Currently Looking At: An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds

January 24, 2013January 22, 2013Leave a comment

A couple evenings ago, I sat down with a recently received copy of An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds, a photo book of colorful little birds. The images and paper are of excellent quality, and the subjects of these avian portraits range from cute to comical to curious. Though it might only take handful of minutes to go straight through the book, it’s easy to linger for a good while on certain photographs and easy to want to take another look at some of the subjects later.

Visually very enjoyable if you at all like birds. Here are some of my favorites.

Love, with a little help from Google

January 23, 2013January 23, 2013Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I saw this TV ad in a showcase of award-winning commercials, but I still find it amazing how it tells a story with just Google searches, music and background sounds in under a minute. An interesting take on how our relationship with technology can be (and often is) interwoven with our relationships with each other. Starting the commercial with a blank search bar reminds me of just how much information and how many possibilities we can now come into contact with.

Other stories in this SearchStories channel are quite good too. “Graduation” is nicely done.

Currently Reading: Jake and Lily

January 18, 2013Leave a comment

After being engrossed by Love, Stargirl, it was only a matter of time before I read another. That time has elapsed.

What I love about Jake and Lily is how the book is page to page and sometime line to line, a dialogue between these two twins which then also becomes a conversation with the reader. This storytelling style of alternating voices and points of view building a picture of these siblings’ lives really brings deeply me into their world, especially one aspect of it: the mysterious, wondrous goombla they share. It’s fantastic how Jerry Spinelli crafts these voices to capture a quintessetial feeling of childhood, reminiscent of Stargirl and Love, Stargirl.

I’m only about 70 pages into the hardcover edition, and so far, it’s excellent; each day I look forward to spending time with Jake and Lily.

Protracted Adolescence—Currently Watching: Liberal Arts

January 11, 2013January 12, 2013Leave a comment

I’m about 20 minutes away from finishing what promises to be another emotionally satisfying film, Liberal Arts.

Being a long-time academic, I find many facets of the film resonating strongly with my perspectives, and what I love about it so far is its take on the place college has in our lives, as students, faculty, alumni, etc. Whatever kind of place it might be to each of us. Also, as much as it’s a film about people in love with each other, it’s just as much about people being in love with ideas—great works of art, learning and exploration, the possibilities offered by college and the world…

The characters are endearing and intriguing, but I can’t help but find that this is to some degree another older-guy-younger-girl story. How different would it be with the ages swapped? How come there are so few films like that?

Just read: Heft by Liz Moore

January 5, 2013January 7, 2013Leave a comment

Fantastic ending. Leaves me in a sort of contented expectancy.

Following yet another NPR recommendation, I got a copy of Heft by Liz Moore and was quickly drawn in by the flow of the prose and the characters it revealed. The sentences have a deliberate and adept succinctness that confers upon the events in Heft a measure of realism and upon the thoughts of the characters a quintessential tenderness. With this language, the first-person narratives excellently convey a sense of the convergences and divergences people’s lives can take on, and how tenuous relationships can be while the circumstances and emotions (like loneliness and sorrow) have at times an unrelenting grip.

Here’s a little bit from the beginning of the book…

She said noting in class. She gazed at me steadily from halfway down out seminar table, blinking occasionally through her large glasses, observing her classmates respectfully. Only once during the entire semester did she ever speak, and it was to volunteer an answer that was incorrect. I didn’t have the heart to correct her myself, so I turned to the class and allowed them to, and after that she returned to her silence. But she came to visit me in my office several times… p. 23 Continue reading →

Just Watched: Safety Not Guaranteed

December 26, 2012December 26, 2012Leave a comment

Wow. I haven’t seen a film this good for a while.
For me, the quirky story is made ever so engrossing by the characters, each of whom is convincingly realistic and uniquely endearing—I found myself surprisingly relating to them all. Continue reading →

British Commercials at the Institute of Contemporary Art

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012Leave a comment

I just enjoyed an evening of award-winning British TV commercials at ICA Boston. Delightful showcase of creative work that spanned quite a spectrum, from sentimental and touching to hilarious and off-beat. Here are a few I really enjoyed. Man, cats with thumbs…

Graphic Novel Mini-Binge

December 16, 2012December 16, 2012Leave a comment

During my last trip to the Harvard Bookstore, I had a hard time pulling myself away from the graphic novels section, especially after reading The Crackle of the Frost, following an NPR recommendation. I ended up leaving with The Nao of Brown and Tune: Book 1, Vanishing Point, though I would have preferred to buy a bunch more had my budget allowed. Each of these have a compelling stories told with voices that when complemented by the excellent artwork really pull you into the world of the characters circumstances and thoughts.

It’s a great time for graphic novels. This genre/medium is actively expanding an already fantastic range of styles and subject matter. I can’t wait to see what new titles come out in 2013!