A Life in the Day

2012-01-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Something About the Weather

It has been unseasonably warm in Southern California the past few days, and I think the warm temperatures fooled the plants into believing it's Springtime. Two of the palm trees in front of my parents' house started dropping their black seeds all over their driveway this weekend -- that usually doesn't happen until early March. The two tea roses in their backyard were covered in pink and white clouds of petals. And inside their house, the Amaryllis my Mom received for Christmas was just about to fully bloom, as you can see in the picture. It makes me wish we had space for our own little flower garden....

2012-01-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Pink Zombies

As you know, I read quite a bit, but thanks to one of my writing gigs, I can't always post a review here of what I've read. Such is the case with a novella called Asylum by Mark Allan Gunnells that I reviewed for The G.O.R.E. Score. For those interested in reading LGBT books, I recommend taking a looksee at this one. Just be wary of the zombies....

2012-01-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: The Silver Hearted by David McConnell

In an unnamed part of the world, a young man is hired to transport a cache of silver from a port city about to be torn apart by rebellion. Shortly after loading the silver, the inevitable happens as a violent and bloody battle begins in the city of B. The young man and what remains of the crew and passengers watch the horrors from the supposed safety of the Myrrah before the captain hastily sets the ship sailing. As the Myrrah journeys down the river, the young man tries to get suss out what he can about those left aboard ship, from the curious Van Loon who seems to have a finger in all the different activities within B to the grossly overweight captain of the ship to the young sailor Topher Ammidon Smith who helped him carry the boxes aboard.

Topher intrigues the young man, who wants to trust him, to care for him, but not sure if he can because of the threat behind the silver and its rightful owners. Yet he tries to get closer to Topher once they reach Alejandrina, allowing him to be the only one to know where the silver is being hidden and being allowed into part of Topher's personal life. But everything for the young man leads back to the silver, and with the threat of the rebellion heading toward Alejandrina, he needs to find a boat heading to the city of Z as soon as possible.

When I first started reading The Silver Hearted, I found the time period and location confusing, not quite sure if was in South America or Asia (until the narrator mentioned the Mandarins) nor when it was taking place (until the narrator mentioned the helicopters). Perhaps that was only to add to the confusion created by the rebellion and the fighting going on during the first few chapters, but it slowed my getting into the story. But once past that, it's an interesting read, and to me, focused more on the character of the unnamed narrator. I felt his subtle paranoia and distrust of everyone throughout the story, even when he showed some kind of interest (or lust) for Topher. The narrator is an interesting character in a world of interesting characters, and they each do their part to create a grimy, seedy, untrustworthy world in and around Alejandrina and the river.

It's definitely worth checking out.

The Silver Hearted
by David McConnell
Alyson Books
trade paperback, 213 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Chroma.

2012-01-24T10:15:00.001-08:00

Stop/Start

After almost 5 years, my car battery finally gave up the ghost.

The morning started just fine, with the car casually catching once I turned the key in the ignition. I made my way to my parents' home in Laguna--about 35 miles south--without any problems. From there, I drove to my bank. Park the car, deposit a check and have the key in the ignition in less than 10 minutes.

I turned the key, and the dashboard briefly flashed to life before quickly fading away. A few more times, and the same nothingness happened. So I let it rest for a few minutes, tried again--no luck.

Thank goodness for AAA...the mechanic arrived within 20 minutes. Checked the battery and was shocked that the car hadn't given out earlier. He showed me the readings from the battery tests, and the power line was near the skull and crossbones. He replaced the battery right then and there. $95 and a three-year warranty isn't too high a price for that kind of service on a Sunday. It all happened in less than an hour, and I made it home before the downpour.

2012-01-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

The Artist

We've started playing "catch-up" trying to see some of the movies that are generating much Oscar buzz. Luckily for us, the Art Theatre just up the street started showing The Artist on Thursday, which afforded us the chance to see it last night.

For those who don't know much about the film, it tells the tale of actor George Valentin, one of the Silent Era's top-grossing stars. At the peak of his stardom, movie studios begin introducing a new feature to movies: talking pictures. He sees "talkies" as a passing fad, but soon realizes that the public disagrees. His star quickly begins to dim, while that of Peppy Miller, a young actress who stumbled upon her big break thanks to Valentin, begins to ascend to the top or the talking pictures.

It's a wonderful film, perfectly capturing that specific time period in motion pictures when the silents were quickly fading into history. Not simply because the story is set during the latter part of the 1920s, but the movie is silent, using title cards and a beautiful score from Ludovic Bource to tell the tale. Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Béjo could have been silent movie stars, they're performances were so spot-on. Plus, the supporting cast, including John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle and Uggie the dog, were flawless.

And that dancing sequence at the end!

If you haven't seen The Artist yet, head to a theater now!!!

Image from Global Mechanic Blog.

2012-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

Take a Bow

One of my favorite singers has a new album coming out. Take a listen to Matt Alber's cover of Madonna's Take a Bow:

2012-01-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Holiday Musical Mashup

Our first foray into the theater this year, and it happens to be a holiday story. But not just any holiday story. Our favorite troupe, The Troubies, created a new mashup of a classic holiday movie with an odd selection of music. Their ingredients: the classic tale of a young boy who only wants a Red Rider gun for Christmas and the timeless love story of Tony and Maria. Throw them in a blender and what do you get? A Christmas Westide Story.

Dancing elves, a boy sticking his tongue on a frozen light pole, the leg lamp trophy prominently displayed in the window, a fireman stripping before the intermission, and the BB gun transmorphing into a beautiful cowgirl -- all misinterpreting the classic music of Westside Story. And with it being closing night, the actors had a little fun with each other, making the other actors laugh, ad libbing with the audience, changing props. And it was hysterical!

Every once in a while, you need something a bit silly and inane to allow you a good laugh, and this show definitely provided that. I can't wait for the next mash-up: The Two Gentlemen of Chicago -- Shakespeare and the supergroup Chicago. What could be better?!

Image from The Falcon Theatre.

2012-01-14T21:18:00.000-08:00

Cover Up

One of my stories is slated to appear in an anthology this year. The collection focuses on Ed Wood's film Plan 9 from Outer Space, but each of the stories explores what Plans 1-8 might have been. And it's aptly titled: Before Plan 9: Plans 1-8 from Outer Space. (Mine is plan #3, by the way.) I'm excited about this one--mainly because I've read books and stories from quite a few of the other authors in the collection, such as Jonathan Maberry, Craig DiLouie, Patrick D'Orazio, and I just received a coy of D.A. Chaney's Cryptic.

What's more, we finally saw the cover art, and I have permission to post it here, on my little ol' blog. So I present to you, Philip R. Rogers' cover art for Before Plan 9: Plans 1-8 from Outer Space:

My name! On the cover of a book! And with such incredible artwork!!

Image from Twinstar Media.

2012-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

Gotta Lose the Paunch

One of my goals this year is to lost a few pounds. AT my heaviest, I weighed 217 lbs., then managed to whittle that away to 195 lbs. two years ago. Since then, I've regained some of that, inching my way close to 206 lbs.

I don't particularly like myself when I'm heavy, feeling out of place when we go to trendy places in Hollywood or even clothes shopping. I usually avoid most of the clothes that I see on mannequins or that have the words "slim fit" or "fitted" on them as they weren't designed with a real-life human being in mind.

So I've set in motion a few things to help me re-lose the paunch.

First, I gave up my morning blueberry muffin. That's about 612 calories right there. Instead, I started eating a bowl of Active Lifestyle Chai Apple Oatmeal which is about 170 calories.

Second, I try to walk every day. At work, this turns out to be very simple: I walk for 30 minutes before eating lunch. The weekends are tougher because I like to be lazy, hang around the apartment, watch TV or read. Usually, I do spend a few hours on Sunday at Disneyland, walking a good majority of the time I'm there and avoiding all the sweets at Marcelline's Confecitonery.

Third, I try to eat a little something every few hours to keep my metabolism going. Like a light yogurt, or a kid-sized, prepackaged applesauce, or a granola bar. Nothing heavy or too sugary.

My weight held at 205.8 lbs. when I started last week. This morning, the scale showed 202.6 lbs. A good start, I should think.

But to help with the weight loss, I need to return to the gym 2-3 times per week. And cut out all sodas--even the diet ones. Drink more water. Develop a positive image of myself.

I've lost the weight before, and I can definitely do it again.

Image By Nator92 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

2012-01-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: You Can Get Arrested for That by Rich Smith

Who would have thought that a simple round of Balderdash would lead to one of the strangest crime sprees in America? But that's exactly what happened according to British writer Rich Smith in his book You Can Get Arrested for That: 2 Guys, 25 Dumb Laws, 1 Absurd American Crime Spree. After a rousing game on Christmas Day in 2004, Smith was helping to put the game away when he spied a question on one of the cards and asked everyone "what activity was illegal for divorced women in Florida to do on Sundays". The answer -- skydiving -- made no sense to Smith, but it did pique his interest, challenging him to uncover other bizarre laws in the United States. His researched produced a surprising amount of such laws, and he wondered if he could get away with breaking them.

Months later, and with much British media attention, Smith and his buddy Bateman set out from England to the United States with the goal of breaking as many of the laws as they could. They began in San Francisco and drove their way East, through the Mojave Desert, crossing the Mississippi, and winding their way to New York, breaking -- or attempting to break -- as many laws as they could. Laws such as: it's illegal to peel an orange in a motel room in California; you can't play cards on the street with a Native American in Globe, Arizona; you can't fish while wearing pajamas in Chicago, Illinois; it's illegal to drive around the town square more than 100 times in a single session in Oxford, Mississippi.

Along the way they meet an interesting cast of characters, from a fortune teller in Long Beach, California, to Arden Deloris the Native American with whom they played cards in Arizona, and the residents of Mineral Point, Wisconsin -- the sister city to Smith and Bateman's hometown of Redruth. And that's where I think this book shines -- giving an outsider's glimpse at life in America thanks to the everyday people you meet on the street. People are friendlier and more willing to help than we give them credit for, and much of this travelog points that out.

I would have made an even more interesting story if Smith had been able to incorporate some history about the laws themselves, why a law banning someone from riding a bicycle in a pool in Baldwin Park or falling asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota was necessary. Perhaps that's for another book?

You Can Get Arrested for That
by Rich Smith
Three Rivers Press
trade paperback, 243pgs.

Image from Open Library.

2012-01-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

I Resolve....

Actually, I don't. I realized a few years ago that making resolutions around the start of the New Year really didn't work for me. Somehow I would either break them or, more often, neglect them--i.e., forget them completely. So the last few years, I've set goals for myself rather than resolutions. For some reason, that's made a difference. I've managed to lose 20 lbs. and have not one, but four stories printed in anthologies last year.

Not too shabby. So with that in mind, I'm setting a few more goals:

1. lose 10-15 more pounds to end up at a target weight of 190 lbs.
2. work on a novel. I have two in the works and will do my best to try for at least one to make it to actual book format.
3. get paid for some of my writing. (I can probably cross this one from the list already as the last two stories I had accepted in November will both offer payment. Not a lot, but I will be able to say that I'm a paid writer and mean it.)
4. read more of a variety of books -- not just horror.
5. explore the area more. LA and Long Beach have quite a bit to offer, and I want to visit the museums, eat at the restaurants, spend obscene amounts of money at stores....
6. blog more. I seem to have become lax in my posting duties and must do something to fix that.

I can probably come up with a few more but this is a good starter set. And now, on with the New Year!

2012-01-04T15:53:00.001-08:00

I Love a Piano

I've always liked piano music. Doesn't matter if it's ragtime or classical or jazz, something about the music itself immediately draws me in, and I find myself lost in the song. A few years ago, I happened upon a CD from a young jazz musician named Taylor Eigsti while wandering through Tower Music one last time before they closed forever. Standing at the listening station, I was transfixed by his jazz cover of Pictures at an Exhibition from classical composer Modest Mussorgsky. (Okay, and his dashing good looks. By the way, he's straight and engaged -- sorry boys.) I immediately bought the CD and played it non-stop for about 3 consecutive weeks. So yes, I've become a fan and have most of his CDs -- his most recent arrived this afternoon, thanks to Amazon. His original songs are great, as are his covers -- like I've Seen It All by Björk and Promenade, his take on Mussorgsky's classical piece. Take a listen to some great jazz....

Image from Stanford Jazz Fesitval.

2012-01-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ringing in 2012

Usually for New Years Eve, we have a few friends over for dinner then watch cheesy movies until it's time for the Waterford crystal ball to drop in Time Square. This year, we decided to play it low key and opted for something that required less planning an organization.

Caesar found half-price orchestra tickets for Irving Berlin's White Christmas so we got all gussied up and spent the evening enjoying some great music from the Irving Berlin songbook: the classics from the movie, such as White Christmas and Snow, and songs from other productions, including Blue Skies from the musical Betsy and the song I Love a Piano. For the most part, the stage musical sticks to the main story of the movie -- song and dance team Wallace and Davis going to an inn in Vermont that's owned by their former General in the army. Songs are moved around and the storyline tweaked here and there, but they work well on stage. One of the best changes was how the Snow sequence was staged: on the train, Phil and Judy try to convince Bob and Betty that the snow in Vermont is worth the trip. Instead of the four of them singing the song (à la Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Danny Kaye), the entire cast slowly fills the train car and sings along about the joys of snow.

After the show, I carefully navigated the thick fog and found our way back to Long Beach, just in time to watch about an hour of Kathy Griffin torture Anderson Cooper before the ball dropped. Then, off to bed.

A nice, quiet New Year celebration -- just what we both needed after the crazy year that was 2011.

Image from Chicago Critic.

2011-12-30T11:06:00.000-08:00

Favorite Reads of 2011

Just a day and half to get out a few lists of my favorite reads from the past year. And I've decided to break them down into three lists: LGBT Books, Horror Books, and Overall Reads (all my favorites regardless of genre). I know many of you have food to cook, parties to plan, bar-hopping routes to MapQuest so I'll dive right in with the first list....

Favorite LGBT Reads of 2011

1. On Picking Fruit by Arthur Wooten
2. The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse by Mabel Maney
3. Pryor Rendering by Gary Reed
4. Asylum by Mark Allan Gunnells
5. Zombiality edited by Bill Tucker

Favorite Horror Reads of 2011

1. Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody
2. Henry VIII: Wolfman by A.E. Moorat
3. Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. Autumn: Purification by David Moody
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
7. Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
8. This Is the End by Eric Pollarine
9. Asylum by Mark Allan Gunnells
10. Zombiality edited by Bill Tucker

Favorite Overall Reads from 2011

1. Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
3. Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody
4. On Picking Fruit by Arthur Wooten
5. Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury
6. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
7. Henry VIII: Wolfman by A.E. Moorat
8. The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse by Mabel Maney
9. Pryor Rendering by Gary Reed
10. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson

I read close to 70 books this past year, and whittling them down to these three lists wasn't too easy. I recommend all these books and would like to know of some of your favorite books from the past year. I'm always looking for something to read.

2011-12-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

The Adventures of Tintin

Caesar and I managed to sneak in one more movie before the 2011 comes to a close, the animated feature The Adventures of Tintin. I think I wanted to see it more than he did, mostly because I fondly remember the comic books from my high school French classes. (During sophomore French, my teacher, Mlle. Richards, gave us copies of the comics to read in order to help us pick up language skills.) As it turn out, we were both a bit mixed on our views of the movie.

I liked the story, as well as the animation of the characters. Studios are getting closer and closer to creating lifelike CGI characters, and these are some of the best to date. I also found the action scenes -- mainly, the two sailing ships clashing in the ocean and the chase through the streets of Bagghar -- though I must agree with Caesar that they felt like something used simply to break up the storyline. And they felt very Speilberg, as if he needed to put his two cents in to say "Look what I can do!" (But they were exciting!)

The characters of Thomson and Thompson (or, if you're being picky, Dupont et Dupond) are mainstays of the comics, providing comic relief as bumbling detectives, but their main storyline in the movie -- trying to capture a nefarious pickpocket -- really didn't seem to fit with Tintin's search for the Unicorn and its secret. The movie could have done without it, and, I hate to say it, without Thomson and Thompson.

The story itself was okay and made for a good adventure, but I thought the movie's creators took for granted that the audience would know who Tintin was. I would have liked a bit more information about Tintin, why we should like him. True, I'm familiar with the characters, but Caesar wasn't. Many moviegoers have probably never heard of Tintin, either. And what's up with Haddock, the raging alcoholic? I thought that was mishandled.

All in all, The Adventures of Tintin was okay. The action scenes look great on the big screen, but you can probably wait until the DVD comes out.

2011-12-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

My Christmas Gift To You

Wocka! Wocka!

2011-12-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

The Observatory

For my first day of vacation, I talked my friend Clark into taking a day trip to Los Angeles to eat at Umami Burger and to visit the Griffith Observatory. The burgers were amazing: Clark ordered the signature Umami Burger (which had a shiitake mushroom, parmesan crisps, carmelized onions and homemade umami ketchup) while I tried the Manly Burger (bacon lardons, smoke-salt onion strings, and beer-cheddar cheese). I'm kicking myself for not taking a photograph before we devoured these most delicious burgers. And let's not forget the tempura-battered onion rings. 'Twas the food of the gods....

Still reeling from burger overload, we wound our way through Griffith Park to the observatory and spent a few hours wandering all the exhibits, touching meteorites, gazing at sunspots, and enjoying one of the clearest views of Los Angeles I've ever experienced -- we could see all the way to Santa Catalina Island. Below are just a few pictures from the Observatory.

If you're ever in the LA area, the Observatory is worth a visit -- and it's free!!

2011-12-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ashes

The captain of the ship must have thought we were the strangest family he'd ever seen. I'm sure he expected us to be somber, grieving the loss of a family member. Instead, we all laughed and made ourselves merry while he steered the bought through Newport Harbor.

Thinking about it, we had ample time for grieving in the month since my Grandmother's passing. Many tears, many hugs, and much comforting occurred. That first week was hard for my Mom, dealing with the hospice, the lawyers, doctors, and all that "rigamarole" (as my Mom would say). Fortunately, the Neptune Society took care of many essentials regarding Grandmother's body and the death certificates which helped immensely.

My Mom and Aunt held off the memorial service until my Cousin arrived from Spain so this past Monday found the five of us -- Mom, Aunt, Brother, Cousin, and myself -- aboard the Orca Too, laughing, admiring the festive holiday decorations on the multi-million-dollar homes along the harbor, and remembering all the good times with my Grandmother. We pointed to the enormous sea lions lounging on the decks of commandeered boats near the Balboa Fun Zone. We took pictures. My brother waved to his co-workers who trekked from his store to the cliffs to watch the boat stream past the jetty into the open Pacific. I listened to the seals barking as the lone buoy bounced int the water.

And at a calm-ish spot in the ocean, I read the memorial poem as rose petals accompanied my Grandmother's ashes through the air to powder the water.

2011-12-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

Favorite CDs of 2011

It's time once again from my list of favorite CDs from 2011. Unlike many lists, my criteria are twofold: first, the CD had to be released in 2011, and second, either Caesar or myself purchased a copy. Which is why you won't see many of the top-selling popular albums on this list so I don't want to hear any complaining about who's not on the list. This is totally subjective....

10. Alpocalypse by "Weird Al" Yankovic: I've been a fan of his parodies since the Dr. Demento days. This album proves that he still has the comedy-musical chops. Just take a look at his parody of Lady Gaga's Born This Way: Perform This Way

9. Biophilia by Björk: the album is not as electronica as previous albums, featuring a more earthy and experimental feel.

8. New Blood by Peter Gabriel: covers of his own songs but with a full orchestra (minus any electric instruments)

7. Marc Broussard by Marc Broussard: a nice mix of southern soul music. If you ever have an opportunity to see him live, he puts on a great show.

6. 50 Words for Snow by Kate Bush: downtempo songs featuring mostly Kate and the piano. For me, it's one of those albums that I put on and actually listen to the music, to the stories that she's telling.

5. Torches by Foster the People: it's quirky, and I like it. That is all.

4. The Silent Surf by All India Radio: the past few years, I've noticed myself listening to more and more mood music. Nothing with heavy guitars, thumping drums, or trancelike electronics -- just casual, downtempo instrumentals. This is the best of All India Radio's albums to date, as far as I'm concerned.

3. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars: think of The Swell Season (who won an Oscar for Falling Slowly from the movie Once) only with a more folk-Americana feel.

2. Wasting Light by Foo Fighters: simply awesome. And I love Dear Rosemary with Bob Mould.

1. Ceremonials by Florence + the Machine: I actually like this album even better than their first effort, Lungs. The songs have a more cohesive sound from the first album, carried not only by Florence's amazing and strong voice, but also by the music and lyrics themselves.

Image from Pop Crush.

2011-12-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: Monster Gallery edited by George Wilhite

I make no qualms about the fact that I love short fiction. Anyone who can grab the readers attention in a short amount of time and satisfy that craving for a good, quick story deserves much respect. What earns even more respect are those who take the short story one step further, into the realm of flash fiction.

Flash fiction stories are much, much shorter, usually between 75 and 1,000 words. For me, I love the challenge of writing something so quick, crafting a compelling story with some sort of twist, and even more, reading the flash fiction works of others is just as much fun.

Like the 93 stories in the anthology Monster Gallery. Each tale of terror focuses on a monster of some kind, ranging from the traditional vampires and werewolves to new creations like a man-eating tunnel or from where restaurants actually get those wines you drink. A few of the authors even take something traditionally non-scary and turn the tables, such as with one of Santa's elves or a lonely cat waiting for someone to come home.

A great collection, and I'm not just saying that because two of my own stories can be found within its pages. They're perfect little tidbits, just enough to keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting more.

Monster Gallery
edited by George Wilhite
Pill Hill Press
trade paperback, 196 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Pill Hill Press.

2011-12-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

Such a Card!

Almost two years ago around this time of the year, our apartment was filled with holiday cards from family and friends all across the country. But this year, we've received a total of one card. One. Same thing at the office: it seems that companies are deciding to forgo sending cards to clients and other companies. I know a few people will say it's because sending an electronic holiday greeting card is so much easier and less expensive!

When was the last time you sent or received an electronic greeting card?

I try not to send eCards unless absolutely necessary. A paper card to me has more meaning, and it's nice to open a real mailbox to find a hand-signed card in it. I guess it's a sign -- or victim -- of the economic times.

Image from Zazzle.

2011-12-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

Who Knew?!

Two years ago, one of my New Year resolutions was to have something published: a movie or book review, a short story, a magazine article. It took most of 2010, but by the end of October, that resolution came to fruition, and since then, I've been infected with some kind of frenzied bug to send in more stories with the hope of potential publication.

This past Friday, I learned that a story that I submitted to four different anthologies was finally accepted by the fourth publisher and should appear sometime next year in a gay-themed anthology called Queer Fish 2 from Pink Narcissus. The stories involves a young gay couple who buy their first home together and start to renovate only to discover they aren't alone in the house. And even more exciting, I received an email last night that my first foray into science fiction has been accepted and will see the light of day in an anthology titled Before Plan 9: Plans 1-8 from Outer Space from TwinStar Media. For anyone familiar with Ed Wood's movie, this collection imagines what the first 8 plans might have been.

I never thought I would ever see one of my stories in print and now...that makes 6, so far. I probably won't reach the mega-author status of Stephen King, but a boy can dream, can't he?

Image from Self Improvement Association.

2011-12-11T21:08:00.001-08:00

Melancholia

When I first heard of Melancholia, I knew that I wanted to see it. The preview showed slow-motion scenes of a wedding party slowly crumbling while a wayward planet (SPOILER!!) threatens to crash into the Earth. Kind of an interesting mix of drama and apocalypse and well within my area of movie interest.

And now that I've seen it, I'm not quite sure what to think.

The movie unfolds in two parts. Wait ... scratch that. The movie begins with a slow-motion, highly stylized synopsis of the entire story. And it's very, very long. Or perhaps the slow-motion just makes it feel that way. Then, the movie unfolds in two parts.

Part One tells the story of Justine and Michael who are almost two hours late to their own wedding reception. Justine's sister Claire tries to keep up a good front, but it's easy to see that she's terribly upset at the fiasco their tardiness has caused, and she hurries the happy couple up the steps to the party. Before they enter the house, Justine asks her Broth-in-Law John what that red star is in the sky. He's surprised that she can see it without the aid of a telescope and assures her that it's just a part of a constellation.

Finally inside, the reception can continue, but something is noticeably wrong with Justine. She's lethargic and sad, and those feelings threaten to ruin the entire evening. Certain members of the wedding reception also add to the creeping disdain at the festivities: Justine's father who has problems with his memory; her mother who hates weddings and has not one decent word to say to anyone; her boss -- who also happens to be the groom's Best Man -- who still insists that she works while at the reception. As the night wears on, it becomes apparent to Justine that the entire day was a mistake.

Part Two continues the story, but from Claire's perspective. Days (or months) have passed, and Justine's depression has steadily grown worse, turning her an invalid who can't take care of herself. Claire has her move into her enormous house, trying her best to bring Justine out of her stupor. But also weighing on her mind is Melancholia, a planet that had been hidden behind the Sun and was now on a course to pass near the Earth. She fears it to be a collision course, as discussed on many non-scientific websites she's read, but her husband John insists that the scientists are correct when they say it will simply pass by.

Each part works well on its own, telling a perfect story, with fine performances from Kirsten Dunst as Justine, Charlotte Gainsbourg as her sister Claire, and Keifer Sutherland as Claire's husband John. I felt, though, that I was watching two different movies. Other than using the same characters, they really don't seem to be part of the same story. Melancholia is mentioned only in passing during Justine's story (and not even by name), and even then, it's simply a red star noticed for a moment near the beginning. Yet in Claire's story, it's the main catalyst for everything that happens. I would have liked some stronger connection between the two parts.

The second problem is Justine. Her lethargy and sadness are never explained, though it becomes apparent during Claire's story that they have something to do with Melancholia (the planet). Whatever the cause Dunst gave an amazing performance in the role so that makes up a bit for the lack of understanding the origins of the issue. (And the special effects are very good, from the slow-motion opening sequence to the different scenes of the Earth and Melancholia colliding.)

Melancholia is an interesting take on the "end of the world" scenario, and if you're a fan of director Lars von Trier's work, then this is a definite "must see". Great performances and a good story (or, as I see it, stories).

Image from 2 or 3 Things I Know about Film.

2011-12-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

Leveling Up

About a month ago, foursquare changed the way a few of their core badges work. Some of them had confusing or unknown methods to unlock, such as the Great Outdoors badge, or were time consuming, like the Pizzaiolo badge where a user needed to visit 20-25 different pizza parlors before laying claim to the little round graphic image. Now, these badges and certain others have been re-classified as Expertise badges, changing the way they unlock. Now for the Pizzaiolo, you only need to checkin five times to a single pizza place or one time at three different pizza parlors to unlock the badge. After that, you can level up the badge by visiting five different pizza parlors, going all the way to a level 10 badge -- which is the equivalent of 45 different pizza parlors.

foursquare also added new badges into the mix, such as Herbivore for checkins at vegetarian/vegan restaurants, Blue Note for checkins at jazz clubs, Bento for sushi restaurants, and Mall Rat for ... well, malls.

Personally, I like the idea since it forces the user to try new places in order to level up. In fact, I'm already at level 6 on one of the badges. And yes, it's the Mall Rat badge. Don't judge!

And thankfully, they did not include the Douchebag badge into the mix. I don't know that I'd actually want to unlock that one.

2011-12-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: Zombiality: A Queer Bent on the Undead edited by Bill Tucker

I've read quite a bit of horror stories and always felt that teh gays were under-represented. Or were pigeonholed into the roles of villains or the throwaway character that always gets killed first. And yes, I now know how wrong it was of me to think that. My problem was that though the books are out there, trying to find them isn't an easy task. Barnes and Noble's in-store gay/lesbian section is mostly erotica and self-help, and unless I knew the name of a specific author or book, an online search through Amazon was just as fruitless. I mentioned my feelings to an author friend in passing, who kindly pointed me in the direction of an anthology in which he had a story: Zombiality: A Queer Bent on the Undead. LGBT zombies! I searched on Amazon and actually found the book, purchasing a copy then and there.

The 28 stories in this anthology cover all aspects of zombiedom, from trying to remain hidden within the darkness of a gay bar in The Duval Crawl by David E. Chrisom to the infected slowly turning into the undead as with Eating Peaches by Rachel Green to life in the new world after the apocalypse in Humans Being Human by Patrick D'Orazio. Some stories even ventured to show the world through the eyes of the undead, such as in Dead Boy Number One by Quinn Smithwood about man slowly turning into a zombie but being able to make a living as an actor/artist with his newfound "life", and in Food Chain by C.S. Stephens in which the walking talking and thinking undead live normal lives whereas the living are raised as nothing more than food or pets. Some of the more intriguing stories such as Humans Being Human or Tony Schaab's Accepting Death broach the idea that zombies don't harm gay men and women and instead seek out straight people. Those two rank among my top three stories in the book, with Eric Andrews-Katz' s ZOMB-malion -- a gay and zombie take on Shaw's Pygmalion and starring Eliza Droolittle -- hilariously rounding out my favorites.

I admit to not enjoying all the stories. In Vince A Liaguno's Stonewall Rising, the idea that a zombie bite turns anyone into the gay undead was a bit off-putting to me. And with The Quick and the Undead from Thomas Farringer-Logan, I found the narrator's way of speaking difficult to follow, though the gist of the story is good.

But it's the main driving force behind each of these stories -- having LGBT characters as the protagonists, telling stories from their point of view -- that makes this a worthwhile collection of stories. Zombie fans, both gay and straight, will enjoy this gathering of undead.

Zombiality: A Queer Bent on the Undead
edited by Bill Tucker
Library of the Living Dead Press
trade paperback, 383 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Laverstone Tales.

2011-12-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Freezing

Don't you love it when you wake up in the morning, turn on the shower until a nice, steady, warm stream flows down, strip down, and lather your face up with Irish Spring, only to hear the bathroom fan from the apartment below flick to life. Then, the water begins to sound from down there. You scream like a tween at a Jonas Brothers concert as the icy water strikes your skin.

Yeah, that was my morning.

Image from STACK Media.

2011-12-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Daily Flash 2012: Leap Year Edition

Another of my short stories has been published, this time in the flash fiction anthology Daily Flash 2012: Leap Year Edition. As the title suggests, that's one short-short story for every day of the year. The book has no table of contents, but I do know that my story The Closet appears on July 18.

You can find the book on Amazon, and I believe it will be available soon on Kindle and Nook.

What a great way to close out the year -- four stories in three books. Maybe one day, I'll actually earn a little bit from my writing....(resolution for net year).

Image from Wesley Southard.

2011-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

World AIDS Day

I've posted a few videos from the 1990 Red, Hot + Blue album benefiting HIV and AIDS research. In honor of World, I wanted to post another of the videos, this one from Neneh Cherry's interpretation of I've Got You Under My Skin.

This was the first single from the album. If you'd like to hear more of the songs or watch the videos, this Wikipedia page provides the links.

2011-11-30T21:53:00.001-08:00

Quickie Book Review: The Object of My Affection by Stephen McCauley

When I first discovered the two "Top 100 Lebian/Gay Novels Lists" over at The Publishing Triangle, I set myself the goal of trying to read each and every title on both lists. So far, I've finished 63 of the 100 titles on the author-chosen list, and with The Object of My Affection, I've now read 42 of the 88 on the visitor-chosen list. That's a whole lot of books since 2006.

I started reading The Object of My Affection back in August and didn't finish it until earlier this month -- which should be pretty telling about my thoughts of the book. From the blurb on the back cover, the story ostensibly is about roommates Nina and George, who've been sharing a small, cluttered apartment in Brooklyn for the better part of a year. When Nina learns that she's pregnant, she immediately distances herself from the baby's father and asks George to raise the child with her. George is flabbergasted: what does he -- a single gay man -- know about raising a child?!

I figured the greater part of the story would revolve around the stress put on their relationship as friends and roommates, but instead, more emphasis seemed to be placed on George's self-defeating attempts to establish a romantic connection with two different men. That makes for an interesting novel in and of itself, but I felt that Nina and her pregnancy took a back seat when they should have been in the passenger's seat right alongside George.

And to me, George and Nina didn't appear to have much chemistry. George was too wrapped up in a job he didn't like and trying to decide whether or not he should continue his romantic fling with a former professor. Nina kept herself closed off from everyone in the book, finding ways not to have to interact with the baby's father or, if he managed to worm his way into the apartment, she would placate and almost patronize him for no particularly good reason.

Maybe it's not that they didn't have much chemistry, but more that I didn't like either of them. Maybe dislike of the main characters permeated the entire book for me which would explain why it took so long to finish.

Well, at least I can say that I've read it.

The Object of My Affection
by Stephen McCauley
Pocket Books (19998)
massmarket paperback, 374 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Open Library.

2011-11-28T09:45:00.001-08:00

Monster Gallery

News flash: Two of my flash fiction stories now appear in print! The anthology Monster Gallery from Static Movement was just released and contains my stories The Tunnel and Behind the Door.

Buy the book at Pill Hill Press (second title from the top), and I believe it will be available soon on Amazon.

I also added some links at the very bottom of this blog directing anyone interested to the books. Geez! I almost feel like a real writer!!

Image from Wesley Dylan Gray.

2011-11-27T18:49:00.001-08:00

It's Time To Play the Music

What's the long holiday weekend without a movie?

Yesterday, Caesar and I braved hordes of screaming children -- and their exasperated parents -- to see The Muppets. I grew up with them on Sesame Street, through their own variety show, and most of their movies so spending a few buck to watch them in action wasn't a difficult decision.

And I'm glad we went. It's the old "let's-put-a-show-together-to-save-the-studio" story, but Jason Segel's script is witty and very current with pop culture. It gently pokes fun at the previous Muppet films as well as making movies in general. Plus, as with any Muppet movie, there are cameos aplenty: Sarah Silverman, Whoopi Goldberg, Feist, Alan Arkin, Neil Patrick Harris (who seems to be in everything these days), Dave Grohl (yes, DAVE GROHL), and even Mickey Rooney. I felt old when the young man behind us asked out loud who Mickey Rooney was. And the acting is great. I didn't know that Segel could dance and sing, Amy Adams is completely charming, Chris Cooper raps (just go with it), and the Muppets are as dysfunctional as ever. The music's good, too, especially the barbershop quartet version of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

We couldn't help but love the film and talked about it throughout dinner afterwards. So go see it!!

However, if you prefer something a bit more heavy and thought-provoking, check out my review of Fritz Lang's 1929 silent film Woman in the Moon over at The G.A.S.P. Factor.

Image from Cinema Blend.

2011-11-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

My Black Friday

Instead of spending the night waiting outside a shopping mall so I could squeeze inside and enjoy the remotest possibility of actually buying anything, I decided to spend today at the Discovery Science Center. In all the years I've lived in Southern California, not once have I ever visited so I thought it would be something fun for my day off. Plus, they hosted a Star Wars exhibit with models and costumes from the movies as well as some hands-on physics displays from the Star Wars world.

I arrived early which gave me a chance to check out some of the regular exhibits: like the nose from the Space Shuttle Endeavor, an eco-friendly grocery store which tasks you with finding Earth-safe products to fit your shopping list, the physics and math behind hockey, an earthquake simulator, and lots of hands-on activities to get kids involved. (Much more fun than standing and reading boring display cases.)

I then entered the Star Wars exhibit and spent a good hour checking out models, miniatures, and mattes from the movies, as well as the costumes for Han Solo, Chewbacca, Padme, Darth Vader and more. They provided Lego stations to create hover crafts with the intent of learning how magnets make the vehicles hover. I think the most interesting section was where I sat at a table with a set of cards bearing odd symbols that I would place in front of a camera. Then, through the magic of augmented reality, water towers or creatures would appear, and I would need to place them strategically to create a water farm. The adults loved this stuff just as much as the kids.

The Center also had a "Science of Gingerbread" exhibit, which was a separate ticketed event, so I didn't take part. But dozens of kids were walking away with their faces smothered in icing and cookie crumbs.

2011-11-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone the best this Thanksgiving Day. I hope you're spending it with family, friends, the special people in your life.

Image from Best Norman Rockwell Art.

2011-11-22T15:18:00.001-08:00

Wild Man

One of my favorite artists has a new album, so I scoured YouTube looking for a new video. All I could find was a snippet of animation from the video, but it's from the artist's official YouTube site. From Kate Bush's new album, 50 Words for Snow, here's a sampling from Wild Man:

I've already updated my Amazon wish list . . . in case anyone wanted to know.

Update 11/23/11: I bought the CD on the way home from work. A quietly elegant and beautiful album. One of the best albums of the year.

2011-11-20T18:49:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody

A little over a month has passed since the world changed and millions of people died within an instant. To those who survived, the worse was still to come as many of the recently deceased quietly rose, stumbling about the roads and cities, and soon turned their aggressive attentions toward the living.

A small group of the survivors found themselves trapped within a vacated apartment building but managed to set up a few defenses to keep the dead at bay. Even so, food is becoming scarce, and the trips to the world outside their makeshift stronghold are more treacherous as they must venture farther to find what they need. That's only strengthened their resolve to meet the dead head on with brutal force whenever necessary.

A short distance away, another group of survivors hides in the empty rooms of a hotel. They've managed to re-direct the hordes of dead bodies away from the hotel, herding them into the golf course while keeping themselves quiet and out of sight within the hotel. Their one problem: after almost finishing all the food in the hotel's kitchen, they've nothing left and have yet to venture outside on foraging trips, too afraid to draw the unwanted attention of the dead.

When disease strikes the survivors at the apartment building and they begin to notice disturbing changes in the dead, a choice must be made that will effect not only their chances but those of the survivors at the hotel as well.

Author David Moody's take on zombies is a refreshing one. They aren't the typical brain-eating types that many of us are used to. Don't get me wrong -- I love the usual zombie mayhem, with the newly undead chasing the living with the sole purpose of spreading infection. But with Moody's undead, their goal isn't so clear cut. And in fact, these undead begin to become aware of their surrounding, to learn, to work together. And that's even more frightening.

What's great about Autumn: Disintegration is that the book stands apart from the first three in the series. Disintegration introduces an entire new set of characters and fits them into two camps, each one battling not only the threat of the ever-evolving undead, but also with each other as desperate choices need to be made that impact and challenge their very views of the world. Plus, Moody provides enough background story from the first books to set this one apart. (And yet, if you've read the first three, it makes a certain sub-story involving a helicopter all the more intriguing.)

After the novel ends, I'm still left with questions about certain characters, their futures, what happened to bring about the worldwide demise, and I hope that in the future, those will be answered (i.e., more Autumn books, perhaps?).

Disintegration is an exciting, thrill ride of an addition to the series. Fans of zombies and/or post-apocalyptic tales will definitely get a rush from this one.

Autumn: Disintegration
by David Moody
Thomas Dunne Books
trade paperback, 342 pgs.

received book from publisher

Image from Last of the Living.

2011-11-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

New Blood

A few weeks ago, Caesar and I discovered a new album from Peter Gabriel called New Blood while shopping around Best Buy. The album presents new recordings of some of his classic songs, but with the backing of a full orchestra. No drum machines. No electric guitars. In fact, after listening to the full CD, we both realized that it was the music from the second half of his concert we saw earlier this Summer at the Hollywood Bowl.

The presentation and arrangements of the songs on New Blood enhances each of one, allowing the listener to focus on the intensity of The Rhythm of the Heat or the menace in The Intruder or even the outright joy of In Your Arms. The only drawback is the main female voice which can't seem to hold up with Gabriel's. (Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I still prefer Don't Give Up duet with Kate Bush.) Even so, the arrangements and Gabriel's presence make for an incredible album. Take a listen to the New Blood version of The Rhythm of the Heat:

2011-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

Rejected!

These letters come with the territory when you're a struggling author. I receive my share of "Thanks but no thanks" missives since What the Cat Dragged In was published, though I have yet to come across something as blunt as that picture. I don't expect such letters to provide much information, but I recently received two that caught me offguard with their genuine politeness.

I submitted a story to a magazine, and the email I received back did not say it was a terrible story. Nor did it slam the door in my face. Instead, the editor suggested submitting the story to a different magazine and provided all the information about it.

So I did, and the story was rejected a second time. However, the editor of this magazine saw something in the story, mentioning that I should shop it around to a few more places, and if no one takes it, to re-submit in a few months with the understanding that we could work together to tweak the story.

Instead of feeling crestfallen, I somehow feel encouraged. Maybe writing short fiction is something I can really do. So I'm not just sitting on the manuscript, but am searching for other magazine or anthologies, but keeping that second magazine in mind. You know, just in case.

Image from Right-reading.

2011-11-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: Weight by Jeanette Winterson

A few years ago, Canongate Books conceived of a project asking some of the best authors in the world to re-tell classic myths in their own style. The series, known collectively as the Canongate Myth Series first appeared in 2005, and since then, 14 novels have appeared from the likes of Margaret Atwood, Alexander McCall Smith, and Philip Pullman.

As an avid reader, one thing I seem to gravitate to are re-tellings of well-known stories by authors. Something about a different take on the story, possibly challenging my own likes or dislikes about the original tale, has always appealed to me, and is probably why I'm such a fan of the Wicked series from Gregory Maguire. So a few weeks ago while I browsed the shelves at the local branch of the library, I stumbled across one of The Myths series written by author Jeanette Winterson that piqued my interest.

Weight presents her take on the classic Atlas and Heracles myth.

Atlas did the unthinkable -- siding with the Titans in their war against the Olympian Gods. As punishment, Zeus ordered him to support the weight of the entire cosmos on his shoulders for all eternity. While he knelt, listening to the world and not realizing how much time was passing, who should happen to appear but Heracles, laboring through the twelve tasks set to him by King Eurystheus.

One of Heracles' tasks is to secure three golden apples from a tree in the Garden of the Hesperides, but he himself is not allowed to pick them. So he devises the brilliant idea of having Atlas retrieve the apples for him. Atlas finds this brief respite from holding the world a chance to taste freedom, even if only for a little while, and agrees. The night before they are to temporarily trade places, they talked over a meal, Heracles ranting about having to obey Eurystheus, why did he need to do that? Atlas replied that there is no such thing as free will, only the will of the Gods.

The next day, after switching places, a question starts buzzing about Heracles' brain: What if Atlas doesn't return, leaving him to hold up the weight of the world?

Winterson takes her re-telling one step farther by having Atlas, holding the world, the sky and space on his shoulders, ask the question: What if he put it down? It's an interesting take on the myth, focusing more on the nature of boundaries, who sets them, and why we follow them. For Heracles, it challenges his concept of destiny, forced to endure inhuman tasks with the hope of pleasing the Gods; for Atlas, it forces him to re-examine the way he blindly believes everything. What if: two little words with so much power behind them.

As she re-writes the myth, Winterson also interjects her own journey as a writer and why she decided to use the myth of Atlas and Heracles to work through her own inner struggles. After all, much of writing is fantasizing on the what ifs and seeing how they play out.

Weight
by Jeanette Winterson
Canongate
ISBN: 1-84195-799-2
trade paperback, 151 pgs.

borrowed book from the Long Beach Public Library

Image from bibliographing.

2011-11-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

50/50

Another weekend, another movie. And this time, it's one that we wanted to see when it was first released at the end of September: 50/50. In the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the mild-mannered Adam, living in Seattle with his girlfriend Rachael, an aspiring artist. When lingering back pain drives Adam to the doctor, he learns that he has a tumor slowly growing near the base of his spine.
His friend Kyle copes with the news by using it as an excuse to pick up women. His mother only wants to smother and to take care of him. His girlfriend can't handle the pressure.

As Adam begins chemotherapy, he also starts meeting with a therapist -- Katherine, an intern who has only worked with two other patients before Adam. Through those off-beat session and with the help of Kyle, Adam learns to stop taking a back seat and to take hold of the wheel, driving him down a new path and a new way of dealing with life.

You can't help but like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He plays Adam like a regular, everyday guy, and the gamut of emotions he portrays throughout the film never feel fake or forced. Anna Kendrick as Adam's therapist Katherine also does a find job playing the novice therapist still trying to get her bearings in the medical world.

For the most part, the story is very believable. But -- SPOILER ALERT! -- when a therapist falls for a patient in real life, none of what happened in the movie would play out. She would be brought under review, possibly be kicked out of the intern program, etc. etc. But it's a movie so a little "poetic license" is okay.

50/50 uses humor to deal with the very heavy subject of cancer. We laughed quite a bit, and I even found myself tearing up once or twice. Okay, more than that. It's definitely a movie worth seeing.

Image from Filmofilia.

2011-11-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Quickie Book Review: Them or Us by David Moody

In the not-too-distant past, most people led uneventful lives: work, family, an appearance of a social life whenever possible. Then, the entire world change, and friends suddenly found themselves at war with what used to be friends, co-workers, family. A primal urge directed the changed -- the Haters -- to attack and kill those who were Unchanged before they could do the same to them. After months of battles between the Haters and the Unchanged, those that remained alive now struggle to survive in a harsh nuclear winter.

Many of the Haters have collected in the town of Lowestoft, and Danny McCoyne tries to eke out a living as the tool of the town's tyrannical leader, Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe's sole goal is to rid the world of the remaining Unchanged, and he's found McCoyne to be very useful. McCoyne has a special ability to withhold the Hate, allowing him to infiltrate the dens of the Unchanged, to flush them out so they can be destroyed.

But with fewer of the Unchanged being found and with his body aching from terrible fits of coughing and pain, McCoyne attempts to distance himself from the society of Lowestoft. Yet someone from his last mission has other ideas, ideas which force McCoyne to challenge the very nature of what being a Hater is and what the war between Haters and the Unchanged accomplished. A dividing line has been drawn, and Danny must decide on which side he stands.

This final book in the Hater trilogy is definitely the most thought-provoking of the series. Whereas the first two novels focused on the physical aspects of the changed versus the unchanged, the bloody battles, family member against family member, and all out war, Them or Us asks the reader to understand the results of the fighting and to question the reasoning behind it. Human civilization is probably at an end, and even though the Haters try desperately to return to some kind of normalcy, they still harbor an instinctive need to kill the Unchanged. It's through Danny that the reader tries to understand why the world changed. His ability to withhold the Hate offers the unexpected side effect of making him question the world and the people like Hinchcliffe.

The story is still as gritty and unforgiving as the first two novels, but it also offers a surprising ray of hope. Them or Us brings David Moody's Hater trilogy to a satisfying and optimistic conclusion.

Them or Us
by David Moody
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-0-312-53583-4
hardcover, 354 pgs.

received book from the publisher

Image from Craig DiLouie's Apocalyptic Horror Fiction.

2011-11-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Grandma Betty

My brother called minutes before 3PM yesterday. My Grandmother had passed away. It was inevitable, something for which we'd been steeling ourselves over the past few weeks.

10 years ago, she began showing signs of Alzheimer's, but it wasn't until the past year that the last stages of dementia struck. Not just memory loss but the inability to recognize faces, names, people. Gradually shutting herself to the outside world. Long days of seemingly endless sleep. My Mom bore the brunt of it, spending everyday with her, taking care of her finances to make sure her medical bills and rent were paid on time, overseeing the medical care that she received in the assisted living home. Two weeks ago, she contracted pneumonia. One week after that she stopped eating and drinking. I'd like to believe that she died peacefully, though I know the nurses gave her numerous injections of morphine during that last week to ease the pain of her body shutting down. Hopefully, that provided enough respite that she allowed herself to finally let go.

Geez...I never knew writing this would be so difficult. My eyes are starting to tear up remembering all the good times together: summers at her home in Ventura when we'd take trips to Santa Barbara or to the beach in Carpinteria, the one Thanksgiving where she joked with my Dad about carving the turkey and chased him around the kitchen with an electric carving knife, spending a few hours teaching my Brother and me the basics of shuffleboard.

Wherever you are Grandma, know that you are and always will be loved.

1916 - 2011

2011-11-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

Frisky Two Times

It seems like ages since we last set foot inside a movie theater, but thankfully yesterday, we broke the cycle. We braved the chilly November day and caught a matinee screening of Puss in Boots at the Long Beach Town Center.

The movie tells the story of Puss in Boots, trying to clear his name. Teaming with Humpty Dumpty, whom he befriended at an orphanage, and Kitty Softpaws, they attempt to steal three legendary magic beans from Jack & Jill. If the old story was true, a giant beanstalk will grow, taking them to the giant's castle and the home of the goose that lays the golden eggs. For Puss, just one of those eggs means repaying an old debt and setting things right. But someone else in the group has other plans.

Puss in Boots turned out to be a fun and funny action/adventure, along the lines of the old westerns or Zorro movies. Chases, sword fights -- even a cat dance fight, the action never slows down, and neither does the story. I liked that the setting remained in the Kingdom of Far, Far Away allowing it to become part of the world already created in the Shrek movies. Plus, the many jokes and references make this a film that both kids and adults can enjoy.

Bottom line, it's a fast-paced and fun adventure. Go see it!

2011-11-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Zombies in Long Beach

The only Halloween-related activity we attempted was the Zombie Walk in Long Beach on Saturday night. Caesar was brave, venturing out into the damp night with his head cold and sore throat, but it was worth it. Hundreds of people dressed either as the walking undead or in the Halloween finery. (As it turns out, the Long Beach Comic Con was also that day so many of the revelers joined in the walk.) We saw everything from zombies on stilts or dragging zombie babies still attached by umbilical cord to non-zombified Indiana Jones, Captain America and others.

Makeup tents had also been set up, turning walkers into the undead. We watched for a good 15 minutes as one artist slowly made the flesh peel from one willing victim's face while another artist warmed latex pieces on another's face to shape them into scars and gashes and bleeding wounds.

By 8PM, the walk began, with zombies lurching from the convention center, up Pine St. to the Promenade amidst flashing cameras, gasping spectators and people just out to have a fun evening on the town.

2011-11-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Moving Pictures

This year's crop of movies hasn't captured my interest much, which is why I've been very lax in posting anything about them. The last movie we saw in a theater was Captain America...at least, I think that was the last. It's been so long. At this moment, only a few movies sound appealing to me: 50/50, Paranormal Activity 3 and Puss in Boots. And I am looking forward to Hugo and Tintin.

This doesn't mean that I've given up on movies altogether. Oh no, I've been watching DVDs of some very questionable horror and sci-fi films and submitting my reviews to The G.A.S.P. Factor. In fact, the latest posted review is for a little mockumentary I saw before we left for Hawai'i called The Wicksboro Incident. Take a moment to check it out and post comments over there.

And I promise, the next movie we see will have a review here. Pinky swear.

2011-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Quickie Book Review: The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to read an older tale of horror, The Great God Pan. Arthur Machen wrote and published the novella in 1894 and though it was denounced by critics when it first appeared due to the sexual and degenerate nature of the story, future horror masters such as H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King have come to consider it a classic in the horror genre.

A young woman named Mary -- a foundling picked up off the streets by one Dr. Raymond -- becomes the unwitting subject in an experiment to allow a human to see what many consider to be the "real world", a wondrous place in which nature and all manner of creatures live just beyond the veil of what humans normally see. Witnessed by Dr. Raymond and his colleague Mr. Clarke, Mary wakens from the experiment, her eyes appearing to focus on something beautiful and far away. But soon her expression changes to horror, and she collapses to the floor in a fit of madness.

Time passes and Mr. Clarke runs into a beggar who turns out to be an old chum. They walk together, and Clark learns of how his friend wound up in such dire circumstances. His friend tells him of his wife, a strange woman named Helen, who many claim to be beautiful and yet no one enjoys being in her presence. A sinister air hangs about her person and their home. She ruined him, he claims, and then disappeared. Clarke investigates further, and tales of madness and unexplained deaths surrounding a similar woman begin cropping up. Curious if she is somehow connected to the events with Mary, he questions Dr. Raymond about that night. The Doctor warns him to leave things be before something happens to him. Clarke, however, is determined to uncover the truth.

Perhaps not as horror-filled by today's standards, The Great God Pan still manages to evoke chills not by blood and gore, but by providing moods and glimpses of evil. It's as if you notice something's not quite right, something that you can't see or explain, but you can't pinpoint it. The story works on your mind, wreaking havoc with your fears and imagination until you can't escape. That unknown element is probably more terrifying than knowing that a vampire or a zombie or some familiar creature is lurking about.

The Great God Pan is quite an unnerving tale and has earned its place as a classic horror tale. If you've not read it, I recommend checking it out.

The Great God Pan
by Arthur Machen
Project Gutenberg
eBook, 57 pages

downloaded eBook from Project Gutenberg.

Image from Tower Books.

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Dancing Machine

AFter almost a year of waiting, we finally scored some tickets to one of tv's hottest shows, Dancing with the Stars. If you watched last night's results show, you may have spotted us way up in the top balcony about 20-30 feet from the celebrities' waiting room. But the event started much earlier for us, watching the previous night's dances, complete with Maks' blowup with Len. I felt it would make for a particularly interesting results show.

The tickets had a time of 3:30 PM listed for when we needed to be at the studio, but we took it upon ourselves (after reading accounts from others who had attended tapings) to arrive earlier. Like 11:00 AM. We parked at The Grove, watched Mario Lopez interview random people for his TV show, ate a fine breakfast at The Farm of Beverly Hills -- all organic foods -- then made our way toward the line just outside the CBS Studio gates.

Lucky for us, we were near the front of the line which at least seemed to guarantee us standing room inside the studio. As we waited, the line gradually grew longer, stretching almost all the way down Fairfax to The Grove Dr. The fun part was critiquing the outfits of those passing through our crowd of elegantly dressed folks to the other side of the street where people waited to be seated for The X-Factor.

Shortly after 3:30 came and went, we were allowed behind the gates to an area with hard metal benches where we sat for another hour. But while we waited, J.R. Martinez passed through the crowd, singing autographs and receiving many well wishes for his dance from the night before. At 4:45, they herded us slowly and methodically into the studio, and we wound up on the uppermost balcony just above the seating area for the celebrities. I admit a little bit of vertigo struck me as we looked over the edge onto the stage and the crowd below. But I got over it somewhat as we had to stand for most of the taping.

Before the show officially began, we watched them film a dance segment to be shown during the broadcast, then they blasted the music and invited people to the dance floor for a bit of fun. As Party Rock Anthem thumped through the soundstage, Ricki Lake appeared in the celebrity booth. We caught her attention and waved, then the other celebrities slowly made their way into the booth. We shouted names, waved, and made complete fools of ourselves -- though Caesar takes the top prize for that, spotting Chris Jenner as she arrived, pointing and shouting her name. Which caused her to look up, so we all waved as she smiled and waved back.

Then, at exactly 6:00 PM Pacific, the live broadcast began, and we watched all the work that goes into crafting a live, one-hour show. We watched J.R. and Karina Smirnoff repeat their dance from the previous night, listened to Martina McBride perform live, and were disappointed when Chas was eliminated.

The acoustics inside weren't as good as I thought they would be, and I had a difficult time hearing the hosts or anyone else speaking. But we still enjoyed the show and would definitely want to try for tickets again.

Image from Sugar Slam.

2011-10-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Quickie Book Review: Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The island of Domarö has a long and storied history, and tales are told of how the island slowly appeared to rise from the water and how the sea and the people lived in a strange sort of harmony. Anders and his wife Cecilia are two such people, living in a place know as the Shack -- a building of strange angles and drafty windows, but a nice little place right on the water -- built by his father Johan. One winters day, Anders and Cecilia, along with their daughter Maja, travel across the frozen waters to the lighthouse at Gåvasten, and while exploring the tower which seems to sprout from the very rock of the island, Maja disappears without a trace. No screams, no footprints, no signs of struggle. She simply vanishes.

Two years later, Anders returns to Domarö, trying to put his life back together after Cecilia left him. He returns to the Shack and soon begins feeling that he's not alone, that his daughter Maja is somewhere in the house, playing hide and seek. With the help of Simon, an old magician who has a romantic history of his own with Anders' grandmother Anna-Greta, Anders tries to piece together what he's been feeling inside the shack. But he uncovers darker tales that lie just beneath the happy surface of life on Domarö, tales of strange disappearances throughout the history of the island. As their stories comes to light, stranger events happen across Domarö, people turning angry for no reason or those who had disappeared suddenly re-surfacing on the island to wreak havoc. And Anders soon learns why the islanders fear the lighthouse at Gåvasten.

Unlike many horror novels, Harbor isn't filled with blood and gore or terrifying nightmarish creatures presented to scare the wits out of the reader. Instead, it offers a fully-drawn background of Domarö, its inhabitants, and the lighthouse at Gåvasten. The history intertwines with the present, and as the reader uncovers the past, the horror of what happened and continues to happen slowly bubbles beneath the surface, creating tension that seems to permeate every page of the book. Plus, it includes subtle twists that makes the reader unsure of which characters to trust and what defines good and bad, making the horror aspect all the more effective. For fans of horror, this is a must read.

Harbor
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-0-312-68027-5
hardcover, 500 pgs.

received book from the publisher

Image from The Book Depository.

2011-10-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Quickie Book Review: Affinity by Sarah Waters

Margaret Prior decides to perform volunteer work at Victorian London's Millbank Prison, providing services as a Visitor to the women's facility. She needs something to do after her failed suicide attempt to keep her mind busy, and though her mother doesn't like the idea of her daughter spending her time at a prison, Margaret finds comfort in her new duties.

During one of her rounds, she notices a solitary inmate, sitting in a semi-dark cell and clandestinely admiring a small flower within her hand. She learns from one of the prison matron's that the woman is Selina Dawes, currently being held due to a séance gone wrong. Intrigued, Margaret takes it upon her self to learn more about Miss Dawes and begins spending more time with her. As the days and weeks pass, Margaret discovers that she is more than simply intrigued by Selina and her world of ghosts and spirits, and as her infatuation grows, so does her plan to find some way to free Selina from Millbank.

The story is told through the pages of Margaret's diary so in a grand way, that affected my desire for Margaret to be happy. Reading her thoughts about her family, how her view of the world changed after her suicide attempt, her delight at the new-found experiences with Selina -- it makes the connection with Margaret that much easier and in turn tricks you into believing and feeling just as she does.

What makes Affinity work for me is what I would consider the twist near the end. I know that I should have seen it coming, but the story of Margaret and her interest in Selina and her connection with the spirit world had me so wrapped up that I found myself mentally nudging Margaret forward to pursue the relationship, always seeing the happy ending, just as Margaret did. But that twist....

It's a wonderful novel, filled with characters so well crafted you can almost sense yourself walking around Millbank with them. And the story drags you in and keeps you in its clutches until the very end, like a good story should.

Affinity
by Sarah Waters
Riverhead Books
ISBN: 1-57322-873-7
trade paperback, 352 pgs.

purchased book

Image from LibraryThing.

2011-10-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

Badges

Yes, I like those silly electronic badges. Most of them are nothing more than images, but a few do come with benefits, such as the one offered by Perry Ellis which provides special perks to people who have unlocked their badge.

The ones that keep me checking in, though, are the badges earned by completing a specific number of requirements, like going to ten movies or eating at three food trucks. So I was surprised during our vacation when I checked in at a hiking trail and earned the Great Outdoors badge (pictured). I have no idea what exact chain of check-ins lead to this one popping up. Some combination of beaches, parks, plazas, lakes, and other outdoorsy things, I would guess. Let's face it, I'm not Mr. Adventurer who spends every free moment out of doors. I like my books and the computer and the Wii and spending time with my butt plopped onto the couch watching cheesy movies on the SyFy channel.

If foursquare feels I did something outdoorsy enough to unlock the badge, who am I to argue?

2011-10-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

Walking Not To Forget

Caesar and I joined his niece and a few other family members at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach yesterday morning for the Walk to End Alzheimer's. I feel like I should describe the different community groups with tables to provide information regarding their services or the hundreds of walkers -- from children to grandparents -- who decided to spend their Sunday morning helping to raise money or the inspirational words from Mrs. California USA and from the Vice-Mayor of Long Beach. But all I want to talk about is one table at the event. One tiny piece of particle board with stacks of large, paper flowers and piles of black Sharpees. For me, this single table made this particular fundraising walk different from the others.

The volunteers separated the flowers into four stacks, each color representing a specific reason why someone was walking. The orange flowers stood for those working as allies in the fundraising -- maybe it was a community service project or a school organization creating a team or perhaps someone just felt like walking and raising money. The yellow ones represented those who know, live, work with, love, care for someone with Alzheimer's. The purple were for those who had a loved one pass away from complications brought about by Alzheimer's. And the blue were the most special, presented only to those walkers who were themselves living with Alzheimer's. On each flower, walkers were encouraged to write something to express why they were walking or who they were walking for.

I asked for a yellow and a purple.

On the yellow, I wrote the name of my Grandmother and of Caesar's Mother. My Grandmother, who recently turned 93, now lives within a few miles from my parents. When she first started showing signs of Alzheimer's, my parents moved her from Ventura to a senior assisted living building not too far from their home, and from there, to a smaller facility, specializing in care for those with Alzheimer's. She still makes jokes, she still remembers people and places from her younger days. But she doesn't recognize my Mom though she visits almost every day.

On the purple, I wrote the name of my Great-Grandmother. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's while I was just reaching double digits. I remembered our trips to her apartment -- not even half a mile from where I currently live. My brother and I loved watching her old tv (a small black and white screen set high in a walnut cabinet with a large built-in speaker beneath the set). I don't remember when things changed. One day she was living in the apartment, the next my Mom and Dad were making arrangements for her to move into an assisted living facility in Huntington Beach. Neither my brother nor I liked that place. It seemed more a hospital than a home. The air smelled of medicine. The "guests" sat alone in wheels chairs in the hallways or lay in their hospital beds. The two of us would say hello to Great-Grandma then hurry outside, afraid the air would smother us. My parents didn't care for the place, but it was what the family could afford, and it was close to both my family and my Aunt and Uncle.

Great-Grandmother disappeared on more than one occasion, somehow opening the "locked" front doors during the night and walking down the street. My parents received many calls from the police, and we head to the area around the hospital and search for her. Then one day, they received the call. My brother and I were allowed to attend the service but were driven to my Aunt and Uncle's house before the burial took place.

During the walk's opening ceremony, they had everyone raise their flowers, telling us that we were planting a garden of hope by walking. Hoisting those flowers brought back all the memories of my Great-Grandmother, what she endured, what my Grandmother is going through today. And I knew why I was walking.

Image from Alzheimer's Association - New York City Chapter.

2011-10-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, not Christmas. October means Hallowe'en and all things ghastly, ghouly and zombie-riffic. It also means that my reading focuses more on horror tales that normal. I've already finished four such novels, including Henry VII: Wolfman by A.E. Moorat (which I will review soon). And to help usher in those feelings of terror, the chill that pour down your spine and force the goosebumps on your arms, I'm posting a video of a favorite song from "Weird Al" Yankovic's In 3-D album: Nature Trail to Hell in 3-D. (Note: this is not an official video)

2011-10-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Midnight Movie by Tobe Hopper

I did a double take when I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. Tobe Hopper...Didn't he direct The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? I plucked it from the shelf and thumbed through, intrigued that the director of such a classic horror film had written a novel -- with the help of Alan Goldsher (author of Paul Is Undead). Perfect timing, too, as I needed reading material for the trip so I purchased and downloaded an e-copy.

For most of the flight from LAX to Honolulu, my eyes were glued to my nook, quickly flipping through the pages of what turned out to be an interesting horror story.

In Midnight Movie, a film fanatic named Dude McGee has discovered the very first horror film ever directed by Tobe Hooper, the mastermind behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and decides to screen it at the SXSW festival in Austin. He eagerly invites Tobe to attend the screening and to speak afterwards. The problem, though, is that Tobe doesn't remember much about the film: the story, the filming, almost nothing save for the title, Destiny Express. But he reluctantly agrees to show up anyway.

At first, the screening seems to be running smoothly, even if the "movie house" turned out to be a divey little bar far from the main SXSW activities. The crowd seems to be getting into it, almost mesmerized by the dreadful acting and story playing across the makeshift screen. Slowly, however, Tobe notices things aren't quite right with the crowd. The bartender, for example, becomes quite violent. Or how about the young woman who suddenly grabs Tobe wanting sex then and there. But once the movie ends, the crowd returns to normal.

Or so it seems. Soon after the crowd goes home, strange things begin to happen around Austin. A mysterious STD appears that turns bodily secretions blue. A rash of violence and destruction spreads through the city. Random people turn into zombies then infect others. A series of fires pop up around the city. And it only gets worse as "The Game", as it begins being called by the press, moves out of Austin to every corner of the United States.

With a small group of the unaffected, Tobe embarks on a mission to stop "The Game" before total chaos breaks out.

I'm a bit on the fence about this book. I liked the idea of using a movie screening as the catalyst for the horrific happenings, similar to The Ring but on a much grander scale. You catch the disease by watching the movie, then the infected spread it around by touch or even by tweeting. But at times, I felt too much was going on. Zombies in this part of the country, random acts of violence here and there, an STD that spread everywhere. Trying to connect those varied strains with the storyline of Destiny Express was, for the most part, in vain; the only thing that made sense were the zombies since those played a large part in Destiny Express. And for the life of me, I never understood why the disease was called "The Game".

The characters are what really make this book work. From the aged director Tobe Hooper who on the surface seems like a forgetful, horny old man but in reality is the protective wiseass of the group to Dude McGee, one of the creepiest and most disgusting individuals in fiction -- once or twice, I thought I caught a whiff of salami in the plane's cabin -- each character has something relatable about them that draws you into the story.

Plus, the pages are ripe with plenty of blood, gore and sex to please the horror fan in me.

Midnight Movie was fun to read, and I would be very interested to see what happens if they tried to turn it into an actual move.

Midnight Movie
by Tobe Hopper
Three Rivers Press
eISBN: 978-0-307-71702-3
electronic, 214 pgs.

purchased eBook

Image from Dubo's Den.

2011-10-10T15:03:00.001-07:00

O'ahu: A Short Review

We arrived safely late in the afternoon yesterday. An almost 6-hour flight and a 3-hour time change really tends to wreak havoc, but I wanted to post about the week spent on O'ahu. I thought a brief rundown of what we did would be enough rather than boring you with how much we enjoyed the beautiful weather, the calm beaches, the amazing food, and the wonderful people. No need to rub it in.

Sunday -- The Arrival

We arrived earlier than expected, which meant we couldn't check into the house so we explored a little of the windward side, driving the winding Kalaniana'ole Highway alongside Hanauma Bay and northward towards Waimanalo. On the way back, we stopped for a bite to eat at the Koa Pancake House in Hawai'i Kai. Enough time had passed that we could finally check into the house and settle in.

Monday -- The Birthday

First thing in the morning, we ate at the Koa Pancake House. Again. Macadamia Nut pancakes for me while Caesar ordered the buttermilk stack and a side of fried potatoes. Afterwards, we tried hiking to the top of Koko Head Crater. The trail consists of a set of old railroad ties and tracks heading from a district park up the side of the volcano. And it's worse than any stairmaster you could ever imagine. (A few people even wore weighted vests during the climb!) We only made it halfway before my legs started to give and my asthma kicked in. I'm sure the view from the top was incredible, but it was quite stunning even from our stopping point.

Giving up the hike, we headed to the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. This was my favorite spot on the island. Warm, crystalline water filled not only with snorkelers and sunworshippers, but some incredible sea life. We spotted a sea turtle poking its head above water, and I managed to identify three types of fish venturing close to the shoreline. We sat enjoying the view and the water for a good two hours before heading back to the house.

For my birthday, I made reservations at 'Ama 'Ama, one of the restaurants at the Disney Aulani Resort & Spa. The resort is in Ko Olina, nestled among many other resorts. The Aulani is quite a stunning resort, with large towers, open air lobbies, and a slow-moving river in the courtyard complete with rafts. The 'Ama 'Ama is open air and overlooks the private bay that the resort shares with a Marriott and another resort, and our table offered an unobstructed view of the sunset. The food was okay, but if you're like me and have an allergy to walnuts, the menu provides very little for you to enjoy. I can't eat walnuts, but have no problem with cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, etc. However, the restaurant lumps all those together so any dish that has nuts of any kind is a off limits. Unfortunately, it seemed most of the dishes used nuts in one way or another -- the bread, the sauce for my steak, even the desserts. I was fine with the alternative bread and the replacement sauce for my steak, but the desserts.... We ordered one of two items, in case one or the other had nuts in them. Apparently, five of the six desserts had nuts, and the two we wanted fell into that category, so we were served a coconut (which I hate) panna cotta with awful-tasting pineapple. In my book, the dinner was a bust. Sorry Disney.

Tuesday -- Pearl Harbor

We booked a tour of Pearl Harbor and am glad we did. I doubt either of us could have navigated the roads and found parking for the USS Arizona Memorial or the USS Missouri. Plus, it included the tickets for both so we were able to visit both sites without worrying about standing in line for tickets. A boat carried us from the museums to the memorial, and we read the names along the back wall and watched the "black tears" float through the water to break upon the surface. From the USS Arizona, we toured the USS Missouri, standing on almost the exact spot where Japan surrendered to the United States to end WWII.

Wednesday -- The Luau

With nothing planned until the evening, we slept in then headed for Hawaii's Plantation Village in Waipahu. Our guide, whose parents worked on a sugar plantation in the early part of the 20th century, took us on a 2-1/2 hour walking tour of the different homes that would have appeared on a plantation as well as discussed the migrant workers -- Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Portuguese and Caucasian. We even sampled star fruit, bread fruit and sugar cane.

Before leaving, our guide Lorene recommended we stop by Leonard's Bakery just across the highway for a malasada -- a Portuguese doughnut minus the hole. We found the truck, and each devoured one of the sugar-coated pieces of heaven.

The day ended with Germaine's Luau in Kapolei. At first, we thought we had misread the directions because we were driving through an industrial area filled with scrap yards and mills. But tucked away between them was a beautiful stretch of beach with a stage and tables set up for about 500 guests. We watch the sunset, talked with one of the dancers, then enjoyed the most delicious food. The roast pig, pulled minutes earlier from a pit in the ground, was moist and tender; we piled our plates with not just the pork, but mahi mahi, teriyaki beef, macaroni salad, bread, and whatever else we could fit. The entertainment was fun, displaying dances from different Polynesian cultures and calling guests up to the stage to dance and to have a good time. It turned into one big party.

Thursday -- Education Day

Thursday morning, we started the day at the Bishop Museum then took the Likelike Highway -- a spectacular, winding drive through the rainforest to end up along the stunning beaches of Kaneohe Bay -- to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. In the Center, we rode a canoe through all the different Polynesian villages, then walked along the water to watch a drumming presentation in Tonga, a music celebration in Aotearoa (New Zealand), admire the gigantic head statues of Rapa Nui, and enjoy a canoe pageant featuring dancers from each of the eight cultures represented in the Center. We even toured a bit of BYU Hawai'i and the Mormon Temple.

And yes, I managed to get us lost on the way home, somehow ending up at the military base in Kailua instead of the Kalaniana'ole Highway. It wouldn't be a vacation without a little scenic trip, would it?

Friday -- North Shore

This time, we drove the Kamehameha Highway to the North Shore, stopping in Sunset Beach at Ted's Bakery for a late breakfast. I tried the Loco Moco -- three scoops of white rice topped with a grilled burger patty, a fried egg and brown gravy -- while Caesar enjoyed Ted's Bento Box -- fried mahi mahi, fried chicken, a Kalbi rib, and rice. Next, we stopped at one of the beaches to catch the Pipeline, then headed into Hale'iwa for some shave ice at Matsumoto's.

We ended Friday with probably the most touristy thing of the entire vacation -- the Dole Plantation. We sampled pineapple, rode the Pineapple Express through one of the fields, and shipped quite a few gifts home to our folks. (Spam-flavored macadamia nuts!!)

Saturday -- Rest

We slept in, did laundry, started packing and tidying up the house. For our aloha dinner, we chose Roy's in Hawai'i Kai -- another opportunity to dine while watching the sunset, this time on Maunalua Bay.

Now, we're sorting through our 500+ pictures and getting back into the swing of life on the Mainland. And if you know of any place in Long Beach with malasadas, let us know.

2011-10-05T14:14:00.001-07:00

Wish You Were Here

Aloha!

We're having a lovely time on O'ahu.

Koko Head Crater

Trail to Koko Head Crater

Hanauma Bay

USS Arizona Memorial

Wish you were here.

G&C

2011-10-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Leave a Message

You have reached Greg's blog. Sorry he can't respond to your comments right now, but if you leave your name and a brief message after the YouTube clip, he'll return your comment just as soon as he returns from a relaxing week on the beaches of O'ahu.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

2011-09-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Book Review: The Monster's Corner edited by Christopher Golden

With most tales of horror, the reader only gets one side of the story -- and it isn't the monster's. Jonathan Harker relating the strange events of his time spent at Count Dracula's castle in the Carpathian Mountains; or various accounts of survival against the zombie hordes in World War Z; Or Ripley outwitting the Geiger-ish alien. All those stories feature an outsider's view, examining the survivor's or victim's emotion and actions while completely disregarding those of the monster.

The Monster's Corner, a new anthology from St. Martin's Griffin, aims to give the monsters a chance to tell their side of things.

Some of the monsters are familiar, such as Frankenstein's Monster as presented by Kevin J. Anderson in his story Torn Stitches, Shattered Glass or tackle the creatures of myth such as Sara Pinborough's take on Medusa in The Screaming Room or Dana Stabenow's Siren Song. Others reveal the inner workings of more modern creatures, like David Moody's Big Man, a re-imagining of a 1950s classic sci-fi film, or create new monsters as Tananarive Due does with The Lake.

The most successful of the tales shed some light on a different side of these monsters than what we're used to. In Torn Stitches, Shattered Glass, Frankenstein's creation is living in a Jewish ghetto in 1930s Ingolstadt just as the Nazi's begin their reign, and his outrage at the pointless violence threatens everyone around him. Another example is Succumb from John McIlveen, a story of a succubus who knows that the true monsters aren't always who we believe them to be. These and many of the stories force the reader to rethink the idea of what makes a monster, and many times, I found myself rooting for the what should have been the bad guy. (Or girl...or thing.)

Not all the stories work, but I think you have to expect that with anthologies. The Awkward Age spins a decent tale, yet I had problems with the narrator jumping back and forth between "I" and "Mason" when describing herself. I found it annoying and wanted to skip to the next story.

The Monster's Corner is definitely worth your time, especially if you want a different perspective on what makes a monster. Some great stories by great authors. And if you don't get a copy, you're missing out on one of the best stories I've read in recent years, Jesus and Satan Go Jogging in the Desert by Simon R. Green. The title of that story alone should be temptation enough for this anthology!!

The Monster's Corner
edited by Christopher Golden
St.Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 978-0-312-64613-4
trade paperback, 388 pgs.

received book from publisher

Image from Dana Stabenow.

2011-09-25T21:35:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury

The first book I read from author Ray Bradbury was The Martian Chronicles. I remember my interest after watching the mini-series and checked out a copy from my school's library. What struck me most was how it was both a novel and a collection of short stories, dealing with the topic of expansion and colonization. (And since this was during school, my mind somehow connected the fictitious events in the book with similar events involving colonization of foreign territories -- think England colonizing the New World, and so on.) Since then, I've read as much of Bradbury's work as I could find and is one of the main reasons why I so love the short story form of writing.

In 2007, his novella collection Now and Forever was released, offering two new tales from the master writer. The first story -- Somewhere A Band Is Playing -- revolves around James Cardiff, an adventurer, if you will, who while sleeping one night hears a strange music when his eyes close. The words of a poem fitting the music etch themselves in his inner vision, and he's drawn to the middle of nowhere in Arizona. There he discovers the town of Summerton, population uncertain, but the residents harbor a great secret, one to which forces James to make a life-changing decision.

The story is an effective fantasy spin on what it means to be a writer. Not simply the process of writing, but how it affects the writer and what writing means to the writer.

The second novella -- Leviathan '99 -- is Bradbury's re-telling of the classic Melville novel Moby Dick. He moves the action from the seas of Earth to the more vast sea of stars and space. Ishmael spins his tale of a ship's captain, determined to find the bright white comet that blinded him, no matter the cost to himself or to his crew.

I can't think of a better writer to transpose the tale into the expanse of outer space. That sense of wonder and adventure remains intact while still managing to have the spirit of Melville attached to it with how the characters speak and act. (It doesn't hurt that he co-wrote the script for the 1958 film version or re-counted his time spent with the writing in his novel Green Shadows, White Whale.)

Now and Forever offers two prime examples of why Bradbury is considered one of the foremost writers. If you've yet to read anything from him, I suggest checking out this one.

Now and Forever
by Ray Bradbury
HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-0-113157-8
massmarket paperback, 247 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Lost in a Daydream.

2011-09-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

Birthday Dinner

I know this is early, but I'm excited about where we're going for dinner on the big 4-1:

Yep, I made reservations at 'Ama 'Ama, a restaurant at Disney's new Aulani Resort. Even when I go to Hawai'i, I can't get away from the Mouse.

Image from 107.7 the Bone.

2011-09-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Neglectful

I should be in a room, standing in a corner with my face directed to the walls, feeling ashamed because of how neglectful I've been. I haven't blogged since Friday, nor have I read any other blogs. So much is going on with work -- testing the new release version of our database, training team members, participating in conference call after conference call. I was also invited by an author to submit a story for an anthology, and while the story is picture perfect in my head, trying to transfer it to paper seems like a herculean effort. St. Martin's Press forwarded a copy of a new monster anthology for me to read/review, so I'm working my way through those 300+ pages. And, Caesar and I have been making preparations for our trip to O'ahu for my birthday in a less than two weeks.

So I'm just plum tuckered out. But I promise once the story's done, when we're back from Hawai'i, when the trainings are completed, I will blog with a big more regularity. Now if you will excuse me, I need to crawl under my desk for a nap.

2011-09-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Breakdown

I met Clark at Disneyland after work yesterday, and with only two hours left until the park closed, we decided to try our luck with Soarin' Over California. Perhaps 15 people waited in line so we figured it would be a short wait, allowing us plenty of time to get in a few other attractions.

We filed into the flight room, sat in the proper row, clicked the seatbelts in place. The top of the car slowly dropped into place. The light dimmed, and the cars lifted into the air.

Only to stop abruptly less than a foot off the ground, then fall back to the ground. The ride operators either frantically ran about the room checking on the passengers, or spoke loudly over the phone with maintenance. 10 minutes later, they had us file out the Exit doors and into the adjoining room, fitting us nicely in between those who had taken the flight and those awaiting the next one.

Surprisingly, an attraction breaking down doesn't happen as often as you'd think. A few years ago, I was spinning my car on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin when it stopped. The animatronics and music didn't, though, which created a surreal experience watching the mechanized routine looping over and over right before my eyes. The lights came up a few minutes later, and an operator walked into the room and out the next door. He returned moments later with the four people from the car in the next room, released the lock on my car, and we all followed him through the attraction, walking through each of the rooms, and getting up close and personal with the animatronics. Being an annual passholder, I admit this was a bit thrilling, something that regular guests didn't get to do.

Of course, I gloated about it to Clark. And when it happened the next time, on the Haunted Mansion, and we were allowed behind the scenes to exit through a crypt door in the mausoleum, Clark was even more jealous. So last night, he finally experienced a ride breakdown.

I think he can check that off his bucket list.

2011-09-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Blockade Billy by Stephen King

Sometimes books have a little something extra included, such as experts from an upcoming novel or pages of advertisements for other books in an author's catalog. Blockade Billy, however, offers a complete second complete story for King fans. Of which I am one.

Blockade Billy

In doing some research on baseball, Mr. King interviews George Grantham, former third base coach for the Titans. Hunkered down in Grantham's room at a retirement home, King asks him about one of the greatest baseball player's that no one's heard of -- William "Blockade Billy" Blakely. Brought up from the Davenport Cornhuskers when the Titan's regular catcher was relegated to the disabled list, Blakely proves to be an almost impenetrable wall at the plate, blocking runner after running -- sometimes with bloody results. The fans love it, as does pitcher Danny Dusen who is on his way to the record books if he wins a few more games. But something in Blakely's past forces a drastic change that ultimately wipes any record of Blakely from the annals of baseball.

Morality

Chad, a soon-to-be out of work substitute teacher, comes home to find his wife Nora home early from work, sitting on the fire escape with a cigarette in one hand and a folder with their financial history in the other. He knows something important must have happened, but he's not prepared when Nora tells him about her employer's offer. She works as a home nurse for the Reverend George Winston. He's never sinned -- never been allowed to -- and now with his days slowly winding down, he wants to experience sin. Though his body won't allow him to try anything sinful, he proposes an idea to Nora that if she were to go through with it, would net her and Chad $100,000. All she needs to do is to commit this one sin, to video tape it, and to give him the tape, and the money was hers. No strings attached. But she wants to discuss the deed with Chad. It's good money for such a small thing, but the consequences could bring about the disintegration of their relationship.

Reading Blockade Billy felt like reliving the grand history of baseball, getting caught up with the ebbs and flows of the team as they work their way through the season. And the unexpected twist with Blakely made it all the more enjoyable. Morality felt a bit heavier and its conclusion somewhat unsatisfying. I kept expecting something more to happen, but it never did.

Both stories, in their own way, deal with a life-changing decision and its consequences. One deals with discovering the truth about another person while the other questions making the call between right and wrong. And no matter the decision, the aftermath may not be the most pleasant.

Blockade Billy provides the perfect King fix if you're not ready to tackle one of his larger works. Then again, I've always been a fan of his short fiction, and both stories fit well with the tales in Graveyard Shift, Different Seasons and his many other collections.

Blockade Billy
by Stephen King
Scribner
ISBN: 978-1-4516-0821-2
hardcover, 132 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Book Chase.

2011-09-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Moon Mission

Yesterday, I caught an early bird screening of Apollo 18 over at The Pike. I know, I should have been home watching the myriad TV channels replaying the events from 9/11. But I remember what it was like the first time watching those clips, in real time instead of 10 years later. That morning, I was just about to step out the door, headed for the office, when our neighbor hurried over and asked if we were watching the news. I clicked on the TV, and we sat for almost an hour glued to the tragedy. On my drive to work, I thought about the planes and the constantly replaying footage of them crashing into the towers and was scared. I worked a block from the John Wayne Airport, and you can imagine what was going through my head: was that airport a target? Were my co-workers and myself -- not to mention everyone else in the two-story office building -- in danger? Should I turn around and go home? But I kept on toward the office. Once there, we fielded phone calls from our employees, asking if they needed to go to work today, refusing to go to work, calling us crazy for working as close to the airport as we were. Some folks wanted to talk about what happened, or quietly cried, glad that someone was around to talk to or to just listen.

Yesterday, I wanted to be far away from the images on the TV. And yes, I did choose a horror film. I can hear a few people groaning at that, but with a horror film, I'm the one in control. I can close my eyes or stand up and walk out of the theater at any time, leaving the monsters, the terror behind -- even if it is imagined terror.

As for the movie? It did the job. Good scares, imaginative monsters, good story and acting. Claustrophobic, quiet, and creepy. And I enjoyed how they made the film look as if it belonged to the early 1970s, with scratches, noise, blemishes. A nice little horror/sci-fi film.

Image from HitFix.

2011-09-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Autumn: Purification by David Moody

I've finished a surprising amount of books over the past two weeks, meaning I must catch up with my reviews. This Is the End: done. Outer Dark: done. So three more to go ....

Emma, Michael and a few others who survived the worldwide plague that spread like wildfire, barely make it inside an underground bunker before hoards of the recently re-animated could rip them to pieces. Now, they're trapped with a group of military personnel who can't comprehend what's waiting on the other side of the bunker doors. With supplies and tempers running short, and the air vents and other exits points steadily becoming blocked, the remaining soldiers decide -- disregarding the pleas of the survivors -- to fight the massing corpses. At first, the soldiers begin to make headway, but just as quickly, the tide turns. What once provided hope as an safe zone becomes a death trap, leaving the survivors with only one option if they want to live.

Autumn: Purification is the third book in author David Moody's Autumn series and provides a great continuation of the story of Emma and Michael and the other survivors. I like that Moody's "zombies" aren't traditional -- they aren't out to eat brains or to spread the infection. Instead, it's almost as if the re-animation has made them crazy and violent. Yet, as the weeks pass, the survivors begin to notice subtle changes in how the re-animated corpses respond to sound or to the presence of survivors. That quiet "becoming aware" makes these zombies even more dangerous -- a zombie learning how to think!

I also enjoyed following the survivors, seeing how they interact and how the fact they are still among the living has affected each of them. That little glimpse into the psychology of survival, how a life-altering affects the different ways people handle the aftermath. As the character Michael mentions at one point in the story, he doesn't know the names of everyone in the small group of survivors, only those that have taken an active part in doing something to help. The others who have shied away, determined to recede into their shells rather than face the changed world, become non-entities, almost as sad as the re-animated corpses.

The story is fast-paced and completely engrossing, and I found myself staying up much later than I should just to finish one more chapter. And being the third in the series, the story presents enough background information that it isn't necessary to have read the first two books -- but I highly recommend doing so.

Autumn: Purification
by David Moody
Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN: 978-0-312-56999-0
trade paperback, 329 pgs.

book received from publisher

Image from David Moody.

2011-09-08T20:12:00.001-07:00

Weird Weather

It's simply too hot to blog here on the Left Coast. But I do hope my blogger friends back East, dealing with the torrential rains and flooding, are doing okay. Keep yourself safe and as dry as possible.

2011-09-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy

In a rundown cabin, perhaps in the forest or in the mountains, Rinthy Holme gives birth to a boy. Her brother Culla should be happy, but instead tells Rinthy that the child died and takes him -- his own son -- into the forest and leaves him on a tree stump. When Rinthy learns of Culla's deceit, she packs up her few belongings and runs away, determined to find her son and the tinker who she believes took him. Culla returns home from a day out hunting for work and finds Rinthy gone. So he sets out on his own quest to find her. As each sibling travels through the many counties, a dark trio of men wreaks havoc on the same countryside, heading toward a confrontation with the brother and sister.

As with all McCarthy's books that I've read so far, he has an interesting way with language that makes a character's voice seem real and down to earth, giving them a time and a place, such as with the dialect that the Holmes' and the men and the people they encounter. And you believe those characters. Couple that with his descriptions of the countryside or towns or the people themselves, and you can clearly imagine the harsh landscape, with rutted roads and dilapidated buildings.

However, I only somewhat enjoyed the story of Culla and Rinthy traveling their different ways through the towns. While it was clear that Rinthy searched for her son and the tinker, Culla's journey seems to be consumed with looking for work rather than finding his sister, though ostensibly that's why he's roaming the countryside. As for the dark trio, I wasn't quite sure of their role in this, either. Why were they terrorizing the countryside? Why did they seem to know so much about Culla and what he did to Rinthy? I felt as though some piece of the puzzle were missing that would have made their actions more logical to the story.

Outer Dark
by Cormac McCarthy
Vintage International
ISBN: 978-0-679-72873-3
trade paperback, 242 pgs.

purchased book

Image from Get Glue.

2011-09-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Wheels on the Bike Go Round and Round

Long Beach tends to be one of the friendliest cities in LA County when it comes to bicycling. The city recently upgraded many of the street to accommodate larger bike lanes -- with their own traffic lights; created "sharrows" in which a car is to share the same entire lane with a bicycle, rather than pushing the bike into a small lane near the curb; some districts within the city are considered "Bike Friendly Business Districts", catering to the two wheelers with plenty of stations to park bikes and even being provided with cargo bikes (from the city) to help with local deliveries.

I applaud those efforts. But when something happens -- when a bicyclist feels that he or she is above the cars and pedestrians around him or her -- that's when I feel that those riders need to be taken down a notch.

Take a few hours ago, for example.

We reached an intersection with a 4-way stop and plenty of Stop signs to make sure everyone realized it. Each direction had at least one car waiting to either make a turn or to continue forward. I saw her pedaling away, heading toward us on the driver's side, ear buds firmly planted in her ears. She didn't check to see if any cars were in the intersection already. She didn't slow down. She didn't stop.

She plowed right through the intersection, causing a few cars to slam on their brakes. We honked at her, and she reciprocated with her middle finger.

Unfortunately, this happens frequently in and around Long Beach. They ignore stop signs and traffic lights. They don't pay much attention to their surroundings. They seem to expect everyone else, though, to let them pass, make concessions when traveling down the street -- even when they swing far out into the lane for no reason.

I remember way back in elementary school, a policeman stopped by to give the entire school lessons on the proper way to ride a bike, to be aware of your surroundings, and most important, to pay attention to traffic signs. Bicycles were just like cars; the rules of the road applied to them, as well. And guess what? I checked the CA DMV's website and found and entire section on bicycling. The first rule listed for bicycles? Must obey all traffic signals and stop signs. Which I take to mean that the bicyclist can receive a ticket for running a Stop sign. And, sad to say, I think quite a few of them deserve tickets or to have their bikes confiscated.

I know this doesn't describe all bicyclists. But the few moronic riders out there -- such as Miss Ear Buds -- tend to leave a bad taste in the mouth regarding all bicyclists.

2011-08-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Book Review: This Is the End by Eric Pollarine

Jeff Sorbenstein has everything, thanks to creating the most important app on the market, one found in every smart phone, computer and almost every technological gadget in the world. The app even helped him earn Time Magazine's "Man of the Year". All that fame and fortune -- and a cigarette habit -- also snags him a fairly aggressive case of cancer, according to his doctor. So Jeff does what anyone in his position would do: decides to use cryogenics, to freeze himself until a cure for his type of cancer is found. Only he also plans to let the public in on a few secrets before disappearing into his cold sleep.

When he wakes from his cryo sleep, he slowly realizes something must have gone wrong. No one is around -- no techs, no lab coats, no security guards. The room is empty, everything covered in a thick layer of dust. He stumbles to the door, gathering all his strength to carry him to his office upstairs. But he's not prepared for what awaits him behind the stairwell door and it takes all his failing strength to fight his way past the misshapen creature, missing an arm and bent on sinking its teeth into Jeff. Things get worse when he finally reaches his office only to come face to face with two soldiers, both of whom blame him for the destruction of the world outside his office.

This Is the End provides a nice twist from the standard zombie tale. Instead of focusing on the gore, the biting, the infecting that is normally associated with zombie tales, this tale uses the zombies more as a backdrop to a story of one man wanting to exact revenge on the person who did him wrong. What makes it even better is the character of Jeff Sorbenstein. At first, you hate him. He's arrogant, elitist, and an all-around asshole. But after waking up and realizing that he'd been lied to, manipulated, made a scapegoat, you reluctantly being to feel for him, and as the story nears its conclusion, you're rooting for him.

I found the cause for the zombification very interesting and unique in its own way. It's biological and based on real facts from the animal kingdom, making it a very believable catalyst for the demise of the human population. (I just hope no one reading the story gets any ideas.)

And the story still provides all the zombie goodness a fan expects: hordes of the re-animated mindlessly trying to spread their infection to every last living human on the planet; a small group of people trying to make their escape from the city; buckets of gore as the zombies battle against the humans in the parking garage -- GREAT scene, too!

I highly recommend Eric Pollarine's This Is the End, a great addition to the zombie genre.

This Is the End
by Eric Pollarine
May December Publications
ebook, 166 pgs.

ebook and image received directly from author

2011-08-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Birthday²

Our friend Chris visited from Las Vegas this weekend to celebrate his birthday. So we decided to treat him to dinner and a show in Los Angeles, followed by the requisite tour of gay bars in Long Beach.

For dinner, we stopped a hipster burger joint in Los Feliz called Fred 62. I call it hipster one, because of the 50s décor with the seats upholstered in car seat leather and sporting headrests, and two, because the serve American classic food but spruce it up to make it look fancy. Like the chicken pot pie that Chris ordered: a high-walled bowl of pastry at the center of the plate, surrounded by a thick green pesto, inside the bowl was a layer of buttery mashed potatoes smothered in gravy then covered in steamed vegetables, with two whole grilled chicken breasts lying atop those. It resembled a sculpture rather than a food dish, but Chris said it was delicious.

After dinner, we headed over to Melrose to catch the early show from The Groundlings. This little comedy/improv group has brought the likes of Will Farrell and Sheri Oteri to public consciousness. And even though neither of them performed last night, it was still a good show. They opened with a sketch set aboard the Death Star, where two crewmen worked away at the controls while Darth Vader discussed plans with an officer. When Vder's back is turned, the two crewmen gossip away like two little queens. It was hysterical! The rest of the show had its moments, both good and not-so-good, and the Birthday Boy unwillingly became involved in one of the sketches. So it turned out to be quite a bit of fun.

Back in Long Beach, we stopped at a few of the bars, people watching, unexpectedly meeting some friends, and generally rousing rabble until last call.

The next morning, we woke late and hurried off for brunch. The first place had a wait of 35-45 minutes so we decided to pass. The next place was far worse: 1h45m to 2 hours. Holy Heck! We finally chose Hof's Hut for a mere 15 minute wait.

We had a dinner that evening for our friend Clark who also happened to be celebrating his birthday so in order to kill some time before then, we caught a screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. A great movie, both story and special effects-wise. The CGI apes, chimps and orangutans were amazing, and I believe Andy Serkis deserves some kind of award for his work as Caesar.

Clark joined us for dinner around 7 at The Yard House and a bit of walking around Shoreline Village. The food at the restaurant was very good if very overpriced. But the churro sundae from the Funnel House was worth the price: two fresh churros covered with a mound of ice cream and whipped cream -- plenty for all four of us. We ended the night at the Silver Fox, listening to some karaoke and trying to hold conversations above the loud music.

Hopefully tonight, I can catch up on some sleep . . . .

2011-08-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Mysteries of Wii

When it comes to video games, I'm not a fan of the ultra violent, shoot-'em-up or war titles such as Call of Duty or Halo. I prefer thinking games, like Myst or Rhem which require the player to solve puzzles that mesh with the environment and move the game forward. (Okay, and anything with zombies. We all have our weaknesses. . . .)

Monday night while browsing through the Wii games, wondering what to buy with my gift card, I walked by the Wii demo unit. The game on display was The Malgrave Incident, one that I'd passed up many times but always returned to because it sounded interesting -- trying to figure out why everyone deserted small Malgrave Island. The main reason for passing it up had to do with some of the gameplay. It's a "hidden object" game -- different scenes of mountains or jungles or rooms, overflowing with bizarre objects. The game provides a list of specific objects to find in order to move to the next scene. I've played a few similar games and found them to be quite boring. But seeing this title in the demo unit piqued my curiosity. So I picked up the Wii controller . . . .

15 minutes later, Caesar was tapping on my shoulder. I'd become so engrossed in what was happening on the display screen that I'd zoned out everything else. The game involved much more than simple "hidden object" screens -- and even those are devilishly tricky -- and I quickly grabbed the last copy on the shelf and bought it.

I spent an hour and a half last night playing the game, with Caesar helping to find some of the hidden objects. So far, it's turned out to be a worthwhile purchase. But you may not hear from me again until it's finished. :)

Image from Spong.

2011-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

In a Flash

I received an email this morning that a second flash fiction story of mine has been accepted for a monster anthology. So far this year, I'm two-for-four, with two of those still pending word from the publishers.

Earlier this week, I wrote a quick three-page outline for a story that popped into my head. I need to do that more often -- or at least note something in Evernote -- before I lose the idea completely. I also pulled out another story from college that I hope to touch up, re-work and submit.

And, in honor of what's happened so far, here's a little ditty from Elvis Costello:

2011-08-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

A Gift To Each Other

Yesterday marked our 6-year anniversary. So we stayed home and cleaned the carpet. I know -- we're living on the edge. The edge, I tell you!

But that balances out with what we bought a few months ago as a kind of anniversary gift to each other. We found a large collection of original prints from illustrator David Weidman for sale at one of the vintage shops on 4th Street. After poring through them, we agreed on a print of a young boy, probably 11 or 12 years old, carrying a rather large cat. It was a black outline filled in with blocks of green color, very reminiscent of the 1970s, and we both liked it. And after a small conference, we bought it.

Carrying

About a week later, we took the print to a local artist for framing, and now the gift to each other hangs proudly on a wall in our apartment. It joins the three prints and a poster from artist Joe Monroe and the autographed poster of the First Time Dead 2 book cover.

2011-08-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Book Review: A Man of Letters by Eric Pollarine

Paul works at a dead-end job in a call center, half-heartedly listening to customers blabber on and on about their problems and holding out long enough for the next cigarette break. To make matters worse, his most recent manuscript was rejected and sits in a big pile on his desk. Thankfully, he can rely on his girlfriend Lori and their menagerie of pets to calm him down.

One this one particular night, his attempt to de-stress after an incredibly awful day is interrupted by a news story which captured Lori's attention. A short video seems to be in constant reply on all the news channels -- a woman standing on a subway platform suddenly jumps in front of an oncoming train. It's not the woman that holds both his and Lori's interest; it's the hooded figure that mysteriously appears for a fraction of a moment when the video slows down.

Who is the hooded figure? Where did he come from? Those questions weigh on Paul's mind the next day at the call center, and come back to haunt him when he has a run in with one of the hooded figures in the men's room, changing his life forever.

I like the character of Paul, the struggling writer in a dead-end job. He's equal parts bitter and sarcastic. But his attempt to find a way back to the way things were before the incident in the bathroom ultimately shows that deep down, he's human like everyone else. What really makes this a great story, though, are they mysterious hooded figures. An intriguing concept, one that makes me whack my forehead and want to scream, Why didn't I think of that?!

My one gripe: the story could have benefited from a proofreader. Too many misplaced or missing commas and periods. Not to mention a few misspelled or incorrect words. Not that this inhibited my enjoyment of the story, but I do know some who would consider those a deal breaker.

In the end, A Man of Letters tells a great story and introduces a whole new set of horrific characters. I hope to see more of Paul and his struggle in the future. Nice work!

A Man of Letters
by Eric Pollarine
May December Publications
eBook

received as ebook from the author

2011-08-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

The Waiting Game

As of today, two of my short stories are out there in the ether, awaiting either acceptance for publication or total rejection. My fingers are crossed that the former is the case, but should the latter happen, I'm already scouting more potential publishers. Wish me luck!

And don't forget to check out my review of Kwaidan over at The G.A.S.P. Factor.

Image from CoolClips.

2011-08-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Book Review: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Since graduating from college all those many, many . . . many years ago, I've started reading many of the books that were suggested as required reading. Like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch from Aleksander Solzhenistyn and Billy Budd from Herman Melville. You know, light reading. In school, it always felt like a chore to read such books, but I've since realized that these books really are quite good.

I found a 1958 edition of The Grapes of Wrath from John Steinbeck while skimming through the shelves of books at the Long Beach AIDS Thrift Store. All the pages were intact, but penciled scribblings and notes filled the margins of the first 15 or so chapters, along with pink highlighter covering sentences and passages every so often. The title page listed a handwritten cost of 50¢, and since I had always wanted to read it, I promptly paid, returned home and set it atop of my much-too-big pile of books. That was, perhaps, two years ago.

I finally picked up the book to read a few months ago.

The Grapes of Wrath follows the Joad family, long-time farmers from Oklahoma, forced to leave their beloved patch of earth due to drought and the Great Depression. Banks foreclose on the land, sell it to big businesses who push the families out. Like many other families in the state, the Joads hear of jobs out West, in California -- fields of cotton and orchards of peaches, ripe and waiting for the picking. The family gathers together -- Ma and Pa, Granma and Grampa, Uncle John, Noah, the pregnant Rosasharn and her husband Connie, little Ruthie and Winfield, and the recently-paroled Tom Joad -- and fills a beat up truck with their lives and heads West. Along the way, they battle against hunger, death, and the desert, eventually making it to the Golden State of California, only to find their lives are going to be much worse.

The novel provides a fantastic glimpse into what life was like during the Great Depression, especially in California. Those incoming migrants, toting large families while looking for any kind of work, created a fear within the locals -- fear of them organizing, fear of them becoming just like the other Californians. They did whatever they could to keep families like the Joads -- the Okies -- at poverty level. Steinbeck didn't rely simply on the story of the Joads themselves, but interspersed chapters showing what was happening to everyone. They struck me as a Greek chorus of sorts, focusing on the generic while watching those stories play out among the Joads and the people they meet on the way across country.

It truly is an amazing novel. I only wish I hadn't waited so long to read it.

purchased book

Image from The Grapes of Wrath/Cornell University.

2011-08-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate 3D Experience (circa 1986)

Earlier this year, Disneyland brought back one of it's more popular attractions from the 80s: the 3D film Captain EO starring Michael Jackson. I remember watching it all those years ago, sitting in the theater oohing and aahing at the 3D effects and at Michael Jackson's incredible music and dancing. But what thrilled me the most, and kept me going back, was the use of the entire theater to create an immersive experience: flashing lights throughout the room, Hooter sneezing and then feeling the air rush past my face, all the seats shaking bouncing jumping as the dancers pounded across the screen. I loved it back then, and watching it last night brought everything back.

So my video pick for this week is Michael Jackson's We Are Here To Change the World:

2011-08-10T15:55:00.001-07:00

Rejection

I find this the worst thing about writing: the fear of receiving a rejection letter. I think it's the one thing that holds me back when it comes to my short stories and the novel I'm working on. (Yes, I'm working on a novel. I liked what I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year and decided to give a whirl with editing and seeing what happens. Anything's possible.)

No one likes rejection. This article from Kathryn Stockett -- about her best-selling novel The Help being rejected 60 times before finding an agent -- gives me hope. So I'll keep plugging away. Some stories will make it; others won't. But I need to keep trying.

Image from Student Branding Blog.

2011-08-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Only Thing Better Than Hairspray...

...was seeing it at the Hollywood Bowl last night, with Tony winners and original leads Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur in the cast. This was kind of monumental for those of us not living near the Great White Way. Over here on the Left Coast, the closest to experiencing the original players in anything theatrical is usually plugging in earphones and listening to the CD spinning or the tracks flowing on an iPod. So when we learned of this concert-styled performance of Hairspray, how could we say no?

It was well worth it. Harvey and Marissa were just as incredible as on the album. And seeing Harvey burst through the doors as Edna that fist time -- we joined the crowd with the thunderous applause. The supporting cast shined as well, including Nick Jonas (all the girls screamed every time he stepped onto the stage) as Link Larkin, Corbin Bleu as Seaweed, Diana Degarmo as the ditzy but well-meaning Penny Pingleton, Drew Carey as Wilbur Turnbladt, and Darlene Love as Motormouth Maybelle.

The only downsides for me: the length -- two of the best songs were cut, for time constraints, I think; and John Stamos as Corny Collins. I went in thinking he would be a shoo-in as the host of the TV dance show, especially after his stint on Glee, but he came across like a bored Las Vegas lounge singer.

So now, it's back to listening to the soundtrack over and over. I promise not to sing along. At least, not with the car windows open.

2011-08-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

Book Review: One Buck Horror: Volume One

It had to happen eventually: my first review of an ebook. And what a better way to start than with a horror anthology.

I've always been a fan of short fiction, especially anything that falls within the horror genre. Being able to draw a reader in, to connect with the characters, and to send chills up and down my spine in a short amount of space requires much skill and talent, and I'm always in awe of those writers who do it well. The stories included in the first volume of tales from One Buck Horror manage to do all of the above.

In Jenny's House by Ada Hoffman, a young child's enthusiasm for Show and Tell takes a twisted turn when he tells about how his doll became covered with green slime and what happened over at a little girl's house.

A Lullaby for Caliban by Mark Onspaugh follows three young boys sent to a carnival sideshow on a club initiation dare to bring home a "pickled punk" -- a club name for a fetus in a jar of formaldehyde. But when the glass jar with the punk falls and breaks, two of the boys run off leaving their friend Kirby to face the consequences.

With the help of a young street urchin, trapped spirits take their revenge upon the "Uncle" who forced them into servitude in Elizabeth Twist's The Last Nephew.

A young boy's darkest fears come to life as he tries to escape a monster while crossing The Cornfield, in a story by Mike Trier.

Georgie's mother is trying a new gingerbread recipe thanks to a special ingredient from one of her neighbors, something she says will help his ailing father. When Georgie accidentally discovers what the special ingredient does, will he be able to help his father, or will he be next? Read Julie Jansen's story The Gingerbread Men to find out.

I enjoyed all the stories, especially The Last Nephew. The story revealed itself slowly, allowing the shocks to gradually sink in so that the ending packs a heck of a punch. The Cornfield left me a little confused about the young protagonist's older brother, but it's still a creepy tale filled with a fantastic monster and enough gore to keep me happy.

This is a great collection of tales, each one immediately grabbing you with horrific visions and worse, just enough details to allow your imagination to fill in the rest. Definitely a collection for any and all horror fans to enjoy.

And yes, I already purchased Volume Two.

One Buck Horror: Volume One
Edited by Christopher Hawkins and Kris M.Hawkins
Coronis Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-937346-00-3
e-format, 82 pgs.

purchased ebook

Image from One Buck Horror.

2011-08-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

The Verdict

After a week of toying with my new little toy, I made the right decision. Big thumbs up for the Nook. I've already downloaded 6 or 7 free books -- from Barnes & Noble, Project Gutenberg, and a few directly from authors. My library account is all set to check out eBooks. With a flick of the finger, I can turn a page or look up the meaning of a word. I can set bookmarks and even upload my own images to use as screensavers.

I even purchased a Jonathan Adler carrying case for it, resembling a book so that I can hide it amongst my paper ones.

The only downside was the required WiFi access to register it; I couldn't access any of the books until I did. Luckily, I remedied that by visiting a Barnes & Noble for their free WiFi. And buying a book for 99¢.

2011-08-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

Like a Bird

Last evening, as one of the parades was scheduled to start, we wanted to bypass the crush of a crowd crammed near Main Street to watch it so my friend Clark and I cut behind the Matterhorn, rounding one of the gardens to use a side entrance to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. This little shortcut took us by the wishing well at Snow White's Grotto, and to our surprise, we both noticed an odd bird cleaning itself in the green-tinted waters nearby. Blackish-brown with its wings held aloft as if drying them, about the size of a goose but with a long yellow beak that curved at the end into a sharp point, and yellowish eyes that paid close attention to wherever we stood. Neither of us could place it, and even one of the park employees asked if we recognized what type of bird it was.

As of this morning, the mystery has been solved (I hope)! If my search is correct, we spied a juvenile Double-crested Cormorant. In Disneyland. Will wonders never cease?

2011-08-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Three Worlds To Conquer by Poul Anderson

I love used bookstores. Rummaging through the old paperbacks, you never know what gems you might find -- like the copy of Three Worlds To Conquer from Poul Anderson that I discovered a few years ago. Even though I don't read much science fiction -- though horror does play into it very well -- I bought it after reading the first few pages. Then, let it settle somewhere in my stacks of books at home until a few weeks ago when a short book was in order after all the three- to four-hundred pagers I'd recently finished.

Mark Fraser returns to Ganymede after a long sidetrip to take care of a mining issue on Io. Upon his approach to Ganymede, he notices the USS Vega docked within the moon's airspace and wonders what a battleship is doing this far away from Earth. He learns from a friend at Space Traffic Control that some insurgents back on Earth have overthrown the government with the hope of restoring order and that the Vega is here supposedly on a peace-keeping mission. The ship's presence concerns him, and while taking some time to ponder the ship's true intentions, he contacts his friend Theor, a Nyaraan on the planet Jupiter who's culture is going through a trying time of its own.

For Theor, his people are facing the threat of war from the Ulunt-Khazul, a combative tribe filled with the desire to expand their own territory no matter the cost. It's up to Theor to try to negotiate with the Ulunt-Khazul, and his one hope is The Oracle, as his people like to call Mark Fraser. A bodyless voice coming from a small box might instill terror or awe in Theor's enemies, but things go awry when Mark fails to keep an appointed call, and all-out invasion begins in Theor's homeland.

I enjoyed both intertwined stories of Three Worlds To Conquer, though I enjoyed Fraser's battle with the the Vega a more intriguing story for my tastes. it's almost non-stop action as he battles his way against the so-called peacekeepers from the Vega. Theor's tale was good, especially when painting a picture of the Jovian landscapes, ammonia-filled seas and wondrous and frightening creatures inhabiting Jupiter. I became somewhat bored, though, reading through the dialogues of Theor and the others on Jupiter; it seemed almost too formal, too colonial British and not terribly exciting. But following Theor across the planet as he escapes a deadly skirmish with the Ulunt-Khazul makes for some good reading.

Fans of science fiction tinged with a bit of fantasy will definitely enjoy this one.

Three Worlds To Conquer
by Poul Anderson
Pyramid Books
paperback, 143 pgs.

purchased book

Image from rough Edges.

2011-07-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Long Beach Museum of Art

I wandered over to the Long Beach Museum of Art late this morning. No particular reason, other than after moving to Long Beach six years ago, I still hadn't taken the time out for a visit.

The first floor featured the current exhibition called Ray Turner: Population. The first room of Ray Turner's show consisted mainly of portraits -- oil on glass -- of the people within his community as well as all of Southern California. Each portrait wasn't an exact picture, but more of a mixture of colors and textures so that seen at a distance, the faces have shape and form, shadows and contours; up close, you saw how the paint colors mixed, the hills and valleys created by the paint, how the nose was simply an elongated brush stroke. As a counterpoint, the gallery beside this contained a second turner collection called Good Man/Bad Man. As with the Population series, each of these faces was painted on glass. But the faces here were indistinct, the features melting into one another.

The upstairs galleries displayed artworks from the permanent collection, including one room of paintings and photography related to the 100th anniversary of the Port of Long Beach as well as rooms containing pieces from the Wilma and Roland Duquette Collection (patrons of the museum) . A smaller room off the main upstairs gallery held dozens of Staffordshire figurines. I enjoyed the upstairs the most, coming across works by Andy Warhol (After the Party, pictured), a woodprint and a ceramic tile by Pablo Picasso, and many pieces by Mexican and South American artists, like Carlos Mérida.

A great little museum and it's within walking distance of the apartment -- why did I wait so long?

2011-07-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

I Did It All for the Nook-y

I gave in last night and bought myself a Nook. And yes, so far two people have branded me a traitor for daring to hold such a device in my hot little hands. Don't worry; I'm not giving up physical books entirely. It's just that some newer books I would like to read are available solely in the e-format so the purchase of an eReader seemed inevitable.

So I did some research, checked out reviews on CNET of all the devices, asked for help from my Facebook friends, tested actual units at Barnes & Noble, Target and Best Buy. Granted, it doesn't have the storage capacity of a Kindle, but what sold me on taking the plunge was the ability to checkout library books -- something the Kindle can't do.

I like how the small screen has the look of a massmarket paperback page so as not to hurt the eyes. The touchscreen makes it feel as though I'm turning a page rather than pressing a button to have it turned for me.

I purchased my first book today -- for a whopping 99¢! -- to add to the free, already-installed versions of Dracula from Bram Stoker, Little Women from Louis May Alcott, and Pride and Prejudice from Jane Austen. Quite a few eBooks are half the price of physical books.

Which could be dangerous for someone like me.

Image from Everything About Ebook.

2011-07-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

A "Short" Post

Saw Shrek the Musical on Sunday after wandering the floor at Amoeba Music. Very funny, filled with good music, many homages to Broadway shows, and lots of fart-related material. But by far, Lord Farquaad was the best. Clever costume design, and funny as heck.

Image from The Adventures of Jules.

2011-07-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Little Sparrow

Saturday night found us once again on a chartered bus heading from Lakewood to Hollywood for what seems like a once-in-a-lifetime performance: Dolly Parton at the Hollywood Bowl. We were surprised to learn she'd never sung on that magnificent stage before so when the tickets became available, we snatched up two. Good thing we did -- I doubt there was an empty seat in the entire place. As you can see from the picture, we were seated near the top, and yet two more huge sections climbed the hillside behind us.

A few minutes after dusk, all the lights dimmed, then Dolly walked on stage jumping right into Walking on Sunshine from Katrina & the Waves mixed with Shine Like the Sun from the musical 9 to 5. The first set covered songs from her new album Better Days; coversongs like Help! from the Beatles, Stairway to Heaven from Led Zepplin and a bluegrass take on Shine from Collective Soul; and early classics from her career including Jolene and Coat of Many Colors. It was like a musical trip through her family life and music career, telling stories about growing up in Tennessee and the inspiration for much of her music. Caesar and I both loved how personable and genuine she was, as if she were singing not for a huge crowd of strangers but for a group of friends.

She opened the second act with a haunting, a cappella version of Little Sparrow -- one of the few times the entire 17,000+ audience was completely silent. The rest of the show was filled with her popular songs, like Here You Come Again, I Will Always Love You, and of course, 9 to 5.

One thing that surprised both of us was the number of musical instruments she played: banjo, piano, fiddle, harmonica, dulcimer, autoharp, recorder, saxophone. To top it, she has an amazing, strong voice. I count this as one of the best concerts I've seen, and if you have the opportunity to catch her during this tour, do it!!!

2011-07-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Moving Pictures

Woo hoo! A side project/blog I've been working with posted another of my movie reviews. Check out what I had to say about Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

While we're at it, we watched Let Me In, the English-language remake of the Swedish vampire film Låt den rätte komma in. Sad to say, it was a bit boring. It felt as though the folks at Hammer remade it just to make it bloodier and potentially scarier. And it was bloodier, I'll give them that. The CGI work was obvious and not very subtle, and they managed to remove and re-work key scenes from both the novel and the original movie, such as glossing over the relationship between Abby and "The Father". Even in the originals, this character has a name: Håkan. If I wasn't already familiar with the material, this would have been an okay film, but instead, it turns generic.

Makes me fear for what's going to be done to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

2011-07-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Setting Writing Goals

Sometimes, I think having my short story published was a fluke.

Take a look around at all the other writers, and they have file drawers overstuffed with pages of stories, or Flash drives breaching capacity with the amount of creative pieces pouring from their heads. Me? I've got a few stories completed, but too many running around the inside of my head waiting me to eventually get them onto paper. "Eventually" being the operative word because I hesitate when it comes to setting ink to paper. I'm always thinking, What if no one will read it? What if they thinks it's not good? What if this? What if that? Over and over and over. I stop myself from writing, find other things to do online or on TV or in another's book.

What I need to do is to set some goals and hope that I can convince myself to stick with them, to finish them.

First: expand the short story from First Time Dead 2. That seems to be the general consensus from those few I've spoken with who have read the story. I've been thinking along this path as it is.

Second: try a note taking site like Evernote to get the ideas down somewhere because they aren't doing any good stuck in my head.

Third: re-examine some of my older stories to see if tweaking a bit here and there will make them publishable.

Four: send stories out. Use duotrope to find magazines, anthologies, etc. that are actively seeking submissions.

Five: edit that novel from NaNoWriMo. I think it has potential.

Six: just do it.

2011-07-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

A Message from the Folks

My parents enjoy forwarding emails they receive from their friends. Fortunately, they only include me when they feel it would be something I might find interesting, such as the following regarding Maryland State Senator Jamin Raskin:

"On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.

"At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

"Raskin replied: 'Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.'

"The room erupted into applause."

Just to be on the safe side, I checked online to make sure this was accurate and located this posting from Snopes.com.

2011-07-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

Carmageddon-It

Thursday night, I purchased advance tickets for a Saturday matinee showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, thinking that 1) the theaters would be packed and that 2) traffic would be tied up so bad thanks to the Carmageddon, we wouldn't have enough time to drive to the theater and buy tickets there. Oh, how wrong I was on both counts.

I think that was the most barren freeway I've seen in Southern California on a Saturday morning. Few cars to create any kind of backup or hassle so we made the theater in record time. An hour and a half, to be precise - early enough to realize that no huge line awaited us either circling around the outside of the building or inside. We had plenty of time to visit the concession stand and find just the right seats.

As for the movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great special effects, perfect pacing, and the story tidied everything up without being schmaltzy. So far, it's one of my favorites of the year.

Later that evening, we ventured along the freeways once again, this time headed to the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Our favorite comedy troupe - the Troubadour Theater Company - were performing their latest Shakespearean mashup, Fleetwood Macbeth, and we snatched up tickets months ago. As always, the Troubies crafted a great spin on the Scottish play, transforming it into a circus/musical/improv/serious theater production, mixing Shakespeare's words with the classic rock tunes of Fleetwood Mac. I loved the eight or nine witches, considered the T&A of the show - except for Hecate, who dressed more like Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf and tried to be über-sexy. Oh, and not to forget the improvisation when "Mick Jagger" appears onstage, Macbeth says - "Is this a Jagger I see before me?" They riffed on that for a good 15-20 minutes. The show was rude, crass, and entirely entertaining - the way all theater should be.

2011-07-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Traveling

Every so often, I have the opportunity to work from our office in Los Angeles. I like the location, right along the Miracle Mile with the LACMA, the Petersen Automotive Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits just across the street. It provides a chance to work with people I'm normally IM'ing or emailing. Not to mention all the food trucks lining the Miracle Mile. (I gorged myself on Chicken Tikka Masala.)

Last night, our two offices held an "open house", filled with lots of people, food, t-shirts, buttons, etc. And right across the street, roughly eye-level with us, a band was either holding a mini-concert for a small group of people, or they were in the midst of shooting a video atop the Petersen Automotive Museum. You can barely see them in the picture. No one recognized them, and we couldn't hear their music, but they were out there for a good 3 hours until the Sun went down.

I'll have to check out the MTVU to see if we appear in the distant background on some video.

2011-07-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Rambling Post: The Non-Mingler

Being social has never been one of my strong points. I never learned how to mingle well. Never mastered the art of approaching groups at dinner parties or networking functions to partake in "small talk". As for the bars, well, let's just say that I can't regale anyone with tawdry tales from my twenties.

I hate mingling -- or rather, trying to mingle. Especially at networking events or dinner parties. I loathe walking up to a group of people, breaking into their little circle with my introduction. It feels like my dating years all over again, and I don't want to relive that.

I've always played the part of the wallflower which I felt fit my personality. I would much rather watch and observe, listen to the different conversations. Plus, every time someone would ask my line of work, I watched their eyes cloud over, their faces slacken. The conversations quickly died, and any questions I asked were given curt responses or ignored altogether. So I learned to just sit back and blend into the scenery.

Being social just isn't easy for me, and I prefer my books or tinkering around the computer or sitting at home watching TV with my boyfriend.

2011-07-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

Random Bits about the Weekend

Spent Saturday night at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood to celebrate a friend's birthday. We spent well over $400 for the 14 people in attendance AND saw a fun mixed burlesque/drag show hosted by Calpernia Addams.
After the show, Caesar and I enjoyed hot fudge sundaes at Canters Deli. Nothing tastes better than vanilla chocolate smothered in hot fudge topped with whipped cream at 12:30 in the morning.
I spent Sunday morning with my folks, driving around the Niguel Regional Park surveying the fire damage from the 4th of July fireworks and gazing in wonder at the dozens of Canadian geese with their offspring lining the edge of the lake.
Finished reading my first Christopher Rice novel and not too sure that I want to read another. Review to follow at a later date . . . .
Finally getting into the swing of submitting short stories for potential publication -- sent the one that was rejected to an online division of Tor, and tweaking a ghost/romance tale for submission. Not to mention quite a few good ideas for stories popping through my head.
Bought Alpocalypse from "Weird Al" Yankovic. Some great parodies of songs -- like "Another Tattoo" which is a parody of a B.o.B. and Bruno Mars song -- and song styles, and his signature polka medley.
Which leads me to this video for a song he released last year but is included on Alpocalypse:

2011-07-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury

In Green Town, Illinois, signs appear that summer is almost officially over. A change in the air. A blooming of a particular flower. A last, final grip of the summer heat slowly giving way to cooler winds. Doug feels the pull of autumn, but unlike the other boys in town, he senses something else. Something trying to control him and the other boys. Something the old folks in town, lead by the head of the school board Calvin C. Quartermain. In a final effort to keep autumn at bay, he gathers together his friends for a final battle against the Quartermain and his cronies.

Farewell Summer is a fantastic tale of youth fighting against growing up. The one thing I love about Bradbury and why I can't seem to get enough of his books is the language he uses. The phrases seem alive, full of movement, and have a way of recalling the excitement and wonder of childhood adventures. For example, after the boys set off fireworks to destroy the town bell...

"They bolted through the third-floor window and almost fell down the fire escape and as they reached the bottom great explosions burst from the courthouse tower; a great metal racketing clangor. The clock struck again and again, over and over as it fought for its life. Pigeons blew like torn papers tossed from the roof. Bong! The clock voice chopped concussions to split the heavens. Ricochets, grindings, a last desperate twitch of hands. Then ...

"Silence." - pg. 100

The clock feels like a creature in its final throes. The book is chock full of passages like this, breathing life into the lifeless, leading the boys on a grand adventure.

And yet, the last two chapters threw me for a loop, mostly due to the imagery -- the idea of Quartermain bidding his sexual drive goodbye and passing it on, in a bizarre way, to Doug. The idea fits with the story of young vs. old, but its presentation was a bit abrupt and odd.

That, however, doesn't detract from me recommending the book as a great look into the eternal struggle to keep from growing older.

Farewell Summer
by Ray Bradbury
Harper/HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-113155-4
mass market paperback, 222 pgs.

purchased book

Image from The Summaries.

2011-07-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

She's So Unusual

One of the first cassette tapes I ever bought was Cyndi Lauper's amazing She's So Unusual album. Remember cassette tapes? That was my music format of choice, walking to class with the headphones of my Walkman squeezed against my ears.

She's So Unusual has always been one of my favorites. And it's still an amazing album, sounding even better on CD and with bonus tracks! Here's one of my favorite songs, She Bop.

2011-07-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

The last day of school means quite a few things for the small Illinois town of Elm Haven. For most kids, it's the beginning of a well-deserved summer vacation, free from books, tests, and teachers. For the town, it brings the end of an era as the Old Central school will close its doors for the last time. But for a few twelve-year-old boys, it brings an adventure none of them could have ever imagined.

It all begins when Tubby Cooke goes missing on the last day of school. None of the other children sees him leave, though the principal and a few teachers insist that he ran off before the last bell finished echoing through the halls. Duane McBride feels differently. He's always felt that something was odd about the school, and he convinces his friends Mike O'Rourke, Jim Harlen, Dale and Lawrence Stewart, and Kevin Grumbacher, that Tubby didn't run away, and that the answer lies somewhere inside Old Central. While the rest of the gang spies around town, Duane tracks the history of the school and finds disturbing information about its past and a mysterious bell. But the trouble has already started: a ghostly soldier with a melting face tries to get at Mike's grandmother; the town's rendering trunk comes to life and seems Hell bent on running the boys down; the darkness beneath beds or in closets or in the far corners of basements appears almost alive; and long muddy furrows begin to appear throughout the town, emanating from Old Central and heading to each of the boys' houses.

Under cover of night, the boys must find a way to stop the darkness that's been set in motion before it consumes them and the town.

Summer of Night is the grand adventure we all wanted to take during summer breaks, biking and exploring with friends, but author Dan Simmons twists it into a nightmare that no one could have imagined. It's part mystery, trying to uncover the dark secrets of Old Central and the bell that hangs hidden in the boarded up belfry, and part horror, not only creating a unique monster that seems to be everywhere at once, but it touches on childhood fears of the dark. Lawrence Stewart has a terrible fear of what might be lurking beneath his bed; his brother Dale never did like the dark space behind the boiler in the basement. Simmons' nightmarish creation uses those fears against the boys with some terrifying results.

Imaginative and horrific, just the kind of tale that I enjoy, and once I started, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading, not wanting to put the book down. In the words of Dr. Spo, a "thumping good read".

Summer of Night
by Dan Simmons
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 978-0-312-55067-7
softcover, 498 pgs.

received book from publisher

Image from Powell's Books.

2011-07-03T21:07:00.001-07:00

Socially Challenged

I'm trying to understand what's so social about location-based games such as Gowalla and foursquare. Yes, ME. I don't hide the fact that I'm addicted to both, as any of my friends on both platforms can attest. But something happened that made me start to question why these are considered "social networking" games.

Thursday evening, I met my friend Clark at Disneyland after work. As we stood in lines for attractions or for one of the parades, we chatted, but I spent most of the time with my head bent toward my phone, fingers typing in my login info and clicking the checkin buttons. There I was, at the "Happiest Place on Earth" with one of my best friends, and I was hardly being social. But I had to get that Gowalla stamp and post it to Facebook so everyone would know that I was a Disneyland or on the Finding Nemo Submarines. As if it were really that important to them.

The scarier part was looking up and noticing how many people -- kids and teens, mostly -- hunkered down with the bluish smartphone glow paling their faces, not paying any attention to the sights and sounds around them, to their friends or family. Some had headphones connecting their ears to their iPods or phones. Some tapped away frantically, perhaps texting, perhaps playing a game.

It convinced me to pocket my phone for the rest of the night. But I wonder . . . .

Is the smartphone becoming more important than real-life, face-to-face interaction?

2011-06-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Stuck in a Rut

I would love to have the body/physique of the man in the reddish shirt. Try as I might, that goal has never come to fruition, and I'm at the point in my life where I don't think it ever will. Not that I thought I would ever really achieve a body like that.

At my heaviest, I weighed 217 lbs., and that was less than two years ago. In the time between then and now, I managed to scale down to 195 lbs. which was awesome. According to the fitness and health guidelines I'd read, though, my goal for someone my height/age should be 175. I've tried to drop more weight, perhaps not to what I consider a dangerous level of what's recommended but somewhere between 185-190.

I've actually gained a few pounds back since then, hovering between 201 and 205. I've mixed up what I do at the gym to try tricking my body into shedding the pounds. I walk every day during lunch for 30 minutes. I changed my eating habits, consuming less fries and sodas and candy. But nothing seems to work, nothing pushes me below the 201 lbs., and I can feel the heft of my belly, mocking me no matter what I do.

I feel as though everyone stares and secretly comments about my weight. I feel like I'm letting myself down because I can't lose the pounds and have no inkling as to how to turn things around.

2011-06-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

A Universal Birthday

To celebrate Caesar's birthday, I bought tickets a few weeks ago to see one of our favorite comedian's at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Universal City. With the show being on a Saturday evening, that gave us most of the daylight hours to do whatever he wanted for his birthday. So while he lounged in bed, I dutifully walked to the local greasy spoon and returned with two gigantic breakfast burritos which we gleefully devoured. Then, I vacuumed the apartment while he washed a load of laundry, we both read little, watched a little TV, then cleaned up for our drive north to Universal City.

In spite of traffic, we reached the Curious George parking structure in about an hour, though we had to spiral almost to the very top of the structure to find an empty spot. (And yes, it really is the Curious George parking structure. This one and the others are named for Universal Studios characters/themes: Curious George, Jurassic, Woody Woodpecker, Frankenstein.) Since we had plenty of time before the show, we wandered along the many shops of City Walk, stopping in comic book/sci-fi/manga store as well as a candy shop, at some red velvet cupcake yogurt, and I even managed to earn a foursquare badge from Fast Company magazine. We also had time to catch a movie -- Green Lantern -- before heading up to the comedy club.

The movie was so-so, and I'm glad we didn't pay to watch it in 3D. Still, $12.50 each was a bit much, too. I can still remember when we used to be able to see a double feature for about $4. (For those of you too young to know what a double feature is, that's when you saw two movies for the price of one, and you didn't have to sneak into another theater to watch the second film.)

At the comedy club, we met the headliner Brad Williams while waiting outside to enter the club. Incredibly funny, he even managed a quick riff about Caesar being his #1 gay fan AND about his birthday while we were in line!!! His one-hour show was just as much fun, and we ended up walking out of the club with an autographed CD and a picture.

2011-06-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Book Review: The Insane City by Kenneth Bulmer

In a not-too-distant future, robexes (or robots) are beginning to appear in every aspect of life -- from cooking our food to driving our vehicles to taking over the security and safety. It's become such a big business that companies are fighting for a monopoly of the technology, especially between Severn, a large creator of robexes who has managed to absorb most of the smaller competition, and DESS, a small robex developer that snuck in to snatch a large city reformation project from Severn.

When DESS' computer system begins to act strange, changing the original plans for the displacing the city's inhabitants into something more humane, refusing to allow small functions that it deems harmful to people, the bigwigs at DESS struggle to find out what's affecting the computer processes. But Severn seizes the opportunity, spreading rumors about DESS and finally jumping in to take over the company. Too late do they discover that a scientist had been experimenting with feeding human emotions into the programming, and when those human emotions meet with the cold calculating Severn system, no one is safe.

I liked the premise of adding human emotions to computer technology. The fact that DESS began making more humane choices was an interesting path to take considering how movies and books nowadays tend to imagine a more destructive combination of the two. In fact, while I was reading, bits of the story -- especially when Severn intermingles with the affected DESS system -- reminded me of what may have happened before Skynet took over in the Terminator movies. But in this book, the remnants of DESS that weren't destroyed during the takeover fight back against the newly monstrous Severn system, pitting humans and the DESS robexes against the technological behemoth.

I enjoyed this little speculative sci-fi book, and plan on reading more from author Kenneth Bulmer.

The Insane City
by Kenneth Bulmer
Curtis Books (1971)
paperback, 175 pgs.

purchased book

Image from drpetrov.

2011-06-22T21:12:00.001-07:00

Musique

I'm in the process of re-discovering music that I used to love and found a nice, used copy of Milla's The Divine Comedy from way back in 1994. Kinda of a folksy pop mix that I was really into during the last years of college and beyond. This is my favorite track from that album: Gentleman Who Fell (possibly NSFW).

Yes, that is Milla Jovovich from the Resident Evil films and The Fifth Element. This video turns out to be the second version, and I actually like the homage to the avant garde, silent horror films.