11/16/07
Through the Looking Glass
Made it to Wonderland ...
And you know I'm kidding, right? Actually, much has changed to Ye Olde Home Place since way back, and some of it for the better! (*sings* "There are places I remember ... ." Maybe it doesn't always work that way. We'll see.) Anyway, I'm still kicking. (Ouch! Bumped my knee).
... and everything's backwards!
11/29/07
Done Wrong Again
Have I blashphemed? Well ...
Maybe I have! I am utterly (mercurius_21's favorite adjective ... er, adverb)entranced by "The Golden Compass" (the book). And now I understand the book is "anti-Catholic." It must be -- it has talking bears.The story is set in an alternate universe, where (in alternate Earth), the Reformation utterly (God help us! There he goes again!) defeated Catholicism in some alternate version of the Thirty Years War, so much so that it is now banned. What we call churches, Golden Compass World calls "oratories." What's left of the College of Cardinals has been somehow merged with Protestant overseers into something called The Magisterium. And a little girl has the power to change it all ... armed with a talking bear, a little shape-shifting avatar and a magic soothsaying instrument. (Magic is called "philosophy" in the book's alternate world. Her purported uncle is (apparently) a true magister, and the power-mad phonies who're running the Magisterium are after him.)
Maybe I'm bitter, sardonic, or something, but, as an Anglo-Catholic (ummm ... I'm insecure about that title, as applied to me anyway. More on that someday.), there is nothing in the book that bothers me at all. It is fantasy fiction, and it's something somebody made up.
I'm almost done with the book, and I think I've about gotten to the part the movie doesn't have (according to AOL News anyway). It's a great read, as long as you don't take it seriously. So far, anyway.
12/03/07
My Dark Materials (Pt. 1)
I've now finished "The Golden Compass" book, and ...
It was worth reading, for sure! My earlier post on this subject may have come off as a little flippant, however. So I want to shoot a little straighter this time.I understand the concerns of many Christians (Catholic, traditional, and otherwise) about the effects of mass media (of which publishing is one) on young people. That would include my own LiveJournal (Welcome, Vladimir! Way to go in the election, chief! -- just kidding, folks :) ). I understand there are books, movies, broadcast programs and blogs that concern people with the idea that they possess hidden agendas of various sorts.
I'm of the school of thought that tends to accept statements at face value, but also in holding them up to the light before you stick them in the cash register. The "agenda" I read in the Golden Compass author's work (thus far -- I have two more books in the trilogy to go!) is that he is on the same page as me in this: you shouldn't buy into everything as it first appears, but you do need to trust your eyes first (unless, you need glasses!).
The main character makes a minor mistake of jumping to a certain conclusion, but it sets her on a course of action that ends up with something happening she deeply regrets. (You'll have to read the book to the very end to see what I mean. I'm learning about "spoilers"!) She saw someone put powder in some wine meant for somebody else, and she didn't ask "why?" before she took action. And the book concludes with this character jumping to yet another conclusion (literally -- again, you'll have to read the book!).
So that's why I said this Philip Pullman novel for adolescents is not necessarily "anti-" any institution, although I see the concerns of some who may feel that way. I share those concerns in the broader vista. But, having read the novel and thought about it some, I remain of the opinion that some non-linear thinking is needed on this novel's unique content before we go and stamp a label on it.
I'm still a nut!
12/17/07
My Dark Materials (Pt. 2)
A spider shall know them ...
Finished (sort of) all three books of His Dark Materials. All I can say is, whew! And I still don't find anything in them anti- anything, except fanaticism. But the last book was such a thudder at 500 pages, I had to skip to the end. Major (late) Blakean stuff there, and pretty heady stuff for teens (And that's coming from a guy who, as a teen, actually tried to read late Blake! No, I didn't get very far.).Got started on Neil Gaiman's "The Anansi Boys." Would have preferred to start with "American Gods," but not available at local lib at this point. Still, "Anansi" so far is loads of fun, and no story background needed. A real master.
... and never bite! Hard, anyway.
12/20/07
My Dark Materials (Pt. 3)
And then, there was light (in the darkness) ... . And then ...
Read "Anansi Boys" (no "The" in the title -- sorry, Neil) in about a week. Very nice. On now to Don DeLillo's "Underworld." (Thud!) Should keep me busy a while.
Vatican newspaper hates "The Golden Compass" (the movie -- which I have not seen. Last I heard, you still need money for that.). It hates the movie for reasons I normally agree with. And I'm tempted to reverse myself on the book series (what I read of it). But not yet ... . (Still thinking ... .)
I may not get a chance to post again before Christmas. So, let me wish all of you a merry one! I also ask those of you who actively celebrate the holiday in any way to consider something: the traditional Christian calendar says that Christmas Day (actually midnight on Christmas Eve) actually starts the season of Christmas!
So, how long does it last?
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me ... ."
1/4/08
It's a Long Story
I'd love to tell you more, but ...
Ran out of gas steering through DeLillo's "Underworld." Same old story for this lazy English major: if it's a long book, I get to about page 100 or so and just quit (unless it was for an assignment, naturally. I had to learn the hard way to always finish my math and foreign-language homework. Never had to do that for English. Guess that's why I ... .). Sometimes I skip to the end, sometimes I just turn the thing back in. With ol' Don, it's going to be down to something shorter for me. I have to say, it was a great 100 pages, but then the story gets into the lead character's domestic life, and his best friend, and their 80's suburban existences as high-tech garbagemen in Arizona, and how his best friend likes the lead character's wife, and then he likes her more, and then they run into each other out of town, and ... ."White Noise," anyone?
I can't say what's next.
1/16/08
Coming from a Xerox near you ...
Title's a little misleading, though ...
As I have posted here before, labels are often like that. The things I'm referring to that came from a copier did so the mid- to late-1980s. I don't know the proper term, but they were really (AFAIK) the predecessor of " 'zines " -- which, of course, were the predecessors of what we're doing now.These little mags were comics -- hand-drawn and lettered, black-and-white, and -- by industry standards, anyway -- amateurish. But they were really dark, so full of a wild style of their own, a kind of black-gloss Glamorama with a touch of banned substances (OK, "performace-enhancing" materials) in the mix. OK, no real banned substances that I know of -- just that when you say "on steroids" these days, people tend to take you literally. So, I guess I mean "as if on steroids" ... .
Anyway, these 80s amateur comics, well, some of them were pretty good. And even the ones that weren't sometimes had their moments. And it started a little movement. And the movement took force and shape and moved overseas and stayed underground for years and years and ...
Then there was "Angel: After the Fall". Those who find this new comic by IDW a little odd-looking may not remember or ever saw its ancestors that came from the underground and onto some plate glass, and after a couple of glow-glows later, they came to you "for, like only a nickel, dude!" (That's when you had to have the right kind of fade and the left kind of piercings and the down-the-middle mohawk, dudes!)
No, I'm much too old and stodgy (even when I wasn't too old) to have done anything like that style. I just (described many posts ago) worked in a record store (when they still sold records, dudes) where some Black-Flag-lovin' , mohawk-wearin', multi-pierced young folk also worked (and hung out when they didn't). Goth didn't appear (around me, anyway) until years later. So, where I was, the "hardcore" scene was it.
And these new Angel comics bring back memories of experiences I never had -- but only wondered (sometimes aloud) how the kids who did managed to survive them.
And no, they never let me in the Milestone Club, either. (Actually, I was too chicken to try ... .)
... all of mine are!
1/25/08
My Dark Materials (Pt. 4)
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh ...
A novel update: did the "100 and done" with Chuck Palahniuk's "Rant" last week. Before Messers Palahniuk, DeLillo, Pullman and others get too mad at me, they (and you) should know this: they are in good company. Also in the M-21 "100 and done" club are Herman Melville (Moby Dick), Henry James (Portrait of a Lady) and William Faulkner (Absalom, Absalom). All these were read (as such) on a voluntary basis: back in school, I finished all my novel assignments on time (and, as posted before, had I done the same with my math homework, I might be writing this from the Harvard library instead of ... . Goes to show. Not that there's anything wrong with this library. The folks here are wonderful. Thanks guys!).
And a reconsideration: I was hard on Pullman's "The Amber Spyglass" both in this LJ and to a friend weeks ago. What I'd done was try and read "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife" and "Spyglass" all in one month. These novels were originally published many years apart, and eager first-edition readers would likely have had the appetite to peel away at the many-layered "Spyglass" at the time it was published in the year 2000. I should have given the final installment of His Dark Materials more time -- allowing the first two to "digest" in my mind. I intend to return to "Spyglass" at a later date to give it a fresh look-see. I have a feeling that my opinion of that last volume may be higher.
Also, if you want to give "Rant" the full spin, be forewarned: you'll need a strong stomach with a mild (?) appetite for adult content. I think if that's the case and you're age-appropriate for the novel, you will be rewarded amply.
BTW, the previous post on "Angel: After the Fall" failed to mention specifically that the producer, writer and artistic team are all professionals, and fully so. What I meant to say is that they, in "After the Fall," are doing homage to amateur comics of some two decades ago. I didn't think I needed to indicate that, but, just in case ... .
P.S.: In case you're curious, Matt Wagner's "Grendel" was one of those Xerox comics back then. It broke into the pro ranks years ago, and is now (I think) being done anew. So (I think) was the original "Love and Rockets" by Los Bros. Hernandez before Fantagraphics picked it up (as best I recall hearing -- I never saw the originaloriginal). Those stories are now republished in high-end trade paperback format.
Hhhhhhhhhaaaaaaa.
1/28/08
All Stitched Up
One benefit of the writer's strike is that you get to appreciate the quality of their work more, now that only a few US shows are new. (The latest show about the misadventures of one allegedly homely lead actress had my sides in proverbial ... .)
A quick story. I referenced it early on in the course of this LJ, but let me provide a few more details this time. In the spring of 2003, I found myself jobless again, but this time with plans to start my own business. I would continue to cover state government, but from the perspective of an ordinary citizen (with that same kind of access). I would create a weekly written column from this POV, and create a short audio version three days a week. I would e-mail the column to the state's newspapers, and I would also e-mail the audio report to select radio stations where I would develop contacts.We would now call these reports 'blogs and podcasts, but I had no knowledge of internet "syndication" at the time. I also had no knowledge that the developer of Really Simple Syndication (that is, syndication for the rest of us -- the original versions being more for computer experts at the time) apparently was working on that project then. I also did not know that I was riding the crest of the wave of Web 2.0 that would envelop all of us.
I never got the project into profit mode -- a very familiar story. I, for one, am now glad I didn't (though I wasn't at the time). The whole movement wasn't about a narrow profit-taking mindset. Though some have made money, they made it through understanding what the revolution is all for, something I've learned a lot more about from this LJ (LJ as a whole being the oldest and finest of them all, AFIK).
I did not realize that my cutting-edge work in 2003 was cutting-edge. I have no computer expertise, other than typing on a keyboard and clicking a mouse. What I and others were doing at the time was forcing innovation by creating content ahead of its time, and then whining loud and clear when we hit a wall with then-available technology for general 'net users.
When I began this LJ, I wanted to take the experiment a step further -- because I felt "'blogging" could be better. I hope I have succeeded.
But all good things must come to an end. I've tried to "quit" before, only to return. This time, I'm just changing my emphasis. My new effort is at
This is the last post I plan to make here. I have one other active LJ (marco143) -- my attempt to explore new vistas in on-line fiction by hearkening back to a storytelling format from the early days of English narrative: the epistolary novel. I plan to wind that project up sometime next month.
Neither project could have existed at all without the continued help, advice, support, hand-holding (virtual :) ) and patience of a fellow LJ'er -- faithnsin. She has helped me as a writer and as a person. I don't know how to thank her. In her Web 1.0 incarnation at faithsolace.com, she also was vital to my early efforts at fan fiction. She published my work when no one else would. I cannot repay her.
This is no goodbye. I'm told you can access blogspot.com within LJ through Open ID. (I haven't tried this myself, so I can't vouch for it. Blogspot announced it last month.)
Anyway, it's been fun, guys. More fun than I can say. See you at blogspot.com !