Author: sokorra

A thirty-something Graphic Designer and writer who likes to blog about books, movies and History.
Posted in book reviews, bookit

Summer Reading

Posted on by sokorra

Summer seems to be starting to arrive, though we have awhile till it officially starts. Late Spring/Early Summer is one of my favorite times of the year.  Its warm enough but hasn’t reached that overbearing heat of the late summer.  And its a great reading time.

I like to read all the year round, but I know some who really only get a chance to read during vacations or summer trips.  So I’ve decided to put together a list of a few books for some Summer Reading.  Many are series starters, so if you enjoy the first book, there is plenty to read after that!

The Rowan – Anne McCaffrey

The Rowan is the first book…of sorts…in my favorite series.  The novel is a futuristic story where humans have tapped into the potential of telepathic abilities.  They have explored and settled on several planets at this point.  On one of those planets, a disaster takes place that revels a child who may be the most powerful telepath yet known.  They call her The Rowan, as that was the name of the settlement she was located at.

She is trained to be part of the FT&T system of telepaths and telekinetics who help speed about interstellar commerce and traffic.  She has both abilities, in such high qualities she has earned the spot as a Prime, a rarest level in the system.  One day she meets an equally powerful and unknown telepath and together they fight an alien menace.

Its better than my summary I swear.  My favorite book in the series is the fourth book, Lyon’s Pride which deals with the Rowan’s grandchildren.  The Talents series has five books, but it’s also connects to another series by McCafferey called the Pegasus series, which takes place from Current day and brings us up to the world of the Rowan.

On Goodreads

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is pretty well-known, and while the movies were great, I always prefer the book.  There is so much more in the books.  The only downside to the book is its done completely in Katness’ pov.  It’s a great book, although I do suggest it for older readers.  Some of the subject material -ie violence – is not appropriate for young children.  This, as the movies suggests, is part of a trilogy.

On Goodreads

Catherine, Called Birdy – Karen Cushman

This is a book that may be good for younger readers and older readers alike.  Done in diary format, it explores the life of a girl in the 1100s named Catherine, who would just like to play with her friends and forget all this mending and marriage business. She’s promised her older brother to keep a diary to help her with her writing skills, and because she loves him she keeps at it. It is hilarious and some of the phrases from the books my family still use to this day.

It won several awards for young adult novels in 1995

On Goodreads

The Memory of US – Camille Di Maio

This is a book I reviewed on this blog having read it on Kindle Unlimited I believe.  It’s a wonderful romance novel that’s more about a woman trying to adjust in Post-War Britain than actual romance although the Romance is the backbone of the piece.  The story follows Julianne Westcott as she discovers a secret brother her parents have been hiding from her due to his disabilities.  Deciding to ignore their avoidance of the issue, she meets with her brother, and meets Kyle, the son of the gardener.  The two of them slowly fall in love, and eventually get married against the wishes of her parents and his attempt to become a priest.  However, a war begins, and it changes their lives drastically.

It really is a great story and I look forward to more from this author.

On GoodReads

Bookit Review

The 100 – Kass Morgan

Like The Hunger Games, this is a dystopian young adult novel.  The concept was bought and developed into a TV show while the writer was working on the first book, so while many characters remain the same (and some characters appear with different names) the book series and the TV series have gone down separate paths.

I really enjoyed the book series, though I need to catch up on the last one released.  This book is done in rotating POV format, focused on 4 main characters: Clarke, Bellamy, Wells and Glass.    The characters are younger than their TV counterparts, and the stories each take over the course of a couple of days.  The first book has quite a bit of flashback just to warn.

On Goodreads

Posted in Awareness

Manchester

Posted on by sokorra

Yesterday, a terrorist killed 22 people, and injured 59 others in Manchester, England.  They were going about their business on a Monday Night, some having attended an Ariana Grande Concert at the Stadium when an explosion took place in the foyer of the building.  Some of them were even children, with at least 13 were under the age of 16, according to the BBC.  One of the dead is an 8 year old girl.

It’s hard to think of anything to post in light of that.  I refuse to talk about the person who committed these crimes – that is what they wanted.   I will talk about the wonderful citizens of that city who turned to each other and helped those who needed a place to stay, or a ride home.  Those in emergency services worked hard to make sure everyone who needed treatment got it, and investigate the cause.  These people are heroes.

My prayers and thoughts are with the city tonight, as they try to heal from this.  With the families of the victims, and the victims themselves.

If you want to help out, there is a Just Giving campaign ran by the Manchester Evening News to help raise money to help the victims of the attack.

BBC Page on the Manchester Attack is where I’m getting most of my information, along with friends who live in the Greater Manchester area.

Posted in American History, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Part 3

Posted on by sokorra

The Second Four Articles

Article 5

Article Five deals with Congress and representation.  Unlike the constitution, the Articles of Confederation have very strict ideas about representation.  For example, each state was allowed 2-7 representatives in Congress (no more or less). Each state would choose their delegates, and send them to meet on the first Monday in November each year.  They could be recalled and replaced at the will of the State.  A delegate’s term of service was limited to 3 years in any 6 year period.  They were also required not to hold any other office in the government in which they could be paid.

Each state, despite the number of delegates/representatives, would only have 1 vote as a state.  Which would mean that while there might be 7 people sent from that state, they’d have to come to some agreement on what they should vote for as a state rather than their own personal votes as it is now.

Delegates were given some diplomatic immunity to being arrested while doing their duties (unless it was treason, felony or breach of the peace).

Continue reading “The Articles of Confederation: Part 3” →

Posted in Art, essay, film, space history, Television shows

Accuracy or Story, That is the question

Posted on by sokorra

Recently I have been watching quite a few period pieces.  Some were complete fiction, others based on true events or actual people.  And its made me ponder the thin line between entertainment and bad accuracy.

There is of course a balance one must keep when doing a period piece.  The story has to be interesting, engaging, with the ups and downs that keep an audience enthralled.  Yet, at the same time, people like myself like to see historically accurate stories.

For some this is relatively easy, especially those that took place in recent years.  For example, Apollo 13 (1994) which is based on a real-life event that took place in April of 1970.  It’s not only one of my favorite films, but it is also one of the films I’ve seen a very real effort to keep things as real as possible without losing the entertainment value.  So while it’s not word-for-word, and they added a few dramatic arguments (after all, the events took place over a week and they have to pack that all into 2 hours), it’s still fairly accurate.  They even went as far as filming scenes in low gravity to make more realistic movement for the space scenes.

Another example is The White Queen (2013).  Now this film takes place in the 15th century during the war of the roses.  And it tends to go more towards creating a good story than depicting the actual events.  Not that I still didn’t enjoy it, but there were some things that happened in the mini-series a quick google search or a Wikipedia search could tell you happened differently.  And since my knowledge is not high on English history as much as it is American history I’m sure there were other moments that would drive my friends who are crazy.  Of course, it’s harder to be as specifically accurate when there is about 500 years and a lack of photographic evidence to really examine.  Facts from this period of time are constantly being reevaluated as new sources of information are found, or someone notices something in what has already been found no one really took note of before.  But there are some general facts to get straight.

I enjoyed the series, but mostly because of the cast, who did a brilliant job in making me not care that not all the facts were right.

So I suppose the question is – when you watch a film, mini-series or TV series based in a specific era, about real people, do you want more accuracy or more story telling?  Would inaccuracies done to make things easier to understand to a chosen demographic make you less willing to watch (for example, the costuming decisions in CW’s Reign)?

What’s your opinion?

Posted in history

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on by sokorra

Today, April 14, is Mother’s Day in the United States.  Its a day to remember and celebrate our Mothers and grandmothers – or any mother in our lives.   For some its a day to spend with their loved ones, and some its a day to remember the mothers we have lossed.  Its celebrated outside the US as well, on various dates.

The American Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in the early 1900s.  She did it as a way to remember her own mother, who had served as a nurse during the civil War. She wanted a day where people would show their mothers their appreciation, by visiting or writing their mothers letters expressing it.  She promoted it, campaigned for it, and saw it become a reality nationally in 1914.  She was later against it because it became too commercialized in her opinon.  I wrote about this before for last year’s Mother’s Day Post

However, it was not the first time motherhood was celebrated.  Even in Ancient times, there were festivals to mother goddesses, and in early Christianity there was Mothering Sunday.

Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna Jarvis’ mother, actually had a Mother’s Day of her own.  It was a group of mothers who would work towards peace as well as help improve things.  It fought to improve sanitary conditions, infant mortality rates and tended to wounded during the war.  Julia Ward Howe had  a “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in 1870 asking mothers to join together to be politically active in the fight for peace. What we consider Mother’s day wasn’t celebrated until 1908 in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

It is celebrated in various countries around the world at different times of the year and in different ways.  Some have special days chosen so Mother’s Day is associated with another event.  In Thailand, the date of Mother’s Day falls on the birthday of their Queen who is seen as a mother to her citizens.  Some countries associate it with Christian celebrations such as Mothering Sunday (a day originally meant to visit your “mother” church) or days that celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus.    In the end, the sentiment behind the holiday is usually the same – to celebrate the women who are our Mothers, or took on the role in some way.

I wish all the mothers out there a happy Mother’s day.  Including my own, who like Ann Reeves Jarvis is a nurse and will be taking care of people today.

History.com – Mother’s Day

National Geographic : “Mother’s Day Turns 100”

 

Posted in American History, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Part Two

Posted on by sokorra

The First Four Articles

Preamble

The Preamble introduces the states that will be part of a “perpetual union”.  Its interesting to read it because not all the states have the same name today.  For example, Massachusetts is still referred to as Massachusetts Bay, and Rhode Island is called Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Otherwise the States remain the same.

The original Thirteen were Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

It dates the document as November 15, 1777 and the second year of Independance.

Article 1

Article One is perhaps the most straightforward piece of legislation I have ever read.  It simply reads that this country shall be named “The United States of America”.   This time around it had a bit more literal a meaning, as it was to represent a union of states rather then a government that had states.  The Articles of Confederation were very strong on the side of individual state rights.

A Confederation is defined as being a group of states with a central government with with independance of internal affairs.  This was the style of government the US tried first. Our current government is a Federation – meaning it has a strong central government.  Confederations have weaker central governments, with more power being distributed to the indivusual members of the union.

Article 2

The States get any power not delegated to Congress as their representatives, and retain their sovereignty.  This is important. State rights have often been an area of contention between those who favor strong central governing from those who prefer uncentralized (State/local) power distribution.

In fact, it was over this fact that the first political parties were formed.  George Washington had no party, and found the idea an horrible one. Clearly no one listened, and parties were formed.  The first two major parties in the US were the Federalists (those who believed in a strong central government) and the Democratic-Republicans (those who favored a weaker central government and stronger State governments).  The first election where this became an issue was when John Adams ran for President afer George Washington stepped down.

This all happened after the constitution, which gave the central government more rights then the Articles do.  In the Articles, the central government really only has the power to deal with foreign affairs, such as payment of debts, declaring war & peace, and dealing with diplomatic channels.  But there is a section on that so we will get to that later.

State Rights have been extremely important in American History. It not only created the first party divide, and political divisions, it also created some of the incentive for the Civil War which would occur less then 100 years later.

Article 3

One of the many reasons the states entered into this union was the fact that there were a few common needs the states faced where a central government would come in handy.  One of them was mutual defense.

Article 3 was an agreement between the states to come to each other’s aid for common defense, general welfare and resistence against outside forces trying to attack the state in question through religion, soverneignty, trade or other issues.

Article 4

In the fourth Article, the Confederacy states that any citizen of the United States shall have their rights respected by all states, and can move freely around the country as long as they are not convicted of a crime.  It also states that if someone is on the run from a crime and is found by another state, that state shall render the suspect back to their original state upon request from the executive of said state.  This may sound familar because the Constitution also states this.  However, the articles have a much weaker central government and much stronger state governments. The Constitution gave Congress more power to enforce such regulations.

To make an analogy, perhaps this is like the EU (although I admittedly have little knowledge on how governmentally the EU is set up.)  The EU allows for its members to pass freely from country to country, no passports needed.  However each country is independent.  Under the Articles of Confederation, States had individual powers over many things we now consider Federal responsibility.  They were able to create their own currencies and more.  It would eventually cause problems, but this article enforces the idea that citizens of one state must have the same rights as a citizen of another state.  So you can’t ignore someone’s rights just because they are from New Jersey and made the mistake of going to Philly for some cheesesteak.

Further Reading

Articles of Confederation – Library of Congress

Confederation – Vocabulary.com

The Federalist Papers Project – Article Four

Posted in Awareness, general, history

May is…

Posted on by sokorra

May has a lot of observances and awareness connections.  I decided to write about some of them.  There are of course many other observances during May, so here is the list from Wiki if you want to explore more.  I am by no means an expert on any of these, so please research more on your own if you find yourself interested.

Awareness Month

May is set aside for the awareness of several diseases and causes.

Celiac Disease

Celiac (or Coeliac) disease is a autoimmune disease where the small intestine can not properly digest gluten.  It causes damage to the lining of villi, which help digest nutrients.  It can range from discomfort to great pain and other health problems.  This disease is probably getting more known due to gluten-free diet trends.  Gluten can be found in wheat, Rye and Barley.  It is a genetic disorder as well, so it runs in families.

More information:

Celiac.Org

Beyond Celiac.Org

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is a serious genetic disorder that effects the major organs, particularly the lungs.  It is caused by a recessive gene mutation, which causes secretions like sweat, digestive fluids and particularly mucus to become thicker.  There is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis, just treatments to treat the symptoms.

More information

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Cystic Fibrosis – Mayo Clinic

Cystic Fibrosis (Wiki)

Mental Health Awareness Month

Awareness of Mental Heath issues is very important.  Misinformation, ignorance of treatment and other factors have led to people not getting the treatment they need, or choosing to refuse treatment because they don’t’ want to be treated poorly for having a mental health issue.  While societal views on mental illness have improved over the last few decades,we have far to go till its treated like any physical illness.

More information

Mental Health America.Net 

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Month Observances

National Pet Month  (US)

National Pet Month is basically a month to recognize the benefits that pets bring to our lives.  It is observed in April in the UK and in May in the US.  It also promotes pet adoption, and animal health.

National Pet Month.Org (UK)

Flores de Mayo

Flores de Mayo is a month long celebration in the Philippines.  It has its roots in Catholic devotions to Mary including daily offering of flowers.  On the last day of the month a pageant is held called the Santacruzan which honors events in Catholic history.  In particular, it celebrates the finding of the true cross by St. Helena.  Young women search for a hidden cross after attending a mass and the one who finds it is designated as Reyna Elena (St. Helena).

Flores de Mayo (Wiki)

Flores de Mayo & Santacruzan – Catholics & Cultures

Single Day/Week Observances

Cinco de Mayo (May 5)

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican-American holiday.  In Mexico, it is a day of observance on a a military victory over French Occupation.  It is usually observed with military parades.  In the United States however it has become a day to celebrate Mexican-AMerican culture.  There is debate on the ethical points of Cinco de Mayo in the United States, however, due to the fact that it was originally a Mexican holiday and the US celebration has nothing to do with the original Mexican.  Also it has a tendency to promote stereotypes and racial issues.

International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day (May 12)

Chronic Fatigue affects many people, though many go undiagnosed.  Sometimes it is a side effect of another illness, but it can be an issue on its own.  It is often hard to diagnose as there is no blood or lab test that can detect it.  Awareness and research can bring more answers to the cause of Chronic Fatigue

CDC- Chronic Fatigue Awareness Day

Mother’s Day  (May 14 in US)

There are several countries that celebrate Mother’s Day, and its on several different days of the month.  However, since I live in the US I choose to note the date that the US is celebrating.  I’ll be posting a separate post about this one when the day arrives.

Endangered Species  Day (May 19)

Endangered Species day is a day to recognize the efforts that are out there to protect the wildlife on our planet.  Many species have been lost in the last few decades alone, and there are many organizations out there trying to prevent more species from going from endangered to extinct.

US National Fish and Wildlife Service

Ramadan (May 26-June 25)

Ramadan is a religious observance by Muslims, and this year will start May 26/27.   I am by far no expert on Islamic traditions, so I do recommend googling Ramadan and finding out more on your own.  Ramadan is a religious rite that occurs for a month.  It involves daily fasting and focusing on the Quran, their holy book.

Ramadan (wiki)

BBC Religions: Ramadan

Posted in book reviews, bookit, Star Wars

Bookit Review: Specter of the Past

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Specter of the Past (Part 1 in a duology)  (Kindle version)

AUthor: Timothy Zahn

Published:  June 28th 2011

My Grade: B-

This duology is a sequel to the Thrawn trilogy, and takes place a decade later.  My favorites from the Thrawn series return, Palleaon is now a Admiral and head of the Imperial Navy.  He doesn’t see a happy ending for the Empire if they don’t make peace with the New Republic.  However not everyone agrees with him and he must search out some treachery on the side of the Empire.

On the New Republic side, Leia is dealing with mulitple issues as an old tragedy is brought forward when documents implicating the Bothans in the genocide of a species. Everyone ends up in the mix as tempers rise and accusations are thrown.  Han is implicated as shooting into a protest, Karrde is accused of being behind the reapperance of Thrawn, and Lando is accused of going along with it.

Meanwhile Luke is trying to figure out a few things, including his new equilibrium with the force and his connection to Mara Jade, whose investigating the Thrawn situation herself.

This book was good, but a bit of a disappointment as well.  It sets up the second book for the most part.  It is essieintally a 400 word lead-in.  It explains the political situation, updates us on the characters lives at the moment, and prepares us for whatever is going to happen in Vision of the Future which I”m currently reading right now.

It does reference things that have happened in books published between the trilogy and the duology.  Including Luke’s brush with being on the dark side. However I think, its brief enough that you can still read and enjoy without having read those books.

I bought this on Kindle, and that edition has a timeline of the Legends Universe.  My paperback copy of Visions of the Future that I bought many years ago but never fully read has a timeline too (although its called the expanded universe, because they hadn’t shifted the canon yet).

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Introduction

Posted on by sokorra

Introduction:

The Constitution of the United States was not the first attempt to organize our government once the United States declared Independance.  The original “constitution” was called the Articles of The Confederation and Perpetual Union or Articles of Confederation for short.  For simplicity I will refer to it as The Articles in this essay series.

I’ve been doing this series a little backwards, starting with the Constitution’s amendments, then the Constitution itself and now the forerunner document, but if you are reading this after the fact, you may be starting here.  So it all depends on if you are going in tag order, chronological order or in the order the documents were written.  Welcome to my journey of amatuer history commentary.

But lets get back on topic. When the young nation first declared independence, it was quickly seen that something needed to be done about forming a new government to replace the one they had rejected. The influences on this document started long before independance.

Continue reading “The Articles of Confederation: Introduction” →

Posted in book reviews, bookit, Star Wars

Bookit Review: The Last Command

Posted on by sokorra

Title: The Last Command (book 3 of 3 of the Thrawn Trilogy
Author: Timothy Zahn
Publication Date: May 1993 (Paperback edition)

My Grade:  A

I really enjoyed the third book in the trilogy, and the Trilogy in general.  It was interesting to read at this point due to the fact that this came out before the prequels and therefore has some Ret-conned elements.  However many of the things stand up even despite that.  In this book, Leia has her twins, which (as far as we know) doesn’t occur in movie cannon), but you could replace Jaina and Jacen relatively easily with Ben.  They talk about the Clone Wars, and it brings up some interesting ideas about the clone wars that makes me wonder how much this book influenced the animated series.  (Enough to make me think about watching it).

I have also grown to love some of the minor characters that I hope to catch often as I read more of the Expanded (now called Legends) universe.  Talon Karrde, General Bel Ibis, and Captain Pellaeon in particular.  Each of them seemed to be interesting characters with stories of their own to explore.  Mara Jade is still one of my favorite non-film canon characters and I hope they have some version of her in the film series.  I consider her one of the main characters of the EU.  To sum it up, this book as a variety of minor characters (and major ones) with good characterization.

It also has a good plot, tying together some of the various plot lines that have been going through the trilogy.  It also deals with Mara’s past, Leia’s use of the force, The Noghri’s situation, and gives alot of information about the Clone Wars that is vague enough that it actually might pass the flims/tv series canon.

I was actually expecting Luke and Mara to have a bigger force connection, because of the way things end up for them in other books, but instead I found the book deals alot with Mara and Leia’s connection.  And also the way Leia views the New Republic and Mara.  Honestly, this trilogy is a lot about Leia dealing with becoming a mother, being a Jedi, and dealing with being part of the New Republic.  She also deals with the legacy that is being Darth Vader’s daughter.

If you enjoy Star Wars, I definitely recommend this book, and the trilogy its a part of.  It brings back alot of the favorite minor characters from the films, and deepens the universe in which we get to play.  I’m actually moving to read the second Thrawn series (this one a duology) called Spectre of the Past  and Vision of the Future.   I actually own the second book, but never read the first one so I got lost on a few things.

(As of posting, I’ve actually read Spectre of the Past. It should be posted shortly)