The continuing adventures of Minion Vs Christmas Tree

In the days leading up to Christmas, Minion's attacks on the tree were restrained. She pulled off a pine cone and batted it around for a bit.

She's been giving Fernando's Christmas flowers a few curious sniffs, but I managed to stop her from eating them.

I woke up one morning to find that the metal fairy had finally got it. 

But Minion seems to understand that Christmas is over and it's open season on the tree. Today I woke up to find a soldier, a person, and a bird on the floor.

I finally understood how she's been getting to the ornaments halfway up. She places a paw upon the lower branches, and stretches up with her other paw.

The little person came right back down.

 Then back she went...

Down came a ball, which she played with for a bit.

Up again.

Down came an elephant.

Up again.

Down came the soldier.

And her grand finale: An attempt to take the whole tree down by sitting on the cranberry garland.

(She also took down this bird, and continually removes the light stars.)

Series: My Best Reads of 2010 #8 & 9

BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2010 - PUBLISHED EARLIER THAN 2010

Mystery


Emily Dickinson is Dead - Jane Langton - American author (Published in 1984)

About a couple murders that take place in connection with an Emily Dickinson symposium, with Langton's usual detective: Homer, a Thoreau scholar and ex-cop.

There are tons of drawbacks to this book. It's full of unrealistic coincidences; and the baddie is a very fat woman whom Langton describes in a sort of sweaty-gross-detail-misery-secreted-away-in-folds-of-her-fat way. It's offensive to read, and very dated.

And yet it's so good! Because while her plots aren't always real, her characters are. In this case, the book is peopled with scholars--sincere ones, greedy ones, scheming ones, desperate ones, kind ones, etc. I was totally drawn into their little dramas and worries. Plus Langton always works in a theme--in this case the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Special Relationship: Langton's books are filled with 'em! Homer always pairs up with someone who needs a little help--in this case a lonely widower. And the lonely widower has a wee romance with a jilted woman. Then there's also the older woman who helps care for a troublesome toddler.

Further Reading: My two favourite Langtons are The Memorial Hall Murder, which made me want to visit Harvard. And Dead as a Dodo, which made me want to visit Oxford, England. All her books make me want to travel.

OTHER COVERS

I prefer the one above, cause it shows Dickinson's dress which is key to the story.

 ____________


The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett - American author (Published in 1934)

A 1930s noir with a traditional cast of guilty characters and good mystery. But the reason to read it is for ex-detective Nick Charles and his rich socialite wife, Nora. Nick's no longer interested in crime-solving, but Nora's eager to watch him in action, and loves meeting all the thugs, floozies, and weirdos who drag him into the mystery. "I love you Nicky, because you smell nice and you know such lovely people." Nick and Nora booze their way around New York with their little dog Asta, exchanging kisses and barbed witticisms. If you haven't seen the movie, it's a must! Played to perfection by Myrna Loy and William Powell.

Dorothy patted the dog's head and left us. We found a table. Nora said: "She's pretty." 
"If you like them like that." 
She grinned at me. "You got types?" 
"Only you, darling--lanky brunettes with wicked jaws." 
"And how about the red-head you wandered off with at the Quinns' last night?" 
"That's silly," I said. "She just wanted to show me some French etchings.

OTHER COVERS

This is a terrible cover! The only redhead I remember from the book wielded a frying pan.

 

Testing: Youtube playlists

Just testing what a youtube playlist looks like, and works, once embedded. In prep for my Best of 2010 music list. (This playlist is one I'd already made awhile back... just random party music.)

A Christmas Carol for a Christmas Mabel

One of my favourite stories since childhood has been A Christmas Carol.

I grew up on the 80s cartoon version: (I don't see a youtube of the version I remember, but once found pics).



And this album my dad had, with Ronald Coleman as Scrooge on one side, and Charles Laughton reading from the Pickwick Christmas on the other side. I L.U.R.V.E.D. it!! When Bob Cratchit cried, I cried.



My dad and mum always watched the Alistair Sims version, so I also grew up on that and watch it annually:



And I own a copy of the story that I bought in grade 2 or 3 from Scholastic, as well as my dad's beautiful annotated Christmas Carol. And a mini version. Oh and Patrick Stewart's audio version.





When I was in London I tracked down where Scrooge's place of business would have been,


and the little cemetery where the final ghost showed him his grave.


Here's the book at the British Museum library:


I heartily recommend working this story into your annual celebration (if you celebrate. If not, well it's a nice story anyway.) Here lots of cartoon/kiddy versions...



I caught this one recently, it was very good. It explains a lot of stuff, to help kids understand the story.


The Muppet one is great:


And Connie Willis claims the Magoo version is the most accurate.

Minion Vs the Christmas Tree: And other Christmas cat-astrophes

Just sittin' back and relaxing in Minion's tree cave.

Mark one point for the tree--putting little plastic stars around the light bulbs seems to be working so far, in distracting her from chewing on the lights. (You can just see the star sticking out of her mouth.)

Enjoying the spoils of war (the little soldier's helmet.) 

Of course, Christmas isn't just about trees. It's also about wrapping presents, and how helpful cats are. I rolled out this paper and Haley was sitting on it before I'd even finished cutting.

Then Minion tried to eat it.

I had to take the paper off one of the rolls and let her play with it.

I drew the line when she later started munching on one of Fernando's already-wrapped gifts.

Series: My Best Reads of 2010 #7

BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2010 - PUBLISHED EARLIER THAN 2010

Humour

Three Bags Full - Leonie Swann - German author (First published in 2005, in English in 2007)


Three Bags Full is about a flock of sheep whose shepherd in murdered. He may not have been the best shepherd, but he was theirs', and no one had the right to kill him! So led their smartest sheep, Miss Maple, they determine to solve the mystery.


The book is a little slow at times, but a new clue always turns up in time to keep things moving. And I was impressed by Swann's ability to handle such a large number of characters and keep them well differentiated. But the main appeal of the book isn't the plot, it's the sheep themselves--what they're thinking and talking about. It turns out sheep are very entertaining. Here's an excerpt that'll let you know whether it's your sense of humour or not. The sheep have just found George dead by spade-in-chest and get sidetracked into a discussion about whether he was a good shepherd:

Special Relationship: When you first hear about George he sounds like an average shepherd, not particularly affectionate towards his flock. But as the book progresses both the reader and the sheep learn just how special George thought they were, and the ending is surprisingly touching.

Further Reading: I was once asked for a recommendation of an author similar to Alexander McCall Smith, who writes the popular No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. The gentleman loved the series, and wanted something else that wasn't violent (but not too silly either). Unfortunately I hadn't yet read Three Bags Full, which would have nicely fit the bill.

I love this cover! It's so lurid!

 

Here's some others...

Programs to Analyze Music in iTunes

I'm trying out a couple itunes analyzers, to see how useful they might be. Beatunes you have to pay for, I'm trying the free 14 days--it corrects artist names and such. It didn't find that many mistakes, though, cause I keep my library pretty clean (that is I correct inconsistencies as I see them, cause they annoy me.)

iTunes Statistician wasn't really helpful.

But I'm having fun with Super Analyzer. Many of the stats aren't helpful because I've reloaded my library (and changed computers) over the years. But here are two funny charts: (click on them to see them bigger.)

Get the impression I like love songs?
 


Get an idea of what time I go to bed, when I get up, and at what time I start my creative pursuits for the day? (That's usually when I listen to music.)