Today I have more Lady Gaga for you. See, when I discovered that there was a second disc that went along with The Fame, called Monster, I was super depressed that I hadn’t realized it before I heard the Bad Romance single. I’d never really looked into it…I mean, who releases a two disc album for their debut? My girl Gaga, that’s who!

There are a lot of great songs on the Monster half of this album, and it’s interesting to me that it feels like she’s evolved with it when it’s actually the same album that all the other great singles came out on. I personally think this would also make an awesome single, but hasn’t been released as one…yet. So I give you the title track off Monster:

Maybe it takes someone who really likes Lady Gaga a whole lot to appreciate the song, because I have not heard a single person besides me say anything about it. But as soon as I heard this song, after I bought Monster and listened to Bad Romance like a hundred times, I was convinced it’s dance/pop gold.

Books I’m reading this week:
Say You’re One of Them - Uwem Akpan: This is admittedly not the book I would normally choose to read, it’s very far away from my typical reading.  I have a difficult time with legitimate human tragedy that has occurred during my lifetime as reading material.  But I was just invited to join a book club, and this is what we’re reading this month, so I picked it up at the book store this weekend.  Hopefully I like it.  Otherwise, it’ll probably make me wicked depressed.

Books ongoing:
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy: Yep, haven’t made a single page of progress in this one this week.  I hope to get better about it as time permits.  Moving and working makes me busy, y’all!

So, what are you reading on Monday?

So this art gallery owner is murdered, and they find five bullet casings (or whatever they’re called, I’m so not a gun person), but only four bullets.  This means one is missing.  See how I can do math?

As we’re all wondering where the fifth bullet is, we’re introduced to Riley Finn some dude who can’t remember his name, played by Marc Blucas.  Who played Riley Finn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Since this character doesn’t remember much of anything, including who he is, we spend much of the episode not knowing his name.  I can’t remember what it is, it starts with a J, so I’m going to just call him Riley Finn.  Cuz honestly, Marc Blucas isn’t the best actor ever, so really he was like an amnesiac Riley Finn.  I don’t remember what part of the show this happens in, but we’re going with now because it’s time for a great quote from Richard Castle:

Missing bullets are cool, amnesia is even cooler

Anyway, Riley can’t remember anything because he apparently hit his head, but we learn he likes to read because he has Russian literature in his jacket pocket.  I think it’s Anna Karenina, but I don’t fully remember.  If it was, I might start carrying my copy around in my pocket too.  That might get me to finish it!

So Detective Ryan discovers that Riley’s book saved his life, because our missing fifth bullet is embedded in the book!  And now everyone is wondering why the hell was Riley in the art gallery to be the recipient of this bullet.  Riley also has no idea where he lives, so they let him just hang around the police station.  Castle was pretty awesome and there’s another funny exchange…

Has he really got amnesia?

Yeah, but apparently my hearing’s fine.

Even though Marc Blucas isn’t a fantastic actor, he can be funny.  Well, I know he didn’t write the episode, but his line delivery was funny.  And do you like how I have these quotes but basically no placement in the episode?  Yeah, I like it too.

So after a little bit, they decide to put Riley’s picture on the TV to find someone who knows him.  Some crazy lady comes and turns out she’s, well, a crazy lady.  She is not, in fact, engaged to him as she claims, she really is crazy.  But then later on, Riley’s ex wife shows up, and there are all kinds of sparks between the two of them.  Riley obvs can’t remember what happened in their relationship to make them get divorced, and she’s all “Hey, Riley, you’re kind of hot when you can’t remember anything.”

Riley’s ex takes them to his apartment, and they see this painting in the house.  Ex wife is all “OMG, he totally kept it!”  Turns out they had to buy this painting cuz Riley put a big old finger print in it, and the painter became more famous after that.  And guess what?  The art gallery guy (you know, the murder victim)…he also dealt in fakes.  He had his assistants paint reproductions and then sells them to rich people.

But it turns out that the painting in Riley’s house is not the original, which upsets the ex because she was all touched that he had kept the original as a memento of their life together.  And now Riley is the suspect for the murder.

It’s pretty sad that this guy who has no idea what happens turns out to be the one that killed the art dealer.  Or did he?!  Murdered art gallery guy has that assistant…who in my opinion was far too helpful from the start.  And we find out why.  Because he’s a big fat liar.  He stole his roommate’s name cuz he wanted to make fake art and sell it off as originals.  Art gallery dude got pissed, got killed, and Riley almost got blamed!

Maybe it’s because I like everything Buffy, but I’d like to see what happens to Riley.  This show is pretty single episode minded, so I’m sure he won’t be back, but it would sure be fun if we find out down the road that Riley is doing well and got back together with his ex.  Or maybe I just didn’t want to see Riley Finn married in season 7 of Buffy…

This is the first novel from Eugenia Kim, and I can tell you that she is an author to watch, one I certainly hope continues to put out beautiful stories like this one.  It’s apparent, in a good way, that the author has both done a lot of research and drawn on personal experience to create the story of Najin.  In fact, I found the story to be so honest that I genuinely forgot it was a novel, especially when the author draws on actual correspondence from the time period and we see sections that have been redacted.

I didn’t know anything about the history of Korea going into this novel, and I liked having a completely blank slate for the story to begin on.  What made the tale more compelling was that it starts from the perspective of a five year old girl and follows approximately thirty years of her life, so you learn about the devastation of the country from a more innocent side and gradually ease into the politics behind everything.  Najin is almost curious about the Japanese, doesn’t understand what they are doing to her country, and to me this kind of embodied the reasons behind why they were able to take over in the first place.

Najin is free spirited from the start, a trait that is quite frowned upon, especially in a woman.  This aspect of her nature is both a bonus and hindrance throughout her life, and it was very frustrating at times to see how easy it was for blame to be placed on her when in reality, she is just trying to find her way.

This is definitely a society dominated by men, which lends towards women being oppressed and merely a piece of property to be married off in the best match possible.  It was extremely satisfying to see that not only was Najin able to pursue some of her dreams, but at times be the savior of her family.  She is able to overcome her father’s narrow expectations, a decade of being halfway across the world from her husband, and her brother’s lack of motivation, to truly become a woman of her own.

I was especially touched by Najin’s mother, a woman torn between the customs of her country and role as a wife; yet someone who can see how truly extraordinary her daughter is and wants to provide her with as many opportunities as possible.  She is a remarkable woman, one I imagine would have had a different future herself should she have been born in a later generation.

The book was very enjoyable, although I will admit that I wish it had continued on and we’d gotten to see more of the life Najin has with her family when the Japanese are finally defeated at the end of World War I and head back to their own country.  We are blessed to have real life versions of Najin in history, women who paved the way for the freedoms we enjoy in modern life.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a heartwarming story, you won’t be disappointed.

Originally published at CurledUp.com Copyright 2010

Moonlight in Odessa – Janet Skeslien Charles: I quite liked this book, and posted my review a couple of days ago.  I’m hoping for a sequel

Books I’m reading this week:
Fallen – Lauren Kate

Books ongoing:
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy: I have been reading this book for probably a year now.  I had intended on finishing it in 2009.  That obviously didn’t happen.  I like the book a lot, but it’s hard to read it when I’m also reading a lot of other stuff I love.

So, what are you reading on Monday?

It may shock you to learn that I am not typically a fan of actors turned musicians. Or of musicians turned actors. Much of the time, I feel like they don’t really have the talent for both, and tend to get credibility in one area because they’re popular in the other. I would say someone like Justin Timberlake is a notable exception to this. Don’t judge, y’all! I quite like Justin!

But, that’s not actually the musician/actor I’m talking about this time around. I am instead talking about Jared Leto, who you may know as Angel from Fight Club, the main guy in the movie that quite possibly made me the most sick to my stomach Requiem for a Dream, or the TV show My So-Called Life. Or maybe you know him as the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars.

I’ve known about this band for years, but I never really bothered to listen to them because of the previous mentioned feeling about this sort of thing. And honestly, they weren’t necessarily widely available, and it seems like when they first came out, music on the internet was not what it is today.

So imagine my surprise when I hear this song on the radio that I quite like, and I ask my car the band and song title and it tells me 30 Seconds to Mars – Kings and Queens. I thought “holy shit, I actually like this band!” The video is also interesting, and makes me want to put LED lights in my bike tires. Also, my dog likes the beginning with the bird squawking.

In case you wondered, this song got this band placed firmly at the top of my “next to purchase” list. Yes, it bumped out Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson. My only complaint about the video is that we don’t get more of Jared Leto. That man is hot!!!

Daria begins to moonlight as an interpreter at Soviet Unions, a matchmaking agency that organizes “socials” where lonely American men can meet desperate Odessan women.  Her grandmother wants Daria to leave Ukraine for good and pushes her to marry one of the men she meets, but Daria already has feelings for a local.  She must choose between her world and America, between Vlad, a sexy, irresponsible mobster, and Tristan, a teacher nearly twice her age.  Daria chooses security and America.  Only it’s not exactly what she thought it would be…

A wry, tender, and darkly funny look at marriage, the desires we don’t acknowledge, and the aftermath of communism, “Moonlight in Odessa” is a novel about the choices and sacrifices that people make in the pursuit of love and stability.

*****

I was rather pulled in by this book from the start.  Daria was an engaging character, and the kind of girl I’d like to be friends with.  Which made reading about her life and choices kind of difficult, I think I often would have had the same reaction to her that her American friend Jane had.  I just felt so deeply for Daria, wanting the best for her, that I almost felt protective of her.

Daria is a non-native English speaker, so there are little parts in the book where she conjugates words in English, such as “swim, swam, swum”.  I found myself doing this in my actual life, in my head anyway, because it was just so charming!  It’s the kind of thing I never think about in my own language, and realistically it’s probably good to get me thinking about the different forms of our words.

I think the biggest thing about this book that spoke to me was that although Daria is from the Ukraine and is looking for a better life, this is kind of a comment on the life of a woman in general.  Daria comes to America expecting a perfect, magical life, and it just doesn’t happen that way.  But if you think about the problems she has throughout the book, they aren’t exactly things that are unique to the fact that she’s not from the US.

If you look at the book from a woman’s point of view, many of us have the same concerns and problems that Daria has.  Obviously, she has the added complication of relying on her link to the states, Tristan, to be able to stay here.  But otherwise, don’t we all feel a little like we have to stay with a man to survive?

Women in America are in a better position than we’ve ever been, but we still face plenty of struggles that men will never know.  We often make less money than our male colleagues and partners, have fewer advantages simply because of our gender, yet we’re expected to run our households and raise our families.  The attitude of the average man has improved, I’ll give you that, but it’s not uncommon to find a man who really expects everything at home to be handed to him by his wife.

Am I generalizing?  Absolutely.  I know there are also plenty of really great men out there.  But I have lived in the United States my whole life and the only time I’ve ever felt like I wasn’t required to live up to the expectations of the men in my life was…when I moved to a place where there were no men in my life.  I think all you need to be able to see the sadness in Daria’s life and feel sympathy for her is look at your own past and reflect on how the men in your life have made you feel.  If you can look back and don’t understand where Daria is coming from, please count your blessings.

I had a hard time reading about Daria’s life with Tristan, just because I understand that feeling of thinking you’re trapped.  Not knowing how to get out, forge your own life.  I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to do that, and I hope that other women who feel that way are able to do the same thing.

This is the sort of book I think I would have read in one sitting if I’d had time to do so, and I also feel like I’ll be coming back to it for rereads in the future.  I hope the author writes a sequel to this book, because I’d really like to see what the future holds for Daria.  Like I said, she feels like a friend, and who doesn’t want to stay caught up with their friends?

Read this book if: You’re interested in a sweet character story, and a lovely romantic look at the Ukraine at the same time.  About half of this book takes place in America, but the rest is in the Ukraine, and I absolutely loved hearing about a place I knew virtually nothing about.

The basic premise of this movie is that Adrien Brody plays a vet from the first Gulf War, and due to a war injury he can’t always remember stuff correctly, or at all.  After returning to the states, he is witness to a murder, injured again, and subsequently blamed for the murder.  Due to his can’t remember issue, he’s sentenced to time in a mental correctional facility instead of a normal one, where he is experimented on during the night by being drugged, placed in a straight jacket, and inserted into a morgue drawer.  You know, the kind they put the dead bodies in.

I hadn’t ever heard of this movie before, which is funny because in one of the commentary thingies the director says the studio insisted they cast Keira Knightley in it for the name recognition.  I have news for anyone – if you’re producing a weird Indie film about experiments in a straight jacket, having Keira isn’t going to help your box office draw.  In fact, I feel kind of bad because the director had met with several good unknown American actors that he wanted to cast in the role that Keira took, and it’s sad to me when someone who already has the fame is placed in a role that a struggling actor could really use.  If I thought this were the type of movie that was made by having a big name actor in it, I would maybe feel differently.  But I would be surprised if this movie had any success in the theater, or if it even had a wide release.

None of this is to say that it’s necessarily a bad movie, I liked the concept, I’m just not sure how I felt about the execution of it.  I am borderline going to say that the whole thing was a giant Indie Film Syndrome.  I mean, I saw this movie something like two weeks ago and every time I think about it, I just think “huh?”  And not in any kind of good way, like sometimes you do after a David Lynch movie, more like a whole it didn’t make sense kind of thing.  It’s not even that the plot is hard to follow once you see what is going on, I guess I just wanted more explanation.  Like why the experiments are happening, what the end goal of them is, or is the doctor just evil?  And how come no one being experimented on has complained, if what they go through in the jacket is so bad?  You would think that if several people in one institution complained about this, someone important would listen.  But maybe I just have unrealistic expectations of the world.

I think part of the purpose of the movie was to freak you out, like pray on people’s fear of small spaces, but I never really felt tense when I saw them rolling Adrien Brody into the body drawer, or even the shots of him in there.  I guess it’s possible I just don’t have that fear, cuz to an extent, if you’re putting me somewhere when I’m supposed to be sleeping, I will probably just sleep.

Another thing that struck me as amusing is that there are several deleted scenes, with the writer commenting about them, and at one point she says “I think this is to show…” or something along those lines.  Honey, if you *wrote* the script, you should probably not be saying you *think* this is what’s going on.  You should know the motivation of the scene and the characters in it.  Or else you wrote from a place of Indie Film Syndrome and just thought it would be cool.

See this movie if: I wish I could say I recommended this movie.  For the record, I watched it at someone else’s house, so it was on their Netflix list and not my own.  It’s not a good thriller, doesn’t really portray something life changing, and I don’t think the acting is super phenomenal.  If you want to see Keira do an American accent, I guess you should see it.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Keira Knightley was in Bend it Like Beckham with Johnathan Rhys Meyers
Johnathan Rhys Meyers was in August Rush with Kerry Russell
Kerry Russell was in Waitress with Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion played Caleb in Season 7 of Buffy

So, admittedly I already watched the entire rest of the season.  Which makes it somewhat difficult to watch these again, knowing how the season ends.  But we’ll talk about that in a few episodes.

However, I will say that knowing what is to come, I’m just filled with anxiety watching the episodes again.  Knowing it all gives the entire season new meaning, everything looks different.  And for the first time ever, I am uncomfortable watching this show.  I’ll get over it, it’s my favorite show, but I’m still uncomfortable right now.

Dexter witnesses Arthur kidnap a little boy, and through some great detective work, he figures out that a little boy is kidnapped five days before the bathtub murders…so the boys start the cycle.  It kind of sucks that Dex uses some illegal methods to figure this kind of stuff out, because he’d be a pretty good detective.

Christine also gets in deeper trouble, with Deb thinking maaaaaaaaybe Christine is the one who killed Lundy.  And this is a bit of a sticky situation, since Quinn is you know, dating Christine.  Anyway, they do some DNA testing on her toothbrush and…discover she’s related to Trinity!  Which we already knew cuz he came over to see her on Thanksgiving, but for the PD this is a huge discovery.

Personally, I hate that we don’t know a whole lot about the relationship between Christine and Arthur.  Obvs he is her father and we know that, but what happened to her mother?  Why does Arthur not want much contact with Christine?  Does the rest of his family know about her?  And most importantly, does Arthur actually intend to kill her?

We spend a lot of the episode down in a bomb shelter, where Arthur has taken the little boy he kidnapped.  He calls the boy Arthur, even though his name is Scott, wants to play with trains, and insists the boy put his pajamas on.  At one point, basically right before Arthur is going to complete his ritual, he gets very upset because Vera’s favorite song comes on.  I had a very difficult time determining if this was him getting legitimately upset, or if it’s just part of the ploy to get the boys on his side before he kills them.  Either way, Scott feels bad for Arthur and goes along with the plan, in the hopes that he’ll get to go home.

That plan doesn’t work as Scott would like, and Arthur fully intends to encase him in cement.  Fortunately, Dexter gets there in time to save the boy, but Arthur gets away.  Actually, Arthur reminds me of a serial killer in a slasher film – always just vanishing!  Or maybe like Batman.

It is really difficult to make a post on these last couple of episodes without talking about the finale.  So this one and the next one are probably going to kind of suck.  But since the finale was a doozy, hopefully we can make up for it with that post.

I think what I’m most excited about is that I will be a permanent reviewer at Royal Reviews this year!  So I introduce you to…

My reviews will start the first week of March, but be sure to check over there often for great reviews from my fellow Royal Reviewers!