Saturday, January 30, 2010

requiescat in pace

The subject of this post has roots in too much Assassin's Creed 2. But the sentiment is still there. I am by no means a J. D. Salinger fan but I remember reading Catcher in the Rye in high school. More than that, I remember enjoying it and that is something to be said for a girl into math and science and one who dreaded English classes. When I heard that he had died, I dug out a piece of paper I had hidden in one of my prized possessions, an small Italian missalette which I think was owned by either my grandfather or grandmother. Tucked away in this small treasured book was a folded piece of loose leaf ruled paper dated 28 May 1992 on which are quotes, complete with page numbers, that I enjoyed from Catcher in the Rye and that I had rewritten several times in order to make my lousy handwriting legible. I list them here as tribute to someone who gave me some joy in boring literature classes. Thanks.
  1. You can't stop a teacher when they went to do something. They just do it. p.11
  2. You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's a real hot-shot and they're always asking you to do them a big favour. p. 27
  3. You take a really smart girl, and half the time she is trying to lead you around the dance floor. p. 70
  4. You don't always have to get too sexy to know a girl. p. 76
  5. ... but he looked like the kind of guy that wouldn't talk to you much unless he wanted something off you. p. 78
  6. They [fish] get frozen right in one position for the whole winter. p. 82
  7. Do you happen to know where they [ducks] go in the winter time? p. 82
  8. People are always ruing things for you. p. 87
  9. I said I knew He picked them [Disciples] but that he picked them at random. p. 99
  10. Catholics are always trying to find out if you're Catholic. p. 112
  11. Every time you mention some guy that's strictly a bastard - very mean or very conceited and all - she'll tell you he has an inferiority complex. p. 135
  12. You take adults, they look lousy when they're asleep and they have their mouths way open, but kids don't. Kids look all right. p. 159
  13. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff... I'd just be the catcher in the rye. p. 179
  14. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. p. 214
  15. I have a kid sister that's only in the goddam fourth grade. You're about as good as she is and she can dance better than anybody living or dead.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

the good doctor

After three seasons, "Doctor Who" gets a new face. I have watched the revamped series since the debut with Christopher Eccleston. The premise is wonderful, creating memorable episodes yet keeping you interested in the greater story. Above all, the doctor character makes the show and Eccleston was pretty good. But I adored David Tennant. He always seemed to relish being the doctor and his portrayal was spot on, having a little too much fun in the average person's misery but always saving the day. In his heartbreaking parting, the beautiful and bittersweet relationships he has seen ended were captured in lovely unspoken scenes. The end of the era and the beginning of a new one. I am wary that the new doctor can live up to the best doctor the show has seen.

on repeat: creeque alley

I love the Mamas and the Papas, their folksiness, harmonies, and fun lyric - rhythm combinations. This week is their "Creeque Alley" a biographical song which is enormously fun with which to sing along. The rhyming Zally golly and sophmore Swathmore are just too much fun not to sing at the top of my lungs. Check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeque_alley