We are finally getting some rain. The ground had gotten so parched that it was beginning to crack, and our lawn crunched under the paws of our miniature dachshund every time she went out to “water” it. My perennials had weathered the dry spell, for the most part, but I’ve worn a path around them lugging the watering can from the sink out to the yard and back again.
West Virginia in the summer is such a beautiful place — almost heaven, even despite the humidity and the evil squirrel that just launched itself onto my birdfeeder for the third time this morning. (Little pig…he’s getting chubby.)
The rain has been soaking, drop by needed drop, back into the ground for the last couple of days, and you can almost see the flowers straining up for the next one before it hits. We have family visiting from out West — my in-laws — and they can’t believe how green everything is here. I look around and think to myself that this is the driest, crunchiest summer that I can recall in quite a while.
Funny how that sort of thing is relative, isn’t it?
Speaking of relatives, we spent some time out with the folks, The Peanut, and our nephew yesterday, having a late lunch and then a fun visit to the bookstore (ate at Cheddars, and then hung out with books in the Pooh Bear reading area, at the Barnes and Noble in Morgantown, for the local crowd) after a driving tour through the University to show our nephew how it looked. I picked up some fun mysteries for my mother-in-law by an author named M.C. Beaton — having read a few of the Agatha Raisin and Haimish McBeth books in the past, I thought she’d get a kick out of the snarky humor. They are great quick reads that make you laugh out loud, and I love them as little mental diversions for a couple of hours and a pot of tea’s worth of reading. (You can’t always be reading Proust, now can you?)
And that got me thinking about what sorts of trashy or “beach reads” or what have you books that everyone else is probably reading and enjoying this summer — but might be too worried about folks thinking less of them for it. Once on the blog, I mentioned that I like watching Love, Actually, as a sort of diversion movie when I’m feeling blue and need a giggle – I really do love it, actually — and someone dressed me down in the comments as having pedestrian film tastes and vowed never to read the blog again as a result.
Well, screw that, I say.
It’s trash day, kiddos. What movies are your secret faves — you know you’ve been dying to share your cult addiction to something. How about books or authors? (I know someone out there has a Danielle Steele book in their tote bag…admit it!) Or music? Dish, spill, do tell. Come out of reading mode and introduce yourself in the comments this morning, and share your dirty little escapist reading, watching and listening secrets.
Me, I’m hoping for more rain today, and a little time to curl up with a wickedly funny little light-reading mystery and a cuppa tea. It’s been a long week, and I need a diversion — and I thought some of you might need one as well. Pull up a chair…
(Photo of the Cathedral Falls near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, via Fred Wolfe. Lovely shot of a beautiful spot.)
PS — Bob Geiger has some fantastic cartoons this morning. Don’t miss the animations. Mweeee heeeee.
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Good Morning!!!!
Morning Millineryman! How are things in your neck of the woods this morning?
speaking of rain – check this out on the radar this morning – a circular storm forming around Albany GA at 6:30. It appears, enlarges and then dissapates. POOF! The images may be rolled off soon
http://radar.weather.gov/radar…..p;loop=yes
that’s a beautiful picture christy, soothing just to look at it.
It’s awfully sunny here today. I’m afraid I’m not going ot get that relaxing rain today. SIGH But you never know…
Good morning Christy!
Re books, I take a fluff to serious ratio of about 2 to 1 when traveling overseas.
Shopaholic series a guilty pleasure. She’s a hoot.
Ah well – I guess those radar images are gone already. It was neat tho. I’m sitting here debating if I want that iPhone or not. The AT&T plan looks better than I thought – 450 min plus unlimited data and email for $60. One more cup of coffee before deciding….
Well, at the moment it is NOT raining here in North Texas. You probably heard, we’ve been getting ridiculous amounts of rain here.
Hey Christy, a little cloudy outside and inside. Couldn’t sleep last night and a very loud, vocal squirrel sat outside my window and let me have it about no food being out.
I’m thinking Brunswick Stew. Anyway my trashy music is disco music. And my trashy reading is celebrity gossip. Trashy movies, well anything with Jerry Lewis, and my all time favorite, The Incrediable Mr. Limpet.
AirportCat at 8 — I heard about that — you guys and Oklahoma. Glad you are getting a bit of respite. You can send some of that my way if you like.
Good Morning, Christy and breakfast clubbers-
Refrshingly cool breezes here. Wonder if the shrub and the pater shrub are fishin’. Wonder if Pappy is takin the kid out to the woodshed and ’splainin some important things about Darth Cheney.
Sorry – can’t think about light reads too much, although I will always dive into a Luanne Rice book for the New England coast/shore descriptions. My other failsafe is anything by Madeleine L’Engle.
I started reading Christopher Moore’s books recently. I started with Lamb:The Gospel According to Biff,Christ’s Childhood Pal (hilarious).I’m about to start Practical Demonkeeping.
I never got into romances or mysteries all that much(except Nancy Drew,Hardy Boys,and others as a kid),I don’t read much fiction really. I picked Lamb up at the bookstore just on a lark,and loved it.
Oft drive-by before hitting the bike:
Then, barely a week later, a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the entire legal category of “unlawful enemy combatant,” a neologism crucial for the Military Commissions Act. And now, today, the Supreme Court announced it will hear a case brought by two other detainees challenging the constitutionality of the act…
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003568.php
And, guess who’s showing up today to speak with (to?) the 4th Circuit judges… Chief Justice John (stare de – what?) Roberts.
Saturday, June 30
4th Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, with SC Chief Justice John Roberts
On C-SPAN, 9:30am ET
Now off to ride and hopefully get back in time to see that one…
Oh, and as I tend to grab books indiscriminately at the library, this week found me unwittingly grabbing a couple which turned out to be about vampires – oops.
Read ‘em both though.
Good morning, pups!!
Here is a link to Bill Moyers’ special comment, which, in the tradition of KO, is a doozy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..54361.html
The Incredible Mr. Limpet — now that was a fun movie! Don Knotts was from Morgantown, WV, btw. :)
Well good Morning all, as to rain Western Missouri has had enough I’m sure we would not miss a few inches. As to books The Patrick O’Brian book have long been a favorite mental bubble gum.
My wife and I watched “Rain Man” last night. I hadn’t seen it in a long time, not since long before my son was diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder … which definitely gives you a different perspective. “Rain Man” was released in 1988 … I had heard of autism when I saw the movie, but really didn’t know much about it.
I didn’t know that Don Knotts was from WV, all the more reason to admire the man.
Scottfree @ 7
i’m sooo behind the times… still using my old contract (long ago grandfathered) of 10.95 a month. only free minutes are nights (7 to7) and weekends, but i can forward calls to land lines w/o charge… don’t know of a better deal than that.
if you get the iphone, let us know what you think of it!
Mornin’ Ms Christy!
Hmm? “Trashy” reads and “trashy” movies?
There’re a couple of Fantasy series that are fun and wholly tongue in cheek. Robert Aspirin has the Myth, Inc books/stories. Most all of the books have a pun using the word myth somewhere in the title. Cross dimensional hi-jinks and a lot of fun.
There’s also Spider Robinson’s books and stories on Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.
For movies, LOVE pirate flicks and sword and adventure. Whether it’s something like “Jason and The Argonauts” or “Clash of the Titans” or things like the Errol Flynn “Adventures of Robin Hood”, “Captain Blood”, or “Seahawk.” “Ivanhoe” (Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, George Sanders), “The Crimson Pirate (Burt Lancaster), or “The Black Swan” (Tyrone Power, Maureen O’Hara, George Sanders). Tyroone Power is in a lot of historical adventures like “The Mark of Zorro” and others based on books by Samuel Shellabarger “The Prince of Foxes” (Orson Welles as Cesare Borgia) and “The Captain From Castile” (Cesar Romero as Cortez).
Christy Hardin Smith @ 5
We had a day WITHOUT rain yesterday here in San Antonio. But it was raining as I got up this AM.
Hey argosfalcon – I have a daughter at MSU in Springfield. She loves the weather there – beats Tallahassee humidity. Only problem she has in finding work. She found out right off that blue or pink hair wasn’t helping the job search.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 10
I’d love to. We have a huge event here on July 3rd, and it needs to not rain that day, because if we have to reschedule it we’ll all go nuts.
Scottfree
I can could see how that might be a limiting factor in this part of the woods, or Ozarks.
And I have NO idea why my comment at 20 went into moderation. Sorry mods…
edit: I bet it was the one author’s last name huh?
AirportCat @ 17
both my boys have that – and are high functioning. Younger is tactile defansive (touch is painful, clothing tags, etc) and sensory integration problems (cant stand too much noise and confusion) I took him to Occupational Therapy. (the names are mixed up – that should be physical…) it seems his inner ear and sense of balance were underdeveloped. whole new body of science. He dropped out of Zoo Mass because of the confusing environment and disappointment in not being able to make friends.
I actually got to see Mr. Limpet on the big screen. There’s an old theater here in town, and the previous owner showed old movies. The first week I was here he had a showing of Mr Limpet. What Christmas week that was, moving into my first house AND seeing Mr. Limpet on the big screen in a old 1920’s style theater.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 15
I really enjoyed that movie when I was a kid, and I watched it with Mini-Rieszette when she was about 4. I had to explain what a war is– I told her that people from each country try to kill the people from the other country. She got this look like “WTF?” and she’s been anti-war ever since.
What can I say? Up here in NY it has been the rainiest spring in memory. Still, we need the water and people waste water as if it was, well, water.
Water is the most precious resource known to man, with the possible exception of oxygen, but then water is part oxygen. Our bodies are approximately 98% liquid in content, so you can all think of yourselves as walking tubs of water. It is a wonder we don’t hear ourselves sloshing as we walk.
‘Scuse me, gotta go to take a leak.
Selise – I’m pretty sure I getting one in about 15 minutes. I gave up my Verizon cell the month before anticipating the iPhome. I like that Apple will be upgrading the phone software, instead of crippling the software like other high-end cells. I expect this to extend the iPhone’s life beyond the 2 year contract.
My go-to is “The Razor’s Edge” with Bill Murray.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087980/
Good morning.
I love the look of the iPhone but won’t go with ATT. We switched off verizon last fall and went with Working Assets which uses Sprint as the carrier. WA gives a cut to causes I care about. That means lots more to me than the bells and whistles.
When/if the iPhone opens to other carriers we’ll see.
Not too many trash lovers here– Mudcat would say we’re a bunch of pseudo-intellectual elites.
One of my faves is the Tremors series, at least the first 3. I thought they were really fun sci-fi flicks that didn’t take themselves too seriously.
Tank Girl was another fun one. I’ve always liked “girl power” movies and I’ve watched a lot of them with Mini-Rieszette.
airportcat – the other son was diagnosed as non-verbal – can’t write an organized grammatical paper to save his soul – so, he’s an outdoorsman. High altitude, vertical surface, search and rescue, avalanche management, rock climbing teacher, (no health insurance) ski patrol. loves what he is doing. we figured out his diagnosis too late to start any treatment (occupational therapy, but he is happy) Good luck – there is help out there.
Good morning! Rain here has been spotty, with thunderstorms coming here and there, but all of them too brief to soak the ground. About the only plant thriving right now is the peppermint.
My guilty pleasure in movies? Top Gun and The Goonies.
In books? Any of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels and romance novels, particularly historicals.
Love, Actually – can’ count how many times I’ve watched it.
Oceans 11, Oceans 12 and the movies where Matt Damon has amnesia, what are they called? Pure escape.
Regarding Henry, starring Harrison Ford and Annette Bening. He’s a lawyer and gets caught in a robbery, shot in the head and has to learn everything all over again.
Old and indy films shown on the big screen now there’s a guilty pleasure, I remember when I live in Santa Barbara spending walking to the movies downtown in the summer, when the film festival was new and I not quite so old.
The Matt Helm series of films with Dean Martin are fun also.
As for the subject of the day I’ve mentioned this book a couple of times here but considering the evil that this SCOTUS is doing I’ll mention it again. Good summer “trash” reading written, I think, by a lawyer:
The Fourth Procedure by Stanley Pottinger.
It will give you all sorts of fantasies about “fixing” the court.
Movies: when I’m feeling really bad about the country I need to watch the American President. I know it’s sappy but it’s good to see a pres. with a brain and a heart.
Christy whenever you talk about WV, it makes me resolve anew to go see my old friends Michael and Nancy who live near Romney…such a nice drive just getting there
Nancy used to be gay, then she met Michael…we call her a “hasbian” lol
My guilty pleasures…the movies Spice World and Pootie Tang
Luv y’all dogs…happy weekend!
jara at 31 — Oooooh, love Razor’s Edge. Bill Murray is wonderful in that one.
jayt at 13—the Chief Justice is always the speaker at the 4th Circuit judicial conference, he’s speaking to all the judges and invited lawyers this morning—I’m supposed to be there but am boycotting it after the Louisville decision—I know I know, he won’t know of my boycott, but I know. At least Rehnquist isn’t there to lead “Dixie” at the Thursday night sing-a-long anymore —lots of people got up and walked out
RevDeb @ 31 –
yeah, att is part of the axis of evil. does sprint support net-neutrality?
my old contract was with cellular one, which became cingular (which i think was pretty good union-wise), then, i think, cingular became att (although the bill still says cingular). i can’t keep up. but i like my old contract with it’s old price.
Kathryn in MA @ 33 –
i’m going to bet that having you as a mom helped.
Sharkbabe at 40 — LOL “hasbian” — that’s freaking hilarious. ;-)
Well as too American President movies how about My Fellow Americans with Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd, It has ex- prez.s being chased by the NSA, marching in a gay pride parade, taking down a corrupt president and an evil VP. A modern fairy tail.
loubarr at 42 — Ahhhh, the joys of being in the 4th Circuit, eh? SIGH
selise @ 43
My money goes to Working Assets. What they do with Sprint I don’t know but it gives them the air time and the contract costs me what the verizon contract did including the family plan for $10 more so Mr. Rev has a phone too. All in all, paying the same but feeling better about it. So far no problem with service.
argosfalcon at 46 — That is a fun one. Jack Lemmon, as always, steals the movie. *G*
PA_Lady @ 35
Ahh…words to summon me out of lurk mode. I WRITE historical romance novels: Lady Danger, Captive Heart, Knight’s Prize! But since I spend my workdays in fantasy mode, MY guilty pleasure is more intellectual fare (a la Anatomy of Deceit).
Kathryn in MA @ 33
My son is very high functioning, and he has been getting lots of help. We’ve had an issue with an extreme bug phobia recently — even butterflies bother him — but that’s getting better. He’s socially clueless, but so was I when I was young. Not quite to his degree, but I think he’ll find ways to compensate.
Riesz Fischer, I loved Tank Girl. I also like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (and the sequel).
Haven’t been to a movie in months! plan to see Sicko this weekend (pledged to do so with MoveOn) but I’m home sicko myself. We shall see.
Another of my faves but not guilty about it is Cinema Paradiso.
Guilty ones . . . anything with Cary Grant, Audry Hepburn, or Kathryn Hepburn. And I loved Love Actually too as well as Truly Madly Deeply.
It seems like I’ve written all of this before maybe, what, a year ago?
Boston1775 @ 36
Bourne Identity and Bourne something
argosfalcon @ 46
Dave is a good one too. Bought a double DVD with that and American Pres. for 10 bucks at BJ’s I think.
selise – bless you. it was tough. spent lots of money on therapy – OT and psych for everyone.
later pups. hope you feel better soon RevDeb.
Scottfree @ 30
Note that battery life is said, by apple, to be 300-400 charges. Battery replacement is by the factory–you lose the phone for as long as it takes them to replace the battery.
And, of course, check the warranty. Charging it every day and a half (daily most weekdays) means that the battery won’t last as long as the contract.
selise @ 56
thanks. it will take its usual time to work its way out of the system.
Have a good one selise.
selise @ 43
Tim Wu net neutrality expert, discusses ATT and the IPhone.
Guilty pleasure? Old Heinlein Scribner juveniles. Less guilty pleasure: Cryptonomican.
Millineryman @ 38
If you go back even further, George Sanders as “The Saint” in a series in the 30s-40s. Although if you ever run across the old Roger Moore TV show, it’s fun as well.
Good morning, this is off topic but I was deeply offended by something in the WaPo and am seeking the opinions of others. Does anyone else find it wrong to characterize a stay at home mother of three and wife of a soldier on active duty in Iraq as unemployed?
“Jessica Hall of Jacksonville, N.C., said she threw the McDonald’s cup in frustration last July 2 when a driver cut in front of her twice on I-95 in Stafford County. The unemployed mother of three whose Marine husband was serving in Iraq became an object of sympathy from people across the nation who felt her jail sentence — two years — was too harsh. She ended up serving seven weeks before being released to her family and a crush of media”.
StarcraftVO—
Welcome! Lurk no longer! And it’s cool to hear from an author. Tell us more.
Riesz Fischer, the first tremors was awfully fun — especially reba mcentire and michael gross. (you know they got the monster just from the leftover special effects of Dune, right?)
and in that vein, almost anything by john carpenter — personal faves include big trouble in little chine and his remake of the thing.
StarcraftVO @ 50
I just finished reading Lady Danger last week! Wonderful story – I was so absorbed I forgot to make dinner. (Sometimes it comes in handy to have a pizza place just down the street!)
Oh goody, front page of the Glob today
Presidential scholar confronts the president.
Yeah, it’s the Saturday edition and we knew about it days ago, but it did make it to the front page!
Ford Prefect @ 61
Depends. If she characterizes herself as unemployed that’s one thing. If she’s a stay at home mom it’s another.
We may try and get out to see Ratatouille today. In-laws are still visiting and I think it would be fun for The Peanut for us to all go see a movie together.
My fave? Columbo. They seem to show a lot of episodes on the weekends and they’re better than most movies.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 67
It got a great review in the Glob yesterday. Enjoy.
Scottfree @ 22
I got my master’s degree from MSU. Southwest Missouri is it’s own special type of conservativism. Can’t say I miss seeing the signs on the highway outside of town that had been adopted by the KKK.
movies about the American presidency – absolutely the funniest is Dick, where the two girls become Nixon’s dogwalker because they’ve unwittingly become enmeshed in the Watergate burglary…they keep calling the dog “Checkers”… DAMN, funny movie
assuming the crush of filmgoers isn’t too terrible (first weekend and all) ratatouille should be great.
(cars was the first somewhat weak offering from the mad geniuses at pixar, and io’m expecting them to bounce back big with this one.)
‘Morning, FirePups! Another lovely and coolish morning here in the Great Lakes State. After the last 4 weeks of unusual heat, I’m glad for the break.
jara @ 31
Me too, jara, this is one of my favorites. I especially loved the scene where the well-to-do Indian is washing dishes and explains to Murray’s character the difference between work and intention; it completely cracked my head open, was transformative in a way the book was not.
For pure entertainment, I adore Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element. For historic romance, give me The Last of the Mohicans (mmm, Daniel Day Lewis). And for trash, give me anything Jane Austen-ish, especially if Colin Firth is in it.
But funny, I can’t really think of a trashy read; I have not read a book for trash purposes in quite a while, have enough on my hands to keep up with the Book Salon here. However I did recently recommend Audrey Niffennegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife; consider reading it before the movie comes out and screws with its plausibility.
I’m reading The Bookseller of Kabul right now, hard to call that a beach read. Gore’s The Assault on Reason and Greenwald’s Tragic Legacy are in the queue — more non-trash, I’m afraid.
jayackroyd @ 57
Good points but I just got back from committing. Local ATTs sold out in 1 hour last night so mine is coming FedEx on Tues. I have an iPod from summer 03 that is still on first battery but no doubt I will use iPhone more. I plan to give up landline and DSL ($80/mth) shortly so that will pay for iPhone.
As far as the politics, now I have another stake in ATT as a customer in addition to minor family trust holdings and I won’t be shy about complaining.
Oh, books again! I just finished Black Storm Comin (Diane Lee Wilson) and couldn’t put it down. It’s in the YA category, but so beautifully written it crosses all age groups. In a voice so true I fell in love with Colton, the main character, and his horse Badger. If you read with your children this one is a winner.
For a movie…I always love Babette’s Feast. Charming and sweet, with gorgeous food scenes!
Bye all,
I’m off to the market on my new bike (thanks for the inspiration Phoenix Woman). I am soooo out of shape.
egregious, if there’s anything I can do, I’d like to do it.
Kathryn and Airport Cat, it’s all about that thing called love, isn’t it. Wishing you a wonderful day.
“razor’s edge” was a great shift for murray — it was his first purely straight role. yet many, if not most, reviewers either never saw it or forgot it when they responded to “lost in translation” as though murray had never handled a serious role before.
janda @ 70
My daughter is in trouble – LOL. The bumper stickers on her car alone might do her in.
For TV escapism — “Deadliest Catch” (in reruns) on the Discovery Channel. Also, “Designed to Sell” on HGTV.
For beach books, The “Deborah Knott” series by Margaret Maron or anything by Anne Rivers Siddons.
For movies, I have watched “Love Actually” so many times I could recite the dialogue. (Would love to see Gordon Brown treat GWB like that!) Light, romantic comedy fills the bill — never anything scary though.
“a thousand splendid suns,” the new novel by khaled hosseini, he of “kite runner” fame, is awfully good, powerful if a tad bollywoodesque. i wouldn’t call it trash, though.
can’t wait for the last harry potter, though i’ll be sad when i finish it.
Rayne at 73 — I am right there with you on the Daniel Day-Lewis in that movie. All tight muscles and intensity. Mmmmmmm….oh yeah, might have to watch that one again…
Thanks, Rayne! *g*
Scottfree @ 78
Fortunately Springfield is a college town, which always brings in a little bit of progressive thinking. It’s just a matter of finding the pockets of the sane.
Lots of great outdoor fun if your daughter likes that sort of thing. Camping and float trips are two of my favorites.
I love “chick flicks” and since I have 3 daughters I have seen a lot of them. Nothing like a light romantic comedy to make you forget about the dismal state of things from time to time. I went to one yesterday afternoon just to forget about the week of SC rulings…and it worked.
PA_Lady @ 64
Wow–thanks! Yeah, my tagline is “stories to keep you up all night.”
Egregious–
My current trilogy features three kick-arse warrior wenches from medieval Scotland. Like all romance novels, they’re “one man, one woman, happy ending,” but I like a lot of action and adventure, so men read me, too.
Thanks for asking!
StarcraftVO — Kick arse warrior wenches are always welcome. *g*
bookwoman @ 75
Don’t miss Firehorse, which is Diane Wilson’s latest.
Trashy? Define trashy. Like art, I think it’s in the eye of the beholder. I can’t even remember the novels I’ve picked up just for a quick read, then promptly forgotten.
Not trashy by anybody’s definition probably, but I confess to owning copies of the Disney greats “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan.” Watch them all the time. Those two are some of my fondest memories of the big screen in the late 1940’s. And they are still a joy to watch. Nobody, and I mean nobody, animates like that anymore, especially Disney.
I’ve got about a dozen squirrels I hand feed daily. When I get home from work there will be two females on the tree next to the carport who start giving me what for before I even get out of the truck. Fat and sassy.
Rain? This is Florida. It rains almost every afternoon about 4:30 or so. A deluge for about 20 minutes then the sun comes back out. It’s really weird seeing it rain on one side of the street with the sun shining on the other. After all these years one would think the novelty would wear off. Lightening capital of the world. Teeth-jarring lightening and lots of it.
Kucinich was in town (St Petersburg) last night to meet and greet the folks seeing “Sicko.” It’s being shown at our favourite protest site, BayWalk, so I have to wait until it goes somewhere else. Sorry, but Michael isn’t worth getting arrested for trespassing. Maybe if I cut my hair and shaved my moustache I wouldn’t be recognized. LOL. When hell freezes over. Big crowds for all the showings I’m told.
We went to see Paris, je t’aime last night. About 20, 5 minute films about love in Paris. Very nice film.
My children always loved movies with rambunctious children. So, a big hit when they were young was ‘Overboard’. Several viewings. I had the same taste. I loved the original ‘A Parent Trap’ with Hayley Mills and another about Hayley and nuns. Hmmm, can’t think of the name.
Good morning from L.A. Another great Sat. a.m. topic, CHS.
Trashy reads? Any non-fiction old unsolved crime paperbacks, the weirder the better. “The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes” leaps to mind- take it on camping trips.
Guilty tv pleasures for me include the “Dead Like Me” & “Millennium” series on dvd, although Buffy/Angel/Firefly are right up there as comfort viewing.
I have a penchant for old horror films, the “Bs” in particular, but the trash movies I really consider a guilty pleasure & have quite a collection of are from Troma. Some titles- Tromeo & Juliet, the Toxic Avenger series (including my personal favorite, Citizen Toxie), Poultrygeist. Lloyd Kaufman, co-owner of Troma Films, is an old friend. Hey Lloyd, shameless trashy plug for you ;-)
bookwoman at 75 — Babbette’s Feast is great. I also love Chocolat and Like Water For Chocolate and The Wedding Banquet and Scent Of Green Papaya and Tortilla Soup and….well, you get the picture. None of these really qualify as trashy, but the common thread of food and common humanity gets me every time.
Also, I wrote this sometime during the week but Todd Giltin’s “Intellectuals and the Flag” is very interesting reading.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 91
]
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman another by Ang Lee and Volver by Pedro Almodóvar fits this bill as well.
Good morning early risers.
Christy – even if Ratatouille where not as good a movie as it is reported to be it is a wonderful idea to go to the movies as a family – there are so few opportunities to be together and so often its for some scheduled event – weddings, funerals, holidays in which expectations are so high. But to just enjoy the company of family is a true blessing and reassuringly, lovingly, gives your Peanut the feeling of security that so many children do not get enough of.
For me, I stop whatever I’m doing to watch several oft-repeated shows on my local PBS KVIE. In particular is “A Hot Dog Show” “Klondike and Snow” the polar bear babies, and “The Amusement Park Show.”
Weather-wise, it bodes to be a lovevly, warm weekend here sunny Sacramento, CA.
Today, I’ll do some household chores, flyer in support of the Universal Single-payer Healthcare Bill SB840 (Keuhl D CA) at the Tower Theatre after the showing of Sicko – Do see it! But bring a tissue or a box of kleenex. In the afternoon, my I’ll join my husband at the Rubicon and share a pitcher of IPA with friends.
Ah yes, Like Water for Chocolate, the cinematography is delectable.
OK, if we’re talking about ‘trashy’ movies, then I’ll trot out my opinion that “The Road Warrior” is the best B movie ever made. Of course, then I have to make sure that I do not keep on going about how its structure is the same ‘broken-backed epic’ found in ‘Beowulf’, how the characters are identifiable with gods and goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology, how The Feral Kid is the only character to show realization of the presence of an airfoil in both the boomerang and the propellor blade and thereby —showing his (her? acted by a girl) sense of the ineffable in nature, both physical and human — is fit to become the tribe’s eventual leader and even the movie’s narrator.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 81
Ah, that scene where DDL as Hawkeye declares passionately, “You be strong, you survive. You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you!” makes me melt every single time.
And the soundtrack — most excellent work, including the cut “I will find you” by Clannad. I imagine this being the quintessential music for the Great Smoky Mountains.
for those who have seen sicko, is it something i could bring my 10 year old to?
or is it above his head (i.e. boring, for him) or does it contain scenes he should not see?
behindthefall @ 96:
road warrior is one of the greats, tis true. a pity thunderdome was not.
To all my family and friends here and in the Lone Star State. The rain has finally stopped here and looking across the Red River, south to Texas (30 miles), I am seeing blue skies. Wish we could send some of this water out west and east.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LihcONch_7s
BTW, Comedy Central’s site hasn’t been loading for me on two computers, two browsers for about 5 days now.
All I get is the blue screen and the ad at the top; after that it hangs. Cleared cache, scanned for viruses — no effect.
Anybody else having problems with it?
dmg @ 98
Definitely bring your 10 year-old! It’s never too early to learn that status quo is unacceptable. Even the youngest amongst us can recognize and understand injustice, right and wrong.
I’ve watched the entire Firefly series multiple times…it always makes me happy.
HBO has been running Goonies recently, and I still like it.
Biggest shame, the cheesy teenage movies that star Molly Ringwald.
Michael Moore!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 91
I swear you’ve been digging through my movies, Christy! ;-)
Wasn’t The Scent of Green Papayas marvelous? A handful of us who blogged at Salon’s blogs tried a simul-chat of that movie one weekend, chatting as we watched at the same time. Had a friend in Oregon, Washington state, the Netherlands and a couple other locations I can’t recall now all watching at the same time; we all had the same reaction to its subtle lushness.
If you enjoy subtle, restrained stories that convey real feeling, you’ll probably love Mostly Martha. What a lovely film.
jara @ 31
Excellent movie… CHS I have a sneaking suspicion you would like this movie.
(edit… I see I was correct..)
Morning Christy! Morning Dawgs!
What a beautiful picture. I could sit quietly in a place like that all day. The quieter you are, the more critters come out to share their lives with you. I discovered that back when my knees were bad and I had to “pull up a chair” while the other hikers went on to fame & glory, or so they thought. Hah. I always saw more birdies & such than they did. Knees better now (titanium!), but I still find it pays bigtime to be quiet, look and listen on a regular basis. ;->
{{{{{{PEACE}}}}}}
dmg @ 99
Yes. The producer had died in a strange helicopter crash into the middle of the site he was going to develop into a huge outdoor studio somewhere in the Outback, and Hollywood took over. The first two movies in the trilogy, “Mad Max” and “Road Warrior” showed the steepest learning curve I’ve ever seen, and then — cratered. $$$ poison everything.
behindthefall @ 96
My Hebrew Bible teacher used Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome to illustrate to the class the elements of epics and sagas etc. It was a fascinating experience. Quite out of the ordinary for a seminary, but then she was extraordinary.
I generally just lurk here, but I have to share a pet peeve. As a book-a-day reader, Ive always been offended by the term “trashy” read. If you’re reading it, there’s nothing to be embarassed about. I’m not saying there aren’t bad books, or comfort books, or a difference between a light read and a serious read, but when so many have posited Jane Austen as a “trashy” read, I worry. Which leads to my real beef: when people announce (smugly) “I don’t read fiction.” I know they’re not only annoying, but incapable of of any real empathy. Sound harsh? If you cannot believe in a fantasy world for a few hours, how can you believe in someone else’s feelings or put yourself in their place? And on a spiritual and philosophical level, it is through story that the human mind tries to understand the its place in the universe. I don’t discount non-fiction, but I don’t think it can tell you nearly as much about the human condition as fiction can.
AnnieW @ 103
AnnieW, you’re singing my song. I’ll watch Goonies every time I see it’s on, & those old teen movies are the kick, especially the Breakfast Club.
A few guilty pleasure dvds just brought up by my sig. other:
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (the series & movie)
Siffel & Olly
PeeWee’s Playhouse
HRPufnstuf
Land of the Lost
Eureka Springs @ 105
Mos def and the book is wonderful.
Well… this is my party’s sad record thus far:
“With the immigration bill dead, troop-withdrawal deadlines vetoed and other high-profile initiatives stalled, Democratic leaders closed six months in control of Congress mired in low approval ratings and plotting a legislative blitz on an issue they once tried to escape: Iraq.”
Just watched “The Commitments” again. It is always good for a diversion and fun
I’m a sucker for Jane Austen, most of the novels, all the movies and BBC/A&E adaptations of Emma, P&P, S&S, Persuasion, except for the silly Hollywood version with Olivier as D’Arcy. Even the Bollywood versions are fun. Son and I used to watch Dr. Who together, then it was Star Wars, especially the originals.
In these gloomy times, I see things like Munich, A Brave Heart, etc.
And I don’t want any more counsel about being patient with my party.
morning christy!
mornin firedogs!
two days in a row we had the most bizzare weather I’ve ever seen here in new york
beutiful day all day, then at about 6:00 there was literally a huricane…which lasted for about 15 minutes, and then it was gorgous again
bizzare
ES at 105 — Love that movie — and I’ve said so at least once on the blog. *g*
jazzizbest @ 114
That is one of my all time favorite movies. I LOVE the sound track.
Good Morning, everyone.
Dirty Girls Social Club (Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez) and the sequels are quick reads. Maybe younger women will like them most. Stories of young latinas. Beating the stereotypes down.
She has a teen book “Haters.”
Oh, you meant Trashy? I’ve been watching Chris Matthews — he’s a litmus test for whether there is any hope for the country. Lately, he’s been the wrong color. I’m boycotting.
Christy.
I don’t know if this fits in with your theme here or not, but I’d like to share something I just discovered – a heartbreaking story out of TX on how our country has been treating its own “brown people” who are legal citizens.
Between the lines of the reporter’s prose, I can feel Molly Ivins’ spirit telling us we must deal with this, somehow.
Oh, and you probably should grab a box of tissues before you read it.
http://texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2534
My husband and I have (under the guise of preparing for grandchildren) been having a Miyazaki marathon. I think we have seen almost every film, and have purchased the gentle, magical My Neighbor Totoro and the amazing Spirited Away. Thanks, Christy, for tipping us off. Mr. Via is now officially the ‘Cold Beer Spirit’, in honor of the Radish Spirit, who we absolutely love!
RevDeb – hope you’re feeling better soon! I may go see Sicko either tonight or tomorrow. I really want to see it, but I’m in the post-vacation blahs (so much laundry to do, afraid to step on the bathroomn scale, and I have to pay bills). That mood makes me crave the types of silly, feel-good films Christy’s talking about here.
When I need some silly distraction, I often go for goofy comedy movies. “So I Married and Axe Murderer” (Mike Myers before the Austin Powers movies), “Brain Candy” (Kids in The Hall – brilliantly funny), or even flix like “Old School” are great examples. I usually only watch movies once, but these are ones I’ll watch again & again.
I also like DVDs such as “Arrested Development” and “Mr. Show”. I’d love to get some old “Kids in the Hall” or “SCTV” DVDs, but they’re quite pricey. Stand-up comedy on TV is always a good choice for me, too.
For reading, I guess I’d have to say that books by David Sedaris always give me a great chuckle. I don’t tend to read many novels, but I’ve always found his books to get me laughing out loud.
Oh, Christy – I’ll still read your blog even if you stoop so low to have a sense of pedestrian humor. ;)
P.S. the weather in Detroit is just beautiful today: probably mid 70s and sunny, with a very clear sky. Just like yesterday. I was fortunate enough to have terrific weather for my entire vacation, and apparently it was hot as the dickens here while I was gone. I and came home to a dried-out lawn, but beautiful flowers. I’m giving the lawn a bit of TLC in this terrific weather.
jazzizbest @ 114
Great movie, great music.
RevDeb @ 108
I dragged a friend who was doing his thesis on Beowulf to Road Warrior (along with his wife), and he was the one who said to me, “That strange structure you were talking about sensing in the film is from Old Germanic.” His wife was less analytical about the experience: she was unclamping her hands from the armrests, where her fingernails were trying to make dents in the old wood. I would not have thought that much of the deep structure had survived the Hollywood treatment in Thunderdome, but I’m glad that your teacher found something to work with.
Nice to hear from you again, BTW.
WASHINGTON, June 29 — After a string of Republican defections this week — on Iraq, immigration and domestic eavesdropping — President Bush enters the final 18 months of his presidency in danger of losing control over a party that once marched in lockstep with him.
“When John Cornyn defects from the president,” Mr. Jillson said, “you know the president’s mojo is completely gone.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06…..m5zYADaxIA
Oklahoma kiddo @ 104
I’m shocked. Hillary is in Sicko, isn’t she?
Have I been banned? The past few times I have tried, my comments have not appeared….help!
vincula @ 109
Jane Austen “TRASHY”??!! What do they think of Shakespeare, for pity’s sake?!
Via @ 127
certain charachters and letter sequences trigger a filter
it’s a robot doing it not your post
If you don’t see your comments, try refreshing the whole page.
Scarecrow @ 120
Agreed. I’m afraid I beat you by a couple of weeks. He seems to have brief little spurts of near-sanity, then dives into the shallow end of the pool without a helmet or something. His “bad” times are getting worse, and lasting longer. I swear something’s wrong. No one is that desperate for ratings, if that’s what he’s after. And whatever he’s up to is more likely to drive away what audience he’s hanging onto for the moment, imo.
I like Joan Allen — Bourne Supremacy was fun, and Off the Map is a treasure.
Turkey has prepared a blueprint for the invasion of northern Iraq and will take action if US or Iraqi forces fail to dislodge the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from their mountain strongholds across the border, Turkey’s foreign minister Abdullah Gul has warned.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/turk…..84,00.html
Scarecrow @ 128
;0)
Adie @ 131
After the latest Coultergeist love fest that was it. Now I turn to the TiVo’d episodes of the Daily Show and Colbert instead. Those are more newsy and factual.
Oooh, I love Mystery Science Theater 3000 also.
I just noticed that many are available on line thru Blockbuster. They are way too expensive to buy.
My all time favorite was their take on “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”…watch it, he’s packing dairy.
Via — I see your comments just fine. Try refreshing yourentire page instead of just hitting the “refresh comments” button and see if they aren’t there for you as well.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 134
This is good news. We now have another volunteer for the Coalition of the Willing [to invade Iraq]
behindthefall @ 108
you know, i never heard about that. thanks — it helps to explain.
I like “Starman”. And “Enemy Mine”.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 15
So he really wasn’t that far from Mayberry!
A fun DVD box to get is SportsNight. That was the series Aaron Sorkin did before West Wing. Presumably it was modeled on Keith and Dan Patrick, or so Keith says.
It’s funny and ventures into the values we care about at the same time. If you never saw it, I highly recommend.
AnnieW @ 138
Sandy Frank! Sandy Frank! He’s the source of all our pain!
What’s up with Rover?
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/6/29/131743/815
RevDeb @ 52
Good list, except for Hepburn in Lion in Winter. That was pathetic, stupic, narcissitic, awful, just terrible, insulting, infuriating, . . . and I didn’t like it either. On the other hand, I love her in Woman of the Year with Tracy.
Laura Strand @ 102
laura, thanks. as long as it isn’t gory — the squeamish factor.
actually, my lad is pretty sharp — two years ago we were in berkeley, and he bought a bumper sticker, the one about “somewhere in texas a village is missing its idiot.”
he laughed, then as we started walking down telepgraph, he pulled up short and said, can we get arrested for this?
not just yet, son, not just yet.
AnnieW @ 137
“Werewolf” is definitely a classic. My fav has to be “Gamera” (monster turtle takes on Tokyo). “It’s Gamera! Get the Camera!”
btw, kids — we have a great IL-17 candidate coming up for Blue America today. Howie has a treat for everyone — Daniel Bliss. Do drop by if you can make it!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 116
Can you override a veto all by yourself, OK?
You of all people should know that Bush is going to veto anything remotely good. And so long as the Dems have less than 67 votes on anything (and knowing that they can’t count on the Republicans to back away from Bush — Lugar and Voinovich flap their gums but they voted for Bush when it counted), guess what?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 148
Do we have a primary challenger for Rahm yet? I’m still hoping.
Bay State Librul @ 144
here’s the headline;
we’re gonna have some fun this week me thinks
Scarecrow @ 115
Then you’ll probably recommend Bride & Prejudice to Christy, yes? Where is Martin Henderson these days anyhow?
And thinking Indian, I adore Monsoon Wedding and Kama Sutra — both most excellent.
behindthefall @ 130
Actually, Shakespeare was quintessentially trashy, wrote for the masses; he’d be writing for HBO right now if he was alive, creating something like a hybrid of Deadwood and The Tudors.
By trash we do not mean the material is without merit or quality; we mean only that it is not a persuasive piece or one that necessarily seeks to add to human knowledge. Austen’s works as well as the Bronte sisters could be labeled as chick lit, too, for that matter, as if it only belonged to mere “chicks” and not women. But trash and chick lit are some of the most important pieces of literature written because they are so universal in their appeal; it is the ubiquity of the emotion they convey that makes them so easily called trash.
Think of trash literature as the chocolate truffle of the book world; it doesn’t feed one’s knowledge or incite to action, but it feeds the senses and the soul.
Phoenix Woman @ 151
Let me be perfectly clear. I am talking about my party speaking up. Especially the so called front-runners. Is clarification needed? ;0)
Marie Roget @ 149
Anything with Gamera is good, though my all-time favorites are The Day The Earth Froze (To which Joel and the ‘bots retorted in Minnesota Scandihoovian: “Oh, yah, I remember dat day!” “Yah, da Governor closed da schools!”)
perris @ 153
Woo-hoo!
I guess we are in EPULand now. But I notice a lot of FDL readers have Asperger’s Syndrome and related issues. My family as well.
In my case, I have a lot of face recognition issues. I had to be introduced to my own brother once. (Me: “I think we went to HS together?” He: “Um, sorta. I’m your brother.”)
So movies? Let’s just say that if they are blonde, they all look alike. Add some uniforms. Forget it. So confusing. All the characters are the same.
I love movies, just the same. Maybe why I like subtitles. Makes it more “readable.”
Ditto on Razor’s Edge and Last of the Mohicans. Also, Braveheart, Notting Hill, You’ve got Mail. I like to buy a bunch of magazines – mostly gardening magazines and just sit on my bed and page through them, while I sip on coffee.
Thanks, guys for the refreshing tip. Works!
Sicko is wonderful. After having lived in Sweden and Canada and experiencing excellent, prompt medical care in both countries, I consider the Nixon-Kaiser created managed care system in this country a national disgrace.
Phoenix Woman @ 156
Somehow I knew you’d turn out to be an MST3K fan, PW ;-)
RevDeb @ 142
Totally agree. I have this set and was sooo disappointed when that show was cancelled.
RevDeb @ 136
Yep!
Hope you feel better soon, RevDeb. ;->
I adore low-brow stuff (what my history professor father, who also loved the stuff, called “brain-candy”) which always surprises people who don’t know me well. I firmly believe the best of life is to be found in a well-calculated mix of high- & low-brow books & movies.
But anywho – my favorite brain-candy movies are Strictly Ballroom, Tremors, Galaxy Quest, Weekend at Bernie’s, Earth Girls are Easy, Home Alone, Ghostbusters (& lots of other 80s comedies).
My favorite brain-candy books are space opera science fiction (think early Heinlein & Andre Norton), historical romance novels (esp. Regency period romances), & kids books (usually pre-teen) like Rabbit Hill, Gone Away Lake, 101 Dalmations, The Blue Castle, & girl sleuth series (like Nancy Drew, the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, Vicki Barr, Cherry Ames, & almost anything published by Whitman Publishing like Donna Parker)
SadieSue at 164 — Ooooh, LOVE Galaxy Quest. :)
Rayne @ 154: Another way of putting the dichotomy was developed by Thomas de Quincey, who expounded upon the Literature of Knowledge and the Literature of Power. LoK is facts, non-fiction, opinion, and so on. LoP are those works that, in your words, feed the senses and the soul. (I think I have that right …)
Literature of Knowledge is ephemeral; Literature of Power is eternal, or close enough to it. So, ‘Trash is Forever’ and in TdQ’s opinion is the only stuff worth reading or writing, for that matter.
Shelley developed a similar classification, I hear: I haven’t read the essay yet.
I’m not clear on the meaning of the Rove info.
One of our kids loaned us “Borat”. OMG!
He’s hilarious, but the people he meets are often so pathetically clueless & [?], I find I can only watch a little at a time. LOL, sorta ;~P
Guilty pleasure reads:
Mysteries and police procedurals, mostly (Tony Hillerman, Richard North Patterson, Scott Turow). I don’t put Walter Mosely in the guilty-pleasure category, because I think that my grandkids are going to study his work if they end up as English lit majors 40 years from now. Also military-hardware type stuff, like Stephen Coonts and Dale Brown.
Guilty pleasure movies: “Road House,” of course. I think there is a gene on the Y chromosome that makes all guys love that stupid piece of trash despite all efforts to the contrary. Also the two “Kill Bill” movies and “Crimson Tide.”
So, do I understand this new Karl Rove opinion correctly? He was the target of investigation, and he would have likely been indicted if the actions with Matt Cooper were more easy to prove? The charge regarding Cooper was difficult to prove (obviously – Scooter was acquited of that one) – if they’d had more evidence, was it very possible that Fitz would have indicted Rove?
Juicy.
Someone in the comments at TalkLeft says they believe the “sealed v. sealed” involved Rove. My guess is that this is still a reach. Has there been any evidence that “sealed v. sealed” had anything to do with the Plame/Libby/Rove situation? The only reason we know about it is that a notice about it was posted on Judge Walton’s courtoom, but my understanding is that there may be no connection to this case. Someone speak up if I missed an important tidbit along the way.
I have a wide range of taste when it comes to music, some of it might be panned by others, but I don’t care. The last cd I listened to was Duran Duran. Can you tell I grew up during the ’80’s?
Janet Evanovich has not been mentioned. But if you want to brighten your mood and laugh out loud, then you must read her Stepanie Plum series.
on my list of at least once per year movies “True Romance”.
Cast
* Christian Slater – Clarence Worley
* Patricia Arquette – Alabama Whitman
* Dennis Hopper – Clifford Worley
* Val Kilmer – Elvis, Mentor
* Gary Oldman – Drexl Spivey
* Brad Pitt – Floyd
* Christopher Walken – Vincenzo Coccotti
* Bronson Pinchot – Elliot Blitzer
* Michael Rapaport – Dick Ritchie
* Samuel L. Jackson – Big Don
* Saul Rubinek – Lee Donowitz
* Conchata Ferrel – Mary Louise
* James Gandolfini – Virgil
* Anna Thomson – Lucy
* Victor Argo – Lenny
* Paul Bates – Marty
* Chris Penn – Nicky Dimes
* Tom Sizemore – Cody Nicholson
Christy @ 165 – yes, isn’t it wonderful?! Rick & I watch it over & over whenever we need to laugh — & find ourselves quoting lines from it frequently in various real-life situations (”Speak as you would a child” comes in handy quite often)
I couldn’t disagree more. The “ubiquity of the the emotion” is exactly what makes them “add to human knowledge”. Shakespeare may have written for the masses, but you don’t think he was tryng to make any philosophical, political or social commentary? Shakespeare and Jane Austen aren’t the chocolate truffle, they are the main course, served with a sharp sauce spiced with humor, tears, silliness and joy.
jayt @ 173
That is a great movie!! Also, Freeway with Reese Witherspoon.
LS @ 159
I really like the most recent version of “Last of the Mohicans” (1992). Wes Studi (Magua) was born in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma. ;0)
Landofthefree at 170 — No. We have no independent evidence of any link of the sealed case to Rove or anyone else in the Fitzgerald investigation. When Jeralyn was in DC covering things with the trial, she spent quite a bit of time trying to track down something — anything — on that. No luck. There was a hearing on a sealed v. sealed case while we were all there, and members of Fitz’s team were waiting out in the hall with everyone else while it was ongoing. So no, other than unsourced anonymous bits attempting to link them up — nothing concrete, nothing directly linking them, no documentation unsealed…in short, nada. Every time someone brings up Sealed v. Sealed from now on, I’m going to start demanding that they show their proof outright.
Morning
Christy- are you near New River Gorge and Hawk’s Nest State Lodge? Spent time there in the late 70s. Beautiful.
SadieSue at 174 — My fave: “Can you fashion a rudimentary lathe?”
Boston1775 @ 36
Agreed! Franka Potente is really the star every moment she’s onscreen with emotional range plus brilliant sense of humor. Matt co-stars. They are a great acting team so why does she have to get killed off two minutes into the sequel??? She starred in “Run, Lola, Run” and is coming out with a movie about Che Guevara called “Guerrilla” directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Close second is “Runaway Jury”.
And Rayne’s candidate- “Mostly Martha”
“American President” also much appreciated, especially since it led into “West Wing”.
For reading, Hillerman stories about Chee, Leaphorn, Arizona space.
My boys and I have been working through the Harry Potter books on CD. I have been a fan since day one but it is fun to get the details down before the release of the movie and the last book. My older guy has a significant learning disability so reading is torture but he really enjoys “reading” by listening and my younger guy is just a little too young to plow through the books. We will be giving a lot of money to the movie industry this summer between Harry Potter, Ratatouille, Fantastic 4, etc. My hubby and I will definitely go see Sicko as soon as our babysitter comes back from vacation.
For romance (almost) anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips can help me escape for a day.
Christy–I love this Sat. morning thread but usually get to it a bit late to do more than just read and enjoy (and often collect new recipes). I don’t know how you will feel about this but squirrels have sort of driven my dad nuts the last few years with their creative ways to get to his bird feeder. Lately he has been trapping a few with those have a heart traps and giving them a long ride to a brand new home (you need to go miles, otherwise they will find their way back) and it has helped.
Okay, for you ABBA lovers, this gift from Kagro X
Christy, What’s the significance of that Rove article?
vincula — FYI, the “trashy” label was intended as tongue in cheek. As in “screw that” to the person who derided that sort of thing as “pedestrian.” I thought my tongue-in-cheek tone was pretty clear when I wrote this — but then, I hadn’t had any coffee at that point either…
Phoenix Woman @ 157
leh pdf
Christy @ 180 – Yes! We love that one, too. And then there’s “I see you got your shirt off” or “Miners, not minors” “You lost me” or “Perhaps you’re the plucky comic relief” or “Whoever wrote this episode should DIE”. It’s a great, great movie.
solai at 184 — I don’t know. I haven’t read it as yet. I have a house full of company and have been coloring with The Peanut this morning while trying to monitor the thread, the comments and format a post for someone else. I haven’t gotten to doing any spare reading because, frankly, I haven’t had time for it as yet this morning. (Especially as The Peanut is currently using me as her own, personal jungle gym…) When and if I can get time to sit down and do some analysis (which may not be until later, give the said house full of company), I’ll be sure to post something.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 177
I agree, Mohicans is one of my top 20 movies, I even saw it on the big screen when it came out.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 180
Talk about a shock: looking through the cases in a little museum in Glastonbury, England about the local lake-dwellers, and there is a preserved lathe from … 5,000 B.C.! That’s Stone Age! What did they use for the required cutting tool? What else did they have? These people are not ‘primitive’!
Just gotta share my trash fetish of a few years back — it was the ‘Highlander’ series. I could’ve (and did) watch many episodes four or five times. Had to do with the gorgeous lead character Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) and the Queen music.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 154
I emphatically stand with OKK here. I’m so sick & tired of our stalled congresscritters & the reaction of the public! The repug message about “do-nothing” Dems is the last straw. It works on enuf of the dimwitted-brand of voters, unfortunately, that I’ve finally decided reluctantly that I’d rather the Dems. present plan after plan, even if they all fail to be adopted, even if only to show that the Democratic Party is the one that at least tries to get something done.
Sick, disgusting situation we have here with this administration, but we just HAVE to show we firmly disagree with their aims AND their methods. If that takes slamming a hammer against their concrete wall repeatedly, so be it. Maybe, just maybe, someone will notice. The meek & mild approach just ain’t workin, and it’s not apt to, with knuckleheads like that!
/rant
p.s., THANKS, OKK for standing up tall. We need s’more a’ that at this point, imho, politically correct or not. ;->
CD: Any one by Shawn Colvin.
Marie Roget @ 161
I’m pleased that there are 3 ( at least one husband) here that are.
I had a couple of the shorts videos and while delivering a boat up the coast of Baja watched them a few times with the rest of the crew. “Nice rack” in Crow’s tone of voice got to be the most repeated line of the show.
“There’s a clocktower in that boy’s future” is another one that still get’s me.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 81
OK, DDL fans — don’t forget about “The Boxer.” Terribly sad movie, but so brilliantly done. I’ve probably watched it a dozen times.
I have a friend who used to write for MST3K. He loved it. :)
vincula @ 174
Vincula — Uh, I seem to have carelessly started this, and I apologize — I took the thread theme as more open — as in “what do you like to read/watch?” — so I said I like Jane Austen. I didn’t say Austen is “trashy” and you don’t need to defend Austen here, and definitely not with me (or Rayne). I don’t think anyone here think’s Austen is trashy, nor Shakespeare. Sorry I offended you, but I’m not really a troglodyte.
Night Stalker series with Darrin McGavin was great. Creepy and fun at the same time.
Wonder if it is on DVD yet. I’ll have to do some checking.
EB @ 191
Agreed! The combo of Duncan MacLeod & Queen was irresistible.
behindthefall @ 166
A Defense of Poetry (which I freely apply to all fiction). You can sum it up in this excerpt, and it was the main part of my original argument: “Reason is the enumeration of qualities already known; imagination is the perception of the value of those qualities, both separately and as a whole. Reason respects the differences, and imagination the similitudes of things. Reason is to imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance.”
Not familiar with DeQuincey’s lit-crit, I’ve only read his Confessions, but Shelley was expanding on Burke, who was expanding on Longinus.
Oh Scarecrow 196
Poor poor fella! There there, now. *pets fevered brow*.
I’ll hazard a wild guess that most of us understood what you meant. ;->
woo hoo, vinc’s got the bit in her/teeth & goin’ for the gold, yeehaw.
RevDeb @ 198
I admit to even liking the remake of the series and watch it on the SciFi channel whenever they run it.
Highlander was great, Adrian Paul was to die for handsome.
Oooooh & Rev Deb @ 198 – I adored Night Stalker. I still vividly remember the episode where he went into Seattle under Seattle. It’s (sadly) one of my most vivid memories.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 196
Great, his work has fans here! Though if he wrote many of Crow’s lines he’s a sick and twisted fellow, probably a degenerate. Sounds like a cool guy .
Adie @ 201
behindthefall @ 190
“Primitive does not mean stupid.”
Christy- Re 179
A friend was from Ansted, W.Va. When the bridge was finally built everyone was SO happy to be able to travel to Beckley more easily.
OT: An unconnected dot.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 178
Thank you. That is exactly what I thought happened. I wasn’t sure if I missed an interesting discovery along the way.
Does my speculation that Rove would have been indicted had there been more evience regarding the leaking to Matt Cooper have legs? I’m trying to understand how Rove managed to shimmy past indictment, and it appears that a lack of evidence that he intentionally revealed Plame’s identitity as a covert agent is the key. I suppose if Fitz couldn’t get anyone to flip, the evidence was not strong enough to warrant charges?
AnnieW @ 202
Nightstalker was must see back in the day. And I enjoyed Highlander as well, for the action. I gave my sister “End Game” for Christmas when it came out and got a copy for myself. There was eye candy for both of us in there. ;})
sorry mods. i be too stoopid, still, to figure out the new edit functions. d’oh!
dakine — You’ve got to love those punday night competitions! (I think Doc Webster may have been modelled on punaise, but I’ve got as much evidence for that as folks do about Sealed v. Sealed . . .)
And Robert Aspr*n’s “Myth” series is indeed great summer reading. I can tell already that when my kid is a little older, he’s gonna love them!
AnnieW @ 194
Comrade! We use those quotes & many others around here, too. A groundswell of support for more of MST3K dvds is making a release of other all time favorite eps in the works, I understand…
Keeping fingers crossed.
vincula @ 200
Ummm (boy, am I out of my area of ‘expertise’ here) … poetry == all fiction == chocolate truffle ??
waving to Adie!
Anybody like “Snatch”, with Brad Pitt? And “Johnny Suede”?
Christy.
OT with apologies.
Could I request that you bookmark the link below as possible material for future discussion at FDL?
Thanks.
http://texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2534
Peterr @ 212
Thanks Peterr for being familiar with them! I wasn’t real sure if anyone else had even caught the post as it went into moderation for me. I’ve read most all of both series and have groaned and laughed out loud at the puns both bring to the table.
hautbois? Hi!
That would be a must have for this household. My fingers are crossed, too.
new thread.
Sicko.
A big “Amen” for Galaxy Quest! “Those poor people!”
Add to the list the first “Crocodile Dundee” and “French Kiss.” In the latter, the moment when Kevin Kline mocks Melanie Griffith saying “You’re FRENCH!”
Add to that “Big Trouble,” from 2002, which also qualifies as a “trash” book. Both book and film are one great line after another.
EB @ 190
I didn’t know about the Highlander movies until a couple years into this series, and I still like the series better than the movies.
I also loved the Forever Knight series, about the vampire cop trying to atone for his past and find a cure for his vampirism.
dakine01 @ 218
I was weeding out my bookshelves the other day, and came across Robinson.
Not much weeding got done. Lots of laughter, but not much weeding.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 216
I’m right there w/you, OK. Snatch & Johnny Suede on our dvd shelves.
As for Guy Ritchie, how about Lock, Stock, & 2 Smoking Barrels into the bargain ;-)
Scarecrow: I wasn’t complaining about you listing Jane Austen, but a more general issue with labelling any reading, no matter how shallow, as “trashy” when so few people read at all. I linked that aesthetic complaint, rather inelegantly, with my true complaint, which is the tendency of people to label fiction as somehow ‘non-serious.’ Even the fluffiest romance, silliest space opera and dumbest murder mystery has some connection to the human mind. I know I’m on my high horse, and I don’t mean to offend or point fingers at anyone, but I really think this has serious consequences. I think our nation, if not our species, is losing the ability to understand each other because we no longer know how to empathize or to interpret existential ideas.
Just arrived, has anyone mentioned P. Sellers, P. Ustinov in *The Mouse that Roared*?
Back to catching up……
Anyone else appreciate Buckaroo Bonzai like I do?
John Lithgow had more than one classic line, as the worlds worst villain, Dr. Lizardo.
“Laugh while you can, monkey boy” which I have used on more than one blog to cajole Bush…
“Makes the ganglia twitch” which literally happens to all of us every time another Bush/Cheney lie is exposed.
Lots of subtle political inuendos and multiple entendres, and though it is purely a spoof, there’s some serious commentary hiding ‘midst the spoofery.
Peter Weller seems to have gone on to become something of his own Buckaroo.
Marie Roget @ 225
;0)
I know, epu’d again – but had to comment:
1) kudos for the beautiful WVa scene (my family used to drive quite near there on the way to my grandparents in Fayetteville when I was little). I can almost always identify a WVa scene – rocks, water, green green greenery all around. There’s a look to it that I’ve seen nowhere else, certainl not here in Texas.
b) just finished my trash for the week: Robert B Parker, “NIght Passage:, the first Jesse Stone novel. A couple of weeks ago, Laura Lippman, “By a Spider’s Thread.” Tho I don’t thin of Laura’s writing as trash, at all, and Parker has his pleasures, too.
Ok, back to work and lurk.
Hey, Christy, I’m coming to Morgantown in a couple of weeks!
My daughter’s best friend is in the production of Aida there, so she, my husband & I are driving up to see it [and him]. Staying on a package deal in the local hotel. Anything you’d recommend for our adventure? Daughter is a senior @ NYU.
On “fluff” reading, I am somewhat embarrassed to say I LOVE Fern Michaels. I discovered her via used book carts in the public library or at vacation condos. However, she can really spin a tale, and every time I pick up one of her books, I’m dying to continue to find out how it turns out.
I’m usually overwhelmed with non-fiction: I’m reading a book on Rumsfeld, and Are We Rome?, a birthday present from my son while I wait for Glenn’s latest to arrive from Amazon — hopefully today!
Today’s WaPoo had an excellent article on the author of Are We Rome? and his excursion around DC, pointing out all the architectural evidence. [I knew there was a reason I hated that WWII Memorial!!!]
The article also contains an excellent quote from Eisenhower, to the effect that every bomb or tank takes money that could go to feed, clothe or educate folks. I’ll go retrieve it and post later.
Those of you who liked The Commitments will enjoy Once, now in theaters. Delightfully sincere love story “musical” starring Glen Hansard, of the Irish band The Frames, who was also in The Commitments.
Great escapist read that portrays quite well the art of war is The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs. Be warned – you will stay up all night.
You ever been to Glen Jean, WV. Christy?
Let me know if you have.
Thanks.
AnnieW @ 138
My children thought I was insane when I watched MST3000 oh so many years ago. Now they’re mighty thankful I recorded most of them, and they spend their time here on college breaks deciding which ones we’ll burn to DVDs from those old VHS tapes.
I love “I Accuse My Parents,” and “Girls’ Town” but there’s a wealth of faux “trauma/threat” shows from the 50’s.
Mauimom at 231 — Oh, how fun! Through the summer theater stock? We used to get season tickets every year until we had The Peanut. She’s just now getting old enough and mature enough to begin to sit through one, so we are thinking about getting tickets for us for next summer.
There is a great homemade pizza place with wonderful whole wheat crust and amazing toppings — it’s a local-run joint called Puglionis — and it’s fantastic. Beyond that, there are some lovely things to do. There is an arboretum maintained by the University that is lovely to walk through this time of year — The Peanut and I had a picnic there a couple of weekends ago. There’s another good locally-run place for great sandwiches called C.J. Maggies. And a great coffee place downtown called The Blue Moose. Ooooh — and a fantastic brew pub downtown as well if you guys enjoy microbrews.
How long are y’all going to be in town? Maybe we can work out an FDL coffe klatch or something for the local folks. :)
Lately been on a kick watching old black and white movies, e.g. Alfred Hitchkock’s Rebecca, Otto Preminger’s Laura, and stuff like that. Great escapism!
For sheer silliness, I really love Diane Mott Anderson’s culinary series. Her plots are always built on complete improbabilities (persons driving in front of someone else getting the ticket when being rear ended; the creation of blue roses, people in accounting working on Sunday, the thought a manufacturing facility would be open on the fourth of July…and that’s just one book) — but the descriptions of the meals and menus are done with such fervent delight…it’s almost food porn.
selise @ 4
Couldn’t resist it either!
Saw Swordfish last night. *g*
My latest obsession bookwise is anything by Greg Iles (my favs are ‘The Quiet Game’, ‘Footprints of God’, and ‘Mortal Fear’. Filmwise, I love anything Joss Whedon does, such as Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1 are other favorites (realize that these are not films, but series).
Christy, out here in the wild, arid southwest, our lawns are crunchy, too. And cracked and tinder-dry and brown and lovely in their own, alien way. We have had 25% of our normal almost-invisible rainfall this year (norm=14″) and are entering another prolonged drought cycle – I’ve heard predictions of anywhere from 7-50 years.
Unless something happens to change the course of events, water will soon be a scarce commodity, another Exxon order item, even in the US and you in the east better get used to crunchy lawns. I couldn’t believe it when a friend from back east asked me once what my garden hose was. She had never used one. We take so much in our lives for granted, don’t we?
My secret and most guilty pleasure is People Magazine. Shhh, don’t tell anyone, though. I have it sent to my PO box so my mailman won’t tell. It arrives on Friday when daddybrain and the sprout go to the movies or the family festival and I get home, slip my shoes off my barking dogs, make a cup of lovely tea (we bought some divine lychee tea in China and cups that have Chinese characters on the outside that dissolve into scenes of the Great Wall or the Forbidden City when you add hot water) and slide into my new recliner for an hour of feeling far removed. Dick who? War with Iran? Wait just a minute ’til I finish this piece on Suri.
OK, I’ll admit it. I love Love, Actually.
But then, it is a very heterosexual film. Well, mostly.
I love Love Actually, too. But my binky is Pride and Prejudice. Though I love all the version–Olivier’s Darcy is really good–my current is the Keira Knightly take on it. I love the Bennet family. Colin Firth’s Darcy is wonderful, but the Lydia in the BBC version is the best and funniest of them all. When I’m home alone for the evening this is my favorite. Right now I’m reading Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games–a book of Dickensian sweep and stretch set in Mumbai with more dirty words in various languages than you can imagine. There’s a glossary but you can figure out most of them by context. I’m reading this slowly and making it last.
Well, it’s far from trash, but for pure old-fashioned romantic escapism you can’t beat “I Know Where I’m Going,” http://imdb.com/title/tt0037800/ a British b&w film shot partly on the rugged Scottish seacoast, featuring classic performances by Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey (and a cameo by a very young Petula Clark). It’s a love story set among ruined castles, spectacular countryside, and a tiny fishing village. There’s a curse, there’s a collection of amusing, idiosyncratic supporting players, and the whole thing is just enchanting–it’s one of the few dvd’s I’ve gotten from the library recently that I liked so much, I had to buy it.
Mauimom at 231 — Also, Coopers Rock State Forest, especially the overlook, just east of Morgantown:
http://www.coopersrockstateforest.com/
My newest secret trashy fave? The School of Rock with Jack Black. I watched it with the kids again last week and enjoyed it about 10 times more than they did.
“Dude, I service society by rocking, OK? I’m out there on the front lines liberating people with my music!”
Christy– This video is absolutely EVIL, but rather funny when you are so exasperated by squirrels you want to chuck a skillet at them.
http://video.google.com/videop…..4900018205
I once greased a steel pole for a feeder that they actually managed to shinny up. A hoot till they learned the death-defying leap off the roof.
Late to the party, but if you want light mystery, try Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles books. China is a recovering prosecutor from Houston, now living in rural TX running an herb shop. Trouble is, things keep happening, and she’s still got an investigative nose.
They’re light, they’re fun, and they’re well-written.
Hi folks. Christy, awfully dry here in Vermont too. Have a ginormous vegetable gardent and am watering like mad, and still parched out there.
Fun and “trashy” reads and movies? Well, my 12 year old and I enjoy hanging out late night catching old reruns of Roseanne. I never thought I’d like her show but I was wrong – she’s earthy and hilarious. we also like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and any of those shows which makeover someone’s outlandish wardrobe or stupifyingly messy house. (I say, with a pretty darn cluttered house myself).
Film? Shawn of the Dead. Laugh every time. Shoot em up type like The Transformer. It’s not about plot, it’s about thrills, car chases. Kung Fu movies. Abbott and Costello. Northern Exposure. Dick Van Dyke show. Simple laughs, good stuff.
Re Christy @ 235: Thanks!! We will be leaving DC probably around 11 am, going to the Aida performance that night, spending the night & driving back sometime the next day (Sat.). So maybe Sat a.m.? it would be fun!
My daughter’s friend is a soph @ Carnegie Mellon’s Musical Theatre school. She & he have been best friends (even though he lives in NYC) since they went to summer camp together ten years ago. He almost got the part of Young Simba when Lion King first came to Broadway, and the two of them have been MT geeks forever (and reunited every summer at camp for MANY years).
Been away from the thread because we went to see Sicko. I cried over how bad this country is re healthcare issues. The movie is good, but think “documentary” and not “entertaining movie” — i.e., could have been edited down some for length, but I thought it was really informative, and the contrast of our sorry system with Canada, Britain, France & Cuba was just astounding.
I did come out quite depressed, though — thinking of the huge forces of insurance companies, HMO’s, the AMA et al. who are opposed to the system we need. But still, very, very worth seeing. And for the person above who asked about taking your 10 year old: definitely.
I’m EPU’d, as usual. We were a bit busy this morning.
I write romance novels, so I am the queen of trashy reading. Some of my favorite authors are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Kristan Higgins and Lani Diane Rich. I have a house filled with books. There are plenty of non-fiction and biography titles in our library. When I’m feeling blue, though, I’m pulling out a well-worn copy of one of the above.
The movie that is guaranteed to always make me feel better: “While You Were Sleeping”.
-S
Packing to move to the Middle East (Qatar) for 2 years. DVDs and VHS packed include: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Dr Strangelove, Casablanca, Blues Brothers, Animal House and Casablanca. I don’t know why I’m packing these, I’ve seen them many times. Have not started packing music yet. Like a previous poster, I read the gosip columns for escape. They seem to be trashy enough.
Used to live in Morgantown, but came home to Texas after 911. Didn’t see much reason to be that far away from home, and now I’m headed to the Middle East. LOL
For escape fiction lawyers who write murder mysterys like Lisa Scottoline (was Sloviter’s clerk in the 3rd Circuit–good sense of humor), Steve Martini, Grissom, Richard North Patterson, and perhaps non-lawyers Colin Harrison, Stephen White.
Non-fiction books like Glenn Greenberg’s, the authors Al Franken used to have on Air America, Jan Crawford Greenberg’s book on the S. Ct. although she skipped many crucial areas, Norm Ornstein’s Broken Branch, Ted Gup’s Nation of Secrets and the Book of Honor, Robert O’Hara’s No Place to Hide, Peter Lance’s Triple Cross.
When I really want escape I just put on one of the news channels and watch as the perky newsreader says the same superficial thing every 5 minutes and shows the Cherokee at Glascow trying to figure out–is it really burning–would the water help put the fire out if it really is a fire? Why aren’t SUVs flame retardant and most of all if they show it 24X7 and I stare at it will I figure out if Paris and Tinkerbell had any connection to the Glascow, Hyde Park and Picadilly Circus episodes. I do appreciate that the mainstream media talks so over my head.
Sorry Glenn Greenwald–”A Tragic Legacy…” I got the Green correct half credit.
Finally got her. Planting bed maintenance was the order of the day.
Had an ornamental grass taking over areas it was not given permission.
I might think, think about her local the ornamental that is, giving her seedy nature.
Here in NE Ohio we could use some rain too. Thank God for the aquifers, wells, and lakes.
Sorry I didn’t get to this so late. Loretta Mason Potts has made a big comeback because of the Internet. Now you can buy it on-line. Wonderful story and better escape. Wish I were there right now.