So, when it comes to reading I have certain traditions. Around Easter each year I read The Chronicles of Narnia. During the summer I read Harry Potter and around Christmas time I read The Lord of The Rings. Last year I also started reading some Christmasy type books during the month of December. During December 2008 I read several such as The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn and The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket. I continued the tradition this year. Of the five I read this year my favorite was the wildly inappropriate yet ferociously funny The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore.
As for the rest of the books I read I have to ask: "What's the deal?" Why is it so many Christmas books have to be about someone (usually a parent) dying of cancer? Hello, can't we come up with something else to get people in the Spirit of Christmas? I gotta tell ya, 'twas a little depressing after a while. I had also checked out the book The Christmas Shoes but having heard the song it's based on I figured it would be in my best interest to skip that one and just go back to my beloved Lord of The Rings.
Well, earlier this week, The Amazing Race 15 concluded in Las Vegas with Meghan & Cheyne pulling out the win. This season was unique for several reasons. First off, a team was actually eliminated right at the starting line before even getting to start the race. So, Eric & Lisa lost the race before even having a chance to go anywhere. I don't know if anybody else noticed but they were the only team that was not at the finish line. The other thing that was unique was the fact that for the first time since I started watching the show I really didn't have a single team that I strongly disliked. Usually, there is at least one team that I can't stand and which, interestingly enough, seems to always make it into the final three so I have to endure them for the whole race. Fortunately for me, there wasn't a team like that this season.
As for my predictions. I was right on some and wrong on others. Several weeks ago I predicted rightly that Meghan & Cheyne and Sam & Dan would both end up in the final three. However, once it got down to the last four teams I was sure that Flight Time & Big Easy would make it to the finale. But, they got eliminated and Brian & Ericka took third place. Once it got down to the end I predicted that Meghan & Cheyne would take home the prize and though it looked at times like Brian & Ericka might actually pull it off, I was right. One of the great things about this show is the fact that it is so popular that CBS airs two seasons of it every year. That means I just have to wait a few more months (February probably) for the show to come back again.
I have a very talented sister. Actually, I have three talented sisters but at the moment I'm only talking about one of them. Last year my sister Shanna used her mad cross-stitching skills to make Collin a really beautiful Christmas stocking. This year, as a present to our family, she made stockings for Alisa and I as well. It was a very nice early Christmas present and one that Alisa and I both greatly appreciated. Thanks Shanna Banana wearing Purple Pajamas!
So, this past Saturday as we were driving back from Montana we had the chance to listen to the 
As difficult as it may be to believe seeing as how I am the quintessential awesome uncle, this is the first time I have actually been able to attend the baptism for any of my nieces or nephews. Unfortunately, that is one of the prices you pay when you and all your siblings end up spread all over the country. Well, not all over the country; at least we're all in the same time zone now (Thank-you for leaving Pittsburgh Erin). Anyway, it was really great to be there and participate. Congratulations Grace!
This past weekend I went and saw the new computer animated Christmas Carol movie from Disney. Now, the last time I had seen a movie in 3D in a theatre it was when I saw Captain 
I did think the 3D was pretty cool even though it did give me a bit of a headache at times. I also noticed that if I tipped my head to the side that the picture became all blurry. It was especially cool on those shots were something appeared to actually come out of the screen. I also enjoyed the parts where you were flying through the city.
As for the movie itself; it was your pretty standard Christmas Carol adaptation and wasn't really much different from the dozens of other movie versions of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Most of the lines were directly from the book with no significant changes. The only thing that really made this one unique was the fun computer and 3D effects. Now, for those who might be considering bringing their young kids to this show, I would 
First off I want to say that this was a really good book. I thought the story was ingenious. The plot was very creative and I loved the whole concept of the Elemental Beasts and the swords, the Directional Kingdoms, the Void Vulture, etc. One thing that I really enjoyed was the four main characters. I think of the four princes that I like Dominic the best. This is probably because he’s almost as snarky and sarcastic as I am. One of my favorite parts of the book came near the end when Sam was close to death, saw the paths and was given the choice of whether he wanted to come back or not. Though scenes like that are hardly unique in literature for some reason that image just really hit me powerfully. I especially liked when Sam asked the Mortin and Phillip he was talking to in the dream if they were the “real princes.” I’m glad that they’re answer was kind of vague. It makes the scene more interesting to think about and wonder about.
Merlin (which, not surprisingly, comes to us from the U.K.) follows the adventures of the teenaged, budding sorcerer Merlin as he comes to Camelot and becomes the servant of the than Prince Arthur. Merlin has the ability to perform magic but must keep it secret because Arthur’s father King Uther Pendragon has outlawed all magic and is ready to execute anyone who he thinks is practicing (or even capable of practicing) magic. I’m sure that there are many who are more familiar with the Arthurian legend than I am who are simply groaning when they see the amount of artistic license and the numerous anachronisms present in the show. Of course since most scholars agree that there was never a King Arthur in the first place it doesn’t really matter that much. I mean, since it is pure fiction why not have a bunch of Polynesians living in 6th century Britain? 
Anyway, I loved this show. It was fun, imaginative and significantly more family friendly than the majority of my TV shows. In fact, my wife actually enjoyed watching an episode with me every once in a while. I really enjoyed the interaction between Arthur and Merlin. In a lot of ways it reminds me of me and my little brother Shane when we were younger. Just like Arthur and Merlin we both liked each other very much but neither of us were willing to admit it.
So, since the season finale a few days ago I have been keeping an eye out for information about whether NBC is planning to bring it back next summer. If they don’t they can expect a sternly worded e-mail from me. 
So, a few weeks ago my wife and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have to say I was very impressed with the movie, much more so than I have been with the last few Harry Potter film adaptations. I felt like they did a good job of keeping the important stuff in the show while keeping the superfluous added nonsense (like the third movie’s shrunken heads) to a minimum. I really liked the girl who played Lavender Brown. I thought she was very cute and did a great job in the role.
OK, now time for Ryan to get on his soapbox and have a little rant. There seems to be an ongoing joke related to these movies that I find really annoying. I find it so irksome because not only it is so ridiculously inaccurate but the people who propagate the joke, for the most part, ought to know how ridiculous it is. The joke is about how the actors who play Harry, Ron and Hermione are getting too old to be playing high-school aged kids. In the really stupid film Epic Movie which spoofed a number of films there is a scene where the main characters end up at Hogwarts and meet parodies of Harry, Ron and Hermione played by fat, middle-aged actors. They continually rant about how it makes no sense that these three are still at this school while the balding Ron, the pregnant, smoking Hermione and crazy Harry insist that they are really teenagers. In the previews for the new Adam Sandler movie Funny People a character makes a crack about how these characters are so old that they must be going for a PhD in Wizardry and asks “how long are they gonna be at that high school.” Now, some of you who are not as big movie buffs as I am may ask yourself, “What’s the big deal? Aren’t they too old to play teenagers?” The answer is no!
The simple fact of the matter is this: In TV and movies high-school aged characters are almost never played by high-school aged actors. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate my point. In the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Alan Ruck was about 30 when he played the part of Cameron Frye. Rachel McAdams was about 26 when she played Regina George in Mean Girls. Turning to TV, in the new FOX show Glee high school football star Finn Hudson is played by 27 year-old Cory Monteith and high school sophomore Rachel Berry is played by 23 year-old Lea Michele. I could give more examples but let’s face it; this post is long enough already. Anyway, how does this compare with our three Harry Potter stars? Well, Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter just turned 20 last month. Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger is 19 (a whopping 2 years older than her character) and Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley is just about to reach the ripe old age of 21. So, the truth is, by normal Hollywood standards, these parts were actually cast a bit young. End of rant. 
