Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually liked this book a lot! It is a very interesting book, based on something that actually did happen, and yes, I'm sorry, but I really think that people who don't believe in evolution are seriously brainwashed or in serious denial.

It's scientifically proven fact! I believe in God (but not in Christianity), and I really don't see why you can't believe in both, they're not mutually exclusive!

In my not-so-humble opinion, I think that people who can't believe in evolution, are the ones who have the least faith in their belief in God. If you really have as much faith as you pretend to have, you wouldn't feel threatened by the *fact* of evolution.

Anyway, back to the book, I really liked it, and I liked pretty much all the main characters, though I thought Mena was a little annoying and cowardly, not saying all the things she should've said, even though she thought them. Obviously, I liked disliking the Back-Turners and the pastor, but to me, the real villains were Mena's parents.

What horrible, HORRIBLE parents! I mean, they didn't support their daughter at all for doing the right thing! Regardless of the consequences to their business, she did the right thing, and even if they were mad at her, the least they could do was *talk* to her and tell her what she did wrong and how to handle things better next time. Not ignore her completely!

A boy attempted suicide, and all they cared about was what the other church members thought about them?! I could say so much about what terrible parents they are, but it's just getting me riled up. Terrible, terrible parents! OMG! So many things!!

The Bomb That Followed Me Home by Cevin Soling

 

This little book by Cevin Soling, the third book in the Rumpleville Chronicles of Fairly Twisted Fairy Tales, isn't meant for children, any more than the original Brothers Grimm's fairy tales were meant for children.

 

The Bomb That Followed Me Home is a short story, effective, definitely twisted, and horribly amusing. Emphasis on 'horribly'. Not because it was a horrible story, but because it was so amusing, in such a horrible way.

 

It tells the story about a bomb who followed a little boy home, the same way a stray cat or puppy might follow a child home. The boy wants to keep the bomb, but his parents are against it.

 

They didn't want to be responsible for the care of the bomb; having to polish it, change its fuse, or stand guard over it at night, so they put up signs to find the owner of the bomb, and then they tried looking for people who might want to adopt it, all without luck, and they have to figure out what to do with it.

 

Although twisted, I found the book surprisingly charming, and I really loved the wonderful illustrations by Steve Kille. It made me want to get all the books in the Rumpleville Chronicles, not least because I'm a huge fan of twisted fairy tales, but also because I thought Soling's story was very creative and hilarious!

 

Grimm fans will love this, and all the other books in the Rumpleville Chronicles. There are seven more due out in the future, and I'm sure they'll all be as enjoyable to read as this one was. I can't wait!

Erik Quisling first released handmade copies of his new book, Fables from the Mud, nine months ago. Since then, this little text has gone on to becoming a classic with the likes of Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince and Axel Hacke's and Michael Sowa's The Little King December. The thing is, Quisling's Fables from the Mud can hardly be considered a children's book. It is quite dark at times, and more than a little gory too, and it is told in succinctly few words to express profound ideas.

The first fable of "The Angry Clam", for example, tells the story of a mollusk who struggles with its existence and goes through many trials trying to find meaning in his life, even converting to Islam, and then abandoning it again when it doesn't seem to help. Quisling includes a tragic but completely realistic epilogue of the angry clam's ending days.

The second fable, "Adventures of Glen in My Stone Garden", is a slightly ridiculous but hilarious look at the adventures of a pessimistic ant named Glen. His adventures include a garden barbeque, getting stomped on by a boot, and captaining a pirate crew. What happens to Glen in his adventures gets pretty gory, because he gets swallowed by a dog and even gets his own head severed, but don't worry, everything works out in the end for Glen.

Things don't end as well for the protagonist of the final fable though. "Grant's Tomb" is about a has-been warrior worm whose best days are behind him and find the future to be empty and meaningless. He plots to commit suicide in a spectacular manner as a glorified finale, but needs to evade other dangers that face him on this new quest. Inevitably, he finds meaning with his quest and loses the will for suicide, but unfortunately with this new turn of events, only tragedy can result.

These fables of Quisling's are so funny and popular that Hollywood animation studio Luma Pictures have now optioned the right to create short animated films from Fables from the Mud. They plan to enter the films into film festivals and also the Academy Award Short film competition, and also market them to networks to be converted to animated series. Not too shabby for Quisling's little book about invertebrates.

I enjoyed these little stories very much, although I cringed at some of the gory parts. Fables from the Mud is a realistic parody of life, for us and for the invertebrates, and I'm sure when my brain recovers from the gore, I will find that it was an enlightening read too. I can't wait to see what Luma Pictures does with the fables, and I'm waiting anxiously for Quisling's next book!

I work from home, so whenever I need a break, I plop down on the couch and watch TV for a while. Sometimes a good show will be on, and I'll be entertained for a half hour or so, other times there won't be anything showing that interests me at all — but I always wonder who makes the decisions to air these particular shows, and how they decide.

I don't really ponder it too much, but when a couple of my favorite shows got canceled, my ire towards television networks and the people who canceled my shows popped up. I wouldn't do anything except mutter under my breath about my dissatisfaction, but watching The TV Set makes me think that any protest I make would be futile anyway.

The TV Set, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver, is a satire about what happens behind the scenes of our beloved dramas and sitcoms in the television industry. It isn't 'laugh-out-loud hilarious' as much as it is 'smirky-sarcastic', but it does give us a pretty good idea of the problems and trials the people behind the television networks face.

David Duchovny plays television writer Mike Klein, who writes a script that has personal meaning to him. He sells it to a network and they seem to love it. However, network president Lenny, played by Sigourney Weaver, wants him to make some changes to the script that compromise the original premise of the story. Mike Klein's wife (Justine Bateman) is pregnant with their second child, and he has to decide between standing up for his ideals and being out of a job, or compromising his script and getting it on air. His optimistic manager (Judy Greer) wants her client to be happy, but she also wants his script to air, so she encourages him to go with the changes Lenny wants him to make. The only person who seems to understand Mike's ideals is the network president's second-in-command, Richard McAllister (Ioan Gruffudd), but even he doesn't dare stand up against Lenny.

As the movie proceeds, we see Mike make more and more compromises to get his show on the air, and eventually the show ends up becoming entirely different from what Mike started out with. The TV Set is a very realistic portrayal of the inner workings of network television, and although it's meant to be a comical portrayal, it also comes across as a little bit sad. Mike's experience is funny, but so very sad, because many of us have had to sacrifice our ideals for one reason or another at some point in our lives. Whether it is because the boss said you had to, or your significant other asked you to, or maybe your parents guilted you into it, most of us have had this experience, and it's sad. Perhaps that's what makes The TV Set so poignant.

While I wouldn't call The TV Set the best comedy I've watched in a while, I did enjoy the moral behind it, and the cast's performance was simply superb. David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, and Ioan Gruffudd portrayed their characters really well, but that's no surprise. Lesser known actor Fran Kranz, who played the lead actor in Mike Klein's sitcom, was a very interesting surprise; I thought his different portrayals of his character's character was hilarious, and Lindsay Sloane, who plays the female lead in the sitcom, reacts beautifully to his antics as well.

Special features on the DVD include a featurette of "The Making of The TV Set", audio commentaries by writer and director Jake Kasdan, David Duchovny, Lindsay Sloane, and producer Aaron Ryder on the making of The TV Set, and Jake Kasdan and executive producer Judd Apatow on the inspiration for The TV Set, and a deleted scene of small talk at the network's event before the introduction of Mike Klein's sitcom.