2009 is Here!

Last night we went to one New Year's party. We didn't make it out to Brigitte's this year. At around 11 we decided not to make the drive to Leander from Round Rock, where we were. We had a good time and I had a few sips of champagne to welcome in the New Year. They had a big buffet and I chowed down on a sort of marinated cheese. After we watched the ball drop in Times Square I got involved in a discussion about books with two women, one a teacher, the other a photographer. We had a great time talking about Jane Austen, Reading Lolita in Tehran, the His Dark Materials series, and others. One of the women was originally from Iran and we talked about the political status of that country. She said many people became disenchanted with religion after the revolution, because of the then-explicit connection between religion and a desire for power. She said the city she comes from in the northwest of Iran is the burial place of a famous Imam and its population of two million swells to eight million in the summer as people come to make pilgrammages. She studied film at university and is now a wedding photographer. Her cousins are spread out all over the world.

I stopped by Barnes and Noble yesterday after our doctor's appointment and saw several of the people I used to work with. Unfortunately there was no money on my debit card and I couldn't buy the appointment calendar and Alexander McCall Smith book I'd picked up! I put them on hold and William was nice enough to pick them up after work. So now I have the fourth Scotland Street novel, The World According to Bertie. Poor Bertie is a beleagered six-year-old whose mother, Irene, is very forward-thinking and has him involved in yoga, saxophone lessons, Italian, and regular visits to something called the floatarium. She also has him attending regular psychoanalysis by the misguided Dr. Fairbairn. Bertie suspects Dr. Fairbairn will be carted off to an institution for his strange behavior and warily observes him for an explicit outburst of madness. Irene insists Bertie have a pink room and wear dungarees of a color she calls "crushed strawberry."

We saw Quantum of Solace the other day, finally. I don't think I've ever let so long go by before seeing the new James Bond movie. I loved Casino Royale, it's my favorite in recent memory, so I was looking forward to this one. It started well, with a beautifully cut car chase through a tunnel and the mountains of Switzerland (I think)--unusual in that you could tell exactly what was going on despite the high-speed action and many cuts. It picks up where the last movie left off, which was also a very good idea. I think the film suffered a bit from not having as compelling a female character as Vesper was. I read that Vesper was based on a female spy Ian Fleming is rumored to have had a relationship with. Solace had two women characters (besides the wonderful Judi Dench as M) who were so-so but not as sophisticated or compelling as Vesper. It occurred to me after the movie that it's about time they had a woman as the arch-villain again. There was a fun scene in a huge Austrian opera house, where a modern interpretation of Tosca was being performed. I still think Daniel Craig fits the bill. William said Casino Royale moved along more swiftly for him, which was interesting because Solace had more action, but I think the motivations in the first one were clearer and it drove the story. I forgot to mention they showed part of the ancient horse race, Il Palio, around a square in Siena, Italy. It was thrilling to see it after reading about it as a child.