NOTE: The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was 5 a.m. Friday, and more than 8,000 journalists from all over the world were on hand to to chronicle the royals' special day. The Courier-News staff was not among them. But that won't stop us from blogging about it!

I watched the early morning nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton - the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - for slightly selfish reasons. Maybe someday that would be me.

OK, not really, but I like to joke that I am 1,573,274th in line to the throne. You see, on my paternal grandmother's side of the family, I can trace my ancestry to Britain's King Edward I, who ruled from 1272 to 1307.

My odds of ascending the throne are about as likely as winning the Powerball - twice, but it's still fun to feel that connection and imagine myself in Kate's very expensive shoes.

And I don't want to brag, but People.com even compared William to King Eddie in its Royal Look-Alikes in History gallery.

So I was up after only an hour-and-a-half of sleep this morning to watch cousin Wills marry his longtime love, Catherine.

Truth be told, after the jump.

NOTE: The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was 5 a.m. Friday, and more than 8,000 journalists from all over the world were on hand to to chronicle the royals' special day. The Courier-News staff was not among them. But that won't stop us from blogging about it!

I'm no Anglophile. To wit: I inaccurately referred to the Queen as "the Queen Mum" at about 4:30 this morning on Twitter. (To be fair, it also was 4:30 THIS MORNING.)

But I am a bride-to-be (in 23 days... but, like I said yesterday, who's counting?). And a journalist. That made watching the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and feigning interest in it in the wee hours of the morning kind of mandatory.

I'm not going to lie, though. Sometime between making fun of the fact the Queen's (again, not the Queen Mum) brooch had a NAME and it was THE QUEEN MARY'S TRUE LOVER'S BROOCH... and that Princess Bea looked like some evil creature from Fantasia... and the time Kate arrived at Westminster Abbey at 5 a.m., I was interested.

All the interesting parts of the royal wedding, after the jump.

NOTE: The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is Friday -- at 5 a.m. Central time -- and more than 8,000 journalists from all over the world are expected to be their to chronicle the royals' special day. The Courier-News staff is not among them. But that won't stop us from blogging about it!

Reporter Mike Danahey already has enumerated the reasons he WON'T be watching the royal wedding.

Somehow I get the feeling our former colleague Gloria (Carr) Casas WOULDN'T MISS THIS WEDDING FOR ANYTHING. THERE WILL BE HATS AND CRUMPETS AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS.

And designer Julia Doyle probably is on the guest list. (More on that, later.)

I'm planning to watch it, too, albeit somewhat less enthusiastically. I'm a journalist and a bride-to-be in less than a month (24 days, but who's counting?). That makes it kind of mandatory. But I did pick up some tea and some cheddar bacon and chocolate caramel scones from Cafe Firefly in Algonquin to go with my wedding watching, which I plan to enjoy after crashing overnight at my friend Jen's.

What about you?

Are you planning to watch the royal wedding? Or not for all the tea in England? Share your thoughts in the comments! (And if you do stay up/get up early to party, send photos to emcfarlan@stmedianetwork.com. We'll post them here on Between the Bylines!)

-- Emily McFarlan, Readers' Reporter

NOTE: The royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is Friday -- at 5 a.m. Central time -- and more than 8,000 journalists from all over the world are expected to be their to chronicle the royals' special day. The Courier-News staff is not among them. But that won't stop us from blogging about it!

Today: Reporter Mike Danahey's Top 10 reasons he won't be watching the royal wedding.

• 1. Golden retrievers are bred according to lineage, too. I wouldn't watch that either -- and it can result in maladies like hip dysplasia or big ears.




• 2. Elgin neighborhood activist Chuck Keysor spends less than $800 a year on food. The wedding is supposed to cost $115 million, which would be enough to feed Chuck for 143,750 years or a whole town of Keysors for one year.




• 3. I thought we won the Revolutionary War, which meant we were pretty much done with these twits.

• 4. I'm still not completely over the Great Famine.




• 5. Disney princesses are more animated than these two.

More, after the jump.

NOTE: In a revival of this "classic" Friday feature, Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey guesses how much beer (or other beverage of choice) it might take him to pay money to see a recently-released movie. His opinions are based on trailers, ads and advance hype.

Here are some of the movies playing this weekend...

Madea's Big Happy Family

Nothing says Easter like a big black man in drag as a crusty family matriarch. This stuff never gets old. It ages well, like spiral ham or deviled eggs in the sun. I just had an idea: "Tyler Perry Present's Madea's Memorial Day." There's plenty of time for a genius like him to shoot it for a late May release.

Beer rating: I'd say Colt 45, but that would be a stale stereotype, and Madea is a fresh take on stereotypes.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Water for Elephants, African Cats, after the jump.

"Our teachers make a differance."

"Speling Bee."

"Literacacy Night."

Those are some pretty embarrassing spelling errors caught on school signs.

But popular e- and paper card store someecards and its blog made an embarrassing mistake of its own when it listed Community Unit School District 300's Harry D. Jacobs High School in Algonquin among those schools with the 10 Most Embarrassing Spelling Mistakes on Education-Related Signs Friday. Here's the sign:

"HDJ has a Nacke for education and learning."

No, that's not how you spell "knack." But it is how you spell Shelley Nacke's name. Nacke became principal of Jacobs at the start of this school year and since has taken on the job of assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, educational services.

So while I might put Jacobs on a list of signs with the most clever use of administrator's names... I'm afraid it doesn't cut it for someecard's list with spelling mistakes.

Unfortunately, District 300 schools are out today because I'd love to get the district -- and Nacke's -- comments on that one. And thanks to Crysta Anderson of Elgin (@elginista) for pointing out the blog post to me on Twitter. And if you spot something funny about the Elgin-area on the InterWebs, you can tweet me, too, at @couriernews.

-- Emily McFarlan, Readers' Reporter

Sure, there was a media blackout at last night's World Leaders Forum at Judson University, where former President George W. Bush spoke. But the 1,600 who were expected to attend were encouraged to tweet their reactions to the former president's speech, at least according to a tweet from the university:

@JudsonU (Judson University): This is a historic day for Judson as we begin our inaugural World Leaders Forum! Live tweeting is encouraged! Hashtag: #worldleadersforum.

While one student told me cell phone signals appeared jammed inside Judson's Lindner Fitness Center, at least a few were able to post during the event. Here were some of my favorites:

valfisk08 (Valarie Fisk): "I have one peice of advice for you: fill the potholes!" -george w bush to the mayor of elgin. #Worldleadersforum @judsonu

bknight77 (Brad Knight): It's a sweet hymn. Of the sermon gets a little boring, look it up! -Bush #worldleadersforum (Editor's note: Nobody I asked afterward remembered which hymn Bush had been talking about!)

bknight77 (Brad Knight): "No one knew Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. Everyone knew I ate the stupid pretzel!" -Bush #worldleadersforum

Lelagurl (Lela DeLong): "Read alot and don`t get drunk!" #GeorgeWBush giving advice to 13 year olds wanting to be president one day. #wlf @judsonu

HannaKsays (Hanna Koenig): Key to leading org. is to be honest about what you don't know. Surround yourself with smart ppl who you trust-G.W.Bush #worldleadersforum

deedee_k (Ashley McCambridge): In a conference full of go-getters, ushers are pretty futile. #worldleadersforum #volunteering

For live tweets from major Elgin-area events, breaking news and more, follow your Reader's Reporter on Twitter at @couriernews.

-- Emily McFarlan (@mcemilywrites), Reader's Reporter

NOTE: In a revival of this "classic" Friday feature, Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey guesses how much beer (or other beverage of choice) it might take him to pay money to see a recently-released movie. His opinions are based on trailers, ads and advance hype.

Here are some of the movies playing this weekend...

Your Highness

Wasn't this a short-lived Comedy Central show? By the crude jokes in the ads, it sure seems that way. It's about a callow prince who goes on a quest -- which means it's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" for stupid people. Or maybe "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" for a new generation.

Beer rating: Lots of Bass Ale.

Arthur, Soul Surfer, after the jump.

We've written a lot about tomorrow's elections. (You can access all those articles here.)

But if we haven't answered all the questions you have to help you decide who to vote for, well, maybe the candidates can answer those questions themselves. Here's a roundup of some of the candidates' websites and social media profiles:

Elgin mayoral race

• "Ed Schock for Mayor" on Facebook: facebook.com/#!/pages/Ed-Schock-for-Mayor/167250923293922
• Dave Kaptain: kaptainformayor.com
• "Dave Kaptain for Mayor" on Facebook: facebook.com/KaptainForMayor?ref=ts

Elgin City Council

• "Councilman John Steffen" on Facebook: facebook.com/#!/pages/Councilman-John-Steffen/175938529089886
• Mike Warren: mikeforelgin.org
• Michael Curtin: curtinforcouncil.com/
• "Michael Curtin for Elgin City Council" on Facebook: facebook.com/#!/pages/Michael-Curtin-for-Elgin-City-Council/119426528117155
• Tom McCarthy: drivertom4elgin.com/
• "Anna Moeller for Elgin City Council" on Facebook: facebook.com/#!/pages/Anna-Moeller-for-Elgin-City-Council/107164216021196
• Shane Nowak's blog: shanenowak.blogspot.com
• Tish Powell: powellforelgin.com
• "Tish Powell for Elgin" on Facebook: facebook.com/PowellforElgin
• Mike Robins: mikerobinsforelgin.com
• Toby Shaw: votetobyshaw.com

A complete list of candidates and what's at stake in each election, as well as links to school board candidates' websites, after the jump.

NOTE: In a revival of this "classic" Friday feature, Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey guesses how much beer (or other beverage of choice) it might take him to pay money to see a recently-released movie. His opinions are based on trailers, ads and advance hype.

Here's one movie playing this weekend...

Source Code

In what seems like another gimmicky movie that could have been a "Twilight Zone," or "Fringe" episode, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a soldier sent back in time, where he has with just eight minutes to find out out who planted a bomb on the train where he winds up, trapped in another body, of course. It sounds like a dream... within a dream... within a dream... within a dream.

Beer rating: A few Delirium Tremens.

WHAT?! You were looking for a REAL movie review? Our Sun-Times Media colleague Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times does a swell job at that.

-- Mike Danahey, Staff Writer