General

Time Warner Looking to Sell All Magazine Titles…

Further evidence of the digitalization of media:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/time-warner-selling-magazines_n_2820894.html

I’ve felt it for a while now.  It started during the heights of the economic downturn, when my local newspaper went from being thick with advertisements to becoming an emaciated ghost of its former self.  At about that time the tablets were just becoming hot and I, like many others I suppose, gave it a try.  Since then, I’ve read most of the information I’m curious about online…though one should realize in this age of near instant information sharing there are sites prone to spreading misinformation or downright untruths.

The Sunday edition of the my local paper has grown since the worst of times a couple of years ago, but I firmly believe we’re transitioning into a time when most “paper” works, be they magazines, newspapers, and, yes, books, will be picked up by the general population in electronic versus paper format.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I suppose there are elements of both to be found.  There is something undeniably comforting about carrying an actual a paper product and the risk of “breaking” it is far lower (especially if your reading takes you to the beach).  Further, many readers/tablets are difficult to use in broad daylight.  On the other hand, there is an  incredible ease to purchasing any book/magazine/paper you want near instantly by downloading it to your computer.  Plus, having electronic files versus physical products certainly frees up space in your home otherwise taken up by these products.

In time, I predict tablets and readers will become more weather/water resistant and easier to read in broad sunlight.  Thus, it seems to me a matter of time before paper products become a very small part of people’s lives and, therefore, it does not surprise me that Time is intent on unloading those products.

General

Karma

Fascinating read from Huffington Post, concerning a waitress who, while serving a customer, made a rather incredible discovery:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/brianna-priddy-waitress-stolen-drivers-license_n_2821419.html

So…what are the odds of serving a person who happens to have your stolen driver’s license on them?  Pretty long odds, obviously.  Which is why it certainly makes one smile to see the end result.

Movies

Spielberg to oversee Kubrick’s Napoleon?

Fascinating article posted on both Ain’t It Cool News and /Film concerning one of my all time favorite director Stanley Kubrick’s aborted Napoleon project perhaps being made after all, with Steven Spielberg working behind the scenes on the project:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/61262

http://www.slashfilm.com/steven-spielberg-developing-stanley-kubricks-passion-project-napoleon-as-mini-series/

While normally I’d rejoice at the news, I’m only cautiously optimistic.

As far as I know, there were two major projects left unfinished by Stanley Kubrick when he passed away.  Of the two, the one that intrigued me the most was eventually made by director Steven Spielberg in 2001, A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

As a fan of the works of both Mr. Kubrick and Mr. Spielberg, I figured A.I. would be a “can’t miss.”  I was excited by the early word of what the film was about and, as the movie’s release date approached, I was breathless with anticipation.

Then the movie came out.

The reviews were -incredibly to my mind- generally negative.  The movie was too long.  The movie was too obvious.  The movie was tedious.

It wasn’t until A.I. was finally released to home video (even back then I found it hard to carve out time to go to a theater!) that I finally got to see it and all that anticipation, all that hope…it simply dissolved.

A.I. is an ambitious film, there is no denying that.  But it was also everything the critics said it was.  It was way too long and the subject matter was simply not interesting enough (to me) to sustain itself.  A.I. was essentially an “adult”/sci-fi version of Pinocchio.  Not all that much more, truthfully.

So here I am, cautiously optimistic that, should Mr. Spielberg make Napoleon, it will prove to be a good film/mini-series.

Hopefully, it won’t be as big a disappointment as A.I.

Books/Literature, Computers/Electronics

First Book Written on a Word Processor…?

Interesting article by Matthew Kirschenbaum and presented on Slate regarding what was the first ever book written on a word processor:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/03/len_deighton_s_bomber_the_first_book_ever_written_on_a_word_processor.html

Timing is a funny thing.  Ever since I was very young I’ve wanted to write but as I grew older and began doing just that, as much as I loved to sit behind the typewriter and work on my stories I quickly found this to be a very frustrating thing to do.  I would write something as small as a sentence and then realize it should come later or earlier or wasn’t written quite right…and I would be tempted to rip the paper out of the machine and start over again.  The fact is I’m not one of those people who can write something and be “happy” with it in its first draft form, as opposed to…

In his book on writing, author Stephen King notes that he writes a book, lets it sit and “cool down” for a while before going back to it for a rewrite.  After the rewrite, the book is ready to go.  Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator and author of Perry Mason, was known to knock out a book sometimes in as little time as a day, often dictating his book onto old recording instruments and having his secretary subsequently type it up.

To me writing a first draft of a book involves considerable concentration and thought.  From a plot standpoint, my stories involve many moving parts, all of which must ultimately fit together for the whole to “work”.  Thus I’m usually writing passages then having to go back and add things to the passages or put in more material before or after said passage.  I might even jump back a chapter or two and add a whole new section.  By the time I have that first draft, I’m keenly aware that this is only the first step in what will ultimately be a very long process.

As I mentioned before, I’m usually not approaching satisfaction with my work until at least getting to a fifth draft.  Most of the major plot issues are resolved in the first full rewrite and my focus gradually shifts from plot issues in subsequent drafts to grammatical issues.  Regardless, this part of the process can take the better part of a year before being fully done.  if I were limited to using a typewriter, I’m certain the process would take two or three times as long…and I can’t help but wonder if I would have the patience to make a single book, much less the eight I currently have available via Amazon.

In fact, in the first few years of writing I was using typewriters and was skirting very close to realizing the process of making a book might be simply too difficult for my style of writing.  As it turned out, I was lucky.  In approximately 1983, I purchased an Atari 800, my first personal computer.  Compared to what’s available today, the device was from the stone age.  But it had a printer (a very slow one, granted) and, more importantly, a word processing program.

I was smitten with the word processor and realized immediately this was the device I needed if I was to ever get a chance to write the works I wanted to.  I gave up on typewriters and, in the intervening years and through the various computers, laptops, and tablets I’ve owned have made sure to always have a good word processor available.

Yet I wonder…Had I been born even five years earlier than I was, what would have happened to my younger self if I had been using typewriters exclusively to try to write my novels?  Would I have persevered and nonetheless written my novels or would the frustration of the re-write proven too much?

I wonder.

Music

So…about that new David Bowie album…

The Next Day is scheduled to be released on March 12 but is now streaming absolutely free (minus the bonus songs present on the “premium version”) via iTunes.

I’ve listened to the album all the way through once and, now roughly half-way through a second listen, all I can say is:  Mr. Bowie, I’m glad you’re back.

Two early favorite songs (thus far) are The Stars (Are Out Tonight) and Valentine’s Day.

Good stuff.

Movies

The Devil’s Mask (1946) a (very) belated review

If you’re a fan of old time (and sometimes creaky) mysteries, you could do far worse than spend a little over an hour watching The Devil’s Mask.

The story, let’s face it, is lower level pulp.  We begin with a shadowy figure breaking into a museum and doing something with one (or more?) of the five shrunken heads on display recently brought in from South America.  Then, a plane crashes and one of the few things recovered from the wreckage is a box whose address and destination has been burned off but whose contents remain intact.

Inside the box?

A shrunken head, of course!

Meanwhile, two detectives -one “serious” and the other more of a “comic relief”- are hired by the wife of a disappeared explorer to check in on her step daughter and boyfriend.  The boyfriend is following her around at the behest of her stepdaughter and the stepmother fears the two want to do her harm.  You see, the explorer who brought those shrunken heads into the museum is/was the husband of the stepmother, and he has mysteriously disappeared following an expedition south.

Was he murdered?  By whom?  Could the stepmother be hiding a hidden lover?  Could she and the lover be the killers?  Or is it possible the missing explorer is still alive and lurking in the shadows…ready to strike?

As I said, the plot itself is pure pulp and either you enjoy this sort of stuff or you won’t.  Regardless, one can appreciate the lovely black and white cinematography and use of very heavy shadows.  While the plot itself was mildly diverting, even a fan of the pulps like me will admit the story itself borders on the ridiculous (the whole airplane crashing thing never really amounted to more than a way to introduce the idea of the shrunken heads and the payoff to that was more than a little silly).

Still, what can I say?  I enjoyed the film and it was short enough (as I said before, its total runtime is a little over an hour) to not wear out its welcome.  A cautious recommendation is offered to those who like these kind of old “B” films.

Others might want to steer clear.

Movies

Deadfall (2012) a (mildly) belated review

There are films that you love, there are films you hate, and there are those in between.  They may grip you for a while before fizzling out.  They may present a story that you simply can’t get into.  They may even feature all the proper elements to make a great film yet those ingredients don’t make a great whole.

In the case of Deadfall, a film barely released to theaters last year, the ingredients most certainly are there to make a potent whole.  The movie stars Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde as ambiguous (in more ways than one) criminal siblings who just scored a big haul along with their partner and are heading to Canada to get away.  But as they make their way through a snowy road, they hit a deer and their car flips.  Their partner dies in the crash and before the duo can fully emerge from the wrecked car a police officer has arrived to see what’s going on.

Addison (Eric Bana) kills the cop and flees deeper into the woods with his sister Liza.  They decide their best course of action (well, other than perhaps, you know, driving off with the police man’s car at least for a little bit!) is to split up and get back together later.  Addison, we find, is very protective of his little sister and she is a little…strange.  Because she is an unknown in whatever heist they just pulled off, Addison reasons this is why it is a good idea for them to split.  If he’s caught, he’s caught.  If she is found, there is no way to link her to the crime they just committed.

The movie segues into introducing other characters, from an elderly couple (Kris Kristofferson and Susan Spacek) to their just released from prison son as well as the Sheriff of the County and his daughter.  Both sets of parents have issues with their kids and, as the movie progresses, the characters and their fates intertwine.

I won’t go into more story detail but suffice to say that while this film features a good cast, great locations, and some excellent cinematography (there’s something, to me, magical about films set featuring a very snowy tableau), the film’s plot, unfortunately, bogs down rather quickly.  Too much information is presented in too little time, though I would quickly hasten to add that the story presented might have benefited from being pared down of at least two of the characters (the Sheriff and his daughter, alas, serve no great purpose in the film, even if veteran actor Treat Williams is quite good as the intolerant and over-protective Sheriff).

In the end, the ingredients are there for at least a reasonably good suspense film, but the execution and too many ingredients (ie extra storylines) ultimately diffuse whatever steam this film tries to build.

While the film had a limited theatrical release, based on the very bland trailer presented below, I have a suspicion the studios knew the film wouldn’t do too well and didn’t really give it a great push.

Music

The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

Second single released for the upcoming David Bowie album.  Pretty cool stuff and more “upbeat” than the first single, though the song’s topic appears to be similar (and certainly is emphasized in the video!) of looking back…

Huffington Post offers an interesting article concerning the video release, as well as noting that early reviews of the album are positive.  The full album is set to be released March 12.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/the-stars-are-out-tonight-david-bowie_n_2764665.html

Comic Books/Graphic Novels

Neal Adams interview

Back when I was a young kid and just starting to realize the artistic worth of comic books (gasp!), there were a few names that stood out more than the others.

I absolutely loved the Len Wein/Berni Wrightson Swamp Thing issues.  I loved Joe Kubert’s war covers and the rare (at the time!) full stories I could find.  I absolutely loved the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson Manhunter stories.

And I loved, loved, loved the work of Neal Adams.

Mr. Adams’ artwork during those years was nothing less than absolutely stunning.  He essentially brought Batman into the “modern” age and out of the campy realms he inhabited in the fifties and most of the sixties.  One could make a reasonable argument that Mr. Adams, along with primary (though not only) writer Denny O’Neil, resurrected and refined Batman into what he is now, one of the most popular and recognizable comic book characters of all time.

Which makes me sad to read this interview Neal Adams made with The Beat, found at the link below:

http://comicsbeat.com/interview-the-odyssey-of-neal-adams/

Where to begin?

Yes, the opinions expressed in the interview may be exaggeration or done in jest…and it may be difficult while reading the actual words to get his “tone”.  However, even while allowing for that, the picture of the man presented in this interview, sadly, is not a terribly pleasant one.  I can certainly understand defending your work, in this case the Batman: Odyssey mini-series he delivered a year or two ago.

But…

Well, what can I say?  He’s proud of having Bruce Wayne/Batman almost tell Alfred “fuck you”?  Here is the full explanation by Neal Adams in the interview:

“I have a little thing in there that I just planted for people who really pay attention where Bruce Wayne is pissed off at Alfred, right, and Alfred just isn’t taking any shit from him. And he’s pissed off, and Alfred turns his back on Bruce and you can see Bruce is about to say something and then Alfred says, ‘Before you say that,’ but Bruce has got his mouth in a position where the only position, the only or one of the few words that you say from that position is “Fuck you” He’s got that F-sound, right? So you can look at it if you look at his face you know he’s gonna say ‘Fuck you Alfred!’ And Alfred says, ‘Before you say the thing you’re gonna say…’ [laughs]

While many were turned off by the plot of Batman: Odyssey (it was, I admit, more than a little confusing), to me the worst sin Mr. Adams committed in the series was in his characterization of Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Yes, the character is fictional and authors can choose (provided the powers that be let them) to portray them anyway they want.  However, to me the Bruce Wayne/Batman character came off as, and I’ll be very blunt here, a complete asshole.  In that context, I suppose him nearly telling Alfred “fuck you” makes sense, but…is that really the way one should present the hero of a piece?  Is this the way our hero should act (and not just to Alfred!)?

Perhaps I’m just getting too old fashioned, but the Batman Neal Adams showed us in the late 1960’s and early to mid 1970’s was a far more noble character than the one Mr. Adams presented in this series.

Ah well.

Books/Literature

Corrosive Knights…a little more details

Just because I found it curious:

The first full draft of the latest (5th) Corrosive Knights book runs 115,531 words, of which 26,779 of these words were bits and pieces shunted outside the main section of the book and may wind up being cut entirely and/or modified and reused in this book or a future work.  In effect, these scenes/pages/paragraphs are similar to “deleted scenes” found in the special features section of movie DVDs.

Thus, the word count of this first draft of the story, minus the potentially to-be-cut material, runs 88,752 words long.  My usual first drafts of novels run around 70-75,000 words, so this is a pretty long first draft.

If history repeats itself, this book will eventually gain another 10-20,000 words before it is completed.  While it is possible to “pare down” some material (and I’ve done that before with at least one of my novels), more often than not the first draft is often more “bare bones” than I’m happy with and requires additional material to smooth over some parts and/or better explain events that happen within the work.  So, if all goes as before, this book should wind up being among my longer works.

As mentioned before, this book represents the conclusion to the first major Corrosive Knights story line.  By that I mean that if you read all the previous books and then read this one, you will finally see exactly how they relate to each other.  As I’ve mentioned many times before, one can read the first three Corrosive Knights books, Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Chameleon, in any order at all without getting confused about characters or story.  With Nox, the fourth book in the series, I began to show the relationship between both Mechanic and Chameleon.

With this upcoming book, readers will see the interrelationship between all four previous Corrosive Knights books.  But more to the point: I think its a great story and if you enjoyed the previous books in the series, you should like this one.

I’m very excited and will work really hard to get this out as quickly as possible.

I can’t wait to see what you guys and gals out there think about it.

The Blog of E. R. Torre