Django, Prepare a Coffin

Django, Prepare a Coffin is another in a long line of films connected only by the inclusion of the name "Django" in the title. Not an official sequel, this one is from 1968 and stars Terrence Hill as Django. The plot involves the title character being betrayed by a friend. The resulting death of Django's wife sets Django on the road to a vengeance which brings to life the saying that "revenge is a dish best served cold." I enjoy spaghetti westerns, and this is a good one.

via youtube:

This review at Spaghetti-Western.net praises Hill in the lead and says,

The film itself is probably the closest to a genuine Django sequel or prequel that was ever made but, in truth, has sufficient continuity holes in relation to the original to ensure it can never really be taken completely as such. It does have a Django ‘feel’ to it though and has the machine gun and coffin scene to cement its claim. Like the original it also boasts two villains and the twin talents of George Eastman and Horst Frank are a happy bonus indeed. Eastman exuding malice as the swaggering outlaw boss while Frank maintains the usual level of malevolent arrogance that made him such an icon of European westerns.

Another review at Spaghetti-Western.net says, "A lot of stalwart spaghetti western actors have cameos, turning the movie into a real plethora of familiar faces. The score ... is a special one." 10kBullets says it is "not only one of the finest and most faithful takes on the “Django” mythos ever released, but one of the most enjoyable Spaghetti Westerns to mix the crazy and the cool into one fantastically successful package."

Tear-Water Tea

I remember how much The Kids and I loved the Arnold Lobel books. I used to read his books aloud when The Kids were little, and I'm an expressive reader if I do say so myself. The story Tear-Water Tea came to mind for a couple of reasons: 1) It's in the book Owl at Home, and we have owls on the brain around here lately; and 2) Tea, of course!

The story Tearwater Tea has Owl crying into a teapot, shedding tears over all the sadnesses in his life. Then he heats the tears and makes tea: "It tastes a little bit salty," he said, "but tear-water tea is always good." It's a delightfully comforting story.

Pull up a cozy seat and a cup of something hot to drink, and hear the story for yourself, narrated by a "Missy Tingles":

"Songs that cannot be sung," said Owl, "because the words have been forgotten." It brings a tear to my eye even now.

Join the rest of the T(ea) Tuesday bunch over at hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth's weekly blog gathering, where the Mardi Gras beads are looking festive.

(I saw the picture at the top of the post at several different websites but don't remember which one I got it from.)

Conversion by blog comment?

To the guy who keeps commenting on my posts to tell me I am doomed and headed for Hell:

You know your comments go straight to my spam filter, right? 

I only see them when I check the spam filter to see if a real comment has been trapped there by mistake. 

This is not a way to win converts to your particular brand of Christianity. 

Just sayin'.

Anyone Can Do It

Anyone Can Do It:



by John Paul Keith and The One Four Fives, Memphis musicians.

lyric excerpt:

Well, if you want to be a hero
Not a rock and roll zero
Even you can have a hit sound
If you let 'em find you face down
Yeah there's really nothin' to it
Anyone can do it.

50 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time

Paste Magazine has a list of the 50 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time:

1. Annie Hall
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. Amélie
4. The Princess Bride
5. Manhattan
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Say Anything
8. The Philadelphia Story
9. High Fidelity
10. Four Weddings and a Funeral
11. The Apartment
12. Moonrise Kingdom
13. Harold and Maude
14. Sixteen Candles
15. Pretty Woman
16. Love Actually (on the shelf, not yet watched)
17. The Shop Around the Corner
18. Knocked Up
19. Bridget Jones’s Diary
20. Chasing Amy
21. The Graduate
22. His Girl Friday
23. (500) Days of Summer
24. Bringing Up Baby
25. Silver Linings Playbook
26. The Purple Rose of Cairo
27. Juno
28. Sleepless in Seattle (on the shelf, unwatched)
29. Waitress
30. The Wedding Banquet
31. Wall-E
32. The African Queen
33. Jerry Maguire
34. Groundhog Day
35. Pretty in Pink
36. Punch-Drunk Love
37. As Good as It Gets
38. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
39. It Happened One Night
40. About a Boy
41. Lars and the Real Girl
42. Notting Hill
43. The Lady Eve
44. 10 Things I Hate About You
45. Roxanne
46. You’ve Got Mail (it's on the shelf, just not watched yet)
47. Hitch
48. Clueless
49. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
50. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I've seen the 18 in bold print. I don't tend to like "romantic comedies". Typically, they're too sweet/sappy for me, and I prefer the quirkier ones.

Flying Fish

The Daughter and I recently had lunch at the Flying Fish restaurant downtown. It's part of a small Southern chain with other locations in Arkansas and Texas. You order at the counter and then pick your food up when they buzz you. We each had the 2 filet fish basket and lemonade. It was very good. You can see their menu here. We sat at the counter looking out on the street. It's open-air, and it was a beautiful day:

They provide a service, too, in offering a home for unwanted Billy Bass plaques:

Yelp gives them 4 out of 5 stars with 104 reviews. Urban Spoon has a rating of 94% with 553 votes. The I Love Memphis blog likes it. East Memphis Moms gives it a positive review as does Memphis Gastroblog.

Teorema

Teorema is a 1968 Pier Paolo Pasolini film. I'll need to see it again to get a better feel for it. I'd tend to agree with the folks who claim it's a condemnation of bourgeois lives, but what do I know. There's lots of off-screen sex. Everybody does really want that visitor. And he seems happy to oblige. And lives are changed.

Beware the subtitles. They are not much help.

Watching the film, you see each member of the household affected by the visitor in the same way, and yet the result is radically different. Each person changes as a result of their encounter; each person ends up entirely re-made -a new person, in no way the same as before- but also in no way akin to the others in the house.

Is the visitor a Christ figure?

It would definitely be worth watching again.

via youtube:

Moria tentatively classifies it as a fantasy. DVD Talk says, "Finding a film one does not understand can be a positive experience, but Teorema doesn't give us much reason to care. I certainly am not inspired to search for more meaning in the picture". Slant Magazine gives it 2 1/2 out of 4 stars, but I'm not sure why they rated it that high when some of their comments are, "any five minutes of any Buñuel film would make short work of Teorema," "It's all very grand and vague and shapeless ... but indulgent and fairly meaningless," and calls it "overrated and idiotic".

Roger Ebert says he doesn't know what to think about it but does venture this: "My guess is that "Teorema" is a watershed of some kind, a film out of its own time, a film nothing has prepared us for, but a film that in years to come will be seen as a turning point like early Godard" and adds this in his closing paragraph:

The sort of moviegoer who thinks all movies must make sense -obvious common sense, that is- should avoid "Teorema." Those who go anyway will be mystified, confused, perhaps indignant. But here is a film that needs additional thought.

Rotten Tomatoes has an 89% critics rating.

Barn Blind

Barn Blind is a 1980 novel by Jane Smiley. The main character is a woman so obsessed with her horses and the dreams surrounding their training that she sees nothing else -not her husband, or her children or their needs, or anything but her horses and her own agenda for achieving her own goals. I guess most of us have blind spots, but this woman is a picture of the harm and lasting pain that such blindness can cause.

from the back of the book:

The verdant pastures of a farm in Illinois have the placid charm of a landscape painting. But the horses that graze there have become the obsession of a woman who sees them as the fulfillment of every wish: to win, to be honored, to be the best. Her ambition is the galvanizing force in Jane Smiley's first novel, a force that will drive a wedge between her and her family, and bring them all to tragedy. Written with the grace and quiet beauty of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Thousand Acres, Barn Blind is a spellbinding story on the classic American themes of work, love, and duty, and the excesses we commit to achieve success.

Kirkus Reviews calls it "A devastating probe ... special -but deep-driving." The Paris Review says, "It’s like a horse book for grown-ups."

Ride Clear of Diablo

Ride Clear of Diablo is a 1954 Audie Murphy Western. Also in this is recently deceased Russell Johnson (best known as The Professor in Gilligan's Island). Jack Elam and Denver Pyle are in this, too. This is standard fare: Murphy plays the son who comes back when he hears his father and brother were killed and their cattle stolen. Ah, revenge! The plot that keeps on giving.

via youtube:

The Examiner gives it 4 out of 5 stars, calls it "underrated" and says it "became a definitive Audie Murphy film that swiftly cemented his likable screen persona and jump-started the golden era of his career during the mid to late '50s."

Eagle Nest Cam

Baby eagles! What more is there to say? There's a pair of non-releaseable bald eagles here in Tennessee who are raising a sweet pair of babies, and you can watch the live feed here at this site. Enjoy your cuppa while you watch this sweet family. The babies are learning to fly.

Join Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T(ea) Tuesday party. There's all kinds of fun happenin' out there!

I found the photo at the top of the post on several sites, but don't know who to credit it to.

Afraid to Look

Afraid to Look:

by John Paul Keith.

lyrics excerpt:

How many bucks do I have in the bank?
I'm afraid to look.
How much gas do I have in the tank?
I'm afraid to look.
Are my eyes still red, is my face still white?
I'm afraid to look.
...

Fast and Furious 6

I got Fast and Furious 6 as a Christmas present from The Younger Son. I'm a big Vin Diesel fan, though I'll admit it took me a while to learn to appreciate that first film in this series. This one is great fun, and I continue to look forward to any of these that are released with Vin Diesel in the cast.

trailer:

Empire Online gives it 3 out of 5 stars and calls it "a big screen no-brainer that’s objectively terrible but undeniably pleasurable". EW gives it a B+, calling it "a borderline ridiculous, over-the-top demolition derby that also happens to be a perfectly constructed low-IQ blast". Slant Magazine doesn't like it, giving it 1 star and saying, "To call the film stupid would be misleading, as it's built on technical intellect, from the stunts to the visual effects to the sound team. No, Fast & Furious 6 is far more smug than stupid, luxuriating in its cynicism and insubstantiality." DVD Talk calls it "popcorn film of the highest order". Roger Ebert's site has a mixed review, calling it "not a great action movie" but "solid entertainment". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of only 69%, but audience ratings are much better.

10 Greatest Books Ever

Open Culture has a list from 2007 of a list compiled from lists submitted by 125 modern writers. The formation of this 2007 list is described this way:

“The participants could pick any work, by any writer, by any time period…. After awarding ten points to each first-place pick, nine to second-place picks, and so on, the results were tabulated to create the Top Top Ten List – the very best of the best.”

The list:

1. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
2. Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
3. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
4. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
6. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust
9. The Stories of Anton Chekhov (some of them, but I'm not sure I've read them all)
10. Middlemarch, by George Eliot

I did great on this list! 8+ out of 10. I imagine most folks would find it hard to argue that the books on this list aren't important reading.

A Hometown in Heart

A Hometown in Heart is a 1949 Korean film. KoreaFilm.org describes it this way: " the film unfolds the everyday lives of three generations: the head monk, a young monk, and a little child monk against the backdrop of a quiet temple in the mountains." The young boy longs for maternal affection. I haven't seen much Korean film, but I'll look for more. This was beautiful!

via youtube:

Wonders in the Dark closes their review by saying, "Superbly photographed, it’s been too long neglected in the archives and should, in time, become recognised as one of the best humanist films from outside of Japan." Yes Asia (where you can order the DVD) says it is "one of the first and most important films made in Korea after its liberation from Japan".

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Concerning the Spiritual in Art leapt up from the shelf and into my hand before I knew what had happened. Actually, I think the name of author Wassily Kandinsky leapt up and caught my eye and my hand couldn't resist making the connection physical. I knew Kandinsky as an artist and hadn't realized he had written anything. You can read it online here.

from the back of the book:

A pioneering work in the movement to free art from its traditional bonds to material reality, this book is one of the most important documents in the history of modern art. Written by the famous nonobjective painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), it explains Kandinsky's own theory of painting and crystalizes the ideas that were influencing many other modern artists of the period. Along with his own ground-breaking paintings, this book had a tremendous impact on the development of modern art.

Kandinsky's ideas are presented in two parts. The first part, called "About General Aesthetic," issues a call for the spiritual revolution in painting that will let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material terms. Just as musicians do not depend upon the material world for their music, so artists should not have to depend upon the material world for their art. In the second part, "About Painting," Kandinsky discusses the psychology of colors, the language of form and color, and the responsibilities of the artist. An introduction by the translator, Michael T. H. Sadler, offers additional explanation of Kandinsky's art and theories, while a new Preface by Richard Stratton discusses Kandinsky's career as a whole and the impact of the book. Making the book even more valuable are nine woodcuts by Kandinsky himself that appear at the chapter headings.

This English translation of Über das Geistige in der Kunst was a significant contribution to the understanding of nonobjectivism in art. It continues to be a stimulating and necessary reading experience for every artist, art student, and art patron concerned with the direction of twentieth-century painting.

There is a 2011 paper here that re-evaluates the work on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in which the author claims, "What I am arguing is that the spiritual crisis of the contemporary artist is greater than Kandinsky's. Kandinsky knew art was in spiritual crisis, whereas today's materialistic artist doesn't see any spiritual crisis. All that matters is materialistic success." The Guardian explains how Kandinsky's book is as relevant now as when it was written.

True Grit (1969)

True Grit is a 1969 John Wayne Western. It also stars Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper and Strother Martin. This is a classic. It's received a reportedly respectful remake, but I haven't seen that one.

trailer:

John Wayne and Red Skelton explore "true grit":

Deep Focus closes with this:

When compared to Wayne’s work with Ford, well, there’s no comparison at all. Ford’s Westerns were about the setting and the story, whereas Hathaway has no intent on making his movie about anything else than Wayne’s memorable role. If only he had given the performance in a better movie.

Roger Ebert gives it 4 out of 4 stars and calls it "one of the most delightful, joyous scary movies of all time" and "the Western you should see if you only see one Western every three years". It gets a 90% critics rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Hoot Owl!

As The Younger Son was coming home the other night, walking along the sidewalk, he saw a Barred Owl. Then he heard it. Sweet! They are native here, but we've never seen one at our house. It was calling loudly. Also known as the Hoot Owl, they sound like this. Here's one hooting in a tree:

and another:

Their breeding season begins in February, so maybe we'll be seeing more of them. As I sit here with my cuppa (coffee, as usual in the mornings) looking out onto the courtyard, I find myself watching and listening, hoping that night wasn't an oddity. I'd love to have owls!

Please join the T(ea) Party over at the blog of Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

(photo of the owl via Wikipedia)

I've Been to Memphis

I've Been to Memphis:

by Lyle Lovett.

Lyrics excerpt:

The sun comes up
In a coffee cup
Waitress please I've had enough

Lord I can't believe what I see
How could you be alone
When you could sit right here beside me girl
And make yourself at home

I've been to Memphis
And Muscle Shoals
And I love a woman
What I don't know

When the sun goes down
In another town
Bartender please another round

Lord I can't believe what I see
How could you be alone
When you could sit right here beside me girl
And make yourself at home.

...

Tabu

Tabu is a 1931 silent F.W. Murnau film. He died at age 42 from injuries resulting from a car accident a week before this film opened. The film is a fictionalized documentary about life in the South Seas. It won an Oscar for best cinematography. There was much controversy over the fact that bare breasts are visible sometimes, and those parts of the movie have been cut out and replaced over the years to satisfy prudes and film fans in turn.

via youtube:

DVD Talk calls it "one of the last great silent films" and says, "it takes its place among the world's masterpieces". This film is listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 91%.

22 Essential Books

Open Culture has a list of 22 essential books according to F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser
The Life of Jesus, by Ernest Renan
A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen
Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson
The Old Wives’ Tale, by Arnold Bennett
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiel Hammett
The Red and the Black, by Stendahl
The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant, translated by Michael Monahan
An Outline of Abnormal Psychology, edited by Gardner Murphy
The Stories of Anton Chekhov, edited by Robert N. Linscott
The Best American Humorous Short Stories, edited by Alexander Jessup
Victory, by Joseph Conrad
The Revolt of the Angels, by Anatole France
The Plays of Oscar Wilde
Sanctuary, by William Faulkner
Within a Budding Grove, by Marcel Proust
The Guermantes Way, by Marcel Proust
Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust
South Wind, by Norman Douglas
The Garden Party, by Katherine Mansfield
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete Poetical Works

My guess is that this list is too dated to be useful as a resource of must-read books these days. It's interesting to see what a prominent literary figure of that day found "essential". I've read the 4 in bold print.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is a 2010 French fantasy film directed by Luc Besson (Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, Taxi, Wasabi, Revolver). This is fun, though there's not actually much to it. But what's there is fun. We gave it to The Younger Son for Christmas, and he and I enjoyed watching it. Luc Besson is a director whose films are worth seeing.

When watching films we are used to saying, "Bringing the dead back to life is never the answer." After watching this movie we'll have to start saying, "Bring the dead back to life is almost never the answer."

trailer:

Empire Online gives it 4 out of 5 stars and concludes their review with this:

Verdict: A romp magnifique, with enough thrills, giggles and pretty pictures to reward adventure-lovers who wouldn’t normally entertain the idea of taking in a treat with subtitles. Don’t miss the mid-credits postscript.

This review at DVD Talk finds it boring. Another review at DVD Talk has several screen shots and a higher opinion of it, calling it "a colorful, inventive, and satisfying journey with a dinosaur, some mummy's, and some other neat peculiarities" -but they misspelled "mummies".... Time Out gives it 3 out of 5 stars and calls it "all style and very little substance." It has an 83% critics score at Rotten Tomatoes.

Matter

Matter is one of the Iain M. Banks Culture novels. As with the others I've read, I enjoyed this one. He was a brilliant author and is sorely missed. You can read an excerpt from this book here.

synopsis from the book:

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man it means a desperate flight and a search for the one -maybe two- people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

But the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity -and her particular set of abilities- might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

SF Signal gives it 4 out of 5 stars and concludes, "Is Matter the best Culture novel by Banks? No, that’s still Use of Weapons. However, Matter can sit comfortably alongside Consider Phlebas for second." The review at SF Site calls it "a highly satisfactory romp". SFF World says, "the book shows Banks’ clear skills as an SF writer and many of the trademarks much beloved by Banks’ fans." Strange Horizons closes with this: "Relax, take nothing too seriously, enjoy the nifty weapons, the skilful writing and the stupendous scenery. Matter is good value, though it may not be the master’s best work." io9 says, "you'll love every minute of it."

Flesh and the Spur

Flesh and the Spur is a 1957 Western with a revenge plot. It stars John Agar (known for his John Wayne westerns and his horror/science fiction roles), Marla English (in her last film) and Mike Connors (best known as Mannix in the TV series). It's a good enough western and worth watching for Agar alone. Seeing Connors here is a bonus. The woman screams entirely too much, but then I have little tolerance for screaming women in Westerns.

via youtube:

Rotten Tomatoes has no reviews and calls it "One of the least-known of the American-International "B" westerns of the 1950s".

Pansies

I learned about pansies from my first piano teacher. She grew them from seed and explained biennials to me. There was a beautiful row of pansies in front of her house every winter. They've never been my favorite flowers, but seeing them brings back fond memories. She was a real character! She taught both my sister and me; and while my sister was having her lesson, Mrs. Evans had me draw something with colored pencils. Usually, she had me copy something she had in her house. The work I remember best was a mill wheel and stream. I never had a great deal of talent with drawing, but I could manage to do scenes and objects so they were recognizable. I never got faces "right". I enjoyed it, but now there's always something else I'd rather do than draw: read, view a film, play with my plants...

The braided bamboo plant was a present from The Husband a while back. It's pretty like it is, but I would like it just as well not braided. I don't know where the braiding idea originated. This one is growing in water with a gravel support. It gets colder in our house at night than this plant prefers, so I hope it'll last through the winter. It's so nice to have houseplants! I like that spot of green during the winter-time.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth are hosting their weekly T Party. Stop by and visit.

I Can Take You to Heaven

I Can Take You to Heaven:

by Otis Clay and Hi Rhythm

Funny Face

The Daughter got Funny Face (1957) recently as a birthday present, and we watched it that day. We found the 58-year-old Fred Astaire's love-making to 28-year-old Audrey Hepburn a bit hard to buy. He looks older in this than his years, and she looks younger. This isn't the best effort for either of them. My favorite is Kay Thompson, better known as the author of the Eloise books.

trailer:

Hepburn dancing:

Kay Thompson and Fred Astaire in "Clap Yo' Hands":

Tired Old Queen at the Movies has this review:

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 84%.

Memphis Snow

Snow!!! Last I heard the official measurement here in Memphis was 1/2". I'm not sure they show up in this photo, but there are little chipmunk foot prints in the snow. Below are the little sparrow prints. Those do show up.

50 Essential Mystery Novels

Flavorwire has a list of 50 Essential Mystery Novels That Everyone Should Read:

Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers
A Coffin for Dimitrios, Eric Ambler
Arthur & George, Julian Barnes
The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, P.D. James
The Complete Auguste Dupin Stories, Edgar Allan Poe
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
The Alienist, Caleb Carr
The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro (on my tbr stack)
A Rage in Harlem, Chester Himes
The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
Dust and Shadow, Lyndsay Faye
The New York Trilogy, Paul Auster
Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley
The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, John le Carré
Fadeout, Joseph Hansen
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
The Circular Staircase, Mary Roberts Rinehart
True Confessions, John Gregory Dunne
Beast in View, Margaret Millar
The Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey
From Russia, With Love, Ian Fleming
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow
The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
Sneaky People, Thomas Berger
In The Woods, Tana French (in my tbr stack)
A Dark-Adapted Eye, Barbara Vine
Anatomy of a Murder, Robert Traver
The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
Eye of the Needle, Ken Follett
I, The Jury, Mickey Spillane
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Blanche on the Lam, Barbara Neely
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Peter Høeg
The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad
The Third Man, Graham Greene
The Black Dahlia, James Ellroy
The Snowman, Jo Nesbø
Laura, Vera Caspary
LaBrava, Elmore Leonard
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
The Blue Hammer, Ross MacDonald

I've read 15 out of the 50. I'm not sure how I feel about this list. Some of these were made into movies long ago, and I've seen the movies. I'm not inclined to seek out the books they were based on at this point.

via Memphis Reads

Black Swan (2011)

Black Swan is a creepy 2010 film about a totally insane dancer who wins a dual role as the white & black swans in a production of Swan Lake. I didn't like this one, finding the creepy bits a bit overdone and the actual plot a bit thin. I'd need to see it again, leaving aside the ballet company plot altogether and focusing on the rising insanity. That's the real plot, I think. It's an interesting film, but I was expecting more psychological drama and got more of a horror/melodrama feel from it.

trailer:

Moria calls it "no more than a 1970s psycho-thriller with artistic pretensions." DVD Talk describes it as "a taut, harrowing thriller that unfolds with palpable tension and nightmarish logic" and "an odd hybrid of backstage melodrama and psychological horror". Slant Magazine gives it 2 out of 4 stars and closes with this: "the overall effect is ostentatiously calculated, ill-fitting, and emotionally aloof, always for our benefit and almost never symptomatic of its protagonist's living nightmare." Salon.com says it's better than we've heard and calls it "a magnificent blend of pop and art cinema, the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for from both Portman and Aronofsky, and a must-see film that people will argue about all winter." Roger Ebert gave it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and says,

“Black Swan” has a beauty. All of the themes of the music and life, all of the parallels of story and ballet, all of the confusion of reality and dream come together in a grand exhilaration of towering passion. There is really only one place this can take us, and it does. If I were you, I wouldn't spend too much time trying to figure out exactly what happens in practical terms.

It's listed in the latest edition of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. It has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 87%.

The Dance of the Seagull

The Dance of the Seagull is the 15th book in the Inspector Montalbano series of mysteries by Andrea Camilleri. I've read and enjoyed the others and always look forward to the next one. It's much better to read them in at least some approximation of the order in which they were written, as the characters grow and their relationships change through time.

Here's a description from Wikipedia:

In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell'Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigàta, an imaginary Sicilian town. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. The name Montalbano is an homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; the similarities between Montalban's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective are remarkable. Both writers make great play of their protagonists' gastronomic preferences.

The books have been adapted for TV; but they haven't been shown here, and I don't have the DVDs (yet).

from the back of the book:

Before leaving for vacation with Livia, Montalbano witnesses a seagull doing an odd dance on the beach outside his home, when the bird suddenly drops dead. Stopping in at his office for a quick check before heading off, he notices that Fazio is nowhere to be found and soon learns that he was last seen on the docks, secretly working on a case. Montalbano sets out to find him and discovers that the seagull's dance of death may provide the key to understanding a macabre world of sadism, extortion, and murder.

Eurocrime closes a positive review with this:

this was a real treat. As I always do, I recommend starting from the beginning, THE SHAPE OF WATER, if you've not read any before, partly because this is a great series but also to follow Montalbano's ageing and how he rails against it and to understand the background to his internal arguments with 'Montalbano One' and 'Two' who are introduced a few books in.

Kirkus Reviews concludes: "Montalbano's 15th case features more hilarious bark and some satisfying bite." Crime Segments says, "If you read these novels only for plot, you're missing out on one of the best-developed group of characters ever created by a crime-fiction novelist."

A Common Reader says,

Andrea Camilleri is now 87 years old and he is a wonderful example of what can be achieved if you just carry on working into old age, for The Dance of the Seagull is a cut above any other crime novel I’ve read this year, showing a mind that is as agile as any younger writer.

I've also read these:
1. The Shape of Water
2. The Terra-Cotta Dog
3. The Snack Thief
4. Voice of the Violin
5. Excursion to Tindari
6. The Smell of Night
7. Rounding the Mark
8. The Patience of the Spider
9. The Paper Moon
10. August Heat
11. The Wings of the Sphinx
12. The Track of Sand
13. The Potter's Field
14. The Age of Doubt

Joshua, the Black Rider

Joshua, the Black Rider is a 1976 Western film starring Fred Williamson as a black Union veteran who becomes a bounty hunter in order to revenge himself on the white men who killed his mother. It has a different take on the revenge western, but it's standard fare at root. The music is a piece of repetitive trash, and I found it irritating to the point of distraction. I managed to make it through the film -it's not bad at all except for the sound track- but that may be the worst film sound track I've ever sat through.

via youtube:

It's fairly thoroughly ignored. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have either a critics or an audience score for this movie.

Spice Tea

When I was in high school I found a recipe for Spice Tea. It was quite popular back in the day, and recipes were frequently in magazines and newspaper articles during the Christmas holiday season. I didn't like the recipe I tried; it was just too sweet for me. I adjusted the recipe: I doubled the amount of instant tea, left out the sugar entirely, and changed the spices. This is the recipe I came up with:

Spice Tea

2 cups Tang
1/3 cup lemonade mix
1 cup instant tea
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Mother quit drinking it several years ago, saying it was just too sweet. I haven't made any since, but The Daughter decided it was time. I made some one day while she was here. We enjoyed a cup together, and I sent a jar of it home with her.

The cup came from Dollar Tree and is one of my winter-time cups. We don't get much snow around here, but sometimes a snowflake is fun to look at, on this cup if not flurrying in the sky.

The jar is a 1976 Bicentennial jar. I remember all the Bicentennial hoopla. You couldn't buy anything, it seemed, without a bicentennial connection. We had bicentennial Christmas tree decorations in 1975. It was a mad craze! My Mother was so excited about all the celebrations, and then Daddy died not long after the 1976 year began.

My memories are a mixture of happy and sad, as I guess is the case with most people.

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Hi Roller

Hi Roller:

by the Bo-Keys.

25 Big Novels That Are Worth Your Time

Flavorwire has a list of 25 Big Novels That Are Worth Your Time:

In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust (4215 pages)
Look at Me, Jennifer Egan (544 pages)
Conversation in the Cathedral, Mario Vargas Llosa (608 pages)
Middlemarch, George Eliot (880 pages)
A Book of Memories, Péter Nádas (720 pages)
J R, William Gaddis (752 pages)
Don Quixote, Miguel De Cervantes (992 pages)
The Making of Americans, Gertrude Stein (926 pages)
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens (736 pages)
The Instructions, Adam Levin (1026 pages)
Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson (720 pages)
Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman (896 pages)
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth (1488 pages)
Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell (1472 pages)
Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, Marguerite Young (1198 pages)
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace (1104 pages) (on my tbr list)
Les Misérables, Victor Hugo (1488 pages)
A House for Mr. Biswas, V.S. Naipaul (576 pages)
2666, Roberto Bolaño (912 pages)
Ulysses, James Joyce (736 pages) (on my tbr shelf)
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy (1296 pages)
Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak (704 pages)
The Ambassadors, Henry James (544 pages)
My Name Is Red, Orhan Pamuk (688 pages)
Moby-Dick, Herman Melville (704 pages)

I've read the 10 I've put in bold type. Another list of books to read. Just what I needed! /sarcasm But, actually, I probably will check and see if my local bookseller has any of these on the shelf, because, well, how can I not.

via Memphis Reads

Korean Films

I've seen several Korean movies through the years and thought I'd make a post to keep up with them. I'll list them here as I watch more:

1940s:

A Hometown in Heart (1949)

1950s:

The Giant Claw (1957)

1960s:

Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)

2000s:

Oldboy (2003)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Voice (2005)
Muoi: Legend of a Portrait (2007)

Etoile

Étoile is a 1989 Italian film about a new ballerina student who becomes possessed by the spirit of the ballerina who haunts the school. It stars Jennifer Connelly and Charles Durning. I like Charles Durning, and this is a beautiful and interesting movie. It gets quite bizarre towards the end.

trailer:

TCM has an overview. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have a critics score but has an audience rating of 80%.

A Friend from England

A Friend from England is a 1987 novel by Booker prize-winner Anita Brookner. She published her first novel when she was 53 years old. I love the way she writes and pick up everything I see by her. Her main characters tend to be intellectual women, and the books explore their lives and emotions. It's not that there isn't plenty going on in this book, but most of the movement seems to me to be going on inside the main character.

Here's a sample of descriptive writing from the middle of the book:

I realized to my surprise that the year had turned. One always expects the summer to last for much longer than it does: one forgets the very sensation of being cold. Yet the people that I passed no longer had that expansive air that goes with the summer season; their heads were lowered, their walk purposeful. Shorter days and longer nights were upon us.

I found this quote interesting:

I could think of no more gross behavior to a woman than this indifference, this coarse bungling of her emotions. Whatever women put up with from men, they should never countenance indifference.

from the back of the book:

Part-owner of a London bookshop and thirty-two years old, Rachel Kennedy is self-sufficient and somewhat chilly. No one knows much of the affairs of her heart. But when Oscar Livingstone asks her to be his daughter's mentor as his daughter emerges into womanhood, Rachel finds herself caught up in Heather's romances in ways she hadn't anticipated. In the end she measures her own unencumbered, carefully gauged liberty against what she sees as Heather's irresponsible abandon, and takes it upon herself as a duty to force an unforgettable confrontation. From London to Venice this elegant, revealing, beautifully controlled study builds to a startling unmasking of its protagonists and their motives.

Kirkus Reviews closes with this: "The vulgarity of the world pains the Brookner protagonist no end -and the result, especially here, is pure starch." The Independent's review says, "Anita Brookner is a novelist of astonishing technical skill, and A Friend from England is a very good book."

The LA Times says, "What we are reading is not a social comedy or novel of sensibility, but an allegorical debate between a false life of repression and a true life of risks and engagements." The London Review of Books ends its review by saying, "Rachel’s progressive discovery of Heather’s true calibre and the finally devastating effect of that on her own sense of self provides the novel’s momentum. The story develops into a kind of contest between them."

The Paris Review has an interview with Brookner in which she describes A Friend from England as "a very old-fashioned moral tale".

The Nevadan

The Nevadan is a 1950 Randolph Scott Western. Gordon Douglas directs.

cue Blazing Saddles:

The Nevadan also stars Dorothy Malone and Forrest Tucker. I prefer my Westerns without romance, but that element doesn't drag down the action in this movie. I always like Forrest Tucker. In the saloon the pianist plays Sweet Betsy From Pike in the background, which is always fun to hear.

via youtube:

TCM has an article that says,

Far from being just another by-the-numbers Western, The Nevadan brings enough twists and variations to a familiar genre that it received a favorable review from the New York Times. In a way such success shouldn't have been entirely unexpected since in addition to acting Randolph Scott also co-produced with Harry Joe Brown. This was one of fourteen films they did together, all intelligent and above-average Westerns starring Scott.

Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have a critics score, but the audience rating is 83%.

Coffee and Swedish Cookies

The Daughter had brought me a package of these Ballerina cookies (they call them biscuits over there) from her trip to Sweden, and I had been doing the "save them for nice" "thing". I finally decided "nice" had come! The Daughter came over and joined me for coffee and cookies. Google translates the company's description this way:

Since 1963, Ballerina merry Swedes with its unique smooth and creamy nougat and its characteristic appearance. Ballerina is Sweden's most beloved biscuit and Göteborgs Kex's largest brand. Every tenth packet of biscuits sold in Sweden is a Ballerina package and every second eats an average of six people a Oreos.

Ya gotta love it. My mind is picturing 6 merry Swedes being eaten by Oreos. No, really, I do understand what it means, I think, but it's still funny.

The cookies are very good, not too sweet.

The cup is one of the few I've come across that have snowmen on them without being Christmas-y.

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The Meeting

The Meeting:

by the North Mississippi Allstars.

Hakuho Wins in Playoff

Here's the final bout:

Asia and Japan Watch opens their report with this:

Yokozuna Hakuho won his 28th career title on Jan. 26 after Mongolian compatriot Kakuryu forced a tie-breaker in an exciting finish to the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

The Japan Times says,

Hakuho suffered his first setback with a defeat at the hands of ozeki Kakuryu in the final bout of regulation, but bounced back to claim the Emperor’s Cup with an impregnable display in the playoff, moving him within four titles of matching legendary yokozuna Taiho’s all-time record of 32 championships.

Sometimes the winner is known early, but this tournament wasn't decided until the final match on the final day.

Things You Can't Say While Following Jesus

Well, you can say these things -many people do- but you can't claim you're doing it because you are following Jesus. So, here's Sojourner's list:

1) There are no atheists in a foxhole.
2) Have you heard about Jesus?
3) Because the Bible tells me so (or “it’s in the Bible”).
4) It's okay to judge.
5) Love the sinner, hate the sin.
6) I must be living right.
7) But for the grace of God, there go I.
8) God never gives us more than we can handle.
9) God needed another angel.
10) Everything happens for a reason.

Their annotations explain why these are all bad things to say.

I kinda like this list. I have to admit I've said, "I must be living right" when I've found a great parking spot, but it was a joke. I had no idea people said that and meant it.

getting it done

I have always liked Chesterton's quote, “if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly,” which appeals to me. It means I don't have to agonize over whether or not I'll be good enough before I start.

Now I've heard, "getting it right is better than getting it done." I think I like Chesterton's take on it better. If I wait until I'm sure I'll get it right before I do it, I'll never start!

The Chesterton quote isn't an excuse for doing it badly, but it certainly removes an excuse to procrastinate. I think it assumes you'll do your best, and if that's bad, well -if the thing was worthy of doing at all- at least you tried your best.

Beyond

Beyond is a 2013 science fiction film short directed by Raphael Rogers. from the vimeo site:

Arya is the last remaining member of her family, a lineage with a unique genetic code that grants the ability to survive the folding of temporal and spatial boundaries... In short, she can teleport. Tasked with exploring new planets, she is in search of something that will explain who exactly she is and where she comes from.

I don't seem able to embed the video here. Quiet Earth managed it somehow, so you can watch it there. It's interesting and worth clicking through to watch. It's only 8 minutes long. Watch through to the very end, past the closing credits, to see it all.

The January Dancer

The Husband gave me a knee-high stack of books for Christmas, and this is one of them. The January Dancer, by Michael Flynn, is the first in the Spiral Arm series. I'm impressed. It's a fun read. I enjoyed it tremendously and am looking forward to the others.

from the back of the book:

Hugo Award finalist and Robert A. Heinlein Award-winning SF writer Michael Flynn now turns to space opera in The January Dancer, with stunningly successful results. Full of rich echoes of the space opera classics from Doc Smith to Cordwainer Smith, it tells the fateful story of an ancient pre-human artifact of great power, and the people who seek it. Starting with Captain Amos January, who quickly loses it, and then the others who fight, scheme, and kill to get it, we travel around the complex, decadent, brawling, mongrelized interstellar human civilization it might save or destroy, following the searchers for it. Collectors want the Dancer; pirates take it; rulers crave it, and they’ll all kill if necessary to get it.

This is as thrilling a yarn as any ever in the whole history of SF. This is a story of love, revolution, music, and mystery, and ends, as all great stories do, with shock and a beginning.

SF Signal didn't like it, giving it 1 1/2 out of 5 stars, but they faulted the political back story, which I liked. They praised the prose, while calling the book a "chore" to read. I agree with them about the prose: "On the bright side, Flynn’s prose is well structured —some might say poetic— and sometimes humorous".

Kirkus Reviews says, "Flynn ably tracks the intersecting orbits of his assassins, pirates and would-be kings, constructing a plot with the human density of a Brazilian favela". The SF Site review calls it "first and foremost, an entertaining Science Fiction novel of the old sort" and "a fine space opera with a quite satisfying central mystery, and with a setting that could be reused for further worthwhile novels". SF Revu closes with this:

My complaints of a large cast aside, The January Dancer offers a full and detailed story arc, a fabulous future galaxy to play in, and a race of humans who are are trying to save what they can remember of ancient earth. If you enjoy space operas told from many points of view, you might get a kick out Michael Flynn's The January Dancer.

The Deserter

The Deserter is a 1971 Spaghetti Western directed by Burt Kennedy. Appearing in this are John Huston, Richard Crenna, Chuck Connors, Ricardo Montalban (Star Trek connection), Slim Pickens and Woody Strode. Great cast. The plot is a revenge story about a soldier who quits to hunt down the Indians who killed his wife. The fort had made no attempt to protect the nearby settlement where she lived. I like this one.

via youtube:

Spaghetti-Western.net calls it "entertaining throughout." TCM has an overview.

The Scream

There are days when we just feel like screaming. I think it's best to embrace the urge and, well, maybe not actually scream (though maybe...), but do something to express the feeling. Sometimes I choose a cup that screams for me. I keep this mug with my winter cups, since it's in the dark part of the year it appeals to me more.

The Scream is an Edvard Munch creation that seems to reach a certain place inside most people. Yale Press has an excerpt from a book that says,

What is certain is that as a symbol it generously fulfils Munch’s requirement, if not the requirement of the Symbolisits: it is capable of manifold, almost infinite interpretations. The last words can be left to him: "And for several years I was almost mad—that was the time when the terror of insanity reared up its twisted head. You know my picture, The Scream? I was being stretched to the limit—nature was screaming in my blood—I was at breaking point . . . You know my pictures, you know it all—you know I felt it all."

Slate.com says it, "represents the apogee of anxiety, the soul's final breaking point." EdvardMunch.org says, "Essentially this famous picture is autobiographical, an expressionistic construction based on Munch's actual experience of a scream piercing through nature while on a walk, after his two companions, seen in the background, had left him."

Bleubeard and Elizabeth host a T(ea) Party at their place every Tuesday where folks can share their drinks, crafts, joys, frustrations, and maybe even their screams.

Kick the Wall

Kick the Wall:

by Jimmy Davis and Junction.

Lyrics:

Sometimes she's undecided
Sometimes she just don't care
She thinks so one sided
She thinks looks are fair
Kick the wall

You try but can't quit her
What she wants God only knows
This love it doesn't fit her
She doesn't keep what she outgrows
Kick the wall

You dreamed that she loved you
You couldn't keep her away
When it seemed that she wanted you
But she can't make you stay

(Kick the wall)
If it makes you feel better
Makes you feel like a man
(Kick the wall)
If you can't get her
At least you'll know you can
Kick the wall

You're saying all the things that she wants to hear
All the things that you thought that would make it clear
She's holding out for someone else
And you know that you're still loving by yourself
You take it out on her or something else

(Kick the wall)
If it makes you feel better
Makes you feel like a man
(Kick the wall)
Yeah, if you can't get her
At least you'll know you can
Kick the wall
(If it makes you feel better)
Makes you feel like a man
(Kick the wall)
Yeah...if you can't get her
At least you'll know you can
Kick the wall

(Kick the wall)
If it makes you feel better
Makes you feel like a man
(Kick the wall)
Yeah, if you can't get her
At least you'll know you can
Kick the wall
(Kick the wall)
Whoa...it makes you feel better
Makes you feel like a man
(Kick the wall)
Yeah...if you can't get her
At least you'll know you can
Kick the wall

The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day is a 2009 film, the direct if not quick sequel to the original Boondock Saints movie from 1999. I like the concept and think these films are fun. I'll watch the 3rd installment if it gets made.

trailer:

Slant Magazine gives it 1 out of 4 stars, opening its review with this: "In cinema as in life, the devotion inspired by cults can—like the Jonestown thirst for Kool-Aid—border on lunacy." Roger Ebert givs it 1 out of 4 stars and opens by saying it "is an idiotic ode to macho horseshite (to employ an ancient Irish word). It is however distinguished by superb cinematography." DVD Talk includes this in its "final thoughts":

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is not a particularly good film, but it is an entertaining tribute to the fans who made the first a cult hit. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus return as Irish vigilantes the McManus brothers after they are framed for the murder of a priest. There is plenty of action and humor to be found

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 is the 2013 entry in the franchise. I'm the only one in the family who hadn't seen it (the rest saw it in the theater), and The Husband picked up the DVD so I could share the fun. And it is fun. I like all of these, along with the Captain America/Thor/Avengers films. What's not to like?

When you watch it, make sure you watch through the end credits.

trailer:

Slant Magazine gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and says,

The series that Favreau began and Black has now brilliantly reconfigured has served to help resurrect the superhero genre in the wake of twin catastrophes Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand, resurrect Downey, an actor of tremendous seduction and force, as a natural leading man, and now resurrect Black as one of Hollywood's most assured and clever hit makers. And yet, the most appealing thing about Iron Man 3 is its ambitions to not merely resurrect, but reinvent the nature of such elementally safe entertainments.

Salon.com says,

The third and purportedly last of Robert Downey Jr.’s adventures as the armor-clad but increasingly vulnerable Tony Stark features one of Downey’s most nuanced performances, arguably a lot better than the movie around him, and keeps him separated from the physical and emotional protection of the Iron Man suit for extended periods.

Moria didn't much care for it, pointing out the betrayal of comic book canon. Slate says, "Iron Man 3 has jettisoned both thoughtfulness and credibility to fulfill its contractual quota of kabooms." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics rating of 78%.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a fantasy/drama movie from 2012. Hard to summarize, the film is about a little southern Louisiana girl called "Hushpuppy" who lives in an isolated island community with her father, who is ill. The Younger Son didn't stay through our viewing, and The Husband was distinctly unimpressed. I found it intriguing. I'd recommend it for anybody who enjoys a touch of magical realism.

trailer:

It won the Camera d'Or at Cannes. Slant Magazine gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and says, "Hushpuppy's struggle to determine her place in the world, to understand the repercussions of her words and actions, to distinguish between the real and the fantasy, drives the film and propels it toward ecstasy." Rolling Stone gives it 4 out of 4 stars and says "it creates a world to get lost in, a world of beauty, terror and mythic wonder." EW says it's "a thing of beauty and originality — and for that, sustained huzzahs are in order" and gives it a grade of A.

Slate doesn't care for it, saying, "It’s nothing if not original. But that doesn’t mean it’s good." NPR has a mixed review.

Roger Ebert gives it 4 out of 4 stars and says, "Sometimes miraculous films come into being, made by people you've never heard of, starring unknown faces, blindsiding you with creative genius. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is one of the year's best films." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics rating of 86%.

The Case of the Missing Servant

The Case of the Missing Servant is a mystery by Tarquin Hall, the first book in the Vish Puri series. I enjoyed this one and am glad I picked up the 2nd in the series at the same time.

There are several passing mentions I find interesting:

In Puri's office there's "a likeness of Puri's guru, the philosopher-statesman, Chanakya, who lived three hundred years before Christ and founded the arts of espionage and investigation."

There's a sign in his club's library "appealing for funds to replace the club's copy of the collected works of Rabindranath Tagore, which had "most unfortunately and due to unforeseen and regrettable circumstances" been "totally destroyed" by rats."

And a few quotes:

"The similarities between the Indian legal system and the Court of Chancery as described in Dickens' Bleak House were startling."

We're all one breath from this life to the next, only."

"More and more, people's moral compass is turning 180 degrees. So you must be vigilant. Remember what Krishna told Arjuna at the battle of Kurukshetra. "The discharge of one's moral duty supercedes all other pursuits, whether spiritual or material.""

Several times it's pointed out that Sherlock Holmes was a johnny-come-lately to some of the investigative breakthroughs ascribed to him.

from the back of the book:

Meet Vish Puri, India's most private investigator. Portly, persistent, and unmistably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swath through modern India's swindlers, cheats, and murderers.

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri's main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri's resources to investigate. With his team of undercover operatives - Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream - Puri combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago and reveals modern India in all its seething complexity.

Savidge Reads says, "One of the things that I most admired about ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’ was how Hall created a genuinely intriguing mystery that managed to really look at Indian society and how it treats the classes/caste system in many ways." EW gives it an A- and says, "India, captured in all its pungent, vivid glory, fascinates almost as much as the crime itself." NPR opens its review with this:

For an introduction to India's cultural and culinary delights, you might hop a flight to Delhi or book a trip to Mumbai. But to meet the country sans passport free of airport indignities, you could just curl up with the crime novels of Tarquin Hall.

Vish Puri, Hall's opinionated private investigator, is a 50-something Punjabi super sleuth with a fondness for family and food. The mustachioed detective cracks open India's underbelly with a caseload that delves into forbidden love, corruption in Indian cricket and the deadly clash between science and superstition.

Sundowners

The Sundowners is a 1950 Western film starring Robert Preston. I think this one's a bit slow. The new cattle rancher in town isn't welcomed with open arms. People die. Threats are made. Men talk a lot. There's a woman in the kitchen. It's no worse than many, but it's no better either.

via youtube:

TCM has an overview. It doesn't have a critics rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Tea Cup Memories

The other day, I drank Constant Comment tea in one of Mother's cups. These are the cups we always used at her place when we would drink tea or coffee. For years I'd go over to her apartment every Friday morning. We'd have a muffin she had made, drink a cup of Constant Comment tea in one of these cups, and then we'd go to the grocery store together. She got to where she cut back on her muffin eating. I would eat two or three, and she would eat one. Then she would cut them in half and eat one-half. Then she wouldn't finish the half. That is a scary trend and doesn't lead to a happy place.

The pattern is Octagon White Ironstone and seems to have come from Sears, although I don't remember where they got it. So long ago. Many fond memories involving these cups.

Please join the T-Tuesday Parties over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's place.

Memphis Pride

Memphis Pride:



by Al Kapone, Memphis musician. Not really my thing but an interesting history.

Rolando

Rolando:



by Roland Janes, Memphis musician who died 10/13/2013. He was active as a session musician through 1998.