One busy summer
Been rather busy this summer.
I noticed I forgot to add that I watched the movie Ready Player One. Don't recall exactly when, other than it was before the July 4 weekend movie watching blitz. It was quite good, an interesting take on virtual reality encroaching on reality. May have to check out the novel.
More recently, I saw Black Klansman on opening night. I was, as usual, just looking for something to do to get out of the heat, and happened to see it in the theater listing. Knew next to nothing about the movie going in, but wow did I enjoy it! So well done, and even more incredible, based on a true story. I'm actually reading the memoir now, about halfway through, and the movie is pretty true to the memoir. Essentially, the first black officer in the Colorado Springs police department manages to successfully infiltrate the KKK.
The big highlight since I last posted was getting to see Hamilton in Cleveland! Yay! It was an amazing experience! I picked up on a couple things I missed the first time around. I saw it with mom, dad and my Aunt Bec. Such a wonderful musical!
Also, hard to believe, in less than two weeks I'll have the staged reading for my own play. Had the first rehearsal this past Thursday and to say it went really well would be an understatement. We had such fun, and while I wish we could have had more people the cast the actors we have are excellent. So excited! Yes, this was the good and exciting news I alluded to in my last post.
On a less thrilling note, I caught the crud over Labor Day weekend. I thought it was just my asthma flaring up due to the heat (it was 90+ for several days in a row!) Nope, doc put me on some antibiotics, which are slowly but surely working their magic. Still have a bit of a cough but it's not nearly as bad as it was.
The Book Mouse's Book Report
27. The Crisis of Journalism Reconsidered, by Jeffrey C. Alexander. Had mixed feelings about this one, although all in all, I'd recommend it -with some qualifications. This is actually a collection of essays regarding the journalism industry, but written more from a sociologist's perspective. My recommendation: skip or skim the intro, which I've already summarized in the previous sentence, and skip or skim the conclusion, which rehashes the essays. Also, I'd skip the first two essays. The first was written by someone who may have read several books on the industry (including a few which I've read) but still obviously doesn't truly understand what is bedeviling the industry. The second essay basically said there was no crisis, it was all a matter of perspective. Yeah. I detest the rose-colored glasses view as much as anyone, but that is taking things to extremes. I almost quit after reading those first two essays and that would have been a shame, because the rest were quite good. I especially enjoyed the essays on how newspapers in other countries were run, their philosophies, and how they were funded, a topic I don't know a lot about.
28. The Dark Crystal, Creation Myths, Vol. 3, by Matthew Dow Smith. The conclusion to the three-part graphic novel covering the beginning of Thra. This trilogy is a must for fans of The Dark Crystal. The UrSkeks have split into two races; only Aughra and her son Raunip know where the two races come from, but they are busy trying to find the lost shard. A change in the land already can be seen, and eventually, the Gelflings wind up uniting with the Skeksis, who offer their assistance in keeping the sinister creatures at bay.
Currently reading: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century, from the Kyoto Costume Institute, The Way We Never Were, by Stephanie Coontz, and Black Klansman, by Ron Stallworth.
I noticed I forgot to add that I watched the movie Ready Player One. Don't recall exactly when, other than it was before the July 4 weekend movie watching blitz. It was quite good, an interesting take on virtual reality encroaching on reality. May have to check out the novel.
More recently, I saw Black Klansman on opening night. I was, as usual, just looking for something to do to get out of the heat, and happened to see it in the theater listing. Knew next to nothing about the movie going in, but wow did I enjoy it! So well done, and even more incredible, based on a true story. I'm actually reading the memoir now, about halfway through, and the movie is pretty true to the memoir. Essentially, the first black officer in the Colorado Springs police department manages to successfully infiltrate the KKK.
The big highlight since I last posted was getting to see Hamilton in Cleveland! Yay! It was an amazing experience! I picked up on a couple things I missed the first time around. I saw it with mom, dad and my Aunt Bec. Such a wonderful musical!
Also, hard to believe, in less than two weeks I'll have the staged reading for my own play. Had the first rehearsal this past Thursday and to say it went really well would be an understatement. We had such fun, and while I wish we could have had more people the cast the actors we have are excellent. So excited! Yes, this was the good and exciting news I alluded to in my last post.
On a less thrilling note, I caught the crud over Labor Day weekend. I thought it was just my asthma flaring up due to the heat (it was 90+ for several days in a row!) Nope, doc put me on some antibiotics, which are slowly but surely working their magic. Still have a bit of a cough but it's not nearly as bad as it was.
The Book Mouse's Book Report
27. The Crisis of Journalism Reconsidered, by Jeffrey C. Alexander. Had mixed feelings about this one, although all in all, I'd recommend it -with some qualifications. This is actually a collection of essays regarding the journalism industry, but written more from a sociologist's perspective. My recommendation: skip or skim the intro, which I've already summarized in the previous sentence, and skip or skim the conclusion, which rehashes the essays. Also, I'd skip the first two essays. The first was written by someone who may have read several books on the industry (including a few which I've read) but still obviously doesn't truly understand what is bedeviling the industry. The second essay basically said there was no crisis, it was all a matter of perspective. Yeah. I detest the rose-colored glasses view as much as anyone, but that is taking things to extremes. I almost quit after reading those first two essays and that would have been a shame, because the rest were quite good. I especially enjoyed the essays on how newspapers in other countries were run, their philosophies, and how they were funded, a topic I don't know a lot about.
28. The Dark Crystal, Creation Myths, Vol. 3, by Matthew Dow Smith. The conclusion to the three-part graphic novel covering the beginning of Thra. This trilogy is a must for fans of The Dark Crystal. The UrSkeks have split into two races; only Aughra and her son Raunip know where the two races come from, but they are busy trying to find the lost shard. A change in the land already can be seen, and eventually, the Gelflings wind up uniting with the Skeksis, who offer their assistance in keeping the sinister creatures at bay.
Currently reading: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century, from the Kyoto Costume Institute, The Way We Never Were, by Stephanie Coontz, and Black Klansman, by Ron Stallworth.