Bryce Moore's Blog, page 99
November 14, 2019
The Simpsons Have Outdisneyed Disney
Disney+ launched Tuesday, and I subscribed on the first day. (A pretty easy decision, since I have a Verizon Unlimited plan, and they offered a free year of Disney+ for free to me.) I would have subscribed anyway, because I’m a self-confessed Disney junkie. I grew up on all the old Disney movies, and I’ve gone about buying them up on Blu-ray over the years as well.
I sat down with Tomas for a while yesterday and we looked over everything the service has to offer. We watched a few things: the first episode of the X-Men cartoon, the first episode of the old Ducktales show, and the first episode of The Simpsons. (Verdict? Ducktales and the Simpsons stood up marvelously well. X-Men? That was . . . pretty bad. Disappointing, since in my memory it was completely awesome. A highlight of Saturday mornings. The writing, the character introductions, the plot . . . all very weak now. Not sure I even want to give it a second shot, honestly. And that’s sad.)
But one thing I wasn’t expecting (though I really should have) was the content disclaimers they attached to some of the shows. The original Mickey Mouse Club, Dumbo, Aristocats. (No sign of Song of the South anywhere on the service, which should surprise absolutely no one.) The disclaimer wasn’t for language or sexuality. Instead, it reads “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
“Outdated cultural depictions” is a very tame way of saying “things that are blatantly, offensively racist,” but it’s still interesting they put in the disclaimer. (They didn’t go as far as old Tom and Jerry shows, which have a disclaimer admitting that such depictions were wrong then and are wrong now, but . . . I’m not really surprised by that, either.)
Of course, to a family-friendly studio like Disney, they’re in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation. You’ve got a ton of Disney-philes who demand their Dumbos and their Peter Pans unaltered, but then you have to admit that those movies are flagrantly racist. As soon as you admit that, however, you’ve got people who will clamor that they *weren’t* racist “for their time,” or rather that “Everyone was racist back then,” which is a weak claim at best, and an outright lie at its heart. People weren’t all racist, but racism was much more acceptable by the mainstream back then.
But to make a long story short, I don’t know of a way Disney could have handled those shows without upsetting someone. So they chose this route, which is better than no disclaimer at all.
What really caught my eye, however, was the lack of any such disclaimer for The Simpsons. Yes, you could definitely have a conversation about Apu and other depictions of race on The Simpsons, but let’s be real: the way race is handled (or mis-handled) on that show pales in the face of the way it’s handled in the Siamese Cat song.
The thing is, growing up, I remember Bart Simpson being produced as Exhibit A for everything that was wrong about current media trends. The Simpsons was verboten for many families. Families who no doubt would have preferred their kids to watch something wholesome like Peter Pan or Lady and the Tramp.
So it was surprising to see we have come to a point where the wholesome and unwholesome have switched places. I know there are those who will object to this. Who will say that the Simpsons remains rude and irreverent, and people decrying Disney are being “too PC.” But I watched the Simpsons last night. It’s TV-PG for a reason. There was nothing there I was worried about. Not in the same way I’d want to have a conversation with my kids about racial stereotypes after they watch “Why Is the Red Man Red?”
Thoughts?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 13, 2019
A Mistrust of Authority
I’ve been watching some of the impeachment hearings when I’ve had time (which, admittedly, has been not often today). And of course they’ve devolved into the political turf war we all expected, but I was able to watch the opening statements of the two witnesses, and I found them to be quite credible, particularly the second–the US Ambassador to Ukraine for the last while. When you look at his resume and see who he’s worked with and for how long, it becomes difficult to attack him as a political beast. He worked under Republicans and Democrats. He seems like an excellent expert on this topic.
And so of course he’s viewed with mistrust.
I find it discouraging that more and more, people are choosing which facts to believe. Which experts to listen to. As if the truth is nothing more than a round of voting on American Idol. Sure, the “experts” can weigh in, but what really matters is how many people believe your side is right.
I was speaking to a colleague the other day, and they’d been teaching a class on campus. As part of the class, the issue of climate change had come up. The class agreed that the vast majority of experts have concluded climate change is real and man-made, but the class also said it was important to have both sides represented in any public debate on the matter.
Typically, I’m all for informed debate and decision making. However, I’d like to think that there are some areas where we can acknowledge debate is over. For example, there’s a group of people out there dedicated to the concept that the earth is flat. There are also people who still believe immunizations cause autism. This is in the face of all medical and scientific evidence. Out of 1,000 experts on a topic, 999 can say one thing, and as long as there’s 1 saying something else, people would argue we need to give a platform to that 1 person.
I don’t think that’s how it works. If 1 person believes something no one else believes, they don’t have a right to equal representation on a national debate. To earn that right, they need to go about convincing others of their findings. In science, this doesn’t come down to opinions. It comes down to verifiable facts. Experiments. Studies.
Take vaccines and autism. One study found a connection between the two. The study had a sample size of 12. It has since been completely debunked by multiple studies with samples sizes in the tens of thousands. And yet, ironically, because that original now-debunked study appeared in a prestigious journal, deniers use that to dismiss other studies in prestigious journals.
That’s just not how science works. It’s not how facts work. But there’s been a huge backlash in some circles against facts and science and experts in general. I find that incredibly disappointing and disheartening. If we can’t even agree on the same fundamental truths . . .
I don’t know how we can hope to ever solve anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 12, 2019
The Many Stages of a Snow Day
It’s November 12th. I’m sure some of you are still enjoying autumnal weather. You might even still have leaves on your trees. But up here in Maine, it snowed and then turned into a wintry mix today, so the whole fam got a snow day. (A moment of silence, please, for the many Mainers who don’t get snow days at work, and they are legion. But one of the huge perks (in my book) of working in education is that I continue to get them, and Denisa does as well, since she teaches at the university. I do feel somewhat guilty whenever I post about my snow days, knowing I’ve got lots of neighbors who don’t get the same luxury, but . . . I can’t help myself. Sorry.)
I thought I’d take a minute to go through the many stages of a snow day, tracing the arc they go through as they enter your life and then leave it. This will make more sense as I go through it.
First: Awareness. A week before a storm, you first begin to hear rumblings that a storm might reach critical mass, culminating in a day off work and school. This is very early on, and you recognize that the odds are still stacked against you, but you begin to hope. To dream. And that helps even the dullest day shine brighter. (It’s true that sometimes snow days completely skip this step. Stealth snow days, we’ll call them, where a storm materializes ex nihilo. But almost all of them give you some heads up before.
Second: Denial. As the storm approaches, you begin trying to convince yourself that there’s no way it’s actually going to happen. You couldn’t get that lucky. The storm will be a whiff. You build up protective layers around that hope, preparing yourself for disappointment. Often, this ends up being important, as the snow storm you thought would be so awesome gets downgraded into just a few flurries.
Third: Preparedness. At this point, you’re beginning to face the fact that this storm is going to come, and there’s a very real possibility you won’t have to go to work or school. Despite your best efforts to remain in Stage Two, you begin to toy with the many things you might do if you were to get the day off. The chores that could get done. The way you wouldn’t squander that gift of time. If you had an extra day . . .
Fourth: Anger. Your hopes get to the point that you begin to feel entitled to that snow day, and yet you realize it might still be snatched away from you. What if it snows, but the Powers That Be don’t give you the day off? What if they just don’t understand the sort of risks the entire town will be taking if the streets are flooded with cars and busses on the way to work and school? What if they make you come in out of sheer spite or ignorance? Surely they can see a major storm. Still, you go to sleep the night before a potential snow day, nervous as a naughty kid the night before Christmas. Hopeful. Fairly optimistic. But still cognizant that it could all vanish in a puff of flurries.
Fifth: Fitfulness. You wake up multiple times, checking the clock and your phone to see if there are any alerts. 4am. Still nothing. 5am. The kids’ school gets canceled. 5:30. Still nothing about your work. You try to keep sleeping, but you’re bouncing back and forth between all the earlier stages. Anger. Awareness. Denial. Preparedness. But your snow day has turned into Schrödinger’s Cat. It is both present and not present at the same time, and until that final alert comes in, you have no idea how your day will be.
Sixth: Euphoria. The alert comes through, and there is much rejoicing. You bask in the glow of the knowledge that your dream came true, and you vow you will accomplish All the Things.
Seventh: Nap. Exhausted from your fitful sleep, you slip into a real rest at last, comforted by the knowledge that the world is your oyster today. You deserve more sleep. You’ve earned it, after all. This snow day happened because you willed it to happen.
Eighth: Wakefulness. Realizing you’ve slept longer than you intended, you get up at last and vow to get some of that To Do list done. Right after you have a nice breakfast. And do the crossword. And maybe read for a while. And check the news.
Ninth: Concern. The day is slipping away from you. You’ve had fun, sure, but there are only a few hours left before you’d have been home from work anyway, and that To Do list is still a mile long. You begin to wonder if someone didn’t sneak in and steal some of your time when you weren’t looking. After all, you had the whole day. Where is it going?
Tenth: Acceptance. So you’re not going to get everything done. So you got almost nothing of your list done, actually. You still had the day. You still had fun. You check the weather forecast, hoping another storm might be somewhere on the horizon. You go back to the first stage, and repeat the cycle again.
Where am I right now? Well, I skipped the nap stage, because this isn’t my first rodeo. I’m churning through my to do list quite well, actually, and I’ve plenty of fun in the morning already. Do enough snow days, and you can actually break free of the cycle and have fun and be productive. But that’s for the advanced course . . .
Happy snow day, and thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 8, 2019
The Deerslayer
I’ve never really been much of a hunter. Never fired a gun that wasn’t powered by air. Never sat in a tree stand. I’ve fished plenty, but when it comes to hunting, I just haven’t seen the appeal. It’s cold. It can be wet. And you’re killing something at the end of it. I don’t mind other people hunting, but for me, hunting is a lot like ballet. I get that it’s a thing for many people, but it’s not really a thing for me.
That said, deer hunting season did just open in Maine a few days ago, and my Facebook feed has been filled with shots of various successful hunters. Maybe all of those pictures somehow made me jealous. Perhaps deep inside of me was a hunter just waiting to bust out. But when a hunter wants to hunt, and doesn’t have a rifle, what’s he supposed to do?
I had to improvise. And really, which takes more skill: sitting in a tree stand for hours on end waiting for a deer to show up, and then using a deadly weapon specifically designed to kill that deer . . .
Or go hunting the deer on your own, using a weapon no sane person would choose to use?
Like, say . . . a Toyota Prius.
[image error]
And before any of you naysayers claim there’s no possible way I could successfully hunt down a deer with a battery-powered hybrid vehicle, allow me to remind you of a certain incident seven months ago. The deer got away that time. It wasn’t so lucky this time.
I was just getting in my car for a drive to Waterville for a church meeting, and not a quarter of a mile away from my house, a deer popped up in the road. I’d like to say my killer instincts took over, throwing little things like “fiscal responsibility” to the wind so that I might have a chance of bagging a deer, but in reality, it was all over before I could do much more than try to slam on the brakes.
My headlight was broken. The deer was dead.
In Maine, you’re supposed to arrange for someone to take the deer. (You won’t find any roadkill by the side of the road up here. People take it and eat it. Not after it’s rotting, obviously, but for that deer last night, nothing was wrong with it (other than a lethal blow to its head by my right headlight). The meat was all still good. Why let it go to waste?
I called a friend, called the cops, and forty minutes later, I was back on the road. I’d reloaded, however: I took the Prius back to the house and proceeded out in the Civic.
Would I recommend hunting with a Prius? Not really. At this point, I now have to deal with insurance and repairs, and I’m going to have to pay for a deductible and all that fun stuff. But I can at least say with authority now that if you’re really hard up for a deer, if you just drive around the streets of Maine long enough, chances are you’re going to find one.
[image error]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 7, 2019
Are You Still Going to Movies in the Theater?
Growing up, I was always heading to the movie theater. I loved the whole experience. The big screen. The crowds. The snacks. It was a real event for me. And I’ve always thought of myself as a movie-going person.
Except today it occurred to me to consider how long it’s been since I saw a movie in the theater. I think the last one I went to was Avengers: End Game. Before that? Maybe another Marvel movie? Or a Star Wars movie? The fact is, the only reason I actually go to movies these days seems to be if I’m worried I’m going to read something about the movie online before I can get around to watching it.
Why is that?
Some of it is no doubt due to the fact that my home theater setup is so strong. Why pay to watch a movie when I could just see it at home and have mostly the same experience? Often a better experience, even. I don’t have to worry about having to go to the bathroom and missing some of the film. I don’t have to worry about any idiots being loud behind me. I don’t have to fuss with getting seats, or getting there early, or buying tickets. The only thing I miss out on is the shared experience of watching something with a bunch of other people.
Though don’t get me wrong. I definitely think there’s something to be said for that. Seeing a movie in the theater is like watching a football game live in a stadium, or at least it can be. Sure, there’s the risk of things going wrong, but when it goes right, it’s a ton of fun.
At last year’s Oscar’s, I realized I hadn’t seen hardly any of the films, and I wanted to change that this year. But here I am, already in November, and I’ve gone to the theater twice. Maybe.
Part of the reason is also no doubt due to how busy Denisa and I are right now, but I generally don’t look at busy-ness as a real reason. It’s an excuse for why you don’t do things that aren’t as important to you. Ideally, going to movies would be a great weekly date night activity that Denisa and I could get in the habit of doing. I think I would enjoy that, though that also brings up the question: if we stay at home and watch a movie together, is that significantly not as good from a relationship-building experience as it would be if we were to go out to a movie?
I’m a bit more undecided about that last one. On the one hand, we’re spending time together one way or the other. On the other . . . I think there’s something to be said for the ritual around going out. Making sure you look presentable. Being away from any potential distractions. Carving out time to make sure you can both really be there. It’s not a question of funds at this point; it’s just a question of scheduling.
What do you all think about movies and date nights in general? If you’re able to watch a movie with your significant other at home, alone, is that an equal substitute? Why or why not? I’m genuinely curious to see what you all have to say.
And the more I think about it, the more I think Denisa and I need to start scheduling actual date nights . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 6, 2019
Finally a Subject I’m Qualified to Tutor
There have been many different school projects and assignments I’ve been called upon to help teach over the years. I’ve helped make castles and collages. I’ve done more algebra than I ever thought I’d need to again. I’ve spent hours going over how to organize and prioritize. And each time I’ve done any of these things, I’ve done it willingly and cheerfully, often sitting down with the material a few minutes before I was called on to tutor the subject. If there’s one thing 13 years of grade school and 8 years of college have taught me, it’s how to consume information and give it back in a way that will fit the mold of what’s being asked.
But none of these assignments have ever really played to my strengths. Not my true strengths, at any rate. In many ways, I’ve felt like Inigo Montoya, fencing away with my left hand and doing a more than adequate job, but never really allowed to shine and put my full educational prowess to use.
Not until last week, at least.
Tomas is in 10th grade honors English now, and I discovered a bit late in the game that he had been assigned to write essentially a five paragraph essay on The Lord of the Flies. I read over what he had written, and as soon as I did, I broke out in a smile and switch my sword to the right hand.
Finally, all those years of learning and teaching and writing could be put to use! If you want to use something a bit more sinister than Princess Bride, it also felt kind of like the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, bragging about just what the Death Star was capable of.
Of course, it was on The Lord of the Flies, which was a hole in my educational upbringing. I’ve never read the book. (I know. I’m a terrible person.) But that just made things more exciting. I quickly brought myself up to speed on the main events of the novel. Enough so that I knew generally what we were dealing with and what questions to ask Tomas to turn him to the text looking for evidence to support his claims.
The biggest trick was to make sure I wasn’t just writing the paper. I already know I can write a solid five paragraph essay. The goal is to teach Tomas how to do the same thing. In this case, he’d already picked out the arguments he wanted to make and the examples he wanted to use. I just had to find a way to tie those arguments together into a concrete thesis statement and go over the importance of well-crafted topic sentences. That might not sound like fun to you, but compared to trying to wrack my brain to remember how to apply the quadratic formula the right way?
This was a walk in the park.
It felt even better when he got his grade back and had significantly improved it. A definite #parentingwin moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 5, 2019
An Evening with the Fiddlers and Fàrsan
Franklin County Fiddlers season is ramping up, and last night we got to go watch the Fiddlers perform, followed by a performance by a touring Celtic group: Fàrsan. They’d come and done a workshop with the Fiddlers before the performance, and I was really impressed with the show they all put on.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I did not grow up a fan of fiddle music. My musical background is way more centered in jazz and orchestra. Fiddle music, to a person used to improv and complex orchestration, often comes across to me as repetitive. Same with Celtic music. If it weren’t for the enthusiasm Mr. Muise (Tomas’s teacher) has for the genre, I don’t think there’s a way I would have normally come to like it.
And yet somehow I find myself really enjoying it and beginning to appreciate the nuances of it. It’s a big testament to how infectious a true love of something can be, as well as how much it helps to become familiar with something before you dismiss it off hand. Too often, I think we end up missing out on opportunities to love something just because the first impression wasn’t the best, or because we judge it before we have a chance to truly pay attention to it.
Fàrsan was a fantastic group, for example. It’s a quartet: vocalist, flute/bagpipes, pianist, and a fiddler. They played for around an hour, covering songs from lullabyes to jigs, and they were all amazing. We were in a fairly small auditorium, and Denisa and I were on the front row, so it felt like we were right there in the thick of things. The songs were all sung in Gaelic (I think?), and the group did a great job giving the context for the music. What it meant, where it came from, etc.
And the more I go to these concerts and listen to fiddle music, the more I’m able to appreciate the skill level that goes into it. It was fun this year to see Tomas be so much more at ease with the performance aspect of it all, a contrast that was easy to see since there were some members of Fiddlers who were performing for just the second time. Once you can get to the point that you’re not just playing a series of connected notes, but playing actual music with meaning and feelings, it’s such a step up. Now that I’ve been to more performances in this genre, I’m able to get into it much more.
Anyway, I wanted to thank Fàrsan for stopping by our high school as part of their first American tour. I thoroughly enjoyed their set, and I encourage you to give them a listen. Here’s a link to their bandcamp page, and a YouTube video they did not too long ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
November 4, 2019
Libraries Boycotting eBooks
I’m not sure how much knowledge of this has spread outside library land, but inside library land, one of the biggest pieces of news in the last while has been centered around Macmillan Publishing’s decision to change the way it sells eBooks to public libraries.
Publishers have come up with a number of wonky ways to handle the way they sell eBooks to libraries. Some of them have done it by charging libraries more for the product, or by restricting the number of checkouts a library can let an eBook circulate for. The basic concern on the part of publishers is that people will discover libraries exist, and if it’s too easy to borrow an eBook from a library, they’ll stop buying any eBooks at all, choosing instead to just borrow the book whenever they want. With print books, there was a “shelf life” of the book: once it’s been checked out too many times, the books physically begins to fall apart. Copies get lost. They get ruined by rain. They get eaten by dogs.
Libraries have to buy more copies to replace those copies, in other words. But with eBooks, none of that happens. Publishers worry that people will just stop buying books altogether, and that the bottom line will be seriously affected. To combat this, Macmillan’s new approach is to refuse to sell libraries any eBooks until after a book has been in print for 8 weeks. Those first few weeks are crucial to a book’s success, they say, and they want to be sure libraries don’t cannibalize that success.
Of course, librarians argue that they themselves are part of a book’s success. They buy eBooks. Many, many eBooks. Readers find new authors through libraries. Libraries promote authors. It’s been a formula that’s worked well for a long, long time. They say Macmillan is doing a blatant money grab with a thinly veiled excuse that doesn’t pass muster.
And here I stand, a librarian and an author. What do I think of the whole situation?
On the one hand, part of me can see Macmillan’s point. There are certainly already models in existence that follow the new model they’d like to establish. No one complains that first run movies aren’t available in a library when they’re still in theaters. They premiere in a theater and then, months later, they’re on DVD or streaming, and that’s when people can buy them and watch them at home. Except . . .
These are books we’re talking about. When they are released, they are released in a format everyone can buy them. Libraries want to buy them. Macmillan just doesn’t want to sell them to libraries, and that feels petty and artificial. Honestly, it feels like Macmillan is stabbing a long-term partner in the back.
I buy the books I want to read. I buy almost all of them on my Kindle, because that’s the way that’s easiest for me to read them. I don’t check them out from the library, because I prefer to read what I want, when I want. I really dislike having to wait for the next book I want to read, and I like knowing I can read that book whenever I want. Yes, I know the way I read books isn’t the best way for long-term health of book stores. Giving money to Amazon isn’t nearly as good as giving money to my local bookstore. At the same time, I believe in Reading more than I believe in the business of books. People should read what they want, when they want, how they want, and no one should be sent on a guilt trip for reading the “wrong way.”
When I write books and publish books, I want people to read those books. The way that would make me the most money is if they’d buy them in hardback in the first 8 weeks of publication. That has a big impact, since it’s what makes the biggest splash (putting books on bestseller lists, catching attention, etc.) But I’m not in this game to just get as much money out of people as I can on one or two books. I’m in the long game. I want to publish more books, and the way that happens is by more and more people being exposed to my books and finding out how much they love them. (Hopefully)
There used to be four ways for people to discover new books. Libraries. Book stores. Reviews. Word of mouth. Book stores have been severely hampered the last few years, as more of the big chain stores went under, having already driven the independents under. Thankfully, there’s been signs of a growing resurgence of independents in some areas, but it’s still not back to where it was. Reviews still play a part, as does word of mouth. You could argue online stores like Amazon have taken the place of brick and mortar stores.
But any which way you slice it, libraries still play a key role in exposing readers to authors. And libraries pay for the privilege to do it. They buy the books. They talk the books up. When they succeed, publishers succeed. At first blush, I can see the argument Macmillan is making. But the more I look at it and think about it, the more preposterous it sounds. “We want to stop selling books to you, because you’re making it so too many people are reading our books.”
The more people read those books, the more fans those authors get. The more fans they get, the their books are going to be in demand. Libraries are now threatening to boycott Macmillan over this issue. If I were an author published by Macmillan, I’d be very upset over the potential loss of readers. Maybe if I were an author selling a gazillion copies of my books, I’d be upset that I wasn’t wringing every last dollar out of my potential audience that I could. But I doubt it.
For the long term health of reading and the book industry in general, libraries need to remain in the look. Macmillan is abusing a long-term ally to make some short term gains. It’s true that having their books only be available outside of libraries the first 8 weeks might make it more likely fans would want to buy a personal copy. But you know what else is out there? Pirated, free copies. Streaming has shown that if you make something available reasonably easily for not too much money, most people would be fine paying for it. If you make it expensive and difficult to obtain, more and more people will just steal it. Is that really what Macmillan wants?
True, I get that “people will just steal it” is a pretty base argument, but so is “too many people are reading our book from the library” . . .
What will I do? I’m going to continue buying books I want to read, regardless of publisher. At my heart, I’m pro-author, and I’d hate for some people’s careers to suffer because of this. (And some careers will suffer. No doubt.) I can’t blame libraries for boycotting, though. Macmillan is trying this to see what they can get away with.
Why can’t we all just get along?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
October 31, 2019
Roomba Review: “Not the Best” is Far from “Bad”
Over the summer, I had the chance to pick up a hand-me-down Roomba. Nothing cutting edge. (Specifically, it’s a 650 model, which you can still pick up refurbished on Amazon, though I don’t see unused ones being sold there.) I’d always toyed with the idea of having a Roomba, but I didn’t know how well they’d actually work. Getting one gratis was a wonderful way to find out.
What’s the verdict?
The bottom line is that Denisa and I are definite fans, and the house is certainly much better swept and vacuumed than it used to be.
To get into the weeds a bit, let’s talk about how our Roomba works. You’d like to think it’s got sensors and remembers where everything in the room is, developing a map and using cunning robotic intelligence to efficiently and effectively vacuum a room. You’d be wrong. Maybe the newer ones do that, but ours just has one directive: vacuum. It vacuums in a straight line until it hits an obstacle. When it hits that obstacle, it turns a random amount, and then tries to go in a straight line again. Sometimes that means it goes right back along the place it already vacuumed.
It is far–very far–from efficient.
However, the wonderful thing about the Roomba is that I am not doing any of the vacuuming. You set it up and walk away. When you come back a half hour later or whatever, the room is magically vacuumed or swept. (Or the Roomba is stuck. That also happens. But if that happens, you just unstick it and tell it to get back to work.) Essentially, the Roomba takes a job that could be done in ten minutes and gets it done in a half hour or more. On the surface, that sounds bad. In practice though, it involves 30 seconds of my time, and 30 minute’s of the Roomba’s.
And let’s be brutally honest. I don’t care about the Roomba’s time and concerns at all. I’m a total robot slave driver. So if it takes the Roomba a long time to do something, who cares? I had nine and a half minutes of my life to do something other than vacuuming.
There are definite areas where the Roomba is better at any vacuuming I could do, however. It goes underneath my bed, randomly zigzagging through dust bunnies I would be way too lazy to try to get through. Because it’s small and compact, it ends up wandering and meandering its way everywhere in the room, not just the middle where I always notice. Is the vacuuming job always perfect? Not necessarily, but it’s more than adequate. (Even Denisa agrees on this point, so you know it’s not just me making excuses.)
The Roomba struggles with some areas of our house. It’s an old house with lots of thresholds between rooms, and that can get it stuck. So we just block those areas off and have it do one room at a time. Yes, this means we sometimes have to carry the Roomba to a room instead of it just rolling itself there randomly over time. Who cares? I had to carry the vacuum there before, and the Roomba is way lighter.
Final verdict: I would totally buy a Roomba if and when this one breaks down. I’ve even though about buying one for the movie room upstairs, just so I could program it to clean there and then I could forget about it. (Not completely, of course. You don’t want to leave shoelaces where a Roomba might chew them. They love shoelaces. And be very careful if you have pets . . . )
I’m now looking into Roomba mops.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
October 30, 2019
An Apple is an Apple
I’ve been eating fruit for quite some time. I can’t say exactly how long, but I think it’s reasonable to think it’s been over forty years, depending on when my parents first started feeding me solids, and when they introduced whirled fruit into the regimen. I even have a list of my top ten favorite fruits, because lists. And you’ll note on that list that apples got an honorable mention (because I like them baked in things) but didn’t crack the top ten. So that might explain something of what follows.
More and more, I’m noticing people getting all gourmet with their apple selections. I go to a farm stand, and there’s not just “apples.” There are all sorts of named apples. Gala. Red Delicious. Macouns. Honeycrisp. And supposedly, these are all different apple experiences. Like, you can bite into one and have a certain expectations of what it will taste like versus what a different strain will bring to the table.
Yesterday I had a long debate about apple types, where multiple people tried to convince me they could see a difference between Macoun apples and Gala apples. And it felt like they were pointing out subtle variations in shades of white. They’d look at two apples and see all these differences between them. The color. The shape. Bumps on the bottom.
I looked at them and saw . . . two apples.
“Try eating them,” they told me. “Totally different.” So I tried eating them. One tasted like an apple. The other one tasted like . . . an apple.
I get that there are differences in some apples. I’ve eaten good apples and bad apples. I don’t like mushy apples. I don’t like sour apples. I only sort of like sweet apples. But maybe my commitment to apples just isn’t strong enough for me to care to distinguish the difference in the varieties. Maybe my brain just looks at them, shrugs, and says “Do we really need to care about this?”
I mean, when I go to the store, there’s just one banana section. It’s not like there are all these different strains of bananas to choose from. You get what you get. It’s yellow (or maybe green or brown, depending on ripeness). It’s curved shape. You peel it. You eat it. Case closed. Yes, there are clearly different types of bananas. There are some that are thicker and some that are stumpier. But in the end, they’re all bananas, just like apples are all apples.
If I were to bite into an apple and it was going to taste like an orange, then I’d want to know that going into my apple eating experience. I’d want a heads up that this type of apple was an orange-tasting-apple. But unless it’s something drastic like that, what’s the big deal? They’re all apples.
I realize this post is going to get many people popping up to tell me (online or in person) just how wrong I am, and just how much I need to learn to properly appreciate apples. To which I will happily agree, assuming they’re up for me telling them all about the different varieties of Magic: the Gathering cards, and how they should each be used in different situations. Or if that’s too geeky, let’s talk about surround sound system set ups, or television pictures, or the variation in quality between all the Star Wars movies or the Lord of the Rings films.
In other words, it seems like anything you want to study and devote time to can offer you some rewards, if you actually care about the item in question. And I discovered yesterday that there are some hardcore apple geeks out there, and I ain’t talkin’ ’bout computers. But just as I haven’t taken the time to care about Japanase anime, I also haven’t delved into the many wonders of apples. And that’s okay, just as it’s okay by me that you might not be able to tell the difference between 720i, 1080p, and 4k televisions. Or why a Black Lotus would be worth thousands of dollars while a Blacker Lotus is only worth five.
If you love apples, go nuts. Have a blast with your Black Oxfords and Mutsus and Blue Pearmains. But realize that your hopes of getting me to understand and recognize the differences between the two are likely going to leave you frustrated. Though if you’d ever like to bring me an apple cobbler, I won’t turn you down. Regardless of the variety of apple you used. Just make sure not to skimp on the cobbler.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That 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.
