What I’ve Been Reading
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen – I listened to Bruce
read this to me over the month and it was a sheer delight. This book was highly
personal and he really delivered. He told his story, warts and all, with great
detail about his slow rise to fame, his band, the music, the gigs. It was
everything you would expect and want. And then he added in a whole lot of
personal demons, about his family, his parents, and his own very real struggle
with depression and anxiety. When a dude like Bruce is actually reading his own
words about being in such a depression at 60 that he could not stop crying, well
you take notice and hats off to him for being so brave to put that and sooo much
more out there. His is an important story and not just for fans, but oh boy, if
you are a fan (I am) you will just love this story.
Different Seasons by Stephen King- I haven’t read King for
a long time and this was a Book Club title and what fun it was. 4 short stories,
more drama than horror and including the stories that became the movies of Stand
By Me and Shawshank Redemption – both being excellent reads. Apt Pupil was the
stand out story though, horrifying in nature and rough to read, but what a mind
to create these dreamscapes for us.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey – this has been around for a
long time and with the movie and play coming out I scheduled it for our Movie
Book Club at work. What a great read, about a fabulous character Jasper Jones,
who in the middle of the night wakes up town goodie two shoes, Charlie, and
takes him on an adventure he will never forget. This drama set in small town WA
in the 60s tackles so many issues with gentle humour and serious honesty. Go
read it before you see the film!
What I’ve Been Watching
A Bigger Splash – this is my movie of the month. An
intriguing story of a couple holidaying on the Italian Riviera. She is a huge
music star (Tilda Swinton) recovering for vocal surgery and cannot speak, her
partner (Matthias Schoenaerts) is with her. An old friend and lover, Ralph
Fiennes arrives with his young daughter in tow and the past gets dredged up and
suspense and intrigue ensues. This is a superb drama as you have no idea where
it will turn and what will happen next. Swinton is superb and barely says a word
and Fiennes is astonishing, I have never seen him so obnoxiously good on
screen.
Love and Friendship – is a lovely period drama based on
Jane Austen’s Lady Susan and starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny.
Directed by Walt Whitman, this is fun and fresh and looks divine.
Nice Guys – this was a lot of fun. Russell Crowe and Ryan
Gosling are both private investigators whose paths cross and they reluctantly
team up to solve a case.
Suicide Squad- I enjoyed this fun anti hero movie with an
all star cast. Just seemed to take a long time to get moving.
Finding Dory – this was a sweet little sequel to Finding
Nemo with a lovely message about acceptance
David Brent: Life on the Road - I love Ricky Gervais, but
this was a mistake. What made Brent somewhat acceptable on The Office was he was
surrounded by far more interesting people and each does was less than 30
minutes. A full length film without any real substantial supporting characters
made for sheer torture. I hope it would not be the case, but this was pure
drivel.
Startalk- is my new favourite series on TV. It is on the
National Geographic channel and I am addicted. It is a talk show about science
and pop culture starring the wonderful astro-phyisist Neil Degrasse Tyson. He
has a side kick comedian to help lighten moment and an expert on a chosen field
of science from his workplace. His workplace is the planetarium in the National
History Museum in NY. Each week they broach a subject and Neil interviews
someone famous about that topic. In between snippets of the topic, Neil, the
comedian and the specialist dissect the topic from a scientific pov but in a way
everyone can understand. Guest have been Bill Clinton, Susan Sarandon, Buzz
Aldrin, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Lloyd, Phillipe Petite, Ben Stiller, and
many more.
Continental Train Journeys – these are great series
with Michael Portillo travelling by train throughout Europe using his old
Bradshaw travel guide and following the journeys within. He takes us to hotels,
places, and icons as mentioned in the books and it is fascinating
Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery S1-4 - I missed the odd
episode of this so watched it all over again. What a gem of a series, Julia
taking Australian comics back to their hometown, schools etc and finding out
what made them them. It is simple enough, but in anyone elses hands may not work
as well. Zemiro is just a delight, with sleight of hand and a gentle manner. She
makes her guests feel at home, and that brings out the best in them.
The Katering Show – I have seen bits and pieces of this
online, but sat and watched both series back to back. They do work better in
small snippets, but I love their pisstake of the cooking world, which I really
loathe. It gives me more joy watching them than it should!
Toast on London S3 – I love this dry comedy about Toast
(played beautifully by Matt Berry) an out of luck actor trying to make his way
on the stage and on screen in London. He gets into the most stupendous scrapes
and meets the most interesting of people and of course makes a total arse of
himself. Jon Hamm hilariously stars in one episode!
Outlander 1.1 – I am still not sure about this soap operay
time travel. It was pretty ordinary, and not a lot happened.
Girls/Walking Dead/Talking Dead/Nashville/Call the Midwife
– some of my faves have started back and are all just wonderful, more when each
season finishes up.
What I’ve Been Listening To
Richard Fidler – some of Richard’s interviews have been
popped onto CDs, so I listened to them in the car. Fabulous stuff.
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