Eric James Stone's Blog, page 14

The Avengers vs. The Dark Knight vs. X2: X-Men United

I saw The Avengers a few days ago, and I thought it was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it had a few plot holes the size of the Incredible Hulk.

A while back, when The Dark Knight was all the rage, I wrote up a little comparison On the Codex Writers forum between that film and X2: X-Men United, which I consider to be the best comic-book superhero movie ever. I updated it after seeing The Avengers, and now I’ve turned it into the chart below. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE MOVIES ARE PRESENT!

The Dark Knight
X2: X-Men United
The Avengers


Acting
I will grant that Heath Ledger’s performance was great. Cast includes at least three Oscar winners.

A+
No Oscar nominations for actors for these performances, but cast includes two Oscar winners and a nominee.

A-
I doubt there will be Oscar nominations for actors for these performances. Cast includes one Oscar winner and four nominees.

A-


Great action sequences/fights
Begins with the Joker’s bank robbery plan, which is pretty cool.  But none of the action sequences compare to

=>

B+
Begins with Nightcrawler singlehandedly invading the White House. Also includes the very memorable sequences of Wolverine’s defense of Xavier’s mansion and his battle with Lady Deathstrike.

A+
Black Widow’s escape after the interrogation is pretty cool, and Hulk versus Loki was played perfectly, but I don’t think either of those matches

B+


Prison escapes
The Joker plants a cell-phone activated bomb in the stomach of a guy we’ve barely seen at all, which he then activates with a phone call in order to escape. An interesting plan, although we really see no setup for it.

B
Magneto’s prison guard has proven himself a despicable character, we see him seduced by Mystique and injected with something, and then we get the unexpected payoff when Magneto says, “Too much iron in your blood.” And, since Stryker’s plan to kill all mutants has already been revealed, we are actually rooting for Magneto to escape.

A
Avengers presents two prison escapes: both Loki and Thor were locked in the round glass cell. Neither of their escapes was particularly awesome.

C


Character transitions from good to bad
Harvey Dent is a very good guy, and then the Joker kills his fiancee and burns his face, and Harvey responds by instantly becoming insane and evil.

C
Pyro starts as one of the good guys, but through a gradual and progressive change he eventually switches over to Magneto’s side.

A
Hawkeye instantly transitions from good to bad when Loki touches him with a high-tech scepter. He transitions back after being hit on the head.

D


Heroic sacrifices
Batman decides to let himself be blamed for Harvey Dent’s murders so Dent’s reputation will be unsullied. This choice at the climax is just talked about, with the smashing of the bat-signal as a symbolic way of showing it.

C
Jean Grey decides to sacrifice her life for her friends. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen, as she lifts the plane out of the path of the flood and then is swept away.

A-
Iron Man decided to take the nuke missile through the portal, risking the possibility that he might not make it back through. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen. He makes it back, so it was merely a potential sacrifice.

B-


Superpowered female characters with important roles
F
Jean Grey, Storm, Mystique, Rogue, Lady Deathstrike

A
Black Widow

C


Distinguished elderly British actors
Michael Caine

A
Patrick Stewart,  Ian McKellan

A+
F


Distinguished African-American actors
Morgan Freeman

A
Halle Berry

A
Samuel L. Jackson

A


Average Grade
B-
A-
C

Now, I actually liked The Avengers better than The Dark Knight, so obviously I’m not letting my personal feelings affect my grading. But this chart clearly shows that X2 is the best of the three movies.

Balloon – воздушный шар

This week’s Russian pop song: “Balloon” by Mr. Credo. (The version I usually listen to is a remix of this that mostly features the chorus.)

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and lyricstranslate.com):

The balloon,

The air in the sense of like my fantasy,

He hangs between heaven and earth,

How often do I hang out

Flying in the astral world, gliding over the clouds

And heading to nowhere

I want to reach the depths of consciousness

But the fear, all broken off, as always.

Fear of excess weight,

With his soul, I will cast him as ballast

Let this step,

Help me get up and give hope.

Hope I,

And those who believe that love will save the world

Love and Blood of

Who gave us the blood.

Chorus:

I am going on a big balloon

Where I do not know why I do not know

And swim beneath me the sea and the country

And I’m flying by the will of the wind in the vast ocean

Flying on a big balloon

Where I do not know why I do not know

I have a dream where I find and lose, his cherished

dream

The balloon,

He is the embodiment of freedom and dreams

A priceless gift

Was sent to us to see the ground from a height

Do you understand what

With only the head was able to understand your

No one can explain to you all,

The answers hide all gloom.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Pretty much everyone who meets her is, of course.

But what I’m actually referring to is the new fairy-tale novel Enchanted, which was written by my friend Alethea Kontis, author of the Alpha-Oops picture books.

Way back in 2005, I participated in a fairy-tale-writing contest on the Codex Writers forum.  Through various skulduggerous means I managed to take first place with my story “Bird-Dropping and Sunday.”  Alethea came in third place with her story “Sunday.”  She later sold that story to Realms of Fantasy magazine.

But she didn’t stop there. She turned it into an entire novel: Enchanted, which came out today.

Well played, Alethea. Ultimate victory is yours.

Stars Await Us – Звезды нас ждут

This week’s video of still another of my favorite Russian pop songs: “Stars Await Us” by Mirage. (The version I listen to is by Tsvetnoye Kino featuring Milena, but the two versions are very similar, and I couldn’t find a real music video for the other.)

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and nomorelyrics.net):

Night. Closed the last sheet.

We alone in the world – you and I,

In your hand is my hand.

You have a chance given only once.

We will give the world the best,

That took care of us for centuries.

Chorus:

Together, we are not accidental,

We know the secrets of dreams,

But after our meeting will be all serious.

The stars are waiting for us today,

Do you see their bright light?

People wake up tomorrow and we have no …

Away, Let us cast away the boring things.

On the music brought us crazy, doubt no more room.

Peace, Believe me, more beautiful than a dream.

Leave stories of the old house,

What was your so many years.

Chorus.

Less Ambitious Novels

A couple of days ago, I spotted people on Twitter using the hashtag #LessAmbitiousNovels to present joke titles for… well, less ambitious novels.  Here are some of my favorites of the ones I came up with:

1974
A Passage to Indiana
A Shrub Grows in Brooklyn
A Waiter of Earthsea
A Wrinkle in Cloth
Fit Club
Howl’s Stationary Castle
I Have a Guess as to Why the Caged Bird Sings
In Front of the Looking-Glass
Jonathan Livingston Seashell
Life of 3.1
Little Apartment on the Prairie
Lucifer’s Hamper
Medic Zhivago
Middlefebruary
Murder on the Orient Local
On Her Majesty’s Postal Service
Rendezvous with Ramen
Something Naughty This Way Comes
The Call of the Tame
The Cider House Guidelines
The Dime Machine
The English Out-Patient
The Hoarse Whisperer
The Kite Holder
The Left Pinkie of Darkness
The Man Who Folded His Paper
The Mote in Bob’s Eye
The Once and Future Squire
The Only Child Karamazov
The Pickwick Paper
The Princess Fiancee
The Puppy of the Baskervilles
The Satanic Haiku
The Spy Who Liked Me as a Friend
The Time Traveler’s Girlfriend
The Visible Man
Tinker, Tailor
Uncle Tom’s Shed
Vegetable Farm
Weeds for Algernon
Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

Some of my favorites from other people:

A Farewell to Wrists (Haas Cross Puns)
A Game of Chairs (Damien Walter)
A Polaroid of the Artist as a Young Man  (Wakefield Mahon)
And Then There Were Five  (Wakefield Mahon)
Battlefield Perth (Wakefield Mahon)
Dinner Comes for the Archbishop (Jennie Goloboy)
Fahrenheit 98.6 (Stephen M. Harmon)
Have Space Suit… Will Go Back To Bed (Jamie Todd Rubin)
Some of the King’s Men (Wakefield Mahon)
Speaker for the Sick  (Bryce Moore)
The Andromeda Sprain (Carl Stark)
The Black Gelding (Linda Poitevin)
The Ending Story (John Stevens)
The Girl With the Hello Kitty Tattoo (Nick Mamatas)
The Grapes of Mild Irritation (Stephen M. Harmon)
The Handmaid’s Towel (Wakefield Mahon)
The Middle Aged Man and the Pond (Patrick Tracy)
The Postman Always Rings Once, Then Leaves it With a Neighbour  (Kate McHale)
The Red Badge of Participation (Larry Correia)
The Right Fielder in the Rye  (Bryce Moore)
The Sign of the Three (Michael Collings)

Call Me, Call – Позвони мне, позвони

Here’s this week’s video of yet another of my favorite Russian pop songs: “Call Me, Call” by Irina Muraveva. The version I listen to says the singer is “Anaunet,” but the two versions are nearly identical, and I couldn’t find a music video for the other.

Although there is music and singing at the beginning, the real song doesn’t start until around 2:08 in the video.

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and lyrics.mp3s.ru):

Call me, call

Call me, for God’s sake

After a time stretch

The voice is quiet and deep

The stars are melting over Moscow

Maybe I have forgotten the pride

How do I want to hear the voice

How do I want to hear the voice

The long-awaited your voice

Without you the days pass

What’s wrong with me, I do not know

I beg you – call

Call me – conjure

Reach distance

Suppose that under the starry abyss

Suddenly you hear the thunder of heaven

Suddenly you hear the thunder of heaven

phone Call

Call me, call

If I’m in your destiny

Nothing is not to

I will forget about you

I can, I will not pay

This pain pereterpya

I will not stop breathing

Anyway, a happy camp

Anyway, a happy camp

Even if without you

Strangely, I could not find a translation online for перетерпя, so it’s rendered as pereterpya above.

Buy The Gruff Variations today

A while back, I mentioned that I was editing an anthology for Writing for Charity.  The anthology is now available as an ebook, and today we’re doing a “book bomb” to try to get it to rise high in the Amazon.com rankings by having as many people as possible buy it today.  All the royalties from the book will go to charities that buy books and school supplies for needy children. While the focus is on the Amazon Kindle rankings, it’s also available for Nook through Barnes & Noble, and for various other ereaders through Smashwords.

The Gruff Variations: Writing for Charity Anthology, Vol. 1 has over 100,000 words of stories and poems based on the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Contributors to this anthology include New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale, award-winning children’s picture book author Rick Walton, Hugo Award winner (and Nebula Award nominee) Mary Robinette Kowal, Edgar Award finalist Dene Low, Nebula Award nominees Brad R. Torgersen and Nancy Fulda, and many other authors such as Kristen Landon, Lisa Mangum, Kristyn Crow, Clint Johnson, and Dean Hale.  A full table of contents is below:

“The Three Billion Goats Gruff: A Bulrovian Tale: Part I” — Rick Walton
“A Starscape Slightly Askew” — Nancy Fulda
“Touch of Power” — Erik Peterson
“Haiku: The First Goat” — Shannon Hale
“Bigger Than You Think” — Dan Wells
“A Princess Predicament” — Danielle Christensen
“Cold and Hungry” — Bret Carter
“Trip, Trap, Tripping” — Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Ladies Billet-Gruffin” — Jenel Copeabout
“The Three Billion Goats Gruff: A Bulrovian Tale: Part LXII” — Rick Walton
“Gruff Riders” — Martin L. Shoemaker
“Bridges Dark and Distant” — William Ledbetter
“The Three Princes of Grufflan” — Danyelle Leafty
“The Troll by the Footbridge: A Study in Four Parts” — Janet Kay Jensen
“The Deposition of Harald Throckmorton, Esquire, the Troll beneath the Bridge” — Clint Johnson
“The Wicker Warrior” — Joseph Zieja
“The Necromancer’s Sons” — C.A. Lyons
“The Three Billion Goats Gruff: A Bulrovian Tale: Part CXIII” — Rick Walton
“Sheep Dog” — Brad R. Torgersen
“Haiku: The Second Goat” — Shannon Hale
“A Tale Of Two Billies And A Troll” — George Nikolopoulos
“Primary” — Cary B. Bishop
“The Chili Stoat Bluff” — Emma Nelson
“Gruffs in Debt” — Kristen Landon
“A Mean, Mean Billy Gruff” — Kristyn Crow
“Bridge to the Meadow” — Mandi Ellsworth
“Indigestion” — M.K. Hutchins
“The Three Billion Goats Gruff: A Bulrovian Tale: Part CCCIV” — Rick Walton
“The Three Brother Cities” — Deborah Walker
“Haiku: The Third Goat” — Shannon Hale
“Sold Out” — Lisa Mangum
“Gruff Noir” — Dene Low
“The Third Goat” — Dean Hale
“Three Billy Goats Who C Sharp: A Norwegian Folktale” — Jared E. Stoddard
“The Three Deaths of Devin Ochre” — Juliana Montgomery
“A Gift Freely Offered” — Nikki Trionfo
“The Three Billion Goats Gruff: A Bulrovian Tale: Part CCCXXXIV” — Rick Walton

So please buy the anthology today, and if you can, spread the word about the book bomb so we can sell as many copies as possible today. Links to buy:

Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble Nook
Smashwords

Hour for Two – Час для двоих

Here’s this week’s video of yet another of my favorite Russian pop songs: “Hour for Two” by DJ Slon & Angel-A.

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and masteroff.org):

Rhythms of two different countries

In the bars do not fall,

I live here, you there,

Birds flock to catch up.

Raise up the ladder,

And the skyscrapers above,

Wind threw down

Ripped the roof.

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Airport a strange city,

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Our only an hour, but we will soon.

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Flight transfers and simple spans,

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Lose an hour from the account.

The loudest sound pulse,

Meet me – what is it?

Only 60 minutes

Someone gave us.

Nervous hurry to board,

The cold signal lights,

Only the fate of the evil

I am to be with you is important!

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Airport a strange city,

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Our only an hour, but we will soon.

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Flight transfers and simple spans,

Hour to an hour for me and you,

Lose an hour from the account.

Tonight’s Writers of the Future Awards Ceremony

The Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards ceremony will be broadcast live tonight via streaming video starting at 6:30 PM Pacific Time. To watch, go to the Writers of the Future website, and you should find a link from there.  Apparently I’ll be mentioned at some point during the ceremony.  Also, they’ll be opening a time capsule sealed up twenty-five years ago with predictions made by various authors, and sealing up a new time capsule with predictions about the year 2037 (including one by me.)

Liza – Лиза

Here's video of another of my favorite Russian pop songs: "Liza" by Liza.

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and mirmagi.ru):

You're home alone.

You sit and watch a movie with the hero of his own.

Slightly in love,

But not so much to see himself always near him.

So you want to know

The most important and, apparently, is important for adults secret

But it is difficult to understand -

What is love, and who will give the correct answer.

Chorus:

Lisa, she is not discouraged

And about the love of reading,

Learn all by herself (Lisa).

Lisa does not like black and white,

And the zebra in the life bravely

Paint in the color (Lisa).

Lisa, she was not discouraged,

Again, leafing through the magazine,

Learn all by herself (Lisa).

Lisa does not like black and white,

And the zebra in the life bravely

Paint in the color (Lisa).

And time flies -

From the awkward girl beauty rose suddenly

And your house is open

To good friends and good loyal friends.

At the heart easily -

Among the thousands of men you could find.

All comes to pass,

If you believe in yourself and know how as a child dreamed of.

Chorus.