The Other Boleyn Girl

Since reading a book of the same title by Philippa Gregory last year, I have been fascinated not only by the correct depiction of the historical facts, but also to see the costuming for the 16th century. So I was anxiously awaiting the movie on big screen.

If your history needs a bit of a brush-up on the facts surrounding King Henry VIII and/or Anne Bolyen, this site The Monarch succinctly displays information pertaining to that era.

If you want a professional movie review, visit Rotten Tomatoes for all the background movie information, including the cast of stars.

But what I was panting to see was the costumes. And I desired the entertainment element of viewing on screen the bizarre facts of how Henry VIII split with the Catholic church and forever changed the face of English history.

The golden hues of pastoral settings and vivid, metallic colors in the women’s gowns and Henry’s attire were, indeed, lovely. And I was impressed how accurately all the known facts were crammed into a two hour movie.

I did crave feasting my eyes on more banquet scenes and the food of the period. Only two rich background shots, one of roasting meats and one camera-hurried dinner at court, were all the viewer was served for food eye candy; even those shots were miserly portioned out by the film editors.

Thank Heavens for NetFlix where I can again see the movie and frame-stop those two quick scenes!

Also, I was disappointed in the portrayal of Henry himself. Instead of the curmudgeonly, portly, syphilitic older man that he must have been at the time these events occurred, The King was represented by this hunka-hunka guy Eric Bana who was young enough to be my son. Really, I am not ancient, but the guy was no old, bad toothed, probably odiforous, overweight monarch, either. He (Eric Bana) was HOT!

Portmann and Johansson were lovely (sniff). In my humble opinion, it was Catherine of Aragon, Wife #1, (Kristin Scott Thomas) who was the true star. How could one's sympathies and heart not go out to this sweetly portrayed, once beloved by her husband, saintly, elegant yet soon displaced wife?

If you want another viewpoint (and male oriented), read what my husband thought of the movie in his post today: Chicks Flick.

Watercolor Montage - Art

Have you ever wanted to create a collage or montage of related subjects as an object 'd art? It is fun and relatively easy to make one using your computer and most associated photo capturing software.

I was reared in the south where magnolia blooms were present in my grandparents' yard for most of the spring and early summer months. Their fragrance holds a fond memory for me. My grandmother used to clip those sweetly aromatic magnolia blossoms in the early morning and put a few in a vase that always stayed on her kitchen window sill.

Mom (my grandmother) has been deceased for over twenty years. In remembrance of her life, I wanted to paint a magnolia blossom and somehow incorporate that image onto a piece of her original, copyrighted sheet music. This montage would be a unique memoriam to her talented life as a musician and strong Christian teacher.

Here are the steps to make your own montage:

obtain your image (in this case, an original watercolor painting of a magnolia) and take a picture of it with digital camera, saving it to your computer in a temporary folder containing pictures

obtain second image (I used a piece of my grandmother's sheet music which I scanned and saved to my computer in a temporary file)

obtain and save third (or more) object in the preceding manner (the back of my montage includes copyrights from 1921, the year some of this music was copyrighted in Canada)

using the picture software on your computer, compose the montage and choose the "collage" feature (most all software has this type editing choice)

...in this case, I blended both images together, creating a soft, ethereal effect.

Here is image #1, which is a digital copy of the original 5" x 7" painting, retrieved and held in a temporary file:

After choosing the "collage" feature on the software, the resulting image (left) was created after incorporating the two pictures together (the digital picture of the painting and the scanned copy of the sheet music) via the tricky software.

Now YOU can make a montage!

Crafting Good Behavior

Our older dog, Mercy, is a graduate of the GJ Parks and Recreation Beginning Dog Obedience class. My husband and I decided that we would not home school our younger dog, but instead, send her on for more advanced training. The class is described in the latest city recreational brochure as follows:

Dog Obedience training can be the beginning of a rewarding, loving relationship between you and your dog. Learn about proper equipment and how it is used, basic commands, and communication. Your dog must be at least four months old; have current distemper, parvo, and rabies vaccinations; Mesa County license, and must be under control at all times. Holly Koch will instruct sessions beginning on Wednesdays and Sundays at Sherwood Park, and Bob Simpleman will instruct the other classes at Canyon View Park.

So, after much fanfare and putting off classes for a month because of the weather, our younger 16 month old Maltese-Poodle pup, Libby, and I started this program today at a nearby city park.

Ms. Koch, instructor, is keen on a strong sense of owner responsibility. She certainly knows her area of expertise, and displays a caring attitude and good teaching skills.

Libby is the pup on the end of the red leash. Her friend and classmate Beaux looks on.

My future goal is for the older dog, Mercy, to complete the 10 steps of the AKC/CGC Test to gain her certification as a Therapy Dog. With the good weather ahead of us, I plan to heed Cesar Milan and Ms. Koch's advice of "exercise, discipline and affection" in order get a head start on this certification.

Our daughter benefited over the years from several Therapy Dogs having visited her during many of her countless hospital stays at Children's Hospital in Denver. I would like to give back some of the joy she received from being able to pet a well mannered dog.

Perhaps Mercy The WonderDog might be able to help others who could benefit from a dog visit while undergoing medical treatment.