This play was assigned to us to read in Sophomore English. I am sure I did not read it, I glanced at some Cliffs Notes and probably managed a C. I remember that we were to learn the " To be or not to soliliquoy. I am sure I got no further than suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
However in my adult years I consistently hear references to Shakespeare and realize I am educated. Downloading the entire works ( thanks Kindle ) of Shakespeare I decided to start with Hamlet. This is the most performed and famous work of the playwright but I must admit my knowledge of the play was very limited.
The language of Shakespeare is difficult. Some of the phrasing is obsolete and antiquated. The story breaks through though if with some work and I am confident that as I read more and more of the plays I will better understand the language.
The story is that of a young Danish prince named Hamlet who after being visited by his father's ghost is on a mission to avenge his fathers death, heretofore not known to be a murder. The play is a tragedy and there are many deaths but the story is wonderful.
It is hard four centuries later to appreciate these works as one should but they are wonderful and in many ways set the stage for much of the great literature that came after.
I am very pleased to be starting on this mission to read these classics. Hamlet was a great start.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
We all have heard about this book. We have heard that this book stirred the pot and led to the Civil War. Certainly the book was written with the intent of stirring abolitionist sentiment.
It was a book I assigned myself as something I should read but it was a very good book. The story was well told, the characters were all well drawn and people you cared about. I enjoyed this book.
We meet George and Eliza. Eliza being the house slave of the Shelby family who treat their slaves very well. The Shelby's in serious debt find themselves in the position of needing to raise money and being in the position of losing the whole farm or selling a couple of slaves, something they do not wish to do. Faced with these prospects however they do decide they must sell Eliza's son as well as the most respected slave on the premises named Tom. Tom is so honest, so trustworthy, he travels with unlimited restriction and always is where he is supposed to be. The family tells themselves they will buy him back first chance they get but everyone knows what being sold down the river means. Slaves that go to the deep South rarely survive for a long life. Eliza hears the plans and escapes. We see her travails as she attempts to move north to Canada.
We also follow the story of Tom as he moves South being bought and sold a couple of times into entirely different circumstances. Clearly the book was meant to educate that even the " good " slaveholders perpetuated a system by where the " bad " slaveholders could carry out their practices. Northern people that proclaim to be against slavery but still find themselves feeling repulsed by contact with black folks are also castigated.
The book has an overarching religious framing which those of a secular bent might have a problem with. Still it easy to see how this book could convert those who had modest feelings against slavery in general to a strong devotion to doing all they could to repeal it. This book was a life changer for many people secure in thier blinder and cocoons of their normal lives.
It also tells us that correlations will always exist to our current lives, anytime we can justify our actions at the expense of others by stating we do not know how things could be different we are not following the golden rule.
This book is a treasure.
It was a book I assigned myself as something I should read but it was a very good book. The story was well told, the characters were all well drawn and people you cared about. I enjoyed this book.
We meet George and Eliza. Eliza being the house slave of the Shelby family who treat their slaves very well. The Shelby's in serious debt find themselves in the position of needing to raise money and being in the position of losing the whole farm or selling a couple of slaves, something they do not wish to do. Faced with these prospects however they do decide they must sell Eliza's son as well as the most respected slave on the premises named Tom. Tom is so honest, so trustworthy, he travels with unlimited restriction and always is where he is supposed to be. The family tells themselves they will buy him back first chance they get but everyone knows what being sold down the river means. Slaves that go to the deep South rarely survive for a long life. Eliza hears the plans and escapes. We see her travails as she attempts to move north to Canada.
We also follow the story of Tom as he moves South being bought and sold a couple of times into entirely different circumstances. Clearly the book was meant to educate that even the " good " slaveholders perpetuated a system by where the " bad " slaveholders could carry out their practices. Northern people that proclaim to be against slavery but still find themselves feeling repulsed by contact with black folks are also castigated.
The book has an overarching religious framing which those of a secular bent might have a problem with. Still it easy to see how this book could convert those who had modest feelings against slavery in general to a strong devotion to doing all they could to repeal it. This book was a life changer for many people secure in thier blinder and cocoons of their normal lives.
It also tells us that correlations will always exist to our current lives, anytime we can justify our actions at the expense of others by stating we do not know how things could be different we are not following the golden rule.
This book is a treasure.
The Soloist
My wife put this movie in the other day. This is my way of saying it was not one that I picked out. Starring Robert Downey and Jamie Foxx as a LA Times reporter named Steve Lopez and a homeless man named Nathanial Ayers.
Meeting Ayers and discovering that he was a cello prodigy who attended Julliard's he decides to look into his background and discovers the story is true. Scizophrenia has debilitated Ayers to the extent that he lives in a tunnel.
The reporter and the homeless mans relationship develops. Lopez attempts to reintegrate Ayers to music. Eventually getting him to sleep inside becomes a goal. There are ups and downs for both characters and the movie does not have the fairy tale ending one might hope for but it is improvement for Ayers.
Downey's performance is solid but Foxx is wonderful. This was not an easy part to play and Foxx brings some strong acting chops to it. Not a great movie but an interesting one and Foxx does a great job.
Meeting Ayers and discovering that he was a cello prodigy who attended Julliard's he decides to look into his background and discovers the story is true. Scizophrenia has debilitated Ayers to the extent that he lives in a tunnel.
The reporter and the homeless mans relationship develops. Lopez attempts to reintegrate Ayers to music. Eventually getting him to sleep inside becomes a goal. There are ups and downs for both characters and the movie does not have the fairy tale ending one might hope for but it is improvement for Ayers.
Downey's performance is solid but Foxx is wonderful. This was not an easy part to play and Foxx brings some strong acting chops to it. Not a great movie but an interesting one and Foxx does a great job.
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
I am not a big fan of military books. However there are several classic books which are told in or around military action. Hemingway wrote two and this, Norman Mailer's first book, ranks as another.
Telling the tale of the invasion of a fictional island in the Pacific in World War II we are brought along with one reconnaissance team. The book is told in both current time and individual sections called " Time Machine " where we learn the personal histories of each of the members of the troop.
The characters are interesting and face different challenges. We see Polish, Jewish, Southern, Italian and other nationalities and the prejuidices that each soldier brings with him become part of the story.
The invasion is led by a General Cummings and egocentic, mindgame playing leader who in the end wants total submission by his staff. The mission itself ends up being successful but in such a way that it makes one question everything about the leadership of the army and the hits and misses of war.
This was a good book. I myself enjoyed the character development sections as much as the real time story. I am glad I read this book but as stated this is not one of my favorite subjects. I found the last 50 pages to be a bit long. The mission was bogged down and perhaps the way you felt reading it was how the soldiers felt performing it.
Mailer was a great writer. This book does not match up, for me, to The Executioner's Song which won the Pulitzer but it was a book and is a landmark in American fiction for a reason.
Telling the tale of the invasion of a fictional island in the Pacific in World War II we are brought along with one reconnaissance team. The book is told in both current time and individual sections called " Time Machine " where we learn the personal histories of each of the members of the troop.
The characters are interesting and face different challenges. We see Polish, Jewish, Southern, Italian and other nationalities and the prejuidices that each soldier brings with him become part of the story.
The invasion is led by a General Cummings and egocentic, mindgame playing leader who in the end wants total submission by his staff. The mission itself ends up being successful but in such a way that it makes one question everything about the leadership of the army and the hits and misses of war.
This was a good book. I myself enjoyed the character development sections as much as the real time story. I am glad I read this book but as stated this is not one of my favorite subjects. I found the last 50 pages to be a bit long. The mission was bogged down and perhaps the way you felt reading it was how the soldiers felt performing it.
Mailer was a great writer. This book does not match up, for me, to The Executioner's Song which won the Pulitzer but it was a book and is a landmark in American fiction for a reason.
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Avett Brothers/ Four Theives Gone -The Robbinsville Sessions
The Avett Brothers continues to work toward becoming my new favorite band of the moment. This album for a few years ago has many more great songs such as Sixteen in July, Pretend Love, Left on Laura, A Lover Like You, Denouncing November Blue and many others.
The Avetts have a rather unique talent in that the ballads are beautiful and then the can rock out ( as much as you can rock out with banjo's and mandolins ) and have more fun than apparently any other band going today.
Mostly a college town and Southeastern phenomenon the Avett's are growing in buzz everyday. They are the band I would most like to see. This music will capture you. Often times the trendsetter does not have the commercial success of those that come behind and Mumford and Sons being second on the album charts right now might prove this point but few once hearing The Avett's will not recognize them as being the best at what they do right now.
Don't just listen to this. Listen to anything Avett you can.
The Avetts have a rather unique talent in that the ballads are beautiful and then the can rock out ( as much as you can rock out with banjo's and mandolins ) and have more fun than apparently any other band going today.
Mostly a college town and Southeastern phenomenon the Avett's are growing in buzz everyday. They are the band I would most like to see. This music will capture you. Often times the trendsetter does not have the commercial success of those that come behind and Mumford and Sons being second on the album charts right now might prove this point but few once hearing The Avett's will not recognize them as being the best at what they do right now.
Don't just listen to this. Listen to anything Avett you can.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber
Having heard of James Thurber in the past I was interested to hear some of his work last year when Keith Olbermann started reading from his work on his MSNBC show. On an unrelated note the fact that Keith has left major broadcast cable news to go to the wasteland of Al Gore's network makes one wonder about what really happened when he departed from MSNBC.
This book was interesting. I love the New Yorker and knew that Thurber wrote many short pieces. I guess I was not as knowledgable about the nature of his work, that is that he was more of a humorist. This is not to say the stories are not interesting and funny, they are.
Some of the story collections are quite interesting, those centering on his youth and somewhat crazy family especially. The Dog That Bit People is a fine story. I found the stories from Fables for Our Time especially interesting in that they were humorous and purported to offer a sardonic moral.
This type of story collection is not as much what I prefer and so would not give this a rave review. The writing is more like the Shouts and Murmurs section of The New Yorker which while funny is not something that I have a great interest in. That said the stories are funny, some more than others, and I enjoyed educating myself of the work of this legendary writer.
This book was interesting. I love the New Yorker and knew that Thurber wrote many short pieces. I guess I was not as knowledgable about the nature of his work, that is that he was more of a humorist. This is not to say the stories are not interesting and funny, they are.
Some of the story collections are quite interesting, those centering on his youth and somewhat crazy family especially. The Dog That Bit People is a fine story. I found the stories from Fables for Our Time especially interesting in that they were humorous and purported to offer a sardonic moral.
This type of story collection is not as much what I prefer and so would not give this a rave review. The writing is more like the Shouts and Murmurs section of The New Yorker which while funny is not something that I have a great interest in. That said the stories are funny, some more than others, and I enjoyed educating myself of the work of this legendary writer.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Woodrow Wilson by John Milton Cooper Jr.
This was an interesting book. Woodrow Wilson was one of the Presidents who did not follow the normal patch to political success. Wilson was an academic. He had become an attourney but his heart was not in it and he gravitated to academia ending up as a Professor at Princeton and eventually President of the same.
Remarkably he soon became a contender for the Governorship of New Jersey and directly after this election he became a strong contender for the Democratic nomination for President. The timing was perfect, the Democrats had been in the proverbial wasteland for so long the party was devoid of contenders, the fact that William Jennings Bryan who had been the nominee three times for the Democrats in the last twenty years showed this.
In 1912 the Republicans fractured with Teddy Roosevelt bolting the party after Taft was renomindated as the incumbent. An argument could be made that this split made the path much easier for Wilson although with the Progressive backers being a strange mix from both parties it is hard to know if this is true.
Wilson has been criticized for his League of Nations idea or perhaps more so for his failure to compromise on the ratification of the treaty with the Senate which revolted against Wilson led by Henry Cabot Lodge.
Wilson did accomplish many things in office but for whatever reason those accomplishments have not become a part of the common historical record. His personality was not one considered warm and he did indeed have a way of grating on even those in his corner.
Wilson after working tirelessly in Europe at the culmination of World War II returned home haggard, drawn and tired and soon suffered a major stroke. This certainly limited his ability to fight for the treaty, though it seems unlikely that he would have ever had the votes to accomplish his goals unless he showed a heretofore ability to compromise.
After having read recently Colenol Roosevelt, the story of Roosevelt's later years including Wilson's Presidency this book certainly tells the history from a differnt point of view. Interestingly the histories are told quite similarily, however a sure difference is the Roosevelt book centers much on his disagreements with Wilson's policies while the Wilson book acknowledges Roosevelt's disagreements but does not seem to infer Roosevelt and his disagreement had much of impact on Wilson.
Wilson was a self contained man and it could well be true that no disagreement really bothered him. He was an enigma. He was however the only two term Democratic president between Jackson and FDR with the exception of Cleveland whose terms were not successive. This was quite an accomplishment against the grain of the current politic.
Many of his ideas became templates and precursors to the ideas of FDR, his Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Wilson's legacy will always be conflicted but his import should not be. This is an interesting read and one well worth your time.
Remarkably he soon became a contender for the Governorship of New Jersey and directly after this election he became a strong contender for the Democratic nomination for President. The timing was perfect, the Democrats had been in the proverbial wasteland for so long the party was devoid of contenders, the fact that William Jennings Bryan who had been the nominee three times for the Democrats in the last twenty years showed this.
In 1912 the Republicans fractured with Teddy Roosevelt bolting the party after Taft was renomindated as the incumbent. An argument could be made that this split made the path much easier for Wilson although with the Progressive backers being a strange mix from both parties it is hard to know if this is true.
Wilson has been criticized for his League of Nations idea or perhaps more so for his failure to compromise on the ratification of the treaty with the Senate which revolted against Wilson led by Henry Cabot Lodge.
Wilson did accomplish many things in office but for whatever reason those accomplishments have not become a part of the common historical record. His personality was not one considered warm and he did indeed have a way of grating on even those in his corner.
Wilson after working tirelessly in Europe at the culmination of World War II returned home haggard, drawn and tired and soon suffered a major stroke. This certainly limited his ability to fight for the treaty, though it seems unlikely that he would have ever had the votes to accomplish his goals unless he showed a heretofore ability to compromise.
After having read recently Colenol Roosevelt, the story of Roosevelt's later years including Wilson's Presidency this book certainly tells the history from a differnt point of view. Interestingly the histories are told quite similarily, however a sure difference is the Roosevelt book centers much on his disagreements with Wilson's policies while the Wilson book acknowledges Roosevelt's disagreements but does not seem to infer Roosevelt and his disagreement had much of impact on Wilson.
Wilson was a self contained man and it could well be true that no disagreement really bothered him. He was an enigma. He was however the only two term Democratic president between Jackson and FDR with the exception of Cleveland whose terms were not successive. This was quite an accomplishment against the grain of the current politic.
Many of his ideas became templates and precursors to the ideas of FDR, his Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Wilson's legacy will always be conflicted but his import should not be. This is an interesting read and one well worth your time.
Gone With The Wind
This is quite a movie. I have seen it before but recorded it the last time it was on TMC. It ages well. The picture of Southern plantation life that is now Gone With the Wind with the South's defeat in The Civil War.
The movie was controversial at the time with stereotypical performances of slavery. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar as she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance of Mammy. Criticized by the NAACP for her portrayal she stated she would rather make $700 playing a maid than $7 dollars being one.
Vivian Leigh playing Scarlett O' Hara was a beautiful woman. Chasing Ashley Wilkes while befriending his wife was a complicated thing. The Civil War and Sherman's march to Atlanta ruins Tara and her way of life.
Her father had always told her land was the most important thing. As the movie ends after all her trials and tribulations she realizes she wants to go home to Tara to start over.
Some of the great movie lines " Fiddledeedee, Frankly my dear I don't give a damn, and " I'll think about it tomorrow" are in the cultural lexicon.
The perfect Melanie ( played by Olivia D' Havilland who is still alive) is a perfect contrast to the manipulaitive Scarlett. Clark Gable as the rake Rhett Butler is legendary in his performance.
This is the rare movie that despite it's being dated in places and telling of a time and place most of cannot even comprehend and even with the wonderful cast becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Small characters like Big Sam, Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Mead perform their roles perfectly. This is a great movie. It is unrealistic in many ways, Mammy may have stayed with the family after the War but most slaves were very happily accepting of their freedom. Still this was a way of life and the movie does tell the tale well of the receipients of slavery and that while the practice was evil being ingrained in a society does not mean that all practicioners were evil. Things acceptable today will not be in 100 years. Things change.
Sometimes a society burns brightest before it flames out. The South in the 1950's was Supernova only they did not know it.
Don't take it too seriously and you can enjoy this movie a great deal. I did. Vivian Leigh's eyes alone make it worthwhile.
The movie was controversial at the time with stereotypical performances of slavery. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar as she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance of Mammy. Criticized by the NAACP for her portrayal she stated she would rather make $700 playing a maid than $7 dollars being one.
Vivian Leigh playing Scarlett O' Hara was a beautiful woman. Chasing Ashley Wilkes while befriending his wife was a complicated thing. The Civil War and Sherman's march to Atlanta ruins Tara and her way of life.
Her father had always told her land was the most important thing. As the movie ends after all her trials and tribulations she realizes she wants to go home to Tara to start over.
Some of the great movie lines " Fiddledeedee, Frankly my dear I don't give a damn, and " I'll think about it tomorrow" are in the cultural lexicon.
The perfect Melanie ( played by Olivia D' Havilland who is still alive) is a perfect contrast to the manipulaitive Scarlett. Clark Gable as the rake Rhett Butler is legendary in his performance.
This is the rare movie that despite it's being dated in places and telling of a time and place most of cannot even comprehend and even with the wonderful cast becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Small characters like Big Sam, Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Mead perform their roles perfectly. This is a great movie. It is unrealistic in many ways, Mammy may have stayed with the family after the War but most slaves were very happily accepting of their freedom. Still this was a way of life and the movie does tell the tale well of the receipients of slavery and that while the practice was evil being ingrained in a society does not mean that all practicioners were evil. Things acceptable today will not be in 100 years. Things change.
Sometimes a society burns brightest before it flames out. The South in the 1950's was Supernova only they did not know it.
Don't take it too seriously and you can enjoy this movie a great deal. I did. Vivian Leigh's eyes alone make it worthwhile.
Exile on Main Street by Rolling Stones
This album is long considered the best of The Rolling Stones long career and even one of the greatest albums of the rock era. Like all people born just a little too late to have a first hand appreciation of the Stones in the Sixties I have owned the Hot Rocks collection, first in casette then in CD and now in MP3. The only issue with that collection is many of the Stones songs I enjoy the most now did not make it onto that " Greatest Hits" package.
Songs such as Dead Flowers, Let it Bleed and Love in Vain which to me rank with the best they have done miss that collection. Of course I also understand that as I get older my appreciation of " Country Mick " might be stronger than my appreciation of " Rock and Roll " Mick. Songs like Sympathy, Wild Horses and You Can't Always Get What You Want however hold up as well as any songs from the rock era.
A local radio station here has often introduced the Stones as the greatest rock and roll band of all time and I do not know anyone who agrees with that. We all love some of the Stones music but did you ever notice nobody ever marvels about Sticky Fingers versus Let it Bleed or Her Satanic Majesties Request. We have all heard or taken part in endless debates about the merits of Let it Be versus Revolver. Rubber Soul versus Searganet Pepper. Everyone knows the names of The Beatles albums, many even strong fans of the Stones do not know the names of the Stones albums.
Exile on Main Street being from 1972 would thus be outside of the 64-71 era. Perhaps the reason the Stones albums from the Hot Rocks period are not so discernible is that so many bought the at the time double album greatest hits collections.
In the end what this means is that if anything, The Rolling Stones are underrated in terms of their career.
A review of this album shows for me an album that I clearly did not appreciate as much as I should. Songs such as Loving Cup, Let it Loose, Shining the Light, and Sweet Virginia are classics that most people have never heard. Like Love in Vain on Let it Bleed what is clear is that The Stones too have classic songs most have never heard. Tumbling Dice and the Keith Richards vocal Happy are songs more know but the album is full of great songs.
Albums such as Tattoo You and Some Girls later brought the Stones back to the forefront but this album two years after the end of The Beatles placed the Stones front and center as the biggest band in the world.
Most have heard about this album. Many own it. But if you have not taken a listen in awhile you should. This is a very good album.
Songs such as Dead Flowers, Let it Bleed and Love in Vain which to me rank with the best they have done miss that collection. Of course I also understand that as I get older my appreciation of " Country Mick " might be stronger than my appreciation of " Rock and Roll " Mick. Songs like Sympathy, Wild Horses and You Can't Always Get What You Want however hold up as well as any songs from the rock era.
A local radio station here has often introduced the Stones as the greatest rock and roll band of all time and I do not know anyone who agrees with that. We all love some of the Stones music but did you ever notice nobody ever marvels about Sticky Fingers versus Let it Bleed or Her Satanic Majesties Request. We have all heard or taken part in endless debates about the merits of Let it Be versus Revolver. Rubber Soul versus Searganet Pepper. Everyone knows the names of The Beatles albums, many even strong fans of the Stones do not know the names of the Stones albums.
Exile on Main Street being from 1972 would thus be outside of the 64-71 era. Perhaps the reason the Stones albums from the Hot Rocks period are not so discernible is that so many bought the at the time double album greatest hits collections.
In the end what this means is that if anything, The Rolling Stones are underrated in terms of their career.
A review of this album shows for me an album that I clearly did not appreciate as much as I should. Songs such as Loving Cup, Let it Loose, Shining the Light, and Sweet Virginia are classics that most people have never heard. Like Love in Vain on Let it Bleed what is clear is that The Stones too have classic songs most have never heard. Tumbling Dice and the Keith Richards vocal Happy are songs more know but the album is full of great songs.
Albums such as Tattoo You and Some Girls later brought the Stones back to the forefront but this album two years after the end of The Beatles placed the Stones front and center as the biggest band in the world.
Most have heard about this album. Many own it. But if you have not taken a listen in awhile you should. This is a very good album.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Jessica Lea Mayfield, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt
A couple of weeks ago Amazon offered this album for way back in 2008 for $3.00. Having already liked the first song I had heard off her most recent album I purchased this. I have been very very pleased with this album.
Thus singers voice is unique. She sounds raspy with a slight drawl but it is not southern so much as in some songs she just slows it down. Joni Mitchell, Maria McKee, Lucinda Williams these all sound like influences on Jessica but this is only my idea, what she was influenced by might be others.
What I know is this girl can sing. I have not found a song that is not something I want to hear again on the disc but For Today, Hold you Close and especially We've Never Lied are standouts. Hearing this young lady tell us she will talk to whoever she wants to makes you feel like it is a statement or a song that she might well have spoken in the past.
There is not much room in the Top 40 for an artist like this. In some cases you have to hunt for good music. It is out there if you do. This album surfacing for me three years later proves it can be found.
Listen to this.
Thus singers voice is unique. She sounds raspy with a slight drawl but it is not southern so much as in some songs she just slows it down. Joni Mitchell, Maria McKee, Lucinda Williams these all sound like influences on Jessica but this is only my idea, what she was influenced by might be others.
What I know is this girl can sing. I have not found a song that is not something I want to hear again on the disc but For Today, Hold you Close and especially We've Never Lied are standouts. Hearing this young lady tell us she will talk to whoever she wants to makes you feel like it is a statement or a song that she might well have spoken in the past.
There is not much room in the Top 40 for an artist like this. In some cases you have to hunt for good music. It is out there if you do. This album surfacing for me three years later proves it can be found.
Listen to this.
My Antonia by Willa Cather
After finishing War and Peace the next book I chose to read from the selection of free books on the Kindle was this one. Certainly much lighter material Cather is an author I have not read but have heard much about and heard many references too.
This book was very entertaining. Being a nostalgic person I found myself captured by the description she gives of growing up on the Nebraska plains.
In starting the book we meet Jim a man who is remembering his youth and before the story even begins the meter and pace of the writing tells you that this is going to be a well written story.
Through Jim's telling of his own youth we meet Antonia and her family, Bohemian immigrants who arrive in Jim's town the same day that Jim does, on the same train in fact as Jim who himself is coming to Nebraska to live with his grandparents after being orphaned in Virginia.
It is a different life told about in these pages. A life without modern conveniences but which seems at least to me as a life more full. A life more participated in. A life that with all its rough and tumble of the prairie still had more manners and regard for " the right thing."
I am an unabashed nostalgic. I love stories of the past. This book is well written. The story is interesting, it is a book that is dated in places but then again aren't we all.
Cather is a very good writer and based on this I will try some of her other stories. Very good.
This book was very entertaining. Being a nostalgic person I found myself captured by the description she gives of growing up on the Nebraska plains.
In starting the book we meet Jim a man who is remembering his youth and before the story even begins the meter and pace of the writing tells you that this is going to be a well written story.
Through Jim's telling of his own youth we meet Antonia and her family, Bohemian immigrants who arrive in Jim's town the same day that Jim does, on the same train in fact as Jim who himself is coming to Nebraska to live with his grandparents after being orphaned in Virginia.
It is a different life told about in these pages. A life without modern conveniences but which seems at least to me as a life more full. A life more participated in. A life that with all its rough and tumble of the prairie still had more manners and regard for " the right thing."
I am an unabashed nostalgic. I love stories of the past. This book is well written. The story is interesting, it is a book that is dated in places but then again aren't we all.
Cather is a very good writer and based on this I will try some of her other stories. Very good.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Doctor Zhivago
Have you seen this movie? Another of Director David Lean's masterful epic movies this 1065 version of the Boris Pasternak movie is immense. I have watched this movie twice before each time marveling at the story told against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution.
The cimematography, the scenery, the shots of contrast between the flowers, fields and hills in the summer and the snow and ice in the winter make this movie at times feel like a nature film that just happens to have people in the foreground.
The story of Dr. Zhivago is long and complicated and the ending is not wrapped up in a nice pretty package. The acting is superb with Omar Shariff, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger ( who is masterful) and Alec Guinness.
My wife watched the movie with me this weekend and came away feeling a bit disembodied. She said she liked the movie, actually liked it more than she thought she would but did not know why as she is not a fan of history like myself and did not find the Zhivago character to be as likable as she would prefer. She is not one for the modern antihero and has a hard time getting past the adultery whatever the circumstances. Still she said the movie was affecting and she did enjoy it.
I give it a much higher rating than that. One of the Top 10 movies on my list of all time and on most days in the Top 3. This movie is epic.
If you choose to watch it remember to keep track of the bailaluika.
The cimematography, the scenery, the shots of contrast between the flowers, fields and hills in the summer and the snow and ice in the winter make this movie at times feel like a nature film that just happens to have people in the foreground.
The story of Dr. Zhivago is long and complicated and the ending is not wrapped up in a nice pretty package. The acting is superb with Omar Shariff, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger ( who is masterful) and Alec Guinness.
My wife watched the movie with me this weekend and came away feeling a bit disembodied. She said she liked the movie, actually liked it more than she thought she would but did not know why as she is not a fan of history like myself and did not find the Zhivago character to be as likable as she would prefer. She is not one for the modern antihero and has a hard time getting past the adultery whatever the circumstances. Still she said the movie was affecting and she did enjoy it.
I give it a much higher rating than that. One of the Top 10 movies on my list of all time and on most days in the Top 3. This movie is epic.
If you choose to watch it remember to keep track of the bailaluika.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Avett Brothers/ Three New Downloads
After having discovered the Avett Brothers Live 3 Album last year, and having that become clearly one of our favorite albums of the last few years, we have been looking through their back catalogue.
One thing I am quite sure of is that they are all great albums but I cannot at this point download them all. The fact is there is too much music, too many books, too much everything to read, see and listen to. However because of Itunes nice new feature allowing .90 second previews of songs and with the ratings of most downloaded songs I have downloaded three new ( to me ) songs by The Avetts.
They all are fantastic songs. November Blue from the album Country Was, January Wedding from I and Love and You and If It's the Beaches from Gleam. All these songs are along the same lines, more of the lovely ballad's than the foot stomping instrumentation The Avett's can also kick out.
This band can do it all. If you get a chance to hear the music listen. If you get a chance to go see them go see them. This is a band that can change your appreciation of music.
Consider me on the Bandwagon for the Avett Brothers. These brothers are at the top of my playist.
One thing I am quite sure of is that they are all great albums but I cannot at this point download them all. The fact is there is too much music, too many books, too much everything to read, see and listen to. However because of Itunes nice new feature allowing .90 second previews of songs and with the ratings of most downloaded songs I have downloaded three new ( to me ) songs by The Avetts.
They all are fantastic songs. November Blue from the album Country Was, January Wedding from I and Love and You and If It's the Beaches from Gleam. All these songs are along the same lines, more of the lovely ballad's than the foot stomping instrumentation The Avett's can also kick out.
This band can do it all. If you get a chance to hear the music listen. If you get a chance to go see them go see them. This is a band that can change your appreciation of music.
Consider me on the Bandwagon for the Avett Brothers. These brothers are at the top of my playist.
Everyone Loves Raymond
Funny I almost called this blog What About Raymond as that is what I often refer to it as. Perhaps that goes back to the movie What About Bob which I will have to write about someday when I see it again as that is a GREAT movie.
Everybody Loves Raymond was a very popular hot show on CBS in the late nineties through much of the last decade. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton led a stellar cast that included the late Peter Boyle as Ray's father.
Something about this show works. Recently I have discovered that on Sunday nights when I have got the kids to bed and my wife is exhausted from her " time off " is sleeping soundly that on TVLAND Raymond is on for 5 episodes. And I watch. Each week. I might well have seen many of the episodes before but do not recall. This show makes me laugh.
My son tells me that I do not laugh out loud much. I chuckle but laughing out loud is not my common theme. This show at times makes me laugh out loud. Last night as I laughed in bed as my son watched ESPN in the living room I was so loud my son came in and asked what I was watching. Clearly I need to laugh out loud more.
Some shows work. Seinfeld makes me laugh as well. They are different shows certainly but in the end they both do the same thing---make me laugh out loud. Perhaps we should set up a scale of laughter for middle aged men who do not laugh enough.
This show would set the bar pretty high.
Everybody Loves Raymond was a very popular hot show on CBS in the late nineties through much of the last decade. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton led a stellar cast that included the late Peter Boyle as Ray's father.
Something about this show works. Recently I have discovered that on Sunday nights when I have got the kids to bed and my wife is exhausted from her " time off " is sleeping soundly that on TVLAND Raymond is on for 5 episodes. And I watch. Each week. I might well have seen many of the episodes before but do not recall. This show makes me laugh.
My son tells me that I do not laugh out loud much. I chuckle but laughing out loud is not my common theme. This show at times makes me laugh out loud. Last night as I laughed in bed as my son watched ESPN in the living room I was so loud my son came in and asked what I was watching. Clearly I need to laugh out loud more.
Some shows work. Seinfeld makes me laugh as well. They are different shows certainly but in the end they both do the same thing---make me laugh out loud. Perhaps we should set up a scale of laughter for middle aged men who do not laugh enough.
This show would set the bar pretty high.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sad Song by The Cars
It is interesting that some bands have a sound that is their signature..that makes you recognize them before you even know the song.
U2 has that sound. Tom Petty has that sound as do The Rolling Stones. I can recall 20 or more years ago driving down the road and hearing the new single by The Stones called Mixed Emotions. The first notes made it clear who it was. The song was not introduced you just new.
This morning after dropping off my kids at school on the way home a song played. Instantly it was familiar but after twenty years it did take a moment to name the band. I ( at the next light ) used the Shazam copycat on my phone and soon found out it was indeed The Cars.
Ric Ocasek's voice is the same as always. He sounds great, the song could be off Candy O. Some might say that is not a good thing, that twenty years have passed and a band should not sound the same.
Signature sounds though are signature sounds. This is a nice reminder of The Cars music from my high school days.
U2 has that sound. Tom Petty has that sound as do The Rolling Stones. I can recall 20 or more years ago driving down the road and hearing the new single by The Stones called Mixed Emotions. The first notes made it clear who it was. The song was not introduced you just new.
This morning after dropping off my kids at school on the way home a song played. Instantly it was familiar but after twenty years it did take a moment to name the band. I ( at the next light ) used the Shazam copycat on my phone and soon found out it was indeed The Cars.
Ric Ocasek's voice is the same as always. He sounds great, the song could be off Candy O. Some might say that is not a good thing, that twenty years have passed and a band should not sound the same.
Signature sounds though are signature sounds. This is a nice reminder of The Cars music from my high school days.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Secret Millionaire
This show debuted on ABC last night. The premise is a person who is wealthy goes undercover and associates with folks that are struggling or dealing with personal and financial crisis and hardship, She then gives away money to these people that are determined to be the most deserving.
The millionaire in the fist episode was a woman who grew up poor and was destitute at 21 but a millionaire by 23 after starting a business out of her car and having a payphone as her first business phone. I never really caught what she did to make all this money but now she appears to have written countless motivational books and has five kids and a great life.
These are good things. However I lasted about 10 minutes into the show as we kept hearing about how poor she was growing up and how seeing these folks in distress reminded her she had been on welfare. It was all a little too self congratulatory for me. Perhaps later and I am sure later the show did become more about the stories of those who needed help and she can certainly stop by and drop a check off here if she would like but the show was a miss for me.
We appear to have a new formula for a show. Undercover Boss is a better fit, we still hear much about the CEO's but the main focus is on the employees.
This show might get better. I will not be watching to see.
The millionaire in the fist episode was a woman who grew up poor and was destitute at 21 but a millionaire by 23 after starting a business out of her car and having a payphone as her first business phone. I never really caught what she did to make all this money but now she appears to have written countless motivational books and has five kids and a great life.
These are good things. However I lasted about 10 minutes into the show as we kept hearing about how poor she was growing up and how seeing these folks in distress reminded her she had been on welfare. It was all a little too self congratulatory for me. Perhaps later and I am sure later the show did become more about the stories of those who needed help and she can certainly stop by and drop a check off here if she would like but the show was a miss for me.
We appear to have a new formula for a show. Undercover Boss is a better fit, we still hear much about the CEO's but the main focus is on the employees.
This show might get better. I will not be watching to see.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Bridge On the River Kwai
This movie from 1957 is a great story. One gets into the story with a great deal of respect for Colonel Nicholson ( played by Alec Guinness) who has at great risk to himself defied a Japanese commander of a POW camp in WWII. However later in the movie we see how even the best intentions can go wrong.
William Holden plays American POW Commander Shears who escapes from the camp and ends up against his will returning.
Guinness was masterful in this role. His voice slides like jelly on toast, the refined officer who wins his battle of wills and as a method of building moral for his troops builds a proper bridge perhaps losing sight of the correctness of this action.
The most telling storyline of the movie for me was that as the deadline for the bridge's completion gets closer Nicholson asks the junior officers to work on the bridge ( the very thing he fought against tooth and nail earlier in the movie) and even rousts soldiers of the sick bay to work to meet the deadline. In the end like Orwell's Animal Farm the Colonel becomes what he rebelled against.
The conclusion like the rest of the movie is excellent. This is a movie that makes you think, their is a smattering of violence and perhaps a few lessons on war to be learned along the way. You could do much worse than spend a Sunday afternoon if you are cooped up inside watching this movie.
William Holden plays American POW Commander Shears who escapes from the camp and ends up against his will returning.
Guinness was masterful in this role. His voice slides like jelly on toast, the refined officer who wins his battle of wills and as a method of building moral for his troops builds a proper bridge perhaps losing sight of the correctness of this action.
The most telling storyline of the movie for me was that as the deadline for the bridge's completion gets closer Nicholson asks the junior officers to work on the bridge ( the very thing he fought against tooth and nail earlier in the movie) and even rousts soldiers of the sick bay to work to meet the deadline. In the end like Orwell's Animal Farm the Colonel becomes what he rebelled against.
The conclusion like the rest of the movie is excellent. This is a movie that makes you think, their is a smattering of violence and perhaps a few lessons on war to be learned along the way. You could do much worse than spend a Sunday afternoon if you are cooped up inside watching this movie.
The Social Network
So would you like to go see a movie about a most unlikable person who apparently cheats everyone he meets, friends included, out of money, glory, and credit for accomplishment while at the same time claiming he cares not for any of those items. Or how about a person who is so jealous and insecure over clubs he could not join or girls who would not date him that it cripples him even as he becomes a billionare.
Welcome to The Social Network the movie version of the rise of Mark Zuckerburg and the Facebook empire. I guess I expected more from this movie. After all we had been told of it being the only thing that could keep The Kings Speech from being the Oscar winner.
Having now seen both I have to say I would have been sorely disappointed had this movie won. I am not naive enough to think a character has to be likable to make a movie a good one. Indeed some of the best movies have examined the darkest characters.
This movie is just not that good. It is talky, dark and whispery. I have not learned anything I did not know other than the fact that if the movie plays it straight that the fellow who invented Napster might be one of the few people who is less likable than is Zuckerberg.
There is not a likable character in this movie. Even the twin rowers who Zuckerberg may have well stolen their idea or at least delayed theirs intentionally to give his a head start are not that likable. The President of Harvard Larry Summers comes off as pompous and demeaning so perhaps they did get that right.
One funny line in the movie is when considering their options on how to handle Zuckerberg's stealing of their idea one of the Wink's when considering violence says of course he could kick his ass he is X high and Y weight and their are two of me ( being a twin), this is a clever line.
The movie lacks clever lines what it features is a man who needs a billion dollar empire to have not friends but sycophants and not girlfriends but users. Hey it works for Donald Trump, I am sure he is not concerned.
Jesse Eisenburg makes you dislike him and Justim Timberlake does the same so in that sense perhaps they did a good job in this movie.
As for me I will take my villians as villians and my heroes as heroes, I have no interest in a person that were he not heading Facebook would be down at the internet cafe talking about all the girls who will not give him the time of day.
Spare yourself the degradation of seeing this movie.
Welcome to The Social Network the movie version of the rise of Mark Zuckerburg and the Facebook empire. I guess I expected more from this movie. After all we had been told of it being the only thing that could keep The Kings Speech from being the Oscar winner.
Having now seen both I have to say I would have been sorely disappointed had this movie won. I am not naive enough to think a character has to be likable to make a movie a good one. Indeed some of the best movies have examined the darkest characters.
This movie is just not that good. It is talky, dark and whispery. I have not learned anything I did not know other than the fact that if the movie plays it straight that the fellow who invented Napster might be one of the few people who is less likable than is Zuckerberg.
There is not a likable character in this movie. Even the twin rowers who Zuckerberg may have well stolen their idea or at least delayed theirs intentionally to give his a head start are not that likable. The President of Harvard Larry Summers comes off as pompous and demeaning so perhaps they did get that right.
One funny line in the movie is when considering their options on how to handle Zuckerberg's stealing of their idea one of the Wink's when considering violence says of course he could kick his ass he is X high and Y weight and their are two of me ( being a twin), this is a clever line.
The movie lacks clever lines what it features is a man who needs a billion dollar empire to have not friends but sycophants and not girlfriends but users. Hey it works for Donald Trump, I am sure he is not concerned.
Jesse Eisenburg makes you dislike him and Justim Timberlake does the same so in that sense perhaps they did a good job in this movie.
As for me I will take my villians as villians and my heroes as heroes, I have no interest in a person that were he not heading Facebook would be down at the internet cafe talking about all the girls who will not give him the time of day.
Spare yourself the degradation of seeing this movie.
Brian Williams on Jmmy Fallon
So a couple days after I commented on Brian Williams on Dave he appears on Jimmy Fallon doing his regular feature " Slow Jamming the news." This is the sort of thing that Fallon excels at ..the bits and routines. I think he and Kimmel are far and above the best among the late night group at this. I love Dave but that is not his specialty anymore as these fellows have surpassed him.
Is it not interesting that in all the talk of late night and it is crowded and talented with Conan, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel and even the sometimes very funny Craig Ferguson all looking up to Dave that nobody, or at least nobody in my universe or in these hosts apparent universe has anything good to say about Jay.
However, back to slow jamming the news. It is a silly little idea but it plays because Fallon is funny and Williams plays it straight.
It looks like something Steve Allen would do were he still doing late night.
Nobody will ever touch Johnny Carson, but we are a niche audience now. The reason Jay is winning the ratings is only he does what he does. All of these others do what they all do in a sense. We are not in the same world with three networks. Were we however we would not have all these excellent, insomniac, late night choices.
Is it not interesting that in all the talk of late night and it is crowded and talented with Conan, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel and even the sometimes very funny Craig Ferguson all looking up to Dave that nobody, or at least nobody in my universe or in these hosts apparent universe has anything good to say about Jay.
However, back to slow jamming the news. It is a silly little idea but it plays because Fallon is funny and Williams plays it straight.
It looks like something Steve Allen would do were he still doing late night.
Nobody will ever touch Johnny Carson, but we are a niche audience now. The reason Jay is winning the ratings is only he does what he does. All of these others do what they all do in a sense. We are not in the same world with three networks. Were we however we would not have all these excellent, insomniac, late night choices.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Brian Williams on David Letterman
It is hard to imagine Walter Cronkite making the rounds of late night talk shows. I do not know if he ever appeared on The Johnny Carson show. In today's world however anchors are different.
I have seen Brian Williams on Jimmy Fallon and thought he was very funny their, doing a news reading skit.
On his last two appearances on Dave however I have gained that he has a great sense of humor and loves the interplay between himself and Dave.
Being a newsperson Dave of course asks Brian for his input on issues that are happening in the world. This week for example he talked about Wisconsin. Williams feigns discomfort and does not answer and offer opinions. In fact this week Williams said that his appearances often appear like hostage tapes as Dave hold him hostage by asking him questions he cannot answer.
It is an odd pairing and perhaps not all would find it enjoyable but I find it very interesting. Williams is bright, intellectual and funny. As Letterman peppers him with question after question about politics and he wryly asks Dave what he thought of the Oscars I find this funny.
I liked Tom Brokaw and regretted his retirement and now find that Brian Williams is my favorite network anchor both on the nightly news and on Letterman and other formats.
I have seen Brian Williams on Jimmy Fallon and thought he was very funny their, doing a news reading skit.
On his last two appearances on Dave however I have gained that he has a great sense of humor and loves the interplay between himself and Dave.
Being a newsperson Dave of course asks Brian for his input on issues that are happening in the world. This week for example he talked about Wisconsin. Williams feigns discomfort and does not answer and offer opinions. In fact this week Williams said that his appearances often appear like hostage tapes as Dave hold him hostage by asking him questions he cannot answer.
It is an odd pairing and perhaps not all would find it enjoyable but I find it very interesting. Williams is bright, intellectual and funny. As Letterman peppers him with question after question about politics and he wryly asks Dave what he thought of the Oscars I find this funny.
I liked Tom Brokaw and regretted his retirement and now find that Brian Williams is my favorite network anchor both on the nightly news and on Letterman and other formats.
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