Bryce Moore's Blog, page 312

Phone Calls and Bryce

I'm a chronically chatty person by nature. I'm the person who spent more than seven hours on the phone talking to my family on Mother's Day while I was on my mission (count 'em: seven. We get two phone calls a year as missionaries: Mother's Day and Christmas. I made them count. Plus I had two families to talk to.) In high school, I was often found chatting away on the phone with my friends for hours on end. (Almost always girls--I didn't talk to guys that much on the phone. Go figure.) Anyway, this is just to say that I'm comfortable on the phone.



Usually.



If I don't know the person I'm calling, or if I'm at all nervous about potential rejection, I am deathly afraid of telephones. In high school, this led to some long drawn out sessions while I tried to gather the courage to call someone up to ask her on a date. I remember writing down different scenarios, making notes about what I could say, just in case something went wrong. Yeah. I was that kind of guy.



I no longer make notes, but I still am terrified of phone rejection. What's up with that? How can I go from being this phone-confident person to being this guy who can barely bring himself to hit the numbers? I try to avoid calling customer service reps unless I'm really angry--that's the only way to really combat the nerves that I've found, but it's not like I can get angry any time I need to call someone. Maybe I'm the Incredible Hulk of the phone world . . .



I assume I'm not alone in this regard. Anyone else have any phone horror stories they'd like to share?

DVD Collecting

It's autumn, and that means I have new funds to buy DVDs at the library. I look forward to this time, mainly because I no longer buy any DVDs for my personal collection. (Netflix has made that kind of redundant.) But at the library? I have a good chunk of change to devote to the collection each year, and that makes me happy. When I first came on board, the film collection was sort of just languishing there. They had money set aside for it, but no one was really guiding the collection. The result was a very fragmented array of films. Library staff would ask film professors what movies they wanted, and so the collection was like an overview of the various niche classes being taught at the university. I'm not saying that's not important--it's vital that at a small university library such as mine, we focus on supporting the curriculum. But at the same time, I also have strong feelings that such a support be given the proper setting. Students should be able to view the classics--have a variety of films to choose from to give context to the other films they're watching in class. At least, that's the general approach I've taken as I've been adding to the collection the past three years. The first year, I added the essentials in American cinema. The next, I went with foreign films. The next, I went on to flesh out some of the genres and other movies I'd missed. This year . . . I'm cleaning house.



We have something like 350 or more VHS tapes. 350. Yikes. I've been wanting to get rid of 'em since I got here, but I didn't want to clean everything out until there was something to put in its place. Now that I've fleshed out the DVDs a bit, the VHS can start to go. Not that I'm just tossing them--I'm getting rid of the ones that haven't checked out in years and years, but I'm replacing the ones I can that have checked out a fair bit, exchanging them for their DVD counterparts. It feels odd, replacing old materials with a format that's already dated, but at least DVDs will play in Bluray players. (You have to realize that not many people out in rural Maine have made the switch to Bluray yet. Some of them haven't even switched to DVD.)



Of course, there are some VHS that just don't exist in DVD format yet, so . . . I'm going to have to hold on to some of them for a while longer, it seems. I'm certainly not going to toss them just because they're in a dated format. Not yet, at least. But there comes a day when really old formats have to go. Such is life. We don't have LPs or 8 Tracks or even any audio cassettes in the collection now. One day, the same will be true of VHS.

Book Review: Incarceron

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher



My rating: 3 of 5 stars





This was a decent book that could have been better. Should have been better, really. The concept's a cool one (although it seems to have been done some before in the past): a boy wakes up in a prison with no memory of how he got there, and only vague memories of his past. Coupled with this is another plotline: a girl who's betrothed to the next king, in a world very unlike the world the boy finds himself in. Of course, we find out the two worlds are connected. The girl's world created what was supposed to be a paradise controlled by a computer. The boy lives in that "paradise," where everything went wrong and the happiness disappeared a long time ago.





So, what did I like? The plot was brisk enough, moving forward in a sort of "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" way. The characters were fairly engaging, and the conflict engrossing. You'll note that I'm using disclaimers here--I clearly wasn't blown away by the book. It took me three weeks to finish, which I think is a sign right there: I just wasn't captivated enough to be swept away and dive into the book.





So what didn't I like? My biggest complaint is that the book is riddled with poor use of magic/sci-fi elements. In a good fantasy/sci-fi book, the rules are clearly established. You can't just do "anything"--the author shows early on what is possible and impossible in the world, and then those rules are adhered to religiously. Not so in this book. The author constantly disclosed elements that conveniently caused trouble or--worse still--solved conflict. It's hard to get involved in the action when the action is solved by a "oh wait--I have this magic ______ that will solve this for us" technique.





Another complaint stems from this: often the description of what was going on was just too vague for me. The fantasy and sci-fi elements were nebulous. I had a hard time picturing what was being described and how it was affecting our characters.





Really, in light of these two critiques, it's a testament to how good the rest of the book was that I still gave it three stars. In other words, if you're not as big of a stickler for fantasy as I am, you might very well really enjoy this book. :-)

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House Update

It's been a while since I told you all what I was up to with my various house projects, and it's time for me to report back on how they all went. Let me run them down, one by one.



First: scraping, sanding and staining the barn/garage--Denisa and I have finished the front, and we're almost done with the side. That means 2 out of 3 sides will be done this year. The back . . . is going to have to wait until next year, I think. It's getting to be too cold to paint, and I don't want to scrape it and then leave it unpainted for a winter. That's okay--the back is in small enough chunks that I think we can handle it with a couple of ladders and some planks. No need for scaffolding/pump jacks.



The woodshed--Is almost totally done. All that remains is to put the clapboard up and then caulk and stain it. The clapboard should happen this week or next, and the staining will happen at the same time. We're already putting wood into it, and it's serving its purpose well. Oh--a light needs to be installed, but that shouldn't take too much time . . .



Clean the garage--Done. Denisa's mom did this one practically all on her own while she was out visiting us. Thank you!



Cut down the silver maple--Not sure if we're going to do this now or not. We priced it out and had several people come look at it, and it looks like it's just been dropping branches due to wind damage, not due to the health of the tree. We might still have it come down in November, but . . . we'll see.



Entryway floor--Done a long time ago. Still very pleased with how it turned out.



Garden--Quite successful, although you'd have to ask Denisa for a report back on that. I think I went out and dug once or twice, but when it comes to gardens, Denisa's in charge.



Ordering and stacking the wood--Currently have 3.5 cord on hand, with another cord coming. Had stacked it out front while the woodshed was being built. Have to restack it in the woodshed now.



And . . . there you have it. It's been a busy fall (which is when we finished most of these things), but as I look back on it all, it's been a very successful fall, too. Go us!

Movie Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen. Most people I've talked to either love his movies or hate them. I fall into the love category. I think he makes Films that are both deep and accessible, a combination you don't find every day in modern cinema. You either have popcorn flicks or "serious movies." You don't get both.



Woody Allen is the exception to the rule, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona is actually fairly un-Woody Allen-like. It doesn't star him, for starters, it takes place in Barcelona, not New York, and it isn't full of quirky characters doing quirky things. That said, I still adored it.



 Before I go further with the review, a disclaimer. It's PG-13, but I don't think it's a movie that's really great for 13 year olds. For one thing, a large part of the film details a relationship between a man and two women, all sharing the same house, room, etc. I'm being polite here, but you get my drift. And it presents this triangle of a relationship in perfectly normal, ordinary terms--as if it's completely acceptable. Call me Puritan (and some of you no doubt will), but I personally don't find such a relationship to be acceptable. If you're sufficiently mature, I think you can watch the film and think about the aspects of relationships that Allen is exploring. If you're not mature enough, I think you could quickly become confused about right and wrong.



Of course, this leads me to feel the need to justify my personal belief system in what's right and what's wrong. I mean, I can easily see someone objecting to my statement above. If a film can portray a nonstandard relationship as perfectly acceptable and normal, who am I to say such a relationship is "wrong." If I were to explore such an inquiry, we'd quickly devolve into belief systems, and from there we're just a hop away from religion, and then I'm defending my faith, something which I feel no need to do in a movie review. And so that's all I'll say about that for now.



On to the review.



Denisa and I watched this together, and we both really enjoyed it. What's not to enjoy? The cinematography is breathtaking, and makes you want to book a trip to Barcelona tomorrow. The acting is fantastic. Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her role, and it was very deserved. Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem both put in star performances, as well. The soundtrack is wonderfully appropriate (if perhaps a tad too catchy--you'll be humming it for hours afterward). And the subject is substantial.



The premise is simple: two friends travel to Barcelona for the summer. One is engaged and firmly rooted in the real. She's practical above all, and knows just what she wants out of life. The other is prone to the dramatic and constantly searching for More. They meet a man who invites them to come with him on a trip to a different city. Drama ensues.



To me, this movie is all about relationships. What makes a good one work, and what makes another one fall apart? What is love, and how should it be treated in real life? What makes this film stand out to me is that the characters in it feel real--not like stereotypes. They make real decisions with real consequences, and they stick to those decisions, avoiding Hollywood tropes and endings tied up in a bow. I challenge you to watch this with your significant other and not have it serve as a launching point for deep discussion.



Anyway. With the caveats listed above, I heartily recommend this one. Four stars, and it makes me want to do a Woody Allen post at some point, listing all the movies of his I've seen, and what I've thought of them. Maybe one day . . .

It's a Crazy World We Live In

So I just read this story about Google developing self-driving cars. Google. Self-driving cars. And this is for some reason news that's relegated to an afterthought of a tech blog? Why am I not reading about this on CNN or Fox? A car that drives itself! And it's already logged 140,000 miles, with the only accident being getting rear ended by another car. Am I the only one to think this sounds just too cool? I mean, I don't know if I'd trust a computer to drive me on the freeway at 65mph, but I know I'd trust a computer a whole lot more than I trust some of the other drivers on the road.



And how crazy is it that Google of all companies is the one to be spearheading this? Wouldn't you think an automobile company would be on top of this, instead? Oh yeah--they're all bankrupt. Oh well--far be it for me to criticize who's coming up with the new innovations. I'm just looking forward to being able to be driven down to Pennsylvania overnight. Cross country trips where you don't need a hotel? You just sleep in your car and wake up to sight see in the next spot. Google, while you're doing this, could you also please develop a flying car and a robot maid? Because I'd really like to live in the Jetsons world at last. Also, please send me a dog that talks and answers to the name "Astro."

The Knife of Never Letting Go

My rating: 5 of 5 stars





There's a big, growing genre in YA right now: dystopian science fiction. Basically, it's bleak sci-fi set in a world that's often post-apocalyptic. Worlds that are ruled by totalitarian regimes, have strict laws about what can and can't be done. That sort of stuff. You might recognize other books in this vein: The Hunger Games, The Giver, Uglies, The City of Ember, Feed--I could rattle off quite a few from the top of my head. Books that share the same basic concept, and then focus on how characters deal with living in that situation. I enjoy them all.



Add another great one to the list.



The Knife of Never Letting Go has a fascinating premise: a group of people colonize a planet, but soon after colonizing it, they start to be able to hear what other people are thinking. Not some of the time, either. A constant barrage of thoughts from everyone. They call it Noise. What's worse, the women of the colony all died from an apparent alien disease. The protagonist of the story is Todd Hewitt, the youngest boy of the colony. The only boy, at this point. With no women, there have been no more children, so one by one, the boys have grown up and become men. In a month, Todd will become a man himself, going through with the initiation rites his people have developed.



I don't want to get into too many details, because I don't want to spoil things for you, but the book was utterly fantastic. Todd is thrown into some very difficult situations, but he deals with them all in a realistic manner. There are no convenient plot points--no miraculous saves by the author. Patrick Ness (the author) puts Todd into a mess, and it's up to Todd to get himself out. I read this book in a flash, and I loved every second of it.



Better yet, Mantor is adding the entire trilogy very soon. Look for it in the new books section. But you'll have to fight me for the next one.







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The Creative Process across the Arts

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about the creative process. I have quite a bit of experience on the writing side of things--I know firsthand the sort of effort that goes into writing a novel, how that differs from the approach you have to take when writing a short story, how to develop themes and plot arcs and the like. I also know a fair bit about the efforts that go into making a film: how the director, screenwriter, actors, editor, cinematographer, composer and all work together to come up with a final product.



And then there's music itself. I'm studying Beethoven this semester, and it's been really  interesting to hear my professor talk about the different themes in Beethoven's music--how they're developed, how they change from one movement to the next, how they're introduced and how they're resolved. That sort of stuff. I've always been a fan of classical music, but I've usually approached it from a performer's point of view. How did the bassoon part fit into the piece? Yes, I've kept an ear out for other parts, but I've never really thought of music in the same way that I've thought about writing.



All of these thoughts have left me wondering how much the creative process differs across the arts. For me, writing is almost a group activity at times. Yes, I can closet myself away and work on a novel, not bringing it into the light of day until it's finished, but even then, I still rely on other people reading it and giving me input so I can decide what to change and how best to edit it. Does that happen in painting? Does an artist take his/her canvas to a group of peers and ask for input on it? And what about composers? Do they have test runs of symphonies where they can decide what's working and what's not? Maybe other arts do have these sort of test runs, and I'm just woefully ignorant.



If anyone out there is a sculptor or painter or composer, would you mind sharing the steps you go through to create a new piece?



Inquiring minds want to know . . .

Waiting

With some things, I'm a pro at waiting. Putting off something around that house that needs to be done sometime? I can do that. Postponing a haircut? No problem. Chores are something I excel at waiting for. But in other areas of waiting, I'm down right impatient. I tend to obsess over things, and I really like to get something done as quickly as I can, if it's something that I start to worry at all about. I'm probably not alone in this regard, but I write about this today mainly because there's something on the horizon that I have to wait for, and there's nothing to be done until Thursday. In the meantime, I'm finding it hard to concentrate on things. There's plenty to be done between now and Thursday. The front side of our garage is now scraped, sanded and painted, and we have to do the same to the side and the back. The woodshed needs clapboard put on, and then it needs to be painted, too. It's just hard to get that all done when I keep pausing every five minutes to think about that thing that's happening on Thursday.



And no, I can't share with you what it is. It's nothing life and death, so don't you start worrying about it, too. Instead, let's talk about something to take my mind off the waiting. What are the best movies you've seen where waiting is essential to the plot? Here are some off the top of my head, all of which I recommend:



High Noon

3:10 to Yuma

Christmas Story

Groundhog Day

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Forrest Gump



I'm sure there are many many more. I haven't even touched on horror films, and that's gotta have a ton. But for some reason, I'm having trouble concentrating . . . Please, add to the list.

Movie Review: One, Two, Three

I'm here with a doozy of a movie for you this week. It's a great example of a film I had never even heard of, but which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm betting that if I never heard of it, you haven't either. That's my favorite kind of movie to find, really. The film in question this time? One, Two, Three. It stars James Cagney as a Coca Cola executive in Berlin right before the wall goes up. And it's a comedy. Not just any kind of comedy--total slapstick. The premise is fairly simple. Cagney wants to move up in the Coca Cola world, and the boss's daughter comes to Berlin for a two week stay. All Cagney has to do is keep her under control. Easy enough, he thinks. Then she slips across the border and marries a card carrying Commie. Hilarity ensues. The movie takes its time getting everything set up, but once it pulls the trigger, it's nonstop action and humor right up until the end. Denisa and I both really enjoyed it. Oh--and did I mention it's directed by Billy Wilder? He better be a name in your director book: Sabrina, Stalag 17, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity--all of them classics. Check this one out--it's on instant streaming on Netflix.



On a side note, it was also fascinating to see the portrayal of the Cold War conflict well before it got really Cold. In fact, the Berlin Wall went up during the filming of this movie--that had to finish filming elsewhere because of the politics involved.