Heather & Chopper's Wonderful World of ... » recommendations http://www.heatherandchopper.com Musing, ramblings, and photographs from the lives of Heather and Chopper Johnson. Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:08:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en In praise of WALL-E http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2008/07/in-praise-of-wall-e/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2008/07/in-praise-of-wall-e/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:17:39 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2008/07/13/253/ I’ve now seen WALL-E twice, and I cannot recommend it enough.  It is by far my favorite movie that Pixar has ever done.  (Yes, that is high praise and I mean it.)  It’s smart, funny, visually striking, touching, and generally brilliant — and the characters are so well fleshed out, even if they’re mostly robots.  And I love the cockroach.
I discovered that Pixar released several vignettes to promote the movie and they are wonderful, too.  “Cups” is my favorite.
Cups
Vaccuum
Bouncy Balls
Magnet
Fire Hydrant
Hula Hoop
Headphones

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2008/07/in-praise-of-wall-e/feed/ Foreign film joy http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/foreign-film-joy/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/foreign-film-joy/#comments Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:31:25 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/15/174/ I just idly checked our Netflix queue and saw something that literally had me jump off the couch and run around the apartment.  (Chopper thinks I’m nuts, as usual.)  A while back, I added two DVDs to the yeah-I-know-they’re-not-available-but-I-have-hope category (whatever they call it) and they are now both scheduled for release on July 24.

Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring (more properly Manon des Sources) are the two films made from Marcel Pagnol’s novel L’eau des collines, which I have read in both French and English.  It’s a magnificent book and the movies (surprisingly for book adaptations) are equally good.  The story is a tragedy — a greedy old man and his stupid nephew are desperate to buy a nearby farm, and when a hunchback inherits it, they close up the spring that is essential to bring water to the farm.  The two films are the story of the aftermath of that decision and the revenge of the hunchback’s daughter, Manon.

I’m actually giddy at the idea of getting to see them again.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/foreign-film-joy/feed/ A Long Way Down http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/a-long-way-down/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/a-long-way-down/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:24:38 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/01/170/ I just finished the audiobook version of Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down, and it’s marvelous.  I read and loved High Fidelity a while back (yes, the one that the movie was based on) and was tickled to finally see an unabridged version of one of his books on Audible.  (Audio abridgements are evil, in case you’ve never heard one of my tirades on the subject.)

The book deals with four very dissimilar individuals who climb a tall building on New Year’s Eve with the intent of jumping off it.  They don’t.  It’s told from their four perspectives (and the audiobook is read by four different narrators, which helps lend realism to it).

I’ve read a couple of reviews on the subject and all agree that while it’s a book ostensibly about suicide, it’s more about life and living than it might appear on first blush.  Hornby’s characters are real — likable at times, thoroughly annoying at others, always vividly drawn — and engaging.

Makes me want to pick up another of his books, which (drat the man) means going to print for the moment for the earlier-mentioned reason of abridgments.  (The humanity!)

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/07/a-long-way-down/feed/ The Thirteenth Tale http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/02/the-thirteenth-tale/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/02/the-thirteenth-tale/#comments Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:06:19 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/02/26/157/ I’m currently absorbed in an audiobook as good as any I’ve listened to in years — The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  Reviews have made allusions to Jane Austen or any of the classic Gothic works, all of which are spot on.  Of course, audiobooks aren’t for everyone, so here’s a link to the page on Amazon for you readers.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/02/the-thirteenth-tale/feed/ The Life of Birds http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/01/the-life-of-birds/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/01/the-life-of-birds/#comments Thu, 11 Jan 2007 01:00:39 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/01/10/147/ I’m in the process of watching David Attenborough’s PBS documentary series The Life of Birds right now, and if you like documentaries, I can’t recommend this enough.  The cinematography is phenomenal and the subject matter is very well presented.  I was hooked in the first episode by the film of a bee eater (a lovely, colorful little bird) catching a honeybee.  The little bird takes the bee in its long beak, carefully wipes the stinger off on a branch, and then crunches down on a specific spot to burst the bee and send a spray of clear venom into the air.  Wish I had an HDTV to watch this one.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2007/01/the-life-of-birds/feed/ The Station Agent http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/10/the-station-agent/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/10/the-station-agent/#comments Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:26:23 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/10/23/111/ Chopper and I both enjoyed The Station Agent, a charming, touching, and funny movie about a little person who just wants to be left alone and the people who won’t let him.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/10/the-station-agent/feed/ The Natural History of the Chicken http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/07/the-natural-history-of-the-chicken/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/07/the-natural-history-of-the-chicken/#comments Sat, 15 Jul 2006 01:02:47 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/07/14/90/ Chopper and I watched the PBS documentary The Natural History of the Chicken tonight courtesy of Netflix and absolutely loved it. The documentary includes some startlingly funny moments, including the stories of Mike the Headless Chicken and the fellows who grabbed a six pack to “watch the rooster” and Valerie, the poor hen whose creepy old lady owner left outside in a blizzard and then performed CPR on. Surprisingly touching was the story of Liza, the hen who protected her chicks at the risk of her own life. Definitely worth a watch.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/07/the-natural-history-of-the-chicken/feed/ One Man Star Wars http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/06/one-man-star-wars/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/06/one-man-star-wars/#comments Wed, 07 Jun 2006 02:50:50 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/06/06/78/ Chopper will likely have something to add to this, but I have to say that if you ever get a chance to see Charles Ross’ One Man Star Wars Trilogy, for heavens’ sake, buy the ticket and go. Ross is an amazingly energetic performer and his interpretation of the character and action is amazing. Jabba the Hutt alone is worth the trip. I laughed so hard I hurt myself.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/06/one-man-star-wars/feed/ Podcasting joy http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/02/more-joy-of-ipod/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/02/more-joy-of-ipod/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2006 03:49:04 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/02/14/65/ My iPod and I have become inseparable … and besides Audible, which I have talked about before with love, I’ve also gotten hooked on some podcasts. The geekier, the better.

Some recommendations:

For those new to the idea of podcasting … you don’t have to have an iPod, or even an MP3 player. In theory, you can listen just at your PC.

Enjoy … and mock me after you listen for a while.

]]> http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2006/02/more-joy-of-ipod/feed/ Quirks and Quarks http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2005/07/quirks-and-quarks/ http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2005/07/quirks-and-quarks/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:23:33 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherandchopper.com/2005/07/13/43/ If you have started podcasting, I have a recommendation for you. Quirks and Quarks is a weekly radio show from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that I have gotten seriously hooked on. The show brings science to the masses in a very accessible way. The first show I listened to was a question-and-answer show that included answers to (among others) why a bicycle is stable when moving and not when standing and why you get dizzy when looking down from a high place.

When I told Chopper it was a little like an audio version of Discover Magazine (another of my personal favorites), he groaned and said that Discover made his head hurt. 8-)

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