 | Framed | Dec 26, 2008 |
 | Second opinions | Jun 8, 2009 |
 The best documentary film has all the qualities we appreciate in feature films: drama, excitement, suspense and a vivid appeal to our imagination. Films that content themselves merely with imparting information are the ones we forget.... more | Song and dance | May 8, 2009 |
It's hard to overestimate the variety and originality of music made in Africa. Here's some music new to me. It's energetic and very, very rhythmic and still has the feeling that music should have, that it was created with joy. It's available here... more | Views and reviews | May 23, 2009 |
 Leonardo was not appreciated in his own time. He was sidelined, persecuted and many of his works destroyed. A similar fate has befell this documentary. I saw this film in the 70s. It was shown on Australian TV (where I live) and I thought it then,... more | Voice, music, video | Jul 25, 2008 |
 Track 11 of the latest release by this soul singer, one of her best albums.  | Guestbook | |
 | Where in the web | Dec 29, 2008 |
This site provides some information about members of the Knowles family from Hampshire UK, the Gammell family from Tipperary Ireland, the Douzans family from Banyuls sur mer Pyrenees Orientales France, the Wright family from Yorkshire UK, and others,... more | For Sale or swap | Dec 30, 2008 |
Frank Sinatra in Pal Joey Judy Holliday in It Should Happen To You Joan Greenwood in The Importance of Being Ernest  | Find out more | Jul 13, 2008 |
Follow the tags to explore the site. See my profile for more about me (this bit's still under construction).  | Food for dummies | Jul 19, 2008 |
 Good with meatballs or fish.
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WELCOME
This is where I celebrate my favourite things with opinions, second opinions, lists, reviews, photos, songs and so on. I'm a reader and a writer so for the moment at least things are text heavy. I have to admit I'm very opinionated because I've written just after finishing with a book or movie. I hope this provokes some opinionated responses. There's so much good stuff out there I don't think I'll ever stop adding entries.
NEW STUFF
BOOKS
Something funny happens to popular books when they go out of style: suddenly they become a bit shabby, a bit ridiculous. I'm reading Alexandre Dumas' Memoirs, or a selection of the original 30 volume work. Everything Dumas wrote - cookbooks, plays, travel books, historical novels and journalism, was a best seller. He was one of the most entertaining writers of his day. As an autobiographer he is full of unforgettable anecdotes, moving confessions and unfamiliar glimpses of famous people. Dumas knew everybody. Somehow his glamour has faded, probably from bad translations. This volume is a joy to read. Another author I'm re-reading with pleasure is Margery Allingham. Her Albert Campion mysteries are sophisticated, well written, character driven novels where deduction plays the minor role. School of Simenon rather than school of Conan Doyle.
MUSIC
Brazilian girls
Adriana Calcanhoto, Alcione, Ana Carolina, Bia, Cassia Eller, Cibelle, Clara Nunes, Leila Pinheiro, Sabrina Malheiros, Katia Moraes, Silvana Malta, Simone, Vania Abreu, Wanda Sa, Zizi Possi. That's the tip of the iceberg. Must be something in the air over there....
FILM
some films by Satyajit Ray
I've just received some DVDs that include the Apu films, Charulata and The Chess Players, which I've seen, but also Two Daughters and The Home and the World, which I haven't. I'm looking forward to viewing these. Ray is the great master at depicting people's emotional responses to one another, no other film maker even comes close. I always think, "That's right, that's how people respond" in a kind of shock of recognition.
"We're all getting older, but we carry the dreams of our youth with us until the day we die".
–Yasujiro Ozu, Higanbana
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