Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters


Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is Quirk Classics newest Jane Austen installment. Ben H. Winters’s does a fair job taking the classic tale to a sub-surface level. It is a fun and interesting read, blending personal heartbreak with sea monster attacks. Winters keeps the essential personality of each of the characters. He leaves the old world of Austen behind and creates a new one. It is a world fraught with battling sea-beasts.

Winters is not the same author who created Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. There is a difference in writing style and the manner in which the books are transformed. While Winters created entirely new towns and re-wrote much of the story, Seth Grahame-Smith’s approach was more subtle. So don’t expect the same feeling from both books. The individual style is apparent. I prefer PPZ; SSSM seemed too long. It lacked something that PPZ managed to keep from the Austen original. SSSM is a fun read though, and if you liked the first Quirk remake, try this one too.


Kick a Ginger Day

Have you heard of this? November 20th was national Kick a Ginger Day. This is its second year. I must be out of the loop. My husband was telling me about it. As he was teaching, the vice-principal was going around and talking to each classroom. Last year it got pretty bad. My husband told me that one of his students had bruises up and down her calves. So this year, the school was taking a stance. “Kick a Ginger” and suffer the consequences.

Do you really want to kick Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Reba McIntyre or Rupert Grint? Yes, you might want to kick Lindsay Lohan, Carrot Top or Ginger Spice, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with their hair colour.
I talked to my husband, then took a look around the internet. Kick a Ginger Day came from a South Park episode that said red-haired people were bad and had no souls. Apparently, the episode was supposed to satirize vampire movies and Children of the Corn. I’ve never seen the episode and have no desire to. Clearly their attempt at satire failed.

Last year, a Facebook group was created for Kick a Ginger Day. 40000 people joined! People with red hair found themselves in danger. Children were coming home with bruises because classmates were kicking them. Some police were classifying this as a hate crime; the only reason these people were attacked was because of the colour of their hair. Now, if you search Facebook, there are many more groups denouncing this act, encouraging you to “hug a Ginger” instead. I’m still shocked that people would kick a group of people just because a cartoon told them to do it.

Monday, November 16, 2009

True Blood

I just finished watching the HBO series True Blood. It was fabulous! I was initially hesitant to watch it. I’m a fan of the Charlaine Harris books and didn’t want to be disappointed with their interpretation on television. However, a friend who had read the Sookie Stackhouse books at about the same time as me, recommended True Blood. She loves Eric. After watching the series, I can see why.

True Blood is based on the Harris books, but it’s not quite the same. The vampires seem a bit meaner. In the books, I’m rooting for Eric and Sookie, but on the show, Eric might be too “evil” for me. So, I’m for Bill on the show. Season one is the first book, season two is the second, and there are more differences than just the vampires’ behaviour. What happens to Jason and his reaction to these circumstances are a significant change. Amy and Jessica are new characters. Lafayette is still alive. The maenad went from a flash in the pan to a primary pain. These changes are fantastic and fun.

I wonder how True Blood interprets Club Dead in season three. Who are they going to cast as Alcide Herveaux? Are Sophie-Anne and Hadley going to make another appearance? How will Eric and Sookie get closer when she’s so disgusted with him now? With the end of season two, they’ve already changed the kidnapping. I’m eager for season three.