Here are the pics I promised in yesterday's blog.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Goodbye Chunky Rice-- Craig Thompson-- Review
Goodbye Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson is a short graphic novel. It is done in an eclectic black and white style. There are a mix of cute animal characters and people. The story is not particularly violent. It has an oddball feeling to it. There are a few strange characters like a siamese twin on a boat. The main part of the story is about the freindship between Chunky Rice, a turtle, and Dandel A deer mouse.
Chunky and Dandel are freinds. They go to the beach together and camp out and build sand castles. When Chunky Rice looks at the ocean he gets an overwhelming urge to travel. In contrast, Dandel says, "My home is right here." This has a wistful memorable feeling to it.
Chunky packs a box and heads out to sea on Chuck's ship. Chuck reminds Chunky to travel light and get rid of excess baggage. He throws a number of Chunky's things in the ocean in a series of memorable cartoon panels.
The ocean is vast, seemingly endless in the narrative of the story. Dandel takes to throwing bottles with letters in them into the ocean which drift outward on the currents.
This graphic novel, (another fancy name for comic book), is about memory, freindship, and wanderlust. I really enjoyed reading it. Craig Thompson the writer has won three Ignatz awards. http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz.shtml This is a prestigious comics lit award. It is named after Krazy Kat drawn by George Heinman. He also has won two Harvey awards. The Harvey Awards are named after Harvey Kurtzman, the founder of Mad magazine, one of my favorite comics. http://harveyawards.org/
If you are looking for good choices if you are a librarian or bookseller these list very interesting and high quality titles to look at. The Ignatz Awards are more alternative press, and the Harvey Awards are much more mainstream and will include many superhero comics.
A pictureless image from Amazon:
Chunky and Dandel are freinds. They go to the beach together and camp out and build sand castles. When Chunky Rice looks at the ocean he gets an overwhelming urge to travel. In contrast, Dandel says, "My home is right here." This has a wistful memorable feeling to it.
Chunky packs a box and heads out to sea on Chuck's ship. Chuck reminds Chunky to travel light and get rid of excess baggage. He throws a number of Chunky's things in the ocean in a series of memorable cartoon panels.
The ocean is vast, seemingly endless in the narrative of the story. Dandel takes to throwing bottles with letters in them into the ocean which drift outward on the currents.
This graphic novel, (another fancy name for comic book), is about memory, freindship, and wanderlust. I really enjoyed reading it. Craig Thompson the writer has won three Ignatz awards. http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz.shtml This is a prestigious comics lit award. It is named after Krazy Kat drawn by George Heinman. He also has won two Harvey awards. The Harvey Awards are named after Harvey Kurtzman, the founder of Mad magazine, one of my favorite comics. http://harveyawards.org/
If you are looking for good choices if you are a librarian or bookseller these list very interesting and high quality titles to look at. The Ignatz Awards are more alternative press, and the Harvey Awards are much more mainstream and will include many superhero comics.
A pictureless image from Amazon:
An Athletic Weekend
Well, I'm kinda bummed. I had this really cool athletic weekend, but the pics are too big to post to my blog. So I'm going to fiddle with them over the next couple of days and see if I can shrink them down so I can post them. Sigh. If any of you out there in cyberspace know how reduce pic file size, feel free to let me know.
But anyhoo, my athletic weekend consisted of a 5k (pic was of me crossing the finish line) and a baseball game: Orioles versus Nationals (pic was of me with mascot)
But like I said, I'll try and post later.
But anyhoo, my athletic weekend consisted of a 5k (pic was of me crossing the finish line) and a baseball game: Orioles versus Nationals (pic was of me with mascot)
But like I said, I'll try and post later.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Ellen talks about Lawrence (Larry) King...
...not sure if anybody else has heard about this (I'm sure you all have, you know how I'm always behind!) basically it was a 15 yr. old gay boy who was murdered because he was gay. I just wanted to take a moment and say good for Ellen. I don't think as a gay person she HAS to do anything for the gay community but I am glad that she brought this up. ;-) peace
Thoughts on Books, Missed Day
I missed a day for the first time. It was a chance to relax and recharge my batteries. I don't know if it had a bad impact for people.
Anyways, I recently chose not to read a couple books. I just could not get into the stories. I am getting more picky lately. The first book was M. John Harrison Nova Swing. I have got a bit tired of the science fiction book set in a bar. It has become too cliche. The original Spider Robinson Callahan's Crosstime Saloon was entertaining, but the opening gets a little old.
I am going to read Eats, Shoots and Leaves a grammar book which is supposed to be entertaining. It goes over the finer points of punctuation and how they can change the meaning of sentences. I just placed it on reserve for my library. I am surprised that someone came up with a suggested grammar classic for me.
I went to the library today and picked up Good-Bye Chunky Rice by Carig Thomson. It is a story of friendship set in a graphic novel. I also picked up Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi who is the author of Persepolis, another graphic novel. Persepolis was recently made into a film which is supposed to be very good about life in Iran. Marjane Satrapi says she cannot go back to Iran because she is afraid she will never be able to leave if she goes back.
There is not a whole lot to say today. I had a cold today and stayed home from work. So, I am just going on and on.
Anyways, I recently chose not to read a couple books. I just could not get into the stories. I am getting more picky lately. The first book was M. John Harrison Nova Swing. I have got a bit tired of the science fiction book set in a bar. It has become too cliche. The original Spider Robinson Callahan's Crosstime Saloon was entertaining, but the opening gets a little old.
I am going to read Eats, Shoots and Leaves a grammar book which is supposed to be entertaining. It goes over the finer points of punctuation and how they can change the meaning of sentences. I just placed it on reserve for my library. I am surprised that someone came up with a suggested grammar classic for me.
I went to the library today and picked up Good-Bye Chunky Rice by Carig Thomson. It is a story of friendship set in a graphic novel. I also picked up Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi who is the author of Persepolis, another graphic novel. Persepolis was recently made into a film which is supposed to be very good about life in Iran. Marjane Satrapi says she cannot go back to Iran because she is afraid she will never be able to leave if she goes back.
There is not a whole lot to say today. I had a cold today and stayed home from work. So, I am just going on and on.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Breaksk8
Ok, um...I have always had this thing for men on skates...I KNOW! It's just this "thing" I have...and how often do I ever get to see that? I mean it's all about the rollerblades these days...um, until now.!
Nice, hot
Check out the leader in the gray jacket and black and gray hat, don't tell me that shit ain't sexy the way he moves!! Got damn!
Once again, the middle guy the leader...dang...hot as hell!
Nice, hot
Check out the leader in the gray jacket and black and gray hat, don't tell me that shit ain't sexy the way he moves!! Got damn!
Once again, the middle guy the leader...dang...hot as hell!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss -- Review
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a fantasy tome. It is the first book in a series. The book is 653 pages long. The book is the story of Kvothe a singer and musician. It is a story which combones legends, naming, magic, and music in a somewhat traditional fantasy setting. The main character Kvothe is a musician and mage.
The book starts out slowly. A person comes to chronicle Kvoth's life, a wandering scholar. The account of Kvothe's life follows in a linear fashion. This book will be part of a series. On the title page are the words The Name of the Wind: The King Killer Chronicle Day One.
The story is a tragedy and the main character suffers. There are few happy endings. Kvothe leads a nice life until his family looks into the wrong tales and is killed. He is forced to live on the streets as an orphan. Using his wits and talents he gets into the Arcanum.
Kvothe is arrogant, impetuous, poor, and brilliant at a young age. This creates many enemies for him. He develops a variety of enemies at the universities including some of the teachers and a nobleman student. He is punished regularly for his actions and sometimes nasty wit. Characters develop deep passiona for and against him. Ironically, one of his teachers leaves him a copy of Rhetoric and Logic, a book which Kvothe hates which might have helped him out of many of the troubles that he is in.
Kvothe also takes incredible risks. In one part of the story he follows a firebreathing, tree eating dragon around. In another section, he sneaks into the archives at the risk of being expelled. He was caught with open flame earlier and banned from them.
The book is 653 pages long. Throughout the book there are short poems and songs:
"When the hearthfire turns to blue
What to do, What to do,
Run Outside, Run and hide"
People have more than one distinct nationality and there are snippets of foreign languages. Also there are religious legends that provide a backdrop to the story about good and evil, demons and angels.
This is a very well written book. It is quite harsh in places. It is not a swashbuckling tale, but a story of wits, music, cunning, and magic. I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next installment in the series.
The book starts out slowly. A person comes to chronicle Kvoth's life, a wandering scholar. The account of Kvothe's life follows in a linear fashion. This book will be part of a series. On the title page are the words The Name of the Wind: The King Killer Chronicle Day One.
The story is a tragedy and the main character suffers. There are few happy endings. Kvothe leads a nice life until his family looks into the wrong tales and is killed. He is forced to live on the streets as an orphan. Using his wits and talents he gets into the Arcanum.
Kvothe is arrogant, impetuous, poor, and brilliant at a young age. This creates many enemies for him. He develops a variety of enemies at the universities including some of the teachers and a nobleman student. He is punished regularly for his actions and sometimes nasty wit. Characters develop deep passiona for and against him. Ironically, one of his teachers leaves him a copy of Rhetoric and Logic, a book which Kvothe hates which might have helped him out of many of the troubles that he is in.
Kvothe also takes incredible risks. In one part of the story he follows a firebreathing, tree eating dragon around. In another section, he sneaks into the archives at the risk of being expelled. He was caught with open flame earlier and banned from them.
The book is 653 pages long. Throughout the book there are short poems and songs:
"When the hearthfire turns to blue
What to do, What to do,
Run Outside, Run and hide"
People have more than one distinct nationality and there are snippets of foreign languages. Also there are religious legends that provide a backdrop to the story about good and evil, demons and angels.
This is a very well written book. It is quite harsh in places. It is not a swashbuckling tale, but a story of wits, music, cunning, and magic. I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next installment in the series.
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