Recently Read

Puss in Boots
by Philip Pullman / Ian Beck, illus.

I'm not impressed.

It's been a long time since Philip Pullman made a splash with His Dark Materials and its associated works. It has been nearly as long as Pullman gave his readers other great pieces of work, such as Clockwork and The Scarecrow and His Servant. Given the span of time that has passed since the author last wowed us, maybe it's time to reclassify Pullman, not as a star but as a comet--a body that shone brightly for a while, but eventually disappeared from the literary sky, perhaps never to return again.

It's not that this version of Puss in Boots is bad; Pullman does a serviceable job of presenting the traditional story; there are no passages in his tale that make the reader want to throw the book across the room or anything like that. But Pullman expands upon Charles Perrault's tale, including scenes with a hermit and some ghouls which, frankly, don't particularly add anything special to the story.

Reel Reviews

The Monuments Men -- Noble ideas should always be winners. Sadly, they often are not, though the ones that aren't are not necessarily losers; sometimes they just fight life to a draw. So it is here with George Clooney's remembrance of a group of non-soldiers who suited up and went into a war not to save a country or each other, but the very culture of the Western world. The unevenness of the film probably reflects the difficulty in capturing this story in a dramatic setting; parts of the film are entertaining and involving, while others seem disjointed and not particularly well fit with the rest of the film. (If a movie had been made strictly about the recovery of the Madonna and Child statue--a major plotline here--one suspects it would have been a tighter, more watchable film.) As it is, this flick stands as a good effort, and its noble idea--that the treasures of our culture were worth saving when monsters wanted to destroy them--surely deserves at least this much attention.

Insanely Awesome

Image from Shackleton Antarctica expedition, 1915
(Courtesy Retronaut.co)

Thanks to Khoi over at Subtraction, I just got hip to the wonders of Retronaut. The site features collections of vintage images, including rare, antique photography, covering a wide range of topics. My first intro to the site was a collection of photographs--in color, no less--from Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic, almost one hundred years ago. As a storehouse of encapsulated historical imagery, Retronaut must be considered a resource of inestimable value--not to mention a dynamite, terrific idea for a website. That is so much the case that I am adding the site's home page to my Sausage Factory over there at the right. If you have any interest at all in history, photography, visual arts, or the intersection of any of those, do yourself a favor and check Retronaut out.

I Want This!

This piece hanging on the wall of the Heavily Fortified Bunker's reading room would be the height of class and sophistication. As soon as my fortune is made, it will be mine!