tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27820159402361440692024-03-17T19:30:06.002-05:00Phoenix WritingYour mind is about to be exposed to its new gateway drug. Welcome to my worlds. Smell what's cooking? Imagination on fire...meaning the emergency exits are blocked, so anything you're about to read can't be unread. Hold on to your happy thought.Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.comBlogger245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-51293938117075626742017-06-06T14:37:00.001-05:002017-06-06T14:37:33.186-05:0018503--Fake News<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: xx-large;">We're only a few months away </b>from a long anticipated sequel to "Blade Runner". As much as I enjoyed the novel from which it was adapted (<i><u>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</u></i> for those not in the know) and the film, which covers about a third of the book, I have not been eager to see a sequel. There's a lot of material in the book and it can be hard to get all of a novel into a single movie. We all know that. I accept that. I don't fault the film for that. Even with its flaws, it's still a delight. My problem with it and a sequel predicated on it can be placed squarely at the feet of its director, Ridley Scott.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The decision by Ridley Scott to have Rick Deckerd, our hero of the Blade Runner division, be a replicant is one I've always dismissed as absurd. Scott's clung to it for over thirty years now, but the idea doesn't fit with Dick's book and it certainly doesn't fit with reality. The amount of scrutiny one would have to undergo, which Dick's novel does confirm happens, to become a cop is specifically designed to prevent unsuitable candidates from being hired. Sure, we get unfit hires in all levels of government in the military and law enforcement and their support services, but they're at least human. Remember that "permanent record" they used to threaten you with when you got in trouble at school? Well, it's going to be checked. To cast Deckerd in the role of a replicant is to suggest that the Blade Runner unit is incapable in the most extreme degree of fulfilling its primary functions: detecting and retiring replicants on Earth (as it was made illegal for the synthetic humans to be functioning outside of their manufacturer's facility since a bunch of them went rogue). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anything more than a superficial examination is enough to out a replicant. Scott's decision to foist that mantle onto Deckard's shoulders never felt like anything more to me than the director's attempt to seem clever, like changing "Watchmen" but creating a weaker resolution in doing so. It certainly doesn't show someone who's read and respected the source material. It certainly doesn't scream of cleverness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As always, though, I'm willing to field counter-points.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-31756210715600165262017-05-17T22:00:00.000-05:002017-05-17T22:00:12.841-05:0018482--Being Fierce and Influencing People<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>No! No! No!</i></b> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There goes another another villain who, while crazy as a bag of cats, somehow seems to have their shit together enough to make our valiant heroes look like a bunch of circus clowns. It's frustrating to read and aggravating to watch when put to a screen. How has this social defective managed to leave our champions with their pants around their ankles and spanked like a frat pledge? Sure, we're talking about a criminal mastermind, and one who's prepared for pantsing protagonists as part of the evil plan, but also who's been artfully crafted to be a challenge. Mental aberrations aside, I think this may be why some people develop a love for certain villains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Villains driven by emotional anguish (often some perceived tragedy they've overreacted to or, worse, caused) tend toward focus and intensity. This makes them more on their game than the average person and that dark intensity draws an audience emotionally. You know who else benefits from this? Batman. Yeah, a big shock, I know. What a lot of people forget is that Superman used to enjoy that same sort of mojo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Superman's spent a lot of years as a symbol of law and order, but he started out as a crusading rebel for truth and justice. Before his powers grew to levels that allowed him to perform large scale rescues, he spent a lot of his time battling social injustice and corruption. Without the restraint he would develop after a few years on the job (which would also bring on a full origin; his first radio show, in fact, had him arriving on Earth as an adult), Superman fought criminals and championed the common man against systemic oppression with less concern for law than for justice and truth. It was the patriotic rallying cry of war that shoved him into the role of boy scout. He was polished into a partner of the establishment, given to a softer touch. On the cover of Action Comics #1, he's smashing criminal's getaway car (a move actually depicted in the story). Almost seventy years later, when <i style="font-weight: bold;">Superman Returns</i> pays homage to that iconic moment, that scene is sort of replicated, but with a runaway car that's rescued and goes from being hoisted overhead to being gently set on the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Technically, the same thing happened to Batman and Wonder Woman, but it was necessary to help them all survive the post-WWII era that saw psychiatry and Congress try to turn the people against them. Since bringing Robin in to sidekick for Batman had backfired by triggering claims of homoerotica rather than paternalism, many efforts were made to normalize the heroes. The less-than-edgy dark knight was even given a platinum badge to show how great an establishment supercop he'd become. The influential 60s TV show added the character of Dick Grayson's aunt, Harriet Cooper, to Wayne Manor's residency to break up the sausage party with a wholesome, family friendly image.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, Batman being who and what he is was the easiest to drag back across the line, out of the light and into the dark from whence he came just as they had spawned The Shadow before him. In the 70s, Denny O'Neill re-established him as a grim, nightstalking detective in a dangerous, dark Gotham. After <b><i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i></b>, Frank Miller was tapped to turn the caped crusader into a rebel again. He still had Jim Gordon as a friend in law enforcement, but that was about it. Relegated to the shadowy fringes of society once again, he gave the imperfect world around him the help it needed whether it was wanted or not. And it was decided, of course, that he and Superman should no longer be buddies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's a hard thing to make Superman feared while he's publicly saving lives, abating disasters, and then racing off to save the world again. Powerhouse that he has become, he also has to be instilled with copious levels of restraint so he's not portrayed as a bully who does whatever he wants whenever he pleases. Being superhumanly good is simply a better fit with the narratives of Wonder Woman and Superman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, I was thinking that if the loss of Krypton were to keep the Man of Steel more focused on saving Earth and its people, even from themselves, it would be easier to paint the picture of a Superman intensely determined to save the world. Superman jumping in to help whether it was wanted or not, concerned more about truth and justice and Freedom yet little about law or the desires of government, would force discussion of issues touched upon in half-assed fashion in <i style="font-weight: bold;">Dawn of Justice</i>. Indeed, how would the world cope with a man of Superman's capacities after he's shifted alignments from Lawful Good to Chaotic Good with a passionate drive to save us from our own self-destructiveness?</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-14510585324831694882017-05-01T21:20:00.000-05:002017-05-01T21:20:03.237-05:0018467--Dinosaurs Are Not the Problem<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Now...</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Uh-oh.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: ...if you're Dr. Ian Malcolm...</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: From...? Oh, <i>Jurassic Park</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: ...then the last place you want to be is...</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Jurassic Park.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: <i>Anyplace</i> with freakin' dinosaurs!</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Well, duh.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Yet, somehow, they've managed to sign Jeff Goldblum for <i>Jurassic World 2</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: This I knew. They're making a <i>fifth</i> movie.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: His third. Somehow, they're going to have to come up with a plausible way to get him back among the dinosaurs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Like the other guy, the doctor from the first and the third ones.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Sam Neill.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Get me off this damned island.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Oh, it's OK, this is a different island. Of course, there are still dinosaurs on it, so...</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: <i>Damn it!</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: We have to have an expert scientist to ignore who also wasn't dumb enough to make the dinosaurs trying to kill everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: So all Malcolm has to offer is telling everyone not to go be part of the damn buffet?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Well, there's the running and screaming. And we have to assume all the chaos is a big draw for him.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Why am I on the island of dinosaurs and not wearing a tank to cover all my delicious meat?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: No, that's not the perfect weapon. You know what the perfect weapon is. Same as for zombie hordes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: A baseball bat?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: AC-130.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: The Hercules thing? With the 50-cal?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: 105mm Howitzer! 40mm cannon! 25mm machine gun, front-mounted! Most importantly, you are not down there with them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Is that going to work? Something always goes wrong. It's like they've got somebody on the inside making things go wrong. In the first movie, it was...the computer guy...</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Wayne Knight. <i>Neuman.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Yeah, him.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: He wasn't actually trying to sabotage the place, just shut down security long enough to cover his escape. Either through bad programming or just mechanical inefficiency, things didn't switch back on like they were supposed to.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Either way, time to get the damn shotguns! And that didn't even help.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: They were way understaffed. The place wasn't open yet.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Right, running a skeleton crew.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: At least, they would be after the feeding frenzy.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Jurassic World was fully staffed and open for business. What's the point of putting all those people around apex predators designed to kill us?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Well, they're not really, not the natural ones anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: They're not natural anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Certainly not. And in the last one, well, people really <i>were</i> trying to sabotage the place. We had our head scientist from the first movie poking his head back up from the lab...<i>"Hi, I've been trying to weaponize the critters for the last few years."</i> Because humans try to weaponize everything.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: And working with the government. They put raptor DNA in it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: And chameleon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: It tore out its own tracking device and went hunting for fun. They can't control that. Your plane might not be able to shoot it either.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: It has infra-red tracking gear.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: That might not be enough with that thing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: In which case, I'm still in a plane. OK, so maybe they just let it loose someplace unfriendly and leave it to hunt. Admittedly, it's about as responsible as planting minefields and leaving them behind to see who they kill. If it doesn't get a taste for ISIS, set off the brain bomb buried deep, deep in its head.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Unless it digs that out, too.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: It's buried <i>really</i> deep.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: They've got to have all kinds of good nanotech in that lab. They should have some way to control them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Sure, control the nervous system, the endocrine system, or even just clog up the bloodstream with graphene clots.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Well, that might work. It has to get hungry some time and actually hunt for food.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Better still, go beyond the lysine option and just program in a termination date. Figure out their maximum travel range and turn them loose. As long as they don't learn to drive or hop a boat, they're under limited control.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Of course, the government's still going to want controllable soldiers. How long till they're putting together human hybrid dino-soldiers?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: And how long till the hybrids decide to find a way to increase their numbers and take over?</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: They always turn on you.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Of course, intelligent dino-soldier slaves isn't the real problem. The problem is all the clowns who want to keep making dinosaurs in the first place.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: Step one, don't make dinosaurs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: There you go. That nanotech bio-lab could probably come up with some nifty superpowers. Failing that, there's always omelettes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J: I want cookies.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">P: Fine, omelettes and cookies.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-42903350828288495592016-08-02T14:36:00.001-05:002016-08-02T14:36:19.008-05:0018195--Do We Get Bonus Points for Engineering Our Doom with Style?<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-large;"><b>Leonardo DaVinci gets credit for starting </b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">things rolling, I suppose. He might be impressed with the developments we've made in robotics since his own, but I can't help but think he'd be asking what's been taking so long in the same sentence. Some animatronic show pieces are delightful to watch go through the motions of mimicry, but they're still far short of the levels of integrated, functional, practical technological tools we imagine when we conceive of ubiquitous cyborgs and robots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are advances being made, to be sure, but the pace seems to be painfully slow. Military thought drives a lot of development. When those particular deep pockets are absent from involvement, though, we're left with whatever innovations can be wrought from curiosity, altruism, or commercial potential.</span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_-YsoMEnTSTjwF2ozz-QAQaXNm5N35J95RUz-Ds5tFnJC9P8t" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for robot animals" border="0" class="rg_i rg_ic" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_-YsoMEnTSTjwF2ozz-QAQaXNm5N35J95RUz-Ds5tFnJC9P8t" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="j6_T8743dt2VtM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_-YsoMEnTSTjwF2ozz-QAQaXNm5N35J95RUz-Ds5tFnJC9P8t" style="height: 168px; margin-top: 0px; width: 300px;" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Military development has been suspended on the supplemental pack robot "Big Dog" because it has been deemed too noisy for war. Don't get me wrong, I understand the value of stealth, but it would seem that the level of noise produced by the robot would've been considered long before the many months of work and spending had gone so far in crafting an otherwise nifty support tool for the field. Is it an awful waste, shelving the proto-terminators and their ilk rather than working out a way to suppress the operational noises? Probably, but it wouldn't be the first time R&D outlays ended up populating a storage room. Still, why should that happen here?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Even if the military doesn't want to explore the robo-mule further, there's no reason not to license it out to the private sector. There are already amazing bird and insect robots that have been made. If people would stop focusing on flying drones over their neighbors or trying to figure out hoverboarding for a few minutes, they'd probably realize that there are (I'm guessing) probably a lot of people who'd enjoy riding their own robot unicorn around. Or maybe a robot dire wolf. Either way, it'd have to be better than a Segway. Without much alteration, "Big Dog" could carry a passenger or two on a mountain trail hike...seat warmer and Bluetooth speakers optional. How many cupholders would you like?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Welcome to the 21st century. The future is upon us.</span><br />
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<br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-14349759368537109882016-07-28T09:40:00.000-05:002016-07-28T09:42:05.624-05:0018190--No, Bill O'Reilly Doesn't Owe Any Apologies<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Fresh on the heels </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of Michelle Obama expressing her amazement over living in a prestigious national symbol (the White House) built by slaves, the Fox News pontificator felt compelled to downplay the slavery reference by offering that said slaves were well-fed and decently housed. This is America, so he has the right to do so, of course.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Now, to many of us, the very notion of slavery is sufficiently chafing, but Mr. O'Reilly finds it to be of a higher priority to step to the defense of American slavery rather than focus on the political aspect of what Mrs. Obama was actually talking about. I'm sure that his theft of focus to make a point of his own has drawn the ire of many. Despite its wildly successful history (it utterly crushed indentured servitude in its time), slavery continues to carry a tremendously unpopular stigma.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Rather than spend time and energy on directing anger toward Mr. O'Reilly (you knew who he was already and that's not about to change), I would instead offer a challenge to Fox News and its management that is trying to refurbish the organization's image. Try this: before Mr. O'Reilly starts trying to suggest that the Third Reich offered Jews efficient mass transit and free housing, reassign him to a special field project. Bear with me. This would not be a punishment, rather an opportunity for Mr. O'Reilly to prove his point. Under the scrutiny of Fox News cameras, Mr. O'Reilly will be given "decent" housing and food commensurate with the status of a menial laborer. Over the course of a television season, he could live in someone's shed, for example, and perform yard work, field work, and other chores during the day. Perhaps, following the construction theme, he could build with Habitat for Humanity. I'm sure the management at Fox will know how to make it interesting.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Most importantly, Mr. O'Reilly would be able to show everyone how happy he can be on minimal wages (slavery is still illegal, after all), subsistence nutrition, and "decent" housing so long as his days are filled with the reward of purposeful labor. Then, he'd have nothing but solid footing from which to stand tall and never ever apologize for any thoughtlessly diminishing comment he might ever choose to make.</span></div>
<br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-66536341435401693332016-07-07T21:08:00.001-05:002016-07-07T21:08:11.657-05:0018169--You Think You're So Smart?<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ruling the planet for over a hundred million years just wasn't enough.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Evolving from savage violence, growing into civilization and philosophy...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's more religious iconography at this site than the last. Huge multi-ton stones are surrounded by sculptures of creatures no one alive has ever seen. Still, they were never really able to find contentment.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The engraved tableau we uncovered earlier this week says they modified the genetic code of their mammal food source to increase the meat yield. No one foresaw the drastic side effects that would come from that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One step too far? I suppose. It backfired on them, after all. Their whole civilization seems to have imploded on itself after that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So many achievements over so many centuries spent taming their world and now we still haven't found more than a couple of their cities and random fossil remains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Hey, Dave! You done with lunch? We want to get back to the dig while there's still daylight."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Sure. Just making some notes."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"What about?"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Thoughts about the dinosaurs, what else? We've got a lot to learn from them."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Whatever you want to learn from the past better come from all the pictures you take. Bulldozers come through in three days, remember?"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Right. Can't stop progress, after all."</span></div>
<br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-55039478678552506552015-10-14T09:35:00.000-05:002015-10-14T09:35:00.980-05:0017902--Is A Sequel Worth Destroying the World?<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Spoiler alert: the "groundbreaking" <i>Watchmen</i> limited comic series (1986-1987) was already beyond relevance when finally adapted to film (2009).</span></b><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Now, that's not to say the grim, gritty superhero intrigue isn't fun to watch and re-watch, man (sorry), but deconstructing comic book icons is even less striking in a post-antihero age than positing the notions of revised geopolitics and a multi-term Nixon administration. Hell, in 2007, a fairly bright college student was asking me to explain the significance of "this Ayatollah Khomeni" she had never heard of outside her history class.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Beyond all that, including even Alan Moore's disowning of Zack Snyder's product, I guess I still have a lingering problem with the implications of the rewritten ending. In the original, Adrian Veidt's machinations culminated in the psychic death scream of a genetically engineered octopus mutation fooling humanity into believing Earth was at risk from interdimensional invaders when the one-off creature exploded onto Times Square (a result of being on the business end of Veidt's technological approximation of Dr. Manhattan's powers). The result of the mastermind's brilliant hoax, as he expected, was the world uniting to survive, albeit at the price of paranoia-fueled PTSD and a few deaths. He didn't consider it a perfect solution, but one preferable to watching billions die in thermonuclear immolation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">In the movie, Adrian Veidt's altered plan completely sidesteps the genetic engineering aspects of the original and instead of using the research into Manhattan's powers to craft an unstable teleporter weaponizes the tech to create discrete intrinsic field subtraction effects in eighteen cities. The destructive energy attacks kill millions and do tremendous damage around the world, rallying Earth against what they believe is a Dr. Manhattan who has turned against them. When the immortal chooses to leave Earth behind, he also leaves the powerful technology with Veidt and the weight of what he has done to save the world from its political madness.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">What doesn't appear to have been considered, though, is that it originally took Dr. Manhattan about a year to learn to control his energetic form and recreate a cohesive body for himself after being disintegrated. Now, Veidt has recreated that original disintegration with millions of subjects. Should even one or two of those torn apart as collateral damage find the focus to re-embody their consciousness, a real clash of superhumans could result. What about dozens or hundreds or thousands of Manhattan-like superbeings bumping shoulders? Even if they learned only a fraction of his mastery in their youth (remember, we saw Manhattan develop over decades from a man who started as a physicist to one who could reform his disintegrated body almost instantly), the potential impact theses newly empowered beings would easily have tremendous impact on a very tense world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As of this month, there's been an announcement that a potential TV series set in the Watchmen world is being considered. I guess we'll have to wait and see <i>how</i> they'll choose to burn it down.</span></div>
<br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-35574700478837416612015-08-10T04:24:00.000-05:002015-08-10T04:40:22.406-05:0017837--You Paid How Much?<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>I try to avoid going to movies at the theater.</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It's not that I don't enjoy watching movies or spending time with friends. My issue is that I don't like to encourage a system that seems designed to take increasing amounts of money out of my pocket for products of increasingly uncertain quality. When I do go, I count myself fortunate that I'm stubborn enough about eating healthy that I don't pay for the overpriced snacks they consider edible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As far as the movie goes, though, my rising ticket price is going to pay back the money that a studio has invested in the production of whatever latest cinematic escapism they've chosen to throw a bigger budget at than any of the 99% will see in a lifetime. Sadly, when you put a bunch of studio decision makers in a room with supposedly creative people, what comes out is seldom new or innovative. What they tend to gravitate toward in the great piecemeal of ideas will be things that look familiar. Those ideas will look like the sort that have made money before, to which will be attached a twist or two that seems clever at the moment and the names of some acting-types that seem like they can help sell the product. (This happens in TV, too, but it usually isn't something the masses have to pay to see.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">When this process works, you end up with another successful rom-com or espionage thriller or whatever puts asses into padded theater seats for a few months. When it doesn't, another <em><strong>Fantastic Four</strong></em> or <em><strong>The Lone Ranger</strong></em> gets dumped into our laps like the hot mess the dog left steaming on the kitchen floor before skulking off in shame. Those particular missed shots still baffle me. Did Hollywood not invent westerns? The studios have years of experience making them yet they can't seem to pull off a proper "Who was that masked man?" no matter how much cash they sacrifice at the altar. Hell, the character was even based on a real-life western hero. If Clayton Moore didn't seem like such a darn nice guy, I might think he had commissioned a curse against Klinton Spillsbury and any other Lone Ranger films.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The Fantastic Four films are another mystery. They're a modern, scientific superhero family with fifty years of comic history under their stretchable onesies. Still, while the other super-misfits are lining up to swim with Scrooge McDuck, the ol' FF continue to have as much fun at the theater as Abe Lincoln. They don't seem to be tapping the right vein to strike the gold that other world-savers are hitting. It'd be easy enough to snipe from the sidelines and say it's because they aren't interpreting the source material properly or reading it at all (more than a few film productions of comic adaptations have had key personnel crow about how they would proudly ignore the comic books that inspired the movie deal they were supposed to be fulfilling), but there's no simple formula for putting a winner onto the big screen. Just ask the Wachowskis. Of course, there are also a lot of simple things that shouldn't be done if experienced filmmakers don't want to shoot holes in their own boat. Just ask the Wachowskis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It'd be nice if they could get a system perfected before asking us to pay for their fiascos. That's incredibly unlikely, though, which is why a movie pitch won't get any nibbles in the Shark Tank. All too often, a good movie idea and a bad movie idea can look an awful lot alike until after the money's been spent.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-63842362716611988022015-08-03T20:33:00.001-05:002015-08-03T20:33:44.726-05:0017830--I Know What I Did This Summer<strong><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate going so long between making fresh blog entries.</span></em></strong><br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;"></span></em></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">And yet, here we are. The writing goes well; targeting September to release the next <strong><span style="color: blue;">THEOBROMA</span></strong> book. The following installments should come along faster, but it's turning out to be much longer than I'd thought it would be. Still, I enjoy the work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Not that the work cares, but we're in it together all the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">That reminds me of my other working partner: weights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">This summer, I've shifted some of my considerable inertia toward exercising more. That has involved elevating my moderate maintenance level activities to workouts geared toward increasing strength and stamina while simultaneously burning fat. It's weights one day, body weight exercises the next, plus martial arts and walking every day. Like writing, I workout without other people. I think that's probably for the best. I keep odd hours and I don't stroke egos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Weights don't care about your ego.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Stopwatches don't care about your ego.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><em>I</em> don't care about your ego.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Performance is what matters to me, whether that's producing quality writing or lifting more weight. Energy and will united to make changes happen. Better, stronger, faster are the goals. That's a strategy that intentionally lacks an endgame. It's using that inertia to keep on moving, continuing that personal journey of self-improvement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">On the downside, I'm having to push to eat a lot more and, as I stubbornly refuse to join another gym, I'm going to have to invest in more weights. C'est la vie. Onward and upward, keeping the fires burning hot.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-38631394703571008642015-05-14T23:03:00.002-05:002015-05-30T00:59:07.574-05:0017749--Dark Knight Perspective<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"I got yer neverending battle, <em>right here</em>!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Take this as you will, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">but I really do like Batman. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know when I say he has no superpowers. Part of his appeal to most people is that he is so very human.</span><br />
<a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_(2002).png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Comic Art - Batman by Jim Lee (2002).png" data-file-height="440" data-file-width="274" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/75/Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_%282002%29.png/250px-Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_%282002%29.png" height="401" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_%282002%29.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Comic_Art_-_Batman_by_Jim_Lee_%282002%29.png 2x" width="250" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He is possessed of great intellect and will that he has applied to great personal development academically, physically, and practically. He is also a man driven by powerful emotion, fueling his ongoing war against crime and injustice. Also making his unique lifestyle possible, Batman is possessed of epic wealth. Among other things, that's how he gets those wonderful toys.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Still, there's a segment of the population that doesn't think splitting time between his day job and night job is enough to keep him busy. Some want to see the differences in operational styles and philosophies as friction for fight club action with Superman of all people. <em>Superman!</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It's an insane idea in my book. Bad enough to think Batman, known for being as single-minded and relentless as a shark, would find grappling another caped orphan to be a productive use of his time. Add to that, Superman has more power than Batman has money, so you make Batman look more like Wile E. Coyote going after the Road Runner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<a class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wile_E_Coyote.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Wile E Coyote.png" data-file-height="296" data-file-width="336" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/56/Wile_E_Coyote.png/220px-Wile_E_Coyote.png" height="194" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/56/Wile_E_Coyote.png/330px-Wile_E_Coyote.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Wile_E_Coyote.png 2x" width="220" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Now, this I could get behind. Imagine Batman making use of millions of dollars of specialized equipment and his supreme confidence in his genius to put guys like Superman and Flash to the test as they go zipping around...saving people. They might even notice him. And not leave him standing in his cowl and boxer shorts in Gotham Square before he has time to register he's even moved.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Maybe Batman could just stick to being helpful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Where I really enjoy seeing Superman and Batman go head-to-head is over on the <a href="http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com/youtubevideo/super-cafe-batman-v-superman-its-on/" target="_blank">How It Should Have Ended</a> website. They have coffee and spar verbally. Far more plausible.</span><br />
<br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-5803304170986551172015-04-25T15:04:00.000-05:002015-05-16T00:39:29.459-05:0017730--What're you looking at?<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>It’s still a little early yet,</strong></span><span style="font-size: small;"> so I won’t say the lines have
been clearly drawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do feel it’s safe
to say they’re being drawn, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyone who’s spent a bit of time reading from this site might expect that
I have an opinion of my own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now, don’t think Batman and I don’t get along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also think it’s crazy to go looking for a fight with Superman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Friends don't let friends...do things that colossally stupid. </span>That’s a choice best left to bad guys...who have no friends (which might have something to do with why they're bad guys).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel this way because when I ask “What
would Superman do?” (WWSD), the answer is easy: the right thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the harshest thing that comes out of
name-calling the big farm boy is “boy scout”, it’s hard to argue this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lots of people like to credit Batman’s extreme preparedness
tendencies for a large part of his successes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure, that’s got to go a long way, especially when combined with his
resources, intellect, and relentless drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Certainly, if he were going to even dream of fighting Superman (the
place he’d have the best odds of victory, btw), Batman would need to make the
most of all he has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Superman doesn’t
do that anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those of you too new to
the characters probably don’t realize how much the comic book creatives have
taken away from Superman over the years, attempting to play up more of the man
and less of the super.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they’d
developed not only a fear of their own inability to challenge the hero
effectively, but also that audiences were having trouble relating to him as a
superhuman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Diminishing his physical
abilities wasn’t enough, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Superman’s intellect and scientific prowess were also greatly reduced,
while Batman’s were increased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tipping
those scales is significant to how the characters are portrayed, but I’d still
advise Batman to stay on Superman’s good side. Honestly, met with even minimal resistance, how hard would it be to disable someone with even a fraction of Superman's powers or using only a few of them. Imagine having powers available that you have to always be careful <em>not</em> to use at anywhere near their full potential because of all the incidental damage they could cause. This is why Godzilla can't go to the mall and the Powerpuff Girls can't play tag in Townsville.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Superman’s not a character usually shown as being
arrogant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anything, his levels of
lawfulness and self-discipline often have him labelled as boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even so, which seems to be what’s played upon
in the upcoming confrontation that has the internet abuzz, many people fear
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a recent interview, when a
pro-Superman Jon Stewart asked Neil deGrasse Tyson about his take on the coming
clash, Tyson’s opinion was that Superman is feared because he is accountable to
no authority and “does what he wants”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sadly, that attitude, far from unique to Mr. Tyson, is one that
discounts the fact that what Superman wants to do is apparently help
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, WWSD?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I don’t trust the NSA or the CIA, you can probably put
together a list as to why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you boil
it down to a summation that says their capabilities give their people the power
to “do what they want”, it’s not hard to imagine a number of dark results that
go with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were to say that I
don’t trust Santa because his power and position let him “do what he wants”, at
some point you have to acknowledge that that seems to result in handing out
toys to children and encouraging socially acceptable behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Lex Luthor “does what he wants”, people
die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Superman “does what he wants”,
the world is a better place: lives get saved, wrongs get righted, bad guys soil
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, he even hands out
toys to children and encourages socially acceptable behavior (without the
questionable bits about exploiting animals, spying on you while you sleep, sneaking into your home, or using a racially homogenous minority
workforce).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you’re a bad guy, fear
of Superman is misguided at best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Dark Knight’s own darkness is merely something he has
embraced to fight the darkness around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Never forget that the Wayne Foundation does a lot of good works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Batman (and by extension, his cover ID of
Bruce Wayne) really does want a better world where children don’t grow up as
orphans of murdered parents; where Batman is unneeded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for Superman, though he was raised here,
he’s alien and that does make him different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some people want to hang their fears on him rather than their
hopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as Batman dwells in the dark
and looks for the darkness in others, Superman is of the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He draws power from the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seeks the good in others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who would fear him need to ask
themselves, are they truly afraid of Superman or of what he might find?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth many people have to deal with is
that the real problem they have with those they would denigrate as being “too
good” isn’t the goodness, but the fear of being measured as “bad” in
comparison to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-27968869522587990922015-03-21T04:12:00.001-05:002015-05-16T00:26:27.524-05:0017695--Don't Make Me Angry, Mr. McGee<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I'm raising my head from the writing desk</span></b> to turn my scowl upon an issue that's ignited debate, derision, and controversy. It isn't the first time, but with the current trends dominating the mainstream media it is a topic that's caught more general notice than in years past. I want to talk about what's making nerds so fussy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now, I don't want to presume a level of arrogant pontification that insists I speak for all nerds nor imply that the nerd collective is a homogeneous group. From a mass psychology standpoint, though, I think I may have a few insights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What <i>are</i> nerds bitching about?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Usually, it's about change. Most often debates arise over the merits of some minor tweak or a new development in the mythos of a beloved character. That's to be expected. Seldom does a creative decision garner universal praise. That's alright, though. It should be welcomed by the creative forces. It means readers care. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ostensibly, that's what any creator seeks for his work: an audience that cares about, perhaps even understands, what's been presented. Where works of fiction are concerned, especially the flights of the fantastic, a reader is expected to BYOSuspension-of-disbelief. It's such a given that printing it on the invitation isn't even necessary. Opening a comic book or sitting down to watch a movie, you've entered into a tacit social contract to be open to accepting the world of the story within the parameters of its reality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Where do things go wrong? Well, like with any set of quantum realities, every change creates the possibility of branching in at least two different paths. Crossing from one medium to another is fraught with hazard enough, but the change of creative teams is inevitably going to result in a lot of fans getting their imaginary spandex in a twist. I don't think I have to tell you how painful that can be, so I'll just go on with the reasons for it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fans of a character are such because they enjoy and embrace the mythos built and handed to them. They accepted it on a psychological/emotional level as an alternate reality as the aforementioned tacit social contract asked them to do. Most of the realms of movies and comics, unfortunately for the fans, are not populated with creator controlled characters. This means that new, sometimes frequently changing, hands are going to be pulling the strings of whatever hero is out to save the world this time. Harry Potter and his fellow students may have made popular reading, but I'm pretty sure that if JK Rowling had stepped aside and allowed Zack Snyder, McG, and finally Tim Burton to take the creative helm on the movie adaptations, the on-screen products would've turned out very differently and we'd still be hearing echoes of the fan outcries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's an advisory bit that writers dole out that says "Kill your darlings." It isn't actually advocating wholesale slaughter of your most beloved characters, but is a reminder not to make things too easy for them. To challenge a protagonist and keep readers interested, a writer needs to find someplace in the middle to work adversity into the story. A character's creator is intimately connected to the character's odyssey in a way that fresh hands and minds are not. Attachment to the character's journey inspires a creator to build upon what has come before rather than to abandon it for a new shiny. When a character's fate changes hands, that intimate connection rarely survives the transition. Likewise, the social contract with the fan is often set by the wayside in favor of market forces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Market forces" is a fancy way of saying "the company needs to be fed money". To keep the feed coming, a publisher or a studio will often set sights on new, potential fans even at the risk of losing those already established. How does this drive the abandonment of the original social contract? Elements of the previously established mythos are often altered, sometimes eradicated, to allow radical, attention-getting changes to be introduced. It's the <i>murder</i> of the darlings, but...they're somebody else's darlings, so only the people who were attached to them would mind. The last creators are gone, so that just leaves the loyal fans. Feeling betrayed at the theft of the reality they agreed to embrace, they cry out. Some pack up and leave. Destroying the tacit social contract, compounded with the realization that no amount of hard-earned cash will keep it from happening again (if anything, the hunger seems to accelerate the cycle), is just more than some wish to bear.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Can nerds not handle change?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They aren't crying out because they can't handle change or because they're racists or hate women and puppies. The problem is that the fan collective was asked to treat the mythos as real and they did. Then, stuff was changed. Why is that bad? One, because that's not how the real world works; yes, life is rife with change, but you don't just erase your history when you're tired of dealing with it. Two, because they fell in love with it; then, their bait was switched. That's how they feel, anyway. The creation they came to respect and adore was altered rather than built upon. If you shoot Old Yeller and force a new puppy into the story while saying "just go with it", somebody's going to be upset because of the bad storytelling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sadly, the trampling of continuity only seems to have grown more blatant, even callous, over the last several years in comics. Reboots and retcons are almost regularly scheduled events. This violates one of the reminders I picked up years ago when I got started writing. It goes "If anything can happen, who cares what does?" and I keep it in mind to remind me to play out a story within a set of established parameters, to give characters limits. No matter how many stories we're given to show us that genies and time machines will cause at least as many problems as they may solve, the comic book and movie people seem to have devolved into a rut of wiping slates and altering realities whenever it suits them. Luring as large a group of readers as you can attract into a new reality, telling them to get comfy with bacon and hot chocolate, and then eradicating the place before they're done with it ("<i>It's a trap!</i>") just isn't cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>If you're going to create stories for a mythos, try to respect that you're a guest in somebody else's house. If you can't do that, maybe you should build your own.</b></span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-49880267438582190762014-12-29T20:28:00.000-06:002014-12-29T21:01:15.126-06:0017613--Do you know Elf-fu?<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm sure Peter Jackson will find more work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Now, with the last of the Hobbit movies unleashed upon us and being readily consumed, we are free to take the time to reflect. I'll assume by now that you've either read the books or have familiarized yourself with the material. From this point on, though, I'll speak freely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">You've been warned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Picking up where <strong><em>The Desolation of Smaug</em></strong> had left us, we were treated to the final flight of His Resplendence, Smaug the Magnificent. Inappropriately or not, I laughed my ass off watching him blaze a path from one end of Laketown to the other in a single pass. Frankly, though, those barrel-riders were asking for it. If they didn't want to be targets for the dragon, they shouldn't have lived within sight of Lonely Mountain. There was a town outside Erebore, sitting on Smaug's doorstep. If they weren't going to live over the horizon under aerial camouflage, they might as well have lived out there. They could've chatted up the old fellow over the years, offered up some cattle...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Oh, well, hindsight. Laketown had no chance. The next best move would've been moving into...Smaug's doorstep. Outer Erebore? Whichever you like. Anyway, move in and tell anyone who comes in response to Smaug's death that he's still alive. "Shhh...His fearsome majesty has just gone back inside to sleep." Maybe they could even get through Thorin's gold fever and get the dwarves to make some convincing grumbling sounds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not out to squelch the story. Good stories come from bad choices, so the characters have to be allowed at least a few. Too much logic has people moving out of haunted houses as soon as the walls start to bleed and where's your movie then? Using logic to avert a war doesn't get you <strong><em>The Battle of Five Armies</em></strong>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Were we entertained? Damn straight. If you liked the other dozen-plus hours of barefoot hobbits, staff-wielding wizards, and sword-swinging fighters, then you've already seen this one at least once.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">What did we learn? Always bet on the fifth army--the last ones to show up to a fight always have an edge; air-dropped cave bears rock; as in <em><strong>Star Wars</strong>, </em>armor isn't always as useful as you might think it's going to be; Billy Connolly just can't help being funny; and as every installment has shown us, Elf-fu will jack a sucker up--<strong><em>Legolas, bitch!</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Once again, well done. Certainly better than time spent on another bit of tripe from Hollywood's rom-com division.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-87577227458536078262014-12-25T11:48:00.001-06:002014-12-25T11:48:51.760-06:0017609--Do You Get It?<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>"What'd you get?"</em></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How many Christmases have we heard that question dominate the day? Sure, there's always a lot of talk about spiritual enlightenment, but we seem to keep falling back into this quagmire of "buying Christmas" and getting stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whichever side of the line you're on, well, I'm not here to tell you how to live. People have tried more than enough times to lay out some universal path to happiness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I say you need to find your own. It may be a longer journey than walking some prescribed path suggested by another, but it's the one that'll work best for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me? I don't ask for stuff. I try to be happy with what I am and what I have. When I'm not, I work to change it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We still have war and injustice. They're part of humanity's path and we may be struggling against them as long as we're around. We still have love and pain. Same spiel, though we all experience them to differing degrees. That's all part of our individual journeys.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I make it a point to get some exercise and plenty of water, eat a three-egg omelet with a pancake, indulge in some chocolate, and write. Any day with all that has plenty of potential.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today, was a four-egg omelet day and I'm breathing well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How're you?</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-55394526958941567412014-12-13T22:07:00.000-06:002015-04-27T01:12:07.355-05:0017597-- Bloody Ala<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Hurry, scurry! Get to bed!</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Bloody Ala wants your head!</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Tuck in the covers;</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Quick, hide your neck!</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Cover your heart,</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Then, be still...</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Silence hides you from white fang's flash.</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Swiftness protects against steel's cold slash.</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Hurry, scurry! Do what you must!</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Your veins she seeks for her only lust.</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>-- bedtime tales of Clan Isharien</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>"Child of Fire and Blood"</b></i></span></div>
Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-62676713123756327022014-11-24T21:40:00.000-06:002014-11-24T22:03:02.257-06:0017578--Are You Responsible?<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I say you are. In fact, if you're reading this, I know you are.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I wanted to make a note to mark today, because after a couple of hundred plus posts since April of 2011 this is the first day that this site has received over a thousand views in a day. I think I'd personally prefer that the short stories and chapter samplings from my novels were the major draw, but it's mix of those and my ramblings (I guess we can call them articles or just blog posts). That's fine. I'm not so picky as to turn away readers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">You probably know this already, but writers love readers. Tell your friends. My door's always open.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Yes, I attribute the responsibility, at least in part, to you for coming here to read. I'm going to write whether people show up or not and I'm not forcing anyone to come look at it. You chose to come here and love what you read (hey, it's <em>my</em> hypothetical--go with it) and then tell the world about it through retweets and shares and whatever, so the hundreds of thousands of visits that have taken place over the years and continue relentlessly around the clock (go with it) are on you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Thanks for stopping in, even if it's just to see whether or not I've lost my mind yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I'm going to get back to plotting and scheming and stringing words together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Don't live wanting. Don't die wondering.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-52320628870178997492014-11-15T13:24:00.000-06:002014-11-15T13:34:32.825-06:0017569--Entertainment is for Enjoying<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you're a long-time comic book aficionado</span> and you were watching </span><span style="color: #33cc00;"><em><span style="color: lime;">ARROW</span> </em></span><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this week(11/12/14 "Guilty"), then you likely caught a glimpse of the return of the classic boxing glove arrow, subject of long-running debate. It gave me a laugh, but I'm still among those who think its unwieldy nature should prohibit its presence in the quiver. Still, where better to use it than in a story featuring the boxing hero Ted "Wildcat" Grant?</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also good for some laughs was <em><span style="color: red;"><strong>BIG HERO 6</strong></span>.</em> I haven't read the source material, but the film was fun. The plot was simple enough to be predictable. While that doesn't leave you with a lot of surprises, it's still entertaining. And even though the hero, Jiro, could've and should've used a far more elegant and obvious solution to their supervillain problem (easily cutting down the run time by a third...which also means having to listen to my tactical analysis if you've gone to watch it with me, but if you know me, then you know that's the risk you take in dragging me to a superhero movie), it was still really entertaining.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Don't worry about it. A lot of people finally started realizing that Indiana Jones serves little purpose in <em><span style="color: #bf9000;">Raiders of the Lost Ark</span></em> but it's still a very enjoyable film. Like <em><span style="color: red;">The Incredibles</span></em>, you just don't want to go tugging at threads.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-56451052979985571482014-11-08T04:28:00.001-06:002014-11-08T04:28:27.733-06:0017562--This May Count as Monologuing<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm going to be direct about this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and just tell you straight that I enjoyed <strong><em><span style="color: red;">The Incredibles</span></em></strong> tremendously. It's a well-made piece of entertainment. I know this isn't a bold, out-on-a-limb position. Lots of people share it, after all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you're among those of us who are fans, you're probably glad they're finally working on a sequel. Creator Brad Bird said he wasn't going to work on a second unless he could produce something worthy of the first, so that's cool to know he's concerned with quality. He's built himself a decent track record of films, so I imagine he doesn't want to start fouling up the list with stinkers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As much as I enjoyed it and still enjoy it, the film has still left me with a couple of nagging problems. Believe it or not, they have nothing to do with the amazingly atypical body count for a Disney film. That part I can live with. Those characters knew they were getting into dangerous jobs when they signed on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">No, the first thing to bug me were the legal issues that drove the heroes underground. First, Mr. Sansuite was attempting to commit suicide. This is a serious matter and typically illegal. No matter how much he wanted to end his life and blame Mr. Incredible for messing up his plan, he'd still have little legal traction in court and would more likely have ended up under protective observation. The litigious train passengers would likewise have found themselves with little support as their hero would have been shielded by the Good Samaritan doctrine and any good lawyer should've been able to coherently argue that he wasn't responsible for their injuries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Still, with all those tricky maneuvers having to take place to force the heroes out of action being allowed, we're still left with the next issue. My follow-up is that I want to know why the super-villains dropped out of sight. What happened to the major crime sprees that should've erupted to take advantage of the hero vacuum? Where was the subsequent clamoring for the return of the heroes? Fifteen years? By that standard, it took virtually no time at all for people to beg for Hancock to get back off the sidelines. <em>Hancock!</em> And that was before he'd been able to redeem his public standing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">These things make me ponder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Comments welcome, especially from Mr. Bird ;)</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-83394132913792024902014-11-03T02:29:00.000-06:002014-11-03T02:29:24.205-06:0017557-- Winter is Coming<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don't tell me you're the only one who didn't know.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I know I see a lot of things ahead of others, but I usually try not to be the spoiler guy. At this point, I felt it was safe to say something.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I'm not sure, but I think it may have been because of the changing weather. I had a dream. It was one of those vivid and unusual dreams that stood out...for whatever reasons dreams stand out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Well, I suppose that the reasons already cited should make it clear enough: vivid and unusual. This one had a lot to do with water. I don't usually spend much of my waking time or dreamtime around water, so watery dreams tend to stand out. There was nothing supernatural about it either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The situation I seemed to find myself in was that of being a covert military intelligence operative. I had infiltrated a Russian command with a partner and we were preparing to implement our exit strategy, which involved an underwater swim through icy water. See? There <em>was</em> a winter connection. At least that's my speculation. It was a dream. Who knows? For all I know, it could've had something to do with the dream I had about the Georgian spy eight months ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">These things need to come with notes or some kind of map. Half the time I feel like I'm tuning into the middle of a movie. Must be what quantum leaping is like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It's good pay for sleeping. If it were less interesting, I'd probably fight it more. Lord knows I probably don't need to spend any more time awake than I do already. Still, it gives me time to write and connect those dots.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-10782294771631739752014-10-26T17:34:00.000-05:002014-10-26T18:41:06.231-05:0017549--Sound of Thunder<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>You didn't just hear that...</em></strong><span style="font-size: small;">you felt it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It rumbled, resonating through your flesh, your bones and everything around you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br />Whether through lore or science, many people have attributed the effect of lightning's passage to many different supernatural actors. Accordingly, the kinetic disturbance has also picked up a host of names. Among the more enduring is "Donar" or "Thor". Thanks to the modern mythology of comic books and the films they have inspired, the force of nature embodied as a ferocious warrior has enjoyed a popularity as a modern superhero that he hasn't seen since before the changing of the religious guard started cutting down oak trees and nailing up wood crucifixes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Thor was created from a union of Odin's power with that of Mother Earth, resulting in one of the most powerful beings ever known to Asgard. One curious development at the core of Thor's comic book characterization, though, has the guardian of Earth and Asgard bound by his father to the immortal's legendary weapon. To teach his son humility (and humanity, ironically), Odin created an enchantment that tied the power of the storm-who-walks-like-a-man-god to the hammer Mjolnir. Whomever holds the hammer and is deemed by its enchantment to be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. Usually, possession is acquainted with more malefic intentions, but I suppose we'll let that one slide for now. As a father-figure, Allfather Odin is usually regarded as one geared more toward doing good than harm. Still, y'know, gods can be capricious and their ways can seem quite harsh to mortal sensibilities. Either way, the hammer was put in charge, a sophisticated leash for the power of Thor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Now, one of the other great challenges some of you may remember being sent against Thor was the magical automaton called The Destroyer. I've never liked that. In my head, I've always tried to re-label it as The Annihilator. I've never understood why they chose the name they did at Marvel. The name of the hammer, star of Thor's show, is Mjolnir. Mjolnir means "The Destroyer". Bad enough that the robot's super-tough because it's made from the same metal (Uru) as the hammer, but they gave it the same name as the hammer. That's got to get a little confusing in the heat of combat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Oh, well, maybe they can work on it during their next retcon. It can't be too far off. What time is it?</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-27580763039803737882014-10-12T14:39:00.001-05:002014-10-13T00:28:03.310-05:0017535--Fleeting Time<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>It has been nearly two months since I last unleashed something new on this site. </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To my regular and even irregular visitors, I offer my apologies. With my mind awash in writing (<span style="color: blue;"><strong>Child of Fire and Blood, Part 4</strong></span>, primarily), I had no idea so much time had passed so swiftly. I may have to consider the possibility that my attachment to the temporal component of our continuum. Is consciousness an independent variable allowing not only a variance in the <em>perception</em> of time passage, but alterations in one's physical relationship with time? Well, the Nobel Prize committee is going to have to wait. Before I go proclaiming myself a time lord, I've got writing to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">See? I haven't abandoned you. I just get sucked into tangents. It isn't that I didn't think about you at all, just that I've been busy. During that time, though, I did also think of many things to write and share. I'd share more bits from my books since some of you tell me you're enjoying them tremendously, but I don't want to spoil your fun in unraveling mysteries or watching them bloom in the course of a story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I realize I'm my own marketing department, but I make a point of steering in the opposite direction of a Hollywood film trailer. That is to say, I neither summarize a given story nor put my funniest jokes into the preview. Those gems you earn by strapping yourself into your seat and diving into the story. When you're willing to do that, you deserve more than a rehash of any preview. Hell, there are times I consider being intentionally misleading just so you can be truly surprised.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">hmmmmm...Now that I've put that into words, I'm pretty sure I've already done that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You're welcome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can thank me later.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-60445067407781534402014-10-09T11:52:00.000-05:002014-10-15T05:13:40.018-05:0017532--Such a Crisis<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>Meanwhile...</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Overlooking the smoldering city, the two legendary titans of justice stood. Paused in their selfless works, they allowed themselves a brief respite from their struggles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"With Ultra-Loser and his latest Secret Society of Punching Bags in Tights safely in custody," the dark-cloaked hero's gravel voice spoke, "I suppose you'll be riding the next cloud for home."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Not that I don't enjoy our time together," the alien powerhouse said, "but yes. I try to be wherever I'm needed. I just wish we could convince more misguided souls to use their gifts for good, rather than just beating on them and jailing them."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"They made their choices and earned their punishment," the more grim of the pair said, the smoky breeze tugging at their billowing capes. "I'd say we've sufficiently quelled the chaos here to satisfy even <em>your</em> overdeveloped sense of responsibility."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"You're one to talk," the superhuman smiled. "You've collected more cuts in the last hour for you-know-who to tend than I--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He was interrupted by a rapid electronic tone from his belt. Both men recognized the beeping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"League communicator," the dark warrior said with an arched eyebrow. "<em>Mine's</em> quiet, though."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Curious," the superhuman said, lifting the device to his ear. "Hello? Wha--? <em>Ma?</em> How'd you get this number?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His dark comrade-in-arms snorted, barely able to stifle an uncharacteristic laugh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"I'll have to have a talk with her about...<em>Dinner?</em> Well, you know I love your cooking, ma, but we still have so much to do here. It's really not a--What? You see us on the news..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Busted," the dark hero whispered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"We're just taking a breather, ma. There's really no telling...Yes, ma. Yes, ma. No, ma'am. Yes, ma," he said, sounding exhausted as he lowered the communicator.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Oh, very impressive," his dark companion said, shaking his head.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Don't sound so smug," the alien immigrant said, handing over the communicator. "She wants to talk to you."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"What? But I--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Be nice."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Hello, ma'am. Well, I...no, ma'am," he said with a sigh. "Yes, ma'am."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The dark hero handed the communicator back to his larger friend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"So?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Dinner's at seven," the dark warrior grumbled. "Roast beef."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Not so easy to turn her down, is it?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"I don't have a lot of practice with mothers."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Practice wouldn't--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Because, you know, my parents were killed when--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Really?" the superhuman asked. "This again? We know. We <em>all</em> know."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Hey, I didn't grow up with a bunch of super-powers to make things any easier."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"No, only several billion dollars to--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"You think I wouldn't have traded that to have my parents back?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Of course you would've," the alien said. "Just like I would've traded my powers for mine."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Oh, are we making this a contest?" the dark hero asked. "At least you grew up with parents."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Lost my whole planet."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Happy life, adoptive parents..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Billionaire, surrogate father..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"You still have a mother...and stable relationships."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"<em>Whole</em> planet," the powerhouse repeated, "and you're only as alone as you choose."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"So glad we're not competing or anything."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Of course you are. I'd be winning," the alien hero said, smiling as he began to rise into the air. "Casual dress."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Yeah, I'll have to let you-know-who know I'll be out of town. Hey, will your cousin be there?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Probably, why?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"I know she's young, but she's...mature."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"What's your point?" the floating man asked, the smile gone from his perfect face.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Oh, come on...you've seen her. She may seem young in Earth years, but back on the homeworld, she'd have to be legal, right? I mean--"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Stay away from my cousin," the superhuman said before launching himself skyward.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Yeah, yeah," the dark hero mumbled, stalking off toward the smoke and shadows. "Like you're going to do anything."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His communicator beeped.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Hello?" he rasped.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"I can still hear you," the superhuman warned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-43265882336539205112014-08-19T06:32:00.000-05:002014-10-13T00:31:55.175-05:0017513--You Didn't See Anything<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">And even if you had...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Do you hear anything? Is it...too quiet?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Several years ago, I enjoyed a comic book series you probably never heard of called <em>Whisper.</em> She was a ninja. More accurately, in her world, she was <em>the</em> ninja. By that, I don't mean she was the most bad-ass ninja. She was the <em>only</em> ninja in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">You see, in the history of Whisper's world, the adult Alexis Devin put on a ninja costume to investigate the death of her adoptive father. She learned that he had been not only a businessman, but a ninja in the employ of the Yakuza. Ultimately, the organization's head explained to her that ninjas were a myth, fabricated centuries ago to use the idea of them as a deterrent of fear. Alexis' father had been so enamored of the legend that he had trained to become a ninja, not realizing he was making himself into the only one to actually exist. After his murder, by using the training he had given her, Alexis had also unwittingly taken on the mantle and power of a weapon designed for intimidation. Embracing the idea, she was able to exploit the fear that ninjas inspired against criminals and government agents alike.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Did you know that the United States has over a dozen different members of the alphabet soup club that report to the DNI (Director of National Intelligence) operating under immense secret budgets?</strong> Espionage is a big deal. Governments and their militaries have long-relied upon the power of gathering hidden information with invisible eyes. Properly utilized, spies can change the course of a war or make war unnecessary, a single agent accomplishing what ten thousand soldiers might not. It was the serendipitous arrest of British spy John Andre that helped reveal the betrayal of Benedict Arnold and save West Point from being handed to the British. Yeah, that catch was all luck, despite the American military having its own intelligence network. Nowadays, they seem to be working overtime to know...pretty much everything, it seems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">In fiction, we have all manner of intelligence options showing up. We have Bond and Bourne, the IMF, SHIELD, Task Force X (the Suicide Squad), and Checkmate. Star Trek alone has produced the Romulan Tal'shiar, Kardassia's Obsidian Order, and the Federation's Section 31 (which they'll be quick to disavow even exists). Covert manipulation and intelligence gathering is so important a part of governmental and military events that I've had to make sure they were represented in my own world building. In the Theobroma books, the world of Tarakk plays host to the secret activities of the Scales of Justice and smoke agents, the operatives of both being magic-savvy, metamorphing dragons; the infiltrations and espionage of Clan Isharien, rumored to be ruthless practitioners of martial arts and magic; the various government Ministries that vie to influence the Republic of Zadiasam and the lives of its people; and the aloof warlords whose mastery of nanotech and space folding have given them reputations of limitless reach and knowledge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Conflicts between secret players with access to huge resources can have far-reaching consequences, limited only by the imaginations and ambitions of those pulling the strings from the shadows. Who will determine the outcomes of the wars we see unfolding on the nightly news? Probably the same people who put the figureheads at the forefront of their governments and factions. That is to say, no one most of us have probably heard of. That's just the way they like it. Out of the public eye, the power behind a throne acts freely.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-67523176290077073052014-08-12T03:23:00.000-05:002014-10-13T00:32:17.624-05:0017506--Tough Act to Follow<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Robin Williams is dead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Peter Pan ran out of happy thoughts. There, it's said. Like any successful entertainer would want, I'd expect, he touched a lot of people with his work. It's OK, people, everyone will get a turn with the doll to show us where the bad man touched you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">HA! I'd like to think he'd have appreciated that. I've had the benefit of getting to see the full span of his career. I'd like to have seen him go longer, but I'm glad he didn't OD years earlier. I'm sorry he fell to depression sufficient drive him to suicide. With any luck, the story will end there and we won't find out he was murdered by a loved one like Phil Hartman, we won't have an unsolved homicide like George Reeves, or learn it was an autoerotic asphyxiation like David Carradine (which I totally knew was how Carradine must've died from the instant I heard of his "suicide"). Lots of comedians make claims to being driven by darker emotions. It's sad to see that pain consume them, especially when they've brought so much joy to their fans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Well, that's not really telling anything special.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Really, I just wanted to note the date and the passing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Mr. Williams stood out with his comedic creativity and acting talent. He was a rare brightness in a field where comics and actors are easily replaceable. Certainly, there's no telling when we may see someone approximating his unique spark again.</span>Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782015940236144069.post-41284433971002368942014-08-08T04:07:00.000-05:002014-10-13T00:32:42.406-05:0017502--New World<span lang="EN"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN"><strong><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">NEW WORLD</span></u></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">New World, Iowa </span>had been carved into a location generally considered to be representative of the expression “middle of nowhere”. It was nothing less than the drive of human will that had brought a living community into existence on a patch of ground that had previously not even been exploited for farming. Isolation was what had made the location so appealing. A clean energy company town had been built out from the primary construction site for the world’s first interstellar exploration ship.<br />
<br />
To promote continued interest in the project among children and bolster their sense of community, the town’s school included associated research assignments every year as part of the students’ curriculum. The only kid who had had the insight and testicular fortitude to call the site commander’s office directly since the project began had asked to meet him for an interview. Given the nature of his job--what he had come to see as the <i>real</i> nature of it--the commander didn’t see how he could refuse.<br />
<br />
When the student arrived at the bookstore’s coffee shop, the commander had hot chocolate waiting for him.<br />
<br />
“Order what you like,” the inspiring hero told him. “I tip big, but they refuse to charge me here.”<br />
<br />
“Thank you, sir,” the boy said, sniffing at the steaming liquid as he pulled the cup toward him.<br />
<br />
“I know that look,” the man told his guest. “It’s the best they have, but it’s made with water. Sorry.”<br />
<br />
The kid leaned back in his chair as he opened his notebook. He frowned thoughtfully as he looked up at the living legend across the table, trying not to seem intimidated.<br />
<br />
“Go ahead,” the commander told him. “Ask what’s on your mind.”<br />
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“It’s just…you don’t seem like…in your book,” he said.<br />
<br />
The commander glanced again at the copy of <i>New World Brave</i> the wide-eyed boy had dragged along, his own face staring back at him from the cover was less like a mirror and struck him as more akin to some other version from an alternate universe.<br />
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“If you’re planning to hold me up to some sort of chapter and verse scrutiny from that thing,” the commander said, “you should probably know…I didn’t write it.”<br />
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“What?” the youth asked, clearly dazed by the revelation. “You…but…”<br />
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“Something you read in there inspired you, didn’t it?” the commander asked.<br />
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“Yeah,” he said, his eyes drifting to the book on the table as though it had become some alien thing he had never seen before. “I want to be a pilot…like you, maybe even on one of the starships that comes out of here.”<br />
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The commander stared into the boy’s sincere eyes and reached out a hand as he said, “Give me your recorder.”<br />
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The boy surrendered the handheld device, sliding it across the table.<br />
<br />
“And the pen and notebook,” the commander said, taking up the pen and starting to scribble in the notebook immediately. “I’m going to tell you some things, things you probably won’t get to repeat to anyone while I’m still alive. Think you can handle that?”<br />
<br />
“I…Yes, sir.”<br />
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“Good,” the commander said, returning the notebook and pen, “that’s what I wanted to hear. You guard that. It’s top secret. When we’re done, if you think you still want to ride one of the big command chairs, we can probably get you there together.”<br />
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“Uh…OK,” the student said, puzzled as he deciphered the scribbles. “Like wingmen?”<br />
<br />
“Yeah, like wingmen. Take these,” the commander told him, handing him the silver wings pin from his own uniform, “and we can talk pilot-to-pilot.”<br />
<br />
As if the wings weren’t enough, even the suggestion that he was about to have a conversation with his hero on some level where they acted like equals was enough to make the young student’s mind reel. The best thing he could think to say in response was nothing because he was sure that anything he had to say would make him sound stupid.<br />
<br />
“You’re what…twelve?”<br />
<br />
“Thirteen.”<br />
<br />
“So you’ve probably seen movies based on a true story,” the pepper-haired commander said, “when you’ve <i>known</i> the true story was way, way different.”<br />
<br />
“You’re saying that’s what happened with your book?”<br />
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“That steaming crap pile they massaged into the shape of a book tells little of the life I remember going through,” he said. “They spelled my name right and I’m a pilot. Beyond that…Hell, they even messed with the picture on the cover. I think they used some kind of focus group to decide on changes.”<br />
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“You keep saying ‘they’,” the boy said. “Who <i>did</i> all this? Is that a secret, too?”<br />
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“Part of a government project,” the commander said. “Specifically, the damned politicians. They wanted to create a perfect PR hero.”<br />
<br />
“What’s that?” the boy asked.<br />
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“Public relations,” came the answer. “A neat package, planned, manufactured and sold to the people like a boy band.”<br />
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“A what?” the boy asked, sounding even more confused by the obscure reference.<br />
<br />
“Before your time,” the commander said. “The point is, <i>New World Brave</i> was just a piece of a larger plan. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. First truth: I love to fly more than almost anything. I fly in my dreams and if I could go without food or rest, I’d never stop flying. I started in private planes, which became military aircraft in an eye blink. Before long, people were calling me a war hero everywhere I went and expecting me to smile about it. The only way I saw to get real distance from it was to keep flying. By my third Mars mission, they were trying to talk me into <i>this</i> assignment. I, naturally, flew the first manned recon team to Titan instead. If I could’ve mustered up just a bit more selfishness, you’d be at this table with someone else.”<br />
<br />
“The book never explained that part well,” the junior pilot said. “Why’d you give up flying? How could you when you love it so much?”<br />
<br />
“Let me tell you, I’d have kept fighting it,” the commander replied, “if not for the Titan mission. After that, it was impossible for me to ignore any longer how important it was for us that we expand our presence beyond this planet as fast as possible. Politicians or not, even with most of this job being nothing like what it seems to be--”<br />
<br />
“You really don’t like politicians, do you?”<br />
<br />
“They lie as easily as breathing comes to most people,” the commander said, “and complicate absolutely every issue they touch. I’m supposed to be heading this project. Thanks to them, though, the work’s been scattered across half the country and it’s been turned into a PR job to keep everyone excited about having jobs.”<br />
<br />
“My mom says we’d barely have enough to eat if not for coming here.”<br />
<br />
“You and a lot of others,” the commander said. “Same for a lot of folks in the couple of dozen places that support this one. Most of my job ends up being coordinating parts shipments.”<br />
<br />
“That’s a long way from flying,” the boy said sympathetically.<br />
<br />
“Tell me about it.”<br />
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“Well, why couldn’t they have gotten…anybody else to come here and do this?”<br />
<br />
“They needed the right name,” the commander said, “and the right face to be associated with the project.”<br />
<br />
“Oh, a hero.”<br />
<br />
“Still not comfortable with that,” he sighed, “but, yeah. They needed to make sure our big baby gets off the ground.”<br />
<br />
“Our hope for the future,” the boy said. “You’ll get to go up with it, then, right?”<br />
<br />
“At <i>my</i> age?” he laughed. “I’ll be dead before that ship ever flies, probably when my head explodes from screaming at some clown in Congress.”<br />
<br />
“Why is it so important to them that we get the new ship out there?” the boy asked. “I mean, <i>really</i>?”<br />
<br />
“Ah, you’re catching on,” the commander smiled slyly. “Yes, they’ve got a lot of great stories about all the wonderful benefits that justify us rushing off into space, but none of them are anything more than half-truths.”<br />
<br />
“Because politicians lie.”<br />
<br />
“Smart kid,” the commander said. “That Titan recon…”<br />
<br />
“You found something out there. You did, didn’t you?”<br />
<br />
“Hey, keep your voice down,” the commander said.<br />
<br />
“You <i>did</i>.”<br />
<br />
“Something, yes,” the commander confirmed quietly. “We’re still not sure what. All we do know is that it distorted our instrument readings and…that I was the only one to make it back alive. I cared more about flying circles around Titan than about going down to the surface. We lost comms during my second orbit. When I flew over, my cameras got pictures of…I don’t know what. It was nothing anyone could’ve been alive in.”<br />
<br />
“So you broke orbit?”<br />
<br />
“Mission orders,” the commander said. “Always keep flying, kid.”<br />
<br />
“Y-Yes, sir.”<br />
<br />
“Anyway, after I got back,” the living legend went on, “they made up a cover story and I realized there was no way they were going to let me take another team back out there. They watch me, study me. I think they’re waiting to see if I grow another eye.”<br />
<br />
The boy laughed, till he realized the commander was not.<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN">“OK, wait, sir,” the lieutenant commander insisted. “Stop there. Let’s say I believe you: you really knew him, were mentored by a legend, and his book that inspired a generation was a load of…*ahem* Why, sir, may I ask, do you have a metal cylinder strapped into my chair?”<br /><br />“He liked the feel of that chair. He said he never wanted to get used to this one, since he wasn’t going to get to fly her. Don’t worry about it, though,” the captain said, taking the canister from the navigator’s seat. “The bottom’s magnetized. It’ll attach to the deck plate. Taking the commander along as ashes, though, is the only way I’m getting him back up there.”</span><br />
“Since we’re sharing, captain,” the navigator said, “what was the secret he wrote in your notebook? Was it about the recon mission?”<br />
<br />
“Secret hot chocolate recipe,” he said. “I’ll make us some before we get near Titan and open the sealed mission orders.”<br />
<br />
“I’m not going to like what’s in there, am I?”<br />
<br />
“Probably not as much as the hot chocolate,” the answer came, “but we’re going in with the best possible crew and a lot of great training. Whatever we find out there, the three of us will do our best to keep this beauty flying. Can we count on you?”<br />
<br />
“I’m your wingman, sir.”Phoenixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321573725442513288noreply@blogger.com1