Monthly Archives: June 2018

The Volatile Man is Gone

Yesterday the world received the news that author Harlan Ellison died. Depending on who you are and particularly your age you are likely to have wildly divergent feelings about the man’s passing.

He lived a provocative life rarely keeping his tongue or in some cases his hands to himself. I think he was a tremendously talent artist but a flawed individual and a perfect example and warning to people to never confuse the art with the artist.  His writing is powerful stuff and he composed with a ‘take no prisoners’ gusto to what he saw as truth. From The Outer Limits, Star Trek, to Babylon 5 and I have No Mouth and I Must Scream; he left an indelible mark on speculative fiction.

I met him on one occasion but we were not acquaintances. It was at a room party for a Chicago bid to host the WorldCon. One fan, holding a hotdog from the party’s offerings, commented that these were good hotdogs. Harlan reached over, and with his fingers plucked the sausage from the bun, commented that the hotdogs were crap, and then replaced it back into the man’s bun.

Undiluted opinions served without consideration for your feelings, wrap it up in a towering talent and I think you’ll get fairly close to who Harlan seemed to be.

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The Norms Are Gone

There is a style of game playing that is best describe with the phrase ‘Find a rule to stop me.’ It is an approach that seeks to find every weakness in the rule, exploit them to the player’s maximum advantage and not just disregard but destroy any spirit of the game in the all out drive for victory. This has been the Republican Party playbook for some time and if the Democratic Party wants to get anywhere they are going to have to adopt it.

The most recent example of this is of course when Scalia’s SCOTUS became vacant. Sensing, correctly it turned out, that the seat could remain in conservative hands if he held up the nomination until after the election Senate Leader Mitch McConnell stalled the processed and ran out the election clock. No law, no provision of the Constitution prevented this action only the political ‘norms’ of behavior, which the Senate Leader was more than willing to sacrifice for a victory. No amount of shaming, no amount of pleading would ever dissuade McConnell from this course and that is a lesson the Democrats need to learn. You cannot win if you are fighting by a different set of rules. For quite some time now the liberal party has been bringing a knife to a gun fight its time to get properly armed, to fight the war as it being waged.

The seat being vacated by Kennedy is lost to the Democrats. They have no power and no option at all to stop McConnell and Trump from filling as they wish. There is no filibuster for SCOTUS anymore and fear of the base rising up will make the few remaining GOP moderates fall into line. That seat is gone and with it very likely Roe vs Wade.

So what should the Democrats do to fight back?

First off VOTE. If the democratic voters had turned out in 2016 as they had in 2012 this would not have happened. Vote in every single election, local, state, midterm, and presidential, every election matters.

If the Democrats can win the House, that’s within reach, and the Senate, that’s a stretch but not impossible, then they have to fight the way the Republicans fight. There’s plenty of corruption to investigate, launch a committee for every single one. Eradicate the damned filibuster.

Looking further ahead, should the Democrats capture the White House in 2020, dust off FDR’s Judicial Reform Bill. There is nothing in the law or the constitution to prevent a Democratic Administration and Congress from adding five more seats to SCOTUS and McConnell has already proved that ‘norms’ are history. FDR’s attempt failed because his own party rebelled at the court packing, those days are gone.

Those are suggestions for how the liberals can counter the conservatives, but what would be best for the country is for rational and sane political parties, but I don’t see that in the next ten years. If we had those we could possible craft from sane reforms, something like constitutional amendments for direct popular vote elections for President, and fixed 10 or 14-year terms for SCOTUS and all Federal Judges. That’s not in the cards though and we have to deal with the reality on the ground and that’s a reality that produced the current president.

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Finalist

In 2003 I entered the Writers of the Future contest for the first time. I think, though I am not certain, I entered the story The Station on the Edge an attempt at cosmic horror.  The story placed as a semi-finalist and I foolishly thought that it would be a short trip to the winner’s circle.

Here’s how the contest works. The cycle is quarterly so every three months they receive thousands (they do not release the exact number but only ‘thousands’) of stories from around the world – though the stories must be in English. With all author identifying information stripped away the coordinating judge reviews the stories.  Most do not place and you get a form rejection letting you know that. Another group of 20-30 get an Honorable Mention these writers get a nice little certificate, a handful are awarded Semi-Finalist, these get a certificate and a short as to why their story failed to make it to Finalist. Six are named Finalists and these six stories are passed from the Coordinating Judge to the Quarterly Judges, a rotating panel of professional writers in the SF and Fantasy field. From the Finalist the Judge selected three winners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Once all four quarters winners are determined the contest arranges a weeklong workshop for the 12 winners, and from the 4 1st place quarterly winners 1 grand prizewinner is determined.

So you can see how scoring a semi-finalist on my first try boosted my confidence and my ego. Skip ahead 15 years, I have not entered every quarter but I have entered a lot and in those 15 years, and in those 60 quarters I scored 5 semi-finalists and a little more than that in Honorable Mentions. It’s a very tough competition among writers who have not yet achieved professional status. If fact it’s been quite a few years since I scored anything more than an Honorable Mention.

Until yesterday.

My most recent entry has placed as a Finalist. It is one of the six stories from which the three winners will be selected. (And no that does give me a 50% chance. As the great editor Gardner Dozois once said from a panel “It’s NOT a lottery!” My chances depend on the style and quality of the other stories and the tastes of the Judges this quarter.) This is closer to winning than I ever achieved but I am preparing myself for a loss.

Still, this is very exciting.

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Streaming Review: God Told Me To

Over the weekend while I was alone, tired, but unable to sleep, truly an unpleasant combination, I skimmed over the streaming menus on Amazon Prime and stumbled upon this film God Told Me To.

The movie was not a total unknown to me as I had heard a brief discussion about it on the podcast Cinema Junkie as the Host interviewed and reviewed the career and films of Larry Cohen. With my interest already sparked by that episode of the podcast I started the movie.

In God Told Me To random people in New York City suddenly and inexpiably engaged in spree killing. The detective, Peter Nicholas a devout Catholic, investigating the seeming disconnected series of murderous out bursts learns that each person felt compelled by God to commit the horrible acts. Propelled by his own crisis of faith Peter investigates their history, uncovering a common connection between the attacks in the form of a young blond man, a man with a face that no one seems able to remember. Peter’s investigation uncovers religious cults, crooked cops, and other worldly encounters, ultimately bringing Peter face to face with the mysterious young man and a terrible truth about Peter himself.

Honestly when I started the playback I suspected I would watch a bit of the film and most likely complete viewing it, if I did at all, the following evening, but instead I watched the entire feature, ignoring my exhaustion, intrigued by the story as it continued to unfold in unexpected directions. By the end all relevant mysteries were resolved and I found the film fascinating and well worth the time.

If you have Amazon Prime and quirky films appeal to you this is something to consider. I can’t properly categorize its genre; it’s part religious horror such as The Omen and The Exorcist, its part Science-Fiction, and its part mystery. Above all it is unique.

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Recognizing Evil in a Political System

A couple of weeks ago two and friends and myself watched a 2008 Norwegian historical film Max Manus: Man of War. It tells the story of Max Manus a leader and fighter of the Norwegian underground fighting the invasion and occupation of the Norway by the Germans in World War II.  From what I could tell the film stayed fairly close to the historical events and told a compelling story about the dangers and costs of fighting an asymmetrical war against an occupier. In the second act of the film one of Max’s best friends is killed in an ambush and another resistance fighter is captured. The Nazi’s start a round of torture on the captured freedom fighter but when they return him to his cell he hangs himself.

This past weekend the same friends, after an evening of board and cards games, and I watched this year’s film The Death of Stalin. Adapted from a graphic novel and inspired by the scramble for power following the dictator’s death, The Death of Stalin, a dark satirical comedy, is less rigorous with its history but it does depict the brutality of the communist regime, a system rife with murder, terror, and torture. In a bid to have sympathetic protagonists the movie tends to push most of the brutality onto the shoulders Stalin and the head of his secret police Beria (who actually did not hold that position in 1953) but the system before, during, and after Stalin was rotten with torture.

It should be intuitively obvious that torture is an evil. A captive is a person, a human being, who existence is entirely dependent upon the good will of their captor. This places ethical responsibilities upon those captors. Torture is the absolute rejection of those responsibilities and the morality that is their foundation. Torture is not amoral it is immoral. Both of the examples are governments, political philosophies that murdered millions.

A political philosophy that embraces torture is capable of anything.

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Classic Film Review: Strangers on a Train

While I love film, and I love noirwith its dark cynical tones there are many classics that I have not seen. As a youth I was drawn only to genre films and that has left a gapping hole that I still work to fill-in. Strangers on a Train is a part of the missing education which I was fortunate enough to not only see last night but experience on the big screen at the local art house as part of their week of classics.

Released in 1951 and from the master of suspense (should there be a trademark there?) Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers, is about tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger), trapped in a marriage to a woman who not only cheats on him, but has the gall to get pregnant while doing it as well. A chance encounter on a train with the mentally imbalanced Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) leads to Bruno murdering Guy’s wife as part of Bruno’s harebrained scheme for a perfect murder. Not only does Guy end up with a dead wife and himself as the prime suspect, Bruno expects Guy to murder Bruno’s father as part of the deal that Guy never accepted. With the police watching his every move and Bruno burrowing into his life like a murderous tick, Guy is trapped with little hope for escape and vindication.

Spoilers from here on out.

I can’t judge the plotting of the novel that the screenplay was adapted from but I can say that the script display’s Hitchcock’s preference for suspense over logic. Hitchcock cared more the mood of a piece, for its emotional impact than any moments that failed make sense when considered at one’s leisure. The third act revolves around to elements, Bruno’s plan to plant Guy’s lighter at the scene of the murder to implicate him and Guy’s need to quickly win his tennis match so he will have enough time to get there ahead of Bruno. The use of the lighter is a classic example of Hitch’s ‘macguffin’ an item that drive the plot by compelling the characters’ action but in this case it’s rather weak especially when one takes a moment and realizes a much more power item of evidence was displayed and discard in the film, the glasses the murdered woman was wearing when Bruno killed her.  Glasses that Bruno brought to Guy as a ‘gift.’ Finding those in Guy’s possession is far more damning than the fact his lighter was found near his wife. Yet this very damn bit of evidence, once handed to Guy, is dropped and never visited again during the rest of the film. Second, if Guy, fighting for his life against Bruno’s plot need to get out of the tennis match quickly, rather than trying for a fast win, throwing the game and loosing serves his needs far better. Frankly if I am trying to avoid an unjust murder conviction I’d be willing the lose a match.

With Hitchcock one expects these sort of logical inconsistencies and setting those aside, and the very clear ‘queer coding’ for Bruno, the film Strangers on a Train is fun experience, though not one I need to at to my library of movies.

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Recovering Nicely

Two weeks ago today I underwent a minor surgical procedure. Anyone who has met me knows that my eyelids droop and that my right eyelid dipped much farther than my left. During an eye exam last year it was discovered that the lid was drooping far enough to begin to interfere with my vision and it was suggested that I have an operation to correct it. Being that the surgeon was booked up for months and my day-job was hitting its busiest period of the year we delayed the surgery until this month.

I live just a couple of miles away from the hospital where he performed the surgery. It was an interesting experience/. They used a local to make sure I felt no pain or discomfort and a sedative to make me relaxed but there was no general anesthetic, throughout the entire operation I was awake and aware.

We started, after I closed my eyes, with the doctor making marks on my lids to guide his incisions. I could tell, even though there was no discomfort, when he switched from inking up the area to slicing it with a scalpel. As he worked he listened to Motown and R&B songs prompting me to think about the scene Doctor Strangewhen we are introduced to character in a surgical theater. Occasionally either he or someone else would ask me to make sure I was doing well and no feeling any pain and aside from the bride lighting, which penetrated my lids, I was comfortable.

I spent about an hour and half in post-op and recovery, exhibited no signs of any adverse reactions to the drugs they had administered and by late afternoon I was sent home.

The first several days with tedious, ice packs applied every hour to my eyelids and pretty much stuck in a reclining chair unable to do any of my normal activities. The doctor had instructed me to stay home from the day-job for a week and that is what I did.

Now I have been back on my feet doing things normally and everything is healing as expected. My lids are dis discolored and inflamed but I am able to work, read, and most of the time simply ignore the slight discomfort they present.

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There Was No Detailed Plan

A sub-set of Star Wars fans, those who consider the last two installments of the franchise a crime against the greater myth, have clutched to the concept that George Lucas possessed a gran plan for the series of movies and if those had been made everything would be to their love.

In my opinion there never was a detailed gran plan for the interconnected stories of Star Wars. I was a teenager who the first film hit the theaters of 1977 and I remember desperately waiting for the film to come to town so I could see it. In those pre-internet days and before the time of 3000 screen opening weekends, movies opened in big cities and slowly, over the course of the entire summer, moved into new markets. Since I was stuck waiting for the movie to arrive I read the novel. While credited to George Lucas, the talented Alan Dean Foster, who worked closely with Lucas on that manuscript, wrote the novel. In the novel the Emperor is describe as someone who has become capture by the bootlickers and yes men of his court simply another cog in the great machine that is the evil empire. Lucas had no grand design for Palpatine and his role in the coming story. During the famous cantina scene, when Han shot Greedo from under the table, we are treated to the point of view from others watching who were bemused that Greedo allowed Han to get that hand under the table because that sort of ambush shooting was something Han had done to others. And yet when the 1999 Special Edition came out Lucas defended his re-edit with Greedo shooting first as his original vision and that poor editing, way to throw you ex-wife and her team under the bus, cause people to be confused as to who actually shot first.

Moving away from the novel, in the film Obi-Wan tell Luke that Vader betrayed and murdered father, then helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi. The father bit is Obi-wan being tricky, but when we get to Revenge of the Sithwe’ll learn that Vader killed the children, Jedi in training, while storm troopers dispatched the mighty Jedi by shooting them in the back.

When The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters the scope of the canvas grew and the story deepened. I think it was clear that Lucas always intended for Vader to be Luke’s father. The groundwork for that had been laid down in the first film, but it seems to me that Lucas had no clear conception of Vader’s relationship to the rest of the empire. In the first film Lea refers to Tarkin as ‘holding Vader’s leash’ and yet from the second film onward Vader is the Emperor’s man and carries his authority wherever Vader goes, hardly someone on a leash. Also the Emperor has now morphed from a bureaucrat to a powerful force master.  By now the Emperor had become a central story element but from that description in the novel it is clear he was originally conceived in that role.

In The Return of the Jedi we are told that when Obi-wan first met Anakin Skywalker he was already a great pilot and that Obi-wan was amazed at how powerful the force was with Skywalker. He though he could teach Anakin the ways of the force as well as Master Yoda, but he was wrong. A power story of hubris that is contradicted by the events in the film The Phantom Menacewhere Obi-wan is a student himself, Anakin is a child/slave, and it is Obi-Wan’s master who wants to train young Anakin.

The conflicting story elements between the first trilogy and the prequel one makes it clear that there was not only no detailed plan for the events but that Lucas didn’t hold even a passing interest in continuity. I find it strains credibility to believe that he had a detailed outline for the next series of movies. And would not have flow by the seat of pants, as his history shows was his most preferred method.

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Movie Review: Throne of Blood

Monday night a local art house theater showed the classic Japanese film Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth into feudal Japan. I had planned on going to the screening as Throne of Blood is one of my all-time favorite films but by the evening I was in a foul mood, my back hurt, and I was quite tired, so I stayed home but I want to discuss the masterpiece just the same. As I have it on Blu-Ray disc I will likely watch it this week anyway.

This was one of the first, if not the first my memory is a little hazy, Kurosawa movies I ever watched and surprisingly it was also the first time I had been fully exposed to the story of Macbeth, which has become mu favorite play of the Bard’s. If you know Macbeth you know the story, an ambitious warrior noble, here played with fierce masculinity by Toshiro Mifune, after receiving a supernatural prophesy betrays and murders his lord assuming his title and position. Naturally this does not go well and the warrior noble comes to a justifiably bad end.

Macbeth translates exceptionally well to feudal Japan with only minor changes required to adapt the story to a different culture. Under Kurosawa’s masterful hand the desolate landscapes, the foreboding forests and the unearthly spirits have both a stark realism and a simultaneous dreamlike quality. Isuzu Yamada creates my second favorite Lady Macbeth performance, passed only my Jeanette Nolan in Orson Welles’ 1948 film production. (If you can find the Korean import DVD for the Welles’ film you’ll get the original dialogue soundtrack with the actors performing in their Scott accents.) While Yamada lacks the seductive sensuality of Nolan’s performance her moves and performs with a stylized, and I think Noh inspired manner, that carries a subtext of threat and concealed power in every scene. Kurosawa’s interpretation of Birnam Wood is one of the most haunting images in the history of cinema and plays both realistically and in supernatural slow motion.

I despondent that I was not feeling well enough or in a good enough mood to see this film again on the silvered screen but it remains one of the best motion pictures I have ever watched.

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TV Series Reviews: HBO’s Barry

For the last week I have been nursing my eyelids as they recover from last week surgery. The procedure went well and I have encountered only the run-of-the-mill issues as the incisions heal. Over the final days of the week I watched the HBO series Barry. The entire first season is a short eight, roughly half-hour, episodes for the new dark comedy so I can review the complete season.

The premise of Barryis simple, Barry, a former Marine who has been guided by a familial authority figure into being a hit man, is experiencing an existential crisis when he discovers that he wants to become an actor. Suddenly thrust into an acting class filled with quirky characters Barry’s life is a collision of dark deadly duties and he own inept stage abilities. Set in Los Angeles the show has a sharp eye critiquing the life of aspiring actors and some of the low-life’s that prey upon them. It is an interesting choice that for both sets of characters, the showbiz and the criminal underworld everyone is from somewhere else seeking to make the mark in their profession in the city of angels.

The show hits quite a few comedic marks, including one very narrow cast ‘Leroy Jenkins!” gag that had me laughing quite loudly. The difficulty in material like this is the balance between the dark nature of the character and their history and keeping the audience identifying with the character. Breaking Badhad a similar issue but came from a place where we got to know and empathize with Walter White before his actions became violent and predatory. With character like Barry Berkman we are introduced to him when he is already a paid killer and that can be a difficult hurdle to clear as the story progresses. Have Barry be too nice too remorseful and suddenly the ‘previous Barry’ become unreal and you’ve lost the engine you hope would drive the story. Cross the line the other direction and, at least for me, there is no more sympathy for the devil and the audience wants or even needs to see the character face the music for their actions.

Part of the trouble with the film musical Little Shop of Horrorsis that the main character commits to murder and pays no price for that decision. The ending is not earned. Barrydoes not make the same forced error but it does end in a very dark place. In episode 7 the character crosses a line that in my opinion there was simply no way the bring him back from. Once he took this action, at least as far as I am concerned, justice needed to be visited upon his head. The creators recognized this quite explicitly within the narrative and even used it to show Barry’s emotional growth but it would seem that the needs of a continuing series overrode the moral requirement for justice.

Do not misunderstand me, I not someone who bemoans the death of the production code and as a lover of film noir I adore well-drawn dark characters but you have to earn your ending. Breaking Badalways was going to end in Walter’s death, ultimate judgment was coming for him; I do not get such a sense from the makers of Barry.

Of course your mileage may vary. You may tune out before episode 7 or you love the entire thing. It’s worth a watch, it’s well made, well acted, and possesses a sharp wit, just be aware that its moral center is quite squishy.

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