The Shining

Okay, I got a little flack for recommending The Evil Dead last week.  Although, technically, I didn’t recommend it, I just stated that it was one of my favorites.  I should have prefaced that with the disclaimer that The Evil Dead would not be most people’s cup of tea.  It is quirky, gross, low-budget and all around distasteful.  I happen to like that, so sue me. 

Can we all agree on The Shining, though?  Good movie, right?  Classic Stephen King novel turned into a classic Stanley Kubrick film.  Scared the pants off of ya the first time you saw it, didn’t it?  They don’t make horror movies like that much any more – methodically paced, psychological and gore used as an accent, not as a driving force of the movie.  Plus, Scatman Crothers!

Here is some trivia I found on the IMDB site that I found interesting:

The book that Jack was writing contained the one sentence (“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”) repeated over and over.  Stanley Kubrick had each page individually typed. For the Italian version of the film, Kubrick used the phrase ”Il mattino ha l’  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”">oro in bocca” (“He who wakes up early meets a golden day”). For the German version, it was “Was Du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf Morgen” (“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”). For the Spanish version, it was “No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano” (“Rising early will not make dawn sooner.”). For the French version, it was “Un ‘Tiens’ vaut mieux que deux ‘Tu l’auras’” (“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”).

The original saying says a lot about Americans: play is just as important as work.  Just try not to do either in a snow-bound hotel with restless spirits bent on destruction. 

The Italian and German sayings are all about getting things done and as soon as possible.  I expected this from the Germans, not so much from the Italians.  I thought for sure the Italian saying would be about food.   

The Spanish saying is appropriate to their mind-set: things will get done when they get done.  Don’t stress!  They take siestas for a reason.

Then there’s the French:  be cautious, don’t take risks and appreciate what you got.  By that regard, the French Jack Torrance wouldn’t have been at the Overlook Hotel in the first place and the ensuing horror would have never happened.  How boring.

class dismissed

I stuck with it to the end and now it is done.  I’ve “graduated” from my first creative writing class.  I even got the certificate to prove it:

It’s about as official as a gold star, but I’ll take it.  If anything it will serve as a reminder of what to look for in a writing class in the future. 

This class was a great experience, but I didn’t really learn anything.  I learned more from reading Stephen King’s book, On Writing and it was a hellofa lot cheaper (plus he is not afraid of a good curse word and has a wicked sense of humor – things I appreciate).  I’ve also learned more from the free on-line critique group I joined (critiquecircle.com).  People blowing sunshine up your arse is a great little ego boost, but after a while I need some good, old-fashioned, honest criticism.  It’s like a tattoo – stings a little at first, but the rewards last forever. 

Maybe thanks to the little ego boost, I have submitted stories to two on-line magazines and I entered another story into a writing contest.  I have two more stories lined up to submit to other on-line magazines that are closed to submissions until 9/1.  What the heck, eh?  The least I can do is try.

didn’t I read this in a Stephen King novel?

Have you heard about the “Best job in the world”that is being offered by the Australian tourism board?  It sounds too good to be true: get paid about $100,000 to take care of a tropical island in the off-season.  Feed some turtles, do some snorkeling, make any needed repairs and post some blog updates.  Minimal work for a lot of pay and no prior experience is required. 

Hmmmm . . .

What if we replaced the island with Colorado mountains in the dead of winter and the tropical villa with a rambling, turn-of-the-century resort with a dark past?  Sound familiar?  Let’s hope the caretaker chosen isn’t easily manipulated by evil forces and doesn’t have a son who talks to his finger.  Where’s Scatman Crothers when you need him? 

Although, how funny would it be if the island caretaker posted a blog entry with nothing but, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy” repeated over and over!