tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-216137042011-07-07T23:22:54.296-04:00Boring hundreds of perfect strangers with my musings on books, movies, and television since 2007.Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.comBlogger1281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-24999111702136798092009-11-14T22:17:00.002-05:002009-11-14T22:21:40.978-05:00

Persona Non Grata, Ruth DownieDownie's series continues to be a kind of poor man's version of Lindsay Davis's Marcus Didius Falco books. It mines the same veins of humor and culture while attempting to show the similarities between people then and now -- but only half as successfully. The mystery in this book is spoiled by a very misleading prologue that seems to point toward the guilt of one

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-1876104988696188772009-11-14T19:07:00.003-05:002009-11-14T19:13:33.757-05:00

A Duty to the Dead, Charles ToddAn interesting new series from Charles Todd, still mining the psychological effects of WWI on the participants. Bess Crawford is a plucky and sympathetic character, and overall the book is an enjoyable read. However, Todd at times seems as hampered by period social conventions as his heroine. The central mystery is easily penetrated, and once you've done that it's

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-68750312726030783122009-08-10T20:01:00.005-04:002009-08-10T20:42:30.295-04:00

It's with some surprise that I learn that someone over at Rotten Tomatoes is posting movie reviews under the handle "museofire" (cuz I thought I was so clever and original and everything). For the record, it's not me. I do use "MuseofIre" in places like Twitter that don't allow spaces in screen names, but always with capitals.Y'know, the idea of personal branding is suddenly starting to make a

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-39145882288169523212009-08-07T16:28:00.002-04:002009-08-07T16:31:47.791-04:00

Victory of Eagles, Naomi NovikA great entry in the Temeraire series -- the best, I think, since His Majesty's Dragon. The choices made by Will and Temeraire in the last book have devastating consequences for both them and England, and although the book ends with a victory, those consequences are not thereby wiped out. Will continues to be a thoroughly decent and likeable hero, while Temeraire is

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-84363412249009418432009-07-07T21:07:00.003-04:002009-07-07T21:56:34.752-04:00

The ARC gods at LibraryThing have been extraordinarily good to me recently, but before I get to those books, it turns out I have a few from earlier I need to acknowledge.Dreamers of the Day, Mary Doria Russell. The first two-thirds of this book, describing Agnes's early life and travel to Cairo, are well-written and entertaining, and Russell's portraits of the real-life figures of Churchill,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-68178891364332132009-05-08T19:15:00.002-04:002009-05-08T19:29:32.627-04:00

Excuse me. . . hello . . . is this thing on? Whoa, wicked feedback.There, that's better.I just wanted to pop in for a moment to say that the medical issues that have sidelined me for most of the last year seem to be pretty much fixed (crossing my digits and knocking wood repeatedly). I'm going to have some minor unrelated surgery in a couple of weeks. When I recover from that, I fully hope and

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-83502716437134826202009-01-12T16:03:00.001-05:002009-01-13T21:31:57.913-05:00

Mindful of my obligation to review this book for LibraryThing, I struggled valiantly to finish it, but despite my best efforts, I could only get halfway through. It would take a doughtier warrior than myself to conquer Whitfield's leaden prose, abysmal dialog, complete absence of characterization, and predictable plotting.Except for the heroine Lysandra, there's not a single character with a

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-91569074196591598012008-09-27T12:21:00.004-04:002008-09-27T12:31:04.306-04:00

Murder on the Eiffel Tower, by Claude IznerI received this as an ARC from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers group, and if I hadn't been obligated to review it, I would never have finished it. This book is a very weak historical thriller set in the heady atmosphere of the Paris Exposition of 1889. It has the stiff prose I associate with bad translation, but translation alone can't account for its

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-4378381119108266882008-08-25T16:11:00.003-04:002008-09-27T12:31:59.969-04:00

Remember how I mentioned last time I'd been having some health problems? Well, they're ongoing. Nothing too serious, but debilitating enough that basically all I've got the energy for is working, reading, and sleeping. Lots of sleeping. Blogging? Not really on the agenda right now. So while I may pop in now and again, you can consider me on the dreaded hiatus until I get my innards seen to.As

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-75540758944945911282008-08-01T22:38:00.006-04:002008-08-02T14:45:36.276-04:00

I didn't intend to take off the whole month of July. But first I went on vacation and then I went on vacation again and then I had some health problems. So before I knew it, boom! it was August.So anyway, I have lots of cool things to say about books I've read (and by the way, I'm so hopelessly behind tracking my reading that I've given up trying to catch up) and movies I've seen (three of 'em!

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-9595298599725570972008-07-03T10:46:00.004-04:002008-07-03T11:04:44.671-04:00

Patriot Hearts, by Barbara HamblyI've read damn near everything Barbara Hambly's ever written, and while there were a few of her books I didn't like so much, I never thought she could write anything so BORING. This story of the first four First Ladies (counting Thomas Jefferson's slave mistress, Sally Hemings) is a rambling, episodic collection of flashbacks -- and often, flashbacks within

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-49465998092884567802008-06-30T15:50:00.006-04:002008-09-27T12:58:43.087-04:00

It took me two tries to get into this historical mystery about a murder in the snowy Canadian wilderness in the 1860s. Once I did, I enjoyed it, but it's almost breathtaking in its loose-endedness, leaving plots unresolved and characters scattered across the landscape. So herewith, the list of things I still want to know:Whatever became of Amy Seton?With Moody dead, how are the Knoxes going to

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-11229463343405076692008-06-18T19:59:00.002-04:002008-06-18T20:46:01.496-04:00

It's no use getting too bent out of shape about the lists published by the AFI. Tastes differ; also, they're an institution that depends at least partly on donations and they're not above pandering to certain films because they were popular or made a lot of money. But their broadcast last night of the 10 Top 10 was very badly done (each segment way too short, then wasting time on recaps; dubious

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-11622555899872055492008-06-14T11:39:00.002-04:002008-06-14T12:09:46.108-04:00

I used to have a razor-sharp memory for everything I had read or watched, but as time goes on I find myself losing my grasp on the details. So, as it now often happens, I remembered that I really hated the movie True Lies, but not why. Thus, having nothing in particular better to be doing last night, I watched it again.And then I remembered. Because this is the movie where THE HERO (Arnold

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-83672928264897025552008-06-13T16:32:00.002-04:002008-06-13T16:38:24.986-04:00

Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison AllenI am in love with this book, which is all about love and loss and hurt and happiness. It's about families, about small towns where you carry the baggage of all your ancestors, and about sisters. It's about wanting to belong, and what happens when you don't. It's about magic, and some seriously tasty-sounding food. Go read it.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-25977531098404394542008-06-03T17:36:00.002-04:002008-06-03T17:41:56.381-04:00

This post also got started and lost in the shuffle a good while ago.I watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington almost every time I run into it. There's a lot to admire in this 1939 Frank Capra classic, notably the acting from almost everyone involved: Jimmy Stewart as the idealistic young Jefferson Smith; Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders, the hard-boiled secretary who's transformed by Smith's sincerity

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-29741116607880840502008-06-03T14:40:00.002-04:002008-06-03T17:46:11.442-04:00

I started to write this post quite a while ago, and for some reason never got around to finishing.By coincidence, the same night I watched To Catch a Thief (1955, Alfred Hitchcock), I also happened to finish Lisa Scottoline's Dirty Blonde. At first glance these two works, one of Hitchcock's most famous movies and a better-than-average paperback thriller, would seem to have very little in common.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-74172421916031214122008-06-03T13:24:00.002-04:002008-06-03T13:31:23.095-04:00

Keeping up my movie diary has become more of a chore than a pleasure, so I'm giving it a rest until further notice. If I've got an observation about a movie that's absolutely dying to be made, I'll make it. Otherwise, you can just imagine me watching Notorious and Now, Voyager for the kajillionth time each.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-50090247742608797922008-05-30T16:22:00.000-04:002008-06-03T13:49:05.186-04:00

The Duke and I, by Julia QuinnDespite my earlier post on romance, I keep TRYING to like the books recommended by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. However, not even for free could I persist past the second chapter or so of this Regency. Quinn's prose is flat and her ear for dialog tin.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-54910721718900597162008-05-29T13:48:00.000-04:002008-05-30T12:11:26.576-04:00

In the wake of consolidating my and my mother's mystery collections, I discovered some appalling gaps in the collection and promptly set about replacing some cherished favorites via BookMooch. Among these were some of the best titles in Dick Francis's oeuvre.Nerve is the story of Rob Finn, an up-and-coming young jockey, who learns that someone is systematically destroying jockeys' careers and

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-24014453766443130212008-05-29T11:18:00.002-04:002008-05-30T12:25:29.309-04:00

American Fried and Third Helpings, by Calvin Trillin*Trillin is one of my favorite food writers, and these books were just what I needed to wash the sour taste out of my mouth from some of the other terrible things I had been reading. A foodie before there was even a word for such a thing (his wife Alice politely referred to the species as "food crazies"), Trillin writes humorously and

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-1724372711397468862008-05-24T22:51:00.001-04:002008-05-24T22:53:26.347-04:00

Well, I feel for you, but I'm consumed by apathy.Walter Brennan, Bad Day at Black Rock

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-57723033090863649032008-05-23T15:45:00.006-04:002008-06-03T18:04:42.305-04:00

Daughters of the North, by Sarah HallA young woman runs away from a city run by an oppressive authority that controls every aspect of its citizens' lives, including their fertility. She heads into the mountains in search of a place she's heard about that has rejected the regime, living off the grid in a self-sustaining agrarian community. Close to her destination, she's attacked, from behind and

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-88084351601117782412008-05-22T23:05:00.004-04:002008-05-23T14:34:28.722-04:00

Summer of the Big Bachi, Naomi HiraharaThere are certainly some interesting aspects to this book. It never occurred to me, for example, that there had been American-born Japanese living in Hiroshima when the atom bomb fell on the city. Nor was I aware of the lingering tensions in the Japanese-American community between those who cooperated with the Government and served in WWII and those who

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-46619083855984650832008-05-22T16:19:00.003-04:002008-05-22T16:30:23.666-04:00

Grimspace, by Ann AguirreNot terrible, but after 50 pages or so, failed to hold my interest. Since those pages covered a jail break, a dangerous cross-galaxy jump, and a firefight, I think that gives a fair indication of the author's inability to dial up the excitement.Aguirre also tripped over two of my science fiction pet peeves:If you're going to make up a swear word, don't make it sound just

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-39180399322431660192008-05-21T10:36:00.005-04:002008-05-21T10:48:16.807-04:00

I've never watched Dancing With the Stars [be warned; if you click, video starts playing automatically], and would be hard-pressed to find a show or concept to which I am more indifferent. But really, without knowing anything about her competitors, the level of competition on the show, or ballroom dancing in general, how astounded can I be by the announcement that Olympic figure-skating champion

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-76022169542326663562008-05-19T16:14:00.004-04:002008-05-19T16:32:34.278-04:00

Thistle and Twigg, by Mary SaumsBuying a new cosy mystery is always something of a risk, since they more than other types of mysteries tend toward the overly cutesified. And buying one online is even more of a gamble, because you don't get the warning signs you can pick up by holding a book in your hands and scanning the first few pages.Case in point: Exhibit A. On the one hand, we have a polite,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-51269970405254384332008-05-19T14:39:00.004-04:002008-05-19T16:33:19.207-04:00

How to Marry a Ghost, by Hope McIntyreOK, I was already starting to hate this heroine when she began telling me how neurotic and special and needy she was. But when she explained how she made her perfectly innocent fiance take up jogging in the mornings so that a) she could have her precious alone time and b) even though she *totally* loved and accepted him just the way he was, so he could lose

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-86911662064154989522008-05-17T15:18:00.005-04:002008-05-19T16:33:39.906-04:00

The Dream-Maker's Magic, by Sharon ShinnDisappointing ending to Sharon Shinn's YA Safe-Keepers series. It's not that the book is bad, exactly; it's just that it lacks the richness and emotional complexity of most of her work. Even given the premise that the hero's power makes unlikely coincidences happen and unspoken dreams come true, everything feels very scripted, very predictable. The

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-68756347924350764002008-05-11T14:38:00.002-04:002008-05-17T15:15:38.842-04:00

Immortal, Traci L. Satton. Dull, episodic travelogue through Renaissance Florence complete with name-dropping and heavy doses of theology and Neoplatonic philosophy, with a light dusting of unsatisfying fantasy on top. Leonardo da Vinci comes across as a kid with ADD; Lorenzo de' Medici is an inexplicable choice of antagonist; and our hero Luca, despite his strange longevity and unearthly beauty,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-74399469271758317122008-05-11T13:49:00.003-04:002008-05-11T14:01:19.563-04:00

When I first started this blog, I was keeping a reading diary here like the movie diary I have neglected am keeping. Then my sister-in-law asked me to join her on Goodreads, and I decided to post my reading over there instead. But I'm not feeling the love, and meanwhile the blog is getting a little dusty.So I'm changing the way I do things once again. From now on, I'll post my comments to the

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-41902788076399576352008-05-10T18:00:00.008-04:002008-05-22T23:41:37.634-04:00

As usual, I'm behind the curve, but I saw on the LibraryThing blog that people have been ranking how they stand against the 106 books most often tagged as "unread" by the users of LibraryThing (why 106? 'Cause a plain old top 100 is too 5 years ago?).The rules are as follows: bold the books you have read, italicize books you’ve started but not finished, strike through the books you read but hated

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-69552850008351919942008-05-07T15:03:00.003-04:002008-05-07T15:12:31.787-04:00

There won't be any Movie Diary for April because . . . well, in the spirit of the Blues Brothers (which I did just see and will be on the list for May if there is a May), I'll let Joliet Jake explain:Honest . . . . I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money forcab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in fromout of town. Someone stole my car.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-66283110964969945682008-04-11T11:47:00.004-04:002008-04-11T12:42:34.550-04:00

Since I started cleaning up my mom's books, my dad decided to clean out some of the other books that have been accumulating unregarded for decades. He's been reporting to me periodically that he's amassed a number of first editions that he was sure were worth megabucks and asked me to find a rare book dealer to appraise them.Knowing -- from John Dunning, among others -- that just because a book

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-5974996866941763292008-04-09T21:33:00.000-04:002008-04-10T16:54:14.468-04:00

"Magic -- to use a word I'd rather not -- is not as simple as technology. Anyone can turn on a radio or flip a light switch. Magic takes training. A violin, for example, is an elaborate construct, but where one person can use it to create lovely music, another will make only scrapes and screeches.". . . . "So you're saying that items created for magic are more like violins than radios. The virtue

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-85113314470512614522008-04-04T22:30:00.000-04:002008-04-12T00:13:20.549-04:00

I saw some movies this month. Damn if I can remember them all. Here's some lightning reviews of the few that come to mind. Those seen for the first time are, as always, in green.Murder Must Advertise (1973, BBC). My favorite of the Winsey adaptations. Unfortunately, Ian Carmichael doesn't appear to his best advantage in that Harlequin costume. It's supposed to make him look sexy and dangerous. It

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-78376483247240365822008-03-25T19:28:00.003-04:002008-03-25T19:35:34.878-04:00

I read old novels. The reason is simple: I prefer proper endings. Marriages and deaths, noble sacrifices and unhoped-for reunions, great falls and dreams fulfilled; these, in my view, constitute an ending worth the wait. They should come after adventures, perils, dangers and dilemmas, and wind up everything nice and neatly. Endings like this are to be found more commonly in old novels than new

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-70696805209545897262008-03-24T16:24:00.006-04:002008-04-11T12:43:03.837-04:00

When my parents moved into their house 20-some years ago, they didn't have enough bookshelves, and in a power dynamic pretty typical of their marriage, they couldn't decide what kind to buy. So in what was supposed to be temporary solution, Mom set up her collection of paperback mysteries on makeshift shelves of plastic crates in the garage.Of course, the books never made it out of the garage and

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-9900770577423654492008-03-21T14:13:00.003-04:002008-03-21T15:28:22.945-04:00

RIP Gary Gygax. Despite being a prototypical nerdy teen, my major D&D period was in adulthood. For 6 years, I interacted once or even twice weekly in a group that combined the best parts of writing, improvisational theater, and performance art, while eating Doritos and laughing our asses off. Our group eventually broke up for the most adult of reasons: one group member, the DM's wife, was having

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-72268777412285762482008-03-02T23:06:00.002-05:002008-03-06T17:14:06.151-05:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.Sense and Sensibility (1995, Ang Lee). OK, now this is how you do Jane Austen. Masterpiece Theater, are you paying attention? For me the only false note is Hugh Grant (dearly though I love him); he's simply too stiff, even playing a character who's kind of a stiff guy.Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford). I've heard some doubts cast on its literal

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-30976761126006443262008-02-28T12:35:00.000-05:002008-02-29T12:40:59.796-05:00

"It's human hair, Tim."I still love you, Chris, but . . . ew.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-91150078921773813162008-02-25T10:02:00.005-05:002008-02-25T22:09:42.240-05:00

I don't pay a lot of attention to the Oscars. Most of the time I haven't seen all the nominees, and the Academy has a history of selecting stinkers as often as masterpieces (The Greatest Show on Earth over High Noon and The Quiet Man, anyone?). But I can't let this pass without comment:From the Philadelphia Inquirer: "The Bourne Ultimatum, the lightning-paced thriller, won three statuettes, for

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-11066135887275364132008-02-15T22:13:00.002-05:002008-02-15T22:18:54.186-05:00

There is an endless supply of white men. But there has always been a limited number of human beings.Chief Dan George, Little Big Man

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-71529964817738120552008-02-15T13:16:00.003-05:002008-02-15T13:42:32.436-05:00

You are 11:59 a.m.You are late-sleepy relaxation, the half-awake moment when you realize it's morning, but you don't have to get up, because there's no place you have to be. You are that cozy spot under the covers where everything feels temporarily perfect, even if you know you'll eventually have to wiggle out and start the day. Maybe you're the artistic type, who doesn't function well on a

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-62461383532148727372008-02-14T20:23:00.000-05:002008-02-14T20:21:21.083-05:00

Michael Kors: Peacock? Pee-you!Ensemble: Sweet P is out!Nina Garcia: I'm confused. Did Rami show us his prom dress again?Michael Kors: No, no, this one's completely different.Heidi Klum: How do you know?Michael Kors: That one was green; this one is purple.Heidi Klum: Glad somebody was paying attention.Nina Garcia: I'm bored, I tell you, BORED! He deserves to be aufed. Except I totally want to do

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-14479520342617543332008-02-14T10:18:00.004-05:002008-02-15T15:17:31.581-05:00

Stay on the right side of the yellow line so that other cars can get out.Pull up as far as you can so other cars can come in behind you.Leave your keys, especially when violating rules #1 and #2.It's really not that hard.Edited Feb 15 after an especially frustrating morning trying not to watch the valet maneuver my car past the Highlander blocking half the exit lane.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-77373132193089582312008-02-06T11:30:00.000-05:002008-02-06T11:33:50.770-05:00

"Ew.""Ewwww.""It's never lupus.""Ha!""I knew that.""I didn't know that!""EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-37685669611037738732008-02-01T14:55:00.000-05:002008-02-06T11:35:53.056-05:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.That's Entertainment! III (1994, Bud Friedgen and Michael J. Sheridan). This one is filled with some pretty great outtakes, deleted scenes, and other never-before-shown stuff. The split-screen showing of the two different Fred Astaire takes was amazing -- like he was dancing with himself.White Heat (1949, Raoul Walsh). I was surprised to learn this film

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-37125336165706574302008-01-29T22:20:00.000-05:002008-01-29T23:52:10.261-05:00

Dear Masterpiece Theater,It's only out of love that I have to ask: what the fuck is wrong with you?I'm not going to get into your new credits, which frankly I barely noticed and don't really care about. And I won't make unfavorable comparisons between Gillian Anderson and classic hosts Alastair Cooke and Russell Baker, although I will say that the red curtain behind her clashes with her hair;

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-83914183603735241422008-01-29T21:58:00.000-05:002008-01-29T22:02:37.793-05:00

House: Where we going?Wilson: Nowhere; I just know it hurts you.Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard, House, "It's a Wonderful Lie"

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-5706325396058903562008-01-29T19:52:00.000-05:002008-01-29T19:55:36.416-05:00

When he shook hands his fingers were virile to their very tips.Olive Higgins Prouty, Now, Voyager

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-49256083989404265652008-01-26T00:37:00.000-05:002008-01-26T00:49:25.797-05:00

Psych is a fluffy, enjoyable show that I know better than to take seriously. And how cool was it that they did the theme song in Spanish for tonight's telenovela episode? But I get a little incensed when shows take undue liberties with serious subjects for laughs, as this one did with the subplot about Juliet trying to befriend the stick-up-her-ass new officer.Just for the record, it's not

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-79774669075150249822008-01-25T23:28:00.000-05:002008-01-26T00:17:14.316-05:00

As a person who's somewhat, shall we say, organizationally challenged (i.e., an unmitigated slob), I get a certain masochistic pleasure from the makeovers on Clean House. Despite the show's sophomoric attempts at humor, I enjoy Niecy Nash's folksy but tough-love approach, and generally the designs by Mark Brunetz are both functional and attractive.Usually, I can get behind the show's portrayal of

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-29324812558928247222008-01-23T17:25:00.001-05:002008-01-30T21:26:52.482-05:00

If they left Romania because their inaccessible mountain fastness was gradually breached by humans, why did they choose to migrate to the middle of flat, populous England?What makes the alpha alpha? What would happen if the Marquess wasn't the most powerful drakon? If the male and female alphas are supposed to get married, and drakon marriages are unbreakable, what happens when the previously

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-7015185277724748682008-01-12T00:28:00.000-05:002008-01-15T17:19:39.274-05:00

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm no fashionista; heck, anyone who looks at me could tell you that (*rimshot*). But I know what I know, and there are a few things that consistently make me yell at the TV during What Not to Wear:Neutrals do not go with everything. They go with a wide range of things, true. That doesn't mean, however, that you can wear a pink-hued grey with a yellow-hued

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-17371789706643090432008-01-11T14:04:00.000-05:002008-01-11T14:52:24.757-05:00

Finally regained the strength to lift my head from my sickbed and wrestle with my year-end reading numbers. They break down this way:January19July24February19August 26March24September 20April17October18May 20November14June16December17Total234Even if I round it down to 200 to account for the books I pitched across the room without finishing and the few I read online (i.e., while I should have been

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-71627204139052251512008-01-09T18:04:00.000-05:002008-01-09T18:50:50.280-05:00

Over the past couple of months I've been watching a rebroadcast of I, Claudius Sunday nights on my local PBS station. It's the first time I've seen it again since it originally aired, right at the peak of my Latin Club geekhood, and my sister had never seen it before at all ("I was out of the country then" is her standard excuse for anything she missed for whatever reason for the past 30 years,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-56041592515084482762008-01-07T12:34:00.000-05:002008-01-07T15:17:20.680-05:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.The African Queen (1951, John Huston). Well, just one of the best movies ever made. Exciting, funny, touching, and thoroughly entertaining. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn at the peak of their form.The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming). Well, another classic that can't really be any better. My favorite part is when Bert Lahr sings, " 'F I Were

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-23416902475229471692007-12-31T20:01:00.000-05:002007-12-31T20:04:09.886-05:00

Hot tea with lemon, a shot of blackberry brandy, and a full evening of Fred and Ginger. Thanks, TCM.Happy New Year, everyone. Back with more posts when I'm recovered from the plague.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-83325447110039254892007-12-27T16:28:00.000-05:002007-12-27T16:40:32.490-05:00

No, silly, it's one of those original Star Trek minidresses. Very fetching, especially with the fishnet stockings and black leather boots.Your Score : 85 creditsYou're an extreme sci-fi geek! You're probably wearing your very own homemade TRON costume right now! I received 85 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds QuizHow much of a Sci-Fi geek are you? Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz canon s5 is

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-47308163139541542042007-12-16T20:34:00.000-05:002007-12-16T20:39:18.785-05:00

Rose: Esther Smith! Nice girls don't let a boy kiss them until after they're engaged. Men don't want the bloom rubbed off.Esther: Personally, I think I have too much bloom.Lucille Bremer and Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-72684458843636828392007-12-13T22:22:00.000-05:002007-12-13T22:23:20.029-05:00

December is Irene Dunne month at TCM.Is it January yet?

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-10267472609359200872007-12-11T20:11:00.000-05:002007-12-11T23:17:30.475-05:00

So, last week, Christmas trees appeared in all the lobbies at work. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but now they look kind of naked without a menorah on one side and a kinara on the other. I like Christmas lights as well as the next Jew,* but I do appreciate some acknowledgment that Christmas isn't the only game in town anymore. The lack of that acknowledgment occasioned

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-64581645223321040752007-12-09T20:56:00.000-05:002007-12-09T21:01:20.441-05:00

I couldn't see straight or think straight. I was a fat-headed guy full of pain. It tore me up not having you.Cary Grant, Notorious

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-74876125741297439222007-12-08T20:16:00.001-05:002007-12-08T20:17:23.785-05:00

Nature, Mr. Alnutt, is what we have been put on this earth to rise above.Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-49737727828913583752007-12-08T00:40:00.000-05:002007-12-12T00:04:29.715-05:00

No, not in my personal life, although that's pretty much a desert too, but on the bookshelf.Although I read my share of Anya Seton and my babysitting charges' mothers' copies of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss when I was a teenager, I never cared much for Romance. I like a good love story as much as the next chick, but in my experience most of those books are heavy on the love, light on the

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-81462799571155224332007-12-07T21:43:00.000-05:002007-12-08T00:41:48.349-05:00

Laws and sausage are two things they say you shouldn't see being made. Another thing? Never watch a mechanic trying to induce an intermittent fault in your car.----------------And while I'm on the subject of my car repair, I hate Enterprise car rental. I don't have the time or energy to tell you how much or how many times they have screwed me over. But their customer service sucks. Dude, I don't

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-26338335685761352252007-11-09T22:00:00.000-05:002007-11-09T22:23:23.731-05:00

Well, watching the special by What Not to Wear's Clinton Kelly about renovating his country house was surprisingly enjoyable (and much better than Stacey London's annoying extracurricular efforts). I liked the parts with his family, and laughed when he did makeovers of his contractors, including his dad. But really, he seemed overly bewildered by the realities of the time and money needed to

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-81982112782455450402007-11-01T11:38:00.000-04:002007-11-01T11:36:40.440-04:00

Movies not seen before are in green.Captains Courageous (1937), Victor Fleming. Sentimental coming-of-age story of a rich man's son (Freddie Bartholomew) who gets taught about life by a poor Portuguese fisherman (Spencer Tracy). I don't think Tracy's performance here, with his laughable accent, is Oscar-worthy, but he's more likeable than in some of his tough hero roles. The scene where he dies

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-11599180726660550722007-10-05T20:54:00.000-04:002007-10-06T00:05:19.353-04:00

News flash: I'm a big wuss.Which means that scary things scare me. Which means that I can't watch horror movies. (The last one I saw was An American Werewolf in London. Yes, Junior, in the theater. Terrific movie. I didn't sleep for three nights.)Which means that, as Halloween continues to grow into a holiday Frankenstein's monster* that has totally burst the bounds of its assigned day, basically

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-5629185085783901092007-10-04T16:15:00.000-04:002007-10-04T17:06:20.477-04:00

Bored at work? Must be time for another time-wasting Q&A!1. Hardcover or paperback, and why? Paperback. I always travel with reading material, and hardcovers are too bulky and heavy to stash in my purse.2. If I were to own a book shop I would call it . . .This is actually a really relevant question, since I continually fantasize about retiring to open a little mystery/fantasy bookstore in a

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-83379086020451587672007-10-01T16:37:00.000-04:002007-10-03T12:05:00.072-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.Red River (1948), Howard Hawks. ¿Quién es mas macho, John Wayne or Montgomery Clift? Wayne, of course, but Clift gives him a surprising run for his money. I hated that although Wayne's character is arrogant, patronizing, dictatorial, ruthless, and a thief of both land and cattle, we're supposed to find him admirable. Rather than turning on each other, I

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-52844488399833499762007-09-24T15:51:00.000-04:002007-09-24T23:54:23.510-04:00

I'm a little out of the loop, so I just found out that Robert Jordan died, leaving his interminable monumental Wheel of Time series unfinished.I am, of course, very sorry that Jordan died at such a young age, after suffering a long, debilitating illness. But frankly I'm also mad that after the approximately 10,000 pages I've invested in this saga so far, I may never know what's supposed to happen

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-29323527325605922252007-09-23T22:36:00.000-04:002007-09-23T23:10:22.939-04:00

Well, so far I haven't received any free books from the folks at LibraryThing (although they promise that October will bring more opportunities than ever before), but I did get one from the First Look book club at Barnes and Noble. Truthfully, I had forgotten that I signed up for that, so I was puzzled, then delighted to open my copy of The Monsters of Templeton, by first-time novelist Lauren

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-77868058085802341792007-09-08T12:45:00.000-04:002007-09-08T12:50:27.436-04:00

My love for BookMooch continues to grow. Yesterday, I received a book printed in England, mailed by a Finnish woman living in Beijing. She included a nice note and a couple of cloisonne magnets. That's the kind of connection you can't get from a used bookstore, even if you can find the books you want.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-45266046879336276452007-09-07T17:45:00.000-04:002007-09-07T17:54:53.778-04:00

76%The Movie QuizFilmCritic.com - Movie ReviewsShoutout to Richard Koehler for hooking me up with the quiz.

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-52316191185933003572007-09-07T15:46:00.000-04:002007-09-07T16:27:45.832-04:00

August was a busy month, and I didn't have much time or inclination for this here postifyin', but I hope to get back with the program now. To kick things off, I offer you a look at this parody, which combines two of the better things in life: Edward Gorey and Star Trek.The Trouble with Tribbles: A Television Adaptation by Edward GoreyThis just warmed the cockles of my tired, old-school Trekkie

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-90080950228381641112007-09-01T20:13:00.000-04:002007-09-22T19:17:57.604-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Anthony Asquith. Creaky, mannered vehicle manages to suck most of the juice out of Oscar Wilde's witty play, but Joan Greenwood as Gwendolen and Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell contrive to inject a little fun into the proceedings.Becket (1964), Peter Glenville. I missed the first hour, when Becket (Richard Burton)

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-66682025475212305272007-08-23T16:44:00.000-04:002007-09-02T23:20:25.992-04:00

It's not bad enough that I'm obsessed with LibraryThing, it just keeps leading me deeper and deeper into the murky world of Internet book sites. First, I noticed these little arrow symbols with numbers beside them; following the link, I found that they represented the number of people who had the book to give away and those who wanted to receive it. Free books! Could anything be more compelling?

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-5979273326175920792007-08-01T22:29:00.000-04:002007-08-01T22:24:54.834-04:00

Books read online are in green.The Railroad Children, Charlotte M. Yonge. (Click What's New?, then the link to the story.) Oh dear, I was so excited to find something new by Yonge on the web, but this isn't the type of her work I enjoy. This didactic novellette showcases some of her least attractive tropes: anything mechanical or industrial is bad and leads to moral degeneracy; it's worse for

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-56441196990554811172007-08-01T21:54:00.000-04:002007-08-01T21:54:03.181-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Billy Wilder. I used to enjoy this picture more when I knew less about Charles Lindbergh. Jimmy Stewart puts his gee-whiz Americanism to great use here.Gallant Journey (1946), William Wellman. Glenn Ford = snooze. This movie did nothing to disprove that equation.Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Michael Curtiz. Exhuberant,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-37966733034836468492007-07-30T23:26:00.000-04:002007-08-01T22:29:01.991-04:00

Over at jillmwo's blog, I followed a great link to Blue Pyramid. Answer a series of six questions, and they'll tell you what work of literature represents your innermost soul. Here's mine:You're The Guns of August!by Barbara TuchmanThough you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they really

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-51261418743160454882007-07-26T22:53:00.000-04:002007-07-27T00:14:47.230-04:00

Besides the fun Burn Notice, I've sampled three other much-hyped new series:Saving Grace. Holly Hunter's trying way too hard to be lewd and bad-ass (although she looks good doing it). Despite many reviewers' earnest assurances that Grace isn't pushing any particular religious agenda, I found it to be pretty standard default Christianity. Laura San Giacomo adds a bit of needed spice, but not

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-23343889350208925412007-07-16T14:43:00.000-04:002007-09-02T23:21:16.069-04:00

My sister-in-law just turned me on to my latest hobby: LibraryThing. It's a way of cataloguing, rating, and reviewing the books in your library. The other fun part, of course, is getting to see the catalogs of people who have done the same. With luck, you can find your reading soulmates who will eagerly join you in a debate on whether Maddie in Tell Me Lies is Too Stupid to Live and happily

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-47056490172410571272007-07-04T00:28:00.000-04:002007-07-04T00:20:38.796-04:00

I think I've found my new summer obsession. Burn Notice is the story of freelance spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), who has the rug pulled out from under him in the middle of negotiations with a Nigerian warlord. Wounded, with his cover shredded and his bank accounts frozen, Westen is dumped in Miami, where he must navigate between the Scylla of FBI watchers and the Charybdis of his neurotic

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-63351570455397763992007-07-01T20:22:00.000-04:002007-07-04T16:39:13.962-04:00

Books read online are in green.Red Lightning, John Varley. Disappointing, depressing follow-up to the exuberant Red Thunder. First half in a tsunami-struck Florida (interestingly, written pre-Katrina) is absorbing, but ultimately has nothing to do with the point. Mars and Martian society never really come alive, and the part about the revolution has been done better by Robert A. Heinlein. Varley

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-50949061429595670022007-07-01T20:10:00.000-04:002007-08-08T00:04:39.062-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.Going Hollywood (1933), Raoul Walsh. Another movie that promotes the idea that stalking is romantic, only this time with gender reversal, with French teacher Marion Davies going after crooner Bing Crosby. Davies, with her overcareful enunciation, seems lifeless; I've never cared much for Crosby, but I must admit he sounds awfully good here.Take the

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-78299270648220805982007-06-11T18:07:00.000-04:002007-06-25T16:16:20.953-04:00

Yes, it's true. Burke is gone, he's really gone.Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well, good, I guess. In real life, Isaiah Washington seems like a raging asshole, I never found his public expressions of repentance convincing, and I'm sure his continued presence on the Grey's Anatomy set made for a very tense working environment for everybody.Even in terms of the show, it's OK. I first got into

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-49272285638564102312007-06-05T13:52:00.000-04:002007-06-12T16:20:45.588-04:00

Yay! Hell's Kitchen is back. Another fun season of watching British super-chef Gordon Ramsay bellow, bully, and abuse a group of chefs hoping to land a quarter-million bucks and a great job. I'm not aboard the Ramsay-is-so-hott! train (he actually does, as loudmouth Vinnie said, look like a shar pei), but I find him vastly entertaining. No one of the contestants really stands out for me so far,

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-20839085101720214572007-05-31T15:00:00.000-04:002007-06-01T22:07:19.287-04:00

Books read online are in green.Deadly Advice, Roberta Isleib. See post May 3, 2007. Jamaica Me Dead, Bob Morris. Even with a huge chunk missing from the middle (what is with publishers' QC these days?), it wasn't too hard to figure out what was going on. But the setting was pretty entertaining, and the characters OK to hang out with (although I could have lived without the stereotypical mystic

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-36799294106334625672007-05-31T14:55:00.000-04:002007-06-01T22:07:45.522-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.The Break-Up (2006), Peyton Reed. Much better than I thought it would be, with a realistic, potentially optimistic ending. Serendipitous timing; it's set in Chicago, where I happened to be on business.The Mating Season (1951), Mitchell Leison. Terrific little comedy about young couple from different classes and their mothers. Makes great use of the

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-60171410676924851282007-05-30T17:28:00.000-04:002007-05-30T17:58:40.036-04:00

Like most Inside the Actors Studio junkies, I've been mentally preparing for my appearance on the show someday when my brilliance has been generally acknowledged. Now that notanillusion (by way of Doppelganger) has posted her own responses to James Lipton's/Bernard Pivot's/Marcel Proust's questionnaire, I feel entitled to do the same:What is your favorite word?Brouhaha. Don't you feel better just

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-41490259558990734362007-05-29T13:02:00.001-04:002007-05-30T13:04:54.110-04:00

Apparently, some people don't like Stalag 17, Billy Wilder's 1953 movie about life in a German POW camp. They're bewildered by its mix of drama and black comedy, or they find the pacing uneven, or they're upset that it doesn't show camp life as one of unrelenting misery. I must disagree: I think it's one of the finest movies about World War II ever made, a taut, crackling, nail-biting

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-22519238208522458712007-05-22T16:32:00.000-04:002007-05-22T17:01:30.822-04:00

Here's a round-up of the books I bought because they were recommended by Abigail Nussbaum:Really Loved: Middlesex, Air, Howl's Moving CastleLiked More than Not: Her Smoke Rose Up ForeverTruly Despised: The Crimson Petal and the White, Cloud Atlas, 1610: A Sundial in a GraveIn other words, Abigail's score was just slightly better than 50/50.That's deeply disappointing to me, because I love the way

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-104446895612758742007-05-22T11:38:00.000-04:002007-05-22T12:19:12.862-04:00

After last week's intensely awesome episode of Heroes, I was filled with unbearable anticipation for this week's climax. Maybe it was inevitable after the build-up, but I must say I found myself distinctly . . . underwhelmed.Here, with a big nod of gratitude to the great posters at TWoP, are my Top 10 Unanswered Questions of the Heroes Finale:What the hell ever happened to the Haitian? And what

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-52096682155715944492007-05-18T14:55:00.000-04:002007-05-18T15:03:04.014-04:00

Well, my Tuesday nights are free now. The CW has pulled the plug on both Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars, two of the best-written, most interesting, most compelling series ever aired.The difference is that GG really had reached a natural stopping point with Rory's graduation from Yale; fans, actors, and producers alike were mentally ready for the end; and although it would have been nice to have

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-4654255388470243962007-05-15T21:25:00.000-04:002007-05-19T21:45:36.811-04:00

Just got back from a week in Chicago and I feel inspired to spout off on a few subjects not entirely related to the stated purpose of this blog. What? It's free. Sue me.You know, it seems in Chicago they have this lake. Apparently they call those suckers the Great Lakes for a reason. For us benighted Easterners, "lake" calls up an entirely different picture; Michigan is really more like what you

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-65749283919490188972007-05-03T23:41:00.000-04:002007-05-06T21:38:00.705-04:00

There seems to be a new cliche in mysteries: the unsigned, typed suicide note, often not even printed out, just left on a computer screen. I've seen it before, but the only ones I can point to are the one that popped up in a Veronica Mars episode a few months ago, and another in the (so far mediocre) book I'm reading, Deadly Advice by Roberta Isleib.I'm no expert, and I haven't been able to find

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-91382499062759976722007-05-01T14:45:00.000-04:002007-06-01T22:09:39.902-04:00

Movies seen for the first time are in green.Barefoot in the Park (1967), Gene Saks. Typical Neil Simon misogyny masquerading as hijinks. Corie is a spoiled, selfish emotional bully, and I can't believe her husband and mother put up with her for a moment. Hard to believe that a post-consciousness-raising Jane Fonda still thinks fondly of it. That said, Mildred Natwick and Charles Boyer are worth

Muse of Irehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332467174431277149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613704.post-24204308318862643162007-04-30T16:28:00.000-04:002007-06-01T22:09:04.348-04:00

Books read online are in green.Willy Burke; or, The Irish Orphan in America, Mrs. J. Sadlier. Overly didactic, overly sentimental tale of a Catholic boy making his way in pre-Civil War New York. Moderately interesting for its insight into how Protestants viewed Catholics at that time (Sadlier's no fan of multiculturalism either) , but not nearly as entertaining or naturalistic as her Bessy Conway

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