The Dance of the White Stallions

So, yesterday, I went to see El Caballo Blanco in Napier, NZ. It was about as good as I had expected. That is to say, not as good as I had hoped. Especially when you pay nearly $100 per ticket (and more if you wanted a better seat). For one thing, is is called "The Dance of the White Stallions". Well, guess what? The stallion that did the  most dancing was a Fresian (black). There were a couple of white stallions, I think (one, for sure, the rest may have been geldings), but all they did was dressage, and a few "training session" moves - all the well-practiced maneuvers were done by the fully-trained Fresian.
Now, I was coming to the show as a grown woman who has loved horses since she was a little girl (didn't we all?). I read about horses, because there was no chance of getting a real one. In the books I had they always talked about the dancing Lipizzaners and Andalusians. I had dreamed of what the show might look like. I read about how the moves had been developed for military reasons - to clear away enemy infantry, for instance. How well-trained would a horse have to be to do that? It would be pretty awesome to see an animal showing that kind of prowess. So, I went to the show with hope in my heart. However, I have been to a horse show in Australia before ("The Outback Extravaganza" - which was good, but just not quite as exciting as I'd hoped... better than this one, though, I feel), so I kept my excitement in check. I hoped, but tried not to expect too much.

As it turned out, I was right to prepare myself this way.

They started the show with a "training session" - they showed us how they trained the animals to do some of the trickier moves. All good and well, I can appreciate that. And it does make you more appreciative when you actually see one of the horses do the move. Sure thing. However, I was still holding out for a polished performance with some pretty fancy moves.

There was a display of dressage to music. Yep, most of the display was pretty close to being in time with the music. But, as both a music/dance and horse lover, I was looking for something slightly better choreographed. There was some more forceful bits of the song that I think would have suited bigger movements from the horse. But, then, I can't recall if that horse was trained in some of the moves I was picturing as suiting the music in my own head. Anyway.. it was nice, but nothing that a competitive dressage rider couldn't top by miles.

They had a girl sing while riding a horse... ooh err, is all I could say. They said that singing while getting a horse to perform is tricky. Fair enough. Very tricky if the horse does any leaps and bounds. But it didn't. All of its moves were smooth and small.

And then the announcer gives a big intro about the need for horses to do fancy moves for battle. All very exciting stuff. So, we saw rearing. We saw a levade (a low-angled rear - excellent muscle-control required). And we saw the capriole (where the horse leaps in the air and kicks out with its hind legs when at the peak of the leap). All these moves were coaxed out of the horses. I don't know if this is because the horses are still learning, or if it was done so that when the horse finally did it we'd all cheer because obviously it was hard. The thing was... with the intro re: battle moves, all I could think was how pointless it was to have a half-trained horse on a battlefield. So, yes, I wanted to see a polished set of maneuvers performed by a fully-trained horse. I kept thinking through the show that it was still to come... and then they ended to show.

I don't know... do the Aussies have an agreement with the Spanish and the Austrians (Vienna) not to do a fully polished show, so that people will still travel halfway across the world to see the better ones? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, since it looks as though those shows are booked out well in advance anyway, so they could afford to lose a few southern hemisphere viewers, I'm sure.

Hopefully, in another few years, when all the horses and riders have done a bit more work, hopefully this side of the world will have something to show.

There are other shows in Australia, but, I must admit, I would be timid about parting with my cash for them after the two shows I have seen already. I continue to hold out hope that there is a show like what I dream of out there. But do I really want to pay more money to risk being disappointed again? I think next time I will need a reliable recommendation first...

Rant

Why do so many kids' toys require three batteries? Don't the toy manufacturers know that batteries come in packs of FOUR (Or two, or eight)... Even rechargeables come in even numbers, so to use three leaves an odd one out that either can't be used or needs to go into the rare gadget - the one-battery device (clock?).

Rant over for now.

Vent

A blog is where you are meant to share your opinions with the world, right? And take whatever feedback comes back at ya? [Breathe... right, non-confrontational me is... ready]

Well, if there is one thing that I have an opinion on, it is music. I love music. I love examples of all music. Sure, some new types of music might take a bit of getting used to, but I am always open to giving it a go, and sure enough I usually like it. But, right now I want to talk about some that I don't like - because it was on the radio while I was in the shower (I hate that, they always do that to me when I can't reach to change the station). I'm talking Stone Sour (I don't even know if that is meant to be one word or two, I don't want to know, they bore me). You read that right, they bore me. I know that the lead singer is the Slipknot dude - don't know his name, I don't care for Slipknot, either. Don't get me wrong, I have heard one or two of their songs that I can appreciate, but I don't choose to listen to them. When I was a teenager I loved Korn and Rage Against The Machine and stuff, but now that I am older I find that I don't like my music to make me angry - not in a stressed out kind of way, anyway. I'll listen to an angry song, but I prefer  different kind of anger, now.

Right, back to Stone Sour. They have this song that goes "I'm looking at you through the glass..." Urgh! Now I am going to have it stuck in my head ALL day! Why did I do this? Yeah, I hate that song. It's... catchy. And it's whiny! I don't want my lover-boy to whine about how much he loves me. Not an effective sappy song in my opinion. The other song I know of theirs goes "Together! Forever! We'll be together!" (I believe)... I don't know about you, but if a guy declared his love for me by shouting at me like that, I would be thinking "psycho...". Stalker, much?

I hear my baby crying, got to go...

A Review: Raymond E Fiest: "Rides A Dread Legion"

Ok, first a confession. I am a novice author. I am an intermediate-expert reader. I am not a professional reviewer.

I comment on this piece of work as a reader.

I was looking for a new book to read. I like to have something to help me wind down at the end of the day, and I also wanted to do a bit of research for my own writing work. So, I wanted a good book.

Now, many years ago, I purchased a copy of the book Magician. I enjoyed it, and so my friend lent me Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon. I also enjoyed these. A while later, I came upon Jimmy The Hand (written with Steve Stirling) and bought that also. I found it a simpler read, younger, but still enjoyable. So, as you can see, I have a good relationship with REF's work.

A few months ago I re-read Jimmy and only a few weeks ago I re-read Magician. Quite enjoyed them.

So, when I happened to walk through a bookstore and spot this latest offering I thought it was just what I was after.

First impression: typos galore! I am just amazed at the number of typos - as small as an extra letter here and there to as big as an entire wrong word! Where were the editors?

Next impression: I just didn't get a feel for any of the characters. Not even Pug, who I grew quite fond of in Magician (although, I was tested when his name changed to Milamber... ew). I found that Pug's wife, Miranda, rubbed me the wrong way... a very abrupt character. Perhaps she had her reasons... but I'm not sure I could sympathize enough. I am curious to go back and read some of the earlier books now, just to see if she was ever a nice person, but I will be borrowing them from the library.

The last two chapters are good. Finally things seemed to happen.

(originally written at the end of 2009, time to share)

The Evil Villain

So, as someone going through the motions of starting a story, enjoying the characters that I am writing about, and even enjoying some of the situations I have put them in, I got to thinking about how much I like my overall plan for my story. And I came to the conclusion that I am not as happy with it as I would like to be. So, I am reviewing my plan.

Part of my revisiting of things is to look at my villain and his crew.

This is a hard job for me. I tend to spend my life trying to be the good guy, and trying to see others as the good guy. To see someone as intentionally evil is just such a hard concept for me to grasp.

But, the villain doesn't always have to be evil. He could just be mistaken. Or misunderstood.
In many ways, this way of thinking about the villain can make them a more interesting person to write, and read, about. Try to look at the "villain" as a "normal" person, with good intentions that happen to have negative results on your protagonist.

Time to get pondering, anyway...

(Actually, this is an old post I started ages ago, so I have already done some pondering. thought I might share my thoughts, anyway.)

Writing Soundtrack: Powderfinger - D.A.F.

double allergic

I can't say exactly why this song fits into my WIP's "Soundtrack". It's just the sound. it affects me somehow, and that's the kind of writing I want to achieve. Something that gets the heart pounding with excitement through action or romantic/sexual-tension. So any music that makes me feel something is a goer here.

In all honestly, though, the whole "Double Allergic" album is good (o:

Writing Soundtrack: The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I want to achieve a certain dark, sensuality to my writing. Also, one of my main characters is moody. And what song is more moody that this?

How Soon Is Now?