Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 114

Mind Sieve 1/2/12

Happy New Year!





From the guys who brought us Jedi Ninja comes Demon Hunter: Prologue. Some sweet moves in this one.



From the Piano Guys - Carol of the Bells (for 12 Cellos). What fun!



First Earth-sized Planets Spotted by Pallab Ghosh with BBC News. But too hot now for life. Bummer.

My Little Pony and Gundam stop motion crossover. lol. Love & Tolerate featured over at CruchyRoll.


From the NY Times Black Hole Forecast: A Cold Gas Cloud by Ritchie S King. What's actually most amusing about the article is the correction added on 12/29/11. Heh heh heh.

Preview for the upcoming Spartacus: Vengeance starting in late January 2012. Booyah!


From NASA - Celestial Bauble Intrigues Astronomers.



From Science Daily - Paint-on Solar Cells. This could be totally revolutionary. Sounds utterly awesome!

Top 10 Most Outrageous Opening Lines in Literature courtesy of Michael Conor Sullivan.

To Celebrate Edgar Alan Poe's 200th Birthday, the University of Virginia has an exhibition and digital compliment called From Out That Shadow.


10 Electric Cars Coming in 2012 by Patrick Connor. Looks like the movement is on!

Lego Troopers Calendar by Mike Stimpson. Some really cute pics in there!



From BBC News - Archaeologists Make Virtual Map of Neolithic Stonehenge. Seems you can download a program and take a virtual tour of the area as it would have been back in the day. A Bournemouth University and Google project.  Cool!


The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Reports Discovery of Its First New Particle by Johnathan Amos and BBC News. Go Science!

Tons of info on Johannes Kepler over at NASA. Since it is his name being used for the search for habitable planets. Also, I've been stumbling over his name all week, especially since I'm reading the novel Galileo's Dream and Kepler was around the same time. Interesting stuff.

Volcanic Activity in the Red Sea is Creating a New Island from Earth Observatory. There's before and after pics with markings. Cool!










Authors: Don't Get Burned by Branding from Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. Tell it, Brother Beard!

Why Traditional Marketing Doesn't Sell Books from Kristen Lamb.









5 Common Writing Hazards from Kristen Lamb. Great list!

How To Force A Story To Evolve: 6 Revision Tips by Jamie Gold. Another great list!

Clearing The Air On - And In - Your First 100 Pages by Larry on StoryFix.com. Let the mental roller coaster begin! Heh heh.

Pardon Me, Passing Through: Describing Movement by Janice Hardy. More good stuff!


Okay, that's it for this week. See you next time![image error]

Virtual Pictures - Star Wars The Old Republic

As happens in a lot of games I've played, if I find out I can take pictures, I become a virtual tourist. Here are some I've taken so far in the new MMO Star Wars The Old Republic. Heh heh heh. (No, I haven't figured out if they have a key to remove the goo while I take a picture. Need to find out...)


Gorgeous sky at the newbie planet

View out the hangar of Coruscant's sky. It has all the traffic like in the movies. Real nice job!

Inside the Senate Building on Coruscant.

Me in the social dress you can buy once you accumulate some social points for grouping. My sidekick is behind me. Hubby is on the left. (Yes, he likes to play girls. Ignore him. :P)

Me again as a Padawan in the Jedi Hall on newbie planet.

Loved this floating, ginormous holocron statue at the Jedi Hall.

Some cool architecture in the Jedi newbie planet.

The Jedi Forge. The hanging lamp was cool.

Coruscant from the hangar again.

You can see the lines of traffic on this one. So cool.

Outside of the senate.

Ah, my Imperial Spy on Hutta. Just had to have all the bling. lol. (Was quite surprised I went for this race with no hair.)

Inside the local Hutt's palace.

Outside of the local Hutt's palace.

Had a hard time getting a good picture of her. Bah!

Inside the senate building in Coruscant.

Ditto.

Bought the social dress again once the game was live and I recreated myself. :P Really liked the look from the beta.


View out my Jedi ship's bridge! Woot! (You get a ship at level 15)

Third planet we got to go to - Taris. They're in a bad way here.


The Republic Fleet.


More Taris.


Giant power plant that almost went kaboom!

Ancient Jedi statue.

It didn't occur to me on the 4 we found before, but here's a pic of the 5th Holocron we found. Finding one is not the same as actually getting to it and clicking! Argh! Located around X1046 Y452 Z210

We did find the way up to get to this 5th one. But like the 2nd one in Coruscant, we couldn't make one of the leaps. WAH! Beginning spot is at X1184 Y263 Z-120 And it is a loooong way around.

New planet we reached last night at the space port. Loved the virtual tree!
May occasionally torture you all with more of these virtual tourist pics. :P
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Movie Review - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo


Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson, Geraldine James, Goran Visnjic, Donald Sumpter

Directed by: David Fincher Screenplay by: Steven Zaillian Based on the Book by: Steig Larsson Original Music by: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Premise: After losing much of his credibility after losing a libel suit, journalist Mikael Blomkvist is hired by Henrik Vanger to try to solve a forty year old murder. And while on this quest, he will cross paths with the emotionally stunted and abused Lisbeth Salander, who will be a major asset to solving the old case. (Rated R)

Review: First off - WARNING WARNING WARNING - No one under 18 should probably see this film and some adults will not be comfortable watching it either. The R rating is serious. While not specifically graphic, there are several heavily implied strong situations, which due to the amazing talents of these people seem very, very realistic and can be super emotionally disturbing. So beware! The previews in no way signal what you will come across here.

That being said the film was good just disturbingly strong! The acting was superb and so was the cinematography. The locations stayed true to the books and previous films and were kept in Sweden with Swedish locations. It was nice to see the names and sites not Americanized and actually kept as originally created. It gave a nice flavor to the film.

Matters move slowly as the lives of the two protagonists are peeled open and begin to intersect. The mystery too is layered and must be peeled and narrowed on bit by bit. Flashback scenes but especially photographs are used masterfully to map the journey of discovery, which was very well done. Clues and red herrings abound.

While all the actors and actresses were fabulous, special kudos should go to Rooney Mara for her portrayal of Lisbeth. The character's emotional scars, determination, disgust, her shield against the world were all masterfully presented. There better be a nomination for her! Just saying.

Another bit that really stood out was how the one person all fingers easily pointed to as probably being the one guilty of the crime, the old reclusive Nazi uncle, turned out to probably be the best and friendliest of the Vanger family. Nice to see them not fall to the old cliche.

If you've seen the original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film, there were definitely differences though the crime and main points remains the same. And this version was much stronger both emotionally and graphically. Had fun comparing the two. One of the few times when the remake outdid the original, in my opinion.

Overall, if you can stomach the graphic/implied content, a very worthwhile film.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price and Seeing Again for Matinee)[image error]

Picture Kaleidoscope 12/28/11

Hi all!

From Petapixel - Long Exposure Photographs of Patterns Projected Onto Landscapes. Not sure why they'd do this, but it's kind of cool!

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Again from Petapixel - Beautiful Photos of Freeway Interchanges.

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From Aki Hoshide - Soyuz Roll Out in minus 20 degrees Celcius! (Brrrr)

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From NASA - Soyuz Roll Out. Look at the size of the engines! Dang!


From BCMystery - Arizona Sky.


From NASA - A Rose Made of Galaxies. Courtesy of the Hubble Telescope.


Happy Holidays![image error]

Mind Sieve 12/26/11

Hope you guys had an awesome holiday! A brand New Year is just around the corner.





GI Joe 2: Retaliation Trailer. Booyah!  Looks like they may have fixed Snake Eye's mask. YAY!


This preview was too bizarre not to share - The Dictator.


From EW a new trailer for Rock Of Ages. This looks like it might be a hoot. Nostalgia with a twist? Heh.


Original Offering Found Inside Pyramid of the Sun (Mexico) from the History Blog.


Krampus - The God of Winter Death - blog post from T F Walsh from the Mythical Creature Series. Almost like an Evil Claus! Hope he didn't visit ya'll this past weekend. Heh heh.

From Mashable.com 20,000 Christmas Bulbs Bring Angry Birds to Life! Beyond cute. Now this is paying real homage! lol



This Week @ NASA. Cool 8 minutes NASA news recap video. Nice!



Interesting blog post by Nathan Bransford - How Art Changes With Us. Quite true!

Ooo! A Full Metal Alchemist movie to be released in theaters - The Sacred Star of Milos.



The Dark Knight Rises trailer 2 - BANE!!!! Looks good!


Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance trailer. YES!  This is going to ROCK~!



From Mary Jo Gibson - Museum Monday - Wadsworth Antheneum. Cool looking museum! Even has a Colt exhibit! Sucker below looks very steampunkish! Heh heh.


It was like MAD TRAILER WEEK!  Here's one for The Hobbit.  (I know where all my money is going next year - movies! Wheee!)



From Wired - The 20 Best Video games of 2011. Man, I am sooooo behind! Dues Ex was totally the bomb, yo!

Trailer for Prometheus (A field of Eggs??? Alien containers? OOOOO!)


My brother sent me the link for this - Jedi Ninjas. What fun!


Gene Lempp's Designing From Bones - Festival of Humanity. PARTY TIME!







From Chuck (NSFW) Wendig comes 25 Ways For Writers To Help Other Writers. Hallelujah Brother! Tell it, Mr. Beard!

I Play Well With (Blog With) Others - Hosting A Guest Blogger by K S Elliot Shark. Wonderful advice and process.

21st Century Publishing Builds On A Healthy Radical Tradition by William Skidelsky. Some really out of the box thinking.

Author Blogging 101: Blog Analytics by Joel Friedlander. Nice post on Google Analytics and why you might want the info.












Tell Me About It - When Telling Is Better Than Showing by Janice Hardy. Great post!!!

Rachelle Gardner gives us the definition for The Intersection of Literary and Commercial.






Anthology Scams: Authors Beware by Carolyn Howard Johnson.


Okay, time's up! See you next time.[image error]

Christmas Story from Fantasy Writer Tad Williams!

Famed fantasy author Tad Williams has contributed a free Christmas story to several blogs to promote the release of his new short story collection - A Stark and Wormy Knight. (Info on a special for the e-book at the end of the story.) Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!
THESUGARPLUM FAVOR(AChristmas Story)TadWilliams
                        DannyMendoza counted his change three times in while the teacher talked about whatthey were all supposed to bring for the class winter holiday partytomorrow.  It was really a Christmasparty, at least in Danny's class, because that's what all the kids' families'celebrated.  Danny had his partycontribution covered.  He had volunteeredto bring napkins and paper plates and cups because his family had some leftover from his little brother's birthday party with characters from Gabba GabbaHey on them.  He'd get teased about that,he knew, but he didn't want to ask his mother to make something because she wasso busy with his little brothers and the baby, and now that Danny's stepfatherLuis had lost his job they had a Money Situation.  Danny could live with a little teasing.            Dannywas going to buy a candy bar for his mother, one of those big ones.  That was going to be his Christmas present toher and Danny knew how much she'd like it -- he hadn't just inherited his smallsize and nimble fingers from her, he'd got her sweet tooth, too.  And she had just been talking about theChristmas a few years ago when Luis had a good job with the SanitationDepartment and he'd brought her a whole box of See's chocolates.  Danny knew he couldn't match that, but thelast of the money he'd saved up from raking leaves in the neighborhood andwalking old Mrs. Rosales' wheezy little dog should be enough to buy a big oldHershey bar that would make Mama smile. No, what to get wasn't a problem. The thing that had him thinking so hard as he went down the street at ahurried walk, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, was whether he daredto get it now or should wait another day.In Danny's SanJose neighborhood the Mercado Estrella was like an African water hole, not onlya crucial source of nurture but also the haunt of the most fearsome predator inhis 3rd grade world.  Any stop at thelittle market meant he risked running into Hector Villaba, the big, meanfifth-grade kid who haunted Danny's days and often his nights as well.  Danny couldn't even begin to guess how muchcandy and other goodies Hector had stolen from him and the other kids over theyears, but it was a lot -- Hector was the elementary school's Public EnemyNumber One.  About half the time hisvictims got shoved around, too, or even hit, and none of the grown-ups ever didanything about it except to tell their humiliated sons they should learn how tofight back.  That was probably becauseHector Villaba's father was a violent, drunken brute who didn't care whatHector did and everyone in the neighborhood was as scared of him as the kids atschool were scared of his son.  The lasttime someone in the neighborhood had called the police on Hector's dad, alltheir windows had been broken while they were at church and their car scratchedfrom one end to another.            Dannywas still trying to make up his mind whether to risk stopping at the markettoday or wait for better odds tomorrow (when class ended early because of theholiday) when he saw Mrs. Rosales walking Pinto, her little spotted dog.  He almost crossed the street because he knewshe'd want to talk to him and he'd spent a lot of time doing that already lastweek when went to her house to get Pinto nearly every day.  He was too close, though, she'd seen him, andJesus hated being rude to old people almost as much as he hated it when kidslied, or at least that was what his mama always told him.  Danny wasn't expecting much from Santaanyway, but if Jesus got upset things would probably be even worse.  He sighed and continued toward her.             "Lookwho's here!" Mrs. Rosales said when she saw him.  "Look, Pinto mi querida, it's your friend Danny!"  But when he waved and would have passed byshe told him, "Hold on a moment, young man, I want to talk to you."            Hestopped, but he was really worried that Hector and his friends might catch upif he stood around too long.  "Yes,Mrs. Rosales?"            "Ishort-changed you the other day." She took out a little coin purse. It took her a long time to get it open with her knobby old fingers.  "I owe you a dollar.""Really?"  Danny was astonished.She pulled out apiece of paper that looked like it had been folded and unfolded a hundred timesand handed it to him.  "I know boysneed money this time of year!"            Hethanked her, petted Pinto (who growled despite all their time together, becausePinto was a spoiled brat) and hurried toward the market.  Another dollar!  It was like one of those Christmas miracleson a television show – like the Grinch's heart growing so much it made thex-ray machine go sproing!  This changed everything.  He could not only buy his mom's present, hecould buy something for himself, too.  Hebriefly considered blowing the whole dollar on a Butterfinger, his veryfavorite, but he knew hard candies would be a better investment -- he couldshare them with his younger brothers, and it was Christmas-time, after all. But whatever he got, he didn't want to wait for tomorrow, not now thathe had something to spend on himself. Danny Mendoza had been candy-starved for days.  Nothing sweeter than the baby's butterscotchpudding had passed his lips that week, and the pudding hadn't been by his ownchoice.  (His baby sister had discoveredthat if she waved her spoon things flew and splattered, and she liked that newtrick a lot.)  If he hurried to themarket he should still get there long before Hector and his friends, who hadmany children to harass and humiliate on their way home.  It was a risk, of course, but with anunexpected dollar in his pocket Danny felt strangely confident.  There had to be such a thing as Christmasluck, didn't there?  After all, it was awhole holiday about Jesus getting born, and Jesus was kind to everybody.  Although it sure hadn't seemed like a luckyChristmas when Luis, Danny's stepfather, had lost his job in the first week ofDecember.  But maybe things were going toget better now -- maybe, as his mama sometimes said, the Mendoza family's luckwas going to change.            Hewas even more willing to believe in miracles when he saw no sign of Hector  and his friends at the market.  As he walked in Christmas music was playingloudly on the radio, that "Joy to the World" song sung by some smoothtelevision star.  Tia Marisol, the littleold lady who ran the place on her own since her husband died, was trying tohang some lights above the cigarettes behind the cash register.  She wasn't his real aunt, of course.  Everybody in the neighbohood just called her"Tia.""Oye, little man," she called whenshe turned around and saw him. "How's your mama?"            "Fine,Tia Marisol.  I'm getting her apresent."  He made his way past the postres to the long candy rack.  So many colors, so many kinds!  It almost seemed to glow, like in one ofthose cartoons where children found a treasure-cave.  When Danny was little, it was what he hadimagined when the minister at the church talked about Heaven.  The only better thing he had ever seen in hiswhole life was the huge piñata at one of his school friends' birthday party,years and years ago.  When the birthdayboy knocked the piñata open and candy came showering out and all the kids couldjump in and take what they want – that had been amazing.  Like winning a game show on television.  Danny still dreamed about it sometimes.Danny realizedthat he was staring like a dummy at the rack of candy when every second thedanger that Hector and his friends would arrive kept growing.  He quickly examined the big Hershey barsuntil he found one with a perfect wrapper, a massive candy bar that looked asif it had been made special for a commercial. He would have loved to spend more time browsing -- how often did he havea whole dollar to spend just on candy? -- but he knew time was short, so hegrabbed a good-sized handful of hard, sour candies for sucking, took severaldifferent colors of candy ropes; then, as worry grew inside him, asuncomfortable as needing to pee, he finally snatched up a handful of bubble gumand ran to the front counter.            "What'syour hurry, m'hijo?" Tia Marisolasked.            "Momneeds me," he said, which he hoped was not enough of a lie to ruin Jesus'upcoming celebration.  After all, Mom did always need his help, especially bythis time in the day when she'd been on her own with the baby and the littlestbrother since morning, and had just walked the other brother home frompreschool.  He pulled the three dollarsworth of much-counted change out of one pocket and mounded it in front of TiaMarisol, then put the Hershey bar and his own handful of candy down beside itbefore digging out the crumpled dollar Mrs. Rosales had given him.  She slid her glasses a little way down hernose while she looked at it all.            "Where'dyou get so much money, Danny?"            "Rakinglawns.  Taking Mrs. Rosales dog forwalks."            TiaMarisol smiled, handed him back twenty-three cents, and put everything into apaper bag.  "You're a good boy.  You and your family have a happy Christmas.  Tell your mama I said hello, would you?"            "Sure."  He was already halfway through the door,heart beating.            TheChristmas miracle continued outside: other than a couple of young mothers withstrollers and bundled-up babies, and the old men who sat on the bus benchacross the street drinking from bottles in paper bags, the area around thestore was still clear.  Danny began towalk toward home as fast as he could without running, because he had the bagunder his coat now and he didn't want to melt Mama's candy bar.  Still, he was almost skipping, he was sohappy.  Joy to the world, the Lord is come...!            "Hey, Mendoza," someoneshouted in a hoarse voice.  "What's in the bag, maricon?"            Dannystopped, frozen for a moment like a cornered animal, but then he began to walkagain, faster and faster until he was running. There was no question whose voice that was.  Pretty much every kid in his school knew itand feared it.            "Holdup, Mendoza, or I'll kick your ass good!" The voice was getting closer.  Hecould hear the whir of bike tires on the sidewalk coming up behind himfast.  He looked back and saw that HectorVillaba and his big, stupid friends Rojo and Chuy were bearing down on him ontheir bikes, and in another second or two would ride him down.  He lunged to the side just as Hector stuckout his foot and shoved him, sending Danny crashing into the low wire fence ofthe house he was passing.  He bounced offand tumbled painfully to the sidewalk as Hector and his gang stopped just a fewyards ahead, now blocking the sidewalk that led Danny home.  The hard candies had fallen out of his bagand were scattered across the sidewalk. He got down on his knees, hurrying to pick them up, doing everything hecould to avoid eye contact with Hector and the others, but when he reached forthe last one Hector's big, stupid basketball-shoe was on top of it.  The older boy leaned over and picked itup.  "Jolly Rancher, huh?  Not bad. Not great, but not bad."  Hewaved it in Danny's face, making him look up from all fours like a dog at itsmaster.  "I asked you what's in thebag, Mendoza?"            "Nothing!  It's for my mama."            "Foryour mama?  Oh, iddn't datsweet?"  Hector's fingers hookedunder Danny's chin and lifted.  Dannydidn't fight -- he knew it wasn't going to help -- but he still flinched whenhe saw Hector's round, sweaty face so close, the angry, pale yellow-browneyes.  Hector Villaba even had thebeginnings of a real mustache, a hairy smudge on his upper lip.  It was one of the things that made him soscary, one of the reasons why even bigger twelve year olds like Chuy and Rojolet him lead them -- a fifth-grader with a mustache!            "C'mon,open it up," Hector told him. "Let's see what you got for your mama."  When Danny still didn't offer up the bag,Hector's friend Chuy put a foot on Danny's back and pushed down so hard thatDanny had to brace himself to keep from being shoved against the sidewalk.  "I said show me, maricon," said Hector. "Chuy gonna break your spine. He knows karate."            Dannyhanded Hector the bag, biting his lip, determined not to cry.  Hector pulled out the big Hershey Bar.  "Hijole!"he said.  "Look at that!  Something for your mama, shit -- you weregoing to eat that all by yourself.  Noteven share none with us.  That's cold,man."            "Itis for my mother!  It is!" Danny pushed up against Chuy's heavy hiking boot trying to reach thecandy bar, which didn't look anywhere near so huge clamped in Hector Villaba'splump, dirty fingers.  Chuy took hisweight off for a moment, then kicked Danny in the ribs hard enough to make himdrop to the concrete and hug himself in pain.            "Ifyou try any more shit, we'll hurt you good," said Hector, laughing as heunwrapped the candy bar.  He tossed apiece to Chuy, then another to Rojo, who grabbed it out of the air and shovedit in his mouth like a starving dog, then licked his fingers.  Hector leaned down and gave Danny anothershove, hard enough to crash him against the fence again.  "Don't you ever try to hide anything from me. I know where you live, dude.  I'llcome over and slap the bitch out of you and your mama both."  He pointed to the hard candies still clutchedin Danny's hands.  "Get that othershit, too, yo," Hector told Rojo, and the big, freckled kid bent Danny'sfingers back until he surrendered it all.            TheChristmas chocolate bar, looking sad and naked with half its foil peeled away,was still clutched in Hector's hand as he and his friends rode away laughing,sharing the hard candy out of the bag.            Fora while Danny just sat on the cold sidewalk and wished he had a knife or even agun and he could kill Hector Villaba, even if it made Jesus unhappy forweeks.  At that moment Danny almost feltlike he could do it.  The rotten, meanbastard had taken his mom's present!            Atlast Danny wiped his eyes and continued home. It was starting to get dark and the wind was suddenly cold, which madehis scratched-up hands ache.  When hereached the apartment he let himself in, dropped his book bag by the door, thencalled a greeting to his mama feeding Danny's baby sister in the kitchen as hehurried on to the bathroom so he could clean up his scratches and tear-stainedface and do his best to hide the damage to the knees of his pants before shesaw him up close.  It wouldn't do anygood to tell her what had happened – she couldn't do anything and it would makeher very sad.  Danny was used to keepingquiet about what went on between home and school, school and home.After a while hewent out and sat at the table and watched as his mother fed green goop to thebaby.  Even her smile for Danny lookedtired.  Mama worked so hard to keep themall fed and dressed, hardly ever yelled, and even sang old songs from Mexicofor Danny and his brothers when she wasn't too tired...And now that cabron Hector had stolen her present, andhe didn't have any money left to get her something else.
*Later that night,when the house was quiet and everyone was asleep, Danny found himself cryingagain.  It was so unfair!  What had happened to the Christmas luck?  Or did that kind of thing only happen toother kids, other families?"Please, Jesus,"he prayed quietly.  "I just have to getMama something for Christmas – something Hector can't take.  If that's a miracle, okay – I mean, I knowyou can't do them all the time, but if you got one...an extra one..."
            *            Somethingwoke him up – a strange noise in the living room.  For a moment he lay in bed wondering if SantaClaus might have come, but then he remembered it was still three days untilChristmas.  Still, he could definitelyhear something moving, a kind of quiet fluttery sound.   His brothers were both sprawled in boneless,little-boy sleep across the mattress they shared, so he climbed carefully overthem and made his way out to the living room. At first he saw nothing more unusual than the small Christmas tree ontop of the coffee table, but as he stared, his eyes trying to get used to thedark, he saw the tree was...moving?  Yes,moving, the top of the pine wagging like a dog's tail.Danny had neverheard of a Christmas tree coming to life, not even in a TV movie, and it scaredhim.  He picked up the tennis racket withthe missing strings Luis kept promising to fix, then crawled toward thescraggly tree with its ornaments of foil and cut paper.            Ashe got closer he could see that something small was caught in the tree'stopmost branch, trying to fly away but not succeeding.  He could hear its wings beating so fast theyalmost buzzed.  A bird, trapped in theapartment?  A really big moth?            Dannylooked for one of the baby's bowls to trap it, then had a better idea and creptto the kitchen cabinet where his mom kept the washed jars.  He picked a big one that had held sandwichspread and slithered commando-style back to the living room.  Whatever the thing was, it was really stuck,tugging and thrashing as it tried to free itself from the pine needles.  He dropped the jar over it and pulledcarefully on the branch until the thing could finally get free, then Dannyclapped the lid on the jar to keep it from escaping.            Thething inside the jar went crazy now, flying against the glass, the wings goingso fast that it made it hard for him to see for certain what it was.  The strange thing was, it actually lookedlike a person -- a tiny, tiny little person no bigger than a sparrow.  That was crazy.  Danny knew it was crazy.  He knew he had to be dreaming.            "Whatare you doing?" the thing said in a tiny, rasping voice.  It didn't sound happy at all.  "Let me go!"            Dannywas so startled to hear it talk that he nearly dropped the jar.  He held it up to the light coming in from thestreet lamp to get a better look.  Theprisoner in the jar was a little lady -- a lady with wings!  A real, honest-to-goodness Christmas miracle!  "Are you...an angel?" he asked.            "Letme out, young man, and we'll talk about it."  She didn't sound much like an angel.  Actually, she sounded a lot like thatscratchy-voiced nanny on that TV show his mama watched sometimes.  Her hair was yellow and kind of wild andsticky-uppy, and she wore a funny little dancing dress.  She was also carrying a bag over her shoulderlike Santa did, except that hers wasn't much bigger than Danny's thumb .            "P-Promiseyou won't fly away?" he asked this strange small person.  "If I let you out?"            Shehad her tiny hands pressed up against the inside of the jar.  She shook her head so hard her little sparklycrown almost fell off. "Promise.  But hurry up -- Idon't like enclosed places.  Honest, itmakes me want to scream.  Let me out,please."            "Okay.  But no cheating."  He unscrewed the lid on the jar and slowlyturned it over.   The tiny lady rose up,fluttering into the light that streamed through the living room window."Oh, that's somuch better," she said.  "I got stuck ina panoramic Easter egg once, wedged between a frosting bunny and a cardboard flowerpot.  Thought I was going to lose mymind.""Wow," hesaid.  "Who are you?  Whatare you?"            Shecarefully landed on the floor near his knee. "I'm a sugarplum fairy," she said.  "Like in that ballet."            "Huh?"            "Nevermind.  Look, thanks for getting me loosefrom that tree."  She turned herselfaround trying to look down at herself. "Rats!  Ripped my skirt.  I hate conifers."  She turned back to Danny.  "I didn't mean to scare you, I was justpassing through the neighborhood when I felt somebody thinking candy thoughts-- real serious candy thoughts.  I mean, it was like someone shouting.  Anyway, that's what we do, us sugarplumfairies -- we handle the candy action, especially at Christmas time.  So I thought I should come and check itout.  Was it you?  Because if it was, you've got the fever bad,kid."  She reached into her bag andproduced a lollypop bigger than she was, something that couldn't possibly havefit in there.  "Here, have one onme.  You look like you need it."            "Wow.  Wow!" He suddenly realized he was talking out loud and dropped his voice,worried that he would wake up his mama and Luis.  He reached out for the lollypop.  "You're really a fairy.  Do you know Jesus?"            Sheshrugged.  "I think he's in anotherdepartment.  What's your name?  It's Danny, isn't it?"            Henodded.  "Yeah."  It suddenly struck him.  "You know my name...?"            "I'vegot it all written down somewhere." She started riffling through her bag again, then pulled out somethingthat looked like a tiny phone book.  Shetook out an equally small pair of glasses, opened the book and beganreading.  "For some reason you fell offthe list here, Danny.  No wonder you'reso desperate -- you haven't had a sugarplum delivery in quite a while!  Well, that at least I can do somethingabout."  She frowned as she took a penout of the apparently bottomless bag and made a correction.  "Of course, they may not process the neworder until early next year, and I'm not scheduled back in this area untilValentines Day."  She frowned.  "Doesn't seem fair..."  A moment later her tiny face brightened.  "Hey, since you saved me from that treebranch I think I'm allowed to give you a wish. Would you like that?"            "Really?  A wish?""Yes.  I can do that.""You'll give me awish?  Like magic?  A wish?"            Shefrowned again.  "Come on, kid, I knowyou've been shorted on candy the last couple of years but is your blood sugarreally that low?  I just very clearlysaid I will give you a wish.  We're allowed to when someone helps usout."            Hewas so excited he could barely sit still. It was a Christmas miracle after all, a real one!  "Could I wish for, like, a milliondollars?"  Then even if Luis didn'tfind another job for a while, the family would be okay.  Morethan okay.            Sheshook her head.  "Sorry, kid,no.  I only do candy-related wishes.  You want one of those extra big gummybears?  I hear those are popular thisyear.  I could bend some rules and get itto you by Christmas."            Hewas tempted -- he'd seen an ad on television -- but now it was his turn toshake his head.  "Could I just get abig Hershey bar?  One of those extra-bigones?  For my mother?"            Thelittle woman tilted her head up so she could see him better from where shestood down on the ground. "Truly?  Is that all youwant?  Gee, kid, I could feel thedesperation coming off this house like weird off an elf.  You sure you don't want something a littlemore...substantial?  A pile of candy,maybe?  A year's supply of gumdrops orsomething?  As long as it'scandy-related, I can probably get it done for you, but you better decidequick."  She pulled quite a large pocketwatch on a chain out of her bag, then put on her glasses again.  "After midnight, and I've still got half myrounds to go."  She looked up athim.  "You seem like a nice kid, Danny,and it doesn't look like you guys are exactly swimming in presents andstuff.  How about a nice pile of candy,assorted types?  Or if you'd rather justconcentrate on -- what did you say, Hershey Bars? -- I could probably arrange ashopping bag of those or something..."            Fora moment his head swam at the prospect of a grocery bag full of giant chocolatebars, more than Hector the Butt-head Villaba could ever dream of having nowmatter how much he stole...but then another idea came floating up from deep downin Danny's thoughts – a strange, dark idea.            "Canyou do all kinds of wishes?  Really allkinds?"            "Yeah,but just one.  And it definitely has tobe candy-related.  I'm not a miracleworker or anything."            "Okay.  Then I'll tell you what I want." Danny could suddenly see it all in his imagination, and it was very,very good.
            *            Theschool holiday party was nice.  Danny andhis classmates played games and sang songs and had a snack of fruit and cheeseand crackers.  Nobody brought Chips Ahoycookies, but one of the mothers did indeed bring cupcakes, delicious chocolateones with silver, green and red sprinkles for Christmas.  There were even enough left over thatalthough Danny had finished his long ago despite making it last as long aspossible, he was allowed to take home the last two for his littlebrothers.  He suspected that the teacherknew his family didn't have much money, but for this one day it didn'tembarrass him at all.            Afterthe bell rang Danny followed the other third-graders toward the school gate,holding one cupcake carefully in each hand, his book bag draped over hisshoulder.  He was watching his feet socarefully that he didn't see what made the other children suddenly scatter toeither side, but as soon as he heard the voice he knew the reason.            "Lookat that, it's Maricon Mendoza,yo," said Hector Villaba. "What'd you bring us for Christmas, kid?"  Danny looked up.  The mustached monster was sitting astride hisbike just a few yards down the sidewalk, flanked by Rojo and Chuy.  "Oh, yeah, dude -- cupcakes!" saidHector.  "You remembered our Christmaspresents."  He scooted his bikeforward until he stood directly over Danny, then reached out for thecupcakes.  Danny couldn't help it -- hejerked back when Hector tried to take them, even though he knew it wouldprobably earn him another bruising.            "Punchthe little chulo's face in,"Rojo suggested.
            Hector dropped his bike with aclatter.  The other kids from school whohad stopped to stare in horrified fascination jumped out of his way as hestrode forward and grabbed the cupcakes out of Danny's hands.  He peeled the paper off one and shoved thewhole cupcake in his mouth, then tossed the other to Chuy.  "You two split that," he saidthrough a mouthful of devil's food, then turned his attention back to Danny,who was so scared and excited that he felt like electricity was running throughhim.  "Next time, you betterremember to bring one for each of us, Mendoza. You only bring two, that's going to get your ass kicked."            Dannybacked away.  It was hard to look intothose yellow-brown eyes and not run crying, let alone keep thinking clearly,but Danny did his best.  He dropped hisbook bag to the ground and out fell the stringless tennis racket that he hadbrought from home.  Hector hooted withangry laughter as Danny snatched it up and held it before him as if it was across and Hector was a vampire.            "Que? You going to try to hit me, little boy?"  Hector laughed again, but he didn't soundhappy.  He didn't like it when peoplestood up to him.  "I'll take thataway from you and beat your ass black and blue, Mendoza."  The bully took a step nearer and held out hishand.  "Give it to me or I'll breakyour fingers."            "No."  Danny wasn't going to step back anyfarther.  He lifted the racket, waved itaround like a baseball bat.  It was oldand flimsy, but he had come to school determined today.  "You can't have it...you fatasshole."            BehindHector, Rojo let out a surprised chortle, but Hector Villaba didn't think itwas funny at all.            "That'sit," he said, curling his hands into fists.  "After I kick your ass, I'm gonna rubyour face in dog shit.  Then I'm gonnakick your ass again.  You're gonna spendChristmas in the hospital."  Withoutwarning, he charged toward Danny.            Dannystepped to the side and swung the racket as hard as he could, hitting Hectorright in the stomach.  With a whoop ofsurprise and pain Hector bent double, but when he looked up he didn't lookhurt, just really, really mad, his eyes staring like a crazy dog's eyes.            "That's...it.  I'm...going...to...get...you...Mendoza..."he said, then sucked in air and stood up straight, but even as he did so afunny expression crossed his face and he looked down at where he was holdinghis belly.  Hector's hands were suddenlyfull of crackling, cellophane-wrapped hard candies, so many of them that theycascaded over his fingers and onto the ground. He lifted his hands in disbelief to look and dozens more of the candiesslid out of the front of his open jacket -- candy bars, too, fun-size and evenregular ones, Snickers bars, Mounds, Tootsie Rolls, lollipops, candy canes,even spicy tamarindos.  The otherchildren from the school stared in horrified fascination, guessing that Dannyhad broken a bag that Hector had been carrying under his coat.  They were so scared of Hector that theydidn't move an inch toward any of the candy that was still slithering out ofthe big boy's coat and pooling on the ground at his feet.            "Oh,man," one of the other third graders said in a hoarse whisper, "Mendoza'sgoing to get beat up so bad...!"            Buteven more candy was pouring out of Hector's belly now, as if someone had turnedon a candy-faucet, a great river of sweets running out of the place where Dannyhad knocked him open with his old tennis racket.            "Whatthe...?"  Then Hector Villaba lookeddown at himself and began to scream in terror. Candy was showering out of him faster and faster onto the sidewalk,already piled as high as the cuffs of his pants and still coming.            "Hijole, dude!"  said Rojo. "You're a piñata!"            Hectorlooked at him, eyes rolling with fear, then he turned sprinted away down thestreet squealing like a kindergartner, a flood of candy still pouring from him,Crunch Bars, M&Ms,  (plain andpeanut) as well as boxes of gumdrops and wax-wrapped pieces of taffy, allraining onto the street around the bully's legs and feet, bouncing and rolling.            Rojoand Chuy watched Hector run for a moment, then turned to stare at Danny with amixture of apprehension and confusion. Then turned from him to look at each other, came to some kind ofagreement, and threw themselves down on their knees to start scooping up thecandy that had fallen out of Hector Villaba. Within a few seconds the other school kids were all scrambling acrossthe ground beside them, everybody shoveling candy into their pockets as fast asthey could.            Dannywaited until he wasn't breathing so hard, then started for home, following theclear trail of candy that had gushed from Hector Villaba as he ran.  He didn't bother to pick up everything, sincefor once in his life he could afford to be selective.  He stuffed one pocket of his jacket withcandy for his brothers, then filled the other just with Butterfinger Bars, atleast six or seven, but kept walking with his head down until he spotted anice, big Hershey Bar in good condition which he zipped in his book bag so itwould stay safe for his mother.  The restof the way home he picked up whatever looked interesting and threw it into thebook bag too, until by the time he reached home he was staggering with itsweight up the apartment building walkway. For once, Hector Villaba had been the one who had run home crying.            Hedidn't feel sorry for Hector, either, not at all.  Scared as the fifth-grader was now, he wouldbe all right when he reached home.  Dannyhad made that a part of the wish and the fairy had said she thought it was agood idea.  Jesus didn't want even meankids to die from having their guts really fall out, Danny felt pretty sure, sohe had done his best not to spoil the Lord's birthday.  Of course Hector Villaba probably wouldn'thave a very merry Christmas, but Danny had decided that Jesus could probablylive with that.
The End
TadWilliams' new short story collection, AStark And Wormy Knight, is available now, worldwide, as an ebook, $4.99 (orequivalent) for one month http://www.amazon.com/Stark-Wormy-Knight-ebook/dp/B006P2QX3U[image error]

Movie Review - The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin




Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Daniel Mays, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones, Jeo Starr, Enn Reitel, and more.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg Screenplay by: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish Based on the Comics Series by: Herge Original Music by: John Williams

Premise: A young journalist finds himself in the middle of a grand conspiracy after he buys a model of a three masted ship from a peddler. (Rated PG)

Review: Need to say this first so you won't have the expectation - the previews LIE. "A power that could have changed history" or "the greatest secret in all history" implies a secret weapon of some sort or something beyond anything we could imagine. It's not, it's money, lots and lots of money. No idea why the heck they didn't just say so. We all love hidden treasure, right? Rewatched the preview so I could be sure it wasn't my own fault. It wasn't. With that firmly in mind before seeing it you won't be disappointed when no ultimate anything appears. You've been warned.

That being said, the film was overall a lot of fun.  The CGI was glorious - a total 5 out of 5 in that respect. There were times you'd forget it wasn't real. The attention to detail was amazing. They also do some wonderful scene changes and point of view reflections that will almost make you "ooooh" and "ahhhh" out loud.

There are several animals depicted in the film. It was a lot of fun as each showed distinct personalities and even had important parts in the chases and adventures and I'm not just talking about Snowy.

I'd seen the comics eons ago, so the first time I saw the previews I immediately recognized Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock. The true spirit of Herge's work is definitely demonstrated here - homage to his art style and iconic representations of many of the characters are sneaked in early in the film. Captain Haddock uses a ton of his famous colorful, yet strange, insults/curses. It's too fun to hear them spouted about. lol.

Adventure, excitement and more are there a plenty. One wild madcap ride through a small village will leave you breathless and wishing for a pause button like mad.

The only detractors to the film were several loopholes in the plot. If only one man survived the shipwreck and he kept the secret of what was there and where, except for the story and clues he passed down to his sons and grandson, then how did anyone else find out about it? Yes, he had superiors, but they wouldn't have known about the clues or where they were kept. And it was odd the family had had money troubles and sold the estate if 'something something something' all along. (I can't tell you. Wouldn't want to ruin it! You'll understand when you get there.) Worse, when the film is over, you're left with the definite feeling there was something lacking. So because of these things the film was somewhat disappointing. Had expected more since Spieldberg, Jackson, and Moffat were involved.

In the end, it's definitely worth a watch, if for nothing more than the amazing scenery and action sequences. Though it could have been more~! Will definitely keep the kids on the edge of their seats throughout.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Picture Kaleidoscope 12/21/11

Hey all!
Actually have some of my own pics and some fabulous stuff I ran into through the week for ya. Feast your eyes!



Some sunrise shots.




Long flat stretch of road to Wichita Falls. Some truly gorgeous cloud cover that day.


Next two were an attempt to catch a rainbow like reflection on a cloud. It's middle bottom of the pic.


 This one is a closer view that my daughter took. I was having issues with kicking in the magnification but she got hers working. Unfortunately the colors don't quite show.


Here's an Enchanting Firefly Forest. Several gorgeous pics from B for Bel.


From Ellen Datlow - Silhouette of Tree.


How to Take Beautiful Bokeh Christmas Images (With 31 Stunning Examples) from the Digital Photography School.


Eerie Hidden Mothers in Vintage Photos from PetaPixel. (Yeah...creepy...)

[image error]
Infrared image of the Dragonfish Nebula from NASA.


Apollo 17 Extravehicular Activity 39 Years Ago from NASA. That is one big chunk of rock!


Halloween Dog Parade 2011 from Behance Network. I really liked this one. He looks so regal. :)



Paranoid  - art on the Behance Network.


See you next time!

Mind Sieve 12/19/11

Welcome to another round of Mind Sieve! Enjoy!






Mars Rover Finds Mineral Vein Deposited by Water from NASA. Cool, no?


As originally shared by Piper Bayard - A Very Zombie Holiday (An Instructional Video). Too cute!


From Dr Who News - Two Dr Who Episodes Recovered! (It's just sad how many of the originals were lost!)

From Best of Film - Men In Black 3 Official Trailer!  Looks awesome!


From  KB Owen - Flashback Friday: The Origin of Police in England. Fascinating!

Also from KB Owen - Mystery Monday: The Moonstone, "Grandaddy" of Detective Novels. The book actually sounds like fun!

This is a cool little video explaining the virtues of Galileo's Compass. This sucker did way more than make circles. You could even calculate interest with it! Amazing!

TL Jeffcoat's Weapons Weekly - The Daisho of the Samurai. (I love me them swords! So cool!)

Teaser for HBO's Game of Thrones Season 2 - The Cold Winds are Rising. Woot!


The latest Batman The Dark Knight Rises poster.  Oh yeah, BANE!


This might be quite fun! Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Documentary film about one of the most famed sushi chefs of all time.


From Fans of Movies - The Flowers of War official Trailer. This looks Great!


This is out on DVD already but it looks so FUN! Detective Dee and The Mystery of the Phantom Flame. Woot!



New Poster From

Preview for the Iron Lady. This looks like it will be a great film! You forget that's Meryl Streep!



From Picture Correct - Protegion: Fascinating New Stop Motion Viral Video. This is super neat!

The Dr Who Christmas Special Trailer!  YES!


From Gene Lempp - Designing From Bones: Lessons From Attila. The Hun no less. :P







From Angela James - 10 Things Authors Should Know About Twitter. Pay special attention to #3! Agents complain about this one all the time!








From Chuck (NSFW) Wendig - The Precarious Portentious Perils of Self Publishing. (Say THAT 10 times fast! Hah!) Great post!

I Actually Counted The Words Because I Couldn't Quite Believe It - a query post from agent Janet Reid.

25 Things Writers Should Know About Rejection - more writerly truths from Chuck (NSFW) Wending.

Aspiring Is For Pansies - Tough Love and Being a Writer by Kristen Lamb. Truth ya'll!


Okay that's it for this week. Now to go waste horrid amounts of time on Star Wars The Old Republic. Booyah!

Movie Review - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows



Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Paul Anderson, Kelly Reilly, and more.

Directed by: Guy Ritchie Written by: Michele and Kieran Mulroney Based on Characters by: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Original Music by: Hans Zimmer

Premise: Dr. Watson is getting married. Holmes is not dealing well with the news and to make matters worse, Moriarty has made the doctor and his new bride a target. Holmes must keep them alive while also attempting to foil the plans of his archenemy. (Rated PG-13)

Review: The unique portrayals of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson by Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are back! And adding to the team is Stephen Fry's interpretation of Mycroft, Sherlock's brother.

The film starts at a fast pace as Sherlock and Miss Irene Adler share some fun moments in some dangerous meetings. Then she is gone, pitched from the story. Not entirely sure why they went this route unless it was to make room for the new female lead, but whatever the reason, it doesn't quite work. At least to me. The expectation was that she would somehow return, that some hint of her would be seen, despite everything we're told. But such was not the case. (We sat through the credits still expecting SOMETHING! But no.)

As in the first film, we get mental foreshadowing of hand to hand combat, which are pretty cool, but possibly done too many times, in my opinion. Definitely needed to be done in the one true battle that mattered (can't tell you!) which was fabulous but otherwise... Because this meant less cases of seeing Sherlock's mental visual deductions of the crimes being committed, something which had me totally fascinated in the first film.

Great vistas and city fronts, which did much to set the locations and mood. The crossing of the border between France and Germany - hilarious!

Several good comedic moments. Some quite poignant ones. I have to say several spots and Sherlock's actions would have stopped me from wanting to be his friend. Not sure how Watson forgave him about the stag party and the following morning. Though Sherlock was able to put him back together in time. lol. Needless to say their relationship was rather strained during the film, so some of the buddy banter is not as before. :P

One thing I did totally love was when they were in Germany and also at the Peace Summit. You could see the signs of things to come in real history. The weaponry and preparations by the different players for what would in not too many more years turn into WWI. And when a lot of viewers see the cool place in Switzerland for the peace summit, the waterfall there will speak volumes. :P

There was one set of scenes interplaying with each other that were totally masterful. They formed a beautiful dichotomy as we watch the opera by Mozart unfold (way cool costumes!) and Sherlock's last minute attempt to stop a tragedy and the time after.

Their run through the woods as they are fired upon not only by bullets but then cannon was eerily cool to watch. There was a lot of action and good combat scenes.

Overall a nice and enjoyable romp. Not quite as good as the first one, but still well worth it. Especially with the Moriarty and Sherlock Face-off Supreme towards the end. (Oh come on! You knew it was coming.) :)

Raring: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)