Ancient Logic

Stories don't really follow directions very well in my experience. They jump in lines, shove other ideas out of the way. They barge right up to and demand to have an audience. Sometimes this works, the story says its piece and I can't shake the idea behind it until I've written it all down. Other times, when I set about trying to capture whatever manic energy attracted me to them in the first place I find a big emptiness. My current story is definitely a budger. I wanted to spend some more time developing the world of the story, the back ground. But I barely set down the characters when the voice started to pop into my head. So now I'm nearly 2500 words and just trying to keep up.  It's funny how things go.

It's a little early to say whether or not Curiosity's discovery of complex organic molecules constitutes a let-down or not. I think whenever information is teased in this way to the public: 'oh, the rover found something , but we can't tell you what it is just yet,' there's bound to be a feedback loop of speculation, official silence, and then even more speculation. The first rumors of organic chemicals quickly became sigs of microbes became like actual Martian fossils, right there on Mars! Now we're back to chemicals that might be organic. So, that's something. Unless it's just contamination from Curiosity itself which is always a concern. I am actually ambivalent about the whole question over life on Mars. If we find it, of course that would be an enormous discovery, mind-blowing really. But if we never find life, I think in someways that might be nearly as significant. The discovery of life on Mars would suggest that life is in somewha...

Looks like another company is taking a stab at inventing something from the future.  Scanadu's Scout is simple enough and although it doesn't look much like the Tricorder its hyped to be, it seems usefult. Simply hold the device between thumb and forefinger and the sensor takes readings on the owner's pulse rate, temperature, etc. Slick, useable but distinctly not what a Tricorder looks like or functions like. The Tricorder, depending on whether or not we're talking about the original television series or the various sequels or 2009's re-boot, is a somewhat bulky, handheld sensor package. From a distance, the device takes various readings and provides characters the opportunity to talk about multi-phasic anti-boson fluctuations.  That's not to say that Scanadu is committing fraud in sending out Trek-bait press releases. It's just interesting how a fairly disposable prop in a television series from the sixties has become a kind of touch-st...

I'm getting really amused by the Republicans flailing around in the tax rate negotiations. I do not for a second think that, given the situations were reversed, Democrats would knuckle under as they prepared for a Romney administrations. So I'm not blaming the Republicans for being stubborn and poor losers, I just honestly don't think it's a good strategy. Let's look at the facts directly. Democrats are in the driver's seat. Obama won the election. Democrats control the Senate. Boehner lost seats in his caucus and probably only retains his speakership by virtue of the massive gerrymandering Republicans did on congressional districts around the country. After all, by two percentage points, Americans voted for a Democratic House. So in any way that is significant, the election produced a definitive and clear result. Also, let's not forget what will happen on January 1st if the President and the Speaker fail to come to an agreement. Taxes will go up on ever...

It's a tricky balance preparing to write for a short story. I've veered between two extremes. On one hand I enjoy creating page after page of back story for characters even if I know they'll never actually make it into a story. I've created family trees to the third generation, elaborate maps of fictional neighborhoods and timelines spanning centuries. On the other, I've always had the ideal that short stories just sort of happen. That a good story is a singular moment of creation stemming from some profound and mysterious process deep within the human mind. A story isn't written, it's summoned. Planning, preparation, brainstorming were all harmful to the ritual of the thing. The more I set down ahead of time the more possibilities I was closing off permanently before I even gave the story a chance to work itself into existence. Then I decided I wanted my stories to be read by a general audience and I realized that neither the 'labor of love' o...

First season Parks and Rec was amazingly bad. I'm going to start by stating it is unbelievable how quickly this show rose from the inky depths of mediocrity to being one of the best sitcoms on TV. Because the first few shows? Really bad. Part of the reason I'm reacting so negatively to early P&R is its reliance on one of my least favorite comedy styles: cringe humor . The cringe is created by awkward social moments that go on and on and on. I'm not sure the reaction to the situation could even properly be considered comedy. Laughing simply seems the only way to expel the toxic levels of humiliation. To be fair, not all cringe is created equal and I do like certain movies that include it. Rushmore, for example, one of my all-time favorite films, has this scene about half-way through. The awkwardness - it burns! But the difference is this scene is meant to advance the story, the character and the themes of the story. This is a pivotal moment when Max begins to l...

In a movie with as many moving parts and grand, powerful sweeps of emotion, it is difficult to sum up one's overall impressions. The only thing tougher would be creating a movie that summed up Abraham Lincoln.  I do not for an instant think that is what Steven Speilberg's "Lincoln" has done. It does not, for all time, set down what Lincoln meant as a human being, president, or cultural touchstone. It simply tells a story. In general, that's enough for me. Lincoln is the kind of movie that should seen a lot longer than it actually does. It's about IMPORTANT WEIGHTY HISTORICAL moments. The cast list is filled with names like Ulysseus S. Grant, and Thaddeus Stevens you probably dimly remember from high school history class. It has costumes. My wife entered the theater with a quick warning, "don't get angry at me if I fall asleep." Nary a nudge was needed. The film whips by in two and a half hours and manages somehow to encompass just about e...