“How to Train Your Dragon” the Book Series

I really really love the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”, but I’m also insanely in love with the book series that the movie is based on as well. They are two completely different things, essentially, but they are both clever and cute in their own way. This is me giving a little bit of love to the book series.

Now there are several differences between the book and the movie, so once again, don’t expect them to be the same thing. Think of them as two distinct stories and it’ll all be ok.

The charm of the book series is the quirkiness of it. Here’s a story about a skinny kid named Hiccup who is a very un-Vikingish Viking and has to someday rule his tribe of the Hairy Hooligans. His best friend, Fishlegs, is another skinny kid with asthma and eczema. During the first book, both boys get their hunting dragons. Hiccup chooses Toothless, a very very small green common dragon with a lot of rudeness and sass. Fishlegs gets Horrorcow, and I don’t think I need to explain how un-terrifying of a dragon she is.

The two boys eventually meet Camicazi, a Bog-Burglar from a neighboring tribe who becomes friends with them. Camicazi is a great female character, and is more often than not the character getting the other two out of the trouble that they have inevitably gotten themselves into.

The entire story is chock full of warrior women, such as Hiccup’s mother who is off Questing while Hiccup’s dad looks after him. It’s wonderful.

Of course, shenanigans ensue. But the beauty of this story is the sheer mediocrity of the main characters. It is emphasized again and again that Hiccup really isn’t Hero material. And yet despite all of the odds against him, he manages to go on these adventures and outwit these dragons and pull it off. It shows what an ordinary kid can do. You don’t need to be a hero to save the world, you just have to be you.

There’s 12 books in the series, and the final one just recently came out! (I still need to get my hands on a copy.)

It’s a wonderful series, very entertaining and rewarding to read. You don’t even have to be a kid to enjoy it, I’m in college and I get a kick out of it! Since the next movie isn’t coming out until 2018, go read these to hold you over until then!

Oh and I heard that the books and the movies will eventually end up at the same place, so it is kind of cool to read two different methods of getting there.

Just go read about the dragons please, I love this quirky, amusing series too much to adequately express it here.

“Loamhedge” by Brian Jacques

It’s funny, I can remember when this book first came out as the most recent in the series.

Anyways, this book evokes a lot of “Mattimeo”, which is pretty nice actually, since that one is one of my favorites. It’s also one of the more familiar books since it’s one of the three to be made into an animated series. Examples of this are during the summer games at the beginning. Saro wins by jumping to the top of the pole, which is exactly what Sam does in “Mattimeo”. There’s also the same walltop race from “Taggerung”.

The main example of a throwback to “Mattimeo” is that the quest to find Loamhedge covers directly over the same path that Matthias took in that story. So landmarks are the same and all that. It also shows how they have changed over the years, with the Lord of Mossflower falling over. The Badger and the Bell remain though.

And of course, the Abbey is being attacked, same as “Mattimeo”. Same as most books really.

Now the reason why this journey to Loamhedge was undertaken was that Martha is a young hare who has been in a wheelchair her whole life. (Note the fact that this series deals with ableism quite well.) She has a dream that a mouse from Loamhedge, who also couldn’t walk but then was mysteriously healed, could help her. Therefore, an otter and a squirrel decide to go and find out what this cure is.

The resolution of this is actually very nice. I don’t want to give it away, but it works out very well. (Although we never do really find out the secret from Loamhedge…)

One nice touch is that the poem that sent them on their way to Loamhedge only mentioned two beasts, the otter and the squirrel. However, three Redwallers sneak off and join them. And it’s fine. Shows how the poems and such don’t have absolute control over the actions in the story, haha!

And a new tribe of shrews is mentioned here, the Guoraf shrews. I wonder if the Guosim turned into them, or if they’re entirely separate?

There’s so much more information that I wish I had about this series, sometimes I don’t think the stories really do it all justice.

50th Anniversary of Rubber Soul

We take a break from our regularly scheduled nonsense to bring you this important announcement: today marks 50 years since the Beatles' album "Rubber Soul" came out.

This is quite an important album, and is often ranked as one of the best (both ever and for the Beatles). It marks the first album where they really started to depart from just run-of-the-mill rock and roll and into more experimental stuff. It also includes only original songs, no covers, which was still unusual for groups in the 60s (even though the Beatles had already done that with "A Hard Day's Night").

The sitar is introduced on this album and is included for the first time ever in Western music into a pop song. The song is "Norwegian Wood", and of course George Harrison is playing it. This is a great indicator of where the Beatles would take their music next, as George got more interested in Eastern music and philosophy. Songs like "Nowhere Man" and "Girl" show how far John Lennon has come with song writing, and are great examples of how different the Beatles started to sound now. And there's also "In My Life", which is a song that's responsible for many tears. Paul McCartney is contributing songs like "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You" (but overall I would say that John dominated this album). George even contributed "Think For Yourself", a rather harsh song but pretty catchy. And then there's the harsh-but-catchy song to dominate them all: "Run For Your Life". Really John? Ringo also gets to sing on "What Goes On", and he sounds good! People always assume that Ringo is the weak link of the group, but I'll literally fight them on that, Ringo is a good singer! This album also has pastiche songs, or songs where they would imitate other genres. Most notable is Paul's "Michelle", an imitation of a French chanson.

I could go on about this album for a very long time, but I won't, I'll just leave it with the fact that it's one of my favorites and has a lot of my favorite songs on it and go give it a listen in honor of its anniversary, please.

Fighting Terrorists in Belgium

So last weekend my roommate and I travelled to Brussels, Belgium and kicked the crap out of a few terrorists. Just kidding, we had a fairly uneventful weekend really. My parents were freaking out though.

I got in on Friday night and walked around a little, checked out the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, which is a neat looking cathedral. It was also raining a little, so I headed to my hostel pretty quick. 

The next day I walked through Le Botanique, which is really pretty, I would highly recommend it. You wouldn’t expect it to be so nice since it’s in the middle of a city, but I just walked around the garden and was pretty happy. Then I looked at the inside of the cathedral, which was also very nice. Nothing incredibly special, but a good-looking church. After that, I met up with my roommate in Brussels Park, which is a small but quaint park, and we walked down to Parc du Cinquentenaire. It’s a pretty long walk, and it was raining/snowing the whole way so we arrived cold and wet. We got lunch while we were there, didn’t go into any of the museums beyond the lobby of the car one though. Get the hot chocolate, they serve it as hot milk with chocolate on a stick, it’s great.

Afterwards, we walked back and saw the Galleries St. Hubert. We managed to find decently priced macaroons and speculoos, a Belgium biscuit, inside. Then we did the rounds of the peeing stature, Jeanneke Pis, Zinneke Pis, and Mannekin Pis. There are a ton of waffle places near Mannekin Pis, it’s great.

Then we decided to take the train into Brugges. This was a nice contrast, Brugges is known as “the Venice of the North” because of its narrow streets and canals. We got there while the Christmas concert was happening, so we were very happy and got fries and fried bananas. The stalls also had some really nice trinkets for sale. Other highlights are the City Theatre with its statue of Papageno out front, and the Minnewater Park.

The next day we wanted to go to the Musical Instrument Museum, but all the museums were closed due to the threats going on. So we wandered around Grand Place instead, and bought a ton of chocolate to bring back with us. Then we headed back to Scotland.

I really liked Belgium, it has very nice food which is always a plus. And people told me that since Brussels is a political city it isn’t that interesting, but I liked wandering around checking out all the comic strip themed public art. Pairing it with Brugges was a great idea because it gave a bit of contrast as well.

That’s my last trip for a while, as I need to get through finals now. Ugh.

Munich: Beer and Currywurst

Last weekend I went on a short trip to Munich! It was my first time going to Germany, and I was freaking out a little about the language barrier and all that. It ended up fine though, most people know at least a little English, so with my few phrases that I learned from a YouTube video before flying out I made it along just fine!

I got to Munich late on Friday, and then on Saturday had a full day of touristy things planned. First I went to the Frauenkirche, Munich’s most iconic church. I quite liked the outside, with the towers in front. The inside was mostly meh though. To contrast, there’s the Asamkirche, right down the road from the Marienplatz, or the center of town. It looks like it’s just part of the road, but when you enter there are intricate statues and marble everywhere! It’s a gorgeous church, and I like it much more than the Frauenkirche. After that I went back to the Marienplatz to see the glockenspiel go off around midday. I went up to the top of the bookstore across the street, which gave me a really nice view. The glockenspiel mimes two stories from Germany’s history, the first one is where this couple are getting married, and involves two knights jousting (the Bavarian one wins of course). The second is based on a story how way back in the day during the plague men would dance down the street to cheer up the locals. It’s reenacted every seven years or so (I think the next one is in 2019). That was crowded, but well worth it since the glockenspiel was pretty cool to watch!

After that I headed down the road to the Viktualienmarkt, the local food market. People said that it was pricey, but I shopped around a little and managed to find some cheap eats. I would definitely recommend grabbing some currywurst (basically a hot dog with sauce and fries), a bretzel (German pretzel), and a beer in the biergarten. Once I finished lunch, I walked down to see the Munich Residentz, the royal palace. It costs money to enter, so I didn’t, but the garden behind it is very nice and the building is pretty impressive. After that I went to the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum. When I went half of it was being renovated, which was a bit of a letdown, but the ticket was cheaper so that’s nice. It has mostly works by old European masters, which was interesting but not really my style so much. Still, it’s a nice museum.

Then I walked through the English garden. It’s a gorgeous place, and enormous! There’s also people surfing at this permanent wave formed by a bridge in Eingang, very neat to watch. Then I crossed the River Isar to see the Angle of Peace, a stunning statue. I had heard that there was another food market at Wienerplatz, but it was a bit of a disappointment because only one shop was open. Maybe I went on a slow day or something, but don’t expect anything like the Viktualienmarkt. I headed back to the hostel after that, stopping for some schnitzel (basically a chicken cutlet) and a doner kebap (a sandwich with Middle Eastern influences). Both were delicious, I was very happy!

I then had to leave the next morning, which was sad as I didn’t get the chance to see the Dauchau concentration camp just outside of town. But Munich was lovely, the streets are all quaint and gorgeous, and just being in Germany listening to people speak a language I didn’t understand was incredible! I am very glad that I went. 

(I Am)sterdam

Last weekend I went to Amsterdam! It was incredible! Despite the fact that I adore the UK and Scotland, I fell in love with that city. The way my travels worked out included taking an 8 am flight back to Scotland on Monday morning, so I had the Monday from hell and didn’t have time to write about it last weekend. (Seriously my Monday involved quietly getting out of the hostel at 4:30 am and then taking a train, plane, and a bus back to Glasgow in time for class where I had to act like my life was together enough to be dissecting a cadaver in anatomy. It was the longest Monday I think I’ve ever had.)

Anyways so I got to Amsterdam on Friday night, and it was an incredible first impression. I got a little lost in the Red Light District, but surprisingly enough no one bothered me at all. And it was interesting to see that side of the city as well. I eventually made it to De Oude Kerk, and then from there to the National Monument and Royal Palace. From there it was pretty easy to find my hostel. After checking in, I decided to check out the nightlife. Turns out that where I was staying (Amsterdam Hostel Orfeo) is right in the middle of a pretty bustling area since it’s next to the Liedseplein, a square with a bunch of shops in it. There’s a really cool jazz club, Jazz Café Alto, right down the road that I’d recommend.

Oh yes and the coffeeshops. That’s where you can buy marijuana really easily. You can get pre-rolled joints or by the gram. If you go for the pre-rolled, then there’s either ones with tobacco or a “pure weed” joint. Be careful, weed there is stronger than in the states. There’s also space cakes, pro tip, don’t eat the whole damn thing, those take a few hours to go through your system and you don’t want to overdo it. It’s a pretty cool atmosphere inside the coffeeshops though, maybe check one out just for that.

Another pro tip: bikers are everywhere, watch out while you’re walking! (Especially after visiting a coffeeshop.)

Then on Saturday I started off my going to the Max Euplein square, which also has some nifty shops. Afterwards I walked to Begijnhof, which is this tiny square that dates from the 18^th century and is a great place to get away from the bustle of the city. It’s also free to walk around in! Then I headed to the Bloemenmarkt, a floating flower market! There weren’t any flowers in bloom, since it’s November, but it was still a pretty sight. After that I walked to the Hotel Droog, this quirky interior design store. From what I understand, there are Droogs all over Amsterdam where you can look at the furniture, they’re pretty cool. Another market in the area is the Waterlooplein market. This one is mostly clothes, objects, and food, a great place to wander around. One other tourist destination is the Magere Brug, or the skinny bridge. I didn’t think it was that special, the canals and bridges look gorgeous all over the city. Finally there’s the Albert Cryup market, in the southern part of the city. Also clothes and food, this one seemed a bit more lively than the Waterlooplein market, but they’re both excellent really. And that’s just down the road from Vondelpark, a gorgeous and huge park that’s wonderful to walk around in.

Sunday then started off with the Anne Frank Huis. You have to pay for all of the museums in Amsterdam, so I decided to just go for one. (The Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum look excellent as well.) Get there early as the queue can get very long. Other than that, it’s a wonderful museum, really brings a different perspective to Anne Frank and her story. The Anne Frank Huis is just next door to the Jordaan district, which is filled with interesting little artsy shops and beautiful houses. I then spent the afternoon in Noord Amsterdam, since taking the ferry behind Centraal Station is free! There’s not much in Noord Amsterdam besides the Eye film museum, but still nice to see a more residential area. Also they say that you have to pay to get into the Eye museum, but if you walk in and go downstairs you don’t need to pay to see their 360 degree theater and video pods down there.

Then Monday was just get up and go, so that was my weekend in Amsterdam.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the food though. The Dutch cheese is amazing, seriously if you need a snack walk into a cheese shop and sample a few. I mean, if you’re spending a ton of time there then buy something, but it’s cool to just walk in and sample a few and then leave. The pancakes are also amazing! Buy a ton of their mini pancakes, poffertjes, since they are the best thing I ate all weekend. And raw herring is a bit of a specialty, so grab some of that in a market. Stroofwaffles are also a specialty, they’re two waffles with caramel between them and sometimes chocolate spread on top. There are also these stores called FEBO all over the city. It’s similar to a vending machine, and most of the options are basically fried gravy. It’s an interesting experience, if nothing else.

I would definitely 2195678463% recommend visiting Amsterdam, it was an amazing weekend for me and I fell in love with the canals, people, and food there. Ugh, I want to go back so badly, but on to the next adventure!

“Taggerung” by Brian Jacques

I think of this story as the counterpart to “Outcast of Redwall”. In that tale, a weasel (I think, a vermin species anyways) is brought up at Redwall and then proceeds to prove that he is still a jerk. In this tale, an otter is brought up in a clan of vermin and hen proves that he is still good and eventually returns to Redwall.

It gives more of an insight into different tribes in the Redwall universe, such as the otters and the Juska clans of villains. Which is pretty cool, since previously we had more insight into the Guosim shrews than the otters. The vermin no one really cares about.

Abbess Song is mentioned a lot, but really the only character from previous books is Lady Cregga, who is still kicking as the badger of Redwall. She’s awesome.

Really the only aspect of the plot that I had an issue with was that at the end a clan of vermin come to attack Redwall again. And then Russano and his gang of hares show up and basically conveniently drive them off. There isn’t even a battle. How quaint.

So that’s a little too convenient for my liking, but the rest of the story mostly involves small gangs of characters running around, not large armies, which is an interesting change.

One thing I did expect more of was Fwirl’s mother. Fwirl tells her story, and then Tagg meets her mother in the forest, but then that plot line isn’t brought into it any further. It would have been nice to have another family reunion or something like that.

And then there’s something about both this story and “Outcast of Redwall” that bothers me. Jacques never shows that the characters are capable of changing. Sure, someone like Cregga can go from being a bloodthirsty warrior to a creature of peace, but hey never go from bad to good or good to bad. Their basic nature is set from day 1. And if you are a stoat, then you’re a horrible little creature, but if you are a mouse, then you’re a hero. It doesn’t seem fair or accurate to life. (Of course, a better way to put it would be to say that if you’re good you’re a mouse and if you’re bad you’re a stoat, but once again, why can’t this be changed?)

But this is also a series of kids’ books, so I’m probably looking at it too intensely. Being too black-and-white is something that a lot of children’s series do.