Banned Books Book Club-Catch 22

A few friends and I have started a book club.  We decided on the topic of banned books.

We are currently reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.  I have never read this book.  I am currently about 3/4th of the way through.  I am not a fan of the jumping time line.  It is hard to keep track of whether a scene is before or after the incidents at bologna or those at Avignon.  But there are some funny parts.  We will see how I feel at the end of the book.

CSI: Miami and Star Trek

Yes I know I am a total slacker and haven't posted in ages.  I'd love to use life as an excuse but really that is no excuse.

I have changed my approach to the list recently.  Lately I have taken to watching episodes of TV shows rather than movies.  I realize that it takes longer but it appears to me that TV episodes are easier to obtain through the Netflix Instant Streaming.

I have decided to watch shows that are complete.  This way I do not have to try to keep up with the current season.

At this time, I am currently watching CSI: Miami and Star Trek: The Original Series.  I watch CSI for the stories not for the science.  As an actual forensic chemist, I am aware how flawed the how is.  I am currently in to the fifth seasons.  I still maintain that horatio acts like a cop not a CSI.  I have never seen him actually handle a single piece of evidence up to this point.  Spoiler alert: And during Season 4 Horatio and Marabel. EWWWWW!!!.

I am watching Star Trek because as i science nerd i feel that is it something that I should accomplish sometime in my life.  I am still in the first few episodes of the Original series but i do plan to watch all the movies and spin-offs.

An update on books

Books I've finished from lists:
A Passage to India - by E.M. Forster-This story about clashes of the English and Indian culture shows what can happen when people adopt stereotypes. Lives are ruined and views challenged over the incident in the cave.

Under the Skin - By Michel Faber. - This book left me very confused. It starts in the middle of the action and never really explains what is going on during this sci-fi book about picking up hitchhikers. The realization that the main character reaches at the end is interesting but also not quite clear.

And for Books

I am trying to read at least one book from the 1001 books to read before you die and the group on but sometimes it is hard to get into them. for example the books for march and april I started but I could not finish.

But I have discovered a new tool that may help me. The county public library has playalongs which are mp3 players that are individualy loaded with an mp3 player. This works in my favor because my mp3 player is not compatible with most downloadable audiobooks. And since my new comute is about 25-30 minutes each way, I can listen to about an hour of a book each day. and my car is equiped with an auxilary input so it just hook it in and press play. Right now I am listening to the Scarlet Letter.

but I am also reading David Levitt's The Language of the Lost Cranes beucase I need to have something to read as i go to bed. and I really enjoy it.

Its been a while

so I know it has been awhile. I recently moved and started anew job and as result I have pushed certain things to to be back burner. But I am trying to be my life back into balance right now and part of that is getting back to reading, writing and watching movies.

Because I do not have cable in my apartment (but I do have an antenna so I get the main 4 ABC, NBC,CBS, and FOX) I have been watching all sorts of movies from the library. SO I am going to list all the moves that I have watched but I am not going to write a lot about all of them.

Groundhog Day - I understand that Bill Murray needed to learn to not to be such a jerk and repeating the day over and over again eventually forced him to do that but
Dog Day Afternoon - Thumbs up
Do the Right Thing - it wasn't horrible but I just did not like the ending. mookie had been bridging the gap so well but then all of a sudden he took sides and the neighborhood literally went up in flames.
Network - "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not Gonna Take it Anymore" Need I say anything else?
Ducksoup - thumbs middle
Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks humor. In the right mood, it can fix everything.
Natural Born Killers - it reminded me of bonnie and clyde
Casino - I can definately see teh resemblence between casino and goodfellas and I liked both.
The Goonies - a classic kids film that everyone should see sometime in their life
Blood Diamond - it makes me cry at the end and it is nice to see the change in heart.
District 9 - Not what I was expecting but I really like it.
Gangs of New York - I really like this. it was a different prespective on the city that never sleeps and its history. and since I my fathers side of the family is originally from cork ireland I wonder what they encountered when they first touched American soil.
Knocked up - definately had some funny parts and I am glad that he shapes up in teh end and everyone is happy.
Midnight Cowboy - I could not even finish it I found it so boring.
Yohimbo - I much prefered this Kurosawa film to the other films that I have watched by him
Solaris - I just could not get into it. I really tried but I just never really got the point behind it or the story.
Out of Sight - I really enjoyed this film staring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. It really kept surprising me

And Finally Avatar. I just watched it this afternoon and I loved it. the creative time was amazing in the animals and plants that were designed for pandora. There were several times where tears came to my eyes and just many times did laughter come as well. I definate must see.

The Swarm

Sorry it has been so long since I have written but tons has happened in my personal life. New job, new apartment, moving. Another reason is that I was reading the Swarm which is on the list of 1001 books but is close to 900 pages long. I finished it last week. I really enjoyed it but that may have been the science geek in me talking. The story is kind of an apocalypse story but based in the oceans, whales attacking, toxic lobsters and crabs. It is rather long and extensive and tones of facts are contained. Previously I was reading the Life of Pi. I was really enjoying the story that combined religion and a sort of Hemingway story. but then I started reading The Swarm so that I could discuss it on the discussion board of the group "1001 to read before you die" group on GoodReads.com Now I am stuck between books not sure what to start.

In terms of movies I haven't watched too many. I did see the Princess and the Frog. It was cute. I guess that Disney had finally gone back to the muscials and succeeded. I also just watched Star Trek by J.J. Abrams. Another great movie that I am glad to watch. I'm not sure how often I can continue to write because I am moving and since I am working on my budget it may be a while before I write again.

July's People/Animal Farm

July's People by Nadine Gordimer is the story of a South African family that escapes Johannesburg during apartide by traveling to the village of thier servant July. I had a hard time getting through this novel. I think the combination of a lack of character and historical background at the beginning and the writing style overall realy just turned me off from the very start. When I finally began to understand which characters were which and how they were related to each other, these positions began shifting due to the situation that was forced upon them. and the constant temporal shifts without any comment also led to my confusion. Overall I thought it was an interesting book but not one of my favorites.

Once I finished it I was looking for a book to read and found Animal Farm on my sisters bookshelf. It was a quick read but I really enjoyed it. It is surprising how quickly a society can change and forget their ideals.

Currently Reading: Between books, I haven't decided what to read next
Currently Watching: CSI: Miami
Lists to be completed: 1408