Somusing

Kristen Bell, the star of the TV show Veronica Mars (which I love), is the main character in this movie. Unfortunately, it's pretty stupid. If I ignore the story, there are some amusing characters and funny lines, but it's hard to ignore the story. Oh, well. Watched it streaming on Netflix.

We home school our kids. There was a year or so when we sent the three oldest boys to a private school for a few hours a week and this year, Zed is enrolled in a few classes at the high school (choir; driver's ed; seminary, which doesn't count as public school in my opinion; and band, which he is kind of auditing). But they are basically home schooled. I plan to send them to college as home schooled kids, with a few extra classes from the high school under their belts. I've skimmed a couple of books on home schooling teenagers but hadn't found anything particularly inspiring until this book , which is fantastic. I loved it! Except for a brief introduction intended for parents, Boles addresses teenagers directly and assumes they're interested in making their own decisions and following their dreams. In fact, while the information in the book is helpful to those who are already home schooled, he's openly trying to persuade high school kids to leave school and ...

This is kind of a famous book in the Mormon community--probably everyone has heard the parable of the bicycle--but I don't read a lot of LDS books, so I hadn't read it until now. Its reputation is well-deserved--it's excellent . Carefully and clearly written, with plenty of scriptural support and some good stories, It's not difficult reading at all, but profound concepts are well-explained. I'm adding it to my Required Reading list (which only exists in my head, but maybe I'll write it down someday).

I loved, loved, loved this TV show . The best thing about it is the character of Veronica. I think she's 17 in the beginning episodes of the show (maybe even 16), and she's one of the smartest TV characters I've ever seen. She's not just private eye smart (she's the daughter of the local P.I./former sheriff and does her own sleuthing on the side); she's also relationship smart. And when was the last time you saw a TV show character who wasn't a total idiot about relationships? I finally stopped watching Grey's Anatomy because I couldn't stand the retardation of pretty much every character. (oops! I accidentally slept with so-and-so! i must do everything possible to keep what's-her-name from finding out! that is the best thing for our relationship!) There's a reason I don't watch daytime soaps. (And mostly that reason is that the plots proceed at a snail's pace, but also, it's the stupid relationship stuff.) I'm not saying...

There is no way I'm going to remember the title of this . I'm just calling it the Owl movie. Anyway, I wasn't excited to see this, but it was the choice of my three youngest. Turned out to be in 3D, so it was our first 3D movie in a theater! I'm actually kind of impressed with the 3D stuff, although it's a pain to wear the 3D glasses over my regular glasses. So, it's a nice-looking movie and the story's okay, though there are elements of other famous movies therein, like the mentor's voice telling the main character to "use his gizzard" (I'm not kidding) in pretty much exactly the same way Obi Wan tells Luke to use the force. And at least once, flying owls looked and sounded like those famous battle ships from Star Wars. But for a kid movie that features owls, it was pretty good. Also, the owls looked very much like owls, with several different species represented, in spite of their human expressions. I'm considering having the kids...

Yes, I watched the TV show The Incredible Hulk when I was a kid, and I liked it. I didn't have high hopes for the movie , but I was still kinda disappointed. It was great seeing Lou Ferrigno in a cameo, and there was one scene where Bruce Banner is sitting by a tree while the original, melancholy theme song played, which I enjoyed. But seriously, how are we supposed to empathize with a giant, computer-generated Hulk? No thanks. Lou Ferrigno in his green paint and weird contacts was sympathetic, but a big cartoon is not. Edward Norton is a pretty good actor, though. And it was fun to see the Lie to Me guy, Tim Roth, as the bad guy, although his super muscular torso in one scene was obviously make-up.

Several months ago, I went through a new and different phase. I'll call it my Korean Drama phase because that's what it was. My friend Veronica wrote to me on Facebook and said, "You should try a Korean drama. They're usually only about 20 episodes long and like a Spanish-language soap opera, but clean." This sounded weird to me--I had never watched a Spanish soap opera and I had no interest in anything Asian--but I was a fan of Hulu and it turns out there are several Korean dramas (subtitled in English) available there. Veronica recommended I start with a show called Pasta , and thus it began. Pasta is about a girl who works in the kitchen of a high-end Italian restaurant. There are some fun cooking scenes and assistant chefs yelling, "Yes, Chef!" There are also some quirky, funny characters. It's mostly a romance, though. I'll warn you that, according to wikipedia and this show, it's typical for Korean dramas to feature a sweet girl fa...

I would like so much to enjoy the Temperance Brennan novels as much as I do the TV show, but I don't. I can't even remember what Bare Bones was about, except that it's not the one about the motorcycle gang. I think. Anyway. I found it entertaining, but just barely.

Here's another movie that got lame reviews that I liked pretty well. Of course, the Wyoming characters were stereotypes, but there was some familiar stuff that made me chuckle. For example, it's true that in small towns, a lot of people work several jobs. Also, it's a nice story about a married couple figuring out how to get past their troubles and mistakes, and for once, the mistakes and troubles seem realistic instead of completely retarded and baffling. I liked it.

Seems like this got generally bad reviews, but I liked it. For one thing, it's almost entirely clean. One point. For another, it's not set in New York City. Two points. Third, it's set somewhere crazy cold just like Teton Valley, Idaho. Three points. It really is different living in a place where snow and ice rule for half the year, and I thought this movie captured it pretty well. Sure, the story was pretty formulaic, but the setting and characters made it fun. (And no, I don't actually have a grand point scheme for movies.)

I picked up this memoir of a former restaurant critic on a whim at the library. Much of it is detailed, self-centered reminiscences about the author's relationship with food and his weight throughout his life, probably only interesting as far as you can relate directly to his struggles (many of which I could not). Probably good that it's out there for some readers. There is great stuff about his mother's cooking habits that I related to: if there are four baked potatoes left after a huge meal for extended family, does that mean some people didn't take one because they thought there weren't enough to go around? Must make more next time! My favorite part of the book is the last part, after Bruni has settled at a good weight (through plenty of exercise and portion control). He becomes the restaurant critic for the New York Times , and his account of what that job entails is fascinating.

Ivy told me this was not a good movie, but we watched it anyway. There are some very funny parts. Very funny. The idea of a world where nobody lies is interesting and provides some great humor. But that kind of world would look so much different than the one we know, and how it might be different isn't well-explored. There are a couple of stabs at it, but they don't make any sense to me. (Why would total honesty produce a bunch of people who value genetically ideal mates? Or is it supposed to be our society if suddenly everyone told nothing but the truth? No, that's not it, either.) Anyway, definitely some hilarity, but I'm not sure it's worth the time.

This was not great, but the kids liked it.

It's well worth seeing Inception in a theater, and if there were any IMAX theaters 'round these parts, I'd go see it again in one of those. (Is it worth a trip to Salt Lake, do you think? Hmmm... something to think about.) The cinematography and special effects are gorgeous, and there's a little Fun with M.C. Escher that was delightful. As far as I know, nobody's messed with M.C. Escher in a movie before, but that's only as far as I know, which isn't very far. Also, it's nice to see a movie that makes you think a little.

My dad gave me a great gift a few days ago. At the Deseret Industries second-hand store he found this English-Russian and Russian-English dictionary (словарь = something like "wordery") published 1991 in Moscow, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and he picked it up for me: (Click on the photos to see a larger version.) I have a few books in Russian but don't have an English/Russian dictionary, so just on that account it's nice to have. But there are a few other interesting features to note: Above you can see that it has an ISBN (5-200-01121-3), something I don't remember seeing often in east-bloc publications. Maybe dictionaries like this were more likely since they may've been sold internationally more often than other books. It's also funny to see that the library cataloging information abbreviates Moscow as merely "M." But here was the biggest surprise for me: Halfway down the right-hand page, see: ...

So, my mom wanted me to write about this on here. Yeah. Anyways, I went to a camp at BYU called Startalk that was really awesome. It was a 3-week long Arabic language camp equivalent to a year of high school Arabic or a semester of college Arabic. It was really cool. There were about 27 students, I think, and they had us stay at the Heritage Halls dorms there. So our days went like this usually: wake up at 8 or so, get dressed and stuff. then we had class from 8:30 to 11:30. After that we had lunch at the Canon Center. At 1:00 we had class again until 3:00. Then it was Language Lab until 4:00, in which we did homework and DVD stuff. After that, we had Language Recreation for another hour. That was playing games with Arabic words and stuff. Then we had dinner, which was made by our counselors. Then Fun With Arabic, which was like soccer and stuff until 7:30. After that we had Study Hall (oh joy!) for TWO WHOLE HOURS until bed. We had a TON of homework. But I'm not complaining! We...

I have now seen this twice and I really like it. Jon and I saw it first and then I made my three oldest boys (ages 11, 13, and 14) study up on King Richard the Lionheart, King John, and Robin Hood, and then I took them to see it on Monday. It was fun to do some reading in advance of my second viewing. I learned some stuff! Hopefully the boys did, too. I love the relationship between Robin and Marion. It's sweet and slow, a nice change from the usual Hollywood fare, even though the circumstances created in the script might have justified the usual quick leap into bed. (She's been without her husband for ten years! He's been fighting wars for ten years! And they're supposed to be acting like husband and wife!) Also, I like Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Paul Dukas, Fanfare pour La Peri Francis Poulenc, Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone Claude Debussy, Prelude No. 8, La fille aux cheveux lin Maurice Ravel, Selections from, Ma mère l'oye Darius Milhaud, La crèation du monde, Op. 81 This was the first of GTMF's free "Inside the Music" Tuesday concerts this summer. It was fabulous, of course. These events are hosted by the very funny Roger Oyster, principal trombonist of the Kansas City Symphony, who usually tells a little something about the composer and/or the piece. The concerts are about 75 minutes long and the music is generally varied and accessible. I was especially eager to hear "La fille aux cheveux lin" ("The girl with the flaxen hair") because I've played it on the piano. I thought maybe they'd be playing an arrangement for a small group, but it was the original piano piece, and it was played beautifully by Deborah Moriarty. She was doing amazing stuff wit...

I took Phin and Lillian to the Jackson Hole Symphony's open rehearsal ($10 for adults, free for kids 6 to 18, or something like that) on Friday. Here's what they performed: Tragic Overture, Op. 81, by Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto by Alban Berg Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by Ludwig van Beethoven They started by playing the National Anthem, because they would be playing it for the 4th of July, and then they went through each piece, only short-changing Beethoven's 5th towards the end, because they were running out of time. They would play through the entire piece and then go back to certain places in the piece at the direction of the director ('cause, you know, he directs ). There was a guest violinist for the concerto (Akiko Suwanai, playing a 1714 Stradivarius called "Dolphin"), which was a 20th century piece, not super easy to listen to. The rehearsal lasted about three hours, and this is what I learned: I like Beethoven's ...

In an earlier post, I speculated that maybe I was about to enter a Mystery phase, a phase I've never experienced before. So I gave it a go. I don't think it really took, but it was kind of fun. The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun. These are well-known, but I'd never read one before. I liked the main character pretty well, but the cats were uninteresting. I'm not really a cat person, unless the cat is asking for a cheeseburger . (Don't be mad, cat-lovers! I'm not a dog person, either. Or a pet person. Or even a kid person, actually.) Also, does it always take so long to get to the mystery part? B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. Another famous mystery writer. This was pretty good. There was plenty happening and the characters were fun. I liked it pretty well. Deadly Décisions by Kathy Reichs. I love, love, love the TV show Bones , and since it's gone for the summer, I thought I'd try to get my fix this way, since the show is lo...

and yes, I know which road is paved therewith. But I'm pretty sure failing to act on my good intentions of posting on this blog won't lead there . Anyway... It's time to play catch up again. So here are a bunch of movies I've seen in the last several months: White Teeth (2002). This was a British miniseries and was pretty good. Of course, I loved the book, and this couldn't reach the complexity that I loved about that, but it was worth watching. Disclaimer: I'm not advocating that everyone go watch it, though. The book is racy and so is the movie. It's foreign, and not rated like our American stuff. It's not terrible, but there's some stuff in it. Just so you know. Leon the Pig Farmer (1992). I saw this on Hulu (don't know if it's still there). There's plenty of delightful Jewish humor here (a Jewish man discovers that his real father is a pig farmer, and that's pretty funny), but it's a little slow-moving. It may be t...

I've been thinking about starting this list for a while. When I was a teenager, I was pretty loyal to a certain kind of music, and I was definitely a little uppity about only liking alternative music, which at the time was called New Wave. Or something. Most of what I listened to seemed electronic at the time. I say "seemed" because I didn't have a very clear idea of what produced various sounds, and I thought I was mostly listening to synthesizers. (I didn't know, okay!). Now I know better, for the most part. But anyway, here are a few songs that I've grown to appreciate as I grew up, mostly in the last few years. (Maybe the years from age 38 to 40 aren't typically considered growing up years, but it would be depressing if I didn't think I was still growing up.) "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash. I've never been a big fan of The Clash, and I especially hated "Should I Stay or Should I Go." (He should go! Clearly!) But this cov...

After I got over the initial shock of Wait! You're Messing with Pride and Prejudice! , I loved this British mini-series . I think Jane Austen would love it, too. Mr. Bennet, whose first name turns out to be Claude, has the funniest and best lines, for the most part, but there's a lot of good stuff here. As I mentioned, though, if you're a Pride and Prejudice fan, you must be prepared for irreverence and chaos with beloved characters, but things turn out all right in the end. It's fun and refreshing to have something new happen in the story.

I've given this recipe to a lot of people, so I decided to do a post about it, so I can just refer to it in the future. Although it occurs to me that I haven't verified that the people to whom I've given the recipe actually like it. But whatever. It works for me, so here it is: 6 cups whole wheat flour (or 5 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour or any combination you desire) 2 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (one package, if you're buying those little packages) 2 1/2 cups water (about 110°, like a pretty warm bath) about 2 tablespoons oil (vegetable or olive oil or whatever) 2 to 4 tablespoons honey (I don't like bread overly sweet, so I stick to the lower amount. I think. I don't usually measure) Mix all the dry ingredients in a stand mixer. (I have a Kitchenaid and use the dough hook for this bread, although I usually mix the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon first. Also, I almost never proof my yeast. I've never had it f...

So, I haven't been reading much lately. I'm halfway through a novel called Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin, but it's been so long since I picked it up that there's an impressive layer of dust on the front cover. (And I think I've even dusted it once since I opened it last.) It's an entertaining and hilarious novel reminiscent of A Confederacy of Dunces , except that it's about a silly crown prince in England (and later in America) instead of about a misanthropic fat man in New Orleans. I think I will finish it someday, but for now, my reading habits have taken an unfamiliar (to me) turn. I'm knitting and watching more online TV, although I seem to have finally gotten over the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel obsession. (Thank goodness. But I don't guarantee that it won't return.) And otherwise, I'm reading bits and pieces of many non-fiction books: Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun; 10 Habits that Mess Up a Woman...

I almost forgot that I saw this movie , but I did and it was even in a theater. And actually, it was rather funny and not your typical romantic comedy. Sandra Bullock is a fine comedic actor. It's not a great movie, but it's entertaining.

I have fond memories of the soundtrack to Saturday's Warrior and vague memories of my parents taking me to see a live production when I was little. We watched this 1989 production of the play while we were at my parents' house over Thanksgiving. I think I might be permanently scarred. The combination of cheesiness and 1980s fashion was too much for me. There's probably some pretty interesting psychological stuff I could get into (I used to think that looked cool?), but I'd rather not.

Yes Man is good! One of Jim Carrey's more thoughtful movies, funny but with something meaningful to say. I always like Zooey Deschanel, too. This movie is at least loosely based on a non-fiction book by Danny Wallace, which I'd like to read. Wallace sounds like the British version of A.J. Jacobs, doing semi-crazy stuff and then writing books about the experience.

There are a few funny moments in The Proposal . How could there not be with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock? But there's no reason at all for the two characters to fall in love, except proximity and the fact that they're both nice-looking. I'll say the same thing about Jersey Girl , which is not the recent Jersey Girl with Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck but an early '90s rom-com with Dylan McDermott and a girl that I recognize but can't name. It's all so unbelievable. Or maybe any girl can force the guy of her dreams to fall in love with her by getting into a car accident with him and then relentlessly and annoyingly pursuing him. Hey, I love Hulu, but their movie selection is limited.

This was so much better than I thought it was going to be. My expectations were fairly low, but it had interesting characters and made me laugh. And the central message was important and relevant and made an impact.

Beware of many knitting details below. For Christmas, I got to give to my brother Colter, who is an artist and musician and one of the coolest people I know. He's interested in found objects and has created a lot of art using stuff he's found, whether it's someone's grocery list or a cardboard box or whatever. So I decided to knit him a sweater vest from already-used yarn. Ideally, I would have found some old sweater at a thrift shop, unraveled it and used that yarn, and I did try to do that. But the first sweater I found had been washed too many times or something and the yarn broke really easily. So my next best idea was to use yarn that I had knitted into part of a baby blanket about six years ago. Here's the beginning of Colter's sweater (on the left) next to a couple of panels of the blanket (on the right) before I unraveled them: There's nothing quite like unraveling something you've knitted. You just pull and everything comes apart one...

Zed's 14th birthday was in January. Here he is wearing the hat I knitted for him: If all our plans work out, he'll be moving out in about 3 1/2 years. That is just crazy.

Here are a few movies I've watched again, with or without kids, in the last several months, and I like them all: Ever After (1998): It's delightful to see the heroine saving the hero and herself from the bad guys. Also, I like da Vinci as a side character. Legally Blonde (2001): I love this movie! Reese Witherspoon is a great actress. Not that this part is Oscar-worthy drama or anything, but she's hilarious and wonderful in it. And I always like Luke Wilson, too. Mansfield Park (1999): The script takes many liberties with the story, but this time I noticed in the credits that it's based on the book and Jane Austen's life and/or her Juvenilia (can't remember exactly what it said). So it's not a true adaptation of one of her novels, but I really like it. Wonder Man (1945): I have many good memories of watching this with my family, among them waiting for my sister Ally, probably about four at the time, to laugh hysterically and predictably at ...

As far as romantic comedies go, this is much better than usual. But maybe it's more drama than rom-com. It's nice to see a romance between older, more believable people. I liked it.

I gave this, the seventh novel in the Outlander series, about 100 pages, and then I gave up. I loved the first three or four, felt like I was pushing myself to read the fifth and sixth, and now I guess I'm not willing to slog through the excessive descriptions. They're nicely written, of course, with lovely, historical details. But for now, I can't take it. Maybe someday, when I'm on a long vacation that involves much lying around on a beach. Although, the book is so heavy, I'm not sure that would be very relaxing.

We watched this movie last night with the kids. Based on a Michael Crichton book and directed by him, it's very loosely based on an actual robbery that occurred in 1855 in England. It's a pretty good heist movie, and we enjoyed it, although there's a lot of innuendo that I kept hoping the kids didn't get. Apparently, Sean Connery did his own stunt work on top of a moving train.

This is total fluff, but I enjoyed it.

Why did it take me so long to read this ? It is so funny. I loved the movie, and I think it did a pretty good job of portraying the hilarity of the book, but of course the book has so much more. Loved it!

It was the trailer for this movie that inspired me to finally read a little of the original Sherlock Holmes works. I'm happy Jon and I could see it in a theater. I loved it. I thought the characters fit very well with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (as far as I'm acquainted with them, anyway). Of course the action was ridiculously over the top, but that's modern movie-making, isn't it? Anyway, I thought it was a lot of fun.

After all these years, it's still funny. Our kids had never seen it, so we watched it on New Year's Eve. Perfect New-Year's-Eve-with-the-kids fodder.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I'm happy that it's still worth watching. Jon and I bought it for ourselves for Christmas on Blu-Ray, which means it will live at his parents' house, but that's okay. All the kids watched it with us, and the older ones liked it a lot. It's tough to follow sometimes, but Jon's dad provided helpful commentary that cleared some stuff up for me, too. (I think he used to work on submarines. Jon can verify or not.)