chess

The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Genuises Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team -weinreb

I have never been a huge chess fan - the game appeals to me in concept, but i never seem to have anyone to play with, and it seems to take a lot of practice to enjoy. despite my lack of knowledge of the game, i was looking forward to this book, i always like a good read about the proverbial group of misfit kids who become famous and worthy of adoration from the masses through hard work and talent and perhaps even a dedicated teacher. this wasn't really much of that. a good summary of a particular new york school chess team, a few summaries of the players, but no real detail, and i didn't feel like we were following the life of any particular player. a good basic overview of the circuit, but i was not driven to finish it, and to see how any one kid would fare in competition.

chess

The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Genuises Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team -weinreb

I have never been a huge chess fan - the game appeals to me in concept, but i never seem to have anyone to play with, and it seems to take a lot of practice to enjoy. despite my lack of knowledge of the game, i was looking forward to this book, i always like a good read about the proverbial group of misfit kids who become famous and worthy of adoration from the masses through hard work and talent and perhaps even a dedicated teacher. this wasn't really much of that. a good summary of a particular new york school chess team, a few summaries of the players, but no real detail, and i didn't feel like we were following the life of any particular player. a good basic overview of the circuit, but i was not driven to finish it, and to see how any one kid would fare in competition.

reading for foodies

Two for the road: our love affair with american food -Jane and Michael Stern

very entertaining. these two have been travelling on the road, writing food reviews for years, and this is a snapshot of their exploits. visits to outstanding hole-in-the-wall eateries, great unique places that represent america at its diverse finest. makes me hungry just to read this(esp for a trip to the clam box!). also a nice tale of how they do their jobs, how they manage to eat 12 meals a day, etc. i have always loved mom and pop food joints. nice to read from two who love them as well!

also good:
roadfood
eat your way across the u.s.a

DVDs to rent/see

just a personal list, to help me remember. I have been reading about documentaries lately, and want to look these up when i have a chance!

confessions of a superhero
loose change
maxed out
jonestown - (april 9 pbs)

Happy Birthday to me

that's all. happy overall. a typically quiet day with the kiddo an an army of plastic dinosaurs. i know some people tend to use this day as a marking of time, a reevaluation of sorts - but i tend to do that in september (my job i guess). but the inventory is good, i have good family and friends, and have managed to enjoy a nice balance between being home and away.

i hope only for cake! =)

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

"I had lost my mind. I lost my head for a while was off my rocker outta line, outta wack. See I had this tiny crack in my head That slowly split open and my brain snoozed out, Lyin' on the sidewalk and I didn't even know it. I had lost my mind." --I Had Lost My Mind by Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston - songwriter, artist, a man fighting demons. another plot of the "troubled artist" type. a great film - left me wondering how many truly "great" people never achieve their potential because of one thing or another. also a pretty accurate picture (i think) of mental illness - one minute he's fine, then something is always lurking and sabotaging. this film reminded me of crumb a bit.

http://hihowareyou.com/ is his website. thanks to the Internet, maybe we will all know of him after all!

Grey Gardens

Okay, this was just odd. I still wonder why i liked it so much. so does david. Here's the plot:

The Maysles brothers pay visits to Edith Bouvier Beale, nearing 80, and her daughter Edie. Reclusive, the pair live with cats and raccoons in Grey Gardens, a crumbling mansion in East Hampton. Edith is dry and quick-witted - a singer, married but later separated, a member of high society. Edie is voluble, dresses - as she puts it - for combat in tight ensembles that include scarves wrapped around her head. There are hints that Edie came home 24 years before to be cared for rather than to care for her mother. The women address the camera, talking over each other, moving from the present to events years before. They're odd, with flinty affection for each other.

apparently this has become a cult favorite. there is even a sequel, also a criterion collection release, that is culled from additional footage used to make the original. i'm of course going to do a bit of research about all this. a good film, especially to watch while you are cleaning the house. a little easier not to get TOO involved - i started wondering if my interest meant i was a little mad as well.....

Grizzly Man

Dvd - Grizzly Man - the story of timothy treadwell, who lived in alaska with bears. a nutty story, he at times seems insane, at some times passionate about wildlife conservation. he returned each summer, to track and live with the bears who he considered his friends. tragically, he and his girlfriend aime were eaten by a bear in 2003. not attacked, eaten. apparently the end was filmed, no video, just sound. treadwell documented via camera all of his adventures, spreading the word of bear safety and preservation to adults and children in his off-seasons. this paints a complicated picture - not just of the bears, but more likely of a man searching for himself, and his role and place in our world. he seemed to belong in nature rather than in man's world, even in the end. a good film, although the coroner's descriptions were upsetting (the image of the pilot coming to pick them up, finding a bear munching on a rib cage was a little over the top i think).

keeping mum

keeping mum (dvd) - rowan atkinson, maggie smith, patrick swayze. how could this ever be bad? a rollicking british film, a comedy of errors and mixed up identities, with atkinson's dry humor a pleasure to watch. atkinson is a vicar of little wallop (so english!) with a wife of straying eye, her eager american golf instructor (patrick swayze in a fine role), a promiscuous daughter, and a housekeeper who arrives just in the nick of time to save them all, although she has a few surprising secrets to share. really fun!

What is the what?

what is the what: the autobiography of valentino achak deng : a novel

this is called a novel since it is david egger's creative retelling of valentino's tale, yet it makes the story no less poignant, relevant, or deserving to be read. valentino is one of the "lost boys" of sudan, an ever growing group of refugees that walk to ethiopia in search of freedom from a country filled with strife and civil unrest. this is a sad, clear picture of just a few of the african problems that exist. we often hear now of the tragedies of darfur - sudan is yet another country to be added to the list. sobering reading, but recommended for a greater awareness of our world's difficulties.

ROCK!

okay, this is a must-see...... Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. this was great. an anthropologist, who began as an angst ridden heavy-metal teen, travels around the world studying what makes heavy metal fans so dedicated and NUTS. loved it. lots of wacky commentary by dee snyder and alice cooper et al. and a nice summary of Norwegian satanic bands, which are truly scary. i would show this to all high school students if it weren't for the f..k and s..t words liberally spread around.

oh my goodness..... is Duke seriously only up by 4 points?????? gotta check out the game before bed!

parrots.

The wild parrots of telegraph hill certainly lived up to its hype. well, i like documentaries, remember - for some it might have moved a little slowly. but what a quirky film about a man who loves birds. or more importantly, a man who slows down, takes each day and just enjoys what he loves. which i must add, means he is kinda homeless, but i guess that all works out with his good "bird karma" in the end. a nice glimpse into how obsessions are sometimes not so "crazy" after all. he cared for the birds like we all would for our good friends. if only we humans treated each other so well! good film!

Obama!

the audacity of hope. hmm. i had previously read obama's dreams of my fathers, so i was eager to read this. it was just okay. well, obama seems to recognize all the "big government" problems, and how we need to fix them. well, WHY we need to fix them - not HOW. that was what i left with. he seems like an articulate, thoughtful man with a rare ability to see many perspectives. i think that this was what the book was supposed to cover. as for solutions? perhaps we need to all come up with them together, which is what he was saying. a good perspective, i am trying to read all the candidate's books this year. i guess that means slogging through hillary's bio. ugh. read here to see if i do!

More films

The library has been very efficient this week, but it will be a nice day so i will most likely head outside before anymore viewing. yesterday i watched The Beauty academy of kabul. about a bunch of American women who head to Kabul to start a beauty school. these afghan women had been through so much, and were thrilled at the opportunity to help themselves and their families financially. still mired in a truly patriarchal society, they did have to ask permission for everything of their husbands, and still complete all the household chores after their studies or "day job". made me glad to live here, despite the problems i see. An inspirational film - a tough subject, but introduced with humor too.

Why We Fight

"It is nowhere written that the American empire goes on forever."

This reminded me of the series of frontline shows on the Iraqi war. Why We Fight was very good, infuriating, and perhaps well-timed on "scooter libby day". It refers often to the "military industrial complex" first mentioned by Eisenhower, and shows how our economy is fueled by our need to produce the elements of war. I left convinved that war was inevitable, and necessary based not for "truth or freeedom" or all they say, but for supporting our economy. Again showing how we are all connected in this world, and things are never simple or black and white.

ART?

Who gets to call it art? (DVD)- the story of henry geldzahler, curator at the met. and alos the story of "new" art - wharhol, johns, stella, etc. nice film, kinda amusing. i find artists talking about their work especially entertaining. i admire the creative process, and love to hear how it varies from person to person, bu i also enjoy all the wacky art vingettes. lots of them in this.

The Glass Castle - jeanette walls. horribly tragic, the story of her poor, neglected childhood and how she strove to make living with two irresponsible parents in abject poverty with sisters and a brother "normal". i almost didn't finish it. i quess she is okay now, living as a writer married in NYC. this is currently on a lot of best seller lists. i wonder why so many are drawn to this book. do many share similar memories? does reading it make you feel better that your life is "better"? i am glad she seems okay now.

last week's trip to the library produced 12 DVD's. i request a whole list, and then usually a few come in each week. this pile seems to be a bit holocaust-documentary heavy. i will probably not make it through even one, but they were highly recommended, so i figured i will try.