Eccentric Flower talk:200911/Mixed Media

Thomas:

The last paragraph reminds me that there has been mail in my box about LOTRO Welcome Back Week.

-- 20:55, 20 November 2009 (GMT)

Thomas:

Re: "I am, so I cannot really estimate how dry it will be to other readers. I think it's interesting regardless, but one can never tell. This is the main reason I don't talk about my nonfiction reading much or make nonfiction recommendations."

So, why would you hate s the idea that the reader might end up with: "I enjoyed the review by Columbine so much more than the book itself! I wish I could switch the roles of players, so that the book would be written by Columbine and the review by the boring guy!"

-- 21:01, 20 November 2009 (GMT)

Columbina:

Eh. I'm glad if you find my reviews interesting but that's not the point - the point is the books. The problem is I am unable to tell from some of these books whether they will be interesting to someone else; this makes me feel that my review of them has no purpose, since what good is a review if not to tell you whether you might want to read the book?

There are a few critics I read just for the joy of reading their criticism, where what they think of the item being critiqued or whether they're off-base is wholly unimportant. I am not one of those critics.

-- 21:09, 20 November 2009 (GMT)

Thomas:

Re:"this makes me feel that my review of them has no purpose, since what good is a review if not to tell you whether you might want to read the book?"

Well, the use is not in how good you can guess, but in how accurately you can describe what you found in the book. Then the reader can make their own choices.

One cannot make any choices when one is not aware that such a book exists in first place.

Not to mention that even a book that fails to hold interest can be useful in more than one way. And I do not mean only use as a doorstop or conversation fodder (as often there is less to say about a good book than about a bad one).

-- 21:21, 20 November 2009 (GMT)

Iain:

Pink Martini. Splendor in the Grass.

Egad! A group that we both like! (OK, OK, probably not the only one, but your tastes, what I know of them, seem to be a bit more esoteric sometimes.)

And I like both Sympathique and Hey Eugene better. (Except for the title track on the latter, which ... why, Pink Martini, why?)

-- 01:45, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

Columbina:

I actually did not buy Hey Eugene because none of the samples on Amazon really piqued my interest at all. They are ... erratic. Never bad, you understand, but sometimes I say wow and sometimes I say eh. I think that Hang On Little Tomato has probably had the highest percentage of "wow" tracks of their three CDs I own.

I'm sure we have a number of other musical tastes in common, it's just finding them that's the tricky bit.

-- 04:11, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

Mmancuso:

(1)Are you interested in seeing the new Holmes movie?

(2) I read (or did I not finish it?) the Vermeer forger book and thought it was perfectly nice. The "collecting" of Hitler and his Fat Underling was amazingly thorough, and I'm a little pleased that even they were scooped up in all of it.

-- 08:50, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

ProfRobert:

I'm surprised you saw Unglorious Basturds or however it's spelled, given your opposition to humorous takes on the Nazis. I skipped it because a) I never see films anymore, and b) the concept struck me as Hogan's Heroes with ultraviolence.

Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs -- hmmm, that sounds interesting. "Girlfriend" meets "Walk Like and Egyptian." I'll have to look to see what's on these albums. I likewise have stopped buying music, though I'm toying with the idea of getting the last Kasebian album after seeing them on Jonathan Ross. The biggest hurdle I have with them is being named after a Manson Family member; such things deeply offend me, which is part of why I could never enjoy Joy Division.

Oh, and Janis's voice is compelling because most people sing songs -- she lives them, every time. I think Morissey may fall in the same category.

-- 18:41, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

Columbina:

Morrissey gives me hives. He doesn't actually sing. He sort of intones his way through songs, like slightly melodic talking, which wouldn't be an issue except he seems to have no idea of what music or tempo is playing behind him and he throws syllables around and crams them in and it makes me insane. Add to that his hysterical, overwrought, outspoken politics and the upshot is that the man entered my "he can go fall into a pit" list many years ago. I like exactly one song he has ever sung, and no one will ever guess which song that is.

If you think Inglourious Basterds treats Nazis as humorous, you have clearly been reading the wrong things about this film.

I don't understand how anyone could enjoy Joy Division on any basis whatsoever.

Marc: That Sherlock Holmes movie is going to make the purists have fidgets. Let's put it this way: I expect it will only be digestible if taken as pastiche (or broad farce). If none of the people involved are taking the project seriously why should they expect the audience to? Fortunately, I can enjoy Holmes farce, so I'll probably see it.

Iain: You know, you would probably like Mambo Sinuendo a lot. You should give it a listen.

-- 18:58, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

ProfRobert:

Doesn't Tarantino treat the Nazis as buffoons -- deadly, violent, sadistic buffoons, but buffoons nonetheless? Isn't the movie about American Jews who take horrible, cartoonish vengeance on the Nazis? Obviously, I didn't see it, and I'm only going by my perception of the ad campaign and some reviews, but it seemed cartoonish in the same way Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were.

-- 20:04, 21 November 2009 (GMT)

Jette:

I found the trailers for Inglourious Basterds (god, I hate that title) somewhat misleading. The ads were focused on Brad Pitt and his gang, which are a minor part of the film, and completely left out the parts with the strong female characters. Some of it is cartoonish, some of it is compelling, and sometimes I wish more filmmakers would do what he did with the ending, which was less predictable than I had guessed.

-- 20:33, 22 November 2009 (GMT)