media update: November
I'm back from Florida, cranky as all shit (being away from work for 10 days and then coming back to an exploding inbox will do that to you) and a few pounds heavier, but I gotta say: key lime shakes are fucking WORTH it.
Anyway, as you might have noticed, I failed miserably at NaNoJoMoOhNoPoPo, but I had limited access to a computer when I was gone and I wanted to live in the moment, man. I'll write an entry covering the last few weeks as soon as Padre sends me pictures; my camera took the opportunity to go toes up on this trip. Here's a teaser for some of what you can expect in my recap, though: food porn, an item crossed off my bucket list, two lovely surprises, and one sad one.
Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; your mileage may vary.
FICTION
1. Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane: I'm not going to say anything about this book except that I enjoyed it. No, I'm not being ornery; this is a sequel to Gone Baby Gone, and I don't want to spoil anything in case you haven't already read/seen GBG.
2. Full Dark, No Stars* by Stephen King: A collection of 4 grim novellas from the master of horror. My favorite was "A Good Marriage", in which a woman discovers her husband's shocking secret life.
NONFICTION
1. The Tattoo Chronicles* by Kat Von D: A collection of Kat's journal entries and photographs of the work she's done for other people. This is a gorgeously designed book and a lot of fun if you have any interest at all in tattoos. (Or even if you don't; G's not a big fan of tattoos, but he was still impressed by some of the pictures I showed him.)
2. What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets* by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio: An oddly compelling book showing 80 people from around the world posing with the food they ate in one day, grouped from lowest calorie count (800 for a Masai tribeswoman) to highest (12,300 for a British woman who replaced her drug addiction with a food addiction). Warning: includes some graphic photos of slaughtered animals.
MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS
1. With the Light* vol. 7 by Keiko Tobe
2. Hero Heel by Makoto Tateno
3. Preacher* vols. 1-9 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon: Okay, this is officially one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time. The art isn't that great and the story meanders here and there, but it's breathtakingly audacious and the writing is phenomenal.
4. Tail of the Moon: The Other Hanzo(u) by Rinko Ueda
5. Cat Burglar Black by Richard Sala
6. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
7. The Boys* vol. 7 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson: Hoooooooly shit. This right here is classic Garth Ennis, and my favorite volume yet.
8. The Ghastly Ones by Richard Sala
9. Blood Honey by Sakyou Yozakura
10. Batman RIP* by Grant Morrison, Tony Daniel, and Lee Garbett
11. Library Wars by Kiiro Yumi
12. X'ed Out by Charles Burns
MOVIES
1. The Karate Kid*: A kid from Detroit (Jaden Smith, a tiny clone of his father Will) moves to Beijing with his mother, where he falls prey to bullies. The maintenance man (Jackie Chan) at his apartment building takes an interest in him and offers to teach him kung fu. Yes, this remake should have been called The Kung Fu Kid, but whatever. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it, mostly thanks to the gorgeous scenery and Jackie Chan.
2. City Island: A prison guard recognizes a new prisoner as the son he abandoned years ago, and he decides to bring him home on conditional parole. Nobody knows about this long-lost son, but everybody in his dysfunctional family has a few secrets of their own. A charming, slightly dark comedy.
3. Date Night: Thanks to a case of mistaken identity, a married couple's date night goes horribly awry. Some good laughs, but ultimately forgettable.
4. Pontypool: Shortly after getting to work, a radio DJ hears about strange behavior among the residents of Pontypool. As he tries to make sense of the reports coming in, things just keep getting worse and worse. I'd heard really good things about this movie, but I think my expectations were too high. Still, it's a unique take on the zombie genre.
ADDED TO MY IPOD
1. "Fuck Me, I'm Famous" by Dougal & Gammer
2. "Bruise Violet" by Babes in Toyland
3. "1901" by Phoenix
4. "Hybrid Moments" by The Misfits
5. "Angelfuck" by The Misfits
6. "Spinal Remains" by The Misfits
posted by ~C @ 11:01 AM
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