Hey James --

Drop me an email at Gwenda007 AT earthlink.net, 'kay?

Gwenda,

don't know if you'll get this, but ah...james wright here, creative writing GSA '93. i'm living in Japan, getting ready to head back to USA/Kentucky after 3 years, be home in August. just trying to reconnect with some people! get back to me if you get this...

Look, we've got enough trouble out here in Berkeley. We don't need your stupid imported hippies.

Who wants to kick some hippy ass? Gwenda does!! If you've had the "respect your neighbors" conversation with them I think it's time to implement Operation Dirtyworks. Run those damn hippies out of town or at least from your vicinity. Or go with the non-lethal method. Put a hemp shirt under a box trap, pull the string when he attempts to get it, fly to Berkely, CA and leave him there with the other hippies.

Edited by author 11-18-2003 07:17 AM
I was just kidding, honest. I'm a geek too. But I never read JLA or LSH!

Last comment then I will geek it up at Christopher's journal. I forgot about the red sun training! Oh that was rich stuff. I want to say Neal Adams was the artist but I'm not sure. Sorry Gwenda no more geekery.

You guys are totally geeking up my quick topic.

Um. Maybe "our" world isn't exactly the phrase I was looking for there.

You're talking about "Five Years After" right? Definitely my favorite run on LSH (coming from a guy who has seven of the hardcover DC Archives of the Legion).

Muhammad Ali vs. Superman--the man who would not fall down. My favorite bit was when they went into the pocket universe Superman set up at the Fortress of Solitude with the red sun environment so they could train for six weeks while only hours were passing in our world.

Giffen had an awesome run with Legion Of Superheroes too. One of my all time favorite comics that I wish I still had was Muhammad Ali vs Superman in a boxing match.

Wow! Just ten minutes and Rob comes through with a superhero who gains his powers by drinking a reconstituted soft drink! Go Rob!

I'm pretty sure I have your mailing address around here somewhere, so no worries on that. Now, what to send for a prize, what to send for a prize? Well, I can tell you one thing you're _not_ getting is my copy of the Giffen penned DC Comics Presents where Supes teams up with the Legion of Substitute Heroes to fight a time lost Ambush Bug!

Uh..Elongated Man and wife. Jesus, I'm a geek. I'm afraid to give out my address to the public in fear that someone will come to my Mom's basement and kick sand on me.

And is there Tour De Kentucky that I was unaware of?

Mike, that was a mistake. That Plastic Man figurine wasn't meant to be in the picture, and he doesn't play any role in the book. Ralph and Sue Dibney, however...

(A nifty prize of some undescribable description goes to the first person who posts here clearly identifying the above reference, and who is also not Joe Sutliff Sanders since I already know he gets it--to be mailed to the address of your choice).

Awesome map!

So at what point does Plastic Man enter the plot? :)

Well, that would be interesting, since I'm not sure I could root for either of them at this point. Characters not interestinig enough so far...

Maybe if carnies fought the church-goers? That would be fun.

The whole ghost town thing was excellent. The actor that played the bartender was especially good. A lot of jagged scenes meant to shock us viewers fall flat when used so much. Hell I'm sure it's coming down to a battle between Ben and Brother Justin. I wonder how they are related.

Bat stamps? Aw, man. I want bat stamps. And ptarmigan stamps!

Some stamps they have now are creepy. I won't elaborate.

Rob, I'm with you on Carnivale. I'm still watching, mostly, though often I catch a repeat. I'll try and get my thoughts more coherent about it. I think that part of my problem with it, is that it feels like a novel that's not been adapted for the screen, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Like it's really a book, and non of the necessary changes have been made to adapt it. Which sounds harsher than I mean it to. Really, there are lots of things I do like, but I often feel like I'd rather read the things that happen in it because the characters are written very... sphinxy to me. The main character Ben as played and/or written is too much of a blank slate for me to find his whole crisis very interesting. He's an asshole and not even very definable as that.

I did think there was one great moment there where the dead girl looked out the window at the end of the second Babylon episode, but again there are some things that don't make sense... Like why Ben's powers never came up there. I dunno. It almost feels like they are intentionally avoiding drama. I have ceased to really pay attention to the preacher storyline because I find it overwritten and am just waiting for the pay-off of it.

Wow, guess that was my answer. Rambling rambler answer.

Have you seen the bat stamps? I also like the tundra stamps, since it has a ptarmigan. I'm so easy.

I ordered Christopher's chapbook and the latest "Say..." from Small Beer. But to tide me over I'm reading Glen Hirshberg's "The Two Sams". Very haunting stuff.

Gwenda--How you feeling about Carnivale lately? I'm still there but they better have a decent payoff.

Well, you can't have it. Nanananana!

I want that ONE STORY! Hah! I win!

Hey that piece of meat has a name -- it's Jake.

Oooooo Donnie Darko's sister is scorching hot Christopher. And I haven't seen the movie she's in with James Spader. Time to rent a dvd tonight.
And who doesn't dig the butch looking J-Lo?

See, this is the problem when you start dating someone who, at some point in her life, decided to do the whole montage scene where the girl learns how to kick ass in about three minutes of training (onscreen, that is) from mainly bad movies like "Enough".

But I've had my rounds with queer druggies, and can say that, although I was correct in saying they're rough on the outside and soft on the in, they're also in the end, well, queer druggies. <nodding head and pursing lips in retrospective lesson-learned sort of way>

But they're still cute.

As for Renee Zellwegger...she has everything over queer druggies, and most others. I bet J-Lo couldn't kick her ass as easily.

Mayonnaise! This place has turned into girl talk central. Guess me and Rob o' Luahvuhl better start talking about how schweet Renee Zelegger is. (Though Renee has, in fact, been replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal as my current fave screen hottie.)

(cracking up)

Listen to Dear Abby, she is always right and she's hip to the kids these days. But I share your "thing", Chris.

p.s.

Dear Lusting in Youngstown:

Remember that the lady who owns thy heart could kick those druggy, queer punk rockers' asses without breaking a sweat.

Best of luck,

Dear Abby

(wink)

I really like Velvet Goldmine (I just went and put on the soundtrack to prove it), but I guess I have too many bad hairspray memories from teendom and druggy musician memories from bartending to really lust after the boys in it. I realize this is a flaw.

I forgot all about Brassed Off -- that's another sweet, good one. Like Billy Elliott before Billy Elliott. Kinda.

The Velvet Goldmine is one of absolute favorite films. I guess I have a "thing" for queer drugged out punk rockers. They look all rough on the outside, but they're usually softies through and through. heh heh.

Susan, hold off on renting Velvet Goldmine and we'll watch it together when you visit! It is one of my favorite movies, and the one that made me adore Ewan McGregor to pieces. Before that, I have to admit, I mainly thought of him as a turgid Jedi. But since then I've seen and liked just about everything he's done. He was awfully sweet in Little Voice, wasn't he?

Ewan! I still think I like him best in "Brassed Off!", but I haven't seen "Velvet Goldmine" yet.

Edited by author 11-10-2003 08:45 PM
I bet Dear Abby (incorporated) sends lots of unpublished advice to the less-clear cases that start with phrases like: "When I was married to this guy I really loved who turned out to be a Lover of Animals..."

We all know what Lover of Animals means in Dear Abby propriety speak.

Anyway, yes, Ewan McGregor, I hesitated at that offensive section of my post because I wasn't sure it was quite true. But I have to admit though I thought he was excellent in Moulin Rouge and Velvet Goldmine, I didn't feel lust in my heart. However, your questioning me, Ms. Meisner, brought back those golden memories of Little Voice (a really great movie) in which I also thought he was yum, and sweet besides. Happy sigh.

"actually yummy, for once"? For once? Did you not see Velvet Goldmine? But maybe tempermental burnt-out queer druggie musicians are not your cup of tea. In which case Dear Abby's got nothin on you.

I love the people who write to Dear Abby for relationship advice, because they're such clear-cut cases. Obviously they just need someone to tell them what to do, but god, when your boyfriend is a four-time convicted felon who stole your car and sold it to buy tequila and then set your cat on fire, you really shouldn't need Dear Abby to tell you not to marry him.

Oh, I loved it. So many wonderful sight gags (the smoking in the elevator, the sixties tricked out pad), and very well written. Her speech must have been three pages long in the script.

One of the best romantic comedies, and funniest, I've seen in a long time.

G

I liked Down With Love a whole bunch. But then, I also liked Pillow Talk, which it's spoofing, as well as that whole genre of Doris Day films.

Aren't you the popular one? Mosley rules. There is an article on him in the new Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. Does my heart good to know that he didn't attempt to publish fiction until he was thirty-five. Good times Gwenda.

Wow, that's very exciting -- about Mabel Stark being your great aunt, and about the book you're writing. I'm very pleased to hear about it. I'm also not surprised the sexualization of the tigers is fictional. A friend and I talked about Hough's book after we both read it and said that the way he wrote about Mabel and sex was the thing that rang falsest in the book.

Wow, wow, wow. I will write you email, as this horrible cold seems to be subsiding and I'm capable of coherent thought again. Thanks for posting, Linda.

Gwenda

Correction: Parley was the mayor; not major!

Hi Gwenda,
I read your comments about Mabel Stark and enjoyed them. Mabel Stark was my great aunt, and I am currently writing a non-fiction book about her. She was a grand lady and even though Mr. Hough's book is very well-written and quite entertaining, Mabel is up in heaven right now and she is very pissed off I would imagine from what I know about her. She communicated with my mother and others in the family yet kept it a secret from her circus friends. Luckily I got to talk to Parley Baer, Mabel's best friend, (he was a great character actor; the major in Andy Griffith and he was husband of a famous circus horseback rider). He would not grant an interview to Mr. Hough. He died just a few months after I talked with him at his home in CA. Don't know if you are interested in all this, but I just wanted to respond to your interest and let you know that the book is fiction -- and I guess our family would have felt better had Mr. Hough not used her name. Mabel would be devastated by the sexual stuff in that book -- she did not engage in sex with her tigers!! Anyway, I hope my book will set the record straight about Mabel. Be glad to chat with you about her if you like. Linda

You are too funny. I owe you e-mail and have a terrible cold.

Don't you threaten me with midgets.

Hugs!

Ms. Gwonda Bucket, I've discovered you.. so you best be good or I'll send midgets after you... hehehe

Oh, that really is cheating.

And thank you again for all the work you put into making that party come off well. I enjoyed the Ratbastard reading too, and it's made even better by the fact it was the first time the story ever got read that way.

Hiya Gwenda! Great con report! I cheated and did a mini-report each morning, as I never sleep well in hotels and got up early in the morning (well every morning but Sunday, but Saturday was a Late Night) to write.

Thanks so much for the kind words about the small press party, and I'm really glad you and everyone else attended and had fun! The Ratbastard trio reading was the high point of that night for me.

Hey Susan,

We could have a lot of fun. And if we didn't like people who came, we could eat them!

Well, probably not really.

You should see Mystic River -- it's very good. And now I see Rob's question, which I totally missed, and I think that's a good change. It would be too on the nose in a book, but it works in the movie because it gives a visual play of the theme early on.

and yeah the haunted house is a really good idea, imagine how much fun you could have??

Hi, hows everyone, I havn't seen the movie everyones talking about so bla! bondgirl, saw your webpage on seemaxrun.com, I'm Susan on there, for lack of imagination. cool website.

That's the best idea I've heard all week.

Ooh, ooh, ooh! Let's all chip in together and buy a haunted house. We could run it as a bed and breakfast most of the year - ghosts sell don't they?

I'd like your opinion on something in the movie versus the book. I won't spoil it for anyone else reading but remember what the 3 boys were doing right before the "big" event that influences the reast of their lives? David only gets DA- down? I loved that in the movie but they were just fighting in the street in the novel.

Laura Linney's character leapfrogged her motivation in the movie but in the book she was drawn out slowly. Bacon's wife thing should have been clearer to the audience. It wasn't a simple movie to follow for several members of my movie-going audience.

Fishburne almost overpowered Bacon. Very close.

I'm not sure whether I think Bacon's character was underwritten or underplayed, but he felt like the one who transferred the least whole cloth from the book. The missing wife stuff didn't quite gel to me. I dunno. He was still good, but Penn knocked me out.

I just saw Mystic River this week too. I'm now re-reading it since it's been a couple of years. The pace of the movie was excellent. Although Penn and Robbins are getting the most accolades, I thought Fishburne and Bacon worked the partner angle well.

I was there in the early 90's. Yeah I remember Chodkowski. I should have majored in an art field more suited for illustration. My core study was graphic design with Steve Skaggs. Decent instructor but a better designer. His specialty was fonts which to college students was boring. Now I'm interested in them. We also just got in on the bottom rung of computer aided design. I learned how to do everything by hand instead before sending it to the printer. Glue sticks and an exacto knife have more life to me than Quark.
I did love the art library. Spent hours in there watching some young guy mack on art school girls. Heh.

Yeah, cause you were trying to mack on art school girls.

Hey Rob, I didn't know you did art at UofL. Did you know Henry Chodkowski? Is he still there? Yang Kit? Dr. Cloner in Art History? I used to know a lot of the people around the Hite School back in the day.

I can't wait till spring's issue. "Say...is that a coon hunter?"

Well, we're not completely altruistic. There's something really awesome about only having to help produce the zine, not actually do the eight extra hours in front of the computer. (Not that I'm the one who did that, but still...) It makes things much less stressful.

That's a good thing to do for someone. I wish I had aquaintances like you when I graduated from UofL's art school. But I could only use drafting tools. So yeah.

No worries. This person is a friend who's building a graphic design portfolio (just graduated with a degree in it) and is so nice she's doing it gratis.

Uh oh a pro designer. Will the cost go up? I'm just worried about the bottom line. Books are my crack and if the price goes up too much, I'll be selling my blood/plasma to the highest bidder.

Hey Rob, thanks for the compliment. I'm confident that this one will look even better, not least because it's not me designing it. Endlessly flipping back and forth in between the various post-it note marked pages of Visual Quickstart Guide to InDesign 2.0 late into the night was kind of getting to me. The first pass at a cover that we saw looked awesome, _and_ she's designing a new logo for The Fortress. I'm way psyched.

I think the design of the last issue was good. You have learned and improved with each issue which is all anyone can expect.

Both the chapbook and the new issue of Say... will debut at World Fantasy over Halloween weekend. So, Say... will probably be available to others after that weekend. I'd say before but our production schedule is usually um... pretty tight.

Of course, guest designer this issue will help immensely! (We expect.)

I still need to get Christopher's chapbook. When will the 3rd "Say..." be out?

This is all eerily reminiscent of a scene from the Stallone movie _Demolition Man_. Sandra Bullock (before _Speed_ made her a star) has just given Stallone some historical records she got from the Schwarzenegger Library:

Stallone: "Hold it! The Schwarzenegger Library?"
Bullock: "Yes, the Schwarzenegger Presidential Library. Wasn't he an actor?"
Stallone: "Stop! He was President?"
Bullock: "Yes. Even though he was not born in this country, his popularity at the time caused the 61st Amendment..."

A fun new game for the whole family:

Every time Schwarzenegger announces a new pick / appointee for his "transition team" go to google, and do a search for that person's name and the word "Enron"

Today's fun: DREIER

I know, I know.

But oy, don't forget that President Ahnie would be _after_ Bush, not instead of. (I am shuddering now.)

And let me assure you, that politicans and actors have almost the same amount of ego issues. If anything, politicians are worse. Actors are usually content to be worshipped -- they'll settle for adoration and the power to get a good table. Politicians want the power to do whatever they want, like bomb countries and let churches manage government programs, and impose their (obviously correct) ideas on the public. The only shot you have with a politician is to pick one whose ideas are mostly correct and mostly not harmful. But they're all narcissists, it goes with the territory.

I just have a particular hatred for people who say inappropriate things to women and grope them and expect them to shut up and take it, which mostly they do. There are enough of them in politics already.

You know, the idea of President Arnie gives me chills, but no more so that Governor Arnie--it's the notion that the electorate is voting based on things that have no bearing on the ability of the candidate to do the job that scares me.

Frankly, I would rather have Arnie in the White House than GWB--I get the sense that he's smart enough to know when he's being crooked, as opposed to the current president who actually thinks he's in the right. And actors in general tend to have ego issues--I'm going to assume that would mean that an actor-president would actually care what the electorate thought of him, which would provide some checks that seem to be missing at present.

(Of course, I'd much rather have a qualifed politician who has a philosophy more complex than "follow the polls", and who has genuine leadership skills, but let's be realistic here.)

I refuse to recognize that as really happening.

Arnold can't be elected POTUS yet, but: "Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, plans hearings on a constitutional amendment to make it possible for a foreigner who has been a citizen at least 20 years to be elected president. Schwarzenegger became a citizen in 1984." Uh-oh.

Lexington sounds covered in WiFi. I think there are only a couple of spots that have WiFi in Louisville but they aren't accessible by the public yet. Enh. I guess I can put off purchasing the WiFi equipment for my laptop for awhile unless I get to Lexington.
Have a safe and productive trip to San Francisco.

Hey, hey, hey, huge congrats on finishing your book, Gwenda!

Thanks, Karen.

I think Brown was just here, but we missed him. I don't know much about him, honestly.

I'm interested to see about Spike as well. Somehow I've managed to avoid all the spoilers this year (because there's no more Buffy), though EW's little preview capsule said Harmony would be in this ep too.

I'm wondering how ol'Spike will be reborn into Los Angeles. And I'm going to see Larry Brown, the author not the basketball coach, at the new Borders bookstore tonight. He's promoting his new book The Rabbit Factory.

The Girl Gang! Huge congratulations!

Thanks. It is a good feeling. And the even better news is I made most of the cleaning up notes on the draft I read so I know what I have to do on the initial pass before I send it to people.

We're going out to The Dame to see Kelly Hogan to celebrate.

Congratulations on finishing your first draft. And good luck revising too.

Is The Tempest the ride in the shape of a cylinder and the gravity pulls you to the wall? Or is it like the Octopus that rides two people but still spins the shit out of you? My story is my macho, alpha male brother used to be ascared as a young lad. We were riding the Octopus at Guntown Mountain near Mammoth Cave and my mom made them stop the ride because he passed out. He later passed out in many major amusement parks in the Midwest including the Backwards Racer at Kings Island.
Please mention how Underworld is after you see it. I saw Once Upon A Time in New Mexico already but I'm waiting on reviews of Underworld. I do appreciate Robert Rodriguez's efforts in filmmaking. You should read his book Rebel Without A Clue.

Highly cool.

A few years ago, maybe two or three, I decided to do something nice for my mom, since we never got to spend much time together those days and I actually was making money rather than sucking up her and my dad's for the first time in my existence. So, I bought us tickets to Cabaret, in Cincinnati.

We drove up and had dinner at this wonderful restaurant called the Abracadabra Cafe, where pretty damn good close-up street trick-style magicians work the room. And it has great food. So far, so good.

Then we go to where I think Cabaret is. But there are elephants. We park behind the arena. We meander through what seems to be the best way to get from here to there. There are girls who look fresh from the trapeze and horses prancing around.

We are in the backstage area for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Which is going on. We actually get inside the arena and wander around confused and ticketless, before realizing I, um, thought the show was at a different place than it was. But it was too awesome brushing past the elephants to worry about it. So, we laughed and walked back out through backstage and got to Cabaret right before intermission.

Then there was the time when I was 12 that my best friend and I were heckling the carny who was running The Tempest and he walked off and left it running for 20 minutes or so -- until we were actually trying to judge the slowest pass so we could jump off, especially after the girl in the next oval shaped cart threw up -- before someone intervened and turned the ride off for us.

Ah, carnival stories.

In my neighborhood, Jeffersontown, J-town for short, they are having a festival called Gaslight. Basically a fall festival celebration of the founding years of the place. Well, in a Kroger/strip mall parking lot they have a run-down carnival. Some corndog stands, a creaky ferris wheel and other small rides and games. Nothing like the HBO Carnivale but I take a shortcut behind the Kroger/strip mall to get home and back there the carnies have their trailers set up. Lawn chairs, coolers, grills and little kids running around. A sweet peek behind the curtain.

I liked it quite a lot.

And I too, love Clea Duvall and am glad she has a showcase that seems worthy of her talent. And Michael J. Anderson (Sampson the little person) is really wonderful as well.

I'm interested to see whether the Preacher storyline pulls me in more over the course of the season, but I just don't think a man of god is ever going to be able to compete with a traveling carnival. I could be wrong.

Oddly, the only moment the dialogue felt un-period to me was also a Clea Duvall line, when she says to Ben Hawkins, "Later." But, I'm willing to take it on faith that both usages would have been around. Mostly because I'm not industrious enough to go look it up and make sure.

How did you like Carnivale on HBO? It set the mood leaving me wanting more. I have always liked Clea DuVall but that line where she yells at her comatose mother seemed out of place for the '30s. "Just shut up, mother!" But otherwise nice stuff.

I say salsa. If you guys learn, I will. Jackie already knows how. She's tried to show me, but my hips don't move like hers do. If they did, though, I would probably think something was wrong.

I'm inclined to agree, plus it's cheaper and at a legitimate dance studio (which the salsa class is not). The dance of storytelling prostitution it is. Hey, when I put it like that, maybe it'll prepare me for the business of screenwriting. Maybe I should take it off the taxes...

When you say, "Salsa." I go enh. But when you say, "Argentenian Tango." I go interesting.

Olo Goldworthy of Michel Delving

Not too bad. When we did the 'which SF writer would you be' along with 'what type of SF writer are you' I was Hal Clement, Style Monkey. Which I think is a LOL riff on James Bond (especially if you know Hal).

Well, I apparently would be "Mungo Hamwich of Buckleberry Fern". I'm all down for the Buckleberries, but I'm just not sure about Mungo.

C.

Bulbo Proudfoot here. I'm not sure what's up with that.

I got Grigory Foxburr of Loamwood. Much too nice for me. I was expecting Twomuch Bubblebutt from Cobblerville.

You know, I used to know somebody who worked at the Laura Ingalls Wilder house and they swore that people would break in and have orgies on the weekends. They were supposedly constantly finding underwear and other things crammed into strange spots of the house. However, these stories may have been lies.

And it happened in Little House on the Prairie. So it has to be true!

I think that is one of my more imprecise turns of phrase in this blog's history, which is no small feat, so thanks for the correction. What I actually meant to say was that this is the first time someone who'd been blind for the majority of their life became sighted and the current technology we have to study them was available -- brain mapping and such. But um, there's no way anyone but a mind-reader could have picked that up from my post. Of course, I could be wrong about that too.

Thanks for the below, Ted.

"there'd never been a lifelong blind person who suddently became sighted and was available for study."

This isn't actually correct. There have been numerous cases of this in the past. The Val Kilmer movie was -- very loosely -- based on an actual case described by Oliver Sacks; see

http://enterprise.is.tcu.edu/~bplate/relcult_files/sacks.htm

for excerpts of Sacks' original essay.

Annie Dillard has also written about this phenomenon in her book PILGRIM AT TINKER'S CREEK. She quoted from a book titled SPACE AND SIGHT by Marius von Senden, which collects many case studies of blind individuals having their sight restored. There are excerpts at this site

http://www.atheisms.info/atheisms/dillardseeing.html

but the server seems to be down; Google has the page cached.

The guy who's in the news now differs primarily in that he had his sight restored with a new procedure, involving the use of stem cells.

Edited by author 08-17-2003 05:32 PM
We still haven't actually been able to find a copy of the new Locus (yes, eventually, must just subscribe). The good thing about short reviews is that your friends can type them into email and send them -- so we have seen it.

Other than puzzling over "zanily packaged" both are very good, of course. And I guess there's a review of "time" in The Fixx as well.

As for Christopher's mug: at least it's not a mug shot.

I saw Christophers mug in the new Locus. And an unfortunately small review of "Say..." Good press for you all though.

No word yet. I guess toward the end of the month or the beginning of next month letters and/or phone calls will happen.

And Austin Comp letters should be out fairly soonish.

I thought you read very well considering it was thrust upon you. By the by, how goes the Nicholls Fellowship?

Queer Eye For The Straight Guy is the best show ever! I laughed, I cried and then I checked out my windows to see if anyone was watching me.

It's "The Fine Fellow" -- a somewhat more refined version than the one you read... Though I am still contemplating your idea about having a controversy center around the girl and the hotel and if I ever finish the damn ya and have a week or so may rewrite the last third to incorporate that and give the piece a real honest to go antagonist and Max and Woodward a harder time to reconciliation.

Funny thing is, I haven't really read that script in a year, though I did clean it up a bit for the comp and haven't really done anything with it. So, if nothing else this gives me an in for the cold calls and pushing that I should have done already.

Late congratulations!

Which script is in the competition?

I'm glad you're taking pleasure in this noteworthy accomplishment before you're, you know, bereft of life. Congratulations.

That kind of good news just makes it feel worth it sometimes. Good luck.

Thank you guys. Keep your fingers crossed, though frankly, I'm pretty happy to have made it this far.

Yay! Many congratulations on the first cut, Ms. Bond. Add me to the list of rooters.

Yes, congratulations! And best of luck.

Congrats on making that first cut, Gwenda! We'll be rooting for you.

Hey, Gwenda — I finally got around to Pirates this weekend, and you’re right, Gabe Chouinard nailed it — “unpretentious and clever.” It wasn’t On Stranger Tides, but it was a lot of fun. I think he’s getting at something important when he talks about the film believing in itself — there’s a real respect for the source material (not just the amusement park ride — though I thought the nods to the ride were cute — but the whole corpus of pirate mythology), which seems to be where LXG, and a lot of “franchise” films, have missed the boat.

That was awesome.

And he can say "I pity thee, fool".

Plus, he has the strength of ten, because his heart is pure.

$20 on Amish guy. Working on the farm without all these sissy technologies makes a man hard. Harder than some Hollywood has-been sissy.

I haven't read that column yet, so can't comment on it. I suspect the thing that makes most superhero movies go wrong is DEVELOPMENT (in thinking about the word, it deserves all caps). The writing on a movie like that is a different beast, always, and development is more than just the script--it's ultimately the wishes, or lack of clarity, that a studio imposes on a film. So, I have a feeling that the already pretty screwy development process--being that development execs for the most part are not experts on story like writers, and aren't even marketing experts--is moreso on superhero films because it is a Property with the potential for Franchise. But I have no idea what Claude is saying so I can't comment on it until I've read it.

However, I thought his review of Pirates was spot on and wonderful and even posted it for the writers of the movie to see and they were both suitably impressed with it and actually said that it was pretty much the only review they'd seen that was really what they'd been working toward.

Happy belated birthday, Gwenda! I know we ought to all be talking about whether Lance will be able to hold on to his lead in the time trials tomorrow, but — what do you think of Claude Lalumiére’s take on the last 20 years of superhero movies? (He blames the screenwriting for most of them, but I suspect that in many cases editing has almost as much to do with it.)

Happy Birthday, Gwenda. May your cake burn brightly.

Nope. I'm saying there's something wrong to not knowing the lyrics to songs about drunkenness.

...
We never saw nothing, but brass taps and oak
'Kept a shine on the bar with the sleeves of our coats

You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best
I've been gone for a week, I've been drunk since I left
And these so called vacations will soon be my death
I'm so sick from the drink I need home for a rest.
...

Happy Birthday.

C.

Those sound awesome. I can't wait to hear the new album.

Are you saying there's something wrong with pogoing to songs you don't know the lyrics of? Them's fightin' words, mister.

I do not know why I'm up so early and on my birthday and with no mimosas. This is truly bizarre.

I was sober, and I don't even care about baseball. True stories get me sometimes.

Folk Underground has two Spirit of the The West songs in their repertoire that come from a CD of their work I gave Lorraine: "Home For A Rest" and "Our Station". In fact, the latter was on their demo CD. Every Canadian of a certain age knows "Home For A Rest", but most of them don't really know what they lyrics are about--a trip to England that is kind of a drunken blur--just that you can pogo during the chorus.

Lojo and Lorraine were planning to do a couple of other suggestions in their show: "Marilyn" by Darlene & Co (a.k.a. "Marilyn Monroe should have married Henry Miller"; it's really a Dan Bern song, but Darlene's version sounds better) and Amanda Marshall's "Sunday Morning After". That second one arises from the fact that with the new band my credit has changed from whiskey grip to tequila grip. (It's ironic, when you consider that I don't drink tequila any more, that I put them on the reposado train. Ever since I brought that bottle of Hussan's for the GF party, the band--or at least 2/3 of it--have been consuming mass quantities of it.) Besides how can you not like a song that includes the line "Oh My God, I woke up with a snake tattoo!"

Bands:
http://www.spiritofthewest.bc.ca/
http://www.mp3ireland.com/darlene/
http://www.amandamarshall.com/

"Single manly tear," eh, Mr. McLaren? How much whiskey was in you at that point?

Richard: Yes, yes, Allen & Son was an EXCELLENT bookstore. We got many fine books there, including one with photos of snake handlers in Appalachian churches. Oh, and I got a great book of movie poster art from the time when movie poster design actually was art. (I know that sentence would strike fear into the hearts of college students everywhere, were they to see it and look at their walls...)

Chris: What were the songs you suggested for the set (and I'm guessing the new album, I have a track listing around here somewhere but I don't know where)? I briefly considered going up for that show too, but we are trying to hoard our money so we can go places in the fall making it impossible. Plus, I think we've both had the ultimate Convergence concert experience, trying to keep Beth from getting arrested. Oh, what a bottle of Oban will do, huh?

While we're talking NC (and notice that we continue to not talk about men in hot pants on bicycles) I should point out that one of the performers at the festival this year, Chuck Brodsky, is from around Asheville.

He's pretty serious "folk singer" but he did get a single manly tear from me with the title track of his album "Letters In The Dirt", about Richie Allen's career with Philadelphia's ball team.

C.

Speaking of Chapel Hill, Allen & Son ... http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/jnt7.htm ... is a place that Gwenda and Christopher might remember, which should be attended by anyone visiting the area. Or anyone getting a PhD in the area. Or anyone (who's a carnivore).

Speaking of stars, as Tim Foljahn (Two Dollar Guitar) sang: I've got a black scar, right on my black heart, like a black star, made of black tar.

Much love and many kudos to Mr. McLaren for getting scrappy with the idiot Texans.

Christopher called it right: I was mocking my own triple post.

Stan was a lot of fun this year, although I was torn on actually going, since our Fabulous friend had a couple of shows that weekend with the new boys and with Lojo, including some tunes I recommended to her.

You should totally come up sometime (summer better than winter, especially for Southerners), but it appears Trish's sister is considering UNC for her PhD, which would give us another excuse to meet up in Chapel Hill...

Mr. Rowe: I used to live 25 minutes from Hamilton, but now you could drive there in less than half the time it would take me. You just shoot up to Detroit, turn right, and drive for about 3 hours. (For me, it's a 19-hour trek through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and most of Ontario). If you look at the map at http://tinyurl.com/gjht, you will see what I mean: I'm the red star, Hamilton is the green star, and I assume you can find Lexington without a star.

C.

Well, Armstrong's early reputation was certainly that of a prick. And I've always felt kind of sorry for his wife because, and I don't know why nobody ever mentions this, but, SHE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE HIS MOTHER. Anyway, yeah, she's back at the apartment in Spain, and here's hoping that they can keep it together. I'm not crazy about his politics, but goddamn, that man can ride a bicycle.

McClaren! How far are you from Hamilton? The World Cycling Championships are there this autumn. Just wondering.

Mr. McLaren: Stan Rogers sounds like a good deal of fun this year and if Texans can't take Canadian rudeness then you should bury them in an inauspicious and inconspicuous ditch somewhere Beneath the Ice. I mean, c'mon, EVERYBODY likes the Dixie Chicks.

How fashionable Nova Scotia is getting these days. We must make it up there sometime or be totally left out of the cool.

I loaned the loud Italian drumming kid upstairs one of Robin's CD's tonight. Hopefully, it will keep him quiet.

Greg: I hear that Lance's wife dumped him, but they might get back together. Although we are tentatively cheering through much impressedness at the performance of the USPS team so far, we've also begun to suspect that Lance has been over the cancer long enough to start becoming a total prick again. But, Christopher's really the expert on Lance's mental state, so I'll leave that to him.

All the more reason for you not to shirk your responsibility as The Official Voice Of The American People, Greg.

Ah. No harm, no foul, indeed.

Sorry. Just found it a bit disconcerting, is all.

So, is Lance cool with his wife now?

Hey Greg, I think that was Chris McClaren again and I'm sure it was just a coincidence (I think he was commenting on the fact that he was posting three times in a row). No harm, no foul.

EXCEPT...

WHY AREN'T YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT BICYCLE RACING?!?

DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE LAND OF FRANCE? (Wait, we're supposed to call it the Land of Freedom now).

Allez Tyler! Allez! Allez!

Um, excuse me, Does He Ever Shut Up, but that's actually, um, the name of my journal. Is this an identity you frequently use? Is it a coincidence that you go by the name of my journal? Or are you trying to leave the impression that you are me? Could you tell me what's going on?

Thank you.

--
Greg van Eekhout

P.P.S. Musical discover of the weekend: The Bill Hilly Band. (http://www.thebillhillyband.com/). Lots of fun.

P.S. I actually was quite rude to the group of Texans who came up for the festival, but not until after they started it.

One of the acts on the mainstage on Sunday night was Aeslin Debison, something of a local star. She's one of those kids who performs--you know the whole "Her voice is pretty good for a pop singer, but look Wow she's only 13" deal. I have no use for her as a performer (although I was impressed that she did a Mike Oldfield cover, and also had a PG-13 version of the Sons of Maxwell's Oceanside Again in her show), and the whole "look a talented kid" thing usually just annoys me, but I figure I've got to be polite while people perform.

Anyway, she introduced one of her numbers by asking "Everyone like the Dixie Chicks, right?" in a cheerful, 13-year old way. The Texans set up a loud booing, which they continued through-out the song.

Props to the kid, though, she just responded with "Well, _I_ like them, and I'm going to do one of their songs."

C.

I actually worked on Canada Day this year, and took the Friday off along with my Bostonian co-workers. Made more sense, since I was going to spend the weekend at the Stan Rogers festival. I was polite to all Americans on the 4th, and even joined in a round of applause from the main stage on Friday--because I know there is a difference between the American people and the American government at the moment. I sure wish you guys would remember that there isn't supposed to be a difference, though.

Great moments from the weekend:

* getting drunk with Tommy Makem (who was at the festival and staying in the same inn as us) and learning the Really Dirty version of "Nancy Whiskey" along with a ton of hilarious anecdotes. (I called my grandparents as soon as I got home to tell them about this.)

* going for a 3-hour sail that included a stop in a gorgeous cove where we had a "white linen" breakfast while seals played all around the boat in the cove

* meeting a really nice gay couple who are moving to Nova Scotia and were up scouting around. We're actually having dinner with them tonight. (I am quite pleased at the notion of an influx of educated, liberal Americans who are apparently moving to the more open social climate. I hope it gives the Alliance party group apoplexy.)

* coming home to find a seven or eight foot brown bear raiding our compost bin for some strawberries. This was a little scary, and it was a pain to clean up all the other compost that he spread around while looking for the berries, but it was also pretty damn cool to see a brown bear up that close.

As for how to know when to flee inland: you don't. You make "friends"--see the Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Other deep sea, SF:

*Watts actually has two books, Starfish and Maelstrom, both of which are very good technically, but a little lacking on the story/character side (I am being generous to a fellow Canuck).

*Steve Gould has a fun action-slanted novel called Blind Waves, that I don't think has been mentioned.

*Steele had Oceanspace

*Of course the McHugh is pretty excellent

* Am I the only one that read Toni Anzetti's Typhon's Children and Riders of Leviathan? I thought they were really fun sensawundah SF set in the deeps. Haven't seen anything else from her.

*WJW's story "Surfacing" might count

*A case might also be made for Slonczewski's A Door Into Ocean and its sequels.

C.

Edited by author 07-08-2003 10:56 PM
I forgot about Maureen's book, David. Thanks for the reminder.

One of the scariest things I've ever read (and most informative) was "The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea" by William Broad. I picked it up at Dreamhaven a couple of years ago, based solely on my fear of the sea and a blurb by David Quammen. I highly recommend it, though it will give you nightmares about squishy swimmies with giant heads and long tentacles. (Really, when talking tentacles is there any other kind besides long?)

Sea books and lore are fascinating. I've amassed several weird out-of-print books (I'm not sure some of them were ever in print) on the sea and especially about primitive navigation and islands for a project I haven't quite gotten around to writing yet. If any of that sounds like something you might need, Karen, you are most welcome to borrow and I'll pop whatever sounds most applicable in the mail to you. Or give you titles for library fodder.

Oops, gotta go, George is sitting at the chimney as if he's going to go up it. I don't think he likes our new neighbors upstairs with their damn drumming and hammering any more than we do. The Italian accent has long since stopped being charming.

Amazing that such a huge portion of our planet remains so much of a mystery to us. Maybe if governments start throwing more money and attention at deep-sea research, it'll catch the public imagination and become the sexy new thing. Then we'll see a rush of interest from writers and readers eager to speculate about how it all might work down there. Especially as interest in the space program has been flagging; people look for frontiers to explore.

As it happens, I'm writing a contemporary novel with a sea monster (of sorts) in it. The research is fascinating, and every time another giant squid beastie is discovered, I get all excited.

There's a couple lists of science fiction dealing with oceans here: http://www.sff.net/people/asinclair/wriseasf.html

and here: http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html#undersea

Maureen McHugh's Half the Day is Night is pretty good. Fairly near future, set in third-world underwater dome cities somewhere in the Caribbean. No sea monsters, but the psychological effects of being underwater are always there and very nicely done.

It definitely seems like an underexplored territory in fiction, especially recent fiction. Maybe it's because the stuff that is out there is almost iconic and discourages new approaches. I also think part of it is how little we know about the oceans, and so it seems too big -- and, based on what we do know, hard to work with as a setting. But that would seem to make it the perfect stomping ground for SF.

And that one business with bunting was the library, go figure.

But, back to the sea monsters. All this recent conversation has got me to thinking about science fiction based in and arround terrestrial oceans, particularly at great depths. Obviously, there's the Verne to consider (and maybe I'll pick up one of the recent translations when we go bookstoring in a few minutes--I only read a Reader's Digest Condensed Classic version when I was a kid), and a whole ton of media stuff (going back a pretty long way, but I guess that Roy Scheider tv show and the Cameron film are the most recent examples). And sure, a lot of horror.

But as far as written sf goes, I'm not coming up with a lot. Alan Steele did Oceanspace a couple of years back, but I'm blanking beyond that. Peter Watts wrote a book called Starfish, I think, but I'm not really sure what it's about.

Okay, I've just fetched my Clute and Nicholls. Science fiction about the ocean is covered under an entry titled Under the Sea. Lot of stuff about golden age sf here, and a lot of alien oceans, but I think I'm most interested in more near-future sf or even contemporary tech-thrillers. Anybody have any suggestions?

But how do you know when to move inland, fleeing the great giant lips of the death monster?

Are you doing your official "America's Independence is Ruining the World" Canadian July 4 dance? Remember, we don't like Him and His Boys either.

(In an interesting side note, only one of the businesses in our downtown took up the city on its pledge for reduced tri-color festive bunting.)

Speaking as a coastal dweller, you can't go wrong with sea monsters.

C.

Kentucky and sea monsters are more interesting than screenwriting. I'm going to start talking about those instead.

I really am a sea monster, you know? I have an inner sea monster.

I was talking to a writer who's done both not long ago and she said the key is to really understand the process. If it's a spec, you're starting out alone and at that point it's your baby and your job is to make the script good enough that other people will want to sink lots of $$ into it and attach themselves to it and get it made. But, once those things start to happen, once the script is done, your job becomes about getting it made and at different steps along the way, your real job becomes helping the director get his vision across in a way that's successful. Or you get fired, sometimes anyway.

If it's a work for hire situation, same deal, only you are always also providing a service, getting a vision across for other parties, trying to get the movie made.

It's just different. The script you strive to make brilliant and it's its own beast, no matter what happens later on. But when you get to the point of actually making a movie, it's not all about the writer any more (though it should still be largely about the script, in the best case scenario) -- you are part of a collaborative effort now.

She said she'd never really had the same kind of angst about her screenwriting work, because she realized early on that it's an art but it's also a JOB. And that it's not about the independent writer's vision alone, unless the writer is also directing.

That makes a lot of sense to me. I think William Goldman's said the same thing. You go off and write fiction for that, but if you really, really love movies and want to write them then you'll keep coming back to it despite how hard it is. Because when a really great movie gets made, wow. It may well be the most exciting medium of our time and we're still in the early days here, just barely over a 100 years of movies.

Hey, I don't want you to write movies, David. I don't need the competition. (wink)

Edited by author 07-02-2003 11:56 PM
Good point. :)

But I know that the only thing in the way of my making a pretty good novel (successful is something else) is my own lack of perseverance, whereas it seems like in the way of making a pretty good movie there’s not only that but all kinds of factors beyond my control. I’d think that would be frustrating.

Successful novelist? What's that?

(wink)

Edited by author 07-02-2003 01:23 AM
Maybe it’s just that the path to being a successful novelist seems so much easier. Of course I know more about how that business works, and I probably know even less about the movie business than I think I do.

You probably are overreacting. Though I certainly wouldn't suggest a prose writer stop doing that to do screenplays full time.

However, there are reasons why it's worth it, a few of which may resemble the following.

You love movies and want to write them. (This is nonnegotiable, I think.)

You can understand the form of screenwriting and the craft of it, or are at least willing to give it your best shot.

You are able to make a distinction between visual storytelling and verbal storytelling (and why you'd use visual storytelling for a movie) without your head blowing off and while still retaining your voice.

Those are the big three actually. I think anyone who goes into any art has to expect it to be challenging as hell. Screenwriting is challenging as several hells.

I think the World Machine Builders are sacrificing a baby outside.

But seriously, David, if it's something you are interested in and have questions about, I'll try and answer them as best I can.

You seem to be a film buff. Have you seen Frailty yet? Bill Paxton and Matthew Mc..uh Mconeg..hmm that actor from Dazed and Confused and that crappy Jennifer Lopez movie, Wedding Planner. Mr. Paxton directs it and it's still good. Well I think so.

Edited by author 07-01-2003 07:23 PM
Actually, I am kinda curious.

Every so often one of my friends and relations will suggest I try my hand at screenplays rather than ordinary prose, and my reaction is usually “Why do you hate me? I’ve got enough heartbreak in my life already, thank you.”

But maybe I’m overreacting.

(p.s. I think we all know that screenwriting is low and controversial, much like tequila.)

You people with your queries and your exclamation points... Okay.

(smile)

Hi, Gwenda. Tell me about Kentucky!

Hey, Gwenda! Tell me about screenwriting!

Gwenda! Damn, I forgot what I was going to say.

I talk to you all the time. I talked to you just this morning. xxx cvr

No one ever talks to me. No one ever talks on my message board. How long will it be before anyone even sees this message? How long will it say (undefined) underneath the link to it because I am code-challenged?

Hey Tim,

I ripped through "Tithe" in a day or two and liked it a bunch. It was nice to see some bitchy fairies, for a change.

As far as the raciness quotient, it wasn't quite as explicit as some of the older Francesca Lia Block stuff (I haven't read the new ones, is why I'm making the distinction)... But in some ways, yes, risque in that the heroine is falling for someone who we have to assume is far older than her. The thing I thought was most interesting, and which is always interesting when it works to me, was the fact that the kids are working class. And that the mother's dreams are probably never going to work out and we know that. It's gritty, without being "gritty" for the slick, black sheen's sake, and for all the dark, the kids are basically good and basically believable.

Liked it. I guess.

Hi Gwenda,

I look forward to hearing what you think of Tithe. I thought it was fairly entertaining, and it changed my perception of what one could do in a YA novel, if only because there's so much stuff about sexuality in there. And lots of swearing. Then again, swearing and sex pretty much sums up my own adolescent experience, even if much of the sex was woefully imaginary...

Gwenda's links rule! P.S. I was awfully happy to hear the car thing worked out. Can't have you zooming off into a tree or something.

Although, you're right about one thing. I may still destroy you all.

Cyborg? Me? Only thing artificial I've got going on is a permanent retainer fused to my bottom teeth.

But no, actually I'm just old school when it comes to webwork. I started out back in the Days of Yore, when you had to code this HTML crap by hand, a decent web editor was still two years away, and the blink tag was all the rage.

(shudder)

As for explaining, heck, if I can demonstrate to a group of colossally bored college freshmen how to find a book in my library without making them fall asleep en masse, then explaining how fix them crazy webpages is a piece o' baklava.

Robo: All right, spill. What are these fabulously craptastic car chase, laser gun, kung-fu extravaganzas?

Kristin: It's true. There are so many busted beer bottles around here. Something is up. The discarded Mountain Dew plastic bottles need to stage an intervention.

I'm sad to hear you've been sick and I hope you're feeling better soon.

Gwenda -

It took me forever to find this place. Well, it took me two days. I think the combo of sinus infection and allergy medications I'm on is making me a little hazy. I had something to say about one of your recent posts but now I can't remember what it was. Something about your walk with George. Oh, I know. I loved your suicidal beer bottle comment.

I don't know about everyone else but I find all movies in the last several years just blending together. When a thought-provoking movie comes out, it usually blows me away. Now don't get me wrong, I love craptastic action movies with kung-fu, laser guns, and car chases. But not every week. And I can't remember the last "Blockbuster" movie, I went to see.

Because we all need to laugh, the funniest thing I've seen all day.

(This is a short film, about 6 minutes long, and it may take a bit to download. It is, however, hilarious. And if you keep hitting play whenever it pauses, it'll keep downloading it a bit of a time as it runs.)

http://www.crossfilms.com/films/eightiesending.html

Good point, Greg. And as I remember it, playwrights have had their darker days of respect as well. I'd also imagine as more talented creative writing students get interested in screenwriting, there will be a need for instruction on it. (And I must admit, I have mixed feelings when I read things like recent story in the New York Times about writers from big MFA programs going to Hollywood _rather_ than writing novels when they graduate.)

An interesting quote that I've been thinking of, from The Experts Speak (of quotes that would have been better left unsaid and one of Molly Ivin's favorites, if that tells you anything) about movies.

"My invention...can be exploited for a certain time as a scientific curiosity but apart from that it has no commercial value whatsoever."

Auguste Lumiere 1895

Inventors crack me up.

Edited by author 06-09-2003 03:33 PM
Gwenda wrote:
When I look 50 or 100 years into the future, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a high school literature class was reading screenplays, along with novels and poetry and nonfiction. I actually do believe that scripts, while written to be movies, can stand on their own as works of art complete unto themselves.

I'd be shocked if it took 50 to 100 years. Stage plays are already part of the standard curriculum, and they stand on their own as much or as little as screenplays.

Screenplays do different things than novels, certainly, but they're as worthy of study and appreciation as any literary endeavor.

Edited by author 06-09-2003 03:24 PM
All right, let's talk movies, and not get insane about it. Please.

The thing that keeps occurring to me is how young an artform movies are -- I don't think there are very many people who would argue that the potential of movies has been exhausted, or even really explored. Western theatre started about 2500 years ago in ancient Greece -- 2000 years before Shakespeare started writing. The first novel is generally accepted to be Lady Murasaki Shikibu's, written in the 11th century, with the modern novel only being about 400 or so years old now.

The Lumiere Brothers started making motion pictures in 1895. For a few years, there really weren't scripts. There were ex-vaudeville actors filling the role of scenarists, creating funny situations for short vignettes. It didn't take long. In 1902, Melies wrote the script for his movie A Trip to the Moon. Then came the Great Train Robbery. And on and on and on. I don't know how we can presume to think we know all that much about scripts or movies as an artform at this infant stage. (But yes, we can talk about the state of them now; however, a distinction needs to be made between the limits of the form and its current state.)

But here's something else. When I look 50 or 100 years into the future, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a high school literature class was reading screenplays, along with novels and poetry and nonfiction. I actually do believe that scripts, while written to be movies, can stand on their own as works of art complete unto themselves. It's become much more popular for scripts to be published after movies are successful, and I think that trend is only going to continue. And, because the rate of production is not likely to increase due to the sheer and rising costs of making movies, it seems entirely possible that scripts themselves will someday find a bigger place in the market.

Take "Kill Bill," for instance, which Talk Miramax is publishing later this year. Quentin Tarantino has made no bones about the fact that it's a hybrid novel and script form story, and that he thinks _readers_ will enjoy it anyway. That remains to be seen. But what's not arguable is that the "script" -- the source material from which the movie was made -- will be published as a book and located in the fiction section of your local bookstore.

You'll figure it out.

And by the way, Battlecat, natch.

See to me it looks awful, and I can't seem to fix the font. Oh well.

The blog looks okay. Different because the Klinks are gone, but okay. You should point out in a message on the blog itself that there's a quick topic link over in the links now, though.

Let's stop squatting on Tim's board and move over here.

Screenwriting vs. Battlecat. Discuss.