Today, I received my bi-weekly shipment of ultra-delicious organic vegetables from PlanetOrganics, which has changed the way I think about and consume veggies and fruits. Whenever these shipments arrive, I run to my cookbooks for ideas about what to do with so much food. Today, I grabbed Deborah Madison’s The Greens Cookbook and Jamie Oliver’s…
I’m watching a movie so dumb and unnecessary that, during its running time, I’ve typed two weeks of journal entries and cleaned my room. The movie is Flight Plan, and is about as imaginative as a real one. Aside from exploiting cheap fears, like Scary Arabs on Airplanes or the Missing Daughter, the movie has…
I today discovered a fiercely proud entrant in the 10 Worst Movies Ever sweepstakes. See it at the bottom of the growing list. Dreamcatcher Van Helsing Monster’s Ball Bad Santa Universal Soldier: The Return Troy Alexander: The Director’s Cut The Mangler Reborn Does anyone remember the first mangler movie? Hello? Bueller?
For the holidays, my friends Elaine and <a href=”http://www.docrpm.com”>Ryan</a> gave me a beautiful edition of Dava Sobel’s <a href=”http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=29038″><span style=”font-weight:bold;”><span style=”font-style:italic;”>The Planets</span></span></a>, published last fall by Viking. If you’ve ever read an English translation of Charles Baudelaire’s <span style=”font-weight:bold;”><span style=”font-style:italic;”>Paris Spleen</span></span>, you’ll have a strong sense of how tight and pleasing this book is. As…
Recently, and completely by coincidence, two novels have crossed my path. The first, <span style=”font-weight: bold;”><span style=”font-style: italic;”>The Rule of Four</span></span>, takes place in modern times and involves several people’s attempts to solve a riddle rooted in documents and lives that existed centuries ago. The second, <span style=”font-weight: bold;”><span style=”font-style: italic;”>The Da Vinci Code</span></span>, takes…
Thanks to DVD and iTunes, I’ve been able to take part in the phenomenal joy of the Sci-Fi channel’s Battlestar Galactica without suffering the venal claptrap of network television. Many people have touted the strengths of this exquisitely crafted show, and for those of us who grew up on the new Galactica’s cheesy 70s progenitor,…
At long last, my novel, The Superhero’s Closet, is going to print. Since I haven’t yet built a promotional site for the book, I just wanted to share the good news and what’s happening as I write. Today, I invited professional actor/model Ronnie Kerr to pose for cover photography. Local photographer Michael Sexton will take…
In 1997, I stood in line with hundreds of others outside of a theater in Oakland. We were waiting to see <span style=”font-weight: bold;”>Titanic</span>. On first viewing, the movie swept me away with its broad romantic gestures. The final 45 minutes were as big as the legend itself. On second viewing, the first 2 hours…
Seems like I don’t read nearly as many novels as I used to. For a writer, this may seem like some secret shame: a decreasing dependency on the written word is like an “actor” slumming on TV. I won’t bitch and moan about how most modern literature bores me to tears, but I will say…
It’s been a long time — 25 years to be exact — since I felt such a strong reaction to the prospect of a fantasy movie. Bryan Singer of Usual Suspects and X-Men fame abandoned the lure of doing a third X-Men movie to apply his vision to the first Superman movie since Christopher Reeve…