I'm okay with winter. I won't whine about it. But it has been weirdly cold, despite the claims of all those people who say it used to be this cold routinely. I am not so sure. My evidence? My return drain from my washer FROZE. Water everywhere in the laundry room ( Read more... )

I am reading "A Room with a View," the great Forster book that everyone else seems to have read but me.  It's lovely, slyly funny and full of droll observations about The English Abroad and about People Looking at Art and about The Failure of the Tourist -- to say nothing of its more overt commentary on love and societal restrictions.  But these ( Read more... )

We just watched the version of "Mansfield Park" with Billie Piper.  Lord, you were right, petercampbell.  Gah, what a mess.  I kept thinking, WHAT is wrong with this?  And then it came to me.  They reduced the whole thing to a love story.  A love story without any of the other stuff is finally pretty dull.  And poor old Billie Piper, bless her, seemed woefully ( Read more... )

...is what the new Sherlock Holmes movie meant to be.  A whirlwind tale of adventure and mystery!  But where the Holmes movie was opaque, mystery-free, and visually exhausting, Tintin is a true visual delight.  If you love dance, or motion, or the freedom of inspired animation, then yes, Tintin.  The main character is a stretch for me.  I'm not ( Read more... )

I've been meaning to report for some time this fascinating tidbit ( Read more... )