rats, Bird and the city of lights

Ratatouille (2007) - how could i not love this movie?

i think it wouldn't be too far off the mark to trace my affection for rats all the way back to Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH (and Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH)--or maybe his An American Tail (technically not about rats, but, anyway, rodents); Brad Bird had previously pitched two-for-two in my book (with The Iron Giant and The Incredibles) making this, duh, three-for-three; i'm no foodie, but i've enjoyed cooking shows all my life (remember Wok with Yan? then there's Keith Floyd, and now Jamie Oliver and Anthony Bourdain and, of course, Nigella Lawson, among others--nevermind that they are personality-driven as much as food-oriented shows for the moment); the romantic in me still romanticizes Paris and i've been thinking of learning French lately; the music is simply lovely, and i think listening to Elvis Costello's My Flame Burns Blue these past few days may have primed me for the soundtrack; anyway, the point of all that is, yeah, this movie seems practically tailor-made--specially prepared--to suit my tastes.

i envy people who can write for children like that; i try (with rather questionable results, as with Troll's Doll), but i simply can't seem to do it properly; or, at least, not in a way that i find personally satisfying, nevermind what other people may think. now i've got half a mind to drop my current project in 'studied incomprehensibility' (about 13k+ words in) and go for something a little less pretentious and self-involved; something more fanciful, less deliberately, carefully 'adult'. maybe something with rats.

i think it would do me good. can't help but loathe myself for having allowed myself to progressively transmogrify into an utter tool these past couple years, ever since i 'gave it all up for art' and 'seriously' began writing (flashes of--gasp--Keanu Reeves hanging up 'Ted' Theodore Logan--or was it Ted 'Theodore' Logan?--for Don John and the Off-Broadway Prince of Denmark); maybe the change of pace will complete what i'd hoped to get started by going on blogger-hiatus ('a-ha! so that's why, was it?'): namely a kind of 'spiritual restoration'--as cheezy as that may sound--an attempt to shed all the accumulated fluff and bring it all back to zen in darkness.

anyhoo, where was i? ah, yes: i was going to upload Camille's vocal performance of the lovely Michael Giacchino theme for Ratatouille, "Le Festin", then link to it here, but multiply seems to have gone wonky at the moment. i haven't received any word from the Goodly Law-abiding Administrators of Multiply, so i doubt the Robots have dismantled the site for good. will try again later.

on that note (my, this post certainly is riddled with sequential puns, ennit?), this seems an opportune moment to plug E. Cross Saltire's brandspanking new blog, The Theoretical Chef:

http://bangusbelly.blogspot.com/

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and now, something for Mabel:

(lifted from creative loafing, here:

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=261051)

i haven't worn 'dress white'--or my hair, come to think of it, it's actually gotten much worse, not to mention salt-and-peppery--like that in a while, and, really, i'd rather be Remy the rat...but (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the dweeb gets the girl (SPOILER ENDS), so why complain?

just finished: Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, Lee Smolin; The Heart of the Dog, Mikhail Bulgakov (an earlier translation, i think, of The Dog's Heart, which, comparing the two in the library, i found more to my taste).

currently reading: The Problem with Physics, Lee Smolin; The Character of Physical Law, Richard Feynman; Balthazar, Lawrence Durrell (peppered with a second reading of Justine); On the Road, Jack Kerouac (not the scroll, fyi). i also borrowed Gun, with Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem, from the library, and i've read one chapter, but i don't think i'll be going back to it soon. immensely enjoyed excerpts of Glen Duncan's I, Lucifer at a bookstore this afternoon (now why hadn't I given that a go before?), and will most likely pull a copy out of the library next time i swing by.

on the spinner: Picaresque and The Crane Wife, The Decemberists (thanks to Brottish, over on multiply, which i still can't seem to link to at the moment); What's Cooking? A Musical Tour of Tasty Tunes (New and Classic Food Favorites inspired by Ratatouille), Fred Mollin and the Blue Sea Band. and some older stuff: Elvis Costello's My Flame Burns Blue; select tracks from the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack; It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5.

on the spinner, video: Moonlighting, Season 3.