Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

I recently spent a long weekend binging the entire 1st season of SOA, only be to be plagued by nightmares.  Yes, gentle readers, I am that gd delicate.  So I did the sensible thing and realized this show was not going to be for me, went and read the synopsis of all 7 seasons, and realized I hade made the right choice in cutting myself off from SAMCRO.  But don't get me wrong, it is an extremely well-crafted, well-acted and well-written show that combines the best of shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad with a dash of Hamlet and New Jack City.  I just don't have the stomach for those shows that I once had, and I don't feel one bit sad about it.  I highly recommend if you miss those aforementioned shows and have a love of guns, motorcycles and Katy Sagal and Charlie Hunnam.....rrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Managed to finish another book of the PBS Great American Read List , Vonnegut's second novel.  While I didn't love it as much as Slaughterhouse-Five , it definitely laid the groundwork for one of my all-time favorite books.  I don't feel like I have the literary chops to pick apart a Vonnegut novel, but I do like the things his books make me think about: existence, god and lack of belief, the greater world and beyond, meaninglessness.  It sounds very dark, but it's not.  Reading Vonnegut takes me back to the seeking teenager I once was and reminds me that life is never all figured out.  Maybe I need a reminder every now and then. And I have to give my old friend Kurt credit.  He is the only writer that has ever kept me interested beyond the first few pages in anything that could vaguely be called science fiction.  It's almost strange how I admire him and was sad when he died back in 2007.  He was a witty, charming, insane old uncle.  I g...

Few things are more decadent than sitting down in the middle of a work/school day and simply watching a movie.  I did that today with this 80's gem. I never saw this movie as a kid, but I remember seeing the video on MTV for "Live to Tell" about a million and half times, so I kinda sorta thought I knew this movie.  I was wrong.  For starters, it is a friggin true crime story about Bruce Johnston and the criminals that he lead around rural Pennsylvania stealing tractors and committing murder!  It's a fascinating story and reminds you that 40 or so years ago, the world was just as dangerous as it is today.  Something about that reassures me for some dumb reason. This film reminded of a few other things I had forgotten: like what great actors Sean Penn and Christopher Walken are.  And how Sean Penn is handsome in that scary, mean boy kind of way.  Oh, and how Madonna once tried to be an actress a few times.  Man, the 80's were good times!

Just imagine how thrilled I was to learn that one of my fave books by Janet Fitch was adapted into a fantastic indie film directed by Amber Tamblyn!  This film takes a dark and complicated novel and turns it into a thrilling and thoughtful film with brilliant actors.  The book is very clearly set in the early 80's, but the film kind of leaves you guessing about the time period......all you know is it is pre-cell phone!  The colors, the costumes, the landscapes....there's something about that hazy California air that you almost feel like you can reach out and touch.  Also, I've loved Alia Shawkat ever since her role as Pash in "Whip It" (See fave movies post) and only loved her more after her turn as Josie.  This film really makes you think about grief, young love, expectations and resiliency and how we're all just slowly getting there.

In the lead-up to Ethan Hawke's new film, Juliet, Naked , I am spending my time lately on all things Ethan.  It's not hard, you know.  Long-time readers know he is one of my all-time fave mans ! Spent last night watching Born to Be Blue , a biopic about jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker .  It was such a beautiful and heart-breaking film.  The vulnerability of Ethan and costar, Carmen Ejogo , is just lovely.  And of course the story of Baker himself is phenomenal.  Almost makes me want to listen to jazz.  Almost. My hubs even bought the GQ mag that has a feature on Ethan right now for light reading on a work trip I have this week.  I just have to deal with Kylie's rumpus on the front.  (not a fan, sorry) Aaaaand, I don't even want to hear that Ethan simply clicks "like" on all his comments or has his assistant doing it for him when I commented on a scene from Boyhood he broke down a few weeks back.  The fact ...

This was a fantastic film on so many levels.  For one, it's good to see the truth continuing to be told about the Vietnam War.  It's also good to know (reassuring, maybe) that Trump isn't the first awful President this country has had.  And it's beautiful to see Meryl Streep playing Katharine Graham coming into her power as the first woman publisher of an American newspaper.  Her doubts and humility along with her strength and brilliance were so inspiring.  And the scene where she is walking out of the Supreme Court building with women and girls looking up to her as she walks by......well.....let's just say I didn't try to hide my tears. 

My 1st pick off the PBS Great American Read was a pleasure that I easily finished in 2 days.  But now I want to read the sequels to find out what happened to everyone!  And there are so many more books on the PBS list to tackle.....what to do???  Anyhow, this was an engrossing book that was full of so many interesting personalities that it was hard to put down.  And, as I often find in good books, this one is full of stories that are as relevant today as they were in their own time.....in this case over 40 years ago.  I'm just glad I knew enough to understand most of the slang and name-dropping.....I thought I might have a phone a friend a few times there!

Okay, so these are my weekend plans.  And reading plans for the rest of the summer, I suppose.  I've only read 34 of the 100 titles on this list.  I'm gonna try to knock at as many as I can before the show reaches its conclusion and announces the winning book in October.  How many have you read? 

You will probably have to go to the Periodic Table of Synthpop to figure this all out. I know I did.