Book + Hollywood = Good Times?

  • 17 June 2009
  • 1

Note: I’m killing two birds with one pretzel today. (I figure pretzels are a nicer death than rocks. I’m not a total barbarian, after all.) While waiting for the magic moment when I could wander off and pull my clothing from the dryer, I recorded a podcast episode. I then remembered that I hadn’t cooked up a blog entry since April, so I loosely transcribed my podcast to share here with my readers. And I suppose I should say I transcribed loosely, as opposed to loosely transcribed, so as not to imply that I was plastered while typing. (If you booze, you lose! Stay in school! It’s great to learn ’cause knowledge is power!) Enjoy!

For the audio, use this link (the first 30 seconds or so is the theme song, not a mistake)…

http://media.libsyn.com/media/theburrow/jtm004.mp3


So… it would appear that I absolutely suck when it comes to updating anything. Both my podcast and my blog are beginning to collect dust and cobwebs and all sorts of stuff that Kim and Aggie would disapprove of. (Did you catch that reference without clicking the link? Yes? Ah… you’re awesome.) Where the podcast is concerned, I did record an episode a few weeks back. But it was depressing. VERY depressing. Reading Angela’s Ashes while watching Titanic and listening to The Cure kind of depressing. Alas, it wasn’t published. The good news is that there’s not much in the way of bad news today. Wicked, eh?

I was a lazy bugger for most of the morning, having slept in until 12:30 or so. After a proper shower and all that goodness, I was later abducted by Sean (one of my only local “real world” friends), with whom I journeyed to the cinema! Well… to the pet store and Cup o’ Joe (a coffee shop)… THEN the cinema. We opted for a turn-off-your-brain kind of film (“Drag Me to Hell“) and had a pretty good time. Shorter than normal though, since SOMEONE forgot he had plans with his mother. *shakes head* The crusty old booger. But a good time was had nonetheless.


I haven’t had much reading time as of late, which sucks. I can’t seem to find much time when I’m not being bothered by Dani (I love you!) or neighbor-related noises or migraines. I have a bunch of books I’ve been wanting to start and/or finish reading (including Death Note 11—which I’ve been attempting to finish for 3 or 4 months—and Lee’s sure-to-be nosemilkshooterific books), but the only place I ever seem to get much peace is at the library. And since COTA is quite possibly the nation’s worst transit system, and I do not have a vehicle of my own, I don’t end up at the library as often as I’d like. I hope I’ll manage to put aside a decent chunk of my next day off, so I can finally get a bit of reading done.


On a sort of book-related note, I’m really excited about a few books from my childhood that are being turned into films. Excited and scared, really… you never know what liberties the scary Hollywood folks are going to take with the source material. One movie that’s been on my radar for awhile now is “Where the Wild Things Are.” (If you haven’t read the book… um… check your pulse. Make sure you’re among the living.) This one really scares the crap out of me (figuratively speaking, I assure you) because it is entirely possible for Spike Jonze and Warner Brothers to completely mangle this book and kill all the best parts for the sake of “making a great film.” I’m optimistic, based on what I’ve seen in trailers and a few film clips on IMDB and other sites. Another interesting one will be “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” Honestly, I never even remotely considered this would be made into a film. It simply never crossed my mind, but it’s a brilliant idea. For those who haven’t read the book, it’s about this town where it rained and snowed and such, but it was never what we’d consider rain or snow. They’d end up with things like hamburgers and soup and noodles and pizza. It’s really perfect for the big screen and should be a pretty great adaptation. And it will be a 3D film which, while gimmicky, could work really well with this type of story.


There’s also “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” coming up next month. And while that’s not necessarily from my childhood (I was in high school when I started reading the series), it’s a book-based film that I’m definitely looking forward to. I’m up to my knees in set reports and pictures and trailers, thanks to all my favorite fan sites, so I’m super excited. (I’m a nerdy little Slytherin, I know.) The more I see of the film, and the more I hear about it, the more anxious I get. And I’ll probably see the film a billion times and spend an entire paycheck on toys and stickers and all sorts of childish Harry Potter stuff that I love so much. I have high hopes for the film, so let’s hope it all plays out well.


I’m going to run off now because it’s late and I really should be asleep. I need to go grab my laundry and konk out. So until next time, be good and stay out of trouble. Night!