It's almost embarrassing to admit that I got my BA in English without taking Brit Lit. In my own defense, I did take a lot of poetry classes and Development of Western Civilization, but I'd never read any Jane Austen. After watching Becoming Jane and part of the latest Pride and Prejudice, in addition to reading Shannon Hale's Austenland, I figured it was time to catch up.
I got 1/3rd of the way through Pride and Prejudice when I cheated and Netflixed the BBC/Colin Firth version. I finally finished the book, and was surprised how much more I enjoyed it for watching the movie. Also having seen Emma, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, but don't feel the same urge to read the books.
Bride and Prejudice, is the most fun (and takes the most liberties) of all the adaptations. (Thanks for the rec, D!)
Soon, I'll be on to Jane Eyre, after seeing the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg/William Hurt version on cable. Charlotte Bronte was not a fan of Jane Austen. Why am I not surprised?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Kick for Nick in the news
In today's Globe, to be specific: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/31/iraqi_kids_will_get_a_kick_out_of_his_good_deed/
One of my Yelper friends, Allix T., works a lot with Kick for Nick. Her brothers were very good friends of Nick Madras, for whom the foundation is named.
One of my Yelper friends, Allix T., works a lot with Kick for Nick. Her brothers were very good friends of Nick Madras, for whom the foundation is named.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Dark Knight: awesome
Wow. still digesting. Theater: sold out. Running time: long, but it doesn't feel that way. Story, characters, and themes tie well together and don't smash you over your head the whole time. I'm not surprised at all that people are going back to watch it again, it's that good.
Heath steals the show (as well he should). His voice and mannerisms are just wicked. Weird overtones of Brandon Lee/The Crow, but it can't be helped.
What's up with the "I need a lozenge" for Christian Bale's Batman voice? And the awful jawline on the mask? (Christian, if you're reading this, I totally agree: Bobblehead. Nicely put!)
Very different flavor from Iron Man, which was also excellent, but lighter and more entertaining (I mean that in a good way). Friends keep telling us about the quick crossover references, so I'll watch for that when it comes out on video.
We did not get to see the Watchmen trailer (I'll do that in the next couple days). Part of me almost doesn't want to know, the other part is morbidly curious to see how bad Alan Moore's work is going to be mistreated yet again. To be fair, V for Vendetta was good, but the rest were not taken care of very well.
Heath steals the show (as well he should). His voice and mannerisms are just wicked. Weird overtones of Brandon Lee/The Crow, but it can't be helped.
What's up with the "I need a lozenge" for Christian Bale's Batman voice? And the awful jawline on the mask? (Christian, if you're reading this, I totally agree: Bobblehead. Nicely put!)
Very different flavor from Iron Man, which was also excellent, but lighter and more entertaining (I mean that in a good way). Friends keep telling us about the quick crossover references, so I'll watch for that when it comes out on video.
We did not get to see the Watchmen trailer (I'll do that in the next couple days). Part of me almost doesn't want to know, the other part is morbidly curious to see how bad Alan Moore's work is going to be mistreated yet again. To be fair, V for Vendetta was good, but the rest were not taken care of very well.
Monday, July 21, 2008
boy stuff (sorta)
Yesterday I was in Target, and while I was looking around the toy department, a mom behind me is looking at the Dark Knight/Batman toys with her daughter. What I overhear is, "You want the crazy guy (Joker)? You're the only girl I know who plays with both Barbies and this stuff." I had to silently laugh, because I was that girl too, only it was Barbies and Star Wars action figures.
Last week Owen came home from my parents' house with a what I think was a MacDonald's toy of Bumblebee; and if it wasn't, then it was a great knock-off. Even though he says he doesn't like Transformers, he likes the toys.
The big yay is that he's finally gotten into the Muppets. He runs around singing "Manamana," "Crocodile Rock" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." (oh, and the pink polyester pants Elton wears on the show? so wrong.) Of course, I think of Anne, who always said the cure for getting a song out of your head was to sing the opening song to the Muppets. It might even be worth it to hook up the VCR and dig out my Muppets' 30th anniversary show that I taped from TV. It's like a "best of."
Saturday was also his first visit to a comic book shop, New England Comics @ Coolidge. He's also into reading Tiny Titans and Superman Adventures, based on the animated series by Mark Millar (thanks Pete!)
We're seeing Dark Knight tomorrow; Tak's already seen it, but I'm really looking forward to it.
Last week Owen came home from my parents' house with a what I think was a MacDonald's toy of Bumblebee; and if it wasn't, then it was a great knock-off. Even though he says he doesn't like Transformers, he likes the toys.
The big yay is that he's finally gotten into the Muppets. He runs around singing "Manamana," "Crocodile Rock" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." (oh, and the pink polyester pants Elton wears on the show? so wrong.) Of course, I think of Anne, who always said the cure for getting a song out of your head was to sing the opening song to the Muppets. It might even be worth it to hook up the VCR and dig out my Muppets' 30th anniversary show that I taped from TV. It's like a "best of."
Saturday was also his first visit to a comic book shop, New England Comics @ Coolidge. He's also into reading Tiny Titans and Superman Adventures, based on the animated series by Mark Millar (thanks Pete!)
We're seeing Dark Knight tomorrow; Tak's already seen it, but I'm really looking forward to it.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
totoro forest project
Tak sent me the link to the Totoro Forest Project and I was totally blown away. The aim of the project is to protect and preserve the Sayama Forest near Tokyo, which inspired Hayao Miyazaki to create his most iconic film, My Neighbor Totoro. The project's benefit event is an auction of many artists' work, including Charles Vess, James Jean, Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese), Scott Campbell, Scott Morse, and a number of artists whose names & styles look vaguely familiar to me. Awesome.
Just when I thought Owen wouldn't be able to see a Miyazaki film on the big screen, Tak also sent me the trailer for the new Miyazaki & Studio Ghibili Film Ponyo on the Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo). It opens in Japan this weekend, which probably means it'll be another year before it hits the states. Just that he keep making movies is wonderful!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
forever young
Even more fun and without the angst of my high school prom, the Yelp prom was loads of fun, even if Whiskey Park didn't have a dance floor. People were dressed in the range of late 80s-early 90s, from casual grunge to over-the-top 80s to a full-on light blue tux. I didn't take enough good photos, but other people (Shannon, Trish, Roni) took better ones.
Here's me & Nate:
But of course, the best photos are from the afterparty in Russ & Shannon's room at the Park Plaza hotel (as good a place as any prom afterparty should be).
Sunday, July 06, 2008
internet diet
With the beginning of my new job, my internet use has come to an almost complete halt during the daytime. As a result, I spend my late nights catching up on my 'net surfing, which leaves even less time for blogging. And sleep. Sorry.
We had friends come in for the 4th, which meant a thorough house-cleaning. I had to stash most of the contents of my old cube under the dining table. Owen had a "brilliant" time at the annual birthday barbecue we go to, mostly because of the fireworks we got to see. There were also a bunch of other kids about his age there, and he had a ton of fun playing with them. Especially once they realized the Nerf rocket launcher could also be used as a water gun.
Even though it opened last weekend, we finally got around to checking out WALL-E. I really liked it. Owen, being the sensitive boy, got very upset about where the people were. (Later, I explained the storytelling convention of looking in the background movies about what's already happened in the movie). Then, he sobbed at the end of the movie. He did laugh at the right places, and he really did like the movie, using old cellphones in the places of WALL-E and EVE.
Tip of the day: An old pizza box makes a good surface on which to shuck corn. A bonus: since you're not supposed to recycle pizza boxes anyway, you can then close it and throw the whole thing out; the mess is contained. Presto!
future posts: Avon Calling, 80s clothing-redux rant & Prom, Iron Man, Zeer.com
We had friends come in for the 4th, which meant a thorough house-cleaning. I had to stash most of the contents of my old cube under the dining table. Owen had a "brilliant" time at the annual birthday barbecue we go to, mostly because of the fireworks we got to see. There were also a bunch of other kids about his age there, and he had a ton of fun playing with them. Especially once they realized the Nerf rocket launcher could also be used as a water gun.
Even though it opened last weekend, we finally got around to checking out WALL-E. I really liked it. Owen, being the sensitive boy, got very upset about where the people were. (Later, I explained the storytelling convention of looking in the background movies about what's already happened in the movie). Then, he sobbed at the end of the movie. He did laugh at the right places, and he really did like the movie, using old cellphones in the places of WALL-E and EVE.
Tip of the day: An old pizza box makes a good surface on which to shuck corn. A bonus: since you're not supposed to recycle pizza boxes anyway, you can then close it and throw the whole thing out; the mess is contained. Presto!
future posts: Avon Calling, 80s clothing-redux rant & Prom, Iron Man, Zeer.com
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