March 25, 2010

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Why did I read this? It was a book we already had a copy of - in fact two - because our children had read it in high school. I just picked it up and read it. It is not a long book, but is is on the difficult side because of the language constructs - written in Florida-black-Ebonics. That, by the way, gives the book some of its charm. You have to slow down.

this book is celebrated as black writing. It is interesting that a black author can "get away" with saying things that a white author can't. She talks about the racial problems, not in a vile, vindictive way, but as matter of fact - it was the way it was. Probably the most telling part is the character who thinks blacks should try to be more white. It is not scathing. It is just a look at life. It is a different life, one that is foreign to my experience, but for all of that, it is not bad or evil or good or blessed. It is just different.

I did like this book. I enjoyed the language. I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the viewpoint. Remember, if your children get to read it in high school that it is somewhat difficult. Read it with them. You'll be glad you did.

Movie Review

March 18, 2010

Where the Wild Things Are

How do you make a full length feature movie out of a 20 page children's picture book? That is the question that plagued my mind when I heard about "Where the Wild Things Are. It is a real good children's book. In fact it is on the 501 must read list. But really - a whole movie. How?

Well after watching it I can tell you how they did it. Beautifully. This film is very enjoyable. The story is simple and much like the book. It is artfully done. You learn to love the monsters
even though they do occasionally eat people. You also see that King Max, the little boy, learns a lot about himself, and other people, by living with the monsters for a little while. The filming is just gorgeous. You sometimes laugh. You sometimes want to cry. In the end you may just learn a little bit about yourself. The monsters are part of Max - but as the catch line says - "There is one in all of us" - at least one.

A word of warning. Don't think this is "just a kids movie". Children may really enjoy it, despite the fact that in a place or too it is intense. But it is really a movie about a kid - but for adults with a message for adults.

I recommend it - whole-heartedly. I give it 4 out of five Larry points.

Reading List

March 16, 2010

Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

This was not my favorite book, no not by a long shot. I can not recommend it. In the first place there is just too much sex and violence. But even more so I saw it as unrealistic and shallow. Too much repetition of the same things. To much behavior that would be uncharacteristic of the people he was writing about. The heroine would have been killed many times over if the society was really as he portrayed it. There were good parts, but I just got the feeling that he was trying to write a TV mini-series – an R Rated Tv Mini-series. One that would appeal to a modern audience.

Sorry. It just was not a compelling read.

However, It does incite and invite me to find out more about the Taj Mahal. So . . .
Not on the 501. Not really a Book Club book – but mentioned by a Book Club member. I just picked it up at Borders cause I needed something to read on a trip.

Event - Crash

March 5, 2010

Death of Gretel – Diablo – the Escort – the Red Car

What ever the name, our love affair with our little red car came to an end. We got the little red car from the Denver North Mission – a former missionary car. We realized that it had hand many hard miles – because it was a missionary car. However we needed something that was low cost and low power for our newest drivers to put into peril. It was perfect. Over the years it has had many adventures, but it has never let us down. It had small dents, a break and a scratch. It had a small oil leak. But it ran and it ran and it ran. We really took that little machine for all it had.

Friday, Michael made a left turn – into another vehicle. It came away with two blown airbags. It came away with a broken windshield. It can away with a badly sprung hood. It came away with a crunched left front bumper. It came away with a destroyed left headlight. It came away with terminal injuries. I figure about $5000.00 worth. For a 1998 Ford Escort, that is terminal. Michael is hopeful – it still drove home. But no – it is a total loss.

In its final life act, it did protect Michael. He walked away with a bruised right hand from the airbag. We will miss the little putt-putt. (The other person went to the hospital – precautionary.)

So shed a tear – but not a big one.

http://bbtransplants.blogspot.com/2010/03/rip.html

(In a moment of reflection, I saw this as a blessing. Heavenly Father knew that the Escort was going down hill. It would probably have died going between Longmont and some foreign outpost – like Berthoud. We would have had to tow it in, decide if it could be fixed and then found a way to fix it or get rid of it. This way, the insurance company takes care of all of the last rites – and will pay us for the car. Yes, I think this was a tender mercy – a provident happening.)

Remodel

February 27, 2010

Banister


We have been doing a lot of “touching up” in the home. Touching up the painting. Touching up the doors. Cleaning the carpets. Those kind of things. None of them really picture worthy. However we did accomplish one very picture worthy – complicated – and rewarding task.

Many years ago, we took out the metal railing between our bathroom and our lower level family room. We just left it as a drop off and put bench there for small child semi-protection. It has come time to put in a real rail. Mar did the leg work. She looked up on-line videos on how to do it. She looked up recommendations on pole spacing so wee heads wouldn’t fit through. She also went and talked to hardware salesmen and bought the materials. Then last week we got started.

Measuring was Lar’s job. We got the lines straight – on blue tape so that we could find them again. We then held our breath and drilled into our beautiful hardwood floor and set the posts. We cut the rails. Then Lar went on a business trip, while Mar stained and varnished.

This weekend we drilled again and then assembled. Two words that sound easy, but were terrifying and quite difficult. Were we happy with the results.

Immensely!!!! Yea – a true success. All is straight. All is solid. All is beautiful.

See.

Reading List

February 27, 2010

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

This is one that has been on my reading list for a long time. I found it in Borders books because I was without reading material on a trip - a ghastly situation to be in. It was on my list from the 501 Must Read Books and to tell the truth, I wanted a quick and easy read. This was.

It is fantasy, full of magic and witches and mythical beasts. It has love and lost love. It has villains, but not very villainous ones. But mostly it has intriguing writing. You taste sights and hear smells and feel sounds - all of which gives a different perspective to how you feel about what is going on. It didn't have THE happy ending - but it did have A happy ending. Now that is a mystery to pique your interest. I presume that if I took time to really study it, there is a lot of metaphorical meaning to happenings, characters and beast. But I just wanted a distracting book, and it did that for me.

As fantasy books go, it was okay. It wasn't Tolkien in Lord of the Rings. It wasn't Lewis in Narnia. But it was entertaining. I would put it in a children's genre - 8 to 14 years old.

I enjoyed it.

Travels with Lar

February 21-20-7, 2010

Santa Ana, California

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was in Santa Ana. Well, I went back to teach at the same company. This time it was only two people. That would have been hard to take - except for two things.

First, I could go to the temple. Wrong - the temple in Newport Beach was closed for maintenance this week.

Second, I could go see Andrea and the kids. I got to do that twice. On Wednesday I went up and talked to them and all of the older guys went to get In-n-Out burgers and took them home for dinner. That was fun. (And in case you haven't heard - Andrea has two tales to tell. There is the sage of Ben leaving for another deployment. You have probably heard it on Facebook. Second is the saga of the grenade. That deserves a full blog writeup.) I also went to see them on Friday. The older boys - Ben, Michael and Jasen had a camp out - which Michael didn't go to because he wasn't feeling well. The plan was that I would take Andrea, Emma and Spencer out for dinner - which I did - to IHOP. Then we went to WalMart for a shopping spree. It was a fun evening. (Alas, on Saturday morning when I woke to go to the airport it was raining torrents. I felt so sorry for Ben and Jasen.)

The flight home was uneventful.

And so ends another exciting trip - five trips alread this year and only through February.