| In Memoriam |
[Jan. 28th, 2010|08:02 pm] |
( Musings on Howard Zinn )
“In between war and passivity, there are a thousand possibilities.” –Howard Zinn, August 24, 1922-January 27, 2010 |
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| Non-Writing post: Movie reflection: Sherlock Holmes (2009) |
[Jan. 15th, 2010|06:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | action movies, characterization, holmesian canon, irene adler, judging movies by their trailers, movie trailers, rachel mcadams, robert downey jr., sherlock holmes, sherlock holmes (film), the supernatural in fiction | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Elementary, my dear Watson | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Rocky Road to Dublin, performed by The Dubliners | ] |
About six months ago I found myself in a movie theater (all right, two movie theaters) waiting to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. My parents, bless them, are still into the series somewhat, and I find it bearable for the snarking, so I went along.
So there I am, sitting through the previews and—oh my god, what the hell is that?
It was a trailer for what purported to be a live-action movie starring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved character, that master detective, Sherlock Holmes.
( Not Exactly Arthur Conan Doyle ) |
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| For Crying Out Loud |
[Jan. 6th, 2010|08:30 am] |
Been back home in Peekskill for a couple weeks now, where we have computers with actual working sound systems. Consequently, I've been catching up on True Blood, the tv series based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. I started, of course, with season one.
At first I really enjoyed it. It's extremely faithful to the book, and the additions it made—such as expanded roles for Jason, Tara, and Lafayette—were all to the good.
( Well, mostly to the good )But the important thing is that for the first half of the season, none of these issues I had with True Blood got in the way of my enjoyment of the series.
( Naturally, this happy state of affairs didn't last ) |
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| Non-Writing post: Graphic Novel Review: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 6: Vindication |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|08:36 pm] |
This volume of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic compiles three tightly connected stories (“Exalted,” “Turnabout” and, of course, “Vindication”) in which the “Jedi Covenant” storyline comes to a head.
( And man is it awesome! )
Bring back the Man Who Killed Ithor! |
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| Non-Writing post: Literature recommendation updates |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|06:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | adventure novels, alcatraz versus the scrivener's bones, brandon sanderson, charlaine harris, comedy novels, dead and gone, elitism in speculative fiction, fantasy novels, fantasy torture watch, horror novels, recommendations, sookie stackhouse series, young adult novels | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Powell House, New York | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | New Year's is a'comin' | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none | ] |
You may recall I posted an entry several months ago recommending two contemporary speculative fiction series: Brandon Sanderson's unfortunately titled Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (a YA book), and Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire/True Blood series (definitely not YA books).
Having recently finished the most recent book in both series, I thought it an opportune moment to give my hypothetical readers an update on both.
( Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones )
( The Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series ) |
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| Non-Writing post: Introducing the Axis of Awesome |
[Dec. 30th, 2009|10:30 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | a people's history of the united states, axis of awesome, blink, darths and droids, doctor who, el goonish shive, engaging the powers, good omens, how can i get through to you?, howard zinn, jigue, knights of the old republic (comics), l'internationale, lord of the rings, lord of the rings (films), melina marchetta, night watch, nonviolence, nonviolence: 25 lessons from the history, on the jellicoe road, powerful peacemaking, revenge of the sith (novel), star wars, terrence real, terry pratchett, the icarus hunt, thud! | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Peekskill, New York | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Happy New Year, everybody | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Attack Team, from the Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack | ] |
This post was inspired by a theme on ferretbrain. My version is somewhat different. I find there's quite a few things I've encountered over the years that I want to promote. Below, you'll find a list of artifacts from various media that I've found are just mind-blowingly good, with a one-paragraph synopsis of what it is, and a paragraph or two explaining why it deserves to be on the list.
Some more attentive readers may scratch their heads as they go through the list and ask why, for instance Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians and the Sookie Stackhouse books are absent. The answer for these (and a host of other things) is that while they are indeed good, even great, they don't quite have it: that special little something that catapults a merely excellent cultural artifact into off-the-charts awesome. We're talking about the real heavy hitters here, and a mere ten-out-of-ten (let alone anything lower) doesn't make the cut.
( Right then, let's see what is good enough to make it onto this highly selective list ) |
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| Non-Writing post: Joss Whedon’s Firefly: an analysis |
[Dec. 24th, 2009|10:36 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | a people's history of the united states, audience fakeouts, character relationships, characterization, criticism, culture in speculative fiction, damsels in distress, engine intake kick, female suffering as sympathy-raiser, feminism, firefly, jackass “heroes”, joss whedon, joss whedon storytelling, kaylee frye, malcolm reynolds, misrepresenting oppression, morality in media, river tam, science fiction, science fiction series, simon tam, straw misogynists, tv series, women in refrigerators, women on pedestals | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Peekskill, New York | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  It's a love/hate situation | ] |
| [ | music |
| | A People's History of the United States, read by Matt Damon | ] |
I was going to put this off until after ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ptolemaeus and I had seen the movie Serenity, but seeing as how it's now two years since we watched the complete Firefly and I have several thoughts on the show just screaming to get out, I've finally run out of patience. Therefore, the following essay will only address Firefly the TV series (including unaired episodes). If Serenity provides any further food for thought, I'll post an addendum ... whenever I get around to seeing it.
( Click for another hideously long tv show analysis ) |
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| Non-Writing post: 2009, a year for anniversaries |
[Nov. 30th, 2009|10:02 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | anniversaries, bastille day, berlin wall, democracy, iran election protests, n30, neoliberalism, participatory democracy, seattle general strike, social movements, the shock doctrine, this is what democracy looks like, tiananmen square | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | We can do it! | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Die Internationale | ] |
2009 is a year for anniversaries. In particular, it's a year for anniversaries in people's liberation struggles. Therefore, on this tenth anniversary of the historic Seattle protest, I thought I'd compile a short list of great milestones in people's movements which have a special anniversary in 2009. Keep in mind, this is hardly a comprehensive list, just a few highlights I thought worthy of remembrance.
( Let's have a look, shall we? ) |
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| Non-Writing post: Things to do for November |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|06:00 pm] |
Writing obligations for the Month of November
1 50,000 word novel for National Novel Writing Month
1 600 word book review for Friends Journal (have to finish reading the book first)
1/2 a dozen reviews/updates for livejournal/ferretbrain, to write/edit, including a follow-up to my Brandon Sanderson/Charlaine Harris recommendation, a discussion of anniversaries celebrated this year, a rant on Scott Westerfeld, and my long-promised Fireflyreview
1 short story/novelette that I should really get back to working on, as I do intend to submit it at some point
... And that's just what I know about right now. Let the fun commence. |
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| Writing post: Encounter in the Woods 3.0 |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|06:06 pm] |
Good evening, and Happy Samhain--although I guess that's not technically today.
The following is the third incarnation of my short story "Encounter in the Woods." Horror is not one of my specialties, but since I've found myself writing a horror story anyway, I might as well try to do it well. Hopefully, this version works better as horror than the previous attempt.
( Encounter in the Woods ) |
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| Non-Writing post: Anakin Solo Day, eighth anniversary |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|08:02 pm] |
After its contribution to the Star Wars: Vector crossover, the Star Wars: Rebellion ongoing series was canceled. I'm largely ambivalent towards this decision, although I did find Rebellion generally smarter and more entertaining than Dark Times, and I fear this abrupt end will leave many plot threads dangling.
The reason for canceling Rebellion though, was to make way for a brand new comic: Star Wars: Invasion.
( And that could be a problem ... )
Bring back the Man Who Killed Ithor! |
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| Non-Writing post: Reflections on Republic Commando: True Colors |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|06:00 pm] |
For reasons I fail to recall just at the moment, I read Darth Traviss' third Republic Commando novel, True Colors, over the summer.
( Here's what I think ... )
Bring back the Man Who Killed Ithor! |
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| Non-Writing post: Reflections on Star Wars: Vector, Volume 1 |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|10:02 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | celeste morne, critical artwork failure, crossovers, darth vader, deus ex machina, graphic novels, integrated plotlines, knights of the old republic (comics), star wars: dark times, star wars: vector, vector volume 1, women in media | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | Story's pretty good ... | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Revenge of the Sith (novelization), by Matthew Stover | ] |
In an earlier post, I mentioned my misgivings about Star Wars: Vector, the comics crossover series which begins in Knights of the Old Republic, continues in Dark Times and Rebellion, and wraps up in (unfortunately) Star Wars: Legacy.
Since this is such a landmark endeavor for Star Wars, I've decided to share my thoughts on the storyline in some detail, ( To put it mildly ... )
Bring back the Man Who Killed Ithor! |
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| Non-Writing post: Observations on Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|06:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | 700000000000 dollar bailout, a people's history of the united states, capitalism: a love story, comedy in film, economic crisis, economics, howard zinn, limitations of keynesianism, michael moore, movies, myth of "original sinlessness", people's history, sliding scale of journalistic profession, social movements, societal problems, the shock doctrine | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Volker, hort die Signale ... | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Die Internationale, Bien Sur! | ] |
( The Good, the Bad, and the Funny ) |
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| Non-Writing post: A double-barreled Watchmen review |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|10:36 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | "dark protagonists", adrian veidt, alan moore, anti-climaxes, block universes, dan dreiberg, dr. manhattan, graphic novels, mary-sues, movie adaptions, movie reviews, predestination paradoxes, roarschach, v for vendetta, watchmen, watchmen (film) | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | All-in-all, not bad | ] |
| [ | music |
| | We Didn't Start the Fire, by Billy Joel | ] |
Rejected titles for this essay include: Who Clocks the Minutemen?, Impractical Joking, Playing Superheroes, Demigods, Masterminds, Heroes, Psychos and Rorschach, a review of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, A Different Kind of Superhero, The Genius and Self-Congratulation of Alan Moore
In this entry, I review both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen and the 2009 movie based off of it.
Warning, major spoilers.
( First up: the graphic novel )
( And next the movie )
For some alternative views on Watchmen—the graphic novel and the movie—click here. For an amusing short parody check out Saturday Morning Watchmen. |
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| Writing post: Welcome to the Real Worlds (part 1) |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|10:16 am] |
This is the first scene of a just-for-fun project I recently began with the working title "Welcome to the Real Worlds." I'm toying with the idea of continuing it for National Novel Writing Month (an event I've never participated in before). I think the free-style, almost stream-of-consciousness approach I've taken to the story so far would make it practically ideal for NaNo. No idea if I'll ever do anything else with it; it'll mostly depend on how I feel about the story once the first draft is done. For now, though, enjoy.
( And so it begins ... ) |
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| Ninth Anniversary of the Afghanistan Invasion/Founder's Day |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|03:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | antioch college, causes of terrorism, founder's day, non-stop antioch, politics, reunion, terrorists, us imperialism, utter exultation, war on afghanistan | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | 1 awful, 1 awesome | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none (frickin' sound system) | ] |
This Wednesday, October 7th, will mark the ninth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan—an invasion which is still ongoing.
( Now, is that invasion now, or has it ever been, at all legitimate? )
Today is also Founder's Day for Antioch College. ( As such, it was fitting the Alumni Board chose this weekend for Reunion ... ) |
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| Non-Writing post: International Day of Non-Violence |
[Oct. 2nd, 2009|08:30 am] |
Apparently, today is the 140th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, celebrated as Gandhi Jayarti in India, and around the world as the International Day of Non-Violence. Happy birthday, Bapu. |
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He will be deeply missed
So, so wrong ...