Neverwhere

This BBC series is very odd (as befits something written by Neil Gaiman). I hadn't realized until I read the wikipedia entry (linked above) that the series preceded the book of the same name. I preferred the book, although the series was fun to watch.

Lost

Well, the second-to-last season of Lost is over! One more left. The last episode of this previous season started to tie up story lines, with the mandatory cliffhanger (which became obvious as the episode wound to its close).

Who is that guy who killed Jacob? Hmm...

Star Trek

Wow, JJ Abrams and Star Trek. All in all, an excellent reboot of the series and some good storytelling. There were some bits of physical humor that seemed a little out of place (but were OK in retrospect), and a bit too much of a few characters running madly around the Enterprise. But certainly worth watching, especially if you're into Star Trek/science fiction.

Your Inner Fish

This excellent book about our relationship to fish (as expressed in DNA and physiological evidence) is a great, easy read. A great overview of how evolutionary theory (it's not "just" a "theory"), and how the evidence through fossils, DNA, embryology, and anatomical comparisons all line up.

State of Play

At the behest of my wise cousin Pauline, we got the BBC series State of Play (she posted a comment that the series was great, after I blogged about the new Russell Crowe movie). Indeed, it was great, and far better than the movie. The only downside to watching the series is that the movie preserved all of the essential plot elements, so that we didn't have that many surprises. Oh well, still a fantastically well-done TV serial!

How To Live

I don't remember where I heard about this book by Henry Alford, but it was an entertaining (if not very deep) book. The full title is: How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth). For some reason I thought it might have some nugget of profundity: instead, it was a funny history of the author's relationship with his mother (and some interviews he scored with various interesting contemporary figures).

I almost fell over laughing over some of his stories/quips, so all in all it was a worthwhile read.

State of Play

State of Play is a well-done political thriller. Russell Crowe did a really good job, as did Ben Affleck (mild surprise there); Helen Mirren was hilarious in her role as the chief editor. It kept our attention throughout, and it really does a good job of memorializing the classic newspaper. It's not clear from the screenplay whether they think that the greater threat to newspapers lies from their large corporate owners or the Internet.

Anyway, it was entertaining, which is all I expect these days. High art it was not.

Welcome to Your Brain

Written by two neuroscientists, this is an entertaining book about our knowledge of the brain. It was a little too cheerily written to hold my attention as a serious book, but it was still interesting.

One of the authors, Sam Wang, runs the web site Princeton Election Consortium, which had a lot of interesting stuff during the last election.

Shilla

We ate dinner in Koreatown. This restaurant was bigger than it seemed from the outside, and there wasn't a huge line. But it was filled with Korean customers, and the food was prompt and quite good!

Morgan Library

The Morgan Library just opened an exhibition of their "latest" acquisitions (since 2004). Impressive stuff: definitely worth a visit, if you get a chance. The exhibition is open until October. Too bad they won't let visitors take photographs: they are the only major museum that has such restrictive rules.

We thought the most impressive works were some photographs by Irving Penn and Diane Arbus. There were some fantastic portraits of Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keefe, and T.S. Eliot.

Enough

John Bogle founded the Vanguard mutual fund company, and has made his life into a battle against entrenched interests. "Enough." is his latest broadside against the financial industry, although it also contains diatribes against the deterioration of America's moral fiber. An entertaining read, although not as to-the-point as his other books. He's got quite an ego, and it shines through brightly in this book; and certainly he admits it.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver's is a wonderful read. She has a lyrical way with words and a wonderful sense of humor. This book was recommended back in January by a friend (an Australian CS professor): it describes how Kingsolver and her family spent a year eating only local food. She describes the whole year of growing vegetables, raising chickens and turkeys, canning and preserving foods.

Her husband and elder daughter added sidebars through the book, with information about organic/local foods and recipes. All in all, this book is one worth reading: it will make you hungry!

New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe

We ate dinner in Chinatown, at this excellent little restaurant. Excellent dumplings, and the shredded chicken and jellyfish was great. Well worth it, although not that cheap.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

After watching interviews with Edward James Olmos, I decided we had to rewatch Blade Runner. The final cut is a beautiful remastering of the film. We're coming up on 2019, though, and Los Angeles still doesn't look like it does in the movie!

Please Vote For Me

This entertaining documentary about a class election in China is really cute. Vicious politics at work among 9-10 year-olds!

Death at a Funeral

A British farce about a funeral. Extremely funny and well-written, albeit over the top and predictable. Still, got a few belly laughs out of this movie!

Talent is Overrated

Hard work; hard, focused work. That's the secret to success, perhaps unsurprisingly. Mixing anecdotes with some summaries of research studies, this book covers the subject of expertise, and what makes expertise. At least a decade worth of "practice", according to the experts. Grueling, and yet unsurprising.

Ocean's Thirteen

All in all, a fun movie. Amusing little inside jokes all over the place, tongue-in-cheek script, and some interesting surprises in the plot. Worth a watch if you want some entertainment.

Watchmen

I saw the movie (whose web page I refuse to link to); as expected, it sucked. Impressive visuals, but the directing was weak: almost every sequence in the film corresponded to a panel in the original comic. Lack of imagination in translating the comic to a film, which showed in his previous film 300. Oh well, it reminded me that I should reread the comic some time!

Iceland

This Vanity Fair article about the financial meltdown in Iceland is fascinating. Definitely an interesting read, both for the historical perspective and the stories of what is happening in Iceland right now.