Book Review--"There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" by Hanif Abdurraqib

 At Christmas, I was gifted There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. And I finally finished my slow perusal of it over the weekend. I sat on the porch, taking advantage of sunny days, no rain (for once in this last month of time!), and pleasant temperatures, to get focused and finish. 

And I'm glad that I did.

I've heard of Abdurraqib and was aware that he lived in Columbus (hence the image) and wrote about Columbus. So, being home-proud, I wanted to try him out. I haven't read his poetry yet but this prose work definitely worked for me.

It weaves two stories into a strong braid: his own life growing up Black in Columbus--loving the city, playing basketball on neighborhood courts, celebrating local basketball talent. It doesn't flinch from the hardships he saw, he experienced, he overcame. He sympathizes with the desire of many of his friends and neighbors to leave Columbus--to get away from its racial challenges and to hope for some better opportunity elsewhere. But he also embraces his own love for Columbus and the pull it has on him--flaws and all. Can he overcome his personal challenges to find a strong foundation in his hometown?

The second story strand observes Lebron James Ohio basketball story. From his foretold greatness playing prep school basketball in northeast Ohio, to the Cleveland Cavaliers fortune to grab James in the draft. From his initial NBA rise in Cleveland, to The Decision, to his hoped for (and realized) return to Cleveland, culminating in the 2016 NBA championship.

The rise and fall and rise of both Abdurraqib and James' Ohio experiences are presented in parallel, stitched together with love and skill. A frequent theme of flight and Ohio aviators in injected throughout the book, providing brief examinations of true aviators and astronauts from Ohio, alongside Abdurraqib's friends and family who died too soon and metaphorically flew from him.

Abdurraqib's strength of language and his emotional honesty make this a powerful book. It celebrates people who love strongly and sings a lovesong to Columbus as well.

Getting into some high brow culture

(Full disclosure--I toyed with using a vulgar or course title using swear words or curse abbreviations for this post. You know, as a way of creating a clever dissonance with the content to come. But then I didn't. But that didn't stop me from taking even more time to type this out and explain it to you, so that you can pat me on the back for the joke I didn't make. I guess that is why people hate bloggers.)

Last Saturday, Lynda and I attended the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's performance at the Ohio Theater downtown.

You would be justified to think at this point Most of those words have never been presented in that particular order about something YOU did. 

But I did it because of the particular music they began the performance with: Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring. (I didn't know that the second piece would be based on letters written by Abraham Lincoln, but that was a nice bonus as well.) You can click this link to see some of the details of the show.

Copeland has been my favorite American composer since I was in high school. This was because of a set of circumstances that combine pop culture and marching band--so of course, it had to happen to me.

If you are of a certain age, you likely remember the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" commercials that ran frequently on television during the Reagan Eighties. The jaunty upbeat symphonic music that linked cattle on the range to your Saturday night dinner table was courtesy of Aaron Copeland. (It is from the Rodeo suite, to be specific. The fourth movement is named "Hoedown.") Copeland became an even more mainstream name because of this bump in his musical exposure and brought awareness deep into South Georgia to me. 

I was further locked into Copeland soon after when my high school marching band capitalized on this popular awareness by incorporating the beats and some musical elements of "Hoedown" into the percussion feature of a halftime show one year. 

But that only linked me to Copeland himself. It didn't take very long for me to hear Appalachian Spring for the first time. And that was courtesy of the (Garfield) Cadets (of Bergen County) drum corps show of 1987.

(The final two minutes of this show . . . from the enormous musical hit of "Simple Gifts" through the scatter drill break and resolve into the march off of the field remains in my top three most impactful drum corps moments over 40 years after seeing it for the first time. Just chills-inducing.)

It was all over for me at that point.

I listened to a cassette recording of Appalachian Spring MANY times in the intervening high school years. In my bedroom at night, in the dark, with the volume down. Sometimes riding my bike around town via my Walkman. (When I wasn't otherwise listening to XTC's "Oranges & Lemons" or R.E.M.*)

But--to bounce back to the present.

It was a great thrill to enjoy such stellar music live. Copeland especially, but the entire program was great and we had such a good time. We are lucky to have the arts available to us here and I'm very happy we had the chance to be there and listen.

*More on this in an upcoming post.

Fourteen Years Later

You might take a look at this and immediately think it is inappropriate. And I can't change how you think. But, in an unrelated think this morning, I rewatched this clip from my favorite song on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And the dual points of view about the world that is portrayed here made me think about this day and fourteen years ago.

Life is hard for a lot of people around the world, and some people choose to fight against that hardship with anger and hatred and fear. Others see the hardship and try to help and try to get other people to help.

My life is great--obscenely so in comparison. So I should try MORE to help others. And I should fight against hatred. Because that is the wrong response to problems. If more people were willing to reach out and aid with love, then there would be less hatred and fear in the world.

Dean's Summer (Cable & Streaming) TV Preview

The host of this lovely blog has kindly agreed once again to broadcast my thoughts on the upcoming Cable TV schedule. There is a murderer’s row of returning shows (my top four shows of 2014 are all on the summer schedule) and quite a few new contenders that I’m sure won’t be disappointing in the slightest. So without further ado, here is what you can watch in the land of cable and Internet this summer season:

Halt and Catch Fire AMC (returned May 31st)
I watch this show because my wife loves Lee Pace. Do you love Lee Pace? If so you should watch this show. Did you like Mad Men? Then you should watch this show because Mad Men is over and you want a moody period piece about creative people. Were you kind of over Don Draper’s crap by the end of Mad Men? Then you will already be sick of Lee Pace’s crap on this show.

Well, I tried to watch HaCF last year, even though I've only been a fan of Lee Pace once (Pushing Daisies). But I do feel a sort of allegiance with his eyebrows, for reasons that should probably be self-evident. ANYWAY . . . I quickly quit watching in Season 1. But critics say that S2 is a reboot and much improved. Consider my DVR set . . . but I'm hovering over the delete button at the first sign of weakness. 

Sense8 Netflix (streamieres? June 5th)
Are you looking for the Wachowskis to disappoint you once again? Well look no further than Sense8. On the plus side it stars Naveen Andrews so you can also be disappointed in how Lost ended while watching this one (That finale was great, I don’t care what the haters say.)

You had me at LOST, Dean. No . . . wait. That's not the point. I am veeery leery of anything Wachowski-related after being burned in the past. So, let's talk about words. Since we are heavily featuring online content here, I pondered how to term the initial appearance of a show in online media. I initially took my cues from MSM terminology, such as "debut". But I couldn't find a suitable portmanteau looked good. Stream + debut was either streambut [definitely OUT] or debtream . . . or something. It was dumb. So then I happily settled on the melding of streaming and premiere for the fabulous construction of streamiere! I think I should get some sort of web-based Pulitzer for this.

What were we talking about?

Orange is the New Black Netflix (restreams? June 12th)
Are you not watching this show already? You should watch this show, especially because this season is without Jason Biggs, so it promises to be the best yet

Similarly, I combined returns with streams in the case of a returning show with multiple seasons to give the world the ever-useful term of restreams. Seriously, is anyone paying attention to what I'm coming up with here? This is GOLD!.

The Last Ship TNT (returns June 21st)
Do you have Firefly related actor withdrawal with Castle on hiatus? You can instead watch The Last Ship with Adam Baldwin. Everyone has died of a virus except the people on this, the last ship. (There’s also a ship full of Russians so the title is inaccurate, though maybe not as inaccurate as the title of The Last Man on Earth.)

Well, the less said about The Last Man on Earth, the better for me. I hated Phil (Tandy) Miller with a passion and dropped watching that show like a hot rock. Speaking of distasteful things . . . Adam Baldwin everybody. Tragically, he owns two of my favorite characters: Jayne from Firefly and Casey from Chuck. But he's a gross individual in real life. I can only assume that The Last Ship is actually about ethics in gaming journalism.

True Detective HBO (returns June 21st)
Will my wife extend our HBO subscription just to watch Taylor Kitsch? Can I tell the difference between Colin Ferrell and Colin Firth without the help of IMDB? Will Vince Vaughn successfully transition from slack comedies to tense melodrama? Will the presence of Rachel McAdams cause my wife to try and force me to watch the Notebook again? Only the true detective knows for sure.

Ballers HBO (premieres June 21st)
Do you like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? Do you trust HBO to put out quality entertainment?

Hasn't Dwayne politely requested that everyone refrain from using his "The Rock" sobriquet? Shouldn't we honor his request? And is this a dig at HBO? Sure, The Leftovers didn't exactly win over critics, but did you watch that The Casual Vacancy miniseries?

Humans AMC (premieres June 28th)
Do you sometimes get William Hurt and John Hurt confused? Oh, good, me too. I was very excited that the War Doctor had his own show, but that’s the wrong Hurt. This show stars William Hurt and he either is a robot or has a robot.  He is not the War Doctor just to be clear.

I'm growing to dislike single-word shows. (And no, I don't want you exhaustively researching all the time that I have contradicted that statement.) Right now I'm thinking about Alphas and Heroes and  . . . are those the only two I'm thinking of? Well, you get the point.

Scream MTV (premieres June 30th)
Remember when Scream came out in theaters and you were 14 and your friends mom bought you a ticket to see it and then you were worried you’d be scared, but it was actually pretty funny and a fairly good movie? Well now it’s a TV show on MTV so everything that was good about the movie will be made into a cheap, pale imitation and your childhood dies a little more every day. Eat at Arby’s.

It is clear, now more than ever, that we are not the same age. Curse you for reminding me of that and requesting that I eat at Arby's--which was a thing I used to do when I was younger.

Key and Peele Comedy Central (returns July 8th)
Remember how Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele were on Fargo? That was an interesting casting choice right? They are both very funny and you won’t regret putting this in your vision holes, that’s for sure.

But now I can only think about how strong Fargo was and when it will come back with an entirely new cast about something else. Do you realize, by the way, that we can thank the abominable American Horror Story franchise for this hot trend of anthologizing TV with rotating casts. That original show--and its subsequent cousins--was a gross mess. But from those ashes came an interesting idea.

Why? With Hannibal Buress Comedy Central (premieres July 8th)
Remember when we didn’t have to feel sad when we thought about Bill Cosby? Well you can thank Hannibal Buress for that. So think about what he’s capable of doing to YOU if you don’t watch. You should probably watch just in case.

 I don't usually watch anything on Comedy Central--except an occasional Daily Show or something. So I probably won't be doing what you advise here. But I do still have many questions regarding the content, format, and goals of this show. (You're really NOT doing a good job of describing these shows, btw.) Is it a news show? An expose type show? Dateline for cable TV? TMZ for the semi-literate? 

Rectify Sundance (premieres July 9th)
Daniel Holden has pled guilty to a crime he may not have committed and is now is banished from Georgia. How will his family react to his exile? Will Daniel ever adjust to life off of death row? Tune in to see these questions answered at a glacial pace if they are ever actually answered at all.

Rectify sounds like Justified--which is a show you implored me to watch several times. Daniel is a name my hometown newspaper mistaken called me in a write up about my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Holden is only important if you are referencing The Catcher in the Rye. Add all of those elements together and I don't see a strong formula for me wanting to watch this show--even though it is set in the state of my youth. And speaking of a crime drama moving at a glacial pace, did anyone watch Secrets & Lies? That show stunk, huh? I mean, I guess it continued to stink as I quit watching after . . . um . . . three episodes? Juliette Lewis' creppy/obsessed cop was the last straw for me.

The Spoils Before Dying IFC (premieres July 8th)
Did you read or watch Eric Jonrosh’s acclaimed series “The Spoils of Babylon”? Well this sequel will surely be full of the usual epic drama associated with the work of the great Mr. Jonrosh.

Absolutely no comment whatsoever.

Masters of Sex Showtime (returns July 12th)
Will William Masters ever publish his seminal study on human sexuality? According to the synopsis for this season he sure will! Will that study be overshadowed by the Kinsey study? According to history it sure will! Will he and Johnson ever have a normal relationship? No, no they will not.

huh huh . . . you said seminal . . .

The Jim Gaffigan Show TV Land  (returns July 15th)
Hot pockets? Hot pockets. I will watch anything Jim Gaffigan does. Plus you can watch the first episode online right now, at JimGaffigan.com so you don’t have to commit to anything right away.

You know . . . I'm not getting enough credit for the work I'm doing here: formatting Dean's text, inserting line breaks, adding hyperlinks. Just so you can sit back and let his words soak right in, as easily as heating up a Hot Pocket.

Married FX (returns July 16th)
Does watching a comedy about an increasingly loveless marriage sound like your cup of tea? Paul Reiser was the best part of this show that otherwise completely underwhelmed me (even the great Judy Greer couldn’t elevate it). This sounds like damning with faint praise, but Reiser was great; he’s definitely still got it.

Being a long-standing fan of Mad About You (and owning two of his relationship books), I see where you're coming from wrt Paul Reiser. And yet . . . Diner was very hard to watch.

I do like Judy Greer, though. 

And, while I'm still here . . . I want to apologize for that seminal joke up there. That was juvenile.

SEX&DRUGS&ROCK&ROLL FX (premieres July 16th)
Do you like Dennis Leary? If you do you should watch this comedy created by and starring Dennis Leary. If you don’t like Dennis Leary well, you should probably pass.

I would watch this if it involved Chuck Klosterman.

Bojack Horseman Netflix (restreams July 17th)
Will Will Arnett ever have a successful show post-Arrested Development? Well lookie here: It’s a Will Arnett show that has been renewed and critically praised! Are you not entertained?

That double "will" at the start of your "review" bothered me. But then it made me think of this. So I left it alone. Also . . . Bojack Horseman is just too odd for my taste. But this is being offered up to the Internet at large, so who am I to say. Go nuts digital people. Just remember who sent you there.

Rick and Morty Adult Swim (returns July 26th)
This is the funniest cartoon on TV right now. If you’re not watching it, you hate good old fashioned anarchic fun.  You don’t hate that do you?

Finn and Jake have some things they would like to discuss with you, Dean. . . . 

Review Comedy Central (returns July 30th)
Last year Forrest reviewed almost every life experience that you could think of and it broke him. What more could he possibly be put through this year? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp Netflix (streamieres July 31st)
Did you see the film Wet Hot American Summer? Did you think it was kind of oversold by your friends once you got around to watching it? Me too! It was pretty underwhelming right? Anyway, now it’s a TV show.

Is Bradley Cooper involved? If not, then I am uninterested.

You’re the Worst FXX (returns July ??)
Do you want to watch my number one show of 2014? If so find FXX on your cable guide (it’s the channel that is currently showing The Simpsons.) and watch it.

In one of the rare instances in which I have taken your TV advice, I have recorded season 1 reruns of this show. But I haven't watched them yet . . . so maybe I'm still not convinced?

Playing House USA (returns August 4th)
This was a charming low key comedy last season that I was sure had been cancelled. So I’m pretty excited it was renewed. Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair are both very funny and they bring in a lot of other great comedians as well, so try it out?

And that brings us to Fall, where a whole new batch of shows will be awaiting us and the cycle of TV is born anew.

Thanks, as always, Dean for your thoughts. I am sure at least some of these shows will be worth the time. If anyone out there gives some of these shows a try, drop a comment letting us know what you think!

The HP Cover Comparison

Recently, the new 15th anniversary covers of the Scholastic U.S. Harry Potter books has been making the news. And so I thought I would put up some side-by-side comparisons of the original Mary Grand Pre art with the new art by Kazu Kibuishi.

Year 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

 

The original U.S. cover for Sorcerer's Stone is not one of my favorites Harry looks very much like a dork here. And while that is appropriate to the conditions that he finds himself in, the sneakers and the glasses slipping down his face conspire to make him look like someone out of the 1950s. Plus, the school robe is billowing out behind him too much like a cape. In general, this cover suffers from a problem that several of the early HP covers had. There is too much disparate action going on. The 3-headed dog underneath the castle and the unicorn running by and the distracting diamond banner and the colonnades all combine to throw too much at you at once. (To be fair, the full wrap-around image balances things out a bit better and throws some pretty dramatic Dumbledore action your way.)

In contrast, the new Sorcerer's Stone cover does a much better job of throwing lots of details at you, but doing so in a coherent way that helps you understand the story--or at least this particular moment. And that is what makes this style better (for now). The new cover focuses on a moment in time and gives you all those details of that moment. The Grand Pre cover threw lots of stuff across the book together on a messy sort of montage.

Winner: Kazu

Year 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

This Grand Pre is less cluttered that its predecessor and does a better job of focusing on an event and telling that particular story. (And though this front only view doesn't show it, the full wrap-around dust jacket image shows who's clutching Harry's ankle as Fawkes flies them out of the Chamber of Secrets.
So . . . all in all, a better effort. BUT, Harry still looks like he just stumbled out of a crew meeting on early 80s Bill Murray vehicle Meatballs.
Again, the Kibuishi image is a strong one, vibrant with color and focused on a moment. You can see Ron and Harry peeking out of the back of the Ford Anglia and any picture that takes the time to devote itself to The Burrow is going to win me over.

Winner: Kazu . . . but it's closer than you think.

Year 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 

The improvements that were made in Chamber of Secrets seem to have slipped back a step or two in the original art. I'm not suggesting that the image is too overwhelming, because it isn't. But the figure shapes have simply always bothered me. The hippogriff just doesn't seem right--and that is saying something for a creature that combines the torso and hind quarters of a horse with the head, wings, and (paws?) of an . . . eagle?

So maybe Grand Pre is kind of doomed from the start. But also, Harry look excessively cartoonish here. His legs are weird and he looks chubby and distorted. And while we don't get to see much of Hermione here, she's not looking that great either. (The full image maybe makes things more coherent, but still not a favorite of mine.) 

The new Kazu Kibuishi image is much, much stronger. Talk about drama! But I do have two quibbles. I feel that this cover leans especially hard on the imagery of the movie. And the color blue slips back into the picture here again (and its only the third book). This is a problem that I'll be coming back to again.

Winner: Kazu . . . fairly easily, it turns out.

Year 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

Now . . . now we've got some serious competition here! The Grand Pre cover on the right is easily the strongest one examined so far. Harry looks like an actual person and not like a cartoon from the Great Depression. The presence of the three other Triwizard champions behind Harry don't distract me, mostly because Harry is drawn so well for a change and there isn't lots of other cluttery scenery. And, if you, like me wondered what Harry was standing in front of (a Venus fly trap? Brer Rabbit's briar patch?), wonder no more. But while Harry looks much better here, his slovenly clothes are sort of problematic . . . and NOT for the last time.

You might think that I'm going to give this one to Grand Pre . . . but LOOK at that Kibuishi cover! Yes, again, it owes a bit too much to the movie image that I think it should. But having that Horntail come right at you is pretty dramatic stuff.

Winner: Um . . . I've got to give it to Grand Pre on this one. This was the first BIG book and the start of the real Harry Potter boom in the U.S. began as people were waiting for this book to be published. The pressure was on and she delivered an iconic image. (It was in Newsweek--back when Newsweek mattered.)

Year 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Blue, blue, blue! Everything is blue. But this is only Grand Pre's (on the right side, in case you're unsure) first use of blue (or purple or whatever. I'm color-blind, okay?) Kibuishi has already gone down this color palate twice before.
Again, strong Harry figure by Grand Pre this time. And things aren't cluttered or confused. This is a dramatic image telling a story. Harry is in charge and figuring stuff out, y'all! He's not chubby goofball on a bizarre hippogriff. He's got his wand out and he's ready to kick some Deatheater ass!
Kazu's cover is a very good one. The scene is pretty and energetic and the detail of Harry's face is really, really strong. But . . . Order of the Phoenix is a significant book for me.
I was firmly on the bandwagon by this time, but OotP was the first HP book that I had to wait for. It was the first one that I preordered. It was the one that arrived on my door step the weekend after my second daughter was born. I took advantage of my visiting mother-in-law, who was helping with the infant and sped through Phoenix in record time. (And then immediately handed it over for her to read.) Sure, Harry acted like a git through most of the book. But still . . .

Winner: Grand Pre

Year 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 

I've always like the green of Grand Pre cover image on the right. And since Half-Blood Prince is #1B in my ranking of favorite Harry Potter books, I'm going to be hard pressed to be objective about how I rate this one. All right, how about I criticize Grand Pre's full image for being sort of disjointed and not really unified? And how about I criticize the way that she draws the Death Eater mark in the sky? Is that enough?

Kazu Kibuishi's image is really blue (again!), and really based on the movie image. So, those are things I don't like immediately. Also, Harry's invisibility cloak looks kinda like Metro Man's cape for some reason. So, points off for that . . . I guess. But it's a really strong image overall. This is a really close call.

Winner: Push! 

Year 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Now, can I POSSIBLY end up voting against Grand Pre's iconic image for Deathly Hallows (on the right)? After I spend so much time listening to Pottercast theories about what this scene represented while we waited for the book to be released? What was he reaching up for? Where is he? What's going ON??!!! So many theories!

BUT! Here again, I've never liked Harry's clothes in this image. Too slovenly (as was hinted at in Goblet of Fire above. And the full image brings back the curtain effect that wasn't enjoyable in Sorcerer's Stone. And, I just don't like the Voldemort imagery in that full image either. Even with those criticisms however . . .

Kibuishi's cover is a good one. AND it is the only one that focuses on the Trio, which is appropriate as they form such a vital grouping throughout this story. The background coloration stands out dramatically against the pearly color of the dragon and also is a nod to the sunrise coloration that makes Grand Pre's cover so dramatic. Kibuishi's cover is very, very good and much, MUCH better than the original Bloomsbury version that I have always disliked.

Winner: Mary Grand Pre. (I've simply GOT to.)

The final tally? 3 for Kazu Kibuishi and 3 for Mary Grand Pre with one push.

I guess I really wimped out here. But I think what I've learned is that Grand Pre's art improved as the series grew in popularity and import. She was riding the roller coaster (though probably in a car farther back on the train) along with Jo. And she helped define the characters before Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson overwhelmed things at the end.

Kazu Kibuishi's job was hard, no doubt. He has to introduce the stories to a new generation who (somehow?) are approaching it for the first time or most likely were introduced to the movies first. (A tragedy.) And so, I guess I forgive him a bit for relying on movie imagery as much as I think he did. And his images are striking and really, really nice.

But I think I let my nostalgia win me over in the final analysis. We'll see what I purchase when I have to start replacing my worn down HP books in a few more years.

 

BEDA 14: Martins Films

Yesterday afternoon, while I was baring my soul, the girls were out back making a movie. They asked if they could download the iMovies app for the iPad and Grace said she would pay for it out of her allowance. So I said yes. And the three of them went out there and made The Princess of Pink. (The story idea was Hannah's but I think Sarah and Grace handled most of the scene creation.)

They were so pleased with that effort that they quickly came inside and started a new movie, while I gave Hannah a bath.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is The 10-Year Old Spy.

(This blogging every day thing is pretty easy if my kid's handle the content creation.)

Book review: The Casual Vacancy

You may think that I'm terribly behind the times, reviewing a book by J.K. Rowling that has been available for months and months and months. And you would be absolutely right. But I got the book as a Christmas gift just a few weeks ago and just finished reading it a few days ago. (Hey, I've got lots to do with my actual paying job and what with being a father and husband all the time.)

And so now I have the time to chime in on what I felt about Rowling's adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, the book that pushed her away from kid's stuff and young adults, and fantasy, and magical places.

But . . . I found lots of things that were familiar in The Casual Vacancy that fans of the Harry Potter world would recognize--even if they were disappointed by the stunning lack of Daedalus Diggle. And so, in what may be a grand disappointment to Mrs. Rowling, I'll likely refer back to her Harry Potter works throughout my review of her non-Harry Potter work. She may decry this as typecasting or a lack of creativity on my part. But I choose to think that it is in recognition of her core values as a person that are coming through, no matter the setting.


People

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black said to Harry that "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Such a philosophy describes the people of Pagford, the English village setting of Rowling's book. There are many people within the story who show a range of motivations, emotions (both external and internal), and points of view. Some are decidedly Dursleyish. But Rowling tries to allow even the people that you don't want to root for to have some personality that you might be able to understand. (Meaning, there is no one who is painted quite as badly as say, Delores Umbridge.

These people are all eaten up inside with resentments, remembered slights, personal grudges, and the constant back and forth of our petty, petty mind. As John Green has said in many different places and ways you have to try to imagine people complexely. What is going on inside people's mind is very rarely what they show to the outside world. But if we keep everything hidden, does that do us any good? (People should just blog more to let it out.)

Places and Events

Imagine the story of David Lynch's Blue Velvet but plopped in the middle of Harry's Muggle neighborhood of Privet Drive and Little Whinging. It is a pretty commonplace location, with normal people. But peel back their layers and you find the darkness underneath. Much of the story of The Casual Vacancy is driven by interior thoughts, fears, and past grievances. And the reader is left wondering if the characters are as aware of what drives them as we are. We can pity the people and (I presume) Rowling wants us to learn from their weaknesses as well, so that we can not follow their petty mistakes and prejudices as we live our own lives.

The plot of The Casual Vacancy turns on the vacancy of a seat on the Pagford parish council governing body and how the maneuverings to fill that spot reveal everything about the characters, how they view their world, and how they define what that world is to them. It is a small plot, narrowed down to a time and a place. But by going small, Rowling carefully examines the many small choices that constitute a personality.

Philosophy and Politics

While reading the book, I thought that this book was a clear reflection of this time--an England in the 21st century, stuck in recession, combating poverty, and the tension between the past and social transformation. Rowling comments on the political bickering that occurs in her culture and ours about both side of our political dichotomy. How should we treat the poor? How much weight does each of us place on the role of social complexity versus personal responsibility? How constant a role should government play in assisting the disadvantaged? Should it be a public effort or a private effort?

It's like lifting the October arguments I've witness on Facebook and reshaping them into a narrative of fictional characters. And that is where any power this book may have resides--in asking us to think about the actions and thoughts of these characters and then be honest with ourselves about who we root for, who we view with contempt, and how we want the actions of the book to play out.

Result

In the end, I enjoyed the book, not because it was such a skillful story (thought I did enjoy it for that), but for the opportunity it offers to make me think about these social issues from a different point of view. I don't want to say that I've solidified my views for all time, because I think one of the points in this story is that holding a rigid world view is a way to get lost in the past as the world changes around you. I want to be sympathetic, and charitable to the needs of the disadvantaged. I want to provide them with a chance to get the tools they need to improve their lives. And I think layers of responsibility must come with those aids, to identify those who are trying to make their lives better and give them better chances to succeed.

Give the book a read for yourself and see what it says to you.

She's certainly committed to her persona, I'll give her that!

Yesterday morning, driving to work, listening to Morning Edition on NPR, I heard an interview with entertainer and cultural gadabout Martha Stewart. And, I listened, because I like the types of things that she talks about and I enjoy her final products--even if I think she is waaaaay too determined to be the absolute best at entertaining to a microscopically insane degree.

The part of the interview that really caught my ear, however, was near the end when she made mention of the clay Nativity set that she made by hand while incarcerated a few years ago. (You can see a NPR-provided picture of the set below.)

Credit: npr.org

As she explained, while in the minimum-security institution, she unearthed the molds to this Nativity and then scrimped, traded, and saved her rationed goods to purchase clay to make each figurine. I imagined her joining up with a Red-like figure and negotiating a-la Shawshank Redemption to get whatever she needed to make this happen.

It just surprised me, and perhaps proves once and for all that the person Stewart presents to the camera is in-face who she really is. Because only the TV-personal Martha would make creating such a Nativity while in prison a priority above other things. So, if that makes her authentic . . . I guess I should applaud her.

Why Didn't They Just Name it HAL and Begin the Enslavement?

This text was cut and pasted from the New York Times Live blog of the Apple products announcement today (featuring the iPhone 4s). The commenter below got it correct when they say that it presages the first steps in the doom of the human race. (The microphone icon in the picture below even reminds me of HAL's malevolent red eye if I squint just right.)

***

2:14 P.M. Better Voice Control for the iPhone

"We left one thing out," says Mr. Schiller. "It's about our voice." This is the fruit of Apple's acquisition of Siri, a startup that has been working on voice-control features. Siri is now a feature on the iPhone. "It's an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done, just by asking."
"Probably the craziest thing you can do is do a voice-recognition demo on stage, live," says Mr. Schiller. "But we're going to do it anyway."

2:16 P.M. Demonstrating Voice Control on the iPhone

Scott Forstall, Apple's iOS chief, is back on stage. He asks the phone, "What is the weather today?" The phone replies, "Here is the weather for today," and displays the weather screen.
Mr. Forstall asks, "Do I need a raincoat today?" The phone replies, "It sure looks like rain today," and shows the weather screen again.
"What time is it in Paris?" he asks. The phone replies with the time in Paris and shows a clock. "Wake me up at 6 a.m.," says Mr. Forstall. "O.K., I've set an alarm for 6 a.m. tomorrow," the phone replies. This is amazing. And freaky.
Apple's set up a partnership with Yelp as well. "Find me a great Greek restaurant in Palo Alto." The phone says: "I've located 14 Greek restaurants. Five are in Palo Alto. I've sorted them by rating."
Mr. Forstall: "Do I have any meetings this Friday at noon?" Phone: "You don't have any meetings on Friday at noon."
You can ask Siri for directions. It can read text messages to you. You can reply or ask it to read them again.

2:22 P.M. More Features of Siri, Voice Control on iPhone

Siri can schedule events in your calendar, read messages, take dictation, all by voice. You can create a reminder by voice. "Remind me to call my wife when I leave work," says Mr. Forstall. Siri, based on previous conversations, knows who your wife is and uses geolocation to remind you when you leave a location. You can search Wikipedia by voice.
Apple has also linked up with Wolfram Alpha to provide data and definitions for Siri to access. "Define mitosis," says Mr. Forstall. Siri generates and reads back a definition.
We are clearly headed to Terminator/HAL territory here. Humans are doomed. Deal with it.

Mr Forstall asks Siri, "Who are you?" Siri replies, "I am a humble personal assistant."
That's just chilling.

***

Take THAT Quikster!

We've been Netflix subscribers for around two years now (but really, who can say anymore, as time speeds up as I get older) and we've enjoyed it quite a bit. After we bought a Wii, I eventually hooked onto the streaming service, which the kids (mostly Hannah) also take advantage of on our iPhones.

So, when Netflix announced their pricing adjustments two months ago, I wasn't too upset. I knew we wouldn't abandon the service all together. I just wondered if we'd choose to keep the one-physical-disk-at-a-time plan and drop the streaming or commit to streaming only and give up the physical disk. I liked the convenience of streaming and the fact that it carried over to the Wii and our phones and iPad. But the selection was significantly skewed to TV shows only and not as current. The movie selection was decidedly underwhelming.

After asking some other people what they were going to do and then thinking about it a bit more, we decided to go full steaming only. I am hoping that as Netflix pushed for more streaming focus, they would use the revenue to improve the streaming library and catch up to more current, just-out-of-the-theater releases. And I also realized that dropping streaming would cut Hannah off from her iPhone/iPad usage of the Netflix app and she would be pretty sad.

So, that is where we are now . . . but we've also introduced a new element into the mix. We're adding RedBox to the choices when we want a  movie for the kids on Friday nights or when Lynda and I just want to watch something on the spur of the moment. We've found it very convenient, as there are machines all around us and we can search and reserve what we want before we go get it via the iPhone app.

 

Just last night, for instance, we got a movie for the girls to watch and Lynda and I chose Thor. And I'll say that I am increasingly impressed with how Marvel Entertainment has handled their Avengers franchise. If all started with the (mostly) successful Spiderman movies within the last decade to raise the brand to prominence and then really got kick-started with the Iron Man movies. Add in this summer's addition of Thor and Captain America (and the much needed reboot of Hulk--which I haven't seen yet) and it will all mesh into next summers Avengers movie where all of these guys (minus Spidey, I think) will join forces with Sam Jackson's S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury to create a hellacious cross-over event that might make Comic-Con explode before next summer arrives.

The thing I find most impressive is how Marvel Entertainment has plotted and interconnected each stand-alone film into a piece of the whole, allowing each character to get their focused introductory film while providing bits of inter-connectedness (the ever present S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that pops up in each film along with a teaser scene of Fury after the end credts) to let you know what is being built.

And that's even before I mention (and for which I'm sure you already know) that Joss Whedon is prominently involved in the Avengers film. Truly it shall be comic nerd nirvana.

The Little Things

So, I'm sitting on the couch this morning playing Angry Birds and listening to iTunes (my 4 Stars playlist, if you're interested . . . and yes, I know . . . what a productive Saturday morning!) . . .

. . . and as I'm trying to work out how to destroy this batch of stupid pigs, my shuffle throws up The Remus Lupins "I Was a Teenage Werewolf."

(By the way, I should point out that Sarah is across the room reading the Hunger Games on the opposite couch. And that Lynda and Grace and Hannah are off getting party supplies.)

Andbutso . . . the Remus Lupins is (are?) singing about how challenging it was to be a teenager and dealing with the struggles of lycanthrope and being misunderstood and whatnot. And I'm fighting the pigs. And Sarah is reemersing herself in the much more dire stuggles of Katniss Everdeen.

And a lyric in the song comes up as follows "At Hogwarts, its true we ruled the school/and you could never be as cool/as you are with Marauders at your side . . ." etc, etc. etc.

The point was this/that was just building the scenery . . .

(Providing all of the backstory is HARD . . . and I'm not even done.)

And so, as this song lyric is floating across the room from my iPad to Sarah's couch, I lift my head and look across at her. And I see (as I suspected) that she was doing the same thing to me--looking up and looking across.

(You see, just a few days before, we were watching Harry Potter Puppet Pals, "The Vortex" and we were laughing at how Puppet Harry was acting so differently than actual Harry every would--getting angry and resentful  and arrogant and saying "I'm Harry Potter; I rule the school!" and here was this random moment where The Remus Lupins was using that same phrasing of "ruling the school" and I look up and Sarah looks up . . .)

And we made the same wordless, eyebrows raised, head bob manuever to each other and then just started laughing.

**

I suppose, from another perspective this seems very narcissistic of me . . . but I found it affirming instead. To know that I have made an impact in her life--even if that impact is (in this case) a shallow one that may not mean much in the larger scheme of her life development . . . well, it is these things that I as a parent cherish.

Book/Memory

Over the last few days and week, I've been sporadically picking up House of Leaves to reread. This morning, while Lynda was napping to recover from her chaperon time at last night's Girl Scout sleepover, I finished things up while the girls played.

Now, I didn't sit down and read the book through again. Mostly I opened it up near the beginning to where the last bookmark was and starting reading the Navidson family parts. (I skipped the Johnny Truant/Zampano parts, as I have tended to do the last two or three times I've reentered the book.)

It is the story of the house exploration that has always interested me the most since I first read it. And whenever I do reread it, it always reminds me of those first few years at my job and those people that I worked with then, who have become my close friends. Though we are not all together anymore and even the ones of us who are still working are doing so in very different capacities than  before, this book always conjures up that time.

That time when I transitioned from grad school into the working life. That time when my family began to grow. That time when I started really figuring out who the adult me was going to be. That time that led me to this time.

House of Leaves is a book that I have blogged on before and I've probably spent some time in a previous post several years ago attempting to describe the plots of the narrative. (So, now might be a good time to try the search feature that I have helpfully located in the side bar of my blog. See if you can successfully search for mentions of the book in past entries. And if you do find something, why not mention it in the comments below? And provide a helpful link to the URL? The digital world is supposed to be a collaborative medium after all.)

But, if none of that works out, I'm sure you can find information about the book online. (Heck, I'll probably go searching after I'm done writing this to see what I can find that I've forgotten about in the past.)

HoL is the closest thing I can find that approximates the reading challenge that was Infinite Jest, the other significant book that conjures up the time period that I was mentioning a few paragraphs above. (And I am excitedly looking forward to David Foster Wallace's posthumous novel The Pale King.) Both IJ and HoL challenge the reader in multiple ways--narratively, chronologically, visually. Both are mind-bendingly complex, and both make you wonder what you have learned when you are done. Such complexity, of course, lends itself to repeated visits, hoping that you learn a bit more each time.

So, if you are looking for something new and you want a challenge, House of Leaves is a good recommendation.

Just don't expect it to be an easy read on a Sunday afternoon.

SURPRISE! "Collapse into Now"

Wait, what?

A new R.E.M. album is coming in March?



I didn't know I should get excited until right now.

30 for 30: Unmatched

This week's ESPN Films offering in the 30 for 30 series is Unmatched, a film reviewing the decade-and-a-half rivalry (and even longer friendship) between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

Beginning in the late 1970s and stretching to the end of the 1980s, these two women battled back and forth across the world and the tennis rankings to be the number one women's player. They met 80 different times, 14 of them being in Grand Slam final, and their rivalry and respect for one another defined their careers.

The information of this film is old news, but what made this film different was its method. The filmmakers put these two together in a North Carolina coastal bungalow, turned on the cameras, and filmed a weekend of remembrances. The people behind the camera edited out their questions, presenting a film with only two voices--those of Martina and Chris.

It was, undeniably, a film targeted at more of a female audience than any of the previous films in this series (and NOT just because of the women's tennis subject matter). But I liked it quite a bit--even though I am not a woman. The height of their rivalry, in the 80s, was when I cared about tennis the most as a spectator, so I was very familiar with the subject matter.

If you get a chance to watch Unmatched, I recommend you take the hour.

BEDAu Day 16: My news is NOT all of woe!

See the video for my reaction to the wonderful gift that I got in the mail today from my good friend and long-lost colleague Lulu.

The video I made doesn't do justice to the beauty of the thing and it throws in a particularly horrible angle on my face that I wouldn't blame you from running away from the screen to avoid. But if you decide to hang in there, you will be rewarded with some much prettier footage of a very special and thoughtful gift.

I know how you feel, Bella

"Time had not made me immune to its perfection, and I was sure I would never take any aspect of them for granted. My eyes traced over its baked, brown features: the crispness of its edge, the undulations of its middle (promising the treasure within) . . .

I saved its chips for last, knowing that when I looked at them I was likely to lose my train of thought. They were warm, slightly gooey, and shiny with the oven's recent heat. Staring at them (and even more . . . biting into them) made me feel extraordinary--sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also a little lightheaded, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Again."

[With (slight) apologies to Stephenie Meyers, "Eclipse" p. 17]



-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Back before Stephen Colbert ran for the presidency there was Pat Paulson.

Back before Jon Stewart criticized the government, there was the Smothers Brothers.

I was too young--actually not yet born--to remember the show during its original air dates in the late 1960s. But I was a bit familiar with the show and I did grow up a huge fan of The Carol Burnett Show--which owed much of its early existence to The Smother Brothers show. I also enjoyed Laugh-In (eventually), which was kind of like TSBCH's younger, more popular, hip brother.

David' Bianculli's book on this important show of the Vietnam Era has been a long-time labor of love. Bianculli, who I know best for his Friday hosting duties on NPR's "Fresh Air with Terri Gross" grew up watching the show and has long been a fan. The book grew out of the Smothers Brothers specific request to tell the story of their show, giving him absolute freedom (it seems) to tell the tale, warts and all.

And it is a good story. It shows how TV was beginning to shift from the hyper controlled studio/network-controlled system of the Tube's earliest days and shifting into a more "artistic" direction. Much like Hollywood film's simiar transformation from studio-controlled spectacle films to more auteur-driven works of art that are the reflection of a singular vision, TSBCH came along to challenge the television studios. And challenge is the central theme of the book, chronociling the ongoing and ever-increasing battle between Tom Smothers (the creative force behind much of the show) and the CBS censors. This battle, where Tom wanted to constantly push the boundaries of television in new directions while also using the televised platform to speak his mind against Vietnam, LBJ, and Nixon, led to the show's cancellation at the end of the third season.

One of the best things I can say about the book is that it made me want to seek out DVDs of the show's three seasons and experience the many skits, musical performances, and ideas that Bianculli carefully describes.

Of course, the things that were seen as so scandalous to the CBS censors in 1968 are laughably tame by the far more lax standards of today. But even just two or so years past the cancellation of TSBCH, Norman Lear's All in the Family was doing things far more scandalous than the topical variety show put together by Tom and Dick Smothers.

So, if you like the history of political protest; if you like television history; if you like a true story, well told, give this one a try.

Saturday's Dream

As I mentioned on Twitter Saturday morning, I had a particularly odd dream Friday night. It was influenced by many things that I will try to tease out as I describe the events.

First, I was locked in a life and death struggle with a dragon. I was wearing a very fancy suit of protective armor and I weilded a blade (more on that odd bit of detail later) and had a shield.

My armor was more of the decorated leather variety--not the fancy, ceremonial plated suit stuff that jousters wear at medieval faires. It looked brownish and definitely had metal decorations on the shield. It was the shield that I remember moat, because I was frequently using it to shield myself from the dragon's flames.

I called the armor "mithril" in my tweet, referring to Tolkien's elvish armor. But it wasn't fine silver. I guess I used that word because the metal decorations stood out during the dream and it seemed lightweight.

The location of the battle was also noteworthy . . . my girl's bathroom. It was definitely a very confinded space, which is partly why I referenced Jason Bourne. In his movies, he's often engaged in confined hand-to-hand combat with an adversary. And that is what this dragon battle was like: me and it in very close proximity, with constant use of the shield to avoid flames.

All of this is pulling scenarios from my media explorations. And the feeling that it was a competition of sorts related to "The Hunger Games" book that I read the last two days. I'll speak about it mire in a separate post, but the book centers around a battle to the death set in a dystopic future. So I guess that somehow transformed into a Bourne-style dragon battle?

All of this might be odd enough, but what if I told you that the dragon didn't look like a dragon at all? What if the only thing that made me sense it as a dragon was a) the fire breathing and b) that peculiar bit of dream (il)logic that tells you things that seem contradictory? And finally, what if I told you that the (non)dragon looked just like . . . ME?!

So, here I am in the kids bathroom struggling to survive a battle with a dragonish David doppelgänger.

How did I survive?

In perhaps the most bizarre way possible. I used the only weapon I had with me. A small dagger-like knife. But it wasn't just any old knife. It was pink . . . and the pink handle had a Mattel Barbie logo emblazoned on it. But it was sharp and in such close quarters, the only way that I could slay the beast was to plunge the Barbie dagger into the wide open eyeball of the doppelganger. In doing this I confirmed the Barbie-ness of the blade, since I got (rather the victorious me) . . . got a very good look at the logo as it slid into the opponents eye.

Mercifully, that is when I woke up. It was a bit freaky, to be sure.

But . . . what can it mean? Why was the dragon me? Why the familiar location? Why the distinctly odd weapon of choice?

Was it some way of my subconscious worrying about me being surrounded by women, and somehow trying to keep hold of whatever is my particular brand of masculinity? Or was it simply too much pizza for dinner and the pressures of hosting a sleepover?

What do you think, friend? Chime in with your interpretations and suggested therapies.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

LOST Links (preemptive strike edition)

As you may remember, last week I went into a LOST episode flying nearly blind--meaning that I had not read articles about it ahead of time. I didn't know who the episode focused on (helped by--for once--intelligent promos from ABC that didn't go into excruciating detail), I didn't read internet articles ahead of time, and I generally relaxed and let it wash over me.

And while it didn't make the episode a transcendent experience, I did enjoy the ability to enjoy everything as a brand new experience.

Time and schedule may mean that I do a similar thing this week. As of this sitting at the keyboard (7:17 pm on Monday night) I can't tell you anything about tomorrow night's episode. But what I can do is provide you some interesting reflections on last week's episode and on LOST in general.

I first read this author's posts for the "Lighthouse" episode a few weeks ago and I was struck with how nicely the arguments were put together. I recommend (unread!) this one for last week's "Sundown" as well.

As I've told you before, blogger "fishbiscuit"'s super detailed LOST recaps are an acquired taste. But if you've got twenty minutes to spare, you are guaranteed to read something you probably won't find anywhere else and may encounter thoughts like nothing you've seen . . . regarding LOST as least. Here is one for "Lighthouse," since I can't remember if I provided it last time round. And here is one for last week's "Sundown" episode.

Here's an odd new link that I don't usually provide--a audio podcast (and from a normally sport-related source, no less). Last week ESPN's Bill Simmon's held one of his semi-regular chats with one of my favorite writers, Chuck Klosterman. In the nearly two hour podcast--split into two parts--they discussed everything from racism in the NBA to Twitter to I don't even remember it all. I recommend the entire two parts just because Klosterman is always interesting and thoughtful. But if you are only interested in the last twenty minutes or so where they discuss LOST in general, follow this link for part two and fast forward the audio to the 18 minute mark.

And then let's jump quickly from audio to video. Many of the LOST actors met up with Exec. Producers Cuse and Lindelof last week in Los Angeles for Paleyfest. There fans and others quizzed them about LOST and generally celebrated the show and the creativity behind it all. I havent' spent time reviewing the videos linked here, but I'm betting there are some interesting questions and thoughtful responses from a good group of actors. And there are probably some good laughs spread out in there as well. Follow this link for a series of YouTube videos capturing most (if not all) of the session. And beware of possible spoilers, though they might be out of date depending upon when you watch the material on the link?

And beyond those links, I always check in with "Doc" Jensen's coverage on Entertainment Weekly. And many, many other Web sites are also doing good stuff with LOST, such as Alan Sepinwall and the A.V. Club. (Thanks, Chris!)

Well, you get the idea.

Happy linkage! And please let me know your opinions.

Better late than never?

I ran across this via a tweet the other day (originally posted when the Olympics were actually happening) and didn't follow up on it right away.

So, yes, it's technically dated in that the Olympics ended a few days ago. But since it is actually functioning as a retrospective on past actions, its dated in a good way.


And besides, who doesn't love spending a few minutes on the success or failure of graphic design?

You can check out the video here.