Friday, July 15, 2005

Things to do when you're not reading HARRY POTTER.



- The book comes out at midnight. To assure that I'll get my copy, I've signed on for a late shift at the bookstore.(Earlier this week at the bookstore, I noticed that the boxes had all been locked away in the manager's office. No one has been allowed to even touch them.) Are you a fan? Where are you getting your copy? Beyond that, who do you think is the Half-Blood Prince?
- Dena suggested, among other things, that I try a new wine this weekend. She says she's been trying some glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, breaking away from her usual order of chardonnay. Sounded like a fun idea. Tonight, the High Museum's doing its Friday Night Jazz program, and, well, I won't be there because of the HARRY POTTER book. But it sounds like fun. And it's a good opportunity to do as Dena says.
- Last week, because that customer Jonathan recommended it, I picked up a copy of W. Somerset Maugham's THE RAZOR'S EDGE in the store. Though I didn't think I would get into it, I ended up reading 50 pages there. Then, I bought it, took it home and read up to page 130. It's a really good book about a WWI vet searching for meaning and God while all of his friends live the high life during the Roaring '20s. It's really good. And a couple characters in it, though readers probably were less inclined to notice this when it was first published, are really, really flaming.
- The Emmys suck. No nods for NIP/TUCK. No Julian McMahon. No Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop for GILMORE GIRLS. No VERONICA MARS. No Kristen Bell. No Shohreh Aghdashloo for 24. I mean, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and LOST received lots of nominations, but I wish they'd spread the wealth.
- My film prof Neupert tells me he's been catching up on his Anime the past couple weeks. He recommends GUNSLINGER GIRL, which looks way violent. I've never been able to "get" Anime, as I've mentioned before, but I'm willing to try something if Neupert likes it.



- For its tenth anniversary, Amazon has been staging one special event after another. One of the things that the site's sponsored is celebrity hand deliveries. So, apparently, a couple days after a lucky customer ordered the INDIANA JONES box set, Harrison Ford showed up himself at the door with the package. If you look at some of these celebrities involved, like Clay Aiken or Tom Arnold, I don't know if I'd open the door to them. "Honey, Howie Mandel's at the door! Run for your life!"
- HAPPY ENDINGS, which I've seen and recommend, opens today at the Landmark. You should see it. Lisa Kudrow's good in it.



- HELLBENT, called the first "gay slasher movie," is being released in the fall. In it, a masked serial killer is going to stalk young, hot gay men through the streets of West Hollywood on Halloween night. True to the tradition of slasher movies, of course, most everyone will probably be half-naked when killed horribly. (Of course, I'll be in the theater, screaming, "Run, Mary, run!!!") I don't get how "equality" in culture is achieved through minorities receiving their own bad romance novels and slasher movies. Is this progress?
- Baby Coon Day is, apparently, Tuesday. That is the day that Baby Coon will arrive. (Incidentally, does anyone else notice how Baby Coon is timing his arrival for HARRY POTTER week? I think Baby Coon wants a J.K. Rowling-inspired name.)
- Check last week's list.
- Do your laundry.
- Wash your dishes.
- Improv in the Park occurs every Thursday night in July, and some of my friends say it's really, really funny. Dad's Garage, one of the theater troupes involved, is supposed to be fantastic.
- My favorite foreign movie, recommended by Neupert, is Agnes Varda's CLEO FROM 5 TO 7. It's about a pop singer who has two hours to shop for a nice hat in Paris before doctors give her the results of a cancer screening. It wavers between being fun and bleak, and I love it. What's your favorite foreign film? (British and American movies don't count. It should be mostly subtitled. For example, AMELIE counts, and DANCES WITH WOLVES, though it's subtitled, doesn't. If you don't watch movies with subtitles, that's just sad.)

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