Movies & TV

  • Voice on the Radio: Fictional DJs

    On the radio we heard November Rain                   That solo’s really long but it’s a pretty song                                      We listened to it twice cause the DJ was asleep –Regina Spektor Radio DJ Berry Lambert  lives her life shrouded with superstition in the novel With A Little Luck by Caprice Crane. She avoids black cats and… Continue reading

  • Grit, Twang, Soul: Your Southern roots are showing.

    Last night, watching Jim White cruising the fecund, salvation-starved backroads of the deep South in Searching for the Wrong-eyed Jesus, I kept hazily reflecting back on my own Southern childhood. My folks and I came north to Seattle when I was just four years old. From San Francisco. Yet White’s musing, music-filled backroads travelogue is suffused with… Continue reading

  • Who is Fantômas?

    “Fantômas.”                 “What did you say?” “I said: Fantômas.”                 “And what does that mean?” “Nothing…Everything!”                  “But what is it?” “Nobody….and yet, yes, it is somebody!”                  “And what does the somebody do?” “Spreads terror!” A century ago, these words unleashed reign of terror upon the literary world which continues to this day. It was… Continue reading

  • The Reading Dead: A Zombie literary salon.

    AMC’s The Walking Dead has risen again for a second season, but the aisles of your local library are already crowded with zombies, including Robert Kirkman’s original graphic novel series upon which the show is based (and what isn’t based on graphic novels at this point?) and the first season on DVD.   For anyone who thought the zombie craze was so 2009,… Continue reading

  • What to read while waiting for A Game of Thrones

    It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the Lord of the Rings hit theaters, and the world was instantly smitten with High Fantasy–visions of hobbits dancing through our heads! If you loved Tolkien’s Middle Earth and always craved something more after devouring the books, then HBO’s new adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A… Continue reading

  • Bite Me

    “Vampire? Such a provocative word, wrapped in too many clichés and girly novels.” -Uncle Will, The Radleys Yup, more vampires…admit it, you love them…or love to hate them, but either way they are here to stay. They are making their way into our literature and our movies, but they don’t always have to leave a… Continue reading

  • Be Your Own Hero

    I’m currently riding the wave of anticipation. One of my most beloved childhood spots is making a comeback. The Southgate Roller Rink in White Center is currently undergoing renovation and is slated to open in April! I’ve already decided to have my birthday there and it will be the go to activity for my nieces and me…and I… Continue reading

  • Pie v. Cake

    Cake and cupcakes are still going strong in the Seattle area. Metropolitan Market has a huge mountain of little boxes with specialty cupcakes in them, and I saw a pink cupcake maker at Fred Meyer. When asked, the baker at Met Market said cake sells better than pie. Some of pie lovers admitted liking cake more often… Continue reading

  • Stupid Cupid

    Oh, Valentine’s Day … how I utterly dislike you. Every year I try to avoid this holiday like the plague and try to come up with different ideas so the day doesn’t choke me with its pink tulle grocery store displays, giant 7-Eleven Valentine’s Day cards and red “I LOVE YOU” Mylar balloons. One year I… Continue reading

  • And They Lived…

    As children our parents read us stories with happy endings; it’s just part of the innocence of childhood and into adulthood we come to expect that big Hollywood ending. The first movie I saw that didn’t go the way I wanted it to was My Best Friend’s Wedding starring Julia Roberts. I was angry that… Continue reading

  • Mumblewhat?

    “Mumblecore” is a term used to describe a type of movie that’s been flourishing in the last few years: small, independent films where the focus is on dialogue and everyday interactions between characters that are realistic in tone. Many of the movies are made by one group of rotating directors, writers, and actors who work… Continue reading

  • Outcasts & Underdogs

    I love coming-of-age stories. I love them in fiction and in film. But I recently realized that what I love most are coming-of-age stories about outcasts and underdogs. Adolescence (when many, but not all, come-of-age) is pretty awkward for just about everyone, but for some it is a Greek tragedy. Perhaps I identify with these… Continue reading

  • Perfect(ly) Ending Movies

    For me, a “perfect ending” to a movie isn’t a wrap up, a happy ending or even a satisfying dénouement. Instead, a movie has a perfect ending when it stops just exactly where it should. Sometimes this is even in the middle of a scene. There’s something magical about ending on an unexpected note, leaving… Continue reading

  • Craving mystery

    Since the last book in The Spellman Files series has been written, released and read, I long to discover it again. Since I can’t, I gave myself a quest to find read-a-likes to pacify all those who got hooked on the life of Izzie Spellman and her crazy PI family. In Super in the City by Daphne Uviller, Zephyr… Continue reading

  • Two Outrageous Danish Films

    If it is healthy to laugh then it must extend your life by quite a bit when you laugh hysterically. If this is true then I would say that watching a DVD from the library is one of the best things you can do to extend your life. I prescribe two dark comedies by the… Continue reading

  • Uncertainty

    I remember the first time I saw Splendor in the Grass I cried hysterically. I saw it at a time in my life when the one relationship I thought I would be in forever had ended. I was at a crossroads and didn’t know who I was or what was going to happen. The uncertainty… Continue reading

  • How to Surf in Washington state: Part 1

    Surfing in Washington state may seem incongruent with the likes of hiking, recumbent bicycling, and extremely short summers, but it’s amazing to discover its hold on a growing contingent. In Seattle alone, there are at least three surf shops that cater to those wishin’ to hang ten or go SUP’ing, also called stand-up paddleboarding. Throughout… Continue reading

  • Meet Me at the Fair!

    What better way to celebrate summer turning into autumn than to visit Western Washington’s annual fairs? Whether it’s stomach-churning rides, admiring quilts, catching live entertainment, communing with chickens, or indulging in that once-a-year-deep-fried-decadence-on-a-stick, there’s something for everyone. Here are the 2010 dates for our local fairs: The King County Fair in Enumclaw happens August 12th-14th;… Continue reading