Feel Better with London To Tokyo

I first found Simon Steadman when I learned one of my favorite musicians of the past 30-some years had helped to produce an album for a band called Steadman. I had to go give the group a listen, which was easy enough, since they have a very open share policy and plenty of free downloads. I was hooked. Despite the free music offers, or because of them, I had to buy their CDs.

Simon has moved on from Steadman and is now fronting, and writing for, a band called London To Tokyo. I followed along to check them out, despite that their name reflects not only Simon’s English heritage but also Japanese techno. I’m not a big fan of techno. To be honest, I try hard to avoid it. However, there are exceptions to every rule.

Some things are just better mixed: nationalities, dog breeds, novel genres, and music genres, to name a few.

What do you know? I’m hooked on their EP, techno included. London To Tokyo is a delightful mix of pop, rock, alternative, and techo. Their style varies even between songs and yet stays connected. With Simon writing the lyrics, it’s a given the songs will be upbeat and optimistic, meaningful, and searching all at once. I’m not a music expert enough to write a detailed technical review (despite having 3 guitars, a drum set, and a piano in the house and having dabbled with all 3 instruments), so this is from the POV of a music-obsessed fan.

I love great guitar technique. I love a trained and talented voice. I love lyrics that say something, and especially those that promote optimism. The drums have to add to the band, not be just a beat in the background. The music has to flow and mesh (no discordance, thank you). It has to make me want to keep listening without tiring of it.

London To Tokyo has all of that. They also have friendly, fan-appreciative members who take the time to interact. That’s always a huge plus. They come across as people you’d want to know as people, not only as musicians. For me, since I’m a people person and attitude matters greatly, that’s another huge plus. I’ve been known to refuse to listen to music or buy books from artists who don’t appeal to me as people. After all, it’s the humanity behind art that makes it what it is.

Don’t take my word, though. Find 6 full songs to check out on their website: www.londontotokyo.net and find their links to Facebook and Myspace. Friend them or Like them and download their EP free! Share it with friends (their request). And then come back here and let me know what you think.

Oh, and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Simon! Go over to his Facebook page and tell him I sent you. ;-)

--

Book Review: Still Alice

Still Alice
Lisa Genova
Pocket Books 2009
www.StillAlice.com

I picked up Still Alice because it was my library's book club selection this month. I'd never heard of Lisa Genova, but by the time I finished the novel, I was glad to know she's working on another.

Alice is a 50 year old psychology professor at Harvard who has co-authored a text book with her husband, a research scientist, and has established an incredible reputation as not only a preferred teacher but also as a world-traveled speaker. As she celebrates her birthday, she is struggling with memory issues and even starting to get lost close to home in an area she's very familiar with. Going privately to a neurologist, she is diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's disease.

Since Alice is the POV character, you have to wonder how Genova will continue to follow her story as Alice lapses further into the disease. I was rather impressed with how well she managed to show the early struggles as well as the progression. All of the characters are well drawn from Alice's POV and we get to know some of them better than others. I found it interesting that the child she says she knows the least is the one we know the most. The other two are mainly background.

Her husband, John, is an interesting character and at times, I wanted to yell at him for being so self-centered, but then looking back at their history, I couldn't help but think Alice partly made him that way with her work obsession. The novel is a nice look at marriage-combined-with-work issues, as well as the dementia issue.

From the beginning, we bond with Alice. Anyone who has ever been so busy finding a set of keys seems an impossible task will relate. This makes us truly sympathetic of her plight and we pull for her to keep going, keep trying. As we do, we learn much about Alzheimers and how it progresses and how they are working to find ways to slow or stop it. There is also information about how to keep the brain healthy in general.

At times, the writing is a bit stiff, especially at the beginning, but Genova is a first time novelist and I believe she may find her stride with the next.
This is a must read for anyone dealing with dementia in a loved one, anyone with dementia in their family history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand this disease. It is truly educational and heartwarming and sad and hopeful all at once.

Note: Genova self-pubbed Still Alice when she couldn't find a publisher for it. She went through iUniverse and also contacted the National Alzheimer's Association for a possible endorsement, got their agreement, won a couple of indie awards, and Pocket Books picked it up. She recommends other authors self-pub instead of letting their manuscripts languish.

This review is from a book I purchased and no compensation has been offered or received.

--

Book Review: Last Night in Twisted River

Last Night in Twisted River
John Irving
Random House 2009

http://john-irving.com

I’ve been a John Irving fan since reading The World According to Garp several years ago. And then The Cider House Rules and The Fourth Hand. I have many still to read, since his newest is novel number twelve. I’ve read half of his previous novel, Until I Find You. I kind of got stalled on it and am sure I’ll eventually go back to finish, but it was less impressive (aka more rambling) than the others and it lost my attention. A shame, since the copy I have is personally signed.

Yes, I met Irving at the National Book Fair in Washington D.C. just after that novel came out, long enough to get it signed and say hello and how I loved his story variety (which got a cute grin). I suppose I shouldn’t refer to a man who was graduating college about the time I was born cute, but so be it.

Of course I had to pick up his latest. I impatiently made myself wait a few days to start it since I was in the middle of another novel (or maybe 2 or 3 others), although I did read the first two or three paragraphs right away. The way a book begins is hugely important to me, and it yanked me right into the story.

Once I started reading, my literary spirits started to sink a bit. Like the last one, this novel – after the great beginning – felt slow. Now I don’t mind rambling in a novel if it’s interesting and the characters are pulling at me to get to know them. I like literary fiction; it’s my favorite genre and I’m not intent on rushing through books to get to the next. I savor. I kick back at night before sleep settles in and immerse myself in someone else’s world. It’s the joy of fiction.

However, if I find myself thinking I’d rather rather read something else on a particular night, I know the story is not keeping me pulled well enough.

Irving’s characters, as always, are interesting and varied and well drawn. The first problem I had was the time frame jumping. At times we were in the present moving along and then suddenly we were back somewhere in the past and trying to figure out just where in the past. I understand the point of the book: it’s largely about the process of writing, of creating a story from real life without using too much real life. That is what Irving does, and he does it well. And of course writers jump back into their past to pull stories and experiences. For the reader, though, this was slightly disconcerting.

The other technical issue I had with it was the repetition. At times, I felt Irving assumed his readers were either complete morons who had to be told something six or seven times before they would “get” it or else he was writing for dementia patients who do need things repeated (or two year olds, but the story is far too advanced for them). I’m an avid reader with very good comprehension; tell me once and I’ve got it, thanks. Repetition in the way it was used, often in an explanatory tone, felt rather insulting. No need. I gotcha the first time.

After the first half of the very long novel (and I don’t mind long, either – heck, I write long), I finally felt like I was getting swept away in it and truly enjoying it. And then, BAM, an even bigger insult right at the end. A note to writers: if you call a large percentage of your readers “stupid” even through a character’s dialogue or thoughts, you’re not winning them over for your next novel.

I also don’t mind political issues in novels. I use political issues. However, when you’re presenting one side of the issue and all of a sudden a major character comes out ranting about one certain political figure or event enough that it completely pulls away from the story and into a rant, that’s not good fiction. Yes, one of the major characters comes out and calls a whole big group of people in the current population “stupid” and “bully patriots” and “dumber-than-dog-shit” and is agreed with by the main character, the writer, who is presumably a character sketch of Irving himself. Yes, he has a right to his political opinion, but once the reader comes to that point in the novel, she ends up wondering if the whole book was written simply to make that opinion widely known.

I’d like to just remind readers that novels are one person’s opinion and that most novelists have not been on the inside of politics to know any more than the media knows. The novel does put the media down, as well, for presuming to know more than they do and to make up stories around events that aren’t the way they look. Yes, true, but so do novelists. The difference is, we’re supposed to be presenting things as fiction and opening eyes to varying viewpoints, not telling everyone who doesn’t agree with us they’re stupid bullies.

It’s hard to feel so let down by one of your favorite writers. That one section of the book truly ruined it for me. Of course, the character making those statements turns out to do something truly stupid and self-centered, so maybe that was meant to infer his opinions really aren’t worth a whole lot.

Irving can always say that Danny the character is not him and does not share his political thoughts, but as he keeps repeating through the story that fiction is not based on true life and then countering it by having Danny write about his true life, that would be rather hard to buy. 

I found much of the main character’s actions hard to fathom and had more interest in Dominic, his father, than in Danny. Danny seemed to live in his own little world and saw things from his own very limited viewpoint, which would make anything he wrote also rather limited perspective. In addition, they both ran away from things instead of facing them, which made me a tad unsympathetic and unlikely to hold their views in very high estimation. They weren’t bullies, true. They were wimpy instead: just keep running and letting the bad guy ruin your life over and over. Hm…

What I did like about Twisted River was the imagery and the voice and the bits of subtle humor and the “twist” at the end. The novel as a whole was original and rather innovative. Will I pick up his next novel? I don’t know. I may wait to hear reviews and check it out of the library instead. I do still plan to read his older books, a couple of which I have on my shelf waiting. I imagine I’ll wait on that until the “stupid” and “bully” comments have time to fade.

--
Legalities: This book was purchased by the reviewer and no compensation was received.
--

Book Review: Time Plains Drifter

 
Time Plains Drifter
Cheryl Pierson

ISBN  978-1-935048-35-0
Class Act Books
December 2009

Jenni Dalton, reluctant teacher of a few obnoxious high school students, gets roped into a star-gazing field trip and ends up being swept into the past, specifically Oklahoma Indian Territory in 1895, with her students. As they are figuring out what happened and why everything has suddenly changed, marshal Rafe D’Angelico happens to find them wandering aimlessly and rather stunned.

Rafe is not your average, ordinary 1895 U.S. Marshal, however. He’s an angel of sorts, having been dead for 16 years and brought back on special assignment. When he finds Jenni and the students, he’s barely returned to life and trying to figure out why and how, with help from an experienced angel, Becket Jansen. Still enraged at the man who killed him and his brother, Rafe’s only interest is in taking revenge.

I have to first say that I don’t tend to read Time Travels. My brain doesn’t want to accept that it’s possible and so stories using this theme have to work hard to get me to buy into a concept I don’t buy into enough to keep me in the story. A difficult task, as I can be stubborn when I put my mind to it.

So, when Time Plains Drifter yanked me right in and kept me in the story despite my reluctance, I had to give it pretty high marks just for that.

Already familiar with Cheryl Pierson’s work, having read Fire Eyes not long ago, I was not at all surprised her characters were very life-like and very enjoyable. They are drawn well, with enough detail but not too much, and the hero and heroine are attracted to each other from the start but don’t jump the gun into “love and forever” with no more than appearance. They study each other, allowing time to determine their interest and whether a relationship could work. They are both flawed, both struggling with their own issues, and both equally capable human beings. Becket Jansen is a fun secondary character and reminded me a bit of Clarence from It’s A Wonderful Life. Josiah Kemp is a truly evil villain, but not totally evil – very realistic. Jenni is relatable, necessary for a romance heroine. Rafe’s brother Cris is nice to get to know. But Rafe is the real star of the show. He’s a complex character you can’t help but root for and sometimes wish to hug.

I say Rafe’s the start of the ‘show’ instead of the ‘book’ because it feels like a show you’re watching as you read. I could always see where they were without a bunch of extra description slowing the pace. There were sometimes repetitive spots that could have been edited out with no loss to the story, but it didn’t keep me from being pulled right into the action.

Any review of this novel has to include a look at what makes it more unique than I expected. It’s a sci fi time travel historical romance. That of itself allows plenty of unique quality, but along with that, it’s a theory of good vs. evil, a ‘what happens afterward’ story that doesn’t preach, but does make you ponder. As I read, I couldn’t help thinking that my refusal to believe in time travel could be similar to someone’s non-belief in the here-after. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it. After all, I’m buying the premise of the story in general. I’m not dismissive of spirits and such. Hey, you just never know.

Since I’m a critical reviewer (and alas, a Virgo), I do have to mention that I had some trouble keeping track of the students and occasionally wondered where one of them came from. That could partly be because I was reading a few different books at the same time, though. There is also some adverb use that could have been restructured (and since this was an ARC not fully edited, maybe they were before the final version).

The mention of a ‘new’ character toward the end that affects the end of the story was slightly disconcerting. I had to wonder if I’d missed the earlier reference to her and would have been more comfortable with her insertion if she had at least been mentioned along the lines first. I think it was meant to be a surprise to the reader, though, and maybe a purposeful point to ponder. Surprises do happen. 

The end of Time Plains Drifter isn’t really an end. It feels like the author means this as a statement as well as a hint of a possible sequel. Overall, TPD keeps you guessing and actively involved in the story. It makes you think and question. And it’s fully entertaining. I’ll definitely watch for the next Cheryl Pierson novel.
 
--------
Legalities: This novel was provided by the author for review as an electronic ARC. No payment was made or accepted.
--------

Book Review: Fire Eyes by Cheryl Pierson

Fire Eyes
Cheryl Pierson

The Wild Rose Press
ISBN 1-60154-470-7
available in Ebook & print

Kaedon Turner is a federal marshal in the days just after the War Between The States. After his parents are killed by Indians, Kaed is rescued and raised by the Choctaw before setting off on his own path, first as a soldier, than as a marshal. When he is severely beaten trying to rescue two young Choctaw girls, the Indians rescue him and drop him at the door of Jessica Monroe.

Jessica is a young widow caring for a baby not her own in the wild Oklahoma Territory. While taking care of the marshal and nursing him back to health, she finds herself falling for his advances. He shows a promise of giving her the attention and devotion she never received from her husband. Still, she’s wary, especially when she learns he’s on the track of the notorious Andrew Fallon – the man who murdered her husband.

Both Kaed and Jessica enter the story with plenty of personal baggage. Fire Eyes is the story of how they face their own intimate fears while battling external dangers. Jessica is afraid of the Choctaw and of allowing herself to trust Kaed. He, in return, is haunted by his own loss and determined not to feel it again. Along with these two deep, true-to-life characters are several supporting characters we get to know well and care about. Fallon is one of the most evil villains you’ll run across, complete with background. The side story of two young girls who escaped Fallon’s clutches is endearing and adds a wider scope to the whole picture.

Along the way, we get lush detail of the landscape as well as some historical background of the times. Cheryl Pierson has a knack for creating intensity with both description and plot that refuses to let you out of the story until you’ve read the whole thing, and even then, it stays with you. There are no clichès concerning the ‘wild west’ or Native American life. I wasn’t always fully convinced that the group of marshals would be quite so open with their emotions as they were, but at least they did have emotion instead of being impervious to their pasts and present (ie John Wayne). 

Overall, Fire Eyes is a smooth, realistic read with wonderful characterization, real dialogue, and an absorbing fullness. Any reader interested in romance and westerns will enjoy this one!

A light note of caution: this is on the spicier side of non-erotic romance in places, but readers can easily move past those short scenes if bothered by them.

Nickelback Freakin' ROCKS!

18 July 2009
Post-Gazette Pavilion
Pittsburgh, PA
(actually Burgettstown, PA)

Nickelback
with Saving Abel, Papa Roach, and Hinder

Never mind this is a writer's blog and "freakin" isn't exactly "writer's vocabulary" material, and never mind that Chad Kroeger mentioned if you're going to do a job do it right, which means I should use the more powerful word: I keep this blog PG-13, so freakin' will have to do.

I went to see freakin' NICKELBACK last night at the Post-Gazette Pavilion. After wanting to go for years and watching the chances they got close enough pass by because the timing was not right, finally it was. All four of us went: me and hubby and the kids (only one is still a minor, barely). I won't mention what we paid for 4 tickets in the second tier of seats that were under the pavilion shelter and just behind the roadies taking care of the soundboard, plus the mandatory T-shirts, enough food not to starve, and drinks. Yikes. But we've waited a long time to be able to go and I wanted to actually SEE them in person not only on the monitor from the lawn.

This was also my first time at the Pavilion so I wasn't sure what to expect. I love outdoor concerts. I didn't like that rain was threatening all day and did start up while ordering food. Luckily (especially lucky for those on the lawn), it held off and it was, as Chad said, a beautiful night for a Rock & Roll Concert!

The huge gravel parking area, even as early as we arrived, was packed full of tailgaters bbq'ing and chatting and playing bean bag toss games as we rolled by waiting for our chance to park. We ended up close to the south gate and waited in line until the gate opened at 5. Never mind the "illegal" smell while we waited, most fans were fairly reserved and we listened to the cacaphony of music coming from car speakers, much of it of course was Nickelback. At one point, we couldn't distinguish what any of it was since there was so much of it from all directions.

Inside the gate looks like a mini town with merchandise vendors as well as food and drink vendors. It's a nice atmosphere and I appreciated the sign saying there is lawn space set aside for families with no alcohol or smoking allowed.

Finding our seats, we were happy with how well we could see the stage, considering we bought the tickets only a week ago! Of course, it  was still daylight, so the first three bands were quite easy to see. I have to say I didn't know much about either Saving Abel or Papa Roach before last night except my kids like them and truly enjoyed  seeing them. I couldn't understand anything they were singing since the bass was pretty overwhelming. No matter. The kids knew the words. And so did much of the audience, apparently, since lots were singing along. I do know a couple of Hinder songs and enjoyed seeing them performed, although again the sound balance gave us more bass than anything.







I felt a bit like an old stick-in-the-mud sitting there just sitting and taking a few photos but not really getting into the whole thing. Those around me were dancing and singing and having a great time and I was watching the roadies change sets in between and the guys at the soundboard in front of me and the crowd and the security and the event staff (research! a writer's gotta observe the details!). And standing up or twisting my knees sideways 50 times to let people walk back and forth out to and from the aisle. I know, when you go to a concert you should really just hang out and enjoy and relax ... but a writer who writes about music can't help the work aspect of it, also. *shrug*  If I had the nerve, I would have liked to go talk to the sound guys to ask them about their job. I don't have. Except maybe I will do that online. Stay tuned.

The stick disappeared when the band I went to see made its appearance. Along with the rest of the crowd, I was on my feet in full party mode (with soda instead of the tons of beer being consumed around me) cheering and yelling and singing along from the moment Nickelback took the stage. And they took the stage with a literal bang!  The light and sound effects were incredible -- major kudos to their techs.

Chad Kroeger was very funny, very likeable and flirty, very involved with the fans. They started with "Something in your Mouth" from the Dark Horse CD and kept rolling through songs and chatting in between. I was a bit surprised there were only a few Dark Horse songs in the show, but loved getting the All the Right Reason songs, and bringing the leads from Hinder and Papa Roach out to join them for AC/DC's Highway to Hell was a lot of fun. There was even a touch of country thrown in!

Daniel Adair's drum solo was glorious! But you have to hear it in person to truly understand how glorious it was. And if you're a drummer or ex-drummer, you can't help being transfixed.

Never mind too much camera focus on too-showy girls, since you have to expect that with Nickelback and most rock bands these days, I guess. It was an incredible show and by the third song, I was already thinking, "I've GOT to come see them again!"

I would like to make a public statement, here, though. When the staff tells you there is no smoking within the pavilion, would you listen, please? My husband asked several guys to put out their cigarettes because they were just in front of us and chain smoking and my allergies kicked in making me cough up a storm. Seriously, be a tiny bit considerate in public!  That goes for getting bombed or stoned out of your mind, as well. It's not fun for those around you when you do. Kudos to the event staff for kicking out the kids in front of us (yes, some of the smokers, two of whom got aggressive when hubby asked them not to smoke -- silly little boys considering who they were dealing with) who were falling all over the seats and climbing on them and pulling up the braless girl's shirt who was so out of it she won't remember the concert at all (with my 16 yr old right behind her). We paid to be there, for decent seats, and we had the right for those around us to be mannerly just as we were. Behave like humans or stay home. Maybe it was "Rock and Roll" but a lot of us were there for the music, not the debauchery. 

All in all, we left fully happy with a wonderful night of wonderful music and fun, and after sitting in the parking lot for half and hour waiting until it even made sense to start the car and creep along out to the road, we went in search of a nearby hotel. We planned (last-minute) to stay the night since it was 70 miles from home and late, and then go in and run around Pittsburgh today while we were there anyway. Didn't happen. There were either 22,000 people at the concert (according to Hinder) or 19,000 (according to Nickelback) and it was sold out. That's a lot of people descending on Pittsburgh. There wasn't a hotel to be found in the area except a smoking room with only one bed 12 miles out. Instead, we grabbed food and a lovely cafe mocha from a very slow Eat & Park and headed back home at 2 am.

Wow, am I getting too old for that! I'm wiped out today. I don't know how the bands and roadies do it.



If anyone is still reading this wordy review, I think you can click on the photos to see them larger. But please, they are copyrighted, so if you want your friends to see them also, send them here!

If you get the chance, GO see Nickelback live! Tell them I sent you. And then watch them look at each other and say, "Who?"  ;-)

Public Enemies

When a new Johnny movie premieres, I tend to be there opening day. So, we went to see Public Enemies this afternoon, although our local theater wasn't bothering to play it. Yes, I drove the 30 miles on opening day to check out Mr. Depp's newest work.

It was well worth it.

I won't go on about what a great job he did because anyone who has followed him knows he does, and he did. Incredible as usual. But there are many other reasons to see this film.

It's history. John Dillinger was considered a hero by much of the public in the 1930s. It was in the midst of the depression when everyone was angry about how the banks handled things so badly and people lost so much (sound familiar?). Dillinger grabbed lots of it, but never took it from individuals inside the bank, telling them he didn't want their money, only the bank's. Of course there's a bit of logic missing there since people fund the bank money, but only to an extent. They're making bunches off our money and they did then, and when they mismanage it's of course not only their money they lose. So in a time of no sympathy with or high opinion of bankers, Dillinger struck gold with public opinion.

It's societal. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything but there are points made that we need to consider as a society. Dillinger was considered Public Enemy Number One. But what of the Chicago cops taking bribes from gangsters to leave them alone? What of the police brutality? What about being overly punished for minor offenses? Those things build the criminal element, as they helped to build Dillinger's power and public sympathy for him. And they still happen.

It does not glamorize criminal life. It shows straight out the costs, very high costs, of taking that route, with no actual gain. A good lesson there.

It's artistic. This film was very well made. It's not overly gory for being a gangster film. It has beautiful effects that add to the imagery without being over the top. It truly is art, which I don't find a lot of on the big screen anymore.

It's well worth watching. It's even worth supporting, something I also don't find much in Hollywood these days.

The next one I look forward to is The Ugly Truth. That should be a riot!
-

Book Review: A Reason To Hope

A Reason To Hope A.L. Marquardt   2008 Booksurge ISBN: 978-1-4392-1626-2   www.ALMarquardt.com

 

"Hope comes in an unexpected way, but not without a price."

"A Reason to Hope" is an inspiring debut novella by A.L. Marquardt, inspiring not only because of its genre, Christian Science Fiction, but also because it's one of the best indie efforts I've yet seen.

The story of a female assassin thrown from her job by a disfiguring accident leads to themes of perfection vs. misfits, sexuality, acceptance vs. condemnation, drug use, and salvation. Atypical for Christian fiction, homosexuality is portrayed as a main issue and dealt with as a question more than as a definite answer.

Pulled right into Preeah's journey with a hard yank that refuses to let go, a reader is opened to thoughts and ideas but left to come to her own conclusions. Right and wrong is pondered, but not "settled," in the vein of John Irving. "A Reason to Hope" gives us a reason to stop and think. It ends softly, giving us the feeling it is not an ending, but a beginning.

Other than a minor criticism of wanting more varying sentence structures and less use of "she" instead of the character's name (which I heard from early critiques of my work), Marquardt's prose is smooth and well-edited (a big plus for indie work), with pacing that keeps a reader well into the story.

The back cover states the author is seeking an agent for her full-length novel. I hope that happens soon, as this is an an author to watch!

** Side note: a signed copy of "A Reason to Hope" is included in the raffle below.

The Demon Barber ... a safe pre-review

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

starring Johnny Depp
produced by Tim Burton

When I saw a little clip not long ago of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, my jaw literally dropped when I heard Johnny singing! I sure hoped it was more than a couple of minutes. Okay, I knew nothing of the musical before this so it was all new to me and I have no comparisons to make to the original. I don't honestly care about comparisons.

I've read a couple of critical reviews already saying his voice, and others, are thin on the soundtrack. Thin. Hmm... I'm really very critical about music and voices myself, and I was in constant awe of just how well he did with the part. He's an actor, not a singer. Okay, he was into music before acting. Still, he's not a trained singer as you get in most musicals. Neither is Helena Bonham Carter. And Sondheim musicals are particularly not so easy to sing. The parts were complex, with quick tempos and battling duets, but they were brilliant.

What do you get when you put an actor into a singing role? You get an acted musical, not only a performed musical. Johnny acted this singing role so perfectly, I was honestly on the verge of tears now and then and I did have goosebumps -- not because of the story line, but because of the performance. All of the performances were good. His was exquisite.

It is rated R for violence and sexual inuendos, and of course with the story line it is graphic violence, but it's not overly distasteful. It's "Hollywood graphic" more than "reality graphic" and I much prefer that. A "horror wimp" like myself got through it with no big issues.

There were times I was chuckling out loud and times when I was trying to help "write" the plot in my head (career hazard, I suppose), but in general, I was completely drawn in and full of nothing except the incredible film invading my thoughts. That's hard to do. Few films hold my attention that well ... well enough to shove aside my list of everything I should have been doing in order to be truly focused.

This is a must see for those who love pure expressive art, as it is a true rainbow blend of all of the arts at once. Now to find the soundtrack. And I'm hoping to find time to see it in the theater again.

Pirates at the World's End: a pre-review with no spoilers

I'm going to be careful. How I can review this movie without throwing spoilers, I'm not sure, so I think I'll do a better one later after everyone interested has had the chance to see it.
And if you're not interested, you should be.

I have to say I was shocked to find such a horrid review of it on msn last night. It left me wondering if the critic and I saw the same movie! I put it down to one reality of media: many critics think they have to be overly-critical for people to think they are doing their jobs right, or to make themselves sound more intelligent than they are. One of his objections was that we all KNEW Captain Jack didn't actually perish in the last one and would be back again. Forgive the vulgarness of the following comment, but ... DUH!

Pirates of the Caribbean is fantasy action/adventure ... fiction. We know this going in. We know we are not going to see a documentary or a drama that has to make more sense than real life. Of course Captain Jack returns. Who would go see it if he didn't??? The question was ... how does he return and what happens when he does?

The movie's opening tells us, "Hey, we're making a point about history in this film. Pay attention!" There were so many comments about the second of the series not being as good as the first. Why? Because the first was pure fun, with a few one-liners signifying they were trying to make a statement, as well. The second drew more meaning into the plot: things like the East Indie Trading Company and what it was actually doing to the world and to the working people. Things such as what happens when honor and morality break down and who is really on the "wrong" side and IS there actually a "wrong" side or simply an "other" side. Who is more villainous, really? The third adds another question, a very important question, but I won't say it here because it would be a spoiler for some.

The series is full of philosophy and psychology and history and the third one brings that out further. At World's End is nearly 3 hours long, but I found myself not ready for it to end. It's an incredible journey into so many facets of human life that one viewing is only the start. It will take several viewings of this movie to really "get" it all. It also takes a bit of brain power, and in so saying, some will not like it because of that; because it forces us to think if we're really paying attention to it. There are such incredible single lines scattered at the appropriate points that I'm in awe of the writers. It's a work of brilliance, which I'm sure will be largely overlooked. Just as literary fiction, only a handful of the population will sincerely appreciate what it offers.

Pirates of the Caribbean is not only fantasy action-adventure. It is literary fantasy action-adventure.

After three hours of the movie, combined with an hour of waiting in line first to be sure we had good seats, I was ready to buy tickets for the 10:45 show and go right back in. My kids, however, were not willing. Kids. I'll have to fight myself not to go back today. And the next day. And the day after. But I will be going back to see it and taking anyone willing to go with me.

And I'll be at the store the day it comes out on DVD.

The following quote is from a different movie, but it's really appropriate for Pirates, also:

"If we stop breathing, we die.
If we stop fighting our enemies, the world would die."
from Casablanca