The Elysian Fields

Shark Tale (Widescreen Edition)

Sure, it's candy. It's in-jokes for dozens of things, from inner cities to gangster movies. There is a good story at it's heart, though.

Sure, it's been done before. All good stories have. It's all in how you tell it, and this one is told with bright colors, CGI, and an anthropomorphized reef-to-NYC (hence the inner city and the mobsters).

It's fun, though - for both the kids and adults. Wrapped up in that fun stuff, at its core is the message that it's better to be who you are than who you think you want to be, and that's a lesson most people haven't quite picked up on. Even some relatively well-balanced folks (in that regard) might want a Lamborghini and a billion dollar mansion, and, sometimes, we'd even twist ourselves into something else to show we're worthy of such a thing. Those kind of success stories tend to be short lived - even if the bio comes out during the time of acclaim, chances are future editions will uncover all the tragedy of the downfall. That success is achieved at the end - as a result of hard work and of staying true to oneself - is of a smaller degree than what had been dreamed up at the outset, but it is a stronger, deeply satisfying, longer lasting success.

The most enjoyable characters for me were the sharks - the Mafia - particularly De Niro's Don and Peter Falk's lemon shark. The jellyfish Rastafarians (Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug) were pretty cool, too. =)

Review Updatia Maintainia: I'll be getting to those three aforementioned music reviews Monday through Wednesday night in the order I received the discs - more readers on the weekdays, for the most part! =)

The Muppet Show - Season One (Special Edition)

I've got one word for you: Mahna Mahna.

That is all.

...or something like that.

Mission #1 accomplished for today - one down and a half dozen to go.

The guys from Air Dynamics were here and did the heat pump inspection and cleaning, so we're good to go on that for another year. They also took a water sample so we'd know what we're in for as far as water treatment needs.

They approved of my abilities to give them directions - I've had a lot of practice lately with getting the trucking guys here for the mower. Hopefully, I get a call soon and they bring the field mower today.

Yesterday I heard about a call for stories about pirates, and lo, on the ride home the pirates launched a broadside attack on me 'ead, and I had the story. I just need to finish typing it in. I'll actually need pretty specific editing assistance on this one - from piratical and nautical knowledge in general to anyone who can remember events of 1651 clearly (I forget bits and pieces, although for some reason 1649 clear as a bell) and help with French nautical terms in particular.

Tonight, Deb and I embark on our yearly dinner - kids are getting shipped off to dragonflypug, although we're not sure if we're leaving them overnight. More holiday lights, potential driveway repair, and a holiday party over at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center might make the timing difficult.

Tonight, before we do Toys R Us, BN, and other shopping dinner, Deb will be taking Rachel to her Winter Wonderland school fair.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition)

I realized, as I sat watching this with Justin, that this movie - like a handful of others - will always have an additional special meaning to me.

First off, I love Tim Burton's stuff. His imagery, when you get to the essence of it, is always somewhere between Halloween and Christmas. Think of Edward Scissorhands, with the dark and eerie appearance, but with Edward's deep and loving innocence at its heart, or his second Batman film, with the Dark Knight lit with the bright lights of Christmas. However he may use that imagery in other movies, this movie, which starts on Halloween and ends on Christmas, is that imagery.

Danny Elfman, as a composer, also lives in that same realm, which is one of the reasons that the two work together so often. One of my favorite directors, and one of my favorite composers.

The story here is also great; simple, perhaps, but perfectly fitted to the whole of the work. The stop-motion animation brings back memories, as the narrator says at the opening, of those holiday worlds of old.

For me, though, what I will always remember is watching it with Justin about 10 years ago. I had just moved to Pennsylvania, and that move ended immediately in an split from Deb. I absolutely hated seeing Justin only on weekends - but I treasured that time spent, and it is really the only thing I remember much about from those months.

Like this movie, the separation spanned from (a month or two before) Halloween to (a couple weeks after) Christmas. I had no car, so a friend from work drove me to the mall to get Justin presents. A big yellow dump truck was the main toy - and, as it was a very tiny apartment, the truck carried a 3' tall tree in it.

I remember watching certain movies with Justin when he'd come over - this one and A Muppet Christmas Carol in particular - and I will forever identify them with a feeling that was a mixture of pain and pleasure, sorrow and heart-warming. Something kind of like the contrast between Halloween and Christmas.

The Edge Chronicles Volume 4: Curse of the Gloamglozer by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

This fourth volume of The Edge Chronicles jumps ship, as far as timeline and characters are concerned. A trip to the past helps deepen the story by giving us more information that will have a bearing on future portions of the story.

While I suppose you could start with this book, that's an almost unthinkable concept for me. However, if you haven't checked out this series yet, I would highly recommend it - as would Rachel and Justin. The world is highly detailed and lifelike. The ecology of the fantastic creatures - of which the Gloamglozer is central - has levels of structure; although some things seem whimsical or horrible, there is actually reasoning behind why the evolved to do what they do. Or are.

If you've started reading this series already, you become familiar with the Gloamglozer in the first book - he's what mothers use to discipline children, the bogey monster, the devil, and more. The stories don't pretend to be more than a fun adventure, but, unfortunately, they are. There's quite a bit of depth if you want to scratch under the surface. Some of the greatest themes in fantastic literature are handled here. There's echoes of Frankenstein, glimpses of Gormenghast, and more.

But then, it's just a kids book. Fun for all ages, eh?

Neil Gaiman discusses wills, authors, and why you should have one - he even has a SIMPLEWILL.pdf that helps you get started.

Lots of writers on the ol' flist - everyone covered? Another reason to follow through on this is the one my mom, patrixa, is always going on about - for me, it's three reasons, and they're age 14, 8, and 2 at this moment... lots of new or soon-to-be parents on the flist as well, some also happen to be writers, two birds with one stone and all that...