Lean/Miren/Escuchen

Knitting has taken a turn for the dull here (not for long) so in the meantime, here's a short list of my favorite summer diversions so far:

Lean (Read)
To Kill a Mockingbird topped my list of Books That I Ought to Read list, partially because it won a Pulitzer and partly because I'd seen the movie and couldn't stand the thought that I know half of classic literature via Hollywood. It blew me away. I picked up The Scarlet Pimpernel because I had a vague idea that it involved swashbuckling. As it turned out, it had suspense! intrepid ladies! daring exploits! chapters titled with exclamation points! and, better yet, I didn't have to look up every other word.

Miren (Watch)
In my convalescence, I discovered that watching movies with the sound off and the subtitles on is like the next level of experience of your old favorites. In Corpse Bride, I had never noticed how perfectly the animators were able to capture Johnny Depp in Victor. Minute things, like a turn of his mouth or the angle of his slouch. At one point, it kinda started weirding me out. Spirited Away has always intrigued me because I feel as if I'm watching the tip of an iceberg, and when I turned the subtitles on, I discovered that this feeling was not entirely unwarranted. The subtitle translation is not the same as the script translation. At certain points the difference is very subtle, but in others, there is a complete divergence (and now I get those parts).

Escuchen (Listen)
Everybody do the happy dance, I can listen to my iTunes again. Among the newest additions to my CD collection is The Age of the Understatement, the Last Shadow Puppets' new album. You might recognize one of them as Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys. All his clever lyrics are here, tidied up and made subtle to fit the Sixties spy vibe of the album. To my surprise and delight, the album is brilliant to knit to, but with this as your soundtrack, you could just as easily put on your giant sunglasses, turn up the collar to your jacket, and slink around corners.