Interspersed with the AFI films, we’ve been watching some documentary films. The first was Paris Is Burning and the second Devil’s Playground. Of wildly different subcultures, the 2 films were stunningly similar in some ways. The ethnic minority gay community of New York at their balls and the Amish teenagers on rumspringa explore the meaning of community, ecstatic celebration, and the pressures of making a more or less permanent lifestyle choice at a fairly young age. Both are good (and short), though Paris Is Burning is less predictable and more contextualized, largely because the community is.

  Recently we visited the Cezanne in Provence exhibit at the National Gallery. I like the Impressionists (what lady doesn’t) but with the exception of Large Bathers, I wasn’t very excited about the whole thing. It was crowded and after awhile all the blurriness blurred together. I did like the use of few but intense colors and the repeat paintings of the same vista. Overall, a worthy visit, but it would have been better if I’d had more time and space and a quieter setting to enjoy it.

I am the third to last person on the planet to read this book. First and foremost, the thing is crack, Peeps, Lays Potato Chips–whatever you can’t just have one of. You pick it up and then you find yourself sneaking in pages before you get to work and staying up well past your bedtime to finish that next chapter. It’s incredibly quick-paced, which is both to its benefit and its detriment.

The story is easy to visualize, which is a difficult feat in writing. There’s minimal expository and the characters are fleshed out just enough that you can picture them (Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno) in their scenes, acting their little hearts out. The disappointment of the quick pace comes in the form of much glossing over of the detailed research that the story was based on. A lot of facts are thrown out there with virtually no context or discussion or time to digest them. More expository would have ruined the pace but elevated the story.

I had avoided this book so that I could be all elitist and say, “Oh no, I’ve never read it. Such trash.” But then I read this in the midst of working on becoming more grateful, understanding, and open. When the book appeared for free on a shelf in the apartment building, I snatched it up as an offering from the universe to make some connections. Still thinking about it…

Brilliant. Christopher Buckley’s wickedly cynical story of tobacco trade association representative Nick Naylor’s life spiralling out of control is quick & dirty must-read that’s as intelligent as it is funny.

I have read enough crappy business books in my lifetime to fill a dumptruck. While How to Become a Marketing Superstar by Jeffrey Fox is just as trite as all of the others, it is much shorter, pithier, and well-written than most of them. The advice is generally practical and usable, but the tone, the quizzes, and the “ka-ching” are irritating and repetitious.

Why did no one tell me how fabulous Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert were in this film? A fantastic little love story with witty dialogue that hasn’t gone stale much over the years. Winner of multiple Oscars and a nice reminder that not all old movies suck.

I am a sucker for pirates. Not modern-day pirates, but rather the Disney-ized, romanticized Captain Jack Sparrows and Captain Bloods of the days of yore. Swashbuckling, duels, funny shirts, and buried treasure–it should come as no surprise that my favorite ride at Disney World as a child was the Pirates of the Caribbean.

After the reading of Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, which is the pirate story from which all modern pirate stories derive, I’ve been a bit off the pirate stories. How can you top that one?
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte comes a close second. Not about pirates, but about a swashbucking mercenary in 17th century Spain, it’s a story full of poetry and swords, confident and engaging. Perez-Reverte has an unparalleled love of Spain and deftly keeps the story entertaining, tight, and quick.

The film version, Alatriste, starring Viggo Mortensen, is now in post-production and slated to hit theaters Dec 2006.