The Celestine Prophecy

This was  a fantastic book! I highly recommend this read if you are an open-minded person and have questions in general about life, religion, love and energy. James Belfield captures the reader’s attention from the first chapter in this fictional adventure of a man on a mission to find some answers. The Celestine Prophecy takes you on a mystery journey as one man, John, is looking for the infamous Manuscript that government officials are trying  to keep secret from society. The Manuscript is a code for life, almost like The Ten Commandments. While the code is not religiously based, but more so spiritually based. This manuscript has twelve insights which are explanations to why we act, think and love the way we do. The book only covers up to the ninth insight but leaves you wanting to follow up on John's journey in the following series The Tenth Insight: Holding The Vision.

This was a great read and can help you open your eyes to understand that sometimes there may be more to what we have been taught. There may just a be a more idealistic way to approach life in order to achieve success and happiness, but the energy would need to come from within. 
  

World War Z

By far one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. From beginning to end, it was jam packed with  the-edge-of-your-seat non-stop action that left you wondering how it would end. The acting was phenomenal and the storyline was riveting. Brad Pitt also helped co-produce this great film which only adds to his talent of being an amazing actor. If you love the Zombie style TV shows and movies that have been coming out as of late, you will definitely enjoy World War Z. What sets this movie apart from the rest is that these aren’t your average slow moving zombies. No, these zombies come running and leaping at you with a vengeance! Definitely a thriller that you don’t want to miss and I highly recommend watching it in 3D!

Insanity: Week 3

Day 15: Fit Test. Huge improvement from when I first did it but in all honesty, I can’t tell HOW I would surpass what I already did. I feel like I could hardly get through what I just did on today’s test. Guess we’ll see in 2 more weeks

Day 16: I’m getting irritated with the repetition. I did the workout but my heart wasn’t in it.

Day 17: I decided to go HARD. I pushed myself a little harder to make up for the slack from the day before

Day 18: It took me almost 3 hours to get home from work as one of the worst snowstorms to hit the GTA since 2008 started this evening. My bad for not working out in the morning but I wasn’t even trying to be doing all that exercise after that commute.

Day 19: I had the worst day of 2013 so far. Took me another 3 hours to get home due to the snow storm that’s been happening for almost 24 hours. My car got stuck exiting the highway and it took me and 4 other drivers almost 40 minutes to dig me out of the snow that trapped my car. I then got stuck again in the driveway and I had to dig my way out once more at night time.
I wasn’t even trying to be listening to Shaun-T today. He can take his “dig deeper” and just shove it.

Day 20: Got up and went to my dealership to fix the engine in my car as the light kept coming on. Turns out ice and snow froze my cooling fan and it took hours to thaw out. I then had the option of meeting a friend for jack astor’s for lunch or going home and working out. I chose Jack over Shaun T.

Day 21: I reflected at my lack of working out and am vowing to get back on it this week. Fingers crossed! Wish me luck!

Gangster Squad

Gangster Squad is a movie about cops who are pretty much given the “ok” by LA’s chief of police to catch the infamous Mickey Cohen. Cohen is a drug-lord who has corrupted cops and politician’s helping him reign Los Angeles  in crime.
  Sean Penn who played the character of Mickey Cohen did an amazing job of playing a hot-tempered head mobster. Ryan Gosselin once plays a smooth Casanova type which always seems to fit him perfectly who takes an interest in Cohen’s flavor of the month, played by Emma Stone. The chemistry between Ryan and Emma is obviously strong enough for them to be cast as lovers once again, as they also were paired in 
“Crazy Stupid Love”.

This movie was filled with action, a few funnies and was entertaining and enjoyable to watch.  I quite enjoyed seeing how this Gangster Squad was formed and how each member brought a different style to the group.

My only issue is the way this movie ended.

*SPOILER ALERT*  

Mickey Cohen is a retired boxer and the when the leader of the Squad, Srgnt John O' Mara finally gets him in his grasp, he decides to toss his gun and fight Cohen with his fists. HUH? You wanna fight a retired boxer? This is where the male ego goes wrong.  Even though O' Mara wins and gets the defeated Cohen in handcuffs after some gruesome fist pounding, it just makes you wonder why go through all that fighting when you could have just arrested him without damaging your face? Ahhh well. I guess this is where men need to thump their chest and roar in victorious honor to prove their strength. I don’t understand and probably never will.

But I give this movie…

Insanity :Week 2

Day 8:
Dreaded getting up and starting this week at 5am. When my alarm went off I kissed my teeth with a vengeance but I did get up. Today’s workout I felt a little bit of improvement from last week when I did it. Today was Cardio Resistance. I actually did a good number of moving push ups as opposed to last week where I almost passed out doing it and sat and gave cut-eye to Shaun-T as I caught my breath. Yesterday my friend came over and she told me that she sees my hip waistline area looks smaller…YES! Results after Week 1! And I haven’t even been eating THAT great. Not too bad!

Day 9: Pure Cardio. For some reason I forgot that this is the one that doesn’t have frequent water break intervals. And Shaun-T doesn’t help as you roll up from the stretch and gives a warning that he’s scared. Scared of the exercises he’s about to get into. It invokes fear and maybe it’s a good thing because my heart rate speeds nervously anticipating the crazy exercises we are about to get into. Is it just me or does anyone hate Mummy Kicks?

Day 10: Had an extremely hard time waking up this morning to work out so I chose to do it after work. I HATE working out in the evenings. My energy was drained and due to the warm weather my apartment was extremely hot so the open window didn’t produce enough of a breeze as I was sweating my butt off. Today was hard and I didn’t like it one bit but again, very happy I did it.

Day 11: Again, had a hard time getting up at 5am to do this so I did the Cardio Recovery in the evening.  The leg lifts while in plank position are definitely no joke. I also find I sometimes have a hard time staying centred doing the stretches. My mind wanders and I realize how irritated I am at focusing on my breathing as we stay in this yoga-style positions for about a minute at a time. I should be better at this seeing as I used to do Hot Yoga 5x a week a few years ago and it’s all about being mentally focused, but it’s clear that I still struggle with this and get annoyed.

Day 12: Was hoping this was my last day this week but NOPE! Today was hard. I didn’t get up at 5am and today is Friday and I had plans tonight. BUT, I still managed to get my workout in before I left the house .

Day 13: Sooo relieved I’m done Week 2.  But now I fear the next Fitness Fest. There BETTER be some improvement from when I first did these exercises.

Day 14: Day of Rest. Did I mention how much I love Sundays???

My Weekly "Insanity" Journey: Week 1

Day 1:Fitness Test Day: This is the test in which you see how far you can push yourself. I don’t think I did that bad in all honesty. I took little breaks here and there and was trying to keep my form on point. The video was only 25 minutes so I did ok. However, less than 24 hours later I could feel the soreness coming on.

Day 2: Extremely hard. There were moments I looked at the screen in disbelief at what Shaun T was asking me to do. What??? Repeat the last rigorous exercise 2 more times and with a higher speed at each time. HUH? Watching the trainers look like they are going to pass out didn’t help. However, once again, I think I did pretty good. I definitely took some breaks or else I may have had an asthma attack. But I still stuck with it.

Day 3: The first week is extremely difficult for me to get into the routine of working out and as my body is still sore from the past two days, I was dreading starting the workout which was Cardio Resistance.  Man, it was hard. There were times I could feel myself panting and I wanted to give up. I kept with it and definitely took little breaks as I needed it. I’m hoping there will be a time when I can do it all the way through.

Day 4: I thought today would be easy because it was Cardio Recovery. Um…I was wrong! The video is shorter than the other videos as it’s a recovery exercise, but I still found it strenuous. I found myself cussing at Shaun T as I was in plank and doing my leg lifts. Geez, the set of 8 was hard enough, never mind the second set of 16.  But I’m so happy I did it after.

Day 5:Today was Pure Cardio. Yep, I felt the beads of sweat fall of my face and onto the floor. This one was a sweaty one. Focusing just on purely cardio without any resistance wasn’t exactly any easier. It’s a constant mind game trying  to push yourself. I was surprised that I had to do push ups in this one. I was hoping that would be left out…but nope! Push ups were hard while sweating and moving so quickly. It’s challenging to maintain your form through all this but at least there’s a constant reminder to do so throughout the videos.

Day 6: Wasn’t as bad as when I did the same workout on Day 1. I think it’s only because I was mentally prepared as to what was coming next.  Don’t get me wrong, I still hate every minute of doing it, but I feel mentally I was able to stay a LITTLE more focused than Day 1. Progress right? Looked in the mirror and noticed my stomach seemed a LITTLE flatter than normal. It’s the little things that keep us going.

Day 7: I didn’t know I would appreciate my Sundays so much. It feels great not having to get up and workout. GREAT!

DJANGO

I decided to go see “Django” a couple of days ago. In my latest movie-runs for the past few weeks, I’ve been disappointed in the movies that I watched. I didn’t bother to review them in detail but I do plan to for the new year ahead. The good and even the bad. So, I was excited to watch this movie as I heard it did spike some controversy. But then again, what Quentin Tarantino film doesn’t??? The movie is pretty much a revenge-fantasy tale based on slavery in Mississippi. I was aware that Tarantino has a flare for a lot of blood spillage and over the top gore, but I was mentally prepared to be offended as I heard news of complaints based on the excessive use of the word “N*gger” but mainly pronounced “N*gga” in the movie.  I personally, didn’t find the use to be THAT offensive or excessive based on the fact that this IS a book based on slavery in the 1800’s.
 
I believe Jamie Foxx did a great job in playing the lead role in this film but I have to say that Leonardo DiCaprio stole the show in his role as Mr. Candie!!! I’ve always been a fan of Leonardo but there was something about his acting in this particular film that perfectly depicted the seesaw switch between playing the role of a sometimes charming southerner to a sick and twisted masochistic lunatic. Calvin Candie is the owner of “Candy Land” which is a huge plantation that is surrounded by African-American slaves who he can be somewhat affectionate towards should they stay in line. However, if one slips up, Mr. Candie makes it quite clear that the punishment isn’t worth the risk, which keeps most of these slaves on their toes at all times.

**SPOILER ALERT**
I’ve been hearing that the dinner scene where Mr. Candie pulls out the clean skull of his former butler and decides to saw it and cuts his hand was actually improvised! Apparently, he really did cut his hand and just continued with the scene. So, when he rubs his bleeding hand over the beautiful Kerry Washington’s face (Broomhilda)…that’s actually his REAL blood! When I heard this it made the movie even that much better. I love watching movies and shows where the real magic happens not rehearsed. The adrenaline of dealing with such an injury on set must have helped contribute to his phenomenal acting in this scene because I remember sitting on the edge of my seat in awe of what might happen next.
 


Kudos must also be given to the wonderfully captivating Christopher Waltz who played Dr. King Shultz who made me laugh with his spicy, quick-witted repertoire. I love the camaraderie between him and Django and how he had given Django a chance at freedom and assisted him in helping retrieve his long lost wife, Broomhilda.
And who could forget Samuel L. Jackson's character as the right-hand-slave-man to Mr. Candie, "Uncle Tom"? His rendition of this butt-kissing , sassy character made me not only laugh but also incredibly irritated with his brown-nosing.
My friend said it best. This movie helped touch all emotions. Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Laughter. Which, does make for a good movie! I give it ...