Housekeeping vs. the Dirt

This is the second compilation of Nick Hornby’s monthly column in The Believer magazine.  He follows the same pattern he did in The Polysyllabic Spree by listing every book he bought each month and every book he read.  Hornby is an insightful critic and, better yet, he is funny.  I found myself reading many passages out loud to whatever poor soul was near me at the time.  One mark of a good critic is when the reader thinks to him or herself, “That is exactly how I was thinking and feeling about that topic, but I couldn’t put it into words.”  Hornby often does this while swinging from pathos to humor and back again in a few sentences.  A great read for anyone who loves books and reading.

Conferences and kids home from school

I know the subtitle for the blog mentions little ones, yet I haven’t talked about the kids much.  It’s hard to know what to say honestly.  We had the requisite days off for school conferences this week … three days before Spring Break.  It’s hard to understand the reasoning for this.  The kids have areas they need to work on but their teachers didn’t ring any alarm bells or shout fire in a crowded theater, so I have to believe they are doing ok.  I know myself well enough to understand that I have a tendency to worry a little too much about them falling behind.  So I work hard to temper that feeling.  Yet it’s hard not to get worked up when you see many other parents enrolling their kids in extra classes.  Many of the kids at our school have been taking extra classes since Kindergarten and are clearly excelling.  But what is the price, literally and figuratively?  How much do we need to push and how much do we need to guide?  I guess there’s no one answer for each child, but I wonder if I’m doing enough all of the time.  Then again, R loves to read and D is lightning fast with the numbers.  We were reading the story problem that he was supposed to do for us at the conferences and he blurted out the answer before we could finish reading it.  It was really kind of funny.  That also makes me wonder if we shouldn’t have him in extra math classes so he can build on his innate skills.  Ack, this parenting thing is a constant puzzle.  I guess this is our own story problem, put without any right answers.

Ranger’s Apprentice: Ruins of Gorlan

Fantasy is a genre that is often done poorly (and there is little that is worse than half-baked fantasy). This is why I was relieved to read the first entry in Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice.  Hopefully, the rest of the series is this good.  The book follows the orphan, Will as he becomes a ranger’s apprentice.  Flanagan does a nice job developing several distinct characters for Will to interact with.  I particularly liked Horace and wanted to follow his story as well.  Will’s triumphs are immensely satisfying and while there are dark times coming in future books, the darkness doesn’t dominate the tone of the book.  All in all, this is a great read for anyone teen and up who enjoys a good fantasy.

Cap dies … for now

I haven’t had a chance to read how Captain America dies (I’ve heard it was well done), but the death after the big conflegration that was “Civil War” seems like a waste to me.  First Cap gives up, then he gets gunned down by a sniper.  Maybe this sets up some interesting stories for Marvel, but it strikes me as anticlimactic and ill-timed.  I would have rather seen Cap fall in battle.  It is interesting that Joss Whedon of Buffy and Angel fame would encourage the ending we got in Civil War after he defiantly sent Angel off into battle for the last episode of that show.  That is how a warrior should go down, not bound and tied up.  But I’m sure Cap will be back at some point in the not too distant future.  Maybe I’ll get the trades for the library.

300

I finally got to see this movie yesterday and it was quite good.  Maybe not as good as it looked in the previews, but entertaining nontheless.  Ancient history, monsters, based on a comic book, I mean … what’s not to like.  It was very violent, almost ridiculously so at times, but that is the currency this type of movie deals in.  It is supposed to be wildly over the top.  You almost feel like you’ve been hit with a steamroller afterwards.  It was very reminicent of LOTK, though Rings was done with a lot more characterization and focus on relationships.  All in all, it was a good movie to see on the big screen.  I suspect we will be seeing even more comic book movies on the big screen, which might be a mixed blessing.

Best TV shows right now

My book reading has taken a hit since the TV season got back in full swing.  The word of the day is “episodic” as just about everything I’m eager to watch is serialized.  I’ve never been a Law and Order or CSI fan, so the current focus on serialized shows is welcome, when they’re done well.  When done poorly and you still get hooked, it’s particularly painful when they get cancelled.  That being said, here are the things I look forward to each week.

1.  Friday Night Lights – The show I look forward to the most every week.  Most likely will be cancelled because no one else is watching.  The focus is on the characters, not football.  Anyone who has grown up in a small town with little else to do other than high school athletics can relate to this show and the characters’ desperation to find a way out of their small town lives.  You care about everyone on this show, even the people you should hate.  The episode on race relations a couple weeks ago focused on the assistant coach saying something racially insensitive in an interview.  The writers looked at this from many points of view and I thougth it was quite moving.

2.  Battlestar Galactica – The intensity has gone down a bit this season since they have not fought the cylons since the first episode, but this allows them to turn inward again and focus on how these characters would get along when the pressures of everyday life begin to weigh them down.  They are straining credibility with Baltar still being alive after they captured him, but that character is so rich and so well acted, you just have to keep him around.  Last week’s episode showed him morphing into a farmer’s son in order to foment class revolution and it was brilliant.  The problems may have been wrapped up too neatly but I don’t see any other shows on TV taking the chances this one takes.

3.  Heroes – I was afraid this show was going to suck when it started (because it’s easy to do bad superhero TV/movies) but it has turned into one of the best shows of the season.  It is definitely hitting it’s stride now.  It is pealing back the layers quickly, so as to avoid the Lost phenomenon and it is working.  My fear is that they may move so quickly that they may run out of story.  The last episode describing the Horned Rimmed Glasses Man’s background was excellent.

I thought about adding Lost or 24 to the list, but I’m not anticipating those shows every week like I once was.  Lost is in trouble.  The pace is far too slow and they are not getting anywhere.  They have too many characters and the character backgrounds are not revealing much that is new.  I like the show and want it to be good but I almost think waiting for the DVD to come out is the way to watch it.  They need to wrap it up next year or it will go the way of the X-files.

24 is one show I am waiting to drop.  Last season was particularly good, but there is very little ground this season that they have not covered before.  At this point, I’m watching out of habit, never a good sign.

Studio 60 is enjoyable at times but got off on the wrong foot with it’s preachiness and self-importance.  And they really need to stay away from the on screen comedy bits.  It’s hard enough for SNL to be funny, what makes Sorkin think he can do any better?  I still enjoy Scrubs, Earl, and some other comedies but I find that more often than nought, I watch The Daily Show and Colbert for my funnies.  I laugh more in five minutes of one of their shows than a whole evening of comedies on one of the networks.

The shows I’m waiting for on DVD are Rome and Entourage.  Both were excellent and I can’t wait to start watching them again.