TV review: Once Upon A Time

It has been quite some time since I've seen a MUST SEE television show. Once Upon A Time fits the bill. Airing on Sunday nights at 8:00PM (Eastern) on ABC, the show takes the classic fairy tale characters and throws them into the real world. While that isn't a new plot (see: The Charmings from the late 80s), this does have a bit of a different take on it.

The series revolves around the fight between Snow White and the Evil Queen. Snow White married her Prince Charming. At the wedding, the Evil Queen storms in and threatens to destroy Snow's happy ending. Fast forwarding a few months, a troubled Snow White is pregnant. She turns to Rumpelstiltskin, who can see the future. He informs the princess that the queen will banish everyone to a realm with no happy endings and that her unborn child will be their savior. The queen unleashes her curse, not only transporting everyone into our world but also wiping all of their memories.

I think what I find most interesting about the show is trying to figure out what the fantasy world counterparts are for the real world people we meet. The heroine, Emma, is, of course, Snow White's daughter. Ten years before the first episode, she gave up a son for adoption. This boy, Henry, is the glue that holds everything together. He brings Emma to Storybook, Maine to help the town regain their memories and restart time. As of the second episode, the only explanation for Henry knowing about the fantasy world is that he believes a fairy tale book that his teacher, who is Snow White, gave him is fact.

Both my husband and I highly recommend this show to everyone. As a matter of fact, he turned it on for our 9-year old daughter this morning. There is nothing really scary in it (yet anyway) so the kids are likely to enjoy it. And the plot is good enough to keep the adults interested as well. It is definitely a show that is good for all.

It's November?!

I meant to write a Happy Halloween post yesterday but I got too busy to actually write it. The end of a month is always hectic at work. On top of that, I had to leave work a little early so I could rush home to help my daughter get into her costume. As I said before, she dressed as 13-year old Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. Only a few people recognized her. Luckily, a group of young teens went crazy over her costume. That pretty much made the entire night worth it. Now it's November. My birthday is in November but it also means the beginning of the busiest time of year at work. I'm hoping that things will go well. I'm not holding my breath though. Winter always makes me sigh heavily.

The other side of the storm

We made it through the freak October storm. There were a few power outages but it came back on fairly quickly. Luckily, the sun has come out so a lot of snow on the roads and sidewalks has melted. I still need to dig my car out though. I keep getting sidetracked by websites talking about eyelash growth products that work. I don't have eyelash problems. I'm just curious about why people are so concerned about how long their eyelashes are. It's weird. Anyway, I'm out to see what needs to be shoveled. Wish me luck!

October snow?

I know I don't usually update on weekends but this is a little crazy. For the past few days, there was snow in the forecast for today. It varied anywhere from 2 to 10 inches. (Yay weathermen.) I can confidently say that most people figured this as a minor snow event. We would have some but not tons. Instead, we got tons. It is a really heavy wet snow that has been falling since about 9AM. My sister and I went to a master class for Hip Hop Hustle and it took us about an hour to get home. (It takes a half hour to get from my sister's to the location.) I even stuck it out at her house for awhile to see if the roads would get any better. They didn't but I managed to make it home in one piece without crashing my car.

Now I am going to get warm and waste some time looking at expensive, yet gorgeous, Sherri Hill prom dresses. I don't know anyone of prom age but I still like looking at the dresses.

Stay safe everyone!

Baby hats

One of my sister's friends had a baby fairly recently. As a result, my sister has gone on a bit of a baby shopping spree. Of course, that means a new knit baby hat for the winter months. There are some really cute ones out there. I think my daughter had a baby beanie hat when she was little. Then again, I'm not particularly fond of winter so we probably didn't spend a whole lot of time outside. (I try my best to hibernate.) I really wish I knew how to knit though. I think I like some of the patterns I've found better than the actual hats. Maybe I'll teach myself how to knit properly. Then I can make tons of hats to sell. That might be fun!

Jdorama review: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan

Title: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan Also known as: Flunk Punk Rumble Broadcast dates: 4/23/10 - 6/25/10 Number of episodes: 10 Genre: Comedy Cast: Narimiya Hiroki, Naka Riisa, Hongo Kanata, Koyanagi Yu, Kawaguchi Haruna Plot: Shinagawa Daichi (Narimiya) used to be a good student. Now he is a yankee deliquent. He meets Adachi Hana (Naka) and finds out her secret. She used to be a yankee. Adachi takes it upon herself to reform Shinagawa's bad habits. What is good: I love Narimiya's facial expressions! What is bad: Some of the side characters are a little one-dimensional. Letter rating: B

I heard a lot of good things about Yankee-kun to Megane-chan so I decided to give it a try. Thankfully, the series lived up to the rumors. Both Narimiya and Naka performed their roles beautifully. Not only did they handle the comedy bits well, they also had great chemistry together and pulled off the drama aspects too. I was a little disappointed in some of the secondary characters, but they are secondary so it doesn't detract from the series as a whole.

This is a definite must-watch.

Newness is coming

I'm playing around with a variety of new themes. That means you might see a few changes when you refresh the website. I always find choosing new themes to be difficult. There are so many pretty ones out there. But, alas, it is time to get rid of the anime girls and head into winter. Bah, winter. Oh, and I should be finishing Yankee-kun to Megane-chan today or tomorrow. Expect a new review before the week is over! Two reviews in one week? I'm spoiling you guys!

Jmovie review: Space Battleship Yamato

Title: Space Battleship Yamato Release date: 12/1/10 Genre: Space Drama Cast: Kimura Takuya, Kuroki Meisa, Yamazaki Tsutomu Plot: Earth has been destroyed by an alien race called Gamilas. The only hope to save Earth is a radiation reduction device on planet Iskandar. What is good: Surprisingly, Meisa Kuroki's acting is pretty good! What is bad: On the flip side, Takuya Kimura doesn't live up to his potential. Letter rating: C

My husband is a big fan of the original Space Battleship Yamato anime from the mid-70s. I enjoy watching KimuTaku so I figured this would be perfect for the both of us. Since it was our 10th wedding anniversary, this is what we watched as we snuggled close.

Maybe it's because we're so familiar with the original anime that this seemed to fall short. It's not an awful movie, but it definitely seemed to rush things. When the ship arrived at Iskandar, I turned to my husband with a surprised "Already?!" At the same time, my husband missed the noise from the original Wave Motion Cannon. My husband was also uncomfortable with the changes made to Mori Yuki. In the original, she was a rather feminine nurse, though she did get additional responsibilities later in the series. In the movie, she's a brash ace pilot. Quite a huge different, to say the least.

In all, both of us liked the movie. I would probably sit through it a second time. However, hardcore Yamato fans should be careful. This isn't the same old battleship anymore.