This n' That

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Books: Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull (2011)

I had not read Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series of fantasy books for young readers, but like much that has come out since the rise of Harry Potter, you knew it fell somewhere between that series and the more adult fantasy of say J.R.R. Tolkien. As a reader of this genre, I’ve become pretty critical of writers attempts at World Building this genre demands. Rowling was able to create a universe that was interesting, fun for all ages, tinged with a bit of darkness. She was very smart to let the series, as it progressed, to become more adult.

As I read Beyonders (and the only reason, let’s be honest I read it was because I got an ARC at the store), it has all the usual fantasy tropes, and it does have a bit of darkness to it, especially if this is designed for readers 10 and up. While the violence is spread out over its 446 pages, it does contain passages that you don’t usually see in the age group, such as characters torn to bits by dogs, or the torture of Jason, main character, with a venomous snake and a sensory deprivation chamber (and clad in only a slim sort of loin cloth).

Jason Walker, our hero, is earnest, brave to the point (at times I felt) of stupidity, but charming none the less. The story revolves around him stumbling into a parallel universe of Lyrian, where he encounters a land devoid of no heroes, as the evil Maldor rules the world. As he tries to find his way home, he becomes involved with Galloran, the last man who attempted to destroy Maldor with the Word (an ancient phrase that will undo the evil). Seeing potential in Jason, Galloran convinces the earnest teen to journey through the lands in search of all the syllables that make up the Word. He also encounters Rachel, a girl who is also from his world. Together, they head out on a perilous journey to find a way home and defeat Maldor.

So, while Mull hits all the fantasy buttons, why does it not work? First, perhaps, he borrows so much from other works like The Lord of the Rings series, Homer’s The Odyssey, Harry Potter and even Percy Jackson (I was reminded so much of how Jason and Rachel’s repartee where like Percy and Annabelle’s) that the story falls flat. Rachel, a much more interesting character, gets left behind in the action for some reason that is not fully explained (though you get the sense that women in this universe are second-class citizens as much as they are in our world) and I never believed that Jason, at age 13, spoke or acted like a 13 year-old. His actions, his thoughts, his speech pattern clearly dictate that he is more adult than a teen.

As the beginning of a trilogy, the story is not resolved, and characters like Jason and Rachel are left with cliffhanger situations until the next book. The series will work for the tweens, as long as they expect nothing new from the genre, because it is not the next step in the evolutionary process of young-adult fantasy that Harry Potter was or, even, Percy Jackson.

Former SNL star is an idiot

When she was on SNL, Victoria Jackson always seemed to play characters that were a few tacos short of a combination platter. Who knew that some 25 years, she would prove that it was no shtick. She really is dumb and oblivious to reality. Well, it’s nothing new, per se. It was obvious while she had comedy timing, she obviously was never going to read a book above, say the James Patterson level.

They say that the folks who run Religion go after the young, the old and the weak minded. Young, because if you lie to them long enough, they’re hooked like a junkie is to crack. Old, well, they are old. People who are near the end of their lives are again easily caught up in a web of lies by these people. They become the dealer again who is supplies the crack; death is at the door, do you want to leave without paying for your sins (as in cash donations to Religion, Inc ). And the weak minded because learning things, understanding logical, critical thought is seen as ways to the DEVIL.

So, Victoria Jackson, upset that Kurt and Blaine kissed on GLEE last week, wrote an article in something called the World Net Daily, which sounds like one of those tabloids that claim Jesus works at Mel’s Diner.

What?

Really?

It does claim that?

Okee Dokee

So she wrote that “Everyone knows that two men on a wedding cake is comedy skit, not an ‘alternate lifestyle.’” She also added that it was “sickening” to see the boys kissing. “And besides shoving the gay thing down our throats, they made a mockery of Christians - again.” What she was referring to was comedian Kathy Griffin playing a Sarah Palin type character. She goes on to add: “I wonder what their agenda is? Hey producers of GLEE - what’s your agenda? One-way tolerance?”

She was on CNN’s Showbiz Today after this article came out, and she sat there with her Bible and claimed “I just wanna know why the liberals are pro-Muslim and pro-gay. Muslims kill gays. That’s what’s confusing to me. The only thing I can think of is that the Muslims hate God and the gays hate His word.”


Wow.

Who the hell is she? I mean, for the last decade or more, the conservatives have gone out of their way to attack “celebrities” like Alec Baldwin, Janeane Garofalo and others who come on political talk shows, or round-table discussion panel programs like Bill Maher. They’ve claimed at times how an actor or a singer can know anything about politics, or religion or the price of tea in China. Now, its okay for some former SNL “skit” writer to the same. And while she was on Showbiz Today with this latest rant, she has appeared a few times on Fox News. So you know they think she’s super cool.

The thing is, Religion, Inc after centuries of brutal, jugular, iron fisted control of the human race, is finding itself increasingly boring, pedantic and not necessarily needed that much anymore. Still, because it has been around so long, I don’t see it ever really going away. And even I believe it can be helpful to those who need comfort, and even if the Bible is one the greatest single fiction books on the planet, it does offer a reasonable way of living: do no harm, and love everyone.

Secularism, for all its randomness, its oddity and yes, depravity (see Rush Limbaugh), is what we should really strive for to balance out the horrible schism Religion, Inc created when a group of white, old men got together a hundred centuries ago to figure out a way to control a mass group of people. I’m sure it was suppose to be a bloodless take-over, but then the pesky Crusades happened and its been downhill ever since.

As a nation, and as a world, we need to realize that life is moving on, and that the phrase “evolve or die” is very real thing. Religion has suppressed people for so long, has kept ideas, new thoughts hidden away because they feared that if someone learned that Christianity is built on a house of cards, people would realize they’ve been culled, like sheep. And besides, evolving is not in a word in Christianity’s vocabulary.

The way I see it, her version of Conservatism and religion -much like Glenn Beck and others of that ilk - plays on fear and thrives on lies and dishonesty.

Anyways, for Victoria Jackson, and those who follow such a dark, and inhuman agenda, have forgotten we gay people have been around since the dawn of time. We’ll always be around. And we are tired of being made the scapegoat for your “beliefs.”

So I ask: is the religion of these conservatives like Jackson so fragile that they need the state to prop it up, to tell us how to pray and think? Is that what they stand for? Is that their America?

And as for her comments about Muslims -despite reality that only a small percentage of said Muslims might be “terrorist” - let me remind her of American history, via Steve Gilliard:

“It was the liberals who opposed the Nazis while the conservatives were plotting to get their brown shirts or fund Hitler. It was the liberals who warned about Spain and fought there, who joined the RAF to fight the Germans, who brought democracy to Germany and Japan. Let us not forget it was the conservatives who opposed defending America until the Germans sank our ships. They would have done nothing as Britain came under Nazi control. It was they who supported Joe McCarthy and his baseless, drink fueled claims. Without liberals, there would be no modern America, just a Nazi satellite state. Liberals weak on defense? Liberals created America’s defense.”

Victoria Jackson is just the latest long-forgotten celebrity to attack what she does not understand, and claim Jesus and the Bible are where her words come from, so you can’t call her a bigot.

But I can, and I will. You know nothing about any gay person’s struggles, you know nothing about what it takes to live in a world where your treated like dirt, a second-class citizen. You hide behind some dusty old words that had little meaning then, and even less now. You praise the asshats of the Conservative Right because your afraid to live and think for yourself.

Victoria Jackson, you are a pathetic old woman, trying to relive some glory, some halcyon day you never had when you were nothing but a stereotypical blond twit on SNL. You hide behind a tome of questionable reality, and you pass judgment as if you think some how, anyone, would care what the hell you think.

You vanished from the world when you left SNL.

We didn’t miss you.

Relaxing

Yellow Chairs

Books: Spooner by Pete Dexter (2010)

For Pete Dexter, Spooner is more a memorish novel than anything else. He spins a tale of one Warren Spooner, who sort of haplessly blunders through life, firing through life almost unwittingly.

Dexter admits that the novel is loosely based on characters and events from his life, so sometimes you have to wonder where real life and fiction begins, intertwines and then ends as page through the book -such as the case of young Warren breaking and entering and then peeing in his neighbors shoes.

The author, known for thrillers such as the award winning Paris Trout, paints Spooner in a colorful, often funny way. And while there are a number of disturbing disasters in Spooner’s life, just when you think the book was going to get dark, Dexter slips in a pratfall or something even more odd to lighten the mood.

At first, I kinda of saw Spooner more like Forest Gump, sort of slow and maybe a bit unstable. He seemed to stumble through life, starting a career in baseball that is, predictably, ruined by injuries. He has failed marriages, and then almost by accident (as it sometimes happens), he stumbles head over heels into a writing career (newspapers and then novels). But as the novel progressed, you begin to see an interesting, very human man who lives a calm, almost serene life -borne, no doubt, by a caring stepfather.

If there was one fault, it would be the novel is a bit overlong -even if it’s a pseudo-memoir. According to the author, he had to cut 250 out of the book to make it work better. At 459 pages (for the paperback), it could have used a bit more trimming, especially in the middle when the story begins to sag.

Its well written, humorous and, at times, heartbreaking. Still, it took me forever to read it. Glad I did, because it is worth the time, I just wished the pace was more smoother.

Mud

Sanderson delays final Wheel of Time book

In the tradition of late Robert Jordan, who would promise a release date for the latest entry of the endless Wheel of Time series, and then pull the rug out, Brandon Sanderson -who is finishing the series - has announced a delay of the last book in the his 3 part finale.

A Memory of Light, originally scheduled for November 2011, will be delayed until late February or early March 2012. Sanderson's only reason seems to be he would not "feel right about" getting it out in November -even though he says he can have it finished by then.

Artists.

Anyways, with George R. R. Martin finally releasing the next novel in his Song of Fire and Ice series this July, at least the fans have something to look forward in 2011.

The Guys

Rango

With Rango, Paramount Pictures, director Gore Verbinski and actor Johnny Depp have come up with a worthy parody of the Western genre since Mel Brooks did it with Blazing Saddles back in 1976.

The script, by John Logan (story by Logan, Verbinski and James Byrkit), mines every trope of the western genre, from the films of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood through the halcyon days of the TV format that featured many of the same plot devices used in this film and gives it a new spin in an often clever and humorous way. While not a kiddie film (it features some slapstick humor to keep them amused), it is none the less, and entertaining commentary on the genre itself. Which begs the questions, do kids understand the importance of the western to their parents and grandparents, after the format virtually vanished from film and TV over 4 decades ago?

Sure, we’ve seen the genre from time to time, but it no longer holds the mystic it once did. And I’m not saying this CGI film will resurrect the format -it went away for a reason- but it is nice to revisit it from time-to-time.

The voice casting is good, with the always reliable Johnny Depp bringing a tone of weirdness to even this film. Isla Fisher is wonderful, and brings a conviction to the role as the voice of Beans. Ned Beatty, who had a turn in Toy Story 3 as (villainous) Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear, gives another great performances as the Mayor of Dirt. And while Bill Nighy and Abigail Breslin are getting the kudos for scene stealing, for me it was Harry Dean Stanton and Timothy Olyphant who stole the picture.

With Rango, Industrial Light and Magic -know mainly as a visual effects company- doing the CGI in this film, they may now compete with DreamWorks Animation and even Pixar for photo-realistic CGI animated films. It’s eye-popping and brilliant to look at.

And maybe, with its $38,000,000 opening weekend, it will show that not all animated films have to be in 3D. This is a glorious film that uses the standard 2D to great effect.

Narnia producer and novelist Perry Moore dies at 39

Producer Perry Moore, who died on February 18, was always “enthralled with comic books and superheroes” as he once wrote on his website. And while he was happy to see comic books finally introducing gay superheroes, he always wanted to see them played in a better light. But back in 2005, something disturbed him so much, it sort of forced him to try and change things.

In 1992, the popular X Men series introduced Northstar, a gay member of that elite franchise. When the character was killed off in 2005 by a brainwashed Wolverine, Moore felt the murder of Marvel’s biggest gay character by its most popular one was sending the wrong message.

In 2007, he released Hero, a novel about Thom Creed, a teenager coping with typical teen issues: stress in high school, a strained relationship with his father and his budding superpowers along with his sexual orientation. The novel won the Lambda Literary Award for best novel for young gay and lesbian adults. The book has been in development as a TV series or movie since its publication, but his death will probably mean it will never see the light of day.

While openly gay, Moore was also a Christian and talked publically about it. It is, perhaps, what led him to join Walden Media, created by conservative billionaire Philip Anshutz. The media companies goals were to produce family-friendly movies, TV shows and documentaries. While there, he was in charge of the film I Am David, an adaptation of the Anne Holm novel North to Freedom.

In 2001, he became “instrumental,” as Variety wrote, in acquiring the rights to the C.S. Lewis classic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. Thus, he became the executive producer of three films, including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and last years Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It has been reported financing for a fourth film, The Magician’s Nephew, had been secured just prior to his death.

He also co-wrote and co-directed, with his partner Hunter Hill, the 2008 film Lake City, which starred Sissy Spacek, and produced a documentary directed by Spike Jonz on legendary children’s author Maurice Sendak.

A sequel to Hero was begun in 2009, and Moore was planning a new fantasy trilogy called Way of the Wolf. Again, whether any of that will see the light of day, is unknown at this time.

Its been reported that Moore died of a drug overdose in his Greenwich Village apartment, but initial autopsy reports have proven inconclusive. His father has told the press that Moore suffered from back and knee problems which kept him in a lot of pain.

A few media outlets have said, while New York police have ruled out foul play, they reported that the highly addictive pain killer OxyContin was found in the apartment, along with other prescription meds.

Sun and a pair

Day Two

So, onto the second day of bankruptcy for Borders.

Since being reduced to 1 shipment a week, and of that, its mostly bargain, I've been able (with help) to get most of our sections back in order (though the damn sex section is messed up again, damn dirty old men and tweens who think its cute). It's getting easier, as some sections are loose and shrinking.

Still, it amazes me how our customers hate us. I mean, really, how difficult is it to put the book you just picked up, breezed through for 10 seconds and put it back in the same place? What makes you just pick up an item, walk around the store with it, and then randomly shove it some other place?

Anyways, it seems all the stores that are closing, they need to close their Seattle Best Cafe's like by tomorrow. I'm sure there is a reason for this, but no one has said what that is. So, our GM was over at Mira Loma today grabing all sorts of food, cups, straws, lids, sugar and everything else associated with the cafe.

I'm told what cannot be taken, will be thrown away. It will be a good dumpster diving for the folks that do that.

Beyond that, not much more has come out, with the exception of a hiring and transfer freeze that came into effect. It seems Borders is forcing the laid off people to re-apply when the ban is lifted. So it forces these staff members -if they want to come back - to go through the whole hiring process again. Which also means they could start at a lower wage than what they were getting before being terminated.

That, if I may add, sort of blows. But that's corporate America for you. And I'm sure all the republicans who want to cut unemployeement for the people, will probably claim it was Borders employees fault that the company had to lay off so many people and close so many stores. Well, at least the frontline workers anyways.

My only thought tonight is when we'll see a return of shipments. Publishers are still not sending us stuff, and despite what happened yesterday, does not mean they will right away.

How thin will our stores get before we see new products?

Borders books a new chapter

With today's announcement that they have filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, Borders finds it self hoping to mine a sequel and stay in business.

There is a long laundry list of reason as to why this happened, but a major one includes outsourcing our online operations to Amazon.com. Back in 2001, Borders made this deal (after about a year or so of trying to launch one themselves - and that's after believing that people would never buy stuff online). That deal, while financially benefitting Amazon, it ceded valuable business to our competitor. It ended in 2008, a year after the online retailer introduced the Kindle. Ironically, had we kept the deal, we probably would have been the official retailer of that ereader, instead of Best Buy and Target.

Anyways, we relaunched Borders.com, only the site is clumsy, slow (it crashed during the peak holiday season in December), and not anywhere near user friendly.

Speaking of the ereader, this was another area Borders stumbled. While the Kindle, the iPad and Barnes & Noble's Nook were winning customers, Borders did not introduced their Kobo until late last year.

But the biggest has been the revolving door of executives. This has led to inconsistency with the management of the company and has lead to poor development and an almost Lucy Ricardo roll out of each new "plan" that was going to turn us around. I mean, in the last five years alone, there has been 5 CEO's (and whether current CEO Mike Edwards can survive is just as questionable).

And while the resession can be blamed for some of the problems of the last few years, most of this began 15 years ago. Beyond the Amazon deal, Borders expanded much too quickly, even going international (which even B&N realized was a pointless). This caused a major problem with workable cash flow, causing us to go further into debt.

Now, 200 hundred stores will close. Here in SoCal, the closings are huge (but like Illinois, California is another large state were Borders has a big foot print). Something like 15 Borders will close, leaving only about 10 to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, in my home state, Borders will close half of the 30 stores they have around Chicago (2 of them I worked in, including the Lincoln Park store, and the Beverly store I help open on the South Side of the city at 95th and Western).

Borders basically ignored all the signs that the book industry, like the music and movies, was changing. They kept CD's long after a good portion of music lovers had moved to digital downloads. The same has happened with DVD's and Blu ray, where Borders became prime game for thieves.

Things that need to change:

Devest all our stores of music and DVD, only keeping new releases (and turn them around ASAP).

The ereaders will not last, as the tablet techonolgy takes over. Yes, there might be a need for a basic, less $100 ereader, but I don't see them becoming any more bigger than they already are. The iPad and other tablets will kill the the basic ereader. We need to be a step ahead here and find a name brand tablet (one that actually works).

Our CEO needs to be from the BOOK business. It's plainly stupid having your leader come from the clothing industry or grocery business. This arrogant position is probably one the biggest reasons that Borders is here today.

We also need to address why customers are not coming into our stores. Think about this, if I can download music, movies and what not from home, why should I come into the store? So that would mean getting events into our stores, thus while people are seeing these things, be it free performances for kids (which is huge aspect we're ignoring), author signings or other events, they can buy things.

Its not going to easy, that I understand. There is more potential closings to come, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not near, but Borders can be saved (though, the end of the bookstore business is coming), but it will not come from the remaining 450 stores; they're already doing that.

Our success will start at Ann Arbor, and whatever plan they come up with. But it needs viable, and logical and above all, the right thing to do for the book business and not the best thing.

That time has come and gone.

Pirates of Who

Photos of DEMONS RUN, the 7th episode (and part one of two) of Doctor Who's 6th season.

Sunday Guys

Books: Starbound by Joe Haldeman (2010)

In the continuation of Marsbound, the sequel takes Carmen -The Mars Girl - and her husband, three self-proclaimed "spooks" and two Martians on a trip to encounter The Others at Wolf 25.

In the first book, Carmen Dula and her family who are heading for the Mars colony, after winning a lottery. There she meets the pilot Paul, who she will eventually marry. While on Mars, she runs afoul of the administrator that eventually leads her to take a walk on the Mars surface and there she encounters the Martians.

The only problem is these Martians are not really from Mars, but a species created by the "Others" to watch Earth and the humans who inhabit it. Predictably, things go awry and the "Others" try to destroy Earth. Only the sacrifice of a Martian saves them.

Now aboard the Ad Astra, the crew begin a long, perilous journey to Wolf 25 (which I kept calling Wolf 325 from TNG episode The Best of Both Worlds) to try and come to some sort of reason with these creatures.

The sequel starts off great, and as a people watcher, I was interested in Haldeman's take on psychological effects of a long space travel on the crew. Everyone of the characters must face a challenge to stay sane, all while thinking that the encounter with the Others may end in their deaths.

About half way through the novel, we encounter an avatar of the Others, whom the crew call Spy, and the stakes are on the rise. But its here where I also began to get bored with the book.

Unlike Marsbound, Haldeman tells this story from the point of view of all the crew, which was very distracting because there were times I did not know who was talking, and mostly because the characters had similar voices.

The ending, while surprising, leaves you wondering what the point of the whole story was. I mean first contact stories are always interesting, and you can tell them in only so many ways, but while the story of the crews morale on long-term space travel is also interesting, I sort of got bored with it and eventually could careless how the story ended (with the idea of a third one book somewhere down the pipe).

Still, Haldeman has an engaging style to his writing, and he does not boggle down the story with too much science babble.

Day After Tomorrow

The north bound lanes of Lake Shore Drive after Chicago's 3rd biggest snowstorm.

Alex Pettyfer

Yeah, he's pretty. And at 20, a possible long career in films. But can he appeal to a larger demographic than 12 year-old girls and gay men?

Military

Redux: Judas Kiss

Working on a film (is it a film, considering it was made digitally?) can be laborous, tension filled and even boring (hurry up and wait can be its motto from time to time). Still, my experience on Judas Kiss has been nothing but joy for me.

Last August, I spent three weeks up in Seattle filming the feature directorial debut of JT Tepnapa (web series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier and the director of the award winning shorts, Masterbation: Putting the Love into Self-Loving, Drag Queen Heist and Begging For Change) and co-writer Carlos Pedraza's (writer on the web series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier and Star Trek: Phase II) dream project. With some crew from LA and other parts of the US, along with an extensive Seattle based members, the filming took place around the University of Washington. The cast includes Charlie David (Mulligans, Dante's Cove and LOGO TV's Bump!), rising superstar Richard Harmon (Cartoon Network's Tower Prep and the upcoming AMC series The Killing), Sean Lockhart, also known as adult film star Brent Corrigan (Another Gay Sequel and the short In the Closet that was featured in Boys on Film 3)and making his English language debut, Flemish actor and singer Timo Descamps.



It was a long, sometimes fustrating three-week shoot (and mostly, because time and money are against these small, idependent made features). Still, it was also the best time of my life. The cast and crew were a blast to work with, and the locations were spectacular.



Having known both JT and Carlos for now going past five years, they are the most accomindating, most sincere people you can know. Carlos is whip smart, funny, and a delight to be with it and along with JT (and his husband Adam) have become some of my dearest friends. The fact that JT and Carlos welcomed me to help them make their dream come true fills me with even more joy.



I seen some of the assembled film, which is due to hit the festival circuit starting in April - a working print if you may- that does not include the visual effects or music score. You'll all see some astonishing work here, from Charlie David to a star in the making known as Richard Harmon. Brent Corrigan will show the world he can be a serious actor, and Timo Descamps (who will also contribute songs to the soundtrack) will find a new audience here in the States -he's pretty popular TV and music star back home.



However, most films are never finished after principle photography. And Judas Kiss needed a few things fixed that were not done back in August. On January 29, 2011 primary cast members Charlie David and Richard Harmon along with co-stars Samantha Rund, Ron Boyd and Dale Bowers arrived back in Seattle for a one day of pick-up shots.



The one striking difference between August and January in Seattle is the weather. I left here on Friday morning, with the sun shining and the warm temps. I arrived at SeaTac with chilly temps in the low 40's and rain. It was a huge change when I was there last summer, when the days were warm and sunny (though there a few days of clouds and some rain drops). Luckly, we got to film inside on Saturday, though we did film one brief sequence outside.



Hopefully, with these reshoots, the film will now come together and be ready for the film circuit. So, I hope when its does come to your area this summer, be it a standard film circuit of a GLBT one, you'll take the time to see this labor of love from my friends.

Weekend Trip

In Seattle for some pick-up shots for Judas Kiss, with stars Charlie David, Richard Harmon and Samantha Rund. Its a short weekend jaunt, be back home late Sunday afternoon.

Books: Horns by Joe Hill (2010)

For over a year, Ignatius Perrish has been the main suspect in the murder of his beloved girlfriend, Merrin Williams. She was raped and brutally bludgeoned to death, but because there was no clear evidence who did it, suspicion has followed Ig like a bad debt.

Then, after a night spent drunk and doing terrible things, Ig wakes up the next morning with a pair of horns growing out of his temples. At first, he thinks he's having some sort of mental breakdown, but soon it becomes clear that there in nothing natural about the horns, and they are way too real.

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power, one that scares him at first. But this new macabre talent also brings a realization to Ig: he can now find out what monster killed Merrin and ruin that persons life. So while he feels everyone, including God, has abandoned him, Ig knows the Devil inside will never forsake him.

With Horns, Joe Hill continues to hone his talents as new writer in the realm that his father, Stephen King made famous for nearly 40 years. Still, unlike his first novel Heart-Shaped Box, the premise and execution reminds me more of his father's style. This is not a complaint, by far. However, I may be doing some unintentional transferring here -after all, I have been reading King since 1980!

Horns is good second book, even though I felt Heart-Shaped Box was stronger. I will continue to read Joe Hill's work, if only because, like his father's work, Hill has created characters you care about, and feel connected too.

I'm looking forward to more.

Guys

Golden Bore

For me, only award show that is worth its spit is the Oscars. So tonights Golden Globes were passed over in favor of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I did see Ricky Gervais' snarky, mean and brilliantly funny opening.

Hollywood is filled with so many phonies, so many ass kissers, that when Gervais makes fun of them, and point out to the audience in TV that these people, while talented, are no more than just people. The people in the audience laugh and guffaw at some of his jokes, but they hit home most of the time.

Gervais' main goal, if I may be so bold, is to point out that our many beliefs about these "stars" are nothing but silly, pointless adulation. Like many award shows, the Golden Globes only award what's popular. Sure it does give them to independent films and actors, but I sometimes wonder how and why these people win. Social Network really the best film of the year? Probably not, but it won anyways.

I'm fascinated why it won, because even writer Aaron Sorkin seems to think its just an okay film.

Anyways, I watch the Oscars and the Emmy's and beyond that, any other award show is nothing but filler for the folks who love TMZ, E! Network, People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight.

And think that they are, somehow, important.

Doctor Who: Season Six switches episode order

Some changes have come the broadcast order to the upcoming Doctor Who season. Showrunner Steven Moffat announced that Mark Gatiss' scripted episode (rumored titled to be What Are Little Boys Made Of), has been moved from its current slot as the third episode to the ninth slot. In its place, writer Steven Thompson, who worked on Moffat's Sherlock, is now handling a new episode three. Thompson was earlier rumored to be writing episode 8, which supposedly involved the return of the original, Mondasian Cybermen. Whether that's true or not, Moffat said the change isn't a reflection on the quality of either episode, and simply an effort to "balance the look" of the show, as both Moffat's and Neil Gaiman's episodes are very dark and interior-heavy.

Since the Gatiss story is already filmed, this now suggests that the huge midseason cliffhanger can't be the game-changer as earlier thought. So anyone thinking that Rory, Amy or even the Doctor were going to die in that cliffhanger, this shifting of the schedule should prove otherwise.

Bond 23 is announced

Not just 6 months ago, the fate of the James Bond franchise was in doubt due to MGM's financial issues with their bankruptcy. Even current Bond star Daniel Craig appeared to be moving on, signing on to star in the Millennium Trilogy, with the first film in the series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo debuting this Christmas. Now with a few souls sacrificed to the Gods of Capital Finances, MGM is back in business and have announced that the next Bond film will bow on November 9, 2012.

Daniel Craig will be back for his third (and probably last?) outing as the super spy, under the helm of director Sam Mendes. No plot or casting has been announced, but filming should begin this summer. I wonder, since he's making so many movies back-to-back, will he have time to do press for his summer release Cowboys and Aliens and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo at Christmas?

Familiar faces return for The Hobbit

With most of the primary cast (fairly unknown ones outside the UK) of the two-part Peter Jackson directed version of The Hobbit set, work continues on getting some actors back from the original trilogy. With the expansion of the original novel, and with bridging material provided in Tolkien’s other works that will lead into The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, this has given the chance for some actors to come back to Middle Earth. While Ian McKellen is still working on his deal to return as Gandalf, Andy Serkis will return as Gollum, while Cate Blanchett will reprise the role of Galadriel. Also back is Elijah Wood as Frodo. Word also comes that Orlando Bloom will be back as Legolas and that Hugo Weaving will return as Elrond. Two other actors could be back as well. Ian Holm may return as an older version of Bilbo -which hints of the rumor that the movie starts with Bilbo telling Frodo of his journey with the dwarves, and then flashing back where Martin Freeman takes over the role. It is also noted, however, Holm may end up just narrating the films. Meanwhile, 88 year-old Christopher Lee has expressed interest in playing Saruman again, if only to play the wizard through his corruption by Sauron, but notes that he would not be comfortable to fly to New Zealand at his age. He has expressed interest in voicing the dragon Smaug -which is the primary reason for the journey -, though, which he could easily do from the comfort of England.

In the meantime, filming gets underway in early February on the $500 million prequels. The production is expected to last a year, with part one of The Hobbit due in cinemas Christmas 2012, followed by part two for Christmas 2013.

From Scott, over at Bill in Exile

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Schisms

There is no doubt that Jared Lee Loughner was crazy. And I’m sure his defense lawyers will pursue that course.

But the reason the conservative right is being attacked today is because Loughner is one of the people that are, essentially, their base. In this day and age of instant messaging, texting and global information at our fingertips (as someone told me, if a guy stubs his toe in India, within 24 hours, the world knows about it), all of us need to be held responsible for what we say, especially if we’re politicians. Finger pointing is not nice, but accountability should be the cornerstone of our beliefs.

The fact is, in the political streams of life, politicians can connect more effectively with their constituents than they could even 20 years ago. This means even the crazy people can get the same information as we do, but because they can be potentially dangerous, they take the words more seriously. Thus, some political opponent can put “cross hairs” (whether imaginary ones, or in Sarah Palin’s way, literally) on their rivals, asking their supporters to help ousts them. They don’t want anyone really to shoot them, it’s a metaphor they argue.

But there are some people, a very small majority, who will take this too literally. After all, they can probably reason, the folks on the radio and TV said these people were dangerous for the USA. That if they were to win, they would destroy the fabric of what made the Founding Fathers fought for.

As politics can be, some win, some lose. And if the one that a certain radio or TV personality said was dangerous does win, what do you do? Most people will wait for the next cycle of elections and try again. But we also know there are certain people who will see this loss as the tipping point. And thus they strike out in a hail of violence that kills people for no reason.

I’m not saying the liberal left has been kind and has not said inflammatory stuff about the conservative right. As I see it, part of the institutional problem, almost at a genetic level, with us Dems in general and Liberals in particular is that we believe in trying to convince people of the righteousness of our arguments and thus get them to change their minds about policy issues.
But people don’t want to have their minds changed — they want to have their beliefs reinforced.

And because this grand America was shaped, formed and created out of violence, the political right continues to use that type of philosophy to divide the American people. So it doesn't really matter if The Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly are actually "racist." Their political philosophy, however, promotes/allows discrimination. And that's what matters.

Going forward, all of us, either on the right or the left, need to understand that our words can cause people like Jared Lee Loughner to do what he did. Using modes of communication, like the outdated TV and movie Western themes, during a political discourse in no longer a viable way to communicate to your constituents.

We need highly intelligent people running this country (because politics, in reality, is one of the only fields where people think they can do a better job themselves despite lack of training, education, and experience). The idea that being a "Washington insider," "Intellectual," or a "bleeding heart" are used as slurs against someone and the fact that voters buy into it shows some lack of forethought on them (cause, really, none of you would hire a plumber or a high school student to give you a heart transplant).

The fact that conservative right wants the unintelligent, easily manipulated “everyday” folk on their bandwagon speaks volumes on how they see America these days. The fact that the rest of the world is preparing their children to compete globally, and we as a nation are sitting with our thumbs up our rear ends, and getting off on the idea that we will always be the greatest nation in the world without having to make any sacrifices, or pay any taxes, or doing anything to actually nurture what has been our very fortunate place in the world.

The jobs our parents and grandparents had don't exist anymore. Well they do, only they're all in China, and Mexico, and India. These were the jobs that the middle class thrived on, now they're creating the middle class in China. And our economy is made up of the service industry, and bankers. It's not sustainable. We need to invest in modern infrastructure (our current one is crumbling), new ways of making energy, education, bringing innovative new industries, and getting our nation healthy. This requires investment. It won't just magically happen.

But according to the conservative right, and some of the dangerous people that listen to them, liberals are out to ruin America. So -again, in not so many words - they are telling their constituents, their fan base and people like Jared Lee Loughner that you have to take action, just like they did in the old west.

Lock and load, children of the corn. A call to arms is needed. One such soul did that on Saturday.

Blue Sky Hope

Variety

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