Our Adventures last night....Anne Rice, Christopher Rice, and Becket Book Signing

                             

In Conversation with Anne Rice & Christopher Rice

Event Experience: 10 out of 10 Muddy Crowns

Last night, Frankie and I had the greatest time. After a 2 hour drive...

 

We first stopped by Copperfield books...

We then stopped by Guy Fieri's restaurant Johnny Garlic in Santa Rose and had fantastic meals.

Then we arrived at the Santa Rosa High School Auditorium and was 6th and 7th in line to get seats to the 'In Conversation with' Anne Rice and Christopher Rice event. After an hour of waiting outside, we rushed inside and scored front row seats.

 

We had the best seats....take a look.

While sitting and waiting, we were lucky enough to talk to a friend of Anne's who had met Anne before social media, and listened to stories that were both hilarious and touching. And then finally, after anxiously waiting an hour for Anne and Chris to come out...They walked across the stage and we were both mesmerized.

   Do you see us in the front row?

The mother-son duo regaled us with tales of their writing inspiration, methodology, and personal anecdotes. It was brilliant, candid and at times lighthearted and jovial as Christopher’s wit and humor charmed the audience. Both speakers were very generous in their answers during the Q&A and gracious through the whole evening. The Rice family is a class act!

 Then came the chaos of the book signing part of the night...It was quick, too quick, and in a blink of an eye it was over. Frankie was the only one to get a somewhat blurry picture with Anne and Chris in the background, but the conversations with them were priceless. Chris saw my name before signing his book and recognized it from twitter...I couldn't believe it.

Once the signing was over, we asked Becket to sign his books and he was gracious enough to take pictures of us and he even took selfies. How awesome it that. It was even more amazing when he posted them on facebook and Instagram. 

 When we walked to the parking lot, we couldn't help but take more pictures...

We left Santa Rosa with our arms full of signed books, our heads full of intelligent dialogue and our hearts warmed to the core by the intimate and rewarding experience of spending an evening with three incredible writers.

Always, 

The Mudville Dames

Frankie & Sceona

A Clockwork Orange...Movie Review by Frankie Brazelton

A Clockwork Orange

Movie Review by Frankie Brazelton

8 out of 10 Muddy Crowns

A Film for the Rebels and the Free Thinkers

A Clockwork Orange is a title you have likely heard, and perhaps have even watched. Originally written by Anthony Burgess in 1962, the novel was adapted to film and directed by the brilliant Stanley Kubrick in 1971. This is a cult classic that has been reviewed countless times. However, since this was my first go at A Clockwork Orange, I wanted to share my thoughts.

In this story you follow an apathetic teenage boy named Alex from his violent escapades to his psychological conditioning in an institution. The “ultra-violence” is carried out by Alex and his gang of droogs (buddies). It seems that Alex gives in to his every whim: battery, rape and even murder. After a betrayal of his droogs, Alex is sentenced to prison, but after 2 well behaved years is assigned to a new breakthrough treatment program that will rehabilitate and reprogram him.

I found the premise of the story extremely interesting. What Burgess and Kubrick both successfully convey is that free-will, will always be favorable compared to a brainwashed society. A man of free-will may not always choose to be a good person, but at least he is his own person, he is still a man. A brainwashed society is a society that loses its very essence of humanity. It’s a strong message that you cannot tame us. We refuse to be your sheeple. The message is every bit as relevant today as it was in 1962. In the story, Alex’s parents are the epitome of the brainwashed, media driven sheeple of their time, which serves as a sharp contrast to Alex’s free will and untamed spirit. Although Alex may be a horrible person to most, he doesn’t allow society to dictate his moral code.

This movie is extravagant in more ways than one, and at times extremely disturbing. The use of music was far more cerebral and sadistic than a simple background melody. Imagine a jovial tune, such as Singin’ in the Rain, used for a scene of home invasion, brutal ass kicking, and horrifying rape, and then later to hear the same song in a mellow scene, post trauma, while bathing in supposed penitence. Hear Beethoven’s 9^th clutch your soul as you watch a wretched convicted killer under go a brutal psychological conditioning program that includes hooking his eyelids open for hours at a time while being forced to watch violent and grotesque images. All of this is filmed on a set that I can only describe as a visual assault with a color scheme to make your eyes bleed. The décor is ugly, over the top, and revolting, which makes each scene all the more uncomfortable. But hey, at least there are plenty of boobs to keep your eyes on the screen.

This movie is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with the actions of the few. Uncomfortable with your government. Uncomfortable with whom you place your trust. Uncomfortable, perhaps even, with your own sexuality and unspoken desires. Who are you? Who do you desire to be? Are you going to allow yourself to be true to your nature? Are you okay with your true nature? Are you okay with the government dictating the moral code and forcing the behavior they want? Do you think we have a sound and fair justice and rehabilitation system? All great questions, and I think they’re anything but subtle in this very loud film.

Feeling Thirsty? Read Frankie's review on Watcher by Roh Morgon....

Watcher

By Roh Morgon

A Book Review by Frankie Brazelton

9 out of 10 Muddy Crowns

Watcher is a vampire tale to savor. Like a fine wine, it’s deliciously rich and warms you to the core. This adventurous novel about a newborn vampire is a fresh take on the genre. You follow the protagonist, Sunny, from the start of her early and wild blood drinking youth to experiencing her blossom into a more confident and calculating hunter. It’s a classic coming-of-age story at its heart, but far more dangerous and provocative. Sunny soon becomes ensnared in the grips of lust and love when she meets her first real prospect of a mate since becoming a blood-drinker. She’ll have to overcome huge feats of self preservation and courage, all while deciding whether to remain in her carefree life in the woods with her beasts and what’s left of her humanity, or leave it all behind for the companionship for which she thirsts with every fiber of carnal being.

 Roh Morgon ensnares her readers by evoking dark and erotic images of gorgeous and lethal characters as they hunt, seduce, and feed on their prey and each other. Watcher is a story you can gorge yourself on, but it won’t leave you sated for long. You’ll be thirsty for the next book in the series almost as soon as you’ve closed this book.

Guardians of the Galaxy Review.....By Sceona

Guardians of the Galaxy

In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan.

Another Marvel comic was adapted into a movie and I must say, it blows all other marvel movies out of the water. The storyline was superb, the casting was spot on, the music was awesome, and the graphics/CG was the best that I've seen.

I couldn't imagine anyone else playing Peter Quill than Chris Pratt. This movie is meant to have it's comedy as a front runner and Pratt delivers all his lines perfectly plus his dance moves as a white boy were pretty entertaining to watch. However, even though he was the 'main' character, Groot (the huge tree alien voiced by Vin Diesel) stole the show for me along with his pal Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper).


I give Guardians of the Galaxy 10 out of 10 muddy crowns. It's the best movie of 2014 so far in my opinion.

Godzilla kicks major butt.... Review by Sceona

Godzilla was a visual masterpiece but the plot seemed like it was written for a 5 year old. So I suggest going to see our favorite monster just for the graphics and the kick ass battles but just don't question the scientific explanations.

You don't even have to worry about getting attached to any of the human characters besides Aaron Taylor-Johnson who plays Ford Brody. And while you root for Johnson through out the movie you might wish that he shows a tad bit more emotion with all the things he has to deal within a span of a week. Even Brian Cranston couldn't save the dullness of all the characters even though you can clearly tell he was the best actor in this movie, he just had a horrible story line. And I have no clue what was going on with Ken Watanabe but it looked like he had a sniffling cold the entire movie.

Besides the bad storyline, my favorite part of the movie was the tease of seeing Godzilla. Through out the movie you would see glimpses of the monster mostly in the sea or at night with flares and then BAM we get to see him in daylight, full body with his roar and all you can think is holy shit that's a huge dude. The best interpretation of Godzilla that I have seen to date and his fire breathing was awesome.

I give Godzilla a 7 out of 10 muddy crowns and I highly urge you to see it just for Godzilla himself and the spectacular graphics.

The Kindle edition of Timebound by Rysa Walker is on sale for $1.99...check it out

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Timebound-Chronos-Files-Rysa-Walker-ebook/dp/B00CQC9O16/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1396500070&sr=1-1

And don't forget to read our review on this great book!

~Sceona