Peter & Max, A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham, Illustrated by Steve Leilahola

Peter & Max, A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham, Illustrated by Steve Leilahola

Peter Piper uses the flute Frost and his brother Max Piper, the flute Fire in this story of fairytales, love and magic. It is a tale of light and dark. One brother is a thief and trickster, the other a murderer and dark magician.

Max Piper is the representation of the Pied Piper who piped the children out of Hamelin. Hamelin plays a part both in our world and the world of fairy. There are many magical places including the house of the witch of the Black Forest, and the dark woods. Max Piper represents the dark fairytale in this novel. The part which kills the father, ensorcels people against their will, and spreads disease and strife. The juxtaposition is very well done.

Peter Piper is the lighter side of fairytales, you can represent where passages of the novel come right out of childrens nursery rhymes. Peter, Peter pumpkin eater had a wife and couldn't keep her and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers so where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. Peter Piper even gets marred to Bo Peep. Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep, And can't tell where to find them, Leave them alone, And They'll come home, Wagging their tales behind them.

Somehow, through a magic all his own, Bill Willingham creates a complete story weaving the growth and rivalry of Peter Piper and Max Piper until their final confrontation. Thrown into this are various archetypical myths and legends; the man finding themselves in the dark woods and the boy becoming the master thief. Although, there are no footnotes, you can read many famous fairytales into this book.

The setting for the novel is before the graphic novel series starts called Fables. It is a prequel which stands on its own. The illustrator, Steve Leilaloha does a marvelous job with his black and white illustrations. The drawings remind me a bit of Charles Vess with a mix of Jack Kirby. There is final comic book piece at the end of the novel which provides a nice segway into what the Fables graphic novels look like. The Fables graphic novels have won numerous awards in the comics industry.

This novel resonates well with me. It has a comic book feel to it. The descriptions are very visually oriented. The author is painting pictures of things that have never been with words. Some of the images like Puss playing his fiddle, or goblin soldiers, or arrogant knights are quite colorful. Read it for the descriptions, the fairytales, the myths, and the intricately woven plot which makes a complete story.

Daily Thoughts 11/30/2009

Illustration of Peter Piper from the 1838 US edition of Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation

Daily Thoughts 11/30/2009

Today was spent dealing with spyware and malware mostly. My computer is clean now. It took quite a bit of time to convince people that I would not pay for security. Sometimes, you have to back date your software. I ended up reinstalling internet explorer 7 because some websites don't function well with the latest version of internet explorer 8, I also backdated my Java because some programs don't run well with the latest java. It is not always smart to update to the latest programs. I also have Firefox. This way, I can have more than one browser in case things don't work with one of the other browsers.

My internet explorer went out, then I switched to using Firefox, until the problems were fixed. I also have Opera.

I rested a lot also. It was a nice slow day.

Woodwoodworkshop so far..

Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday...blah, Blah, BLAH!!!!

Today TOTALLY feels like a Monday...It sucks and not in the good way. Oh well, I will get through it...I hope :)

So how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was great. I had lunch with the family and then went to friends for dinner. What a great day!

Black Friday didn't go so well. There seemed to be a lot of GREAT deals. Target had a 32inch flat screen for $246.00...DVDs for $3.99...and small appliances for $3.00 each(toaster, sandwich maker, coffee machine). I wanted that flat screen for my bedroom and I also wanted to pick up at least the sandwich maker but did I get them? OH HELL NO! I decided I was not going to get in line super early. They opened at 5am and I got there about 10 minutes later. There was a line out the door for electronics so I rushed back to the appliances and every one of the $3.00 items were gone. I did manage to get two DVDs for $3.99 each..."The Dark Knight" & "Elf"...but that was all I bought on Black Friday. That was worth getting up at 4:30am, right?!?!...WHATEVER!

Saturday night wasn't my night either. I love college football and my team...The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lost against our arch enemy...The dreaded Georgia Bulldogs! I hate them...Grrrrrrrr. On a brighter note, Tech still managed to end their regular season at 10-2 and will play in the ACC Championship game this Saturday night. GO JACKETS!


That's all I've got for now. I'm tired and want to try and get by with doing as little work as possible today. Have a great day!

Bob Out

In the Zombie Apocalypse, I'd rather be a Geek!

I saw a GeekSquad car the other day.

I was in my car eating lunch in the grocery store parking lot, when the little black VW Bug with the large, yellow advertisement rolled by on the street in front of me. I'd seen the advertisements on TV back in college, but (as with most ads you see) figured it would be pretty much an East coast thing and we'd never see it out here.

Consequently, I was so stunned that it took me a few minutes to get the breadstick I was eating into my mouth.

Geeks are cool. And I say that with the utmost sincerity (and not just because I was one). Because, when it comes down to it, who does the world rely on to fix their computers, to design innovative things, to create art that makes our world beautiful, to send our men to the moon & keep them (and us) safe to boot? It's the geeks. That kid you sit next to who wears the thick glasses and is just kind of odd -- he's our next NASA Engineer. The guy who will solve global warming. The guy who will design the armored suit that will keep our soldiers safe overseas. The guy who will be the next Rembrandt. Or Tchaikovsky. Or Shakespeare. Those kids labeled as "geekish" are resourceful and free thinkers, minds who will challenge the world as we know it.

Still, despite their strengths, people will look the other way. People will still judge, and ignore, or worse yet, ridicule.

Not me, though. At the end of the day, when the zombie apocalypse is raining its wrath down on our heads, I'd rather share my foxhole with a geek. With a pencil and some baling wire, they might just get us out of the mess we'd be in.

~*~
Heather S. Ingemar has loved to play with words since she was little, and it wasn’t long until she started writing her own stories. Termed “a little odd” by her peers, she took great delight in exploring tales with a gothic flair, and to this day, Edgar Allan Poe continues to be her literary hero. To learn more, please visit: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/heatheringemar

Irresistable Rocky Road Fudge

Puuh. I can't put words on how nice it is to come home to a quiet home after spending a couple of hours with wild children that are running around everywhere, and screaming all the time. I am so happy I don't have any small siblings. I would make a terrible big sis to them, haha. But besides all the noise and wild games all the "small people" were occupying themselves with, I had a great time. Especially with that Rocky Road Fudge...I was suppose to take two pieces, but somehow I just happened to double the size, and now I am guilty as charged, hehe. But even though they must be huge calorie bombs, I have to learn how to make those. Trudi said it was really easy, and that I could just google it. So regardless of how much I have to exercise afterwards, I will make those because they are simply too good to resist.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

This is a fun novel to read. It is a steampunk novel set in Seattle during the 1860s. Seattle Washington has not yet become a part of the United States. The city has fallen apart because of a mysterious gas that turns people into zombies.

I enjoyed the technology described in this novel. It is very dark. People wear filter masks to protect themselves from the zombie gas and have to purify all the water they drink. There are airships, giant drilling machines, and underground sealed living spaces.

There is a grim feeling to this novel. The feeling of an industrial wasteland. This is combined with a kind of western frontier spirit. The characters are stark and flawed. They are also driven by very human passions. Ezekiel Wilkes who is sixteen wants to find the true story of his father. Briar Wilkes want to find her son, Ezekiel who has descended into a wasteland.

The minor characters are just as good as the main characters, the evil Dr. Minnericht, his henchman Yaozhu, and the tough old woman Angeline are very aptly named. The descriptions are colorful and full of pathos.

This novel would be a good read for both teenagers and adults. There is lots of action, history, and very convincing descriptions.

Risgrynsgröt

Vicki was the cutest sister ever this morning. While we all were still sleeping, she sneaked down to the grocery store to surprise us by buying risgrynsgröt. You guys have no idea how much I love risgrynsgröt, but it's a lot of love I can say...I think it is one of the major reason why I love Christmas - because then you can eat a lot of risgrynsgröt without people telling you "why do you want to it risgrynsgröt all the time? It's not even Christmas yet!". Anyhow, today is Första Advent and I have to start getting ready since we are invited to Trudel's yearly Adventsfika at 3.00 p.m. We'll see how long I'll be stuck there...

Oh by the way, have a great Första Advent!

Daily Thoughts 11/29/2009

Desk at the library of Zutphen. Source: Libraries in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods The Rede Lecture Delivered June 13, 1894 Author: J. W. Clark
Available from www.gutenberg.org Published: 1894

Daily Thoughts 11/29/2009

Google Books has a review page function much like Shelfari, Librarything, or BookConnect.
http://books.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=75375&topic=9259&hl=en

I tried to read I Drink For A Reason by David Cross. I did not like it at all. The sarcastic atheistic humor did not match my own. I found the strong language not to my taste as well. The writing was not the problem. The problem was that the content was not agreeable to me and I did not find it humorous. This book is not something I can recommend. I read the first two chapters then had to put it down.

A Home Wanted

As I haven't done anything for DARG for a while now, and as they have so many new dogs and cats up for adoption, I thought I must really do another painting.

This is Sledge.  He is a cross Husky something and was apparently abandoned by his owner.

It always amazes me how human beings can be so callous about their fellow creatures.  We domesticate them to such a degree that they become totally reliant on us for all their needs, and then idiots like this owner decide they don't want them anymore!

I believe we share this beautiful planet with our fellow creatures and our intellect does not give us dominion and lording rights over them.

I hope Sledge finds someone who will care for him.

Uppsala Christmas market

Even though it was 5°C and no snow, a tradition is a tradition. So mami, sis and I went down town for the yearly Christmas market, which is always held the weekend of 1st Advent here in Uppsala. I don't think that that many people outside of Sweden (OK, Scandinavia) are that familiar with the term "Advent", but basically it is the four Sundays counting down to Christmas; it is also the time when you are suppose to drink glögg (mulled wine), eat pepparkakor (gingerbread), and of course indulge in big amounts of lussekatter! (Which has the funny translation of Lucia cat!? Haha.) I'm not that found of glögg, but for the sake of Advent and the whole Christmas spirit, I can endure a cup from time to time. After all, it makes the approach of Christmas more like - Christmas.

Another thing that brings me into the Christmas spirit is all of the Christmas songs that they have started to play everywhere. However, I know through experience that this feeling of coziness won't last up until it is Christmas for real. Because then, the same songs playing over and over and over and over again EVERYWHERE have started to get on my nerves, and all I want to do is throw up at it. Nevertheless, that isn't the case yet, so I am just going to enjoy all of it for now. Because regardless, I do like Christmas.

Mami and me

Found this cute and wise statement in a small boutique "It is not important of where you are heading in life...what you do...or how much you own...the important thing is who you have by your side".


Vicki came home with a "Salmon bomb" as a surprise yesterday which made a perfect Saturday snack for today ;) Dangerous, dangerous but delicious, delicious...

Big Rigs over the road Racing

Big Rigs: Over the road racing is a game released in 2003. This game was made by Stellar Stone LLC. Some other companies involved with this marvelous game are TS Group Entertainment and the publisher GameMill Inc. In a year when games like Deus Ex 2, Halo and Generals were released, this game had a big challenge competing with them, but this absolute gem of a game just simply destroyed them in every way.

The graphics are simply awesome, the buildings are just a piece of art, the scales extremely realistic. You really have the feeling that you're driving around, sometimes it's hard to separate reality from the virtual reality.

This game is simply ground-breaking when it comes to racing realism. In the average racing game you just drive slowly, but in Big Rigs you simply put your truck in reverse and go for it. And why would you risk losing on a different game, when your victory is guaranteed in Big Rigs. And getting penalties for taking shortcuts and cheating is simply ridiculous, it's your game and you should be able to do anything, and Big Rigs agrees. It sucks being secluded to only the race track, in Big Rigs you can drive wherever you want without being hassled with signs of going the wrong way or being put back on the racetrack. And why would you be limited to earthly possibilities when you can make a game which defies all laws of nature. We all know that we want to travel faster than light-speed, Big Rigs allows us to.

The level-design is where the game really shines. The creators were really kind and made the game accessible for even the worst gamers in the world, since you don't have to be afraid to bump into something and have your track-record fall to pieces, in Big Rigs you simply drive through anything, like it's supposed to. And realistic surroundings are just boring, and Big Rigs agrees, with their beautiful purple lampposts and Dwarven houses. In case you're in a hurry, be sure to drive over a mountain, many truckers do this daily, which enhances the realism in this game.

Don't you just hate those blaring songs in your ear all time whilst playing a game? Big Rigs agrees again, giving you absolute silence to listen to, which is great for the tranquility. The peaceful silence is just awesome in this game, really giving you the opportunity to relax, which is the main focus of this game.

This game really brings up your minimalistic nature, why would you need a dozen of tracks and many vehicles? Big Rigs agrees again, giving you four awesome vehicles to choose from, some of which give you instant victory! The game also gives you five tracks to choose from, some of which are too awesome to be handled by any computer.

In most games your controls feel smooth and responsive, but Big Rigs gives you a challenge here. In almost every game the challenge comes from playing the game, in Big Rigs it's controlling the game, making this awesome game unique and original in every way. It will blow your mind.

You have to buy this game! Even if you have to take a second mortgage on your house, or sell one of your kids. Because if you don't, you'll never know what pure joy is. We simply can't understand all these negative reviews about this game, chances are that they're pure noobs who can't tell an magnificent game when they see one.

This is sarcasm, in case you're a moron.

The song's called The Truck Got Stuck.

Daily Thoughts 11/28/2009

Expedition 17 crew members pose for a portrait inside the Jules Verne ATV with original manuscript and XIX century book by Jules Verne. ATV is another name for a type of space ship. This picture is from NASA. It is public domain.

Daily Thoughts 11/28/2009

New York is Book Country is being revived on May 16, 2010 in Union Square Park in Manhattan. The location is very interesting. I think it will be nicer than the usual uptown location where they closed off the streets. This makes it much more walkable than it was before. I have been to this event many times. http://www.newyorkisbookcountry.com/events/home.jsp

I have been reading through Mashable a bit lately. There is quite a bit on the concept of "social publishing", where social media and publishing intersect. It is a new concept.

The Elements of Expression by Arthur Plotnik

Arthur Plotnik is writing about using words to express oneself. This includes both writing and giving speeches to an audience. The book aims to expand the readers ability to communicate to an audience. The text is replete with examples of how to use words expressively; slang, similes, figures of speeches, and other word choices are discussed.

The writing is enjoyable, sometimes funny, and often poignant. He demonstrates what he is attempting to teach. I liked many of the pointers which he gave; drink a lot of water the day before you give a speech, take the time to read the language of different groups like doctors, hackers, and lovers, write down memorable quotes not just from books but from people who you talk to, and develop your own voice.

I liked the book enough to continue reading his other works. I plan on reading The Elements of Editing next. He makes what seems dry and technical very entertaining.

I have started reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. It is a steampunk novel set in Seattle. So far, there is gas that turns people into zombies, an unlikely heroine, airships, and a wonderfully inventive setting. I am enjoying the science fiction novel very much.

Daily Thoughts 11/27/2009

This picture was taken from Les mémoires de Saint-Simon (Memoirs of Saint-Simon), anthology gathered by Le Goffic & Tellier, Paris 1862. Publishers Mark. From oldbookillustrations.com

Daily Thoughts 11/27/2009

An article, What it Will Mean When The Ebook Comes First. http://www.idealog.com/blog/what-it-will-mean-when-the-ebook-comes-first

This is an inevitability. The way I see it is that you will be able to get the book or other media from a digital kiosk to download onto a device in a variety of formats. If you want a hardcopy, you pay a little extra for the paper and printing. The book will print in two minutes as a trade paperback. If you want it in hardcover, you may have to go into a larger store where there will be a few browsable items and a bigger machine which will make a hardcover in four minutes. This is practically here. It will take a while for it to go into place.

I am glad that the malware on my computer is gone. I think Computer Associates cleaned it out while I was sleeping using a remote login. When I got up in the morning, it was gone and my security suite was updated.

Housing Works Used Book Cafe in Manhattan, New York is having a 30% off sale. It is one of my favorite bookstores. The proceeds go to help homeless people with AIDS stay off the streets. They have a very nice selection of books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/arts/27bspare.html?_r=2

I never did get out to go to any of the Black Friday sales. I did get a chance to finish watching Cowboy Bebop the shows. The collection was six dvd discs. I really like the opening music. It is worth it just listening to the opening. I am going to watch the movie as well. I guess I have become a fan.

I also had a chance to start reading the first few chapters of The Elements of Expression by Arthur Plotnik. I rather like his explantions of descriptive versus prescriptive grammar and english. I like to think of prescriptive english as what you need to know in order to write clearly and with accuracy, and descriptive english as how to choose the right variation of grammar to express yourself. I know it is not the real definition of descriptive english or prescriptive english, but it is how I think of it.

While I was looking around the web, I found an interesting startup called Fast Pencil, it appears to be a self publishing service which includes templates and workflows for creating a variety of different kinds of books. http://www.fastpencil.com/

Makers by Cory Doctorow

Makers by Cory Doctorow

This is the kind of book which will keep you up reading until you are done. It is a story of technology, creativity, and intrigue. The story is focused on digital fabricators and three dimensional printers. It describes many things which are coming very soon.

You could call this near future science fiction, but it includes a lot of things which are normally left out of science fiction stories. There are homless people, street scenes, strong sex scenes, and descriptions of every day life. This makes the story easy to relate to.

The social commentary in this story is biting. We learn what happens to fat Americans and what the future might look like if goth culture becomes mainstream. It also feeds into a diverse setting which spreads from New York to Florida to Russia.

We get a very complete picture of how a future technology revolution might occur. It is not just the story of the inventors, there are also business characters, and reporters to flesh out the story and make it more believable. Cory Doctorow is very much a participant in current issues in technological change.

Makers feels like it took from Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom an earlier book by Cory Doctorow. Disney World plays a prominent role in this book, both as something glorified and vilified. Disney adds to the wildly inventive behavior as well as the themes of exploitation and conflict.

This is a book worth reading. It is a long book, 416 pages long. It is also the kind of book where you might want to block out a couple of days to sit down and read it one sitting. This matches the fast pace of the writing.

Maid of the day

What would mami do without me? I have just vacuum cleaned the whole apartment, cleaned mirrors, washed dishes, and wiped away every piece of dust in the in our hallway. So, for all of those people (including mami and sis) that think that I am useless when it comes to housework...Guess what? You are wrong! I'm actually quite good at it, and it gives you a really good workout too, haha...

Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry

Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry

William Patry focuses on the history of copyright as it pertains to innovation. The copyright wars refers to the dispute between the music corporations and other large corporations and individuals who use digital content. It is the continuing controversy over file sharing, digital downloading, and new formats of content which are bringing change to the publishing, film, and recording industries. William Patry includes a lot of history on technology and copyright. This book is very relevant to what is happening now in the publishing world and the library world.

When William Patry talks about moral panics, he often uses the idea of metaphor; ordinary people being labeled as pirates, highwaymen, or robbers for downloading content. Another metaphor which is quite interesting is the idea of authors birthing their works. William Patry claims that the copyright industry is trying to drum up resistance to change and innovation.

In this book there are many arguments put forth about how copyright should function. It is very much an attempt to persuade the reader that copyright should act and be a particular way. The arguments are very interesting. For example, he argues that copyright is a government program used to ensure that intellectual property benefits the public and authors. He further makes another argument that copyright is not like physical property and must be handled differently.

There are sections on DRM (Digital Rights management) and the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act). These are very important because they have created many new issues in copyright like orphan works something that is very convoluted. As part of his going over new legislation, William Patry reminds us that copyright should encourage innovation not prevent it. The United States is falling behind countries like South Korea and Japan. His viewpoint is very much a call for a change in how copyright is currently being done.

This book is published by Oxford University Press. There are extensive notes and an in depth index. He includes many quotes from prominent people in the copyright industry. William Patry is a senior copyright counsel for Google, a practicing attorney, and a professor. This book combines the scholarly with the persuasive quite well.

Daily Thoughts 11/26/2009

"A Thanksgiving Tour". 1907 editorial cartoon for Thanksgiving holiday from the Daily Picayune newspaper of New Orleans. A turkey is depicted driving an automobile through a fence labeled "Financial Flurry"; a road sign says "To Prosperity". Reference is to the Panic of 1907, with hopes that prosperity is ahead.

Daily Thoughts 11/26/2009

I finished reading Makers by Cory Doctorow. It is the kind of book which you don't want to put down. I'll probably review it tomorrow. Today is Thanksgiving.

I'm having some problems with malware, so I can't spend too much time on the computer. I spent some time this morning speaking to my internet service provider.

I started reading The Elements of Expression by Arthur Plotnik. I am also watching some more of Cowboy Bebop. It is a quiet day.

Roasted high notes

Olim Lacus from Carmina Burana : Carl Orff, Tenor Jeff Prillaman

Had a great performance with the Waynesboro Schola Cantorum few weeks ago. The link below will play a pretty good archival recording from my field recorder that Tracee held in the audience.

Gotta love the roasting swan and those crazy high notes..
Happy Thanksgiving!

jeff

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a great Thanksgiving! Hope you get stuffed :)'

Short List 2009

I am thankful for:
Grace and Love that passes all understanding.
My beautiful and exceptional wife. Tracee
Wonderful children. Alyssa, Emma, Joshua, and Clara
Freedom to live and choose.
A chance to make a difference for others.
My education and skills and the mentorship of so many who have come before me.
Blessing of Music in my life.
So many friends and family members all over the world.

Something about Tuesdays

I have started to love Tuesdays. I know it's Wednesday today, but I didn't have any time to blog yesterday, and my joy just have to come out. So prepare yourself, because I wasn't prepared at all for...getting a freaking 7 (the highest grade on the IB scale) on a Swedish essay I wrote a while back!!! Last Tuesday I was told that I got a 6 on my Environmental Systems and Societies exam, and now this?! There is seriously something special about Tuesdays...And I kind of like it. :)

Break Dancing - Va tenor style.

Hump Day Hunk

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I would like to start early and give "thanks" to this "giving" hunk. You can see him strutting his stuff each week on "Dancing with the Stars". He is a total bad ass and hot as hell...LOVE HIM!!!

Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Swoon

I could gobble him up

http://maksimchmerkovskiy.com/

Muah! See...he wants me


I am soooo Thankful for each one of you! I checked my Google analytics this morning and I am up to 97 unique visitors to my blog.
Thanks for stopping by :)

Y'all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving
Bob Out

Daily Thoughts 11/25/2009

Vincent Van Gogh, The Night Cafe, 1888

Daily Thoughts 11/25/2009

I am almost done reading Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. Right now, I am reading about the history of technology and copyright. It starts with movies, then moves to videos starting with betamax, then dvds, and finally I am reading about the internet and movies. This of course touches on the subject of DRM (Digital Rights Management) and the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act). It is quite interesting and very relevant. It speaks directly to the issue of innovation and copyright.

I just finished the book. The last chapter is on innovation in relation to copyright. William Patry makes an argument that copyright often prevents innovation and limits the adoption of new technologies. I found his observations about how Japan and South Korea have become the world leaders in broadband adaptation to be enlightening. This is a very good book.

I received another suggestion for conferences that crossover between librarianship and publishing. The International Conference of the Book is another one: http://2009.booksandpublishing.com/

Gus's Unique Talent in Cynthia's Attic

Hey, everyone! And, Happy Thanksgiving (almost). Mary Cunningham was supposed to post today, but since she's busy getting ready for the big dinner tomorrow, I said I'd fill in for her since I want nothing to distract her from cooking that turkey!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Gus. My given name is Augusta Lee, but don't call me that unless you want a kick in the shins. Other than my limitless appetite, I have a pretty special talent. I don't supposed I need to keep it a secret since there are already four – count 'em – four books about me! And, my time-traveling side-kick, Cynthia, of course.

Our latest adventure take us on a very special trip to Swiss castle in the early 1900s to look for clues in the disappearance of a magician's assistant. This may not sound like much of a challenge, but, if we don't find her then Cynthia's family could face personal and financial ruin! We can't let that happen, now can we?

So check out Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle. In fact, check out the whole series! Thanks to me and my very special talent to travel from place to place through a magic trunk, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and check out the cool video below!


Buy Cynthia's Attic Series on Amazon

Mary Cunningham Books
Cynthia's Attic Blog
Amazon
Kindle
Fictionwise

Command & Conquer: Generals

Generals was released in 2003 on Windows and in 2004 a Mac OS version was released. The expansion pack Zero Hour was released in 2003 for Windows and 2 years later it found its way onto the Mac OS platform as well. This game's made by EA Games, known for many titles such as Need For Speed, the Battlefield series and many more. If you play games on a regular basis you've probably already heard of them. Generals is a RTS just like most games in the C&C series, except Renegade, which is a shooter.

In this game you're able to play as three factions: The U.S.A, China and the Global Liberation Army. Each faction has its own unique characteristics and abilities and superweapon. Various units can be constructed and trained, such as infantry, armored units and aircraft (except the GLA, which don't has aircraft units). More advanced units can be constructed by building a high tech facility. When you killed enough enemy units, your level will increase, granting you some powers, like advanced tanks, repairing your units or throwing a bomb at your enemies. Individual units can grow stronger too, by killing enemy units. That process is quickened by killing a stronger unit than your unit, for example an infantry unit destroying a tank. Another way to get stronger is capturing enemy buildings, like oil derricks. Oil derricks will provide you with an additional amount of money every once in a while.

The U.S.A has the strongest ground and air units of the game, but they're very expensive, and the U.S.A has the slowest resource gatherers. They're able to use a particle cannon every once in a while (when built, of course). China has strong tanks, and relie on firepower, but their airforce isn't that strong. They only have one plane, the MiG. Chinese troops are stronger when fighting in groups, and with extensive use of propaganda. Their superweapon is a nuclear missile. The GLA has no airforce, and their verhicles are weak, but they're cheap and very fast. The GLA focuses on infantry units and has more types of infantry than the other factions, like Terrorists and Angry Mobs. The GLA has scud storms at their disposal.

This game has nice graphics, explosions, and sound for its time, as you can see and hear in the video below. That's also why I like this game so much, plus it has multiplayer too. You're also able to make your own maps, and play them online against other people. Some players are very good at making maps and they've created compstomp maps (Team up with other players and defend a waypoint or something else against incoming enemies. The enemy comes in waves with a massive amount of troops) and some cheating maps, in which you always lose (except when you're the host, of course, and you know the map).

However, there are a couple of things people complain about, for example the lack of ingame videos. The other games in the C&C series have ingame videos, but Generals hasn't. Instead, there is a loading screen and a voice that explains you what to do. Another thing is that the campaigns are very short, they all have five missions and that's it. At least the creators have put in some custom maps that you can play against one or more enemies. When it's too easy for you, you can crank up the difficulty. it's obvious that this game is made for the multiplayer.

You're still able to purchase this game for a cheap price, or you can buy it together with the previous games in the series, such as Red Alert 1 and 2 and Tiberium Sun (expansion packs included). If you love RTS's you should definitely get this title. If you don't like RTS's you should buy it too, since it's very cheap, and you won't be dissapointed about it.

Daily Thoughts 11/24/2009

Book talks, 12:15 to 12:45 : noon hour, every Thursday Nov. thru Apr.
Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress).

Daily Thoughts 11/24/2009

I am still reading Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry. Currently, the book is focused on copyright as a form of property. It describes the issue of whether copyright is a natural right or is a created social phenomenon that is governed as a commodity. There is quite a bit on the congers or early book trade groups in England. This is an entry from Wikipedia. I am not saying that it is 100% correct, it is interesting though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conger_(syndicate)

I also watched some more of Cowboy Bebop, the anime series which is turning out to be quite entertaining. I like the data dog, a Welsh Corgi named Ein, it is my favorite character.

I took a short break from reading Moral Panics and The Copyright Wars and started reading Makers by Cory Doctorow. This is a science fiction novel about the near future. It hits the dot com and high tech world like a nail on the head. It is about a new technology revolution that is coming in the near future, fabbers, or three dimensional printers capable of working with metals, plastics, composites, and other materials combined with robotics and microchips in machine shop settings. The ability to custom make almost anything up to the size of a refrigerator in a small factory.

I found this on linked in. It is two more conferences focusing on the space between libraries and publishers. Timothy Dickey mentioned it in the ALA group. There is a very fine annual conference of librarians, publishers, and vendors in Charleston, SC (just completed for this year): http://katina.info/conference/

Also, OCLC has begun to host an annual symposium to explore metadata needs between librarians and publishers: http://www.oclc.org/publisher-symposium/

My Prize

Yesterday I picked up my wonderful prize for coming second in James Parker's  Windows to the Words challenge blog!

All the way from the USA, arriving safely in Cape Town (we never know whether anything will get to its destination or not!), here are the two marvellous paintings - the hummingbird is a tiny little painting which will sit next to me in my art room.

Thank you James!

 

Purgatorio

Throughout the drawn-out process of moving house, it seems that almost everyone I know has sympathetically opined that "it's the second most stressful thing you'll go through in your life", with the first being divorce. I'm not sure where everyone has apparently sourced this piece of information, but it's become a modern axiom - at least in well-fed Western countries where the fear of war, starvation, extreme poverty or genocide has receded into a comfortable background. In any event, I disagree. Moving house was far more stressful than my divorce.

"It's like the fifth circle of Hell", Clever Colleague suggested helpfully.

"What gets punished in the fifth circle?" I asked, warily.

CC furrowed her brows. "Actually, I don't know. It just seemed like a good, mid-level sort of Hell. Would you prefer the seventh circle?"

Unknowingly, CC was right on the money. The fifth circle of Dante's Inferno is where the wrathful and slothful are sent for punishment. (I'm a prime candidate in both departments, alternating my spare afternoon hours between road rage and siestas.) Of course, that's not the only place that us lazy bums can end up. The other is Purgatorio.

Dante envisioned purgatory as an island of concentric terraces rising upwards out of the Southern Oceans. Each sin gets its own terrace, where the wicked endure various degrees of tortuous suffering in the name of spiritual growth. The punishments, ironically, fit the crimes, and therefore we find the Proud struggling to hold their shoulders up under the weight of huge boulders, the Gluttonous abstaining from food and drink... and the slothful, running in perpetuity to atone for their laziness on Earth.

I was struck by the comparison. Rather than being Hell, moving house is basically a form of Purgatory on Earth, where we are forced to confront our months or years of slothful housekeeping and haphazard storage. Thus, for over a month, Clever Partner and I were constantly running to atone for our sins. We marvelled with the hindsight of a soul in Purgatory - didn't we know that the oven should have been cleaned every six months? Could we not have forseen the problems inherent in simply shoving unwanted items out of the way to the top of bookshelves or underneath tables? Should we not have realised that our failure to properly clean out five years' worth of accumulated junk from various expat flatmates would result in a mountain of detritus that would take the council three collections to dispose of?

Well, apparently not. We didn't, and, considering the degree to which comparisons between moving house and Hell are readily accepted, nobody else does, either. And now that we have worked out way through Purgatory to the Paradise of the New House, let us bow our heads and pray:

"May we always remember to scrub the grout,
Have the wisdom to unblock the downspout.
Free us from rising damp and insect hordes,
From leaking taps and rotten old floorboards.
May we never seek to store things overhead
Atop shelves and cupboards, or below our bed.
Deliver us from black-spot mould
And, please, before this house is sold
Shall we ever strive to clean, and then
Roll up our sleeves and clean again."

Amen.

Nitro Family

Nitro Family is a game created by the studios of ValuSoft and Delphieye(a company based in Korea). It was released on 1 May 2004. Nitro Family can be classified as a first person shooter, with some minor RPG elements. The game is built on the Serious Sam-engine.

You start the game with an intro cutscene, showing how a baby is taken away by a car. As a father you have to free your child from his abductors, but I wouldn't pay much attention to the storyline since the developers tried to tap in on the success of games like Postal 1/2 and Serious Sam. And those games don't really have a storyline and are pretty much based around absolute bullshit, same as Nitro Family. But at least the aforementioned games are fun, Nitro Family isn't.

The gameplay of this game is a simple shooter, you just kill the hordes of enemies thrown at you, which all have an AI dumber than the God Warrior. They pretty much run straight towards you, attacking you in the process even if they can't hit you, for example they'll shoot a wall between you and them. There are a few differences between a standard shooter and this game, one of them is that the game tracks the times you manage to keep an enemy floating in the air by continually shooting him/her. The game also has a highscore system which doesn't really have any purpose, since it's not like anyone cares enough about this game in order to write them down/compare them with friends. As you progress in this game, you'll amass money which you can use to upgrade your weapons, making this game even easier than it already is. In case I haven't made myself clear enough, the challenge in this game is pretty much non-existent. It's also possible for the player to collect enough cards in order to gain a "special" prize from a lady, but nobody cares enough or has the patience to ever get that far.

The levels in this game are unoriginal and boring, even though the game sometimes puts in a few platforming areas. You spend most of the time running through long grey corridors or in big open flat terrains, most of the time between huge walls or buildings. The game throws increasingly more enemies at you, but the game never gets challenging. The levels are empty for the most part, aside from the enemies and a couple of cars every once in a while, these cars can be destroyed for powerups, healthpacks(food) and armor. The enemies are ridiculous in this game, but not in a good way. Nitro Family is just filled with racially insensitive stereotypes, I wouldn't really care about it if they were funny, but they aren't. You have Mexican farmers throwing chickens at you, fat waitress looking girls shooting with rocketlaunchers at you, pigriders and so on.

The graphics are horrible and outdated. From the aforementioned levels and enemies to the animations everything looks bad, uninspired and pretty much slapped together in order to produce a cheap game. In a year where Halo 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, GTA: San Andreas, Half-Life 2 and WoW ruled the charts, you'd think that ValuSoft would've made sure that the game itself was somewhat decent in order to still get a piece of the cake.

Last and least, the sound and music, this is where the game reveals its true face, that of a cheap half-assed game. The game has one song and one song only, and it keeps on looping and looping, in the menu, in the game, pretty much everywhere. It's some rock song with dumb lyrics, some guy blaring out "Where did I go wrong?!?!?" and some muttering about how he is wondering about what watch he'll get and that it doesn't matter because he can't tell the time. You might be asking yourself, what's the relevance of this information? Well, you'll be hearing this song so many times that it'll damage your sanity. Besides the headache provoking song, the rest of the game is pretty standard.

My conclusion is that you shouldn't even think about buying this game, since it'll surely lead to a disappointment, after an hour you'll be so sick of this game that you'll throw it in the bin or your cabinet and never look back. There are way better titles out there that you could buy instead of this one, and I highly encourage you that you do. Nitro Family can best be described as an unoriginal lazy knock-off attempt at tapping into Serious Sam's popularity and success.

Over the top?

or hits the mark? Being a huge American Idol fan I love seeing what these singers do with the careers they are handed. Just being in the top 10 virtually assures them a record deal but they still have to prove they can sell records. I was super excited when I heard Kris Allen's single "Live like we're dying" but radio has yet to really pick it up. I wonder why?! It's a good song!


I was watching the American Music Awards last night and saw Adam Lambert perform the first single from his upcoming album "For Your Entertainment". I wasn't too impressed and thought it was a little over the top. However, I kinda liked that he was pushing buttons and being provactive. It was even censored for west coast viewers. "You know honestly, if I offended some people... it's apples and oranges. I'm not an artist that does things for every single person," Adam told Access' Shaun backstage following his racy performance of "For Your Entertainment," where he kissed male keyboardist Tommy Ratliff, who is straight. "I'm not going to be surprised that they edit it," he continued. "People are scared and it's really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it's all for a laugh, it's really not that big of a deal."

Watch it and let me know what you guys think. It's also been out for a few weeks and I've yet to hear it on the radio.


Plus check out his album cover...

It's a little "Ziggy Stardust" meets "Xanadu" don't ya think? All skate, everyone skate. I wonder if glam rock will catch on in 2009!

Bob Out

Comic Book Hero

What can I say? Little Lulu was my first literary hero. I hurried to the corner drugstore with a dime clutched tightly in my hot little hand to buy each month's edition the minute it hit the newstands. I collected piles of them and read and reread them. I still have a few, although brittle, and always watch for them at flea markets and antique stores.
In truth, I wanted to BE Little Lulu. I loved her fiesty attitude, her mischievious pranks, and the way she always outsmarted the boys. Sometimes she played detective and called herself "The Spider." When she caught the culprit - usually her father, she always said, "The Spider spins again!"
Her best friends were Annie and Tubby. Sometimes she babysat Alvin, a pesky little boy. Her teacher, Miss Feeny, often sent her on errands, but the truant officer, Mr. McNabb, always ended up chasing her thinking she was playing hooky. Gloria was the perfect, pretty little girl and Wilbur was the rich boy in her class. Willy and Iggy never wanted girls in their club, but Lulu broke that barrier and always figured out a way to make them look stupid.
I named one of my characters Lulu in her honor in my upcoming novel, Back to Bailey's Chase, due out Summer 2010. Go Lulu Moppett!
In fact, I think I'll go read some Little Lulu comics right now.

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday Miley, Happy Happy Joy Joy

by Pam Ripling

Shout out to Miley Cyrus, who’s celebrating her 17^th birthday today. I’ve always been fond of Billy Ray’s likable offspring. Were I a teen, I’d covet that gorgeous blonde wig she dons as Hannah Montana, her teenish-sultry singing voice, her down-home practical girl television persona. I was glad she was the influence-of-the-day for my young daughter a few years back, when Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) faded into that neverland of ex-Disney pre-adult stardom. And yes, I know, Miley's fallen from grace for some, due to some campy photos she's posed for. She's a teen, they all do it, get over it. Each of these girls are unique and beautiful.

So what is my unique talent? I stumble on that word, “unique” because it denotes a sense of, well, a little bragginess. I don’t like to be braggy, like Sister Berenstain Bear. I like to think that I’m good at a few things, but I’d never go so far as to call myself unique. After all, doesn’t that mean something like, “one of a kind?” Here are a few things that might be “different”-- albeit not unique. (Taking deep breath.)

• I rarely, if ever, get writer’s block
• I don’t hate our president
• My kids all respect me
• I’ve dreamed of being a 1940’s starlet
• I’m extremely tolerant of diversities
• I don’t like licorice
• My father was a stand-in for Clark Gable (okay, that last one was about Dad, not me, but still...)

Oh, I once toured a huge popstar’s home with his fiancée just because I knocked on the door and she let me in (a perk of growing up in N. Hollywood.) Talk about a dream come true! That was a truly unique experience.

I know, it’s a rag-tag list, but I don’t care, because I can almost smell the turkey and cranberries, which distorts my ability to write a uniquely decent blog on a Monday morning...

Wishing you all a wonderful day of gratitude!

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

Daily Thoughts 11/23/2009

The library in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights building at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States.. April 1, 2005. Benjamin D. Esham for the Wikimedia Commons.

Daily Thoughts 11/23/2009

I am reading more of Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry. The last section I was reading was about metaphors and copyright. There are quite a few different metaphors described; people being pirates, birthing intellectual property, lawyers being sharks, copying works being thievery, and many others. The language is very charged, entertaining, and pointed.

You sometimes have to wonder about certain aspects of copyright. From what I have seen a typical book lasts about a month or so in the bookstore where it sells for a while, then the older copies are sent back to the publisher to be remaindered and sold at a discount. In a library, the library keeps the book for about a year or two, then checks the amount of time which the book has been circulated. If it has literary merit, they might keep if it has low circulation, otherwise it is likely to be deaccessioned. Not a whole lot of books make it past three or four years let alone seventy.

In Moral Panics and the Copyright wars, the author, William Patry says approximately 1.7% of books are still in print after 70 years. This is not a huge amount of books. In my mind, most of them go to that imaginary place, the library where all the forgotten books are in endless rows to be never found again. You also have to question this, with print on demand, as well as book scanning technology, it is not that hard to get a book printed again. Out of print is a fuzzy term these days.

Maybe, things will change, and many of the books in the libray of forgotten books will fade away and enter Google Books search to be found as digital ghosts that slowly make it back into existence as people look at them on the internet. They may even rematerialize completely through the magic of print on demand. The Espresso Book Machine has partnered with Google Books to make its content easily available. I can imagine whole isles of books disappearing from that imaginary underground repository as I write. http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/09/books-digitized-by-google-available-via.html

I spent some time during the last few days cleaning up and consolidating my keywords for my blog. I still have to do it again to eliminate even more phrases, but I have made an initial pass for spelling, duplicate style entries like professional books and professional literature, extra punctuation, and other mistakes. Google limits the total number of keywords allowed.

A Friend

before i start my speech(hehe...perasan) I would like to remind other friends not to jealous...i have many many many good friends and also best friends...but among those of them, the friend that always gives me the sense of security is Huoy Shin...While listening to the song 'sweet home'(a song that all my family members love) let me start my story...

In the year of 2006, I know Huoy Shin...at the moment, we were having tuition in Thivy Jaya...after a few months, we registered to study in the same school--SMKBM...its a coincidence that we were in the same class too...then one day, she came and talked to me...so starting from that day we slowly became good friend...for your information, both of us are girl guide and also sapo...so I get along with her very well...through so many activities that we took part, only if she is there, i don't have to be afraid and worry...because whenever I need help or anything, she will always be there for me...although sometimes we will argue or fight and also tease each other but we never quarrel before...not to say that I want to quarrel with her==...we are just playing around(too playful) Oh o...now only I think of something...we don't even have a photo that we take together...maybe it is because we are too close to each other...haha...I already save her 38 looks in my heart...except if she become an old woman...lao ah ma...oh ya...some more one thing that I like about her is--she is a 'fatty'...a bit only la...hohohoho...so I love to hug her and beat her buttocks( we are not gay...please don't misunderstand)...

That is the end of my speech...those who under the stage, please put your hand together...give me a big clap...

Ying Li: Thank you, Thank you;-)

Daily Thoughts 11/22/2009

Various antiquarian books, including Francis Grose’s Antiquities. From the site,
http://www.fromoldbooks.org

Daily Thoughts 11/22/2009

I have started reading Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. Right now, I am reading about the fight between the record labels and the online downloading services. It is very much a story about legalistic control versus innovative new products. The story is quite interesting. It describes two different models of content distribution push versus pull. A push model tries to push out what a company thinks people should get. A pull model is based on pulling in what customers want and including them in the process. The story of Copyright Wars is also a reminder that it is easy enough to go to forms of entertainment that are more flexible about copyright than traditional print media like video games for entertainment.

I watched some of Cowboy Bebop Remix, The Complete Collection on dvd. This is supposed to be one of the best anime series ever done. The soundtrack which is a mix of jazz, bebop, and light rock is fantastic. The story is also excellent. It is the story of two bounty hunters, Spike and Jet and their travels through space to catch various people wanted by the law. I liked the first few episodes. It is something to watch while I am on vacation.

I Yam What I Yam

Popeye The Sailor is a wonderful cartoon that doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves. Popeye first came out in 1929 and was at one point, more popular than Mickey Mouse! Pretty cool, hey?

Have you ever listened to what the guy mumbles in the old cartoons? OMGosh, it would have all the PC types up in arms today. Hilarious stuff though, and the reason he's always been my favorite cartoon character.

Here's a few of my faves from what I think is the best cartoon of his ever: Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves:

Popeye, trying to get the door open: Open Cecil, Open Sissy…and then later, when he eats his famous spinach: Open Says-me…

When he does get in, he's afraid to get caught, so he runs through mumbling "tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe" lol!

In the big fight with Ali Baba, he jumps into Ali Baba's clothing and punches him from the sleeves, inside the collar, saying things like "peek-a-boo!"

Give it a watch on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox5mzTtYfK0

Hope you have as many giggles as it gave me!

Warmly,
J.R. Turner

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Speaking of time

God my head is tired. I've been doing maths the whole day, and by that I really mean the WHOLE day. However, when I then checked my calender I saw something crazy. Like it for instance that today is exactly the 14th week I've been in Sweden; that it's four weeks to Christmas; that it's only five weeks until this year is over!

A while ago sis and I were talking about time. How fast hours, days, weeks, and even years pass us by, and then she told me something that I never really thought about, but still made so much sense. She told me that time is flying quickly because every week is full of routine, and then when summer arrives, and we are off to Malaysia, time stops for two months. It's like the future doesn't exist. I never worry about the future, about the upcoming days. I often don't even know what day it is! But then when we come back home to Sweden, it's suddenly fall. We get occupied in the routines of school and work, and suddenly it's winter, Christmas, New Year...All equally quick in arriving, and disappearing.

Wow, I just realized how pessimistic I sounded. Haha, that wasn't really my main point, but maybe it will give everyone reading this another view of looking at time. That no matter if you want it or not, time will pass you by and it's up to each person to make the best out of each day. Of course we need routines in our lives, it's good for us, but we should never forget to just live in the moment from time to time. Because that is also good for us, trust me.