A Crazy Idea

I'm thinking about changing the title of my blog.  When I first started the blog in September, I didn't put much thought into it.  I figured The Toale Family was a title that worked well.  I also thought that Nick would actually READ the blog, and participate more...that hasn't happened (I love you lots, honey!).  Instead, the blog has developed into being more about me, which is fine with both of us.

Going through the "blog" world, I always see blogs that have cute titles and I sometimes wish I had come up with a different name.  It's not the easiest thing in the world to change a name, and I don't consider myself the wittiest person in the world, so I am asking for suggestions as to what a new blog name could be.

Any ideas?

Star Wars Saturday

While on YouTube for another post, I found this clip.  It's a tribute to John Williams, the incredible, talented composer who has writtten music for so many movies.  These four gentlemen, who call themselves Moosebuster, put words to different John Williams songs; the words are all about Star Wars.  I've included the words at the bottom.  I thought this was so creative!  Be sure to watch their faces during the song, they do some funny stuff.

LYRICS:

[Close Encounters of the Droid Kind]
You must use the Force
You must use the Force
(repeat ad nauseam)
You must use the Force

[Raiders of the Lost Wookiee]
Time ago, far, far away
Long time ago, far, far away
Kiss a Wookiee, kick a droid!
Fly the Falcon through an asteroid!
Till the princess is annoyed!
This is spaceships,
It's monsters,
It's Star Wars,
We love it!
Come and help me,
Obi-Wan
X-wing fighter
And a blaster gun!
Dance with Ewoks,
Oh, what fun!
This is spaceships,
It's monsters,
It's Star Wars,
We love it!

[Super Han]
Get in there you big, furry oaf
I couldn't care less what you smell!
I take orders from only me
Maybe you'd like it back in your cell
Your Highness, your worshipfulness,
Your Highness, your worshipfulness!
No one cares if you upset a droid
(Nobody cares if you upset a droid)
That's because droids don't tear
your arms out of sockets
(Nobody cares)
I suggest a new strategy:
Let the Wookiee win
That's because nobody cares if you upset a droid

[E.T. - The DiscoTerrestrial]
Now we listen to Luke whining:
One more season... one more season...
One more season... one more season...
I was gonna go to Tosche
Station for power converters
Now I guess I'm going nowhere
It just isn't fair...

[Jaws: The Wookiee]
Woooooookiee
Woooooookiee
Woooooookiee
Woooooookiee
Woooooookiee
Woooooookiee
Someone move this walking carpet
(Woo-kiee! Woo-kiee!)
Someone move this walking carpet
(Woo-kiee! Woo-kiee!)
Kiss your brother, kiss your brother
Princess Leia!
Well, I guess
You don't know anything
About women
Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?
Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?

[Jurassic Darth]
Luke, I'm your father
(That's not true!)
It is useless to resist
(My hand!)
Come with me, my son
We will rule!
(I'll never join you!)
Search your feelings, it is true
So, you have a twin sister who
Obi-Wan was wise to hide
(Is that Leia?)
If you will not turn
Then perhaps she will
Give in to your hate,
You are mine

[Close Encounters of the Droid Kind - Reprise]
(Long, long, long time ago...)
Far, far, far, far away
Long, long, long time ago,
Far, far, far away!
Kiss a Wookiee, (kiss a Wookiee)
Kick a droid! (kick a droid!)
Fly the Falcon (fly the Falcon)
Through an asteroid!
Till the princess (till the princess)
is annoyed!
(She's annoyed!)
This is spaceships,
It's monsters,
It's Star Wars,
We love it, it's true!
Episode III
Coming to you
2005
So let's go
(Go, go, go to the movies)
Stand in line
(Buy, buy, buy me some popcorn)
Cause it's al-
(Please, I'd like extra butter)
-most the time!
(JOIN THE DARK SIDE)
May the Force be with you all!
JOHN WILLIAMS IS THE MAN!

YouTube Friday

Have I mentioned that I love Burn Notice?  I am going through withdrawals since it's in hiatus and doesn't come back until the summer.  I've already watched, re-watched, and once more watched seasons 1 - 3; I'm waiting impatiently for season 4 to be released on DVD!!

For YouTube Friday, here's a little Burn Notice!!

Who Sings It Better?

Today we're going to have one artist covering their own song two different ways.  Celine Dion sings a song titled A New Day Has Come.  The first version I will show you is the first version I heard.  It's the original that was released as a single for her.

The second version is slow.  I don't remember where I heard it, but I loved it!

So, which do I prefer?  I enjoy both versions of this song quite a bit.  However, I enjoy the slow version more.  It makes me feel better when I'm having a crappy day, and even though they are the same song, the slow version just speaks more to me, where the fast version is simply fun.

Who sings it better?

Ten on Tuesday

10 Favorite Children's Books

Amelia Bedelia has no idea what idioms or homonyms are. She does exactly what people tell her to do and takes everything they say literally. So when she is told to "put the lights out," she does just that --- she unscrews some light bulbs and takes them outside. Her literal mind frustrates her employers on a number of occasions but, in the end, they always forgive her. It is so much fun reading all about Amelia's strange adventures (or misadventures, I should say). But it's also enjoyable to look at the hilarious illustrations that accompany each story. After all, seeing Amelia smear jelly all over the kitchen floor has got to bring at least a smile to your face.  --- Reviewed by Tom Donadio

From School Library Journal

Born third at a time when having more than two children per family is illegal and subject to seizure and punishment by the Population Police, Luke has spent all of his 12 years in hiding. His parents disobeyed once by having him and are determined not to do anything unlawful again. At first the woods around his family's farm are thick enough to conceal him when he plays and works outdoors, but when the government develops some of that land for housing, his world narrows to just the attic. Gazing through an air vent at new homes, he spies a child's face at a window after the family of four has already left for the day. Is it possible that he is not the only hidden child? Answering this question brings Luke greater danger than he has ever faced before, but also greater possibilities for some kind of life outside of the attic.  To what extent is he willing to defy the government in order to have a life worth living?

Amazon.com Review

Nine-year-old Beezus Quimby has her hands full with her little sister, Ramona. Sure, other people have little sisters that bother them sometimes, but is there anyone in the world like Ramona? Whether she's taking one bite out of every apple in a box or secretly inviting 15 other 4-year-olds to the house for a party, Ramona is always making trouble--and getting all the attention. Every big sister can relate to the trials and tribulations Beezus must endure. Old enough to be expected to take responsibility for her little sister, yet young enough to be mortified by every embarrassing plight the precocious preschooler gets them into, Beezus is constantly struggling with her mixed-up feelings about the exasperating Ramona.

From Publishers Weekly

Farmer Brown is dumbfounded when his cows discover an old typewriter in the barn and begin experimenting.  Things really get out of hand when the cows began airing their grievances.  "Dear Farmer Brown, The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets. Sincerely, The Cows." When Farmer Brown denies the cows' request, the bovine organizers go on strike.  With help from a neutral duck mediator, the exasperated Farmer Brown finally makes concessions. But, much to his dismay, the cows are not the only creatures that can type.

Sheila is a person who is very worried about how she is perceived by other people. She is unsure of herself, and when she doesn't know something, she tells white lies instead of just admitting it. When her family goes to upstate New York for the summer, Sheila is confronted with her fears of dogs and swimming, and in making new friends she must deal with her worries about herself. You may already be familliar with Sheila from the "Fudge" stories, but this book paints a more in depth, endearing picture of her. As always, Judy Blume uses humor to portray situations that might not be so funny were we in them ourselves.

From Publishers Weekly

The day after her teacher announces, "You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem," the narrator is afflicted with a "math curse" that affects how she views every facet of her day ("Everything seems to be a problem"). A minimum of the questions she asks herself are entirely logical ("How many quarts are in a gallon?"); some are far-fetched extrapolations (if an M&M is about one centimeter long and the Mississippi River is about 4000 kilometers long, how many M&Ms would it take to measure the length of this river?); and a happily hefty number are sheer nonsense: "I undo 8 buttons plus 2 shoelaces. I subtract 2 shoes. I multiply times 2 socks and divide by 3 pillows to get 5 sheep, remainder 1, which is all I need to count before I fall asleep." Like the text, Smith's wonderfully wacky collage-like art will give readers ample food for thought-even if it's part junk food. Here's a morsel: "Does tunafish + tunafish = fournafish?" Kids will want seconds-count on it.

Amazon.com Review

If geese had graves, Mother Goose would be rolling in hers. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales retells--and wreaks havoc on--the allegories we all thought we knew by heart. In these irreverent variations on well-known themes, the ugly duckling grows up to be an ugly duck, and the princess who kisses the frog wins only a mouthful of amphibian slime. The Stinky Cheese Man deconstructs not only the tradition of the fairy tale but also the entire notion of a book. Our naughty narrator, Jack, makes a mockery of the title page, the table of contents, and even the endpaper by shuffling, scoffing, and generally paying no mind to structure. Characters slide in and out of tales; Cinderella rebuffs Rumpelstiltskin, and the Giant at the top of the beanstalk snacks on the Little Red Hen. There are no lessons to be learned or morals to take to heart--just good, sarcastic fun that smart-alecks of all ages will love.

Amazon.com Review

Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka," straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

From School Library Journal

AYoung Widge is an Elizabethan Oliver Twist with a talent for shorthand. Raised in an orphanage, he is apprenticed to an unprincipled clergyman who trains Widge to use a cryptic writing system that he's invented to pirate sermons from other rectors. Hired by a mysterious traveler, the boy is hauled off to London to attend performances of Hamlet in order to transcribe the script for another theater company. Naturally, all does not go smoothly, and in the course of trying to recover his stolen notebook, Widge goes to work at the Globe, eventually donning a dress and wig to play Ophelia before the queen. The true identity of the mysterious traveler provides a neat twist at the end. As in Wild Timothy (Atheneum, 1987; o.p.) and several of his other books, Blackwood puts a young boy in a sink-or-swim predicament in alien territory where he discovers his own strength. It's a formula with endless appeal.  This is a fast-moving historical novel that introduces an important era with casual familiarity.

From Publishers Weekly

Paterson's Newbery-winning novel becomes an entertaining and dramatic audiobook via Leonard's accomplished reading. Jess Aarons is eager to start fifth grade. He's been practicing his sprints all summer, determined to become the fastest runner at school. All seems to be on track, until the new girl in class (who also happens to be Jess's new next-door neighbor), Leslie Burke, leaves all the boys in the dust, including Jess. After this rather frustrating introduction, Jess and Leslie soon become inseparable. Together, they create an imaginary, secret kingdom in the woods called Terabithia that can be reached only by swinging across a creek bed on a rope. But one morning a tragic accident befalls Leslie as she ventures alone to Terabithia, and Jess's life is changed forever.

Amazon.com Review

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.