Which Way Home, Tangled, Cafe Zupas

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Child Migrants

Each year, thousands of Latin Americans travel hundreds of miles, hoping to enter the United States illegally. About five percent of those attempting to make the journey are children traveling alone, often on the tops of freight trains. Some of these children are in their teens. Some are as young as eight or nine.

Some of them have had relatives (in their home country or in the U.S.) pay smugglers to bring them in. Others try to make it on their own. Some do make it across. Others are caught and deported in the U.S. or by the Mexican authorities. Others simply vanish or perish along the way.

The eye-opening documentary Which Way Home follows a number of these unaccompanied child migrants on their journey through Mexico as they try to reach the United States.

There’s Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans. Olga is trying to reach her mother and sisters in Minnesota. Freddy wants to be reunited with his father.

There’s fourteen-year old Jairo who was forced to live on the streets of Chiapas after his mother was killed. He wants an education but is too poor. So he thinks if he gets to Laredo, Texas, he can get a job, earn money, and come back to hire a tutor.

There’s thirteen-year old Fito from Honduras whose mother abandoned him when he was very young. He lives with his impoverished grandmother, who has a job making cigars. He’s traveling to the U.S. to look for work and hopes to be adopted.

Then there’s the thirteen-year old Eloy and his 16-year old cousin Rosario whose bodies were found in the desert.

This film doesn’t propose any solutions or argue for or against immigration. It simply documents what’s happening. Anyone who has any interest at all in the issue will find this movie both fascinating and troubling. In fact, I think the whole family could watch this. For those who are concerned about language, there is one brief exchange where the one of the boys uses some high-grade curses. However, I wouldn’t let that hinder you. You can discuss it or easily fast forward those few seconds. These are just people. Don’t let a few foibles prevent you from learning about their plight.

One of the best movies of 2010

Maybe you’re one of the few, like me, who didn’t see Tangled when it first came out. If so, you’re in for a treat. This is a great story about a girl whose mother, the queen, almost died giving birth to her. The magic used to save the mother and girl transferred into the child’s hair and gives her power to heal. Or to restore beauty and youth.

And that’s too tempting for some. The princess is kidnapped by a woman who wants to maintain her youth. But this villainess doesn’t play the role of the bad guy. No, she plays the role of the loving mother, locking Rapunzel away in a tower to “protect her,” duping her into thinking she really is her mother and really cares. 

It works for a number of years until Flynn Rider, a wanted thief running from the authorities, stumbles across Rapunzel’s tower. When he tries to take refuge, Rapunzel freaks, and then sees that Flynn just might be her ticket out. Of course, when the villainess returns and finds Rapunzel gone, she’s vows to lock Rapunzel up where nobody can find her. Unfortunately, poor Rapunzel has no clue what her “mother” really is—it’s hard to fight a villainess when you think she’s on your side.

The animation is marvelous. The characters are fun. And the villainess is unlike any we’ve seen in a Disney film before. I recommend this film highly. I know I’ll be seeing it again. 

Soup Heaven

There’s nothing like an excellent soup and sandwich. And since my wife and a friend both raved about Cafe Zupas, I decided to give it a try.

My first problem when I stood looking at the menu was that there were ten soups listed and they all sounded wonderful. There was Tomato Basil with Orzo Pasta, New England Clam Chowder, Thai Lobster Curry, Wild Mushroom Bisque, Yucatan Chicken Tortilla and five others. My second problem was that there were just as many delicious-sounding sandwiches to choose from, all grilled “panini style” on Italian Ciabatta bread. Should I get the Honey Bacon Club, Hawaiian Barbeque Chicken, Milano (ham, tomatoes, and pesto), or one of four others? And then there was a salad menu as well.

Oye!

I ended up ordering the turkey cranberry sandwich and a bowl of both the Thai Lobster Curry and the Tuscan White Bean and Vegetable. The staff was friendly. They served up my food quickly, and I sat down at a booth hoping I hadn’t just wasted my money.

That fear was resolved with the first two sips. It was heaven. I oohed and aahed all the way through the meal until the last bite of the chocolate-dipped strawberry that comes with each sandwich. I cannot wait to go back and try another sandwich and bowl of soup. And the cool thing is that it appears even when I’ve tried all the menu items, I won’t run out of new options because Cafe Zupas rotates new soups into the menu. For example, right now they’re featuring a French Onion soup in addition to their normal menu items and have a Beef and Mushroom Goulash and Irish Stew “coming soon.”

Cafe Zupas is a new chain that started in Utah. It currently has a total of nine locations from Layton to Provo. Next time you want to eat out, find the location nearest you at their website www.zupas.com and prepare yourself for a gustatory delight.

Apologies to commenters

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Back at the beginning of February my site was targeted for a spam attack. So I turned on Askimet which helps deal with that. Being new to Askimet and some of the wordpress setting changes I made, I didn’t know that a number of comments were being put into a pending queue. So a number of you posted comments and never saw them appear or received a reply. For example, a couple of people took issue with my review of Basic Economics because I said Obama has made a statement in good Marxist fashion. I didn’t refuse to post your comments because you disagreed. I just didn’t see them. Another person asked about LTUE, etc. I’ve approved the comments and replied. Hopefully, you’ll get a more timely response in the future. 🙂

How to get and develop killer story ideas – recording

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The recording of the session with Larry Correia at LTUE is up on YouTube. I really enjoyed this session, and it’s always fun to work with Larry. A few additonal points.

First, you might think, well, heck, they didn’t finish a story idea. No, we didn’t. The purpose wasn’t to wow the audience. It was to show them the process of generating ideas. But . . . that doesn’t mean we weren’t close.

The big thing we’re missing from the story at the end is the situation, the problem. So if you want to extend this, ask yourself a question to help you identify that story core. For example, you might say, let’s narrow this down by genre. What genres could we use? Romance, political thriller, crime, horror, humor, scifi, western, paranormal, etc. If we select paranormal thriller, we limit our options (a good thing), and can start to generate ideas around a question like, what’s going on, what’s the problem? Potential answers:

  • There’s some gateway to the spirit world in Wyoming
  • Maybe there’s an oilrigger roughneck involved
  • Maybe something with the drilling disturbed something
  • Maybe a crime has been committed (I know, I know, but what did I say in the video about crap, cliche?)
  • Maybe that Japanese tourist has a way to capture the spirits and use them in some magic. Is he a wizard? Is he there to trap the spirits of the dead to fuel his magic? Did he get a nagging ghost that drives him nuts?
  • Did someone call him in?
  • Or is he possessed? An innocent bystander?
  • Is there some ghost there that knows something about a political figure, some information?  
  • Maybe someone who can project her spirit, has some power, has been kidnapped and is being held in Wyoming. Or tries to make her escape when her kidnappers stop in Rock Springs. And the guy to help her is the Japanese Tourist.
  • Maybe these aren’t ghosts, but some kind of alien symbiote? There was a crash somewhere and the locals were infected?
  • Or should I ask: what could go wrong with ghosts? Or what is the nature of ghost magic?  

Do you see? If we had more time, we’d have delved more into the situation with creative Q&A. Sooner or later as we generated ideas around character, setting, and problem a story idea would have come to life.

And (thank you, Mike Barker) here’s a transcript.

See You at LTUE on Friday

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My schedule has changed. You can see the updates below. As I said before, LTUE is one of the best writing conferences around. There are going to be quite a few authors there sharing tips on craft and the business of writing. BTW, it’s NOT going to be held in the Wilkinson Center as it has been in the past, but in the Conference Center on the NORTH side of campus. See map below. Find the full schedule here.

Romance vs. Story with Romantic Elements: Injecting romance into saving the world

  • Panel 
  • John Brown (Moderator),  Ami Chopine, Stacy Whitman, Lynn Kurland
  • FRIDAY: 12 pm – 1 pm

Plotstorming from Character: In some cases the plot of a book drives the characters. However, characters that instead drive the plot can make for a more compelling story. In this hour, we focus on how to grow your plot from your main characters.

  • Presentation
  • Paul Genesse (I want to hear what Paul has to say; I think this will be interesting)
  • FRIDAY: 3 PM – 4 PM

How to Get and Develop Killer Story Ideas

  • Workshop 
  • John Brown & Larry Correia (oh, yeah–it’s the dynamic duo)
  • FRIDAY: 6 PM – 7 PM

Lessons on Story from THE HUNGER GAMES (and let me tell you, there are a lot of good lessons)

  • Presentation
  • John Brown
  • FRIDAY: 7 PM – 8 PM

Click the map to see details

Basic Economics, Avatar: the Last Airbender

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How to not be duped by political blarney

Karl Marx was not a scientist. Nor was Adam Smith before him. They were philosophers. Theorists. Idea men. That’s what all economists in those days were. They had little tested knowledge, and so which economic system was best was all a matter of opinion.

But things are now much different. Nations and local governments tried the various theories. And we’ve seen the results. We now have a whole century of data. Furthermore, economists now are scientists. They use scientific methods and deal with tested knowledge. Sure, there are still controversies, just as there are in any science, but the basic principles of economics today are NOT matters of opinion.

For example, we know what happens when governments impose price controls in all their many varieties—rent caps, minimum wages, laws against price gouging, and medical care cost limits. These last few years we’ve seen a dramatic demonstration of what happens when they meddle with the prices of home loans. We know what happens when they impose tariffs or give subsidies to special groups like farmers or steel producers. We know what happens when they create barriers to people entering a market to compete, like they’ve done with immigrants. We know what taxes do.

The unfortunate thing is that many of these principles seem to be ignored by our politicians. And by those who vote them in. And so we can have a Congress pass massive health care legislation that will cause health care shortages just as similar laws caused shortages in other countries. This is how we have a president who in a recent speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggested, in good Marxist fashion, that it was business owners who kept the American workers down by hoarding all the profits. Has he not looked at the data which shows that huge profits invite more competition, which tries to get ahead of the leader by cutting prices, which allows the American workers to get more for less, thus raising their standard of living?

In the 1980’s and 1990’s India and China began to make fundamental changes to their economic policies, doing the things that have been proven to work. Suddenly, the economies of those nations started to grow. It’s estimated that 20 million people in India rose out of poverty in a decade. In China, more than a million people rose out of poverty EACH MONTH.

But this seems lost on a number of politicians. Don’t let it be lost on you. We have critical elections coming up. One of the best things we can do is educate ourselves about these basic economic principles so we can cut through all the political blarney. I haven’t found a better, more enjoyable book on the subject than Basic Economic Principles: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell. Sowell is an economist and Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His book is written for the general public and so foregoes dry charts and theoretical ho-hum for lots of real-life examples and straight-forward explanations. There are times when I wish he would have gone into more detail on a few subjects, but what he lacks in depth in a handful of areas, he makes up with breadth. Furthermore, the way he presents the topic was interesting enough to make me stay up late a number of nights well past my bedtime. 

Great family entertainment

Do you want some fun family entertainment that includes laughs, wonder, and moments of poignancy? Something you can watch and enjoy with the kids? Then let me recommend the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is NOT the movie Avatar by James Cameron with all the big blue people Nor is it the movie The Last Airbender, based on the TV series, which many fans disliked. This is the original. The one that millions love.

Through the miracle of Netflix, I started watching it with my girls a few months ago. And we’ve all been sucked in. It’s unlike any “cartoon” I’ve seen. In fact, you can’t call it a cartoon just as you can’t call The Incredibles or Lion King cartoons. This is great story telling. Furthermore, instead of it being a bunch of unconnected episodes, this series is telling a long story. It ran for three years on Nickelodeon and includes more than sixty 22-minute episodes.

The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. Aang’s world is divided up into four nations—Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. In each nation are “benders” who can powers with the element of that nation. So Air Benders can fly and create huge winds; Fire Benders can generate and throw fire; Water Benders can create ice and waves.

So it’s fantasy, and all of that is cool, but it’s the characters that we enjoy the most. We quote and laugh at some of their lines. And then there are the episodes with true dramatic moments.

Avatar has been nominated for and won many awards, including the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards, the primetime Emmy awards and a Peabody Award. It’s excellent entertainment.