Secret Headquarters – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Secret Headquarters.

Story

A very simple and effecient story that uses everything that it sets up. It’s not groundbreaking writing but it is solid and well thought out.

Score: 1

Characters

An impressive young cast that balances comedy, action, and drama extremely well. I really enjoyed the evolution of the soldier. I liked the pseudo villain being a rich dude with too much greed. Although the Kill a Minion to show I’m a Jerk trope was a little overdone.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The movie leaned heavily into comedy and has a lot of great lines. The comedy was balanced well with beleivability.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects were amazing and the locations suitibly YA. I found the camera work excellent and it emullated other hero movies excellently.

The music was significantly better than I had expected.

Score: 1

Fun

Despite a few awkward moments the movie is fun from start to finish. Everyone in the family loved it and the kids forgot to ask for snacks.

Score: 1

Overall

A light YA movie that meshes the humour of 80’s kids movies with the action and special effects of modern superhero films. A lot of fun with some amazing kid actors.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Guitar Lessons Part 60

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June 21: IMHO

I played my acoustic today. Gosh, it’s pretty.

I practised the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the wedding song again.

The wedding song sounded so good today!

I hit every rhythm, every volume change. I wish I’d been recording.

June 22: Heavy

I played the electric today. It’s so heavy. I sit down to play because I can’t stand the weight on the strap. I can barely lift it off the hook on the wall.

I’m sure my arm being sore might account for some of the trouble I’m having with it.

But it doesn’t hurt my arm to play it, and that’s what’s important right now.

We’re looking at getting me a hybrid that has smaller depth like the electric and is lighter like the acoustic.

I played the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the ballad.

I know, the ballad!

I wanted to see if my arm hurt after playing its quick strum rhythm. It doesn’t hurt more than it did before I started, so I’m calling it a win.

June 23: Sometimes

I played the electric today. It started off great; I played the melody line for Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers and it sounded perfectly in tune. Even the walking song sounded fine.

But then “Get to Know You” started sounding off-key, and I had to stop after only one chorus of the wedding song. I checked the tuning and it’s fine.

I have no idea what’s going on with that.

Any ideas?

I finished up by playing the walking song on the soprano ukulele.

Which, btw, I have not posted a picture of!

Here’s my little Stitch (daughter) with the ukulele.

Image
Dragon with the new soprano ukulele (it glows in the dark!)

June 24: Eek

My real mother’s day gift came in today. Originally, we had ordered a hybrid guitar from a German company. I was really excited about it, but it wasn’t coming in until June. But my arm was hurting when I played my acoustic, so I couldn’t wait.

So we got my pink electric guitar.

It was super cool, and it didn’t hurt to play, but it had a lot of negatives; it was heavy, I had issues with the tuning, it was full-sized.

Well, we gave up on the German one. It updated and said it wasn’t coming in until August or September.

@ericdesmarais scoured guitar companies and found me a replacement, and it came in today!

It’s a hybrid, so the amp I have works with it when I’m going to record, but tbh, it sounds great even without it. It’s light, the tuning is great, and it’s travel-sized. And it doesn’t hurt my arm.

So we’re selling the electric, because I will never want to play it now that I have this hybrid.

It’s blue, btw.

Isn’t it pretty?

My new guitar! Yes, it’s blue.
It’s 3/4 size, so it matches my first guitar. I still like the sound best from my first guitar, but I love my new one!

June 25: Hybrid

I played my new hybrid guitar today.

I really love it.

I practised the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the wedding song. And then I played the walking song again because @ericdesmarais said he couldn’t hear my singing the first time.

The hybrid is louder than the electric guitar, even not plugged in.

I’ll get used to it.

I love the size of the hybrid.

Very happy.

So we’re selling the electric. Pick up only because shipping is ridiculous.

June 26: Quick

I had like, ten minutes before my dad picked us up for Sunday dinner today to play. I quickly tuned the hybrid and then played the walking song without music.

I had to backtrack a couple times because I forgot the words, but I’m happy to say that I played the right chords at the right times. I think.

It sounded right, so that’s what matters, right?

Health Update September

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans,

No video update today. It’s a lot of set up and a lot of editing.

To catch up, here’s my first health update and here’s my second health update.

Good news is that I got an appointment with my doctor in mid-September… sort of. He called after my wonderful wife made him understand what was going on. (She was at an appointment with him for Dragon.) I thank every deity and afterlife for how awesome my wife is.

I do not have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or tendinitis. According the the specialist, I have a form of Myofascial Strain,, maybe Myofascial Pain Syndrome. (The treatment is the same, apparently.)

I have been cleared for a limited amount of typing. If it starts to hurt more I have to stop. It’s gone from extreme pain after 5-10 minutes in June to heavy pain after 20-30 minutes of typing. Position, equipment, and posture are a big factor.

Speaking of posture… there’s a mild numbness in my left pinky and arm. My doctor says its a low end of pain, but my physio worries that it’s something to do with my neck. I saw a massage therapist who agrees with her, but I have to say I wasn’t a fan of the pain after the massage.

As for pain, the intense physio is working. When I started in June, I was in so much pain I had trouble thinking or doing anything at all. Now I’m always aware of the pain but I can concentrate on other things and do stuff. It’s not great, but it’s better. I still have trouble sleeping and some days are worse than others. Thursday I had trouble not crying and I just wanted to curl into a ball.

So overall, I’m doing better, but I’m not going to be playing ukulele for a while or writing 1000 words a night. Sigh.

Thanks for reading,

Éric

Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers – Recipes

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Hello Readers,

As a special treat, we wrote up a few recipes from our latest book Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers. They were published on the All Lit Up Blog,

The recipes are Moose Balls in Primavera sauce and Chocolate and Chilli Brownies.

Go check it out and enjoy.

Thank you, and if you make the recipes, let us know.

Jen and Éric

Thor: Love and Thunder – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Thor: Love and Thunder.

Story

The actual story was fairly simple and straightforward. There was a lot of humour and a lot of emotion. Sometimes it felt like the flow between scenes was missing something and there were more than a few parts that could have been extended. It felt like they had 6 hours of story and only 2 hours made it to the final cut.

Score: 0

Characters

Somewhere along the way in the MCU, Thor went from slightly oblivious jock / rich kid to a dim-witted fool. Every movie, it feels like he has to relearn how to be worthy and honestly, it’s getting old.

The addition of the Mighty Thor made things more interesting, but I have to say the whole romance was a little meh for me.

I liked the relationship between Jane and Valkyrie and loved the cameos by Sif and Heimdall.

The villain stole the show, however. He was both relatable and if it wouldn’t have killed Thor, I would have been okay with his plan. His redemption at the end through the power of love felt earned and not like a cheap plot trick.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The quips and dialogue were excellent, but the imbalance in tone made some scenes comical or just weird.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Visually this movie was a feast for the eyes. Absolutely gorgeous in every way.

The music was clever and well placed.

Score: 1

Fun

Once I got used to the fact that the movie would be all over the place in tone, I started to enjoy each piece like short films. The last scene with the kids was just so empowering. I loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

The tone is all over the place, the story feels disjointed, the love story was meh, but damn this movie was still a lot of fun. The dialogue and action are spectacular and Christian Bale makes a relatable and fantastic villain.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Guitar Lessons Part 59

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June 15: Feels good

I played my acoustic again today. Gosh, I missed it.

I played the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the wedding song. I modified a chord from D to D7 in the verse. I like it SO much better now. It’s got that right sound.

After those three, I was ready to stop.

But my daughter was sad. “But I want to dance!”

Not a problem. I’ll put on music.

“But I like your music better.”

Wow. Thank you.

I was afraid to overdo it with my arm though, so I had her grab the soprano ukulele and I played the walking song again. She danced, my son danced and sang along.

He’s been consistently asking only for my songs as bedtime songs.

It feels really good that my kids like my songs. And they’re exposed to lots of really great music.

June 16: Hands

I had a really hard time stretching my fingers enough to reach the proper chord today. Not unusual chords or anything; a C. I play C chords all the time. They’re in every song. But today, my fingers just weren’t having it.

🤷🏻‍♀️

I practised the walking song and “Get to Know You” on the acoustic.

Then I practised the walking song again on the soprano ukulele.

June 17: So sweet

I played my acoustic today again.

I practised the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the French song.

It had been a while since I played the French song, and it went really well, both the playing and the singing, so that was nice.

Then I played the walking song again on the tenor ukulele.

After I was finished, I packed up, and then my son brought me the soprano ukulele, because that’s what I’ve been using the past few days.

So cute.

Btw, last night after I sang him the walking song, he asked me what a bunch of words in it meant. Like, I finished singing, and then he went through it without me reminding him of words, and asked me their meanings.

People.

He’s not even 3yo yet.

Sure, it’s not exactly a complicated song, but it’s not like it’s a nursery rhyme!

He asked what “drank his brew” meant. (Wizard brew)

He’s so good with music it’s a little intimidating.

June 18: Sore

My arm was sore today, so I played the electric (and the soprano ukulele at the end).

I practised the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the wedding song.

I’m not 100% sure about the change I made to the chords in the wedding song the other day. I’ll have to play it again another day to see.

I still really love all my songs. That’s pretty great, IMHO.

June 19: Pain

I overdid it. Not with guitar, but I went to the park with my kids and husband.

We played with a soccer ball (I won’t say we played soccer, because with an almost 3yo and a 5.5yo, you can’t really do that).

It was a lot of fun.

But I overdid it and my chronic back injury (lumbar, in case you’re curious) flared up.

I couldn’t even brush my hair after my shower. Do you notice how much you use your back muscles when you brush your hair?

Needless to say, I did not play guitar at my usual time today and thought that I wouldn’t be able to play at all today.

But after we put the kids to bed, I played the walking song on the electric (not plugged into the amp). It was nice to be able to play, even if it was only the one song. I couldn’t have played any more even if I’d wanted to, though.

Oh, and I didn’t use the sheet music!

June 20: Allergies

How do performers deal with allergies?

Everything sounded off, my voice kept cracking…

In short, it was frustrating.

I played the walking song, “Get to Know You,” and the wedding song on the electric again.

Afterwards, I played the walking song on the soprano ukulele.

Dear Dragon – Welcome to Level 6

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Dear Dragon,

In some ways, this has been an exciting year, and in others it’s been a lot of the same.

You finished senior kindergarden and were really sad to say goodbye to your teachers. You learned a lot of things this year.

  • You can count and recognize numbers in both languages.
  • You’re an (eggs)pert at cracking eggs.
  • You can recognize your letters in both languages with only a little trouble with U in French.
  • You learnt to read this summer. It was slow and you didn’t want to, but now you’re pretty good at it. Your French reading is also doing well.
  • You helped me garden.
  • We played all of Yoshi’s Crafted World together, and most of Kirby and the Forgotten Land before I hurt myself.
  • You learned to play multiple songs on the piano.

You’ve learned a lot more, but that’s what’s on the top of my head.

Excitingly, this past year has seen both you and your brother fully vaccinated against covid-19. It’s a big relief for evertyone.

We had planned on putting you into in person school once your brother was vaccinated, but we missed the deadline and you’re in digital school again this year. It has its advantages; mostly the class size and extra sleep. You have about 12 kids in your class which means you get a lot more attention and help.

You had your first playdate in almost 3 years and it went great. It was a friend from your digital class. We’re hoping to bring you for a day at Can-Con and it’ll be nice to do things with you out of the house.

You’ve grown so much this past year and I love who you are. Every day I get to spend with you and your brother makes me happy. I hope that when you look back on the past 3 years that you have happy memories of us being together as a family. I know I will.

Happy Birthday Little Dragon!

I love you,

Papa

ComicCon 2022 is Over :(

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Hello Everyone,

As you know, we sold at Ottawa ComicCon last weekend. We even met Cary Elwes.

Our table at the start of day on Sunday at Ottawa Comic Con 2022

We bought a table back in 2019 and we didn’t want to lose our spot. deposit, or goodwil we’ve accrued over the past almost decade so we decided to do it.

Despite Éric’s injuries, he roasted slowly and made sure to be as safe as possible. The weekend itself was painful, but didn’t set him back in his recovery.

The weekend was a success and all of JenEric Designs and Coffee did well enough to make us want to return. So see you next year.

Here’s a few exciting moments from the Con.

Éric

Writing is a very solitary act most of the time and as an author its easy to think we’re just launching our stories into the aether and that they aren’t being read.

A woman this weekend asked about Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers and when I mentioned that I’d already written a few, she said, “Oh, I know. I’ve read your other books.”

Apparently Everdome was one of her favourites. That made my day.

There was another instance where when someone saw the coffee, they got so excited they screamed in happiness.

It’s nice to be liked.

Jen

Nine years ago, I was prepping to sell at my very first show. I made 4 Mike Wazowski mini balls, and 2 Sour Bill mini balls. This story involves both of those.

As I was setting up on Thursday, I kept pulling things out of the bin and being surprised because I honestly couldn’t remember what I had available.

When someone on Saturday saw my little Mike Wazowski and cooed over it, I offhandedly mentioned that it was the last one. They bought it on the spot.

I mentioned to Éric at this point that we should probably gift the 2 Sour Bills to our kids.

A few minutes later, I peek into the bin under my table, and lo and behold! A Mike Wazowski was staring up at me! :O Apparently, I had another one, and not a second Sour Bill! Colour me suprised. (He sold on Sunday, and when I said he was the last one, it was true this time. I apologize to the first people. I didn’t mean to mislead you, I promise!)

On Saturday evening, someone came up to our booth, exclaiming about the Sour Bill! I was impressed he knew who it was, because not many people do. He said he was going to cosplay as Fix-It Felix Jr next year, and I said flippantly “Well, you should have a Sour Bill with you!” and he replied, “You know what? You’re right.” And BOUGHT HIM!

I no longer have little green ball stuffies after NINE years.

It’s a relief, but also a little sad, because I liked finding ways of displaying him. No, I’m not making more; he was a pain in the butt to make and his pattern is who-knows-where.

Beyond that whole thing, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see my con family after two long years of missing them. It really didn’t feel like it had been so long; I fell into my usual banter about coffee (oh, your purchase is $16, did you want to add a small to that to round up to an even $20?) and FB helps keep people connected when you can’t see them in person.

A new exciting thing happened to me this weekend; I got to sign my first book for people when they bought it! I thought I’d be prepared for how exciting that would feel, but I really wasn’t. Every time someone brought our book to our table, I’d get that rush all over again. (And worry that I would mess up the signature, which I only did once and managed to play it off as intentional, thankfully!)

I want to thank all the people who came to see us, the other artists, the volunteers, and the organizers for making our first convention back such a good one.

Thank you to everyone who made it out, you reminded us after 2 years why we do all the things we do.

See some of you at Can-Con!

Éric and Jen