Ponder: Two Sandra Brown Books

During Frank's and my recent trip to Sacramento, I did a quick read of The Standoff by Sandra Brown. My brief review of it was within my post of that trip. The Standoff  was worth three stars. Repeated here is the review of The Standoff.

I read a decades old uncomplicated book ©2000 by Sandra Brown. It was fast action plot —a hold up in a gas station convenience store with one of the hostages being a pregnant young woman about to give birth. There were no parallel timelines to juggle and the characters were limited in number. I finished it in an afternoon. The Standoff got me out of my recent inexplicable reading slump. 

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time 

Encouraged by a successful if not exactly stellar read, I took Smoke Screen ©2008 another of Sandra Brown's books, with me on a recent trip to Colorado to visit my son and his family. On the plane and at the airport I was a captive audience otherwise I might have abandoned the 500+ page novel. Twice a character is found in bed next to a naked dead person; he/she is equally naked and has no recall of what happened. The basic storyline is that there was a fire in a police station and there is suspicion it was set to cover up some secret. The naked bed scenarios are an attempt to snuff out anyone who might reveal the secret.

My criticisms of the book are:

• book was too long
• too many characters, many of them not well developed
• plot was too convoluted and took too long to evolve and resolve
• sex scenes were way too explicit

Once home from the trip I continued read to the end in order to learn the secret. The secret was not at all worth my effort to complete the book. It is kind of a shame because I often like this author's books. Smoke Screen was terrible and I gave it only 1 star.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it

The SpongeBob Musical

Sunday, August 2nd, Frank and I and Alex went to see The SpongeBob Musical at our local Bankhead Theatre in Livermore. The oceanic backdrop in the lobby helped to get us in the undersea mood. The stage was illuminated in the blues and greens you would expect for an underwater habitat.

We were sitting right behind the rail and there was a Pirate warming up the audience. He claimed to be SpongeBob's #1 fan. I was also bemused that the child in a lower row was wearing a yellow sponge costume.

Alex got comfortable  in his seat and settled in with his program. Frank had to climb over him to get to his adjacent seat.

I knew very little about SpongeBob SquarePants... other than that he "lives in a pineapple under the sea". I studied briefly (very briefly) the night before on Wikipedia. It is amazing how little I know about a series that is in its 17th season and has been renewed for an 18th and a 19th season. SpongeBob SquarePants is the longest-running American children's animated series. Only one song was vaguely familiar to me, the theme song. Lest you forget, (or maybe never knew) you can here it at this YouTube link to refresh your memory. Another quick scan of the musical summary on Wikipedia revealed that the plot is of a "save the world" intensity. An erupting volcano threatens to obliterate the neighborhood of Bikini Bottom but can SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends save the day? 

How was the show? The costumes were super colorful, creative, funny, tongue-in-cheek, and widely varied. The action was non-stop, hectic, acrobatic, and chaotic in a sea of splashes and crashes of extremely clever sound effects amid boisterous singing. The sardines was a half dozen kids in shocking neon pink moving in perfect unison, crammed together. What a crack-up! The science was awesome; only a brilliant scientific mind could invent an eruptor interrupter. There were many musical numbers, both melodious and cantankerous. The only problem was that Frank and I understood only about 10% of the lyrics at best. Alex laughed and clapped his enjoyment throughout; he could not have cared less about the absence of diction. His reaction made our going a complete success. Here is the list of songs. I suppose I could research them but why? I get the gist from the titles alone.

Once out in the lobby after the show we looked at two posters of cast photos. I was looking to capture a good picture of the squid character, but I could not succeed from either of the posters. I offer these images I pulled off the internet instead. The way the performer danced and cavorted around on his four legs tentacles was a hoot! 

Before we left, I had Alex and Frank pose for an under the sea photo. If you look near the bottom by Frank's knee you can see SpongeBub SquarePants' pineapple home. We did not know what to expect from this show but it did not disappoint. Successful outing accomplished!