Midwest Medievalist

Reflections on the 2009-2010 School Year

2010-05-26T20:59:00.000-05:00

I got sad when I realized that I have posted less and less as every month passes. Thankfully, though, my time will soon be freer. Tomorrow, I give my final exam. Once I have graded those, it is officially summertime for me! This gets me thinking, though, about the past 10 months at work. This was my second year as a teacher and I loved it. I am creating a real niche for myself at the school. I have a great sense of purpose and comfort in that building. In my second year, I took on some more responsibility and taught a new class. Things got crazy a few times, but I managed to finish the year with my sanity intact. As a "reflective practitioner" (a phrase shoved down my throat at SLU), I am always trying to grow and perfect my craft. Reflection is very important. Here are some thoughts on what I have learned about myself this year.

4 Biggest Strengths

1. Passion for the job
I love what I do. The school is fantastic and the girls are really incredible people. I put a lot of effort into my work because I care so much about it. I see teaching as a vocation that I am proud to live. I also have a passion for my subject. I get to nerd out everyday by teaching history. When I get to talk about Hitler or William the Conqueror to a group of high school students, I know that my enthusiasm must be obnoxious to them. This is stuff that I find so fascinating. Because of that, I really try to make connections that the students can relate to.

2. Connecting with students
I became a teacher because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. I feel like I do that at this school. I feel like I am doing the best job, though, when I interact with the girls outside the classroom. Going on retreats and running clubs is so much fun and really lets me see another side to my students. I realize that a lot of these kids have way more problems than I did at their age and look for any way I can positively impact their lives. Also, I like that the really geeky kids see me as a kindred spirit.

3. Making things fun
Students give me ridiculously positive feedback on evaluations. I think this is due in large part to the levity of my class. I make history into a fun story, into an action movie when possible. Students who told me on the first day that they hated history told me at the end of the year that my class was their favorite. A class never goes by that doesn't feature at least one episode of grand laughter. Also, I think my corny jokes really grew on them after a while.

4. Being Flexible
The school I work at puts a lot of faith in its teacher. We have instructional freedom, but are also given a lot of responsibility. This year, I suddenly became the tech guy for all theater productions and joined a new committee. This forced me to multitask and stay on my toes when balancing these new tasks with my 6 classes and 3 other clubs that I moderate. Also, my school has shortened schedules all the time for random reasons. This forced me to mold my lessons to fit the variable time allotted.

4 Biggest Weaknesses

1. Organization
My desk is a mess. Hell, my whole classroom is a mess. If I am going to be Student Council moderator next year, I am really going to need a better filing system. It would be nice to know where to find a paper when I need it.

2. Authority
This is related to strength #3. I love to have a good time with my students and hate being mean, even when it is a necessity. Though I usually don't have much of a problem with my students, they occasionally have trouble realizing where the line is that separates classroom fun with disrespectful chaos. This often leads me to bipolar behavior, going from comedian to dictator in second. Next year, I need to keep a more moderate balance rather than playing with both extremes. Luckily I teach at a school in which the majority of the students are perfectly nice.

3. Clear Expectations
My students are constantly telling me on evaluations that I'm a little unclear at time. This makes sense to me. When I'm in the zone, I talk a mile a minute and can be forgetful from time to time. When assigning projects or reviewing for tests, I need to make sure that I leave enough time for the students to ask clarifying questions. This is something I don't notice myself much, but I'm taking my students' word for it.

4. Procrastination
I work like my students. I wait until the last minute to create a powerpoint, often planning lessons the night before I teach. When students turn in papers, it takes me way too long to return them. This happens with my extra-curricular work as well. With grad school and everything next year, I need to really step up and bring my work ethic to the next level.

Next year will be wild, but I'm hoping to really get into a groove as a teacher. Because I won't be teaching any new classes, I will be able to really work on my lessons and make them truly effective. So long as things keep going well, I plan to be teaching at this school for a while.

In Defense of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood

2010-05-16T10:04:00.002-05:00

First, I would like apologize for my blog slacking. I have done a lot of work, watched a lot of Buffy, and spent a lot of time with Kaylen. I promise to get back to regular posting once the school year is over in 2 weeks.

I posted a while ago about my experience watching Clash of the Titans. Though the critics detested the film (it had a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), I managed to have a good time watching the film. Usually I agree with critics. While I saw all the same weaknesses in the film as most other people, I managed to still have a good time. The fun outshined the flaws. I recently had the same reaction to a movie.

Earning a 45% Rotten Tomatoes rating, things looked grim for the new Robin Hood movie. I am puzzled by critics who call this a "bad" movie. I think movies that are just "ok" tend to get unfair treatment when expectations are high. This movie had deservedly high expectations, Ridley Scott and Russel Crowe don't tend to disappoint. Here's why I enjoyed myself:

Ok, let's start by examining what the movie did wrong. Despite my love for Cate Blanchett, her surprise appearance at the final battle was cliche and anything but unexpected. The entire plot about the secret origin of the Magna Carta was preposterous. It really didn't make any sense. I do, however, admire the linkage of Robin Hood to the historically significant charter, mostly because it makes sense that Robin Hood's class warfare against the established king could potentially lead to the signing of a document that limited the power of the king to tax his people.

I love this movie for the same reason that I love Scott's last critically unpopular epic, Kingdom of Heaven. Ridley has an obsessive method for capturing historical detail that few other directors come close to. He creates historically believable worlds that seem real, while retaining a fantastical sense of romance. Costumes aren't over the top, sets are incredible, and warfare is accurately portrayed. Though Scott tends to falter with historical fact at times, he manages to create good historical fiction that I find very satisfying.

The acting was great. Russel Crowe is an actor that I know is a huge ass in real life. I normally have trouble enjoying art from professionals I know to be jerky. For some reason, though, Crowe's acting is magnetic. He is the best part of every movie he is in (at least any I can think of right now). Cate Blanchett give a very interesting spin on Marian and manages to play her strong role perfectly. The supporting cast is solid, especially the guy who played king John. Also, Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle was great as the group minstrel. Actually, the music throughout the entire movie was fantastic.

Lastly, I appreciate the story this movie was telling. Many people were complaining that this wasn't as "fun" as other Robin Hood movies. I think they missed the point. This movie was supposed to be a believable origin story to the Robin Hood legends. Most of Robins stealing from the rich and giving to the poor are ahead of him. Here we have the story of Robin, pre-outlaw status. The connection to the Crusades was something I had always wanted to hear more about. They managed to make a Robin Hood movie without completely rehashing everything that had been done before. However, if they decided to make a sequel, it would probably be a typical Robin Hood story. While this movie may not have the joy of the Errol Flynn classic, I appreciate what it did bring to the mythos.

Overall, I found this movie very entertaining. I have a weak spot for medieval epics. Really, this made me want to watch Lion in Winter again. If you talk to me in a few weeks, I will probably have a more detailed opinion on the historical merit of this movie. I have just started reading this book:

Recent Musical Obsessions

2010-04-26T18:03:00.002-05:00

I don't post as much about music as I should. Back in college, I was voracious in my consumption of music. Working in a college radio station gave me an endless supply of new bands to try and a forum to make my musical tastes known to my tiny listening audience. Lately, my music listening is more sporadic, but new discoveries happen frequently. Here's what's been on repeat lately:

The Tallest Man On Earth

This band is a godsend. Kristian Matsson is a young Swede who writes the best acoustic music I've heard in a long time. He is right up there with Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver on my radar for modern folk acts. He is often inevitably compared to Bob Dylan. Some may think that he is a hack for ripping Dylan's style. I think this is unfair for two reasons. First: all of his songs resemble only my absolute favorite Dylan folk tunes (Don't Think Twice, Times They Are A-Changin). Two: he has a better voice. Seriously, this guy writes simple songs with a calm beauty. Accompanied only by a guitar or occasional banjo, this guy is just fantastic. Recommended for listening in the car.

Broken Social Scene

I've been a fan of Broken Social Scene for a long time. Both You Forgot It In People and their self-titled album are incredible records. Just the right mix of pop melody and experimental sound. Their latest, Forgiveness Rock Record finds them at their most accessible sound yet. While this may turn some of their fans off, it really makes me happy. Without the ambient drifting, the band has managed to create a solid rock record with a variety of moods captured in perfect chaos.

Mayer Hawthorne

I shouldn't like this band. It sounds like a joke. This is a nerdy white hipster singing Motown style soul pop. This sounds like a bad Youtube viral video. What saves this from becoming obnoxious? Hawthorne writes classic R&B songs without a shred of irony. His songs have an unexpected sincerity to them that makes them infectious. Perfect for loud off-key singalongs.

She and Him

Their first album was good and so is Volume 2. Zooey Deschanel and M Ward write perfect pop songs from a bygone era. Just plain fun. Zooey may not have the best female pop voice in music today, but she certainly knows how to use what she has to its fullest potential. It could even be argued that the songwriting is stronger on their sophomore album. "In the Sun" comes closer than I ever would have expected to the past sunshiny greatness of "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here". Also, as Kay mentioned, their new music video is adorable.

Titus Andronicus

See thoughts here

Local Natives

Where was I when these guys exploded onto the scene last year? This is some incredible stuff. Combine the vocal harmonies of Fleet Foxes with the odd pop of Vampire Weekend and some beautiful orchestration and you have Local Natives. This is the kind of stuff that I feel is tailor made for me.

Best part about this? I'll be seeing Broken Social Scene, She & Him, and Titus Andronicus all at LOUFEST this summer!

Reactions to Buffy The Vampire Slayer Seasons 1 & 2

2010-04-24T09:52:00.001-05:00

Hello, blogworld. You may wonder where I have been for the past week. The easy answer would be to say that my life hasn't been terribly interesting (aside from Kay's birthday celebrations and our sweet engagement photos). Other than these fun things, most of my time has been spent getting into a new TV show ("Legend of the Seeker" wasn't cutting it anymore).

All the TV shows I have been watching for the past few years have been comedies. Shows like "30 Rock" and "Seinfeld" are constantly playing in our apartment. Though these are incredibly enjoyable, I was getting tired of it. I wanted a strong narrative to get all wrapped up in, something with substance. I wanted to dive into a damatic epic that would enhance my nerd street cred. I was deciding between "Lost" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (mainly because both were available to stream on Netflix). Here's why I chose Buffy:

I feel like a lot of people have a negative stigma towards this show (people like myself for most of my life). In high school, I knew about the show, but dismissed it as sissy girl-fantasy for uber nerds who LARP or read manga. My perspective on the show shifted when I got into "Firefly". I'm not sure when I was introduced to this show. I borrowed the dvds from my older brother when I was in high school I think. Whenever it was, this space-western blew me away. Steve and I devoured the entire series quickly and then immediately rewatched it. It was funny, exciting, different, and had some of the most likable and interesting characters that I had ever seen in a show. I was sort of thrown off when I discovered that the show was created by Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind "Buffy". While "Firefly" quickly became one of my favorite TV shows to recommend to everyone I know, I continued to ignore "Buffy" for a few reasons, mostly because it was big. Seven seasons of 22 hour long episodes is intimidating. Though my friend Liz in college showed my a few fun episodes, I remained skeptical about the show's appeal.

It was an unlikely source that finally pushed me into giving "Buffy" a shot. After reading and loving The Name of the Wind (one of the best, most original fantasy books I've ever read), I started looking up more information on its author, Patrick Rothfuss. After reading interviews, I discovered that Rothfuss is an incredibly intelligent guy who loves to dissect literature and explore the archetypes of fantasy storytelling. He's also a huge geek. In his photo on his website, Rothfuss is wearing a t shirt that says "Joss Whedon Is My Master Now". While perusing his blog, I read this fantastic post he wrote about Whedon. He inspired me to give Buffy a shot.

Let's discuss what I like about this show. The worldbuilding and mythos of the Sunnydale slayer is a wonderful thing. The rich history of demons and vampires is so well done that I'm wouldn't be surprised to find a ridiculous amount of fan-fic set in the Buffyverse. Modern fantasy is a favorite genre of mine and this show nails it perfectly. As with "Firefly", the characters are what keep me coming back episode after episode. I knew immediately that my enjoyment of the show would all hang on one factor: the character of Xander. Would I find this self-absorbed monstrosity of comic relief loveable or annoying? I was surprised to find that I rarely wanted to punch him in the face. Xander is this show's Wash (though nobody can ever outdo Alan Tudyk). He delivers great one-liners when needed and also gives the show a little more heart. Willow is adorable, Buffy is good at being strong and brooding. My favorite character is that of Buffy's mentor, the watcher Giles. Anthony Stewart Head plays the part of the stuffy British intellectual perfectly while giving it a more emotional twist than one might expect. He's like Alfred mixed with Yoda.

The thing about the show and its characters that really impresses me is that Whedon doesn't play it safe. The show could easily be a formulaic thing in which every episode the same characters do the same things. Instead, these characters are constantly growing and changing in a more realistic and emotionally resonating way that I would have expected from a cheerleading vampire hunter show. They fall in and out of love and make tough decisions. They change constantly while never really acting out of character or contradicting previous episodes. It is so natural. I never found myself saying "oh, Willow would NEVER do that" or "did Buffy forget about that guy from last week already?" Ever little insignificant act of the show is remembered by the characters (this is often used for various inside jokes for fans who have watched every episode). For example, in the humorous Halloween episode, everyone actually becomes the thing they were dressed up as. Xander had dressed up as a soldier and actually turned into a hard-ass military man. He revealed 7 or 8 episodes later that he still remembered everything from that night and retained all military knowledge he had known. This made for a cool character moment and showed the attention to detail of Whedon's world. Also, high school dramas are an addictive thing and Buffy throws in just enough of that to give the show a nice bit of familiarity.

Now, let's talk about the actual seasons. Season one made me a little unsure about the merit of "Buffy". The series opening two parter was great. It introduced us to everything we needed to know to get to know the characters and the world. The downside of the first season is that it was sort of structured like episodes of "Scooby-Doo". There was a "Monster of the Week" every episode and the gang had to pull together to save the school. These tended to be sort of lame (cyber demon, evil puppet). The best episodes are the ones that dealt with the overarching narrative. Buffy was falling in love with a vampire, Angel, and trying to stop the big bad guy, the master, from coming to town. There were two episodes that blew me away. One was "Angel", which dealt with her relationship to the mysterious character who had been following her around. The other was the season finale "Prophecy Girl". This was the perfect balance of character based humor, vampire mythos, and action scenes.

Luckily, the second resembled the season one highlights more than its weak points. The second season was one of the best seasons of TV I've ever seen. For the first time, we get a truly great villain, the British vampire Spike. He and his creepy/insane girlfriend Drusilla were so much fun to watch and way more dangerous than anything the first season threw at us. Meanwhile, the character-based humor was taken to a new level, making the mostly dramatic show enjoyable on multiple levels. Emotions change this season in a big way. The best episode of the season was "Innocence". This one was incredibly exciting and left me all weepy by the time the credits rolled. Whedon didn't give us a crowd pleaser here. He challenged the viewers to deal with the emotional trauma that Buffy goes through. Other favorites were the action packed "School Hard" and two part finale "Becoming". There are so many great moments in this season. It is a good sign when I'm already anticipating rewatching the series even though I still have over 100 episodes to go. This is masterful storytelling. Whedon knows just when to speed things up or slow them down. I can't wait to see these characters continue to grow and change as I watch an embarassng number of episodes every day.

My Professional Journey

2010-04-11T17:27:00.000-05:00

I realize it's been a while since I've posted about history. I have been recently occupied with less scholarly matters, such as video games and fantasy literature. My faithful readers have been spared my endless prattling on about old kings and silly battles. I feel like getting back on that track. After I finish Zelazny's Amber series, I will most likely plunge back into historical narrative reading (unless I decide to take on George RR Martin's epics).

Because I don't want the title of this blog to become meaningless, I thought I'd blog a little bit about being a history teacher (though not strictly medieval history). About half way through high school, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. I wasn't entirely sure why. I was coming off of a long time period in which I wanted to be a Catholic priest. That calling had been very strong for me throughout most of grade school, but something had changed. Maybe it was girls. Who knows?

I think the real reason I decided to be a teacher is because I was inspired by the faculty at my own high school. They really were involved in our lives and cared about us. Going on retreats with teachers allowed me to see them in a whole new way. They were faithful people who really were trying to make a difference in our lives. This seemed like just the ticket for a young man in search of purpose, living his own coming of age story.

I would be fooling myself not to mention my Critical Thinking and Writing class that I took my senior year as an inspiration. Though I often look back on it with suspicion and joke about the teacher with my friends, it really was a turning point for me intellectually. I'm still not sure how the teacher got away with it. We watched The Matrix, Fight Club, American Beauty, and American History X. We then analyzed these films like a text book, an experience that was new and exciting to me. We also read books that were far outside the realm of genre fiction and comic book to which I was accustomed: Catcher in the Rye, A Clockwork Orange, Death of a Salesman, and Demian. This class acted sort of as an into to philosophy for me. We discussed ideas that I now would associate with existentialism, ethics, and free will. I wrote things with more feeling and thought than I ever had before. I learned how to dissect literature, film, and my own thought processes and beliefs. I identified with characters, many of which are searching for truth and meaning in their lives. Was the class a little melodramatic and cheesy? Of course. I understand now that good teaching requires this at times.

So, being the idealistic teen that I was, I decided that I wanted to teach. It would be way easier than the harsh labor of summers working for my dad and would pay better than working at Camp Ondessonk (though probably just barely I now realize). This gave me a bit of direction when it came to looking into colleges. However, I had to decide what I wanted to teach. I really didn't enjoy math and found science to get tedious as I looked deeper into it. I think that I really wanted to be an English teacher, but felt the need to be different from my brother. I decided to teach history.

This is partially because I wanted people to have a better experience than me with high school history. None of my school's social studies faculty were able to satisfy my interest in history. They weren't knowledgeable and seemed to be teaching history because it was the easiest thing they could think of to teach. They lectured all day, straight from the book. They had no enthusiasm for the subject. There are probably a ton of kids like me who would be into history if someone showed them how amazing it can be if you are passionate about it.

Anyway, to make an already long story less long, I went to college and double majored in history and education. I'm now a teacher at an all girl's Catholic high school here in the city and I love it. Though I have previously taught American History, Civics, and current events courses, my specialty is in World History (which is the only subject I am currently teaching). My life is great. I am 100% involved in my school. I lead retreats, run 2 clubs, coach mock trial, and run the tech-y stuff for our theater productions. In my nonexistent spare time, I plan for teaching, which really is the best part of my job. My students probably think I'm insane. Amongst all the bad puns, nonsensical stories, and stand-up comedy, I hope they are attaining some knowledge and learning to think.

So, to end this post, here are my 5 favorite chapters to teach from my World History text books (in order). I find that it is the subjects that I have the most interest in that I teach with the most passion. These also happen to be the ones the students enjoy the most. There's probably a reason for that. It is difficult to make students interested in something that you don't care about. There are some chapters that I blow through in 3 days, others that I spend a month on. These are the ones that I look forward to sharing with my students:

1. The Formation of Western Europe (Crusades, Norman Conquest, 100 Years War)
2. Ancient Rome and Early Christianity (Republic, Empire, Caesar)
3. Classical Greece (mythology, Persian Wars, Alexander the Great)
4. European Renaissance and Reformation (Henry VIII, Luther, art)
TIE: 5a. The French Revolution and Napoleon (guillotine, Robespierre, Trafalgar)
5b. The Great War (trenches, Franz Ferdinand, Red Baron)

In Defense of Clash of the Titans

2010-04-05T13:38:00.000-05:00

I stated previously in my movie anticipation post that I was very much looking forward to the Clash of the Titans remake. I watched the trailers, read interviews with the creators, and was generally excited about the upcoming blockbuster. Last week, the reviews started coming in with a gigantic resounding "meh". People were seriously let down by the movie. This puzzles me. I have no idea how anyone who saw the trailer for this movie could be disappointed by it. It was exactly the movie they were marketing. This was a big dumb action movie with a lot of wild special effects and crazy monsters. What were people expecting?

I think that the trouble with remakes is that people will always be overly nostalgic about the original movie. For example, there is nothing Tim Burton could have done to make people forget about Gene Wilder's magnificent performance as Willy Wonka. The 80's Clash is by no means remembered as a masterpiece of cinema, but there is a storm of nostalgia about how great the movie was. This is mostly due to the charm of stop motion special effects provided by the master: Ray Harryhausen. I remember watching the film when I was younger and loving the jerky claymation Medusa creep around on screen. This is the kind of movie that, in our memories, is immune to all criticism. When something is not aiming to be high art, but rather to be pure entertainment, taste and snobbery are entirely useless.

This remake is the modern equivalent to the cheesy 80's fantasy movie. Both movies are wildly inaccurate when it comes to the mythology. Both movies feature mediocre over-acting by big name thespians (Olivier and Meredith in the original; Neeson and Fiennes in the remake). The original movie was a fun popcorn flick that used Greek myth as an excuse to showcase action and special effects. This Sam Worthington led mess is exactly the same.

It is this reason that I kind of loved the movie. I watched this on a Saturday afternoon and allowed myself to have fun. I was just glad to watch a movie with high production values that featured harpies and gods and a kraken. Was this a "good" movie? Absolutely not! By changing Perseus' relationship with Andromeda, the whole mission lacks purpose. It is transformed from a love story to a revenge story. This is all well and good, but it ends up being inconsistent, with many pieces of the story not fitting together (for example, is Zeus a good or bad guy?). Also, Sam Worthington is pretty worthless in the film. The guy is the archetypal big dumb action movie hero. Though I loved the visuals, Medusa was pretty underwhelming. Also, what was up with the charred wizard druid guy? He went from mystic bad-ass to grunting Chewbacca a little too quickly. Overall, it was almost impossible to become emotionally attached to the story or its characters.

So what did I like? Aside from the tedious scorpion fight, the action was spectacular. Hardly 10 minutes went by without someone swinging a sword. This movie was 100% fun. Also, the production design was pretty cool. I particularly thought Olympus looks fantastic (though most of the gods looked very silly). Calibos and the Kraken were great big budget movie monsters. The creepy scene with the three witches may have been the most impressive of the movie, simply because it was handled exactly how a modern myth should be executed. The movie captured the campy atmosphere of the original, but substituted "magical" for "cool". Though this was occasionally annoying, it worked for me.

This is an update of an 80's monster mash. There are two references to the original that sum up the difference between fantasy movies of today and fantasy movies of days past. First, Perseus picks up Bubo, the beloved mechanical owl of the original Clash of the Titans. He throws the owl away, deciding to leave it behind for the adventure. Bubo was the epitome of corny fantasy that the 80's movie represented. Also, as Perseus observes a group of typical white Pegasuses (is that the plural of pegasus?) as seen in the original movie, a black stallion Pegasus appears. There's no way our action star would ride a white horse. He needs a black one to match is emo pain and hardcore demeanor. This is a symbol of how fantasy movies have changed since Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson showed us that fantasy movies aren't just for kids. These can be hugely entertaining visual spectacles for a wide audience. Clash is a mediocre vision of what modern fantasy movies can do. I support this movie because, if I don't, the rarity of the fantasy movie may turn into extinction. Honestly, if a movie isn't trying to be smart, is it worth it to fault it for being stupid? I say, bring on a sequel. Re-release the kraken!

My Voyage on the Dawn Treader

2010-04-01T10:06:00.000-05:00

I kind of miss my Narnia blog. It was a little messy, rambly, and boring; but it was a ton of fun to deeply analyze a series of children's fantasy novels. Revisiting a piece of my childhood is always fun, something I do on a regular basis. I have decided to return to Narnia after long hiatus to read the book I remember being the best of the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This book is very different from the first two and really shows Lewis growing in his writing personality as well as his understanding of the depths of the world of Narnia.

This book really reminded me of the Odyssey (something Lewis outright acknowledges a few times in the novel). Here we have a grand seafaring adventure which takes our characters from island to island on a series of fantastic quests. This is the first time in which we only get two Pevensies on the trip (Peter and Susan have apparently outgrown trips to Neverland). Lucy and Edmund are joined by their bratty cousin Eustice, who becomes somewhat less bratty as the novel goes on. He serves the same purpose that Edmund did in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, except less sinister and more annoying. They meet up with the best two characters from the previous book, Caspian and Reepicheep. Their quest to find the lost lords of Narnia brings a variety of magical scenes, including a sea serpent, a dragon, and many storms. All this, tied together with Christian allegory.

Instead of giving a detailed rundown/analysis of the book, I'll just mention the different bits that I tagged as fun while I was reading:

- The first line of the book is amazing: "There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it"

- The kids drink a lot of wine in this book, which brings up my troubling conundrum about them having lived to old age as royalty in Narnia, only to be returned to their child bodies and lives after their first trip. This is frightening. Here we have children who have most likely: drank, killed, had sex, suffered great loss, and maybe even have children! I wouldn't want to teach these kids, they'd probaly act all high and mighty (which they certainly have the right to do).

- Lewis makes a neat observation about their return to Narnia being similar to the fabled return of Arthur to England, which he would welcome. "And I say, the sooner the better."

- Caspian talk about how he didn't want to marry the daughter of the Duke of Galma because she was all "squints and freckles". Only the hottest babes would be good enough for Caspian (as we discover in the end of the book).

- One of the coolest sequences of the book is when we get to read a week in Eustace's journal. It's wonderful to get inside the psyche of a whiny kid who thinks everyone is out to get him. The way he justifies his actions is fun to read, especially when he steals extra water, which was being rationed on the ship.

- When Eustace sees a dragon, he apparently has no idea what it is because he "read none of the right books". How sheltered is this kid? Serves him right that he gets a lesson in dragons by being turned into one himself for having "dragonish thoughts". I'm glad it doesn't work like that in our world, because there would be a lot of dragons flying around. I can only hope that, because I think ninjaish thoughts, I would become a ninja.

- Aslan isn't as central to the plot of this book as in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He sort of plays a role similar to Gandalf in The Hobbit: He comes and goes as he pleases, always being mysterious. The lion seems to only show up to teach the reader some sort of lesson about reconciliation. Also, everyone seems to simultaneously be very happy to see Him, yet at the same time feel like crap for being a terrible person. This is Catholic guilt at its finest. Thanks for the lesson, Lewis.

- The water that turns everything to gold is a really cool idea. Reminds me of the girl from Goldfinger.

- The scene with the Dufflepuds is really odd. At least the whole bit about the Magician's Book was cool. Lucy shows herself to be a girl by using magic to spy on her frenemies gossiping on her. Aslan sure made her feel terrible about that decision.

- The most fantastic visual the book gives us is the feasting table with the three old lords asleep. This is something I remember from the last time I read the book (this was in grade school).

- The stone dagger that the White Witch used to kill Alsan seems to be this "holy lance" type relic. I wonder if everything Aslan touches becomes sacred.

- Caspian fantasizes about visiting a round world like ours. Fantasy characters fantasize about visiting out normal world. This is comforting. However, he thinks it would be cool to go to the bottom of a round world where people are all upside down. We only wish it was that awesome, Caspian.

- At the end of the book, Aslan pretty much tells the Pevensies that he is Jesus. What happened to subtlety?

Though I am not a big fan of either of the recent big budget Narnia movies, I think the upcoming adaptation of Voyage of the Dawn Treader could be successful. My major issue with the other two was that they added a lot of action to make it more "bad-ass". Fortunately, this book requires no alteration to make it more exciting. The scene with the sea serpent would be dazzling in a big budget movie. Also, the heavenly imagery of the end of the world should be breathtaking. I'm on board for this one. Also, the director previously did a few episodes of HBO's Rome. I think it's coming out in December. If this picture of the ship used in the movie is any indication, we're in for a treat:

Gaming Treasures #1- Guardian Heroes

2010-03-27T15:37:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm going to attempt to start another series of recurring blog posts, this one under the topic of gaming. These will mostly be short mementos about games that I have enjoyed throughout the years. I have been into video games as long as I can remember and have played a lot of really great games, though with very specific and strange taste. You see, my brother and I always had the off the radar gaming systems that weren't very popular (Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube). These systems died early deaths, but featured some amazing little gems. These posts will be nice visits down memory lane for me.

Up first: the best Sega Saturn game I have ever played (considering I have never been able to find a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga). Plagued by some of the worst box art ever, Guardian Heroes manages to do everything I could ever dream of having in a video game. Honestly, if I was to design my own dream game, it probably wouldn't be too different from what we have here. Ever since I played the Ninja Turtles and X-Men arcade games at Chucky Cheese as a kid, I have loved the "side-scrolling-beat-em-up" genre. Guardian Heroes takes the formula made famous by Golden Axe and Streets of Rage and adds some fantastic RPG elements to create an amazingly fun and replayable game.

The story is loosely centered around a magic sword, an undead warrior, an evil impostor king, and a war between demons and gods (this game is all over the place). You have 5 playable characters to choose from, each with their own magic abilities and strengths. The gameplay features 3 different depths of side scrolling combo-based hack n slash gameplay. As you defeat wave after wave of ogre, soldier, wolf, and demon, you level up and gain experience points. These experience points can be used to customize your character's stats in several different areas. Your magic powers get rediculously massive and the scale of the action becomes truly epic as you work through the game.

Now, like most arcade style action games, this one is pretty short. you can beat it cooperatively with two players in one sitting. However, the game's true genius is in its replayability. After each chapter, the game goes all "Choose Your Own Adventure" style. You can pick different paths to take to a castle or decide whether you want to avoid a fight or charge right into it. This makes for a good number of different options, creating a unique story and experience each time you play (which is what made the story so difficult to describe). I wish more games would do this kind of thing.

Steve and I played this game constantly. It's so much fun for two players. It never gets old and the branching story paths means you can keep going back to it over and over again. Also, the character designs, amazing 2d pixel art style, and humorous dialogue makes for an overall impressive package. Jared is coming over to play this tomorrow and I can't wait to blow the dust off the old Saturn and fire this game up.

My Reaction To The Scott Pilgrim Trailer

2010-03-25T23:10:00.001-05:00

O, Edgar Wright... are you even capable of disappointing me? Could you make something unexciting if you tried? The above trailer is from Wright's upcoming summer blockbuster, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. This is a comic book adaption of one of my favorite graphic novels. Normally, this would make me overprotective and nitpicky. However, after watching the trailer, I can't really be anything but ecstatic!

Here's what Scott Pilgrim is all about. A 20-something loser meets his dream girl (literally). She is beautiful, mysterious, and hip. The only problem, though, is that Scott must defeat her seven evil exes in combat in order to date her. What ensues is one of the most enjoyable (and re-readable) comics ever made. It is a product of my generation, packing in more geek culture references and jokes than an episode of a Matt Groening cartoon. Indie rock, manga, and video games collide in a hilarious, yet heartfelt action comic. Seriously, everybody I know who has read it, loves it (even Kaylen!). The final volume comes out in July (I'll have to buy it while I'm on my honeymoon).

Now, the incredible director of Shaun of the Dead is making a movie. It looks like he has totally nailed the look and mood of the comic. This looks like he's taking lessons from Speed Racer by making a live action manga that is actually controlled and watchable (though I did enjoy the Speed Racer movie quite a bit). People seem nervous about the choice of casting Michael Cera in the title role. I, though, am not. Scott isn't all that different from Cera's usual spaz archetype. Throw in some cool Street Fighter sequences and he'll be Mr. Pilgrim alive on the screen

I wanted to do a panel to screen comparison of images from the movie and panels from the comic. I am held back by the fact that I have no scanner (and little time before I get too sleepy). Instead, I have chosen select images from the trailer that excite me. These are either taken directly from the comic ot simply capture the Scott Pilgrim atmosphere and make me smile. I can't wait to see this.

Now, your assignment is a scavenger hunt: find the panels that correspond to some of these stills!

How I Spent My Spring Break (Twitter edition)

2010-03-24T21:29:00.001-05:00

When you hear the words "Spring Break", what comes to mind? Maybe a big vacation? Maybe Cancun? Maybe having a margarita made in your mouth at Senor Tadpoles? My Spring break was very nontraditional, but I loved it. Here are some of the uncool things I enjoyed over the week of work (due to my tendency to ramble, each activity will have the standard Twitter 140 characters for me to elaborate on):

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
"So much fun. This book managed to be surprisingly historical. Adding vampires to the life of an already fascinating person is a good idea."

Hanging Out With Kaylen
"I drove her to class, cooked with her, played games with her, watched movies with her, and generally loved being around her more this week."

Final Fantasy XII
"Picked this back up for the first time in months and played it for a looong time over break. Such a fun battle system and amazing graphics."

Titus Andronicus In-Store Performance
"These guys rock hard live (even in a tiny space in a record store on a Sunday afternoon). They jammed out on Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Friendly Meals
"Delicious food and great company at both Lindsay's Italian dinner and the grand corned beef and cabbage feast at Steve and Mary's. Yummy!"

Risk Night
"Thursday nights are becoming one of my favorite things. I managed to come in 2nd place this time, which is unusual. I tend to suck more."

Beatles Rock Band
"I played this game twice over break. I'm still very miserable on pseudo drums, but LOVE singing Beatles songs. I tore my vocal chords up!"

Playing Music
"Both banjo and ukulele got a lot of love over break. I learned to play Big Rock Candy Mountain, which is tons of fun on the old 5 stringer."

O Brother Where Art Thou?
"Kay had never seen this so we Netflixed it. It is one of my favorite Coen Bros. movies. So funny and well made. Kay really liked it too."

The Strokes
"Better late than never! I listened to Is This It for the first time and was immediately on board with these guys. Solid guitar pop/rock."

Hmmm... That twitter style post was sort of unsatisfying, though very efficient. I just wanted to save myself from the inevitable ramble. Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soonish.

Banjo Hero #5- John Hartford

2010-03-18T15:07:00.000-05:00

Last night, I watched the always delightful film O Brother Where Art Thou? (Kay had never seen it). I was scanning the track listing for the soundtrack and discovered that two of the tracks were by John Hartford. This led me to dig though the Hartford songs I have on my computer, making for a delightful afternoon.

I started listening to John Hartford last year. I learned about him when Chris Funk posted on the Decemberist's message board with some bluegrass recommendations. I was immediately drawn to Hartford's music. He happens to be a local. He was born in St. Louis and attended John Borrough's High School. I thought his name sounded familiar. It was because his name is on one of the stars on the Delmar Loop walk of fame. He was a Grammy Award winning banjo and violin player who was very versatile. He went through a hippie folk faze in the 60's and spent most of his later years paying tribute to traditional old-timey music. He also captained his own steam powered river boat. How cool is that?

John's music always brings a smile to my face. His instrumentals are upbeat and fun to listen to. When he sings, you can hear the joy in his voice. Many of his songs show his goofy sense of humor and virtuoso musicianship. His most acclaimed album, Aereo-Plain, has been hailed as the Revolver of bluegrass. I have 8 of his albums and could just leave them on shuffle and listen to them for hours (something I am currently doing). Hartford is a true St. Louis hero (and a banjo hero).

Oh man...

2010-03-18T00:10:00.001-05:00

I haven't been this excited about a movie since the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Some of my favorite comics ever being adapted by a director who has a flawless career thus far (Edgar Wright). I will do a proper post about this once the final graphic novel is released or a trailed comes out for the film. For now, lets just marvel at the awesomeness of this new teaser poster, which is a play off of this image from the comic:

Album Review- The Monitor by Titus Andronicus

2010-03-13T23:04:00.002-06:00

I have fallen in love with a new band. It's a good sign when, on a first listen, and album reminds you immediately of three of your favorite bands. Until 2 days ago, I had never listened to Titus Andronicus. I missed out on their much hyped debut, The Airing of Grievances (which is a Seinfeld reference to Festivus!). When I heard that their new album is a concept album dealing with the American Civil War, I decided to give it a listen. I'm glad I did.

As I said before, I was immediately hit with some familiar feelings. Titus Andronicus seemed like a combination of Neutral Milk Hotel, the Arcade Fire, and Okkervil River. All three bands loosely tell stories with their songs. Also, their use a variety of instrumentation to express themselves. The main thing, though, that unites all three of these bands (as well as Titus Andronicus) is the raw emotion. These artists have very personal lyrics that are brutally honest and uncomfortable at time. Also, the singers tend to let loose. Singing transforms into yelps when the time is right. This pushes the song to an impassioned point that most artists are afraid to approach. Their songs could be emo in the wrong hands.

The album that The Monitor most closely resembles is Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (which happens to be my favorite album of all time). Now, these two albums really don't sound all that similar. Where Neutral Milk Hotel's masterpiece is a psychedelic fuzzy folk affair, The Monitor tends to rock hard witha lot of punk energy and shouting. However, both artists are a part of a rare musical genre which I will dub "history-rock". Both artists have taken a historical event and used it as a reference point to examine their own emotions and problems in a grand concept album. Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum loosely dances around World War II and Anne Frank on his album of surreal lyrics. Titus Adronicus dives into a world of personal angst by structuring a record around the Civil War. This is much more grounded than Aeroplane, with more manageable lyrics that deal with emotions most people can identify with. The songs even start with real quotes from President Lincoln and Walt Whitman (and this is miraculously executed without seeming pretentious or silly).

This album is epic and it is a lot of fun. Most of the songs are over 5 minutes long (with the album itself clock in over an hour). The riffs are hard and catchy and extreme. There are probably bands that play louder or faster, but they don't feel as energetic as this frantic record. It gets even more fun when it plays with actual period music (like "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "John Brown's Body..."). The occasional use of honky tonk piano makes me think of the Hold Steady (which is never a bad thing). This album is dirty and sloppy, but that's one thing that makes me love it. I've been humming the riffs from this album all day. I am seeing them at an in-store performance tomorrow at Vintage Vinyl. Lucky for me, some of these songs have sing along anthems. I expect to go hoarse yelling "RALLY AROUND THE FLAG", "YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A LOSER", and "THE ENEMY IS EVERYWHERE".

Best album I've listened to in a while. It depresses me that they have been at the Pitchfork Music Festival at the same time as me and I missed out (something that can also be said for Bon Iver and King Khan).

A Link to My Past

2010-03-12T22:12:00.000-06:00

I never had a Super Nintendo. I was a Sega guy, who loyal from dying console to dying console (I have a Saturn and a Dreamcast). I was always jealous of my friends who had SNES's because they got to play Zelda games, namely A Link To The Past. My envy motivated my purchase of a Gamecube when the Dreamcast died. This turned out to be a good choice, since the system had two FANTASTIC Zelda games: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

Though these were the first Zelda games I owned, I previously got into emulators in high school. I downloaded A Link to the Past and played it with my keyboard on the home PC. I was instantly hooked. This has been many years ago and I never finished it. Lately, I have been craving a new game to play after finishing the stellar Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. I decided to grab the GBA version of A Link to the Past to play on my DS. This was a good decision.

I'm not sure what it is that makes me love this game oh so very much. Maybe it's the redundant cliched fantasy setting and plot (normal pointy-eared boy has to find a cool sword to save the princess from an evil wizard guy). Maybe it's the iconic music. Whatever it is, this is the crown jewel in the Zelda series. The 16 bit sprites are perfect. The gameplay is simplistic. The action is fun, the bosses are cool, the puzzles are easy... The game manages to be very linear, while allowing the play to feel like they are on a free exploration of the huge land of Hyrule. This game makes me nostalgic for the simpler days of my youth when my friends and I would watch Power Rangers, eat pizza, and think it was awesome to stay up after midnight.

This game does nothing new or revolutionary. This is just like many other action RPGs. What makes the Zelda series so special? It's the grand production values and lighthearted fantasy (something I have continually professed my adoration for). This is one of the best games ever. It's only a matter of time before we have a quality overblown film adaptation of the adventures of Link.

PS- anyone remember the awesome Link to the Past comics from Nintendo Power magazine???

Concert Review- The Magnetic Fields 3/6/10

2010-03-09T21:30:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, I got to cross a band off my "must see live" list. The Magnetic Fields were one of the first "indie" bands that I got into. In the midst of buying our first records by the Decemberists and Andrew Bird, Steve and I dove straight into Stephin Merritt's magnum opus, 69 Love Songs. I will admit, it took me a while to get into this. I was accustomed to listening to fast paced guitar rock. Here I had a lot of slow tempo songs with strange arrangements and baritone vocals. After a few listens though, I learned an important lesson about the Magnetic Fields: the heart of the music is in the lyrics.

This lesson proved especially true at the concert at the Pageant here in St. Louis. The band played for over 2 hours (with an intermission in the middle!) The 5 person band played from songs from nearly ever album Stephin Merritt has written (including most Magnetic Fields albums and songs from the 6ths and Gothic Archies). Most of the Magnetic Fields' songs are made up of odd electronic noises that are loosely pieced together to create a unique sound. Here, those arrangements were interpreted as acoustic chamber pop. It worked gloriously.

The sound of the band was pure perfection. Each band member played a single instrument all night (ukulele, cello, guitar, keyboard, autoharp). It was beautiful. This was perfect for material from the band's most recent release, Realism, which is entirely acoustic folk pop. However, the real highlights were the alternate versions of electro heavy songs like "The Flowers She Sent and the Flowers She Said She Sent" and "The Luckiest Guy On the Lower East Side". The combination of ukulele and cello is killer. I just wish Merritt would rerelease his old material with this wonderful chamber music sound. It really allows the music and lyrics speak for themselves instead of hiding under layers and layers of electronically produced noise.

However, as glorious as the quaint instrumentation was, the shining prize of the night was listening to the lyrics. The Magnetic Fields have a sad black comedy and tragic beauty to them that no other band could pull off. I found myself laughing out loud at the amazingly hysterical renditions of "Shipwrecked" and "Nun's Litany". Also, the more moving songs like "Long Vermont Roads" and "I Don't Know What to Say" hit me in a real way.

Other highlights included "Fear of Trains", "100,000 Fireflies", and "You You You You You". Many people would have probably found this concert boring. I mean, there were no really upbeat songs, the "banter" was very droll, and nobody on stage cracked a smile. They seemed sort of burdened with the idea of putting on a live show. Kaylen said that the concert made her feel old (a young hip Kaylen Hoffman would have been disappointed). I, however, couldn't have been happier. It was a quaint evening. I would have been perfectly content sitting and listening to the lovely music for a few hours more. This is the kind of band that I will see any time they decide to come through St. Louis.

(By the way, these cruddy pictures were taken by me. An awesome set was taken by friend and St. Louis photographer extrodinaire Todd Owyoung)

Good News, Everyone!

2010-03-04T17:29:00.001-06:00

It's official. I got into SLU's graduate program for history. I am excited, intimidated, and happy. Guess I should get that Latin book back out now...

BTW, if you're wondering what that odd mix of emotions looks like:

My New TV Vice- Legend of the Seeker

2010-02-28T23:55:00.001-06:00

So, this weekend, I was in the mood to find a new TV show to plow through. The last show I watched all the way through was Fawlty Towers (loved loved loved it). I was in the mood for something a bit dramatic with a medieval/fantasy setting. After looking into what Netflix has available to watch instantly, I had two options: BBC's Robin Hood and CBS's Legend of the Seeker. I watched the first episode of Robin Hood and thought it was ok. It had some decent production value and a promising looking lead actor. The thing that rubbed me the wrong way, though, was the modern edge the show had. It was trying a little too hard to be funny and hip. I think it's the sort of show I could someday get into, but I wasn't feeling it. I ended up going with Legend of the Seeker.

I had heard very little about this show before. It is a fantasy show produced by Sam Raimi based on the bestselling epic novel series The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I have never read an Goodkind (though I see massive amounts of his stuff every time I am in a book store). The first season is (supposedly loosely) based on the first book, Wizard's First Rule. I have watched 8 hours of the show this weekend and can't stop. Why is this?

There are many reasons not to like this show. I doubt most people could stomach more than 15 minutes of it. It is incredibly cheesy, the plot is hackneyed, and the scripts appear to have been written by 12 year olds. Every episode features sword fight scenes that are exactly the same. Here's a taste of this super original premise: evil dark lord has taken over the land, prophecy says a chosen hero will arise, hapless peasant boy is the one, he is trained by an old wizard, he becomes a master swordsman over night, he has a magic sword, he falls in love with his female companion, etc, etc. There is nothing new here at all. This is the most cliched story possible. This is a half a step away from Hercules and Xena. Why do I watch this?

First of all, I have a high tolerance for cornball fantasy. There has always been an element of tackiness to fantasy literature. After everything has been done so many times, it's hard to make dragons and dark lords cool in any sort of original way. I just have a weak spot for fantasy storytelling. Also, the show's production values make it visually impressive. It was filmed on location in New Zealand. The costumes are great and the whole worldbuilding is handled beautifully. Though the scripts are pretty weak, the acting from the 3 leads is decent. They manage to bring some humanity and class to their archetypal characters. I also appreciate that the show takes itself seriously. There are no tongue and cheek pop culture references or self aware nods to a 21st century audience. This plays out like reading slightly above par fantasy literature. It plays out like "Lord of the Rings lite", but I have no problem with that.

The show is like a soap opera for me. Think about it: nobody will say that the acting and writing on Gossip Girl or The O.C. is stellar. People watch to get caught up in the drama. I like to get caught up in the fantasy. This is the kind of show that a 14 year old Pete Wissinger would go crazy for (and I have changed relatively little since middle school). I don't care that this show is based on overused concepts. I'm honestly just happy to have a quality fantasy television show. I've always felt that science fiction had the unfair advantage over fantasy when it comes to movies and tv. This show is not perfect, but it is certainly better than the nonexistent alternative. I will continue to watch and love this show as I do most fantasy. I would call this a guilty pleasure, but I have no shame. I'm just a hopeless fanboy.

Bonus: the main character is named Kahlan, which is pronounced exactly like "Kaylen". It freaks Kay out when I watch it!

PS- This makes me wish we could have an HBO show of the stories of Kvothe from The Name of the Wind.

The Normans- Almost as Good as Real Vikings

2010-02-22T19:11:00.000-06:00

My medieval nerdiness has reached a new high: I now listen to a historical podcast. Lars Brownworth, who also created the supposedly awesome "12 Byzantine Rulers" podcast (I haven't listened to it yet), is now working on a project called "The Norman Centuries". So far there have been four episodes and they have been epic.

The Normans are awesome. They are a group of adventurers, descended from the vikings, with a rich history of rulers that retained some of that Norse bravado. It all started when Rollo, a viking chief, was given Normandy by a French king. King Charles gave this land to Rollo as part of his usual strategy for dealing with the invasions of the Norsemen: bribe them. This seems like a decent idea: it saves lives. However, it also lets the vikings know that all the need to do to receive a payday is to show up with a gang of big scary dudes. Rollo was given Normandy to rule as a method of defense for the Franks. This act worked, forcing the Normans to defend themselves against the berserk viking forces.

So far there have been four episodes of this podcast, featuring Rollo, Richard the Fearless, Richard the Good, and Robert the Magnificent (or the Devil depending on your point of view). I'm very excited, though, for what it inevitably to come.

The next podcast should be about Robert's son, William. The Normans were responsible for the conquest of England in 1066, something I have already blogged about. William the Conqueror, a Norman duke, managed to dominate England, completely shaping Britain into something new. We should also be getting some episodes about the Italian Normans. I'm hoping for a podcast about my two favorite crusaders: Bohemond and Tancred. These guys are responsible for the victory at Antioch and were crucial to the leadership of the somewhat disorganized nature of the First Crusade.

I hope this podcast has a more regular release schedule than the Byzantine one, which took almost 3 years to complete. The more I think about it, the more I think the Norman involvement in the crusades could be the topic of my master's thesis (assuming I get into graduate school). They have just enough viking left in them to make them interesting. They just worship Jesus instead of Odin.

My Report From Crusader-Con 2010

2010-02-21T21:51:00.001-06:00

Well, I did it. I attended a conference on the Crusades. As I described in my last post, this was SLU's 2nd Annual Crusades symposium. I spent about 12 hours listening to people who are way smarter with me talk (often with cool accents) about various topics relating to the crusading movement. I'm going to give a brief rundown on what I heard, then sort of sum up my impressions of the whole event and what I personally will take away from this.

Caffaro of Genoa and the Motives of Early Crusaders by Jonathan Phillips, University of London
This was a talk that I was looking forward to for two reasons: 1) I had read a great book by the speaker and 2) it concerned the First Crusade, which is my favorite. Phillips is a highly respected Crusades scholar who seems to have a knack at making heavy scholarship into something anyone can digest. Before going to this talk, I had never heard of Caffaro of Genoa, who wrote a few narratives about his campaigns. This is apparently not surprising, since Phillips described him as his favorite "much neglected source" (something he says every historian has). Caffaro was an Italian crusader who was involved in both the first and second crusades, something unique for crusade writers. He is also unique because he is a layman. Most Latin chroniclers of the crusades are monks or priests. This gives Caffaro an interesting perspective. Most interestingly, he mentions the gain material wealth as a motivation for crusading, something heavily debated by historians (and often left out by the early religions chroniclers, who say everyone went simply because of religious devotion). The most interesting part of Phillips's talk was Caffaro's record of the miracle of the Easter fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Apparently the crusaders prayed and prayed for a miracle of fire to appear in Jerusalem. When it didn't happen, Caffor gives an appropriate (and humorous) explanation: God's miracles are for those who don't believe to convert them. Because all the crusaders were good Christians, God didn't want to waste a miracle on them. This is both logical and ludicrous. Fortunately, God ended up giving them some fire anyway, 3 days later on Easter Sunday.

A Medieval Siege of Troy: The Fight to the Death at Acre by John H. Pryor, University of Sydney
I was really pumped for this talk. It sounded like an exciting dramatic lecture that would have some huge personalities and epic bloodshed. Instead, though, Pryor (an expert on medieval maritime history) delivered a more practical paper on the logistics of the 3rd Crusade conflict. Pryor made some interesting points about decisions made by military leaders, but really failed to give me what I wanted. I was looking for the drama and heroics of Troy. I wanted Richard and Saladin facing off like Hector and Achilles. Pryor didn't seem too interested in storytelling. Sure, he probably delivered something very important to historography, but really sort of uninteresting to me. The best bit, though, was a story that matched the storytelling I was looking for. Saladin was having trouble breaking through a Christian blockade on the Muslims living in Acre. He wanted to get into the city to bring supplies and help with defense. How did he do it? He disguised his ship as a Frankish vessel. He flew a flag with a cross and even shaved to conceal his identity. It worked!

Constantinople Conquered: A Comparative Damage Assessment of 1204 and 1453 by Michael Angold, University of Edinburgh
This my favorite talk of the whole conference. Angold was a quaint old man with a great accent who specializes in Byzantine history. The Fourth Crusade is a close second for me to the First in terms of most interesting. Angold discussed how the fall of Constantinople in 1204 to the crusaders directly allowed for the final conquest by the Turks in 1453. He argues that the Byzantines were the main casualty of the crusading movement (which is convincing considering the small effect on the spread of Islam). Even though the Fourth Crusade killed a relatively small number of Byzantines (about 2,000), it did a lot to destabilize the long standing structure of the government in Constantinople and increasing their need for Western support. Angold also threw in some humorous tidbits from Byzantine scholars in relation to the time when the Latins controlled the city (mostly complaining about their disgusting eating habits and table manners). Angold had a sense of humor about the stubborn nature of the Byzantines who described themselves as "having never changed our minds about anything". Overall, this talk made me want to do more independent research about Byzantine emperors.

Saturday brought 6 short papers delivered in small group sessions:
Apocalypse Now? Apocalypticism and the First Crusade Reconsidered by Damien Kempf, University of Liverpool
This talk was interesting, especially since I am currently reading a book that deals heavily "end of times" paranoia during the middle ages (Tom Holland's Forge of Christendom). This talk attempted to dispel the idea that the first crusaders were concerned about an eminent apocalypse. Kempf spent a lot of time discussing the questionable use of Guibert of Nogent as the primary source for this idea, mostly because Guibert is often considered to have been some sort of raving lunatic. Having never read Guibert's First Crusade chronicle, this made me very interested in looking into it.

Suger's Vita Ludovici Grossi and the First Crusade by James Naus, Saint Louis University
This talk focused on the importance of crusading for prestige and honor for French kings, mostly Louis the Fat. My favorite bit here was the description of how the Franks started to idolize the Norman crusader hero, Bohemond of Antioch (my favorite crusader).

Melisende and Majesty in William of Tyre's Historia by Deborah Gerish, Emporia State University
Gerish spoke about the unique character of Melisende, a Latin queen of Jerusalem that I am entirely in the dark about. She ruled Jerusalem herself without sacrificing her own femininity, something very rare for medieval queens.

I listened to three more talks, one about the massacre of Jews during the First Crusade, one about the radicalization of Jihadism because of the crusades, and one about the intentional martyrdom of Franciscan monks through insulting the prophet Muhammad. I would go into detail about each of these, but I was starting to zone out at this point. This brings me to my final 2 thoughts from the conference:

1)
I have a lot of work to do before earning my Masters in history. I feel like the odd man out at this conference for a few reasons. Mostly, though, it was because I didn't know much about the subject. Most people at the conference had insightful comments and questions for the speakers. I was barely able to follow some of the talks because I just don't have the mastery of crusades history that the rest of the people in attendance did. Now, I know this will change once I get further into my graduate school career. It was just sort of a wake up call. I'm going to have to read a ton of books and learn a lot of Latin to be able to truly understand the crusades and contribute new thoughts to the scholarship that has already been done.

2)
I'm not in the kind of history that serious scholars want. These people were taking the tiniest details and studying them endlessly to come up with new perspectives in search of the truth. While I am willing to do this kind of research and writing, but it is not my passion. I want to be more of a writer of "popular" history, something many scholars frown upon. What I want to do is tell stories. I'm less concerned about "finding the truth" and more interested in building drama and exploring huge personalities. I'd be just as happy writing comic books or movies about history as I would writing scholarly articles. Does this make me a bad student of history?

Stay Tuned For Historical Nerdiness

2010-02-16T21:13:00.002-06:00

There will be an excess of geeky Crusades talk on here in the next few days. I apologize in advance.

This week, I will be attending a conference at SLU, titled "Crusades: Medieval Worlds in Conflict". This is the University's second annual symposium on the crusades (I attended the first as an undergrad and heard a lecture from the incredible Jonathan Riley-Smith). SLU loves the Middle Ages, which I why I hope to attend it for graduate school. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the whole conference due to Mock Trial practice and Freshman registration at my school. However, these are the lectures I plan to attend:

Wednesday
"Caffaro of Genoa and the Motives of Early Crusaders", Jonathan Phillips (University of London) {I read a book by this guy!}

Friday
"A Medieval Siege of Troy: The Fight to the Death at Acre, 1189-91", John H. Pryor (University of Sydney) {I hope to leave Mock Trial early so I can make it to this one}
"Constantinople Conquered: A Comparative Damage Assessment of 1204 and 1453", Michael Angold (University of Edinburgh)

Saturday sessions
"The Crusades and Their Sources", presider Nicholas Paul (Fordham University)
"The First Crusaders", presider Louis Haas (Middle Tennessee State University)
"The Evolution of Holy War". presider Steven Schoeing, S.J. (Saint Louis University)

I hope to blog my impressions of each of these after I get home. This will of course depend on whether I am feeling awake or not. Needless to say, I am very excited.

Coming Attractions- Promising Looking Trailers

2010-02-15T15:51:00.000-06:00

We're stuck in the middle of a dry movie season. There's nothing in theaters that is all that interesting or ambitious. However, this is a great time for trailers. Late Spring brings some really cool risky movies that don't try for awards, yet also don't want to compete in the tough season of summer blockbuster. Also, those Summer blockbusters are also getting cool trailers. These are the movies that look interesting to me:

Greenberg (March 26)

Noah Baumbach is best known because of his collaborations with Wes Anderson. He co-wrote Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox. I've seen two of his movies. I absolutely loved one (The Squid and the Whale) and thought one was so-so (Margot at the Wedding). While he lacks Anderson's fantasy element, he replaces it with harsh personal situations. In the midst of the embarrassment and egos, though, he tends to deliver great personal stories with a good amount of subtle humor. Here's hoping this one is a little easier to watch than some of his past work.

Clash of the Titans (April 2)

I know that remakes are the big thing these days. I also know that most of them are disastrous. I remain cautiously optimistic about this remake of the stop motion Greek mythology classic of the 80's. As great as the cheese-ball original was, I can see the appeal of an update. With some cool music and special effects, this could be a cool dumb fantasy action movie (something I'm always down for). This looks like the closest we'll get to a film version of the God of War video games. Also, it has Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades. They hooked me.

Kick-Ass (April 16)

I haven't read the comic, but I will as soon as it comes out in trade paperback. Mark Millar is a fantastic writer, so his violent comedic take on the now bloated superhero film genre should be a good time. Also, Matthew Vaugh (Stardust, Layer Cake) is directing. As long as this movie maintains the atmosphere it builds, it should be a really fun.

Centurion (April 23- UK)

This movie doesn't have an American release date yet, and I had barely heard of it before watching the trailer yesterday. I'm a sucker for historical pieces, so this is right up my alley. It stars Michael Fassenbender, one of my favorite parts of Inglourious Basterds. Anyway, this looks like a great loose action-adventure. It's not trying to be a summer epic, so maybe we'll get a little more style or substance to this in addition to the grit. I'll keep my eye on this one when it comes to the States.

Iron Man 2 (May 7)

I made a comment before about the superhero genre being bloated. However, the first Iron Man was one of the best Marvel has made. The trend for big budged comic book movies has been that the 2nd film is way better than the first (X2, Spider Man 2, Dark Knight, Hellboy 2) and this looks like it will fit that pattern. We'll actually get a real villain with some sort of a story. Also, Robert Downey Jr. just oozes with charisma. This will definitely be a great way to kick off an impressive summer of movies.

Robin Hood (May 14)

Here's another historical action movie. I love Gladiator, and even Ridley Scott's underrated Kingdom of Heaven. This movie looks like it will tread similar ground. Also, I've always found the historical basis for the Robin Hood legends to be fascinating. It includes the Crusades and medieval guerrilla warfare. It makes sense for me to see the Merry Men as a group of pseudo terrorists leading a revolution against a tyrant. Taking the sweetness out of Robin Hood may turn some people off, but it really looks like a promising film to me. Also, no matter how much a jerk he may be in person, Russell Crowe is one of the most captivating actors I've seen.

Toy Story 3 (June 18)

Pixar is the most consistent movie making machine these days. They make hit after hit. Their movies manage to be both highly entertaining and emotionally complex. I think they have only gotten better, with Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up being some of their most impressive work. Sure, I'd rather see an Incredibles 2, but this looks like it will be good. I have no reason to doubt that Pixar will knock this one out of the park.

Inception (July 16)

I have no idea what this movie is about and this trailer doesn't give too many clues. Here's what I do know: I know the cast is good. I know it is directed by one of my all time favorites, Christopher Nolan. I know I will like it. That's all I really need to know, I guess.

Well, that's about it. I didn't include Alice in Wonderland because I think it looks a little too self-indulgent and weird for the sake of being weird. However, my number one most anticipated movie of the year, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, doesn't have a trailer yet. Let's hope this year will be a good one for film (though, looking at these films, I may have trouble dragging Kaylen to some of them... anyone else interested in seeing some action movies?)

5 Things I Appreciate About Wes Anderson

2010-02-14T17:29:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of filmmakers that I love (Edgar Wright, Woody Allen, and Quentin Tarantino to name a few). There is one director, though, who encompasses everything I look for in a movie. When people ask me what kind of movies I like, I always say something about Wes Anderson. His movies are strangely specific and tap directly into my taste. His intellectual, dry style of dramedy is something you see a lot in "indie" movies these days. However, nobody does it like Wes. I was inspired to write a post on Wes after rewatching Life Aquatic this week and then reading my Valentines Day present from Kay, a book on the making of The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Originally, I planned on writing an open letter to Wes, but I quickly realized that it would be an obnoxious fan letter that would just be a lot of "I love your movies!" geekery. However, an open form blog post would end up being too long. I decided instead to answer a specific question: What is it that makes him so special? Why do I watch his handful of movies over and over again? There are 5 main reasons.

1. Use of music
Anderson's movies are defined by the music he uses. He employs a mixture of a perfect original score and great pop songs. When a Wes Anderson movie makes me want to laugh or cry, it usually has something to do with an amazing music cue. Each film has it's own musical landscape that makes it unique. Rushmore has the combination of harpsichord compositions and British Invasion rock. Life Aquatic features stripped down acoustic versions of David Bowie songs sung in Portuguese. The Darjeeling Limited throws in both Indian music and a few Kinks songs. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson's most recent film, was a mash up of a lot of wonderful things (banjos, the Beach Boys, and a children's choir). The scene below (about 5 minutes in) is maybe my favorite use of music in any movie ever. Gets me all weepy every time.

2. Visual style
Wes Anderson movies have a specific look to them. He has an OCD style of meticulously setting up everything perfectly for every shot of his movie. You can tell how much thought he puts into everything you see. He uses bright colors, vintage fashion, and detailed sets. His cinematography is so interesting to look at (underwater shots, first person views of objects, long scanning shots of scenery). Even the fonts used in his movies matches his character. I think Fantastic Mr. Fox has amazing visuals. Stop motion animation makes sense for Anderson. He has absolute control over every single facet of the film's visuals. Pink sky, orange grass, corduroy suits, and zany dancing. It's a beautiful movie to watch.

3. Fantastical realism
Anderson's movies aren't realistic, but they manage to capture reality better than most other movies. His movies have a slight fantasy element to them. For example, The Royal Tenenbaums is set in a vaguely 1960's New York, but it is a storybook fairytale image of this. Life Aquatic is probably the best example of this. Zissou is a wild adventurer on a quest of revenge to kill a giant "jaguar shark". However, this zany plot manages to remain relatable to the viewer. Steve's emotions manage to keep the film grounded in some sort of reality.

4. Choice of actors
Wes is a director that works with the same actors over and over. I don't know about you, but I can never get enough of Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, or Bill Murray. He also manages to get amazing performances out of actors he doesn't direct as frequently. For example, I've never seen Ben Stiller pull off anything as impressive as his performance as Chaz Tenenbaum. Darjeeling Limited stands out because Adrien Brody manages to blend in perfectly with the rest of Anderson's standard ensemble (he's actually the best part of the movie). The more people he invites into his cinematic family, the better.

5. Bittersweet motifs
These movies tug at the heartstrings. They are nearly impossible to categorize. They aren't quite funny enough to be called comedies, but they're too funny to be called dramas. He's got his own style of storytelling that delicately balances humor and sadness. There's often something sad about the jokes in his movies and something hilarious about the tragedy. It's hard to describe. He often gets criticized for using the same plot over and over again in his movies. I understand this complaint (most of his movies deal with families, fathers, and some sort of coming of age life change). These themes are even present in his "kids movie", Mr. Fox. This doesn't bother me, though. Each movie gives us a new perspective on the issues that obviously matter to Anderson. This makes his movies seem more like personal pieces of art and expression than Hollywood flicks. It makes them familiar, yet exciting when I watch one for the first time. Like listening to a new album from your favorite band. It's nice to see them try new things while sticking to their roots.

This is a snapshot of what I like about these fine movies. I didn't even get to mention dialogue! Anyway, I'm counting down the days till Fantastic Mr. Fox comes out on DVD so I can watch it over and over again. To end, here is how I would probably rank Anderson's movies:

1. Rushmore
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
4. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. The Darjeeling Limited
6. Bottle Rocket (it's been a few years and I've only seen this once. I should give it another shot)

Happy Valentine's Day, Kaylen Hoffman

2010-02-13T00:32:00.001-06:00

I said on my first blog post that I intend to rarely post about my personal life. I've done a decent job of this, mostly writing about history, musicians, or movies. These are the things I fill my life with. I've always sort of been the kind of person who is defined by my taste and hobbies. However, there is something with a little more substance that makes me who I am: Kaylen Leigh Hoffman (my fiance).

I promise not to get overly mushy here (which I tend to do when talking about Kaylen), I just want to make a few comments about this lovely girl and why I have decided to make her my wife (taking away her much catchier last name). To sum it up: Kay is rad. She's the bee's knees. She is the peanut butter to my jelly. To quote a great philosopher, Kaylen and I are "like peas and carrots" (thank you, Mr. Gump).

Here's a little snapshot of why I first fell in love with this girl. We met working at the college radio station. She reviewed albums and concerts for a local magazine. Our first semi-date was watching Plan 9 From Outer Space. By the time we started dating, we had already made each other two mix CD's. Our first official date was to a diner and a Michel Gondry movie. At dinner, she ordered pancakes and french fries. I believe it was that night at City Diner that I confessed to her that she was "the sort of quirky girl I'd always wanted to date". This is still true.

Kaylen is my hero for a few reasons. First of all, she puts up with me. I'm not the easiest guy to spend a lot of time with. I'm an annoying know-it-all with an excess of obsessive hobbies. One thing I love is how open she is to my interests, even when they are not anything she would ever be into on her own. For example, since we have been together (over 3 years!), she has started playing video games, reading comics, and enjoying science fiction movies (I think she wants to put in the Star Trek DVD more often than I do). She has completely immersed herself in my little world, which is great. I've always wanted someone to share it with. Now, there is always give and take. Sure, I now love Project Runway and have seen an insane amount of Gossip Girl and Sex and the City. I have been to more craft fairs and thrift stores in the past 3 years than I ever had in the first 20 years of my life. This is how relationships work.

One thing I love, though, is that we are different. We don't have to like all the same things or do everything together. For example: Kaylen does not participate in my nerdy board game nights, nor does she have any interest in seeing Avatar or Wolfman. I don't read her crafting/home decorating magazines. I have a very chilled out personality. Kaylen is passionate about everything. I brush things off my shoulder easily and she gets mad easily. This leads to some occasionally humorous situations/conversations. We somehow manage to compliment each other well. Just different enough to keep things constantly interesting.

There is a lot that I admire about Kaylen. First of all, she manages her time way better than I do. She reads a book a week, constantly creates new exciting craft projects, watches tv, goes to class, plans our wedding, manages a widely read (and frequently updated) blog, and works with little kids. She is constantly trying to improve herself, making ambitious goals for her present life and her exciting future.

This brings me to one of Kay's best qualities. She is restless. I'll explain what I mean. Some people (like myself), tend to be satisfied with the status quo. Kaylen wants adventure. She wants change. She wants to see new places, have new experiences, and meet new people. I think it frustrates her at times that I am so content just living in an apartment in St. Louis. If it was her choice, we'd be living on a coast in a big city.

I could go on and on about other wonderful things: gift giving abilities (I've received banjo lessons, Monty Python's Flying Circus, a Star Wars pop up book, and a homemade book of love), smoking hot looks (just check out these pictures), care free attitude, wonderful style, passion, sense of humor, taste (she got me into David Bowie, the Polyphonic Spree, and Regina Spektor), empathy, magnetic personality... She is my best friend and she is what makes St. Louis feel like home.

Why am I marrying her? To quote the greatest TV show of all time: "Gotta lock that down".

Banjo Hero #4- Sufjan Stevens

2010-02-10T22:26:00.002-06:00

Ok, let's be honest here for a second. Sufjan Stevens is the number one reason that I became interested in the banjo. Seriously. He was one of the first of my wave of "indie" artists I got into my freshman year of college. I have seen him live 3 times and he is, to this day, one of my absolute favorite musicians (I still consider the Mississippi Nights concert from 2005 one of the greatest concert experiences of my life). Two of his albums are all time favorites (Seven Swans and Illinois). He is a brilliant songwriter and an intriguing human being. He is well known for playing a wide variety of instruments for his semi-orchestral albums (guitar, piano, accordion, glockenspiel, etc.). However, the instrument he is best known for playing is the banjo.

This man is amazing. His use of the banjo something I can relate to. He doesn't seem to care much for technically proficient finger picking style. He's not a virtuoso by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, his banjo playing is very similar to his guitar playing: gentle strums or simple plucking of the strings. He seems to use the banjo as a melancholy voice. It's funny, most musicians play the banjo for happy little ditties or complex arrangements. Sufjan makes it into the perfect background for a bittersweet tune about going to Decatur.

Most of my favorite Sufjan songs are banjo songs. "Transfiguration", "Mistress Witch From McClure", "For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti", and "Decatur". These are some of the songs I play most frequently on the banjo. He makes me feel better when I get frustrated with the instrument. It's ok if I can't lay down a Scruggs style jig. It's fine that I'll never be able to play with the precision of Bela Fleck. All that matters is that I'm playing something I care about. It's a wonderful feeling.

On a side note, Sufjan seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Sure, I saw him do a small gig back in September of 09, but he hasn't released a proper album since 2005. I fear he will be come the next Jeff Mangum.

Tostig- The Forgotten Godwinson (A Fascinating Historical Footnote)

2010-02-09T19:39:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since my last annoying historical ramble. What's the occasion for tonight's musings? Well, I just finished David Howarth's 1066: The Year of the Conquest, a narrative of the events of the year 1066 (the most bananas year in medieval history). Here's the short of it: Edward the Confessor (king of England) died. A while ago, he had promised England to William of Normandy. On his death bed, he decided to give his kingdom to an English noble, Harold Godwinson. William got mad and invaded. Due to a lot of luck, William invaded a few days after another unrelated invasion of England; leaving Harold in a tough spot. William won at Hastings. England was conquered and its culture changed (mostly). It was important.

The book was great and did a good job at combining various primary source accounts of the year into a cohesive story. My only complaint is that Howarth is very biased in favor of Harold Godwinson. The whole book seems to be defending the guy. This is fair, though, because most history from the time was propaganda by Norman writers who would give the opposite bias. I guess Howarth decided it was important to even out the hundreds of years of slander against Godwinson with a more sensible history. I can't be too upset about this beause, amongst the bias, is a very vivid telling of one of the most interesting periods of history.

Through the story, though, I found one story arc most interesting. It wasn't Hastings or the death of Edward. I wasn't pulled by the stories of Harold or William. The best part of the story is a mostly forgotten and unrecorded one: that of Tostig Godwinson, Harold's brother. Tostig is responsible for one of the coolest battles in history, the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, a short time before Hastings. What makes Tostig's saga so interesting? Three things: his tragic life story and journey, his character, and his relationship with the vikings. Yeah, I said it. Vikings.

Tostig had been the Earl of Northumbria under the reign of Edward the confessor. He was a young rising star in English politics, from a noble family with great connections. There is a gap here that we know little about. Something changed in Tostig and his reign in Northumbria became ruthless and he soon had a rebellion on his hands. It was his own brother, Harold, who was sent by Edward to deal with the situation. For some reason, Harold sided with the rebels and Tostig was banished. The outlawed noble was not invited back into the country when his own brother became king. He was understandably upset.

Tostig then went all over Europe, looking for allies so that he could seek revenge against the brother who had wronged him. He was denied in Normandy and Denmark. On a whim, he sailed to Norway. There he met with Harald Hardrada, a ruthless viking berserker king. Promising to give the English crown to Harald if he helped to reclaim his rightful land of Northumbria, Tostig gained the support of the vikings.

Together they attacked Northern England, easily taking York and anticipating an easy surrender. It was here that Harold Godwinson led a full attack at Stamford Bridge. Before the battle, though, we have an interesting moment. Obviously saddened by the state he had left his brother in, Harold promised to give 1/3 of his kingdom to Tostig if he promised to surrender. This was too good to pass up. Tostig, however, was concerned for the well being of his new ally, Hardrada. Why he asks his brother what will happen to the vikings if he surrenders, Harold replies that he will kill Hardrada. Torn by this predicament, Tostig turns down his brother's offer to make a last stand with Hardrada who had been so kind and helpful. Tostig wanted to retain his honor, still seeking revenge against his brother.

Up to this point I sort of assumed that Tostig was just some annoying spoiled brat. If this was the case, though, he would have taken Harold's offer. This act is what makes me think Tostig is someone worth studying, a story worth telling. If he had been an wicked tyrant in Northumbria, maybe his humbling time spent traveling Europe as an outlaw had changed him. On the other had, he may have been so full of rage towards his brother that he would rather swing an axe in his face than shake his hand. Maybe he spent too much time with the vikings. Either way, this dude is interesting. The lack of known facts about him makes his story even more captivating.

I won't go into the details of the fantastic Battle of Stamford Bridge. It involved berserk vikings, heroic Englishmen, and an arrow to the throat of Harald Hardrada. Tostig died waving the viking banner, fighting his brother to the death. I think it is my duty to write some sort of historical fiction about Tostig's life. It seems that he made some really bad choices as a young earl, which ruined the rest of his life. He saw Harold as an evil brother. Thinking that England was rightfully his, he manages to gain the support of an unlikely group, the bloodthirsty vikings. His relationship with Harald Hardrada deserves some fictionalized development. The whole story should build up to Tostig refusing to make peace with his brother in order to stay true to Hardrada, who had never betrayed him the way his brother had. It would be a great Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sort of play off of the story of 1066. I think Tostig is sort of a tragic hero who deserves more attention. It could be argued that it was his fault that Harold was unprepared for his battle against William the Conqueror. Though he is often little more than a side character in the life of Harold Godwinson, I would argue that his story is more of an epic personal journey.

Stay tuned for some creative historical writing from myself. I'm thinking about writing it in the form of an epic poem. Maybe "The Saga of Tostig" or something. I'll let you know if I decide to actually do this.

Power Metal- My First Musical Love

2010-02-07T00:32:00.001-06:00

Growing up, I was never all that into music. Sure, I liked listening to my mom's big band tapes and the "oldies" station. I was raised in Southern Illinois/Southeast Missouri. This is prime country music territory. I remember enjoying artists like Garth Brooks when I was in grade school. Also, growing up as a nerdy little white guy, Weird Al Yankovic was sort of my hero. My friends all listened to crap like Limp Bizkit and Korn in grade school, which I jsut couldnt get into.

Today, I mostly listen to indie rock. This is largely due to my late high school infatuation with They Might Be Giants and Ben Folds. Before my my TMBG (Sophomore year), jam band (Junior year), and classic rock (Senior year) phases, there was one musical style that dominated my freshman year: POWER METAL.

For those unfamiliar with this genre (which is HUGE in Germany and Japan), power metal is the nerdiest music in existence. This is music made by D&D nerds who listened to too much Black Sabbath when they started pumping iron in college. The genre is sometimes referred to as symphonic metal. My high school friends were way into Metallica and other heavy metal bands. I preferred the "power" sub genre for a few reasons: the melodies were catchier, the music was less thrashy, and the lyrics were geeky. It was nice that the vocalists actually sang rather than growl or scream. Just look at the album covers I put in this post. This was music made just for me.

My favorite band for over a year was Blind Guardian. This was a German group who were ridiculously awesome. Their music was a mixture of medieval ballads and thunderous guitars. Songs like "The Bard's Song" were great acoustic numbers that contrasted well with the grand anthems of songs like "Somewhere Far Beyond". They write songs about Arthurian Legend, Dragonlance, and Tolkien books (they wrote a whole album about The Silmarilian!). I really regret that my 14 year old self was never able to see these krauts live.

I was into other metal bands too (just not as obsessed as BG). Rhapsody (an Italian band) was probably the cheesiest of the metal bands. Symphony of the Enchanted Lands was a cornball fantasy epic that I just loved. Kamelot wrote a metal rock opera called Epica, which was really beautiful, even though I don't really know what the story was (something about selling a soul to the devil I think).

I don't regret this side of my taste. Honestly, I understand why I loved this music so much. There are a lot of common features between power metal and the things I enjoy today. These metal singers told fantasy stories with their music. It's like folk music with a lot of distortion. Bands I love like The Decemberists and Owen Pallett tell stories with their songs that would be work perfectly as a Blind Guardian song. I think this is the music for someone who is not afraid to like corny things. I mean, I still read fantasy books, love comics, and watch cartoons. There was an epic quality to this music that I kind of miss. Why would I not like a group of Europeans who sing songs about mythology?

Writing this post has given me the desire to give metal another shot. Power metal band Iced Earth (who I was only briefly into) did an album called The Glorious Burden, which is all about military history. I should check this out. Also, I just did a google search for "viking metal"... Kaylen is going to hate me.

Haikus About Movies I've Recently Watched

2010-02-04T22:37:00.001-06:00

Without realizing it, I have watched four movies this week. None of them blew me away (Zombieland and In the Loop were the most enjoyable) and I had seen one before (the "meh" Troy). I was going to do big reviews for each movie, but I tend to get long winded with such things. Instead, here are some poems that sum up my impressions of each flick.

In The Loop

Dry British humor

Politics sad and funny

Oh "Willy Banjo"

Paper Heart

Quirky indie flick

Cute, but not satisfying

What is real and not?

Zombieland

Fun Rom-Zom-Com

A lesser Shaun of the Dead

I love Bill Murray

Troy

Soulless Iliad

Is this film underrated?

I say it's "ok"

Game Night- Risk Godstorm

2010-01-30T23:21:00.001-06:00

My friends and I like to get together every few weeks to play board games. Depending on whether or not girlfriends want to play, we often play complicated nerdy games (like Munchkin). This week was the inagural game of my new version of Risk, a game which we frequently play in one form or another (original, Lord of the Rings, etc.).

Godstorm Risk takes the base game and mixes in a mythology element. Players choose from playing the pantheons of Norse, Celtic, Greek. Egyptian, and Mesopotamian gods. The whole theme of the game is very well done. The map is composed of the "known world" of antiquity (Europe, Western Asia, Northern Africa). Also, Atlantis is thrown in as a bonus continent. The board is butifully done and the soldiers with spears are a nice touch. The overall presentation was very impressive.

This is an entirely different game from Risk. The object is to acquire continents and combat is done with attackers and defenders rolling dice. That is where the similarities end. Players gain both armies AND faith tokens at the beginning of each turn. These are used to summon gods (which have special powers) and to perform miracles (which do crazy things like sinking the Atlantis continent). The coolest feature is that, when soldiers die, they are not really dead. They instead go to the underworld and battle it out there.

Overall, the game was a blast. We all had a little bit of trouble adjusting to the rules. Every turn has 10 steps to it. There were 5 of us. The game is limited to 5 turns a piece. Even with the rules that shorten the game, we played for 4 hours. It was messy, chaotic, and full of malice (appropriate for a bunch of pagan religious fantatics battling for world domination). My only real complaint is that we never had enough faith tokens to do as many cool things as you would think. I would love to play this game again, now that we all know the rules. It would probably be better with 3 people instead of 5, making things less messy.

Even though I lost horribly, I had a great time. We also drank some stout beer and played music, singing obnoxiously loud (a wicked guitar, ukulele, banjo trio). Also, we ordered Blackthorn pizza and Kaylen made peanut butter chocolate cupcakes. Hopefully we'll get together soon to play Jason's Zombies!!! game.

Comic Review- Northlanders #17

2010-01-26T23:31:00.000-06:00

Yes, another post about comic books. Sorry. Reading the Unwritten really put me in the mood to look at some comics.

Nowadays, most comics series are made up of long story arcs that span anywhere from 5-12 issues (or endlessly in some cases). This makes it all the more special when a single issue of a self contained story is successful. Sometimes, the single comic book of 24 pages can convey more emotion and depth than a 250 page graphic novel. These are times when a writer/artist team really capture the entire potential of the comics medium. Northlanders #17 (my favorite single issue of 2009) is one of these awesome issues.

Northlanders is a great, unique comic series. Writer Brian Wood, whose other work includes slice of life dramas and futuristic urban warfare, has made a great Vertigo book about vikings. There is no overarching story or cast of characters for the series. Instead, we get short looks at dramas that last anywhere from 1 to 8 issues. This is the perfect combination of history and graphic storytelling. Wood manages to take vikings, a group often seen as inhumane, and brings out relatable characters with realistic emotions. To make a viking comic that focuses on both blood and humanity is no easy task.

Issue 17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat", is the best issue of the series. Here we have Woods showing himself to be both a masterful storyteller and a scholar. The issue partly reads like a reference book on Norse philosophy, military tactics, and politics. This is the type of thing that first attracted me to Northlanders. The characters and emotional insight into history are what keep me coming back over and over.

The story is that there was a feud between two viking lords caused by "too many beers and too many daughters". Because both lords are unable to field armies for a battle, they each choose a champion to represent them in a single battle that will decide who wins the conflict. This was actually a common practice for lords who did not want to loose too many men needlessly (farmers were a scarce commodity). The who issue is a big battle sequence, making it very fun to read. It is as cool and bad-ass as you would expect from a viking story. However, it is the heart of the story that makes me reread it over and over.

The champions are Snorri the Black and Egil Sleggja ("the Sledge-Hammer"). The two characters are introduced as sketches of viking brutality. As the story progresses, we get little tastes of each man's back story, showing both of them to be more tragic than one would expect. Woods uses quotes from actual Norse sagas to illustrate the mentality of the time period. We see how the "champions" are really victims of their feudal lords, who take advantage of their subjects for their own selfish wants. The reader can't help but to feel sorry for these two "barbarians" as they swing their swords and beat each other to a bloody pulp.

Wood is not the only masterful storyteller who plays a role in making this comic fascinating. Each Northlanders story has a different artist (all of them have been fantastic). Most of the art is realistic and gritty, painting a detailed picture of Medieval Scandinavia. This issue features a looser art style by Vasilis Lolos. The muted colors and sketchy figures make the action truly flow.

This issue will be collected in the third Northlanders trade paperback, which comes out in March. This is the only issue I have read from that collection. Can't wait to read more. There should be more comics about the Middle Ages. Perhaps this is my calling in life. Any interested artists?

Comic Review- The Unwritten

2010-01-24T21:58:00.002-06:00

I used to read comics on a monthly basis. When I hit college, this stopped for a few reasons (money, laziness, etc.). I still read a good amount of comics, though, in graphic novel (trade paperback) form. I keep up on monthly titles like Fables, Northlanders, and All Star Superman.

Today, I picked up and devoured the first trade of Vertigo's The Unwritten. This comic is a great play on fantasy literature, especially the Harry Potter series. It really plays with a lot of the same themes as Lev Grossman's The Magicians (which I have already professed my love for on this blog). What is the relationship between fiction and real life?

Here's the premise of the comic: Imagine JK Rowling had a son named Harry who was obviously the inspiration for the character of Harry Potter. Now imagine that, before releasing the seventh Harry Potter book, Rowling disappeared. The Harry Potter community becomes a cult group of superfans who put on conventions constantly. However, who could be the guest of honor at the conventions if JK Rowling is gone? Why, Harry Rowling, of course. Without any of his own effort, Harry Rowling has become a celebrity for being the basis for a beloved fictional wizard. Now imagine the media has discovered that Harry Rowling's past is shady. What if Harry Rowling is not what we think. Little did he know, Harry Rowling is not the inspirational basis for Harry Potter. Harry Rowling is Harry Potter. Harry Rowling is confused and looks for clues about his identity as random fictional characters and secret societies pop in and out of his life.

This is pretty much what's going on in The Unwritten. Tom Taylor is the Harry Rowling I described. I would go more into the plot and specifics, but I won't for two reasons. A) I don't want to spoil it for you. B) Most of the mystery hasn't been explained yet. The writer/artist team of Mike Carey and Peter Gross have created something really special here. Each issue begins with an excerpt from a novel, usually a Tommy Taylor book (though once it was Shelley's Frankenstein). From there, we follow Tom Taylor as he stumbles through his life, looking for what is true and what is fiction (a theme the comic plays with a lot).

This is my new Fables. Though I still love Willingham's series, it has really grown tiresome. It has lost the excitement and intimacy of the first few story arcs. The Unwritten is the best fantasy comic I've read in a while and really reminds me of everything that made me love Fables so much (Willingham even wrote the introduction to the first trade of The Unwritten). It feels like it was almost created especially for English majors. I mean, issue 5 is a fictional account of the life of Rudyard Kipling in relation to Wilson Taylor, the fictional author of the Tommy Taylor series. The series includes a long analysis of the work of Mary Shelley and the purpose of horror literature.

I can't wait to reread this first trade over and over until volume 2 comes out. Vertigo is really my go-to publisher these days. Stay tuned for a nerd-rambling post about Northlanders.

Also: Yuko Shimizu's covers for this series are almost as breathtaking as James Jean's fantastic work for Fables.

Munchkin- A Demented Fun Time

2010-01-23T00:23:00.000-06:00

My first post about gaming!

For the past month or two, I have been having more frequent nerd game nights. These often include games of Risk. Recently, though, my friend Jason introduced me to the world of Munchkin. The card game was fun to jump into and sort of addictive to play. I have since grown to really love it.

The game started off as a spoof on Dungeons and Dragons. A 'munchkin' is a gaming term for someone who wants to 'win' a non-competitive role playing game by killing every monster and stealing as much treasure as possible. This is what the whole game of Munchkin is based off of. Each play is trying to pull some tricky political maneuvering to be the first one to get to level 10. This can be done by killing monsters, selling items, or even cheating. It's sort of a grand game of screw your neighbor: geek style.

There are a lot of things that make this game great. First, the style is perfect. The art is cartoony and fun. The text on the cards are full of super awesome nerd in-jokes. Cards like "Whine To The Dungeon Master" or "Quote Obscure Rule" give you an instant level up. Monsters include "Stoned Golem", "Pukachu", and the "Wight Brothers". Hilarious stuff.

Also, the game allows for some real creativity to work within the rules. There is a framework set that makes sure things don't get out of hand. It allows for deals to be made between players and for cards to be interpreted in many ways.

Overall, this is a fun game that rewards critical thinking and jerky behavior. The game has several expansions (I have played the Cthulu version as well as the spy themed "Munchkin Impossible"). It also allows for the various versions to be mixed together into one crazy game. Now I just need to make a trip to Fantasy Shop to pick up some more expansions.

The next big game I want to purchase:

Artist Appreciation- Gustave Doré

2010-01-18T15:30:00.004-06:00

I have decided to do another recurring blog series (in addition to the "banjo hero" segments). I'm going to do some posts about artists I like. This will include comic book artists, painters, illustrators, etc. The posts will be very image heavy, but that's the point of these anyway. These will most likely come sporadically. Anyway, here goes:

Our first artist is a guy I got into while researching for my Crusades class. Gustave Doré, a 19th Century French illustrator, had done a series of engravings (his preferred method) on the crusades. I was blown away by them. They so perfectly captured the romantic perspective on the middle ages that I loved so much. The managed to show exactly what was in my mind when I was devouring crusades history, seeming to share the same chivalric images of knights and heroes.

After doing some more research on Doré, I found that he was commissioned to illustrate many famous works of literature, including Paradise Lost, Don Quixote, The Raven, The Divine Comedy, and even The Bible. His style reminds me of the epic paintings of the Renaissance. He's sort of a latecomer to the whole Romantic period, but I can see the influence there as well. His work brims with grand emotion. Its no surprise that his work is mostly in illustrating novels. His pictures tell stories. He seems to pick the perfect image to portray a character or scene. Capable of creating both works that are dark and mysterious as well as others that are quaint and brimming with fantasy.

I'd love to get some large prints of his crusades work for my classroom someday. He has become a favorite of mine. Too bad he died before he could illustrate some Tolkein. He would have been perfect.

Without any further ado, some of my favorites:

Entry of the Crusaders Into Constantinople

Click here to look at more great illustrations!

Godfrey Enters Jerusalem

Crusaders Surrounded By Saladin's Army

From Don Quixote

From Paradise Lost

The Sermon on the Mount

From The Raven

Well, that's enough for today. I recommend looking at the rest of Doré's stuff. Stay tuned for more pretty pictures another time.

My Golden Globe Picks

2010-01-17T10:02:00.002-06:00

Tonight I will watch the Golden Globes (the trashier cousin of the Oscars). I'm really looking forward to a night hosted by Ricky Gervais, one of the funniest men on the planet. I saw a decent amount of movies this year. The big award frontrunners that I didn't make it to: Avatar and the Hurt Locker. I love making ballots for awards shows, though. It's like my version of NCAA brackets. Here are my picks for tonight's awards show. This is a combination of personal opinions and straight predictions.

Best Motion Picture Drama- Up In The Air
Best Actress in a Drama- Carey Mulligan
Best Actor in a Drama- George Clooney
Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical- (500) Days of Summer
Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical- Meryl Streep
Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical- Joseph Gordon Levitt
Best Supporting Actress- Anna Kendrick
Best Supporting Actor- Christoph Waltz
Best Animated Film- The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Foreign Film- The White Ribbon
Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow
Best Screenplay- Up In The Air
Best Original Score- Where the Wild Things Are
Best Original Song- "Cinema Italiano"- Nine

(I don't watch much tv, so these are based mostly on what I read on the internet)

Best TV Drama- Dexter
Best Actress TV Drama- January Jones
Best Actor TV Drama- Jon Hamm
Best TV Comedy- 30 Rock
Best Actress TV Comedy- Tina Fey
Best Actor TV Comedy- Alec Baldwin
Best TV Movie/Mini-Series- Grey Gardens
Best Actress TV Movie/Mini- Drew Barrymore
Best Actor TV Movie/Mini- Jeremy Irons
Best Supporting Actress TV- Jane Lynch
Best Supporting Actor TV- John Lithgow

There you have it. I'll report back with my score after tonight.

Update Edit 11pm: Didn't do too well with the picks tonight and overall disappointed with the resulting winners. I picked 8 winners. Terrible. I'm glad that at least Reitman and Waltz walked away with awards.

Banjo Hero #3- Steve Martin

2010-01-16T23:44:00.000-06:00

For some reason, it doesn't seem far fetched for a comedian to play banjo. I mean, its not really an
instrument for people who take themselves too seriously. An instrument stereotypically for toothless hillbillies is perfect for someone trying to be funny. Steve Martin figured this out a long time ago.

However, it would be unwise to dismiss Martin as a novelty musician. Anyone who has listened to his album The Crow knows that he is a talented composer for the banjo and has incredible fingerpicking skills. Seriously, this guy can play bluegrass banjo as well as anyone I've listened to. His album of original songs mostly consists of instrumentals, mostly bluegrassy, but some that sound sort of celtic. Two songs feature guest vocals, but the highlight features Steve himself singing. "Late For School" is exactly what you would expect from a Steve Martin banjo album. The instrumentation is fun and the banjo playing is impeccable. The lyrics, though, are and entertaining romp through the mind of a kid who missed the bus because he slept in. I can't listen to the song without grinning from ear to ear.

I've been watching movies starring Steve Martin for a long time. I've always though he was funny (way better than Chevy Chase). Now, though, my respect for him has gone to another level. I am dying to see him play live. He shows that sometimes even comedians should be taken seriously (especially when they can rock a banjo).

Movie Review- The Lion In Winter (1968)

2010-01-16T00:33:00.001-06:00

As I said in a previous post, I have become very interested in all things relating to the Plantagenet family. The led me to order a copy of Frank McLynn's Richard and John (which has been added to the huge to-read list). Watching Becket, I was really impressed with the performance of Peter O'Toole as Henry II. He was so full of energy and melodramatic passion-- highly entertaining and captivating.

I saw that, a few years later, O'Toole reprised his role as King Henry for an adaptation of The Lion In Winter. I Netflixed (is that a verb?) this and was honestly blown away. I haven't been this impressed with a movie in a while. It may be the best movie on the Middle Ages that I've seen. Though it may not be entirely historically accurate (condensing decades of politically charged events into a short time span), it perfectly captures the spirit of the times and represents a feasible portrayal of medieval royalty.

There is so much to like about this movie, I don't know where to start. The production (costumes, set, etc) was wonderfully understated and pretty fitting. The screenplay was fantastic. Every actor brought their A-game to this flick. O'Toole stole every scene in Becket, but his ensemble in this movie gave him more to work against, especially the Oscar winning performance by Katharine Hepburn. Young performances from Timothy Dalton (as the French king Philip) and Anthony Hopkins (as Richard) were very solid.

The greatest part of this movie was how fleshed out the characters were. This made all the political scheming and plotting so interesting and so much fun to watch. John (who was played by the guy who was Arthur in Excalibur) was a sniveling, pimple faced weenie. Geoffrey was a stone cold politician without any feelings or emotion to show. Richard, often considered to be the paragon of chivalry, was exposed here as a vulnerable man. The movie show his alleged homosexuality (something heavily debated amongst scholars).

I really enjoyed that this really acted as a typical "dysfunctional family home for the holidays" movie. All the elements were there: everyone comes home for Christmas, they hate each other, they make nice for a little while, and slowly pick at each other until people really feel hurt. This was especially true for Henry and Eleanor. Their broken marriage was the source of a fun game of cat and mouse that ranged from a giddy romp to a depressing affair. These two were played perfectly by the film's stars, who managed to capture the multi-layered emotions and agendas at work.

Overall, this movie did a great job at showing the relationship between the 12th century English royal family. It managed to be clever, funny, exciting, and deeply moving. A true classic. I think I may try to make this the "Christmas movie" I watch every December. Maybe I'll even use it in my classroom (too bad my students would hate it... no sexy vampires or anything).

I Finished A Book!

2010-01-12T23:32:00.003-06:00

This title makes it sound like a rarely finish books. In the past, that would be a true statement. I used to seldom read book and, after starting one, I often stopped reading before finishing it. This includes some books that I need to go back an finish sometime (I still have my book mark 3/4 of the way through Kavalier and Clay). This all changed at the beginning of this school year. I read a whole novel in three days, Lev Grossman's wonderful modern fantasy The Magicians (which will probably get its own blog post later). This book was so good that it left me craving more intelligent literary fantasynovels. Since September, I have also read Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind (so good) and a few Narnia books. It was great to jump back into fantasy, which has always been my favorite type of literature.

Recently, though, I have decided to take my historical studies more seriously by reading books that relate to the middle ages. I read a book of Norse myths (nobody has myths as cool as the vikings) and Asbridge's First Crusade, which I mentioned in a previous post. The book I just finished was really fantastic: Jonathan Phillips' The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. This book dramatically tells to story of the most notorious crusade, which amazingly saw the crusaders turn their swords against fellow Christians.

This was my kind of history book. Combining various first hand accounts of the crusade, Phillips created a wonderfully detailed narrative of the events that led to the crusaders attacking the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. Like Asbridge's book, the things that kept me interested were the exciting accounts of battles and legends as well as the wonderful personalities that populated the story (especially Enrico Dandolo, the old blind doge of Venice who was an all around bad ass). The thing I really appreciated about this book is that Phillips managed to remain fairly unbiased on such a controversial issue. He refused to paint the crusaders as merely greedy barbarians, always looking for their personal justifications for their actions. The book was a great combination of colorful images and vignettes, larger than life stories, and magnificent scholarship. I'm really excited because, this February, I will be seeing the book's author speak at SLU's crusades conference (prepare for an obnoxious blog post after this conference).

I plan on continuing my historical studies this semester. For Christmas, I got Howarth's 1066: The Year of the Conquest. I promised Kaylen I would read the first Benedict Society book first, but 1066, is next on the list. I can't wait to jump into the year that gave us some of the most hardcore battles of the Middle Ages: Stamford Bridge and Hastings.

I also plan on reading Tom Holland's three great looking books: Rubicon, Persian Fire, and The Forge of Christendom (which cover the fall of the Roman Republic, the Persian Wars, and the new millennium in 1000AD). I've heard great stuff about this guy's writing style and I can't wait tor read his stuff. I just ordered Richard and John, a double biography of the two Plantagenet princes. Also, Jonathan Phillips is coming out with a popular history encompassing all of the crusades in March. Also on my reading list, a Fables novel and the new one by Chuck Klosterman.

I hope I can keep my reading streak up this semester. It'll be good practice for grad school.

Banjo Hero #2- Abigail Washburn

2010-01-10T20:19:00.001-06:00

I guess I should have said banjo heroine. Oh well.

I first heard about Abigail Washburn when I was reading some list of top recent bluegrass releases. The list featured Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. This quartet is the best combination of instruments ever: cello, violin, and two banjos (one of which is played by a future banjo hero postee, Bela Fleck). I grabbed the album and was treated to an amazing combination of bluegrass, orchestration, and Chinese folk music.

That last one may seem out of place, but it works. Washburn uses traditional Chinese folk motifs in her American roots music. She also sings a few songs in Chinese! Her first album (which does not feature the Sparrow Quartet), Song of the Traveling Daughter, is not quite as strong, but does have some really fantastic songs on it.

I keep going back to her music because it is so unlike anything else I listen to. Her clawhammer banjo playing is gorgeous, something I'd love to be able to do (I'm learning clawhammer style). The instrumentation isn't the only thing that attracts me, though. Abigail has a great voice to go with it. I can't wait to see what she makes in the future.

Watch and be mesmerized:

The Intrigue of the Plantagenets

2010-01-09T23:21:00.001-06:00

The family portrait above is by one of my favorite web comic artists, Kate Beaton, who specializes in clever history comics (I'm envious of her ability to translate history into humorous vingettes). This drawing represents the Plantagenet dynasty of England. From left to right, we have Geoffrey, Henry, Eleanor, Richard, and John (with Thomas Becket bleeding on the floor). This family represents some of the most interesting political intrigue and legendary events in medieval England.

I have been interested in the Plantagenet family for a long time without even knowing it. My first exposure to the family came from Disney's Robin Hood. I love the Robin Hood legends, but never had a historical perspective for the heroics of Robin of Locksley. I know now that the wicked and cowardly Prince John and his absent, crusading brother Richard the Lionheart were real people. Actually, Disney seems to have gotten the thumb sucking brat of a king exactly historically accurate. It's no wonder he ended up losing political power with the forced signing of the Magna Carta. Studying the crusades, I became more acquainted with Richard, the mythic hero of the Third Crusade. He's the closest we have to a real King Arthur, the epitome of the chivalric monarch.

I have been watching Simon Schama's A History of Britain lately (this will earn its own blog post when I finish the epic series). Every episode is a perfectly woven narrative of the deeds of kings. The last episode I watched was all about the Plantagenets, especially the relationship between Henry II and his chancellor/archbishop Thomas Becket. The story was absolutely enthralling. This led me to immediately check out the award winning movie from 1964, Becket. This movie (a bromance really) starred Richard Burton as Thomas and Peter O'Toole as Henry. Though both were good, O'Toole was a scene stealer as the energetic, melodramatic king. The account of Schama differed from the film slightly. The movie (based on a play) had to conveniently condense a long series of tension building events into a shorter story. I actually found Schama's telling to be more touching and dramatic than the film. Also, the murder of Becket was way more gruesome in reality than the movie (which seems to be the reverse of how Hollywood normally works). I guess having his head chopped open would have been a little much.

This family deserves its own TV series more than the Tudors. They're the Sopranos of Norman ruled England. Things became more interesting when Henry was overthrown by his own sons who fought for power. And who could have turned his own children against him? His wife Eleanor of Aquitaine of course! Seriously, he more I read and watch about these people, the more I want to know more. It is personalities like these that make medieval history so interesting. I love it! Next up for me on Netflix: A Lion In Winter.

Banjo Hero #1- Scott Avett

2010-01-08T23:05:00.002-06:00

I'm going to do a series of posts about people who inspire me to become a good banjo player. These are in no particular order, probably just whoever I listened to most recently.

I'm not sure why I started listening to the Avett Brothers. I remember seeing their CD at KSLU in college, but never giving it a listen. For some reason, this past summer I randomly listened to their album Emotionalism. I instantly fell in love. This was exactly the kind of music I needed after my bluegrass kick from that spring. This was the perfect bridge between my two preferred musical genres: bluegrass and indie rock. It's not easy to classify this band. They don't really operate within the usual rules for any particular style. At times they are strictly country. At other times, it seems like they're trying to play rap-metal on a banjo. The thing I really appreciate about the Avett Brothers, though, are their poppy hook, emotional sincerity, and incredible energy.

I have never seen the Avett Brothers live, but they are at the top of my "must see" list. This is mostly because every video I have seen of Scott Avett playing banjo and singing has given me the chills. The thing that really inspires me about his playing is the passion and untamed recklessness he puts into every song. Sometimes, he's picking standard Scruggs style patterns. At his best, though, he's just strumming wildly without any rhyme or reason. This may sound like a nightmare to listen to, but with the rest of the band going along with the insanity, it works magically. Also, he plays a kick drum while rocking the banjo.

I appreciate that Scott doesn't seem bogged down in the technical aspects or traditional limits of the banjo. He just plays what he's feeling. That's something I aspire to (though I'll have to become more articulate with my fingers first).

picture from http://www.jambase.com/Articles/13860/MerleFest-04.24-04.27-NC/0

On Travel and Adventure

2010-01-08T20:25:00.000-06:00

I'm a pretty sedentary person. I live in St. Louis and grew up 2.5 hours from here. I don't tend to really go anywhere. Well, I guess that's not exactly true I guess.

The summer my dad broke his neck, Steve and I visited our uncle in Milwaukee. While we were in high school, went with friends from Ondessonk one summer on a random trip to Memphis (a pilgrimage to Graceland). I've also been to Chicago a lot. Kay and I go to concerts and visit her family. We also went to Kansas City one weekend. These are all minor treks, six hour drive maximum.

When I was a kid, we took a big family trip to Disney World in 1995. I remember a long car ride and not much else. When we were in college, Steve and I took the biggest road trip I've ever driven: we went to Washington DC for Spring Break.

I have been out of the country once. In high school, my brother, mom, great uncle, and friend went with a school trip to Australia and New Zealand. This was especially exciting because it was in the midst of my Lord of the Rings craze. I had never been on a plane before. All of a sudden, I was flying around the world. This trip was great. We went to beaches, the outback, and a place with bubbling mud. I ate kangaroo. It all ended with a surreal seafood dinner overlooking Sydney Harbor.

Aside from these travels, I have been stationed firmly in the Midwest. I have never been west of Kansas (except for the LA airport). I have recently been craving an adventure, though. This could be a result of watching Michael Palin travel documentaries. Kaylen and I watched his Around the World in 80 Days series. He attempts to go (by the same route as the novel of the same name) around the world without using an airplane. Experiencing this circumnavigation by train and boat is a great thing to watch. I thirst for this kind of an adventure.

I love long road trips. This is why Kaylen and I are adventuring for our honeymoon. We are hitting the road for two weeks for the American West (just like pioneers). We're hopping from Albuquerque to the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas to Los Angeles to San Francisco. From there, we head back to St. Louis. We could have easily take a plane to our final destination of San Francisco, but that would take away from the voyage. I think the drive will be just as enjoyable for us as the beach time. We'll have an incredible view of America and have the best conversations. We're grabbing some books on tape and This American Life podcasts to supplement the mix CDs for road entertainment. We plan to partake in nature, food, monuments, history, and art.

Kaylen and I being who we are, though, we are already contemplating our next adventure. Neither of us has been to Europe before. We decided that, once we have enough money, we will each pick a city and make a jaunt out of it. We want to really get a feel for a few locations rather than do a massive, impersonal tour. Kaylen's choice: Paris. My choice: London. This is probably 2-3 years down the road or so. I'm already imagining going to Westmister Abbey, stopping by the site of the Battle of Hastings, and checking out the Bayeux Tapestry.

I can't wait for the first blog post after my honeymoon. Be prepared for an amateur travel documentary.

Medieval Romanticism and the Siege of Antioch

2010-01-05T21:55:00.004-06:00

Time for me to nerd out and rant about history. This will be long winded. My deepest apologies.

I have always been interested in the middle ages. Ever since I was a kid, I loved stories of chivalric knights, damsels in distress, and heroic battles. Medieval Europe seemed like a fantasy world to me. I wanted to know more about the times of Robin Hood and King Arthur. This is part of what made me want to major in history in college. Sure, I liked learning about the American Civil War and the Roman Empire, but my real desire was to learn more about medieval history. Because I was also majoring in education I was unable to achieve SLU's Medieval and Renaissance Studies certificate.

My thirst to learn about the Middle Ages was quenched in my favorite class I've ever taken: the Crusades. This class was taught by Dr. Nicholas Paul. He was everything I always wanted in a history teacher: excited, nerdy, and incredibly knowledgeable. I looked forward to going to his class and even wrote a crusading ballad for extra credit (my first and only foray into songwriting). Everything we learned was fascinating to me. At the end of this class, I wrote a 12 page research paper on the most interesting battle I have ever learned about: the seige of Antioch during the First Crusade.

This paper has come back into my life recently. Now that I am a teacher, I decided to take my professional interest in history more seriously. I have tried to start reading more history books in my free time so that I may some day become the kind of encyclopedic history teacher I always wished I had in high school. I grabbed books on my two favorite subjects: vikings and the crusades. The best book I've read recently was Thomas Asbridge's The First Crusade: A New History. This was the kind of book I want to write some day. I love narrative history. I love telling stories and reading the works of great raconteurs (one of my GRE words!). The scholarly history book plays out like an exciting novel, full of details that made it impossible to put down.

The highlight of the book, of course, was the siege of Antioch. This made me pull out my old paper and read over it. It turned out I had used Asbridge's book to write this paper. (Seeing this made me proud. I read a book for pleasure that I had previously used as reference.) I am now applying to graduate school to study medieval history. I am required to submit a writing sample as a part of my application. I have chosen to revise and tweak my old paper on Antioch. Working on it now is really fun and is reminding me what makes this event stand out for me.

This single battle is the epitome of everything I love about the middle ages. It is full of heroic deeds, larger than life personalities, and legendary miracles. The First Crusade is an incredible story that saw thousands of would-be pilgrims travel to the Holy Land with the intention of taking Jerusalem from the Turks. Antioch was an important city they needed to capture on their way to Jerusalem. This was a long, hard battle against a seemingly impenetrable city. Bohemond of Taranto was the real hero of this campaign. While foraging for food to feed the starving army, he was ambushed by a Turkish army. Bohemond's 400 men were able to defeat an army of thousands. Also, he ended up taking over the city by having a Muslim traitor lower a ladder from a window in a tower. It's hard to imagine things like this happening outside of fairytale storybooks.

The really interesting part about this battle is that all of the first hand accounts of the battle record miracles happening. This was a time period in which most people believed in the holy power of relics and the intervention of God and saints into the daily lives of people. The monks on the crusade had visions of their recently deceased spiritual leader, Adhemar of Le Puy, and St. Andrew. Also, a monk discovered what was supposedly the Holy Lance that pierced the side of Christ. This relic invigorated the demoralized Christians and motivated them to charge into a battle in which they were unbelievably outnumbered. Every eye witness to this battle recorded seeing the spirits of saints actually participate in the battle, giving the victory to the crusade army.

My image of this seige comes right from two scenes from Lord of the Rings. I imagine the Battle of Helm's Deep from Peter Jackson's Two Towers movie. Aragorn and Theodin lead the human army out of the walls of the fortification straight into an unbeatable battle. Then, over the hillside, the shining Gandalf the White leads the Riders of Rohan into battle, leading to a miraculous victory against the orcs. Later, at Pelennor Fields in the Return of the King, Aragorn leads a dead army into battle, overwhelming the forces of Mordor.

These seem identical to the chronicles of the Battle of Antioch. This event is interesting to many historians because they try to prove what really happened before the city walls. They want to look for some sort of explanation for the unlikely victory. This is exactly what I wrote my research paper on. In reality, though, I want to believe in the miracles. I prefer to accept that the crusaders won because the powers of the Holy Lance called on an army of deceased spirits to aid in the battle. This is why I want to study the Middle Ages. I want to see where legend and history collide. Stories are so much more fun when there's an element of the fantastic involved. This was my ideal sort of story from my childhood. I'm excited to dig up more epic sagas like this in my future research.

Best Album of 2010 (so far)

2010-01-03T23:07:00.003-06:00

We are three days into the new year and I'm already declaring an "album of the year". Sure, this moniker will most likely change at some point over the next 365 days. A lot of great bands are releasing albums this year (Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Magnetic Fields, etc.). Right now, though, I can't stop listening to Owen Pallett's Heartland.

I've been listening to Owen Pallett (the artist formerly known as Final Fantasy) since around the release of his second album, the wonderfully titled He Poos Clouds. This was a concept album based on the schools of magic from Dungeons and Dragons. Do you understand why I love this man's music so much? His first album, Has a Good Home, is an all time favorite of mine.

Heartland doesn't come out until January 12th, but it was accidentally leaked by iTunes a week or so ago. It has been in the works for some time. Before seeing Owen in concert in 2006, I interviewed him for my college radio station's music publication. He was incredible in concert and terribly kind during the interview (which is really insightful if you care to read it), adorably meek and open. He mentioned an idea for a concept album he was developing based on a homemade fantasy epic:

"I’ve written basic ideas about it. It’s about a young religious zealot named Lewis; and he prays to the god of his world whose name is Owen Pallett. And, at one point, Owen Pallett prophesizes to Lewis that there are all these things that are going to happen in his life and then Lewis goes out to achieve these things. On the course of him fulfilling his destiny, he winds up killing Owen Pallett and takes over control of the song cycle. So, basically, it’s about a fictional character who takes control of the album. The last two or three songs are gonna be nuts."

This album he was envisioning is Heartland. It is just as strange and fantastical as he described it more than 3 years ago when it was little more than an idea in his head. The album is a great combination of lush orchestration and looped electronic music (two things Owen plays with in his superb live performances). Though I miss the stripped down violin pop of Pallett's debut, this is really his best, most cohesive album to date. It is the work of a mature artist with a vision. The album really has a graceful, dreamlike flow to it. Though I like every song, the highlights include "Heartland Up Yours", "Lewis Takes Action", and "A Tryst With Mephistopheles". The real gem here is "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt". This is a glorious pop song in which soft, fragile vocals combine with a perfect mix of sweeping orchestration and synthesized beat. I could listen to it on repeat for hours. This album is so grand, but still tied to Pallett's unique aesthetic. He played many of them solo when I saw him at the Pitchfork Music Festival this past summer. I'd love to hear them live again now that I have heard the recorded versions. Really, this album is a treat that would have topped my best of 2009 list if it had come out a month earlier.

Here's the best live video of Owen Pallet I've seen. It just happens to be a performance of my new favorite song, "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt". It's a truly epic video, mostly because he's playing in the middle of a ferocious storm.

My Year In Lists

2010-01-03T09:13:00.002-06:00

I love making "top 10" lists. I'm not sure why. Maybe it makes me feel like a professional critic. Maybe I like the idea of organizing my tastes into something concise. The big reason, though, is that I love comparing my lists with someone else's. This makes for great debate and really helps to get an idea about another person. What did they have that I left off? Do they also like what I like? Is that really their number one?

I probably attribute too much importance to such things, but I think a shared taste can be really important for a friendship. In one of my favorite quotes from High Fidelity, Rob muses about a girl:

"I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like... Books, records, films -- these things matter. Call me shallow but it's the truth, and by this measure I was having one of the best dates of my life."

I see where this guy is coming from. It's probably no coincidence that he is also obsessed with translating opinions and personal taste into dogmatic list form.

Year end lists are particularly helpful to me. It's sort of a way to inventory what I did in the past year and see what pieces of pop culture stuck with me. Any, without any further ado, here are some entertainment lists for the grand year of 2009 A.D.

Top 10 Movies of 2009:

10. Up in the Air

9. Sherlock Holmes

8. Away We Go

7. Moon

6. The Brothers Bloom

5. Up

4. Inglourious Basterds

3. The Fantastic Mr Fox

2. An Education

1. Star Trek

Top 10 Albums of 2009:

10. Wilco- Wilco (the album)

9. Various Artists- Dark Was the Night

8. Flight of the Conchords- I Told You I Was Freaky

7. The Decemberists- The Hazards of Love

6. Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca

5. St Vincent- Actor

4. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest

3. Steve Martin- The Crow: New Songs For The 5 String Banjo

2. Camera Obscura- My Maudlin Career

1. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

I was going to write a little paragraph for each item, but who wants to read that? I should probable get to work anyway.

Expect more tedious list posts in the future.

PS- Also, we have recently seen a massive outpouring of "Best of the Decade" lists this year. I did one of these for Kay's blog a few weeks ago.

Introduction: What to Expect

2010-01-02T16:17:00.005-06:00

Hello, internet. Happy New Year.

I've made a few blogs before, but it's been at least 4 years since I had a general personal one. I think I had one my freshman year of college... I did my daily movie blog last summer and burned out on my Narnia blog in the fall. The only bad thing about these blogs (fun though they were) was that I limited myself to a single subject. I enjoy blogging as a thought/writing exercise. I have decided to open my mind to musings on any subject that comes to mind for 2010.

Should you decide to read this chronicle of my life, here's the topic you'll be regularly bombarded with:

History- I love history. It was my college major and I currently teach history at a high school in St. Louis. The main periods that interest me are classical and medieval European history. I have always been fascinated by mythology, mighty warriors, and great battles. I love learning about the larger than life personalities and the impact they make on our world. I am also applying to graduate school at St. Louis University's Medival and Renaissance Studies program. I hope to write extensively about history books that I am reading or any random thoughts relating to history that pop into my mind.

Latin- For my grad school program, I am supposed to be able to read Latin. My big adventure for the semester is to teach myself this wonderful language. I got Latin books for Christmas and I plan to give myself a crash course in the classical tongue. I'll probably have a vocab word with every post.

Movies- I'm an obnoxious know-it-all about a lot of things (one of my least attractive qualities). I'd say I am at my worst, though, when talking about films. I devour movies. I love analyzing them and developing opinions about them. I watched a movie a day last summer (76 movies total). I have a weakness for fantasy/sci-fi epics, but also watch a lot of indie/artsy cinema. Be prepared for long winded posts about the flicks I watch.

Music- I was a college radio DJ at SLU. Since then, music has been a big part of my life. Though I mostly listen to indie rock, I have been developing a taste for folk/bluegrass music. I taught myself ukulele and am working on learning how to play the banjo. Kay gave me a month of banjo lessons for Christmas, so hopefully my banjo posts will become less about my frustrations with the instrument and more about the development of my skills.

Comic books- I don't read as many comics as I used to. My brother and I have been into them since before we could really read well. These days, I pick up the occasionally trade paperback, mostly alternative/indie graphic novels.

Games- I have always been a gamer in some form of another. I used to play your typical nerd games (Magic, D&D, etc). These days, I play my PS2 and DS (mostly RPGs and strategy games). Also, my friends and I occasionally have long game nights in which we play complex board games (mostly Risk or similar games).

Teaching- I'm a teacher. I'll probably write about that from time to time.

Life- This year is going to be a wild one. I don't plan on making my personal life the main focus of this blog, but it will inevitably work its way in there. I'm getting married in July, going on a massive road trip for my honeymoon, and starting grad school. Wish me luck!

WARNING: This blog will most likely be boring.