Erik Emery Hanberg

Of course, one of the things about Tacoma Reads is that it's more than just the book: it's supposed to spark discussion and such.

Past books chosen include "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Fahrenheit 451," "Animal Mineral Vegetable," "Frankenstein," and "The Crucible" (not really a book).

Here's a couple thoughts that occurred to me tonight. And fair warning, these are going to be random, and biased toward fiction.

"2001". It lets you talk about technology, exploration, our place in the universe. And the Grand could show it. (Truth be told, I like "2010" better, but "2001" is probably a better choice.)

"1776." One of the better pieces of non-fiction I've read.

"The Green Mile" by Stephen King. That's right. Stephen King. Lots to talk about there, and a good read.

"The Geography Club". Written by a Tacoma author, banned by the UP school district. Definitely would cause a stir.

"The Plague." Topical, no?

"A Lesson Before Dying." I read this in an African American lit class. And it's an Oprah book, so how can you go wrong here?

"Getting Things Done." We'd be the most productive city in the country. :)

I've heard "The Year of Magical Thinking" is good, but haven't read it.

Any others? On Facebook I heard suggestions for House of Mirth and East of Eden. Mine are decidedly-less "classics."

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In this morning's Tribune, The Nose suggested that instead of adapting Beatles songs for our 25th anniversary last week, we should have adapted songs from the 80s. He then goes on to suggest a few.

My favorite suggestions were "Billy B." to the tune of "Billie Jean" and "Every Meth You Bake" to Tacoma's most "recession-proof product." (I hope the tune is obvious for that one.)

Funny stuff!

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When Mary's mom was in town this past weekend, we watched two old Hitchcock films: Shadow of a Doubt and Foreign Correspondent. I'd never seen either.

Both of these were made well before Hitchcock really hit the height of his talents, but each have all the same undercurrents of his future films.

Shadow of a Doubt was just plain creepy. A character driven piece, it was a "psychological thriller" (or, as much of a thriller as a film can be from 1943). There are elements of future films--the sexual creepiness of Vertigo, the woman under cover, in danger, and with no place to turn (Notorious, Rebecca, North by Northwest).

Foreign Correspondent had all the trademarks of his espionage films like North by Northwest and Notorious, with a MacGuffin driving the plot. There's some great setpieces in the movie, and with the exception of one long section that really dragged, I liked this movie a lot better than Shadow of a Doubt, which is much more highly regarded apparently.

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So when a friend calls you up and says, "Would you be interested in going to a sake night at Two Koi? Oh and it's already paid for!" here's my advice: say yes!!

Our friend Aaron called me just two hours before the 7-course 7 sake meal started and asked if we wanted to take his place for reservations for 2 that he couldn't use. It turned out to be an incredible dinner, lasting 4 hours.

I learned so much about sake. 3 sake masters from Japan were on hand to share their sakes. And the pairings! What wonderful cuisine. I discovered a lot more about Japanese food beyond sushi.

Thanks to Aaron for letting us fill in for him at a great night in T- Town.

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