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December 31 2008 in Retrospect- Christmas Around the World
If I had to sum up this year in terms of movies I went to see it would be varied, diverting, fun and very well rounded. Wall-E was not a typical Disney movie because it had a true universal appeal, it's circumstances were entirely plausible but the plot stretches the imagination. I don't like to give away story lines but I will say this: it's the first movie that has ever pulled my heartstrings with a 'bot' rather than a human hero. Adults will not feel childish and children will be thoroughly entertained and not jive-talked to death. There is nothing cutesy about the interaction between machine and the animated humans and it almost makes you feel that it was natural.
 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian wasn't all I expected it to be, and I feel that if someone had not seen the first movie- which had most of the original cast and the plot was directly tied in with the first- many of the main characters would not be understood- motives or heroics, either one. Putting that all aside, Prince Caspian is one of the best stories in the series originally written by C.S. Lewis. I do recommend the movie for a family night in- to be fair.
 Even though it was very slickly made and every true element of Batman in print was there- The Dark Knight still left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth- so to speak. That is a bad pun for those who have seen it. My tolerance for violent movies is quite low, even the suggestion of it, leave alone the violence directed at women specifically in this one. The only thing that made it bearable on any level, for me, was the hi-tech equipment and devices that Bat Man utilizes. Heath Ledger was almost insanely perfect in his portrayal of The Joker and may be talked about for years of the repercussions of playing such a role as this for his swan song.
Bringing up the rear is Jim Carrey as Yes Man which is a great mixture of goofy and thought-provoking satire. This is always Jim at his best because as an actor he 'gets it' and as a 'comedian' he practically 'wrote the script'. I just went to this movie and I don't think I'll stop talking about it for awhile. For one, I really identified with the character Jim played in almost a reverse fashion. He practically has to be bullied into saying "yes" whereas I simply have a difficult time telling people "no". I think what intrigued me the most is that he plays a rather lonely, refusing type of single guy (a rather typical type for over-thirty single men, I might add ) who becomes transformed into the type of guy who finds a woman who was already like him in many respects. His brush with Homeland Security in an airport was almost too real to be funny. If you can't stand someone getting in your face with your worst traits you'd better just say no to Yes Man !
Let's face it, though. There's more to life than movies, right? Sigh. Just say yes !
  At one time I was an avid movie-goer but I very seldom attend now and when I go I really want to see the film. This was a year I would never want to repeat on one level because I'm having the kind of financial difficulties that just make you want to curl up and die rather than forge ahead. What did I do? I forged ahead. I'm a brave soul. On another level- getting my official web site revamped gave me a lift and increased readership which is always a plus. Getting England up on the site will be quite a task but I'm looking forward to the challenge once it's ready to go up. (More later on that.) The utter and complete failure of my auction on this blog- for the second time- was such a let-down that I can't even begin to describe my disappointment. I'm always trying to make this venture as fun as possible but somehow it just didn't come across and no one 'got it'. Be that as it may, it was a learning experience. Apparently quite a few people are such loyal fans of E-Bay that they wouldn't dream of buying, trading or selling any where else. Personally, I wouldn't want to spend as much time on E-Bay as some people do but everyone has their own thing and it's best just to leave them to it. It's my belief that the only way to pull ourselves out of this economic decline is to buy local. (More on that later on my ilovecastles.blogspot.com blog.)
I assumed that people who want to be on what is now called our networks actually are interested in what we put on our individual blogs and perhaps read them. However, I am finding that this is not necessarily true as I have fielded the following question twice now. That is: "What is this fascination you have with castles?"
 The other one prior to that was from someone who didn't even have an MSN account. (Remember when they were allowing that? ) His question was much less formal and crass to boot but the tone wasn't very different. This is a question I would put to all who pull up this blog. "If you aren't interested in castles, why would you want to bother with this blog site at all?" There is no lack of castle pics, info and web sites to the castles themselves from all over the world on the internet. If you don't believe me, Google the word "Castles". That will make a believer out of you. I don't think I've ever found a more interesting subject, once you really dig into the architectural and historical details about them. Maybe it isn't for everyone, but obviously millions upon millions of people are and I get googled constantly by them looking for all kinds of info- even genealogical. Having said that, I will conclude this article with a short quote from St. Augustine. "Hear the other side." If everyone took their respective subjects and interests only at face value and didn't delve deep, they probably wouldn't write very much on their blogs (and many don't ) or make an impact on the world that amounted to very much. I believe everyone is capable of impacting their world much more than they do. I suppose that would require some research, time, effort and extensive reading. If you're onto something, go for it !
By the way, if your aim is simply to understand me, then stop staring at my photos and read something on my blogs. You may find you're more interested in my subject than you originally thought. I don't just write about castles but the title of this blog is Do you love castles like me? I am focused on my vocation and proud of the work I've done. The work alone validates me and that's good enough for me.
  The Castle Lady dice e` stateo un piacere!
(always a pleasure )
Adesso....divertiamoci !
(Now... let's have some fun !)
Christmas Around the World
  Skating at Rockefeller Cnt, NYC Galeries Layfayette in Paris
 Moscow
 Barriere Hotel in Normandy, France
Prado Comio Lisbon, Portugal
 Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Spain  Old Town Square at Prague
December 28 GradatimEvery once in a while I receive gifts of antique and antiquarian books from family and friends who know my tastes well. My sister found two poetry books by a 19th century American poet/writer Josiah G. Holland (born July 24, 1819; died October 12, 1881) in an antique store and presented them to me for a Christmas gift this year. The two volumes of which I am a proud owner are Kathrina and Bittersweet. Another publication in which his poetry appears is his book Complete Politcal Writings, published posthumously in 1885, with his famous poem Gradatim:
 Heaven is not gained at a single bound,
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies
And we mount to its summit round by round.
I count this thing to be grandly true,
That a noble deed is a step toward God-
Lifting the soul from the common sod
To a purer air and a broader view.
We rise by things that are 'neath our feet;
By what we have mastered by good or gain;
By the pride deposed and the passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.
We hope, we aspire, we resolve, we trust,
When the morning calls us to life and light,
But our hearts grow weary, and, ere the night,
Our lives are trailing the sordid dust.
We hope, we resolve, we aspire, we pray,
And we think that we mount the air on wings
Beyond the recall of sensual things,
While our feet still cling to the heavy clay.
Wings for the angels, but feet for men!
We may borrow the wings to find the way-
We may hope, and resolve, and aspire, and pray,
But our feet must rise, or we fall again.
Only in dreams is a ladder thrown
From the weary earth to the sapphire walls;
But the dream departs, and the vision falls,
And the sleeper wakes on his pillow of stone.
Heaven is not reached at a single bound:
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round.
 so... TheCastle Lady blew vaulting kisses your way !  December 24 Ahem ! Have a Nadolig Llawen ! Munter Juledag ! Gelukkig Kerstmis !
Noeliniz kutlu olsun ! Heldig Julehelg ! Feliz Natal ! Festum Natalem Christi !
Everybody !
The Castle Lady
On this third eve of Chanukah I wish you Mazal Tov and Happiness ! Check out my Christmas message entries @ http://evelynsrockpages.blogspot.com/2008/12/stryper-christmas.html and http://ilovecastles.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmastime.html December 15 On Hybrids, on Hydrogen-Powered, On Electric.... Even Santa knows out of control gasoline prices just might help usher in a new era of vehicle ownership that is long overdue. He always had the right idea with his sleigh, mind you, but if he wanted to go to the far south in summer I'll bet he'd go to a more economical and greener vehicle and the following might be the best replacement for that worn out heap he's been driving around Daytona Beach !
 Do you remember when I wrote about the legendary super cars Ferrari and Corvette back in November of 2006 ? Then you'd have to recall that I mentioned the Tesla Roadster as an upcoming all-electric sporty-looking number to replace these notorious gas guzzlers. Guess what? Those sexy Tesla Roadsters sold like hotcakes on a snowy winter morning ! ! That's right- Tesla sold out every single car they made ( 600 of them ! ) in 2008. Tesla uses a lithium-ion battery which is lighter, cheaper and more efficient than the nickel-metal-hydride batteries they used at one time for electric cars. They are now taking orders for the 2009 line which will sell at $109,000. (Don't forget this is a sports car which gets a top speed of 125 mph. ) You can take a look at this beauty at :
The question now for green innovation for vehicles is whether to go to a hybrid which mixes use of gas and electric to make gas consumption lower or all electric in which you will have to rely on the electric charge completely (Tesla can go 227 miles without recharging.) Then there are hydrogen-powered cars which poses a new problem of whether there will be enough hydrogen fueling stations- which so far, is sadly lacking.
Some of the more popular vehicles making themselves known is the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, Honda's FCX Clarity- the latest in fuel cell technology and the Chevy Volt which is all electric and uses a common 110-volt household plug to recharge. Obviously ideas about how to go green abound but what is the best choice ? You'll have to decide for yourself in weighing the pros and cons.
In the case of the Silverado you will have a "two-mode" hybrid system one of which gives you a mix of electric and gas or switching back and forth between the two choices. The second mode uses the electric power as an efficient boost for highway traveling and hauling. The price tag has not been announced but it is going to be made available by the first half of 2009.
 The hydrogen-fueled FCX Clarity (FCX stands for Fuel Cell eXperimental ) will give the latest technology a real run for its claims. In this case, the car's engine creates electricity by combining hydrogen fuel with oxygen. The only emission it creates is H2O so it is the cleanest technology on the market. This one has already been in production since June and debuted on November 15, 2007. Twenty people have been testing the car in the U.S. (including Southern Californians) since 2002 and paid $600 a month on their leases but it gets 280 miles per hydrogen fill up ! If you truly want to go green economically this one may be the best choice. On the strength of the success of Tesla's sexy Roadster, the Chevy Volt is going to debut in 2010. Because it can be recharged virtually anywhere you can find an outlet, it makes recharging much less complicated but it hardly matches Tesla's innovation. It's touted as being electric only but, in truth, the industry people call a Series Hybrid. Its e-flex design makes use of a propulsion system when you drive more than 40 miles to your ultimate destination. It could be ideal for someone who only commutes a short distance to work each day. However, this extended-range system must be backed by gas usage beyond those limits which makes its use a tad more complicated than is truly necessary.Technically speaking - my innovative kisses will keep you running...
The Castle Lady December 13 The NBA Greats are Making and Breaking Records ! !  Wade Melo
Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony are making a bit of NBA history these days in the form of their (ahem! ) offensive playing. Ever since 2006 I've been hearing an awful lot about what the Nuggets defense has been like- which vacillates quite a bit and that was even when they had Allen Iverson on board. Defensive playing has almost become a bit of a raspberry to those who really rack up the points and even Michael Jordan got tired of this defense tirade. A completely untrue accusation that he couldn't play defense got up his nose and he proceeded to prove the naysayers wrong time and time again.
Now, in the case of Dwayne Wade, who has averaged 29.5 points- along with 7.5 assists and five rebounds through 21 games, he's matching two legends in NBA history. Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan who finished a season with these same numbers that Dwayne Wade has already put in.
" For right now, it's always great to be in the conversation with anybody the likes of Michael Jordan and Oscar... but they did do it for a whole season. Mine is only 20-some games. I've got 60-some more to go," says Dwayne Wade, "Hopefully I can do better."
Melo showed us his real self at the recent game the Nuggets played and won against Minnesota's Timberwolves ! In a matter of twelve minutes he overturned the trailing of the Nuggets at halftime 56-44 to 84-78 with 12 of 15 shots including 4 of 5 three pointers. As a matter of fact, all but seven points made in that quarter were his alone outscoring the opposition 33-22. His total game points were 45 which beats his average by 15 points- all with a right elbow contusion he's been contending with for the last five games. Why did he break out after the first half ? Maybe it was because he received two new injuries to the contusion during the first half. Says Melo,
" I was fighting through the pain. But it was all good. I can't explain it."
Want to see it?
I love this game ! The Castle Lady December 06 What Makes for a Cool Yule ? ? ?
Feliz Navidad ! Buona Natale ! Joyeux Noel ! Froehe Weihnachten ! Snawvim Kristawvim!
A Christmas Prayer Let us pray that strength and courage abundant be given to all who work for a world of reason and understanding.... that the good that lies in every man's heart may day by day be magnified That men will come to see more clearly not that which divides them but that which unites them... That each hour may bring us closer to a final victory, not of nation over nation, but of man over his own evils and weaknesses... That the true spirit of this Christmas Season - its joy, its beauty, its hope and above all its abiding faith - may live among us... That blessings of peace be ours - the peace to build and grow, to live in harmony and sympathy with others, and to plan for the future with confidence. Merry Christmas from The Castle Lady !
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