Nick Hornby is a Genious, duh

http://www.nicksbooks.com/index.php/archives/category/news/

Modern literature can be summed up by one author. His writing has been made into five different movies, given him American Academy of Arts and Letters’ E. M. Forster Award as well as the Orange Word International Writers’ London Award in 2003, has been made into music with the help of singer/songwriter/composer Ben Folds, and he is only 53 years old. His name is Nick Hornby. Maybe you've heard of him.

This is the kind of information you will get from The Official Site of Nick Hornby. The official site has a bias towards Nick Hornby. On this site, you will find all of his works, available to read uplifting comments on and be able purchase with a credit card and a moment of your time. Everything points to Hornby.

On the black bar on the top of the site, you can click on his biographical page, or his books, movies, or the section specific to teachers. This page shows all of the colleges and universities that have adapted some of Hornby's work into their curriculum.

The space next to that is the Charity section. This page has a quote from Hornby about the Treehouse Trust, an organization in the UK that has an education program for children with autism. It has the organizations purpose and how it helps society.

Although Hornby seems to be a great guy, this picture is being painted by his own official website. This gives the website a bias in favor of Nick Hornby.

But in his defense, after looking into the information and browsing other sites, Hornby does appear to be the very same kind of guy that his own website portrays him as. So although there is a bias, it is negligible because it is all true.

The only thing that proves a bias is that none of the comments on his work from journalists or fans are negative. But in all honesty, who can say anything negative about this man's writing? It is incredible.

Multiple movies, a Broadway play, prestigious awards, a column in an art and literature magazine, several best selling books, and he is still young. You go Nick Hornby!

Merry Christmas Everyone, especially my friend and hero, Drew Harris.

Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

True Grit, the Best Western

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/movies/12grit.html


True Grit was a country western novel written in 1968, and was made into an old time western movie in 1969 starring John Wayne. Now, 41 years later, the Coen Brothers are at it again in directing another fantastic film. The new True Grit is starring Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, and a upcoming acress Hailee Steinfeld as the 13-year-old Mattie Ross out to kill the man that killed her father. The film is due to come out before Christmas this holiday season.

The Coen brothers in this article are interviewed on the main points of the film, why did they wish to do this film, and the process by which they choose a young actress for the role of Mattie Ross. They have a lot to say, most of which is that they are not remaking the original movie, but creating an adaptation from the book. They have each read the book, as well as most of the cast, and they feel it speaks to them and is a very powerful novel.

This film is rated PG-13 and the Coen's plan on it bringing in quite the christmas crowd. Since the PG-13 rating, they can show what the young girl had to go through, by still keeping it clean enough for all members of the family.

In all honesty, I am a bit disappointed by the rating. I enjoy new western action dramas just as much as anyone else, such as the Coen's No Country for Old Men, and others such as There Will Be Blood and 3:10 to Yuma, but all of those greats capture their intensity with many aspects that a PG-13 movie can't.

I am still excited about the movie and will see it, but I do wish it were a rated R film.

Most everyone enjoys seeing movies. From my experiences, everyone does, especially Drew Harris. He does not see as many as he should, but I am sure that he will get to this one. It is the tale of a survivor, and Drew is defiantly a survivor.

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B

Don't drive in the fog

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/dec/05/echoes-from-the-fog/

In 1990, Tennessee was hit with a devastating day. In an unexpected fog on highway I-75, two semi trucks collided, and in the midst of the fog, started a 99 car pileup. This pileup is still the largest car accident in Tennessee history. The article presents the events in a terrifying way, almost as if you were in a movie. The author shares interviews with people that survived the crash and police officers that responded to the hundreds of calls dialing 911 and gasping for the breath to say ‘help.’

I read this article this morning when I was in Chattanooga. I was visiting my Grandma for her 85^th birthday with my family, and my dad’s extended family. I discussed the article with my grandmother and she remembered it like it was yesterday. She was not in the crash and lives south of the crash site, but she was connected to it in some way, and so was I, although I did not know at the time…

In 1990, on December 5^th, my mother and father were living in Knoxville, Tennessee. My dad was working almost all hours of the day and my two older brothers were two and three years old. I was not even born yet. My mom was planning ahead on Christmas and wanted to travel down to Chattanooga on my grandma’s birthday and they were going to go shopping in a famous mall in Chattanooga. To get there, my mom was going to drive down I-75. With no knowledge of the fog, my mother was going to drive down early in the morning.

Then on the early morning of December 5^th, my mom called my dad at work before she left the house. He told her something that she had forgotten to do, and had to change her plans on the day. She called up her mother-in-law and apologetically said that she could come down and they would have to shop another time. About an hour later, the crash began.

It was figured that my mom would have been in the crash or just missed the crash if she had made the trip down to Chattanooga that day. My grandma said this morning “I don’t know what kept her that day,”   but then she said “It was God.”

Anything can happen on any given day that can affect us for the rest of our lives it seems. Anything can happen, good or bad. Car accidents happen every day, even though ‘it would never happen to me.’ Teens especially.

I mean even your hero can be in a car accident…

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B