Are the odds ever in my favor!

March 21, 2012 at 8:27 pm (Books, Film)
Tags: ,

Like many people, I’m eagerly awaiting the release of The Hunger Games.  My best friend urged me to read the book last year?  I can’t remember.  I read them after the first two had been released, but had to wait around for the third one.  I haven’t touched them in quite a long time of course, thanks to my thesis.   But as the release date drew closer, and since I desperately needed something to look forward to, I got increasingly excited about the movie.  I decided I needed to re-read the first book.  Not that I had any business doing that of course, not with my workload, but I did.  And I read it in one evening.  (Yes, I did go on to read the other two, because how can you just stop after the first one?) 

I got my thesis rough draft back last Monday.  I have a ton of things to fix.  I’ve been busy trying to get the house ready to list, and I do have a class to keep up with, so I decided last week to take sick days this Thursday and Friday.  (It’s that terrible deadline illness!)  Happily, these sick days coincide with the release of the movie.  Since my sister opted to get tickets for a hockey game on Friday evening, we are now going to see the movie at midnight on Friday morning.  I’m not sure what the last movie I saw at midnight was.  It couldn’t have been Episode 3 could it?  Surely I’ve seen something else at midnight since then?  Oh well, if I have I’ve forgotten.  But fortunately I can see the movie and sleep in on Friday, and then get up and spend a miserable productive day revising my thesis. 

I just hope they don’t ruin it.  I’m excited about Jennifer Lawrence at Katniss, she was very good in Winter’s Bone, and I know the author had a hand in the script, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good adaptation.

I’m also hoping that the opening of this movie totally tops Twilight.

Leave a Comment

Mr. Tarantino knows what he’s talking about

June 29, 2010 at 8:23 pm (Film, Germany)
Tags: ,

Today was a busy day, although it was nice because we had a late start.  First we toured Schwerin which is a lovely town in what used to be East Germany.  Today it’s pretty much a tourist destination.  We visited the Cathedral, toured the city center, etc.  I can’t wait to wander around on my own and see what else is around the town square.  There were lots of little shops and cafes that I want to check out.

After our city tour we had an hour to get lunch on our own.  Since it had only been a couple of hours since breakfast, and since most meals are heavy, Jinny and I stopped at a bakery near the town square.  I decided to try out my German.  (Not that I know much, but what’s the point of not using the little bit I know?)  Anyway, I managed to ask for an my food without much of a problem.  An apple strudel and a donut.  Then I asked for a Sprite.  She looked at me kind of funny.  So I pointed.  Mistake!  I pointed naturally with my forefinger.  I got two Sprites.  I saw her take them out and again couldn’t process what was happening fast enough to tell her that no, I only wanted one Sprite.  So I gave my extra one to Jinny.  I did not listen to Quentin Tarantino.  In Germany you count 1 from your thumb.  If you want one of something you point with your thumb.  If you point with your forefinger, you are saying you want two.  I’ll have to try to be more conscious of this next time.  However, ordering the food was a success.  I think I may have used the wrong article when asking for the strudel but I at least got what I wanted food wise.  I was rather proud of myself. 

The donut I got was a Berliner.  Of course this is what Kennedy said in a speech in June of 1963 in West Berlin, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”  The joke is he called himself  a donut.  So I had to try one when I saw it.  Delicious.

After lunch we took a tour of Schwerin Castle, which is huge.  A lot of it is under construction, we were only able to tour the 2nd and 3rd floors.  But it’s very ornate and beautiful and I enjoyed the tour.

We all opted to go on a boat ride after the castle.  Schwerin is located on a lake, so we took a 2.5 hour cruise around the Schwerin See.  The first half was very hot with no cloud cover, although not so much humidity.  But the sun beating down right on you made it very warm.  The second half was much more pleasant, it clouded over, the breeze picked up, and it actually started to rain at the very end.  But it was nice and relaxing, we just got to sit and talk for a couple of hours.

Dinner followed.  The specialities in the area are mostly seafood, and since I’m not a big fan of fish I opted for a salad.  It was good, and I figured that most meals are heavy so I should take the opportunity to get a salad when I can. 

Tomorrow we visit a school, and we have another tour or two I believe.  But I think our guides said we would be finished about 4:30pm, giving us some free time before dinner.  I hope to explore the town square a little more and visit some of the shops. 

We are making plans for Saturday, for the next World Cup Game.  We’ll be in Berlin.  I don’t know where we’ll watch it yet but we are pretty excited about it.  We hope of course that Germany wins, although many people seem to think it will be their last game. 

Tomorrow’s an early day, we have to be ready to go by 8.  So for now, ich bin müde.

4 Comments

Read? What’s that?

February 25, 2010 at 12:56 am (Books, Film)
Tags: , ,

I have recently tried to make a conscious effort to read more.  I used to read all the time, and that habit sadly has fallen by the wayside.  So I’ve decided to try to have at least an hour each night to read and practice German.  (Which has not happened much in the past couple of weeks either.  I feel terrible and will never learn anything at this rate.) 

I did use the snow days we had a few weeks ago to read a great deal.  It was wonderful.  I finished one book, read another book in its’ entirety, and began a third book.  Two of them were very interesting, the other was just a short mindless fiction that isn’t worth describing.

The first book, “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” by Diane Ackerman details the life of the Warsaw zookeeper and his wife (if you couldn’t figure that out on your own) during WWII.  They were well known and respected for their zoo.  The zookeeper, Jan, was very involved in the Underground, and the family saves over 300 Jewish people by hiding them on the grounds of the zoo or in their house until they can be moved to a safer place.  It was a very stressful thing to do, for anyone who saved Jews (or anyone else who was discriminated against) but they were in the heart of Warsaw and constantly surrounded by German soldiers.  It was very easy to read, and written more like a novel than a history book. 

I’m currently working on “Sin in the Second City:  Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul” by Karen Abbott.  This book is fascinating.  It’s about the most famous brothel in Chicago in the early 1900′s, the Everleigh Club.  It was run by two sisters who were born in Virginia, though the details of their early life are not well known or completely confirmed.  It was a swanky place-you had to have a lot of money to be a patron of the club, and to work there you had to be the best of the best.  (There was a waiting list to work at Everleigh!)  This book has it all-sex, drugs, backstabbing (the figurative kind, although I’m sure the literal kind was to be found somewhere), reformers, overdoses-the list goes on.  While the Everleigh Club was in operation, the move to end white slavery and the trade in women began.  It’s interesting to see how the red light district, the police force, politicians, lawyers, clergymen, and madams are all intertwined.  I highly recommend this book.

And on a side note, we did see a great film a couple of weeks ago.  “Crazy Heart” with Jeff Bridges was playing at the Naro.  I had heard a little about it, and I knew Jeff Bridges was nominated for an Oscar for this performance.  It’s about a washed up country music singer, which Jeff Bridges plays brilliantly.  All of the actors were good, and I also enjoyed the music.  (I even downloaded a couple of the songs from Itunes once we got home.)  I have not seen all the performances by those nominated for leading actor so I can’t say that Jeff Bridges deserves to win, but he did a great job. 

I’m not sure what book I’ll begin next.  I’m thinking about “Revolutionary Road.”  I saw the movie last year and it was well done.  It was an uncomfortable movie for the most part, so I’m curious to see how the book reads.  Of course, I have a huge stack of books that I bought from Walden’s before they went out of business, so I have many more options.  I just hope I’m able to squeeze in that little bit of time each day to get through some of them.

Leave a Comment

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.