Tuesday, May 18, 2010
new home
Tuck Goes to Tiffany has been absorbed into my new superblog, Shouted Whispers. See you there!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
books | "more tales of the city"
by armistead maupin. (paperback, 1980)
These are my stories, y'all. I am engrossed in the soap opera of Mary Ann, Michael, and the gang at 28 Barbary Lane. I have even started watching the miniseries in eight-minute chunks on YouTube.
Book two was a breezy romp...that Mary Ann sure knows how to scare up trouble, for an innocent Midwestern girl. Then there is Michael and Jon's tortured on-again, off-again...I guess this is a soap requisite. The real heart of this second collection is the Mona/Mucca/Madrigal thread, which I wouldn't dare bring myself to spoil.
Why was there not a 20th century pop lit seminar in college? This is reading I would've loved being required to do. I remain fascinated by the serial format. I realize it's a long shot, but do any serials still exist? Perhaps they've all been replaced by personal observation columns.
These are my stories, y'all. I am engrossed in the soap opera of Mary Ann, Michael, and the gang at 28 Barbary Lane. I have even started watching the miniseries in eight-minute chunks on YouTube.
Book two was a breezy romp...that Mary Ann sure knows how to scare up trouble, for an innocent Midwestern girl. Then there is Michael and Jon's tortured on-again, off-again...I guess this is a soap requisite. The real heart of this second collection is the Mona/Mucca/Madrigal thread, which I wouldn't dare bring myself to spoil.
Why was there not a 20th century pop lit seminar in college? This is reading I would've loved being required to do. I remain fascinated by the serial format. I realize it's a long shot, but do any serials still exist? Perhaps they've all been replaced by personal observation columns.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
books | "tales of the city"
by armistead maupin. (paperback, 1978)
Whatever happened to newspaper serials? They are like soap operas in book form. It's taken me forever to get to this series, but I had a good time with it, and Maupin makes the stories accessibly timeless. I wonder how close the novelization hews to the original newspaper version, though it seems reasonably tame other than the drug references. And if you overlook some of the brand names, it feels reasonably timeless to me, though I've never been to San Fran. I have the next few books in a box somewhere, so I guess it's about time to dig them out.
Whatever happened to newspaper serials? They are like soap operas in book form. It's taken me forever to get to this series, but I had a good time with it, and Maupin makes the stories accessibly timeless. I wonder how close the novelization hews to the original newspaper version, though it seems reasonably tame other than the drug references. And if you overlook some of the brand names, it feels reasonably timeless to me, though I've never been to San Fran. I have the next few books in a box somewhere, so I guess it's about time to dig them out.
Monday, April 19, 2010
weekend in review
Paddle boats in Forest Park
It's $15 for one hour, and though your legs will get tired, your butt is going to get the worst of things. Paddling faster, by the way, does not affect the speed of the boat. You can putter around Forest Park and troll under bridges to scare joggers, though, and ask them to take your picture.
Maya Cafe
A tiny Mexican cafe in Maplewood. Great house-made salsa, and killer sweet-then-sour margaritas.
Ben Folds at Chaifetz
Fantastic, as always. It was my sister's first Folds concert, and despite some plainly disinterested "this is my free spring concert" students, it was a fun show. We were in the third row, so that went a long way. Chaifetz is too big for that sort of thing, though, and it took some tinkering to get the sound right. Also, he broke something off the piano.
Blues City Deli
Oh, man. Try the Black & Blue. I can't believe I hated blue cheese as a kid. This place was both fast and fantastic.
Citygarden
I have yet to get tired of this place, which is apparently catching on as a picture-taking destination.
Crown Candy
They make a mean malt, and there was quite a Saturday afternoon line, though the to-go queue wasn't too bad. Those tiny booths look off-putting anyway, but I'm told I have to get back sometime for the grilled cheese.
"Kick-Ass" at the Moolah
That little girl is going places, and while I'm completely disinterested in the sequel, it was just tongue-in-cheek enough to work. It was also gross at points, but I'm not up on the genre enough to know whether that comes standard. As for the theater itself, it may be time to refresh the fleet, but it doesn't get much more awesome than kicking back on a nice couch to watch a movie.
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Citygarden is hard to top, but Laumeier was a disappointment on its own merits. If you're planning a senior picnic or something, this is a great spot. But if you're looking for interactivity, skip this and go downtown. I don't have a strong enough art background to appreciate some of this work, but the fawning title cards seemed to have that covered.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
books | "game change: obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, and the race of a lifetime"
by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin. (hardcover, 2010)
If I came across it much later than now, I never would have read it. The strong structure and fantastically salacious in-the-room recaps of the action made its length seem less imposing. It's no more high-minded than the average political tome, and likely a better crash course in national campaigns than a poli sci textbook.
Oral histories can be delectable, especially so in this case where all the contributors anonymously torpedoed the landscape. Taking the caricatures with a grain of salt, and considering the known outcome of the story, my central question is: does Obama come off so well because he is the total package and was destined to win the election, or is that how everyone remembers it going down because that was the eventual outcome?
If I came across it much later than now, I never would have read it. The strong structure and fantastically salacious in-the-room recaps of the action made its length seem less imposing. It's no more high-minded than the average political tome, and likely a better crash course in national campaigns than a poli sci textbook.
Oral histories can be delectable, especially so in this case where all the contributors anonymously torpedoed the landscape. Taking the caricatures with a grain of salt, and considering the known outcome of the story, my central question is: does Obama come off so well because he is the total package and was destined to win the election, or is that how everyone remembers it going down because that was the eventual outcome?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
books | "tasteland"
by aaron barnhart. (paperback, 2010)
My favorite TV critic went through fifteen years of features and columns and edited the best into this collection. It's a timeline of recent television history, from the mid-'90s to this year's late night debacle. In part two, Barnhart lists his favorite 100 series and specials in his time on the beat.
Barnhart's writing style and wholehearted embrace of the Internet were what drew me to his work eleven years ago, and they are on full display here. For TV junkies, it's totally worth the $12.
My favorite TV critic went through fifteen years of features and columns and edited the best into this collection. It's a timeline of recent television history, from the mid-'90s to this year's late night debacle. In part two, Barnhart lists his favorite 100 series and specials in his time on the beat.
Barnhart's writing style and wholehearted embrace of the Internet were what drew me to his work eleven years ago, and they are on full display here. For TV junkies, it's totally worth the $12.
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