Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Captain Black

It's been brutal getting out of bed these last couple of days. I guess I 'slept in' to 8am on the long weekend, and now I have to phase advance back to the 6:30/7 start that I need to get to work early. According to my circadian course, I should be okay tomorrow morning. We'll see.

Watched La Femme Nikita (thanks Cam) last night. I chose to view it in French, to preserve the director's intent and actors' deliveries. English subs, of course. All these years of watching chinese movies and reading the subs when we don't 'get' something has trained us to both read and simultaneously interpret tone and pitch of language. It's a talent that a lot of white people haven't been able to pick up until maybe an anime obsession forced them to learn. Anyway, I chuckled when Victor le nettoyeur showed up. I knew Jean Reno was in the movie, and when I didn't see him, as soon as they mentioned a nettoyeur, I sorta knew what was coming next. He and director Luc Besson went on to do The Professional, where he plays Leon the Cleaner.

Lately, I've been spending my free time reading. It seems that I ike to start books without finishing other books. I'm currently alternating between Milton's Paradise Lost, (which is going very slowly), Salinger's Nine Stories, and Paolini's Eragon. I read the acknowledgements on the jacket of Eragon, and apparently the author was 15 years old when he first published the story. Thats so wrong. Anyway, it's a fun novel to read - Lord of the Rings for kids. There's a nicely engrossing plot, but I can't help but feel that the elements aren't woven together as tightly or smoothly as LOtR. Then again, Tolkein was an english professor, and Paolini is just a high school grad. I'd still recommend it to anyone, especially those who couldn't get thought LOtR.

*edit*
Right, the title of the post. I've been smoking Captain Black pipe tobacco that my dad bought for me from Nashville. The looser stringier tobacco is so much easier to smoke than the premium stuff tobacconists normally carry. It looks almost like really long, moist strips of cigarette tobacco, but smells vaguely like plums and figs. It burns cool, but fast.
*/edit*

For those who're visiting me this weekend: bring a plate and a mug each. I don't have enough to go around. I've got enough cutlery, though.

-d

5 comments:

Steph said...

Yea i've been reading too, I just went though a huge Orson Scott Card phase which started after i brought "Speaker for the dead" with me to europe and then i proceeded to buy the whole "Alvin Maker" series which consists of 6 books and when i finished those i bought his novel called "Enchantment" which is a funny spin-off based on sleeping beauty and when i finished that i read "lost in the barrons" by Mowat and yesterday night i finished my fav kids book "Goblins in the castle" by bruce Coville. Now i'm looking for something else to read. Maybe i'll read that 15 year old kid's book you recommended. Note: Ebay is great for getting cheap books especially if they are in a series.

Dust said...

I just used my $50 amazon gift cert (thanks guys) and bought Eragon and the sequel, Eldest. I'll pass it around when it arrives in 2-3 business days.

After I took that course on sci fi and fantasy in literature, i'm hooked on sci-fi books. but not the spaceship star wars/trek stuff - that stuff wears thin after a while. I'm currently on a John Wyndham phase myself. I had to read The Midwich Children in class. Anyway, they turned that book into the movie "Village of the Damned," starring Christopher Reeve and that fat actress, before she got fat and got her own show.

-d

Anonymous said...

have a nice weekend.
taste of danforth. why do i think of you when i see/hear about food?

still dunno if i'm going.

Anonymous said...

pirates sucked

Anonymous said...

i liked 9 Stories. i should read more.