Rainy Tuesday...

Not much going on. Trying to write but no inspiration. Got a couple of ideas and concepts but no actual plot to hang on them. Monster hunting kids, vampire elves, universes in collision, game shows in heaven...but nothing is coalescing, know what I mean? Hummm, maybe I'll just go back and re-edit another story...

Stuff runnin' thru the brambles of my mind...

Well, it's Monday. Again. Small kitchen disaster on Sunday morning - dishwasher decided to puke up large quantities of warm water on our kitchen floor. Lady Di freaked out, Fred the Wonder Terrier freaked out, I freaked out...just a general freakout, man! Well, at least it's been taken care of - just some hose replacement and it's A-OK now.

On the Olympics: is anyone else as fascinated by curling as I am? I've never even seen it played before but it's mesmerizing. The t-line, up or down, the guard stone, the brooms, the zen composure of the thrower...who thought up this sport? Freakin' genius, I tell ya...

The other thing has been the SPECTACULAR spills that the women skiers were taking on the downhill. Good God, those poor skiers were tumbling down the slopes like sock puppets...and then would get up and keep going! Amazing.

Last Olympics note: after seeing the ice skating events, I now realize that "Blades of Glory" is NOT a comedy. It's a searing expose of the seamier side of ice skating told in a chilly, almost documentary-like realism. And it has Will Ferrell!

Last thing I've had on my mind. Let's get serious. I've been reading and hearing a lot about this Joe Stack person in Austin who flew his private plan into an IRS building there. The most disturbing thing has been this trend I'm seeing to somehow crown this guy as a populist hero.

WHAT A CROCK!

This guy was many things, but a hero is not one of them. His manifesto reads like a rant from the typical selfish, egocentric, immature idiot who blames all of his problems on everyone else instead of looking in the mirror. Folks, this guy CHEATED on his taxes! He even went so far as to register his home as a church in California, just to get out of paying taxes. He even owned a private plane, for chrissakes! And he had the gall to cry about the evil, evil IRS hounding him, oh, boohoohoo.

Joe Stack was a coward. Instead of being a man, facing his problems and working thru them he took the easy out. He killed himself in a very public, very spectacular manner in one last pathetic bid for attention. He had no life insurance, and no homeowner's insurance policy will pay out if you burn your own house down. His wife and his stepchildren are now truly destitute, thanks to Joe Stack. The family of Vernon Hunter, IRS employee and Vietnam veteran, will live forever with the sadness of his unprovoked, meaningless murder at the hands of Stack. But Stack? He doesn't have to deal with any of these things, does he? He took the easy, cowardly way out.

Folks, if you don't want trouble with the law all you have to do is NOT break the law! We've been audited, we've had problems with the IRS, a lot of people have...but you don't see me or anyone else flying our planes or driving our cars into IRS buildings, do you? Joe Stack, Domestic Terrorist/Tax Cheat/American Idiot...may his soul NEVER rest in peace.

The Wonders of Science!

We live in amazing times. Most of the doodads and gadgets we play with today were but the fevered dreams of science fiction writers when I was in school. But we haven't achieved the biggest goal of all: cheap, non-polluting energy for the whole world. Still, there is hope. Here, check this out: http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates.html?awesm=on.ted.com_89Dt

It's the talk Bill Gates gave at the recent TED meeting. Can we ever, truly, get down to zero CO2 emissions? I don't know, but I'm reminded of this quote from Buckminster Fuller's "I Seem To Be A Verb":

"When there was not enough whale oil or coal oil, there were not enough lamps to go around, some said that what was needed was social engineering, to move more people to the lamplight available. What was really needed was one Edison."

Somebody out there is working right now to become that next Edison. Education was, is and shall always be the key to solving society's problems. It irks me no end when I hear things like that numbskulled state senator in Utah who wants to solve the state's budget shortfall by COMPLETELY ELIMINATING the 12th grade in all public high schools in Utah.

I read science and I'm fascinated by things scientific. But I'm not a scientist. I won't be that next Edison. How about you? Would you like to save the world? Will you?

Interesting week so far...

Well, it's been an interesting week so far. I'm producing short stories at a rate that is, frankly, blowing me away. Three stories done since Saturday morning! But this is also the week I found out that my cousin Olga (living in Miami) has had a stroke. A big one. She's lost use of the left side of her body and is not conscious. *sigh* Not a happy time for us. My aunt in NYC passed away on New Year's Eve, my aunt in SoCal has pancreatic cancer (and it's inoperable), and now this. If bad news really comes in threes, then I hope this is it for the year...

But there's one chunk of very good news: my sister got a job! Yay! She starts on Pres Day, can you believe that? Meanwhile, the Lady Di is about to land another placement contract and I'm still trying to get someone to buy my short stories. As for Fred the Wonder Terrier...he's sleeping right now and in the middle of a dream! Lucky pooch...

The trouble with modern poetry

I'm a writer. I love writing, I love words, I love massaging them and manipulating them and creating my stories. But there's something that I have to confess: I can't stand poetry, modern poetry in particular.

Why, you ask, would a writer say that? Isn't self-expression the point of writing and isn't poetry the perfect vehicle for that self-expression? Yes to the first part, and a big 'HELL NO' to the second.

Here's the problem, as I see it. Ever since the days of Byron and Shelley, the function of poetry has changed. It is no longer used as a narrative form. There is nobody like, say Milton or Dante, who use poetry to tell a story. As good as Byron and Shelley are, they are the men who changed poetry from a narrative medium to a medium that seems entirely concerned with the emotional state of the writer. And that, frankly, is boring.

I don't want to read poetry that's just an excuse for someone to sit there and gaze at their navel. I don't want to read poetry that is only about the writer's need for love or approval or spiritual growth. I can get that stuff from reading Dear Abby. If you want to be a poet, please disavow yourself of the notion that poets MUST be the sensitive, introspective artiste type that must always wear black and stare oh so sensitively out at the waves of the ocean. There's way too damn many of those types and most of their stuff stinks.

I don't want to know about your romantic woes. Please use your imaginations and use poetry to tell a story!

Movie of the Day: The Brotherhood of the Wolf

2001, Director: Christophe Gans, Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Running Time: 144 minutes, Country of Origin: France

With enough plot for five American movies, this is a French mélange of slasher film, Hammer horror, political intrigue, romance, martial arts, and historical melodrama. Quite a mixture, and it’s to director Gans credit that he manages to pull it off quite well. Samuel Le Bihan is the Royal Taxidermist, sent by the King to investigate a series of killings in the province of Gevaudan and why nobody seems capable of catching the beast responsible. Le Bihan’s rationalistic scientific hero is contrasted by his Iroquois companion, played by American actor Mark Dacascos. It’s visually a very sumptuous film, with beautiful set design, costumes and rich period detail. It’s also got some pretty hair-raising sequences as our two heroes hunt down a seemingly supernatural Beast that is ravaging the countryside with impunity. It can be challenging, especially for us who have been raised watching movies that are so much slimmer in their plotting, but it’s ultimately a satisfying ride.

Rating: a solid 4 stars. Find it and rent it.

Super Bowl is now over...and all we got were a bunch of LOUSY commercials!

The game was great, even if I was expecting a higher score. Saints played out of their minds in the second half. But the big disappointment...the lousy commercials. Doritos and Denny's had some good stuff and the Bud commercials were cute...but the Go Daddy stuff, the car commercials, the e-trade babies (blech! is everyone as sick of those little fetuses as I am?), let's face it. They SUCKED. As for the big deal Tebow RTL ad...did CBS even air it? When? Seems like much ado about a whole load of nothing to me. Oh well, all I can say at this point is...

GO NINERS!!!KICKIN' ASS IN 2010!!!!SB XLV ALL THE WAY!!!