What's a Little Hoax?

Spreading an untrue hoax is not harmless. It perpetuates the idea that lies do not harm. It allows conspiracy theories to thrive. It allows people to justify supporting someone who constantly lies. Shading the truth is a lie. Look, we all tell lies to protect someone we love or ourselves. We don't really want our auntie to know that her new dress looks like she is wearing part of a circus tent. So, we tell her something to spare her feelings.

But spreading a hoax on a social medium is not the same thing. If you accept one lie and offer it to others as harmless, you make the next one and the next one and on and on easier. This is how propaganda works. It starts with something innocuous and before it is all said and done, you are believing that entire groups of people are evil. Accepting a lie to justify the next leads you and what you may believe to accept that facts are capricious. Suddenly, alternative facts and fake news are acceptable.

Alternative facts are better known as lies, and fake news is both propaganda and a lie. Sadly, we have too many people who accept these terms as shadings of reality. They use these lies to confirm their bias. They accept lies to justify a moral choice. A moral choice using a lie to justify is immoral. If you get something born from this lie, is it not the tainted?

Acceptance of such then is the basis of power. There is then a moral consequence if you fail -- we fail to speak truth to power. Spreading of a simple, seemingly harmless hoax is but a beginning. Check that Facebook hoax before you post. It will just take a moment.  As we start a new time and examine and reflect, ask, "Have I spoke the truth or accepted a lie?"

Grandma's Popcorn Balls

These are, in my opinion, the best popcorn balls on the planet. This is not a kid-friendly activity. Like many of my candy recipes, this one comes from my grandmother, which means it’s from the South. I’ve only run across this recipe one other place and that was in a Christmas book which published mostly classic English Christmas stories and English recipes. What makes these unique is that a part of the recipe of sweet treat uses vinegar.

Ingredients: 2 cups of sugar, ½ cup of water, 4 tablespoons of vinegar, I tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 5 quarts (approximate) of unseasoned popcorn, food coloring of your choice.

Instructions: Over low medium heat, put water, sugar, and vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Once the syrup begins to boil, let the syrup heat up without stirring. The syrup will need to reach hard-crack stage (295°F-300° F)

While the syrup is reaching temperature, get the popcorn ready. You will need to put it in a large bowl or if you have it, on one side of a double sink. Line the basin of the sink with parchment paper at the bottom and then foil along the bottom and sides. You will want the popcorn close to cool water so you can keep your hands wet while forming the popcorn balls.

When the syrup reaches hard-crack stage, remove from heat and add vanilla and butter stirring until the butter is dissolved. Add several drops of food coloring to the syrup to color. We usually color it red or green for the season. We did try yellow color once and discovered that for popcorn balls, yellow is not an appealing color.

Making the popcorn balls: My grandmother made these by herself. I have no idea how. It takes both my wife and me to make the balls. Be careful while pouring syrup and stirring. This syrup will blister as soon as it hits skin.

Slowly pour the syrup over the popcorn while stirring it into the popcorn. Be sure you pour evenly as you stir covering the popcorn to the edges. It works best for us to have one person do the slow pour while the other person stirs.  As soon as all the syrup is poured, start balling the popcorn into baseball to softball sized balls. We keep a small stream of water running on the other side of the sink to keep our hands wet and cool as we from the popcorn balls. We wet our hands after every ball.  You can also use the stirring spoon to mix more syrup up from the bottom if needed. You must work very quickly to make the balls. Press the popcorn tight into the ball shape. And place into a bowl or bowls. The popcorn balls will set almost immediately.

Allow to cool and you’ll have a great sweet treat. Surprisingly, if done right, they are not sticky but sweet with a slight buttery and vanilla taste. 

If you don’t want to risk making them into balls, you could probably just let the syrup cool on the popcorn and then break up the popcorn into a bowl of sweet popcorn. 

Enjoy!

      1.      Soft-Ball Stage. 235° F–240° F.

      2.      Firm-Ball Stage. 245° F–250° F.

      3.      Hard-Ball Stage. 250° F–265° F.

      4.      Soft-Crack Stage. 270° F–290° F.

      5.     Hard-Crack Stage. 300° F–310°

If you don’t have a candy thermometer, here’s a link for how to tell hard-crack stage using the water method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without-a-candy-thermometer-520309

Divinity: It Takes Luck

Divinity is a meringue-style candy from the South. It is a Christmas treat that does take a little bit of time to make and is a cantankerous candy since even humidity can affect it. I have made it for many a year, and even though I follow the same recipe it comes out a little different every time. I also discovered that having a good mixer to fluff the egg whites makes divinity much easier to make as will having a decent candy thermometer.

Yes, this really is my Divinity

So, this is the recipe given to me by my grandmother with one little twist that I added which seemed to help.

Ingredients: 2 cups of sugar, ½ cup corn syrup, ½ cup of water, 2 egg whites, 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla, ¾ cup of chopped nuts (I use walnuts or pecans) Optional ¾ cup of candied cherries.

Instructions: In a saucepan mix the following: sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a slow boil over low medium heat, stirring until dissolved. Once the syrup begins to boil, do not stir. If you bring the syrup to a boil too quickly, it will burn.

While the syrup reaches temperature, in mixing bowl, whip egg whites until stiff (egg whites will form peaks). Coat a pie pan with butter. I prefer to use a ceramic or Pyrex pie pan. It will make the release easier.

Now for the twist that grandma didn’t tell me, dividing the syrup:

Once the syrup reaches between soft-ball (235° F) and hard-ball (250° F) stage pour approximately ½ of the syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites and continue to mix.

Return the remaining syrup to the stove and continue heating until it reaches soft-crack stage (265-270° F).

Pour the remaining syrup into the mixer. Mix until smooth. Last, add vanilla and the chopped nuts or optional candied cherries (maraschino cherries will cause the divinity to turn pink and may add to drying time).

Let it dry: Pour/scrape the divinity into the pie pan and allow to cool at room temperature. Once the divinity sets usually several hours, you can cut into squares and place on wax paper to dry. To store, put into a sealed container in the fridge separating layers with wax paper. Keeping the divinity sealed and cool will help prevent it from becoming too hard.

You can also put the divinity in mini-baking cups instead of the pie pan.

Something I have not tried is the drop method which I might try next time I make divinity. According to one recipe I found is in the final stage mix the candy until it reaches the point that it can be dropped by the spoonful to create small divinity pieces.

To determine when to do this, the recipe recommends two tests to tell when the divinity is done. “The first test is by just turning off your mixer and lifting the beaters.  If the candy falls back into the bowl in ribbons that immediately merge back into themselves, the divinity is not done and you need to keep beating.  Eventually, the divinity will lose its glossiness and sheen and stop being so sticky, which means it’s ready.

“The second test is even easier, I think, because all you do, if you are having a hard time telling whether the divinity is still glossy in the first test, is to go ahead and stop the mixer, drop a teaspoonful of candy onto wax paper, and check whether the candy will hold its shape.  If it puddles, the divinity isn’t ready, but if it holds a peak and stays in a nice mound, you are good to go.” (https://houseofnasheats.com/old-fashioned-divinity-candy-recipe/)

 If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can use the cold water method. My grandmother and mom used it for years. Here's a link to a site on how to do it. 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without-a-candy-thermometer-520309

      1.      Soft-Ball Stage. 235° F–240° F.

      2.      Firm-Ball Stage. 245° F–250° F.

      3.      Hard-Ball Stage. 250° F–265° F.

      4.      Soft-Crack Stage. 270° F–290° F.

      5.     Hard-Crack Stage. 300° F–310°

Labor Day: Means More than Firing Up the Grill

The first Labor Day Parade was held in lower Manhattan in 1882. The first state to recognize Labor Day as a holiday was Oregon in February 1887. During that same year, the holiday was recognized by four more states: Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

There is some debate as to whom first proposed the holiday, but it is agreed that it was the result of early leaders of Unions. They were Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and/or Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, NJ. It is not clear who first suggested the celebration.

It was the hard-fought protection of laborers which culminated in a bloody, almost "a revolution" of railroad workers who went on strike in sympathy when the Pullman Car Company cut wages by 25%. Nearly 125,000 railroad workers quit rather than handle Pullman cars. The strike culminated in a violent and deadly end on July 7th, when the National Guard shot into a crowd of 6000, killing as many as 30 people.

A short time later in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the Labor Day Law making the first Monday of September a Federal holiday, possibly in hopes of trying to make peace following his ordering of the National Guard into Chicago. The law is just 83 words long and was rushed through Congress following the end of the strike on July 20th.

So just to remind you, Labor Day has not always been the official end of summer vacation or a day just to barbeque on. Labor Day was created through the labor movement to recognize the importance and accomplishments of labor and the American worker.

Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom...Try not to Think About It

Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom is the second in the reboot of the Jurassic Park movies. It is a predictable thrill ride. Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt are back as is a brief two-scene appearance by Jeff Goldblum as the original Jurassic Park's Dr. Malcolm at the beginning and end of the movie.


There is nothing surprising in the movie. It's a fun and exciting with some nice moments of humor. It also has a few moments of CGI that come across as pretty obvious CGI. Bad guys are immediately identifiable and so you know exactly who will get eaten by the end of the movie. Let me tell you that the dinosaurs are extremely well-fed. There is also the appearance of the true/accidental bad guy in the Jurassic Movies which has been, Dr. Henry Wu. It is Wu who is creating these creatures. He is clearly driven by his obsession and not the chaos theory of life will always find away. BD Wong who plays Wu, and has since the 1993, will most likely be back for Jurassic World 3.  

As you watch the movie, just let it wash over you. You'll have a much better time than trying to figure out things like:

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

the time line of having the partner and long-time friend of John Hammond from the original movie being basically the same age of Hammond but now twenty plus years later and having a ten-year-old granddaughter who is actually not his granddaughter being the cause of their "falling out" so many years before her creation;


trying to understand how anyone could think that a dinosaur, even a highly trained one, that can be killed by poisonous gas, tranquilizer darts, or bullets would make a good weapon;

that no one seems to get the idea that dinosaurs are not an endangered species but a created one;

that messing with the natural order is never a good idea;

why a T-Rex mus stand above it's prey and roar in the same exact stance after every kill;

making your own species of dinosaur is also not a good idea;

and neither is opening an amusement park on an active volcano...


You get the idea. If you think about anything other than the thrill that is Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom, you will find yourself questioning your judgement. Of course that is pretty true of most of the Jurassic movies.

Just sit back and enjoy. I will likely not buy the Blu-ray.

Solo Is a Bit Hollow

I really wanted Solo: A Star Wars Story to be a great add-on to the Star Wars saga. It's not. 

Forget the number of problems the production had with director Ron Howard being brought on board to direct in 2017 after the project's original directors parted ways with Lucas Film. Howard shot (or re-shot depending on who you read) at least 70 percent of the movie. The movie had problems and it shows despite Howard's effort.

Forget that Solo was a movie which really no one asked for. Most fans felt that between books and movies they had enough info on the backstory of Han Solo and his partner Chewbacca. Solo is really a "fanboy" movie. It's one that fans didn't demand but should want to see. 

Solo: A Star Wars Story is an okay movie. Generally, it is enjoyable, and it is largely forgettable. The problem is that it often seems disjointed. Enjoyable scenes are shoehorned together in order to fit all of Han's backstory that we know from the Saga into one movie. How did he meet Chewbacca? Check. What was the game like when he won the Millennium Falcon? Check. What is the story between the somewhat strained relationship between Han and Lando? Check. How did Han become the good guy rogue that we all know and love? Check. How many cliché type scenes can we stick in one movie? Check. Can we have a robot with an attitude like we had in Rogue One? Check. Can we fit in yet another bar scene with strange aliens? Check and Check again. Do we have a love story in the movie? Check.

SPOILERS  SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS  SPOILERS SPOILERS 

Problem is as the checklist scrolls through some of them fail. Take, for example, the love story element of Solo. Han (Alden Ehrenreich) in escaping his horrid past must leave the girl he loves behind. She is Kira (Emilia Clarke). He must find his way back to save her. While on his quest to save her, he meets the rogue Beckett (Woody Harrelson). It is his adventure with Beckett that more or less brings all the other elements of Solo's back story into existence. Instead of the quest though for Solo to save Kira, he and Beckett go to a party (cue bar scene) and voila there's Kira. Kira has become the lieutenant and property of the main bad guy, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). Solo, Beckett and Kira go off to do his bidding meeting Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) along the way in another bar scene. After all this, the true love of Solo and Kira seems to be uhm not so much. Kira chooses power. It fails. The true love we see in other movies just not there for us. 

The problem is that there are so many opportunities to tell us an original story. Solo announces that he wants to become a great pilot. Two scenes late, he is. There is a story there. One we do not know. Beckett's team is fun and amazing and gone. There is a story there too. Even the fact that Solo speaks the Wookie language is a story we don't get. Even the robot L3-37 wants to be the robot we come to care about, but it is in the movie for so little time that we cannot really get an attachment for Lando's copilot. In fact, the only character that we get to know is Beckett. His character is not particularly original and what happens to him in the movie isn't really original or unpredictable.

Solo: A Star Wars Story has its moments especially aboard the Falcon. It is fun enough but its weak plotting and not particularly strong character development keeps the movie from really being anything more. It is not the next great addition to an icon of American pop culture. It is really just a "fanboy" movie.  I am undecided if I will buy the Blu-ray. 

Thou Shalt Not Cliffhang and then Cancel

With the ending of another year in TV, cancellations are about to occur. And there should be a few rules about cliffhanging and storylines that serve no real purpose. I know. The writers of TV land are really concerned about what I think. Still, one can try.

Rule 1: Any television series in its first three seasons should not have a season ending cliffhanger.

Let's face it any television series is a gamble at the beginning. It doesn't really reach any real security until it passes that magical third year when a series finally has enough episodes to be syndicated on a regular basis. Any series can be cancelled, but we know that most will have it happen especially in the first three years. Cliffhangers in that time is unfair to the few fans a series may garner, and a cliffhanger does not guarantee a next season. People are roaming around wondering what happened the next season in Alphas. It was serious enough, The Big Bang Theory actually included it in an episode.

Rule 2.: Any television series that has a cliffhanger and is cancelled, must be given one episode after its cancellation to resolve the cliffhanger.

If you are going to allow a cheap trick like cliffhangers, you should at least give the fans the opportunity to see it settled. If the studio wants to make money, I suppose they could include a final episode on the digital or DVD release. It is only fair to those people who sit through all the advertisements and other crappy shows that should have been cancelled after episode 2. Take for example the last episode of Castle. When the show received its notice that there would not be a next season, the writers had an end scene ready to shoot to solve the obvious cliffhanger they'd planned. Was it a good conclusion? Not really, but the fans got closure albeit a bit trite.

Rule 3: Cliffhangers are cheap and lazy writing and should be avoided.

I hate the cliffhanger as a season end grabber. It's cheap. If a show is so bad or melodramatic that it has to get its viewers to watch by cliffhanging episodes, especially to try and get to the next season, the writers of the show need to rethink their life choices. Cliffhangers in TV, movies, and books is quite simply poor writing and a gimmick to sell more. In writing, if every chapter of the book is a cliffhanger, then the book is plot driven and just dragging the reader along. I've had this problem with cliffhangers in books and shows for a long time. Climactic writing at the end of a chapter should make the reader want to go to the next chapter. It differs from cliffhangers which more or less forces the reader to the next chapter. It's one of the reasons I still despise The Stand. It uses a cheap and lazy plotting technique. The same is true with cliffhangers at the end of a season. It's cheap and lazy. It means you don't care enough about the characters to stay with the series.

The best example of true climatic writing on TV was the Star Trek Next Generation episode called "Best of Both Worlds." That's the episode where Picard is turned into a Borg. It works because fans care and are invested in the characters of the show. The other reason is that the season ender wasn't a gimmick that was used every single season up to that point. True all seasons following used the technique and unfortunately, it was an occasional gimmick used even by one of my favorite shows that I could've lived without.

Rule 4: If a series is a crime solving series, it should solve crimes. If it is a law series, it should have a trial with an outcome. If it is a super hero series, it should have a battle between the hero and the villain.

Not staying with the series premise is known as "jumping the shark." When I watch Elementary or Monk, I want them to solve a mystery. That's the premise. Any series that doesn't stay in its premise or genre, is jumping the shark. I really don't care what so and so's home life is like. It's time filler. Backstory is an important part of developing character, but only as it relates to the premise. If writing never ties that backstory, then it's poor writing.

Rule 5: Additional scenes which give other characters depth (and actors something to do in the episode) but have nothing to do with the plot or central premise of the show is cheap and lazy writing and should be avoided.

Along the same line as Rule 4, we don't really need to add to supporting characters extraneous storylines. I really don't care about Supergirl's human sister’s love life unless that love life has direct bearing on a storyline which is related to the premise or genre of the show. I get that actors have been hired and they want to work. Adding stories that have nothing to do with the central story is wasted film. If a show doesn't have enough plot to support an hour (actually 42 minutes) of story, then maybe the show be thirty minutes long. I don't know how many times shows like Criminal Minds have five minutes of show following the resolution that has nothing to do with premise. "Oh look, they've run out of plot again."

And I still want to know the resolution to season 2 of Alphas.

Avengers: Infinity War Is Darker

After seeing Avengers: Infinity War, I thought about running home and tapping out my review, but I must pause because trying to do this with as few of spoilers as possible requires thought. So, I am going to not list who died, who lived, and great lines. I am also not going to spend a lot of time listing actors and roles. If you are going in to this movie not ever having seen any of the Super Hero movies from the past 10 years, it's would simply take too much time to explain it. I do, however, want to react to the end of the movie so for those who have not seen Infinity War, I will warn you at that point. The rest of the review should be pretty much spoiler free. 

Infinity War is the third installment of the Avenger movies. If the Avengers were a true trilogy, this would be the second movie. It is dark, and dangerous in tone but unlike the DC movie world, it still manages to work in the gags, quick one-liners and funny visuals that are a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie opens aboard one of the ships from Asgard that were at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. While other movies have had cameos by the Mad Titan, Thanos. This is the first time we get to see why galaxies live in fear of him. We also get to meet his henchmen who he sends out on his bidding which is his search for the Infinity Stones. The stones were originally called Infinity gems in the comics, but the movies changed their names. We have in the previous movies seen five of the six stones. Each of the stones controls one aspect important to the survival of the known universe. The stones are: Time (The Eye of Agamotto in Doctor Strange), Space (The Tesseract, Captain America, the First Avenger) Power (The Orb, Guardians of the Galaxy), Reality (Aether, Thor: The Dark World), Mind (Chitauri Scepter, The Avengers giving life to Vision in that movie), and last but not least the missing Soul Stone which is revealed in this movie.

If Thanos can take control of all six stones, he can destroy the universe or reshape it in his image. Thanos is a megalomaniac who believes that in order for the universe to be in balance at least half of the universe must die so that finite resources can support life longer.  The Avengers must try and stop him. And so, we see the full Avenger team which includes Earth Avengers absent Hawkeye and Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, The Winter Soldier, Spider Man, and The Guardian of the Galaxies join forces. The original comic book series actually had a few more that Marvel has not yet introduced. The movie is wide ranging with battles in space involving Iron Man, Spider Man, Strange and the Guardians. On a side note, we do get to see teen Groot which is pretty entertaining. On Earth, the war rages with Earth's Avengers plus Black Panther and the Winter Soldier. Yep, the MCU has gotten pretty big in characters. 

The movie is vast in scope and effects. It still relies on plotting that you really shouldn't think too hard about. But given the scope of the movie. like its predecessors, the underlying themes are about loyalty, power and belonging. I really liked Infinity War. Is it the best of the movies? No. But the sheer magnitude of the movie, I am willing to forgive the thinner character driven plot that has appeared in other movies. The movie has some great moments both emotional and funny. I will buy the DVD.

And now....the ending and a few other problems .....SPOILERS.....SPOILERS.....SPOILERS....SPOILERS

I wanted to take a moment to talk about all the deaths at the end. I know a few folks seem to be greatly upset about losing half the Avengers. 

1. It is a comic book movie. super heroes are resurrected more than Star Trek characters and have more iterations of existence than Star Wars has Jedi ghosts. Spider Man has died at least fifteen times in the comics. As for the deaths at the end of the movie. I have two words: Infinity Stones. 

2. It is and has been clear that just because the Avengers movie in 2019 is untitled that it was obviously set for the continuation of the War. Even the comic books version of Infinity War is printed in five volumes: Thanos Rising, The Infinity Gauntlet, The Infinity War, and two volumes of Infinity Crusade. 

3. The after credits scene has a very clear Easter egg for the upcoming Captain Marvel plus we have Adam (Warlock?) who has yet to make appearance from the end of the second Guardians movie. And yes, both were involved in the original comics. 

4. Josh Brolin was contracted for another movie.

So, while the carnage at the end is a lot, going in we knew that something was up. If you should be upset about anything was the advertising campaign asking where you will be when it all ends. The answer, at least another year older.

The two things that bothered me most was Star Lord going off on Thanos as they are about to get the Gauntlet. As my wife put it, Star Lord is a bit unpredictable, but even he would not destroy the plan that would prevent the death of billions. It was completely out of character.

And

Will the MCU really kill off one of its most popular characters in Loki?

Really fun stuff includes Peter Dinklage as the master weapons maker, Drax moving so slowly he thinks he's invisible, teen Groot and his video game, and the stellar performance of Tom Holland as Spider Man. 

Attacking the Messenger Means You Lose

I've watched on social media as people attack people like the young activists for gun control from Parkland. I am not talking about the countless lies and Photoshop jobs that were created. I am talking about the blatant personal attacks on these folks.

I am not going to lie and say something like, "I don't care where you are on the gun control debate." I do care. But that is  not what this blog is about. It is, putting it simply, that personal attacks speaks volumes about the potency of their message and the horrible propaganda that has been created by the anti-gun control industry. It also tells us that those who post these attacks have been either taken in by the propaganda or truly have already lost the battle.

 According to several sites, Addison Whithecomb* said the debater's maxim of if you attack the messenger and not the message, you've already lost the debate. In other words, if you have nothing to counter the message of these activists and attack them instead, you've got nothin'.

Whether you like David Hogg or Emma Gonzalez or any of the other activist is irrelevant. Either you counter their arguments about loving guns more than loving the lives of children or you don't. Attacking them, or for that matter how awful all kids have become, or whining about being tired about hearing about them simply means you've lost the argument, and you do indeed care more about your guns than school kids' lives, or it means you have fallen for one of the oldest propaganda tools in the book. When you are losing, make them the enemy. It's called "the other" or ad hominem argument. 

 You cannot argue that you stand for the Constitution and the bill of rights and then demand these young people quit talking and demanding their rights of equal protection. There was great outrage when retired Supreme Court Justice and conservative, John PaulStevens, suggested the second amendment be repealed. If it angered you, then turning around and announcing that since these young people are suggesting raising the age limit we should repeal the twenty-sixth amendment is the height of hypocrisy.

Attacking folks only creates greater division. Your platitudes about loving your neighbors are hollow. If you are attacking the messenger...you are a divisive part of the problem. You can announce how bad kids are these day and how little they care, but I think there was about a million or so of them who marched for their rights one Saturday in March and who would beg to differ with you. Just because a few did something stupid like eat a tide pod, it doesn't mean they all did. There are a few adults that have done some pretty dumb things too. If all you have is a personal attack on a person because of his or her age, generation, or if they are Republican, Democrat, or any other trait that has nothing to do with the message, then you've got nothin'. 

In other words, if that's all you have about the message of any activist, then perhaps you just need to go yell at kids,"GET OFF MY LAWN!" 

*Other than the quote and appearing in debate text, there is apparently no information on Addison Whithecomb. I, personally, wonder if he actually existed. Even  Wikipedia entry has nothing on the man.

Ready Player One: A Pop Culture Tribute

I have not read the novel, Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. It is on my shelf to read, just haven't got around to it yet. So, I have no idea how the movie and book compare. The Stephen Spielberg film is an action movie that is clearly his tribute to pop culture, especially to the movies and video games of the late 70's and 80's. I am sure that the nerd websites will be spending hours upon hours finding every tribute and reference in the movie from Saturday Night Fever to Back to the Future to The Shining to Godzilla and King Kong. The references and details were astonishing and at times a bit over-whelming. 

The premise of Ready Player One is pretty straight forward. We are taken to the dystopic world of 2045. The protagonist of the story is Parzival/Wade (Tye Sheridan) a player in the world of Oasis. Oasis is a virtual reality world created by Halliday (Mark Rylance) and his partner, Morrow (Simon Pegg). The real world has become such an over-crowded place that people live in the virtual world called Oasis. Halliday has died. Before his death, he hid three keys in the Oasis. The first player to get all three keys will own Oasis, becoming wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. Enter the bad guy, Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn). Sorrento is the CEO of the 2nd most successful game company, and he will do anything to find the three keys and take Oasis for his company. This includes killing in the real world. Parzival along with his gang and his virtual love, Art3mis/Samantha (Olivia Cooke) search for the keys to stop the evil Sorrento and his minions from taking Oasis. 

It's not just that Ready Player One is Spielberg's love letter to his past and all things in nerdom, it is also that it is a fun movie. I must admit the beginning of the movie which start largely in the virtual and computer animated world of Oasis, made me wonder what I had let myself in for. I was worried that we were going to spend most of our time in Oasis. Fortunately, we do get to also spend time in the dystopic world of Columbus, Ohio. Wade lives there and it is also where we get to eventually meet the members of his virtual world and the real-world people whose avatars we see in Oasis. Wade become Parzival which is if you know your legends a bastardization of the purist of knights from King Arthur, Percival. It is Percival who captures the Holy Grail that restores Arthur's soul. Wade/Parzival in his own way is on a quest for his holy grail that will keep the soul of Oasis for the players. 

Ready Player One is an exciting movie and is in the classic sense your standard hero movie. It has little in the way of surprise or twist as far as the plot goes. The only real unanswered question is one that come up at the end of the movie, which I am not going to discuss here. It is the story of a hero on a quest, his love, who in this case is as capable as he is, and his friends and fellow questers. They must over-come the evil bad guy who would steal all that is good. I liked the movie. Yes, it is simple and nothing really new. But it gives us a chance to see so much of the things we have come to care about in pop culture. In short, Ready Player One is a fun movie. I will buy the DVD.