this and that

1. Hey! Have you read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy yet, like I told you to? It has been awhile since I mentioned it. I may have also mentioned it here. And a few other times.

Because it's coming to the big screen at the end of this year, and you have to read the book first, so you can have opinions about the movie.

I just do not think I will be able to look myself in the mirror each morning if I do not officially go on record right now as saying that there is only one George Smiley, and that George Smiley is Sir Alec Guinness. That George Smiley is not Gary Oldman. And if they mess up my fourth favorite book of all time, I am going to be so disappointed, and am going to write an indignant letter. Probably just inside my head, because I rarely actually mail or even type my indignant letters, but still.

Here is one of John LeCarre's descriptions of George Smiley. You will read it, and many other wonderful things, if you read Tinker, Tailor. I leave it to your conscience to decide if Gary Oldman can pull this off. Your conscience should clearly be telling you, "No, no, he cannot. Only Sir Alec Guinness could bring that to life."

Unlike Jim Prideaux, Mr. George Smiley was not naturally equipped for hurrying in the rain, least of all at dead of night. Indeed, he might have been the final form for which Bill Roach was the prototype. Small, podgy, and at best middle-aged, he was by appearance one of London's meek who do not inherit the earth. His legs were short, his gait anything but agile, his dress costly, ill-fitting, and extremely wet. His overcoat, which had a hint of widowhood about it, was of that black loose weave which is designed to retain moisture. Either the sleeves were too long or his arms were too short, for, as with Roach, when he wore his mackintosh, the cuffs all but concealed the fingers. For reasons of vanity he wore no hat, believing rightly that hats made him ridiculous. "Like an egg-cosy," his beautiful wife had remarked not long before the last occasion on which she had left him, and her criticism, as so often, had endured. Therefore the rain had formed in fat, unbanishable drops on the thick lenses of his spectacles, forcing him alternately to lower or throw back his head as he scuttled along the pavement that skirted the blacked arcades of Victoria Station. He was proceeding west, to the sanctuary of Chelsea, where he lived.

For some unfathomable reason, the book is currently out of print in the U.S. I'm sure they'll release a new version when the movie comes out, with Gary on the cover, which is just ALL WRONG. So just go right over to Amazon right now and buy one of these or, better yet, this one or this one, used.

Or better yet, go to Amazon UK, where they still have it in print, and get this one. 

Then you will look respectable as you read. John LeCarre just donated his literary archive to Oxford. If you are there tomorrow, March 3 (lucky duck), which is World Book Day, you can go see some of it on view at the Bodleian. I would give my eye teeth to do that. :)

Here's a bit (the bit I just quoted) from one of his original drafts of Tinker, Tailor. I have this as my computer desktop right now, because it is inspiring. 

So let's review.

Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley is yes:

Gary Oldman as George Smiley is no:

Although Gary Oldman as Sirius Black was brilliant:

I will apologize loudly and profusely if I turn out to be wrong about this. And I want to be wrong about it, because I want it to be the best movie I have ever seen. The UK is releasing this some time in the last quarter of 2011, so we shall see. 

2. I really hope they don't mess up my fourth favorite book.

3. I started doing Weight Watchers Online on January 31. I have lost ten pounds so far. I even lost a pound on vacation, which I didn't expect. I really like it. I have a very long way to go, but I will check back in with you about it from time to time. 

4. I had these exact same Nikes when I was in junior high. 

5. Violet still isn't potty-trained. It is making me crazy.

6. I bought a used iPod on eBay, and it hasn't blown up yet. And we have music again, after a long time without. I'm so happy about that.

I bought a used one because my last new one got fried, and then the free replacement for it also got fried, so for some reason Apple did not want to give me another free replacement. (Ha.) We think (but do not know) that there was a power surge through the dock that I put it on. I was listening to it (this was last summer) and there was a crackling noise, and poof. It was dead. And then the same thing happened to the replacement a week later.  I have things rearranged in different outlets now, and so far, so good. The new one is one of those cute little squatty light blue Nanos they used to make. Every day, I tell it I love it, so that it will not blow up.

7. I was reading about the Vikings in Scotland for something I'm working on, and this summary of a 13th century Viking travel guide made me laugh:

Scotland is full of dangerous natives who speak an incomprehensible language and the weather is awful. 

8. Did any of you enter to win the HGTV Dream House in Vermont this year? I keep forgetting to ask you that. :) They announce the winner in 17 days. Claire was telling me every single day to enter, because she saw the special about the house on HGTV on New Year's Day after the Rose Parade, and was in love with the dog house. :D That girl cracks me up. She is pretty sure we're going to win. I haven't had the heart to explain "odds" to her.

9. We are done with Girl Scout cookie sales, except that Claire is boothing this Friday. But after that, done. Phew.

10. Do any of you do Zumba? Do you like it? I have to find some exercise to do. I hate exercise. But Zumba looked kind of fun online. Maybe I could just sit here and watch people do it online. :D I wish that worked.