gold on the ceiling

wow.  day four already {of the new year, that is!!}.  I have happily spent the last two days doing nothing but lunch, coffee and movies.  oh and I got hit by a car last night.  rear ended.  grrr.  {more an irritation than anything else}.

so, I thought maybe some reviews of my favourite things to kick off the year?  yeah!  {sorry, it's a long post}

1.  the girl with the dragon tattoo.
I have been a stieg larsson junkie since the first book got shoved in my directions with instructions to read and stick with it, since the first few chapters could make a girl just give up!  in fact, I wrote a most stellar reviewish-type blog post on it.  shocking, I know!  the summer of 2010 - I read all three books.  watched whatever movies with subtitles I could get my hands on.  and recommended everything to everyone!  since then I've seen all three of the swedish movies.  so, it was with great anticipation and worry that I went to see the american re-make of this movie.

I wanted to hate it.  I really did.  but it was slick.  and good.  and wonderfully made.  and the music KICKED ASS.  now, I am not a big nine inch nails fan.  it's a bit too heavy for me.  but trent reznor and atticus ross kicked this one out of the park, as far as movie soundtracks go.  okay, but back to the movie. rooney mara did a good job of playing lisbeth, but for me, noomi rapace was lisbeth.  and the rest of the casting was really solid.  but I think I was most impressed with the setting - david fichner really grabbed the visual aspect of the book and brought it to life.  {other than a thermostat in the train station being at 18 degrees in the dead of winter - and sweden being a metric kind of place...well I can forgive that!}  because it's been 18 months since I read the books, I'm can't remember what was left out/sacrificed for the sake of time - but it wasn't anything really obvious, in my opinion.

needless to say, I saw the movie twice.  and I want THESE earrings:

but of course, H&M in edmonton isn't going to carry this line.  I am bitter and twisted!  so, if you, all my well travelled international friends, run into them at an H&M...buy them and email me.  I'll reimburse you!!

2.  the black keys, el camino

this is my current favourite album.  and honestly, I don't even know how to describe this kind of music.  yes, it's modern rock.  but unlike most of everything else I listen to.  it's happy.  fun.  good to crank up as loud as you can.  I can play it in my stamp room and I can play it when I'm cleaning my house.  oh, and first thing in the morning when I'm at my desk coming up with some good teaching ideas.  or crunching data.  it's good for everything!!!  my only complaint is that it's too short.  according to my itunes, the entire thing plays out in 38 minutes.  NOT ENOUGH!  {okay, I know this is a bad review - as far as descriptors go - just go buy it.  it's really, really good!}.  or just check out the black keys website...to start!

3.  the stephanie plum series by janet evanovich
I am always looking for a quick, fun, easy mystery series.  the stephanie plum series has been around for awhile.  I've read books four and five last year, then books seventeen and eighteen this summer/fall.  plum is a bounty hunter that is TOTALLY a jersey girl.  love her.  and now, they're wrecking it all by making a movie out of book one, "one for the money".  damn katherine heigl is going to play plum.  grrr.  she is not east coast enough.  and definitely not jersey enough.  so I'm going to stick to the books.  and read them all.  I have one that's by my bed right now.  it'll be done by tonight, if I have my way.

okay.  stopping there.  amazing; you got a movie, album and book out of me.  what are you watching, listening to and reading?  I could use some ideas...