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[Ron Pulliam]

I'm feeling just a tad bit chilled right now -- I hope it's not because my cold is worsening.  And I also hope it's not because someone has walked over the plot that will one day be my grave.

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[DERBRUCER]

And I was a "Classics Illustrated" comics devotee.

Not since Laura Reynolds kissed Tom Lee in "Tea and Sympathy" has criticism been so softly delivered.

der Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

Skip just called from Costco, and I recited some of the birthday wishes, all of which he'll read when he gets home.  

Groan-free Birthway Wishes to Skip!

der Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

However, I am sooooooo not looking forward to O J  Simpson's new book.  Is that moron insane or what?

A rhetorical question I presume

Mental classification notwithstanding, the guy is walking around scott free, has an well-endowed unattachable pension fund, and seems to have found another way to augment his coffers, Crazy as a fox!

der Brucer

[bk]

My favorite books that I had to read for school were Lord Of The Flies and Nineteen Eighty-Four, both of which I loved.  Least favorite was, I'm afraid, Silas Marner, which I couldn't get through.

[singingnymph]

Interesting.
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19971113

[DERBRUCER]

Thanks, Rodzinski, for reminding me about Heart of Darkness--probably my fave HS reading assignment.  I still remember our teacher going over the allusions to Greek myths--e.g., the women knitting in the opening scene being the Fates, etc.  

When I was in college I paired a reading from "Heart Of Darkness" with T.S. Eliot's "The Hollowmen" - and won many a prize in collegiate forensic competition in the "Dramatic Interpretation" category.

"One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, 'I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.' The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, 'Oh, nonsense!' and stood over him as if transfixed.

"Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of somber pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision,—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath—

"'The horror! The horror!'

"I blew the candle out and left the cabin. The pilgrims were dining in the mess-room, and I took my place opposite the manager, who lifted his eyes to give me a questioning glance, which I successfully ignored. He leaned back, serene, with that peculiar smile of his sealing the unexpressed depths of his meanness. A continuous shower of small flies streamed upon the lamp, upon the cloth, upon our hands and faces. Suddenly the manager's boy put his insolent black head in the doorway, and said in a tone of scathing contempt—

"'Mistah Kurtz—he dead.'

Which is the opening line to "The Hollowmen".

Conrad's prose, much like James Baldwin's, is more poetry than prose, expecially when read aloud.

der Brucer

[singingnymph]

Speaking of plotzing...

I was the resident HMOT at the CSUN Hillel for a few years. One day a few of us students were looking at some pictures on the wall & I noticed that I was in one that had recently been put up.  My happy talk went something like this: "Look! A picture of me! Granted, I don't look so great, but I'm finally up here! Li'l ol' me, the token goy!"
Ian, who was standing next to me, nearly plotzed.

[DERBRUCER]

TOD:

My favorite assigned reading was a pairing of "Brave New World" with "1984".

I enjoyed Silas Marner, the Mayor of Casterbridge, and "Too Late the Phalarope".

I could not slog through either "Three Musketeers" or "David Copperfield", but thoroughly enjoyed "Scaramouch".

I also enjoyed poetry (Milton, Dante), and period plays (Goldsmith, Sheridan)

My favorite reading was extra-curricular. I really liked Science Fiction. After I had devoured all the Young Adults' section of the Public Library, the Librarian made an exception, and let me borrow a book she elected from the Adult Section - "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs - and that got me hooked on every fantasy/ Sci-Fi book Burroughs wrote. John Carter and I shared common lack of self-esteem problems

der Brucer

[vixmom]

DRvixmom, I see your unemployment is making you a fulltime poster.  Thank God!  Good to have you back.

 
I missed you too!




I got a couple of bites on my resume.  One I declined as it was temporary and in midtown Manhattan.. the second I shall be interviewing for on Monday...


Vibes requested y'all!!  

[Cillaliz]

Yup - I agree. And then I had to read all the rest of Ayn Rand. Even the essays. Enough to turn a person into a Libertarian...

LOL, me too!  My history teacher told me he thought I needed to read Atlas Shrugged and that he would give me extra credit if I would do it. So i did and it blew me away. it was later that we read The Fountainhead in lit class and then I read the rest

[Jennifer]

Happy Birthday Skip.

[Cillaliz]

How ever can you happily plow through an uber-tome like The Fountainhead and have trouble with a short novella like Heart of Darkness? (Though I can see how you might have problems identifying with Conrad's characters.)

der Brucer

I was interested in The Fountainhead I wasn't interested in Heart of Darkness.  

[elmore3003]

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EMPLOYMENT VIBES FOR DR VIXMOM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[/move]Isn't that horse racing?  I loved THREE MUSKETEERS and read it twice in the 1970s.

[Jennifer]

RE: last night's MEDIUM.

So next week will DAY BREAK be on at 9pm and MEDIUM at 10pm? I'm hoping they are not on at the same time.

Anyhow i also really enjoyed last night's MEDIUM.  I loved how the daughter's dreams came into play.

I did not realize that the old boyfriend was Patricia Arquette's husband. I did not care for him. BUt perhaps that was more that the character starting to bug me.

As for the blonde deputy mayor. I didn't love her. But i didn't think she was a terrible actress either.  I didn't like how the whole thing got resolved though.  They should have had her confront scanlon (sp?).

[Cillaliz]

I think not, or else he could have pled insanity.

Wait...there IS no Sanity Clause...

Ok, I'll admit it. I was totally into the case when it was on. I read 23 books about the trial. Amazing that they all had a little different spin  (Marcia Clark's was the worst - gag me - she didn't deserve a 3 + million dollar book deal for losing a case)

Bottom line - I'll watch the interview and decide if I'm going to buy the book or not...

Yes, I have a T-Shirt that says "Free OJ - Don't Squeeze the Juice"  who knows 100 years from now it may be worth $15

[vixmom]

TOD...

I didn't care for The Old Man and The Sea .. and that wasn't because of the writing but because of the hopelessness of it all... no wonder Hemmingway commited suicide if that was his outlook on life


I remember 1984, Pig Farm, Johnny Tremain, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, All Quiet on the Western Front,  The Diary of Anne Frank, Shakespeares' Julius Caesar, Hamlet & Romeo & Juliet, but I honestly cannot remember what was assigned when.  

I read so much in those days I would always have three or four books read a week and it all has become a bit of a blur as to what was assigned and what was personal reading.

[Jennifer]

My two favorites on tv tonight are at 8pm: SURVIVOR and UGLY BETTY.

[JMK]

I must say that I, too, am surprised at how many people didn't like Heart of Darkness.  I just thought it was the coolest thing I had ever read (at the time).

Ummmm.....Pig Farm?  Is that the sequel to Charlotte's Web?  ;0

[JMK]

Re:  Atlas Shrugged.  One of my best friends in my late teens was an ardent Objectivist who had read all of Rand.  As I was slogging my way through Atlas, I got to the little twist (SPOILER:  the "secret village"), and complained about how contrived it was.  This guy, who would defend Rand to his dying breath, said, "Yeah, it kind of makes you want to throw the book across the room, doesn't it?"

[Edisaurus]

My history teacher told me he thought I needed to read Atlas Shrugged and that he would give me extra credit if I would do it. So i did and it blew me.

Cool! I am going to check it out!  

[Edisaurus]

There's also a very good documentary about Ayn Rand...can't remember the name but I'm sure it's easy to find...Der B....

[DERBRUCER]

Ok, I'll admit it. I was totally into the case when it was on. I read 23 books about the trial.

And after all this reserach you have concluded...?

For me:

All my exposure is from 24/7 TV coverage.

Do I think he did it? Yes.

Do I think the DA proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt? Probably not. (If I had been on the jury I would not have hung the case based on my vote - either way.)

If, like some of the jurors, I had a societal background that held law enforcement personnel in low regard, I would have found Fuhrman's lying under oath and the unbelievably careless handling of evidence sufficient to find reasonable doubt.

der brucer

[Edisaurus]

Not since Laura Reynolds kissed Tom Lee in "Tea and Sympathy" has criticism been so softly delivered.
der Brucer

LOL! Well, there are both Classics Illustrated as well as Illustrated Classics. I think the latter might be books. Wonder which came first, and I wonder if they are still published? I think it was a great way to introduce kids to classic books they might want to read later.

I had the Silas Marner C.I. and in my mind it was always pronounced "Silly-Ass Marner". I loved the comic but never read the book, tho.

[Edisaurus]

the "secret village"

Oh yes, I remember that from "The Prisoner", my all-time favorite TV series.  

[DERBRUCER]

There's also a very good documentary about Ayn Rand...can't remember the name but I'm sure it's easy to find...Der B....

This one?


AMAZON

der Brucer

[JMK]

Oh yes, I remember that from "The Prisoner", my all-time favorite TV series.  

I just got the DVD megaset from DDD for free (a very good price).

[Edisaurus]

I was the resident HMOT at the CSUN Hillel for a few years. One day a few of us students were looking at some pictures on the wall & I noticed that I was in one that had recently been put up.  My happy talk went something like this: "Look! A picture of me! Granted, I don't look so great, but I'm finally up here! Li'l ol' me, the token goy!"

I was a shabboth goy---played piano and arranged music on shows for the youth theatre at the Ahavath Achim synagogue for several years. Good times---learned some Hebrew, too.

But I don't know what an HMOT is! Anything like a BMOC?

[Edisaurus]

I just got the DVD megaset from DDD for free (a very good price).

Damn! I paid for mine, but still at a very good price, thanks to you guys!
Still waiting for it, along with "Aventurera".
I LOVE DDD!

[Edisaurus]

This one?

The very one!