"Island Trilogy" Might be a Few Years Old, But It's Still Worth the Time

Never wrote a book review, but this is worth the read. I've read it three times self, the complete series is about 300 pages, but if you break it up it's great!

Lots of Love,Rachel

Another of My Favorite Movies: Gerard Butler in 'How to Train Your Dragon'

AWESOME, CUTE MOVIE. Definitely bring your kids to this one.

Lots of Love,Rachel

A New Kind of 'Robin Hood'

"Robin Hood" was unique and different and definitely good. People should see it in theaters! Definitely worth the money to see it.


Lots of Love,

Rachel

'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' Dusts over the Competition

Even though "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" was based on a video game, I had never played the series, not being one much for video games. However, when I saw who that Jake Gyllenhaal was playing Dastan (pronounced Destin) I figured it would be interesting to see him in a movie (let's admit, he didn't look half-bad in the movie, either. Very sexy and heroic).

That's what happens a lot. People go to see a movie based on who's in it. Sometimes it turns out to be terrible, and sometimes, it turns out great.

"Prince of Persia" is one such movie that could have been awful but turned out quite well.

The king of Persia has two sons and one brother. However, it seems that his family is not yet complete, and when he is in the marketplace in one of his cities, he witnesses a courageous fatherless young boy, Dastan, a street rat who takes the punishment for one of his friends. Right before the soldiers chop off his hand, the king breaks in and declares that he is adopting the boy as his son. Why? Because the boy is extremely courageous...and because he would be a prince who did not have his eye on the Persian throne. And in that way a boy from the streets became a prince of Persia.

Fast forward fifteen years. Dastan is now preparing for battle and decides to stop a massacre. He gets in and the Persian people declare him the lion of Persia. He and his brothers take over the Holy City. Along the way he finds a dagger and a princess who is the guardian of the dagger- and the dagger happens to be the Dagger of Time, which can control time and take the person holding it back in time.

Dastan learns about the power only after his father is murdered. Dastan is framed for the murder and forced to flee with the princess (to whom his father has betrothed him) who wants nothing more than to slit his throat and steal the dagger back for its own protection. Dastan does not try to change the past and save his father with the dagger, for people can only go back in time one minute.

In fact, the viewers are led to believe Dastan thinks of nothing but clearing his name and finding the traitor, even when he discovers that if someone breaks the hourglass of time they can go back to any incident in their life they want and change the future - however, doing so will unleash the wrath of the gods.

When Dastan realizes who really betrayed him and his father, he realizes that that person wants to change time so that he can let the king die and he will be the king of Persia. That means that Dastan's brothers would never have been born - and Dastan would have been left to rot in the Persian streets.

So along with a crook who calls himself an entrepreneur and refuses to pay taxes, a knife-thrower with a conscious, a princess he's falling in love with, and a host of other characters, Dastan is determined to stop his uncle from changing the past, allowing his father to die as a young boy, and seizing the throne.

The plot did go a little hazy and get confusing, but by the end everything was explained.

The movie focuses on destiny and choice, a seemingly favorite topic as of late. Do we have the right to choose our future, or is it laid in stone? Dastan learns that it is all about the choices we make, as he faces some difficult ones, in addition to his destiny, which plays a part near the end. Others, like the princess, still believe in destiny and do whatever it takes to fulfill what they believe their destiny is.

Dastan is extremely noble - honor is everything to him, with his foil character being his uncle, who is power-hungry and greedy. Yet most of his uncle's problems come from feeling under-appreciated, something a lot of people can relate to, especially if they work at entry-level jobs or attend school. Under appreciation is the core for a lot of problems in society, according to research. Then again, most under appreciated people don't murder their entire family to gain a throne. There was a lot of that going on back then, so in that case it was well-researched.

Dastan's father and the princess reference praying and and being in the temple, and some characters take a jab at God and gods in general. However, it seems Dastan isn't afraid of the gods, and neither are his brothers, his companions, or his uncle. They put little stock in destiny or fate except when it relates to them, like with the uncle's desire to break something the gods supposedly gave to mankind. However, he seems to think less of the gods and people than himself. Dastan is wild but only kills people who are trying to kill him. He would probably be considered a delinquent in our society, one of those people that others look at and think, "He should be in prison." But when push comes to shove, Dastan is willing to sacrifice his life to save his brothers, his friends, his father, and his country from his evil uncle.

There weren't any raunchy sex scenes. There were some near-kiss scenes, some cleavage, some male-stomach skin, and a lot of jokes, but nothing bad was shown. There was a lot of violence and action scenes, but it made sense because the movie was loosely-based on the "Prince of Persia" videogame series.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I'm going to go back and see it again in theaters, maybe three times, and when it comes out I'm going to buy it. It was that good. For being from Disney, the acting was great, even though it was obvious most of the action scenes were CGI. I think that was the point, even though it was slightly annoying.

Surprisingly, there are four characters who could be the title character: Dastan, Dastan's uncle Nizam, or Dastan's brothers, Garsiv and Tus. These four characters were all princes of Persia in the movie and played important roles. Whose story was this, Dastan's Garsiv's, Tus', or Nizam's? It had to be Dastan's story - he was the character to be admired, although his brothers showed their own strength and courage. Nizam was to be hated in this one, betraying Dastan and revealing his true feelings: he always believed that Dastan was nothing more than trash. He never understood why, in his own words, his brother "scraped" Dastan off the streets. He should never have been saved by the King. However, it soon became clear that plucking Dastan off the streets and raising him as a prince was the best decision he ever made, especially when Dastan saved humanity from wrath.

So it is all about choices - sometimes our choices kill us, sometimes they save us, and sometimes, they are the biggest regrets of our lives. But they are still ours, and in the end, we must live with them. Dastan got a second chance to change the past, but for everyone else, we can only limp along and hope that we make choices we can live wtih for 50-plus years.

Lots of Love,

Rachel

End of the semester

Not much to say. Classes are done for the semester. I just have finals left. So exhausted!!!!! But very exhausted. I am blowing off steam watching a movie on the campus movie channel. Excited but sad to leave

Alcohol and mosquitos?

Found this on facebook...next time I get a mosquito I am going to use this idea!

"Several years ago while attending one of our son's baseball games, I {some random lady I found this on one of my friend's facebook pages} smacked a mosquito that exploded blood all over my arm, realized I was surrounded by strangers with who knows what diseases, and decided to run home and clean it up. I doused it with alcohol, and to my amazement, within 15-20 minutes the large bite was dried up and GONE. First, though, it itched worse than ever, before drying up. Now I do this with every mosquito bite and it always works for me (but not for others for some reason)."

So now you know...alcohol works for more than just checking out of the world! (and she means rubbing alcohol by the way).

Babies, babies, babies!

The adorable precious little angels God gives are everywhere, it seems. I am not pregnant myself; I am still a happy virgin and proud of it. I will be waiting until my wedding night, thank you very much.

I do however know many, many pregnant people. It's strange how excited women get - despite the sickness, they never seem to blame their baby, never once. That's because as women we have a special relationship with children - we carry them inside of us for months, and they live on 3% of what we intake during that time, according to my friend's baby book. They need their mother; without the mother they would die.

It's an amazing gift God has given to us women in spite of the problems we possess. It shows that He does NOT blame us for eating the fruit. It is not, I want to add, women's faults. ADAM, the man who was in charge of the woman, was ALSO there. He was standing right there listening to the snake and did not stop his wife from listening at all. And that is why, really, he got the worst end of the deal.

Anyway, we are blessed. Sure, it's annoying, it's hard, it's tiring, and once the baby comes it's a lifelong commitment (trust me, few kids leave at 18 and never return - my family is the prime example of that).

But still. Holding the baby, feeling its warm body sitting on your lap, holding it while its sleeping, have it smiling at you, kissing you, hugging you, wanting to be near you...it's euphoric and addicting. I can see why mothers become incredibly attached to their children - they were once inside of your body, and now are outside of it, but still want to be part of it. As they grow older they don't want it, but still. At one time they were completely in love with you, and they still are.

So it's that time of the year...babies! I wish I was married so I could have a baby! I'm enjoying my free time, and of course I want a whole flock of children, 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or a dozen or two dozen. Eventually they just walk right out! lol. I want a lot of arrows in my quiver for the Lord, and I want to bring about new life. I am also fine adopting children, and will probably foster or adopt many, many children. Maybe I can't run an orphanage, but I can adopt one.

‘The Back-Up Plan’ becomes a first-rate plan

Movie Review
Rachel Weatherford

This was supposed to be in the Arrow, but it was so good they were jealous of it and decided not to publish it. Go figure! I'm joining the starving artist brigade.

In a comical twist of fate, Jennifer Lopez’s character, Zoe, the owner of a pet store, decides to be artificially inseminated after years of dating and getting no commitment. After her first and only appointment, she hails a cab and meets the guy of her dreams, a cheese farmer named Stan, played by Alex O’Loughlin. Even though it’s clear they are both attracted to each other, it takes awhile for them to enter a relationship. After they become a couple they learn that Zoe is pregnant from the in-vitro fertilization, a rarity, and getting pregnant with twins on the first time is unheard of, except, of course, in Zoe’s case.

During her time alone, Zoe gets involved in a single mother’s group, who add to the movie. One woman still breastfeeds her three-year-old, and another is a tough, in-your-face woman who is the core of one particularly wide-eyed scene later in the movie. The leader of the group is a former hippie whose funniest line is, “Some of us don’t have penis partners.”

Zoe and Stan begin to formally date shortly after Zoe joins the group. They go to the birth of one of the single mothers, who insists that Zoe is her focal point, forcing her to stand there and watch her give birth, which gives the perfectionistic Zoe a comic shake-up. The other woman’s birth scene was portrayed so well that, even though it should have been a weird moment, it was really light-hearted and easy to handle instead of awkward.

Another hilarious scene is when Zoe is at the doctor’s office. The doctor says, “There’s two heartbeats.” She replies, “The baby has two hearts?!” Then the doctor says, “No, you’re carrying twins!” And that is when Stan faints.

The couple are not without trouble. Zoe believes Stan doesn’t want her children, but later realizes she read his reactions too deeply, providing a touching commentary on the consequences of jumping to conclusions and miscommunication.
Abortion nor adoption were discussed after Zoe found Stan. Zoe’s attitude was that if Stan wouldn’t accept her children, he wouldn’t have her, and since Stan was crazy about Zoe, he accepted her children. Throughout the movie he is nervous, and another father he meets on the playground gives him some not-so-helpful and frightening advice. Of course, they get engaged after the twin girls are born. At the end of the movie, Zoe throws up and the viewers are led to believe that Zoe is pregnant again, only this time with Stan’s child instead of a stranger’s.

We get some slapstick comedy, like falling, spilling, and water-spraying. The greatest supporting actress was the dog, who alternated between begging for food and growling at Stan. The dog did not have any back legs; its back legs were a cart it used to run around with. The movie was hilarious and excellent, and it felt original instead of just being a worn-out romantic comedy movie.

'Hounddog' is Dakota Fanning's saddest, most disturbing movie

Here's the trailer for the movie "Hounddog" starring Dakota Fanning, Robert Wright Penn, David Morse, Piper Laurie and a few others.



It's actually a decent, touching movie. It starts out slow but gradually improves itself, especially after Dakota Fanning, who plays Lewellen, a nine-year-old Southern girl obsessed with Elvis Presley music, gets raped and tries to deal with the results. Her father, portrayed by David Morse, gets struck nearly dumb by a bolt of lightening on their farm.

The interesting dilemma is the issue of Lewellen's father. Lewellen's aunt claims that Lewellen's grandmother (Lewellen's mother's mother) is in love with Lewellen's father, implying some hinky-pink on the part of the grandmother. The aunt says that the grandmother is keeping the aunt and the father apart so she could have her. It turns out that both Lewellen's mother and aunt desire Lewellen's father, and the aunt wants to take care of Lewellen because she belongs to Lewellen.

It seems that this neglected tween has more people who love her than they actually show her, revealing that, for whatever reason people do things, love (even if it is a twisted, ugly form) is at the root of it - or so this movie indicates. Lewellen's grandmother is cold-hearted and emotionless; her grandmother is obsessed with sin and believing that her granddaughter is a sinner, forcing the girl to pay for her parents' sins by being overly authoritarian. The grandmother is also the reason why Lewellen's parents got married and why Lewellen has never known her mother's sister, her aunt who later comes so they can move in together and Lewellen's aunt can raise her.

Lewellen's father is self-obsessed and indulgent of his child, though there is some implication that Lewellen's father beats her after we see a mark and Lewellen says she will kill her father someday (which she does when she allows a rattlesnake to bite him and not warning him - she merely calls out that she loves him). Since there is only one bed in the two-room house Lewellen and her father live in, the viewers assume that the girl and her father share the bed. This is enforced by a scene when the girl brings a blanket and wraps her father in it and sleeps at his feet under the same blanket. Since she's only nine, there's no reason to believe the father's hurting her sexually, although based on her promiscious tendacies I sort of decided he probably did. Why else does a nine-year-old motherless girl want to see a boy's penis?

Lewellen was a disturbing girl, before and after the teenage boy raped her. Although I don't believe she should have been raped, she certainly didn't help anything when she took off her clothes in front of him and started dancing like Elvis Presley. I understand she is nine and is in love with Elvis and I understand why, but still. She shouldn't have done that.

Her friend Buddy is the classic example of peer pressure surrender. He allows her to get raped so he looks cool in front of her rapist. Lewellen isn't a great friend to him, but that's low. It's clear he just wants to be accepted by these older boys, and will do anything for it. The movie tells us that seeking to be with 'cool' bad kids just leads to a world of hurt and trouble. Just stay away from them.

What should we get from the movie? Pick real friends, don't be too obsessed, and ultimately we decide on what we do in life. We have choices and we make them. Just make the right ones.

The movie deals with grief, promiscuity, betrayal, friendship, family, secrets, lies, sex, race, drinking, parents, children, music, influences, peers, boys, girls, and, of course, rape and the consequences thereof. It is a deeply moving, slightly frightening tale that, in reality, could be someday's story - and maybe it really was.


Rachel

God fully loves us and accepts us, and we are pleasing to Him

Recently I've endured quite a scene, but I believe it's something everyone goes through at some point. To encourage people with how I've dealt with it, I wanted to include it in my blog.

Criticism.

Mistakes.

Blame.

It takes two to tango and blame is mutual. One person usually is not completely at fault, though they may be more responsible than others. We live in a society, not an individualistic environment.

I don't want to go deeply into details in an effort to avoid gossip, but last week became extremely stressful for everyone involved and, when stress runs around, there is usually problems. And the lower man on the totem pole gets the brunt. Which I'm fine with. NOW. I want to be stronger. My reputation is in God's hand - there is nothing I can do to save it.

Although I feel incredible peace after a sweet time with God, I still feel pain somewhat. I was completely blindsided by the confrontation; I am not a person who pays particular sense to anything. Drama does not mean anything to me. I avoid it at all possible costs; I am non-confrontational. However, I am completely tempted to leave the environment and leave them with more problems. I am struggling between being glad they confronted me and annoyance that they felt able to correct me while displaying hypocritical characteristics.

I dislike hypocrites. Be innocent as a dove and shrewd as a serpent.

I also understand that I am in a spiritual. I just want to encourage everyone that if someone addresses something, you are either in the wrong or involved in a spiritual battle. I've been at the forefront of a spiritual battle, but I also brought it upon myself and furthered it because I would not back down. I don't even know what's right or wrong.

Now, I'm sure this is very confusing, but I just want to put something out there. God fully and 100% loves us, accepts us, justifies us, redeems us. We are pleasing to Him. We are His children. The other people who hurt, confuse, and blindside us are also His children and deserve the same thing. Who knows? Maybe because you shine like a Christian someone will be saved.

Lots of Love,

Rachel

"Porn Pastor" - Keep your eyes open and your legs closed

Here's a link to someone who addresses pornography in our society.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=197859&catid=3 - this is the media addressing it!

http://www.xxxchurch.com - this is his personal website that has helped over 1.5 million people.

So what are my own personal views on pornography?

Since I live by a biblical worldview, I follow the Bible, including issues of sex, sexuality, and porn. Jesus would rather us be cold and absolutely not believers or pure, fiery Chrisitians rather than lukewarm believers. So if we're going to please God and earn our reward, we have to be on fire, which includes being pure.

Being a techinical virgin doesn't count, although it is a good thing. But a technical virgin still has problems - how far is too far? It's too far. Get right with God - stay far on the other side. Use this question: would Jesus be all right with how my boyfriend and I are acting? If Jesus showed up, would he say well done good and faithful servant or would he say, get away from me, I never knew you. (Yes, the King actually says that. Look it up in the Bible: www.biblegateway.com - use servant as keyword. It's in Matthew.)

Let's hope the former.

That means fleeing sexual temptation. Fleeing implies that someone is chasing you...the devil or your flesh. The devil doesn't go after athiests or prostitutes. He checks on them, but he's already stolen, killed, and destroyed them. He goes after the Christians because he can and they are what he wants to steal, kill, and destroy, to hurt God.

As soon as you open your mouth to declare your beliefs in God, Satan's going to test whether or not it's true by tempting you. God lets him. Jesus longs to help you out of it.

While the Bible does not seem to say directly address masterubation, here are a few strengthening ones to help you overcome it. "Those with clean hands and a pure heart will ascend" and "If you cannot control yourself, then by all means get married."

Good old porn, which goes right along with masterubation. Porn is the gateway to deeper sexual issues and lifestyles. Once you are a master at porn, it will never stop. You will move on to fornication or adultry. Your sex life is over. Nothing will satisfy you. Don't open that door on purpose and when or if you do, slam it shut and FLEE.

Rest assured, Christ loves you eternally. He is always waiting for you. He lived, died, and rose again to bring you to heaven. Call on his name and He will come to save you. Believe in Him, Confess your sins, and admit you are a sinner and deserve hell.

Pray something like this:

Lord, forgive me for being a sinner and falling short of your glory. I believe in you with my entire heart. Jesus, please dwell in my heart and help me live a life pleasing to you. I confess my sins before you (list them off here) and ask for forgiveness and restoration and power from on high. I will live for your name and your glory and your power forever and ever. Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen. I agree with you completely. Now you are saved and forgiven and God will help you.

One day I'm going to blog about what heaven REALLY is like. Tomorrow probably.


Lots of Love,

Rachel

Earthquakes!

I actually submitted this as an Op Ed for my college newspaper The Arrow.

Earthquakes, earthquakes everywhere! And they are not going to be going away. What is going on?

In Chile, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake there has only killed 700 people, unlike the Haiti earthquake where the death toll is increasing to almost 200 thousand. Yet the earthquake in Chile threw the Earth off its axis and changed the way the Earth rotates around the sun, perhaps permanently. It made shorter days.

There’s no need to get excited and think that we suddenly get more sleep time. The shift was 1.26 microseconds, barely noticeable, but a bigger earthquake - or a series of earthquakes - could completely alter the landscape of the world. The reason why the Chile earthquake affected the Earth more deeply was because the Chilean fault runs deeper than other faults.

Recently there has been an earthquake felt in Southeast Missouri. One person supposedly felt it here in Cape. Some people are more sensitive to these things than others, such as that mini-earthquake a year ago that was felt almost all the way to Ohio along our own infamous active faultline, the New Madrid faultline, billed as the second most dangerous fault in the United States. Some people woke up at 5 a.m. in the morning to feel it, and some did not. Some noted the 10 a.m. aftershock and some did not.

Apparently, in 2012 there might be a major earthquake along the New Madrid faultline. We are certainly overdue for one, even though no one should wish for an earthquake. We probably won’t experience one as devastating as the one in 1812 (which was worse than the one in San Fransisco in 1905) but a damaging one probably resembling the Haitian earthquake from New Orleans all the way north, maybe a little better or worse.

Right now, our economy cannot afford a major earthquake and displaced people. Just look at Katrina. No one was prepared for that.

So what is causing these earthquakes? There are differing opinions. Some say its natural, that earthquakes happen all the time. That’s true, they do, and perhaps the only reason they are so damaging is because our population grew from the millions into the billions seemingly over only a few decades. Of course 50 people in 1890 isn’t as devestating as 3,000 people in 1990, for example. So population growth and nature might not be getting along.

Another reason is global warming. Global warming is watery and gives us a feel good answer and a reason to feel guilty. Most of the world probably disagrees, but in the Post-Dispatch a few months ago there was an article that said that German scientists have begun to investigate the validity of it and aren’t finding any proof for it. Nature is tough and survives anything. It isn’t trying to get revenge on us. After all, nature is still around from the supposed accident that wiped out dinosaurs, which destroyed all the plants and animals - yet here we are. There’s not too much to worry about.

Another reason reflects the religious side. Now everyone is pretty leery of any talk of the end of the world from the religious perspective (as long as John Cusack is saving the world and makes it out alive we feel good). But no one - even non-Christian history records aspects- can deny that 2000 years ago Jesus said that before the last days there would be ‘earthquakes and rumors of earthquakes’ in the world. Well, we’ve certainly seen earthquakes, and we’ve heard rumors of earthquakes, on a large-scale magnitude. And those earthquakes are pretty damaging. Can anyone say freaky? So maybe we’re seeing biblical history clash with recent world history. Maybe it’s so we can get our lives right with God. It’s certainly an explanation, and not too bad of one, either. End of the world, here we come!

Lots of Love,

Rachel

Story idea alert: The Caelin series?

Okay, what about this idea? Give me feedback people!

An 18-year-old girl, a member of a race of people known as the Captives who are born and die in camps all over the world, escapes from a death camp in the distant future after her friend is murdered. She travels the countryside seeking another race of people, The Free Ones, while trying to avoid the Government of yet another race of people, the Rulers. One of the Rulers helps her. Will she overthrow the Government? And is she the promised one the Free Ones are seeking to lead them? Will the dissenting Rulers turn her in to cause the Government to go back into its stupor while they overthrow it? Read "The Caelin series" to find out!

Lots of Love,

Rachel

What am I writing? My story ideas!

It has definitely been awhile since I last posted. I feel like I should make this blog something important, something worthwhile that people would want to read about. But what? Should I post excerpts of my creations? I don't write much poetry, but I definitely write novels and short stories, although I'm not sure how much of a short story it really is.

They tend to get a bit long.

I suppose I could always review movies and books, although I don't read too much anymore. I've replaced books with movies. I like Plugged In's way of doing theirs, analyzing the movie for profanity, sex, violence, positive elements, and negative elements, with a unifying conclusion and an introduction.

People love to read movie reviews.

I know! I can post story ideas and then set links on my Facebook so people can check them out! Then I can learn what interests them.

Lots of Love,

Rachel

Freedom from Debt

Deuteronomy 28 lists curses that happen if you do not obey the commands of God (basically the 10 Commandments) and blessings if you do. Remember how Jesus said, "The commandments can be summed up in 2 commands: Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor." Jesus revolutionized us. That is why we are under a curse in America. We aren't loving God or our neighbors. If we do, we will be free! We need to start loving people again. I for one am planning on doing that. He does not want us to live in poverty - God wants to bless us but cannot.

Lots of Love,

Rachel