Tag Archive for 'Product Review'

Yes, I can name all seven by memory

Published on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 in Product Reviews. 2 Comments Tags: .

Jealousy-induced rage, attempted murder, breaking and entering (okay, maybe it was just trespassing), poisoning…the newest episode of Law & Order? No…it’s the newest release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!

I have a confession to make. Previous to receiving** this DVD, Claire had never seen Snow White in action. I’d read her the abbreviated story books, and she’d watched a clip or two on YouTube, but that’s it. When asked if I’d like to do this review, I jumped at the chance. I couldn’t wait to see what Claire thought of it!

And, just like with the other princess movies that have graced our home, Claire is smitten. She, of course, has some really good questions that I’m not sure how to answer. Maybe you can help?

Using only the movie as your basis…

Where is Snow White’s mom?

My first thought: She’s probably dead. This is, after all, a Disney movie.

What I told her: I don’t know. We didn’t see her in the movie, did we. Where do you think she is?

Who was the skeleton in the evil queen’s room?

My first thought: There was a skeleton in the evil queen’s room?

What I told her (after I remember what she was talking about): I think whoever made the movie was trying to put scary things in that room. Skeletons and spiders are scary, right?

Additional questioning involved the fact that Claire didn’t believe me, and that the skeleton had to belong to somebody, so then we talked about other people the evil queen probably killed. *sigh*

I’m always amazed at what catches her eye…

The cool part about this edition is that it’s been released in both DVD and Blu-Ray format. The one we watched was the DVD version, because we don’t have a Blu-Ray player (yet…I say “yet,” because I know Daddy has had his eye on one…). In case you’re curious, here are some stats about Blu-Ray:

  • Up to 6x better quality than DVD
  • 7.1 Surround Sound
  • Immersive activity with games and special features
  • Kid proof-more scratch resistant
  • Plays both Blu-ray and DVD discs
  • Blu-ray also plays on Sony Playstation 3 players

And, here are some links about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

Snow White Diamond Edition Website
Snow White Blu-ray Edition Trailer
Disney Timeless Memories – Blu Ray High Definition DVDs and Movie TV Spot:

And, yes, I can still name all seven dwarfs by memory:

Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Dopey, Doc…but I have to do them in that order. :)

**The Casual Perfectionist was asked to review the Diamond Edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We received a free copy of the DVD set, in exchange for an honest review. This was provided by the One2One Network. If you have a product you’d like us to review, please feel free to contact us.

Baby Banana Review

Published on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 in Auto-Pilot, Fun, Music and Product Reviews. Closed Tags: .

Claire and I had the opportunity to check out Debi Derryberry’s Baby Banana CD and review it! It’s being released to the public today!

Click here to read more!

The comments are closed here, but feel free to leave comments over on the Review Page!

Titanic: Treasures from the Deep™ Visits Denver

Published on Friday, April 24, 2009 in Fun and Product Reviews. 10 Comments Tags: , .

I was in 6th grade when the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered, and I remember it vividly. The story of the ship, the poor planning and all the lives lost has always held an allure for me. Yes, I watched the movie…admittedly more than once. So, imagine my surprise when I found out that the Titanic would be in Denver! I was even more surprised to find out that the traveling museum exhibit was free to the public!

Claire and I were fortunate enough to get VIP Treatment the opening day, so we couldn’t wait to check it out!

If you’re in the Denver area and know where FlatIrons Mall is, the Titanic Exhibit is located back behind the mall, by the Nordstrom entrance. Once you get back to that side of the mall, you can’t miss it.

We were greeted by the helpful staff, and we were each given a boarding pass to the Titanic. I was Mrs. John G. Sage (Annie Elizabeth to her close friends). Claire was Mr. Edgar Samuel Andrew. After receiving our boarding passes, we were able to have our photo taken in front of The Grand Staircase. In about 48-hours, our photos will be up for viewing online, and we can’t wait to see them!

Then, we were able to go explore the exhibit. It’s a typical museum display in that the artifacts are concealed in thick clear cases, but even Claire enjoyed seeing the different items. Because she’s only 3-years old, she didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, and why these things are on display, but she thought it was interesting. She really liked the boiler room with its red lighting, and the room where they were showing the Discovery Channel images of the Titanic and the large digital display of the iceberg.

All throughout the exhibit are placards telling the stories of some of the people on board. Some of their stories had happy endings, and some didn’t.

On nearly every wall, there are facts about the ship and what happened. Seeing this information in black and white about the Titanic and that fateful journey in April of 1912 just reiterated the fact that they didn’t have a chance. They were ill-prepared, over-confident, and ultimately doomed. Granted hind-sight is always 20/20, but the outcome saddens me.

Seeing this with my child put a whole new spin on it that I wasn’t expecting. She had a ton of questions about everything, like she always does, and we’ve never hidden the issue of death from her, but when I got to the story of the woman who had her baby ripped from her arms and tossed into a lifeboat, only to be on a different life boat and not know if he was alive, I got tears in my eyes. They were eventually reunited, but the story was so touching.

It’s these stories that make the exhibit real.

The Titanic wasn’t just a ship that sank. It wasn’t just a compilation of errors that ended tragically. 2,228 lives were forever changed that day. 705 survived. 1,523 did not.

It really makes me sit back and think about the things that are most important to me.

When we got to the end of the display, we were faced with a wall of names: those who had lived and those who hadn’t. We had the opportunity to see how our character fared, the character we were randomly given when we boarded the Titanic. Sadly, my character didn’t live. Her whole family perished as well. Claire’s character didn’t live either, but she told me that was okay, because her name wasn’t really Edgar. (It takes a preschooler to bring some levity to this whole thing, doesn’t it?)

After we learned our fate, we had the opportunity to get our photo taken with Captain Smith!

The two of us with Captain Smith.

The two of us with Captain Smith. He went down with the ship as well.

So, I’m bummed that Claire and I died on the Titanic, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the artifacts, some of which have never been seen in public before! And, it was really funny to watch people come out of the exhibit and exclaim, “I lived!” :)

If you get a chance, you should check out this exhibit. It’s going to be at FlatIrons Mall until April 26th, and then it moves to Park Meadows Mall, where it will be from April 30th until May 3rd.

Not in this area? Click here to see when it visits a city near you!

It’s free, and who knows, maybe you’ll be luckier than we were, and survive!

Stupid lifeboats.
;)