(Untitled)

[danceswithwords]

Happy birthday fialka!

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It rained this morning. Not heavy, drippy fog but full on rain. In July. This is not supposed to be happening

Comments

[cofax7]

Harry Potter and the Death of Reading? For real? I seriously doubt the raw number of Americans reading is going down. I also seriously doubt that the unwashed masses were spending their time in 1920 reading Great Works of Litrachur. They were reading the James Pattersons of their day, damnit.

People like that piss me off.

"White Men"--isn't that the episode with J. August Richards in it?

[danceswithwords]

Apparently, reading is a zero sum game, and the masses would be tearing into Ulysses even as we speak if it weren't for that fiendish Rowling woman. Or something.

Honestly, if fiction reading is declining (and like you, I'm skeptical that there was some golden age of everybody reading only the best literature), you'd think book critics would welcome the Potter phenomenon as a way of showing people who don't normally read that they can enjoy it.

"White Men"--isn't that the episode with J. August Richards in it?

I don't think so? But it took me a while to place Leonard Roberts, so if J. August was in it and had hair I might have missed it completely.

[laurashapiro]

Although I've always loved PG's performance in Some Like It Red, primarily because he plays it straight and doesn't do the clownish exaggeration I've come to expect from men in dresses, pipsqueaky helped me to see Miss Fraser in a more disturbing light -- she's not merely old-fashioned, she's the embodiment of Fraser's sexism. Which is revealed to a dispiriting degree, I must say.

Still, I love the performance, and I like the show anytime the concerns of teenage girls are central (waves lonely Chicago Holiday flag).

Re HP: you beat me. I've read the first two books. But I had much the same reaction you did: meh. I saw the first movie to pay homage to the fannish phenomenon, and thought it was appalling. I vowed to have no more to do with the franchise, but then Cuaron directed the third movie, so I had to see that.

[danceswithwords]

she's not merely old-fashioned, she's the embodiment of Fraser's sexism

It did bring Fraser's really rigid ideas about gender to the surface. I didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about it, but some of the little things, like the insistence on chivalry, were pretty telling.

Still, I love the performance, and I like the show anytime the concerns of teenage girls are central (waves lonely Chicago Holiday flag).

I like that episode too! The fetish club scene is worth its weight in gold.

And I'm glad I'm not the only HP apostate. *clings to you*

[asta77]

Apparently, 'Starman' is the last ep I watched so other than AMANDA TAPPING! I don't have much to add. ;)

It looks like I might be seeing the latest HP movie this weekend and basically because it's something to do and a chance to see some friends. But you and I and a few others I know won't be holed up inside this weekend refusing any contact with the outside world. We'll have the internet all to ourselves!

[danceswithwords]

But you and I and a few others I know won't be holed up inside this weekend refusing any contact with the outside world. We'll have the internet all to ourselves!

Woo hoo! Let's take it out for a spin and return it with a mysterious extra 250 miles on the odometer!

[brynnmck]

See, every time it rains here during the summer, I am overcome with relief that I won't have to water my lawn, thereby possibly delaying an angry letter from our homeowners' association. Hee.

And I am sorry to hear about your crappy week (need I add that I sympathize completely? I am severely unpleasant to be around at the moment, I think), but I am glad about the bento.

Speaking of Bento(n) (OK, that was really awful, I'M SORRY, IT'S BEEN A ROUGH WEEK), I am loving your dS thoughts as always. I love your point about how Ian has found the job that's perfect for him; I'd never considered it in that light. And I also really enjoy the (Ms.) Fraser-Melissa relationship; you're right, that could have been really skeevy, but it's Fraser! So it's lovely. And great point about how Ray's learning to trust Fraser's instincts more, or at least hear him out even when the evidence is against him.

[danceswithwords]

See, every time it rains here during the summer, I am overcome with relief that I won't have to water my lawn, thereby possibly delaying an angry letter from our homeowners' association.

Ha! I had the opposite reaction: "Dammit, now the weeds are going to start growing again."

And I'm really sorry your week hasn't been going better.

*ignores your segue*

you're right, that could have been really skeevy, but it's Fraser!

I was actually shocked that they pulled it off without having the situation come across as at least a little questionable. But, nope, completely wholesome.

[fialka]

She gets one day of rain and she complains? Sheesh. Come to sunny Yorkshire, where our July has consisted of rain, heavy rain, scattered showers, rain, torrential downpour of biblical proportions, rain, rain, rain...you get the picture. OTOH my colleagues took me out for a pub lunch yesterday (during a brief five minute interlude of sun) which lasted two hours because a) we were with the boss and b) it started bucketing in the middle of lunch so we just had to wait it out...n'other round, please?

Thanks for the birthday wishes, and btw, your Bento box has me drooling on the keyboard.

[danceswithwords]

You betcha I'm complaining! Or more marveling, because it is almost unheard-of to have any rain at all in July, August, or September here. If we're having an exceptionally wet winter, we might get rain in October and early June, but for the most part, we don't get any rain from about mid-May to November or December. I feel like requesting a refund for my over-priced real estate. (On the other hand, in San Francisco itself, summer weather consists of fog and 50F temperatures, and in the winter we often have heavy rainstorms that last for days.)

At least your climate provides you with a good excuse for a long lunch, though. That sounds nice.