Monthly Archives: August 2006

Aussie Slap-Down.

Posted on by

I don’t hate Peter Carey the way this guy does, but I did find this review of Carey’s latest to be very hilarious. I find Carey more…weird…and unsettling…rather than “bad”. The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith for example, really creeped me out. But I didn’t think it was badly written. (Oscar and Lucinda was a very weird movie. Not necessarily bad, but definitely weird. Why? Because it was based on a Carey book!)

That said, I think his commenters are dead wrong on Tim Winton. As you may remember, I LOVED LOVED LOVED Cloud Street and highly recommend it.

Am I in a bad mood I don’t know about?

Posted on by

Or is this latest Snow Patrol album just really, really fucking sad? I just calmly decided to listen to it a little while ago and now I’m almost in tears over the lyrics and the melancholy moody music… Not recommended for the suicidal among you.

It’s a good album. It’s just a bit of a downer.

Shop Till You Drop. *

Posted on by

A bookstore right by the office is currently having a 50% off sale on all books in the store. FIFTY PERCENT OFF. People. ALL BOOKS.

So an official decision was made by myself to give myself carte blanche over lunch today and here’s what I’m carrying home tonight:

  • The Hungers, by Claire Messud
  • The Lone Pilgrim, by Laurie Colwin (recommended by Betsy)
  • That Eye, The Sky, by Tim Winton
  • The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, by Eva Rice
  • Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson (I’ve already read this, but I read a library copy)
  • Forgetfulness, by Ward Just
  • Bright Angel Time, by Martha McPhee
  • Freddy and Fredericka, by Mark Helprin (I’ve been tempted by this many times, but there are already two equally thick Helprins in the pile mentioned below….Someday!)

These will just be added to the bottom of the already huge “to be read” pile, but who could pass up FIFTY PERCENT OFF, even on hardcovers? Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

It’s Brent Books, on the corner of Washington and Franklin, for my fellow Chicagoites, and the sale is going on indefinitely “until they’ve sold every book that will sell.”

*For my use of Till rather than ‘Til or Until – see this excellent post by my friend GirlDetective, a true word lover.

Napping at the Wheel Again.

Posted on by

So, some time ago, I read Claire Messud’s first two books, and I remember liking them. But somehow I missed her third? And now her fourth is long-listed for the Booker? (Here’s a nice piece on her, link via Bookslut.)

Cripes, what have I been doing with my time? Have I not been visiting bookstores, and ordering from Amazon (among others), and dropping by Myopic before both my monthly haircut and my mid-monthly “bang trim”? Have I not been building up a stack taller than myself of books to be read? How did I miss this?

Fall TV Planning.

Posted on by

Cannot believe Fall TV is just around the corner, with most premieres starting wk of the 18th. What will I be watching? Still torn between a few, but here’s my provisional plan. Yes, technically I can record two shows at once, but then when will I watch the recordings? There is only so much time in each week, not sure how many shows I want to commit to this year. As you know, once I start watching them, there’s no turning back!!!
(all times are central)

Monday
8 Heroes?
9 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Definitely watching this, loved the premiere which was up on YouTube.

Tuesday
7 Gilmore Girls? I declared it off my list last year but with the occasional summer rerun watch, I didn’t miss much. or Friday Night Lights? (LOVE the book. The movie was OK.)
8 Veronica Mars of course.
9 Law & Order SVU? Or Smith? Leaning toward Smith.

Wednesday
7:30 30 Rock. Remember reading about this months ago.
8 One Tree Hill (gag)? Or Lost (which I didn’t watch at all last year)?
9 Kidnapped. Timothy Hutton!

Thursday
7:30 The Office? (Haven’t ever watched)
8 Grey’s Anatomy
9 Six Degrees?

Friday
9 Numb3rs

Saturday – Nada!

Sunday
9 The Wire? or Without a Trace? or Brothers & Sisters? Uh oh!

Bands I will not be seeing live again, unless some other poor fool is paying for the tickets:

Posted on by

1. Ambulance LTD.
(45 minutes fucking w/ the mics/mix/amps/etc. /20 minute show. BOTH TIMES.)

2. Fiona Apple.
(Seriously thought she was having either a mental breakdown, or a miscarriage, on stage.)

3. Ryan Adams.
(First time, good. Second time, sooooooo bad. Not risking it again.)

4. Radiohead.
(Discordant nonsense. I like music that sounds pretty! Or has a beat!)

5. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins.

Bands I really want to see although you might not know it from the fact that even though I have had tickets to them in the (recent or somewhat recent) past I have blown off going to the concert for one reason or another:
1. Great Lake Swimmers.
2. Bishop Allen.
3. Stars.

Big Screen: Little Miss Sunshine.

Posted on by

I seriously cannot remember the last time I laughed this hard. I had to take my glasses off as tears were rolling down my face, I was doubled over, and at one point I think I almost passed out from lack of oxygen coming in due to large amounts of laughter going out.

This movie is so downright jaw-droppingly, rib-breakingly funny. Sooooooo funny. And not really sappy and sweet at all, as the previews seem to suggest.

I would love to describe the last 10 minutes of the movie for you just to give you the biggest laugh of your life, but you’ve got to go see this shit in the theater, yo. SOOOOOOOOO Fucking Funny.

Really not worth saying anything else about it. Good performances all around. Fun, fun, fun.

Big Screen: Scoop.

Posted on by

SO MUCH FUN. Back to what Woody does best: awkward bumbling convoluted comedy.

Sooooo much better than Matchpoint which I really didn’t like that much (yes, I am saying exactly the opposite of the critics, who all seem to have liked that better than this). Hugh Jackman is super yummy in this film (I never thought so before!), suave and dangerous. Scarlet and Woody are bumbling and awkward and funny and play off each other quite well. Laughed the whole way through. Totally worth the price of admission. Gooooooo.

and p.s. Dad concurs: “Hilarious.” “A Laugh a Minute.”