Scratching my political itch

I'll get this bile out of my system below the break:

Sentential Links

Links.

:: In my personal life, I have an eight-year-old, and that dictates a lot of my life. In the world, there are things (war, environmental catastrophes) being done, sometimes in my name, and it appears than I have absolutely nothing to do about it. (Roger answers the same questions that I answered a few days ago.)

:: I honestly don't even think about money anymore. Well, that's not entirely accurate. I don't think about being able to spend it. (So does SamuraiFrog.)

:: So c'mon -- gimme all your hot monkey love! (Oh, you have got to click through on this one. Trust me...especially if you had any love for the X-Men back in the day....)

:: Whenever I sit back to take a closer look at a series like Star Trek: The Original Series, a series that helped define who I am, I get an almost fuzzy feeling. I'm probably the wrong person to look at this series objectively. It can rarely do wrong and when it does, like your child, you are forgiving and still love it unconditionally. But more often than not it succeeds as it does here. (This is why I've long-since stopped believing in 'looking at something objectively'. It's a fool's quest, seeking a target that simply does not exist.)

:: The thing about biographical movies is that for the actors playing people who were actual Real People In History, and particularly for recent Real People, there is a fine line you have to walk between “this is who that person sounded like” and “this is who that person actually was.” People become famous for their verbal tics and how they generally hold themselves, but that’s not who they were, not when you get right down to it. Any person is infinitely more complex than their public persona, and a good actor works to capture the person’s interior life (as best they are able) and use that to bring out the public side of things. (Interesting post about the Oliver Stone movie Nixon, which I blogged about myself a while back.

:: The whole notion of State's Rights, and the necessity of state representation in Congress has caused a great deal of mischief, and I think the time has come to start rethinking it. (I tend to agree...but I'm not at all sure what to do about it.)

:: It's not cool to like The Patriot, especially these days after the Fall of Mel Gibson, but even back in the day it had a bad reputation as the American Braveheart. That's not fair. (As I pointed out in comments, I was liking this movie just fine up until the extremely gratuitous, 'let's ratchet the bad guy's evil all the way up to 11' torching-the-church scene....)

:: Whether you're a reader or a writer, reading poorly-written dialogue is the same as being a musician and listening to music being played off-key. There's only so much of that you can take before it becomes almost painful -- and I think that's why so often bad dialogue is a book killer. (This is what makes me most nervous about re-reading my own stuff...I'm afraid that my dialog is shit. We'll see...editing starts [gulp] tomorrow....)

More next week! (or not. You can never tell, with me.)

Ernest

Actor Ernest Borgnine has died. I try not to be too sad when folks die at such an age (he was 95); after all, Borgnine led a long life and he led it well, the kind of life where one might honestly say that the rest at the end of it is a well-earned reward. But it still saddens me, a bit.

I honestly don't recall ever seeing Borgnine in anything in which I didn't like him, unless he was playing a villain, in which case I disliked him in exactly the right way. His was an utterly unmistakable face, between the roundness of his head, the slight bulging quality of his eyes, and the gap between his two front teeth -- but he was also one of those actors who was able to look the same and yet make you think of nothing else other than the character he was playing at any one time. (I consider Steve Carell to be another actor of this type.) Borgnine was able to put just the right look in his eyes to convey exactly what he wanted to convey about any character he played.

I assume that I first saw Borgnine in a guest-starring role on some show in the 1970s or so, maybe The Love Boat (which, yes, he was on -- but then, so was everybody). The first thing I really remember him in was an episode of Little House on the Prairie that I've mentioned before in this space. It's a two-parter called "The Lord Is My Shepherd", and it's one of the tear-jerkingest things I've ever seen. In Part 1, Charles and Caroline have a baby boy, whom Laura resents and (if memory serves) she actually wishes to die. Sadly, as infants sometimes did back then, little Baby Charles actually did die, and Laura became racked with guilt -- so much so that, in part 2, she runs away from home to seek God and petition him to take her instead of Baby Charles. Quite logically for a child, Laura recognizes that her best bet of being heard by God is to seek high ground, so she goes atop a craggy mountain (we won't ask what this mountain is doing there, in the middle of 'the prairie'), where she meets a wise old man named Jonathan, played by Borgnine.

Here's the entire episode of part 2:



Now, this episode can really only stand or fall based on what Borgnine does, and he conveys a pitch-perfect combination of warmth, wisdom, and mystery that suggests who or what he must be, well before a final reveal (of sorts) happens at the end. This episode made a mark on me years ago when I saw it as a kid, when Little House was an after-school re-run. Little did I ever suspect that this particular story would one day turn out to have some fairly uncomfortable parallels to events in my own life.

For a totally different side of Ernest Borgnine, there is his malevolent stockade administrator in From Here to Eternity. He's a mean and sadistic bully, but Borgnine knows to portray a bit of the cowardice that lies at the heart of most bullies. Here he's forced to stand down, but he knows that he'll have his chance again, one day.



Thanks for the memories, Mr. Borgnine. About the only good thing about the passing of fine actors is that their memories are enshrined forever on film.

Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome

Oddities and Awesome abound!

:: Roger Ebert linked this on Facebook, and it's pretty great, actually: the 50 greatest matte paintings of all time. For non-film geeks in the audience, a matte painting is how filmmakers used to create vistas onscreen that were too expensive or fantastic to actually build as sets. One of the most iconic ones -- and featured in the article -- is the crate-filled warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Matte painting -- the actual painting of a sheet of glass for superimposition of the filmed images -- has largely gone the wayside in the era of digital composition, and while I've never been one to lament the passing of special-effects-by-hand in favor of CGI (having seen lots of bad FX-by-hand in my day), but there is something nifty about knowing that an artist was literally painting a piece of glass to make the movie magic happen.

:: This is an amazing video comprising all of the launches of the space shuttle. Yes, including that one -- but you can't really show them all and leave off the one that ended poorly. And once again, I'm reminded that while the shuttle's day was overdue to end, it's a sad thing that it ended with no new ship to have its day afterward....

:: As of this writing, the Pittsburgh Pirates are ten games over .500, in first place in the NL Central, and they are assured of entering the All-Star Break with at least a share of first place. Their record right now is 47-37, and after a really slow start at the plate, their hitters have produced nicely the last month or so (not that they couldn't add another bat for the stretch run, and given how they've stocked the farm system that last few years, they could do so without mortgaging their future the way they did in 1990 when they traded Moises Alou for Zane Smith). Go Bucs!

More next week!

Fixing the Prequels: Revenge of the Sith (part four)

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Aaaaand again, it's been ridiculously long for an installment of this series, for which, again, my apologies. But this time the reason is different, aside from the fact that time, as always,, continues to occasionally get away from me. No, this time I've genuinely been vexed with how to fix the part of Revenge of the Sith we're now entering.

This part of the film – the political part – is the most problematic. After a slam-bang first forty minutes or so, the film has to spend half an hour or so going set-up for the last hour, which will include, as we well know going into this one, all manner of grim stuff happening. As a well-established lover of all things Star Wars, I don't dislike this part of the movie, but I do have to admit that structurally, this is the weakest part of Sith. It's mostly a lot of talking, and I've really had trouble figuring out what to do here.

So part of what I did was reconnect myself with the entirety of the Star Wars saga by rewatching, over the course of six consecutive Sundays, all six movies (in their proper order: ANH, TESB, RotJ, TPM, AotC, Sith). And while I'm on that subject, I highly recommend doing precisely this! When watched in fairly close quarters like that, the emotional beats of the entire story become a lot more clear. And as fas as this blog series goes, the rewatch more than served its purpose, because it crystallized for me a few things about this movie:

1. There are times when George Lucas chooses to linger when he should move.

2. Conversely, there are times when Lucas moves when he should linger a bit!

3. The film doesn't contain quite enough politics.

4. The film doesn't quite connect the dots strongly enough with regard to Anakin's temptation.

Again, these observations are meant more mildly than they might sound. I think that Sith is a fantastic experience, but it could have been even better had the Problem Portion worked just a bit better. The problem here, I think lies in the talky nature of the material and the fact that a lot of the talk is, well, rather stilted and expository in nature. So, what to do?

Well, there are two possible ways we can go. We can add more action in order to give the impression of plot movement by having things explode. I didn't want to do that because you have to justify action, and I don't see how to do that and retain what we need of the political material without resulting in a hugely bloated movie, so I'm prepared to stick with the action in the film that exists. That leaves the other option, which is to make all that talking more interesting in itself.

And how do we do that? Well...and given some of my recent postings, I can't believe I'm saying this...but we need to take a lesson here from Aaron Sorkin.

I may have spent lots of time ripping the guy recently, and for what I feel are entirely justifiable reasons, but if there's one thing we can learn from the fairly consistent success of Aaron Sorkin's scripted films and shows, it's that lots of talking need not be boring. At his best, Sorkin was able to make the corridors of politics a deeply fascinating place. That's what needs to happen with Sith...maybe not in Sorkin's style, obviously. I don't want characters answering every yes/no question affirmatively with "Yeah"; I don't want people referring to "the thing" or "this thing" or saying "I've gotta go do a thing"; I don't want Anakin complaining to Obi Wan that the Jedi Council has just "screwed me with my pants on". But more dynamic conversation, more quickly applied, is certainly called for.

So! When we left off, Anakin had started having nightmares about Padme's death in childbirth, and in an act of total responsibility that I find pretty impressive (especially as no one seems to notice it), Anakin took his problem to Yoda, who then helpfully told him basically, "Death happens. Let it and don't be sad when it does." Yoda's advice is, shall we say, not all that useful.

So now we start getting into some politics. What is the aim here? Well, we have to show Anakin's increasing ties to the Chancellor eroding his confidence in the Jedi. We also need to establish that the Chancellor is slowly but surely acquiring enormous amounts of power, to the alarm of the Jedi. This story isn't just the fall of Anakin Skywalker, it's about the seizure of power by the Sith and the fall of the Jedi order. Now, in the original script and in some deleted scenes, the seeds of what will eventually be the Rebel Alliance are sown, but none of this made it into the finished film, on the basis that those scenes slow things down too much (and this is not a point without merit). Finally, it seems to me that at least a bit of light needs to be shone upon the exact relationship of the Jedi to the Chancellor and Senate, and on the public in the Galaxy's view of the Jedi. How to do all this? Read on!

Just after Anakin's scene with Yoda, he runs to get to a war briefing by Obi Wan, and he gets there late. I would add a little bit, in blue, and what didn't make the film in red:

INT. CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE-BRIEFING ROOM-DAY

ANAKIN rushes into the Briefing Room. By the time he reaches the Chamber, the last of the Jedi are leaving. Only OBI-WAN remains at the front of the lecture hall. He is shutting off some holograms and electronic charts and maps.

OBI-WAN: You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges.

ANAKIN: I'm sorry, I was held up. I have no excuse.

OBI-WAN: In short, they are going very well. Saleucami has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity.

ANAKIN: What's wrong then?

OBI-WAN: The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today.

ANAKIN: What powers?

OBI-WAN: The Chancellor wishes the authority to commission more clones from Kamino, and to appoint regional governors to directly control Republic affairs in their territories.

ANAKIN: Well, that can only mean less deliberating and more action. Is that bad? It will make it easier for us to end this war.

OBI-WAN: Anakin, be careful of your friend Palpatine.

ANAKIN: Be careful of what?

OBI-WAN: He has requested your presence.

ANAKIN: What for?

OBI-WAN: He would not say.

ANAKIN: He didn't inform the Jedi Council? That's unusual, isn't it?

OBI-WAN: All of this is unusual, and it's making me feel uneasy. You're probably aware that relations between the Council and the Chancellor are stressed.

ANAKIN: I know the Council has grown wary of the Chancellor's power, mine also for that matter. Aren't we all working together to save the Republic? Why all this distrust?

OBI-WAN: The Force grows dark, Anakin, and we are all affected by it. Be wary of your feelings. The Council isn't concerned about your power, Anakin. But they are concerned about how close you are to Palpatine.

I add the little bit enumerating the specific powers being voted upon because I generally think it's best to be more specific when you can.

Now, in the movie, we cut right to Palpatine's office, and Anakin and Palpatine are slowly walking around the enormous room, having a discussion. Only about half of it shows up in the film, though:

INT. CORUSCANT-CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE-DAY

ANAKIN stands with PALPATINE at his window overlooking the vastness of Coruscant. Several buildings have been destroyed. A brown haze hangs over the landscape.

PALPATINE: Anakin, this afternoon the Senate is going to call on me to take direct control of the Jedi Council.

ANAKIN: The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?

PALPATINE: They will report to me . . . personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct a war. This will bring a quick end to things.

ANAKIN: I agree, but the Jedi Council may not see it that way.

PALPATINE: There are times when we must all endure adjustments to the constitution in the name of security.

ANAKIN: With all due respect, sir, the Council is in no mood for more constitutional amendments.

PALPATINE: Thank you, my friend, but in this case I have no choice . . . this war must be won.

ANAKIN: Everyone will agree on that.

PALPATINE: Anakin, I've known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could ... I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost . . . and you saved my life. I hope you trust me, Anakin.

ANAKIN: Of course.

PALPATINE: I need your help, son.

ANAKIN: What do you mean?

PALPATINE: I fear the Jedi. The Council keeps pushing for more control. They're shrouded in secrecy and obsessed with maintaining their autonomy . . . ideals. I find simply incomprehensible in a democracy.

ANAKIN: I can assure you that the Jedi are dedicated to the values of the Republic, sir.

PALPATINE: Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words. I'm depending on you.

ANAKIN: For what? I don't understand.

PALPATINE: To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic . . .

ANAKIN thinks about this.

PALPATINE: (continuing) Anakin . . . I'm appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council.

ANAKIN: Me? A Master? I am overwhelmed, sir, but the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this.

PALPATINE: I think they will . . . they need you more than you know.

As I watched all six movies, I noticed that George Lucas – even in TESB and RotJ, the ones he didn't direct – likes to join scenes with conversations already in progress (good example: in ANH, after Ben rescues Luke from the Sandpeople, we cut to Ben's home and Luke is saying, "No, my father didn't fight in the wars, he was a navigator on a spice freighter."). A lot of the time it works, but there are a couple of times – most notably the fireplace scene in AotC -- where it doesn't. This is another such example. I suspect that the scene was cut as is to keep it short and simple, but sometimes short and sweet isn't so great. Interestingly, this scene as written openly addresses something I wondered about while rewatching the PT: the relation between the Jedi and the Republic. This scene strongly indicates that the Jedi are virtually an independent body, and very rigid in guarding their independence. And that, frankly, seems a tad important to me.

I'd like to establish all this, but I wouldn't do it this way, with a simple Anakin-and-Palpatine in the office thing. Instead I would replace this whole scene with a longer sequence:

EXTERIOR: Coruscant – Senate building – dusk.

The sun is setting behind the great Senate building.

INTERIOR: Senate chamber.

The Galactic Senate is in session, with PALPATINE presiding from his center rostrum. A SENATOR FROM MALASTARE has the floor.

MALASTARE SENATOR: We have heard the reports from the Jedi that their offensive is pushing back the Separatist armies, but if that were true, how could General Grievous have launched such a devastating attack against the very heart of the Republic? How can we trust the Jedi reports of success when they just barely avoided utter failure in our own skies? Malastare moves that an immediate investigation into this affair be undertaken!

PADME: This is outrageous!

The Senate pod from Naboo floats out into the debate space, bearing PADME and JAR JAR BINKS.

PALPATINE: The Senator from Naboo.

PADME: The Jedi have served the Republic with honor for a thousand generations! If we question them now--

MALASTARE SENATOR: This failure was theirs. The Force did not warn them of the attack, did it? This war grinds on and on, and now, look about you! A third of this body is vacant, and a third of these Pods stand empty because their systems have joined the Separatists! The Jedi are failing us. Chancellor, I serve official notice that Malastare is introducing an amendment to place the Jedi Council under the direct authority of the Chancellor and the Senate!

PADME: No! You can't--

She is drowned out by the shouts from every Senator in the building as the entire place erupts with fierce debate.

MAS AMEDDA: Order! Order in the Senate! Order!

Through all this, PALPATINE shows almost no reaction, even when he meets PADME's gaze.

INTERIOR: Senate building – Shuttle bay.

PALPATINE is walking toward his personal shuttle, with MAS AMEDDA and his councilors behind him.

MAS AMEDDA: Will you schedule a vote on the Malastare amendment?

PALPATINE: I shall hold that off as long as I can, but eventually the Senate will force the issue...ah, Anakin!

ANAKIN rises from his seat outside the shuttle.

ANAKIN: Chancellor. I was told you wished to see me.

PALPATINE: I do. Come.

He takes ANAKIN aboard the shuttle.

INTERIOR: Chancellor's shuttle – continuous.

PALPATINE and ANAKIN sit down inside the shuttle as it departs for the Chancellor's office building.

PALPATINE: These Senate sessions become harder and harder to control. Odd, with fewer and fewer Senators.

ANAKIN: I watched it on the screen. The Jedi Council will not easily submit to being placed under Senate control, no matter what law they pass.

PALPATINE: I agree, which is why I wished to speak with you. I'd heard that Malastare was planning to propose that amendment, but I'd hoped those rumors were false. Perhaps what I have in mind will ease the Senate's concerns somewhat.

ANAKIN: Sir?

PALPATINE: I need your help, son. I need you to become the eyes and ears of the Republic.

ANAKIN: I don't follow--

PALPATINE: The Republic has faced times like these before, Anakin. The Jedi Council's independence was not always taken for granted. I have decided to invoke a very old statute and make a direct appointment to the Jedi Council.

It starts to dawn on ANAKIN....

PALPATINE: I wish you to be my personal representative to the Jedi. They will resist, but I have the right. Of course, by their own by-laws, this will force them to do what they should have done years ago, and make you a full Jedi Master.

ANAKIN: A Master?! Sir...I am...I don't know what to say....

PALPATINE: You need not say anything. In fact, if the Council's reaction is what I expect, you may not even wish to thank me. But the Republic needs you, Anakin. More than you know.

EXTERIOR: Sky above Coruscant.

The Shuttle arcs toward the Capital building.

INTERIOR: Senate building – corridor.

PADME is walking with several other SENATORS.

PADME: We have to start working to assemble a coalition that will back the Jedi Council. We can't have these divisions in the middle of a war--

A young SENATE PAGE approaches, bows, and hands PADME a slip of paper, which she unfolds and reads.

PADME: Thank you.

The PAGE runs off.

SENATOR: We will not vote to obstruct the Jedi.

PADME: Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I'm late for a meeting....

She nods a farewell and then heads off down another corridor.

INTERIOR: Senate building – Observation room.

The observation room is near the top of the Senate building itself, overlooking the mighty expanse of the Coruscant city. PADME enters and is greeted by SENATOR BAIL ORGANA and several other SENATORS, including a tall and regal-looking WOMAN.

PADME: Senator Organa? Why are we up here instead of one of our offices?

BAIL ORGANA: Greetings, Senator Amidala. I believe you know the others.

PADME: Yes, good to see you all. (to the WOMAN) You're newly elected?

WOMAN: Just last month. I am Mon Mothma.

PADME: Oh yes. Of Chandrila. A pleasure, and my apologies – I usually get around to welcoming new Senators more quickly. But why are we up here?

BAIL ORGANA: These observation rooms are informal locations.

PADME: And not subject to Senate guidelines for official business. I think I understand.

MON MOTHMA: Those of us here have concerns about some things that are happening in the Republic, and we think that you may share some of those concerns.

PADME glances from face to face in the room. Something about this seems harmless, and yet deeply significant. She knows that a line is about to be crossed....

PADME: Go on.

The point here is to show a number of things: that the Jedi are facing opposition not just from the Chancellor but from the Senate as well, to get the bit in there about Palpatine intruding upon the functions of the Jedi Council while seeming reasonable about doing so, and to show what is probably the moment when the Rebel Alliance is born.

It really struck me how skillfully Palpatine played the Jedi Council and Anakin and everyone else, when I rewatched the films. He just doesn't seem all that unreasonable in doing some of the things he does, before he unmasks himself. Of course, a part of that is the amazing performance of Ian McDiarmid, whose performances as Palpatine in the Prequels are, to my mind, criminally underrated. He gives Palpatine a kind of fatherly gravitas that is utterly convincing and all the more chilling when it starts to become clear what he's up to.

And that's where we'll stop. The galactic politics continues next time! Excelsior!

Something for Thursday

Swashbuckling music was a going concern a hundred years before Erich Wolfgang Korngold was writing scores for Errol Flynn's movies. Here is Hector Berlioz's overture Le Corsaire.

When in the course of human events (repost)

This is a repost from July 4, one year ago today. Happy birthday, America!

Here's a really weird story. It's so weird, I'm not sure the historians didn't make it up out of whole cloth. It seems that around 235 years ago or so, some folks living in a place under the rule of a King decided that they didn't much like the way that King was ruling them. At all. They pretty much decided, en masse, that their King was behaving, to use a current term, like a douche.

Now, over the many centuries before these folks came along, lots of other folks in other lands have decided that their Kings and Queens were being douchey, so they came up with ways to replace them. They'd organize revolts, usually behind the banner of some obscure relative of the monarch's so they could say that their person has a better claim to the throne, and off they'd go. So you'd expect that the folks we're talking about here would have just said, "You know what? Our King is a douche. Let's replace him with a new King."

But these folks didn't say that. What they said was, "Not only does our King suck, but he sucks so much that we're now thinking maybe we won't even have any more Kings. We'll do it all ourselves."

Over a year or so, there were some battles and skirmishes between these folks and the troops sent by the King to put down the pesky rebels, but it didn't work, and that notion -- "No more Kings and Queens!" -- took hold. It became a really popular idea, so finally, these folks appointed some representatives to gather in one of their cities and talk these issues over. The conversation went like this:

GUY #1: So, we're all agreed then? Kings suck?

GUY #2: Yes, Verily, they suck.

GUY #1: OK, so what do we do?

GUY #3: Well, we're already fighting, so we just keep fighting. But we should probably tell the King that we're being serious and we're not just a bunch of rabble-rousers here.

GUY #1: Right! How do we do that?

GUY #4: How 'bout a letter? I've got some nice parchment, quills, and a new bottle of ink.

GUY #2: Good idea! But you're about as eloquent as my cow. You'll just write "Hey King, sod off" and be done with it. We should be a bit more poetic about it.

GUY #4: How about Tom? He's pretty poetic.

GUY #1: Good idea! Let Tom do it. Now where's that Adams guy with the beer?

So a guy named Tom wrote the King a sternly-worded letter. It was pretty wordy, given the standards of the time, so here's a paraphrase:

Dear King,

We the undersigned, being representatives of the people of your colonies, have collectively decided that you are a douche and we don't want to live under your rule anymore. Furthermore, we're going to come up with a government of our own that won't even have a King. Now, we've just called you a douche, so you're probably thinking that we should be kind enough to at least tell you all the reasons we have for thinking you're a douche, so there's a list of those reasons later on. For now, suffice it to say that we believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. And you don't. And since we like the whole Life and Liberty thing a lot more than we like you, we're gonna take those and let you do whatever it is you do with your time in that Palace of yours.

So, here's the list of ways you've pissed us off. Note how long it is. You don't have to be a douche, you know.

...

See? Really, dude. There's no reason for some of that stuff, right? So anyway, have a good life and all. You've still got your island, and Canada seems pretty happy with you for some reason (but really, they're weird folks to begin with, what with that odd game they like to play on ice). But we're out of here.

Signed,
All the guys present

PS: Could you make sure your soldiers always wear those bright red coats? It makes it really easy to see 'em in the forests. KTHXBAI.

And so it came to pass that after some years of war, and some further years of cruddy government, they all got together again and figured out how they wanted to set up their new, "No Kings!" government. Their notion was to spread power out amongst a bunch of folks who were accountable to the people, and to further make sure that their government was required to respect certain rights that couldn't be taken away. It was a really weird idea...and yet, these folks worked hard to make it work, and their children kept working hard to make it work, and their children kept at it, and so on and so on and son on, until today.

Does it still work? Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much. But we're still here, and we're still working at it.

So Happy Birthday, United States of America! You're a wonderful, weird, beautiful, maddening, and awesome country.



(Hey! Uncle George is in there!)

O for a can of floral-scented air spray....

Ladies and gentleman, John C. Wright:

If I may be droll, allow me to recommend to my fellow science fiction and fantasy novelists that they become Catholic merely to increase their chance of writing a novel of lasting worth, power, and beauty, on the grounds that we Catholics see the cosmos as a sacramental temple whose stained glasses are lit with supernal light streaming in from beyond, and where the many-colored light touches, enchantment, magic, wonder and all the sacred things which give life richness spring up like elfin flowers, like the moly herb that wipes the lies of the eyes away, or like trees whose leaves are for the healing of nations: and like a wind in the stars we hear, far above the mystic horns of elfland blowing, the deeper magic ring in choirs of angelic song whose breath is the breath of life.

I just...I have zero idea what to say to this. None. My gob has been given so thorough a smacking by the awfulness of this sentence as to leave me cognitively inert. Thus I shall just sit here, twitching gelatinously in a puddle of my own drool....

FIRST!!!

A business meeting if run by Internet commenters. (LOTS of coarse language here, folks.)

A Quiz thing

Here's a set of interesting questions that Lynn posted, and as usual, I cannot resist!

Q: If something is forbidden, do you want it less or more?

I think that one thing that differentiates 'adulthood', or 'maturity', or whatever you want to call it, is the ability to understand why things are sometimes forbidden. Forbidden things tend to have less of the quality of, say, me at six years old being 'forbidden' to go into my sister's room -- you bet your ass that made me want to go in there at every opportunity!

But nowadays, when I'm told "You are forbidden to attempt to fix this piece of equipment!" (just to make up an example), I know that it's generally because (a) I'm not qualified and (b) there's a million volts going through it.

Q: Is there an area of your life where you feel out of control? Especially in control?

I have control of my writing. I don't have control over whether it goes anywhere, but the words themselves, the ones that I choose to depict what happens to my characters? That's all me!

As for being out of control? The economy at large, I suppose. The environment. The state of the world. I have precious little control over any of that, so I try not to worry about it.

Q: If you unexpectedly had a completely free afternoon, what would you do with that time?

When's the afternoon? Mid-summer? Fall? Winter? Is there a movie just out that I want to see? Or do I want to get some coffee and do some writing? Or go walk in the woods and take pictures?

Q: Are you comfortable or uncomfortable in a disorderly environment?

A mix of both, I suppose. I know, weak answer...but I think that order is generally agreeable because it makes life easier. I get uncomfortable when order becomes a goal in itself, though.

Q: How much time do you spend looking for things you can’t find?

Again, depends on what it is. Wallet? Car keys? Glasses? Those I look for a lot. A certain book that I know I own? I'll look a bit, and then figure it'll turn up later on. (Or I'll remember that I don't even own it. Yes, that's happened.)

Q: Are you motivated by competition?

Not that much, except for playing games or whatnot. Competition in life annoys me, and I hate approaching life that way or assuming that I need to. Again it goes back to things I can control, and really, the only thing I can control is my own efforts. I tend to think that the only competition I'm generally in is with myself.

Q: Do you find it easier to do things for other people than to do things for yourself?

Oh, yes. Yes indeed.

Q: Do you work constantly? or think you should be working?

Yes to the second. I live in constant fear that I'm not getting enough done. I look at my writing-tracking spreadsheet and I see that I'm consistently clearing my own quota, and I wonder if I shouldn't double it. But I don't want to set the goal so high that I'm spending time worrying about making that goal and not about other goals, like spending time interacting with the Family Unit.

Q: Do you embrace rules or flout rules?

It goes back to my answer to the 'forbidden things' question: if I know why the rule exists, I'm much more likely to follow it than if it just seems to be a rule created because that's the way someone at a desk decided that things should be done.

But what about 'writing' rules? Most of those tend to be guidelines more than rules, but some that I think are really important to my personal productivity: Show, don't tell; only rarely use anything other than 'said' as my verb of dialog attribution; adverbs are The Devil; and most importantly, Nulla dies sine linea: "Never a day without lines".

Q: Do you work well under pressure?

Sometimes. Once I get the job going, I'm fine...but I do have a tendency to start trying to work a little too fast and then bad things happen. If I force myself to take my time and do the job I know how to do, I'm fine.

Q: What would your perfect day look like?

I'd get some writing done. I'd go for a walk. I'd drink some coffee in the morning and some rum in the evening. I'd talk to The Wife. I'd read. I'd wear overalls and I'd take a brief nap at some point.

Q: How much TV do you watch in a week (include computer time spent watching videos, movies, YouTube)?

Three hours a day? Maybe? It varies, and I tend to do some stuff while those shows are on, anyway. And you know what? I'm fine with that. I pick good stuff to watch, and there's a LOT of good stuff to watch these days. I don't feel that the time I do spend watching something is time I'm wasting.

Q: Are you a morning person or a night person?

Heh! My standard answer here is that I'm by temperament a night person who has been forced by certain aspects of life (such as the day job's start time) to become a morning person. I tend to not get enough sleep during the week because of this. That may be my most unhealthy habit, actually.

Q: What’s more satisfying to you: saving time or saving money?

Again, it depends! But I tend to bias toward time. I know folks who rigorously sift through coupons and grocery store ads to determine which local store is cheapest any given week on various items they plan to buy, and then they'll spend a day going to three or more stores to buy it all. That would drive me crazy. I'd much rather shop in one place, maybe spend ten more bucks than I would otherwise, and have my shopping done in an hour.

Q: Do you like to be in the spotlight?

I do, but I don't like to seek it much. This blog (and other social networking mechanisms) are as extroverted as I tend to get. Now, if someone shines a spotlight on me, I'm not recoiling in horror. But I don't knock myself out to get it.

Q: Is your life “on hold” in any aspect? Until you finish your thesis, get married, lose weight?

Not 'on hold', but...well, let's just say that apartment living is losing its cachet....

Q: What would you do if you had more energy?

More of what I already do. In fact, my main hang-up isn't energy; for me, it's time. I don't feel I have enough to devote to the things I truly love doing already!

Q: If you suddenly had an extra room in your house, what would you do with it?

Fill it with books? Or set up a woodworking/carpentry shop? Hmmmm....

Q: What people and activities energize you? Make you feel depleted?

Going to new places, new cities; walking museums and used bookstores. Walking outside. Depleted? I hate it when I'm forced into social situations where I'm 'required' to get to know people. I'm not terribly extroverted, until I get to know people.

Q: Is it hard for you to get rid of things that you no longer need or want?

Sometimes, if I can come up with a sentimental reason for it. But I'm gradually becoming more hard-nosed about stuff like this. My problem is getting motivated to go through and get rid of stuff to begin with.

(The exception here, of course, is books. I have the hardest time getting rid of books!)

Q: Do you get frustrated easily?

Yeah, I do. Not something I like about myself! I hate it when I know I'm doing something right and it's still not coming out right.

Q: On a typical night, what time do you go to bed? How many hours of sleep do you get?

Usually midnight or so. Weekdays I'm up at 6:00 am, unless I'm not working, in which case I'm either sleeping in or I'm up when The Daughter gets up (not much later than that, sad to say). If I have an early morning job to do, I'll get up shortly before 4:00 am. Currently I use the 6:00 to 7:00 hour to do a little online reading and such and then for writing. Writing every day really keeps the pump primed, and having a dedicated time each day when I write is really a good idea.

Q: If at the end of the year, you had accomplished one thing, what is the one accomplishment that would make the biggest difference to your happiness?

I'd love to sell a manuscript! But as I'm going to be starting editing this week, I'd like to at least have it submitted somewhere by year's end. I'd also like to have the first draft done on Lighthouse Boy (not the actual title), but I'm not sure I'll make it, as I'm not entirely sure how long this one's going to be. I'm not sure if I should try to stick to my 180000 word goal, or allow myself more than that. As I currently have no idea where the story is going...I'm leaving this up in the air.

Q: And here’s another question for you. What questions would you add to this list, to help other people know themselves better? It’s so important, and so elusive.

Like Lynn: no book questions! I'm a firm believer that looking at someone's bookshelf tells me a great deal about them. And maybe questions about vocations and the choosing thereof...not all of us get to choose our vocations, but are chosen for them, and of the latter group, a lucky bunch do find some value in them after all. If that makes sense.

Anyway...there's the quiz!

Sentential Links

The linkage never stops...it just keeps coming and coming and coming...always the links...always always always links links links....

:: In fact, it could be said that if you cannot afford the things on this list, then you should not be having children. (Interesting list. I'd dispute, in part, the bit about a bucket of screws, bolts, and nuts -- not that you shouldn't have one, but I would disagree that you will use them. In my experience, hardware multiplies like rabbits -- and eventually you reach the critical mass of the Jar O'Random Fasteners, which is when you know there's probably a screw of the size you need in there but you're damned if you're gonna spend the time to search through the jar for it so you'd just might as well go to Home Depot and buy however many screws of that size you need, which is also preferable because, Hey, trip to Home Depot!)

:: There was a time in my life when Doug McClure was the biggest action adventure hero in the movies. He seemed to always be in pictures set on some mysterious island or at the center of the Earth.

:: Today is Canada Day. What's so great about Canada? (Canada is all sorts of nifty, I have to admit. But then, I'm in Buffalo. We stare wistfully at Canada and think, "If not for a couple of battles two hundred years ago...."*)

:: Alright ladies! I’ve never said this before, but let’s be friends. I’ll buy you a fruit drink and listen to your cat stories if you don’t mind if I tell you a funny story about how you should never ask a stripper how much a Blumpkin costs. Hell, I can even show you how to tie a proper knot to a head board, after you tell me how to fix my goddamn hair already. Maybe we can finally understand each other now.

:: I feel very blessed, very grateful, I haven’t slept a wink, and I’m still floating in outer space. I love my friends, my family, my acquaintances, and am so grateful for all of them showing up last night. (Sheila wrote a play, and has had it read several times in different cities, and each time, apparently it goes even better. Where next? Maybe a small, rust-belt city on one of the Great Lakes that has an unusually vibrant theater scene for a city its size...one can only hope!)

:: I think I've learned one of the basic wisdoms of writing. That is, it's always a good idea to take a few steps away from a story before you venture into a major rewrite. It's even better to do this before you publish. More importantly, I'm falling out of love.

:: My mother had a stack of 45 rpm records that were several years older than me. Of course, when I was a kid that was really old old, antique, ancient, not like we, as adults think of songs from the previous decade. I was fascinated with these records. I liked the idea of listening to something from “so long ago” and I actually liked quite a few of the songs.

:: Vin Scully is in his 63rd season of calling Dodger baseball. The probation period is almost up.

But seriously, he is the Mozart of baseball broadcasters and I can’t imagine another announcer ever being as good.

And he’s always been there. Night after night, summer after summer. (By the way: as I write this, the Pirates are more than halfway to win #82, and less than halfway to loss #82! Go Bucs!!!)

More next week!

* No, we don't really think that. But we here in Buffalo do love us some Canada! Especially when they have a day off up there, stream across the borders, and spend money in our local emporia. Huzzah for Canada!

Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome!

Oddities and Awesome abound!

:: Seen on Facebook:

In my case, they wouldn't dig up too much scandalous stuff. I think. I didn't spend that much of that decade in a drunken stupor. But then again, I doubt the country is ready for a President who would wear overalls to deliver the State of the Union, challenge Republicans to pie fights, and spend ridiculous amounts of time arguing online about whether John Williams is better than Jerry Goldsmith.

::  I'm pretty sure I've highlighted her work here before, but there's a photographer I follow on Flickr (going by the name Ar'alani) whose work I invariably find absolutely gorgeous. Here's an example:





She makes the Pacific Northwest look even more beautiful than it already is, and that's quite an accomplishment, because the Pacific Northwest is sufficiently beautiful that a drunken gorilla with a two-megapixel camera could take gorgeous photos of that region.

::  Julian Barnes on a life of bibliomania:

I am more optimistic, both about reading and about books. There will always be non-readers, bad readers, lazy readers – there always were. Reading is a majority skill but a minority art. Yet nothing can replace the exact, complicated, subtle communion between absent author and entranced, present reader. Nor do I think the e-reader will ever completely supplant the physical book – even if it does so numerically. Every book feels and looks different in your hands; every Kindle download feels and looks exactly the same (though perhaps the e-reader will one day contain a "smell" function, which you will click to make your electronic Dickens novel suddenly reek of damp paper, fox marks and nicotine).

Books will have to earn their keep – and so will bookshops. Books will have to become more desirable: not luxury goods, but well-designed, attractive, making us want to pick them up, buy them, give them as presents, keep them, think about rereading them, and remember in later years that this was the edition in which we first encountered what lay inside. I have no luddite prejudice against new technology; it's just that books look as if they contain knowledge, while e-readers look as if they contain information. My father's school prizes are nowadays on my shelves, 90 years after he first won them. I'd rather read Goldsmith's poems in this form than online.

More next week!

"Now I don't have to kill you!"

P062812PS-0234, originally uploaded by The White House.

President Obama talking on the phone with Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, whose arguments during the Supreme Court's hearings on the Affordable Care Act are largely viewed to have not helped the cause.

But oh well, he lives to fight another day! Viva the Affordable Care Act!

Film Quote Friday

Nora Ephron died the other day, so here's a scene, as written (so some of this doesn't appear in the final film), from my personal favorite Ephron film, Sleepless In Seattle. What's going on here is that there's a guy named Sam (Tom Hanks) and his son named Jonah, and their wife and mother has died. They are deeply saddened by this, obviously, so they try to get a change of scenery by moving to Seattle. Problem is, Sam is still having a terribly rough time of it, so Jonah one night calls a radio talk show that focuses on people's life problems.

And driving in her car, on the other side of the country, is Annie (Meg Ryan), who listens to this...and pretty much falls in love with Sam just from the voice in her speakers.

INT. CAR - NIGHT

 Annie driving.  Presents on the front seat.  She's 
 singing "Sleigh Ride" and doing all the sound effects 
 and clipclops and giddyups.  After a moment, she 
 realizes she doesn't know all the words and turns on the 
 radio.

     DR. MARSHA'S FIELDSTONE'S VOICE
      Welcome back to "You and Your 
      Emotions." I'm Dr.  Marcia 
      Fieldstone broadcasting across 
      America from the top of the 
      Sears Tower in Chicago where we 
      would have a fantastic view of 
      Santa Claus and his reindeer if 
      there was a -- oops, never 
      mind.  Tonight we're talking 
      about wishes and dreams.  
      What's your wishes this Christmas 
      Eve? Maybe the best present 
      you can give yourself is a call 
      to me.  The number is --

     ANNIE
      Give me a break.

 Annie changes the station.

     RADIO VOICE
      The subject of the evening's 
      medical update is You and Your 
      Spleen and our host --

 She flips the dial back the other way.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Our caller is from Seattle.

 Annie changes the station.

     RADIO VOICE
      Coming up, Jingle Bells 
      backwards, sung by the New 
      Jersey Cape Mayettes --

 Annie twists the dial back the other way.  We hear a 
 YOUNG BOY's voice.

     BOY'S VOICE (V.O.)
      Hello, this is Jonah --
      (there's a bleep as 
       Jonah says his last 
       name)

 Annie's hand lingers on the dial.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      No last names, Jonah.  Hello 
      there, you sound younger than 
      our usual callers.  How come 
      you're up so late?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      It's not that late in Seattle.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Got me there.  What's your 
      Christmas wish, Jonah?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      It's not for me.  It's for my 
      dad.  I think he needs a new 
      wife.

 Annie shakes her head.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      You don't like the one he was 
      now?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      He doesn't have one now.  
      That's the problem.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Where's your mom?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      She died.

 Annie closes her eyes for a moment.

     ANNIE
      I don't believe this --

 EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT

 As the car drives along.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      I'm sorry to hear that, Jonah.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      I've been pretty sad, but I 
      think my dad is worse.

 INT. CAR - NIGHT

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      And you're worried about him.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      I'm worried about him, he's 
      worried about me, I ride my 
      bike to school, he follows in 
      the car, like I'm not supposed 
      to know he's there.  Now it's 
      Christmas, and you know what 
      happens to people at Christmas.

     ANNIE
      They lose their minds and call 
      crackpot doctors on the radio --

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Have you talked to your dad 
      about this?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      No.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Why not?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      It's very hard for him to talk 
      about this stuff.  It's like it 
      makes him sadder.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      You want me to talk to him?

     ANNIE
      Perfect.  Sandbag the father.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      And you crazy? He thinks shows 
      like this are dumb.  If you 
      didn't have an 800 number I 
      could never get away with this 
      --

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Is he home right now?

     JONAH (V.O.)
      Yeah.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Well, I think I can help a 
      little more if I talk to him 
      directly.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      I don't know --

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      I'm sure he won't be angry once 
      he realizes how concerned you 
      are about him.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      Okay, but if I get yelled at, 
      I'm never gonna listen to this 
      show again.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Fair enough.

 INT. SAM'S HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

 Jonah is on the telephone on the first floor of the 
 houseboat he lives in with Sam.  He's got the phone cord 
 coming out of the small first-floor study, and he's 
 standing near the kitchen end of a large living area 
 looking out at the back deck, where his dad is sitting 
 in a deck chair looking out at the sea.

     JONAH
      Dad --

     SAM
      What is it?

 ON ANNIE AGAIN.

     JONAH (V.O.)
      There's somebody on the phone 
      for you.
      (into phone)
      His name is Sam.

     ANNIE
      This is completely disgusting.

 INT. BALDWIN HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

 Sam pokes his head in the back door.  He looks much as 
 he did eighteen months earlier, except that his hair is 
 a little longer.  He picks up the phone extension.

     SAM
      Hello.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Hello, Sam, this is Dr. Marcia 
      Fieldstone on Network America.

 Sam looks across the room to Jonah.

     SAM
      I'm probably not interested in 
      whatever you're selling.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      I'm not selling anything.  Your 
      son called and asked for advice 
      on how to find you a new wife.

     SAM
      (he really didn't get 
       her name)
      Who is this?

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      (repeating herself)
      Dr. Marcia Fieldstone of 
      Network America.

     SAM
      Jesus, are we on the air? 
      Jonah, for God's sake --

     JONAH
      Don't be mad at me, Dad.

 Sam can see Jonah.  He's frightened.  Sam immediately 
 feels how upset Jonah is.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      He feels that since your wife's 
      death you've been very unhappy. 
      He's genuinely worried about you.

 Sam is looking at Jonah, who's rooted to the spot he's 
 standing on.

     SAM
      (to Jonah)
      I'm not mad at you.  Okay, I'm 
      not mad at you.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      I think it's hard for him to 
      talk to you about all this.  
      Maybe we could talk and it 
      would make him feel a little 
      better.

 Sam hesitates.

     JONAH
      Please --

 INT. ANNIE'S CAR - NIGHT

     ANNIE
      This is a grotesque violation 
      of this man's personal life, 
      but never mind --

     SAM (V.O.)
      All righ...

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Good.  How long ago did your 
      wife die?

 INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

     SAM
      It's been about a year and a 
      half.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Have you had any relationship 
      since?

     SAM
      No.

 Sam is very uncomfortable about this --

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Why not?

     SAM
      Look, Doctor, I don't want to 
      be rude, but --

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      And I don't want to invade your 
      privacy --

 INT. CAR - NIGHT

     ANNIE
      Sure you do.

     SAM (V.O.)
      (overlapping)
      Sure you do --

 Annie smiles.

     SAM
      Look, we had a tough time at 
      first, but I think I'm holding 
      my own as a dad, and Jonah and 
      I will get along fine again as 
      soon as I break his radio.

 Annie laughs.  So does Mr.  Fieldstone

 INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

 Jonah is smiling too.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      I have no doubt that you're a 
      good dad.  You can tell a lot 
      from a person's voice.  But 
      something must be missing if 
      Jonah feels that you're still 
      under a cloud.

     JONAH
      Tell her how you don't sleep at 
      night.

     SAM
      How do you know that?

 Sam and Jonah both talk into their extensions, literally 
 talking to each other on the phone within their own 
 house, but also ON THE AIR.

     JONAH
      I can hear you walking around 
      sometimes.  At first I thought 
      it was a robber.  Go ahead, 
      tell her, Dad.

     SAM
      I don't think I have to now.

 Sam starts across the room towards Jonah, who starts 
 toward him, both of them holding their phone receivers.  
 On the wall in the dining area is a pine bench.

     SAM
      Look, it's almost Christmas --
      (as the two of them sit 
       down together on the 
       bench)
      A kid needs a mother --

 He puts an arm around Jonah.

 INT. CAR - NIGHT

 As Annie listens.  She's softened considerably.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Could it be that you need 
      someone just as much as Jonah 
      does?

     ANNIE
      Yes.

 Annie catches herself, covers her mouth in embarrassment.

     ANNIE
      I'm losing my mind.

 EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT

 As Annie makes a turn off the beltway into a rest stop.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      We've been talking to -- well, 
      let's just call him Sleepless 
      in Seattle, and we'll be right 
      back after this break with 
      listener response, your 
      response, to the things we've 
      been discussing.  The number to 
      call is...

 INT. BALDWIN HOUSE

     SAM
      What's she talking about?

     JONAH
      This is where other people get 
      to call in and dump on what you 
      said.

 We hear the beginning of a commercial.

 INT. TRUCK STOP RESTAURANT - NIGHT

 Annie walks in, anxious to break the spell of her radio 
 reverie.  She goes to the counter to order some coffee.  
 There's a commercial on the radio.  The counter WAITRESS 
 LORETTA is talking to the customers -- who include a 
 TRUCK DRIVER at a booth.  HARRIET, a short-order-cook, 
 is visible through an open window to the kitchen.

     LORETTA
      I'll bet he's tall, with a cute 
      butt.

     HARRIET
      I'll bet he hasn't shaved in a 
      week.  I'll bet he stinks.

     LORETTA
      Shut up, Harriet.
      (to Annie)
      What'll it be?

     ANNIE
      Coffee, please.  Black.  To go.

     LORETTA
      Maybe I should hustle myself 
      out to Seattle.  Give him a 
      little present for New Year's 
      Eve.

     HARRIET
      You can go there if you want 
      but don't open his refrigerator.  
      They don't cover anything when 
      they put it in the fridge.  
      They just stick it in and leave 
      it there till it walks out by 
      itself.

     LORETTA
      Harriet, ever since you 
      divorced your last husband, 
      you've been no fun.  I'm 
      looking, and this guy pops my 
      tarts.

     TRUCK DRIVER
      Come on, Loretta, you're going 
      to have to jump-start this guy.  
      His battery's dead.  And look 
      at me.  Mister Ever-Ready.  
      Every six minutes, another 
      charge.

     LORETTA
      I'm looking for someone 
      sensitive.

     ANNIE
      Come on, nobody wants a guy 
      who's sensitive on the radio.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Let's take a call before we get 
      back to Sleepless.  Knoxville, 
      Tennessee, you're on.

     SWEET SOUTHERN VOICE
      Yes, I would just like to know 
      where I could get this man's 
      address?

     LORETTA
      (to the radio)
      Honey, get on line.

 EXT. DINER - NIGHT

 As Annie gets into her car.

 EXT. WASHINGTON, D.C.  STREET - NIGHT

 Annie driving toward the house where Walter's parents 
 live.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Do you think there's somebody 
      out there you could love as 
      much as your wife? Maybe even 
      more?

     SAM (V.O.)
      It's hard to imagine.

 And cut back and forth between the car and the 
 houseboat.  Sam and Jonah are still on the bench, but 
 Jonah has fallen asleep in Sam's lap.  Sam is stroking 
 the boy's hair.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      What are you going to do, Sam?

     SAM
      I don't know.  When I met my 
      wife, it was so clear.  I just 
      knew.

 Annie is listening now.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      What was it that made you know?

        SAM
      I don't think I could really 
      describe it.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Why not?

     SAM
      And if I could describe it, 
      it probably wouldn't be on a radio 
      show.
      (he laughs to himself)
      But what the hell.  It's not 
      one specific thing.  It's more 
      of a feeling.
      (continued)

 Annie coasts to a stop outside a handsome mansion in 
 Washington, D.C., the motor running.  She's hooked now, 
 she's not getting out of the car until she's heard it 
 all.

     SAM
      You touch her for the first 
      time, and suddenly... you're 
      home.  It's almost like...

     ANNIE
      Magic.

     SAM
      Magic.

 CLOSER ON ANNIE

 realizing she has just said this.  Realizing that it 
 must mean something but not knowing what.

 SHE'S CRYING.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      Well, it's time to wrap up, 
      folks --

 A FIGURE appears at the passenger side window, which 
 Annie doesn't notice.  She's wiping the tears away with 
 her hand.

     DR. MARCIA FIELDSTONE (V.O.)
      We hope you'll call again soon.

This scene sets the emotional stage for the entire movie, and Meg Ryan has to carry her part of it with little interjections as she talks to the radio and as she listens silently, allowing her sadness to show, even though we know that she shouldn't really be sad about anything right now.

Thanks for the movies, Nora Ephron.

Something for Thursday

Apropos of yesterday's Random Wednesday Conversation Starter, I'll put a couple favorite country and western songs of mine, as I can't name just one.

Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, "Seven Spanish Angels". I love this because, in addition to its gorgeous melody and the fact that the two performers here are, well, geniuses, the song invokes the folklore of the American West that I like a lot when used in country music.



Eddie Rabbitt, "Every Which Way But Loose". Yeah, the title song from the goofy Clint Eastwood movie (which I like, thank you very much). It too has a wonderful melody, Eddie Rabbitt's voice was fantastic, and this song has a slow, sad sensuality to it that I like when country is able to do it right.



Johnny Cash, "Ring of Fire". I could have named any of, oh, five hundred or so Johnny Cash songs. The man was a miracle. I choose this one because I love its rhythm -- this is a song that has a hitch in its step that at first you don't really even notice, but try walking along to it: you'll find that the beats end up on different feet. (Seriously.)



Jo Dee Messina, "I'm All Right". With newer country music, I tend to respond to female artists more than males these days for some reason. I think Jo Dee Messina's voice is amazing, and this song's lyrics are cleverly used to relate one half of a conversation -- but that's really all we need.

A little Harry Potter humor

What if his given name had been Joey Jones? I doubt he would have turned to evil. On the other side of the coin, had his given name been Walter Quimby Zoroaster Xavier Isringhausen, he probably would never have done anything evil either, because he'd still be working through the permutations of his name!

A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter

Country-western music really isn't my usual cup of tea, but even so, there are a number of country songs that I do like a lot. These usually tend to be older songs, from when I would go with my parents on various car trips and my father would listen to country stations. A lot of it I never liked, but some of it, I really truly did.

So: what's your favorite country-western song?

(Warning: as of this writing, I am not sure whether or not I will simply mock, or summarily ban from commenting forever, anyone who can honestly claim that their favorite country song is "Red Solo Cup"!)

Manuscript Ahoy!

Since I'm gearing up to start editing it in July, I finally got around to printing out a copy of Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title).



It's all I can do to resist the urge to plunge right into the book right now. I always enjoy doing my editing, even though I can be really brutal on my own work. After I finish one round of edits, I hope to have a few beta-readers give the thing a look-see (note to self: find beta-readers), and then one more round of edits (unless the consensus opinion of the beta-readers is that I've written the literary equivalent of Plan 9 From Outer Space, in which case I'll sit down and drink a lot of rum and have a good cry). Then it'll be off to a publisher or some such purveyor of fine literary items.

The manuscript is 443 pages long. I wrote it in individual chapter files, but in the end, I wound up copying and pasting all the chapters together into one really big file. Not sure why I'm bothering to tell you all that, but I tend to be interested in matters of process.

Anyway, next week, it's time to give my darlings a bit of a dust-up. I know, you're supposed to 'murder your darlings', and I may well do so. We'll see!



In other writing news, The Adventures of Lighthouse Boy (not the actual title) continues churning along, although my output there has not reached the consistent heights that I did whilst writing Princesses. I'm still feeling out my world and making up my backstory as I go, so this one's a bit tougher going. As of right now the book is just under 28000 words long (roughly 68 pages of a mass-market paperback), and I've had six days in the last month where I produced a goose egg for word count, which is...well, not great, but I'm averaging 600 words a day (bolstered by a couple of really good days).

The family that fiddles together....

I've been forgetting to link this wonderful Mary Kunz Goldman article from the Buffalo News about the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's newest member of the violin section, but I forget no more!

An audition with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is always dramatic. But the recent audition the Philharmonic held for a first violinist was more than dramatic. It was historic.

The final round featured only a single anonymous candidate, who played behind a screen, as protocol dictates, while a committee listened closely.

At last, the candidate was approved and could step from behind the screen.

The audition committee gasped.

The mystery violinist was Megan Prokes, the 28-year-old daughter of longtime BPO violinist Robert Prokes. Hired by the BPO's great former music director Julius Rudel, Robert Prokes recently celebrated 30 years with the orchestra.

Read the whole thing. It's a lovely story of music in a family.

UPDATE: Wow, talk about timing -- I link the original story and Goldman provides an update, on a few other family pairings in the history of the orchestra.

Hair!!!

Reading, originally uploaded by Jaquandor.

I'm not a vain person. I'm really not. But...I really like my hair in this photo. Sigh!

(I also like that I'm not looking all dour and stuff.)