Netbook from Lenovo...

This is a cool little mini-laptop. WOW. I see this as the wave of the future in mobile computing. Large enough to actually see, as opposed to a phone unit, big enough to see a film, yet has the specs you could actually use in a computer while traveling. And at such a light weight at 2.6 pounds? Great. And the price is another happy surprise. This baby goes on my want list. I picture myself keeping my whole ebook library on this, and some music to read by! I think maybe when the next couple generations of this small unit come out it will be time to make a move. See where this trend leads. As a late adopter, I keep my eyes on the prize, but make no move until something has been tested by all those early adopters! CompUSA has a dazzling array of Netbooks and there are many more out there.

High Fidelity and Nick Hornby...

I've been reading Nick Hornby lately. High Fidelity first. I can just see John Cusack in the story. Why is that? Well, I saw the movie first, and I must say the characterization was perfect in the film. I felt more sympathy for Rob in the book than in the movie, but I love John Cusack's work, so I also liked the movie. A good example of modern British rather alienated characters, the books Hornby writes have a certain grit, and lots of droll humor. About a Boy has the same main character really, except here he doesn't work, and Hugh Grant was perfect for the part!. But he is still a perennial youth, a teenager, a fuzzy-brained idiot really, who hasn't figured out a real life. I haven't finished About a Boy, so the verdict isn't in yet on if I will read any more of Nick Hornby. We'll see.

Forever Ulysses...

A forgotten novel by one C.P. Rodocanachi, a Greek writer whose focus was on explication of the Greek Spirit through the ages. First published in the UK as No Innocent Abroad , Forever Ulysses was published by Viking Press in 1938. I read Forever Ulysses in just a few days, as it captured my interest in subtle ways. A very dated novel in some respects (published in 1938, it was a history of one Greek who captured the eternal Greek spirit, and at the same time illustrated the times in which he lived). Starting before the turn of the 20th century and ending a few years after the Great War, which of course we know as WWI, since it turned out NOT to be the war to end all wars. I fell over one of Rodocanachi's other books, Athens and the Greek Miracle when a friend found it at a used book store. When searching Worldcat, we turned up this novel, so I placed an interlibrary loan request. The riches that can be had from a simple ILL request know no bounds. Beginning with Ulysses' youngest years, we follow him from the age of six, as he leaves his village in Cephalonia to try his luck at making a living, using his slippery talents. First as a shoe shine boy in Argostoli, a Greek lustro, and then following along through Egypt, the Sudan, and on to America, we follow his adventures through wars and peace, and through many a scheme as he makes, loses and remakes his fortunes, encountering the likes of Kitchener, the Mahdi, and countless others. His final move is back to Greece, and back to his humble village, and his eternal rest. From this vantage point in time, I was lucky to find an archived book review at TIME Magazine. The review dates to January 10, 1938, a week after publication. Apparently there were real life models for Ulysses, including the author's own life! I was reminded of the stories of Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos as I read the Ulysses story over again. Using his life, and the lives of other adventurous Greeks, Rodocanachi created Ulysses as the behind the scenes mover and shaker of his era, an inveterate deal-maker, businessman, global nomad, and patriot. Ulysses was fascinating enough, imagine the lives of those he was modeled after.

Rex Reed...

Reading the New York Observer the other day just for the Rex Reed movie reviews. Still the same standard as way back in the late 60s when I used to see him on TV. WOW. Rex has been a mainstay of my movie (O.K. pretentious people out there, my film) interest all these years. He's the kind of iconic name like Marilyn Monroe or Henry Kissinger. He's just always been there in my cultural database. Not for me the mellow tones of an Ebert, though I love the guy's reviews sometimes; no, I prefer the acerbic tones, the irony and the satire I get from reading Rex's reviews. When he likes a movie, I can tell that will be a film worth watching. When he does not, it gives me pause. Sometimes I disagree, but I always respect his insightful opinions and ruthless critiques. You get the feeling no one has EVER paid Rex Reed to simper over their movies! His review of Sex and the City is a scream! I loved the movie for what it was, my chance to see the ladies one more time, but as far as film, he had it nailed! Keep it up Rex, to me you are still that dashingly handsome guy I saw on late night TEEVEE back in the early 70s...

Portis Aloha?

It's almost like grieving. I just finished Gringos. This was Charles Portis at his best and in the last novel he has written. I won't say his last novel because he just might publish one any minute? Maybe? Please? I do not reread books. That never appealed to me. I have read it, so on to the next book. Not with Portis. I have all five novels and now I must start at the beginning again. I have written here before about Portis. For the pathos without much of the humor, read his short piece I Don't Talk Service No More but for the ironic beauty and gentleness with which Portis treats the average guy trying to make it in this world in some ethereal and usually weirdly comic way, read the novels.