Best Teen/Chick Dramas...Thank you Netflix!

Teen/Chick Shows:

1. Gossip Girl
2. Revenge
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Pretty Little Liars
5. Heart of Dixie
6. Desperate Housewives
7. Make it or Break It
8. Jane By Design, a new favorite!

Hello Netflix! Top Drama Shows

This category is a little tricky, there are a few shows on here that can also be considered comedies, crime dramas, and mysteries.

Drama:

1. Mad Men
2. Breaking Bad
3. Sons of Anarchy
4. Damages
5. Sherlock Holmes 
6. Lie to Me
7. Revenge
8. White Collar (It's also pretty funny)
9. Weeds
10. Law And Order: SVU
11. Law And Order: Criminal Intent (Only the ones with Vincent! He is my favorite!)
12. Vera
13. Inspector Lewis
14. MI5
15. Nikita

Hello Netflix! Top Comedy Shows

Comedy:

1. The Office
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. Glee
4. Rules of Engagement
5. Raising Hope
6. Frasier (Classic)
7. 30 Rock
8. Freaks And Geeks (Check out Seth Rogan!)
9. That 70's Show
10. Family Guy
11. Futurama

Hello Netflix! Top Sci-fi Fantasy Series

Netflix has definitely stepped things up with their available content. Here are my favorite TV shows, available now. Check them out! 

Sci-fi/Fantasy:

1. Doctor Who
2. Once Upon A Time
3. The Walking Dead
4. Being Human U.K. Version (George is amazing!)
5. The Vampire Diaries
6. American Horror Story
7. Legend of the Seeker
8. Being Human U.S. Version
9. Merlin
10. The X Files
11. Warehouse 13
12. Firefly
13. Eureka
14. Terra Nova
15. Heroes
16. Supernatural
17. Battlestar Gallactica
18. Yes, Star Trek is available as well!

Available for sale January 2013

Greetings everyone! I'd like to thank you all for the support and wonderful comments.

So, The Chronicles of Koa is my newest dark fantasy series and I am excited to share an annotated chapter each week for free.

Think of it as the trailer for the book which will be released in its entirety on Amazon in January 2013! Happy holidays :D

Read highlighted chapters now at www.knlee.net

Homemade pho

Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup, made with a delicious beef broth, vermicelli noddles and an assortment of veggies, is a wonderful meal (and an excellent hangover cure).

Life of Pi!!!!!

I had to run home to tell you all about The Life of Pi.... Let me preface by saying that this movie had me crying like a baby. I don't want to reveal any spoilers because I want it to be as surprising to you as it was to me. 

So, this review is going to be difficult. The Life of Pi is about a young boy's life and his incredible journey of survival. Each actor that portrayed this character was great. Iffran Khan was Pi as an older man, Suraj Sharma is Pi as we see him during his journey, a young man, and finally, Ayush Tandon and Guatam Belur are Pi as an adolescent and small child. Each one actually looked like they were the same character at different stages of their life. 

We see Pi go through his childhood being teased by his name Piscine...those kids were relentless. His father runs a zoo and eventually they decided that they must move from India to Canada in order to start a new life. This is where the movie takes off. Of course, the ship sinks. Consequently, Pi is left on a small life boat with a zebra, an orangutan, a Bengal tiger and a hyena. 

I am afraid that I cannot give away too much, but Pi sees some pretty incredible things, and manages to survive. All I can say is that at one part of the movie, towards the end, I found myself stunned. I held my breath in shock for what seemed like minutes, trying to suppress the tears. 

I admit that I didn't expect it to affect me that much. I thought it was going to be a visually stunning movie with some inspiring moments, and that it was. What you don't know, is that there is more to this story, and be on your guard, lest you want to bawl your eyes out like I did. Lol, there were others with tears in their eyes, but I think I understood the deeper meaning of the story and couldn't suppress my emotion, although I did try. 

You must see it in 3D, or it will be a shameful crime. Ang Lee has to be in the running for best director in the Oscars. As James Cameron would agree with me, the 3D was stunning, but not only that, but this film was shot mostly on water, with animals. Do you know how hard that is? I'd like to thank Ang Lee for directing, Yann Martel for writing the novel, and David Mcgee for the screenplay. Go now. See it.

Thanksgiving Dinner @ The Liberty-Charlotte NC

As promised, I am glad to tell you all about my Thanksgiving dinner at The Liberty in Charlotte, NC. I was happy to book a reservation for my friends and I when I saw the three course dinner that they were offering. That third course, was a dessert bar! 

 First of all, I've been to The Liberty on numerous occasions and they have an awesome lamb burger. The location is in the lovely South End are of Charlotte and the interior decor is nice and chic, with a lovely dining area and separate bar area.

Ok, now, let's get to the food!

First Course: My guests and I enjoyed delicious pumpkin gnocchi, rock shrimp salad, and lobster and crab cakes. I particularly loved the sauce on the pumpkin gnocchi (my first time having pumpkin!) and the vinaigrette on the crispy rock shrimp salad.

 

Second Course: Prime rib with creamed spinach casserole and mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy...yum! The pork was also delicious with smoked Gouda mac and cheese, bacon wrapped ham and sweet apple compote. Wow! It was the only dish that really looked like typical Thanksgiving fare, but it was definitely superb.

Third Course: Dessert!!! I was wary, since I am allergic to eggs, and it's rare that a restaurant has a dessert that I can actually eat. To my surprise, they had plenty for me to enjoy! I had the berry cobbler and apple crisp...amazing! They also had an assortment of chocolate cake, cookies, bread pudding with marshmallows, cheese cake with strawberry sauce, lemon meringue tarts, and a few other things that I can't quite name, since I've never tried them. Just know, there was a smorgasbord of sweets on that table!

It was an overall delightful experience and completely stress free, with no clean up! Yay! The service was wonderful and the owner even stopped by. He was very friendly and personable. I'd recommend The Liberty to anyone. If you're ever in Charlotte, please stop by. They have amazing burgers, salads, and a yummy, popular, fresh pretzel appetizer.

Thanks The Liberty!

Thanksgiving Eve

Good morning! Today is Thanksgiving Eve! It is quite lovely to have a week of relaxation. I've been writing nonstop for 2 days, but that's not work, that's fun for me! I am happy to report that I got some sleep last night. Bliss! So here's the schedule... tomorrow I will tell you all about my Thanksgiving experience at a local Charlotte restaurant. Shhh, the restaurant is a secret and shall be revealed tomorrow!

 They are offering a three course dinner and a dessert buffet! Yay, sounds awesome...except I am allergic to eggs, so there might be one dessert on there that I can actually eat! I seriously hope and pray that there is pie!!! Nonetheless, this will be my first restaurant review. Granted I've been to this place at least three times, and know their food is delicious (lamb burgers = mmmmm). 

Check in tomorrow for the Thanksgiving verdict. Yum yum, and have a great day!

Wuthering Heights (The New Version)

I am a few weeks late posting about the new Wuthering Heights, but I have to express my disappointment. I expected emotional, poignant, performances, but what I got was appalling. 

 Staring Kaya Scodelario, and James Howson, it hate to report that this was a dud. Just boring and ridiculous.

 Firstly, what was the deal with the camera shots. Here is a quick example of each scene: Fade out from bright sunlight...linger for about one minute. Next scene...stare at a random flower, or bug crawling up a window. Next scene...stare at Heathcliff's face for at least five minutes while he does nothing but look lost, or occasionally angry. There might be a stray tear rolling down his face.

  Ugh! 

So, it continued like that for the entire movie. I am a huge British literature fan. I enjoy almost every adaptation of the classics on film, but this was by far the worst! I think I need to brush up on my Bronte, because there were just too many sick instances where Catherine would pull out Heathcliff's hair or do something to physically harm him. Or, someone was hanging a poor helpless dog by their collar on a gate post.  

To be fair, Bronte did have a dark mind and there was a brief description of a dog being left to hang in the book. It just didn't make sense in this movie, because the development of the characters didn't support such behavior.

Not to mention, every time Heathcliff ran off in anger or sorrow, he would either lay in the grass while ran poured over his face (so melodramatic) or the camera would randomly switch to a body of a dead rabbit.

Sounds interesting, I know. Trust me, it's not. It was just weird and annoying. My movie buddy and I kept looking at each other in horror during the movie, as if sharing the thought, "what is this?" "seriously?"

Well, that about sums it up. Honestly, I ran to the theaters to see this movie. The reviews said that it was the closest version to the book. I suppose I just don't like the book, if that's true. Bring me Tom Hardy back!!

P.S. Did I mention that in this version Heathcliff is black, or biracial? Well, nice twist on a modern classic, but the actor, James Howson, simply didn't live up to Heathcliffs notoriety.

Where have I been?

Greetings! It's been a long stretch since my last post about in May. I have been extremely busy, but I am happy to say that I am back and ready to share everything with you. This past year has been a constant effort to finish my book, Rise of the Flame. I am pleased to say that it is ready and in the process of being edited! 

Right now, while you're waiting for it to come out, I have provided tons of content for you to feast upon! My new writing website, www.knlee.net features short stories, excerpts from Rise of The Flame and a new fantasy series that is updated with new adventures each week. It's called The Chronicles of Koa. 

Stay tuned...because in the next couple of months, you'll also be able to purchase a few of my novellas on Amazon Kindle! I hope everyone is well, and ready for all that 2013 holds!