Tuesday, 06 March 2012
The Freethought House website was just updated to include the latest information on the book I’m co-editing.
I’m pretty excited about this, and not just because I’m accruing four college credits for doing it. If you read this blog, it’s pretty obvious (I think) that I love books, so it’s great to have such an insider look into the creation of one.
There’s a tab at the top of Freethought House’s site called “Atheist Voices of MN,” which opens a page detailing the forth-coming book. The bottom of the page lists all the people who contributed stories and artwork for the book. My wife and I are both listed there and, I gotta admit, it’s a little weird to see my name in the antepenultimate position (it’s usually last).
The book is scheduled for a September release, but this may be bumped up to August. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, 07 March 2012
Last summer, I uploaded this video to YouTube:
It’s not a particularly remarkable video; my friend, Rhett, and I were just out and about for the day and I was just filming random things. I was borrowing the camera from my high school and, if I recall correctly, I had to return it the next day, so I was just using it as much as I could.
Anyway, when I rewatched the film recently, I noticed something – 44 seconds into the video, Rhett quickly points out the Nut Goodies for sale.
I don’t think I ever noticed this before. I mean, I must’ve noticed it in the moment, because, as you can see, I turn the camera for a brief second to stop focusing on Rhett and point out the snack he just pointed out. But I never paid attention to that again. Rhett and I were kicked out of KFC just the day before, so just being able to film inside a store was amazing to me at the time, and in subsequent viewings, I paid more attention to the people in the film, rather than the quick mention of the snack food.
Why did he point out the Nut Goodies? Who knows? My guess is that they just caught the corner of his eye as he was rounding the corner in the gas station, and he figured he’d give me something “interesting” to film besides the back of his head.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the day we made A Groovy Teenage Movie, and so, to mark the occasion, I purchased three Nut Goodies and, following dinner, Jennifer, Owen, Isla and I shared some tasty home-grown Nut Goodies.
Thursday, 08 March 2012
Today, I brought the book The Pocket Guide to Minnesota Place Names, by Michael Fedo, into our house.
The funny thing about this boring piece of information, is that I purchased the book on August 24, 2007, and I think today is the day the book finally made it into the house.
I normally don’t take four-and-a-half years to carry new possessions from my car to my house, but I can explain this odd occurrence.
On that day back in 2007, Jennifer and I were celebrating our anniversary. We visited the Oliver H. Kelly Farm in Elk River. In the gift shop, I picked up this book and thought it would be interesting to learn “the stories behind 1,200 place names in the North Star State” (as the front cover advertises). So I bought it.
On the drive home, I decided it would be an excellent book to keep in the car – as we are driving around the state, we can open up to the name of the place we are traveling in, and learn how it got that name. So I tossed it in the glove compartment.
Over the years, I pulled it out whenever I was waiting in the car for one reason or another, and read a page or two in the book. Yesterday, when I pulled up to Owen’s school to pick him up, I arrived about ten minutes early. So, as I often do, I opened up the glove compartment, and began reading the book. With only three pages left, I easily finished it. I tossed it on the passenger seat and got out to go get Owen. Today, I brought it in the house to add to my list of books I’ve read.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, don’t bother with this book. Despite the claim of 1,000+ stories in the book, it contains almost none. Most place names are given just a one or two-sentence explanation, often just by saying “this river was named after the local saloon owner” or “this city is named after the corresponding city in England.” Stories those are not.
Also – interesting article on the large bill for the new sports stadium.
Friday, 09 March 2012
Tonight, before bedtime, Owen and I watched some silent films. Ever since I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret with him last month, we’ve been meaning to sit down and watch A Trip to the Moon (the 1902 film that SPOILER! forms a key point to the plot).
So, first we watched the Georges Méliès classic. We easily found it on YouTube. It’s only about 12 minutes long, so give it a whirl here:
Make sure you watch this one, and not the one labeled as “OFFICIAL,” because that one has a lousy voice-over.
At the end of the film, YouTube offers suggestions for similar films, so we also watched:
The Haunted Castle, from 1896,
The Astronomer’s Dream, from 1898,
and The Merry Skeleton, from 1897.
Owen laughed and giggled numerous times with all these films. He thought they were so great, he kept talking about the funny things that happened. Thanks to Jennifer, we snacked on pop-corn while watching the films, too.
We next found Safety Last, the 1923 Harold Lloyd film, in complete form on YouTube. The famous scene from this film, in which Lloyd is hanging from a clock on the side of a building, is discussed in Hugo Cabret, and a two-page spread shows an actual still from the film. So Owen immediately recognized the film and wanted to watch it. I’m glad he did, because it’s probably the most significant silent-era film that I’ve never watched. We watched about a third of the film tonight, and then I paused it and said I was too tired to finish. So Owen and I went to bed. I hope we get to finish the film tommorow!