Bryce Moore's Blog, page 52

Don’t Self-Diagnose

Yes, I’m still in my psychology class, and I’m still thoroughly enjoying it. Today we made it to the DSM-5, the “bible” of psychological disorders. And as part of the introduction, we had a discussion on self-diagnosis. To me, this has always been a pretty cut and dried topic: I don’t know nearly as much as psychological professionals do, so why would I think I’d be able to read over some symptoms and decide whether I had some disorder or not?

Interestingly, not all of the students felt the same way, and as I thought about it, I realized that I fall into that train of thought more often than I’d like to believe. I’ve blogged about this before: The Dangers of Easy Information. Three years ago, I wrote about how my car had been having troubles, so I Googled around to find out what was up. I was convinced it was something wrong with my car battery, to the point that I brought it to my mechanic and told him what was up. He thought I was totally off, but I insisted.

Surprise, surprise. I was wrong.

It’s hard for us to recognize just how far off we are from an expert opinion, especially when we don’t wholly understand the field we’re dabbling in. We just don’t get the complete picture, so it’s easy to think we’re at a 5 or 6 out of 10 when it comes to how much we know, when we’re really at more of a 1.

This is easier for me to understand when I look at an area I’m more of an expert in: evaluating and using information. To me, it’s typically simple to look at something, whether it’s a news article or a video or the claim of someone on the internet, and tell just how reliable that thing is. But I know from experience just how difficult this can be for many people. They assume that since they have access to information, they’re completely capable at evaluating that information and coming to conclusions.

They aren’t.

And so when it comes to things like diseases and mental disorders, it’s that much more important to not decide to take actions based on a limited amount of understanding.

Anyway–I wanted to say all that in class, but they just won’t let me talk in 15 minute stretches. Go figure.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Rust, Writer’s Block, or General Malaise?

I’ve been really struggling with writing lately, and I’m not entirely sure why. That is, it hasn’t exactly come out of nowhere, and I know a number of factors are in play, but I can’t quite pin down how to solve this.

Obviously, a global pandemic hasn’t made life any easier for me, from a creativity perspective. While Brandon might have used the at home time to write another 5 books, I’ve had to worry about any number of things that have taken a lot of my attention to get through. These range from “renovate my kitchen” to “try to make sure everyone who works for me keeps their job” to “help my kids navigate COVID school successfully,” not to mention the strain it’s all taken on me personally. There’s been a lot to handle.

Despite all off that, I was still able to plow forward and finish an entire book that will actually be published, and I’m very proud of that. I was on track for most of the pandemic, writing and revising for all I was worth. But then I finished that book, and I decided to take some time off, figuring it was well-deserved (and it was), but it took me longer to get going again than I’d anticipated. And when I did, I was back in “what should I write” mode.

Figuring that out proved more difficult than I initially assumed it would be. I was well into a revision of a steampunk book that I really enjoyed, but it felt like such a departure from the books I had that were selling, that I decided in the end to set it aside and work on something more horror-oriented. For the next while, I was fleshing out a book that I really liked the concept of. I had an outline ready to go and I was already writing prose, but it just . . . wasn’t working for me. It felt too forced, and I didn’t like it.

So I went back to the drawing board, and I came up with yet another idea. This one, right in line with the historical thrillers I’ve been writing lately. I’ve done a fair bit of research into it, and I’ve got the plot mostly worked out (at least to begin with), but now that it’s time to start diving into the writing, I’m having to really push myself to get through my 1,000 words each day. Typically I can get that done in around 45 minutes. Right now, it’s been more like twice that.

So I’m left wondering why. I don’t think it’s the topic this time, because I genuinely am interested in it. Some of it is definitely because writing the beginning of a book is hard, since I still don’t know the characters all that well, and writing the beginning of a historical novel is even harder, as there’s all sorts of research that needs to be done. Some of it has to be because I’m out of practice. It’s been so long since I’ve written first draft material, and that takes a different skill set than editing and revising. Some it is probably still from dealing with the aftermath of all this pandemic garbage, as well as the rest of everything going on in the world.

That said, even discovering why it’s happening doesn’t really do much for me in terms of fixing it. My approach for the last while has been to just keep barreling forward, hoping that once I get into a real groove, it’ll all start working well again. Something else that I’ve done the past few days is jumped ahead about 1/3 of the way into the book, to a part of the plot that I’m much more confident about. That’s helped a fair bit. It can be hard to get a really good beginning of a book. You’ve got to introduce characters, conflict, and setting, all while trying to keep things as riveting as possible. I’m hoping once I’m on firmer footing, the beginning will be a smoother process.

Anyway. It’s helped to try and think this through on paper some. When I write it down like this, it doesn’t seem nearly as dire. I’ve probably lost about two months of writing, which isn’t nothing. (We’re talking around 50,000 words, so I’d be about halfway done with the book by now.) But the book isn’t sold, so it’s not on deadline, and the good news is that I think the topic’s going to work well. There are plenty (plenty) of books I’ve written that haven’t gone anywhere, so it’s not like I’ve lost that much in the grand scheme of things.

But if you’re also going through some rough times, take this as a reminder that many of us are, and that’s okay.

Thanks for reading.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

All Hail Daniela, the Victorious

I’ve been running March Madness tournaments for a good long while. I usually keep three going: one for my blog, one for my extended family, and one for my church group. There’s some overlap between those different groups, as family and church friends participate on the blog bracket, and Denisa and the kids usually participate in all of them.

However, I don’t ever recall one person winning all three. There’s usually enough variety that someone might do well in one, but someone else inevitably aces them out with a better bracket.

That is, until this year, when Daniela managed to win all three brackets, though it was tight in some. She won the blog bracket by 490 points, the family bracket by 150, and the church bracket by a mere 30 points. Overall, she came in #153,410 out of about 17 million players on ESPN.

Of course, the funny thing is that when I sat with her to make her picks, I kept thinking to myself she didn’t have a shot of winning. She was picking a lot of upsets at the beginning, and then more mainstream choices toward the end, and I just didn’t think it was going to shake out like that. This proves what a nincompoop I am.

In any event, I’m committed to putting Daniela’s name in my acknowledgements, which would actually be a downgrade, since I dedicated my last book to her. But fair is fair. Also, I will note that she’s better than me, which kind of goes without saying. I’ll also see if I can’t give her some sort of an opportunity to name a character (or appear as one) in the book.

Well done, Daniela, and thanks to everyone who played!

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

My “I Don’t Care about the Grammys” Post

I used to watch the Grammys every year. I remember always enjoying it growing up, but somewhere along the way, I just . . . stopped. It wasn’t a conscious decision I made one year. I think it just gradually trailed away. I’d forget they were on, or I’d tune in late. I’d catch highlights on YouTube, if I heard something was particularly interesting.

And now? I just don’t really care one way or the other. This despite the fact that I really enjoy the Oscars and Tonys and Emmys each year. The biggest difference is that I’m heavily invested in film and television, and quite invested in musicals, but when it comes to popular music, I’ve pretty much given up. My kids will talk about different singers or groups, and I’ll recognize a few of the names, but I generally have no idea what genre they’re in, let alone what their songs sound like.

I used to stay connected at least a little, since I’d listen to the radio, but now that I have Apple Music, I can listen to just about anything I want, and that definitely isn’t anything contemporary. Though at the same time, I love music. I took a class on composition last year, and this year a class on the history of jazz. I like listening to different kinds of music, so why do I just not care at all about anything newer than 2010, give or take? The closest I’ve come to caring is when I’ve watched American Idol now and then, but even with that, as soon as the winners were announced and started making new songs of their own, I found myself not really liking any of them.

I suppose this is just part of the inevitable slide into yelling at kids to stay off my lawn. But then again, there are so many different things out there to listen to. I guess when it comes to this one area of pop culture, I’ve just decided not to bother caring about it all that much.

I remember watching the show when I was in high school. My grandfather was in the room, and Aerosmith was singing Dream On, as I recall. He was fairly horrified, wondering why in the world anyone would want to listen to something like that. I was horrified in return, wondering how in the world anyone could dislike Dream On. And each time I think of the fact that I’ve stopped caring about new music, I remember that discussion with my grandfather, and it’s unsettling.

I did look at the list of nominees and winners this morning, and I realized there were some on there that I still recognize. When did ABBA release a new record? Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga are performing together? Norah Jones had another album? AC/DC?? Paul McCartney?? I read those, and I wonder if maybe I should be giving new music another shot . . .

Though I don’t know that I’ll ever find the time.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

About that Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter

So Brandon’s Kickstarter ended up not just becoming the number one Kickstart of all time, but actually doubling the amount the number two Kickstarter brought in (which was for the Pebble Smartwatch). 185,000 people joined in on the project, which (seeing as how everyone bought all four books as part of the pledge) means he’s already sold 740,000 copies of his books, minimum. (Actually, I did a bit of math, just to see where things all ended up. He sold:

737,156 ebooks317,368 audiobooks370,852 hardcover books305,792 swag boxes

All of them for books that haven’t been reviewed and swag that hasn’t completely been detailed. That’s remarkable by anyone’s definition of the word.

That said, Brandon himself noted that it’s not really that much compared to how well his books sell through the traditional publishing route. His best selling books can move 800,000 copies each in their first year. That’s more than 8 times as many as these books are each selling. So the idea that this is crushing the life out of traditional publishers, and that they’re all shaking in their boots, seems a little far fetched, especially when you consider that Brandon’s already indicated he’s planning on having traditional publishers have a crack at these books after the Kickstarter copies are all out in the wild.

Plus, while $41,754,153 is a lot of money, once you calculate out all the expenses of making all that stuff, it doesn’t seem quite as jaw dropping. (For example, say that all he really has to pay for are the hardcovers and the swag. He’s getting $61 for each box or book. He doesn’t have to worry about paying shipping out of that (since shipping costs are on top of the $41 million total), but he does have to pay to design them, produce them, get artwork for them, and all the things associated with that. I have no idea how much the swag will cost to make. I’m sure the books will be far less than $61, and he still gets to keep all of the profit, instead of just his regular royalty. ****EDIT: A friend pointed out that actually the shipping costs are included in that $41 million. That was $10/book for the US, $35/book for international, $10/swag box for the US, and $35/swag box for international. I don’t know of a way to know how many of the sales were international vs. US, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it was 25%. That breaks down to $16.25/shipment on average. That comes to $10,995,465 in shipping costs, which lowers his total to $30,758,688. If he’s just paying for the swag and print books, that now drops his total per box or book to $45.50/book or box. This makes the grand total of profit he’s getting significantly less.

Don’t get me wrong: I am very happy for Brandon, and I think it’s fantastic that this Kickstarter did as well as it did. If he successfully blazes a trail for people to follow, using the platform to write books and get them out to an audience, then that would be wonderful. (Many have pointed out how only Brandon could do a Kickstarter like this, since he has a slew of people who already work for him. That’s true, but if all this was digital only (ebooks or audiobooks), then many of the barriers drop away. You don’t have to store anything, for one thing. I think it would be doable for many people, though I worry many would really undercharge for what they’re trying to do. A lot of work goes into making professional level books: design and editing and artwork, for example. Sure, you could just skimp on all of those, but if Kickstarter just becomes a breeding ground for poorly executed fiction, I don’t think it’s a breeding ground that will last long.)

A lot of my friends have asked me if I’m jealous of Brandon and how successful he is. I’m not. He works his tail off doing what he loves doing, and he’s generous with his time and talents. (He’s employed many of our mutual friends, for one thing. I wonder if he needs a librarian to keep track of all of this . . . ) Life is too short to look at other people and wish you were them. My experience leads me to believe everyone has troubles, and money typically only makes those troubles grow. At the end of each day, I get to do most of the things I’d like to do. I have a nice movie room. I can buy books and board games and good food, and my family is provided for. Besides, Brandon doing well might have ripple effects for me. It helps to be friends with people with connections. For one thing, I found my agent through Brandon. My first book was published by someone I knew of because of Brandon. He’s provided me with a lot of great advice, as well as the single best movie experience of my life. I’m a big Brandon fan, and I think it’s awesome this Kickstarter did so well. (If you missed out on it and still want to get in on the action, I believe you can still make orders on the backerkit site.)

He really ought to buy each member of his old writing group a Black Lotus. Unlimited edition would be fine.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

You Don’t Know Celebrities

In the aftermath of Will Smith’s infamous slap, I’ve heard and read remarks that basically boil down to, “I just didn’t think Will Smith of all people would do that. He’s such a nice guy.” I’ve blogged about this before (five years ago, when Joss Whedon turned out to be far from a shining example of awesome), but it bears repeating: unless you’ve spent significant time around someone, you don’t know them. (And honestly, even if you *have* spent significant time around someone, you still don’t necessarily know them.)

In the case of celebrities, all you really know is the persona they project onto the world. True, some of them seem to be more “authentic” than others. Kanye tweets enough to make you fairly sure who he is in person. Same for Donald Trump. See enough off-the-cuff remarks by people (especially people with filter), and you can begin to get a feel for who that person is, especially when those off the cuff remarks leave a significantly bad impression. Most people don’t try to project a persona that’s actually worse than their true self.

But for everything else? You’re typically seeing a slice of that person that they want you to see. Whether it’s attending charity events, or visiting sick kids in a hospital, or joking around at a public performance. We see little glimpses here and there, and we feel like we can fill in the blanks between those glimpses, so that we get to the point where these celebrities no longer feel like strangers. They’re friends.

Will Smith seemed like a genuinely good person, from what I’d seen of him. He played funny characters in movies and on television. He always seemed to be more or less the same when we saw him. And yes, we all have bad days, but I’m not sure we all have “I got up on stage in front of millions of people and slapped someone because they insulted someone I love” days. I mean, I love Denisa, but I don’t think I have it in me to ever ever (ever) respond that way to someone making a joke at her expense. (Sorry, Denisa.)

People are talking about how they admire Smith for sticking up for his wife. At first, I tended to believe that as well. But the more I think about it, the less I accept that. There are so many other things he could have done. He could have stood up and left the room. He could have scowled at Chris Rock. He could have waited until he won his Oscar, and then told everyone how much he loves his wife, and how petty it was to make fun of someone because of a medical condition. (Or any other reason, honestly.)

Should Chris Rock have made the joke? I’d say no, but then again, he made it at the expense of a movie star. Someone who makes millions of dollars to be out there, for better or worse. It comes with the territory, sadly, and it’s not something Smith hadn’t encountered before. But none of that really matters, in terms of how Smith responded.

He might have always seemed like a good person, but the fact is, he’s now proven himself to be a person who’s ready to do exactly what he did. And then after the slap, when the Academy asked him to leave, he refused, apparently convinced he wasn’t the one at fault. (Or at least, the fault was on both parties.) And then he stood up and tearfully explained how he was trying to protect someone he loves. Then he got a standing ovation for it.

At the time, I felt sorry for him. My knee jerk reaction was to justify what he’d done, and I think that’s because (even though I try not to) I felt like I knew him. Will Smith wouldn’t do something like that unless it was very necessary. I don’t like Chris Rock (or at least, the persona he wears in public). So I wanted Rock to be wrong and Smith to be right. And because all of this happened in the setting of movie-land, it was perhaps a bit easier to justify what had happened. It’s the sort of thing that might happen in a film.

But what if that had happened in front of me? What if I were in the middle of a work meeting, and someone said something someone else disagreed with strongly, and that person stood up, marched over to the speaker, and slapped them? I have a hard time seeing how that would ever be acceptable.

If someone is attacking you first? Sure. Defend yourself. But to respond to insults with violence? No.

I’m not sure what the fallout for Smith will end up being. Since it’s Hollywood, probably not much. Mel Gibson still has acting roles, after all. Though then again, Smith did this against Hollywood itself in many ways, and that might be enough to make him a pariah. But one thing’s for sure: there are a whole lot of people who no longer view Will Smith as Mr. Nice Guy.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Mask Free at the Library (Again)

Last Friday, the University of Maine system announced that they were removing the mask mandate that has been on campuses for since last . . . summer? Who can really remember at this point. In any case, that meant that when I came back to work on Monday, I no longer had to wear a mask, though of course people were welcome to wear masks if they chose to.

So far, I’ve really been surprised by how many people are still wearing their masks. With all the public belly-aching there’s been around mask wearing, I somehow had the impression that most people were wearing masks because they were forced to, not because they wanted to. And instead, it’s probably around 50% of people who are still wearing them.

Of course, I imagine the virulent anti-maskers would read about that and bemoan how many sheeple are out there willing to give up their freedom in the name of fake safety. Then again, I still really fail to see how a face covering has somehow turned into this heinous barrier to freedom. Also, I for one am hoping that masking really takes root in our society. I think we’d all be healthier as a whole if more people would wear masks when they’re feeling under the weather, and if no one gave anyone the crusty eye for wearing one. If the flu’s going around in my area, I plan on putting a mask back on until it isn’t, and I’d love to have some sort of metric that’s posted that lets me easily know when the area’s in one of those high spread times.

I mean, I suppose people who want to be free to get sick should be free to do so, but I for one appreciate the freedom that comes with a healthy body. Just saying.

So am I wearing a mask right now?

I wasn’t yesterday. The community spread is low enough that it’s not something I’m really concerned about. However, I found out an hour ago that someone in Daniela’s class just tested positive for COVID, so I think I’ll probably wear one for the next bit, just out of courtesy to those around me. As I said, I expect that’ll be something that becomes more and more normalized for me: wearing or not wearing a mask, depending on the circumstances.

The biggest thing I’m happy about is that with the removal of the mask mandate, library staff no longer have to confront patrons for their masking habits. Those are some interactions I really won’t miss . . .

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Movie Review: Free Guy

During my blog hiatus, I came across a new-to-me movie on Disney+. Free Guy came out last year, but somehow it sailed under the radar for me completely. Directed by Shawn Levy, it’s a movie that takes place inside a video game. Ryan Reynolds stars as an NPC : a background character that only exists to fill out the scenes for the players. He has only the barest of backstories: he works in a bank, and he likes coffee. Each day, he wakes up and makes the exact same decisions as he did the day before, just like everyone else he knows. True, there are always these bizarre people running through his world, doing crazy things like stealing cars or shooting guns just for fun, but that’s just part of his normal.

Until it isn’t.

He begins to break out of his pre-determined role, and the movie develops from there. Honestly, it’s a film I thought I would just sort of see and then forget about. With that sort of premise, I was expecting something in the vein of other video game movies: perhaps some cool special effects, and it would be diverting enough for an hour or two, but nothing to write home about.

Instead, I got a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Ryan Reynolds is his usual talkative, funny self. Think Deadpool, but much (much) tamer. It’s PG-13, mainly for a whole slew of video game violence, but nothing that really pushed the edge. The plot wasn’t predictable, the pacing was snappy, the special effects were great.

Now, I’m sure some of the reason I loved it so much was that I had non-existent expectations. A movie that can really come out of nowhere to surprise me like that is often one of my favorite sort of movies. But more than that, it was a film that took its premise seriously. I don’t mean that it’s a serious movie, but rather that it treated its fantasy world consistently, putting in thought as to how it would all play out, and how a character like Guy might view the world. That’s refreshing.

In any case, I gave it a 9/10. It’s definitely worth your while if it sounds even remotely up your alley. Already seen it? I’d love to know what you thought!

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Oscars: 2022 Thoughts

Another year, another Oscars. And my, but this one had some things to talk about. (And yes, beyond Will Smith deciding to Make Duels Great Again.) As usual, we turned the evening into a small party, and this year we even went for a themed event, having everyone dress up as a character from an Oscar nominated movie. (I was Guy from Free Guy, Tomas was Shrek, Denisa was Amy from Little Women, Daniela was Luisa from Encanto, and MC was Anna from Frozen.) We also had treats that were Oscar movie-themed: Devil Wears Prada’ed eggs, Chocolat covered strawberries, Grapes of Wrath, and others.

And, of course, there was the yearly competition for the Oscar the Grouch hat. (You’ll be relieved to know I defended my title, getting 17/23 right. Daniela was in second with around . . . 13? It’s a blur.) The party around the Oscars was a lot of fun, but how was the event itself? I have Thoughts:

First off, let’s get the MMA fighter in the middle of the room out of the way. Will Smith and Chris Rock. This was honestly shocking to watch unfold live. At first, we were all convinced it was a schtick, because there are so many of them, and so many of them are in poor taste. But then the screen froze and things went wonky, and we all headed to Twitter to find out what was going on. And even then, we kept rewatching the slap seen round the world to figure out if it was real or not. And yes, it was real. Should it have happened? Definitely not. I really worry about normalizing violence, and when an actor of Smith’s caliber decides slapping someone who insults his wife on national television is a Good Idea . . . Although then there’s the “Chris Rock making fun of someone with a legitimate medical issue,” which is clearly in less than poor taste. And then there’s the “Will Smith trying to explain why he did it, without directly addressing it, and also thanking people for his Best Actor award.” All in all, it was a big mess. However, it was also one of the few really memorable moments from the evening, since other than that and a few things, the show was pretty yawn-inducing. The three hosts were almost uniformly cringey, the opening number with Beyonce was . . . boring. The show famously decided to sideline 8 (eight!) of the awards, shunting them off to brief edited snippets, inserted at random throughout the night. The argument was they would replace those “boring” awards with more interesting things, and that way the show would be able to stick to three hours. Instead, the show went over by around 40 minutes anyway, and the junk they crammed in instead just kept me thinking about how I would have preferred to see the actual awards.And while I’m at it, can I just complain in particular about the We Don’t Talk about Bruno number? Because going into it, the Oscar folks were making a big deal about how they were going to perform the song live. And because I’m a big fan of the song, I was looking forward to hearing it. And then it came, and they sang the first “verse,” and then . . . turned it into a big Oscar number, with none of the original lyrics, and none of the stuff that made the original song such fun. It was terrible, with a capital T. Ugh.Also, I understand the reasoning in not letting the same movie get multiple nominations for best song, but when the songs they end up picking are arguably significantly worse than many of the songs they could have had if they let Encanto double (or triple) dip . . . I wasn’t a huge fan of any of them. Maybe I’m just getting crotchety.What was up with the “fan favorite” polls? Whose bright idea was that? They were clearly steamrolled by Zach Snyder acolytes. In what universe is the Flash’s whatever scene from Justice League in the same zip code as the Avengers Assemble scene? And Army of the Dead? And Minimata? Live action Cinderella? These were just a joke.Some of the reunions for the presenters were interesting: The Godfather and Pulp Fiction stood out. I would have loved to see a bit more of actually digging into those some, instead of the brief time they got. (Though if they did it in the vein of James Bond’s 60th anniversary, that would be less than good. A series of clips, none of which really tied together, to the point that I kind of felt like I could have done a better job in about an hour on my iPad).Seeing Liza Minelli was bittersweet. Yay Liza, but getting old stinks, folks. It was nice to see Lady Gaga look out for her.Everything about CODA was a big thumbs up, however. Truly inspirational, with great acceptance speeches, and it helped make the show somewhat memorable for something other than assault.The In Memoriam approach this year was . . . strange? On the one hand, I liked having people actually reminisce about some of the people we’ve lost this past year. On the other, they had a gospel choir singing and dancing, and showed the actual In Memoriam piece behind them, to the point that the focus was very much on the dancing and singing, and not on the people being honored.

Honestly, who produces these shows year after year? Because you’d think that in an industry that can make so many really good films, you’d have enough talent to cobble together a good three hour award show. Instead, the Oscars seem to be still continually searching for “what should we be?” They bemoan the lack of viewers (though Will Smith’s slap will no doubt generate far more interest in the Oscars than anything else that happened this year), but they seem to want to blame it on anything other than what’s clear to so many. Honor movies. Honor film makers. People love movies. You can even highlight some of the great movies that came out that weren’t nominated for Oscars.

Last year, I complained that all they did was hand out awards and let winners ramble on for far too long. This year, they brought a lot of the schtick back, and clearly that’s still not doing it. There’s no way I would tune in for an hour of Amy Schumer et al making lame jokes about Hollywood. So why do they assume I’m going to want to watch that in the middle of my Oscars show? In my book, everything in the show should be something worth watching. Stupid routines by presenters? Nope. Lame tributes that are poorly put together? Come on.

Just give us something watchable. Heck, you could even do a “Thirty Years Ago” segment each year, where the show looks back at 30 years ago and talks about what went on. I don’t know. There seems to be tons of great things they could focus on.

Instead . . .

But my party was fun, so there’s that. And I got to read my agent’s liveblog of the evening, which I always enjoy. (Even if there were no updates on what desserts he was eating this time, which was a bit of a letdown. Come on, Joshua! How am I supposed to enjoy delicious noms vicariously??)

Anyone out there watch the show? What did you think?

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Movie Review: Turning Red

Another movie I’ve been meaning to get to for a while. This one, I’d heard conflicting things. Some people said they loved it, and some people said it was way too heavy handed and just another case of movie studios trying to be too preachy. (Of course, most of the sources for the latter came from the same folks who said Frozen was bad because it was way too preachy about pushing the “gay agenda.” So I wasn’t really taking the warnings too seriously.)

I had a chance to watch the movie over the weekend with the family, and I really enjoyed it.

If you’re not aware, it’s about a 13 year-old girl named Mei, who discovers when she hits puberty that the women in her family magically start turning into giant red pandas when they get too emotional, starting at that age. This is sprung on her with no warning, and she is naturally more than a little concerned. It’s all about how she learns to deal with this trait, and the family troubles the secret dragged to light.

First off, yes: puberty plays a significant role in the movie. And yes, that means the mom actually mentions pads as something she’s got for her daughter. Gasp! And yes, you can easily read into the movie about how it also relates to a child setting out on their own for the first time, and becoming who they want to be, and not who their parents want them to be. Perhaps if my children were all younger than 12, this would be alarming to me. It’s easy when they’re that young to assume (like Mei’s mom) that they’re always going to be the same as they’ve been so far growing up.

But then your kids start actually growing up and becoming who they want to be, and not necessarily who you want them to be, and you realize this movie is spot on in many ways. I won’t say it’s spot on for everyone, because what story is, but it definitely resonated with me.

(On a side note, one of the critiques of the film was that since it was about the Chinese/Canadian scene in Toronto, it was catering to too small a slice of the world, and not many people would relate to it. That’s utter hogwash. I am neither Chinese, nor Canadian, nor a woman, a mother, a 13 year-old, or a red panda. (That I’m aware. Maybe there’s a latent trait in my family for men who hit 45. I still have a few more years to go.) I still really connected to the movie and the characters, the same way I connected to UP, despite not being an aged widower, a cub scout, or a golden retriever.))

Talking it over with my kids, MC liked it a lot because it had a big red panda in it that did funny things. Tomas and Daniela both related to the story of Mei growing up and being more of an individual. So it had pretty wide ranging appeal, and it managed to do all of that in a way that was engaging.

Your mileage may vary, and I’m sure there are some who will feel like the puberty angle is either too much or inappropriate in a children’s movie, but I gave it a 9/10.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.