Archive | May 2007

LOST Rehash: The Man Behind the Curtain, or Ben Is the Wizard of Oz

SPOILERS: Do not enter. Pay no atention to the man behind the curtain unless you’ve already seen the May 9 episode of LOST.

So, Ben is the Wizard. And there’s no one behind the curtain, no Jacob, unless Jacob is an invisible poltergeist. I agree with Locke. Ben’s the Wizard of the Island, manipulating the curtain, producing his own special effects. And Ben, as I’ve said all along, ia a liar. However, just as there is in The Wizard of Oz, there is “magic” or something supernatural that supersedes Ben’s machinations. He was surprised that “Jacob” spoke to Locke, and now Ben realizes, if he didn’t already, that there are forces or personalities on this island that he doesn’t understand or control.

Jack, on the other hand, thinks he’s still in control. He finally has a plan that he deigns to share with the other Losties. They’re going to have a big battle, and Jack’s the general. Sayid couldn’t be trusted to take part in Jack’s wonderful planning process even though he’s the only one they’ve got who know anything about fighting battles. And no one else could be told until now either. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my writing?) I don’t know who Jack thinks he is, but we don’t have time to argue about it now. Live together, die alone—whatever that means. It’s time to circle the wagons and fight off the Others who are appaarently not Dharma folks, but rather “Hostiles.” Hostiles kidnap pregnant women. I think we’d better put a guard around Sun. And would somebody (Sun) please clue Jin in on what’s going on ASAP? They’re going to need all hands on deck. (I mix metaphors and cliches just as well as LOST mixes symbols and allusions.)

Symbols and stuff in this episode that I don’t really understand completely:

White rabbit: Why is Ben so fond of white rabbits? White Rabbit was the title of the episode in Season 1 when Jack kept seeing his dad —his dad who was already dead. In this episode, young Ben sees his mom —who is also supposed to be dead. Is this island a place where dead people who have unresolved issues with their kids re-appear as ghosts? Alice followed the White Rabbit in Wonderland. Ben sort of followed the White Rabbit into Hostile Land. Ben also used a white rabbit to con Sawyer into thinking that he had a pacemaker implant that would kill him if he got excited.

The empty rocking chair: Jacob is supposed to be in the rocking chair, but it reminds me of Psycho. I think Ben’s psychologically disturbed, probably as a result of his dead mom and verbally abusive dad.

Skeletons: Skeletons abound on this island. There are skeletons in the slave ship, skeletons fall out of airplanes and a VW van, and now we have skeletons in a pit. Is this the Island of Death? Are the skeletons meant to imply that the Losties are already dead, too, or that they will be soon? Doomed.

The pit: People die or sometimes live in pits on this island. Anna Lucia had Other Goodwin down in a pit. Nikki and Paolo died in a large grave/pit. Now Locke’s dying or dead in the pit along with a bunch of Dharma skeletons. Of course, the hatch which preoccupied all of us first season was just big pit which became a death trap. Only no one died? Didn’t Rousseau live in a large underground room or pit?

Alice in Wonderland. The Wizard of Oz. The Pit and the Pendulum. Psycho.
I think those stories about summarize tonight’s episode.

Next week: Apocalypse Now?

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer: They Don’t Call it LOST for Nuthin’.

Amanda: The Wonderful Wizard of Lost.

Olive: Ben’s as crazy as we thought.

Lazy Days of Homeschool

May8

Our homeschool year is winding down. We always do this about May/June. I run out of steam. The Great Outdoors invites the children out to explore before it gets too hot in Houston to go outdoors. So, here’s a play-by-play of our school day today:

Starting last night: We watched the video, Building Big: Dams with David Macaulay, that I got from Blockbuster. Last night’s viewing was the second time we watched it because Engineer Husband wanted to watch it, too. This time two of the urchins decided to build a dam, but it was too late last night. So Engineer Dad got out the sand and the rocks and left them for the urchins to build their dam.

9:00 AM: Karate Kid (10) and Betsy-Bee are ready to build their dam. They go outside and begin to play dam-building while Z-Baby (5) watches. After it’s built we take pictures and flood it a few more times.

10:00 AM: Everybody’s finally awake now. Computer Guru Son leaves for college to take his government final. The urchins are grazing on breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, and/or cereal) and doing their morning jobs. Karate Kid is reading the book I gave him yesterday, The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin. The book is an ARC that Mr. Berlin kindly had sent to me to review. I’ve read part of it, but I figured a ten year old boy’s opinion would be useful. Karate Kid says it’s sort of like The Westing Game, and it’s a great book, and he wishes there were more books about the same character. Brown Bear Daughter (12) is doing her writing practice on the computer. She’s taking a writing class at The Potter’s School, an online resource for middle school and high school classes, and she’s supposed to write for thirty minutes a day. By the way, I recommend the classes at The Potter’s School, if you can afford them. Most of them that we’ve used have been quite good and helpful. While everyone is grazing, working and reading, I read two books to Z-baby that she requested: The Magic School Bus: Wet all Over, a Book About the Water Cycle and Richard Scarry’s Great Big Mystery Book.

10:30 AM I finally get all the urchins (except Computer Guru Son) together for Bible reading and devotional time. We read from Matthew 6, then read about a missionary to the Philippines who was held prisoner by the Japanese during WW II and later became a missionary to Japan in The One Year Book of Christian History. We sing a hymn, Tell Me the Story of Jesus. The older urchins say that I led it too slowly. I’ll have to remember to pick up the tempo. I remind the urchins to complete their morning jobs, which should have been done long ago, and to start on their math.

11:00 AM: I’m ready to help Betsy-Bee and Z-Baby with their math, but Betsy-Bee says she wants to help Z-Baby with her math. They go outside to the picnic table to ~~do math~~ look at the dam. Then they come inside to start the math pages in Z-Baby’s workbook. Karate Kid is back to reading Winston Breen and laughing out loud. I don’t have the heart to tear him away for math, so I decide to leave him alone and let the math wait until later. I find Brown Bear Daughter back on the computer browsing a forum, and I remind her that she’s supposed to be doing her Saxon math lesson. She complies sheepishly.

11:30: I thought she complied, but I catch her back on the computer again. She says she’s chatting with someone while she does her math. I tell Brown Bear Daughter to “move away from the computer.” (Does anyone else have this problem, a 12 year old who’s computer-dependent? If so, or if not, what do you do to limit computer use? Or do you?) Brown Bear Daughter goes to the living room couch to do her math lesson. Dancer Daughter is practicing her piano pieces for recital.

12:00 noon: I start lunch, pasta salad with tuna. I should have made it earlier and refrigerated it, but I didn’t think. I also put some pinto beans on to cook for supper. Computer Guru Son gets back from his test and says he thinks it went pretty well. He has one more final to go on Thursday to finish the semester. Betsy-Bee and Z-Baby finished Z-Baby’s math, but Betsy-Bee hasn’t started hers. I tell her to get her book and do math.

12:30 PM: Lunch is just as informal as breakfast was. I put the pasta salad in the freezer to cool and tell the urchins to get some as soon as they’ve finished something significant school-wise. I help Betsy-Bee get started on her math. Using the Cuisenaire rods, she’s doing some simple division problems in her Miquon math workbook.

1:00 PM: Betsy-Bee is still working on her math in between distractions. Brown Bear Daughter is still working on her math, too. I have a long discussion with Computer Guru Son about when he should purchase a car. He wants to buy the car now with a thousand dollar down payment, and I think he should wait until he gets another job before he gets the car. Delayed gratification is major lesson that should be required for graduation.

1:30 PM Dancer Daughter and Organizer Daughter leave to go to the church for their drama class. Their class is working on a musical play called Malcolm, based on a story by George MacDonald, that will be presented in less than three weeks, and they’re hitting the time crunch. I’m still trying to get Betsy-Bee to finish her math. Z-Baby and I do a couple of pages in her phonics workbook, Go for the Code. I tell Karate Kid, who has finished the Winston Breen book to go do his math lesson. He wants to write a report on The Puzzling Adventures of Winston Breen instead.

2:00 PM Brown Bear Daughter finished her math, and now she’s reading another ARC, First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover by Mitali Perkins. BB Daughter says it’s a good book, but she doesn’t think I’ll like it because the mom in the story says, “Crap.” I tell her not to make that word a part of her daily vocabulary and think to myself that I probably will like it.

2:30 PM Computer Guru Son wants me to come see a picture on his computer of the car he wants to buy. Z-Baby wants me to write some words in her alphabet book for her to copy and illustrate. I write: “map, tap, lap, cap, nap.” She tries to read the words as I write them and as she copies them, but she’s really just reading my lips and memorizing for the most part.

3:00 PM I look at the car. After Computer Guru Son threw in all kinds of sweeteners, including a promise to redesign the blog and cleanup the backyard, I’m about convinced, but he still has to get his dad’s approval. Brown Bear Daughter and I take a look at Sameera Righton’s blog, SparrowBlog. We learn that Barak Obama now has secret service protection and that presidential candidates’ kids sometimes get to fly in private jets.

3:30 PM The younger urchins are watching Maya and Miguel. I don’t like this show for some reason that I can’t exactly articulate, but the urchins like it. Karate Kid needs to get ready for swim team practice which starts at 4:00.

4:00 PM I take Karate Kid to swim team. The rest of the day will be mostly filled with me playing taxi driver. Betsy-Bee has dance tonight. Brown Bear Daughter has swim team practice later. And Dancer Daughter has an appointment to get an MRI on her knees—the reason she’s not really Dancer Daughter anymore 🙁

See you later.

8:00 PM: I did all the taxi-driving and came home to find supper on the table thanks to my wonderful Engineer Husband. After supper, we made a quick, impromptu trip to the library so that the urchins could get some library books. Karate Kid never did get his math done, but he did write a paragraph about the book he read. Dams and puzzles today, math tomorrow.

Book Character Meme

May8

I found this book character meme at A Circle of Quiet. I added the last question because I thought it would be fun.

Three characters you wish were real so you could meet them:
1. Nero Wolfe, although he probably wouldn’t meet with me since I’m a woman. He’s somewhat gynephobic.
2. Elizabeth Bennett
3. Father Tim of Mitford

Three characters you would like to be:
1. Anne of Green Gables.
2. Jane Marple.
3. Madeleine. “To the tiger in the zoo, Madeleine just said, ‘Pooh, pooh.'”

Three characters who scare you:
1. Gulliver of Gulliver’s Travels.
2. Tom and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby.
3. Steerforth in David Copperfield.

Three characters you would welcome if they came courting your daughter:
1. Lord Peter Wimsey.
2. Curdie.
3. Faramir.

Shakespearean News

May7

Celia: Here comes Monsieur Le Beau.
Rosalind: With his mouth full of news.
Celia: Which he will put on us as pigeons feed their young.
Rosalind: Then shall we be news-crammed.
From As You Like It.

Kenneth Branagh has a new Shakespeare film coming out. It looks as if Branagh is directing, but not acting, in this movie version of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. And as you can see in the trailer, the Forest of Arden has been moved to Japan?

Encyclopedia Kevinannica on Shakespeare for kids: “I believe that those readers eighteen years and younger would be betters served by reading Shakespeare in a modern language version. Go ahead and pick up your stones to throw at me.”

In The Guardian: “Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare was first published 200 years ago and has never been out of print. Marina Warner applauds a children’s classic created out of madness and matricide.”

Finally, Eldest Daughter will be spending her summer in Winedale/RoundTop, Texas. She’ll be an actor/student in this program, sponsored by UT-Austin, and at the end of the summer they all get to go to England! The plays for this year are A Comedy of Errors, Richard II, and Measure for Measure. You’re invited out to the barn theater at Winedale at the end of July/beginning of August to see this year’s production of all three plays.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

May6

Subtitled Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, this autobiographical story tells one young lady, a mmember of the Tutsi tribe, who survived the slaughter by the Hutu majority of the Tutsis in Rwanda. Immaculee’s parents and her two brothers along with most of her extended family were killed during the Rwandan holocaust in 1994. Immaculee survived only because a Hutu pastor hid her and seven other women in a secret bathroom in his home for over three months.

During those three months, Immaculee came to know what it meant to depend on the grace and protection of God, and she came to believe that God preserved her life for a purpose. She also came out of hiding and was able to confront and then forgive those who had murdered her famly and tried to take her life, too.

I found this book difficult to read, difficult to believe that people could become so evil as to torture and murder the neighbors who grew up with them and the adults who taught and mentored them. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the Hutu/Tutsi enmity; according to Ms. Ilibagiza, there’s not even any simple way to tell members of the two tribes apart. Hutus feel that they were discriminated against in the past by the French-favored Tutsis. Tutsis felt that they were on the receiving end of the discrimination from the majority Hutus. And all the years of resentment and animosity exploded into violence and genocide after the death (assassination?) of Hutu President Habyarimana in April, 1994.

This book reminded me of Night, the book about the Jewish Holocaust during WW II that I read not too long ago. Not that the writing in Left to Tell was as distinctive and evocative as was that in Night, but the stories were much the same —unbelievable cruelty and tiny acts of mercy and charity nearly lost in a sea of horror. Immaculee emerges from her holocaust experience much more whole and able to grieve and forgive than did Mr. Wiesel; she seems to have a strong sense of God’s love for her and of His purpose in her life in spite of the suffering she had to endure in Rwanda.

Note: Although Immaculee herself talks and writes as an orthodox Roman Catholic Christian, her book was published by Hay House which is connected with the Hay Foundation, “established in 1985 to honor the work of metaphysical teacher, counselor, world-renowned author, and lecturer Louise L. Hay.” The foreword to the book is written by Dr. Wayne Dyer, another metaphysical, positive-thinking, New Age author and speaker. This connection doesn’t invalidate Immaculee’s experiences or insights, but it should make one cautious about reading and listening to her “friends.”

The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade

May5

Take a fat, pimply adolescent artist named Hannah and her good friend Sam whose father is in jail. Mix in a bit of witchcraft, evil witchcraft that is, an antique carving of the Virgin and the Christ Child, a cathedral, theft, vandalism, and a few miracles. With a talented writer in charge, you come out with a mystery thriller for young teenagers and fantasy fans that’s absorbing, suspenseful, and entertaining.

I’m a little wary of books that feature witches. I tend toward the very old-fashioned, but biblical, idea that witchcraft is evil. Well, in this book, it is. And if the theology in the book is a bit works-oriented, the story is at least filled with Biblical allusions and a plot that honors goodness and charity rather than selfishness and greed. The characters include a good bishop, a young protagonist who does her best to love others in a Christlike way (even though she’s not sure she believes in God), and a repentant vandal who asks for forgiveness. The book is moderately frightening in a suspenseful sort of way, but it’s not horror filled or violent.

I think this book may be the first book published in 2007 that I’ve read; I found it on the “new books” shelf at the library. It was a fun story, and I’d recommend it for middle school readers, sixth through eighth grades.

Three Books; One Review

May4

I read these three books all in April and saw similarities although each is very different from the others in terms of tone and audience.

Eclipse by Andrea Cheng. Published in 2006, Eclipse is set in 1952. Peti is a precocious eight year old boy whose family immigrated to the United States from Hungary. Unfortunately, his grandfather and other family members are still trapped in Communist Hungary, and also unfortunately, his aunt, uncle, and cousin are coming from Australia to live with Peti’s family. It’s unfortunate because twelve year old Cousin Gabor is not a nice person, and Peti, a very talkative and engaging young narrator, ends up with more problems than he can handle.

The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes. Paris and her older brother Malcolm have lived with their alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend (not good), have survived an abusive foster home together (not good either), and now they’re separated: Malcolm in a group home, and Paris in a foster home that seems like heaven after all the trouble she’s seen. But Paris misses Malcolm, and she still loves her mom, Viola, even though she doesn’t trust her to take care of her children. So, what will Paris do when she has the opportunity to go back and live with her birth mother and her beloved brother? Will she leave the foster home where she’s experienced love and safety? Or will she stay with her foster family even without Malcolm?

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Melinda on entering high school: “We fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders. I am clanless. I wasted the last weeks of August watching bad cartoons. Ididn’t go to the mall, the lake, or the pool, or answer the phone. I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with.”

What do these three books have in common? In each book the child protagonist is abused and unable to find a way to tell anyone about the abuse. Paris and her brother run away together from the abusive abusive foster home almost at the beginning of the story, and the rest of the story is really about Paris’s new home with good foster parents who help her learn to trust again. Peti finally works out a way to escape or make peace with his tormentor. Melinda fights back, first with silence and sarcasm and art, then finally with words and screams and physical actions.

Of the three, The Road to Paris is most appropriate for younger children, second to fifth grade. It’s a gentle story, and it doesn’t focus too much on racism and child abuse although both are present in the story. Paris learns to trust in God and to trust in those who prove by their actions that they are trustworthy, and those are good lessons for any child —or adult —to learn.

I really liked Peti, the narrator of Eclipse. He’s childlike in his curiosity and his incessant need to ask questions, but he’s caught up in worries and situations that are way too complicated and difficult for a child to understand no matter how many questions he asks. In fact, I wonder how many children who can read the book will understand that Peti’s grandfather is sent to a work camp in Communist Hungary or that Cousin Gabor is acting out his own insecurities and taking out his hostilities on Peti. And it bothers me that the ending, although realistic, doesn’t feel safe. Reading level: third or fourth grade. Understanding level: Eighth, ninth or even tenth grade.

Speak was the most haunting and memorable of the three books. It’s definitely a YA title because of the subject matter and tone of the narration, and parents will want to read it before allowing even their high school students to read. However, the book is an excellent response to a problem that is all too common. I don’t want to tell what that problem is because that’s part of the suspense of the book. But, again, parents should read the book first. In fact, not only should parents read, but I would advise you to keep reading. At first I thought the narrator Melinda was a snotty, defiant little pain in the neck, out to nail anyone and everyone with her private wit and her public silence, but there’s more going on in this novel than meets the eye. And Melinda turns out to be a brave and resilient young lady —even though she wouldn’t like being called a young lady.

Has anyone seen the movie based on this last book? Is it any good?

Books Read April 2007

May3

Night by Elie Wiesel. Semicolon review here.

Sheep and Goat by Marleen Westera. I read this one myself and then with the two youngest urchins. I liked the story about a pair of crochety friends who share a meadow, but I found two places in the book where it was edited poorly. Obviously wrong words should not be allowed to get through the publishing process and into print.

The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock. Re-read.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. I read this play for my American literature class at homeschool co-op.

The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade. Semicolon review here.

Eclipse by Andrea Cheng. Semicolon review here.

The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes. Semicolon review here.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Semicolon review here.

Henderson’s Spear by Ronald Wright. Semicolon review here.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley. Brown Bear’s review here. I liked it, too.

Portrait of Jenny by Robert Nathan. Semicolon review here.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ibigaza. Semicolon review here.

Cross-X by Joe Miller. Semicolon review here.

The Liar’s Diary by Patry Francis. Semicolon review here.

London Calling by Edward Bloor.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi.

Books Read March 2007

May3

I read all these books in March while I was on blog break. I really do read more books when I’m not blogging, but I missed writing about the books here at Semicolon. I did keep notes in a spiral notebook, but it’s not the same. So now I’m busy catching up on my book reviews/reactions. More thoughts on some of the following books are due to come in future posts..

An Abundance of Katherines–Green

All the Kingâ€™s Men by Robert Penn Warren. Semicolon review here.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy.

Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. Semicolon review here.

Bittter Bierceâ€”Gratton

Blackthorn Winterâ€”Reiss

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey. Semicolon review here.

Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler. Recommended by author Charles McCarry.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. Semicolon review here.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan. Semicolon review here.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Semicolon review here.

Jeeves in the Offing by P.G. Wodehouse. Semicolon review here.

Judgement on Deltchev by Eric Ambler.

Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse. Semicolon review here.

Neverending Story by Michael Ende Recommended by Jen Robinson. Semicolon review here.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Semicolon review here.

North by Donna Jo Napoli. Semicolon review here.

Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I only read about half of this book before I realized that I was tired of all the people in the book. Question I wrote in my journal for the month: Will I grow to at least like the characters in this book if I keep reading or will I grow more and more tired of them? I didn’t finish because I decided the latter feeling was more likely.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Semicolon review here.

The Severed Wasp by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.

The Small Rain by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolo review here.

Song of the Magdalene by Donna Jo Napoli. Semicolon review here.

Summer of Light by Dale Cramer.

Three Houses by Angela Thirkell. Semicolon review here.

Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

The Liar’s Diary by Patry Francis

May3

I actually bought this book at the bookstore and read it because I’ve been reading Ms. Francis’s blog, Simply Wait, for a long time now. I was there, virtually, when she heard that her book was going to be published. And Patry Francis is an amazing blogger. She tells good stories like this one called “The Paper Closet” or this character sketch called “Whatcha Lookin For?”

So, how could I not read her book? And how will you believe me when I say that I liked it very much? (I’m just one of those biased bloggers, you know, who can’t tell a good book from a dud.)

Still, I say it: The Liar’s Diary is a good read. It’s exciting with intriguing characters and a twisty, labyrinthine plot that I didn’t figure out until the final chapter. Who’s lying, and who’s telling the truth? Which of the characters is lying even to himself or herself?

The Liar’s Diary is about the friendship between two women and about the lies they tell. I must say that although I read the novel compulsively to get to the end and find what happened, I ended up disliking or loathing almost all the characters in the novel. Surprisingly, this antipathy didn’t ruin the story for me, maybe because I couldn’t tell what I thought about the people in the novel until the very end when I finally figured out what had happened and who was lying to whom.

The Liar’s Diary would be a good summer book to take on vacation or to the beach. It’s a fairly “clean read” with some language, sex and violence, but nothing graphic or gratuitous. If you read it, come back and tell me what you thought.