Category: Ruminations

Saturday Snapshot: My Tardis

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot17 Comments

Last weekend of the Sci Fi Experience, so it’s a good Saturday for a sci-fi themed Snapshot.

My most unusual present this past Christmas (and probably the past several Christmases!) was a phone booth.  Not full-size, but big enough to be practically furniture, probably about three feet tall.  I’ve been absolutely mad about London for years, so I loved it right away for that.

And because I’ve been working my way through Doctor Who for the last six months, well, I couldn’t resist the possibilities.  I know the Tardis is a blue police box, not a red phone booth…but still!  It was geeky enough already, so then I had to make it more so by putting characters in the windows: David Tennant’s Doctor at the top; second row: Rose, Martha, Donna; third row: Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor and Captain Jack; an extra David Tennant for good measure and then, just because I can, Clark Kent changing into Superman in a phone booth.

I did this before watching Seasons 5 and 6 of Doctor Who…I’ve watched them now, and I might go back and replace Martha with Amy and Rory.  Matt Smith, although he’s been steadily growing on me through Season 6, still needs to convince me that I should substitute him for my second David Tennant.

If I could figure out how to make it bigger on the inside, it would be wonderful for storage.  But it’s still an actually useful piece of furniture, as it currently holds all my CDs.  I have an iPod, but I like keeping CDs anyway.

So–what’s the most random thing YOU own? 🙂

And the Oscar Nominees Are…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations11 Comments

I always watch the Oscars.  I don’t quite know why, because very often I haven’t seen most of the movies and I have a low opinion of the Academy’s taste, but I always watch.  All the dresses, and the celebrities, and the Hollywood magic…it’s like a fairy tale.  And I’m particularly looking forward to this year’s ceremony, coming up on Sunday, because for a rarity I’ve actually seen most of the Best Picture nominees!

Usually, I don’t watch the movies the Academy nominates, and they don’t nominate the movies I watch.  Somehow, this year things came together a bit more than usual.  Since I’m enjoying this rare position of having an opinion on the Best Picture nominees, naturally I thought I’d share that opinion with you!

In alphabetical order…

The Artist – A silent movie about the end of silent movies, this was amazing.  I love old movies (though usually talkies) and from the opening frame it was such a hearkening back to old Hollywood.  Aside from a few brief moments, the movie is entirely silent (with music) and only a minimum of captioning, yet I felt everything was conveyed–the characters were well-drawn, the plot was clear, the emotions were strong…and the dog was adorable!

The Descendants – This one I missed.  A family drama with George Clooney, I’d be willing to watch it and will probably get it on DVD later.  But it’s out of theaters and not on DVD yet, so we’re in no-man’s land and it can’t be got right now.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – This focuses on a boy dealing with the aftermath of September 11th, when his father was killed in the World Trade Towers.  It was wrenching, heart-breaking and so well-done that I don’t want to see it again.  Excellent to watch once, but too painful to come back.  I’ve heard it’s been accused of being over-the-top, but frankly, considering the subject matter, I don’t know how it could not be as dramatic as it is.  Thomas Horn was incredible as the boy, and it also featured Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, looking astonishingly like real people, not celebrities.

The Help – Another truly heart-wrenching movie, a fictional account of the lives of black servants in Jackson, Mississippi during the fifties.  It focuses especially on the black women who care for white children, and on the bond that forms across the cultural boundaries.  It’s a movie about racial and social prejudice, and it did well tackling a sweeping issue while focusing in-depth on a few lives.  It’s the relationships that drive this movie, relationships that give hope and ones that will ultimately break your heart.

Hugo – Like Extremely Loud, this story is also about a boy who lost his father; Hugo lives in a train station in Paris, where he keeps the clocks wound.  He slowly begins to investigate a mystery about the toy-seller at the train station, and bonds with the toy-seller’s goddaughter.  This movie has a whimsical, surreal atmosphere to it that makes me feel like it should be a British fantasy, even though it’s in France, and isn’t a fantasy.  I enjoyed the development of the characters, and the way lots of little bits and pieces came together in the end.  It has a beautiful message about doing what you’re meant to do, and the tragedy of losing sight of that purpose.  This movie also has the advantage of endless recognizable faces in the cast, and one of the most effective uses of 3D I’ve ever seen–and I usually don’t like the effect of 3D movies.

Midnight in Paris – I never thought I’d love an Owen Wilson movie this much.  It’s probably because it’s not really an Owen Wilson movie; it’s a Woody Allen movie, and Wilson is channeling Allen throughout.  Wilson’s character is a dreamy, nostalgic writer who’s in Paris with his overbearing fiancee and her family.  He dreams of the 1920s, when all the great artists were in Paris.  Out walking the streets at midnight, he finds himself hailed by an old-fashioned car that whisks him back to the 1920s, to meet all the writers he loves.  The writers were the best part of this movie.  They all talk the way they write and it’s SO entertaining.  Fitzgerald calls people “old sport,” and Hemingway makes solemn pronouncements about life and death and charging lions.  I doubt it’s realistic but it’s enormous fun, as is watching Owen Wilson play Woody Allen.

Moneyball – I’m not much of one for sports movies or Brad Pitt.  Missed this one.

Tree of Life – I saw most of this one, and I am so glad it was on DVD and didn’t involve spending money.  This is described as a metoraphorical story about a family in the 1950s, about a man (Sean Penn) coming to terms with his father (Brad Pitt), and also about creation.  Let me tell you, it is a dense metaphor.  It’s another movie with very little dialogue, but it made a lot less sense to me than The Artist.  It’s all quick cuts from family scenes in the ’50s, Sean Penn in the present day, and scenes of the creation of the universe–at least, the first hour and a half is.  It reminded me of 2001, but with less plot, and more incomprehensible (which is saying something!)  Everyone seems to madly love this or completely hate it.  I don’t think I hated it–it didn’t stir anything that significant.  I didn’t watch the last hour because I just didn’t care.  It may be a deep, profound piece of art, but it’s not at all accessible and I didn’t find it entertaining either.

War Horse – I’m really not one for violent war movies.  I briefly considered seeing this one (it’s about a boy and his horse!) but then I saw a few too many comments comparing it to Saving Private Ryan, and changed my mind.  I’ll pass on this one.

I find trends fascinating.  Of the nine here, we have two movies set in Paris, three movies about boys and their fathers, three movies set (at least partially) in roughly the 1920s, two in the fifties, two making homages to silent movies, and just for good measure, two movies starring Brad Pitt.  Eight out of nine are set at least ten years in the past (six farther back); eight out of nine have male leads.  Now what does all that say about Hollywood?

Oscar commentaries like to wind up by saying who they think should win, and who they think will win.  If it was up to me, I would choose for Best Picture either The Artist or Extremely Loud.  I enjoyed Midnight in Paris the most, but the other two feel more landmark, like they’re doing something really noteworthy or groundbreaking.

As to who I think will win, I’ve heard good press for The Artist, so that’s encouraging.  However, I have far too often seen the Academy’s tendency to choose violent movies or bizarre, artsy movies, so I wouldn’t be at all shocked to see it go to War Horse or Tree of Life.

I guess we’ll find out when they open the envelopes on Sunday!  Who will you be rooting for?

Saturday Snapshot: Times Square

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot10 Comments

I went looking through my photos for Saturday Snapshot this week, and hit on a much busier photo than last week: you don’t see many daffodils in Times Square!

I love theater.  It’s something about the performance happening right there in front of you, once and never precisely the same again, more fleeting than a movie or a TV show that you could keep returning to.  I love taking trips to theater towns–that isn’t usually my reason for visiting whatever city it is, but I love when I can go somewhere with good theater.

In this picture, I love all the elements that got into a single shot–true to the busyness of Times Square!  Front and center, of course, is the Phantom sign.  I’ve seen Webber’s Phantom six times, which is why I feel I can say that every performance of a play, even the same play, really is different.  I saw it on Broadway–second best performance.

You can just see a bit of Glinda in the Wicked sign next to the giant mask.  I hadn’t seen Wicked yet when I took this picture, or I probably would have angled it differently!  I hadn’t fallen for “Defying Gravity” yet (pun intended).

On the other side of the mask is the South Pacific sign.  I saw that at Lincoln Center, with a really excellent Emile.  I already had the movie soundtrack, but I bought his “This Nearly Was Mine” on iTunes when I got home.

I also got the Palace sign–according to Me and My Gal, the Palace was the promised land of the vaudeville performers.  When you played there, you knew you had arrived.

And finally, you can see that in the city that never sleeps, McDonalds is open 24 hours a day!

Saturday Snapshot: Daffy-down-dillys

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot5 Comments

I saw a fun feature over on Book Journey, and decided to join in today…Snapshot Saturday is hosted by At Home with Books, and is just what it sounds like–inviting people to share their snapshots on Saturdays!

Because it’s almost spring and it’s sunny outside my window and it’s Valentine’s Day next week, I thought I’d post some flower photos.  My favorite flowers are daffodils.  As you probably know about me, I want everything in my life to have a story (within reason) and my favorite flowers are not an exception.

It began once upon a time when I went to England on a school trip during April–which turned out to be some of the best ten days of my life, and has instilled in me a love of London I will probably never get over.  Before we left, our teacher promised there would be daffodils.  I was doubtful–but there were, all over the parks.  So ever after, daffodils made me think of London.

A few years later, I wrote a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.  Red roses are a big symbol of the Phantom and Christine, at least in Webber’s musical.  But my story is about after Christine left, and the Phantom’s growing relationship with cheerful blond Meg Giry, so it didn’t take long before daffodils became a symbol for Meg in my novel.  I have a quote, as the Phantom is trying to figure out his life: “He was also thinking about flowers.  Namely, that roses were very beautiful in a dark and passionate sort of way, but that daffodils, with their own sunshiney, bright cheerfulness, were maybe equally beautiful.  Perhaps there were even those who would prefer daffodils to roses.  For one thing, roses had thorns and you could be hurt if you weren’t very careful, while daffodils wouldn’t make you bleed if you held them wrong.”

I love daffodils.  All that sunshiney bright cheerfulness.  The way they smell, all fresh and spring-like.  I love the way they pop up in the most random corners in city streets.  During college I used to go out of my way by a block walking to class to walk past two clumps of daffodils.  And…you just can’t say “daffy-down-dillys” without smiling.  Try it.  🙂

2011 End of the Year Round-up

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations13 Comments

It’s the start of a new year, and the perfect time to look at the last year–including how my reading went!  I already gave you some of an update in the Reading Challenges Post, but I wanted to do a round-up of favorite books (and least favorite!)

To give you some stats, my total books read in 2011 was 169.  I’ve been keeping track for the last 7 years, and 169 is about normal for me.  My last two years of reading were lower, so I’m glad to see that rise again.  Of those 169, 50 were rereads, or about 30%.  I’ve decided to only choose from new books for the selections below.

Here’s the good and the bad of 2011.

1) Best Book  –  I am having trouble making a decision here.  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was amazing; I stayed up late two nights in a row reading it, and I loved the writing and the romance.  Turnip and Arabella from The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig were, as I expected, my favorite characters I met all year.  And The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins really is as good as all the buzz suggests.  So there’s my top three, very different, best books of the year.

2) Worst Book  –  No question here.  Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson was awful on almost every level.  Honorable (or dishonorable?) mention to How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain; you wouldn’t think a book with that title could go wrong, but it did, by being all about a teenage boy’s crush on a girl who was completely horrible to him—but beautiful.

3) Most Disappointing Book  –  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  My hopes were very high (see #1) and they were sadly dashed.

4) Most Surprising (in a Good Way)  –  Probably this one goes to 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke.  After seeing the movie, I was surprised by how coherent the book was!

5) Best Series You Discovered – Since I have started a lot of series and need to read through them, I’m basing this one more on promise than on what I’ve actually read.  With that in mind, I’m giving the nod to The 500 Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey.  Sleeping Beauty was good, and based on the world and the writing, I’m hopeful about the rest of the books in the series.

6) Most Hilarious Read  –  I read several of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and I’m tempted to give it collectively to them.  To choose one, I’m saying Going Postal.  Funnily enough, Terry Pratchett was my most hilarious read of last year too.  I’m not really surprised…

7) Can’t Believe I Waited Until 2011 to Read It  –  I could say Jane Eyre, but I somehow feel more inclined to say The Eyre Affair.  I first heard about The Eyre Affair in high school, and have been meaning to read it ever since.  I suppose the same is true of Jane Eyre, but I was actually more fascinated by the premise of The Eyre Affair—ironically, since I ended up liking Jane better.

8) Most Looking Forward To in 2012  –  I’m not sure this year.  A lot of authors I follow are working on something interesting, but they won’t necessarily be out in 2012.  So I think I’m most looking forward to the next Jacky Faber book by L. A. Meyer.  I don’t know for sure he’ll have one out either, but I have faith.  🙂  He always has, for the last several years.  But even if I’m not anticipating a lot of new books in 2012, there are plenty of already-published ones I’m looking forward to reading!