Dumpster Dive #1: Chickenhawk by Robert Mason

.39 cents at the local Salvation Army, early '80's non-fiction paperback (1983 to be exact) concerning the Vietnam War. No-lose situation right? We will find out (I'm slogging through Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre and I should probably finish that first; a little over halfway through and I have only the faintest idea what is going on, let alone who Karla is...ugh) soon enough and I'm psyched to get this ball rolling.

"...Violent, deafening, treetop world of 1000 Viet Nam helicopter missions...its vertical plunge into the thickets of madness, will stun readers as well..."
—Time

Sounds like it might have potential and I will report back as I make some headway.

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L'une chante l'autre pas aka One Sings, the Other Doesn't (1977) directed by Agnes Varda

Another choice lifted from Kael's When the Lights Go Down , this French film has been alternately labeled a 'folk opera' or a feminist musical. Musically it's pretty forgettable -- one of the two lead characters, Pomme (Apple, played by Valerie Mairesse) is a singer of dubious renown, despite nearer the outset feeling as though she is going to be some sort of massive star. She never finds anything larger than an odd smattering of curious passersby willing to pay attention to her 'pro-choice' infused songs; this aspect of the film, her trajectory as the obvious half of the duo who sings -- as opposed to Suzanne who, as the film title suggests, does not -- is not horribly interesting. Does she sing well? Sure. Is this factoid central to the film's plot? No. What stands out is the playing out of the two's friendship over roughly a ten year period, beginning with a coming together over the central theme: reproductive rights, which are clearly in a state of ...

Movie Review: "Snowball Express" (1972) HBO January 1st, Friday, 6:30 am

The first movie listed in the January '82 guide is Snowball Express , airing at 6:30 am, perfectly appropriate for the little ones to wake to (see previous post for my comments on the similarly inappropriate scheduling of Border Cop immediately afterwards at 8:30). This is a Walt Disney production starring Dean Jones (whom I recognized from somewhere when I first saw him, and it appears I'm remembering from the Herbie the Love Bug Disney flicks as I don't see anything else in his oeuvre that looks remotely familiar) and the instantly recognizable Harry Morgan (actually instantly known from his characteristic voice more this his appearance, hidden as it is behind a scraggly beard in this appearance) from the TV series MASH . Also noteworthy is the little freckly ginger kid (Johnny Whitaker) from Family Affair , a late '60's/early '70's TV show I remember well in syndication during the late '70's, typically aired around the Partridge Family and si...

Slow start...

...to put it mildly. Just noticing that I set this blog in motion back in August of 2011; apparently I have just enough energy and attention bandwidth to fill out the bare minimum of blog profile data, but not the stamina to see it through even one measly post. Several weeks back I read something that felt 'inspirational' and 'eye-opening' regarding various techniques an author might use (or 'wanna-be' author as the case may be) to get the writing process started when in a funk: one said technique was, of course, simply write...anything for minimally 5 minutes every morning. I read this, felt inspired and tingly and all of that, then proceeded to...um yeah you guessed it...do nothing whatsoever. Well, now it's 2 weeks on and there is that nagging thing buzzing around the back of my neck, that won't leave me be until I try this writing exercise and see what comes out (somewhat akin to an experiment in dietary fiber if you will). I suppose something nee...

Ryan on a Tangent

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