the continuing conversation between art and life
Which books do we ever get round to reading - and which fall by the wayside and remain unread? Popular book reviewer on Youtube, Sanne, ponders.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu_YIpRnoa8 You can follow Sanne at her Youtube channel, booksandquills. If you have a seemingly endless list of books you want to read - my sympathy as a fellow …
Continue reading "Books yet to read"
Spoiler alert: I've seen this film and am about to talk about it. However, I suspect that not many of you will have seen this Japanese film, with subtitles. It's precisely the sort of quality foreign film you go to a film festival to get a chance to see. Here's its official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7KzQ2Mbq1o I …
I've just watched "Paterson" - a Jim Jarmusch film about a bus driver who secretly writes poetry and delights in overheard conversation. It's a really gentle, observant film with not much action, but a lot of listening. Here's a really good summary of it by reviewer Mark Kermode, who sums it up as a 'mood …
Review of exceptionally well written book review in New Yorker, of photos of Julia Child
Some books are fictional, some are what I'm going to call LifeBOOKs - books which help you read life. Books you remember because they open doors, open eyes, make you see and understand things you didn't before you opened the covers. I hope to pull some of these down off my shelves and review …
Continue reading "LifeBOOK: “Gee’s Bend: the Architecture of the Quilt”"
Yes, you can achieve a strongly positive book review before you have written a word of it... IF you reply to an unimaginative scammer who has used the old ruse of pretending to be a friend who has lost his money overseas. James Veitch shows us how, in a video of under 3 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pO_mlZDlFo …
Continue reading "How to get a glowing book review BEFORE writing the book…."
Food critic, Jay Rayner's top tip for great eating experience? "thou shalt choose thy dining companions bloody carefully. I am constantly asked to name my favourite dining experience but the truth is that it all depends on the company. Get the choice of dining companion wrong and even the most sublime cooking can taste only …
If you like watching classic movies then HMV stores in the UK have got an interesting mix of classic and recent DVDs: 2 for £10, 5 for £20. Having just recently pruned our home DVD collection, I wheeled into the store with my housemates, crying: "we can look but buy nothing". Ten minutes later, we …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU47nhruN-Q I've just seen this anime movie, and it is good - and I'm not even a confirmed anime fan. Do go see. It has been phenomenally successful in Japan, with one person in 7 turning out to see it. What makes it good? Visually lush, engaging main characters who often body swop between …
Magazine front covers in January can be merciless, article titles shouting at you that you should change everything in your life, all must be improved/perfected. So what a relief to stumble into Emily Freeman's blog and this invitingly titled entry: "3 gentle ways to review your life in the New Year". http://emilypfreeman.com/a-gentle-way-to-review-your-life/
