Movie Review: Les Misérables

Finally, the review I've been putting off for a couple of months.  And just in time for the film to have come out on DVD!

Les Misérables (2012)



In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever. Short synopsis of Les Misérables taken from IMDb.com 

Before I get into this review, let me say that this will neither be a gushing love-fest or a lament on how lame the film was. I fall into the middle here. I'll explain, and I'll do it the way I see it. I should note that I take a good deal of my inspiration from a Facebook post from one of my wife's friend's husband (or is it husband's? - that much plural possessive in a row almost makes it sound like polygamy and I ain't going there!) So my style in description gets credited to him, though I couldn't find the post when I was writing this review up in note form, so that I could cite him (not even a name). Sorry man, but I send you a virtual thumbs up just the same.

Bibliophiliac Thoughts from the White Board - March 23

The Bibliophiliac part is because A.) I read a lot of books, as anyone who peruses this blog on a regular basis can see, and B.) I had a weird craving on this breezy March afternoon to go to the local public library.  Not for anything in particular, mind you.  Just to walk the stacks and browse.  For fun.  I like the smell of books.  Have since I was a kid.  Dragged through too many libraries as a child, I guess.  And back then, I didn't read the books I leafed through unless there was a cool picture on the cover.  That and I only read the end, so I'd see how the book turned out.  A good ending has always been somewhat significant to me, even if I had almost no clue as to who these people were or why they did what they did.

Anyway...  Wow, where has the month of March gone?  Seems like only yesterday I was enjoying birthday celebrations and proudly wearing my new shirt.

Yup, I finally got it.  Thanks to my hunie for that. / Source: eBay

Or my other new T-shirt.

Yeah, I saw Sheldon wear one on an episode of The Big Bang Theory and decided it was cool.  Thanks to my mom for this birthday gift. / Source: eBay

Op/Ed: Corruption in High Places?

I've been working in my spare time on a post I did notes for back in January (it was the first of the bunch that have languished in my notes file since starting Weber's overly arduous remedial math class) which is a review of the film Les Misérables.  But something caught my attention today as I was checking my email, and I decided on the spur of the moment to address it here.

Today I received a forwarded email with the following text,

The 28th Amendment, 35 States and Counting It will take you less than a minute to read this. If you agree, please pass it on. It's an idea whose time has come. Members of Congress can retire at full pay after only one term. Members of Congress have exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed, under which ordinary citizens must live. For example, they are exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment. And as the latest example, they have exempted themselves from Healthcare Reform, in all of its aspects. We must not tolerate an elite class of such people, elected as public servants and then putting themselves above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever. The self-serving must stop. Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon their states. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention. If each person that receives this will forward it on to 20 people, in three days most people in The United States of America will have the message. 

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States”. You are one of my 20.

(Here is a version of this email, available online)

There's a U.S. flag behind it, so it must be a good thing, yes? / Source: selfreliantnetwork11.blogspot.com

Book Review: The Long Walk

My last review that was in any condition to publish.  This was one of the last books I got through before the semester began, early this year.  I have read plenty of stuff since then, and have notes for future posts, but it is all rough and quite unready to go.  But as I've been on a bit of a roll lately, I thought I'd publish this one and then try to get back to focusing on my math homework. 

It feels like this semester will never end...

Source: Amazon.com

The Long Walk, by Richard Bachman

From the book’s cover:

On the first day of May, one hundred teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as "The Long Walk," a deadly contest of endurance and determination, where each step could literally be their last.

Book Review: Red Phoenix

I had an anxiety dream this morning (I guess as of publishing this, it would be yesterday morning now) just before waking.  In the dream I had gotten a job at my old employer, and I drove there to start work.  When I arrived, I had a hard time making my way through the plant, as the building had been modified from what I recall it being like (this is typical in my dreams, with their surrealistic architecture that I'd get a kick out of if it all didn't make me uneasy sometimes).  When I found my boss (my old boss in real life, that is), he started out by sarcastically praising me and then switched up unexpectedly and began harshly berated me for being several hours late to work - on my first day!  I didn't realize it was that late, I tried to protest, and I had arrived there on time in the plant.  It was to no avail, and I felt humiliated and distressed.  I woke up and was glad I had nothing more pressing than an algebra quiz waiting for me at the college to go work on.  Math is nothing compared to a bad anxiety dream.

And so in that vein, I now complete a fluffy review I have had in storage since late December.  Some candy for the brain is what I could use right now, personally.

Oh, and please note: there is an author listed on Amazon.com (and elsewhere, I'm sure) who goes by the moniker of "Red Phoenix," and writes "romance" novels (I use quote marks for romance as I have a somewhat dim view of the genre, as a general rule).  This review has nothing to do with that author or subject.  Just a touch of clarification.

Source: Amazon.com

Red Phoenix, by Larry Bond 

From the book’s cover:

Violent riots formented by foreign agents are breaking out in South Korea. Seizing the opportunity, North Korea launches a lightning invasion, with heavy Soviet support, whose aim is to unite North and South under Communist rule. The second Korean War has begun and World War III may be imminent.

(Note: the cover image used is the version I had when I owned a copy of the paperback back in the mid-1990's, and this is why I chose it instead of the more updated cover version)

Retrieving Thoughts from the White Board - March 8

As in Golden Retriever.  On the afternoon last as I betook myself to endeavor upon my mathematics studies (been reading The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis, thus the long-winded superciliousness - interesting stuff in this book, by the way), I got a call from my wife saying that she had been at the gas station and noticed a very pregnant and relatively "small" golden retriever wandering about.  She made inquiries and was told that it had been hanging around for a couple days and looked to be abandoned.  So instead of feeling sad for the poor animal and then driving away, she decided to bring it home.

I don't know.  I guess in her shoes (that'd be a sight!), I might have wanted to do something for the poor creature too.  The dog is, as I said, very pregnant, but also quite sweet.  She seems to have been in fights in the past, as her face has some small scarring.  She is likewise a bit timid, but just the same not overly skittish toward people.  And our dog Sadie took right to her, which is odd (and somewhat disquieting to me, due to previous circumstances in which Sadie freaked out at other large dogs she has been paired up with around our house for short periods).

Just the same, I hope and pray that this sad dog's owner simply has lost track of her, and she will be quickly returned to her rightful home.  My wife and daughter have aspirations of keeping her.  I was unable to adequately convince them in the short time I had for rebuttal that this dog will be hungry and we are hard enough off feeding ourselves right now.  Plus it, as a living animal, is just one more point of responsibility around the home.  And all this before the puppies that will inevitably come are factored in. 

 Anyway, we'll see how things go for the next few days.  It is stuff like this that makes a man just shake his head.

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. - George Bernard Shaw

Dreams are more real than reality itself, they're closer to the self. - Gao Xingjian

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. - Mark Twain

That all men are equal is a proposition which, at ordinary times, no sane individual has ever given his assent. - Aldous Huxley  

Book Review: To Hell and Back: The Banned Account of Gallipoli

Two posts back to back.  Am I reviving my flagging activity on the blog, you ask?  Only somewhat.  As I said, I read a lot of stuff back during winter break, and wrote up reviews that were nearly ready to publish when spring semester started.  The one below is an example of that.

Source: Amazon.com

To Hell and Back: The Banned Account of Gallipoli, by Sydney Loch, with Susanna and Jake De Vries

From the book’s cover:

As a young soldier in the battlefields of Gallipoli Sydney Loch witnessed the horror of war first-hand. On his return to Australia he detailed what he saw in his book The Straits Impregnable. Hoping to avoid military censorship his publishers dubbed Sydney's book a novel. But as the war ground on and the numbers of casualties grew the publisher inserted a note saying the story was factual. The book which had enjoyed huge literary acclaim was immediately withdrawn from sale by the censors.

Movie Review: Frankenweenie

I haven't written in some time, but as I alluded to, I have had some reviews sitting around that only needed a little work to get finished and submitted.  I decided this past evening, after looking through the online listings for job leads, to polish this one off and submit it.  Of course, I can't attach the video links while at work, so this won't get submitted until around 4 AM or so (when I get off work), but I think I'll drop it in, just to show I haven't completely disappeared from the scene.

...And then I forgot, and didn't post until the next evening.  Hmmm...

Life has been hectic, and math keeps me busy.  But with this being Spring Break week, I am going to do my best to cram through a section and get ahead.  Finally.  Here's hoping the work is enough.  My plan is to take the class's final exam by the end of March.  That way, even if I fail it the first attempt, I'm far enough ahead that it won't kill me.  And then I can finish the darn class off early and relax a little before I take my summer class (fingers crossed) and get done with school.  I won't be able to graduate this semester as planned.  I'm just not good enough at Algebra.  It's like teaching a parrot to sing opera.  You can do it, but the work is hard, and the results leave something to be desired for aesthetic quality.  But yeah, it can do it.  I can do math, but it ain't a pretty picture.

Anyway, here's that review.  And here's hoping you are well.

Frankenweenie (2012)

Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences. Short synopsis of Frankenweenie taken from IMDb.com