Review of Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher

I just read Shockaholic  by Carrie Fisher.  This is a short, quick read (I read it in a few days but I'm sure I could have finished it in one sitting). Carrie has an interesting take on what it means to be famous i.e. her story about dating Senator Chris Dodd in 1985 and being friends with Michael Jackson.

Although I didn't like this book quite as much as Wishful Drinking which I gave 5 stars on www.goodreads.com, I would still recommend it. I especially liked the chapter about her father (Oy! My Pa-Pa) which was very sweet and sad. She had a complicated relationship with him over the years, much as I did with my own father who passed away suddenly on September 10, 2012.  Eddie Fisher died shortly after falling and breaking his hip (which is also what happened to my dad).  Carrie had been taking care of her father but unfortunately was not with him when he died on September 22, 2010.  We also have that in common. 

The title of this book comes from her experiences using ECT treatments for depression and the subsequent memory loss. "You haven't lived vicariously until you've done it through me," Carrie writes.  Only Carrie Fisher can write about this topic so frankly and hilariously. If I ever get the chance to hear her speak in person, I would definitely go!

Mad Men's Matt Weiner Honored

TheHollywoodreporter.com has listed Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner as one of the Top 50 Showrunners for 2012.  A showrunner is generally the writer/producer of the TV series i.e. the executive producer.  Here is the link to the article and the interview with Matt Weiner (I think he's brilliant!) -

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/showrunners-2012-mad-men-matthew-weiner-376006

Mad Men end of Season 5

 

 

Quotes for Today

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
- Nelson Mandela


"Do not wait for your ship to come in -- swim out to it."
- Unknown author

"You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play."

- Warren Beatty 

 

Skyfall

You may already be aware that the latest James Bond movie will be released soon - fans in the United Kingdom will get to see it beginning on October 26 and it will start here on November 9th.  My husband and I are big fans of the franchise and this will be the 23rd adventure for Bond.  Here is the link to the official website -

http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/

Fans of Daniel Craig will be interested in this link listing the "19 Reasons to Love Daniel Craig" -

http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/10/daniel-craig.html

My favorite Bond is Sean Connery, followed by Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.  The early reviews of Skyfall have been raves -

http://www.celebuzz.com/2012-10-15/skyfall-rave-reviews-are-in-for-new-james-bond-thriller/

 

Daniel Craig as 007

 

Little Bee

Recently, I started reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  It was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction in 2009.  Here are some reviews from the author's website -

http://www.chriscleave.com/books/little-bee/reviews/

A friend whose book club read and loved this book, passed it on to me.  I'm not very far into it yet so I'll let you know what I think once I've finished it. 

Achieving Goals

I read a helpful article about achieving goals when you are depressed and thought I'd pass it along here -

http://www.hopetocope.com/Item.aspx/610/putting-the-go-in-goals

Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk!

Just a quick post to say happy birthday to one of my favorite actors.  Tony Shalhoub, who is best known for playing Adrian Monk on the USA series Monk, is 59 today.  I must be one of his biggest fans!  Hope he had a special birthday today and many more to come!  I have the entire series on DVD and was planning to watch an episode today but didn't get to it yet.  It's such a wonderful show!

 

 

The Impossible Dream

When I was growing up, my family and I always watched Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C starring Jim Nabors and Frank Sutton.  This classic show was a spin-off from The Andy Griffith Show and you can still watch full episodes on YouTube and it's available on DVD.  Jim Nabors is a wonderful singer and I thought I'd post his version of "The Impossible Dream" here as a tribute to my father who passed away last month.  As I recall, he loved Gomer Pyle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqJ2jYumJJo&feature=colike

The show ran from 1964 to 1969.  According to Wikipedia, "Gomer Pyle" has become U.S.M.C. slang for "a recruit who continually messes up or needs extra training."  But I think Gomer had a wonderful, optimistic, sweet nature and even Sgt. Carter eventually learned a few things from him.  Gomer would often say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" and "Shazam!"

Here is a list of interesting trivia about the show from www.imdb.com -

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057752/trivia

My husband and I were able to see Jim Nabors perform in Hawaii when we were there on our honeymoon.  He has lived there for many years.  I seem to remember that I shook his hand after his show.  Hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane!