Here’s a meditation on the movie Hero. Jason Morehead loves it, saying the director appears to have developed “a visually ravishing exploration of the sacrifices that people are willing to make for causes larger than themselves, sometimes foolishly, and the human foibles that plague and hinder our attempts at nobility.”
The Land of Thor, by J. R. Browne
I downloaded John Ross Browne’s book on his travels in Russia and Scandinavia, The Land of Thor, because it was an old account of those regions that I’d never heard of (such accounts can be invaluable for the historical writer), and because I could get it free as a Kindle e-book. Now that I know better, I recommend going to The Guttenberg Project instead, and downloading the illustrated version, as the author’s drawings are half the point.
John Ross Browne was born in Ireland, but raised in the United States. He eventually became a proud—nay, arrogant—citizen of the state of California. He was a frequent contributor of both stories and illustrations to Harper’s Weekly Magazine. For a period of his life around the Civil War he moved to Germany and took the opportunity to travel extensively, sending reports to Harper’s and compiling them into books when he was finished. The Land of Thor is one of those. Continue reading The Land of Thor, by J. R. Browne
Summer Crime Fiction
Mulholland Books has a lot of novel previews and a serial by Ken Bruen and Russell Ackerman which is currently in its 18th part. They have links so we can catch up on the story. Look at other current posts to read the opening chapters of new books from other authors.
There Be Dragons
I’m looking forward to this movie, but it doesn’t appear to be coming to my area.
So, You've Been Away A While, Eh?
Stop what you’re doing, and listen to this report. An American woman has dental surgery done and possibly has a mini-stroke while being sedated. When she wakes up, her speech pattern is so affected she sounds as if she’s from Britain. She has a rare form of brain damage called foreign accent syndrome. You have to hear the radio report. Jane Greenhalgh states:
There have been only about 100 known cases of the syndrome since it was first reported in the 1940s. The most famous case was a Norwegian woman who was hit by shrapnel in World War II; she developed a German accent and was ostracized as a result.
"I'm an artist! I cannot work under these conditions!"
The annual Danish Tivoli Fest in Elk Horn, Iowa is history now. I fear it won’t be remembered as one of the best. The combination of a bad economy and rainy weather kept the crowds well down from last year.
As you may guess from this picture (though all the tents aren’t shown), our Viking encampment was also smaller. Which isn’t to say we didn’t have a good time. I’d say we had a very good time. We had a big battle on Saturday, and although I failed to survive any of the skirmishes, I wasn’t physically hurt at all, which is a fairly rare thing. The crowd for the fighting was large under the circumstances, and they were enthusiastic.
I didn’t sell many books.
Still, I consider it a success because I finished getting the footage I wanted for my Epic Book Trailer. Now I’m in the throes of learning film editing on the job. The big challenge will be sound—lots of wind noise in the outdoor shots, which was most of the shots.
I don’t think there’s an audio editor in Windows Live Movie Maker, except for music, though I’ll have to look again.
If I’m distracted for the next few weeks, it’ll be because I’m pondering my challenges as an auteur.
My place in The American Culture
Mike Gray at The American Culture posted pieces about my books not once, but three times, over the Memorial Day weekend.
A review of the Erling books is here.
An interview with me is here.
And a selection of quotations can be found here.
Thanks, Mike. I’m blushing, but not so much that I’d ask you to take them down.
Underground Jerusalem
File this under: Super Cool Old Stuff. Old streets, rooms in medieval buildings, and ancient Roman sewers are being opened under Jerusalem for tourist use adding a new sub-level of antiquity to an already ancient city.
South of the Old City, visitors to Jerusalem can enter a tunnel chipped from the bedrock by a Judean king 2,500 years ago and walk through knee-deep water under the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Beginning this summer, a new passage will be open nearby: a sewer Jewish rebels are thought to have used to flee the Roman legions who destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D.
Memorial Day
To our fallen. I don’t say it enough, but I owe you guys.
"O beautiful for heroes prov'd"
O beautiful for heroes prov’d
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
I took this photo on Saturday during the 1809s Day parade through Ringgold, Georgia.