Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 Another rabbit hole journey that began due to my love of Amy Irving. And of course, of course, the novel is much better than the miniseries, but it's still a decent watch (even though the ending is flub too....of course).  This miniseries was shown in 1984, but of course, I was too young to care about that way back then! So.  Back to Amy Irving.  Yes, she was an American woman in "brown face" and yes times have changed.  Thankfully.  But her huge, beautiful green eyes and calm steady voice can't be denied.  I have loved her ever since Crossing Delancey and Micki & Maude (another film that probably wouldn't get made today). The mini series was such a big part of television back in the 80's.  It could take a long novel based on an extremely complicated political situation ( the British Raj ) and turn it into an entertaining 5 hour film delivered in watchable segments.  This was actually the first HBO miniseries too.  For my taste, th...

 As the summer rolls to nearly a close, I continue to add to my ambitions.   I know everyone does different things on their whiteboards, but I like to add my plans for reading and watching.  Something catches my attention, I go down a rabbit hole, decide I need to learn more and it gets added.  I can't speak for folks trying to solve equations or crimes though. And I also can't quite explain how Drugstore Cowboy showing up on my Tubi got me to researching the indie film Paris, Texas or how Amy Irving got me to The Roches which lead me to discovering Laura Nyro and Judie Tzukie and how I think I've heard their names mentioned in other songs like maybe the awesome local band Pullover and realizing I need to update my kid's playlists so he doesn't get burnt out on the same Yacht Rock and how could I have never watched Helter Skelter and did all of the Manson family members die in prison yet?????

  This fresh and well-researched take on the representation of high schoolers in movies had me watching clips of "Rebel Without a Cause" and thinking about how much I still love Regina King and Morris Chestnut.  This book respects the actors, the writers, and the genre all the while continually noting the cultural changes to the lives of teenagers and the reasons why Andy Hardy and Katniss Everdeen could never hang. And speaking of wild teenagers, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one.  Should this girl be punished? For sure.  For murder?  Definitely not.  This doc reminded me of my time on jury duty when we were instructed that we didn't have to "like" the defendants.....we simply had to weigh the facts fairly.  I wish these kids would learn that their social media bragging will never do them any favors later, but hell......would they ever listen? Goat is funny and cute and has a great message for kids.  It also has completely over-the...

 I went to the library this past week and remembered how much I loved it.  Just sitting there, staring up at its gorgeous skylight windows.  I love those windows. I wondered how many times I've come back here when life has let me down.   I forgot how much I loved sitting among people....just sitting with a quiet hum and bustle around me.  Complete safety, no expectations, no need to move or talk or even smile.  No need to spend energy or money.  Just being.  I indulged in the joy of perusing the stacks. I looked at and picked up books I will probably never read. I imagined lives I will never live, places I will never go.   I watched people, young and old.  People like me who count the library as their "third place" .  People who can come back and feel at home no matter how long they've been gone.  The library always welcomes you back.  It doesn't remind you of your mistakes.  The doors open and you immediate...

 I never had strong feelings one way or another about Gina Gershon until I watched "Showgirls" (which I loved, btw) and now I tend to find her fascinating. This book is one of those memoirs for a particular time and difficulty in one's life, specifically a span of several weeks in which Gina's cat goes missing, that also explains a lot about her life and personality in general.  It's funny, enlightening, ridiculous and witty.....am I talking about the book or Gina herself?  Who cares?  It's def worth your time and definitely worth the audio read of Gina's voluptuous voice and nutty impersonations.   I've also never had very strong feelings toward Carly Simon, except for the fact that she was married to James Taylor of course. But in my vague preschool sense of the 1970's, I believe I definitely see and hear her in my mind's eye....always wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and even wider smile.   But this is one of those memoirs that absolutely tran...

(A re-share from 2018 that I hope some interested parties will read, enjoy and think about.....) Definitely not a book I would typically choose, but I'm so glad I did!  This book made me want to study evolution and ancient humankind like never before.  I'm still debating about watching the film from 1986 starring Daryl Hannah , but I worry that it might ruin the beautiful book.  I'll get back to you on that.  (FYI, as a means to understanding, I was glad I found this funny little article to differentiate between the Neaderthals and Cro-Mags....not the band, that is.) This is the last book I was able to finish off the PBS list before the fall series began.  I may go back to the list again later, but who knows?  I ended with 39 of the 100 books and probably about 10 or so that I started and didn't finish.  And I hate to be "one of those people" but don't even get me started on all the wonderful books the list left off.  Of course, to any true...

So I did end up watching the film after reading the book , and I was pretty pleased with it.  This could have so easily been a completely hokey movie, but it was actually presented with taste and tact......even when some of the subject matter was difficult. Released in 1986 , this film featured the beautiful Daryl Hannah, who at that time was mainly known for Ron Howard's Splash.  (Incidentally, a childhood fave of mine.)  And while it's hard to watch with a sensibility of modern times, the clan mores of female subservience are treated as well as they can be.  And the female heroism and stoicism are lessons for any time period.  I really didn't stress enough in my original review just how empowering this novel and film are.  Just what stops Ayla?  Unforgiving rules of gender?  Male dominance and rape?  Unflinching fear?  Being considered weird and ugly by her cohorts?  Nope.  None of the above.  It's as much a lesson ...

 So.  We had a pretty prolific snowstorm here in North Carolina in late January.  I cooked, I read, napped, journaled and watched a lot of streaming services! This fascinating documentary, set in Providence, Rhode Island, is a timely and sophisticated look at modern consumerism, gentrification, gorilla art, underground music and city politics.   I only watched about 20 minutes of this before I pulled the plug because it that amount of time, it seemed to me, that this film would do whatever it takes to shock, titillate and pretty much gross the viewer the hell out. I'm no prude, but I didn't see it getting any better.  Even with its stellar cast. It kinda reminded me of the shitty overhyped Hollywood from a few years back. It could have been a great series.  The cast and the subject matter almost guaranteed it.  But like Babylon it was trying so hard to shock that it failed to be engaging.  I bailed on this one after just one episode I think. ...

 

 Cameron Crowe is not a grown-up man.  He has never been married. Or divorced.  He's not a father.  He's never raised his voice or cursed in traffic. He's still a virgin.  He still calls his mom every night. He's never tried drugs or even had a taste of liquor. He's a boy.  A sweet, sweet teenage boy. And this memoir, which dives into everything you think you know about Crowe, actually gives you a heartbreak all the while leaving you with a bit of a happy-sad feeling.  Hmmm.  The more I think about it, that happy-sad feeling is about the best way to describe a Cameron Crowe film.  The family sitch is not all that relatable (although I do see a little of myself in his mother, Alice) but the drive to be a writer and to be close to music sure is. When he talked about seeing his byline in Creem for the first time, I teared up a little. When he remembered his excitement from his early interviews with Kris Kristofferson and Glenn Frey, I felt that ...

 This non-fiction book focusing on case studies out of Atlanta could be your city and could definitely be mine.  It could be you and it could be me.  It's riveting, it's sad and it's atrocious.  It's the best and most necessary social-economic commentary I've seen in a long time. I've told many people that this book is the Nickel and Dimed of our time but instead of focusing on the wage crisis, this one is looking at the affordable housing crisis.  Doesn't affect you?  Think again.  It effects us all, but it desperately hurts a certain few.  And I hope to whatever god you believe in that if you still don't understand white privilege and the long-term effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws, that at least you have a better education after spending time here.   It will also make you never look at an extended-stay hotel the same again.  

I really dug his first book with James Patterson , and I like this one pretty good too.  The only problem with this one is that I'm listening to it as an audiobook, and I don't dig all the voices.  A real first-world problem, I know.  And it's always kind of interesting to see how Bill is kind of spelling out how he sees himself in the world, or rather, how he wants to be seen.   This book by Rax King, on the other hand, makes it quite a joy to listen to her lovely voice as she reads her own, sometimes boring sometimes scary, escapades as a teenager and young adult.  Her full chapter on Creed makes the entire book with the read. For television viewing, I did enjoy the History Channel series of Thomas Jefferson, but got a little bored by the FDR episodes.  And that shocked me as I love FDR!  Something about the presentation and the actor portraying him looking a little too much like Kevin Spacey methinks. And even though I didn't see ANY of his mov...

 I liked Hole well enough back in the day, but never knew much about their personnel.  So I didn't really understand the mighty might of Patty Schemel. Again, you can't beat listening to this as an audiobook.  Patty's voice, her deadpan delivery and somewhat deadpan view of this time in her life sets a real mood that will take you straight back to the cold blue greys of 90's rock.   And just like Kathleen Hanna's book , this memoir offers up opinions on Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, which will make you feel some kind of way toward both of them.  The thing I most hated was realizing that Kurt taught Patty how to fix.  It's not shocking....but it is still sad.  It's amazing that Patty lived through all this.  And anyone who studies rock stars will often say that, but that realization is VERY true with Patty.  She brushed up against death and tragedy way too many times.   I finished this memoir and went back and watched video of ...

 It's almost a damn shame how much I love ragging S&TC nowadays.  But I think that was my favorite part of Susan Seidelman's memoir.....her discussion of her involvement in the HBO mega-hit.  She directed the pilot and also two of my favorite first season episodes: The Power of the Female Sex and The Baby Shower.  That was when that show was fun and unique.  Later even Susan recognized it as becoming tone-deaf and out of touch.   I also liked hearing her stories about Lower East Side Manhattan in the late 70's and early 80's.  It's one of my fave historical times of NYC for its creativity and grit.  When I was a kid I didn't understand how the different neighborhoods and boroughs of NYC worked.....I just thought it was funny how different the places looked in films.  Her effort to keep the Lower East Side and the "dirtier" life of New York was so much more real and entertaining than the glossier films of the city. Probably her bigges...

 As an older single gal, I get advice from well-meaning people all the time.  Of all that advice and observation, I think this might be one of the few books that really spoke to me. Jane Juska did something revolutionary back in 2001.  She wrote a book about being an older single woman who still wanted to have sex.  The book was called "A Round-Heeled Woman" and it was powerful. Imagine that! Then she followed up with this book which more about how RHW came to be and what came after. There are so many things I love about Jane.  She is real and unapologetic.  Modern but also rooted in polite tradition.  I think I see myself in women like this.  We understand what our current times are all about, but we still miss some old-fashioned tropes. I love how Jane laments a man she's in love with even though she knows she shouldn't be.  I love how she's not willing to give up exactly what she wants in a relationship.  I love how she's still a roma...

 If you're not sure who Mike Nichols is, chances are you have enjoyed at least one of his films.  I'll wait here while you check IMDB. Mike Nichols as a director, comedian, actor, and person......each embodiment is fascinating.  He is a man who has presented his foibles, triumphs, failures and sensibilities to his audiences with each performance. In listening to his story on audiobook (which I highly recommend for the unpretentious tone of the reader) I was intrigued by his early story of Jewish immigration to America, trying to fit in as a boy without hair and eyebrows, and how he navigated his own feelings about his parents and his new country. I had NO idea who Nichols and May were and IMMEDIATELY had to go back and watch their old sketches.   I was immediately jealous because I have tried to create a heterosexual writing partnership for years and have never been able to make it happen. I also loved the honesty of this book in addressing Mike's downfalls........