Framing the Dialogue

Archive for February, 2015

Spell Or High Water

spell or high water“and there’s a reason you never hear anyone say, ‘Luckily I panicked and did something really smart.”

Spell or High Water brings us back to the world of Magic 2.0 and a group of time travelers found a mysterious computer file that allows them to time travel, stop the aging process, teleport, and pull food from their wizard hats.  In Scott Meyer’s second book we find Martin and Phillip being invited to Atlantis for a summit of all of the “time traveler” communities.  As the place where all of the women travelers eventually migrate there was no real chance that all of the menfolk wouldn’t flock to the summit.  The goal is to set rules so that travelers would not abuse their powers.  So naturally the story revolves around the abuse of the powers and our “heroes” are caught in the middle of things.

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The King’s Hounds

kings houndSet in the 11th Century where King Cnut has just conquered England and is trying to rule over an unhappy cabal of follows including the vanquished and those that changed sides to be on the wining side rather than out of some deep belief.  King Cnut has a brutal grip on things, but when a sworn enemy is murdered his plan to unite the different kingdoms is in jeopardy.  In desperation, Cnut calls on the services of two unlikely men who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for them.  In The King’s Hounds Winston, a former monk, and Halfdan, a former nobleman’s son, are compelled to solve the murder.  These two unlikely detectives are hampered by the distrust of those involved, the impatient king, and the trials of getting around in that time period.  Oh and the fact that they are generally not considered royalty doesn’t help them.

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Louder With Crowder

I recently discovered this young conservative who uses new media to espouse real American values. He uses humor and drives home the message.  Enjoy the video and watch more of him on YouTube:

PS I just subscribed to his podcast and will let you all know how that is.

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The Big Lie

mediaSo what took the media, at least some mainstream media folks, so long to call what the Obama Administration is doing a “Lie?”  This “news” story by Gallup is hardly new.  In case you haven’t heard, Gallup discovered that the Administration’s unemployment number of 5.6% may not be true!  My God!  This would be shocking if economists hadn’t been saying this for years…literally years.  Here are some key phrases for your entertainment (I cannot say enlightenment as most conservative folks knew this);

“The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.”

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Expo 58

expo 58It’s been more than a decade since the end of the “war to end all wars,” though the Cold War is raging on.  The Belgians decide to bring the world together in Expo 58 or better know as the Belgian World’s Fair.  The story takes us inside the British contingent as they work to design and build their exhibit.  Though the Fair did occur, this work of fiction by Jonathan Coe introduces us to a “hero” who can only be described by me as underwhelming.  Thomas Foley works for the British government’s Central Office of Information though he seems to be a low level lifer when he is called upon to drop everything, including his family, to oversee part of England’s display.  Foley is dropped into a world he is scarce able to thrive at least at the beginning.

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Dark Fire

dark fireAuthor C.J. Sansom takes us back to 16th Century England where Henry VIII is king and change is brewing.  In mid-evil times change often brings death to both the players and the pawns.  In Dark Fire we are introduced to Matthew Shardlake who is “renowned as the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England.”  Mr. Shardlake is in fact a lawyer who practices property law, but takes on what seems to be a hopeless case when a friend’s niece is arrested for a terrible murder.  Things look hopeless until he is offered a way to have her case or rather her sentence delayed for two weeks…for a price.

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Wool

wool“Anyone with wrinkles around their eyes knew better.  They nodded to the duo as they passed through the cafeteria and wished them a different sort of unspoken luck.  ‘Keep us going,’ their eyes said. ‘Make it so my kids live as long as me.  Don’t let it unravel, not just yet.”

Something happened!  No one is really allowed to talk about it or even really ask the question.  Life is just contained within a tightly controlled societal boundary…everybody has a job…every job supports the community.  So what happens when order becomes chaos and someone from below gets some power and doesn’t see things they way they are supposed to?  Are they to be stopped?  And how will their supporters react.

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