BOUDICA - Queen of the Iceni

A Great Read
I read lots and lots of books so I mean it when I say I love a particular book. Well, Boudica - Queen of the Iceni by Joseph E. Roesch is well worth the price. This book kicked ass and took names!! It's a historical fiction novel based upon Boudica: a red-haired, green-eyed goddess who was the true Queen who led a revolt against the Roman occupation of Briton who was beautiful and deadly with a sword. This book is a magnificent achievement and belongs on the New York Times best seller list. I can see Hollywood making this into a fantastic epic. This book was published by an English publisher so I ordered it online through Amazon. Joseph Roesch holds a doctorate in Medieval English Literature so he knows this subject well. I love how Boudica carries the sword Calabrenn which is destined to become the sword of King Arthur.

Cryptozoology

Bigfoot
The study of animals that may or may not exist is called cryptozoology. I don't know why but I've always been interested in stories of the Loch Ness Monster, The Jersey Devil, The Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot and the Mothman. I'm not saying I believe in any of these creatures I just find it interesting that all cultures around the world have legends of monsters and strange creatures among them.

The Warriors
I rented the ultimate directors cut of this 1979 classic and loved it. The premise is the Warriors attend a conclave with all the gangs of NYC and the new leader Cyrus is killed and the Warriors are blamed so they have to fight their way back to Coney Island fighting the Furies, the Lillies, the Orphans, until they meet the Rogues on the beach. This is the famous scene where Luther clanks beer bottles together saying, "Warriors. Come out to playayay!!" My other favorite line is when Cyrus says, "Can you dig it!" I remember when this came out and it was deemed ultra-violent and movie theaters pulled it. Well, I see more violence on Saturday morning cartoons. There's really no blood. If you want to see something different, pick this classic up.

The New World
Terrence Malick makes movies that are unlike anything else from anybody else. Limited dialogue with just the sounds of the world make this more poetry than film making. This is the story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. Colin Farrell does a great job as John Smith and newcomer Q'orianka Kileler is amazing as Pocahontas. I was floored that this actress was only 14 when she made this movie. 14!! Visually stunning but not for everyone. If you're expecting fast-paced action then steer clear of this masterpiece.

My Stupid Memoir
Can anybody tell me why I'm wasting so much valuable writing time on a crappy memoir of my loser life? Me neither. I'm halfway through this drivel and I feel like I'm on a cheesy carnival ride and I just want to get off. I guess rehashing painful things in your life isn't the best escapism. I have to admit that when I write fiction I become the characters. I lose myself and trance into the action. It's a very weird process and I often find myself not remembering writing certain passages. I'm almost ashamed sometimes at what flies off the keyboard. I just can't explain it in words other than I'm somebody else doing naughty things I'd never do in real life. I hope to be back to the fiction life soon. I already have a couple great fictional stories ready to roll as soon as I'm done paying my dues with this drivel of a life I've led.

The Death of Daniel Whately

David Dellecese
I bought a copy of the independent movie The Death of Daniel Whately and I enjoyed it very much. David is an independent filmmaker and he wrote and directed this gem that takes place in the fictional Stuben City. It's the story of a filmmaker who fakes his own death to get buzz for his movie. The dialogue was sharp and snappy and the actors did a great job. I'm no movie critic but I did enjoy seeing familiar locations in the Mohawk Valley. I had a chance to meet Dave and his right hand man Demian and they are the nicest people. I love meeting and chatting with creative people. For what I'm sure was a limited budget - Dave did a fantastic piece of work. Hollywood could learn something from somebody who makes great movies for way less than they spend. You can check out the movie at www.cybproductions.com .

Dinky Donkey

Black Lake Fishing
I spent the last three days fishing on Black Lake a beautiful body of water up near the Canadian border. I had a lot of fun with my dad, brothers and a few friends catching Northern Pike along with some cruddy Dogfish. This trip is all about the beer, food, laughs and of course - fishing. It's sort of like the book Iron John where men get together, sit naked in the woods and bang on drums. It's all about getting back to the prehistoric world of man the hunter, man the farter, and man the belcher. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Check out Black Lake by going to www.blacklakeny.com .

Dennis Webster
Why is my name in the title? I want to see if it pops up in the Google "Blogger" search engine. No other particular reason other than this. I'm amazed at how fast the internet has become the most important tool in our daily lives. It wasn't that long ago that fax machines were considered the cool new technology. Remember when everyone would fax jokes to each other? Now it's e-mail and text messaging.

Dinky Donkey
This phrase is uttered on TV by an annoying car salesman. Do you know who I'm referring to? The winner of the answer gets nothing. I have to have something before I can give anything let alone something so this nothing is totally yours for the low cost of nothing, however; it's something that will get me everything that will allow me to give away anything let alone something. Kapish?

Writer's Clubs

Writing Feedback
I belong to two writing clubs here in the Mohawk Valley. I'm the current Vice President of the Utica Writer's Club, which has been around for 70 years. This group meets once a month on Wednesday nights. I also moderate the Mohawk Valley Writer's Circle which meets at the New Hartford, NY Barnes and Noble. Groups like this are important to a writer because you need honest feedback from other writers. I have my cousin Evelyn and my friend Linda to read my stuff. Their honest and have a great eye and I also rely on the writing groups. Friends and family usually are too afraid to tell you your writing sucks. I think it's vital to hook up with other writers and listen to what they say about your work. The Utica Writer's Club gave me excellent feedback on Daisy Daring when it was in the early stages.

Boudica
I'm 50 pages into Joseph Roesch's book Boudica and I can't put it down. I'll report back when I'm finished but this is a masterpiece of writing. A master class in the craft.

Critic
If you notice I don't slam writers in my postings. If I read something I don't like, I keep quiet about it because writing is a difficult task and getting published is one in 100,000 so I don't criticize any writer. You, as the purchaser and reader of books have every right to your opinion but remember that it's very, very difficult to get published. I have tons of rejections to back that up. I would never look down on a self-published book. Too many huge hits have gone this route. Most people I've met are in it for the joy and the love of writing, not for fame and glory. I don't consider myself a lightweight or afraid to criticize. I just subscribe that if you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Kong & Capote

King Kong
This movie had amazing special effects and is 3 hours long, though the time flew. Is Peter Jackson the man? You bet. First Lord of the Rings then King Kong. I felt bad for Kong when he's captured and killed. My daughter was upset at the reporter calling him a "dumb animal." The part with the bugs was really scary and creepy. I give this the Webslinger thumbs up.

Capote
I was glued to the screen watching this movie. Now I understand why Philip Seymour Hoffman won the best actor Oscar for this performance. It was a mezmorizing performance. I loved the way Capote used his fame to worm his way into the simple Kansas folks lives then he manipulates the killers to get the information he needs to complete his masterpiece In Cold Blood. I never knew that Truman Capote was good friends with Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. What an amazing and fantastic movie. I give this TWO webslinger thumbs up.

Review of the Book

The Nimrod Flipout
Well I just finished the book The Nimrod Flipout and I overwhelmingly loved it! It's a bunch of fantastic short stories with most based in Israel. I'm amazed at how powerful a punch can be delivered in short stories. This has to be the best collection of short stories I have ever read. Some stories were funny and some tragic. I highly recommend this book.

Boudica
I'm onto my next book and I had wanted to read Adirondack Detective Goes West but I'll read that next. Right now I'm going to delve into Boudica: Queen of the Iceni by Joseph Roesch. This historical fiction novel profiles the ancient Queen on the land that would become England. According to legend she wields the sword that's destined to become the one and only Excalibur the sword of King Arthur!

Shadenfreuden

Kaavya Viswanathan
Wow, has this been one juicy story. In case you haven't heard, Ms. Viswanathan got a $500,000 advance for two books before she even finished the first one and she was only seventeen years old when she got this book deal. Well, she's a sophomore at Harvard and is now nineteen and her book How Opal Mehta got kissed, Got Wild and got a life! Just came out to a large fanfare and was selling very well. Then it came out that 40 passages in her book were similar to another author's. At first her publisher was going to recall the book, change the passages and put it back out there then lo and behold two more books have come forward that have similar passages. Well now Ms. Viswanathan has lost her book deal, the book is being recalled and will never come back and her Hollywood deal is toast. She claimed that she internalized the passages but I have a hard time believing that this happened so many times. It's a damn shame because I've read that she's very intelligent and a great writer. There was no need for her to do such a thing. Plagiarism is the worst offense for a writer. This could be the kiss of death for her. I wouldn't be surprised if Harvard throws her out of school. We'll have to see where this whole thing leads to. I did read that Harvard is so competitive that there was HUGE jealousy amongst her fellow students and they're reveling in her downfall. This phenomenon of having joy in the downfall of others is called Shadenfreuden.