Just a quick little snippet of what I'm reading, watching and listening to lately:
Books: My dear friend Mike is a bibliophile of epic proportion. He loaned me "Landslide," by Jonathan Darman: a look-back at the 1,000 days following John F. Kennedy's assassination and how Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan's political careers in that time shaped the face of liberalism, the American Dream, and politics for years to come. I'm about halfway through and it's fantastic.
Movies: Anxiously anticipating the Valentine's Day release everyone SHOULD be talking about...no, I'm not talking "Fifty Shades of Grey," though I'll likely see it at some point. I'm counting down to the film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years," based on the musical of the same name and starring Anna Kendrick. I can't wait to see how they take the musical and re-work it for the big screen!
Television: "Downton Abbey" and "The Bachelor" are back and both living up to expectations..."Downton" for just about everything, and "The Bachelor" for the eye candy and healthy helping of bat-shit crazy. I'm already getting ready to be a hermit for an entire weekend starting 2/27, when Season 3 of "House of Cards" hits Netflix...cannot wait to get a little Francis and Claire Underwood back in my life.
News: I, like the rest of the country, can't tear myself away from coverage of the attack on Charlie Hebdo. The intersection of religious extremism, free speech, France's changing demography and the West's outrage and uncertainty has me riveted. I'll save my personal thoughts for a later date and post when I have more time, but I so hope anyone reading this has taken the time to think about the issue or read some of the great commentary out there.
Music: Misterwives has released a new single, "Our Own House," in advance of their full album due this February...it's catchy and different in all the best ways. I'm also looping Nico and Vinz's "In Your Arms" and, of course, Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars's "Uptown Funk." SO catchy. More highbrow, you ask? I've got tickets to the Minnesota Orchestra's Shakespeare Winterfest and am eagerly awaiting their performances of works based on Henry V, Romeo and Juliet and A Winter's Tale.
