Book Club 2.0

The discussion of "The Things They Carried" begins today at forum.ibetts.net. Participate if you dare! For the month of July: "The French Lieutenant's Woman."

A rose is a rose is a rose*

The Vampire by Philip Burne-Jones

There has been some discussion about the Twilight series on Nic's blog and on Jake's blog. I thought I would chime in on my own blog. yay!
First, I would like to address the claim that the vampires in Twilight are not real vampires because Meyer changed their characteristics so drastically. Brian Frost, a literary historian, said, "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself" and may go back to "prehistoric times." Not only that, but they appear in so many different cultures all over the world that their exact origin is muddied. Wikipedia defines vampires as "mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person." By this general definition, Meyer's vampires qualify. But, did Meyer actually change them so much to begin with? Did she come up with original ideas for her vampires?

If someone were to ask you what a vampire is, I think we would all come up with the same answers. Immortal, drinks the blood of humans, weaknesses include sunlight, wooden stakes, crosses, and holy water. Meyer created vampires who are immortal but choose not to drink human blood and are not killed by any of the above weaknesses. They have to be torn apart and burned. Also, she made her vampires extra "super" with special abilities like mind-reading, clairvoyant abilities, and the ability to affect peoples moods. She also made her vampires with an alluring nature; the ability to draw humans to them. She turned it into a love story between a vampire and a human girl. Unfortunately, NONE of this is new to the world of vampires.

In John Polidori's The Vampyre, written in 1819, his main character is Lord Ruthven. He was the first vampire to be alluring, sexual, elegant, and suave. He is also the first vampire to marry a human girl.

From 1845-47, James Malcolm Rymer wrote a 868-page story about a vampire named Varney. He had fangs, hypnotic powers, and superhuman strength. Like the vampires of Twilight, Varney could eat and drink regular food in the human fashion, but it didn't agree with him. He could go out in daylight and had no fear or loathing of crosses or garlic. In fact, F.W. Murnau's film "Nosferatu," in 1922, was the FIRST vampire to be killed or harmed by sunlight.

In 1897, Bram Stoker wrote maybe the most famous vampire story: Dracula. In this story, Dracula lived with 3 female vampires known as the "Brides of Dracula" as a coven or family. He had sharp teeth and his eyes flamed red when he was angry (not entirely unlike the Cullens' eyes when they are hungry). He had no reflection and had the physical strength of 20 men. Dracula also had special "powers." He had powers of hypnosis, mind control, command of nocturnal animals and the weather. He could also shapeshift into a bat, a rat, a wolf, vapor, and fog. These powers are not unlike the Cullens' special "abilities."

Most importantly, the Cullens were not the first to give up human blood. Varney the Vampire, in 1845, was the first "sympathetic vampire" meaning "a vampire who loathes his condition but is nonetheless a slave to it." There are characters like this in almost every Anne Rice novel as well, most famously Lestat in Interview With the Vampire in 1976. We also see this in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the character Spike. He chooses to live a life free of human blood.

In Anne Rice's novels we also see that the vampires have to be burned down to ash to be completely destroyed (although there is still a question of whether they completely cease to exist even then).

Not even the animalistic nature of Meyers' vampires is original. In the comic book mini-series 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles (written in 2002), and the film adaptation, the vampires aren't magical. They are animals hunting prey. As you know, Twilight was published in 2005.

Stephanie Meyers did NOTHING completely original with her vampires except for making their skin sparkle in the sun, which is not a significant contribution to vampire lore at all. In fact, it is one of the most criticized decisions she made in her novels.

It is obvious that vampires themselves haven't really evolved much. There have been many different combinations of characteristics attributed to vampires in literature and film for the past 200 years, but nothing really new. But, it is also not necessary to come up with something new. Vampires are beloved and feared, and vampire lore is not tired. People will always be fascinated by stories involving vampires, IF the stories are well-written and compelling.


Sources!
*Sacred Emily by Gertrude Stein
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_days_of_night
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nosferatu
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampyre
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampyre
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dracula
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tables_of_vampire_traits
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Burne_Jones_le_vampire.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Ruthven_(vampire)

What Being A Parent Does

I have recently discovered that there is a certain and unique kind of insanity that comes with becoming a parent, as I'm sure a lot of you reading this knows. If there are any parents out there trying to deny this, all I can say is that you must have been semi-insane before you became a parent and, therefore, your previous insanity mixed with the parental insanity resulting in a super insanity that brings with it a false sense of security and peace.

You see, it is inevitable, and immediate. The huge life changes mix with the lack of sleep to create a cataclysmic combination of fried brains and intense mama/papa-bear instincts. It makes you powerful and insecure at the same time. It makes you step up and, also, fall short. It makes you joyful and, in the same moment, it makes you want to burst into tears. Doubt and amazement, full-blown glee and confusion, complexity and the simply mundane. Being a parent does all this.

I am happily insane.

Where Have All The Classy Gangster's Gone?

Since I have been going back through watching The Sopranos again, I have been wondering, "Where have all the classy gangster's gone?" It used to be if you saw a guy dressed in an expensive suit with some jewelry on and his hair done all nice you would think, "I bet that guy's a gangster." Now if you see a dude dressed like that you think, "I bet that guy's an accountant." Gangster's used to dress nice, keep their voices down, fade into the background as much as possible, and always keep their mind clear. Now, gangster's walk around with their pants around their knees, with their hats on sideways and their jesus bling blingin' saying, "yo, yo, homie yo." These guys are retarded. That's why it used to be nearly impossible to stop the gangster's, because they were hard to pin down. Now, just look for the jackass walking around with his hands in his pants. The days with tommy guns, alcohol smuggling, and leaning on people. Those were days...

Because I'm A Nerd

My only question is, where were these writers and choreographers when they were making new star wars movies?! Not only does this game look absolutely amazing, it looks far superior to any of the new crap star wars movies. These guys should have written the movies, and this should have been the storyline. If you don't know the storyline of Darth Vader's apprentice, you should look it up. It's freaking awesome. Check this out.

Pet Peeve: Whose Side Are You On, Anyway?

I have heard this expression SO MUCH recently on TV and it is usually in situations where the person saying it is being completely irrational. And, often, it is said when there are no "sides" to speak of. "Whose side are you on, anyway!?" Uh...the other guy's side, please, because you are insane right now.

One Step Closer

So yesterday Matt and I got our EIN number for our business, and we have another meeting with the chamber of commerce director of small businesses guy. We also started talking with the bank yesterday and he is looking over our business plan and our financial projections, but he was sounding pretty optimistic about it. We also just worked a deal with the liquidator guy for Hollywood Video, and he pretty much said that I can have whatever I want at whatever price I want. Everything is looking awesome and hopefully this all works out. We want to be open before the 24th of july. Hopefully we get the loan and everything goes according to plan. Then the world domination can begin. I am very excited for me and my family, and Matt. We are awesome, and that's pretty much that.