This is Where I Leave You

I just finished this book while on my vacation and I'm totally looking forward to the movie.  Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Connie Britton... What???  How does it get better than that?

Since when?

Two things have happened recently that are sort of bugging me, and they are kind of connected, and I kind of feel like writing about them and this is the only place I can think of. 

1.  As the bishop of my ward put in his notice that he's leaving the Big Apple, the usual chatter about who will be called next was happening among my friends.  There were two names being brought up by a few different people. So one of the times I was having this speculative conversation, I asked my friend what she thought about this one person who had been named by other people possibly being called to be the new bishop.  She said, "No, he could never be the bishop.  He's way too patriarchal," and then I remembered that she had a run-in with him once because he didn't like the way she was handling her calling. 

Since when is too much patriarchy a problem in our church?  I mean, it's a problem.  For me.  For my friend.  But not for the organization. 

2.   Recently, someone that I know but don't really know but is still one of my "friends" on facebook, posted something.  Basically, he noted that since the Boy Scouts have banned all gay men and teens from participating in their program, that the church should stop their affiliation with the Boy Scouts.  His point is that a gay man/teen can go to church, can hold callings, can go to the temple, can go on ward camp outs, can pray in public, can pass the sacrament, etc. as long as he is "worthy" to do so.  However, he cannot participate in the one major socialization program that the church offers for young men.  Since the Boy Scouts are discriminating against members in good standing, we should not have anything to do with this organization. 

Since when does the church oppose discrimination?  I oppose it.  He opposes it.  But the organization?  Not so much.  Unless we are the ones being discriminated against because of the religion.  Then it's a huge problem.  Otherwise?  Not really. 

On a lighter note, have you seen this?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Joanna Brooks
www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Joanna Brooks Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

Best of 2011

It's the end of February, but with the Oscars coming up on Sunday, it's a perfect time to post my Best Of list for the previous year.
Uff! What a bad year for movies. I complain about this a lot, but truly, this year was not good. I can't even decide which to put at the top, so I'm just going to make a list in no particular order.

• Beginners


• Win Win


• Crazy Stupid Love (minus all the parts with the stupid babysitter and ridiculous teen-age son)


• The Artist


• Moneyball


• Tree of Life


• The Help


• Bridesmaids


• Martha Marcy May Marlene

Biggest disappointment: The Descendants (I know I'm alone in this, and I'm okay with it.)Another disappointment, but not a big one: The Muppets (I so wanted to love this movie, but it was just okay.)

Biggest surprise: The Artist (see previous post)

Best Actor: the guy from A Better Life.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Iron Lady)

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginnings) / Ryan Gosling (Stupid Crazy Love)

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain (nominated for The Help but I liked her better in Tree of Life)

Best Director: Terrence Malick (Tree of Life)

Best Original Screenplay: Bridesmaids
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball

Worst accents ever in a movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best scenery in a movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Hey, I'm Swedish, what can I say?)

______________________________

The good news is that Television had a great year

Best drama: Parenthood

Best comedy: 30 Rock

Best new discovery: Louie (also fits in best drama and best comedy categories )

Best return of a character: Mr. Cyr to Parenthood

Worst return of a character: Seth, off the wagon, to Parenthood

Best character on an increasingly disappointing show: Blaine on Glee

Bummer: No Mad Men in 2011

Best mini-series: Downton Abbey (love it, love it, love it!)

Most improved: Parks and Recreation

New shows to love: Suburgatory, Happy Endings, New Girl

Still the best 22 minutes of each day, Monday-Thursday: The Daily Show

________________________
As usual, I'm pretty much in the dark about new and/or popular music. But...

Adele, 21 -- totally jumped on the bandwagon with this one.
The only other CDs I got this year were Foo Fighters (thumbs up) and Beastie Boys (thumbs down -- no offense Estee)
Best concert -- Foo Fighters at Meadowlands & Prudential Center (Newark NJ)
Concerts to recapture my youth -- RUSH at MSG, Duran Duran at MSG
the only other concerts I saw -- Maroon 5 at Jones Beach and Bon Jovi at MSG

_____________________________
Theater
The Book of Mormon -- yes, I saw it. yes, I loved it. I wish I could link a video to this song, but there is only the song.



Best Books I read this year
(two memoirs, but very different): Say Her Name-- Francisco Goldman
Bossypants -- Tina Fey
Fiction: The Ghost Writer ( I know I'm not supposed to like Philip Roth, but I so do)

Best Personal

• My tour of Scandinavia. So many wonderful memories of Norway and I am now able to forget all the bad stuff. I loved seeing Sweden, the land of my peeps, and Copenhagen, Denmark, one of the coolest cities. I hope to return soon (the plan is 2013).


• Also, I hate to say it, but I'm a convert. My iPhone has changed my life. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I love it.


• Discovering podcasts.


• Having two wonderful sisters help me through the hardest thing I've done in my life.


• Reunions with mission friends. 1) my two favorite comps, Anne Lise & Sara in San Diego and 2) Jeremy, Pete, et al. in Utah. 3) Bowcutt in Bergen.

One Day...

...after posting my book recommendation of One Day, I got a super long email from one of my friends telling me what she did and didn't like about the book. We got into a bit of discussion with a third person. One thing I learned from this email book club of sorts is that they are already in the process making the film version. Yay!!

Starring Anne Hathaway! BOO!!

Here're the detes. Just seeing her in those glasses and Dr. Marten's makes me want to punch her in the face.

As much as I like this book, she will ruin the movie for me. I am so disappointed. They couldn't find an actual British actress to play this role? I think there are a few out there.

Something to pass along

I just finished this book, which I quite liked. Here is the review from the NY Times.

Best of 2009

Top ten movies:
1. 500 Days of Summer
2. An Education
3. Precious
4. I Love you, Man
5. Adventureland
6. Crazy Heart
7. The Hurt Locker
8. Two Lovers
9. It's Complicated
10. Paper Heart


Best adapted screenplay: Precious.

Best original screenplay: 500 Days of Summer

Best Song: "The Weary Kind" in Crazy Heart

Best old song in a movie: "Limelight" by Rush in I Love You, Man

Most overrated:
Up in the Air and George Clooney in it. Basically, wasn't he just being Doug Ross, but as a corporate guy instead of a doctor?
The Hangover. This won the Golden Globe. Don't get it.
Penelope Cruz. Is it just me, or is she becoming the new Judi Dench and gets nominated in every movie?


Best performances:
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Best Acress: Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Best Supporting Actor: no strong feelings in this category, actually.
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique in Precious

This was the most joyous scene of any movie I saw this year. I literally couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

TV

best comedy: 30 Rock.

best drama: FNL

best episode: Mad Men season finale.

best new show: Glee

best TV on DVD: thirtysomething (thanks Esther!)

best fake news: The Daily Show. Still awesome, even after Bush left office!

guilty pleasure: The Bachelor, or as my brother in law calls it, The Crap-elor. It's so wrong, but it feels so right.

Best books I read this year:

Fiction: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. (I'm only 10 years late to this book. So good!!)

Non-fiction: It's kind of a silly book, and most of the time I was thinking, "I can't believe this person got a book deal." But then again, I thought it was funny and sad and I couldn't put it down. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker.

Best concert: Bruce Springsteen at the Meadowlands.

Reading

As you probably know if you have been reading my blog for eleven months or more, I usually do a Best-of pop culture list for the year, which will be coming in the next few weeks after I've seen the 800 movies that were released in December. But in the meantime, I've been thinking about what I have read this year that I have loved enough to make it in my list. That's when I realized that I had read several books by one author, some of which I read for a second time. That's pretty unusual for me to do.

So, who is this author that I couldn't get enough of? Chuck Klosterman.



Fargo Rock City -- basically this is a whole book about the history of hair metal bands, with a little of his own history mixed in. Although I didn't even know many of the bands he talked about, I thought this book was immensely entertaining. It also made me realize for the 650th time that people will always like the same music that they liked in high school. Even if it was really the worst music on the planet, you'll always like it.






As soon as I finished reading Fargo Rock City, I really wanted to start right at the beginning again. But at the same time, Jill came to visit and returned Chuck Klosterman IV, which I had read a while ago, so I just decided to reread it, and enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. Stories about Britney Spears pre-breakdown, Billy Joel post-breakdown, Morrissey fans... all good.






Next was Downtown Owl, which is CK's first novel. This one was only okay.










Then over Thanksgiving, I was visiting Val & Greg and noticed Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs on their book shelf. I took it off the shelf because I wanted to reread one of his stories about "Saved by the Bell." Yes, that's right. I was compelled to reread an essay about "Saved by the Bell", a TV show that I never felt compelled to actually watch. I took the book home with me to read on the plane.

This was the first book of his that I read because Greg shared with me the first story about how all women who were born in the 70's will always compare men they date to Lloyd Dobler. And I thought, "What a brilliant observation!"







Next up, Eating the Dinosaur, which I just got for Christmas.

Read this. True. So true.

as proof, I suggested last night that my book club read Julie and Julia and go see the movie together. Not quite Fight Club, but still...

The Nine

I have been meaning to post about this amazing book I read recently. I remember that it was one of the top non-fiction books of 2007, so I put it in my library list, but then didn't really remember what it was. So when I got it from the library, I thought, "I wonder why I chose to read this book." Then I started reading it and I honestly couldn't put it down. When author Jeffrey Toobin got to the part where the Supreme Court got involved in the 2000 presidential election, I couldn't put it down, even though I already knew what happened! If you talked to me in the past month or two, I am sure I have referenced it in the conversation somewhere. I learned so much about the Supreme Court and the justices (some of whom I knew a little about, others whom I didn't even know their names). I have a new found respect for the job that they do and it's really amazing how much thought goes into their decisions.

Here is an excerpt, if you are interested.

Stories in High Fidelity

This is an event I went to on Monday. It was pretty cool to hear two of the authors, Rob Sheffield and Chuck Klosterman, read their work because I have read their books and loved them! (thanks, Greg, for the recommendation for Sex, Drugs and Coco-puffs.) I expected CK to read from his new book, but he read from Coco-puffs, to the delight of everyone there. I didn't know the other authors, but enjoyed (some of) them immensely. I do enjoy listening to people talk about music and how music influences their lives. Sometimes, I kind of think that's weird, but then again, I can't be the only one since these guys obviously make a living writing about music.

Three Cups of Tea

It's been a while since I've blogged about a book that I've read, but this is one that I loved and I am recommending to everyone I know. It's about a guy that was mountain climbing and stumbled upon a little village of people in the mountains of Pakistan. They nursed him back to health and they all came to care about each other, despite the cultural and language differences. When he noticed that the children didn't have a school to meet in, he promised them he'd return and build one for them... and he did. He started a foundation to build schools in lots of remote places in that area of the world, during the time when the Taliban was flourishing. It's a really wonderful example about what one person can do to make a difference. It also shows you how education really can change people's lives.