Books/Literature

Corrosive Knights, 11/12/13 update

Two days ago I finally –finally– finished the fourth draft of my latest Corrosive Knights novel (Book #5 in the series).  Frankly, I was hoping that draft would take not too much more than a month or so to do and I would finish things up and have the book published by now.

Not the case, unfortunately.

The book is quite big, story-wise, and I believe I mentioned before that it could easily be broken into two separate books.  However, given what occurs within, I felt the novel was best served as being “done as one” rather than doing a breakup.

What caused me so much delay in this draft was the reworking of certain plot elements and the subsequent re-writing it entailed.  The first part of the book required little more than grammatical fix-ups. The story there was well set up with the exception of one segment early on that needed clarification/re-writes.  The second half of the book, though, cost me all this extra time.

I don’t want to get into too many details of the story itself, so suffice it to say that what weaknesses I felt were in this later half of the story have, for the most part, been fixed.  There is still work to do of course and I anticipate going through at least three to four more drafts before being comfortable enough to release the novel.  All that means is that instead of being available this year as I hoped and prayed, book #5 in the Corrosive Knights series will instead be done by early next year, perhaps in February or March.

Unlike what you may see in the movies or TV (I’m looking at you, Castle), writing takes considerable effort and time.  You don’t simply sit before your computer typing for a few “intense” hours and –voila!– your book is done.  At least for me, the process of writing a novel requires an incredible dedication and is an almost schizophrenic experience where you have to be your greatest fan as well as your worst critic simultaneously.

You have to show complete love for the work you’re doing while second guessing every step of the process with the hopes of making it better and better and better yet.

My latest novel, in its fourth draft, is far better than it was in its third draft.  The third draft, in turn, was several hundred times better than the second.  The first draft had the elements of the story but was missing huge chunks and could rightly be called little more than a story map or guideline rather than even a “rough” novel.

With each draft, the story elements are fixed a little more.  In time, I find myself moving away from fixing the story and more toward fixing the grammatical problems.  It is then that I know I’m getting close to the end.

We’ll see how draft #5 looks!

Corrosive MACN

Music

The Next Day Extra

Way back in 1984 the band U2 released The Unforgettable Fire, arguably their first major, major success.  Sure, they had already captured attention with previous works, but this album shot them into the stratosphere.  As much as I loved the album, I was blown away when in 1985 Wide Awake in America, a four song EP, was released.  It featured live versions of two songs from The Unforgettable Fire (both incredibly good) and, more startlingly, two “discarded” songs which were ultimately not deemed strong enough to include in that album.  The songs, “The Three Sunrises” and “Love Comes Tumbling Down” were both, IMHO, incredibly strong works and could –should– have been in the original album.

Fast forward to 2013.

After ten years of seeming (possible) retirement from music, David Bowie releases The Next Day last March to critical adulation -and the inevitable “best album since Scary Monsters notices- and it does pretty good business.

In retrospect and while I enjoyed the album, it struck me that many people/critics were overly hyping the album…this was pretty damn good David Bowie but I wasn’t sure I’d rank it among his best later day albums.  As good as the album was, I really wished Mr. Bowie would rock out a little more, like I know he’s eminently capable of.

When the album was released, I recalled an interview with Tony Visconti, the album’s producer, noting there while recording The Next Day, there were many extra songs left over.  Enough, he stated, for another full album.

So most of 2013 passes and, lo and behold, The Next Day Extra, a “bonus EP”, is released, one featuring the entire The Next Day plus the extras EP and, for those who already had that album, the seven song EP alone.  I listened to the samples of the songs but held back on buying the album right away.  Frankly, the snippets didn’t do all that much for me.

Which goes to show that sometimes song snippets don’t tell you how good a full song might be.

Over the weekend I downloaded (legally!) the EP and, like U2’s Wide Awake in America, I was blown away.  Here was the rocking David Bowie music I was longing to hear!  Why oh why, Mr. Bowie, didn’t you include some of these songs on The Next Day itself?!  Perhaps they didn’t quite “fit” with the narrative, but they’re pretty damn good!

The snippet of “Atomica”, the first song in the EP, certainly did it no favors…the full song, again IMHO, is a great rocker:

The album features five “new” songs and two “remixes”, all of which are quite good.  I think the 10 and a half (!!!) minute remix of “Love is Lost” is better than the version on the original album while the remix of “I’d Rather Be High” wasn’t all that significantly different from the original, yet still pretty good.  Apart from “Atomica” and the remix of “Love Is Lost”, my other favorite “new” song, previously only released as a bonus in the Japanese market, is “God Bless the Girl”:

The bottom line is this: if you liked The Next Day and want a little more from it, give The Next Day Extra a listen.

Books/Literature, General, Movies, Music

Blockbuster, RIP

Interesting article by Dana Stevens for Slate magazine regarding the news that the owners of Blockbuster are closing all remaining retail centers, effectively ending the era of the big video rental stores:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2013/11/blockbuster_closing_why_even-those_of_us_who_hated_the_chain_will_miss_it.html

When Blockbuster first came along, there were more than a few “Mom & Pop” video stores around renting those pre-historic VHS tapes for film fans to watch.  Those who weren’t around back then don’t remember the way the film market used to be.  Recent movies took forever to be released to the home market and, when they were, they cost a lot to buy.  It wasn’t unheard of to see “new release” films go for as much as $50-85.  Further, that “new” film often took over a year -sometimes much more- before it even reached the home video market.  I distinctly recall the amazed reaction by many when the original Tim Burton directed Batman film was “quickly” released to video.  I can’t recall the exact time it took for the film to be released, but it was perhaps three to six months or so after its theatrical release, a turnaround that was completely unheard of back then but not so much now.

But this was the exception that eventually proved to be the rule.  Again, at the time and given the high price of films, video stores were a necessity.  If you didn’t rent and only bought the films you wanted, you would very quickly go quite broke.  When Blockbuster showed up, the Mom & Pop stores in my area were doomed.  These small stores couldn’t compete against the sheer bulk of material Blockbuster offered.

Even then, one had to be quick as even if Blockbuster had a large number of the latest “new” film available for rent, there were plenty of others trying to get their hands on it as well.

But for me the greatest thing about Blockbuster wasn’t so much the new and desired films, but their vast library of older classic films..  It was thanks to Blockbuster that I became aware of the movies of Stanley Kubrick.  It was also where I discovered Metropolis (the Giorgio Moroder version, which of course lead me to eventually want to see the original, uncut version) and Orpheus, two of my all time favorite films.

I could go on and on…

For all its flaws (and there were many) Blockbuster was a great place for its time.  The first big signs of trouble for the company probably came from the arrival of the DVD and the significant lowering of movie prices.  You could rent a film from Blockbuster for about $5 for three nights, but for another ten dollars or less you could purchase the DVD and own the film outright.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was likely the same as the one that killed music stores (and, sadly, looks to be doing the same to bookstores): computers and the internet.  Not to mention more choices in general.

Why would one go out to a Blockbuster to rent a film when you could Netflix it or stream it or Pay on Demand?  For those far less honest, you could steal a film via downloading it through one of many torrent sites.

So no, I’m not at all surprised Blockbuster has seen its end.  It was expected and, if anything, the only surprise one feels is that it lasted as long as it did.  Yet like Borders, like Circuit City, and like Peaches, I’ll miss her and the era she inhabited.

The world moves on and all that remains are the memories of what once was.

General

Invisibility Cloak…?

Well, not quite, but still, a fascinating way of bending light and making an object “disappear”.  Only problem, of course, is that the object it disappears behind is pretty plainly visible…for now!

The full article, as well as a video example of the cloak can be found here:

http://science.time.com/2013/11/08/watch-scientists-unveil-invisibility-cloak-and-make-a-teddy-bear-disappear/

General

There is one thing smog is quite good at…

…other than, of course, at destroying the environment and your health:

http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-heavy-smog-blocks-surveillance-camera-view-poses-threat-national-security-1456922

That’s right: Heavy smog is very effective against surveillance cameras, especially in a country (China) that relies on them to watch their citizens.

There’s that, I suppose.

Movies

Lost “Return of the Jedi” Scene Answers Questions…

By now most Star Wars fans have probably heard about the laserdisc bought on e-Bay containing cut scenes/bloopers from Return of the Jedi, among other original trilogy Star Wars films.

The person who bought the laserdisc has a Facebook page wherein they’re posting all the scenes, and it can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/rotjeditdroid

Now, the scene I’m referring to above involves Yoda making mention of the fact that both he and Obi Wan perhaps lied to Luke Skywalker about the identity of his father…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/return-of-the-jedi-yoda-deleted-scene_n_4224976.html

I’ve mentioned many times before that the Star Wars features were never my cup of tea, despite the fact that I was of the right age and a big fan of sci-fi when the original feature film came out.  The fact is the film should have been right in my wheelhouse.

Yet the original Star Wars didn’t register and, while I knew everyone around me in the theater was going absolutely crazy about what they were seeing, I was/remain curiously indifferent about the whole thing.  So much so at the time, in fact, that I didn’t bother seeing Empire Strikes Back until it aired on network TV (I did, however, catch Return of the Jedi in theaters…go figure).

Upon seeing Return of the Jedi, what struck me was the revelation of Luke and Leia being twin siblings.  It was proof that much of the Star Wars saga was “made up” as it went along. After all, when Luke first sees the hologram of Leia pleading for help in the original Star Wars, the expression on his face is one of absolute love at first sight, not a feeling of “oh, I must help this damsel in distress”.  Even in the original theatrical cut of Empire Strikes Back it is obvious the idea that Luke and Leia are brother and sister is still not there, evident from this (amusing) clip:

Anyway, I still found the Yoda clip linked to above interesting, at least to show that the creators of the series were considering some of the ramifications of the unfolding story line they were creating.

All stories, after all, are “made up” as you go along.  Unfortunately for Mr. Lucas and company, some of the ideas they choose to follow invalidated previously created material and, I suspect, this in part was what made Mr. Lucas go back to the original films and edit out parts of it.  It’s a short step from that to “fixing” the effects or adding things that weren’t originally there.

The danger, of course, lies in spoiling what others cherish…even if the material is yours to begin with.

Movies

Back to Cracked…

A couple of fun/funny lists via Cracked.com, both dealing with movies…

First up, 6 Mind-Blowing Easter Eggs Hidden in Famous Movies…

http://www.cracked.com/article_20649_6-mind-blowing-easter-eggs-hidden-in-famous-movies.html

Perhaps my favorite bit is #5, the many references in Toy Story (Particularly Toy Story 3) to, of all movies, The Shining!  A curious choice to make references to an “R” rated horror movie in a “G” rated (primarily) kid’s movie!

As for some of the other items, the one I was most familiar with (and which most fans of the Evil Dead movies already know as well), is the famous Oldsmobile featured in several Sam Raimi directed/associated films.

Next up, 5 Clever Movie Schemes You Didn’t Realize Were Stupid:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20659_5-clever-movie-schemes-you-didnt-realize-were-stupid.html

I was more familiar with several of these.  The Django Unchained one, in particular, I couldn’t agree with more.  When I originally reviewed the film, I noted that so much pain and possible death could have been avoided by, of all damn things, simply shaking a person’s hand.  But the reality is that the whole entire climax made very little sense.  As noted, there was no reason for Django himself to be involved in the entire climax, and Dr. Schultz could have come up with a far less bloated plan to buy Broomhilda from her owner.  Then again, had they used a far more logical means of getting to this end, the movie wouldn’t have had its “explosive” climax.

Still…

As for the #1 entry, the latest James Bond film Skyfall, I likewise agree with the points being made.  I have to admit enjoying the film as it moved along and it was only afterwards and as I thought about what I had just seen that I realized how nonsensical the whole thing was.  Case in point was the whole climax, as noted in the Cracked entry.  Why was Judi Dench’s M there at all?  She didn’t need to be.  There was no way the villain could have known if she was when he attacked.

And the bottom line is this: The villain essentially accomplishes everything he set out to do, despite Bond.

Way to go, James!

Movies

Prince of Darkness (1987) a (very) belated review

Bear with me on this…

The first -and until yesterday- last time I ever saw the John Carpenter directed/written Prince of Darkness was in a theater with a friend back in 1987 during its initial theatrical run.  I remember both of us walking out of the theater in disgust at having wasted a perfectly good afternoon watching a perfectly wretched film.

Fast forward to last week, when I had to buy some stuff via Amazon and, to make the delivery free (I’m cheap that way! 😉 ), I added a few items to meet the minimal free shipping total.  For whatever reason I was thinking of the 1967 film Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth)…

…but had never seen the supposedly better TV show it was based on (this according to several people who had seen both), also titled Quatermass and the Pit, that aired nearly a full decade before in 1958.

So, being in an adventuresome/curious mood, I ordered the 1958 Quatermass and the Pit but still needed another order to make that all important free delivery (Yes, in order to save $5 in postage I was willing to spend another $20 for merchandise…never said I was logical!).  Anyway, I looked around the DVD/BluRay sections and, having been pleasantly surprised by SHOUT! Factory’s BluRay release of John Carpenter’s The Fog, a movie I didn’t think all that highly of but proved quite the revelation on BluRay, I decided to bite the bullet and, after 26 years (!!!) revisit Prince of Darkness.

The order arrived a few days ago and yesterday, finally, I had a chance to take a look at Prince of Darkness.  Watching those first few minutes of the film proved a pleasant surprise.  The establishing mood was good, almost deliciously Lovecraftian, and Jameson Parker, who I didn’t recall thinking all that much of when I originally watched the film ages ago, proved to be compelling…at least in those initial moments.

Without giving away too much of the plot, Prince of Darkness involves a fraternity of Catholic Priests who have been tasked for centuries to secretly guard a container of glowing green liquid that, they fear, holds a great evil.  The last of the Priests to oversee the material has passed away, and the Priest investigating this order (played by the always interesting Donald Pleasence) contacts Professor Howard Birack (Victor Wong) a teacher of high level theoretical physics at a University to assemble a team of students and professors to find out what this container actually holds.

Spoiler Alert: It isn’t anything good.

The students, teachers, and Priest hole up in the old rundown church hiding this liquid and soon experience odd sensations while noting an odd assortment of apparently homeless people surrounding the church, intent on keeping them there and, should they try to leave, doing them great harm.  The killings soon start and, yes, the film becomes a “siege” tale, something director/writer John Carpenter has worked on plenty of times before and since.

By the time the movie reached its climax and I realized Mr. Carpenter was using a familiar element from one of my favorite films, 1949’s Orpheus (the mirrors) and another familiar element related to the legend (the loss of Orpheus’ lover, Eurydice)…

…I abruptly came to another realization: Prince of Darkness was essentially a remake or reimagining of Quatermass and the Pit!  Basically, Mr. Carpenter (writing under the alias of –how could I miss this?!– Martin Quatermass) took all the main elements of Quatermass and the Pit -the strange object found in a run down area of the city, the impulses it creates in people around it, the world level threat, the bizarre “mind transmissions”, and, especially, the sacrifice of one of the major characters to end the threat- and added a few other elements (perhaps a pinch of the Exorcist) and, voila, he created Prince of Darkness!

What are the odds?!

I purchase Quatermass and the Pit (the TV version) and Prince of Darkness on the same day via Amazon and come to the stunning realization that one film very much influenced (or, if you’re less forgiving, was ripped off) the other!

Ok, now the big question: Is Prince of Darkness any good?

Before I get into that, let me state that many consider this movie John Carpenter’s last truly “great” film, even though he followed it up with They Live and a little later, Into the Mouth of Madness, both works which are considered “good,” if not “great” Carpenter.  There are others, however, who consider Prince of Darkness Mr. Carpenter’s first really big misstep and a harbinger of the lesser works that followed.

Myself?  Well, after watching the film once again I find myself in middle.  I have to admit I didn’t hate Prince of Darkness quite as much as I did when I first saw it in 1987.  On the other hand, I certainly didn’t walk away loving it.  The story features too many characters who are bland and ultimately unrealized.  The script really could have used some tightening and the direction, while decent, wasn’t quite as interesting as I’ve seen in other Carpenter works.  A good example of this is the attack of the green water.  Though it pains me to say this considering how much I admire so many of John Carpenter’s films, this proves to be quite laughable.  Unintentionally so, alas.

So in the end, I can only recommend this film for someone like me who has a fondness for Quatermass and the Pit and is curious to see John Carpenter’s reinterpretation of the themes/story.  SHOUT! Factory’s BluRay is a beauty and features razor sharp images and clarity probably not seen in the film since its initial release.  If you’re interested in seeing it, this is certainly the way to go.

General

Top 20 Dumbest Cars…

…at least according to an article at AOL autos:

http://autos.aol.com/gallery/dumbest-cars-all-time/

Many of the “usual suspects” are present.  I figured the #1 dumbest car was going to either be the Pinto or the Edsel.  Spoiler:  It turned out to be one of them, though the other wasn’t on the list at all!

Back in High School I had a first hand experience with the Pinto as a friend of mine at the time had the vehicle and we drove around with it now and then.  What I remember the most about the car was a) it was ugly as hell in its brown/gold interior and exterior color, b) it wasn’t a comfortable car to sit in, and c) it was really noisy.

At least we shared some good laughs regarding the car…my friend was anything but enamored with his vehicle.

But my favorite “Dumb” car has to be the #14 entry, the infamous 1899 Horsey Horseless.  Words alone can’t describe this idiotic concept so, ladies and gentlemen, the 1899 Horsey Horseless:

Your eyes are not deceiving you.  We have a car with a Horse’s head strapped onto its front.  The theory its creator(s) had, one imagines, is that because some people might be reluctant to switch from their horse drawn buggies and “move up” to automobiles, the manufacturers had to do something to create a sense of familiarity to something new.  So, like training wheels on a bicycle, we have a horse’s head bolted to the front of this car so people take comfort in the fact that…

Hell…it makes no sense at all!!!!

Still fun to look at , though! 😉

General

“Cannonball” record shattered

Interesting article regarding a group of three people who broke the “Cannonball” record for driving (illegally) cross country, from New York to Los Angeles:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-los-angeles-cannonball-speed-record/index.html

A small part of me admires the thought put into their escapade, from considering the best time and conditions (weekend, full moon) to the modifications made to their car (extra gas tanks and bedpans so they wouldn’t have to make as many pit stops) to having spotters look out for police (naturally).

It’s a very small part, however.  The part that as a younger person enjoyed the whole “car chase/crash” movie genre that was quite popular from the mid to later half of the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s (it probably died around the time Cannonball Run 2 and Stroker Ace, both Burt Reynolds -ahem- vehicles, flopped).  I loved Ron Howard’s directorial debut, Grand Theft Auto and the mayhem it featured (saw the film recently aaaaaannnd….it doesn’t hold up).  Loved -and still love- the original Smokey and the Bandit.  Loved both The Gumball Rally and Cannonball (1976) though the later film had a pretty brutal climax that really twisted the movie away from being a “comedy”.  As for the first Cannonball Run movie, apart from a couple of chuckles it didn’t do all that much for me.

A larger part of me finds the fantasy versus the reality of what the gentlemen above accomplishing…scary.  In the article, Ed Bolian, one of the trio driving the Mercedes cross country, mention the following:

“Apart from a FedEx truck not checking his mirrors before he tried to merge on top of me, we didn’t really have any issues.”

Oh, really?  The FedEx driver, at least in the quote above, was in the wrong even when you’re traveling at an average rate of 90 mph while at times moving as fast 158 mph (their top speed)?!  Though the quote doesn’t give details of this merging vehicle, one can’t help but wonder just how fast the trio were driving at that time.  If they were doing high speeds (70+), one can hardly blame the FedEx driver for not noticing a car barreling down on him/her.

Regardless, the story worries me more than anything else.  Now that these three have a speed record in this illegal activity that surely put others on the road at risk (not to mention the drivers themselves), how long before others try to break that record?  Will they be as “cautious” and well planned as this trio were, or will they be even more reckless?

And even if they are as cautious as can be, accidents can -and sadly do– happen.

Watching those old car race/crash movies as a kid was fun.  But it was also fantasy.  Even then I knew this wasn’t something that should happen in real life.  Having people driving around this recklessly for such a long distance in the real world makes me more than a little nervous.

The Blog of E. R. Torre