Novel Review: On A Pale Horse

On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first time I read this book was during high school. At the time I really enjoyed it and went on the read the rest of Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series and I have been a fan of that series ever since.

That was half a lifetime ago, and as the oldest of my children is rapidly approaching her own adolescence I find myself revisiting the literary highlights of my youth in order to provide her with suggestions for her own library.

On a Pale Horse explores some interesting viewpoints on life, death, and the nature of progresstion from one the former to the latter. It does so with a fun adventure, full of vibrant characters and a few moments of tongue-in-cheek satire. It does all this in a rather adolescent, heavy-handed sense of humor and a decidedly "naughty teenage boy" approach to romance and sexuality.

I liked the idea that good and evil are completely separate from wrong and right. And that much of the burden on the soul is put their because of the guilt a person takes on after doing what is right.

The mechanics of the world are interesting, and even though the author presents the ethical dilemma's of the characters a bit ham-fistedly, the overall product is enjoyable, and mostly appropriate for teenage readers, while being naughty enough to remain interesting in a "forbidden fruit" sort of way. His metaphor for cognition using the matchsticks seems a bit jarring throughout the book, and feels like it was forced in there after the fact to explain actions that really didn't need it.

I remember an interview with R. A. Salvatore in which he states (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he wasn't writing books to address all the subtle questions of right and wrong that we face in adulthood, but that his books are to address the bigger ideas that we try to grasp in our youth, and in such a way as to be understandable and interesting to someone of that age group. Anthony accomplishes this here, and my 14-year-old self would probably give On a Pale Horse a full five stars. My married, child-raising, adult self looks at the interactions and says, "Nobody acts like that".

I assign personalities based on the books of theirs I have read. I think Neal Stephenson would probably be condescending but also cool enough about it to be fun to hang out with. Patrick Rothfuss would be great to hang out with, but he's probably too busy today. Piers Anthony comes off as kind of pompous in a way that follows the artiste stereotype. Not that I've ever met the guy, but when his author's note is fully a tenth the size of the book, it comes off as a little full of one's self.

Overall, a good book for the right reader. And a fun series to revisit. Looking forward to joining up with Father Time in book 2.

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Novel Review: The Harsh Cry of the Heron

The Harsh Cry of the Heron by Lian Hearn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can see how some readers would be disappointed by this volume in the Tales of the Otori series. I thought that the system of "magic" in the original trilogy felt very organic and well done. When it was expanded and made more central to the plot of THCoTH, it felt heavy-handed and overdone. I did not like the cat spirit possession or the Ghostmaster power that were central to this books plot.

Fans of the Kaede character would also find this book disappointing. Characterized by her strength, leadership, and and devotion to Takeo in the original series, she spends most of THCoTH in the background. Her daughters, unborn at the completion of the original trilogy, are the major female characters here. Kaede emerges in the final act only to further disappoint her fans, and while her actions are central to the denouement of the plot, her actions feel wildly out of character.

However, I give this novel such a high rating for one reason and one reason alone: I am a tragedy junkie. I love tragedies. I love the feeling in the pit of my stomach as everything starts to go wrong for these characters. And this final book the the Tales of the Otori timeline is a tragedy on a grand scale.

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Daddy Can Cook: Plum Dumplings

Sometimes I forget things.  My forgetfulness usually takes the form of an aptitude to misplace small items.  There is a running joke in my household that anything that is covered by a single sheet of paper is rendered invisible to me.  I laugh along and call myself a rock.

Get it?  

Paper beats rock.

Anyway...

My wife helps me out when I need it.  She always seems to know where I left my phone, or my wallet, or the baby.  But there are some things that I am not allowed to forget.  These things are of such basic importance that I require constant reminders lest I forget them, even for a moment.  She frequently reminds me that I am a wonderful father, a good man, and quite possibly the luckiest person ever to have married her.

 I am also lucky to have been allowed to be a part of her family.  She comes from Bohemian ancestry (Czech yourself b4 you wreck yourself) as well as English, Norwegian, Irish and a smattering of other nationalities.  We've been spending a lot of time with her grandmother lately, who honored me by teaching to me the way of traditional Bohemian plum dumpling-making.

It starts, as most good things do, with potatoes.

Here is what you'll need

4 potatoes peeled, boiled, mashed, and cooled

2 to 3 cups of flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup sugar for optional plum sauce

1 stick butter

7-10 ripe Black Beauty Plums (or 12-16 Italian Prune Plums)

Poppy seeds for topping

Add the egg and salt to the potatoes and mix well.  Mix in the flour, one half cup at a time until the dough reaches the consistency of fresh Play-Doh non-trademarked children's modeling compound.  It should be easy to mold, but not too sticky to manipulate.  There's your dumpling dough.

Now take your plums, they should already be slightly soft, if not you can put them in the microwave for twenty seconds.  Clean them with a wet cloth and roll them in a saucer filled with 1/4 cup of sugar.  Wrap them in 1/4 to 1/2 inch of your dumpling dough and hand roll them to seal all the cracks.  Sealing the cracks is very important otherwise your dumplings will open while cooking and all your plum goodness will be washed away.  Put completed dumplings into a pot of boiling water and boil those suckers until they float.

While your dumplings are boiling, cut up a few plums (2 Black or 4-5 Prunes) and add the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and boil until the plums are very soft for a plum sauce topping.

Serve dumplings cut up, seeds removed, drenched in butter, topped with plum sauce or sugar, and very liberally covered in poppy seeds for the ultimate in Bohemian comfort food.

A Preview Is Easier to Make Than a Movie.

I've been lax in my blogging lately.

I make excuses.  Maybe I'm suffering from writers block, maybe I'm too busy with the new job, or maybe I'm still discombobulated from all the change this summer.

And yet I feel guilty about my silence  As if I am somehow obligated to my handful of (beloved) readers and the internet as a whole.  I will try to do better.

During this transition period I have been listening to a lot of Coheed and Cambria, the concept-rock group out of New York, based on the recommendation of my good friend, The Professional Appreciator.  I hope to encapsulate my opinions regarding the band for a future post.

I have also learned the exact art of producing genuine Bohemian Plum Dumplings from my wife's grandmother, and I will be passing the recipe on soon.

Before this big transition I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (again thanks to the P.A.).  The second film adaptation of this book produced in the last three years is scheduled to hit theaters by the end of the year.  I have two hopes for my upcoming review of the novel.  First, that I manage to put it together before the movie comes out.  Second, I hope that it is not nearly as superfluous as the most recent film adaptation.

Of course, Princess and The Chunky Monkey have been doing some very awesome and funny things.  I hope to relate some of the stories of their summer adventures.  And of course there is the upcoming third...

I plan to relate all of this intermittently throughout the summer.  Plus some lessons learned both in the casino pit and in the oblivion of unemployment. I hope you'll enjoy it. 

It It Over Yet?

In a word... no.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  After six long months, I have begun work at a new job.  I love being part of the opening of a new casino, and this new company that I am working for is great.  It is so refreshing to get out from under the boot of corporate bureaucracy and back to working for and with actual human beings.  I think I am going to be very happy with this company.

My new employment will mean some changes here at The Raconteur Daddy.  First of all I will no longer attempt to produce new posts on a deadline.  I hope to keep a high level of quality and feel that I can only accomplish this by posting only when I have something to say.  I will also be removing the ads from my blog.  I'm not a professional blogger, nor do I wish to be.  Google and Amazon will have to find a way to continue doing business without my support, and I wish them all luck in doing so.

I have nothing but appreciation for all of you who have read this blog and hope you will continue to do so.  I appreciate having the time to work through this transition period in my life and hope to come back soon with more to share.

Shouldn't There Be Tumbleweeds?

In my wildest ego-fantasy I imagine hundreds of people all thinking the same thing.  When is The Raconteur Daddy going to post again?

The answer is soon.  I'm in the middle of a big transition in my life right now.  In the next few weeks I should be starting a new job after being unemployed for six months.  I am also preparing my home to be sold and packing our stuff to move  back to South Dakota as part of the new job.  If you're looking for a fairly new and well equipped starter home in a great family neighborhood just outside the Omaha metro area, let me know.

The 30 Day music challenge made for some filler, but the questions become somewhat repetitive and it seemed like a cop out to just get some pageviews without dedicating much time or thought into the posts.  If I have the time, I'll get a few more days worth scheduled to post, and I hope to get some real posts up in the coming weeks.  

Once I start the new job I will know how often I can write new posts for T.R.D. (Now I'm glad I didn't title this blog 'The Unemployed Raconteur Daddy')  I hope to be able to keep to two a week, but it might drop to one or just be a catch-as-catch-can type of thing.

Thanks to everybody for reading, and I will soon return with more tales to tell.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: What song do you hate the most?

Easy answer, but I couldn't tell you why.  I've hated this song from day one and I always will.  Thankfully it is no longer popular and I doubt it will ever make it into "classic 80's" airplay.

Horrible song, Horrible Band. 'Nuff Said.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 14

Day 14: What was your first music purchase?

That one I remember well.  I had just started seventh grade and turned thirteen a few months before.  I had some birthday money left over that my mom said I could use to buy whatever cassette I wanted.  I don't remember what led me to choose this album.  I wasn't a fan of the band (yet) and don't remember hearing of them until I got the album.  Everybody I knew was snatching up Nirvana's Nevermind which had come out a few weeks before and I wanted to try something different.

Here's My favorite song from that album.

That's right.  Despite my sheltered Midwestern upbringing and all-around uncoolness during my adolescence, I was a fan of Pearl Jam before they hit the big time.

Fun Fact: Despite the general assumption that Pearl Jam rode Nirvana's coattails to success, Ten came out weeks before Nevermind, it just took longer to become popular in the mainstream.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: What son represents the 00's to you?

What kind of question is this?  The 90's were hard enough to try to sum up.  The first decade of the 21st century is was too recent to be able to pick a song that represents it well.

So instead, here's one of my favorite songs and videos of the decade.

There you go.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: What song defines the 90's for you?

I'll start with the song this time, then do my best to defend it.

Here's how I figure it.  This song protests "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland which began in the 60's but pretty much wrapped up in the 90's.  The 90's also say the popularization of Grunge music with it's power chords and melancholy lyrics, which I think are well represented in this song.  I also wanted to showcase one of the few Irish bands to be popular in the US in the 90s.  I can only think of U2, The Corrs, The Cranberries, and Sinead O'Connor that fit that criteria.

The 90's also say the decline of the female rock vocalist.  There has been a shortage of them for the past 10 years, which is as depressing a fact as I can think of.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: What song defines the 80's to you?

Holy cow.  I thought the defining song of the 70's was hard.  Just an FYI, the following albums all came out during the 80's

Appetite for Destruction
Thriller
Hysteria
Slippery When Wet
Purple Rain
Like A Virgin
Back in Black
The Joshua Tree
Open Up and Say AHHH
1984
Pump
Born in the USA

Every one of those is iconic in it's own genre, and a few of them rise above classification.  It was during the 80's that I became aware of music as an art form, and the music of that decade was the soundtrack of my childhood.

Here's the 80's defining song, IMHO:

David Lee Roth was the anthropomorphic personification of the 80's.  Period.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: What song defines the 70's to you.

This is actually a pretty tough one, since for me the 70 are experienced only through other people's experiences. So here's what I got for you.

So here's why.  The 70's were a fantastic time for music.  Many of the elder statesmen of music, all genres, were in their heyday during that time.  There was a lot going on.  Disco, while not my favorite type of music, could not be ignored during this decade.

Pinball Wizard encapsulates much of the feeling of the 70's.  The style and theatrics are a nod to the disco culture, but The Who can only be defined as a rock band.  Even Elton John, who's performance is the most iconic, was known at the time as a rock musician, rather than the glam pop persona he is today.

It is not the best Who song, nor is it my favorite song of the decade, but I think it represents the decade quite well.

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: What was the last song you listened to?

Actually, I've been so busy that I haven't had too much time to listen to music.  The last time may have been on Monday when I had to drive across town on an errand for he church.  I know for a fact that I listened to this song on the drive.

This song is rapidly becoming my favorite Killers track.  I like the dissonance that lurks just below the surface.  And you just can't go wrong with Lou Reed

30 Day Music Challenge: Day 7

Day 7: What song do you play when you're chilling out?

One thing I find as a grown up is that I rarely have time to chill out.  One of the reasons that I'm doing this 30 day blog challenge is that I don't have time right now to sit and type out a long post.  So I have to think back to the last time I've been able to just relax and enjoy some tunes.

That being said, I do feel more calm and relaxed when listening to some songs.  Here are a couple of them.

I love the lyrics to that one. "We lived in the noise and the sweet amber poison."  Reminds me of good times with good friends.

And Leonard Cohen is simply the coolest person ever.

Thirty Day Music Challenge: Day Two

Day Two of the Thirty Day Music Challenge.  What song was #1 on your birthday?

There you have it.  Boogie Oogie Oogie by A Taste of Honey.

I remember having a conversation with my daughter.  She was asking which decade her family was born in.  Her grandparents told her that they were born in the 50's, my wife told her that she was born in the 80's.  When she asked me what decade I was born in I had to answer, "Daddy was born in the 70's.  That's why I'm so funky."

Funky Indeed.

See you tomorrow for day three of the music challenge.

Thirty Day Music Challenge: Day One

Hello Everybody.  Thanks for stopping by.  

Music has been a huge part of my life for a very long time.  The first time I remember completely losing myself while rocking out to a song was when I was five years old.  The song was "Robbie Robot" from Up With People's 1983 album, Live in Concert.  I got the tape as a gift from my grandmother and listened to it on my Fisher Price Cassette player.  I can still sing the chorus to that goofy song.

I saw this daily blog challenge on Cooper Avenue, a mommy blog that my wife introduced me to.  I've been exceptionally busy these past few days and it doesn't look to be letting up for several more weeks, so hopefully this will allow me to put out some moderately interesting stuff even if I'm too busy to sit down and write a full post.

Here is the outline for the 30-day challenge.

MUSIC CHALLENGE
Day 1 – What Is Your Favorite Song Right Now?
Day 2 – What Song That Was No 1 When You Were Born?
Day 3 – What Song Has The Highest Play Count On Your iTunes (Or Other Music Player)?
Day 4 – What Song Do You Play When You’re Feeling Happy?
Day 5 – What Song Do You Play When You’re Feeling Sad?
Day 6 – What Song Do You Play When You’re Angry?
Day 7 – What Song Do You Play When You're Chilling Out?
Day 8 – What Was The Last Song You Listened To?
Day 9 – What Is The Earliest Song You Can Remember From Your Childhood?
Day 10 – For You What Song Defines The 70’s?
Day 11 – For You What Song Defines The 80’s?
Day 12 – For You What Song Defines The 90’s?
Day 13 – For You What Song Defines The 00’s?
Day 14 – What Song Was Your First 7”/12”/Cass/CD/mp3 purchase?
Day 15 – What Song Do You Hate The Most?
Day 16 – Post A Song From Your Favourite Artist/Band
Day 17 – Post A Song That You Want The World To Hear
Day 18 – What Song Makes You Want To Sing Out Loud?
Day 19 – What Song Makes You Want To Dance?
Day 20 – What Song Makes You Want To Rock Out?
Day 21 – What Song Is Your Biggest Guilty Pleasure?
Day 22 – What Song Gets Stuck In Your Head The Most?
Day 23 – What Song Reminds You Of A Person?
Day 24 – What Song Reminds You Of A Place?
Day 25 – What Song Reminds You Of A Happy Moment In Your Life?
Day 26 – What Song Reminds You Of A Sad Moment In Your Life?
Day 27 – What Song Would You Like Played At Your Wedding/Union?
Day 28 – What Song Would You Like Played At Your Funeral?
Day 29 – What Song Would You Consider To Be The “Soundtrack Of Your Life”?
Day 30 – Looking Back On Your Answers, What Is Your All Time Favorite Song?

So here goes.

My favorite song right now is probably Like A Friend from Pulp's This is Hardcore album.  It's just a fantastic Brit-pop song with a great hook.  I'll attach a video after this disclaimer:

I hate Pulp videos.  I hate seeing how douchey their lead singer looks and acts as he sneers his way through the song.  Nevertheless it is probably my favorite song right now and it has been for several years.  "You are the cut that makes me hide my face. You are the party that makes me feel my age." is, in my humble opinion, one of the best lyrics ever written.  

Here's the vid:

See you tomorrow with the number one song when I was born.

Daddy Can Cook: Dinner For Two

Fathers have a lot of responsibilities.  We want to be everything to everyone, and we often find ourselves spread too thin.  Projects at work, raising the kids, and keeping the home in good repair all take time out of our schedule.  And more often than not, the only time you have left to spend with your wife is in a state of mutual torpor.  

The husband with too little time to spend with his wife is one of my most hated stereotypes.  Nevertheless, I often find myself wishing for a few hours to unwind and enjoy the company of my mate.  I find that one of the best ways to get that time is to share a meal.  If you really want her to swoon over you, cook that meal for her.

Here's a tasty (and fairly healthy) meal that will impress.

First off, here's what you'll need.

Main Dish:  Pork Tenderloin with Candied Onions

1 unseasoned pork tenderloin

1 medium red onion

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Side Dish #1:  Rosemary Potatoes

3 medium potatoes

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 Tablespoon dried rosemary leaves

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Side Dish #2: Asparagus Spears

1 Bunch of Asparagus Spears

1 Tablespoon Butter

Salad: Spinach and Strawberry Salad

1 Bag of Spinach

10 Medium Strawberries

1 Package of plain crumbled Feta cheese

1 bag of slivered Almonds

Bottle of Raspberry vinaigrette Dressing

Heres how to prep it.  

Call a babysitter or grandparent and have them take the kids to dinner and a movie.

Now wash your spinach and slice your strawberries.  Toss them together in a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Start your oven preheating to 400 degrees.  Remove both ends and all of the papery skin from the onion and slice thinly.  If you cut it vertically, you'll get slices, cut it horizontally and you'll get rings; use whichever you prefer.  Next you need to cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch thick medallions.  Place the pork medallions into a very hot skillet for 1 minute on each side, just to get a nice brown crust.  Remove the pork from the skillet and put it into a shallow baking dish.  Do not clean out your skillet, put your sliced onions right in there and let them start cooking.  After the onions have cooked for about a minute, add the olive oil, sugar, and cider vinegar.  Cook onions over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they become soft and slightly translucent.  Spoon the onions into the baking dish, using a spatula to scrape all of the sauce over the meat.  Put the baking dish into the oven and bake uncovered for thirty minutes.  When finished, serve medallions covered with a generous helping of onions and juices from the dish.

Now the side dishes.  Peel and wash the potatoes, then cut them into 1 inch cubes.  Put them into a covered microwaveable dish and microwave on full power for five minutes.  While these are cooking, cut the bottom two inches off of the asparagus stalks and put them into a microwaveable dish with 2 Tablespoons of water. Heat the 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a skillet (either clean the one you cooked the pork in or a use a new one) over medium-high heat.  When the potatoes have finished in the microwave put them into the hot skillet and sprinkle the salt and rosemary over them.  Put plastic wrap over the asparagus and microwave on full power for five minutes.  Depending on your confidence in the kitchen, either toss or stir the potatoes until all sides have become a nice golden brown.  When the asparagus finishes in the microwave, drain the water, add the butter and re-cover until the butter melts.  Once the butter has melted, use tongs to toss asparagus until evenly coated.

Now get your salad out of the fridge, portion it into two salad bowls, use your fingers to crumble feta cheese and almonds over the top and drizzle lightly with dressing.  

Plate and serve main dish and think of some conversation to remind your wife why she chose you in the first place.

Novel Reviews: Fever Dream by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

As a child, I distinctly remember feeling mild sorrow whenever I finished a good book.  I loved the time that I spent with the characters and I wanted to know what happened to them after I had turned the last page.  I would create their new adventures from the whole cloth of my imagination, and live out those adventures with my friends amid the lush backdrop of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Over time my desire for an ongoing story evolved into a deep love for serial fiction.

I was first introduced to the collaborative works of Preston and Child by my mother-in-law during the early days of my marriage.  I started by reading The Cabinet of Curiosities, which was printed in 2002.  I followed that up by finding the other works these authors have produced and reading as much of it as I could.  Thankfully, the two of them have been quite prolific since the late 90's, producing 15 novels in that time with two more announced.

By far the most captivating character the authors have created is FBI Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast.  He is very much the American answer to Sherlock Holmes.  He maintains the mannerisms and gentility of the Old-World aristocracy and handily steals every scene.  Imagine Hannibal Lecter was one of the good guys, you'd have a pretty good approximation of the character.  Paramount Pictures owns the character rights to Pendergast, which they included when they optioned Preston & Child's first Pendergast novel, Relic.  Then, in true Hollywood form, they created a terrible adaptation made even worse with the removal of Pendergast's character.

In Fever Dream, Preston and Child's most recent collaboration, Pendergast begins with a shocking realization.  His wife Helen, now dead for twelve years, was murdered.  He enlists the aid of his longtime friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta and together they travel to Africa to begin compiling clues.  D'Agosta's girlfriend, Captain Laura Hayward, has never been a fan of Pendergast's tactics but gets swept into the investigation as well.

I enjoyed this book immensely.  While some of the details that the authors incorporate into their plots put a strain on my ability to suspend disbelief, I can forgive them due to the fact that the books are just plain fun.  The writing is unpretentious without being condescending.  The action is well paced and the dialogue feels natural. While the plot itself is far-fetched, it doesn't strain at reality as hard as a few of it's predecessors.  It is also the beginning of "The Helen Trilogy" named for Pendergast's wife.  The very idea of a trilogy within a series makes me want to do a little happy dance, and their first attempt at this literary feat ("The Diogenes Trilogy" after Pendergast's brother) was expertly executed.  I feel some very good vibes for the next two volumes along this storyline.

One of the reasons that I love these authors is that they show no signs of quitting.  They have produced a body of quality work with only one notable misfire as far as I'm concerned.  I have plans to read their latest work, Gideon's Sword, despite the fact that Michael Bay (hisss) has already optioned it for a film.  Although as far as Michael Bay (hisss) is concerned, whatever keeps him away from my beloved childhood franchises is fine by me.

One Mustn't Always Be Productive

As a child I was an avid newspaper reader.  Every morning would be spent leaning over the comics with my cereal bowl rested squarely on the horoscopes.  Though the decline of the newspaper medium is well documented, I have been pleasantly surprised to see the drawn comic is thriving in it's new electronic form.  Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order.

Penny Arcade- This is one of my old standby webcomics.  I've been reading them regularly since 2000.  Of course, they are based on one of my favorite subjects, video games.  Tycho puts out a quality blog as well, but since my duties as a father and husband don't allow me to keep up with technology most of it goes over my head.

Girl Genius- I just discovered this one, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I first heard about Phil and Kaja Foglio during my high school days where the Magic: The Gathering cards that boasted their artwork stood out from the group.  Girl Genius has a triple threat of great story, great humor, and the Steampunk genre that I find irresistible.  Plus the talking cat and Jagerkin.  I could go on.

Walking The Lethe- Definitely for grown-ups.  This story offers what appears to be a modern day take on Dante's Inferno.  The artwork is striking, and the story runs deep.

XKCD- If you haven't heard of this one, you should definitely check it out.  This is a fun one that I often share with my wife and family, and has been the source of several popular internet memes.  Randall Munroe can be funny, satirical, and touching all in a three panel format.

Sinfest- Another old-school panel comic.  This one explores ideas behind religion and morality in the modern world.  The previous sentence makes it seem a lot more serious than it actually is.

Deep Fried-  Jason Yungbluth has put out this surreal and politically charged work since 2001, but he really hit something in mid-2008 when he began to exclusively draw the Weapon Brown storyline.  Weapon Brown is a Frank Miller style action comic set in a post apocalyptic world.  It is also the name of the main character, though he sometimes calls himself "Chuck".  He is a beefed-up and pissed off version of Charlie Brown.  All of the story are parodied versions of newspaper comic characters, and identifying the characters in the background is half the fun.  Note: Weapon Brown is NOT for kids.

So every morning I still have the joy of reading my comics over breakfast.  But now I have to be extra careful not to spill my milk on the computer.  I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I do.

Daddy Rants: A Battle of Wit and Wordplay

I have, on occasion, use this forum to delineate my thoughts on common behaviors that I encounter in my everyday life.  While for the most part, I am an active participant in the lives of my family and close friends, I have always enjoyed people watching.  I try to mitigate my judgmental tendencies with self-deprecating humor.  It is only thanks to my many foibles that I am able to identify those I see around me.

Today's subject is particularly near and dear to my heart.  It is a pastime with a long and storied history and it fits particularly well with the technology of today.  It has many aficionados and I count myself among their number.  The difference is that I at least recognize it for what it is and list it among my guilty pleasures.

I am speaking, of course, about heated debate of a political or controversial nature.

My family, particularly on my father's side, is the reason that I enjoy passionate conversation.  As my wife will tell you, getting us all together is an experiment in multi-target hearing and would be the subject of serial nightmares for any court stenographer.  It could also be compared to standing in a room full of agitated ducks.

Facebook in particular has molded itself well to the ideal format for an argument.  The ability for anybody to write out comments in reaction and counter-reaction to somebody's statement fulfills everything an accomplished arguer could ask for.  You can review and research your opinion as you are creating it, and your opponent's statement is conveniently written out for you to pick apart point by point.

See, the point of debate, especially online, is not to sway the opinion of your opponent or audience.  The point is to flex your intellectual muscle and show off those syntactic skills.  When engaged in a good debate I am so consumed with finding more compelling and eloquent ways to defend my mindset that my audience is rendered inconsequential and my opponent exists only to postulate more philosophical clay pigeons for the double-barreled shotgun of my logic.

It is very similar to blogging.

It is also very similar to masturbation.

Though there are many many more similes to be drawn between using Facebook for passionate debate and the act of self-pleasure I will abandon this line of thought. After all, my mother sometimes reads this blog.

Here are a few reason why Facebook is the perfect forum for matching wits against the masses:

1. The 'like' button is available on everything.  This allows instant feedback on the brilliance (or lack therof) contained in an argument.  For an audience member, it is the equivalent of murmuring general approval.

2. The ability to see individual threads of specific argument is far superior to the # tagging that Twitter employs

3. The ability to see and measure the quality of conversation simply by the number of comments it generates.  I have never seen a post that earned more than twenty comments without being overcome with curiosity and seeing what all the fuss was about.

4. The notification feature allows you to immediately know when somebody has responded, either in agreement or in their continued ignorance.

Regardless of its inherent selfishness and the narcissism it implies, I enjoy both blogging and engaging in online debates.  And while I appreciate each and every one of my readers (especially those of you who 'like' my Facebook page) I know that even if there was nobody out there reading this I would still have to write it, for I have tasted the sweet nectar of sermonizing, and God help me I like it.

Added bonus- embedded video!

This is the job for which I have been searching my whole life.