Random Spring Sales!

On Stephanie's suggestion, I stopped by Big Lots on Monday to check out the new Warner Bros. arrivals. I ended up buying six of those plus three other films.

Warner Bros. Classics
Johnny Belinda (1948)
Flying Down to Rio (1933)
The Band Wagon (1953)
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
Dames (1934)
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1934)

Other Films
Look At Me (2004)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)

The only one I've watched so far is Fly Down to Rio which is the first movie that paired Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. It's one of those movies from the 1930s that low on plot and character development yet with comedy, dancing, and spectacle in spades. At one point, Fred and Ginger dance the Carioca on a rotating platform that consists of five grand pianos. At this scene, I realized that I had seen this film years and years ago on TCM.

The next day I got an email from the campus bookstore about bargain books and decided to check it out. They had a large selection of $1 and $1.99 books, and I ended up buying a lot more than I need.

For Me
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess by Gael Greene
Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating by Jane Goodall
The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys by Deirdre Imus
Biba's Italy: Favorite Recipes from the Splendid Cities by Biba Caggiano
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire by Eileen Blumenthal

For Nana
Sacred Cows by Karen Olson
an anthology of short mystery stories
three Janet Evanovich novels

For Shari
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

I also got several moleskin notebooks for $4.50 a piece which is good since they generally retail for $18+.

Glancing through the two cookbooks, I've found quite a few recipes I want to try out. Biba's Italy looks especially good. It's organized by regions and features quite a few dishes I've never heard of. The Imus Ranch cookbook is heavily vegetarian and vegan which will be fun to experiment with. My meals generally feature meat in some way, and though I don't want to go vegetarian, eating less meat would be good for my health.

Other than reading the first few pages of Insatiable and Harvest for Hope and looking at the pretty pictures in the Julie Taymor book, I haven't had a chance to really look at them, but several will definitely be put on my reading list for this year.