: hasty
Hey, everyone! My new book-centered blog, "My Book-y Life," is up:
http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/
Be sure to check it out. I'll continue to post on here, but I will also post on the other blog too- maybe not as frequently, perhaps only once or twice a week. That site is all books, all the time.
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Julia had a good birthday yesterday, and I'm glad she'll be home early today. Our first task will be to find what Gabriel did with his Wolfie figurine.
Our thoughts and prayers are also with Sally Menes today too.
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New Movies Opening This Week:
Looper I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt, but I think this movie just looks dumb, despite the fact that critics are calling it wondrous, nice surprise. The plot, as I understand it, takes place in both the future and the past. Levitt's character is a hired gun for the mob who is forced to eliminate his own future self (played by Bruce Willis.) Okay...
Verdict: Not Interested
Won't Back Down Critics are eating this right-wing, anti-union "true story" alive, despite a cast that includes Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the leads and Holly Hunter, Rosie Perez, and Ving Rhames in support. Set in Pittsburgh, the film has Gyllenhaal as a concerned parent worried that her dyslexic daughter isn't receiving proper education. Davis is a teacher who's own child has problems not being well attended to in a school with a burnt-out, neglectful union of teachers and an entrenched bureaucracy. Together, the two women try to make changes. Could be an inspiring, Norma Rae-ish tale, but critics say it's pretty terrible.
Verdict: Not Interested
Pitch Perfect Critics are going for this predictable, yet entertaining, rousing college story about rival a capella groups. Anna Kendrick - hello! - plays a freshman who finds herself seeking out a clique and finding one in a motley collection of singers. You guessed it... Eventually they're on their way to a big competition at NYC's Lincoln Center. Rebel Wilson (the fat roommate in Bridesmaids) and Brittany Snow co-star. I love the tagline: Get Pitch Slapped.
Verdict: Interested
Hotel Transylvania An animated adventure for kids. Seems like Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is having a birthday party for his daughter at the title locale. The guest list includes some old friends: Frankenstein, Quasimodo, the Mummy, etc. Expect a lot of spastic zaniness, in-jokes, toilet humor. Critics say it's just middle of the road. Among the voice stars are Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, and David Spade.
Verdict: Not Interested
The Hole It seems like it's been forever since we've had a Joe Dante picture (Gremlins, The Burbs). This one was actually made a few years ago, and is just now getting a simultaneous theatrical and DVD release. Critics like it, saying that although it's a minor work from the director, it's still good, scary teen fun. A mom and her two sons move from New York to a sleepy small town. Bored and with nothing but time on their hands, the kids go exploring and find a black hole in the basement. Hmmm.
Verdict: Interested
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Prediction for tonight: With the new refs back, I think we'll see a game lacking any Big, Bad, Calls. Not that it would matter, because Baltimore is just too good, and Cleveland is still in their eternal transition period. Cleveland usually plays them tough at home, though. Just not tonight.
Baltimore 34, Cleveland 10
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I read a fascinating article yesterday in Smithsonian about the real-life Tom Sawyer, who was actually a customs inspector and volunteer fireman and saloon owner - and a friend of Twain's while the author lived in San Francisco. The article also mentioned the importance of the Montgomery Block building.
In 1959, the Montgomery was demolished. On the site now stands the famous Transamerica Pyramid. The Montgomery Block, however, was a four-story building that was San Francisco's first fireproof building. Well into the 1950s, the building housed a variety of artists, poets, and writers: Twain, Frank Norris, Jack London, Bret Harte, Ambrose Bierce, and Lola Montez among them. For a long time, nearly a center, it was one of the west's huge cultural and intellectual hubs. Compelling bit of history, and a must-see if I ever get to San Francisco.
Images courtesy of:
http://smhttp.14409.nexcesscdn.net/806D5E/wordpress-L/images/pitch_perfect.jpg
http://latimesherocomplex.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/looper4.jpg?w=600
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