Culture Plundering - musings on acquisition and enhancement, not appropriation

My Cultural Wrap Up of 2017, looking ahead to my cultural forays in 2018...

Books I plan to read in 2018

The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad - I am finally ready for this one, trying not to project to much. Don’t have a specific month, but I feel an urgency for some reason

A Lesson Before Dying- by Ernest Gaines , part of the Book Talk event at Bismarck State College, glad they are back to fiction. Nothing against non fiction but always looking for avenues of fiction that I don’t stroll.

(I am a member of a monthly book club and our theme for 2018 is Rocks: has to have a name of a rock in the title. So far, my choices are but the rest are not set - 10 more to be  assigned.)

Malachite Lion, A travel Adventure in Kenya by Richard Modlin

These Granite Islands by Sara Stonrich

There are at least 6 books I would like to finish, I gave up most because they are 2nd or 3rd books in a series and continuous time in the series world wore me out.


 I read 17 books in 2017 (18 if I can finish The Perez Family by Christine Bell tonight). I had a goal of 15 and read less than usual due to 2 separate family trips, and well, other things that used my time. I've set a goal of 18 for 2018.

I am working my way through a list of movies from the 1970’s that I missed in their entirety,  probably because I was a child through most of the seventies and most if not all movies on the list would not have interested me when they came out. I watched Serpico, and the original Rocky very recently and was able to mark them off my list.

I’ve found a number of podcasts this year that I’ve really enjoyed and plan to return to: Welcome to Night Vale, The Memory Palace, and You Must Remember This (the series on Charles Manson Hollywood is astounding).

My favorite YouTube channel surfing has been Leeman Kessler (Lovecraft), Jody’s Corner, Wisecrack Channel, Shawn Amos Sunday Mornings’ uploads and Todd in the Shadows

I went to 4 movies in 2017 (movie going budget was depleted by above mentioned family trips).  The movies I saw were: Tulip Fever (better than I expected),  The Founder,  Murder on the Orient Express, and...Wonder Woman.

Looking forward to seeing Batman Samurai in 2018, I would travel to Minneapolis to see that one.

Peace to all in 2018, and a Happy New Year of culture plundering!

I've recently spent an evening watching a movie about Tulip hybridization,  and love and the speculation involved with both activities. 


Below is a link to the recent movie, Tulip Fever (2017). 

Tulip Fever Movie review at Drunk Monkeys

A pleasant evening in the company of Wonder Woman.

hAs a young person I happened on  a  DC reissue of the origin story of Wonder Woman and watched the 1975–1979  Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, oh how I loved to practice that twirl change from ordinary person to WW!

On June 1st, I attended the late night, first showing of Wonder Woman in Bismarck North Dakota. My original thought that since this was a Thursday night at 9:30pm it would be lightly attended. Well, I was wrong.  The line was so large that the line snaked around the back of the ticket booth, and it had the feel of a concert opening.

Below is my review of the movie posted by Drunk Monkeys.  I so highly recommend it.

 ttps://www.facebook.com/DrunkMonkeysWeb/photos/a.447709248585423.97931.284638221559194/1462738233749181/?type=3&theater


Happy wandering through a universe that includes Wonder Woman!

In early January 2017, I watched The Man Who Fell to Earth again, the first time in over 20 years. In 1989 or so, I stumbled across this strange gem of a movie, directed by Nicholas Roeg, and starring David Bowie in his first film role.

The first time I watched it, I just wasn't prepared. This was during a year or so after my father's death, but the film seemed to express the intense distance I then felt from the people around, when I just wanted to scream, don't you know who died?
 And, despite being an Alien, Bowie was so effing cool. 

After watching the film  a couple of weeks ago, I  had the unusual urge to listen to The Doors song, People Are Strange

Below, a link to my 100 word review for the site Drunk Monkeys.



https://www.facebook.com/DrunkMonkeysWeb/photos/a.447709248585423.97931.284638221559194/1316406485049024/?type=3&theater