Jurassic Forest

Jurassic Forest is located just north of Gibbons Alberta and opened July 2010.  It is a privately funded and operated 40-acre exhibition of prehistoric life presented in a modern day forest.  Fun for the entire family, Jurassic Forest has a children's play area, a north and south trail with excellent informative signage and mechanical dinosaurs, a store, picnic area and concession.  We thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Posted here are a few choice photos to entice you to visit this wonderland of prehistoria.

See http://www.jurassicforest.com/index.php for admission rates and hours of operation.

Charlie St. Cloud

Starring Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Donal Logue, Charlie Tahan, Ray Liotta, and Kim Basinger. Directed by Burr Steers.

Charlie St. Cloud is a romantic drama about a young man, Charlie, who survives a car crash which takes his brother Sam's life.  Charlie flat lines in the ambulance and a paramedic brings him back giving Charlie a second chance to discover a unique way of looking at life. 

Charlie mourns his brother's death for five years, putting aside his Stanford scholarship and his love of sailing to work as caretaker in the cemetery where Sam is buried.  Every day, as promised, Charlie meets Sam at sunset to play catch in the woods.  Then one day Tess, a highschool classmate, returns from a sail and catches Charlie's eye.  Falling for each other, Tess ignites again Charlie's passion for sailing and for life.  Then in a bad storm Tess disappears while testing her boat sailing into a storm and is feared dead.  Can Charlie find her and will his knowledge of sailing be enough? 

Tess rekindles Charlie's passion for life and with Sam's help, Charlie is able to find the courage to move on, to find that the soul worth saving is his own. 

This is a nice twist to the romantic drama genre.  The cast was well selected and the story unique and riveting.  Charlie St. Cloud is a film adaptation of the novel "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" by author Ben Sherwood.

“trust your heart

if the seas catch fire

(and live by love

though the stars walk backward)”

—E.E. Cummings, Dive for Dreams

 

My teenage daughter and I both enjoyed this movie.  Bring tissues!  There is a suggestive scene between Charlie and Tess although it is not revealing and the accident scene may be too vivid for children thus the PG13 rating.  Rated PG13 for intense accident scene, language including sexual references and sensuality.

 

Rated 4.5/5 

Buying this one to add to the collection.  Now I want to read the novel!

Charlie St. Cloud Official Trailer (HD) - Zac Efron

No Country for Old Men

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Director: Ethan Coen , Joel Coen
Genre:  Action and Adventure, Suspense
Based on the novel written by Cormac McCarthy. 

Near Rio Grande, a hunter stumbles upon a violent scene with dead bodies, another's life in peril, drugs and an attache full of money.  Violence ensues as he is hunted down and anyone involved in the matter is hunted and gruesomely disposed of.  A sheriff ready for retirement can't catch up with the man behind the massacre.  He knows this killer.  He once had arrested him but he escaped and now the sheriff seems to always be one step behind, cleaning up after him. 

No Country for Old Men is twisted and violent. The violence is quite graphic and, in most cases, unprovoked.  This killer has no qualms in executing his victims as he carries on in search of the one who holds the money.

Rated 18A for graphic violence and language.  I can't believe I watched it!  I give this a 1/5. 

Pizza Hut - Chicken Spin Rolls

It was a cold evening in Cold Lake.  Hungry, we decided unanimously upon Pizza Hut.  What's this, the air conditioning was on?  After returning to the vehicle for jackets, we were greeted by a friendly waiter who brought us a pitcher of root beer and took our order.  We ordered a half/half pizza, namely one-half was the Mediterranean and the other half was a Deluxe.  The pizza was good but it was our entree that stole the show!  Chicken Spin Rolls!  Such a delightful, mouthwatering accompaniment, because that is what it ended up being as it arrived the same time as our pizza order! 

Chicken Spin Rolls are a decadent, tantalizing dish comprised of tortilla shells rolled and filled with a mix of chicken breast, pesto and a creamy sauce with mushrooms and garlic.  The rolls are coated in Parmesan cheese and baked.  Served with a dipping sauce similar to a marinara, it is delicious!  Mmmmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it!  Seriously, it was a hit. 

A single order of chicken spin rolls to go.  The photo doesn't do them justice.

So this weekend, here in Edmonton we ordered it again.  Alas, the pesto was forgotten!  We consumed an order of it just the same and then Monday night, discovering we had company coming, we went and picked up a triple order and they were a hit folks!  This time they included the pesto in the filling, making all the difference!

This is a must try!  Apparently they've been on the menu for some time.  Where have we been?  Note, we really don't eat out that often as you can tell from previous posts so this weekend was definitely an exception.