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The Jevlir Caravansary

Month: November 2006

  • DVD: The Shaggy Dog

    Most of the time when I don’t like a movie I just don’t review it. But in this case, I make an exception. I like many Disney movies. They’re generally fun, you don’t have to take them too seriously, and yet they’re at least enchanting.

    In this case, I’m not sure whether there was a good idea in there somewhere. There may have been, but it was obscured by an enormous pack or just ordinary ideas or even bad ones. There were a few funny scenes, but they weren’t connected together to make a really funny movie.

    All in all, I didn’t find any of the characters all that attractive. I didn’t find the story very consistent or suspenseful. By the time the movie ended, I really didn’t care particularly what happened to any of the folks. The dog is pretty, and probably nice, but we didn’t see much of that.

    I think this has to count as a rare “miss” for Disney in producing engaging movies for the whole family. (Note, except for boredom, there’s nothing here that should be a problem for family viewing.)

  • Book: Day of the Dead

    This is an excellent suspense story by J. A. Jance. I generally rate Jance as a “4” on my 1-5 scale. This particular book is a bit better than that.

    It is not a mystery in any sense. I don’t normally read pure suspense, but a combination of mystery and suspense generally does interest me. I picked this up because I have really enjoyed Jance’s mysteries set in Arizona.

    The characters in this story are generally either very likeable, or a great pleasure to hate. In other words, they’re interesting and human, and you come to care how things work out. While you know who the bad guys are along the way, there is considerable suspense over just how things will play out and what the costs will be for each of the characters.

    The interweave of Native American beliefs and various brands of Christianity was interesting to me as a Bible teacher, as is the interplay of different cultures. All of that is part of building up one’s personal commitment to the characters and the story. It was also fun to encounter Dr. Fran Daly on her home ground (for those who have read some of the Joanna Brady mysteries.)

    Overall, though I haven’t put Jance on my “must read, 5 of 5” list, this book is excellent and well-worthwhile reading.

  • Old Mystery Still Fascinates

    Analysts try to put a face on Jack the Ripper proclaims a story on MSNBC. It’s interesting, though not surprising, to see how much attention this mystery gets 118 years after the murders took place.

    One wonders whether the ripper would have been quickly caught with modern crime fighting techniques, given the amount of information that is available even now. Nonetheless I doubt we’ll have a solution that everyone can agree on, so authors should have plenty of opportunity for fun for many more years to come.

  • Book: Chasing Faith by Mark Miller

    I don’t usually do this, but I want to mention a book I haven’t read. While displaying books at Pine Forest United Methodist Church craft show on November 11, I had a chat with author Mark Miller about his book Chasing Faith. It’s going to be some time before I’ll have time to read the book, but the author impressed me with his energy and enthusiasm for his topic as well as his coherent description of his purpose in writing this book.

    This book is only available through the publisher Trent’s Prints, and again I haven’t read it, but I wanted to call attention to the entry. Take a look at the catalog page and consider communicating with the author.

  • This Could be Important

    See this.

  • Christian Carnival CXLVII

    I participate each week in the Christian Blog Carnival, but I generally submit just one post from the Participatory Bible Study Blog. Nonetheless I like to link from all my blogs to the carnival post. I’ve been forgetting to post it here, however. So here goes . . .

    Rev-Ed has recovered from election day activities and posted the Christian Carnival CXLVII.

    Thanks to Rev-Ed for a nice carnival.