[Shrek & Fiona] Our Favorite Authors--Number 5

As we count down our top five favorite authors, Fiona fires first.

[Fiona]
I love the library where I grew up. The Whitinsville Social Library, a step into the past of golden days gone by. Beautiful structure with marble floors, wooden card catalogues, long wooden tables with oversized antique wooden chairs and stools. Hand carved archways, grandfather clock with spinning sun and moon faces to indicate the time of the day. I loved to watch and listen to that clock. In fact, I often went to this sanctuary to escape my dull life.

I first encountered Robert Cormier's books when I was in the seventh grade. I remember the moment clearly. I had gone to my town's library with some school friends to do research on some project. I got bored and went shopping in the stacks for something interesting to read. Right behind the circulation desk in the stacks somewhere in Dewey Decimal land of the 700s and 800s I found I Am The Cheese.

This book changed my life. I read it in one sitting. It made me rethink the way I looked at the so-called adults I was supposed to have a non-faltering faith in. I returned to the library the very next day.

I have read everything ever published by Robert Cormier. Only after I started reading his columnist work did I find out that he was from Leominster, Massachusetts. I often thought about writing to him and telling him how he changed my views on literature, life, people and how we treat each other. I regret that I never did write him. Robert Cormier died in 2000.

Published novels

Now and At the Hour (1960)
A Little Raw on Monday Mornings (1963)
Take Me Where the Good Times Are (1965)
The Chocolate War (1974) [very interesting take on fund-raising]
I Am the Cheese (1977) [My first read]
After the First Death (1979) [My all time favorite read]
The Bumblebee Flies Away (1983)
Beyond the Chocolate War (1985)
Fade (1988)
Other Bells for Us to Ring (1990)
We All Fall Down (1991)
Tunes for Bears to Dance to (1992)
In the Middle of the Night (1995)
Tenderness (1997)
Heroes (1998)
The Rag and Bone Shop (2001)

[Shrek]
Before I started reading Jacqueline Carey's books I generally didn't read books by female authors, although I don't recall any particular reason for not doing so. And I don't even recall why I picked up her first novel, Kushiel's Dart, off the stack of "remainder" mass-market paperbacks that BJ's Wholesale Club used to sell. The cover is one you would see on any run of the mill second tier science fantasy novel, and really isn't that eye catching. But for whatever reason I picked it up, and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. As I was making up my mind if I was going to buy it or not I noticed her second book, Kushiel's Chosen, was sitting atop of another stack of books. I threw caution to the wind and bought them both. Funny thing is I also ended up buying two books from Sara Douglass that day, and almost ten years later they are both still sitting in my ever-growing to read stack. Fiona has read them though, so it wasn't for naught.

Carey has written three connected trilogies set in the Terre D'Ange Universe, each one building on the series before it. The three trilogies focus on different characters, with Phèdre nò Delaunay being the protagonist in the first three books. As her story moves along Imriel de la Courcel, son of the biggest traitor in Terre D'Ange is introduced and his story becomes the basis of the second trilogy. The third trilogy is set in the future of Terre D'Ange, with Moirin of the Maghuinn Dhon, who is a descendant of the Queen of Terre D'Ange featured in the first six books. All the books, especially the first trilogy, have some mature content that may not be suitable for young readers, although nothing is extremely explicit and everything that happens truly plays a role in the story.

Many readers, myself included, were disappointed that Carey chose to jump ahead into the future with the Moirin trilogy.

Between the Phèdre and Imriel trilogies Carey released two book entitled Banewreaker and Godslayer, often refered to as The Sundering series. It's a story loose based on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, only told from the viewpoint of "the bad guys". It's an interesting series that tells a tale that not everyone fighting for the side of "good" has honorable intentions, nor were all the bad guys truly "evil". Between the Imriel and Moirin series Carey released Santa Olivia, a standard futuresque story about an over oppressive government fighting a war.

Despite some formula in her stories I liked them all, so that gets her into my "top 5".

Published novels

Kushiel Universe series
Kushiel's Legacy series

Phèdre Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Dart (June 2001)
2 Kushiel's Chosen (April 2002)
3 Kushiel's Avatar (April 2003)

Imriel Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Scion (June 2006)
2 Kushiel's Justice (June, 2007)
3 Kushiel's Mercy (June, 2008)

Moirin Trilogy series
1 Naamah's Kiss (June, 2009)
2 Naamah’s Curse (June 2010)
3 Naamah’s Blessing (June 2011 release date)

The Sundering
1 Banewreaker (November 2004)
2 Godslayer (August 2005)

Santa Olivia
1 Santa Olivia (May 2009)
2 Saints Astray (October 2011 release date)

[Shrek] Funny Card Trick

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 3-4

Once again it's Theme Thursday, and this week the theme is "green". If you're pressed for time, I highly recommend just skimming the pictures and checking out our unrelated YouTube video at the bottom.









And a few more...







And this one is kind of cheating on our part, but what the heck...



For this weeks unrelated YouTube video, we bring you OK Go's incredible and elaborate Rube Goldberg video for their song This Too Shall Pass. After the video is a link to a story about how they did it.




How OK Go’s Amazing Rube Goldberg Machine Was Built

[Shrek] Unladylike Behavior?

For those that don't know, the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team beat the US 2-0 to win the gold medal. After the arena was empty of fans the ladies returned to the ice to celebrate their victory...












From Yahoo, about the "incident"...

The celebration raised eyebrows at the IOC, which said it would look into the matter. Informed of the antics by The Associated Press, Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said it was "not what we want to see."

"I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values," he said. "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

(Marie-Philip) Poulin, who scored both goals, doesn't turn 19 — legal drinking age in British Columbia — until next month. The drinking age in Alberta, where the Canadian team trains, is 18. Photos showed Poulin on the ice with a beer in her hand.

"We understand that they were asked to go back onto the playing field after the stadium had emptied to take a photo," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "We understand that some people may have felt that their behavior was over-exuberant."

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party.

"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said.

While the committee does not condone irresponsibility, Keough said, "I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols."

Not even uncommon at these Olympics. After Jon Montgomery won a gold medal for Canada in skeleton, he walked through the streets of Whistler guzzling from a pitcher of beer that he gripped with two hands.

The International Olympic Committee is the single most corrupt organization on the planet, and they have the audacity to give athletes trouble because they celebrated in a virtually empty building something they have spent their entire lives to accomplish?

The IOC really needs to STFU here, and so do the mental midget worrying about Marie-Philip Poulin drinking underage. I don't condone teenagers drinking alcohol on a regular basis, but there are a few times where I don't have an big issue with it. Winning an Olympic gold medal is certainly on the list of times where it's OK.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday On A Sunday?

Yep, a "bonus" Theme Thursday today. This week's theme is "bell" and we'll have a normal Thursday post for it, but seeing as we get to post one of our favorite jokes we just can't wait five days to get started.

So, without further ado...

A bishop advertises a job to ring the bell in his tower. The only job applicant is a hunchback with no arms.

Bishop: "How can you do the job? You can't pull the rope!"

Hunchback: "I have a plan - but we have to go to the top of the tower, where the bell is."

So they climb all those stairs to the top of the tower. Bishop: "Ok, show me your plan."

The hunchback runs and jumps at the bell, striking it with his head. Sure enough, he rings the bell. The bishop asks him, "How did you learn to ring the bell like this?"

The hunchback replies, "Actually, I first learned on the guitar," and walks over to a guitar on the wall and starts banging his head on it, and Lo! Beautiful music comes out. So despite his misgivings, the bishop hired the hunchback to ring the bell.

Every day the hunchback comes in and rings the bell. One day, the hunchback decides to try to ring the bell louder. He goes to the farthest corner of the tower, and runs as fast as he can toward the bell. When he jumps up and hits it with his head, the bell rings clear and loud. Unfortunately, the hunchback hit the bell so hard he's a little groggy. He staggers around a bit, and falls out a window to the street below.

A crowd gathers around the hunchback's mangled body lying in the street; the bishop goes out to investigate the commotion. The policeman arrives and again asks: "Who is this guy?"

The bishop replies: "I don't know his name, but his face rings a bell."

The policeman then asks if the bishop had hired the hunchback. "Yes," replies the Bishop, "but I had a hunchback there nothing good would come of this job interview."

The policeman then asks if the bishop can tell him anything about the hunchback. The bishop replies, "Not much, but he could play a guitar just like a ringing a bell."

The next day, a man (who has arms) arrives, claiming to be the hunchbacks brother. "Hi, I've come to take over my brother's job." The bishop offers his condolences for the loss of his brother, and then escorts him to the tower.

"Your brother used to ring the bell with his face," said the Bishop. "Will you do that, too, or will you use your arms?"

The hunchback's brother replies "If my brother can ring it with his face, so can I!" So saying, he runs full bore at the bell, glances off it with his face, falls out the window and to his death in the street below.

The bishop rushes down to see what he can do for the poor man. A crowd gathers. A policeman arrives and asks the bishop "Do you know who this man is?"

The bishop replies, "No, but he's a dead ringer for his brother."

So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days a young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job. The bishop was greatly impressed with the fellow's bell-ringing skill, and he offered the job. The young man accepted and the bishop began to fill out some paperwork. He said, "Now what is your name?"

The fellow replied, "I cannot tell you, but I will whisper it to the bell."

Now this seemed somewhat unusual to the bishop, but he needed a bell ringer, so he nodded his approval. The young man leaned toward the bell, cupped his hands around his mouth, and whispered something unintelligible to the bell. The bishop, wondering if he was doing the right thing, left the young man to his work.

For weeks the skies above the city were filled with the most glorious tones imaginable, until one day -- quite by accident -- the young man slipped, fell out the side of the belfry, and plunged to his death upon the pavement below. A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the bishop walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the bishop and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The bishop paused, and then replied slowly, "No, he tolled the bell."

So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days another young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job, and the bishop asked him to demonstrate his skill with the rope. The man replied, "I have no need for the rope--just watch this!" With that, he dropped his jaw, tilted his head backward, and produced a perfect E above high C. As he held the note, the bell began to resonate with sympathetic vibrations, and a beautiful tone could be heard throughout the city. The beauty of the sound was incredible, and the man was hired on the spot.

With his unique skill, it soon became obvious that the man could ring the bell without even entering the belfry. Each day at noon he would simply walk along the sidewalk by the church, drop his jaw, tilt his head backward, produce a perfect E above high C, and ring the bell to the amazement of all. Until one day, quite by accident, the vibrations caused the rope holding the bell to snap, and the bell flew out the side of the belfry, plunged toward the ground, and crushed the man to his death upon the pavement below. A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the bishop walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the bishop and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The bishop paused, and then replied slowly, "No, but he was a real humdinger!"

This time the church placed two ads in the paper, one for putting the bell back in the tower, the other for ringing the bell. A troll showed up to put the bell back in the tower. Although loath to hire a troll, the bishop decided to let him put the bell back in the tower (the troll was big and strong). After the troll put the bell back, it demanded the job of bell ringer. The bishop refused, telling the troll that he would scare away all the church members. The troll became enraged and chased the bishop around the bell. Around and around they ran, with the troll getting closer and closer. Suddenly, the troll's arm snagged on the bell rope. Infuriated the troll pulled the rope with all its strength. The bell swung forward and then back again, pulling the troll off its feet and out the window, where it fell to its death.

A horrified crowd gathered, and the tired bishop made his way down the belfry, arriving just as the policeman arrived. The policeman asked the bishop "What happened?" The bishop explained that he had refused the troll the bell ringing job and the troll began chasing him. "How did you escape?" asked the policeman.

The bishop's reply: "I was saved by the bell."

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-10

It's another week of Theme Thursday, with the week's theme being "mirror". For those that don't get what we're posting, check back on Friday afternoon in the comments section for the connection.

First, the obvious one...one of Fiona's favorites.



Now, for the not so obvious...















And for today's YouTube video, which is actually somewhat related, we present A-ha

[Shrek] The Aint's No More

A few brief thoughts about the Super Bowl...

It was a great game, and as far as I'm concerned the right team won.

The commercials sucked. I can't think of one that was even close to "OK".

The Who kicked ass. Not bad for a couple of guys old enough to collect Social Security.

Phil Simms is the dumbest analyst doing pro football, and maybe in all of sports. Jim Nance, one of the best play by play guys in all of sports, deserves a lot better than Simms.

[Shrek] In other words...

2010 Top 25 Engineer's Terms and Expressions
(What they say versus what it means)

1. A number of different approaches are being tried.
We are still guessing at this point.

2. Close project coordination.
We sat down and had coffee together.

3. An extensive report is being prepared on a fresh approach.
We just hired three punk kids out of school.

4. Major technological breakthrough!
It works OK; but looks very hi-tech!

5. Customer satisfaction is believed assured.
We are so far behind schedule, that the customer will take anything.

6. Preliminary operational tests were inconclusive.
The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.

7. Test results were extremely gratifying!
Unbelievable, it actually worked!

8. The entire concept will have to be abandoned.
The only guy who understood the thing quit.

9. It is in process.
It is so wrapped in red tape that the situation is completely hopeless.

10. We will look into it.
Forget it! We have enough problems already.

11. Please note and initial.
Let's spread the responsibility for this.

12. Give us the benefit of your thinking.
We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it doesn't interfere with what we have already done or with what we are going to do.

13. Give us your interpretation.
We can't wait to hear your bull.

14. See me or let's discuss.
Come to my office, I've screwed up again.

15. All new.
Parts are not interchangeable with previous esign.

16. Rugged.
Don't plan to lift it without major equipment.

17. Robust!
Rugged, but more so

18. Light weight.
Slightly lighter than rugged

19. Years of development.
One finally worked

20. Energy saving.
Achieved when the power switch is off.

21. No maintenance.
Impossible to fix

22. Low maintenance.
Nearly impossible to fix

23. Fax me the data.
I'm too lazy to write it down.

24. We are following the standard!
That's the way we have always done it!

25. I didn't get your e-mail.
I haven't checked my e-mail for days.

[Shrek] I'm Not A Jimmy Fallon Fan...

...but this might be one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 10-21

We're back with another Theme Thursday, and this week's theme is "traffic".

Well, to be honest, traffic only means one thing to a couple of music lovers...







And now for this week's unrelated youtube video, we give you one of our favorite subjects: cats



You know what, we need more of that...

[Shrek] Greatest Comedy Routine Ever?

I certainly think so.

[Shrek] King Times Three

Tonight was my third King of the Hill tournament, and like last month I showed up much earlier than I needed to.

Because my back has been bothering me I didn't really warm up at all before the match knowing that my opponent was going to want to grab a quick cigarette after his semi-final match, giving me plenty of time to loosen up a little on the lanes we were going to bowl on.

I haven't been bowling that well as of late, but I knew my opponent was wearing down because he started the head-to-head rounds as the lowest seed. I just kept muttering to myself "no bad boxes" and just tried to stay in the game until he ran out of gas.

I had a small lead after the first string, and about midway through the first half of string number two my opponent was literally running on empty. I went back to my manta "no bad boxes", and cruised on to victory. Fiona and I celebrated by buying some Chinese food.

Next month might be a little different story as I have enough strings to have my average figured based on what I've bowled at the King events, so my lowly 98 average will no longer count for me.

I'm still planning on winning, though.

[Shrek] Thank You Tornadoes

The Worcester Tornadoes are, in fact, going to take care of the few of us that chose to stay away from the ballpark during the warnings/watches. I learned of this prior to Peterman's comment a few minutes ago on my previous post, but I wasn't able to make this post until just now (Google/blogger only allows one ID to be signed in at a time, and I was doing something under my other ID).

I've always enjoyed going to the Tornadoes, and I'm glad this all got worked out.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 8-13

It's another Theme Thursday post, and this week we get to "mail it in". Fiona already had a post ready to go that was about this week's theme of "festival", and so this week it's a solo post by her...

Art In The Park

Sometimes cool happenings just sort of fall into a person's lap. Last week my best galpal called me in the afternoon and asked if I could please go with her and her four kiddles to our local park. She had a "play date" with some other moms and dads, but as her SO was getting home late that afternoon she didn't feel confident enough to handle the four on her own in a crowded park. I gladly accepted as it was a beautiful afternoon and I am a sucker for kids. I bid Shrek a fond "see you in a bit" and set out for Jadi's.

There is something magical about being a kid and viewing the world through untainted eyes.



We finally managed to load all the stuffs and the kiddles into the minivan and set out for The Art in the Park Festival. At my age I still get hyped up and excited about the goings on of humans in their natural environment. We circled the park a few times and found parking off a side street. The kids were so antsy to get to the park it made it difficult to keep them all together and going in the same direction.



Often when I go out I bring my camera. I like to be ready for that shot. The one that invokes emotion or sheer awe. I am happy to report that I had my camera. I was indeed awed and felt the twinges of yearning for the old days when my parents and I were young and we did cool things like Art In The Park.


nest made from tree droppings and electrical wiring after the great ice storm of 2009

There were a lot of interesting and well thought out pieces.


3D stained glass



made from Solo plastic dishware


???

There were a few recycled construction/scrap metal pieces...mad cool.







And fun pieces...like the piano; recycled into a funky birdcage.





There was art to ride.



...and some people even came dressed as art.



On Thursdays during the month of July and August bands come to the park and accompany the art in a beautiful joining of two mediums.

I offer a toast to the city of Worcester for a job well done!

[Shrek] King Once Again

Last month I posted about the King of the Hill tournament at Colonial Lanes in Worcester. Well, sans the 44oz Diet Coke, I returned to defend my title. Even though I didn't need to arrive until later in the evening, I went for the start and stood around to watch the preliminary rounds.

The 5v4 match ended in a tie, with both bowlers having to bowl two additional boxes to break the tie. The rest of the matches weren't even close, which included my two string finals match. It was really over after 7 boxes when I threw 4 spares in a row (and had a fifth waived off because of a lob).

So next month I get to defend my title again...

[Fiona] Tuesdays in the Summer

I am a repeater. When I am cold or I don't feel well, I will tell you at least a half dozen times. It is just part of the charm that makes me who I am. Shrek has this silly rule. I can complain/whine about the same thing only twice and then I need to move onto a new subject and/or complaint. I think it's funny but it actually helps me most times to move on.

All except for Tuesdays.

It is a matter of fact I loathe Tuesdays for no particular reason and yet a few come to mind. Tuesdays in the summer simply means I have to bowl. I stink at bowling. I am a visually inspired person and, let's face it, there is nothing visually appealing about bowling. My mind wanders. I often throw that little ball in the gutter and it makes me get creative with my language (not ladylike in the least).



You may wonder why is it then that I participate in something that causes me so much angst? The short answer? The people.



I try to have some fun while my torment is on going. I like to laugh with Hilka and Pat is a real gem. My friend Chris taught me all about trying to do your best no matter what and I have to admit I look forward to seeing them each week. Yes bowling has been good for me in some ways. {{Don't tell anyone ;)}}

Fiona and Hilka

Pat

Chris

Dear Shrek joined a men's bowling league about ten years ago as a way to have a guy night out without causing too much mayhem. Skip is an old-time bowler and has been in the game 30 odd years. He is on Shrek's team in the mens league. Paul not only bowls but keeps the lanes in fine working order and has a vast knowledge of bowling greats past and present truly amazing.

Shrek

Skip

Paul

Shrek found he enjoyed doing something with the guys and it allowed us some together time. It was only a short jump to the summer mixed couple league and a request from the Big Guy about having our own team. Shrek likes when I do the things in his life that he enjoys even if it means I need to "make believe" I also enjoy said activity.

So now each summer for approximately 17 weeks I bitch, I moan, I get really angry. I laugh, I cry , I enjoy my friends. I hate going to the bowling alley but I adapt. I accept, I move on until...the next Tuesday dawns when it all begins again. I told you I was a repeater.