Back to School - Creative Writing - Character Dev't

Daniel woke to the crooning of Air Supply from his radio again. He slammed the snooze button, cursing his sister for messing with his radio again before rolling over and burying his head in his pillow. Beyond his closed bedroom door, he heard the muffled sounds of his family's morning routine. Stacey and Ethan whined and argued unintelligibly for control of the TV remote. Random shouts from mom filtered their way from the kitchen, followed sometimes by silence and other times by the pounding of footsteps running down the hall to answer the request for hair brushing or clearing of breakfast dishes or collection of discarded pajamas.

Daniel rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Slits of sunshine pushed their way past his curtains and hovered ominously over the random collection of posters hanging on his wall. A spot of light shimmered just below Federer's kneecap. Daniel chuckled as he watched the blob of sunlight jiggle like a tennis ball waiting to be pounded.

He turned to look at his clock, realizing that the radio would be coming on before long and that his mom would probably call for him before that.

"Daniel!" Her voice broke the semi-silence almost on queue. "You'd better be up! I'm not letting you be late for your first day of school!"

Daniel grimaced and pushed himself to his elbows. Suddenly, Celine Dion started belting out something about love. He had the music off and was on his feet with far too much speed considering it wasn't even 7AM. Rubbing the remaining grogginess out of his eyes, Daniel shuffled along the side of his bed to pull a random T-shirt from his closet.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what this day would be like. Last year, school had been great. He'd kept his parents happy by bringing home good grades while also being able to play on the school tennis team and run on the track team. He had tons of great friends and was a member of three clubs: Spanish Club, Stargazers Club, and Student Council. He had survived being a lowly 7th and then 8th grader and was finally on top of the heap as a popular 9th grader.

This year, so much was about to change. Going into High School, he was back at the bottom rung as a 10th grader. He was sure he'd be able to get a spot on the Track or Tennis teams, but as a Sophomore, he'd spend most of the year trying to prove himself to the Juniors and Seniors who were leaps and bounds ahead of him.

His Junior High School was smack in the middle of the two local High Schools and more than half of his friends were going to the other school. He didn't have any friends in the upper grades, and of his two friends who were coming over from the Junior High with him, Daniel was the social climber among them. They would be expecting him to help them learn the ropes at High School. He wouldn't be able to count on them to help him wade through the social floods about to open before him. He would try his best not to let them down, but he wasn't sure if he was up to the challenge on his own.

"Daniel! Stacey, go make sure your brother is getting ready!"

The shouts from down the hall broke Daniel's thoughts and he wandered down to the kitchen.

"I'm up mom, don't worry."

The kitchen was a madhouse of activity. Daniel's mom stood at the stove in a baby blue bathrobe, her long brown hair frizzing up wildly around her tired face. She looked at Daniel through her fingerprint smudged wireframe glasses, another indication that she hadn't yet taken time for herself this morning.

"Thank goodness. Go get dressed. I'll have some pancakes for you in a minute."

She turned her attention back to the steaming frying pan, a two-toned pancake staring back at her, the right-hand edges blackened and the rest completely white and almost raw in places.

"I am dressed. I'll just run a comb through my hair."

Daniel started out of the kitchen towards the bathroom, trailed by the response from his mother.

"I'm not letting you go to your first day of High School wearing that ratty old shirt. Go put on some of the new clothes we got."

Daniel sighed as he stepped into the bathroom. Out of habit, he'd put on one of his favorite shirts, an oversized blue, black and white tee with a small hole forming just to the right of his belly button. The front had a squiggly bunch of lines, dots and swirls making a cool geometric pattern. The back announced his inclusion in the Stargazer club from Junior High and their motto of "helping everyone find their place in the Universe." He'd worn it every weekend since the middle of 8th grade when he joined Stargazers and started attending their star parties. Since the star parties ended late, he often slept in the shirt and wore it the next day. It was threadbare, but also super comfortable.

Still, he agreed with his mom. It probably wouldn't make the best first impression at High School. He didn't quite know what kind of impression he wanted to make. He'd figure that out after he saw what everybody else was wearing and how they behaved. After cleaning up in the bathroom, he went back to his room to change his shirt into something casually nondescript.

Back in the kitchen, he got an approving glance from his mom as she handed him a plate with a pair of hot-burned/raw-cold pancakes. Just then, Ethan rushed in from the living room screaming that Stacey had changed the channel in the middle of the show. Stacey was two steps behind proclaiming her innocence since Ethan had given up his TV control when he went to the bathroom. Within seconds, the two were on either side of their mother, stretching around her sides to poke and scrape at each other while she tried to subdue them with her free hand while balancing a half-raw pancake on the spatula in her other hand.

Daniel shuddered at the bedlam and worked his way to the table as Stacey and Ethan calmed down and walked towards their bedroom to get dressed. They still had an hour before school, but his mom insisted that since they had energy to fight, they surely had energy to get ready for school. Daniel drowned his pancakes in syrup and chased the sticky food with cold pulpy orange juice.

"You should just spank 'em into submission mom" he muttered through a half-full bite of pancake.

"You mean like I did with you? That worked so well after all." She grinned at him as she moved the frying pan over to the sink and set a plate on the table with three extra pancakes. "I'm going to go get myself ready. Can you help make sure everybody's ready to go in 10 minutes?"

Without waiting for an answer, she disappeared down the hall. Daniel raised his fork to eye level and watched a string of syrup try to stretch from the bits of bread back down to his plate. His stomach started to churn, the sugary sweet and the citrusy sour mixing violently with the anxiety he already felt about the day. He dropped his fork back to the plate and carried his cup to the sink for a drink of water. He slowly sipped cool water out of the Spongebob Squarepants cup and closed his eyes, willing his nerves to calm down and his stomach to stop swirling.

Pounding thumps sounded behind him and he turned to see Ethan and Stacey running back through the kitchen shouting some nonsense at each other about who had the better teacher and who would have homework after the first day.

Daniel walked back to his room and sat on his bed. He pulled his Junior High yearbook off his dresser and glanced at comments from the friends he wasn't going to see today.

I can't believe you're not coming to West with us. You seriously need to transfer--Aaron

Good luck being a Viking. We'll take it easy on you the first year--Jared

See you at the meets. I'll be the one beating your times--Sam

You'd better keep in touch. Come to some of our dances or something--Julie

Gonna miss you buddy. Don't worry, yer still part of the crew!--Eric

Shape those Vikings up. I expect a challenge when I play against you!Darren

Let's get together and do a star party sometime--Jake

"Time to go everybody!"

The call from Daniel's mom sent a flurry of footsteps down the hall in a stampede. Daniel set his yearbook back on his dresser and grabbed his backpack, empty except for a single notebook and a pack of pens. Taking a deep breath, he assured himself that he was making a big deal out of nothing; that today would be wonderful; that he'd make new friends and that today would be the start of a set of killer memories.

As he sat down in the front seat of the minivan, he was still trying to convince himself he was right.

Review - The Scarlet Pimpernel (musical)

Lynette and I have loved the music for The Scarlet Pimpernel since we first heard the concept album many years ago. The movie has been a long time favorite and I've finally started reading the books and enjoying them. We've sadly missed seeing the show the few times it's played nearby in the past…so we made certain we weren't going to miss it this time.

Before the play, we stopped at Flemings Steakhouse for dinner thanks to a gift card I'd recently received. We got a great peppercorn filet mignon with a great spinach salad, wonderful potatoes and beans and followed by a very tasty banana creme brulee. After dinner, we raced south to Hale Centre Theatre. Our tickets were in Will-Call, so we were a little worried when we were suddenly stopped dead by traffic. It turns out The Killers were performing at the E Center across the street.

We got our tickets and got seated just in time. The overture began and we settled into our seats for a wonderful show. For those unfamiliar with the concept of The Scarlet Pimpernel, the story is set during the French Revolution and follows the action of an English aristocrat turned hero. Acting as the elusive Pimpernel, this man and his league of followers rescue many French aristocrats and dignitaries from the gaping mouth of the guillotine. French military/police leader Chauvelin is given the task of capturing the Pimpernel and spends the show attempting to do just that. It's a fun adventure with plenty of great action, humor and romance.

The story was brought to the musical stage about 10 years ago and met with success. As mentioned above, I've really enjoyed the soundtrack over the years. There are a few songs that feel a little too busy at times and they proved a little problematic to follow precisely in the live version (the worst offender for me was Falcon in the Dive which I really enjoy, but has a few times where the lines are so rushed they can be harder to follow). Overall, the music and the story is a ton of fun.

Which leads to this particular production of this great play. If you've never been to a production at Hale Centre, you're really missing out. For a "community theatre" style environment and price, these guys truly give you professional style theatre at a budget price. Their sets and costumes are always amazing. The seating is comfortable and well planned out. And the show direction is always wonderful.

My only complaint with shows at Hale is that they are a Theatre in the Round which can be problematic at times. They generally do a superb job of making sure the action revolves enough that you never feel that you're missing key moments while the actors have their backs to you. Indeed, during our showing, there was only one moment where the staging frustrated me (the scene in which Armand is about to escape and has a letter "thrust into his hand"….because of the angle, I couldn't see more than Armand's arm). It didn't affect the overall production and honestly, they way their stage and direction works, I often forgot that it was "in the round."

The casting was excellent. Each of the key actors did a fabulous job portraying their characters. I especially felt the tension and emotion between Marguerite and Chauvelin, even more so than that between Marguerite and Percy (which is understandable considering their estrangement through the middle of the show). Percy's foppery was well portrayed and believable, though I felt like even when he was a fop Percy still felt a little too smooth. Granted, that's a difficult line to balance and I preferred that they err on the side of smooth rather than fool since it would have been horrible had the fool bled into the hero.

Hale's stage is amazing and makes for a lot of interesting choreography and pacing throughout the show. The stage isn't large but they take advantage of every bit of space…including the vertical space. Their usage of above/below for the prison versus the street/guillotine was wonderful and allowed for stark contrasts. Even subtle changes to the stage floor made for interesting balance between the characters. I loved the way they split the stage during the singing of The Riddle…they placed Marguerite on a raised circle in the center and then had Percy and Chauvelin each on a raised wedge extending out of the circle and rotating around the center. It was great presentation.

I would whole-heartedly recommend that all of you race out and buy tickets to this show…but alas, the entire run was sold out quite early….and Saturday night was actually the last showing. But this has been a very popular production and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it play again. If it comes anywhere near you, I'd recommend you jump at the chance to see it. And if you happen to be able to see it at HCT, all the better.

As an added bonus, the video below includes some snippets from the show as well as some behind-the-scenes on the production. Enjoy.




5 stars

Review - Flogging Molly concert

Last weekend, Lynette and I went to see Flogging Molly at In The Venue. We did a quick dinner at the nearby Gateway food court and then headed to the club to wait in line for the doors to open.

The line was wrapped around the block when we got there but we still made it in about 20 minutes before the first band took the stage. We went with Lynette's dad, stepmom and sisters and we were all pretty stoked for the show. It's wild the sort of demographic this band brings. Our own group spanned about ~20 years...taking the entire crowd as a whole there were some kids there who looked like they were 10 or 12 and some adults who were likely in their 60s. It makes sense since the band itself spans a wide age range and has a sound that appeals to a wide audience. It just felt more strange since we were in a dark bar rather than at some big concert hall where I've normally seen that sort of concert going diversity.

The first act was a band called Fitz and the Tantrums. They vaguely reminded me of a cross between a ~20s/30s swing band and a 60s/70s lounge band. They had a fun feel and a decent sound. They had a lot of energy and helped get the crowd excited for the fun to come.

Following Fitz, a band called Hepcat took the stage. While it's tough to exactly classify Fitz, it's even harder to classify Hepcat. They are somewhere between ska, rock, island, soul, reggae, jazz, and probably many other genres I'm not familiar with. They also had a ton of energy and were a lot of fun to watch perform and to bounce along with. Their sound was a lot of fun and they got the crowd even more.

The place was really packed by now. We were standing on a box right next to the security gate to move from the "non-drinking" side to the "bar" side of the club. While we waited for the final setup for Flogging Molly, we had a lot of fun watching people try to cut in line for the bar, or try to sneak past security or pass off fake IDs. Later in the night, there was even more fun at the security gate…a few people were escorted out…a couple of fighters got a stern talking to and settled down so they could go back in. It was a nice sideshow. :)

Finally, a new backdrop was put into place on the stage (an illuminated starry night over a ship) and the crowd went wild as Flogging Molly took the stage. As much fun as I have with their music, I only know maybe 5 or 6 of their songs, so I can't tell you all the songs they included in their set…but they did play for 2-3 hours and it was KILLER!

If you haven't heard Flogging Molly before, you really need to hop over to their site and listen to some of their stuff. They're a punk band with a definitive Celtic/Irish sound and a TON of energy. The crowd was a gigantic mosh pit for probably 80% or more of the show complete with some awesome crowd surfing and wild excitement. Even when they slowed things down for more ballad-feeling songs, there was still a powerful energy in the house.

The lead singer, Dave King, took plenty of opportunities to chat with the crowd and get everybody pumped up about the songs and the state of the world. He's a crazy character…wild and very colorful. As Lynette's dad pointed out, he definitely had a colorful vocabulary. We all decided that it's almost lyrical to hear an Irishman swear. :)

They were good enough to come back onstage for an Encore after their "final" set…they played 2-3 songs as an encore and then told us how F-ing awesome we were and sent us into the night.

This was a great concert and it was a ton of fun to see these guys live. They had an amazing energy and we all had a great time. I acknowledge that Flogging Molly won't appeal to everybody, but if you check out a sample of their music and even have an inkling that you'd like it…I'd recommend you check out more. And if you get a chance to see them live, go for it…it's a show worth seeing. Lynette took a few pictures and video of the show…if they turn out well, I'll post them later.


4 stars

What Kind of Reader are you?

Apparently I'm a "Dedicated Reader." The description seems to fit...though I'm curious about the other possible results.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Sherrilyn Kenyon's new series - The League - Book 1: Born of Night

I haven't pushed too far into the paranormal genre that's spreading like wildfire in the book world so I'm not terribly familiar with Sherrilyn kenyon but I've heard good things about her writing and keep intending to check out some of her books.

She's got a new series, The League for which she's releasing the first book Born of Night this week. To help promote it, the first 9 chapters are available online over at Google books. The writing seems engaging. I'll work through the chapters and the ploy might just entice me to buy the book...we'll see. :)

An interesting new (or fairly new) trend is for new fiction to have an online book trailer to go with it. Check out the following trailer...if you didn't know better, you might think this was for a video game or some other media. It's interesting the way this is produced. I haven't decided yet what to think of some of the trailers I've seen. This one seems to be bigger budget and thus feels more engaging.



Here's the press release style info about Kenyon and her latest book.

New from St. Martin's Press is #1 New York Times bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon's 3-book series, 'The League'! With over 19 million books in print, Sherrilyn Kenyon is renowned the world over as "the reigning queen of the paranormal genre that she pioneered long before the world had heard of Twilight." Fans (also lovingly known as 'Kenyon's Minions') are at the edge of their seats in anticipation for this thrilling new series. The first book from 'the League' series, 'Born of Night', will be available September 29th.

If there are any Kenyon fans reading this, I'd love to hear your take on her books. They sound like fun reads...if I were to jump into her books this fall, where would you recommend I start?

Additional Links
http://www.Livetheleague.com
http://www.Sherrilynkenyon.com
http://www.Officialsanctuary.com

Review - The Public and Its Problems

Reading this book reminded me why I'm not a poli-sci or sociology major. It's not that there was anything awful about the book, it's just not my 'cup o tea' as it were.

The book is actually a collection of thoughtful and insightful lectures-turned-essays contemplating the form of democracy and what truly constitutes a "public", a "society", a "community" and what government's involvement should be in all these.

For me, the writing had some great nuggets scattered throughout but unfortunately I found myself bogged down by writing that felt otherwise tedious. Dewey is obviously very smart and full of great ideas. Too often for my taste, this resulted in (what I felt) lengthy passages where he took a ton of effort to try and expound on a single thought without getting to a clear point until wandering around the subject for 5 or 6 pages.

Again, my distaste is mainly due to not having any real deep interest in the subject (which is part of what he exposes as one of the problems of a public…that there are far too many things out there such that a person can't truly be educated or even interested in everything). I found my eyes growing heavy many times and had to put the book down at risk of falling asleep.

Still, as I persevered an applied heavy concentration, I found myself enjoying and agreeing with many of his premises.

I really appreciated his assertion on the importance of consequences and how it is the consequences of a thing that brings people together. Where a lot of the problems come about is that there are far too many distractions out there such that an individual, or even a collective "public" can't focus on all of the necessary consequences. As a result, even in a "democracy", there are only a handful of individuals sufficiently knowledgeable to properly react to the stimuli around us and predict the consequences to the extent that they can ensure a promising future.

Along with the 'uneducated' implication of having all these stimuli, we also have a problem in that everyone is being pulled in so many disparate directions that we've lost any real sense of community. There are "too many publics" out there. We can't have a solid national or global community because everything is truly a microcosm of each of our individual interests, needs and desires. Any "community" we have is generally very small based on a handful of common interests with others and a single person may be a member of multiple "publics" or "communities", sometimes even at odds with one another.

Until society can find some way to use its collective knowledge and advances in technology and communication, we can never truly have a "Great Community" in the sense of a solid national or global community all united and on the same page.

What was very intriguing to me is that this book was written 80 years ago and many of the anecdotes he uses could be used today without changing any of the language. If anything, in the past 80 years, I would suggest that the world has gained even more "publics" and an even more disparate society that continues to lack in a great sense of "community." At the same time, some technologies such as the various social networking sites, tweeting, and the blogosphere are helping to create a sense of community. But this isn't the type of community Dewey would have preferred as he was a proponent of truly getting to know the individual…and when we're veiled behind the mask of the Internet and technology, we lose something.

2.5 stars
(though I can definitely recommend this higher to a follower of poli-sci or sociology)

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Review - UP

I've really got to hand it to Pixar. They've got fewer than a dozen feature films to their name, and yet they are all (in my opinion) great movies well worth seeing. During the same time period, the Disney studio has been a little hit-or-miss for my taste. I generally "like" all of the animated films from Disney and Pixar over the years, but as a whole, I personally find Pixar to be the stronger studio.

Since Disney officially bought Pixar and brought them formally into the "Disney Family", it feels like Pixar has rubbed off a little on the Disney studio itself. I'm not sure how much cross-pollination has gone on, but I must say I'm very grateful to Pixar for helping revitalize the Disney studios and help them produce even better movies.

After that lengthy introduction, it's probably no surprise to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the latest movie, UP. I've been hearing great things about it since it was released…interestingly, some of the best friend-reviews I've heard have been from friends who don't have kids.

This seems to be a recurring theme with some of the recent animation productions…adults are enjoying them as much as the kids. The hazard here is that the movies will cater too much to adults and then the kids won't have fun. Fortunately, that hasn't yet been a problem I've seen for Pixar.

When I first saw the trailers for UP, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. It looked interesting and fun and promised to have great animation and fun writing, but I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

The family and I went to the dollar movie theatre up in Kaysville to watch the movie. As is customary with Pixar (and with recent Disney animated films too), there was a short before the movie.

This time, the short was Partly Cloudy a very creative take on the idea of Storks delivering baby creatures across the world. The short was hilariously fun. Jason was laughing so hard he started coughing up a lung and I was worried he was going to make himself puke. The other kids were also laughing themselves silly. The great animation and simple story were presented wonderfully and the slapstick style humor made the audience roar with laughter. It was A+ work once again.

As the feature film started we were given a very cute introduction to the main character beginning with his life as a young kid and progressing to his present self as a crotchety old man. This introductory sequence was super cute and filled with great humor.

The next few minutes were a bit slower paced but still kept the kids engaged with funny moments spattered throughout. Before long, the house was lifted off the ground by balloons and the adventure began.

I don't want to spoil the plot of the film, since so little was exposed by the trailer, but I will just say that I truly appreciate the creativity and imagination of the writers. The story was well thought out, very interesting to follow and had plenty of wonderful writing to keep the audience laughing with the characters and engaged in the suspense of the adventure.

Everybody in the family had a lot of fun with this movie and I'm sure we'll see it again.


4.5 stars

Monopoly and the War Effort

Knowing I'm a big fan of all-things-board-games, Greg sent me the the link to this article figuring I'd find it interesting…which I did.

I'll let you read the article because they do the story better justice than I can in a quick blurb, but I'll give a high level summary. Basically, during WWII, care packages were sent to English prisoners of war. Inside these care packages, there were occasionally sent copies of board games such as the ever-popular (?) Monopoly.

Unbeknownst to the German guards/etc, these copies of Monopoly had been modified to include maps, compasses, and other tools to help the prisoners escape from the camp. All copies of these smuggled games have since been destroyed (which is a bummer, I would love to have seen one, but for security reasons, it makes sense) but the idea is that they had the maps and other items hidden inside the gameboard itself under small cutouts and identified via special marks on the board and the box to help identify the items that the games contained.

In reading the article, it sounded like something out of Hogan's Heroes or 'Allo 'Allo rather than something that really happened.

Review - Red Harvest

I have always enjoyed mystery and crime novels, but I can't say I'm an avid fan of either genre. I've read a fair amount of Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe as well as some Victorian Gothic fiction. I've read some Agatha Christie and other early/mid-20th century mystery/crime novels. I'd paid attention in history class and had a basic idea of life in and around the Prohibition era in America and the world of gangsters and bootleggers. And despite all of that, I wasn't entirely prepared for what to expect from Red Harvest.

The general style of the novel was intriguing from the onset. We're dropped into a gritty first person narration from an unnamed character as he wanders the streets of ‘Poisonville’ to meet some unknown client and then, later, to solve the murder of that client.

I really enjoyed the way the details of the story were presented. The writing was very detailed and the narrator conveyed his thoughts and perceptions very well. With the tight first person narration, the mystery for the characters was just as much a mystery to us. Even simple details such as names and places seemed to come on a "need to know basis." Thus, there existed the mystery of the crime to be solved, as well as the mystery of what details were being withheld from the reader and why.

As the story progressed, I grew attached to the protagonist as a cynical hard-nosed detective of the sort who "always gets his man." When he solved the murder, I was impressed by the logic involved and by his way of seeing through the prejudices and smokescreens around the case.

The way the case was solved was quite unlike a Holmesian solution in that there weren't any telltale clues at the crime scene or analysis of fingerprints or paper fibers. Instead, the Continental Op made a logical supposition and then through manipulative and threatening speech worked enough of a confession out of the killer to close the case. It reminded me of the intimidation tactics seen in so many of the crime movies and TV shows today.

I expected the confession to be incorrect since so much of the novel was left unread. Instead of letting the murder unravel, the plot took a different turn that I rather enjoyed. The corrupt "head" of Poisonville asks the Op to clean up the town and gives him carte blanche to do so.

The resulting manipulative method of setting crook against crook was a lot of fun. What was interesting to me, as the city grew more and more corrupt, was that our protagonist had become an antihero. Instead of the altruistic detectives of other early crime novels, the Continental Op was secretive, manipulative, vengeful and dishonest. He had an end goal in mind and he planned to achieve it at any cost. While he wasn't actually running a bootlegging or gambling operation himself, he largely became as corrupt as those he hunted. He compromised those around him who may be innocent or, at least, less corruptible.

Finally, he fell beyond the point of no return and concluded his downward spiral. At that point, I had no idea whether or not the story would allow the Op to be redeemed or if he would simply succeed in cleaning up Poisonville and then leave it a tainted and broken operative, ready to take his cynicism to the next case. While the Op did end the novel a bit more hardened and broken than when he started, the resolution did lighten some of his burden and return his respectability.

I definitely enjoyed my experience with this book. Looking to the few books I’ve read from the Victorian era, I can see numerous stark differences. The dialog was much harsher than that of a Sherlock Holmes story and the violence was more over the top and graphic than the Victorian Gothic novels I’ve read. The mystery was tight and well organized, but the clues were extracted more through force and intimidation than through insight and deduction.

What is even more striking to me is the pacing of the novel. While it did have vivid descriptions and various scenes of thoughtful internal monologue, the pacing was much quicker than the average 19th century mystery or adventure novel. While the story did expose many sides of human nature, the narrative didn’t pause for lengthy paragraphs reflecting on the motivations or psyches of the characters or of society as a whole. Any explicit analysis was concise and well integrated into the peppy, fast-paced world in which the action revolved.

The book’s first purpose seemed to be one of escapism and it does provide an exciting escape from a mundane life. The heightened action and quickened pace would coincide well with the quickly expanding world of the post-war Americans watching the world zip past them. Added to the speed is the vivid portrayal of the exciting and frightening criminal underworld which puts a human face on the stories people may hear about on the radio or speculate about as they drink their own Prohibition scotch and think about where it came from.

This book opened new storytelling elements and devices that are still being used today. It seems to create a new realistic novel that allowed it to show the darker underbelly of the world without flinching. It also provided a darker antihero who ends the novel only partially redeemed and yet more human and relatable.

Likely somewhat shocking at first, I suspect this sort of adventure was quickly accepted by the younger for its fast pace and “real” portrayal of the tenuous world of the 1920s. The older generation may have found it too shocking and may even have condemned its graphic and violent content. I can see the crime story of the 1920s as being a huge boundary pusher in terms of content and style in the same way that violent radio and then television, movies and eventually video games would continue to do over the next century. The shock value would be titillating to the younger crowd, intriguing to the middle generation, and hateful and offensive to the older generation engrained in the classic values of days gone by.


4 stars

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Review - Frankenstein (book - Mary Shelley)

I think I bought my copy of Frankenstein when I was a Sophomore in High School. Pretty sad that it took me until now to finally get around to reading it (I won't tell you how many years it's been *grin*).

Based on my experiences with the multiple Frankenstein movies as well as appearances in cartoons like Scooby Doo and parody's like Young Frankenstein, I thought I had a pretty good feel for exactly what I could expect from the novel. I was rather surprised with the widespread differences I encountered. Looking back on my experience with Victorian literature in general and the Gothic literature of the era in particular, I should have expected what I found, but I had let myself be tainted by the mass media translation of Frankenstein.

Now that I've sufficiently digressed, let me just say that even though the novel was different than I expected, I was far from disappointed by it. I expected a terrifying horror novel filled with invigorating suspense, perilous adventure and chaotic frenzy filled action. What I got was a slower paced exploration of the soul of man, the virtues and vices of science, passion, compassion and revenge.

Initially I was very confused as the first many letters (the book had a LOT of 'correspondence' sections) had nothing to do with Frankenstein, his family or his creation. Instead, I found myself growing attached to a lonely adventure seeker sailing to the far ends of the world in search of something to ignite and maintain his passion. When our good Dr. Frankenstein does enter the story, we then get his very detailed narration of his life from childhood to present.

The novel is laid out with a narrative structure intended to be highly conversational either through letters or through the orally delivered story of the narrator to the listener (who then transcribes it for us, the reader). However, the language used seemed overly detailed and pretentious for a simple conversation, even from a speaker as highly educated as Victor Frankenstein. It had all the flowery and ornate elements of Victorian prose, which feels natural as far as writing goes, but whenever I was reminded that nearly the entire narrative was to have been spoken, I was taken somewhat aback.

The book portrayed very well the details of the exultation and triumph felt by Victor throughout his studies and his discovery of a method to create life. His educational cycle was interesting in terms of his relation with his father and his professors. When the realization of his action finally came about, Victor's agony, fear and despair were equally well realized.

I kept waiting for the mob with torches and pitchforks to appear, led by Victor once he recovered from his initial shock. Instead, the arc of the story presented itself to me and I felt compassion for the poor hated creature even before the novel presented him again for our sympathies. I was certain that Frankenstein had falsely judged the fiend and that we would surely get a type of morality text casting a spotlight on society and our lack of compassion for those less fortunate for whatever reason.

My next surprise came when Frankenstein came face-to-face with his creation and had a lengthy conversation. I never expected an articulate monster, but what I had was a self-educated creature who had a huge wealth of knowledge at his disposal. At that point, it was very clear that his only disadvantage was his ghastly appearance and we were obviously supposed to feel sympathy towards him. Even when his crimes were laid bare, it was a struggle to completely condemn him.

In addition to the commentary on human compassion, I enjoyed the dynamic between creator and creation. Looking at Victor as a god-like person provided an intriguing perspective. As the creator, what should his responsibilities be to his creation? What should his involvement be? I didn't necessarily go down a religious path with my thoughts, but I was curious about the concept of the creator as a provider of compassion, mercy and forgiveness.

Instead, Victor looks "to the good of humanity" and rejects his own creation. The result of which spirals into disaster and makes for a fun-filled ride filled with some degree of the action and suspense that I was expecting from the book (still no villagers with pitchforks, sorry). When the novel finally drew near to its conclusion, I was a little confused as to how it was going to wrap itself up.

The ending was actually strangely satisfying. As it unfolded, we once again gain some compassion for the creature and in a sense look upon Victor as a type of monster. As with anything dealing with humanity, it's not that simple. For Victor was acting in the best interests of the greater good as he perceived them and his logic was sound. Thus, as the novel ends, we can't fully condemn either creator or creation. At the same time, we can't wholly condone the actions of either.

Which is why I was surprised that the ending satisfied me…because it left things unsettled and confused. But after all, that's the way humanity is…a teetering house of cards, balanced precariously on a precipice, just waiting for something to turn emotions and values to chaos.

Overall, I really enjoyed Frankenstein and my only regret is that it took me so long to finally get around to it.


4 stars

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Twilight New Moon?

OK...so I read Twilight back in the day. It wasn't any marvelous piece of literature, but it wasn't total trash either. It wasn't exactly my style of book, so even the first teaser chapter of the second book couldn't really get me into the series with the sort of excitement from my wife and her friends. I naturally never had any real desire to watch the movie (and still don't). I still have yet to read beyond the first chapter of New Moon.

However, they recently put out a new trailer for the next movie and honestly it seems a little more interesting than the first book. It still looks as though it will be filled with some cheesy stereotypical elements and I'm just as unimpressed by the acting in this trailer as I was by the acting from the Twilight trailer. And yet, the story looks as though it may add some depth that could be fun to explore. The 'voltori' (is that right) look to be an interesting addition and could provide a lot of fun tension. It still looks like Bella will be a little too whiny/clingy/annoying for me to fully appreciate her character, but if the tension between the Vampires and their "law" is done well, I might be able to survive watching this movie.

To others out there...what do you think of the Twilight series (whether or not you've actually read and/or watched)? What do you think of this new trailer?

Okie's Amazon Store

OK...so I figured I'd try this thing out and I've set up an initial Amazon Store with some of my faves. It's obviously got a long ways to go if I want to make it truly representative of my tastes and recommendations...but for now, it will give a little taste.

Supposedly, below my typing here there will be a banner/widget containing a random selection of stuff from "my store" or you can just click here to go to the main landing page.

I don't know if I'll expand this at all...but for now it's a fun experiment and will just be a widget on the side of my blog. Let me know what you think.

Terry Brooks - tonight in SLC

To all Fantasy readers in the Salt Lake area, Terry Brooks will be doing a reading from his latest book A Princess of Landover at Sam Weller's Bookstore.

For those unfamiliar with Brooks, you're missing out. I first found him in 8th grade. I'd been an avid reader in early elementary school, but dropped off a little bit in ~6th and ~7th grade. For Christmas my 8th grade year, my parents got me a copy of his first three books (Sword, Elfstones, & Wishsong of Shannara). I plowed through them and thoroughly enjoyed his fantasy world.

What I found as I tried other fantasy novels was that Brooks' fantasy writing was more enjoyable to me than other contemporary fantasy because it felt more approachable and believable. To a large extent, this was due to his character development. His characters are so vivid and lifelike that I found myself more and more attached to them and growing more sympathetic to their plights and their successes. His characters are well fleshed-out realistic individuals with their own quirks, flaws, mannerisms and motivations. Even those who fit into fairly stereotypical molds felt a bit more three-dimensional to me than the other type cast characters in many other fantasy novels I read over the years.

The adventures and struggles within Brooks' storyline were also thought provoking not only from the standpoint of pure adventurism or heroism but also with the added depth of moral dilemmas that allowed for contemplation upon situations in our own society.

This latest book release is the first new book in the Landover series in a long time. The Landover world wasn't as engaging to me as the Shannara world or as immediately relevant as the Word/Void world, but it was still a great read. I've started re-reading the Landover books to get ready for this new book.

I love the idea of a Chicago lawyer frustrated with his life and ready to throw in the towel and start over in a "fantasy land kingdom"...only to find out the time honored truth given to Brer Rabbit in Song of the South: "you can't run away from trouble...ain't know place that far." The imaginative world of Landover and the struggles of Ben Holiday, the Chicago-lawyer-turned-Landover-King, are once again a very thought provoking series of novels with relevant social commentary.

I have fond memories especially of the creativity shown in The Tangle Box and Witches' Brew and I'm looking forward to see what happens to this new Princess of Landover.

Anyway, to those of you in Salt Lake who are Brooks fans, I'll see you at Sam Weller's tonight. And for those who aren't Brooks fans, you ought to check his writing out and let me know what you think. I've fallen behind a little bit (haven't finished reading his last books), but of what I've read, I've thoroughly enjoyed nearly everything (for some reason, I couldn't get into First King...and the movie adaptations are a little blah as many novelizations are...but otherwise, I love his stuff).

Students of the 21st Century

Thanks to Education Stimulation for pointing me at this thought provoking video about students, learning, and teaching in the 21st century.

I'm a little torn on what to do with this information. Having been attending the University now for ~12+ years (yikes, I know), I have definitely seen a paradigm shift even in that short span (short in terms of the world...not in terms of how long it's taken me to get my Bachelor's). Extend that duration to the hundred plus years that our general academic system has been in place, and it becomes readily apparent that there's a disconnect.

Many areas of studies can still be conducted in the same "tried and true" methods of a teacher at the front of the room leading a lecture or class discussion while assigning students to read textbooks and complete essays and other busywork to prove they grasp the concept being taught.

Unfortunately, as is alluded to in the video, the culture today has changed. Students don't want to pour for hours over a hundred pages in a textbook when they can skim the vital information from wikipedia, you tube or some site found with a quick google search. (Granted, this gets into the problem of verifying information found on the Web, but that's a different discussion).

Students may participate in an open discussion in class, but they might get just as much (or more) out of an online discussion held on a message board, blog or even over twitter. (And for another discussion, there have been studies that are showing that the "youth of today" is more comfortable communicating via virtual/online methods as opposed to face-to-face such as in a classroom)

Many/most of the degrees having to do with science or technology are found in an especially difficult position. The world of science and technology is changing so quickly that it's difficult to decide what to teach, let alone how to teach it. As a result, many curriculums are just sticking with the "standards" and then letting a few "capstone" classes focus on whatever's most relevant at the time Seniors prepare to graduate. Unfortunately, this means these students may spend 3/4 of their college life learning things that won't matter or will only matter peripherally to the careers they are seeking.


As I mentioned earlier, I'm a bit torn as to what to do with the knowledge that our education system is antiquated and less than relevant in many/most cases. I fully acknowledge that there's a disconnect. This disconnect results in students who are disengaged and less passionate about their studies. These same students may be VERY passionate about the topic they're studying...they just don't have a good way to funnel that passion and access the information that will help them succeed. In the end, that seems to be the heart of the problem...how do we present relevant information in a way that will be engaging to modern students and help them prepare for careers in a world that is changing faster and faster?

Thoughts?

Review - Babbitt

I'm still a bit torn on this book.

The writing was good. The main character, Babbitt, had considerable depth and we really got into his head. The environment/setting/etc was well presented and really gave me a good feel for 1920s middle America. The ending wrapped up the various elements into a nice little package while still giving you something to think about.

And yet, I left this novel feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled.

There are a few ways to take this novel. From a high level, it's a great sociological exploration into the American upper-middle-class family of the 1920s. It does a great job of showing work life and family life...of exploring the various issues a worker and a family may face...from labor unions to college to prohibition to the overly peppy youth.

From a plot standpoint, it's more difficult to evaluate. We follow this man Babbitt through his business days and his time with family and friends. We really get into his head and get a feel for the large variety of things that leave him discontented. And yet through many of the chapters, there doesn't seem to be much "plot" at all other than just randomly following this guy around.

There are, backing out to the overall novel, elements of a story arc that takes Babbitt's discontent and allows it to rise and fall and thus driving him to some action. But the elements of action felt sparse within the context of the novel. When the story arc finally reached its first climax, we got a few chapters of self destructive behavior and it looked as though our hero was in for a fall that would spur him either to disaster or into some radical action. Unfortunately, neither came to pass and the climax petered out.

I think part of the problem too for me is that I read this in a moment when I was already personally discontented with some elements in my life (work, school...) and so I found myself relating too closely to the overly depressive side of Babbitt. So as he spiraled downward, I felt my own mind reeling, though grateful that I could personally avoid his type of behavior. And yet, once the conclusion of his actions wrapped up, it felt very anti-climactic for me and I felt like nothing was truly resolved the way it could be resolved in real life. Thus, it was as though I got wrapped up in the emotions of a self-destructive mid-life crisis without feeling any resolution to pull me out of the disparaging pit the novel dug. Fortunately, things aren't that bleak for me and I'll quickly dig myself out.

If you're interested in the 1920s...or middle america...or the emotions and turmoil of a midlife crisis...then by all means, give this book a read. There are moments of humor and, if pieced together, can make an engaging narrative. Otherwise, the novel itself is rather boring and I personally feel that it can largely be passed by.

2.5 stars out of 5

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Frankenstein - What is freedom?

I'm nearly at the end of Frankenstein and figured I'd share another brief quote that caught my attention. Full review coming soon (next week?)

What do you think about this view of freedom?

I should be a free man. Alas! what freedom? such as the peasant enjoys when his family have been massacred before his eyes, his cottage burnt, his lands laid waste, and he is turned adrift, homeless, penniless, and alone, but free.

-- Middle of Chapter 22

Family Mini Golf at Cherry Hill

With the end of summer upon us and school back in session, we made a trek to Cherry Hill for an evening family outing of Mini-Golf.

We'd gone once over the summer and the place was packed. This time, a Monday night during the second week of school, the course was much less crowded. We had one group about 4 holes ahead of us and another group about 4 holes behind us...which was great.

We were able to take our time and let the kids take practice shots, rehits and just relax and have fun. We also didn't have to bide our time and keep everybody under control while waiting for the people ahead of us.

Cherry Hill's mini-golf course has been a favorite spot of mine since I was a young kid. I have tons of nostalgia about the place and loved making those memories now with my own kids.

They had tons of fun hitting the ball into the castles...whether it be the one with three doors to choose from or one of those with the drawbridge or the one with the secret passageways farther up. As always they loved the moving dragon and the loop-dee-loop.

Lynette and I each scored one or two holes-in-one which was pretty fun. The kids each did very well also. I know Andrew and Jason each got a hole-in-one and I think Julia did as well (though it may have been one of those shots that Lynette or I helped her with).

Everybody had a great time and we look forward to doing it again. The only downside was that their Pie Pantry was closed so we couldn't get our traditional ice cream there afterwards...but we drove to Baskin Robbins to make sure we kept the tradition at least partially alive.