Currently Reading:
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman: Finally making something of a dent in this one.
The Heir by Kiera Cass: Only just started this one on audiobook.
Posted:
Whilst I was away, several of my posts mysteriously popped up on the webbernets:
- I guest-posted for Sherlock Month over at Tif Talks Books, with a list of books that naturally assume Sherlock Holmes is not a fictional creation of Conan Doyle, but in fact a real person.
- Do you read in your dreams? If you do, congratulations–scientists say it's impossible.
- As some of you might know, A Short History of Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy in Art is one this blog's most popular posts. Recently, I got to write about The Divine Comedy some more thanks to an exhibit of Salvador Dali's Comedy illustrations at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
- Ever wanted to try a wine subscription box? I break down some of the pros and cons of the top services here.
Movies:
The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick
Chris Wolff is an autistic accountant who uncooks the books for criminal organizations. Ironically, it's only when he takes a "legit" job that he runs across real danger and has to protect fellow numbers nerd Dana from nasty assassins.
I imagine the pitch sentence for this movie was, "
A Beautiful Mind meets Jason Bourne," and if that sounds like it doesn't make sense, well. It doesn't. How Wolff evolved from an autistic child into a highly sophisticated criminal/badass assassin is about as plausible as a superhero origin story. The script also lacks focus and spends too much time on some questions–Ray King's history, for example–and completely forgets to explain other things, like how both brothers became assassins.
Aside from that, though, it does have entertaining moments. Affleck is actually pretty charming, and I liked the chemistry between him and Kendrick. Just leave your brain at the door.
Sing Street, starring Ferdia Walsh Peelo and Lucy Boynton
Dublin teen Conor hates his awful school and his home life sucks. His one escape is music. But it isn't until he meets the beautiful Raphina that he gets the idea to start a band a discovers he has a talent for writing songs.
If you like '80s music, particularly that of Duran Duran and the
New Romantics, then I think it's practically guaranteed you'll enjoy this movie. It walks a fine line between comedy and seriousness, and finds the perfect balance. Plus the songs are really fantastic. Yes, the funniest scene is also the first, and the ending's completely unrealistic, but overall I'd definitely recommend searching this one out.
Now You See Me 2, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Daniel Radcliffe
Really dumb. I mean, I expected it to be pretty dumb, and it totally exceeded my expectations. Great movie if you want to go to sleep.
Central Intelligence, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart
Calvin's life is not turning out how he expected. Sure, he has a decent job and a beautiful wife, but feels like he's stagnating. Then he accepts a Facebook friend request from a goofy weirdo he barely knew in high school, and suddenly Calvin's thrust into a world of spies, assassins, and danger.
The main reason to watch this movie is just to see Kevin Hart flipping out and Dwayne Johnson wearing a fanny pack, which doesn't sound like much but is honestly enough to justify this movie's existence. Otherwise it's pretty meh. I don't remember laughing a lot but I certainly didn't hate it.
These weeks in heidenkindom:
I'm baaaaaaack! I spent the last few weeks in Japan, with layovers in Los Angeles. We visited Tokyo, Hakone (a hot springs resort area near Mt. Fuji), Kyoto, and Osaka. Hakone was the highlight for me, but the entire country was lovely. People went out of their way to help us and it was an amazing trip. Here are some pictures:
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| Mastodon skeleton at La Brea Tar Pits, LA |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood |
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| My foot is larger than John Wayne's! |
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| Doing magic at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Alohomora! |
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| Inside Hogwarts |
🇺🇸 ✈️ 🇯🇵
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| First night in Tokyo! |
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| Kabuki-Cho, one of Tokyo's most famous nightlife districts. |
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| Shinjuku-Gyoen National Gardens |
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| The "Book Clock" in Ginza |
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| Entrance of our awesome hotel in Hakone, the Fujiya. |
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| View from the extensive and gorgeous hotel gardens. |
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| Hakone Open-Air Museum |
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| Owakudani, volcanic fissures |
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| Pirate ship you can take across Lake Ashi |
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| On the lake |
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| Visiting temples in Kyoto |
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| Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto |
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| Jishu Shrine, for luck in love |
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| Buddhist cemetery in Kyoto |
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| Nijo Castle, with nightingale floors meant to creak at every movement to prevent ninja attacks! |
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| Grounds surrounding Nijo |
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| View of Kyoto from the castle walls |
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| Manga Museum in Kyoto |
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| Castle moat |
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| Geisha!!!! |
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| Osaka view from my hotel room |
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| Famous takoyaki place in Osaka. Aka octopus balls! |
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| At the Osaka Aquarium |
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| Largest ferris wheel in the world |
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| View of Osaka from the ferris wheel |
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| Pet a shark! Just not its mouth. |
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| Yummy ramen <3 <3 |
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| Manhattan Beach in LA |
That was a whirlwind trip!
I also participated in the Readathon this Saturday. As usual I finished ONE book. This was kind of a frustrating Readathon, TBH, because I kept getting interrupted and I'm still tired from jet lag. But at least I did finish that one book.
Hope you all have a great week and I'm happy to be back and visiting blogs again!
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