Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Of Cameras, Miter Progress, Books (audio and print) and Movies


I have a new camera. At least it's new to me- my son bought a new one, and I'm buying his old one, a Nikon Coolpix, not that it's all that old. The quality difference from my old Olympus is amazing. I took the Nikon, and my knitting, and the grandkids, to the park today- and snapped a couple of arty sock shots. Look at how sharp the yarn colors are! I think this one is a keeper.


I'm back on the treadmill (since I can't run and leave the kids alone in the house), so I finished listening to Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and then immediately ordered a print copy. Next up from Librivox is Jerome K. Jerome's Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. I expect to enjoy it every bit as much as Three Men. I also want to reread Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is a wonderful, time-travel book inspired loosely by Three Men in a Boat. I loved the Willis the first time around, and I have a feeling that I'll get even more out of it now that I know a bit about the source.


I won't spoil UP for anyone, but I will say that it's a lovely, wistful, funny, beautiful-to-watch, movie, that is also a whole lot sadder than I expected it to be. The 3-D effects aren't so much about things coming out of the screen at you, as in adding depth to an already highly textured canvas. And 3-D glasses are a lot nicer (and fit over my own glasses much better) than the old cardboard red/green ones that I had to wear the last time I saw a 3-D movie in the theater (the awful Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl- a truly wretched film). On the other hand, it's also a whole lot more expensive- tickets, even for the 5 year old, on a week day matinee, were $9 apiece! (totally worth it, but still...)
And we're working our way through the slightly abridged version of Pride and Prejudice- when we got to Lizzy refusing Mr. Darcy's offer of marriage, Voracious Reader turned to me and said, "She's going to marry him, Grandma. Just wait and see."

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