, old cowboy boots?

I can’t decide now.  Just thinking about it makes me…I don’t know…I mean if this isn’t a happy foot I don’t know what is…

Happy Halloween weekend, everyone!

Happy Feet:

The reason behind me watching this film is still unknown, along with the exact reason why we have it on Blu-ray, but we had it and watched it anyway.
Visually it’s rather impressive – to be honest I’m still not totally sure which bits were CGI and which were real. The textures looked fantastic as did the views and scenery (granted – most of it was just snow which essentially is just a collection of different shades of white… yes I know white is technically a shade, but i don’t care so shut up). The only issue i had visually with the film was that penguins doing a kiss looks stupid. Stop it. It’s weird.
Right, onto the storyline. Normally i don’t have an issue with animals singing and dancing, but things just seemed weird with this one. What starts off as a generic pixar-esque animation about a penguin who’s different from the others, gradually mutates into a preachy anti-fishing, anti-zoo, anti-religion and anti-people pile of confusion. Too many things in it don’t make sence to me and defiantly wouldn’t make sence to kids, who i’m guessing the target audience for this would be.
In summary: Looks pretty, but thats about it.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Probably one of the best films I’ve seen in a while. I could complain about all the characters in it speaking English when they are German, but I won’t. I’ll even not mention the unrealisticness of things, but I won’t.
It was good. Go watch!

A good friend of mine was very generous and gave me two very fine pairs of summer shoes when I came home. Unfortunately, both pair decided to go to shoe heaven about a fortnight ago. So I have been either wearing winter shoes and socks (hot feet = eczema) or wearing a pair of shoes that Donnie loaned me (small instep shoes vs large instep feet = puffy feet). Thing is that I have a very large instep and Donnie doesn’t. This morning I did something about it and voila, one very happy pair of feet.

Obviously you have dropped in to see what was in Jen’s parcel or hear about the craft show but,  I didn’t realise how unhappy my feet have been. I just had to share the joy.

Happy Feet (2006)
★★ / ★★★★

An emperor penguin named Mumble (Elijah Wood) was born without a knack for singing, but his talent lies in tapdancing. His colony, aside from his childhood friend (Brittany Murphy) and mother (Nicole Kidman), doesn’t like the fact that he’s different and one of the oldest penguins believe that Mumble was a curse because ever since he was born, food became more scarce. (Talk about correlation does not mean causation.) Determined to prove that his tapdancing has nothing to do with the famine, Mumble, his short penguin friends and Noah the Elder (Hugo Weaving) went on a journey to search for the “aliens” (they were actually humans but they didn’t have the term for it) and kindly ask them through whatever means to stop taking their food. I like children’s movies but I hated the singing and dancing in this movie. I believe those elements took away some of the power (and time) to produce a well-developed story. The message about the humans’ destruction and disruption of the food chain was apparent but there were far too many extended singing and dancing sequences. (And it didn’t help that they weren’t that great to watch or listen to.) My favorite parts in the picture were the scenes that involved real danger for the penguins, such as being chased by a hungry seal, killer whales and birds. Yes, the animation was nothing short of spectacular but it doesn’t make up for its too light a tone about death and destruction. There were definitely some darker moments, especially in the second half when Mumble reached “heaven,” but I felt like George Miller, the director, could have pushed the envelope a little further by showing the audiences certain realities. After all, the point of the picture was the show that animals in the South Pole were struggling for survival. In fact, I think this film would have been far superior if it had ended in a bittersweet tone instead of a typical living-happily-ever-after note. Having said all that, I would have been harsher with this film if it was not intended for children. Given its flaws, it was still pretty entertaining because it had other messages such as tolerance, self-esteem and true friendships.

The weather has been anything but cooperative here in NYC. Taking the MTA in NYC is my most annoying, unsatisfactory daily experience. With that said, what shoes do I wear for my 1.5 hr commute to and from work?
During the summer I live in flats and comfortable sandals (while commuting with my wedge heels in my bag). During the Fall and Winter months, I stick to one pair of shoes per a day.
Thus far, the winning boot has been my impulse purchase on Fashion Night Out. A pair of Aldo ankle boots. They are quite comfortable and versatile. Today I stood on the train for about 45 minutes and it wasn’t as painful as it usually is with my other heeled boots. Plus I can wear these boots for work and play; over jeans or with leggings and even under slacks! The heel is ideal for that practical city style I crave and seems to be able to withstand all the galloping I do during the day. You can see the grit if you look close enough .

Ecco gli ascolti, basati sui dati forniti quotidianamente da Auditel, dei programmi di prima serata di ieri, e a seguire una guida completa dei programmi in onda sui canali in chiaro e a pagamento di questa sera, martedì 20 ottobre 2009. Per maggiori informazioni sulla programmazione televisiva visitate le sezioni Telefilm News, Cartoon News, Sat News e Dig News, per esprimere la vostra opinione utilizzate la sezione settimanale TelePagelle.

LUNEDI’ 19 OTTOBRE 2009

IERI SERA… Un ottimo risultato di oltre 7,3 milioni di spettatori per la conclusione della fiction italiana in prima visione su RaiUno “Una sera d’ottobre” con Vanessa Hessler e Ottavia Piccolo; pubblico in leggera crescita rispetto a lunedì scorso, ma fermo a 4,8 milioni, per la penultima puntata della miniserie italiana inedita di Canale 5 “Intelligence – Servizi & Segreti” con Raoul Bova (che si concluderà venerdì prossimo 23 ottobre, e non come previsto in precedenza domenica 25), che ha visto ieri la partecipazione di alcuni protagonisti di un’altra fiction di Canale 5, “R.I.S. Delitti irrisolti”. Buon risultato (3 milioni di spettatori) per la replica del film d’animazione “Happy Feet” proposta su Italia 1; circa 2,3 milioni per il programma di RaiDue “Voyager Storia” con Roberto Giacobbo, poco meno di 2,2 milioni per la puntata settimanale del programma di RaiTre “Chi l’ha visto?” con Federica Sciarelli; infine, la serie poliziesca francese in prima visione su Rete 4 “Julie Lescaut” con Veronique Genest, ed il programma di La 7 “L’infedele” con Gad Lerner (con una platea di 1.004.000 spettatori – 4,35%).
Passando ai canali Sky, la prima visione del film commedia di Woody Allen “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Sky Cinema 1 e Sky Cinema+1, ore 21.00) ha ottenuto una media di 283.000 spettatori; il terzo episodio inedito del telefilm “FlashForward” (Fox e Fox+1, ore 21.10) ha avuto 249.000 spettatori medi; l’episodio inedito della serie poliziesca “Lie to me” (Fox e Fox+1, ore 22.05) ha ottenuto 193.000 spettatori.

LA PRIMA SERATA (ore 20.30/22.30)

	PUBBLICO	SHARE %
	6.982.000	25,22
	2.400.000	8,67
	2.313.000	8,36
	315.000	1,14
	12.011.000	43,39
	5.756.000	20,79
	2.630.000	9,50
	1.931.000	6,98
	116.000	0,42
	10.433.000	37,69
	1.126.000	4,07
Altri canali terrestri	2.047.000	7,39
Canali satellitari	2.064.000	7,46
TOTALE	27.681.000	100,00

A seguire alcune segnalazioni sugli ascolti disponibili della prima serata di ieri, e per concludere una guida alla TV di questa sera sui principali canali in chiaro e a pagamento.

I CANALI RAI E MEDIASET

• Alle 20.41 il gioco “Affari tuoi” (6.236.000 spettatori – 22,47%). Alle 21.18 la seconda parte del film TV commedia “Una sera d’ottobre” (7.321.000 spettatori – 27,55%).
• Alle 21.10 il programma divulgativo “Voyager Storia” (2.330.000 spettatori – 8,94%, preceduto alle 21.04 da un’anteprima con 1.555.000 spettatori – 5,50%).
• Alle 20.35 l’episodio 2.876 della soap opera “Un posto al sole” (2.567.000 spettatori – 9,36%). Alle 21.09 la settima puntata del programma “Chi l’ha visto?” (2.179.000 spettatori – 8,24%).
• Alle 20.47 il varietà “Striscia la notizia” (7.793.000 spettatori – 27,88%). Alle 21.18 la quinta puntata della miniserie italiana “Intelligence – Servizi & segreti” (4.828.000 spettatori – 18,90%).
• Alle 20.05 l’episodio 8 “Lisa sul ghiaccio” della sesta stagione della serie animata “I Simpson” (2.031.000 spettatori – 8,20%). Alle 20.30 il gioco “Il colore dei soldi” (1.647.000 spettatori). Alle 21.12 il film d’animazione “Happy Feet” (3.094.000 spettatori – 11,69%). Alle 23.14 l’episodio conclusivo 13 della serie italiana “Romanzo criminale – La serie” (977.000 spettatori – 9,33%).
• Alle 19.44 la soap tedesca “Tempesta d’amore” (1.950.000 spettatori – 8,28%). Alle 20.30 l’episodio “Un mondo sottoterra” della settima stagione del telefilm Walker, Texas Ranger (2.429.000 spettatori – 8,85%). Alle 21.14 l’episodio “Delitto d’amore” della serie poliziesca francese Julie Lescaut (1.598.000 spettatori – 5,96%).

MARTEDI’ 20 OTTOBRE 2009

Sono elencati principalmente i programmi di prima serata. Gli orari e i titoli indicati possono variare senza preavviso.

CANALI IN CHIARO

• Alle 21.10 la serie italiana “Un medico in famiglia 6” con Giulio Scarpati e Pietro Sermonti – episodi 11-12.
• Alle 21.05 la serie poliziesca Senza traccia con Anthony LaPaglia e Eric Close – episodio 6×06 (seconda parte di un episodio cross-over con C.S.I.: Scena del crimine). Alle 21.50 la serie poliziesca Criminal Minds con Thomas Gibson e Joe Mantegna – episodio 4×07. Alle 22.35 la serie giudiziaria Law & Order – I due volti della giustizia con Dennis Farina e Sam Waterston – episodio 16×14.
• Alle 21.10 il programma “Ballarò” con Giovanni Floris – puntata 6.
• Alle 21.10 la miniserie italiana “Il falco e la colomba” (2009), con Giulio Berruti e Cosima Coppola – puntata 2.
• Alle 21.10 il varietà “Le Iene Show” con Ilary Blasi, Luca Bizzarri e Paolo Kessisoglu – puntata 5.
• Alle 21.10 il film commedia “…più forte ragazzi!” (1972), con Bud Spencer e Terence Hill.
• Alle 21.10 la serie drammatica The District con Craig T. Nelson e Jonathan LaPaglia – episodi 4×09-10-11.
• Alle 21.00 la serie animata “FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood” – episodio 2. Alle 21.30 la serie animata “Black Lagoon” – episodio 2. Alle 22.00 la serie animata “Death Note” – episodi 3-4.
• Alle 20.15 una rotazione di video musicali (- 20 giorni al debutto della nuova ).
• Alle 20.40 il programma sportivo “Diretta Stadio… Speciale Champions League”.
• Alle 20.30 il programma sportivo “Il campionato dei campioni” con Fulvio e Caterina Collovati.

DIGITALE TERRESTRE:

• Alle 21.10 il film thriller “Break Up – Punto di rottura” (1998), con Kiefer Sutherland e Bridget Fonda.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Quando meno te lo aspetti” (2004), con Kate Hudson e John Corbett. Alle 23.00 la serie Dark Angel con Jessica Alba e Michael Weatherly – episodi 2×11-12.
• Alle 21.00 la telenovela per ragazzi “Flor – Speciale come te” con Florencia Bertotti e Ángeles Balbiani – episodio 13. Alle 21.50 la serie animata “Il laboratorio di Dexter”.
• Alle 21.05 la serie animata “Atomic Betty” – episodio 22. Alle 21.25 la serie animata “Team Galaxy” – episodio 9.
• Alle 20.30 il varietà “Takeshi’s Castle” commentato da Lillo e Greg.  Alle 21.20 la serie animata “X-Men”.
• Alle 21.00 il programma “La storia siamo noi”.
• Alle 21.00 il film drammatico “Time X – Fuori tempo massimo” (2002), con John Leguizamo e Wesley Snipes.
• Alle 21.00 la serie italiana “Commesse 2” (2001), con Sabrina Ferilli e Nancy Brilli – episodio 5 “Compleanno di Roberta”.
• Alle 21.00 la replica della puntata di venerdì sera del programma “Blu Notte – Misteri italiani” con Carlo Lucarelli.

CANALI A PAGAMENTO

Sono compresi i principali canali delle offerte Mediaset Premium e Sky. Nell’elenco non considero i vari canali “+” disponibili, con programmazione differita nel tempo rispetto al canale principale.

(Digitale terrestre)

• Alle 21.00 la serie poliziesca Law & Order: Unità speciale con Christopher Meloni e Mariska Hargitay – episodi 10×10-11.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “C’è posta per te” (1998), con Meg Ryan e Tom Hanks.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “40 giorni & 40 notti” (2002), con Josh Hartnett e Shannyn Sossamon.
• Alle 21.00 il film drammatico “Il colore del crimine” (2006), con Julianne Moore e Edie Falco.
• Alle 21.00 il film thriller “Mulholland Drive” (2001), con Naomi Watts e Laura Harring.
• Alle 21.00 la serie animata “Gaiking – Legend of Daiku-Maryu“. Alle 21.25 la serie animata “I Cavalieri dello Zodiaco”.
• Alle 20.45 la diretta dell’incontro di calcio Inter – Dinamo Kiev valido per il terzo turno della fase a gironi di Champions League.

(Digitale satellitare)

INTRATTENIMENTO:

• Alle 21.00 la serie Crossing Jordan con Jill Hennessy e Miguel Ferrer – episodi 6×05-06.
• Alle 21.10 la serie Kyle XY con Matt Dallas e Kirsten Prout – episodio 3×05. Alle 22.00 la serie Dollhouse con Eliza Dushku – episodio 1×08.
• Alle 21.00 la serie poliziesca Medium con Patricia Arquette e Jake Weber – episodi 4×03-04.
• Alle 21.00 la serie poliziesca Numb3rs con Rob Morrow e David Krumholtz – episodi 4×11-12.
• Alle 21.00, per il ciclo “Comedy Show”, lo spettacolo teatrale “Metafisico e metà… fa schifo” con Raul Cremona.
• Alle 21.00 il documentario “Medical Incredible” – puntata “Shock da antibiotici”. Alle 22.00 il documentario “Malattie imbarazzanti” – due puntate.
• Alle 21.00 la sit-com C’è sempre il sole a Philadelphia con Glenn Howerton e Danny DeVito – episodio 4×02. Alle 21.25 la sit-com Teste da test con Steve Markle e Jeff Kassel – episodio 1×02. Alle 21.50 la sit-com Entourage con Adrian Grenier – episodio 1×08. Alle 22.15 la sit-com Quello che gli uomini non dicono con Mike Binder – episodio 8.
• Alle 21.00 la serie poliziesca The Shield con Michael Chiklis – episodio 7×05. Alle 21.50 la serie canadese Flashpoint con Enrico Colantoni – episodio 2×08.
• Alle 21.00 la serie Love Boat con Gavin MacLeod e Bernie Kopell – episodi 1×23-24.
• Alle 21.00 la telenovela “Il segreto della nostra vita” con Adele Noriega e Eduardo Yanez – episodio 128. Alle 22.00 la telenovela in lingua originale “Mientras haya vida” con Margarita Rosa de Francisco – episodio 115.
• Alle 21.30 la replica della puntata di ieri sera del programma “Matrix” con Alessio Vinci.
• Alle 21.00 il docu-reality “Dr. 90210″ - puntata “Trasformazione a 360 gradi”.
• Alle 21.05 la serie Swingtown con Jack Davenport e Molly Parker – episodio 7. Alle 21.50 la serie inglese Amanti con Sarah Parish – episodio 2×01.
• Alle 21.00 la serie gialla Poirot con David Suchet – episodio “Delitto in cielo” (1989).
• Alle 20.50 il reportage “Polli gonfiati”.
• Alle 21.00 la serie antologica The Hunger – episodi 2×13-14. Alle 22.00 il film di fantascienza “Il mondo perduto” (1998), con Patrick Bergin.
• Alle 20.45 la serie inglese (in lingua originale) The Inspector Lynley Mysteries con Nathaniel Parker e Sharon Small – episodio 1×06.
• Alle 21.00 la serie poliziesca canadese Fortier con Sophie Lorain e Gilbert Sicotte – episodi 3×05-06.
• Alle 20.50 il film commedia “La rivincita dei Nerds III” (1992), con Robert Carradine e Ted McGinley.
• Alle 21.00 la serie animata “Dai Guard”.  Alle 21.30 la serie animata “Soul Taker”. Alle 22.00 la serie animata “Mao Dante”.

SPORT:

• Alle 20.45 la diretta dell’incontro di calcio Inter – Dinamo Kiev valido per il terzo turno della fase a gironi di Champions League.

CINEMA:

• Alle 21.00 il film drammatico “Il papà di Giovanna” (2008), con Silvio Orlando e Francesca Neri.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008), con Javier Bardem e Penèlope Cruz.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Striscia, una zebra alla riscossa” (2005), con Bruce Greenwood e Hayden Panettiere.
• Alle 21.15 il film thriller “Il bacio della morte” (1994), con Samuel L. Jackson e Nicolas Cage.
• Alle 21.00 il film thriller “Un colpo British Style” (2008), con Geoff Bell.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Lezioni di felicità – Odette Toulemonde” (2006), con Catherine Frot e Albert Dupontel.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Palombella rossa” (1989), con Nanni Moretti e Asia Argento.
• Alle 21.00 il film di spionaggio “Criminal Story” (1967), con Jean Seberg e Maurice Ronet.
• Alle 21.00 il film commedia “Nudisti per caso” (2004), con Barbara Schulz e Alexandre Brasseur.
• Alle 21.00 il film di guerra “Vittorie perdute” (1978), con Burt Lancaster.

DOCUMENTARI:

• Alle 21.05 il programma “Destroyed in Seconds” – due puntate.
• Alle 21.00 il documentario “I segreti della Croce” – puntata 3 “La tomba di Gesù”.
• Alle 21.00 il documentario “La Croce Rossa e il Terzo Reich”.
• Alle 21.00 il programma “Pronto Soccorso Veterinario – Il tirocinio” - puntata “Come nasce una stella”. Alle 21.30 il programma “Veterinari in azione”.
• Alle 21.05 il programma “Come è fatto” – puntate “Occhi artificiali/cibo per cani e gatti/specchi” e “Fiori freschi/nastro adesivo/tofu/biglietti della lotteria”.

RAGAZZI:

• Alle 21.10 la sit-com italiana “The Band”. Alle 21.30 la serie animata “Z-Girls”.
• Alle 20.45 la serie animata “Occhi di gatto”. Alle 21.15 la serie animata “SpongeBob” – due episodi.
• Alle 20.50 la serie animata “Le nuove avventure di Scooby Doo”. Alle 21.15 la serie animata “Shin Chan”. Alle 21.40 la serie animata “Gli amici immaginari di casa Foster”.
• Alle 21.00 la serie animata “Hello Kitty – Alla ricerca delle mele magiche”.  Alle 21.25 i cortometraggi animati della serie “Bugs Bunny”.
• Alle 21.05 la serie animata “Le nuove avventure di Winnie the Pooh”. Alle 21.30 la serie animata “I Numerotti”.
• Alle 20.35 la telenovela per ragazzi “Il mondo di Patty” con Laura Esquivel.  Alle 21.30 la serie animata “Bruno the Great”.  Alle 21.35 la sit-com italiana “Quelli dell’intervallo”.
• Alle 20.45 la serie animata “Un pizzico di magia”. Alle 21.10 il programma “Art Attack” con Giovanni Muciaccia. Alle 21.35 la serie animata “Sabrina”.
• Alle 21.05 la serie animata “I Fantastici Quattro”. Alle 21.30 la serie animata “L’incredibile Hulk”.

I SIMBOLI USATI
L’indicazione tipo 1×02 segnala il 2° episodio della 1^ stagione.
= film o film TV.
= telefilm (serie/sit-com) straniero.
= telefilm o sceneggiato di produzione italiana, o miniserie straniera.
= soap opera o telenovela.
= cartone animato.
= programma sportivo.
= prima visione sui canali non a pagamento, o al primo passaggio sui canali pay.
= variazione rispetto al programma previsto.
comprende Rai 4, Rai Gulp, Rai Storia, Rai Sport Più, Rai News 24, Rai Edu1 ed i canali RaiSat.

Prima serata di lunedì 19 ottobre 2009

Su Raiuno la seconda e ultima parte della miniserie Una sera d’ottobre con Vanessa Hessler e Gabriele Greco, finita in modo aperto (ci sarà un seguito l’anno prossimo?), è stata seguita da 7.321.000 telespettatori (27,54%). Su Canale 5 la quinta puntata di Intelligence con Raoul Bova (la sesta ed ultima andrà in onda venerdì 23) ha catturato 4.828.000 telespettatori (18,90%).

Ritengo la miniserie della settimana scorsa con Vittoria Puccini, Tutta la verità, pur con una sceneggiatura banalotta nella conclusione, diverse spanne sopra come ritmo, recitazione e regia… in ogni caso nel finale hanno ottenuto praticamente lo stesso ascolto (7.315.000 la Puccini e appunto 7.321.000 la Hessler).

Su Raidue il debutto di Voyager Storia, una costola di Voyager, è stato preferito da 2.330.000  (8,93%). Su Italia 1 il film d’animazione premio Oscar Happy Feet ha appassionato 3.094.000 telespettatori (11,69%).

Su Raitre Chi l’ha visto? con Federica Sciarelli ha ottenuto 2.179.000 (8,24%) mentre su Rete 4 la serie francese in 1°tv Julie Lescaut è stata scelta da 1.598.000 telespettatori (5,96%).

Graditel

Esprimete nei commenti un voto da 1 a 10 per il programma che avete seguito ieri sera

Media settimanale 20.30-22.30 (dati aggiornati ogni giorno)

Raiuno 22,86%

Raidue 8,34%

Raitre 11,13%

Canale 5 17,77%

Italia 1 10,69%

Rete 4 7,18%

Per tutti gli altri dati auditel della giornata visitate TvBlog.it

When Mumble is born into a colony of Emperor penguins, he finds himself unable to be accepted by all other penguins, lacking the ability to sing a heartsong – a mating song which all penguins can perform from an early age. He does however have a talent for tap dance which is derided by his peers and scorned by the penguin elders as displeasing to their deity. Mumble’s gift of dance is blamed for the possible cause of their food shortage, which is in reality caused by nearby trawlers depleting local fish stocks. After being virtually outcast by his colony he goes in search of the humans in an attempt to reason and communicate with them.

This is the story of a little penguin named Mumble who has a terrible singing voice and later discovers he has no Heartsong. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing. Though Mumble’s mom, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis, says it “just ain’t penguin.” Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria, happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange “hippity- hoppity” ways. Mumble is just too different–especially for Noah the Elder, the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins–the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon, the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble’s cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru, a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life’s questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

In the cold land of Antarctica, the Emperor Penguins each express their true love with a special heartsong of their own that expresses their very being. However, the misfit Mumble cannot sing, but instead has an extraordinary talent to tap dance with almost magical energy and expression. Nevertheless, the deeply conformist leadership of the colony fearfully blames the young penguin’s unorthodox ways for the lean fishing that threatens them all. Defiant in the face of unjust rejection, Mumble and his true friends set out to find the true cause of the famine. Through the motley crew’s trials and perils, Mumble learns many things about his frozen world, not the least of which being that his toe tapping talent may be what he needs to save his people. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Set deep inside the icy land of Antarctica, two emperor penguins have a baby named Mumble. Hatched upon his feet, he has an amazing skill for tap-dancing. However, penguins are not supposed to tap dance. Even worse, he cannot sing. All emperor penguins are supposed to have a heart song, and he has a try at it – with awful results. Torn apart from his mom, dad, and best friend, Gloria, as a teenager who still has his adolescent feathers, his ventures off into the icy landscape. He is rescued from a leopard seal from a group of Adelie penguins, whom which the leader is Ramon. They take Mumble to their home and discover that all of their fish is being taken from an unknown ‘alien’ source. They ask Lovelace, an unwise and cocky leader of the Adelies, to help them. Unfortunately, he proves no help. Leading on an incredible adventure, they try to discover the threat of their food source and survival. Using courage and bravery, Mumble begins to teach everyone begins to learn that uniqueness isn’t a burden, but is a gift to be treasured. Written by Collin B. (moviemanic122893)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366548/plotsummary

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366548/synopsis

V told me bout this movie… Can’t wait till it’s out…. ooooo i can feel my goosebumps!!! But actually I just wanted to see Kheringtan Payne. Whahaha

inspired by the 5th video in harris smart & chris wilsons’ hard times series, lets take a little peek at dance…

…then, as it is now, the “saturdee nite dance” was a guarrenteed way to chase away those blues, escape from the days reality & pretend, if only for a few hours that life was, in fact, a joy-filled dance hall…

the stunning palais de danse circa 1920 - sadly demolished 1970s

despite the hard-time days of the depression, even during the darkest days when the breadlines stretched long, melburnians somehow found the money to be entertained & dance was the staple of that entertainment… evenings would find melbournes famous W-class trams filled with people frocked-up & dance-ready… heading for the bright lights of the green hill dance hall, flinders station ballroom or the palais de dance for a night of revelry & dreams of a full dance card…

1930s australian dance card

so be it tap…

the tiller girls circa 1945

swing…

charleston..

life magazine 1928

or another style altogether…

…when those blues, depression or otherwise, come knocking at your door, get your dancin’ shoes on dolls & guys, kick your cares to the sidewalk & get yourself some happy feet…

x analiebe

Veja as fotos do show de “Happy Feet Jazz Band and Mike Hashim” e “The New Orleans Joy Makers”, em Brasília, no dia 19 de Setembro.