Hey gang

Sorry for the late late late update folks, there was passover, then I was in Oregon, and then it was desperate last minute scramble for finishing school work. But I’m back and will hopefully now stick to the actual schedule from now on. But now to talk.

Firstly, for those of you who have never participated in a seder, I highly recommend it. Yes it can be a little long, and you may not be able to follow the Hebrew, but it is a very beautiful ceremony that you should experience in full at least once, even if you aren’t jewish.

secondly Portland is pretty awesome for two reasons. One is Powel’s Books. The single largest bookstore on the west coast, home to two million books on site and another ten on line, it is the mecca for literature nerds such as my self. The second reason is the bridge that connects it to Washington state, called the bridge of the gods. While the bridge is rather unassuming the name is just so awesome you know your going to love it. The country side is great and I would highly recommend going to the art museum if you are out that way.

On a Book note, The Resurrection of Mathew Swift series is actually really good. While the dialogue can be a bit hit or miss with one or two characters the majority are well written and quite personable (except for the villains) It’s primary attraction, however, is it’s rather novel take on magic. Life is magic you see, and as life becomes more urban, so too does magic. The terms and rules of the underground station are a powerful warding, and wizards a more likely to summon up the spirit of tar than the spirit of a tree. It’s very nice to see someone turning the conventions of general wizardry on their head, and I always appreciate someone willing to experiment

in Comic news… characters are getting fleshed out, and starting to get their own distinct tones and foibles. No updates on the art side, as I am the one who is lagging behind, but there should be good progress in the next two weeks.

RP stuff! – as some of you know (maybe, I don’t know how many of you are actual readers and how many are just me checking to see if anyone is reading) I am writing/creating a steampunk D&D setting/ruleset/world/everything else. It’s based on the Iron Kingdoms books, but with airships, if any one is interested in either helping or playing, let me know.

Passover

as some of you may know, tonight is the start of passover. As you probably don’t know, my family was hosting the seder dinner. Which is really cool but takes forever, so this is first chance I’ve gotten away. I’ll post a more detailed blog tomorrow.

Late, late, for the blog update!

Hey guys, sorry I’m a day late but I was recovering from my robotics regional. It was a couple long disappointing nights, and in the end we came home with a big nothing. But it was fun all the same and I would do it again if given the option. Actually, give me a few weeks and I’ll be able to answer that honestly, as I just envisioned another build season and literally had to go have a bit of a lie down. Anyways, onto topics.

First in comic news: Olivia and I are working on getting the website all squared away currently, as well as considering attending some sort of “con” to promote what will be Howland. So it’s getting there folks, no worries.

Things I am reading: I want to actually mention two things here. One is John Dies at the End, which was written by the editor of cracked.com. Not exactly the sort of website from which one expects sophistication, but it is rather funny. When he mentioned that he was writing a book I honestly thought he was joking. But it is real, and it is actually quite good. It has this weird rollicking tone. That swings from fecal and genitalia jokes to really dark and terrifying horror, and it works. It’s sort of like reading a cross between a stand-up comedian and H.P. Lovecraft. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone but if you are looking for something a little different you should check it out.

The second thing I wanted to mention was the comic, The Unwritten. It’s a bit of conspiracy comic and I’ve only read the first issue, but I’ve liked what I have seen. I’ll allow wikipedia to do the summary as it’s reasonably accurate and I honestly can’t do it justice without giving stuff away. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unwritten. Just give it a shot and see what you think.

finally, John Stewart had the single most magical episode of his show ever.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-18-2010/conservative-libertarian

It’s good to see someone calling Glenn to task by simply pointing out how ridiculous he really is. Yes I know he’s just supposed to be a commenter, and we aren’t supposed to take him literally as a journalist. He’s giving us his opinion. Unfortunately Fox likes to treat those opinions as facts by having their actual journalist talking heads repeat them ad nauseum. It’s trading the integrity of our country for a few rating points and it makes me more than a little ill.

The thing that pisses me off the most is this line of Glenn’s “If you ask anyone who really looks at global politics and they will tell you what the new goal is…China!”

….Who is saying that Glenn? You. Fox New’s puppet heads, and three conspiracy theorists who also think the moon landing was faked. But the way he phrases it encourages his listeners to not ask questions. it implies “all of the experts think this, and thus so should you!” and that’s what the average lazy American is going to do. I am so angry at this that I can’t even form coherent verbal sentences. I need some Tums, and an America that isn’t apathetic and ignorant. One out of two isn’t bad I guess.

anyways, next week I’ll talk about Arkham Horror, Off Armageddon Reef, and anything else I happen to find that is interesting.

Dénouement 3

Alright, now I get to write about fun stuff.

I’ve recently picked up the “Off Armageddon Reef” series again, which is really quite excellent. It’s written by David Weber of Honor Harrington fame and it’s good to see him branching out. It’s an interesting series with a clash of 1800, 1600, and future technology. It sounds strange but you should read it anyways

Second, you should all read Simon R. Greene’s Nightside series. Yes right now. Yes all of it, don’t worry it’s short. Really it’s a bit of a parody of pulp fiction noir detectives, but when one of the character is introduced as “Susy, also known as oh christ it’s her run!” you know you have a winner.

Kick Ass received five stars from IGN, and almost every other review I’ve seen has been very positive, which essentially translates to “go see this movie, please for the love of all that is good don’t let it die at the box office.” (ok maybe I’m being a little dramatic but come on folks it looks really funny)

Contest news! People keep dropping, and then rejoining, and then dropping again. You have two weeks left, just draw something. I don’t want to have only one entry, no matter how fantastic. (I think next time I’ll forget to mention that she’s entered).

in comic news, the main character is getting more drawn, and by that I mean we have a page of heads and by that I mean exactly what I said, we literally have a piece of paper that is just filled with different shots of his head. Other than that not much has happened beyond some more fight scene set up and other stuff that I can’t talk about because that would spoil the suprise. It will be up hopefully around June, and will start updating on a regular basis in August.

It’s been a while

First, I want to apologize to all of you who check this blog on a regular basis. These past few weeks have been rather trying (robotics, mock trial, and a funeral) and I have fallen a bit off the update wagon. But I am back to stay, and hopefully you will forgive me.

But now, onto the work.

I have found it rather interesting to read about the selection behind the nobel prize for literature. As it is widely considered the highest award one can receive, I feel that it is important to not only have an understanding of it, but also have an idea as to what exactly has won it. It is interesting to note the evolution of the evaluation criteria, as well as how the scope widened to not just Europe, but the whole world.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/articles/espmark/index.html

One thing that I did notice is that quite a number of the winners are people who I have never had any exposure to. Looking at the list, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/, I only recognize perhaps five names out of the total. It’s a bit of a shock considering that fact that I consider myself quite well read, yet these people are completely alien to me. The more I read this, I realize that I am not so much talking about modern “literature” as I am talking about modern fiction. For example, the of the Hugo Awards  (http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/ )(which are for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy) I recognize almost everyone. And thus I have discovered my problem. It is not literature that I have seen being dismantled, but fiction. So that is what I shall focus, primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_fantasy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_fiction

Now, what exactly is causing this decline in quality? simple, the appeal to mass media. As these genres try to appeal to broader and broader bases, they lose quite a bit of what made them good. For example, let us compare H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos with modern horror, such as The Crazies or 28 days later. In the Mythos, there is almost nothing but buildup. The characters have not just no power, but almost no hope. They are combating gods older than time it self, and the most they can do is delay them. This isn’t in your face scares, it’s the subtle terror of realizing that you are not the center of the universe, and your house just might be bigger on the inside than the out. Most modern horror focuses primarily on shock scares. In the movies things jump out at you, in the books it’s a contest to see what can be the most disgusting, the most revolting, to the most people. There is rarely a slow build up, rarely anything of genuine horror. That is the appeal to the mass audience. Everyone jumps, everyone feels a little queasy. Yet what is lost is that real bone chilling terror. Because to be able to achieve that special level of terrified, a reader must invest in the book, must be willing to believe, even for an instant, that what has been written is true. Most people can’t do that with subtle horrors.

This mass media appeal is killing the genres. It stops being about the story, and starts being about the money, the movie rights, anything but what it’s supposed to be.

well at least it’s given me a topic.

Oh, I did promise that I would have some sort of discussion of good books after last time, so here it is, http://www.lspace.org/books/analysis/christopher-bryant.html.

Yep it is Prachett in all his glory. His fantasy is actually firmly grounded in a number of issues, and he’s willing to talk about anything, (unlike escapism fantasy which I’ll hit on next week). His setting of Discworld (a giant disk on the back of four elephants which are on the back of a turtle that flies through space) allows him ample room to poke fun at any number of things, from the gold standard to our concept of vampires, nothing is safe from his rather fantastic mind. If you have yet to read any of his books I heartily suggest that you do so.

Dénouement 2

Ahhhh here we are again. Another week has come and gone and I’m here to talk to you rather than just over my topic.

First up is contest news! I have thus far confirmed two entries, so come on folks, draw like you’ve never drawn before! I’ve checked online, and there are literally no pictures of whale wizards, we shall be the first, which is actually pretty cool. Please let me know ahead of time if you intend to enter, so I can get your surprise ready (at this point, all surprises are individually based, if enough of you enter, I’ll have to come up with a generic one. I believe in you!)

second is comic news. Not a lot has changed since I last spoke on this, as unfortunately the illustrator and I have yet to be able to get together to really block out the next several scenes. So the introduction is written, blocked, and awaits drawing. I’ll keep you posted

Finally, I’ve started reading House of Leaves, which is really good. It’s also supremely terrifying, and I read the Mythos for fun. (If you don’t know what that is, I’ll address what to do in a minute) Although that may be part of the problem. I keep expecting horrible betentacled things to jump out from every corner and the suspense is killing me. But it’s fantastically strange, and I would recommend it to all of you.

If you have any questions or remarks, or if you are just seized by the urge to say something, feel free to do so in the comments, or email me at lynx91@comcast.net if you would prefer to keep it private (but honestly, there’s no reason to be ashamed of not knowing what the Mythos is)

Alright 2-7 let’s get to it

First off, I’m considering changing my exit topic a little. Primarily this will be a narrowing so that I can actually get some information, as well as making my exit project something other than a hate rant about Clancy (or Brown or Meyer or Someone else who deserves it). So instead of focusing on Modern Literature (which is a ridiculously broad field that has no real definition, unlike modernist literature which does and….look it gets a little technical just believe me) I will instead be focusing on the evolution of the Classic, which to say, what does the book that tops the charts say about our culture. So I’ll be looking at how books have become a marketed juggernaut of corporate controlled [the following section has been omitted due to foul language, while he's carrying on, please use this to distract yourself http://cute-n-tiny.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bunny11.jpg. Ok he's done] As far as research goes. this is it

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/

the company that published twilight? Owned by Time Warner, the largest media company in the world. They spent millions marketing these books, which they promptly turned into movies. The books themselves were chosen because of the cheap appeal they would have towards young girls, which really isn’t surprising until you really consider what it is that twilight teaches.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/11/twilight-lessons-girls-learn/

I could say this is all the proof you need that corporate America is misogynistic, but really they just want money. I believe that parents have started to really neglect what their kids are reading. They worry about the bad messages in Movies and Videogames. but if little Susy is reading, well at least it’s a book. The same thing happened with the Da Vinci Code. It was a popcorn thriller that got taken way to seriously because it was a book.

We hold the written word in this quasi sacred way, and yet are completely willing to read nothing but crap, which ensures the corps do nothing but print more, which kills out any good authors, which leads to there only being crap. It’s a vicious cycle.

That’s about all I have for this week, next week I’ll focus on good books, I promise