SotW: Stop! by Against Me! Wednesday, Sep 14 2011 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 6:39 pm

I heard this song on Alt-Nation recently. It’s been in my head ever since, so I’ve  adopted it as my get-your-book-done inspirational song!

Now when I’m deciding what to do with my time, I’ll just play this song in my head (or on my iPod) and I’ll know what to do: stop and take some time to think, ’cause I’ve got to make a serious decision about whether I’m really going to commit to getting the book done!

Here are the lyrics:

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Never Let Me Go: A Quick Review Tuesday, Sep 13 2011 

movies thisgaudygildedstage 6:40 pm

Over the weekend, PJ insisted that I watch one of his favorite movies from last year, Never Let Me Go, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. The movie tells an alternate history narrative: a cure was discovered for all major illnesses, extending life expectancies to 100 years or more. The “cure” is creating human clones whose organs are harvested and used for “real” humans. Here’s the trailer:

Just about everyone I know loves this movie, and I skimmed the novel earlier this year just to see what they were all raving about. I have to say up front that this isn’t the kind of movie I generally like. I don’t films in which we’re made to sympathize with a character only to watch him or her inevitably move toward tragedy. It’s just not my cup of tea.

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The Help: A Quick Review Monday, Sep 12 2011 

movies thisgaudygildedstage 7:01 pm

PJ and I recently saw The Help, starring Viola Davis and Emma Stone as a black maid in the 1960s South and the white woman who helps her tell her story of racial prejudice and outrage. Here’s the trailer:

I really enjoyed this movie a lot. It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser, and I thought it was much more sophisticated than some of the stories I’d read about it seemed to suggest. In particular, this movie is not about a woman who saves the helpless black people. Not to give too much away, but a) she doesn’t save anyone — they save her, and b) the maids are definitely not saved at the end of the tale.

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