Hi! Thank you for joining me. If you'd like to Hear this blog as a podcast and hear ROUND THE BEND by Adrina Thorpe, courtesy of the Pod Safe Music Network at music.podshow.com, please click HERE. I think Adrina Thorpe has such an enchanting sound. Wait until you actually hear her sing. The song is played at the end of the podcast.

Man, the entertainment community suffered a triple blow last week, didn’t it? It was truly sad to read about the deaths of Don Knotts, Dennis Weaver and Darrin McGavin. I’m a lifelong fan of The Andy Griffith Show; I vaguely remember watching McCloud when I was a little girl; and I loved Darrin McGavin as the dad in A Christmas Story. As Ralphie would say, “Fudge!”

We rented THE CORPSE BRIDE. My children didn’t like it very much at all. I thought THE CORPSE BRIDE was a freaky, dark, but ultimately sweet movie. Victor and Victoria are getting ready to marry, thanks to the machinations of their parents. At the wedding rehearsal, a nervous Victor forgets his vows and winds up setting his future mother-in-law's dress on fire. Embarrassed, he flees the church and practices his lines in the cemetery. This time he gets them right and finds himself married to Emily, the corpse bride. Will Victor accept his fate and learn to love Emily, or will he find a way back to his true love?

Speaking of true love, the movie JUST LIKE HEAVEN assures us that true love really can conquer just about anything. David (played by Mark Ruffalo) is still mourning his wife who died from a cerebral hemorrhage. He spends his time either sleeping or drinking. Enter Elizabeth (played by Reese Witherspoon), a feisty spirit who wants David out of her apartment. After some convincing, Elizabeth realizes something's not quite right; and she and David set out to find out who she is and why he's the only person who can see and hear her. This movie is funny and romantic. I laughed; I cried; I loved it.

The books I read this time were a bit more intense than the movies I watched. In IMMORAL, by Brian Freeman, Lieutenant Jonathan Stride is dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer and with the second disappearance of a teenage girl within a year. The first girl's body was never found and no abductor was captured. Now another girl is gone without a trace, and this time the answers Stride seeks could cost him personally and professionally. Check out this interesting novel where things are seldom what they seem at first glance. For more information, visit www.bfreemanbooks.com.

I also read GUDRUN'S TAPESTRY by Joan Schweighardt. Though this book seemed a bit slow to me in the beginning, it turned out to be one of the best books I've read in quite awhile. Gudrun's Tapestry is the story of a young woman and her quest to destroy Attila the Hun and end his reign of terror. The book goes back and forth between Gudrun's past and her present, thus showing the reader why she's so determined to eliminate Attila. The book is engrossing, stirring and written with wonderfully expressive prose. For more information, go to www.gudrunstapestry.com.

As always, if you have any ideas for me, or any movies, books or TV shows to recommend, please e-mail me at [email protected].