I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas (Or Why I'm Watching That Christmas Movie)

That's right. It was August. Summer you might call it. Definitely summer. I watched a Christmas movie. Then there was September. It snowed, and I sang some Christmas tunes. There were more Christmas movies. And now it is October. My Pandora list of Christmas music is in full swing. I'm planning my decor. I'm buying presents and you can bet your sweet life that the Christmas movies will continue.
Here's the thing. Christmas music is almost a genre unto itself. Even Jingle Bell Rock, though purportedly 'rock', has a different sound to it, incomparable to non-holiday rock. Can you imagine how silly someone would sound saying that they would only listen to country between Memorial Day and Labor Day? Weird. That's me and Christmas. Movies, decor, music, and that's right, SPIRIT! Oh? What's that I hear? The content makes it time sensitive? Let's examine that shall we.

Now, I like Christmas in both a religious and secular fashion. I'll just say that for a religious factor, I celebrate Easter all year long, why not Christmas? If one believes what the spirituality of Christmas is about then why wouldn't they celebrate it year 'round?

So let's hit this from a secular angle. I've got three 'not-Christmas' movies paired against three Christmas movies. All picked fairly at random. I'll judge them on a scale of 1 to 10 in five categories: Values Worth Learning, Likable Characters/ Actors, Technical Production, Writing/ Story, and Time Specificity (That is - taking place or focusing on a day/ season/ event that is regularly occurring - the more explicit the time frame the lower the score).

1. Cool Runnings

Values Worth Learning: Perseverance, Courage, Teamwork, and Being True to Yourself. Not going to lie, this seems like a 7 until...

Man I love this bit.

I was slow clapped into giving them... 9 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: A classic ensemble style group of characters is at play here. I love the guys in this movie they are totally believe in each of their roles and perfectly cast. 10 points

Technical Production: Not horrible, but it really gives the vibe of a grown up Disney Channel Original Movie. 7 points 

Writing/ Story: Some of the humor is heavy-handed, and the warm-fuzzies are definitely heavy-handed. Quite a lot was changed from the true story. A story which is actually very interesting mind you, but I still enjoy what the writers eventually gave us. 7 points

Time Specificity: One could argue that this movie is revolving around a specific winter olympics... well that argument isn't holding water here folks. Because I can say the same thing for several Christmas movies. However since the point is about the time that they were first there... 5 points

Grand Total: 38/50 points - 76%

2. The Sound of Music

Values Worth Learning: Courage, Family, and Finding Your Vocation in Life. 8 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: I am totally and completely in love with not only the characters but the actors. And honestly, before there was Hans (Frozen), there was Rowlf. I trusted you! I continue to fall for him every time I watch and feel the heartbreak whenever he blows that whistle. 10 points

Technical Production: Even if you don't like musicals, you have to admire the scope of this movie. If Maria singing on a mountaintop doesn't stir anything within you then you must have a giant whole in your heart. 10 points

Writing/ Story: So I realize that I just finished saying that Cool Runnings was changed from the true story. But I'm forgiving SoM that same fault. If you don't like that you can leave. The thing is, the climax manages to feel climactic every time, and the true story... well the climax wasn't too climactic at all. 10 points

Time Specificity: Unless the music festival is what you consider the focus of the film, there is not really a particular event this movie revolves around. 10 points

Grand Total: 48/50 points - 96%

3. The Princess Bride

Values Worth Learning: Courage, Tenacity, and Sacrifice for Love. 6 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: One doesn't become a cult classic without likable characters. The heroes are admirable, the villains are awful. But only a few actors really stand out for me (you know which ones, I'm sure). 8 points

Technical Production: Ummm.... not horrible. But need I remind you of this:

Yeaaaaaaahhhh...

...5 points

Writing/ Story: A very clever script rescues some of the campier aspects of the technical production. It is incredibly quotable to the point that even if you haven't seen the movie, you have certainly heard parts of it. I especially love the cut-scenes of the kid and his grandfather. 9 points

Time Specificity: None. 10 points

Grand Total: 38/50 points - 76%

Now the Christmas films!

1. Muppet Christmas Carol

Values Worth Learning: Kindness, Happiness, Charity, and Generosity. 9 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: This is my favorite outing for the Muppets (my second favorite being Treasure Island, I dig their literary adaptations). And Michael Caine makes my heart absolutely melt. I hold that he is not only the best Scrooge ever, but the best transformation in cinema. 10 points

Technical Production: Quite good considering just how many of the actors are puppets. A couple of masterfully choreographed songs bring my value up a little. 8 points

Writing/ Story: Must say, of all the Christmas Carol adaptations I've seen this is far and away the most faithful. I can't even read the book without hearing some of the characters voices. 10 points

Time Specificity: Well poo. This category was designed specifically to serve as a downfall for the Christmas movies... 3 points

Grand Total: 40/50 points - 80%

2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Values Worth Learning: Being Yourself, Friendship, Good Oral Hygiene, Accepting Others. 9 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: Only one character leaves me wanting more in this film: Yukon Cornelius. That being said, the others aren't bad, they just don't have a whole lot to add to the pot. 6 points

Technical Production: The grand-daddy of today's stop motion animation... hasn't aged well. My dad assures me that it used to be cutting edge, but I'm not totally convinced. Actually I be  inclined to give two more points if Rudolph's nose didn't make such an awful noise. 5 points

Writing/ Story: A charming story that adds enough plot and background to a 30 second song to make a short film out of. That is an impressive accomplishment. 8 points

Time Specificity: Could be absolutely any Christmas. 1 point

Grand Total: 29/50 points - 58%

3. The Polar Express

Values Worth Learning: Belief, Kindness, and Generosity 7 points

Likable Characters/ Actors: Everyone from the conductor to the children to Santa Claus himself plays an enjoyable role in this film without being overdone or hokey. I think that most of the characters that were invented just for the movie filled important roles and I adored the little girl.  8 points

Technical Production: Some people say that this train took a tour through the uncanny valley. I'm not getting that vibe, I think that the people look fine and the environments are absolutely gorgeous, especially the train. 9 points

Writing/ Story: Sometimes when you pad out children's books into full length movies you end up with a very, very bad product. Not this time, the additions worked well and kept to the spirit of the book without adding any unnecessary hubris. 10 points

Time Specificity: Again this could basically be any Christmas. 1 point

Grand Total: 35/50 points 70%

So, the final tally stands thus:

Sound of Music - 96%, Hey, a cinematic masterpiece is hard to beat. (Guess what? I will even watch this at Christmastime.)

Muppet Christmas Carol - 80%, You caught me. I think this movie is nearly flawless. Who cares when it is set? This is the movie that I mentioned watching in August. I've also watched it in May - no shame.

Cool Runnings/ Princess Bride - 76%, Neither of these are high cinema, but they are really fun movies that you can enjoy in almost any circumstance.

The Polar Express - 70%, A fun film, not as much meat to it as many others but it was based off a picture book.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - 58%, This is the one I'm most likely to watch only at Christmas time. Why? Well, it is cute and has warm-fuzzies aplenty, but the technical production isn't outstanding.

So there you have it, one Christmas movie at the lead of the pack, one slightly behind our other films, and another far behind. *Gasp* it would seem that Christmas films have varying quality much like any others!

My Netflix Recommendations: Mystery and Crime

As a single teacher living in the arctic who really enjoys good movie and even better TV but doesn't get any channels at all there is one thing that has been a boon to me on exceptionally late weekend nights: Netflix.

Ooooooo Netflix. There is so, so, so much to choose from. But I have this problem where I watch the old and familiar instead of something new on about 80% of occasions. I also don't generally find things I don't like, I know my tastes pretty well and rarely end up with a stinker.  My ratings for ages are skewing pretty conservatively - just for your information. But certain kids can take things better than others, preview and make your own judgement call.

For this first one let's examine the seedy underworld of crime... usually with death.

Bones - A bit more gruesome than I expected going into, the bodies are often... gooey. Still it is great fun and I love the ensemble of characters with all their backstories. I binge watched this one through season 6 or 7 and haven't caught up since. There are currently 9 seasons available. I really like Booth but the poor man needs to get himself to an apologetics class. (High school and up)

Murder, She Wrote - A classic. This is mystery show in the olden vein. No DNA, no fancy labs, just old-fashioned work and deduction. When my family watched these for the first tim we would often try to be the first to guess who did it. I usually failed. But Angela Lansbury makes this a show not to be missed. (Upper Elementary)

CSI:NY - Two installments from this franchise can be found on Netflix. Both are good but this one is my favorite. The current crime show formula was popularized by the first installment in this franchise. But there are also several overarching stories related to the side characters that make it also a drama. (High School)

Hoodwinked - So, so, so corny. I love it. It takes a familiar story and rewrites it as a mystery that we get to see from everyone's point of view, and they are quite amusing in the ways that they overlap. My favorite character by far is the wolf. He isn't a bad dude, he's just a journalist. Just don't bother yourself with the sequel. (Elementary)

Leverage - Not technically mystery. Sort of crime dramady... Here's the thing, the crew in this show are basically modern day Robin Hoods. They know what they do is illegal, but they are out trying to make retribution for people that can't do it for themselves. Moral quandaries abound, but I love this show. I'm not sure what it is about human nature but most people love a good bandit. (High school)

Psych - I love, love, love this show. Even at it's worst I love it, because I've seen it at it's best. It is one of the funniest shows I've seen in a long time ever. I've watched the musical movie for the show an embarrassing number of times. Shawn and Gus are basically the perfect foils to each other. The humor actually is a lot more clever than anyone in the show gives it credit for. My favorite part? It uses some of the modern crime show formula (DNA and sparkly labs) but it really is a throwback to old-school PI shows. (High school)

Clue - The grand-daddy of campy mystery. Okay maybe not. But certainly the best movie ever based off of a board game. Seriously, it is based of that game in your closet, the one with characters named after the colors of the pawns. But it works. It works so, so well. Plus you can pick your favorite ending (some of which make more sense than others). (Middle School)

Charade - This one is technically billed as a thriller. But that seems a minor thing when there are bad guys trying to kill you. If you love the classics this is the choice for you. I mean the leading roles are filled by Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, I'm not sure it can get any classier. Netflix has a pretty decent transfer of this film. Fun fact: this movie entered public domain instantly upon release because nobody bothered to put a copyright symbol in the credits... oops. (Upper Elementary)

The Great Mouse Detective - And one for the kids. Sure the mystery is never actually that mysterious, but this is an excellent introduction to the genre in my opinion. There are some scary parts, but I think that this movie holds up fairly well for all ages and is definitely one of Disney's most underrated movies. (Elementary... heh-heh)

There are so many more! But this list was already longer than I intended. I might need to do a separate list of British mysteries on Netflix because they are practically a genre unto themselves.

Follow this link for Halloween recommendations and more!

http://www.catholicallyear.com/2014/10/halloween-for-kids-on-netflix-streaming.html

Answer Me This... Did I sleep in?

1. What is your favorite picture book?
Growing up it was definitely Panda Cake... even though as I got older and reflected on it some of the decisions our supposed hero is making aren't exactly correct. (It's a Peter Rabbit scenario.) But the beat is delightful and the pictures charming. 

My favorite picture books in my classroom are the Pete the Cat books by James Dean and I think my kiddos would agree! Pete is helpful, energetic, and a good friend. Even when he is nervous, gloomy, or a little scared. 

Even when he has the blues and is grumpy, he still talks to his friends and treats them in a kind manner, totally cool! 

2. Are you a boycotter?
Not really. Unless I know that money from a product is going directly to something I have moral qualms with, than I much don't care. I do think that even CEOs and company owners are entitled to have their opinions and those opinions are allowed to be different than mine. I do however tend to choose companies whose company objectives I find admirable. It doesn't mean I'm boycotting the others, just playing favorites I guess.

3. How do you feel about cheese?
Cheese is one of the major food groups right? There have been occasions where I made an entire meal of cheese. Especially in college when the cheese cubes left over from an event were just given to the desk worker on duty at the time. Cheese is amazing, and it took up a good third of my cooler flying to Barter Island this year.

4. How many pairs of sunglasses do you own?
Zero. They pinch my head and give me a headache. I can't wear glasses, goggles, headbands, tight ponytails, or constricting hats because any sort of pressure on my head results in a headache. And I've paid the price by getting one of my eyes sunburned. Fun fact, that never really goes away, it fades and then comes back at the drop of a hat to make it appear you have pink eye.

5. How long has it been since you went to the dentist?
An embarrassingly long time. I've not lived in the same state as my dentist for five (going on six) years. I keep missing my appointment or failing to schedule one when I'm in town. It's been at least two-and-a-half years.

6. If you could visit any religious site in the world, where would you go?
Hmmm... my first instinct is to say Vatican City but.... I've got a big trip with my mother 'planned' to go to the Camino de Santiago. So probably that. :)

I had plans for today but slept much longer than expected, so I'll likely write another post this afternoon.

Answer Me This

I promise that more is coming soon! Summer, new grade, new classroom arrangement, etc! For now please enjoy this answer me this post.

1. What is your favorite room in the house?

Hmmm... I'm not sure if I have a favorite room in my house. I suppose my bedroom because I can:
a) watch movies that I like.
b) read with almost zero interruptions.
c) sleep. I really, really love a good sleep. Especially the transition from wakefulness to sleep, but not the other way around! Even if I'm staying up late I honestly cannot wait for those few minutes of falling into a blissful slumber.
I might honestly say that I prefer my classroom. And why not, it is a pretty swanky place that doubles as ninety percent of my social life. I spend a loooooot of time at work, like 60+ hours each week, so I see more of my classroom anyway, considering a fair chunk of time in my room is spent on the aforementioned sleep. Plus, the internet is faster.

2. Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?
Hehe, I love reading and get a few magazines. National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian, Family Fun, Family Circle, Fitness, Good Housekeeping, and Instructor.

3. How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above?
I love ye olde sign of peace. It gives me an excuse to look at someone I may never see again and wish peace upon them. I'm going to be honest, I didn't know that this was even an issue until it was resolved (go figure). I also didn't realize until this week just how big of a deal hand-holding during the Our Father is to people.... (I like holding hands, go ahead and decry me in the comments)

4. What is your least favorite sound?
I hate the sound of squeaky hinges, wheels, gears, etc. The metallic squeak cuts right through me.

5. What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?
Let us talk, I will assume for this we are talking under age 13 and watching on TV.  I also watched a lot of TV during the summers from 3rd - 10th grade because my parents both worked and I didn't have a babysitter. Basically I was a nerdy child. I liked Arthur, Kratts' Kreatures, Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Bill Nye, Magic School Bus, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Nature, The Lawrence Welk Show, and Barney. YES, Barney, I didn't get the hate then, and I don't get it now. You may notice that the common denominator on these shows is good old PBS. I watched PBS like no one's business until high school because my parents did not (and do not) have cable/ satellite/ whatever they are calling it now. I had cable in college which was cool. I don't have now (actually currently running on zero channels) and don't really miss it that much thanks to.... Netflix!

6. What are your favorite TV shows now?
So, I don't really watch TV on TV anymore so this list is not based on currency in any way, shape, or form. Looking at my Netflix queue and DVD shelf...
Doctor Who - I have a cat named Sonic Screwdriver, if you don't understand then you just don't understand, if you do understand then you are awesome!
Psych - Just ended and, honestly, I think I'm okay with that now. It was a little difficult there at the end since after slipping for a couple seasons it picked way, way up at the end.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - This is a show that just worked. Spot-on characters, overarching story (love those), moral discussion, and a bomb-tastic conclusion.
CSI:NY - My go-to gritty crime drama... not sure why.
MASH - Fun and serious... funious. Okay apparently that is a real-word... who knew?
Gilligan's Island - I love the silliness with pretty much zero ramifications.
Ahhhhh! Getting late quick fire - Merlin, Life, Blue Planet, Planet Earth and basically any other nerdy thing put out by BBC... (But I've yet to see Downton Abbey so, there's that.)


Follow the link to the original poster!

Ptarmigan and Mother's Day and Promotion... Oh My!

Hello everyone! This week has been super busy because we are almost at the end of the year!!! As my first year of teaching draws to a close I feel all the same excitement for summer as I did growing up. It probably doesn't help that in about a month I'll be off to Disney World (dying of heat stroke no doubt). I've been planning a trip to Disney since I was probably five. It is time. Anyway let's get this blog party started, haha. I give you the cat pictures first, blow right on by them if you wish.

This photo sums up my social life on a weekend night eerily well...

I got Sonic a feathered toy as a peace offering after his vet visit, he loves it immensely and jumps three or four feet in his efforts to bring it down. I also won a fish at a cakewalk. Because the cakewalks here don't necessarily include cakes... or walking really.

Those were my personal pics... time for some Alaska! Everyone in the village seems to be going up in the mountains to a lake for hunting and fishing. I would love to go camping but am not really a hunter or fisher. Anyway our language teacher brought back this massive fish:

Inside was a smaller fish it had eaten:

And inside that fish was a tracking number:

 She also showed us how to butcher a ptarmigan, much to the delight of my kiddos... 

until the smell of the guts got to them!

After removing the stomach she blew it up and hung it to dry.

 Several middle schoolers were helping pluck and butcher the many ptarmigan.

Here it is all laid out. She also cut off the foot, you pull on the tendon and the toes move! 

My kids thought that was awesome.

Alrighty, we aren't butchering things over in my room, but we are doing some fun stuff. I had to create a unit for my school district integrating the local learning framework. Here is a tiny sample of things I made; the one on the left is a listening activity where they identify animals and colors based on a story I read, the one on the right is a page from a book they made that worked on number recognition.

It is finally warm enough for outdoor recess! We hit 32 degrees and took the chance to flock outside. Sledding seems to be the favorite activity.

 And of course our weekly art project! Though really this one was more of a craft... Mother's Day Cards!!! I actually had everything out and ready to go when I realized I forgot to make a sample! I made one quick as a wink, I think that the kids liked the sticky foam, we hadn't used it before.

But of course those were only the beginnings of the week... Friday night contained the big event.

Graduation

Technically the Kinders get promoted I guess, I'd never heard it that way until this week though... also the eighth graders and seniors graduated but I work with the little kids so they are the ones I took lots of pictures of!

CATCH-UP

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Maybe I need to set myself a schedule on this blog too! Hmmm... How about Saturdays? With June and July being optional? Sounds good too me.

Notes for everyone:
I will be returning to teach in Kaktovik next year! I will be teaching the preschoolers once again but instead of interventions I will be teaching Kindergarten as well! I'm really excited about this because I'll have the exact same students (one of them is on the cusp of reading!!!), but I'm also nervous because Kindergarten!  I've always been wary of the K-2 grades because if you mess up there the poor kids have to play catch-up through graduation.

My cat just keeps growing! I was looking at pictures and he definitely doesn't have the adorable baby-face he had just a few months ago!

I am getting better at dealing with a classroom crises. This week one kiddo had a meltdown, but I didn't freak out, even though it seemed like the entire school played witness. In the past I would've been nervous to have all those adults around. I've gotten so much more comfortable in dealing with it.

We can go outside for recess again! Ahhhhhh... those glorious 20 minutes of outdoor time. Preceded and anteceded by ten minutes of dressing and undressing but I digress...

Now some fun stuff:
Way, way, way back in January I spent a couple days in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Here are some pictures from that:

Meet monstro. The birds up here are twice the size of any Southern birds!

YES!!! Thank you for the savings!

It took me forever to figure out how to start my rental (first one ever).

Tourism. Dining. Combined.

A mountain view from our hotel room!

Went for dinner with the other teachers at Ivory Jack's... and this is the only picture I managed to take.

Here is a photo of myself with the magnificent snowpile that inhabited the school 'lot' for most of the winter. I think that it was just a few days later that they moved it. It was a bit shocking to go out the door and not see it there!

One of the other teachers got a SMART board for her classroom. I saw the custodians hauling it out to the trash and KNEW I needed to save it for a couple of weeks. It served as a theatre/store. But undoubtedly the best part of the entire experience was painting it! Haha, clean-up was actually easier that day because no one took out any other toys. They were all terribly disappointed when I finally had to throw it away, but something else was coming. Something that was probably the most exciting thing to happen in class all year...

Caterpillars! I decided to gamble $40 on the odds that caterpillars could survive being mailed to the ends of the earth... they were five days late but ALL the caterpillars lived! (There was one fatality in the chrysalis stage, but that is common.) The kids loved the caterpillars and had to bring them to gym and snack-time. My favorite though was that they read the caterpillars books about butterflies to inspire them. So cute!

 This is my very cohesive bulletin board. I was so proud of it that I had to take pictures for you... then realize that part of the alphabet had fallen down.










We also did some of our first comparing and contrasting work to talk about the changes the caterpillars went through to become butterflies.

The students made baby pictures for the caterpillars. As you can see Frozen dominated the naming process! I was just going to name mine Eric but one of my girls pointed out that it sounds better with the whole name. Later the students helped me feed the butterflies fruit supplied by our wonderful cook.

Lots of other things have been happening of course. Including our pajama party where the class watched Frozen (they all love Frozen and the soundtrack I bought could easily be the best $20 worth of classroom money I have spent all year.) We also have begun being story writers... to varying degrees of hilarity. I end up getting eaten by monsters or blowing away in a blizzard in a fair number of stories.

Plenty has been going on outside of school as well. But all you want is cat pictures right???

Sonic loves the sun. He went a little bit insane when the sun finally started coming in the windows of our house. He rolls in sunny spots and pounces at sunny spots on the wall.

He also loves my laptop. He will chase the cursor from here to kingdom come! Earlier in the year I ordered cat food and cat litter. I ended up with almost exactly the right amount of food... but due to a series of mishaps I ended up with around 150 lbs. of cat litter! Unfortunately I never took a picture showing the full mountain of kitty litter. However, I've got this shot of Sonic sneaking a feast from the storage bucket. Alright, enough of my cat ;)

How about a walk on the lagoon?

We set out across the lagoon (don't worry the ice was plenty thick), our destination? The Vampire Boat!

Let's compare... August vs April

Now, to close out this super-post,

 I'll leave you with this beautiful picture of the sun dogs I caught at sunset the other day.