Pirate Jack

I just went and uploaded the print version of the Pirate Jack adventure novel to Scribd.com.  That’s the embedded preview of the book in their viewer above.  You can read about 53 pages of the book for free and then pay $1.99 to get the entire thing.  It’s the book version of our Pirate Jack podcast that you can find in our audio section.  We’re putting new chapters of the audio up each week.  I think $1.99 is a pretty good price for the whole book in downloadable Adobe PDF format.  If you buy it have a great read!

The Visit is an animation I was working on about a year ago. The Flash player above includes everything I’ve done so far on the film. There’s no sound yet. It’s a rough edit of the animation as I go. The story is my adaptation of an old folk tale about a little girl who is cast out of her home to live in the forest. It’s a pretty serious and tough little story. No laughs really. I’m picking it up again to finish it. So I’ll be posting regular updates here for anyone who’s interested in seeing a short animated film reach completion.

When I previously worked on the film I blogged about the process and posted storyboard sketches and the full text of the story. You can read the blog about the making of The Visit here. Chances are, I’ll do most of the updating right here from now on.

The winner of our April 2009 Mystery Contest is Pippa, age 10!

Congratulations to the winner!  Pippa has written an imaginative and interesting continuation of the story that is a pleasant surprise.

The trees of the forest bent over sideways in the howling wind. The white disk of the full moon shimmered behind the swaying branches. Southbay Forest was being battered by the storm. Rain began to pelt the ground. It was an altogether nasty evening.

Riley Hitchens made his way along the muddy path with dread. The lantern’s feeble light swung wildly back and forth across the narrow way as his fingers gripped its handle tightly.

It was just an old crypt. That’s all. Nothing but a pile of old stones with a rusty iron door. That door was clanging in the wind now. It had disturbed Riley’s sleep.

So now poor Riley staggered in his soaking nightclothes toward the crypt that was creating such a din.

A wolf howled.

Riley stopped in his soggy tracks and glanced behind him. A shape flashed between the trees. He lurched forward and bolted down the mud path toward the old stone crypt.

He burst through the half-open door and sucked the dank air into his lungs. His mud-caked slippers echoed in the stone chamber. The rain pounded the forest outside. Just ahead, Riley could make out the dim shape of the tunnel entrance.

He stopped and felt the cold sweat of terror at the back of his neck.

From far down the dark winding way of the tunnel, underneath the raging of the storm, came the delicate sound of… music.

The winner’s story continues from this point…

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A fascinating development at YouTube: The Reporters’ Center, where you can get tips on effective journalism from prominent reporters. The new YouTube channel went live today and is already offering some interesting how-to videos like the one above by reporter Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. He shows you how to be careful when trying to interview war lords with big guns, how to hide your money, and how to always be a little skeptical and double-check witness accounts and stories that sound too good. Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post has a video about the impact of citizen journalism best demonstrated by the recent uprising in Iran. During the past few weeks, the government of Iran tried to shut down the operations of journalists and restrict the use of internet and text messaging in order to suppress information about government violence against protesters. But they were not able to prevent people with cell phone cameras from making videos and sending them out of the country for the world to see. These people have also been reporting on the situation via Twitter to give real-time coverage of many events in Iran.

This movement toward citizen journalism is extremely interesting because it democratizes the press. Cameras in the hands of millions become a formidable tool for keeping an eye on government and limiting its ability to suppress information.  The press has always functioned like a fourth branch of the U.S. government, preventing the administrative, legislative, and judiciary from thinking they operate out of sight.  In fact, it probably wouldn’t hurt to constitutionally formalize the press as some kind of fourth branch!

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Penguin’s Puffin Books has a new membership site called We Make Stories, where kids can use an online tool to create stories.  There are several types of story creation, including a remix tool to use on existing classic tales, a map maker, and a comic book style creator.  It’s all drag and drop type stuff and is intended to teach creativity and encourage literacy.

While this is reasonably fun-looking, I cannot understand why a site would present itself for pay membership and not really give any useful demonstration versions of its tools.  There is a single demo based on remixing old stories, but this is not sufficient to make me want to offer $9.99.  That price, by the way, is very effectively hidden from view and presented in a rather disturbing manner.  Here’s what I mean:

1. First create a user name and password and give us your parent’s email address.

2. Your parent will then get an email asking them to pay for the membership (£5.99/$9.99).

3. Once your parent has paid this, your membership will be activated and you can start to play all the games.

Those are the instruction on the sign-up page.  So kids are expected to blunder forth and sign up without the benefit of an effective demonstration.  Give away a parent’s email address without permission.  Then the parent receives an email demanding money.  No sir.  Absolutely not.  You put the price in big print on the front page and you don’t mislead children into presenting their parents with an unexpected request for money.  Everything should be up-front and visible right at the beginning.  I just can’t believe what I’m seeing online from a major publisher.  Perhaps we have here an example of how the publishing industry intends to get money out of people – by tricking their children.

By Caleb Carlson

Here’s our first new novel for the Candlelight Stories blog format. It’s in the fantasy fiction genre and is full of rich language and adventure. Malocchio is the first book in an ongoing series called Elements of Alchemy. It is a story about a young man’s journey away from home toward confidence and self-reliance in a world not unlike our own, with the caveat that there are elements of magic, ghosts, the occasional monster, and of course, the struggle between good and evil. He gets himself and his brother into some trouble in the beginning, in an act of pride, and then has to work to come to grips with the changes and hardships brought about by the event.

We will offer this book in weekly installments.

Malocchio

Chapter 8
Malocchio

On the night of the fall, Damascus kept silent on the subject of Stonehill. Enoch tried to broach the subject on the walk back home, talking in circles of the strangers he had seen at Gammer Field. At first, he hoped to find something to calm his own rising panic. Dama kept to himself, talking only to Atticus in a low whisper that took on an angry tone whenever Enoch tried to listen. The rain had passed and darkness fell under a fleet of fast moving clouds. Atticus’ did not seem to notice Dama’s new companion, and to Enoch’s eye, only cast look after worried look on his friend, vexed by Dama’s strange behavior. He frequently looked over one shoulder to fix Enoch in an accusatory glance, his high, smooth forehead bunched into thick ropes of concern, a look that Enoch had never seen before.

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Egmont Mayer of Germany made this 3D animated film. A man lives with his secret rabbit and cuts his social interactions to nearly nothing as a result of his shame. I like the way animators are starting to revel in making their films look like they are rendered in 3D software rather than trying to defeat the software to make things look realistic.

Marjane Satrapi is the author of the magnificent graphic novel, Persepolis.  She also co-directed the movie adaptation of the book.  Her story is about being a young girl growing into womanhood in Iran.  She is now appealing for help from the United Nations to protect the people in Iran who are protesting against a brutal totalitarian religious regime for freedom.  Here is her note:

Dear Friends

To all who believe in freedom and democracy
Please sign this petition to the United Nations to stop the violence,
arrests and torture in Iran.
The situation is really really bad.

Please forward it to whoever you know
Best and lots of love
Marjane Satrapi

Pushkin is a stop-motion animation by Trevor Hardy for his Fool Hardy Films studio.  The film is full of very easy-going humor that starts as soon as the old woman first opens her mouth to ask if anyone has seen her missing cat.  I think the way the character talks is just hilarious.  This little studio is a one-man outfit that is producing totally marvelous work.

I found this via the fantastic no fat clips!!!

Listen to this.  Why the mask?  Well, a performer is never who you think he is.  He is who he thinks he is.

Via the very interesting site, Daily Dose Of Dylan

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

This is the first John Carter of Mars novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan books. It was his first novel, published in 1917 and it’s a work of rip-roaring science fiction that has inspired many of the great writers in the genre.

Chapter 9: John Carter learns to understand the Martian tongue.  He listens to an interesting conversation among Sola and some other female Martians about the beautiful prisoner.

You’ll find regular podcasts of all the chapters over the next couple of months. Subscribe to our feed.

Duration: 00:08:39
Read by Alessandro Cima

All audio stories are Copyright © Candlelight Stories, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

This is the first John Carter of Mars novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan books. It was his first novel, published in 1917 and it’s a work of rip-roaring science fiction that has inspired many of the great writers in the genre.

Chapter 8: John Carter finds himself in the middle of a raging battle between his captors on the ground and enormous Martian airships.  Then he becomes enthralled by an unusual prisoner.

You’ll find regular podcasts of all the chapters over the next couple of months. Subscribe to our feed.

Duration: 00:12:49
Read by Alessandro Cima

All audio stories are Copyright © Candlelight Stories, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

This book contains pirate battles, violence and death. Please use your judgment before playing for very young children.

Here’s a free podcast of our fantastic pirate adventure novel written for young readers. It’s got hidden scrolls, time travel, ships, battles, navigation, gold, islands, jungles and helicopters in it.

You can purchase the high-quality paperback from Amazon for $11.95 or just $1.99 for a Kindle e-book version.

Or you can purchase the paperback from Barnes & Noble (Price: $11.95)

Description:
Young Jack Spencer sees his father’s boat-building business destroyed by a powerful land developer. Then Jack unearths three ancient scrolls that propel him on a dangerous adventure through time in search of a pirate treasure.

When Jack finds himself aboard the pirate ship Revenge with Captain Jameson’s crew, he enters a life or death world of ship battles, jungle islands, prison escapes, gold, and treachery.

Set during the golden age of Caribbean piracy, Pirate Jack combines rollicking adventure with the moving story of a boy’s love for his father and a courageous effort to save a way of life.

You’ll find regular podcasts of all the chapters over the next couple of months. Subscribe to our feed.

This book is read by the author.

All audio stories are Copyright © Candlelight Stories, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

This book contains pirate battles, violence and death. Please use your judgment before playing for very young children.

Here’s a free podcast of our fantastic pirate adventure novel written for young readers. It’s got hidden scrolls, time travel, ships, battles, navigation, gold, islands, jungles and helicopters in it.

You can purchase the high-quality paperback from Amazon for $11.95 or just $1.99 for a Kindle e-book version.

Or you can purchase the paperback from Barnes & Noble (Price: $11.95)

Description:
Young Jack Spencer sees his father’s boat-building business destroyed by a powerful land developer. Then Jack unearths three ancient scrolls that propel him on a dangerous adventure through time in search of a pirate treasure.

When Jack finds himself aboard the pirate ship Revenge with Captain Jameson’s crew, he enters a life or death world of ship battles, jungle islands, prison escapes, gold, and treachery.

Set during the golden age of Caribbean piracy, Pirate Jack combines rollicking adventure with the moving story of a boy’s love for his father and a courageous effort to save a way of life.

You’ll find regular podcasts of all the chapters over the next couple of months. Subscribe to our feed.

This book is read by the author.

All audio stories are Copyright © Candlelight Stories, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

This book contains pirate battles, violence and death. Please use your judgment before playing for very young children.

Here’s a free podcast of our fantastic pirate adventure novel written for young readers. It’s got hidden scrolls, time travel, ships, battles, navigation, gold, islands, jungles and helicopters in it.

You can purchase the high-quality paperback from Amazon for $11.95 or just $1.99 for a Kindle e-book version.

Or you can purchase the paperback from Barnes & Noble (Price: $11.95)

Description:
Young Jack Spencer sees his father’s boat-building business destroyed by a powerful land developer. Then Jack unearths three ancient scrolls that propel him on a dangerous adventure through time in search of a pirate treasure.

When Jack finds himself aboard the pirate ship Revenge with Captain Jameson’s crew, he enters a life or death world of ship battles, jungle islands, prison escapes, gold, and treachery.

Set during the golden age of Caribbean piracy, Pirate Jack combines rollicking adventure with the moving story of a boy’s love for his father and a courageous effort to save a way of life.

You’ll find regular podcasts of all the chapters over the next couple of months. Subscribe to our feed.

This book is read by the author.

All audio stories are Copyright © Candlelight Stories, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

UCLA pediatrician James Yamazaki has put together a very powerful and disturbing collection of artworks by survivors of the atom bomb explosion in Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.

See the Pictures by Atomic Bomb Survivors

In an act that has probably sealed their doom, the Islamic religious government of Iran brutally murdered a young woman by shooting her in the heart as she stood next to her father at a protest march. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran has threatened the protesters with violence and death.  This weekend he delivered on his promise when one of his thugs murdered a woman in front of cell phone cameras.  These cameras have enabled the world to watch the brutal horror that comes from a religious government.  The girl is Neda Soltan, a 26-year-old philosophy student.  She does not know it, but the blood that runs from her in the video is probably going to drown Iran’s government in relatively short order.

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By RG Johnson

THERE’S A MOOSE LOOSE IN THE CABOOSE
ON A TRAIN THAT IS FILLED WITH PRUNE JUICE

IN A VOICE OF DESPAIR “HOW’D A MOOSE GET IN THERE?”
SAID THE CONDUCTOR WHOSE NAME TAG READ BRUCE

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Disney’s Pixar Animation Studio received a message from a friend of the family of ten-year-old Colby Curtin who was dying of cancer.  The message told Pixar that the girl wanted to stay alive long enough to see Up.  She was too sick to risk being moved to a movie theater and a DVD was the only possible option.  It seems that Pixar management dispatched an employee to the girl’s home with a DVD, a poster and some toys based on the movie.  The girl was able to enjoy the screening even though she could not open her eyes.  As the movie played, her mother described the images on screen.  The girl passed away several hours later with her family at her side.

This is sad story, but it’s a great thing Pixar did and it was a wonderful wish for a little girl to have.  Very nice.  I’m sure this simple act by a few people at a big company made a sick little girl very happy in her last hours.  Well done, Pixar.

Japanese artist Takumi K. made this animation that’s based on ideas from his daughter.  It’s a moving story that has been featured on YouTube.

I found this via Cold Hard Flash.