Leonard Peacock and The Silver Linings Playbook

"The confluence of beauty and terror– that’s how my high school art history teacher described the sublime. A sublime painting or poem would spark fear or awe through natural beauty, grandeur, or infinity. Not long into Matthew Quick’s Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, I realized I was experiencing sublimity firsthand." -- Katie W. Beim-Esche, The Christian Science Monitor

"We should be grateful for a book that gets kids, and the leaders they’ll become, thinking about the problem now." --Nathan Heller, The New York Times.

Quick, Matthew. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock: A Novel. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2013. Print. 
 

Leonard Peacock plans to celebrate his 18th birthday by killing himself and his ex-best friend. Somehow Matthew Quick is able to take this dark subject matter and turn it into a hopeful, and sometimes funny, parable. It is the best YA book I've read so far this fall.

 

Quick, Matthew. The Silver Linings Playbook. New York: Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Print.

I liked Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock even better than the author's most famous book, The Silver Linings Playbook. I shouldn't admit it, but this is one of the rare occasions that I preferred the movie to the book. It's a good book, but it's an amazing movie.
It has a great soundtrack, too, with songs by Dave Brubeck, Danny Elfman, Stevie Wonder, and White Stripes. You should buy it at my friend Al's record store, Exile on Main Street.

 

Silver Linings Playbook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. New York: Sony Classical, 2012. Sound recording.

A Passage to India and Grown Ups

We finally broke down and bought a flat screen television set and a Blu-ray player. (They were surprisingly inexpensive!) The two most entertaining movies I have watched so far are  A Passage to India and Grown Ups.

A Passage to India

A Passage to India is the only E.M. Forster novel I haven't read. I stayed up way past my bedtime watching this epic 3 hour film which takes place in India during the 1920's. Two proper English women take a trip to India and are disgusted by British colonists disdain for the Indians. Seeking adventure, they befriend two Indian men who try to show them the real India. It's a great movie. It would have been a perfect movie if Sir Alec Guiness hadn't been cast as an Indian. The blue-eyed actor looked ridiculous wearing brown make-up and a turban. 

Grown Ups

If you liked Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, you will love Grown Ups. It's a fun, silly movie about a bunch of friends who reunite to attend their junior high basketball coach's funeral. They bring their families and rent a lake house in their New England hometown for the weekend. I am looking forward to the sequel Grown Ups 2. Both films were produced by my cousin Allen Covert who is best known for his role as the limo driver in The Wedding Singer. Allen also starred in the stoner classic Grandma's Boy.

Alternative Christmas songs

Here are a few of my favorite not-so-merry Christmas songs:

River by Joni Mitchell

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on. . .

Mitchell, Joni. Blue. Burbank, CA: Reprise, 1971. Sound recording. 

Merry Christmas, Emily by Cracker

Emily was twenty three
Sitting on the ground
Under a dead palm tree
6th and Speedway
On Christmas day . . .

Brick by Ben Folds Five

6am, day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in the dark
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping
I am numb. . .




Christmas in Prison by John Prine

It was Christmas in prison
And the food was real good
We had turkey and pistols
Carved out of wood . . .




My friend Chris LeRoy does a great cover of this John Prine song. I like it as much as the original.



And speaking of John Prine . . .

My family had a very John Prine Thanksgiving:



And speaking of family . . . 

My cousin Allen Covert produced this Chanukah favorite:


Click to here to buy the song.

ps. It's pretty raunchy,  but I really liked Allen's most recent movie, That's My Boy.

See the guy in the red Izod shirt? That's my cousin!

pps. Happy Holidays, Love Rebecca.

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

Orlean, Susan. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.

Susan Orlean's book about Hollywood's most celebrated rescue dog is not your ordinary dog story. It's about the impact of moving pictures (There were more canine roles during the silent film era), the use of dogs in the military, the social history of dog ownership (obedience classes are a fairly new concept), and much more. Learn more about this great tale and listen to an interview (with the author, not the dog) on npr.com.

ps. October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Visit your local Humane Society and adopt a friend for life.

pps. Patti Page recently rerecorded "Doggie in the Window" to "Doggie in the Shelter." 59 years later, she still sounds amazing.

The Last Exorcism

About the theater experience:

Marc and I went to see The Last Exorcism last night. (It was funny, but not all that scary.) We are not big horror fans--we chose to see it because it was playing at the fancy theater. Tickets are $22 each, but you get free popcorn, valet parking, and a reserved sofa or a really big comfy chair. Since they serve alcohol, you have to be at least 21 to get in. It's usually a very mellow affair, but last night's crowd was a bit rowdy.


When the show started, one couple was having a noisy conversation that had nothing to do with the movie. When an old guy shushed them, one of the talkers replied, "you white people are so retarded." The old guy said, "What did you say to me?" The old guy's wife wisely told everyone to knock it off and watch the movie. So everyone did. Until the end when there was some booing. One person started cursing and complaining about the movie before it was even over. The main complaint was the ending. It was abrupt and it came about too soon. (When you pay $22 for a ticket, you want to get at least 2 hours worth of entertainment.)


About the movie:

The Last Exorcism is a fake documentary about a Louisiana preacher who earns extra cash doing fake exorcisms. The acting is excellent. I predict that Caleb Landry Jones will win some "Best Supporting Actor" awards. (Until I looked him up on IMDb, I would have sworn that he was a real local, not an actor.)

As I mentioned earlier, the movie is more funny than scary. Since it's short and the ending is disappointing, I would not recommend seeing it for full price. Try to catch a bargain matinee or wait for the DVD.


If you want to see a really good movie about a Louisiana preacher, check out The Apostle. It stars Robert Duvall, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton (he's an idiot, but a pretty good actor), and June Carter Cash. My cousin Nicholas Anderson has a part in it, too!

Nicholas Anderson

Waters

If you like David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, you will really like this new book by filmmaker John Waters. You don't have to be a fan of his movies to enjoy the book. Visit npr.com to learn more about it.

Waters, John. Role Models. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. Print.

"Life is waiting . . . "

Spielberg, Steven, Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna,
Janusz Kawinski, and John Williams. The terminal. [United States]: DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2004.

For the first time in my life, I had to report to jury duty. It wasn't a bad experience at all. Everything was very well-organized, the people were friendly, the room was comfortable, and I got to watch The Terminal on a large screen TV. There weren't enough trials to go around, so they sent most of us home in the afternoon. I hope they invite me back next year!

The Terminal is a fantastic comedy about a lovable man from Eastern Europe (the Tom Hanks character) who finds himself stranded at JFK International Airport. Although though he can barely speak a word of English, he makes lots of friends and even scores himself a date with a wonderfully flighty flight attendant who is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.


It's a little corny, but I love the part when the airport workers set up a make-shift fancy restaurant for Tom and Catherine's dinner date.

ps. Did I mention that before I became a librarian, I was a Pan Am flight attendant?

Who's your favorite?

Frank Sinatra is a bit overrated. Personally, I think Sammy Davis, Jr. was the most talented member of the Rat Pack.

Sinatra, Frank, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis. The Rat Pack Live at the Sands. Hollywood, Calif: Capitol

He had it all--he could dance, sing, act, tell jokes, etc. He was a sharp dresser, too.

Was he a cool cat, or what?

How to annoy a librarian

"Most people think of them [librarians] as all mousy and quiet and telling everyone to 'SHHHHH!' I'm now convinced that 'shush' is just the sound of the steam coming out of their ears as they sit there plotting the revolution."

--Michael Moore.

Here is a sampling of some of the bizarre incidents I have encountered during my 23 years of working in public libraries. I must add that NONE of the following events occurred at the wonderful library where I happily work now.

*A guy handed me the book Women on Top with all the pages stuck together.

 *A man was banned from the library for sneaking up behind women and cutting off their ponytails.

*One of my friends, a petite librarian, was punched in the nose by a drunk guy when she asked him to put his bottle away.

*Another drunk guy called another one of my colleagues a "C U Next Tuesday." He died the following week of hypothermia. 

*A group of teenage boys threw their poop at each other in the reading room.

*A junkie overdosed in the children's bathroom.

*I came across an abandoned newborn baby. When I located the mother upstairs, she asked if it was making too much noise.

*While they were waiting in line to check out books, a preschooler told her mother that she had to poop. The mother pulled out a portable potty and had the girl relieve herself within inches of other patrons. The mother could have easily taken the girl into the restroom, but explained that she didn't want to lose her place in line.

*A patron complained that I had too much "devil" music. She was mad because I had an Ozzy Osbourne CD in the collection.

*Another patron complained that I had too much Christian music in the collection. The only "Christian" music I had was an Amy Grant cross-over pop album.

*A library volunteer told me that I shouldn't have Jerry Garcia's CD's in the collection because he was a known pot smoker. I got a little snotty and asked if he wanted to throw out the Beatles, too.

*A patron wanted to have a YA book taken off the shelf because the characters didn't use condoms. Not only was the book published before the AIDS crisis, but the sex scene was tastefully vague.

*During Teen Read Week, we had an outdoor "Rocktober" Battle of the Bands. We gave away glow sticks as party favors. A teacher complained that we were promoting the "rave" culture. She may have been right. Later that evening a teenager tried to jump off the roof.

*When visiting a potential job site, I noticed that they kept a baseball bat behind the circulation desk and a golf club behind the reference desk.

*One time a customer had a temper tantrum and threw a book across the circulation desk. I ducked.

Please remember that 99.9% of public libraries are perfectly safe, quiet, and welcoming. However, like in all public buildings, it is never a good idea to leave children unattended or to totally let down your guard.

I love you, man!

My husband said that my friends and I acted just like these guys during the Cracker concert. (Embedding was disabled, so click here to see the video clip on Youtube. It's hilarious.)

De Line, Donald, et al. I love you, man. [California]: DreamWorks Pictures, 2009.

Happy Birthday, Emma Thompson!

April 15th is the birthday of one of my all-time favorite actresses, Emma Thompson. She is probably most famous for her work in award-winning films such as Sense and Sensibility, Howard's End, The Remains of the Day, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and many, many more.

My favorite Emma Thompson movie is the romantic comedy, The Tall Guy. Jeff Goldblum plays her love interest, an American actor living in London. It's got a great soundtrack featuring Madness's hit song, It Must Be Love.

Happy Birthday, Robert Duvall!

Tender mercies. Troy, MI: Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2002.

Today is the birthday of Academy Award winning actor, Robert Duvall. Some of his most notable roles include Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Hagin in The Godfather, Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, and Mr. Hilyer in Rambling Rose.

Rambling Rose. Santa Monica, Calif: Artisan Entertainment, 2002.

Robert Duvall wrote, directed, and starred in The Apostle. My cousin Nicholas sang in a church choir which was featured in the film. I knew nothing about this until I went to the movie and saw his face on the big screen. I was so startled that I screamed out loud in the middle of the theater!

The apostle. Universal City, CA: Universal Home Video, 2003.

ps. Nicholas now lives in Japan where he teaches English as a second language.

Love, Actually

Do you have a favorite holiday movie? Mine is Love, Actually. I love it when the prime minister goes Christmas caroling in the "dodgy" neighborhood:

Lon Chaney and David Watts

Today at work, my friends from the Archives Department were talking about old movies, and I heard Lon Chaney's name mentioned. My ears perked up and I interrupted: "Excuse me, did you just say Lon Chaney? Isn't he the guy in the Warren Zevon song?" My friends said, "What song? Lon Chaney or Lon Chaney, Jr.?" I replied, "Both!" and broke out into song:

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walkin' with the queen, doin' the werewolves of London.
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walkin' with the queen, doin' the werewolves of London . . .

Don't worry--I refrained from howling. Since I was on a roll, and since the Archives Department is working on a Dalí project, I also serenaded them with the Pixies' hit, Debaser.

got me a movie
i want you to know
slicing up eyeballs
i want you to know
girlie so groovy
i want you to know
don't know about you
but i am un chien andalusia . . .

Then my friends and I talked on and on about Salvador Dalí and his crazy projects. (He shares credit with Luis Buñuel for the surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou.)


And speaking of song references . . .

Who the heck is David Watts?

The Country Bears

Marc and I watched The Country Bears movie on television tonight. It was the first time that I saw it through to the credits. I hadn't realized that John Hiatt wrote all of the original songs. No wonder it rocks!

The Bank Job

Last night Marc and I went to see The Bank Job. I loved the costumes and make-up, but there were a few too many plot twists for my taste. The soundtrack was pretty good.

Full and happy

I'm in a much better mood now. Marc and I just got back from seeing Juno at Muvico. Not only did I get my carb fix, but the movie was AWESOME. The main character is a Patti Smith fan, and there's even a reference to children's librarians! Who could ask for a more perfect flick?

American Gangster

Last night my husband and I went to see the AWESOME movie, American Gangster. Try to catch it before you hear about all the plot twists.

Here are a few details that won't spoil your movie experience:

*It's pretty violent, but there's hardly any cursing.

*Russell Crowe plays the lead, but he looks more like Tony Danza in this flick. (I think Tony Danza is way cuter than Russell Crowe anyway--plus, Tony doesn't throw phones at people.)

*Ruby Dee rocks. Remember her in Raisin in the Sun?