Lindgren, Astrid

Her books were the essence of my childhood. I wanted to be Pippi Longstocking at one point. Last night I was rereading what had been one of my favourite books as a child, Seacrow Island. Imagine my dismay when I found out that it had originally been a TV show! Having one's childhood defined by a book isn't so bad. But having one's childhood defined by a written adaptation of a TV show, especially when one has an inherent hatred of television, well, it's a problem. Last night I tried very hard to watch the Oscars, but our television hasn't been used in about six months, so I couldn't even get it to work and thus my night was Oscarless. But, well, in any case, Astrid's idyllic countrysides and rambunctious youth still make me want to move to Sweden, buy a cow or two, and live on the fjord as a dairy farmer for the rest of my days.

Speaking of cool Swedish things, E. from http://lftec.blogspot.com (I can't get the hyperlink button to work, damnit!) writes a lovely blog as a continuation of the somewhat-famous Letters to Marc Jacobs. Photogenic, whimsical yet prosaic northerners! Read all about it!

the Oscars!

As someone who refuses to watch TV on principle, I make exceptions for two things: the Olympics (I'm an avid fan, especially if you are Czech, Canadian, or from Burkina Faso), and occasionally, and rather lukewarmly, the Oscars. I'll watch this time, because I don't feel like doing the stuff I should be doing, and also because Cate Blanchett was brilliant in I'm Not There, although of course the award will go to that lady who has been making films for sixty years and has never been nominated. I guess she deserves it. But still, Cate Blanchett makes a very attractive Bob Dylan.



Oscars weigh 8.5 lb. Maybe I'll win one. I need a new weight set.
But I'll always love the true Oscar of my heart:

On this day in 1861...

serfdom was abolished in Russia.

On this day in 2008...

Fidel Castro resigned as president of Cuba after almost 50 years of dictatorship.

How much either of those changed the status quo in their respective countries remains to be seen.

Juneau

Like the city in Alaska?
No.

As expected, Juno was a brilliant movie. Although I absolutely HATED Napoleon Dynamite, Juno was very cool, funny in a not-too-awkward way (I hate movies that simply ask you to laugh at awkward situations or someone making an idiot of themselves, it just kind of irritates me). Also, excellent soundtrack, although the Moldy Peaches is one band I will probably get sick of soon. For now they are vaguely good and amusing. Sorry for not putting more effort into this post, but, well, what the hell, no one reads this anyway and that's aight by me.

Dr. Seuss goes to war

Because of torrential downpours, my First Friday plans are cancelled, so instead I am going to see the movie Juno, which I've heard so much hype about that I cannot be completely lukewarm. Anyway, I was unaware until recently that Dr. Seuss (nee Theodor Geisel) also made a living making political cartoons. It's haunting, yet really cool, to see his commentary on Nazi agression and British pacifism done in the familiar "Horton Hears a Who", "Cat in the Hat" style:


<- My Hero. He is the Lorax and he speaks for the trees.