In the WooWoo Wonderland™

The Fifty Books Challenge, year four! (Years one, two, three, and four just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.



( Once upon a time, there was a book that didn't know what it was but went some interesting places a few times... )

Out of the Inkwell, 1920

I miss LiveJournal, but I have no books to file yet, it's not a Sabbat nor an Esbat, and no srs bsns posts (although I might be working on some, just to get them out of my head). THUS THIS MEME.

· Leave me ○ and I'll tell you the origin of my LJ name.

· Leave me ☺ and I'll tell you one of my phobias.

· Leave me ♬ and I'll tell you one of my favorite songs.

· Leave me § and I'll tell you why I picked my current mood theme.

· Leave me ☁ and I'll tell you an LJ crush.

· Leave me ♠ and I'll tell you the first LiveJournal I followed.

· Leave me ♧ and I'll tell you which I prefer, hot or cold.

· Leave me ☆ and I'll tell you a favorite food.

· Leave me ☮ and I'll tell you a source of inspiration.

· Leave me ☼ and I'll tell you about my first LiveJournal and/or why I got into LiveJournal.

· Leave me ☻ and I'll tell you something that always makes me happy.

· Leave me Þ and I'll tell you a favorite film and my favorite line from it.

· Leave me ♣ and I'll tell you my lucky number.

· Leave me ϟ and I'll tell you a song I've been listening to a lot lately.

· Leave me ✖ and make me choose a singer! ________ or ___________?

· Leave me ✖✖ and make me choose a book! ________ or ___________?

· Leave me ✖✖✖ and make me choose a character! ________ or ___________?

NOTE: You are free to ask more than one question. Given that this place is too quiet these days, I'm not expecting a whole lot of traffic (although it would be nice).

The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one, two, and three just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.

FULL DISCLOSURE: M.G. Lord has become a friend of mine since I tracked her down on Facebook (hoping she had a personal page I could "fan") and she graciously tolerated my creepy, gushing fangirling of her seminal Forever Barbie (what Spin magazine deemed in its Riot Grrl issue essential Third Wave reading) which I voraciously consumed at fourteen and haven't been the same since.

FULL DISCLOSURE REGARDING FULL DISCLOSURE: I've been really looking forward to disclosing that.




( From the Brilliant Cultural Historian M.G. Lord, an Intimate Examination of the Unexpected Feminist Content in Elizabeth Taylor's Iconic Roles.... )

From here:

5 Old-Timey Prejudices That Still Show Up in Every Movie
By J.F. Sargent|November 15, 2011|



( More... )

From the description:

James Franco (as Allen Ginsberg) and Aaron Tveit (as Peter Orlovsky) in the film "Howl".

Although Peter Orlovsky isn't in this film with as great of a presence as he was in Allen Ginsberg's life, his brief presence in the film is full of love and happiness.

And kissing.

Go see this movie. Or rent it and savour it in the privacy of your living room.

I've yet to see this film.
I have to say, I was doubtful at Franco portraying Ginsberg until I Googled "young+allen+ginsberg" and he's not a bad likeness, nor is Tveit to Orlovsky, and the scene on the bench is adorably close.

And, um, unf.

Why do I find this so transfixing? Is it the exquisite animation? The cringe-worthy racism, even for the era? The plucky, hopeful sentiment, characteristic of the Roosevelt years (particularly the early ones)? Capturing toy sentience by animation sixty years before Toy Story? W.C Fields as a wobble toy?

EXQUISITE. Do not adjust your volume; it has no sound. Perhaps one of our talented vid makers can score it?

What's that? A film based on a beloved book that doesn't look like it will anally rape my childhood memories?

We shall see.

Maurice Sendak is co-producer of this film, so my hopes are high.


Such a beautiful, beautiful book. Many a night I lay on my bed trying to make my bedroom grow and grow until it became a forest.

I'm aware that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is an almost farcically sexist story (times or no) despite being written by a woman (history's forgotten pioneer, Anita Loos) and the movie version manages to be even more... squirm-worthy, but goddamn if the song-and-dance numbers are glorious.

Someday, when I have my own cabaret, I'm going to find someone to perform this with me. The choreography in this film manages to be fairly simple but excellent: I'm not sure why it stands out to me. I contrast this to a film whose choreography was complex but intensely disappointing, the 2002 version of Chicago (which I still enjoyed). Maybe because I heard the score on that before I saw the movie?

As for this, provided you ignore the lyrics, it's still amazing. I knew the exact choreography by heart by the time I was thirteen (I remember as a wee tot my mother grousing over Madonna's "homage" in "Material Girl"). I still could probably feign a pretty close imitation, complete with lip sync.

When I was 15 (and had for the first time developed a figure that came anything close to Monroe) I found a pattern for this dress (a very poor one, I might add) and a suitable Marilyn wig. Thankfully I had the good sense not to pursue it, since the only place I would've worn it would've been to (yikes) school.

Say what you will about Monroe, but she had presence.