J.T. LeRoy is not the former truck stop lot lizard that people believed “him” to be. Fact is I was blissfully unaware of the history of the deception up until I stumbled across this book.

My two cents is, if it’s good writing who gives a flying fuck who the person is who wrote it.

Now, I understand the sense of betrayal that those who fell for it all feel. And, I might feel the same way…

Fact is, I had a similar experience (possibly) some time ago, and I still feel that the writing in question stands on it’s merits apart from what it was supposed to be and what it may or may not have actually been.

Back to Sarah… IMHO it’s good writing. I like it. I would recommend it to people interested in this sort of book. It’s dark, painful, harsh… the harshness has a sense of unreality (the kind of unreality that only reality can have). On it’s own, as a book of fiction written by a fiction writer, it is a worthwhile book. It’s not the best writing I’ve read even recently, but it’s far from the worst writing.

Corny title to this review sorry….

I liked this movie. Two things, it is a great family movie for parents with older kids. There is nothing in this movie that made me squirm as a parent, and at the same time, it was relevant to my daughter as the kids are similar in age to her. She had recently read the book at school and seen part of the movie so she had a built in interest. Her school is an Environmental Design School, and it fit in with her budding interest in animal rescue. My wife had recently rescued a baby flying squirrel and my daughter had gone with my wife to take it to a local animal sanctuary.

Also, how I can say anything bad about a movie that opens with a Bruce Cockburn song – even if it is covered by Jimmy Buffet. Actually, Jimmy Buffet does a large part of the soundtrack including among others a cover of Werewolves of London. I’m not a big Parrothead or whatever, but it’s pretty good.

The visuals are amazing – overhead shots of the Everglades. The kids are all good actors, and it’s got Luke Wilson acting silly. The owls are cute, and the message is good.

It occurred to me that I the kids on this CD are more or less contemporaries of mine. Now, in 1976-1977 I was in 4th/5th Grade, and I can’t recall singing Bowie at school, but still…

For the uninitiated, this CD is a compilation of recordings made at a Canadian school. It was recorded in a gynasium with an interesting mix of instruments. It is school kids singing popular songs from the 60s and 70s. The songs are an eclectic mix. There is a vaguely Phil Spector sound and the eerieness of kids singing slightly off key. One review I read said that it was a curiousity, but I think it is more than that.

Interestingly, I’ve recently listened to the originals of many of these songs. The versions on this record are incredible. And yeah, it’s a fun CD, too. Novelty? Maybe, but it seems like at least to one who grew up in the era of these recordings to have an ability to transcend time, and to take me back to another time. Innocense and Dispair. Childhood can be either one or the other, but is far more often a mixture of the two.

My daughter (and my wife) thought it was too sad.

The story here is a New York filmaker making a documentary about her and her dog looking for husbands. There is something unhealthy in the approach the woman takes to finding a man and to being a pet owner. In the midst of filming, September 11, 2001 happened. As a result, filming was halted and the dog was trained to be a therapy dog. The film picks up months later and the dog is now visiting residents of a hospice. I decided to rate this as worth it, because there is something powerful in seeing the way 9/11 affected the filmaker and the power of healing that is possible when people give of themselves.

It’s not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s got lots of cute dog shots and a doggy cam which is scrapped after 9/11. It’s an interesting slice of life before, during and after 9/11.

I used up 16 points for weight watchers… :P

The family featured in this excellent documentary were later featured on Extreme Makeover:Home Edition. But, this is not a “feel-good” tear-jerker in that vein.

As a parent of a child with disabilities, I watched this film with interest. It was described as disturbing in some of the reviews. Possibly due to my perspective, I did not find it in any way disturbing. The film follows one family for one year. The family is Susan and her children. Eleven children in all although the oldest two (and only two born to Susan) are grown and mentioned only in passing. Susan has adopted eight children with special needs. Some of the children have profound physical disabilites, others have terminal medical conditions, one is developmentally delayed.

The director uses a strong narrative approach to film. The film focuses primarily on Susan and three of the children. We see conflict, tension, mental illness, lonliness, isolation, anger, sadness, loss and yes love and hope and life.

Susan is a remarkable person. Initially, I questioned the appropriateness of her being allowed to adopt so many children and how she could possibly give each the attention they need, but after watching the movie and seeing how she feels about the children and the amazing way she deals with the struggles, I have decided to leave that issue up to Susan and her God.

I sometimes feel like life is too difficult and can fall into self-pity all to easily. raising children is not easy under the best of circumstances… but this film presents a very moving, very real peak at a life which I cannot even begin to imagine.

The film is heart-breaking at times… I won’t give anything away. And, parents should be warned that there is some strong language, but the language is real…

The secret that people who have the opportunity to get to know children with disabilities share is that they have much more to offer us than we have to offer them. That is made abundantly clear in this film.

One last note: as a fan of film, I was pleased with the style the director used in telling this story. The use of home movies, old photographs, and the way the movie is shot and edited make it interesting to watch from a film-making perspective.

Yeah… THUMBS WAYYYYY UP…

This was mistakenly filed under Country at my local library. I checked it out thinking…hmm Tommy Lee doing Country with Dave Navarro – a curiousity. WRONG! I don’t know how to describe the “music” on this disc. Dreadful crap comes to mind. I know I’ve used crap twice… Sorry, this waste of time isn’t even inspiring me to be creative in slagging it!

Avoid at all costs!

Unless you like crap.