narrate - Demon's Souls - Playstation 3

Let me begin by saying this; Demon's Souls is not a game for everyone. It might not even be a game for you. However, if you can look past the game's punishing strangeness and sprawling scale, you'll find one of the best Rpgs of this generation.

Demon's Souls is an action Rpg born of an unholy union in the middle of Armored Core developers From Software and Sony Computer EntertainMent Japan. Best known for their Armored Core mecha action franchise, From Software was also responsible for the King's Field games, a series of first someone action Rpgs on the Playstation, Playstation 2 and Psp. The King's Field series is noted for several things; its complex, sprawling dungeons, creepy monster designs, wide range of Npcs and pieces of equipMent, and its dark, dreary atmosphere. It's also quite familiar for its difficulty. Demon's Souls, planned by Sony and From as a contemporary re-invention of the King's Field franchise, shares many of these features, as well as several new innovations of its own.

This is the End of the World

Demon's Souls is not a happy game. The story opens with a narrator bitterly telling a tale of a power-hungry king taking operate of the flow of souls, using them for his own personal gain; by slaughtering humans and monsters alike, King Allant was able to build up vast reserves of power for his kingdom of Boletari. However, as Boletaria grew more powerful, a thick fog spread over the successful country, face the city in an impenetrable wall of darkness. By taking operate of the power of souls, Allant awakened an Old God, and with it came an unstoppable horde of demons. From that point forward, adventurers, mercenaries, and psychopaths alike ventured into the fog surrounding Boletaria. Some went in crusade of lost loved ones, some in attempts to free the city from whatever evil controlled it; and others still sought to plumb the cursed city's vast reserves of Demon Souls to growth their strength...or worse. This is where your hero comes in.

In a lot of ways, the story of Demon's Souls is anti-typical of other Japanese Rpgs; the game is clearly set in an European-influenced setting, from the environments to the accents of the characters, Demon's Souls reeks of Western influence. Meanwhile, the story itself seems influenced heavily by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, dark and gothic with nary a doe-eyed small girl spewing "power of friendship" speeches in sight. That being said, the story in Demon's Souls isn't exactly the deepest or most in-your-face article you're going to find in an Rpg; it serves in general as a means of setting the mood and explaining the setting. However, for fans of lore and subtlety, there is depth to be found here; item descriptions, Npc dialogue, and the bosses and level designs themselves reek of atmosphere, and the story explains itself well sufficient provided you're willing to pay attention and forgive a few translation issues. The climate in the game is surely breathtaking; the silent emptiness of Boletaria Castle is enhanced by the lack of dungeon music, while the possible creepiness of the abandoned prison Tower of Latria is altered into abject nightmare by the muffled screams of its lost prisoners, and the ominous bells being rung by its otherworldly guards as they stalk you through its darkened halls.

East Meets West: Boletaria Style

In Demon's Souls, much like a Western Rpg, you play a created character; you pick a gender and a name, edit yourself a face, and then pick a character class. These classes range from fantasy staples like the Knight and Wizard, to more unusual classes like the Royal or the Wanderer. Your character class is surely important, as it influences your character's starting stats, default character level, and what tool you begin with. On one hand, you could pick a Soldier and you might be gifted with heavy plate armor and a large broadsword, but your character will be unable to use magic for a principal amount of time. On the other hand, you could pick a Thief and be able to sprint and dodge considerably more effectively than an additional one class, but if you take more than a few hits, you're a goner. There are also several more "hybridized" classes like the Royal and the Wanderer that allow for more neutral stat builds, but they are commonly not recommended for a first playthrough.

As I mentioned in my first impressions article, you begin Demon's Souls by dying. After creating your character, you're put through a easy tutorial dungeon to familiarize you with the game's mechanics and controls, then thrust into a boss fight with the creature pictured above. This monster, referred to as Vanguard, destroyed me in a singular hit. After you die, your character will awaken as a spirit in the Nexus, the game's hub world. The Nexus is a constantly evolving tower full of Npcs to interact with; some appear when you level up, others can be found in the dungeons, and some are there from the start. In the Nexus, you can accomplish all principal pre-adventure actions like shopping, item storage, repAiring/upgrading weapons and learning new spells. Much like a Western Rpg, Demon's Souls is an very non-linear game. After you've cleared the game's first "real" dungeon, the game officially lets go of any semblance of inescapable structure; your only objective is to rid the world of the Old One, and however you get there is enTirely up to you.

A Field of Corpses

The combat in Demon's Souls is commonly pretty thorough dungeon crawler fare; you have two hands, and you can equip two items to each hand, one main weapon and one backup weapon, surely swapped in the middle of by a tap of the D-Pad. My usual setup was to equip my main melee weapon and my bow in my character's right hand, and a shield and a spell catalyst in his left; allowing close-range and long-range combat, as well as defense and spellcasting. Other players may pick other ways of handling things, though; there's surely no wrong way to do it...that is, unless you conclude to try and run through a dungeon dual-wielding shields. Each weapon class has its own unique combos and animations, with rare weapons receiving their own specials. You can also opt to wield any weapon with two hands, prominent to more powerful, wider-ranged attacks at the charge of being able to defend as effectively. Equipping a light shield also allows you to parry incoming enemy attacks, if timed right, allowing you to unleash a devastating riposte, while meticulous blocking or stealthy maneuvers can allow you to accomplish a excellent backstab. Easy to learn, hard to expert is the name of the game when it comes to combat in Demon's Souls.

Now, there's no point in mentioning the combat in Demon's Souls if I don't at least talk a bit about the bosses; it was the compose for the boss pictured above that initially sold me on the game, and thankfully, the boss fights do not disappoint. With weaker fare like Phalanx the Shield Slime out of the way early on, Demon's Souls evolves speedily into conflicts with truly splendid creatures like the Storm King, as well as head to head challenges with brutal humanoid opponents. Demon's Souls also introduces what I believe might be a first in the Rpg community; a PvP boss fight against an additional one player summoned from over the Playstation Network. Truly, the wide range of boss battles is one of the greatest strengths of Demon's Souls, capping off each dungeon crawl with a satisfying, pulse-pounding conclusion. What's also impressive is the range of ways a player can tackle each boss; while inescapable strategies surely work good than others, practically any way you want to take a boss down, you probably can if you're skilled enough. Well, provided you're not trying to fistfight the Old God, that is.

Wait...I'm Dead Again!?

Now, reading as far as you have, you're probably mental "well, that doesn't sound so bad," right? Wrong. Like King's Field before it, Demon's Souls is a difficult game; punishingly so, even. This is a game that, without question, wants you dead and makes no attempts to hide its murderous nature. From hazards ranging from a fire-breathing dragon strafing over your intended path to a massive, pitch-black lake of poison, Demon's Souls will kill you more times than you can count. And frustratingly enough, there is a penalty for dying! As you kill monsters, you are awarded Souls. These Souls act both as currency and palpate points; you can "spend" them in the Nexus, as well as at vendors throughout the game's five sprawling worlds, to buy new items and equipment, fix and upgrade your weapons, and also to level yourself up and gain new spells. This is all well and good until you perceive that whenever you die, you lose all unspent Souls in your inventory. Like in Diablo, you can re-enter the dungeon and find your corpse, recovering any lost Souls from your last death, but also like Diablo, if you die again on the way back to your corpse, you lose what you lost, forever. As such, the game encourages very defensive, structured play while the early sTAGes, until you learn the Evacuate spell. There is truly nothing more frustrating, after all, than amassing 50,000 Souls while a dungeon run, only to accidentally dodge off a cliff and lose them all.

As Dave mentioned in his challenge article some time back, Demon's Souls is not a game you "get" instantly. Its sprawling dungeons are a throwback to the Roguelikes and dungeon crawlers of old, with numerous branches, ruthless deathtraps, and perilous enemy ambushes around every corner. The enemies are, to put it simplest, bloodthirsty; there's no particularly complicated Ai at work here, these enemies want you dead, and if they get hit in the process of hurting you, they just don't care. In fact, in the case of some of the bigger monsters, like the dragon pictured above, they will gladly roast other enemies alive if it means killing you. The level design, especially in some of the later sTAGes, is also professionally engineered to lull you into a false sense of security, then drop a barely-visible cliff or deathtrap in your way at the exact second you're too relaxed to react in time. The game's numerous bosses also range in strangeness from pathetically easy to "Holycrapimpossible", and it seems that From Software doesn't mind mixing things up a bit, as long as it leads to the player dying. In the first dungeon alone, I likely died a good three or four times before reaching the boss; you don't want to know how many times I died while my first run-through of the third dungeon.

However, the strangeness of Demon's Souls is a blessing in disguise. Interestingly, the more you play and the more you die, the more you learn; enemy strike patterns become more obvious, allowing you to dodge or parry more easily, while the map compose grows more familiar, and several of the "surprise" elements designed to kill an unwary newbie are no longer a threat. You'll learn which weapon types are most sufficient against inescapable enemies...and as your knowledge grows, the game will eventually click. No longer will you fear that skeleton wielding a huge zweihander; you've got a mace that shatters bone in two hits. That giant slime? He hates fire. Get a fire spell or enchantment for your sword and Watch him die in under a minute. As you learn the game's subtle nuances, and find ways to exploit them, the true depth of Demon's Souls reveals itself to you. This is not a game designed to be blazed through in a weekend. In fact, a player's quality to experience repeated deaths and learn from their own mistakes is possibly the simplest way to gauge their possible enjoyment of the game; outpatient players with a drive to conquer any obstacle in front of them will be rewarded with an intensely enjoyable experience, while gamers more grounded in the "instant gratification" school of thought may not find what they're seeing for in Demon's Souls.

It's Fun To Slay Together

It's no big secret that Japanese developers haven't surely jumped onto the whole "online" bandwagon this generation; hell, it's been three years now and we still don't have an online co-op Dynasty Warriors game. Despite this, From Software did at least try to bring something new to the table in Demon's Souls; the Phantom system. As I previously explained in my impressions post, the game mixes singular player, co-op, and Mmo elements to allow a cohesive game world without any pesky online lobbies. Demon's Souls supports online co-op play for up to three players over the Playstation Network, allowing three friends (or strangers) of similar levels to join together and take down bosses. The downside to this is that to join an additional one player's game, the host has to be alive (easier said than done most of the time), and the habitancy joining his game have to be within ten levels of him; there's no request your level 255 buddy to come in and oneshot a boss for you in this game. The game expects you to work together to take down bosses, and they grow considerably more aggressive to reflect this.

demonssoulscoop

As mentioned before, interaction in the middle of players is handled practically enTirely through glowing runes inscribed on the floor of the dungeons, allowing players to warn each other of upcoming traps, or let other players know they're seeing for a co-op partner. This is definitely not the simplest online integration in the world; there's no inquire of that. It's very Silly to have a co-op mode that boots everyone out of the Party if the leader dies, for example. The PvP, on the other hand, is handled quite well. All in all, From Software should at least be commended for trying to innovate in terms of online/offline play for the Rpg genre, as well as trying to make it fit the game's story and universe. It's definitely fun to take on a boss with friends, though, provided the game decides it wants to let you play together at all.

Game Over +

As I said before, Demon's Souls is not a game for everybody. First of all, it's not even ready on Us store shelves, only currently found on import gaming websites like Play-Asia and Ncsx despite being completely in English. Completing the game requires copious amounts of time, patience, and ambition; you have to want to win in order to stop the game, From and Sony aren't retention your hand along the way. While the brutal strangeness and lack of direction might put off some fans of more traditional Jrpgs, outpatient gamers who're willing to try something new (and get eaten by a few dragons along the way) will find abundance of things to love about the game; the brutal boss fights, the sprawling choice of weapons and armor, using the souls of previously-defeated bosses to forge new, more excellent weapons and armor; the list goes on and on. The story may not be the deepest or most elegantly told out there, but compared to the seemingly endless onslaught of asinine anime cliches being spewed out of games like Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Eternal Sonata, and Blue Dragon, the minimalist arrival in Demon's Souls is a welcome change of pace. And believe it or not, there are gameplay elements I haven't even touched on in this review; it's just that deep! My first playthrough of the game clocked in at practically 58 hours; the only single-player games this generation that even arrival the amount of time I've put into Demon's Souls are the Xbox 360's Lost Odyssey and the Psp's Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

In the end, while it might not have the yield values or graphical "Wow" factor of a mainline Final Fantasy title, Demon's Souls has surely usurped the Ps3's "best Rpg" throne...but with Ffxiii gently approaching, we'll see how long it holds onto the crown. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a New Game + to finish.

Pluses
+ Dark, gothic climate with solid graphics and exquisite level design
+ Surprisingly competent localization, with few glaring translation errors
+ Breathtaking, captivating boss battles
+ Numerous online options for multiplayer fans
+ Vast array of items and tool pieces to find, mix and match
+ New Game + highlight allows for infinite replayability with expanding challenges

Minuses
- Punishing strangeness may take players by surprise
- Online functions are not particularly well-explained
- Frame rate can chug in inescapable isolated areas
- Not officially released in Us/Europe

Available now on Playstation 3 in Japan;

Asian version features full English translation

Cero Rating: D (17+)

Players: 1 (offline) 3 (online co-op)

Completed game as a Thief; began New Game + and defeated several bosses, experimented with online modes and PvP

Final Verdict: For players who love a good challenge, Demon's Souls is an absolute must-buy, and one of the best Rpgs of this generation.

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Sanyo Barbeque Grill Sanyo Indoor Barbeque Grill

Pure Poetry

Introduction to Pure Poetry: Pure Poetry: pure but mysterious poetry is or has been looked upon as whether too highbrow, or too lowbrow, depending what generation you were born in, raised in, or happened to slip into. I can only define such things in my own terms. Some folks, who have jumped into this genre of poetry, have become too soft, or too morbid. There never seems to be a balance. Robert Howard did a good Job in this area, Clark A. Smith, was slanted to the more morbid side, and H.P.

Lovecraft was a tinge in the middle someplace. George Sterling was maybe the more flexible of the group, but could he be considered pure poetry then, since he did put restrictions onto himself; Robinson Jeffers on the other hand did his best, but wasn't the equal to the others I've Mentioned so far, so I feel, but close. Lin Carter made his point in this genus style of poetry and to me was not the equal of the others I've Mentioned thus far; but Richard L. Tierney was good, and overlooked--there are more to Mention but not enough space to Mention them.

Pure poetry has a flare for the fantastic. The imaginative poetry of this type comes out to its limits of expression; maybe a forgotten art nowadays. My friend Phillip Ellis is maybe one of the last, of the new generation to pick up on this dying style. Myself, I am a incompatibility of it: I use and like the style, the symbolism, images and metaphors it demands to have. Yet I am myself am in violation of this like Sterling--both of us guilty of not using its full force, as Clark A. Smith did; not saying he was better than Sterling or Tierney or Howard. Some might say I scratched its surface compared to others, if for real this is the case, then I am happy I did that much, and left the morbidity out; it is not in my veins to go beyond the limits of my values, not out of sainthood, maybe out of knighthood moreso. With this I quit with these last words: in this type of poetry, the swine doesn't commonly pick out the pearls, nor can find them, so don't expect for them to notice them.

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Char Broil Patio Grill heavy duty can crusher

Interview With Cheryl Anne Gardner, Author Of "The Thin Wall"

Interview With Cheryl Anne Gardner, Author Of "The Thin Wall"

Cheryl is the author of four novellas. Her love affAir with literature began at a young age with such iconic authors as Poe, Kafka, Lovecraft, and de Sade. Those deep, dark, penitent stories of suffering and enlightenMent moved her to pursue her passion for writing.

Tyler: Thank you for joining me today, Cheryl. "The Thin Wall" is quite an engaging book and even controversial. To begin, will you tell us the basic setting and plot that the book opens with?

Cheryl: Thank you for having me Tyler. The book opens with five friends enjoying a typical Friday night at the local pub. I chose this singular setting as it is a customary and relatable relieve setting for most people. I can remember many a night enjoying the business of my own friends in the local pub. I wanted the reader to feel relaxed, as if they were part of the group, sharing a drink and feeling included in the intimate conversation. In this opportunity scene, I can pull the reader into the dialog, introduce all of the characters, showcase some of their singular idiosyncrasies, and lay the foundation for the group dynamic. And it is this group dynamic which is extremely foremost to the story. All five have very distinct careers, aspirations, and struggles, but they are bonded to each other in a tasteless perspective: They firmly believe "to each his own-between consenting adults of course." And all of the characters struggle against what community deems normal. Population their age should be settled down, married with children, allowable Jobs, allowable homes, and all the other standards of normal society. But they believe that normal is a matter of opinion, especially when it comes to self-expression, as we have three artists among the group: A writer, a musician, and a painter.

Tyler: Before we discuss the book further, I understand you don't think the book as "erotica" although our reviewer here at Reader Views described it as such. Why would you argue "The Thin Wall" isn't erotica?

Cheryl: While there is a great deal of sexual imagery within the story, the story is an intense character study, and the sex acts themselves are not described in descriptive detail, as it is in mainstream erotica. I have read a great deal of erotica to know the difference. I prefer written sex to be portrayed as a fluid more emotional experience, leaving much of the body language, positions, and descriptions to the imagination. We all know the anatomy of a sex act, so I don't feel the need to narrate it ad infinitum. However, erotica fans want the descriptive narrative and would be extremely disappointed if I were to categorize the book as mainstream erotica. So, I would say that this is a sensual, erotic tale, but not erotica as defined by the genre.

Tyler: The sexual operation in the book includes bondage and submission and even physically wounding people. Why?

Cheryl: When it comes to romantic and intimate relationships, we all have a puny sado-masochist within us. We hurt the ones we love and allow ourselves to be hurt by them. In every romantic association there is blood shed on both sides-metaphorically speaking, of course. How often do you hear: I would bleed myself dry for you...or I would give my life for you? Bold stateMents-offering ourselves wholly to those we love is in essence an contribution to cut ourselves. "Thin Wall" is a metaphor, portraying in a very real way how much we are willing to endure, to sacrifice, and to submit to the ones we love. This is also a story about the depth of trust. How much do we as a matter of fact trust the ones we love? In this story, the level of trust goes beyond average reasoning; it's a trust most Population will never experience, will never allow themselves to experience.

Tyler: I find your Mention of trust to be engaging in relation to sexual activity. How have the characters built up that trust with each other, and have any of the characters known trust to be betrayed and how have they dealt with it?

Cheryl: as a matter of fact the trust in the middle of them has as a matter of fact nothing to do with their sexual activity. This story is much deeper than a deviant romp in the sheets. Tom, Ioan, and Julian have issues with trust, which stem from childhood discontentMent with their respective parents. Tom's parents had obvious expectations, which turned to bitterness when he couldn't fulfill them in the way they wanted. Julian's parents are of the wealthy aristocracy, living a life of excess splendor, which disgusts and repulses him. Julian was their genius progeny, and they continuously put him on display. And then there is Ioan, whose parents couldn't understand the moodiness of his artwork; it frightened them, and so believing that he was mentally ill, they settled him on medication. If you cannot trust your parents to accept you, then whom can you trust? For most, the trust you seek lies with your friends. Julian and Ioan meet in secondary school; they compliment each other and bond over their macabre musings. Ioan later meets Tom, and finding him as only someone else tragic artist could, he saves Tom from a life of drug addiction. Laleana and Julian meet in college and are drawn to each other over the philosophies of the Marquis deSade-the philosophies, not the sex, although the sex is a part of it, but only a small part. Not to mention that Ioan is celibate. Julian brings Cecile into the mix for reasons unknown, which becomes apparent much later in the story. So, as children, they are all outcasts to a degree; betrayed by their parents, they seek refuge with each other. Misery loves company, and misery loves business who understands it.

Tyler: You have yourself described "The Thin Wall" as a coming of age story, yet the characters are in their late thirties. What is primary about the characters' ages in relation to their sexual awakenings? Do you see sexual operation as a learning sense no matter what age a someone is?

Cheryl: The coming of age part has nothing to do with sexual awakening; these characters took to their singular sexual proclivities in their late teens and twenties, as most young adults do. The teens and twenties are often classified as the coming of age years; I disagree...I believe the real coming of age happens as we arrival mid-life. At mid-life we have acquired, through struggle, the wisdom, experience, and more importantly, the perspective to step back and rate our lives: where we have been, where we want to go, what we want to accomplish, our real strengths and weaknesses, and what our needs truly are. Laleana has reached that occasion of self-awareness, and she has discovered that her real needs are not being complete yet she struggles with her fear of letting go of the comfortable and predictable life she has. But she must let go in order to move forward into the unknown. This is an innate human quality-fear of the unknown. Why do we fear the unknown? Well, we fear failure.

Tyler: Would you say that teenagers and twenty-somethings tend to see sex as fun, while thirty-somethings take it more seriously-they start to find meaning in it-can the coming of age idea work in that manner?

Cheryl: Of course, although I as a matter of fact don't think teenagers see sex as fun. It might seem that way from the outside, but what is as a matter of fact happening with youthful sex is much more complex, and it carries well into the twenty-something years. This is the age of self-discovery, where the young adult is attempting to understand their own sexual desires, as well as breaking the sexual barriers that have been set by their parents and society. I have always said: How a someone feels about their sexuality is how they feel about themselves as a whole person. Sexual repression and on the opposite end sexual aggression are tendencies formed very early in childhood. Is it naughty or natural, damning or enlightening...these themes will be adDressed with a vengeance in early adulthood. Hopefully, a mature healthy attitude forms by the time we are in our thirties, and then for some, we can look more deeply at the emotional meanings intertwined with the coupling of two people. We leave the base need behind, or as I say in "Thin Wall": We see beyond the flesh.

Tyler: Well said, Cheryl. In the book narrative you sent Reader Views, you mentioned that the book also includes codependency. Many Population don't seem to know what the difference is in the middle of love and codependency. Can you separate the two for us and tell us how codependency versus love is treated in "The Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: The easiest way to narrate codependency is: Codependent Population have a greater tendency to enter into relationships with Population who are emotionally unavailable or needy. The codependent tries to operate a association without directly identifying and adDressing his or her own needs and desires. This invariably means that codependents set themselves up for continued lack of fulfillment. Codependents always feel that they are acting in someone else person's best interest, production it difficult for them to see the controlling nature of their own behavior. When you look intimately at Laleana and Julian's association you can see the manifestation of codependency. The feeling of sexual abnormality is their tasteless link. But Laleana's emotional romantic needs are beyond her reach, so she thinks. With Julian, who is emotionally unavailable, she reinforces her trust that the love she desires is not real, thus alleviating the shame she feels for settling for less than she wants and deserves. Laleana is not submissive, although it may appear that she submits to Julian's whims, it as a matter of fact is a subtle form of control-the masochist is always in control, and she continually makes justifications for Julian's outbursts and his rude and erratic behavior. She loves him because she needs him, that is codependence versus her needing him because she loves him. And as a group, they all reinforce each other's motivations, producing feelings of acceptance and love. Even in Tom and Cecile's association it is not difficult to see why they would be drawn to one another. Tom is a classic free spirit and Cecile is a depressive obsessive-compulsive. And this is what characterizes true love versus codependent love. With true love, we not only seek to mirror ourselves-our light and our darkness-but we seek to understand ourselves through the differences in others.

Tyler: Do you think codependency is displaying itself in the characters by their accepting sex when they as a matter of fact are finding for love? Are they using sex as a change or fooling themselves that sex is love?

Cheryl: Not at all, like I mentioned previously, this story isn't about the sex. For instance, the main character Ioan is celibate. It's not sex he seeks but acceptance and someone to love him for who he is. Julian and Laleana pAired off as young adults, but they are not emotionally compatible, yet they stay together because it's comfortable, safe, and there is a certainty to their relationship; the way they act towards each other has come to be instinct, they don't have to think about the relationship, it's easy. Tom and Cecile are unblemished opposites, yet they compliment and temper each other's severe personalities. And none of them confuses sex with love. I took the sex to the ultimate in this story to show the depth of their friendship and trust.

Tyler: We should also make it clear that the characters in the book are close friends and they feel safe with each other in their sexual activities, which is quite a departure from your inspiration, the Marquis de Sade, whose characters torture and even generate fear in their sexual victims. Why did you select to have the sexual activities occur among friends rather than strangers? Do you feel that makes the book more suitable to readers?

Cheryl: Not at all a departure. The Marquis deSade is best known for his pornographic works of torture and depravity: "Justine" and "Philosophy in the Bedroom." He used sex as a weapon against the hypocrisy of governmental, religious, and societal dogmas. Those two books aside, deSade also brought into creation some of the most engaging and beautiful love stories ever written-no sex, and very puny violence, except for the occasional robber baron. These are true stories of triumph, spirit over will and love over all. The think why I chose friends, well, simply because no one can torture a someone to the extent a loved one can. We cast a blind eye to the faults of our loved ones; it is the ultimate in acceptance-the ultimate submission.

Tyler: Cheryl, the Marquis de Sade is notorious for his sexual deviance. Yet earlier, you said Laleana and Julian are drawn to each other over the philosophies of the Marquis de Sade. Will you tell us a puny bit about his philosophies, which readers may be less customary with. Are those philosophies foremost to "Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: Notorious? Yes, but how much of it is as a matter of fact true. To the powers of the time, de Sade was a dangerous man, for he shocked Population into thinking, and he blatantly exposed the hypocrisy of French community at that time. He spent half his life in prison for blasphemy, not for debauchery. He never did most of the things he wrote about. Now, "Philosophy in the Bedroom" is probably the most concise collection of his beliefs on nature, religion, and government in respect to controlling human behavior. He didn't believe in control; he was a philosopher of ultimate freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion or law, with the race of personal pleasure being the top principle-Freedom and the race of Happiness, especially for women as well as men. This is this doctrine that Julian and Laleana are attracted to, though I do not mention it directly. I am not talking anarchy here, but simply to live a life free from societal and religious dogmas, that is what all the characters in this story seek. They seek to live by their own personal law abiding trust systems, not the systems imposed by others.

Tyler: At the end of "The Thin Wall" the main character, Laleana, becomes a writer. What is primary about her writing?

Cheryl: during the story, Laleana expresses her deepest feelings on literature and art. She loves the word with a passion, yet her fear of inadequacy prevents her from taking up her own pen. Her fear is mirrored in Ioan who burns his paintings for fear Population might think he is disturbed. I wanted to show her awakening, her releasing of that fear. The other think for including the story was that "Thin Wall" is written in the first someone narrative, Laleana being the point of view. Not much is told of her story, so I wanted to tell her tale from her point of view under the guise of a third-person narrative. I can only hope that Population realize that she was writing about herself.

Tyler: Cheryl, why did you select the title "The Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: Those who feel differently, express themselves differently, and advocate breaking free of societal norms are often viewed as outcasts-eccentrics, mentally disturbed, weird, a bit off-oddities. That makes one feel as if they are always with their back against a wall, presenting the upstanding Population face to the public, while feeling forced to hide their true selves. It's a thin wall because these barriers can be broken. Tolerance is a dirty word because we should be teaching acceptance. Everybody has puny idiosyncratic fetishes: What is the difference in the middle of a Food we crave and a sexual fetish-not much, only one is more socially suitable than the other. Why? Because in this age of enlightenment, sex is still taboo.

This is the think why I chose to have Laleana on the cover with her back to the reader, as a matter of fact exposing her shadow: the knife in her hand symbolizes that she is in control, and the noose around her neck symbolizes submission, but it is loose around her neck also symbolizing that submission is her choice.

Tyler: Cheryl, why did you write this book?

Cheryl: This book is a case study in human self-awareness. I believe Everybody has the capacity for that. It's also a book about acceptance, love, and true unconditional friendship. Humans will always seek the relieve of others-others likeminded. We don't want to feel alone; we simply can't survive alone. And in many cases, when our families have betrayed us, our friendships are the ones we cling to for dear life.

Tyler: Without giving away the ending, what is the message you want to gift in "The Thin Wall"? What benefit or knowledge will the reader have gained after reading the book?

Cheryl: Everybody should be true to themselves. And true friendship lies with those who accept you, no matter what your career, your marital status, your finances, your religious beliefs, or your sexual preferences (providing it's in the middle of consenting adults). Society's view of normal is nothing more than conception and conjecture...your own conception is the only one that matters, how you feel about yourself. Like Tom says: "If it feels true then do it. Take the risk." He was speaking of his vocation in that statement, but it means so much more in the context of the story. But in the end, "Thin" Wall is a tried and true hopelessly romantic love story...Laleana does find the love she has always believed in, the love that is right for her. I have been accused of being a hopeless romantic.

Tyler: Will you tell us where you came up with idea for "The Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: The idea for Thin Wall was a fusion of my own beliefs on normality, issues I faced as an oddball child, and idle imaginings on the truly great friendships I have formed in my own lifetime. Friendships I still have to this day. Friendships I would cut my lifeblood for. I conception very long and hard on what core values a friendship might possess to make me feel that way. I can only hope it translated well on paper.

Tyler: Do you feel concern about the reception of the book because of the subject matter, and why did you decree to publish the book despite what reaction you might receive because of the subject matter?

Cheryl: I don't worry about such things. Authors should exertion to write truth, and they should write it the way they feel it. Some readers will see the greater depth of the work, and some will find it a engaging dark love story with lots of sex. Either way, each reader will get what they want out of the story. As long as they get something, an author can't complain.

Tyler: I assume some Population will be repulsed by the book's subject matter, and you may even meet Population who think the book is immoral and should be censored. How would you answer to such people?

Cheryl: I wouldn't, for a response to such a lack of acceptance would contradict the whole purpose of the book. A response would as a matter of fact serve no purpose; the book is statement enough.

Tyler: Cheryl, you've written a few books previously. Would you tell us a puny bit about them and how they are distinct from "The Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: "Kissing Room" is my first, my shortest piece, and yet, it's my best selling. It packs a punch. Merle is a young woman, a barmaid, who has suffered the death of her father and the suicide of her husband. Her guilt over the suicide propels her to self-destructive behaviors in an inadvertent exertion to take her own life. She meets a stranger, Lain, a drifter, who also suffers from guilt-guilt over his own cowardice at not taking steps to save his mum from abusive men. Again the self-awareness theme is apparent as the two struggle to publish themselves from the bonds of guilt. This book contains a great deal of violence. I would classify it as a thriller-romance, and the writing style was compared to Poe's "Pit and the Pendulum."

"Logos" is a mythical tale set in antique Rome and modern day London. It's the story of death, and how sometimes, death is not such a bad thing. I combined many cultural myths and legends: the fourth horseman, the grim reaper, and other harbingers of death. I then blended them with a puny antique Egyptian mythology, a succubus, and a vampire of sorts thus creating Caline. But this story is more than just the story of a wandering death-dealer. It is in fact a love story. Caline is doomed to meander the earth taking lives until she can publish her fear, love, and allow herself to be loved. This story contains a great deal of descriptive and disturbing imagery and violence, but I felt it primary in order to expose human nature's deeper darker emotions: hatred, self-loathing, and fear. I also make some bold statements on the nature of violence and war in that after thousands of years of evolution, we remain savages. A great deal of historical explore went into this book; although it has been classified as Horror.

"Splendor of Antiquity" is a romantic yet very real love story. Joliette, an archeologist, suffers as the man she loves leaves her without a word. She throws herself into her work in order to fill the void, and through no fault of her own, she becomes enchanted with the corpse of a long-deceased god-king-so enchanted she basically falls in love with him, at the cost of the egomaniacal man who as a matter of fact loves her. This is a story of love lost, hope, and love found...and this is the story of the consequence of falling in love with an ideal-believing to much in a fAirytale. Although the theme of this story revolves around death, in how parts of our life come and go, it is a tried and true romance-narrated by the voice of the dead god. I explored my love of science and archeology in this piece as well as my trust that God and Science can co-exist.

I am currently working on my fifth: "Sin-eater," which is a psychological bad dream story, no romance in this one-a departure from my norm. It is a story highlighting the succeed gruesome violence has on the Population close to it: the police detectives, the families of the victims, and how the media's unabashed depictions of such violence can and does desensitize people.

But, I guess you could say that all of my stories revolve around tasteless internal human struggles. I think that is why Population associate with them in the way they do. No one is above the struggle, not even my immortal characters; they are all so beautifully flawed. I also do an broad number of explore for my stories; "Thin Wall" is no exception, as I spent a good deal of time with Freud, Jung, and other researchers as well as novelists like deSade and Battille, delving into the mechanics of sexual fetishism and fantasy. I have always been fascinated with the mind's subconscious motivations. There is always a logical think for every human behavior, no matter how odd we might think it is, and sometimes, those logical reasons aren't always obvious.

Tyler: I understand you think yourself primarily as a writer of novellas rather than short stories or novels. What about the novella attracts you, and why do you prefer it over longer or shorter fiction forms?

Cheryl: The novella is a dying art form. However, I do feel that today's societal time constraints gives a unique opportunity for the short forms to come back with a vengeance. Now we just have to get publishers concerned in them.

I love the novella for its very definite demands. It was the Germans who defined the definition of a novella and settled it in a genre all its own: A novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length-a few pages to hundreds-restricted to a single, suspenseful event, situation, or disagreement foremost to an unexpected turning point, provoking a logical, but surprising end. Novellas tend to comprise a concrete symbol, which is the narration's steady point. For me, its short length means that every word must be chosen with care and precision, the pacing must be Fast, and its message pointed. I like to say, "Stories that cut quickly, bleeding you out long before you even realize how much they as a matter of fact affected you."

Tyler: Thank you for joining me today, Cheryl. Before we go, will you tell our readers where they can go to find out more data or to buy a copy of "The Thin Wall"?

Cheryl: Thank you again Tyler; it has been splendid sense for me. "Thin Wall" will be available for buy through all major online book retailers the week of January 14, 2008.

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Great horror Books

Books in the bad dream genre are well known for being spine chilling and scary. Many readers don't know too many of the first-rate and recent dreadful books of the dreadful bad dream genre. Some of the readers may only be well-known with Stephen King, and while his books are good there are tons of other awesome authors. These are a few great bad dream books that readers may not yet be well-known with.

One of the greatest modern bad dream writers is Richard Matheson. He wrote classics like Hell House, I am Legend and What Dreams May Come. Hell House is one of the customary haunted house stories and it is a scary story that will make the hAirs on the back of any neck stand up straight. The book I Am Legend is not done justice in the movies and it is a truly belief provoking bad dream stories. It is amazingly well written and the story is very unique and clever. What Dreams May Come is a very beautiful bad dream story approximately in the poetic way of Edgar Allen Poe. The poetic way that this book flows is beautiful and the story invokes tears in some places.

The Exorcist is a name that brings an old bad dream movie from the seventies to mind. The first-rate movie is inspired by a truly horrific book that is supposedly inspired by a true event. The book is authored by William Peter Blatty and details the story of the clergyman who attempts for a long time to exorcise a demon from a young child. These Catholic priests spend a very long time working in many distinct ways to cure the child. The story is chilling and very well written.

Another first-rate bad dream author is H.P. Lovecraft. Stephen King originally wanted his works to be similar to this author. His works are often found in the form of anthologies of shorter stories as well as some longer novels. This author is considered by some to be the best bad dream author of all time. Those concerned in beginning reading bad dream can take a look at these to get a sense of the first-rate horror.

One more first-rate author is Edgar Allen Poe. Many population are well-known with him and he has many first-rate stories. The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask Of Amontillado are first-rate bad dream stories that don't take long to read but no ifs ands or buts get readers thinking. Poe also writes great bad dream poetry that those enjoy bad dream novels may enjoy as well. Reading Edgar Allen Poe is also a great way to get started on the bad dream genre by beginning at the beginning.

These are some great bad dream books as well as the great authors who wrote them. The bad dream genre is a beautiful genre as well as a suspenseful and chilling genre.

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Spoonful of Love For mother With Mother's Day Greeting Cards

On Mothers Day Special, it is a lovely expression to send a specially designed card to your mother. Giving a personal touch to the cards make them appear fascinating and memorable. They become an expression of your love and care for the mother.

There are any ways to originate beautiful and visually astonishing mothers day cards. You can organize different kinds of patterns, shapes and images. In this way, you can customize the greetings and add a human touch to the appearance. A man can experiMent with different types of colors, ribbons, patterns, pictures and even spray perfume on a printed card. If you have a creative and artistic bent of mind, you can use greeting card maker tools which are available over the Internet. A man can originate a card and draw ice creams, chocolates, cakes or flowers which are liked by the mother. The greeting card tools are the Computer programs which can help you in creating realistic pictures or graphics in the card. These tools help you in creating electronic cards which you can send them through mails. You can originate and incorporate pop-ups, animation, music or sound effects. With these tools, a man does need not to go to the store and make your mind up the best card out of the available stock with the shopkeeper. A man can customize the card the way one desires. You can originate those visuals and designs or images which are most liked by your mother.

It is great fun to originate cards in printed form. Cut out paper from a thick colored chart paper. You can make two folds of this chart paper. One can even give shape to the cards and make an fascinating border. You can draw a cake with a candle on top by using crayons or paints. Decorate the cake by using sequins, glitters and other attractive items. One can originate a flower out of a ribbon and glue it on the front side of the card. Herbal decorations on the card are amazing in appearance. You can write a short and sweet poem or beloved verses of your mother. All these ideas make a card memorable and fascinating for your loved one.

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portion Physics = Your Field Of Dreams

We live in very exiting times. We have just entered the Age of Aquarius. Our whole Solar principles is rotating in an enTirely new place in space nearby our Galactic Sun.

Just as our Earth rotates nearby our Sun, our Solar principles rotates nearby our Galactic Sun and our whole Galaxy is orbiting nearby the Universe. Nothing and no one is ever in the same space as they were a second ago.

All these moveMents are part of the divine plan of the inventor God. And these moveMents have a purpose. They convert the energy.

The vigor inundating our planet, because of the orbit of our Solar System, is distinct than it has been for the past 2000 years, which we called the Age of Pisces.

This new vigor that everyone on the planet will palpate and be affected by has a new paradigm or set of rules for it's use.

This new paradigm is called the Laws of part Physics. These Laws now allow us to create our corporeal realities consciously. The corporeal realities we have created for the past 2000 yeas belong to those 'experts" we believed they knew more than we do.

The new Laws of part Physics allows us to bypass these outdated realities belonging to the Age of Pisces and create new ones for ourselves. This is our true purpose.

How does it do this? The Laws of part Physics tell us that there exists an infinite ocean of thinking, piquant vigor called the part Ocean. This is the Mind of God.

Everything that ever was, is or will be exists in this part Ocean. There is no time nor space there. We live, move and have our being within this infinite timeless, space-less point called the part Ocean, Mind of God.

Now for the good news. We can attract any of the energies out of the part Ocean into our corporeal reality. We can of course think ourselves into a happier, healthier, richer reality. We can drop all the old inhibiting beliefs that have created our gift reality.

And there is a specific methodology on how to do this.

Remember the movie, "Field of Dreams," with Kevin Costner? He built a baseball field first and Then the players showed up. He used a pick a shovel.

You can build your "Field of Dreams." Only instead of a pick and shovel; you can use your mind and your thoughts. It will take time. But just as the reality your living now has taken time to create, your new "Field of Dreams" will take time.

So start now! And continue every morning until it manifests. As sure as day follows night it will manifest. It is the Law of the new Age of Aquarius.

First step is that you must know what you want to build. Do you want to be a writer, a painter, a musician (or anything else.)

Once you have made this decision, start.

Every morning before you leave home leaking your vigor out into the world, pay yourself first. Take your new morning energy, sit in your popular chAir and start to think your "Field of Dreams into your life.

Let us say you want to be a writer (you can even think a new house into your life). Well since all exists in the part Ocean, go there Mentally and talk to the Great writers you admire and want to emulate.

Mentally request them back to your living room. Straight through your mind's eye see them sitting on the couch and in the other chAirs.

Invite Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.P. Lovecraft, Marion Zimmer Bradley, (All the great fiction writers I like).

See them sitting in your living room. Serve them mental tea or coffee. Start a conversation. Ask them how they got started, where they got their story ideas from.
Ask them if there are any stories that they meant to write; but didn't have time to do so. Ask them if you can write these stories for them.

Keep both a mental notebook and a corporeal notebook on hand. Take lots of notes.

Let them talk. They will of course enjoy the occasion to once again visit the corporeal world even if it's only Straight through your mind.

Keep these daily meetings going. Soon the ideas, skills and resources of the great writers , painters, or musicians, who you have invited into your mind will come to be part of your reality. You will soon find yourself writing, writing writing.

Remember before you can create your own great writing style you must learn from the writing style of others.

Start now. It works. Think your "Field of Dreams" into your life today.

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"Death-Love, In Oakland Cemetery" ((A Story Of Horror)(Second Revision)(Part One Of Two))

"Death-Love, In Oakland Cemetery" ((A Story Of Horror)(Second Revision)(Part One Of Two))

(Horror Poetry: a strange poetic prose story of death meets love in Oakland CeMetery-face to face-in St. Paul, Minnesota, November, 1971)

We were alone, her and I (she was twenty, I twenty-four), beyond a mound or two, two-hundred yards east of us, were gravediggers; approximately every person had gone, left the ceMetery, and the gates were locked (they lock the gates at 5:30 Pm sharp to the front entrance of Oakland Cemetery, the side gate would be used by the diggers, to go home; the arc lights had just come on. She, Isabella de La Ree, had a bag; it had weight to it, Isabella looked at me, as a wolf would to its prey, if ever a face showed imminent death, hers did (almost a sorry face, with grim, slim wrinkles of love)! Then I noticed her crucifix was upside down, rays with images of anguish, of orange, purple and red, fell on them, from the lower world I'd guess. I looked towards the gravediggers they were gone (there was such a stillness, quietness in the cemetery now), I could hear the last sounds of their footsteps-as if descending down a spiral stAirway, leaving us alone, for it was a full moon, and they knew something was stirring in this prodigious night.

I pulled out a flashlight from my jacket pocket, it was fall, and a chill was in the evening Air (tons and tons of leaves everywhere, piles of them, racked by the caretaker, I could even smell some burnt leaves, the smell is indistinguishable, and very convenient to me); it would be dark soon, near winter, the sun has a Menial task, it rises quick, and descends Fast, and twilight, without a word glares like a lamp of mist, half full, flickering rays of rose-colored clouds, sandy moon above it, it is like a stammering drunk, and the lamp lit moon, this evening, seemed to full, and wanted to fall, it was right over us, over our heads, with sharp-looking teeth-carved by the shades and shadows that crept through its light.

Then a cat began to cry as if it was fighting with a rat, which squealed a long agonized weeping squeal, both as if in pain, as if in a love and death exchange, other and other cry came, seeping into the wind, approximately in echoes surrounding the cemetery, they were somewhere beyond the grasp of me, in this gloom of the night. And they became louder and sharper cries, that of a ripping-death, as if flesh and more flesh were being ripped to shreds. Then the sounds died down, and I seemed to sink into a morbid chill.

(From the street, beyond the side gate of the cemetery, I could now hear the sounds of the Tires of cars going down Jackson Street, a grim silence prevailed in-between, I looked helplessly about with eyes of terror, every side of me seemed to have caliches of death. I looked and could even see the drivers in their front seats driving, and disappearing, and then I shook my head and suddenly became more aware to the task at hand.

The contents of her bag, seemed to wiggle as if something was alive in it, a rounded shape something, then came sounds of rattling teeth, clanking teeth.

"Let's do what we came for," she said (a flame burned in her eyes) knees bending, a groan from within her chest, her inner spirit, noisily developMent her head twitch, like a puppet, came out of her mouth, words jagged I didn't understand.

"She must be in a trance," I said out loud, as if talking to myself or person who wasn't there, for assuredly she heard (as imMense bolt of chills, ran up and down my arms, legs, and spine.)

For a occasion I concept she was carrying a bomb, I stood in silence where not knowing what to do, or say, then suddenly, I heard a whisper come from the bag, as she started digging next to a gravestone, on her knees and elbows, with a pocket shovel, one normally used for a garden.

"Is this assuredly necessary?" I asked her.

"Just wait a while and you shall see, and judge for you..." she groaned, and mumbled, as her face grew harder, as she stared longer at the engaging bag.

I took a step forward, towards her; I was a few steps back. The instant I did, she motioned in gesture, not to step to close to the bag, she moved it impulsively towards her knee, holding out her hand to stop me, should I investMent beyond a threshold she had created in her head, I'm sure I would have been dead, her face now as cold as ice, likened to the palm of death, saying:

"Don't come closer for inside this bag is love and death!"

We had met the night before, at a nightclub in downtown, St. Paul, Minnesota, from there we strolled drunk, uPh Meter or two as it paced back and forth, and then become visible. It was a foul smelling foe, a mammal that came from who knows where, more on the Giant Finn of Ireland, order, or maybe the Grendel order, of the Scandinavian lands of the 5th Century or so. A pondering evil I lived with for three months in the dojo, an ere fiend, with flame advent from its eyes. And I could tell it had a sudden grip, for when it tossed the chairs about and colse to the dojo, it smashed them hard. It was huge, maybe 400-pounds, and eight feet tall, a monster who could have devoured me, now that I look back, and there I slept where no other black belts would dare sleep, for they told me the place was haunted. I did not seek to trap him, I explained to him, we needed to put up with each other for a time being, and that was that, adding, I leave him alone if he left me alone.)

And the noisiness in the karate dojo, where I lived in San Francisco, went silent, in the clap of an eye, in the middle of the night, and the beast that appeared, that shook the building and chairs, and window sills, had gone, disappeared.

And now here we were, I stimulating and bracing for some kind of a thrill,
silently and quietly next to twilight waiting for a bag to be opened, as she dug deep into the earth, I guessed to seal the fate of what was in that bag.

I told myself, now leaning against a gravestone, development a graceful sigh, 'I shall pray to make it out of here alive,' knowing somehow I'd regret, having come with her this evening if I did not, absolutely, for my part I knew not why I remained, for all it seemed to me to be, was person observing the insane. I knew in a heartbeat, there would be no more tomorrow's with her and I, and maybe for the better.

At this point I had wished I had done supper, which I had not-for I was getting hungry even with such bleak happenings colse to me, and had rushed to meet her for this journey, this discreet and morbid journey, which humanity would have forbid, had they known it was as it would be.

For the first time, I had now noticed her nails were long, and those of her thumb, on the right hand, was pointed, thick as a knife: this somehow brought a horrid feeling of nausea, it came over me like hard bark on a tree. There silent for a occasion I stood staring again, at the bag, looking in the black Cloth that now covered its contents, with the moon's light shinning on it, I could see some kind of expression, indented expression, as if a face to be, then I knelt to her level and said,

"I am getting quite Tired. I must leave, I live but a few blocks from here, maybe tomorrow we can meet, I shall let you cease alone whatever it is you must do." (I lied of course; I never wanted to see her again, to be quite frank.)

And with a courteous bow, more of a nod of my head I stood back up to leave (being in a deep sea of wonder, yet in a high fear of the unknown, and not wanting to face or undergo the strange things that were about to creep send out of this night), I did pray, "God keep me safe," if not only for my loved ones dear to me!

I did not leave though, my mind had went absent for a while, and I forgot what I had said, and my intentions to leave, somehow evaporated in my head. maybe a spell she place upon me, this beautiful and costliest witch.

My body shuddered from her witch and devilish scorn she seemed to born upon her face and limbs, for the dead in this cemetery- if whatever I felt I should salute her for her bravery, and hearty way she was handling this mysterious night-so tranquilly.

"What are you doing," I asked inquisitively, and she whispered in a most horrid voice (with a vibrating haunting echo) as if it was not her voice:

"Digging a tomb!" the voice replied.

"For what or whom?" I asked, holding my breath.

And she pointed to the sack... And she then opened it, inside was a living head, and she said to me, in a most bewildering intonation,

"I can't kill it!" And she rolled it out, and into the dirt tomb, the newly dug grave, and then stood up; strolled about it, as if mad (it was that lady I had seen from the house yesterday, I told my mind's eye).

I knew I had said all I could say about leaving, so I just looked. Isabella now looked up at me, said,

"You may go anywhere you wish now," but my mind was locked into this moment, adding, "All things are as they are, even if you wish to understand them, and you cannot. And there is presuppose for all things to be as they are."

"I am sure of this," I replied, "our ways are distinct to say the least."

"Not too different, from what you have told me," she responded, as she paced and kept out of the way of the head, observing it.

Then Sara cried, it was evident the head wanted to speak, but only said "Nay," as if it did not want to be buried alive, for Isabella kicked sand it her mouth, saying,

"Foul head, of the demons, loathing nightmare, voluptuous bloodstained mouth, lay where yea be, and be silent, for none will pardon thee, fall into the hole, my friend, my death-love."

And the head looked up at me, as if it wanted to plead. Then cried Isabella to me,

"Come now, my friend, let her rest in peace, I can do no more, this is all
death-love can offer a demonic whore, any way visible she may be, she is captured inside of a dead beauty, preserved by habitable bleeding, and receiving; I can't kill it, she belongs to the un-dead, and she will not leave the body, so I severed the head, she has immortality, but I can keep her head from her body, so she can no longer multiply-so now she must remain in the grave or go back to her evil world."

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Bible Story Crafts - Teaching God's Love

Bible Story Crafts - Teaching God's Love

Creativity is one of the overwhelming gifts God gave us in His infinite wisdom and bible story crafts are a great way to teach and encourage children to praise God while learning the stories of the bible. For many children this is the first time they may be hearing these stories. To additional ceMent the stories in their heads, a craft that they make and take home from Sunday school or Vacation Bible School will remind them to praise God every time they view it. It is a great way to introduce faith and God's gift of salvation and love straight through His son Jesus Christ.

Use bible story crafts as a launching pad to generate their own private creations that will additional encourage appreciation in their own abilities. They can be made using the simplest of Supplies, such as, building paper, stickers, markers and crayons or donations of recycled items. Closets in churches are notorious for providing those saved jars, cans, buttons and boxes. If the needed materials are not facilely available, make a plea to your congregation. A easy list of items needed will most likely send an avalanche of art Supplies your way. If you get an over plenty of brand new materials and not sufficient of others, most stores are more than willing to make exchanges for you.

Design bible story crafts that are legitimately attainable for very young children as well as older children. generate alternatives for these ages so that they all walk away feeling like an artist. Children need boundaries, but crafting should allow the child to show his or her personality. Give guidelines, not rules, so the process can be a fun learning experience. Their closed scheme will be much more extra to them and those they share it with if it truly has their own flAir. Let's face it, you can never have too much glitter to shine for Jesus.

Plan your bible story crafts colse to your lessons and extra times of the year. Christmas and Easter, of course, have a multitude of symbols and characters to make any amount of crafts and Vacation Bible School themes are all the rage. Furnish a gallery corollary of all the kid's beautiful work from these extra times. Ask friends and family for a "showing" to additional encourage worship and the praise of God. This will put the kids in the pulpit, so to speak, and allow them the opening to teach what they have learned in love straight through our creator.

Crafts that give children visualization of God's love for us, will contribute an infinite variety of effective teaching tools to share the Good news with others. Continue to share that news by introducing their artwork at the alter as optical aids for services, programs or bible studies, to grow in faith with praises. The children you have taught and the habitancy they come in palpate with, will continue to teach the stories of the bible that will Snowball in an plenty of love and praise for our Savior.

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Hollywood Repeats Itself - Dark City and The Matrix

Hollywood Repeats Itself - Dark City and The Matrix

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A cliche, admittedly, but the truth of the aphorism cannot be denied. In the two films we are about to examine, humanity teeters on the brink of disaster in two seemingly disparate space-time continua. The similarities in the middle of these two films, however, vastly outweigh the differences. In Alex Proyas's Dark City (1998), we are presented with a haunting vision of a seemingly familiar world that has assuredly been fabricated by a group of inhuman creatures that prey on human memories. Sound familiar? It should. One of the most popular films of 1999, Larry and Andy Wachowski's The Matrix, has a very similar premise, and the similarities increase to definite characters and plot points.

There are differences, of course; mostly financial ones. The Matrix is less opaque, more readily accessible to masses of moviegoers. Its slick, Computer-generated extra effects are more pleasant to view - if somewhat less visceral - than Dark City's gritty, film noir climate of doom and entrapMent. Likewise, Matrix's villains are ostensibly less sinister (at least, in their guise as governMent agents) than City's bald, pale, trenchcoat-clad "Strangers." below the disguises, though (the Strangers use human corpses as vessels), the true villains in both films are pretty much the same: slimy, tentacled alien monsters that die when their vessels are destroyed.

As Dark City opens, we are told of the Strangers via the voice-over narration of Dr. Daniel P. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), a human who admits from the very start to being a betrayer of his own race. This character is not separate to The Matrix's Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), but Cypher's betrayal of the human race is a climax of sorts, rather than an exposition. After City's opening credits, we are introduced - though not immediately by name - to John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), a man who awakens to find himself naked in the bathtub of an apartMent in which lies a murdered prostitute. Just as Matrix's Neo (Keanu Reeves) is ignorant of the true nature of his "reality," so Murdoch finds himself with only fragMents of memories, and no idea who or where he is.

The two proTAGonists are soon given some information, though, in scenes whose dialogue could assuredly be swapped without much noticeable difference. In both films, the proTAGonist receives a phone call; in The Matrix, Neo is informed by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) that "they" are arrival for him, just as "they" (the Agents) come around the angle to find him. The similarity is almost too obvious to point out, as Dark City's Murdoch is informed by Dr. Schreber that "they" (the Strangers) are arrival for him. Before the Strangers come through the elevator to pursue him, however, Murdoch is at least informed that there is a hypothesize for his lack of memory. Neo, on the other hand, is handicapped by the very proximity of his false memories, which forestall him from making his leave as guided by Morpheus. While Murdoch escapes to a small diner, where he finds his wallet - the extent of his tangible identity thus far - Neo is caught by the Agents and taken to an interrogation room.

The next turning point in each film involves a option the proTAGonist must make in his hunt for the truth. Murdoch goes home with a prostitute named May (Melissa George) in order to see if he assuredly has it inside him to kill (he doesn't) before going to the adDress on his driver's license; there he meets his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), who tells him of Dr. Schreber, as well as filling in some gaps in his false memories. Similarly, in The Matrix, Neo is led to Morpheus by the film's female lead, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss); however, his hunt for answers is much quicker than Murdoch's, due to visual information Plugged directly into his brain. The truth that Neo learns is this, paraphrased but with some of my popular turns of phrase intact: what he believes to be the present day of 1999 is assuredly somewhere in the distant future, around the 30th century (the exact year is unknown). After Man created artificial intelligence, it turned on us, sparking a massive war in the middle of Man and Machine. Man decided to scorch the sky, mental that without an vigor source as abundant as the sun, the machines would perish. Ironically, the machines then discovered that all the vigor they needed was produced inside human bodies. Humans were then Plugged into the Matrix, a virtual reality world that, to the human mind, seems fully real.

In Dark City, Murdoch slowly learns that the Strangers are a race of aged beings who find that their civilization is in decline. Soon they will die. Seeking a cure for their own mortality, the Strangers abandon their own world and come to Earth. Here they fabricate a city, built like a giant circular maze, that is perpetually shrouded in darkness. Each night at midnight, they stop all human movement within the city by will alone. Every human in the city simultaneously falls asleep. The Strangers, with the help of Dr. Schreber, then alter the memories of the city's inhabitants, giving them fully new identities from week to week, or even day to day. The object of these experiments is exemplified in the character of John Murdoch, in whom Dr. Schreber is about to implant the memories of a serial killer when Murdoch suddenly wakes up. The Strangers wish to conclude if a man, given the memories of a killer, will continue on that same path; their hypothesis is that the key to the human soul lies in our memories.

Here we come to one major point of unlikeness in the middle of the two films. While Dark City is a tale of aged evil, "as old as Time itself," from the infinite reaches of space, The Matrix speaks to us of original sin. By extinguishing the sun and, indeed, by creating artificial intelligence in the first place, humanity has sealed its own fate. We have, in fact, created the monsters that now enslave us, a not-too-subtle collective metaphor. Their mind-control device, the Matrix itself, is modeled after our late-20th century society; as Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) explains to Morpheus, "the first Matrix was designed to be a exquisite human world... That your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from." In Dark City, however, the Strangers almost created us; they stole our memories and took us to a city that they created for the purposes of their experiments. Because it was deemed useful, Dr. Schreber was allowed to keep his scientific knowledge, but forced to erase the rest of his own memories, which we see in maybe the film's most haunting scene.

None of the characters in Dark City remembers who or where they were before the Strangers came to Earth. In fact, almost no one knows of the Strangers' existence; those who do are ordinarily erased. Detective Eddie Walenski (Colin Friels) glimpses the truth and is driven mad by it, ultimately committing suicide as a way to get out. In a way, The Matrix's Cypher is a mixture of this character and Dr. Schreber except that, while Walenski wants to get out of the world that has been pulled over his eyes, Cypher wants to get back in and, while Dr. Schreber is forced to erase his own memories of the real world, Cypher makes a deal with Agent Smith so that this will be done for him. Also, Dr. Schreber is openly a traitor to the human race from the start, but changes his ways when he glimpses Murdoch's power; in other words, Schreber is a believer, while Cypher is not. Walenski in Dark City is also similar to The Matrix's Oracle (Gloria Foster), in that they both see the truth but are not major parts of the action.

It seems I have digressed into character study, while the point I am now trying to make is an ideological one. Dark City opens with darkness and the words: "In the beginning, there was nothing." The darkness is now spattered with stars and the voice of Dr. Schreber continues: "Then came the Strangers." With this opening, we are promptly reminded of the biblical book of Genesis. But the fact that there are many of them instead of one all-powerful being, the fact that they came from someone else dimension and that, once here, the knowledge of their existence commonly drives men either to insanity or to an early grave, all give the impression that these are much older gods than the one espoused by the Christian faith. These gods, if gods they be, bear more resemblance to the aged ones described in the nightmare stories of H.P. Lovecraft.

The Matrix, on the other hand, has a more Christian outlook. While City's John Murdoch has the power of the Strangers, he is never referred to as "the One," or any other of Christ's many names, as Neo is in The Matrix. Likewise, the importance of Trinity's name is obvious. Cypher is the film's version of Judas Iscariot, and it could be argued that God is personified in the character of the Oracle. Agent Smith, then, represents Satan, with Agents Brown and Jones (Paul Goddard and Robert Taylor, respectively) acting as lesser imps. Morpheus symbolizes Moses, bringing his habitancy to freedom on his ship, the Nebuchadnezzar, ironically named after a Biblical king who conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and sent the Jews into exile in Babylon.

Beyond the ideological differences, The Matrix feels more modern; it plays almost like a video game, which is fitting since that's basically what our so-called world is in the film. Dark City is more like a 1940s noir film with intense occult trappings, which is also fitting, since it is a world constructed by an aged race who disguise themselves with costumes borrowed from the grave. Even the weapons used in each film reflect this dichotomy: The Matrix is full of big, high-tech guns and endless loads of shells, while in Dark City not one gun is ever fired. The Strangers opt instead for beloved knives and weird, alien devices of pain, although the only weapon they assuredly need is their telekinetic power, which, much to their chagrin, is shared by Murdoch.

Here, again, there is convergence in the middle of the two films. In The Matrix, Neo is "the One" because of his quality to alter bodily reality within the Matrix. A similar power, called "tuning" in Dark City, is utilized by the Strangers; it is also the power that separates Murdoch from his fellow enslaved humans. When Dr. Schreber discovers this power, he gives Murdoch an injection containing the fragments of memories Murdoch recognizes as his own, supplemented with the information he needs to defeat the Strangers. This same gismo is used frequently in The Matrix; it is the source of Neo's training.

Both films come to a very similar conclusion: humanity cannot be understood by the outsiders, due to the irrationalities of emotion. This closing is voiced in Dark City when Murdoch tells Mr. Hand (played by Richard O' Brien, an actor best known for being the inventor of The Rocky nightmare picture Show, in which he also plays Riff Raff), "You wanted to find out what it is that makes us human." He points to his head. "Well, you're not going to find it here." Luckily, Proyas, along with fellow screenwriters Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, chose not to be so corny as to have Murdoch literal, Mr. Hand by placing his own hand over his heart. The Matrix, however, lets a limited more sentimentality creep into its otherwise engaging conclusion; like a scene from a Disney fAiry tale, Trinity awakens Neo from apparent death with a notification of her faith and love for him and a soulful kiss, with literal sparks flying in the background, no less. While this is in synch with the film's theme of human emotion triumphing over mechanical knowledge, it feels a bit forced compared to Dark City's more unified, epic and assuredly human closing (which also does not lend itself so well to the sequels that ultimately came from The Matrix).

However, not to let the tone and content here lead the reader astray, I should add that I greatly admire both films; The Matrix is assuredly one of the best action films ever made. My purpose here is to make more habitancy aware of someone else great, lesser-known film that came out a year earlier. I also do not wish to insinuate that the Wachowski Brothers ripped Dark City off; it is quite possible that they have never seen the film to this day, though I will leave the rumors that The Matrix and James Cameron's Terminator films were all stolen from the writings of Sophia Stewart to supplementary speculation, as Dark City was never mentioned in any of the legal proceedings surrounding that. I merely found it engaging to note the vast similarities in the middle of these two engaging films. If you see them both and correlate notes, I think you'll agree. If you'd like supplementary convincing, I propose googling "dark city matrix" and reading other sources on the subject; I am far from the only writer to observation these similarities, but I wrote all of the preceding enTirely from my own interpretations of the films - no lawsuits, please!

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The Truth About H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and the Necronomicon

The Truth About H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and the Necronomicon

About 30 films have been based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Fans, from casual readers to wannabe Cthulhu Cultists, look for books by and about Lovecraft, but it's hard to find decent scholarship about the scholar of Weird Fiction. One of the few books that looks at the works of Lovecraft in an intriguing way is called H.P. Lovecraft and the Modernist Grotesque. This book puts the works of Lovecraft into a literary context that makes sense. Unlike most things about Lovecraft, written by Cthulhu - obsessed fans who believe the Necronomicon is actually the wisdom of the Old Ones, H.P. Lovecraft and the Modernist Grotesque is the Ph.D. Dissertation of an English Professor. He is a literary scholar first and a Lovecraft fan second, which means that he is less liable to fall into the same old patterns of sensationalism, delusions, and biography that overshadows actual literary analysis.

This dissertation could use a minuscule bit of polishing up - a few typos and a misspelled name (Ph.D. Students are under a whole let of pressure), but the foremost thing is that it does things that no other book about Lovecraft does, together with the identifying (and supporting) of a fully new literary type (the Modernist Grotesque), appropriate diagnosis of Lovecraft as a modernist, and specific study of Lovecraft's deconstruction of foremost institutions through saTire and depictions of logical fallacies. This book also discusses fan phenoMena like Cthulhu worshipers, hoax Necronomicon copies, and literary elitists' bias against fear-based fiction. After reading about Lovecraft for years, a have seen very few works that accomplish as much as this one in terms of actually developing an comprehension of Lovecraft's work. Some great biographies exist (Joshi's especially) but not sufficient true, classic literary criticism. In order for Lovecraft to be given the respect he deserves, we need real literary scholars analyzing his work the way they would analyze the work of any other great writer. That's why I like this book so much.

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Pirate Ghosts - Tales of Hauntings at Sea

Pirate Ghosts - Tales of Hauntings at Sea

This compilation of nightmare shorts written by such literary giants as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Washington Irving promises the reader 'with bloodcurdling buccaneers, spectral ships, uncanny experiences under the Jolly Roger and eerie spirits from a historic past that refuses to stay dead'. Pretty high expectations, huh?

The anthology could have been renamed Caribbean Magic Ghosts with some Piracy Themes Thrown in the Mix. Few had pirates as main characters and just as many did not even include any manner of sea rovers.

This is not to say that the anthology, compiled by Frank McSherry, Jr., Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg isn't an inviting read. The short stories include some great nightmare themes and effectively scare the reader.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Terrible Old Man is one such story that eschews the piracy theme but is as creepy as Robert Bloch's The Red Swimmer, a great story of revenge on a bloodthirsty pirate.

The lengthiest short, Henry S. Whitehead's Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope is a tedious read as he lays on one subordinate clause after another, extending sentences into paragraphs. The detail in which he describes the depth of the white witch's knowledge and sense into voodoo and obeah was unnecessary, gaging its lack of impact on any of the climatic scenes.

August Derlith's The Blue Spectacles, Carl Jacobi's The Digging at Pistol Key and John Masefield's Anty Bligh, along with the tales of Irving, Lovecraft and Bloch are just plain spooky fun. These are wonderful tales of vengeful ghosts, macabre magic (and a pirate or two) all thrown in with eerie tropical settings. Since I recently reviewed a biography of Jean Lafitte by Jack C. Ramsay Jr., I was pleased to see the dashing pirate appear in The Blue Spectacles. It and Irving's story were the only two with pirate ghosts.

Clark Ashton Smith's A VinTAGe from Atlantis is a short read that contains some of the best pirates in the book, but tends to get preachy. Before I Wake by Henry Kuttner is a slow-moving tale of a young boy haunted by dreams of piloTAGe to magical places. Pirates are Mentioned as part of his fantasy while the story clutches the island magic obeah tightly to its breast.

Lady Eleanor Smith's No Ships Pass could probably be the forerunner of the Twilight Zone-esque 'you are here now and there is no way back' theme. Again short on pirates, but a great story.

Pirate Ghosts is a must read for lovers of the nightmare genre but not for the pirate aficionado or fan. The Caribbean magic has interwoven a spell among the pages and presides over the stories, and gives us a nice tropical scare.

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How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

Perhaps no other singular writer has had a more vital affect on the field of weird horror fiction than Howard Philips Lovecraft. Following in the wake of Lovecraft's mostly posthumous success, many writers of weird horror and fantasy have taken up the task of producing Lovecraftian fiction. In this article, we will discuss some general guidelines about how to write Lovecraftian fiction.

Lovecraft largely wrote in a subgenre he himself labelled "cosmic horror". His central body of work suggests a cosmic history extending far beyond the knowledge of humanity. His universe is populated by discrete huge entities known as "The Elder Gods" and "The Great Old Ones". Next to these alien races, mankind appears historically insignificant and technologically primitive.

Love Craft

There are many respects in which a piece of fiction could be said to be "Lovecraftian". Firstly, the story might deal with well these kinds of vast alien intelligences operating beyond the human sphere of knowledge. A story might also be determined Lovecraftian with respect to the atheistic worldview espoused by Lovecraft in his fiction - that humans are merely soulless, insignificant animals in the greater cosmic scheme. Lovecraft himself referred to this philosophical position as "mechanistic materialism". In this way, Lovecraft implicitly challenged the ingrained assumption that the magical necessitated the supernatural. His Elder Gods were not true gods, but aliens sufficiently influential, considerable and knowledgeable to be worshipped as such by humankind.

How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

Another respect in which a story might be determined Lovecraftian is the use of language. As a self-styled antiquarian, Lovecraft used many terms that were determined archaic in his own lifetime. Many Lovecraftian imitators hope to transport something by employing idiomatic words and spellings from the Lovecraftian oeuvre, such as "eldritch" and "connexion". But while this can go some way in providing flavour to a story, it is not by itself enough to yield a worthwhile contribution to the field.

If you are wanting to lead to the definite mythology of the Lovecraftian universe (also sometimes referred to as "The Cthulhu Mythos") then you could plainly write a tale featuring the entities and cosmic backdrop Lovecraft himself did. Many writers, both pro and amateur, have shaped a large body of Mythos fiction. However, with so many imitators of Lovecraft's style and language, the kinds of fiction that become customary need to have some distinctive feature. Stories which are well Lovecraftian could be said to import something essentially Lovecraftian to a novel setting, contribution a new take or a new twist.

A true contribution to literature of a Lovecraftian "spirit" will need something beyond mere imitation of archaisms, settings or names. Aspiring Lovecraftian writers would do well to ask themselves what it was that Lovecraft was trying to achieve in his fiction. Beyond the trappings of the Lovecraft tale, what is the essence of what he was trying to chronicle in his stories of cosmic horror? What today is the relevance of what Lovecraft was saying? Can this alarming worldview be imported to a new setting, with new kinds of characters and locations? To be successful in writing Lovecraftian fiction, the aspiring writer needs above all else to read Lovecraft and to internalise the meaning and significance of his work. Only when a writer has a true bearing of the direction from which Lovecraft speaks can they gather a deeper comprehension of how to write Lovecraftian fiction.

How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

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