The American Senator

tags: British classics, romance, satire, Victorian era

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Goodreads

Arabella Trefoil, the beautiful anti-heroine of this novel, inspired Trollope to write of her, "I wished to express the depth of my scorn for women who run down husbands." Arabella's determination to find a rich husband is at the heart of this story and her character, though often maligned, is one of Trollope's most famous and vivid creations.

Having read all of Jane Austen's Regency novels, I can't help but compare them with the works of Anthony Trollope written during the Victorian period. Trollope's are infinitely better, IMHO. For a male author, he wrote good novels about family relationships. romance, and politics.

This novel has numerous characters to keep track of and the American senator has less presence in the book but scathing criticism of English country life and politics makes him an obnoxious fellow but he has a point in all his observations. For example, he asks the reason for keeping 200 hounds to chase 1 fox because in America maybe half a dozen in a large estate will do. He tends to question almost every aspect of British way of life.

The 2 women, the young and admirable Mary Masters and on the opposite end, the extremely manipulative and liar Arabella Trefoil are very well defined and unforgettable characters. The novel is engaging with plenty of Trollope's brand of wit and humor.

Highly recommended for British classics readers.

Physical: 100

tags: Korean, Netflix, reality show

One hundred contestants in top physical shape compete in a series of grueling challenges to claim the honor - and cash reward - as the last one standing. The reality show has 100 athletes, special forces soldiers, fitness influencers, MMA fighters, firefighters, mountain rescuers, cross fit trainers, models, dancers - all strong men and women compete against each other.

The first elimination of 50 contestants, one on one rugby-like fight for a round ball with mud wrestling and physical agility. I like that some women chose a man to challenge and so far 1 woman has already won against her male opponent. She's a real athlete unlike some sissy male American athletes using the transgender insanity to compete with women because they know they cannot win against a man. 

 

List of participants here.

The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals

Tags: Netflix, The Great British Bake Off, reality show, spin off

⭐

Disappointing spin off of the bake off show. My main complaint is the 2 male hosts. They have awful high pitched voices that hurt the ears. The Asian woman judge sounds the same although not as bad. She and the French guy are also annoying and kinda rude.

Not recommended.

JUNG_E

 

tags: Korean movie, Netflix, sci-fi

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Set in the year 2194, JUNG_E portrays a desolated Earth in the 22nd century that is no longer habitable due to climate change where humans are forced to live in a man-made shelter built for survival. Amid the chaos, an internal war breaks out in the shelter.

Victory – meaning the end of the war – now hinges on finding a way to clone the legendary mercenary Jung_E into a scalable robot.

The Korean movie shot up to #1 on Neflix in USA after just 1 day of streaming. I'm going to watch it again. I love it for the visuals specially the scary robots that can walk, skate, and leap to kill their prey. The emotional sequence between mother (JUNG_E) and daughter makes this AI movie a little different from other sci-fi movies and I like it. The ending reminds me of one of my favorite AI movies, Alex Garland's Ex Machina.

Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.

A Death In Tokyo

tags: Japanese, mystery, police procedural 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold, goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man was not passed out, he was dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed - the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a super human effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge.

That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man. Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder - and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

Keigo Higashino never disappoints. This recently translated from Japanese to English, the third featuring Inspector Kaga, has numerous characters, and many twists and turns that only Higashino can write without readers getting bored or frustrated. 

Highly recommended.

Kirin is a Japanese mythical creature, Qilin in Chinese literature.

The Pale Blue Eye

tags: gothic, historical fiction, mystery 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart.

Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.

This book was recommended to me when it came out many years ago but I didn't read it because I was disappointed in some books with fictional version of real people *cough* The Alienist*cough*.  After watching the Netflix movie based on this book, I immediately borrowed and devoured the book in 2 days. 

The movie is mostly accurate and some of the dialogue are lifted from the book almost word for word. My only regret is I should have read the book first to know if I would miss the early clues scattered here and there, beginning at around page 50. Maybe I noticed them because I already know the outcome. 

Knowing the ending did not lessen my enjoyment of the book because the parts with Edgar Allan Poe are the highlights of the novel as well as the movie. The book is so much better IMHO and there are many parts from the book that are altered for the movie. Both are highly recommended.

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Bob Dylan Playlist

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I'm a late bloomer with Bob Dylan music, never listened to his songs until he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His songs are familiar to my ears but I never paid attention to them. Only three songs he wrote are in my music library and all 3 are covers - Jimi Hendrix [All Along the Watchtower], Waylon Jennings [It's Alright] with title and lyrics altered, Guns N' Roses [Knockin' On Heaven's Door]. I started downloading his earliest songs from Freegal and we have a few CDs too. My Bob Dylan playlist has grown.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just finished reading The Philosophy of Modern Song written by Bob Dylan. He wrote essays on 66 songs and I know at least 85% of them. He is a good writer and has a great sense of humor. I laughed out loud often at his candid observations. 

Highly recommended.

Treason

tags: espionage, Netflix streaming

5 less than an hour episodes

Goose 🥚

When the past catches up with the newly appointed head of MI6, in the form of a Russian spy with whom he shares a complicated past, he is forced to question everything and everyone in his life. Secrets, lies and diplomatic relationships will all come to light.

Entertainment companies don't make compelling and intelligent spy thrillers anymore. *Sigh* 

This new series, very short at 5 episodes with 37 to 45 minute episodes, is written, acted, and directed oh so  badly.  Adam Lawrence is elevated to acting Chief of MI6 when the chief was poisoned. EVERYBODY starts acting stupid as soon as his family was introduced - the wife, the children, the "friend" of the wife. Gahhhh! Whispering disease is worse than covid. Everyone is afflicted. Sheesh. .Amateur and convoluted much. The whole production and actors should be ashamed of themselves. 👎👎 Avoid!

The Fabulous

tags: comedy, fashion industry, Kdrama, Minho, Netflix streaming, romance 

8 episodes, 44 to 66 minutes 

“The Fabulous” is about the work, passion, romance, and friendships of young men and women who have thrown themselves into the fashion industry. It will portray their struggles to survive in the competitive fashion world and their flamboyant and passionate daily lives in the nation’s trendiest industry.

Minho - reason to binge-watch.

Minho of SHINee and Chae Soo-Bin

Big Bet

 

tags: action, KDrama, murder mystery

Big Bet (formerly titled "Casino") is the story of a man who has become a legend of a casino in the Philippines without money or support, and starts the last bet on his life when he is caught in the middle of a murder.

Actor Choi Min-sik plays Cha Moo-sik, the legend of casino and Lee Dong-hwi plays his right-hand man Jung-pal. Son Suk-Ku plays Oh Seung-hoon, a local police officer in charge of crimes related to Koreans living in Philippines, while Filipino actor Nico Antonio plays his counterpart in the CIDG.

The original title was Casino but changed to Big Bet which is better IMHO. I've seen the first 3 episodes released today, December 21, for total of 8 episodes. Second part with 8 episodes will be aired after a 2 week break. I like the 3 episodes so far. Must watch because Choi Min Sik of Oldboy and my current fave Son Suk-Ku are the main actors. It's interesting that it was partly filmed in the Philippines with some Filipino actors.