Oh, the agony … of defeat. Last round, in the Science Fiction category, The Hunger Gamesbit the dust before the unstoppable Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But at least my personal pick for all time greatest epic fantasy novel ever written didn’t fall to mere rabbits. This round, however, The Lord of the Rings faces very stiff competition from that upstart Harry Potter.
And it remains a mystery (at least until Monday morning and the votes are tabulated), whether Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot will solve the Case of the Sweet Sixteen Surprise.
Cast your votes now and be entered in a drawing for a Booketology Prize Pack of one copy of each of the eight books that advance to the Elite 8 round, plus a basketball autographed by Kansas City author Whitney Terrell. (Click here for rules and details).
HPB's Tournament of Villians
And just in case you weren’t having enough fun already voting for your favorite books, stop by Half Price Books Tournament of Villains, also in the Sweet Sixteen of the third round. Polls close in a few minutes, at 2:00 p.m. Central.
After spending a very lazy Saturday avoiding the invasion of little green men from the Emerald Isle by baking bread, reading about life under Mao in China and watching action flix, Apollo and I took a long walk Sunday morning under an increasingly gloomy overcast sky. Oddly, we saw only one other dog, which looked like a miniature version of Apollo. Only three other people were walking during the nine o’clock hour yesterday. We passed by two clocks on our walk, both of which are broken (either not telling time at all or completely incorrect in their display). Here’s a couple of shots of the clock at the north end of Lansing’s long undeveloped Town Centre street:
South sideNorth side
As Terry and I were about to leave the house in the early afternoon, my father stopped by on a surprise visit, mostly in response to a status update I Tweeted late on Saturday. He wanted the nitty gritty details concerning my success in updating my Autostar hand-held computer control device for my Meade ETX-90 telescope.
A couple of weeks ago, I had downloaded the most recent Autostar Updater software from Meade and finally remembered to attempt the hardware portion of the update. Hardware and I have a long history of adversarial confrontations. Basically, I used several different connector cables between my laptop and the Autostar device: 1) a serial to USB convert cable, 2) a proprietary Meade serial to Autostar cable (looks very similar to a phone jack, not nearly as big as RJ-45 though), 3) the Autostar cable to connect to the Meade ETX-90 and 4) a universal 12 volt transformer and power cable to supply electricity to the telescope. Once all the connections were in place and secure, I fired up the software. I did an auto-detect on all available COM ports and the software found the Autostar on COM5. Then, I instructed the software to download the most recent firmware version (43Eg … an increase of nearly 20 versions over the 26Ec firmware that came on the Autostar when I received it) from Meade and proceeded with the download to the Autostar at the astronomically miniscule data rate of 9600 baud. The update amounted to about 36 kilobytes of data. I have text files that are larger than that. It took fifteen to twenty minutes to complete the transfer. Man, has data transfer come a long ways in the last decade or two.
I gave dad the bread I had made him Saturday, as well as the Netflix envelope with The Adventures of TinTin sealed in it so he could watch that movie and then return it for me to Netflix in a second unsealed envelope I sent home with him.
Without further ado, Terry and I headed to the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Public Library to attend a lecture and presentation by John Carter Tibbets billed as “From Africa to Mars! 100 Years of Tarzan and John Carter.” We arrived just in the nick of time and parked in the tenant parking garage, since I remembered to bring my security badge with me. I happen to work in that same building. As a result of the lecture, I decided to add the DVD of Greystoke to my Netflix queue. I remember watching it in the mid 80s, probably on a VHS tape, but decided now is the time to see it in wide-screen via DVD. I also acquired a movie poster for the John Carter movie, and other memorabilia, courtesy of Tibbets’ recent private screening of the film at a special showing to a select group of Burroughs aficionados. Tibbets closed the session with this wonderful quote from C.S. Lewis, summing up the why behind the timeless popularity of characters like John Carter and Tarzan:
To tell how odd things struck odd people is to have an oddity too much: he who is to see strange sights must not himself be strange. He ought to be as nearly as possible Everyman or Anyman.
— C.S. Lewis, On Science Fiction
On the return trip home, Terry and I detoured to Mission Med Vet to pick up Roxy‘s remains. We spent the drive home in silence, cherishing memories of her and missing her deeply.
I started reading this the evening of February 13th, with snowfall predicted to commence after midnight. I sat shivering at the kitchen table while I read the first few chapters, even though the furnace kept my house a toasty 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I even dug out a blanket to put on the bed before I went to sleep (still shivering). Brrrr….. Great writing by Dan Simmons, atmospherically speaking.
And I restrained my insatiable desire to research the quest for the Northwest Passage and specifically the final voyage of the HMS Terror until after I finished reading the novel. Simmons kept me riveted until the last few chapters, when he decided to take an extreme detour into arctic supernatural spirituality that left me, well, cold.
Still, a great read by an outstanding author. I recommend lots of warm tea or hot cocoa and abstinence from long pork.
The protagonist, Rachel, grabbed me immediately. Not only was she a superb vocalist, she reminded me in so many ways of my own daughter, also named Rachelle, and who is also a superb vocalist (mezzo soprano, though, instead of Rachel’s coloratura soprano). As soon as I finished the book, I sent a recommendation off to my Rachelle, hoping she’d read it and enjoy it as much as I did.
The religious references intrigued me (and sometimes made me laugh – did anyone else think that the name of Semorrah was a mashed-up condensation of Sodom and Gemorrah?) and the musical elements fascinated me. I play piano, attempt to sing (not as well trained as my daughter, so I gave it up as a lost cause at this point in my life) and I know basic music theory. My husband has years of training (jazz trumpet and guitar), composes music and has perfect relative pitch; all of which he passed on to our daughter.
On the question of whether this novel is science fiction or fantasy, I leaned towards the former early on. Once introduced to the oracle Josiah in Archangel, I began to believe I was reading a science fiction story (perhaps along the lines of Pern?). But the rest of the novel revealed little beyond that scene with the Oracle. Another clue could also be derived from the ‘smallness’ of their ‘planet’ in area and scope.
I interpreted the singing as magical. The story is mostly a romance, which I normally avoid like the plague, but in this case it worked well.
I have not decided yet if I will continue this series. I’ll have to research my friends’ reviews of it and see if it gets better or if this installment is as good as it gets.
All in all, I really enjoyed Archangel, even if it seemed to be a romance masquerading as a fantasy with hints of science fiction sprinkled throughout.
Terry and I surfed the St. Patrick’s Day line-up in despair of finding anything to watch. ABC Family Channel had a Harry Potter marathon running opposite a Die Hard Day marathon on AMC. We finally settled on doing a double-play (watching two channels simultaneously, sort of, from our DVR) of Hancock on FX and the original Die Hard on AMC. We paused the movies long enough to grill up some Honey Garlic boneless chicken thighs and try some brown rice and quinoa.
This is probably the third or fourth time I’ve watched Hancock. FX mutilated it for content and to fit the time allotted but I could easily fill-in-the-blanks from my previous viewings. Not an earth-shattering story or performance, beyond Hancock’s abrupt take-off and landings, but a nice diversion for an otherwise lazy Saturday evening at home.
I could definitely see the hand of Spielberg in the production and direction of this film. I did not realize, however, that the story was based upon a comic strip. John Williams composed the score, even though I could almost hear themes from many of his other more famous film scores, echoing and ricocheting throughout the film.
While I enjoyed watching the film, I just wasn’t wowed by it. In fact, both Terry and I fell asleep the first time we attempted it. We tried again on the following day, and I made it to the finish, but Terry nodded off a couple of times again. All the action and adventure probably would have had more impact in a non-animated production for me. If you’re going to use guns and other lethal weapons, I guess I prefer live-action (or CGI-enhanced live-action) to the purely animated medium.
For the past week, weather permitting, I took a series of photographs from my backyard during the early evening. I tried to get the tripod and camera positioned in roughly the same spot. I also tried to remember to take the photos at about the same time, during the eight o’clock hour. I believe I was more or less successful. The following are the best of the bunch in the progression of the mid-March 2012 Venus Jupiter Conjunction:
Jupiter (upper left) Venus (lower right) on Fri 03/09/2012Jupiter (upper left) Venus (lower right) Sat 03/10/2012Jupiter (left) Venus (right) as close as they get on Monday evening 03/12/2012Venus (right) pulling away from Jupiter (left) Tues 03/13/2012Venus (right) rising above Jupiter (left) Wed 03/14/2012Jupiter (left) falling, Venus (right) rising on Thursday, the Ides of March, 03/15/2012
Roxy with one of her indestructible ring toys (May 2007)
I have many great memories of Roxy to share. I hope most of them make you smile. Some of them may even make you laugh out loud. All of them will be bittersweet for me, but still precious. So, I plan to share them with you on a weekly basis, probably on Fridays, as I will have the hardest time getting through a weekend without Roxy to cheer me up.
I dreaded walking up the fronts steps these last five days. Apollo met me at the door, but his tail didn’t thump-thump-thump against the dividing rail between the entryway and the dining area. He wagged his tail at the sight of me, but he wasn’t crowded out of the way by Roxy. She usually stood front and center, eagerly gripping her ring toy in her mouth, dancing back and forth in front of Apollo. I usually had to order them both to back up so I could squeeze through the screen door.
I would carefully thread the needle of swirling Rottweilers and unburden myself of my purse and laptop case in the great room. Once my hands were free, I could pet each of them, although Roxy would continually circle around me in an effort to head Apollo off from getting too much attention.
If I decided to sit down, Roxy would either approach me and plop herself down on my feet, facing away from me, or continue circling the great room with her ring toy. We affectionately called this parading around ‘circling the wagons.’ Sometimes Apollo would stealthily attempt to snatch the toy from her jaws and then the fun really began.
Roxy, being the nearly full blooded Rottweiler, could easily keep Apollo, the half-breed, from her toy. Her jaw strength and stubbornness exceeded his. But Apollo never played fair and used stealth and guile to trick Roxy into dropping it. Sometimes, he would even go so far as to lay on the ring toy, which drove Roxy into a fit of apoplexy. Eventually she would start circling him faster and faster and even go so far as to bark repeatedly at him. Unless Terry or I told Apollo to get up, he would ignore Roxy’s tantrum.
Roxy’s ring toys sit idle in the great room. I’ve tried a couple of times this week, as has Terry, to get Apollo to play catch and fetch, but Apollo only made half-hearted attempts. Apollo would much prefer to play tug-of-war with Roxy. He still doesn’t understand why she’s gone. If only I spoke better dog, then I might be able to tell him what happened. Perhaps it’s a blessing for him that I can’t.
I needed some brainless mind candy this week and the next thing in my Netflix queue just happened to serve up Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman (of Wolverine and Leopold fame).
When I saw the trailers last year, the first thing I thought of was a video game my kids used to play called One Must Fall. Actually, the screenplay is based on a science fiction short story called ‘Steel’ published in 1956 by Richard Matheson (of I Am Legend fame).
For once, I admit I agree with Roger Ebert on this film, when he stated, “Real Steel is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. Sometimes you go into a movie with low expectations and are pleasantly surprised.” My sentiments exactly. I came away very pleasantly surprised, giving my heart a much needed boost up from a devastating loss at home this week.
I did get a chuckle out of a couple of scenes as Atom began his climb up the robot boxing ranks. A nod and a wink back to Every Which Way But Loose and at least one of the Rocky films. I probably missed some other scenes that referenced other boxing films of the past, due to my limited experience in that film subcategory.
This movie kept me up way past my bedtime, but I didn’t mind at all. Take a chance on Atom and enjoy Real Steel soon.
I loved this film. I would even go so far to say I loved it better than the original book the screenplay was adapted from, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. As soon as the BluRay for John Carter is released, I am buying it. That’s saying something, since I haven’t actually purchased a DVD or BluRay for myself in years (as a Netflix subscriber, why would I?). The last film worthy of that feat (but only on the discount table because I’m so cheap) would have been Live Free or Die Hard, but I didn’t get the chance since my daughter gifted it to me for my birthday last year. I plan to add John Carter to my permanent collection, shelving it next to my special collector’s editions of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.
Go see John Carter. Now. Don’t wait.
You don’t need to be a fan of science fiction or epic fantasy to appreciate a good tale well told, one that leaves you shouting for more.
***
Oh, and I almost forgot. I liked the musical score as well, which came as no surprise when the credits started rolling and listed Michael Giacchino as the composer. His work on The Incredibles impressed me so much I bought the soundtrack CD (another thing I haven’t done since the days of Star Wars).
![Jupiter (left) Venus (right) as close as they get on Monday evening 03/12/2012](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/6840794134_1463c32dac_z.jpg" width="640" height="426" alt="IMGP2421"></a>)
