Just Reviewed Kowal’s Alternate Regencies; Fun Stuff
Folks, as it’s July 5, 2012, and I’d promised the Shiny Book Review faithful a new review or two, I just reviewed both of Mary Robinette Kowal’s alternate Regencies, SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY and GLAMOUR IN GLASS. Check out my review of both books here.
Now, what is it about the Regency period that makes for such great fantasy material? In addition to Kowal’s two novels, I’ve seen several other really fine writers do some interesting things with either the Austen canon (not merely PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, which I viewed as kitsch, but Sarah A. Hoyt and Sofie Skapski’s excellent A TOUCH OF NIGHT, which incorporates Weres — shapechanging into animals — into PRIDE AND PREJUDICE without a hitch) or with the milieu itself (the two books by André Norton and Rosemary Edghill that comprise CAROLUS REX, THE SHADOW OF ALBION and LEOPARD IN EXILE, are both excellent).
I think the main reason novelists in and out of the romance genre have returned to this milieu is because of how unusual it seems to us in modern-day society. The Regency era was much more formal in its speech than present-day English-speaking society, at least when it comes to middle class people and above. The fashions people wore were much different. The way people thought then has diverged just enough from today that it makes for fascinating reading . . . yet it’s not so far in the past that we have no referents whatsoever.
So my guess is, there’s a mixture of familiarity in what we see in the Regency period — comfort, if you will — and unfamiliarity, and that’s what these excellent novelists see in it. Because if you’re writing fantasy, and you can come up with a great way to incorporate a fantasy element into this interesting, turbulent time, why not do it?
At any rate, if you love Jane Austen, love Austen pastiches, love Austen-inspired works, or simply love the Regency Era with fantasy idea as a whole, you’ll get a kick out of Kowal’s two alternate Regencies as they’re fun, fast, faithful reads that don’t cheat the reader. But do yourself a favor, please: read these other great books I’ve referenced, too, even if you have to go to the library to read the Norton-Edghill collaborations. (You’ll be glad you did.)
Ben Sheets Signed by Atlanta Braves to Minor League Deal
Folks, Ben Sheets’ comeback is official, as he’s been signed by the Atlanta Braves to a minor league deal as of last evening (Sunday, July 1, 2012). Here’s a quote from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, which is here:
“We’re getting a guy who is a four-time All-Star and there is nothing wrong with his arm,” Wren said. “You have a quality major league pitcher prior to the deadline without having to give up any talent. It really is the best of all worlds.”
Sheets is scheduled to make at least two starts in Double-A Mississippi, largely because it’s only 90 minutes from his home in Louisiana. He’ll go five innings or 75 pitches on Wednesday, then six innings or 90 pitches in a start after that. If all goes well, the Braves think he could be ready shortly after the All-Star break.
This all bodes well for Sheets, as the Braves’ team philosophy is one Sheets can get behind. Plus, the Braves obviously haven’t forgotten the fact that Sheets once struck out eighteen of them on May 17, 2004 and seem to want Sheets on their side if he can indeed make a comeback a la former Milwaukee Brewers teammate (and pitcher) Chris Capuano.
Best of luck, Ben, with your comeback efforts.
WI State Senate District 21 Recount Over: Lehman is Senator-Elect
The recount for Wisconsin state Senate District 21’s 6/5/2012 election is over. Former Senator John Lehman (D-Racine) has won and is officially Senator-elect. According to the Racine Journal-Times (under a “breaking news” header), Lehman’s margin of victory is 819 votes as opposed to the 834 votes he had after the official canvass; this means Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) is now, officially, former Senator Wanggaard until and unless he files an appeal in District Court.
The Mount Pleasant Patch has a longer and better article, available here, that shows the final vote totals as Lehman 36,358, Wanggaard 35,539, and has a statement from Senator-elect Lehman:
“It shows that we won the election and all of these allegations of voter irregularities are false and are really much ado about nothing,” Lehman said. “The results from election night have been proven correct through tape and tallly totals.”
But, as I expected, Wanggaard is still crying fraud (from his statement):
“Anyone who argues that this recount was a waste of time, or that we do not need voter, ID, either wants to conceal these potential fraudulent activities or hasn’t been paying attention,” Wanggaard said in statement released this afternoon. “The list of problems now includes missing pages in poll books, missing signatures, wrong voter numbers, wrong and unverified addresses and most shocking of all, unsealed and sealed and reopened ballot bags – all without explanation. None of these issues would have been discovered if not for the recount.”
Of course, as I said all along, I was for the recount — for the same reasons I believed Joanne Kloppenburg deserved to know the truth regarding her race against David Prosser for the state Supreme Court last year. She, too, ran into some real problems — much bigger ones, in fact, than Wanggaard — with regards to opened/unsealed ballot bags, ripped and torn ballots, tape totals that didn’t match, tape dates that didn’t match, and many other inconsistencies and outright errors — yet the Government Accountability Board still certified that election. She went for a state-sponsored recount (as that race was within 1/2 of a percent and thus eligible for state assistance); many Republicans cried foul at the time, saying that the result was unlikely to change anything and because of that, Kloppenburg shouldn’t put the state through the recount. Even with the problems in Waukesha County, which were legion.
And, of course, the recount didn’t change very much; the tallies tightened, but Prosser still won. The only thing to come out of that recount was this: seventy-one of our seventy-two counties in Wisconsin do a good job conducting elections, while Waukesha County is a horror show.
In this recount, what came out is this: there were some inconsistencies. Wanggaard picked up, roughly, twenty votes overall. Some bags were open and/or torn, but not anywhere near to the point things were at in Waukesha County; the tape totals and tape dates were, for the most part, accurate — in short, this was a cleanly-conducted election that proves that Wendy Christensen, Racine County Clerk, does an excellent job even in high-turnout, record-setting elections like this one.
So now that the recount is over, whither Wanggaard? My guess is that he’s going to attempt to tie this up another round and file a lawsuit in court alleging election fraud. But doing so is unlikely to get him anywhere, mostly because the allegations of wrongdoing by Republican operatives are so much smoke and mirrors, meant to obscure the valid point that the voters have spoken and Wanggaard has lost. (The fact that Democrats have also alleged problems with these same Republican operatives, including voter intimidation and “electioneering,” something that is illegal under Wisconsin law, just hasn’t seemed to get much traction, though the Mount Pleasant Patch mentioned it a week or so ago even though I can’t find the link right now.)
For whatever it’s worth, here’s my advice with regards to Sen. Wanggaard: The recount was worthy, but it’s over. The voters have been heard; the original results stand. Now, Sen. Wanggaard, it’s time to do the right thing, what the voters expected of you when they voted you out, and admit that John Lehman has won. Then, go and enjoy the rest of your life.
However, Sen. Wanggaard, if you instead attempt a futile and time-consuming lawsuit a la former United States Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), you’ll only prolong both your own agony and the agony of your Senate district, with almost no likelihood of winning in court. This will spend time, effort, and money to little purpose. In this dismal economy, there’s absolutely no excuse for that.
That’s why I urge you, Sen. Wanggaard, to bow to the will of the voters of your district. You’ve been voted out. Now do the right thing, concede this election, and go live your life. Because assuredly you have far, far better things to do than to file frivolous lawsuits in court.**
And we, the voters of District 21, have far better things to do than worry about when our new Senator, John Lehman, can be sworn in. Because in case you haven’t noticed it, Racine needs serious economic development, soonest. So the sooner you, Sen. Wanggaard, do the right thing and bow out, the sooner he, Sen. Lehman, can get on with helping out the citizens of Racine (city and county alike). Because we desperately need the help that only our duly-elected state Senator can provide.
———-
** Unlike state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), I do know what the word frivolous means and am using it precisely.
Vinny Rottino Claimed Off Waivers by Cleveland
Folks, remember what I said yesterday about IF-OF-C Vinny Rottino? And, for that matter, everything I’ve said about him — his drive, his persistence, and his love for baseball? And how frustrating it was to see that he’d been placed on waivers?
Well, after the New York Mets designated Rottino for assignment (the so-called “nice” name for being put on waivers), the Cleveland Indians picked Rottino up by claiming Rottino off waivers. Rottino’s been added to their 40-man roster, but will most likely be sent to AAA ball rather than join the Indians.
Here’s a link to Rottino’s page at Yahoo Sports (the “news and notes” section):
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7852/news;_ylt=Akf2muXHFae0WkWddPyam5.FCLcF
And here’s an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2012/06/cleveland_indians_claim_vinnie.html
Note that the comments section is particularly brutal with regards to the Rottino claim; the Indians fans are upset because year after year, their team doesn’t seem to do much of anything. Rottino’s only hitting .182 in the big leagues (though he was hitting .307 at AAA Buffalo, when he was able to play more often), which obviously doesn’t look too impressive to those Indians’ fans. But they don’t realize that Rottino’s main ability is that he plays many positions well and can reliably hit lefthanders (despite being a righthanded hitter). Plus, he hustles, doesn’t make mistakes on the base paths, is a smart player . . . really, if these Indians fans just give Rottino a chance (providing the Indians bring him up to the big league club at some point), they might well learn to like him.
But is Rottino an answer to their immediate prayers? No, he is not . . . which I suppose is why those commentators are being so vicious. (That does not excuse them, but it does perhaps explain them.)
That being said, it’s very, very good that the Indians see Rottino’s potential (or at least see a need for him) and have claimed him off waivers. That gives me hope — and it should give Rottino hope, too.
Good luck, Vinny, with the Indians organization.
Vinny Rottino Designated for Assignment by New York Mets
Baseball can sometimes be a cold, cruel business. It is performance-based, and because of that, players are often kept around based off one calculation: “What have you done for me lately?”
But when you know a baseball player, or even follow his career like I do with OF-IF-C Vinny Rottino, that calculation takes a flying leap (as it should, because these players are still human beings). I’ve written extensively about Rottino’s struggle to make the major leagues to stay, and I had truly hoped that with his second stint this year with the Mets that he’d “stick” — but they needed another pitcher, so they called up lefthander Justin Hampson from Buffalo. Rottino was the odd man out, and ended up getting designated for assignment.
Here’s a link from Amazin’ Avenue discussing the move:
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/6/25/3115578/mets-vinny-rottino-justin-hampson-transaction
Now it’s up to the rest of major league baseball as to what they want to do, if anything, as Rottino can be claimed off waivers by any team. If Rottino is not claimed, the Mets may send Rottino back to their AAA affiliate, Buffalo — or they may give him his outright release.
The fact that this fate can happen to anyone (including recent Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Juan Perez, who accepted another stint at AAA Nashville, and former Brewer IF-OF Brooks Conrad, who was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays) doesn’t make it sound, or feel, any better to the particular player in question. And Rottino’s tried so hard — he’s done everything anyone’s ever asked of him, and he loves baseball so much — that this doesn’t seem fair or right.
Yet baseball is results-oriented, which is why it’s imperative for every baseball fan to realize that these player names mean something — someone’s career. Someone’s blood, sweat and toil — someone’s persistence.
As always, I’ll keep you posted as to wherever Rottino ends up next.
Just Reviewed “Delirium” and “Pandemonium” at SBR
Folks, if you love YA dystopian romances, you may well enjoy Lauren Oliver’s work. She can tell a good story; the main problem I had with both of her novels, DELIRIUM and PANDEMONIUM (both featuring the same character and milieu), is that the back story is not well thought out. (To be blunt, there’s no way on Earth that the nasty version of the USA Oliver’s conceived of could wipe out every religion except the state-sponsored one in less than seventy years. It cannot be done.) I expect more out of my YA dystopian fantasy romances than this.
That said, the romances here mostly work. And Oliver’s storytelling ability is sound. So you might like these books a whole lot more than I did.
Anyway, here’s the link:
Have at!
Barb Caffrey's Blog 