The Voice Of Reason

 Welcome to May. Facebook is littered with those stupid Star Wars Day  memes. Every year, the same damn thing. I'm not going to repeat it so if on the off chance you don't know what that is, go look there :) 

There was supposed to be a baby shower for my niece on Saturday but she's had a bit of a crisis and is in hospital. She started losing amniotic fluid yesterday and my sister took her over to the maternity hospital pronto. They're keeping her for 72 hours and giving her stuff that might prevent her from going into labour and giving her steroids to encourage strong lungs in the baby in case she does. She's 31 weeks along and they say the baby weighs about 3.5 pounds. Her sister-in-law had a preemie even younger than that last year and the little fella made it through. They're going to put her on strict bed rest and hope to keep the baby inside as long as they can. Seems likely she won't go full term to July though. Needless to say the shower has been postponed. The cookies I'd ordered were already made but the woman said she'll feed them to her grandkids and make more later when we do go ahead with it. I thought she could just pop them in the freezer but she prefers to remake fresh which is nice of her. 

Yes we did get the Hawaii package booked and now I'm looking at hotels for Vancouver. Booked the airport one already. My cousin invited us to stay with them so I think what we'll do is stay in a hotel for the first few days in the city and go to her on the last two and maybe she can take us to the airport when we go to Hawaii. Or at least to the skytrain where we can change to the airport line in the city centre. Another friend in Victoria wants us to stay there as well. I can coordinate that with my aunt and uncle's dates, a few with them and then a night or two with my friend. That way, we aren't imposing on any individual too long and we still have some hotel time for our own privacy as well. 

Our second anniversary is next week but as it's a weekday, maybe we will do something on the weekend though I hear we're in for torrential rains so it might be prudent to wait and see. It's gorgeous out today but the forecast shows rain for the next week. Ah, spring. 

The series for The Handmaid's Tale has started. I have seen the first episode but not the second. They broadcast two on the premiere night and it will be once a week after that. So far, so good. I recently reread it and it was all pretty new because it's been decades since I've read it and quite a long time since I saw the movie that was made from it, too. I like the series so far and even G. watched it with me and thought it was ok. Not usually his sort of thing but he was interested enough. But for our mealtime tv watching last night, he was far more interested in the latest Gotham which I do enjoy as well. I saw something yesterday, though, that there was approval for a second series of Handmaid's Tale. Wtf? How they would be doing another series from the one book, unless someone's going to write  a sequel, I don't know. Having said that, I did hear rumours that Margaret Atwood may be doing just that so we'd finally get to know what happened to Offred after the end of the book/movie. 

Reading something today and discovered there is going to be a remake of Scarface. Now, I was not a fan of it though I think I have seen it many years ago. Lots of people moan about all the remaking of older films and I am certainly guilty of that. But when you look back, remakes are nothing new. There have been a number of versions of some movies ever since there were movies at all. Little Women comes immediately to mind. Lots of classic books get made, remade and reimaged so to speak. The Romeo and Juliet story is the basis for quite a few movies, for instance. So why do we get all in a knot over a remake?

Because some movies are so iconic that I think they stand alone and it would be difficult to accept any other version for most people. You could argue that there are a lot of people that have never seen that iconic original and that's true but also, these older movies are on television regularly and younger people will get to know them. I really can't picture a successful remake of movies such as Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music, Casablanca, The Ten Commandments or The Godfather just to name a few. There are lots. And there are many that have been remade, for television in particular. I was going to list The Wizard of Oz but I think there have been versions or possibly animated versions made. I looked it up and aside from animation on television, no, there hasn't really been any since the 1939 version though there were several silent film versions before.

Should Scarface be one of those iconic Do Not Repeat films? Maybe not. Regardless, it's being remade with Leonardo di Caprio in the Al Pacino part. *sigh* I don't like his acting. It really feels like he's very far up his own backside and when he tries to take on famous roles, for me it falls flat. Jay Gatsby? Really? No, not for me. The Great Gatsby benchmark is the Robert Redford and Mia Farrow version from the 70s. I can't say it was iconic, and I wouldn't object to a remake if it hadn't had di Caprio in it. I would have rather seen him play the secondary male lead but then we'd likely have got the odious Christian whotsis, Bale, that's it. He's good, nothing against him but he's a bit thuggish for me. Another actor that seems to be cast in odd roles that seem unsuitable is that little dark Irish fella, (c'mon brain, think...) Colin Farrell (thanks Wiki). He's a quirky fella and always seems like he might believe he isn't really supposed to be in that role and isn't sure why he is but is game to make the best of it. He's ok, though. Not offputting like Bale or diCaprio.

I do think DiCaprio is an able actor and I think he's ok in things like Inception. I think maybe I get the feeling he's trying too hard, pushing those potential award winning roles, turning those roles into famous, iconic ones. He wants to be up there in the ranks of the memorable like Brando, Pacino, Hoffman, Redford, Newman. Perhaps he will be in the long run, who am I to say he won't? He's not a bad actor, not like some I could mention but he doesn't half take himself far too seriously. Ralph Fiennes and Billy Bob Thornton are two more like that, and Christian Bale, come to think of it.

Anyway. Yes. Scarface with DiCaprio. There's also a remake in the works for White Men Can't Jump. Why? I never thought much of the first one. Yeah, that's another thing. Why remake something with a fresh new cast when the original wasn't that great? Because a new cast will make the story better? Not likley. Russell Brand remade the wonderful Arthur that was Dudley Moore originally. It was appalling!  Look how many King Kong movies there have been? The original is still the best. Digital technology hasn't really improved the story though I did enjoy the most recent, Kong: Skull Island. It was what it was but it was entertaining enough.

Then there's the kind of remake that changes the premise, as in Nasty Women which is a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (original with Michael Caine and Steve Martin as con men). Yep, they're making the con couple two women instead of two men. I see movies like that where the gender of the main cast is reversed. Still doesn't usually work for me. It feels desperate. Referring to the aforementioned Arthur, they put Helen Mirren in the assistant role that John Geilgud played in the original. I do love Helen but that movie in general was just a mistake.

Anyway.
On the book to movie front, I'm actually excited and somewhat hopeful at the screen version of The Snowman, based on Norwegian crime fiction writer Jo Nesbo's novel. I really enjoy his books about fuck up detective Harry Hole who will be played by Michael Fassbender. Could go either way but I'm going to hope for the best. 

Starting the year off on a low note, I attended the funeral for the father of one of my old friends, who also happened to be my brother-in-law for many years up to about 12 years ago and the man that died is the grandfather of my nephews and niece. I've known him since I was a teenager though I wasn't all that close to him. He was a very nice man....

There wasn't a lot of attendees, not many of my old crowd went but one man that was there was someone I hadn't seen in over 30 years, perhaps once in that time I think but only briefly. In fact, I think it was at a wake for the father of another of our friends. I think I did the classic double take when I saw him. Nice to catch up, though.

Two more books to round up 2015

101 - Blind Goddess - Anne Holt
A Norwegian crime writer, her police detective is a female and there's a male criminal prosecutor. This story involves a drug ring that may be engineered by some lawyers and possibly a higher up figure. Not bad. Will probably read more.

102 - Hundred-year-old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
Good fun! Like the title says, an old Swedish man that escapes the nursing home on his birthday and ends up chased around the countryside by drug dealers who want the suitcase of money he took from the local bus station. In between chapters of that, they jump back and go over the adventures he's had in his long life in a kind of Forrest Gump kind of way, where he's had an inadvertent hand in some of the major events in history.

So that was 2015 reading, 102 books plus one i couldn't finish. 2016 is the year I'm attempting a reading challenge on a CBC Books group on Goodreads.com by filling in a Bingo card with various categories. You find books that match the themes, prefereably by Canadian authors but not restricted to them either. I will give it a go and I think I'll make a plan to pick up a few more "classic" Canadian books/authors. Our classic books of course, are not as old as classic UK books and authors. Most of the best known authors and books only go back to about the mid 20th century. I don't know much about the publishing industry in Canada but I would expect it wasn't much before that, just maybe smaller independent publishers rather than anything national. There are still a lot of smaller publishing houses, as well but Canadian authors and books are becoming a lot more numerous. Canada isn't really known for producing great movies and I can vouch for that. I would estimate that only about 15 percent are *really* good and most of the best ones are character driven, not big adventure movies or complicated crime dramas. In many of the ones I've seen, the writing is kind of cliche and the acting is ... not bad, just not great, but that could be the writing contributing to that.

But the more Canadian books I read, the more I respect the authors. We have some very well known authors that are famous outside the borders such as Margaret Atwood but a lot of the ones i've read in the past few years are very, very good, too. Some authors at the top of my mind are Gil Adamson, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Patrick deWitt, Michael Crummey, Linden McIntyre, Wayne Johnston, Susanna Kearsley, Frances Itani and Heather O'Neill. Classic authors include Atwood, Margaret Lawrence, Robertson Davies, Mordechai Richler and Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables).

There's a couple of good lists, here for the 10 authors you should read if you're Canadian student, this list of 25 classic Canadian novels (including a couple 19th century ones). The 25 top Canadian novels on this list have a few of the same entries but quite a few different ones, too. Not all of them are going to be to the taste of everyone, and I probably wouldnt' like a lot of them but I do intend on mixing in a few in my 2016 reads if i can.

My favourite series of books is by author Diana Gabaldon, commonly known as the Outlander books after the title of the first of the series. It's a series about time travel, a handsome Highlander, romance and adventure. It's way better than the average bodice ripper, well researched into the 18th century (The Uprising just before and leading up to 1746 and then later the American Revolution).  After 20 years since the first book, the eighth in the series is released this week and there's a tv series being made of the first book and that starts in August! All the fans of the book are just chomping at the bit for that one. It looks like they've cast it really well and though the author has no say in the casting, she has been consulted and she's very happy with the actors and what they're doing with the series too. The books are huge so there's going to be detail left out but the series will be 16 episodes and that's pretty good to be telling the story. I've got a post office card so I think that's the book arriving.

I pre-ordered it and used the rest of a gift card. It probably ended up costing me the same as it would have had i waited for it to come out in the shop this week because i had to pay for shipping. I have the whole series in hardback so I kept that up. I may get the ebook as well eventually because I have all those, too. The gift card reduced the price from 19.99 to 12 something but add tax and shipping and we're back up to about 22 or 23. If i'd waited for the book in the store, which is selling for $25 and used the gift card, i'd only be paying tax so probably would have got it a little cheaper. I didn't know what the selling proce would be in the store, though they're usually cheaper when it first hits the shelves. Oh well, never mind, I need to get to the post office this weekend so I can start reading it.

Have had a very quiet couple of days. Watched some movies and television, finished a couple books. It's just nice not having to go to work. It's the only "vacation" i take where i'm not actually going anywhere or doing anything specific. My nephew gave me an iPod dock/speaker/clock and I got that all hooked up and working and it sounds great. I'm going to leave it in the living room so i can use it as a mini-stereo rather than as an alarm clock in the bedroom. Graham and I will see in the new year online on webcam tonight as we usually do.

Last book post of the year to finish off the 2012 books below the cut
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Picked up my new glasses yesterday. Took nearly a month which it never has before. Apparently they use a place out on the west coast now. I wonder if all the optical places do. I must check for next time, would prefer if it was a local or closer to home company. The new sunglasses are cute! Tangerine frames :) Feels like wearing a bit of sunshine on my face! The glasses lenses are a bit bigger than my old ones but i think the frames feel lighter. Wasn't sure i liked them but my hair was in bad shape yesterday and i felt overall blah. Today i've got it washed and it looks nicer and the glasses are more suited.

I noticed, too, when i was trying them on in the optical place, that my chin is distinctly turning into my grandfather's. Eeek! I've always had a dimple in my chin, which is from Dad's side of the family but it seems to be puffing up a bit and maybe sagging a bit with age and it's getting a bit more squared off around the dimple as a result and it looks just like my Gramp's chin! Well, as long as  my nose doesn't suddenly grow and change shape altogether and look like my Gram's, i'm ok. She was a lovely woman but I'm very, very glad I inherited the nose from my maternal grandmother. :)

I've got the UK flights and the Rome flights booked. Need to book a hotel and also a rental car for Manchester. We are thinking of maybe a day trip to see the Chatsworth estate, and are planning an overnight over to Sunderland by way of Durham and on the way back, there's an Open Air museum in north Yorkshire that we may stop into. We have friends in Sunderland and will stay overnight with them.

Must take my new camera out for a test drive this weekend. I've only been playing with it in the apartment.

Saw an ad for a new version of the Kobo ereader yesterday, called the Kobo Glo. It' has some sort of ambient light, not a backlit screen but a front lit one, you can turn the light on and off, though, so it's not on all the time. I don't read in the dark but on the bus in the dark winter mornings, sometimes a bus may not be well lit or standing people are blocking what light there is. It would be kind of cool. If i ever have to replace this one i have now, i will probably get that one. I could buy a little booklight i suppose though it feels a bit silly on the bus. Maybe if it's quite small. :)

Oh crap. I had an entry written, several paragraphs and hit the "home" button on the browser instead of New Tab and pooched the whole thing. Not even a link to restore from draft! What's the point of it saving as a draft somewhere temporary if you can't get it back? I've seen it ask me sometimes, when i've opened up the browser and come to here so maybe that's what i should have done. Too late now.

Hmmm what was I saying....

Work problem yesterday was mystifying though one mystery was solved and i have to start fixing that today. I can't do it until i get a new login for a server because my password expired ages ago and i've not kept it up because i've not had to access it for over 2 years, which is how long at least it's been that this one particular problem has been occurring and nobody noticed. Oops.

I did a factory reset on the phone and my texts are now readable without a microscope. I spent a half hour fixing up the settings again. I thought i had photos on the phone or on the micro card but i think the reset must have deleted them from the phone though it wasn't supposed to. It left an Mp3 ring tone that i'd loaded on. Never mind. I reloaded the card with photos i had at work. I like to change the wallpaper from time to time and it's nice to have the photos of family and some favourite travel pics. I also have them on my iPod but might not always have that with me.

Started reading a new author, Jo Nesbo. he writes thrillers about serial killers and a detective, Harry Hole who's a total fuckup and addict at this point. This isn't the first of the Harry books, it's the second at least and possibly third. They keep referring to the previous book about a serial killer called The Snowman. I like a lot of different kinds of books. Graham is surprised that i like books about serial killers and tracking them down because i'm not generally into horror books. Let's face it, the grim details of a serial killer's crimes can be pretty horrific. I dunno, it's just different. This guy is Norwegian so the front of this book claims he's the next Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books). That's not very fair really. He has his own style and take on things. He just happens to be from the same general part of the world as Larsson. He's good, though.

Four days to work this week then i'm off until the new year. I always enjoy this week even if i don't do much. while i love my vacations with Graham, we're always busy doing and going. This week i can veg out and take lots of quiet time. It would be nice, of course, if he was with me and we could do nothing together or decide on the spur of the moment to go see a movie or whatever. I expect i'll try to get to see a movie, try to get to the gym, get my groceries, visit a bit. I'm going to borrow the car for a few days to aid all that and I usually take Mom around visiting as well. Friday i'm having a movie and dinner with a friend and Friday night G. and I have our web cam Christmas present opening. That is, if his parcels to me arrive by then. This time of year it's dicey at best when expecting something from overseas. My stuff to him can get sent in pretty good time but for some reason, parcels coming this way take forever, and i blame Canada Post and Canada Customs.

I'll be at Mom's for Christmas eve, Day and Boxing Day, maybe come back home that evening. Sis is having the dinner at her place though the "kids" will stay overnight at Mom's for Christmas morning. I know they aren't kids anymore but i guess that's part of getting older. You still think of them as kids, or at least it's easier to just say that.

Kobo has had a contest running daily where you put a little puzzle of an ereader together and you can win coupons for up to 35% off or a Kobo touch ereader. I've been doing the entry every day and have got coupons for 25, 20 and 35% so i've used them. I've bought 4 or 5 books in the last week! I suppose that's their purpose isn't it? Get you to buy more books but they end up quite cheap with the coupons. I have looked and can't find out but I think the coupons might only be good for the day they're issued. I really should stop though lol! These ebooks are so much cheaper than buying even a new paperback these days. Well... sometimes at least. I see ebooks that they want 15 and almost 20 dollars for and i wonder why. It's electronic, there's no shipping, no overhead really.

I won't buy an ebook unless it's under 10 dollars. Most new paperbacks are that and up to 12 dollars unless it's the "trade" paperback, which is the size of a hardcover but paper covers and those can be up to 25 dollars! So all the ebooks i've bought with the coupons are under 10 dollars less the discount. The one i purchased today came to a total of something like $6.88 with taxes in. When i was buying paper books, i'd go to a bookstore and buy 3 or 4 at a time, spending 60 dollars. I can get 8 or 9 for that with ebooks and coupons! or at least about 6 without. Big difference.

I'm still working my way through a few books that i'm not really enjoying overly but i'll finish them. I usually do. It's rare i give up on a book but i may end up skimming through the end of the ones i'm struggling with.

In the news today, Bishop Raymond Lahey, who was a bishop in Nova Scotia, is going to be sentenced in Ottawa today on child pornography charges. He flew into Ottawa with a laptop and when they wanted to check it as a random search. They found a lot of images on there and he was immediately taken in. He confessed, rather than go through a trial and will be sentenced today. A few years ago he was instrumental in organizing a payout settlement to a group of people that had sued the church on abuse charges dating back decades. I have a feeling he won't end up behind bars as such. House arrest or something similar would be my guess due to his age (in his 70s) though he should spend some time incarcerated if it was up to me.

Halifax has had 16 homicides this year. I think that's a record. The latest one seems to be the result of a bar fight. There's only been charges laid in 6 of the cases and one was deemed accidental as a patient in a dementia unit in a senior's home pushed another resident who died from the fall. They said it was technically homicide but the resident was not really responsible. The murder total in this area is usually under 10 most years and they aren't usually random.

I love my Kobo eReader, i really do. But it doesn't suit all ebook formats. I bought a guide to Rome from the Kobo site the other day but it's full of links to jump through the book and none of them are active in the Kobo. Pooh. It's really a better fit for an ipad or even reading via an app on a computer or laptop. I decided to get the Kindle app for the iPod/iPhone as it was free. I had an Amazon.com gift card stored and you can use that against Kindle purchases so i found a wi-fi hotspot, registered the ipod through the Kindle app and bought three Rome guides using the gift card. (Two of them were $.99 and the other was $3.99, using up my gift card credit. Result!) One of them even has a phrase book included which is handy. In the Kindle app, you can tap on the links to jump around through the book and expand the little maps as well. I also appear to have an Oxford American Dictionary which must come free with the app. That may prove useful.

I can see that the Kindle app would be quite good for things like travel guides that don't need a wi-fi connection to show you where you are like many of the iTunes travel guides need. I did use one on Copenhagen that was great, it could be used offline as well as connected and we actually found a pretty good restaurant near the hotel using it.

I must see if i can figure out if i can add Kindle books to the ipod via iTunes and have the Kindle app recognize it rather than have to buy and download via Amazon.

And just a note for myself for ...( 2011 books )