Stephen King's Under the Dome to be a TV Series

 

 

 

 

 

Reports are that CBS will air a serialization of Stephen King's novel Under the Dome next summer.  Thirteen episodes are ordered.  This is from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which should be magic, but in TV something goes awry and they just don't seem to be able to carry out an ongoing storyline.  Perhaps if they approach it as a prolonged mini-series it might work.  Remember your failure at the cave, I say.

The novel features a town which is suddenly cut off from the world by a clear impenetrable dome.  The inhabitants have to survive on what they have, while the outside world tries to break in and rescue them.  It has the appeal of a post apocalyptic survival tale with the added angst that goes with the thought that they could all escape somehow. 

I thought the ending of the novel was quite cheap and unworthy of all that had gone before.  We shall see how they handle the ending if they get that far in the story.

D.O.A. in the Kitchen: A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn

My favorite blog from the Smitten Kitchen's Blog Roll is "A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn:

Join me on my delicious journey revisiting American home cooking in the era before convenience foods became popular (1919 to 1955), as I bake and cook from old cookbooks and recipe cards of home cooks purchased at estate sales in Akron, Ohio, and other exotic locations."

Not only are the recipes a ton of fun but the author makes you want to start hunting garage sales and eBay for old recipe boxes full of quirky and delightful recipes you may want to make! 

She demonstrates the recipes with photos and shows the handwritten or mimeographed recipe with tips for working without a net on some of these old gems.  There are stories behind each recipe, which I love.

I found myself going back to the blogs beginning and reading through the entertaining posts.  Honestly, if you're looking to relax and fill your mind with pleasant thoughts at the end of the day, read this cozy and inspiring blog.

Revolution: Nobody's Fault But Mine

I had to stop writing about the show for awhile because it had become TOO AWFUL. Somehow in the last few episodes, a miracle has occurred.

Perhaps several.

Charlie’s character has become the sort of girl you would expect her to be given circumstances. Quieter, more thoughtful. Less bullish. Not soooo bratty, pouting, entitled.
It is as if a different actress were in the role. Maybe Tracy just needed time to find her stride and her inner dare-I-say heroine.

I’ve wondered if the cast and crew have rallied behind the young actress and coached her into being a Charlie we can root for. I could be wrong. She does seem strongest in scenes with her uncle Miles. I thought she handled the reunion scene with her mother and brother Danny very well.

The plot thickens. Miles and Monroe face off. Friends since boyhood they are unsure if they can fight the other effectively. Monroe really bares his soul and begs Miles to come back to the republic only to be turned down. A fight to near death with swords ensues. Miles escapes!

Rachel kills the psycho killer guy with a hammer and a spike to the chest. Don’t fool with Rachel. I’m thinking at End Game she will take out Monroe with a screwdriver or toothpick to the groin. Somehow she knows and appears to be buds with Aaron. Maybe she can toughen him up.

Aaron was a really likeable character for me until his backstory episode. Leaving his wife to face whatever bad things would come “because he couldn’t protect her”. Weak. He seems as if he simpers in every scene he is in since then. Disturbing.

Great scene with Miles holding Neville’s wife hostage and Neville absolutely spitting bullets that Miles went into his home and laid hands on his wife. Yow. The secret plan of Neville and his wife to take over the Republic would result in an even nastier regime, I’m sure. Neville’s son will have to join our rag tag crew in the Revolution to overthrow these bad folks.

Unlike some, I’ve been a fan of Nora all along. She is one tough woman but has a sense of honor that doesn’t quit. I liked her back story enormously and feel her desire to protect her sister is part of her deeply decent human ways.

In the last scene our group is reunited at last but on the run with a newly amulet powered helicopter facing them down.  We won't mention the unlikelyhood of a real helicopter pilot being at hand to hop into that puppy and go right after our heroes and heroines.  Or that the fuel in the copter is still viable. 

The show is on hiatus until March 25. This trend of putting new shows on long hiatus before they really have established their audience seems so foolish. Who will remember to watch by March?

Smitten Kitchen Cookery

Tis baking season!  Just when we get all snuggly and extra sedentary, the oven beckons!  Cookies! Cakes!  Interesting meals!

A person can find themselves swinging through the web looking for recipes that tempt.  There are tons of baking blogs out there.  As with any blog, I like baking blogs that not only have recipes for foods I would like to make (some have god awful recipes that you would rather DIE than even know about) but I like when there is a little essay about the food and the writer's experiences with it.

The Smittten Kitchen Blog is just lovely.  There are plenty of new things to try and the essays are wonderfully written and sound as if Deb Perelman, the site author, is speaking just to you.

She has a huge blogroll of other interesting sites on the left under Good Reads.  I've been working my way through the list.

There is a new cookbook out with recipes that have not appeared on her site.  (She says 85% have not).  Beautiful mouth watering photographs, lovely stories about the food and extra tips for preparation success make this a lovely book.

You know a cookbook is a good bet when there are more than one or two recipes you want to make and are likely to make many times.

I was intrigued by:

Brownie Roll Out Cookies   (Perfect chocolately slices)

Gooey Cinnamon Squares (like Snickerdoodle Bar Cookies)

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats  (an intriguing take on Rice Krispy Treats)

Tomato-Glazed Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes  (Tiny individual meatball sized meatloaves)

Flat Roasted Chicken with Tiny Potatoes (Golden chicken baked to perfection with little potatoes)

All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough  (she confesses she once had trouble with pie dough and it kept her from being the pie baker she dreamed of being.  I'm all over that).


As a small librarian side note, I was talking with another librarian about this cookbook on the desk this weekend when a woman came up and asked why we were talking about the Smitten Kitten, something she had heard discussed on the radio.  It is possible I kept saying Smitten Kitten when I meant Smitten Kitchen.  After Googling Smitten Kitten (don't do it!) I see why she may have been concerned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From DOA and Company to you, Happy Thanksgiving!  May you enjoy friends and family today and everyday. 

Saturday Night at the Movies: Cloud Atlas

I wasn't sure I'd like the movie because it looked like something that would all end tragically, across varying timelines.

The story has six timelines and it jumps randomly (it feels random) between them.  I don't think because of the way it is structured you understand that these are the same individuals over time making choices for good or ill that carry down the halls of time with them and change what happens to them in their next incarnation.

A couple of people stand out for always being evil (Hugo Weaving's many characters) or always good (Halle Berry's character, Bae Doo-Na, Susan Sarandon) others go back and forth between good and evil.

I'd like to see it again to straighten out the character stories over time.  Because the overall message was one of hope and good triumphing, I liked the film enough for multiple viewings.

The most compelling tales were :

One in Neo Seoul 2144 with a "fabricant" who is made self aware by rebels.  She broadcasts a message of hope, love and humanity for all times.

Zachary (a member of a mostly savage tribe victimized by an even more savage tribe) and Meronym (one of the last of an advanced race) in a post apocalypic time struggle with ignorance, brutality and hope.

Robert Frobisher, a talented musician struggles to create a piece called the Cloud Atlas Sextet whose musical message of transcendant love ripples throughout time.