I got a bit of bad news earlier in the week when my brother texted to report that Kilgore died. I've never met him, but I hear he was an excellent fish and sure will be missed. I am pleased to report that Trout, however, is swimming along just fine despite his recent loss. Way to be a trooper, buddy.
I've been largely underwhelmed with several recent musical releases that I had been more than a little excited to get my hands on, yet can be a pretty stubbornly patient lady when I suspect the payoff might be worth it, hence I will admit that Icky Thump and Our Love to Admire have been growing on me more and more. Perhaps I just need to give Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga some more time then?
The Guardian asked some of Britain's literary greats what kids should read after Harry Potter, and I, for one, think most of their suggestions are bollocks. Trust me to know that no kid wants to read Huck Finn or HG Wells for fun. The logical answer with what should fill the reading void would be Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which is truly awesome and you should all be reading if'n you haven't already. So go ahead and do it now. I'll wait.
I know that pickings are slim in the summertime months, but Flight of the Conchords is far and away my favorite show at the moment. It's the perfect mixture of silly and odd and hilarious that is so often present in the people and things I hold most dear, but it's that very silly/odd sort of hilarity that many other people don't find so funny, so I'm really afraid it won't last to see the light of season two. Boo.
Okay. I'll admit it. Black Snake Moan was a much better movie than I thought it would be. Of course, I thought it would be god-awful so that's not exactly the highest of compliments but it really wasn't so bad. Really. But please, let's no one try to convince me that remaking Hairspray is necessary or that Captivity got an unfair break. I can only take so many paradigm shifts at once.
And finally, did you know that I have a completely illogical fear of things falling on me? It's true - I do. This is the reason why I have always lived on the top floor of apartment buildings (when given the opportunity to choose), will never agree to sleep on the bottom bunk, and get a bit nervous when people in upper floors or balconies start jumping. I'm only telling you this because it's something that you really should know about me if we are to really know one another. That and I hate capers. And ferrets. And Newark.
(But I sure like you - oh yes I do...)
I've been largely underwhelmed with several recent musical releases that I had been more than a little excited to get my hands on, yet can be a pretty stubbornly patient lady when I suspect the payoff might be worth it, hence I will admit that Icky Thump and Our Love to Admire have been growing on me more and more. Perhaps I just need to give Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga some more time then?
The Guardian asked some of Britain's literary greats what kids should read after Harry Potter, and I, for one, think most of their suggestions are bollocks. Trust me to know that no kid wants to read Huck Finn or HG Wells for fun. The logical answer with what should fill the reading void would be Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which is truly awesome and you should all be reading if'n you haven't already. So go ahead and do it now. I'll wait.
I know that pickings are slim in the summertime months, but Flight of the Conchords is far and away my favorite show at the moment. It's the perfect mixture of silly and odd and hilarious that is so often present in the people and things I hold most dear, but it's that very silly/odd sort of hilarity that many other people don't find so funny, so I'm really afraid it won't last to see the light of season two. Boo.
Okay. I'll admit it. Black Snake Moan was a much better movie than I thought it would be. Of course, I thought it would be god-awful so that's not exactly the highest of compliments but it really wasn't so bad. Really. But please, let's no one try to convince me that remaking Hairspray is necessary or that Captivity got an unfair break. I can only take so many paradigm shifts at once.
And finally, did you know that I have a completely illogical fear of things falling on me? It's true - I do. This is the reason why I have always lived on the top floor of apartment buildings (when given the opportunity to choose), will never agree to sleep on the bottom bunk, and get a bit nervous when people in upper floors or balconies start jumping. I'm only telling you this because it's something that you really should know about me if we are to really know one another. That and I hate capers. And ferrets. And Newark.
(But I sure like you - oh yes I do...)
Labels: it's business time
4 Comments:
Who DOESN'T sing/scream "Team Building Exercise '99" every possible chance they get?
Nobody, I bet.
I think that The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper would be a great thing for kids to turn to, especially because it is evidently becoming a movie franchise (and I hope they do it justice). It's for grades 4-8 about, and it has the same sort of "magic and real life" thing that HP does.
But you're right...the fact that most of the Guardian's answers started with a version of "I don't know" is not promising.
What on earth's wrong with Huck Finn? I devoured that when I was 10 or 11, and absolutely loved it.
Nothing's wrong with Huck Finn, but as someone who's been forced to teach it to resistant, struggling 15 and 16-year-old readers for the past six years I know that most kids (there are always exceptions, of course) wouldn't pick it up as something fun to read in their spare time. I also don't understand why they would recommend it to fill a fantasy fiction void, seeing as Twain was a Realist and all :)
Post a Comment
<< Home