If You Vote For Me All Of Your Wildest Dreams Will Come True

SO in the spirit of Knight Life, I thought it was only appropriate for a Napoleon Dynamite reference and supporting picture because it was a very....interesting movie that I used to quote in middle school. Also I feel that the idea of Pedro is very similar to King Arthur because his campaign is a little strange, as is his speech. He begins with "Hello, I don't have much to say. But I think it would be a good idea to bring some holy Sancho's to the high school..." which is definitely bizarre and attention grabbing. But whoa! This takes place in a high school which is the same as Avalon High! Look at me making connections, no it's okay, I know it's not funny. But yeah, Pedro, King Arthur, and I never thought I would be connecting the two, but I mean I think its okay since Knight Life was supposed to be funny or the author probably wouldn't have had weird demons, an invisible sword, a really dumb Percival, a whimpering Gwen, and a 9-year-old Merlin with as people have been mentioning...a lot of sass.

Also this book reminded me of a movie that I watched a long time ago and only remember the basic premise but it was called "A Kid in King Arthur's Court." Mostly because of the weird time gap in Knight Life and this movie; however, the big difference is that the modern kid is thrust into the world of Camelot instead of King Arthur being thrust into the modern world. It is a bit of a swap. Anyway I just get excited when I remember things and can relate them to the times when I was growing up. I haven't watched this movie in a LONG time and then after Knight Life I was like "Oh man this movie." However, it might be because I am also reading "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" but it still came through! I was just wondering how it would be if the roles were swapped, and if it was just a regular person from today that was tripping into a time portal to Camelot. I mean I would probably accidentally look at someone weird in the first two minutes and get chopped up ( they probably made this a kids movie to avoid the fact of imminent death) but hey there is always that small percentage of survival in this imaginary scenario that will never happen. But just imagine a kid from the modern world trying to become a knight! It is just as hilarious and ridiculous!

Few VS many

    I have finally gotten my thoughts together on the "Knight Life".  So instead of ranting about Meg Cabot's book today, I shall rant about the Knight Life.  I understand that there have been many books written about the tale of King Arthur, but this one takes the cake as the most ridiculous. 
     Though it is ridiculous, I did enjoy reading it.  Thinking that a long dead king tries to run for the mayor of New York City is rather enjoyable.  Thinking about it intuitively he can't be much worse than the mayor we have already. 
     Even though he does bring a whole new perspective into the political realm, I do not and would not vote for him as a possible mayor.  As the few of us in class stood against the many, I believe we were looking at it in a logistical stand point.  Regardless of his views on controversial topics, he was not mentally ready to face the political realm.  Even if he won mayor and had a voice to represent the masses, he would be eaten alive with the back stabbing and corruption that goes on in today politics.  I understand Arthur has had to deal with tricky people in his past, but I personally believe that a typical person in politics today does not live up to the standards that were held in politics back then.
     On a more personal note, I do not agree with his views on certain things.  On the basis it takes two to make a baby, the price should be split evenly.  Except in the case of rape, and therefore there would be other repercussion.  Except rape, no one forced the female into the sexual acts, she made that choice on her own.  Therefore she needs to be held responsible in equal share with the male.  The fact that the women alone go through the pain should make her more hesitant to the chances of being pregnant and therefore take steps to prevent such a thing.  Making the male pay for the operation to abort the baby is not equality. 
     Also his stance on gun control is un-American.  Using a sward against a possible intruder will not stop you from being killed.  In fact if I was robbing someone and had intent to kill and someone pulled a sward on me, I would laugh.  No matter if there was a law to prevent guns, someone would have the resources and the intellect to create it, and when that happens, who will be there to protect the people.  The militia?  I can assure you that if someone had intent to kill, it would be done and the person would be long gone before the militia would arrive.  Regardless of the laws, the government would still give guns to developing countries, who then would turn on our great nation... Afghanistan... Mexico.
     Over all, I think the book was rather good.  Not in the sense it represented Arthur well, but in the sense that it made people think of Arthur in a new light.  Even today, as I was writing I was getting riled up reading about his political views and the thought that people would vote blindly on someone based upon his physical features.  Well... people do that in real life.  He mirrored the political life perfectly in his book.

Avalon High... oh High School

First off, I love this book so much. I have read it multiple time before and I have been looking forward to reading it since I found out it was on our reading list for the semester. I love the way this book is written, its really funny and interacts with the reader. The character of Ellie is wonderful; she is very easy to relate to; she is a regular high school just like I was. She feels like her crush on the hottest, most popular guy in school is a waste of her time. In a way I love the way that Cabot works the cliche in a wonderful light. There's the quarterback dating the cheerleader. He has a dysfunctional home life and finds relief in hanging out with new girl. It is so typically high school or rather the high school we find in novels. I really love Will, he is my perfect Arthur. He's nice and strong and a great leader. The defends the weak and supports the strong and still finds time to be a smart guy. I have always loved the character of Lance and his romance with Jen. I feel like this book is the reason the "real" Lancelot was so heartbreaking and hard to deal with for me. If I had not been exposed to Lance I would have felt different about Lancelot. Will and Ellie make me remember the beginning of my relationship with my fiancé in high school, the way she thinks about him and talks about him makes me smile and remember how good that part of high school. Ellie and Will are exactly what every high school couple aspires to be and I can't let go of high school me when I read this book and it adds so much to the memories. 

This is 4 of 5

Avalon High. A hiatus for your brain.

Every since I was little, I have always loved curling up with a good book filled with drama and just enjoyed my night. With being an English major, it has been so hard to do this lately, however, Meg Cabot's Avalon High, was this perfect book. I am so glad this book was assigned to us, especially this week. My first reaction was, this book when finals are so close and I have so many papers to write this week!!! Oh, NO. However, as soon as I picked this book up, I could not put it down. I mean I had to of course. Bathroom breaks, class, work, but I did not want to put this book down. To be able to read this book and lose oneself in the drama. Not having to think and analyze so much of everything little thing was just the break that I needed. I just had to finish this book, which I did.

I thought this book had some hilarious moments. For example on page 12, Elaine was talking about her father's glasses and if he had lived in medieval times he would have died by falling down a well or something for not being able to see. Cabot wrote, "In fact, in medieval times, he'd probably have been dead by the age of three or four from falling down a well or whatever..." It reminded me of myself, I am blind as a bat and cannot see without my contacts or glasses. I am so glad, probably just like Ellie's dad, that I was not born in those times. I would be with him, down into that well, dead.

Also, when Ellie told Mr. Morton about Will and Jennifer, he was totally shocked. Was I the only who thought that he could be Merlin??? He knew everything that was going to happen. But I was so disappointed in him that he was going to give up. Also, was I the only one who has noticed that Merlin likes to go to the Caribbean when he gets upset??? This is not the first time we've (the reader) has seen this. He has gone to Aruba and the Bahamas so far, if I recall correctly.

I was so dead set that Ellie was the Lady of Shallot. But to be the lady of the Lake?!?!?!?! I feel as surprised as Mr. Morton and her parents. It's pretty cool. Also, I was SO angry with Jennifer and Lance. Yet, happy that Arthur (Will) was relieved and he wasn't the fool like in every other story, where EVERYONE else knew except for him. In this book, I actually do like Lance and Jen. I really feel like she genuinely cares for Will and Lance. You can't help but to fall in love with her character, unlike in the other stories.  Arthur and Elaine or in other words King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake. That's different. Yet they are two powerful people. I never thought of them together before, but in this book, it works. And of course, King Arthur, or Will, is the most loveable person in all the kingdom, or Avalon. And how can I forget Mordred, I mean Marco. He really is totally out of his mind, just crazy. I don't like him so I don't wanna say much about him, but I am glad that the darkness left him at the end and with rehabilitation, Marco can be normal.

Did you put incest on your résumé?

I will never be able to look at deer the same way again after reading Mists of Avalon. You know what would’ve sucked? Having to watch that scene instead of reading it. Oh wait… I basically did that for the Arthur goes to Hollywod project, minus the deer part. Fun stuff.

            Anyway, I would rather talk about Knight Life because I think I’ve read enough incest for my lifetime.

            I’ve never been big into politics. I would find out what I needed to know, and even waste my time watching presidential debates (because we all know all you learn from those is how the other guy would be a terrible president) so that I could make an educated vote. I will give it to politicians. It is difficult trying to make decisions for the general public when there are so many different situations. It’s hard to choose something that will have a beneficial impact on everyone, or at least the majority. That being said, it doesn’t make it okay for them to avoid justifying anything and leaving questions unanswered. I would rather have an honest candidate giving answers, even if I didn’t agree, than some guy up there keeping his plans after being elected a secret.

            That’s why I would vote for Arthur to be mayor. It was just a coincidence that I did agree with most of his stances on the controversial issues. I would’ve voted for him because he wasn’t hiding anything, and he answered questions as best he could. I wouldn’t give him my vote because he’s hot or speaks in a cool accent. That lady was an idiot.

            I could definitely see this as a cheesy 80’s comedy movie with people wearing alligator costumes running around in waiting staff clothes. Gwen would have obnoxiously big hair, and someone on Arthur’s campaign would have one of those awful mullets. Just imagine.

3 of 5

Sass-master by the age of 9

I really liked this version of King Arthur because it was the most relatable. Yes, there are parts of it that seem a bit beyond belief such as a sassy 9 year old being a campaign manager, and that Gwen would betray Arthur as she did, but I thought over all it was more relatable because I can understand what it's like to run for Mayor (I haven't run for Mayor but in a general sense I understand the pressure) but I can never relate to blindly trusting people with my life because you want me to try on your mantle (that guy can go take a hike).

Also, I really like the fact that Merlin aged backwards it gave some fantasy to a pretty normal book. When I think of Merlin I think of School of Rock and the little sassy boy.

Really why did Gwen betray Arthur to Morgan. Like really, that is rude. Maybe there is a reason that we didn't cover from the excerpts but boo you Gwen. 

I am Arthur, vote me for Mayor !!

I want to discuss the reading of "Knight Life". Like we discussed yesterday in class, I would not vote for Arthur for Mayor because he has no idea what is going on in the world at the time he decides to run for Mayor. He has to quickly read the constitution to understand the rights that U.S. citizens have. This is not something a qualified candidate should have to do. If a person is running in a political race, they have to know the laws and regulations for the city they are running for. Also, what is the deal with having a nine year old campaign manager ? and the fact that he is hanging out with a bunch of old men ? This is just down right creepy !! I also think that if Arthur became Mayor, his king-like state of mind would take over. This would be a negative affect on society because Arthur would completely try and change our government and the way it is ran. I find it very odd that Arthur's opponents in the race where an attorney general and an actor ! This is like handing Arthur the position of Mayor by not having qualified candidates to run against. I also found it odd that Buddy and Elvis were included in this story since they are homeless men. There's nothing wrong with homeless people, I just did not see how this was related to a political race. It was hard to picture Arthur in New York City . I feel like he would be really out of place running for Mayor outside of a country where he is not from. I wonder if he changes his accent ? Arthur did make valuable points when addressing issues that the reporters presented to him. I thought it was funny when Arthur said people should purchase swords instead of guns because guns are to heavy for children to pick up. Children should not be holding guns anyways !! Although it was amusing that Arthurs commercial was like ten seconds long and to the point, but I really enjoyed that his commercial did not bash any of the other candidates like political commercials do today.



 I picture Arnold when thinking about the other candidates.
4 of 5 !!

Knight Life

I actually found myself weirdly liking this book. I know we didn't read all of it (we so don't have the time for that)  but I think we managed to get a general feel for the book.
It's a totally ridiculous setting for a King Arthur story but it also seemed to work. While I think it's bizarre (even with today's explanation) that Arthur would not run for an office in his own damn country, I guess New York is as good a place as any for a man with no believable history to start over. And then immediately run for office. Plot holes. So many plot holes.

I think the biggest problem I have with this story is probably Gwen. I can accept Arthur's nonsensical run for office and the fact that he knows nothing about politics or society. I can accept a reverse aging Merlin and scaly demon people. I'm just so fed up with lame, bitchy, treasonous renditions of Gwen.
.                                                           
This is my Gwen. I'll admit it. I think she's one of the best renditions of Gwen ever to be presented. As such I have trouble accepting other versions at times. I understand that the Gwen/Lance love story will always be a thing, although the lack of it in Merlin and therefore the lack of it in Angel Coulby's portrayal may play a part of why I love her so much. This Gwen is brave, smart, beautiful, and loyal. She makes mistakes but she's humble and is always willing to figure her shit out. The Gwen in this book (who unfortunately has been given Angel Coulby's face by my mind) is mediocre at best. And then, seemingly out of no where (who knows what happens in the missing pages) she betrays Arthur for Morgaine of all people? Where did that come from? (I suppose it probably has something to do with Lance but we know nothing about him).

Book Gwen, "Gwen Queen" as if that isn't the most obvious name ever seems like she was dropped into the campaign and is basically a coffee fetcher. Which is so totally uninspiring. She gets one good speech about politics and it's ruined by her tendency to talk "like one of the guys". She's a woman who is clearly being written by a man and it's boring and not very believable.

Sassy nine year old Merlin (who's presence no one seems to question?) is more believable in this campaign than Gwen is. Which, while hilarious, is frankly unfair.

Why is no one questioning the presence of this on the campaign? 
Furthermore, why is no one questioning it when he suddenly disappears!
The book makes me laugh, especially the whole bagel thing (and one other section that I'm totally forgetting) but it also is ridiculous and filled with plot holes and totally uninspiring female characters. So that's my thoughts. Sorry for the two posts in one day thing. That's obnoxious of me.

The Lady of Shalott (But kind of also Anne of Green Gables)

I know we've kind of moved on from "The Lady of Shalott" but I totally forgot to post this a week ago so you get it now. So bear with me? 

So for me "The Lady of Shalott" will forever (and always) be Megan Fellows in a sinking boat. This was my first introduction to the poem and, if I really think about it,  it was probably my first introduction to King Arthur as well. I've been watching Anne of Green Gables since before I could speak. I'm not sure anything Arthurian can pre-date that. At least in my life. 

"The Lady of Shalott" has since become one of the few poems I could stand (I am very much not a poetry person). Admittedly I'm not sure I fully understood its meaning until this class. I guess I always understood that she died in the end but it never really hit me why. I knew there was a curse but I don't think I realized that the reason it was set off was because she looked away from her weaving.

Elaine seems now to just be tragic to me. She was trapped by this curse and for who-knows-how-long she faithfully weaves away. Then one bit of light comes into her life and she just has to turn away from his dirty old mirror? She finally gets something that could be good and the curse takes effect. (I'm not saying Lancelot would be good for Elaine, we learned from the book that he really isn't, I'm just saying he's an opportunity.)

She seems so dutiful as she gets ready to die. It doesn't feel like the curse is doing anything to her physically. She ends up freezing to death for pete's sake. But never the less she gets the boat all prepped and writes her name on the side. I think she does it so that someone, anyone, will know who she is. Not to scare them, just so she can be remembered. Then she gets in the boat, in a rain storm, in a white dress, and sets off. (Really Elaine? Does now seem like the best time for a white dress?)

When she finally reaches Camelot (dead) most everyone is afraid of her and Lancelot just says 'eh she wasn't ugly'. This is the man she died for (whether or not either of them know it) and he is utterly indifferent to her. It's just heartbreaking.

Anyway that's it for me. Sorry this is so unbelievably out of date.

She's going to smash a slate over his
head in less than a minute. 

And oh look! They
got married! 

Disclaimer: Gilbert Blythe (who rescues her at the end of the video) may appear perfect. Try not to fall in love with him. He's basically the greatest ever and everything Lancelot wishes he could be. Things end a little better for Anne and Gil. (These two were basically the power couple of my childhood and I adore everything they do.)

Impressions of Knight Life

Wow what a reading! One second I was smiling at the secret meanings behind all of Arthur’s words and the next I was feeling slightly uncomfortable with Morgan and Lance. By the end I was surprised with myself, I wanted to read more. Despite the fact that I found Morgan’s lines quite cheesy and Gwen to be annoying all over again, I was draw to Arthur’s portrayal and interested in seeing how the story plays out. And of course Merlin was the best part. I really enjoyed the mental image I had when I pictured him speaking, a snarky little kid with the soul of an old man. He is already my favorite character. I pictured him looking kind of like this:

Of course I found a lot of story  impractical, i.e. Arthur running into a burning building and coming out reasonably unscathed, or the fact that Merlin was kidnapped and no one seemed to notice (at least as far as I know due to the section cuts). I found myself really curious about the castle that supposedly in Central park and also the fact that Excalibur was invisible. And there was definitely an added charm to the way Arthur planned to run his campaign. It made me think, what would it actually be like if a candidate ran a campaign like that? Most people in America want the average joe who is above politics to be president, but we found that actually doesn’t work out very well (i.e. Jimmy Carter). So I wonder if Arthur would even make a good mayor. He probably would reform the whole system so he doesn’t have to deal with the politics, but would the laws allow him to do so? And if he gets elected, does he realize he as to run again later? Can’t be mayor forever like you are king. Interesting food for thought, which I guess can only be answered by reading the book!

Anyway, The evil demons gave it an added plus, I’m always up for a bit of magic. I will say that I found their speech patterns, especial Gwen and Morgan, to be extremely cheesy and annoying, but maybe the author just can’t capture the female voice well. Either way I was still pleasantly surprised by Knight Life, and may even read it over the summer. Compared to all prior readings Knight Life seems to be filled with humor and is pretty light hearted (whether that was intentional or not, I am unsure). I think I could see myself reading it just to have a nice, comical escape from the real world. I enjoyed Mists of Avalon but this was different (in sooo many ways). It was just lighter and easy to read.  I enjoyed catching little tidbits of Camelot references.

In the end I definitely will be purchasing a cheap copy of this book, for the laughs at least. 

3 of 5

Knight Life

Knight Life

So this book, It took me awhile to figure out what exactly was going on, maybe something was said in class on Wednesday or maybe not. Anyway, I really liked this reading after I got over my initial dilemma.

My dilemma was trying to just get a grip on how all these people were in New York anyway, centuries after Arthur. Admittedly, I did skip over the cover which helped a bit with it but my thought process still developed after that.  At first I thought, "well, there is magic so who knows, maybe Merlin was just doing an experiment and took them all to that time period?" When I re-read the cover and canned that idea, next thought was that Arthur returned from Avalon and this is where he ended up, then I realized how would Gwen and Percival be there. So I ended up just giving up on trying to make a tie back to the other stories we read and move on, which I should have done in the first place.

I personally loved this reading! The portrayal of Merlin is what took me the most. Maybe I just needed a good laugh this weekend or something but his mix of useful help to his crazy philosophical talk (anyone else laugh when he talked about the bagel?).

I think maybe this was just a change of pace or something, but this reading was really refreshing. Really looking forward to talking about it in class and hearing everyone else's opinions!

Post 2 of 5

Another Relative ?!?

I remember thinking in the beginning of the semester that Avalon was not a real place in King Arthur's time period. After the first reading of Avalon , I was excited to learn the Avalon is a real place and not made up. My favorite thing about the Mist of Avalon is the fact that a female is finally given some power. I also discussed this in my SWOT analysis as one of the changes that the court should make. Giving females more power I feel will help the court be more successful. I did not really like the fact that they made Morgaine a sex symbol because I feel like it is to much like our society today where women are based off of looks and sex. I know that in todays world sex sells, but I would of liked her to be seen in a different light. I do not think that Morgaine should give up her empowerment for Lancelot (who does not like women to have power). It is so irritating to see women do this today. Women need to be strong and independent or men will never look at us any differently. I think I wanted to stop reading after the priestess gave her virginity away to a half animal man.       Completely Gross in everyway I can think of !!
It is no surprise though that tow people find out their related to one another again. It must be the thing in this time period.

3 of 5

Knight LIfe: Yet Another Gwen

I’m curious what other people think of Knight Life’s Gwen.  Of all of our readings this semester, Peter David’s Gwen is my least favorite version of her.  David’s Gwen is a sneaky, not too bright, liar. "Adultery Gwen" is not nearly as annoying as duplicitous, in league with the enemy, Gwen.   Gwen’s dialog  makes her sound a little dim with “you guys” and “y’knows.”  Morgana dupes Gwen into being a distraction and knowing participant in yet another act of betrayal.

“Aging backwards” Merlin is okay but scaly monsters magically disguised as waiters?  This book reminds me of a Kinky Friedman novel.  Or better yet, Art Penn running for mayor is sort of like the real life Kinky Friedman running for governor of Texas in 2006. Now, Friedman is running for the Agriculture Commissioner of Texas. If you add together Will Rogers, Raymond Chandler, pot smoking, cigars, an acoustic guitar, and a shot of tequila  you'd get something that sounds and looks like Kinky Friedman.  Friedman is a novelist, a musician (Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys), and a politician.  Kinky Friedman has a  line of merchandise and is a master of self-promotion.  Many of Friedman's You Tube clips contain offensive language.