Flat foot floogie with a floy floy...

So. Leni Riefenstahl died yesterday, and very smart people said very smart things about her complicated position in filmmaking and history, and about the responsibilities and culpability of artists living under oppressive and murderous regimes. Me? I watched Swing Kids.

If you haven't seen it, and you like pretty, slashy boys in very stylish period clothes, you should give it a rent. Peter (Robert Sean Leonard) defies the Nazis by listening to Benny Goodman and charming Thomas (Christian Bale) into falling for him. But alas, Thomas isn't ready to deal with all these new feelings he's having for his best friend, so he sublimates with a little vandalism. To straighten him up, his parents force him to join the Hitler Jugend, where wrestling muscular blond boys in their underthings is an approved activity. He thrives, and even tries to transfer his affections to loyal Nazi pup Emil (Noah Wyle), who's safe because he'll never return them (unlike sweet, dangerous Peter). But it doesn't work, of course, and he spends the rest of the movie in angry denial. Violence and evil are just no fit substitute for the love of a pretty brown-eyed boy. If only Thomas had accepted his need for a life full of swing music and Peter, they could have had... well, most likely not a happy ending, but at least a happy middle. Pity. Anyway, it's a good-looking, well-acted, enjoyable movie with a great soundtrack. Also, slashy as heck. Check it out if you haven't.

And nicked from kathlaw, ( today's quizzie )

But he's so tall!

Wow, Tab Hunter says he's gay! That's almost as shocking as Richard Chamberlain saying he's gay. I am so, so surprised. Honest.


Also, a Law & Order coloring book. All righty then.

Just killing time because I can't watch *Jake 2.0*...

Couldn't watch Enterprise either, but the few spoilers I heard didn't make it sound like that was a big loss for a Malcolm-lover like myself, so I won't cry. This time of year sure is frustrating, though. Of all the new shows I want to see, there's one I'll have the chance to see. Hmph. Thank god for video.


And I've decided I want to run a marathon. A little background- I'm very much not an athlete. I've always figured team sports and phys ed class were my punishment for being a torturer of puppies in a former life. I fenced some in college, and I hike a bit (as in "wander vaguely through the woods," not as in "follow a ten-mile-long trail over a mountain with a huge pack on my back"), but that's it. Lugging heavy books around is my main exercise.

So why a marathon? Well, it's not marathons themselves that appeal to me (after all, the original runner died. That's a sign, people), just this specific one: Le Marathon du Médoc, in Bordeaux, as described in October's Food & Wine. Bordeaux as in wine country, as in you run past some of the greatest vineyards in the world, and at the water stops, they feed you wine and local delicacies like cheeses and sausages. Can you imagine? Run, run, run through the French countryside, and just when you think you're gonna die, hey, there's Château Lafite Rothschild waiting for you with wine and nibblies. Incredible. I love France. So that's definitely getting added to my list of "Exhausting, Athletic-type Things To Do Before I Die" (along with "walk across Great Britain along Hadrian's Wall," "follow the Camino de Santiago from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela," and so on).


So anyway, I hope Christopher Gorham was cute and interesting (and slashy), though I'm sure he couldn't be otherwise. His show, on the other hand... well, fingers crossed. (Incidentally, it's funny that I've posted about both Dead Poets Society and Swing Kids recently, because my mental shorthand for Christopher Gorham is "Robert Sean Leonard 2.0." Go figure.)

Oh, and is anyone else scared to do that "describe me in one word" meme?