by Chinua Achebe (1958)

Things Fall Apart was a milestone in African Lit. It was one of the first successful novels about Africa and written by an African. It introduced the world to tribal living in Nigeria, specifically the Igbo culture at the time of the 19th century invasion of missionaries and colonists. It’s no less interesting decades later and no less heartbreaking.

Chronicling the life of a fierce warrior named Okonkwo, author Chinua Achebe is economical in his writing which is matter of fact and without dramatic flourishes and lengthy descriptions. Events, as small as women preparing for a feast and as powerful as the murder of a son are described frankly and simply, which makes them all the more affecting. It reflects the traditional stories that are woven into the novel.

The novel is common high school reading, made clear to me in my used book that includes the scrawled inscription “I hate this book!” from some ninth grader past, but this is the first time I’ve read it. I enjoyed it much, much more than the book’s previous owner.

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Posted on March 24, 2011

at Caribou Baby, 272 Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint

As you can see Van gets very excited on days we go to Go Go Babies, a weekly class at Caribou Baby taught by Ellynne Skove that encourages babies as they meet developmental milestones. I love it because it’s a great break up to the week and a much needed one for a stay and work at home mom like myself. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, and it’s adorable to see lots of babies. Van is far more interested in their pretty moms though, the flirt.

You can pay class by class or enroll in the series which runs through May. Either can be done on the Caribou Baby website. I encourage parents and caregivers to come! It’s a great time to bond with your baby while also getting out of the house and meeting other neighborhood parents.

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Posted on March 23, 2011

RIP

I loved her when she was young and darling, I loved her when she epitomized doomed romance – on film (the amazing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Place in the Sun) and in life (her on again off again affair with Richard Burton was legendary, her many husbands am infinite source of gossip).

But I loved Elizabeth Taylor most of all when she shed the demureness of her youth and growled and spit and carried her womanliness like a lioness (her Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?- genius!).

Sure the lavender eyed icon, who always found luck in some white diamonds acted a bit zany in her twilight – but aren’t our celebrities meant to indulge in eccentricities? (Case in point – awesome headdress to my left). Rest in Peace dear lady, you were magnificent.

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Posted on March 23, 2011

Doors Keyboardist

Jim Morrison may have brought the poetry, the leather pants, the pouty lips and the raw sexuality, but Ray Manzarek brought the mutton chops, the cleft chin, the psychedelia thanks to his keyboard and a more refined sex appeal behind those wire frame glasses.

Now sporting a handsome aged rocker meets Sydney Pollack look, Manzarek continues to make music. It’s in his hey day, however when he made buttoned up pinstripes seem so rock and roll.

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Posted on March 21, 2011

on A&E

I’m always open to finding the next dumb TV guilty pleasure, and I am kind of hoping Breakout Kings works out to fill that Bones-like spot. The highly unbelievable concept – of quirky, likable convicts getting temporarily released to catch evil, not so likable convicts who have escaped could be a winning idiotic one.

With a show like this, however, so much of the success has to do with the cast dynamics and Breakout only got some of it right.

To the show’s credit – Herc from The Wire, Brooke Nevin and Malcolm Goodwin are good and their characters could grow to be more compelling, but the show really belongs to the creepy and charming Jimmi Simpson playing the only really interesting character as well as offering much appreciated comic relief.

On the other hand, Laz Alonzo has all the depth of a hunky background guy from a Toni Braxton video (which Alonzo was earlier in his career) and is just boring to watch on screen. If he’s meant to be the straight man to Herc’s loose cannon, he should at least learn a second facial expression besides “stoic scowl”.

Ugh, and then there’s the new lady with the made for Skinemax name, Serinda Swan, who replaced the more charming Philly character who was awkwardly dropped after the pilot episode. She’d do best to let her eyebrows take center stage, as they are the most interesting thing about her, though clearly from the posters of her strutting around in a tight tank, A&E was hoping we’d find her boobs as fascinating. Alas.

It’s only a matter of time before we see if this is a show that flourishes by finding it’s own voice, eccentricities, and character chemistry or if the flounders under generic blandness. I think the odds are stacked against them but at the very least, once it’s cancelled, Simpson will probably have a better time finding a good show to star in. But for whatever reason, I am optimistic that they might pull this one off.

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Posted on March 20, 2011