Oscar video pick of the week: The 1973 (my birth year) movie A Touch Of Class is the story of two people who meet and fall in love but their relationship is beset with arguments, disaster, and missed opportunities. Glenda Jackson (who won Best Actress) and George Segal star in the film and the two find that comedy of errors is the least of their worries in their relationship. The film pushes them together (with one disaster after another) and then pulls them apart (as Segal's character tries to hide the affair from his wife). It's got wonderful comedy, sharp writing, quick pacing, and, of course, terrific acting. They really don't make films like this anymore. It doesn't have the typical Hollywood ending either.

Let them eat Crake: My new favorite book (just kidding, I don't really have favorites per se) is Oryx And Crake, the "post apocalyptic" novel by Margaret Atwood. Gated communities/compounds, gene splicing, creating new species, these are just a few of the things that Atwood fills her book with. Animals such as wolvogs (a combo of dogs and wolves; they look so sweet and cute but they'll take your hand off), rakunks (combo of skunks and raccoons), snats (combo of snkes and rats) and of course the Crakers, roam around the countryside. It tells the story of Jimmy (pre-apocalypse) and his best friend Glen, aka Crake, Oryx, the girl they both love, and the quest to build a human race in which people can buy the kind of child they want by manipulation of genes. Many of the things in the book aren't that far-fetched and the world described in the book seems as if it could be a reality. However, like all things that are manipulated unnaturally, nature takes a stand and the world becomes prey to a pandemic outbreak. It's a superbly written book and now I'm going to have to read some other Atwood novels.

paul