Here There Be Monsters

Here There Be Monsters

Last night, I finally got around to watching Stephen King's Desperation. I'm always a little leery when a film or book needs to include the author's name in the title. After all, great books don't need that. Ever hear of "Moses' The Bible," or "Herman Melville's Moby Dick"? The title should lead to the author, not the other way around.

Anyway, back to the movie. I found the first hour quite good, the second quite bad, and the third quite boring. My favorite line from the first hour: "I'm gonna stick a pole through your mother and spin her till she catches fire!" Now, that was the kind of line I'd like to write.

Ron Perleman did a great job as the evil, possessed sheriff. Sadly, he disappeared after the first half of the movie, to be replaced by a much-less-convincingly possessed woman. One thought occurred to me, as it sprang again to my mind. The first time it occurred to me was in watching Mel Gibson's neo-Romanesque epic, "The Passion of the Christ." Why do we still associate physical ugliness with moral ugliness? Not that I want to rain on Perleman's acting gigs, but movies (and books) need to separate themselves from the notion that someone's physical appearance tells us anything significant about his or her state of mind, or sinfulness. Anyone remember Quasimodo?

Mr. King needs to raise his fiction above the stereotypical. I stopped reading his books in the 80s, for basically that reason. He writes formula, and formula only. The original ideas and characters of his first few novels--the whole notion of "horror in everyday life," has become subsumed by automatic writing. It's as if King had that weird typewriter from Tommyknockers kocking out his works page by page. Just as in "It" and numerous others, King sticks to the Hero's Journey a bit too literally. His novels are quests, in which an unlikely circle of friends must confront a horrible monster (or monsters).

At first, I thought the kid, David, was the hero on the journey last night. But the real hero proved to be the author character, who had to atone for past sins. Like the heroes in Campbell's book, the author character receives the call to adventure, at first refuses it, then makes the journey to the "inmost cave," which in this story was--literally--a cave! The boy, David, was not the hero, but rather the mentor character.

Ugly people everywhere, unite! Don't let lazy writers keep you down....

Last Sunday in May

Last Sunday in May

Today is the final Sunday in May, and it’s warm and spring-like. It seems that summer is just around the corner, though it’s technically about three weeks off.

Like millions of others, I watched the season finale of LOST last Wednesday night. It was good. Some things just worked well, while other aspects left me scratching my head. I think the writers need to stop being lazy, and stop letting the “plot” drive the characters.

Was it just me, or did most of the castaways take a stupid pill? What was up with Eko setting off dynamite in a closed chamber, then not even trying to get away before the fuse blew the joint a new “hatch”? And what about Desmond? How could he have believed Locke’s story about the button being fake, when he had personally experienced just some of what it could do the day he killed Kelvin? And Michael? Believing these Others, especially after Walt told him “they’re pretending,” just seemed unbelievably obtuse.

I did really like the four-toed giant statue and the electromagnetic “anomaly,” though.

Tonight, I’ll go to Mass with my parents. That will be pleasant. They’re going to a party, though, and I’ll just have them drop me off at home. That’s assuming Harold arrives on time with my van, which he borrowed last night.

This week, I’ll be finishing up my Writer’s Guide and starting a document inventory for Bonni. I’m also going to ask Rehab to enroll me in Bonni’s project planning course.

See you in another life, brothers!

Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock

This week, we viewers got to enjoy the next-to-last season episode of LOST, as well as the final-forever episode of Invasion. ABC pretty much screwed Invasion over by scheduling too many reruns and interrupting its schedule by replacing it with shows like The Evidence, which sucked. Invasion was too derivative anyway, with an off-putting large cast that was initially too hard to follow.

For LOST, Michael proved to still be weak-minded and bereft of good judgment. Really, it was to the point of being almost unbelievable. Wouldn’t it have been simpler and more logical for him to have simply told the castaways of his plight? And why would he believe these slithery Others would really keep their word, after Walt blurted out, “They’re pretending!”

Who’s on the boat? My bet’s on Desmond. “See ya in another life, brother!”

Dies Matris Redux

Dies Matris Redux

It’s another beautiful spring day in San Diego—sunny and warm, but not scorching. Soon my parents will arrive and we’ll go to church and dinner for Mother’s Day. This will be the best Mother’s Day I’ve been able to celebrate with my parents in at least two years. It was May 9, 2004 that I got clobbered in that car accident on the way to a restaurant from church—also a Mother’s Day. A day that will live in my personal infamy. But things have recovered unexpectedly well. The old saying, “while there’s life, there’s hope,” certainly rings true. And those who gave us that life and remain a wellspring of hope—our mothers—deserve our respect and affection today among all days.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

The Torpid and the Un-living

The Torpid and the Un-living

Last week’s LOST episode was one of the best ones of the second season. I was surprised that so many viewers were stunned by Michael’s betrayal. To me, it was fairly obvious. First, Michael just came popping out of the jungle soon after Jack proposed the Henry trade. Second, that story Michael recounted about the Others was clearly BS. He told Jack that the Others only had two guns! That clearly was untrue, since the Bearded Other and his group took more weapons than two from the Losties on their first armed confrontation. The Others are adept at psychology and brainwashing. Remember how they had Claire believing Ethan was her friend? And Henry clearly has been psychoanalyzing the Losties who venture into the hatch. I hope, though, that Eko does not also die, as the preview seemed to show.

Then last night I watched “Corpse Bride” again. What does a story mean, when the underworld is more colorful and lively than the Land of the Living? It means, succinctly, not that it’s better to be dead, but rather that we should all do more with the LIFE we have been granted.

Science and "The Decider"

Science and “The Decider”

According to today’s news, the administration is spending large sums of taxpayer money to fund “laser-based anti-satellite system” for space. How about a laser-based system to run my car, morons! These people are killing NASA with their combination of champagne projects on beer budgets, yet they somehow manage to dig up money for technology that even the late Isaac Asimov would have thought preposterous.

Last time I checked, we were attacked by knife-wielding terrorists flying commercial airliners, not satellites. Why not spend our money where it will do the most good, such as defending homeland security or getting the country off foreign oil?

Another blow to “The Decider”: A new study refutes global warming critics. And then there’s this news on Evolution: species evolve faster on the equator than in temperate zones.  Which leads to a big question: If organisms were designed in perfection by an “intelligent designer,” or should I say, “intelligent decider,” then why would they need to continue evolving? Perfection does not admit change.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (NOT!)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (NOT!)

Today was a good day. My old friend Camelia dropped by for a surprise visit. I hadn’t seen her for two years. We had a very pleasant time catching up on each other’s news over Starbuck’s coffee and pastries.

Other than that, I continued my work, which remains both challenging and rewarding. Three years ago, I never would have envisioned myself slaving feverishly over manuals for remote controls! But, the manuals do what they’re supposed to, and so do I. Bonni is a fantastic person to work for, and I find myself at a loss for anything to complain about!

The weather this week has been pleasant, with some “May Gray” clouds lingering overhead. I love those clouds—no doubt about it.

I need to get back to my creative writing, which has slowed down due to all the technical work. I know I can do both!

One final thought: Impeach George Bush!