"Sparkling colors were strewn across the sky"

Stuck On Repeat

"Feel So Close" -- Calvin Harris
"Dancing With The DJ" -- The Knocks
"Searched Every Corner" -- The Feeling
"Blackout" -- The Knocks
"Sure Feels Right" -- Sixx:A.M.
"Beth/Rest" -- Bon Iver

Cinema

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - Conan O'Brien has been one of my heroes for as long as I have been aware of his existence. He is a tall redhead from Boston. He's brilliant. He's funny. He's self-deprecating. There is nothing not to love about the man. I was just as aghast at the whole Tonight Show fiasco as anyone, especially since I had seen the taping of Conan's Inside The Actors' Studio appearance and my hero worship had been fully justified - Conan is one of the most eloquent, insightful speakers to which I have ever had the pleasure to listen. Like all of the best comedians, the secret to his being funny is that he takes humor very seriously. That darker, behind the scenes side of his personality is what is on display in this documentary. I didn't really learn anything about Conan from this film that I didn't already know. However, seeing how grueling a national tour can be was rather illuminating. I can easily identify with Conan's need to constantly be in motion; like Conan, I often find plenty to do on my "days off" even when I know I really need a break from my usually crazy schedule. Watching Conan struggle to balance the need and want to please fans and be in the spotlight, while also needing to make time for himself and his family is thought provoking and fascinating. There are so many aspects of celebrities that we in the adoring public take for granted without considering how those we adore are truly able to cope with our demands and their expectations for themselves.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - I need to have low expectations for more films because then I can be pleasantly surprised when they turn out to be just-kind-of-disappointing-a-little rather than flat out terrible. I really liked the first Transformers movie, but, like Pirates of the Caribbean, this is franchise that loses its charm once the novelty has worn off. Also, the original Transformers film had a terrific music supervisor - "All Out of Love" and "Drive" have never been used so well. Bumblebee can still make me tear up (whoever is in charge of that robot's CG really knows what they are doing), but both Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon lack the magnetism and balance of the original. One thing that stuck me about Dark of the Moon was that there was a lot of screaming by male characters going on. I don't think there is another movie in which men scream like school girls as much as they do here. And it's not just Shia LaBeouf - Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, and everyone else who is not clad in un-stainable white clothing gives their lungs a workout too. Speaking of which, where does one buy white dresses and tops that never get dirty? Because I would really like to buy some. Overall, the plot of the film made much more sense that I thought it would and the action sequences were pretty spectacular. While not one of the best films of the summer by any means, if you are a Transformers fan this is a film worth seeing at the cinema if you've already ticked all those other great summer flicks off your list.

Horrible Bosses - Another film by which I was pleasantly surprised, except this one was actually legitimately good. It seemed the lesser of many evils at the cinema when I saw it, and I found it to be not only devoid of any cinema evil, but also truly entertaining. It helps that I have a fondness for most of the cast, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis in particular (though from their bit parts in other films, not their television work), but also Jason Bateman, Colin Farrell, and Kevin Spacey. I genuinely laughed several times; even classic gags, like accidentally doing cocaine, seemed fresh here. None of the actors went outside of their normal comfort zones, but it all came across as fresh rather than recycled or trite. Sometimes watching people play the kind of roles at which they excel can make an enjoyable evening at the cinema.

Friends With Benefits - cute romcom suitable for late night summer viewing. I am still undecided on J Tim as an actor, but he is watchable enough here, and has an easy chemistry with Mila Kunis. There are a lot of nice little tongue-in-cheek touches in this film that elevate it above a standard romcom - a good mix of relatable and fairytale elements. Particularly enjoyable is the movie-within-a-movie starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. Is there a better or more memorable line than "Looks like New York is all out of blueberries."? The fact that it makes no sense makes it that much better. I not only enjoyed how this film portrayed a modern relationship, but also how it portrayed New York - both are shown through a lens that creates a nice balance between fantasy and something close to reality. On the other hand, what is it about Grand Central in romcoms this year? Pretty soon all of us movie-going NYC gals are going to be expecting elaborately produced dates in the Grand Concourse, even if we make it a regular practice to avoid Grand Central like the plague.

Captain America - Rag-tag band of POWs? Check. Clearly labeled bombs? Check. Rogue Nazis on the hunt for supernatural sources of power? Check. Said Nazis melted by supernatural object? Check. Wise-cracking leading man with signature headgear? Check. This is nearly an Indiana Jones movie, and that might be why I kind of love it. Mind you, I am not saying that Captain America is anywhere near the level of any Indy movie (even Temple of Doom), but there is something charming about a throwback WW II action movie among the robots and aliens that now dominate the multiplex and today's superhero landscape. X-Men: First Class exuded the cool of the swinging 60s, and Captain America captures the wholesomeness of the Rosie-the-Riveter era. Granted, I am a sucker for nostalgia, and I won't often say no to Chris Evans (Not Another Teen Movie is still so good!) or Tommy Lee Jones (can he please do another movie with Harrison Ford?), but this movie held together much better than I expected it to. Sure, many of the action sequences contain shots blatantly meant for 3D, but they are not any less enjoyable for that. I would have liked to see Evans be able to crack even more wise than the script allowed, but Dominic Cooper as a young Howard Stark (how exactly does he age into John Slattery?) does a nice job of filling some of the comic gaps, as does the inimitable Tommy Lee (the man can buy me a steak any time). This movie is not the best ever, but it falls nicely in the middle of the 2011 summer action and super hero movies that have been on offer thus far; give me the Captain over Thor or Green Lantern any day, but nothing is beating X-Men in my book.

Cowboys & Aliens - If i cold make this title extra bold and scribble little stars around it, I would. It will come as a surprise to no one that I loved this movie. I am not even sure how awful this movie would have had to be for me not to love it, but thankfully it was a very good move that not only met, but also exceeded, my high expectations. (I think this ties with X-Men for my favorite movie of the summer. While X-Men was a wonderful surprise, Cowboys & Aliens was more of a known quantity. Both films are excellent, but I experienced them in two different ways.)  Harrison Ford is one of my all time faves (hi, Han Solo life-size cutout!) and Daniel Craig had me from Layer Cake (and being the best Bond this side of George Lazenby doesn't hurt either). Add to that the fact that the Western is one of my favorite genres and I'm also a bit of a SciFi nut, there isn't much left for me to dislike. Craig and Ford are both in top form here, with Harrison being crotchety and snarling away at everyone including the dog and Daniel saying everything and more with finely calibrated facial expressions, piercing blue eyes, and as few words as possible. This later point may be for the best, because an American accent just seems downright out of place on a man who personifies British Cool. On the other hand, I have a feeling that Daniel Craig is one of those actors whom the public will never truly know because he is that skilled of an actor that he will never have one persona that he must carry from films into his everyday life, like Tom Cruise and many other stars do. After being disappointed by the design of the alien in Super 8, I was quite pleased with the aliens here - nothing groundbreaking, but a greater than average attention to detail gives the impression that the effects department wasn't just phoning it in. Elements of the story (and their execution), which might have been cheesy or less sensical in different hands, are successful and effective here because of the quality of the cast and the strength of the performances, including great supporting turns from actors from two of my favorite TV shows (Keith Carradine from Deadwood and Walton Goggins from Justified) and the always welcome Sam Rockwell. Rooted in the performances, there is a sense of economy that underlies the big-budget blockbuster qualities of this film. At its heart, like so many Westerns and early Spielberg (he's a producer on this one) films, Cowboys & Aliens is about individuals understanding themselves and growing stronger within the context of a shifting landscape of relationships.

Netflix Queue

The Wire - Season One
Thelma & Louise
The Wire - Season Two
Wild Target
Quantum of Solace
The Wire - Season Three
Fright Night 
Ghost
K-19: The Widowmaker 

Amature Gourmet

Grilled steak with Asian slaw
Tortellini with sauteed zucchini
Hummus, carrot, spinach, and apple wraps

Book Shelf

The Pale King, David Foster Wallace

Wallace is always a challenge to read, and sometimes I welcome that. As much as I prefer that reading not feel like work, it is good to exercise my brain in a more strenuous way from time to time. I also got to exercise my arms with this tome, because even as a paperback it wouldn't fit in my summer purse, and I had to carry it around with me like some hipster Bible for the better part of ten days. My one major complaint about Wallace's writing style is his use of footnotes, which bog me down something terrible. There is also something about the rhythm or syntax of his prose that has a tendency to put me to sleep. Other than that, his stuff is just super. Many of the chapters in this book were just long character studies that could easily stand on their own as short stories or novellas. These chapters were fascinating and truly sucked me into the mundane, mid-western world that Wallace so deftly constructed. My overall reaction to The Pale King was similar to my reaction to Oblivion: a feeling of having experienced something powerful, but of being so overwhelmed by a wealth of detail that it is nearly impossible to comprehend the bigger picture. However, in the case of The Pale King, this might be a positive thing, since Wallace was not able to complete his vision, and thus there is not bigger picture to comprehend. However, based on what I know of Wallace's other writings, I am not so sure that a "finished" version of The Pale King would be greatly different from that with which we have been presented here. While I would not recommend this as a first foray into Wallace's writing, I do recommend it for those familiar with his work and looking for a bit of a literary challenge.

How Did You Get This Number, Sloane Crosley

This was the perfect follow-up to The Pale King and a must read for any young New Yorker. Crosley's writing is charming, breezy, funny, and honest. I found myself alternately sighing with relief that I wasn't the only person to have had various experiences and chuckling at things that I know all too well to be true about living in our fair city. This is short-form autobiography at its best.

Across the River and Into the Trees, Ernest Hemingway

I have never been a huge Hemingway fan, but I feel like I need to read him for irony these days because there are just so many good Hemingway parodies floating around out there (not to mention the wonderful Hemingway portrayal in Midnight In Paris), and I want to be able to more fully appreciate them. I read The Sun Also Rises last summer and wasn't all that impressed, and this book did nothing to change my mind about Hemingway, though I did enjoy the fact that it is set in Venice. There are two quotes that I did truly enjoy:  (1) "'You find everything on earth at Harry's.' 'Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness.'" (2) "I'd rather not love anyone, the Colonel thought. I'd rather have fun. And fun, his good side said to him, you have no fun when you do not love." These quotes happen to be within four pages of each other, and the later quote is pretty much the Hemingway version of Calvin Harris's "The Girls." Hemingway's style just doesn't do it for me. All the dialog comes across as some stilted old movie that does not aim to portray the way in which people actually talk or interact. I find the distance that Hemingway creates between the his characters and the reader to be off-putting. Hemingway's writing recalls beautifully nostalgic places and times, but the lack of emotional connection allowed leaves a lot to be desired.

For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

I "obscenity in the milk" at myself for reading this book. (Don't ask - I had to consult my librarian mother who, also not being a Hemingway fan, had to go look on Wikipedia to figure out why the word "obscenity" is always used rather than any *actual* obscenities. Super annoying and awkward, Hemingway.) Omg - getting through three and a half or four days has never seemed to take longer. The story itself is actually pretty good, it's just the telling that could use some improvement - so many unnecessary tangents and drawn out discussions. When I step back and think about it, there really is some exciting stuff going on in the story, like things could heat up and be kind of a big deal, except Hemingway manages to remove all the excitement and urgency that would be there if anybody else told this same story. Though I must say that some of the scenes between Robert Jordan (always "Robert Jordan" never just Robert, even though there was only one Robert in the story!) and Maria were surprisingly tender and effective for Hemingway. This book certainly had a greater human element than Across The River And Into The Trees, but as we can all tell by now, Hemingway just isn't for me. Sadly, nothing has been so awful that I'd never read another one of his books, but I think my "vintage Scribner editions only" is a rule to which I should continue to adhere.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

This is a highly enjoyable and informative non-fiction book that forces you to pause and consider medical ethics, healthcare, socio-economic issues, and race. Clearly just a spot of light reading. I am amazed that it has taken as long as it has for the story of Henrietta Lacks to be shared with those outside of the scientific community. This is such a powerful story and one that everyone should know about. Not only is it the history of one woman and her family, but it is also the story of the evolution of medical and cellular research. We should all be aware of the advancements that Mrs. Lacks made possible as well as the rights and ethics related to our tissues and our cells. This is a fascinating look at medicine and healthcare through the backdoor, written in an easy to understand style that makes this important story accessible to all.

Post title from: "4th of July" -- Mariah Carrey