The Uncertain Certainty ~ a book review

The Uncertain Certainty by Charles Simic

Although I can’t claim to be a great fan of Charles Simic’s poetry – I don’t dislike it or anything but it’s not quite my cup of metaphor – I did find this little collection of essays and interviews (mostly from the Seventies) somewhat enjoyable. It’s always interesting to have a look into another writer’s inner workings.

Even if one disagrees with some of the ideas expressed, having them laid out for examination, having explanations, is useful. Those explanations may not always be satisfying, of course, but that just makes one think, right?

And Simic is one of those poets who can express these things without being either too nebulous or too academic. That is, there are no anti-intellectual ‘I just write what I feel’ statements nor are there long German words – his ideas are, in general, clearly stated. That doesn’t mean they are simple!

At the same time, there is no ground-breaking literary theorizing. That isn’t Simic’s ‘thing.’ He does recognize the complexity of writing poetry and, importantly, expresses the truth that it requires a constant struggle and reevaluation, an ever deepening understanding of the process. There are lessons to take away from this book, as well as it being a decent and entertaining read (for the poetically nerdy among us).

One of the analogies with which I was particularly taken – and one which he repeats more than once – is that of the poet to the comedian. We’re all on stage, working on our timing, looking for the comic within the tragic, trying to get that punchline across. I like that.

Recommended for poets and those interested in understanding poetry. Probably a good read for all writers, for that matter.

A Princess of Mars ~ a book review

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

With the recent release of the ‘John Carter’ movie, I decided to revisit ‘A Princess of Mars.’ Not for the first time – I’m sure I’ve given this book a half-dozen or more readings since I first discovered it as a preteen, but not in almost twenty years.

I feared that I would be disappointed rereading ‘Princess,’ that the reality would not live up to my memory. I needn’t have — it’s every bit as good as it was when I first read it fifty years ago. Maybe even better. Though I missed the anti-socialist subtext then, at least consciously! Burroughs could certainly spin an imaginative tale and his world creating set the standard for would-be SF writers. Even if it is not scientifically sound at times, it has the detail and consistency necessary for it to seem real.

The central love story, itself, is a bit simplistic and one that ERB revisited frequently in his novels. And, truly, his characters are not exactly complex. That’s okay; the world and its creatures that surrounds Dejah Thoris and John Carter more than makes up for it. Burroughs was a masterful teller of tales, of interweaving plots and daring adventure.

This was where it all started. Without ‘A Princess of Mars’ there would have been no ‘Avatar’ nor hundreds (okay, probably thousands) of other books, movies, and television shows in the century since its first publication. There wouldn’t even have been a ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ most likely. Even if you are no fan of this sort of action novel, it’s a worthwhile read as a milepost on the road to modern fantasy and science-fiction.

A Thousand Bridges ~ a book review

A THOUSAND BRIDGES by Michael McKinney

In that Michael McKinney is an almost-neighbor (well, like forty miles away) and friend and a good guy, I wasn’t about to savage his novel. But there was no need to worry: ‘A Thousand Bridges’ is pretty darn good.

It’s an adventure detective story. Also a tale of redemption — I’m always a sucker for those. Well paced, well drawn, with a plot (about a plot) that’s a little too believable for comfort.

‘Bridges’ certainly catches the flavor of Florida’s Panhandle and those who live there. The corrupt characters portrayed are, however, universal.

As an aside, I rather hate the design of this book, from the front of the jacket with its mismatched fonts right on through. It deserved better.

But the print version is out of print, so it makes no difference. ‘A Thousand Bridges’ has just been released as an ebook; that’s why I’m reviewing it at this point.

Michael and his wife Maggie are perhaps better known as musicians, performing as ‘Lucky Mud.’ Shoot, I didn’t even know he had a well-regarded novel published almost twenty years ago until the ebook release was announced.

One can learn more at the book’s dedicated website: http://athousandbridges1992.com/

Gold Tone BUB ~ an instrument review

There are banjos and there are ukuleles. And then there are banjoleles, a combination of the two, originally created a century ago to give the ukulele more volume for performing. One of the most famous practitioners of the banjolele would be English humorist/musician George Formby, a very popular performer in the mid-20th century.

Those instruments were, for the most part, based on short soprano-scale ukulele necks with banjo bodies. They, as with ukuleles, have had a recent resurgence of popularity. I have a soprano uke myself, as well as a little Nechville banjo, their ‘Banjovie’ (no longer manufactured) which has a scale about the same as a tenor ukulele. I have switched it to nylon strings, making it, in essence, a 5 string banjolele. A definite improvement in its sound over the metal strings, by the way.

For a while, I had my eye on Gold Tone’s banjo-ukes, especially when they came out recently with a full set of instruments with the various ukulele scales — soprano, concert, tenor, baritone. Eventually, I pulled the trigger on the BUB, the baritone ukulele banjo.

Buying an instrument is always a bit of a gamble, particularly by mail order. Not this time — I love this BUB. It is surprisingly well made and set up, comes with a nice case, and plays well. A note — the BUB comes with a ‘plate’ resonator attached to the back. It sounds way better (and is only slightly quieter) without it. Mine is permanently removed.

At a baritone ukulele scale of 19 inches it is only a tad shorter than an Irish Tenor 4-string banjo, so I’ve come to think of it as a true banjo, rather than a banjolele. One little surprise was that it comes set up in reentrant tuning, with a high fourth string (the D). I’m not used to seeing this on baritone ukes (which are commonly tuned like the four highest strings on a guitar). However, I’ve come to like the sound of the higher string; it does give it something of a 5-string banjo vibe. The strings are, of course, nylon.

The sound is pretty good. It’s not a complex sound, naturally, not like a guitar or even a decent banjo. Finger-picked, it can sound rather kalimba-like. I consider that a good thing. I could also see using it for latin sounds, not unlike the small guitar-related instruments of traditional Mexican music. It does cut through rather nicely — shoot, I could even see using it as replacement for a mandolin.

Strummed, it can provide a useful rhythmic accompaniment, whether by itself or with a lower-pitched instrument for support. It does the traditional banjo bumpity thing pretty well, if one isn’t too concerned about having traditional banjo volume (not that it’s quiet, just not capable of anything like full-sized steel-string banjo loudness). It probably sounds more like a 19th Century banjo than most of the new banjos on the market. Camptown Races, anyone? I like the fact that I can hear myself sing! The BUB also is fine for anything one might do with an ukulele, though I don’t suppose it would quite cut it for traditional Hawaiian music.

Naturally, it somewhat excels for that music hall sound that Formby and others practiced, though perhaps not quite as well suited as a higher pitched instrument. Anyway, it is fun to play. And easy. One thing is for certain — it is going to show up on recordings here eventually. It will also be very likely to travel with me when I once again can travel. A definite festival choice!

1966 and the Science Fiction Novel

AT THE 1966 HUGO Awards, there was a tie between the two best Science Fiction novels of the year, Dune by Frank Herbert and …And Call Me Conrad (aka This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny. Now Dune has gone on to achieve broad popularity, known to the non-SF audience via movie adaptations if nothing else, while Zelazny’s book would be unfamiliar to most.

But it’s the better novel, in my judgment. Oh, I was dazzled by Herbert’s novel(s), like everyone else (well, almost everyone), but now I find them somewhat plodding and a bit pointless. Even at the time they first appeared I was bothered by the way he changed the whole ancestral memory thing after the first couple books — the genetic explanation never made much sense. Nevertheless, there is a lot of rich detail in Dune. It’s a flashy novel, one that makes a big impression on first read.

Zelazny, on the other hand, had a depth to his work. He was one of the ‘New Wave’ writers of the 60s — the Science Fiction equivalent of Post Modernism — along with such authors as Samuel ‘Chip’ Delany (whom I had the honor of meeting twenty-odd years ago), Ursula K LeGuin, Michael Moorcock. Zelazny is a stylist — his prose is highly poetic and that alone would be enough to attract me to his writing. Sometimes it resembles a cross between the imagery of Raymond Chandler and the simple (but meaningful) poeticism of Tolkien.

There’s more than just the writing itself, however good it may be. Roger Zelazny’s fiction tends to tackle some big meaning-of-existence type questions. Often, they’re well hidden in the stories! Even his most popular and seemingly ‘lightest’ work, the Amber series, explores free will and how it shapes our world. Indeed, it creates it. Man becoming God (or godlike) is common theme in his books — that’s a concept that has always struck a chord in me. Striving is good!

Walk a Little Ways With Me ~ a record review

WALK A LITTLE WAYS WITH ME by Mean Mary

“I’ll rush into the new day like a penny candy store,” Mean Mary sings in ‘Shepherd’s Hill,’ one of ten original tracks on her CD release Walk a Little Ways With Me. This album is one tasty candy store — I recommend rushing in at the first opportunity.

‘Mean Mary’ James, a Florida native now based in Nashville, has been performing since she was five. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and song-writer, ‘Walk’ is the work of a mature talent. On this outing, she tends toward the country side of the Americana spectrum while staying true to her roots in traditional music, with plenty of hot picking on banjo, guitar and fiddle. Well, fiddling on fiddle, not picking.

One of the highlights for me — not that it was easy to choose just one — is the instrumental ‘Joy,’ a Dueling-Banjos-meets-Beethoven romp on the banjo. Mary’s more-than-able accompanist/partner here on guitar is her brother, Frank James. Mean Mary’s playing is bluegrass-inflected yet maintains an ‘old time’ charm. And it is, to say the least, virtuosic.

On the other nine songs, all self-penned or co-written by Mary, her vocal abilities are on display as well. This young lady has a strong, confident voice, as sweet, rich and full-bodied as sorghum syrup. It’s a voice equally suited to the bluesy ‘Rose Tattoo’ or the pure countrified exuberance of ‘Big Red Barn,’ where she sings ‘Love’s never gonna knock on these barn doors.’ Keep it up, Mary, and a lot of folks are going to come knocking.

Mean Mary deftly shifts gears to sing the plaintive almost-a-spiritual ‘Choctawhatchee Waltz.’ Her voice is every bit as much at home on ballads as it is on the up-tempo songs.

Ultimately, though, it the playing of Mean Mary James that truly dazzles on ‘Walk a Little Ways With Me.’ There is a competent group of musicians backing her up on the album, plus the presence of her highly talented brother, but Mary is the one doing the lead work on banjo and fiddle, and most of the guitar. Some very tasty mandolin playing appears as well –  I almost didn’t pick up on it at first as it fitted the music so organically. Her playing can be fast — very fast — yet musical. No technical playing here just for the flashiness of it; Mary’s choices always make sense, musically.

The title song also features the guest vocals of Bob Arnold, making for an intriguing duet.

If there are any weaknesses with the album they are with the songs themselves. By and large, they are good, solid pieces of work but I admit that some are not memorable. That does not keep them from being an enjoyable listening experience.

One thing that bothered me a bit, too, is the over-hot mastering job. Too rock and roll, too little dynamics, which can become tiring after a while. I know it’s the way things are done these days and it’s certainly not as overdone as many popular releases.

Mean Mary is asking you to “just walk a little ways . . .with me.” I suggest you take a little trip down that road with her by visiting the Mean Mary James website at http://meanmary.com. Walk a Little Ways With Me is available both there and at CD Baby.

Open Office ~ is free worth it?

I’ve been using the free Open Office programs for a while now and thought I’d make a few comments. Nothing in depth– there are better sources if you want to know more of the nuts and bolts of these applications.

There are several components to the Open Office suite, some more useful and usable than others. First, I’ll mention the less useful — to me — offerings.

Let me say that I have no idea how well their spreadsheet program, Calc, works. I’ve never used it and don’t know if I ever will. Is it an Excel killer? I don’t know. Maybe someday I’ll have some money to count and find out!

But if you also have no money to count, keep in mind that it and the rest of these applications are free.

My same lack of experience would apply to the Math program. This would appeal to a rather small user base, anyway; most of us aren’t going to be working with mathematical formulas on a regular basis (if at all).

Impress is the Power Point analog. As I’ve never had much use for PP (nor had it installed for several years), I don’t know if it’s any better or worse. It seems to create perfectly good presentations, so it would seem an alternative. And, like the rest of Open Office, the free thing makes it more desirable.

So, on to the other components: Base is, to me, the best thing in Open Office. It’s certainly superior to the free Works database formerly bundled in Windows. Is it as good as some that aren’t free? I don’t know but, honestly, it does everything I need quite well. It’s main problem, as with the rest of this suite, is that it is not always completely user-friendly.

I use Base to keep track of my writing as well as my publishing– nothing very complicated, admittedly. It can also be used to create mailing lists and such. Whether that is even needed in this day of online management, I do not know. If I ever have any fans to mail, I’ll let you know.

Draw copies another program named Draw: Corel Draw. It is not as good but it is an awful lot cheaper! My impression is that it would work quite well enough for layout duties but is not nearly so nice for editing the graphics themselves. It is clumsy in this role.

In that I have and use Corel’s offering, I haven’t much recent experience trying to work with OO Draw. Incidentally, if you might be looking for an Photoshop-like program to edit your graphics, I would highly recommend the free GIMP application. Neither Draw has that sort of focus.

I could very much see laying out pages in OO Draw if need be. Advertisements, posters, even brochures or small books.

This leaves the main attraction (for most Open Office users), the word processing program Writer. I like Writer. I like it better than MS Word. The biggest drawback, to me, is the somewhat clumsy (but logical, in its way) approach to formatting. That’s a negative for me as a writer; in an office situation it might be meaningless.

That is why I prefer — slightly — to use Corel Word Perfect for formatted manuscripts. I could easily live and work with Writer. I do appreciate its excellent PDF conversion.

Open Office is a big program. If one is on a slow connection (as I am), it can take a while to download! Unfortunately, one can not choose and pick which apps one wants from the suite. It’s a package deal.

And it’s a good deal, really — the best money I never spent!Available at www.openoffice.org .

Sparrow Alone on the Housetop ~ a book review

SPARROW ALONE ON THE HOUSETOP
by Jean James and Mary James

The new novel by Jean and Mary James, Sparrow Alone on the Housetop, is an action-packed mystery drama set in present-day rural Mexico and Houston’s centers of commercial power. It is in the interaction of these two very different worlds that the story arises — a tale of greed versus courage.

Though not overtly religious, this book has a Christian slant, dealing with good and evil in it own terms, as well as exploring environmental issues. It is, however, in the determination and faith of the protagonist, Anne Sumner, missionary and daughter of an unscrupulous and tyrannical business magnate, that the true message of the novel lies. Sparrow is the story of a woman who will not be swayed from truth and duty.

Indeed, she is perhaps too driven. Every hero must have her flaws, after all, and Anne comes off as very human at times. She, and most of the other characters in this book, is well drawn and believable.

Anne’s village in Mexico is in trouble. A strange sickness begins to claim victims, including the young woman herself. Ill and with no resources other than her own convictions and the aid of a bush pilot of questionable motives and allegiances, she works to unravel the cause of the epidemic. There is a mystery story here, and a romance story. Moreover, there is a story that rings true on all levels. Real people, real problems, even real horses!

Sparrow Alone on the Housetop has a strong, somewhat spare narrative tone, quite readable and enjoyable. It has the drive of a good, well-paced screenplay. I was quite honestly impressed. The authors know what they want to say and get it across to their audience — that is the ultimate criteria on which all art must be judged.

Needless to say (but I will anyway), I recommend this book. It’s not the perfect novel by any means. It is not a ‘big’ novel, in either length or intent, nor an ambitious attempt to wrest away the crowns of Hemingway or Faulkner. But it does deserve to be read and will not disappoint.

This novel is published by 4RV Pubishing ~ more information may be found at the dedicated website Year of the Sparrow.

Sard Harker ~ a short review

SARD HARKER by John Masefield

I had read Masefield’s adventure novel, Sard Harker, some twenty-five years ago and decided to pull it off the shelf to give it another look. Masefield is better know, of course, for his poems, particularly the ones that speak of the sea, and the long piece, Reynard the Fox.

Although essentially a bit of adventure entertainment, Sard Harker (Masefield visits other members of the Harker family in his fiction), it also reflects the author’s tendency toward the occasional romantic mysticism, as ‘visions’ of one sort or another play a central role in the plot.

Indeed, the entire book is somewhat about visions and dreams and the futures men and women create for themselves. For Sard, that entails a movement from a narrow vision of himself as a seaman to a new wider world of love and life ashore. It is a quest story in every sense.

The language of this novel veers back and forth a bit from Masefield’s natural poetic voice to an occasionally rather hurried pot-boiler style suited to general consumption. It is by no means a great book, either in scope or consummation, but it has its moments.

It is also not a very big book. Big enough for its story and no bigger — there is little in the way of subplot or digression from the main narrative and journey of the protagonist. I suppose, however, it is quite exotic enough with the elements it contains, the sea, Central America, bandits, dictators, Satanist kidnappers, and dreams of a long lost love.

The copy of Sard Harker on my shelf is old (printed in the 1920s), from my grandfather’s library. I don’t know if the book is in print today so good luck if you look for a copy!

Down Home ~ record review

DOWN HOME
by Mean Mary and Frank James

Subtitled ‘Volume I, Civil War Series,’ Down Home is a collection of eleven Civil War era songs, billed as being (aside from one original) ‘authentic reproductions.’ Though it might be legitimately debated whether these performances are truly ‘authentic,’ in that bluegrass banjos and large steel-string guitars were not around in the Civil War period, the ‘down home’ performance by James and James certainly has an authentic old-timey vibe.

‘Mean’ Mary and Frank are siblings who have been performing together over twenty years now — since Mary was five! They cut their musical teeth on Civil War material and first made a name for themselves as performers at reenactments. Talented multi-instrumentalists both, Mary James shines here on fiddle, banjo and mandolin while Frank backs her up with solid guitar work and miscellaneous percussion.

Having heard their earlier Civil War recordings — done when both were still teenagers — I must say their work here is both far more mature and more authentically ‘period.’ Where once the duo had a lot of technical flash but not a great deal of originality, now they bring a fresh spirit to these old pieces.

A word on the production (well, more than just one word!): officially, Mary did the arranger/producer part here and Frank engineered and mixed, but I know the roles often blurred — as they are bound to do with a pair of musicians who have worked together so long. The mix is sometimes a bit gimmicky in terms of panning and such, but clean and nicely balanced. It’s a nice sounding CD if one doesn’t mind the sound image occasionally bouncing around a bit.

The one original here, the title song ‘Down Home,’ was written my Mary and J. James. It may well be the weakest track but then it has to compete with ten classics, such as ‘Garry Owen’ and ‘Scarborough Fair’ (the latter has some very tasty guitar work). Actually, I like the song pretty well though I’m not sure it was an ideal fit on this album.

Overall, I find this recording on the understated side and I consider that a positive. Mary and Frank could have wowed us with their instrumental prowess but chose, rather, to serve the songs. Both sing well — Mean Mary does the bulk of the vocals but her brother gives plenty of support (and provides some neat whistling). I recommend to any and all folkies, old-time fans, bluegrassers, and pretty much anyone who appreciates acoustic music.

Down Home is on Woodrock Records — visit the Mean Mary site (http://meanmary.com) for more info and sales.

(originally posted at The Lucky Lad)