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Monday, October 12, 2009

Task #91 - Pretty dress night


My friend Patty had a "girls-only-and-a-dress-is-a-must" birthday celebration this weekend. Only two boys were allowed to come (although they weren't forced to wear dresses, unforch). We had dinner at Mambo and then mamboed our way over to Foundation. Although we never went to an actual martini bar, I had martinis at dinner, so task #91 is deemed complete! Great birthday Patty!!


Lindsay
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Task #25 - 10 of the 1001 Books I Must Read Before I Die

#1: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Although I started this book before I started my 101 list, it totally deserves to be one of my 10 books given that it took what felt like a lifetime to read. I totally enjoyed the book except for the 30% of the story where the Count and his two young friends are enjoying the Carnivale in Italy. I felt there was way too much time spent here. Franz barely makes an apperance in the remainder of the story so I honestly don't know why he was made such an important character in Italy. Anyway, great book. I would recommend it to anyone who has the attention span to get through it (I had to look up a list of this book's characters to remind myself of who everyone was!). P.S. DO NOT watch the 2002 movie of the same name if you're looking for an accurate account of this novel.

#2: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky - First off, having a good translation of this book was really important. The translation I had made the book feel as thought it was written by an English writer. This helps given that each character has about 5 different names depending on to whom they are speaking. A poorer translation would have made the book very hard to follow. That being said, I liked the turmoil and building insanity of the main character but I didn't like the side anecdotes that less important characters would ramble on about. I suppose this was to add to the “going crazy” effect. Also, very important characters would have a huge role for half the book and then completely disappear for the rest of the story. I'm guessing whoever was important to the murderer at the time would stick around in the story. Anyway, the book was so-so. Despite the great translation I struggled just to finish it. I'm glad I read it though.

#3: The Awakening by Kate Chopin - I really get a kick out of the fact that Kate Chopin's story about a woman who ignores her social responsibilities (i.e. not participating in her Tuesday visits from guests... gasp... going out during the day - ALONE... double gasp) apparently ruined her career. I loved the overall story. What sucked though was that the whole book sends a great message about not caring about keeping up appearances (for example, surviving with just ONE servant) and doing what you love (such as taking up something as wild and crazy as painting) but then the writer undoes all of that with a totally lame ending. Edna goes through the entire book getting down with her bad self and then commits suicide because she can't be with some guy she spent a summer with. Way too dramatic!

#4: Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence - I loved, loved, loved (loved x 100) this book. I seem to always enjoy these kind of classic, sleepy novels that go on and on about old-time tradition and "passionate" love affairs (by "passionate" I mean a boy courting a girl for years before even daring a kiss). The main character, Paul Morel, annoyed me with the way he treated one of his "lovers" by running back to her constantly after he has a tiff with his second “lover”, her saying "Okay, here you are, let's get back together again." and he'd be all like "No" and take off. He kept doing it over and over and this girl kept putting up with it. Also, Paul Morel and his mother's devotion to each other was a bit creepy, and I thought that Mrs. Morel needed to chill the hell out like 90% of the time. At the end of the day though I loved the book and I plan on reading a few more novels by D. H. Lawrence!

#5: King Solomon's Mines by Sir H. Rider Haggard - I was bit surprised to see a giant foreword in this book dedicated to bashing the 1980s movies “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold.” The foreword author called the movie not only a huge insult to the book and its author, but the African nation as well. While I don't remember everything about the movies, I can agree that the book’s main character, Allan Quatermain, is nothing like what Richard Chamberlain played. The book was very pleasant one and a good old fashioned adventure. I plan on reading the next book, "Allan Quatermain."

1001 Before You Die

Task #71 - Movies A to Z

A for All About Steve - I want my $10 and those 2 hours of my life back. Enough said.

B for The Breakup - I enjoyed this one, and I love that I said "YEAH!" to a lot of Jennifer Aniston's complaints... oh you men!

C for Capitalism: A Love Story - For whatever reason I love Michael Moore movies. This one wasn't quite as captivating as his other films but it was still interesting. It started to get a bit slow in the middle but eventually picked up when the topic moved to Obama getting voted in and kicking some economy ass.

D for Dreamgirls - This movie wasn't TOO bad despite being a musical and having an uber-cheesy ending. I doubt very much I would ever be willing to watch this one again.

E for Easy A - This movie was funny, although I'm pretty sure anyone who was suspected of prostituting themselves on school grounds would likely get into a wee bit of trouble. Emma Stone was hilarious! I found myself laughing out loud at the theatre, which doesn't happen too often.

F for The Firm - My favourite Tom Cruise movie is still and will always be A Few Good Men.

G for The Ghostwriter - I have wanted to see this movie since it was in theatres and I'm glad I finally got to see it. Not that it had an extremely crazy plot or anything, but it was a pretty good suspense movie. The twist in the end was pretty predictable, but I did not see the very end coming. Not bad! The only awful thing about it was Kim Cattrall's acting and British accent. Hideous.

H for The Hurt Locker - This movie is totally worth seeing and is as good as everyone says it is. I was on the edge for all of the suspenseful moments and I didn't notice any lulls in the plot. In fact the movie ended at about 11:30 p.m.; for any other movie I probably would have fallen asleep (see Surrogates). See this one!!

I for Invictus - This movie was okay. If you don't know the history behind Nelson Mandela's election and the aftermath, you'll find yourself lost. White South Africans versus black South Africans, different flags, different anthems, different languages etc. Morgan Freeman was cute as hell though and totally pulled at my heart strings playing the nice old president who just wanted everyone to get along. Unforch I thought Matt Damon was pretty forgettable. Overall the movie was so-so. It wasn't Clint Eastwood's best movie ever, but it certainly wasn't as bad as Gran Torino, which ranks high up there on the list of the worst movies I've ever seen.

K for Knight and Day - I loved this movie! No matter what people say about Tom Cruise, I still think he is a great actor and does the comedy/action thing like nobody else.

L for The Last Station - I watched this movie during a flight from Buenos Aires to Washington. It recounts the final months of Leo Tolstoy's life during which his wife Soyfa discovers he has willed all of his money and works to Russia, and she's pissed! This was all after the creation of the Tolstoyan Movement which was all about giving up possessions, sex and living off the grid. Christopher Plummer was great, but I seriously can't believe that guy is still alive. He was like 40 when the Sound of Music was made in 1965. Actually, that only makes him about 85. The guy looks like it's 100. Sorry Chris! James McAvoy was good (and cute as a button) but Helen Mirran was of course the best in her role as dramatic yet devoted Sofya. I really enjoyed this one!

M for The Men Who Stare At Goats - This movie was absolutely awful. I don't like George Clooney all that much and this movie definitely confirmed why. I always find his movies really pretentious. Save yourself the time and money and never see this movie, EVER! Boooorrrring!

N for National Lampoon's Van Wilder - Pro: Ryan Reynolds naked, a lot. Cons: Tara Reid and eclairs. Enough said.

O for Out of Africa - I've always wanted to see this one. I'm not a big Meryl Streep fan but she was quite good in this movie. The story was enjoyable and the shots of Africa were amazing. It is apparently based on the true story of a writer, so it would probably be worth checking out one of her novels.

P for Precious - After hearing all the hype surrounding this movie I decided to go see it. The young actress who played Precious, Gabby Sidibe, was very good, as was Mo'Nique, who played the mother. It was a tough story that was pretty sobering and afterwards had me rolling over thanking my lucky stars that I have it so good. I also heard a lot of fuss surrounding Mariah Carey's performance in this movie; she is in it for a total of 5 minutes and the only thing notable is that she doesn't have her usual 20 lbs of makeup on. I'm sure that was quite a feat for Mariah to undertake! Anyway, I highly recommend this movie if you aren't sensitive about seeing and hearing about physical and sexual abuse. The only downside is that the 80's/Harlem slang was so heavy that I sometimes had trouble understanding what some people were saying.

R for Reign Over Me - I find it a bit hard to see Adam Sandler as a serious actor, but I guess he did alright in this movie. I really want one of those scooters.

R#2 for Rumble Fish - I already had an R movie but thought this one was worth posting about. This movie was so weird it was good. Another plus was to see how Mickey Rourke looked pre-horrifying transformation. WHAT THE HELL MICKEY?!

R#3 for The Road - I don't know what's with me and R movies, but I keep watching them and then wanting to post about them. I went this movie today and was a bit disappointed. I totally loved the book, which was slow going like the movie, but somehow so much more gripping. The screenplay version kind of added more to the plot on how everything burned, but not enough to justify changing the story. Also, there was no point at all in Charlize Theron being in the movie and I found her character whiney and annoying. The whole thing was kind of a bore. Read the book, but skip the movie!

S for Surrogates - This movie was enjoyable. Unfortunately we rented it late at night so I was awake for only the first and last 10 minutes. But it was good the second time around when I watched it again (in its entirety) the next day. I really liked Bruce Willis' creepy young face.. amazing!

S#2 for A Single Man - Although my "S" is already taken, I had to add my comments on this one. I don't know if I was just in a weepy mood that day or what, but I watched this movie and was cyring during about 60% of it. Colin Firth plays a teacher whose boyfriend died 8 months before and who plans on living one final day before committing suicide. What made me so sad were the flashbacks of his relationship with his boyfriend and their special moments together; it made my heart ache so much. Colin Firth’s acting was totally amazing (I think he was up for best actor for this movie), and the fact that he’s amazingly hot doesn’t hurt. Also way high up there on the hotness scale is the boyfriend, Matthew Goode. This movie is really worth watching, not just for the story but the use of colour. The picture colour is generally washed out and only really brightens up when the main character experiences something that makes him feel alive again, even for a short moment. Very cool!

T for The Two Escobars - I watched this documentary on ESPN the other day, and it was really excellent. It discussed the connection between the most famous drug baron of all time, Pablo Escobar, and the greateet Columbian soccer player of all time, Andres Escobar. Despite there being no family relation, these two guys were irextricabley entwined. Once Pablo Escobar was murdered in 1993, Columbia pretty much went to hell in a handbasket (well, even more so) and following an own goal made at the 1994 World Cup, Andres Escobar was murdered by drug lords who had lost a lot of "Narco-Soccer" money thanks to this innocent mistake.

U for Up In The Air - I usually don't enjoy George Clooney movies; I feel any movie he stars in always has a suave Ocean's Eleven-type feel that for whatever reason doesn't appeal to me. This movie wasn't exciting or gripping by any means. In fact it had a pretty boring plot. Despite this, however, I actually enjoyed it. It was a slow movie, yet there were no slow moments. Does that make sense? No. But was it good? Yes. Not best-picture-of-the-year good, but good.

W for When We Were Kings - This was a pretty good documentary. I loved Muhamed Ali's loud mouth and George Foreman's loud 70's clothing.

Z for Zombieland - It was a lovely, sunny afternoon and I really had a hankering for blood and gore, so of course Zombieland jumped right off the Rogers on Demand screen. I wasn't disappointed! It wasn't bad. I normally don't go for the "nerd becomes a hero" type movies, but the stomach-churning scenes of zombies puking blood and eating flesh somehow made it all worthwhile. I loved Bill Murray too; he's such a good sport!

On My Read-ar

(Books read in 2010 that don't fall under the 1001 Before You Die list)

Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone by Martin Dugard - Just the other day I was in Chapters looking for a book for my boyfriend's dad for Christmas. I saw this one and considered it, but then put it back on the shelf since Neil's father is quite the traveler and has likely read at least 3 books on this story. I looked at it again though and thought it was something I might enjoy myself, so I bought it. I bring this book home and start reading it. I finished it in one day. I seriously could not put it down. This book is an accurate account of the explorer Dr. David Livingstone who traveled through Africa looking for the source of the Nile (among other things) in the mid-1800s. He leaves for one of his treks and after no one hears from him for 4 years or so, the New York Herald sends a reporter in to find him. This book flowed more like an adventure novel than a history book. The things these explorers encountered ranged from cannibals to arab wars to deathly illnesses. After reading about these guys going blind from Malaria (new tidbit: Malaria is Italian for bad air - mal aria), I'll think twice about whining over my next cough and cold! READ THIS BOOK!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See - I would normally overlook a book like this at the book store given that I normally go for classics or history books, but my neighbour suggested I read it. It was a phenomenal book. The story is about the trials and tribulations of women in 1800s China including their status in each household and what is expected of them in terms of child bearing and pleasing their husbands. The book follows two girls who have been matched as "old sames" and their close (or not so close) relationship throughout their lives. Most interesting was the portion of the book on foot binding and how the small size of your "golden lilies" could mean the difference between poverty and riches.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams - I downloaded this book onto my Kindle because it was free. I'm pretty sure I read it when I was a kid but wanted to read it again, just for kicks. Big mistake. I was seriously bawling my eyes out as I read it, which was a little awkward because I was on a plane at the time. This book is one of the sweetest, most lovely books I've ever read. I cannot wait to have kids and read it to them!