Fox & Sons Books closed its doors this week, the latest in the long line of big-box brick-and-mortar bookstores to bow to the ever-expanding Amazon.com.
The Night Cary Grant Hooted
Photo courtesy of Dr. Macro’s High Quality Movie Scans It started with Cary Grant screaming. Well, maybe you’d call it more of a hoot. “Squeal” is too high, “scream” too sharp. It’s this startled “whoooo!” sound that’s rather difficult to describe. It was 2006. The Olympics were in Torino and I was in Alaska. It was February, one of our […]
The Cry of the Artist
“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!” –Babette’s Feast *** I came to Babette’s Feast eagerly. I’d seen it years before – multiple times. I’d studied it in a course and given a presentation on it. I’d read the short story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), perhaps […]
New Post at Greener Trees
I’ve been taking part in a great book discussion group this summer. We’re reading Jeffrey Overstreet’s book, Through a Screen Darkly. This week I wrote a guest post to host the conversation over at Greener Trees. Here’s a snippet: There is power in great beauty. Beauty heals, it soothes, it allures, it inspires. And when we see it, in a film, in […]
Ticket Stubs
Christine (bless her – wonderful roomie who mailed me the negatives I forgot so that I could work on a scanning project over break) gave me a “ticket stub album” for Christmas. For a while now, basically since college, I’ve kept my ticket stubs when I go to movies and shows. I’ve tossed them into a little box in a […]
"Up Five Ghetto Notches"
A week ago we turned on the TV. Sound came out. No picture. Currently our TV is nothing more than an immensely large speaker. Immensely. So I will have to get a new one, some time. But, well, there just isn’t time right this moment. I mentioned the situation to my coworker, Jodi, and she offered an extra TV they […]
Textures of the 18th Century
You know those days that are just right? The ones where you wake up in the morning, having slept just enough, and you get up, and you do the things you need to do to get the day rolling, but no more. The ones where you take a walk, pick up a hot cocoa at Starbucks, stop in at the […]
Unfathomed Mystery
It’s funny – strange, really: grief. One of those mysteries of life we experience as human beings but never really understand. This week I watched episodes from the show Roswell–not a series of great depth or insight in general, mostly just fluffy teen pulp with aliens thrown in for good measure. An entertaining diversion, but not much more. But there […]
Random and Ridiculous
An occasional assortment of things I’ve found of (humorous) note: 1. T’other day, I drove through a neighborhood on the way home from work. In one lawn stands a light post. That day, there was a bright yellow recycling garbage can upturned over the lamp post. I’m still not quite sure why. 2. Sometime in the media blitz that followed […]
Did America Get It Wrong?
For weeks, now, Adam Lambert has been proclaimed the preordained holder of the American Idol crown. He fit the bill, too: powerful vocals, huge personality, determined glint in his eye. Adam singing a cheesy victory song with confetti raining down around him at the Nokia seemed a foregone conclusion. Then Ryan opened the envelope and read the winner’s name: Kris […]