Weekend Fun: A Book Fair, New Books, Mother’s Day, The Avengers and Downton Abbey!

It was a pretty full weekend.  On Saturday I went to the 4th Annual Tallahassee Downtown Book Fair.  It was my first book fair and I had no idea how these things work.  I was feeling a little awkward and was trying to get through all the tables quickly because we got there about an hour before they would be packing up.  It wasn't until we left that I realized I should have written a handful of questions before I got there to ask and highlight each author I spoke to here.  Of course I think of that after.  Oh well, next time I'll be better prepared.  I browsed through the Friends of the Library Book Sale but nothing called to me.

Friends of the Library book sale

Venessa making a bookmark

But I did find something that called to me from one of the local author's tables.  I picked up a signed copy of Riding Fence by A.H. Holt.  The last western I read, that was fiction, was Lonesome Dove and I really don’t read western novels much so I’m really excited about this one.  It'll be nice to take a break and read outside of the SF/Fantasy genre.

AND THEN I went to Loud Voice Books and guess what I did?  Bought five Pratchett’s, of course!:

Guards! Guards!, Night Watch, I Shall Wear Midnight, Thud! and Nation

I only meant to pick up three but I couldn't say no to them when the hardcovers were only $3!  So I got Guards! Guards!, The Night Watch, Thud!, I Shall Wear Midnight and Nation, which is a non-Discworld book.  I happened upon a paperback copy of Nation a couple weeks ago and passed it up.  But after reading this review, I regretted not getting it so knew I would need it.


Then on Sunday I celebrated Mother’s Day with a trip to the movie theater to see The Avengers!  And oh. My. Goodness.  I loved it!  Things I loved in no particular order (and slightly spoilerish):

• All the clips and hints given before the movie was released totally didn't give away too much.  I was afraid it would but it didn't.  I went in with some idea what to expect and having read non-spoilerish reviews I was anticipating a great movie.  I think I loved it more than I was expecting to!
• The team getting together/getting to know each bits were my favorite parts.  Especially how each Avenger would team up with someone:  Tony Stark and Bruce Banner bonding in the lab just two geniuses at work, Iron Man and Captain America working together to get the engine of the Hellicarrier running again, Captain America leading the way with Hawkeye and Black Widow by his side, Cap giving Black Widow a boost to hop aboard a Chitauri flying-motorcycle-thingy, Iron Man grabbing Hawkeye to give him a lift while calling him Legolas and The Hulk grabbing Iron Man before he fell.... great stuff!  
• And oh boy, there were some great one liners in this movie.  But it’s Joss, and that’s what I've come to expect from watching his other shows, Buffy and Firefly.  Big epic disasters are fun and all, but it’s the funny moments, the verbal jabs that people make and that he portrays flawlessly have always been what I enjoyed the most from Whedon.
• Thor didn't get a lot of bonding time with the other Avengers, but he is more of an outsider being from another world and I hope he gets more one on one moments with the others in the sequel.  But his scenes with Loki I liked.  Thor, not ready to give up on his brother was great, and you could feel Loki’s jealousy and resentment growing up in “big brother’s” shadow.
• Agent Coulson, you’re the best.  You put up with so much from these guys and you always remained cool, calm and collected.  You were not afraid to stand up to someone who was more powerful than you.  You did your duty and you are respected for that.
• I'm glad The Avengers called out S.H.I.E.L.D., how they did, in a way, instigate this whole mess.  They mean well but they're not perfect and can make mistakes.
• Everyone got to strut their stuff and all their abilities were utilized well.

This is a great group of actors, who had a great director and it turned out to be a great comic book movie.  I couldn’t have asked for more.


After watching The Avengers and gushing over it with my husband (who usually falls asleep during a movie but didn't this time) we came home and I settled in to watch some Downton Abbey.  I watched all seven episodes that were available on Netflix.  I was up until almost 2 am.  It was so addicting!  Briefly, here's what I thought...


My guest list for a spot of tea:


The Dowager Countess
Lady Sybil
Anna
Mr. Bates
Matthew Crawley


The most infuriating, of infuriating people to ever shake a fist at:


Lady Mary
Lady Edith
Thomas
Ms. O’Brien


It was a great weekend and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I hope everyone else did too.

The Avengers And The Marvel Movie Marathon

The Avengers Assemble on May 4th!  To prepare Venessa (who is my movie watching buddy) and I had a Marvel Movie Marathon this week, watching Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America.


As I embarked on my journey of Marvel movies, starting with X-Men, I never really read comics.  X-Men piqued my interest in comics and before I saw the movie, I did my homework.  But if you know anything about comics, you know there is a lot of backstory and crossovers and reboots and what not.  In other words, THERE IS A LOT TO READ.  I mean, A LOT.  I appreciate the art and the care and devotion that go into a comic.  But after getting, maybe, ankle deep into the X-Men universe, I’ve basically limited my comic reading since then to some Deadpools, some Star Wars and the Elf Quest series.  So when the first Iron Man movie came out, I was excited to see the movie, but time and circumstances were not what they were when I did the type of homework I did for X-Men.  I still think about reading through the comics, but I really like just enjoying the movies as they are without knowing all the established comic history of Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America.  Too often I’ll read the source material of some movie or show, and as much as I try not to, I will still compare.  It’s been fun enjoying these movies without some kind of expectation I’ve built up in my mind.


It’s funny that I even had this marathon though.  We, rather, Venessa and I, watch these movies ALL THE TIME.  But I haven’t had a chance to talk about them on my blog so now I get to!


I’ve already expressed my thoughts on Thor and Captain America here so I won’t repeat myself.  Though I will add, having never seen any movies with Chris Evans in it, I was skeptical of Captain America.  I really knew nothing about the actor or the character.  But Chris Evans is very good, and makes Captain America, a character that could come off as corny and a little too perfect, very likable and sincere.


Iron Man, is, and likely will always be, my favorite.  I’m a fan of Robert Downey Jr. so knowing he was in this movie I had to see it, especially after his career missteps.  To me he was the best thing on Ally McBeal before he was let go and once he was gone I stopped watching that show.  It was great to see him back and that he’s been consistently good in the movies I’ve seen him in since.  He’s so good that even my husband, in the middle of our Iron Man 2 viewing, randomly threw him a compliment with, “That guy is good.”  Yes, he is.


Iron Man 2 seems to generate some controversy from commenter’s on sites like ew.com and movies.ign.com.  I like it.  The first is still better but I enjoy the second one and I liked that Tony was really tested in this one.  And how can you not like Sam Rockwell or Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, who I wish had played Rhodes in the first movie.


Now, for The Incredible Hulk… Well, Venessa liked it enough to want to watch it again.  This was the first time I’d seen it and I can see why fans, from some of the comments I read on the internet, didn’t like it.  It was a bit dull.  I could see the actors were devoted and wanted to make it work.  It just didn’t for me.  I didn’t find the characters all that interesting.  And just before the action started, I got up to throw some clothes in the wash not too worried about what I would miss.  I figured Venessa could fill me in.  I was just not feeling that one.


But I’m still really excited about seeing The Avengers.  I’ve been hearing good things about it on the internet and the reviews have been positive.  Even better that it’s just in time for Mother’s Day, which, to me is the best Mother’s Day present!  It’s become a tradition for me to see my Marvel movies on Mother’s Day.  For the last two years, it just happened that way.  In 2010 I saw Iron Man 2 on Mother’s Day, and in 2011 I saw Thor.


So who else is excited to see The Avengers?