Film Update

I probably should have tacked this on as an update to the last blog, but I had to say that it's no wonder Dave Eggers hasn't published much since his last novel, What is the What (An incredible book). Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida (whose book, Let the Northen Lights Erase Your Name I'm currently teaching in my composition class) recently co-wrote a movie together, Away We Go.

I've devised a formula to predict whether or not this movie will be worth going to see:

Focus Features distributing the film + Sam Mendes directing + a screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida + a cast that includes John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Allison Janey = The perfect storm for what is now the most anticipated film of 2009.

Trailer available by clicking on title.

Where The Wild Things Are

On Monday I went and saw Salman Rushdie speak, which was a wonderful, informative experience-- one of the few lectures/readings I've attended recently that was higher than my expectations. So I started writing a blog about the event, intermingled with some updated thoughts I've been grappling with about the media/culture phenomena I touched on a while ago, but I've been busy the last few days and haven't been able to finish.

But, I thought people might be interested to see that the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze, was just released, and it looks pretty good. Obviously the screenwriters had to take a lot of liberties since the book is short, but as I was watching the credits flash by I thought I saw a name I knew, so I backtracked and sure enough...Dave Eggers cowrote the screenplay with Spike Jonze!

Wouldn't miss it for the world. You can access the trailer on apple's website by clicking on the colored link above, but you have to have quicktime.

Salman Rushdie blog forthcoming.

Here comes the bride. . . and the groom

Breakfast at the Stricklands!! Larisa and Cameron came over to Oxford last Friday to hang out and take care of some official wedding business.
This is a picture before we left to pick out and pick up the groom and groomsmen's wedding attire. We made our way to Cincinnati and after three malls, lots of calls about whose size is what, and a drive to see what is behind Mt. Rumpke the trip was a success!! I am excited to post the pictures later this summer.




Larisa made a BIG brunch for us before we headed out for the mall. I took a picture because it was seriously impressive. Brett and I were super excited about the left over ingredients to try out her fun skillet creation on our own. The bread on the plate is French toast that she made out of like Cinnimon swirled bread.




Anyway it was fun to have Larisa and Cameron stay for the weekend. I am excited for their wedding and can't believe they graduate in like a month! Exciting times!!

-> Larisa and her Matron of Honor. I used to fight that title but I am embracing it now. It used to sound homely but now I really like it.
I may be posting again very soon as I am leaving tomorrow morning to visit a friend! So if Brett posts with another no picture blog I will balance it out soon with more pictures:)

- Angela

My Trip West in Review

Miami was on Spring Break last week, so after teaching my eight o’clock composition class, I jumped into my car and started winding my way out of small town Oxford, (which was in the startling throes of this and this, even as I drove to class at 7:30 am) with Scottsbluff, Nebraska plugged into my Garmin—home of my friend Kyle. The trip took approximately fifteen hours of driving, but I was never off the highway for more than ten minutes (I timed each gas break), and the roads were bare after Lincoln except for truckers.

Road To Kyle's House

Some people might grimace at the prospect of fifteen hours on the road, but I enjoy it. It gives me space to think and listen to music that I normally don’t have the time or inclination to sit through. For example. On the way to Scottsbluff, I listened to every album by Okkervil River, which I consider a strange sort of accomplishment. Since the drive back was to Toledo, OH, instead of Oxford, the trip was going to take longer, and my plan was to listen to every Bruce Springsteen album in chronological order. Almost inconceivable, I know. I thought I could, possibly, be the first to achieve this—until I realized I still don’t own Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and my computer didn’t transfer Devils & Dust to my ipod.
An epic feat for another day.

I’m always interested in what music other people choose to listen to, so if you’re like me, here’s a list of complete albums I worked through—indulge. And if you don’t care, skip the list and proceed to my dramatic account of camping in the Black Hills.

Complete Album’s listened to on Drive West

Joe Purdy—You Can Tell Georgia
Joe Purdy—Take My Blanket and Go
David Bowie—Best of 69-74
The Hold Steady—Separation Sunday
The Hold Steady—Almost Killed Me
Bruce Springsteen—Working on a Dream
Bruce Springsteen—Magic
Heartless Bastards—The Mountain
Okkervil River—Black Sheep Boy / Black Sheep Boy Appendix
Okkervil River—Don’t Fall in Love with Everyone You See
Okkervil River—Down the River of Golden Dreams
Okkervil River—The Stage Names
Okkervil River—The Stand-ins
Okkervil River—Stars too Small to Use
Okkervil River—Sleep and Wake-up Songs
Frightened Rabbit—The Midnight Organ Fight

Complete Albums listened to on Return Drive East

Santogold—Santogold
The Rural Alberta Advantage—Hometowns
The Hold Steady—Stay Positive
Neil Young—Tonight’s the Night
Matt Pond P.A.—Several Arrows Later
Black Mountain—In the Future
Bruce Springsteen—We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Bruce Springsteen—Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen—Born in the U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen—Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen—The River
Bruce Springsteen—Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen—Tunnel of Love
Bruce Springsteen—Magic
Bruce Springsteen—Working on a Dream
Bruce Springsteen—The Rising

Not represented here are the multitude of miscellanious songs I enjoyed; and, I also feel compelled to explain my only major musical failure—when I decided to listen to the best of Van Morrison. For some reason, I couldn’t handle anything after “And it Stoned Me”.

Kyle and I had planned on leaving Nebraska to go camping in the Black Hills outside Deadwood, South Dakota. My arrival, however, brought with it a cold dose of reality.
“I’ve heard there’s still quite a bit of snow up there,” he informed me as we considered camping strategies.
“Man against nature,” I replied.
This discussion reoccurred in various forms as the time to leave drew closer. In truth, I wasn’t really thinking—sometime in college, I learned that I have the interesting ability (power, perhaps? I’ll let you be the judge) to completely disconnect with reality. That’s a blog for another time.
As Kyle and I drove north-east through Wyoming, we passed small clusters of antelope, snow guards (wooden structures used to prevent snow accumulation on the highway), endless expanses of ranch-land, and exactly one other vehicle. The terrain grew rockier, and soon small clusters of pine dotted the landscape out the truck window—as well as large snow drifts.

Road Across Wyoming

After another hour of driving, wedged in by high canyons, we passed a mountain goat staring down at us from a high ledge, and the first road sign buried to the top of the post in snow. I thought I could sense a growing desperation from Kyle.
It was getting dark, and the campgrounds were closed “for the season”, so we drove down a winding dirt road, and eventually following a two-track into the by-then dark forest, which was illuminated enough by the moon, stars, and reflective snow, that we could see a rooty patch of ground not covered in snow.
We set up camp for the night, made a fire, and I ate a can of soup. The air was cold, but there was barely any wind—really, it wasn’t as bad as we had been expecting, and sitting by the fire, the moon visible through a circle of looming pine trees, coyotes moaning in the hills around us (I didn’t want to write “howling in the hills”, but now it sounds like the coyotes were in heat.…be assured, it was only typical coyote howling.), it was actually quite pleasant.

Me, After Setting Up Camp for the Night

(Water froze and Camera Died Shortly After)

Insights on "Church Shopping"

I've become increasingly aware that people seem more comfortable with dichotomies (Something is good or bad, right or wrong-- we like or dislike someone, they're funny or they're not), which I think is problematic for a number of reasons...but that's a blog for another time.

I read this article today (which doesn't mention anything about dichotomies), and thought it was interesting-- it's enigmatic in a refreshing way, discussing a peculiar trait that's arisen in the Christian world (prepare yourself for another slate.com plug, sorry), in a non-christian publication.

The popular media (should I have said "secular?") usually discusses Christianity in very specific avenues, about very specific issues (read: sex scandals, church shootings, christianity portrayed as a "hate group")--this article is remarkable (worth remarking on) because it considers an unsensational issue worth writing about. Perhaps because of the Obamas, who are mentioned in the beginning?

Anyway-- forgive my generalizations and reflexive parenthesis-- the full article is short, but here's an excerpt:

One in seven adults changes churches each year, and another one in six attends a handful of churches on a rotating basis, according to the Barna Group, a marketing research firm that serves churches. Church shopping isn't a matter of merely changing congregations: A survey by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life last year indicated that 44 percent of American adults have left their first religious affiliation for another. "Constant movement characterizes the American religious marketplace," a survey summary said.