1. The Attire – This young professor wouldn’t look bad at all, but he might not dress up either.  He could be seen wearing a dress shirt with a jacket that has patches on the elbows.  He would also wear interesting shoes such as Doc Martens or maybe even boots.  His pants were often a little baggier than the older professors as well.  No matter the day though, this professor looked cool as hell.
2. The Accessories – Dr. So and So would also have other cool features about him as well.  He might have earrings or black rimmed classes that made him look super smart.  This was the envy of many of the male students in the class who wished they could look as smart and cool as he did.
3. The Stroll – This professor could not be seen walking around campus.  He was actually never seen walking around campus.  He could definitely be seen strolling around campus though.  The young professor walked the same way that Tim Robbins does as Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption.  He strolled around campus taking in the sights, making terribly smart observations to himself and taking general pleasure in his genius.  This professor wasn’t stuck up, but rather he had…
4. The Confidence – The professor conducted himself in class with a superhuman level of confidence as a genius of his caliber should.  He would walk around the classroom gesturing with purpose while explaining Immanuel Kant’s Second Categorical Imperative.  He was able to deflect, explain and elaborate any question, especially from the obnoxious kid in the back row who took a summer class and thought he knew everything.  Cut it out, Mike.
5. The Sense of Humor – You couldn’t quite classify his sense of humor as conventional, but good God was it hilarious.  It was the dry observations and subtle interjections into the lesson that made all the guys retell the jokes later and the girls talk about their crushes on him.  For example, the professor might be an ethics professor who is discussing the morality of sexual acts, “Some people believe in sex with one person, maybe twenty seven people.  Some people believe twenty seven is too much, maybe it’s just right.”  See, that isn’t funny to anyone but two of my friends that I took ethics with.  But we thought it was the funniest thing ever.  But the point is that every student who has had a professor like this has a similar story.
6. The Legend – This might be specific only to my friends and me, but we made a list of ridiculous things that our professor’s genius was able to accomplish.  They are similar to the Chuck Norris list of facts.  Here is that list: 

(To protect the identity of this professor I will not use his real name)

• Dr. Jones gets Connect Four in one move.
• Dr. Jones’ earrings are made from Excalibur’s scabbard.
• Charles Xavier is paralyzed from the waist down because he lost to Dr. Jones in chess.
• The computer game “Myst” is based on a dream Dr. Jones had as a toddler
• Dr. Jones made a fully functional computer out of Legos.
• Dr. Jones plays golf with Socrates on the first of every month.
• Dr. Jones is the only human to successfully train a cat to fetch.
• Dr. Jones is the only person to have solved the Rubik’s Cube without touching it.
• Dr. Jones wins American Idol every year.
• Dr. Jones has a light saber… and is proficient in its use
• Dr. Jones’ cat is a saber toothed tiger
• Dr. Jones drives the car from Speed Racer.
• Event Horizon is a movie based on Dr. Jones’ fifth grade science project.
• Jurassic Park is a real place and it is Dr. Jones’ summer home.
• Beer was a gift given to humanity by Dr. Jones.
• Dr. Jones’ security system for his house is an army of Kantian robots.
• Dr. Jones is the only person allowed to use middle fingers instead of X’s and O’s in Tic Tac toe.
• Stephen Hawking is actually Dr. Jones’ pen name.

I would imagine that some of you probably don’t think these are funny.  But that’s the point.  Every person has their own experience with one of these professors who made class interesting, made you learn the material, and it made you like the material.  So thank you to all of the professors out there who fall into this category and have affected the lives of students all over the country.  I’m off to get my ears pierced and a Ph.D.

Just trying to catch up on my weekly blog posts. I recently  returned from a quick trip to Las Vegas using an airline called Allegiant Air.  They fly out of Bellingham which is about 30 minutes south of the Peace Arch border crossing (Canada / US). Bellingham Airport is a breeze to transit through. Minimal lines at check-in and passing through security is a minor inconvenience since you already crossed the border security so all the flights have Domestic Status.

Allegiant Air uses McDonnell Douglas MD83's which are an older aircraft but very comfortable (the seating is 5 abreast). Since they are a budget airline, there is a charge for checked baggage so travel light to minimize your expenses.

I arrived the evening of Friday, July 4th.  Hotel accommodations were very expensive on the Las Vegas Strip since it was the American Independence Day long weekend. So the first two nights were spent at a budget hotel casino a few blocks off the Strip called Terribles.

Here are my views from a travel agent's perspective on all the major hotels I explored.

TERRIBLE'S HOTEL CASINO: This was great value for money. I would rate it approximately "two star plus", the rooms were very comfortable and ours was furnished with a 42" plasma TV.  There were complimentary facilities that included parking, the use of a basic fitness centre open 24 hours, and internet access from a computer terminal in the fitness centre. The Bougainvillea Café and Rotisserie offered excellent value for money and was nicely furnished. The hotel is off the strip but well located for bus services and it is approximately a 20 - 30 minute walk to the strip. There is a nice outdoor pool area which is open late. This hotel is a short car ride (or 45 minute walk) from the Liberace Museum.  After the first couple of nights, a relocation to Planet Hollywood was in order.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD RESORT & CASINO:  It offered a nice bit of pampering. This was the former Aladdin Hotel Casino which was transformed over many months into the amazing Planet Hollywood.  The hotel is furnished in contemporary soft brown and purple colour schemes.  Our room contained a large plasma TV as well as authentic movie paraphernalia from "Basic Instinct". The exterior is just as impressive as the interior, with lots of neon lights and large LCD screens, almost like being at Piccadily Circus in London, U.K. The pool area is on the 6th floor and has a roof type set up with views of the surrounding hotel towers. Inside the hotel is the Miracle Mile Shops, a shopping mall offering a variety of shopping and dining options.  It also has a unique mix of shows in a theatre on site.  

MANDALAY BAY HOTEL & CASINO: The hotel features an outdoor shark reef aquarium and a saltwater aquarium which can only be accessed by paying an admission. There is a huge tropical fish tank in the reception area and beautiful floral displays. The hotel is connected to the Four Seasons Hotel and is only 10 minute drive from the Las Vegas Outlet Centre. It is connected to its sister properties, Luxor and Excalibur, by the free Mandalay Bay Tram.

LUXOR RESORT HOTEL & CASINO: Has an impressive ancient egyptian theme inside and out. The pyramid shaped hotel is clearly visible from the distance, especially at night when the bright beam of light is shown skyward from its apex.  It is undergoing a major interior renovation at the moment in the centre of the pyramid. but nevertheless, still an amazing structure, also a great location too. 

NEW YORK NEW YORK HOTEL & CASINO: It captures the New York city theme by creating the facade of the city skyline with tall skyscrapers, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, etc.  This 12 year old hotel casino is currently undergoing a significant renovation project...inside you'll hear the sounds of construction echoing throughout the casino. The inside of the casino has an art deco theme.  There is a shopping restaurant area with cobbled streets with all types of ethnic food available. The hotel houses a huge roller coaster and a Harley Davidson store. 

EXCALIBUR HOTEL: An older hotel based on a Knights of the Round Table theme.  It resembles a castle from both the outside with its many turrets  and the inside too with many of the areas and restaurants having an Arthurian name. 

TROPICANA HOTEL & CASINO: This is an older hotel and was one of the early ones on the Strip. The hotel is located opposite the Excalibur and looks abit worn and tired. The hotel consists of a couple of towers and a low rise building of hotel rooms.  The pool area appears very nice though and has tropical theme. The are two major exhibits at the hotel casino:  Bodies the Exhibition and Titanic - The Artifacts Exhibit.

BELLAGIO HOTEL & CASINO: The Bellagio is a very grand hotel inside and out. It is renown for its large artificial lake between the hotel and the strip that is home to the amazing dancing water fountain synchronized to music.  The dancing water fountain runs throughout the day and most of the evening.  When you walk into the lobby what strikes you right away are the spectacular glass blown flowers hanging from the ceiling by the reception area.  It was created by Dale Chihuly and is called the Fiori di Como.  In the casino area, there are canopies with italian style patterns hanging from the ceiling. Adjacent to the reception area is a garden area with american imagery with a nest of eagles, statues of bears made from what appeared to be shrubs and clothing from actual moss, jumping water fountains, and a miniature train running along tracks across the different sections of the garden.

I'll continue posting my impressions of the other major Las Vegas hotels and their convenient transportation system in a few days.

So many hotels...so little time. Be patient, part 2 is well worth the wait.

http://www.loculcavalerilor.ro/

Localul este OK, mancare buna si destula, atmosfera pentru prieteni (nu cred ca are rost sa zic ca nu te poti duce la o cina romantica).

Singurul lucru de care nu va pot spune este baia, pentru ca nu am fost acolo.

A si inca ceva un minus este ca nu are terasa, dar in rest este foarte ok.

Recomand "Cina pentru Regi" - 2 pers.

...see you....

Says Big Bertha: Oh thank you so much!! Now when do I eat??

Don't you see how happy she looks?

This little lady lives in Las Vegas, NV right on the Midway in the Excalibur. The purpose of the game? To support her eating habit! Her food of choice? Ball pit balls. Mmm... plastic and socks, the ultimate taste bud experience. That's something only a midway game could truly love! Bertha's a fickle little lady when it comes to people- you kind of have to push her buttons at first for her to get your attention, and then after all that, you have to give her 50 cents to get her going! What else do you expect though? Bertha's malnourished, she only gets to eat 30 seconds at a time! With 200 rounds, Bertha is guaranteed a good, healthy meal and a nice, rich-looking, bloated stomach to show off later.

If you and Bertha have really hit it off and you want to take Big Bertha home, you're going to have to shell out more 200 tacos worth of money to haul this little one away. For now, dinner it is!!

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Neste volume, Cornwell conclui vários pontos da estoria contada nos outros livros. A tentativa de Merlin de invocar os Deuses. As consequencias da traição de Lancelot e Guinevere. A preocupação de Derfel em Salvar sua esposa. A luta final de Artur e Mordred.

Cornwell mostra até que ponto um druida (Merlin) pode chegar para concluir o que ele julga ser sua tarefa. Trabalha o perdão que Artur teve para com Guinevere mesmo apos a traição desta. Encerra uma inimizade entre Derfel e Lancelot narrada desde o primeiro volume das cronicas. Trabalha também a questão do amor de Derfel por sua esposa e mostra que não há limites para ele quando se trata de sua esposa. E conclui, se assemelhando as lendas de Artur a sua ultima batalha, em que ele sumia e nunca mais era visto.

O livro traz momentos impressionantes e inesperados. Mostra de forma grandiosa a estratégia de batalha dos combatentes da era medieval através da Batalha do Mynydd Baddon com a ajuda inesperada de Guinevere como estrategista e combatente.

Um livro que como todos os outros da série vale a pena ser lido e faz o leitor realmente se emocionar e se sentir em uma época onde a amizade pode decidir vidas, onde batalhas não são simplesmente entre Reis, mas entre todos os cidadãos do reino. Onde amores podem fazer reis cairem e somente a espada pode decidir o destino de cada um. Ótima leitura, recomendo a todos, As Cronicas de Artur realmente traz uma história que vale a pena ser lida.

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Now we go back to the medieval future of the 1980's and the first, most defining sword epic of the era: EXCALIBUR, co-written and directed by John Boorman. I saw EXCALIBUR at the Roseville Tower, a lush deco-movie palace where I spent most of my high school movie going. Tuesday nights were two for one, and it was a good place to meet with friends, or if you were lucky, have an actual date (tho my only date there seeing FLASHDANCE was a bit of a disaster which has slightly tainted my thoughts on that wretched MTV trifle. O' what a feeling!); better still, my wayward friends and I loved going there to see every horror film of the day, smokin' drinkin' in the alley behind the theater with Marty, Bruce and Mike before a double-feature of FRIDAY THE 13TH and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2. We'd laugh and scream, freak ourselves out with every bloody murder. Glory days. Or is that Gory Days?

Happily, EXCALIBUR was both gorious and glorious indeed. The 1980's had a rich (and often poor) fantasy culture, with HEAVY METAL magazine at the apex of its popularity, the graphic avatar of every pre and post-pubescent sex and violence adventure wet dream. Gary Gygax's Dungeons & Dragons influential role-playing game was given wider release in a nifty new box, being played and condemned at high schools across the nation (they banned my 8th grade peers from playing it after I brought the game to Rocklin Elementary). As for film, it was a grand period for geeks, with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) keeping the STAR WARS myth alive and dominant at the theaters. But EXCALIBUR broke the sword and sorcerey movie mold and left it asunder.

I'll always recall the film's opening at the Roseville Tower, crouched in my seat as that powerfully prophetic Wagner music from "Siegfried" tells you immediately, "This is a big film about big men with big swords and desires and the hot mystic women who love and kill them." Audiences saw an English sixth century battle of knights that bathed their armor in a preternatural glow and showed the clumsy grandeur of these Iron Men as they hacked and slashed opponents. You knew the movie was for real when an arm gets lopped off with spurting blood and the knights fall into the mud screaming. We all tittered when Uther Pendragon had full body armor sex with his naked conquest, one of the most erotic scenes in cinema history (there, I said it). You couldn't help but feel inspired as young Arthur pulled Excalibur from the stone to become King, and a great one at that. By the end, the film had held back on nothing, especially not the magic of Camelot and its dream of noble warrior legends. I saw EXCALIBUR three times in its first release. Definitely a high school water-cooler film.

Made four years after the disastrous EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, John Boorman had been trying to forever set up a movie version of LORD OF THE RINGS but the financing fell through, so he fell back on the source of all things Sword and Sorcery: King Arthur and his wizard adviser Merlin, adapted from Sir Thomas Malory's LE MORTE D'ARTHUR. This was the perfect outlet for Boorman's mystic primitivism and his wide screen compositional gifts. Thanks to Bob Ringwood's costume design, never before or since has armor looked so tactile and luminous, glowing with an unearthly cobalt and emerald sheen. It almost forces you into a visual relationship with this battle-wear as you try to comprehend how difficult it must have been to fight in a giant sculpted can wielding heavy swords. Even the ladies' sexy, ornate costumes ebb and flow with mythic grace among the lush green landscape. The deep dark forests and mountains seem alive. This is what Camelot would look like. Rightfully, the gorgeous cinematography by Alex Thomson was nominated for an Academy Award.

Boorman is out to demystify as well as deify, with Merlin the Magician being the prime example. Although the studio did not want Nicol Williamson for the role due to his legendary trouble-making, it's hard to think of a better choice. Along with Sir Ian McKellen's towering Gandalf, this is one of the screen's great wizards. Williamson plays Merlin quite broad and provides EXCALIBUR's only intentional humor, but it makes sense since this old magician has seen much in his many lifetimes. Even he loves being surprised by the world, as when Arthur allows a foe to knight him with the Excalibur sword: "I haven't seen this before," Merlin coos with delight to himself. Better still, Merlin has a worthy enemy in the form of Arthur's half-sister, the burgeoning witch Morgana Le Fey, played to the hilt by Helen Mirren. Clad in headdresses and cobwebbed outfits, she's both sensual and repellent, yet you can have sympathy for her vengeful desires. After all, it was Merlin's magick that broke her mother's heart and forced an unwanted brother on her.

Another one of EXCALIBUR's pleasures is the cast of excellent actors, a few of whom would go on to bigger things much later. I didn't realize until my recent retro-viewing that Gabriel Byrne played the fiery Uther Pendragon, even watching him in it now I can see little of the sleepy-eyed soul I associate with MILLER'S CROSSING etc. Then there's Patrick Stewart in his first film as well as Liam Neeson, sporting a samurai-style hair do. And somehow the actors have pulled off the remarkable feat of going from youth to elder with only graying hair and the power of performance. Nigel Terry plays Arthur from 16 to 50 through sheer force of personality and it's a shame he hasn't been seen much since, for he encapsulates all of King Arthur's heart and wisdom. His relationship with Merlin is also touching as it's his love for the wizard that frees him from Morgana's spell.

The story stumbles in the third act as Perceval's quest for the Holy Grail takes center-stage. Boorman's mysticism gets jumbled here, a typical flaw in his ouvre such as ZARDOZ and THE EMERALD FOREST, but this is the one film most suited to his flights of soft-focus fantasy. Speaking of, look how vast and expansive the sets and battles are with only a sprinkling of mattes, miniatures and studio walls. I particularly love the expressionistic last duel between Arthur and his unholy scion framed by a burning red sun and a tableau of crumpled knights at their feet. Fritz Lang would have been proud. And the lo-fi effects are still startling. I didn't have any idea how Lancelot yanks Excalibur from his nude torso in one of the most memorable scenes. When Boorman explains it on the DVD audio commentary, the mind boggles at the simplicity. As he states, often times the best effects require nothing more than a little ingenuity. Along with MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975), another film that creates a completely believable medieval landscape, the strength of EXCALIBUR comes from its verisimilitude. We can only imagine what a LORD OF THE RINGS directed by John Boorman would have looked like, but it's clear that Peter Jackson is a fan of this film.

A big hit through the spring and summer of 1981, EXCALIBUR ushered in the new age of 1980's cinematic fantasy, followed quickly by CONAN THE BARBARIAN; DRAGONSLAYER; THE BEASTMASTER; KRULL; LEGEND; RED SONJA; LADYHAWKE; and a personal favorite, THE SWORD & THE SORCERER (1982), a low budget, high imagination movie directed with verve and style by Albert Pyun. I have fond memories of this genre yet none matched the gritty grandeur of EXCALIBUR. If ever a film could be considered "forged" it's this magnificent epic that dazzles to this day.

]]> http://vautrin.wordpress.com/?p=132 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:00:18 +0000 Alessio Miglietta http://vautrin.wordpress.com/?p=132

Qualche giorno fa, con estrema soddisfazione, ho ultimato la lettura degli otto volumi della serie di romanzi storici "Le cronache di Camelot" del bravissimo Jack Whyte (la serie ha una continuazione nei due volumi, quattro nell'edizione italiana, del ciclo "Lancillotto").

Il ciclo di romanzi racconta la genesi del mito di Camelot, abbracciando nel racconto il periodo di tempo che va dagli ultimi anni di occupazione romana della Britannia (IV secolo) alla consacrazione di Artù Pendragon a riothamus, re di tutti i britanni.

Tutti i romanzi sono raccontati, ad eccezione di Uther (nell'edizione italiana diviso, sciaguratamente, in due tomi: Le porte di Camelot e La donna di Avalon), in prima persona a mo' di diario. Quattro sono i personaggi principali che si avvicendano nelle cronache. I due narratori sono Publio Varro (per i primi due volumi), padre fondatore di Camelot e insuperabile fabbro (il realizzatore di Excalibur, la spada che canta) e il nipote Merlino (per il terzo, quarto e quinto). Il terzo personaggio è Uther Pendragon (padre di Artù e fratello di Merlino), che per indole e predisposizione, non era personaggio adatto a tenere un diario: in quel caso Whyte propende per il discorso in terza persona. Il libro Uther (ultimo della serie ad esser stato scritto), ha anche un'altra peculiarità: sulle orme dello scrittore di fantascienza Orson Scott Card (Ender's shadow), Whyte decide di dedicare il libro ad eventi accaduti nello stesso periodo di tempo in cui si svolge La stirpe dell'aquila (si potrebbe rintracciare un illustre, forse troppo, precursore anche in Blazac, nella Commedia Umana), per chiarire punti oscuri e i misteri lasciati dall'autore volutamente in sospeso. Una storia parallela nel tempo, quindi. Il quarto protagonista è Artù, anche se la narrazione s'interrompe quando, ancora giovanissimo, viene incoronato re.

La grande intuizione di Whyte sta nell'aver reinterpretato il mito della Tavola Rotonda in modo "razionale", convogliando tutte le grandi leggende popolari in merito (la spada nella roccia, Merlino mago, la dama del lago, Avalon, per esempio) in altrettante spiegazioni verosimili, contestualizzate nell'epoca storica in cui si sono svolti i fatti. Ma lascio il piacere di scoprire tutti i risvolti e gli aspetti di quest'opera, che non esito definire tra le migliori del genere, a chiunque voglia affrontarne la lettura.

Come tutte le esperienze divertenti e costruttive della mia vita, anche la lettura de Le cronache di Camelot rappresenta per me una piacevole sequenza di ricordi, legati non solo alla stessa lettura, ma anche al contesto in cui si è svolta. Ricordo quando lessi le prime righe, dentro un vagone arroventato dal sole, durante uno dei miei tanti viaggi da Seregno a Genova; era l'estate del 2004. In questi quattro anni ho centellinato, come faccio sempre con le cose più belle, questi otto libri. Ricordo le vicende del secondo libro, lette nella casa di campagna in Liguria; ricordo di aver cominciato a conoscere la vita e la vera storia di Uther Pendragon a Staffolo, nelle Marche. Poi, attraverso gli ultimi due libri, letti nella casa di Seregno, ho seguito le ultime vicende: l'infanzia di Artù, la metamorfosi di Merlino e la scena conclusiva dell'incoronazione. Poi, all'ultima pagina, il solito nodo in gola mi annuncia che un'altra grande esperienza si è conclusa.

Mi sento di consigliare quest'opera, per la sua precisione storica, per lo stile agile e avvincente, per la sua originalità, a tutti gli amici blogger che non l'avessero ancora letta.