BOOK 195: HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL: CARRIE BROWNSTEIN

BOOK 195: HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL: CARRIE BROWNSTEIN

From a leader of feminist punk music at the dawn of the riot-grrrl era, a candid and deeply personal look at life in rock and roll.

Before Carrie Brownstein codeveloped and starred in the wildly popular TV comedy Portlandia, she was already an icon to young women for her role as a musician in the feminist punk band Sleater-Kinney. The band was a key part of the early riot- grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest, known for their prodigious guitar shredding and their leftist lyrics against war, traditionalism, and gender roles.

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is the deeply personal and revealing narrative of Brownstein's life in music, from ardent fan to pioneering female guitarist to comedic performer and luminary in the independent rock world. Though Brownstein struggled against the music industry's sexist double standards, by 2006 she was the only woman to earn a spot on Rolling Stonereaders' list of the "25 Most Underrated Guitarists of All-Time." This book intimately captures what it feels like to be a young woman in a rock-and-roll band, from her days at the dawn of the underground feminist punk-rock movement that would define music and pop culture in the 1990s through today.

MY VERDICT: I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  This genre (the autobiography of women in bands or other creative careers) is one of my favourites. It’s reassuring to know that no matter what someone appears to be from the outside they’re often very much like me in a lot of ways. It’s fascinating to think that someone who confidently plays instruments and sings on stage in front of thousands of people might actually be as shy as I am.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and it didn’t disappoint. I actually came into it unfamiliar with Carrie Brownstein’s band Sleater-Kinney and only knew her from Portlandia so to see this side of her life and where she came from was interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who is the fan of the genre (that I may or may not have made up) whether you know the music or not. (I’m off to listen to the band now that I have all the context to link to the music I think I’ll appreciate it more.)

BOOK 193: NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH: JAMES HADLEY CHASE

BOOK 193: NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH: JAMES HADLEY CHASE

The novel was influenced by the American crime writer James M. Cain and the stories in the pulp magazine Black Mask. Chase reportedly wrote the book as a bet to out-do The Postman Always Rings Twice.

No Orchids for Miss Blandish provoked considerable controversy because of its explicit depiction of sexuality and violence. The novel was a great critical success and was included in the Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century.

In 1942, the novel was adapted into a stage play which ran for over 200 performances at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.[4] Robert Newton starred. In 1948, it was adapted into a British film No Orchids for Miss Blandish and given a contemporary New York City setting. The 1971 American film The Grissom Gangwas also based on the novel, moving the setting of events back several years to 1931 Kansas City.

In 1944, it was also the subject of an essay by George Orwell, Raffles and Miss Blandish, and parodied by Raymond Queneau in We Always Treat Women Too Well. In 1962 the novel was extensively rewritten and rearranged by the author because he thought the world of 1939 too distant for a new generation of readers. (Confusion can result if readers of the Orwell essay refer his quotations and references to the 1962 edition.)

( Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Orchids_for_Miss_Blandish_(novel) )

FILM 1819: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

FILM 1819: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

TRIVIA: 20th Century Fox invited a group of scientists to preview the film, to test their reactions to the science used in the film. None of the scientists were impressed with what they saw, although most conceded that the movie was enjoyable nonsense.

The river crossing scene was actually filmed on the US-Mexico border, and the extras really were crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico.

The consultation by NASA scientists was requested before the filming of the movie, but NASA stated that the events in the film were too ridiculous actually to occur, and hence denied the request. NASA sent a memo out to all of its employees stating that they were not allowed to comment on the likelihood of the events portrayed, but later rescinded this restriction.

In 2008, Yahoo! Movies listed the film as one of the Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies.

Two library-bound survivors ask whether they should burn the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose "The Antichrist" states in its preface: "Only the day after tomorrow belongs to me. Some are born posthumously." Part of this line provided this movie's title.

When the camera pulls away from the Earth after the astronaut exclaims "the air is so clear" the image of the Earth is a modified version of the "Blue Marble" picture created by Robert Simmon. The Blue Marble picture is comprised of thousands of satellite photos, and some of the clouds are duplicated. The Apple iPhone uses the Blue Marble picture as the default wallpaper.

FILM 1809: LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF

FILM 1809: LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF 

Los Angeles Plays Itself is a video essay by Thom Andersen, finished in 2003, exploring the way Los Angeles has been presented in movies. Consisting almost entirely of clips from other films with narration, the film was not initially released commercially. The film was only seen in screenings presented by Andersen, occasional presentations at American Cinematheque and copies distributed via filesharing and other person-to-person methods. In 2014, it was announced that the film would finally be released officially by Cinema Guild.

Andersen stated that the film idea occurred to him after a lecture he gave at the California Institute of the Arts, where he talked about his objections to L.A. Confidential, the 1997 Curtis Hanson film adapted from James Ellroy's novel.

In the film, Andersen argues that the influence of Hollywood overshadows Los Angeles and is one of the reasons the city's name is frequently abbreviated. He makes the case that directors have a distaste for modernist architecture, which is regularly used for villain's homes.

(Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Plays_Itself)

BOOK 187: I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK

BOOK 187: I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK: ONE WOMAN'S OBSESSIVE SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER: MICHELLE MCNAMARA

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

"You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark."

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer. 

(information from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068432-i-ll-be-gone-in-the-dark)

MY VERDICT:

This is a tragic book, tragic in so many ways. Firstly it is tragic because of the awful accounts of rape and murder perpetrated by a true monster, but also tragic because of Michelle McNamara’s tragic death partway through it’s writing, and almost most tragic of all is that McNamara never got to see the Golden State Killer finally caught.

The book is superbly written, and amazingly researched, you feel like you’re travelling through time and witnessing the investigation. This book cements McNamara as a true crime legend. 

I did hear, before reading this book, some accounts of sleepless nights due to the content. As someone who has read a lot of true crime and watched a lot of horror, I skeptical, I thought maybe I was immune to this way of thinking. However, there were a few nights after spending hours reading the book that I heard a noise in the dark in the night time and wondered how easily someone could gain access to my home, did someone know that there were no men in the house and that I was an easy target? I quickly started mentally making weapons out of the everyday objects in my room and planning where to hide if that noise became louder or I heard footsteps. I think it’s a testament to McNamara’s writing that even the most hardcore true crime fanatics are irked when they feel like they are for a moment placed in a real victim’s shoes.

Michelle McNamara’s investigation techniques are like none I’ve ever been privy to before.  The amount of work that McNamara put in was phenomenal. I was in a privileged position of knowing who the Golden State Killer was eventually found out to be while reading this and, it turns out, she was along the right lines. Because so many avenues were explored, the rules of averages would predict that something would turn out to be right. They guessed he could have been a cop, and they proposed that he would be found using DNA ancestry, that’s the place where McNamara abruptly ended, the last thing she was looking at, and from reading the book, you knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught. 

I wonder if he read this book? Nothing he could have done could have avoided his capture at this point because they had his DNA. I hope somehow, somewhere, Michelle McNamara got to hear the cell door slam behind him.

https://www.brit.co/how-to-make-diy-patch-blanket/

THE KILLING SEASON (2016)

"The Killing Season" from Executive Producer Alex Gibney follows documentarians, Joshua Zeman (Cropsey) and Rachel Mills as they investigate one of the most bizarre unsolved serial killer cases of our time -- ten dead sex workers discovered on Gilgo Beach, Long Island. Authorities believe these killings are the work of the Long Island Serial Killer, who after five years remains at large. Forging relationships with cyber-sleuths, journalists and victim's families, Zeman and Mills uncover connections that suggest Long Island is just the beginning.

FILM 1713: THE OVERNIGHTERS

Broken, desperate men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor risks everything to help them.

http://www.booooooom.com/2017/05/26/photographer-camilo-jose-vergara-photographs-the-same-locations-repeatedly-over-40-years/

FILM 1680: WILD

TRIVIA: The young Cheryl is portrayed by the actual Cheryl Strayed's daughter Bobbi Strayed Lindstrom.

Jean-Marc Vallée would not let Reese Witherspoon read the instruction manual to the tent, or the stove. All of the frustration showed on screen was genuine.

Reese Witherspoon saw an advanced copy of the book in October 2011, 5 months before its release. The galley-form book was mailed personally by Cheryl Strayed herself, believing that if there is an actress who could portray her, it is Witherspoon and no one else. Witherspoon saw potential in that, immediately acquired the rights as it was a perfect launchpad for her production label. The book became much hyped when it listed as a select book for the Oprah Book Club after its release.

There is a scene where Cheryl is reading Gone Girl (an anachronism). This is because Reese Witherspoon is one of the producers of Gone Girl (2014).

Shot almost completely with natural light.

Cheryl Strayed told the Times she made efforts to locate her half-sister and half-brother over the years with no success. When her half-sister started reading Wild, she "knew just enough about me and my siblings that she put it together. She read the rest of the book and then she wrote to me. She was stunned. I was, too, and yet I always knew our paths would cross. Life is like that. There's always more, always a reveal."