Speaking of the Matrix...

Neo!!!!!!!! :)

Peter!

I forgot! I was going to do a post about Peter!

Peter Petrelli is from the TV show "Heroes". He is one of the main characters, and is definitely the one who is always trying to help people and do the right thing. One of my favorite things about him is that even though several people treat him like dirt occasionally (namely, his jerk brother Nathan), he forgives them and doesn't hold grudges.

One of the coolest things that Peter does is that he is really nice to this one gal and saves her and stuff, and she turns out to be his niece. (Daughter of aforesaid jerk brother). I think it is really cool how he sacrifices himself to protect her, when they are obviously not romantically connected. It is cool when guys are just gentleman and are nice to girls even when they aren't in love with them...

Anyhow. Forgive all the pictures. But I really like him. He has really great brown eyes.

Leverage Slideshow

More Heroes

Ok, so here are some more heroes. :-)

Prince Charmont (Char)

from "Ella Enchanted"

acted by Hugh Dancy

I absolutely adore "Ella Enchanted", the book. However, the movie is kinda... bleh. If they had just stayed with the book it would have been great, but they changed it completely and it was pretty much stupid. If any of you haven't read the book, YOU MUST!!!

Prince Char looks perfect in the movie, however, he kinda acts stupid. : ( But anyway, in the book, he is a very sturdy, realistic, brave type guy. He has brown curly hair and brown eyes and freckles. :-) He slides down banisters with Ella and kills ogres and is just really awesome.

Even though this is sort of a kids' book, it is definitely on my top five (possibly top three) favorite books. It's just really great. At least I think so.

Everyone read it if you haven't! I have two copies if anyone wants to borrow it.

Prince Char proposing to Ella

Mr. Tilney

from "Northanger Abbey"

acted by JJ Field

Mr. Tilney is my favorite Jane Austen hero. His wit and understanding of muslins is far more endearing to me than all of Mr. Darcy's stoic good looks and coolness. I love him both in the book, and the movie, although the movie wasn't long enough to get in all of his awesome lines. :-) I liked how in the movie, they portrayed him as totally falling for Catherine, because in the book, it says he fell in love with her out of gratitude for her loving him or something stupid.

He doesn't do anything too sacrificial... but he is a clergyman, which takes sacrifice. I love/hate the scene pictured above, when he rebukes Catherine after her imagination has run wild and has caused her to at least mentally accuse decent people of horrible crimes. I love when heroes have the courage to do this, even at the risk of offending/hurting/making a girl hate them. (Mr. Knightley is really cool that way, too). I feel so bad for Catherine in this scene, though! She already as completely fallen for him, and if I was her I would just die!

Mr. Tilney is really humorous, which usually is on my qualifications for a good hero. It cracks me up how he is always confusing Catherine.

Well, I've got to go to bed now... so that is all for now. An extensive post all about my current favorite hero....

**drumroll**

Eliot Spencer

will be forthcoming.

Couple Heroes

Thank you to those who have done hero posts! Great job. :-)

So, I have loads of heroes...just like most of you, but I'm going to just randomly pick a couple. First, I have to agree with Polka Dot! Both of those guys are awesome and true heroes! And with Miss Rose, at least on the Mr Knightly and Tuvia Bielski. (I haven't seen "Wolverine" and I'm not planning too. :-) And with Esmeralda on Sir Gawain (not into "Spider Man" and have never seen any Star Wars).

Thanks for your guys post! Now the rest of you post too!

A lot of my heroes are historical and book heroes. Currently, Samuel Keaton is on the top five list. :-) But I don't think very many of you have read those books, so I'll try to do some heroes that are more generally known. ;-) Also Quinn! And a million Dickens characters!

So, to begin with....

Mr. Thorton is an amazing hero! He is a real, hard working middle class man. I really, really like the way they portray him as working man with lots of problems he has to juggle. He really thinks and he really has compassion for people.

He changes over the movie and risks a lot to help people.

He is also a dutiful and loving son and good brother, even to difficult ladies...

He sacrifices for and is kind to Margret even when it would be very easy to be mean and bitter. Even when he has no hope, he does the right thing and the things she would have wanted.
He is cool.

Tuvia Bielski (Defiance) is also a extremely neat hero. Mostly I enjoy this character because you see the way he changes and improves. You see his high and low points and he seems real and never tries to cover up his mistakes or puff up his accomplishments.
He is a great leader and a loyal brother.

Really like this hero.

Doug Carlin (Deja Vu) is very self-sacrificing even to people he doesn't know. He risks his life for others. He is a good leader and honest, strait forward person. He is compassionate and gentle.

Along with my other hero associations with Denzel Washington (Don Pedro and Coach Boone) I think Carlin is on the top right now. :-)

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg is also a true hero! He risks everything to do what he believes is right for his country and future generations. He knows this will probably end up in death, but he does the right thing. And he carries himself nobly through it all.

(Probably as much as Stauffenberg, I love his assistant! He is SO amazing!)

S0...what I see is that I tend to like heroes that work hard, are loyal, compassionate, get their hands dirty, and make mistakes.

Mr. Thorton misjudges people and can be rude and bitter...but he's trying to improve and do what is good. He is capable of great compassion, but it takes hard work.

Tuvia Bielski has a bad relationship with his wife (even though he obviously still cares) and doesn't always get along with his brothers (big fistfights, etc...) and he isn't always able to lead as he should. He struggles with a lot of issues, but he eventually is trying to do what is right...And he his helping a lot of ungrateful people.

Doug Carlin has no family at all and has a bad argument with his partner, and what looks like his only acquaintance, right before his partner dies...which is pretty much Carlin's fault. He is often a little to blunt with people, but he sincerely wants to help them. He ends up risking his life to be able to go back in time, and then risk his life again single handedly trying to save the girl and a

ferry full of people.

Stauffenberg has to make some horrible decisions, especially with a wife and kids to leave behind if they fail. He obviously hasn't made all the right choices up to this point, but he's trying to be truly loyal to Germany and to his family. (Who would want their boys growing up in Hitler's Germany?) Stauffenberg and Tuvia are especially cool because he really existed.

Some more people that shouldn't go unmentioned are...Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hans von Dohnayi, Julius, Elliot Spencer, Deacon, Guido, Sir Percy, Horatio Hornblower, William Bush, and on and on... (Side note...normally if they die, they are on my heroes list. :-)
Who has read Tale of Two Cities and loved Lucie or Darney more then Sydney or Miss Pross? It is the people who might not be perfect, but make that hard, life altering decision that they knew is right even though they have know idea where it might lead.

So relating, I believe is important. Inner struggle is always very endearing. Humility and self-sacrifice, compassion and suffering, etc... I think another very key factor is if the character is loyal friend. I noticed this the other day when we were watching "Rudy". Rudy's friend, Pete, isn't a major character in the movie but he fits all my hero requirments. And the key reason he is so lovable is that he is a very loyal friend! (This is the same with Lightwood in "Our Mutual Friend", Sam in "LOTR", Geery and Julius in "Remember the Titans", Bush and Kennedy in "Horatio Hornblower" etc...)

Another thing I find particularly necessary is determination. Never quiting. Even when it gets hard. All heroes really have to do this at some point...and the more extreme, the more endearing.

So when creating characters, what are all the factors that can make them truly heroic? I like to think about the qualities when I want to make a guy for a story. What can he do to make him real, but still be amazing?

Thanks for reading!
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

A couple movie heroes

Well, I'm sick at home and thought I might give this hero thing a shot. I have an extremely extensive list... but I don't have that on hand right now, so I will just do whoever pops into my head.

Dr. Robert Neville

from "I Am Legend"

acted by Will Smith

This is a rather strange movie, because there is very little interaction with people until the very end. Robert Neville mainly hangs out with the zombies (they aren't actually zombies, they are humans infected with a mutated virus thing), and his German Shepherd. I am assuming all of you have either already seen this, or have decided not to see it, so I hope spoilers are all cool with you.

Robert Neville is a hero definitely in the self-sacrificial sense. When he blows himself and the zombies up at the end, he is making it possible for Anna and her young son (people

who found him and told him about the small community of un-infected people in another state) to take the cure and save the world by giving this antidote to these infected humans.

He discovers the antidote after much trial and error (which involves catching creepy super-human strength zombies, locking them in his basement, and having cages of aggressive, hairless, red-eyed rats). He saves the world in a way that is a picture of when Jesus Christ died to save the entire world.

Plus, he is Will Smith, has big cool guns, and a German Shepherd.

John McClane

from "Live Free or Die Hard"

acted by Bruce Willis

Heh heh.

We just watched this on Friday night for Benjamin's birthday. I LOVED IT! We had ClearPlay on, of course, which was helpful because muted out stuff constantly. So, it is probably a pretty bad movie without editing, but it was AMAZING with the bad stuff taken out!

Anyway. So, the hero.

I love how he isn't a genius... more like a supremely awesome brute. :-) (I tend to like those types).

He is a police detective, and is directed to go collect this geeky hacker guy for questioning. While he is at the guy's house, all these bad people start shooting them like crazy, and eventually blow up his entire apartment. Fortunately, John and Matthew (the geek) are far enough away that they don't get hurt.

The main reasons I really like this guy are: he is trying to save the world from being taken over by creepers. He never hurts innocent people while doing all these crazy things to get the bad guys. He has a daughter, who, although they have both made mistakes in the past in their relationship, are reunited at the end after the bad guys kidnap her and hold her hostage.

McClane and Matt start heading toward where they found out the evil dude is keeping her.

Matt Farrell: Do we have anything, like, resembling a plan, or anything?

John McClane: Find Lucy, kill everybody else.

Matt Farrell: I mean, more like a plan, like, a way to do that.

>Awesome<

He also has some really good lines about treating people like human beings instead of like objects.

So he is a big strong beater-upper with surprising compassion and humor. (And you guys can't accuse me of being trivial and liking this guy because of his looks... because... he doesn't have much for those. Notice: baldness).

Heroes

What ho everyone! Here is my hero thingy.

First, apologies to Miss Pickwickian for not being as active on the blog as I could have been.
Second, the slide shows are totally awesome!

Now to business.
I have a ton of heroes. Every time I meet a new one, I add them to my Hero List, which is quite large and ever-growing. What does it take for someone to qualify as a hero for me? I think a hero is firstly, someone who does something either brave or self sacrificing (or both!) to benefit or save others. Bravery is essential - who ever heard of a cowardly hero? But a hero is not someone who simply does brave things for no reason. A hero must do brave things to save and help people. People who do dangerous things are either brave or foolish. I think that if someone does a dangerous thing for no reason, he qualifies as a fool. If a person does dangerous things in order to help others, the he qualifies as a hero. But a hero is not just someone who does scary dangerous things all the time; there must be the element of self-sacrifice (which is connected to being brave for others). I believe all heroes are types of the Ultimate Hero, the Lord Christ Jesus. Christ’s heroic act (the death on the cross) was the Supreme Act of Self Sacrifice. If the people we call heroes are not putting others before themselves, are not risking themselves for others or giving something up, I think they miss the point of being a hero.
Second, a hero must be someone that we can look up to, or strive to be more like. A hero doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact, usually a hero with some conflict in his personal life makes a more interesting story; but if a person does brave things, yet is totally corrupt in every other aspect of his life, then he does not qualify as a hero. Heroes are not ONLY people who do brave things for others; they are people we can look up to and respect.

Now that you have my definition of a hero, I will run through some of my favorites, and explain why I think they qualify as heroes.

My favorite knight form the story of King Arthur is Sir Gawain. Gawain, like most of the prominent knights, is skilled in battle and is of course a very valient warrior. But what maks him a hero for me is his amazing courage in areas other than fighting and his selflessness. In the adventure of the Green knight, one of the knights must travel to the Green knight’s house and get his head cut off. Gawain immediately promises the Green knight he will come. He did this not out of a desire for glory- after all, onc ehe gets to the Green knight's house, he'll be dead! He did it because he was brave and selfless, unwilling to let other knights risk their lives. Again, in another adventure, the King must answer a riddle or else be killed by an enemy knight. They find an ugly old woman who can tell them the answer-but her price is that Gawain must marry her! Gawain does not hesitate to marry her and saves King Arthur’s life. In every adventure, Gawain is always ready to sacrifice himself for others. Gawain is also staunchly loyal to King Arthur and is with him to the end. In the words of Lady Ragnel (Gawain’s wife): “There was never a knight as noble and unselfish as you!”

One of my all time favorites is Luke Skywalker. I am a huge Star wars fan, and he is my mostest favroitist hero of all Star wars. That’s saying a lot, because there are hundreds of heroes in those movies. Why is he my favorite? He’s a very typical human being. He struggles with his shortcomings, with his desire to be a Jedi, with the people in his life. He’s not perfect. He’s someone I can relate to more than I can to, say, Gawain. And yet, Luke not only overcomes his mistakes and short comings, but he perseveres to become the greatest Jedi there ever was, to save the Galaxy from evil, and even save Darth Vader. He transorms from the impatient, irritable kid who only wants adventure, to the skilled Jedi who saves the world; the very picture of bravery and selflessness.

Okay, one more. My favorite super hero is Spiderman. It’s not just because his ability to spin webs is cool (it is cool, though). What I appreciate about Peter Parker is his humility. He always has a humble attitude about his abilities and is never in it for his own glory. I also think it is incredibly selfless of him to forgo the normal life he could have had in order to save people. Peter has his struggles and temptations, but he always does what’s right in the end. I know that sounds so cliché, but it’s true. Out of all the super heroes I’ve seen, Spiderman seems to me to be the bravest and noblest of the all. (Note: I am going by what I saw in the movies. I've never read the comics, hypocrite that I am.)

I could go on and on about my other favorite heroes. Maybe some other time. Tinkerty Tonk for now!

What Makes Him Cool?

So. Everybody! We seem to be having some lazy authors here... I feel sort of like I keep rambling on to myself. (Special thanks to Polka Dot, Rose, and occasionally Johanna and Dura Mater for commenting. You rock!)

Miss Polka Dot and I thought it would be fun to do a little assignment. A lot of what makes stories work is characters. I know we all of a lot of heroes. I thought it would be fun for us all to do a squib on one of our favorite heroes or heroines.

Try to include a few of the following:

Why do you like this hero?
How can you relate?
Does he seem realistic? Does this make him more lovable?
What do you think is necessary in a true hero?
What makes or break a guy or gal from reaching the hero status?

Maybe post a picture or two.
Just ramble on your thoughts about the subject.

I know a lot of you think you don't know what to write about, but anything related to story is just fine. Quotes, song lyrics, random inspiring squibs, movie and book reviews, pictures, and so on are all welcome. I know you all love movies and songs, and a lot of you read, so really no excuse. Most of what we do everyday is related to story.

Also...please notice the improvements to the blog. Like the slide shows?

Thanks for reading. Now write!
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Alexander (1924-2007) was a successful fiction writer who wrote mostly children stories, but some other varieties as well including a total of over 40 books!

I was reading about him today when I came across this quote in an article of tribute that was published at his death.

The quote from Lloyd Alexander is in reference to his main character in a five book fantasy series who starts out as an assistant pig-keeper. Although his work is sometimes predictable and his female characters are often unbearable, Alexander was a great children's writer. I have been greatly influenced by his style and have enjoyed hours of it, in my youth. ;-)

"For Mr. Alexander, the uses of enchantment were clear: fantasy, he often said, was a powerful way of talking about real-world injustice.




'In whatever guise — our own daily nightmares of war, intolerance, inhumanity; or the struggles of an Assistant Pig-Keeper against the Lord of Death — the problems are agonizingly familiar,” he said in his Newbery acceptance speech in 1969. “And an openness to compassion, love and mercy is as essential to us here and now as it is to any inhabitant of an imaginary kingdom.' "

And from an interview published after his death...

"SF: Of all your books, do you have a favorite book or character?
LA: I can’t single out one of my books or characters as a favorite. In the same way that I don’t have a favorite kidney, my books are organically all part of myself. I might even say that put all together, the books are one ongoing, developing story—which, not coincidentally, happens to be my own lifestory.

SF: What was it like to win the Newbery Medal?

LA: The only way I can describe winning the Newbery Medal is: indescribable. Elation? Astonishment? Those are very pale words. What I did realize after the jubilation calmed down a little (it never calmed down completely) is that all awards, marvelous as they are to receive, are given for something already done. The point is not to look back, but to look ahead to what you hope still to do.

SF: What were your favorite books growing up, and who were your favorite authors?

LA: Favorite books and authors while growing up—I’d need a book to list them all. For the sake of brevity: Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, world’s mythology, the Arthurian legends. And the unabridged dictionary. And they’re still my favorites. They get better each time I read them."

(You can see the whole interview here.)

For more info on Lloyd Alexander go to: this interesting, short bio or Wikipedia.

Just thought I'd share.
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

(P.S. Perhaps his nose influenced my writing style as well. ;-)

Ship Captain with Blood in His Eye

I am doing American History this year for school, and have found a new hero.

Francis Drake

In the 16th century, the Spanish King Phillip II, a fanatical Catholic, wanted to kill all of the Protestants. His army was huge and rich, and slaughtered thousands of Protestants in Europe.

During this time, there were several Spanish outposts in the New World, where they were getting a fat profit of Mexican gold and Peruvian silver. Which provided for the Spanish army.

Francis Drake, an English sea captain, got together with his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, and became the most famous pair in a daring class of mariners under Queen Elizabeth I. They were called the Sea Dogs. They attacked and looted the Spanish outposts. When they returned to England, Queen Elizabeth came on his ship, the Golden Hind, and knighted Drake.

Quote from my history book:

There was much more to Drake's daring raids than simply fame and fortune--he sailed with blood in his eye against the Catholic threat. Drake's father, a tenant farmer, was a fervent Protestant lay preacher who had a great influence in shaping his son's character and convictions.

When Drake was a boy, he and his family were forced to flee their home during a Catholic uprising. In order to escape, the family lived in the rotting hulk of a ship on the bank of the Thames.

Ironically, the boy whom the Catholics forced to live in dire poverty in the hulk of a ship would one day take a ship and greatly enrich himself at the expense of Catholic Spain.

BURN for the Spanish there. I love that "blood in his eye". Isn't this inspiring? It's amazing how many awesome stories there are in history. Someone should take this and write a book. Maybe someone has. :-)

The White Company

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Plot Synopsis (sorta...)

The White Company is set during the 100 Years War and fallows the lives of several Englishman as they travel (fighting along the way ;-) from England through France and Spain and back again. It is crammed with historical info along with a compelling although, sometimes slow, plot.
(Doyle obviously did a lot of research and sometimes shows it off with page long list of the names of 12th century knights.)

The story follows the lives of four assorted men;

Sir Nigel Loring, a small, feisty yet aging knight who is well known, but poor and spends much of his time looking for honorable advancement (fighting).

Alleyne Edricson, a young man just loosed from being a novice at an Abbey for the first 20 years of his life. (A very cool character, but one does tire of Doyle's comments about his blond, curling, English locks....)

John Hordle, a huge, red-headed Englishman who is very capable of cracking a joke (and heads).

and Samkin Alyward, a hardened and expert bowman.

The book holds all the promise of a medieval tale (saving the damsel in distress, knighthood, chivalry, etc...) and pulls it off remarkably well.

I recommend it, but want say much more, so don't I spoil it for you. Mwhahaha...

Themes

Some unusual things about it really made it interesting for me. Alleyne father dies soon after his

birth and entrusts him to the monks of the Abbey with the agreement that when he is 20 he may leave and see the world. Before the end of that year he must decide if he would like to return to the Abbey and become a monk or stay in the world.

He begins piously thinking he will return and is completely shocked at the state of the world. But amazingly, by the end it has come very clear to him that it is those in the world that are changing it, not those hiding in cells. (This all comes about in a very cool way...not exactly how its coming across. :-) Whatever weeds Doyle might have strayed off to later in life, his view on the Church and Christ are very refreshing here.

Doyle also does an excellent job of portraying believable and compelling leaders. His patriotism and take on chivalry do him credit.
Fighting is very much for a cause or for loyalty to a leader, and has little to do with hate. Many of the French and Spanish characters are nearly as cool as the English.

Some of his characters crazy delight in "honorable advancement" and war in general is a bit weird...

Note on the Author

As you probably all know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is also the author of Sherlock Holmes, among a series about Professor Challenger, science fiction, historical novels, plays and romancnes, political works, and scattered poetry.



He considered Sherlock Holmes a way to pay the bills for many years. He actually killed him (the time he's not really dead) because he was irritated with the public for their love of Holmes and their indifference of his other works. He believed he needed more time for writing "serious" stuff.

In November of 1891 he wrote his mother: "I think of slaying Holmes...and winding up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things."

His mother responded, saying, "You may do what you deem fit, but the crowds will not take this lightheartedly."
Well...Doyle didn't listen to his mama and after off handedly murdering Holmes was forced to bring him back, both because of popular demand and because of failing finances. (The off handedly isn't really historically accurate...just bitterness seeping through...)

Doyle considered his historical and political works to be his greatest, and often said The White Company was one of his favorites.

Although I don't think any of his characters could possibly be as compelling and fasinating (and lovable :-) as Sherlock Holmes, I enjoyed the players in The White Company. (BTW, we are talking strictly of the book Sherlock Holmes here.:-)

Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

The "Car Wreck" Dynamic

"Just as people slow down to look at wreckage, we can't resist seeing what happens to fully drawn human beings who make an unalterable mess in their lives. A skilled novelist can make us feel that 'there but for the grace of God go I.' "
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Just thought I'd share this quote. This seems very true and really helped me understand this predicament. Bell uses The Great American Tragedy as an example declaring it the worst written "greatest book" ever. Although its style is unpolished, often lags, and the primary character turns into a horrible person it is compelling book. I also think The Mayor of Casterbridge falls into this category. Anyways...just thought I'd share...

Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

To Kill a Mockingbird

So I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" last week. A long time ago, Daddy read it out loud to all of us, and I barely remembered it, but thought I liked it. And then I heard people saying how they didn't like it, it was sort of confusing/weird, etc, and I thought... hm. It's weird that I liked it!

Anyhoo, I decided to read it to see what I thought of it now.

And I really liked it!

It is a very different kind of book, because it doesn't have a big plot, and the focus is more on the small events and realistic people in a small town. A lot of it is about a court case involving a black man, which the main character's father is a lawyer in.

Her writing style was unique, and very powerful, I think. Since it is in the first person of a little girl, it gives an interesting perspective--she sees and interprets things like a child. I hate it in books and movies when the children are the only ones who understand, and everyone else is stupid, but I think that it is true that a child can look with unprejudiced eyes, since they do not have all the complications and opinions of adults, and can be like, "Hey, people! This is so unfair!"

This is brought powerfully into the story because of the blatant racism of the people in the town.

The main character, "Scout" (her real name is Jean Louise), her brother Jem, and their friend, Dill, are shocked that people could treat each other the way they do. Atticus, their father, has taught them to treat everyone well, and they cannot understand why the people in their town act the way they do.

This book made me add two new heroes to my extensive Hero List. Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson. Tom is the black man that is on trial, and he is basically awesome.

SO: to sum up. I really enjoyed book, it made me think alot, and I really liked the characters and writing style. Plus, it helped to comfort me when I was sick. :-)

Have any of you read it? What are your thoughts?