The National Parks

If you missed the first episode of the new Ken Burns documentary The National Parks--or, like me, don't have a working tv--you can watch it online here.

I've had the good fortune to visit quite a few of the national parks and honestly don't have the adjectives to describe them. They really are spectacular and, at the risk of seeming obnoxiously preachy, something that all Americans should be both proud and grateful to have. So anyway, what I'm saying is that I'm pretty excited to watch the documentary.

Edited to add: Well I certainly hope this improves in later sections because an hour in I am utterly unimpressed. Disappointing.

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier Nat'l Park

Grinnell Glacier Trail, Glacier Nat'l Park

Bits and Pieces

I just now got around to watching the series finale of Battlestar Galactica and it kind of sucked, huh? I mean, talk about preachy and unbelievable. Which is a shame given that the series, generally speaking, was neither of those things. At least insofar as a sci fi series ever seems plausible, Battlestar Galactica did because it featured great, complex characters who made credible choices. Until they didn't in the end. I mean, it's not totally surprising that the finale was anticlimactic because this season in general has been pretty uneven, I think, but it's still disappointing.

I've read a few thoughtful and interesting reviews of Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones--Daniel Mendelsohn's for The New York Review of Books and Garth Risk Hallberg's at The Millions were particularly good--and yet for all that I'm interested in reading about the book, I find that I have no interest in actually reading it. It's something that happens to me fairly frequently lately.

One book I do want to read is Greg Ames's soon to be published Buffalo Lockjaw. I'm not at all convinced I'll like it, but I'll read it anyway because it's set in Buffalo. And because the cover is really pretty perfect--if slightly cliche--for a book that takes place there. The beer and the font keep the whole snow scene from looking too quiet or classy. Neither of those are very good reasons to read a book that otherwise wouldn't really appeal to me, so we'll see how this goes.

More Miscellany

Just a few thoughts from your resident absentee blogger:

1. Finally replaced the old, falling apart whale stickies on the bottom of the tub.
Quite an improvement, I think. My roommate and I agree that they make it look a bit like we have a 5 year old living in the apartment but we love them anyway. Besides, look at the color of our tub (also the sink and toilet). Our bathroom needs all the cheering up it can get.


2. Dmitri Kalinin makes my heart hurt. I want so much for him not to struggle and he's just playing really bad hockey right now.


3. I'm so glad that Christian won Project Runway. I liked Jillian's work as well, but I thought Christian put together a wonderful show. And this dress was fucking amazing (although not the most amazing picture of it):
I loved this as well, particularly the hat:


4. Over the weekend I baked Italian olive bread. My sister gave me the recipe but told me she found it a bit bland and would probably substitute whole wheat flour for about half the recipe. I didn't really feel like doing that but in the end I agreed that it was slightly boring although it had a nice texture. I think next time I'll either try adding in some whole wheat flour or I'll use more olives to make a really olive-stuffed loaf. I'm also thinking that sourdough bread with black olives would be delicious.


5. I also made a maple-pecan cake, which has the advantage of looking quite pretty.
I like the cake a lot but hate the frosting. It's maple and vanilla flavored and has a kind of sticky, marshmallow-y texture which I don't enjoy. If anyone has any suggestions on a frosting that would go well with a maple-flavored cake feel free to leave them in the comments.

So You Think You Can Dance

I've suddenly developed a thing for So You Think You Can Dance. In theory I know it's totally annoying, and yet there I am watching anyway. I actually torrented all the old episodes so as to be caught up. I'm so lame. So anyway, today's episode was the first one I actually watched on the television.

And that Wade Robson dance was so cheesy that I'm more than half wishing I hadn't. Seriously, the peace signs and the spraypainted words on the shirts, the obnoxious as all get out John Mayer song, the scream, flashing the audience a peace sign at the end of the routine? The absolute cliche of it all. I'm sure a stupider dance could be put together, but this was plenty bad enough. And the shirts. I almost hate to harp on them, but they're like a particularly silly summer camp art project.

And in case anyone is dying to know my opinions, I think Pasha is adorable, Lacey and Sara are totally likeable, Danny is flat out too good for this show, and contemporary dance simply has to be more diverse and interesting than it appears to be on this show. Doesn't it? Also, I feel like I'm totally missing the Sabra thing. She just bores me.

Wait, okay, I need to say more on this Danny thing. I think the judges and their "break down these walls" schtick are full of crap. God forbid someone comport themself with a bit of dignity and reserve and, shock of shocks, subtlety. Apparently that needs to be chipped away at until you get the same over-emoted, smack you in the face acting that most of the contestants do, both when performing and when standing in front of the judges.

In which Masterpiece Theatre disappoints me.

I love Masterpiece Theatre more than a sane 22-year-old should. Because we are not-so-secretly 80ish cat ladies, Wendy and I once seriously considered not going to a party on a Saturday night so we could watch Masterpiece's Casanova on TiVo. Thus I was delighted to find that my TiVo had recorded the ITV miniseries of Docter Zhivago as shown on Masterpiece Theatre. I mean, I was slightly concerned to see that Keira Knightly, who would have been a teenager when it was filmed, was playing Lara, but excited none the less.

I grew somewhat more concerned though, when Russel Baker informed us that this version, "emphasizes the carnal nature of the story." I'm sorry, I think Knightley is, and was at the time, a pretty girl, if not Julie Christie pretty. I just find it hard to see 17-year-old Keira Knightley was that sexually alluring. Granted, I'm not a guy so maybe I'm just missing it. But I really just don't understand it. Knightly also isn't the actress that Christie was (and is).

Two other problems rapidly presented themselves. One was that the acting was frequently less than spectacular. Not only on Knightley's part--she plays Lara the same way she plays ever other role--but on the part of others as well. The other issue is that the whole thing is so damn British seeming. It's incredibly hard to see this as taking place in early-20th century Russia. I constantly found myself thinking, nope, just not buying it. The actors and the production itself just seem to scream Great Britain.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like I think the David Lean version is a perfect movie. It's glacially slow and has plenty of issues. To my mind it has one particular strength that would make it worthwhile no matter what. That being the fact that it's a breathtakingly beautiful movie. There are constant moments--a young Zhivago looking out of a frosted window, sweeping mountain vistas--that remind you not only how beautiful film can be, but how beautiful the world can be. There are frames that are just indescribably beautiful.

I don't expect a tv miniseries to be able to manage that. But nevertheless it can't help but be disappointing how very, very far it is from that. On a whole I can't say I'm glad to be watching this. Probably won't finish it, I don't think.

In other news, that guy from Love, Actually who runs off to America to get laid by the British-accent-loving American girls is played Pasha. He's crap in this.