More Great Modern Music

Sorry I'm on a music kick, but I'm stuck in Washington far from home, so I can't do any writing. I have to have the comfort of my own desk in order to write. So, here's another modern rocker that very few people ever hear -- Buckethead. There's a good reason for this, as he plays some truly strange music. However, hidden deep within the haypile are a few needles. My favorite is Killing Cone, which I bet none of you have heard. Sometimes I daydream that I bring my guitar to a street corner and play this song, just so I can see peoples' jaws hit the pavement.

Insanely Great Music

Once upon a time there was musical genius in the world and bands wrote and performed their own music. Life was good. We had Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Who, Donovan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Stones, and so many more.

Well, time went on and newer generations of kids decided they didn't like talented musicians anymore. They wanted choreographed pretty boys and girls lip-synching to throbbing beats that they couldn't write or perform themselves in a million years. Yeah, music pretty much sucks these days.

Genius is still out there, however, even if you have to search for it long and hard. I've got lots of it in my collection, but I'll just give a sampling from one great singer/songwriter -- Maynard James Keenan. If you haven't heard of him, well he sings for Tool and A Perfect Circle (and some other bands when he feels like it). He's one odd duck, but he has an amazing voice and writes some of the best modern songs around. I dare you to listen to these five or six times and tell me he's not a genius.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Given it's huge international success, I felt it necessary to read Stieg Larsson's book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was better than I expected. I wouldn't read it again, but then only my very favorite books fall into the reread category.

Naturally, having read the book, I decided to see the movies. I started with the original Swedish version, not just because it was released first but also because I tend to enjoy the original foreign versions of such films better than the American remakes. I thought the Swedish version was fairly well done, and given the shortcomings of filmmaking, I don't think it was a big deal that they changed so many details. I didn't like the movie as much as the book, but that is to be expected.

What really surprised me was how much I liked the American remake. Other than the lame opening credits, overlaid with an odd mangling of Led Zeppelin's classic Immigrant Song, I really enjoyed this version far more than the Swedish one. Each film had elements done better than the other, but the overall movie-watching experience was better in the US version for me.

Especially impressive was the acting of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. She won't win the Academy Award for which she is nominated, but she should, in my opinion. I think the voting members are a bit too staid and stuffy to let a newcomer like Ms. Mara win, but she embodies this role almost perfectly. I enjoyed seeing her work far more than the other nominees that I have so far seen.

Once I return home to Budapest (I'm stuck in Washington DC for work for a month), I'll read the other two of Larssen's books, at least once I finish the ones I am currently reading. This may take awhile, since one of them is War and Peace!

And for something completely different, my Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in the past decade. This is a repeat of the matchup four years ago when the Patriots had a chance to be the first 19-0 team ever but were upset by the Giants. I hope the Patsies get revenge, but I have this odd feeling that they won't. I keep reading about how Patriot running back Green-Ellis has never once fumbled in his five years in the NFL, so I can't help but feel that this is the perfect setup -- my Patriots losing due to his first fumble.

Game of Thrones

I noticed a new follower and clicked over to check out his blog. This one appealed to me immediately since the author's taste seems to coincide very much with my own. The first posting I read was about George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones novel. He mentioned that he rereads the series when a new book comes out, and that is exactly what I do. I can't just read the new book -- the series is such a pleasure for me that I have to go back and read it all again from the beginning before I can touch the new book. Since I'm waiting for A Dance of Dragons to come out in paperback, I'm relishing the thought of starting over yet again!

The television series has been great as well, and I can't wait for season two. I hope they not only keep going through all of the books, but maintain the high quality we have seen so far. I'm only sorry that the actor who played Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane left the series and had to be replaced by another. I hope we don't lose any more of the cast.

Weekend in Vienna

We took the train to Vienna, Austria on Friday morning and stayed there until Sunday. We got lucky since it only rained lightly and for a short time. It got dark very quickly, around 4 PM, so I didn't take a lot of pictures in daylight. I visited Vienna in 1997, but this was the first time there for my family. There are simply too many amazing sights, too many photos, so I'll just give a small sample.

Moon over one of the cathedrals

The Rathaus, or City Hall

There were beautiful lights all over the center over town

Vienna Street Scene

Where Soviet Monuments Go to Die

It's been unseasonably warm here in Budapest, so we've had some nice family outings to see various sights.

My wife and eldest son share a happy moment during the expedition

One place we had heard about but could find no one who had actually gone to see it was Memento Park, a place just outside of Budapest where they decided to put all the old Soviet monuments and statues after Hungary regained her independence. As you can imagine, it was a pretty surreal outdoor museum.

Statues at the entrance to the park

Lenin welcomes you!

My youngest son being attacked by the Red Army

...and standing near a very large statue!

Nothing New Under the Sun

I suppose it is inevitable that as the world's population grows beyond all reasonable levels it becomes harder and harder to ever have a truly original idea. I like to think that many of the ideas in my work-in-progress, a sci-fi thriller set in the near future, are original. I've never heard of them or seen them anywhere, and I'm quite proud of coming up with these ideas.

Yesterday I was stunned to come across a book that has eerie similarities to some elements of my book. It's a completely different story, of course, and has none of my technological ideas, but it has...well, see for yourself:

My book is set in a near-future Moscow with the main male character named Artyom and a segment of the very poor populace living underground in the abandoned metro system.

The book Metro 2033 by Dmitri Glukhovski is set in a near-future Moscow with everyone living underground in the abandoned metro system and the main character is named Artyom.

I can just see it now, should my book ever be published, as some readers accuse me of copping my ideas from this book. I'm not going to change my details; I've had my story since the early 1990's. I never heard about this book until yesterday. I chose these details for my story for very specific reasons that are important to me.

The metro in Moscow played a big role in my life for the four years I lived there (1993 to 1997), and I always planned on it figuring into my mobster thriller. When that story morphed into a sci-fi, it only made sense that the metro would be abandoned, since it was already old and newer technologies would take its place. The idea of a group of poor taking residence there seemed fun and a bit creepy.

I chose the name Artyom very carefully, too. I wanted a name that wouldn't be too odd to an American audience, yet I wanted it to be slightly uncommon rather than the standard few Russian names that we see each time a Russian character is used in any movie or book. Artyom fit what I was after nicely. I used the name in my first novel, written several years ago since that book has a couple of the same characters as this sci-fi (the first book was a fantasy).

I guess my point is that this post serves both to air my frustration and incredulity over such rotten luck and also as a sort of proof that I did not steal my ideas from someone else's book. I came to my ideas honestly. If or when someone later accuses me of taking these ideas, I will refer them to this post, for whatever good it might do.

Happy New Year everyone! I only managed to write thirteen new chapters this year, which is disappointing even though I have the excuse of moving to a new country and settling into a new job. I hope to do better this coming year, perhaps even finish this new book.