"If you are in the Washington, DC area, we hope to see you @ the Hopkins-Nanjing Center's 30th Anniversary Reception on Oct 10, 5:00-6:30pm"
— C. Maoxian (@maoxian) September 15, 2016
Tweets for September 14, 2016
Tweets for September 13, 2016
Tweets for September 12, 2016
Tweets for September 11, 2016
Tweets for September 10, 2016
Movies Watched -- Mustang
In Turkish. 94 minutes long so just the right length. Five orphaned teenage sisters live with their grandmother in rural Turkey (1000 km from Istanbul). They're carefree schoolgirls one minute and then, following a "scandal," are more or less imprisoned in their home and paired off one by one in arranged marriages. Is this realistic? I don't think so, it seemed far too abrupt and radical a change to me.
Anyway, all of these girls are *stunningly* beautiful in their own way (obviously none of them is biologically related in reality). Spoiler: when did the uncle start raping them? Surely they wouldn't have passed the virginity test after that? Did he always live with them or just after the scandal broke? Did he rape the oldest two or just start with Ece?
There's tragedy, there's comedy, but the underlying story, this transition from secular to sacred (and eventual escape), didn't make sense to me. Having the girls cavort around in their underwear at length, lying on top of one another, made me a little uncomfortable. All of the long, close-up shots of their faces similarly "fetishizing" their beauty, their sexuality. What would people think if the director were a man instead of a woman?
In the end, when the two little ones run away to Istanbul, what can they expect? The have a few hundred Turkish lira and know one person there, what's going to happen to them? Should we be thrilled about their newfound "freedom?" As you can see, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one. No fast forwarding so it earns a yellow (consider) rating.
Turkish girls of Instagram
Movies Watched -- Creed
132 minutes so at least 30 to 40 minutes too long. I gave it 20 minutes before going to fast forward. They're shamelessly milking the Rocky franchise one last time. Stars super fit black guy (Apollo Creed's illegitimate son, you see). Boxing stories don't hold any appeal in the Age of Cage Fighting. Boxing comes across as unnecessarily violent and just plain dumb, now that we know how sophisticated fighting can be (in the Age of the Cage). Who wants to become a "tomato can" now? So it doesn't make much sense. Sly Stallone is good at poking fun at himself, which is nice to see. Oh, and there's a beautiful light-skinned black girl as Mr. Johnson's love interest. But I don't know why it's at 94% at Rotten Tomatoes. It gets a red rating (avoid) from me.
The Champ, momentarily distracted by a spider in corner of ceiling.
Love the Guy Who Holds the World in a Paper Cup
Neko Case with an abbreviated cover of a great one by Kenny Loggins, Danny's Song (Danny is Kenny's brother, who had a son, Colin). No live version, alas, so I'm forced to embed this:
Books My Boy Has Read
My son is a pretty good reader; if he gets interested in a book, he'll read it quickly. I decided to start keeping track of the books he has read (since he doesn't), beginning this past summer. He's 11 years old now and has just started the sixth grade:
UPDATE: He turned 12 right around book 100.
The entire Redwall series ending with:
- The Rogue Crew -- Brian Jacques (M, b. 1939)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning -- Lemony Snicket (M, b. 1970) {QUIT first chapter}
- The Lost Years of Merlin -- T.A. Barron (M, b. 1952)
- Poppy -- Avi (M, b. 1937)
- The White Mountains -- John Christopher (M, b. 1922)
- The Seven Songs of Merlin -- T.A. Barron
- The Fires of Merlin -- T.A. Barron
- The Mirror of Merlin -- T.A. Barron
- The Wings of Merlin -- T.A. Barron
- Silverwing -- Kenneth Oppel (M, b. 1967)
- When the Tripods Came -- John Christopher
- The City of Gold and Lead -- John Christopher
- The Pool of Fire -- John Christopher
- Sunwing -- Kenneth Oppel
- Firewing -- Kenneth Oppel
- El Deafo -- Cece Bell (F, b. 1970)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang -- Ian Fleming (M, b. 1908)
- Whittington -- Alan Armstrong (M, b. 1939)
- The Wind in the Willows -- Kenneth Grahame (M, b. 1859)
- Charlotte's Web -- E.B. White (M, b. 1899)
- Call It Courage -- Armstrong Sperry (M, b. 1897)
- The Trumpet of the Swan -- E.B. White
- The Call of the Wild -- Jack London (M, b. 1876)
- Stuart Little -- E.B. White
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain (M, b. 1835) {"boring beginning, got interesting only at the end"}
- The Matchlock Gun -- Walter Edmonds (M, b. 1903)
- The Book of Three -- Lloyd Alexander (M, b. 1924)
- The Borning Room -- Paul Fleischman (M, b. 1952)
- The Black Cauldron -- Lloyd Alexander
- The Boys Who Challenged Hitler -- Phillip Hoose (M, b. 1947)
- The Castle of Llyr -- Lloyd Alexander {STALLED on ch. 15, "talk talk talk, got boring"}
- Taran Wanderer -- Lloyd Alexander
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School -- Jeff Kinney (M, b. 1971)
- Robin Hood -- Paul Creswick (M, b. 1866)
- The High King -- Lloyd Alexander
- The Jungle Book -- Rudyard Kipling (M, b. 1865)
- Coach -- Michael Lewis (M, b. 1960)
- Abel's Island -- William Steig (M, b. 1907)
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- Brian Selznick (M, b. 1966)
- The Golden Touch -- Nathaniel Hawthorne (M, b. 1804)
- The Whipping Boy -- Sid Fleischman (M, b. 1920)
- ... And Now Miguel -- Joseph Krumgold (M, b. 1908) {QUIT on ch. 3}
- How to Train Your Dragon: How to Be a Pirate -- Cressida Cowel (F, b. 1966)
- The Trumpeter of Krakow -- Eric Kelly (M, b. 1884)
- The Wheel on the School -- Meindert DeJong (M, b. 1906)
- Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy -- Tui Sutherland (F, b. 1978)
- The Marvels -- Brian Selznick
- Lost On a Mountain in Maine -- By Donn Fendler as told to Joseph B. Egan (M, b. 1879)
- The Cricket in Times Square -- George Selden (M, b. 1929)
- The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York -- Geoff Rodkey (M, b. 1970)
- Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir -- Tui Sutherland
- Masterminds -- Gordon Korman (M, b. 1963)
- The Boy of a Thousand Faces -- Brian Selznick {Finished, but didn't like it}
- Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom -- Tui Sutherland
- Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret -- Tui Sutherland
- Wings of Fire: The Brightest Night -- Tui Sutherland
- The Houdini Box -- Brian Selznick {Finished, but didn't like it}
- Wings of Fire: Moon Rising -- Tui Sutherland
- Wings of Fire: Winter Turning -- Tui Sutherland
- Wings of Fire: Escaping Peril -- Tui Sutherland
- Ghosts -- Raina Telgemeier (F, b. 1977)
- Bomb -- Steve Sheinken (M, b. 1968)
- I Wonder Why Castles Had Moats and Other Questions About Long Ago -- Philip Steele (M, b. 1948)
- Wings of Fire: Legends: Darkstalker -- Tui Sutherland
- The Menagerie -- Tui Sutherland
- The Menagerie: Dragon on Trial -- Tui Sutherland
- Magic Mike's Miraculous Magic Tricks -- Michael Lane Sherman (M, b. 19??)
- The Menagerie: Krakens and Lies -- Tui Sutherland
- Save Me a Seat -- Sarah Weeks (F, b. 1955) & Gita Varadarajan (F, b. 19??)
- The Secret Warning -- Franklin Dixon (M, b. 1902?)
- Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way -- Donald Sobol (M, b. 1924)
- Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day -- Donald Sobol
- Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand -- Donald Sobol
- The Twisted Claw -- Franklin Dixon
- A Figure in Hiding -- Franklin Dixon
- The Journals of Lewis and Clark -- Darlene Stille (F, b. 1942)
- The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club -- Bertrand Brinley (M, b. 1917)
- Middle School: Just My Rotten Luck -- James Patterson (M, b. 1947)
- Middle School: Save Rafe -- James Patterson
- Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill -- James Patterson
- Middle School: The Worst Years Of My Life -- James Patterson
- Middle School: Get Me Out Of Here -- James Patterson
- Big Nate: From the Top -- Lincoln Peirce (M, b. 1963)
- Middle School: My Brother Is a Big Fat Liar -- James Patterson
- Middle School: Ultimate Showdown -- James Patterson
- Middle School: Dog's Best Friend -- James Patterson
- Treasure Hunters -- James Patterson
- Treasure Hunters: Danger Down the Nile -- James Patterson
- House of Robots -- James Patterson
- I Totally Funniest -- James Patterson
- Public School Superhero -- James Patterson
- I Funny -- James Patterson
- I Even Funnier -- James Patterson
- Summer of the Monkeys -- Wilson Rawls (M, b. 1913) {QUIT after ch. 4, "print too fine"}
- Treasure Hunters: Secret of the Forbidden City -- James Patterson
- Treasure Hunters: Peril at the Top of the World -- James Patterson
- House of Robots: Robots Go Wild! -- James Patterson
- I Funny TV -- James Patterson
- Jackie Ha-Ha -- James Patterson
- Ares: God of War -- George O'Connor (M, b. 1973)
- Atlantis Rising -- T.A. Barron
- Flags of the World -- Eve Devereux (M, b. 1949 ... "Eve" a pen name)
- Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop's Fables -- Helen Ward (F, b. 1962)
- Ask A Science Teacher -- Larry Scheckel (M, b. 19??)
- Catch You Later, Traitor -- Avi
- Diary of a WImpy Kid: The Third Wheel -- Jeff Kinney
- Flush -- Carl Hiassen (M, b. 1953)
- Chomp -- Carl Hiassen
- My Side of the Mountain -- Jean Craighead George (F, b. 1919)
- Skink - No Surrender -- Carl Hiassen
- Scat -- Carl Hiassen
- Jed and the Junkyard War -- Steven Bohls (M, b. 19??)
- Atlantis in Peril -- T.A. Barron
- Atlantis Lost -- T.A. Barron
- The Best Man -- Richard Peck (M, b. 1934)
- The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A. Rey -- Louise Borden (F, b. 1949)
- Lucky Strikes -- Louis Bayard (M, b. 1963) {"lots of swearing"}
- Secrets at Sea -- Richard Peck
- The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail -- Richard Peck
- Here Lies the Librarian -- Richard Peck
- Hercufleas -- Sam Gayton (M, b. 1986?) {QUIT after ch. 3, "fake story, copycat book"}
- A Long Way from Chicago -- Richard Peck
- A Year Down Yonder -- Richard Peck
- A Season of Gifts -- Richard Peck
- Past Perfect, Present Tense -- Richard Peck
- The Teacher's Funeral -- Richard Peck
- Drift House: The First Voyage -- Dale Peck (M, b. 1967) [accidentally pulled off shelf with Richard Peck books]
- Lost in Cyberspace -- Richard Peck
- The River Between Us -- Richard Peck
- Monster Night at Grandma's House -- Richard Peck
- Fair Weather -- Richard Peck
- The Great Interactive Dream Machine -- Richard Peck
- On the Wings of Heroes -- Richard Peck
- The Lost Cities: A Drift House Voyage -- Dale Peck [accidentally pulled off shelf with Richard Peck books]
- London Holiday -- Richard Peck {QUIT after ch. 4, "it's an adult book"}
- The Last Safe Place on Earth -- Richard Peck
- Don't Look and It Won't Hurt -- Richard Peck {"I'm Pecked out, no more Peck"}
- Code Talker -- Joseph Bruchac (M, b. 1942)
- Chasing the Falconers -- Gordon Korman (M, b. 1963) {QUIT after ch. 3, "not intriguing"}
- The Winter People -- Joseph Bruchac
- Lord of the Flies -- William Golding (M, b. 1911) {"should have waited a few more years befor reading this"}
- The Lost Hero -- Rick Riordan (M, b. 1964)
- The Son of Neptune -- Rick Riordan
- Percy Jackson's Greek Gods -- Rick Riordan
- The Mark of Athena -- Rick Riordan
- Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes -- Rick Riordan
- The House of Hades -- Rick Riordan
- The Blood of Olympus -- Rick Riordan
- Lemons -- Melissa Savage (F, b. 19??)
- The Someday Birds -- Sally J. Pla (F, b. 19??)
- March -- John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
- The Trials of Apollo -- The Hidden Oracle -- Rick Riordan {QUIT chapter 10, "not one of his better books" and "Riordan'd out"}
- ... to be continued