Fresh roasted, fair trade, flavoured coffee with geeky themes.
December 11th
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2019 movie Abominable.
*This was my favourite movie of 2019*
This feels like a modern fairy tale. A YA adventure story set in modern day. The story is cleverly simple and avoids so many of the traditional pitfalls. No forced love story, no double crossing from one of the kids, no parents that disbelieve. It’s about helping preserve magic and finding yourself along the way.
There are a few political issues but nothing truly problematic as far as I can tell.
Score: 1
Each of the characters, except the goons and the snakes, have a journey and growth. It’s sort of a mini found family that only exists in adventures (mundane ones like trips etc or magical one).
I like the twist with the bad guys and goon Dave is the best.
Score: 1
The movie has plenty of funny lines but the ones that are most memorable are the ones tied to emotions. The little conversations and moments that show both character and move the story forward.
Score: 1
From the little details like the various wood grains to the big nature shots, this movie is truly stunning. Absolutely beautiful. The animation quality isn’t quite up to Disney/Pixar levels but they created some fantastic visuals.
The music is utterly fantastic. The humming and violin are suitably epic and magical.
The scene at the Leshan Giant Buddha is so beautiful and reflects Yi’s emotional journey perfectly.
Score: 1
The action always has a reason and everything is strung together in a surprising and coherent way. The movie made me smile and almost cry multiple times.
Score: 1
This is an adventure story with likeable characters that are trying to help a magical creature. It’s exactly my style of story. The few calmer moments weren’t lulls but one on one conversations that moved the emotional plot forward.
Final Score: 5 Stars*
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
Buttons, prints, keychains, stickers from various fandoms including Doctor Who, Voltron, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more!
December 13th
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Do you want to explore a 3D Convetion? How about a FREE 3D convention?
Join JenEric Designs and Coffee at our booth and check out what we have to sell for this holiday season. First orders on both days get a surprise.
Join us Nov 7-8 2020 for the next edition of Virtual NerdCon!
Get your free tickets now!!
Be sure to download VirBela to join us! (Windows and Mac)
https://virtualnerdcon.weebly.com/
Hope to see you there!
Find all your holiday gifts from local Canadian Artists.
Handmade chain maille jewellery and holiday ornaments that are colourful and lightweight – a modern twist on a medieval artform.
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December 4 (December 13 for local pickup/delivery in Ottawa)
Free local delivery on purchases of $20 or more, and use code HOLIDAYLIST for 15% off until December 13
Find all your holiday gifts from local Canadian Artists.
Adventure, magic, fantasy, and friendship. Books for young adults and the young at heart.
https://renaissance-107765.square.site/s/search?q=Eric%20Desmarais (HOLIDAY15 for 15% off)
https://Coffee.Jeneric-designs.ca
December 11th
Free Shipping in Canada over $75 with code CANFREESHIP
Find all your holiday gifts from local Canadian Artists.
I am rather fond of Good Omens (understatement of the millenia) and chased this Aziraphale down to get this awesome photo. Love the Santa hat addition. Super adorable.
Bespoke, handcrafted leather gifts and art.
http://darkartsbysonia.weebly.com
December 14th
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I absolutely LOVED this movie. Family, travel, adventure, yetis, magic – it seriously has it all. So much fun!!
Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (Again, please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Watch movie | Make pork buns | Make paper flowers | Learn about endangered species | Flex |
Daily details:
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Download materials
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – in download materials
Count blueberries, group berries
Measure distances with a ruler
Make pork buns (link to recipe)
Make paper flowers (link to instructions)
Learn about endangered species (link to resources)
Next week: Onward
Virtual school this week was MUCH better than last week. Dragon raised her hand and got to list out both the days of the week and the months of the year (with assistance on the latter). She answered 2-3 counting questions in French. She asked a question during the presentation of another kid, although she didn’t understand the follow-up response. And she got to present the geometry cut-and-paste that she had done with four different shapes, responding to requests to point at each different shape and many different colours. She repeated French said to her by the teachers, and even responded a tiny bit in French (oui). And she paid attention throughout the school day. There was another minor incident with the playdough – she still doesn’t quite grasp the rolling of it and doesn’t care to learn. She does enjoy using the cutters to make shapes and will make a series (pattern) with them, but ask her to roll it out and place it along a letter? Tears. Screams. “I can’t do this!” Result: I will ask her to use a crayon to print the letter instead of using playdough to make the shape. I see no reason to get her all upset for no reason.
The home school portion was quite fun this week, with a couple special surprises.
No martial arts again this week, but she did ballet 2-3 times this week.
Her letters are doing well.
She had a rhythm piano lesson on Wednesday afternoon at our house. She did very well. Whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests were clapped (or not).
We listened to a bunch of French music. Coeur de Pirate was the favourite yet again and I am thrilled because it is a beautiful album. But we also listened to Isabelle Boulay, whom I also very much enjoy. (Yay for remembering to change the CD lol)
We did not crochet this week. I am crocheting advent calendar boxes all the time!
Working on the days of the week verbally is going well. She remembers without prompting, and can even pick out the words and put them in order when given the full seven days. As for the months of the year, she has the first 6 down and can repeat them without prompting. The second half of the year is a bit of a struggle still, but she can figure out the rest of the word if given the first sound.
Tracing letters went well on Wednesday, but Friday when she had to print the letters did not go as well. I think she didn’t sleep well the night before, because everything was very dramatic.
She seems to be doing better with verbal counting. Her printing needs work on some numbers – 5’s come to mind right now – but she is working hard. She can count to 12 in French, but not consistently yet.
We started doing patterns (les suites) this week, as the virtual school teachers mentioned it again this week, to one of the other students. I thought it might be a good idea to do more with that.
We didn’t read any French books together this week.
Experiment: elephant toothpaste – this was quite fun, although it was mostly a demonstration. We didn’t have the right kind of yeast, and we didn’t realize that the narrowing at the top was relevant, so we ended up trying this three times. First was as written in the experiment. Second was halving it. Third was with the right yeast AND the right kind of bottle, but I shook it and didn’t wait for the bubbles to go away, so it had a similar reaction as the first two. Also – don’t buy the cheap food colouring. It doesn’t work as well.
Pumpkin carving: Dragon picked her stencil (stencil weblink) and drew it onto the pumpkin. It turned out very well!
Learn about Samhain – we had a video call with one of our friends, who celebrates Samhein (pronounced Sow-in). He told us about the history behind it and how it is celebrated today. We won’t be having a feast, but we set out an extra place on Halloween night in honour of our ancestors. No pictures of the chat, but here’s one of Dragon waiting for the chat to start:
