Here Be Dragons (and Dragon Ladies)

[vovat]

One movie I saw recently: Eragon, which was a box office flop, but I'd read the book, so I thought I should see the film. It wasn't bad, and was a pretty faithful adaptation (at least as well as I can remember the book), but it did seem a little generic. I guess the book was as well, really. It was a fun read, but there wasn't all that much original to it. I think it got a lot of attention because its author was so young, but I don't think that was the case for the director of the movie.

Two more things I've noticed in The Arabian Nights: One is that there's a lot of cousin-marrying. What is this, the Jeri al-Springer Show? Also, whoever wrote those stories thinks that most Arab women have what I believe is technically known as "jungle fever." They're always cheating on their husbands with their black slaves.

The Republicans have been yakking about "small-town values." Having grown up in a small town myself, here are what I observed as the three most significant small-town values: not shopping locally, cutting through other people's lawns, and attending the volunteer fire department's annual chicken barbecue and Fourth of July fireworks.

I'd like to continue with the numbering trend and bring you four dreams I've had recently, but I'm not sure I can remember that many. I had one last night where I was working in a library (which I think was supposed to be the community college library where I used to do reference work), but I wasn't really working that much. I was sorting some children's books, but I was mostly just watching some Dr. Seuss films on TV (which I actually occasionally did while working at the toy store). I also remember going through the stacks looking for information on something, but I don't remember what. Oh, and there was an elevator behind a men's room door. Another recent dream was another back-to-college one. I was trying to decide what poster to put on my door, and I decided I'd use one of Neko Case's lingerie shots (not that I actually have any of those in poster form). There was another one last night that involved my family, but I don't remember any of the details. And I suppose I'll finish up by mentioning one of bethje's dreams, in which Mabel was somehow stuck in a mirror.

Five lousy names for kids: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig

Seriously, though (not that I wasn't serious about those being lousy names, but it isn't exactly a valid political point), are former Hillary Clinton supporters really switching over to McCain because of his vice presidential choice? Sure, I'd like a woman president too, but not just ANY woman. If you cared more about Hillary's vagina than her stance on the issues, then YOU have some issues. And is anyone really planning on voting for Palin "because she's hot," or is that just something people are worried about? I'll admit that her glasses are cute, but I think the reason I find that kind of look attractive is the societal impression that glasses imply nerdiness. But are there any fundamentalist nerds? I won't say it's an oxymoron, but being a nerd implies that you enjoy thinking about things, and fundamentalism is all about accepting things WITHOUT thinking.

Comments

[majellen.livejournal.com]

More about crappy kids names:
Pharoah (yes, spelled THAT way), Chantz, Zander (again, spelled that way!), Johnny Fred, Chaos, Random and Octavious Ambrosious (those three from Parenting101 on LJ!)

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

Somehow "Johnny Fred" is the funniest to me....

[vovat.livejournal.com]

In Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz, the Wizard's butler is named Fredjon.

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

LOLzers, yes, "Random" (from HHG2G), "Chaos Theory", and "Octavius Ambrosius." I'm on Parenting 101 and I see all sorts of crazy-shit-named kids. Mine is Miles. Nice, normal, recognizable.

Nathan: Eragon the book (and Eldest too) sucked. IMHO. I will not see the movies. *eyeroll* *gag* But... meh, YMMV.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if "Random" was a Mostly Harmless reference. And whether this Random was the product of a random sperm donor.

"Octavious Ambrosious" wouldn't really bother me if they'd spelled it correctly. What's with the extra O's?

I thought Eragon was all right, but like I said, there wasn't all that much new in it. It was also seriously padded. From what I can remember about the story, there was no need for it to be the length of War and Peace. I read the beginning of Eldest, but never got back to it. Maybe I will someday, but it's not a very high priority.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Re: Eragon-- not only was the author very young, but he also originally self-published it, and somebody prominent recommended it to a mainstream publisher and they scooped it up, so that makes good publicity too. But also may account for why it's so poorly edited (as in, not copy-edited, but didn't have a professional editor going through and saying, "You know, you'd have a much tighter story if you'd condense this and this and this..."), since, there already being that version out in self-published form, they couldn't really make HUGE changes when it got to the mainstream house. (I'll admit I have a bit of a prejudice toward self-published fiction-- nonfiction I can see more, especially if it's a niche subject, but self-published fiction just makes me picture people who are afraid editing will Ruin Their Vision, or that the publishers don't want their book because they Just Don't Understand It not because it's actually crappy. But, you know). But I've met so many big teen readers who genuinely LOVE the Eragon books obsessively, and it's not like they haven't read all the other stuff of the genre including Tolkien and the other greats. Might be just that they're into the Epic Fantasy world so much that they don't much care how unique or concise a particular title is.

In similar thoughts, I am always bugged by fantasy writers who emulate Tolkien in ALL THE WRONG WAYS. Tolkien was the master because of his amazing world-building-- NOT his writing style! Do not imitate his writing style if you are not also creating an incredible new universe to make it worth slogging through! This is probably why I'm not into adult paperback genre fantasy-- tends to be mostly bad Tolkien imitations. As opposed to kids and YA fantasy which generally tends to be much tighter and more creative....

Anyway, Jason got Eragon the Movie out of the library a few weeks ago, saw it while i was at work, and decided it was pretty eh. So I didn't watch it then, and no, I'm not really sure I'd go out of my way to check it out again. I can't even bring myself to get interested in reading Eldest. It's not that I didn't LIKE Eragon, but like you said, it was pretty generic, and I don't have a lot of time to read, and those books are SO LONG, I really need a better excuse to start them.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'll admit I have a bit of a prejudice toward self-published fiction-- nonfiction I can see more, especially if it's a niche subject, but self-published fiction just makes me picture people who are afraid editing will Ruin Their Vision, or that the publishers don't want their book because they Just Don't Understand It not because it's actually crappy.

Yeah, I think most books can probably benefit from professional criticism and editing. As an Oz fan, though, I can't be totally against self-published fiction, because that's how most new Oz stories come out these days. Sure, it would be nice if they were professionally edited and prepared, but the niche audience means there isn't always the budget for that.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely understand it for a niche market, so I guess new Oz books fall under the "acceptable" category too, just like nonfiction about, say, local history or reloading ammunition (I told Jason I could help him write a self-published book, because his areas of expertise are definitely niche enough to make self-publishing worthwhile! I don't think he took me seriously though).