The Globes are Golden

By far, my favorite awards show is the Golden Globes, where, as Amy Poehler so eloquently put it, "the beautiful people of movies mingle with the rat-faced people of television." I don't know what it is about an open bar that turns what would otherwise be a semi-dignified evening into a trash/treasure trove of moments the participants would just as soon forget. My favorite moments this year:

• Tina Fey and Amy Poehler announcing that Ricky Gervais would not be back hosting this year as he is "officially no longer in show business"
• Jodie Foster's simultaneously endearing/irritating speech about how she can't come out of the closet, because she already did a thousand years ago, and why doesn't everyone just leave her alone so she can enjoy her privacy. And, btw, she's lonely(?)
• Tommy Lee Jones' grumpy face during...
•  Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell's summarizing of the movies that they definitely saw, I'm so sure
• Kate Hudson's gorgeous Alexander McQueen gown
• Amy Poehler and Tina Fey camping it up during the announcement of their category
• Schmoozing of the crowd as an intro to commercial breaks
•  Bill Clinton's intro to Lincoln, followed by Amy Poehler's exclaiming "that was Hillary Clinton's husband!"
• Just general hijinks, ensuing

In Brief: Views and Reviews

Lincoln (2012): While Spielberg was wise to limit his focus on Lincoln to one aspect of his Presidency, the passage of the 13th Amendment, it would have been wiser still if he had ended it at the scene where he was laying down his gloves before he went to Ford's Theatre. We did not need the histrionics of the assassination and subsequent deathbed scene. As it was, the gentleman behind us during that scene had the audacity to take a cell phone call (so much for enjoying a night out at the movies)! Daniel Day Lewis was the physical embodiment of Lincoln; however, and as usual, Tommy Lee Jones walked away with the whole shebang, as Thaddeus Stevens, a prominent member of the House of Representatives, with an able assist from James Spader, as a persuasive lobbyist. Based on Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Les Miserables (2012): While not being especially a fan of the Broadway show (I saw it once), I was surprised at how many of the songs were familiar to me and how much I enjoyed the singing, even from those actors (ahem, Russell Crowe) who obviously did not have much in the way of vocal training.  The standout as everyone has noted was Anne Hathaway as Fantine. Now I want to read the book!
Django Unchained (2012): If you count yourself a fan of Quentin Tarantino (I do), then you will enjoy this movie about a slave turned bounty hunter, looking for his wife, although I don't believe it to be his best work. There is never a dull moment on screen and many exciting ones. Please be advised that, as per Tarantino, it is very, very violent, particularly  the last half hour which turns into a blood fest.  The whole cast is brilliant,   especially Christopher Waltz.
Silver Linings Playbook(2012): I've been anxious to see this movie for a while, and finally got to it yesterday. Indie-type movies about family disfunction are totally my cup of tea, especially when they have big-name cast members, like Robert De Niro. I've been a fan of Bradley Cooper since Alias, and he did not disappoint as a bipolar man coping (or not coping) with the aftermath of a breakup. I have not seen The Hunger Games or Winter's Bone, but know of Jennifer Lawrence's reputation, and she was indeed excellent as another troubled soul he meets along the way.
The Guilt Trip (2012): Wait for the DVD. 

Favorites - 2012

Movie: Argo
Book: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
TV Show: Nashville
Broadway: Follies
Concert: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers at the Tilles Center
Song: Fun, "We Are Young"

Read this!

Read this : handpicked favorites from America's indie booksellers has inspired me to create a list of favorite reads of my own. So...here goes...
1) Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
2) The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
3) Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
4) The Borrowers (the series), Mary Norton
5) Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell
6) Howards End, E.M. Forster
7) The Witch Family, Eleanor Estes
8) Mapp and Lucia : the complete series, E.F. Benson
9) The Annotated Alice, Lewis Carroll, edited by Martin Gardner
10) The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
to be continued...

You Must Read This Book!

"I'd loved books in my regular, pre-PCT life, but on the trail they'd taken on even deeper meaning. They were the world I could lose myself in when the one I was actually in became too lonely or harsh or difficult to bear." - Cheryl Strayed, from her book Wild, regarding her trek across the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995, shortly after her mother passed away and the dissolution of her short-lived marriage. The hardships she endured, the wildlife and the people she encountered along the way form the basis of the bulk of this book, mixed with bittersweet memories of mom and family. The first pick of Oprah's "2.0" Book Club, this is an emotionally devastating account of a life truly and profoundly lived.

Memories of Dana

When I went to the sleep clinic, you stayed with me, and slept all night in a chair. I told the doctors that if they heard any snoring, it was coming from you, not me. Holding baby alligators (or were they crocodiles?) on a swamp tour of New Orleans. And the midnight voodoo tour. Finding a mouse in the house we rented on Martha's Vineyard. Winning a weekend in Vermont at the SLA auction, an auction you ran (how did that happen? But yay!) Coming with you to pick out your wedding cake, a cake you helped design. Having dinner with Claudia, Ingvar, Katerina and Julie in Seattle, and later dessert at their house in Bill Gates' territory. Finding out that JFK Jr. was staying at the hotel I wanted us to stay at in San Francisco, the same weekend we were there (we stayed elsewhere). Listening to I Feel Bad About My Neck driving to the Berkshires. The fire alarm going off at 1 a.m. in Philadelphia and we were 20-something stories up. Discovering "the little cookie" at the Hi-Rise Bread Company in Boston. Shopping at Chelsea Market. Going to see Mario Cantone on Broadway. Waiting at the stage door for Carrie Fisher. Seeing "Celebrity Autobiography" at Guild Hall. And Gwyneth Paltrow signing books in East Hampton. Doing homework at my ramshackle rental in Roslyn. Fondue at your 40th birthday. Finding out Persy was a girl. Passover Seder at the 92nd st. Y. Laughing over a parody of Downton Abbey at your chemo session. And you, making plans to go to California with Steve this summer. And always you there, laughing, smiling, having a good time, and being real, the only way you knew how to be. Now life will never be the same.

I'm Still Here

Sorry to those fan(s) who have missed my blog, but life has somehow intervened. I have found, don't know if this is the case with everyone, but the onslaught of other social media has mitigated the desire to blog. And the advent of my senior years/brain cell atrophying has mitigated whatever wit I may have once possessed! In any event, if I do anything fun, I will try and let you know. I did get to see the revival of Follies, Stephen Sondheim's great 1971 show about the demise of, I don't think it's burlesque exactly, but the old revue shows. Since I had a familiarity with the whole score, and had tickets in the fourth row, I was in pig heaven. The only thing getting in the way of my glow was the woman sitting directly behind me, who talked through the entirety of the first act. Luckily for me, she made cogent comments like, "she's so short," upon espying Bernadette Peters. I put on my best librarian persona, and told her to quit it during intermission, so at least the 2nd act was relatively drama-free (except for what was happening onstage). I will tell you that Bernadette Peters still does not have a big voice (I saw her in Sunday in the Park with George back in the day), or even a huge stage presence. She performed a serviceable version of "Losing My Mind." Jan Maxwell, who by the way was separated at birth from Felicity Huffman, played her romantic rival and pretty much stole the show with her big number, "Could I leave you?" And the always great Elaine Paige worked the bejesus out of one of Sondheim's most memorable lyrics, "I'm Still Here." At this point, who hasn't performed this song?