The Show I'm Directing

I'm directing a play this October. The show is 12 ANGRY MEN. A friend of mine sent me the link to the following video. It's a wonderful preview. This video really captures the essence of what the play is about. Maybe it could even change your life.

"Fireflies" Music Video

Today I came across this music video from Jack Hager's blog. It's from a band I've never heard before, Owl City. The song is catchy and a little bit inspiring. However, the music video that goes along with the song is amazing! As a filmmaker, I think it's brilliant. The idea is simple, but the execution is so complex. It probably took days to just set the room up for the opening scene. Enjoy!

Preview

The following commercial has been playing in three theatres in the southern Illinois area before the trailers. If you're not doing anything this weekend and are able, come out and see the show. Enjoy.

John Hughes Is Dead

I just found out that John Hughes died today. That's sad. No one captured an era on film the way Hughes captured the 1980s. RIP John.

Spielberg to Remake HARVEY

I just found out that Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct the remake to Harvey. The movie is supposed to be a "modern" retelling of the beloved classic. Supposedly Tom Hanks is slotted for the role of Elwood P. Dowd. I love the original movie and am a big fan of the play it is based upon. I'm also a fan of Spielberg and Hanks. However, this is one movie that doesn't need to me remade. There are some films that are just better off left alone and Harvey is one of them.

Twitter Tracker on THE TONIGHT SHOW

A little over a month ago, Conan O'Brien took over THE TONIGHT SHOW. I really don't watch late night tv, but Conan rocks! I love this new weekly segment, "Twitter Tracker" (which I've only watched online). A newer segment of it aired last night, but until that becomes available, enjoy the one from the week before.

Reminder-ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

I just wanted to remind everyone of a Hard Road Theatre Production that I'm in that is still showing this weekend. The show is ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is a comical & off-beat musical retelling of "The Princess and the Pea" fairy tale. The original Broadway show starred Carol Burnett and a revival version several years ago starred Sarah Jessica Parker. I portray King Sextimus, one of the rulers of the land who has been under a curse of muteness for nearly twenty years.

Performance dates are:
7:30 pm July 31 &August 1
2:00 pm August 2
This is the final weekend to see the show!

All performances are held at:
Highland Upper Elementary Auditorium
1800 Lindenthal
Highland, IL 62249

Tickets:
$9--adults
$8--seniors
$7--kids

For more information go to www.hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.

THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP TV Show

There's this new reality show on NBC. It's called The Great American Road Trip.  Seven families started out in Chicago traveling in RVs across America following Route 66.  The trip isn't a race, but is a journey. There are goofy challenges to compete, but no one gets eliminated if they reach a destination last.  About one family's vacation comes to an end in each episode (though there are some episodes where no families are sent home).  I'll admit the show is a bit hokey (I read on one review site where they referred to the show as the red-neck version of The Amazing Race), but I really enjoy watching this show.  It's much more real than most reality tv. I can't say for sure, but I don't think anyone was recruited for this show.  These are real families that have been given an opportunity to take a free vacation traveling across America with the chance to win $100,000 at the end.

Even though it's been ranking between #20-#35 the four weeks, NBC is disappointed by the ratings. Ratings could have been much higher, but NBC chose to begin airing the show in July when the people of the Heartland of America (who are the prime audience) aren't home and are traveling on vacations themselves. They should have aired the show at the end of May after the sweeps or at the first of June and ratings would have been larger. The show will continuing airing through August and can currently be seen on Monday nights at 7:00PM, Central Time.

President Obama's Health Care Reform

Ten years ago I was dropped from my father's health insurance because I had graduated from college. In the decade since, I have only had health insurance for 9 months when I was teaching school full time (at a cost of over $500/month). I'm currently working as a temp worker in an accounting office. It is a job that I have held for over a year. Though I have worked diligently, it has been made clear to me that I will never be brought on as a regular member of the company.  I'm heavily underpaid and have no hope for advancement. I have been looking for other employment, but since we are in a recession and on the verge of an economic depression, job prospects have been slim (two college degrees don't seem to open as many doors as one might think).  I've given up on even dreaming about owning my own home.

Despite my circumstances, I am in opposition to President Obama's health care proposals. We all know that there are problems with our health care system. However, the answer is not in forming another government bureaucracy. Health care costs skyrocketed because of the health insurance industry, but virtually eliminating that industry by offering a "public" option will not solve any problems but only further complicate things as well as bring about even more problems. Besides, if we really hold our freedom and liberty dear, then we should know that the government is not our friend. In the best of times government is a wary ally, but in the worst of times (which these are) the government is our fiercest foe. Bridled by the Constitution, we can live with the government. However, the health care option presented before us--just one of many plans that those who are currently in the zenith of power are using--is an attempt to destroy all that we hold dear and free the bloated behemoth of government that will kill us all if we allow the Constitutional bridle to be removed.

To better illustrate this, watch the video below. It explains it much better than I can.

In Memoriam of Frank McCourt (1930-2009)

I just found out that Frank McCourt, the former English teacher and author of Angela's Ashes and Teacher Man among others, died last Sunday (July 19, 2009) from complications from melanoma. I've been very busy this past week, but have still tried to stay on top of things in the news, but somehow I missed this one. McCourt only first became published a little over a decade ago. However, his writing was brilliant. His stories were so rich and vivid. He wrote about the most depressing and disheartening things, but it was in such a way that you couldn't help but laugh. He contributed to a few other books, but McCourt only had four books published. I wish he would have been able to write a few more. He was that good of a storyteller and writer.

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

I just wanted to inform everyone of a Hard Road Theatre Production that I'm rehearsing for that opens next weekend. The show is ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is a comical & off-beat musical retelling of "The Princess and the Pea" fairy tale. The original Broadway show starred Carol Burnett and a revival version several years ago starred Sarah Jessica Parker. I portray King Sextimus, one of the rulers of the land who has been under a curse of muteness for nearly twenty years.

Performance dates are:
7:30 pm July 24, July 25, July 31, August 1
2:00 pm July 26 & August 2

All performances are held at:
Highland Upper Elementary Auditorium
1800 Lindenthal
Highland, IL 62249

Tickets:
$9--adults
$8--seniors
$7--kids

For more information go to www.hardroad.org or call 618-654-7748.

BACK TO THE FUTURE remake?!!!? WTF

=

I just heard a nasty littler rumor that there's a proposed remake of Back to the Future in the works and that Zac Efron is scheduled to play Marty McFly. Please, please, please don't let this be true. No one can replace Michael J. Fox in a Back to the Future movie. No one.

Why Government Is Evil

As the bloated behemoth we know as the federal government threatens to swallow even more liberty, property, and freedom on its unsustainable course to an extinction that could destroy us all, let us take comfort in the words of one of the Founding Fathers of our country, that great patriot Thomas Paine. His pamphlet, COMMON SENSE, was read bought by 20% of the entire population of the United States and by conservative estimates read by 70% of the people in the country. In relation to the population of the country at the time (about 3 million people total--including 600,000 who were slaves and another 1-1.5 million who were indentured servants)--it is the best-selling piece of literature in American history outside of the Bible. Below are some of his words. Read them and hold them close because they contain part of the essence of what makes our country what it was, what it is, and what it should be.
+++++++++++++++++++++
"Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer!"
--Thomas Paine

June 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
*Superman: Last Stand on Krypton by: Steve Gerber, Dough Wheatley, Chris Chuckry
**Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky by: Darby Conley
On Directing by: Harold Clurman
**I Did It His Way by: Johnny Hart
12 Angry Men by: Sherman Sergel

Not very much reading in June. A graphic novel, two collections of comic strips, and a book about directing a play. That was it. If you're interested in theatre directing, On Directing is worth reading even though it is a bit dated.

Movies Viewed for the First Timed
Disturbia
Drag Me to Hell
Land of the Lost
Role Models
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I didn't watch many movies in June, either. I really enjoyed watching Sam Raimi's return to comedy-horror in Drag Me to Hell. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Role Models. It has some crude moments, but not enough to ruin the entire film. I was also extremely surprised by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Say what you want, but Michael Bay does make movies that are enjoyable to watch. Biggest disappointment: Land of the Lost--the movie could have been hilariously funny, but the scriptwriters decided to go for wierd and it just didn't work.

Michael Jackson--What Happened to Wacko Jacko?

Michael Jackson is dead and what I want to know is, what happened to Wacko Jacko? Jackson's "public" memorial service was attended by thousands of people who just a month ago didn't care one iota about Michael Jackson. Jackson hadn't had a hit record in over fifteen years. Things were so dismal here in the U.S. that he couldn't even sell enough tickets to make a U.S. tour and had to go overseas for ALL of the 50 concerts in his "Farewell" tour that he was preparing for. Michael Jackson was seen as a freak. He was Wacko Jacko. Now that he's dead, people have forgotten or are choosing to completely ignore all the bizarre, strange, wierd, and sometimes sick things he did over the past 25 years. The masses are, indeed, fickle.

Granted, at one time Jackson was an incredible dancer and singer. He also used to seem fairly normal. Then in 1984 while filming this commercial his hair caught on fire.




That's right. His hair caught on fire. There are those who will disagree with me, but I maintain that the Pepsi Commercial accident was when Michael Jackson started to turn into Wacko Jacko. Before that accident, Jackson was just a typical celebrity. It was after that accident that he started to turn strange. He got a pet chimpanzee, named Bubbles, that he dressed in a diaper and clothes which slept in a crib at the foot of his bed. He started hanging around with young boys. He started wearing a surgical mask wherever he would go. He purchased mannequins from various stores and made them part of his entourage, bringing them with him from place to place. He even made an offer, twice, to buy the bones of "The Elephant Man." It all started when his hair caught on fire while filming that commercial.I'm not the only one who picked up on this either. Back in 2005, ROBOT CHICKEN aired the following segment. Maybe that's really what happened.

May 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
* My Space: Baby Blues Scrapbook #24 by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott
Star Trek: Prime Directive by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
**Twilight Zone: The Odyssey of Flight 33 by Mark Kneece, et al.
*Brevity 4 by Guy & Rodd
**Star Trek: The Next Generation--The Gorn Crisis by Kevin Anderson, et al.
Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio by Brian Jennings
*If You Weren't a Hedgehog...If I Weren't a Hemophiliac by Andrew Weldon
*Dilbert: Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless by Scott Adams
+12 Angry Men by Sherman Sergel

* = denotes a collection of comic strips
** = denotes a graphic novel
+ = denotes a play

My reading for May consisted mostly of comic strips and comic books. What can I say? I read Prime Directive because I had read an article about the screenwriters of the new Star Trek movie and they said they had used the book as "inspiration" for the new movie. I'm not exactly sure how it inspired them because even though Star Trek is a pretty good movie, it's not a very good Star Trek movie, whereas Prime Directive is a pretty good Star Trek book, though not necessarily a novel. If you enjoyed the original Star Trek series, then you'll probably enjoy the book. However, if you know nothing about the original series, then the book will just confuse you.

I picked up The Gorn Crisis because I became fascinated with the idea of having Gorn as major players in the Star Trek universe (seriously--why haven't they?).

I do suggest everyone take a look at Brevity 4. "Brevity" is a great comic-strip. Lots of strips have tried to be the next "Farside". "Brevity" doesn't try to be the next "Farside", but it is similar in spirit, but is completely original. Check it out.

Movies Viewed For the First Time
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Invaders From Mars
Star Trek
My Name Is Bruce
Get Smart's Bruce & Lloyd: Out of Control
Southland Tales
My Bloody Valentine 3-D
My Bloody Valentine (1982)
Terminator: Salvation
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Fanboys
The Reaping
Up

Wolverine was okay, but was kind of a let down, especially what they did to the character of Deadpool. Invaders From Mars is a classic sci-fi film that inspired parts of Stephen Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Invaders, however, is horribly outdated, e.g. they refer to the aliens as "moo-tants", but still has some great visual images. Star Trek--it's a good movie and everybody seems to love it except for me. Bruce Campbell is the best B-Actor working today. He comes from a similar background as myself I'm not sure what the guy is like in real-life, but I really like what I've seen of him and read about him. My Name Is Bruce is Campbell's latest film that he directed and it was mostly filmed on his own property in Oregon. I watched Out of Control because I think Jayma Mays is gorgeous (she's a redhead-what can I say?).

Avoid Southland Tales. It's a terrible movie. I never liked the director/writer's first film, Donnie Darko. I still don't understand the cult fascination with that movie because it's a terrible movie. Of course, even if you liked Donnie Darko, you'll probably hate Southland Tales. I can't even recommend it for artistic value of any sort

I enjoyed both of the My Bloody Valentine movies. Horror movies can go so wrong, but the filmmakers did a good job of using the conventions of the horror genre to create something original. Terminator: Salvation had a terrible ending which basically destroyed the franchise, hopefully cemented McG's career as a major director. Night at the Museum 2 is worth watching, if for no other reason, just for Amy Adams. That girl isn't just a beautiful (redheaded) woman, but is an incredible actress, too. Fanboys is a film that every Star Wars fan will enjoy and should watch. It didn't do well at the box office and is panned by critics, but I actually liked The Reaping.

And lastly, as for Up: it's the best movie of 2009 so far. Marketed for kids, it's really a movie that adults will enjoy far more.

Independence Day

Our country is sure in a mix right now. Still, at least for the time being, it's a great country to live in. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Rejection & Survivor

I'm a big fan of SURVIVOR. I've auditioned for every season except the first two. However, this guy, Greg Insco, walked (on heelies of all things) from Cincinnati, Ohio to L.A.to turn in his SURVIVOR application in person to the casting directors of the show. It was a 2,200 mile journey where at one point he got so hungry he ate a rattlesnake that tried to bite him and sometimes was so dehydrated that he drank water from a toilet. The producers and casting directors turned him down telling him he "would get eaten alive" and that basically, he was, too nice.

I wasn't aware of this beforehand, but apparently for the past 12 editions or so, SURVIVOR hasn't even casted people who applied to the show, but recruited people to be on it. Only 4 of the last 16 contestants actually went through the entire formal application process. The other 12 were short-cutted through.

I shouldn't be surprised, because it is Hollywood, but I am a bit. Of course, I'm going to keep sending in applications because as Charlie Brown says, "Even if there's not a million-to-one-chance, there's at least a billion-to-one-chance."

THE SILO PROJECT

I don't have time for a long post, but I did want to put something out there. There's this cd that will soon be released and a movie that might be coming to a city near you in the next year. They're called THE SILO PROJECT. You should really check it out. I spent the weekend with some of these guys. They are phenomenal musicians. Catch them before they become big so that you can say, "I saw them before they were stars."   http://www.thesiloproject.blogspot.com/  

Star Wars Vs. Star Trek

Here's an excellent example of why Star Wars really is better than Star Trek.

THOR AT THE BUS STOP

Despite the obvious very low budget, there's just something about the entire premise of this movie that makes me really want to see it. The synopsis of the film is this:

"THOR AT THE BUS STOP is a comedy that begins with Thor, the Norse God of Lightning, as he makes his final journey through a suburban neighborhood on the day he is going to die fighting to save the world - and nobody cares. Thor starts a chain reaction of interweaving story-lines packed with zany characters and themes about goodness and the power of cool."


Sounds brilliant to me.

GLEE

I finally had the opportunity to watch the premier episode of GLEE. I have to say, I'm impressed. Here's the teaser finale.



From the commercials, one was led to believe GLEE would be meta-comedy, ala ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, in a high school setting. While it's true, there are all kinds of comical moments in GLEE and the premier episode was full of pop cultural allusions, the show appears to be deeper than that; full of lifelike drama and ethos. This final scene is a great teaser because it seems to foreshadow struggle and conflict to come, for example between the Glee Club and the school's huge money-making and nationally recognized Cheerleading Team. And it's all united through joy. It'll be interesting to see how the show unfolds because lately it seems that a show that is ambitious as GLEE fails to find an audience until after it's been cancelled, ala ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and PUSHING DAISIES.

TOY STORY 3

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see this.

Trivia for Today

Before Jim Henson settled on FRAGGLE ROCK the series was tentatively titled WOOZLE WORLD.

The groove between your nose and your upper lip is called the philtrum.

About the new STAR TREK & alternate timelines

I was excited to see STAR TREK. Even though I am much more of a Star Wars fan, I have become a fan of Star Trek and that franchise has been a part of the pop culture background for much of my life. The new STAR TREK is a great movie. It's got some fairly well developed characters, lots of action, vivid imagery, superb special effects, etc. Movie-goers seem to love it and many have been introduced to the characters of Kirk, Spock, etc for the first time. The studio, Paramount, loves it because the film will now allow them to "re-energize" their tent-pole franchise from the ground-up and they will make huge bank. I'll admit that as a movie, I enjoyed it. Yet, overall, I was severely disappointed because as a piece of storymaking, STAR TREK is a complete cop-out.

If you haven't seen the movie, beware that what might be considered spoilers are coming.

Almost the entire new STAR TREK film is set within an alternative timeline. Writers and actors like alternate timelines because it allows them to do things with characters that they normally couldn't do. In all honesty, alternate timelines are a complete cop-out and hugely dishonest. I can understand why actors enjoy it because if they've been acting in a series for several years a change of pace might allow them to display talent that they couldn't before. However, there's no excuse for writers. Alternate timelines are something that poor writers fall back upon because they're either too lazy or uncreative enough to stay true to a character's personality while keeping it interesting. It shows a complete and utter disregard for characters and the fictional universes they inhabit.

Basically, because of the new STAR TREK movie, nothing (and I mean nothing, no Next Generation, no Deep Space Nine, no Q, no Borg, nothing) exists from before. Five different television shows, ten movies, and a series of pseudo-canon novels have been completely eradicated. I mean, the entire planet Vulcan, which played huge part in the original series and movies has been destroyed. Everything Star Trek related for the next several years, perhaps decades, will be set within the new "alaternative timeline" of the new movie. That's not to say that Paramount won't go back to the original timeline at some point in the future, but the new Star Trek is all the rage and that's what will make them the most amount of money right now in the short term. The future has been postponed for a "new past". And there won't be going back to the original format for a very long time. In my opinion what J.J. Abrams and company have done is the equivalancy of what George Lucas did with Indiana Jones and the entire alien encounter in INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL.

April 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
*F-Minus: This Can't Be Legal Tony Carrillo
Liberty and Tyranny Mark Levin
*The Saturday Evening Pearls Stephan Pastis
#Twilight Zone: The After Hours Mark Kneece, et al
Star Trek: Best Destiny Diane Carey
*Suture Self Leo Cullum
The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems Michael Rosen & Stan Fellows
*My Bad: A Zits Treasury Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

* = denotes a collection of comic strips
# = denotes a graphic novel

Of the books read in April, the only two I can recommend anyone looking at are F-Minus: This Can't Be Legal and The Saturday Evening Pearls. I had never heard of the comic strip "F-Minus" before, but it was hilarious. It's usually a one-panel strip that has the same type of humor that Farside used to have. The Saturday Evening Pearls is the latest collection of "Pearls Before Swine" strips and as everyone knows it's the best comic strip currently in circulation. If you like birds, check out The Cuckoo's Haiku which though is a collection of bird poems has some spectacular illustrations and is really a field guide in disguise. Also, if you're a fan of the original Star Trek series (the original--not the new timeline version), you might enjoy Star Trek: Best Destiny which tells how Jim Kirk became interested in Starfleet and also gives a few details following the events of the movie, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country.

Movies Viewed for the First Time
The Death of a President
The Watcher in the Woods
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Beyond Narnia
Once Upon a Mattress
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Observe and Report
Hannah Montana: The Movie
America Zombie
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines
Bolt

Out of the movies I saw for the first time, there's only a few I will comment on. Monsters Vs. Aliens was so much better than what I had expected. It's full of all kinds of surprises for people who grew up reading sci-fi, watching movies, or who have ever listened to Stephen Colbert. Bolt was also another movie I was surprised by, but shouldn't have been because the producer is the guy who basically started Pixar. American Zombie was a hilarious movie, but only if you enjoy zombies and if you have seen enough documentary films to know the cliches of the genre. There's actually some extraordinary acting in this film, but since it was a low budget indie and has a narrow focus, it will take some time before people begin "discovering" it.

The Actor

Last weekend I had my first paying job as an actor. It was $20 for a 10-minute shoot for a corporate training video. I've wanted to be a professional actor since I was about five and even at that young of an age I defined "professional" as getting paid to act. So, I can finally say that I'm a professional actor. It feels good, real good.

Obama's Proposed Budget "Cuts"

President Obama has promised that his administration would make cuts in spending totaling $100 million. Overlooking the fact that this announcement wasn't made until after the President's administration proposed a budget nearly double of President George W. Bush's budget during his last year in office, what is $100 million from out of a $3.5 trillion budget? As this video illustrates, not much. Not much at all.

Education in the U.S.

In an interview entitled "The Apostle of Reform" in the Apr. 27, 2009 edition of TIME magazine, U.S. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan says in response to the question, 'Should students be going to school longer?' that,

" I think the school day is too short, the school week is too short, and the school year is too short."

I realize that Duncan was the head of the Chicago Public School system, but Sec. Duncan is an idiot. This statement, and others in the interview, illustrate that Duncan really has no understanding about the history of education in the United States (for example, mandatory schooling largely came into effect because of unions who wanted to cut the work force) nor the way that youth, particularly high school students, think and behave.

In all honesty we do a pretty good job of educating the students in our country until about 8th grade. Examine the statistics and you'll find that the majority of our students in the elementary grades do really well on comparative tests with students from other countries. Scores for U.S. middle school-aged students drop some, but are about the same. This is actually quite remarkable considering that the U.S. is still the only country on the planet that strives to provide a basic education to all children. We have one of the top-five populations on the Earth and we try to make sure all of our children get an excellent basic education. Also, unlike other countries which only allow testers to test "select" (aka their best) students, we allow all of our students to be tested. Sure there are problems and issues, but all things considered we are doing a decent job at the elementary to middle-school levels.

It's when students get to high school that things get all fucked up. That's because our society really doesn't want to recognize the fact that most high school students are adults and our high school system is set up to treat those individuals more as children who are prisoners in a system in which they aren't supposed to escape. Most countries in the world will not teach students beyond the 6th-8th grades unless they show aptitude and a desire to continue their education. If they show aptitude and desire for a different education than the traditional course (college prep), such as learning a trade, they are allowed to take that route or drop out of school to do so. I realize that because of those standards many students aren't allowed to have any schooling beyond 6th-8th grade. I still think we should have the opportunity for students to continue their education beyond the 8th grade if they choose. However, I also think we should allow for them to make other choices: becoming an apprentice, learning a trade, or even dropping out of school and joining the workforce if they wish. I realize that my views on this aren't very popular, especially among professional educators. But, when you're an honest person you often find yourself being unpopular.

For example, most of the time high school teachers encourage all of their students to stay in school and go on to college. Well, college isn't for everyone and we do a disservice to our students when we make them feel obligated it is something they have to do. I had a student that ended up dropping out of high school. When he did everyone else at school talked about what a terrible life that student was going to have without his diploma. I never said anything but I felt that even if that student might have it a bit more rough, he was going to be just fine. That student was a better mechanic than he was a college-prep student and he's now rather successful and is making more money than most of the teachers at the school I taught at do. As I look back on it, I think they were resentful of him because he ended up doing the opposite of what most of his teachers and what the system was telling him to and the teachers knew it was actually better for him than what they were offering. I never begrudged that student. I was glad to see him leave, not because he was troublesome, but because I knew he was going to be better off and I've always wanted the best for each of the students I have worked with.

I honestly don't think Sec. of Education Duncan wants what's best for students. Longer school days, weeks, and years aren't going to improve student achievement. In fact, doing so, especially at the secondary (high school) level will end up having the exact opposite effect.

Book Review of THE TWILIGHT ZONE: WALKING DISTANCE

Rod Serling’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE was one of the most ground-breaking programs to air on television. Through its wonderful storytelling, it was able to explore and discuss prominent issues that are just as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 1960s. Many shows and serieses have been inspired by THE TWILIGHT ZONE with varying degrees of success. The show is just as powerful and thought-provoking as it was when it first aired.

Therefore, I was very excited when I learned about the series of graphic novels from Walker & Company written by Mark Kneece and illustrated by Dove McHargue. Selected episodes from the original tv series that were written by Serling himself have been selected to be adapted into a series of graphic novels.

WALKING DISTANCE is one of the first titles in the series. In this story, Martin Sloan is an executive of an ad agency living life in the fast lane. He’s become highly successful and seems destined for more, but he’s very unhappy. He’s nostalgic for his past and wants to go home again. After blowing up a tire on the highway, Sloan realizes he’s only a short “walking distance” from his hometown. While his car is being worked on, he takes a jaunt into town to clear his head. As he begins his journey he crosses over into the Twilight Zone eventually learning an important lesson from someone in his past.

The illustrations are well done and the overall structure and tone of the graphic novel stay true to the spirit of the original episode. The text is written in a font a bit larger than most graphic novels and comics. “Walking Distance” wasn’t one of my favorite episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, but it is a good story to use as an introduction to the series. The book includes introductory and concluding essays as well as a page that gives many details about the original episode, including cast, crew, and trivia. For instance, I learned that “Walking Distance” is considered to be Serling’s most personal because the memories that Sloan has of Homewood are based upon Serling’s life growing up in Binghamton, NY.

Overall, this is a wonderful graphic novel that I really enjoyed and I look forward to reading more titles in the series. Recommened for fans of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, for people who enjoy graphic novels with good stories. Also recommended as a tool to introduce younger people to this classic television series.

Spartacus

Here's something I learned this past week. Have you ever seen the movie SPARTACUS? At the end when the slaves and gladiators have been defeated by the Romans they come for Spartacus and ask where he is. Each of the men stand up and say "I am Spartacus" so that the Romans won't know who Spartacus is. The movie ends showing the road of crucifixions where the rebels where killed. It is truly that Romans crucified 6,500 of Spartacus' followers along the Appian Way from Brundisium to Rome. What the movie never revealed, though, is that the Romans knew who Spartacus was and that his body was never found. Roman historians Plutarch and Appian claimed that Spartacus was the last man standing of the rebels, but was slain. However, because his body was never found there are many who believe that Plutarch and Appian made that part up to not make the Romans look bad. It was rumored that Spartacus was able to escape (about 10,000 of his followers who weren't fighters probably did escape across the Alps) and traversed the Alps where he eventually went to Gaul.

Amazing. And just think what a great story that would make!

March 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
The Confession of St. Patrick Translated by John Skinner
*The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hillburn
Watchmen and Philosophy Ed. by Mark D. White
A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth
Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
# Twilight Zone: Walking Distance by Mark Kneece & et al.

* = collection of comic strips
# = graphic novel

Out of the books I read in March 2009, none were bad. They were in a variety of genres and I could recommend each of them for different reasons. However, for me the stand outs were A Little Bit Wicked and Slumdog Millionaire. I've recently become a fan of Kristin Chenoweth and when I heard she had a memoir coming out, I knew I would be reading it. It's a great read, even if you're not a fan, told in pretty much the same style that Kristin seems to talk and think. It's quite interesting and those who are interested in theatre, acting, and the entertainment business can probably learn a thing or to from the book. Of course, anyone who is a fan of Chenoweth will definitely want to read the book as well as those who just enjoy reading good memoirs.

Slumdog Millionaire was originally publised as Q & A, but with Danny Boyle's film last fall, the book was republished under the name of the movie. Like many movies, the book is better than the movie. The movie condensed many events, created new characters, and altered key plot points. The book is more complicated and complex. If you enjoyed the movie, you may or may not like the book, but if you didn't like the movie because you thought it was too tidy, you'll probably enjoy Slumdog Millionaire.

Movies Watched For the First Time
The Lather Effect
Watchmen
*Pinocchio
Dad's Day
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear
The Alphabet Killer
Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl
Escape to Witch Mountain
Return to Witch Mountain
Race to Witch Mountain
The Black Hole
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982)
Freaks
Trainspotting

*denotes a movie having seen previously more than ten years-ago.

I watched a lot of good movies last month. I really enjoyed Watchmen, though I was disappointed by the finale. Pinocchio is an animated classic that everyone should watch not just once in their life, but several times. Dad's Day was a fun little short movie a friend of the family made a few years ago. The Librarian: Quest for the Spear was actually filmed for TNT, but I enjoyed it. It's worth watching just to see Bob Hope in the first fight sequence of his entire career. I enjoyed Escape to Witch Mountain, found Return to Witch Mountain to be dreadful, and thought that Race to Witch Mountain was decent, but could have been much better (especially if it tied into the older two films more). I'm a big fan of Quasimodo and Hugo's I've seen several version, but this 1982 made-for-tv version is one of the best in terms of the characters and their motivations. It also has Anthony Hopkins how can make watching butter melt seem like poetry. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Freaks is a film on the National Film Registry. A lot of people have told me it's the most frightening movie they have ever seen. I didn't think it was frightening, just quirky, but also a much better film in spite of the unusual cast. It's a movie that all film fans have to see. Trainspotting is also another movie that film fans should watch. I've been meaning to watch it for years, but there wasn't a video store around that carried it. I finally found one. In all honesty, I thought the movie was just okay. However, it terms of filmmaking the movie is incredible. It was the picture that put Danny Boyle on the map as a director and gave Ewan McGregor his big break and made Hollywood take notice. Overall, an excellent month of movie-viewing.

Star Trekking

There's a new Star Trek movie opening in about three weeks. It's a prequel to the entire franchise beginning before the first starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) was completed.

I was never really much into Star Trek growing up. I caught a few episodes of the original series on Saturday mornings and enjoyed them, but I was definitely more of a Star Wars kid than Star Trek. I watched many episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION when I was in high school and years later became more a fan of the franchise. I'm not a Trekker or Trekkie, but am a casual fan. However, what I didn't realize until just recently was that even though I wasn't a big fan, Star Trek had a huge prescence throughout my life. From 1979-1998 a new Star Trek movie was released every two-three years and, even though I only occassionally watched ST:TNG, from 1987-2005 there was at least one Star Trek show on television. When you're interested in pop culture and there's a franchise that has that large and long of an influence, it's bound to affect you somehow.

Last week I realized that it's been six-and-a-half years since the last Star Trek movie was released and four years since the last Star Trek television show ended its run. That's the longest break since the original series ended and the first Star Trek movie came out. I remember watching the last Star Trek movie, STAR TREK NEMESIS and I remember reading about when STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE ended it's run on tv (at the time the UPN wasn't airing around my area). With Star Trek in the background of my life for so long, I hadn't realized the franchise had been gone for so long. For whatever reason, that realization made me both nostalgic and hopeful.

Diamonds In the Rough and Treasures In Clay Jars

Even though first impressions often seem to be so important, they are often wrong. Appearances are deceiving; it takes time to get to know a person. Unfortunately, our society and culture is obsessed with the "instant": instant communication, fast food, channel surfing, etc. The virtue of patience is neglected and as a result we, as a people and individually, miss out on so much. Take Susan Boyle, a single, middle-aged woman who has taken Great Britain by storm. I watched this video earlier and was blown away. Now, I realize that through editing and careful planning reality tv is pretty much mostly staged. Despite this, you have to admit that Susan Boyle has an amazing voice and her life makes for a great story (and compelling television). There are diamonds all around us, if we would only take the time to see them for what they are. There are all kinds of treasures in plain, clay jars if we would only take the time to search them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

What the Church Really Looks Like

Here's an example of what the Church is really like. Amazing, isn't it.

The Point of the Gospel

What's the point of the Gospel?

President Obama in Germany

DATELINE: Saturday, April 4, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama is in Germany today. It is one of three countries he is expected to visit today. Below is an exclusive photo of the President's visit to the Bavarian Forest Mountain Range.

President Barack Obama in Germany. The Bavarian Mountains are in the background.

FREAKS

I just watched the movie FREAKS. What a great film! I wish I would have seen this movie years ago.

EXCLUSIVE PHOTO---Timothy Geithner & Nancy Pelosi

In an unusual display of solidarity, current U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a joint statement today about the economy and the proposed budget for the upcoming year. I have been able to obtain an exclusive photo of this historic event. I believe this is the first time I've been able to post or write about anything that is exclusive. To protect their privacy, I cannot reveal my sources. The exclusive photo is below.

Sec. of Treasury Tim Geithner & Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi at today's historic press conference. Sunday, March 29, 2009

President Obama, Afghanistan, and My Brother.

Yesterday President Obama announced plans to send another 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in addition to the 17,000 that are already there or are on their way. My brother is one of those 4,000. He's had his bag packed since January 2008; two months after he returned from being in Iraq for over a year. I was concerned when my brother went to Iraq, yet I felt peace about him being there. I don't have that same peace as he leaves for Afghanistan and I'm worried.

Say what you will about the war in Iraq, our troops knew what they were doing there. Yes, most of us were fooled, perhaps even lied to about weapons of mass destruction. Still, there were overlying objectives. Even now, the troops I've talked to and the ones my brother has served with and communicated with said that in Iraq they had a purpose but there really is no objective in Afghanistan. My brother has been in constant communication with fellow soldiers that he served with in Iraq who are already in Afghanistan. They serve willingly, but all have said there seems to be no purpose for them being there and the lack of specificity has increased since President Obama was innaugurated.

There are many who will say that the U.S. had no business in Iraq and we should have been focusing on Afghanistan all along. Those who say that might or might not be wrong. The truth is, that though we've been directed to focus on Iraq, we never left Afghanistan. We've had troops there since late fall 2001. Even though the Taliban no longer reigns, the situation is much more dangerous in Afghanistan than it ever was in Iraq. The casualty rate in Afghanistan is almost three times as high as it was in Iraq at the height of the conflict when there was so much "resistance". Most people don't know this because the media has not been reporting about Afghanistan the same way they did about Iraq. Casualties in Iraq were common headlines in newspapers. Yesterday four more soldiers died in Afghanistan and their deaths didn't even warrant any headline in the largest metropolitan paper near me (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

We have done a lot of good in Afghanistan since overthrowing the Taliban. For instance, the unemployment rate was over 60% before the Taliban was overthrown. It's now just below 40%. We've built roads, hospitals, schools, etc. We helped the people of Afghanistan hold their first elections in nearly three decades. These are good things. Yet, Afghanistan is such a backward country, I don't know if it means much.

For instance, in Iraq there was an infrastructure in place before we invaded. We only had to help rebuild it. There is hardly any infrastructure in Afghanistan and the majority of what it does have has either been built by foreign powers occupying the country, drug dealers, or terrorists. Opium production in the country has skyrocketed and neither the citizens or government seem to really care. The illiteracy rate is a staggering 67% and once again there seems to be little concern. Oh, and even though the U.S. has helped cut the unemployment by 20%, the unemployment rate is still around 40% (for comparison the current U.S. unemployment rate is about 8%). Then there's the history of war in the country. Afghanistan has a long history of war and violence and the country has been a quagmire for ever major military power in modern history (British & Russia to name two biggies) that has occupied it (there is a theory that the trouble with Afghanistan is what caused the Soviet Union to finally collapse). And that's what really worries me.

Our President is sending 4,000 more troops to Iraq and my brother is one of them. They will answer the call to duty faithfully and serve willingly, but I don't like it one bit. May God be with each of them and bring them home safely.

The Farrelly Brothers' Three Stooges Movie

This just in, the Farrelly Brothers (Bobby and Peter), who had hits with DUMB AND DUMBER and THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY but haven't made a funny movie since have finally begun production on their Three Stooges movie. A positive about the whole thing: Jim Carrey is supposed to play Curly. Now, here are two major negatives. First, it's not going to be a biopic but as a "modern treatment" of the famous funny trio. That doesn't sound good at all. But, wait, here's the real kicker: Sean Penn is going to play Moe! I love The Three Stooges, but the description of the script and the casting of Sean Penn has disaster written all over it.

February 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schiltz
The Saga of Beowulf by R.Scot Johns
*+Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
#+Twelve Angry Men by Sherman L. Sergel
#Twelve Angry Women by Sherman L. Sergel

* denotes graphic novel
+ denotes a book previously read
# denotes a play

February is a short month, thus not as much time to finish reading books. Good Master! Sweet Ladies! is a short, illustrated work of a series of monologues and dialogues spoken by people from all walks of life set in the Middle Ages of England. The book won the 2008 Newberry Medal for children's literature. The Saga of Beowulf is the first complete novelization of the entire Beowulf poem that I am aware of. The book is fresh, exciting, and the best novel I've read in the past couple of years. I highly recommend it. I re-read Watchmen in preparation for the upcoming movie adaptation. I've read Twelve Angry Men several times in the past year and since I'm going to be directing the show this fall, I re-read it again along with it's almost identical counterpart Twelve Angry Women.

Movies Seen For the First Time
Tin Man
Starship Trooper 3: Marauder
Friday the 13th (2009)
W.
The Wrestler
Taken
Milk
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Inkheart

Tin Man was a miniseries that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel last year. It's re-telling of Frank L. Baum's beloved story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I've been meaning to watching the film for some time and finally got to. I really enjoyed it. I really liked W., too. It's a movie that many people are avoiding--those on the right because they think it's an unfair take on the life of George W. Bush and those on the left think the movie isn't critical of his life enough. The movie is witty and though much of it is imagined fictional accounts told between real-life recreations of actual footage, the movie gives a very honest portrayal of our 43rd President as a real man. The Wrestler was one of my favorite films released in 2008 (though I didn't get to see it until 2009). Mickey Rourke gives an amaking perfermance that should have won him the Oscar. Milk was nomiated for Best Picture, but the movie isn't as good as the majority of reviews would lead one to believe. It's a cliche-ridden biopic that sets no new ground whatsoever. The only reason for it's success is because of the passage of Prop. 8 in California. The Reader was okay, but kind of dry. Taken is an action-packed film based upon an ever-growing problem that faces Americans traveling alone overseas. The last film worth noting is Frozen River a naturalistic drama starring Melissa Leo. Leo's performance deserved the Oscar and really is much better than Kate Winslet in The Reader.

My 10 Favorite Films of 2008

I should have posted this list several weeks ago, but it took me a little while longer to see some of the movies I wanted to because even though St. Louis is a large city, it's not really a hot-spot for film debuts. Anyway, here's my list of my favorite 10 movies from 2008.

10.
IRON MAN--Until another comic book movie came along last summer, IRON MAN was the king of comic book movies. It has many of the elements people have now come to expect in a superhero movie, but also included a hugely talented cast that gave some wonderful performances. Also, though the characters origins are steeped in tragedy and full of lessons about the dangers of pride, the film is really about redemption. It's a feel-good movie and a good one at that.

9.In recent years I've become a huge fan of documentaries. All of us have great stories about life, but many are never told because a person has no idea how to convey their story in a meaningful and proper way to the world at large. Documentaries, if done right, are able to do this. In the past few years since I've discovered this genre of film, I've seen all kinds of great documentaries from some smaller films that friends of mine have made that have never been marketed to larger marketed pictures such as MURDERBALL, GRIZZLY MAN, and THE KING OF KONG that have examined (respectfully) the lives of people involved in wheelchair rugby, people living with grizzly bears, and people who play Donkey Kong as a second job. MAN ON WIRE is about Philippe Petit, a professional tightrope walker from France, who in 1974 before the buildings were completed walked between the Two Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. For many people this movie has a nostalgic appeal because of the now eradicated Two Towers. Discounting that, the film is still a remarkable film about who dream dreams and make them come true as well as of living the life of an Artist who tries to make some beautiful. In the words of the Muppets, it's really about the "lovers, the dreamers, and me."

8.Five years ago, people would say that a cartoon love story between two robots that has hardly any dialogue with a largely environmental message would be a box office killer. Fast-forward in time and that movie was the biggest animated film of 2008. Of course it was created by the people at Pixar who just fifteen years after their inception hasn't forgotten that the heart of all moviemaking, especially animated films, isn't in the animation itself but in the story and the characters.

7.

Okay. I'll admit. I've heard about this movie for two years because a friend of mine worked on it. Even if I had no connection to the film, I still would have loved it. The movie is filmed in a realistic way (with the feel of a documentary) with a naturalistic story. The acting is incredible, especially that of Melissa Leo. Even though she was beaten out of the Oscar by Kate Winslet, Leo's performance is hand's down the best performance by an actress from any movie released in 2008. Leo's been around for a long time, but does mostly small and indpendent stuff so very few people recognize her name.

6.Robert Downy Jr. had his comeback in IRON MAN. THE WRESTLER is Mickey Rourke's. I grew up watching Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Piper, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Hillbilly Jim, Sgt. Slaughter, Andre the Giant, the Iron Shiek, etc. As a kid, all you ever see is the stuff that goes in front of the cameras and even when you're a little older and recognize some of the theatrics, you have no idea what actually happens behind the cameras and off-stage. Now I know. Rourke gives a dynamic performance and should gave the best performance of any actor on screen in 2008. Like Melissa Leo, even though he didn't win an Oscar he'll still be giving great performances years from now. Besides that, Rourke could easily kick Sean Penn's whiny ass any day.

5.Critics hated this movie. "There's too much going on." "It doesn't know what type of movie it wants to be." "Nicole Kidman can't act." And on and on. However, everyone that I've talked to who's not a filmmaking insider and who has actually seen the movie, loves it. I know I did. The film is a cross breed of genres, but that's kind of the point. It's not supposed to be just a love story, or a Western, or a war movie. The movie is really about Australia and it's people and the characters in the film are just symbols used to tell this beautiful portrait of Baz Luhrmann's homeland.

4.The funniest movie of the year. You'll love it even more if you've worked in film or theatre.

3.
In all honesty, I wasn't all that impressed with Brad Pitt. He's a decent actor and does a good job, but what makes his performance stand out isn't his acting but the special effects and make-up. Unbelievable. Cate Blanchett and Taraji Henton (Queeny) give the real star performances in this picture. Also, the sets, props, and costumes were unbelievable.

2.
Directed by one of my favorite directors, Danny Boyle, and set in India this coming of age love story set within a rags to riches tale taking place during the biggest trivia game in history, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was the most-deserving of the five nominated pictures to win the Oscar. The cinematography is magnificent and the music is a real treat. I love the way how the story unfolds before the audience, told through flashbacks after questions asked on the show. The movie displays some very dark and disturbing parts of life, yet at it's core the film is about hope, joy, and love with a happy ending that unlike most Hollywood-type movies doesn't seem at all out of place.

1.There was so much about this movie that could have gone wrong. Yet, THE DARK KNIGHT avoided all of those pitfalls and once and for all showed the world that superhero movies based upon comic books aren't all cotton-candy. The movie is a dark film ending with a bizarre turn of events that leaves the hero of the film taking on the role of villian. Yet, the final moments of the film revel in an anticipation of hope.

To LAWR

Viva la libertad!--A Friend.

Brian Welch's Testimony

I came across the following video the other day and found it really interesting. God will meet us wherever we are if we are only willing.

A Trillion Dollars

The phrase "a trillion dollars" is being thrown around a lot lately. I remember when I was in grade school and thought that a million dollars was a lot of money. In order to get an idea of how much a trillion dollars really is, go visit this article.

It's like wandering through the warehouse in the Indiana Jones movies.

Book Review of THE SAGA OF BEOWULF

I first became acquainted with Beowulf when I was a freshman in high school. There was an all-school assembly where a theatre group from the city came and performed a “play” based upon BEOWULF. It was more like a dance recital with some percussion and a little bit of acting. Though excited to not be in class, most students were bored by the performance, including the seniors who were studying the poem in their English classes. Even though I felt the show was a bit unusual, I was transfixed by the experience and it wasn’t because of the performers. I was interested because I found the story that was told (experimental and rudimentary as it was) fascinating. Thus began a lifelong love for first piece of literature ever written in English, BEOWULF. I read the poem when I was a senior in high school, re-read it and translated a small portion from the original Old English for a medieval English class in college, and re-read it again when Seamus Heaney’s now-famous translation was first released. My fascination with the tale has led me to read and watch other works about Beowulf. There are a variety of them out there, from comic books to novels to movies (the most recent being the 2007 CGI film version from Robert Zemeckis and Neil Gaiman). The tale of Beowulf is extraordinary and inspiring and though most of these works have had sparks of originality and creativity, none has been outstanding. That is until now.

R. Scot John’s THE SAGA OF BEOWULF is a novelized re-telling of the story of Beowulf. The novel follows the main plotline of the original poem. During the Dark Ages, a legendary Geatish hero named Beowulf travels across the sea with some fellow warriors to the land of the Danes. Daneland has been ravished for twelve years by an ogre named Grendel. Many men have tried to kill the creature, but have ended up only as another meal or sacrifice. Beowulf arrives upon the shores of the Danes and promises to kill the creature. He does, but the joy of having the monster slain is short lived because Grendel has a mother who is more cunning than her son. She threatens to continue the siege that Grendel began twelve years before. She must be dealt with. So, Beowulf travels to Grendel’s mother’s den and with the help of a magical giant sword, kills her, too. He returns home and eventually becomes the king of his own clan and after many other adventures meets the end of his life after fighting a ferocious dragon. He succeeds in killing the dragon, but the wounds from the encounter are mortal and he dies. This is the basic plot of the original story and they are all included in THE SAGA OF BEOWULF. However, the novel encompasses much, much more.

The basic elements are expanded and other plotlines, some based upon other historical events and situations, have been woven into the story. Characters are given rich backstories that make them seem like real and compelling people, especially Beowulf. In many of the adaptations of the original poem, Beowulf’s character has been altered in a significant way to make him seem more human and less a Hero. Take for instance the Zemeckis movie version. There is no doubt that Beowulf is stronger than any man alive and can do heroic deeds. However, in that version of the tale, Beowulf’s character is compromised and he is shown not just to be proud, but pompous with a moral and ethical code no different than the rest of the savages he encounters. In THE SAGA OF BEOWULF, neither his humanity nor his almost superhuman abilities are skirted and Beowulf is shown to be the real Hero he is in the poem.

Beowulf isn’t the only character to be so fully and richly developed. Most of the other characters are, too. Many times background stories and exposition is for many readers often boring and the least interesting part of the stories they read, but in THE SAGA OF BEOWULF this is not so. Much of the exposition is dealt in flashbacks that not only provide crucial character history, but are just as exciting and interesting as the main action of the tale. And this is an action-packed story. A giant sea serpent, rock trolls, dwarves, fierce battles against sworn enemies, assassinations, sea journeys, a raid for fame and fortune into Frankish territory, and a battle in a ancient Roman arena against gladiators are all a part of the story. Besides the action and fighting sequences there’s some real-life history and political maneuverings as well as a dose of romance for good measure.

The novel is written in a style that modern readers should have no trouble following, yet is full of narrative poetry that does justice to the original epic. As a former high school English teacher there were times that I became very excited by some of the language in the story (Look, it’s a kenning!). A casual reader who has never read the original poem will probably enjoy the book as much as I did and not notice these poetic tributes, but they are a nice touch and are especially appreciated by those who are familiar with the original poem.

Purists might be offended by how the author has condensed events to fit a relative short time span. For instance, in the original poem, it is a span of nearly fifty years that Beowulf is king but in THE SAGA OF BEOWULF he is only king for a few brief months. The author explains in detail on his website (http://www.fantasycastlebooks.com/) why he made the decisions he made. Even though I felt it would have been nice to have seen some of the events of the novel spread out over a longer time frame, I understand why the timeline was shortened and felt that it took nothing away from the story or the character of Beowulf. In fact, other than a rather slow beginning and a few typographical errors, there is no criticism that I can say about THE SAGA OF BEOWULF.

In order to help readers more fully understand the text, the book includes a glossary of names, a glossary of places, as well as a fairly detailed map of the Scandinavia of the story. I found the glossaries particularly useful, especially during the first third of the novel when there were so many names and places, some of which even I wasn’t familiar.

In short, I found THE SAGA OF BEOWULF to be an exciting piece of historical fiction. Those who are familiar with the original poem will probably enjoy the novel as well as anyone who enjoys reading quality historical and fantasy fiction.

The National Law to Burn Children's Books & The Human Brain

A few days ago a thrift store nearby published an advertisement in the local paper that they would no longer be accepting a very long list of items nor would they be selling those items in their stores. Some of the items listed were "children's books published before 1985". I found the ad interesting, but didn't give it too much thought. That was until I came across this article. Apparently besides spending massive amounts of money on useless projects that we can't afford, the federal government has decided to go completely Big Brother on us and has now banned the selling of all children's books published before 1985. I couldn't believe this when I first heard about it, but it is indeed true. Please read this article and write, email, or call your congressional representatives asking them to repeal this legislation.

As the author of the article, Walter Olson, points out, "Whatever the future of new media may hold, ours will be a poorer world if we begin to lose (or “sequester” from children) the millions of books published before our own era. They serve as a path into history, literature, and imagination for kids everywhere. They link the generations by enabling parents to pass on the stories and discoveries in which they delighted as children. Their illustrations open up worlds far removed from what kids are likely to see on the video or TV screen. Could we really be on the verge of losing all of this? And if this is what government protection of our kids means, shouldn’t we be thinking instead about protecting our kids from the government?"
********************************************************************************
On a completely different note, I came across this video by a savant. He's promoting his new book about the human brain and how people think. It's very interesting.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3M6OL67ENQ0U5/ref=ent_fb_link

License Plate

A couple nights ago I was driving home after a show and there was a car in front of me. When I read the license plate I had to do a double take. I was kind of tired, but I re-read the plates a couple of times and I was pretty sure the plates were: PEE NIS 1.

January 2009: Media Consumed

A couple of years ago after reading THE POLYSYLLABIC SPREE by Nick Hornby, I was inspired to post a list of all the books I had read each month as well as the movies I viewed for the first time. I kept this up for just over a year and then stopped last year because I was so overwhelmed with teaching. I decided for 2009 that I would try it again. So, here's my list of books and movies from January 2009.

Books Read
*One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play) Dale Wasserman
*Bus Stop William Inge
*You Can't Take It With You George Kaufman & Moss Hart
*Lend Me a Tenor Ken Ludwig
*Once Upon a Mattress Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, Dean Fuller, et al.
** Superman, Inc: 1999 Annual Report Steve Vance, et al.
**Superman: Last Son of Earth, Book 1 & 2 Steve Gerber, Doug Wheatley, Chris Chuckry
** Batman: In Darkest Knight Mike W. Barr & Jerry Bingham
**Gotham By Gaslight Brian Augustyn, et al.
**Son of Superman Howard Chaykin, David Tischman, et al.
Holy Sh*t: The World's Weirdest Comic Books Paul Gravett & Peter Stanbury
Dispatches From the Tenth Circle The Onion
* = denotes a play
** = denotes graphic novel

I read several plays and comic books (graphic novels) in January 2009. I enjoyed all of the plays except Bus Stop. I'm not sure why this play is so well known because it's incredibly boring. The graphic novels were all elseworlds stories (what if?-type stories, e.g. what if Batman lived during the time of Jack the Ripper?). There were none of the batch that were terrible and overall most of them were rather enjoyable. They were a nice way to entertain myself on those days we were snowed in. As for the other books, Holy Sh*t is a collection of comic book covers with a synopsis and short history of some very bizarre and unusual comics. Dispatches From the Tenth Circle was a Christmas gift. It's a collection of Onion stories and is hilarious.

Movies Seen for the First Time
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Resident Evil: Degeneration
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Gran Torino
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Valkyrie
Pi

The only must see movie of the bunch is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's a moving, life-encouraging film. The special effects are amazing. I cried a little. The film isn't the best movie of 2008, but it is one of the top three. It's kind of long, but it's well worth it.

Pi is noteworthy because it was a $60,000 movie that launched the career of director Darren Aronofsky, one of the most daring, visually-stimulating, and thought-provoking directors making movies.

Gran Torino is worth watching just for Clint Eastwood. He's basically the whole movie. It was panned by critics and didn't do as well as expected at the box office, but I enjoyed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Valkyrie has some really good acting and is noteworthy for bringing this overlooked episode of WWII history to the public's attention. Lastly, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is hilarious and any film that stars Phil Silvers and Zero Mostel is a must see.