I Have Returned.

I felt your pain kid

If you've been wondering we're I've been this past week, I was at camp. Camp Merrowvista to be precise.
"Wait," you may be asking yourself, "don't you work at a school? Tell me you didn't already lose the job!"
Fear not, my two faithful readers, for all will be explained. You see, the school that  I work at allows the different upper grades to go on extended field trips. The 8th grade goes to Washington, D.C, the 7th grade goes to New York City, and the 6th grade goes to Camp Merrowvista in Center Tuftonboro, NH. Exciting I know.
However, it was a really good experience for me to not only get to know the other people on my staff, but the kids as well. We all experienced many new things together, and it was really inspiring to see the kids make connections with one another and overcome whatever preconceptions they may have had of their fellow classmates BEFORE the 'clique' system of school kicks in. It was a phenomenal week, but also exhausting.
I'll be back to my semi-daily schedule soon, but to tide you over, I watched a movie on DVD last night.

Prince Of Persia (2010)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, (Sir) Ben Kinsley
Director: Mike Newell

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this movie....and maybe that's why I enjoyed it? It seemed like Prince Of Persia borrowed certain elements from not only the game that it's based on, but also Disney classics like The Lion King and Aladdin. However, it's still a very entertaining movie.
The plot follows the adopted son of the Persian king (Gyllenhaal), who, after being tricked into attacking the kingdom of Princess Tamina (Arterton, playing nearly the same character she did in Clash of the Titans), comes into possession of the dagger of time, a nifty blade that turns back time when a button on its hilt is pressed. After being framed for the death of his father, he must return to the kingdom, clear his name, and return the dagger to its proper resting place, where it will be sealed away forever.
As a fan of the video game series, I was a little dissapointed that they took out the sand creatures that you fought in the game, however, the movie is still a pretty solid rental, and the scenes where the Prince and Tamina banter are really well done. Some of the effects were a little dodgy, and there could have been some more fleshing out of the characters ( you can tell Sir Kingsley is the bad guy from the beginning), but all in all this is a solid movie, and one of the better video game adaptations out there.
I'd give it 3 "time...will erase everything"s* out of five

*NOTE: Sir Ben's "time...will erase everything" line from the trailer is NOWHERE to be found in the actual movie. I was fairly upset, as it would have complemented his line from Shutter Island( "it's as if she evaporated....straight through the walls") very nicely.