Somusing

As I mentioned in my last post, this book was hilarious. Under normal circumstances, maybe even too hilarious, where the jokes keep on coming and you get kind of sick of it and just want the plot to thicken. However, at the time of my reading of Good Omens , I was starved for some funny stuff (again, see previous post). From the back of the book: According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch , (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing. Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon--both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals from The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle--are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And ...

I read The Golden Compass several years ago and enjoyed it but apparently didn't feel compelled to read the rest of the trilogy at that time. With all the emails exhorting Christians to boycott the new movie because of the anti-God agenda of the books, and considering that my 11-year-old has read the trilogy, it seemed like a good idea to found out for myself what the message of the books is. Verdict: definitely anti-religion. Having said that, as is common to things anti-religion, the big, bad religion described in the books, while it may resemble the Catholic Church of hundreds of years ago, doesn't really reflect any modern Christian religion that I am personally familiar with, though a teenager on the brink of rebellion might think differently. The overall message of the book is that tolerance, the search for knowledge, and the appreciation of beauty are good, while narrow-mindedness, prejudice and killing people because they threaten your goals of world domination are...

I don't know why, but some time last year, Wheat Thins started coming with tons of extra salt on them. The first time I encountered it, I thought it was just a bad box. But it's been consistent every time since then, across various varieties (except the low-salt kind). Nabisco, stop it! It's way too much salt! You're killing us. You took out the trans fats a few years ago, which was fine. The crackers got harder then, but that's a minor deal. But seriously, cut back on the salt!

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000): Made-for-TV movie about an educated woman who doesn't fit in, but music brings everybody together. Pretty mediocre. Premonition (2007): I wish someone would make an interesting movie that plays with time and actually tries to explain it. This was only interesting while we watched it, and then not at all after it was over. Orange County (2002): Had some funny moments and characters. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962): I thought this was delightful. Also interesting to see that the parents-have-no-control-over-what-their-kids-are-doing theme was in movies even back then! Opal Dream (2005): Australian film about a girl with two imaginary friends and how her brother helps her when they disappear. Pretty good. Pieces of April (2003): Really good! Great acting and a good story about family and people coming together. I really liked it. Unaccompanied Minors (2006): A goofy kids' movie. Lewis Black is not an actor, but it was...

Tallgrass is the name of a fictional internment camp in Colorado, loosely based on the real Japanese-American internment camp, Amache. The novel is a mildly interesting way to introduce someone to the fact that thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to these places after Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States entered World War II. It has a compelling story with interesting twists and sympathetic characters, but I felt like something was missing. There should be some great stuff to read about the Japanese American internment camps, but I haven't come across any yet.

It took me a while to like this , but now I love it. The last song is beautiful and moving, and I have been known to play it over and over again while driving.

Dan in Real Life is great. I laughed really hard at least once, and it wasn't even Steve Carell who was funny. I think it might be the feel-good movie of the year.