Watched Peter Jackson’s King Kong; we got through it in two evenings, but only because Caitlyn went to bed early for one of them. The movie is large and very pretty to look at, but uncomfortable to watch at times (not just for the enormous bugs), and it left me with an unpleasant aftertaste. Jackson has said a number of times, even in an interview on the back of a Kelloggs’ Pops’ box, that he was remaking a film he saw as a child, a film he credits with getting him into the movie business in the first place. King …
Category: media
Ian pointed me to The Brick Testament this morning… Bible stories lovingly illustrated in LEGO! Which, of course, raises the question: Does LEGO make little Egyptian headpieces for little LEGO people? And if so, what doesn’t LEGO make? The fun thing about The Brick Testament is that by rendering the stories in LEGO tableaux, it reinforces the story nature of them. Nothing quite like being able to pop headgear off and on as Isaac blesses his sons. Humans tell each other stories, to share experiences, to explain things, to answer The Big Questions. We have told stories regardless of culture, …
I’ve just stumbled across the trailer for a documentary coming out this summer. An Inconvenient Truth premiered at Sundance this year, and the buzz is rather impressive. (Sorry. I looked around for a non-Moviefone, non-AOL trailer for the movie, but they appear to have the exclusive at the moment.) It seems a bit odd to get excited about a movie that’s bound to be as depressing as hell, but there it is. Perhaps I’ve yet to give up on the idea that elements of pop culture (movies, for one) can make a critical difference in how ordinary people live and …
As I told Jay, yes, yes, I know. It’s not March anymore. And it’s not like nothing’s happened in the last six months, either. We’ve left Kauai, moved to Seattle (yes, moved, as in all our stuff out of storage – finally, all our earthly possessions are in one state, if not the same address), been involved in two weddings, made our first experiments in growing tomatoes, and otherwise returned to a life not on hiatus. Upheaval does tend to upset whatever vague notions of routine I once had. I’m out of habit, in many things, and struggling to rediscover …
Recent happenings… Just finished re-reading Patrick O’Leary’s The Gift, quite possibly my most favorite book… Still trying to decide what to say about Barbara Kingsolver’s latest essay collection, Small Wonder. She says everything I wish I could say, and better than I could hope to… The pictures from our excursion to the National Botanical Garden are back, and I have lots to upload if only I could find the time… Finally made it out to Tunnels. I found it less then it’s cracked up to be since I spent all my time fighting a current and seeing nothing. Ian, on …
When I was a kid, our local paper occasionally ran stories about a kid a few years older than myself. He was attending college at 14 because his father believed he was a genius. It seems strange that it was news. We get all excited about teenagers who have stepped outside the cookie cutter conveyor belt of youth culture and public school. The bookstores are making a big deal right now about a book called Eragon, prominently displaying it in large stacks at the front of the store. The reason for the fuss appears to be that the author is …