I'm Now On Facebook, and July's Donations

Photo: Original address of Facebook's headquarters, in Menlo Park, CA, from its Wikipedia page.

Yes, I've joined the 21st Century, finally, after being a technology curmudgeon for so long. So look me up if you're so inclined. I'm in RI, so you can tell me apart from the thousands of other similar names on there.

[And did anyone notice Facebook's CA headquarters' address? Is Hacker Way the best address for it to have?]

Photo: Salvation Army's logo, from its Wikipedia page, here.

In other news, I made 5 trips to the local Savers and Salvation Army the last few weeks, and in that time donated:

18 DVDs

58 hardcover books

68 paperback books

1,336 baseball cards

As you can see above, I have a movie, paper and cardboard hoarding issue.

Lana the Dog and Alien: Covenant

Thanks for coming back! I've been gone a long time, because of a stubborn chest cold and work overload.

So a few quick things:

--Lana has been saved! Thanks to those of you who told me you went to the shelter's Facebook page!

--Looks to be like the Trump administration--and I do mean all of them--have been to brunch with Russia, if you catch my drift. We can impeach a guy who slept with an intern, but not a guy who for years has been in bed with the Russians? It'll get uglier before it gets better, and I'm not sure I want Mike Pence at the con, either. Maybe if it's proved the entire election was rigged, they all go, and we do it all over again. The proof is there. Someone just has to type it up. Where's Woodward and Bernstein when we need them?

--And Jared Kushner is yet another thug in an expensive suit. He and all of his brothers-in-law.

--Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant, which I just saw today, is a visually stunning film of bleh! I'm really upset about how he chose to deviate from Prometheus's sense of ideological wonder and instead delve into monomaniacal domination, which we've seen plenty of times before. I'm also angry about what he did with Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw character, an awesome, riveting, strong women who deserved a helluva lot better than this. Like her, I also wanted to know about the Engineers, and about why they created, and then wanted to destroy, us. You'll see why we're now never going to know. Why would a very talented director waste so much time making a visual but morose film? And the captain...I swear, he must be the dumbest character this side of Friday the 13th movies. After seeing lots of death and destruction and aliens, he actually peers inside a hatching alien cocoon for several long moments. Deserved what he got, though Ridley Scott made him suffer for way too long, after he asked David, the Synthetic, philosophically, about what he believed in. Odd last question. Watch Prometheus again and skip this one.

This Says It All

I wish I could say that this is the political sign standing in my front lawn. But it should be:

Or, as my better half says she saw on Facebook today, we could vote for Rick Astley.

We should do this because:

For those of you too young to get the joke, check out the Youtube clip here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Yeah, it's from 1987. Because I roll like that.

"The Saddest Dog in the World"--Read On for Happier Ending

Before I show the picture, know that the dog is out of the shelter now, and is happier and doing much better, but still only in a temporary foster home.  As of this writing, she's still looking for her "forever home."

Photo: © Courtesy: Rescue Dogs Match via www.rescuedogsmatch.com The picture of Lana that went viral as the 'Saddest dog in the world'.

For the video, go to this address from msn.com

Excerpted from the msn.com article, until the drawn line:

Lana, also known as the "saddest dog in the world", is currently in a foster home waiting for her forever home thanks to an outpouring of support after her story went viral. 

The one-and-a-half-year lab mix is a foster dog with Rescue Dogs Match. She originally arrived in Toronto, Canada, when she was a puppy. 

Recently, Lana was returned to Rescue Dogs Match, a volunteer organization, after it did not work out with the family who took her in at five-and-a-half months old.

Mighty Mutts, which trains dogs, posted on Facebook that Lana had some guarding issues that were worked on when she was a puppy. "However, a year later she is exhibiting those guarding behaviors around food with people she is not completely familiar with," Mighty Mutts posted. 

Although her guarding issues were "non-existent when she was adopted," they began to surface, Mighty Mutts added on Facebook. 

"Because there were children in the family it was decided that it would be best for Lana to come back to our rescue so that we could find an adult only home with an experienced handler," Mighty Mutts wrote on Facebook.  [Go to this site to learn about these awesome people, and the godly work they do to save animals.]

Upon her return, a photo was taken of Lana and shared on Facebook of the dog appearing despondent, with her head down, leaning against the wall in a boarding kennel.  

Mighty Mutts posted that she would only come out of her kennel for two people. "She just shut down," Dahlia Ayoub, owner of Mighty Mutts and a volunteer dog program coordinator for Rescue Dogs Match, told The Dodo. "It's almost like her world shut down." 

She remained unresponsive for a day, The Dodo reported. No one could move her to go for a walk. 

__________________

But this is Lana, "The Unhappiest Dog in the World," now:

[Me, now.]  Lana is currently in a temporary foster home and is working with Mighty Mutts Training to fix her guarding issues.  (This means she gets testy when she's eating because she had to defend her food against 12 other dogs when she was younger.)  She'll soon be ready for adoption to a "furever" home--someone who can take her permanently.  

Well, I'll just show you the updated Facebook message, taken from the Mighty Mutts Dog Training Facebook page: 

For now, Lana will continue to stay with her foster mom. This week, she will begin her strict training regime to correct her guarding issues with Mighty Mutts Training. Lana came from a terrible place as a tiny pup. She had to compete with 13 other pups for food. Although her guarding behaviours were non-existent when she was adopted, they did recently come back. We know she will do well with her training because she is, after-all, such a sweet and smart young girl. Mighty Mutts already has a plan of action for Lana's training and is confident that she will soon be ready for adoption.

We, again, want to thank everyone for their offer to help Lana. If you were touched by Lana's story and are not located in Ontario, Canada but would like to help, PLEASE check out your local shelter/rescues or trywww.petfinder.com . There are so many Lana's out there waiting for their big break. Lana is just one of millions of homeless animals that long for a family that will love them. If you are located within Ontario and interested in adopting Lana, please pop us an email to complete an application at info@mightymutt.ca

We will be looking for a home for Lana with the following requirements:

Lana is a timid girl in unknown environments. When she is with people she knows and trusts, she is silly and sweet. Lana is great left alone, good with other animals (cats & dogs), however, she may exhibit guarding behaviours around food with other animals. She loves to go hiking and is very good on a leash. The perfect home for Lana would be with one or two people who are experienced with guarding behaviours. No children. A quiet, routine home is a must. More to follow as we continue to work with Lana.

If you would like to make a donation so that we can continue to help dogs Like Lana, please click on this link (the amount raised is an accumulation of donations starting from January 2015):

https://www.gofundme.com/754zok

Please share Lana's story and help other dogs like Lana find their furever home!

[Me, again.]  I'm the super-proud owner of a saved greyhound--who just turned 13 on Halloween!!!  Happy Birthday, Jackson!!!

But I digress...There are a ton of dogs and other animals out there who need help. Lana, for example: think of what she went through to go from Mexico, where she was born, to a place that saved her in Canada.  The video said she's been with other people but saved from them, too!  Then she was at her last place for a year, and (perhaps understandably, since kids, other animals, and food guarding issues were involved) had to be sent back.  She's been sent back and forth so many times!  She must feel so unwanted and unloved!  So I saw this story, and the photo (Doesn't she look so hopeless and depressed?) and I decided I'd post the whole story and pass it on to my readers.

Please consider donating to the program that saves these animals and always, always, always takes them back.  Animals like her are at least saved for life, and are not put down or caged, or treated inhumanely. (I donate a lot to the ASPCA, who also do angelic work.)  Or consider going to your local shelter and adopting a pet there.  Adopting Jackson the Greyhound is literally one of the best things I've ever done, for too many reasons to go into.

If you live in Ontario, Canada, please consider adopting Lana when she is ready.

Please share this story on your blog, Facebook, Instagram, etc.  Your reader could be the one to help this dog.

Thank you.

Black Chaos 2 and "The Zombie's Lament" Now Available!

 

Black Chaos II is on the way!  You can get my story--"The Zombie's Lament"--and 24 other great zombie stories for just $4.99 on Kindle and other devices.
 

The e-book versions are currently up for pre-order at Smashwords and Amazon. The print edition also will be available directly from Big Pulp and through any bookstore.  Links to those will follow.

 

Please support me by sharing this message and the links on your blog or Facebook page.  Thanks!

 

The premise of my story: It's about a guy who loses the love of his life, gets bitten in the face by a zombie, and tries to apologize to his beloved before he turns--or dies. 

  

Killer by Jonathan Kellerman--Book Review

Photo, from Kellerman's Facebook page
 
Another step in the right direction from Kellerman, whose last book, Guilt, was also very good.  Both novels are more readable and much less judgmental than were his previous 8 to 10 works, perhaps more.  The last two books are also much less vicious and violent.

By now, if you've read Kellerman's twenty-nine Alex Delaware novels as I have, you've figured out his formula: The first 10%-20% of the work sets up the very large cast of characters, their backgrounds, and any of the many conflicts that may--but often, not--have anything to do with the book's major crime.

Then the vast majority of the book is Q & A between Delaware and Milo and the large population of characters in the victim's lives.  There's a ton of supposition, a lot of maybe this and perhaps that, by Delaware and Milo and many of the supporting cast.  The vast majority of the time, none of it pans out.

About 80% to 85% of the way through, we meet a seemingly-minor character who rings Delaware's alarms.  That starts the unraveling.  The rest of the book is a slippery slide to the ending, which neatly wraps things up.

This has always been Kellerman's M.O., though a few times in the past, the seemingly-irrelevant character would come completely out of left field.  As a consequence, the reader (well, at least this reader) would feel cheated and more than a little aggravated.  In this genre, you have to give the reader at least a chance--however small--to be able to figure it out (or at least to suspect) who the killer might be, and what might have happened.

That's what happens here, with Killer.  (A ridiculous title, as it could have been the name of any of his novels, and there's more than one killer here, anyway.)

The unraveling happened when and how I figured, and I honed in on the seemingly-irrelevant character right away.  The character appears when I suspected, as per the blueprint above.  This was aided because I wasn't buying all of the suppositions Delaware and Kellerman were selling.

Ultimately, this was a very quick and satisfying read, done just right.

"The Zombie's Lament" Purchased by Big Pulp Magazine

Photo: from Big Pulp's Facebook page

Mr. Bill Olver and all of the other good folks at Big Pulp have purchased the rights to my short story "The Zombie's Lament" for its anthology series.  Volume One of this anthology will hit the stores, online and physical, in June 2014.  Volume Two will be published in April 2015.  That one will have my story.

It's about a guy who loses the love of his life, gets bitten in the face by a zombie, and tries to apologize to his beloved before he turns--or dies. 

So if you like zombies--and who doesn't?!?--save your pennies and buy Volume One from Big Pulp in June.  And, it goes without saying, but if you know me, you know I'll say it anyway: Mark April 2015 on your calendar to buy the volume with my story in it.  No, seriously, go mark it right now.  Please?


What is Big Pulp?  Well, here it is, straight from the editor, Bill Olver, from Big Pulp's website:

______

On March 3, 2008, we debuted with Simon Petrie's "Dragonsick", the opening story in our first quarterly online journal. At the time, I had no idea what kind of response we'd get from writers or readers. I worried that no one would submit to an unknown market and that readers wouldn't find us on the web. I also didn't know much about putting together a website, designing a publication, working with writers and artists, writing contracts, or selling anything. 

In retrospect, there was a lot I didn't know. 

But I did know good stories when I read them. I knew what I liked and I knew I wanted to create something I didn't see on the newsstand - a venue that mixed and crossed genres, was open to new writers, and pushed against the envelope of what's considered genre fiction. 

Did we succeed? Some days more than others, but over the past six years, we've refined and redefined our offerings, with each iteration getting closer to the vision I set out to achieve. We've published hundreds of stories and poems, which in combination have created a brand alongside of genre - the Big Pulp story.

At best, a Big Pulp story is smart, literate, and thought-provoking. It's got attitude, rarely takes itself too seriously, and isn't afraid to poke where it doesn't belong. It defies expectations and tropes. It hits you where you live and sometimes in the nuts. A Big Pulp story is sci-fi, it's fantasy, it might be a mystery or horror or romance, but it's rarely what you expect. 

In December 2010, Big Pulp moved into print. In 2013, we branched out into themed anthologies with Clones, Fairies & Monsters in the Closet  [...] and The Kennedy Curse. And now in 2014, we're launching a new line of publications that will continue to mix and match conventions and stretch the boundaries of what genre can do. 

Six years! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed or how far we've come as a small press. I'm proud of what we've accomplished and the writers we've published. 

Happy anniversary to us, our writers and artists, and all our readers! We couldn't have done it without you, and we hope you'll stick with us for our seventh year and beyond! 

Bill Olver

Editor

______ 

So there you have it.  It's good stuff, so check it out, and look for mine in 15 months.  Yeah, I know, but that's publishing.

Quick Jots--Lots Goin' On

A few quick tidbits as I'm taking a breather between seemingly a thousand things at once:

--I'll call it the Ebay Rule: When you win the bidding on something, and immediately Ebay shows you the same exact thing from a different seller, in better condition, for less money.

--I'm going to have to let my American Horror blog go, at least for this season.  Just too much going on.  If you wanna howl in protest, please comment below and I'll reconsider.  Otherwise...IMO, this season just pales too much in comparison to last year, and I'm just not as motivated to review each episode.  I watch them, though, but even that is without as much enthusiasm.  There's only a few episodes left, so why not?

--(Speaking of which: it's quite gutsy for the show's creators to do what they did to Nan.  I'm just sayin'.)

--And maybe my Walking Dead blog, too.

--If you'd like, take a look at my Pinterest page.  Boards include Jackson the greyhound; my published writing; old objects I've bought for cheap and sold for much more--or kept; books I read last year; books I've read so far this year; great life-lessons; my very old baseball cards; and pics from my blogs.  Much appreciated.  I'm thinking of adding a favorite movie scenes or movie lines board, and another for just great pics (or memorable ones, not always joyful).

--Speaking of books and my published writing, it's possible that an online mystery (fiction and nonfiction) magazine may take me on as a book reviewer.  Cross your fingers and stay tuned.

--In case you're wondering (or even if you're not), I'm doing more social media things than you would think I would (if you knew me personally, and my usual stance on such things) because literary agents, editors and publishers have all said (and written) that they want their writers to have a strong and varied electronic presence.  Since I don't tweet and I don't Facebook, I gotta do these things instead.  ::shrugs::

--Having said that, I like what I do, and what I've done.

--My workplace building may close after all.  Again.  Cross your fingers and stay tuned to that, as well.  If you're in the community, go to the local school on Tuesday and (politely and respectfully) voice your displeasure, and hope the vote turns out like it did last time.

--Obamacare penalizes people who're late getting health insurance?  Since many who don't have health insurance are poor, does it make sense to penalize the poor?  What kind of motivation is that?

--It's in the single digits around here, with sub-zero windchills, and then, literally 48 hours later, it's in the 40s.

--Global warming?  What global warming?

--Polar vortex sounds like something I get if I eat too much Taco Bell.

It's Been Awhile--and More Quick Jots

So I've been away for much longer than usual.  Exhaustion, work, sinus infections and some serious insomnia (so bad that, despite a lifetime with the issue, I had to take a sick day for it for the first time), but I'm plugging along.  Here are a few quick considerations in the meantime:

--From the Sick World File, as per my last blog entry about this sick, crazy world, I offer you the story of three teens who beat to death a father of 12, grandfather of 23, while he was collecting cans in an alley for some money (which you would need with 12 children and 23 grandchildren).  As if that weren't horrible enough, it turns out that one of them filmed it on his cellphone, and then uploaded it to his Facebook page.  The reason?  Same as the one other teens gave when they shot a college ballplayer a few weeks ago: they were bored.

Filming a murder.  Laughing during the filming.  Posting a murder to Facebook.  Killing...for fun.

What the hell is going on?!?  Read it for yourself here.

--Speaking of which, the teens who beat to death the World War II vet in his 80s in Washington state recently pled not guilty today.  Although they, and the beating, were videotaped by security cameras.

--And one of them said the man was trying to cheat them in a crack deal.  I couldn't make that up.

--This past Sunday night, a neighbor and I met in the street while I put my barrels out.  We talked about the Patriots game, the Sox game, and the tennis match, that we coincidentally both watched.  Then I went back in and started yet another three-hour night of sleep.  He went to bed early, as usual.  And did not wake up.

--I'll miss meeting up with you at the mailbox and talking sports, my old friend.  Shine on.

--It can happen just that suddenly.

--And not just to my neighbor, who was in his 80s.  The guy murdered in Washington state was in his 80s, and the guy in the alley probably was, too.

--If I'd known that the Sox would make beards like those the Seven Dwarfs had the new big thing, I would have kept mine.  It wasn't in Mike Napoli's range, but it got very full and gnarly when I just didn't give a damn about shaving.

--The Patriots are a very ugly 2-0.  But as a co-worker said today, a win's a win.

--Putin isn't making Obama look bad.  That's a whole lot of nothin' right there.  Putin's the same guy who has recently sung bad songs to celebrities, who poses without his shirt, and who does many other things to increase his own visibility.  The surprising thing here is that he did a relatively restrained thing, like write a commentary for the New York Times.

--Though he's certainly not as popular and well-loved by the world as he was six years ago, Obama is still very well-liked and well-respected.  Nobody could have kept up his past level of world love.  But to say he's now unliked by the world is ridiculous.  You're talking about Obama's predecessor there.

--Up next: a blog entry about the evils of ebay.

Randomness

photo: The Victorian Rocking Chair in question, taken by yours truly

A few random things rattling and echoing around the empty brain cave:

--In the 2010 movie The A-Team, Liam Neeson looks exactly like Carl Yastrzemski--tanned face, pronounced nose and chin, close-cropped grey hair, all of it.  They could be twins.

--After about a month of craziness, including a breaking vacuum head, snapping hoses, tubes that won't stay attached, a filter that didn't filter, a vacuum that didn't suction, and poolwater that had been left stagnant for three years to the extent that it was black, not green (and it was awesome when the tubes snapped and that three-year old stagnant, smelly, sticky, icky, foul water drenched me from head to toe)--after all that, the pool is just a ph test away from opening.  Don't even ask me about the number of man hours spent on it, or the number of nights I was vacuuming it until 11pm.

--And now to clean out the basement.  I'm not even going to get into the years of...stuff...I found behind stacks of wood and metal against the wall, but I will say that the so-called experts insisted that the problem would not die in the house after it ate the poison provided in several traps.  Are you sure? I asked them.  I think there's nests in here somewhere, and since you guys left the poison, there've been flies.  Nope, they said.  They just come in to snack and leave.  They'll snack on the poison and die outside.  So...uh...No.  Didn't happen.  Where's my power vac?  Ewwwwwwwwww...............

--At a yard sale recently, I spotted this old-looking rocking chair from about two houses away.  (I had to park a short distance from the yard sale.)  I went up to it, and, since I've always wanted an old rocking chair (and since there had been one in this house when I was younger, but now there isn't), I've been looking for one at a good price.  This one (I'll provide pictures.) has a leather seat, a leather headrest, and has been re-supported beneath the seat (you can't see it unless you turn it over).  The whole thing is very strong and very, very old but regal looking.  I sat on it before I decided I wanted to buy it.  She asked for $100.  I pointed out a couple of minor rips in the seat (which are actually no big deal; tiny drops of fabric glue will solve that problem), and the fact that the seat re-inforcement will decrease the value (it probably won't), and that one of the curved rocking pieces has been supported on the side, and that means that there's either a lack of support on that side, or that the other side will soon need strong re-inforcement (not likely), so she dropped the asking price to $85.  Then $80.  I asked for $60 and bought it for $65.  Immediately I took it to a woman I sometimes sell items to (I pick at yard sales and flea markets and then sell them for higher amounts to antique stores, consignment shops, or my own rare yard sales; purely for fun and part-time summer income), who owns her own vintage/antique store.  She said it was a (I've already forgotten the name) from the 1890s, most likely 1895, and it's worth at least $150 to $165, and she'd be interested in it if I ever wanted to sell it.  So I made a profit of $100, just like Mikey on American Pickers.  Not bad, and I'm sitting on it as I type this, and my laptop is on the 1890s library table I wrote about a long time ago.

--A guy I know just said that he had to give his ex-wife his 401k, and he said this with relief.  He explained that she could have taken half of his pension, too, but she didn't. Made me shudder in the summer heat.

--I'm just remembering now that The A-Team tv show was an odd combination of characters who were former armed forces professionals, but the show was aimed at young kids and younger teens, so they had to nix any and all violence.  So Mr T., George Peppard, et al. used to defeat the bad guys by shooting heads of lettuce and frozen vegetables and stuff at them.  Odd.  The cartoon violence of the movie might actually be more realistic by comparison.  Well, okay, maybe not.  Discuss.

--I'm happy that the bus monitor's harassers have made her rich (I'll support that irony anyday), but I'm not altogether sure she deserves over $650,000 for essentially not doing her job for the past ten, fifteen years.  I feel badly that she's been clearly (and perhaps clinically) depressed all these years, and the kids were obviously little monsters (and they got vilified because one of them thought their monstrosities were so cool that he posted it to his Facebook page, and then someone else thought it was so awesome that they downloaded his video and then put it on YouTube--all of which only reinforces my irony-fed happiness), but she was clearly not the right person for an important, safety-focused job, and the bus driver, school vice-principals and principal, and district all dropped the ball for a very long time here, as this situation had obviously been going on for many, many years.  I'm writing a treatment on this and hoping to sell it to a magazine's commentary section.  I'd better get it done soon, as it already may be old news.  And I'll write it better than I just wrote this.

--I get great sunset views from my westward windows and second-floor deck.  Cool, man.  You've gotta enjoy the little things.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Movie

Photo: Rooney Mara, from her Wikipedia page.  She and Lisbeth Salander look nothing alike.  I mean that in a positive way, for both.

The blog for the book will come soon.  Just finished it.

But first the movie.

The movie was a must-see on many levels: the genre of the movie and book (as you should know by now, I dig the murder/mystery thing); the positive hype of both; and, perhaps most importantly, David Fincher, the director.

First, a word about him.  Impressive credits, especially Zodiac.  I know he directed Se7en, a good movie but very overrated.  The Social Network was a great film, about technology that has undoubtedly changed many lives (except mine; still don't have a Facebook account)--but, still, a movie about a nerdy, ingenious, socially inept guy, who may or may not have stolen the idea, the rights, and who knows what else.  Not my cup of tea for a subject, but an admittedly great film.  I believe Zodiac and now this movie will push him into the upper-echelon of movie buffs (Fincher's been there for the pros for some time now).  I like Fincher's directing style and the intensity of his films: The Social Network was intense for its genre.  The others are just...intense.  Fight Club, for instance.  (Good, not great.)  Haven't seen Benjamin Button or Panic Room.  They're on my list of things to do.

I also wanted to see this because Steven Zaillian wrote it.  He penned the 'plays for Schindler's List (one of the all-time great screenplays) and for Gangs of New York, also a great screenplay (Daniel Day-Lewis should've won the Oscar for that one).  Of course, he also wrote American Gangster, which was okay, but I'll pass, and Hannibal, which was just bad.  But I'm a return customer for Schindler and Gangs.

Daniel Craig is always good, and it's good to see him do something well besides James Bond.  (Speaking of which, it's about time for another, yes?)  He's a good actor who has not, and will not, get the credit he deserves.  Women swoon over him.  While he's essentially a non-violent Bond in this film, he still played it well.  He's got the Bond charm and charisma going, but he still had other facets going on that went over well.  (Those shots where he's learning something, and the camera stays on his thoughtful and learning face--well, rumor has it that he was simply counting to ten all that time.  He says he counts to ten when he's told he needs to show understanding and learning on film.)

But the cream of the crop here was Rooney Mara, as Lisbeth Salander.  According to Wikipedia, she beat out Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson for the role.  I like the first and am lukewarm by the latter, and they're both too hyped these days.  Mara came out of nowhere.  She played bit parts in several TV shows, a major part in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake (all good actors have to start with a bad horror film, apparently.  See Johnny Depp, Renee Zellweger and too many others to mention), and a small role in Fincher's Social Network.  (Both say that her part in his most recent film did not help her to get The Girl.)

Her character on film is even more realistic than the one on paper I have just finished reading.  That never happens, at least for me.  Without going into much detail, she absolutely nailed this role.  One of the things she did in the film (and possibly this is Fincher's and Zaillian's doing as well) that Salander didn't do in the book was to stay consistent with her mono-syllabic answers and otherwise clipped speech patterns--even to those she liked or cared for.  Frankly, she spoke too often (in spurts) in the book; I have known people (exactly) like Lisbeth Salander, and you'll have to take my word that such folks do not normally converse.  They staccato you, or they rant at you, but they don't converse.  Mara didn't in the movie, either.

In my life, I have seen a Lisbeth Salander many times.  I've seen the anorexia, the internal fury, the speech patterns, the behavior, the anger in the eyes, the massive insecurity, the abuse, the addictions--In short, I've seen it all.  She owned it.  This movie should be seen for her performance alone.  (I dare you to recognize the woman in the film as the one pictured above, but they are the same.)

Sweden itself gives a good performance, too, if you know what I mean.  (I know about 40% of the internal shots were filmed in L.A.)  It's obviously beautiful and cold there.  The free education intrigues me, but the violence and rape stats in this trilogy--and in the many books by Henning Mankell--do not paint a pretty picture.  Both authors (I know Larsson has died) try to say that the stats are horrific, possibly even worse than the U.S.'s.  For now, I'd like to visit there, but not live there.  Of course, I can say that about almost anywhere.

And the movie has a lot of nice touches not in the book, which I'll leave alone for now.  Suffice it to say that they involve the whereabouts of a missing woman and a car crash.  The movie also breaks a few rules; the big one is that the movie, like the book, continues on for quite awhile after the main mystery has been solved.  I approve, especially because it is done largely for the sake of characterization.  Rare, these days.

More on this, and the book, later.  Go see it, even if you've already read it.  And I'll be proactive and say that you should read it, too, even if you've already seen the movie.