Bryce Moore's Blog, page 161

Best Media of the Year: 2016 Edition

Well, another year is in the record books, and like last year, I faithfully logged everything I read or watched over the course of the year. (For reference, here’s last year’s post.) How did I do this year?

Books

Last year I read 16,401 pages. That was 38 books total. This year I only read 14,137. Though it was still 38 books, so I guess they were just shorter? I was sad that it wasn’t as many as last year though from a page count perspective, and so this year I’ve set a new goal: 52 books. One a week. It’ll be challenging for me to find the time, but that’s what goals are all about, right?

Of the books I read, the new ones I gave a 5/5 rating to were:

The Way of Shadows, and Shadow’s Edge, by Brent Weeks. The third book in the trilogy only got a 4. But I really enjoyed them as a whole. I’m a fan of Brent Weeks. Epic fantasy fun.
Bands of Mourning, and Mistborn Secret History, by Brandon Sanderson. Not just because the guy’s a friend. I’m a big fan, and it’s been fun to see what he’s been up to with the Mistborn series.
Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir. Interestingly, I really liked the book, but didn’t read on in the series. I just bought the sequel over winter break, though, so I plan to rectify that. Sword and sandal YA fantasy. Great stuff.
The Mormon Missionary, by Rob Lively. Read my full review here.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. Just a fun read. Very quick for me too. Set in the present day, with a mystical bookstore and a cool code that needs cracking.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. Middle grade non-fantasy, and I still loved it. The story about a disfigured boy trying to figure out his way through middle school.
Pirate Hunters, by Robert Kurson. Non-fiction book about a modern day quest to find a sunken pirate ship. Great book.
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. Non-fiction book about the 1894 World’s Fair in Chicago, and America’s first serial killer. Strange combination, but it works for so many reasons.
The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker. Read the full review here.

So I only had 5 books that I gave 5/5 to last year, and this year I gave that rating to 11. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age?

Movies

Last year I watched 148 movies. 16,477 minutes’ worth. This year? Only 91 movies. 10,379 minutes. I’m not sure what happened to me. Maybe I’ll find I watched a ton more TV? In any case, the new movies I watched that I gave a 5/5 rating to were:

What We Do in the Shadows. Hilarious vampire mockumentary. Very bloody, but so so funny.
Inside Out. I’m assuming you’ve heard of it. Interestingly, it shared a number of similarities with my book, The Memory Thief.
Silver Linings Playbook. Drama. Eagles fans. Dancing. You wouldn’t think I’d love this movie. You’d be wrong.
Zootopia. I loved how they brought the concept to life. A fully realized world for animals. And a buddy cop movie. Go figure.
She Loves Me. This was the live broadcast of the Broadway musical. Really fun to see it from home.
In the Heart of the Sea. It worked for me. Just a classic adventure movie. Tapped into some childhood nostalgia, I think.
Concussion. Watch this and then go watch some football, and try to see if you can still enjoy it the same way. Very thought provoking for a football fan.
The Peanuts Movie. So, so good. So well done. I was blown away by how well they nailed this.
An Honest Liar. A documentary about a stage magician who exposes frauds, and then it turns into something more. Very interesting.
The Big Short. All about how the housing crisis turned our nation upside down. Enlightening and entertaining.
The Jungle Book. The live action version. Impressive, and its ending saved it.
Rogue One. Quite probably my favorite Star Wars movie.

So wait a minute. Last year I gave out only four 5/5 ratings, and this year I gave 12? That’s it. I’ve definitely gotten softer. And I didn’t even hand out *any* 0/5 ratings. I’m going to have to step up my game this year. Ugh.

Television

Last year I watched 476 episodes. 20,822 minutes. This year? 454 episodes. 20,598 minutes. So pretty much spot on, which means last year I read less and watched fewer movies, but stayed constant on TV. I’m not sure where the movie watching went. I think it’s because last year I was watching movies when I exercised, and this year I watched mainly Magic: The Gathering drafts. (And I keep tabs on how I do in MtG drafts as well. I got worse last year by a bit. So all that watching did me no good. I think I’m going to have to switch back to movies mainly.)

New-to-me TV seasons that got a 5/5 from me at some point in the season:

Downton Abbey Season Six
Amazing Race Seasons Twenty-One, Twenty-Four, and Twenty-Five
Cheers Season Three
Daredevil Season Two
Person of Interest Seasons One, Two, and Five
Game of Thrones Season Six
Star Wars Rebels Season Two
Great British Baking Show Season Three
Clone Wars Season Two
Agents of SHIELD Season Three
Stranger Things Season One
Studio C Season Six
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Season One
WestWorld Season One
Band of Brothers Season One
Cutthroat Kitchen (the Judges episode. Go figure.)
The Pacific Season One
The Crown Season One

14 seasons that got 5/5 from me last year. This year I gave it to 22. In hindsight, I think this is because I shifted from giving shows and books and movies a rating out of 10 over to a rating out of 5. I don’t like the end result, so I’m switching back to rating things out of 10 again. We’ll see if that helps me get some of my taste back. Sigh.

Anyway. There you have it. A whole year’s worth of media. It should give you an idea of what I really like, at least. We’ll see what this next year brings. Hopefully more movies and books . . .

Thanks for reading!

The Benefit of Some Time Off

Hello again! I’m back after a two-week break from blogging and most social media. Miss me? I made the decision to step away from social media and the blog for the holiday break mainly because the blog, while it isn’t too time intensive, is definitely a “Thing to Get Done” each day, and I wanted none of that for a bit. Social media just sort of happened on its own. I was there a bit, but not nearly as much as I usually am.

One thing that occurred to me as I stepped away from it all? How social media can sort of feed itself and make small problems into big problems. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big proponent of Facebook and Twitter and the like. I use them to stay connected to people I otherwise would never hear from, and I really enjoy seeing what’s going on in the lives of my friends. But more and more, it seems like social media is becoming the main forum for both finding out about news and discussing the news. Finding out about the news is good, I suppose. It helps to be informed. But discussing the news is not always a helpful thing, especially when you get roped into discussions with people you don’t know, or know only vaguely.

Think of it: would you strike up a conversation with Some Guy on a Bus and tell him all about what you think of the future of the country and the presidency? I guess some people would, but I wouldn’t. I don’t have time to care about what random people think about a variety of topics. But at the same time, if someone trots up to my wall and says something about one of my posts, I feel obligated to engage that person in discussion. It’s my wall, so I feel responsible for what goes on there.

I’m rambling a bit here, sorry. I’m not trying to say that I’m not going to debate topics online with people anymore. And I’m still going to patrol my wall to see what goes on there. But I’m going to (try to) remind myself that I’m not going to fix all the world’s ills through Facebook. That there are going to be people who disagree with me, and it’s okay not to care. Even if they’re friends of a friend. If I were at a party, and I overheard a friend’s friend spouting off some useless drivel, I certainly wouldn’t rush over to correct them. I’d shake my head, dismiss them as misguided at best, and go on with my partying.

I want to do more of that online.

But more than the random conversations and debates, social media can bring a group of like-minded people together and whip them into a frenzy about things that don’t matter a whole lot, very easily. Mob mentality can kick in on social media, and it’s something I also want to try to avoid. Again, not that I’m going to stay silent on issues I feel strongly about, but I just noticed that the more I engage in debate, the more the debate begins to affect my personal life. Disconnecting from that debate or distancing myself from it can be a very good thing. Especially since it’s very rare that I’ve seen any of that debate actually, you know, accomplish something.

[Social media is] but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

That Shakespeare guy was on to something.

Anyway. I’m out of time. More from me tomorrow. In the meantime, happy new year all, and best wishes for 2017!

Why I’m Okay with Motab Singing at Trump’s Inauguration

I have been a very vocal Trump dissident. I’m far from pleased he’s going to be my president for the next four years (unless maybe he pulls a Palin and just resigns. One can always hope, right?). And so to see the news that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be performing at his inauguration disappointed me at first blush. I’ve got close family ties to the choir, after all, and so in a way it feels like part of my extended-extended family is turning out to celebrate the weasel.

That said, after some consideration, I really don’t think the church had another choice. Once the invitation was sent, they pretty much had to agree to do it. I mean, they could have “been busy doing something else,” but unless that “something else” had already been very public and very well-established, then they were stuck. (Of course, it might have been a good idea to find “something else” to do that day the moment the results had been announced, but I can’t really blame them for not doing that.)

Motab has performed at many inaugurations. To decline to perform, they’d have to have a reason other than “We don’t like Trump.” Why? Because it might be seen as the church being partisan. Making a political statement about the president-elect. And the church can’t do that. Why? Because then it would start to really violate some of the basic rules of being a religion in the US. Run afoul of those laws, and you lose a whole bundle of benefits. Tax exempt status being a huge one, but I could see the change impacting many different ways the church operates in this country and abroad. Employment rules, BYU, contracts, wedding ceremonies . . . I’m not a lawyer, but my guess is “You’re not a recognized religion anymore” would mess with a ton of those.

And what would it benefit the church to do that? To risk all that so they could thumb their noses at the next president? I don’t think that would have been a wise decision.

In the end, they can argue that they’re honoring the position, not the man. And that’s really how it should be.

There are many things to be upset and worried about with Trump coming to power. That the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is singing at his inauguration comes about as low on the list as I can think.

Taking the Rest of the Year Off

It’s that time. I love writing the blog, but I’m going on vacation, and I’m going to step away from here while I do it. Have a great holiday all. Catch you next year!

When Procrastination Doesn’t Pay Off

I love me some procrastination, believe it or not. Yes, I set a whole slew of goals for myself, but often the best part of a goal is being able to not do it right this second. (Of course, I don’t tend to procrastinate more than an hour or so, but still. That’s a fun hour, usually.)

However, sometimes there are things you should most definitely *not* procrastinate.

When you live in Maine, and it snows 5 inches, and you snow blow most of it, but you leave the rest because . . . why bother? And then it rains on top of what you left? And then the temperature plummets 40 degrees in a day?

Your driveway turns from snowy wonderland to “skating rink” about as soon as you can say “This is going to take me forever to get rid of.”

So today, on my day off, I trudged outside and spent a while chipping at the inch of ice that has coated my entire driveway. And I barely made a dent. And so I’m left wondering why in the world I didn’t just go outside and scrape it off the driveway when it was still in sluch form?

Because at this point, it’s caught in that terrible zone of “melt during the day, form puddles, and become even smoother ice each night.” That’s a bad zone for your driveway to be in.

I guess I’ll have to go outside again in a few hours and see if I can’t chip some more of it away.

The funny thing is, I remember doing this same thing when I was a kid. Back then. we had a steep driveway, and the bottom of that driveway was a permanent magnet for puddles that would freeze. The whole hill would often become as smooth as a playground slide. My brother and I would be tasked with going out and getting rid of the ice so that the hill was driveable. We tried (almost always too late), and it would take a long time, out there with whatever garden tools we could find that might do the trick, chipping and plinking away at the blasted stuff.

You’d figure all of that practice would have taught me to avoid the situation in the future.

I guess some things take even more lessons than they ought . . .

Netflix Review: The Crown

I don’t like to review shows before I’m done with them, but in this case, I’m willing to make an exception. Denisa and I have been working our way through The Crown on Netflix, a series depicting the rise of Queen Elizabeth II to power. I haven’t heard much chatter about it on my social network feeds, though that could be because most of the chatter I see focuses more on geeky pursuits.

This show is pretty fantastic. Even more so now that I’ve done a little poking around and see that it’s doing its best to be historically accurate. (They didn’t have permission from the royal family to get any behind the scenes details, so there is a fair bit of guessing now and then at what happened behind closed doors, but the main events are sticking largely to the facts.) The acting is great (John Lithgow is doing wonders as Churchill), and the story interesting.

If you’re into history lessons, then this show is perfect. Some of the episodes are probably too slow if you’re not into that sort of thing. I’d compare this to Foyle’s War, minus the sleuthing. Or Downton Abbey, but with historical characters and minus the downstairs life.

Anyway. I realize that many of you are in the throes of Christmas movies, but if you’re looking for an escape from that, or if you’re looking for something to watch when the new year comes, I can heartily recommend this series. It’s rated TV-MA, though having seen 7 of the 10 episodes so far, I can say that so far that appears to be more of a “Look! We’re a grown-up show just like HBO!” sort of a rating. There have been a couple of bad words, and . . . that’s about it. So don’t let the rating dissuade you, although I’m not sure I’d gather the whole family around to watch.

And if you’ve already been watching, please let me know what you’ve thought of it. I read today that they’re planning on six seasons in total, tracing the entire reign of the queen. That’s incredibly exciting to me, but maybe I’m just crazy . . .

Public or Private?

So. I’ve got this blog thing that I write every weekday (more or less), and I typically share it on a few social media sites. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and tumblr. Now and then I’ll post something to Reddit if I’m particularly proud of it, or if I feel like it pertains to a specific subreddit. But I don’t do all that much to promote the posts. Sometimes Facebook picks it up in its algorithms, and in that case the posts do quite well. Sometimes only a few people read them. But I like to write them, and so I keep at it.

In other words, the main reason I write this blog is (honestly) that I enjoy doing it. I started it back in 2007 as a way to have a web presence should I ever become published. Now I’m published and I realize a web presence doesn’t really do a whole lot for me, but I keep at it anyway. Go figure.

I make my Facebook posts public by default. I’ve had it set to that setting for years, and I rarely regret it. Why public? Well, for one thing, I’d like my posts to be shared easily, and that’s difficult to do when they’re “friends only.” For another, I would rather not just write to a group of friends who all agree with me. Often I write opinion pieces, and for that I’d like people with differing opinions to read what I’ve written.

And it almost always works fine. But now and then it breaks down, mainly (I believe) because online etiquette is still evolving. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, and the responses were varied enough for me to accept that even if I find something wrong online (responding directly to posts by strangers on Facebook), enough people don’t that it’s something I need to accept. So I can’t just assume etiquette will keep people well behaved.

I suppose if I were dealing with inflammatory remarks on Facebook every day, I’d eventually just throw my hands up and make the posts private. I write for enjoyment, after all. I don’t mind honest critique, but spiteful or mean comments aren’t called for ever. And yet sometimes that’s just what I get, almost always from people I don’t know. Just this past week, I had a thread erupt on Facebook over (of all things) my post defending political correctness. A friend of a friend came in and called me a bigot, hater, and a hypocrite. I saw that Friday afternoon, and it kind of ruined my evening. I had to figure out how to respond, if to respond, and to ask myself if the person had a point.

And then it turned out the person was just making an attempt at a thought experiment. (It’s complicated. Read the thread to make sense of it all, but please don’t resurrect the debate. It’s all turned out well enough, and I’d rather not revisit it.)

In any case, after the mental turmoil from that post (coupled with many mean-spirited remarks from strangers over the last year or two), I seriously debated just making the posts private from now on. And I still might at some point, but for now, I’m keeping them public. Why?

Because the people who get upset the most at my points are people who have read them and disagreed with them. Vehemently. And frankly, those are the people I’d like to read them the most. Not people who are going to smile and nod and high five me for a great post (though who doesn’t love a high five?), but people who disagree with the argument I’m making. I’d love for my words to change some minds now and then, and how can they change minds if the minds can’t have access to them?

And for every one person who reads those posts and gets so incensed they have to write me a nastygram, I have to believe there are a good number of people who read the post and are on the fence about an issue. And if my post causes them to rethink things and end up coming around, then I believe the nastygrams are a price I’m willing to pay.

There’s also the chance that I’m wrong on a topic, and a reader out there who disagrees with me or is better informed can set me straight. It’s not like I’m always right or anything.

So the posts stay public. Though here’s hoping the thought experiments and nastygrams stay few and far between . . .

Happy Monday, all!

Rogue One: Spoiler-Free Review

I’m about to head off for a library meeting in Bangor, but I wanted to get this out before I left. I went to the first showing of Rogue One last night that I could. 7pm. Took Tomas and DC with me, despite having heard that the movie is aimed more at adults. (I think my kids would have mutinied if I’d gone by myself, or if I’d just taken Tomas. I took both of them to Episode VII, after all.) The theater was full, but not sold out by any means. (Can I just say once again how awesome it is to live in a place where I pay $6 for adult full-price tickets and $4 for kids? Yeah.)

Without getting into any spoilers, I loved the movie. Speaking as a Star Wars fan, it’s the prequel we always wish existed. It perfectly sets up Episode IV, and I wanted to go home and watch A New Hope right off. What was to like?

The characters were very well done and well acted. You cared about these people, and that’s huge. Ever since Episode IV, much of the tension of the Star Wars universe has rested in our investment in the Skywalker family and its outcome. We see the same characters again and again. There are new ones introduced, but they’re not as important. Rogue One has almost a whole new slate of characters. And they’re diverse and awesome.
It’s set in the Star Wars universe, it fits into all that we know of Star Wars, but it doesn’t star Jedi. These are normal people, doing their best, having trust in the Force as best they can, even though they can’t throw rocks around a room with their minds. It really fleshed out the universe in a great way.
It’s a war movie. Go into this thinking Dirty Dozen or Guns of Navarone, and then add Star Wars to that. I asked the kids what they thought of it at the end, and they were both a bit ambivalent. Why? Because (and I don’t think this is a spoiler to anyone at all) not everybody lives. Those great characters they came to know and love? Some of them die. (I won’t say how many, though.)
The score was fantastic, despite John Williams not being the composer. It was its own thing, with just enough of the themes thrown in to make it fit into the greater whole. Well done, Mr. Giacchino. It was a big relief, honestly. I was worried it wouldn’t work.
The cameos are great. They’re peppered throughout, both blatant and subtle, and it was fun trying to spot them all. A great reason to see the movie with a theater full of fans.
The plot was very well done too. In a way, this movie is very much like Titanic or another history-based film. We all know the ending from the outset, so the interest comes from finding out how they get there. It’s a real ride, in this case.
Actions scenes and effects were completely awesome. There were multiple scenes in the last third of the film that just worked 100% on every level. Really moving, thrilling, playing on bits from the earlier movies, throwing in new stuff. The best action of any Star Wars movie. Period.

I could go on, but I’m short on time. Was it a perfect movie? It’s hard for me to assess, since I’m a big fan, and I have a hard time setting that aside. If you’re a big fan, I think you’ll adore this film. If you’re ambivalent, I still think you’ll love it. If you’re not a fan or haven’t seen any of the other movies, I think it’s a 4/5, most likely. Really well done.

If I had any complaints, it would be that the set up felt like it took too long. Once the movie was about half way through, then everything starts to really pop, and then it just goes into a whole new level toward the end. But then again, all that set up was the stuff that made me care about the characters, so how can they take it away and still have the impact at the end?

Anyway. I have to run, but those are my thoughts for now. Feel free to get into spoilers in the comments, BUT BE WARNED THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS.

5/5 Loved loved loved it.

On Being Politically Correct

I see more and more posts going around social media about how being politically correct has ruined this, that, or the other. Basically, the argument is that being PC was once a good thing, but that it’s been taken too far, and that these days people just need to stop being so sensitive about anything. If we’d all stop being offended every time someone sneezed, then wouldn’t we all be happier?

And I get the argument. I understand that many many people end up using the wrong term for something or someone, and they end up making someone else feel bad by accident. And it can leave people who want to do the right thing feel like they’re caught in a stutter step, trying to remember what term they’re supposed to use when talking about something. What a pain, right?

Well . . .

I’ll concede that it can be difficult to remember sometimes. But I don’t think being PC or trying to not offend people is a bad thing. (I can’t believe I just had to type that sentence. Think about it for a minute. Really?) First off, I’d suggest avoiding the PC label, because that makes it much easier to dismiss. “Politically correct” is something that sounds like it could be distasteful. Or like it’s being done purely for selfish purposes. It’s the equivalent of “I don’t want to do this, but my parents are making me.”

So let’s just focus on trying to not offend people for a moment. And yes, I get that there seems to be an ever-growing number of ways to offend people, and groups who might be offended. It’s such a bother, right? Can’t we just all agree to stop being offended, and then we can all be happier?

An observation: almost all of the memes or posts I’ve seen going around have been from straight white men. Often older ones. I don’t see any coming from the groups who are supposedly being offended.

A second observation: I don’t see posts or memes about specific situations. I see people talking about “those people” who get offended about everything.

A third observation: one of the bannermen for the “stop being so PC” movement is Donald Trump.

Time for some conclusions:

The words we use every day have power. That’s why we use them. We speak to accomplish various things. Words have such power that advertisers are willing to pay millions of dollars so that people will listen to just 30 seconds of those words. Why? Because listening to those words makes people more likely to buy stuff.
Yes, it can be difficult sometimes to remember the right thing to say. But you know what’s more difficult? Having people constantly belittle you or ignore you or harass you, day in and day out. People aren’t being “overly sensitive.” This is something people would realize if they didn’t generalize all these “sensitive” people into a stereotype. When you talk to actual, real, breathing people who are struggling, you start to see the difference.
If you say the wrong thing? Apologize and try to do better. It’s simple. Don’t get defensive. Don’t accuse the “other people” of being too demanding. Admit you got it wrong, smile, and try to do better.

If there seems to be so many different terms and types of people we need to pay attention to these days, that’s a good thing. It means we as society are starting to recognize the fact that there are many many different groups out there. We saw the world in simple binary terms for so long, it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s upsetting to some to discover those “facts” are anything but. The world is a colorful, diverse place. I’m all for doing my best to stop forcing round pegs into square holes.

Bottom line for me: if I can help someone else by simply trying to use a different set of vocabulary terms, why in the world would I want to stubbornly refuse to do so? It costs me nothing.

And that’s about all I have to say about that.

In Search of New Christmas Movies

I have a high tolerance for watching the same movie over and over and over. (See: Groundhog Day) But for some reason this year, as I look over my Christmas movie collection, I’m just not finding anything I really want to watch. It all feels like stuff I’ve just watched a bit ago, and so I end up giving up on Christmasy stuff and go with something else. (Right now Denisa and I are working our way through The Crown, which we’ve really enjoyed so far.)

So I’m going to turn to you for advice. Are there any Christmas movies you love? Which ones? To cut you off at the pass, here are the ones I’ve already considered and passed over:

White Christmas
Holiday Inn
Elf
The Santa Clause
Christmas Vacation
Christmas Story
Christmas Carol
Muppet Christmas Carol
Gremlins
Die Hard
Shop Around the Corner
Miracle on 34th Street
Love Actually
It Happened on 5th Avenue
It’s a Wonderful Life
Mr. Krueger’s Christmas
Scrooged
Christmas in Connecticut
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Charlie Brown Christmas

There might be a few I’m forgetting as well, so apologies in advance. Looking over that list, I think something might be wrong with me. I know they’re all good, fun movies, but they just feel like things I’ve watched too recently. Why watch them again when there are so many new things out there I haven’t seen?

Probably this is just a phase. I didn’t feel like watching the movies the other night, but I’ll get over that. (It’s a struggle, I know. Life is hard for me.) But as I had the feeling, I wondered if there were some really good ones out there that I haven’t seen, and crowd sourcing seemed to be the way to go.

So have at it, crowd. Suggestions welcome! And thanks in advance.