Tuesday, March 29, 2011

RC-3: In a rut.

I'm in a bit of a reading rut. I hate to report it, but it's true. I'm about a quarter of the way into 4 books (In Defense of Food, Eat Pray Love, The Divinity Gene, and Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live) and I can't seem to push through. The thing is - every one of these books is AMAZING! but I'm just struggling to get the reading bug again.

That's part of the reason why I'm reading Live from New York. It's lighter, a little easier to get through, and it's a little less of a challenge mentally. I often need something lighter to get me back into reading mode, so maybe this will be the ticket. Sort of like the Harry Potter series... that did the same thing for me!

Part of the problem is that I've been eating meals in front of the TV/computer, and choosing to play games on my iPhone rather than reading before bed. These are habits I was combatting for a time, so I'm going to attempt to do it again. It won't be too hard, I don't think! Here goes!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Ear Candy & Eye Poo

What's the opposite of candy? Apparently poo.

Sugar & Gravy Movie Mania #6

I wanted to spend some time with my Mom this weekend, so she rented us a movie. We recently watched "Temple Grandin" together, which we LOVED, so we were hoping to replicate that experience. She rented us "Secretariat". I hadn't heard anything about it, so I was happy to give it a try.

I rarely see a movie I don't like. Or at least, there's not many movies I can't tolerate.

"Secretariat" was the worst movie I've ever seen. We (my Mom and I) decided to stick it out for the full thing, but the experience was only made fun by the continuous jabs my Mom and I made at the writers, director, cast, crew, and any single person involved with the making of this TERRIBLE, terrible movie. My Mom took no shame in tearing Diane Lane apart, for instance. It's true though... she really was terrible. Agh. Just a torturous movie watching experience.

I give it...
Rating = 0.5/5
...and that might actually be too generous.

In other news... "Temple Grandin". I'm not sure that I ever commented on this amazing film. Well I won't go into details, but I will say these few things:
  • Temple Grandin is an amazing, inspiring individual
  • Temple's story is incredible!
  • The writing, directing, and everything in between was top-notch
  • Claire Danes... I knew she could act, but she out-did herself as Temple. She showed incredible respect for the real Temple in her portrayal of her. I thought it was absolutely perfection.

So that was the Eye Poo... "Secretariat", obv, not TG.
Danes > Lane

As for the ear candy...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

e-Gravy

I'm home from work today as I am sick... bummer...

That said, it's always kinda nice to have a day at home to tidy the apartment and putter around and read and marathon season 2 of "Entourage"... ya know...

Anyway, a good friend of mine just posted an interesting interview of Margaret Atwood from the Globe. The interview is on the topic of e-books/e-reading, and it's a great, quick read. Atwood doesn't necessarily disagree with the use of them, but she has some really interesting points to make about them.

It made me think about something, but first let me quote the interviewer, Rosalind Porter:
Yet publishers and booksellers are allowing themselves to imagine a nightmarish world in which they are irrelevant – where technology companies which distribute e-books, such as Amazon, Sony, Google and Apple, also take over the choosing and the selling of books. Gail Rebuck, the chief executive of Random House in the U.K., recently described her “idea of hell” as a website ‘with 80,000 self-published works on it’ – a world where publishers and bookshops are replaced by a sort of online, super slush pile. Despite these fears, many smaller, independent publishers have had a few very profitable years, perhaps as a result of concentrating their focus on the books themselves and allowing the hyperbole of the yet-to-come iPod moment for books to simply see itself out.
This is a really interesting idea: publishing companies being taken over by the technology companies that distribute e-books. As I said, it made me think of something, which Atwood sort of alludes to... the music industry. Justin Bieber (tired example) and many others are now being discovered on the Internet. Even if you just have a crappy webcam you can record a song and post it on a platform that makes it possible to reach an audience of millions. Another thought: I can't think of the last time I bought a CD! On top of that, the process of recording, even in a studio, is increasingly (although I'm sure not exclusively) digital. Basically I'm saying, anyone with a computer can record a song.

But what about a book? Can just anyone write a book? Perhaps not yet... it's still a process that requires a lot of jumping through hoops and other obstacles, but maybe it's heading in that direction. My blog, for example. I know at least a few people read it, so I've got my work published out there... on a website, sure, but my writing is being read. It wasn't that long ago that an opportunity like this was unheard of. My blog's not making me famous or anything, but my writing is being read... it's that simple, but sort of amazing at the same time.

So if it's this easy for me to get my writing read, then could I just get a whole book online, too?

The thing is, publishers, record companies, etc. are out there to get stuff published or produced, but also to decide what could sell. What sells is (ideally, but definitely not always) what's good. I go on the Hype Machine a lot for music; a lot of it's good, but a lot of it is decidedly not good. What if all books were aggregated on a site like that? Wouldn't I have to hunt through a lot of amateur crap for a good read, whereas going to Indigo and looking at the top sellers can partially guarantee that I'm going to like what I buy... see what I mean? That said, I know that a lot of what sells isn't good, or at least not to a lot of people's tastes, so my points can be argued, but, it's definitely interesting to think about.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

REALNESS.

Paris Is Burning...

I've known of this film for a long time. My best friends quote it and have taken on some of the lingo from it. I've seen it, but never all at once and never the whole thing. I'm on a bit of a documentary kick right now and I've had it on my comp for a while, so I finally sat down and watched the whole thing.

It was so good.

The individuals profiled in it are all so beautiful and wise and... real. The documentarian does a perfect job of capturing a very specific sub-culture, and by the end of the film you really feel you understand what the balls were and why people got involved in them. I mean, as much as you can understand without having participated yourself. It's really interesting, and a lot of the themes within are still very relevant. I would say that some of those themes are the American dream, luxury, the impact of models and celebrities... At the end of the day though, these are (or were) real people, with real lives and real dreams, and the only differences between us are where we live and how we spend our free time.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Me to the rescue!

You know that feeling when a song just grips you and steals you into it? When you're overcome by emotion all of a sudden just because of a certain combination of notes? It doesn't happen that often this intensely, but this song just got me...

Friday, March 4, 2011

I did a bunch of turns...

Guess what?
Actually, before I tell you... riddle me this: am I supposed to put a question mark after saying "guess what"? Is it a question or statement? I can't tell... I'm going to leave it there for now, but I'd like to get to the bottom of this...

Anyway, guess what? I started driving lessons yesterday. I had my first one last night and am thrilled to report that it went well! Obviously my comfort level isn't extremely high, and neither is my confidence, but it was much better than I thought it would be. I did a bunch of turns (!!!), a 3-point turn, lane changes, and backed into a parking space. Not bad for a 45-minute lesson. I felt pretty good, too. It wasn't very scary, and it was fun even!!! Looking forward to getting better and better. I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

RC-2: Concluded

I just realized that Reading Challenge #2 is over. RC-3 and RC-2 overlapped a bit, so I sort of forgot where I was at, but here's the report...

My challenge was to read 8 books between September 5th and December 31st of last year. The one stipulation was that 50% of the books had to be fiction. In the end I didn't finish the challenge until February 19th, 2011, but regardless the 8 books were read, and they were:
  1. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  2. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
  3. HP and the Goblet of Fire
  4. HP and the Order of the Phoenix
  5. By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
  6. HP and the Half-Blood Prince
  7. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
  8. The Girls by Lori Lansens
I won't review each book, but I will say that I enjoyed them all. I will also note that 100% of them are fiction, which makes me pleased as punch! My love for fiction is back in spades!

Lastly, I'm desperate to read the final Harry Potter. I can't wait any longer.

Who's visiting?