The Fabulous Festival in the City of Broken Dreams

Even though one of my friends referred to this town as the City of Broken dreams, I like it here, usually. I love to get out and hike, especially during the winter months. The sunsets here are unbeatable. We are close to some interesting places to visit.

But, sometimes, Tucson events leave a little to be desired. With a million people hanging around town, why do things often seem, well, lackluster?

Happily, this was not the case for the second annual Tucson Festival of Books. Over 450 authors, a myriad of Exhibitors, live entertainment, book signings, kids activities. The event was done exceptionally well.

The kids and I went down yesterday to take it in. The girls enjoyed hearing James A. Owens, the author of Here There Be Dragons, talk about his harrowing and entertaining experiences as an author and a chance to meet the author of The Sister's Grimm books.

Ethan and I went the manly route and heard Doug Stanton discuss his book Horse Soldiers in Afghanistan and Jay Dobyns talk about his experiences infiltrating the Hell's Angels.

This event, after only it's second year, is already one of the premiere book events in the nation. If you didn't catch it this year, be sure do come next year. We'll be there.

And one more thought. Professional writing can be full of set backs and, well, broken dreams. So, maybe it is fitting that Tucson, the City of Broken Dreams, is the place to have a festival of this nature.

And another thought. Doug Stanton talked of how the Special Forces are trained, not to succeed in all they do, but recover from failure quicker than anyone else. So, when your dreams are broken, how long does it take for you to get back at it?

Bananas

I asked Emily to give me a random topic to blog about as a writing exercise for me and she suggested bananas, so here are some random facts about bananas:

Our friends from the Philippines told us that Bananas have much better flavor in the Philippines due to the greater variety. The ones we get at the store in the U.S. seemed terribly bland to them.

Bananasare mostly sugar, but since it is natural sugar and has plenty of other benefits, they are a much better source of energy than Dr. Pepper, which tastes better than Bananas.

Bananas have trptophan in them, which help your body produce seratonin, which makes you happy.

Bananas are high in Iron, which is supposed to be good for you.

I like to add Bananas to my cereal to sweeten it up. Although I don't really eat much cereal.

Bananas nourish the probiotic bacteria in your belly, which aids digestion and all that sort of thing.

Bananas are high in potassium, which is said to benefit blood pressure, heartbeat regularity and your bodies water balance.

My Mother used to use Bananas to make banana bread, adding in some walnuts. Diane makes banana bread too, but she substitutes chocolate chips for the walnuts.

Since they have no fat, are easy to digest and are tasty, Bananas are a good early food for babies.

I have heard that rubbing the peel from some Bananas on a mosquito bite helps reduce the swelling and itching. I could have used some the time I tromped through the swamp near the river on that youth group outing with the Methodist Church.

Bananas are yellow. I am obviously running out of things to say about Bananas. They really aren't even all yellow. Just the bland ones we get in our grocery store.

Why would anyone start a new Church?

Many ask why, with so many Churches around already, anyone would start a new Church, like we did in West Sacramento and others are doing around the country.

John Piper, the bestselling author of desiring God has some compelling answers to this question.


From John Piper's sermon and blog entitled "I Will Build My Church":

1. There are about 200 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the four largest “unchurched” nations in the world.
2. Each year about 3,500 churches close their doors permanently.
3. Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.
4. One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old

Here's our Community in Action

Last week, I saw a good example of how we have come to view community and a better example of how community should work.

A little old lady (seriously, about eighty years old) was driving her disabled brother, who lives in a care home and can barely walk, when her car stopped working. She was understandably upset, as she was a good distance from her destination with no way to get there as the day grew warmer.

Some helpful people passing by decided to call the cops. That's what we pay them for, right? To make sure we can help people. So, the local Sheriff's Deputy came and called a tow truck and the dealership for this lady that didn't have a phone. It was surprisingly easy to rescue her and help her on her way. I was wondering why someone didn't just try to help these people themselves, instead of just calling the cops. Thanks everyone for helping out the little old lady.

In another part of town, a local horse was running up and down a busy road being chased by dogs and scared witless. A helpful passerby, maybe the same one that called for the old lady, called the cops.

By the time the local Sheriff's Deputy had arrived, neighbors had already corralled the horse, even putting themselves in danger of the bucking beasts hooves. One helpful man even had the fog light kicked out of his truck as he tried to calm the animal.

Another neighbor got his personal horse trailer while others brought the thing some water and went and searched for the owners. At the end of the day, the cops didn't really need to be there because other people made sure that their community was taken care of and that the horse got home safely.

When it comes to your neighbors and your community, are you a cop caller or are you willing to take a risk, grab the reins and help out a little bit?

Here you are.

My friend J.B. shared this video, so I thought I would share it with you.

Try not to be offended....it's funny...:>)

There has to be a lesson there somewhere.

When I was in Jr. High and High School, one fellow, Bob Ray, always ran for City Council. Well, he wasn't the only one. There were others. Mr. Datus for one. Mr Datus was a popular Economics, Law and Government teacher at the High School. Mr. Datus regularly ran for City Council and regularly was on the City Council.

While it would have been much more aptly labeled a Town Council, or the even more appropriate Small Town Council, Bob Ray was quite interested in being a part of it. Every time an election came up, there was his name, big as day, in the local paper, The McCook Daily Gazette. Every year I had a little bit of a chuckle when Bob's bid for local politics was thwarted by some other local icon of farm, industry or marketplace.

This former marine from Northern California ended up having the last laugh. When I returned to town a few years later, Bob Ray was on the City Council and there he stayed for several years.

Bob Ray died a few years ago. You can read a bit more about him in this obituary.

Pride and Prdejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

I am in no way an expert on the subject matters I am about to discuss. Sure, I've read a little about Zombies. The little to which I refer means that I have read World War Z. I have also caught a couple of zombie films: Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, that one with Will Smith in a deserted New York City. But, the fact tried to get my wife to watch 28 Days Later by telling her it was a thinker will attest to the fact that I am not an expert on Zombies.

Also, I have never even read a book by Jane Austen. Sure, whenever the latest chick flick version of Emma or Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility comes out I am obliged to sit through it with my wife at least once. But I usually have no idea what is happening.

I must admit, both my wife and I were looking a little askance at the book rack when we first saw Pride and Prejudice and Zombies staring up at us. She was wondering how they could twist such classics into a zombie thing. I am sure she thought that someone was going to try and tell her they were real thinkers. I was wondering why they didn't just write a straight-on zombie book and make it fun for the readers instead of trying to make it somehow tie into those books that I have never read.

So, when I heard that my friend (on Facebook anyways. Does that count?), Steve Hockensmith, had written the latest offering in the series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and that I could get a book for free if only I posted a review of it on here, I said, “Sign me up!” When I got my package with both the book and a poster, well then, in spite of my skepticism, I was excited.

Ok, I was still skeptical. How am I gonna get all the way through 288 pages of this thing and write a review. Not knowing how else to go about it, I began to read.

To my surprise and delight, as I began to read, I found I was actually enjoying the story. As I read on, I found that I actually wanted to know what happened to the characters. I was having so much fun reading that I was disappointed when the story ended. Not because the ending was disappointing, but....you know what I mean.

Speaking of the characters, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, introduces us to a colorful and entertaining cast. Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of the original Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and her four sisters begin their martial arts training, dalliances with love and battles against the undead hoard (unmentionables, since it is not polite to use the “Z” word) in this book.

They are aided, or hindered, in these efforts by a number of colorful characters. Their Father, who has given up martial pursuits for a proper British lifestyle. Their mother, who continues to fret over who they will betroth, even in the face of a cataclysmic plague of animated corpses. Master Hawksworth, who travels from the east to teach them the skills they need to survive, and that even a man who can control a sword is not always in control of his passions. Dr. Keckipenny, who is trying to capture the undead, and maybe even the heart of Elizabeth, to research and defeat them. Capt. Canon, the limbless commander of the Army that is sent, pushed in a wheelbarrow by two “limbs”, to stand against the dreadfuls. The bombastic and lustful Lord Lumpley that is the local version of nobility. And the list goes on.

I was, at first, a little concerned with some little tidbits swirling around the martial arts maven, Master Hawksworth(does this seem a little to close to Hockensmith?). He was trained in the wu-shu ways of China, but showed up preferring Japanese weaponry. This seemed like an inconsistency, until I realized that he was a master of Mixed Martial Arts. Randy Couture would be proud of the heritage of zombie fighting his predecessors practiced.

Hockensmith has obviously done his research. I never would have considered the fact that quick lime on a body would make the later arisen zombie have a harder time moving, or the detail that a zombie moan would be phlegmy. Of course it would, but who would think of that? Steve Hockensmith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a thoroughly readable story that makes Regency England and Zombie plagues fun. You can get a copy for yourself on March 23rd.

Find out more about the Quirk Classics and their latest offerings here:

www.quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=dawnofthedreadfuls

Go here to log into their message board and let them know where you read the review. This gives you a chance to win a prize pack with the prizes listed below:

quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews

o A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal

o Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Postcards

o Audio Books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

o An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

o A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls

o A Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster
Go ahead and try it. Your chances are as good as anyone's.

Check out the author here:
www.stevehockensmith.com