Film and Book Fest

Films recently watched:

Iron Man III - I liked this one slightly more than Iron Man II and less than the first one.  Ben Kingsley was great.  (I liked the Spoiler-can't-tell-you bit, though I know purists who didn't.)  And I liked seeing Tony Stark cope without the suit and seeing Pepper Potts cope with it.  Fun.

The Angels' Share - previously discussed HERE, stands up to later consideration and, what's more, is still remembered.  Most movies being immediately forgettable.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I've started the trek through this classic TV series again.  I've just reached the point in the second season when Angelus reappears, for those of you who know it.)  It's nice to revisit these characters and now I'm catching all the jokes.  In the interests of pure research into cultural phenomena I have previously forced myself to watch a bunch o' vampire stuff (research report HERE ) and long-form fiction (HERE), and I still enjoy the Buffy Experience.  Fun and stealthily serious.  I mean, there are scholars no-kiddin' actively analyzing this oeuvre.

Books beside my chair:

Cover for New Orleans Mon Amour, by Andre Codrescu

New Orleans Mon Amour, by Andre Codrescu.  I'm familiar with this author mostly through his talks on NPR.  So far I'm loving his collection of short pieces - essays? - on the city of New Orleans.  Wonderfully atmospheric and well-observed.  Often quirky.  My favorite so far is his "Nouveau Pirates."  Following his recommendation in a later piece in the book (which the Dallas City Council ought to be made to read, as it discusses city-self-confidence), I see that I'm going to have to finally read A Confederacy of Dunces.  It sounds terrific.

I love this daisy-chain of recommendations that link one author to another.  In similar fashion, Codrescu has also made me more eager to listen to the CDs of Don Quixote that I got to listen to in the car.

Otherwise I'm just sort of dipping into old favorite books as the mood strikes me.

But I have discovered a neat thing over at Barnes and Noble: for those of us with NOOK eReaders: on Fridays the NOOK Blog gives away free ebooks!  I've only just discovered this perk, so haven't sampled many or had a chance to discover an unknown gem yet, but I look forward to that.