Commonplace Book

The subhead to the article Mean Girl by David Talbot of Salon.com reads "Sarah Palin has a way of using ‘old boys’ — then dumping them when they become inconvenient". As I read the article, it called to mind the song Good Night and Thank You from Evita.

Now understand, I am not for one single moment suggesting that Governor Palin has been trading sexual favors for advancement. (No. Seriously. Not at all. Ewww. Ick.) However, other parallels do spring to mind. And so now I’m thinking: isn’t it time for a remake of Evita? Sarah Palin as Evita, of course, John McCain as Colonel Peron, and Barack Obama can play Che.

Think they can spare time from their busy campaign schedules for rehearsals?

I saw WALL·E today, and I have to say that I didn’t think that it was all that, though I think it was just a matter of my expectations being too high.

I have two specific thoughts to share, though:

1. I thought that the choice of Hello Dolly to establish WALL·E’s model for romance was somewhat arbitrary. So I put it to the reader: how would the movie have been different if the tape that WALL·E had found had been Grease? Can we all picture EVE in black leather and with big hair?
2. The humans have spent 700 years on a cruise that was supposed to have lasted only five years, and they’ve had no opportunity for planet-fall to restock. So, while we don’t see them eating (only drinking), they’re getting their sustenance from somewhere, but where? There is one inescapable answer: Soylent Green anyone?

This movie, reportedly the most expensive Czech movie to date, seems to have polarized opinion here. Some people, particularly English-speaking men, assure me that "Oh, it’s terrible. Don’t bother". Others, mostly Czech women, enthusiastically endorse it. So, since the English language version is showing in Prague, I had to go see it for myself.

Elizabeth Báthory is described as "possibly the most prolific serial killer in history". Director Juraj Jakubisko, however, takes the stance that she was, in effect, framed by a neighboring noble who lusted after her and her lands (not necessarily in that order).

Some of his attempts to explain away charges made against Báthory were a little forced, and the whole Catholic monk subplot was particularly ludicrous. Nonetheless, I’m now willing to believe that Báthory’s charaterization as the "Blood Countess" may indeed have be overstating the case.

My favorite line from the movie arises after the (Protestant) pastor of Báthory’s parish meets the (Catholic) monks sent by the bishop to investigate allegations. Walking away from their meeting, the pastor mutters, "Anywhere the Devil can’t go, he sends Catholics".

IMDB reported today that Paris Hilton is working with Stan Lee to create a superhero based on Hilton. One can only hope that this isn’t true. Just in case Stan Lee really is that hard up for money, though, everyone send him $1, okay?

Ignore the provocative title, and read this article from the Atlantic Monthly. I can’t make up my mind whether to be scared or relieved (or both).

I, too, have noticed with some dismay that I spend less time reading books than I used to, and that the books I do read are tending more and more to simple, inconsequential fluff. Mind, I still buy more serious books; they’re just likely to sit on the shelf unread for months at a time. I had worried that perhaps this was a sign that I was getting older, and the ole brain was getting lazy.

If this article is to be believed, though, the fault is not so much in myself as in the reading habits that the Internet has inculcated. Hence my relief.

On the other hand, it’s scary as hell to realize that not only have I willingly, nay eagerly, participated in this effort to dumb down my reading, I’ve even made a career of propagating it! And it’s even scarier to realize that my behavior is unlikely to change greatly even after this has been brought to me attention.

Excuse me now please, while I go pull some weighty tome off my bookcase and see if I can’t start to reverse the process.

P.S. The irony that I found this article on the Internet does not escape me, either.