Once Upon a Time (season 1)
{5/5} “True love isn’t easy but it must be fought for because once you find it, it can never be replaced.” Once Upon a Time season 1, aired in 2011-12 All of the fairy tales that you’ve ever heard are true — Cinderella, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland. They […]
The Big Bang Theory (seasons 1 – 5)
{5/5} “I can’t be impossible; I exist. I think what you meant to say is, ‘I give up; he’s improbable.’” The Big Bang Theory seasons 1 – 5, aired in 2007-12 Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) are physicists who share an apartment. They share a love of science fiction, comic books, and video […]
What the Dog Saw
{5/5} “If we let personality… bias the hiring process today, then all we will have done is replace the old-boy network, where you hired your nephew, with the new-boy network, where you hire whoever impressed you the most when you shook his hand. Social progress, unless we’re careful, can merely be the means by which […]
New Girl (season 1)
{5/5} “So when I do the chicken dance I do it a little differently. Instead of doing claps, I like to do a peck. It’s more realistic.” New Girl season 1, aired in 2011-12 Jess (Zooey Deschanel) just broke up with her boyfriend and finds a new place — with three guys. Nick (Jake M. […]
Castle (seasons 1 – 4)
{5/5} “Did you know in the original Greek, ‘tragedy’ literally means ‘goat song’? I know, doesn’t make much sense to me either. Whatever that first story was, I can’t help but think bad things must have happened to that goat.” Castle seasons 1 – 4, aired in 2009-12 Richard Castle (Fillion) is a mystery writer who […]
The Descendants
{5/5} “A family feels exactly like an archipelago, separate but part of a whole, and always drifting slowly apart.” The Descendants, released in 2011 In The Descendants Matt (George Clooney) tries to reconnect with his daughters Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller) after his wife is in a boating accident. In addition to dealing […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir in concert
I attended DaCapo Chamber Choir’s final concert of their season, “Celebrating Home.” The choir is directed by Leonard Enns, and Catherine Robertson was guest pianist. The choir sang seven pieces, six unaccompanied and one with piano. There were also two piano solos. I was familiar with three of the seven choral pieces. DaCapo sings mainly […]
Dying Inside
{4/5} “I never could send my thoughts into anybody else’s head. Even when the power was strongest in me, I couldn’t transmit. I could only receive… So right there I was condemned to be society’s ugliest toad, the eavesdropper, the voyeur.” Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg, published in 1972 What if you could read people’s […]
Still Forms on Foxfield
{4.5/5} “Communication is the first right. Life is communication. What is death but the irrevocable absence of communication? … Freedom, too, is communication. How can anyone be a prisoner when she can contact any person in the world at any time? ” Still Forms on Foxfield by Joan Slonczewski, published in 1980 It’s not often […]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
{4/5} “We’re not so very different, you and I. We’ve both spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another’s systems. Don’t you think it’s time to recognize there is as little worth on your side as there is on mine?” Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, released in 2011 It’s the 1970s, during the Cold […]