#theme: exit pursued by a betty

[maddie-grove]

Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up: March/April

Playlist

“The Ballad of Ira Hayes” by Johnny Cash (Sunrise Song)

“Little Miss Queen of Darkness” by the Kinks (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake)

“The Ghost Who Walks” by Karen Elson (The Dark Garden)

“Harper Valley PTA” by Jeannie C. Reilly (The Witches)

“Bloodletting” by Concrete Blonde (The Casquette Girls)

“I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore” by Lucy Dacus (My Friend Dahmer)

“The Road and the Miles to Dundee” by the Corries (Exit Betty)

“Ladies’ Choice” from Hairspray (In for a Penny)

“Turn Off the Light” by Nelly Furtado (Red as Blood)*

“I’ll Take Care of You” by the Dixie Chicks (Exit, Pursued by a Bear)

“You Don’t Know Me” by Cindy Walker (It Takes Two to Tangle)

“Learn to Do It” from Anastasia (Once Upon a Maiden Lane)

“Green Finch and Linnet Bird” from Sweeney Todd (What Happened at Midnight)

*Since fifth grade, I have firmly believed this song to be about werewolves. You cannot change my mind.

Best of the Bi-Month

In for a Penny by Rose Lerner (2010): Part lovely romance, part fascinating historical novel about economic conditions in Regency England, with a nice folk-horror feel.

Worst of the Bi-Month

The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden (2013): Overstuffed, confusing paranormal romance. When people make fun of YA, this is what they’re thinking of.

Rest of the Bi-Month

Red as Blood by Tanith Lee (1983): Deliciously lurid, remarkably consistent collection of fairy tale retellings. A bit dated, but charmingly so.

What Happened at Midnight by Courtney Milan (2013): An intense, substantial romance novella, great for fans of Victorian literature.

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (2012): a graphic memoir by a dude who sometimes hung out with Jeffrey Dahmer in high school. Not very bloody; more upsetting for its exploration of suburban loneliness and callousness.

Sunrise Song by Kathleen Eagle (1996): Sweet twentieth-century historical romance, stronger on the history than the romance.

The Dark Garden by Margaret Buffie (1995): Fun, spooky YA ghost story with some interesting family dynamics.

Exit Betty by Grace Livingston Hill (1920): Enjoyable, accidentally gay melodrama from the mother of Christian romance.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston (2016): Endearing if somewhat simplistic YA issue novel. Not a great retelling of The Winter’s Tale.

It Takes Two to Tangle by Theresa Romain (2013): Well-written Regency romance with a frustrating plot.

Once Upon a Maiden Lane by Elizabeth Hoyt (2017): Cute romance novella that could’ve been a lot more impactful.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (2010): Good writing but the concept went nowhere.

The Witches by Stacy Schiff (2015): Rather commonplace history of the Salem Witch Trials.

[whole-dip]

The Amazing Adventurers of Spider-Man

As a third entry in my series analyzing theme park rides I wanted to take a step back in time and talk about one of my favorite rides ever made, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. This ride opened with the park in 1999 and is considered one of the best rides there, and until late last year was one of the most complex and well executed rides in Orlando. The ride to top it? Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Here’s the thing, both rides’ development was headed by Scott Trowbridge. While I won’t be specifically comparing the two in this piece, while riding the similarities are apparent. I still maintain though that Rise of the Resistance is closer to the Haunted Mansion’s DNA than Spidey’s. 

We begin in Marvel Superhero Island, an area themed to a very 90s comics version of New York City. We see massive cutouts of various heroes and villains, some of them even parading around on ATVs. The gigantic Hulk coaster soars above us and we hear the roars coming from the gamma experiments gone awry. Heavy bass and electric guitar wails are heard all around as. This is not a realistic take on Marvel comics, from the bright colors to the ginormous character cutouts, this is not Marvel come to life but rather, you standing inside a comic book. Think less MCU and more Dick Tracy. Despite how much this goes against the ideas of theme park immersion nowadays, it still works. Likely because this specific era of Marvel is exactly what I fell in love with as a kid, but still, it feels like all the X-treme glory of 90s comics, without any of the overly long and exhausting story arcs nobody cares for. 

The experience starts when you enter the headquarters of the Daily Bugle and make your way through the offices. You see the desks of all our favorite employees like Betty Brant and Ben Urich, the darkroom of the Bugle’s now in-house photographer Peter Parker, and of course the giant portrait of the paper’s editor in chief, J. Jonah Jameson. As you walk you’ll notice that all the phones are ringing off the hook and faxes are coming in. The TVs are all tuned to the news where the biggest theft in New York history is unfolding live. The Sinister Syndicate has been assembled by Doctor Octopus with the villains Hobgoblin, Electro, Hydroman, and Scream, and they’re wreaking absolute havoc on the city! Not only that, Doc Ock’s anti gravity gun has allowed him to steal the Statue of Liberty herself! On a night as crazy as this the Daily Bugle needs as many reporters as it can get so you’ve been recruited to go on the scene in a state of the art armored vehicle to get report from the frontline on the villains and what Spider-Man is doing to stop them. After getting briefed you exit into the alley behind the office building, board your vehicle, don your 3D glasses, and set out to get the story. 

This queue experience informs you of a LOT of things in a very short amount of time. During this time you’re learning who Spider-Man is, who the sinister syndicate is, who the members are, what each of their powers are, and what crimes they’ve committed. It’s all done incredibly efficiently because it’s delivered to you via the news report story mechanic. It’s a great excuse for characters to talk directly at you and explain exactly what you need to know. Further, everything is given in segments so you’re never taking in more than one point at a time. You’ll see a reporter talking about Hydroman, Hydroman attacking, and then it’ll cut to the same style of video for Electro, then Scream, and so on. For the theft of the statue of liberty, you actually see as Doc Ock steals it with his antigravity gun and the reporters immediately will comment wondering where in the city he could be hiding it. All of these segments are ended with Spider-Man stopping the attack, but the villains getting away. Teaching these things are super important because the ride is heavily depended on you having a clear understanding of the story and everything going on. Similarly, Rise of the Resistance is also a heavily story dependent ride, one that is even more complex because it contains multiple twists at the very beginning.

Your vehicle then takes off into the city, above you the shadow of Spider-Man swinging by can be seen, accompanied by the spider signal. Jameson orders you via radio to get a winning report and then suddenly Spider-Man himself jumps on to the hood of your car (with an accompanying lurch forward to account for his landing)! He warns you that this could be the most dangerous night of his life, and yours, and then swings away. Pressured by Jameson again, you pursue. After dodging an oncoming garbage truck and escaping into a seemingly abandoned warehouse, you find the deconstructed statue of liberty, and the sinister syndicate continuing their plans! Unfortunately for you, you’re caught and they each try to take you down. 

The ride system used here is a cool one. The actual vehicle you’re in is a multi axis motion simulator, it can move you forward, backward, left, right, rotate, and probably more that I’m not aware of. Not only that, it’s on a track and moves through the show building as would any other dark ride. The building itself is adorned with practical set pieces like walls, crates, statue of liberty pieces as well as screens. These screens are where characters appear and work together with practical effects to create full experience. For example, the garbage truck that your vehicle nearly crashes into is a real effect of an object coming towards you, but the driver window featuring a Stan Lee cameo is a screen. When Spider-Man lands on your vehicle your simply very close to a giant screen and your car moves perfectly in sync. Not only that, but each ride film does a process of “squinching” in which the perspective of the shot is perfectly synced with the movements of your ride vehicle to always have high amounts of depth, otherwise it would look like a flat video instead of the the 3D effect. This ride is constantly playing with perspective, I’ll explain more further on.

Each villain tries to personally stop you, Electro shocks your vehicle making it vibrate wildly, Scream nearly pounces on your car, Doc Ock attempts to shoot you with his anti gravity gun, Hydroman almost drowns you, and Hobgoblin tries to bomb you from the air. Luckily, Spider-Man is on the scene to prevent any harm as you make it out of the maze-like warehouse and back on to the street. 

Again, this section perfectly shows the ways the ride system, the screens, and the effects work in tandem. When Hobgoblin tosses a bomb at you and Spider-Man webs it away, you are looking at a screen, moving underneath a physical bridge, and the explosion is accompanied by a real fireball effect. Each villain gets their own separate moment to show off their powers and personally attack you. This further drives home exactly who they are and what they can do. That knowledge is crucial and will come into play soon.

Once out on the street, Doc Ock decides to go around Spider-Man and take your vehicle hostage. He uses his anti gravity gun to lift you up towards the rooftops of Manhattan while Spider-Man pursues in an attempt to rescue you. Right when Spidey webs your vehicle he’s snatched in the air by Hobgoblin on his glider and all of you are now flown through the urban canyons at incredible speed. The entire syndicate has now tied up Spider-Man to a rooftop and your vehicle is hanging by a thread as all the villains slowly encroach to take you down together. Suddenly, Spider-Man bursts from behind and uses the villains' powers against them. He webs Electro into Hydroman where the two of them shock each other and crash into Hobgoblin whose pumpkin bombs all explode at once, allowing Spider-Man to then take out Scream and Doc Ock. Just when everything seemed over, Doctor Octopus uses reverse his anti gravity gun to send your vehicle falling down from the skyscrapers and into ground! As your hurtle down and see the asphalt of your doom getting closer and closer, Spidey webs up a net as fast as he can spin it and your fall is safely cushioned just in time.

This sequence sequence is the most involved scene, perfect for the climax of the ride. Now that you know every character’s powers and personality, you’ve got all you need to know to understand how they work together without it being a pure mess. Not only that, the ride is comfortable playing with perspective as well to make you feel as though your altitude on the ride is changing too. When your vehicle is lifted up to the rooftops you’ll see a screen in front of you showing the ride film but on both sides are practical canvas backdrops like you’d find on movie sets depicting the windows of a New York high rise. Both backdrops are designed to roll at rapid speed giving the illusion of your vehicle flying upwards. The same effect works when your perspective is shited to that of hanging off the side of the building and looking up, as well as when you’re facing down towards the ground. In reality, the ride vehicle only ever moves six inches above the ground during the entire ride. This effect was revisited in Rise of the Resistance but significantly different. On that attraction your vehicle really does lift up roughly thirty feet above ground level before dropping back down later in the ride. 

Finally, back on the slightly safer streets of New York, Spider-Man hangs upside down in front of you, the sinister syndicate tightly wound up behind him and lady liberty being returned to her island. He congratulates you on your efforts before swinging away to turn over the bad guys, as your vehicle drives back you’ll hear Stan Lee instruct you on how to safely disembark and see that Spider-Man left the anti gravity gun pointed straight at Jameson in his office, the “raise” he’d been wanting for so long! The day is saved and Spider-Man couldn’t have done it without you.

The ride is perfectly bookended with the classic story of you helping out one of your favorite characters on what may seem like a crazy day for you but is just a typical one for them. This story was repeated in Rise of the Resistance, but it’s been a staple seen in attractions like Star Tours, Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, and countless others. I will say though, it is almost exclusive to attractions based on film properties and is not very common on attractions with original stories and characters. Makes sense because it’s arguably the best way to create story in which large groups of people would be meeting and interacting with characters, but it makes one wonder if a different type of story might be introduced at some point. 

So there you have it, a brief overview of The Amazing Adventurers of Spider-Man at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. While I approached this one from the perspective of it being a precursor to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, there’s another attraction at Universal Studios next door that is structured almost like a response to one of the most classic Disney rides of all time. But I’ll leave that one for another time.

[articlewriter24]

A single Day Trips From Milan With out a Automobile - Arona - Stresa, any Motorboat Vacation

The particular motorboat itinerary addresses the particular Southeast section of Pond Maggiore, proceeding between the two among Piedmont and also Lombardy. The particular itinerary can start coming from Arona, and also end in Stresa, or perhaps that can be done that one other approach about, starting with Stresa and also finishing inside Arona.

This kind of element of motorboat vacation will take concerning 60 minutes, half an hour with all the hydrofoil, nevertheless, you can savor the particular pond greater with all the typical gradual motorboat. With all the lower time of year you can find only some works with the motorboat, three each day and also a couple of inside the mid-day, as well as the program will be halted in the course of several weeks, thus verify the most up-to-date plan before going.

In the event you commence early on adequate each day, you may get over motorboat with a great more advanced obtaining, visit the spot and also watch for another motorboat, that may arrive in concerning 60 minutes (check the particular schedule).

It is possible to attain Arona coming from Milan inside concerning 60 minutes educate journey, around the Trenitalia express railway business, over the Sempione (Simplon) series day tours in Milan italy . The identical educate series prevents furthermore inside Stresa, thus there is a selection of achievable combining to succeed in a single kick off point and also abandon coming from one more diverse vacation spot level. It will take among 12 and also 17 moments for your educate to pay the distance among Stresa and also Arona.

Needless to say you can even attain Arona, or perhaps Stresa, using a Automobile, there is certainly a great autostrada in which runs on the Piedmont part regarding Pond Maggiore, and also you can find exits with equally Arona and also Stresa.

Arona

Arona can be an crucial professional, business and also vacationer heart favored by the particular Sempione railway series and also operating out of a fantastic place, fronting Angera and also on the mountains regarding Mt. Vergante. Maybe previously records inside the Roman time, the initial traditional media dates back for the 11th millennium, each time a captain regarding Ottone I needed any Benedictine convent created. With the brawls among Torriani and also Visconti, which they bitterly retaliated above this kind of heart, they could always be noticed, the particular ruins with the Rocca in which at first completely outclassed any crag coming from about large; yet primarily it absolutely was the particular Borromeos which proven their particular feudal dwelling, keeping their particular principle from your 5th to be able to 18th millennium, that represent any traditional and also ethnic reputation regarding key value.

One of the most old nucleus with the metropolis provides around the particular hills and also unwraps on the particular gorgeous Piazza del Popolo the location where the next Wednesday of each and every calendar month a tiny quaint old-fashioned industry will be used and also the location where the mannerist Cathedral with the Madonna di Piazza - conclusion with the 16th millennium perform regarding Pellegrino Tibaldi, preceded by way of a suggestive little airline flight regarding methods regarding a couple of ramps - any plus a further development regarding properties together with arcades, one of them your house regarding Podesta' or perhaps the particular 16th coin. Palazzo di Giustizia (House regarding justice).

One more sacred properties regarding distinct value could be the 15th coin. Collegiata (Collegiate Church) di Santa Betty Nascente, accomplished around the 17th coin. simply by Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Globally well-known will be then a monumental figurine regarding San Carlo Borromeo, native regarding Arona, the particular next San Carlone: a huge photographer colossus (it is achievable to see that inside), greater than 20 metres taller which usually, poised about large granite pedestal (11 meters), dominates the particular hillside coming from about large; it absolutely was accomplished by the end with the 17th. coin. simply by Bernardo Falconi and also Siro Zanelli after the particular inventory of your layout from the famed painter Cerano and also around the gumption with the Oblate Marco Aurelio Grattarolo with all the help regarding his / her nephew Carlo, Federico Borromeo.

Inside the rectangle the location where the figurine holders another highlight is the particular 17th coin. Seminary as well as the Cathedral regarding San Carlo equally simply by Francesco Richini. With Arona annually through the calendar month regarding May well there is certainly a significant business honest.

Angera

The particular motorboat results in from your wharf a quick length from your railway stop, and also crosses the particular pond and also lands a great the particular Lombardy coast, with Angera, produced around the hillside overhanging, from which that dominates whit a splendid see regarding Verbano, the particular popular old Fort.

Nowadays any well-known getaway web site, along with professional heart, Angera goes back to be able to prehistoric nights, since attest the particular Mesolithic and also Neolithic time conclusions identified in the open grotto around the hillside and also recorder with all the identify "Tana del Lupo"(Den regarding Wolves) or perhaps "Antro di Mithra" (Mithra's Cavern), from your oriental divinity cult employed through the Roman time, if the heart has been referred to as Stazzona. Many of these conclusions come in exhibition on the Municipal Memorial.

Over the lake-front localized horse-chestnut bushes and also going through the sole tropical isle with the acquire - the miscroscopic Pantegora Tropical isle encircled inside reed thickets - the particular Fort, in which grows over the rocky crag.

For the impacting on 13th coin. Tower, starting with the harder old nucleus, the particular Viscount dwelling as well as the so-called "Scaligera wing" have been extra involving the 14th and also 15th generations, right up until that actually reaches, involving the 6th a great 7th generations, today's installations with U. Noteworthy, aside from the constructing in itself, the particular patrimony regarding traditional and also imaginative benefit which can be conserved inside it: from your 14th coin. frescoes with the gorgeous Sala di Giustizia to be able to people regarding gothic courtly style coming from the Palazzo Borromeo inside Milan (damaged from the 1943 bombardments).

Additionally, for a few decades today, the particular constructing could be the dwelling with the intriguing Doll Memorial, a collection of near 2 hundred dolls and also game titles in which got their start in the particular exclusive collection of Princess or queen Bona Borromeo. The particular Rocca di Angera (Angera Fortress) as well as the Doll Memorial may be been to inside time of year.

Meina

Setting off coming from Angera yet again, possessing Arona contrary, the particular motorboat moves from the narrowest portion of all pond (two km), planning yet again on the Piedmontese coast, in which, on the ft . with the environmentally friendly Vergante hills, they will appear a single following your some other wonderful villas dark inside theme parks and also backyards, between which the overdue neoclassical Accommodation Faraggiana. We all attain Meina, a nice vacationer holiday resort, identified in the middle Age groups since Medina, the location where the article writer and also politician Cesare Cantù lived and also perished.

Lesa

Inside the pursuing motorboat journey in which hugs the particular shore coming from Meina to be able to Lesa it is possible to area some other villas and also theme parks, that way regarding Accommodation Cella which is very large and also spreads out there around the particular pond, or perhaps in which regarding Accommodation Cavallini abundant with unusual botanical types. The community, operating out of a tiny inlet, could be the aim getaway accommodations and also couch regarding energetic professional action. The most significant monument with the neighborhood stays the particular Palazzo Stampa, experienced on to the lake-front, in which celebrities just like Manzoni and also Cavour utilized to keep.

Belgirate

Several moments coming from Lesa the particular motorboat boat dock with Belgirate, around the Piedmont coast any captivating vacationer neighborhood endowed together with quite a few accommodations, sufficient reason for endurance the legislature action.

Here in 1858, the initial Italian Oarsmen Community has been created plus a traditional regatta gone to simply by Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi and also d'Azeglio, came about.

While in the northern perhaps the accumulated location go up quaint properties together with arcades and also loggias, around the lake-front goes up the particular baroque Parrocchiale together with 17-18th coin. frescoes. Popular brands from your political historical past and also tradition of our own 19th millennium are usually, additionally connected with a couple of villas: Accommodation Bono Cairoli in which Benedetto Cairoli were living and also inside 1869 Giovanni perished; and also Accommodation Carlotta, in which Rosmini, Gozzano, Manzoni while others lived.

Stresa

Slightly afterwards the particular motorboat docks inside just about the most esteemed and also popular resident in town localities regarding The european union: Stresa, operating out of amazing place, contrary the particular Borromeo gulf and also on the mountains regarding Mt. Mottarone. Coming from Stresa proceeding 9 Kilometer. around the beautiful path "La Borromea" inside half-hour an individual attain the particular summit regarding Mottarone (1491 meters) from which you love any big see above more effective wetlands.

The particular ski and also vacationer stop may be attained furthermore from the Stresa-Mottarone cable-way in which should go from your Pond for the Alpine landscaping inside 19 moments (operating throughout every season, with the exception of the particular calendar month regarding November, using a regularity regarding 20 moments coming from 9. 00 to be able to 12. 00 and also coming from 13. 45 to be able to 17. 50).

It absolutely was inside the mid- 19th millennium, with all the initial Language tourists, and also in the beginning with the 20th, in which Stresa, suspected in which special sophisticated seem. Holiday resort area, and also crucial heart regarding ethnic exhibitions (such because the twelve-monthly model with the "Musical Weeks"), regarding conventions and also global group meetings. On the particular gorgeous seashore with the lake-front the particular piazza Marconi unwraps with all the wharf as well as the Parrocchiale di Azines. Ambrogio, rebuilt inside neoclassic type simply by Giuseppe Zanoja inside 1790. With the again the particular Ducal Accommodation is visible, integrated 1770, in which Antonio Rosmini perished, commemorated from the Global Heart regarding Rosminiani Scientific studies of which the particular accommodation will be headquarter.

The maximum property regarding Stresa's place stays the particular wonderful bird's vision see on the pond. The particular extensive see from your Lombardy coast together with Cerro and also Laveno around the particular Rocca di Calde', to this Piedmontese, with all the Level Castagnola, Pallanza and also, around the proper, the particular report with the Rosso Mts. (Red Mts., 613 meters), around the particular Ossola piles.