Take the ten minutes to watch Keith Olbermann eviscerate the Bush administration. This may well go down as one of THE memorable commentaries of the Bush era of disingenuousness and attack politics.
Clock with an eggtimer how long it takes the Daily Show or Colbert to have him on as a guest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9g8fzNSOrY
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Just letting you guys know that at http://www.jkwoodward.com, J.K. has added several of his painted pieces from Fallen Angel issues 1-5, and also lowered the page price to $75 for art pages that don't feature the Fallen Angel in them.
Check it out.
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Remember how I was talking about how Max Allan Collins could have done a far better job on the George Reeves murder in a Heller novel? Well, Al Collins dropped me a line, and among other things, said the following (quoted with his permission):
The last Heller proposal I put together was about a Reeves novel. It was
declined by Penguin, who didn't pick up the Heller option; and then I
shelved Heller myself to pursue the prose PERDITION sequels. Along the way,
however, I pitched a Reeves murder graphic novel to DC, specifically Dan
DiDio (about two years ago). Dan seemed intrigued, but they ultimately
turned it down, not wanting to be connected to anything having to do with
this particular historical incident.
I liked HOLLYWOODLAND, and thought Affleck was surprisingly good (that's the
general take on his performance). But I think I could have done it better.
I had substantial research gathered, but I doubt I can do that novel now --
maybe I could do a novella version somewhere....
With all respect to the esteemed Mr. Collins, I disagree. I think he not only can do the novel now, but should, because I think there's a market for it. And don't go telling me he should publish it on the web: Screw that. I'd like to see a publisher step up and take it on. Regular novel, graphic novel, I don't care. I want to see Nate Heller tackle the Reeves case.
So hey, publishers: Award winning novelist and writer of "Road to Perdition" with a marketable idea ready to go, sure to pique the interest of comics fans. Who wants to get it done?
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...and fixing all the comments and display problems. Should be all better now. And just so you know, going on vacation without my laptop wasn't my idea.
John M. Ford ("Mike" to friends) passed away abruptly last night. An accomplished writer of fantasy, SF and RPGs, many fans will remember him for two of the best Trek novels ever, "How Much For Just the Planet" and "The Final Reflection."
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Part 2 of the three parter involving the showdown with Singularity Investigations. Whad'ja think?
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Al Collins does a terrific series of books about a detective named Nate Heller. Sharing his memoirs of his greatest cases with us, Heller was an active participant in such famous cases as the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Although he does nothing to change the historical facts or outcomes, Heller's tales invariably provide solid resolutions and eye-opening perspectives.
Kathleen and I came out of "Hollywoodland" and all I could think was that the script desperately needed Al Collins to come in and do a rewrite. We witness two storylines: The struggle of George Reeves with his perception that his career had stalled while forces that could him harm gather round him, and a noirish detective, Louis Simo, hired to investigate. The acting is brilliant all around, and the direction is solid, but the vagueness of the script betrays all participants. An attempt to say something profound about the price of fame nibbles around the edges of the story, but really, it's no point that hasn't been made elsewhere and better. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that there's no resolution: Not to the mystery of who killed Reeves and not to the resolution to Simo's emotional journey.
The observation could be made that, since we don't know what happened in real life, the movie is likewise hamstrung. Except, as noted, Al Collins tackles this kind of challenge all the time and routinely produces stories that hew to the truth while simultaneously coming up with satisfying conclusions all around. That's because he takes a solid point of view, something very much lacking in the wishy-washy script of "Hollywoodland."
I would love to see Al Collins tackle the Reeves murder (the book "Hollywood Kryptonite," along with conversations I've had with Noel Neill, convinced me it wasn't suicide). People might claim that "Hollywoodland" covered the same material; but at least Collins would cover it well.
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A body is in freefall. Assuming normal gravity, how much distance will the body drop after, say, twenty seconds? Thirty seconds? I know the basic formula is 32 feet per second/per second, but math was never my strong suit, plus there's probably other aspects of physics I'm overlooking.
Or, put another way, a body dropped from about a thousand feet high: How long until it hits the ground?
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Posted outside a local restaurant:
"WE DONATED OUR SPINACH TO THE U.N."
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The season opener on BL, while House takes on the Wizard of Oz from "Wicked" (and even makes an in-joke "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" comment). Two different dramas, two different creators, two different stations--but both of them focusing on the right to privacy and allowing someone to do as they wish with their body. Comments below:
A Stephen Colbert moment: "House." Merely great, or the greatest medical drama ever?
Most episodes of "House" are all about the diagonsis. This one, however, is drenched in medical ethics, including the endlessly unsolvable question of whether someone in a terminal situation should be allowed to call for their own termination. Interestingly, the answer comes across as far more clear-cut on "House" than one typically sees. Yes, there's focus on the diagnostic wizardry of House and his people (and I have to say that House's "A-HA" moment, in which something prompts him to realize the truth, was one of the lamer such instances this time out. A red thong? C'mon) but, interestingly, once they've established that Joel Gray's character is definitely terminal, his wish to die is granted in very short order, followed by a marvelously terse ending scene in the hospital chapel that was filled with emotion despite its brevity.
Meanwhile, subplots begin to percolate that save "House" from being merely diagnose-the-disease-of-the-week. Back on the cane and the painkillers, House continues to insist that Cuddy is pregnant while finding himself the subject of a jailbait's crush, plus we see thematic fallout of Cuddy and Wilson's lying to House about the fate of an earlier patient. And Hugh Laurie continues to hold the entire series together through sheer talent and charisma. A must-see.
"Boston Legal," or as I call it, lawyers behaving badly. BL continues to walk the fine line between parody and drama, ranging from the ludicrously sad (a man suffering from major intimacy issues is pathetically devoted to a sex doll) to the ludicrous (Denny Crane--the reborn William Shatner--has his own sex toy of Candace Bergen's Shirley, and is completely incapable of understanding that what he's doing is wrong...placing him, on the moral comprehension scale, somewhere below the pre-souled William the Bloody who at least was ashamed when Buffy confronted him about the Buffybot) to the sad (Michael J. Fox's dying billionaire is tangled in a case where he's buying a terminal man's healthy lung.) Sometimes the over-the-top plot aspects tend to strangle whatever serious issues the series tries to address. This episode is not one of those instances, and the show returns in good form. Let's hope it can maintain it.
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Well, now you can. J.K. Woodward, artist supreme on "Fallen Angel" has put up his own website. After holding a nationwide contest and consulting no less than three major think tanks, he dubbed it...hold on...http://www.jkwoodward.com where he's selling the original pages from "Fallen Angel #6." They are remarkably reasonably priced and can be yours if you move fast, since I'm pretty sure this is the first website that's advertising it.
Check it out.
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Yes, it's a new season, and I'm going to get back to the much asked-after Cowboy Pete entries. I used to do them on day of airing, and then people complained because they claimed I was doing too many blog entries about TV shows. So I started consolidating them, except then it was too many at one time and I just didn't get to it. So I'm going back to doing them as I see the shows, and if you don't like it, Dan can point the way out for you. So there, nyaaah.
I am going to routinely put all comments in the extended entry, however, so as to avoid spoiler comments in this day and age of Tivo.
I guess it was inevitable. First there was "Sports Night," about the production of a live TV show. Then there was "West Wing," a heady mix of politics and social commentary. And now Aaron Sorkin combines the two into--what else--a series about the production of a live TV show that keys off politics and social commentary. And it features Josh and Danny from "West Wing" (except Josh is now called Danny, which is confusing the hell out of me) and Joe from "West Wing" as well (except he's now called Matt, which is less confusing since it happens to be the actor's actual first name) and it guest starred Dana from "Sports Night" (which wasn't confusing at all since her character had the first AND last name of the actress, so it was pretty easy to remember she was Felicity Huffman).
Amazingly, no one said "I'm just saying" or "Yeah" which almost made me think it wasn't an Aaron Sorkin show.
Credit Sorkin with being able to keep up with the viewer. The show opens with a frustrated Alex from "Taxi" (Judd Hirsch guest starring) having an on-air meltdown. I was watching it and thinking that, gee, it was an interesting ramble, but it wasn't remotely as well-written or memorable as when Paddy Chayefsky's anchorman melted down in "Network." Apparently Sorkin agreed, but rather than make it a really really kick-ass memorable speech, he just had every newscaster on the show compare it to "Network." I suppose that was to defuse everyone who was going to say that Sorkin ripped off "Network," and it probably worked, but I *still* wish the speech had been better.
But no matter. Not only is Judd Hirsch watchable in damned near anything ("Independence Day" proved that) he was just the opening bell for a sea change in the SNL-esque "Studio 60," signalling the less-than-triumphant return of the show's former and once-fired show runners. There's a ton of exposition, a boatload of characters (many of whom received short shrift), and the pilot desperately needed to be ninety minutes since I felt like it was just getting started when it ended.
There's some wonderful playing against type and expectations, though: A network president who is clearly ready to put her neck on the line; one of "Studio 60's" cast members is devoutly religious but supports the airing of a sketch called "Crazy Christians." And anchoring the whole thing are Bradley Whitford playing, basically, Aaron Sorkin (complete with drug problems) and Matthew Perry whose character is doped up on Vicodin (which I was for about three months after blowing out my knee, so I instantly sympathized). The show still needs to find its rhythms and balance out the cast, but there's a lot of good stuff here and I'm definitely in for the long haul...
...as long as I can learn all the damned names.
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Nope. None at all. Knew they'd clinch it tonight. Never thought anything other than that.
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The fact that the Mets continue to hover on their magic number of one, only to be shut out by the Pirates while the Phillies continue not to lose, has me wondering about the possibility of watching one of those "historic crashes" one sometimes hears about. You know, like when the Yankees crashed and burned to the Red Sox.
Can you imagine if the Mets lose every single game to the end of the season while the Phillies win every single game? I know, I know...very unlikely.
Ridiculous even to think about it.
They'll clinch the thing tomorrow. I'm almost positively 100% sure, I think.
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Took Ariel into the city to meet Ken Jennings, Jeopardy's all-time champ, who was doing a book signing at the B&N in Union Square. Nattily attired, he kept the audience entertained with a discussion and selected readings of his latest book, "Brainiac" (which, tragically, has nothing to do with supervillains) while discussing his slow progression from closeted trivia master to the poster boy for knowing tons of information others would deem useless (although how anyone can deem something useless when you can use it to rake in $2 milliion-plus is beyond me.)
Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. Whether it's the disdainful description of experts on topics as "geeks" or "nerds," or the fact that a minuscule percentage of the consumer base is responsible for the vast majority of books bought, or...let's face it...that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency...there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.
I'd like to claim that Jennings' book is next on my list to read--we got two signed copies, one for Ariel, the other for Kath and myself--but it was abruptly displaced when I noticed to my shock that there was a John Mortimer "Rumpole" novel out that somehow slipped under my radar when it came out in 2004. It's entitled "The Penge Bungalow Murders," which Rumpole fans will instantly know as the case the British barrister (so memorably played by the late, great Leo McKern) regularly cited as his career highlight. It's like stumbling over a Conan Doyle manuscript entitled, "The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra." But "Brainiac"--which is not merely autobiographical, but instead an overview of the grand obsession of trivia--is right after that.
Strangest question Jennings got: An arena battle between a T-Rex and one thousand turkeys. Who would win? Jennings opined that it would likely be the T-Rex, but I'm not sure about that. Assuming that the T-Rex would probably be eating the turkeys as he went, I'd think all that tryptophan might start to make him drowsy, and the turkeys could eventually wear him down. In terms of pointless discussions, it's probably right up there with cavemen versus astronauts.
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People keep talking about how the world changed on 9/11.
It didn't. The world was filled with terrorists, and bombs, and people living in fear, and attacks on home grounds. The world remained exactly the same. Only our perception of it changed. We became both of and in the world.
It's five years later. Anyone feeling safer?
I also find it interesting that the Democrats have surrendered the moral high ground in terms of TV presentation. Here the GOP managed to get the Reagan biopic banished to cable because they didn't like the way it presented their political saint, and now the Democrats managed to get the miniseries on 9/11, based on the findings of the bi-partisan committee, re-edited so that it wouldn't seem as if President Clinton was too distracted by Monicagate to go after bin Laden...except I find it difficult to believe any reasonable person could think that the harassment over Lewinsky didn't impede Clinton's effectiveness on any number of levels.
Quick, kids. There's some history. Let's rewrite it.
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Two pretty different entries. Whad'ja think?
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So we're watching Trek episodes on TVLand to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of "Star Trek." Fortunately such episodes as "City" and "Tribbles" don't require me to restrain my "Mystery Trekkie Theater" reflexes. The visual quality of the episodes is quite good, although I was torqued to see that they've cut dialogue in order to accommodate the boundless commercials. It's the 40th Anniversary and they couldn't run them intact, for crying out loud?
It's also funny to play "six degrees" with the cast members and writers. I sit there going, "Met him...met him...he was my best man...wrote his autobiography...he came up to our hotel room at Dragon*con for spare ribs and fried chicken...he was the story editor on the first season of "Space Cases," and so on.
I met both my wives because of Star Trek...the first at a convention, and Kathleen because she was selling a Klingon muppet that I bought for Mystery Trekkie. So four children literally owe their lives (and I, to some degree, my writing career) to Star Trek. Not bad for a TV series that was cancelled after three seasons of less-than-impressive ratings.
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Readers of Harlan Ellison's webpage--and even some non-readers--are aware that Harlan is launching a legal action against Pocket Books over current and upcoming novels about Edith Keeler.
Quite a few folks have been asking me if this will have any impact on "Imzadi" which, as anyone who has read it knows, is basically an inversion of "City" and features the Guardian of Forever. Although I already suspected the answer, I called Harlan and he personally assured me that "Imzadi" will not be a part of the litigation, for two reasons: First, he'd never cause a close friend that kind of grief, and second, way back in the day when I first came up with the plot, I called him and asked permission. He gave me the okay, I wrote the book, and dedicated it to him.
In terms of the case itself, I know all the parties involved and--for all I know--I might be called for deposition because of "Imzadi." Plus, y'know...not a lawyer. So I'm not commenting beyond saying that I certainly hope matters are settled quickly and to the satisfaction of all concerned.
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Lea Hernandez is an artist, long-time friend, and occasional collaborator. And in the category of bad things happening to good people, her house burned down.
Gail Simone has generated the following press release. I would be most appreciative if everyone here gave what they could to help her out:
Early this morning, the Texas home of award-winning writer/artist Lea Hernandez, my friend and co-creator of the graphic novel Killer Princesses, caught fire and burned. Half her house is now gone, and the rest is smoke-damaged. In addition, she lost at least six of her family’s beloved pets, two dogs and four cats. If you knew Lea, you’d know how devastating that is.
She’s lost a great deal of her family’s possessions, including irreplaceable art. She doesn’t yet know the full accounting of what’s been lost at this time.
Most know Lea as the brilliant creator of such works as Rumble Girls and Cathedral Child. She drew the Marvel Mangaverse Punisher book, and has drawn for Transmetropolitan, among many other accomplishments. She is also the co-founder and original editor for Girl-A-Matic, one of the most important venues for female-friendly comics created to date.
She’s also my friend, and it’s entirely possible I wouldn’t have a career in comics if she hadn’t asked me to write Killer Princesses for her to draw.
And finally, Lea is one of the last great firebrand hellraisers in comics.
Lea has two (wonderful, amazing) special needs children and right now they need a place to stay and some clothes to wear. More than that, they need
some help, and fast, in the form of donations to her paypal account. Lea’s a proud person so I’m going to ask FOR her. This is important, and a great chance to do a wonderful thing for a creator who has consistently enriched this industry we all love so much. Please, take a moment and send WHATEVER YOU CAN to Lea’s paypal account and help make this time a little bit less painful for someone who would do the same for you if the positions were reversed.
If you’re a retailer, I ask that you set up a donations jar. If you’re a creator, I ask you to think of how devastating this would be to your career and donate what you can. If you’re a reader, I’m asking you to take a moment and hit the paypal link. You’ll be doing something heroic and you’ll feel great about it, I promise.
Read what Lea had to post on a neighbor’s computer while wearing her pajamas at: Livejournal.com/users/divalea
Donate (PLEASE) to her paypal account at: divalea@gmail.com
Finally, if I understand the story correctly (as told to me by Lea’s good friend and current Girl-a-matic editor), it was Lea’s daughter hearing the smoke alarm that allowed the family to get out in time, so for God’s sake, do everyone you love a favor and CHECK YOUR SMOKE ALARMS.
Thank you so much for helping. Really, any amount you can send will make a difference. That’s all I can say.
Sincerely and gratefully,
Gail Simone
Been a good few days at Dragon*Con so far. My table at Artist's Alley has been pretty busy. I did a reading of the Sir Apropos novella to a packed room (albeit a small one, but hey, if it was a small room and I couldn't fill it, then I'd be bummed out.) Attended the awards banquet this evening. Tomorrow is gonna be the rough go in terms of programming. I'm scheduled for panels at 10, 11:30, 2:30, and 4, plus George Perez and I will be MC'ing the costume competition.
At the moment Kath and Ariel (who is celebrating her 15th birthday today) are at a party while I, nursing a sore throat, am happily staying in.
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