I work as a cataloger in a library, so I spend a good portion of my day staring at the copyright page (also known as the CIP page). This is unremarkable except for the fact that the CIP page usually faces the dedication page. So many dedications are boring and of the "For J.P." variety that I've really started to appreciate those that have sweet, funny, or just interesting and unusual dedications. Here are two I came across today:
From You Must Be This Happy To Enter by Elizabeth Crane: "For Nina, I'm sorry I stole your hat. Yours 'til Lois Lane." If I ever write a book and dedicate it to Abby, I feel the dedication would be similar to this one. Actually, it would probably be: "For Abby. Thanks for picking me up at the airport. I'm sorry I drank all your wine."
From The Book of Night Women by Marlon James: "To the railroad of bones." I have a feeling I would actually understand it if I read the book, but it's a very interesting dedication.
My personal favorite dedication of all time comes from Why Girls are Weird (I haven't moved my books to my apartment yet, so I'm quoting this from memory so I might be a little off. It also might come from Why Moms are Weird.): "My heart beats: Mommy. Bosie. Stephen."
Abs, any great dedications? If you dedicated a book to me, what would it read?
... So I can take off and enjoy my boys Joe Firstman and Brian Wright. And the third guy. Abby and I will be seeing these lovely lads this Wednesday in Nashville. Woo hoo!
Sorry, I had it embedded earlier but I couldn't figure out how to make the stupid ad NOT autoplay, despite the fact that the show wasn't on autoplay. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
Ok, forget what I said about the tale of my worst week ever. It's over, it's done, I'm moving on. In fact, I'm starting a new feature here! I just signed up with Netflix and I'm planning on posting my reviews of the dvds I watch here. Here we go:
"I wanna do bad things with you"- True Blood, Season 1 Disc 1
Mediocre. A decent premise, but there's something... off. It might have something to do with Anna Paquin's performance, which is pretty uneven. I usually like Anna Paquin. Fly Away Home was one of my favorite movies in my youth, she's a main character in the X-Men movies, and she has a small role in Almost Famous as the awesomely named Polexia Aphrodisia. So she's built up a lot of good will with me over the years. But still, she's not working for me in True Blood, at least not yet. The first disc only has two episodes on it, so I'm going to give it another shot before I give up on it. The basic premise of the show is this: A synthetic blood (TruBlood) has been developed, allowing vampires to try to assimilate into society. AP plays Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress at a bar in Louisiana who happens to read minds. She gets her crush on with a vampire, Bill, who is old enough to remember the civil war, much to the delight of Sookie's grandmother. I love a good twist on the vampire legend (one that doesn't completely fuck with hundreds of years of mythology- I'm looking at you Twilight), and the setting and supporting characters are great, so I'm willing to give the show some time to get going. I mean- AP won the Golden Globe for her performance. She's got to get better, right? The best part of the show so far has been the opening credits. No, really. When the second episode started I was excited because I was going to get to see the credits again.
"I don't get tough with anyone, Mr. Gittes. My lawyer does." - Chinatown
I'm trying to alternate between a tv show and a movie, for no real reason. My second netflix pick is the classic Jack Nicholson flick Chinatown. Holy crap. It was so good. I mean... sooo sooo good. It would have swept the Oscars for sure had it not had the misfortune to be released opposite The Godfather Part II. Political corruption, murder, sex, 1930s fashion... it's all here, and it's all awesome. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, because it's so intricate. I actually knew one of the movie's big secrets because I caught about 10 minutes on TV a couple of years ago, but it actually made it better (It was the slapping scene towards the end, if you've seen the movie and you're curious). That's the sign of a good mystery- it gets even better after you know the secrets. The movie is dark, for sure. I loved the ending though, because [minor spoiler] I kind of love it when the bad guy wins. Rent it. Now. You won't be disappointed.
