Monday, December 11, 2017

The Prestige/ Fir Crazy/ Homeless man buys house

Jul. 30, 2017 The Prestige: I watched this show in summer 2016.

Two stage magicians engage in competitive one-upmanship in an attempt to create the ultimate stage illusion.

Why?: It seemed interesting. 

Pros:

1. Spoiler alert: It was an interesting beginning.  There are a bunch of top hats in a field.  

Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) is under water.  Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) sees him.  Angier drowns in the water.

Borden is tried in jail.

2. The 3rd act is called the Prestige.

3. The magic tricks like Julia (Piper Perabo) has her wrists and ankles tied and she is in water tank.  She has to get out of it.

My opinion: I saw this magic trick at K-days.  It was probably in 2009.

4. Spoiler alert: 25 min. in, she is tied up differently and can't escape water.  They have to smash tank with an axe.

5. There is lots of drama, conflict, and tension as the characters do put themselves in real and present danger when they do they perform.

6. Good comedy parts.  Good surprise.

Spoiler alert: Borden does a magic trick on a Guard.  Borden is tossing a ball in the air and it falls down.  Then Borden chains the Guard to the table.  The other inmates laugh.

7. Good lines like: "Obsession- no good will come out of it."

"We don't do any tricks we can't control."

Tesla: We need to try different material to provoke different results.

Tesla: These things never quite work as you expect them to.

8. Interesting storyline.

Spoiler alert: Robert finds his double and then he tries to find Borden's double.

There is also about finding Robert's diary.

9. Creative ending.  There is a happy ending for 1 and not one for the other.

Cons: 

1. I guess it was kind of too long for me.

Would you watch it again?: This movie is average.  I don't really like drama, and TV and movies set in the past without TV or internet.  There is a low chance I would watch it again.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/

Nov. 30, 2017 Fir Crazy: This is a TV movie I saw on YouTube on Sept. 3, 2016.  I had free time before the fall TV shows came on.  

It's about a young woman named Elise (Sarah Lancaster) who is forced to help run her family's Christmas tree business when her dad is laid up with a broken leg.

Why?: One of my favorite actors Eric Johnson was in it as the lead. 

Pros:

1. Eric Johnson who is an elementary school teacher.

2. It is kind of funny.

Getting fired:

Boss: You're fired.
Elise: Why not Brandy?  She's always late.
Boss: She's getting fired too.  She's just not here yet.

Homeless guy:

The other part is there is a homeless guy living in the tree lot.  2 people shoplift a tree.

Homeless guy: Home wrecker!

I did like how Elise got a pizza and gave a slice to the homeless guy.

Dating:

Elise: How do I know you're not a homicidal maniac?
Darren: Here's my driver's license.

3. It's shot in Ontario with lots of Canadian actors.

Cons:

1. It was boring.  I have seen another Hallmark Christmas TV movie with Eric Johnson in it called Call Me Mrs. Miracle.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1708459/?ref_=nv_sr_3

There is hardly any conflict in this movie except Mr. Dixon who owns the store next door and wants to close down the Christmas tree lot.

Would you watch it again?: I would not watch it again.  I only watch these boring Hallmark TV movies only for the actors I love like Eric Johnson.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2665200/?ref_=nv_sr_2

My week:

Dec. 4, 2017 "From homelessness to haul- truck driver to first- time author": Today I found this article by Jonny Wakefield in the Edmonton Journal:

Kathy Tuccaro had tears in her eyes when she first stood at the foot of the Caterpillar 797F Haul Truck.

For one, she was nervous about getting behind the wheel of one of the largest trucks in the world.

And her mind was flooded with memories from when she was homeless, just two years earlier.  

“I’m thinking how does this even happen?” she said. 

Tuccaro, a heavy equipment operator in the oilsands, tells the story of how she turned her life around in her book, Dream Big.

The official book launch is Wednesday at the Edmonton Inn and Conference Centre, 11834 Kingsway, starting at 5 p.m. More than a dozen local non-profits will be represented, including several that helped Tuccaro overcome alcohol addiction and find work.  

Tuccaro’s first career was as a nurse. She was working at the Grey Nuns hospital when, at age 40, she “crashed.”

“I went to work and I couldn’t read my sheet,” she said. “I couldn’t function any more.”
Growing up, Tuccaro had suffered family violence and sexual abuse — issues she’d never confronted. As a young adult, she was sexually assaulted multiple times. In her 30s, she turned to alcohol to cope. 

After her crash she enrolled at Hope Mission’s Wellspring Recovery Program, a year-long addiction recovery program. Things were going well until she relapsed, eventually losing her apartment and her nursing job for good. She was homeless for seven days, six years ago. 

“It’s doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to give you an eye-opener,” she said. “I made a decision when I was homeless that last day that this is bulls–t, this is not my life. I was 42, and I said, ‘This is enough’.”

She went through the recovery program a third time and has been sober since. In search of a new career, she took an aptitude test and was matched as a heavy equipment operator.  

“I just about fell off my chair because No. 1, I’m 42, I’m a woman, and that’s a man’s job, I always thought,” she said. 


A non-profit called Women Building Futures sponsored part of her training. Eventually, she was hired on at an oilsands firm north of Fort McMurray.   

A photo of the first day she drove the truck is now on the cover of her book. It was taken two years after she was homeless. The job has given her her confidence back.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I recommend heavy equipment operator for any woman.”

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/from-homelessness-to-driving-the-biggest-truck-in-the-world

CIBC Miracle Day: I was reading the news and saw this ad.  I put it up on my Facebook:

CIBC Miracle Day™ is a proud tradition that has helped to improve the lives of millions of children since it began in 1984. Every year, on the first Wednesday in December, our CIBC Capital Markets team and CIBC Wood Gundy Investment Advisors donate their fees and commissions to help kids in need. Since its inception, CIBC Miracle Day has raised over $90 million for children's charities across Canada and $241 million globally.

The CIBC Children's Foundation is a registered charity that administers the funds raised each Miracle Day. In 2016, the CIBC Children's Foundation donated $4.9 million to over 500 charities across Canada.

https://www.cibc.com/…/community…/kids/cibc-miracle-day.html

Dec. 5 Hope Mission banquets brighten Christmas season for city’s vulnerable: Today I found this article by Claire Theobald in the Edmonton Journal

More than 50 volunteers helped put together and serve the banquet, made possible by donations from local grocers and retailers as well as donations from people in the community.

The Hope Mission will host three more Christmas banquets, on Dec. 11, Dec. 15 and Dec. 18.






"Choose your charities wisely": Today I found this article by Wanda Morris in the Edmonton Journal:

Whether an organization publishes financial results is a good test of its transparency, but if the thought of digging into the numbers makes your palms sweat, there is help. 


Organizations like Charity Intelligence provide ratings (though mostly of larger charities) while Smart Giving’s website has tips and insights to help you give wisely.

A key factor to consider is how much organizations receive from other sources, such as government grants, fundraising events and other donors. Religious organizations receive the biggest slice of the donation pie (41 per cent) followed by health charities other than hospitals, which receive 13 per cent. Environmental charities take home just two per cent and social justice organizations (those involved in advocacy, law and politics) receive only one per cent.

http://nationalpost.com/health/seniors/grey-matters-how-to-choose-your-charities-wisely


Job interviews: I've been busy, so I'm writing about it now.  All these interviews were from last month.

Big pizza chain: I went to this interview last month.  It was on Whyte Ave.  I went there at 10:15 am because in the email it said so.  The place was closed and I knocked on the door.  I had to wait until 11am before it opened.  I went to a coffee shop and read the newspaper.

Pros: 

1. It was close by.

2. There is a good discount on the food.

3. I can do the job.

Cons:

1. It was on Whyte Ave.  I'm getting some flashbacks.

In gr. 8, my friends Leslie and Yasmine were at the bus stop to school.  

Leslie: I don't like going to Whyte Ave at 4pm.

In gr. 12, I remember this East Indian girl saying how she worked there.

Girl: I only work there in the day time, and I don't want to work there at night.
Steve: Because you'll get shot.

My opinion: I would work there during the day.  They were hiring for days and evenings.

Beauty store: 

Pros:

1. It was a temp job for 3 months.  Part- time in the evenings. It was in a mall.

Cons: None.

My opinion: I wasn't that interested in the job.  However, I would work there if I got hired.

Bridal store: 

Pros:

1. The store was really nice.

Cons:

1. They were looking for evenings and weekends.

My opinion: I wasn't that interested in working there.

The Salad Place:

Pros:

1. It was easy to get to.

2. I can do the job.

3. The food was average with a discount.

3. The hours were daytime.

Cons: None.

My opinion: I would work there if I got hired.  There was another location and I did pass my resume there too.  The company was owned by the same boss.

The Jewellery store: 

Pros:

1. It was easy to get to.

2. I thought there may be more of a high chance I would get hired because I was willing to work 1 day a week.

3. The boss asked good interview questions: 

What do you find frustrating about your job?

Cons: None.

My opinion: I wasn't that interested in the job.

Big coffee chain: 

Pros:

1. It was easy to get to.  2 busses.

2. I like working at this restaurant.

Cons: None.

My opinion: I would work there if I got hired.

Shopping: When I go to job interviews, I shop before or after the interview:

Luxury Décor: it sells paintings, lamps and home décor.

Lifestyle Meditations: it sells oils, books, and tarot cards.

Seacret Direct: I found this company while looking for a job.  It sells body scrubs:



Dec. 6, 2017 Droneology: This store closed down in West Ed mall.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3261294/droneology-drone-orders-unfulfilled/


Christmas gifts: In my family, we don't exchange Christmas gifts.  We save so much money that way.  We have a nice Christmas dinner at home.

Homeless man buys house: Today I found this in the National Post in the Edmonton Journal:

(PHILADELPHIA) A homeless man who used his last $20 to fill up the gas tank of a stranded motorist in Philadelphia has bought a home with some of the nearly $400,000 raised for him by the woman he saved.

“The feeling is indescribable and (it’s) all thanks to the support and generosity that each and every one of you has shown,” Johnny Bobbitt Jr. wrote on a GoFundMe page. “I’ll continue to thank you every single day for the rest of my life.”


Kate McClure, of Florence Township, New Jersey, ran out of gas on an Interstate 95 exit ramp late one night. Bobbitt walked a few blocks to buy her gas.


She didn’t have money to repay him at the time, but sought him out days later to give him the money, and visited him a few more times to bring food and water. She and her boyfriend created the online fundraiser page as a thank you and to try to help him get back on his feet. As of Tuesday afternoon the fundraiser has raised more than $397,000.


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