Tag Archives: Media

The Second Was the First

Posted on by

It has taken me a day or two to regain my footing and put together a few thoughts on the convention that was Regeneration Who 2. Now that the glitter has settled (and has failed to go away) I will attempt to put into writing the things that have been running around in my head looking for a way out.

I titled this piece the way I did because while the was the second Regeneration Who con it was the first to have a dedicated children’s program. It was also the first time I’d been in charge of a chunk of con program. Yes, I’ve been part of the Intervention team for years but this was different. It was my direction – and I’m the kind of person that criticizes myself easily twice as much as anyone around me, probably more than that really. I had a grand vision in my head.

No plan survives contact with the enemy… Wait. Perhaps that isn’t the right way to phrase that. My full vision failed to account for certain realities. My free time for planning crashed directly into aspects of my day job. Another volunteer organization I work with put unexpected demands on my time. I didn’t have enough knowledge of materials and cosplay materials specifically to pull off one of the things I thought would be a centerpiece of our program. I failed at a couple of points that I wanted to be epic wins and that’s exactly the sort of thing that frustrates me. The plan generally survived, but I’ve been going over it and over it in my head since then figuring a way to make it better.

I take the time to read Oni’s “real talks” and I suppose this falls into the same category despite my inability to master her specific… eloquence. I know there has been a lot of praise for what we did, and I am truly thankful for that. It makes the struggle worth it. I know there weren’t as many problems to the eyes of convention attendees as there were to my eyes, but I saw the things I could do better. I saw the opportunities to really let my small portion of the team excel and really push it all over the top. Eta and Channon deserve a huge chunk of the credit for all that we did. I wouldn’t have survived the weekend without them. My unofficial helper (my lovely wife) was indispensable as well. They were the glue that held my macaroni to the page. I will always strive to hit that grand vision and really nail it – always. I know my team will be there with me.

In the end it was not the grand vision, nor was it a centerpiece activity. It was a small, simple gesture that made it all come together. Share a hug with a teddy bear and make the whole world better.

Monty

It’s vital to have these moments and keep all of our kids interested in the joy that is sharing our passions. I can only hope to equal that in the years to come. I will be there – and maybe I’ll bring my teddy bear too.

Check out some of the other things we had going on and make plans to be there next year:

Children’s Program!

Put your finger on the problem

Posted on by

I’ve written about conviction and commitment before. It’s one of those things I’m learning about myself (slowly). It comes up a lot with wanting to do something, anything really, related to creative work. Art, writing, convention running – all those things take commitment. Consistency. Back when I wrote about my new secret writing project I was full of hope and really felt like this was the one that would succeed.

It didn’t. Well, at least not yet.

The thing I’m struggling to teach my daughter about is what it takes – that commitment to getting what you want. I’ve fallen back to what I know – sports. I actually wish I’d had somebody sit me down and break it out into simple terms then stick with it as much as I needed to get it through my head. I hope I’m teaching that. Being dedicated to what you’re trying to achieve is important.

I’ve heard a lot of folks talk about sports in a negative manner in the past. Many times deservedly so. Sports, and particularly American football, have become so ingrained in our culture that it’s very difficult to avoid. I am not part of the ‘cult’ of sports, but there are many, many good things that come from sports as well. They can certainly show you the good and the bad of commitment. Football players are frequently mocked – but any that reach the professional level have such commitment as to amaze a person. This is where both the good and the bad show up. Totally dedicated to success (awesome) to the point where it physically destroys you (whatever the opposite of awesome is). I’m putting this here as partially as a reminder about dedication and partially as a teaching tool.

How far will you go to succeed? What will it take to stop you? It’s a fine line between commitment and needing to be committed.

This is not for the squeamish but consider what level of commitment it took to go there…

Finger

The Last Witch Hunter + other movie news

Posted on by

I had the chance to go and see The Last Witch Hunter on opening day, so I took it. Headed to the theater early, got a great seat and started munching pop corn. IF you want to munch pop corn and have some cool visual stuff up on screen, this movie is good for that. Very visual – and I’m a visual person so it really worked for me. This movie is not deep, nor does it pretend to be anything other than what you’d expect. Vin Diesel really seems to be enjoying this role and all of the other things attached to the movie by extension. I liked it and I will likely grab the DVD when it comes out just to be able to go back over the scenes at the witch’s bar. Very, very cool stuff in there. I won’t spoil anything here – but there is a small twist. It didn’t have much set up and wasn’t particularly meaningful because it lacked set up, but it still gave a gratifying result. I’m forced to agree with Charlie Jane Anders – this will be a guilty pleasure film. Check out her review here.

One thing this movie did negatively impact for me was how I felt about a heavily produced role playing session that Vin filmed (along with others) – vaguely related to the film. Shocker, he plays a witch hunter character. I initially passed it along to friends, but the longer I go the less I like it. The “production value” is what really puts me off to it. It’s way too produced to make me think it’s anything other than a half hour movie commercial and I hate that because I know Vin is a role player and has noted many times in many places that he has a soft spot for Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a commercial. There, I said it. Why did they cut the scenes where there was out of character conversation? That’s where the real joy of playing can be found.

Now – IF Vin were to take his love for role playing and the seriousness and visual style of Last Witch Hunter and combine that into a Dungeons and Dragons movie I’d go see it. There are rumblings of another D&D movie out there, but those rumors do nothing but worry me. I want it to be done as seriously as Witch Hunter and not put comedians in key roles.

Continuing with the “other movie” stuff, I saw a report that said Johnny Depp is in talks to produce and star in a movie version of “Fortunately The Milk”. All I can say to that is PLEASE DON’T. Don’t get me wrong – I like Mr. Gaiman’s work. I love that story and have read it to my daughter a bunch of times. She loves it and reads it on her own these days. The problem I have here is that it’s a very short story. IF they had said they were making a half hour animated special then I would be thrilled. It’s just the right length for something like that. Put it on every year in September or something (the same way we get the Great Pumpkin around this time of year) and it would undoubtedly live forever. It’s just not enough for a feature length film. Doing that ventures into “Grinch” land and that mess with Jim Carrey still makes me mad.

Get some pop corn. Go see Last Witch Hunter!

last-witch-hunter-trailer-poster-vin-diesel

Storytelling

Posted on by

I really like this little film. It’s only about 6 minutes long but somehow I’m drawn in and interested. There are no words and it’s all in black and white. It’s not as deep or I’m not as connected as I was with Wall-e, but it’s the same idea. Story telling that is at the core something that will draw you in. What do you think?

The Last Goodbye

I will also check out more of the music from Pilotpriest.

Movies and movies and movies…

Posted on by

There have been a lot of times that I’ve complained about what Hollywood is doing with movies. Sometimes they do seem to get it right. It will show my age but I don’t care. Back in 1984 a number of movies hit theaters that set a standard for what an amazing list of movie going experiences should look like. That year Terminator, Karate Kid, Dune, Ghostbusters, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai, Red Dawn, Repo Man, Gremlins, Conan the Destroyer, Indiana Jones and the Temple of… monkey brains (yeah, I know), Revenge of the Nerds and (just for fun) Romancing the Stone all crashed into my head and stuck there. That’s an iconic list.

Yesterday I watched a movie trailer for “The Little Prince” animated feature. It looked fantastic and I wanted to know when it was coming out. When I looked (July) I realized what an incredible year we might have on our hands this year. IF I were the age I was in 1984 again now I’m certain these movies, this year, would set the standard for the rest of my life.

Here are the movies I’m thinking of:

Avengers 2
Mad Max – Fury Road
Tomorrowland
Inside Out (Pixar!)
Ant Man
The Little Prince
Jurassic World
Fantastic Four
Terminator Genisys (yeah, I know)

Later this year we get the next 007 (Spectre) and then in December Star Wars.

Are they all “original”? No – hell, Terminator is still making the list with the same star. There are still issues with the way movie stories are selected and moved forward. I don’t want to see the new super action stunt oriented “Point Break” with new, younger stars and huge high flying stunts. There had to be something better to do with that budget. None the less, this year looks like it could really be something special. I only hope these films actually live up to the hype building around them. It seems a steep task, but what if that happened? I know my movie going budget for this year is already busted – I’ll be at the theater quite a lot.

What movies are you really excited about this year?

Did We Win

Posted on by

This is a post of my rant that was originally published in Watch The Skies. I have edited it for print version references from the original. IF you’d like to see it in the Fanzine, check it out over at Watch The Skies!

There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about how geek chic and other indicators show how “we’ve won” from the “nerd” point of view. “There’s all those comic book movies and that TV show with those funny nerds and just look how important computers are!”

Bullshit.

What we have is the opposite of winning in the worst ways. It’s loss of identity combined with the strip mining of things once proudly known, only to feed the masses entertainment that makes them all believe they’re one of the “neglected” or “unpopular” side of society. I hate that I feel that way, but this feeling is deep inside me and it won’t let go.

A few weeks back I read a story about a convention that was attacked. There’s no other way to put it. If the same thing happened at a hotel where a political event were happening the entire place would have been crawling with very serious looking talking heads wondering if it was another example of domestic terrorism and likely trying to tie it to the middle east somehow. If it was your local high school football game it would probably have been handled better. Instead, what we got was a supposed news person that fails to maintain professional composure and what amounts to a “human interest” story mentioned only in passing. I’m not going to revisit all the details as it really is old news. You can read some really good takes on the story here and here. This is just the latest on a long list of things that concern me about the fan community. It might seem a little crazy or perhaps over-reactive.

At one of our recent meetings I was talking about that attack among other things and the starting point, the basis, of why I feel this way. I realized a huge segment of the population doesn’t understand because they weren’t there. I mentioned something about “The Satanic Panic” and got a questioning look. No idea what I was talking about. No idea why I was upset or what in the world I was blathering on about. It stopped me short.

That moment made me think about my reaction. Is it really just me? After a great deal of introspection I thought, maybe, but it will take me a long, long time before I’m willing to speak with abandon. I keep my passion close to me and let very few others in. Deep down inside I’m still worried about reactions the way I was when I was 12. How many people will turn and walk away because I’m associated with that “devil game”? Maybe they’ll hand me a pamphlet on how to save myself. How many people who might have still been my friends were denied that because their parents bought into the hysteria of the day? How many people won’t take me seriously because my art or my writing “look like that nerdy stuff”? How many times was “that dummies game where nobody wins” talked down or belittled even though it would become a life long attachment for me? Perhaps there will be a couple more books or movies that claim a position of “factual relevance” while disparaging music and games. Forgive me if I’m hesitant to put myself out there.

Clearly it’s not that I won’t talk about my hobbies. It’s not that I will deny loving science fiction or fantasy. I spend a great deal of time reading, writing, gaming and all other manner of fan based things. I help run conventions now. I write in fanzines.

But I know my audience when I’m doing those things. I’m still in the relatively sheltered alcove where others like me hang out. It’s mostly safe. I still don’t trust people outside of fields related directly to these pursuits. The news person from the convention attack is just the highest profile, most recent version of that.

I hope that I can use this small essay as a starting point. I want to avoid my knee jerk reaction. I’d like to be positive and sharing of the things I’m most passionate about. I want to avoid becoming the stereotypical anti-social curmudgeon warding off people with random expressions of anger. I’ve tried to look for the bright side. There are positive articles out there. Stories that talk about “lifestyle” or show the “benefits” of playing like I always have. There is so much good and fun it needs to be shared.

Have we won? No, we haven’t but our hobbies and passions have never really been about winning, have they?

The Return of Addiction (Television)

Posted on by

Today is the day of “The Big Game”. I still don’t understand why I’m not allowed to call it what it actually is – but that’s a different topic. I’ll be watching this evening and I won’t be too worried about atmospheric interference. We have television again – and not just the intermittent broadcast signal. We’ve “spliced” the cut cable.

I know it’s not some great big announcement or anything beyond average really, but to me it IS a big deal. This month (February) would be the three year anniversary of cutting cable and essentially shutting off television. I had thought I’d never turn it back on and I was convinced enough to put it in writing when I missed the not-so-super bowl last year (Oscar Who?). That box in the corner really is an addiction and it was very, very easy to slip back into dangerous habits.

Why? That’s a good question.

At the end of last year I was laid off. Three and a half months (particularly through the holidays) is enough time to convince anyone that more dramatic cost cutting measures than those you already took need to be looked into. Just as these thoughts were crossing my mind I got a notice from the cable company that my rates would be going up again for my internet connection. I gave up TV, but I need the internet to hunt for work. Pay more for it while not having a job? Yeah, awesome… or NOT. I started to take notice of the competition that was constantly “knocking at my door” and wondering if I was interested in taking a look at what they had to offer. Well, if I could save money I was interested for sure.

Turns out the competition was willing to bend over backwards to get me on board. I got better net connection speed for just a little less each month PLUS they’d throw in two years of their television service including a year of premium channels, a year of Netflix service and a free tablet. It wasn’t really much of a choice. The old provider didn’t have a chance against that. They tried when I called them to shut things off, but it was a half hearted attempt. They knew they couldn’t compete.

The competition was also fast. They wanted me on their team ASAP. Just a few days after saying I’d make the deal they had a guy at the house hooking everything up the way I wanted it and making certain he did neat, clear, professional work. It was probably the smoothest transition I’ve had between companies for just about anything I’ve done.

And then, there it was. The remote control was just sitting there waiting for me to figure out where all my old channels were. If I couldn’t see what I wanted just then, there was ON DEMAND that allowed me to pick up a show whenever I wanted. It was easy. I just needed to sit down and fiddle with the buttons for a few minutes. Simple.

So, after almost three years away I’m connected again. I’m really not sure I feel good about it. I’ve certainly not been shy about watching things – but I think that’s part of the issue. There have already been a handful of times when I knew I should be working on something when I decided I would just take a spin through the on screen guide to see if there was anything on. I’d take a few minutes doing that, reading show notes and looking ahead in the schedule to see if I needed to be sure to be back in my seat for anything coming up. Then I’d see a re-run of a film I really liked or a show I’d heard about but not seen and I’d settle back and see what the hype was all about. Some hours later I’d realize I’d missed my chance to actually work on whatever project was now cold and without inspiration in the other room. I really can’t imagine how hard this is for a physical addiction. It certainly gives a certain amount of perspective.

Even as I sit here typing I can feel the siren call from the other room. Creating things is hard to do well and it takes all that time and practice and typing hurts your wrist and wouldn’t it be easier to just come to the couch and sit here? There’s not really anything on, but you never know you might find something, right? There are commercials for the upcoming commercials that should run in the big game and 86 and a half hours of pregame show and so many other things you need just the same way you need your net connection…

I’m hoping as the new-ness factor wears off that I’ll have better impulse control when it comes to watching things and how much time I allot for that. The combination of going back to work (the tired that goes with that) and the availability of ‘entertainment’ that asks nothing in return has been rough on my creativity. It’s not all bad. I have shared some shows with the family that were fun to watch. I’ve caught up on some genre movies I’d been meaning to watch. The key here is the perspective my time away has given me. The television isn’t that important. I can walk away any time (and likely will once the 2 free years are up). Until I walk away, I’ll just have to be sure my projects are getting top billing and avoid the ease of sitting on the couch and staring at nothing for hours on end.

I’ll let you know how all that works out… but probably not until after the game is over.

Spliced Cable

SYFY is Back?

Posted on by

This was originally published in Watch The Skies for November 2014

“If I insult you, it’s probably because you deserved it.” Harlan Ellison

Disclaimer: I don’t have cable any more. More than two and a half years ago I got fed up with another rate increase. I had just taken my second paycut in an attempt to survive a floundering economy and things looked bleak. I was forced to take a long, hard look at what cable television programming had to offer me and that programming came up wanting. Choice made, cable cut. While the seperation was difficult, I believe much like dropping a dangerous addiction, I don’t miss it.

I have stated many times that I am a fan first and foremost when it comes to all things science fiction and fantasy. One of the things I enjoyed when I had cable was the channel where those things I loved could call home. Then came a number of very poor choices from that channel, not the least of those being professional wrestling. While professional wrestling is fiction of a sort it fails to meet the criteria for science fiction on every front. I spent a great deal of time bashing and despariging the network that once gave me a weekly dose of crumudgeon (and I still miss those rants). I was not alone.

While the channel carrying the name of my beloved genre was busy trying to shed the loyal fan base the entertainment, the core, the very shows that should have lived there dashed off to other channels where they met with wild success. There are now far more popular genre television shows on other channels as there are on the network that claims them, if only in title. There were a number of failed experiments in genre programs that I would have thought should have been on a channel dedicated to science fiction. It should have all been on a channel dedicated to science fiction. Reaching out and trying to attain something is vital. Own the subject, good, bad or indifferent. The channel didn’t, it ran and hid. It was, and is frustrating. The experiments, the thought provoking stories wrapped around circumstances not of this world were popping up anyplace other than “home”.

Giving credit where credit is due, the channel I have often compared to a sexually transmitted disease now seems to be owning the error of their ways. A recent article published by EW gives some insight into how things will work going forward and gets the new head of original programming Bill McGoldrick to answer some of these criticisms. The article is full of hope and positive, forward thinking statements.

“I think now it’s about giving our audience some fresh stuff.” Mr. McGoldrick said. He gave out some thoughts on where the channel has been and where he sees things going. I’m intrigued by what he has to say. I like the idea that the channel dedicated to science fiction will be heading back to outer space. The mini series Ascension looks like it could be absolutely fascinating. The other thing it is? Most importantly it’s not like other things that are on right now. The things that do the best, the ones that get the highest ratings or score the biggest returns are the things that give a story that’s different than what’s out there. I don’t want another procedural. I want compelling story telling.

They talk a good talk, but can they walk that good walk or are they just walking dead? I look forward to finding out.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/28/syfy/ The EW article is worth the read.

Old News?

Posted on by

On the off chance that I catch a reader here that isn’t connected to me via Watch The Skies where I posted this originally – how original is Hollywood?

Hollywood is unoriginal. Shocking to hear I’m sure. Somebody’s gone and done a study to try to back that up. I linked it below, but I question how the whole thing is broken down, grouped and quantified. I’m not opposed to a movie based on a book (or comic) if it’s something that hasn’t been done 3 times before (rebooting Spiderman again anyone?). I’ve got something all written up and ready to take on SyFy for this month’s Watch The Skies Fanzine, but I saw this and thought I’d see what others had to say on the subject a little ahead of this month’s meeting…

Study

Just a sip

Posted on by

So, the weekend is on the way. A great time to consider having a drink with a friend among other things… other things like listening to a great Podcast.

It has taken getting laid off and having a lot more time on my hands than ever before to allow me to actually catch up with some of the great Podcasts out there. One I particularly enjoy is PodCastle. It was recently spotlighted on another site I read – SF Signal. I don’t know if I agree with the author’s picks for “best” but that’s the beauty of it. There are over 300 episodes. There is something there for everyone.

One in particular jumped out to me as I listened to it yesterday – Episode 330 DRINK ME! I particularly enjoyed the “sponsor’s” advertisements. It is worth the time to check it out.

Have fun listening, and tip one back with friends.