match point

first, let me say that this was a good movie, and quite worth seeing. it’s a story about a bunch of bad (or, at least, not-good) people, much in spirit of closer. now, on to the story.

i hate having to save seats in movie theaters. the presence of jackets to drape over seats mitigates my displeasure somewhat, but not entirely. part of the problem stems from the fact that i don’t particularly like it when people cordon off whole rows (and generally choice rows, at that) for their own personal use. the rest of it is that i don’t like having to constantly field the questions and the glares regarding the seats’ availability.

so, when a man put his jacket down on the two seats directly in front of lea and me, and ingratiatingly requested: “would you be the greatest people in the world, and save these seats?,” i felt no obligation whatsoever to say yes. what could be worse than saving seats for your own friends? oh, that’s right, saving seats for some stranger. that being said, i wasn’t entirely opposed to indicating to anybody who directly asked that the seats were, indeed, taken, if the jacket wasn’t clue enough. so, my response was, “i can’t make any promises.” the man looked confused, since he obviously was expecting an affirmative response, but he didn’t say anything, and just sat down, and saved the seats himself.

about a minute later, a woman came down the aisle, and informed us (lea, myself, and the man in front of us) that her husband had lost his wallet, and that he had been sitting in the seat currently occupied by the jacket of the seat-saving man. after a bit of rummaging, lea discovered the wallet on the floor, and handed it over. the woman gratefully informed her that “now something good will happen to you!” this is all fine and good, a wallet was found, the day is saved. then, however, the seat-saving man uttered, at a decibel level which can not be described as under his breath, that “maybe that will make up for him.” the woman sitting to the man’s right (across the jacket-saved empty seat) showed considerable restraint by checking her laughter to a snide snigger.

so, there you have it. evil seth strikes again — fortunately, however, this time lea footed my karmic bill.

brokeback mountain

this was certainly beautifully shot, but it just doesn’t seem like the movie of the year.

serenity

this doesn’t qualify as a thinking-man’s sci-fi (a la primer), especially given the way the whole “little girl as weapon” thing was left underdeveloped, but it was fun none the less. combined with fever pitch, it made for an enjoyable night of movie-watching.

fever pitch

cute. i guess the combination of nick hornby, the farrelly brothers, drew barrymore and jimmy fallon is bound to end up a little strange, but it was a nice (if not exceptional) romantic comedy.

the diamond age

i read this, once upon a time (i.e. my freshman year in college), but i had forgotten pretty much the entirety of the book. this was my book-for-lea-to-read of the year, and i figured i should probably refresh myself on it (though lea read it before i “checked up on it”). this and snow crash are fun reads (at least, i think snow crash is a fun read … it’s been six years since i’ve read that one, too, and it’s on its way to madison as we speak).

wind, sand, and stars

when prose is as beautiful and lyrical as this, you can only wonder how much better it is in its original language. to be fair, i didn’t actually finish this book — i gave it to my brother to take home and read, but what i did read was fantastic.

cloud atlas

this was a bizarre book, but it was also really good. to talk about it much more might spoil it. i’m glad lea recommended it to me, and now i’m passing on the favor by recommending it to you.

old habits, young ways

the yearly christmas card is currently winding its way through the various capillaries of the u.s. postal system. if you don’t get yours sometime within the next week, and you think you should be getting one, drop me a line. i don’t have all that many friends, and overlooking any of them is not a crime i would consciously commit.

you can see a tracklisting over on the mix list. it’s always a toss-up on what will get included and what won’t, and i’m sure that with another month (or with one month less) to puzzle and ponder that the likes of okkervil river’s “for real” and andrew bird’s “nervous tic motion” and goldrush’s “let you down” and some countless others would have gotten some well earned play time. ah well. there will always be more mixes.

in case anybody’s interested about which national parks the photos are from: the cover picture is taken from the top of one of the mesas at mesa verde, and the disc picture is from mesa verde as well. the lizard in the tray is at petrified forest. the booklet’s inside is at grand canyon, and i believe is a picture of the hermit’s trail. the tray back was taken at black canyon of the gunnison.

the chronicles of narnia: the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe

good, but not great. i can’t say it blew me away the same way the lord of the rings movies did, which, apparently, is what i was expecting.

pride and prejudice

this was lea’s choice for me to read for this year’s xmas book trade (i’m having her read stephenson’s diamond age). i was never required to read this for school (as were many), which is a good thing, since i doubt i would have enjoyed it in high school. going to see the movie halfway through only picked up my reading pace.