Pandi's 'Pinions

Weather: The blustery day with 40 mph winds is only good for appreciating hot chocolate. Winter is hard on baby pandas and bloggers/blurkers alike; so if you get chapped lips, papercuts on dry skin, or any kind of ouchie, Neosporin is the way to go.

Movies: Hamoon is an Iranian film that traces an intellectual's memories and dreams in order to discover what went wrong with his marriage. Although there were some visually interesting moments (for example, when the main character accidently knocks over his maid and causes all of her groceries to cascade down the stairs in a rather striking way), the movie, as a whole, was lame. The Felliniesque dream sequences were grating and the characters were unloveable. I like my Iranian films with pastoral scenes, lyrical metaphors, and lil kids. Also, dudes in charge of subtitles? Make a sincere effort not to put white text against a white background, mmmkay? It really makes for hard reading.

Books: Reading Lolita in Tehran chronicals an Iranian teacher's interactions with her select group of women students as they delve into, discuss, and learn from forbidden Western literature by Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James, and Austen. While the concept is fantastic and admirable and her writing is lush and thoughtful, there are portions of the book that I think could stand some editing and cleaning up. Plus, Ms. Nafisi, I know you are pleased with the cleverness and impact of the phrase"reading Lolita in Tehran," but you really don't need to repeat it over and over and over again. It's the title of the book. We get it.

Special Feature:

Bruff McGruff's $0.02

Can someone explain to me the difference between You Got Served and Bring it On? Because from where I'm standing, except for the gender of the playahs, there is very little.