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The Hurt Locker

When I first started hearing about The Hurt Locker I was very confused. This is partly because of the medium, which was Twitter, which by definition makes for abbreviated messages, but it was partly because I'm easily confused. I had the correct impression that it is a fantastic film, but for some reason I thought it was a horror film, and came up with all kinds of possible plots, some including a haunted locker room at a terrible high school. I really couldn't have been more off base.

The Hurt Locker is a tautly filmed, extremely suspenseful, graphic film about a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team stationed in Iraq. Filmed in Jordan, with some scenes taking place very close to the Iraq border, the film follows the various members of the squad, with a special emphasis on SFC William James (played by Jeremy Renner who was terrific in The Unusuals and 28 Weeks Later), who is somewhat unhinged, if you ask me. The film is both hyper-real and surreal, which sounds impossible, but that's how I felt. There were scenes where I couldn’t tell if what was happening was real and there were scenes that felt extra real, with that special feeling you get when there's danger and time slows down, giving you more time to react, but also the feeling that you aren't moving fast enough.

As the story begins James is just joining the squad, replacing a soldier who has died. James is cocky, which I guess you have to be if you're going to have enough hubris to take apart bombs for a living, and quickly alienates his fellow soldiers with his disdain for safety procedures. For instance he doesn't use the robot that is designed for bomb work, instead walking right up to a suspicious device and diving right in. The film is based on the observations of Mark Boal, a journalist who was embedded with in Iraq as a freelance journalist in 2004. The character of James is not based on one person, but rather a composite of traits and actions he saw in several members of the unit.

Kathryn Bigelow, the director of the film, picked up a Director's Guild Award this past weekend, prompting some comments about how shocking her win was. This reaction was puzzling to me as The Hurt Locker is an incredible film which well deserves any number of awards. Ms. Bigelow's directing is fantastic, taking a subject that I wouldn't ordinarily want to know more about, and making it engrossing and heartbreaking. It really made me aware of why so many returning soldiers have PTSD and have trouble adjusting to civilian life. When danger literally can be found anywhere how do you stop being hyper alert?

Moving Pictures
To change the subject completely, I finally read Terry Pratchett's Moving Pictures this week. I'd started it a year or so ago but then lost the book, only now returning to it. The timing was good for me as Moving Pictures is hilarious and was a good antidote to the depressing Hurt Locker.

The book is about what happens when an idea creeps into the Discworld and the alchemists invent film. From there it's a short trip to all the glamour and glitz associated with the film industry. I particularly enjoyed the book because I've worked on more than a dozen films and television shows and Terry absolutely nails the backstage details to great effect. Whether it's the lure of the film industry to those who aren't involved or the amount of time spent waiting between shots or the way films are made completely out of order, he skewers them and shows how funny they can be.

But Moving Pictures is more than just another story about Hollywood (or Holy Wood as it is in this book), it also has a romance, some awesome dogs (one more awesome than the other), danger, some elder gods, or something a lot like an elder god, and plenty of other terrific elements. It's classic Terry Pratchett and tons of fun.

You can read an excerpt here: http://www.harpercollins.com/features/pratchettBooks/excerpt.aspx?isbn=9...

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Jareb who writes in to say, "I'm heartbroken over Frances Reid passing on. She was Alice Horton on Days of Our Lives. She was like my grandma growing up. It's not going to be the same without her." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

I was blown away by the movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, when I saw it this past week. I was kind of annoyed before I saw it, because I felt someone presenting at the Golden Globes spoiled the story, by giving away something that was likely meant to be a surprise to viewers. It's hard to enjoy a film when you're in a bad mood, but Precious is so powerful that I completely forgot my trivial complaint and was overwhelmed by the story and emotions unfolding before me.

Precious is the story of a young lady, played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, who has been almost completely silenced by her horrible life. She is inarticulate, illiterate, and unable to express the slightest complaint against her horrible, abusive mother or anyone else that torments her. Nicknamed Precious, she is a sixteen year old teen who is pregnant with her second child. She is good at math but cannot sound out the simplest words when she tries to read. She escapes from her horrific home life by imagining that she is famous and the subject of adoration; whether she's walking the red carpet or just being fabulous.

As the film begins, Precious is in math class in Harlem, thinking about how much she likes her teacher, who treats her with respect. She's daydreaming about him when she's called out of class and told to report to the principal's office. The principal demands to know if it's true that Precious is pregnant again, stating that the teen is only sixteen and still in middle school. Precious is in full defense mode, retreating to a glare, the kind we all remember from when we were teens. When Precious has little to say, the principal expels her, which made me think my head would explode from rage. Is being pregnant a reason to be expelled? If so why? If anything girls who are about to be mothers need more education, not less. How is a teen with a baby and no diploma going to support her family? I would be at that school having a fit if my child was expelled but of course a great many of Precious' problems are precisely because she has a mother who won't fight for her, but instead is her child's enemy.

When the principal makes a home visit Precious is subjected to even more abuse from her mother Mary, played by Mo'nique, who is afraid of social services finding out what really goes on in the home. The principal is refused entry to the home but she manages to leave some information with Precious about a special school called Each One Teach One, which is prepared to give the teen a chance. This is probably the best thing that could happen to Precious as she is finally evaluated and given remedial reading lessons. Her English teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) is determined and passionate and sets the entire class to writing; journaling as a way to communicate and explore who they are and what's holding them back. The teacher writes back to the students and has an excellent opportunity to give the teens advice in a way that is accessible and can be absorbed at their own pace.

Mariah Carey is Precious' social worker, who plays a pivotal, complicated role in the film. I had a hard time figuring her out. Is she bored? Overwhelmed? Just trying not to let her emotions show so she can do her job? I wasn't sure but her own locked down aspect isn't much help to Precious, who is struggling to emerge from the cocoon state she has hidden in as she tries to endure her incessant abuse.

The cast in this film is sensational. Mo'nique has already won some awards for her gritty portrayal of Mary, a woman who is carrying on the long cycle of abuse in the worst way, but hers is not the only award worthy acting in the film. Lenny Kravitz is excellent as the nurse who is kind and supportive to Precious when she gives birth. Paula Patton shines as the dedicated teacher and Ms. Sidibe is simply amazing as Precious. I think her acting isn't getting the accolades it should because so much of it is subtle. She doesn't get to be grandly dramatic and loud as so much of what's happening with her character is deeply internalized.

Precious is a complicated, emotional, painful film. Some scenes are extremely difficult to watch and others are enraging. I opted to watch this on my own. My children are mostly grown but I still thought it would be too upsetting for them. Interestingly someone very close to me was appalled that I watched it and said they would have told me not to if they had known I was planning to see it. They have a good point. If your own childhood was abusive you should think long and hard before you see this film as it will stir up feelings you may think have been resolved.

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Why Me who writes in to say, "The new Jocalat bars from Larabar are horrible. They taste like old cocoa, mashed with orange peel, then dipped in gasoline. They might make a good gift for someone you hate." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

I watched a ton of movies this last week as I prepared to vote in the SAG Awards. One of them that particularly surprised me is Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, a film that was very different from what the trailers had led me to believe. The previews made it look like a completely insane, manic romp of a killing spree, with plenty of melodrama thrown in for good measure. Instead there were long stretches of serious, chilling scenes that could have been made by any filmmaker. The opening focuses on an interrogation between a Nazi officer, Standartenführer Hans Landa, nicknamed the Jew Hunter, and a French dairy farmer. It's surprisingly suspenseful, considering that little is happening on the surface, just chatting and drinking milk while the officer seems to be very relaxed, but there is an underlying sense of doom; a sense the officer is the cat and the farmer is a mouse that thinks he's another cat.

The opening scene is a prologue then we jump ahead a few years to a pivotal event where many of the Nazi high command will be gathered in a public place at the same time. This is a prime opportunity for a band of kind of scary gung ho dudes called the Basterds who take delight in scalping Nazis. (Shown in graphic detail more than once – as usual for a Tarantino film, this one is not for the faint of heart or anyone with a weak stomach.) The leader of the band is Aldo Raine, nicknamed Aldo the Apache and played by Brad Pitt. He's a crazy man who has a scar from a rope around his neck and carries a Bowie knife which he uses to mark Nazis so that everyone will know what they are forever after. (Of course his preference is to kill them but sometimes he has to leave them alive for strategic reasons.) Other members of the team include Donny Donowitz, (played by Eli Roth) who is called The Bear Jew and carries a baseball bat signed by all the Jewish people in his neighborhood, which he uses to wallop the heads of his enemies. He's such a terror that there are rumors he's not a man at all, or even a bear, but rather a wrathful golem summoned by a rabbi to destroy those who commit atrocities against his people. Another face you might recognize is B. J. Novak as Smithson Utivich. B.J. plays Ryan on the Office and is kind of quiet in this film.

All of the actors in this ensemble cast do a fine job (Brad Pitt looks as though he had a lot of fun with his lout of a character) but it's Christoph Walt who steals the show as the Jew Hunter. He brings incredible tension to his scenes, which are all played subtly, with an underlying menace that made me want to run away. His character claims to have an uncanny ability to find hiding Jews and the actor has an uncanny ability to make the simplest statement sound like a terrible threat. Every conversation is essentially an interrogation. I can't imagine what his home life must be like.

While there is less action than I normally expect from a Tarantino film there is plenty to go around, with explosions, fire, gunfire and blood enough to satisfy most everyone. As usual the director lovingly films the faces of characters who are in agony, whether from having a swastika carved into their foreheads or from other forms of physical abuse. It's not as blatant as in say, Kill Bill, where the camera lingers on the Bride's poor face for what seems like an hour, but it's still there. This is the biggest problem I have with Tarantino's films. I understand that his films need violence (they would be totally different without it) but I get the creeps when the scene stops moving forward so we can watch someone endure anguish. Thank goodness we always have the option of hiding our eyes to get us through the ultraviolent bits.

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Gordent Freechman who writes in to say, "For all of you who haven't tried out the Half-Life series, and like FPS's or puzzle games at all... You are missing quite the gem. Made by VALVe, this series is one of the most entertaining and innovative games out there, with excellent physics, control systems, replay value, and storyline, this game will keep you entertained for ages." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

This week we answer two pressing questions – can you read a book and lift weights at the same time and can Stephen King write a decent ending to a very long book? If you read the Dark Tower series you might think the answer to the second question is a resounding no. (After all even Mr. King warned people that reading the final chapter might not be the best idea.) And that's not mentioning the mystery novel that Mr. King wrote that never shed any light on whodunit. Not that I'm bitter. Anyway, I was a little trepidatious about reading Under the Dome because I didn't want to read more than a thousand pages, get attached to various characters (some of whom are guaranteed to die) only to be left with the burning question of WHY unanswered.

Under the Dome takes place in a small town in Maine, near the often doomed towns of Castle Rock and Derry. One fine fall day the inhabitants of Chester's Mill are horrified when a plane falls out of the sky, closely followed by the horrible crash of a big truck. In the ensuing confusion many people think the plane and the truck crashed into each other, but the actual story is considerably more mysterious. The plane was flying along, minding its own business, when it crashed into an invisible barrier and exploded. The truck was barreling along at a good pace and hit the same barrier, with obvious bad results. At the same time a small furry animal, that is also minding its own business, is cut in two by the barrier and other mishaps ensue, although none as dramatic as the plane or truck. By the end of the day the townspeople will discovered they're trapped in the dome, the murders will have started and a wretched, wretched man will have begun a dictatorship.

To make matters even more complicated for the townspeople, the outside world, which is just as baffled by the turn of events as those directly impacted, suspects that the Dome surrounding the town is the result of terrorism and that those responsible may be in the town. So the military is supposed to help them, but is also supposed to treat them as suspects. But that's not all – if the Dome is impenetrable what kind of help can anyone deliver? It's horrifying for everyone to have the barrier there; those on the inside can't get out or get what they need and those on the outside can't do even the simplest thing to help.

Stress starts to take its toll on the townspeople immediately, as the horror of the accidental deaths and murders sink in. At the same time the second selectman starts to manipulate the citizens, pushing and poking them so they fracture faster. His goal is to increase and consolidate his power, as well as cover up something very big that will ruin him if it gets out. Opposing him is Barbie, who was on his way out of town after being jumped in the parking lot of the restaurant where he was working as a cook. The selectman's son Junior was one of the assailants and Barbie knows his continued stay in Chester's Mill would be miserable so he's trying to hitch out of town when the Dome comes smashing down, cutting off all egress.

Life under the Dome would be hard enough if the only thing the inhabitants had to deal with was isolation from the rest of the world but they have many more problems pressing in on them. There are environmental issues, with pollution building up very quickly, especially following things like the fire from the plane and truck disasters. The hospital is grievously understaffed, leaving the injured and ill in dire straits.

Anyone who has read one of the Mr. King's longer works knows what to expect. Loads of characters, lots of death and destructions, sustained suspense and worry over the characters, who worm into our hearts with ease and a little wear and tear on said hearts. Under the Dome is longer than most of Mr. King's books and I was somewhat worried that I would want to try and finish it at one go, which would be tough, especially on a weeknight. Luckily I was able to put it down long enough to get stuff done, at least until I got to the last two hundred or so pages, at which point I pretty much swallowed it in one enormous gulp that might have choked a less determined reader. At the beginning of this column I said I was worried that I was going to be left with a lot of questions about what happened to cause the Dome and why but that fear was unfounded. I came away from this book feeling pretty satisfied.

The only real question I have is what is the message of this book? Of course not every horror books is going to have a message, or at least not one beyond "Don't go in there", but I did feel there was a message in Under the Dome. But the message I took away is disturbing because it seemed to me that message is don't excel. Hide your light under a barrel. Blend in or else. And if someone is cruel to you for being different then you stop being different. I was kind of appalled. I'm curious to see if anyone else has that same interpretation.

You can read an excerpt here: http://simon.worldarcstudio.com/WAS/LandingPage/v1/130/staging/22177_exc....

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Fhtagn who writes in to say, "Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth is awesome. The insanity meter causes panic as soon as anything strange or chilling happens. Your vision blurs and your hands shake. Some thing is charging at you – as it approaches you shoot it rapidly, just as it reaches you it falls to the ground unmoving, your heart rate slowly returns to normal but there are more lurking in the shadows. Madness reigns." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

I had a three day weekend for New Year's which I put to good use by reading some books, two of which have been on my most wanted list for awhile. The first one really annoyed me and never gelled, leaving me saying "Whatever" after five hundred pages but the second one grabbed me and sucked me in halfway down the first page. Liar by Justine Larbalestier is the kind of book that might have easily turned me off. The protagonist is a chronic liar and the most unreliable of narrators. The story is told from her perspective, first person singular, so every single bit of information we get is questionable. This is a bit much for me as I like to think the map I'm following has some resemblance to actual terrain. I thought reading the book was going to be something of a chore as I was going to have to be skeptical instead of just enjoying the ride, but instead it was a breeze and a pleasure, although it did make me say "Really?" often enough to annoy my poor children.

The protagonist is called Micah and she tells us on the first page that both she and her father are liars but she wants to tell her story straight, with no lies and no omissions. That's her promise and this time she really means it. Then she tells a convoluted story that is alinear, twisting back and in on itself, sometimes correcting earlier statements with the new "truth", and sometimes saying the most outrageous things without any hint that they might not be the purest of truths.

The book begins shortly after the murder of Josh, a boy that Micah cares deeply about. They go to the same school and Micah is Josh's after hours girlfriend. He has a regular girlfriend during school, or so Micah says, but can we believe her? We need some sort of baseline so that we can have at least a general idea of who Micah is, beyond being a liar. She says she's of mixed race, a high school senior, a grieving girl, a native New Yorker and that she keeps her hair short enough to be mistaken for a boy. But the cover of the book shows a girl with long hair, using it to hide her face, leading some readers to ask if we can trust even the most basic of biographical facts. (The original American cover featured a white girl, making things even more confusing.) The author has stated in the Liar FAQ that the aforementioned things are true; race, age, gender, neighborhood and that she and Zach had a reciprocal relationship. Her pain is real and vivid.

(Weirdly one of the biggest questions I had while reading the book was whether or not we can trust Micah's science. She has some interesting things to say about DNA and what a DNA test really shows. I wanted to know if what she was saying was valid but I didn't want to put the book down long enough to find out. I've seen some other people's reactions to the book and they all got stuck on something completely different. Perhaps I'm a little too interested in science.)

That's about all I can tell you about the story. I realize it's hardly anything but there's a reason for that. Let's take Hansel and Gretel, a story you probably know. I could tell it from the children's perspective, which is the one you most likely know. I could tell it from the POV of the witch, and focus on how hungry she is, how expensive sugar is, how cloying the smell of gingerbread gets after awhile, and what a little wretch Hansel the murderer is. Or I could tell the story as if I were one of the parents and talk about the grief of watching your children starve in front of you and how putting them out in the forest was the hardest decision in the world. Each of these is the same story, but different. Liar can be interpreted a number of very different ways and anything I say about it can tint the lenses through which you read the story. For the same reason you want to be very careful about reading reviews or comments on the story before you tackle the story itself. Even people who claim they love spoilers agreed that Liar is the exception that proves the rule.

Liar is one of the best books I've read recently. If I'd read it last year it would have to duel with Hunger Games for my favorite of the year. As it is the rest of what I read for the year is going to really work to live up to the bar Liar has set. It's been stuck in my head since I read it, giving me something to think about and puzzle over whenever I have a little quiet time.

You can read an excerpt here: http://justinelarbalestier.com/books/liar/excerpt/

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from The Green Thumb who writes in to say, "Please tell the director of Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie that it's all right for a camera shot to last more than seven seconds. I might enjoy the show if it weren't so ADD." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

Since the next two Fridays fall on holidays Quality Time will return after the New Year. But of course we don't want to leave you in the lurch so here is Maureen Johnson's fabulous guide to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.

http://maureenjohnson.blogspot.com/2009/09/lost-symbol-readers-guide-par...

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I was at the library a few days ago and I saw a book with the most amazing cover. It's a kind of mosaic of these beautiful paintings in fabulous colors. The subjects in the images are fantastical creatures like a horned man with seven tiny heads branching from the horns. I scooped it up and was astonished to see it was a Clive Barker book I'd somehow totally missed called Abarat and published in 2002. How did I miss it? I don't know. Admittedly 2002 was a very bad year for me, but I did read Cold Heart Canyon, also by Clive Barker, that year so it seems I should have gone straight from that to Abarat. But whatever the reason, I finally have it in my hot little hands and it's fabulous; an amazing adventure story with incredible illustrations.

Candy Quackenbush lives in an awful little town with an awful father and an even more awful teacher. The teacher gives out a simple assignment, find ten facts about the town, called Chickentown. Candy is even more bored than usual when she realizes starts her research. Basically the entire town exists to supply workers to the chicken factory and very little that's not chicken related goes on. Candy's tired and depressed mother suggests Candy may find something interesting if she visits the local hotel, which Candy does.

When Candy presents her report, which is filled with macabre and tragic facts about the last descendent of the founder of the town, who committed suicide in the hotel, her teacher has an absolute freak-out, screaming and throwing Candy's papers on the floor, then demanding Candy clean them up. Oddly the very same thing happened to one of my sons when he was in first grade (except he wasn't writing a report about chickens or suicide) and he did the same sensible thing that Candy does, which is tell the teacher that since the teacher made the mess the teacher should clean it up. Both Candy and my son got into trouble for their actions but their stories veer sharply as my son went to the principle's office while Candy gets so fed up she leaves the school, chased by the teacher.

Candy leaves the school, then the entire town, and ends up in a sea of grass, where she meets the most unusual creature of her life; John Mischief and his seven brothers, who are heads attached to the horns on top of his own head. Mischief is being pursued by a horrible being intent on slaughter and Candy tries to help by racing to the top of an extraordinarily rickety lighthouse and lighting the unusual lamp at the top. When she does something astonishing happens – a sea comes pouring onto the Minnesota plain, enabling Mischief to return home. Candy weighs the thought of going back to her dreary town, filled with even drearier people, against the option of adventure in a new land with Mischief and takes her chances in the sea, beginning a fantastic journey filled with danger and wonders.

I read an article the other day lamenting the lack of originality in publishing. There are too many werewolves, vampires and zombies said the author, completely forgetting that originality doesn't depend on what species a character is but more what a character does and how they react to changing circumstances. For instance the majority of characters in traditional literature are human but I don't think I've ever heard anyone complaining there are too many humans and we need more interesting and rare creatures. Does anyone think The Grapes of Wrath would have been better if the Joads had been gargoyles or banshees instead of humans? I don't think so.

The author of that column should be delighted to read Abarat as Mr. Barker introduces a tremendous variety of species I have never encountered anywhere else. Even the geography of Abarat is very different from other geographies, with various islands each having their own time zone that doesn't change. For instance at the island of Ninnyhammer it's always ten in the evening. (Ninnyhammer is also home to a tribe of orange cats that Mr. Barker has painted for us. This painting is one of my favorites in the book.) While many of the people in the book are unfamiliar in shape, size and ability they're immediately recognizable in their motivations, which are the stuff of great stories; revenge, betrayal, love, jealousy, boredom, petty cruelty, courage and all of the other qualities that make up complex and intriguing characters. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish although I was startled to discover it was book one in a series, something I only figured out when I was about twenty pages from the end and realized there was far too much to wrap up in such a short space. I was hoping that since the book was published in 2002 the entire thing would be out by now but apparently it's still in the works. I'm guessing that's because the paintings, which are such an integral part of the story, take up a lot of time.

You can read an excerpt from Abarat here but to get the full effect of the book you really need to see the glorious pictures. http://www.clivebarker.info/yaabarat1ex.html

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Tina who writes in to say, "EA Sports gives me nice exercise options. My DH is too big to use Wii Fit but he has no troubles with EA Sports. We're getting a head start on our New Year's Resolutions." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

I have to confess that I'm preprogrammed to love the television show Glee. First of all, every time I see the name I think it's talking to me, since the name consists of my first initial and last name, which was my login at a previous job. Secondly my son is in vocal ensemble and has been in chorus for nine years so watching the show is both familiar and fun. Glee follows the trials and tribulations of New Directions, an underappreciated glee club in Ohio that is treated poorly by the rest of the school; students and faculty alike. The glee club kids are harassed both physically and mentally and the club itself gets no funding, as though the school is hoping the club will wither up and die on the vine so to speak.

Enter Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, (or Mister Shoe) McKinley High's Spanish teacher, who has an unhappy marriage and wants to relive his glory days in glee by taking charge of New Directions and turning it into a powerhouse. Opposing him is the dynamic Sue Sylvester, played perfectly by Jane Lynch, the coach of the school's very popular and competitive cheerleading squad called the Cheerios. Sue has managed to get all of the funding for New Directions diverted to her girls and will do anything to keep the status quo. She's vicious, passionate, opinionated and must sharpen her tongue every night after she flosses and brushes. She's also one of my favorite characters on the show; always interesting and energetic.

McKinley High School has a special way of treading on its underdogs. Bullies don’t give the other students swirlies (or at least not onscreen) but they do throw slushies in their faces. Rachel Berry, portrayed by Lea Michele, has the best voice in the school and is one of the least popular students, garnering her a slushy a day. Rachel is driven, abrasive and in love with Finn Hudson, played by Cory Monteith, who is on the football team, but also interested in glee club. Finn is a nice boy, a bit dim, but means well and is dating Quinn Fabray, blonde cheerleader and member of the celibacy club.

Quinn has two secrets, which we learn pretty early in the series. One she's pregnant and two the father of the baby is Puck (Mark Salling), Finn's best friend and fellow footballer. (He also has a thing for moms, although this isn't explored much past the first couple of episodes.) The love triangle between Puck, Quinn and Finn isn’t the only one in the show; there are a couple of others, if you don't mind loose definitions of love triangles. Jayma Mays plays Emma Pillsbury, the neurotic school guidance counselor who has a huge crush on Will. In his turn Will enjoys spending time with Emma but worries about crossing a line as he is married to Terri (played by Jessalyn Gilsig), the most unsympathetic character in the show. Terri is demanding, manipulative and a liar but worse of all she's a killjoy. (No wonder Will finds spending platonic time with the adoring Emma a peaceful oasis in his chaotic life.) We could forgive her for being obnoxious or a bit of a monster, after all some of our favorite characters over the years have been people we wouldn't want hanging out at our house, but Terri's character is like a drill; shrill and monotonous. No thanks.

Rachel isn’t the only one head over heels with Finn; Kurt Hummel, played to a T by Chris Colfer, is also mad for Finn and even goes so far as to spend time trying to convince Finn that girls are nothing but trouble, hoping, I assume, that Finn will give up on girls and decide to give boys a try. Kurt is one of my favorite characters. He's charming, even when he's being snide, amusing and a fashion plate. He definitely dresses better than I do and he's braver as he was courageous enough to get a spot on the football team, despite strong opposition, whereas I would be terrified at the idea of setting foot on a football field. There are a variety of other characters we see on a weekly basis, as well as some guest stars that really are stars, including Eve as the coach of a rival glee club, that add to the fun and flair of Glee.

The show is frequently silly and over the top, but I like silly and so far it hasn't been too over the top for me. If you think of the show as a very extended musical comedy you'll kind of know what to expect; loads of musical numbers, some dancing, romance, heartbreak, conniving – all of the things that make for an hour of terrific entertainment. I've been interested to see how many different kinds of people love Glee. It's always the talk of my youngest son's vocal ensemble class, which is to be expected, but I also see it greeted with great enthusiasm by science fiction fans, YA authors, agents, horse lovers, zombie fans and just about everyone else on my Twitter feed. The fall season finale aired last week but the thirteen episode DVD is already being released and you can watch full episodes on Fox on Demand. http://www.fox.com/watch/glee

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from sad and confused who writes in to say, "HATED Alice on syfy. Bad acting plus a terrible script equals TORTURE." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I often do. Or rather I let an intriguing cover lure me in and give the book a try. I was at the library the other day when I saw the title of Sarah Cross' Dull Boy, which sounded interesting, then when I took the book off the shelf and saw the image of a boy speeding through the air I thought hmm, this could be my kind of book. And indeed it was. Fast paced, conflicted characters, mishap after mishap – what's not to like?

Being a teenager is hard work. Your body is changing, your hormones are in an uproar, affecting your skin, your moods and everything else, and you're always short on sleep because there's never enough time to get everything done. You're supposed to be choosing your life's path while figuring out what's important and trying to fit in while somehow managing not to be a clone of everyone else. It's already easy enough to feel alienated and freakish so when Avery's body starts to really change and he can suddenly do things like dead lift his mother's car, he's consumed with anxiety and guilt. He doesn't mean to break his friend's bones when they were wrestling, or pop a basketball while defending a little boy from bullies, or do any of the other things his out of control strength forces him to do. He's miserable and terrified to touch anyone. If only he can do some good deeds maybe it will make up for his mistakes and Hulk-like mayhem.

Unfortunately Avery's good deeds don't turn out the way he wants them to. Somehow they always go wrong, leaving him feeling like a massive screw-up and saddling his parents with enormous repair/replacement bills. Things come to a head when his friends prank him, pretending they want a retro birthday party like the ones they had when they were little, while really having a big party at another location, and he loses his cool, destroying his cell phone in front of some interesting new kids. He heads for home and hears an old woman calling for help. This is the ticket, exactly what he's been waiting for, except it all goes pear shaped and he severely injures two fake robbers, trashes an antique store and discovers the old woman is really a shape shifter who is part of a plan to recruit him. He doesn't have time to take any of this in before the police show up and his overwhelmed parents enroll him in a horrible school for wayward teens. Oh Avery! Where is your light at the end of the tunnel?

Avery's new school is pretty terrible and he can't really defend himself because he's so much stronger than even the biggest, most cruel bully. When he's forced into a fight he can only allow himself to be beaten up, which leads to more trouble when another teen with powers tries to help him out. Now Avery has to hide more than just his own secret while he tries to sort out who he can trust; the shape shifting and sympathetic woman from the robbery or his fellow teens who are just as confused and angsty as he is.

Dull Boy is laugh out loud funny with plenty of danger, adventure and advanced technology (like a giant robot.) It's also the first in a series (or it has the most unsettled ending of any standalone book I've ever read) which is good news as the book is so much fun. I'll be looking for more works from Ms. Cross.

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Boon Dog who writes in to say, "The Sound of Thunder is so bad that I watched it twice and still couldn't remember how it ended. Snooze city." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.

When the weather turns cold I tend to want to spend more time inside. But at the same time I want to get out of the house because I don't like being cooped up. This time of year the last place I want to go is anywhere near a mall, as they're going to be insanely crowded so my favorite movie theater is out. The perfect solution is to head to a museum and enjoy whatever new exhibits are in town. I happen to live near Baltimore, which also puts me in easy reach of Washington DC and its fabulous museums as well as a quick bus ride away from New York, home of enough art to show you something new every day of your life.

New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has some interesting exhibits right now, including Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156–1868, which is open until January 10, 2010. We've all seen European suits of armor, even if only in old cartoons where they walk about and clonk people on the heads, but not all of us have seen Samurai armor, which is amazing, beautiful and generally more angular than European armor, which tends to be more rounded. The items in this exhibit are quite old, one piece dating back to the sixth century, but are surprisingly fragile and can only tolerate the light of the exhibit hall for a short time. Therefore some items will be on display through the beginning of December and then will be replaced by similar items. If you're longing to see a particular piece, like this fantastic Dō-Maru Gusoku Armor with Black Lacing and Three-Branched Deerhorn Helmet, be sure to check the dates it is on exhibit. You can see some samples of what's in the show as well as download a complete exhibit checklist in PDF format here: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/samurai_armor/images.asp.

Next we jump from the past to the present, specifically the Museum of Modern Art where we have many fantastic exhibits, with this one particularly catching my eye. It is a Tim Burton exhibit which is accompanied by two film exhibitions, Tim Burton and Tim Burton and the Lurid Beauty of Monsters. I love this drawing called The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. There are more than seven hundred pieces in this exhibit, including puppets, concept art, paintings, photographs, costumes and much more from a variety of Mr. Burton's films including Edward Scissorshands, Beetlejuice and other projects that aren't quite so high profile. This show runs until April 26, 2010. http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/313

At the Guggenheim is a fantastic Kandinsky exhibit. I'm new to this artist's work but I fell in love with as soon as I saw some examples. The bright colors and bold patterns make me feel deeply happy and supercharged. I would go to New York just to see these paintings, even if I had to go home again on the same day. Don’t fret if you can't make the journey because you can look at an online exhibit. The themes are horse and rider, apocalypse, landscape, music, geometry and scientific imagery, inspired by the artist's study of biological images he collected while teaching at the Bauhaus. The show runs until January 13, 2010.
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view-now/kandinsky

Baltimore
The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is one of my favorite museums. It has beautiful pieces, especially in the antiquities wing (may not be the actual name, that's what my kids and I called it when they were growing up) where you can see those gorgeous red clay pots with the stylized images, armor from Ancient Greece and Rome, tiny figures from Japan and mummies from Egypt, including a mummified cat. For the next year or so there's an exhibit at the Walters called Mummified that lets you have a peek inside the mummy.

In the spring of last year the University of Maryland and the Walters teamed up to scan the mummy using computerized tomography. The scan was designed to learn more about the mummy, its wrappings, cause of death and other interesting facts. The exhibition, which runs Wednesday through Sunday until November 08, 2010, allows visitors to examine the science of the mummy via computer terminals. The show also has around twenty ancient objects from Egypt that depict the art of mummification, of both people and animals. Part of the exhibit will explore the popularity of mummies through the last few hundred years. You can learn more here: http://thewalters.org/eventscalendar/eventdetails.aspx?e=1068

When you finish with the mummies you might want to catch the Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece show, which runs until January 3rd. Focusing on the trope of the hero, why we need them and how someone becomes a hero, the exhibit has more than 100 objects gathered from all over. There are four sections all centered around one particular hero; Herakles, who was a hero and a god, Odysseus, who made an epic journey that Homer wrote about, Achilles, famous for his fighting and his one weakness, and Helen, who was beautiful enough for two city-states to go to war over her. (You may know Herakles better by his Roman name, Hercules.) Even if you're not a big fan of Greek myth the pieces in this exhibit are worth seeing because of their age, beauty and general awesomeness.

http://thewalters.org/exhibitions/heroes/

One-Paragraph Review

This week's one-paragraph review is from Luke who writes in to say, "Skype is a very good communication system, it allows people to have an easy way to stay in contact with each other, it is simple and effective, and good for hands free communication with a mic." Do you have a one-paragraph (or smaller) review you'd like to share? Send it in to me for consideration. You can reach me at feedback@qualitytimeweekly.com.