The Hunger Games

You know how it is when everyone and their brother tells you to read/watch/eat/try/visit something and the more you hear about it the less you want to read/watch/eat/try/visit or even aknowledge the existence of whatever?

Maybe that’s just me being all contrarian, but anyway.

I kept hearing about this book and thinking “I don’t really like Young adult… maybe I’ll get around to reading it…” then I heard there was going to be a movie and I thought, “Stupid Hollywood having to remake something yet again as a sign of their shrinking originality…”

Okay, so I am more than a contrarian, I’m a snob and an iconoclast.

But I can also admit when I was wrong.

I was wrong.

I was wrong to wait to read this book because… because despite it belonging to the genre of “Young adult” it was a terrifically written book that dealt with adult themes in a compelling manner.

Set in a world not too unlike our own but far far in the future where the rules of society have changed dramatically, author Suzanne Collins creates for us a story that is intriguing, dynamic, and hard to put down.

A lottery type event leads to our main character having to battle it out Survivor style against other combatants in a last man (child) standing sort of competition that wis uses by the powers that be as entertainment… a sort of reality TV concept from hell where no one has a choice and the ratings mean life or death.

What could have been overly heavy handed with social commentary or boringly simplistic in a whittiling down of opponents is instead a riveting portrayal of character development. Collins does a marvelous job of creating her new world with enough detail to keep the eader engaged without going overboard with exposition.

The main character Katniss is one of those rare protagonists that carry the story without showing signs of the load. The twists and turns are almost all unexpected and even the slightly annoying teen angst is well played.  

(I abhor teen angst but thankfully this book managed to not over do it… the narration and excitement of the more broad storylines more than made up for it.)

All in all, well worth a read, and for those of you who have limited time, a quick read at that.

Dreamers of the Day

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell

I read, loved, and was forever changed by Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow.(Review Here) How could I resist reading another title from her? I am so glad I did.

This book was so enjoyable that I felt almost afraid to keep reading it. I was sure something awful would happen to the character I had grown to love. (No worries, the book has a wonderfully simplistic and very fulfilling happy ending.)

Set in the early 20s for the majority of the tale, the book follows the adventures of Angus and her dog Rosie as they unknowingly take part in the Cairo Convention and interact with such historical ficures as Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill. Like The sparrow, a lot of the action of the novel takes place through dialogue, political and historical dialogue that manages to be both totally believable and insanely educational all while keeping your interest and furthering the character development and storyline.

In a word, the book was amazing.

I highly recommend it for its prose, its scope, and ultimately for the story… an oft forgotten real life drama of political map making and county borders drawing that all but created the Middle East as we know it. As that part of the world continues to be a focus of unrest and turmoil, a book like this that explains some of the issues from the point of view of inception, is a must read for anyone who wishes to have an understanding of the milieu of crossed loyalties and tribal dramas… while telling a late in life coming of age story involving a protagonist you can’t help but root for.

While the post dead aspect of the story is a bit sentimental and a wee bit silly, the ideas and impact of the rest of the book more than make up for it.

I highly recommend this title for those of you who like history, strong female characters, adventure, travel, and most importantly, well written prose!

MisFits

MisFits

This show is new to American audiences, but a fan favorite in the UK. This gritty and dark take on the superhero genre is well worth watching. An ensemble cast tells the story of five juvenile (early 20s) London delinquents who get zapped by mysterious lightning and develop powers. Although there are times when the accents (British etc) are a bit hard to understand, the cast is well formed and the storylines are surprisingly profound and compelling. I especially like that the rag tag group is not a family, a group of friends, or a team really... in fact, they don't particularly like one another.

Because of its across the pond roots, the show is full of violence, sex, nudity, and language. Thankfully, so far at least, it has managed to keep itself out of the realm of camp and corny and in the realm of interesting and slightly provocative. Also, a nice change of pace… we have teens/early 20s characters without any of the overly dramatic sappy teen/eary 20s angst. These characters are well rounded and fascinating.

It isn't totally devoid of camp...

The writers use the sci fi aspects to enhance the story arcs instead of relying on them to provide the story arcs which is understandably refreshing. Mixing dark comedy and believable dialogue with super powers that are not as super as one would hope and real life struggles of selfhood coming of age drama, this show is clearly something worth watching.

The entire first series (a 6 episode arc) is available on Hulu.

Writer’s Workshop!

Saturday June 18th, Noon – 3pm.
Fresno LGBT Community Center 1055 N. Van Ness Ave Suite C Fresno CA

Come join community members to get help or guidance in crafting your submission for the USP’s LGBT+ Anthology!

USP is currently accepting submissions of personal stories of the LGBT experience (either directly or peripherally) for an anthology that will be published later this year. The anthology will be available in local public and school libraries as well as the LGBT Community Center here in Fresno.

At the Writer’s Workshop you can


*Use the Center’s computer to submit your story.
*Get hands on writing advice from experienced writers (Help with anything from grammar to creative diction, to narrative flow!)
*Discuss and workshop ideas.
*Get typing assistance if needed.
*Have a safe place to talk about coming out issues, bullying issues, or anything else that relates to your experience as a member of the LGBT+ community.

To find out more about the Anthology (submission guidelines etc) please visit THIS LINK

-- The workshop will feature David (current leader of the Clovis Writer’s Group), Jessica (current Creative Writing grad student at Fresno State), Kaylia (BA in Creative Writing, writer for gayfresno.com), and Chris (long time writer for gayfresno.com).

The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This book surprised me. Partly because I didn’t know much about it prior to reading, and partly because for some reason I thought it was going to be an action adventurer book that had later been made into a rather dreary movie. Go figure.

However, if I had bothered to read the back or the dust jacket prior to reading it, chances are I still would have been a bit surprised. (In other words, the description is so vague and standard that it really didn’t really prepare me for the tone or the story.)

Basically, The Alchemist is a fairy tale, albeit a rather long one. There is a quest, there are forces of good and forces of evil, there are morality lessons, the reading of omens, and the predictable happy ending. All of that, I enjoyed. In fact, though it isn’t my normal sort of reading, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Unfortunately, as is the case in many fairy tales, the magic sometimes seemed more like plot spackle than plot development. There are also subtle things that I think are lost in translation. I can almost feel how beautiful the passages would have been, how poetic, but in English, the flow is a bit lost and there are times when the phrasing seemed clunky.

Despite that, I found it a very, very quick and easy read. Though the story is simple, it is still engaging, and even if I have nothing in common with the main character (a shepherd boy who decides to sell his flock and embark on an adventure for a treasure he has dreamt about in a far off land), I still found meaning and hope in his quest.

Like any morality tale the teaching moments are sometimes overly redundant and the personification of one’s heart, the wind, the sun, etc can get a bit awkward and tiresome. Ultimately though, it is a fable that I will remember and pass on to others.

It was, indeed, worth reading.

Workaholics

“College is over, but the party isn’t!”

Well, with a tag line like that, there’s no where to go but…. Up…. Right?

It’s been a bit since I last wrote a TV show review, (Click here to read them.), a fact not lost on a few of my loyal readers. Thanks for coming by to read the fiction reviews while you wait.

Of the four shows I have been asked to write about, this was the one that happened to be on the home page of hulu when I finished watching something else, so here you go.

This latest offering from Comedy Central is supposed to fill the need of all those former frat and party boys who are now all amazingly employed (despite the economy) but still maintain that nothing, not even their jobs, will keep them from having a good time. I have a feeling, based on the promos only, that the target audience is male, not actually working, and around the age of 12. The show is to revolve around the antics of three nobodys pretending to be actors. You think I’m joking right… seriously… of the three “leads” in the show, the one time appearance on Traffic Light and two appearances on Samantha Who are practically the only things listed as far as past experience. Wow.

But let’s start! (As was done in Castle, The Listener, and a few other shows…. First a play by play recap for part of the show, then general recap of whole show, and plenty of snark along the way.)

We open with a backyard barbeque pool party scene full of people who aren’t wearing sunglasses where we join in what appears to be the longest running game of beer pong ever. Frizzy Haired Man Child (wearing a sweat band for some reason) is suddenly bored of this and thus challenges the other two to a contest to see who can make a “smaller face.” (Pull your lips up toward your nose and close your eyes… Apparently this move has the power to shrink your face.) Brunette Man-Child, Adam, is deemed the winner for no discernible reason but is then told that it isn’t something he should be proud of. Not-Adam Man Child (in a hat) changes the subject to ask his bros if they know what “sexting” is and while middle America remembers that we have already been warned about the dangers of sexting and the sexting epidemic that is ruining our children’s futures, Adam and Frizzy Haired Man Child nod sagely. They do indeed know all about sexting.

(Microsoft Word on the other hand would like to correct “sexting” to “sexing” and I am tempted to let it.)

Funny Hat Man Child tells his now captive audience that he is “pretty sure” that he just got “way into it” because some girl that he doesn’t remember meeting last night, his memory is impaired because he was so very drunk, has been sexting him all morning. We then get the play by play of their text conversation (never as funny as it seems it will be) which is mostly “where did you go?” “you should come over” “maybe I will but in the meantime…” And then a close up photo of her nipple.

Yep. A nipple. On a smart phone. On my computer. Frozen in place. Somewhere Janet Jackson is saying “Losers, that whole nipple thing is sooooo 2004.” Actually, we all probably thought that. (And yeah, it was 2004… I just checked.)*

Back to the sext of the nipple. (Wow, Comedy Central gets away with everything!) It is an extreme close up of the areola. Not nearly as sexy as titillating. (Yep, I went there.)

The guys ooohhhh and ahhhhh. They say the word “nipple” about a dozen times and congratulate Funny Hat Man Child for getting such a good shot (forgetting that he wasn’t the one who took it). Funny Hat Man Child calls it the “nipple of my dreams” and Frizzy Haired Man Child says that he should get her over to the party by sending her a “pic of your dick.” When Funny Hat Man Child hesitates, Frizzy Haired Man Child assures him that things are in the proper order. “Nipple, Dick, Pussy, Butthole.” (They bleeped “pussy”.)

Funny Hat Man Child (FHMC) wants to know who’s butthole but they guys ignore him and send him off to get it done. Adam tells him to lose the hat. In the bathroom, FHMC talks to his dick while snapping the photo, “Are we gonna have sex?” and then rushes to rejoin his friends. He tells them that he has officially started the countdown to vagina time and also has just washed his butthole… just in case. They congratulate him.

And then Adam proves that he is a sneaky little Man Child as he has the phone that gets the Dick Pic Text… seems he had borrowed the phone from someone named Vanessa, and before stupefied FHMC can do anything, and much to the glee of Frizzy Haired Man Child, Adam forwards the text to all of Vanessa’s contacts. Lucky them. I’m sure that Vanessa’s dad and great aunt Mavis needed to get a text from her featuring some random guy’s dick. Vanessa herself appears and takes back her phone and then everyone at the party all simultaneously get The Text Felt Round The Party. Cue lots of laughing party goers. Adam: “Seems the nipple of your dreams is actually my nipple of your nightmares.” And then pulls open his shirt to show off the little bit of shaved chest that has inspired so much fun. FHMC loudly protests that the Dick Pic isn’t accurate, that there was a funny shadow in the bathroom….

… And Roll Credits!

Ok so the show is about what you expect from the premise. In fact, it only gets worse. There are more bleeped words, more toilet humor, a lot of stoner pot jokes, more inane antics… Not really sure why they named it Workaholics. Trying to be ironic. Fail.

Basically the guys are shocked to find out that after a full weekend of partying and rampant drug use, there is to be drug tests at work.

How to get out of a drug test… more drugs? Start a fire? No… No Longer Wearing The Funny Hat Man Child has been storing safe pee in his mini fridge and will give it if the other two if they eat… ceiling tiles. Which, they tell us, tastes like a “mummy’s dick.” (I don’t want to know how they know that.)

But then testosterone gets high and the pee gets splashed all over Man Child’s face.

They take a break to visit with a drug dealer friend and watch consider ODing on over the counter drugs. But no… inspiration strikes and they attempt to bribe a kid to provide clean pee… with porn (no) with music (no) with ninja stars and firecrackers… Yes! But even that plan goes awry and despite Adam carrying pee in his outstretched palm, they must accept that they can’t trick their way out of the test.

And then inspired by the Die Hard movie they watched on their lunch break, Frizzy uses the air ducts to sneak into the pee closet and mess with the samples. We get an excellent shot of him peeing all over the place (yes, we see the stream). Since he contaminated all the samples, the boys are safe to annoy the world another day.

Some of the low(er) points:

Poop in a dollar as a gag…. Adam is proud that he was able to wrap a piece of his own poop up and leave it out for an unsuspecting passer by to pick up.

Bad bad bad beat boxing slash hip hop music as the send off sounds before commercials.

“It’s gay time in the bathroom, if you go in there, you’ll be gay.”

All the pee things.

Basically… the whole show.

But if this sounds like your cup of pee, I mean tea, check it out on hulu. The next episode promises hilarity whith “The guys will stop at nothing to get tickets to a sold-out basketball game, even if it means being dunked in a horchata tank and seeing a grown man's penis.” Because… seeing a grown man’s penis is such a trial? Could this show get more insipid? More homophobic? More lowest common denominator stupid low brow potty mouthed?

I, for one, won’t be bothering to watch more in order to find out.


*Let me just break here to say that having a frozen screen shot of a nipple on my screen while I look up the actual date of Nipplegate was in fact the perfect thing to have on my screen when my boyfriend wandered into the room. He didn’t bat an eye, but then he had been sorting bone in the other room. We aren’t like other people.

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time.

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time.

I had been meaning to read this book for several months but other things kept getting moved above it on the great and mighty LIST. I am so glad I finally sat down and read it.

The book is a delightful read. Told from the point of view of an autistic teenager and dealing with some very dark life experiences (the murder of a neighborhood dog for instance) the novel still manages to keep itself relatively light. It never gets preachy or over simplistic, and perhaps most importantly the “shtick” of being from the point of view of an autistic boy never becomes the focus. Instead we get a compelling coming of age story that is heart breaking in its simplicity. Most of us haven’t had to deal with the murder of a pet, but many readers will be able to sympathize as the parental units betray our protagonist, as the world is unfeeling and sometimes cruel, as the struggle for a happy ending seems eternally just out of reach.

I highly recommend this book. It was well worth the time.