Terrible Analogies

Wow!

The trailer for the upcoming television show The Walking Dead really has me excited. I’m not big of TV in general, and haven’t followed a television show in many, many years (I loved Lost, but only watched it on DVD), but this trailer has me chompin’ at the bit. The acting looks solid, the production is top notch, and with big names attached I don’t see how it can fail.

It’s amazing that a studio is taking a gamble on this.  I’m happy to see that not every production company is gutless.

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Can’t wait for the 90 minute premier on October 31st!

To kill some time before the big premier, you might want to pick up a copy of World War Z by Max Brooks. This book gets behind the psychology of a global zombie invasion.  I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Books, Television Books, Television

In the past month I’ve managed to read three books;  one sci-fi book, another about the Iraq war, and the third book entitled A Walk In The Woods by a one Mr. Bill Bryson.  Much to my surprise, A Walk In The Woods happened to be the most entertaining book I’ve read in quite a long time.  I was honestly a bit sad to have finished it.

To say that AWitW was an “enjoyable read” would do this novel a great injustice.

To put it bluntly, A Walk In The Words is about the author’s bid to hike the Appalachian Trail.  Part journal, part historical record, and part fiction/non-fiction novel, AWitW covers everything from the pains encountered while hiking the AT, the shenanigans that go on in the National Parks Service, the history of the trail (from initial concept and construction to deaths (both natural and unnatural) on the AT), characters both famous and infamous, strange backwoods towns, day hikers and thru-hikers, how best to pack for such a trip (and how quickly your hiking partner can throw it all away on the trail), wildlife encounters, defending yourself against bear attacks with nail clippers, plant collecting, deforestation, land (mis)management, crazy cab drivers, sketchy motels, abandoned towns on fire, aggressive security guards, and the sense of longing for the trail months after having come home.

Oh, and for the record, I’d invite Katz to hike with me any time.

It’s evident that Bill Bryson did his homework on the AT.  With a thorough knowledge of the history of the AT he’s able to weave into the story great insights about the past and possible future of this 2,100+ mile trail.  His personal encounters with the people he met and the places he visited brings to life an isolated trail in the woods that is very much a world unto its own.  Even through the hardships and dangers, Bill makes hiking a trail that snakes its way through 14 different states seem like a calling.  I can’t help but find myself enamored with the thought of packing up a bag (don’t forget your waterproof outer cover), dropping out for a few months, hitching a ride to the trailhead and heading out into the unknown.

Peppered with humor and a scattershot of keen insight, A Walk In The Woods is a book that athletes and daydreamers of all levels should read.

Books Books

I often wonder, as I sit hunched over the computer in a darkened room late at night, my fingers tapping away at all-to-familiar keys, mangling verbs and bastardizing adjectives to the point where I feel they might be worthy of public consumption, just whose writing style does mine emulate?

Well, my question has finally been answered, thanks to I Write Like.

Plugging in a couple entries from my blog, and a couple more from some of my other works, I apparently write like Vladimir Nabokov, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Kurt Vonnegut.  I’m not sure what sort of algorithm they use to determine this information, but I’ll take it.  I like my ego stroked.

If I Write Like thinks my stories about suicidal socialites and a television weatherman forced to hunt down his disturbed brother sound like works that Neil and Kurt would author, then I’ll just keep plugging away at ‘em.

You never know.  There’s a slight chance that they’ll be published someday (yeah, right…).

So…whose writing style does yours most emulate?

Books, Writing Books

The blur that is the weekend doesn’t linger around long enough to wipe away the stink of the work week, but doing what I could with those fleeting hours that bookmark the drudgery of Monday to Friday I managed to:

Go running at my favorite training trail.  Me and my mutated right foot had a great time running the Ellie Lane trail at Iron Mountain.

Cleaned up the house.  In this picture, Nemesis takes up a defensive position to guard herself against her sworn enemy…the vacuum cleaner.

Started and completed the collected series of Concrete.  If you haven’t read Concrete, I highly suggest that you take a peek.  It’s one of the finest examples of independent comics from back in the day when the word “independent” really meant something.

Started and am now halfway through Chuck Palahniuk’s newest novel, Tell-All.  Man, that Hazie Coogan sure is one possessive, controlling woman.  If you’re an aging movie star, for God’s sake steer clear of her.

Got in a few sessions of running through all of the Cubes.  I geeked out hard on this, but I find it relaxing.

Played a round of Arkham Horror.  My poor investigators never stood a chance againt the onslaught of ancient horrors that infested the good town.  Chalk one up for the bad guys…

Watched a few movies from the collection.  Managed to squeeze in Green Zone (Bourne IV it is not), The Book Of Eli (chock full of post-apocalyptic goodness), and Shutter Island (this movie requires multiple viewings).

And to top it all off…bath time!

And that, my friends, was my weekend.  Hope yours was just as relaxing and enjoyable!

Books, Movies, Running Books, Chuck Palahniuk, Movies, Running

I just finished one of the most amazing books that I’ve ever had the good fortune to read. “Taut”, “thrilling”, and “suspenseful” are descriptors that don’t quite do this book justice. After spending four intimate days with this prodigious and shockingly absorbing read, I felt a pang of remorse after turning the final page. I just didn’t want the book to end.

The novel I’m talking about is, of course, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

The scene is simple enough: An evil darkness has enveloped the good town, and sleep comes to those at a terrible price. And in his bedroom, helpless and afraid, one little boy must fight alone against an ominous, malicious presence for posession of his very soul…

An ancient, wrathful force has laid claim on an innocent town, granting life to all inanimate objects whose vile, destructive, and deadly nature can only be tempered by wishing them a heartfelt “goodnight”:

Out of a gripping, paralyzing dread that he’s missed wishing “goodnight” to a possessed object secreted away in a neglected dark alcove, our reluctant hero attempts to appease this overwhelming wanton power with an incantation meant to calm and beset any overlooked possessed object silently stalking him in the very room he’s meant to sleep in:

But the loathsome evil will not be so easily defeated, and soon begins to manifest itself in forms and vestiges meant the drive the mind of men insane. The malicious force appears before our hero in the form of a giant, decrepit, elderly bunny, and hissing though sharp fangs and  yellow-stained incisors to stay quiet in an attempt to counter the sting of the soothing “goodnights” from our unsung hero:

But the “goodnight” plan seems to be taking its toll on the maligned presence…or so it seems.

Desperate to maintain its stranglehold on the good townsfolk, the diminishing dark affliction summons the last remaining remnants of its one glorious power , sacrificing the life force of all objects touched by its presence, focusing the escaping energy into an evil that might just be too powerful for the collective will of the townsfolk to conquer…The Nobody.

Lucky for the us, our hero doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”:

Shudder! Let me tell ya, this book put a chill up my spine. I could not put this pager turner down. This is one of those rare novels that demands…nay, screams for a movie adaptation.

Spielberg, are you listening?

I hear that there’s a follow-up to Goodnight Moon entitled The Runaway Bunny.  You can bet that I’ll be camping out at the bookstore bright and early tomorrow morning to pick it up!  Stephen King, you ain’t got nuthin’ on Margaret Wise Brown!

Books Books