As I have worked, studied and shopped over the passing years of my life, I've been putting together a list of the attributes and procedures that would exist inside my own business. There are many different things to consider, and I find that decisions must always be based on and balanced by the owner's goals. The way a company operates says more about the owner than it does about the company.
So what's my business mission? It's this:
People are more important than things, so make every person's life enjoyable.
My customers must love being in my store, but so must my employees. The products and services provided must benefit them and give them confidence in our abilities. I must have a business that enriches the life of each person that comes through the doors. To the utmost of my abilities, I have to ensure that no one feels cheated or used. My store has to be not only an inviting place, but a place that everyone wants to be and no one wants to leave. I must treat my employees like family, and together we must treat strangers like friends and friends like family. Life isn't about getting rich. Life is about people. People are more important than things.
With all of these thoughts in mind, here are a few of the decisions I've made for when I own a business.
In General
It will be small business destined to close its doors when I either retire or die.
Store Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sunday: Closed
We will close for major American holidays, including: Memorial Day, Independence Day (the nation's birthday), Pioneer Day (or the state's birthday), Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. We will also close early on certain holiday eves (i.e. Halloween, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve) so that employees have time to spend with their families and friends.
Black Friday (if required): The store will only open an hour earlier and close an hour later. Sales will rotate through the store's departments/sections/services throughout the day.
Prices: Prices will be low enough that my store drives market competition and always marked to quarter-dollar amounts. We will feature notably lower prices on local goods in order to stimulate the local and national economy and encourage local business growth in every field.
Price Matching: We will match prices of other stores when proof of price or a coupon is presented.
Special Member Accounts with exclusive discounts: Nope. We won't have them.
Store Atmosphere: The store will be clean, well lit and family friendly with upbeat music that isn't too somber, too loud or obnoxious. Communication will be straight-forward and eye-to-eye. There will be good humor, jovial conversation and smiling faces.
Return Policy: It will be simple, posted at every counter and inside the doors, and stringently observed. ("Product Quality Guaranteed.") Unopened and undamaged = returnable; unopened but damaged by customer = nonreturnable; opened and defective = returnable; opened and damaged by customer = nonreturnable; opened and operative = nonreturnable.
Theft Policy: Zero tolerance for employees and customers.
For Employees
Minimum Starting Wage: $15-20/hour.
Pay Method: Electronic transfer with physical stub provided.
Raises: Possible every 6 months based on personal performance.
Bonuses: Given as earned, based on performance, customer reports, etc.
Schedules: Set upon hiring, and constant from week to week.
Insurance: Provided for both full- and part-time employees.
Uniform: Khakis, company shirt (3 provided upon hire confirmation), apron (if business is retail based), casual shoes and good hygiene. Hair must be clean kept and not styled or dyed in extreme ways; facial hair must be clean and well kept. No more than two pairs of earrings (no extreme gauging); and no visible piercings anywhere but the ears. No visible tattoos.
Paid Vacation: Full-time employees get 3 days to start, part-timers get one. Days will increase when appropriate and can be accumulated over time, but they cannot be cashed out.
Paid Sick Leave: Full-time employees get 3 days to start, part-timers get two. Like vacation, more days can be assigned over time and cannot be cashed out; however, sick days cannot be accumulated over time. Special circumstances (surgeries, uncommon illnesses, and the like) will be dealt with on a personal basis. Health is important to function and happiness... and no one wants or needs sick employees around customers or products.
Personal interviews: Every employee will have a brief private interview with me (the owner) during their scheduled hours at least once a quarter to discuss needs, employee performance, health and happiness, and any other appropriate concerns or ideas. In addition, my office door will always be open to employees and customers who feel the need to discuss something with me.
These are just a few of my basic personal business owner goals and self-appointed standards. They are, of course, much more thought out and elaborate in my notes and many other fields have been considered, but this is a good layout to describe the main functionality and ideals of myself and my business.
What do you think? What do you agree with? What would you do differently? What would your business be like? Leave your comments below.
Yesterday, I post my Top Ten Villain Themes based on one of the best and most challenging assignments I've ever had. Today I'm going to post my Top Ten Villain Songs.
If you missed yesterday's post, a villain theme is instrumental (maybe with some unintelligible vocal embellishment) and a villain song has versed lyrics.
Things to consider while choosing the top ten, included:
1 - Is the whole piece dedicated to a single character or group, not an event in the story?
2 - Does it tell who the villain is as well as their ambitions and purposes?
3 - Does it match their character(s)?
4 - Do you know who it belongs to in the first few notes? how famous is it?
5 - What Degree of Villainy is felt throughout the piece.
6 - Does it get stuck in your head?
7 - Can it survive without visuals to convey the villain's
character/purpose? For songs, are lyrics specific or ambiguous,
requiring the illustrated visuals in order to be understood? - See more
at:
http://srford.blogspot.com/2014/06/top-ten-villain-themes.html#sthash.K5FYzuv1.dpuf
1 - Is the whole piece dedicated to a single character or group, not an event in the story?
2 - Does it tell who the villain is as well as their ambitions and purposes?
3 - Does it match their character(s)?
4 - Do you know who it belongs to in the first few notes? how famous is it?
5 - What Degree of Villainy is felt throughout the piece.
6 - Does it get stuck in your head?
7 - Can it survive without visuals to convey the villain's
character/purpose? For songs, are lyrics specific or ambiguous,
requiring the illustrated visuals in order to be understood?
Unlike the villain themes I had no reason pick a runner-up villain song; however, there are many honorable mentions that could be made. I guess villain songs just tend to be among the most masterfully composed pieces.
Please remember,
the linked videos are connected to YouTube. They are for people who
aren't familiar with the songs mentioned, but the songs on them are not
owned/copyrighted by the uploader. The music belongs to the composer, lyricist, and the
recording/movie companies involved with each production. The videos are use
at your own discretion and risk, and they may go away after a while.
Anyway, without further ado, here are my picks for the Top Ten Villain Songs:
Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Glenn Slater. Sung by Donna Murphy.
I often wonder how many children lost trust in their mothers after watching Tangled. I mean, come on; the entire song is a mother telling her daughter how much she loves and cares for her when in truth they really aren't mother and daughter and Gothel only wants Rapunzel around as a slave to her will so she can use her powers to keep living forever. Gothel cares absolutely nothing about Rapunzel, she only wants her magical hair to remain undiscovered and unscathed. The overly generous professions of love are used to make the abuse Rapunzel suffers to look like some playful jest. The entire song and its reprise are the story of Mother Gothel's self-serving and manipulative character. Gothel is characterized by her cunning. She uses love, affection and concern to hide her completely selfish designs and to immobilize Rapunzel's adventurous spirit.
#9 - Once-ler - "How Bad Can I Be?" - The Lorax (2012)
Music and Lyrics by John Powell and Cinco Paul. Sung by Ed Helms and Kool Kojak.
When the rock-n-roll song begins the Once-ler is a fresh new businessman who hopes to build a thriving business and is trying to placate his guilty conscience. He has just given in to familial pressures and broken a solemn promise to protect the land and lives around him, and now wants to prove to himself that he's not a bad person. However, as the song progresses the Once-ler becomes lost to his greed, throws away his old promises completely, and turns into a money-obsessed monster. By the end of the song he has literally destroyed the natural world and his own business plan through unrestrained consumption. The song is the story of one man's demise and the drastic damage his villainous greed reaped on the world for generations to come. All he could do to cover his tracks is build the wall around Thneedville to hide his legacy. Then he chooses to live alone for the rest of his life, with no intention of turning things around of his own will, even though the seed to do so is there with him.
Originally, "How Bad Can I Be?" was going to be a rock opera entitled "Biggering" which spends more time deciphering the Once-ler's actions. It's worth a listen, but I think "How Bad Can I be?" is much more villainous, corrupting, and addictive. It latches onto the inside of your head pretty well.
#8 - Oogie Boogie - "Oogie Boogie Song" - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Music and lyrics by Danny Elfman. Performed by Ken Page and Ed Ivory.
This song is just addictive. The jazzy tune and more spoken than sung lyrics really bring this gambling bogeyman to life. The entire song is about gambling over lives and killing and eating Santa Claus in a casino-themed torture chamber. Can it get more villainous than that? He's trying to destroy the spirit of Christmas for crying out loud!
#7 - Judge Claude Frollo - "Hellfire" - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Sung by Tony Jay.
This song is intended to be the antithesis to Quasimodo's "Heaven's Light." Whereas Quasi sings of how radiant and good Esmeralda is, Judge Frollo sings of her being a siren, a witch, and a viper. This song digs into a dark piece of Christian history (the often genocidal war against the gypsies (the "heathen")) as well as the lustful cravings of an old man. (Ew!) Anyway, Frollo, who never understands that his vantages and beliefs are often at odds with the will of God and the church, begins by praying for the lust he feels to be taken away; but as the song goes on, his prayer corrodes into an ultimatum as he begins to place all the blame on the Devil's power: "Choose me or your pyre!" He vows to burn down Paris just so he can find Esmeralda, and burn her along with every gypsy he can find if she refuses to marry him. What's worse is that Frollo sees himself as God's justice, quoting scripture repeatedly as if to make his very evil acts into a holy duty.
As far as the music goes, tell me it isn't chilling and addictive. I dare you. ;)
#6 - Scar - "Be Prepared" - The Lion King (1994)
Music by Tim Rice. Lyrics by Michael Jackson. Sung by Jeremy Irons with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings.
First off, this song was sung by Jeremy Irons. That alone makes it awesome. But then you consider that Scar, a type of seditious Hitler, whips a vast pack of hyenas into the Third Reich in less than four minutes and you know you've found a villain song gem. He even insults them the whole time and they still jump on his bandwagon of kingship. I love the way the song begins with Scar talking quietly to himself about the potential following he's found in the hyenas, as well as the way the song builds as Scar gains confidence and the hyenas become more enveloped in his scheme. The music for this song has that chanting type of build that carries the
growing enthusiasm of Scar and the hyenas for the plan they are about
to unleash
#5 - Ursula - "Poor Unfortunate Souls" - The Little Mermaid (1988)
Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman. Sung by Pat Carroll.
For a cast off sea witch to become a mischievous diva, you know it's going to take something good, and kudos to Menken and Ashman for creating just the thing. Throughout the course of the showtune, Ursula spells out a story of repentance and warmth, a desire to serve, while whispering the exact opposite in brief lines to her "poopsies" Flotsam and Jetsam. She, like Gothel, also plays on Ariel's feelings by talking about how helpless she is, except that, unlike Gothel, Ursula is trying to jeer Ariel into action. Sometimes this song is better without the visuals, because seeing an octopus-witch make sexually suggestive motions is a bit scarring; but if you think about it, how else is she going to win Ariel's voice without giving her another way to gain Prince Erik's attention? The basic tone of this song is, "I'm going to screw you over so badly you won't even know what's happening until you're a trophy on my wall." That's pretty bad... you've got to admit it.
#4 - Lock, Shock & Barrel - "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Music and lyrics by Danny Elfman. Sung by Paul Reubens, Catherine O'Hara and Danny Elfman.
This song had to be the top. It just had to be. It's so morbid! Have you ever noticed how scary demonic children/childlike things are? Children are naturally associated with cuddling, innocence and trust; and I think that's why this song ranks so high on the list. Lock, Shock and Barrel are little, morbid monsters. In many way this song is more frightening than "Oogie Boogie's Song" because of the specifically enumerated things they want to do to Santa Claus. Even though they say they're terrified of the bogeyman and want to please him at all times, they surely seem more lethal. The torture and murder plans they debate for Sandy Claws are nothing short of deranged and the music of the song sends shivers up and down your spine.
#3 - The Landlord - "This is My Garden" - The Garden (1995)
Music and lyrics by Michael McLean and Bryce Neubert. The Garden is a Christian parable concerning the human family and the need for Jesus Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. The world is compared to a garden; a ram in at thicket, a barren tree, an unsprouted seed and a millstone represent different types of people; a gardener represents the prophets of God; a snake represents the devil's demons and mortal servants; a landlord represents the devil himself; and a "man with many names" represents Jesus Christ. Basically. It's actually a very interesting composition to think about. Anyway, in "This is My Garden" the landlord finds the gardener working on his land unwanted. What follows is a battle of wills between the landlord (demanding that the gardener depart and leave the garden, which he claims to love, to its corrupted and hellish destiny) and the gardener (crying out that the landlord can never claim to love the garden because of the way he treats it, and stating that he could never leave while the garden is in such a state). The fact comes down to a single point: the gardener can never fix up the garden on his own because the garden is so far out of control and it continues to get worse and worse with each passing to day thanks to the animals in the landlord's service. The basic note is that the landlord has won and the whole garden will belong to him forever because the true owner (the man with many names) will never come home to stop him. Its a very intense bid for power, authority and a will to dominate and destroy, which sums up the Devil's campaigns very well, I think.
#2 - Hexxus - "Toxic Love" - Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
Music and lyrics by Thomas Dolby. Sung by Tim Curry.
Even though Ferngully is one of the most rubbish shows I ever saw as a child, I will never forget the love affair Hexxus, essentially the God of Pollution, has with his art. And as I get older and I understand elements of Tim Curry's performance ever more, this villain song becomes even more perfect. Hexxus is a monster that requires pollution in order to grow and thrive. It's the sweetest candy he can imagine, and he wishes to swim in it endlessly like some humans wish to swim in a pool of chocolate or jello. He loves the destruction he reaps so much that it becomes the greatest pleasure to him. The destruction of life is the entire purpose for his existence and so he gets nothing but pleasure from it--its borderline sadism with a heaping side of fetishism, which is about as creepy and villainous as you can get. And that laugh at the end... yeah, that's a pretty good maniacal laugh.
And finally we reach the decisive moment. Which villain song will take its place at #1? That would be...
#1 - Erik (The Phantom) - "The Phantom of the Opera" - The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Charles Hart. Additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and Mike Batt. First sung on Broadway by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman; sung in 2004 film by Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.
Though his name is never used in the musical production, Erik's theme is instantly distinguished by the very first chord. One of the few villain themes that also serves as the theme for an entire production, "The Phantom of the Opera" is dark and aggressive, but it is also hypnotic and seductive, haunting and hopeful. It perfectly captures the tortured soul of the Phantom and his overpowering presence. It includes his mannerisms and personal cravings, but doesn't neglect to reveal his love of and dedication to Christine nor his desire for her to succeed in her career while remaining at his side forever. Because it answers all of the criteria questions wonderfully, is so famous and so exquisitely captures the Phantom's entire character, I am glad to call this the Number One Villain Song.
Those are my Top Ten Villain Songs. What do you think? What are your top ten? Comment below or email me.
(Again special
thanks to all those composers, lyricists and vocalist who bring villains to life in a way that
sticks in your mind unforgettably. And also a special thanks to the
YouTubers who shared these soundtracks on their channels so that I had
examples I could link too.)
The last couple of weeks I have been working on a paper about the impact of music on movie/TV villains and the difference between villain songs and villain themes, the main division between songs and themes being lyrics versus instrumentals/lyric-less chorals respectively. As the closing part of this assignment, we were challenged to create a top ten list for each group. It was very difficult because we were given a list of over 300 songs and themes to go through, spanning everything from the Powerpuff Girls to Terminator and from Swiper the Fox to the Daleks. Needless to say, there was a lot to go through and I had to broaden my horizons even further.
And that's not all! There were guidelines too!
1 - Is the whole piece dedicated to a single character or group, not an event in the story?
2 - Does it tell who the villain is as well as their ambitions and purposes?
3 - Does it match their character(s)?
4 - Do you know who it belongs to in the first few notes? how famous is it?
5 - What Degree of Villainy is felt throughout the piece.
6 - Does it get stuck in your head?
7 - Can it survive without visuals to convey the villain's character/purpose? For songs, are lyrics specific or ambiguous, requiring the illustrated visuals in order to be understood?
Are you curious which ones I picked? Good! But I think I'll split this into two posts. Today I'll cover the Top Ten Villain Themes, and in my next post I'll cover the Top Ten Villain Songs. Sound good? Excellent! Then let's get started.
I was forced to choose eleven themes, because one of the pieces I listed in the Top Ten fell into a category defined as "Not Really a Villain", mainly because the character lacks an evil drive. It is more of a force of nature that must be overcome while other characters in the film better reflect the traits of a "villain". However, since the character is listed in the ranks of villainy the piece had to be partially acceptable.
(Also, the linked videos are connected to YouTube. They are for people who aren't familiar with the music mentioned, but the music on them is not owned/copyrighted by them. The music belongs to the composer and the recording/movie companies involved with each movie. The videos are use at your own discretion and risk, and they may go away after a while.)
With that said, let's begin:
#11 - Saruman - "The Treason of Isengard" - Howard Shore
From The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Does this piece involve a scene in the movie? Yeah... but this is really Saruman's theme. It's the piece that encompasses the fall and betrayal of a very powerful friend into the leagues of the enemy. It involves all of the deception Saruman uses against Gandalf before unveiling his wicked side and his new dedications. The tragic thing about Saruman is that after this scene, he becomes swallowed up in the themes of the Uruk Hai--illustrating perfectly how he transforms from a great leader to another undervalued pawn in the workings of Sauron of the Deceiver. He's not even good enough to equal the nine Nazgul, who at least share part of Sauron's own theme.
#10 - Jaws - "Jaws: Main Theme"- John Williams
From Jaws (1975). This is that piece I was telling you about. Jaws isn't really a "villain". The shark is more of a natural phenomena to be overcome and survived, like a tornado. However, he is definitely out to get some food and is the hearty antagonist of the well-known movie. And when your theme because the basis for an entire soundtrack! Come on! You know you've left an impression. And who doesn't instantly recognize that suspenseful beat?
#9-James Hook, Capt.-"Presenting the Hook"-John Williams
From Hook (1991). Yes, this piece too covers a scene; however, the scene is part of the magic of Capt. Hook and the visuals aren't really needed to catch the flamboyant character of the Steel-handed Stingray. In the movie Mr Smee is seen going to collect the iconic hook from a smith and then carries it through the pirate village gathering an enormous following as he takes it back to the Jolly Roger. The flamboyance of the piece matches the captain well--his well-dressed appearance, formal mannerment, commanding presence, charismatic speech patterns, and sly yet fiery style, all cloaking his heartlessness. The music is great, and it doesn't have to be purely evil either. (Not to mention Hoffman's character first appears with the hook in place keeping time to the music while the men chant his name. How cool is that?)
#8 - Mewtwo - "The Birth of Mewtwo" - Ralph Schuckett, John Loeffler, John Lissauer, and Manny Corallo
From Pokemon: the First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998). Yes, it's from Pokemon of all things. But if you think about the movie, the story is very relevant to our day when genetic sciences are testing all sorts of things with cloning and enhancement. Basically, Mewtwo, like the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, was created by genetically enhancing and cloning the DNA of a supposedly extinct Pokemon called Mew. (Hence, the unimaginative name Mewtwo). When he awakens with superhuman intelligence and telepathy only to learn that he's a laboratory experiment intended only for study and life in a cage, Mewtwo goes on a rampage, destroys everything, and assumes a manifest destiny that his purpose is to extinguish human life and create a race of genetically-superior clones to rule the world. (There's propaganda everywhere.) Anyway, the music themed to Mewtwo echos his movement from innocent inquiring, through his developing bitterness, into the berserk psychosis he carries for the rest of the movie until he is magically turned around and made to see the light......yeah, yeah, yeah... all that butterflies and sunshine stuff. Anyway, the music is quite intense when it finally reaches the point that it really becomes Mewtwo's theme, and is used thereafter whenever something malicious and explosive happens.
#7 - Tom Riddle - "The Face of Voldemort" - John Williams
From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). There's no doubting that Voldemort is a famous baddy thanks to the fame of J.K. Rowling's books and the magical movies made by Warner Bros. Pictures. But when you compare the theme of Voldemort in the first three movies (composed by John Williams) against that in the fourth (composed by Patrick Doyle), and then against the fifth and sixth movies (composed by Nicolas Hooper) and the last two (composed by Alexandre Desplat and Conrad Pope), you notice very distinct differences, each arising from the differences between each composer's tastes and their desire to make the music slightly more their own. The original theme Williams composed for Voldemort is, in my opinion, the best and most iconic. It focuses more on the malevolent sinister side of Tom Riddle, whereas the later versions seem to focus on his psychopathic bloodthirsty side (his craziness as I call it). Williams' is deep and pronounces both the similarities and extreme differences between good and evil magic, whereas the later themes are more shrill and purely evil.
#6 - Norman Bates - "The Murder" - Bernard Herrmann
From Psycho (1960). By far one of the most well-known themes in the world. And it ought to be. Herrmann gave Norman Bates a dark tragic theme that's spliced in with that iconic high-pitched screeching that calls to mind the blade of a kitchen knife. His theme will drive the chills down anyone's back, especially when you're wandering through a dark house or think you're otherwise alone. It is the music of a sudden attack and a painful death.
#5 - Buu - "Scary Buu" - Bruce Faulconer
From Dragonball Z: The Buu Sagas (2003). Yes, once again we find a piece from the realms of Anime. When he first appears in the series, Buu is resurrected by a wizard named Babidi, whose father Bibidi created the monster to begin with. (Yeah, I know, unimaginative again... Bibidi Babidi Buu... where's Disney to scream about Cinderella? Or maybe its just a craftily done homage? You decide.) Anyway, the first Buu we meet is a childlike fat Buu who has an upbeat chiming theme and isn't as evil as you might think...he's just hungry. But then in an attempt to release all of his anger when an assassin tries to kill his friend and his puppy, Buu expels all of his evil and it manifests in a tall skinny Buu, who then eats the fat Buu. From there, the story progresses to reveal that Buu has had many forms, which he gained after absorbing a different powerful individual. One by one each form is overcome until Goku and co. are left with the original Buu, a kidlike being, to defeat. The character of Evil Buu is summarized in his patient evil. He can wait for the target he most desires to present itself or destroy one thing after another until he find it. He's extremely powerful and frightening, but also patient. Another thing I enjoy about his theme is that it is carefully adapted for each of this forms and for when he fights/attacks. The music was utilized very well.
#4 - Darth Vader - "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" - John Williams
From Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). You knew this was coming. By far one of the best known pieces of music on the planet, it is only fitting that it belongs to one of the most well-known villains. That imperialistic style and formal composure perfectly suit the faceless, unforgiving nature of Mecha-Anakin. There's no toying around with Vader or the Galactic Empire, and this music reflects that excellently. I don't see the need to say more.
#3 - Davy Jones - "Davy Jones" - Hans Zimmer
From Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Chest (2006). Davy Jones is the only character in Pirates that really deserves any pity in my opinion. He gets the shaft every time he turns around. He took a job to show his love and commitment, and his lover/boss abandoned him. So like most people would do, he quit. But he couldn't escape the post and because he stopped doing his job he was transmogrified into a living sea monster along with his entire crew. From then on, everyone is after his heart so they can kill him in hopes of gaining control of the seas, immortality, or both. With everything special taken from him, he became a product of his experiences: the shaft of death. He became a cruel, unfeeling monster, master of the sea. He became the shaft to every seaman's best hopes, the thing no one wanted and everyone cursed. The way his theme transforms a loving music box melody into an intense organ battle, perfectly exemplifies who he is and what he desires. It also gets stuck in your head pretty easily, and makes everyone wish they knew how to play the organ.
#2 - Darth Sidious - "The Emperor's Throne Room" - John Williams
From Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi (1983). Whereas Vader is known for the hardcore, cruel force he is in the Empire, Darth Sidious is far more cunning. He doesn't choke people on a moment's notice like his apprentice; he lures people in and tries to turn them to his side. He is a master sorcerer of the Dark Side, who prefers to torture people to death instead of just ending them. He plans his moves with great care always relying on the Dark Side to grant him foresight. He's a haunting presence whose face and voice alone can make your skin crawl. With all of this in mind, his theme is perfectly suited to him as well. It's malevolent and mysterious, creepy and dark, just like the Emporer himself.
and finally.....
#1 - Sauron - "Minas Morgul" - Howard Shore
From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Though Sauron's aggressively haunting theme occurs from the very opening of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, "Minas Morgul" is the first track entirely dedicated to it. Sauron's theme is sometimes extended out to the Nazgul and the Realm of Mordor, but every time it is used it is directly linked to the Dark Lord himself. Personally, I was surprised when this made it to number one. I hadn't expected it to. But as I continued to go through music this one always topped out. Why? Well, it's famous for sure. There's no doubt about that. But it's also more sinister than "The Imperial March" and more forceful than "The Emporer's Throne Room". It's less pitiful and more purely evil than "Davy Jones" too. It's like the perfect combination of the three. It has all the cruel, magical elements; the frightening screeches; the commanding harshness; and the "you really don't want to get in my way or I will undo you" quality. It even has a harkening effect to the attacking feel of "The Murder" from Psycho and the suspense of Jaws. I guess the best way to say it is: if you mashed together every other piece on this list, Sauron's theme is quite likely to be one of the outcomes. Quite fitting for a Maiar who fell to become the right hand of the devil himself (Melkor/Morgoth). (Can you imagine what Morgoth's Theme would have to be like? I think it might be fitting for them to share the same theme since Sauron really was just a shadow of his master.)
Anyway, I do have to note as well that if you listen to the theme music prescribed to the Nazgul in pieces like "A Knife in the Dark", you will notice that it is a more aggressive branch off of Sauron's own tree. It's obvious that they are the cruel whip in Sauron's hand, just as Vader is the forceful commander in the hand of the Emperor. The Nazgul would've been on this list if it wasn't for that point. The Nazgul are really only extensions of Sauron's malice and control.
Sauron's theme is definitely my pick for the #1 Villain Theme. Kudos to you, Howard Shore. Kudos indeed.
So there you have it. Those are my top ten. What are yours? Do you like or hate any of my choices? Please comment below, and make sure to offer your own supported opinions. Next time we'll get into villain songs.
(Special thanks to all those composers who bring villains to life in a way that sticks in your mind unforgettably. And also a special thanks to the YouTubers who shared these soundtracks on their channels so that I had examples I could link too.)
Have you ever found yourself yelling at a book or movie screen? Have you ever cried over the death of a character? Have you ever longed to get revenge on a fictional villain? Have you ever felt "the feels"?
It seems that whenever we see a good movie or read a great book, there are always characters our hearts go out to. Some people may become more emotionally exposed than others (crying, yelling and what have you), but we certainly respond to the characters' experiences with empathy and sympathy and invest ourselves in their welfare, especially if we find ourselves intimately connected with them.
About a week or so ago, I received an email about "the feels" experienced by one reader as she read each of my books. It was one of my favorite fan emails thus far. But there was a catch: this email also came with a challenge, a very good challenge.
"Now that you know how much I love these stories and how big of a sucker I am for them, can I give you a challenge? I challenge you to write a blog post where you list your top five feels moments from the books you've published so far, including both the Kingdom Chronicles and Oblivion's Gate. That's something I'd really love to see..."
It was quite a challenge, but I accepted it, and at last my five are ready. Are you ready? I hope so, 'cause were we go.
S. R. Ford's Top Five "Feels" (So Far)
5. "Fallon was gone" (The Elements and the Exodus)
Three tragic words that kindle feelings of panic, terror and fury. The group has just won a major battle, the world is bright and cheery, a whole city is singing for joy, and everything should be happily ever after; but no. While no one is paying attention, Shunul appears. He reveals that they've played right into his hands, and in a fell swoop he kidnaps Fallon. There is no trail to follow--there's not even a hint that Fallon's still alive, and yet the world sings on merrily, oblivious that anything has happened.
4. Axsem (The Kingdom Chronicles)
I can never get over how much I love Axsem's entire character. This may be cheating a bit, but I count him as one large "feels" moment. Everyone has a story they never want to tell, something they wish they could forget but can't because it makes them who they are. Imagine what it would be like to know that you were the only surviving piece of something that was once great and good, something you had to watch sink into decay and destroy itself. Imagine you had to survive by living on only promises and faith that something good was going to come. Imagine how that would define you. In the Kingdom and the Crown Axsem first appears bitter and hateful--a racist man covered in thick emotional scar tissue, but as he is forced to recount the downfall of his nation and aid in its rebirth, we see the true Axsem emerge from the guilt, heartache and loneliness. Axsem, to me, models the strongest type of person. Yes, he may have lost his way and let darkness and pain overcome him for a time, but in the end he proved to be one of the most kindhearted people one could ever hope to meet.
3. Dan's Dream of Alice (Mimgardr)
The relationship between Dan and Alice Barker is beautiful. Any two siblings that share a bond like these two is lucky, and any who deliberately push away such an one are foolish. The story Dan tells of Alice in Mimgardr is so tender and loving that when he closes with the statement "She was my Christmas, Aaron, and now she's gone," your heart can't help but ache. And that feeling only multiplies when he dreams of her a few chapters later. Right before Alice passes through the gateway into Hafenu, leaving Dan alone in the darkness, you get to understand just how he and Alice feel about each other and the pain of their separation, feelings many people around the world perfectly empathize or sympathize with.
2. Zarrys's Revocation (The Elements and the Exodus)
There are really only a few experiences that I think generate more intense feels than the death of someone you love dearly, and this is one of them. At the end of the Kingdom and the Crown, Zarrys had become perfectly familiar with Vagahem (a GOD), had been filled with power and light, had a strong connection with a companion, had seen his post-mortal parents, had been crowned king, shown a vision of potential future events, and topped it all of by taking Namine's hand in marriage. It was really a cloud nine moment. However, as book two goes along, we watch Zarrys's personality contradicting with his better judgment until he makes a mistake that costs him everything. All of the goodness he had been given is torn away from him and he is left to wallow in the same darkness as Malystryx. His power, foresight, connections, influence--everything--is stripped away from him. Can you imagine what that would be like? Can you imagine the hellish agony?
1. The Death of Ilia (Mimgardr)
Why does this beat the rejection of a god? Because that's something I don't think any of us can perfectly empathize with. None of us have known a god intimately and been given earth-bending powers and psychic connections and then lost them. But there are many out there who have lost a spouse, and that pain is exquisite.
In the case of Dan and Ilia, though, it goes a bit deeper into feels territory. When the Battle of Mimgardr begins, Dan's family is gone, his friendships are wavering, he thinks his in-laws have rejected him, his self-esteem is shot, and the list goes on. In the midst of the battle, he learns that he's a pawn in Morgan's plan and is being sacrificed to destroy the Fallen. Finally, at the end of the battle, victory is won and Dan is actually hailed as a hero by the Asketillians. Perhaps things are going to be all right. But then a man appears and attempts to stab Dan in the back while his guard is down and is only stopped by Ilia who appears between them and takes the blade through her stomach.
The last anchor in Dan's life begins to slip away from that moment on: the murderer escapes, Ilia's mutation is revealed, and any hope of a healthy relationship with Merlin is obliterated shortly before Ilia dies. Then Merlin is killed and Dan, marked as a murderer, flees to his island with Ilia's body, hoping beyond hope that he can still revive her.
Not only did Dan lose his bride that day in Mimgardr, he lost everything, including himself. Tell me that doesn't hit you right in the feels.
So there you have it. Those are my top five "feels" (so far), out of the many I had to choose from.
Now I turn the challenge to you. What are your top five "feels" from my books? Answer in the comments section below, or shoot me an email!
Everybody has heard the age-old cliche: every rose has its thorns. Many wise people have even thrown in their two bits (aka 25 cents) to say, "Don't be mad that roses have thorns; be grateful that thorns have roses." To me, these rose-colored glasses comments are annoying because neither the roses or the thorns really has the other; it is the rose bush that has both. The blossoms and the thorns are pieces of something greater than themselves, equally important contributors to a whole bush's survival.
There are thousands of lessons to be learned from the relationship between a plant's thorns and its blossoms, of which a rose is. One is defensive, the other is reproductive, both are beautiful. Everyone loves the scent of roses and wants to take that sweet smell with them, but without the presence of the rose the bush cannot seed nor can it grow as well. This is where the thorns come in.
You can't walk up to a rose bush and simply tear the blossom off with your bare hands. Why? Thorns. They hurt. Now think about this, if something walked up to you and wanted to tear off your reproductive organs so that they could carry their unique smell away with them, you'd probably be a little prickly about it too. (Its a disturbing image to imagine, I know, but that's exactly what we do to the rose bush.) The rosebush's thorns protect the otherwise defenseless plant and make us much more hesitant to reach in and steal its most precious parts.
Thorns teach us to respect something that we would otherwise exhaust without thought of consequence. You have to treat a bush tenderly if you ever hope to gain the blossom as your well-scented prize and comely decoration. The same is true of many other plants. Thorns teach us that every living thing has a right to defend itself, its place in the world, and its right to reproduce.
I think there are many good lessons we humans should take a reminder of from the world around us, particularly those of us in the "first world" nations. I hate being pricked by a strong thorn, but I respect the fact that even roses deserve to defend their lives and, in a way, their children the same as you and I do.
What do you think? What lessons have you learned from the world around you? Comment below.
Why is it that scaring people is so much fun? Most people love to scare and be scared, but why? In my personal opinion, it's because when you really scare someone, when you startle them right down to the core, you get to see them for who they really are.
As illustrated by the lyrics of Billy Joel's "The Stranger", "Well we all have a face that we hide away forever and we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone." UNTIL... of course, someone drags out that true self against our will. And that is the liberating miracle of a good scare.
It all starts with the hair standing up, the eyes bugging out, the screaming, the jumping, and then off comes the mask and the real person is revealed before they have time to recover. Some people reveal that they are vengefully aggressive, some are completely timid and deeply scarred, some are hiding very dark secrets, and some just love to be surprised by life.
Each person in this world is so different, and the experiences we face shape and mold us. Some things we let go of very easily, yet others dig deep down into our cores and become part of who we are. For example, due to things that happened while I was a kid, I really don't like large dog barking, nor forests at night. I get very skittish around them.
In addition, we bottle up so many emotions for so long, usually, that it becomes detrimental to our health. I believe scaring relieves that deeply held tension, freeing a person's spirit a bit and letting out their true feelings and opinions with no prolonged attachments to follow.
I know there are people out there who hate to be scared, and I think that's because they are either incredibly ashamed of who they really are or simply think it will destroy their "ultra-tough" image. Something along those lines. They don't want anyone to know that they are vulnerable.
What do you think? Why do you think scaring is so infectious and receives so varied reactions? Do you like being scared? What scares you?
Have you ever had something come into your life that you didn't expect but which turned out to be much more impacting than you realized?
For the last three years a pair of mourning doves (aka turtle doves) has taken up residence in the tree before my house. It is always the same pair. (I know because I've checked each year very carefully.) Their nest is large and strong, right at the top of the tree, and has housed ten broods. Never once has a single squab fallen from the nest.
What strikes me about these birds is the events that preceded and followed them. You see, the first day they flew into the area was the day after my brother died. This is interesting because doves are by far one of my father and I's favorite birds. My father has always seen doves as the harbinger of peace and will go out of his way to talk to a dove and take its picture when he sees one. And since their arrival coincided with the culmination of a very hard time for our family, we all took it as a sign... like the dove and the olive branch were to the ancient man Noah... that things were all right and there were good things to come.
But in the hours following their arrival, the doves quickly built a fortress of a nest and took up their permanent residence. Like clockwork they leave late every autumn and return late in the winter, never waiting till spring. They've even begun interacting with us a little bit.
Now for the clincher.
To be straight, I have zero belief in superstitions. Rabbits' feet, black bats, umbrellas, dream catchers, spilling the salt, stepping on a crack, the groundhog's shadow--all are rubbish. But there's one thing about these doves that I have not been able to ignore.
Every day that I wake up and hear them cooing, the day following has included some stroke of miraculous good fortune; when I wake up but don't hear them until after sunrise, the day has been mediocre; and when I don't hear them at all in the morning, something ill has followed for my family that day.
Like I said, I'm not a superstitious person, but even I can recognize a pattern from day to day. It is the strangest thing. The pair flew in yesterday to begin their fourth year here, and I woke this morning to find them cooing together on my window sill.
Whether I've finally found my superstitious weak spot or their presence really is an omen, I'll let you decide. But to me these delicate little birds are a sign, one I hope will stay for many years to come.
I hope my terrible spelling caught your attention. It should read "Simple Post with a Question", and that's because this post is only a question.
I need you to give a one- to two-word answer in a comment below (please not on Facebook or Twitter), then pass this on to your friends so they can comment too. The more answers I can accumulate the better.
Today is February 12, 2014. That means two things. First, it's hump day (Cue the camel.), and second, it's my sister's birthday. Unfortunately, she isn't here to celebrate it with us right now because she died 20 years ago in October of 1993.
Shannon Ford was born February 12, 1989. Like my brother before her, she was born with a vicious disease called Neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy (NALD). That is a mouthful of a name for a rare and hostile gene-related disease. Essentially, being born with Neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy means that even while one part of your body is trying to build itself, other parts are actively trying to tear it down. My brother and sister quickly became deaf, blind, and lame (meaning unable to walk) within the first few months of life, communicating only with small bits of sign language, simple touches, and short verbal cues thereafter. Shannon died when she was four, just one month shy of my own third birthday.
She was born literally sticking her tongue out at the world, as if to say "Neener-neener! Here I come!" and she continued to live her life that way. She was always a mischievous little one with a heart of gold. Although I was very little when she died, I still remember her quite well. She loved Nutter Butter cookies and lollies, laying her head on the piano and banging on the keys, and cuddling. She and my brother had a sixth sense to know who had entered the room, and even though they couldn't see or hear they always turned their attention toward you and waited for you to come say hello.
I learned powerful lessons from the lives of my siblings, and even though they have both died now I continue to learn from them as I look back over the years. Shannon taught me that most subjects of conversation are nothing but wasted wind passing over idle lips. It's not what you talk about with people that's important; it's being close to them, it's compassion. She taught me the meaning of contentment and exploration. She taught me how to be patient with people who don't understand what you need or want. She taught me most importantly how to love.
The world we live in focuses endlessly on money, instant gratification and self-aggrandizement, which shows just how stupid the human race really is. For all our supposed intelligence most of us can't figure out that spending time engaged in the lives of our families and friends is vastly more important than the size of our paycheck. People who gripe about the size of their TV or the horsepower of their car or the lack of spare square-footage in their home need to wake up. Humans have lived for thousands of years without those things, and most of them still do. It's learning how to interact personally and intimately with each other that's important. TV won't take away loneliness, cleaning a huge house won't help you cope with heartache, a car won't lift your spirits after a hard day a work; but a hug will, a kiss will, even a simple conversation can.
A good friend of mine has always put it very simply, "People are more important than things." The statement is so true. I learned it daily during my childhood, and it's something I'll never be able to forget. Take away a person's sight and hearing and most of the things we humans place so much greed upon suddenly lose all their value. Maybe that's what we need--to be reawakened to what matters most. Whatever the course, one thing will remain certain for me: I believe in angels, because I lived with them. Did they have wings and trail sparkles as they hurried about? No, they were crippled and physically diminished. But within the withered bodies were souls of intelligence that taught me lessons I will never forget.
Happy birthday, Shannon. I love you. And thanks for everything.
I'm so glad the Olympics are back. Now there's something besides football, basketball, baseball and hockey getting some real coverage on the big name sports channels. The Olympics are great, because they allow people to share in a worldwide competition, in an arsenal of events. You also get to see some of the great talents and cultures from around the world, especially if we can set aside politics and our international skirmishes.
Unfortunately, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics are getting overshadowed by a large political shadow, it seems. Old anti-Russian sentiments are flying again, the homosexual campaigns are waving their war banners, and as always everyone's worried about the terrorists (Rightfully so though. A terrorist tragedy would be heartbreaking.). I wish we could go back to the age when only amateur athletes were allowed to attend the Olympic games, and when people could quit using the games as a means to forward their personal agendas, political and otherwise. These are games, people. It's not a U.N. council session or a battlefield of war; it's a worldwide athletic competition. These are games, meant to bring all nations together, set differences aside for a couple weeks, and share world talents in a host of athletic events. What's so bad about that? Why do we have to sully everything with personal and national agendas?
Anyway, I'm glad the Olympics are on again. Over the years, I have been inspired by competitors in each event and the hosting cultures. I loved it when the Olympics were here in Utah back in 2002. Events were going on all around me here in Ogden. Now it's the citizens of Russia's chance to show off their hospitality and the beauty of their nation. I'm loving the background scenery around the events in Sochi nearly as much as the games themselves, and so far the games seem to be going well. Despite what people may want to believe, there are some wonderful people and some beautiful terrain in Russia.
Some people are breaking their heads over where the games are being held and why people aren't boycotting them because of it. But these people miss the point of the games. The Olympic games are a third-party entity, and they hold no mono-national allegiance. They aren't forwarding any political cause, just the cause of good sportsmanship. Therefore, I'm excited to watch the many events and cheer on the competitors from my home country (and maybe even a few from elsewhere in the world). The talent of these athletes is awe-inspiring.
In my opinion, the best moment in a great story is followed by the words:
"NO WAY!"
It's not the big climactic battle, the heroic victory, the villain's plotting or demise that gets me. Oh no. It's the plot twist. It's the moment where the whole story gets turned on its head, where the unpredictable happens. I love it when you've been led to believe one thing the entire story, then all of a sudden get blindsided by the fact you had failed to consider.
Some of the best plot twists, I think, come after many, many minor twists. I love it when a storyteller knocks off several possible twists you might be thinking of as you read, watch or listen before knocking the wind out of you with the real plot twist. By that point you're so sucked in to a particular self-conceived expectation that the plot twist leaves your jaw dangling.
"No way!" from Disney's Wreck It Ralph
Here are some well-executed character-related examples:
- The King-Candy-is-Turbo reveal from Disney's Wreck It Ralph.
- The Hans reveal in Disney's Frozen.
- The Scabbers-is-Wormtail twist from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban.
Then there are the "And they lived happily ever----Wait a minute!" plot twists, like these:
- Here's a relatively cliched example to start; the overlooked surviving monster egg/baby.
- Loki's appearance at the end of Thor, after he supposedly died, when the Tesseract was revealed.
- "Fallon was gone." - from my own book The Elements and the Exodus.
Plot twists are what make stories interesting. They're what grab the attention of readers and bring out the demands for a sequel. What are some of your favorite plots twists? and why?
This is going to be short but very important. I am working on a project, and in order to get it done right I need your help.
Here's what I'm working on:
I'm pulling together an assortment of Kingdom Chronicles and Oblivion's Gate paraphernalia that fans of the two series will be able to collect and share with their friends. Phase One of that plan includes creating more memes, quote pics, and wallpapers (Like the one to the right).
All of these Phase One treasures will be free to download, like, share and pin.
Here's where you come in:
I want these piece of official fandom material (that sounds fancy) to bear your influence. So, I need you to write in your favorite moments, images, lines and quotes from all three of my books. All of them. There's no limit on the number of submissions. In fact, the more you send in the better. I just ask that your submission contain as much detail as possible (character, book, chapter and maybe even a short why). Please send them in either on a comment below or an email via the contact link to the right of the screen.
Also, feel free to offer ideas and requests for other fandom goodies that you'd like to see come along with Phases Two and Three.
Thanks so much for your help! You fans are important to me, and I want to include you as much as possible.
If you're an aspiring writer, independent (indie) or otherwise, then you've most likely heard and read the following counsel:
DO NOT RELY ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS EDITORS,
EVEN IF THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL EDITORS.
I know I've read it. And like I did, you probably wondered or are still wondering why. Most of the articles on the subject will tell you that it is because family and friends care too much about you; they don't want to hurt your feelings by being "too honest."
I'm sorry, but that is a load of garbage! That may be what family and friends have told people who came asking, but it is merely a huge lie used to shield themselves from what they really can't bring themselves to say. The real reason seasoned writers advise you not to rely on family and friends to edit your work is--and get ready, 'cause this is gonna sting; I'm about to be very brutally honest--
The truth is: Most of your family and friends do NOT care about you or your aspirations. They are only concerned with themselves and their own fleeting happiness.
Now there are a lot of writers, family members and friends up in arms right now reading this, but I stand by what I typed. It's because they care more about themselves than they do about you, your manuscript or your life.
How could I say such a thing? I'll gladly explain.
Right out of the gate, the surface of the issue is this: you [the writer] asked them [your family and friends] to edit your manuscript because you trust them to be honest about it. You probably knew better than anyone that there were a number of things wrong with it; whether that be grammatical errors, punctuation issues, weak spots, boring spots, etc. You expected that the paper would come back with red editing ink all over it, with an arsenal of comments, suggestions, corrects, etc., both positive and negative. And what happened? They weren't honest; and the manuscript came back sparsely marked with positive feedback and 1% of the needed corrections. Why? Well, the common answer goes something like this, "I didn't want to hurt their feelings." But you tell me if your feelings aren't crushed when you get that manuscript back and you see that they didn't do what you asked.
"I didn't want to hurt their feelings" is one of the most childish and self-absorbed responses I've ever heard! They didn't want to hurt your feelings? They didn't want to tell you the truth for fear of hurting your feelings? Hmmm... So what if you self-publish the book? What about when the book hits the market filled with more holes than a strainer and more mistakes than an outlet store? What about when it falls flat on its face, and you [the writer] are left heartbroken because your lifelong dream was just flushed down the toilet? What will they have to say about your feelings then? I'll tell you what I was told once by a person that edited a friend of mine's story; he said this, "Well, it's not my fault. I feel bad, but he should've asked more people to edit it." I replied, "Did you tell him that?" He replied, "No." And I said, rather caustically, "Well, now we know. You are the Brutus to his Caesar."
Can we please move past Little League and the
Pinewood Derby where we habitually create a bunch of hollow awards so
that we don't have to deal with the sadness someone feels for being crowned "the loser"? 'Cause let's be honest here, there's
only gonna be one winner, no matter how many teams or kids are involved, and the team that wins sure isn't getting any trumped up award. And let's be more honest, if you've ever been around the kid that gets
the hollow award, are they ever actually fooled or happy? Nine times out of ten,
no. Kids aren't stupid, and neither are most adults. They didn't enter the "prettiest car" or "best team support"
contest, they entered a race or a tournament expecting to win. When are we gonna cut the overprotective crap and the play suit made of bubble wrap so that we can help people grow up maturely?
The truth is, writers, that the only thing most of your family and friends care about when their editing your manuscript is the instant gratification that will come when they hand the manuscript back with only good things to say. They think they will look like a hero. They just want to walk away from the experience able to say "I read it, I gave it back, I'm still happy, they're still happy and we're still friends" as if they did you any service at all; and so they lie. Simply because they care more about their own pride and feelings than your hopes, dreams and potential career, they will lie on your manuscript, they will lie to your face, they will lie to themselves and they will lie to others. They would rather stand by and watch from a distance as you crash and burn than be the one who puts themselves in the fire with you, give 100% of the corrections they see, offer 100% of their effort, and stand by you in the process of fixing and building your dream into a success. They would rather take the lazy road of instant gratification than the arduous road of labor, love, truth and compassion. They do not care about you or your ambitions; they care about themselves. That's the deep, dark, psychological fact behind all the sugar-coated cover-ups and excuses.
Having someone of this caliber edit your work would be worse than giving your manuscript to your worst enemy and watching them burn it while they talk about how terrible it is, or sending it to an unknown editor and having them just throw it away. And it's definitely worse than sending it to an editor and getting it back with a red front page and a big note that says CRAP on it. A person who will lie to your face and say only good things, just to protect themselves or "your" feelings, is an adversary to you and your work. They are a fair-weather ally who will not stand beside you when the storm comes, and would rather watch you drown than get their sleeves wet.
But what about those few of your family and friends, the hard-to-find percentage who would make good editors? What are they like? How would you spot them? A good editor, or companion in any right, is one who understands this basic principle:
Sometimes a person must be broken before they can be helped. In these times to love a person is to hurt them.
A good editor recognizes that the only way to make sure your manuscript is ready for the big, bad world of marketing is to test and fashion every molecule of the work. They know things will need to be fixed, cleaned up, cut out, or even added in. They know that hurting your feelings now will save you from a broken heart later, and they are willing not only to hurt your feelings but will help mend them as well. At times they may appear brutal and heartless, but they understand that criticism without advised corrections and follow-up compliment is useless. They are brutally honest, but they are also tenderly helpful.
We live in such a happy-ending world that forcing someone to endure pain is looked upon as evil or cruel, but many times it is the most powerful emblem of our love. If you've ever worked on a farm or an orchard, been around an EMT, or
even read a religious volume, you will understand that knowing when to
hurt something is the greatest evidence of your love and best wishes for it. A
wild tree must be pruned before it can bear good fruit, a broken bone must be set before it can heal, a sinner must be
spiritually scoured before the agony of sin can be relieved. Often times we are our own worst enemies, and it takes an outside hand, willing to hurt us for a moment, to show us our true potential.
I grant that it's hard to help a person improve when their feelings are hurt, especially when you're the one who did the hurting, but that is the cost of being a friend and being a family. A true friend and real family member should understand that better than anyone else, and that's why they are so often asked for help. Unfortunately, most of them don't understand it and fail the test of love.
There is no line that breaks my heart more when talking to people than to hear them say, "I didn't want to hurt his/her feelings." After such a line I am always left thinking, "No, that's not it; you didn't want to hurt your own feelings, nor give anything of yourself." And from that moment on I know I've found one more person who cannot be fully trusted until they take time to mature.
In modern English love has become a very restricted word. I've been taking polls this last week and found some interesting results. Though it could have a multiplicity of definitions, we often use love for just three: 1) love for a significant other, 2) love for family and 3) love of objects, which would be better expressed using a verb like treasure than love, but oh well, we do it anyway. Love must be clearly understood in its usage or it can lead to embarrassment, teasing and awkward silences. Hence the only way we commonly use love in addressing a friend is when we treasure them more like an object or simply appreciate having their company. (e.g. Two friends talking to one another about a third friend. One exclaims brightly, "Man, I love that kid.") We often restrict ourselves to words such as like, simply so that a usage of love won't be misunderstood. Even 'I care about you' is taken to mean the same as the full-blown 'I
love you' in most cases, as a phrase of complete and sole dedication,
which stops people from using it. And let's not even touch the complete phrase 'I love you.'
Why is love such a treacherous polyseme in English? We have words like affection and charity, but we wouldn't say 'I affect you' or 'I chare you,' because affect means something different and chare isn't really a word. Treasure sounds funny (I treasure you), and we only hear appreciate on rare occasion because it doesn't really mean what we're trying to say. It is as though English employs no way to specify one's love without a complex, explanatory sentence or a whole heap of awkwardness to go with it. What's wrong with this broken language? Why are we so afraid of love?
Maybe we just need more words for it that help us better express our feelings. In Greek there are words like storge, philia, eros and agape, which demonstrate types or levels of affection and love. Hebrew has seven words for love--I'm told anciently it had more--and Chinese has several words too. In fact most languages I've studied have multiple words (verbs specifically) for love that define it to a specific degree. So why not English?
In Vagan, there are seven words for love. However, they are different than the seven words of Hebrew. Vagan love words all share the same root, three characters best anglicized as 'chez'. A differing vowel syllable added to the first of the root gives chez its proper meaning. For example, as we learn from Zarrys in The Kingdom and the Crown, ochez (oh-chez) is equivalent to the singular dedication and affection--the love--found in a relationship between husband and wife. And whereas achez (ay-chez) would express the type of love one has for a friend, uchez (oo-chez) would imply the love of a child for its parent and awchez (aw-chez) the love of a parent for its child.
That's just four of the Vagan words, and already we've alleviated part of the stress love is under in English. So maybe we need to dig into the English past and find some words that have been long forgotten. Or maybe we need to create some new ones. Or perhaps we could simply grow up a bit and cut the belief that the word love is only a proposal of sex or marriage, which is how most people I polled this week would take it if a friend told them they loved them, especially a friend of the opposite gender. Maybe one of those changes would help balance things out. Or maybe I'm just up in the night and everything is fine just the way it is? What do you think? How do you feel about using the word love? Comment below and let's talk.
I was channel flipping on Youtube this morning after watching a short video about Mandarin and ended up on a clip of Avatar: The Last Airbender. How'd that happen? I don't know. Does a trip to Youtube ever turn out simple? Anyway, the clip was the introduction of the character Wan Shi Tong, the Spirit of Knowledge.
Wan Shi Tong, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 2: Earth, epis. 10. "The Library"
When he first appears in the episode he introduces himself by saying, "I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things, and you are obviously humans; which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study," and instantly you know where the episode's issue is going to be. I, however, got hung up on the self-titling phrase, he who knows ten thousand things. Ten thousand bits of knowledge is really not that impressive, especially for an owl-spirit that boasts its intelligence over any and all men.
To quote Bill Nye the Science Guy, "Consider the following."
If you can count from zero to 10,000, you already know 10,001 things. Then add every letter in the alphabet, every word you know, every feeling you've ever felt, every color you can think of, every taste you've ever experience, and keep building from there. Then add to the list every ability you have and every facet of them (including how to write and read each letter, group of letters, word, idiom, phrase, sentence, cliche, etc.). In short, even if you stopped right now and dedicated your whole life to listing everything you know, never learning another thing, you would die before you finished listing everything you know.
That's the awesomeness of human intelligence, its sheer ability to take in and retain information. The brain is so intelligent it even begins to take its intelligence for granted by lumping information together. (Have you ever considered how many things you have to know just to get onto the internet and read this blog?) To quote King Michael Maccini from Mimgardr, "When the will is strong enough, it is astounding what one's mind can do."
However! I must grant that in the cultures on which Avatar: The Last Airbender is clearly based, 10,000 is often used the same way we would use zillion, jillion, gajillion, etc. It is a figurative number used to indicate uncountable quantities. But in our modern age 10,000 has become a number of almost little consequence. So maybe if it had been "Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten trillion things," we might've been more impressed (that's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 vs. 10,000, for you visual people like me out there). But even then ten trillion things is couch change compared to the estimated 2.5 petabytes (2,500 terabytes) worth of information that the human brain can store. Again, to put that in physical perspective: the entire print collection of the Library of Congress is estimated to hold only 10 terabytes worth of information.
So, here's a pat on the back to your brain. Not only is it so complex it can contain categorized information on a gajillion things, but it's so complex that we still struggle to simply tap an understanding of the fulness of its potential.
