David v. God and Stick It

And Also: It should be noted that the Second Amendment was ratified in a different era. One in which police departments did not exist ... in fact, they probably would be deem a sort of paramilitary force, a standing army of sorts, that would be rather dangerous. Quite literally the people had a "posse" role to play here ... you had a nightwatchman sort and then (traditionally) the "hue and cry" concept of the people having a responsibility to assist when needed. Now, only a select group have weapons, or expectations to be called. "The people" as a whole don't, surely. This must be kept in mind. "Original understanding," however, too often is applied in an ahistorical fashion.

After reading A Room On Lorelei Street by Mary Pearson, see below, I checked out the author's first book ... David v. God. It was a shorter book ... almost a novella ... and less mature. The characters appear to be around high school age, but at some points they could be in like eighth grade or something. OTOH, it has a serious side ... after all, a supporting character uses her brains to compensate for her mom's poverty (husband left her), and the goofball lead uses humor to cover up a lack of confidence of his own. And, after all, the title is literal ... David and a few classmates died in a bus crash, and he (with help from the class brain) challenged God to a debate to get out of it, so to speak.

A rather wicked, amusingly so, idea for a first novel. It is well written, though drags a bit near the end, and as suggested above has some heartfelt moments. Likewise, it has a nice sense of fun. God keeps on sending notes to David to help him out ... much to his annoyance. For instance, after realizing ostriches weren't a "mistake," David and his debate assistant (who let him know she knew what people called her ... things like "Byte Bitch" ... suggesting the book does have an edge) consider people like Lazarus. He went back, right? Smarty pants like me think, hey wait, that was meant to be a sign of sorts. And, God did let him know that ... see, he had a campaign going, and L. helped him out ... it was just to make a point.

I thought that was well done. Heaven sounds like a pretty cool place too ... like one person died as a kid, and really wanted to be a waitress and ballerina when she grew up, so she got to be both in heaven. It has one helluva a library, apparently. The train riding bit reminds me of the movie Heavenly Kid. Overall, recommended for young adults, and adults might very well get a kick out of it too. Has a lesson and all, but done in a fun way. Bet it would be good material for some religious broadcast or something. After all, a show about a minister and his family (lots of kids ... hint hint) was quite popular, and had some playful edges too. Even Gilmore Girls (shudder!) was supported by a family organization. That word need not be as painful as it sometimes is. Like "faith" and "values," it is after all a good thing when well applied.

[The book is seen through David's eyes, so it seems appropriate that God here is a bit like him ... a sort of playful authority figure. I think many would view heaven and other such experiences as coming through the vantage point of the person's understanding. How else would such an indescribable "thing" be able to be experienced by lowly humans? This can be seen generally ... religious truths are seen through the vantage point of individual societal norms and understandings. Thus, the resident of Iran, Japan, Niger, Chile, and Canada all would have somewhat different religious experiences, even if they might share a specific broad based faith such as Christianity. Again, the book does a nice job handling the situation.]

To toss it in, I picked up a couple DVDs while at the library. I have yet to see Combination Platter, but have enough Chinese food that it was a must. Also, got Stick It for the commentary (two actually, though the one with two of the leads was a lot more fun) tracks. Good movie. Yes, at times, it felt like some sort of MTV video with its quick shots and montages, but it had real heart, good performances, and an overall sense of fun. Many funny lines ... the "bitch" in this one helps out with one of the commentaries, noting she loved playing the character. Nice surprise really. Like Ice Princess, it is about a teen girl and a sport, this time the wickedly hard (in fact, it was on last night) sport of gymnastics (as one character notes, it's not gym-nice-stics.). Jeff Bridges plays the coach.

The commentary let me know that the judge played Flo on the t.v. show Alice (good to see '70s stars still get work) ... and the lead's mom played a much more appealing character in Paperback Romance, a movie that didn't quite work, but has charm all the same. Oh, "stick it" both is slang for a good move as well as an overall sense of cool and stuff. You know, roughly speaking.

BTW, tossing in the NFL network, there is a heckuva lot of preseason football on t.v, huh?