Night Winds by Karl Edgar Wagner

Night Winds is a collection of hard-boiled, dark fantasy stories about Kane, a barely mortal evil sorceress in the form of a huge, red-haired man. People cower at the mention of his name. Really, it's a blast to see the seedy underbelly of a well-imagined high fantasy world. I had hopes that this was the first book of Kane stories, but it might be the fifth. None of the stories take place in a consecutive order, so you can read it however you want.

I think the fact that our hero is evil lends itself to more of a literary nature than most high fantasy. And I think with short stories, the substance of a piece is usually more apparent than in an epic-length good verse evil story with surprise zombies, etc. Night Winds is pulp fantasy the way you would want it to be. Wagner knows the effect and value of good prose without spoiling it with overuse.

Since with every story, the characters and immediate setting are different, I had a hard time getting attached. Less than a month later, I can't remember anyone's name but Kane. At the end of each story, he will live, and everyone else might as well die.

Lord of War (feat. Nicolas Cage)

From Saturn Films, the company who brought us Next, we have Lord of War. It's an autobiographical-style film, like The Weather Man or Blow (with Johnny Depp), only it's about a big league gun runner. I kept expecting Cage's character to immediately turn into an action hero, but he doesn't. Instead Yuri Orlov (played by Cage) goes on a hero's journey, going darker and darker, providing more weapons for more deaths. Even still, he can't cease to be a human, with human feelings. What conflict!

There are some very cheesey times, like a modern version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, playing in full during the film's most emotional moment. There's also the part when Yuri and his brother Vitaly (played by Jared Leto) get into cocaine, and Eric Clapton's Cocaine plays in the background. Leto's Vitaly cooks at the family restaurant, always rocking his cool emo hair, and never ages as the early 80s roll into some time in the 90s.

I almost expected this film to be based off a true story, because most of the characters do behave like real people, and make the types of decisions real people make. The credits tell us it's based on true events, but to what specifics? Maybe they just said that to scare me, and make me tell others how they must see it. Ethan Hawke also has a small, surprise, role. His presence alone might grant this film a few extra ranks, but no... I had to be fair! Still, I take liberties regarding personal taste. A silly romantic comedy will always win over a serious movie about gun violence and tragedy.

1. Raising Arizona
2. Leaving Las Vegas
3. Adaptation
4. Birdy
5. Wild at Heart
6. Color Out of Space
7. Peggy Sue Got Married
8. City of Angels
9. Lord of War
10. Gone in 60 Seconds
11. Matchstick Men
12. Vampire's Kiss
13. Con Air
14. Face/Off
15. Honeymoon in Vegas
16. The Family Man
17. It Could Happen to You
18. 8mm
19. Ghost Rider
20. Next
21. The Weather Man
22. The Croods

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

January was "classics" month for me. Whatever that means, it included The Wind in the Willows. I think there was an animated film of it, wasn't there? I have to see it sometime. Sometimes watching the movie first can make a book all that much better. But this one. I guess it was a book for children? These animals smoke and drink beer and say ass. As a child, I would have thought this was all really cool, aside from the ridiculous prosiness of the whole thing.

I thoguht it was a good story. Mole and Water Rat become best friends, and Mr. Toad smartens up a bit. It's very much a city mouse/country mouse/growing up type of story. Pretty good stuff.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I've only ever owned one apple product, a 2nd Generation Ipod Touch. It was fine. Not as cool as my android tablet. Often I think apple products are stupid and expensive; only worth having if you need to have the latest thing. Otherwise a cheap pc or android will do the job-actually more jobs. But all the new phones and computers are more or less just like the old ones, just slightly better. Jobs was the only one who made things radically different. He was about making the best products, not just reproductions for profit. Jobs was a visionary. Even his factories had to be beautiful. He had a zen approach to product development. Using the beginner's mind, he didn't want to make things that needed instruction manuals or presumptions.

I've always admired Steve Jobs for his commitment to vision. Isaacson's biography is pretty solid, showing the good with the bad in his subject. And I sometimes think most of people's good qualities are a result of their bad qualities. Steve treated people badly, but he knew they were only brought into his life and company with the purpose of fulfilling his vision. He chose them for that purpose. If they weren't fulfilling his vision or thriving, Jobs believed they should be someplace else. Most people aren't strong enough to stick to that truth.

But enough about Steve Jobs, let's talk about Bono from U2. He used his star power to get Apple to play the new U2 song in their new ipod commercial. Instead of using his music to avertise the Ipod, he wanted the ads for the Ipod to push his music. When U2's fans accused them of selling out, Bono got Apple to make a special U2 Ipod. Isaacson portrays Bono like he was cool, and not some sleazy rock star, but I don't know. He sounds pretty lame to me. Steve Jobs is also a huge fan of Bob Dylan, which was brought up a lot in this book... as if liking Bob Dylan makes someone interesting. There's a spot where Isaacson and Jobs talk about what's on his Ipod, and whether or not he likes The Beatles more or the Stones. Good Grief.

Con Air (feat. Nicolas Cage(

Here, we finally have Nicolas Cage starring opposite the man he is most often mistaken for, John Cusack. It's getting harder to rank these films, mostly because I may have overrated Gone in Sixty Seconds. Fear not, ConAir doesn't put on such airs of badassery, even as it presents an array of the most badass of prisoners, including cheese balls played by the likes of John Malkovitch and Dave Chapelle. I know what you're probably wondering, and the answer is 'yes'. Dave Chapelle does call people on their racist crud, landing in only a few of the film's deep wells of cringe.

By this time in Cage's career, he's already played several inmates, soldiers, and men with southern accents. In Con Air he is all three and a solid 'good guy', named Cameron Poe. Isn't it tough to be a good guy when incarcerated and on board a plane hijacked by the worst of the criminally insane? And the cops aren't all good, either! Cameron has to get home to his wife and child without hurting or incriminating himself. To top it off, he has to deal with Steve Buscemi as a creepy serial killer.

At least the bad guys aren't all bad. Con Air's pretty all right, despite some instances in which it tries to be funny. I respect the level of tact with which this film used its violent aspects. I'm however puzzled by some of Cameron's decisions. I guess he wouldn't be such a big hero if he let the the other convicts fend for themselves. What good is it to have a wife and daughter if he can't put his life on the line to take down the bad guys?

1. Raising Arizona
2. Leaving Las Vegas
3. Adaptation
4. Birdy
5. Wild at Heart
6. Color Out of Space
7. Peggy Sue Got Married
8. City of Angels
9. Gone in 60 Seconds
10. Matchstick Men
11. Vampire's Kiss
12. Con Air
13. Face/Off
14. Honeymoon in Vegas
15. The Family Man
16. It Could Happen to You
17. 8mm
18. Ghost Rider
19. Next
20. The Weather Man
21. The Croods

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The swamp village of Macondo Columbia was founded by Jose Arcadio Buendia. This book is the story of his village and his family, all six generations of his family. You might expect, the pace of this story is mostly very quick and zoomed out. However, there are some scenes that invoke a strong feeling. Of the twenty or so main characters, each has a moving story.

I thought One Hundred Years of Solitude, while brilliant, was very demanding. I like when things happen in stories, but I don't like having to remember every single word in order to follow the story.

On Writing by Stephen King

I think this is a good book for the aspiring writer. King talks about carving out the story and discovering all of its facets, instead of outlining. And I see the arguments for outlining versus discovering the story. However, I don't think King can write every kind of story. Mostly he writes the kind of stuff he writes, and it's great stuff.

Subtitled 'A Memoir of the Craft', the first part of this book told King's life story. Though interesting, I was a bit disappointed until he got into the section called 'On Writing', in which he gave tons of practical advice; all kinds of stuff your creative writing professor won't tell you. King would know, he was once a high school english teacher.

Pizza Pro of Lonoke, Arkansas

I've always believed that looking for treasure would increase my odds of finding it. However, most of my favorite pizzas were happened upon by accident in the first half of my life. But I love pizza more than most people do, I believe, and I'm willing to try a lot of lackluster pies in order to find the best.

Lonoke Arkansas is a nothing town, safer for boon docking than Little Rock. It's also the home of Pizza Pro. As if by accident, small town pizzas can be really special. Pizza Pro was not so special, but at least the chef knows what a pizza is supposed to be.

They had a hot box for their lunch special, and their slices looked like they were from a gas station. Either way, I only order fresh pies unless I'm in da big apple. For crusts, Pizza Pro offers Thin, Medium, and Stuffed. Since there is more than one form of "stuffed" pizza, I asked the lady at the counter what the stuffed was. She said it was really good, so as a show of faith, I got the stuffed. It was a stuffed crust pizza, like Pizza Hut's stuffed crust, with more cheese than one should probably consume.

Let's talk about that pizza. There are ratios, which score in at 3cr2ce3ch. I'll give their crust a rating of 3/5, it had a little chew, a little crunch, and a little goo. The stuffed handles were coated in parmesan and garlic, like a less yeasty crazy bread. Without the coating, their crust was generally tasteless. I'll rate their sauce a 3, adequately thick but unremarkable.

For style, they also get a 3. They had a nice little shop, and the decor was very relatable, the kind of stuff I'd hang up in my kitchen at home. For overall quality, they also get a 3/5. I might go back if I find myself returning to Lonoke Arkansas for another reason... but probably not. They get a 60% overall. Sometimes, I think about food as a movement and less of something that is merely consumed. To food, Pizza Pros fails to make much of a contribution, bringing nothing new to the table. Still I'm glad they are doing their part to fill the world with pizza.