tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15016882862815283052024-03-12T23:33:08.997-07:00Stark Raving AdventureblogThe business of Ideas and Creativity from a television writer, storyboard guy, sometime cartoonist and recovering comedian.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-84016662762121946512015-06-14T12:16:00.003-07:002015-06-14T21:52:09.757-07:00"VOCAL SUPPORT - SING OUT LOUD AT JILL'S LIVING ROOM" <br />
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We're back and blogging with a special GUEST POST about something I have been involved in for five years. And this night never fails to lift my artistic spirits and give me a boost of much needed positive energy...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Red Sandcastle owner Rosemary Doyle and singers bring the house down at JLR.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">JILL'S LIVING ROOM </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">CELEBRATES WITH SONG</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Monthly Open Mic Keeps Toronto's Musical Theatre Lovers Singing For 5 Years</b></span></i></span></h4>
<span style="color: #741b47;">Jill’s Living Room doesn’t take place in an actual living room. The monthly musical-theatre open mic happens in a darkened East End theatre space, replete with showbiz lighting, plenty of seats and a piano.<br /><br />But like a friend’s living room, the event has a laid-back, friendly vibe that has attracted amateur and professional singers alike since 2010. On Monday, June 29, Jill’s Living Room—which founder Jill Léger bills as a “safe place to sing”—will celebrate its fifth anniversary.<br /><br />“I started Jill’s Living Room kind of selfishly,” says Léger, who is also a songwriter-lyricist. “In 2010, I had just started taking voice lessons and was looking for a place where I could publicly try out some of the techniques I was learning and not feel embarrassed if I couldn’t hit a note or if I forgot to breathe. And as a songwriter, I also wanted a place where I could sometimes test-drive my own material.”<br /><br />Léger floated the idea of starting her own open mic with her voice teacher, East End instructor Louisa Burgess Corbett. Corbett liked the idea and agreed to help populate the event with her students.<br /><br />The first “JLR” took place in a rehearsal space at the Second City Training Centre in downtown Toronto. Attendance was sporadic in the early days but picked up as word of mouth spread. Today, Léger said that a typical evening draws about 15 singers, each performing up to two songs in the allotted two hours.<br /><br />JLR relocated to the <a href="http://redsandcastletheatre.com/">Red Sandcastle Theatre</a> on Queen East in 2012. Not only was the new venue closer to Léger’s Little India home, but owner Rosemary Doyle was especially supportive, agreeing to man the box office and help with set up.<br /><br />“I always say Rosemary is a friend to all artists,” says Léger, who produced a revue of her own music at the Red Sandcastle in 2012. “She really worked with me, helping ensure it could work from a financial standpoint. She’s also spread the word about what we’re doing.”<br /><br />Léger knew the event would work only if she could hire top-drawer piano accompanists--musicians skilled enough to make even the most fledgling singer feel supported and comfortable. Her current roster of accompanists includes Stratford’s Michael Barber, impresario Chris Tsujiuchi, the Shaw Festival’s Paul Moody, versatile accompanist Julia Sunay and jazz recording artist Jim Clayton.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><br />Léger said the night continues to attract performers of all ages and levels, and the songs they choose are always an agreeably eclectic mix—though most hew to the musical-theatre genre<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jill's Living Room founder Jill Leger takes the spotlight.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">“We have kids get up and belt tunes from ‘Annie,’” Léger said. “We have folks in their 60s doing standards. We have first-time performers and people who have sung on Broadway. At a typical JLR, you will probably hear at least one song by Jason Robert Brown, Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim. But you will also hear material that’s under the radar, maybe a song by Flanders and Swann, Randy Newman or Tom Lehrer. I sometimes think of renaming the event ‘What’s that from?’ because so many times someone performs some obscure, fabulous gem and everyone then wants to know the details so they can look it up.”<br /><br />Like Léger herself, many also perform original pieces, sometimes tunes slated for SummerWorks or the Fringe. Musicians occasionally accompany themselves on piano, guitar, ukelele or (once) harmonica. The night usually includes at least one singalong, and sometimes there’s even cake.<br /><br />“It’s always a great time,” said Léger, who added that non-singers are more than welcome. “You don’t have to be one of the singers to enjoy it. For my money, it’s the best show in town for ten bucks.”<br /><br />But of course, Léger hopes it can be more than that as well.<br /><br />“JLR is fundamentally about safety,” she said. “It’s about creating a space full of love and support where people can feel safe to sing out—to polish delivery or technique, rekindle a dream or simply share music that’s personally meaningful.”<br /><br />She added that JLR is also about community.<br /><br />“For those of us in love with the genre of musical theatre, there is really nothing quite like gathering in a darkened space to celebrate the music and the wordplay with like-minded individuals,” she said. “There’s always lots of laughter and hugs, and sometimes tears, but only the good kind. I always leave JLR feeling like Gene Kelly, dancing up the sidewalk.”<br /><br />Jill’s Living Room takes place the last Monday of every month at the <a href="http://redsandcastletheatre.com/">Red Sandcastle Theatre</a>, 922 Queen St. East, 8pm to 10pm. Everyone who attends is asked to pay $10 at the door to cover the space and the accompanist.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Live the adventure!</span>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-74872888893776039462011-07-17T10:54:00.000-07:002011-08-14T18:54:22.065-07:00Toronto Fringe Reviews - THE SOAPS and MISPRINT<span style="font-size:100%;">Managed to catch a few shows at the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.fringetoronto.com">Toronto Fringe Festival</a>.
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<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nwKx-MHfdqiwP4kGeuLWyFfGnzBKVILLufHXym2qc20VlL29Cs22lUup3Bp8L5jmFQ0e73Dnvl_TvLgypNxdK2AkpUlW0yAonznU72mIUbCFwuMkR3dr0cdDYGG8MlVbOa6IkiiRu1MB/s1600/SOAPS_poster_FRINGE.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nwKx-MHfdqiwP4kGeuLWyFfGnzBKVILLufHXym2qc20VlL29Cs22lUup3Bp8L5jmFQ0e73Dnvl_TvLgypNxdK2AkpUlW0yAonznU72mIUbCFwuMkR3dr0cdDYGG8MlVbOa6IkiiRu1MB/s320/SOAPS_poster_FRINGE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630385271408844354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">The Soaps was a terrific improvised Fringe Show filled to brimming with the veteran, comedic/improv talent that is the</span> <a href="http://www.thenationaltheatreoftheworld.com/Welcome.html">National Theatre of the World</a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">. The soap opera framework is a perfect venue to showcase the kind of oddball characters and ridiculous plot twists that improv thrives and the cast obviously enjoy playing with each other.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">With so many quick wits on the stage, there is a danger of a show like this becoming too static and verbal. For me, the most extraordinary moments occurred when the performers strayed out of their heads and let their bodies lead them to new heights of hilarity. A brief scene of a custodian character learning how to actually stop working and sit down in a chair for the first time in his life, while reacting to his first touch of a woman (as she helps him sit) was particularly delightful.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">The Soaps isn't just happening at the Fringe. It's one of a series of ongoing NTotW shows happening regularly in Toronto. Check out</span> <a href="http://www.thenationaltheatreoftheworld.com/Welcome.html">their website</a> <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">to see what's coming up.</span>
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<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cX-_A0a9jh_o3CVKTWgc3j4YLey7b2vUChxHghsQT5J5OgaVVQ3NPZydFT9LfJMY50AQQs1oQRm_BIff3XozFgvtEavM_qVCSoOeINxiuGWN1kMC0p_LXiA2-ZgJ6pxzayQZeVvo2PO8/s1600/ThefinalMisprint%2525282%252529.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cX-_A0a9jh_o3CVKTWgc3j4YLey7b2vUChxHghsQT5J5OgaVVQ3NPZydFT9LfJMY50AQQs1oQRm_BIff3XozFgvtEavM_qVCSoOeINxiuGWN1kMC0p_LXiA2-ZgJ6pxzayQZeVvo2PO8/s320/ThefinalMisprint%2525282%252529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630385415916714546" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:100%;">On Friday afternoon, I saw a work with a ton of potential both onstage and off. It's not surprising that MISPRINT, "A comic book musical comedy" by Lauren Toffin and Yan Li, was chosen pick of the Fringe for its venue, the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse.
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<br /></span> <style>@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">There is an extraordinary amount of talent on display in Misprint – a musical take-off of an Archie-esque comic book town. For musicality and ambition this show can't be beat. The cast is uniformly talented. Every number is superbly brought to life by a delightful cast and a wonderful mix of voices. Particular stand-outs are Kristen Sehn and Laren Toffan, who bring their polar-opposite, cartoon girlfriend characters to exquisite, three-dimensional life.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Composer Yan Li's musical ability is undeniable. Like many young composers, the work owes too great debt to Sondheim-esque grandiosity at times. But most young musicians don't have this kind of talent to back that up. Li’s lyrics are also incredibly mature, carrying delightful rhyme schemes that scan sublimely, punctuating his points without hitting you over the head.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">The play starts out smashingly with three knockout numbers that intrigue with the depth lying underneath what initially seem like cardboard characters. I invested in these characters immediately and eagerly waited to see their story unfold. But I was disappointed when the play seemed to veer away from story and character for a confusing commentary on living in comic book Hell that leads in circles.
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<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Artist Alex Toth once said, “I spent the first half of my career learning what to put into my art, and the second half learning what to leave out.” Like all great art, Misprint shines best at its most simple. Halfway though the craziness, the play pauses for a delicate love song revealing the heartbreak of remaining in the background, deftly balancing the humanity of the character with a matching comic book conceit. For a brief, shining moment, I cared about the characters again.
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<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Even with the unfortunate change in direction Misprint never fails to entertain and is worth rushing out to see ASAP. There is a respect for the musical genre and level of craft on display here that is truly rare. Heck, two days later the music is still bouncing in my head. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> But these characters and this show could have lived on in our hearts and minds for long after the curtain closed.
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<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:100%;">I look forward to seeing what comes in Misprint's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">next issue!</span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Live the adventure.</span></p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-43466488272952503232010-04-05T06:26:00.000-07:002010-04-05T06:31:04.219-07:00The Toronto Screenwriting Conference - Spend a weekend with the creators of the Simpsons, Arrested Development, How I met Your Mother, etc.<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/PRFypgCUuyDBpP1Ri-8FH7YmJrhsdQzwg2FXvhXgQ0t2Ge5KaxxkKrvD4iLzCtPFQ3V1kTqW8x4BSBOFRJYXBJnVW*p55zeL/ryerson4.jpg" alt="" height="284" width="435" /></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.torontoscreenwritingconference.com"><br /></a><a href="http://www.torontoscreenwritingconference.com">The TORONTO SCREENWRITING CONFERENCE 2010</a><br /><br />April 10th and 11th <i>(This weekend!!!)</i><br />The Ted Rogers School of Management<br />55 Dundas Street W.<br />Toronto<br /><br />More information at <a href="http://www.torontoscreenwritingconference.com">their website</a>.<br /><br /><br />A good friend has organized this sucker and if anyone is interested in pro writing it's worth a look. It's the first one but they didn't do much advance advertising so I'm sure there is still room.<br /><br /><br />The Guest Speaker List (with a focus on Q&A's) is pretty awesome and there are some great genre names! These are great people to get in front of:<br /><br /><br /><b>Rhett Reese</b> (Monsters Inc. Zombieland, Deadpool, Earth vs Moon, G.I. Joe 2)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/uVKL5W5mqWnm043keqooReCyOwOVFY3cMOo*yWuKe152LALu8zmjcIjwLUe5nNYS-IZPDWXEPR21*kBy--e4slFAB6gSdSo7/rhett_small.jpg" alt="" height="211" width="180" /></p><br /><br /><b>Tim Long</b> (The Simpsons, The Late Show with David Letterman)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 182px; height: 274px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/BVMm5VKGHLEt0Pd0iA8CMKNgXhdrQBmkXLv5UR1wwtilQlrmKbXZUDXgG2U*ZUN-0VHAR3-AtOtwOyHxXmr-wQdAjGvyusZg/TimLong2.jpeg" alt="" /></p><br /><br /><b>Chuck Tatham</b> (Arrested Development, Andy Barker P.I., How I Met YourMother, Shrek 3 and sadly, punch up work on Wild hogs - a thankless task if ever there was one.)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 179px; height: 226px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/XnzMSBI7pPs33iIqHM*CnzDw0E1AhB2R7z83eLoy3RBmKzex3999a9kr7P8yScAfh26*kRav5yueqBDWdTDUgcOcRpqCbnh8/tatham_chuck.jpg" alt="" /></p><br /><br /><b>Robert Cooper</b> (PSI Factor, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe and the only guy in my film class years ago that you could actually point to and say he'd be successful. How I hate him!)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 188px; height: 291px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/r7C98mn*LtmXTLcn6lONk15eLQVpBPN3*V5uLpINGB*4AYtgfPg43J-4gG7S*a3ipzQwYxveDvGs52RYOsA-MFg38ak2m1JH/rob.jpg" alt="" /></p><br /><br /><b>Rob Zotnowski</b> (Sam Raimi's producing partner and head of Drama Development for CBS, who recently helped open the door for Canadian shows in US prime time. He's the guy who helped bring us all the CSI's, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, Flashpoint, Ghost Whisperer, Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 190px; height: 284px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/BVMm5VKGHLGTjVO6hsX7sh*7RyiscKuwOAxui3Ez9*J7kmRlOd4ZM-cEdqz29lLGOb6uM7kr8TmZ3b3GUHHLFWAhJghkBMeY/RobZotnowski.JPG.jpeg" alt="" /></p><br /><br /><b>Sheldon Bull</b> (Old School creator with a ton of experience like Coach, Newhart and er, Sabrina the Teenage Witch)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 191px; height: 285px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/3d*DkaJ9ifhCkboOz2-Mz6kRf9s0zmUpj6wBXIX586pfcQSC4IONFd4ctSHAKUMHfGZ9hqt9UDDYvTPrgXK4fVINplxhI1V0/sheldon.jpg" alt="" /></p><br /><br /><b>Ellen Sandler</b> (Coach, Everybody Loves Raymond and the book <i>The TV Writer's Workbook</i>)<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 190px; height: 253px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/PRFypgCUuyAAEMLMii-Qf5d1z7Iqhf63NrqACmAfOf5ezzXeTelUlAlKlfBiQy7WBxC0s0nG2FtM4GkbLLtkWcmEXEGEFUjc/ellen.jpg" alt="" /></p><br />Rounding out the event are some high-profile working script consultants and authors.<br /><br />Jump in while it's hot!<br /><br />Live the adventure!Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-67278205754602248952010-03-04T20:05:00.001-08:002010-03-04T20:08:07.882-08:00Writer’s Blockhead 01: A Working Writer’s Bulletin Board<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwkBpXmUETR2ntPJew1aiBMd4wTs-O1j1Z4sqH-BNudGQ9BfMBq2S6V0rQxm-NHRj5AjcI5gteGRs644IaIkWOtTiOsLgwOCe1LZvpZj4ZLVC6hnh-SHrKwHRFSO1OxZcMWvBrxfGuPqg/s1600-h/BulletinBoard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 483px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwkBpXmUETR2ntPJew1aiBMd4wTs-O1j1Z4sqH-BNudGQ9BfMBq2S6V0rQxm-NHRj5AjcI5gteGRs644IaIkWOtTiOsLgwOCe1LZvpZj4ZLVC6hnh-SHrKwHRFSO1OxZcMWvBrxfGuPqg/s400/BulletinBoard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444996095164309954" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>Originally posted on the new <a href="http://canimation.wordpress.com/">Canimation Blog</a>, maintained by Canadian animation writers.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-21042284937826110452010-02-02T05:57:00.000-08:002010-02-02T11:28:39.481-08:00Remembering JD Salinger - Catcher in the Rye author is a unifying and devisive figure<div style="color: #38761d;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfI32YfUZLaNJ9xU8v1q3YtrhxRONGxSHtHoB7u8kazKUUk68RpjJNFhx0mqayBbT-b-GgV_iS7FntPmcHxX04A5OZWBXrPuAQGkwQL0fxAJe9y8BU6ULPPLsaUDdl8VSWDjMeC9F5jgt/s1600-h/JDSalinger-150dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfI32YfUZLaNJ9xU8v1q3YtrhxRONGxSHtHoB7u8kazKUUk68RpjJNFhx0mqayBbT-b-GgV_iS7FntPmcHxX04A5OZWBXrPuAQGkwQL0fxAJe9y8BU6ULPPLsaUDdl8VSWDjMeC9F5jgt/s400/JDSalinger-150dpi.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>"There is a marvellous peace in not publishing.... Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."- J. D. Salinger to the New York Times, 1974</i></div></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the passing this week of the western world’s most famous recluse author, J. D. Salinger, people are falling all over themselves to put into a perspective the work of a man who hasn’t published since the June 19, 1965 issue of the New Yorker (Hapworth 16, 1924). I’ve kept my linking for this limited to the two papers I read over the weekend, the National Post and the Globe and Mail, which provide a nice cross-section of coverage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Robert Fulford of the Post had a nice, balanced analysis of Salinger’s most famous work, 1951’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Catcher-Rye-J-D-Salinger/dp/0316769177?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">The Catcher in the Rye</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0316769177" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />,</span> in his article, <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=384a0c28-d296-43d5-8878-9b7c6f43a1f1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">JD Salinger: A generation’s silent hero</span></a>. By comparing and contrasting Catcher with another beloved, American story of disaffected youth, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, he illuminates strengths and weaknesses of the book.</div><blockquote><div style="color: #38761d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDYyjcVpaAJTkIbNzmaKyuHAEGou7VvEmEzt8CYHcqkaboN7hoXpOExq7m1-tKACTsZ55bK0SDA108SGRQU7VTdVxIGXcUpNrJaTjr7s0CqWzswBLtkpEh_tNsgu6yh4f41RSPsA2FOfv/s1600-h/Huckleberry_Finn_book.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDYyjcVpaAJTkIbNzmaKyuHAEGou7VvEmEzt8CYHcqkaboN7hoXpOExq7m1-tKACTsZ55bK0SDA108SGRQU7VTdVxIGXcUpNrJaTjr7s0CqWzswBLtkpEh_tNsgu6yh4f41RSPsA2FOfv/s200/Huckleberry_Finn_book.JPG" width="164" /></a><i></i><br />
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<i><div style="text-align: justify;">"Both books have enormous charm and a fine sense of period. But Huck acts out a tormenting moral problem, a conflict between what society has taught him (slaves are the private property of their owner) and what he comes to believe (decency demands he help Jim go free). It's at once a personal dilemma and the gravest ethical issue of 19th-century American life. Holden Caulfield, on the other hand, worries about personal authenticity and expresses his dislike of the "phonies" he runs into. They are both troubled young fellows, but the troubles of Huck are universal, the troubles of Holden limited to a certain kind of American adolescent."</div></i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Conspiracy theories abound as to why Salinger fled the public eye so many years ago. And we’re about to see a torrent of them in the media.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In his Globe and Mail remembrance, <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/salinger-gave-us-the-gospel-of-holden/article1448638/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Salinger gave us the gospel of Holden</span></a>, author Andrew Pyper (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Girls-Andrew-Pyper/dp/0440235464?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Lost Girls</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0440235464" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, The Wildfire Circle, The Killing Season) calls Catcher’s protagonist Holden Caulfield <i style="color: #38761d;">“America’s Hamlet”</i><span style="color: #38761d;">.</span> And in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/01/29/chris-wilson-salinger-s-final-battle.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Salinger’s final battle</span></a>, writer Chris Wilson admits he loves Salinger <i style="color: #38761d;">“far too much to write about him with any perspective.”</i><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a clever angle on the story every journalist alive is weighing in on, Wilson decides to use “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raise-High-Roof-Carpenters-Seymour/dp/0316766941?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Seymour: An Introduction</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0316766941" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />”, one of Salinger’s own stories, to eulogize his beloved author. But Wilson then admits to finding Salinger’s last story barely readable and finds much meaning in the experience. Wilson finds confirmation in his reaction in Steven Marcus’s 1963 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-York-Review-Of-Books/dp/B00007G2SO?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">New York Review of Books</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00007G2SO" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> summary of the tale. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“Written in a prose so self-consciously arch and cloying as to be almost impenetrable, it circles and loops about itself and gets nowhere. Obsessed with the character and the suicide of Seymour, Salinger seems on the one hand in danger of being swallowed up by the myth he has created.”</i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One can almost see Wilson nodding sagely as he uncovered this loaded quote. He goes on to summarize Salinger’s final story starring Seymour Glass, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/HAPWORTH-1924-June-1965-Yorker/dp/B000PGW43K?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Hapworth 16, 1924</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000PGW43K" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />.</div><blockquote><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“As any devoted Salinger sleuth has discovered in the catacombs of some university library, he published a final story two years later in The New Yorker titled Hapworth 16, 1924, which takes the form of a letter from a seven-year-old Seymour Glass to his parents from summer camp. The story is grating, ponderous, and, I find, unreadable; I’ve never made it through more than 5,000 of the 30,000 words.</i></div></div><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>If we needed any more evidence that Buddy — or Salinger — was on the brink with Seymour, then Hapworth is it. If he has been writing for the past 40 years, I fear it was more of the same.”</i></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">A bit overwrought perhaps?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">First of all, it takes little, if any sleuthing to know when Salinger’s last story was published. We are in the era of Google after all.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Secondly Wilson’s declaration of how unreadable the final story is nicely points out how divisive Salinger was and will continue to be. If Wilson, who so boldly professed himself madly in love with Salinger in the opening paragraph of his column, can’t get through the final stories, then they must ponderous indeed, right?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">People love Salinger.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also love to hate him. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4kOtf8fmVw7e8vr9x3ARsfn1-tRZAsiLE5UAcSAU0DkWDHW41Cm-SELhf6QAlghHGCqRwgNjlX5ltYX-_ofYfnrR1Q4BSB0auCuPd0qJQnZlCXQJ3PDVOwW4qzURNed-havoiOP5KiFE/s1600-h/lg86383-21+the-catcher-in-the-rye-jd-salinger-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4kOtf8fmVw7e8vr9x3ARsfn1-tRZAsiLE5UAcSAU0DkWDHW41Cm-SELhf6QAlghHGCqRwgNjlX5ltYX-_ofYfnrR1Q4BSB0auCuPd0qJQnZlCXQJ3PDVOwW4qzURNed-havoiOP5KiFE/s320/lg86383-21+the-catcher-in-the-rye-jd-salinger-poster.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Face it, judging JDS has been a nice, cottage industry for the literary-inclined for many, many years. And like the retort of a starter’s pistol, Salinger’s death has kicked that into overdrive. The Literati are eager to draw their personal line in the sand and pile on the praise or just pile on.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679781498" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679781498" style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-bottom-width: medium !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: medium !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: medium !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: medium !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></a>The National Post start the negative coverage with Mark Medley’s <a href="http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/afterword/archive/2010/01/29/not-everyone-loved-j-d-salinger.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Not everyone loved J.D. Salinger</span></a>, which reveals that novelist Bret Eaton Ellis (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Less-Than-Zero-Easton-Ellis/dp/0679781498?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Less Than Zero</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005V9IH" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Attraction-Bret-Easton-Ellis/dp/067978148X?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Rules of Attraction</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=067978148X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/American-Psycho-Bret-Easton-Ellis/dp/0679735771?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">American Psycho</span> </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679735771" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lunar-Park-Bret-Easton-Ellis/dp/0375727272?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Lunar Park</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375727272" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />) twittered, <i style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“Yeah!! Thank God he's finally dead. I've been waiting for this day for-f--king-ever. Party tonight!!!"</span> </i>Not really surprising reaction I suppose, given Ellis’ delight in literary shock value.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jay McInerney <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-My-Life-Jay-McInerney/dp/0679722572?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">(</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Story of My Life</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679722572" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brightness-Falls-Jay-McInerney/dp/0679745327?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Brightness Falls</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679745327" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Life-Jay-McInerney/dp/0375725458?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">The Good Life</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375725458" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></span>) is quoted as telling ABC News that he doubts Salinger has written anything of value in his time out of the public eye.</div><blockquote><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>"I think there's probably a lot in there, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily what we hope it is," McInerney told the network on Thursday when asked about the contents of Salinger's legendary safe, where it's alleged he's kept his unpublished work. "Hapworth was not a traditional or terribly satisfying work of fiction. It was an insane epistolary monologue, virtually shapeless and formless. I have a feeling that his later work is in that vein."</i></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">I don’t blame McInerney for feeling less than kind to Salinger. His novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bright-Lights-Big-City-McInerney/dp/0394726413?ie=UTF8&tag=comicanuck-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Bright Lights, Big City</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=comicanuck-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0394726413" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> was compared to Catcher in the Rye when it came out, and not always favorably.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Truth is, a simple search of JD Salinger right now will likely uncover an outpouring of “What Salinger/Catcher in the Rye meant to me” postings on blogs, in articles and online forums. And beyond that you will find all sorts of curmudgeons out to diss the author. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Me? I think the people are overreacting on both sides. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fans and foes alike pore their own desires, dreams and angst into a vacuum and create Salinger in the image they desire. Their dismissal of his hackery or elevation of his status to near Godhood are often far greater barometers of their own emotional state and personal demons than of his.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To assume Salinger was unable to grow as a writer over the course of forty or more years and was stuck in his 1965 writing style and mode is utter lunacy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But neither is it sensible to assume that every piece of personal prose tucked away in his famous vault and filing cabinets is likely to be golden. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But let's face it… the published stories that are out in the world are proof enough that the man had prodigous writing talent. And if stepping away from the pressure of writing allowed him more creative freedom I can’t magine he wouldn’t improve as he went along. He also seems critical enough of his own work that I suspect -- especially over the course of forty-plus years -- he made a pretty fair editor for himself. And let's face it, people wouldn't be this obsessed if they weren't affected by his work. Such was Salinger's gift of intimacy in his writing that everyone felt they knew him through his writing. Do a few literary misteps mitigate that talent?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sNB6_6AwluHbZatHrO5ckeY7kTfkA6Du6oa35XQ3OzWPWo3q1S7D6-pROYsF9fTv2hUbFk0vd27OzL25_1AUQ5vYNemseCbo8ECU06fChvZGvFYjrOzjpgd1Ec5wHXu59Ee9jJOmc-XD/s1600-h/salingercatcher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sNB6_6AwluHbZatHrO5ckeY7kTfkA6Du6oa35XQ3OzWPWo3q1S7D6-pROYsF9fTv2hUbFk0vd27OzL25_1AUQ5vYNemseCbo8ECU06fChvZGvFYjrOzjpgd1Ec5wHXu59Ee9jJOmc-XD/s320/salingercatcher.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My favourite remembrance of Salinger so far comes from Quebec’s Eve Shea, who wrote <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/goodbye-uncle-jerry/article1449869/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Goodbye, Uncle Jerry</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"> </span>for Saturday’s Globe and Mail. It focuses not on his writing (which is all most of us have to judge him), but rather on her personal relationship with the man himself. Eve writes of being introduced to Salinger as a girl of thirteen by hr older sister and becoming fast friends and sometime pen pals.</div><blockquote><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“Jerry was reluctant to talk about his work but did tell us that he wrote every day, from early morning until lunch, and he showed us where he wrote, in a room overlooking his wooded property. We saw the typewriter that he worked on, the one that made the holes for periods in the letters that he sent me, as well as the two closet-sized fireproof safes that stored his writing. When I asked, “How is the writing going?” he said, “Oh, Evie! You don't ever ask a writer how the writing is going.”</i></div></div><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div></div><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“…Peter asked if he ever re-read his books. He told us that occasionally he pulled them off the shelf to make sure that everyone was all right.”</i></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">I think Salinger’s response to Eve asking if her boyfriend’s writer brother could correspond with him may sum up Salinger quite. While giving her an unequivocal ‘No’, Salinger is at once extremely polite, direct and self-effacing.</div><blockquote><div style="color: #38761d;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“When I wrote asking if it would be all right if Peter's brother Joe wrote to him, knowing what his answer was likely to be, he wrote back, “I'll pass up, if you don't mind, any personal exchanges with the young writer you mentioned. No loss for him. I can't think of anything good that ever comes of serious writers – that is, writers not just out for the usual big splash – knowing each other personally, and almost invariably harm, subtle or otherwise, comes of it. If this young guy matters to you, and if you sense that he wants to do some real work, on his own terms, not necessarily or even likely the world's, tell him to stay clear of everybody in the profession or on the fringes of it. My sentiments, anyway. Not, I'm aware, not altogether widely approved or thought salutary.”</i></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Eve’s personal portrait of her “Uncle Jerry” reveals an intensely shy, polite man who loved to write and enjoyed his privacy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">No conspiracies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just a man living a quiet life and a fiercely independent artist who needed the smallest audience of all… himself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Of course, the flip side to this placid view can be found in a post by journalista and author Jeet Heer, who has some interesting thoughts on Salinger by way of his daughter Margaret's memoirs. Read <a href="http://sanseverything.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/salinger-family/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Salinger & family</span></a> at Heer's <a href="http://sanseverything.wordpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Sanseverything blog</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Live the adventure.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4CuJJPFlAK_Gx5nFs3yjiZc7t29xQ-bOKd-f8GNnppFZSU2eb-cN3_2dioP0nTwez7K-5xzSI6jMhayoLyNFSOD_-MGKcIuQQ1R2udxmbySe_KKWfhTyIOkccUeMDor3ZYMU_Rfdw3sx/s1600-h/SalingerIm_Crazy_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4CuJJPFlAK_Gx5nFs3yjiZc7t29xQ-bOKd-f8GNnppFZSU2eb-cN3_2dioP0nTwez7K-5xzSI6jMhayoLyNFSOD_-MGKcIuQQ1R2udxmbySe_KKWfhTyIOkccUeMDor3ZYMU_Rfdw3sx/s320/SalingerIm_Crazy_art.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-5616776934609244422010-01-17T17:56:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:26:38.459-08:00Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien? How about the Tonight Show with Craig Ferguson?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMZGHGmGGdx2yEwfUJxsAcCrEAt0mZZ2-VehwvNN4g1mk1VMBdcNxclNuvVaUoiTyL9E6nhzd3qDUZOcTgtn0Q6uJK-Nu-88U_ZbtWPpr4DhWSWX4riDwMRdnp-ibFGaEwFSAbVOMGmcp/s1600-h/craig-ferguson_l.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGkoMiN1XdgCtzyXfFRQFXZNPs-_BFSldNR3ZHf9WGmGKThJzoXwJ2gUsYkY4o1JjII-eEGkAwtVPiG_yUdZK1bowBUR9tMpVf1avWyFlLCmhD2u7BsE50iyq_kXjOtwfePqLMYMwTe5M/s1600-h/craig_ferguson_01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427907425251686770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGkoMiN1XdgCtzyXfFRQFXZNPs-_BFSldNR3ZHf9WGmGKThJzoXwJ2gUsYkY4o1JjII-eEGkAwtVPiG_yUdZK1bowBUR9tMpVf1avWyFlLCmhD2u7BsE50iyq_kXjOtwfePqLMYMwTe5M/s320/craig_ferguson_01.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 286px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 191px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">With NBC late-night airing its dirty laundry for the past week, everyone has been piling on Jay Leno and Carson Daly, as my last post, <a href="http://starkravingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/01/tonight-show-leno-or-conan.html">Tonight Show - Leno or Conan?</a>, shows. Oddly, both shows have been doing fine for NBC, raking in cash even at reduced ratings due to their relative cheapness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Carson Daly's influence with younger viewers is underrated and despite airing ninety minutes later, he often gets ratings close to the suddenly-relevant-again Jimmy Kimmel. The Leno Show's ratings were more than high enough to keep it profitable simply because it cost a fraction of five ten p.m. dramas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But ultimately, this new war for late-night's most coveted time slot has revealed cracks in the talk show format itself. I confess, I can comfortably watch Letterman, especially when he's pissed off about something and Conan is a writer's comic, with a terrific appreciation of what has gone before and a delightful sense of the surreal. But they're still doing the same thing over and over.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are not headlining talk shows per se, they're lampooning the news and serving a healthy dose of satire every weeknight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: 19px;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427907610776148018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMZGHGmGGdx2yEwfUJxsAcCrEAt0mZZ2-VehwvNN4g1mk1VMBdcNxclNuvVaUoiTyL9E6nhzd3qDUZOcTgtn0Q6uJK-Nu-88U_ZbtWPpr4DhWSWX4riDwMRdnp-ibFGaEwFSAbVOMGmcp/s320/craig-ferguson_l.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 206px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 154px;" /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2010/01/17/late_night_talk_shows_arent_worth_the_fight/">Boston Globe</a> describes hilariously, vicious comic Chelsea Handler's show on E! as turning "celebrity-watching into a blood sport for laughs." I find Chelsea absolutey hilarious. But she's so relentless and (let's face it) mean spirited I only catch her once or twice a month.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So who's left?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why, my one, late-night, talk show, true love, standing proud and true - <a href="http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_late_show/">The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Night after night Ferguson takes giddy delight in his show and that energy is contagious. The difference is evident even in terms of his monologue, a much more personalized experience than those delivered by his peers. Ferguson treats the viewers and his studio audience like his mates, inviting us all to join in the fun in a playful, conspiratorial tone. Ferguson doesn't hit his mark the way others hosts do, choosing instead to resist the formality of a stationary delivery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The camera is raised several inches above eye level, looking down on Craig with, I think, a wide angle lens so we see the set behind him. This allows Ferguson to look up at the camera and the audience and keep his notes out of site below. But it also allows him to move around in the frame, sometimes backing away and sometimes leaning right into the lens to mug or share some some tid-bit, just between himself and several million of his dearest friends.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p9MrRmSsF_0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p9MrRmSsF_0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Craig's delight in comedy is infectious and he's tremendously skilled at keeping you on your toes. He can zoom from serious to silly in a snap and keep you riveted. Recently, the Philidelphia Weekly's Cup O' Joel blog summed up Craig better than I ever could in this post - <a href="http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/politics/2010/01/08/screw-jay-leno-and-meh-to-conan-obrien-watch-craig-ferguson-instead/">Screw Jay Leno and meh to Conan O'Brien: watch Craig Ferguson instead</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The honesty in Ferguson's meandering, storytelling comic style draws you in. And how many talk show hosts would choose to do as candid a monologue as Ferguson's President's Day appeal from one comic to his audience and one alcoholic to any alcoholic who may be watching? Now, how many comics could do it and still score real, deserved laughs?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Astonishing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But hey, don't take my word for it. South African Archbishop <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/moviesandtv/ci_11961803">Desmond Tutu agrees, Craig Ferguson is crazy</a>. No fooling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I rest my case and will turn over the final comments to Mr. Ferguson himself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this monologue from last week Craig puts this late night flap into perspective.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/27LDh7BBK_4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/27LDh7BBK_4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Live the adventure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-2551623973317341022010-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:27:01.794-08:00Tonight Show - Leno or Conan?<link href="file://localhost/Users/robertpincombe/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List" style="color: #ff99ff; font-weight: bold;"></link> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ff99ff; font-weight: bold;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #ff99ff; font-weight: bold;">Conan and Leno’s battle for late-night is waking up ratings and putting me to sleep</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: 130%;"></span><br />
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</span></div></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRpDqWoaTgpDWIdCHfnUU681xXxwBpkXc4PqBlJiHp_kMxvszPM6OyT5Rip5GgYgU3AzKdB5z5GOiFoya0ZzwlBvIj7cywU2pnZhAt9GFqPmNd_41bQD12Olcmhw0fM8-P_oL1s3xzGff/s1600-h/conan-and-jay.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427855564435105698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRpDqWoaTgpDWIdCHfnUU681xXxwBpkXc4PqBlJiHp_kMxvszPM6OyT5Rip5GgYgU3AzKdB5z5GOiFoya0ZzwlBvIj7cywU2pnZhAt9GFqPmNd_41bQD12Olcmhw0fM8-P_oL1s3xzGff/s320/conan-and-jay.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 176px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">NBC’ s embarrassingly public mishandling of its late night line-up may be the best thing to happen to late night talk shows across the board in years. Without exception, viewers have been treated to a higher level of engagement and energy from the various hosts and seeming interactivity. For the first time in a long while, the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2010/01/14/nbc-late-night-leno-obrien.html">opening monologues</a> seem to actually old personal meaning for each of them. <br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34900332/ns/entertainment-television/">Ratings are up</a> as well, especially Conan's, as viewers tune in to see who will go the farthest in the battle of the gags and check out what may be Conan’s final week in the Tonight Show chair. Seeing hosts bite that hands that feed them (and the hand that takes the food away) is exactly the kind of real, live drama so-called “reality television” has been attempting to fake for years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US">Death Knell for Late Night TV?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">But for all the viewer excitement this oh-so public internal spat provides, it has also clarified how staid late-night network television has become. NBC won’t miss me if I stop watching, mostly because I stopped watching long ago with one exception (I’ll get to that) in favour of Comedy Central’s Daily Show and Colbert The Report. Due to their focus on current affairs and lampooning of the news show format, they feel more connected to my day to day experience. A rerun of Letterman, Leno or Conan is dated only by what movie or album their guests are pimping that week. For the most part the monologues and sketches over the years are pretty interchangeable. <br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">So then it’s just a matter of what taste you like your comedy bits in, Leno’s comfortable, gentle humour (remember when he had an actual “angry” edge to his work? Me either. It was so very, very long ago.), Letterman’s curmudgeonly, axe-grinding mugging or Conan’s mix of sublime, reference-based humour and collegiate buffoonery. I can’t really lump Jimmy Fallon into this mix. While likable and somewhat funny, he’s not a comic and seems to lack the ability to adjust and riff when his bits fail. And the monologue jokes seem like cast-offs from his competitors writing rooms.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/">The Buffalo News</a>’ Arts Editor Jeff Simon opined the loss of late night spontaneity in his Friday commentary, “<a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/923517.html">Hilarity ensues on late night</a>”. Simon points to Ricky Gervais’ Puckish appearance on the Tonight Show last week as an example of one comic with nothing to lose making fun of the situation opposite another comic with a great deal to lose.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333;"></span></div><blockquote style="color: #cc66cc;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; text-align: justify;">That’s when “Golden Globe” plugger Gervais came out to demonstrate to O’Brien the glorious comic art of laughing it up and partying down. “What are you going to do?” he asked O’-Brien. “I’m really worried about you. I’m not being funny [psst. Yes he was]. You’ve got no discernible skills . . . You couldn’t do manual work. You’ve never lifted anything in your life.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; text-align: justify;">Maybe he could be a lifeguard, offered O’Brien, trying to play along. Said Gervais, “Your skin would dazzle ships. You’re the whitest man I’ve ever seen.” When he takes all his clothes off, he’s probably “translucent,” said Gervais.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">His message to O’Brien was to “go mental” on the show and put his moribund act aside during the interview. But O’Brien just couldn’t do it. Gervais’ hilarity clearly cut too close to the bone. The certifiable grown-up and well-mannered comedy patrician in him took over.</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Simon’s point that Conan “going wild” and bucking expectations the way Gervais likes to do misses the mark somewhat. Gervais’ preferred form of confrontational humour can be quite grating when overused and Conan has to appeal to a broad range of viewers. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">But as the last late-night host to inject anything remotely fresh into the format, Conan did seem to be relying on comfortable tricks to hedge his bets. Perhaps Conan’s respect for “the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting” (as he refers to the Tonight Show in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/conan-obrien-statement-i_n_420521.html">Conan’s statement </a>to the people of earth) made him hesitant to embrace the more absurd aspects of his humour.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Conan: Heir to a proud Tonight Show history</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Truthfully, of all the Tonight Show wannabes (Leno, Conan, Letterman and once upon a time, Joan Rivers), Conan’s writing background and love of absurdity had the most potential to revamp the show and bring something unique to the format (Though some would argue the point, as this blog post insisting former Tonight Show hosts are <a href="http://618rants.blogspot.com/2009/05/spinning-in-their-graves.html">spinning in their graves</a>! It would appear Conan’s appeal lies upon definite generational lines).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qXo7Vmh4wAlZKMTnQXmkaeQ-wkfqtUyz0Aazj5J_EwHWN6b8bE-N5zQd3K9zsmLgvf9rBsTVz7zDLqxMK7R96ME8tA0y6ZxeWwe0nREN6PcBw2s_dJO71tFN3ppm6iKCpFrRuE-ejEoX/s1600-h/steve_on_phone.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427837589470473410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qXo7Vmh4wAlZKMTnQXmkaeQ-wkfqtUyz0Aazj5J_EwHWN6b8bE-N5zQd3K9zsmLgvf9rBsTVz7zDLqxMK7R96ME8tA0y6ZxeWwe0nREN6PcBw2s_dJO71tFN3ppm6iKCpFrRuE-ejEoX/s320/steve_on_phone.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 201px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 250px;" /></a><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.steveallenonline.com/">Steve Allen </a>and <a href="http://erniekovacs.blogspot.com/2009/04/ernie-tonight-another-nairobi-trio-ek.html">Ernie Kovacs</a> were arguably the last pair to bring actual innovation to the Tonight Show. <a href="http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=paarjack"> </a><a href="http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=paarjack">Jack Parr</a> brought the show to a new level based on his personality, wit and authenticity. <a href="http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/">Johnny Carson</a> took that recipe and turned the show into a cultural institution over his unprecedented thirty-year stint.</div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">But Jeff Simon isn’t the only one pointing out the lack of innovation in late night. Articles like “<a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2010/01/17/late_night_talk_shows_arent_worth_the_fight/">Late-night talk shows aren’t worth the fight</a>” by <a href="http://www.boston.com/">Boston Globe</a> writer <a href="http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=Matthew+Gilbert&camp=localsearch:on:byline:art">Matthew Gilbert</a> are adding their voice to the lament.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><link href="file://localhost/Users/robertpincombe/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link> <style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgha-irBcYqvRWJgEXi8_eYXFEyI5iZkdYypaQ8_pyWpOO3sTrpzK8PixuuTwuMfkHR5lHp1R9KorGpWoWoBokqwsxq72MDSsl8ZA6yKqVLW3q38t_9JUANT6ttb_YOOKUfeHIQwR_gso8/s1600-h/kovacs02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"> <br />
</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgha-irBcYqvRWJgEXi8_eYXFEyI5iZkdYypaQ8_pyWpOO3sTrpzK8PixuuTwuMfkHR5lHp1R9KorGpWoWoBokqwsxq72MDSsl8ZA6yKqVLW3q38t_9JUANT6ttb_YOOKUfeHIQwR_gso8/s1600-h/kovacs02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427838271150607506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgha-irBcYqvRWJgEXi8_eYXFEyI5iZkdYypaQ8_pyWpOO3sTrpzK8PixuuTwuMfkHR5lHp1R9KorGpWoWoBokqwsxq72MDSsl8ZA6yKqVLW3q38t_9JUANT6ttb_YOOKUfeHIQwR_gso8/s320/kovacs02.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 259px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 205px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc66cc; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">In the past decade, late-night network TV seems to have been running on automatic pilot, with requisite and uneven stand-up monologues, vapid promotional interviews, and predictably kooky shorts. There are flashes of life here and there, of course, many of them from Ferguson and his outrageous bluntness. But after strikingly original developments by Letterman and O’Brien in the 1980-’90s, the format has just settled into being a kind of merry-go-round of variety- and talk-show conventions while the house bands play on. Even Letterman’s and O’Brien’s current shows are short on the post-bedtime anything-goes vibe that late night cries out for.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="color: #cc66cc;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc66cc; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">This inertia is part of the reason the “Leno Experiment’’ failed so miserably. What we saw when Jay Leno essentially relocated his 11:35 p.m. “Tonight Show’’ to 10 p.m. was the ugly truth about late night. In the brighter light of prime time, we could see how weak and unimaginative so much of the networks’ post-news TV - and so much of Leno’s work in particular - has become.</span></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US">Leno and Conan – Even the winner will lose</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">I feel for Leno and Conan. This is a situation not of their own making. Leno was actually gracious when making his move to 10 pm, making room for Conan to take over his Tonight Show chair with little fuss and loads of positivity. And I doubt it was his idea to cancel his new show and move back. But he’s a comic and needs a gig. And if NBC is offering him the premiere late-night again, why shouldn’t he take it? <br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSAOc35x4enZlpTYeVKB7BVpAYopdgy6yLLtikRuqoMSovq91RvB_8YnThpouZyGp8indK1BKCXdN-OJoQGrSUVMWVOpY6rNbySnh_Hspwd0HKRbOw-x_mxTYUzUpOIzwgM2ig3nb9NJDe/s1600-h/Jerry_Seinfeld.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427855782398315858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSAOc35x4enZlpTYeVKB7BVpAYopdgy6yLLtikRuqoMSovq91RvB_8YnThpouZyGp8indK1BKCXdN-OJoQGrSUVMWVOpY6rNbySnh_Hspwd0HKRbOw-x_mxTYUzUpOIzwgM2ig3nb9NJDe/s320/Jerry_Seinfeld.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 132px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 132px;" /></a><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/01/jerry-seinfeld-conan-has-nothing-to-complain-about.html">Jerry Seinfeld</a> (who is coming across as more and more smug with every passing year) weighed in this week.</div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><blockquote style="color: #cc66cc;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-bottom: 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">"It was the right idea at the wrong time," Seinfeld said. "…I'm proud that NBC had the guts to try something."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-bottom: 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Asked what he would do if he was Conan O'Brien and NBC had seemingly broken its promise to let him become the network's premium late-night host, Seinfeld suggested he wouldn't complain.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">"What did the network do to him?" Seinfeld asked. "I don't think anyone's preventing people from watching Conan. Once they give you the cameras, it's on you. I can't blame NBC for having to move things around. I hope Conan stays, I think he's terrific. But there's no rules in show business, there's no refs."</span></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">You have to give Leno props. After NBC voted for Conan five years ago by promising him Leno’s chair, despite the older comic’s strong ratings, Leno took it on his robust chin and jumped at the chance for the prime time challenge they offered him as compensation. After seeing how long they gave that experiment a chance to work, Conan was disinclined to take part in another experiment so obviously designed to move him out of the way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-WFJMuZjrIGCPvUav3mwBj8_uNkDUfZv2aWzSnqYN0MaUFQtGoCpSxF5SI-7HtTquX1NfNdrwLS4vGwkTTGdcfREwVdKJRhV7PVgokgDUg_ThVf3Zvf8Fvb1TWG_OeuDSmUkdakAt44j/s1600-h/tonight-show-jay-leno.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427852865332582146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-WFJMuZjrIGCPvUav3mwBj8_uNkDUfZv2aWzSnqYN0MaUFQtGoCpSxF5SI-7HtTquX1NfNdrwLS4vGwkTTGdcfREwVdKJRhV7PVgokgDUg_ThVf3Zvf8Fvb1TWG_OeuDSmUkdakAt44j/s320/tonight-show-jay-leno.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 205px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">But the failure of Leno’s show must, at least partially, still rest on his shoulders. The cosmetic changes to Leno’s show for its move to an earlier time slot showed little inspiration and Leno himself displayed almost no comedic invention. Even his off-the-cuff remarks felt dated and scripted. He felt comfortable and entitled and not surprisingly hemorrhaged viewers to more intriguing late evening offerings of the other nets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US">NBC: "We bet on the wrong guy"</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Still, its clear NBC isn’t handling this very well. One gets the impression all this is a spastic panic response rather than real consideration for the various options. When a former NBC exec and friend of Jeff Zucker, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/business/media/15conan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">Dick Ebersol calls out Conan</a> in an incendiary interview with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a> writer <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/bill_carter/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Bill Carter</a>, things got heated quickly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><blockquote><link href="file://localhost/Users/robertpincombe/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc66cc; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Referring to the pointed jokes made this week by Mr. O’Brien and <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/david_letterman/index.html?inline=nyt-per"><span style="color: #154272;">David Letterman</span></a> of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/cbs_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org"><span style="color: #154272;">CBS</span></a>, Mr. Ebersol said it was “chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings.” Mr. Ebersol said Mr. Leno had not pushed for any of the changes, not the original decision to guarantee Mr. O’Brien the show five years in advance, nor the plan to put Mr. Leno in prime time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc66cc; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">“Jeff and I are big boys,” Mr. Ebersol said, referring to Mr. Zucker. “When we do something big in the public forum and it doesn’t succeed, we know we’ll be the butt of criticism. But you don’t personally attack someone who hasn’t done anything.” In this case, he added, “we bet on the wrong guy.”</span></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US">Conan: Doing what a comedian does best</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Ebersol is missing the point here. While his insistence that numbers did Conan in is valid, Conan targeting Leno in his monologue kind of makes sense. Remember Conan is a comedian. What he does by definition is make fun of whatever is stuck in his craw today. You follow? Conan is actually doing his job!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">As a comic and host it’s his duty to make the funny about whatever will provide him with the most comedic points at that point in time. Because of this mess, his monologue is sharper and funnier than it’s been all season and his ratings are up! He’s actually doing his job better this week than the last three months!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mMPUmIMc7BHxJlL7Gq6aQQc5BF2-9atMKrNr7y8qcGBi0hMyyrGv1PyD1Z6y503OOaYvsmpAAKg7VkzGo5KmwjV6UN_mu7EyO4C0sTFUc2d5cgVdjM1rZsGPqzOfkRjwkpVGg02tiAJ8/s1600-h/conan_o_brien.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427852804228269010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mMPUmIMc7BHxJlL7Gq6aQQc5BF2-9atMKrNr7y8qcGBi0hMyyrGv1PyD1Z6y503OOaYvsmpAAKg7VkzGo5KmwjV6UN_mu7EyO4C0sTFUc2d5cgVdjM1rZsGPqzOfkRjwkpVGg02tiAJ8/s320/conan_o_brien.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Now Conan could can make fun of the NBC executive directly but the public face of the argument is Leno. His audience doesn’t know who the hell Jeff Zucker is. So he has to go for the targets they will recognize, NBC and Leno. What Ebersol is forgetting that this crap is comedy gold.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US">NBC’s problems are bigger than Leno and Conan</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">David Letterman opined in a monologue last week, “Don’t kid yourself. It’s all about the money.” That’s true. NBC is in trouble. A <a href="http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/201001140082">study</a> has just been released that reveals <a href="http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Hereandthere/Study_Newscasts_lose_22M_with_Leno_2.asp">NBC affiliates have lost $22 million in advertising revenue</a> for their local normally lucrative newscast over the fourth quarter thanks to the Leno Show debacle. George Poague, copy editor of the <a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/">Clarksville and Fort Campbell Leaf Chronicle</a> assures us that this is a sign that “<a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100117/COLUMNISTS02/1170334">Network TV is on its last legs</a>” and many of his points are valid.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">NBC doesn’t have time to let Conan grow his numbers. They can only hope that reinserting Leno into the 11:30 will bring the numbers close to what he was pulling before the change and that somehow adds some juice to Jimmy Fallon’s unimpressive ratings. I doubt that will happen, while some may find a return to his former slot a vindication for Leno, many more will consider him damaged goods or worse, a sore winner. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">It’s too bad NBC hasn’t offered Conan an attractive alternative to the unwanted <i>later</i>-night spot. Perhaps guaranteeing his production a development deal to fill those suddenly empty time slots with shows he’s developed, opening a lucrative door and fresh creative outlet and allowing him to reinvent himself while he looks for a home for his talk show. But NBC wasn’t that creative, they hit the panic button without a suitable plan so Conan will likely take the money and run. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Leno takes it on the chin</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">So, after moving his entire crew from New York to LA, NBC and Leno look like bullies <span style="font-style: italic;">(Update: according to Deadline Hollywood, it looks like </span><a href="http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/jeff-zucker-threatens-to-ice-conan-ill-keep-you-off-the-air-for-3-12-years/" style="font-style: italic;">Conan is insisting NBC take care of staff</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> who pulled up New York stakes and moved to LA)</span> and Conan looks like a victim. Which brings to mind a really interesting thing about this whole debacle -- how many comics have landed squarely on Conan’s side. It seems like Leno is not as popular among his peers as was once thought. Nathan Rabin's <a href="http://online.wsj.com/home-page">Wall Street Journal</a> Essay, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/01/15/why-some-comics-arent-laughing-at-jay-leno-essay/">Why Some Comics Aren't Laughing At Jay Leno</a>, tries to answer why comics seemed to be lined to take potshots at him. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Take the recent guest appearance by Jimmy Kimmel on Leno's show the night after his notorious Leno impression.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_FNmWFD4oWg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_FNmWFD4oWg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Though I find it hard to believe that Leno didn’t invite Jimmy Kimmel’s hits on their 10 at 10 exchange this week (the questions were such blatant set-ups), he obviously didn’t come off as well from the bit as he’d hoped. Instead of commiserating with Leno, Kimmel put much of the blame squarely on his shoulders and practically dared Leno to come out swinging (comedically speaking). <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">But Leno never rose to the bait. If he had perhaps I would have been more interested more of what he has to offer in general. But he stayed out of the thick of it and continued his bland ways. And why not? He’s getting what he wanted all along and, rightfully, what he earned. Sadly, I think part of his appeal is what my wife and I refer to as the “Give Up” factor. Leaving the TV channel on Leno is our official announcement that there its nothing else viewable that night and at least we’ll have some friendly company while we read or do the dishes. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">That good old “Give Up” appeal allows Leno to pick up cast-offs from a large range of demographics. Enough to keep his 11:35 ratings solid put him in the chair for years to come.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #993399; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Live the adventure.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSjzYCrtqMDIgIlfDDMCQ43iNI89XBS-PiT4Bnp7rt1Q0NCNAUNXRiGTbn0-CLb0s3eIjc30CNyjtC40wMEuwURDKD7E-7SCi7o4DSBr-tjh3Nt4pN5V51QRbhWa8MdUHOij6RP0ggPrc/s1600-h/nup_104585_0041-792px.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427838834810601362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSjzYCrtqMDIgIlfDDMCQ43iNI89XBS-PiT4Bnp7rt1Q0NCNAUNXRiGTbn0-CLb0s3eIjc30CNyjtC40wMEuwURDKD7E-7SCi7o4DSBr-tjh3Nt4pN5V51QRbhWa8MdUHOij6RP0ggPrc/s320/nup_104585_0041-792px.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-34935871736187946182009-11-16T06:52:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:28:00.114-08:00By Hook or By Crook - The Prisoner's roots in Henrik Ibsen and the tyranny of blogging<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXin86So2wuIbXKU1A36UDLJnkM4V4jWXXMP_IrUfa7Keo0OaLKVpFDEkLRbIhfuSC0aRaS5ly12V92KwE4Buwzdl1TpHbHrHhRE4v3yDw1_Bh_THl7WI9myJsp6rfaOn5b9W1FtqnYCs/s1600/tp_pfb.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404707680933213298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXin86So2wuIbXKU1A36UDLJnkM4V4jWXXMP_IrUfa7Keo0OaLKVpFDEkLRbIhfuSC0aRaS5ly12V92KwE4Buwzdl1TpHbHrHhRE4v3yDw1_Bh_THl7WI9myJsp6rfaOn5b9W1FtqnYCs/s320/tp_pfb.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 250px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i>"Where am I?"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> "In the Village."</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i> "What do you want?"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> "Information."</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i> "Whose side are you on?"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> "That would be telling."</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"> "We want information...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"> I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;">nformation...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"> I</span><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;">nformation..."</span><o:p></o:p></span> </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i>"You won't get it."</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"> </span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #9999ff;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #9999ff;"><div style="text-align: justify;">"By hook or by crook, we will."</div></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i> "Who are you?"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> "The new number Two."</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i> "Who is Number One?"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> "You are Number Six."</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"><i> "I am not a number. I am a free man!"</i></span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #9999ff;"> (Mocking laughter)</span></div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;">-Weekly opening of "the Prisoner"</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9999ff;"> <br />
</span> </div><link href="file://localhost/Users/robertpincombe/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link> <style>
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</style> <span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">AMC’s six-hour miniseries remake of the Prisoner begins tonight starring Jim Caviezel (Frequency, The Count of Monte Cristo) and Ian McKellen, (Richard III, Gods and Monsters, The Scarlet Pimpernel); an ocurrence which provides me with a unique opportunity to demonstrate one of the reasons I have don’t blog as regularly as I should.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Several factors have conspired to keep me from my online duties. A great challenge is the constant juggling of television scripts in my day job. As a modern, freelance writer working mainly in animation, I’m not paying rent if I’m not writing on several shows at once. You’d be surprised how much energy and brain power it sucks out of your creative well to switch completely gears every few hours. Add to that the fact that I often work into the night when I desperately want to spend time with my new wife. The last thing I usually want to do is take more time away from her to post a blog. So that lowers the online priority for me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">And November is more or less a bust for posting because this year because, as I did last year, I am attempting to spit out a novel in celebration of National Novel Writing Month. Last year I reached the word count but never ended the story, realizing I had very specific character and theme questions to solve first. This year, I am determined to avoid that but so far other story issues are conspiring to screw me up again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">The second challenge is that I actually write three blogs (with contributions ot a fourth coming soon): Rebel Alert, Comicanuck and Stark Raving Adventure. I began rebelalert.com to post humorous Star Wars items and comics for a fake Star Wars online newspaper I created to go along with a friend’s fan film. (The film is Death Star Repairmen and the newspaper is Empire’s paper of record, The Imperial News – “All the news that’s fit to censor”.) The blog soon became a vehicle to talk about all kinds of things from a sci-fi bent. So I branched out to better cover my interests and maintain each blog’s identity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">The math on this is pretty simple. Even if I do manage a post a week, it goes to one site or the other. My personal blog on life, Stark Raving Adventure and writing often gets the short end of the stick after a comic or sci-fi. But the biggest challenge for me is my inability to write a short blog post.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1crxpVixarpOzEKHhfwZI3qS7h92-6n99XfAgdcixlo903GVDF7ytd308JyHQ-0SmZcoEedyJAgHDutC4BhTJUDYRVzW2A9iShjxSWFMPNfrfO6wFE_jzAmkD6MnkwiluXPAiwtgbYWc/s1600/15mcgoohan650.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404708586161020402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1crxpVixarpOzEKHhfwZI3qS7h92-6n99XfAgdcixlo903GVDF7ytd308JyHQ-0SmZcoEedyJAgHDutC4BhTJUDYRVzW2A9iShjxSWFMPNfrfO6wFE_jzAmkD6MnkwiluXPAiwtgbYWc/s320/15mcgoohan650.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 222px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">I have some success on this front with recent Rebel Alert posts but in general my posts tend to be much more thorough than most. I ‘m not big on just linking to an item posted somewhere. I want my blogs to be more than just a link fest. Other sites dedicated to that do it far better than I ever could. When I discover an intriguing story I usually want to more about what I’ve read or seen. I want to uncover the “story behind the story”. Inevitably I discover intriguing connections and fun questions that other sites haven’t. That is no knock on them. The connections I find are often quite idiosyncractic to my own experience and sense of humour. But it takes me a while for my brain to work through all this and then write a post that takes you on the same journey.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Case in point… I have been meaning to write about the Prisoner for some time but the ideas I wanted to explore are better suited for an MBA thesis than a blog. The sheer magnitude of what I wanted to write about kept me away.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Let me run you through it and watch how the simple summary I planned to give you can bloom into a full essay.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sv813f2Xtrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sv813f2Xtrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiez1nvm6I1bD4iVOkP5wEtkaxtIbqU9-qC53646_5DqJ_WhfTlmKAV6U05IW5GCTDlaI8oPE6gp2Xd1CuTayyeh2tH_NZ-JkGLjE2XEKT4mNjXHVOhZLnKaQPWSLzo4sHUuYpqUKB_5rI/s1600/pris1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404708954680685026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiez1nvm6I1bD4iVOkP5wEtkaxtIbqU9-qC53646_5DqJ_WhfTlmKAV6U05IW5GCTDlaI8oPE6gp2Xd1CuTayyeh2tH_NZ-JkGLjE2XEKT4mNjXHVOhZLnKaQPWSLzo4sHUuYpqUKB_5rI/s320/pris1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 179px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 239px;" /></a><span lang="EN-CA"></span></div><span lang="EN-CA"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><div style="text-align: justify;">For those of you who don’t know, American born Irish actor <a href="http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/%7Ebspooner/Prisoner/patrickmcgoohan.html" style="color: red;">Patrick McGoohan</a> was up and coming actor in the late 1950’s, eventually being named Best TV actor of the year in Britain. He rose to prominence starring as secret agent John Drake in the UK’s <a href="http://www.danger-man.co.uk/" style="color: red;">Danger Man</a><span style="color: red;"> </span>series (titled Secret Agent in the US) for four seasons before growing bored with the role. Setting up his own production company, McGoohan and mystery novelist and script editor <a href="http://www.librarything.com/author/marksteingeorge" style="color: red;">George Markstein</a> pitched The Prisoner, about an important government figure with a sensitive post who quits his job, only to wake up the next morning in the mysterious Village: a fanciful Big Brothereque resort cut off from the world where people who know too much are under psychologically and physically manipulated to break down their sense of identity.</div></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Markstein, who devised the setting, background and wrote “Arrival”, the pilot for the series, maintains the character is John Drake and the series is a literal and allegorical sequel to Danger Man. McGoohan denied this all the way to his death, insisting the character of Number 6 was a scientist and had no relation to his previous character. Markstein is glimpsed in the opening credits as the man McGoohan hands in his resignation to.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRWEU9BxqyEhXlWG5Iv5CdEpRnhTutL-htXeautwgmpjBfImXJ5btNPcfKhDfYXZNOmeDw34k0tml0sZzc1HUoncLgSA4mxB37b9nCTPy1n0OnGPbwG2NHPVQlhbEsCWQfGm4_2tGlZ4N/s1600/stein1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404716440349157314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRWEU9BxqyEhXlWG5Iv5CdEpRnhTutL-htXeautwgmpjBfImXJ5btNPcfKhDfYXZNOmeDw34k0tml0sZzc1HUoncLgSA4mxB37b9nCTPy1n0OnGPbwG2NHPVQlhbEsCWQfGm4_2tGlZ4N/s320/stein1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 159px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">The series ran with its bizarre concept, taking it to heights of surrealism and allegory not previously seen on television before. McGoohan served as the series star, director, producer and taking over an increasingly large portion of the scripting duties. Markstein clashed with McGoohan over the direction the series was taking and eventually left the series around episode thirteen or so. The remaining episodes became even more wild and hallucinogenic. In fact, the psychedelic finale caused such a stir in England and continues to baffle and fascinate audiences to this day. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">And the legend grew.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtInWjom0s9__3TJWCCzkvG3KKJB8DAvagjeSoubMa7BSgbXd_4ad4TFDjQQp5x9l6PwGEWy_3Efgpjw7NLrPM4G5u0ghl_Auug9cfQc4ZN0Mbx9ofO8-HbttXourXbl1L5Qgr1uuBNI/s1600/ibsen.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404717532662076002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtInWjom0s9__3TJWCCzkvG3KKJB8DAvagjeSoubMa7BSgbXd_4ad4TFDjQQp5x9l6PwGEWy_3Efgpjw7NLrPM4G5u0ghl_Auug9cfQc4ZN0Mbx9ofO8-HbttXourXbl1L5Qgr1uuBNI/s320/ibsen.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 309px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Henrik Ibsen is tired of explaining his plays to you.</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">To me, the Prisoner series, and the behind the scenes circumstances of the production, is pure<span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://www.scandinavianbooks.com/fiction-book/henrik-ibsen/ibsen-biography.html" style="color: red;">Ibsen</a>. (some Peer Gynt and a whole lot of Brand and therefore, pure Kierkegaard, but I’ll get to that.) McGoohan himself once played Brand before The Prisoner started, likely to great effect with his commanding presence, precise diction and booming voice. The play follows the life of a priest dedicated to dong the right thing no matter what the consequences are. His Old Testament view of God allows no compromise but the cost to him is great. He loses his wife and ministers to a village “flock” that increasingly fail at the moral tests Brand (and life) confronts them with. Brand’s goal is to save the world and the soul’s of man but his inability to compromise and accept human weakness eventually leave him alone with his moral fortitude. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">In the end, Brand suffers from the harsh judgment he subjected others to when he is stoned by his flock, banished to the glacier where he grew up and buried in an avalanche. Brand’s dying words express profound doubt. “Does not salvation consider the will of man?” It is open to interpretation whether or not Brand is abandoned by God with the play’s final words, uttered by an unseen voice, “He is the God of love.” Does that mean he left no room for love in his life or that God accepts him? <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Apparently, we modern readers tend to take an unsympathetic view of Brand’s harsh moral code, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, although Rand’s philosophy eschews religion and good works and places mankind as it’s own God, with individual self-interest and achievement as the noblest of activities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipedgt73B5qMXiIRFpp48rWy9LLluh9nu0hUvEX-Bz32OOme4sPAu0imvbnTci_aBHzE-FkYjs-qg6HoINcgudmerQ9WBXjpAVfHeSvwEr4Vdgx1vQxjiZRWJUIESr7WSMMXQJ6sO811M/s1600/2008peergynt.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404713430167332402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipedgt73B5qMXiIRFpp48rWy9LLluh9nu0hUvEX-Bz32OOme4sPAu0imvbnTci_aBHzE-FkYjs-qg6HoINcgudmerQ9WBXjpAVfHeSvwEr4Vdgx1vQxjiZRWJUIESr7WSMMXQJ6sO811M/s320/2008peergynt.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 218px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 140px;" /></a><span lang="EN-CA"></span></div><span lang="EN-CA"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><div style="text-align: justify;">Ibsen’s Peer Gynt stars a man-child who spends his entire life avoiding accepting any kind of responsibility for his actions and yet, somehow comes through unscathed, with others bearing the damage of his choices. Finally, after a lifetime of adopting and abandoning many roles, old man Peer discovers his soul is forfeit because he has never been “himself”. Peer is defenseless, having no idea who he really is and finding no one he knows can vouch for him. He is finally granted a reprieve thanks only to the pure love of his long abandoned sweetheart, Solveig (who really needs to get more).</div></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCq89dz_tms6P_9L0iRX3LdKTrz8EfwpKfi-Ju553xPb-mpocI-2T4h8zGROobMHj9jimd85ru9Ss9GKJ5djxPPglUeBgs9dbxHQ1Oj0pbfYacsejTjXh-FIQoxdNcXpK4RGC__UKzS6c/s1600/About_a_boy_movie_poster.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404710353867364306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCq89dz_tms6P_9L0iRX3LdKTrz8EfwpKfi-Ju553xPb-mpocI-2T4h8zGROobMHj9jimd85ru9Ss9GKJ5djxPPglUeBgs9dbxHQ1Oj0pbfYacsejTjXh-FIQoxdNcXpK4RGC__UKzS6c/s320/About_a_boy_movie_poster.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 235px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 158px;" /></a><span lang="EN-CA"></span></div><span lang="EN-CA"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">The key to the philosophy of Peer Gynt can be found in Act Two. While in the Mountain Hall of the Troll King, the monarch asks Peer Gynt, “What is the difference between troll and man?” When Peer Gynt is understandably at a loss for an answer one is provided by The Old Man of the Mountain, </span><span lang="EN-US">"Out there, where sky shines, humans say: To thyself be true. In here, trolls say: Be true to yourself-ish.” Peer adopts his own version of the troll motto from then on, declaring to all that he is himself, whatever that is. Peer spends the rest of his days avoiding facing himself or facing truth in general. You might say, Peer Gynt was Ibsen’s version of the Nick Hornby book, About A Boy, with Will (played by Hugh Grant in the film) as a modern Peer.</span></div></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Peer Gynt and Brand are flip sides of the same question for Ibsen. Both seem to be based on Soren Kierkegaard’s book, Fear and Trembling, a lengthy consideration of the bible story of Isaac, who was asked to sacrifice of his beloved son in Genesis. Kierkegaard interprets the tale, wrestling with the nature of faith, God, morality and faith’s relationship with ethics and morality. To do this Kierkegaard introduces us to the Knight of Faith and the Knight of Infinite Resignation. <br />
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<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIVtax5LIiw5dbIWNKdIOInj-eBAIhiloo3O_DADQk74w2_gik12Z91rhzv7TTKJx72xdN7Rr7weC8Aq1ZymAnO7Scukcqu3kXkNQutTQSNJV_rQ4E1PfycpbhLeGX21XCSyOjI9GyXI/s1600/0140444491.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404714341241314210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIVtax5LIiw5dbIWNKdIOInj-eBAIhiloo3O_DADQk74w2_gik12Z91rhzv7TTKJx72xdN7Rr7weC8Aq1ZymAnO7Scukcqu3kXkNQutTQSNJV_rQ4E1PfycpbhLeGX21XCSyOjI9GyXI/s320/0140444491.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 254px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 165px;" /></a><span lang="EN-CA"></span></div><span lang="EN-CA"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><div style="text-align: justify;">The Knight of Faith, in this case Abraham, gives up everything that is important to him in the world save his faith in of, sure that he will regain everything through divine possibility. When God asks him to sacrifice his son, Abraham does so, secure in the knowledge that somehow God will someone keep he and his son together. He exists in paradox. Likewise, Peer Gynt easily gives up on what’s important in this world, assuming he will gain it all back through divine providence or simply due to the “strength of the absurd.”</div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">The Knight of Infinite Resignation gives up everything in the hopes of regaining it in the next life, but spends their life suffering the pain of their loss. Just as Brand is governed by his faith, he also suffers through it and is punished for it. McGoohan’s Number 6 is totally Brand. Single-minded and indomitable. Heidi MacDonald sums it quite nicely over at <a href="http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/01/15/inside-the-secret-agent/" style="color: red;">The Beat</a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #ff6600; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">McGoohan radiated angry determination to escape, fierce intelligence, and sharp efficiency when physical action was required. He was sexy but remote - unlike some other super spies, Number Six didn't jump into bed with every hot lady he met. Number Six was not a person for whom giving in or internal struggle was natural - no wonder he broke ever Number Two who showed up. In the role, McGoohan was dead fucking cool. His acting was knife sharp. No matter what he did later, McGoohan was dead fucking cool. His acting was knife sharp. No matter what he did later - from ICE STATION ZEBRA to several turns as Det. Columbo's most cunning foe - you could never stop watching Mcgoohan, because he wasnt' just so good he was scary; he WAS scary. He was as enigmatic as he was charismatic. </span></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Exactly! And after years of my Brand/Peer Gynt theory percolating in my head, imagine my surprise to discover that my long-held belief was delightfully accurate! In an interview at <a href="http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/markstein.htm"> </a><a href="http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/markstein.htm" style="color: red;">www.the-prisoner-6</a> , George Markstein confirms the Brand influence on the development of the Prisoner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-CA"><a href="http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/markstein.htm"></a><o:p></o:p></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #6666cc;"></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">…my feeling is that McGoohan wasn't really very keen on doing any other series. What he really wanted to do I think was to play Brand. He'd had an enormous success some years previously on the stage with <a href="http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/newsarchive204.htm">Ibsen's 'Brand'</a> and Brand personifies everything I think McGoohan would like to be: God! He was very good as God, so he wanted to play Brand ... again. He was very keen to set up 'Brand' as a film and I think that was really what he wanted to do. What a lot of the people in the studio wanted was to keep their jobs! They hoped he'd go on doing a series and so I sat down at the typewriter one day - you know, any port in a storm - and typed a couple of pages. They were about a secret agent - and after all Drake had been a secret agent - who suddenly quits without any apparent reason, as McGoohan had quit without any apparent reason, and who is put away!</div></blockquote><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYpP1Tsx3g0CL5TVBW1GVv6rIevVcyke0eRfW5yl6MkTM5ecKH8J1XMG8QmaNBSpcfeVxNcap8WEI0wgF3umQCwCmebKsAOkcFFS8OZrZIy_0tDts5ttNeP89H7N5Axde409wO7Dn-oY/s1600/_45376599_mcgoohan_brand_1959_466.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404711698853665490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYpP1Tsx3g0CL5TVBW1GVv6rIevVcyke0eRfW5yl6MkTM5ecKH8J1XMG8QmaNBSpcfeVxNcap8WEI0wgF3umQCwCmebKsAOkcFFS8OZrZIy_0tDts5ttNeP89H7N5Axde409wO7Dn-oY/s320/_45376599_mcgoohan_brand_1959_466.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 151px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">McGoohan as Brand at the Lyric Theatre, <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Hammersmith in the late 1950's.</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">McGoohan also carried the Brand image off-screen, overdosing on multi-hyphenates as he micromanaged production of the Prisoner. At this point, Markstein hit the eject button and bailed on the show when:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"></span></div><blockquote style="color: #6666cc;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">“…</span><span lang="EN-US">egomania took over! You know, when McGoohan was everything! When McGoohan was writing, was conceiving, was directing ... and didn't know where he was going. My presence was superfluous - and we've seen the result after my departure… the non-conclusion. I think it was an absurd pantomime. You tell me what it means. I think it was a bit of gross self-indulgence by someone who was fed up with the whole thing and wanted to get out of it and wanted to go out in a blaze of ... something or other… I was surprised because I thought something much better would emerge. After all, when one has conceived something one wants it to die a reasonable death, not some horrific joke!</span></div></blockquote><span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Like Brand, Markstein feels McGoohan was a Prisoner of his creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6666cc;">I think that in many ways THE PRISONER is a tragedy ... because McGoohan became a prisoner of the series and it's never nice to see that happen to a human being, the combination of ambition, frustration, wanting to be writer, director, actor - you name it. It was sad, it was very sad I think. It did something to him that wasn't very good and it was reflected in the series and that's why the series ended like that and that's why people have said "I don't understand the end". Of course they don't understand the end, because there is no end ... I don't think even McGoohan understood the end, or if he does, well, perhaps he does, but that is the biggest tragedy of THE PRISONER that Patrick McGoohan became a Prisoner himself. </span> </div></blockquote><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Over at Glenn Kenny’s <a href="http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2009/01/patrick-mcgoohan-19282009.html" style="color: red;">Some Came Running blog</a>, we find a remembrance of McGoohan’s other genre contributions, most notably the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and his intense work in David Cronenberg’s Scanners. Kenny quotes the book Cronenberg on Cronenberg, wherein the director recalls with discomfort the disorganized first shooting day and how it foreshadowed a difficult shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #006600;"></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">"It kept on being that difficult. Patrick McGoohan was part of the reason. He's a brilliant actor; the voice, the charisma, the presence, the face. Phenomenal. And he was aging so well; he looked so great in that beard. But he was so angry. His self-hatred came out as anger against everybody and everything. He said to me, 'If I didn't drink I'd be afraid I'd kill someone.' He looks at you that way and you just say, 'Keep drinking.' It's all self-destructive, because it's all self-hating. That's my theory. He was also terrified. The second before we went to shoot he said, 'I'm scared.' I wasn't shocked; Olivier said that he was terrified each time he had to go on stage. With Patrick, though, it was just so raw and so scary—full of anger and potent. But he was sensing the disorganization; the script wasn't there, so he was right to worry about it. He didn't know me. He didn't know whether I could bring it off or not. We parted from the film not on very good terms ultimately."</div></blockquote><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJRFOs4Rlhd8xgbjMBi-k5tgJSajy4X4vA0BJyhP52Hl7kYtn4DRbAWIjz_Fa5YTmDx8qOwlYjJ9c-hYvzQfQpIf8BV5IEKHtFYIu1HKiDtH4He5ti_5oaQlegQ7Hx-xt2rkC-91hV6U/s1600/patrickmcgoohan.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404712529511504882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJRFOs4Rlhd8xgbjMBi-k5tgJSajy4X4vA0BJyhP52Hl7kYtn4DRbAWIjz_Fa5YTmDx8qOwlYjJ9c-hYvzQfQpIf8BV5IEKHtFYIu1HKiDtH4He5ti_5oaQlegQ7Hx-xt2rkC-91hV6U/s320/patrickmcgoohan.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 261px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 208px;" /></a><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">In the finale of the original series, Number 6 at last confronts Number 1, yanking off a false face to reveal his own countenance staring back at himself. </span><span lang="EN-US">Apparently McGoohan told close friends this revelation was meant to imply that Number 6, who pictured himself as the ultimate rebel, had imprisoned himself by thinking like a prisoner, thereby always limiting his options. <o:p></o:p>That gives us a reasonable and very clever explanation for the answer Number 6 receives in every episode to the question, “Who is number 1?” The response is always, “You are Number 6.” But could it also he heard as, “You are, Number 6”? This fits into Markstein’s original approach to the series. Number 6’s has faith in his own self-image and ultimately, that faith is the one thing that defeats him.</span></div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">So where does Peer Gynt fit into the Prisoner? Well, the other residents of the Village appear to be much like Peer; changeable as the wind and whims of the various Number 2’s and generally getting by quite well. That attitude alone makes them anathema to Number 6 and more dangerous to his mindset than any plan of Number 2’s.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">But however much Number 6’s defiance and self-image make him an exemplary Brand, he is also very much Peer Gynt himself. He readily accepts and even embraces the routine of the Village and his constant struggle for identity. Intentionally or not, he seems go along with each new attempt to break his will with increasingly practised ease, always on the lookout for a chance to escape –to find something better in life. The Village has given Number 6’s life meaning his previous life lacked, as evidenced by his defiant resignation featured every week in the opening credits. Number 6 accepts that he is a Prisoner and redefines himself in those terms. Like Peer Gynt McGoohan declares himself to be a free man yet why would a free men constantly need to escape? “I am myself, whatever that is.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Whew…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">You can see why it's taken some time to tackle this post. It’s a lot to consider even though I’m trying to keep things simple (More for my own poor, overloaded brain’s sake than your sprightly minds, gentle readers). I avoided the temptation to go into specific examples from the series and compare dialogue and scenes to passages from Fear and Trembling and Ibsen. But it still took ths long to reach the page.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Sigh... Weeks between posts. I try to make them worth the wait.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">AMC has the <a href="http://www.amctv.com/videos/the-prisoner-1960s-video/" style="color: red;">original Prisoner episodes</a> available for free viewing at their remake's website. Something I definitely plan to take advantage of. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Click over to Youtube for a fascinating four-part interview with Mcgoohan several years after the Prisoner phenomenon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Part 1 is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gPztzkNMQ" style="color: red;">here</a>. Part 2 is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ4psHOzo-0" style="color: red;">here</a>. Part 3 is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp4A4Q_4bUo" style="color: red;">here</a>. And Part 4 is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZWI35jDXCA" style="color: red;">here</a>.</div><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> <br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Next time: Let’s talk about the new AMC version and how it stacks up to the original and for those who’ve never the sixties series) compared to their other exemplary series, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Be seeing you.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Live the adventure. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-38151583887726806502009-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:002009-10-08T21:17:12.571-07:00The Bigger the Lie: Never underestimate the power of a good story<div><br /></div><div>My friend and fellow screenwriter Paddy Granleese sent me this link to... Well, no spoilers.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:10px;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X7MVtgXMclI&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X7MVtgXMclI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Sweet! Thank you Canal +! </div><div><br /></div><div>Never underestimate the power of a good story. A screenwriter's mind is constantly at work in worlds like this, even when we're asleep on the couch. We're still working , dang it!</div><div><br /></div><div>Live the adventure.</div><div><br /></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-37071704878032825362009-09-21T20:13:00.000-07:002010-02-02T09:28:27.956-08:00It was a Dark and Stormy Night - The Madeleine L'Engel Effect and Time with Dad<a href="http://www.madeleinelengle.com/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384122461277365186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALTcBD8cQGXW1jAw6fkmwej0HbqMpevwPN15qpMTpJjVVjcf98xLYn3s-kQtnZJLhckVbFj9bIPMn7y65vDx7W24pKMV9clmGVy8zeDl8_CwmKTnI2C06GKqB9ZqRB3FcYSBkObrmwiQ/s400/madeleine-lengle-2001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 280px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">"I believe that good questions are more important than answers, and the best children's books ask questions, and make the readers ask questions. And every new question is going to disturb someone's universe."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">- Madeleine L'Engle</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.madeleinelengle.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="http://www.madeleinelengle.com/">Madeleine L’Engle</a> died.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">She passed away on September 6, 2007. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?_r=2">New York Times obituary</a> summed up the 88 year-old as an author “whose childhood fables, religious meditations and fanciful science fiction transcended both genre and generation,” joining many news agencies and journalists in pigeonholing her as a children’s author when she was so much more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU72K_mExg7tqiY5868uXgbWJNmkP5YhuscL98GQvc8dkwujC0EnmL9K8_5Sq3hzmptmi_-qUwEzsGzno4jJi1esQnRf8eej0OxApLJVlR4QZnVRkUgSvu84417S3TwEWrVHaHLner7Wco/s1600-h/covers.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384125044169221074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU72K_mExg7tqiY5868uXgbWJNmkP5YhuscL98GQvc8dkwujC0EnmL9K8_5Sq3hzmptmi_-qUwEzsGzno4jJi1esQnRf8eej0OxApLJVlR4QZnVRkUgSvu84417S3TwEWrVHaHLner7Wco/s400/covers.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 222px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">L’Engle herself disliked the label, insisting that she did not write down to children. She famously declared in a 1993 Associated Press interview, quoted here by the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090702690.html">Washington Post</a>:</div><blockquote style="color: #ff6600;"><div style="text-align: justify;">"In my dreams, I never have an age," she said. "I never write for any age group in mind. ... When you underestimate your audience, you're cutting yourself off from your best work."</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The article suggests her literary output, which included poetry, plays, books on religion and prayer and autobiographical works were all “deeply, quixotically personal” then quotes Marygail G. Parker from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, who described “a peculiar splendor” to L’Engle’s work.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quixotic? Hardly. Though L’Engle often implied her subconscious was in control of the writing of her most successful works and she was compelled to write them, few authors had a voice so uniquely personal and such command of poetic simplicity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #9999ff;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3UczuBp5r_mg-NSU6ETNE_eqMx5yyMHdJecsdZ9hiXwwZZnNYcFyLEmm_gF5uNPuZajbnGUh12USrs21IqYi-07orKkzAbjVsxL2zaDogKRpBPRWJLel3QqWkZcPhSX5-Sgge3GBtWY/s1600-h/a-wrinkle-in-time.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384071490005448258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3UczuBp5r_mg-NSU6ETNE_eqMx5yyMHdJecsdZ9hiXwwZZnNYcFyLEmm_gF5uNPuZajbnGUh12USrs21IqYi-07orKkzAbjVsxL2zaDogKRpBPRWJLel3QqWkZcPhSX5-Sgge3GBtWY/s400/a-wrinkle-in-time.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 189px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 115px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like so many, I discovered L’Engle’s work as child through her much celebrated novel, A Wrinkle in Time. Her skillful blend of fantastic adventure, family drama, Einstein’s theory of relativity, Planck’s quantum theory, and human emotion reached me on so many levels at once, the book fairly vibrated with harmonic energy. For many, she was our first introduction to such high concepts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In her 1998 <a href="http://gos.sbc.edu/l/lengle.html">acceptance speech</a> upon receiving the Margaret Edwards Award (The American Library Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing in the Field of Young Adult Literature) L’Engle addressed some of the controversy attached to her young adult work.</div><blockquote style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">It is still amazing to me that A WRINKLE IN TIME was considered too difficult for children. My children were seven, ten, and twelve while I was writing it, and they understood it. The problem is not that it's too difficult for children, but that it's too difficult for grown ups. Much of the world view of Einstein's thinking wasn't being taught when the grown ups were in school, but the children were comfortably familiar with it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"> MEET THE AUSTINS (the book which preceded WRINKLE) took two years to find a publisher—largely because it begins with a family's reaction to the death of a beloved uncle, and children were not supposed to know about death. Largely, I suspect, because it upset their parents).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"> But again I was writing out of my own experience, and how my family accepted grief and loss and death. I think it made my children stronger than if we had gone placidly along with no traumas to work through.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Madeleine L’Engle had faith. Faith in God. Faith in humanity. She had little time for dogma and that made her difficult to live with for those who preferred using doctrine to control and shame others into conforming to their limited world view. In an interview on Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, L’Engle admitted she considers religion and science to be linked.</div><blockquote style="color: #ff6600;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Religion and science? One and the same. I don't have any trouble with it. A lot of people do. They have to put one here and one there. And I think they're much more like that, each one informing the other… Religion is less accepting than science. Science knows things move and change, and religion doesn't want that. So, I am more comfortable with science. At the same time, I am not throwing God out the window.</div></blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4klibFK9qqR3TCdXTVRv9UZcn-YpVN5TNmBA-JrtujJ1KLZk7LJhkwtcxr_WMTpK8Ab_bIK9zxuaUCU3owlNGNT7YGRdu2Pj93Ku8yG_PgsP4OjVAcIyq4xSoyOJNLVNCjc6uUmaTwY/s1600-h/wrinkle-in-time.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384072409416864498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4klibFK9qqR3TCdXTVRv9UZcn-YpVN5TNmBA-JrtujJ1KLZk7LJhkwtcxr_WMTpK8Ab_bIK9zxuaUCU3owlNGNT7YGRdu2Pj93Ku8yG_PgsP4OjVAcIyq4xSoyOJNLVNCjc6uUmaTwY/s400/wrinkle-in-time.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 135px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I respect that world view and the strength it sometimes takes to stand by it when under heavy criticism. As a writer for children, I have often been confronted by parents telling me what their children don’t like about a show. Inevitably, they share something that disturbs them, not their children. L’Engle never wrote down to children but rather, wrote up to their humanity and search for knowledge, posing questions that encourage them to find their own answers and seek out new questions.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Producers and broadcasters constantly instruct me to avoid big ideas and concepts, use small words rather than ”language.” It’s a constant struggle to expand the worlds of children even as we’re asked to make it smaller and smaller. Horizons aren't meant to be reached by stretching out your hands. They’re meant to instill desire and they’re meant to be harder to get to. How mundane must we make the dreams of children?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For the rest of the world, Madeleine L’engle died on September 6, 2007.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For me, Madeleine L’Engle died the following year, in July 2008.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #9999ff;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nVAMnDhbyTPLXkCdatAzZqxQiuvNMEj8WDpQG33BhgU_1liSuojgZ59_uioZj0w9PZAL7Saz6JEK5SvkkMB6e8dhaKC00VsOl6GSyw0PVtpfdWfJM009VWcArrX6i0tlha8EVtmSjBw/s1600-h/6a00e553b05dc988340115715589ce970b-320wi.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384071168792358338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nVAMnDhbyTPLXkCdatAzZqxQiuvNMEj8WDpQG33BhgU_1liSuojgZ59_uioZj0w9PZAL7Saz6JEK5SvkkMB6e8dhaKC00VsOl6GSyw0PVtpfdWfJM009VWcArrX6i0tlha8EVtmSjBw/s400/6a00e553b05dc988340115715589ce970b-320wi.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 187px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 187px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She passed the moment I stumbled across that uninspired New York Times obituary. Though much of the world had already mourned her passing. I was experiencing the first shock of grief – an emptiness in my heart where L’Engle’s place had been. A space I didn’t realize was there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">L’Engle was the first one to teach me that time is fluid. It depends so much on perception. It flies when we’re having fun. It drags when we are scared or worried. It stops when we are at the lightning edge of new revelation. In addition to a pervading sense of loss, I experienced one of those revelations when L’Engle died the second time.. I realized that I had often measured the truth of my words against hers and found my work wanting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I witnessed L'Engle's death again months later when I told a friend who loves sci-fi about the author's passing. For my friend, the devastating news was new and fresh. Despite the actual death occuring more than a year earlier, her grief was very much happening right now. As I watched her suffer I was carried back on the wave of her anguish to my own moment of loss.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #ff99ff;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0Sw-Ns5bZIn8iTlJ2vdDndPvQFFzgrCcEtglOPPuOt0s3w_AVjnkvDRvS3B6gYvwpxbmSZjCUIYR1cdeOnpCpw6MC68vWlFSAUmht3aILWQWZYp0NPAQYYWIMNsuG8dSsJHP1Uqd_aM/s1600-h/lengle.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384071878961348258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0Sw-Ns5bZIn8iTlJ2vdDndPvQFFzgrCcEtglOPPuOt0s3w_AVjnkvDRvS3B6gYvwpxbmSZjCUIYR1cdeOnpCpw6MC68vWlFSAUmht3aILWQWZYp0NPAQYYWIMNsuG8dSsJHP1Uqd_aM/s400/lengle.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 261px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But if our experience of death of someone meaningful to us could happen multiple times, then so too could our experience of that person’s life. Every time I pick up one of L'Engle's books I re-experience the emotions they had first stirred in me, almost as if reliving that first time. The writing touched me in a place I can reconnect with instantly, proving that time, or at least our perception of it (And aren't time and perception of time the same ting really?) is not linear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Time is not linear. Madeleine L’Engle told me this and Madeleine L’Engle showed me this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We generally experience time as a linear series of events so we can all communicate and feel we are going in the same direction. That shared perception of moving forward through experience is one of the things that unites us all. But at any given moment we may find ourselves out of sync, be stuck in the past or anticipating the future. Like right now, for me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several weeks ago I lost my father and I have been unstuck in time ever since.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonUHep_hXA2XZVHT_GpnHFyaw89OVldHCjhU5dGKiuZp3wv1TXDHYQtXJ-rTzix4VcR2jJ5vcTcgTPJHzu9iQ_wCxQE73rn0hSpDtAiw-bo-TCiKE7ZVGhwIfbUR_K0uWhW1MDqnuB7w/s1600-h/n4377.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384072081968710418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonUHep_hXA2XZVHT_GpnHFyaw89OVldHCjhU5dGKiuZp3wv1TXDHYQtXJ-rTzix4VcR2jJ5vcTcgTPJHzu9iQ_wCxQE73rn0hSpDtAiw-bo-TCiKE7ZVGhwIfbUR_K0uWhW1MDqnuB7w/s400/n4377.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 220px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 138px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I’m thankful that over the past few years my father and I have both made an effort to get to know each other better as individuals and not just as father and son. A great deal of the credit for this transformation to our relationship is due to my wife, whose love for family seems truly unlimited, despite the pain that sometimes brings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Though Dad’s health had been declining for many months and he and his wife kept us more or less informed as to the details of his ailments, I can’t help but feel they kept the true depths of his decline to themselves as they quietly prepared. Perhaps I was not in touch enough to properly track events. Quite possibly I simply wasn't eager to know.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I now have all the more reason to cherish a surprise visit my wife and I made to my Dad and his wife, Marlene, to spend a day driving in the countryside outside of London, Ontario. Though he was unable to walk very far, he enjoyed being our chauffeur, parking the car and watching through the windshield as Marlene took us through a lavender farm and various roadside attractions. We then ate an early dinner in a lovely, nearly deserted café. My attempts to sit in the car with Dad and chat as Marlene and Jill shopped were gently refused. Dad was eager to see us all enjoying ourselves. In retrospect, is it possible he was subtly preparing us all to move on and enjoy life without him, for the day when his spirit would be watching from a greater distance?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6lO6ouICqd7aTX2Mi6CThlzdHr1BYbdV_XgC4MGJ05-35jiLZk6nRi0-j4jpAfYG270EVHxx5A1Kwaz3jK28aNdXDt7lYYNMQB2976StFwOArfjbl9yz4wa_iFHb-QtFe32b_gcRRPUA/s1600-h/WrinkleinT_1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384073001113034882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6lO6ouICqd7aTX2Mi6CThlzdHr1BYbdV_XgC4MGJ05-35jiLZk6nRi0-j4jpAfYG270EVHxx5A1Kwaz3jK28aNdXDt7lYYNMQB2976StFwOArfjbl9yz4wa_iFHb-QtFe32b_gcRRPUA/s400/WrinkleinT_1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 182px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 121px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">It’s the natural order. No parent wants to outlive their children. They want to know their family will be strong and move on in life, never forgetting but never regretting. It’s part of our growth as people, a growth that will never truly be fulfilled until we experience and survive their passing, taking strength from their memory.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Upon hearing about my father’s passing, a friend pointed out another side to the experience in this way, “Now you get to start a whole new relationship with him.” I suppose that I already have started a new relationship with my father, though where it takes me will only be revealed in time. It certainly worked that way when my Mom passed away while I was in university. I stumbled along and as I learned more about my mother she became more than just a Mom. She grew into a person in my head.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGX3-RT1-9HIrwrvjM2pRmnf_tMywbX3V_mjXTFRmYR6ZZZYFPWd2arW-4Gmb7cA8Z6eK-cZWjprlNnbG37o9XJi6racI5kMfuzAsjIrKffmgYBT9rSe74fniULO0IBgzJaJwyjuF49as/s1600-h/wrinkle.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384072925428167362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGX3-RT1-9HIrwrvjM2pRmnf_tMywbX3V_mjXTFRmYR6ZZZYFPWd2arW-4Gmb7cA8Z6eK-cZWjprlNnbG37o9XJi6racI5kMfuzAsjIrKffmgYBT9rSe74fniULO0IBgzJaJwyjuF49as/s400/wrinkle.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 164px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 111px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">It takes a long time to acclimatize yourself to losing a parent at a young age but I suppose I found it all the more difficult due to the suddenness of her departure. She simply winked out of my life. No warning. No drama. She was there and then she wasn’t. I like to imagine she tessered across the galaxies to spend eternity in the company of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, who, along with Aunt Beast, represented the many facets of familial love in A Wrinkle In Time. With time I grew accustomed to this new relationship and I know in my head that I will develop a similar new relationship with my father. Some time. Just not yet.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because time is not linear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We can experience an intense reverse déjà vu (vuja de?) of a future we haven’t been to yet, but we know is coming. Even now I can catch momentary glimpses of my future self, who’s already processed this so the pain is not so fresh and therefore finds everything a little bit easier. Senses can take us back in time. A smell, a song, a taste, or a touch can catapult us backward. And sometimes time holds us in two places at once. Our minds or spirits can be trapped in the past as our present selves go forward, making coffee or reading the paper or getting back to work.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #ff99ff;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjik3mOZxgtdkCIVMrCjXmqsCiLY_1v5dXDNmd54EyeczCW409niZSqB__RqnE60WkrEJG_XtAMErTUpKcy0a7WL5Y6YTx_jJ2eAVh5_xpRQ9w08iBFPpNbjXCRSNfmuacN8BgtDGWqtYk/s1600-h/Deep_space_9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384116376607136098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjik3mOZxgtdkCIVMrCjXmqsCiLY_1v5dXDNmd54EyeczCW409niZSqB__RqnE60WkrEJG_XtAMErTUpKcy0a7WL5Y6YTx_jJ2eAVh5_xpRQ9w08iBFPpNbjXCRSNfmuacN8BgtDGWqtYk/s400/Deep_space_9.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 306px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I remember anticipating the premier of <a href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine">Deep Space Nine</a> after a particularly good season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I found myself surprised at the heady mixture of speculative fiction, political intrigue, the true difficulties in fostering community and the emotional turmoil of DS9’s Commander, Benjamin Sisko played by Avery Brooks. Sisko is a reluctant leader, raising his teenage son as he struggles with the loss of his beloved wife.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Deep Space Nine space station is on the edge of a wormhole in space occupied by <a href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Emissary_%28episode%29">quantum beings</a> that do not exist in linear time. Sisko’s inability to escape the memories of his wife’s tragic, final moments proves to be a point of communication between himself and the aliens. As they exist simultaneously in the then, the now and the future, so he exists in the past and present. Sisko constant flashbacks to that moment belie his attempts to explain mankind’s linear existence.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #ff99ff;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHcXL9Ueo7lE-4t9SeXKpN-PHNC3-jijAfYMKfpZp6uFGXdITzESgCs1_LAbgjzB1nYbYFFcwlXmUJrSwBRyp-X9YvmVLZ6GNveTtwg3MH3LiI5EtzSoP7cI7TOGyC5kD6MQ0gK-fH4o/s1600-h/Sisko_explains_linear_time.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384118107470568226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHcXL9Ueo7lE-4t9SeXKpN-PHNC3-jijAfYMKfpZp6uFGXdITzESgCs1_LAbgjzB1nYbYFFcwlXmUJrSwBRyp-X9YvmVLZ6GNveTtwg3MH3LiI5EtzSoP7cI7TOGyC5kD6MQ0gK-fH4o/s400/Sisko_explains_linear_time.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYP7N0OKoK5RpCTLeiDlZ2-ge6QwBZr-q9AIymi8X-YA5CfIBR_l3F-qy3_ihNtiPZeR5ZoKrL9YsPlJ0zXDFWZ-0rwkW7BGMZop41UN-JMEoiCwgaSxARHBxc0fwrd_z_4dCdYpHErY/s1600-h/Sisko2367.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384118194146323922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYP7N0OKoK5RpCTLeiDlZ2-ge6QwBZr-q9AIymi8X-YA5CfIBR_l3F-qy3_ihNtiPZeR5ZoKrL9YsPlJ0zXDFWZ-0rwkW7BGMZop41UN-JMEoiCwgaSxARHBxc0fwrd_z_4dCdYpHErY/s400/Sisko2367.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 155px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 165px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I can remember being deeply moved by DS9’s two-hour premiere and Avery Brook’s charged performance. His willingness to embrace the humanity of his character made me feel less alone in dealing with my mother’s passing years earlier. My memories of Benjamin Sisko will always center on his immense sadness in the pilot and his throaty laughter in subsequent seasons, embracing two extremes of human experience.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A week after Dad's death I found myself at Toronto's <a href="http://www.hobbystar.com/fanexpo/">Fan Expo</a>, Canada's largest sci-fi, comicbook, anime, horror and gaming convention. I saw Avery Brooks signing autographs and greeting convention goers at Toronto’s Fan Expo and found myself remembering that Deep Space Nine pilot. Somehow, his ability to embrace the entire spectrum of humanity in his role with joy and such joie de vive helped normalize my grief. And the memories of Sisko’s passage through his own grief made me feel less alone in my time loop.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial"><a href="http://www.nowpublic.com/world/toronto-fan-expo-2009-photo-15" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384116263602308914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3pB07cumYt5FrpY0novf19hyJayL_Y6fcecEwoZRZQI7yyGt1mS25Bn2RWe3-nYKeSOQYfw_tt8wXp2SbrhFMrAg9luJ5pws7KUq_SGD3YpGFf-47I5hu1jIoJfhTHbCbyRVvS5g4Vs/s400/54f64d38e0f5312f61a2f5220db06479.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I couldn’t resist the opportunity to tell him how he helped me with my mother’s passing and now with my father’s. The poor man seemed at a loss for words (not surprisingly). Then he extended both hands to grasp my own and that gentle, generous smile crossed his face. Avery looked at me with his gentle eyes and said… I have no idea what. Something, something in his whole career, something, head nod, something. Couldn’t hear a word he said. I thought he was theatrically trained for God’s sake but he wasn’t projecting at all.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the connection was precious in that moment and I’ll never forget it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like Benjamin Sisko, I have been caught in time loop of my own, reliving my father’s last day as I move through the days and night that have followed. My body types away at my scripts, takes notes at meetings, and tries to sleep but my mind has, well, a mind of its own lately. It gives no warning as it takes me through that last minute call to rush out of town to Dad’s bedside. I relive the near sleepless overnight shift at his bedside, first with my sister and eventually, all alone. Returning after a few hours sleep to relieve Dad’s wife and holding his hand and talking to him after his pain moans turned to steady breathing, which soon would gradually slow to nothing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="color: #9999ff; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM30Euravkhzt-SgDmYWOFMj6dsyeYFZuGeCNmdqdG-mryWxNmIeKZX0dWS_qyZVQrp3rhYgQe5LhA1tWVX6iIFrrUAEWlY3Z1I0GwR1jNezS4ExQ33yESISkYCaW5wsJfzQF9idystw/s1600-h/emissary212.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384117173034781794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM30Euravkhzt-SgDmYWOFMj6dsyeYFZuGeCNmdqdG-mryWxNmIeKZX0dWS_qyZVQrp3rhYgQe5LhA1tWVX6iIFrrUAEWlY3Z1I0GwR1jNezS4ExQ33yESISkYCaW5wsJfzQF9idystw/s400/emissary212.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 146px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 194px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each time I am hijacked in this way, I feel suspended in utter stillness then I find myself right back in that room. I can look around the room and see what time of the day or night it is. I can smell the hospital’s hand disinfectant and hear the steady chug of the oxygen, emitting its gentle mist to reduce the drying effect of pure CO2 on Dad’s throat and lungs. But mostly I hear his breaths grow short and the gap between his final gasps lengthen. I wait, relieved each time a new breath comes and look in his eyes, hold his hand (Jill holds the other) and talk to him about his family, and where each loved one was at that moment, his wife, his children and his grandchildren.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And then, the space between breaths become all there is and he is gone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A smaller percentage of the time I spend in the past takes place in the hours immediately following Dad’s death. I spent them contacting the family and waiting for my brothers and sisters to have their final time in the room with our father. I suspect they are all experiencing their own time loops. I know my oldest brother is. After a conflicted relationship with my Dad he likely has many things left unsaid. And I know to some extent, his feelings and judgments regarding those old wounds are locked in the mindset of the child who first experienced them. I hope he finds his way out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7rfCM86rQc9arQoPf1N4ryNXUULBflCh0Nj7_dplOU-ARuhCZSRsazEtW8BTkShzNhHTqCKxOMZXqdTgOZui0PhaU1Dl5517BN6hFQDmIkVfg4a0cmP0uwW52h2s0Dumz57GRqY_4Yo/s1600-h/AvcoDad-09.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384120133111408818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7rfCM86rQc9arQoPf1N4ryNXUULBflCh0Nj7_dplOU-ARuhCZSRsazEtW8BTkShzNhHTqCKxOMZXqdTgOZui0PhaU1Dl5517BN6hFQDmIkVfg4a0cmP0uwW52h2s0Dumz57GRqY_4Yo/s400/AvcoDad-09.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 252px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; width: 211px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Though I am spending extensive time in that final day, I am grateful I’m not alone in those concluding moments. Though I never take my eyes away from my father’s (these instants are too precious), I know that I have but to glance to my left and I will see my beloved wife holding Dad’s other hand as she sends her considerable reserves of love to Dad and for me. But I don’t ever look at her. If I look I may break down, overwhelmed by the unending depths of her love and support and unable to cope with the intense reality we’re facing. I look into my father’s eyes and he looks back, ready to move on and knowing his family is ready for him to go.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I look into my father’s eyes and he looks into mine until he'd no longer there to look.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">His eyes see nothing anymore. And where there once were the sounds of his final breaths, now there is silence. I relive that twenty-four hour period over and over in real time. The only bright spot in the day is the knowledge that if I glance to my left I will see my wife. But thankfully, whatever force drags me back there allows me a second of pure transcendence...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jill and I exit the hospital, the storm of the day (which brewed up a tornado north of Toronto in a masterfully timed example of pathetic fallacy) is over and the sun streams through the clouds like the climax of some widescreen, Technicolor, biblical epic. We breathe in fresh air.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I live this wonderful moment over and over too. And where every other part of the day leaves me with remarkably ambivalent feelings, this instant makes my heart soar. A smiling Jill takes my arm as we walk across the parking lot and after deep breath declares…</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">“There’s your Dad, shining down all around us.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And just like that I’m back in the present. My wife is my anchor in the now. Just as Dad’s wife, Marlene, allowed him to live a longer and happier life, so too does mine. Life and death go on as always.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eventually I will spend less time in that room and more time enjoying the memories of my Dad when he was hale and hearty, young and robust. But if I must be trapped in that final day a little while longer, I am grateful that I am not there alone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I love you, Jill.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I love you, Dad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Live the adventure.</span></div><span style="color: red;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-35069309531734417552009-07-06T16:28:00.000-07:002009-07-07T05:15:09.375-07:00Master the Formula! - Wycliffe A. Hill begat McKee, Field and Truby<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvC1gyUjJLbsSJn8FX1n3jTC7y5h3ASqs-okUFi5EDwKWYJAWkBEtPNaKOyHa3Gq4-t3mqcrPyhX553fuMont7rE7ltMZ6o-HLEW1tPvkPBk2vA39TPfRvJeqBVD7DyQsyzTp5oLHXcV4p/s1600-h/amaz_stor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 345px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvC1gyUjJLbsSJn8FX1n3jTC7y5h3ASqs-okUFi5EDwKWYJAWkBEtPNaKOyHa3Gq4-t3mqcrPyhX553fuMont7rE7ltMZ6o-HLEW1tPvkPBk2vA39TPfRvJeqBVD7DyQsyzTp5oLHXcV4p/s400/amaz_stor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355496027843840930" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />When the work piles up, deadlines loom and second act woes howl at the door, I long for those long-promised future days where we all fly to work in saucers, learn from glowing boxes and eat out of squeeze tubes and pills (okay we're already in some of that future).<br /><br />But what I really need is my robotic <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">screenwriter</span>.<br /><br />I'm not talking about plot software. I'm talking about "<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3ScDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38&dq=%2522wycliffe+a.+hill%2522+robot"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Shakespeare's</span> Ghost</a>", the honest-to-God, rivet-covered, robotic writing machine promised by the February, 1931 issue of Popular Mechanics:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">SCENARIO WRITER HAS PLOT MAKING ROBOT</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />A mechanical robot that turns out plots for brain-fagged authors is the invention of Wycliffe A. Hill, Los Angeles scenario writer. Christened “Shakespeare’s ghost, “ this device is said to produce a complete outline of a fiction story in twenty minutes, to an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">accompaniment</span> of whirring gears. It selects background, characters and dramatic situations from a series tapes.</span></blockquote><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Heh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">heh</span>... brain-fagged. That's definitely my new favourite term for the fog that descends after several hours of straight work past the point where your brain has checked out but you're still typing away.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinf6zLgK4UzQJA4AxX73BFFCpAzlDZCUkQIeuoN30hV1vZgRBqeBhOKfUI-ngDBakMDpPRARUhlsv3Dw1_Um-64vuVOg_5gNkAysUG91ZVwDtFUpaoCFXJ8Y5uK3RDJDibkmPVBab_2vr6/s1600-h/post-38-1187843780.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinf6zLgK4UzQJA4AxX73BFFCpAzlDZCUkQIeuoN30hV1vZgRBqeBhOKfUI-ngDBakMDpPRARUhlsv3Dw1_Um-64vuVOg_5gNkAysUG91ZVwDtFUpaoCFXJ8Y5uK3RDJDibkmPVBab_2vr6/s400/post-38-1187843780.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355690483083964418" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">SG</span> (whom I would dub "Sir <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Tippy</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Tappy</span>" or "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Shakesy</span> G"), could take meetings with my producers and networks and record exactly what they want (within <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">pre-programmed</span> parameters) and he'd be a lot cooler about changes or cuts made with no thought to plot or character. Those times when he did lose his cool all that exasperated heat could be piped out through his metal, stovepipe, chimney head.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2221392/?from=rss">astounding story</a> is detailed by Paul Collins over at Slate Magazine's Summer Movies Special issues.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5gUz8d40CuK-NKwwVQ1y-knq5SDhUrv84T40FX7L66x2tNmOx4GICCmjc0_BQ0Lp10Tqt0cKmuWJm3dXCvO6g_9iid-fphzfXyGSYtlzL-iVrL7px-TtHZE8A4bAvSFxWr4SCfNsjCf8/s1600-h/retrotypecomic.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5gUz8d40CuK-NKwwVQ1y-knq5SDhUrv84T40FX7L66x2tNmOx4GICCmjc0_BQ0Lp10Tqt0cKmuWJm3dXCvO6g_9iid-fphzfXyGSYtlzL-iVrL7px-TtHZE8A4bAvSFxWr4SCfNsjCf8/s400/retrotypecomic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355526247203198178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);font-size:85%;" >Most excellent by Design Crux's John<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Soellner</span> shows off his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">retrofuturistic</span> touch.</span><br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">SG</span> was one of many variations on Hill's sales pitch for ease of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">scriptwriting</span>. If only he had used it for his own career, which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">apparently</span> stopped pretty much dead by the 1920's. But the "profoundly obscure" writer of silent cinema, along with French critic Georges <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Polti</span>, laid the groundwork for an entire industry built on the promise to reveal the secret formulas of dramatic writing. Formulas that would allow every journeyman, hack , and desperate wannabe scribes to create stories that would touch the widest audience possible.<br /><br />Yup. We have Wycliffe A. Hill to thank for Syd Field, Robert McKee, John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Truby</span> and even Linda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Seger</span>. Let us hope that their lives don't follow the same destructive path Hill's did. Though his formulas, delivered in the form of books, board games and good ole' <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">SG</span> sold, none of his later screenplays did. He grew so desperate he got involved in trying to locate a San Quentin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">convict's</span> hidden stash of stolen loot and attempted to sue the man for breach of contract when he couldn't find it.<br /><br />I'm sure I'd find Hill's robot writer charming for awhile but soon I'd be all chuffed up to create my own work again. Inspiration, creativity and a grudging work ethic will do that to a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">screenwriter</span>. I'd place <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">SG</span> in a closet and cover hm carefully with a cloth, wondering if I have the time to organize a yard sale someday soon to give him a new home. And then I'd get down to work.<br /><br />Oh darn, my office door is open and the television in the next room is distracting me.<br /><br />If only I had a door-closing robot to help me with that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeE2Thg4X4pxbBLAkulswV0XCDGE0kv-CrUiQjilEa3pYW0qQaPBv3N1A3oVvYf3XINMy5IdgUUO9dgxoQeXXxf8e-eHD3P2yj0BWWRRmq_yhRuWobniK2aWxsEEYqCTepwqXXfmdLzGM/s1600-h/105071372_38768d8ea7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeE2Thg4X4pxbBLAkulswV0XCDGE0kv-CrUiQjilEa3pYW0qQaPBv3N1A3oVvYf3XINMy5IdgUUO9dgxoQeXXxf8e-eHD3P2yj0BWWRRmq_yhRuWobniK2aWxsEEYqCTepwqXXfmdLzGM/s400/105071372_38768d8ea7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355525957842994114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Thank you, my dear Dr. Dippy Door.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-53570041317372508292009-07-05T06:46:00.000-07:002009-07-05T16:59:51.727-07:00Summer Reading: The 30-Second Commute<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvowu-i2Opc6rEYGoc_aBC2si08JNNwFExh2ZI9dZCXBmQBkFIZhKksXqjwbrN957id42PO8mMzC8qHMAfMi7FwJPzEXImKQRVrZla-pNoVNDuVNKSQHKBNkDQxfXdZbXQitrAumOHYt4/s1600-h/51crR76qdeL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvowu-i2Opc6rEYGoc_aBC2si08JNNwFExh2ZI9dZCXBmQBkFIZhKksXqjwbrN957id42PO8mMzC8qHMAfMi7FwJPzEXImKQRVrZla-pNoVNDuVNKSQHKBNkDQxfXdZbXQitrAumOHYt4/s400/51crR76qdeL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355129802392174082" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>I've been reading "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/30-Second-Commute-Non-Fiction-Writing/dp/1550228374/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227820615&sr=8-1">The 30-Second Commute</a>", by Toronto writer critic and culture writer <a href="http://www.stephaniedickison.com/index_files/Page381.htm">Stephanie Dickison</a> (<a href="http://www.stephaniedickison.com/">Writerscramp</a>, <a href="http://gottheknack.blogspot.com/">The Knack</a>, <a href="http://www.panmagazine.ca/">PanMagazine</a>) . It's an overview of the daily life of a freelance writer and although Dickison writes non-fiction and articles for countless magazines and on-line publications and I write for television, her vision of a day spent trying to keep all your writing, research, follow-up, invoicing, pitching and deadline plates spinning rings universally true.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a gentle, funny read and a nice compliment to Michelle Goodman's "<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.anti9to5guide.com/">My So-Called Freelance Life</a>", which has valuable, no-nonsense advice for anyone considering jumping free of the 9 to 5 for the grind of the 24-7.</div><div><br /></div><div>Michelle tells you how to survive and Stephanie will help you understand how you'll feel in funny, gentle way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Read those before you take the plunge so you can do it with your eyes wide open.</div><div><br /></div><div>Live the adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-54806336825082005822009-05-31T19:10:00.000-07:002009-05-31T19:16:56.192-07:00Tokyo Red Eye - What we can learn from a night flight to JapanYears ago, when I was more readily able to fly around the world at the drop of a hat (not that I took advantage of it very often), I flew to Japan to visit two friends who were teaching English. One friend was in the heart of Tokyo, and the other was living a somewhat lonelier existence farther south in Marugame, Kagawa, the home of most of Japan’s fan (uchiwa) production and the tastiest soba noodles I have ever encountered.<br /><br />In order to add a visit with a friend teaching in England on my way back, I had to fly the same route both ways, starting with an Atlantic crossing from Toronto’s Pearson Airport to Heathrow airport, in London, England. The second leg consisted of an overnight flight across Europe and Asia to Narita Airport, near downtown Tokyo.<br /><br />My trip came upon me much faster than I’d intended, lost as I was in the flurry of activity required to meet a story-board deadline… which I didn’t quite make, sadly. I’m not sure the director has ever forgiven me. But the result of all this work was a number of late-night work fests and a final all-nighter, right before I was due to leave. I hadn’t left my apartment yet but after being up for about 36 hours straight I had taken care of that nasty jet lag all on my own!<br /><br />I dropped off my board, then rushed home, threw clothes in a suitcase and hurried to the airport to catch my plane. By the time I got through customs and checked my bags I had pretty used up any reserves of energy I had left after my extended deadline push of the days preceding my trip.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GbE3xshqrUZNaNHlfqehBCBJ8j6d_uUwMr5aiit9oNUXR5a8YUXy2dDOik2uh5h1ctuZAN60e_T-F6BlvOz3yXhLkRV_QCViA8fOC9i5JAnKCFqUJEC-pzKPLboAj5ItOzGpEb0uISda/s1600-h/British_Airways.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GbE3xshqrUZNaNHlfqehBCBJ8j6d_uUwMr5aiit9oNUXR5a8YUXy2dDOik2uh5h1ctuZAN60e_T-F6BlvOz3yXhLkRV_QCViA8fOC9i5JAnKCFqUJEC-pzKPLboAj5ItOzGpEb0uISda/s400/British_Airways.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342176311950209746" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The flight to England was about eight hours, and I tried to roll up a jacket for a headrest and push my seat back to get some shuteye. It was then that I discovered the main drawback to British Airways’ vaunted service… it never stops. I was seated on the aisle and was consistently interrupted with offers of tea (always yes), snacks (always no) , meals, magazines, blankets and headphones. And when the hyper efficient staff wasn’t offering me yet another creature comfort, the other people in my aisle were squeezing past me to use the facilities.<br /><br />Suffice to say, I got very little sleep in my up and down, upright position and was one groggy, bleary-eyed world traveler as we touched down at Heathrow for my five- hour stopover. It was then that I discovered that Heathrow is, indeed, the world’s most expensive airport. A single cup of coffee and a scone cost me over13 pounds! Holy %$#!!!<br /><br />So I was 46 hours awake and dead on my feet when I finally boarded my night flight to Tokyo, which was to take something like 11 hours. Thank heavens this flight seemed more conducive to napping. There was some actual legroom to stretch out my gams, and they had dimmed the lights to create a pleasantly soothing, sleep-supporting atmosphere for me and all the Japanese travelers surrounding me. I managed to score two blankets so I could roll one up to support my neck.<br /><br />Sadly, I had officially passed exhaustion and was well into my “too tired to shut my brain off” stage. So I simply closed my eyes and tried to fool my whirling brain into thinking it might actually be drifting into slumber. The wonderful thing about the flight to Japan was the fact that a number of the meal options were delicious Bento boxes, much like those available on the Shinkansin bullet trains that link Japan’s islands at super speed.<br /><br />My body was thrilled to be facing real food as opposed to the vacuum-packed muffins and plains sandwiches at Heathrow. By now I had not only crossed several time zones, I had passed the 50-hours-awake mark, and I needed all the nutrition I could get. I was lost in the pleasant stupor of dinnertime, smelling the aromas and thinking about, well… not thinking at all, actually. That’s a polite way of saying I was completely exhausted and my brain was pretty much flat-lining by now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5tKpwZhDL__1NhTeWTNsKpzRdWE7aLpU25WlfgcDhzgbkFJRnZQbhTiGi6tO69wdVpX-9DWoA1vF7oZQixI1gKUrFAv66SNK6xOsyTJ1evOyGolEuGg_RgLC7EYCmlzLD6pDmAm4EqH_/s1600-h/Chopsticks_usage.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5tKpwZhDL__1NhTeWTNsKpzRdWE7aLpU25WlfgcDhzgbkFJRnZQbhTiGi6tO69wdVpX-9DWoA1vF7oZQixI1gKUrFAv66SNK6xOsyTJ1evOyGolEuGg_RgLC7EYCmlzLD6pDmAm4EqH_/s400/Chopsticks_usage.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342176185641121874" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />As I sat with my dinner in front of me I felt a tug at my sleeve.<br /><br />Across the aisle and one row back, a Japanese man was holding out his plastic-wrapped knife, fork and napkin combination with a supportive smile on his face. "Mistah! Hey Mistah! You use!" He smiled at me and shook the utensils.<br /><br />I smiled and shook my head back, thinking, "He must think I'm some kind of silly Gaijin who can't use chopsticks." But the man, and his wife beside him, kept trying to foist their spare utensils on me. After all, what did they need with silly Western knives and forks?<br /><br />As the pair continued to plead with me to take their cutlery I felt myself growing more insulted. It was pretty rude of them to assume I couldn't handle chopsticks on my own just because I'm not Japanese. I smiled as graciously as I could muster and shook my head "No" a final time. Then I indignantly turned back in my seat. Seriously, the nerve of those two, right? After much shifting in my chair in a losing effort to make myself more comfortable, I finally settled down with my meal.<br /><br />Then I looked down at my tray…. and at my hands.<br /><br />And all was revealed.<br /><br />I suddenly realized that while I had picked up the chopsticks I had not yet taken a bite. And all this time, my slack fingers, barely holding the chopsticks upright, had been listlessly dragging the chopsticks back and forth across my plate. Back and forth. Back and forth. Baaaaack and forth. It was quite hypnotic to watch, actually.<br /><br />I had not picked up a single grain of rice.<br /><br />I had not lifted a single morsel of teriyaki salmon to my mouth.<br /><br />It had been not doing all of that utterly independent of my conscious brain.<br /><br />Back and forth. Back and forth. It was still happening.<br /><br />And I had no idea how long I've been doing this.<br /><br />That poor man and his wife had been watching me fail to take a single bite of my much-needed nourishment for who knows how long until they were finally driven to their cross-cultural mission of mercy! Would no one give this poor, idiot, western man a knife and fork?<br /><br />I surreptitiously placed my fingertips on my food, taking a quick temperature to help me determine how long my hands had been making a fool of the rest of me. The food was still lukewarm, which meant, thank God, that I likely had not been making my sweeping motion for more than, oh, ten minutes or so.<br /><br />For some unknown reason, that gave me a feeling of quiet dignity.<br /><br />I gathered myself, mustering all the willpower at my command and stared at my hands, ordering them to clench around the damn chopsticks. With intense effort I managed to steady my hand somewhat and position my fingers correctly. Shakily, I directed my wooden utensils toward the salmon. Picking up rice would have been too much to ask of my poor extremities just yet.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGFiB6EjPXmkJFBiBr8YTsgD1dvVlG7ry46hMxJqNB9m-ReTr4HBHhVsvPlE7O4163NpYIb4PAE16c7GF7LD6XiZL-iwOCwj0pYiRoGH4B63YJNf4LKBPH56RAh_jb2Si6x1rektr9FWm/s1600-h/narita-airport-terminal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGFiB6EjPXmkJFBiBr8YTsgD1dvVlG7ry46hMxJqNB9m-ReTr4HBHhVsvPlE7O4163NpYIb4PAE16c7GF7LD6XiZL-iwOCwj0pYiRoGH4B63YJNf4LKBPH56RAh_jb2Si6x1rektr9FWm/s400/narita-airport-terminal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342176382874443938" border="0" /></a><br />Narita Airport, Japan.<br /></div><br />It was amazing how difficult it was to do something I do without thinking any other time. The stress of the moment, and some of my embarrassment, faded away as I lifted the teriyaki salmon to my mouth. I quickly took the bite, worried that somehow it would explode out of my quivering hands if I didn’t act right then. My mouth full of the delicious salmon at last, I turned and smiled broadly at my Good Samaritans.<br /><br />Determined to complete my return from the depths of embarrassment and restore my tarnished dignity, I held up the chopsticks clicking them triumphantly in a salute to my would-be benefactors and displayed the international symbol for yummy by rubbing my tummy in a circular motion.<br /><br />The man and his wife smiled back, evidently relieved that I would neither starve nor force them to watch me disgrace chopsticks any longer. They joined together in silent round of applause for the big, stupid Gaijin learning how to eat. Their job was done.<br /><br />If you teach a man to fish and use chopsticks he will always have food.<br /><br />There are several morals to this little story.<br /><br />One. Just because you think you’re doing something right, doesn’t mean you aren’t fucking it up.<br /><br />Two. If someone offers you help, guidance, or even a little constructive criticism, they could be seeing something you’re too close to see.<br /><br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-4211031656262050222009-05-21T05:00:00.000-07:002009-05-21T05:29:31.470-07:00Responsibity to Ourselves<blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />"Every one of my books has killed me a little bit more."<br />-Norman Mailer</blockquote>As I mentioned in my last post, I've been in a responsibility frame of mind. I've talked about fan expectations. This time let's discuss self-expectations.<br /><br />A Facebook friend recently sent the link to <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm">Eat Pray Love</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> </span>author <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/">Elizabeth Gilbert</a>'s <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html">TED.com talk</a> on a different way to think about <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/">Creativity</a>. Gilbert suggests that before the Renaissance creators and artists felt that the spark of all their creative ideas came from the heavens. This idea, suggests Gilbert, spared them the pain of fearing failure and the danger of getting a swelled head from any success they acquired.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuKRKy7A5VsY3qOEJXUD59bibateGXpHcsYkm1NcdZtFVDib-NZA5oY46lRRZ1IagESsgxCg-B7k1bg-0e6tG9d5X8-3fITZMfHwXY6bka3P96nSjEgkyRk-5hUFotfwTo941cuetB1Ru/s1600-h/LizG-BN.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 385px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuKRKy7A5VsY3qOEJXUD59bibateGXpHcsYkm1NcdZtFVDib-NZA5oY46lRRZ1IagESsgxCg-B7k1bg-0e6tG9d5X8-3fITZMfHwXY6bka3P96nSjEgkyRk-5hUFotfwTo941cuetB1Ru/s400/LizG-BN.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337912270380329170" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" >Elizabeth Gilbert and her best-selling memoir.</span><br /></div><br />The Greeks called these Muses daemons and the Romans called them genius. Not a brilliant person... but rather a spirit guide. This allowed for the artist to have a distance from their work.<br /><br />The Renaissance gave rise to the idea that the artist is the sole creator of the work. "Let's put the human being at the centre of all creation." This resulted in artists being put on a pedestal as the sole vessel of the creation. Gilbert goes on to say this is the first time we begin to see the modern usage of genius and she thinks this is a bad idea.<br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"It completely warps and distorts egos and creates all these unmanageable expectations about performance. And I think the pressure of that has been killing off our artists for the last 500 years."</blockquote><br />The idea that an artist requires distanc e from their work to do the work seems valid. There is a point where you need to immerse yourself in creation and let the it flow. But holding something too close, or being too deep in it removes perspective. Every time I see someone bristle at criticism or get defensive about comments, I know they're in too deep to see the comments for what they usually are: genuine interest and potential insight into the work.<br /><br />But while we do need to dive deep into the waters of creation to explore an idea thoroughly, we also need toperiodically come up for air. By doing so we, we remove ourselves from the creative process briefly to eye the work as a whole. That critical distance helps us to shape and hone the final product.<br /><br />As Gilbert points out, that's tough on the psyche when it's just not working and you have no one but yourself to blame. And even if you do succeed, you may have to confront the fear you will never create anything as good again. In other words, if your first book is the <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger"><span style="font-style: italic;">Catcher in the Rye</span></a>, your ego is screwed tyring to live up to it for the rest of your life.<br /><br />If the inspiration came from God or the universe, then you have someone to share the blame with with. "I have a lame Muse." or "My Muse was hungover that day." On the other hand, you can't get a swelled head if your book is a bestseller or your painting launches a bidding war between art galleries. "Your Muse was working overtime tht day."<br /><br />Gilbert suggests a return to thinking the way the ancients did because it's as accurate a description of the maddening capriciousness of the creative process as anything. Sometimes it can feel "downright paranormal".<br /><br />Many of my artist friends found Gilbert's talk extremely inspiring. It seemed to encapsulate how they felt about their artistic process. But the magic of Ted.com is less about the presenters themselves but rather about conversations they create in those watching. That's why I got more out of the comments section below Gilbert's chat.<br /><br />Ruth Anne Harnish was "<span id="t_50629">comforted, encouraged, educated, and inspired by the content of this talk." Others feel the metaphorical nature of the talk is useful but people taking it literally is dangerous. But that's up to the viewer, not to Gilbert. She's expressing a theory. How people use it </span>up to them.<br /><br />Gilbert is not suggesting an artist should be absolved of responsibility for thier work. She's saying, this is a way of reclaiming the slight distance from a work that you need to stay stable and focused without raking your psyche over the coals. "Don't be afraid. Just do your job. Show up and do your part. If you dance... dance."<br /><br />Oddly, by letting go of a small piece of the responsibilty for creation to the universe, collective unconsciousness, Allah or whatever you refer to a higher power as, Gilbert is not saying you absolve yourself of responsibility. She's telling you to take responsibility for your own self. Your physical and psychic health. On her website's <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm">Thoughts on Writing</a> page, Gilbert suggests that discipline is less important for a writer than self-forgiveness.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > <span style="font-family:Book Antiqua;"><blockquote>As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness (which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love). The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it, as per my vows. </blockquote></span></span>We can't create if we ignore our bodies needs to eat and sleep and relax and have. We have nothing to draw from if we don't explore our world and share friendships and experience family. You owe it to your art not to work all the time, to read about things you know nothing about, to have experiences and unexpected moments of confrontation or bliss.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKWQSruflWJC1SkHfus3FgsB-L6vR71yTy7u__HyS5CfuEaUY755Yv-1mY0ODk3euq2SnTaoauj7fdeBad9j9jlbjb6zRjgnSd7X3hxo2KbZRoMV6WceHiACoccGM8x1JbKySMGJ_WGXw/s1600-h/02_herzog_lgl.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKWQSruflWJC1SkHfus3FgsB-L6vR71yTy7u__HyS5CfuEaUY755Yv-1mY0ODk3euq2SnTaoauj7fdeBad9j9jlbjb6zRjgnSd7X3hxo2KbZRoMV6WceHiACoccGM8x1JbKySMGJ_WGXw/s400/02_herzog_lgl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337912885611914930" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" >Werner Herzog.</span><br /></div><br />Gilbert's web essay goes on to tell of a independant filmmaker friend who wrote to his hero, director <a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.wernerherzog.com/">Werner Herzog</a>, when he was feeling defeated. Herzog's reply is priceless.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:100%;" ></span></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;" >Herzog wrote back a personal letter to my friend that essentially ran along these lines: “Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work.”</span></span></blockquote>Gilbert takes as much inspiration those words as her friend did.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:100%;" > </span></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;" >I repeat those words back to myself whenever I start to feel resentful, entitled, competitive or unappreciated with regard to my writing: “It’s not the world’s fault that you want to be an artist…now get back to work.” Always, at the end of the day, the important thing is only and always that: Get back to work. This is a path for the courageous and the faithful. You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place. </span></span></blockquote>You owe it to yourself a chance to recharge and gain perspective. ou owe that to your art. You don't have to acknowledge a higher power to do that if you think that's ethereal and artsy fartsy. But you do have to find a way to step back and forgive yourself.<br /><br />Then get back to work.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-57856500710440331822009-05-19T16:52:00.000-07:002009-05-20T07:38:26.131-07:00Responsibilty to the Audience<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 255);">My new laptop is up and running and I'm in the slow process of digging through old file back-ups to restore myself to my fomer disorganized glory. So intermittent posting returns at last to StarkRavingAdventure.com and hopefully, my other blogs. So here goes...</span></span><br /><br />My recent online reading has put me in a <span style="font-style: italic;">responsibility</span> frame of mind. There are many levels of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">responsibility</span> writers and creators come up against in their.<br /><br />Let's start with Neil <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gaiman</span>, author of DC Comics highly successful Vertigo Sandman comic series and books like American Gods and Coraline, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">source</span> for this season's animated, 3-D movie.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLlM409KaO96Bi8KbnyLmJz_ewW8eK9PanKKZYdbKenMye7GaQadBRzTxbzkqrUuFg9iq_fnrCcE-pVwC0x0aiu250JK5T2_FDJ3ESy3Zlw-b0239dC3O87RD2fmdmVJgJ8_i_C5XQrbh/s1600-h/neil-gaiman.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 393px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLlM409KaO96Bi8KbnyLmJz_ewW8eK9PanKKZYdbKenMye7GaQadBRzTxbzkqrUuFg9iq_fnrCcE-pVwC0x0aiu250JK5T2_FDJ3ESy3Zlw-b0239dC3O87RD2fmdmVJgJ8_i_C5XQrbh/s400/neil-gaiman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337914228952518946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" >Author Neil Gaiman.</span><br /></div><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Gaiman</span> is one of those writers who manages to maintain an impressive web presence for his readers while still getting an incredible amount of work done. But being available to your fans can be a messy business. It's difficult not to get drawn into discussions and try to convince people why a choice you made or the show required is right and their bad or worse, dismissive, opinion of it is wrong!<br /><br />That's a no-win situation. For every question you answer, a host of accusations and follow-up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">questions</span> are hurled at you. Often with a increasing level of invective and blame.<br /><br />For every creator like Greg <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Beeman</span>, a director and producer on Heroes who's <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://gregbeeman.blogspot.com/">behind the scenes blog</a> was a popular <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">destination</span> for fans of the show until he was.. er, let go, there are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">twenty</span> creators who avoid being drawn into discussions of the work. It often ends up with writers feeling like they have to defend things the fans don't like, even though there are likely dozens of story and production reasons things went the way they did.<br /><br />You don't win those conversations. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Blogcritics</span> had a <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://blogcritics.org/video/article/online-fans-represent-tvs-vocal-minority/">terrific <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">pos</span></a>t by Diane Kristine Wild last year that explored the problem from the perspective of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">showrunners</span> at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Banff</span> Television special.<br /><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Martin Wood, currently executive producing and directing the upcoming science fiction show </span><i style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Sanctuary</i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">, reflected on the number of </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">fansites</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> and social networks his previous series, </span><i style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Stargate</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">SG</span>-1</i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> and </span><i style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Stargate</span>: Atlantis</i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">, spawned. "You learn that the majority of your audience is not responding on those things," he warned in</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/06/15/112618.php">our interview</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">. "So a relatively small number of people are being very loud about what they want. If you respond to it the way you think you should, it's not necessarily the best thing for the show." </span></p> <p><a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/06/11/095937.php"><i>House</i> writer David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Hoselton</span></a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">echoed those comments during his festival session on the craft of writing in response to an audience member question. "(</span><i style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">House</i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> creator) David Shore doesn't care about what people say on the Internet. He doesn't want to hear it; he doesn't want to know about it. He doesn't want to pander to that audience, whatever it is. The idea is that out of an audience of 20 million, I don't know what that represents, half a million or something like that? He wants nothing to do with it."</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">However, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Hoselton</span> confessed he has to browse forum comments the day after his own episodes air, sifting through the "three pages on Chase's pants" to find the insightful ones... until he has to back away when they turn into online fights. Still, "there are these incredibly intelligent, observant people who catch every mistake you could possibly make," he laughed. </p></blockquote><p></p>I love it. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Hoselton</span> embodies that need to please all writers have and the creative confidence (or arrogance) we require to do our job when he admits to avoiding the discussion but still trolling the forum for feedback and praise.<br /><br />In his recent post, <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html">Entitlement Issues...</a>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Gaiman</span> responds to Gareth, a fan of writer<a href="http://grrm.livejournal.com/"> <span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">George R. R. Martin</span></a>'s <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://www.georgerrmartin.com/">Song of Ice and Fire</a> books who is annoyed to find Martin blogging while he's waiting breathlessly for the next book. Gareth asks <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Gaiman</span>...<br /><br />1) Does an author have a greater responsibility to write his book than blog and well, have a life?<br /><br />2) What responsibility does Martin to a reader to finish his dang story. Is it unrealistic to think Martin is letting his reader's down?<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Gaiman's</span> response is priceless.<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">My opinion....<br /><br />1) No.<br /><br />2) Yes, it's unrealistic of you to think George is "letting you down".<br /><br />Look, this may not be palatable, Gareth, and I keep trying to come up with a better way to put it, but the simplicity of things, at least from my perspective is this:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.</span><br /><br />This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly George is, indeed, your bitch, and should be out there typing what you want to read <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">right now</span>.</blockquote><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Gaiman</span> goes on to state that Martin has met his commitment by producing the Song of Ice and Fire books that are already out. Gareth paid his money for those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">books</span> and got his money's worth. He liked the books enough to want more. While he waits and hopes for the next book to appear, he should essentially "get a life".<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.geekshow.us/tag/a-song-of-ice-and-fire/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 396px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6cHJLgAR3hoAGM0vrWTNGeT9O7EtlrnEgxufonGCbHOVV2d_VRHF9iHGWsJeCWrkG4PpP4Ahc-Zow3ycA-nmaLJEJvWtTZMJFwgwt624wJ0oRUhg1dQ1m-fHoEqlZIiJd_FS4JfGarP8/s400/asoiaf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337914742856238386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">A Song of Ice and Fire images from<br /><a style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);" href="http://www.geekshow.us/tag/a-song-of-ice-and-fire/">geekshow.us</a></span></span><br /></div><br />In short, readers, viewers and fans need to take responsibility for themselves. They can chat up the show and hope for more or disagree with directions. But ultimately, getting to watch a show that engages them so much is the extent of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">their</span> contract with the creators. Anything else is gravy, and completely up to the people involved.<br /><br />Similar posts pop up from time to time on television writer Denis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">McGrath's</span> blog, Dead Things On Sticks. The most notorious are insightful posts on <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/2007/04/wherein-kirk-and-spock-make-man-love.html">fan fiction</a> (as well as an interview about his views on CBC Radio's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">blogcast</span>, Spark. Download it <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2007/12/denis-mcgrath-on-fan-fiction-in-the-internet-age/">here</a>.) and his must-read <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/2007/07/emily-posts-guide-to-save-our-show.html">Emily Post's Guide to Save Our Show Campaigns</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">.</span><br /><br />The fans who comprise <a style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Nerdity</span></a> seem to keep the conversation on a level of appreciation and real discussion. They are one of my main stops for Sci-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Fi</span> news and geek speak now. They take responsibility for what they post and are generally an intelligent, polite, if <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">extremely</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">opinionated</span> bunch.<br /><br />In return, writers take responsibility to write the best freakin' script or book they can under whatever the circumstances happen to be. That means, you write the best thing you can, while taking into account producer notes, budget, time constraints and story requirements, et al.<br /><br />That's the only true contract between artist and fans.<br /><br />Next time we get a bit more personal with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">responsibility</span> to ourselves and to our art.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-74154833249852502722009-04-20T07:27:00.000-07:002009-04-20T07:37:14.274-07:00System CrashCaptain's Log. Stardate: Waaaaauuuugh!<br /><br />A hard drive has rendered data inaccessible and posting unlikely for the next week or two. the crew has rallied and jury-rigged life (and career) support systems are in place. No fatalities and no deadlines missed thus far.<br /><br />Air.. running low. Blogging chances are about to, gasp, black out. Recommend citations for all bridge... club, I mean, crew.<br /><br />New computer on horizon. But will it arrive in time?<br /><br />Gasp! Gurk!<br /><br />Thanks for your patience.<br /><br />Live the adventure.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-47898916294734609412009-04-06T13:01:00.000-07:002009-04-06T14:00:00.792-07:00The Perils Of Screenwriting: A century later, Jack London's thoughts on screenwriting still resonate<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">"I have written some novels of adventure in my time, but never, in all of the many of them, have I perpetrated a totality of action equal to what is contained in 'Hearts of Three'." - Jack London.</span></blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgvA0_cziDtGvDahjDAiv2Y2ts7CvMTAL4pe08yzK9Y4j8ds0cnvpOFzqdBq92wBcx6o44leKgjwTXb0yqEfb48_M0lHa6cW3Gtxdp12YDttMIhkgeV4K59ZTj8Pet50VV3Eive8x_V-N/s1600-h/Movie-PerilsOfPauline-RRTracks-01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgvA0_cziDtGvDahjDAiv2Y2ts7CvMTAL4pe08yzK9Y4j8ds0cnvpOFzqdBq92wBcx6o44leKgjwTXb0yqEfb48_M0lHa6cW3Gtxdp12YDttMIhkgeV4K59ZTj8Pet50VV3Eive8x_V-N/s400/Movie-PerilsOfPauline-RRTracks-01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321680308668279906" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />The more things change, the more they stay the same.<br /><br />In looking through Jack London's writings on a recent research jaunt I happened upon the forward for his escapist, Indiana Jones-esque adventure, <a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3132"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hearts Of Three</span></a>. In it, Jack, with comic deliberation, discusses the various strengths and weakness between authors of literary fiction such as himself and those upstart scenario writers for that newfangled silent film phenomenon taking the planet by storm.<br /><br />According to London, the 'scenario writers' bring to the table relentless speed and breathless excitement, whereas he brings only deliberate pacing and unhelpful things such as description and fullness of character. Such speed and deft illogic of plotting was necessary since the relentless grind of cinema was chewing through the world's entire history of plots at a brakneck pace and must be continually fed like a steam engine hungry for coal.<br /><br />According to London, <span style="font-style: italic;">Hearts Of Three </span>was a collaboration between himself and one of the early writing superstars of the cinema, none other than<span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goddard">Charles Goddard</a>. Goddard was a <a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0323766/">noted playwright</a> who adapted many of his works for the new medium but will forever be remembered as the writer, er, scenarist, of<span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perils_of_Pauline_%281914_serial%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Perils of Pauline</span></a>. Goddard also gets props from me for penning the plays that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis' funny <a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://littleblogtoo.blogspot.com/2006/12/andswered-dvd-prayers-thats-my-boy-and.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Scared Stiff</span></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span>and Bob Hope's <a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/25781"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Ghost Breakers</span></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);"> </span>were based on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlewOWmgCSn-wNwrAewIS9cuOBw3wGbpLfs5xIAEH545TGb7jlsx5HdSRnDYLsG3MJozQsy5Ytd9EdGTy1Zm7hpkDLqkP-rRf_1sbWkGy6TOxjlM60SpL3RS8iO23-a17C_pQNyLEMriU/s1600-h/Ghost+Breakers+WC+11X17.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlewOWmgCSn-wNwrAewIS9cuOBw3wGbpLfs5xIAEH545TGb7jlsx5HdSRnDYLsG3MJozQsy5Ytd9EdGTy1Zm7hpkDLqkP-rRf_1sbWkGy6TOxjlM60SpL3RS8iO23-a17C_pQNyLEMriU/s400/Ghost+Breakers+WC+11X17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321680106439165906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbDu2qGpgAa7vYjude-lkKKPmN_vXeymi9-dKqqESAllDbKF-yjyiQkQhYPZ1IWe2TzOZenJzmR4Xl6qltWF2pJdP2RM4IPignRS7ZrshoN2BmfkVdLYZ6-_hMRpRt2CGrQc0pEf35AQK/s1600-h/ScaredStiff.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbDu2qGpgAa7vYjude-lkKKPmN_vXeymi9-dKqqESAllDbKF-yjyiQkQhYPZ1IWe2TzOZenJzmR4Xl6qltWF2pJdP2RM4IPignRS7ZrshoN2BmfkVdLYZ6-_hMRpRt2CGrQc0pEf35AQK/s400/ScaredStiff.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321680431412962018" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />London's hilarious description of how he wrestled with the demands of the two mediums to produce an imminently filmable novel is a joy to read, even today.<br /><br />If only it still didn't resonate so painfully!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCB0W5yoZE47azlhQ3W3S5r1DRM_SgvJcB474w8nV4oGuMW04BLz3hHJ2BkelM7TRrV4m6wtJSSbOSazG0pE9xEbop8UTyQ4xLjanOYMc76Ex1vkmAorQXZvZyS6I4W7ikuuKmOy03aS4/s1600-h/161881831-0-l.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCB0W5yoZE47azlhQ3W3S5r1DRM_SgvJcB474w8nV4oGuMW04BLz3hHJ2BkelM7TRrV4m6wtJSSbOSazG0pE9xEbop8UTyQ4xLjanOYMc76Ex1vkmAorQXZvZyS6I4W7ikuuKmOy03aS4/s400/161881831-0-l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321685443240806930" border="0" /></a></div><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><blockquote></blockquote>I HOPE the reader will forgive me for beginning this foreword with a brag. In truth, this yarn is a celebration. By its completion I celebrate my fortieth birthday, my fiftieth book, my sixteenth year in the writing game, and a new departure. " Hearts of Three " is a new departure. I have certainly never done anything like it before; I am pretty certain never to do anything like it again. And I haven't the least bit of reticence in proclaiming my pride in having done it. And now, for the reader who likes action, I advise him to skip the rest of this brag and foreword, and plunge into the narrative, and tell me if it just doesn't read along.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">For the more curious let me explain a bit further. With the rise of moving pictures into the overwhelmingly most popular form of amusement in the entire world, the stock of plots and stories in the world's fiction fund began rapidly to be exhausted. In a year a single producing company, with a score of directors, is capable of filming the entire literary output of the entire lives of Shakespeare, Balzac, Dickens, Scott, Zola, Tolstoy, and of dozens of less voluminous writers. And since there are hundreds of moving pictures producing companies, it can be readily grasped how quickly they found themselves face to face with a shortage of the raw material of which moving pictures are fashioned.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The film rights in all novels, short stories, and plays that were still covered by copyright, were bought or contracted for, while all similar raw material on which copyright had expiredwas being screened as swiftly as sailors on a placer beach would pick up nuggets. Thousands of scenario writers literally tens of thousands, for no man, nor woman, nor child was too mean not to write scenarios tens of thousands of scenario writers pirated through all literature (copyright or otherwise), and snatched the magazines hot from the press to steal any new scene or plot or story hit upon by their writing brethren.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcAfSrwi5X_UqgmN4gqWLyYsno4dOVgrwubV4NlX0kyp81S52E9B2bZpmev9bOQGkBr1OkkzajcdOQyt_kYM6pBXGfW0YBSPkf2UPjzuLRrFiBGcQIm_H0gOWUxSpgKo39gqmh7hXW0y5/s1600-h/jl_l.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcAfSrwi5X_UqgmN4gqWLyYsno4dOVgrwubV4NlX0kyp81S52E9B2bZpmev9bOQGkBr1OkkzajcdOQyt_kYM6pBXGfW0YBSPkf2UPjzuLRrFiBGcQIm_H0gOWUxSpgKo39gqmh7hXW0y5/s400/jl_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321680196351258770" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">In passing, it is only fair to point out that, though only the other day, it was in the days ere scenario writers became respectable, in the days when they worked overtime for rough-neck directors for fifteen and twenty a week or freelanced their wares for from ten to twenty dollars per scenario and half the time were beaten out of the due payment, or had their stolen goods stolen from them by their equally graceless and shameless fellows who slaved by the week. But to-day, which is only a day since the other day, I know scenario writers who keep their three. machines, their two chauffeurs, send their children to the most exclusive prep schools, and maintain an unwavering solvency.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">It was largely because of the shortage in raw material that scenario writers appreciated in value and esteem. They found themselves in demand, treated with respect, better remunerated, and, in return, expected to deliver a higher grade of commodity. One phase of this new quest for material was the attempt to enlist Jmown authors in the work. But because a man had written a score of novels was no guarantee that he could write a good scenario. Quite to the contrary, it was quickly discovered that the surest guarantee of failure was a previous record of success in novel writing.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">But the moving pictures producers were not to be denied. Division of labor was the thing. Allying themselves with powerful newspaper organisations, or, in the case of "Hearts of Three," the very reverse, they had highly-skilled writers of scenario (who couldn't write novels to save themselves) make scenarios, which, in turn, were translated into novels by novel-writers (who couldn't, to save themselves, write scenarios).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Comes now Mr. Charles Goddard to one, Jack London, saying: " The time, the place, and the men are met; the moving pictures producers, the newspapers, and the capital, are ready: let us get together." And we got "Hearts of Three." When I state that Mr. Goddard has been responsible for " The Perils of Pauline," " The Exploits of Elaine," " The Goddess," the " Get Rich Quick Wallingford " series, etc., no question of his skilled fitness can be raised. Also, the name of the present heroine, Leoncia, is of his own devising.</span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I0wpya-z1Wrm2Cyvw7cjUIZUPQt_a5O4OS2zMMpHAu6N83ZtJ5pD0OPLmEEhHdbdCZEHAvIvtfcEJQP_Zj4ae3cWZzY28lHQ8f2AgSvMprxVWqbQst66LVvUPjX87QqgAE9gLgyRLDhD/s1600-h/perilsofpauline.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 388px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I0wpya-z1Wrm2Cyvw7cjUIZUPQt_a5O4OS2zMMpHAu6N83ZtJ5pD0OPLmEEhHdbdCZEHAvIvtfcEJQP_Zj4ae3cWZzY28lHQ8f2AgSvMprxVWqbQst66LVvUPjX87QqgAE9gLgyRLDhD/s400/perilsofpauline.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321681436066223010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">On the ranch, in the Valley of the Moon, he wrote his first several episodes. But he wrote faster than I, and was done with his fifteen episodes weeks ahead of me. Do not be misled by the word " episode." The first episode covers three thousand feet of film. The succeeding fourteen episodes cover each two thousand feet of film. And each episode contains about ninety scenes, which makes a total of some thirteen hundred scenes. Nevertheless, we worked simultaneously at our respective tasks. I could not build for what was going to happen next or a dozen chapters away, because I did not know. Neither did Mr. Goddard know. The inevitable result was that "Hearts of Three" may not be very vertebrate, although it is certainly consecutive.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Imagine my surprise, down here in Hawaii and toiling at the novelization of the tenth episode, to receive by mail from Mr. Goddard in New York the scenario of the fourteenth episode, and glancing therein, to find my hero married to the wrong woman! and with only one more episode in which to get rid of the wrong woman and duly tie my hero up with the right and only woman. For all of wilich (sic) please see last chapter of fifteenth episode. Trust Mr. Goddard to show me how.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">For Mr. Goddard is the master of action and lord of speed. Action doesn't bother him at all. " Register," he calmly says in a film direction to the moving picture actor. Evidently the actor registers, for Mr. Goddard goes right on with more action. " Register grief," he commands, or “sorrow," or " anger," or " melting sympathy," or “homicidal intent," or "suicidal tendency." That's all. It has to be all, or how else would he ever accomplish the whole thirteen hundred scenes?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">But imagine the poor devil of a me, who can't utter the talismanic " register " but who must describe, and at some length inevitably, these moods and modes so airily created in passing by Mr. Goddard ! Why, Dickens thought nothing of consuming a thousand words or so in describing and subtly characterizing the particular grief of a particular person. But Mr. Goddard says, " Register," and the slaves of the camera obey.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGIwYAJz7Gm4e2Mmp6ufgZ5FN5nQOpNQP-FCYKsdwx8C1ef08pkG63ZcbJjZGYxm7i2JCMQ5UwZAXDR6dumvCnXJdYNzbdhImKhXtBDiR8WTaYOj7gzq02DcdXgIPqOdx_lE4nZ2sg7jq/s1600-h/3770.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGIwYAJz7Gm4e2Mmp6ufgZ5FN5nQOpNQP-FCYKsdwx8C1ef08pkG63ZcbJjZGYxm7i2JCMQ5UwZAXDR6dumvCnXJdYNzbdhImKhXtBDiR8WTaYOj7gzq02DcdXgIPqOdx_lE4nZ2sg7jq/s400/3770.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321679930329115602" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And action! I have written some novels of adventure in my time, but never, in all of the many of them, have I perpetrated a totality of action equal to what is contained in "Hearts of Three." But I know, now, why moving pictures are popular. I know, now, why Messrs. "Barnes of New York" and "Potter of Texas" sold by the millions of copies. I know, now, why one stump speech of high-falutin' is a more efficient vote-getter than a finest and highest act or thought of statesmanship. It has been an interesting experience, this novelization by me of Mr. Goddard's scenario; and it has been instructive. It has given me high lights, foundation lines, cross-bearings, and illumination on my anciently founded sociological generalizations. I have come, by this adventure in writing, to understand the mass mind of the people more thoroughly than I thought I had understood it before, and to realize, more fully than ever, the graphic entertainment delivered by the demagogue who wins the vote of the mass out of his mastery of its mind. I should be surprised if this book does not have a large sale. (" Register surprise," Mr. Goddard would say; or " Register large sale ").</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">If this adventure of " Hearts of Three " be collaboration, I am transported by it. But alack ! I fear me Mr. Goddard must then be the one collaborator in a million. We have never had a word, an argument, nor a discussion. But then, I must be a jewel of a collaborator myself. Have I not, without whisper or whimper of complaint, let him " register " through fifteen episodes of scenario, through thirteen hundred scenes and thirty-one thousand feet of film, through one hundred and eleven thousand words of novelization? Just the same, having completed the task, I wish I'd never written it for the reason that I'd like to read it myself to see if it reads along. I am curious to know. I am curious to know.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">JACK LONDON.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Waikiki, Hawaii,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">March 23, 1916.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">MILLS & BOON, LIMITED</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">49 RUPERT STREET</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">LONDON, W.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Copyright in the United States of America by Jack London.</span><br /></blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoB3pxLT9dnJvMT32s89RIA110bUDGfH3nQ8rdQWFZeazTll2QWQFCzb7Ozbw5NFaM45Qo8k16jXURLmKHKCPu20IOXCZUkCHzzS0PRisVdYyO5usGhdJKMhxC6eayDdyRZT9E2RkqWS-8/s1600-h/perilsBay.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoB3pxLT9dnJvMT32s89RIA110bUDGfH3nQ8rdQWFZeazTll2QWQFCzb7Ozbw5NFaM45Qo8k16jXURLmKHKCPu20IOXCZUkCHzzS0PRisVdYyO5usGhdJKMhxC6eayDdyRZT9E2RkqWS-8/s400/perilsBay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321681378619686306" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-83778061435977211812009-03-30T13:30:00.001-07:002009-03-31T11:35:34.390-07:00Novel Approach - They say everyone has a book in them. But do they have to hurt so much coming out?It seems like everybody's writing a book nowadays.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVVD5VXG41y7_mq6H-KR00ND1Z_4TgHXuAGygEFsPI5tm3fFRGAXo8TdLqn-P6eLASKH4BdHTTdZ7UB_thBGtX6bq0cR0BCG8A1CBQ14feYh3SgOtCJCTVmRBppRGBv4PHsA_ZyRpTVWG/s1600-h/51crR76qdeL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVVD5VXG41y7_mq6H-KR00ND1Z_4TgHXuAGygEFsPI5tm3fFRGAXo8TdLqn-P6eLASKH4BdHTTdZ7UB_thBGtX6bq0cR0BCG8A1CBQ14feYh3SgOtCJCTVmRBppRGBv4PHsA_ZyRpTVWG/s400/51crR76qdeL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133152001235570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-J1ZTcxTaYPvD8lRcrlrzT6g6L1t-CzLnP_mUuGOweq0_FR_RHPiS1YzUOtsAKJA5wKPQtw30Obhx9JXhPFWBX7BguHnjrkayI_czcg7QDNiGZUrL_B7-LzmeqmY8qySZpq3A2rk8asP/s1600-h/41GXA9TB9WL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-J1ZTcxTaYPvD8lRcrlrzT6g6L1t-CzLnP_mUuGOweq0_FR_RHPiS1YzUOtsAKJA5wKPQtw30Obhx9JXhPFWBX7BguHnjrkayI_czcg7QDNiGZUrL_B7-LzmeqmY8qySZpq3A2rk8asP/s400/41GXA9TB9WL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133089779994818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I have a copy of my friend Scott Alberts's book, <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.amazon.ca/Below-Line-John-McFetridge/dp/0921833881/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238446729&sr=1-8">Below The Line</a>, written with John McFetridge, on order from Amazon.ca right now. <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.stephaniedickison.com/index_files/Page314.htm">The 30 Second Commute</a>, Stephanie Dickison's nonfiction comedy about working from home, is available for <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.amazon.ca/30-Second-Commute-Non-Fiction-Writing/dp/1550228374/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238449915&sr=8-1">pre-order</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEUssxQ5rcbnt7GOyuAM_HHpgEHMHyj9-2rovP-6whtfKcu6x9WpMRrsOQ7TXXHDUhTHiHfNaD1YjZYucYnO-Ut_nfnskCCzDAjdv-Dkt2aoYqYYYcMog5QajB6n3qeC7XU7q5IhEjrbd/s1600-h/51Rl7Daae8L._SL500_AA240_.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEUssxQ5rcbnt7GOyuAM_HHpgEHMHyj9-2rovP-6whtfKcu6x9WpMRrsOQ7TXXHDUhTHiHfNaD1YjZYucYnO-Ut_nfnskCCzDAjdv-Dkt2aoYqYYYcMog5QajB6n3qeC7XU7q5IhEjrbd/s400/51Rl7Daae8L._SL500_AA240_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133218834421538" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Just in stores and available to order directly from <a href="http://www.GroundwoodBooks.com">Groundwood Books</a> is<a href="http://www.groundwoodbooks.com/" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span></span></a> <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.anansi.ca/gw_titles.cfm?pub_id=1345">Earthgirl</a>, fellow TV scribe Jenn Cowan's first book from House of Anansi Press.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fXGpiRbYuJ_lJuCZM0geY-zreXVRBF0jHU_HAyfGQUnr1LyptRCyiUBh8XlTm5JIMdjMGKul2waUKJAvkxVEkBXXU1hL6lTbdgteKd4L-53p7-Qc7J5slOk1V3wbCawl24NI9NqQ_YjE/s1600-h/WondrousStrangejktcropped.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fXGpiRbYuJ_lJuCZM0geY-zreXVRBF0jHU_HAyfGQUnr1LyptRCyiUBh8XlTm5JIMdjMGKul2waUKJAvkxVEkBXXU1hL6lTbdgteKd4L-53p7-Qc7J5slOk1V3wbCawl24NI9NqQ_YjE/s400/WondrousStrangejktcropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133638149436018" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/">Hardcore Nerdity</a> principal Lesley Livingston's <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.amazon.com/Wondrous-Strange-Hardback/dp/0061575372/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237141992&sr=8-1">Wondrous Strange</a> is selling like hotcakes and has already spent time as one of Amazon's top youth sellers. So wake up, Twilight fans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdYvsDHwM8EliVv20PxRsM5FBHnG1jRUeipanEAF6EsTS9pwRy8ui75JOcOlYjal5mxLpIInyoR_jrQNfuPTw1c2Z4FfW0CAbPdKCu5CWtzArED6gFu8sr_8_R-q7oCPq5Dp9uGpgkDSt/s1600-h/n270983.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdYvsDHwM8EliVv20PxRsM5FBHnG1jRUeipanEAF6EsTS9pwRy8ui75JOcOlYjal5mxLpIInyoR_jrQNfuPTw1c2Z4FfW0CAbPdKCu5CWtzArED6gFu8sr_8_R-q7oCPq5Dp9uGpgkDSt/s400/n270983.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133309387080018" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Actress and author Adrienne Kress, another Hardcore Nerdite, has a second book out, <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.amazon.com/Timothy-Dragons-Gate-Adrienne-Kress/dp/1602860238/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237142061&sr=1-1">Timothy And The Dragon's Gate</a>. Both of Kress and Livingston's fantasy works are garnering excellent reviews, like <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090321.BKFANTASY21/TPStory/?query=Lesley+Livingston">this one</a> in the Globe and Mail.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090321.BKFANTASY21/TPStory/?query=Lesley+Livingston"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRLXq_Kg7t2qTPg0RxHddKezR0iWTBc47OVJmZ1UcenEuspvpOikvbpuqjHz7z8JA8ReV5qZg7Wcm8RXhuUA65yaQeYOehOOWWhxpe7rmmv4b9SNKGRIZOASnavVaPnXiwY-ySRq_uNx8/s400/darkmouthyness2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133456572765442" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />And pals like actor Stephen Adams are taking matters into their own hands and self-publishing, like his first novel, <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.suitontherun.com/">Suit On The Run</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9clXolwXo48-niM5LCeQqeO0xk_WGtpfOGFpSfOIVOQlBLH7T9blf5tTeaHtooYI0G9gjUP7nwykDPA1UnfTFDgBbpcYw5U3_Ch1nNUHr2KasVVkV7Byljperu-c1a-T3E9qePjea6ZM6/s1600-h/suit_cropped.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 156px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9clXolwXo48-niM5LCeQqeO0xk_WGtpfOGFpSfOIVOQlBLH7T9blf5tTeaHtooYI0G9gjUP7nwykDPA1UnfTFDgBbpcYw5U3_Ch1nNUHr2KasVVkV7Byljperu-c1a-T3E9qePjea6ZM6/s400/suit_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319136790836640498" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Sure, this post is partially a chance to shill for my friends and acquaintances, but the whole idea of putting a book into the world seems more possible thanks to the efforts of these colleagues. But it seems like writing a novel is becoming more and more common. The people above are some of the authors I know who are getting out there and getting it done.<br /><br />Last November I posted about Chris Baty's <a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.blogger.com/www.nanowrimo.org">National Novel Writing Month</a> (<a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://rebelalert.blogspot.com/2008/10/nanomo-yes-or-no.html">NaNoMo Yes Or No?</a>). I was tempted by the idea because of the power of a deadline to make the impossible happen. The NanoWrimo site's description of how it works is full of inspiration:<br /><br /><p><strong></strong></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"><p><strong>National Novel Writing Month</strong> is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.</p> <p>Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.</p> <p>Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.</p> <p>Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.</p> <p>As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.</p> <p>In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.</p></blockquote><p></p>The amazing thing about it is that it's all true. This sucker really works!<br /><br />I never believed I had a novel in me but about three days before National Novel Writing Month was to begin the germ of a possible idea wormed it way into my head. And as the clock ticked down to the start, I threw caution to the winds and began. I found it invigorating and challenging and soon the need to achieve each day's page count burned in my heart.<br /><br />Then I had to stop.<br /><br />It soon became apparent that I had so much paid writing to do I could not do both projects without my "day job" suffering. It took a little while to see if I could actually reschedule my time to make room for work and NanoWrimo (NaNoMo, How many different short forms does National Novel Writing Month have anyway?) It turned out it was possible, with the support of a very understanding wife, and so I was the rest of the month went well.<br /><br />I was surprised by some of the twists that flowed from my flying fingers. I was seeing the idea expand and grow despite never having enough time to explore each digression and character that arose. I knew the draft would be far from perfect but if I kept to schedule I knew it would be complete enough to really work with . Writing is all in the editing.<br /><br />It was fast and furious creation. The fingers really had to fly across the keyboards too make up for a lost week's worth of word count. By coincidence, this year's month ended on a Sunday Night, allowing for a full weekend of laptop bashing. At sometime around ten I had passed the 50, 000 word minimum but it wouldn't be official until I fed it into the official online counter. Normally, I would just see my count rise by much less than I'd hoped. But I knew this would be different. A sense of triumph hung in the air. I hit ENTER and was greeted with...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKKMNbdq9JHLHnmDT8gTNj7ZuaUn_B2pasbvokRl9FN7g30W6b7-HGyibQT7U0qRHzRzQNC2pvs2bwdiovmPmXL1aJZIQKwABRfO8_plXvn31IJ6XB5UjH8IKSnrWnCby5BTaRiVZGiv7/s1600-h/you_won.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 375px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKKMNbdq9JHLHnmDT8gTNj7ZuaUn_B2pasbvokRl9FN7g30W6b7-HGyibQT7U0qRHzRzQNC2pvs2bwdiovmPmXL1aJZIQKwABRfO8_plXvn31IJ6XB5UjH8IKSnrWnCby5BTaRiVZGiv7/s400/you_won.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319081560738934914" border="0" /></a><br /></div><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 204, 204);"><p>Through storm and sun, you traversed the noveling seas. Pitted against a merciless deadline and fighting hordes of distractions, you persevered. You launched yourself bravely into Week One, sailed through the churning waters of Week Two, skirted the mutinous shoals of Weeks Three and Four, and now have landed, victorious, in a place that few adventurers ever see.</p> <p>We congratulate you on your hard work, salute your discipline and follow-through, and celebrate your imagination. </p> <p>You did something amazing this month, novelist. We couldn't be prouder.</p></blockquote><p></p>I can't tell you what a heady experience it was to see that logo flash across the screen. And the congratulatory write-up does not exaggerate that feeling. I was a viking! A master of throwing words at a page in some semblance of readable order! I was unstoppable!<br /><br />So why didn't I slap this all over the Blog when I reached my lofty goal? For one, simple reason.<br /><br />I wasn't finished the damn thing.<br /><br />According to NaNoWrimo founder Chris Baty, the last word you type really should be "The" and "End". There will be a lot of crap in between but you'll have something complete to edit with and you can begin the arduous process of polishing up a prose gem. But my last two words weren't "The End". My last two words weren't my last two words at all. I was far from finished. I figured at the rate of 1600 words a day or so I was over a week away from having a finished first draft.<br /><br />I got down on myself. I'm a professional writer. Why didn't I pace out my story to end at the right point. But then I did some calculations and realized I was pacing myself... for thirty days. But with two or three days away from the novel for family functions and a week lost to paying assignments and reworking my schedule, I had only written on twenty of the thirty days allotted! I was still ten days away from "The End".<br /><br />Baty warns you to finish quickly if you still have work to do. The energy of the deadline disappears fast and the longer you wait to return to the first draft, the less likely you are to return to it at all. And when you do, your head will be in a different space and you might have difficulty recapturing the original mindset.<br /><br />Sadly, that bastard is absolutely right.<br /><br />The Winner's Seal has been mocking me for months. There has been so much work and so many things to balance in my day to day life that I still have yet to write those final ten days worth of novel. I'd like to do it in one go so I can be as close as possible to that state of automatic writing I achieved in November. So after, script deliveries, after Easter and after preparing my taxes, maybe I can finally, truly feel like I've earned that Winner Seal.<br /><br />Compared to that, editing will be easy. Right?<br /><br />Sigh.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRX6O3ZSAKIyk5Vp3lt7jp8R1Ibq9G2Ay1Chh5OogrdXBp7rEF2Ewh0k80aO_efCRPDfx6cw4EwBdsgGqDLz1p6x-65S9CY27IdK44rLms-UrkK_Wu9V_lWniUpj0Jf8_x7unLOit6sjg0/s1600-h/nano_08_winner_large.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 122px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRX6O3ZSAKIyk5Vp3lt7jp8R1Ibq9G2Ay1Chh5OogrdXBp7rEF2Ewh0k80aO_efCRPDfx6cw4EwBdsgGqDLz1p6x-65S9CY27IdK44rLms-UrkK_Wu9V_lWniUpj0Jf8_x7unLOit6sjg0/s400/nano_08_winner_large.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319080982833936386" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Live the adventure.<br /><br /><br /></div></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-72069035657314824002009-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:002009-03-25T04:30:04.287-07:00The Chosen One - Homemade Flash Feature Inspires DIY Rules<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thechosenonemovie.com/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEwSGGYKL_b_s3v_u3VF8mmt3y5fIPPW4EDV9zyMj2j_jjMhqMHyPMG-1Q8N7CbaZZItSe2HrV2p5NwblHcp77sVe_9Wc0EnjmXDW58sQVjt7oWspt-XCWC19PD8rYwHJGu4FXCALwD6S/s400/imageDVD.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316600514517732210" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I've seen too many bad, low-budget indie films and shorts lately that have everything going for them but are ruined by eager creators who can't recognize they need to step up and really look at what they're inflicting on us. So it's with relief that I found a fun, homemade animated film by creators who seem to get it. And they're getting lots of attention at Festivals, <a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37598">Ain't It Cool News</a> and positive reviews from sites like <a href="http://www.joblo.com/arrow/dvd_reviews.php?id=1989">Joblo.com</a>.<br /><br />I just finished ordering my copy of The Chosen One, a home-made, Flash animated feature by Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer, which was picked up by producer Andreas Olavarria. I believe that much of the work was done on their own but homemade may be a bit of an exaggeration. These guys are working writers and filmmakers and have a few key contacts.<br /><br />Still, they spent their money on the right things; top notch voice talent and sound and a funny script that worked toward their strengths as animators. When you don't have the Disney or Pixar budget and can't make it smooth and realistic, follow South Park's lead and make it funny.<br /><br />Here's the theatrical trailer from their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheChosenOneMovie">The Chosen One Youtube page</a> (There's a longer, more leisurely paced one for the Festival circuit).<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OA42ru1KdsY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OA42ru1KdsY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />All of the Do-It-Yourself hype around the movie makes it clear the script is what sold the talent and the buyers on it. What are the lessons for people considering making their own productions, whether live action or animated, webisode or straight to DVD, for Festival screens or Cellphone screens? Since there is a DIY wave washing over writers eager to get their work out over the net, may I suggest a few basic rules to consider before you start?<br /><br />One. I'm talking about basic rules like be honest with yourself. Are you really a good director? If not, find someone you admire and trust. The flip side is, don't be afraid to speak up if you know you can improve something or direct it well yourself.<br /><br />Two. If you do direct, listen to the input from those around you, consider it and take what you need. You can't see everything or consider every possible solution to a challenge without help.<br /><br />Third, write a script based on what you have and can get. Don't be calling for a Bond-villain style set if all you've got is a bachelor apartment to shoot in.<br /><br />Fourth, write a little beyond what you have or can get. I know, it's kind of bending rule number<br />three a little. Good1 That rule needs to be bent just a bit. You always need to be reaching a little higher than you expect to go, or it's all gonna be crap.<br /><br />Fifth, don't scrimp on sound recording and mixing. Clear, clean sound well -mixed is a key to audience enjoyments. Even a crappy looking film can be helped by good sound. But your beautiful cinematography and clever script will seem horrible if the tinny dialogue and messy mix is giving the viewer a migraine.<br /><br />Six. Seriously, don't scrimp on sound, man. Are you even listening to me?<br /><br />Seven, always remember you want an audience to see your work. So step back and make it as polished as possible and don't assume they will get all your in-jokes and somehow know the convoluted backstory that's whipping around inside your brain but is nowhere on the screen.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWs46k97m9Oc-G7QfceOQSHVl6tGrOr2YgWmR-ZuUhJdMDdNchpfKUjbawz4Di-cpLWipPb7kskH0dI9Sq9l73wXv-97EK2IuABcoA-W-nosZWgxstHAVYZ2bAg1lWOdjaN315XYkCBDj/s1600-h/trailer_placeholder.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWs46k97m9Oc-G7QfceOQSHVl6tGrOr2YgWmR-ZuUhJdMDdNchpfKUjbawz4Di-cpLWipPb7kskH0dI9Sq9l73wXv-97EK2IuABcoA-W-nosZWgxstHAVYZ2bAg1lWOdjaN315XYkCBDj/s400/trailer_placeholder.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317085900803008450" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Eight. Cast actual, bonafide actors. They're worth the money. Sure, it's hard to talk their language and you're not used to dealing with actual, you know, people. But they will bring your work to life and add elements to your work you never even knew where there. And if it really, really works, audiences will quote them. People will never remember you wrote it. Sorry. It's a sad fact. But they may remember your vivid character and the lines they spouted, or the moments they experienced with them. And they'll share them with their family and buddiss for the rest of their lives. That's IF your actor is good and not just one your drinking buddies from the indoor soccer team.<br /><br />All these things make a difference if you want half a chance at actually making money. But you have to aim beyond scoring a few Youtube hits.<br /><br />Nine. Find the story behind your film and why it was worth spending so much time and effort on it. you want your achievement to become part of the legend behind the film.That gets people interested and gets them talking.<br /><br />Ten, go out and talk up your film yourself. The personal is the only way to get it to rise above the dreck everyone else is producing. Better still, you want to rise above the GOOD STUFF other people are putting out there!<br /><br />Eleven, keep working to pay those bills. Everything stops if you're being evicted.<br /><br />Eleven and a half. Ego can be useful but stow it when you're working. There's a time and place for it. You need everyone onside in the trenches and humbly is the way to call in favours. Do bring the ego out when you need to inspire those around you, overcome criticism and work through bullshit. You want to harness the power of ego, not let it control you.<br /><br />Twelve. Soak up the glory when you finish and send your work into the world, everywhere you can. People will get to know you through your work and will watch for you again, hopefuly to embrace your next production and not to avoid the moron who ignored all of these rules.<br /><br />Finally, it lives or dies on the writing man. you can save yourself a lot of headaches with a well-written and thought out script. Then all you have to do is make every stage that follows live up to and elevate it.<br /><br />I'm curious to see what Lackey and Fifer accomplished. I'm curious to see what you and I accomplish too.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-638318526514167212009-03-22T08:30:00.000-07:002009-03-22T09:07:53.296-07:00The Blind Date Tightrope - It's worth spending time in awkward moments to reveal and develop characters<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi-MY7eMtvgb2baurYnrlua8MspKhA1kjFCtApFuqG4rfMU6D5nOtr7HAsAJWfw4vTyc2ONIE5VmiI1J0IOuWSHxhRv79BEwOKd6YyAX8vbSOLbWvUubUceTLrxgbPEC2o_EQFndk0Ji3/s1600-h/feb19harbourfront.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 487px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi-MY7eMtvgb2baurYnrlua8MspKhA1kjFCtApFuqG4rfMU6D5nOtr7HAsAJWfw4vTyc2ONIE5VmiI1J0IOuWSHxhRv79BEwOKd6YyAX8vbSOLbWvUubUceTLrxgbPEC2o_EQFndk0Ji3/s400/feb19harbourfront.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316040013063361282" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255); font-style: italic;">I like the fact that in ancient Chinese art the great painters always included a deliberate flaw in their work: human creation is never perfect. – Madeleine L’Engle</span><br /><br />Fourteenth century Friar and logician William of Occam’s Razor advises simplicity in attempting to explain any phenomenon. But simplicity is deceptive. It does not mean, as some espouse (especially in mystery shows and police procedurals), “the simplest theory is the correct one”. It means the working theory should make as few assumptions as possible and any elements that shed no real light on the observable predications of the hypothesis should be eliminated from the theory.<br /><br />As writers we are often going through our scripts shaving out dialogue or cutting scenes that don’t push our plot forward or somehow set up some revelation or twist that will appear later. We’re trying to make a lean, mean script that builds it momentum and carries our viewers to the emotional place we went them to end up at. We want them to have laughed out loud and been surprised, discovered whodunit was the one they never suspected or want them relived after watching our thriller on the edge of their seat, And ultimately, we want to leave them wanting more.<br /><br />But often when we strip down our scripts to their essential elements only we can lose the things that make it watchable or readable; those quirky character moments that let people get to know a character, that panning vista that really tells us the kind of world our characters are coming from, or just spending time in an environment to let people immerse themselves in our world. We’ve all reached the moment when we’ve taken out everything that seems unimportant and read through the script, only to discover it reads as perfunctory, unrealistic and, gasp, dull.<br /><br />I recently attended writer and actress Rebecca Northan’s brilliant, partially improvised play, Blind Date, at Harbourfront Centre and experienced the other side of this approach.<br /><br />Northan’s moving, fascinating play could teach a lot of writers a lesson in where truly compelling drama and humour comes from. It’s messy and tense and delightful and surprising as two people fish for what they need in an encounter with another human being. I won’t even get into the questions it raises about the nature of the audience and viewing, and reality versus committing to a fantasy under unclear rules, et al. That will have to wait for me to start my psychotherapy blog, MindPhuque.com. In essence, Blind Date is all about the things we might be tempted to cut out of our scripts in an effort to streamline and drop anything that feels potentially extraneous.<br /><br />First of all, I should point out that improvisation and Writing are two very different animals. I spent the first fifteen years of my career doing live improv and though you are trying to explore character and narrative, the experience is very much communal. Rough patches, awkwardness and mistakes are forgiven because the audience is a part of the ride. You’re using their suggestions, building on their lives and sometimes actually bringing one up on stage to perform with you. The tightrope walk makes it okay.<br /><br />In a scripted show you have to take responsibility for the writing. When there’s a wonky bit of dialogue or a scene that just doesn’t seem to work, it’s on us. You’re presenting something to the audience and they will let you know if they do not like. The forgiveness factor of improv isn’t there. Your script is the only net and you better weave it well.<br /><br />That said, Northan’s hybrid play reminded me of the power to harnessed by embracing those awkward true moments we find so often in life and in people. In Blind Date Northan plays (and play is the key word here) Mimi, a Parisian clown who has just been stood up for a Blind Date and so she goes into the audience and chooses an unsuspecting male to be her blind date for the evening… on stage… for ninety minutes.<br /><br />Blind Date is everything a real blind date is; awkward, full of shifts and turns and misunderstandings as two people to try to get to know each other and connect in a very short time. It soon became apparent, that much like real life, trying to make up interesting things about yourself is far less interesting than the truths. I hope I keep that in mind the next time I want to make a character who belongs in an insurance company cubicle into a Fashion Magazine editor simply because it seems more interesting.<br /><br />After a drink date filled with pauses and moments of connection (Northan and the audience guide the “date” on being honest through coaching sessions and positive reinforcement like cheering and applause), Northan takes the date back to her “apartment” and then jumps forward in time to show the developing relationship. By this time most of her “dates’ have caught and reveal surprising things about themselves, often learning things even they were unaware of.<br /><br />The fact that a person can be thrust into a situation they are completely unfamiliar with and discover things about themselves and hidden reserves is just the kind of thing we try to capture in our scripts. But the only way for the character, and for us as writers, to uncover those things is to explore unexpected moments and tangents. It’s amazing how much depth they can bring to the viewing experience.<br /><br />Think of some of cinema’s most amazing moments and you’ll find examples of we can achieve by not struggling to be interesting, but rather embracing the discomfiting inelegance of real behaviour…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWc2EJpO9noL2PE0pWtXfRoh6vSl8DePERVTGc6BX9GfAZ_QoeSWhBCZjOLpyVD5S8rEjaQUYGaCCMffptOjQP1upL4cYX8CFuhtuDaRVA6oB52AEyEGFhrMfSUfB8RBLEmNEeM_jx86Su/s1600-h/pesci.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWc2EJpO9noL2PE0pWtXfRoh6vSl8DePERVTGc6BX9GfAZ_QoeSWhBCZjOLpyVD5S8rEjaQUYGaCCMffptOjQP1upL4cYX8CFuhtuDaRVA6oB52AEyEGFhrMfSUfB8RBLEmNEeM_jx86Su/s400/pesci.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316041772620032802" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);font-size:85%;" >"I engage you a character? Exactly how do I engage<br />you? I engage you like a funny clown maybe?"</span><br /><br />The seduction scene in the Graduate is compelling because of Dustin Hoffman’s sputtering, overwhelmed performance. And it’s played so well against Anne Bancroft’s hard-edged, weary woman so unhappy in a dead-end marriage she’s willing tii seduce her daughter’s fiancé.<br /><br />Diane Keaton and Woody Allen on the deck of his apartment, first getting to know each other in Annie Hall. Magical awkwardness used to be Allen’s stock in trade. And the growing attraction between the characters is as apparent as the intellectual divide that will eventually break-them up again.<br /><br />I have to agree with TV Guide on this. There’s no better blend of humour and menace than Joe Pesci turning on Ray Liotta after telling a joke in a restaurant. People still drop into his “How am I funny? I amuse you?” speech at the drop of a hat. It’s uncomfortable, disturbing and riveting cinema.<br /><br />Let’s call it the Blind Date Tightrope.<br /><br />Our script is the audience’s blind date with all of our characters and the only way to get them interested is to find the truth of our characters, including the awkwardness, nervousness and self-image issues we all work through as we get to know the people in our lives.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHh7Btt5pJshncJ2oH-UjwqnpEmUC752134s4CorGKaK84Oh-DPEp8MnSU4Ny5gg1wv8zo64h_CQ0TFTWryuO0oEsNPRoqmv6za-BQyixAhELhdrS9awApjZAxQ0r80GjO8EKzSvwBAuX/s1600-h/Rebecca.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHh7Btt5pJshncJ2oH-UjwqnpEmUC752134s4CorGKaK84Oh-DPEp8MnSU4Ny5gg1wv8zo64h_CQ0TFTWryuO0oEsNPRoqmv6za-BQyixAhELhdrS9awApjZAxQ0r80GjO8EKzSvwBAuX/s400/Rebecca.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316040131807597058" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);font-size:85%;" >Blind Date creator/performer Rebecca Northan.</span><br /></div><br />It's interesting that most reviews for the show refer to it as unreviewable because it depends so much on who Northan chooses. The truth is, it will work almost every time, because she has done some writing in creating an adaptable framework to keep her partner's safe in that she's there to help them, but she's also there to keep them riding the edge, always forcing him to make choices. Sounds like great way to build a character.<br /><br />Northan's own philosophy is summed up in <a href="http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/theatre-scientist/">this interview </a>for the show in Calgary's Fast Forward Weekly.<br /><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"></span></span><blockquote><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">I think an unsuccessful show is one where the audience leaves and goes, ‘meh, that was alright.’ If someone leaves the theatre and goes, ‘I loved that! I never thought of things that way!’ or ‘Oh my God, that really upset me, and I'm going to be fucked up for three days,’ or ‘I'm outraged! I'm politically outraged by what I saw!’ — that's all great. But if you leave the theatre the same as when you entered it, that's a failure. Otherwise, why tell the story?”</span><br /></span></span></blockquote>Rebecca Northan’s Blind Date will be remounted in Harbourfront’s Fall Season.<br /><br />My next script will on your desk days before the deadline so we can go over some initial notes.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-79887129439361002172009-03-17T12:04:00.000-07:002011-08-14T18:58:26.087-07:00Grading Erica - Being Erica closes in on the end of her first season<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV751rRQVhZ5aeNHWFti2VMVjaDchWzGlKJKcuck3zwG1mmOud_rjz2T_g5RTYOG1hniZUi727oIKxLNJabFonbQUgHh2hv-FxmOLutTm4EbYZpF0bM9p3GTaXI8PJgSfUAZEvgXgTr7y/s1600-h/beingerica1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV751rRQVhZ5aeNHWFti2VMVjaDchWzGlKJKcuck3zwG1mmOud_rjz2T_g5RTYOG1hniZUi727oIKxLNJabFonbQUgHh2hv-FxmOLutTm4EbYZpF0bM9p3GTaXI8PJgSfUAZEvgXgTr7y/s400/beingerica1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314973223161537314" border="0" /></a>
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Looking back on Being Erica so far...</span>
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<br />After my excitement over the premiere of CBC and Soap TV's Being Erica dramedy in January, I have been watching it regularly. It’s one of those shows that I can enjoy and share with my wife, and such opportunities are welcome in our house.
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<br />Last night, the show rounded the corner toward its final few episodes of the season so it seems like a good time for a bit of a report card. In its virgin run the show has been moved, dipped and recently surged again in ratings. It also has had varying degrees of success in exploiting its concept and characters and maintaining dramatic focus. But I think it can be said that the growing pains suffered by Being Erica are the same challenges being faced by most of the Canadian comedies currently airing on our non-cable stations. And the kind of growth suffered by any new series.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8rIH9XHq0O1Cq7JL_x2OWV-xvHRuIUfPMBFU2hk2PUhnvwyF_yXccPqOtV8EX-jV8Rsv00aM2iFX-jV3la6nPVdt6nGpOvqxteTnrZR1bpq-B2sATpKm3IyjNkNCoIA0qbr7hlDnnTfv/s1600-h/little-mosque-praire070103.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8rIH9XHq0O1Cq7JL_x2OWV-xvHRuIUfPMBFU2hk2PUhnvwyF_yXccPqOtV8EX-jV8Rsv00aM2iFX-jV3la6nPVdt6nGpOvqxteTnrZR1bpq-B2sATpKm3IyjNkNCoIA0qbr7hlDnnTfv/s400/little-mosque-praire070103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314975010716718578" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/littlemosque/">Little Mosque on the Prairie </a>is holding its own, having had several seasons to work out its unique rhythms. It seems to have abandoned the more free-wheeling funny of the second season in order to spice the current crop of episodes with social commentary and satire-based humour. It's rare for a show to see such success with new story departments on each season but the dust has now settled. The show is at its peak when it utilizes their bevy of comic character actors like Carlo Rota, Sheila McCarthy, Neil Crone, Deb McGrath, and my personal favourite character, Boyd Banks' delightfully loopy Joe Peterson.
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<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcf4mlbDWHYdU718H0s-Y_MCe4c3XGo7THxrLE5lXflZRA5v0EC_Ml3IOx6BtIGmZIm5OwYveGCm6S8V4N5PB6Sbn_jyKtBxXVMd3wTk-VJNAd6RekSwFp9rAdDdA43BmrUL0vxwz7rmg1/s1600-h/arts_winnipeg-LTK_584.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcf4mlbDWHYdU718H0s-Y_MCe4c3XGo7THxrLE5lXflZRA5v0EC_Ml3IOx6BtIGmZIm5OwYveGCm6S8V4N5PB6Sbn_jyKtBxXVMd3wTk-VJNAd6RekSwFp9rAdDdA43BmrUL0vxwz7rmg1/s400/arts_winnipeg-LTK_584.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314980414766176658" border="0" /></a>
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<br />The meaner and naughtier <a href="http://www.citytv.com/micro/lessthankind/">Less Than Kind</a> has thankfully been renewed. It gets much mileage from the essentially unlikable Blecher family surrounding our sweet, put-upon lead, played by Jesse Camacho. I can't get enough of Linda Kash's fed-up, no-nonsense doctor. Mark McKinney and Gary Campball lead a strong writing room so the show should only get better as it goes along.
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcRUL5FSDEOZte7C2q8vsl5GEbY6M4TvsPLsB47dVq6-oSrs0OkPuqrlPh1x6HET2eXAPVtn_rnG0N8HtSGasYwv_ouOUkqDOYoNoaXTjvEfPdJbfTKAzkpCC94Dv1aDJALf5nmPvuNI3/s1600-h/robertson-cp-678790.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcRUL5FSDEOZte7C2q8vsl5GEbY6M4TvsPLsB47dVq6-oSrs0OkPuqrlPh1x6HET2eXAPVtn_rnG0N8HtSGasYwv_ouOUkqDOYoNoaXTjvEfPdJbfTKAzkpCC94Dv1aDJALf5nmPvuNI3/s400/robertson-cp-678790.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314972849742550978" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9fcSfyWq8pWmnK5_b_chptrz9DHDuGwrwc02t5bbY84ZlDzN4YchOfNi564BiGadZpbcDOdHQQ868xtdWCNigfyVUj3JvZ810LPUU_q33zTqbhUTvr7P_zyfx73ScxoulN2U3XnuI1N3/s1600-h/gas.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9fcSfyWq8pWmnK5_b_chptrz9DHDuGwrwc02t5bbY84ZlDzN4YchOfNi564BiGadZpbcDOdHQQ868xtdWCNigfyVUj3JvZ810LPUU_q33zTqbhUTvr7P_zyfx73ScxoulN2U3XnuI1N3/s400/gas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314974725580813826" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Perennial favourite, <a href="http://www.cornergas.com/">Corner Gas</a> staked out its own niche, combining well-observed characters who are slaves to their natures with sublimely ridiculous plots. There will be much hype when his new show, Hiccups, begins starring his wife and Corner Gas co-star, the hilarious Nancy Robertson.
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<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ54nL5mFtDJBHArCJZU-9O5zckmvwBgu3_pKzmkkudNd79vXJkYvnBugu9dS4SPvLetSsY_tI573_Lr0UknGoz-6CIf7mf01ZH9b5wSV9Nbr8af7Vc4-v1n3Ft_-UHdkPt6Nt026v_mmn/s1600-h/jpod1-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ54nL5mFtDJBHArCJZU-9O5zckmvwBgu3_pKzmkkudNd79vXJkYvnBugu9dS4SPvLetSsY_tI573_Lr0UknGoz-6CIf7mf01ZH9b5wSV9Nbr8af7Vc4-v1n3Ft_-UHdkPt6Nt026v_mmn/s400/jpod1-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314973485098712914" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/jpod/">J-Pod</a> is all quirk, requiring a bit of a commitment to learn the show's rhythms. But I'm glad I stuck around to meet characters like Alan Thicke and Sherry Miller as David Kopp's Grow-Op running, movie-extra parents. And Colin Cunningham makes a good villain as Steve, the tech company's mercurial and self-loathing "Vice President In Charge of Vision".
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiP5i0Rb8fIN2TahiBjytsg0I9Ew2KS8zmwduo1kAO8Ms7Jq_5hrfT2kALmgjY0AuUNLHYVh51fkwwPdxpvTM0cqH_03CATxPv902VqFLG9fy3hNxeA_85fMfqnH0Cy9bE2JOInDLhMG35/s1600-h/800e8cdc420b883df9166f93f294.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiP5i0Rb8fIN2TahiBjytsg0I9Ew2KS8zmwduo1kAO8Ms7Jq_5hrfT2kALmgjY0AuUNLHYVh51fkwwPdxpvTM0cqH_03CATxPv902VqFLG9fy3hNxeA_85fMfqnH0Cy9bE2JOInDLhMG35/s400/800e8cdc420b883df9166f93f294.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314972634543184594" border="0" /></a>
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<br />The English version of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sophie/">Sophie</a> is the current show most like Being Erica. It boasts a talented, likable lead in Natalie Brown, but the show still struggles to find a light touch, with many comic moments overplayed and a heavy seriousness to the dramatic moments. There are flashes of fun ideas though, such as Sophie sending her mother to spy on her baby's father at the park and reporting in so she can know the baby is safe (and not being stolen by her Daddy). The scene has all the elements needed for great comedy, a ridiculous situation under lined with a darker side. The show needs to embrace and combine these elements more effectively. In any given scene, it feels like several shows are fighting each other for the spotlight.
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<br />As you can see, the thing that stands out in a comedy is inevitably the characters. If an audience comes to know your character well enough, you can put them in any situation and viewers will begin to imagine the comedic potential before the scene even begins. There is much to learn from what Erica is doing well (a lot). But there is also much to learn from the ways in which it can still be improved. Being Erica is a at heart, a romantic comedy but the need for solid characters still holds true. And it has a lot of characters to work with.
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<br />So here we go. Remember, I’m a fan. I write this out of looooove.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXyBD-13cMdi7JSXE_t_-AnXgnnXa-QG_JZROhs4Sbae0gQ-_a3Bso-Kgs8WfQYv6Cs8Ma_VFYXjurHSKnH2kuSvW9ShBXEO0BGyeUSk0cDo_7pU3UurT52JIcfUCIeueSkZtRAJiL_j7/s1600-h/bilde.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 335px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXyBD-13cMdi7JSXE_t_-AnXgnnXa-QG_JZROhs4Sbae0gQ-_a3Bso-Kgs8WfQYv6Cs8Ma_VFYXjurHSKnH2kuSvW9ShBXEO0BGyeUSk0cDo_7pU3UurT52JIcfUCIeueSkZtRAJiL_j7/s400/bilde.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314981323696316914" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Being Erica continues to walk a lovely balancing between the serious and comic, anchored by the still-delightful Erin Karpluk in the lead. She manages to both ground the show and keep it light and frothy all at once. Two weeks ago, Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun had some good insights into what the show was doing well in his column <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/columnists/bill_harris/2009/03/04/8619251-sun.html">here</a>. You can find another version of the article <a href="http://www.lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Entertainment/2009/03/04/8621726-sun.html">here</a>.
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<br />Harris’ comments are bang on. Erica doesn't seem have any significant problems, many of the characters she interacts with are a little on the cartoony, one-dimensional side and her main problem seems to stem from being surrounded by inconsistent friends.
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<br />It's interesting how well the preview webisodes (posted online before the series premiere) showcased the series’ potential. Erica was in a dead-end, cubicle job and her frustration with her co-workers and her life were palpable. Karpluk's closest friend lived in another city and she seemed helpless to change her life. She was funny and charming and we could relate to her life.
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<br />You can view them all on the <a href="http://www.beingerica.ca/2008/12/day-one-with-my-new-webcam.html">preview blog</a> (abandoned after the premiere in favor of a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1054213089&ref=ts">Facebook profile</a>, which is both an inexpensive and brilliant way to keep up a web presence and sad that they abandoned something they worked so hard to establish at the same time. The character’s lonely blog still sits there, a cold dead thing on the web. I can imagine this is very off-putting for potential viewers seeking info on the show.
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<br />Here’s the first of the video blogs so you can see how they helped the character connect with her future viewer-ship.
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<br />Lovely performance, understand and natural but funny. We have a lovely office enemy established and we know Erica’s job is not exactly making her do cartwheels on the way to work every morning. Later she joins an on0line dating service and has a first date with a hunky guy. Then the premiere arrives and all that groundwork is thrown away as Erica gets fired by the first commercial and dumped by the new beau.
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<br />Apparently having an everyday job didn’t seem interesting enough. So why waste so much energy establishing such a strong environment and situations people can relate to only to drop it" The likely answer is the videos were done after most of the shooting; after they knew their characters well. I do hope we see them revisit that location so we can see some of that potential used to better effect.
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<br />So okay, the series starts and we’ve traded one problem (without mining any of the story potential it presented) for another challenge: finding another job. Despite the disappointment at losing the things about the show which I had already invested in, the premiere was a fun, comic, ribald and sometimes dark romp, introducing the concept of the series and its main characters solidly.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHMB_l_rSuoeq3braLbIVxE-Yfbo1WwwJBXt-o2lDaDulQ0k-78qso-u-taiFkVkMG4OZnEn2dMC801nWxvWnruJEv7I03x-BNnFCDDTBTb56SlcuOkSVSG2DN_QH2AYV7PbdXhAV5FcO/s1600-h/BeingErica.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHMB_l_rSuoeq3braLbIVxE-Yfbo1WwwJBXt-o2lDaDulQ0k-78qso-u-taiFkVkMG4OZnEn2dMC801nWxvWnruJEv7I03x-BNnFCDDTBTb56SlcuOkSVSG2DN_QH2AYV7PbdXhAV5FcO/s400/BeingErica.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314973134429733922" border="0" /></a>
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<br />After the premiere, I found myself having many discussions with fellow industry types about the show. this is a good sign. People are still talking about Erica. Some colleagues admired the obvious budget the series basked in. The location specific shooting certainly makes Toronto positively glow with warmth and hip-ness. But several of my friends wondered if the series had "legs". Meaning, did the show have the potential to remain as fresh and entertaining over 65 episodes as it did over 13?
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<br />Many were concerned with Erica learning essentially the same lessons each week: that she shouldn't have regrets and shouldn't assume she knows everything. We were, however, intrigued enough by Dr. Tom, Erica's time-travel facilitating shrink played with such aplomb by Michael Riley, to already begin speculating on the nature of the character and unique form of therapy. All agreed the show had a lot going for it but the jury was still out.
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<br />I had faith that creator Jana Sinyo could go take this show places, arguing that there was much fertile ground to be mined so long as Sinyor let the basic concept develop and the ramifications of Erica's time travel slowly build. Another colleague suggested that she'd be more interested if they spent more time in the present and really followed Erica’s life, allowing us to invest in the character. That way, the time travel would provide much needed insight without weighing down the show under its concept.
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<br />It turns out we were all right.
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<br />It’s not that Erica is spending too little time on the present. She just spends all her time in the present rushing headlong through plot that should be developing at a slower pace. Erica’s relationship with her separated but so-perfect-he’s-kinda-not-interesting, best friend Ethan (Tyron Leitso, Wonder Falls) is the kind of thing that needs time to breathe and develop. My initial fears they were going too fast (story arc-wise) came in the third or fourth episode when the pair shared a kiss. But when Erica returns in the next episode to explore their newly elevated relationship, she finds Ethan completely at a loss as he holds his divorce papers; the overwhelming reality of his divorce overtaking him at last. Erica holds Ethan in her arms and we know they are not taking anything to the next level for a while. Not a lot of dialogue, but real. I was hooked again.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTT5cQlJ-KGGBhwbhZ3COll1MxXGBfwCuTiCwELpgtI_1kce9YUE4T-e5qmfJDWV2PnUvbku5Up81NHnxh0tKorr8HL2r4c1xMKLhiWSXnWIlvsCt_zSzHtgNqFiJMbzY4HlA5BdeIDZ9Q/s1600-h/022709_beingerica_hug_240x320.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTT5cQlJ-KGGBhwbhZ3COll1MxXGBfwCuTiCwELpgtI_1kce9YUE4T-e5qmfJDWV2PnUvbku5Up81NHnxh0tKorr8HL2r4c1xMKLhiWSXnWIlvsCt_zSzHtgNqFiJMbzY4HlA5BdeIDZ9Q/s400/022709_beingerica_hug_240x320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314977827048773570" border="0" /></a>
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<br />That’s good television. But we accelerate the story line again and again. Ethan tries getting back together with his wife, then drops the idea just as quickly as Erica goes out with a succession of men who look exactly like him (Hello casting? There are blonde and redheaded actor hunks in Toronto as well, Just saying.) It feels a bit like the producers knew they were getting these first thirteen episodes with no guarantee for more, so they’re dying to cram as much of their storyline in as possible.
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<br />The show has fallen into a few predicable tropes: Erica is quick to judge or misunderstand. Her friends overreact or behave in an over the top manner. Erica feels guilty, learns something in the past and apologizes. And somewhere in the course of an episode something will happen to add adult "edge" to the show, such as Erica shaving her hoo-hah on camera, someone throwing up, near or implied nudity both male and female, a lesbian-bisexual kiss, even public peeing. My wife predicts we may see bestiality by the end of the first season and I kinda hope she's right. I certainly wouldn’t bet against her.
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<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi3aoeg7jDCFIop50oozosIZuxSO538Azb9_FHGcRa1cey_Lld-aMKizz29R0evtKmCXC9yCz_l7ISfv4BiUAmGEyZ4okFyOAbUOx2-hcSTi6uetWJbPUP3ORm1_Vauo7qF7ezNlfiEfa/s1600-h/ericsep6-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi3aoeg7jDCFIop50oozosIZuxSO538Azb9_FHGcRa1cey_Lld-aMKizz29R0evtKmCXC9yCz_l7ISfv4BiUAmGEyZ4okFyOAbUOx2-hcSTi6uetWJbPUP3ORm1_Vauo7qF7ezNlfiEfa/s400/ericsep6-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314973384679207746" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Despite this, Erica is still buoyed by its strengths. A show lasts on the backs of interesting characters and Being Erica has some great ones. It shines best in its depiction of her family unit. John Boylan and Kathleen Laskey pull off Erica's parents at various stages of their failed marriage with aplomb, never failing to play the reality of a scene but also giving the comedic moments a light touch. The pair never feel the need to prove their character's familial link to the lead character with fake theatrics, preferring instead to underplay their scenes and let the chemistry take care of itself. The recent Yom Kippur episode in which Erica meets her parents around the time they met and discovers a hidden secret, was the strongest, most focused episode yet.
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<br />Joanna Douglas, as Erica's sister Sam, fills her character with great depth, whether she’s playing the strident emotions and whining of Sam as a teenager or the weary woman trying to make the best of her life in the present. Erica’s brother, Leo, is still a question. Since he is dead in the present, he serves more as a metaphor of loss and recaptured moments than a full character. He also always seems younger than Erica though he’s supposed to be the bug brother. But perhaps that’s just a case of boy’s maturing at a slower rate. And poor Leo never got a chance to do that.
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_0y8BZ8oQSCCbQLHftAB0a6fuIJM6QbUYI76-i8eznxpE05N2uhYnYvY4bq0LLw_-_9Ytt66gjS4EV2OHVVYL1Ntb35LkELVb9TqDs5djbJCteTJ3IOc2QXK5fQGUjTaxeeFav23WTrb/s1600-h/n1054213089_30055891_3745.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_0y8BZ8oQSCCbQLHftAB0a6fuIJM6QbUYI76-i8eznxpE05N2uhYnYvY4bq0LLw_-_9Ytt66gjS4EV2OHVVYL1Ntb35LkELVb9TqDs5djbJCteTJ3IOc2QXK5fQGUjTaxeeFav23WTrb/s400/n1054213089_30055891_3745.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314973562084716466" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Erica’s friends are harder to peg. As they are often there simply to react to Erica, goad her into an outburst or be petulant. When Erica finally comes to terms with her frenemy, (Sarah Gadon of the Border and voice actress on the animated series Ruby Gloom and Total Drama Island), Katie’s sudden maturity doesn’t change the fact that she’s been played like a bragging, bitch for most of her previous episodes. Still, the show is trying to show characters in a new light each time Erica’s journeys back in time and that is commendable. Still, we have yet to see the best out of friend Erica’s friends Vinessa (Judith Winters – best friend, Soul Food) and Paula Brancati (Dark Oracle, Degrassi:The Next Generation).
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<br />Outside of the family and friends, many of the characters surrounding Erica are more broadly drawn. That's the tightrope walk for a show like this. Sam's husband Josh is cartoon villain, all swagger except for brief glimpses of what could have been during his wedding to Sam. The storyline of Sam’s poor marriage and her not speaking to Erica after her sister badmouthed Josh at the wedding, is partially dealt with in on or two episodes. In my experience, even the worst marriages start off seeming pleasant for the first while. But Sam’s hubby is so cartoony, they don’t bother to play the charm that could fool a smart girl like Sam. We’re not shown any redeeming qualities in Josh so it makes the otherwise deep character of Sam seem stupid for sticking by him. As Josh, Leitso is game but the direction and the script lets him down.
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<br />Erica's workmates at River Rock publishing are also drawn in broad strokes. It's hard to believe her bitchy boss Julianne (Reagan Pasternak, In A Heartbeat, Doc, Blue Murder, CSI) could get away with such serious snark. The whole set and vibe of River Rock screams “night time soap opera” job as opposed to working publishing house. But now that I have gotten t used to this, I am liking the casts’ comic energy. Erica’s work is a slightly different reality than the rest of her experiences, grounded as they are in real Toronto.
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<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5MOJqxl81Z3wCnd0ctlTnO8oamAgQuFjg8NGa3r6Q8UCd65P-QGxCHXc0tNwNayhJNj2t2sj9-wOiW4bxZlannqNah8wd_gaDCCwgv0sAVSVBA1ALuea_8TsiipRcQA7aRPoAr6Vnv2v/s1600-h/BeingErica.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5MOJqxl81Z3wCnd0ctlTnO8oamAgQuFjg8NGa3r6Q8UCd65P-QGxCHXc0tNwNayhJNj2t2sj9-wOiW4bxZlannqNah8wd_gaDCCwgv0sAVSVBA1ALuea_8TsiipRcQA7aRPoAr6Vnv2v/s400/BeingErica.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314978014953925010" border="0" /></a>
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<br />The biggest problem Being Erica is dealing is creating a dramatic arc. Only a few episodes feel like they’re always driving us forward. The trips back in time too often disrupt the story flow, especially when they are not well integrated in the present-time problem, as with the Lesbian kiss of two weeks ago (which paid off in ratings according to <a href="http://tvfeedsmyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/girl-on-girl-gooses-erica.html">Bill Brioux</a>, if not in story cohesiveness).
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<br />That story really could have dealt with caring about someone on a level that borders on romantic, despite them not being the right choice for other reasons. But since Erica’s lesbian next-door neighbour is nowhere to be seen in the present, any depth the episode could have are lost and the kiss did indeed feel gratuitous. It's a shame too, the lovely Fredericton lass Anna Silk brings real emotion to her role and was compelling in every scene. She made you want to see more of her. Silk has been a guest star staple for years and is always interesting to watch in comedic and dramatic roles. But her most famous work so far is...
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<br />See? Silk is totally real and utterly hilarious. And in Being Erica... totally wasted. Thanks to <a href="http://www.mikesbloggityblog.com/">Mike's Bloggity Blog</a> for posting this. He's also from Frederecton and a big booster Silk booster.
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<br />Last night's episode was the series first attempt to go back into a previous episode. That sort of things generally needs to be planned ahead so it makes sense they built it into these first thirteen episodes. The story idea was for Erica not to kiss Ethan and though it had much to enjoy the fact that Erica (and therefore, the audience) left Katie, the friend she'd just reconnected with, stuck onstage with a loon and ran off to sort out her love life created a disconnect. Why run away fromt he compelling immediate problem for the less less interesting story. We know she's gonna talk to Ethan later, so we wonder why she isn't helping her dang friend!
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<br />So Erica spends twenty minutes solving the less compelling, arc-related issue while the immediate problem is left to fester.. And by fester I mean left to be completely forgotten by the increasingly uninterested viewer. By the time Erica returns to the present, Dr. Tom literally has to fill usall in on what’s happening at the Author’s Festival so Erica and Brent (Falcon Beach’s Morgan Kelly in a fun supporting role) can save the day. When I recapped what happened at the end for my wife, who had fallen asleep by this time, she too couldn’t understand why they ignored the more interesting problem for so long.
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<br />The other thing that seems to have gotten lost a little bit as the season progressed is Dr. Tom himself. He was quite intriguing over the first few episodes, displaying passion and frustration at times and a gentle assurance when playing opposite pre-teen Erica (perfectly played by Samantha Weinstein). What is it about Erica that draws this concern, anger and support from Dr. Tom? The humanity Riley brings to his living deux ex machina is lovely but we need to see some hints as to what, or who he is soon or we risk losing interest. It's important to drop some Dr. Tom elements to take better advantage of the very real chemistry at play between Michael Riley and both the actresses who have played Erica so far.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeE3o5c2Yp6YJu3m6cmV1fS8dFjHEywEHCzXBNv-oMdf8N8PNc6yMvugLw2PudYs7lx_F5qPk3xsXaYU46YANDljKZgvozPRK9fKHA1H96_li6p_rKZRfRzETMey-9DloBPM0zi2WCPY6/s1600-h/1233613315832_10BeingErica_mif_640_320.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeE3o5c2Yp6YJu3m6cmV1fS8dFjHEywEHCzXBNv-oMdf8N8PNc6yMvugLw2PudYs7lx_F5qPk3xsXaYU46YANDljKZgvozPRK9fKHA1H96_li6p_rKZRfRzETMey-9DloBPM0zi2WCPY6/s400/1233613315832_10BeingErica_mif_640_320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314978100384578546" border="0" /></a>
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<br />My current theory is that Dr. Tom is actually the spirit of Erica's deceased brother Leo, as he would have been had he grown up. It nicely explains his knowledge of Erica’s life and being dead, how hard could it be to manipulate time of at least, Erica’s perceptions of time?
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<br />I shared my Dr. Tom theory with the productions’ Erica Strange Facebook page and was told the reality is even better. Much like the show, the best stuff is still waiting to be told. I hope I get to find out all of it.
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<br />ultimately, if I didn't really like Being Erica, I wouldn't spend nearly as much time figuring out what it needs to be even more successful. I still make an appointment to watch week after week. And that's high praiie indeed. Being Erica is solid entertainment and deserves a chance to spread its wings. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the final episodes and a second season order .
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<br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-80692504315447265482009-03-05T18:42:00.001-08:002009-03-13T08:10:51.209-07:00Bragging Rights - Karen Pincombe honoured with Woman of Excellence Award<blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">We tend to defend vigorously things that in our deepest hearts we are not quite certain about. If we are certain of something we know, it doesn't need defending.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">-Madeleine L'Engle</span><br /></blockquote>Let me take a moment to brag about my big sister.<br /><br />While we rant and rail about what constitutes good writing,and network decisions, and the state of Canadian culture, my sister quietly puts us all to shame by managing to explore her creative muse while making the lives of the children of London, Ontario just a little bit better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzevjKtqlStHC8WUB2TsAdppS62eXZRENCpMVJudXsAU-XtXo9cz-kBWMsA49xySripT6UuVZve2DLSNf4LzxZUmGnSZMnVmafkVVS_KJzN9FduLXaaTFKBVfF3jvKI4TtIF489m6W08V/s1600-h/KarenPincomb165.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzevjKtqlStHC8WUB2TsAdppS62eXZRENCpMVJudXsAU-XtXo9cz-kBWMsA49xySripT6UuVZve2DLSNf4LzxZUmGnSZMnVmafkVVS_KJzN9FduLXaaTFKBVfF3jvKI4TtIF489m6W08V/s400/KarenPincomb165.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310100426133332674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I have an innate cringe that rises in my bones whenever the subject of religion comes up. I am one of those people who have seen religion used too many times as a way to avoid open debate and squelch dissent, to put forth hurtful, judgmental opinion as fact, as an excuse for violence and a way to couch all manner of selfish behavior behind a cloak of hypocritical, righteousness. I guess you can tell how I feel just by examining the words I just chose to describe my problems with organized religion; judgmental, hypocritical, etc. But the truth is, at its heart, I still believe in the faith part of religion. I believe in faith and all the power it carries with it. I believe we're all connected. I believe in larger forces governing the universe so I guess I believe in God. I just don't believe in <em>prosteletyzing</em><em></em>.<br /><br />But Faith is beyond organized religion and beyond prosteletyzing. Faith is a real thing. And religion based on faith rather than power is real too. Faith can make people happy, give them hope and help them endure incredible turmoil. Religion can bind people in common purpose and organize at a moment's notice to aid others when the hands of government are tied or when they're simply unwilling or too disorganized to help.<br /><br />It's the quiet ones who draw me to this kind of religion. The ones who simply live their lives and aren't afraid to talk of their faith and their beliefs and of yours, whether they contradict or not. The ones who know you're all connected, even if you do things a little differently. My oldest sister and her husband are of that ilk. She's just living her life and setting an incredible example that shines for the rest of us.<br /><br />Man... You know I had no idea when I started writing this that I see my sister as a kind of illuminating guide to what true faith is? That's something for me to chew on. Essentially, Karen demonstrates her faith simply by trying to be a good person, following her principles and leaving the world a better place than when she found it.<br /><br />Karen's the kind of person who goes on vacation in Paris and spends a good portion of that time locating and riding along in a van that supplies warm blankets and serves hot soup to the homeless on cold nights. The kind of person who travels to Africa and comes a whisker away from meeting Desmond Tutu in the same twenty-four hour period in which she ventured into dangerous parts of the ghetto so she could know better how she could help (scaring the crap out of her worried guides). I also have a picture of her hugging a cheetah from that trip. I'm not sure hot that relates to the topic at hand but it occupies a worthy place on my wall.<br /><br />She's passing on this enthusiasm for helping others to my delightful niece, whose Christmas list, from a very early age, has consisted mainly of money to aid the Sudan famine relief and her Sudanese pen pal. In addition to this, Karen is world-class percussionist and timpanist who has played with Orchestra London and some of the top performers in the world for over twenty years. She was the <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:GD9DBocgzYoJ:communications.uwo.ca/com/index2.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26do_pdf%3D1%26id%3D443764+karen+pincombe,+timpanist&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca">first female timpanist</a> if the University of Western Ontario Orchestra and the first female percussionist with the London Salvation Army Citadel Band. And somewhere in there she finds time to raise her daughter and teach full-time with the London Board of Education. Me? I need a nap from just writing this list.<br /><br />Sorry for gushing but surely a little brother is allowed some leeway to admire his sis, right? Just don't tell her I said any of this. I will deny it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyX0OpVUNB_WTA7QLU3ExTWOqpMC4ln02ulIM__oSYWFVldy6CMvfPnJ9O_LpbWpIVMzjjHWkWQo622Dw9njgMebBoPVnZW6QeNXKjJUbbn0ZaDxXESy8dYbAavcKk8FTHVUHR_jcfRyH/s1600-h/mainMeetTheOrchestra.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyX0OpVUNB_WTA7QLU3ExTWOqpMC4ln02ulIM__oSYWFVldy6CMvfPnJ9O_LpbWpIVMzjjHWkWQo622Dw9njgMebBoPVnZW6QeNXKjJUbbn0ZaDxXESy8dYbAavcKk8FTHVUHR_jcfRyH/s400/mainMeetTheOrchestra.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310100531231619378" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The good news is, I'm not the only one who's noticed how cool Karen is. The London YWCA has announced the 2009 recipients of its bi-annual Women of Excellence Awards, honoring women who are community leaders in a variety of fields. And this years honoree in the field of arts, culture and heritage is none other than my oldest sister, Karen Pincombe.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNykqgumAcLK5qCad0B3WfG7oHgiGvXTeaO_c54TiKMcQJmY89XPC6G84D6dAzwl0dD6W18RV3QsaJW3rnwEyu3_69OAUsVM7n7y2fHDYnbE0vkAZ_h70lDEPhgS4UK4KpOE7cUC851ugw/s1600-h/258122.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNykqgumAcLK5qCad0B3WfG7oHgiGvXTeaO_c54TiKMcQJmY89XPC6G84D6dAzwl0dD6W18RV3QsaJW3rnwEyu3_69OAUsVM7n7y2fHDYnbE0vkAZ_h70lDEPhgS4UK4KpOE7cUC851ugw/s400/258122.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310098211365140162" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" >Karen (lower right hand corner in the green and<br />black shirt) joins other recipients of the<br />YWCA's 2009 Women of Excellence Award.</span><br /></div><br />Dale Carruthers' London Free Press interview with Karen offers this summation of the award:<br /><p></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">“The recognition is very important to the YMCA as it represents our commitment to the development of spirit, mind and body in people of all backgrounds, beliefs and abilities in our global community,” said Shaun Elliott, chief executive of the YMCA of Western Ontario.</blockquote> <p></p>The London Food Bank opened its doors way back in 1986. Soon after, Karen founded Arts For All Kids, a non-profit service dedicated to providing free music lessons (and later, arts lessons of all kinds) to children whose families couldn't afford them. It's been going for twenty years now and boasts a volunteer teaching force of 30 instructors under the direction of Karen and her husband, Brian Ratcliffe and over 70 students.<br /><br /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/2561120001?isVid=1&publisherID=1749345207" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=9931994001&linkBaseURL=http://video.lfpress.ca/search/faith_tilk_art/faith_tilk_art_room_renovated/9931994001&playerID=2561120001&domain=embed&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="412" width="486"></embed><br /><br />Two brief interviews with Karen on this auspicious occasion can be found at the London Free Press' website, <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/02/18/8436836.html">here</a> and <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.lfpress.com/specialreports/womenofexcellence.html">here</a>. In <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=117990&x=articles&s=arts">another interview</a> regarding an Orchestra London fundraiser for the Food Bank, Karen's enthusiasm still showed through after all this time:<br /><span class="article_body"></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"><span class="article_body">"...they get to work with artists of all kinds from the community," Pincombe says. "We have classes in drama, music, dance, visual art, and in the new year, we're going to have our first classes in creative writing." </span></blockquote>More on Arts For All Kids and the Faith Tilk donation (her fund's donation was mentioned in the video above) can be found <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=251214&x=articles&s=arts">here</a> and<a href="http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=117990&x=articles&s=arts"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">here</span></a>. You can also find out how you can help the London Food Bank at their <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://web.ca/%7Elondonfb/index.htm">website, here</a>.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-70423664120981593722009-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:002009-03-12T18:25:30.078-07:00Dang! We Gave Them An InchLeave it to Google to fight a War on several fronts.<br /><br />As my <a href="http://starkravingadventure.blogspot.com/2009/02/if-you-give-them-inch.html">last post</a> on the U.S. Orphan Works Bill discussed, Google is one of the many companies eager to leap over copyright and artists' rights to gain control of all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">informati</span>-- er, artwork and out of print works to disseminate as they see fit. If they believe they will make enough through advertising it will all be free. But if that doesn't seem like enough of a return to their stockholders, they'll start charging whatever the market will bear.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.google.com/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJ2pK5rqGnwvoDRN1rruV4GkRMsXR5Hc6PJutraEU51z7AhWNHRksv6p0oTSPOMNEwoDo57K6YGT7F1XtPwB0RQbRZn0fCHQf3eePPHyC5alBA_PxGYX46chRAL_Jgd7T0wR2X9lUjyUi/s400/logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309865923724616754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />But hey, their backing of the Orphan Works Bill covers artwork, design and illustration. Surely, there's nothing for us writer's to worry about yet, is there?<br /><br />Judge for yourself.<br /><br />According to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/worldbusiness/10kindle.html">New York Times</a>, Google has just cut a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/worldbusiness/10kindle.html">$125 million dollar deal</a> with the Author's Guild for the rights to digitally publish all out-of-print books. The deal covers <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Google's</span> ass over it's scanning of over seven million books for its digital coffers the past few years with no effort to pay author's royalties.. a definite infringement on their copyrights. The Author's Guild accepted the money on behalf of (presumably) all authors.<br /><br />Was the Guild empowered by every author infringed upon to make this deal? It's unlikely but they have been around since 1912, defending their membership and the rights of writers so they seem legitimate. Except the deal covers exclusive to ALL Out-of-print fiction. ALL of it. For 125 million bucks, paid to a guild that boasts all of 8000 or so members.<br /><br />Let's face it, the money seems like chump change to me and I'm not alone. Just check out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Gawker</span>.com, who leaked an Author's Guild Memo about the deal <a href="http://gawker.com/5161282/googles-piddling-60-promise-to-writers">here.</a> Over at <a href="http://www.fictioncircus.com/">The Fiction Circus</a>, Miracle Jones summed it up nicely:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">This laughable, ludicrously small price is the kind of price that somebody would only offer for something that they didn't actually own.</blockquote>Now Google gets to fight off future efforts to protect a copyright work they use without permission by saying, "we paid the Author's Guild". Sue them. It gets even better. Not even half of that money is going to actual authors! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Apparentl</span>y only $45 million will be disseminated among the membership ($60 to $300 each!... IF they jump through extensive hoops to attain it. Hey, hey, at last we can give up one of our three jobs and retire Mama!) The rest is likely going to all the crusading lawyers who negotiated this glorious act of thievery and the Guild itself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1g3wLsgUlY2TuU80q0VrElqCyJ659MgN1OVqUvixvR4u-1MuRzQvM_x53Uw0Pp7vXt0KvN94Lp0Moz1nK3p521VDgE70HsvRe5-hJde-GpESEiw4T3lmgfdqzUrVqYwFXhcMYg_63zmh/s1600-h/pickpocket12112006.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1g3wLsgUlY2TuU80q0VrElqCyJ659MgN1OVqUvixvR4u-1MuRzQvM_x53Uw0Pp7vXt0KvN94Lp0Moz1nK3p521VDgE70HsvRe5-hJde-GpESEiw4T3lmgfdqzUrVqYwFXhcMYg_63zmh/s400/pickpocket12112006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309865198238121602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Times article in question naturally doesn't bother to follow-up and ask <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">any</span> of those sorts of questions. They simply ignore the bull**** aspect of it and use the decision as an excuse to fly into a gushing celebration of the future of the digital book. You'd think the Times (being written by WRITERS and all, many of whom publish books based around their reporting) would pick up on the fact that its their own rights which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">are</span> being so thoroughly trampled in front of their noses.<br /><br />Think it won't impact author's much? Well, here's just one scenario to consider: what happens when a writer's book is out of print for a time and they negotiate a deal with a new publisher to bring it back into print?<br /><br />Probably dick all.<br /><br />Google now has the "exclusive" right <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">to</span> publish that baby. Too bad. So sad. It's possible some arrangements could be made but I find it hard to believe Google won't want a piece of pretty every book they can <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">get</span> their hands on. Once again, the rights of creators to negotiate for the use of their work and earn fair market value for it is compromised.<br /><br />Check <a href="http://fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=247&mode=one">here</a> for Miracle Jone's entertaining initial response to the announcement and <a href="http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=308&mode=one">here</a> for his thoughtful follow-up.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB1SZW2lgA0IhCjrdWmHhtaijqxJpeU0RHpGdzinpLEQZrMBfxPuqBvkpGRQnGE3MdHtf1wf7dSNUZlTIbyVgjt7Ssa_hzu_-rXmAouCii_P-gn4nSRP-gEErkYJlFksGZJUezQdn658r/s1600-h/mute-kindle-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB1SZW2lgA0IhCjrdWmHhtaijqxJpeU0RHpGdzinpLEQZrMBfxPuqBvkpGRQnGE3MdHtf1wf7dSNUZlTIbyVgjt7Ssa_hzu_-rXmAouCii_P-gn4nSRP-gEErkYJlFksGZJUezQdn658r/s400/mute-kindle-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309862747479860658" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />And the small but mighty Author's Guild hasn't stopped there. According to their website, the AG have managed to convince Amazon to allow author's to decide whether the new Kindle 2's text-to-speech (TTS) software will be allowed to read its books aloud. Or as Jones, (today's Stark Raving, blogger de jour) put it <a href="http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=310&mode=one">here</a>:<br /><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">In an effort to retain good relations with the mysterious "Author's Guild" that supposedly represents the world's fiction writers, Amazon has decided to go ahead and let the rightsholders of Kindle books<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6640848.html?desc=topstory">decide whether or not to allow the Kindle to read books aloud in an uninflected, demonic robot voice.</a></blockquote>Jones diatribe against this announcement is misguided. While on first look this may seem to be that is unfair to limit that use. But consider that the audio rights to a writer's works are a separate revenue stream. Books on Tape, for example, are generally a completely different negotiation straight from publication rights. Amazon wanted those rights for free. The Author's Guild <a href="http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/amazon-reversal-on-text-to-speech.html">announcement</a> sums it up quite clearly for its membership:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">For most of you, Amazon's announcement means that it will now respect your contractual right to authorize (or not) the addition of computer-generated audio to your e-books sold for the Kindle. We will be sending recommendations to you shortly on your TTS audio rights. <p>One important consideration in those recommendations will be to ensure that visually impaired people have access to this technology. Book authors have traditionally authorized royalty-free copies in specialized formats intended for the visually impaired, and copyright law provides a means to distribute recordings to the blind. We can work this out.</p></blockquote><p></p>A more compelling argument against can be found <a href="http://librarycopyright.net/wordpress/?p=263">here</a> at Librarycopyright.net/wordpress. But I find the Guild's position here much more defensible though it's still questionable how the Guild can be represented as the negotiating body for every author, even when the majority non-members. But they do seem to be serving the needs of their members in this case.<br /><br />And in the case of on-line databases like Nexus-Luxus... where they are monitoring the Supreme Court's Decision to hear the case of freelance writers who complain there are not enough safeguards for writers of unregistered works (a registered copyright is necessary to bring a case of infringement before the courts but that fails to recognize innate copyright protections currently supported by law). The summation can be found <a href="http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/freelance-class-action-settlement-going-to-supreme.html">here</a>, on the Author's Guild website.<br /><br />They're coming at us from every which way.<br /><br />Live the adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-51479336545045577182009-02-25T14:25:00.001-08:002009-02-27T20:59:36.476-08:00If You Give Them An Inch...<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCqmHQemuGfCZI_PE8sQI2BXR4KabqbVqqoIkWUSuce5_I8HLGvc8W3wG0tanLDLQRFYI2u8RvviGH8Fw_aN-L3zBnBS5Bj9z-fYjDlM-6U3yMASueZ5hbtwawPsgJKiletkwcykMWAbj/s1600-h/logo1.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 52px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCqmHQemuGfCZI_PE8sQI2BXR4KabqbVqqoIkWUSuce5_I8HLGvc8W3wG0tanLDLQRFYI2u8RvviGH8Fw_aN-L3zBnBS5Bj9z-fYjDlM-6U3yMASueZ5hbtwawPsgJKiletkwcykMWAbj/s400/logo1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306741313897670178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.writersguildofcanada.com/">Writers Guild of Canada</a> presented before the CRTC Board on New Media this week. They articulated their points in as clear a manner as we've seen so far (other presenters should take notes). And they were still treated a bit like bewildered children by a Board run by a man who publicly declared who has no interest in most Television and Radio. (Seriously. Read the interview that started the outrage <a href="http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/magazine/20081215/arpin.html">here</a>. The response in the arts community? John Doyle's <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20090122.wdoyle22%2FBNStory%2FEntertainment%2F%3Fquery%3D&ord=70180534&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true">January 22 column</a> in the Globe & Mail will give you an inkling. As will the <a href="http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/2009/01/doyle-on-arpin-again.html">follow-up post</a> featured on Denis McGrath's blog later that week.)<br /><br />Like any member, there are things I sometimes wish the Writer's Guild would get around to addressing, most notably inequities in the contracts for kids and animation writing. But truthfully, I am a big fan. They're a dedicated group who do a great deal to defend and expand the rights of writers and artists in general. And they've been working away on multiple fronts for the past couple of years both within our industry and with the various levels of Canadian government. I think they've done a pretty good job of keeping our rights from eroding in the mercurial, shifting stands of this country's broadcast and production industry.<br /><br />Decades ago, writers, actors, directors, and other creators were essentially shut out of any significant video and DVD earnings when those new platforms came into being when negotiating producers wanted to adopt a "wait and see" stance. We've been waiting ever since. Eventually the web will become more effectively monetized and if creators don't get in on the ground floor to protect our rights to our own work content and to make a proper living, we'll never catch up.<br /><br />It's hard to get any attention on this topic beyond the Internet boards. The <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090224.wcrtcliveblog0225/BNStory/Technology/home">Globe And Mail coverage</a> is buried in their Technology section. Not in Business. Not in the Arts. Not in World News. This is pretty typical of any media coverage of this topic. But these hearings affect all of these areas and more, so it's worth keeping up to speed.<br /><br />Today the Guild asked the CRTC to consider the internet as part of the broadcasting landscape and force the ISP providers and Cable companies (who are in a protected industry) to, among other things, contribute to a production fund for online content. A little something back for their right to play in this country's digital sandbox without US competition. For their part, the companies are once again fighting to do less and less for this incredible right. The essence of the WGC presentation is summed up <a href="http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/2009/02/wgc-makes-case.html">here</a>, once again in Denis McGrath's blog, <a href="http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/">Dead Things On Sticks</a>, one of my few must read sites.<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">Some key points:<br /><br /><ul><li>The WGC thinks that any content levy could easily be absorbed by the ISP's -- because it proposes exempting smaller ISP's who might have trouble paying. Driving an increase in bandwidth due to increased demand for video traffic will increase the profits of the ISP's -- who already charge more for people who download more heavily. It's in their interest to drive people to download more so they can charge more.<br /></li><li>Fund could fund Broadcaster add-ons for existing shows, or all-new shows for the internet only.</li><li>ISP's are trying to pull a bait and switch. They are not broadcasters, but they are part of the broadcast system, and they are trying to avoid their responsibilities to contribute to that system like every other player in the system. </li><li>CanCon on the internet should be defined as 75% of the money spent in Canada, and the top 5 creative positions going to Canadians (recognizing that diff projects might have different creative needs, ie: a designer not a director, a writer who also codes, etc.)</li><li>Proposing a system by which new web-broadcasting ventures could "opt in" to a voluntary CanCon cert. system where they would then be able to access funds for new media production. Let's call this the "Jim Henshaw point." :)<br /></li></ul>I think it's more than possible for reasonable people to disagree about an ISP levy. But not from a position of dishonesty about how the Canadian broadcast system truly works.<br /><br />Like the broadcast system, <span style="font-weight: bold;">ISP</span>'s are protected telcos and cablecos who are shielded from competition. They receive regulatory advantage every day they operate. The question is whether they should be made to give something back to the system.</blockquote><br />It's not a perfect plan, but it's an attempt to take a first step forward. The full presentation can be found at the <a href="http://www.wgc.ca/">WGC website</a> under, "WGC, the CRTC & New Media".<br /><br />So why should you care?<br /><br />Because, if you give them an inch...<br /><br />ISP providers, cable companies and broadcasters are businesses. And as businesses their bottom line is their guiding principle, not fairness and the rights of their customers or the artists who work with them. Most will make an effort to appear fair but still are looking for things to be a little bit more fair for them than they are for you. And if they get that much, how about a little more?<br /><br />Some people are up in arms about this. They're worried about keeping the internet "open and free" and worried that making ISP's pay for their privileged, protective status will create a form of censorship and limit their opportunities to produce material for those same companies. But the truth is, you won't have any opportunities to create and make money if we don't set up some ground rules that everyone has to abide by.<br /><br />Democracy and the capitalism are not the same thing. In truth, they are opposing forces. One involves active citizenship and working together to support everyone's basic rights. The other is about making money. Supporters of capitalism liken it to Darwin's survival of the fittest. But Darwinisim isn't about competition. It's about each species having the opportunity to adapt. Some do, some don't. But they all have the chance too. Evolution isn't a battle, it's a natural progression for each and every species on the planet. Capitalism is about conquest; control of as much of the market, its products and capital as possible.<br /><br />Now, I want to make clear, that I am referring to the companies, not to everyone who works within them. Some of my greatest allies in developing new shows and striving to put out something really good have been network executives. People who believe in doing something great. But they still face the challenge of doing it in an environment that doesn't foster creativity, but rather fosters a drive toward higher profits.<br /><br />In an earlier post on the CRTC New Media, McGrath (and I promise to link to other sites besides Denis' soon!) kindly shared an e-mail comment that included a link for the <a href="http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/lobbyist-lobbyiste1.nsf/eng/h_nx00274.html">Lobbyist's Registry Search Engine</a>, which lists the large number of meetings between the various private broadcasters and cable giants and the CRTC's Chairman, Vice-Chairman and secretary General over the past several months. It's a safe bet they're not doing this to shoot the breeze over the latest Jason Statham movie (which was wicked cool by the way).<br /><br />I had never heard of the LRSE before. But it's much harder to take on a Pollyanna, "It's going to be all right" attitude after finding real numbers to back up my concerns about these hearings. For a world hard-wired into so much information, it's incredible the lengths people will go to avoid actually asking questions and seeking out the truth. Myself included, sadly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" >A little overwhelmed? Me too. Let's paws fur a moment and<br />enjoy a fuzzy, digital hug from this determined feline. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"><br />Hang in there baby.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QylDmIgnvSHbc1w6-_bQZFbpct4aA1xyB_5XbQBKXkQIudfB13Swzp_3kbcUzG8994B2GIacqAsnEF0JX5nE9TcY1O6FRUCowhdloSKpm1v4QjI2hD5VP4dNPVa2K32Gx4XtZVGgpqpO/s1600-h/hang-in-there-cute-kitten-wallpaper_wl4p.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QylDmIgnvSHbc1w6-_bQZFbpct4aA1xyB_5XbQBKXkQIudfB13Swzp_3kbcUzG8994B2GIacqAsnEF0JX5nE9TcY1O6FRUCowhdloSKpm1v4QjI2hD5VP4dNPVa2K32Gx4XtZVGgpqpO/s400/hang-in-there-cute-kitten-wallpaper_wl4p.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306746264710930082" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />It's sad this isn't a bigger deal in the public's eye. We lazy bastards tend to let politicians and corporations do what they want. But don't mess with our addictive entertainments.<br /><br />Remember the furor back in 1995 when it was discovered our cable companies were negative billing? People were angry Rogers were foisting extra channels on them and charging for them without asking. You had to show up in person at a Rogers' Cable outlet to cancel and also had to pay for the time you had the unwanted channels. I believe they introduced actual legislation in most provinces to make negative billing but variations on it still crop up from Shaw and Bell and other corporate giants. (In Shaw's case, it was a free preview of other channels that they "assumed" you wanted to keep if you didn't call and say, "Thanks, but no thanks."). Negative Billing is illegal and such a nasty term, but if we define it as a simple loss leader preview period? That's just fine, thank you very much.<br /><br />People freaked and the media jumped on it. We had a government listing through scandal after scandal, a deteriorating environment, and the thing that got us to take up arms was that we didn't get to choose which cable tier to overpay for ourselves. The outcry was so great the mighty, corporate giant backed away. It can ignore and conquer anything but bad publicity spin. I wish I could say that since then I have seen signs that we learned to be more aware of how our government and a corporate mentality that puts the rights of business and lobbyists before individual citizens. But I can't. And that's too bad.<br /><br />Because, if you give them an inch...<br /><br />Last week's brew-ha-ha over Facebook's new policy of owning everything you ever posted there made the New York Times. When confronted with thousands of angry members after being caught insisting that Facebook now "owned" every image, note, joke, story, poem, personal detail and picture anywhere on the site, for eternity.<br /><br />Facebook backed away, insisting they simply worded things incorrectly and merely wanted to ensure they have the necessary rights to carry and allow users to pass along their own information. Sounds a bit pat. Years ago Facebook users reacted to their Beacon application, which passed their shopping habits along to other sites. So let's face, this attempt to own our info is in line with their business model. A brief update on the fiasco can be found <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29239948">here</a> at the MSNBC news site.<br /><br />It's debatable how well Facebook's backdoor ownership claims would have stood up in court but it's highly unlikely the words were incorrect. Lawyers spend a lot of time creating these documents to defend against every possible outcome of a legal battle. You can bet they meant exactly what they said. They simply got caught. Most companies who try this don't get challenged in so public a forum. According to the Chicago Tribune article <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-facebookfeb19,0,4201593.story">here</a>, Facebook is working the spin machine even now, calling for User suggestions in drafting a new site "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities". Facebook saw an opportunity and went for it, simply because they thought they could. And now they're working to change public perception about them.<br /><br />If you give them an inch.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnU0zRvgCxAzsLUTJ7tNx-6b4ghisSgphiBiM-dCQcWzknZFhhdLVnhMWuaxzSEOx8k3MBiY2C4fPP35_rkIcozXkjxe6xfEvx5Yeq-R070FoHUDhRZQ7PJJoNCEllDJL_HOwixhBpFea/s1600-h/pixiemathieu_thumb.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 77px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnU0zRvgCxAzsLUTJ7tNx-6b4ghisSgphiBiM-dCQcWzknZFhhdLVnhMWuaxzSEOx8k3MBiY2C4fPP35_rkIcozXkjxe6xfEvx5Yeq-R070FoHUDhRZQ7PJJoNCEllDJL_HOwixhBpFea/s400/pixiemathieu_thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306853873885474034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64x23tEfn2vQdStrNqwJthtvCXwyrlfqEeFg8jb2J7na35OdH3aPJXC_yxSCvEvvAWNgevuNZ8F2tNrOYzrIU9RbYahEOTFAwDbYnF4X94pABaZQ8geXCDV_qaIldQHL_ql2y-fehIz0n/s1600-h/dramacon1_500_187.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 76px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64x23tEfn2vQdStrNqwJthtvCXwyrlfqEeFg8jb2J7na35OdH3aPJXC_yxSCvEvvAWNgevuNZ8F2tNrOYzrIU9RbYahEOTFAwDbYnF4X94pABaZQ8geXCDV_qaIldQHL_ql2y-fehIz0n/s400/dramacon1_500_187.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306854147949341522" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGoD3fVZj2M7qn7sJQxpyudE2n4EjFtiZlKfhL6etYuLzptRWrJCo-e-5cTroJCgdVfpAb7WzLQeyI4sRi_IeAO4t2_dqSdLVlVW_Ok33lZtJgR4oGBXayCZLBmYBIynKkCP1jx7ftw-i/s1600-h/Orange+TokyoP.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 73px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGoD3fVZj2M7qn7sJQxpyudE2n4EjFtiZlKfhL6etYuLzptRWrJCo-e-5cTroJCgdVfpAb7WzLQeyI4sRi_IeAO4t2_dqSdLVlVW_Ok33lZtJgR4oGBXayCZLBmYBIynKkCP1jx7ftw-i/s400/Orange+TokyoP.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306853965910313394" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcNfj-c9hHJ2O_7YV1SV9_a-MRo_QYUNtDL0S6BhzC6wIzMKJ6fdOIFIbIY-9fY0YHZUcl4nOjMq_WNpBU2AbRW3OCYsYYkdwR3xsvajbz-Qpd_7XD2miAqtVnvad54yBE5XYwk2vei9E/s1600-h/fruitsbasket17_500.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 76px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcNfj-c9hHJ2O_7YV1SV9_a-MRo_QYUNtDL0S6BhzC6wIzMKJ6fdOIFIbIY-9fY0YHZUcl4nOjMq_WNpBU2AbRW3OCYsYYkdwR3xsvajbz-Qpd_7XD2miAqtVnvad54yBE5XYwk2vei9E/s400/fruitsbasket17_500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306854066215920354" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />How about the world of comics? Last year, <a href="http://www.tokyopop.com/">Tokyopop</a>, a US publisher of manga and manga styled graphic novels, introduced a Manga Pilot program designed to seek out young, hungry creators so eager to get their work published that they would sell all their rights to Tokyopop for a song. One of the most vocal opponents of the contract was Scott Pilgrim creator, Bryan Lee O'Malley.<br /><br />O'Malley was riding the wave of interest in Scott Pilgrim that led the casting of Micheal Cera in the title role for the film adaptation that <a href="http://movies.ign.com/articles/952/952523p1.html">starts shooting soon in Toronto</a>. It's under the direction of Sean of The Dead's Edgar Wright (It's very indie. They even cast through "Craig's List.). So O'Malley's roar was heard across the comic blogosphere. You can find his summation of the contract's dangers here at his <a href="http://destroyerzooey.livejournal.com/180842.html">blog</a>. Any post that starts off with "It's like Satan wrote it, " you know is gonna be good readin'!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOyXWC23XLqH45YIzrHNDp1PJbMpdn8F5gkynSmCgkTEmT54bVM6CUFVc-07dHo_Kb1VLbHiBbpVd7-ejWdvUOQw9IlcgFfb3sl50QHe22w9McsBBnekx4M8f-QWnTyVlyRxYmsoMpto_/s1600-h/19_ceradustry_lg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOyXWC23XLqH45YIzrHNDp1PJbMpdn8F5gkynSmCgkTEmT54bVM6CUFVc-07dHo_Kb1VLbHiBbpVd7-ejWdvUOQw9IlcgFfb3sl50QHe22w9McsBBnekx4M8f-QWnTyVlyRxYmsoMpto_/s400/19_ceradustry_lg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306864177402105858" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Tokyopop's contract is actually little different from the one offered creators by<a href="http://www.zudacomics.com/"> Zuda.com</a>, a digital comic site sponsored by DC Comics. Zuda wants all the rights and none of the liability. More commentary followed from various comic creators and journalists. For those of you not up on comics, a collection of them can be found <a href="http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/05/29/more-on-that-horrible-horrible-horrible-tokyopop-contract/">here</a>, at the Newsarama blog, <a href="http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/more_on_terrible_tokyopop_contract/">here</a> at Tom Spurgeon's Comics Reporter site, at Heidi MacDonald's Publisher's Weekly blog, <a href="http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/05/28/tokyopop-hey-dude-totally-bad-contract/">The Beat</a>.<br /><br />Like the Facebook flap, horrified reactions to the contract came from all over, even from the Savannah College of Art and Design, who removed Tokyopop from their list of publishers invited to present at the school. According to this <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/dannysdomain/136921.html">blog post</a>, one professor declared, "We want our students to get jobs, not raped." Niiiiiice.<br /><br />If you give them an inch.<br /><br />I can also point down south to the land of the freefalling and home of the bravely facing financial ruination for another example of what happens when we trust large corporations like banks to run themselves. I'm not talking about the current Financial Meltdown, turn on your TV's for news on that. Suffice to say, I echo writer Steven Grant's <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20019">frustration</a>, as shared in the bottom halves of his recent <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=column&id=8">Permanent Damage columns</a>.<br /><br /><span id="intelliTXT"></span><blockquote><span id="intelliTXT"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">For decades – I mean </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">decades</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">, without hyperbole – it's been an open secret that the job of regulatory agencies in the American government has been to collude with the businesses they're supposed to be regulating. It has always happened to some extent, but the Reagan administration pretty much made it mandatory, where they couldn't abolish regulation altogether. (The recurring Republican chant calling for deregulation and the end of regulatory agencies is predicated on the utopian notion that competition is the ultimate form of regulation, and that in a post-regulatory world with no rules everyone will cheerfully follow the rules. AKA "caveat emptor.") The SEC's non-testimony before the House as to why they ignored whistleblowers and let Bernie Madoff's investment operation (other brokers with similar cons keep being discovered in the wake of Madoff) go unchallenged until Madoff crapped away (according to him) fifty billion dollars just underlined what's been clear to everyone who has followed the market for the last 30 years or so: the SEC seems to think its real function is to be in bed with the financial markets. Not that this is any surprise, but the testimony also made it clear they're in no hurry to be part of the solution, seem in fact dedicated to letting it all blow over so the urgency for a solution fades away.</span><br /></span></blockquote><br />As you can see, people are angry about the financial crisis. And they're talking about it; many with more insight than me. But not enough people are talking about the insidious Orphaned Works Bill currently being railroaded quietly through Congress as the country is distracted by supposedly bigger worries. But the Orphaned Works Bill should be big news indeed for all artists, because it's designed to remove your innate right to a copyright on your work.<br /><br />If you give them an inch...<br /><br />Right now the Bill is limited to visual works, but it creates a huge opening to pry away the rights of writers and other artists too, all the while defying and making a mockery of worldwide copyright laws. Let me tell you a little about a Bill motivated by pure greed and arrogant, tunnel-vision philosophy grandstanding as a battle for freedom. People may think i am overreacting to this Bill, but give a listen to this Youtube overview of the some of the problems. It includes a portion of last year's interview with Brad Holland of the Illustrator's Partnership, an ad hoc group that has been opposing the Orphan Works Bill for over two years. Then I'll share my other concerns.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CqBZd0cP5Yc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CqBZd0cP5Yc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />The complete version of this interview can be found <a href="http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html">here</a>. The genesis behind this bill was to free up ancient works of art and photos that have no known, long dead, or untraceable copyright holders for use by museums, libraries, educational institutions, historians and documentarians.<br /><br />This sucker stinks for a number of reasons.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*First and foremost, it removes an artist or creator's innate right to copyright and his ability to profit from his labor. In short, it takes away our ability to make a living. these rights are internationally recognized across the world. Therefore active use of the Bill could violate copyright laws in other countries, including Canada.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*The Orphan Works Bill sets out no governance for the copyright protection. It will not be carried out by the US government copyright office. The Bill calls for private companies to arise to take care of such registration. There is no limit on the number of companies that may offer this service. So If I have a thousand companies to choose for registering my work, a "reasonable search" of five companies does not include one I registered with, I am out of luck in defending my rights.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*Canada has a similar law but their registry and search office are centralized. It's a one stop shop. You register there and if you have a work that is questionable, they do a search for you as long as you can show you have done your own, initial due diligence. According to this</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/unlocatable/licences-e.html"> list</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, only about 222 licenses for Orphan Works have been granted since 1990. I think this is in part, due to the fact that having a single registry makes it easier to locate a registered work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*This would effectively remove our immediate copyright to our work and the right to profit from it into our old age and removes the right of our spouses and immediate family to profit from it after we are gone.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*Use of my "Orphaned Work" work is free. And extremely low limits are placed on how much I may be legally awarded if I do discover infringement. It's most definitely not enough to make hiring a lawyer worthwhile. Last I read it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. Once again, this heavily favors the defendant and makes copyright breach an affordable thing, especially for well-moneyed transgressors, like for instance, Google.</span><br /><br />In a comment at <a href="http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/10/01/orphan-works-bill-dies/">Alas, A Blog</a> last October, Paul summed his concerns regarding the above.<br /><small class="commentmetadata"> </small> <blockquote style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">I was opposed to the bill that died for a few reasons. First, it defined making a “good-faith effort” as looking in some yet-to-be-created for-profit registries, so everyone currently holding a copyright would effectively have to re-register it. Second, it didn’t define (although it obviously could have) any kind of escrow requirement for reasonable royalties; instead, anyone whose work is taken has to sue in federal court, and can’t recover attorney’s fees. Third, and possibly worst for me, the citation requirement in the law, as written, works against the creator because, when I see a something published with the creator credited, I tend to assume that they were appropriately compensated for their work and approved of its use. With the orphan copyright act as written, there’s nothing that would stop whoever darn pleased from using ostensibly orphaned works in contexts that their creators would never have given permission for (imagine some neonazis with that archive of pictures from the Holocaust museum, complete with “courtesy of …” at the bottom of each picture).</blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">*As </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://alltoosimple.wordpress.com/">Paul</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> cited above, the use of my work may be used in support of something I do not agree with. His Holocaust example is extreme yes. But it brings the point home.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*I have to actually discover the infringement to gain any possibility of payment, even if it's been done somewhere a continent away.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*This affects all visual artists: illustrators, photographers, animators, videographers, filmmakers, etc.. And once this is passed, can adding the written word to the list laid open by this Bill be far behind?</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3IQJJVI1IBMYijL7ispWMA3hbx73nO8KrmJhyphenhyphenqKPgnHxaJ2I3E8k13i0-a5sMtTGj3YgP4eJqzwHfaq66GRKLJSuDV2_wsnTeLaMgdV6ag5yTnuTT7XSJnUW0qEcnrld_ZXE1ZRq-6AR/s1600-h/schoolhouse-rock.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3IQJJVI1IBMYijL7ispWMA3hbx73nO8KrmJhyphenhyphenqKPgnHxaJ2I3E8k13i0-a5sMtTGj3YgP4eJqzwHfaq66GRKLJSuDV2_wsnTeLaMgdV6ag5yTnuTT7XSJnUW0qEcnrld_ZXE1ZRq-6AR/s400/schoolhouse-rock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307708066496904754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And on it goes. If you give them an inch...<br /><br />Many would argue that we are being paranoid. Mostly people who can't see any monetary value in art of any kind. But there is big money to be had. The mere fact that two of of the country's largest media companies, Google and Microsoft, have lent significant support to the lobbying of this Bill begs the question, "What's in it for them that they're spending so much time and money on this?"<br /><br />Well, let's see, could it be that Google wants to weaken copyright legislation to avoid lawsuits against their attempts to use copyrighted material? In Orphan Works roundtables held by the US copyright office they admitted they plan to utilize as many as one million Orphan Works.<br /><br />Google maintains its dominance in the information world by providing everything it can get its hands on at the touch of a button, including, potentially, our work. Google suggests that most authors in question "won't care" about them appropriating their work and that authors coming forward to claim their works once Google has grabbed them up would prove to be "extremely inefficient for us." They went on to admit that too many copyright claims against them may result in a change in our business practices, which could result in a loss of revenue for us or otherwise harm our business." See <a href="http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/10/orphan-works-connect-dots.html">here</a> for more details.<br /><br />And what about Microsoft's interest? I believe it's they want to sell or license the works themselves. Two of the largest distributors of photographs, motion picture and video images are Getty Images and their biggest competitor, Microsoft-owned Corbis. If Microsoft can get access to copyright free images, they can make a great deal of money. And unlike the poor shmuck artist they profit from, they have the money and the reach to defend their profits in the courts. Don't underestimate the money to be made here. Increasingly, it is the people who hold the information and the content that are raking in the dough. According to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0805/gallery.private_equity_power_list.fortune/14.html">Fortune</a>, as of 2008 Hellman & Friedman hasn't lost money on an investment in a decade and they spent 2.4 billion dollars to acquire Getty Images. You can bet they expect that investment to return heavy dividends.<br /><br />Wonder who Google has partnered up with to lobby for this Bill? Getty Images. The cirlce is complete. Here's a brief summation of that connection from <a href="http://www.changethethought.com/">www.changethethought.com</a>'s Orphan Works <a href="http://www.changethethought.com/the-orphan-works-bill/">update page</a>.<br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"><p style="text-align: left;">The really huge crux of this, is not that they bill seeks to ‘PRESERVE’ or allow use for the libraries…at least not in the larger picture. This is only about making money from searches, the sale of Orphans, and the registration of images. They are killing the goose that laid the golden eggs…many artist will be searching other means to support themselves if it becomes impossible to protect their artwork from theft and the small artists will be the most likely target of infringers.</p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">Do an internet search for GOOGLE,YAHOO, PICSCOUT + orphan works bill. How did they wind up giving testimony?<br />Microsoft (who was courting Yahoo) - who incidently owns Flikr.com (image selling sites)-<br />(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/microsoft_yahoo)<br />and they (microsoft) are already working with Pic Scout (who was mentioned to me by my reps aide yesterday as a potential ‘REGISTRY OWNER’)<br />(http://www.cgi-java.com/article.cfm/id/256275) MICROSOFT hired Jule Sigall who was the man that wrote the ORPHAN WORKS REPORT while he worked for the COPYRIGHT OFFICE.<br />(http://research.yale.edu/isp/a2k/wiki/index.php?title=Jule_Sigall&printable=yes (Tech Law Journal’s owner Mr.Carney wrote, “The primary author of the report, Jule Sigall, subsequently went to work for Microsoft. See, story titled “Jule Sigall Joins Microsoft” in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,510, December 27, 2006.”)</p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">the reason everyone is fighting over the images are the millions/billions in ad sales resulting from the online searches…Google is the current leader and is now courting Yahoo themselves. Besides the millions or billions of dollars that would be generated from the ad sales, these giants will also make additional money off registration and searches as well. “Companies that create no content of their own, and make money solely on the backs of other people’s content, are raking in billions through advertising revenue and IPOs. Google takes the position that everything may be freely copied unless the copyright owner notifies Google and tells it to stop. ” That sounds familar….http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Attacks-Google-For-Copyright-Infringement-48665.shtml & (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24543408/page/3/ ) </p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">Google is hooked up with Getty (images sales again) and AOL (Shawn Bentley went from the US gov. to work for time warner - owner of AOL - as VP of IP and Global Public Policy after he worked in the senate and “helped write are among the most important laws in the intellectual property world: the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act; the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the American Inventors Protection Act, the Patent Fee Integrity and Innovation Protection Act, the Anti-Counterfeiting Consumer Protection Act, and the Trademark Dilution Act, just to name a few.” <a href="http://thebloodofpatriots.com/rag/?p=25" rel="nofollow">http://thebloodofpatriots.com/rag/?p=25</a></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">Then there’s apple fixing to jump into the mix?(http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2008/04/is_apple_about.php)</p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">Also, any artist that uploads any amount of art onto free sites better be taking a really good look at their policies and finding out what they are up to. Artwanted’s policies already state your art goes right onto Google and WITHOUT CREDITS/COPYRIGHT INFO.</p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1095637" rel="nofollow">http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1095637</a></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.techlawjournal.com/topstories/2008/20080507.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.techlawjournal.com/topstories/2008/20080507.asp</a></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;">This bill will put many small artists out of business - we fight infringement daily NOW with the current laws. Removal of the penalties currently in place will open all artists up to constant infringement. Who has the time to spend hunting for infringed work on a constant basis? Oh, but don’t worry, because now, for a fee there are IMAGE SEARCHING sites springing up offering to let you find infringed copies/potential orphans - for a fee.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"></p><br />For more information on the Orphan Works Bill, check out the<a href="http://orphanworks.blogspot.com/"> SAA Orphan Works Blog</a>. Once again, the full interview with Brad Holland and more links can be found <a href="http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html">here</a>. There are also arguments for and against <a href="http://www.nikondigital.org/dps/dps-v-4-08.htm">here</a>, <a href="http://photodoto.com/orphan-works-bill/comment-page-1/#comment-192698">here</a>, and <a href="http://photodoto.com/orphan-works-bill/">here</a>. The Youtube video above came from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Yc">this page</a>, and is accompanied by ways to act against the bill now. At least one prominent artist trade group, the American Society of Media Photographers, has <a href="http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/05/07/asmp-supports-orphan-works-bill/">changed its stance</a> after helping to defeat an early version of the bill last year.<br /><br />People may think we're paranoid for trying to keep our footing on this slippery slope. But we've closed our eyes, clicked our heels together and wished for a fairer deal too many times to assume anyone else is going to watch out for our interests.<br /><br />If you give them an inch they'll take a mile. And once they've taken that mile, what's to stop them from pointing to the horizon and saying, "I want that too, and everything beyond it. Forever."?<br /><br />Just us.<br /><br />Spread the word to your Member of Parliament and ask them to encourage an official Canadian protest. Then spread the word and ask all your US artist friends to go to <a href="http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/">this website</a> to find out what they can do.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" >Spoiling for a fight? It's time to<br />stand up and be heard cool cats.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMq-HxLugEr1lRfgEnKP4pDE5l1D1jnA-Q0AVv6LDpxSUlxzRTZoM0ksj7w3MGYm1qAc8Cw234OcOIf8u9L7GM7Cb0iBtaaxJ5nZ8Aaxy1sv_zKq2LsDMeyyZMZySrcNy8brHxOERFwbsI/s1600-h/53742137_e59a6881b3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMq-HxLugEr1lRfgEnKP4pDE5l1D1jnA-Q0AVv6LDpxSUlxzRTZoM0ksj7w3MGYm1qAc8Cw234OcOIf8u9L7GM7Cb0iBtaaxJ5nZ8Aaxy1sv_zKq2LsDMeyyZMZySrcNy8brHxOERFwbsI/s400/53742137_e59a6881b3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306746154102606738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Live the adventure.<br /><br /></div></div>Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1501688286281528305.post-80933879319090001272009-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:002009-02-23T09:22:05.815-08:00Rocking My Talk World - New Elvis Costello Talkfest Harnesses the Power of the Co-Pro<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8g5KUXKmLb2lqpi4Cz6FLirkBV6vbW_jGbfMCqgsCbQZwrhnq89JetZtqGUs6gUKpoqvFvSlEhx_T_c4aPoAUMwB1kEWBOGSN2ej0cWkB4MEGOJvRtV08UU_4PQiZUjtu_CbU6IcfSjkw/s1600-h/spectacle_bb.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8g5KUXKmLb2lqpi4Cz6FLirkBV6vbW_jGbfMCqgsCbQZwrhnq89JetZtqGUs6gUKpoqvFvSlEhx_T_c4aPoAUMwB1kEWBOGSN2ej0cWkB4MEGOJvRtV08UU_4PQiZUjtu_CbU6IcfSjkw/s400/spectacle_bb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306039691652349058" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Canada's TV landscape just keeps getting better and better with many of my appointment shows originating from north of the 49th parallel. Last night's Academy Awards presentation may have divided people on whether the presentation was successful. But the thing about the awards that excited me the most was CTV's use of the many eyes riveted to their station (some drooping with sleepy boredom) to promote their latest talk fest, "Spectacle, Elvis Costello with..."<br /><br />I did a classic Little Rascals-worthy double take. Who now, what?!!! At first, it appeared that Costello would be co-hosting the show with Elton John. But it soon became apparent that Elton was one of the executive-producers to Costello, who will play host to an enviable variety of intelligent musicians and world figures.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQU4fzrjobIWirfn3Kkrz6Ghzs6SuRbh3t0mGZPTrDj7QV4hmItWLTlVxx8T38Je6BrIp3_x3IpV44lhFfM5dlNaBH_uyHCXPmoWIgNFoUjlx9BvtMKEPrTQrlyKxRs-2iCSL3xfARMmB/s1600-h/elvis_elton.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQU4fzrjobIWirfn3Kkrz6Ghzs6SuRbh3t0mGZPTrDj7QV4hmItWLTlVxx8T38Je6BrIp3_x3IpV44lhFfM5dlNaBH_uyHCXPmoWIgNFoUjlx9BvtMKEPrTQrlyKxRs-2iCSL3xfARMmB/s400/elvis_elton.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306039521800249410" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The closest I've seen to this sort of thing was during the early days of MTV Unplugged hosted by Jules Shear (former paramour of Aimee Mann and author of hits like the Bangles "If She Knew What She Wants", and owner of the whiniest singing voice since Dylan) and Later with Jules Holland, (writer, bon vivant, intense Prisoner fan and keyboard tickling founding member of squeeze who has collaborated with the biggest names in music including Sting, Tom Jones and Bono). But it seems CTV has built a series which will allow the extreemely intelligent Costello to range into topics beyond music.<br /><br />Elvis Costello is uniquely qualified for the gig. He's one smart and occasionally smart-ass bastard. His long list of accomplishments and reputation for speaking out grant the show instant legitimacy as a go to destination for true artists. When the host is as interesting to the guests as the guests are to him, it makes finding quality people to fill the interview chair that much easier.<br /><br />Even the brief n' breezy bio accompanying this <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20080703/spectacle_four_wrapped_080703">press release</a> from CTV is enough to make me positively salivate for the show's premiere. Check out the guest list found on a more recent <a href="http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/10/c3272.html">press release</a>:<br /><br />Rufus Wainwright, John Mellencamp, Norah Kones and James Taylor, Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash (who spent much of last year blogging brilliantly about songwriting for the New York Times), Jakob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), Jenny Lewis and renowned opera soprano Renee Fleming.<br /><br />And that's just filling out a line-up already fueled by Diana Krall (How'd they get her??),the Police (together), former president Bill Clinton, Tony Bennet, Loue Reed, Smokey freakin' Robinson and the afore-mentioned Sir Elton John.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwITkv-QO1PlHWAImQ39v-HAI6lDNUBq7RptR2S2A0cOhzM6PtfWtbwDwNNB6f2LITe35tWncYiYjcR3Lpm2XMeV0_tq6aHw063zuQM8Zgj8wB6-9CUIWnNZnO6r6ctUbwMF-AWOf0-Z_k/s1600-h/spec1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwITkv-QO1PlHWAImQ39v-HAI6lDNUBq7RptR2S2A0cOhzM6PtfWtbwDwNNB6f2LITe35tWncYiYjcR3Lpm2XMeV0_tq6aHw063zuQM8Zgj8wB6-9CUIWnNZnO6r6ctUbwMF-AWOf0-Z_k/s400/spec1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306039611621622338" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The CTV is a good fit for the show now that they own the Bravo arts channel in addition to their main station. Of course, Costello and John share a Canadian connection in having wedded Canadians and spending at least part of their time each year in the Great White North. Costello and jazz singer Diana Krall are raising their two sons in New York City while Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish keep a home in the Toronto area.<br /></div></div><br />Like the CBC (The Tudors, Doctor Who and now Being Erica), CTV seems to have caught on to the dynamic synergies that can be created when you team with the well-moneyed Americans. Their <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20071221/home-sniper/20080818/">Flashpoint</a> series continues to garner strong ratings in a tough Friday slot for both CTV and CBS and we will soon see the debut of a second co-production, <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20090219/thebridge_cbs/20090219/">The Bridge</a>. Their star-studded, MTV documentary series, <a href="http://www.tv-eh.com/2008/08/15/ctv%E2%80%99s-4real-gets-us-network-television-premiere-on-the-cw/">4Real</a> has also been picked up by the CW.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPgGPkyJjEY1YLLxIHRifC8rXtoFsdPfBwkW6mB9pSsu1l5K71c0UIPy6cSZa9lbQHU7_hgfxTPbnxfns10cL_qO20Y7AENMWF0SSw3GXhB8M6AVzzGzVDQ6Y7QPnOZesBImbaBZF0jfR/s1600-h/1310754.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 161px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPgGPkyJjEY1YLLxIHRifC8rXtoFsdPfBwkW6mB9pSsu1l5K71c0UIPy6cSZa9lbQHU7_hgfxTPbnxfns10cL_qO20Y7AENMWF0SSw3GXhB8M6AVzzGzVDQ6Y7QPnOZesBImbaBZF0jfR/s400/1310754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306043079996741330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhsbjPJlVb0itwSB7pT9xpeyePZ_2-y_4Fy7m7bacI-m_myM7OkUNSUT8XBHNsVsyWKADtrTNuFBIeunBTpLNYPdBlBQYmZKWt0GwXBbg0NOW8mbSX92XWDLrOgYn41gtq9MEsMIN9jX8/s1600-h/4real.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhsbjPJlVb0itwSB7pT9xpeyePZ_2-y_4Fy7m7bacI-m_myM7OkUNSUT8XBHNsVsyWKADtrTNuFBIeunBTpLNYPdBlBQYmZKWt0GwXBbg0NOW8mbSX92XWDLrOgYn41gtq9MEsMIN9jX8/s400/4real.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306043308629050658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dMUftA7tLh5KEtJh1T3ywpgkTjg096BqBOOixTNHT9twEu4f1cG4ExQUuxF4FJ4BBW0HISwMReDMCLE9dDYUJn_vqJylJCwrwvJiVsHYfMDwNHQWYJF4Uk13XiIMkKNySa2Y3_4798nH/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dMUftA7tLh5KEtJh1T3ywpgkTjg096BqBOOixTNHT9twEu4f1cG4ExQUuxF4FJ4BBW0HISwMReDMCLE9dDYUJn_vqJylJCwrwvJiVsHYfMDwNHQWYJF4Uk13XiIMkKNySa2Y3_4798nH/s400/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306043152143297074" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Partnering with Freeemantle Media Enterprises, Britain's Channel Four and the Sundance Channel in the US, means CTV doesn't have to shoulder the expense of producing the hsow on their own and hoping to get a return from Canada's significantly smaller audience pool. I've no insider knowledge of the intricacies of these sorts of deals but the increase in budget is showing up on the screen with prettier shows and with longer commitments to letting new shows find their audience.<br /><br />Live the Adventure.Gorillamydreamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.com