Carl Alves's Blog, page 63
March 3, 2012
Movie Review: Star Wars The Phantom Menace 3D
The three newer Star Wars movies (episodes 1 – 3) tend to be overly maligned. The only one of the three that deserves to be skewered is the Attack of the Clowns (I mean Clones). The Phantom Menace, although maybe not as good as some of the earlier Star Wars has quite a bit to offer. First there is Darth Maul. With all due respect to any of the actors who’ve wielded a light saber, none of them do it quite like him. His combination of gymnastics and martial arts skill put the rest of them to shame. It’s little wonder that even though he only has two lines in the movie, he is featured so heavily in the movie’s promotional posters. Then there’s the pod racing, which produced some of the coolest visuals in the Star Wars series. The other thing that I like is that the movie goes far more in depth than the early ones at explaining the Star Wars mythos. This provides some necessary back story to understand much of what’s going. Finally, the light saber battle between Darth Maul and the combined forces of Obi Wan and Qui-Gon Zinn is some really cool stuff. What kills the movie is Jar Jar Binks. He makes the Ewoks enjoyable by comparison. Jar Jar was a miscalculation on George Lucas’ part. I think he was trying to entice the younger (much younger) crowd with the character, but mostly just served to annoy the adults and older kids. If you’re going to movie just for the 3D, it’s probably not worth it. This isn’t as good as 3D movies that are shot with 3D film, but otherwise it’s worth watching.
February 14, 2012
Two For Eternity - The Crusades
I want to preface this by writing that I’m Roman Catholic and went through twelve years of Catholic School. Having said that, I have to call it the way I see it. I would rather write the truth than make friends. The truth is the Catholic Church has a bit of shady past, none more evident than what occurred during the time of the Crusades. Although I don’t doubt the sincerity of many of the Crusaders, since in their minds they were driving the heathens out of their church’s lands and in the process they would be cleared of their sins. The problem was the people running the Crusades, mainly Church leaders and wealthy barons and businessmen had one motivation – greed. For them, it was about capturing land and obtaining riches in the form of holy relics and gold.
The Crusaders were known for their brutality. In the town of Worms, in the land that is now Germany, the Crusaders abducted all of the Jews in town and gave them the option of converting to Christianity or die.
The other epidemic from this time period was the Knights Templar, a group that started with humble beginnings, protecting travelers on their way to the Holy Land. With a combination of greed and ruthlessness, they amassed great wealth and weapons, eventually becoming the Church’s military arm. They answered to no one and massacred their opposition with impunity. They grew so strong that they created the world’s first banking system and later funded entire governments. That’s why I made my villain Vrag the Grand Master of the Knights Templar in this section of my novel leading up to a good battle scene, where Raiken, who at this point is a Cardinal trying to subvert them from within, does battle with his ancient nemesis. You can read more by purchasing a copy of Two For Eternity, now available on Amazon.com and weavingdreamspublishing.com
The Crusaders were known for their brutality. In the town of Worms, in the land that is now Germany, the Crusaders abducted all of the Jews in town and gave them the option of converting to Christianity or die.
The other epidemic from this time period was the Knights Templar, a group that started with humble beginnings, protecting travelers on their way to the Holy Land. With a combination of greed and ruthlessness, they amassed great wealth and weapons, eventually becoming the Church’s military arm. They answered to no one and massacred their opposition with impunity. They grew so strong that they created the world’s first banking system and later funded entire governments. That’s why I made my villain Vrag the Grand Master of the Knights Templar in this section of my novel leading up to a good battle scene, where Raiken, who at this point is a Cardinal trying to subvert them from within, does battle with his ancient nemesis. You can read more by purchasing a copy of Two For Eternity, now available on Amazon.com and weavingdreamspublishing.com
Two For Eternity - The Vikings
I made a short, one chapter diversion in my novel Two For Eternity, setting this chapter in the Kingdom of Norway in 984 AD. There were a couple of reasons that I wanted to get this time period into the novel. The first is to establish that the vikings were in fact the first Europeans to land in the Americas, and second, because vikings are just plain cool. I have always been fascinated with Nordic culture and mythology. It was a people made of fierce warriors and a culture dominated by honor and valor. Unlike Christopher Columbus and the other explorers of his ilk, they did not come to this land and destroy the people who lived here.
This particular chapter explored the viking exploration of the Newfoundland area in Canada. I tried to capture some of the swashbuckling ways of the vikings as well as their spirit of adventure. I also set up a battle scene between Raiken and Vrag, my two main characters. If you like a little adventure in your reading, then pick up my novel Two For Eternity, out on November 1st.
This particular chapter explored the viking exploration of the Newfoundland area in Canada. I tried to capture some of the swashbuckling ways of the vikings as well as their spirit of adventure. I also set up a battle scene between Raiken and Vrag, my two main characters. If you like a little adventure in your reading, then pick up my novel Two For Eternity, out on November 1st.
October 25, 2011
Two For Eternity - Hispaniola 1492
I get deeply offended every October when Columbus Day rolls around. It sickens me that people would actually celebrate a day for one of the greatest mass murderers in the history of our world. There’s no other way to put it other than Christopher Columbus was a thug, scumbag and a murderer of the highest magnitude. For one thing, despite the assertions of my grade school teachers, neither Columbus nor any other European discovered America. Newsflash, there were people living in this continent for hundreds of years before Columbus ever step foot here. To intimate such a thing is to say that the natives who lived were somehow less than human. Secondly, the vikings were the first Europeans to set foot in the Americas, some five hundred years before Columbus.
When I first came up with the idea of writing this novel, I knew that Columbus would be involved. My antagonist Vrag is an evil bastard, so naturally I would want him to be one of the greatest villains our world has ever seen. The part that is covered in Two For Eternity is the genocide that Columbus committed against the Taino tribe in the island of Hispaniola some six hundred years ago. Columbus succeeded in wiping out an entire people off the face of this planet. I guess that is worthy of a holiday after all. How many other people can say that they have accomplished such a thing. My main source for this part of the book was the diary of Christopher Columbus’ brother, who accompanied him on the voyage. Read about it and learn, and perhaps you will hesitate celebrating Columbus Day again.
When I first came up with the idea of writing this novel, I knew that Columbus would be involved. My antagonist Vrag is an evil bastard, so naturally I would want him to be one of the greatest villains our world has ever seen. The part that is covered in Two For Eternity is the genocide that Columbus committed against the Taino tribe in the island of Hispaniola some six hundred years ago. Columbus succeeded in wiping out an entire people off the face of this planet. I guess that is worthy of a holiday after all. How many other people can say that they have accomplished such a thing. My main source for this part of the book was the diary of Christopher Columbus’ brother, who accompanied him on the voyage. Read about it and learn, and perhaps you will hesitate celebrating Columbus Day again.
Two For Eternity - 10,000 BC
I wanted to establish that my two main characters had been around since the beginning of human kind so I put them in a scene in Central Africa in 10,000 B.C. This chapter of the book was mostly guess work and speculation since not much is known about this time. I chose this area and time period since it is generally established that this was the start of homo sapien in this planet. Other than that, there wasn’t much to go off of. When I initially wrote this scene, I did it without dialogue, because I wasn’t sure that people would have had spoken language back in this time period. Then I watched the movie 10,000 B.C. (which was an abysmal piece of garbage). Since they used dialogue, I figured, what the hell, I’ll use dialogue as well. The scene turned out much better this way. Because I had so little information to work off of, this was the most challenging chapter in my book, but I hope the readers like it. Find out if it works for you on November 1st, when Two For Eternity is available for sale.
Two For Eternity - Judea
This was a touchy area for me to write about. Being Catholic, I didn’t want to do anything that could be considered sacreligious, but Vrag, the antagonist in my story, is the ultimate baddie, so what better way to set him up as such than to have him be Christianity’s ultimate villain. There has been so much written, featured and told about this the time of Jesus Christ in the land of Judea, that this was a bit tricky. I didn’t think I needed to paint much of a picture of the land and the time period, since most people have probably watched a movie or two or ten that took place during this time. Still, I wanted to add some flavor to it, so in this period’s piece I wrote about some fo the cultural aspects of the time such as the importance of the marketplace in Judea, the public baths, and a pilgrimage to the land of Galatia.
Being a work of fiction, I didn’t want to just regurgitate what can be found in a standard bible, but at the same time I didn’t want to stray to far off course of what is commonly known and accepted during this time. I also purposely never refer to Jesus by name, opting to call Him the Nazarene. The reason being is that I didn’t want to spell out everything for the reader, hoping the reader will want to dig deeper and perhaps even do some research of their own for some of the time periods I wrote about. So if you like some biblical fiction, give Two For Eternity a try, out November 1st from Weaving Dreams Publishing.
Being a work of fiction, I didn’t want to just regurgitate what can be found in a standard bible, but at the same time I didn’t want to stray to far off course of what is commonly known and accepted during this time. I also purposely never refer to Jesus by name, opting to call Him the Nazarene. The reason being is that I didn’t want to spell out everything for the reader, hoping the reader will want to dig deeper and perhaps even do some research of their own for some of the time periods I wrote about. So if you like some biblical fiction, give Two For Eternity a try, out November 1st from Weaving Dreams Publishing.
Two For Eternity - Ancient Babylon
The aspect of Ancient Babylon that I concentrated on in this section was the worship of Marduk and the religious and cultural impact of it. Marduk is an interesting character in Babylonian mythology. Although Anu was the principle god in the Babylonian pantheon, it was Marduk that became the patron of the city of Babylon at the rise of the Babylonian empire at the time of Hammurabi in the 18th century BC. Marduk was a warrior god. In Babylonian lore, Marduk challenges Tiamat, a dragon and leader of the Annunaki gods. Marduk defeats Tiamat in single combat, establishing his stature in the Babylonian pantheon.
I chose the time of Hammurabi in Two For Eternity, since that is when Babylon truly established itself as one of prominent cultural and political centers of the world. My main antagonist, Vrag, instead of playing the role of Hammurabi, is the high priest of Marduk in the city of Babylon. This role fits his character. Instead of being the front man, Vrag is usually behind the scenes, controlling things, manipulating people and drawing true power. I embelish the use of human sacrifice in Babylonian culture, but it fit the story and hey, this is a work of fiction. Raiken, my main protagonist flees Kush after assassinating the Kushite queen. He saves a Babylonian girl and her brother from marauders only to have her given up for human sacrifice. When Raiken goes to save her, it pits him once again against his ancient enemy Vrag in the city of Babylon.
You can read more about this in Two For Eternity, due out November 1st.
I chose the time of Hammurabi in Two For Eternity, since that is when Babylon truly established itself as one of prominent cultural and political centers of the world. My main antagonist, Vrag, instead of playing the role of Hammurabi, is the high priest of Marduk in the city of Babylon. This role fits his character. Instead of being the front man, Vrag is usually behind the scenes, controlling things, manipulating people and drawing true power. I embelish the use of human sacrifice in Babylonian culture, but it fit the story and hey, this is a work of fiction. Raiken, my main protagonist flees Kush after assassinating the Kushite queen. He saves a Babylonian girl and her brother from marauders only to have her given up for human sacrifice. When Raiken goes to save her, it pits him once again against his ancient enemy Vrag in the city of Babylon.
You can read more about this in Two For Eternity, due out November 1st.
Two For Eternity - Ancient Egypt
Considering that Two For Eternity takes place over a twelve thousand year span, I had to use some ancient societies as backdrops. The two that immediately came to mind was Egypt and Babylon, widely considered the two earliest civilized societies, although there is some argument that some Far East societies may have pre-dated these. I was originally going to start the first part of Two For Eternity in 10,000 B.C. in Central Africa, where it is first believed that homo sapiens started on this planet, but I really wanted to start the novel with a fast pace action piece, and Egypt provided me with the perfect opportunity. Egypt was a highly advanced, highly militarized society that was expanding its empire throughout Africa. This section of the novel is highly fictionalized. I wasn't big on where the Egyptian empire was miltarizing or how they were going about it. I was mainly interested in the concept that this was happening, that the Egpytians were conquering nations. My main character, Raiken, had been part of the Egyptian military but no longer had the stomach for all the war mongering, so he tries to get out. That would be too easy for Raiken. As he tries to start a new life in Central Africa near Kilimanjaro, the Egyptian army attempts to conquer his village. His immortal counterpart, Vrag, is part of the Egyptian army setting the stage for their first of many conflicts. You can read more when my novel Two For Eternity comes out on November 1st.
