A good way to break the hold of feeling irritable and cranky about our current collective dilemma is to laugh.

The old adage applies - if we don’t laugh we will cry. Well some of these films and books have made me laugh so hard I have cried tears of laughter!

A few favourite comedies suitable for watching with the kids are Mrs Doubtfire, School of Rock and Big.

With older children Meet the Parents and Hot Fuzz are great.

For adults, Bridesmaids and Something About Mary are such cringeworthy, funny films. Also the new movie by Will Ferrell, Eurovision (on Netflix), is definitely funny, cringeworthy, lightweight entertainment.

And then there are some books with humour to help us through. Literally making you laugh out loud while you read them.

• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

• Bossypants by Tina Fey

• Lets Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

• Why not me? by Mindy Kaling.

Finally, let’s finish on a bit of a “Dad” joke:

“What did the right eye say to the left eye?’ Between us, something smells.

Lovely to see the neighbourhood restocking our street library! There were some great books in there when I last popped in, including Normal People, Helen Garner’s latest book and lots more … why not take a look on your next neighbourhood walk.

If you’re not fired up by mountaineering stories, then how about tennis?

A few years ago I picked up John McEnroe’s autobiography and Andre Agassi’s autobiography in my travels (I think perhaps at the book stall at Clifton Hill Primary School fete), and read them back-to-back over the Christmas holidays, a perfect preparation for the Australian Open in mid January.

These books are good to read as a pair because each player had such different experiences and managed their tennis careers and lives so differently. In essence McEnroe did it all by himself. Agassi built a tennis ‘family’ support structure around himself.

Read McEnroe’s first. Because his career ends as Agassi is ascending. Interesting and memorable if you are a tennis fan.

Stuck at home, wondering if you’ll get back to anything approaching high adventure and travelling further than 5km ever again (this week has been a debbie-downer for no particular reason hasn’t it)? Keen on some non-fiction reading? Always thought you might like to climb Mount Everest (ie. conquer the world)?

Today this post is just for you!

And, not just one book today, but two books to read together, because they are best read as a pair.

As a Good Reads reviewer wrote about them,

Apparently prosciutto without fat is like a kiss without a cuddle. I reckon reading ‘Into Thin Air’ without ‘The Climb’ would be like watching a David Attenborough documentary without the volume turned up … you won’t get the full gist of what went down on Mount Everest in 1996 unless you read both books.

So these books are about the story and circumstances that led to 8 climbers (a mix of guides and clients) dying whilst attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest in May 1996. Not to spoil the story too much, here’s a teaser (from another Good Reads review),

In 1996, it seemed like almost anyone could climb Everest, as the guides had the whole thing down to a science. It was becoming little more than just another adventure tour. Then Mother Nature took a hand.

There was too much ambition and hubris. They forgot that Everest is a very dangerous place. They paid the price.

So, each book tells the story from the perspective of a different party. Jon Krakauer tells the story as a client of the Adventure Consultants climbing party. Anatoli Boukreev tells the same story as a guide with the Mountain Madness climbing party.

I recommend starting with Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. He’s a great story teller and has you drawn in to the adventure (even if mountaineering isn’t your thing). THEN read Anatoli Boukreev’s reply, The Climb. Which although not as well written, gives you a different perspective that is super interesting, and makes you question a lot of what you read in the first book.

Escape the boring hum-drum of everyday Alphington and Fairfield (and grey skies and rain). Borrow them or buy them and embrace an adventurous life vicariously until you can get back to real life adventure first hand!

P.S. If you then get hooked on the climbing genre you can also read Joe Simpson’s classic story, Touching the Void - or check out the movie if you haven’t seen it already. It’s a cracker and you can watch it on YouTube here.

The Melbourne International Film Festival is now on. I went last year and saw a documentary about Leunig that was interesting (I think I saw an ad saying it was on telly recently ..,)

But this year MIFF is streaming to your lounge rooms. No need to go out! Over 100 (113 to be exact) films on offer from 6-23 August. Some are downloadable over the length of the festival. Others are only available to stream at a particular time.

Not sure what to watch?

Here is a top 10 from Concrete Playground. Here is a list of 15 recommendations from Time Out. There are packages to choose from, reviews and more on the website.

Here is where you can find the details and book. You’ll see that some films have sold out already. But there’s lots on … and if there is a film you miss out on, the website offers other suggestions for similar films (modern technology is great isn’t it) …

There’s also a free short film program you can watch. Enjoy.

Back in the good ol’ days … MIFF last year.