cucullus non facit monachum: October 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

Happy Halloween!!!

Some random bits of fun for your Halloween enjoyment.

Happy Halloween everybody.

Whatever your plans…have a horrifically safe and fun holiday.

Myself, I'll be taking the kids to a "trunk or treat" and then out Trick-or-Treating the neighborhood.

I'll try to bust out a few 'horror' themed board games (Fearsome Floors, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Vampire Hunter, etc.) and maybe a couple of family friendly spooky movies.

Looking forward to some spooky fun.

First, a quick video from National Geographic on the history of Halloween.

Then a couple of fun movie clips from some H.P. Lovecraft fan flicks

And finally, what's Halloween without a little Danny Elfman?

Happy Halloween!!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Review - The Last Apprentice (Revenge of the Witch)

I picked this up a while ago but decided it would be a fun Halloween read. I wanted to preview it for my 10 year old son. He's been a fan of R. L. Stine's Goosebumps for years and from the general premise, I thought The Last Apprentice might be a fun series for him.

For being a middle-reader book, I found this rather engaging. I really enjoyed the character development. I liked the language and imagery used. And I found the story entertaining.

The concept of the book (the first in a series) is somewhat intriguing. We're in some "County" that feels loosely based on 18th/19th century America. A collection of small towns and villages spread over the countryside with generally religious/righteous people who are very superstitiously afraid of all things supernatural. Which is where the story comes in.

Gregory is a "Spook" which basically means he wanders around the County taking care of these supernatural problems….witches, ghosts, boggarts, etc. He's sort of like a colonial era version of the Ghostbusters. And he's taken our central character Tom as his apprentice. Tom is a bit frightened and wary of what this means, but he puts his heart into the effort and learns a lot, but also makes a number of very BAD mistakes which lead to a lot of bad problems for himself, the community, the Spook and others.

I felt like the story arc was pretty cohesive and the trajectory was generally believable. It was a bit of a stretch for me when Tom kept quiet about his encounter on the way back from town (I don't want to spell out what he kept secret, as it's a semi-spoiler). The Spook is Tom's authority figure and he'd given him very specific and particular advice. It didn't seem odd to me that Tom would have an opportunity to go against the Spook's advice…but it did seem odd that he didn't let the Spook know what happened. I guess perhaps he was ashamed/embarrassed, but since nothing had really happened, there shouldn't have been any need for hesitation. Still, I guess that's probably just me trying to put an adult mindset on a child's behavior.

Anyway, the story progressed well and I found myself caught up in the suspense and horror of the events as they unfolded. Things went from bad to worse to disastrous. And it felt like a natural rather than contrived flow. I was somewhat surprised at how everything finally came to a resolution.

So, overall, I enjoyed the book and found it an entertainingly creepy read. But, would I recommend it for my ten year old? NO. I would not. Part of me wants to because it was an entertaining read…but the larger part of me doesn't want to because this is a dark and gritty book. It's definitely written with children in mind. The horror stays on the tamer side of things…but it's still very creepy and very dark. The elements of violence and segments of gruesome interactions would certainly be frightening to anyone with tender sensitivities. Perhaps I'm being over protective as a parent…but I don't feel like this is the sort of book for a young reader. I could see the content working for a teenage audience…but by that point, it may come off as a little thin for teens who would rather graduate up to adult horror/thrillers.

Generally, I give the writing and the story 3.5 out of 5 stars, but even though it's a "kids" book, I can't recommend it for youngsters.

3.5 out of 5

View all my reviews

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wednesday Writings # 33 - Motivation

Welcome to my weekly "Wednesday Writing" post. These weekly exercises serve as motivation to ensure that I spend at least 30-60 minutes each week doing some creative writing. In the ideal week, I will write every day. But at the very least, I will do at least one writing segment which I will share here on my blog.

I intended the "wednesday writings" to be individual exercises or stories but since April, I have been continuing the same story thread and doing some general free writing using the same characters and continuing the plot. There are some definite continuity issues in the overall course of the story, but I have slowly come upon a cohesive plot (which will require significant editing of earlier editions to make them valid). You can find the entire story by clicking through the following chronological links:

Not sure what I think of this yet. We shall see.

Enjoy.

Motivation

Dalton casually sipped his drink through sinister smiling lips. Everyone else stared at Gabby. Gabby shuddered involuntarily as chills swept over her skin and her heart fell into her feet. She wanted to speak. To scream. But she felt like her mouth was filled with cotton. Her throat tightened and her head grew thick and heavy. She heard someone speak but the voice sounded distant and everything around her looked like it was in a cloud.

A hand touched her softly on the shoulder and shook her from the daze. She was suddenly aware of Julie standing beside Dalton's chair shouting violently at him and flailing her arms wildly trying to reach him. Carlisle struggled to hold her back, his eyes looking pleadingly at Evan for assistance. Dalton just stared on with sadistic laughter mirrored in his eyes.

Gabby looked over at Evan. His hand squeezed her shoulder and then he pulled her to him and hugged her tight. The noise around her vanished again. She buried her face in his shoulder and blocked out the world. With his strong arms around her, she felt comfortable. Safe. Secure. Then the sounds of Julie's outburst broke through her concentration again and the horror of the situation brought her spinning back to the present. She pulled back from Evan and turned towards the others.

"Stop it. STOP IT!"

She had to scream to get Julie's attention. Julie stopped shouting and pulling against Carlisle's grip. She glared at Carlisle without speaking. He held her still for a moment more but when she patted his arms and nodded her head, he let her go. She stood still for a second then made a quick jump at Dalton and punched him as hard as she could. His glass went flying across the room and shattered against the baseboard. Carlisle raced to grab Julie again but she shoved him off and walked back around to Gabby.

Dalton regained his composure quickly but lightly rubbed the side of his face, patting gently the area just below his left eye. Gabby just stared at him, unsure what to say. She wasn't even sure if she could talk to him. To the man who just admited to killing her mother. To the man who, sometime in the future, would kill her. She shuddered again and turned away. Evan wrapped his arms around her and spoke the words she couldn't bring herself to say.

"Alright. So you've proven to us that you're homicidal. Psycopathic. Why do you expect this confession to endear you to us? If anything, shouldn't it make us more desirous to see you behind bars?"

"Or dead!"

Julie lunged a half step towards Dalton again. It was an idle threat but she'd hoped he would at least have the decency to flinch. Instead, he just sat still and looked at each of them in turn. Then with a slight chuckle, he replied.

"Homicidal? Psychopathic? Really Evan? I would have thought you knew me better by now. Tsk. Tsk. I may have different methods than you, but I am not an evil man. I simply push the bounds of scientific ethics."

Evan began to interrupt but Dalton raised his hand and continued speaking.

"If the victim of a murder is once again alive...? If the very act of killing is negated to the point that the actions never happened...? If the event is made void...? Where is the harm? Indeed my dear friends. With a few simple actions, all of the violence and crimes we discuss will be erased so thoroughly there can be no culpability for there will be no crime.

"However, if you go against my wishes. If you fail to cooperate. Not only will horrific events come to pass but you, my dear friends, will be accessories to the very murders of which we speak. For you know of the events. You have the means to stop them. You have the means to force my hand. Your failure to comply will result in your own guilt."

Dalton paused for effect but quickly spoke again when Evan prepared to reply.

"I mean none of you any harm. I am ethical and compassionate. But I have seen the future as well as the past and I found no other way to persuade you to help me. And I will have your assistance. One way. Or another."

His eyes tightened and Gabby felt as though he were staring directly into her soul. The force of his eyes was so strong she again buried her head in Evan's shoulder.

"What is it you want from us?"

Dalton continued to stare at Gabby a moment longer before looking at Evan to answer the question.

"I want the same thing all of you now desire. I have lives that need saving. I have lost people very dear to me and I need your help to bring them back to me."

As he paused, Gabby thought she heard sorrow in his voice. A small tingle of compassion started to tickle in her head but she fought it down and forced a scowl.

"Evan and Carlisle. You know of the events by which I lost my wife and daughter."

He paused and each of the men exchanged glances and nods but said nothing.

"Gabrielle. My three-year-old daughter Samantha was diagnosed with leukemia. Chemotherapy was prescribed as the first treatment option. My wife and I watched as she was treated. She exhibited most of the normal side effects. Hair loss. Nausea. Vomiting. Then the doctors told us she was suffering from tumor lysis syndrome. The chemotherapy had broken open the cancerous cells and flooded and overwhelmed the kidneys.

"My wife and I watched the world pass around us as though we were spectators rather than participants. Different forms of chemotherapy and radiation treatment were attempted. All to no avail. She seemed to be getting worse instead of better. Finally, things started looking up. The doctors grew hopeful and talked about remission.

"After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally released to come home but with a huge pile of documents to read and strict instructions on follow up visits and when to call or return to the hospital. My wife and I were both so overjoyed to have her home. So happy in fact, that neither of us wanted to admit the truth when, just 3 weeks after coming home, Samantha's cancer relapsed.

"Back in the hospital we were frantic. The doctors began talking about alternative treatments, surgeries or transplants. My wife and I were each tested. To our delighted amazement, my wife's tissue type was a close enough match to Samantha's that she was a viable donor.

"The stem cell transplant was scheduled and my wife and I held each other and cried ourselves to sleep with joy the night before the surgery. I sat paralyzed in my daughter's hospital room while I waited for the news. Hours passed. Nurse's came in from time to time to reassure me that all was going well. And then. Nothing."

Gabby heard Dalton's voice break. He poured himself another glass of water and took a long drink.

"After nearly two hours with no communication with anyone, I went out to the nurse's station and asked for an update. She dialed up a doctor and asked about the surgery. I couldn't hear what was said, but by the way the color drained from her face, I knew something was wrong. She tried to shake off her worry as she hung up the phone and told me the doctor was on his way to talk with me. I asked her what he said, but she just shook her head and told me to wait for the doctor. Then she turned away and fiddled idly with some papers on the table behind her.

"A moment later, a doctor I hadn't seen before approached and asked my name. His face was tired and sad. He led me back to my daughter's room and asked me to sit. I told him I'd rather stand. He told me there were complications. My wife's heart had failed partway through the operation. They were able to get it started again but then it stopped again. They started it a second time and have been monitoring it for the past thirty minutes. Her pulse was abnormally low and her oxygen levels were not holding. For some reason, her body was slowing down.

"The doctor sighed sadly and put a hand on my shoulder. He told me that it was touch and go but he was confident they would be able to revive her. I felt the tears in my eyes and my throat. I fought hard to choke down my emotions enough to ask about my daughter. He explained that they were only just now finishing her treatment but that it was looking to be a success.

"Right in the middle of his reassurance, the nurse came in and told him he had an emergency call. I stood in the doorway of my daughter's room and watched as he took the call on the phone at the nurse's station. It seemed like he kept glancing back at me and trying to avoid my gaze. I thought I was being paranoid but then he looked back at me and held my stare, his face drawn and hollow. His lips moved and he handed the phone back to the nurse.

"In a blur, I remember him walking over to me and putting his hand on my shoulder. Telling me that my daughter had gone into shock and he had to go attend to her. He....he....the next time I saw him. He was apologizing. Neither my wife nor my daughter had survived."

Gabby just stared as Dalton began to cry. Five minutes ago, she hated this man and was ready to kill him. Now, she struggled not to pity him. He struggled to speak again.

"I....My, my world fell apart. Everything collapsed in on itself. I didn't know which way was up. Some fancy lawyer from the university ended up getting me an enormous settlement that paid for this home and left me comfortable for as long as I could see. But I didn't know how to be comfortable. I had lost everything. I saw no sense in living. No purpose."

He looked straight at Gabby, his eyes afire.

"That was five years ago this winter. I withdrew from everything for nearly a year. I finally went back to work teaching. One of my students that spring submitted a paper on time travel and it became my new fascination. My obsession. I promised myself that I would find a way to turn back the clock and save them. For years I felt like I was turning into the crazed lunatic that others claimed I was. But then, you came into my life. You Gabrielle, with your dreams. Your visions. Placed with the genius and aptitude of Carlisle and your boyfriend Evan, along with my resources and persistance, I finally saw the truth that had long elluded me. Through you, I found the path I needed. You Gabrielle, can bring them back to me."

A shiver raced down Gabby's spine. She stumbled forward and collapsed into the chair in front of her. She met Dalton's gaze and stared him down. She watched the tears trickle down his cheeks. She closed her eyes, and cried.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Review - Foucault's Pendulum

I picked this book up more than a decade ago. I started reading it once but couldn't get into it. When The DaVinci Code came out, somebody recommended this book to me as a "thinking man's DaVinci Code." And yet it still took me another 4-5 years to read it. I'm sad that it took me so long to finally get to this book.

The first thing I'll say is that this is an incredibly dense book. I'm generally a pretty fast reader. But with this book, my reading speed was generally cut at least in half either by the writing or by forcing myself to slow it down. There is just so much going on that this book truly requires more time spent on each page.

The high level story is actually fairly simplistic. To an extent I would almost simplify it and say that this is the story of what happens prior to the opening pages of the DaVinci Code novel...the book opens in a museum with our protagonist, Casaubon anxiously awaiting some midnight ritual that could result in death but then the next ~400+ pages are told in flashback to let us know how we got to this point. So where DaVinci Code starts with a ritualistic death in a museum and works to solve the mystery, Foucault starts with the musuem but then backtracks to show how we got there and (eventually) ends with the events in the museum.

The story involves a group of overly educated folks working together at a publishing house. As they receive a number of outlandish books about various conspiracy theories, they finally decide to create their own theory from their own knowledge and information as well as by piecing together bits from all of these other books. They create a very coherent plan that outlines centuries/millenia of plotting by Templars and other Holy Orders. Naturally, their plan comes too close to the truth (or does it?) and gets them all in trouble.

Interestingly, this basic synopsis was outlined on the back cover of the book. However, aside from the first few pages in the museum, it takes a few hundred pages before the group of people get together at the publishing house and start working on their own plan.

Instead of jumping right into the action and giving us an intense action-packed novel, the author provides us a "teaser" of the action to come (the museum) but then takes us back in time many years and allows us to follow the educational pattern that eventually provides the adequate knowledge to develop this intricate plan.

We follow Casaubon from Europe to South America and back again over decades. We relive his interesting experiences with different cults, mystics, and others. We're also taken on flashbacks as he talks with one of the other men, Belbo, about his childhood during World War II and there are numerous segments of psychological analysis of his experiences. Indeed, even though we are living the story through Casaubon's narration, there are a number of segments told from Belbo's point of view either as he spoke to Casaubon or as Casaubon reads some journal-type writing by Belbo.

So, the general story of this book is fairly simple and easy to follow. But the amount of information presented is staggering. It took me a number of chapters to get a feel for the narrative style but once I did, I found a lot of passages to be very humorous and witty.

Naturally I didn't have time or energy to go through and validate each of the various historical commentaries made by the characters. They were all presented with a great sense of authority. Indeed, part of the theme of the novel, at least from my perspective, is that readers SHOULD question what they're presented rather than just accepting it as fact. Furthermore, even if there is plenty of truth in what is presented, that doesn't necessarily mean that the end result is true.

Through the absurdity with which Casaubon and his friends develop "The Plan" and the further absurdity by which it is accepted, Eco seems to be presenting the argument that conspiracy theories and theorists are far to eager to jump at their desired solution rather than appropriately seeking out the true and logical answer. I especially loved a scene near the end of the book where Casaubon's girlfriend Lia reads "The Plan" and gives her own interpretation of their pieced together facts...an interpretation much more mundane and far less dangerous.

While it took me a long time to get into this book and a long time to finish it due to the density of reading....I really enjoyed this book. I loved hearing the various historical stories (true or not) and the interesting analysis of the motives and ideas of these various cults and groups. The action/adventure of the story was a lot of fun too, though in terms of page volume, that was definitely a very small portion of the overall work.

I'm also intrigued by the idea that the back and forth nature of the narrative may be some experimental metafiction of letting the book behave like the pendulum itself....criss crossing back and forth over a space providing various insights at the intersections. I don't know if it would play out but I'd be interested to track the narrative trajectory back and forth across the pages and see if any sort of pendulum-like pattern emerged.

I certainly can't recommend it to everyone. But if you're a history buff, a conspiracy theory fan, a literary buff or just looking for a deep and thought provoking read (and you have the time and energy to invest in it), then definitely check this out.

3.5 out of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Review - RED

I've been a fan of Bruce Willis since Moonlighting (yes, I watched it) and Die Hard. I haven't seen all of his movies, but I've seen a lot and I really enjoy his work. That said, the trailer for RED naturally enticed me. Add to it the quirkyness of John Malkovich, the solid Morgan Freeman, the classy Helen Mirren and the unpredictable Mary-Louise Parker and it was a must-see.

As with many sensationalist and humorous trailers, there's always the risk that the preview covers most of the action or humor. I went into the movie expecting some general fun, but not much more.

The plot was generally presented in the trailer. Fortunately, it became a bit deeper and involved a bit of mystery/deduction. This certainly wasn't any Bourne adventure, but it was intriguing to watch Bruce and his team unravel the plot.

I absolutely loved John Malkovich's character. He was so absolutely insane to provide great comic relief while remaining absolutely serious.

Naturally, a lot of the action was completely over the top and unbelievable. This is based on a comic / graphic novel after all. Furthermore, the ridiculous action sequences just added to the charicatured humor of the movie.

At the end of the film, I was left laughing and happy...the way you should after a completely escapist style film. It's not heavy. It's not deep. But it's got fabulous acting, a fun plot and good writing/direction.

4 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wednesday Writings # 32 - Unraveling the Plot

I always appreciate critiques, suggestions, comments, etc. This writing is certainly unpolished and free form but I'm always up for comments to help improve things or just get general feedback on the story.

This week has a fair amount of monologuing as Dalton explains a variety of safeguards he's put in place. His comments are left intentionally vague to be more threatening/frightening to the listeners...but I hope they still flow well in the writing. Let me know.

Enjoy.

Unraveling the Plot

Gabby stood in the kitchen thinking through the situation. She mechanically pulled out some bread and cheese and began making a sandwich while mulling over details in her mind. Dalton sat handcuffed to a dining room chair in the next room. And yet, he seemed just as smug and confident as ever. She didn't understand it.

New voices from the dining room shattered her concentration and she raced through the door to see Evan and Julie standing beside the table. Gabby did a half skip over to Julie and pulled her into a tight hug. Both girls worked to hold back tears. For a few moments, there was silence. Then Dalton cleared his throat sharply.

"Well. Yes. Now that we're all back together. One big happy family. Let's discuss what's to be done."

Gabby slowly released her embrace on Julie and turned to look at Dalton. A thin smirk was stretched over his face. His boney fingers were interlaced and his hands set gently on the table in front of him, set slightly off to the side due to the handcuff pulling on his wrist. To her left, Evan pulled out a chair and sat at the table. He looked up at Gabby and nodded, a soft, kind smile on his face. After giving a stern glance to each of the men at the table, Gabby slowly pulled out a chair and sat beside Evan. Julie pulled the chair from the foot of the table around to sit next to Gabby.

Gabby looked expectantly between the faces at the table. Carlisle's face looked tired and worn, yet his eyes still shone with a strong brightness. Evan's face was calm and gentle but Gabby could see a small hesitation in his eyes. Dalton's face was the most troubling to Gabby. He still smiled with the thin smirk of a man who had just pulled off the crime of the century and was prepared to reveal his genius. His eyes had a fierce fire that made it hard for Gabby to hold his gaze.

"Well Dalton. You've made a gigantic mess of things. I'm not sure what we should do with you."

Evan shook his head to amplify his disgust for the situation. Before Dalton could respond, Carlisle broke in.

"I'm still not sure I understand or believe everything that Walter told me over these past few minutes. It all has the breath of truth but if all he says is in fact true, then what has happened has caused more than a 'gigantic mess' but may have actually disrupted the very fabric of time. For all we know, the universe could be unraveling around us."

Dalton chuckled and looked at Carlisle.

"You always had a flair for the melodramatic. That and your incessant paranoia was always so frustrating to work with. If it wasn't for your amazing genius, it's likely that I wouldn't have put up with your overcautious and eccentric nature. And yet, here we are. I assure you that everything I've said is true. And I also agree with you that Evan has grossly understated our current situation. Of course, that's because he does not yet have all the same details as you do."

Gabby looked over at Evan just in time to catch a wash of confusion shimmer in his face before he pulled his face back into a tone of calm resignation. He glared at Dalton.

"What do you mean? What details don't I have?"

Dalton chuckled again then leaned forward and winked at Evan.

"Do you really think I would come all this way, knowing you would follow me, without making some concessions for my safety and success? Upon arriving here, it was a shock to find the devices failing to function properly in this time. I tried to convince Carlisle here of the situation and obtain his help. He was hesitant and rather suspicious. We had worked together for a number of years at the university, but my proposal failed to persuade him.

"I knew that time was of the essence if I were to succeed. For although I had a time machine at my disposal, I was in a time crunch as I knew you, Evan, were close behind me and looking to discover and stop my plans. With that in mind, I saw a way to manipulate you into helping me. Knowing your attachment to our dear Gabrielle, I simply worked myself closer and closer to her. I am sorry my dear, but it seemed the best way."

Gabby felt her skin crawl as Dalton looked at her and attempted a compassionate, sympathetic smile as he outstretched his hands in her direction.

"I used Gabby to send cryptic information to Carlisle knowing that eventually Evan would reveal himself. Once he did, it was easy enough to get a message to him telling him that I had life-or-death leverage over dear Gabrielle and that Evan would do well to work with her to repair the machines and then bring her to me so I could free her from my grasp.

"Little did I expect that Gabby would take it upon herself to go gallivanting through time and attempt to stop me on her own. Still, everything worked out in the end and here we all are."

Everyone sat in silent for a moment, staring back and forth at each other. Finally, Gabby spoke.

"OK. That's great and all, but you didn't really tell us anything new. What are these new details that put the, what was it you said? The fabric of time in danger?"

Dalton leaned back in his chair and sighed. He attempted to bring his hands up to his chin. His left hand jerked to a stop midway up, the handcuff chain pulling tight. He glanced at his wrist then laid his hands low on his chest, interlacing his fingers.

"As I mentioned to Evan, I have created certain events that I can use as leverage against you. Most recently, I have created an explosion that destroyed Carlisle's home and along with it his personal laboratory and all of his notes. He has my assurance that his cooperation will ensure my reversal of this past destruction."

"But all you're doing is creating paradoxes within paradoxes."

Carlisle rose to his feet and paced the room.

"Your contingencies state that our future behavior will cause you to go back and reverse the action of the past. Every action will rip a larger hole in the very nature of time. I admit that what you've done has created a huge loss to me. I have years of research in that home. I am sure that some of it will be recoverable from some of the less damaged hard drives and possibly some of the notebooks. But were you to go back and undo what you have done, it would completely alter the chain of events and create a paradox. For, if I agree to help you based on the destruction, and then if you go back and remove the destruction, then this very conversation will not occur."

Carlisle stopped pacing and leaned forward, his palms flat on the table and his back bent such that he was staring eye to eye with Dalton across the table.

"Thus, no matter how much it pains me, I cannot accept your offer."

Dalton sighed.

"You yourself have always been a paradox my friend. On the one hand, you are taken to whims of fancy and major risks. On the other, you have always been completely logical and analytical to the point of near paranoia. Let me assure you."

He paused to look at everyone in the room and fan his hand from side to side at each person.

"Let me assure each of you that what I am suggesting is not only possible, but it is proven. I have already created a number of such contingencies and, as Carlisle suggests, paradoxes. With each of these, I have played out the events in a number of ways and then reversed everything. In each case, the world returned to normal."

"But what about our experiments in the lab?"

Evan was staring intently at Dalton.

"Our experiment with the fish caused a complete implosion in the area surrounding the event. If a family of insignificant fish can cause an event of such magnitude, how do you propose avoiding a cataclysm?"

There was silence again. Dalton shook his head.

"It's difficult for you to believe and fully understand. But there are ways to travel through time and cause events that had not happened previously. This in itself may cause a paradox. Upon returning and removing the event, another paradox is possible. Strangely, what I have found, is that this compounding of paradoxical events has thus far avoided a cataclysm, as you put it. I haven't even seen evidence of the sort of disruption we encountered with the fish or with any of our other experiments."

"What other exp-"

"It doesn't matter."

Dalton waved his hand to cut off Evan's question.

"The point is, I have proved it possible to allow for the creation of a paradox without undesirable consequences. Perhaps I have simply been lucky. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that all of my events have dealt solely with our small group of time travelers. Perhaps by compounding multiple paradoxes into a single timeline, I have unwittingly unraveled an otherwise knotted thread of time. Whatever the reason, I have determined a method by which I can manipulate events past, present and future to fit my needs."

Dalton stopped talking to let what he was saying sink in. Gabby felt the air grow tense around her as each of them thought through the implications of Dalton's claim. She watched as he picked up his glass, swirled it softly so the ice tinkled together and then took a slow, deliberate drink, swallowing slowly as though savoring the liquid. Then he sat back in his chair, tilted his head to the ceiling and closed his eyes. Gabby wasn't sure what to expect and looked to Evan or Carlisle to ask the next question. Instead, Dalton spoke again.

"So, my dear friends, you may be wondering what I have planned. What all of this is about. Naturally I have no intention of outlying my entire plan to you. I may be confident but I'm not foolish. What I will outline is the leverage I hold over each of you."

Dalton opened his eyes and looked at everyone in the room, staring each person down as he addressed them.

"Julie, I'm afraid I had no intention of using you at all in this game. Your involvement has been an unhappy surprise. As such, I had planned nothing specific for you. I trust, however, that having you imprissoned in my home will provide some motivation for you. Beyond that, I can only hope that you will behave properly for the sake of your dear friend Gabrielle and the knowledge that any foolishness on your part will deprive her of my future service to her.

"Gabrielle, I have dealt rather harshly with you but I fully intend to make it up to you. A few weeks ago. Or rather, a few weeks in my own past. Some time in your future, naturally. I conducted one of my earliest successful experiments in paradoxes. I traveled back in time to a moment approximately one year ago in today's past. I found your mother and made some modifications to her normal diet. Modifications which included certain drugs which brought on a particularly violent stroke. I monitored the moments of the next few days until finally I found the news that she had died. Returning to my own time, I found that the truth was in the historical documents. Except for the single photo album I had taken with me. Your own wedding album Gabrielle. In which a number of pictures show your mother's smiling face right beside you on that happy day. I provided you the album, through Evan, of course, as proof of these events."

He paused for a moment, watching as Gabby's lip trembled. Then, anticipating her emotional outbreak, Dalton continued to explain the situation.

"For you Carlisle, you already know that I have destroyed your home and your various notes and experiments. What you don't know is this. Three days from today, you will die at my hand. In fact, I've already killed you. In my own past, I traveled to a moment three days from now and killed you while you slept. You may find it interesting in terms of paradoxes to know that I killed you while you slept in your own bed in your own home. So, to add to the deliberation about your home, you should also think about your own life.

"Of course, Evan already knows about your death and will certainly confirm the news. It was Carlisle's death that brought you raging into my office. And it was then that you discovered the leverage that I held over you. The leverage that I continue to hold. On that day, you learned that I am holding your dear bride Gabrielle prisoner. I forced you to repair the device, which you did wonderfully. Unfortunately, you modified my plans slightly by triggering the device and sending us swirling back to this time. Once here and back in contact, I presented you further information about your dear bride and her condition."

Dalton paused for emphasis and glanced back and forth between Gabby and Evan.

"She hadn't yet told you she was pregnant. Fortunately, I had a snippet of video on my camera phone to verify her condition. But that in itself wouldn't convince you to help me. No, I knew that certainly wouldn't tip the balance. You were always too smart for your own good. Too confident of your own skills. Too sure of yourself. Mostly, this worked in your favor as you came up successful again and again. I couldn't risk you getting all heroic. So, I showed you-"

"Stop."

Evan held his hand out to Dalton and looked at Gabby. Dalton continued.

"I showed you the other videos I had on my phone."

"Stop. Just stop."

Evan stood and looked back to Gabby.

"Don't listen to him. He's contained. We're safe now. There's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure Evan? How can you be so sure?"

Dalton slid his chair out and stood. He fiddled with the handcuff and a moment later, he raised both his hands and flashed them along with a broad smile like a successful magician.

"I'm afraid my dear Evan that there isn't much you can be certain of anymore."

Evan stared silently across the table. Everyone stared back at him. Gabby reached up and pulled on his arm.

"What is it Evan? What did he show you?"

Evan looked down at Gabby, opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he looked back at Dalton and narrowed his eyes. Dalton spoke the words Evan couldn't find.

"I showed him three separate videos."

"Don't."

Gabby felt Evan shudder. He stumbled a half step forward and leaned slightly against the table.

"Just let it be. She doesn't need to know."

"I showed him three individual and distinct videos of his lovely bride. Dying."

Evan fell into his chair in a slump and sobbed softly, tears walking down his cheeks like tired hikers on their way back home. The tinkling of ice echoed through the room and everyone watched as Dalton slowly swallowed down the rest of the water in his glass.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Busy Weekend - Games, Scary Hill, Drowsy Chaperone & Rick Riordan

Well, we've had an exciting and fun filled time these past few days.

On Friday night, we had some great friends (the Moores) over. First, we went to El Matador for some tasty Mexican food and then came back to our place to relax and play some games. Lynette's sister Karla also came over and played with us later in the evening. I taught Jason and the Moores how to play Puerto Rico. We weren't able to get through an entire game before they had to leave but it was still fun to play (we really have to get together more often guys). After they left, Lynette, Karla and I played a quick game of Cartagena and a crazy game of Settlers of Catan (crazy because the dice hardly ever hit the main numbers but instead hovered around the 10s, 11s, 2s, and 12s).

On Saturday we took the kids up to Cherry Hill which was transformed into Scary Hill for Halloween. We started with some mini-golf. They'd modified the decor of the course to include jack-o-lanterns, spiders, bats, witches, vampires, skeletons and more. Then we went down the hill to check out the straw maze. All in all, it was just about the right level of scary for the kids. They have some other activities as well but we didn't have time to check them out because we had to hit the road to visit the cousins.

After Scary Hill, we dropped the kids off at their cousins's house in Logan. While they drove their aunt and uncle crazy, Lynette and I drove back down to Salt Lake for some slightly belated anniversary celebrations. We did a quick dinner at Chilli's and then hopped over to Hale Centre Theatre. We were there to see The Drowsy Chaperone. We'd already seen the show ~2 years ago but it was so much fun we decided to see it again. Hale has an "in the round" style theatre and our seats were back behind the left shoulder of the "man in chair"'s chair and up in the rafters we could see that we were behind the plane, so I was initially worried. However, true to form, Hale did an EXCELLENT job of moving the action around so nobody was excluded. The cast was fabulous, the set was great and the show was awesome. Just silly fun.

Sunday was officially the day of rest....after church we drove up to Logan and picked the kids up and came home and relaxed.

Monday we had work and school but on Monday night, the boys and I went out to Salt Lake to meet Rick Riordan (author of the "Percy Jackson" series among other work). I've brought the kids signed books from authors before but this was the first time they got to go. It started with a little presentation from Rick followed by a general Q&A. Then we waited in line to have the books signed. To help streamline things they had some specific rules about signing groups, number of books to be signed and how long you could spend at the table. That aspect felt a little mechanical but it allowed a TON of people to get through. The boys had a lot of fun.

And now, we fall back into some more general routine for the next few days...which is fine since the past few days kept us all very busy. It'll be nice to slow things down a bit. :)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Review - Chains

I picked Chains up on a whim not knowing much about it. I'd read one of Anderson's other books (Speak) and really enjoyed it. This story is set in a wildly different era than Speak, but it still has some intriguingly similar traits. Chains drops us into the American colonies in 1776 and gives us a story from the point of view of a young slave girl.

The writing is fresh and simple, yet also vibrant, descriptive and detailed. Part of me was expecting stylized writing and dialog similar to Mark Twain's treatment. While this writing doesn't have elements of negro/slave dialog, it does have other significant elements that lend to its realism. It's very evident that the author did a lot of research for this book. There are many simple little details that just make the scenes and events absolutely real. She also includes interesting historical epigraphs with each chapter that help set the tone.

The story is fairly simple and easy to follow but what makes it great is the tension and emotion of the characters...Isabel in particular. We're taken inside the head of a very thoughtful, very emotional slave girl. Her life is turned on its head a number of times and she finds herself forced into bad situations again and again. Her internal debates really invoke a lot of thought about the nature of life in the late 1800s both in America and in the British Empire. I found myself very sympathetic to her dilemma and curious to see how (or even IF) she would be able to find some sort of happy resolution through all of her trials.

This was a very quick read but well worth the time. The only down side was that I reached the end of the book only to find that it is part of a series which is currently in-process. Fortunately, the second book Forge is about to be released, so I can hopefully find out what happens to her.

For anybody with an interest in American history, slavery, or just a fun youthful adventure, I can recommend this. If you're a big history buff, you may be discouraged at the lighter weight, but hopefully you'll find enough there to be entertained.

4 out of 5 stars

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Review - The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)

So far, this has been my favorite book in the Percy Jackson series. To quickly recap the series, the first book (Lightning Thief) was a great introduction and did a nice job of character and world/plot development. The second book (Sea of Monsters) was a cool follow up and an intriguing semi-retelling of parts of the Odyssey while also introducing plenty of new elements in Percy's world. Book three (Titan's Curse) continued to build upon the curse hovering over Percy's life as well as bringing in some more cool elements.

With Book Four, we're taken into the Labyrinth. Specifically, war is approaching in the form of demigods, humans and others supporting either the cause of the gods of Olympus or the Titan Kronos. It seems there's an entrance/exit to the labyrinth tucked inside Camp Half Blood thus giving Kronos's army the potential to invade the training ground of Olympus's army.

I really enjoyed seeing the dynamics of the overall struggle play out while at the same time making sure that this single adventure had the strength to stand on its own. The central characters continued to be well developed though at times I had trouble deciding if they were developing/growing too fast or too slow. There were times that it seemed like they were doing things above what I expected and other times that it felt like they were behaving far below their capacity.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I found Daedelus an intriguing character as well, especially the way he was first and finally introduced to us. It made me want to go back and reread segments to see if we'd been given any hints previously to lead to the events that come to pass. I liked the morality tale that came from Daedelus's story.

I found the "romantic" element interesting...the tension caused by the introduction of another potential love interest for Percy. I was glad that Riordan made Percy somewhat oblivious to Annabeth's jealousy and made him nervous and unsure about his emotions. I was also pleased that the romance stayed mostly in the background. At the same time, it was sometimes troubling to see Annabeth getting so flustered over the whole thing...as the daughter of Athena, her head should certainly rule her heart, especially when she's placed in her current role...still, she is a teenager and it's understandable for there to be tension and jealousy. I hope we get to see more of Rachel Elizabeth Dare in the final book of this series.

I enjoyed the narrative arc and the general structure. However, I felt a little "jipped" sometimes since the narration follows tightly over Percy's shoulder and leaves us in the dark about other events happening concurrently. When Percy is separated from Grover and Tyson, I would have prefered some interspersed chapters following their adventures rather than just a quick sum-up when they got back together. I also would have been interested to have some scenes show what was going on at camp. Still, I applaud Riordan for staying true to his chosen form...to change now (in book four) may have been disorienting.

The adventure was fairly straightforward....sometimes the challenges facing Percy seemed to be overcome too easily. He is our hero, but sometimes his heroics seem even much for a demigod. I'm glad he survived another adventure, but would have liked to have seen him get into a little more trouble.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the conclusion of the series. It's been a lot of fun to read through these with my kids. They're family friendly and make for entertaining adventures.

4.5 out of 5 stars

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Review - Inception

OK, so I'm late to the party on this one (except for those who decided to "wait until video/netflix/redbox/etc). Inception was one of the hot titles of the summer. When I first saw the trailers, I was definitely intrigued and stoked to learn more. I'm not a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio's "acting" but I figured I could put up with him for a compelling story. Which is exactly what I did.

Naturally I don't want to spoil things for those who haven't seen the film. As an overview of the things you can learn from the previews, this movie is set in a world where dreams can be actively manipulated and shared. They don't go much into the science of how it works, but basically, a dreamer is plugged into a device along with other dreamers. One person is the primary dreamer and everybody else is navigating around the primary dreamer's subconscious. Interestingly, part of the science involves these external participants actually creating and manipulating the dream world of the primary dreamer.

So, for example, you've got dreamer A who is the main dreamer. External dreamers B, C, and D come in to share the dream. Somehow, the device allows one of the other dreamers (an architect) to actually create and manipulate the dream environment. So we're inside dreamer A's head…but the world of the dream is created by dreamer B. The added complexity comes with the "dream within a dream" scenario that DiCaprio and his team play on…so person A is dreaming a world created by dreamer B. Then, within that dream, they compel person A to go to sleep and dream in a world created by dreamer C…and so on. Very intriguing.

Anyway, the story involves using this "dream within a dream" model to induce something called Inception which is the idea of planting an idea deep enough within a person's subconscious that the person believes he/she is the one who came up with the idea and doesn't suspect any manipulation.

Overall, the concept and the general story are very intriguing. It's turned into an intense action film at times through some other interesting inventions such as "dream security" where high profile individuals actually "weaponize" their subconscious to fight against intruders. Furthermore, there's the danger that the deeper and deeper you go within the "dream within a dream" state, the greater the possibility of ending up in a "coma" and "living" in the dream world indefinitely.

Naturally there were a number of great twists and turns. The writer/director really played a lot with the "what is real" concept and kept the audience guessing at times. Fortunately, once we got into the heart of the story, he didn't play too much with this trope…otherwise it would've gotten kitschy and destroyed the intrigue.

I can definitely agree with others that this was the most thought provoking and engaging movie I saw this year. I've seen some people touting it as "movie of the year" and, while I'm not sure it deserves that much hype, I can say that it was a really good film. There were a couple of (from my perspective) inconsistencies in the writing…but given the intricate spiderweb of the concept and the plot, it would be difficult to plug all the holes and difficult as well to follow all the threads at first glance.

Speaking of threads, but not wanting to spoil things, I giggled a little at the very apt character naming of Ariadne. I possibly would have remembered her name from my ancient studies of Greek mythology. But since we were reading The Battle of the Labyrinth recently as a family, I had a much more current reminder of Ariadne's role in mythology….as the one who helped guide the mythical hero through the deadly labyrinth by use of her special string. As such, I expected Ariadne to play a similar type of role in the movie. To an extent, she did…but not as much as I had hoped. I felt like this was one place where the writer/director set up an intriguing plot element but left it unfulfilled. I could say more, but I don't want to spoil the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. The plot elements are very intriguing and led to a well crafted plot. I was able to ignore inconsistencies enough to get caught up in the high paced action and enjoy the story. The acting was done well…I was even able to ignore DiCaprio enough to be satisfied. I don't think this necessarily deserves "best picture" or anything, but I think it could get an award for "best screenplay" or some other "writer" award for the creativity and juggling of multiple complex threads. The scenery and cinematography was great as well and worthy of taking notice. There are a lot of very cool scenes, special effects, camera usage, etc.

I do recommend that you go see this film when you get the chance. It's a lot of fun. I had some people advise only seeing it when you're in a "thinky" mood…while it's definitely got thinky elements, I think you could still enjoy it without thinking too deeply.