Tragic Right Updates

Okay so it's been a pretty busy few days, with lots going on, and I love lists, so here we go:

1. 24 kicked all kinds of crazy ass last night, but my favourite part? When Jack retired for eleven minutes. Awe-some. His retirement was even shorter than Jay Z's. And let's talk about 99 Problems: nuclear bombs, presidential bomb shelters with cell phone signals (heh), crazy sibling rivalry, and Rena Sofer as the 'wife' character, like someone that hot would end up with angry short man McCrane, but whatever. Enjoyable!

2. Editing and re-editing is super-hard work but I've handed in my third draft, just minutes ago, of one of my Classic Starts. I've been doing them forever in my spare time and I'm super-exhausted and really want to start working on my other projects.

3. I've been attempting to find a version of microwave popcorn that isn't completely and utterly disgusting. See, I hate butter, love cooking with it, hate the taste and smell otherwise, but every single version of the damn popcorn has way, way too much fake butter on it. And I can't seem to find a damn box of 'original' anywhere. It's very annoying. We tried "corn on the cob" (oh my god it's nasty) and cheddar (equally nasty) and are now about to give up entirely. But hell, maybe that's a good thing as I supposed to be dieting anyway.

4. Tina Fey's 30 Rock is damn, damn funny. So funny that I actually rewound this bit from last week's episode about Tracy Morgan (aka Tracy Jordan) "writing" his "memoirs" because it cracked me up so much.

5. I am going to see Colm Toibin on February 7th. I just finished reading his new book of short stories Mothers and Sons, full review to come tomorrow, and it's bloody brilliant. I've also started The Master, which is on the 1001 Books list and my Around the World challenge.

6. I saw Dreamgirls on the weekend and really enjoyed it. Beyoncé was kind of flat but utterly gorgeous, but I totally agree with all of the reviews of Jennifer Hudson, man she completely steals the show. Wow. And I hope that Eddie Murphy wins the Oscar, but who knows...I'm not making any predictions just yet but I have a feeling that all my Oscar ballots will be from the heart, which is always the death of me in our company-party pools.

7. I read Don Hannah's Ragged Islands. Although not on either of my lists, I'm still saying its #7 for the year, and I have to say that I did enjoy it. Quickly, it's the story of Susan Ann, an elderly woman brought to the hospital on her last days, that floats in and out of consciousness. When she's in her 'dream' state, she's all over her life, from start to finish, and it's fantastical, mystical and whimsical all at the same time. There is a central mystery to her story that never gets solved but I think that's okay because the book is more about the fact that life simply doesn't give you the answers. Hannah, a playwright, borrows heavily from Laurence and Shields, but that's okay, there's room in CanLit for more than two ornery old broads.

Whew! What a week already...