Hello from Lviv

Basically, just a note here to say that I will be posting on the other blog for the rest of the summer and not this one. Having lots of fun and hanging out though. If you read this one and not the other one, but don't know the address send me an email.

Fishies!

I went fishing today for the first time in forever. It was fun, but the fishes were just too smart for me. They were jumping around right by me, but would not bite. It then started raining so we had to leave having had zero luck. Then these crazy redneck people drove by with all sorts of "suggestions" about what we should and/or should not be doing.
In other news, not doing much of anything. Watched "Mr and Mrs Smith" today, it was so stupid. I almost couldn't finish watching it. Strange how the last few movies I have seen with Angelina Jolie I have hated, and I thought I liked her as an actress. However, I have "Changeling" to watch, which I have heard was really good (but sad, and you know how I feel about that). Also watched "Max Payne" and "Driving Lessons" both were decent. "Driving Lessons" was so British and so awkward, but pretty funny.
Currently reading Pillars of the Earth. It is taking such a long time. Yes, it is about 1000 pages, which normally isn't an issue - I like long books - but with this one I feel like I cannot make progress.

What I Have Been Doing....

Much of nothing actually, but I did manage to read three books:

S.: A Novel About the Balkans 4 1/2 Stars

A book about the Bosnian war from the point of view of a woman who survives a prison camp. Not light reading clearly, but the author is an amazing writer. She has this great ability for invoking all of the senses in dramatic ways. A couple of themes are humiliation/dehumanization, and the power of everyday objects to define identity. Some reviews compare it to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which I can definitely see, but I prefer Solzjenitsyn.

Soldiers' Pay - 4 Stars (first of the "Faulkner" book challenge)

A good start to my goal of reading the first 9 Faulkner books. This is his very first, and while the writing isn't up to par with his later more well known works, I still think this book clearly showcases Faulkner's abilities. The storyline is pretty basic - essentially a love story, but absolutely worth reading.

The Angel Maker - 3 1/2 Stars

This one is translated from Dutch and I have a feeling that reading it in the original language would make it ten thousand times better because there seemed to be something lacking - I couldn't ever really connect with the characters. The structure of the book is also a little weird, the first section is from a completely different point of view than the other two, and while the middle part works amazingly well - it gives the background of the main character - the last section's climax isn't as powerful as it could be. Essentially, the book is about cloning and genetic experimentation, but also a bit about society in general and religion.

Besides reading, I hung out in N.O a bit, ate fried oysters, and went dancing - all in all a good time.
Had my hair cut today, but the lady totally fucked it up, so I have to get it fixed tomorrow.
Have been enjoying copious amounts of sunshine and NCIS (I alternate). May have broken the "addicted to facebook quizzes" phase of my life.
And I had my first snowball of the year, raspberry with condensed milk

Summer Music Fun

B/c I am here, hanging out at my computer after having too much food and 28oz of Margarita (why oh why did you let me do that), I thought I would blog a bit about how new music might actually be exciting this summer. (In no particular order)

1)The Killers - actually old news b/c their album has been out a while, and b/c I just missed a show, but they are touring this summer. Day and Age is worth listening to, but its not my favorite.

2) Franz Ferdinand - also touring, also just missed a show, and also not my favorite album by them. Their first was by far the best. I liked Lucid Dreams, but the single version not the album version.

3) Placebo - oh, what to say? I would like to scream "sell out" into the aethers, but won't ;o). Or maybe I just did. Funny how the less I like them, the more popular they become. Their new single "Battle for the Sun" not so good. But in case you are listening Brian, Steve (Hewitt that is), and Stefan - you are still my 2nd favorite band of all time. They are touring Europe, and I will be in East Europe, sooo close when they are in Poland, but probably won't make it.

4) Tori Amos - has a new album and is touring. This doesn't matter so much to me, but thought I'd mention it. ETA: You can listen to the entire album b/w now (May 16th) and Tuesday (May 19th) on her MySpace page

5) Coldplay - please, go download their new live album - apparently it is free. (Learned via Twitter btw). I love their second album, not so into the rest of their music, although the latest effort is fairly decent.

6) The White Rabbits - something to get excited about. The fact that I am missing two of their shows in Chicago is really the reason I regret being out of the country this summer. Seriously, go listen to their new album on their myspace page, i..e NOW. One of the best bands live that I have ever seen, and I accidently went to their concert. Totally dynamic, and utterly amazing on stage. For now, go buy Fort Nightly their debut.

7) Cinema Bizarre - I am throwing them in there b/c .... well, they have a new album coming out in Europe, and they were just recently touring the U.S., and apparently are big on MTV's Buzzworthy at the moment (only after they toured with Lady Gaga). I am proud to say that I knew who they were before the rest of you. I just want to feel superior ;)

And oh God how could I forget the singular most exciting bit of music news that I have heard all week.

8) Cornershop - new album coming soon!! What could be better than that? Nothing is the answer, absolutely nothing. ETA: You can watch the video to Roll Off Characteristics (of History in the Making) on YouTube.

I feel like I should have 10 just to round things out, but cannot think of anyone else I care to add. Drop me a line if you come up with someone I should care about.

Eurovision

12 points to Serbia. The only song that I listened to twice, and thoroughly liked. It was quirky and the guy's hair was a bit much, but the lyrics were catchy.
So many others were too generic, or super scary - like, as much as I hate to admit it, Ukraine. What was she thinking? It was terrifying on multiple levels actually. The music video is freakish and her live performance, was well, sketchy to say the least, not to mention the utterly ridiculous lyrics.
Seriously, Serbia should win, but probably won't.

Boring Update

I've been looking guiltily at this blog for weeks. I just don't have anything interesting to say. It is once again the end of semester drama. 15 weeks of work crammed into about 5 days.
I have however had beignets and Community Coffee the past two weekends, and will again this weekend. It gets me through the week :) I think the people at this restaurant know me by now - or at least should.
Oh, saw Slumdog Millionaire finally. I really enjoyed it, and I thought it was beautiful, and the kids were adorable, but the movie was just a bit sad for my tastes. I'm glad I wasn't totally disappointed though, b/c many times those over hyped movies just don't do it for me.
One last random note - I received a lovely volume of Faulkner's first 4 books in the mail yesterday. The pages are paper thin and the print is tiny, but I will read it; if not in La then in UA this summer.
Off to grading now, just didn't want anyone to think I had forgotten about posting (not that anyone reads this I'm sure, so its basically like talking to myself - which I actually have a tendency to do, but only when grocery shopping for some reason. I was humming to myself at the bus stop today and people were giving me weird looks, what is wrong with humming? At least I wasn't whistling, that is annoying).

Movies!

I just wanted to point out that Alexander with Angelina Jolie is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever (almost) seen. I couldn't finish watching it b/c of the bad dialog and the totally bizarre accents - especially Angelina's.

Went to see A Haunting in Connecticut. It creeps me out that this movie is supposedly a true story, and I thought it was overall good. There were a couple of really weak scenes that didn't quite fit with the plot (yes, there was one). Apparently the guy from Twilight is the main character, but as I 've never seen that movie, it didn't bother me too much. Actually, I really want to see the documentary that this movie is based on, supposedly its even scarier.

Oh, and in a final note, was supposed to go to the Film Festival, but that didn't work out. I did try though even if I should have been writing a paper (which I turned in yesterday, even though it was 12 pgs of nonsense!)