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Frankenweenie Comes to Theatres This Week

 

We are so looking forward to this weekend's release of Frankenweenie.  My kids read the book and I am looking forward to Tim Burton's spin on this beloved book.  The internet has been abuzz with activity sheets and downloads and I am glad to have the opportunity to share this fun activity.

Now that the boys are learning all about this Scientific Method, this activity is a fun way to apply the lessons learned in their Science classes.  

Click here to download fun Frankenweenie-themed science experiments for your little ones.

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

 

Celebrating National Vodka Day with Cupcake Vodka

  

This post is for mature audiences only. It contains links to a product that is for adult consumption.  Thank you.


National Vodka Day is Thursday so let's lift our glasses high in celebration of this classic beverage.  I've never been much of a vodka drinker other than an occasional Cosmopolitan or a Vodka martini every now and then.  Well, hello vodka!  Cupcake Vodka has totally changed my opinion of vodka.  No more boring cosmos for our Girls Night Out!  No more wine spritzers at my holiday parties!!  I'm breaking out the good stuff.  I'm breaking out the Cupcake Vodka.

Made with 100% American grain and distilled six times and flushed with flavors sure to delight your taste buds you will enjoy amping your bartending skills with Cupcake Vodka.  Cupcake Vodka comes in Original + five delicious flavors:

• Very Berry
• Chiffon
• Frosting
• Devil's Food
• Ginger Snap

I received samples of the Original and Frosting varieties and ooh la la...mama likes.

To celebrate National Vodka Day,  why not whip a tasty treat and try a taste of Cupcake Vodka in a tempting cocktail that’s fitting for the girliest of drinkers.

Pretty in Pink

1.5 oz Cupcake Deliciously Unflavored (Original) Vodka

3 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice

0.5 oz Lemon/Lime Soda

Grapefruit Slice

Fill a highball glass with ice and pour in ingredients. Stir and add grapefruit slice as garnish.

Cheetah Print

1 oz Cupcake Frosting Vodka

1 Splash of Citrus Liqueur

1 oz Lemon/Lime Soda

1 oz Orange Soda

1 Splash Orange Juice

Combine ingredients and pour over ice into a highball glass. 

Disclosure:  Many thanks to the sponsor for providing samples for purposes of facilitating this review.   Opinions are my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  Click here for the Disclosure Policy of Three Boys and an Old Lady blog.

Wordless Wednesday Disney's Frankenweenie Halloween Masks

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

Click here to download masks featuring the cast of Frankweenie

In Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.  Check out a preview below.

"Like" FRANKENWEENIE on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Frankenweenie

FRANKENWEENIE arrives in theatres everywhere on October 5^th!

Chuggington Traintastic DVD Giveaway

Full steam ahead!  Preschoolers from coast-to-coast will “honk their horns” for “Traintastic Adventures,” the newest addition to the award-winning hit “Chuggington^™” DVD series from Anchor Bay Entertainment, when it pulls into retail on August 14, 2012.  The brand-new collection of fun-filled episodes with relatable themes and positive messages will entertain young trainees as it helps them learn to ride the rails of life.

A colorful and contemporary CGI-animated TV series from Ludorum that reinforces early social readiness skills, “Chuggington” airs daily on Disney Junior, Disney Channel’s programming block for kids ages 2-7 and their families, and on the new 24-hour Disney Junior basic cable and satellite channel.

“Traintastic Adventures is action-packed with thrilling quests and important life lessons for preschoolers,” said Erin Carter, Executive Director of Brand Marketing, Anchor Bay Entertainment.  “We’re pleased to add this newest title to our library of popular ‘Chuggington’ DVDs – and to give fans of the series even more to love.”

My Thoughts:  The Littlest One is a fan of anything on wheels and Chuggington is one of his favorites.  Los Tres Amigos were fans of Chuggington when they were about the same age of the Littlest One.  Funny how old things become new again.  I love the characters and how he watches the video with his favorite Chuggington toys nearby.  This DVD also comes with trading cards and some unique bonus features.  You can print coloring sheets featuring your favorite Chuggington friends and a valuable lesson contained in each episode.  

It's hard to say if the kids had a favorite episode because the kids watched the DVD over and over and over again. 

Buy It:   Chuggington Traintastic Adventures DVD is available wherever most DVDs are sold including

 

G I V E A W A Y

Win It:  One lucky Three Boys and an Old Lady blog reader will win a Chuggington Traintastic Adventures DVD.

Mandatory Entry:  Piper is one of our favorite chuggers.  Visit Chuggington.com and leave a comment below with the name of your favorite Chugger.

Bonus Entries:

• Follow this blog via GFC, subscribe via email or follow via Networked Blogs [Let me know, leave a comment below]
• Click here to like the Three Boys and an Old Lady Facebook page.  Be sure to leave your Facebook first name and last initial in a comment below [Let me know, Leave a comment below]

Giveaway is open to residents of U.S. and Canada and ends at 12:01 AM CST on 10/15/12. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and will be notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize or prize will be forfeited and a new winner will be selected.

 

Disclosure:  Many thanks to the sponsor for providing this prize for the giveaway.   Opinions are my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. 

Click here for the Disclosure Policy of Three Boys and an Old Lady blog.

Fifty Shades of Louisa May Book

And just when you thought the Fifty Shades craze had ended, up pops 


FIFTY SHADES OF LOUISA MAY

Louisa May Alcott, author of the classic Little Women, friend of Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne, beloved icon of professors of American 19th-century literature and perhaps less loved by their legions of students, had a lusty side that was less academic, and more . . . transcendental than any of us knew.
Brilliantly penned by a well-known writer who prefers the cloak of anonymity to the vulgar embrace of rude fame (of which s/he has no need), this hilarious little book reveals the unbridled passion-that-might-have-been of one of the world’s most popular authors.
A racy memoir that just might tell us more about the sowing of transcendental wild oats than any ream of volumes on the subject, FIFTY SHADES OF LOUISA MAY (OR Books; Publication Date: August 22, 2012; $15pbk/$10ebook) is not for the weak of art, or for those who prefer their literary icons under glass. It imagines an unhinged Melville doing what comes naturally, a Centennial Ball unlike any heretofore described, Louisa May’s ardent encounters with her “Wooden Friend,” and much, much more. All lovingly illustrated with X-rated woodcuts.


About LOUISA MAYANONYMOUS
The award-winning author of FIFTY SHADES OF LOUISA MAY has published many highly regarded works of fiction, none of them under a pseudonym. Until now. For this book, "LMA" immersed her/himself in the literature of the Transcendentalists, reading literally thousands of pages by and about them. S/he is recovering, slowly.

An Interview with LOUISA MAY ANONYMOUS
Q: Why did you write this book?
LMA: I wondered what Louisa May would have made of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon. After all, she wrote “blood-and-thunder” romances and thrillers under pseudonyms. So it’s clear that she had a darker, more sexual side—one that she kept carefully hidden. My book unleashes the inner Louisa and lets her have her say. 

Q: So she was lusty, then?
LMA: The real Louisa May probably died a virgin, so lust wasn’t central to her life. She was sickly, overworked, overmedicated, and unable to take much enjoyment from her remarkable success. Fifty Shades of Louisa May is an attempt to give her a second chance at life and sex. In it, Louisa May has a lot of sexual encounters—though they end up being more hilarious than erotic, as is frequently the case in life and literature. But why not let Louisa May cut loose and have a little fun for once?

Q: How did you write this book?

LMA: I immersed myself in their world by reading dozens of books on Transcendental history and books of the era. I took field trips to Orchard House, Fruitlands, and other landmarks. Then the spirit of Louisa May entered me (won’t say where) and guided my hand. To write the book, that is.

Q: Why do so many people seem outraged by your book?

LMA: Because they want to keep Louisa May in some kind of virginal vault that denies that she was a complex woman with desires, bad moods, grudges, and a sense of humor. They should lighten up. In my book, Louisa May never gets tied up or spanked, tempting as that was. She’s in charge.

Q: Aren’t you making fun of her?

LMA: No, I’m having fun with her. If the book makes fun of anyone, it’s the sanctimonious men who surrounded her, from her loony father on down.

Q: Would she approve?

LMA: Of course not. Are you kidding?

Q: Was it difficult to write about 19^th-century sex?

LMA: Sex in any era is still sex. It’s not like we’ve come up with lots of great innovations in sex lately, beyond Internet porn, of course. The Transcendentalists are often thought of as fancy-thinking deities. Fifty Shades of Louisa Mayimagines them on a more human level, where they shed all of their pretensions. And their clothes.

Q: How did the Fifty Shades trilogy inspire a historical work?
LMA:  
Well, it’s clear that the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon has hit a literary g-spot by revealing the inner desires of fictional characters. Fifty Shades of LouisaMay just takes it further, revealing the sexual secrets of literary figures—Melville, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and more. Luckily, all are too dead to sue.

Q: Isn’t this book just fan fiction for Fifty Shades?

LMA: Hardly. First of all, I’m not a fan. Rich man + semi-submissive woman = avant garde sexuality? I don’t think so. Plus, the writing blows kraken whales (quoting Melville here).
So my book is neither parody nor homage. It hijacks the title, throws away the seriousness and the bondage, and lets legendary authors perform ridiculous and embarrassing sexual acts. As writers of any era often do. So call it lewditure. Call it literotica.

Q: What do you have against the Transcendentalists?

LMA: They were proto-hippies who brought a critical line of free-thinking humanism to the world. They were way ahead of their times. But they weren’t saints. Thoreau was a grouchy trustifarian and onanist. Like a lot of writers, Melville was manic-depressive and delusional. Hawthorne was twee and neurotic as an indoor cat. Emerson seems to have been high on opiates a lot of the time. And the Peabody sisters were libertines in training. If the E! Network existed in their day, the Transcendentalists would have been all over it.

Q: What did you end up feeling for the actual Louisa May?

LMA: Deep admiration. She was a remarkably hard-working, politically engaged writer who achieved incredible success back when women were still fighting to get to vote. That she became a captive to her success is tragic. That critics and readers have made her a poster-child for old-fashioned goodness is reductive, inaccurate, and unfair. She was a talented, creative soul who deserved a better life. Or at least a heart-thumping roll in the hayloft once in awhile.

Q: So who are you, exactly?

LMA: Can’t tell. Though the answer’s hidden in the book if you look hard enough.

Q: Why the secrecy?
LMA: I write in a different genre and have committed readers (and publishers) all over the world. A book like this would confuse everyone. I wanted to write a book free of my own reputation for once—as Louisa May certainly must have wanted to in her day. Now’s the time.

My Thoughts:  What a great attempt to poke a little fun at the whole Fifty Shades craze.  The book reeks of sarcasm and a bit risque for my taste.  It took me a while to gather my thoughts on the book because despite the attempt to be funny, all attempts are voided by the vulgarity.  Overall, every read is not for everybody and Fifty Shades of Louisa May wasn't for me.
 
Like Fifty Shades of Louisa May on Facebook



Buy it: Fifty Shades of Louisa May is available at bookstores everywhere.






 





Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for review purposes.  The views expressed above are mine.  Click here for the Disclosure Policy of Three Boys and an Old Lady blog.

Freschetta® The Strength of 1™

Now through the end of October, 2012, the makers of Freschetta® pizza are helping to promote breast cancer awareness through their new The Strength of 1™ campaign, which includes sponsoring Bright Pink, the only national non-profit organization focusing on the prevention and early detection of breast and ovarian cancer in young women, while providing support to high-risk individuals. The mission of this The Strength of 1™ initiative is to inspire everyone to realize they can make a difference in some way in the fight against breast cancer. 

Take The Pledge – Join other women and take the pledge to show you have The Strength of 1™ power within you. You can do so at www.facebook.com/freschettapizza Encourage your followers to join the movement in one of many ways, including: share a story about how someone has made a difference; take The Strength of 1™ pledge on Facebook; or help spread the word on Twitter. 

Disclosure: “I occasionally receive compensation in the form of products for posts. However, the opinions I share are solely my own.”