Another reminder

Another reminder! I'm posting at my fresh new blog now. The Perfect Binge. Come see me there!

Reminder

I promise it wasn't an April Fools joke! I am no longer posting here. Come join me over at The Perfect Binge.

Gone away

My new nest may not be totally complete, but you can still follow me to The Perfect Binge. A fresh new start seemed just the thing!

Artwork above by handmadeonpeconicbay. Isn't it lovely and tempting?

Don't be alarmed

I am merely feathering a fresh new nest for my blog. Updates to come!

AHH! SNAKE!

AHH! SNAKE! - FGR Guerilla Art
Originally uploaded by KCrawfish03

I love this kinda silliness! A good reason to keep chalk on you at all times.

Inspiring look

miss vu • 03.19.09
Originally uploaded by miss vu

Been a while since I've posted one of these, no? Love love love this look!

Strong strong women

Antonia's Line is a charming Dutch film about Antonia and her family and friends. It starts with the day she decides to die "because she knows when enough is enough" and then goes back to tell her tale. The story is a great one - full of the intricacies of small town life where everyone's business is known.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil the tiniest bit of it. I give it a 9.

All message-y

The Cat Returns features the very cool and imaginative Kingdom of Cats. Unfortunately, it also features a message that it attempts to sledge hammer into you.

It's all about a girl who feels out of place. She does a good deed for a cat in trouble and ends up the unwilling recipient of lots of attention from the Kingdom of Cats. And through all her adventures, she's forced to learn how to have confidence in herself. They mention it so goddamn often that its impossible not to get the message.

For that reason - and that reason only, it only gets a 4 from me.

Yes yes

I have watched a whole ton of movies lately. I've had some days off and spare time. Other things were accomplished too, I promise. Craftiness, candle-making, house tidying, thrift shopping and whatnot.

Rachel Getting Married had me worried at first. I was sure it was going to be scene after scene of Kim, the troubled recovering alcoholic / attention seeking daughter, ruining the wedding of her sister Rachel.

At first, there was a lot of those moments, but as things went along the family dynamic got a lot more complex and subtle. I felt like I was watching a real family unit - full of affection and pain and conflict.

I also loved the wedding itself. The music of this film bowled me over. This one rates an 8.

Just wondering

Sunflowers!
Originally uploaded by ilina s

Is anyone else dreaming of flowers? Its that tme of year in Ohio when only the crocus are blooming. I can feel the promise of spring and I know that in a short time flowers will be just about everywhere, but I cannot wait.

I've been buying flowers every time I grocery shop. Sunday I lucked into a free bouquet from my husband's coworkers. Flowers make everything better.

French fluff

Priceless is a bit of fluffy French comedy featuring Audrey Tautou as a gold digger who inadvertently charms a common hotel employee. The story is cute and silly. Tautou is charming as always. This film more than any other though, made me a bit concerned for how insanely think she is though. Maybe its a French thing, but if she were one of my friends, I'd be keeping an eye on her.

I give it a 5. The two leads are pretty adorable.

Netflix suggests a lot of movies to me, but it rarely gets it as right as Sweet Land. The story of a mail order bride from Germany who moves to a Minnesota community at a time when mistrust for Germans is riding high.

The story is a romance told so sweetly and gently. I can recommend it enough. (And Lisa, if you don't add this to your queue immediately, you just don't know what's good for you).

The filming is beautiful. Every last character is well thought out. Watch it and thank me later.

A 9.5 out of 10 in my book.

Regrets

Inspired by this post over on The Bluestocking Society, I started contemplating books I'm a little embarassed to admit Ihave not read yet. We all have them, right? My biggies?

- Catcher in the Rye
- Anna Karenina

And that got me pondering movies that I'm sad to say I haven't watched. Those neglected films are:

- The Godfather (any of them)
- Gone With the Wind

So now that I've spilled my dirty secrets, what books or films have you missed that you are ashamed to admit?

Oh please

Dead Until Dark sucked it - and not just in a vampirey way. Its all about a waitress in Louisiana who gets tangled up with a vampire and has to deal with lots of people she knows being murdered. In this world vampires have recently come out to the world since the invention of synthetic blood makes them more socially acceptable. And there's a whol culture of "fangbangers" - vampire groupies. Sounds a bit interesting, right? Well dash those hopes right now.


The main character is dumb. The relationships are dull. The set-ups are frequently unbelievable. (Cause of course, I would drop my kids off to be babysat by a woman whose had a recent attempt on her life and is still obviously been marked to be killed. Sure!) Stupid stupid book! Only a 1 on my scale.

Inspiration

After watching You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, the documentary about Howard Zinn, I am just thrumming with inspiration. The man as such a powerful message.

I love what he says about how no one is neutral. If you aren't participating and working for what's right, then you've sided with the wrong. Inertia is its own evil. We're all responsible for doing something.

Mr. Zinn is an amazing person, and this documentary was a nice push. I give it an 8.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

Shake Loose

I picked up Shake Loose My Skin for a dose of poetry long overdue this winter. Unfortunately, this dosage must be someone else's. I didn't like it much. It all felt dated and just not it. I did enoy "The Blues" and "Set No. 1" from "Wounded in the House of a Friend", but the rest just didn't resonate with me. I only give this one a 2.

Again and again and again and again

How many times can a person make the same point in one book? Apparently over and over again until you want to scream. I already have an annoying acquaintance from work who does this sort of thing - I don't need a book to do it.

Nudge takes an interesting and valid point and drives it until the ground. I gave up halfway through it. Only a two in my book.

Update on Amy

I do believe we've found our pretty foster pup a terrific home. I'll know for sure this week, but she was smitten and the potential adopter equally so.

Aggravating

The boy and I watched the BBC film Tipping the Velvet over the weekend. Based on the Sarah Waters novel, I had high hopes for this after having watched their wonderful rendition of Fingersmith. They really fell down on the job on this one.

This movie is about a girl in the 1890's who leaves the safe world of her family's oyster house to the world of the stage and male impersonators and the dangerous world of London. It, of course, features Sarah Waters' usual lesbian romances. The story is a good one - or at least it was when I read it.

BBC films are usually done so lovely. This one was down by some ADD director who felt the need to use an insane number of camera tricks - flashbacks, lots of super fast cuts, and even more idiot effects. The narration annoyed me. The use of patently obvious visual queues was even worse. (Its easy to tell when one of the characters is feeling trapped, do we really need her to pose next to a bird in a cage?). They even changed the ending - same results but with an entirely different way of getting there. I felt misused by this film.

The one highlight was the costumes. They were fantastic. The rest of it was crap. I only give it a 2. (The book however is very very good).

Meet Amy

I've been wanting to be a foster home for pets for a long while now, and we finally did it. Meet Amy.

Amy is a five month old Jack Russell mix. She's a bit shy around people, but getting more confident by the day. She loves dogs and is practicing her manners around kitties. She's the snuggliest little pup - loves to be as close as possible. If you know anyone in Ohio looking for a fantastic little dog, send them my way!