Your plan was flawed from the start

One of the things we did during the family vacation last month was sing around the fire. One song that Rachel and Trey often sing/play is Cold Missouri Waters (the most popular version is by the group Cry, Cry, Cry) and the song is really sad and I cry every time that they play it. I thought that maybe if I learned all the words than when I hear the song I would be so focused on remembering the words that I wouldn't cry. But the plan hasn't worked so far because I still cry every time (except one time because I listened to the song on repeat). But I am learning most of the words. Anyway, here is a YouTube video of the song:

I'm driving the hell out of this truck!

On my way to the post office after work, I notice that my alternator wasn't charging the battery and the car was getting really hot. I pulled into the Dairy Queen, popped the hood, and discovered that the fan belt was broken. So after a short chat with my dad (just to check how easy or hard it would be to get the right fan belt), I took the broken belt and walk down to the NAPA store (which was about 1.5 blocks away) and bought a new belt. After another call to my dad to figure out what tools I needed and to make sure I knew all the pulleys that the belt went around, I went to work. I was able to get the belt around almost all the pulleys except for the last one which required moving the spring loaded idler and getting the belt around the last pulley. Unfortunately, I couldn't move the idler and put the belt around the last pulley. So, I walked across the street to the fire house and asked a fire fighter to help me with the last little bit. With his help, I was able to get the belt around the last pulley and now my car is running back to normal (alternator charging and car staying cool). And I was super proud of myself for getting most of the belt on by myself. And I only got a little dirty (grease all over my hands and on my forearms) and hardly any on my shirt (which is currently soaking in the sink).

Back to form

I like to relax by reading a good book but the last book I got from Paperspine was Never Let Me Go which was such a slow read because it took so long for there to be any action. And the book was about 80% narration rather than conversation between 2 characters (which is why I have no problem rereading Jane Austen!). But right before vacation, I stayed up late on Friday night finishing the Raw Shark Text by Steven Hall. That book was really fantastic and wonderfully paced. With some books, it seems this the plot is chugging along and the author thinks "Uh-uh this is running to almost 300 pages, I better wrap this up in the next 20 pages" and so the end feels rushed (and I think that climax of the book is less satisfying). But the Raw Shark Text did not have that problem at all. The basic plot is a guy named Eric Sanderson wakes up in an apartment with no memory of who he is but keeps getting messages from the "First Eric Sanderson". Oh and he is being stalked by a conceptual shark. There is a perfect mix of action and heavy cerebral lifting (like wrapping your head around the idea of conceptual fish that come in all sizes). And there are some places with nontraditional text (like a shark made out of letters). I highly recommend it to everyone (and the 400+ pages really fly by, I think that I read it in about 1.5 weeks).

How's tricks?

For the past couple of days, I've been watching the BBC adaptation (written by Andrew Davies) of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". I enjoyed it a lot when is ran on PBS earlier this year, but I felt that some subplots were not completely explained/examined. But watching the original version, I like it even more. Plus, now that I know the general story, I can pay attention to the subplots much easier and understand how they (the subplots) help drive the main plot. And, I've figured out who the heck everyone is! I feel the same way about Robert Altman's "Gosford Park". The first time I saw it, I liked it but it was hard to understand the relationship between all the characters. But by the third time, I know who everyone is and what their relationship and interactions are with everyone else. That is what I love best about well written movies, the more that you see them, the more you understand and enjoy the movie. And you can appreciate other aspects of the movie like the score, the costumes, or the cinematography (try it with a Hitchcock movie, those are some of the best). And the other thing I enjoyed about Little Dorrit is playing my favorite game of "ID that Brit!". I love in BBC/PBS shows, that some of the same actor pop up again and again making imdb my friend in figuring out why I recognize an actor (like when I was watching an episode of Doctor Who and I figured out that one of the actors was in Little Dorrit).



Oh yeah, BBC's Bleak House is equally good!

Another Year

I went home this past weekend to celebrate my birthday and spend some time with my parents and Lucy (and Josh and Vaughn). Since Lucy had to work all day Sunday, I opened my birthday presents on Saturday morning. Lucy and Josh and Rachel and Trey got me a really nice set of new silverware (my current silverware was a little mismatched). Ellis and Vaughn got me an awesome "The Office" poster. Mom (in addition to the new desk she got me when she was here) got me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (although that might have been Lucy) and a subscription to Real Simple. And then Bridget got a subscription to Mental Floss (I do love getting magazine subscriptions. So after the presents, Mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I went it to town to run a few errands (and have lunch at Pucinni's which is one my favorite restaurants in Lafayette). We stopped at Target (Lucy had to return something) and I got a fancy new bamboo silverware divider to go with my beautiful new silverware:
Also on Saturday, Mom and I got new phones (which I love so much!). Thank you everyone that sent me birthday wishes (include the lovely serenade from Ellis). Love you all, and I can't wait to see everyone sometime this summer!

It could just be me...

I just finished watching Bunny Lake is Missing (which was great) but I noticed something very odd about the score. It was very drum/bongo heavy. And I was thinking of what other movies from the 60s with really drum heavy scores. The main one I thought of was In the Heat of the Night (especially in chase scene in the first 30 minutes of the movie) but I think the more suspenseful portions of Charade feature some really weird drumming (and I am sure there are plenty more!). The plot of Bunny Lake is Missing is that a single mother (who has just moved to London to be with her brother) drops off her daughter as a daycare and then when she comes to pick up Bunny, she is nowhere to be found. The police are called in and then begin to suspect the Bunny never existed. This type of psychological thriller is one that I love and I have seen 5 movies with this same plot device: Flightplan, Bunny Lake is Missing, Dangerous Crossing, So Long at the Fair, and The Lady Vanishes. I have to say, giving into my preference for all things Hitchcock, The Lady Vanishes is my favorite. But, I did see some influence of Hitchcock on Bunny Lake is Missing. I recommend all of the movies above (all are DVD except for So Long At The Fair, but it will be on TCM on August 10th at 6:30pm EST), even though Flight Plan is probably weakest of the 5. On the negative side, I read that Bunny Lake is Missing is going to be remade, yikes!

It's time to change, it's time to rearrange

My mom came to visit me this past weekend (I had Monday off) and she thought it would be good to rearrange my furniture and organize my apartment (and she was right). I got a new entertainment center last month (at Ikea) so I wasn't sure what to do with the old one (and ditto for a desk, I wanted to get a smaller less hulking one).




We talked mostly on Friday night of how to rearrange the furniture and the type of desk that I wanted. On Saturday, we went to Lehman's (as per tradition for anyone that comes to visit me!). We also stopped at Wal-mart to look at cabinets to help organize my vanity area. And after some discussions (and difficulty putting the stupid thing together!), we ended up with this:



Later on Saturday afternoon we headed to Target to get a new desk and after about 30 minutes of discussion (and only slight difficultly putting together the desk and the accompanying side table) and picking out some really cute bamboo storage bins, this is what we ended up with:


On Sunday, we went to World Market (in Akron) to get some baskets to help organize the two re-purposed storage cabinets. So after moving them and going through my kitchen to decide what to move and what to put on display:




Which means my awesome Jane Austen quote mugs are on display!
Bonus points to whoever can tell my which book each quote is from (except for the two that say the book of course):

So Awesome

See more notes like this at PassiveAggressiveNotes.com. Enjoy!

Brief Absence

I haven't blogged for about two weeks now but I am going to try to do better. I went to the farm for the 4th of July holiday. I talked mom into teaching me how to sew (it didn't take much) so on Friday we spent a little while at Jo-Ann's looking through patterns and then getting some material to make a dress and an Asian style top. We also picked up some flowers and had some lunch (and picked up some feed for the goats and chickens) before heading back home. But we forgot to get material to line the dress, so we went back to Jo-Ann's on Saturday morning to get the lining. This time Lucy (and Vaughn) can with us and Lucy got material (and a few patterns) for a sundress, a pair of pants, and a top. On Friday night, mom and I cut out the material for the dress (which is when we discovered that we forgot the get the lining). And then on Saturday, we went of the Logansport to Josh's family 4th of July celebration. Lucy and I spent about 2.5 hours picking black raspberries (and so our arms are covered in scratches and mosquito bites) in the rain. But, now I am looking forward to delicious jam and the black raspberry pie mom made for our family vacation later this summer!

More Mystery Love

And here is the opening credits for an episode of Sherlock Holmes (and this is from 1984, when I would have been one, so I think that by the time I watched it, Diana Rigg was the host)

I don't know, we'll have to find out

Are these the coolest opening (and closing) credits ever?

I love those credits, I remember watching Mystery when I was younger (including Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett) and back when Diana Rigg was the host (and then when it was host-less for a few years). PBS has split up Masterpiece Theater into 3 types: Classic, Mystery, and Contemporary. I do like the new format (and Laura Linney and Alan Cummings have been great hosts for the Classic and Mystery versions, respectively) but I do miss the old opening credit for Masterpiece Classic. Fortunately, the awesome Edward Gorey credits still remain. The work of Edward Gorey is always delightfully macabre and quirky. I remember knowing that I would be really good friends with a girl from the Academy when we both agreed that we loved the lady with the fan (and the lady with the stole blowing in the wind) and they were the best part of the credits (during my pre-Academy days, there were few people who watched a lot of PBS). And this same person and I shared a love of the Kevin Sullivan production of Anne of Green Gables and other old PBS movies produced by WonderWorks (which includes Frogs! and The Gryphon).

And, as a bonus this older version (back when Mystery was hosted by Vincent Price) were just as cool:

For your viewing pleasure

Here are a music video from the 80s with the song lyrics describing what is actually happening in the videos. And I must admit, I kind of love this song. And the video is pretty much hilarious!

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

Quick and Versatile

I love making naan, which is a type of Indian flatbread. It is really easy to make, relatively quick (it takes a little more than an hour), and can be used for lots of different things. I usually make it with curried pork bites (or chicken tandoori, really anything that is spicy) but I have also toasted the naan with cheese on top, and spread both peanut butter or nutella on a piece of naan. So here is the recipe (and with picture!):
8 oz (225 g) bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 oz yeast
4 T milk (lukewarm)
1 T vegetable oil
2 T yogurt
1 egg Combine milk and yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes.


Sift together flour and salt. Add the yogurt, oil, egg, and milk and mix to form a soft dough (it will be pretty sticky).


Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (until smooth and elastic). Again the dough with be a little sticky so make sure to use plenty of flour. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk (I've reduced the raising time to about 30 minutes in a rush and the naan still turned out well). Punch down and then divide into 8 pieces and roll into balls then roll out into a disc. You can make the pieces of naan thicker and bigger if you like. I like to make my naan a little smaller and thinner so it cooks faster.


Heat a pan to medium (or use a grill). Place naan on the pan (or grill) for about 3 to 4 minutes (the naan will start to puff up) and then flip over and cook on the otherside for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and repeat until all pieces of naan are cooked. Enjoy!

Success!

I remember watching The Simpsons when they were still on the Tracy Ullman show and we used to watch it every week back in the first few years of the show (I think that I stopped watching it around my senior year of high school around season 11 or 12, when the show seemed to be more about Homer than the whole family). One of the characters, Nelson Muntz, always says goodbye by saying "Smell you later" and Rachel (and sometimes me) has been saying that to Ellis whenever ever he would leave the room or go upstairs for a nap. And then on Sunday as Rachel was taking him upstairs for his nap and I said "Smell you later" to which Ellis replied "I will smell you later. Aunt Caferene, I will smell you later". It was pretty much hilarious and adorable. I couldn't find a clip of Nelson saying smell you later, but here is a pretty funny clip of him from the first episode I remember him saying smell you later.

I personally don't feel this way (all the time anyway)

Coolest Choir Teacher ever

I can't resist a Coldplay song! (Especially one from Viva La Vida, I love that Album!)

Celebrate!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought that I would make a (bulletized) list of planet-friendly products or services that I really like.

• Soap: Lucy and I have been experimenting with making our own soap. And what I like about making my own soap is that I know what is in that soap and I know where the ingredients come from and the quality. But if I don't have my own homemade soap with me, a brand that I have discovered is Pure& Natural. They only make 3 products (bar soap, body soap, and hand soap) in really interesting combinations like grapefruit pomegranate (my favorite) and rosemary mint. They use a combination of palm oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil. The packing is made of recycled material which is embedded with baby breath's seeds (so you can plant them in the garden). And the company donates to the World Wildlife Fund.
  
• Toothbrushes: One of the best toothbrushes I have ever used is made the company Preserve which makes a variety of personal care products (like razors) using recycled yogurt containers (which is no. 5, for all of you familiar with sorting your plastics). The toothbrush is slightly curved so it makes it easy to reach your back teeth. You can return the toothbrush back to company and it will be recycled to make more products. You can also send any clean no. 5 containers (or drop them off at a Whole Foods, maybe I will start keeping all my no.5s to take with me next time I visit Rachel in Ann Arbor!). The company has expanded their product line to include not only tableware but kitchen supplies like mixing bowls and cutting boards (I just ordered one to replace my old flexible one so maybe I will review it here on the blog).
• Books: So I am using 2 online services for lending books. One is a pay service to rent two books a month (for about the price of a Netflix subscription) called Paperspine. The books come through the mail and then you just use the pre-paid envelopes to mail it back (which means that you can put them in any dropbox, you don't have to go the post office.). The selection at Paperspine is really good (but only paperbacks) and I have gotten more than a couple books for my book reviews through Paperspine. The other service that I use (less regularly) is Paperback Swap, which is basically a service that allows you to swap books with other users for free (you do have to pay for mailing the books). The variety of books is dependent on the users but I found some interesting books through Paperback Swap like a novel by Jasper Fforde and a copy of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.
  
• Resuable Shopping Bags: Rachel sent me the website for Reusable Bags which is where I have gotten 4 of the 7 reusable bags that I use every time I go shopping. My favorite bag from that site is the Envirosax ultra compact reusable bag because I can roll it up and keep it in my purse in case I have to make a quick stop at the grocery store. I also have the set of Happybags totes with the design names of Lucy and Catherine (I couldn't resist!). The latest addition to my collection of reusable bags is one I bought at Barnes and Noble that I really like because the material is a little bit stiffer so it is more like a fabric paper bag. And I have a bag that I take with me to the library (or the post office).
  
• Cleaning Products: I almost exclusively use cleaning products made by Method. All the cleaning products are make from environmentally friendly formulations which means that all you really smell is the scents used by the company like grapefruit and lavender. The cleaning wipes are made of bamboo which means that the wipes are compostable and biodegradable. I have used lots of the products made by Method like the daily shower cleaner, cleaning wipes, dish soap (right now I am using the spiced pear holiday scent), and air freshener. They also make laundry products and dishwasher soap (which I haven't used because I don't have a dishwasher).
  
• Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs: I've used a couple different brands but my favorite is the Meijer brand because they are pretty affordable and come in cardboard packaging which is completely recycleable (the other 2 brands I've used came in plastic package which could be recycled except that there is no number designation listed).
  

Thanks for reading and I hope that some of these suggestions are helpful!

It's April 22nd!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

I'm going to write a real post soon, I promise!

For lovers of the Kool Aid Man game

see more pwn and owned pictures

Glitterize

I was picking up a few things at Wal-mart today after work and I came across a Martha Stewart kit to make cards. And as much as Martha Stewart can drive me crazy, her company really makes cute stuff:


The downside is, I got glitter pretty much all over the place in my living room.

Lather, Rinse, and maybe Repeat

I went home for the Easter holiday (I got Good Friday off from work) on Thursday night (the five hour drive isn't so bad now that I am used to it). On Friday, mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I ran some errands in town (including my usually weekend errand of taking out recycling!) and had lunch (I will let Lucy tell the story about our lunch out!). On Saturday, I went up with my parents to Dowaigac to see Bridget for the day. On Sunday, Lucy and I tried our hand (yet again) at liquid soap making (ok, we made shampoo). Unfortunately (just like last time) the soap mixture boiled over onto the stove and then Lucy and I got the clean the stove. I had to head back (after the delicious Easter lunch mom made for us) before the last part of the process was complete so you will have to ask Lucy how it turned out! But I heard that her hair did not fall out upon using the homemade shampoo.

"I had a lot of time to think while I was unflushing Aunt Peggy's keys" - Luanne Platter

What's The Matter With Helen?

She's nuts. I made the mistake of watching the movie "What's the Matter With Helen?" this afternoon with Debbie Reynolds and Shelly Winters. The basic plot is the mothers of two convicted murders move to California to start afresh. I like Debbie Reynolds a lot (especially in Singing in the Rain) but I do not like Shelly Winters at all. She was really annoying in this movie (I think she screamed for about 15 minutes total at various points in the movie). And she is super unlikable in "A Patch of Blue" and totally useless in "Night of the Hunter". So if anyone knows a movie that Shelly Winters is actually good in, please let me know. But I'm making up for watching that terrible movie by watching an excellent movie: Murder, My Sweet. The original title for the movie (and the book is it based on) was Farewell My Lovely but it was changed so moviegoers wouldn't think it was a musical. And I didn't understand that until I saw 42th Street and realized Dick Powell was in a ton of musicals before doing Murder, My Sweet (and the actress Anne Shirley is in this movie too!).

HANK: If you ask me, you've got too much imagination. Everything's all loop-de-loops and flibbertigibbets.

The Juice and Jack McCoy

Tonight I watched Capricorn One (on TCM naturally) which is a 1978 movie about a faked Mars landing starring James Brolin, Elliot Gould, Sam Waterson (aka Jack McCoy) and O.J. Simpson. It was really strange to see all the lead actors so young (I don't think that I have ever seen a movie with Sam Waterson without gray hair, not to mention James Brolin without white hair!). And it is always a little strange to see pre-trial O.J. Simpson. I have only ever seen him in the Naked Gun movies (and his scenes were always my least favorite) so it was strange to see him in a dramatic role. That being said, he didn't have to have a lot a talent to play his part in Capricorn One. Most of his lines were basically stating the obvious. But Sam Waterson did get to play kind of a smart-ass in the movie, which was quite enjoyable. Overall, I enjoyed the movie but for the most part I like the conspiracy theory movies (like The Manchurian Canidate and most Hitchcock movies [i.e. North by Northwest, Foreign Correspondent] and Sneakers) so I'm not really suprised that I liked it.

DALE: I can't afford to be out of commission for three days. As one of Arlen's leading skeptics, I've got my fingers in a lot of pies.
HANK: But Dale, you made a deal. What about all that great stuff you got from John?
DALE: Damn, the stuff! Stuff is my weakness!

More TCM love

I know I have mentioned in the past how much I love the TCM channel (it is one of my favorite channels and I usually check what is showing on the weekends). I have seen some great movies on TCM (like Now, Voyager, A Night At the Opera, and Christmas in Connecticut to name a few). But tonight, they are showing a bunch of Chuck Jones shorts as well as a short documentary about Chuck Jones and The Phantom Tollbooth (which is on at 11pm but Lucy is taping it for me). This is the perfect remedy to my somewhat stressful day at work.

MINH: Kahn, we have no nanny for Connie.
KAHN: Oh, cruel, cruel fate! This Maui speech could be my stepping-stone from systems analyst to senior systems analyst!

The return

I think that it has been about a month since I last did a book review (and I've actually finished 3 books in that time!) but finally here is another book review (I'm sure all of you were waiting for one!). The book for this week (or month) is "The Hours Before Dawn" by Celia Fremlin. It is a mystery novel set in 1958 London about a housewife named Louise with 3 children including a new baby that cries all night. The family lets a room in their house to a mysterious lodger named Vera Brandon. Strange things start happening around the house but Louise is so tired that she isn't sure what is real and what isn't real. On top of that there is a feeling on anxiety all though the house that may or may not be due to Miss Brandon. Since a lot of the action takes place in the house it feels very claustrophobic but also a little more terrifying since there is no safe haven for Louise. You also sympathize with Louise as she struggles to get through the day through her exhaustion (I'm sure anyone with a new born can understand Louise's struggle). The novel is pretty short (about 175 pages) but it really good. I discovered the book (which has a been out of print for a long time) through Bas Bleu which is one of my favorite bookstores (although it is really just an online store/catalog, there is no physical store). Every book that I have read that was recommended by the catalog (like Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day) has been fantastic. They specialize in more eccentric/lesser known books (basically the complete opposite of Oprah's Book Club). So there are more books from small publishing companies or companies outside of the United States and older books (and less well-known books) that have out of print (like the one for this review). I highly recommend "The Hours Before Dawn" (which may soon be making the rounds through my family) and Bas Bleu.

I'm officially an adult!

Because I did my taxes today (online)! Since I worked a month in Indiana, I have to pay the state of Indiana $6 (so I couldn't e-file) but I have to mail something on Monday so I am going to go ahead and send in all my tax stuff on Monday as well. And it wasn't too hard to do the 2 states (as well as the Federal) using TurboTax (it was much easier than I thought, or was afraid it would be). I was actully really nervous about doing my taxes (like I was going to mess it up and then get audited) but my company makes it easy to use an online service because you can automatically import your W-2 so I wasn't so worried about mistyping a number.

HANK: So Bobby, we got to think of a hero for you.
BOBBY: Do you have a hero, Dad?
HANK: I sure do, and it's Willie Nelson.
BOBBY: How come?
HANK: Well, you might say he's been my inspiration. See, Willie grew up in Texas, and I grew up in Texas. He loves golfing and playing guitar, I love golfing and playing guitar, he's had trouble with the IRS, and I must have spent six hours last April on that 1040 form -- EZ my ass.

It's a shark!

This past weekend I drove up to Ann Arbor for a surprise visit to Rachel and my mom. On Saturday, we all went to Costco (no IKEA for once!) and enjoyed a variety of free samples (although I think that Ellis enjoyed the jelly beans sample the most). We got these really cool (and large) kites (a dragon and a shark) to take with up the vacation house in August. And then we went to see the boat that Trey is working on and played Settlers of Catan while Ellis was napping (and Rachel basically creamed mom and I). Trey made a delicious trout dinner and then Rachel and Trey creamed mom and I at Hand and Foot (we did win one round though). On Sunday, Rachel, Mom, Ellis, and I when to Borders and then to Meijer while Trey got supplies to rebuild the shelves in their basement pantry. The shelves were mostly done by the time I headed back to Ashland, but I will require photographic proof!

LUANNE: And not one of my beauty school credits has transferred to junior college. It turns out you have to get at least a C.

Cecil Jacobs is a big wet hen

I love the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". I have a first edition that a friend got for me for graduation (which makes me love the book so much more because I am reminded of her). I also love the movie of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in part because the screen adaptation by Horton Foote is so well done. So I was very sad to learn that Horton Foote passed away today. I may have to watch "To Kill A Mockingbird" (and cry as usual) this weekend.

Faster than you can say Jack Robinson

I went home two weeks ago (during the President's Day weekend) and mom and I went to a local quilt shop and we saw this really cool pattern that I said would be good to show off interesting quilt material. And then we went on to look at the material at the shop and I mentioned that for some reason I really like the 60s-ish retro quilt material a lot and I would love to use them to make a quilt but I would really want to show off the material. Since my mom is a genius she remembered the quilt pattern that we admired earlier would be perfect to show off the material. So after about 20 minutes of determining which material to use, mom and I went home and cut and sewed the patches together. Mom and Lucy helped me layout the quilt. I wanted the quilt to be pretty random and Lucy wanted there to be a pattern (I won out, reminding Lucy that the quilt was for me and not to worry, the quilt that I have in mind for her has a definite pattern). Mom helped me pin and sew the rows (and smartly marked the rows in order) and I sewed the rows together this weekend:


I'm not sure if I want to add an outside border (it is just big enough for my double bed with a little bit of overhang) and I don't know what quilting pattern to use (I'm thinking maybe a triangular Celtic knot) but I'm open to suggestions. I may try to get a better picture of it.

Arrrghh...

I might as well as have been wearing a eye patch because my depth perception today was totally wonky. I whacked my arm against a door knob (not once but twice) and I hit my shoulder on a wall of my cubicle. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. It will be Friday and I get Monday off due to President's Day so I am looking forward to a nice long weekend at the farm.

"This is no time to go easy on these punks. That's the mistake their parents made." - Hank

Disappointedsville, population: me

I watched Lawrence of Arabia last night on TCM. I've wanting to watch that movie for a while due largely to its reputation of one the best "epic" movie made. I thought the cinematography was excellent (did you know that the lens used to shoot the mirage scene of Omar Sharif is now known as the "David Lean Lens") and the music certainly matched the epic scale of the desert. But I was still disappointed in the movie because I found it really boring. The movie just goes on and on and on (and on and on). I don't have a problem with long movies (see the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice which is 310 minutes or the two Anne of Green Gables movies, one is 194 minute and the other is 240). But holy moly Lawrence of Arabia is a long movie. The action scenes seemed really short and then were long interludes of basically nothing, no character development, no talking. The casting really bothered me too. Alec Guiness is not Arabic, and neither is Anthony Quinn (he is actully Mexican). I liked Peter O'Toole in the role but he looked very odd with his super blond hair and really blue eyes against his really tan skin (apparently Peter O'Toole is much taller and better looking than T.E. Lawerence). I do apperciate that a majority of the extras in the movie are actully Arabian (King Hussien lent a brigade of the Arabian Legion as extras in the film; he also visited the set often and met his second wife on the set). So overall, I was a disappointed in the movie. But after Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca was on so the evening ended on a high note (the Great Escape was on at 11:30 and that was a little too late for me!)

Trifecta

I've been really bad about writing the book reviews on a weekly basis. But I've also been bad about writing post in general for most of the month of January. I will try to do better (I am currently triple booking with The Sea Lady, The City of Ember, and Up the Down Staircase so I should be able to write another review next weekend). Anyway the book for this week's review is "Double Indemnity" by James M. Cain (which is the source material for the movie starring Barbra Stanwyck and Fred McMurray). The book is really short (115 pages) but it really packs a punch! It is the story of an insurance salesman who falls in love with a married woman and is persuaded into killing her husband after taking out a life insurance on the husband (with a double indemnity clause if the death occurs near a railroad track). I love film noir movies (since I saw Murder My Sweet) so I was intrigued to read the book before seeing the movie. But what I think is the most amazing thing is that James M. Cain also wrote two other well known film noir movies: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (which I got from the library a few days ago to read before seeing the movie) and "Mildred Pierce" (I've seen the movie already, which I didn't like too much, so I am hoping that the book will be better). If you like film noir, I definitely recommend reading this classic in the genre.

100 years at the movies

I've seen this a couple times on TCM (during the 31 Days of Oscar) and I love it every time I see it. And notice the clip of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the end!

The most wonderful time of the year

This is one of my favorite times of year because of TCM's 31 Days of Oscar. And this year, TCM has done a really cool marketing idea making the TCM University. So the movies are arranged by type based on what academic department they would be in. For example Friday's theme is the Physics department and the day is split into three subjects: Astrophysics (and showing The Black Hole, Forbidden Planet, and 2010), Aerodynamics (showing Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Only Angels Have Wings, Flying Tigers, and Strategic Air Command) and Nuclear Physics (showing Seven Days to Noon, Dr. Strangelove, Lil' Abner, Crimson Tide, and The Atomic City). I have to say marketing department at TCM has had some genius moments as evidenced by this ad for Ben-Hur:

Not just for last minute science fair projects

My bathroom sink has been draining rather slowly but instead of buying drain cleaner, I thought I would try a homemade (and more earth friendly) drain cleaner. I pour a 1/4 cup of baking soda down the sink followed by a 1/2 cup of vinegar and then pushed down the plunger so that none of mixture bubbled out of the drain. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then poured about a cup of boiling water down the drain. And it actually worked pretty well, I still had a little bit of water left in the drain which I think reduced its effectiveness a little bit. But I was reading the comments for the post at website specializing in homemade cleaning products and pouring boiling water down the sink rather than cold or warm water is the best.

What exactly are you trying to do, Hank? Turn our school into some kind of bohemian Montessori lovefest? - Dale Gribble

That fancy internet machine

Over the winter break, I decided that I should go to the eye doctor to get a check-up (it was about 2 years since my last one). Instead of buying glasses from the eye doctor, Rachel talked me into buying my glasses online. So after a few days of looking at the sites and through all the frames, I ordered a pair of glasses from goggles4u.com a little more than a week ago. And today, they arrived in the mail:



Ordering the glasses was pretty easy. The site has a huge selection which can be overwhelming at first but you can narrow down the frames based on color or material. Most of the frames (including mine) cost about $13. The page for each frame lists the measurements of the frame, like the width of the frame, the height and width of the lens area and width of the bridge. And there are pretty good instructions for measuring your face (or your current pair). For some frames, you can try them on virtually. You upload a picture of yourself and the glasses are then superimposed on your face. The scale can be a little weird but I was able to shrink my picture and enlarge the frames enough to make it look slightly normal. There are a couple options for the lenses as well like thickness or made of glass or polycarbonate. They also have bifocal lenses but the frame size has to be large enough for the bifocal. I ordered the polycarbonate lenses that had anti-glare and UV coating and are scratch-resistant which cost about $30. Entering in your prescription is pretty easy but if you are concerned with it, the is an option to fax them a copy of your prescription to them to avoid any mistakes. I had a good experience ordering my glasses on-line, it was way cheaper and the selection was huge and varied (and it was kinda of fun to see myself in frames that I would never wear), but I did get lots input from my mom, Rachel and Lucy before I finally picked my frames.

PEGGY: You may not have noticed it, because I wear bold eyeglasses to draw the attention to my head, but your mother has exceptionally long and handsome feet.

I'll be your handy man (or woman)

I visited Rachel this weekend which means we (Rachel, mom, Lucy and I) went to IKEA. I've been needing a larger CD tower for a while now and I found a nice one at IKEA (even on sale!) so I put it together this evening after I got back from Ann Arbor.

Pod, Pod, Pod

I've missed the last couple weeks of book reviews, but I will try to make up for it. Before I left for the holidays, I read "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney (first published in 1955 and adapted into a movie in 1956, 1978, 1993 and 2007). The novel opens with the small town doctor in California getting a call from an old girlfriend who is worried about her cousin. The cousin insists the uncle that raised her isn't her uncle. As more and more people in the town insists a friend or family member isn't his or her friend or family member. A local psychiatrist insists that it is all psychologically. Eventually, the townspeople not longer think someone they know isn't right. And then a friend (of the doctor) finds a body in his basement that resembles him (the friend). I have to say, even though I knew the basic plot of the book, it was still really suspenseful. I could definitely see how the novel inspired at lot of science fiction stories. And it was interesting to here the science portion as science was in 1955 (especially considering that the structure of DNA was determined only 2 years earlier). The novel is also the source of the term "pod person" (or people). I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction.

On the edge of Loonytown and taking the train to the city centre

It's been almost a month since my last post mostly because I was home at the farm during the holiday and there were lots of other things to occupy my time (and a majority of the people who read this blog saw me over the holiday season). And since I have to children, photo-based blog post are not as cute. Fortunately, the amount of snow that has fallen here at Ashland has motivated me to write some posts. Christmas at the farm was really nice (even though I didn't get to farm until 5pm on Christmas Eve) because everyone was there (including 4 children under 5). Deidre and her family (and grandpa) came up for Christmas dinner (and games) which is always fun. The little boys were pretty good but there were some moments between Silas and Ellis that lead to crying (one or both of them). My mom got all the little boys little plasma cars (which could be ridden by adults) which were appreciate most by Silas, Ellis, and Orrin (and by extension Emmet because often he was Orrin's passenger). Bridget and Orrin went to Orrin's parents for New Years so we didn't have a big party this year but we still had a good time singing songs after Ellis went to sleep. Trey and Rachel went home a few days after New Years and so I spent lots of time giggling and watching movies with Mom and Lucy and playing with Vaughn until I drove back to Ashland on Sunday afternoon. I was (of course) kinda bummed to go back to work (my apartment is so quite compared to the farm on Christmas) but work is going okay. I'm moving cubicles on Friday (to a better cubicle with more space) on Friday. Unfortunately, my new desk is at a slight incline so turning around can be a little annoying.

BOBBY: I'm gonna cross the track and bring Mr. Witchard a soda.
HANK: That's crazy! Why would you do that?
BOBBY: I'm giving 110 percent, Dad.
JIMMY: Go to here, go-to boy! I want a soda! Go to now!

Suprises!

For more proof that my mom is awesome (and psychic), I was having a bad day at work on Friday and when I got home a package was sitting on my doorstep which contained this:

It's a rosemary tree!

And then today, a package containing some little ornaments (and some garland) arrived. So I decorated my little tree listening to some Christmas music (so I'm getting a little more into the Christmas spirit)



It smells so good! And it really lifted my spirits.

DALE: I can't keep this up. It's not in my nature to care about others.


HANK: Uh-uh, this is too much. In high school you blocked for me, but I did my job too. I ran through the hole, setting Arlen High School's single-season rushing record, as you recall. But here I am blocking for you, and you're not even trying! I don't even know what game you're playing -- some kind of crazy tennis!

Back and Forth

The book for this week's review (which I read today in fact) is 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. The book is a collection of letters between Helene, a writer living in New York searching for obscure book and famous titles of British literature, and the workers of Marks and Co., a secondhand bookshop, with most of the correspondence between Helene and Frank Doel (as well as Doel family). The letters were quite moving especially since Helene would spend some of her meager salary sending packages of food to the employees of the store (as well as a neighbor of the Doels) during the heavy rationing period of the post World War II. The correspondence occurs over the course of about 20 years. The letters are quite lovely, a times humorous or sad but always with an obvious passion for literature. The book has been adapted into a TV miniseries, the stage, and a movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft (and Judi Dench as Frank's wife). I'm planning on watching the movie sometime (through Netflix) since the book is still very fresh in my mind.

How is a raven like a writing desk?

Because Poe wrote on both of them! The book for this week's review (and the source of the answer to the riddle from Alice in Wonderland) is "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. This is the first book in a series about literary detective Thursday Next. Fforde creates an alternate universe where the entire population of England takes their literature very serious (there are groups that maintain the Francis Bacon wrote the plays of Shakespeare and thousands of people have legally changed their name to John Milton). Crimes of a literary nature (like forgeries of great works) are investigated by literary detectives like Thursday Next. The novel opens with the theft of the original manuscript of Dickens' "Martin Chuzzlewit". Determining the thief of manuscript leads to Thursday chasing a criminal mastermind who later steals the original manuscript of "Jane Eyre". As those who know me well, you can imagine that I love this book (and the rest in the series). The books are full of references to the classics (for example in the second book, Thursday become the protege of Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations"). The world that Fforde created is a good mix of quirky and serious that it isn't too outlandish and crazy. I discovered the second book in the series ("Lost in a Good Book") at a used bookstore in West Virginia (it is a publishing company's in house copy, I'm not sure how it ended up in a used bookstore in a small town in West Virginia). I have all the books in the series (there are 5 all together) but there was a bit a space between the second and the third one so I am planning on rereading the 2nd one before I start the third one (and the fourth and fifth).

Bent as a two bob watch

I had a great trip to Ireland and I got a chance to catch up on some reading so I can finally do a book review after skipping the last couple weeks. Lucy got me the book "Not All Tarts Are Apples" by Pip Granger for Christmas which I read on the plane (and the during the bus ride from Dublin to Clonmel). The book is about an little girl Rosie during 1953 London living with her aunt and uncle above there cafe. Rosie learns that a local "tart" is actually her mother when the owners of the cafe (who are not related to her) want to adopt her. But the family of her mother has some plans for Rosie which may require involvement by all her adopted family to make sure that Rosie is happy. I thought this book was very charming and full of interesting 1950s London slang (which I really want to incorporate into my lexicon!). And it really explored the idea of a non-traditional family in that most of Rosie family was not directly related to her, but lived in her building, were regular customers at the cafe, or people in the neighborhood that cared for her. There is a sequel (and 2 prequels) for this novel, but since Pip Granger is a British author, the paperback is not available through Paperspine yet, so I will have to wait for the prequels to be in paperback form.

Erin goes and goes

I drove home from Ashland on Friday night and mom kindly helped me re-pack my bag to include all the birthday goodies for Emmet's party and drove me to the airport for my Aer Lingus flight on Saturday afternoon. After a pretty good flight (only on screaming baby and I was able to get some sleep), my met my high school roommate Sarah (and her sister) at the airport in Dublin and we took a bus (and the subway) back to her house for an episode of Father Ted and a short nap before walking around her neighborhood. Then she took me to the bus that would take me to Clonmel (she even packed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the trip with lots of black currant jam). The bus ride was good (and I got to sleep for a little while). I was worried (only a little) about meeting Bridget in Clonmel but as luck would have it, she and Orrin (and the boys) were only their way back home and were right behind my bus! On Monday, Bridget and I visited Cahair castle and then returned home to decorate for Emmet's birthday party. I think that everyone had a good time (there were about 30+ kids!). So after unwinding a bit on Monday night (and watching a few episodes of The Office). Bridget dropped off Orrin at work and went to the Rock of Cashel (where I saw St. Patrick's Cross) and to Kilkenny castle (which was updated during the Victorian period so it really only looks like a castle from the outside, the only way you can really tell is the thickness of the windows). And today we went to Blarney Castle were Bridget, Silas, Emmet and I climbed the 127 steps to the top and Bridget and I kissed the Blarney stone! We also walked around the gardens of the castle (which were beautiful) and stopped for some gelato (and a patch for my bag) before heading to Cobh on the coast. Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic before it crossed the ocean (and sank) and an emigration point during the Great Famine. There is statue commemorating the first person to immigrate through Ellis Island who left from Cobh. This sounds like a lot, but we don't have too much planned for tomorrow morning, so we will relax a little bit.

And Bridget will be posting pictures soon!!

T- minus 3 days

In three days, I will be on my way to Ireland to visit my roommate from the Academy and Bridget (and family). I am really excited about going. I will be really busy at work for the rest of week so it will be really good to get a break from work (and not think about work or dream about it). I'm mostly packed (most importantly I've picked out the few books that I would bring with me). I even went to the post office to hold my mail while I'll be gone. I totally feel like such an adult now, you know making lots of preparations and making sure that I won't be behind at work when I get back. Add to that the fact that it is time for re-enroll in the benefits program at work and I am definitely not a student anymore.

HANK: I know I'll never love your feet as much as they do, but the way I look at it, you're like a fully loaded truck. The big tires are part of the package. You pay extra to get those really big tires. Now, why are you crying? You know how much I want a new truck.

Baby you can drive my car

This ad from the UK make me want cake and be really impressed at the same time:

Colorization

For the past few days, I have been watching a lot a black and white movies. I saw Harper (with Paul Newman) on Saturday (which is in color) but then I caught the last (really suspenseful) 15 minutes of the black and white thriller "The Spiral Staircase" with Dorthy Maguire and Ethel Barrymore. After that I watched "The Enchanted Cottage" with Dorthy Maguire. I have never heard of this movie prior to seeing it on TCM on Saturday night. It's about a scarred World War II veteran who finds love with a plain house maid. The play the movie was based on was commissioned by the British government after the end of World War I to create compassion for returning soldiers. And then on Sunday, I watched "Mildred Pierce" with Joan Crawford. I mostly just yelled got annoyed at the daughter Veda. And then Tuesday and Wednesday, I watched "Lady Eve" with Barbra Stanwyck and Henry Fonda and "To Have and Have Not" with Lauren Bacall and Humprey Bogart. And for this weekend (while I work on a baby quilt) I have "Dark Victory" (Bette Davis), "Kiss Me Deadly" (Mike Hammer film noir) and "I'll Be Seeing You" (with one my very favorite actors: Joseph Cotten).

HANK: We used to make movies all the time. Dale, you practically slept with that little camcorder.
DALE: "Practically?" I was going to be the next Zapruder. Except nobody shot a president after that. Nobody that knew what he was doing.

Laughter for one

I heard an interview with the guy who created Father Ted and he talked about his new show called the IT Crowd and I've been watching the show for the past week. This episode is my favorite and since the show is about 24 minutes long, I'll just post the funniest part. The show is about a woman (Jen) with no computer experience become the head of the IT department. In this episode, Jen has her period (for which she uses the euphemism Aunt Irma is visiting) which causes the two IT guys (Moss and Roy) to think that they share her symptoms. Moss sends out a email to every IT person he knows to see if someone else has this symptoms. And hilarity ensures.

Kings and Queen

I didn't do a book review last week because I was up in Ann Arbor helping Rachel prepare for her awesome Halloween party. But this week I do have a review of "The New Kings of Nonfiction" which is a collection of essays/articles edited by Ira Glass from "This American Life". I will admit that I skipped over some of the essays (I couldn't get into the essay and skipped the rest). But the articles that I did, I enjoyed a lot. The topics were quite varied from the SEC charged a 13-year old to 6 degrees of separation to an interview with Val Kilmer. I think my favorite essay was one by Susan Orleans about her interview with a 10 year old boy. Although the one about Val Kilmer was pretty good, Val comes off as both completely wacky at times but also totally normal. I really enjoyed Ira Glass' preface on why he chose some of the essays or more specifically the authors of the article. When I was younger, I would also skip the preface to book until I read this incredible preface to "Persuasion" written by Margret Drabble and since then I always read the preface (although sometimes after the book in case part of the plot is discussed in the preface). What I love with a good preface is an insight to the author frame of mind which often makes me enjoy the book more.

You have won a tiny Dundee

I was reading the NPR pop culture blog, Monkey See, about the upcoming Oscar nominations and how there is a possibility that more "popular" (read made a huge amount of money) movies may get nominated this year like "The Dark Knight" and "Wall-E" or as a super long shot "Iron Man". The blog linked to a couple other stories like on a the New York Times that pointed out that ratings for the past few years Oscar shows have been done and the highest ratings were in 1997 when Titanic won. And that the combined box office for the last five Best Picture winners (Babel, Crash, The Departed, No Country for Old Men and Million Dollar Baby) is was less that the last big box office movie to win Best Picture (The Return of the King in 2003). I think I would be more interested in the results of the Oscars if there wasn't so dependent on when the picture is release since a majority of movies hoping to vie for Oscar nominations are released between October to December. And since, apparently, members of the Academy have short term memory, at lot of performances and movies get overlooked that are released earlier in the year. Two examples of this in the past couple of years in Chris Cooper excellent role in "Breach" and David Fincher's "Zodiac", not to mention the great performances of Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaall and Anthony Edwards in that movie. And there have been some movies that I didn't like that were nominated for Best Picture (i.e. Ghost).

"We are going to see 'The Flowers of Time' with Charlton Heston and Ethan Hawke. This is their third movie together. The first two went straight to video." - Peggy Hill

Quality of Life

This week's review (finally) will be about Lush Life by Richard Price (finally). It took me a while to finish the book mostly due to time rather that the quality of the book. It details the aftermath of the shooting of a young man on the East Side in New York City. The book examines the reactions of police, the other victims of the crime, the perpetrator, and the family of murdered man. It also touches on the politics associated with solving the crime (like timing a meeting with the press to get the best reaction). I really liked to book because it looked at the crime from so many different points of view. Richard Price wrote for the show "The Wire", which was written in a similar style. I think that this style of writing really sets him apart from other writers in this genre. I also liked Price's examination of the history of the East Side of New York City. Apparently, a good portion of immigrants lived in that area until recently when a larger majority of upper class people began moving to the East Side. Anyone who enjoys crime novels would enjoy this book (even though you know who did it from the onset).

Free Pass to Kooky town

I recently mentioned to my mom that I'm looking forward to when I can be completely inflexible and then it can be chalked up to : "I'm old to change" or "I'm just eccentric". Which has made me think about quirky famous people who make the weirdest things and no one seems to care. The video below is an example of 3 people who totally have a free pass to kooky town:

If you have seen any Coen brothers film, you know that they can really throw something from left field into a movie. Gwen Stefani is perhaps that best example of a person that is really eccentric (in music, dress, and influences) and people really don't care, probably because she is so confident in herself.

"Which is why so many people are suddenly allergic to peanuts. The peanuts are emitting toxins as an evolutionary defense mechanism. They're tired of being eaten, and now they're fighting back." - Dale

We let down the funky bunch

This guy at work looks a little like Andy Samburg (including the hair), so from now on, I'm going to be reminded of this clip every time I talk to him.




or this (watch Andy Samburg run away, it's hilarious):

I have feelings of ennui

Work has been really hectic (and stressful) for the last week and as a side effect, I have been neglecting my blog a lot. I haven't posted in about two weeks, so I'm going to try and post more often and do a book review this week. I will try to be better about posting. I think that I will let Andy Bernard express my feelings

Mind the Gap

These two topics are completely unrelated but I've thinking about both of them so they are getting squished together.

• I've been watching Mr. Bean on DVD and it is distributed by A&E Video which means there a a short promotional clip prior to menu which show David Suchet from Poirot and scenes from their excellent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. And I realized that I miss the old A&E. The one that used to show PBS/BBC mysteries and Law and Order (including a "Kids Kill" marathon for one New Year's Eve) and made really good literary adaptions of Jane Eyre, Emma, Tom Jones and Horatio Hornblower. I am not digging the current A&E at all. I will still watch City Confidential or American Justice from time to time, but the rest of the shows are just crap like Criss Angel and Gene Simmons. And the their TV movies are few and far between and terrible. I watched the new Andromeda Strain which was just terrible (and strayed so far from the book that I didn't even watch the 2nd half). So seeing the clips from A&Es glory days (in my opinion) really bummed me out.
  
• The announcements from the Nobel Prize have been made throughout this week and the prize for literature will be made in the next few days. But there is little likelihood that an American writer will receive the prize because the permanent secretary for the association, Horace Engdahl, said that recent American writers are not deserving of the Nobel prize. He claims that ""The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining." This of course has caused a firestorm in the American literary community. Not only are people upset about the insult to some of the great current writers like Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike and Philip Roth (I love his book The Plot Against America), but the Nobel committee has become more political in their choices, especially honoring writers how dislike the US (and I was reading the history of the Nobel Prize for Literature on Wikipedia and that article mentions that the committee strove to be more neutral during and after World War I). Last year's winner Doris Lessing said that the September 11th attacks were "neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as [Americans] think," and said of Americans that "They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be." There is a really great article at Slate.com about this issue (read it here!). I personally hold little stock in the Nobel Prize in any subject because of the lack of acknowledgment for Roslind Franklin's contributions to determining the structure of DNA (she had passed away before Watson and Crick won but she was barely mentioned in their speech) although I did get to hear a lecture from a Nobel Laurete while I was at Iowa.
  

PEGGY: Let's practice. I'll be Kahn. A-hem: You are a dumb redneck!
HANK: That sounds more like Minh.
PEGGY: Leave my wife out of this, hillbilly!

This makes me smile everytime

I love this commercial so much, it makes me giggle every time.

Conflicted

Today, sitting in my mailbox, were information packets about Ohio State University and Indiana University law schools. My older sister Rachel thinks that I would make a good lawyer and know that idea has begun to grown on me, hence the info on law schools. Both that packets were really informative and got me kinda excited about law school. On the other hand, I'm nervous about applying. I'm not saying that getting into grad school was really easy but applying to law school is much more intense and competitive. Not to mention that law school is a lot harder. I'm also nervous that everyone would be much smarter than me. And that the first day of law school is going to be like this:

Monsterous

The book for this week's review is the Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. The book tells the story of the search for the "Monster of Florence", a serial killer of several couples in Florence over about a 15 year period. Mario Spezi is a crime journalist that covered the Monster killings for the onset and as a result is considered an expert on the crimes. Douglas Preston (an author of thrillers) moves to Florence with his family and learns (from Spezi) that the house that he has rented is near the site of one of the killings perpetrated by the Monster of Florence. Preston and Spezi decide to write a book about the killings and discover that the people of Florence have a short-term memory when is comes to the killings. And that was the most interesting part about the crime because it was never really resolved (not everyone was convinced that the murder was caught). It was interesting to hear about the investigation and how it was so obviously shaped by the people in charge. And how the Italian government (and the police force) can control the press (journalist can be charged for hampering prosecution through the press). But I did learn a cool Italian term. During one (of the many trials about the Monster of Florence), one of the friends of the suspect keeps saying that he doesn't know the suspect very well, they were just "picnicing friends" and to this day, this term is used to described friends that are involved in sordid doings. I enjoyed this book that explored a well know European crime that is not known very well in the US and apparently Thomas Harris borrowed some the details about the Monster of Florence for his Hannibal Lector novels. And this book made the news when Mario Spezi was arrested and jailed for crimes relating to the Monster of Florence (which just shows how sensitive to these crimes).

Wigfield Wigout!

This week's book for review is Wigfield by Amy Sedaris, Paul DiNello and Stephen Colbert. These same three people were involved with the TV show "Strangers with Candy" and if you have ever seen that show, that will prepare you for the type of dysfunctional humor in Wigfield. The story begins with a author (Russell Hoakes) receiving an advance for a book about the disappearing small town in modern America. As he attempts to write a novel containing 50,000 words (and burning through his advance) he stumbles upon a quasi-shanty town of mortuaries and topless bars at the base of a huge dam. The dam is scheduled to be destroyed and the town of Wigfield it so be flooded. So Russell goes around interviewing the people of the town and trying to help save the town. The town is beyond dysfunctional (ignoring the fact that there are 3 mayors for a town that is not actually a town) partially due to the defunct plutonium disposal canal that makes to ground temperature about 120 degrees (therefore pets and children are not recommended). I found the book hilarious but this may partly be due to the fact that I listened to the book on CD (and read by the authors) so part of the hilarity was due to delivery of the lines. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Strangers with Candy or the work of David Sedaris.

Review in two

This is my first blog post on my new fancy laptop that arrived on Friday afternoon (and Lucy and Vaughn arrived about 5 hours later). After finding out that I needed to charge the pump for the airmatress, Lucy and Vaughn stayed in my room and I slept on the couch. On Saturday, we went to Lehmans (in Kidron) and Lucy was impressed /overwhelmed by the size and selection of the store. Afterward, we have lunch a local Amish restaurant and then returned back to my apartment. Lucy worked on setting up the laptop while I worked on dinner (we had naan and chicken with tandoori marinade). She had some problems getting the internet figured out (included a evening trip to Wal-mart to get a wireless router and a call to my internet provider on Sunday morning) but she got it set up and now I can use my laptop any where in my apartment. During the times we could get Vaughn to actully sleep, we talked or watched season 4 of The Office, episodes of Dead Like Me or Portiot mysteries. Vaughn has been pretty good during the weekend although he has been going to bed much later that he should (he finally fell asleep about 10pm tonight) after waking up three times last night. I was able to get him back to sleep for a little while longer so I could make stuffed french toast for Lucy after their morning nap. Hopefully he sleeps better tonight and Lucy is hoping to time her leaving tomorrow so he is at his maximum goodness. Good Luck! I will be posing a book review tomorrow (I took a personal day at work so I could have some extra time with Lucy and Vaguhn in the morning).

PEGGY: Teach me to walk.
COTTON: You ready to hate me more than you ever hated anyone in your life?
PEGGY: I already do.
COTTON: Then we're halfway there.

Cheesetastic

This week's review (only one day late) will be about Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. The novel is about two elderly cheesemakers (Corrie and Fee) in Ireland (County Cork) looking for two people to take over their business. And two such people arrive in the form of Kit, an American trying to recovery after the death of his wife, and Abby, Corrie's granddaughter returning to Ireland from the south Pacific after leaving her philandering husband. The plot was relatively simple and slightly predictable (and honestly not enough talk about actul cheesemaking). Despite this, these novel was not without its charms mostly due to the Irish characters (and the fact that Father Ted gets mentioned). I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it, but it was interesting.

Dust off your drug nicknames!

I had drug training yesterday at work and at the end of the training we played Jeopardy with the basic premise of how well do you know your drug lingo. One the my favorite running jokes on King of the Hill is Bobby's excessive knowledge of drug information due to drug prevention lectures at school (and sex ed lectures). And apparently, it's been awhile since my last health class because there were some nicknames that I did know (including that I didn't know what black tar heroin looks like which I think is a good thing).

HANK: Hey there, Bobby. I guess they found a cure for the cooties? Heh, heh, heh.
BOBBY: I don't know. What are cooties?
HANK: Well, when I was a boy, that's what they called the germs you got from girls.
BOBBY: Oh, you mean like chlamydia?
HANK: Huh?

BOBBY: I have to do all the work because Dad's new employee is a drug addict.
HANK: Now Bobby, Leon's a little slow on the draw, but that doesn't mean he's on drugs.
BOBBY: You gotta trust me on this. When you've heard as many former athletes lecture at your school as I have, you get to know all the signs.

HANK: Now, I know we've talked a lot about how you should never do drugs, but from now on you'll be taking medication after every meal.
BOBBY: So, do I smoke it or snort it?
HANK: It's a pill, Bobby.
BOBBY: So I guess I'll just pop it.

Serve the People!

The book for this week's review is "Serve the People" by Yan Lianke. The novel is set in China in 1967 after the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The story recounts an affair between the wife of a Division Commander in the Army and a house servant and ramifications of the affair against the backdrop of repressive Communist China. Due to the nature of the story, the novel has banned in China (and considered unpublishable) but found an audience due to excerpts and discussion posted online (and thus found an American publisher). The novel gives a really interesting inside view of Communist China following the Cultural Revolution. One of my favorite time periods to read about is post World War II, mainly the 50s and the 60s, since the end of the war really created a power vacuum in Eastern Europe (it doesn't hurt that I've had two really good teachers for classes about this period that I took at the Academy and Purdue). And I love reading banned books! Besides the sexual nature of the story, the Chinese government says the novel slanders the Army and Mao Zedong. It especially interesting to read a novel about China during the height of the Communism now in the context of China's increasing involvement in the world economy and politics (not to mention becoming a more capitalist society).

I'm hoping to read all of Richard Price's Lush Life this week, but since the novel it pretty long, I may be reviewing a previously read book, I'm thinking maybe Jane Eyre or Villette or possibly one of my favorite books ever Catherine Called Birdy.

People in Columbus must be losing their S

College football is certainly in full swing this weekend. I got the watch the Oregon/Purdue game (I've live close enough to Penn State that the Penn State game got shown on ABC). I was disappointed that Purdue lost (in the 2nd overtime) but they played a really solid 1st quarter (I was afraid that the game would not even be close). I saw that Michigan was beat by Notre Dame (I'm always torn which team to root for, but in the end I always want a Big Ten team to win, especially since Notre Dame insists on being an Independent for football but not any other sport). Since I live only about an hour from Columbus, lots of people from work are alumni of Ohio State (about 75% but there are 3 other people who went to Purdue). At about 4 yesterday, some people were talking about the Ohio State/USC game tonight. I will admit that I miss going to Purdue games with Lucy (or Bridget and Orrin). Sometimes it was annoying sitting in the student section with drunk people throwing water bottles (or worse). But one year Lucy and I had really good seats on the 30 yard line right behind the Purdue bench. There is just something so cool about thousands of people cheering (and sneaking in water or hot chocolate and not paying $5 for a drink).

HANK: Don't let them tease you too much. Remember, you're the mascot, not the placekicker.

2 for 1

I didn't write a book for last week so this week I am going to review 2 books. First up is Austenland by Shannon Hale. The premise of the book is an Austen addict attempt to overcome her obsession with Mr. Darcy by having one last hurrah at a vacation spot that recreates the Austen universe (including the manor house (a la Mansfield Park), costumes and a ball (a la every Austen novel except Mansfield Park). Now when I first heard about this novel I really wanted to read because I was curious if or how the author would work in some of Austen's themes and plot points. She did but not very well. There are a few subplots and the main plot line that are borrowed from Austen but the introduction of them is so clunky that it doesn't really work. And the are some subplots that are so obviously from Austen that you wonder why the heroine doesn't immediately recognize them (and is puzzled about what is going for several frustrating chapters). The dialogue between the hero and heroine that is supposed to be in the Austen universe doesn't have the same spark.
The second book (and first non-fiction book) is Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (an evolutionary biologist). In this book, Diamond attempts to explain that dominant ancient civilizations were a product of environmental factors rather that any inherent intellectual or genetic advantage. It was really interesting because Diamond not only discussed topics like better land farming (like the Fertile Crescent) but domestication of local plant and species, geographic barriers (like the Sahara Desert preventing the spread of technologies from the southern part of Africa northward), infectious diseases (leading to decline of certain populations and the greater prevalence of diseases in groups with greater populations), and the willingness to adapt to new technologies (or be conquered). I never really thought in depth about domestication of local plants and animals but Diamond discusses that ancient peoples of Latin America and Australia were at a disadvantage because there were few local animal species that would be worthwhile to domesticate (or even could be domesticated). The book was really thought provoking (and well researched!)

You keep using that word

This scene from the Princess Bride totally describes an experience from work today. I've been working with this study director who keeps wanting to put in sentences/edits that don't make sense, specifically the term in lieu of in sentences. But today I wanted to check with him about an edit so I asked, "Do you mean taking into consideration the body weight losses in these animals?". He said "Isn't that what in lieu of means?" My response: "No."


"Your mother is a Spanish dictionary" - Peggy Hill

Movie Time

I spent time with some of my favorite cousins this past weekend and of course one of the movies that we watched together often was RAD and I have included a remixed trailer for your viewing pleasure.