Laudy Libs

My laudations and libations is a little massive this time around, as I've been watching a ton of movies, reading a ton of books, and dinging around at work and in the kitchen.

To Hear the Laudation(s) of their Women

Watching:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Slow-moving, enjoyable. Stellar performances by the whole shebang - especially Gary Oldman. And overall I thought they did a good job of condensing the original Alec Guinness miniseries. (Still haven't read the book.) But I did wonder what it was like for people who hadn't had the benefit of the book or the miniseries. I tried to watch it from that perspective, and I think it was confusing. Maybe the producers/distributors are banking on people needing to see it at least twice? One other weird note: unlike the miniseries, where Ann Smiley is capably played by Siân Phillips, we NEVER see Ann's face in this version. We see her hair, various body parts including her bum being groped, but never a look at her. Very unsatisfactory, and I spent most of the evening afterwards trying to figure out why, apart from the basic, oh, but she doesn't matter, see. She's not even a pawn, so she's completely uninteresting. Blech.

Sherlock. What a great show. So far I've only watched the first season because I'm anti-cable and pro-library (not to mention pro-cheap and pro-free) but I'd recommend it highly.

Silent Running. Decent movie, a little preachy, but I can see how it would not have been in its time. Interesting effects. Terrible Joan Baez screeching throughout, though. Bruce Dern reminds me a little of my husband's father, which is funny to me considering the first time I ever saw Dern in a movie, it was this one:

Marathon Man. Um. I'm not sure what to say about this one. It was very...speedy? I think I liked the scenes with Lawrence Olivier and Roy Scheider were good. Dustin Hoffman has never been one of my favorite actors, but he was good.

Incidentally: wow, the Oscars have gotten quite speedy in their way, too, haven't they?

Reading: I read Dead Until Dark, the first book in the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire series. I know, I know, I'm perpetually late to the party. But it was enjoyable and quick. Speedy seems to be my MO these days. Am nearly finished with Anna Karenina and as A. and I went to the bookstore this weekend, I have a whole shelf of new and exotic (to me) stuff to read.

Eating: Ginger Snaps. They are delicious. This is obvious, yes.


And lo, the Libations


Had me some Farmhouse Wytchmaker Rye IPA (Austin, TX) and Böner beer (somewhere), both were decent.



Non-laud: our dishwasher. Damn thing is waaaay too loud.