Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
I can't be the only one who has noticed this.

This summer we've got three kick ass blockbusters coming out. 

In one of them, we have a small nation, ravaged by war against an
enemy that outmatches them in numbers and firepower that seeks to
subjugate them in order to use them as a fuel resource. All they have
to do is accept the version of reality that their enemies want to
impose on them.

In another we see a minority group that is having their rights as
citizens stripped away because they are different. People fear them
because of what they are, and few take the time to see them as
individuals. Persecution comes down in force after a terrorist attack
gives the president a "mandate" to round them up regardless of evidence
of any kind of wrongdoing.

In the third we see a man who is perceived as weak, but who contains a
rage inside him that is suddenly given physical shape. Much of this
rage is spent against US Military forces.

Got metaphor?
  

    
     I take your point, Stage, but would note that two of those
properties go back to the Sixties, and the third is based on a
four-year-old movie that never troubled to connect any of its
disorganized and inconsistent ideas.  Indeed, you might as easily take
The Matrix as a metaphor for TiVo, or Everquest (what on earth is
keeping the Matrix online RPG?)
     And, heck, every giant bug and p.o.'d extraterrestrial in the
1950s (not to mention the G.I. accidentally irradiated into amazing
colossalness) had to rumble with the military.  (Unless it was the
Japan Self Defense Force.)

     Don't worry, though -- Fox will make absolutely sure that we get
lots of obscenely crappy TV-movies that recycle THE GREEN BERETS in
Baghdad.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
DanGuy!  We missed you!
  

    
Having an interesting week-end. 

Haven't had caffiene in 2 weeks. Headaches are going away at last. Did
gain 5 lbs from eating everything in sight. That's gonna stop. Also
made the mistake of opening my mail yesterday morning, and found a 5
page handwritten letter from the Backflip Boy which just hurt to read,
and I'm all waffly about responding.  Much of it had to do with the
part where he found a mildly erotic story I'd written online, and being
incredibly conservative, he was beyond horrified. I think he saw our
break-up as me choosing to write pornography over beig with him. At
this point, I'm willing to let him believe that, as being angry and
hurt will probably make it easier for him to start fresh and find
someone he can be happy with once he moves to LA in 2 months. But boy
does it *suck* regardless, you know?

Holley: I went less and less stealth as the week wore on--but have not
yet gotten any word from my boss or my boss' boss regarding any
potential employee handbook violations regarding having hair the colour
of a raspberry popsicle. If and when I do, I will probably just dye
that chunk brown again... I think that, had I gone for a warm colour
like red, or even just bleached it, I'd be safe--it's the part where
blue hair rarely occurs in nature that I think might potentially bite
me on the butt, Combined Insurance not being as hip and cool as, say,
Starbucks :) But I've decided that if/when I finally drop the last
15-20 lbs., to celebrate, I shall get my hair clipped completely short
and maybe bleach and dye my whole head something weird and fun for a
week. If I time it right, I can do it for my 30th birthday.

Mary: weeee! and yes, we must. Give me a call sometime this week, when
you're back from ATL? I misses you. This week-end I've been
marathonning "Firefly" with my buds (many of whom never saw the entire
11 ep run, and if they did, they never saw it in the proper order,
thanks to FOX shuffling the production roder all around... (Heaven help
the Fox suits if they're ever alone in a room with me and a big
stick.) We even added theme food--apples (sans granades) and
strawberries. The most fun for me thus far has been pointing out one of
the axioms of the "Firefly" 'verse--if you hurt Kaylee, bad bad things
will happen to you. 

DanGuy: Watching the two SciFi Channel "Dune" minis made me wonder if
Frank Herbert was much more interesting in building a universe and
seeing what happened when you mixed politics with religion than he was
the actual people he created to populate that 'verse. Of course, it
also made me think that Leto II looks really good without his shirt,
and I'm glad he wasn't 9 years old. Well, that, and Leto II and Ghanima
seem to be giving Simon and River Tam a run for their money in the
2003 "Mr. and Miss Crazy Space Incest" contest.

Mike: see, I can more easily see FOX starting a slew of new reality
series to cash in on the war. Like "Who Wants To Marry A Despot?" and
"Temptation Desert" or maybe "The Worlds Hottest Tank Chases."


And now I shall go back to copy-editing chapters of my sister's
masters thesis on the role of the Women's Land Army in pre- and
post-WWII Britain. Not having done any of the research myself (tho I
saw the movie!) some of my "Um... is this what you meant to say here?"
notes should prove awfully amusing...
  

    
Today I was working, and John Cameron Mitchell came in. I oogled and
he grinned at my oogling, and seemed fairly surprised that anyone
recognized him. Then at the counter, my co-worker said, "You know, you
look like John Cameron Mitchell," and he said, "I am." Apparently, he's
doing a workshop at a local theater.

I love this city.
  

    
John Cameron Mitchell, my goodness.

I saw Chris Ewen and the other Future Bible Heroes, but then I _knew_ they
were coming to town.
  

    
Wow! I wondered what John Cameron Mitchell was up to these days.
That's awesome. 

Tara- Hello! I'm glad you found a way to be with us still. Ex's are
strange sometimes. Not that I'm an expert of any kind, but I recommend
keeping your distance for a while. Sounds like he's going through the
denial thing. Things usually become more clear with time, wounds heal,
ect, blah blah. 
You want to know something surreal? I got a late night phone call from
my first love, first boyfriend, first ex, first everything, telling me
that he has been in therapy recently and had come to the conclusion
that everything I have ever said to him was true. That, after all these
years, I was right about all of his faults and he was sorry for all of
the things that he had said or done to me. I didn't really know what
to say. I thought I was having a weird dream. I was like, "I was 15!We
were kids. It's OKAY." it was a very strange. Kind of freaked me out.
But somewhere, the 15 year old Erynn is very happy. Anyway....
And good luck with the caffeine thing. Spring/Summer is the best time
to quit things. I quit last summer for a while and drank fruit and
vegetable things instead. I'll probably do that again this summer, and
then start back up when the ice and fatigue hit again. Feh.

DanGuy- Hellooo!

DanW- I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope you stay better. I
can't even imagine. I'm glad the show is going well as well. 

I'm going to see Sweeney Todd! Finally! It's being performed at the IU
theater this month. I am beaming with glee:)

I would love to read a Zelanzy story written by a Madman!

I'm trying to get my play up online. I have webspace, but I don't know
how to use it. I'm really stupid when it comes to these things. But
the knowledgeable theater people who have read _Northern Lights_ so far
say that they like it a lot, so it may be safe to show to other
people, I don't know. 

Re Death in Crossing Jordan-- I usually watch that show religiously,
but the past few weeks, I've been renting a watching Buffy and
completely forgot to watch it. Of course Death makes an appearance the
ONE week I miss it. Hehe. 

I have been watching too much Buffy, I think, because yesterday my
fortune cookie said, "Among the lucky, you are the chosen one." And I
immediately said, "The Slayer? Cool! Where are my special powers?"

This may or may not be of interest to anyone, but I just looked at the
Type O Negative website for the first time in months, and the official
tracklisting for their new album entitled _Life Is Killing Me_ is up.
I nearly spit out my Chai when I saw that one of the tracks is a cover
of _Angry Inch_ from Hedwig! Hahaha. The track directly after is called
_I Like Goils_ (no that's not a typo. It really is Goils) Hahaha!

*dies*
  

    
Martha,  How was the show? 
  

    
Neil -- Just thought I'd let you know my brother (Ben, the original
FOG in my family) was asking about you today.  He's glad to hear that
you're getting yourself better.  (Please continue.)
  

    
Mike - oh yes, I completely agree. I just find the timing interesting,
that's all. Or rather, that these properties continue to be so
frighteningly relevant. I'm also wondering how people will react to the
stories in their current context, or if people will just not make the
connections. 

Re: Frank Herbert. I think the comment about him being more interested
in exploring the politics and culture rings true. I really loved the
first Dune, and found myself losing more and more interest with each
sequel. A shame really.

Tara: Ugh. Ick. I'm sorry that you have to go through this. But I must
say, if he finds mildly erotic literature of yours horrifying and
pornographic... he's gonna have a hard time in LA. I mean, this is not
a town known for its "family values".

Erynn - Thanks. By the time you read this, I'll probably be all doped
up and vibrated.

hrm.. now everything sounds like porn.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
What?  We're grinding to a halt!  A whole day passed without a new
post in a Neil topic?

I just finished reading Straczynski's Midnight Nation.  As a Babylon 5
fan, I figured it'd be good or at least interesting.  It is not a book
I'd recommend.  In case you didn't get the point of the metaphor in
the story (which is hard to miss), his afterword explicitly states it.
  

    

I officially regret mentioning my attempt at a Zelazny short here. Last week
I wrote another draft and I think it looks like I'm trying too hard now, and
this week I didn't even touch it.
I'll tinker with it a bit more and then post what I've got for those who are
interested, but don't expect a lot out of it.
  

    
Glen -- I start a new job with limited Internet access, and the whole
place goes to heck.  ;)

(madman) -- That's OK, I've never read any Zelazny anyway.
  

    
A friend of mine just heaped Zelazny books on me - so I'll be reading
a lot more soon.
  

    
my god, I just realised I've not posted for almost a month, although I
was coming by and thinking I ought to...

Have had the quietest month of my life, spent recovering from the
meningitis in Florida, walking on the beach, swimming, writing, eating
sushi every few nights and cooking for myself the rest of the time, the
plan being to be in good enough shape to survive the coming month
across europe.

Hitting the road at some point today, heading north, to Philadelphia
to rendezvous with Holly and Mike and go and see Bryn Mawr, then
Morimoto's, nip in to Nebulas and say hullo to everyone (I wrote a
short speech for Merrilee, in case AMERICAN GODS won, but it was mostly
apologising for me not being there, so I should write a new one. I am
not going to repeat the Hugos.) Then home. Then Holland for the first
step of Neil Does Europe.
  

    
Neil - if you ever need a host or tour guide in Philly, feel free to
give me a shout.  I assume you have offers like this coming out of your
ears, but it never hurts to have another.

A friend of mine worked on his Physics PhD at Bryn Mawr for many years
and never quite finished it.  But it gave me an excuse to go visit him
at a women's college and see his laser (which was usually in a state
of disrepair).  I've even gone to their May Day celebrations one year -
although I arrived to late to see the May Hole.
  

    
How very cool, Neil just happens to pick my birthday to finally post!

(I can split infinitives, it's my birthday, dammit.)

Safe travels, Neil.  And as I've said before, I'm so glad you had that
month in FL; sounds like just what you needed.  Jonathan and Jane
rule, in my book, and I hardly know a thing about them!  Fingers
crossed for the Nebulas.

And everyone, I forgot to say this last night:  Happy Passover!
  

    
Happy Birthday, Christy!

Welcome back Neil! Glad you are well. And for extra good luck for the
Nebulas, I cross my eyes.
  

    
Happy birthdy Christy!
Neil, I'd cross my kidneys, but they've had enough grief as of late
and so you'll have to make do with my best wishes.

I am extremely tired today as I was foolish enough to go get drinks
with the producer and another cast member last night. Staying out until
1am on a work night is not advised.

*grooooan*
  

    
Poor Dan:( 
So the vibrating was successful, then? I hope your kindeys feel better
soon. Lay off the drinks, for cryin' out loud! They can't be liking
you right now. Stay well and dandy.  
  

    
Beer makes you pee, so it's a good thing. I only had one, though. I've
been drinking water like a mad person.

Wait... I am a mad person.

With all due respect to Adam, that is.

wombat!
  

    
I've missed Christy's birthday, and almost Maure's too, phooey.
Apologies and happy furry birthday party gerbilloons all around. (Here,
Maure, have another; I hear they're delicious.) Here's the cat-folding
card I got from my sister, too, in case either of you missed the link
in Neil's journal last week:
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~dyganova/oconnelt/cats/cats_600.jpg

I've been at my other sister's house outside Philadelphia these last
couple of days--she and her husband and son and daughter hosted the
first seder this year, and my parents hosted the second, and my
cat-card sister came up with her husband and two sons from Virginia
Beach so we had all the kids and lots of family together. Great fun,
and I'm glad to be home again now.

I actually didn't make it in time for the seder Wednesday night thanks
to a train trip that took ten hours instead of six and involved ~2.5
hours of waiting--in mid-trip, between Bridgeport and Stamford CT--for
replacement engines, on an 80+ degree afternoon with no air
conditioning or fan circulation since the engines were out; and then
later--adding insult to injury--another 20 minutes stopped in Trenton
because our engineer who had started (with many of us) in Boston had at
that hour worked as long a shift as allowed and we had to have a new
crew to continue the trip. Since it was a family seder dinner I was
going to, though, them running out of dinner before I got there was not
a concern. (There are _still_ leftovers; I could have packed a cooler
to carry home with me if I wanted it.)

Once I got there, though... I have three nephews and a niece, aged
12.5 to 6.5. They all read--the oldest is working his way through _The
Hobbit_ again, having been all the way through it and the trilogy once
already--and they're all interesting and creative people, and they're
just fun kids to talk with. And my sisters and brothers-in-law are OK
too.

My dad's sister brought a bundle of photos to dinner last night, about
70-years' span of assorted snapshots, to share out. We spent an hour
or so passing them around, with the adults mostly saying things like
"oh, here's so-and-so, and standing by that car makes it [year] so the
baby must be thus-a-one," and "look, here's a couple of shots from
[event]," and the kids mostly exclaiming variations on
"[Mom/Aunt/Grandparent] looked like THAT?!?" Heh.

Neil, regarding your 4/17 blog note on phones &c, we're already
close--the next generation of the phone PDA gadget that Singer and I
now carry also has an MP3 player and an expansion-card slot along with
the full-function PDA, phone, email reader, web browser, and what-all
else.
(http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/7100_phone/7100_phone_series.htm) I'll
probably get mine in June when Verizon makes them directly available
(although since Alltel supports them already, anyone who wants one
early can buy it on eBay). Samsung is also building a competing gadget
with an even larger memory and a digital camera (but no music player).
(http://www.samsung.com/Features/TechnologyLeadership/Exhibition/cebit2003/prod
uct/mobile/SGH-i500.htm)

Madman, I've been reading Zelazny for years and I'll be interested
whenever you're comfortable posting it.

AND... <drum roll> My crocus have finally! bloomed! Also the siberian
squill and the miniature iris; and the species tulips are showing buds.
About time. Of course, it's back into the 40s again, but now I have
bright colors scattered around in the garden so it doesn't feel as cold
as it is.
  

    
Happy Birthday, Maure!!!!!