Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Trojan Prince: A Short Story Review

Tessa Hadley's pictureTessa Hadley lives in Cardiff, Wales, and teaches literature and creative writing at Bath Spa University.  Her first novel, Accidents in the Home, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. 

She wrote a fiction short story featured in the New Yorker Nov 15, 2010 edition, called The Trojan Prince.
 
The story is about a 16 year old boy named James McIlvanney in a 1920 setting; just missing the First World War. He is infatuated with a girl named Ellen Pearson, who is really his second cousin. But marriage wasn't on his to do list, and thought he may be going away to sea shortly anyway. His floundering over Ellen is interrupted throughout by Connie Chappell, one of Ellen's close friends. The plot goes forward at a fairly slow pace, little suspense, but used very descriptive scenes to help the reader along with James pondering over Ellen and whether or not he'd be happy in marriage with her, or if he should follow his urge to go out to sea.
 
This piece was well written, using great examples of dialogue, point of view, and characterization. However the story seemed bogged down with a slow pace, and only the descriptive writing style kept me intrigued. By the end of the story I did find myself somewhat attached to the characters, the main character James in particular, but was squandered by an ending I questioned of being believable.
 
But overall I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading another from Tessa Hadley in the near future.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

iPad? Meet the BlackBerry PlayBook


You’ve seen it, maybe even played around on it while you were at the mall.  You might have heard it is ‘magical’, or ‘revolutionary’, even.  If apple is using the word magical to describe its products…it’s not magic it’s ‘technology’, and it’s not revolutionary.. it is unique in that it is the first tablet to be released.  Yes, the apple iPad. I’ve have one for the past few months now, and I’m very happy with it.  I’m planning on doing a comprehensive review of the iPad soon.  But this blog isn’t about that… this is more of a competition.. ya.  People like competition. There are many new slates or tablets (whatever you want to call them) on the way, such as the BlackBerry PlayBook.  Im not gonna pull up the exact specs for you, but I’ll give you the link to em.



Upside: it runs flash…iPad does not.   Which means you cant view a lot of content on the web on the iPad…. L But the iPad has all of the apps in the App store and is always growing and now has around 200,000 in total.  That’s a huge advantage, cause if there are no good apps for it, then what’s the point?  Apps ‘are’ the device, it’s because of that, I bought the iPad when I did; because it is miles ahead of other tablet devices I’ve seen in the works thus far.  Can the PlayBook do better?  It has vastly superior hardware, so it has the potential.  We’ll just have to wait and see.. Here’s a prediction though: by 2015, everyone’s gonna have a tablet, or slate, of some sort. It’s gonna catch on once prices drop and there’s more competition in the market.  But here’s the kicker: I was one of the first :p

Friday, November 12, 2010

Beausejour Rememberance Day

Residents of Beausejour and the surrounding area attended the Rememberance Day ceromony held at the Brokenhead Recreational Complex in Beausejour on Nov. 11, to pay their respects to those who lent their service for Canada.  The Remembrance Day ceremony began with the Edward Schreyer School orchestra playing their string instruments, followed by the presentation of colours, and the Canadian national anthem sang by Bonnie Stefanson and her sister Debbie Rattai.
The lights dimmed as everyone in the nearly full complex bowed their heads for the Lord’s Prayer read by Padre Melody A. McKellar, and then were asked to sing along with the school band to the hymn: O God Our Help in Ages Past.  
Padre McKellar read the Prayer of Remembrance, followed by the Master of Ceremonies Judy Trefy who read the names of servicemen who made the supreme sacrifice from the Beausejour and Brokenhead District.  Comrade Walter Zillman said a few choice words: “They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old.  Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.  At the going down of the sun and in the morning:  We will remember them.” 
Then Reverend John Robertson of St. Paul’s United Church took the stand, and prayed for those who sacrificed so much for us to live the lives we do today. 
In attendance were: Reeve of the RM of Brokenhed, Glen Dudeck; Lac du Bonnet MLA, Gerald Hawranik; and the Mayor of Beausejour, Brad Saluk, who paid their respects to the veterans. 
Comrade McKellar recited the poem In Flanders Fields, which was followed by the laying of the wreaths by members of the community as they were escorted by RCAC Cadet Squadron 249.
The ceremony was closed once Branch 132 President Chuck Trefry said his closing remarks and the colours were dismissed.  After the ceremony, people slowly filed into the legion lounge to talk to veterans and their families over coffee and snacks.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Freestlye.. don't be hatin'

Here's a free style rap by:   B-RABBIT

hey wut up
my name is B
i live in a cup
..of coffee
im double double
..or double trouble?
double dog dare me?
I double down, hit 21
kiss the ground, I finally won
made the right move, in the casino son
these rhymes are getting better the longer they run
till they run off of the page, my words are like a loaded gun

-Bang-