Although On the Brigher Side ...

... helping turn my attention from those that wouldst tread on my light, we have a number of things that surely make me as happy as kings (well, you get the point and plus it rhymed that way).

Savage Chickens

Is there anyone who doesn't love Savage Chickens? Then they just haven't browsed the site enough.

The Dog Park
We have been taking those wild young Boxers, Zoe and Wash, to the dog park every weekend. They absolutely love it. Granted, Wash sees this as more of an opportunity to make a large number of people pet him than anything else. Zoe tends to stick closer and then "gets lost" which necessitates a sudden alertness and stiff trotting while looking around nervously for her pack. All one needs to do is take a few steps (body language, baby!) and she bounds back to our side. Quirks aside, it is a relaxing hour or so spent outside with no electronic devices around! Fabuleux!

A Book About Books
Picked up Classics for Pleasure by Michael Dirda upon the advice of a book-loving friend. My "to read" pages are now comfortably populated with many interesting authors I had either never heard of or am now interested to try despite being told in high school that they were "must reads."

Is there any surer way to turn off people from reading a book than that? Rose and I were talking just the other day about Uncle Tom's Cabin. She said eagerly, "Aren't your listeners so happy to find out what a great book that is? Instead of the long, boring railing against slavery that my teachers made it sound like?" (Yes, Mr. Rogers, we're lookin' at you...)

In my experience, the truth about Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is that it is a fantastic soap opera filled with unforgettable characters by a master story teller, is that all those people recommending it have forgotten the thrill of reading a good book ... or they never read it in the first place. (Whew. How's that for a run on sentence?)

Lesser Pleasures - a movie or two watched over the weekend
The Hidden Fortress. Kurasawa's classic. Hmmm. I know he is famous for taking his time, but puhleez. It was a good story overall and irresistibly reminded me of a Western. Rather slow although I was told by an office mate that it improves upon repeated viewings. My main beef was the acting style of the princess who delivered even the simplest line by barking it out commandingly and who strode everywhere like Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Perhaps that is an acting style I simply didn't have the background to appreciate. However, the other actors were great and not similarly encumbered.

Green for Danger. A 1946 mystery that introduced Alistair Sim who I previously only knew from his master turn in A Christmas Carol. It was a pleasure to watch him as the jaunty, self confident Scotland Yard inspector who occasionally gets in over his head while investigating a war time mystery that takes place in a country hospital. Essentially a "locked room" mystery in style, this was only 90 minutes long but quite enjoyable. It kept us guessing up to the end.

A Little Blogging Around
A few good reads that I thoroughly enjoyed. No explanation, just the links:

• A Cowboy in the Jungle: Theodore Roosevelt and the River of Doubt
• Tim Burton: Introduction, "Vincent," and "Frankenweenie"
• Somebody's Watching (The Taste of Tea review
• Review of Hyperion by Dan Simmons