T.K. Wade -- Author: March 2022

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Fall of the House of Usher [Story Review]

I've been reading a lot of this guy's books lately, but I haven't had the nerve to review any of them. They tend to be overwritten to a point where I dislike them despite the actual story delivered by them. I pretty much decided that I'd only review his stories if I liked them to make sure I was being fair. This is one of them.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story that was written by Edgar Allan Poe. It was published in 1839.

You know, I sometimes wonder what sort of person this Poe fellow really was. His works are pretty consistent so far. I've noticed a repeating theme of a woman coming back from the dead. Is that his fetish?!

Aside from the latter statement, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is actually about the possibility that a house can become sentient. The idea that you are living within a living consciousness is a spooky thing to think about. Although this story is horrendously overwritten, it was easy enough to follow and see where it was going. I liked it.

As to the resurrected female thing, I don't hate that he keeps including it in his stories. He seems to really obsess over the whole idea that you can't entirely get away from some women. And there's always the possibility that it's in the insane mind of the hero. You can never tell. A man's obsession can do strange things.

As an aside, I've noticed through reading his stories that he seems like he is trying very hard to convey one message, but he doesn't ever seem like he's doing a very good job. His solution seems to try and tell the story over and over again until he gets what he wants. Earlier stories seem more like prototypes than anything else. It's an interesting experience. That said, he does overwrite his stuff unnecessarily, and I consider that a weakness.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is worth the read. I do recommend it for its perfectly spooky atmosphere. You can almost hear the horror soundtrack playing while reading this one. Give it a try.

This blog was written on February 16, 2022.

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Monday, March 28, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Corinthians I [Book Review]

"Corinthians I" is the forty-sixth book of the "Holy Bible," and although there are some sources claiming that he had a co-writer, I'm just going to say it was written by Paul himself. I don't like it when people argue over things too much. It makes me just not want to go into it.

This book is very similar to "Romans" in that it is another letter/sermon, this time to the port city of Corinth. Once again, I'll try and be brief about the review. These seem to be direct from the Holy Spirit through Paul. Some of the opinions that come up haven't really had a sibling in the Old Testament, at least not clearly.

Paul talks about marriage in a way that is actually surprising. He does actually endorse it, but he says that living a life without marriage is actually better. This is redundantly explained to a point where it was very clear what was being said. Some people just need each other, but a solitary life dedicated to Christ is much stronger. If you think on it, it's not really necessary for every person to get married. There is a lot of pressure for people to get up with someone in society, and it's honestly wrong to perpetuate that. Some people just want to dedicate themselves to their works. I'm one of them.

There was a heck of a lot in this book about charity. It places it at the very top of priorities in your daily works. You have to help others when you can, and if you don't, there's very little point to even existing. This was, once again, made redundantly clear. It is the Holy Spirit talking; remember that.

There are some very unpopular stuff here that would not be acceptable in the modern day concerning the relationship between man and woman and how they should behave while praying and within a church. Without going too much into it [as I want to keep my blog afloat], keep in mind that this stuff is endorsed by the Holy Spirit and in turn by God himself. If you want to actually bother being accurate about being a Christian, this stuff needs to be acknowledged. I have acknowledged it.

Throughout the book, Paul is extremely humble. He considers him to be the least of the apostles, being that he originally hunted them down. Where he does acknowledge that he did meet Jesus personally, it was after he committed these acts. By the way, I am glad he did acknowledge meeting Jesus because this corelates with what Luke wrote in "Acts."

There was some very interesting stuff concerning Jesus and Adam. Adam is actually blamed for death to begin with, but Jesus is actually the conqueror of death, in that he actually conquered death! And when Jesus returns, death is the last problem he is going to take care of. We won't have to worry about it anymore.

Paul talks about the importance of the resurrection in a very interesting way. He basically makes clear that there is no point to believing in God or anything if the resurrection did not happen. In fact, he says that we ought to just eat, drink, and die. In point of fact, it would not matter if we lived in sin if there was no way to redeem us. Clever writing, Paul.

The way Paul signs his book sounds as if he is not the actual writer, but, once again, I can't figure out who the scribe is, so I just don't care. Paul wrote the book, and I do recommend it. It's got a lot of unpopular stuff in it, but "Corinthians I" is very important and answers a lot of questions that need to be answered. Read it.

This blog was written on February 14, 2022. (Funny day to write about marriage, yeah?)

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Friday, March 25, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Kenny and the Dragon [Book Review]

[Quite a bit of spoilers here since I am familiar with the work this is based on. I have a lot to say about it.]

I don't always know what a book is about until I read it. Sometimes I buy a book for entirely different reasons than for what the story is about. And if you think about it, we can't really know what a book is going to be about until we read it. Even hearing about the story sometimes isn't enough. You can't really know a book until you have taken the time to seriously pour through it, and then, and only then, can you truly know what you have gotten yourself into.

"Kenny and the Dragon" is a book written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, a name I cannot for the life of me pronounce. It was published in 2008. I bought the book entirely for its pristine and wonderful illustrations... and nothing else. I also sort of kept it in my closet for nearly 10 years not actually reading it. I clearly made a mistake.

"Kenny and the Dragon" is an absolute gushing love letter to author Kenneth Grahame, one of the few authors I have read the complete works of. The main character, a rabbit, is named Kenneth and the titular dragon is named Grahame. The story itself is a recreation of "The Reluctant Dragon" which was originally from a book by Kenneth Grahame called "Dream Days." (Short review: It's a wonderful book about the playful and often imaginary lives of children, but "The Reluctant Dragon" chapter is the best part of the whole thing.)

This particular book reinvents the original story to have nothing but animal characters. Kenny replaces the human boy who befriends the calm and friendly dragon. St. George the knight is now a fat badger, who is also the friend of Kenny in this one. As in the original story, the townspeople get into an uproar over the dragon, and plans are made to kill him. A big difference in this story is that Kenny gets torn between his friendships of the dragon and George which makes him very depressed and worrisome through much of the book.

This depressing atmosphere is not more than anyone can bear. In fact, it creates quite the build-up to the famous faux battle between the dragon and George. And this battle is where the story shines so much. The creation and staging of this battle was one of the most vivid and shockingly well-delivered scenes I have ever read outside of a script. There was even musical accompaniment that, although only read about, was very easy to hear within ones noisy imagination. I was THERE!

I have never read a scene like this before. It was magical in its construction. The author somehow managed to strike a killing blow into the heart of my mind and then manipulated it in the manner of his choosing. It was a brilliant scene that I almost feel like I actually saw. All I can say is: Bravo!

"Kenny and the Dragon" does push other stories from Kenneth Grahame. It does mention "The Wind in the Willows" within the narrative as well as "The Reluctant Dragon." The author is really trying to get his readers to give Grahame's books a read, and I agree with this. People should read his books. He's one of my favorite authors of all time.

The book is not without a small criticism. Although the illustrations are superb, you should never depend on them to tell your story. There was one character who was a squirrel, but the narrative never says that. You have only a picture of her to confirm her actual species. I don't like that, but it is really the only problem I had with the book.

There's no reason not to recommend this book. "Kenny and the Dragon" impresses on many levels. The faux battle scene honestly makes the whole thing worth it, in and of itself. Read this book!

This blog was written on February 15, 2022.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Romans [Book Review]

You know what? I really do like Paul. This guy just popped out of nowhere. Nobody expected him. I'm pretty okay with having him write his own books.

"Romans" is the forty-fifth book of the "Holy Bible." It was technically written by Tertius. He was the scribe of Paul, so he was basically writing down everything Paul dictated to him. It's totally okay to see Paul as the true author of this book. Nobody would judge you for it. That said, Tertius probably spent a lot of time correcting much of the grammar issues made by Paul, so his mentioning is still relatively important.

This book was a letter from Paul to the Romans. He was extremely loved in Rome which came out very well in "Acts." So this is mainly a doctrine book, pure and simple. It's very much a sermon, and it almost sounds like something you would hear in a church. It's not bad though. I know how I have lambasted the modern church so much. Nothing about this sermon bothered me.

For one, Paul was really speaking through the Holy Spirit. That was something redundantly explained by Jesus himself. It's something all the apostles experienced. His words matter.

The basic theme that I got from this book is that, although the original laws of God are still held up, the spirit of them are far more important than the paper version of them. Paul is trying to open the minds of his listeners to a better understanding of what the "church" means now that Jesus has happened. He used circumcision several times to explain his point.

You can technically be circumcised without actually being circumcised if you live your life by the laws of God. That said, if someone actually gets circumcised and doesn't follow the law, then what good was the whole operation for to begin with? People spend a lot of time getting stuck on "the rules." The spirit of these things mean more to God than the letter of these laws.

Another message given in this book was the sheer strength you have if you side with Jesus Christ. Being that he is empowered by God Himself, there is nothing that can stand in your way if you truly believe in him. This was already massively correlated in the Old Testament with such characters as David and Joshua. Jesus just makes access to God all the easier.

The book does go into other things, but I'm gonna keep it brief so I can keep going. "Romans" is a good doctrine book, and I do recommend it. It is very clearly written and takes about an hour to read. Paul really is a lovable guy.

This blog was written on February 10, 2022.

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Monday, March 21, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Acts of the Apostles [Book Review]

"Acts of the Apostles" is the forty-fourth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was more than likely written by Luke. The letter was written again to Theophilus and the writing style is extremely similar to that of Luke. And I would also like to say that he is a very good writer, and I find his direct style very relaxing. I would be happy to read anything the man ever wrote.

This is the first post-gospel book in the Bible. Everything here happens after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The world has to contend with that now, and the apostles now take center stage. They were told that there would come a day when the Holy Spirit would enter into them which would drive them to do amazing things in the name of Jesus. This day is referred to as Pentecost.

Now, as this blog is more of a summary of the things that stood out to me about this book, I won't go into every thing that happened. I do want to say however that these apostles went out and performed miracles in a likewise manner as Jesus did, but they did these miracles in His name. And that's the point. Without the advent of Jesus, they would have no power to do anything.

The Jews, namely the Pharisees, gave these men a lot of the same trouble they gave Jesus. They seemed far less cowardly about it this time around. Some of them did not make it. However, the story of "Acts" mainly revolves around two Apostles in particular: Peter and Saul (who is renamed Paul.) I had a little trouble trying to decide who excited me more. Both of these men were clearly under the protection of the angels of God. They would not be allowed to die until their time came. Heck, you couldn't even keep Peter imprisoned. God busted him out as proof that the things he was defending was real. Amazing stuff!

But Paul. Paul! Here was my hero of this particular book. Paul was originally someone who hatefully pursued the apostles. It was actually quite shocking just how angry this man was. Surprisingly, he gets a visit from Jesus himself which places the living Son of God as a character in "Acts." This turns the man named Saul's entire life a complete 180 in the other direction. It must have been amusing to God to have a man who everyone trusted to kill the Apostles to suddenly join them.

Although I am not completely sure, the way this book is written suggests that Luke was there with Paul for much of the way, obviously very inspired by all of these happenings. The story of Paul was extremely interesting and included some varied forms of storytelling that I had yet seen in the Bible thus far. And, yes, I know I am talking mostly about genre and not the more spiritual matters, but I can't help it. I'm a book nut!

With the story of Paul, you get a riveting courtroom drama which spans multiple court proceedings. People are lobbing hateful accusations against him, but the courts are having a little trouble figuring out what Paul has actually done to deserve being sentenced to death. Also the fact that he is a Roman politically complicated matters and ends up being a bit of a saving grace, not discounting that he was out rightly being protected by God as well.

This courtroom drama jumps right into a fantastic sea-fairing adventure with extremely detailed descriptions of the journey to Rome. There was a storm. The ship crash lands. Primitive natives take them in. Paul gets bit by a poisonous snake and lives. The natives think he is a god when this happens. Holy crap! Was this written by Merman Melville?!

So the second half of "Acts" is more exciting, but the whole book was very good. Weirdly, my version of this book had it titled as the book of "Apostles." This is weird, because I have never heard this book called that. It has always been either "Acts" or "Acts of the Apostles." Not sure what they were thinking. Even so, I highly recommend the book, especially the second half where it focuses entirely on Paul.

As a final caveat, it seems that Peter and Paul did not always get along with one another. I don't claim to know why this happened, but if I had to guess, it might just be because of the actions he took as Saul. It could also just be raw personality differences. I'm not entirely certain what it is, but I'll keep watch over the next books to see if its explained. Read this book and enjoy!

This blog was written on February 6, 2022.

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Friday, March 18, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Rupert and the Frog Song [Short Film Review]

I had a weird incident recently. I was busy at my job, and this song I haven't heard in more than 30 years began playing on the store's radio. It drove me absolutely nuts. I just stood there like an idiot, trying to hear the lyrics. I was pretty sure it was a showtune of some kind, but I just could not place it. There was a lot of weird additional stuff my brain was adding to it, such as some cats joining in on the notes in a few places. It was super weird. When I finally gave up and went to go Shazam it on my phone, the song ended before I could get the app running.

Many weeks later, I heard the song again. I immediately wanted to go Shazam the song to identify where it came from, but work suddenly got extremely busy after being dead for hours. The busy period lasted exactly for the length of the song. It played its last notes just as I made it into the back room to open the app. Another failure, but I tried to keep the melody in my head, and for the next hour or so I was humming it. I was desperately trying to lock down this ancient cartoon [I believed] that I had seen as a child.

The melody was so haunting, yet it was also quite optimistic. But there was another feeling I was getting. It felt like, for some reason, the song should be interrupted by some sort of terror. I had in my mind that, even though the song was quite a happy sounding thing, that there was some evil that wanted to kill the singers, and everyone would scream and run for their lives in a panic. None of this was heard in the song coming over the radio, yet I believed I was thinking of the plot of whatever this cartoon was.

These feelings were so powerful, and I yearned so very hard to figure out the riddle my memory was trying to give me. I was also rather shocked that the radio was playing some showtune from such an obscure cartoon that probably nobody cares about anymore, but it happened. And at the end of that hour of constant humming, I had a working theory of what the cartoon was, and when I finally was allowed to make it home, I got on my phone and did a search. My theory was confirmed. I found the film in all of its glory.

"Rupert and the Frog Song" is an animated short film from 1984. It stars the character Rupert Bear who was from a popular series of young children books, which, although popular at the time, nobody really talks about them anymore today. The film seemed largely written and produced by Paul McCartney which seems the most logical explanation as to why the song itself was playing over a store radio so many years later. Still, it surprises me.

The film is an outright fairy tale experience and more than sufficient to be reviewed by this blog. Rupert Bear heads outside to adventure and play. There's a few little bits of dialog at the beginning, showing a few of the other characters from the books, however they are merely cameos. Rupert ends up making his way to a cave hidden by a waterfall where a mass of frogs are preparing for an event which only happens every couple of hundred years.

This is where the song comes into play. They are all getting together to sing the song that I heard at my store. At this point, Rupert, although the main character, takes a step back, and the frogs get center stage for almost the rest of the film. This song is really wonderful. The animation is beautiful and charming. The whole spectacle of it was the point, and the addition of Rupert was really to allow the viewer to feel as if they had come across some amazing secret. I don't mind his inclusion at all.

I laughed when I saw the two cats join into one part of the song. It let me know that I wasn't crazy to think about that earlier. The cats were actually two of three villains. They were paired up with an evil owl who wanted to catch and eat the king and queen frogs. The owl himself was surprisingly spooky and a good addition to the film.

There is a crappy VHS version of this film available on YouTube. I'll link it down below. It's only 13 minutes long. The VHS quality may be bad, but honestly, I think the version I saw as a kid had the same quality, so I wasn't really bothered by it.

I am sad this beautiful piece of animated joy has been sort of forgotten. I am pleased to see that the song is still floating around. That song, by the way, is called "We All Stand Together," and there is a music video for it from the time the short came out. They just show bits and pieces of the short film while showing Paul McCartney singing along with it. Seeing the actual short film is a better experience. Highly recommend this one. Give a piece of quality forgotten media a look and listen.

Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/LSwV-e1J1Oo

This blog was written on February 5, 2022.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Story of My Life [Book Review]

Not really an example of a fairy tale, but it is a rather interesting look into the nature of perspective. One can get some very interesting ideas from the life of someone who was forced to live in an altered state. But I digress.

"The Story of My Life" is a book written by deaf and blind woman Helen Keller, it being her autobiography. It was published in 1903. I did not read the entire book as presented. It had two other sections containing 4 hours worth of her horribly constructed letters as well as a section that was about the writing of the actual book. These were uninteresting to me, and so this review is only about the book she actually wrote, which I did finish.

Funny story: When I was very young, I often got Helen Keller and Pollyanna confused. I didn't know who was fictional and who was real. For a while I thought Helen Keller had all her problems as well as a pair of broken legs. These mistakes can happen to a child who does not bother reading. I did later figure out who was who and who had what disability later on.

I read Pollyanna about six or seven years ago. I'm not quite sure. I was going to read this book right afterwards, but I got side-tracked by other things. Even so, I am glad that I finally got around to it. The whole reason I did this was because I did think it a peculiar thing that someone with such a debilitating set of maladies could actually function as well as Helen did.

The whole reason we sort of wonder about her is because she had a unique perspective in life that we just aren't familiar with. And to read her book, it does make things a bit more clear. She isn't like other people, but she is still human... and a woman. Her lack of sight and sound does not change her. All it did was change her perspective.

I recently had my first real alcoholic drink. As I began drinking, I picked up one of my books and started reading it. I was trying to gage how much my cognitive abilities would alter while I was under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately, I didn't really notice much, but the whole idea that a perspective could change based on altered senses had always intrigued me.

"The Story of My Life" is an amazing and extremely well written book, and when you look into the issues this woman had, it is amazing it is as good as it is. By the end of the book, she honestly barely feels like she's any different than anybody. And her unique perspective, even though influenced by negatives, has actually given her insights into the world around her that we might never comprehend ourselves.

Sometimes we do get distracted by what we see and what we hear. We don't take the time to "see" life through our other senses, as we were intended so. There's a lot of nuance in things that can be missed because of this. It's unfortunate that we do this to ourselves, but we can do better is we care to bother.

One small criticism, a personal one. Helen Keller does relate that she loved reading old fables and fairytales in her book, but she was very scathing in how she put down the presentation of talking animals. She went on and on about how she could not take a moral seriously due to the absurdity of the animals acting like people. Pardon me, Miss Keller, but I take a personal exception to this. I forgive you though, being that I intend to completely saturate the publishing market with as many talking, yelling, screaming, dancing animals as I possibly can! So have at you!

I recommend the book. Enjoy!

This blog was written on February 2, 2022.

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Monday, March 14, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: John [Book Review]

"John" is the forty-third book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by John the Apostle himself. In the previous Gospel blogs, I have been giving you bullet points that stood out to me. Most of them were very similar with some differences in between, but the thing that actually made them similar was that they were an impassionate account of what happened with Jesus with very little personal stuff from the author, with a small exception from Luke, but not as much as what we are about to discuss.

I had intended to go into the differences in the same way, but this book is just not the same thing as the others. It's a very personal and passionate telling of the story by someone who was Jesus' personal friend. It also seemed to be written by someone who actually knew him. And because of that, I saw this one as more of a proper storybook, and not just an account.

If the author is going to be personal in his writing then I'd feel pretty silly in just putting everything in bullet points. "John" is the personalized story of Jesus. There's no way not to realize that if you read it from beginning to end. It is also the bulk of his doctrine delivered in an almost repetitious way as a means to make it very clear.

Something the other books failed to do was to show how passionate Jesus really was and that he did form personal friendships with people, becoming particularly close to them. He did the other things too, and I'll mention that in a moment. But his friendship with Lazareth was notable in that he cried when he found that he was dead.

Much of the story is him talking to friends and those who form a relationship with him. He came across as a very easy person to connect with... but only if you made the attempt. If someone ignored him, he would ignore them as well. The closeness he had with his disciples were made very clear. They were his friends, not just the followers of a religion.

Many of the miracles shown in former books were heavily and personally expounded on in "John." There was a sort of fairy pool where an angel would occasionally stir up the water, and whoever fell into it first would be healed. Now, the story was about how Jesus healed a man who could never make it into the water in time, but I found myself marveled at the pool itself. What an incredible thing to exist! I wish I knew more about it, but the book only speaks of its existence but not its origins.

Another anomaly of this story was a moment where the book steps away from Jesus to show something very amusing. After healing a man who, as it was suggested, was made blind by God at birth for the sole purpose of being healed by Jesus himself, the man has a very straight forward conversation with a priest within the temple. They try and get him to denounce that it was Jesus who healed him, but this guy was just so real and honest. He wasn't a religious zealot of any sort but just a formerly blind man who wanted to be honest about what he saw. He is ultimately thrown out of the temple, but after that, I'm not sure why he'd want to be there anyways.

Another thing that wasn't as well expounded upon in the other books is the mentioning of the Comforter, a man who was clearly defined as the Holy Spirit. He would come after Jesus left. And it honestly sounds, as written, that he is coming in the form of a man. It sounds like it, but it's not perfectly clear. Even so, one has to leave for the other to show up.

This book also made clear the love Jesus had for his Father. It was made very clear that he couldn't have done anything without the help of God. God is more powerful than the Son. Jesus gets everything from the Father which is willingly given.

There are a few passages at the very end of this book which don't even sound remotely like old English. The very last line sounds way off the beaten path of what I have read in the Bible so far. Just listen to this: "And there are also many other things with Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." Wow. What even is this? That sounded like modern writing. I have read things with the same language in books written in the early 1900s. There's other lines like this too. It only seems to happen in "John."

The authorship of this book is very strange, but it works on a level not seen in the former three Gospels. Those books were about what Jesus did; where "John" is about what it was like to know him in those times. For this reason, I have no choice but to recommend it above the others. It's too good. It is the actual "story" of Jesus... and not just a raw telling of him. It was brilliant in his exposition throughout and shall go down as one of my favorites if not my actual favorite book in the whole of the "Holy Bible."

This blog was written on January 29, 2022.

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Friday, March 11, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Misadventures of Merlin Jones [Book Review]

[Minor spoilers.]

"The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" is a book by Mary Carey, based off of a Disney film of the same name, which was written by Tom and Helen August, based on a story by Bill Walsh. The book was published in 1964. The titles always show the word "Missadventures" spelled with an extra "s," although when when referred to in articles, it is spelled correctly. I think there might be a joke in there somewhere that I just never understood. No matter though.

I saw the movie first. It's one of my all time favorite movies, extremely underrated by most people. I went out of my way to look for a book in the hopes to get a little more insight into it. You'd be surprised how many obscure Disney films have novels based on them. That was a big thing back in the day. I'm a nut for trying to find old books based on obscure movies that I grew up with, and this was no exception.

"The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" tells the story of a campus nerd named Merlin Jones. He is very smart and curious about the laws of reality in just about every field of science. Despite being a bonafide nerd, he attracts a very pretty young woman named Jennifer who stands by his side for the entire story, defending his crazy ideas at every turn. Other very important characters of note is Norman the school bully, Judge Holmsby who has to contend with the problems Merlin's experiments lead to, and Stanley who is a chimpanzee.

The story is broken up into two main scientific experiments: The ability too read minds and hypnosis. I like the contrast of the two. One is all about invading the privacy of a man's thoughts, and the other is about outright controlling them. The book also considers the moral implication of both as well as dealing with the evils we may be hiding deep inside ourselves.

The hypnosis elements are particularly well-explained. There has long been a belief that no one can be hypnotized to do something outside of their own moral code. You can make someone squawk like a chicken, because, as embarrassing as that might be, it's not really a moral strike on their conscience. However if you ask someone to murder someone, they should not actually be convinced to do it since they are not so inclined to commit the act.

But this book suggests that some people might have things that they would do if it were not for the fact that they live in a law-bound civil society. One might be hypnotized to commit a crime by dint of the fact that they actually really want to. Something about this rings true, and I couldn't help but be impressed by the whole concept of it.

The moral implications of reading another person's mind was thought provoking as well. It shows that people's thought are not always as straight forward as you might think. There are surface thoughts that often slip into various forms of distraction and day dreams. A person's real thoughts can often be hidden a few layers deep. In the case of the book, Merlin could only catch the surface thoughts with led him down a misleading path. It was clever.

Another notable aspect of the story that really amused me was the relationship between Merlin and Jennifer. They had the solid foundation of a male/female relationship. Despite always being distracted by his scientific research, they loved each other. She was a pretty woman too. Most of the nerd stories I have seen usually doesn't pair the nerd with a woman like this with the relationship being this strong. I was impressed how naturally it flowed.

The book carries the plot of the movie pretty well, but it is presented oddly out of order. The odd thing is that everything sort of still happens the same way despite things being switched around. Two teachers were combined into one in the film (which wasn't really a bad idea honestly.) In the movie, the story covers mind reading first and then moves into its hypnosis phase, where the book does it in the opposite order. It still somehow works out with the same result.

As a final caveat, probably the most amusing scene in the book was when Merlin, who was tired of seeing the local dog chase his cat "Mittens" up a tree, hypnotizes the feline into thinking it's a lion. The cat then begins to roar and chase the dog up a tree. Although it does later backfire, leading Mittens to chase an unfortunate mailman up that same tree. It's silly, because how would the cat understand English? But I still enjoyed the comedic scene regardless.

I recommend "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" if you are interested in an amusing story that won't tax your brain too much. As silly as some of the premises are, it still brings up a few thought provoking questions about human morality. Great movie; great book.

This blog was written on January 26, 2022.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Luke [Book Review]

"Luke" is the forty-second book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by Luke who was a doctor. It shows. Luke is a much better author than both Matthew and John Mark combined. His version of the story of Jesus was far more comprehensive and filled with nuance left out of the former two. I'll break down some things that stood out to me:

1. Luke starts off before the other guys did, and shows that both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, were visited by the same angel. This whole thing was sparked at about the same time, and it was clear that there were preparations made for the coming of Christ.

2. The Christmas story is right here in "Luke." An interesting thing about reading it is that I remembered hearing this in the Peanuts Christmas Special. Too bad we don't have stuff like that in movies anymore.

3. There was a mentioning of a prophetess named Anna who was extremely old. She practically lived in the temple, and she was blessed to know that the Christ lived in her time before she died. Being able to hear the voice of God, that must have been an amazing thing to find out.

4. According to Luke, Jesus began preaching even as a child which seems to have been really confusing to their parents, I'm not sure why since they had actual visits by angels and such. Guess they forgot.

5. Very specifically during the baptism of Jesus, Luke points out that the Holy Spirit descends "in a bodily shape" but in the manner of a dove. Please stop depicting the Holy Spirit as a bird. "Luke" debunks that theory.

6. Matthew half-assed it. He only tracked Jesus' lineage back to Abraham. Luke gets the lineage all the way back to Adam which is far more significant. This brings him back further than just the Jews but all the way back to being a son of the actual God. Way to go, Luke!

7. In a previous blog, I mentioned that I wanted to be a fly on the wall when Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah. Where Luke does not actually give the dialog said in these moments, he points out that they were discussing the fact that Jesus will die in Jerusalem. Good to know!

8. Jesus actually claims to have seen Satan falling "as lightning" from heaven. Whether this is an actual visible description of the event or a simile is unsure. The point, however, is that he saw it.

9. A woman randomly cries out that the mother of Jesus is blessed. Jesus rather refutes this though. Like... he doesn't even acknowledge what she said, but points out that those who hear the Word of God is blessed. Sorry, Mary.

10. Some weirdo asked Jesus to speak to his brother to convince him to divide his inheritance with him. What the heck? Jesus pretty much asks who made him a judge or divider over him. This is like asking a parent or someone else in authority to make things fair for them so they don't have to do the work.

11. It was pointed out by Jesus that just doing your basic duty and stopping there is not worth very much. We were not put in this world to do the bare minimum. We are expected to make the most out of ourselves.

12. There is a bit of nuance concerning the rapture. Jesus mentions that there will come a day where people will simply disappear. He brings up the story of Lot's wife who turned back and was lost shortly before this. In a very short sentence of warning, he says "Remember Lot's wife."

13. Jesus rebukes people who pray about being better than others. It's not, in the least, humble, and it's also rather egotistical.

14. Seems like the coming of the Lord will come with a bunch of crazy stuff happening in the heavens. Too bad everyone will be staring at their phones. The truth is though that it should be hard to miss. I just like making jokes.

15. Apparently Pilate and Herod became buddies over the ridicule of Jesus. That's weird. They hated each other before this happened. Even so, Pilate did not want to punish Jesus at all.

16. Even after seeing Jesus do all the things he did, the disciples apparently didn't believe anything. After seeing Jesus alive again, they didn't even believe it was him. Sadly, this is human nature.

"Luke" was so much better than what came before it. It's more recommended than the others for it's nuance and carefully worded detail. The guy was definitely a educated doctor; it shows. Read this one!

This blog was written on January 21, 2022.

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Monday, March 7, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Mark [Book Review]

"Mark" is the forty-first book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by John Mark, the same "Mark" mentioned in the title. It is almost a carbon copy of Matthew, but there are differences here and there. It is a bit shorter because some things, like the lineage of Jesus, were omitted. I'll mention some of the things that popped out at me in this one:

1. The high-and-mighty priests did not like some random guy going around and acting like he was better than they were. Heck, they didn't like some random guy being even equal to them. Jesus just showed up and started speaking to people as if he was one of them.

2. When the woman touched his robe, John Mark accounts that Jesus knew "that virtue had gone out of him," causing her to be healed. Virtue in this case is another way to explain energy, I imagine.

3. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, they didn't believe it was him because they... like... got over the fact that they had seen him perform miracles just before. People are stupid. There's no excuse for this.

4. Jesus out rightly attacks the pointless traditions of the Church for being things created and intended for men. They can often distract people from who God really is, because they are so caught up in them.

5. I have had an ongoing argument with my friend Shawn O'Toole about this: the whole idea that God can take someone up but then whack them later. Shawn may have been right though, because there is a part where Jesus words it in such a way that that may be the case. It's not 100% clear who he is talking about though. I never assume or interpret anything. It's got to be clear.

6. Jesus pretty much puts a full stop to divorce. It was a law of Moses, but Moses did it despite what God wanted. To be clear: IF YOU REMARRY YOU ARE GUILTY OF ADULTRY. "Matthew" makes a distinction on if there was treachery involved on behalf of one of the two parties. "Mark" does not.

God's perspective in this is made clear, that he made male and female himself. He's looking at you as you are. We're the ones distorting everything.

7. So if a woman marries many husbands in their life, who is she married to in the afterlife? The problem with this question is that it is still tied to earthly thinking. Jesus whacked it.

8. Jesus ridicules priests who put on airs. They tend to be the biggest hypocrites and will walk all over people they consider lower than they are.

9. A very simple thing Jesus advises which I doubt anyone is really doing these days: he simply says "Watch." Unfortunately smart phones were invented, so we'll all be looking downward if anything cool happens.

10. Moments before Jesus is taken away to be tried, there was a weird incident where a man only wearing a one piece cloth got a little too close to the action. A soldier grabbed him, he ditches the cloth, and runs away naked. People have tried to find meaning in this, but I honestly think it's the same as people getting a little too interested in things that don't involve them. It's like when people slow down to see what's happening at a traffic stop. John Mark noticed this and wrote it down. I personally find it amusing.

That's it. The book is very similar to "Matthew." I honestly recommend the latter more. It's a bit more filled out than this one. Either way, it's good to have it for correlation purposes.

This blog was written on January 14, 2022.

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Friday, March 4, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Columbo: The Helter Skelter Murders [Book Review]

"Columbo: The Helter Skelter Murders" is a novel written by William Harrington, and it was published in 1994. Although I have a small gripe (very small), I really enjoyed reading it. As it turns out, Mr. Harrington is probably the most trusted individual in writing this series of books.

This book is what I would call the very definition of a Columbo story, and that's really all I ask from reading it. I read it because I happen to like the Columbo formula, which includes having the entire crime spoiled for me at the beginning. It's all about if Columbo can prove his case in that charming way he goes about doing it. This book is no exception to the rule.

My tiny gripe was that the promotions for this book were misleading. The name itself and the reviews suggest that Columbo himself was tackling the murders of Charles Manson. Although he does do that, it is merely done in summary. The actual villain of the book is just some guy the author made up, as interesting as he was. I was rather astonished at some of the silly reviews on the cover, one going so far as to say that it was as terrifying as "Silence of the Lambs." The latter is an outright, blatant lie. The book is, at no point, even remotely terrifying and should never be compared to the aforementioned book.

I don't really blame William Harrington for this. It seems like his publishers got a little too ambitious for their own good. The thing of it is... this book is quite a wonderful read. I enjoyed every moment of it. I never felt patronized by a writer who knew more than I did. And William does actually know more of the subject matter than me, being that he is a former criminal lawyer. Everything was written in a way that I, a simple person, can understand it.

That said... I don't really want to spoil the book. All you need to know is that, although the story is related to the Manson case, it is not really about it. In fact, it takes place waaaaay after that whole thing went down. The tie-in was excellently done, and this book is worth reading. But giving out spoilers for a mystery book is not my thing, so I'll leave it at that.

I totally recommend "Columbo: The Helter Skelter Murders" with the caveat that you just ignore the ridiculous publisher reviews and hype. It is a very stock-standard but excellent Columbo story that is worth reading, and it's knowledgeable connection the the Manson case did impress. Enjoy.

This blog was written on January 12, 2022.

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Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ghost of a Tale [Video Game Review]

"Ghost of a Tale" is an indie video game developed by Lionel "Seith" Gallat, and was released in 2018. I actually bought it while it was in its early access stage. I was basically playing an unfinished version for a while. Later, when it was fully released, I played it a little more and then got distracted sadly. Only now have I finished it, and I am very pleased with what I found.

The game is about a mouse named Tilo, who is a minstrel, who has been imprisoned by the rats for a false conspiracy against them. He spends the game trying to escape the place to find his wife of which he has been separated from. Not all the rats are bad, and there are even some other mice, and not all of them are good. It's a journey to make friends, make deals, and ultimately work your way out of the prison entirely.

From the very beginning, you will see that there is a heaping load of love put into this indie title. Not just love though: detail. Detail in design, story, sound, music, and pretty much everything. Although all dialog is handled through text only, it serves to read out like a well-written book, explaining what is happening during the conversation.

The graphical detail of the game is better than I have ever seen in any other game before or after it. The prison is ancient and falling a part. Most of the stones that make it up are weathered and eaten away by time. It feels like every single stone in this game was handcrafted to make the place feel alive and real.

Even the forests surrounding the prison have surprising detail. A fallen tree here, some moss growing over there, mushrooms of various types. The whole world looks wonderfully real. The closest I think I came to this sort of detail was the remaster of "Shadow of the Colossus," but I still think this game did better.

The characters look perfectly amazing. Apparently the one guy who developed this was a seasoned animator for Dreamworks and Universal Pictures. It shows. And it wasn't just good looking rodents; it was the story that surrounded them. I love the lore of this game. I sunk myself into it until I one-hundred-percented the entire game. It's brilliant from beginning to end.

"Ghost of a Tale" is a game you can get a bit emotionally involved with. The developer worked extra hard to help you fit into the feet of a tiny mouse minstrel. If you pay attention, you will learn what it means to be a mouse among some big, nasty rats. I whole-heartedly recommend this game.

This blog was written on January 14, 2022.

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