♥ Discovered, via Two Bossy Dames, Our Bonnet Syllabus which is a tongue in cheek send up as f this class really existed. Of course, we all want it to exist. You can follow along by setting up your own group and working your way through the syllabus with friends. ♥Fan of Blackaddr? Of course you are! Quotable, semi-fictional history of England, cunning turnip Baldrick and Edmund Blackaddr might possibly be back, reports RadioTimes. But see, there in lies the rub! News sites take a quote from an actor about X and report that X may or may not be coming back because of said quote. It’s been 15 years since the last one-off episode of the show, ending around the first world war, what could they possibly tell us? ♥A cheeky look at Shakespeare’s early years, the film Bill is produced by the same people who produce Horrible Histories. Scheduled for UK release on September 18th, it more than likely won’t make to the states, it does look like a delight.
♥How To Divorce Your Mother In Three Easy Steps ♥Manga Classics: Emma ♥In Which Lisa Rants About Various Things ♥In Which Lisa Rages Against the Stigma of the Mentally Ill
Fanciful Delights
This week it’s all about upcoming movies and television shows, silly places and things. ♥This is probably a single most amazing thing I’ve seen this week. Oxford U. (yes, THAT Oxford) really, really want Taylor Swift to speak at their prestigious Union. So what did they do for an invitation? Mashed up some celebs who have already spoken into her song, Shake It Off. It’s pretty fucking glorious.
♥I’m currently reading The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell, which is the first novel in The Saxon Tales, is being produced as a television show. Moar Vikings/Saxons please!
♥There is a motte and bailey castle for sale in Wales. If you loved me, you buy this for me. ♥Coming in November is Victor Frankenstein, a retelling of Mary Shelley’s seminal Frankenstein, starring my future husband, James McAvoy and his side-kick, Dan Radcliff. EEEEEEEEEE.
♥I am a huge, HUGE fan of John Oliver and recently he did a rant on the propensity of evanelgical churches. His end response? He created a legit church, Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, to showcase how much these churches are a scam. And YES, according to IRS guidelines, Oliver’s church is legit. ♥
xoxo,
Lisa
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Reading has remained pretty steady even though I’ve taken up a new hobby that perhaps I haven’t mentioned, coloring. Yes, I’m apparently 5 (again).
I finished Scarlett Thomas’ Dead Clever, which I really liked. The anti-mystery (if you’re a fan of Kate Atkinson, you’ll like this) was predictable in some ways but the writing was tight and not superfluous, which I adored. Rainbow Rowell’s Landline I also really liked, again, for the near sparse writing, atmosphere, and storyline. It also helped the main characters and I are in the same age group because it seems lately most of the characters in contemporary fiction are millennials or old fucks. Being stuck in the middle puts my nose out of joint.
I finished the series of Jane Austen, Vampire with Jane Goes Batty and Jane Vows Vengeanceby Michael Thomas Ford, in which Jane is turned by Lord Byron and lives secret life in contemporary up state New York. The premise sounds ridiculous but it’s funny, fluffy, and a nice palette cleanser.
Right now I’m reading The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell and The Dragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett. I’m hoping to have these finished by Sunday, when I move, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible.
Fanciful Delights
♥
I’m not going to lie: I’m totally a child of the ’80s. It’s not rare to find me blaring songs from my days in high school and early college days. When I heard there was a remix of Tainted Love called, appropriately naughts version, Tweeted Love, I thought it was amusing. Then I saw the video and thought it was fucking brilliant. The premise contains the song in forms of tweet names. Trust me, whomever came up with this is a genius. ♥ Clarice Lispector’s MONKEYS
I have mentioned Clarice Lispector many times before and I will continue to mention her until everyone has read her work. This week, Pen America published Lispector’s Monkeys as part of their flash series and it’s hard to believe how contemporary Lispector’s work is despite the fact it was written over 70 years ago. Go. Read. Love her. You won’t regret it.
♥I’ve been super lax on keeping my list updated but no more! I’ve added loads of new books as well as the comic serials I’ve been reading and finishing, so the list is mostly current now. The best book this year I’ve read is Genevieve Valentine’s The Girls of the Kingfisher Club, which I finished in one sitting. Valentine confirmed what I’ve known for quite some time: exquisite writing will be the convincer needed to get me to finish a book. Time is far too short to read bad books and I seemingly keep picking up bad books.
Links
♥Noon Pacific is a weekly mixtape of the best songs handpicked from the best music blogs, delivered to your inbox every Monday at Noon (Pacific Time). Definite pluses: You can listen via their app which you can grab from iTunes and Google Play. Lisa’s take: I was recently turned on to this via somewhere and the idea I can stream it on my phone/iPad as an independent app was a great appeal as well as the introduction to new music, curated weekly. ♥Neko Atsume is Animal Crossing sans annoying talking creatures but populated with cats. So what exactly do you do in this game? You buy some food, a few toys, put them in the garden and wait for the cats to show up. That’s it. The cats will come and go as they please but as a reward for keeping them fed and toyed, they will leave you trinkets of sardines to continue buying them food and toys. It’s the new obsession as illustrated here, here, and here. You can pick up Neko Atsume at iTunes and Android. ♥How to: Perfect Winged Eyeliner! is the best YouTube tutorial I’ve seen on how to do perfect winged eyeliner. Yes, I’m almost 43 years old and need help putting on make-up but this easy to follow tutorial with practical steps (make dots on your eyelids, connect the dots, viola! Perfect eyeliner) was a huge game changer for me. Seriously. I typically like to wear eyeliner + mascara as the sum of my make-up for the day but my lack of steady hand or unable to draw a straight line means my eyeliner is always just a bit off. First go around with this technique and my eyeliner was on point. ♥Ceremony (the band) is, according to Wikipedia, a punk band from California. I disagree with this, naturally, because they are post-punk and this is an important distinction. They are grittier than Interpol but still have that Joy Division sound, so of course I like them. Their single Separation from their most recent album, L-Shaped Man, was demoed on some place I forget and I loved that so much, I preordered the album. So if you’re into a Joy Division derivative with hints of She Wants Revenge and Sex Pistols, this is your band. ♥New authorized James Bond novel will resurect Pussy Galore.I’m super excited by this announcement as I’m a huge fan of the Bond movies AND books. Yes, yes, both media should be against my feminist leanings (misogyny is but one of the fallacies), but sometimes you have to just ignore things to enjoy something. I mean, Sean Connery – amirite? If you too are interested in the Bond universe, I highly recommend getting your hands on the Moneypenny Diaries, which can be had for dirt cheap on Amazon.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
You can follow me on Pinterest on what I’m reading, watching, and listening.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Mark Williams plays the titular character, a wily priest who solves crimes in his Cotswald parish. Three seasons are now out and I’ve been bingeing on them during down time.
Mr. Selfridge
Jeremy Piven plays the titular(I like this word, okay?) character that’s now starting its third season in the UK (to be shown in the US later this spring). Lots are going on now that we’re at the end of WW1, but I won’t divulge due to spoilers.
Billie Piper plays Belle, a high class sex worker, who starts at the beginning of the series with a nice flat that she splits between work and play, who navigates her way through the private sex worker world. I binged the entire series in a week and I really liked it. I liked how they had her slowly progressing over her rather humble beginnings and ends up being one of the best sex workers in London. Some things were never really addressed such as her relationship with her family and several main characters came on and were then, within a season, gone. All in all, I would definitely recommend if you need something fluffy to take the edge off a hard week.
BBC’s lavish production based on Hilary Mantel’s best selling book about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell. This is also going to show up on PBS later this spring, so again, no spoilers. Overall, the production may be sumptuous but I’m finding it slow and rather boring.
An Amazon original that’s winning awards, I am torn about this show. Many of my trans* friends are unhappy with the production because a trans* person is not playing the main character. I get that, but this is about the beginning of their transformation, so it makes sense to me that it’s a non-trans* person in the role. The show does have trans* characters played by trans* people and there are trans* folks also act as consultants for the show, so that does mollify it a bit. Overall, there is no one character that is likeable and everyone seems to be pretty dreadful (seems to be the new thing in H-wood) with no redeeming characteristics. It’s simply, “okay.”
Another Amazon original, Gael Garcia Bernal plays a wild yet genius conductor who is hired by the New York Symphony to make it more relevant. There is conflict, passion, and absurdity abound, but it feels a bit staged and formulaic. But I really liked it, despite it’s pretentions. Produced by Jason Schwartzman, same dude who did Bored to Death, it’s got some dark humour sprinkled in which I do adore.
Justified
Boyd Crowder is baaaaack. ‘Nuff said.
Galavant
It’s four week, eight episode has ended. For a musical, I really, really liked this show. Like a lot. I loved the modern interpretations of the costumes, I adored the pop culture references, and how the show was one giant ball of satire. I cannot wait for the second season.
10 episodes of what was essentially a Warehouse 13 meets Night at the Museum, it was neither serious but wasn’t really that great either. I know it raised the heckles of some librarian friends because no one apparently had a MLIS, but for what it was, it was good background watching.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
It’s a slow week as I’m getting back in the groove of doing CoCC. This week, it’s just links!
You can follow me on Pinterest on what I’m reading, watching, and listening.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
True Blood
I can’t speak for the rest of you, but, this season blew big fat goat chunks. The tying up of the story lines, how it ended with so many of the characters, was cliched and overwrought. Thank fuck this show is over.
Rectify
Beautiful, beautiful show. Beautifully written, acted, and directed. If your heart is not having the feels for Daniel Holden every week, something is fucking wrong with you. I cannot wait for season three to start next year.
Elementary
I want to love this show, I do. Jonny Miller is superb and the episodes are compelling, but there is something missing in which I cannot put my finger on. The last five or six episodes have been hanging out on the DVR since May and I have no intention to watch them. With the new fall season to start soon, it seemed appropriate to ditch them and cancel the series.
Weekly watching: Outlander, The Bridge, Project Runway, The Almighty Johnsons, A Place To Call Home, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
What have you read/watched/listened to this week?
x0x0,
lisa
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Finished
Bagged & Boarded: Bad Houses The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
(Amazon | WorldCat | GoodReads)
A digital ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This should have been a novel that got the pulse racing and the imagination quickening. Instead the pacing, the oft switching of POV, and the tedious of the description just slowed the story down. I read the first 75 pages and was bored stiff of what was going on. I could not find any compelling reason to continue, despite the fact the genre and period are right up my alley. I also could not find a character I could commit too or cheer for. I found Goodwin presented a lot of exposition that wasn’t necessary and as such at times, the story felt forced, as if she was hoping to wing it back into the path to keep it moving forward.
The technicality of the writing is fine and it’s not a terrible story, but I just feel the hype was much more than what the story delivered. This may appeal to readers who like Philippa Gregory.
Watching
Rectify
This show is one of the best shows on TV. Full stop. Daniel Holden is one of the most compelling, complicated, and and sympathetic characters ever written. I love this show.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Finished Mistress of the Art of Death #1 by Ariana Franklin
(Amazon | WorldCat | GoodReads)
An intriguing (though short lived) series about a 12th century female forensic doctor who is removed from her beloved Salerno, Italy to Cambridge, UK to help catch a child killer. The dead speak to her and they have a lot to say.
The plot was well developed and the characters were fully realised. Franklin does well in keeping with the time and place (12th century England) though she sometimes cheats with patrois and language, by having a character comment they could not understand what was being said between two other characters speaking the local tongue. Well, maybe cheating is not the right word but it is a clever device to get a better feel for the period.
The mystery itself was difficult enough to suss out who the killer(s) were, which is why this book endears itself to me and shows the author was skillful enough to drop hints but not so obvious as you figure out the entire thing in the first 50 pages but keeps you turning until the end.
Highly recommended. Bear by Marian Engel
(Amazon | WorldCat | GoodReads)
A month or so ago, someone posted on Imgur screenshot of the cover of Bear along with photos of the racier bits and titled it, “What the actual fuck, Canada?”. Since the crux of the story concerned a Canadian librarian who goes into the woods to find herself, I knew I had to read it.
And so did everyone else.
Random House Canada recently wrote a blog piece that discussed not only the new spike in sales of the book based on the Imgur posting but also Bear was much more than a woman getting it on with a grizzly. It is a deep exploration of a woman wondering how she got to where she was at, a sexual awakening of sorts, and a wake-up call to take charge of her own life.
It should be said Bear was written while Engel was going through her own divorce, and while I kept pointing out to people the sex scenes in Bear were not projections, metaphors, or similes, there is an undercurrent of exploration of those things that parallel the dissolution of Engel’s own marriage. The Random House piece also points out that Bear digs deep past the stereotypes of CanLit, a world that is typically imagined as rural romantics and pastoral cleverness, by really giving you the true worth of nature.
I was recently asked to compile a list of top 10s of various media that I thought made the difference to humanity, not just because I loved it or it was good, but it changed something inside. Bear is definitely on that list now — it’s brave, and weirdly wonderful; written like a prose poem rather than a story. It challenges us and by doing so, it enlightens us by giving us back our own humanity.
Watching
The Leftovers
Good premise, bad timing. As we’re already watching a show that is depressing and slow paced (Rectify), having two shows in the same week was just too much. We felt Rectify was better developed and written, so au revoir The Leftovers, sorry it didn’t work out.
Halt and Catch Fire
A strange little show built on the premise of what the heyday of the early ’80s computer wars were like — and it worked. Lee Pace and his eyebrows kept us guessing each week if he was going to have an American Pyscho moment, which hasn’t happened. YET, and all the drama that occurred surrounding him and his world. Word on the street is that it is unknown if this is going to be renewed for season two, but I hope it does.
Discovered, via Two Bossy Dames, Our Bonnet Syllabus which is a tongue in cheek send up as f this class really existed. Of course, we all want it to exist. You can follow along by setting up your own group and working your way through the syllabus with friends.
The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
Mistress of the Art of Death #1 by Ariana Franklin
Bear by Marian Engel