The Stories of Scott D. Southard

Every year around this time I always wish I had musical talent. Why? Because Halloween is a surefire money opportunity for a creative songwriter.

See, across this country, from kids to adults, people have Halloween parties, but there is no real Halloween music to play. Oh, there is “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and the awful “Monster Mash,” but what is there after that? Dance remixes of famous horror movie themes?… That’s not good enough!

And that is when an enterprising music genius steps in.

You make a CD that is family friendly, has some fun danceable tracks (maybe comes with its own dance move), add enough references to Halloween memories to stir a heartfelt response (think any classic Christmas song, most are built around memories) and you will be cashing a big check once a year for decades to come.

Sadly, I don’t have music talent and the extent of my songwriting skills only brings up corny titles like “I Want My Mummy” and “Do the Frankenstein Shuffle.” That is just embarrassing. It is even more embarrassing because I am literary enough to know Frankenstein is the doctor not the monster.

Sigh.

Here are the five things I am into this month…

Downton Abbey, Season Four

Okay Downton Abbey fans, don’t worry. I’m going to do this without spoiling the new season for anyone.  There is something else I want to talk about and it might be shocking.  See, I’m halfway through the fourth season and I’m starting to get a theory that might blow some of your minds; in the least make you angry.

Are you ready for this?

What if Bates really did kill his wife. Everyone assumes he is innocent because Anna and everyone else at the Abbey says he was. But we never saw his wife commit suicide and most of Anna’s arguments were based around her knowing in her heart he was innocent. She believed in him. It’s all kind of shaky when you step back to think about how little evidence there was one way or the other.

Also, Julian Fellowes before Downton Abbey wrote Gosford Park which was about a murder that was done by a servant and covered up… Are you starting to put the pieces together too? Seeing the picture the puzzle makes? What if Fellowes just pulled the biggest shocker/twists in television and we haven’t figured it out yet?

I won’t ruin any of the fourth season (it is a little slow in parts and has one highly disturbing moment), but it has made me think back to the last few years and  Bates.

Maybe… Maybe…

The Circle by Dave Eggers

I love being the book reviewer for WKAR.

Yes, I’ve had to work my way through teenage vampires and cliché mysteries, but now and then I get a wonderful surprise, something that makes it all worthwhile. The wonder of Neil Gaimon’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the charming Brett in The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman… And now the controversial The Circle by Dave Eggers. (You can learn about my reviews here.)

I will always give an author/book a fair shake no matter what I thought of their previous undertaking (definitely true with A Dance With Dragons since A Feast For Crows was a disaster… sorry George R.R. Martin, but true). I can’t say too much about The Circle since I will be reviewing it on WKAR in the near future, but this is a book that would make Kurt Vonnegut and George Orwell happy.

Correction- Vonnegut, Orwell, and me. Just a lot of fun, disturbing and very now. Get it!

How I Met Your Mother, The Ninth Season

Sometimes I am wrong. It happens, we are all human. The trick is admitting when you are incorrect… Of course, it could be noted that I wasn’t incorrect at the time. Now it is a different story… Let me backtrack and explain this better.

A few years ago, I wrote this post dismissing How I Met Your Mother and the writing on it. At that time, the last few seasons of the show felt tired and worn out with plots that felt stretched to the point of almost being a parody of what the show once was.

Yet, I kept watching the show. Why? Because there is nothing on  Mondays (and if I have to watch another Antique Roadshow, I’ll scream). It is in many ways a good Monday night show because it is non-threatening, cozy, and just helps you take that deep breath at the start of a week. But I never cared as much as I did in the beginning and our DVR from time to time would collect episodes… until this year.

A lot of why this season works is that the show has almost reinvented itself. Forcing the characters into a new location, with time constraints. The writers seem inspired by this new challenge and the cast seems to be into it too. If they can keep this up this could turn into their best season.

So technically I wasn’t wrong in my previous post, it is just corrected now? There, now we all feel better and I am still always right.

Paul McCartney’s New

If I’m lucky to reach 71, no matter what I have done or successes I may have found with my books, I could never be as cool as Paul McCartney at that age.

71 and his new CD (New) is one of the best of the year. Not only that, he had reunited the remaining members of Nirvana for a few different concerts! I mean, have you heard the song “Cut Me Some Slack?” It sounds like a freaking Nirvana song. Paul McCartney made a Nirvana song!

Okay, sadly, “Cut Me Some Slack” ended up on a soundtrack and not on this CD (You can still find it on iTunes), but there is a lot on this album to like. A whole heck of a lot, definitely showcasing an artist who continues to grow (“New,” Queenie Eye,” and “Everybody Out There” jump to my mind quickly).

Seriously, he is 71 years old.

EH350- Nonfiction Writing

Right now in Grand Rapids, MI there is a class of students at Aquinas College assigned to follow and read my blog.

I kid you not!

They read, they comment. I’ve already debated fan fiction with one and discussed cheetahs with another!

In a few weeks I’ll be going in to speak to them about blogging and the like. I can’t wait. It should be a lot of fun. Or they might make me cry. Honestly, it could go either way. Whatever the case this is very flattering for me and I hope they are enjoying the experience.

Go Saints!

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If you liked reading this post, why not check out one of my books? I’ve had four novels published in the last few years, A Jane Austen Daydream,  Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare, My Problem With Doors and Megan. You can find them via my amazon.com author page here, or as an eBook on Google eBooks here.  Thanks for reading!

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