Anatomy of a Murder

Panties, panties, panties!  Oh, there are so many good things I could say about this film**, but Kathryn Grant's "deer in the headlights" performance on the stand while Jimmy Stewart handles what's supposed to be Lee Remick's panties is burned into my retinas:  

This is supposed to be shocking, titillating... and I'm sure it was in 1959, but Jimmy has enough material in his hands for several articles of "decent" women's undergarments circa 2008, so it's just funny. 

**Okay, so here goes: I love the jazz soundtrack complete with a cameo by Duke Ellington, the general courtroom fighting between two screen greats, Lee Remick's outstanding performance in the face of the aforementioned greats, George C. Scott's purr as he says "midnight prowls", the way Paul Biegler plays up to the judge with a lure in the lawbook, Eve Arden and Arthur O'Connell providing excellent support to Stewart, and panties, panties, panties!

The Porcupine (Barnes, Julian) 1992

Jump, jump, jump.  It's not Flaubert's Parrot, but it's a short and easy read with a few excellent passages.  I skimmed through several sections from the POV of the Leader; too repetitive and profanity-ridden to little effect.  

Empire of Ivory (Novik, Naomi) 2007

It's good to have Temeraire back with the formation again.  I missed Lily and Maximus (and their people).  In the "about the author" blurb, Novik notes that this was the hardest Temeraire book to write (so far), and it shows.  The narrative doesn't flow quite like it did in the previous three books and it feels like great efforts were made to put the story together, and the end has a big fat "to be continued" on it... and yet, I have a very positive feeling that all this effort is going to pay enormous dividends in the overall story arc.  We'll see.

Maddux back to La-La Land; "true rentals"

The AP has confirmed that the Padres and Dodgers are doing the sensible thing and Greg Maddux will once again be traded again as a mid-season rental. But "rental" is something of a misnomer here. The Dodgers now own Maddux's contract, just like they own Manny's and Blake's contracts. Sure, they only last to the end of the season, but it's not like a "true" rental where a team could send a player under contract through 2009 (or beyond) to a contender for a 2008 playoff run and then have that player back for 2009.

But maybe the MLB should allow true rentals. Maybe the Padres should be able to shop Peavy to the Dodgers/Diamondbacks/whoever for cash/prospects as a 2008 "rental", but Peavy's contract is still owned by the Padres, and he plays for the Padres in 2009 (until the season is a loss and his services are rented out again).

Black Powder War (Novik, Naomi) 2006

Having studied a little German history while in college, the moment that Laurence and Temeraire arrive among the Prussians, old neurons started firing off in my head, reminding me "wasn't the battle of Jena in 1806?"  So it pleased me to no end to see Our Heroes as witnesses to and participants in this catastrophe.  Iskierka is a nice addition to the family of characters, and, when present, is going to give Emily a run for primary scene stealer.