Plague Stricken

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present...a literature review! Today's lucky contestant is Albert Camus' The Plague. The fictional novel, presented by a seemingly omniscient narrator (a person you later learn the identity of), tells of the months under which the city North African city of Oran was besieged by the bubonic plague through individuals, namely Dr. Bernard Rieux, journalist Raymond Rambert, and others. To be honest, the first half of the book or so was quite dull, loaded with the existentialist double meanings the novel has become known for. However, as someone reading the book for pleasure and not to derive a philosophical manifesto, I found this to be extremely boring. However, around page 160 or so, the tide turns, and while the novel doesn't become action-packed, it does start to move a lot faster. Still, I felt like the plot was not very distinguishable and that it wasn't nearly as frightening or impacting as it might've been, especially considering the topic, although apparently meant to be superfluous. So, my advice is, unless you really desire to learn some unique philosophical ideas (and don't be fooled, the existentialist metaphors are fascinating, but just make for a sloooow read), don't read this book.

On the Astros front, nothing is happening. Which is good. And bad. Good because they haven't done any dumb...stuff but bad bad because they desperately need to bolster their starting rotation. Alas. 

I have seen THREE movies in the last week or so: Gran Torino, Yes Man, and Frost/Nixon. Gran Torino, a Clint Eastwood film about a grumpy old Korea vet stuck in a neighborhood full of Asians, is a long, stretched-out way of instructing the viewers to be tolerant. While Eastwood was good, the Oscar talks are really overdone considering this movie just wasn't all that special. Yes Man, starring Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel, was a (romantic)-comedy about Carl Allen (Carrey) who, because of a self-help program, says 'yes' to everything, eventually leading him to love-of-his-life Allison (Deschanel). Parts of it were very funny, especially those with Allen's boss, played by Rhys Darby (of Flight of the Conchords fame). However, most of the movie lacked plot. All in all, an entertaining movie that passed the time. Frost/Nixon was by far the best movie I saw in the last week. Frank Langella was amazing as devilish Richard Nixon, purveying the exact characteristics that caused there to be so much animosity towards the ex-President. His counterpart, Michael Sheen, was decent as talk-show host and protagonist David Frost, but it was really Langella who stole the show and made the movie great.

Song of the Day: Peach, Plum, Pear by Joanna Newsom

Vids:

Andy Samberg (who is dating Joanna Newsom) SNL Digital Short Special!

The Mirror

Andy Punches

Dick in a Box