9 Rules of the Road Runner
Author: CaptainJaq
I am a father as well as a world traveling, dog loving, scuba diving, book collecting, writer - currently residing somewhere in Eastern Europe. His words have been spoken by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Robin Hood, been read by David Copperfield, and criticized by his 7th grade English teacher. He'd like to thank the members of the Academy, although he doesn't know why. In his spare time, he's a university professor and a kick-ass uncle.
Learning
When I was younger (and maybe not so much younger) I tried to learn from everyone and everything around me. Tossed off comments by people who knew more than I did became like little nuggets of intellectual gold I would horde.
Lessons I was shown once, when it came to things I was interested in, would stay with me. These weren’t formal lessons, although I remember those as well. No, these were just bits of advice, tips and tricks, what the Internet today would call “Hacks.” Continue reading “Learning”
Awards…
So yesterday I won an award. Was nominated for four.
I was voted by the student body at Vytautas Magnus University a likely candidate to be the funniest professor, the best orator, best foreign professor and best all around professor. I took home the prize for Best Foreign Professor. This time around the award was a large hourglass which takes about a half hour to cycle through. Last year was an engraved globe and the year before a sculpture for the desk. Third year in a row I’ve won this particular prize. Continue reading “Awards…”
DAVID • Think: Travel App-titude
DAVID • Think: Travel App-titude.
This month in David, I’m putting my vast knowledge of travel to the test when I give you my thoughts on some of the cool connection apps out there to cover all aspects of your trip.
In addition to my piece, there’s all sorts of great reads to be found between the covers.
But is it Good?
Recently, while discussing the new Wachowski film Jupiter Ascending, my friend Gregory said “I sometimes don't know what people expect from movies anymore.” This got me thinking about what I expect from movies. The answer is more complicated than I thought.
The Strange, Hidden Story of Harley Quinn — Vulture
The Strange, Hidden Story of Harley Quinn — Vulture.
Really great piece about comics, heroes, villains, and what people need from them.
Review: Heroes and Legends: The most influential characters of literature
Heroes and Legends: The most influential characters of literature by Thomas A. Shippey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of the things I like about The Great Courses series is the lectures are all 30 minutes or so, which makes them easily digestible. I have several of the courses (or others like them) in my library and they're great for picking up bits of knowledge between listening to full books. My latest scholarly endeavor then is Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature as presented by Professor Thomas A. Shippey Continue reading “Review: Heroes and Legends: The most influential characters of literature”
Review: Kingsman – The Secret Service
From the opening scene onwards, there is almost no way to not understand this film is a love letter to the spy/thriller films of the 80s and 90s. And if you still don’t get that by the end of the film, you should have your License to (watch) Film revoked. There is just as much nostalgia here as there was in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy, if a little more bloodshed.
Turns out Kingsman is a bespoke tailor shop fronting an incredibly well funded gentleman spy outfit, kept purposefully small so they can forego government intervention and just get to the job at hand – namely saving the world.
Book Collecting
So it appears I’ve become a book collector.
To be clear, I’ve always been a book accumulator. There’s never been a time in my life when I didn’t have shelves and shelves of books at my disposal. I learned to read in kindergarten in Albuquerque (a classroom of one, I had progressive parents) and was reading well beyond my age from the beginning. Continue reading “Book Collecting”
Review: The Storyteller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Like a finely braided challah (the bread baked for the Jewish sabbath), Jodi Picoult weaves an intricate tale of redemption and forgiveness, identity and masks, and relationships of all sorts. And she does it all with a certain lightness, never getting heavy handed with her subject matter, the Holocaust, although it could easily slip into melodrama territory.
Review: Jupiter Ascending
I admit it. I walked into the theatre completely biased. I was not expecting to like this film. Honestly, I haven’t really liked a Wachowski (Andy and Lana) film since the first Matrix film and I still think their best film is Bound. I think their visual style is impressive though, even if I don’t like their story-telling (In this respect, I feel about them the same way I feel about Tim Burton). So it was with low hopes I went to see Jupiter Ascending, a science fiction story about reconstituted genetic sequences, lost heirs and a dog (there’s always got to be a dog). Continue reading “Review: Jupiter Ascending”
Review: Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf
Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf by Terry Newman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Former guard turned PI Nicely Strongoak is a dwarf in an elf’s world. Okay, not just elves. There’s also imps, ogres, tree folk, goblins, humans and various other high fantasy book mainstays. As the book opens, Nicely gets involved in a case whereby the ex-boyfriend of a girl who works down the hall from his office has gone missing. And a high class dame from the right side of the tracks comes downtown to hire Nicely to recover a stolen ring. Then there’s the surf elves (like surf nazis but with pointed ears – no seriously) and exiled royalty and it all culminates with an elf in the passenger seat of Strongoak’s vehicle who happens to have an ax buried deep in his skull (The “Dead Elf” of the title). Continue reading “Review: Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf”
Review: Theory of Everything
Since it’s release stateside I’ve been hearing good and bad about The Theory of Everything, the biopic about cosmologist Stephen Hawking. The conversations about the film increased when the Academy Award nominations were announced and the film took several spots, including a nod for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Music and two for the lead actors, Felicity Jones for portraying Hawking’s put upon wife, Jane, and Eddie Redmayne for playing Hawking himself. Continue reading “Review: Theory of Everything”
That felt good!
For the first time in about 4 years, I finished a piece of short fiction which doesn’t have a definitive market or deadline. This one was just for me. It deals with Lithuanian mythology and cultural bits, something else I’ve attempted a few times but never got further than a couple paragraphs in. The first draft clocked in at just over 6800 words and while I don’t know if it’s any good, I do know it’s finished. At least this iteration of it is.
It feels good to be writing every day again. It feels great to have accomplished my goal of finishing new fiction this year. One or two more short pieces and then I think I’ll be ready to once again take on a novel. We’ll see.
Review: Kindred
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Incredibly powerful piece. Seriously. Octavia Butler has crafted an amazing novel which is nominally science fiction but at the same time is a historical drama as well as a slave narrative.
Written in 1976, the story follows an African American woman named Dana who has just celebrated her 27th birthday and has moved into a new house with her white husband Kevin. Then the weird stuff happens. Continue reading “Review: Kindred”
