Book Review: "The Red Pyramid"

Rick Riordan is at it again. Instead of Percy Jackson and Greek gods, we are now reading about the adventures of Carter and Sadie Kane, who are finding out about life with ancient Egyptian gods. "The Red Pyramid" is the first book in "The Kane Chronicles" series by Rick Riordan.

In "The Red Pyramid" we meet brother and sister, Carter and Sadie Kane, ages 14 and 12. Carter lives with his dad, an Archaeologist and travels all around the world. Sadie lives with her grandparents in London. Their mother tragically died several years before the start of this book. When Carter and his father visit Sadie in London, their lives get a lot more interesting. Carter and Sadie discover that their father is a magician when he unleashes 5 Egyptian gods and disappears in the process. Soon, Carter and Sadie are swept into a world of powerful gods and dangerous magicians. They are key players in the new world to come, but will they learn their powers soon enough to defeat the agents of Chaos?

"The Red Pyramid" is not just a rehash of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". If the first book is any indication, "The Kane Chronicles" will be a bit more serious than Percy Jackson, and appears to be designed for a slightly older reader. Much of Riordan's humor comes through in "The Red Pyramid" as told from the perspectives of Carter and Sadie, so it still has a lot of the charm of the Percy Jackson books. You can also tell that Riordan really did his research prior to writing this book. "The Kane Chronicles" has a long way to go to be the equal of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," but it's off to a good start. I'm anxious to read the next book in the series when it is released, and I highly recommend "The Red Pyramid" to Rick Riordan fans.

He's Just Not a Leader

Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows that I don't agree with President Barack Obama on much of anything. Though I do think Lebron to Chicago makes some sense from a basketball standpoint. In many posts I've alluded to the fact that I don't think he's much of a leader and he doesn't know what it means to be the President of the United States of America.

Today we had another example. Rather than participate in the usual tradition of laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day, Barack Obama is going on vacation to Chicago. Other President's have missed this. In 2002 George W. Bush was in Normandy, France, and in 1992 George H.W. Bush missed it for a campaign event. I give W a little wiggle room there because it was Normandy, but H.W. missing for a campaign event sorta sucks. So, I don't want to beat up Obama too badly over this, but it's becoming a pattern with him. It's as if the act of being the leader of our country just isn't important to him, as long as he can move his liberal/socialist agenda forward.

There are certain things that I believe all good leaders do naturally.

1. They inspire people to be better than they otherwise could be.
2. They know when they have to address a situation with those they are leading.
3. They understand that appearances are important and conduct themselves appropriately at all times.
4. They do their best to lead all people, even those they don't see eye-to-eye with.

President Obama, sadly, doesn't appear to posses any of these qualities. Let's take these 4 items:

Inspiration: He certainly doesn't inspire people to be better, instead he tells people to stay how they are and let the government make their life better for them. When was the last time Obama said anything that made you feel better about America and made you want to do more for your country? Has he ever said anything that inspired you to be a better person? He hasn't for me...but really the last President to do that was Ronald Reagan.

Handling Tricky Situations: Obama dropped the ball on the Ft. Hood shooting. Most Presidents would have been on TV that night to address the nation and reassure the people. He waited 3 days. He's acted like the oil spill in the Gulf is unimportant until very recently. If this were the Bush administration, the left would be all over him, but, for the most part they are relatively quiet about Obama's lackluster response.

Maintaining Appearances consistent with the Office of the President: Obama has bowed to foreign leaders, making himself, and by extension America, look weak. He has fallen all over himself to acknowledge America's shortcomings around the world. And now, he's skipping the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If this were an isolated incident, I would have let it go, but there's a pattern forming here.

Dealing with people who disagree with you: Obama is terrible at this. His plan is to discredit those who disagree with him rather than really debate the issues and understand the other side of the issue. This is probably because his ego won't let him see other points of view. On the campaign trail, his staff tore down Joe the Plumber after Joe the Plumber embarrassed Obama. With health care, when the outcry was the worst, Obama just kept insisting that he knew better than the American people, but did very little to address real concerns. When Eric Cantor and a few other Republicans asked hard hitting questions about health care, he just got mad. He's told the Republicans to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. It took him over a year before he went near Fox News. He's called Wall Street bankers "fat cats" and called police officers "stupid."

Leaders don't do these things...leaders listen, learn and make the best decision based on their own intuition and inputs from all sides. Obama makes up his mind and doesn't budge on anything. I'm not saying that he's going to change his mind if he listens to other points of view, in fact, I'd be shocked if he did, but he doesn't even pretend to care what anyone else thinks, especially those who disagree with him.

The man doesn't seem to possess an ounce of real leadership qualities. He gives a good speech, and he's a wizard at the political game, but he's not a leader. Even die hard liberals have to start to face the fact that Obama is really nothing more than a run of the mill politician with a gift for public speaking. Obama's skill set would make him an excellent infomercial salesman, but they don't make him a good President.

TV Series Review: 24, Season 8

Well, one of the coolest TV series in history finally came to an end. Jack Bauer has fought his last bad guy, on the small screen anyway. Yes, "24" had it's series finale on Monday. Season 8 was easily the worst season of "24", and garnered only 3 stars in the Ratings O' Jake. It was 2 stars up until the last 3 hours. But, I think those last 3 hours saved it enough that if the rumors are true of "24" movies, I will give those a shot.

In season 8, Jack is on his way to retirement and being a happy grandpa when his old life sucks him back in. Soon, Jack is on another roller coaster 24 hour period of highs and lows that culminates in the series finale.

There were many reasons why this season really fell off. For one, it become more implausible than ever. Apparently Jack can survive anything, from stabbings to gun shots, and be kickin' butt in 2 minutes. And, I've never been to New York City, but I can't believe it takes a commercial breaks worth of time to get to any place in Manhattan, but somehow Jack manages to get anywhere in Manhattan in about 3 minutes. Secondly, many characters went off the deep end, including Jack and President Taylor (who was great is season 7). Finally there was an annoying story line that got badly tied into the main story line. Overall, just a disappointment.

This leads me to a theory that most good shows can only stay good for 5-6 seasons before they drop off. My ratings for "24" have dropped since season 5. I feel like "Smallville" should have ended in season 6. And, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was terrible for it's final 2 seasons. It's ok to stop a show when the ideas run out, and I wish more shows would follow that model.

Anyway, that's about it. "24" had a great run, and I really enjoyed the series, even with the lackluster final season.

No TV, No Problem

On Thursday, we had our roof re-shingled. They roofers did the tear off of the old one and put the new one on in about 6 hours...crazy fast. We don't have a big house, but still, it was impressive. The only major problem was our satellite dish got out of alignment during the remove and reinstall. So, we were without DirecTV until today. Yes, DirecTV technicians do repairs on Sunday.

I was a little panicked that we wouldn't have TV for a few days, but we made it. I did miss watching 'Mike & Mike in the Morning' on Friday, and it was a little weird cooking dinner without the TV on. I hadn't realized how often I just have the TV on for the purposes of creating noise. So, yeah, it was a little weird, but we made do. We read books, we did more stuff outside, and, well we had a super busy Saturday, so that helped.

There's really no point to this. I've got the TV on right now, since it's working again. I'm not really paying attention to it...it's just noise. In fact, I may take a nap soon, with the TV on. So, I guess I didn't learn anything from this experience...well, maybe I did. Maybe I learned that we can do with less TV if we want to.

Here We Go Again!

The annual saga of Brett Favre's football future took another turn today. Favre has apparently said that he will play again if the Southern Mississippi University baseball team makes it to the College World Series. Nothing like linking his future to something completely unrelated to football to get the story going again.

Favre is like a 3 year old...look at me, pay attention to me, come on...look at me!!! Every offseason we go through this. Every offseason he holds an entire NFL franchise in suspense as he mulls his decision. First it was the Packers, who finally moved on after Favre retired, then unretired. Next it was the New York Jets, who cut bait after 1 season. Now, it's the Minnesota Vikings who have no other viable options at QB, so they have to wait and see what the Prima Donna decides.

Having lived in Minnesota for about 2 years, I have no love for Vikings fans. They are annoying most of the time, but I actually feel bad for them in this. They have so little to look forward to if Favre doesn't come back...it can't be a good feeling as a fan. No matter what he decides, I bet this isn't the last we've heard from Favre this offseason.

Movie Review: The Blind Side

"The Blind Side" is the first "critically acclaimed" movie I've watched in quite a while. Seems like all the movies that get nominations for Oscars and other awards these days are junk that I don't want to watch. "The Blind Side" is unique in that it achieved some acclaim, including a Best Actress win for Sandra Bullock, and I actually liked it.

"The Blind Side" is based on the 2006 book, "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" by Michael Lewis. This movie (and book) tells the story of Michael Oher, who was drafted in the 1st round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. While in high school, Michael ends up at a private school in Memphis after a friend's father convinces the football coach to get him enrolled. However, Michael's grades prevent him from playing. Around Thanksgiving of his first year at the school, Michael, now homeless, meets Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and the rest of the Tuohy family. Leigh Anne takes pity on Michael and invites him to stay for the night.

Fast forward a little bit. Michael becomes a part of the family, and is eventually adopted. The Tuohy's, along with tutor Miss Sue (Kathy Bates) help Oher get his grades up and he becomes a standout football player, eventually earning a scholarship to Ole Miss University. And we all know how the story ends...Oher is drafted 23rd in the 2009 NFL Draft.

I really liked this movie. I rate it 4 stars...could be more but that's how I feel. The best part about it is that it's based on a true story. I read that the movie changes some of the story to make it more dramatic, but overall it's a true story. If you google Michael Oher you can get the entire story. This movie reminds us what can happen when people do what is right. I think everyone should give this movie a shot...it'll definitely tug at your heart. It did mine, and I'm a cold hearted conservative.

Baby Grand and Sweet Onions

Yesterday, the Men's choir that I play piano with was invited to Manchester, IA to lead mass at St. Mary's Parish. This was the first time we've ever been invited to another parish. Driving up there, I had no idea what type of piano they would have, though I was expecting an upright. When I got there, I was very happy to find a Yamaha Baby Grand Piano. Oh baby!

I haven't played on a grand piano of any sort for an extended period of time since college. When I was taking lessons as a kid, my teacher had a baby grand, and we always played our recitals on grand pianos, so I got a little spoiled. Don't get me wrong, an upright piano is a fine musical instrument, and even the Clavinova that I have is a good piano. However, there's something about a grand piano...the sound is just richer, fuller. It was wonderful. I loved playing that piano!

After mass, the priest that invited us cooked a meal. He grilled brats and hot dogs, and all the families brought a dish to share. We had a great time, and the best surprise was the Sweet Onion Bratwurst! Up until yesterday, I had always steered clear of flavored bratwurst. I've seen them at the meat counter at HyVee, but I've always gone for the standard brat. My thinking has always been that brats are so good, why mess with them? What a fool I was...the sweet onion bratwurst was one of the best things I've ever eaten. You had the great, juicy brat flavor, with chunks of onion and the juice from those onions...it was unbelievable. My mouth is watering now just thinking about it.

Who would have guessed a Baby Grand Piano and a Sweet Onion Bratwurst would have such an effect on my day yesterday? I know I didn't expect that when I woke up.