B is for Books

I have a confession to make. As much as I love my Kindle, part of me is sad that books are going away. By the time I start publishing there is a good chance it will be exclusively as an eBook. So the fact I won't have anything tangible to sign, hand out, or keep on my desk at work makes me wish I hadn't stopped writing for the last decade.

As for book Trivia... I'm sure you know this but just in case. The first book produced on the printing press was the Holy Bible. What you might not know: The Gutenberg Bible, as it is known by, was printed in Latin. Only 48 copies have survived the test of time, and of these 48 only 21 are complete. It is known as the most valuable book in the world.

It makes me wonder how it was making the first book. Could Johannes Gutenberg possibly foreseen how prevalent books and printing presses would become or how revolutionary the printing press would be to the world? I'm thinking he had no idea. I also wonder what kind of turnout he had at his book signings. I'm quite sure he could not have fathomed the Kindle that I carry the Bible around on now.

A is for Aliens

Welcome to my first posting for the A to Z Blogging Challenge! Today we are going to discuss the extraterrestrial life version of aliens.

Aliens make great stories in books, short stories, poetry, movies, and most forms of media. Because nobody knows of any extraterrestrial life this has lead to a host of speculative fiction exploring many question.

What if Aliens came to Earth? Would they be friendly? Would they be hostile? Would they just be sight-seeing vacationers? Would they look like us? How would they be different? Would we have any similarities?  Can they listen to Slim Whitman? Are they lizards disguised as humans? Are they unable to make contact with basic elements like, oh say, water?

In celebration of Aliens, here are my 10 favorite movies featuring Aliens visiting planet earth (and it really was tough whittling it down to only 10):

10) Mars Attacks - Put on this list due to its hilarity!! If you are looking for a laugh, you'll find it here.

9) Star Trek: First Contact - This was like zombies in space. A lot of action! You've got to love the ruthless borg. Resistance is futile!

8) Men in Black - Two words: Will Smith. I pretty much love any movie that he is in. Spoiler alert: see #3.

7) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - Well, I had a movie from TNG so I had to add one for TOS. I loved The Voyage Home when I was a kid. My favorite line: "He had a little bit too much LDS in the 60's."

6) V - I loved the original back in the 80's when Freddie Krueger is the alien that creates the hybrid baby. The relaunch was magnificent and could have been top-three material if they hadn't gone and got themselves cancelled.

5) Battlestar Galactica - I love this series. It is so epic with a lot of drama and action. My only fear is that putting it in this particular top 10 list might be a bit of a spoiler. One of the best story lines on television!

4) Close Encounters of the Third Kind - A little light on action, but big on story. This is one of the plausible ways I could see us having first contact. A Steven Spielberg masterpiece!

3) Independence Day - I love the beginning. Aliens show up and start blowing up earth. No explanation. No reservation. This is what I find to be most plausible if aliens decide to pay us a visit. Plus, Will Smith is so awesome in this movie.

2) Signs - So many people love this movie. So many people hate this movie. Personally, I love how everything comes together and wraps up well. A lot of action. A few scenes that had me jumping out of my seat. This and The Sixth Sense are the only two movies that justify having M. Night Shyamalan as a creditable director.

1) E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - Another Spieldberg masterpiece. Probably his ultimate masterpiece. If you can't fall in love with the characters of E.T. then you have no heart. Don't debate it, that is a scientifically proven fact.

I promised a little-known fact with each letter. So how about this. Did you know that E.T. was originally going to be about a family that is terrorized by aliens. When Spielberg changed his mind the original idea was recycled and used in another movie. That movie? Poltergeist!

A to Z Blogging

Fellow Blogcker, Donna K. Weaver, has convinced me to do the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge while also giving a great lesson on comma splices.

In a nutshell, the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge requires a blog post every day in April except for Sundays (we get those off for good behavior). Since the first day of the month IS a Sunday, the challenge starts on the 2nd. I am supposed to go through the alphabet and blog something every non-Sunday.

I'll start tomorrow. This is supposed to help me grow and get to know other bloggers. I'm interested to see how this goes as I could use a little bit of each.

They suggest a theme. I have given this some thought but only a few ideas really attracted me. But I'm going to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and make it easy on myself and just go with blogging daily on something I like. You know, write what you know. My goal will be to teach you something about that topic that you didn't already know. It probably won't benefit you, but who knows what that final Jeopardy question will be when you make the show. I could make you a winner!!

Tune in tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a fun ride!