Buffy S1 DVD, Kid's Books and uhm the holidays

Anyone else feeling inundated by holiday commercials? Probably doesn't help that I work across the street from Bryant Park which has a holiday shop fair going on. Or that a harpist is playing Xmas tunes in the lobby. But seriously, everywhere I go it's Hanukka and Xmas stuff. Not that I mind so much, sort of just letting the whole thing wash over me like a wave on a beach or a wind, paying little attention. Sooner or later it will hit me like a ton of bricks, probably the weekend I fly down to celebrate with my folks, then rapidly fly back again.

Did do the Xmas buying thing for Cedar (my 9 month old niece). Got a tad carried away and am now second guessing myself. I bought *cough*8*cough*
books. They are all books that were read to me or I looked through as a child and adored. My first friends. Here's the list:

1. Richard Scarey's What People Do All Day.
2. Dr. Suess's The Cat in the Hat
3. Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who
4. Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham
5. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
6. Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
7. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (complete with CD with Shel reading it)
8. The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

Ack. Shoot me now. She's only 9 months old. Most of these are too old for her.
Some people lose it in baby stores, DVD stores, and clothing stores. Me? It's books. Always has been, always will be.

Oh finished the S1 Buffy DVDs and guess what my favorite episodes were?
( Buffy S1 DVD Review and Comments )

Hmmm..it's 1:33am, I'm tired. Finally coming down from that piece of chocolat I had at ten am this morning, or yesterday morning called "Pocket Coffee" - it's chocolat with a pocket of black coffee in the center...and apparently my body is allergic to coffee. It makes me wired. For me, one thimble, which is what this was, is the equivalent of 20 cups for most people. And it's just coffee. Chocolat, fine. Tea, fine. Coffee...ugh. So not sure the words above made a heck of a lot of sense.

Closer...

Did that Autism Spectrum Test - gakked from rahael and graffitiandsara:

( The Spectrum Meme Test )

The meme sort of ties into the movie I saw today with cjlasky
called Closer. Well not directly - the movie wasn't about autism, but it was about emotional connection or rather the lack thereof. It's directed by Mike Nichols, stars Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman. Based on the play of the same title by Patrick Maber. Interesting film. Shown in a series of vignettes and felt at times very much like watching a play. It is about sex, but we never see the characters having sex, they talk about it. In fact talking about sex is how they deal with intimacy. The film is basically about four people who can physically connect, but not mentally or spiritually do so. Their art, their lives remain somewhat cold. It reminded me a little of the film version of Whose Afraid of Virigina Woolf? also directed by Mike Nichols and based on a dark stage play, this time by Edward Albee, about the inter-relationships of four screwed up people. Albee's play is warmer than Maber's and more layered. The characters are rawer and far more accessible than they are here. ( vague spoilers on the film Closer )

I recommend Closer. But be prepared for a character sketch film, one with lots of talking, vignettes, flashes of character. In many ways it reminds me of Carnal Knowledge with Jack Nicholson and Candice Bergen and Art Garfunkle. Removed. Detached. Cold. But haunting...leaving it's thumbprint behind hours after it is over.

After cjlasky and I parted ways, I sank onto my couch and watched Teen Titans and JL Unlimited. Two decent episodes tonight. Teen Titans - I came into the middle of - it was dealing with some old guy who stole Robin's youth and turned NYC into London, and was alterring American History to reflect a Pro-British sentiment. Weird cartoon. Psychedelic in places. With two different animation styles. Flag images. And the central idea? Learn from your own history. How did Americans win the Revolution back in 1776? They cooperated and compromised and melded cultures to come up with one workable plan.
Very weird cartoon. JL Unlimited - was the episode about the Ultra Men - cloned by the government to replace Justice League. The best part of the episode though was the last scene, where the female head of the government actually unnerves Batman - by letting him know, she knows who he is. Yet he hasn't a clue who or what her team is about.