Figurative Language

There's a sixth grader I tutor some evenings and tonight we were reading a book for his reading homework. The book was "Bridge to Terabithia," and there was a line I came across tonight that caught my eye:

Jess drew the way some people drank whiskey.

It's a nice line. I'm actually a little jealous of it to be honest. However, this is a book aimed at kids, so I question the appropriateness of it. Don't get me wrong, my questioning doesn't stem from the line refering to alcohol. Kids know what whiskey is, talking about it is no big deal. What I wonder, though, is how many kids can really decode this particular metaphor; hopefully there aren't too many of them that are whiskey drinkers.

Honestly, not being a whiskey drinker myself, I'm not sure I understand what it means. How can the way someone draws be like drinking whiskey? Any whiskey drinkers out there want to help me out?

The Blame Game

There aren't many politicians coming away from this bailout bill thing looking good, and it's because so many of them have fallen into the trap of name-calling and finger-pointing. This morning, when it was thought that the bill would pass, McCain makes a speech claiming some of the credit for the success and knocking Obama for not being as involved in the process, then when it fails, his campaign issues a statement saying it's all Obama's and the Democrats' fault. Now, I don't think anyone can realistically lay the failure of the bill at the feet of McCain anymore than he would deserve the credit had it passed, but if you're going to try to claim some of the credit for success then you have to be equally willing to accept some of the blame for failure. Meanwhile, the Republican leadership made a statement claiming that the decisive votes were lost because Speaker Pelosi made a partisan speech on the floor of the House shortly before the vote. I suppose the intent was to lay the blame for the failure squarely at Pelosi's feet (and certainly the Democrats deserve their share), but if I were to take the statement as truth (which I don't), it certainly paints a picture of House Republicans that is petty and short-sighted. The implication is that these twelve Republicans were ready to vote for the bill, and therefore, one would assume, believed it was in the best interests of the country. But then Nancy Pelosi said something mean so they decided to vote against the bill. I'm not so cynical about politics to believe that our elected officials are that childish. The real failure was selling the bailout to the public in the first place. Of course you're going to have a hard time getting votes for the plan when the majority of the public falls into the catagories of "opposed" or "undecided". It doesn't help that left leaning organizations have been trying to use the financial situtation to hit the Republicans for their past policies. It may be fair comment to say that the Republican policies are responsible, but right not pointing fingers is getting in the way of solving the problem. Really, it seems like, other than a few "Chicken Little" pronouncements, that our leaders have been talking to each other too much and to their constituents too little.

It's days like today that are to blame for so many people being so turned off by politics. What a mess.

Random Video featuring Double SNL

I'm almost ready to root for McCain to win in the hopes of getting four more years of Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression.

Almost.

If Obama wins they're going to need to work on the Obama impersonation, it's not quite there yet.

A Word From Our Sponsors

Well, not really. I don't actually have any sponsors. I wish I had sponsors. For that matter, I wish I had a large enough audience to justify a sponsor.

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!

Sigh.

At any rate, I do want to plug something. There's a site I've been using called BookMooch that I adore. Basically, the site facilitates the swapping of books between users. Here, I'll let the founder explain:



Cool, huh? So, why am I bringing it up here? Well, I've got a few credits burning a hole in my account, but despite the large selection of books already available, I'm having trouble finding books to mooch. The books I know I want to read are just too damn popular (and other users seem to be faster on the mooch than I am).

My hopes are two-fold. First, if I can get more people signing up and adding books, maybe I can catch one of the ones I've been looking for. Second, maybe some folks here will be good enough to recommend some books for me to look for over on BookMooch that I haven't thought of.

So, you've got your orders, now get to it.

200 Words: "Timelapse" Part 8

Previously . . .

The sun went down on this strange day and Jim found himself wandering up Pearl Street. The bar was a little more upscale than the crowd inside. This was due, in large part, to the daytime clientele from the surrounding downtown business district. After work hours, most of the bar's business came from the University's overflow dorm (actually two floors of a neighboring hotel).

Jim scanned the establishment for Carla and the other Jim, but they didn't seem to be here yet. He did, however, spot a familiar face behind the bar.

"Jenna," he greeted the bartender as he took a stool at the bar. "I didn't know you worked here."

Jenna stared at him blankly. "Do I know you?"

"What do you mean? It's . . .," Jim trailed off as a realization hit him. She didn't know him, at least not yet. They weren't due to meet for another two years.

"I mean," Jenna replied, "I don't recognize you. Have we met?" She thought for a moment and added, "Was it Jeremy's party last week? 'Cause I was completely out of it that night."

"Uh, yeah. Party. That's it," said Jim, covering.

"Ah. Hope I didn't act too crazy," she said.

Random Video featuring Joe Versus the Volcano

I like Joe Biden, but sheesh!

What's Wrong With Wonder Woman

I noticed some chatter on the web recently asking why Wonder Woman is the only one of DC's so-called "Trinity" (Superman and Batman being the other two) not to have a movie adaptation. Sure, there have been rumblings from time to time, but it always seems to fall apart fairly early on in the process.

Why is that? She's as iconic as Superman or Batman; ask a few non-comics readers to name a female super-hero and the only one most would be able to come up with would be Wonder Woman. So, what's the problem? It can't be the ties to Greek mythology. Hollywood's been mining the ancient world for story ideas for decades. Is it because the main character of a Wonder Woman movie would be a woman? True, unless I'm forgetting something, I don't think there's been a successful superhero movie with a female lead, but there are certainly other types of movies with women as the heroes.

No, I think the real obstacle may be that the comics don't provide enough of a blueprint to build a movie from. Her origin, molded from clay and given life by the gods, while interesting, lacks the inherent drama of an exploding planet or murdered parents. Her mission is a bit vague. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure I could clearly state her reason for being. She needs something catchy like, "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." Further, Wonder Woman doesn't really have any iconic stories, like Batman's The Dark Knight Returns or The Killing Joke to draw from. Then there's her villains. Honestly, they kind of suck. There's not a Lex Luthor or a Joker in the bunch. Wonder Woman's movie prospects have suffered from decades of comics writers having no idea what to do with the character.

So, is Wonder Woman an unfilmable property? I don't think so. As with anything, with the right combination of talent it could be a big hit. She's just a bit harder to get a handle on the boys in capes.