Cameron Recommends: Avatar The Last Airbender

Hey everyone, I have another recommendation for you, it's Avatar: The Last Airbender. No, not the terrible, terrible, awful movie by M. Knight Shamylan (or however you spell that guys name). The horror of that movie makes me shudder, brrr, so bad. No, I'm talking about the original TV show.

Simply put, Avatar; The Last Airbender is one of the greatest television series of all time. It has everything a great series needs: humor, action, deep characterization, a touch of romance, an interesting setting, satire, the list goes on and on. The story is about a mythical world where some people are born with the ability to bend one of the elements, either earth, air, water or fire. People bend these elements by using martial arts. The writers and creators of the show enlisted the help of martial arts experts in order to create fighting that was realistic, despite the fact that they are flinging fire or water at each other. Each element is given a distinct type of martial arts fighting style that they felt encompassed the idea and feeling of each element. It's pretty interesting to see.

YES!

In order to keep balance in the world there is one person who can bend all four elements, the Avatar. In addition to being the person who can bend all the elements, he is the bridge between the spirit world and mankind. Upon his death, the Avatar is born into one of the four nations, always rotating fire, air, water, earth, fire and so on.

The world is split into four nations, one for each element. However, the fire nation invaded, wiping out the air nomads and all the airbenders in the hopes of killing the Avatar, who was a child in the air nation at the time. However he survived. One hundred years later, he wakes to find the world in chaos, the fire nation is close to conquering the water and earth kingdoms. Even though he still just a teenager, he must learn to master all four elements and bring balance to the world.

This show is incredible guys. Now, before you go judging a book by its cover I have a few things to say. I was very hesitant to watch this show. I was introduced to it by a friend of mine, Dave Loomis. It looked an awful lot like anime to me, which I do not enjoy (despite my younger brother's several attempts to convince me otherwise). Well I was wrong to be suspicious. While The Last Airbender may look like an anime series, it isn't. It is completely American made. The creators simply chose Chinese culture as a basis for the show. While the animation may look like anime, it is far from it. Also, the whole thing was originally done in English, so no weird lip syncing or subtitles. And though it may seem to be directed at kids, it covers several very adult themes and concepts.

I love this show, it is perfect. The first season it's a tad slow, but it gets better as the show goes on. This series also has one of the most interesting and compelling character development arcs I've ever seen or read, I literally cried. Just go watch it. If you live near me, I have the whole series on DVD and I'd love to watch it with you.

Have you seen Avatar? What do like about it? Let me know in the comments below.

Cameron Recommends: The Name of the Wind

Oh man, it's time for another blog post, and surprise, surprise it's another book review. So let's get down to it.

My little brother Chandler is great, he is a bookworm like me (though he doesn't read as much as me). He read this book (not sure who recommended it to him) and he loved it. He talked it up for a while and then two years back he got the paperback for me for my birthday. I was in the middle of another book so it took me a while to get to this one. The first 50 pages or so I was skeptical, I wasn't really sure what was going on. Then it took off and Oh how I LOVE this book.

One of the things that makes this book so fantastic is the writing style. There are essentially two stories going on, the present day and the past. In the present day an innkeeper is living with is assistant in a little town. Weird stuff is going down in the world but nobody really knows why. A biographer, known simply as "The Chronicler" shows up and reveals that he has figured out that this innocent innkeeper is actually Kvothe, hero, lover and kingkiller. He begs for the chance to tell his story and Kvothe agrees to tell it to him over the next three days. This section of the book is all told from 3rd person limited point of view.

Then we get Kvothe's story. Book one, The Name of the Wind, is the first day of Kvothe relating his tale. Man is it interesting. This section of the book is told from a first person point of view. He tells of his parents and how he grew up as essentially part of a mobile theater group that would pass from town to town and perform. Then tragedy hits and he spends time as a street vagabond in a large city, then he goes to "The University" where artisans and magicians learn their craft. This is NOT at all like Harry Potter though, this school is very different, not everyone can perform "magic" and magic is very limited in its abilities (essentially it's all about transfer of heat and energy, which appealed to my scientific mind).

The book is mostly this past story, but it is broken up a bit, with the third person limited point of view in the present being inserted here and there, like during the lunch rush at the inn or when a stranger comes knocking. The breaks make you excited to get back to the next section of the book, whether it be craving to know what is going on in the present or wanting to know what is going to happen to Kvothe in the past.

The book is beautiful, the writing is superb, and the story is compelling. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I would probably put it (along with its sequel, A Wise Man's Fear) in my top 5 favorites of all time. I'm eagerly (and yes impatiently) waiting for the third day to come out. So go pick this one up, it's well worth your time.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comments. Are these recommendations useful? Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?

Lots o' Love

Cameron Recommends: Angels and Demons

With the Christmas break I have had a more time to myself than usual. This translates into more reading, more TV and, believe it or not, more blog writing. Today I'll be reviewing one of the books that I have read during the break; Angels and Demons.

My friend, Kyle Dority, is a Dan Brown fan. He is also a reader. A couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that he'd be spending a couple of weeks in Dubai during the break (lucky jerk) and that he wanted something good to read. Without hesitation I offered my paperback copies of the Mistborn Trilogy, one of my favorite series of all time (I did a Cameron Recommends about it a few months ago, check it out). He felt like he ought to return the favor, so he lent me 3 of his Dan Brown books. He told me to start with Angels and Demons. After school got out and at the tail end of a week with the flu, I decided to pick the book up.

I have recently read a lot of fantasy novels, which makes sense seeing as how that is what I normally read. The last fantasy book I read was somewhat hard for me to get into, even though I really liked. What I hadn't realized was I needed just a good piece of fiction to help freshen up fantasy again. This book satisfied that need, and man did I enjoy it. Now, I must confess that I saw the film and so certain plot twists of the book had already been revealed to me. I really wish that they hadn't, I feel it would have made the book so much better. However, I knew what to look for. Even knowing the basic plot the author had me second guessing myself. At a couple of points I thought to myself "Hmm, am I remembering the film right" or "Maybe they didn't follow the book that well, lots of movies don't". You know that is good, thrilling writing when that happens.

Time for a quick synopsis of the story. Robert Langdon is a professor of symbology and history at Harvard University. He is in his forties and is an active swimmer. Early in the morning he receives an urgent phone call and fax with an ancient, never before seen symbol, the Brand of an dead society whose purpose was to bring down Christianity.  Langdon has written books about this group and even theorized as to what their brands would look like, but nobody in living history has seen them. It appears that this dead society isn't as dead as the world was lead to believe. The ensuing adventure is one of hidden clues, dark purposes, and murder. (Pretty good setting huh? makes you want to go read it)

I really did enjoy this book and I recommend it. One other note on the film. I really didn't like the movie, the twist felt contrived and didn't make a whole lot of sense. The book, on the other hand, makes the twist make a TON more sense and gives the ending a lot more weight.

Thoughts, comments, jokes? Let me know in the comments. Also remember to follow.

Cameron Recommends: Popcorn at a Movie

Yep, that is right, I am writing about popcorn today. But first check out this awesome video I found of a popcorn kernel popping in super slow motion.

Cool, right? Anyways, now that we have that out of our way, down to business. Popcorn is a movie goers favorite snack. Everybody knows this. The question is, why? For most people, I don't know. I love it because it is so darn tasty. I mean, popcorn is by far my favorite snack of all time. However, I think it goes deeper than that, it goes back to my roots. 

My family has always been big into movies, especially ever since my dad was put in a wheelchair. It is something that we all love and can all talk about. Even at times when things are a little tense or awkward at home, we can talk about movies. As a kid, getting popcorn (generally the microwave stuff) was a treat. My parents would go out and I'd be babysitting and get permission to cook some and watch a film with my little brothers. Those are great memories I have, just chilling with my brothers, enjoying movies and popcorn. 

So go pop yourself some popcorn, or get some at the next movie you go out to see. Maybe it can compliment some fond memories of your own. 

Cameron Recommends: Disney's Frozen

That's right. I'm an adult recommending a kids movie. Want to know why? Simply put, it is beautiful, not to mention hilarious. This movie has it all. But before I get ahead of myself, let's give it a little summary.

Frozen is loosely based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, "The Snow Queen". This is a very lose basis, as the original story is much darker, and has some strange things in it. The story revolves around two princesses (also sisters), Elsa and Anna. Elsa, the older sister, is born with magic and can create snow and ice. After an accident, Anna forgets that Elsa has these powers and the king and queen think it best to hide from everyone, including Anna, that Elsa has magic within her. After some unfortunate events, Elsa accidentally freezes the entire kingdom in an eternal winter and it's up to Anna to find a way to change it all back. I found it interesting that Walt Disney tried to come up with a way to tell "The Snow Queen" and couldn't make it work, so it was never made during his time. Actually, Disney animation studios has tried several times to figure out how to make this story work, but it wasn't until recently that they found a story that worked. And folks, it works.

The music in this movie was fantastic, some of the best Disney has ever made. Just check out this video of Idina Menzel (who plays Elsa) singing "Let it Go". Goosebumps. I love a movie that sucks me in and helps me to feel some of the emotions of the characters. That happened in this movie, several times actually, and I normally don't get emotional. The humor in this film is also fantastic. Olaf the snowman is one of the funniest sidekicks Disney has ever animated. His song is one of the funniest moments in the movie.
Then there is the satire. Absolute genius. I don't want to spoil anything, but one of the best/funniest moments in the film comes when one of the characters totally makes fun of all Disney princess movies. Oh my, so funny.

So go see this film. It will brighten your lives for a little while, like it did for me.

Cameron Doesn't Recommend: The Flu

Yeah, this will be different from the usual postings, it'll be more of an update on life and things. Let's see how it turns out.

First off, I do have the flu right now and it stinks. How bad does it stink? I ache all over, especially my neck, I have a huge headache that even after a lot of medication hasn't totally left (it did get a little better though), and I just feel ultra weak and tired. Funny thing about being tired when you are sick, you can't really sleep well, hence writing this blog post. The other sad part is that this illness comes on just two days after what I think was food poisoning. At least I think it was food poisoning, I spent a lot of time on the porcelain throne. All in all, it's been a terrible couple of days.

Which brings me to my next topic I'd like to discuss: how I generally get treated by girls. As some may know, I was recently dating a girl. Her name was Heather. We had a lot of fun together, I actually met her a couple of years ago in a country swing dance class. I really had forgotten how much I enjoy country swing dancing. It did help that Heather was a pretty good dancer. Anyways we started dating back in October. This last Saturday she texted me. It was not a good text. First let me give you the situation leading up to the text.

We had hung out on Tuseday, when she had a break from school, studying and family. I knew she'd be busy with finals for the next two days and we wouldn't be hanging out, but we planned to celebrate her finals being over by doing dinner and dancing on Thursday, I was really looking forward to it. Well Thursday rolls around and I text her good luck on the last final in the morning. No response. I asked her later in the afternoon how it went. No response. Then I texted her to see what the plan was for the evening. A little while later I get a text. "I have the flu and won't be able to hang tonight sorry." I told her it was okay, asked if she needed anything and asked if I could do anything for her. No response. Friday comes up, I ask how she is doing in the morning. After a couple hours I get, "I'm still not well, sorry to be a poor sport but you don't want what I have." I text her that I understand. Later that evening I check in again. No response. Saturday morning, I call to ask how she is. She doesn't answer so I leave a concerned voicemail. No response. Later in the afternoon I text again, 'How are you?' No response. Finally, around 4 in the afternoon I get a text (actually it was so long it was 4 texts) that explain how she has been in contact with another guy and she will now be dating him. Ugh.

I am so tired of being plan B, the substitute, the placeholder, the disposable one. I get treated like this all the time. Girls that I'm interested in and ask out tell me how great I am but that there is this other guy. Girls I manage to build a relationship with, leave me for other guys. There is always another guy. Is it any surprise that I have low self-esteem when it comes to dating? I just don't know what to do. Maybe after a few months with the $400 dollar exercise bike I bought I'll be good enough for someone.
It's times like these that I hear Torrie's voice (for those that don't know, Torrie was first girl I really saw myself marrying). When she broke up with me she told me I wasn't enough; wasn't handsome enough, wasn't empathetic enough, wasn't wasn't aware enough, wasn't passionate enough, wasn't good enough. I've had a lot of great people, true friends, tell me that what she said wasn't true. However, it's hard when all the evidence leads me to believe that it is.

I guess for now I'll just keep chugging along, trying to finish my PhD and hopefully losing some weight. Sorry that this post was probably a real downer but I figure it's how I am feeling. I created this blog to help me express my opinions and thoughts. Anyways, I'll do a real Cameron Recommends here soon, probably before Christmas.

Happy holidays everyone.

Cameron Doesn't Reccomend: Redshirts

So it's time for another article, sorry it has been a little over a month since the last one.  I recently read the book Redshirts: A Story with 3 Codas. I had very high hopes for this book, I mean it won the Hugo award for best Science Fiction/Fantasy novel this year.  That is a pretty high reward. Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver.

The premise of Redshirts is part of what made me want to read this book so much, but first you might need a little background information. The original Star Trek television series ran back in the 60s. During this time it was plagued by fledgling Nelson ratings and NBC ended up cancelling the series, despite petitions and awards (including the Hugo). It soon gained cult classic status and ended up spawning multiple movies and other television series. In order to add a dramatic and dangerous feel to the show's many settings and situations, a random extra would, more often then not, die in some tragic way.  These extras were always ensigns, soldiers of low rank and their uniforms always included a red shirt. This fact has spawned multiple parodies and jokes (including this particularly nerdy shirt that I got for a gift and this hilarious de-motivational poster I found online). 

Redshirts takes this idea and runs with it. The story takes place on the Intrepid Starship, the flagship of the fleet.  The story focuses on a group of ensigns assigned to the ship. These low ranking people discover that the ship's crew has an extremely high death rate, except for the commanding officers. They discover further oddities: a magic box that miraculously finds the solutions to complex, near impossible to solve problems, a lieutenant that seems to recover miraculously from near death  experiences on an almost weekly basis, and times when the very laws of physics don't seem to work. These characters try to learn what is causing this and, upon finding a theory that, despite all logic, works come up with a plan to save their own lives. 

Sounds pretty cool right? The idea was cool and it was what made me finish the book. Why don't I recommend this then? Simply put it was the language and vulgarity that ruined this book. The book has so much major cursing (mostly the big baddie) in every chapter. I can understand this in some books where a character uses language and that is a device the author uses to explain that characters personality, but ALL the characters swear. Even the deeply religious ensign that was raised in a monastery curses and uses sexual acts to describe things. I mean come on. These are highly intelligent people with advanced degrees in xenobiology and linguistics, why is their vocabulary so limited?

So there ya go, an awesome idea that was poorly executed.  I was excited to read this book as it is by a very highly regarded author of Sci-fi, but now I'm not sure if I'll try out his other books. 

Have you read this book? Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know.