Sentential Links #244

Two hundred forty-four. Wow.

:: And the books haven’t dated at all, despite or perhaps partly because of, their lack of graphic sexual and violent content. And that’s borne out by teenage girls to whom I’ve introduced the novels; they are immediately captivated by their glamour and excitement and do not care at all that the books are set in the 50′s and 60′s. It’s always fun when you can pass on something you’ve loved to the next generation, but passing on the Mary Stewart bug is sheer delight. (I really need to re-read Mary Stewart's Arthurian quartet -- actually a trilogy with one extra book tacked on after-the-fact -- one of these years. Probably soon, actually. I read it in college, during my big "Arthurian" phase, and I remember it as being wonderful.)

:: Which presents the age old question, if you were able to achieve immortality, what would you do with your time? Would you use it to intimidate, bully, and coerce innocent women, children and babies in the supermarket? The Living Dead are not a bunch of rocket surgeons, that's for sure! (Ooooooh, if you ever enjoyed thumbing through issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland, this blog is for you. Thanks to the Facebook friend who linked it the other day!)

:: Last year I spent Easter at Laduree, and as much as I will always love it there I enjoy discovering new favorites in Paris. I recently stumbled across Meert on the long way home, tucked away on a tinier street of the Marais. One peek in the window and it was a coup de foudre au chocolat. Inside the most precious treats are perfectly organized and displayed on the shelves and in the cases, beneath a pastel ceiling adorned with tableaus of gourmandises. Candy coated happiness! (I just discovered this one, too. Happiness is new blogs to page through and read!)

:: I want some stories about a tough femme fatale who works for an eccentric, rich dude who wants to go on collecting knowledge and artifacts, but is too old to leave his creepy, old mansion to go on his own adventures anymore. That's the sequel to Atlantis that I'll never get unless I end up writing it for myself. (A nice post about Disney's Atlantis movie. As I pointed out in comments there, the late 90s and early 2000s were an interesting period for Disney; Pixar was just getting going, and Disney's films weren't as universally beloved as they'd been in the early 1990s. But still, Disney was producing good films, and even their lackluster efforts had interesting things in them. Atlantis is a solid, fun adventure film, and would likely be my favorite Disney film from that era, if not for the sublimely wonderful The Emperor's New Groove.)

:: She slipped away peacefully last month 6 days shy of 98. You see, for the last 21 years, she has been .... figuratively .... patting her foot, sitting on go, just waiting to join daddy. She's gotten her wish and they're probably off together playing golf, again.

:: When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Phil Tippett. (I wanted to be Lawrence Kasdan....)

:: I love the anecdote about Tony Blair’s visit to Washington following 9/11, and he and President Bush were walking through the White House, and Blair made some admiring comment about one of the rooms, and Bush made some joke like, “You guys burned this room down.” There was a brief pause, and Blair replied, “My apologies.” (I hadn't heard that one.)

More next week.