Brad's Blog

First Post of 2012...Really?

2012-02-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

     Hello to all seven of you who follow me. I assume that you haven't known what to do with yourself without my inane ramblings to look forward to. I am making a quick post as an update to what I have been up to. Here it is: too much. Between work, online classes, and family, I have not had much time for anything else. I have however, been able to read quite a bit. Here are the novels I have read recently that will end up in my Brad100 version 3.0 (in no particular order):

     True Grit by Charles Portis
      A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
    Four novels in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
   The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
     Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
     The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
     Blindness by Jose Saramago
     Two novels in Ian Fleming's James Bond series
     The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
     Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
    Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
     The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (I re-read this one)
     Emma by Jane Austen.

As you can see, the Brad100 is going to get a major overhaul, including the name. I mean how lame is the name Brad100? I am sure that you probably are interested in which novels made the anti-Brad list and the lukewarm list. Here they are, again in no particular order. The anti-Brad novels:

     Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
     Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (and I love McCarthy)
     Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
     On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Here are the lukewarm novels:

     Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (almost an anti-Brad)
     At Swim-two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
     Money by Martin Amis (almost a Brad100 entry)
     Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow (missed the anti-Brad by a hair and also cause me to       move The Adventures of Augie March farther down on my reading queue)

Somewhere in there I also read the short story collections Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri and The October Country by Ray Bradbury, of which both were wonderful. Expect a more extensive post about my thoughts of each with an updated Top 100 list, complete with thoughts on each book.

Brad100 Novels - Version 2.0

2011-08-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, since I wrote my last top novels list, I have read close to twenty novels. I am still currently reading from my lists of top novels: The Klaw 101, the Time 100, The Modern Library 100, The Radcliffe 100, The Pulitzer Prize winning novels, among others. Some of these novels have been among the best I have ever read, while some have left a lot to be desired. I have decided, as I get back into posting, to update my list . Below you will find the updated novels list, along with some thoughts about the new books, and some updates on previous books. I have decided to move some of the previous novels around. You will find any change I have made with an asterisk next to the number. I am taking the comments out of the novels without a change. If you would like to see comments on the previous list, please go here.

"Watership Down" by Richard Adams
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: A Novel" by Susannah Clarke
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"A Song of Ice and Fire" Series by George R.R. Martin*: After many years of waiting, the latest ASOIAF novel, A Dance with Dragons, came out in July. Excellent as usual, although I am quite concerned with the fate of some of my favorite characters, who have been left with cliffhanger endings.
"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie:
"The Circle Trilogy" Series by Ted Dekker
"The Chronicles of Narnia" Series by C.S. Lewis
"Mother Night" by Kurt Vonnegut
"The Kite Runner" by Khaleid Hosseini*: An absolutely beautifully written novel that places the reader on an emotional rollercoaster. I have never cried more when reading a novel. Review here.
"Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John Le Carre
"The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
"If on a winter's night a traveler..." by Italo Calvino
"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler
"The Dark Tower" Series by Stephen King
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
"The Great Train Robbery" by Michael Crichton
"Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Series by Douglas Adams
"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy
"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace*: Brilliant, frustrating novel that took the greater part of four months for me to read. A 1000 page novel with 100 pages of footnotes about addiction in our society.
"The Raven King Trilogy" by Stephen Lawhead
"Dune" by Frank Herbert:
"The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
"Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton*: I decided to move this novel up a few spaces due to the fond memories I have of reading it as a teenager.
"The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood*: An intricate novel with three seemingly unrelated threads that come together magnificently in the end. Highly recommended. Review here.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury
"The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy and "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
"The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury
"Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton*: Beautiful, heartbreaking novel that served as a predecessor to apartheid in South Africa.
"1984" by George Orwell
"The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde*: A novel that defies categorization based on "Jane Eyre." It's a mystery; it's science fiction. The novel takes place in an alternate reality in which people can enter books. Once Jane Eyre is kidnapped, the protagonist Thursday Next springs into action.
"The Sword of Truth" Series by Terry Goodkind
"The Wheel of Time" Series by Robert Jordan
"The Stand" by Stephen King
"The Magic of Xanth" Series by Piers Anthony
"The Rainmaker" by John Grisham
"The Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy
"Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis
"An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Iain Pears
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
"Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
"Patriot Games" by Tom Clancy
"Sphere" by Michael Crichton
"Get Shorty" by Elmore Leonard
"All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"The Firm" by John Grisham
"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson
"Smiley's People" by John Le Carre
"The Visitation" by Frank Peretti
"Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami
"Atonement" by Ian McEwan
"A Separate Peace" by John Knowles*: The novel that "The Catcher in the Rye" should have been.
"Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome
"An Artist of the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro
"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
"The Testament" by John Grisham
"Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy
"Watchers" by Dean Koontz
"Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank
"The Death Gate Cycle" Series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain
"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro*: An interesting novel about <***spoiler alert***> clones raised in childrens' homes to be used for organ harvesting. Very sad novel about the inability to escape our fate.
"Harry Potter" Series by J.K. Rowling:
"The Honourable Schoolboy" by John Le Carre
"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett
"The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton
"Perelandra" by C.S. Lewis
"Right Ho, Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse
"The Oath" by Frank Peretti
"The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John Le Carre
"Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton
"The Cardinal of the Kremlin" by Tom Clancy
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde
"It" by Stephen King
"Strangers" by Dean Koontz
"The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder
"The 39 Steps" by John Buchan
"The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy*: Fun, fast-paced novel about the original masked superhero.
"Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis
"Out of Sight" by Elmore Leonard
"Without Remorse" by Tom Clancy
"The Homecoming" Series by Orson Scott Card
"On a Pale Horse" by Piers Anthony
"Misery" by Stephen King
"Phantoms" by Dean Koontz
"Congo" by Michael Crichton
"Red Rabbit" by Tom Clancy
"The Green Mile" by Stephen King

Out of the top 100:
             "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
             "Insomnia" by Stephen King
             "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey
             "Ubik" by Philip K. Dick
             "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon
             "Their Eyes were Watching God" by Zora Neale Thurston
             "Neuromancer" by William Gibson
             "The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene

And now for your reading pleasure: The Anti-Brad novels. These are my least favorite novels I have been forced to read or have chosen to read:

"Portnoy's Complaint" by Philip Roth
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce
"Ethan Frome"by Edith Wharton
"Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert
"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald: You can read my brief review here; this novel was excruciating to read.
"The Moviegoer" by Walker Percy: Very dull novel that seemed rather pointless to me.

Novels that I have read in the last few months that didn't make either list:

1. "Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow*: This novel was close to the "hate" list. I just couldn't get into it.
2. "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte*: Close to the top 100. Somewhat dull, with flashes of brilliance.
3. "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys*: Another novel based on Jane Eyre, this one from the point of view of the mad woman in the attic. Not particularly good.
4. " The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov*: Blech. VERY close to the hate list. The devil comes to Moscow and makes all sorts of mischief. Although, some in the novel think he improves it...
5. "Persuasion" by Jane Austen*: Very close to the top 100. I just finished this novel; the more I think of it, the more likely it may be to end up on the list.

Brad returns

2011-07-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been a busy couple of months. I can attribute my lack of posting to a few things: the end of the school year (which is always incredibly busy), running after a busy two-year-old, leading a youth group during a busy time, taking an online class, and quite honestly, writer's block. Since I finished my post on Tender is the Night, which if you remember I hated, I started the 1100 page novel Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. It was a challenging read, and with the amount of stuff I have been doing, it was slow going. I will be writing a review of the novel, as well as a review of the novel Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I listened to on the way to work for about a month. Because it was taking a long time to read the book(s), and I hadn't seen anything worthwhile in the movie theater, my posts would have basically been complaining about how busy I was. I decide to take a hiatus until I had finished with some interesting subjects. For the six of you who follow me, expect a few posts about books coming up, with a preview of my vacation.

Tender is the Night - spoiler alert

2011-04-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Divers' marriage has finally broken, and it only took three hundred dull, agonizing, slow-moving pages. I typically don't care for books in which I can't stand any of the main characters - it's tough to enjoy a book where there is no on to sympathize with. Both Tender is the Night and Ragtime, the last two books I have completed have fallen under this category. I am not going to write much about either book, simply that I didn't care for either one. One thing that is interesting to note: I typically like Fitzgerald's work. I love The Great Gatsby, as well as some of his short stories, but man oh man, Tender is the Night was not for me.

Disney / Pixar Movie Rankings

2011-03-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have a beautiful two-year-old daughter. One thing that my wife and I have have tried to instill in her is a love of Disney movies. Well, we can consider this a major success. We watch an animated Disney / Pixar movie almost every night now, mainly the Princess movies, Tinkerbell movies, and Toy Story movies. I have really enjoyed this new phase and with Tangled just coming out (and with my absolute love for this movie), I thought it would be time to list my rankings of Disney / Pixar movies. I will rank only animated Disney and Pixar movies and for fun at the end I will rank some non-Disney movies as well. Fourteen of the first fifteen movies on this list are also on my Brad100 movie list. I tweaked the movies just a little. On the Brad100 I listed the Toy Story films together. Here I have separated them and placed what I feel is the weakest down the list. I have also placed Tangled in the appropriate spot as well. Here goes:

1. Up: This and Toy Story 3 are the two most poignant animated films I have ever seen. Both are adult films masquerading as children's films. I have found that as I grow older, I enjoy supposed children's films more and search for the nuggets I can glean from them more and more. Both Up and Toy Story 3 are filled with plenty of them.
2. Toy Story 3: See above
3. Toy Story: The film that started an animated revolution. Who would have thought that children's toys would make such a wonderful trilogy?
4. The Incredibles: Another adult film masquerading as an adult one. This has some unbelievable action sequences in it, as well as some wonderful family scenes as well. I ask again: Why has there not been a sequel made for this?
5. Robin Hood: My personal favorite from when I was a kid. I still remember the time I ran through a window pretending I was Robin Hood.
6. Aladdin: An absolutely hilarious movie. One of the only ways I can handle Robin Williams if he is in animated form. Otherwise, I will probably pass on a movie with him in the cast.
7. Toy Story 2: The weakest of the three films (maybe). I always go back and forth on whether I like the second or first more. Having this film ranked number seven should tell you how close the first fifteen films are.
8. Monsters, Inc.: Billy Crystal + John Goodman = Perfect voice work. Alternate Formula: Tom Hanks + Tim Allen = Same Result
9. The Lion King: Brilliant movie. Disney does Hamlet.
10. Tangled: I know this is ranked high for a new film. However, I can not sing this movie's praise enough. Anything that brings my daughter this much joy does the same for me; unless it's Dora the Explorer.
11. Beauty and the Beast: My wife's personal favorite. She is trying to brainwash my daughter into liking this one, but it doesn't seem to be taking.
12. A Bug's Life: The forgotten Pixar film, but by no means the weakest.
13. Finding Nemo: I had forgotten how wonderful this film was until we rewatched it after a Disney World trip.
14. Tarzan: This film has possibly the best soundtrack of every other film on this list. Phil Collins at his best.
15. Ratatouille: This is one that had to grow on me. I HATE mice and rats. Having one serve as a protaganist, especially one that cooks people food, was very difficult for me to get past. Once I got past my own hangups, this was quite enjoyable.
16. Fantasia / Fantasia 2000: I had to lump these two together. I grew up loving the first Fantasia and I really enjoyed the new one when it first came out. I just bought them on Blu-ray and I haven't had a chance to watch them yet. Note to self: place watching these on your to-do list.
17. The Little Mermaid: I just rewatched this with my daughter. Kiss the Girl is still my favorite Disney song.
18. Dumbo: In related news, Baby Mine and When I See an Elephant Fly are two more of my favorite Disney songs.
19. The Sword in the Stone: This is another favorite from my youth. What boy doesn't like King Arthur and Robin Hood?
20. Sleeping Beauty: My Mom's personal favorite. I grew up watching this one quite a bit.
21. Cinderella: I am becoming well-versed in the Princess genre. Cinderella is quite charming. I had forgotten how much I liked the movie, and hated those evil stepsisters.
22. Emperor's New Groove: I first saw this in college, and while it really is one of the weaker Disney movies, it is a personal favorite for its humor. I find both David Spade and Patrick Warburton hilarious. Kronk and Kuzco are great comic creations.
23. Treasure Planet: Another one I saw in college. It's criminal that Disney didn't really advertise this movie, because those who missed this one really missed a gem.
24. Wall-e: Even with the oversaturation of "green" movies on the market, this one is still a great little movie.
25. Snow White: Another one that is still rewatchable after all this time. I don't remember liking this movie as a kid at all, but rewatching it the other day, I was charmed. I must be mellowing as I get older.
26. 101 Dalmatians: I love this movie for not only telling a great story, but also for inspiring the wonderful Simpsons spoof.
27. The Jungle Book: Add I Want to be Like You to my list of favorite Disney songs.
28. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Such a sweet movie. We like to sing the little black rain cloud song at home.
29. The Rescuers: Here's where I think the Disney movies start to drop off for me.
30. Bambi: This one doesn't have the rewatchability factor that most of the others do.
31. Mulan: Pretty good movie, lots of Buddhist stuff in it. I wish they would make a DIsney movie with as much Christian content as there is Buddhist content in this film.
32. Peter Pan: I think I may have this ranked too low. I will need to rewatch it and reevaluate.
33. Lady and the Tramp: This, along with our next film, make up two movies I loved as a kid. However, when I revisited them as an adult, I wasn't blown away,
34. The Fox and the Hound: See above. There is another major dropoff between TFATH and the following movies.
35. Cars: EASILY, my least favorite of the Pixar films. This one felt like an attempt to compete with the "coolness" factor of Dreamworks animated films. Some questionable jokes, trendy actors, and attention deficit disorder filmmaking make this one a weak film for me. I can't believe that this one gets a sequel before so many other worthy films.
36. Pinocchio: We don't watch this one in the Hughes household too much due to multiple use of the term "ass."
37. Alice in Wonderland: My wife's least favorite Disney film. She hates the AIW story, still refusing to watch the Johnny Depp version.
38. Atlantis: Another one I think I have ranked too low. I don't own this one. I need to buy it and rewatch it.
39. Hercules: Another funny film. I have only seen this once and do not remember it too much. Another drop off is coming.
40. Bolt: This movie leaves me cold for some reason.
41. Oliver and Company: Pretty boring. May need to rewatch.
42. Lilo and Stitch: I have never understood the hype for this film. To be fair, I have only seen it once, but I have never felt the urge to see it again.
43. Meet the Robinsons: I think this is another attempt to compete with Dreamworks. There are some jokes that are just weird for weirdness' sake. I may rewatch this movie; as I type this rating, I already feel like I am being unfair to it.
44. Brother Bear: I can't stand this movie.

Need to Rewatch (NTR) or Never Seen (NS)
The Princess and the Frog (NS): I have actually seen half this movie and we decided to finish it later. The fact that we have never finished it should tell you something.
The Three Caballeros (NTR): I haven't seen this one since I was a small child. I like the EPCOT ride based off of it though.
The Aristocats (NTR): I can't remember a thing about this film.
The Rescuers Down Under (NTR): I can't remember much of the plot of this film, although I remember liking it.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (NTR): I love the Ichabod song and half of the movie. I don't remember the Mr. Toad half though.
The Black Cauldron (NTR): I saw this when I around five. Don't remember it at all.
Pocahontas (NS): This one came in a stretch when I couldn't have cared less about Disney films. This is another one that has so much Native American new-age content. Once again, I would love to have as much Jesus content in a Disney film.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (NS): Also came out during my anti-Disney phase.
Home on the Range (NS): A Disney film with Roseanne in it? No thanks.
Chicken Little (NS): I have this one coming on Blu-ray as a free gift from Disney Movie Rewards.

Non-Disney/Pixar Movies worth ranking

1. Shrek 2: VERY funny movie. Puss in Boots is what makes this one better than the first one.
2. Shrek: Probably started the revolution in which animated films had too much adult content in them.
3. Despicable Me: Extremely quotable movie. Gru is a great character.
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: This gets my vote for funniest animated film of all time. They also did it without questionable content.
5. How to Train Your Dragon: As much as I dislike the Christian Slater soundalike that voices Hiccup, this is a cute, cute movie.
6. Hoodwinked: This is another funny film. Patrick Warburton is so funny.
7. Madagascar: The chief, voiced by that Borat guy I can't stand, is a hilarious character and makes this movie.
8. Robots: Robin Williams Postulate from before still applies.
9. The Secret of Nimh: This movie scared me so much when I was a kid. Terrifying stuff for children.
10. An American Tail and Fievel Goes West: I loved these movies as a kid. We bought the first one and the songs are still wonderful.

Animated Movies I couldn't stand
Antz: I am not a fan when studios develop a kid's movie around an adult comedian. When it comes to a kid's movie, Woody Allen = blech.
The Bee Movie: Same with Jerry Seinfeld
Over the Hedge: Not funny enough
Shrek 3: Left me cold
Madagascar 2: Ditto.

Animated Movies on my list to see:
The Iron Giant
Megamind
Gnomeo and Juliet

The Kite Runner

2011-03-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

As I wrote in an earlier post, I have always been an avid reader. I had always considered myself to be well-read until I looked over a series of critics' lists of top novels. As I looked over the lists, I came to a realization: I wasn't quite the well-read book enthusiast I considered myself to be. Apparently, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and most science fiction novels don't make the list(s) of critics. So I decided to catch up on many of the novels I had always wanted to read. These lists, however, sometimes take me to books that are highly acclaimed, yet unbeknownst to me. The Kite Runner, the first novel by Khaled Hosseini, is one of two amazing novels I have read in recent weeks. The other, Cry, the Beloved Country, will receive its own post soon. I never would have picked either book up had I not been led to them by Keith Law's blog and his list of top novels, the KLaw 101. I use this list, along with the Time Top 100, the Observer Top 100, and the Modern Library Top 100. The KLaw 101 is the list I agree with the most, while I agree with the Modern Library list the least.

The Kite Runner tells the story of Afghanistan and its inhabitants through the eyes of Amir, the son of a wealthy and generous merchant. Thirty years of Afghan history are covered, including its time of prosperity, its period as a part of the USSR, and its current state after 9-11. This is only a part of The Kite Runner, however. The novel is also about our actions, how one bad decision can affect a lifetime.

The novel begins by introducing us to Amir and Hassan, two young friends who are separated by class distinctions. Hassan is the son of Amir's family employee. He also practices a different type of Muslim faith then Amir. These, along with Hassan's different ethnicity, make it difficult for Amir and Hassan to hold a traditional friendship, especially around other boys of Amir's class. The two, as most boys in Afghanistan, are avid kite fliers. In Afghanistan, kite flying turns into a competition as to who can keep his kite flying the longest as those around it attack and try to break its string. A pivotal moment in the novel occurs when Amir wins a competition and Hassan goes "kite running," in which he tries to chase down the last kite.

Here, without spoiling anything, something terrible happens to Hassan and Amir witnesses it. Rather than intervene, he runs home and tells no one. This poor decision impacts the future of both Amir and Hassan. This decision, along with events in Afghanistan's troubled history, lead Amir to America while Hassan is left behind. The rest of the novel deals with Amir's life in America, his return to Afghanistan, and his attempts at redemption. To call this novel a "tearjerker" would not do it justice. Time and again I found myself sitting there crying as I found one heartbreaking, or heartwarming, scene after another. This may be the most emotionally affecting novel I have ever read. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, let me just stop myself and say that this novel is highly recommended. I will place it somewhere in the top twenty, and possibly in the top ten, of my Brad100 top novels list.

Coming Soon

2011-03-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

Posts I am working on:

Review of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini;
Review of Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton;
Review of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke;
A devotion on the condition of one's heart

Christian Rap

2011-03-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

This post is for my good friend Mike, who is a big rap fan. He knows I also like rap and hip/hop and requested a post on my favorite christian rap and hip/hop songs. This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just a few songs that I think are some of the best christian rap has to offer. In no particular order, I will make comments about some, but not all:

1. Cling to You - Trip Lee: I think Lee and Lecrae would be the rappers that could most easily transition over to the mainstream.
2. Not a Slave - J.R.
3. Oh My Lord - Sho Baraka
4. Walking on Water - Lecrae: I got to see Lecrae in concert recently and he is the real deal. Totally talented rapper, totally sold out for Christ
5. Identity - Lecrae: My wife's personal favorite rap song
6. See More Him - Flame: This one has a really cool chorus. "I want to see more Him, cause I'm sick of more me, I want to be like Zacheus in the sycamore tree..."
7. Tonight (All of Me) - Flame
8. Gimme Dat - Ambassador
9. My Clothes, My Hair - Ambassador: Possibly my favorite rap song.
10. Talk a Lot - Ambassador
11. Our God - The Cross Movement
12. When I Flow (It's Gospel) - The Cross Movement
13. Let's Go - DJ Maj
14. Can't Take it Away - DJ Maj
15. Through the Night - DJ Maj
16. On that Cross - Flame
17. Sky May Fall - Grits
18. Breathe In Breathe Out - Lecrae: Really fun.
19. Hands High - Lecrae
20. Good & Bad - Phanatik
21. Don't Drink the Water - Playdough: As you are about to see, I really like Playdough.
22. Daisy Proof - Playdough
23. Clappy Valentino - Playdough
24. Sandal Sole - Playdough
25. Seeds of Abraham - Playdough
26. Hear My Cry - Soul P
27. Living Clean (My Life) - Canton Jones
28. Will You Ever Know? - KJ-52: I'm not a real big fan of KJ-52, but this is probably his best song. Very powerful.

I hope you enjoy these, if you are a fan of rap. I am always interested in getting the word out on talented christian artists. I will also post these on my account on Ping.

Music stuck in my head

2011-03-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

I thought I would jot down some songs that have been speaking to me lately. These are songs that for whatever reason have been running through my mind lately. I thought I would share them for anyone that may want to download some new music. Warning: Most of these are "christian" songs. Exposure to them may lead to spontaneous praise. In no particular order:

1. Love Found Me - Revive: Simply a fun song reminding us of our redemption. I love the reminder of God pursuing us.
2. Pride - Syntax: Not technically a "christian" song. I first heard it as part of the soundtrack to an episode of Bones. I love the chorus: "Don't hide, shine a little light, give up on your pride."
3. At Least it was Here - The 88: The theme song to Community. The song is interesting; I think the theme is about leaving something you love. It's sort of the theme song for the career change I had to make this past year.
4. We Will Follow - Jars of Clay: An extremely catchy song about following God no matter what. I love the first verse. "Will you open my heart and reach inside, till the blood on your hands is yours not mine."
5. Christ is Risen (Radio Edit) - Matt Maher: I love the original of this song, but Maher has a slight lisp that is somewhat distracting. When he sings,"we are one with Him (Christ) again" it sounds like, "we are one with sin again." Kind of distracts and defeats the message. The radio edit fixes the lisp and makes the song much less distracting, freeing worship. When Maher sings, "Oh church, come stand in the light, our God is dead, He's alive, He's alive!" get ready to lift your hands (if you're into that sort of thing).
6. Deathbed - Relient K: An awesome song about the love of Christ for a man who has led a pretty sad life.
7. All of Creation - MercyMe: Try not to listen to this one in the car, it may cause you to lift your hands (if you're into that sort of thing).
8. Less is More - Relient K: Another song about removing pride. Does anyone care to guess what a major problem of mine may be?
9. The One - Brandon Heath: The power of one person caring.
10. The Moment of Truth - Matthew West: I love the verse about how a daughter can be something that leads you back to Christ.
11. Lead Me - Sanctus Real: My prayer.
12. Keep My Heart Alive - Sanctus Real: My second prayer. Something tells me Matt Hammett and I may have had similar years.
13. Starry Night - Chris August: This whole CD is awesome. Download it, that's an order!
14. Oh Lord You're Beautiful - Keith Green: Amazing song, from one of the innovators of contemporary christian music.
15. God You Reign - Lincoln Brewster: We've been singing this one in church a lot lately.

I could go on and on, but these are 15 songs you should check out. Hopefully they will bring you closer to the Lord, each of them has been speaking to me quite a bit. That's one of my favorite things about music, how God uses it to draw us closer to Him.

Thank You For Hearing Me

2011-03-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

Scripture:

Hear my cry, O God,
   listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to you
   when my heart isfaint.
Lead me tothe rock
   that is higher than I,
for you have beenmy refuge,
   a strongtower against the enemy.

Let medwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge underthe shelter of your wings!

Psalm 61: 1-4 ESV

Song: Thank You For Hearing Me - David Crowder Band

One thing that I found led me to Christianity and continues to keep me in awe is that we serve a God who listens. We serve a God who is interested in a relationship with us, and just as with any healthy relationship, communication is a two-way street. In my last devotion, I wrote about how we must listen to the still small voice whispering to us. One thing that is often forgotten however, is how much God wants to hear from us. Something that I have noticed in scripture is that the men and women who seem closest to God are the ones who are constantly communicating with Him.

Let's look at King David. King David wrote many of the Psalms, and they are incredibly personal pieces of scripture. They give us a revealing look at one man's relationship with God. Many of the Psalms are uplifting; some are depressing; and some seem downright presumptuous. When I was a child, and even now as an adult, I am amazed at some of the things that David says to God (and gets away with). What they tell me though is that God wants to come to a place of comfort and honesty with Him. We should always approach Him with reverence, but He also wants authenticity from us, not just rote words we have memorized.

Look at Psalm 61. David comes to the Lord knowing that he needs protection and strength. He is not timid in asking for it either. He knows that he serves a God who is listening to him and is concerned for his welfare. We have been told in scripture that God is our "refuge" and our "strength", a "very present help in times of trouble." He wants to hear from us so that He can come swooping in to our rescue. Make sure that today, you take the time to speak to God, asking Him for what you need and acknowledging Him for what He has done in your life. Make this a daily habit and you will begin to see a growing, healthy relationship with God.

Review: The Blind Assassin

2011-03-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

     It is difficult to describe The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. The title comes from a character in a story told in a novel within the novel itself. Sounds confusing, right? It's not a confusing novel, however it may sound. It is sad, beautiful, and poignant. The Blind Assassin is the first Margaret Atwood novel I have read, and it won't be the last. Atwood has composed an outstanding novel in which she ties together an elderly woman's memoir, a novel-within-a-novel, and newspaper clippings that reveal facts about the protagonist's life. What begins a little choppy weaves together seamlessly at the end to form a coherent and haunting narrative.
    The novel begins with Iris Griffen describing her sister's death. It then jumps to a newspaper clipping also describing the death. Suddenly, in the next chapter, we begin the novel "The Blind Assassin", written by the deceased sister. Throughout the novel, we are constantly jumping back and forth to these three distinct styles. By the end, we have had many facts about the two women's lives revealed. The relationships throughout the book are painful to follow, knowing that tragedy awaits. I won't give anything away, but the novel is a little predictable. I didn't find any of the revelations to be surprising, having figured all of them out well ahead of the reveals.
   I did find the novel difficult to get into at first. It was hard to get into a groove shifting from one narrative to another. Around page 150 however, the three narratives began to be given more time before a shift and it allowed me to read bigger chunks at a time. Once each narrative was given a little room to breathe, I flew through the remainder of the novel. One final thing I will say about the novel: Atwood writes some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. Through Iris, she makes some very witty and perceptive remarks about life in general and the struggles we face throughout it. I would highly recommend the novel to discerning ADULTS who are looking for a fascinating, if not particularly fast-paced read. I would place The Blind Assasin in the Brad100 novels around #28 bumping The Power and the Glory (#100) off the list.

The Still Small Voice

2011-02-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

And he said, "Go out andstand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18

Song: Still Listening - Third Day

     Have you ever felt lonely? Maybe abandoned by God or overwhelmed by the circumstances in your life? Has it ever been difficult to hear the voice of God?  The feeling is more common than you may think. Since the beginning of time, followers of God have encountered dry spells in their lives. Even some of the most famous people in the Bible have fallen into this trap. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah, after a major spiritual victory, has had his life threatened by the evil Queen Jezebel. After fleeing in fear, he ends up in a cave, alone. This cave is where the great prophet has an encounter with God he is unlikely to forget.
     In this cave, God visits Elijah. He asks Elijah the question, "What are you doing here?". I love this question, because God is reminding Elijah of all He has done. God had just shown up in a big way and allowed Elijah to defeat 450 prophets of Baal. He has proven His faithfulness to Elijah time and again. Now, when Elijah's life has been threatened, he forgets this faithfulness and sees only the threat to his life. God asks him this question because due to his circumstances, Elijah has forgotten his duty and calling and fled.  Elijah's answer is interesting. He is clearly very focused on himself instead of God. He tells God, "Look, I have been very faithful (and I'm the only one). Look what it's gotten me; my life has been threatened." Of course, this is a paraphrase of mine, not scripture. I just find it interesting that Elijah honestly feels he is the only person serving the Lord faithfully.
     Of course, God's answer is even more interesting. He tells Elijah to walk out to the mouth of the cave. There he encounters a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire. But according to scripture, God is not in any of these. Elijah sees a demonstration of God's power, but God is not in any of the noise. After all the noise, after God has gotten Elijah's attention, He comes to him as a gentle whisper. There He tells Elijah, "Look yourself. I have 7000 faithful followers in Israel. Get over it, trust in Me, and get to work." It is important to note that it took the noise being silenced before Elijah could hear God's voice.
     You see, it is very similar in our lives as well. We live in times in which we are being bombarded by noise. We have the easiest access to information than we have ever had before and consequently, silence and peace are the hardest they have ever been to come by. Now, it is important to note, that I am no Luddite: I am always up on the latest gadgets. However, it is important to temper the amount of noise in our lives with periods of silence in which we seek God's voice.
    The same is true when we are in the midst of difficult circumstances. It is so easy to take our eyes off of God and place them on the circumstances. So many people's faith is based on how things are going in their lives. Some are closest to God in difficult circumstances, forgetting to lean on Him when things are going well. Some are closest to God when things are great, but feel as if He has abandoned them when things are difficult. The trick is to maintain a daily relationship with God, seeking Him daily. We need to take those daily moments to silence all the noise, push out our circumstances. God is always present whispering to us, we simply need to listen.

The Brad100 movies

2011-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here my top 100 movies. Just as with my top novels, I have chosen movies that I found enjoyable and/or rewarding. As I compiled my list, I realized how much I like popcorn movies. Here's your warning: There's not a lot of depth here. If you like comic book movies and cartoons, this is the list for you:

1."Original Star Wars Trilogy": Nerd Alert. Consider this warning number two.
2. "Inception": The best new movie I've seen in years. Absolutely mind bending.
3. "Casino Royale": Gets rated this high because it achieved the impossible: it made poker look interesting.
4. "Up": The four minute scene set to Michael Giacchino's brilliant score tells us more than most full-length movies.
5. "Groundhog Day": Best. Comedy. Ever. Bill Murray can do so much with an expression.
6. "North by Northwest": One of the enduring images from my childhood was the scene in the cornfield where the crop duster buzzed Cary Grant.
7. "Braveheart": FREEDOM!
8. "Master and Commander": Expect a blog post about the scene where Russell Crowe visits a young, injured member of his crew. This scene illustrates the type of man I aspire to be.
9. "Amazing Grace": Watch it for the scene with John Newton. Albert Finney rocks.
10. "Toy Story Trilogy": I have so many fond memories of the first two movies from when I was a kid. Now I get to watch my daughter enjoy all three.
11. "The Sting": This is my one of the movies my Dad and I watched every time it was on TV. Expect more of those on this list.
12. "Batman Begins": For my money, this one is better than "The Dark Knight." The villain isn't quite as compelling, but the movie is simply more enjoyable (and doesn't stretch on as long.)
13. "Big Fish": The only Tim Burton movie I can get my wife to watch. Albert Finney rocks.
14. "The Great Escape": My Dad and I watched this every year on New Year's Eve during my teenage years. I wish we had actors as cool as Steve McQueen nowadays.
15. "The Shop Around the Corner": Many have tried to duplicate the simple formula of coworkers who hate each other falling in love. None have been able to duplicate the charm of this simple film. The cast is absolutely brilliant.
16. "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe": I still think Aslan is the best portrayal of Christ in literature or cinema.
17. "To Kill a Mockingbird": The scene where everyone stands as Gregory Peck leaves the courtroom still gives me a lump in my throat and makes me swell with pride.
18. "Gladiator": "Are you not entertained!?!" Yes, yes I am.
19. "Collateral": Tom Cruise's best performance ever.
20. "Matchstick Men": Sam Rockwell is my favorite character actor currently.
21. "Sherlock Holmes": Another cast that I found to be note-perfect. And that score!
22. "Raising Arizona": This one probably needs to be rated higher on Brad100 version 2.0
23. "Rear Window": Jimmy Stewart + Alfred Hitchcock = Cinematic Gold. See Also: Vertigo and Rope.
24. "The Incredibles": Why has there not been a sequel to this film?
25. "How the West Was Won": Another film my Dad introduced me to. Great intro song.
26. "Disney's Robin Hood": This was my favorite animated film for a long time. One bright spot in a tough decade for Disney.
27. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade": Every odd-numbered Indiana Jones movie is brilliant. Even numbered...not so much.
28. "Luther": Here I stand, I can do no other.
29. "The Dark Knight": I didn't like it as much as "Batman Begins", but this is still an outstanding movie. Heath Ledger wins Greatest Villain Ever.
30. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail": Every teenage boy knows every line to this movie.
31. "Aladdin": Aladdin got me out of my "too cool for Disney" phase.
32. "Monsters, Inc.": Boo reminds me of my beautiful little girl.
33. "The Lion King": A better version of Hamlet than Mel Gibson's.
34. "The Matrix": This series went downhill faster than the TV show Heroes.
35. "The Goonies": Another favorite from my childhood.
36. "The Sandlot": Will always be one of my favorites. FOREVER.
37. "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy": Overly long, sometimes boring, somewhat pretentious. Doesn't that describe the books as well? Still enjoy them though.
38. "Catch Me If You Can": I can't believe that we have made it this far and this is the first Tom Hanks movie.
39. "A Beautiful Mind": I would watch Russell Crowe read the Phone Book.
40. "The Prestige": Great cast, weird David Bowie sighting.
41. "Vantage Point": 90 minutes of non-stop action. You never get a chance to catch your breath.
42. "Spiderman 1 and 2": We won't speak of the third film.
43. "X-Men 2": Hugh Jackman is a great Wolverine.
44. "Star Trek": Everything J.J. Abrams touches is gold.
45. "Back to The Future Trilogy": The 2nd one is my favorite.
46. "The Fugitive": Excellent, exciting movie. One of Harrison Ford's best performances.
47. "The Untouchables": Another movie of my Father's and mine.
48. "The Bourne Trilogy": This is a trilogy I need to revisit. It probably should be rated higher.
49. "Minority Report": Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise before he became creepy, and a Philip K. Dick story. I'm in.
50. "Cinderella Man": Not an exciting boxing movie by any means, but a poignant one.
51. "The Natural": The scene where Redford's home run hits the lights will make anyone a baseball fan.
52. "The Greatest Game Ever Played": The best golf movie I have ever seen. This one came out before Shia Lebouf started taking himself too seriously and getting into bar fights.
53. "The Shawshank Redemption": One of the few movies that improves upon the original novel(la).
54. "The Abyss": Before James Cameron started making movies I hate.
55. "Iron Man": Jon Favreau is quickly becoming a great, crowd-pleasing director.
56. "Signs": Before Shyamalan started making movies I hate.
57. "Pirates of the Caribbean": The first one of course.
58. "The Last Samurai": It's amazing how many Tom Cruise movies I like. Of course, Vanilla Sky is not included in that list. Magnolia is good though.
59. "Two Weeks Notice": Hilarious romantic comedy.
60. "Mission Impossible Trilogy": This trilogy would be ranked higher if not for the second film.
61. "The Count of Monte Cristo": I have never read the book, so I can't compare the two. I've heard that this is not too faithful an adaptation, but it is an enjoyable film.
62. "The Princess Bride": Thanks to my mother and sister, this, along with Grease, are the two most watched films of my childhood. I have very conflicting feelings about the two though; one is on the list, one is most definitely not.
63. "Beauty and the Beast": Thanks to my wife, mother, and sister, this may be the most watched film of my life.
64. "Stranger than Fiction": Watch it for great performances by Emma Thompson and (gasp!) Will Ferrell. There is a line at the end by Thompson that is simply brilliantly written and performed.
65. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers": Don't hate, my favorite musical ever.
66. "Jurassic Park": When this movie first came out, I hated it due to subtle differences from the book (which I read four times as a teenager). Given time, I have come to appreciate how good a movie this really is.
67. "Sliding Doors": Shawn Spencer on Psych may not admit to seeing this movie, but I will. I also will admit to loving this movie.
68. "Napoleon Dynamite: It's funny how many of these movies I didn't like the first time around yet enjoyed when I gave them a second chance. Quirky and fun.
69. "Maverick": Mel Gibson's most fun and charismatic performance. My grandmother is in love with Mel Gibson. I still remember taking her to see What Women Want. Really.
70. "Notting Hill": Julia Roberts is wonderful in this movie as is Hugh Grant. Lots of funny moments: "These carrots were murdered. How beastly."
71. "A Bug's Life": Time for a run on animated films.
72. "Finding Nemo": I appreciate this film even more as a parent.
73. "Ratatouille": This film has grown on me over the last few years.
74. "Shrek and Shrek 2": I enjoy the second quite a bit more than the first. Why? Three words: Puss in Boots.
75. "Despicable Me": Once again, having a daughter made me appreciate this movie so much more than I would have if I were not a parent. Gru is a great character.
76. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs": This is one funny movie. Shenaniganizer!
77. "School of Rock": Jack Black can make me laugh by raising an eyebrow. I don't believe I am the only one for which this is true.
78. "The Mask of Zorro": The movie that made me like Antonio Banderas. And love Catherine Zeta-Jones. Of course, our love affair ended when I met my beautiful wife.
79. "Meet the Parents": The sequels will also not be spoken of. Robert Deniro can do it all.
80. "Taken": Watch Liam Neeson kill most of Paris. I plan on watching this movie every time my daughter asks me for something I am reluctant to grant.
81. "The Truman Show": Strange premise, brilliant execution.
82. "Superman II": The best of all the Superman films. Most of them aren't worth watching; this one is.
83. "Silverado": Great cast, look at the DVD cover and you'll understand.
84. "Remember the Titans": A fun movie, with a great message. Unfortunately, some of the football scenes are possibly the worst ever put to film.
85. "The Rookie": True story (with a little embellishment) about a 40 year old rookie that played for the Devil Rays.
86. "I Am Legend": Truly terrifying film that causes your uneasiness to build well before you ever see a villain.
87. "Vertigo" and "Rope": I decided to lump these two together in order to continue to cheat so that I could get well over 100 films on this list. I believe I have already shown you my formula about Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock.
88. "The Road": Great book, great movie.
89. "Night at the Museum": This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I like the second one as well.
90. "National Treasure": This will probably be a popular opinion, but I didn't like the second one at all.
91. "The Lake House": If a movie has Sandra Bullock in it, I will probably see it at some point, even if it has Keanu Reeves in it.
92. "Romancing the Stone": This is another one in the running for the most watched film in my lifetime.
93. "Ocean's 11": The cast seemed to have had as much fun making the film as the audience had watching it. Unfortunately, for the next two films the cast seemed to have had waaaaay more fun making the films than the audience had watching them.
94. "Tarzan": I'm usually more a fan of the characters in Disney movies singing their own songs. I will make an exception for Phil Collins' wonderful soundtrack to this film.
95. "The Illusionist": The poor man's Prestige.
96. "Secondhand Lions": Is it just me, or does it seem like Michael Caine is in every film ever made?
97. "3:10 to Yuma": This film makes me equal parts captivated and angry.
98. "October Sky": Any film that shows high school students using Calculus is alright in my book. See Also: Stand and Deliver.
99. "Elf": I actually forgot about this movie (and many other Christmas movies) and decided to tack it onto the end so that I didn't have to renumber. In version 2.0, this one, along with some Christmas movies will move up the list.
100. "Dumb and Dumber": You didn't think we'd make it through the list without a Jim Carrey comedy did you?

Here's my list, for better or for worse. I am sure that I have forgotten many films that I would love to have included on this list. Unlike my book list, this one will change frequently due to the high number of films I watch. For example, my wife and I have taken our daughter to see Tangled twice now. That film will definitely be on version 2.0. Have fun debating the list!

Car Accident

2011-02-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

    On Thursday I was in a minor car accident.   For those of you that do not know, I am a middle school math teacher living in the mountains of western North Carolina. Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, it snowed here. We had a 11 am start instead of the usual 9:00 am, but I needed to be there at 10 for a Student Council meeting. We were planning a dance for Friday night and the meeting was pretty important. I was heading into work and in a narrow spot of our school road there were two oncoming cars. I hit my brakes (big mistake) and slid into a tree. I was only going about fifteen mph at the time and due to the fact that I hit the fender on the passenger side, my airbag did not go out. I had no injuries, other than a sore back. It was my first accident; at thirty years old.
    I was pretty upset at first. I was upset about wrecking my (fairly) new car; I was upset about the money that we are going to need to spend to get it fixed; and I was embarrassed to be standing there as my coworkers and the parents of my students drove past. To be quite honest, I was also angry that God had allowed it to happen. I preached just this past Sunday about circumstances that can distract us and the night before, in youth group, I had spoken about how my car was my sanctuary where I spoke to God the most. Do you think Satan decided that I needed a distraction? Do you think that this was an opportunity to practice just what i had preached? Well, what is meant for evil, God can clearly use for good. I decided to go ahead and work; I wasn't injured and I was literally a fifth of a mile away from school. When I got to school the outpouring of concern and love that I received from my fellow teachers, the students, and the parents of my students was overwhelming. I tried to focus on this positives of the situation and I appreciated everyone's love and concern.
     The more I thought about it, the happier I was that I hit the tree. It didn't seem like it at the time, but it was a definite blessing in disguise. If I had slid to the left instead of the right, I would have hit the oncoming car. If I had missed the tree I would have slid right off the bank and flipped my car. That tree kept me from major injuries and possibly saved my life. Today in church, our preacher spoke about joy in trials.  One quote that stuck out to me was this: "A fruit has to be squeezed to see what kind of juice comes out. In the same way, trials allow us to see what is inside of us." I pray that this accident, though a huge inconvenience and distraction in a very busy time in my life, will only increase my faith in a faithful God and my witness to those around me. If you are going through a difficult time right now, God cares for and loves you. Everything you are going through can be an opportunity to lean on Him and increase your faith.

Super Bowl

2011-02-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

     I have been a sports fan all of my life. I just like all sports, even if I do not have a rooting interest in each league. The two teams I am passionate about though have forever been, and always will be, the Yankees and the Packers. Growing up in Florida in the eighties, there were no baseball teams to speak of and I played teeball for the local Yankees team. The Yankees of the eighties were terrible, it wasn't till the nineties that I got spoiled being a Yankees fan. I am not here to write about the Yankees though. My Dad's side of the family is from Wisconsin, so I was raised as a Packer fan. The Packers have always been a passion of mine but, unlike the Yankees, the championships have been few and far between.
     The first Packers Super Bowl win came when I was sixteen. I was in love with that team. I wore my cheesehead, a gift from my great-aunt, for every game, televised or not. I spent my allowance money on a Brett Favre jersey, an Edgar Bennett jersey (not sure why - Reggie White, anyone?), and as many football cards as I could find. The next year's Super Bowl loss was crushing, as was each successive year of mediocrity. I simply expected every playoff game to end with a Favre interception.
    When the Packers cut Favre, I was firmly on management's side. Favre's constant waffling was handcuffing the team. I imagine it's hard to prepare for a season when you're not sure who your personnel will be. I believed in Ted Thompson's plan to build through the draft, to see a young team grow together.   I have been especially excited to see a team built around high character guys, guys who would go to the mattresses for each other.
     I write all of this to say that even before this year's Super Bowl, I was firmly convinced that this year's team was as exciting and special to me as the 1996 team. Aaron Rodgers is special, there is nothing else to really say. I think that every other team in the league would trade their quarterback straight up for Rodgers. Think about it: would you rather have a 34 year old Tom Brady for the next 4 or 5 years or Rodgers for the next 10? He's just simply tremendous. It doesn't hurt that he's a great guy, it makes it even easier to root for him.
    The rest of the team is just great as well, and really coming into their own. Next year the Packers could be even better, especialy when you consider we'll have Grant, Finley, and Barnett back. I think the only thing that could put a damper on a possible dynasty is the labor strife we keep hearing about. I would hate to see a lockout rob Rodgers, Matthews, and others of one of their prime years. However, I refuse to think about that at the moment; right now I can't stop smiling thanks to a great team and a great group of guys. Thanks, Pack.

Brad's Top 100 Novels

2011-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

A year and a half ago I was looking at the list of Time's Top 100 Novels. This led me to investigating other top lists and I came to one conclusion: although I have always considered myself well-read, I really was not. I began reading through about six different lists and since then I have read close to fifty books. When I decided to start this blog, the first thing that came to my mind was, "I need a Top 100 list of my own." Since I started reading adult novels, I would estimate that I have read about three hundred. The following list consists of the 100 that I found to be the most enjoyable or rewarding, preferably both. Here it goes:

"Watership Down" by Richard Adams: A captivating novel about a group of rabbits who journey across England looking for a new home. You'll forget you're reading about rabbits by the end.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee: The seminal novel about race relations in the South and the empathy and compassion that children have the capacity for.
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: A Novel" by Susannah Clarke: The most enjoyable novel I've read in the last five years.
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Absolutely brilliant novel about obsession, adultery, and class distinction in the roaring twenties.
"A Song of Ice and Fire" Series by George R.R. Martin: My favorite fantasy series ever, and you will soon see that this is my favorite genre. Martin has created the most believable fantasy world I have ever found in print.
"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie: Thrillers that do not include supernatural villains are the ones I find most terrifying. This book scared me to death when I was a teenager. I reread it last year and found myself just as frightened.
"The Circle Trilogy" Series by Ted Dekker: For my money, the best Christian allegory ever, barely topping the following series (although Lewis would remark that Narnia is not an allegory).
"The Chronicles of Narnia" Series by C.S. Lewis: See statement above. Aslan is the best representation of Christ outside of The Bible. "Safe? Who said anything about safe? "Course he isn't safe. But he's good."
"Mother Night" by Kurt Vonnegut: The only Vonnegut novel with a stated moral. Absolutely Brilliant.
"Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut: Strange book about being "unstuck in time." However, it's not Vonnegut's strangest work.
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury: An ode to literature and it's importance.
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John Le Carre: Le Carre's world of spies is nothing like James Bond: tired, plain, working stiffs trying to survive. George Smiley is one of my favorite characters in all of literature.
"The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The greatest tale of the greatest detective ever written. Although I do like Poirot...
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy: A beautiful tale in a bleak world. This book inspires me to be a better father.
"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro: I struggled a bit with this one, I think I possibly should have ranked it higher. Ishiguro writes some of the most beautiful prose I have had the pleasure to read.
"If on a winter's night a traveler..." by Italo Calvino: This one's hard to explain. You are the main character and every alternating chapter is the first novel in a new book you're reading. Hilarious book.
"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller: Another book that had me laughing out loud. Although it's one of those novels that you laugh to keep from crying.
"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler: Philip Marlowe is also up there on my favorite detectives list.
"The Dark Tower" Series by Stephen King: This series about a gunslinger on a quest would have been ranked higher if the last three books (of seven) hadn't been so mediocre.
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card: Science Fiction tale targeted for teenagers that addresses some serious themes: bullying and bigotry.
"The Great Train Robbery" by Michael Crichton: My favorite of Crichton's (obviously). I love the characters, plot, and as a result the movie adaptation.
"Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes: The first book in the top 100 that was a school assignment. Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Series by Douglas Adams: Funny, Funny, Funny. Although the first book is the best.
"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy: McCarthy, Ishiguro, and Clarke are my favorite authors I have discovered recently. I have not seen the film; if it is half as good as the book, it deserved every bit of praise it received.
"The Raven King Trilogy" by Stephen Lawhead: A christian-themed retelling of Robin Hood. This is a clever, exciting series.
"Dune" by Frank Herbert: I loved the first book, liked the second, tolerated the third, and loathed the fourth. I didn't bother with the fifth and sixth.
"The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding: My senior year of high school, I was assigned the task of reading two of Golding's books and developing a senior thesis. I wrote about the importance of religion in his work. This is his most famous, and most brilliant novel.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury: Terrifying book about a carnival preying on a small town. Not sure how they made a Disney movie out of it.
"The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy and "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien: I enjoyed LOTR, but The Hobbit is still my favorite of the four.
"The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury: Technically a collection of short stories, but I couldn't resist putting this in the list of novels. "The Third Expedition" still gives me the heebie-jeebies.
"The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury: Ditto "The Veldt."
"1984" by George Orwell: Big Brother is watching.
"Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton: I read this novel four times in middle school. I had to force myself not to rank it higher. Great movie as well.
"The Sword of Truth" Series by Terry Goodkind: Sword of Truth and Wheel of Time are almost interchangeable for me with Goodkind winning by a nose...
"The Wheel of Time" Series by Robert Jordan: Although at it's best the Wheel of Time is stronger, there's just more low points.
"The Stand" by Stephen King: Stephen King has always been very frustrating for me, with many wonderful moments juxtaposed with real deplorable material. Ladies and gentlemen, I present for you Exhibit A.
"The Magic of Xanth" Series by Piers Anthony: The first 9 in this series are wonderful. The last 2 billion are barely tolerable.
"The Rainmaker" by John Grisham: Great book, great movie.
"The Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy: Ditto. First Clancy novel I read, and still my favorite.
"Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis: If anyone ever doubts the intelligence of christian philosophers, I challenge them to read Lewis. Really heady stuff.
"An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Iain Pears: Mystery about a murder in England told from four different vantage points. Classic unreliable witnesses as each of the four have their own agendas.
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen: I have to admit, this novel captivated me. There was something about the language and narration that I found absolutely charming.
"Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie: A somewhat predictable, yet improbable murder mystery makes this book not quite up to the brilliance of "And Then There Were None."
"Patriot Games" by Tom Clancy: Clancy does such a nice job mixing white-knuckle tension with political commentary.
"Sphere" by Michael Crichton: I always liked this novel that reminded me in many ways of The Abyss, although the movie adaptation of Sphere pales in comparison.
"Get Shorty" by Elmore Leonard: Elmore Leonard doing what he does best: humor, satire, and obscenity.
"All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque: Another high school assignment. I clearly enjoyed my English classes.
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley: Novel that reminded me in some ways of 1984, although in my opinion, not nearly as strong.
"The Firm" by John Grisham: The Grisham novel that set the bar for him. Unfortunately, so many of his recent books don't come close.
"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson: I read this for the first time last year. Absolutely loved it. Treasure Planet is my favorite adaptation of the novel. In the 80s, Disney made a fine mini-series Return to Treasure Island, centered around an adult Jim Hawkins.
"Smiley's People" by John Le Carre: Where Smiley finally takes down Karla.
"The Visitation" by Frank Peretti: My favorite Peretti work: a false messiah comes to a small town and transfixes the locals. Scary stuff.
"Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett: Violent stuff; by the time Hammett is through, there's no one in town for The Continental Op to save, or arrest.
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel: While I don't agree with the author's universalism, this novel has some of the most beautiful passages about Christ I have ever read.
"The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami: I consider this novel very similar to the television series LOST; I will elaborate in a future post.
"Atonement" by Ian McEwan: Heartbreaking story about the consequences of one poor decision. Very bleak.
"Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome: One of the funniest novels I have ever read.
"An Artist of the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro: Similar to Ishiguro's other work I have read, The Remains of the Day. Both are memoirs of an older man looking back on past regrets. TROTD is just stronger though.
"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe: Commentary on colonialism and missionaries in Africa. I actually felt the missionaries were portrayed in a more flattering light than I expected. Some may disagree.
"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner: Easily the most difficult book I have ever waded through.
"The Testament" by John Grisham: This would basically be sold in christian bookstores if it didn't have the foul language in it.
"Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy: One of Clancy's first novels without Jack Ryan in it, this novel is tense, but seems more dated as we become more removed from the Cold War.
"Watchers" by Dean Koontz: Dean Koontz writes pure cotton candy: so sweet yet so insubstantial.
"Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank: Survivors in Florida deal with nuclear fallout.
"The Death Gate Cycle" Series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: This probably needs to be ranked higher. Maybe in Top Novels 2.0.
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain: The first serious novel I can remember my dad reading to me. I owe a lot to my parents to the amount of time they read to me.
"Harry Potter" Series by J.K. Rowling: Probably the most enjoyable series aimed at kids ever written. The last three weren't my favorites, hence the lower rating.
"The Honourable Schoolboy" by John Le Carre: A Smiley novel without Smiley. Hence the lower rating.
"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett: Not as enjoyable as the reviews made it out to be. I guess I just like my detectives to seem like heroes.
"The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton: Another novel that freaked me out as a kid. The scenes where they find the first bodies is straight up creepy.
"Perelandra" by C.S. Lewis: Even more heady than Out of the Silent Planet. I still haven't read the third one.
"Right Ho, Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse: Funny, but after a while it got to be a little much.
"The Oath" by Frank Peretti: The first christian novel that I felt read like a mainstream novel.
"The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John Le Carre: Absolutely humorless spy novel. Le Carre's spy novels are so realistic, especially when you find out that he based many of them on his own experiences in the British Secret Service.
"Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton: Vikings vs. Cannibals. Sign me up!
"The Cardinal of the Kremlin" by Tom Clancy: Fantastic novel that has no name recognition or movie adaptation. Another one that should be higher. Note to self: revise this list.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon: Sad story told from the point of view of a British boy with autism.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde: Vanity, thy name is Dorian Gray.
"It" by Stephen King: Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Exhibit B.
"Strangers" by Dean Koontz: Remember what I said about Koontz's work being insubstantial? I don't even remember this book other than that I liked it.
"The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder: A priest investigates a bridge collapse to prove a higher purpose and plan from God.
"The 39 Steps" by John Buchan: Reads like a novel Hitchcock would have written, which is probably why he made a a film version.
"Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis: It took me a while to warm up to both Amis' humor and his protagonist. By the time I was done I was rooting for them both.
"Out of Sight" by Elmore Leonard: The most enduring scene: George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez stuck in the trunk of a car.
"Without Remorse" by Tom Clancy: Gripping novel about what drives a man to become an assassin. Man, I need to do two things: read more Clancy and move his novels up the list.
"The Homecoming" Series by Orson Scott Card: Series about the remnant of Earth returning home. The central, driving theme is the alienation of two brothers and how it impacts future generations.
"On a Pale Horse" by Piers Anthony: When Death is killed, who replaces him? Why the man who killed him of course!
"Misery" by Stephen King; Scary novel about obsessive fans. The last scene nearly made me jump out of my skin.
"Phantoms" by Dean Koontz: Who says cotton candy is bad for you? Horrible film adaptation of this one.
"Congo" by Michael Crichton: As a teenager, this novel had me in the first chapter when an eyeball comes flying out of nowhere to strike a future victim in the chest. Another novel with a terrible film adaptation.
"Red Rabbit" by Tom Clancy: A plot to assassinate The Pope.
"The Green Mile" by Stephen King: Originally serialized novel about miracles on Death Row. Tom Hanks is quite good in the film.
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens: After watching umpteen film adaptations, I finally got around to reading the novel. Quite charming.
"Insomnia" by Stephen King: I don't remember much about this novel other than creepy bald men and an insomniac with a great destiny.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey: I think I would like this novel more if I reread it. Similar to Catch-22 in feel and tone.
"Ubik" by Philip K. Dick: Strange science fiction novel where nothing is what it seems.
"The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon: This felt like one of Vonnegut's weaker novels to me. I'm going to have to watch my back if the literary community reads that statement. I don't think I have anything to worry about.
"Their Eyes were Watching God" by Zora Neale Thurston: I have a hard time reading about women that follow after men that they know aren't good for them. I do love the last part of the chapter that contains the title line.
"Neuromancer" by William Gibson: The novel that served as the inspiration for The Matrix. Unfortunately not nearly as cool as, you know, The Matrix.
"The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene: A novel about the persecution of the Catholic church in Mexico. Very interesting stuff, I had no idea that it had gone on.

And now for your reading pleasure: The Anti-Brad novels. These are my least favorite novels I have been forced to read or have chosen to read:

"Portnoy's Complaint" by Philip Roth: This novel was so obscene, it made The Catcher in the Rye look like Sunday School literature. Speaking of which...
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger: Much ado about nothing.
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"Ethan Frome"by Edith Wharton: I had to read this one my freshmen year in high school and let's just say I didn't like it. This, along with the next two, is something I will probably re-read at a later date.
"Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert: I had to read this my sophomore year in high school and I hated it. But then I didn't like my teacher that assigned it, so that might have had something to do with it,
"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne: It's amazing, I can't stand most American literature from this period. It's like they thought, "How can we make our literature as dull as possible?", and then proceeded to go through with it. The book I hated from my junior year.

An eventual goal of mine is to write posts reviewing each of these books, in no particular order. I will probably begin with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, as well as Portnoy's Complaint. I have read both recently and both evoked strong, yet completely opposite, emotions in me. I hope you have enjoyed my list; I feel as if it a good mixture of popular fiction and fine literature.Feel free to comment with any criticisms or commendations, preferably the latter.

Posts I'm Working On

2011-02-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some ideas I'm working on:

My Top 100 Books
My Top 100 Movies
A Devotion on "The Still Small Voice"
A Devotion on Matthew 5:16
A Review of Inception
A Review of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
A Post on Angry Birds

Look for these in the coming days (and weeks).

Welcome to the Blog of Brad Hughes

2011-01-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well everyone, it's official: I have created a blog. I have resisted creating one for years for fear of creating more "white noise" on the internet. However, there have been so many topics kicking around my brain in the last few months, that I am convinced that this will be my best outlet for them. As a preview, I plan on writing about family, sports, books, movies, tv, and video games; all from a christian perspective. I am a middle school math teacher and Youth Pastor and may be posting some devotions on here as well. Enjoy!