Monthly Archives: January 2012

Goodreads Challenge Update

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I finished book 3 of 20 for the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge. The book I finished was The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch.

Set in the town of Schongau, Bavaria in the spring of 1659, The Hangman’s Daughter tells the tale of a murder mystery. I’m not sure if the title of the book is the same as the original German because the hangman’s daughter, Magdalena Kuisl, is a minor character. [Ed note: It is the same. The original German title is die Henkerstochter] The story centers around the hangman himself, Jakob Kuisl, and the son of the town physician, Simon Fronwieser. These two team up to solve the mystery of who has been murdering some of the local orphan children.

The duo are under pressure of time. Almost immediately after the discovery of the first body, the local midwife is accused of being a witch and the murderer. Kuisl and Fronwieser are convinced of her innocence and proceed to go against the wishes of the town’s burgomasters and attempt to find out the truth.

Other mysteries crop up throughout the course of the investigation making it more difficult for them to solve the murders.

Personally, I found the story to be a bit transparent and was able to figure out the solution well before the end. What makes this book stand out is the detail and how it even came to be.

Pötzsch does a wonderful job with immersing the reader in the day-to-day life of a 17th century German town. He is generous with detail making it very easy for a reader to “see” what he describes.

The most interesting thing for me was learning what a local executioner’s job really was. The hangman was not only responsible for carrying out death sentences, but he also had the unpleasant job of being the local torturer. A deep understanding of medicine was required. Many hangmen knew more about the human body than trained doctors. As such, a hangman also earned side money dispensing herbal remedies for headaches and contraception, healed the sick and mended injuries. A knowledgeable hangman was a busy man, but he was also shunned because of his main job and frequently had to live outside the town walls.

Pötzsch was very close to this book. The author is in fact descended from the hangmen of Schongau. There are many Kuisl’s in his family tree. He was lucky in that a relative of his, Fritz Kuisl, kept extensive genealogical and historical information – enough for Pötzsch to paint an accurate picture for his book.

A short review, I know. I do recommend this novel (for novel it is – Jakob Kuisl and his family are fictional even if the details are not) for those interested in either mysteries or historical books. I rated it 4 out of 5 stars at Goodreads for the details alone.

For my next book, I’m staying in the 17th century with The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco. This book has been on my shelf for a number of years and this will be my first time reading it. I have read three other books by Eco (an Italian mathematician and professor of semiotics), The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. I have enjoyed all three and expect to enjoy this one.

How can I not when the opening line is:

I am, I believe, alone of all our race, the only man in human memory to have been shipwrecked and cast up upon a deserted ship.

Gigantour 2012

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Oh no! It's Godzi.... wait... Vic Rattlesnake?

We’re kicking off my new  feature – Music Monday – with a review of last night’s Gigantour concert in Lowell, MA.

My oldest son (JP, he’s 16) won tickets from a local radio station this past Friday for the show and he asked me to go with him. Not surprising since it’s my fault he’s turned into a sullen, long-haired metal-head.

Gigantour was started in 2005 by Megadeth lead man, Dave Mustaine. Mustaine’s philosophy behind the tour is to bring together a number of metal bands, go on tour and make ticket prices “fan-friendly.” The tour continued every year through 2008. This year marks the return of Gigantour since that time.

This year’s line-up includes the headliners, Megadeth, as well as legendary metal band Motorhead, Danish newcomers Volbeat and the female fronted, Italian band, Lacuna Coil.

We arrived early, bought an over-priced t-shirt and found our seats. I quickly realized that I was going to lose my son to the crowd gathering out on the floor.

Yeah, down there.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I wasn’t going down there. My days of mosh pits are done. I happily shoved earplugs in my ears, told JP to run along and settled down to enjoy the music in a responsible adult manner.

First up was Lacuna Coil. This was really the only band I was interested in before the show because I enjoy bands like Evanescence and Flyleaf – heavy bands with female singers. I had heard OF Lacuna Coil, but had never HEARD them.

Too far away and at full zoom. This is why I didn't take pictures.

This is what they actually look like.

What a great way to start the show! Cristina Scabbia’s vocals were crisp and clean – every word understood. The band was tight and they engaged the audience in an almost playful manner. I didn’t know any of the songs – though many in the crowd seemed to know them. I’ll be picking up and album or two soon. I was very impressed by them.

Next was Volbeat. Neither me nor JP had ever heard of these guys.

Is that guy missing eyebrows?

Apparently, front-man Michael Poulsen is a huge Elvis fan. They didn’t cover any Elvis tunes, but they did cover a Johnny Cash song and closed their set with a teaser when they began a cover of a song by Slayer. Their own songs were laced with rock-a-billy runs and beats – Poulsen even singing one song in an “Elvis” voice.

Volbeat also engaged the crowd in a playful way, with Poulsen shouting, “Show me your horns!” getting the crowd to jump up and down and various other things. It was evident that these guys were having fun.

JP really liked them and HE is going to get their album at some point.

Next up were Motorhead.

Oldies but not-so-goodies

I think there comes a point in a rock musician’s career when they should just stop. Motorhead formed in 1975 and I think it’s time they rest on their laurels as having been innovators and let the next generation have their go.

Lead vocalist and bassist Lemmy’s vocals have always been very gravelly and hard to understand, but when your voice is so bad it sounds like you’re chewing on the microphone, it’s time to stop.

Motorhead’s only saving grace was the phenomenal guitar work of Phil Campbell. Campbell played classic metal riffs and solos cleanly and effortlessly. As a guitar player, it was a joy to watch him.

Finally, the night ended with Megadeth.

They're not as mean as they look. But they are pissed.

Celebrating the release of their 13th album, “TH1RT3EN,” (Mustaine quipped during the show that interviewers have been asking him how he came up with the name of the new album. His response was, “Duh!”) Megadeth took the stage and they didn’t disappoint. They played all of their hits – (yes, hits. They have been nominated for 9 Grammy’s and have had albums debut in the Top 10).

Known as being “intelligent metal” for their smart lyrics about politics, drugs and war (they aren’t advocators!) the new songs they played from “TH1RT3EN” promise more of the same.

Mid-way through the set, Cristina Scabbia returned to the stage to sing with the band on “A Tout Le Monde.” For me, it was the only disappointing song of Megadeth’s set. Scabbia’s vocals far outshined Mustaine’s and (I hate to say it) really made him look bad.

That’s OK, though. Overall, it was a great show and I enjoyed it.

While the stage was being reset between bands, JP returned to his seat each time and we talked a bit about what he thought – this being his first metal concert.

We didn’t talk about the bands as much as I wanted to because he was excited and his mouth was on overdrive.

“I got sucked into a mosh!”

“I have a headache!”

“Some dude got punched in the nose!”

“There was blood everywhere!”

“I’ve been head-banging too much!”

“I shoulda brought my camera! Dave Mustaine was right in front of me!”

“I have a headache!”

“I caught the bass player’s wristband, but some jerk ripped it out of my hand!”

“They played ‘Sweating Bullets!’ Wasn’t it awesome?!”

“I have a headache!”

“I’m going back in! See ya!”

Sounds like he had a good time.

In closing, here’s a video of Megadeth performing “Sweating Bullets” from the Camden, NJ show this past January 26th. Pretty much what I saw last night.

2012 Weekly Recap #4

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It was a little slow here at I Can’t Brain this past week so let’s just jump right to it, shall we?

On Monday, I talked a bit about the 2012 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I was also featured at Rivera Runs Through It with an interview about my first book love.

On Wednesday, I wrote a tribute to my father (he’s still alive and questioning the validity of some of the points I made), crediting him with being my greatest influence in both being a writer and what I’m writing. I can never give him enough thanks.

On Fiction Friday, part 4 of Easy Money went up. Next week is the finale!

Finally, Saturday saw me lamenting having to abandon my scheduled post for that day – postponing it until Monday for various reasons. Lesson learned: I’m not as think as I smart I am.

It’s Sunday morning. By this evening, I’ll be experiencing and audio assault that in my younger days I would have welcomed, but I’m dreading today. I’m taking my oldest boy to Gigantour so he can enjoy the likes of Megadeth and Motorhead. Honestly though, I’m kind of looking forward to hearing Lacuna Coil. I dig the female fronted heavy bands like Evanescence and Flyleaf.

Until next time, Write On!

I’m not as think as I smart I am

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The post I had planned for today isn’t going to happen.

Totally me today.

I was going to write about music and have a bunch of music files embedded in the post as well as a Spotify link. But I ran into a snag that showed me how technologically inept I actually am.

You see, WordPress doesn’t allow you to upload certain types of music files. The Windows Media Player files, or .wma to be exact. Which is what most of my files are.

Spotify also doesn’t recognize .wma’s.

But they both love .mp3′s!

(Which is why those little gadgets people carry around are called MP3 Players I’m guessing)

I don't think he's doing it right.

I came to the painful realization that if I want to get some of these music posts off the ground, I’m was going to have to convert my wma’s to mp3′s.

So, I spent some time yesterday first researching how to do it and then finding some free software to perform the conversions that was both virus and malware free.

Me yesterday. If I was a woman. Which I'm not.

Finally, I found what I needed. I got it all set up and began the conversion process.

And violently choked on my coffee when I saw it had over 10,000 files to convert.

I watched for a bit and figured the software was chugging along at about 30 seconds per file. Not bad.

Then I did the math.

At 120 files per hour it was going to take  83.3333333333333333333333333333333333333 hours to complete the process.

Or roughly 3 and a half days.

SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!!

This needed to be done, however. Music is a big part of who I am and I need to write about it.

I resigned myself to my fate. I would leave my computer on until the conversion was done.

And so, last night as I dreamt of a far away land in which Middle-Earth met the Wild West, my computer converted.

Until Windows decided to be a passive aggressive bitch and run an update.

And then restart my laptop.

Without my consent.

Asshole.

If I ever meet Bill Gates, I’m gonna kick him right in the junk.

After screaming to the heavens and downing a couple of cups of coffee, I assessed the situation. I got the conversion software running again and saw it only had just over 5,000 files to convert.

Sweet! It’s going faster than I thought.

It should be done in time for me to do my music post on Monday.

Holy crap! I can call it Music Monday!

That's right. Lemonade from lemons, bitches.

It seems Saturday is not a good day to write about music, but Monday is.

And it’s alliterative!

(is that a real word? Spellcheck seems to think so)

So, that’s it. Hope you enjoyed wasting some time with me.

 

Sometimes, your greatest writing influence isn’t a writer.

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This past Monday, I was interviewed by Rivera Runs Through It. The topic was “First Book Love.” During the interview, I credited my father with introducing me to “The Hobbit” and starting for me a life-long love of books and reading. Go read the interview and then come back.

I’ll wait.

I can credit my father with much more than just introducing me to reading. In the third grade, a classmate brought to school a rule book and game module for a “new” game – Dungeons and Dragons. I say “new” because it was new to me. I didn’t know it had been around for a number of years already.

Get your geek on!

Within the pages of that rule book, I found a game that let me play in a world that was so similar to Middle-Earth as to be almost no different. I spent a Saturday afternoon at my classmate’s house and learned the basics of how to play the game and fell in love with it instantly. When I came home that day, I asked for my own set of D&D rules for Christmas.

Christmas came and so did my shiny new D&D game.  My father, brother and I played every Saturday for quite a while. We collected more rulebooks, adventure modules, monster cards and figures. We played all the time.

Then my dad came home from work one day with this:

How very monochromatic.

It was an older version of the D&D rules that he had kept in his desk at work because he played it during his lunch breaks. Yes, my father had been playing D&D for longer than I had even known about the game. (I am now the owner of that old rule book and it’s worth some cash.)

Not only did my father introduce me to the fantasy genre, he encouraged me to play a game in which my imagination could run wild – a game that allowed my imagination to come to life.

When I tried to write my own stories, they weren’t very good at first – I think I was in eighth grade when I wrote my first short stories. Hang on a minute ….

Yep, found them. Eighth grade. Just found two of them – one hand written mystery story and one fantasy story printed on a dot-matrix printer (remember those?). Trust me, they’re garbage. However, the fantasy story I had submitted to a children’s magazine (stories written by children that is – I think it was called “Merlin’s Pen”) and it got to the second editor before being rejected. So, that’s something, I guess.

Getting back -

My dad didn’t show much interest in my writing at first. Not openly, anyway.

I can’t really pin point when it started, but he began to give me story ideas. Little germs that he would think of but couldn’t write down, because, by his own admission, he “stinks at writing.”

Over the years he’s given me many and many I rejected as unworkable for me (sorry Dad, I know you’re reading this). Other’s have been jotted down as something I felt I could do something with in an ever growing notebook specially for Dad’s ideas (didn’t know that, did you, Dad?).

Discussing the difficulties of "world-building"

That picture up there? I remember that day. We were talking about a story idea I had where giants would be the main characters. It was at my aunt’s house and asked her for some crayons or colored pencils and drew a rough sketch of a map for the world my dad and I were discussing.

I never wrote the story, but did adapt most of it into a D&D world that was used many years later.

Not really sure what we were talking about, but let's just say it was a story idea, ok?

He’s still coming up with ideas and still throwing them my way.

In fact, the book I’m writing now is based off an idea of his. A very cool idea that I don’t think has ever been done in the fantasy genre. Yesterday, I wrote over 2,000 words. Not much really, but it’s the most I’ve done in years. I’ll be writing more when I finish this post.

One of the books I abandoned that came from a talk with my dad I was bold enough to write a dedication to:

This book is dedicated to my father, Richard Storch,

who took me on my first trips to Middle-Earth,

the world of the descendants of Jerle Shannara,

the Land of Thomas Covenant

and many other places that exist in our imaginations.

I would never have done this without you Dad.

My current book has no title as yet. Titles come last.

What comes first is that Dad gets to read every word right after I’m finished for the day.

It’s the least I can do.

Trying again.

 Linking this with YeahWrite 42 – I feel it’s important enough.

Book Lovin’

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Short but sweet today, people.

I love to read. I’ve been a heavy reader since early grade school and still have (almost) every book I’ve ever owned. Nicole Rivera at Rivera Runs Through It, put out a call to book lovers to tell the story of their first book love. You can read what I told her at her blog with the piece, “A Book Love Begins with Bilbo.”

In more book news, I signed up for the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge. It’s very easy to do. You choose how many books you think you will be able to read this year and Goodreads does all the tracking for you!

I choose to read 20 books for 2012. I’m already two and a half books complete before the end of the month, so I’m thinking that maybe 20 books might be too little.

You can check out what I’m currently reading with the handy-dandy Goodreads widget over in the right column. I’ll periodically post my progress with the challenge as well as my thoughts on each book as I finish them.

It should be a fun journey!

2012 Weekly Recap #3

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It’s been “looking inward” week here. I dug deep and posted a few things I was apprehensive to share.

On Monday, I stumbled upon a writing prompt at Write on Edge. The result was a short piece I called “A Vanishing Trail.”

Tuesday, I used the weekly writing prompt at Studio30 Plus to come up with “That’s What Dreams Are Made of.”

I have mentioned my youngest son and his issue of PDD-NOS a few times on my blog, but I Wednesday, I made the tough choice and decided to show what it is really like. In “Autism, As I See It,” I talk a bit about my fears regarding my son and included a two minute video of his attempt to answer some simple questions. I hope that it has been enlightening.

On Thursday, I took a break from blogging in order to spend time reading the fabulous entries of the 40th LoveLinks. Fifty people participated (yours truly included). It was inspiring to read so many wonderful posts!

For Friday’s Fiction Friday, part three of Easy Money was released. Next week’s installment promises to be action packed!

Last, Saturday rolled around. I was feeling kind of cruddy and again left blogging for the day. However, I did finally start working on the manuscript to my book. I haven’t decided if I’m going to post snippets, whole chapters or nothing at all here. I will post progress reports though for those that are interested.

So that’s another week of 2012 in the can! It snowed a few times here during the past week so I’ll leave you with Vince Guaraldi’s “Skating” from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Enjoy!

Autism, As I See It.

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My youngest son, Tristan, has an Autism disorder. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was three years old.

PDD-NOS is defined as:

Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is one of the autism spectrum disorders and is used to describe individuals who do not fully meet the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome.

PDD-NOS may be thought of as “subthreshold autism,” or a diagnosis one can give a person who has “atypical symptomatology.”  In other words, when someone has autistic characteristics but some of their symptoms are mild, or they have symptoms in one area (like social deficits), but none in another key area (like restricted, repetitive behaviors), they may be given the PDD-NOS label.  (Quote taken from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/pdd-nos)

Tristan is a bright boy. He’s a happy boy. He wants for nothing. He’s seven years old and in the first grade.

Outside of the walls of my house, he is also my embarrassment.

That sounds horrible, I know.

But it’s difficult being out with him in public. Tristan is small and looks much younger than he is. His speech makes him seem even younger yet.

He doesn’t act out when in public. Quite the opposite. He’s very well behaved.

However, I have a fear every time I am out with him. When he was a baby and a toddler, he attracted the attention of grandmothers and other women. Always with questions: “What’s his name? How old is he? Where’s his mother?”

I answered truthfully at first; telling people he was three when he appeared to be no more than 18 months or so.

Then I would get the looks.

Those horrible, pitying looks.

Then I started to lie about his age.

The looks stopped.

Over time, the questions stopped.

But that fear remains.

I struggled for a long time about how much I wanted to talk about this on my blog. About how much I wanted to share with you all.

I finally decided to do it and took a short video of my boy. With my wife’s blessing, I am posting it here.

This is Tristan, 7 years and 3 months old, answering questions about his day at school:

I don’t know how many of his answers are true. He tends to remember responses that achieved a positive response and will repeat them whether they are true or not.

Also, he doesn’t normally squint. The light from the camera was in his face.

He is in first grade. All of his teachers have assured us that academically, he’s doing very well – near the top of the class. He has a knack for remembering information. Getting that information out can be difficult, as you can see.

I so desperately want to be able to talk to my boy like a father should be able to talk to a “normal” seven year old.

He is my pride and joy. I love him dearly.

He is a happy child – a funny child – a smart child – a loving child.

I just wish he could tell me he loves me and actually know what he’s saying.

Linking with the Write on Edge weekend linkup.