(no subject)

[chelseagirl]

A few Christmas cards still trickling in, which is nice since I kind of feel like I missed the holiday. One from M's mum's mate Marie, which is just nice and alliterative to type, another from my cousin, who in response to M's comment that America "has no history," sent him a Native American flint arrowhead. (Also sent me an article on Billy's Bakery, from Country Living magazine of all places. Hard to think of 9th Ave. in the low 20s as "country," despite Billy's retro charm . . . )

Deeply engaged in prepping the Alice course. (teenygozer, are you out there?) Will Brooker's Alice's Adventures is a really good cultural studies-based approach to contemporary responses, both views of Carroll/Dodgson and Alice, and modern retellings, films, illustrations, the American McGee game, etc. It's a book I wish I'd had last year, or else I wish it hadn't been written, as I spent all semester planning to write it. (However, his approach is enough different than mine that he leaves space for my project.)

Also skimming through All Things Alice by the dubiously-named Linda Sunshine; this is more of a scrapbook "non-book" kind of deal, but it's full of older illustrations and a few useful bits and pieces, including the best compilation of Alice websites, some of which neither I nor my students stumbled across last time.

Finally, rented Dennis Potter's Dreamchild, the story of the older Alice Hargreaves coming to New York to a celebration of Carroll at Columbia. The movie's not historically accurate (instead of coming to NY with her son Caryl, she comes with an orphan/companion, Lucy, who falls in love with Peter Gallagher, who plays a young reporter who ends up acting as Alice's agent). Ian Holm, of all people, plays Dodgson/Carroll in the flashbacks. The music is almost menacing in some of his scenes with young Alice, and I honestly was waiting for some horrible pedophilia revelation, but instead the movie is playing with expectations and it ends on a note of reconciliation. (Alice Liddell Hargreaves, rather like Christopher Robin Milne, was not always happy in adult life to be best known as the original of a character in children's books.)
There are Henson puppets representing some of the Wonderland characters that pop up in Alice's memory, and they work quite effectively. I ended up really liking this movie and will be showing it in class for certain. Wish it was out on DVD, though -- I will probably end up picking up a used VHS copy because it is something I'd like to have in the collection.

For tonight, I've got a BBC Moll Flanders which I'm considering showing to my other class.

Comments

[nycdeb.livejournal.com]

to M's comment that America "has no history,"

at least none that the Brits like mentioning but I recall there was some dust up around midsummer - early July I think, around the 4th - a while back. At least we don't steal other peoples' history *cough* Elgin Marbles *cough*

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, I refer to that as "when we kicked your lot out." He, of course, claims it as "when we got tired of all your whining and decided to let you have your own go at it."

[nycdeb.livejournal.com]

I always suspected British schools teach the American Revolution is much like my school taught the War of Northern Aggression. Oops! Sorry - Civil War

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

"I've got a BBC Moll Flanders"

Ooh, is that the Alex Kingston one? So. Good.

Incidentally, we tried to pop into "Alice's Shop" when we were in Oxford on Sunday morning, but it wasn't open for the day yet and we were running unfortunately late (that fact that that we less than a week ago feels strange). Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back there someday.

And btw, I've got a small present of sorts for you. But not Alice-related :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Yup, the Alex Kingston one. Which has me in a bit of a dilemma -- I want to show them a film version, but can I justify four hours of class time?

Alice's Shop has got a website. I'm going to have to find my way back to Oxford again someday, for that and other reasons. As M's friends live near Cambridge, I usually go there to do my old college gawking.

Oooh, presents. I like presents! Thank you.

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

Alex Kingston justifies anything, IMO.

Lemme know when you want to get that dinner, with your friend or otherwise!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Things always get a bit complicated when Gwen and I pull out our datebooks, so yeah, let's have dinner in the meantime. (She's sometimes megacrazed at the beginning of the semester as she's doing some admin work as well as teaching.)

When's good for you? Next week is pretty open for me, except for Tuesday.

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

How about Wednesday? I'm good for anytime after 6 when I get off work.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Okay, so next Wednesday, the 19th. 7?

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

Perfect. Where shall we go? We could get...Indian!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm dying to try Bombay Talkie, which has just opened around the corner from me. (9th between 21st and 22nd.) We have great hopes for it -- we order from Amin, which is okay, but our favorite is Brick Lane, over in the East Village, and with M.'s schedule we don't get there nearly often enough.

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there was a restaurant in NY called Brick Lane! Brick Lane, the street, is tghe locale of two of the restaurants in London where we ate during our trip! Too funny. Now I have to try that.

We order from Amin pretty often, as well, since there the best in delivery-range. So I definitely want to try this new place.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Brick Lane is on E. 6th, but it's easily distinguishable from all the others on that block. It's the only one that asks if you have a reservation, it's much more stylish in decor(it doesn't look like a Christmas tree exploded), and it costs more. And the food is excellent, so it's worth it. We tried it the first time because of the London-referencing name; M. kept complaining that the Indian food is better in England than here.

Cool, so Bombay Talkie Wednesday at 7. I walk by it every day and am quite intrigued.

[psycholibrarian.livejournal.com]

Yay! See you there and then!

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I was gifted twice with Will Brooker's Alice book for Xmas, so surely I shall read one of them... as soon as I've unpacked them after we've moved. I also want to read his book on Batman once I've finished the Alice book.

I once said I'd hoped to one day see an Alice movie with Henson muppets as the Wonderland characters, I totally blanked on the fact that they were used in Dreamchild, a movie I have not yet seen, though I've read reviews on it.

I'm hoping this move will facilitate a cataloguing of my books, as well as of my tapes & DVDs... I may actually own a tape of Dreamchild, my mother claims I do, though I haven't come across it yet. SUCH A MESS!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

How's the moving going?

The Muppets in Dreamchild are kind of like the Wonderland characters gone a bit too seed. Not entirely menacing, not in an American McGee way, but with an edge definitely.

I know who one of your copies of the Brooker book came from, as he exclaimed when he saw it on my shelf. My Alice is collection is growing by leaps and bounds, especially editions; at least as long as I'm teaching the course they're tax deductible as research/professional expenses.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Well, I hope the little devil didn't steal it offa your bookcase when you weren't looking!

Laurie got me the other (neither reads live journal so I know they won't see this!) Excellent idea on both their parts, except I wish only one of them had had it. I suppose I can return it to B&N or Borders and try to get the other Brooker book that way.

Lucky you on the tax deductibleness of your Alice editions! You will soon need a bigger apartment! Or bookcases on the ceiling! I'm looking at this move as an excellent time to get rid of things I haven't touched or used or worn in the past few years, as well as a time to pull together books that relate to one another, as with the Alice books but not JUST Alice books. For instance, I'm interested to see how many Discworld books I have, as I found them scattered all over the apartment in about 8 freakin' bookcases as I packed. Same for Wodehouse. Wanna bet I have duplicates?

I also found out that own Five Hundred Gazillion Adorable Tableclothes. I didn't even know I had a tablecloth fetish! Let me know if you need a cute tablecloth.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Sadly, we are soon to be table-less, so no use for cute tablecloths. A computer desk, yes; a coffee table, yes; a nice antique dining table which lives dismantled under the bed except for Thanksgiving (waiting for the someday we have a bigger place); but the small table I keep my laptop on is soon to give way to make room for a dresser for M. (Which he has lived patiently without for two and a half years, bless him, but now that he's wearing suits to work he can't keep hanging up his t-shirt collection in his tiny closet.) So soon when I use the laptop at home I'll look like super-tecchie, as I'll set it up on the computer desk amidst all the other computer bits . . .

I can't imagine you won't have duplicates -- I keep my books well-weeded and I still recently managed to buy a Trollope I already had.