[books 2013] Paleofantasy

46. Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells us About Sex, Diet and How We Live by Marlene Zuk

Sick of scientific illiterates telling you that we're not "evolved" to live the way we do? This is the book for you.

Full of interesting facts detailing how we are still evolving, we were never "perfectly evolved" to match our environment (and anyway that concept brings one up against the erroneous idea that evolution has a goal or direction), how we have so evolved the ability to digest grain (and that we've been doing it for far longer than most of those "paleo" types would have you believe) and some of us have an undoubted genetic marker allowing us to digest milk. And anyway, humans are a succesful species because we adapt so well to just about everything - so far, the only thing that's definitively a step too far is spending time in zero gravity.

While she's hilariously dismissive of some of the more whack-job stuff she's found online, Zuk engages intelligently with actual scientific research that argues against, say, persistence hunting as an early human feature.

This is an engaging read that I can't recommend highly enough.

47. Unseen by Karin Slaughter

The latest in the Sara Linton/Will Trent detective series. It must have been good because I read it in less than three days, but not a lot sunk in. Way more disposable than the last one, Criminal.

I still love Will, though.

[film] Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Very silly, and very funny, film based on a series of graphic novels (which I haven't read).

Scott Pilgrim, a 22-year-old unemployed musician, meets the girl of his dreams, but if he wants to be with her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes in video-game type combat. Increasing amounts of coinage rains down from the sky every time he does. While his band is engaged in a battle of the bands type contest to win a big record contract.

Unlike every movie that's filmed in Toronto, this one's actually set there. I would not be surprised if the scene that's set in the alley behind Lee's Palace actually was filmed there - certainly it's how I would have pictured it!

[film] The Conjuring

Saw the trailer for this when we went to The Place Beyond the Pines, and decided I had to see it when it came out.

Holy crap this is one scary-ass film.

I'm not saying it's the best horror film I've ever seen, or most atmospheric, or best back-story, etc, but in terms of starting out with a very creepy image of a possessed doll and not letting up the tension for the next two hours, it delivers the goods. Even when you know something is about to happen, you still jump out of your seat.

It's not terribly original - demonic possession in a big creepy house stuff - but it's incredibly effectively constructed.

I'm so glad I made the time to see it at the cinema - there's no way it would be so effective on DVD.