If you use that search bar over on the right and type in Lanagan, you will find this is an author I adore, this book no less than the rest. Some of these take place in that middle ages/medieval-ish type fantasy land and some are very, very modern. And my very favorite was “Wealth” which I have read over and over both because it’s fantastic and because it feels like it’s part of the same world as Hunger Games.
I have a friend who refers to Laurie Colwin books as “tomato soup and grilled cheese.” They are usually quiet and somewhat reserved but really quirky and funny when you get to know them. She writes great dialogue that feels refreshingly real. I think Misty was my favorite character but really I would love to be friends with any of these people.
I’ve already told you how much I loved Hurt Locker (twice). Dad loved it too.
OMG!!Fabulous!! Will James was so intense!! And how they’d freak out when they didn’t know what was happening!! You can see why the guys in Iraq just blast away. Super.
I include the following paragraph for hilarity’s sake, perhaps you need some humor in your day. No, we are NOT going to become bomb defusers.
But hey: when I came out I wondered: am I too old to do this shit? Because I would LOVE to do this shit!!!! What do you think? Look–the UN must need people to defuse all those minefields around the world, no? LET’S DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Research it! We’ll do it together. (As your Mom said when I mentioned this, “You’re probably too old–but, on the other hand, nobody would care if you died.” Exactly!!) So let’s do it!!
ETA: More musing on The Hurt Locker. Funny: Your mom really put off by it–something about the guy disturbed her. But I’m sitting there thinking: I could be that guy!! In fact, it reminded me of some of the calls I went out on when i was with Temperature Control at Purdue*–you’d walk in alone to these insane situations–steam pipes busted , heat going wild, animals freaking out in their cages, HUMANS (worst animals on earth) freaking out, and: WOW! what a buzz you’d get from the challenge!!! Just the challenge to be focused while all this chaos was around you. I mean, I so get that: that it could be your happiest time on earth.
That little smile on James’ face at the end, when he’s gone back for another tour and he’s walking out to deal with whatever’s out there. Yeah, yeah….
Oh, reminds me: one of my favorite movies is about another bomb disposal squad–called Juggernaut, w. Richard Harris, David Hemings. Seen it? Worth a look. Richard Lester, of all people, directed.
*Note he has a PhD and an MDiv but yes there was a time when he had two young kids and a wife and worked at Temperature Control to pay the rent.
It gets my award for most JOYFUL movie of the year. Grinning the whole time. The mod. story (about the blogger) has been sort of carped at by reviewers, but I thought Adams and the guy were v. believable and funny and neurotic–I mean, the stories, eras, women are different but, boy I’d say Adams held her own with Streep. Of course, Streep is getting the praise and she is super–esp. playing such an outsized, well known drama queen like Julia Child. Great impersonation, but she’s in the character–you laugh and cry with her, fight with her.
I thought all the humor was very character driven and not contrived (as in the romcoms of the summer–TheProposal and themoviethatmustneverbenamed), and I thought both lives were very gently led to the paths they took. Back and forth between the eras very good too–and interestingly, both eras have a grim background: 9-11 with the mod story and the McCarthy witchhunt in the Child story.
So you get this genuine search for joy in ordinary life, no matter what the world’s doing, which is of course how we all live. And the movie takes you to the joy. Highly recommended.
Our challenge book for August.
I liked it more than Dad did (he reports having to flog himself through it) but overall, as time has passed, it didn’t leave that much of an impression. It felt like there was an awful lot of that male midlife meandering (the way Philip Roth and David Hodges novels are getting to be)… The modern stuff was a lot sharper, the drooling down memory lane stuff (moonings over mama and cricket) bored us both. Dude’s wife was a totally infuriating character; that relationship was nearly inexplicable. We both liked Chuck but his role is weirdly peripheral and pivotal at the same time.
It was a decent enough book but we have no idea why it got the hype it did. I guess the 9/11 references were probably what brought it to people’s attention. Eh.
This is what I’ve learned on the subject of women: never delay. The more quickly you act, the greater the chance of success.
I came out of this movie with a huge grin on my face, I just enjoyed the fuck out of it. Then I turned to Carlos and said “WASN’T THAT GREAT” and he shrugged and said: “Eh. I wasn’t into it.” Um WHAT?!
Yeah, I don’t know. People explain to me what they don’t like about Tarantino movies and usually those are exactly the things that I DID (do) like. I like the stylized violence and the comic/graphic novel chop chop and the over-the-topness of it all. I like that the characters you expect to have morals don’t, and the ones who seem completely cold do.
In this flick in particular, I just thought there were some brilliant casting moves, some great performances*, it was vivid visually. I loved the settings; I loved the tweaking of the history. I loved seeing an irreverent look at WWII frankly.
Although I think this article has some decent (critical) points…I don’t think his movies are all schlock and awe, and to some extent, yes I think you can safely assume that his whole nonchalance attitude about a “deeper message” is just yet another subterfuge. And while yes, you should not adore something for its aesthetics if it’s morally bankrupt like the Nazi propaganda films, Tarantino films are NOTHING like that to my mind. This flick’s “Are you going to take your uniform off?” Q & As (and their result!) alone have a very (correct) moral message. [Trying not to be spoilerific there.]
*”Ryan” from The Office stuck out like a sore thumb for me. He’s the one that I just could not see in his role. He always seemed way too clean and showered compared to the rest of the Basterds.
As has become my custom, I only go to the least crowded day now that it doesn’t change venues (and as a result, in my opinion, gets more and more attendees). And then I had to cancel going to Monolith (my preferred festival) due to school work. It was not a great summer of live shows for me (just as it wasn’t a great year for music overall chez Duff).
The Knux – These guys were so great, really the highlight of the day (and since they were the first band, I saw, it is definitely a little bit downhill from there). It wasn’t raining that hard yet, they were UP, UP, UP energy wise and I loved it. I just wish they had played “Daddy’s Little Girl.”
White Lies – I hadn’t planned to check these guys out but turned out they were on the field I needed to meet up with people at so I did. And I liked what I heard!
Bon Iver – I’ve seen him/them four times now and there isn’t that much variation in their show. I just kinda listened in the background; I don’t think an outdoor venue is the greatest for them (and nothing will probably ever beat when I saw them at the Lakeshore Theater, a TINY spot right around the corner from my house).
Ben Folds and Fleet Foxes – I don’t really remember what I thought of these sets. I know, WHY am I writing this up in January when it was in August. I know.
Of Montreal – These guys just put on such a SHOW, whether you are a fan or not. Always something to see.
Depeche Mode – Totally disappointing. They played only a VERY FEW songs from the albums I love. I didn’t love this set.
“It’s funny,” said Daniel. “A few weeks ago, I’d never have expected to be wrapping a werewolf in a quilt and giving her a hot water bottle. Now it’s almost second nature.”
I am reading Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar and it is fantastic.
Is Rachael Yamagata part of Company of Thieves? This really sounds like her.
A transfusion turns a priest into a vampire and then there’s just a boatload of sex and blood and murder and vampirism and oh I did NOT like this movie at all.
In fact, of all the movies I saw in 2009, which was not really very many, this is the one I really wish I had never seen (with The Wrestler and Gran Torino as #s 2 and 3 – those reviews are spoilerific, btw).