ah the hilarious mythAdventures series. your going to be cheating yourself out of a good book but eh! kids today

Robert Asprin talking about SCA

It’s been my experience that the book is usually better than the movie so after seeing the film I decided to read the original story which takes place in a future where mutant beings with precognitive abilities aid a pre-crime police force in apprehending criminals for crimes they would have committed in the future.

They’re then exiled or sent to detention camps. Murder has pretty much been eliminated. Of course the criminals complain that they haven’t done anything but this is brushed off on the grounds that they presumably deserve it. When Anderton, the top cop, is accused of murder he thinks there’s been a mistake or he’s been set up. He begins to wonder if there’s something wrong with punishing people for things they haven’t done yet. If he can’t discover who set him up he will fall victim to the system he helped create.

Some plot points are changed. For example the three precogs in the movie are portrayed peacefully but in the story they’ve been drugged and they’re forced to use their psychic abilities. But Spielberg kept the basic theme of the story and made it into a thrilling sci-fi adventure. It’s a great movie, the technical aspects are well-done, the special effects are out-standing and the acting is superb.

But I would definitely recommend reading the original story for Dick’s vision which was way ahead of its time and surprisingly up to date in spite of being over fifty years old. The edition I chose – THE MINORITY REPORT AND OTHER CLASSIC STORIES – contains eighteen stories in total. It’s not a best of collection, it’s actually volume four of his collected short stories and it spans the period between 1954 and 1964, but it’s a good representation and a must for serious collectors.

His work is imaginative, surreal and often downright strange. Dick writes about people rather than technology and science. His characters seem like ordinary people, but bizarre things happen to them. The complex plots take twists and turns and sometimes they seem like episodes of the Twilight Zone.

His future worlds are often dystopian societies characterized by misery, oppression and despair, where people lead dehumanized lives. Yet he often incorporates humor in his stories. Many of them involve precognition and themes of false reality. Others deal with the fine line between man and machine and ask – What is humanity?

This is a great edition for fans, collectors and those who enjoy short stories rather than novels. If you are only familiar with Philip K. Dick from the movies based on his work you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

A brief synopsis of each story follows.

AUTOFAC takes place in an apocalyptic world where robots (autofacs) work for the surviving humans. But when humanity discovers they can’t shut down the robots they are reduced to stealing supplies in order to live.

SERVICE CALL is a time travel story. A service man from the future visits the past to try and stop an invention that control’s people’s thoughts.

In CAPTIVE MARKET a woman travels through time to sell her goods to a colony of men building a ship to leave a radioactive Earth. When her customers tell her they’re leaving and won’t need any more merchandise she tries to keep them from going.

In THE MOLD OF YANCY a totalitarian society is being brain washed by broadcast messages from John Yancy, a composite man who doesn’t really exist.

In THE MINORITY REPORT three clairvoyant Precogs see alternate realities in the future and the PreCrime system uses the reports to arrest people before they commit a crime. The Police Commissioner sees a prediction that he will murder someone and he tries to find the minority report that will allow him to change the future.

In RECALL MECHANISM a man has a fear of heights and falling. He goes to a doctor who takes him back through repressed memories.

THE UNRECONSTRUCTED M, is an interesting story about a machine that can leave fake forensic clues and frame someone.

In EXPLORERS WE six astronauts who died on a mission to Mars land on Earth. The humans believe that they are clones or disguised aliens and must be killed.

In WAR GAME a toy is created that will infiltrate the minds of children.

IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI, is a story based on the idea that whatever is in the New York Times is real.

NOVELTY ACT is about a dystopian future ruled by a woman who is wife and mother to the nation.

In WATERSPIDER many famous names are dropped when time travelers come back for Poul Anderson, because they need his help.

In WHAT THE DEAD MEN SAY there is a short amount of time in which the dead can be revived. Louis Sarapis cannot be brought back but his voice appears to be coming from outer space.

ORPHEUS WITH CLAY FEET is about Jesse Slade who lives in 2040 and travels back to 1956 to inspire the writing of his favorite sci-fi author. He discloses that he is a time traveler and the writer becomes cynical and never develops his full potential.

In THE DAYS OF PERKY PAT survivors of a nuclear war are obsessed with a doll and an escapist role playing game.

STAND-BY and WHAT’LL WE DO WITH RAGLAND PARK? are both about media in the future.

OH, TO BE A BLOBEL is about the Human – Blobel war. Espionage agents on both sides undergo physical changes and assume the form of the opposing species.

Publisher: Citadel (May 2002)

Paperback: 380 pages

ISBN: 978-0806523798

Price: $14.95

Gail Pruszkowski reviews for “Romantic Times BOOKreviews” magazine and her work has been published in the “Cup of Comfort” Anthologies.

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Swords and Sorcery

These two coveted rookie quarterbacks will be forever linked as being the top two quarterbacks taken in the 2009 NFL Draft. Only time will tell who will end up being the best, however I believe one has a distinctive advantage already…

One can only imagine the amount of pressure and responsibility these two young men have on their shoulders. Once you get past the hype and the big contracts there is a much bigger task at hand…earning the respect of the locker room.

There are many examples of young quarterbacks not earning the respect of their teammates. A classic example is one Joey Harrington. Just never fit in and established himself as one of the boys in Detroit. His nickname was “champagne Joey” and his piano playing performance didn’t help much either. I actually had the pleasure of sitting next to him at a Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox game in 2005. He had his hat very low, talked with my friends and I a bit with a little cockiness but the most surprising thing of the whole experience…He came by HIMSELF.

At the time I really respected him for it and still do knowing how much the Detroit fans hated him at the time. However, it spoke volumes about his relationships with his teammates in my opinion. I mean the starting quarterback of an NFL team couldn’t get one other guy to go with him to the baseball game? The funny thing is that he did say some of the other guys were on the way but they never showed. Not a shocker that a guy like this wouldn’t succeed at leading a professional football team. He is now the third string quarterback in New Orleans and recently had this to say about Detroit when asked last year in the week 16 game against the Lions about their performance in 2008:

“Yeah, I guess I was here in their heyday”

I guess he can laugh now, but the point is that Harrington’s inability to win over the locker room had a big effect on his performance. So now the question is; out of Stafford and Sanchez, who seems to be gaining the respect of their teammates quicker? Without question the answer is Matthew Stafford.

A photo shoot and a couple pictures from a Nascar outing at Talladega have made all the difference in the image of these two youngsters. While Sanchez is posing for GQ looking like a Baywatch lifeguard, Stafford is keepin’ it real with a backwards hat, cut-off shirt and a keg over his head. Ironically, pictures that got him in trouble while he was in college at Georgia are helping his image in the eyes of his teammates in the NFL.

I first heard about these pics of Stafford a while ago but Tom “The Killer” Kowalski wrote a good article for mlive.com recently about how these pictures are earning Stafford respect in the locker room that opened my eyes to how they could be working to his benefit now. And Stafford’s teammates are not the only one’s who are gaining his respect. His new head coach Jim Schwartz had some really good things to say about him recently, noting his textbook release.

At Jets camp things are a bit different. Jets kicker Jay Feely wrote on his twitter page recently; “Should be another fun day for our boy Sanchez today … GQ photo shoot came out and he is taking heat!!!” Feely wrote earlier, “Sanchez was a common target from the moment he introduced himself.”

So, will these two be compared with Vince Young and Matt Leinart or more with Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco? My guess is somewhere in between, but Stafford has the early edge and the potential to break out to a point where he will not even be linked with Sanchez very much anymore.

Sanchez reminds me all to much of Harrington and they even played in the same weak defensive conference, the Pac 10. I’m not saying that Sanchez will be a complete bust like Harrington, but I’m not saying he’s the next Joe Namath either. Don’t underestimate the value of fitting in with your teammates and the effect that their image will have on the young quarterbacks performance. The fantasy value may not be there for either of these guys yet, however their fates could be pre-determined by their teammates already.

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2004 Leaf Limited Joey Harrington Detroit Lions Limited Edition Football Card (Serial #’d out of only 799) – Mint Condition – In Protective Display Case $6.95 This affordable card will make a fine addition to any collection. Please contact us if you have any questions or need to see a scan of this great card….

2003 Leaf Limited Joey Harrington Detroit Lions Limited Edition Football Card (Series #’d out of only 999) – Mint Condition – In Protective Display Case $6.95 This affordable card will make a fine addition to any collection. Please contact us if you have any questions or need to see a scan of this great card….

2005 Leaf Limited Joey Harrington Detroit Lions Limited Edition Football Card (Serial #’d out of only 599) – Mint Condition – In Protective Display Case $6.95 This affordable card will make a fine addition to any collection. Please contact us if you have any questions or need to see a scan of this great card….

Have you watched Universal Production’s classic film by John Waters – “Cry Baby”? If not, then watch Cry Baby the musical on Broadway! Mark Brokaw, the director, and Thomas Meehan, the writer of the book; have once again shown their unmatched talent through this latest musical on the block.

Opened in November, 2007 and performed through December, the musical is all set to entertain its audience in March, 2008. If you’re not an avid theatre fan and hardly watch Broadway shows, you must watch “Cry Baby” this time! There are several reasons for this:

John Waters, who produced the movie “Cry Baby”, has to his credit “Hairspray”, which was a super hit of Broadway and bagged 8 Tony Awards in 2003!

Thomas Meehan has written the book. He’s the same writer who wrote the smashing hits “Hairspray”, “Annie”, “The Producers”, and “Young Frankenstein”!

The musical has been choreographed by Rob Ashford, who won a Tony Award for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and was nominated for Tony for “The Wedding Singer” as well as “Curtains.”

The musical has lyrics as well as music by David Javerbaum, who has won an Emmy Award, and Adam Schlesinger, who has been nominated for Grammy Award.

Although the plot is the typical bad-guy-loves-good-girl, the story is not at all predictable.

This is not all. Cry Baby musical on Broadway features James Snyder as the lead character of king of the Drapes named Wade “Cry Baby” Walker. This is his spring 2008 debut on Broadway with this role. Starring opposite him in the female lead is Elizabeth Stanley, who plays Cry Baby’s beau, Allison Vernon Williams. The role of Mrs. Vernon Williams, Allison’s grandmother, is played by Harriet Harris. She’s regarded as the imposing dame of comedy.

The other star cast includes Cristen Paige playing the role of Mona; Lacey Kohl playing Wanda; Carly Jibson playing the role of Pepper; Alli Mauzey in the character of Lenora, Chester Grefory II in the role of Dupree. The musical also has Christopher J. Hanke.

The creative group includes Ashley Amber, Cameron Adams, Michael D. Jablonski, Michael Buchanan, Nick Blaemire, Eric Christian, Joanna Glushak, Colin Cunliffe, Marty Lawson, Courtney Laine Mazza, Spencer Liff, Richar Poe, Mayumi Miguel, Peter Atthew Smith, Torrey Ross, Allison Spratt, Eric Sciotto, Stacey Todd Holt, and Charlie Sutton.

So, it’s time to book tickets for the Cry Baby musical on Broadway! Rather than wasting your time and energy at the box office, which is over-crowded, switch to the ticketing services. Call them or log online. You can even request home delivery of tickets.

You won’t be able to guess what happens of the good girl, Allison, and the bad guy, Wade, unless you watch the show. The show has some really good numbers, plus interesting performances by each character.

Get familiar with the teen life of the 1950s, rock ‘n’ roll music, and the temperament of parents. If you love musicals and love stories are to your taste, then Cry Baby musical on Broadway will soon become one of your favorite shows!

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The author is devoted to New York entertainment including all things Broadway and has many articles with reviews of Cry Baby The Musical On Broadway which includes the best ways to get great seats for any Cry Baby The Musical On Broadway performance.

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