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Happy Birthday Dad!

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Updated with new pictures! Happy Birthday Dad!!!

The post I did last year for my dad’s birthday continues to express my sentiments towards him though they are even deeper one year later. My parents were recently here for a visit as much for social reasons as to help us out with many and varied repairs that needed to happen around our home. Thanks to his intervention a long plague of rolling, mysterious electrical outages throughout the house is now at an end, my dishwasher is fixed, and my chainsaw is once again with blade. He probably did numerous other things that I am forgetting now. Through it all I was able to visit with my dad, appreciate who he is and the love he has always shown me, and admire his willingness to get in and try to fix anything. If I had half the courage and motivation of my father I would be a much better man.

My dad is a shining example of what it means to be a father to one’s children. I am often reminded of how truly blessed I am to have this man, my dad, in my life. I am so thankful for your continued influence in my life. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I want you to know that I really enjoyed talking, laughing, playing darts, and celebrating with you last weekend. I love you dad.

He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
~Clarence Budington Kelland


(Mom, Dad and their grandchildren: Elijah, Tori, and Haley)

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And I also encourage you to say a very special “Happy Birthday” to Angela, Sci Fi Chick, who turns 29 for the very first time this year! I have enjoyed another year of talking all things geek with you over the past year Angela and am sorry that for some reason my site chooses to not work for you more often than it works. I hope your day and coming weekend are filled with lots of celebration and appreciation by those you love. Have a wonderful day and remember, this is as old as a woman ever has to get! 😉

Young Adult

The Goose Girl

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Many of the writers whose work I cherish, across different genres and through different media, have captured my attention because of something they do and do well: they craft marvelous tales out of the folklore, mythology and fairy tales of past generations. Mike Mignola mines folklore for his creation Hellboy; the Coen brothers borrow heavily from Homer’s Odyssey for their film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?; Neil Gaiman has used all three in many of his novels. The newest member of this group to excite my reading interest is Shannon Hale.

The Goose Girl is Shannon Hale’s first published novel. She currently has 3 young adult novels on the shelves with a fourth due soon. Shannon Hale has taken the very short tale by the Brothers Grimm, of the same name, and used it as the foundation upon which to build her fascinating fairy tale The Goose Girl. The story follows the life of Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Ani for short, who is born the Crown Princess of Kildenree. Early intervention from an outcast aunt provides Ani with the knowledge that many people are born with different gifts. Some, like her mother the queen, have the gift of people-speaking and can influence others with their words. Crown Princess Ani appears to have the gift of being able to talk with animals and understand their language. In other rare instances there are those born who can develop their gift of being able to speak the language of the very elements of the earth. Like all fairy tales there are early indications that happily-ever-after will be a journey away and it is not long before the reader discovers, along with our heroine, that said journey may be an arduous one.

The fairy tales and folklore of the Brothers Grimm and those who have gone before are often entertaining, slightly to extremely dark tales meant to convey some lesson while spending precious little time on characterization. What makes Shannon Hale’s take on these stories unique is that she has a knack for giving these characters flesh and making them real. Princess Ani is a very real young woman with real faults and real struggles and Hale makes it easy for the reader to empathize with her plight. You can see yourself in Hale’s characters, both the good and the bad. Hale’s “bad guys” are also very real. There is a recognizable quality to their deceit and selfishness. Shannon Hale has also created a very realistic world for her characters to live in. For The Goose Girl Hale researched the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus as well the old world Germany that was home to the Brothers Grimm. She based her fictional world of Bayern loosely on this research to give a sense of place and time, and a depth, to her world. The research pays as you feel like you are reading a tale told by successive generations about a very real place. Another strength of Hale’s writing style is she does not write down to children. This is a very intelligently written tale and Hale works some of the darker parts of the original story into this tale in a way that is serious but not frightening. The language is rich and attractive to readers both young and old. You will like Ani and the people she befriends, you really will. This is a delightfully engaging story.

Shannon Hale has a wonderful website, something not enough authors take the time to do. Her professed love of movies shows in that each of her books on her site has “extras” including background on how the story came about, the original Grimm fairy tale, deleted scenes, a “lost chapter”, discussion guides, book quizzes. It is a very fun place to go especially after you’ve read the story. Shannon Hale has incorporated a blog into her site and also has an entire section devoted to writing that is fascinating and very down to earth. One feels very encouraged after reading her advice to writers and those who want to be writers. The presence of games and quizzes makes this a fun site to visit for both adults and children.

If you are looking for something magical to read to yourself or to your children I highly recommend a visit to Shannon Hale’s Bayern via the pages of The Goose Girl. Her second book, Enna Burning, is a sequel of sorts featuring some of the characters of The Goose Girl but is a stand alone story in and of itself. Shannon Hale’s latest is an unrelated story entitled Princess Academy which has recently been recognized as a Newbery Honor Book. All three of Hale’s stories have won multiple awards and if the rest are as good as the first I can unequivocably declare that the awards are well deserved. Shannon’s next book, River Secrets, will return readers to the characters and world of Bayern. The great thing about The Goose Girl is that if you love the characters, and you will, they continue to live on in these future stories. I poured through the 384 pages quite rapidly as it was a book I did not want to put down. The Goose Girl is a wonderfully put together volume with terrific cover art by Alison Jay and will be a book that you want to own, to treasure, and to share.

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Lady in Red

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(click on picture for more detail)

You may recall that on April 21st last year I inaugurated the Artisan Series by waxing eloquent about one of my favorite artists, Lisa Snellings-Clark. While browsing her website for research purchases I became enamored of the red-headed girl pictured above. Red flooded me with such a melange of imagery that I was captured. She brought to mind Neil Gaiman’s dark story The White Road and the Masquerade number from Phantom of the Opera. She recalled the flapper girls of the 1920’s and the large art-deco statues of men and women from that era that I coveted in an antique store when I lived in Tulsa. Mostly, however, Red captivated me for who she is…a unique artistic creation from the heart and hands of someone whom I admire. I love the grace and movement of the piece. The long, lean shape is at once real and unreal. I find a kinship in her arm being draped over her head in that I often find myself doing just that as I sit in my office at work and visit with staff. Each of these limited resin casts is hand painted by Lisa herself. Mine is slightly different from the one pictured (I need to get a digital camera!). My Red has her mask held in such a way that it just begins to cover on eye giving her a more mysterious aura. And her eyes are green! In addition to the rich red color and flow of the dress, her innocently cute face and the red heart are things that attracted me to this piece originally. I am so happy to have this creation of Lisa Snellings-Clark. I had been anticipating her in the mail this week and she arrived on Friday while I was at work. My parents were visiting and I really wanted my first viewing to be a personal thing so I put the package away and waited until midnight when everyone was off in bed. That was difficult, as you can imagine, but as I slowly unwound all the packaging I realized it was really worth the wait. Although I currently don’t know where she will reside, I have Red on the floor (she’s fairly tall, 21 inches I believe!) next to the antique corner cabinet that I would like to put her on (shelf removal may be an issue). I like her in there because Mary and I have dashes of red in our living room decor and Red is currently just below and off to the side of this image by artist Bill Brauer.

They make a somewhat serendipitous pairing, don’t you think?
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Thought I’d share a little about the weekend. As I said my parents were visiting and Saturday afternoon/evening we got together with them, my sister and her husband, and my brother and his family to celebrate Mary, Jason, and my dad’s birthdays. The weather was wonderful and Abby and Mike got to introduce their newest child to the family:

Moses is a very young, but very large new member of the family. He towers over his older brother Motley

though Motley seems to be able to hold his own. They were alot of fun to play with. My brothers little dog Zoe was less than enamored with Moses so I was able to take advantage of that and hold her some…generally she doesn’t want to be held by me and would prefer to run and run and run.

We took the dogs for a walk, I was able to play throw the baseball around with my nephew Elijah for awhile…man, that kid has an arm!, and the guys and the kids spent the majority of the evening playing darts on Mike’s fancy new dartboard. Keeps score for you thus eliminating the need for taxing the brain with unnecessary things like math! It was a terrific evening and that time spent with family was the highlight of the weekend. It is slowly starting to feel like spring around here and my spring fever is kicking into high gear. Hopefully I can harness some of this energy and get some things done!

Happy Monday everyone!

Art/Photography, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites 6: Daniel Dos Santos

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(Cover to The Duke’s Ballad)

Update: I have changed the post so that if you can click on any of the paintings (all copyright Daniel Dos Santos) and they will open up to larger versions for you to greater appreciate their awesome detail.

You can’t judge a book by its cover. Up until recently I always took that to have the one meaning…just because a book has a bad or uninteresting cover doesn’t mean that there isn’t a wonderful story in there. Sort of the ugly duckling syndrome. However the opposite is also true. Sometimes the cover of a book is so amazing that it outshines the book that it is advertising. Thankfully my experience has been that by and large when I am drawn to a book because of its cover I find that the entrancing image is simply wrapping for an incredible gift of story. Many of the artists who occupy my Favorites file have gotten there because I have discovered them through their book cover illustrations. It is getting to the point that I can often recognize certain artists’ work before I pick up the book for confirmation, which is really gratifying. And there are some artists whom I gravitate towards every time I am in the bookstore, even if I don’t end up buying the book. Daniel Dos Santos is one of those artists.

Continue reading Friday Favorites 6: Daniel Dos Santos →

Film

16 Blocks

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(non-spoiler review)

Mary and I took the day off yesterday to celebrate her birthday. Being a Bruce Willis fan, as I am myself, she chose to go see his latest offering, 16 Blocks. If you haven’t seen the trailers, 16 Blocks tells the story of an alcoholic, burnt out detective, Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis). Jack Mosley’s drunkeness has reduced him to an ineffectual officer who is given one last throw away assignment before his shift ends…to transport a witness, Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), 16 Blocks from the jail to the courthouse to testify to a grand jury whose term expires in two hours. On the way Mosley’s need to feed his addiction leads to a stop at a local liquor store. While inside there is an attempt on his witnesses’ life that ends when Mosley’s years of ingrained police training kick in and he shoots the intended killer. Quickly hiding out in a frequently visited bar Mosley calls for back up hoping that his work for the day is at an end. Unfortunately it turns out the Bunker is set to testify against a cop…a dirty cop who, if testified against, will out the other guys mixed up with him. Leading the crusade to do away with Bunker is Mosley’s former partner of 20 years, Frank Nugent (David Morse). Nugent hands Mosley a bottle and advises him to go home while they take care of business. And that is where the fun begins.

That part of the plot is essentially what you get in the trailer which gives the impression that 16 Blocks is another Bruce Willis action film in the vein of Die Hard. It is not. While there is plenty of action in 16 Blocks it is not an overblown, unrealistic action movie. 16 Blocks is more of a character study between Jack Mosley’s washed up, “life is too long” detective and Eddie Bunker’s incessantly optimistic “you can change” petty criminal. The bulk of the film is a drawn out chase scene that has a smoldering intensity that reminds me of The Fugitive though slightly toned down. The level of suspense in the film was just enough to keep me close to the edge of my seat. What makes this film better than your average chase movie is the dialogue between Mosley and Bunker. Mos Def plays Eddie Bunker as a nasal-toned, non-stop talker who at the beginning of the film is almost distractingly annoying. However, as was no doubt the intention of the film maker, Bunker’s manic speech pattern soon grows on you and you find yourself really rooting for him. You also know right from the beginning that Jack Mosley is not a good or particularly likeable detective but the way that Willis plays him you can see that there is still something noble under the surface and you root for him as well. And David Morse is simply excellent as the bad guy. His calm, “I’m in control” demeanor belies a very dangerous nature which creates a tension that you can feel in his performance.

Richard Donner, best known for his Lethal Weapon movies, directs 16 Blocks. He brings to the table an ability to direct a good action film while injecting humor and pathos into what is often a very cliched film genre. 16 Blocks is not as over-the-top as the Lethal Weapon movies. All the elements are the same but they are significantly dialed down for this film. Taking that edge off while maintaining the intensity of this film is what made it much more entertaining than I expected going in to the film. I knew I would like the movie simply because it was a Bruce Willis film but what I did not know is that I would enjoy it this much. This is one of the better Willis movies I have seen in awhile. Although Willis is set up to be the hero, 16 Blocks is not a one-man-against-the-world action film. He portrays Jack Mosley as a man who needs help to be what he once was.

The thing I enjoyed most about 16 Blocks was that because it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill action film with an obvious, upstanding hero I honestly did not know how this dark and gritty film was going to end…and I really enjoyed that fact. If you are a Bruce Willis fan, or if you miss one of the best television shows ever to be on the air, NYPD Blues, then I predict that you will enjoy 16 Blocks for what it is and will not be disappointed at the price of your movie ticket.

Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek