I. Favorite BookEden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. Mostly because I wrote about these guys in my dissertation, I am fascinated by further details about their lives.
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. I had my reservations about Obama as a candidate, but the book is surprisingly thoughtful and well-written.
II. Memorable Arts Events—Theater, Art Exhibits, Museums, Concerts
Before we left Chicago, we took Emilio to the Brookfield Zoo and to the Aquarium. We also took Emilio to the Fort Worth Zoo twice--once during the summer when we were accompanied by Lisa, Melissa, and Dad, and once on an unseasonably warm day during the Christmas holidays, when we were accompanied by Nina, Pablo, John Dan, Michelle, Laura, and Laura and John's friend, Chris. We have fun on all these occasions, but I still think of zoos as animal penitentiaries.
Before we left Chicago, we took Emilio to the Brookfield Zoo and to the Aquarium. We also took Emilio to the Fort Worth Zoo twice--once during the summer when we were accompanied by Lisa, Melissa, and Dad, and once on an unseasonably warm day during the Christmas holidays, when we were accompanied by Nina, Pablo, John Dan, Michelle, Laura, and Laura and John's friend, Chris. We have fun on all these occasions, but I still think of zoos as animal penitentiaries.
In the fall, my colleague Josh, his wife Beth, and their children Eli and Charlie took us to the Children's Museum in Seminole. We loved it (but wondered later if we picked up a virus while we were there).
When Jaime and Maria Rosa visited, we saw the Kara Walker Exhibit at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth--"the first full-scale American museum survey"of her work, according to the Museum's website. Walker's critique of racial caricature is disturbing. I dug the exhibit. Born in 1969, Walker is younger than I am.III. Favorite Celebs
A. Male. Steve Carrell. The Office is usually the highlight of my tube week.
B. Female. Amy Poehler. Tina Fey has become so the world's favorite, so I'll go with Amy this year. I am sorry to see her leave SNL. I'll miss Bronx Beat with Maya Rudolph.
IV. A Year on the Tube.
The Ebert and Roeper Show died this fall (surprisingly). Ebert's health problems rendered him incapable of appearing on the show (though he still writes reviews). Apparently, the show lives on through E and R's successors: Lyons and Mankiewicz, but I haven't seen them. With the conclusion of The Sopranos and Rome, my DVR lineup is leaner and meaner.
The Regulars (In No Particular Order)
1. 30 Rock (NBC). Steve Martin was a good guest star this season.
2. This Week (ABC). Our new dish satellite service here in Ada didn't give us ABC during much of the fall, but I finally found a work around which brought George Stephanopolous back into our lives. My favorite segment is the roundtable, starring George Will (I don't like his ideology, but I like listening to him).
3. For reasons that are not clear to me, I get my TV news from the ideologically suspect Hardball with Chris Matthews. The Rachel Maddow Show debuted after the election and I'm starting to count on her for analysis I can agree with. I'm glad Countdown with Keith Olbermann is on the air and I watch him from time to time. I go to the Daily Show after I've grown bored with the news of the day as reported on MSNBC. I am sorry to see Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle leave the show (see image at right). 4. Saturday Night Live (NBC). Kristen Wiig is my favorite of the current cast, but Will Forte is a close second.
There were no new episodes from The Flight of the Conchords (HBO) in 2008, but I look forward to the debut of a new season in 2009.
V. A Year in Tune.
I spent much of the year finalizing my Top 40 Songs, which I then recorded and distributed as Christmas presents. Gerardo gave me a CD. I didn't add any new tunes to my wish list.
V. A Year in Tune.
I spent much of the year finalizing my Top 40 Songs, which I then recorded and distributed as Christmas presents. Gerardo gave me a CD. I didn't add any new tunes to my wish list.
VI. PoliticsThe news used to get its own blog series, but because of time constraints, I will limit myself to comments on the recent election season in the U.S. Because it is virtually impossible for third party candidates to get on the ballot in Oklahoma, so I didn't have to decide whether or not to vote for Nader again. On election night, the satisfaction I felt about to Obama's victory was overridden by the disgust I felt on learning that convicted felon Ted Stevens had been reelected to his Senate seat in Alaska (we later learned that he had, in fact, lost the seat by a narrow margin--I think it's outrageous that it was even close, although if the shoe were on the other foot, I'd rather have a felonious ideological ally than an innocent ideological enemy) and that Al Franken had failed to unseat Senator Norm Coleman in Minnesota (as I write this blog , the Minnesota recount--still in process--holds out the hope that Franken will pull out the victory). For me, a victory for Franken could be the most satisfying news of the year because it would be so humiliating for Franken's old nemesis, Bill O'Reilly.
I voted for John Edwards in the primaries, but my regard for him took a big hit when his extra-marital affair became public. It is not the morality of the adultery that bothers me. What bothers me is that Edwards was willing to take such a reckless, selfish risk with his progressive political agenda. What if he had won the nomination before the news became public? Every political value he claimed to champion might have been flushed down the tabloid toilet.Obama's rhetoric is too conservative for my taste, but I will judge him on the direction he takes the country once he takes office. For now, I hold him in higher regard than I do John Kerry, Al Gore (candidate Al Gore, anyway), and Bill Clinton.
VII. Movies
Check out my updated (and renamed) movie blog.
