Sunday, August 30, 2015

Books and theater, wacky WIPEOUT race, July-August 2015

Books and theater, July-August 2015


Highlight of the summer-the wacky WIPEOUT race.  The bring the tv game to your town and let you run it!  Guess what, it is harder than it looks.

The organization was great-waves of people and enough help that there were some lines, but overall well paced.

First up the sweeper.  The thing you run across?  WAAAAY squishier than you think it is!

A couple more obstacles without photos-the wall climb, the big balls that jump across, the running (ugh!)
This one looks like tons of fun!




And it was-sure glad the photographer caught all that ;)

The foam slide was unexpectedly fun and easy.  But now we were all sudsy...luckily there is another water slide and a dunking opportunity

Holy cow the finale looks intimidating

Hardly anyone makes it across, but worth the try!

-by Holly Madison
Down the Rabbit Hole:  Okay, so I have to admit I was fascinated by The Girls Next Door....do you remember that reality show?  The 3 girlfriends of Hugh Hefner?  It seemed like Holly was too smart to have ended up there...the book is a look into how she ended up stuck there.  Sad but not too sad-good ending.  I'm sure some of the book is whitewashed, but seriously, who didn't/doesn't think that Hef is a creeper...is he even still alive-yikes!

-by Ben Aaronovitch
Midnight Riot:  a mystery story...but there is magic in the world and our policeman becomes an apprentice magician.  Fun enough to read some more.

Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!  Nice job by Foothill College


-by Deborah Adele
The Yamas and Niyamas, Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice:  Had an immersive yoga experience and decided to continue it by trying some reading about yoga.  This one is a nice self-help book, a little frou-frou, but mostly practical!

-by Jill Miller
The Roll Model:  Also from the intense yoga.  This is a hands-on book about self-massage.  But the book has all sorts of info on anatomy as well.  There are a few too many 'miraculous cure' stories for me, but all the practical stuff is in there with a ton of photos.

Backlog of Lucky Peach magazines:  not sure this counts, but they have real articles, not just food porn!

-by Franz Xaver Von Schonwerth
The Turnip Princess and other newly discovered fairy tales: complied back in ~1858, these are sometimes similar to Grimm's.  But many of them are not full stories, more like anecdotes.  Most are wacky-like a turnip princess, but only because they aren't in our heads from when we were young.

-by Jane Smiley
Some Luck:First in a trilogy following one family.  The main focus is the Langdon family, Iowa farms, starting in the early twenties and going to the early 50s.  Really gets into the heads of the characters-very well done and I'm looking forward to part II.

-by Arnaldur Indridason
Jar City:  The Icelandic detective again:  good and fast.

Romeo and Juliet:  for some reason I got it in my head to re-read this...and re-watch it!  Remembered how hard it is to read plays.  But then I watched the 1996 (?!?) Romeo + Juliet directed by Baz Luhrman.  So. F*ing. Brilliant.  I love all the clever bits when a production gets set in a different era.  Love the costumes and sets-Mercutio!  The scene when they first meet through the aquarium.

-by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buried Giant:  hmm sort of an expanded fairy tale...I had to go and read a bunch of reviews because I felt a little let down at the end.  The reviews are a bit mixed, there are definitely fans and there are the same sort of questions I had-what exactly is he trying to get at?  Yes, sadness, repression of history, and was the setting really right?  ah well, I will see if it sticks with me.

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