What has my attention this week?
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Book: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
I’m about halfway through this (biiiiiiiig) book, and the jury’s still out. On the one hand, I appreciate the biting satire Lewis is employing to critique small-town status quo. On the other, the would-be reformer protagonist, who is slowly sinking into passive enslavement to her neighbors’ opinions, is driving me nuts! The reason the jury is still largely out is because I haven’t decided if Lewis intended her to be as utterly pathetic and ineffective as she is–or if I’m really supposed to buy into the fact that she’s a martyred hero for progressive ideals. Since the satire is directed mostly at the small-town, I have a feeling it’s going to end up being the latter, but we’ll have to see…
Movie: 61* directed by Billy Crystal
I’m not much of a fan of baseball, but I am a fan of baseball movies (same with boxing, actually). This ode to baseball legends Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle’s duel for Babe Ruth’s home-run record is one of my all-time favorite sports movies. I discovered it years ago while on a Barry Pepper binge, but I think I appreciate it more now in the wake of reading Jane Leavy’s Mantle biography The Last Boy. Crystal’s fanaticism for the sport and Mantle in particular shows through in all the detail–many of which went right over my head on previous viewings.
Song: “The One That Got Away” by The Civil Wars
I’d forgotten all about this song until it showed up on shuffle one day. Talk about subtextual story possibilities!
Food: Babybel Semisoft Mini Gouda
I love these little devils. Soft, tangy gouda cheese that practically melts in your mouth. Plus, how can you beat a wax wrapper that you can peel off in perfect halves? I can’t find them around here very often (usually only at Christmas), so I have to grab a bag whenever I do.
Hack: Email Subfolders in Yahoo! Mail
Yeah, I’m still rockin’ the old Yahoo! email address. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! One thing I’m really loving is the relatively new feature of subfolders, which I’m using and abusing with abandon as I work my way through my annual spring-cleaning of my computer. Nothing says organization like subfolders (until I forget which subfolder I put something into).
Inspiring Quote of the Week
Cute Animal I Want This Week
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The Hoosiers
Oh, I love that one! I haven’t seen it for years. My favorite Gene Hackman role.
Those lion cubs are so adorable! Suddenly I want to watch Born Free again.
Very cuddle-able, aren’t they? 😀
A bunch of us authors should create a dictionary of “words that should exist.” 🙂 But not until they’ve created a backwards dictionary where you can find that word that means such-and-such, but is not any of the words your family members suggest.
Hah. Totally!
Ah, Sports movies! Even though I love sports, I don’t watch too many movies about sports. But, one exception is COOL RUNNINGS, about the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled team. I love John Candy (miss him!), and I love the story. Not sure this movie is in my top 10 for all-time fave movies, but it’s probably in my top 20.
I haven’t seen that one. I’ll have to check it out.
Enjoy the amazing Babybel commercials I grew up with:
Hah. That’s awesome. I think I just fell in love with them even more. :p
I loved and grew up on those old 1990’s sports’ movies about kids, such as Sandlot, The Mighty Ducks, and The Big Green, and I definitely liked The Karate Kid movies. Hee-yaw! ? I actually used to be kind of a tomboy when I was younger. I love power rangers, especially the red one. Forget the pink ranger. Lololol ? I don’t really watch them anymore though, unless I’m babysitting my nephew. He likes power rangers too.
I liked the Power Rangers when I was little too. I rejected the pink one too. Go yellow! 😀
My older sister liked the yellow ranger too. That was my second favorite also. 🙂
Glad I’m not the only one who forgets which subfolder she puts something into.
Yeah, sometimes being super-organized has its downsides. :p
Well… if I were better organized, perhaps I’d remember which subfolder I put something into. Or at least label them better. :p 😉
My problem is I’m always thinking of *better* ways to be organized, so my system is always changing. And my memory doesn’t keep up with my system. :p
A League of Their Own. I love Tom Hanks’ exasperation, “There’s no crying in baseball.” Makes me laugh every time.
Makes my laugh just thinking about it! Hard to beat exasperated Tom Hanks.
My favorite sports movie combines baseball and speculative fiction: Field of Dreams. Berkeley values wrapped up in Iowa setting with magical players and incidents. The book Shoeless Joe is even more mind expanding.
I have to admit I’ve never seen that one in its entirety. Definitely need to.
Wazzup! ?
Good luck with Main Street, sounds like drudgery. I didn’t know Billie Crystal even directed movies. ? Favorite sports movie? Hmm, when I was a kid I really loved the Bad News Bears. I’ll pass on the Gouda. ??
The lion cubs almost look like a mutated two headed monster. ??
??
I didn’t know Crystal directed either. I was surprised when his name popped up in the credits. But he did a great job!
I love the song! It’s so much prettier than a lot of the classic rock that I listen to.
Classic rock’s good too! I like a good mix.
What? No one mentioned the terrific, “Miracle” with Kurt Russell. It is my favorite sports movie because it actually happened! It’s a very good true story reenactment of the (underdogs) Team USA ice hockey team winning the Gold in the 1980’s Olympics. I guess you kinda have to like hockey to see it, but even if you don’t it has a ton of heart!
I’ve only seen that one once. I should watch it again. The seen where the goalie rallies everyone sticks in my brain.
It’s a good one no doubt.
You know, now that women have a professional league (NWHL – only 4 teams so far) it seems the near future would be ripe for some sort of inspirational women’s hockey story! Would love to see that personally and would enjoy furthering more interest for women’s hockey 🙂