"1. "The Wire"

Calling David Simon's epic narrative of life in Baltimore "more than a procedural drama" is like saying that God is more than a man with a long white beard."

"( Walk this way... )

I have always loved Krampus (see icon), but now I am all kinds of digging Olentzero :

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/43013

But I work in retail, so sue me. Here is something better than I could have come up with, anyway -

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2004/12/01/the-10-least-successful-holiday-specials-of-all-time/

You have nothing to lose but your customers. And maybe your job...

http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/210048821.html

Some well needed perspective on New Moon : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy8YRq0dRiI

I love old horror anthology films (The House That Dripped Blood, Dead of Night, et. all) and I always wanted to make one myself.  So here is the soundtrack to my imaginary movie :  Veille De La Toussaint 

 

( Walk this way... )

So instead you get a link :


http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/friday-videos-do-it-all-in-one-take/#com

 

Canadian Film Students Rock!

From Jane on Facebook -

http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-reasons-21st-century-making-you-miserable.html

Yes, the irony of having gotten this from Facebook and posting in on LJ is not lost on me, but I will add that the person I ganked it from is someone I have known in the real world for almost 20 years, and most of the people who will read it are also people I know physically as well as electronically.

Like many women of a certain age Dirty Dancing was a touchstone.  While I never had a crush on Swayze himself Johnny Castle (one of the best names ever in film) was a perfect romantic figure, tough and graceful at the same time, judgemental yet supportive of those he chose to consider family, one of those iconic figures that form my idea of what a man should be.  From what I understand Swayze was pretty much that kind of person himself, and it made me sad that he was ill, and much sadder that it ended up being fodder for the tabloids.  Now that he is dead it feels a bit like a part of my youth is gone with him, which is I guess how a lot of other people felt when Michael Jackson passed, an event that meant little to me.

So, from Stephanie Zacharek's Salon piece on Swayze:
"Don't get me wrong -- those muscles were always great, and I was always happy to see them. And taking pleasure in watching an actor stride or run or stretch is a sensual response, just as there's a sensual element to watching a great athlete. But Swayze -- who may not have had many huge hits but who always worked steadily, right up through his recent A&E Network show "The Beast" -- had so much more going for him than mere brawn. He had a boyish, elfin quality that made him seem ageless; his smile was part of his physical grace, part of his agility as an actor. Maybe that's why I've always liked Swayze best with his shirt on. That way, he was less likely to be written off as just a hot, beefcakey stud. Even when he was fully clothed, you could always see the dancer inside."

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1252387219119860.xml&coll=1


Earnest Hammond, wish I was half the person you are.

There has never been anything cooler than this :

http://themovieblog.com/2009/07/ghost-busters-circa-1954

From William Thackery

“What is it to be a gentleman? Is it to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be brave, to be wise, and, possessing all these qualities, to exercise them in the most graceful outward manner? Ought a gentleman to be a loyal son, a true husband, an honest father? Ought his life to be decent, his bills to be paid, his tastes to be high and elegant, his aims in life to be noble?”

Ladies, this means you, too.

From Deen

Don’t take too long to think about it.
Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you.
First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
Copy the instructions into your own post.

1) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
2) Scarlet Letter - Nathanial Hawthone
3) Ghost Story - Peter Straub
4) Gumbo Ya-Ya - Lyle Saxon
5) Last Train to Memphis - Peter Guralnick
6) The Dream at the End of the World - Michelle Green
7) On the Road - Jack Kerouac
8) A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
9) A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
10) Persuasion / Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austin
11) Locos-Felipe Alfau
12) American Gods - Neil Gaiman
13) Love and Rockets Vol. 1-12 - Los Bros. Hernandez
14) The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
15) Horseman on the Roof - Jean Giono

Hmmm....I am sure I am missing some usual suspects.....

Thanks to Genie for sharing!

I prefere my nineteenth century to be as unrealistic as possible, less cholera and more mixed martial arts.