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.

Laudations and Libations, the return

You do not need to get these. They are not as great as they appear.

I should probably go through and rethink some of my tags. Just noticed I have "boobies" as a label. I poked around and discovered I have used it exactly once - to talk about breast milk and the possible excretions of medication in thereof. Sorry 'bout that, boobie label-clicking folks. I suppose I could tag this post with "boobies," given I've typed it so much, but that'd just be cruel recursion, wouldn't it?

Anyway, it's time for a new year full of Laudatory Wonders and Libations I like to Thunder (down my gullet. Bad rhymes do not matter when you have delightful beer).Yay! Let's link and drink!

• The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince
Saw this recently at work and watched a bit in order to verify alternate subtitles, audios, etc. It was very cute.


• Infernal Affairs
A. and I finally watched this before Christmas. It's much better than The Departed, which I still like, mostly for the inclusion of Mark Wahlberg's character.


• Bridget Riversmith's Artwork.
Don't know if I've mentioned her here before. She's a lovely artist. She also had a Christmas/holiday sale, which was why I planned on posting about her. I don't know if it's still on. Oops. But you should check out her site anyway.

I tried this for the first time:

which is made by these guys: Left Hand Brewing Company

Delicious. I'll certainly be checking out more.

Laudations and Libations

Today's Laudations

1. The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection, as read by two of my all-time favorite actors, Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price. I love all of Price's horror films, but one of my never-wavering favorites with him is Laura, in which he plays Shelby Carpenter, a charming, manipulative mooch.

2. The Dark Side: Tales of Terror and the Supernatural by Guy de Maupassant. I actually read this back in November, when A. and I took a trip to San Francisco. Creepy, creepy, creepy short stories. Also, the edition I read had some very informative prefaces/introductions that described Maupassant's life, which sounded prolific, raucous and sometimes unpleasant. He attempted suicide multiple times, and he died (at age 46) in a Paris asylum.

3. My backyard.

Groomed it is not, and please, pay no attention to the mud and the mulch and the enthusiastic dog-clawings. In the plus department, we have a large tree nearby and a lot of overhanging branches, so our feeder attracts some pretty cardinals, chickadees, mourning doves, and other chirpy fellows.

Today's (well, last night's, really) Libation:

Lobotomy Bock from Indian Wells Brewing Co. in California. This stuff was delicious. I think I need more so I can fully describe the flavor with well-chosen phrases like "nutty chocolate aroma" or "bitter dark mysteriousness." Yep, definitely gonna need some more.