I have the flu today, so I am not up for one of my usual posts. I’ll be back on Monday.
School’s Out (for Summer)
Yesterday was the last day of school here in Saint Paul. The summer has officially started, even if it is a bit cold and rainy outside. The kids now have nearly 3 months to forget everything. But does it have to be this way?
Pedestrian Friendly
Any large building project has the potential to be defined by a detail. It can be for better or worse, but it’s often true that “God is in the details”. A major project here in Saint Paul, still in the planning stages, illustrates this point perfectly. The current plans for the Central Corridor (University Avenue) Lite Rail project are a catastrophe that cannot possibly succeed because they completely miss one important part of the transit experience – a decent sidewalk.
Music in the Words
Good writing is like good music. Both stay with you long after the experience is over, moving from your brain to your guts to your life. They each are a kind of communication from one human to another, a shared experience between the writer or composer and the reader or listener. Where reading lacks a performer bringing life to black notes on paper is a kind of advice for writers that are careful enough to understand it.
Difficult Stuff
The movie is set in a distant time and place where just about anything can happen. The potential for amazing special effects is built into the scenario, which is always good. It gets difficult when the characters have to explain what’s about to happen in a way that is believable. Usually, it’s done with a simple analogy that the audience can relate to. “It’s like a rubber band that if you stretch it too far it’ll break!” Take the same need to explain and put it into the real world, however, and it gets even harder. Accuracy is critical, if nothing else, because a bad analogy is worse than no analogy.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 