Monday, July 02, 2007
Three quick things
1) Simon Winchester's May 27, 2007 lecture for the Big Ideas podcast was great -- history of the Oxford English Dictionary, complete with quirky characters, scandals, and obscure words. (I like the Big Ideas series in general -- always something new to learn -- but this one was particularly entertaining.)
2) Ratatouille -- it's really very good. A cartoon about food and France would have my attention in any case, but I was seriously impressed. It helps that they showed a great cartoon short (Lifted) along with it, and that the theater where I saw it was only about half full -- of little kids wearing chef hats and making really cute comments.
3) I read about 350 pages of Eragon yesterday. Have been intrigued by it ever since E.L. (my personal expert on all things relating to pre-high-school literature) gave it her stamp of approval. It is impressively well-written, given its provenance (it's not often I go through 350 pages of anything in one go, these days) -- but also borrows too, too heavily from Tolkien in constructing its imaginary world. (Humans, dwarves, and elves... dwarves hiding away underground, elves as people of great power, age, beauty, and mystery... where have I heard this before? Also, the names seem too haphazard; it bugs me.) Still, a fun read for a Sunday (and, er, a Monday -- will probably finish tonight). Next up on my kiddie-lit list: #3 of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart mysteries. Yay.
1) Simon Winchester's May 27, 2007 lecture for the Big Ideas podcast was great -- history of the Oxford English Dictionary, complete with quirky characters, scandals, and obscure words. (I like the Big Ideas series in general -- always something new to learn -- but this one was particularly entertaining.)
2) Ratatouille -- it's really very good. A cartoon about food and France would have my attention in any case, but I was seriously impressed. It helps that they showed a great cartoon short (Lifted) along with it, and that the theater where I saw it was only about half full -- of little kids wearing chef hats and making really cute comments.
3) I read about 350 pages of Eragon yesterday. Have been intrigued by it ever since E.L. (my personal expert on all things relating to pre-high-school literature) gave it her stamp of approval. It is impressively well-written, given its provenance (it's not often I go through 350 pages of anything in one go, these days) -- but also borrows too, too heavily from Tolkien in constructing its imaginary world. (Humans, dwarves, and elves... dwarves hiding away underground, elves as people of great power, age, beauty, and mystery... where have I heard this before? Also, the names seem too haphazard; it bugs me.) Still, a fun read for a Sunday (and, er, a Monday -- will probably finish tonight). Next up on my kiddie-lit list: #3 of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart mysteries. Yay.
