It's Monday and it's Memorial Day.  Most times if you venture out into town people will say "Happy Memorial Day!" But when you think about it, it's not really a happy day.  Today we honor the men and women who are fighting and those who have died for our freedom here in America.  So instead of calling out Happy Memorial Day I'm going to ask that you try and take a minute to pray for those over in Iraq. 


Okay, on a happier note, I went to go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3!!  I saw the advanced showing on Thursday night.  IT WAS AWESOME!!  I am beyond pirates crazed right now.  The movie is loaded with action, drama, plot twists, and so much more!  I recommend for everyone to see it.  Though, younger kids may be frightened by some scenes but it wasn't horrible.  You may hear people say that it should be rated R but that is so far from the truth.  <---Most people who say it's rated R are just trying to scare other people and kids who love the films to death.--->   It is rated PG-13 and that's the right rating for this film.  *sigh* I simply cannot wait to go see it again.  Oh, and for those of you who haven't seen it yet, be sure to say for the ENTIRE film.  This includes staying til after the credits.  You'll be happy you did!  Msg me if you feeling like chatting about the movie and such cause I l-o-v-e talking about POTC.  =D

ttfn,

Pirate Jill  

P.S. Addy (Forever Confused) claimed a pirate on her blog and I need to claim my little pirate.  Pic...

Who doesn't remember James Norrington?  Yes, yes, I love Jack Sparrow too but I am completely obsessed with James at the moment. *sigh* he's hot.........................Anyway, he may not be a real pirate but still he deserved a bigger role in POTC 2 and 3.  Okay, I'll stop talking now.....GO SEE PIRATES 3!!!!  Really....I'm done talking.....

Hey everyone I'm back!  I had a blast down in Florida.  I loved the warm air everyday and when I got back to Illinois I thought it was extremely cold!  lol.  I have lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures.  I have to get them all organized and bring them over to this computer from the other.  It'll take awhile so I'll have to do like day 1 or part 1.  Something like that. 

So while I'm doing that I have some other exciting news to tell.  Yesterday I had an audition on my violin for our Symphony Youth Orchestra.  The requirements on the site said:  As part of the audition process, students will be asked to play a solo or étude of their choice that shows their technique and musicality. Students should also have scales ready, and may be asked to sight-read.  I played the same piece I did at the recital, Concerto in A Minor by Antonio Vivaldi.  The conductor also asked for a both a major scale and a minor.  I played a three octave G major and a two octave B minor.  She then asked me to sight-read which I did all right at.  It went pretty fast.  The only thing I didn't expect was to get my results right away.  But she told me as soon as I got done that I was in!    Oh my gosh!  My parents let me decide on a restaurant and I chose a very good Mexican place that we all like. 

So, that was my day yesterday.  =D

ttfn,

Jill

Yes, I'm alive!  Amazed?  Haha, sorry I haven't posted in like a week or two.  It's become crazy busy over here and lately I've not been in the mood to post anything (otherwise called no muse).

Okay, so we got our chair test results in orchestra on Monday.  I didn't do so well this time.  9th chair fifth stand.  :p  Hmph, and I thought I did well!  It always seems to be like that doesn't it?  You think you did well, you do horrible.  You think you did horrible, you do awesome.  Oh well, it was the last chair test of the year so it isn't so important that I'll be crying over it.  Actually, there is an advantage to fifth stand.  It's side by side with second stand so it looks like I'm really far up.  Hehehe, I like that part about it.  =D 

And coming up next week is Tri II (May 2nd & 3rd).  I really have no idea what it stands for.  All I know about it is that it's a big festival my school is hosting this year.  I'll basically be at the school all day rehearsing in orchestra for the concert on May 3rd.  I've never been to this thing before so I don't know exactly what it's like.  After it's over I'll post about it.  Uh, really!  I know, I know, I've said that before and I forget.  If I don't post something about it by May 5th bombard me with messages!!!!  lol.


All right, I have a question for everyone viewing my blog....Are you a Stargate fan?  For those of you who don't it's this REALLY AWESOME TV show.  And if you haven't seen it then you must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must start watching it.  Though, I would suggest you start from the very begining.  Start with the movie: Stargate starring: Kurt Russel and James Spader.  Then move onto the series Stargate SG-1.  It's about a team that travels through a Stargate to other planets in the universe.  After ten seasons of this show your mind gets a little fizzled about the details so go look it up on www.amazon.com  for an exact description of both the movie and TV show.

Now, the main reason I'm writing about Stargate is about the sister show Stargate Atlantis (created by the same people).  There's a certain character named Carson Beckett and I've just discovered that he might be killed off in the third season!  =O  It's especially heart breaking for devoted fans (such as me) and everyone who is a fan are trying to save him from his death on the show.  If you are a fan please go visit www.savecarsonbeckett.com  I hear there is still some time before the final decision is made so it is the perfect time for all of us to shout out. 

ttfn,

Jill

Well I very much doubt that you haven't heard of the school shooting in Virginia that left 31 students dead (not including the shooter who is dead as well).  This whole thing is just very sad.  The shooter was a senior in Virginia Tech majoring in English.  His name was Cho Seung-Hui.  I believe it was reported by a teacher that his writings were very disturbing.  I also read on the CNN website that the doctor who was interviewed said "There wasn't a shooting victim that didn't have less than three bullet wounds in them,"   A memorial service was held today for family and friends to mourn for those who died. 




I pray for all the families and friends who have lost someone.  Know that God has your loved ones with him now and that they are not suffering anymore pain.  Your hearts will ache for a long time but those you have lost will always be with you.  Again, I'm praying for you all.

ttfn,

Jill

New template!!!!!!    I got the background on the internet somewhere.  I had some other bg I was testing but that was even more painful to the eyes than this one.  The stripes though go with my All-Star header pic.  All-Stars ROCK!! 


So anyway, I had another quartet  practice today.  It was really short notice cause my friend called me yesterday asking if I could come or not.  I'm like "Uh, tomorrow?!"  She said she tried calling me Friday but obviously I wasn't there to pick up and she said my answering machine wasn't picking up either.  *shrugs* I'm not sure what happened.  But I was still able to make it.  This was the mose productive practice session yet!  =D  We're going to try and meet up this Wendnesday after my friends get out of school (I'm the only homeschooled one in the group).  So yeah, nothing too much.

ttfn,

Jill

Happy Easter!

The Great Escape

Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough

Director: John Sturges

Year: 1963

Rated: Not Rated

Pictures From The Movie: Picture I  Picture II

Running Time: 2 hours, 52 minutes 

My Review:

This movie definitely makes my top five list.  The story takes place during WWII and is based on the true story of Allied prisoners of war who escaped from a Nazi prison camp, Stalag Luft North -- one that was supposed to be "impossible" to escape from.

A British solider, "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), comes up with and manages execution of the whole plan of constructing three separate escape tunnel systems.  He enlists the services of a variety of his fellow prisoners of war -- Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson), a native of Poland who has a flare for digging trenches, "The Scrounger" Hendley (James Garner), an American who has a knack for thievry, "The Forger" Blythe (Donald Pleasence) who is a skilled forger, "Cooler King" Hilts (Steve McQueen) who's an American with a reputation for being a rebel, as well as a host of other accomplices.

Even though the movie is almost three hours long, it's worth the time spent to take it in.  There's plenty of suspense and action, but for me, the best part was getting to know each of the characters who are part of this story.  So much so that I want to find out more about what really happened.  I'll be sure to get back to you with a report on what I find out about the true story and how accurately (or not) it was portrayed in the movie.

Well the dentist came out yesterday morning.  He shaped the teeth and filed them down with his power tools.  He even pulled out two teeth!  Oh, did I forget to mention I'm talking about the dentist for the horses?  Bwuah, lol.  Yep, there's dentists for horses.  And guess what?  I got pictures for you guys. 

All right, so here's Zach: Click Here  I'll be using his pictures since I got the best shots of him.  Before I go on I would like to add that some of the pictures might freak some people out.  It may look like we're hurting the horse but we're not, we're actually helping them.  This is the process of equine dentistry.  After we sedate the horse (both for human and horse safety) we flush out their mouth with water: Click Here   Click Here Again This is to remove any hay, pellets or any other junk that may be in their mouth.  After that we stick on a special halter that holds their mouth open so the dentist can work in their mouth: Click Here  Click Here Again  Then the dentist starts filing down any sharp points on the teeth: Click Here  Click Here Again  Zach's teeth were pretty good so we didn't have to spend much time doing this.  The dentist looks in his mouth once more: Click Here  And checks his front teeth: Click Here  He's done!

Now, I did mention a few teeth getting pulled.  That happened to Magic who had one rotten tooth and another that was loose.  Click Here  <-- The dentist is pulling a tooth right there.  And here are shots of the two teeth he pulled: Click Here   Click Here Again   So that's basically how the whole thing goes.  Nothing too scary.  ;)

ttfn,

Jill