Festival of Carols

The annual tradition of the Festival of Carols begins tomorrow on Portland's classical station, KQAC. They play the most beautiful Christmas music composed through the ages, so many pieces and arrangements that you've likely never heard. It's four days of non-stop glorious music so if, like me, you've had all  you can stand of "Rockin' …

Weekly Card, A Bit Late

The Hermit from Ian Daniels Tarot of Vampyres. I've felt like a hermit the last few days, locking myself in the house to get the revisions done on the vampire novel and sent off to beta readers. I've also been OD'ing on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and its soundtrack while I write. Seems fitting on …

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

But what the hey, eh? This weekend has been all editing, all the time. I'm working on the vampire novel, prepping it for a volunteer beta reader, and consequently going over it all AGAIN. I'm happy to report that the scenes that made me tear up or laugh as I was writing them are still …

Looking Back, and Ahead

So. Trying to get back into the groove here and get something posted. I imagine most of us are still reeling from Friday's events in Newtown, Connecticut. I've found it hard to think about much else, myself. So this afternoon I indulged in some escapism and watched "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Not one …

How to get the little woman to try sci-fi

Well, I’ll tell ya. I wrote this post at the urging of  a couple of guys who wanted suggestions of books and movies to try to interest their spouses in science fiction. So I thought, ok, it could be that many women have simply not been exposed to it, or are not aware of the …

Now We Are Free

Next on the list of things I'm obsessing about: http://youtu.be/xbHPTPUpQ1I This video pulls together three tracks, "Honor Him", "Elysium" and "Now We Are Free"  from the movie "Gladiator." It's bittersweet, but somehow celebratory. "Gladiator" is one of my favorite movies ever. I would follow Maximus into Hades if he asked. These particular pieces were composed …

Some Love for John Carter

I was distressed to see so much negativity surrounding the movie John Carter, based on the book A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, proclaiming it a weekend flop before the weekend was even over. It opened against some stiff competition (Disney’s new version of The Lorax. Give me strength). Now what in god’s …

Still Hot on the Trail – The Eagle Soundtrack

If you're sick of hearing about my obsession with "The Eagle" feel free to skip this post. This one's about the soundtrack, so if you're a music lover you might be interested. (You knew I wasn't going to let this go, right?) As I mentioned in an earlier post, there's a fantastic Celtic fiddle piece …

No Cure for Curiosity

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. -- Dorothy Parker Oh Ms. Parker, how I wuv you. As if I don't have enough to do and never enough time to do it, my latest fascination is ancient Rome, pre-Celtic Ireland and Britain, and trying to learn Latin. And you know …

The Score Presents Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

For all the Harry Potter and film music fans out there, my fav radio program EVER, The Score, on AllClassical.org is going to give us a sneak preview of the soundtrack to the new HP film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" today at 2:00PM PST. (if you need a time zone converter, go here.) …