Hey Kids, Comics!

I picked up a comic today and here are some thoughts:

The Return of Adam Strange no.1. Decompression is here to stay. I must reconcile myself with that fact. This issue is all set up. But there is a lot to like here. The writer, Andy Diggle, is the mastermind behind The Losers and he knows how to write an action scene. The main character begins at a low point but comes back into his own in a big way by the end of this issue. I've ever had much interest in Adam Strange (after all, he's just a dude with a jet pack and a pair of ray guns) but I his story reminds me of a Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. And Pascal Ferry's art is fantastic! I look forward to the rest of the series. I hope they can keep this up.

New Link

A co-worker has her own blog: Kym Butterfly. I posted the link in the "links" section. Welcome aboard!

Eragon and Bartimaeus Smackdown!

I recently read to young adult fantasy novels and the experience revealed some interesting things about the state of the genre. These books allowed me to see how two authors at different points in their careers tackled the subject matter.

Eragon is written by Christopher Paolini, who wrote this while still in his teens (the copy on the dust jacket states that he became a New York Times bestselling author at the age of nineteen). The story involves the titular character as he travels across a fantastic realm astride a blue dragon. Nearly every cliche in the fantasy genre makes an appearance in this book. These include: an evil, magic-using emperor; a wise but crotchety old man who is still capable of defeating his enemies at an advanced age; ugly, bestial cannon fodder; and elves. But Mr. Paolini demonstrates an assured writing style and a good grasp of the demands of the genre. Despite the fact that I have read bits and pieces of this same story in different books for over 25 years, I appreciated his style and admired the fact that he is still just a kid. I recommend this book to anyone who is not familiar with the genre (and, therefore, would not see the old chestnuts for what they are) but is looking for a nice read. In fact, it is a perfect book for kids.

The Golem's Eye is written by Jonathan Stroud, a veteran of many years in the children's book publishing industry (albeit chiefly as an editor). This guy knows his stuff! He is a master to Mr. Paolini's apprentice. He has a deft touch and a great facility for creating distinct characters and giving them unique voices. This book is the second of a trilogy concerning Bartimaeus, a djinn, the boy who conjures him and a girl who seeks to drive the djinn and the magicians who summon them from power. No major character is wholly good or wholly evil (admittedly, many of the older magicians are arrogant and avaricious to a man). The djinn is an entertaining and sly narrator, with a soft spot for the boy who commands him. The boy's conscience often conflicts with his ambition, and most of the time his ambition wins. The girl fights for equality and freedom with a band of thieves at her side. And the plot is straightforward but not cliche, a treat for victims of the genre like myself. After the kid reads Eragon (or any Harry Potter book), I'd put this series in her hands show that she can see how this should be done!

This is Insane!

The US government deported Cat Stevens, the former pop star turned muslim. Apparently, songs like Peace Train and Wild World are threats to national security. Sheesh...

Wait For It...

No, I haven't watched any of the Star Wars films in the DVD set. My wife and I attended a lecture by Thomas Cahill instead. He's the fellow who wrote How the Irish Saved Civilization and his talk was sponsored by UT's Harry Ransom Center and the Texas Book Festival. It was an entertaining speech.

I did manage to squeeze a few of the DVD bonus material before I called it a night. The original trailers for the first movie are a hoot! I'd forgotten how cheesy they looked. I also watched the short on the Darth Vader design to be seen in Episode III (which comes out next year, I think). There are some shots from the light saber duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin and it promises to be pretty intense.

I Got 'Em

I wish I could go back in time. I would tell my ten year-old self: "Kid, in the future you will own all three Star Wars movies. They will look better and sound better. You will be able to watch them anytime you like."

My ten year-old self would then look up at me and say: "That's cool. But how did you get so fat?"

My ten year-old self is a punk-assed chump. On second thought, I won't go back in time. Let him stew for a while.

New Links

I've added some new links for your perusal:

1. "Wikipedia" is an online encyclopedia that is updated continuously. Once you start using it, you won't be able to stop. You can also add it as a search engine on your Firefox browser.

2. "Encylcopedia Mythica" is a site that summarizes many world myths and folklore and is fun to visit.

3. "Comic Weblogs" is a site that lists a host of blogs devoted to comics. The list is updated as the contributor blogs are updated. If you are interested of comics of any kind, this is a great place to get all sorts of information.

4. "Various and Sundry" is a blog maintained by a fellow with an interest in all sorts of things. Like "Miribilis", he often provides links to on-line articles about a wide variety of topics. It is a favorite of mine.

5. "Mozilla" is the main site for Mozilla projects such as Firefox and Thunderbird. If you are using these free products, then you are both hip and smart.

Enjoy!

Austin City Limits Music Festival

My wife and I were very excited to go to the Austin City Limits Festival (ACL) - so excited, in fact, that we arrived early and determined to stick it out for the whole day. We even thought that we would repeat the routine on Sunday.

ACL kicked our butts on Saturday. And not in a good way.

This is not a completely negative story. There were highlights:

1. We "discovered" some bands that we really liked. The Gospelaires (the guitarist was the best in ACL - of the bands we saw), the Greencards (transplanted Australians and an Englishman who play bluegrass really well), and Los Amigos Invisibles (a Venezuelan dance band whose set inspired one of the best crowds in ACL) were all pleasant surprises. I picked up CDs for these bands at the convenient Waterloo booth located near the entrance to ACL.

2. We saw shows from several acts we love. Kelly Willis (the Greencards accompanied her), Elvis Costello and the Imposters (I am conviced that the sound people were on their lunch break during this show because the quality was not up to the high standards met by other performances in ACL), and, of course, the Pixies.

3. The food was pretty good. I think ACL took a page from the New Orleans Jazz Fest playbook. The booths were laid out in an orderly way, the lines were short and manageable and several great restaraunts were represented there. There was lots of water to be had too.

4. There was some shopping. My wife picked up some stuff and I bought some CDs on site. The crowds at the booths were nuts but we still got our hands on the goods.

Here's what we didn't like (we experienced most of this on Saturday. Being the adaptive primates that we are, we learned from this experience and applied that knowledge on Sunday. But more ont hat later):

1. The heat. My god, the heat. There is so little shade. The main stages are completely open and the sun was relentless. I am surpised I didn't hear more reports of heat exhaustion and sunstroke. Perhaps it was because my own heat exhaustion and sunstroke muddled my brain. The heat sucked the energy right out of us. Why can't ACL be scheduled during a cooler time of the year?

2. The crowds. I don't know why people loose their ability to think when gathered in groups of three or more. People talked during shows, they didn't watch where they were going, and they were inconsiderate of others. For instance, we set up some distance from the stage during the Pixies show. Due to the fact that it was the last show of the day, many people left early. I think they all passed in front of us. People stepped on my feet for the better part of an hour. They ran into our chairs. They nearly knocked my wife over. And we didn't have much of a choice; it was so packed that we would have experienced the same things no matter where we went. There is a dissertation on chaos theory waiting to be written. And the "death march" out of the park after the show was frightening. If some idiot had shouted "fire", people would have died.

We took it much easier on Sunday, though. Thanks to my wife's eagle-like vision, we spotted a place underneath a shade tree not far from a main stage. We parked our chairs and stayed there all day. We had a good view of Kelly Willis and Elvis Costello and we were within feet of the beverage stand and the port-a-potties. We relaxed and had fun. We left earlier that day so we didn't have to fight the crowds. It restored my faith in the human ability to learn and adapt!

And thanks, Mary, for letting us park in your driveway so close to the park! It made the festival much easier and more fun.

Austin Homesick Blues-Not!

My wife scored some weekend passes to the Austin City Limits Music Festival! huzzah!

Head... spinning...

And Happy Birthday B.B. King!

Freaky Deaky Day

Routines are funny things. I left the house without my watch and it feels weird. To compound the weirdness, I parked in a different parking space on a different level of the parking garage. And since the rolling stone of weirdness gathers no moss, I went out at picked up my non-fat latte a day early. When will the madness end? Soon I shall wear my shoes on my hands!

I picked up Peter David's Madrox yesterday. Not a lot happens in it, although there are some interesting ideas. A murder mystery of sorts begins but it doesn't interest me very much. It's a shame because Mr. David is usually an excellent writer. I suppose we all have our off-days.

I hope that Miles Davis (Someday My Prince Will Come), Bud Powell (The Best of Bud Powell) and Duke Ellington with Louis Armstrong will make things right again.

Make the Mariachi Band Stop...

They are celebrating Diez y Seis in Republic Park. Which means I am serenaded by mariachi bands outside my window. And I ain't talkin' about no early Los Lobos (Just Another Band From East L.A.) either.

Aye Carumba!

Check this frequency, Kenneth.

Get out while you can, Mr. Rather. The blogosphere smells blood.

Sadly, we may never discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of your story regarding the President's National Guard record. The questions raised by the documents you used to support the story taint the issue beyond all hope of recovery. Although I personally do not think this issue is very important, or even relevant, when weighed against considerations of the war on terror and the economy (I thought the Clinton revival meant that issues regarding personal integrity didn't matter when we consider our leaders) , you and I both know that a news story is a news story. And this one can destroy your career and undermine the integrity of network news (assuming that there is integrity to undermine).

You might think that you can tough this one out. And you may be right. But you've been punked, Mr. Rather. It may be time for you to come on home. The university will hire you in a second. They might even give you a parking space near campus!

Making Myself Useful

It's been a few days since I last posted, so I thought I'd drop off a few recommendations and point to some links this morning.

1. Run out and buy a copy of The Golem's Eye and then read it. If you haven't read the first book, The Amulet of Samarkand, then by all means get that one first. The point here is to read what promises to be an excellent fantasy series set in a distopian society where people who conjure spirits rule the British Empire. The characterization is excellent and the plot is exciting and fast-paced. My wife is now reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and I hope to grab it when she is done. This month looks like "Alternate British History With Magic" month to me!

2. Listen to Ray Charles' Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music. Mr. Charles' southern drawl and easy vocal style suits these C&W standards perfectly. Some of the arrangements are a little "poofy" for my taste (a lot of strings threaten to bump this music into the easy listening category) but the 12-bar blues backbone is always a welcome addition to any popular music.

3. Listen to the Franz Waxman score of The Bride of Frankenstein, which was recently re-recorded by the Westminster Philharmonic (cond. by Kenneth Alwyn). This music and Philip Glass' score to Dracula (the Bela Lugosi version) is the perfect mood-setter for the upcoming Holloween holiday.

4. Finally, update your browser to Firefox 1.0PR and your email client to Thunderbird 0.8. Firefox now makes it easier to set up RSS feeds for your favorite web sites and blogs (although not this one...yet). It is fast, free and more secure than IE.


TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)!

Quick Reviews

The Scar. Somewhere within this big book is a smaller one struggling to get out. Great purple prose and some interesting ideas but the plot just isn't interesting enough to sustain something of this length.

I picked up a copy of The Golem's Eye at Murder By The Book this past weekend. This is the second in a young adult fantasy series that began with The Amulet of Samarkand. I enjoyed the first book and expect great things from this one. I am in desperate search for something to fill the void that Philip Pullman created when he finished the His Dark Materials series. By the way, for those of you who live in Houston: Jonathan Stroud (the author of The Golem's Eye) will visit Murder By the Book on September 18!

The Office (Season 2). Man, this comedy is vicious! Ricky Gervais' character is so clueless and desperate that his antics make me laugh and cringe at the same time. This series is yet more proof that the BBC provides better TV than the American networks.

It's Almost Here...

Here's the first comprehensive review I've seen of the DVD release of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

And while you read it, I thought I'd recommend the Special Editions of the music from Episodes I, IV, V and VI. John Williams is a god. This music is also an excellent intorduction to classical music for kids: the themes are easy to spot and follow, which helps "train" a listener to identify them in more sophisticated work (which is not to denigrate Mr. Williams at all - this music is among the best things to come out of Star Wars). Does anyone know if a Special (or Ultimate) Edition of Episode II exists?

So...much...art...

I had a great holiday and I hope you did too. We spent Saturday on a field trip to Houston, to see the Inverted Utopias exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show featured Latin American art, organized into six broad categories. I must admit that I've never given much thought to Latin American art: I associate it with heat, humidity and people who don't like gringos. But I am now among the converted! It was an amazing show. The link above will provide you with a selection of images from the exhibition, so you'll see what I mean. If you have an opportunity to see it, then please do so.

That exhibition alone is worth an afternoon but we squeezed in the Diane Arbus exhibit too. Ms. Arbus was a photographer known for her work with the marginalized segments of our society. Although she photographed high society scions and celebrities (her portraits of Jorge Luis Borges are quite cool), she also spent time with the poor and the mentally handicapped. She treated all of her subjects with dignity and the results are fantastic. Unfortunately, there was an awful lot of show to cram into a few hours and I grew dizzy from the information overload. I only wish we had gotten to her stuff sooner; the show will not be in Houston much longer.

I am still working my way through The Scar. I will post an in-depth review soon but I must say that this book has some great strengths.. and some great flaws. While I was in Houston, I stopped by Murder By The Book, an independent bookstore that focuses on mysteries and suspense and one of Houston's greatest treasures. It also sells historical fiction and P.G. Wodehouse and I stocked up for the long, cold winter that's sure to come...

Highly recommended: Kirov Orchestra (cond. Valery Gergiev), Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade (Philips).

How to Write A Fantasy Novel

It's easy!

Whoa

I am recovering from Matrix Revolutions which my wife and I inflicted upon ourselves last night. What a bad movie. The actions scenes and the effects were impressive but the dialogue could have been written by an elementary school kid. The plot made no sense. I will say this: the climactic fight scene between the protagonist and antogonist gives me hope that Bryan Singer's Superman movie will be something special!

And the fact that Bryan Singer left the X-Men movie franchise to direct Superman gives me hope that Joss Whedon will take up the mutant banner.

I took some time recently to sit down and listen to Dukas' The Sorceror's Apprentice. Like you, I only really know that piece from Fantasia (the bit where Mickey Mouse animates the brooms and hilarity ensues) and I picked up a CD of his work on a lark. But now that I've given it some of my undivided attention, I must say that I am very impressed by it. It is a joyous work and it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Highly recommended for kids.

The DVD collection of Alias' 3rd season is due on 7 September. And there was much rejoicing!

Pimp Name: Silver Tongue P. Flex

Pimpafy your name!

City of Heroes Wish List

This is what I'd like to see in the game:

1. Undersea adventures;

2. Space Adventures; and

3. Fur, claws and fangs as options for costumes.

What would you like to see?

Props to the Peeps

Here are some more links for the discriminating web surfer:

Polite Dissent is a blog written by a medical doctor with an interest in comics.

Twang Twang Twang is a blog written by a professional harpist.

What I Like is a blog from a musician in Ohio who listens to classical music and comments on what he hears. He inspired me to pull out my copy of John Eliot Gardiner's version of Bach's Mass in B Minor (Archiv) and give it a spin after languishing for many months on my shelf.

Charles Stross, the fellow who wrote Singularity Sky (which I discussed briefly here a month or so ago), also has a blog.

Enjoy!

Economic Girlie-Men

I have not been watching the Republican Convention and I don't plan to do so. I am content with the coverage provided by the News Hour on PBS. But I do enjoy a good speech and I am sorry I missed this one.

Instead of filling my head with nattering nabobs of negativity, I've been reading China Mieville's The Scar. I did not like Perdido Street Station very much but the sequel is quite good, if you can deal with the plot's glacier pace.

Speaking of glacier pace, the new comics arrive today. Nothing looks enticing. This week looks to be one where I reach back into the past for good comics. For instance, I may pick up the Fallen Angel trade that everyone is so ga-ga about (see the Howling Curmudgeon link). I may pick up vol. 4 of the Morrison run on New X-Men. And I might pick up another volume of Queen & Country.

I'll see your Bjork and I'll raise her with Nina Simone.