The Return of the Me

Back today. My apologies for missing last Friday–I was off in Bangor discussing cataloging standards with like-minded librarians. And if that doesn’t sound like the most fascinating thing in the world, then . . . you’re probably not that into cataloging. 🙂

My Trip to Bangor was an eventful one, though. I actually went to a mall that felt pretty much like a mall ought to–there aren’t that many of them here in Maine. It’s not that I miss malls, but it does help one feel like one is in the Civilized World. I also dropped by LL Bean’s outlet while I was there, which was also exciting. Bangor’s about an hour and a half drive there, and so I had plenty of time to listen to my iPod, too–which is more fun than you’d think it would be. The weather was great, the traffic non-existent . . . it was a good day.

Which is good, since I went back to Bangor Sunday for a church meeting. Seriously–is anyone out there interested in becoming Mormon, just so I can boost our church numbers enough that we can make a big meeting house closer to home here? For those of you now “in the know,” Mormon churches (wards) are organized into clusters (stakes), and you have to periodically go to meetings at the stake-level. This is all fine and dandy when you live in Utah and your stake is a block away. When it’s an hour and a half away, it becomes a tad less cool. Not that I really mind–the truthfulness of a church’s doctrine doesn’t really have much to do with its geographical location, as far as I’m concerned–but I wouldn’t mind a bit of a reduction in commuting times, now and then.

In other news, I’m working on a Groundhog Day book more intensely now (as a bridge to get me from here to whenever the agent gets back to me on ParkerBoy–I’ve gotta do something to keep busy). Progress on that is going very well, although I kind of doubt it would ever be marketable. Just how many groundhog fanatics are there, anyway?

And because I haven’t updated ya’ll regularly, I wanted to make sure you were aware that I’m still watching teh moveeze. Just haven’t had the time to tell you which ones. I shall now rectify that situation:

The Love Bug–Watched this with the Fam on Saturday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A possessed VW Beetle takes a liking to a failed race car driver, and crazy hijinks ensue. Of course, I’d seen it before, but I’d forgotten just how good it is. Any time you can sit and watch Buddy Hackett make a slew of funny expressions, you know you’re in for a treat. Maybe I’m just a sucker for nostalgia, but I’m giving this puppy a strong three stars.

The Counterfeiters–This was the film to win Best Foreign Picture at the Oscars last year. Austrian, and absolutely fantastic. Four stars. It’s based on the true story of a group of Jews in the Holocaust who were forced to try to counterfeit the Pound and the Dollar for the Germans. I’m not one for Holocaust movies, as a rule–too depressing. And this one didn’t exactly make me start whistling for joy, but it was very well done, and presented the Holocaust in a way that connected with me more than some other films had done in the past–even better than Schindler’s List for me, in some ways. I think it’s because it was so horrific that my mind shut off–it was just terrible enough that I could actually comprehend what the characters were going through. Does that make sense? I recommend this movie as strongly as possible, but do be aware that it’s fairly brutal at times. Definitely earned its R rating.

The Man with Two Brains–Watched this one in an effort to round out my Steve Martin oeuvre. A brain surgeon falls in love with a disembodied telepathic brain and has to find a body for the brain to inhabit before it’s too late. Disappointing, really. There were some good laughs here and there, but it wasn’t nearly the masterpiece of The Jerk. Oh well. Still probably two stars. Maybe one and a half, if I’m being honest.

Grindhouse–Tarantino and Rodriguez’s double feature (consisting of Planet Terror and Death Proof). Also a bit disappointing. In general, I’m a Tarantino fan, but he let me down a tad with Death Proof. A little bit too much “real” dialogue, and not quite enough real plot. Still worth seeing–three stars–but really only if you’re into grindhouse movies or Tarantino films. Which I’m betting the majority of my readers aren’t. Oh well.

That’s all I can think of for now that I’ve seen. And that’s all the time I have for today to blog. So until tomorrow, faithful readers, au revoir.