J-Dub’s Book Review of Swan Song by Robert McCammon

The comparisons with Robert McCammon’s Swan Song and Stephen King’s The Stand stop with both being apocalyptic fiction.  Well maybe a good versus evil theme too.  And size.  Both are long reads filled with lots of characters.

I won’t go into further comparison between the two.  I will stick with Swan Song and I will keep this short.  I started out loving this book.  Why? Because I could escape into fantasy for a bit.  Written in 1987 present day we had WWIII – The Russians nuked us and from there on survival of the fittest.  Some parts were cringed worthy like the K-Mart games (you’ll have to read it to find out) and some characters were the epitome of evil – Colonel Macklin (King) and Roland the King’s Knight. But there was Swan and her gentle giant protector Josh, later on adding Rusty to the crew.  Eventually meeting up with Sister Creep and Paul … all representing the good.

I was all set to give 5 stars but then I read a few reviews.  Some astute readers called out the fact that team good were pretty people dare I say beautiful and team evil were ugly.  You might think well duh? J-Dub that’s usually true BUT and it’s a BIG BUT we are talking about purely physical beauty.

After the bombs were dropped some of the main characters developed these awful growths on their faces called Job’s mask.  Eventually they went into a feverish sleep and the “mask” broke off revealing their true selves.  They were healed and ready for battle.  If you were beautiful on the inside you became beautiful on the outside too and vice versa for the evil folks.

Ugh, so much for keeping in short.  I thought about that.  Comment after comment from Good Reads and Amazon.  Still overall rated high but those giving 1 or 2 stars had a point. The collective “we” judge based on exterior appearance.  All the damn time.  And this hurts my heart because I know people struggling with issues of self esteem and worse.  So I asked myself why couldn’t the heroine Swan have been just your average American girl? Isn’t it how you treat people that matters most?  Why do we put so much emphasis on looks? Spoken like a true ugly person.  And I know that’s what some people out there think.

But you can’t win for losing.  So I will end rant, stepping off my soap box.  If you like apocalyptic fiction, check out Swan Song.  Overall I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

As always, more to come.

Time After Time

Beautiful and fitting theme for Father’s Day and #SLS. P!nk’s voice … no words. ❤

Anything is Possible!

“Time After Time,” was originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper. While I like Cyndi Lauper, I also found this lyric version sung by Pink. It’s the words I want to focus on, so I picked the Pink one.

I love the chorus:

If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time

The song came out right around the time I started thinking about having a baby which led me to thinking more about God. I remember watching the Cyndi Lauper video on TV in the 80s and thinking this song could be about God catching me when I fall, or a parent catching a child, being there, time after time.  Of course it can be about any love that’s faithful, and that’s comforting any way you look at it.

“Time After Time,” was…

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For 6/17/18 ~ Every Second, Every Minute by the Bee Gees

Happy Sunday y’all.  Time for #SLS.  Our theme today is seconds/minutes/hours. Pick one or find a song that features all three!   Good one Helen.

Okay gang, there is ONLY ONE song that is the pièce de résistance in fitting today’s theme – Seasons for Love from Rent.  A song that I belt out any time I hear it … whether I am alone or in a crowd.  Whether I can carry a tune or when I more often cannot.  That’s the kind of song that moves you.  Hits you at your core.  Ah the emotions!!

So why am I not featuring Seasons of Love? Purely to add variety as I imagine there could be several renditions of said song put up.  Instead I went to the 1970s archive and found Every Second, Every Minute by the Bee Gees.  A catchy little ditty that I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

“Every Second, Every Minute”
Send out your invitations
There’s gonna be a party goin’ on
We’ll meet you at the station
You know the race has just begun
If you don’t know that I was born to hold you
Then I’m gonna tell ya loud and clear ‘Baby I love ya’
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute, ev’ry hour, ev’ry day of ev’ry year. Now

We’re gonna climb a mountain
No one is gonna stop me now
My love is like a fountain
I’ll take your hand and show you how
If you don’t think that I was born to hold you
Then I’m gonna shout it loud and clear ‘ Baby I love ya’
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute, ev’ry hour,ev’ry day of ev’ry year

Send our your invitation
There’s gonna be a party goin’ on
We’ll meet you at the station
You know the race has just begun
If you don’t know that I was born to hold you
Then I’m gonna tell ya loud and clear’ Baby I love ya’
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute, ev’ry hour , ev’ry day of ev’ry year
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute, ev’ry hour, ev’ry day of ev’ry year
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute
Ev’ry second, ev’ry minute [repeat line and fade out]

Writer(s): Barry Gibb

Look here for rules and ping back and to see all the other offerings. Let’s sing-a-along to our hearts content.

As always, more to come.

Happy Father’s Day

My daddy pictured below was a cook before he became a mechanic.

Growing up I remember him cooking as much if not more than my mom.  He was used to preparing meals for large crowds – in the Navy, at Frank’s restaurant and later on at church.  He’d experiment with different recipes always getting ideas from his friends Raymond and Jerry aka Mr. S and Mr. V to us.

His specialties were fried chicken (with pancake mix in the crust) and chili or stew in quantities to large enough feed a fleet. I loved when he brought home leftovers from Thursday night men’s club meetings.  I have fond memories of camping and his cooking a full breakfast over a Coleman stove.  “Break the yolk on my egg daddy”  “One hockey puck coming up”  Nothing ever tasted so good.

Days like today are bittersweet.  Bitter since we do not have his earthly presence but sweet – oh How Sweet It Is! because his legacy lives on. And I still talk to him … alot.  When things get rough but more often when something good happens.  Keep on smiling while honoring his memory.

Happy Father’s Day to all the daddies and father figures out there.

As always, more to come.