A FIVE HEART REVIEW and GREAT MOVIES * THE BOOK THIEF * SWIMMING IN AIR * NIGHTMARE ALLEY * HAIRSPRAY

Here's that Five Star Review I mentioned in my last post
*****
The Book Thief: by Markus Zusak is one of my favorite books of the year. This is a beautiful and beautifully written story about Leisel, a German girl who moves to a small town near Munich in 1938. I couldn't put the book down. The narration, the characters, the landscape, the story....it's all here. It's an intense and emotional read.

Swimming in Air: This is a short film about women and life experiences by Janice Tanaka. I met Janice through through ebay and a subsequent telephone chat about living in the Chicago area. She sent me a DVD of her work Swimming In Air, and I've watched it a few times, each time noticing and learning something different. It was fun to watch it with a group of friends one evening.....that night the dinner conversation kept returning to themes from the movie. Thank you for the film, Janice, and above all for making us think.

Nightmare Alley: My favorite channel for old movies is TMC. I recorded this one ages ago, and watched it the other night. Wow! Tyrone Power plays the good looking and ambitious circus announcer with Joan Blondell as the big hearted mind reader who also reads tarot cards. Just a fabulous movie, typical for its time, and typical of why I've always loved these movies. Clicking on the link above will take you to the original trailer....just enough to whet your appetite. You'll never hear the word "geek" again without thinking about Nightmare Alley.

Hairspray: Here's another favorite movie. The original 1988 version with Ricki Lake was so great that I was unexcited to see the new version with John Travolta in drag as Traci Turnblad's mom. The original Hairspray played as if it was made in the early 1960s with a cool mood and a kind of truthfulness. It was first a movie and then a musical.
Last night we watched the new version, based on the stage play, and it was delightful!
First it's a musical and then its' a movie. It's upbeat and modern and totally fun. Loved it.

PLAYING WITH GROWN-UPS

Playing With Grown-Ups by Sophie Dahl - There is a sub-genre to the Disfunctional Family Lives genre of reading material. It's the Disfunctional Mother group that began with Mommie Dearest. (It may have begun before Mommie Dearest but that would take a few minutes of research which I don't have time for at this moment). Playing With Grown-Ups is a great little read. Since the mom is so sweet and fun, one doesn't realize the genre until near the end of the book when things in the house really really begin to disintegrate. I liked that about this book. That I liked the antagonist. We all do, which is what makes her so tricky, and makes the book so readable and different from your run of the mill mom-bash.

The weather is here today, day after Labor Day, so I'm off to the beach for a walk and a swim and to finish a wonderful wonderful book. Watch here for a 5 star review.

MORE LEONARD COHEN

I'm still listening to Leonard Cohen. I love this music, although when I was home in Michigan, and listening to it with others in the room, it did reflect an extremely melancholy sound. Like very very slooooowwww. Still there is nothing like I'm Your Man for the most romantic song, Tower of Song for a song a about life, and Hallelujah for a song to make you think. So I read this darling little book called

HYDRA and the Bananas of Leonard Cohen by Roger Green who lives on Hydra, and whose home overlooks the garden of Leonard Cohen. Roger is the British Bard of Hydra, and wrote a poem, and then he started annotating and reflecting and expanding on his poem for a year and came up with this book. I think it's about bananas and people. It's sweet, but you wouldn't have to read it unless you were in an obsession.

and then there was

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen - This is a video made in 1964 by the Canadian National Film Board about their native son. He was 29 years old, and he reads his poetry, and they follow him around town, and generally create an early A&E style biography about Leonard. He's very likable.

It's gone so far that I've checked out a piano book of Leonard's music, and have been playing the songs, too. If I can get one to sound halfway decent, maybe I'll make a little blog recording of Chelsea Hotel. It's nice and slow and pretty easy to play.

FOUR BOOKS & A MOVIE

Nine Powers to Transform Your Life - by Nicolas Nobile - This might be the only book you need if you've been thinking about reading Gary Zukov, Eckhart Tolle or any of the other wonderful authors who are teaching the ways toward a fulfilled and true and happy life. It condenses to the essence those important choices that one can make to live pure and well. I believe that the power is within each one of us, we just have to find it and use it. This book helps one to define the powers. There is something to read and quote on each of the pages of this inspiring book.

I Capture the Castle: This movie was recommended by my friend Susan while perusing the library shelves of movies that begin with the letter I. Surprisingly, there are a number of wonderful films beginning with I. But I digress. If you love Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters and other authors of that ilk, and if you love a quirky story that takes place in another time and in another country, here's one you'll love too. Cassandra, her sister Rose, and their family live on no money in a broken down drafty castle outside of London in the 1930s. There is seemingly no chance for a romance with a substantial young man until two Americans show up one day. Mmmm, this is a lovely story.

Garden Spells - by Sarah Addison Allen - Here's a fun summer read about two sisters and their life in Bascom, North Carolina. It's a magical rather old fashioned tale set in modern times. Everyone knows about everyone else in town, and the families have a history together that seems to repeat itself generation after generation. Just delightful. Take it to the beach and indulge.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - by Jean Dominique Bauby - I'd been wanting to read this one for ages, and there it was in front of me on a shelf in the library one day. I've always wondered about the meaning of the title, since this is an autobiography about a man with "locked in" syndrome. That mystery was cleared up very quickly, and there followed a true and poignant story, not unbearable to read, but not quickly forgotten. Maybe not ever forgotten. Yes, read this book.

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon - Recommended by my friend Sue, and unenthusiastically received by my friend Susan B when she saw me checking it out at the library, this is essentially a historical fiction romance. It's about a 1940s British post war bride named Claire who time travels to 1700s Scotland and finds adventure and another love. She's a practical sort who adapts quickly to her circumstances. I love the Gaelic dialect that the author employs to give personality and resonance to her characters. It's charming if this is your genre. I may not read the rest of the series. As much because I don't love a series in general unless it is on TV. And even then, I miss it, but don't have huge regrets about it when it wraps up. (Sopranos, John From Cincinnati, Seinfeld etc.) Something new always comes along that I like just as well.

THIS 'N THAT

I'm Your Man: This film about Leonard Cohen and his music intersperses musicians and folksingers performing Leonard's music and talking about Leonard with interviews of the composer himself. He's charming, intelligent and honest. I'm still listening to the music all the time, and have a couple of books lined up to read after I finish one called Garden Spells which promises to be a sweet little read.

TV Shows: The Flipping Out finale was great last night. I love these people. Saving Grace is ramping it up this season. Holly Hunter is amazing and over the top and it all works. Mad Men is starting slowly....I hope it builds. Project Runway is pretty low key.There is some talent this season, but not like the last two seasons in terms of new and exciting looks. Stella is my favorite, so I hope she stays in the game for the duration. I love her.

Chicago Tribune: I read this paper cover to cover every day. I opened it up last Monday to find that they've decided to eliminate the daily TV Guide. What a pain!
In the meantime, the Sunday Guide is a full sized newspaper section that is user unfriendly. This is just insult to injury. I continue to read this paper because of the local news coverage and the comics. Lets talk about what they've done to decimate the comic section. Basically we still have Brenda Starr and Dick Tracy; I think because they are both written by local Chicagoans. Brenda Starr is actually written by a Tribune columnist. I fear that if Mary Schmitch ever leaves the Tribune, that will be the end of Brenda. The comics I miss are Gasoline Alley, Hi and Lois and Beetle Baily. Dear Abby was on the comic page for years, and she's gone now, too.

The weather is here this summer. It's been gorgeous outside. Sunny and warm for days on end. Time to go for a walk! Is the Love Heart Turning at the top of my blog distracting? For a long time it didn't turn, then my nephew came over and put something called VCS on my Mac, and the heart started turning. I love that graphic! I tried to make it smaller, but couldn't figure out how to do it without possibly losing the heart altogether. What a nice little blog about nothing today!

The Garden of Last Days: by Andre Dubus III - Different people from diverse cultures and usual and unusual walks of life come into contact with each other throughout this book by Andre Dubus III. He puts the reader in these peoples' thoughts, and we become sympathetic to their concerns and problems. I think that some readers could be very angry while reading this story, but it truly is a tale of life in America. Dubus gets into the heads of his male characters in a way that sometimes bogs me down. I'm not as bogged down by the females, probably because he is a man, and can't go all the way there into the thoughts of a woman the same as he does with men. Hmmm. I recommend this novel to the open minded reader. Are you ready for the thoughts and actions of a muslim hijacker, a woman who dances at a men's club, an angry young father and more? Here you are.

MAD MEN - THOSE MADISON AVENUE AD MEN

I'm hooked. Mad Men is the best! It takes place in 1960s New York and centers around the complicated life of Don Draper. From the smoking and drinking, the muted racism, the psychiatrist who secretly reports the wife's sessions to the husband, extra-marital affairs, office sexism and beatnicks, to the scene where the little girl comes into the room with a cleaners bag over her head and the mom does nothing, this show has it all. It's loaded with awful double standards, yet these people had a lot of personal freedoms. I just watched the first 10 episodes on On Demand, and I have a few more to go before the new season starts next week. I can't wait!

Oh, and what passes for being creative on this show isn't even up to current pre-school creativity standards! Too funny. There is lots and lots to think about here.

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/about/

BEHIND THE SCENES IN RESTAURANT KITCHENS

Kitchen Confidential: by Anthony Bourdain - Chef Tony writes about his "adventures in the culinary underbelly" and leaves nothing unsaid. His autobiographical account of life as a NYC chef is an engrossing and fun read. He's been around a couple of blocks, and tells an unvarnished truth about himself and the business he loves. He has a Travel Channel show called No Reservations, and some of that ironic personality comes through. I enjoyed the show about Saudi Arabia once I got used to his slight monotone. His sarcasm is refreshing, though.

I once spent two weeks as an intern in the busy kitchen of a major hotel in Chicago, so some of his stories come as no surprise. Our head chef was a huge crusty frenchman, feared and revered by everyone in the hotel. At the time I just didn't get it. I thought the sous chefs wielding their chainsaws in the freezer were the heroes. The long hours, low pay, stressful deadlines, and lack of much of a life outside the hotel didn't work out for me; it was a fun year, but I'm still looking for that high paying stress free job where you don't work many hours and have lots of time to do what you enjoy. Hmmm....maybe blogging is the answer.

WATCHING TV

I think it's time for a new category on the blog. I watch a lot of TV. I've loved watching since I can remember. With cable and a dvr and a nice big HD flat panel TV, it's possible to indulge in any TV any time. The quality of the picture is incredible and magnetic. Here's what I'm watching lately:

Flipping Out: This is a reality show about a neurotic rehabber in LA who flips houses. He's OCD, a perfectionist, did I mention neurotic in a lovable way, and really knows his business. He has great friends who love him and tolerate him and support him in spite of his quirks, which makes him just like anyone, which is probably why I find him so likable.

Project Runway: We're into a new season, so I don't know yet know the players, but it's a fun time getting to know everyone. The last two seasons included fabulously talented contestants designing fabulously inspired clothing. On a budget, under crazy deadlines, and surrounded by the competition all the way. I've come to love and respect Tim Gunn. He's one of the great stylemasters of our time.

What's My Line: That's right. I set my DVR to record it on GSN every day, then each night I watch Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallon and Charles Daley as the panel moderator guess the "lines" of the guests. Each show features a famous mystery guest. For this segment, the panel covers their eyes and must figure out the identity of said mystery guest. All the stars and personalities of the day appeared. My favorites have been Elizabeth Taylor (when she was married to Michael Wilding I think), and Elenor Roosevelt. The best.

Saving Grace: Just started a new season. Holly Hunter plays a police detective with some issues of her own. And she has this angel who has his hands full with her. I love this show. This is not your parents' detective story. 'nuff said.

Mad Men: It's on On Demand, so I just started watching last season at the recommendation of my neighbor who I think this is the only show she watches. She's really fun and smart and artistic, so I knew it had to be good. The Mad Men are the Ad Men of Madison Avenue circa 1960. Everybody's smoking and drinking and engaging in other non-appropriate politically incorrect and maddening behaviors which were considered normal and cool in those olden days. It's good stuff.

More To Come. (Remember? REMEMBER???)

ESME AND ESME

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: By Maggie O'Farrell - There is this reshelving cart at the library where the newest books are usually placed in order to tempt library regulars to check them out right away. That's where I saw this intriguing title. Intriguing of course, because of For Esme - With Love and Squalor which I will always love. Anyway, the Esme in this book is as interesting and rich as the original Esme. This story is a double story about two women discovering each other and discovering how their lives are connected.