Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sharpe's Rifles - VIDEO


Rated 4.5
From Netflix

I just finished watching the first episode. EXCELLENT. However I have a few comments. Lots of swashing and buckling, some violence - this about war after all-but not none of it was the in-your-face kind. Little bits of very funny dry humor popped in when you were least expecting it. The acting and filmography was really, really good. Sean Bean couldn't have been better

BUT

I hated that they threw in Sharpe and the Spanish girl playing kissy face and then when they starting rolling around in the hay with her half dressed that pretty much tore it for me. Have you ever rolled around in the hay? I have had a passing acquaintances with hay lofts in my life when and the last thing you would do in one was take half your clothes off and roll around in it. Hay is very scratchy. They just tossed that in and it didn't add a thing to the story except make the ending a little silly. Luckily it was at the very end so it didn't distract from the story. 

Other than that I have no complaints. Oh wait, I forgot. The French Army hats. I can't imagine any one designing such a stupid looking hat at any time in history. I thought the French were supposed to have a sense of style. Obviously that is not always the case.


PRUDUCT DESCRIPTION:


Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean), a maverick British army officer fighting against Napoleon in 19th century Spain. In Sharpe's Rifles, the first movie of the series, Sharpe saves Sir Arthur Wellesley's life and is promoted to lieutenant. But when he's put in charge of a company that doesn't respect him, his dangerous mission behind enemy lines could be compromised.

1. We Are the Ship : The Story of Negro League Baseball




By: Kadir Nelson
Rated 5 Stars
From Library
Recommended on Bookflurries


I just finished my first book this month. Granted it was only 88 pages long and that includes the index and endnotes and about half the pages were pictures but I was really starting to get worried. I'm am sure that it's the medication I am taking that's making so hard for me to focus but maybe I'm starting to adjust to it. It was very interesting. Thanks Connie. Like many of the good books I read anymore I found out about it on Bookflurries.



PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION.


"We are the ship; all else the sea."-Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League

The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined owners; of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of black America in the first half of the twentieth century. But most of all, the story of the Negro Leagues is about hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do the one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball.
Using an "Everyman" player as his narrator, Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. The voice is so authentic, you will feel as if you are sitting on dusty bleachers listening intently to the memories of a man who has known the great ballplayers of that time and shared their experiences. But what makes this book so outstanding are the dozens of full-page and double-page oil paintings-breathtaking in their perspectives, rich in emotion, and created with understanding and affection for these lost heroes of our national game.