Bryce Moore's Blog, page 293

A Review of Spotify: Meh

(*NOTE*: This is from my library blog's posting for today--a place where I'm much more library-centric. Step over there to check it out sometime.)



A new (in the United States) music streaming service launched a bit ago: Spotify. I've downloaded it and put it through its paces, and I thought I might share my thoughts with you, the general public.





We've come a long way from the days of the CD. Now, most people have their music on everything from their computer to their cell phone. But all that music takes up a fair bit of space on a hard drive. That's where the cloud comes in. The next big thing in digital music is being able to play songs directly from the internet--no need to store all the music on your own device. Some services (like Amazon) let you upload your songs to their servers. This takes a lot of time, but it can be effective. Others (like Pandora) let you stream "radio stations" online for free--songs that are similar to a certain artist or song.





Spotify is a service that's been going gangbusters in Europe for the past while. I essentially lets you listen to any song for free--regardless of whether or not you own it. You have to have an internet connection and a computer, but that's the only requirement. (You can, of course, purchase the song to be able to listen to it without a connection, and for a fee, you can be a premium Spotify member, which lets you stream your music to an iPhone or other device). It's taken forever for it to come over to America (mainly due to music licensing issues), but it's arrived at last. I signed up right away.





How is it?





I'm honestly not blown away by the service. In theory, it should be really cool. The ability to share music with friends on Facebook, post public playlists, listen to your music on any computer--all very nice. But the sharing seems like the biggest offering, and its execution is clunky at best. When you share a playlist, not everyone can see all the songs on it. They can only see the songs in it that they already own--unless the subscribe to the playlist, at which point the songs become visible.





I think.





That's the thing--I'm not sure. The user interface leaves much to be desired. I've used it, read about how to use it, experimented with it, and I'm still not sure I'm doing everything with it that I can. That's frustrating, especially in an age where I'm so used to having something made in such a way that it's so intuitive, the manual seems redundant. Not so with Spotify. It doesn't help that their online help section leaves much to be desired, too.





It seems to me I should be able to add music freely to my library--the one I can listen to on a computer for free. I guess you can, as long as you add them to a playlist first. I'm sorry for seeming so confused--it's just a reflection of my frustrations working with the program.





In the end, I'm not sure how much I'll use Spotify. It feels to me like an over-hyped summer blockbuster. You hear and read so much about it, that by the time it's released and you get to see it, you can't help but be disappointed.





How about you--anyone out there already use Spotify and love it? What am I doing wrong? Do share . . .

Help Me Pick an Author Photo

Derek Zoolander: Well I guess it all started the first time I went through the second grade. I caught my reflection in a spoon while I was eating my cereal, and I remember thinking "wow, you're ridiculously good looking, maybe you could do that for a career."

Matilda: Do what for a career?

Derek Zoolander: Be professionally good looking.

As promised, today's the day where I show you the various candidates I feel would be good for my author photo. I'd initially planned on having just a standard head shot taken locally, but once the trip to Slovakia was firmed up, I reconsidered. Why have a boring normal photo when I could get one of me with Trencin Castle? Way cooler. My brother-in-law recommended some good photographers, Denisa called them up, we looked at samples and chose one: Peter Stolarik (his website isn't bringing anything up at the moment. He's got a Facebook page, too--but I think you have to be his friend to see the photos.)



The actual photo shoot felt really strange and bizarre. I'm just not used to getting my picture taken--certainly not when it's just me that's the subject. Large family group shots? Okay. At least it's a shared misery. All by my lonesome? Very weird feeling. Peter wanted to know what I wanted as an end result, and I was purposefully vague. I told him I wanted me in it and Trencin Castle--ideally recognizable as Trencin Castle. Other than that, it was up to him. He took something like 60 shots. Maybe more. Various poses all over the castle. We jumped fences, climbed up where only goats were supposed to be, and basically went wherever he thought he might get a good shot.



Anyway. Here are my top eleven (because I go to 11). There were many others I liked--he's a great photographer, and I highly recommend him if you're in the Trencin area.



What I'd like from you is feedback. Which picture do you like the most? Any you really dislike? Any input is welcome--including "I like them all." I'm mainly looking for opinions. You've surely got one. Share it with me here, in the comments section on Facebook, or drop me an email.



In no particular order:

1

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 9

 10

11

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 15--Barbecue! (and Trencin Pictures)

*Stumped about the connection between Firefly and yesterday's post? Here's another clue for you in the pic today. Somebody's gotta get it now, right? (Denisa's not allowed to respond--I told her in person yesterday.)*



:-)



We're up to July 15 now, and I think we might stop there for the next few posts, just because there's so much material to blog about. Denisa and I took the kids into Trencin to get several Vodnik-things done at once. First up was finding some Slovak story books. Remember, the hope is that I get to write a second book set in the setting of Vodnik. One of my main goals on my trip to Slovakia this time was to get research done for that book. Not saying it's actually going to happen, but I figured while I was there, it wouldn't hurt.





Doing research for Slovak-oriented subjects can be difficult. Since the country only has about 5.5 million people, digitization of their cultural knowledge doesn't quite happen at the same rate as in America. (Think of it like this: imagine if American internet influence was spreading as fast as the population of Wisconsin would allow. And don't forget: not all 5.5 million people are actually online. 75% of them are. Broadband penetration was at 4% in 2006, and even if it's skyrocketed since then, there just hasn't been that much time for people to get hold of the huge backlog of information any society has on hand. Even in America, if you go back to the 70s or earlier, good luck on finding much digitized (outside of the New York Times or other bigger publications.) It's getting better, but it takes time.



This is just to say that I knew going to Slovakia that if I wanted to get some information, it would be easier and cheaper to do while I was there. So Denisa and I took the kids around town, visiting bookstores. I wanted to get some books of traditional Slovak fairy tales. So much of what you can find easily is just reheated Grimm. I wanted the real deal, and I found plenty. We also got some books for TRC and DC--their Slovak did so well during the 5 weeks we were there. We wanted to try and keep that up once we got home. (Denisa already speaks almost only Slovak to the kids, but TRC has very little experience reading in the language.)



Anyway, while we were at it, I also took pictures of the town--trying to get a shot of the site of all the major events in the novel.

Tomas and Katka's Apartment Building: An East German car, with TRC place in the picture to give a sense of scale: The town park:

The bakery downtown:

The plague column:

Random Communist building plunked down into the town center:

The Vodnik, again:

A look at what the Vodnik is looking at:

The closest thing to a "mall" downtown Trencin has. It's really getting run down:

A certain fountain that roller bladers in the city really ought to watch out for:

The movie theater downtown:



I know: most of these pics probably don't do much for you if you haven't already read the book. Fear not. Because after we ran errands downtown, we went up to the castle to do some grilling. After the grilling, we'd arranged for a professional photographer to meet us at the castle to take pictures of yours truly. I need something decent for my book. Help me decide, tomorrow. (And the day after that, get excited: I'm posting princess pics of DC (and Denisa).)



Meanwhile, here are a few BBQ pics.

DC had so much fun riding horses, she kept it up at the castle:

TRC in action. Who knew bungee cords were a lethal weapon?

Speaking of lethal weapons, Milos teaches TRC how to maim tourists:



No pics of the food this time, alas. It was the same menu as last time--check the pics I took from three years ago here: http://brycesramblings.blogspot.com/2008/06/castle-bbq.html Yes--we dressed up then and shot arrows, too. Kind of a walk down memory lane. TRC and DC were so much younger . . .



Until tomorrow . . .

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 14--Horse Riding (Mainly Pictures)

July 14 was taken up by mostly relaxing for the first half of the day. Denisa was still recuperating from her sun exposure the day before, and I was happily enduring a head cold, so we slept quite a bit that morning. In the afternoon and evening, we went to visit a horse ranch owned by one of Denisa's high school friends. Had some great grilled sausages, and the kids and Denisa all rode a horse (which they really enjoyed).



(I didn't ride the horse. I've ridden one many times, and riding a horse in a circle doesn't quite excite me as much as it might have at one time in my life.)



*Extra credit to you if you can come up with the link between the pic for this post and the topic.



TRC and DC say hi to the horse:

Forget the Pied Piper. Any time you want to attract a young boy, just find a big pile o' dirt. TRC ran up and down this hill more times than I can count.

TRC, very proud of his horse riding abilities:

DC, a bit more tentative:

The inside of the restaurant at the ranch:

A traditional Slovak dress: (I'm trying to convince Denisa that she really needs to own one of these. She says it would look silly. Come on, people--help me convince her!)

Harry Potter 7:2--Cutting through the Hype (Or, It wasn't that Good)

First off, I'm a Harry Potter fan. The first books came out while I was on my mission in Germany. I came home, heard about them, and read the first three in a day or two. I thoroughly enjoyed them. They were fast, fun, and imaginative. Since then, I've followed the franchise closely. I've attended midnight releases of the books and movies. I love how many new readers they've brought to YA fantasy--that's wonderful.



That said, do you want my honest opinion? (Of course you do.) Well, here goes:



The Harry Potter series is essentially two different series. One is Middle Grade (the first 4 books), and the other is YA (the last 3 books). The Middle Grade series is absolutely fantastic. Great fun, imaginative, exciting. Love it. The YA series is just good. There. I said it. The last three Harry Potters are over-hyped. Overrated. The series turned into a cultural phenomenon, but it wouldn't have done that if it had started with Order of the Phoenix. The books excel when Rowling plays to her strengths: imagination and whimsy. Once they grow darker and more serious, those strengths get shoved more and more to the side, and it's to the detriment of the series. We still enjoy them, because we have so much invested in the characters, but that's due to the books that came before. Contrast Deathly Hallows with The Hunger Games (the first one, at least), and maybe you'll see what I mean. Deathly Hallows is an OK YA book (once you take away the hype). Hunger Games is a smash.



Still, we all want to Find Out How It Ends.



The final movie has been garnering its share of praise. I even heard some wondering if it might score a best picture nomination. It's got a 96% fresh rating on Rottentomatoes, an 87 on Metacritic, and is making money hand over fist, to the adulation of throngs of fans. I went and saw it last night, expectations set to Full Speed Ahead. It was just okay. Yes, we found out how the series ends, and lots of fighting was involved, with a suitably epic LOTR feel at the end, but I couldn't help walking away feeling like this adaptation was set up for failure from the beginning.



Why?



There's just too much in the book, and fans are too tied to the original. So the movie is reduced to a pinball-like approach, with the main characters doing action after action, some of which are explained and justified in the movie, some of which rely on you being familiar with the book. That's not the formula for a successful adaptation. For example, if you haven't read the book, then you don't have a clue why the Resurrection Stone is important or even mentioned. You probably only have a vague idea of what exactly happened with Snape. Where the heck did the Grey Lady come from? Stuff like this works if you're familiar with the source material, but it comes across as confusing and contrived if you're not.



Plus, the adaptation continued to highlight structural flaws of the book itself (something I noted in my review of 7:1). Problems are solved by convenience and stupidity on the part of evil. SPOILER ALERT: So you're Voldemort. You've been waiting for well over a decade to kill Harry Potter. You've finally done it, with a big triumphant death spell. And . . . you have a minor minion go check him to make sure he's dead? And you have his best friend Hagrid carry the body back? Haven't you ever heard of the double tap? I mean, even Zombieland highlighted the importance of this. You're the lord of evil, dude. Act like it. Decapitate the little brat. Burn his body to ash. It's hard to fake being ash, you know. And when you do come back to gloat, what's up with letting Neville Longbottom monologue for that long? Kill him, too. The fact is, if Voldemort acted like half the evil lord he's supposed to be, the ending of the book wouldn't work. At all. And even getting to the ending is nothing more than a series of hoops to jump through. The conflict in the story is driven by coincidence, chance and blind fumbling in the dark. That ain't the way to write a blockbuster novel.



That said, did I enjoy myself in the movie? Mostly, yes. It was lots of fun to see some characters have their moment, and to see the End at last. I just grow wistful thinking about what might have been.



This is no Best Picture. This isn't deserving of the scores and praises being heaped upon it. It ain't The Dark Knight. It's a well-produced adaptation with slick special effects, okay acting, and a large amount of cultural good will.



That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.



I'd love to entertain other opinions, though. Thoughts?

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 13--Orava Castle and Strecno (with Pictures!)

July 13 we were up bright and early for a drive up to Orava Castle, the most visited castle in Slovakia (although I'd never been before this trip). It also happens to be the place where most of the exterior shots of Nosferatu were filmed, if you're into that sort of thing. Which I am. My brother-in-law Milos was our guide for the trip, and Denisa and I brought the kids with us this time. It's only about 100 miles, but it was around 3 hours of driving.



(On a side note, driving in Slovakia can be very confusing to an American. First of all, they have highways, but you need to know that you have to pay a fee and get a sticker to use them--otherwise you face a hefty fine if you're caught. The speed limit on freeways is around 75. If you're not on the highway, there are two speed limits: 30 if you're in a town, 55 if you're out of a town. You need to know this, since the town markers themselves serve as the speed limit signs. (There are only numbers for speed limits when the speed limit is different than the 55/30 rule.) We didn't buy a highway pass, so we had to take the back windy roads (which is preferable, if your goal is to the see the country, anyway. Hence the long trip.)



Orava Castle was magnificent, although the town it lords over is pretty darn tiny. Still, we weren't there for the town. The castle is in great condition, with many original details still intact (murder holes, wood interiors, paintings, etc.) Here's a sampling of pictures. Looking up from the castle courtyard:

A view of the countryside around it:

The fam down at the base:

The kids with Nosferatu:



From Orava, we figured we might as well get in one more castle, so we swung by Strecno (pronounced STRETCH-no) Castle on the way home. Strecno is much more ruinous than Orava or Trencin. Pieces of Dragonheart were filmed at the castle. Not quite the same pedigree as Nosferatu, but still cool. (Dragonheart was filmed in Slovakia, and many of the castles in the area can lay claim to that. My brother-in-law also got to be an extra in some of the guard scenes, as I recall.) Both castles involved steep hikes to get to them (sort of the point, with castles), and it was a tiring day for everyone by Milos, who walks up to Trencin castle fifty times a day, just for fun. He also got to marry a ghost in a comedic number performed at the beginning of the castle tour:

Denisa and DC outside Strecno:

A view of the country:

Random bearded man:

Medieval toilet:

TRC the Dragonslayer:

DC the Dragonslayer:

And . . . Milos the Dragonslayer:



And that was the day. We got home pretty wiped. Denisa had gotten too much sun, so she had a headache. (You'll note a trend on this vacation: we were constantly doing too much. But I'd rather do too much than too little, since we only go to Europe once every three years.)

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 12--A Visit to Trencin (with Pictures!)

Okay, folks. Here's how this blog series is going to run: I did a lot over the last two weeks, and I didn't get the chance to blog about it (since I was too busy having fun). However, I thought it might be nice to be able to write about it, and share some pics with you at the same time. (I took about 900 pictures in 2 weeks. You gotta love digital photography.) I might interrupt the series from time to time, if there's something else I feel like discussing, but for now, we'll stick to the game plan. Since I've already talked about Vienna, I'm jumping ahead on my vacation, straight to my first full day in Slovakia: July 12.



Did I mention I got sick on my vacation? Because I did. Never pass up an opportunity to get really ill. That's my motto. Denisa and I had just gotten back from Vienna, and I spent the first day in Slovakia in bed asleep. She had a visit with some of her high school friends arranged in Trencin that evening, however. And there was a problem: she needed a ride to town. We were borrowing her mom's car, and it's a manual transmission, which Denisa has trouble driving. I had to get out of bed to remind myself how to drive stick. (The last time I drove stick being three years ago, when I was in Slovakia before). It turned out that driving stick was much easier for me to remember than how to ride a bike (long story there--I can explain if you want to know.) So having successfully shifted into first, up to second and third a few times, Denisa, the kids and I piled into the car and off we went.



We parked outside of the city center and walked in, at which point Denisa went to reunion-ize, and I checked out some of downtown with the kids, taking some pics of places where scenes in Vodnik occur. First, the castle:



An alley where Tomas has a meeting with some characters that leave a lasting impression on him: The Well of Love: (And a close up of the kids, to keep the fam happy): As well as the Vodnik statue from downtown: The city pool from above: And a view from the castle walls: Plus, a pick of the kids with a cannon. Because cannons are cool:

Meeting my brother in law is always exciting, and he took me and the kids for a tour through downtown Trencin (after he let us wander the castle grounds after it was closed to the public. Love having that backstage pass).

Has Trencin changed in the last three years? Certainly. It doesn't help that the town is seriously short on money. They started a big project to build an underground parking lot, but ran out of funds halfway through. Now, they're left with a big hole in the ground where one of their squares used to be. In my wildest dreams, Vodnik sells like hotcakes, bringing a flood of tourists to Trencin to check out the city. It really is an awesome place, with one of the best castles I've ever been to--particularly noteworthy because the castle is authentic, large and an inherent part of the town. 

Of course, there are signs of growth, as well. The main hotel downtown is getting gutted, with hopes of making it more modern and tourist-friendly. There are quite a few new stores (mainly clothes and restaurants), and the downtown seems to be doing well, more or less. (Having just come from Vienna, I was again impressed with just how inexpensive Trencin is. The best way to illustrate this? Ice cream in Vienna was 1 euro a scoop. In Trencin it was .3 euros. Nice.) This was now my fourth trip to the city, and it really is becoming a place I feel I know well. 

It's an interesting experience, being able to walk through the areas where parts of my book happen. When writing Vodnik, I made a special effort to have it all happen in real places, basing much of it on actual legends from Trencin. I think it helped make the book as good as it could be. I took some more pics on a different day--those will be posted in time.

Anyway--I'm out of time for today. Work beckons. 

A Cars 2 Review by a 7 Year Old

Hey. Remember me? I'm that guy who disappeared to Europe for two and a half weeks. And here I am, back again. Lots of things to talk about, but my jet lagged brain really isn't up to the task. My goal over the next while is to post pictures chronologically, telling you all about my adventures. But I'll wait to start that up until tomorrow. For now, I'm just not up to it.



We were happy to see that Cars 2 was still in the theaters, since TRC has had his hopes set on seeing it for years. And so we took the fam, perhaps a tad more tired than one ought to be when seeing a movie, but it was today (I took the day off on the theory that my employer really deserves an at least partly-able-to-think me, as opposed to what I am today) or never. What did I think? I thought it was a cute movie that tried to do too much. It set a breathless pace for itself in the first half hour, trying to establish who everyone new was, but also taking the time to show where all the old characters were, and then running off on three separate races, a spy plot, and, and, and . . . this is a kids movie? It was just all too much.



But then again, I've got jet lag. What do I know? So I decided the official Bryce's Ramblings review of the film would be written by the target audience itself: TRC. So here you go, folks: a seven-year-old's review of the movie. (Please note that said 7 year old was pried away from reading Ranger's Apprentice, and he wasn't really in the reviewing mood. It's also his first review.)

I thought Cars 2 was pretty good. Sometimes it was funny. Some of my favorite parts were the race, and the cars crashing into each other, and the parts where the cars are crashing into each other. There wasn't really anything I didn't like. I think it was about as good as the first one. People should see this movie, because they'll like it a lot. It's funny, and it's also . . . actually I don't know what it is. It's just funny.

In Which I Visit an Enormous Oven, aka Vienna

I'm sitting here typing this at my mother-in-law's. Just got in a few hours ago, and I thought I'd take a moment to let you all know how things have been going. Iceland Express (the airline I flew to get here) was okay. Not great, but okay. Keflavik airport is one of the most boring airports in the world, though. Seriously--if you have to choose between spending two hours in Keflavik and two hours chained to a cement wall, go for the wall. It'll be more entertaining.



Denisa met me in Vienna, and we traipsed through the streets of Vienna at 10:30 at night, doing our best not to get mugged or otherwise accosted. The hotel (Hotel City Central) was awesome, especially for the price. I'd done a lot of research when we picked it, and I had high hopes--but you never know what you're going to get until you get there. The room was small, but it had air conditioning, which proved to be a huge plus, as you'll see later. Austrian TV disappointed me by having absolutely no Alf reruns, anywhere. I'd thought that was a contractual obligation of all German-speaking TV stations. But oh well. The breakfast the hotel had in the morning was epic. Sausages, bacon, pastries, cheeses, fresh orange juice, German granola, breads, fresh fruit, eggs--and all the Nutella I can eat. (I can eat a lot of Nutella, if you didn't know.) Denisa and I managed to devour enough to keep us satisfied each day until around dinner. Nice.



We met up with some of Denisa's friends while we were in Vienna, going sightseeing both days with some of them and to dinner with others. This actually worked out very well. You never can tell, with friends of your spouse. But I had an elaborate system worked out ahead of time with Denisa so that I could let her know if I wanted to ditch her friends or not. Then I found out the husband of her friend works coding robots for Lego, and all that flew out the window. Not only that, but they live in Austin, which is where the Best Movie Theater in the World is located (Alamo Drafthouse), and you don't mess with people who have good taste in movie theaters. I'm happy to say that we all got along swimmingly, and we had a great time. Making sarcastic remarks and inappropriate jokes just isn't as much fun if your only audience is your spouse, who's legally required to Put Up With You all the time anyway. :-)



That said, it was swelteringly hot in Vienna. I mean, it was like the whole city was a few million miles closer to the sun. We saw tons of things, and walked all over creation. The State Opera House, Schoenbrunn, Belvedere, Stephansdom, sundry other churches--if it was in Vienna, we saw it, and we most likely walked to it. We figured out that using the U-Bahn was a better choice the second day, but the first day, we got a good taste of just how large the city is. Let's put it that way.



I also had the chance to sample some local fare. Muellermilch was consumed. Doener kebabs were devoured. Pastries were enjoyed. Ice cream was eaten by the gallon. A fun time was had by all.



Of course, no trip to Europe is complete without me getting sick, and my body complied on Sunday. Right after a late lunch, I crashed, feeling awful. We went in and didn't go out again except for an emergency doener kebab run. This morning, we realized we hadn't done the shopping we still needed to do (surprises for the kids, dirt for a friend (don't ask), thank you gifts for mother-in-law--that sort of thing. So I sucked it up and we went out into the city again, having so much shopping fun we almost missed our bus to Slovakia.



And what a bus it was. Gas fumes, dripping ceilings (right on yours truly), overcrowded, and Communist. And this was the privately run bus. (Actually, the state bus probably would have been much better--they're usually a lot better these days.) Denisa kept telling me, "Won't this be great in your sequel?" (Assuming/hoping I get to write one, of course). Yes, dear. It'll be great. It'll also be great to dry out. :-)



Anyway--we're back with the kiddos and having a blast. It's 9:16 here now, and I'm going to lie down and think about going to sleep. Hope all is well in America. Don't miss me too much. If you want to see pictures, I'll be trying to post some to Facebook over the next two weeks. I forgot my cable that connects my camera to my computer, so you'll have to wait for authentic pics on the blog until I get back.



Tomorrow: Trencin Castle, relearning how to drive stick shift, and exploring the city to see how many details I screwed up in my latest draft of Vodnik. Wish me luck!

Operation: Vienna

Thirty hours from now, I should be landing in Vienna. Between then and now, all I need to do is finish cleaning the house, pack, drive to Portland, take the bus to Boston, fly to Iceland, fly to London, then fly to Vienna. That's a pretty easy to do list, right? Oh yeah--and be cramped on small airplane seats for who knows how long. I love that part.



Anyway, wish me luck. Many thanks to everyone who's been so helpful and friendly in my bachelorhood. I'm through moping now. :-) Also a special thanks to our house sitters while we're away. It makes me ever so much more comfortable blogging about being in Europe knowing so many people with guns are watching over our home.



I have no idea what my internet access or free time is going to look like over the next few weeks, so expect to see some posts on here, but those posts will be brief and likely more photo-based than you're used to seeing from me. In the meantime, I leave you all with this movie preview that captures what I think this trip will be like. Enjoy!



Trailer #1

European Vacation at MOVIECLIPS.com