Barbara's Meanderings

Recently a travel site, Tripbase, contacted me because they have listed their Top 10 Fictional Travellers. There aren't many lists that contain both Waldo and James Bond. Since they asked me very nicely, please go over and check out the list. Leave me a comment about which Traveller you would choose. I think I'd probably go for James Bond, but I'm drawn to Alice. She was my favorite character for many years.:)

Maybe this holiday you don't have plans to travel. Some of the best trips I have ever taken have been in the comfort of my own home. So curl up with one of these books and take the vacation of your life without moving an inch out of your door. Most of these have 5 star reviews, though some are here because I like them. I wanted to find ten, but I only found seven. Still I think this is a pretty good variety:

1. On the Road, Jack Kerouac - I think this is probably the quintessential fictional travel book!

2. Until I Find You, John Irving - Get ready for trips to Europe.

3. Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift - Are you ready to encounter new civilizations?

4. Storybook Travels: From Eloise's New York to Harry Potter's London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children's Literature - Life as a perpetual traveller in hotels.

6. Botticelli's Bed & Breakfast, Jan Pienkowski - A pop up book and a trip through the world of art.

This weekend I wanted to go to the movies. As many of you know who have been reading this blog I love to see love stories and romantic comedies. I tolerate some historical movies and will watch adventure movies occasionally if the actors are cute.:) You have to have some eye candy when people are being blown to bits. The choices for movies didn't have these choices at all. In fact there were a few movies that fit this bill, but no one in my family wanted to see them. So we settled on a movie that wasn't any of these and it was wonderful!!!

The movie is "The King's Speech" and it stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce. I really didn't know much about the story, but the reviews and the buzz about it were what drew me to see it. My daughters and I tried to see it Saturday afternoon and because it was only playing in one theater, The Jacob Burns Film Center, it was sold out until 10:30PM. We bought tickets for Sunday afternoon and even though we arrived early there was a big crowd. The Jacob Burns has very comfortable chairs and it is probably the best place to see a movie I have ever seen. We have been there so many times we have a favorite place to sit and it was empty when we got into the theater.

"The King's Speech" is probably one of the quietest movies in theaters today. Colin Firth plays Albert, King George V's younger son who is in line to be king, but he has a big problem. We first encounter him as he is preparing to give a speech at Wimbleton and we see his frustration as he stumbles through stammering and stuttering. Public speaking is his enemy and he has seen every specialist and speech doctor possible with no results. He is about to give up hope when his wife, played by Helena Bonham Carter finds an unusual speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. There are a great many quiet moments in this film and the audience was extremely silent during these times. With little action, the only movement is in the actor's faces, specifically in their eyes. Albert or "Bertie", soon to become King George VI learns to overcome his stammer and become a public speaker with the help of this therapist, Lionel Logue and his unorthodox methods. While Albert prepares for the eventuality of speaking in public again, his brother, Edward, must make a grave decision - to stay as king and give up Wallace Simpson, the woman he loves or abdicate and live as a commoner for the rest of his life with his lover, who is unsuitable for marriage since she has been divorced twice. Since this is based on the true experiences between Logue and King George VI you probably know what happened. It starts in 1935 before the death of George V and continues until England declares war on Germany in 1939. But see the movie anyway to experience the beauty and the stillness as well as the regal performance of Colin Firth. Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the speech therapist is Oscar worthy as is Colin Firth's performance as well. When it goes into wider distribution don't hesitate to see "The King's Speech". This movie will probably appeal to most speech pathologists. In fact, when we were waiting a speech therapist was there just to see the techniques that were used to treat him.

It has very high ratings with both critics and movie goers alike. Though it is only in a few theaters in the country it has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 94% and an audience rating of 89%. I would give this movie 5 stars myself. You will go out of the theater knowing you have finally seen a good movie.

As far as writing is going I am going over my edits and I got to Chapter 6. This isn't too bad and I'm hoping to get to Chapter 10 this week. Here is some other information for you.

My blog post, "The Day A Jewish Girl Discovered Christmas" is on the MuseItUp Publishing blog this afternoon. You will find it posted after noon. Please go over and leave a comment. You will also find a guest post from me on Roseanne Dowell's blog: "Barbara Ehrentreu's Favorite Christmas Memory"

My next guest blogger is set to be here soon so be on the lookout for her or him. Thank you to all my readers and welcome any new readers who might have wandered over here.:) I've been really busy with the tutoring too. But the kids are so cute and they try so hard. I missed teaching.

Until the next time hope all of you stay dry and warm. It's good weather to curl up with a book when you can. I'm reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. He is a good writer, but I'm finding it difficult to connect with any of the characters. Have a great week.