Book Review: Meeting Damian Lewis

Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers.

Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains.
― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

How I love when art gets meta: when a writer or artist has the self-awareness and genuine capacity to make fun of themselves. That’s what we mean when we say the writing is “honest”. There’s no agenda to convince or win over the reader, just a need to show, everything, even the warty not-attractive bits.

With her first novel, Meeting Damian Lewis, Christine Wilson has succeeded beautifully in that effort. Continue reading “Book Review: Meeting Damian Lewis”

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

damianlewisdickwinters2
source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

Dear Damianista!

Thanks so much for the gift of Damian! I enjoyed your interview with him and that gave me a fun idea for Fan Fun! I’ve composed interview questions for YOU!

I’m certain we fans are also curious about the woman who curates the website.

So here is my interview “Fan Fun With Damianista.”

Hello Damianista, thank you for sitting down with us for a few questions. First I must point out that I was positively prescient when I described you years ago as a “pal” to Damian, over your objections!  “Of course I’m right, Bahar.”

Shall we?

Continue reading “NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis”

The King and I: Catching Up With Damian Lewis at Rough Trade East

Damian Lewis and his fabulous band had a special little gig at Rough Trade East in London followed  by Damian signing the copies of ‘Mission Creep’ vinyls and CDs gig attendees received with their ticket purchase. I have already shared with you here every single detail I remember from the insightful chat, fantastic gig and the intimate sighting. This post is for those of you who enjoy reading about my catching up shenanigans with Damian. I am happy to report the chat + gig + signing was bookended with some fun moments with our favorite guy! Continue reading “The King and I: Catching Up With Damian Lewis at Rough Trade East”

Anniversary of Bastogne

 

battle of the bulge, bastogne, band of brothers
Source: http://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2014/12/22/held-bastogne-2-americans-strike-back/

This week marks the 78th anniversary of the Siege at Bastogne, a pivotal confrontation in Battle of the Bulge, which saw the Allied forces assert their most courageous and bloody defense against the last big push by Nazi forces in WWII.

The Bastogne episode of Band of Brothers was arguably the most emotionally intense and beautifully filmed of the series. It was like watching a dream sequence through a filter of constant snow, a bitter cold that you could almost feel in your bones as you’re watching. Like an opera of bodies, bent over, running for cover, crouching near trees, or frozen solid to the ground. You could watch all the action without sound and still feel it viscerally.

Did anyone see the new Star Wars? The sight of the salt planet with the blood red soil under the thin layer of salt brought immediately to this viewer’s mind the red against white of the smoke grenades the soldiers in Band of Brothers set off to obscure their positions from the Germans. Such a visually poignant and memorable cinematic effect.

Continue reading “Anniversary of Bastogne”