Rutabaga

My thoughts; First, I'll just mention in passing that I'm not a great fan of swapping around points of view, but I seem to be swimming against the tide on that nowadays. I think this question would be easier to answer if you were doing first person POV for the American and Aussie characters. In that case, I would argue that the stuff essentially written by the American should have American spellings, and the stuff by the Aussie should use Aussie spelling. That's only part of the issue however. I think that, regardless of who is narrating at any given point, the characters should always sound like their nationality when they're talking. In other words, the Aussie character might be throwing in some "fair dinkum " or "I'll be stuffed" while the American character will be throwing in "that's so sick" or whatever. That same philosophy would extend to their inner thoughts -- each character should sound uniquely like himself, including native expressions and constructions. I think shifting POV in third person limited in this way might be confusing. I always think about Faulkner's brilliant "The Sound and the Fury" that starts out from the POV of mentally limited Benjy, but it takes a while for the readers to catch on to what seems a little off. Then it shifts to the POV of his brother Quentin who is much more coherent. The shift is evident although thankfully Faulkner doesn't beat the reader over the head with crude labels of whose POV it is at the beginning of each section. I could also make a case for keeping the author's approach consistent even with shifting POV characters. In other words, pick, for example, Australian, and use that for all writing, spelling, sentence construction, etc. even when the American is being described and talked about. The American should still "sound" American when he is talking and thinking, but I would stick to Australian spelling for the narrative bits and probably even dialogue. Don't know if anything here is helpful. R

The note name should always be capitalized. Musicians would write F#, but I guess there's no harm in spelling out sharp. Normally one does NOT see hyphens as in F-sharp or F-major. So I would write: Why is the sound of the note F# so dissonant when it intrudes on the melody of a piece that is written in the key of F major? And of course the answer is that F# falls outside the diatonic scale for F major, known as the Ionian mode. If you're still worried about non-musical types comprehending what's going on, you could add an explanatory parenthetical: Why is the sound of the note F# (F sharp) so dissonant when it intrudes on the melody of a piece that is written in the key of F major? A note like F# in an F major piece would be referred to as a "passing tone," which is legal to play on one's way to something else. It creates tension and wants to resolve to something that relieves the tension (here, most likely, F or G). Note that if you cycled between F and F# a few times at the bass end of the spectrum, you would have the iconic musical theme from "Jaws." R Addendum: I realized I should provide some actual basis for saying that the F (meaning the note or key) should always be capitalized. The reason is that a lower-case f refers to the dynamic marking "forte" which means "strong" (loud). Those markings (such as "p" for "piano," or soft, :"mf" for "mezzo forte" medium loud, etc.) are always lower case, generally in a bold italic font. No doubt way more than you ever wanted to know.

It seems like a good idea to start a thread for this new series that anyone can post to. I have read everything here by Joel (which is saying something, giving the extent of it) and am never disappointed. I remember liking Flip's Tale but have not gone back to refresh my memory. It will be interesting to read about characters in the late 20th century rather than the era of Robert Peel (Tom Browning's School Days). Here: http://www.awesomedude.com/jovincent/jamies-quest/index.htm R

I saw that Colin was reviving this story at CW and read it again. Liked it just as well this time. R

I couldn't tell whether Max's Dad heard his comeback to the guy in the men's clothing store. Max deserved an attaboy for his clever rejoinder. R

Many many years ago (I think I was still in high school in the 60s) I saw an interview on television with E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, who was the lyricist who collaborated with Harold Arlen on all the songs in the movie version of "The Wizard of Oz." He talked about how intimidated he sometimes felt when Harold would come in the room and start playing majestic, sweeping music on the piano, like the underlying music of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Apparently when Harold played it the music sounded like something from a Wagner opera. it seems like that kind of composing talent has died away nowadays, judging by what we hear, or see on the Grammy awards. R

And a rousing cheer went up from the audience at the end . . . . R

Just reread this as part of Colin's Valentine's Day collection. I enjoyed it again. R

I have followed David Lee's writing for many years, and have also had a very active private email conversation with him for about ten years. His stories do tend to have a bit of a Waltons-esque quality to them, but I'm OK with that. R

Update: The story has wrapped up "Book I" which goes through high school graduation. Now "Book II" is in progress with the guys at college. R

I liked this story enough that I read it a second time, and liked it even better. R

Another brilliant and charming story by Cole. Times are so different today from when I was in eighth grade. R

Such a charming story. I was hoping there would be another of Cole's awaited short stories today, and -- lo! -- there it was. I am always impressed by someone who can pick up a pencil or brush or whatever and create amazing drawings and pictures. R

I'm a longstanding fan of Joel's stories and this one stands up well in the canon. Good "pick from the past." I was never clear about Jake's involvement in the special assignment. Also, is the Andrew who is with Jake in the end the same Andrew that the narrator had a crush on earlier? (I'm assuming yes.) R

So I read "Hearts and Hooves" just now, and only afterward saw the recommendation of reading "After Hours" and "Cultural Differences" first. So I went back and read those. I actually don't think it's that essential to read those other stories first -- "H&H" is pretty self-contained and self-explanatory. Interestingly, though, I realized that I must have read "Cultural Differences" on its own quite some time ago. I remember being fairly bewildered by the story back then. Now, with the pieces filled in by H&H, it makes more sense. Anyway, though I'm not a huge fan of fantasy stuff (except to the extent that Harry Potter qualifies), this was a nice, well-constructed story where the good guys won and the bad guys got their just deserts. R

What a wonderful story. And bravo to Ben and Tyler. R

Mmmm . . . dead woodchuck. Yum! Rooting for Ralph and Tinker as much as Riley and Travis. R

I am sorry that no one else is commenting on this story. Maybe their comments won't be removed. R

The update makes things easier for smartphones because the background is now dark and it is now possible to read posts that have been set to white or yellow type. Previously these were displayed aginst a white background which made them unreadable. R

I too was able to access the site. Sounds like the Purity Police are on duty. R

I finally was able to read this. The main Awesome Dude page does not display correctly on my iPhone, and the link for this story overlapped other links and could not be clicked. But things have moved and I was able to get here. Well worth the wait. This story knocked my socks off. It's all the more remarkable for finding a new twist on an age-old theme that has been written about endlessly. Definitely worth a read for anyone that missed it. R

Fingers crossed for a smooth transition. R

I heard a news commentator last night say that people were "voting against Washington" and that sounds right to me. R

I've said before that I'm a sucker for stories where the young protagonist must rise to the occasion with pluck and skill. Brayden certainly did so here. Remind me not to make an unannounced visit to that house. R