Maggie Thompson's Journal

Tarsem's 'The Fall'

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:42:00 +0000

The Fall (2006, in theaters 2008, on DVD 2009)
Sony
$24.96, 117 mins. (plus extras)
A+ (though clearly not everyone's cup of ambrosia)

It's certainly not for everyone [considering the "style over substance" complaints appearing on Metacritic], but I've became captivated (friends would say, "obsessed") by Tarsem Singh's The Fall, which I bought used at Four Star Video in Madison -- intrigued by the DVD's packaging. Said negative evaluations are typified by Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote, "There is never a sense that The Fall exists for any reason besides simply being something nice to look at. Yet no matter how good-looking a film may be, if it's as sleep-inducing as this, there's simply no point." I watched the film, then checked the reviews (Roger Ebert was the most effusively positive), then watched it again with the director's commentary, then watched the actor-writer commentary, and then watched the two "making of" featurettes. So far, I've watched the movie itself seven times in one month -- and enjoyed it every time. Countless reviewers (even The Onion's Tasha Robinson, who gave the film an A-) have given away major plot twists -- so, if you do want to watch it, don't read the reviews or even the synopsis on the film's own website.

The simple first-page plot at IMDb is OK, though: "In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s [I'd say around 1915] Los Angeles, an injured [novice] stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances." The feature was filmed all over the world in what I took at first to be computer-generated backgrounds and then learned were real -- incredible -- landscapes. Romanian 8-year-old (How old was she during the filming? Maybe only 5.) Catinca Untaru worked well for me as Alexandria; maybe others didn't fancy the child actress; it’s certainly possible. Lee Pace (of Pushing Daisies) was terrific.

And the whole production is, at a minimum, delightful eye candy. At a maximum, it's a triumph.

See what you think of the trailer (not, as I say, the synopsis) at the film's website. I find The Fall to be more rewarding every time I see it. The "story" equally involves the action (which is what I think many reviewers focused on) and on the characters (per all that English Major fol de rol I was teached in college). It's the evolving characters of Alexandria and Roy that balance the crude shoot-em-up storytelling of the visualized fantasies. Some reviewers apparently consider such character focus a thin story, but (when it's combined with the splendor and action of the fantasy) I found it heartily satisfying.

The behind-the-scenes information on the DVD makes clear the challenges involved in both working with a young girl who, moreover, spoke little English -- and in integrating stunning real-world locations that resemble fantasy worlds. People have compared it to such other movies as Pan's Labyrinth, The Princess Bride, and Brazil, to name three. There are elements of those productions, but The Fall stands on its own.

Note: It's bewilderingly "R"-rated. I can guess at reasons but none that makes a convincing case for such a strong restriction.

Yeah, Yeah, I've Been Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:36:00 +0000

Anyone preparing to set up a blogging situation knows (or should know) that one of the basics of the art form is that one must blog frequently: the goal being one post per day. This doesn't mean one can babble about the breakfast menu of the day, and the aim is also that the content be worth reading.

Sigh.

I paid a gazillion dollars for a new phone so that I could blog more easily. The display didn't work and, after two months, I'm still trying to get it to function.

I became aggressive about posting samples of unusual comic strips at my other blogsite -- and almost immediately became enmeshed in a book project that, while cool, was so time-consuming that I had no time to scan strip selections.

And this website -- for which one of my goals was to post scans of early fanzines Don and I produced -- morphed, which complicated even that.

But it's May, the weather outside is gorgeous, and how better to celebrate that than to renew my pledge to blog! Excelsior!

Easter Is Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:33:00 +0000

It's been some time since I've posted, and I'm aiming to do better. I'm now so entangled with online activities that it sometimes seems difficult to get anything else done. And then I duck out of handling this or that or the other aspect of my online life. In any case, as noted, aiming to do better. For example, I spent a chunk of this morning scanning a Walt Kelly story that appeared in Easter with Mother Goose (Dell Four-Color #103, copyright 1946 Oskar Lebeck, copyright not renewed) in order to post the complete story on the CBGXtra site. It wasn't till I looked at the copyright information that I realized that I must have bought my copy (which I used for scanning) when I was 3 and a half years old. I'd had no idea that my comic-book collecting began that young. All things considered (such as the year-after-year reading), it's in surprisingly good shape -- which is to say it's in "Poor" condition. Here's another page -- a stand-alone -- from that issue. (Easter comics are unusual in the field of comic-book publishing, but Kelly's contributions were outstanding.)

Non-Cartoon Animation in Coraline

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:26:00 +0000

As seems to be the case with the rest of adult humanity (though I wouldn't extend a viewing to little kids), I had a wonderful time with the film version of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. I was initially hostile to references to the film that identified only the director and screenwriter (Henry Selick wearing two hats), I must admit. But Selick did morph the original, even as he morphed the characters, settings, and everything else in the project. Among the aspects that impressed me was that, as I watched the (2D version of the) film, I failed to recall that it was stop-motion animation, not CGI. I've heard some people say that they liked the slight "imperfections" that reminded them it was stop-motion; I never noticed them. And the fact that I had actually seen and photographed some of the figures (such as the one on the right) at last year's Comic-Con International: San Diego never occurred to me as I watched the film.

I think the nearest 3D showing is in Madison; I'm hoping it'll still be there by the time weather permits an excursion.

Identifying Cartoonists

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I was delighted to be able to purchase a cartoon that fits so nicely with the pop culture I love. But.

This cartoon, bought through a Heritage auction, is one I'm sure I've seen in the past -- almost certainly in a collection of magazine cartoons. Not only did it appeal to my affection for magazine cartoons in general, of course; it also touched that nerve of love for Old Time Radio shows -- and, for that matter, for Old Time Radio shows of the Mysterious Stranger type. You can see at once the challenge, though: Who the heck drew it? Frank, yes. But which Franks were active magazine cartoonists in the 1930s, 1940s, or 1950s? I consulted George Hagenauer, who put the probable age of the cartoon at earlier, rather than later. He initially guessed at Frank Beaven but then decided the art was better than most of what he's seen of Beaven's work. His guess at original publisher was Collier's, Liberty, or Saturday Evening Post.

Identifying cartoonists whose signature is not apparent has been an ongoing challenge in the field of original art, of course. Its most challenging current aspect is that of assigning credits on old comic-book stories. But that's not the only time it has me scratching my head.

Any guesses regarding credit for this cartoon?

Regarding Rob Siegel, The Wrestler, and Entertainment Weekly

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:15:00 +0000

I just received Entertainment Weekly for January 23, 2009 -- and was delighted to read the following, in its Golden Globe coverage:

"Besties 4-Ever, Part 2: Mickey Rourke and His Dogs The best-actor-in-a-drama winner neglected to mention Wrestler screenwriter Robert Siegel -- but he did thank all his four-legged friends, dead and alive."

I've known Rob since his magnificent Onion-editing days in Madison, Wis., and I know The Wrestler has been a years-long project for him. Anyone who has followed the entertainment biz for a while knows that many of those responsible for massive successes are often ignored. Cheers to EW for not ignoring the creator fundamentally responsible for The Wrestler. Thanks, reporters Dave Karger and Lynette Rice!

(And we can all look forward to Rob's next project. Yay!)

John Maddock Mad6 China

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:02:00 +0000

F+W Media decided to sell the corporate guest houses in Iola, and one of the final steps was emptying the Thorson House of its assortment of furnishings so that the new owners could move in. Over the weekend, employees bid on this and that, and I ended up with a slew of wine glasses (including matched sets of 14 small glasses and 7 larger ones; is "glasses" the term? goblets, maybe?), a slew of old china, and (yes! thinking ahead!) a slew of maroon towels. This morning, the beverage containers are on the mantel, and the china resides on kitchen surfaces. In the case of the china (for which I paid $85, more than the minimum bid), my first curiosity was what the pattern actually is. It's not a complete set, though there are lots of dishes. There's no gravy boat. There's no sugar-and-creamer set. So what if I wanted to add those? And these dishes have been in use for decades, so several pieces are chipped. So what if I wanted to replace them? (The set seems to have a base of 12 [though I bet it began as 14 before attrition hit].)

Kind Kim Frankenhoff came to the rescue, having been handed a saucer, and she came up with the following:

The set is (as identified on an assortment of dish bottoms) Royal Vitreous made by John Maddock & Sons. And (yay, Kim!) the pattern is officially known as Mad6. The startling information comes from an eBay search, where I find the Oval Covered Vegetable dish (above), for example, is priced at $245. And the Round Footed Soup Tureen is $375. On the other hand, the Round Covered Vegetable Dish is a mere $195. Ah, and a cup and saucer set (a couple above; I have 8) is $32 @.

This does not bode well for the goal of filling out the impulsively purchased set with a gravy boat. Mind you, people offering random pieces on eBay are probably not those who can even identify the pattern, so there'd be a posting something along the lines of "Old Gravy Boat RARE!" and I'm not about to spend the time. The prices in the preceding paragraph are those from online stores that specialize in identifying and selling this sort of thing, and I'm not about to spend the money for their expertise. So probably what I have is what I'll stick with, though I'm still curious as to when it was manufactured and what was in the "complete" set. (Old china can be weird; Valerie gave me a bunch of Haviland china a few years ago in what a friend identified as the "Apple Blossom" pattern -- and it included ramekins and strange dishes for fish bones. Heck, a cup and saucer set from that pattern is listed at $60 from Replacements Ltd.)

I love the idea of even having a Round Covered Vegetable Dish, and it's been used enough that I trust my dish is not truly worth the full $195. But this is a hobby in which I've probably dabbled to my limit already.

Why Won't Garmin's Nuvi 260 Display 6-Lane Roads?

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:28:00 +0000

I mean really! Why?

I love my big, clunky, falling-off-the-dashboard-despite-the-friction-mount old Garmin. Because its maps are out of date at the moment, it sometimes thinks I'm sitting in a field, whereas I'm actually in a huge new shopping center. But it identifies the frickin' roads in Wisconsin, be they super-highways or county route or lanes or (sometimes) even alleys.

I bought a Nuvi 260 for trips in Maryland, because I frequently end up driving through the traffic in Silver Spring. I thought in my cleverness that it'd be great, because (1) Garmins are cool, (2) this has newer maps than my old Garmin, and (3) it's lightweight and has a cool mount for the vehicle and so on.

And after a week, I ask, Huh? It's great on the four-lane roads. It tells me how fast I'm going, it lets me imagine myself as a beachball, it's up to date, it ... Well, it has one problem, which I've wrestled with all week: It won't display information on 6-lane highways. These aren't freeways; they're just streets with names and route numbers and stoplights. And 6 lanes of traffic.

Georgia Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, University Boulevard: stop-and-go traffic, primary routes people are likely to tell you if you ask for directions. "Take University Boulevard to Viers Mill Road." Viers Mill is identified, but University Boulevard (aka Route 193) is just a massive orange line. Massive enough to have "University Boulevard" and "193" in big, bold letters. But there's no ID. Connecticut Avenue, oddly enough, displays momentarily (along with its 185 ID), if it's at an angle seen while I'm on a back street. But when I get close, it cloaks itself in orange anonymity.

I tried all the configurations: Show Most, Show Least, Show Normal. I tried zooming in and zooming out. I tried both "View Map" and "Go To." It knows the streets when it's telling me to turn onto them in "Go To." But it won't label them on the map itself.

So what the heck is with that? I e-mailed Garmin and did get back a prompt response. In part, it read, "The Nuvi's do not provide every road in writing while in the View Map mode. The unit will provide the name of some streets as you travel, but not every one of them. Please turn your Map Detail to Most to help provide more detail level on your map screen. As well, you may want to be zoomed in to a more finite view of the map to allow the unit to pick up on the surrounding roads.

"The Nuvi's are a sleek and slim device that are intended to be used by first time GPS users. Having too many features or too many items on the map can overcomplicate the user and not give a user friendly experience."

(As noted, I'd already tried zooming in, out, and about -- and accessing the widest variety of displays. The 6-lane roads were identified on none.)

Now, I fully understand the part about not showing everything. But not showing the most major routes? How would showing them confuse a driver?

Sigh. I still love Garmins. And this one has already triumphed in a situation involving back roads and an unfamiliar address. But (and I'm sure the 260 has already -- despite its purchase within the last month -- been outmoded) it'd be nice if newer models emulated the clunky Garmin antique still serving me in Wisconsin, identifying the major routes. Just saying.

The Morning After

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Four hours' sleep, then up and about.

It's been posted elsewhere on the Internet referring to this moment, but it just keeps coming to mind. It's from Shakespeare's Henry V (Act IV, Scene 3), as King Henry's advisors are concerned that they will lose the upcoming battle. This portion of his response, referring to the fact that the day they are to fight (Oct. 25) is the religious feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispian, resonates this morning:

... Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered --
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother. Be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition. [make him a gentleman]
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day.

Hope you voted. What an event!

Small-Town Voting Is a Breeze Here

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:28:00 +0000

A couple of hours ago, I sent a text message to son Stephen, announcing I'd just voted and asking whether he'd done so yet. He responded, "We're about to head over. Linda [Holmes] said the line in her ward is nuts and that they'd already reached 40 percent turnout as of 10:30 a.m. No early voting, either!" He and his wife are in Silver Spring, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C., neck of the woods, and I have yet to hear that they've finished casting their votes. Topping it off: Stephen works for National Public Radio, and the crew there is going to be up late, late, late tonight. (I'd forgotten that aspect of being in the news media. When The Cleveland Press still existed, election day and the following day were crazy.)

Here is one of the (many) advantages to living in rural Wisconsin. I decided to be at the polling station at 7 a.m.,when the doors opened. (For one thing, a bunch of guys are in the process of installing a heat pump at my house, and I wanted to be there if there were any questions during the day. For another thing -- well, I just wanted to be there when the doors opened.) The crowd that was there already amounted to three people. The doors opened, the first guy said he wanted to register, so he stepped to one side, while the multitude of the rest of us (I think three more people had arrived after me) were processed through. I opted, as ever, for the paper ballot to be read by the optical scanner, there was a minor glitch, the minor glitch was fixed, and I was on my way. [Parenthetical note: This photo is from the September rally I referred to yesterday. That posting was so photo-heavy it made itself crazy, so I saved this one for today. Someday, I'll gain the knack of illustrating this blog so that pictures don't confuse it. Or me. But not today, I fear.]

Now, it's just a matter of waiting -- for both voting results and the heat pump. And I'll be checking out The Daily Show and Colbert Report special broadcast tonight on Comedy Central. Check your local listings.

Obama-Riffic

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:47:00 +0000

The day before the election, I'm listening to NPR's coverage on Talk of the Nation of people waiting in line to vote early. (The first guy they interviewed said he'd brought along a book to read while he waiting in line more than three hours: Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book. A comment that elicited host Neal Conan's response that he loves Gaiman's writing, too.)

My mind goes back to the long wait in line (in chilly weather, especially compared to what those folks today are doing) to get through the doors for a Wisconsin pre-primary rally for Obama on February 15. I'd recently decided to back Obama based on his specifics about a "Credit Card Bill of Rights" -- at a time when people were already saying he was a great speaker but didn't provide information on what he'd do that would affect voters. You can Google "Obama" and "Credit Card Bill of Rights," just as I did, and get such specifics as that it would prohibit charging interest on credit-card fees. And that interest rate increases would only apply to future debt.

So I waited in the cold with a slew of others. It was a Friday, so the audience skewed to college students and retirees, and the auditorium was packed. Thanks to my foresight regarding getting there super-early (sorry, frozen ears!), I found prime seating: three rows up on the bleachers, at the end by which he passed from the curtained area to the podium. I was occasionally off-the-message struck simply by his excellence as a public speaker. If you're considering a career that involves public presentations, he uses a number of devices that work brilliantly with a crowd: perfect, albeit casual posture; splendid timing in holding still enough to make good photos possible; smoothly turning to each quadrant of a surrounding audience without lurching from group to group; mastering a hand-held mike, pulling it closer to his mouth as the crowd noise grew louder so that he didn't wait to make his point but simply upping the volume so he could be heard over the rising decibels. Who was it who suggested the term "Obamariffic" after his 2004 speech at the Democrats' convention? In any case, it's now in common use.

The excellence of his or her public speaking is, of course, no reason to vote for a candidate. But, following the candidates throughout primaries, national conventions, and weeks of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, I've found no reason to change my primary choice. Thanks to Bob Chapman's Graphitti and Alex Ross for a T-shirt that gets compliments whenever I wear it.

The lines were as long -- but the weather much better -- September 22. That rally, on a Monday, had attendance affected again by the fact that it was a work day. Nevertheless, still fun, still enthusiastic, still well worth attending.

It seems to me something of an irony that, in this high-tech era, most of the volunteer efforts asked of Democrats are traditional activities: (1) make phonecalls, (2) go door-to-door to talk to people, and (3) hold a sort of house party to "sell" friends on the party's messages. Well, I loathe receiving unsolicited phonecalls (and I'm on Wisconsin's "do not call" list), I hate having strangers arriving unannounced on my doorstep, and I'm none too fond of ostensible parties that are in reality excuses to sell me things.

Guess what three things I didn't do for the Democrats.

What I did turn out to be able to do to help was data entry -- compiled from information received in the course of the telephoning. And that, I was pleased to see, included noting when people asked not to be called again.

And there's yet another aspect of the advantages of this Age of the Internet: I took a photo in February in Oshkosh that I'd be glad to provide to the people who probably most want it. Following his speech in Oshkosh, Obama went around the perimeter of the crowd, shaking hands, waving, talking briefly to those in the front rows. And, yes, having a baby pushed into his arms. My bet is -- especially if he's elected tomorrow -- that the parents of that infant would be happy to have a print of this moment for their own memory book. But they don't even know the photo exists.

So, hey, Democrats with babies who went to the Oshkosh event in February: Were you standing in the front row near his entry-and-exit spot? Did you thrust your child into his arms? Would you like a copy of this photo? It can be yours.

A Month and a Half Since My Last Post?

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +0000

Yes, well, I've been busy. And today, tomorrow, and Wednesday are pretty much devoted to the installation of a heat-pump system to replace the furnace that's a quarter of a century old or so. But surely it won't be so long until my next post.

Leslie Charteris Oddity: Lady on a Train

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:19:00 +0000

A bunch of buddies hereabouts maintains a movie club. Once a month we get together for lunch, pick a movie to watch in the ensuing month, circulate DVDs of that movie, and spend the following month's lunch discussing (or failing to discuss) that pick.

This time around, we picked the Deanna Durbin film Lady on a Train (1945), which I had wanted to see for some time, having bought the paperback at an earlier point. The back cover of the paperback, signed "The Publishers," was clearly written by the publisher -- but that happened to be author Leslie Charteris (1907-1993) himself. Of interest to me when I bought the used copy was that it was a non-Saint mystery (though, despite what the cover copy says, it does have one passing reference to Simon Templar).

In any case, the short novel has another distinction, outlined by mystery writer Charteris inside the front cover. (See left.) And I embarked on the most sensible method of consumption: I watched the movie first, then read the book. And found massive changes in the story.

And, yes, the story in the novel is an improvement over the story in the film. Charteris added several new characters and better defined the Deanna Durbin character's motivation for being where she is and doing what she does.

On the other hand, he deleted one of the major characters in the film: mystery writer "Wayne Morgan," who becomes involved in attempts to solve the puzzle. Played by David Bruce (1916-1976), Morgan is reduced almost to comedy-relief status at times, as Durbin's character barrels ahead relentlessly to untangle the threads of where and when and how and who. But an additional gag (whether from the screenwriters or Charteris) is that Bruce bears a startling resemblance to Charteris himself.

If you find this interesting enough to pursue, the film is on a set of Durbin DVDs titled Deanna Durbin Sweetheart Pack. On the other hand, the book isn't as accessible. I find a few on Amazon, starting at (yikes!) $52.39, and bookfinder.com starts at $56.38 and ranges as high as $114.25. It apparently only had the one edition: a saddle-stitched paperback. Maybe it's time for Universal to bring out a collector's edition of the movie and the book in a single package? Just a thought ...

Highly Seasoned

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:20:00 +0000

I've commented in the past that I watch very little TV as it's being broadcast these days. The advertisements annoy me, the all-too-frequent time dance that leads to my missing an episode of a continuing story, and the long wait between episodes has become more a torment than a delightful anticipation. There's a bit of guilt about my cunning plan, since the ratings help determine the ads, and the ads are what pays for the shows. Nevertheless, I've been hooked for some time on the practice of buying DVD sets of many series' episodes.

And now, thanks to the impending new season of such series, I find myself almost overcome by the plethora of such DVD sets, with a stack now awaiting viewing. (Moreover, one of the best set-producers today is BBC Video -- and, to review those for Comics Buyer's Guide, I have to watch every minute of every disc, variant soundtracks and all. I am in the midst of watching-and-notetaking Spaced: The Complete Series, which ran only two short seasons, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes starting in 1999 [ISBN 1-4198-6845-4]. They're only half-hour episodes, but there's an original video commentary and a current video commentary, not to mention a bonus disc -- so the 14 episodes take three times as long to view as the simple episodes themselves, and I could actually add a fourth viewing, if I wanted to keep track of the Homage-O-Meter information. [That, for example, identifies the brief appearance of two grim little girls as a tribute to the two little girls in Kubrick's film of The Shining.] As noted, I still haven't finished watching the delicious show about [to quote the box] "two idle twentysomething flatmates -- immature skateboarding would-be comic artist Tim and moody, responsibility-shy writer Daisy and their self-induced lack of success in employment, relationships, and life in general." End of parenthetical remark.)

So I find myself in the midst of a backlog. There's a stack of such older boxed sets as Poirot: The New Mysteries Collection; Poirot: Classic Crimes Collection; Poirot: The Classic Collection, Sets 1-3 [which, right, turns out to be a repackaging of an earlier Acorn Media set, left, titled simply Poirot and which is further complicated by Volume 1 of Set 2 carrying the identification on the disc itself as Set 4; I've never been fond of Acorn's packaging; but I digress]; and Midsomer Murders Set Three. (Do you detect a theme?)

But it's the new material that is my current challenge. As a beginning, toward the end of the summer, I found Eureka's two seasons a pleasure: The concept of a town filled with geniuses could have been improbable with routine scripts; instead, the lines and plot devices sparkled and worked.

Then came Burn Notice Season One. I'd been looking forward to seeing it since I saw the first few episodes at Harlan and Susan Ellison's house, at their recommendation. Captivated, I discovered I'd missed some episodes and then gave up attempts to watch it when broadcast. "When Michael receives a 'burn notice,' blacklisting him from the intelligence community and compromising his very identity, he must track down a faceless nemesis without getting himself killed in the process. Meanwhile, Michael is forced to double as a private investigator on the dangerous streets of Miami in order to survive." It's sharp, it has a great script, it has terrific performers (including Sharon Gless and Bruce Campbell), and it's action-packed. I'm going to wait for the next set rather than try to follow it as it airs. But I love it.

Then, I went on to The Closer, which has a total of three seasons out on DVD, which means I've been missing it for a while. Kyra Sedgwick plays the head of a Los Angeles Priority Murder Squad, a C.I.A.-trained interrogator who's known as someone who can close cases successfully. It's fun, it's involving, it's entertaining, and I've now watched two of the three seasons with much enjoyment.

Excellent. Next? Well, then I thought I'd try doling things out, much as if I were actually seeing them on TV, instead of pounding down episode after episode of a single series nonstop. So I've now watched two episodes of The Dresden Files (Harry Dresden is a Chicago wizard who "deals in all matters of supernatural threats"). It's based on books by Jim Butcher, and the performers and script are amiable enough, but it's easy to remind myself to dole it out an episode at a time. Unless later episodes are more gripping, it'll be no pressure to wait to see Season Two.

And Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season One is OK but (after three episodes) I don't see it going much of anywhere. Summer Glau is terrific and probably the main reason for continuing to watch.

Life Season One derailed my decision to dole things out, and I'm not sure quite why. "After 12 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, offbeat Charlie Crews has returned to the force with a $50 million settlement [says the box; I don't think it's specified in the show], a new spiritual outlook, a strong fondness for fruit, and a highly unusual approach to solving crime." Scripting is fun, and Damian Lewis puts across the character of Crews compellingly. In any case, after a couple of episodes, I went back to watching the entire series back-to-back and found it rewarded the attention.

Back to doling things out, I come to The Big Bang Theory. This is a torment. Box description: "Physicists Leonard and Sheldon [trivia shout-out to Sheldon Leonard, obviously] understand everything from the inescapable gravitational pull of a black hole to the intricate structure of the atom. But take those atoms and assemble them into a woman, and their comprehension comes to a grinding halt." Well, that sounds pretty dreadful. But the scripts are fall-down-funny -- and that's what makes the horrendous laughtrack even more agonizing. I'd pay extra for a set that would make it possible to watch without the laughtrack, because this is packed with geeky humor that brilliantly portrays My World. I'm doling it out because I can't take the automated giggles in large doses; otherwise, it'd have been another back-to-back treat. (In the entire first disc, I've only hit one geek line that didn't display the full spectrum of knowledge -- and I think it was a slightly misdelivered reading, not realizing The Avengers is a group's name.) Johnny Galecki's presence adds resonance to occasional appearances by other Roseanne cast members. Aieee!

I have other discs waiting in the proverbial wings: The Simpsons Season 11, The Office Season Four, Jericho, Heroes Season 2 (which is the only one of these that I saw when it was broadcast but hey!), and House Season 4.

But I've hit another show that has derailed the doling-out process, and it's jaw-dropping, at least so far. Damages Season 1 had an ending on the first episode that left me stunned. The summary on the box gives away little: "Set in New York's world of high stakes litigation, Damages follows the lives of Patty Hewes (Glen Close), the nation's most revered and most reviled litigator, and her bright, ambitious protegee Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) as they become embroiled in a class action lawsuit targeting Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson)." I'm captivated -- and find the storytelling is (at least, after three episodes) closest to mini-series style rather than what we find is the usual short-stories-in-a-larger-frame that has become standard TV lately.

So why am I posting this? Time to go on to Episode 4.

In the Midst of Morphing

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Thompson) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Slowly, this website is evolving into a spot I hope to visit more often. In a way, that hope is assisted by the fact that I haven't been able to communicate directly here for quite some time. Kudos to the dogged determination of John Jackson Miller, who has been at work with drywall, plaster, and paint -- not to mention smelling salts and a transfusion -- to restore the domicile and its contents.

Be Careful What You Wish For ...

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:05:00 +0000

One of the obsessions that qualified me for my job (currently as Comics Buyer's Guide Senior Editor) was BBC science fiction and fantasy. I created the magazine Fantasy Empire, which had a focus on Doctor Who -- in large part to help me explore further the realm of the series that was relatively inaccessible in America. In the course of my life, then, I've actually spent some time with Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, and Sylvester McCoy. (Not to jump that up to overstatement, "some time" was, at most, a dinner. But super-nice performers, each of whom did his best to provide a pleasant interlude for a goggling fan.)

Thanks to a tenuous connection to the world of comics (there have been Doctor Who comic-book adventures in England and America, after all), I can maintain a minor presence of DW material in CBG and at CBGXtra. I recently noticed that there'd been a bunch of BBC shows that I wanted to review here, there, and everywhere, so I asked for what was available. And wow.

I have a couple of months without plans to visit other states, so the project is doable, but the thing is that the BBC is among the best providers of DVD entertainment based on its shows. Not only does the customer get the show as aired, but the bonus material is incredible. Once you see the show itself, you can rewatch it with commentaries, featurettes, and similar bonuses. So a reviewer can begin by doubling the length of time to watch the feature itself and go from there. Here's what I get to explore:

Doctor Who #17: The Time Meddler 1965, 1:40 [total for the feature alone, then, is 3:20 -- and there's scads of bonuses, which I won't bother to note in the rest of this list, but includes here a look at The Doctor's appearance in comic strips]

Doctor Who #93: The Invisible Enemy 1977, 2:23 [4:46 -- and, since that introduced K-9, there's a bonus included in the time count of K-9 and Company, 1981]

Doctor Who #97: The Invasion of Time 1978, 2:30 [5:00 -- and one of my favorites]

Doctor Who #130: The Five Doctors 1983, 3:11 [6:22 -- but I'm not sure about this, because it says it's the 1983 and 1995 versions; we shall see]

Torchwood: The Complete Second Season 2008, 10:28 [20:56 -- and the packaging doesn't mention extras but]

Not to mention two other boxes:

Robin Hood Season Two 2008, 9:47 [I'm not sure whether this set has commentaries on every show, but there's at least one -- plus three featurettes]

And

Spaced: The Complete Series 1999, 5:50 [Man, I'm not sure, but there seem to be many bonuses, including some commentary work by such people as Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino. Comics connection? Yep: One of the two focal nerds is a wanna-be comic-book artist; he's played by Simon Pegg. I can hardly wait and I'm not being sarcastic!]

Time to quit blogging and turn on the TV!

How Deliberately Was Dean Koontz Being Annoying?

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Now that I have two months undisturbed by out-of-state jaunts, I'm settling down to seeing what organization can be brought to The Clutter That Is My Home. So I pulled a fresh audiobook off the shelf, and it happened to be the unabridged Odd Thomas (2003) by Dean Koontz, an author whose works have entertained me over the years. It's the first in a series, and I think I've come across a later book, so what better time to Begin at the Beginning?

And, whack, within five minutes of the start of the (promisingly intriguing) story, Koontz slaps me across the face. And I could sit there and take it. I could spout a series of obscenities. Or I could get back to this neglected website and point a finger and say, "Dude! What the hell?" Or words to that effect.

I did, in fact, resort to response #2 before turning to #3. And I know that, when I write #3, the response of many (including, presumably, Koontz -- if he or the others ever saw this) would be something along the lines of, "Get over it, whiner. You and those like you are a bunch of nerds who are not worth our attention -- unless it is to annoy you further by giving away the endings of Murder on the Orient Express, Sleuth, The Sixth Sense ..." And the hilarity would ensue at my expense, with some of the mockery including actual renditions of the twists that the audience is supposed to experience for itself. And some of those folks would be passing on those resolutions without actually having read the books or seen the films for themselves.

And, to be fair, I'm only five minutes and 23 seconds into the start of Odd Thomas. And it may turn out that there was actually some sort of artistic necessity for Koontz to give away the gimmick of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. But I bet not.

As one of the few among today's readers who actually read Agatha Christie's Ackroyd without knowing the ending in advance -- and who (yes) had the pleasure of solving the mystery in the course of reading it -- I resent anyone who takes away the chance for others to have that same pleasure. Or the pleasure of being surprised by the ending, if they don't solve it themselves. I especially resent it when the person tossing off the revelation is another creator. Who should know better.

Dude. What the hell?

Unpacking from Convention Jaunts and Returning to Filing

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:01:00 +0000

I'm still coping with a travel cold. (I don't think I caught it from anyone at the convention, though a buddy pointed out that little sleep for a week just might have left me with my immune system slightly tweaked.)

But, even staggering around a bit, I'm able to do a few of the post-show chores that will make life better. Laundry, for example, is done (except for the partial box thereof that will arrive on the pallet with Convention Stuff before much longer). And I suddenly realized that I'd acquired a bunch of DVDs in a jaunt to Madison, Wis., the Friday before Con Week.

Madison, you see, is home to Four Star Video, a marvelous rental facility that prunes its stock and sells those cullings for $15 a DVD -- and, when you're a Gold Card member (as am I), you get them for roughly $10 a DVD. So I lolled about, pampering myself watching Season One of Eureka (recommended by my brother), yesterday and today, as I nursed my cold. And then it occurred to me that I might have other DVDs I hadn't checked out. What to my wondering eyes should appear but the following movies:

Charlie Wilson's War (2008, 1:42), The Corporation (2004, 2:25), Dan in Real Life (200X, 1:38), The Darjeeling Limited (2007, 1:31), The Golden Compass (2007, 1:53), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007, 1:46), Jumper (2008, 1:28), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (200X, 2:05), The Orphanage (2007, 1:45), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008, 1:55), Revolver (2005, 1:44), Sleuth (2007, 1:29), Sweeny Todd (2007, 1:56)

Then, there are the TV shows, each except Blue Murder at those $10 prices:

Blue Murder (1995, 3:17, $20), George Carlin: Doin' It Again (1990, 1:00), George Carlin: What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988, :58), Invisible Man Season One (1950s, 5:30), The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002, :56)

And, at Half Price Books:

The Comeback (2006, 6:30, $15) and Unscripted (2005, 5:00, $10)

And, ordered from Amazon (so there were a variety of discounts but not used copies):

Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966, 1:24), Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965, 1:23), Burn Notice Season One (2007, 8:52), Eureka Season One (2007, 9:18), The Closer Season One (2005, 10:02)

Looks as if I'll have something more to watch while I get over this cold. (By the way, an ongoing annoying facet of prerecorded material from the Disney organization is its policy of avoiding identification of copyright date for its releases. Yes, I could check it on iMDB, but geez.)

How about yourself? What movies and shows would you buy for $10 each?

Comic-Con Ho!

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Why so few entries in the blog? Why will there be so few over the next week?

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go -- and this afternoon, fingers crossed, I'll be in San Diego, picking up exhibitor badges (Booth #1419) prior to Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Onward!

June 23, 1962

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Nuff said?

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:56:00 +0000

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was much fun in the theater: It barrelled along satisfyingly with just the right number of Eek! and Yes! moments.

And I picked up the hardcover by James Rollins, "Based on the story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson, and the screenplay by David Koepp."

It's nicely straightforward, an excellent reminder of the entertainment and a faithful transcription of the script as performed on screen, along with some bonuses. Such as this paragraph on Page 78, featuring the confrontation when Dean Stanforth (played by Jim Broadbent) breaks the news to Indy that he's in trouble.

Indy reminds him, "They're good kids."

Thanks!

Wii way more!

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:55:00 +0000

I took it for granted that acquiring the Wii console would be the end of problems in working out with Nintendo's gaming system. After finding that the basic games did, indeed, get me more active (if you sign on as a beginner, Bowling -- for example -- is very forgiving), I also realized that (at least the way I played them) the games provided most exercise for my right arm and little else.

Even understanding that the way I was playing Tennis was not the way that a tennis-player would play tennis, I became more interested in the Wii Fit equipment. One review I'd come across said that, for example, the hoop game could provide a full-body workout in six minutes. Hot diggety! I'll just go buy Wii Fit and go for more serious exercise.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was the "Hunt for the Wii" process all over again. Nobody had it. I tried an two-hour round trip to Appleton to check all the possible stores. Nothing. Asked at service desks for estimated arrival dates. It was first come, first served again (with at least one service-desk staffer expressing considerable hostility -- not for me, but for Nintendo). I alerted my buddies to keep an eye out for it. I set up a schedule of telephone calls with possible venues. (When does the store open? When does it unload the truck?) The Best Buy recorded telephone pick-up seemed a little crabby, as it said something along the lines of, "If you're calling about the Wii Fit, none is available right now."

So you can doubly imagine my surprise when a not-quite-casual jaunt through the Target store in Stevens Point (where I'd wound up in advance of a dinner meeting with friends) found -- with no fanfare, no store announcements, no crush of multitudes -- a Wii Fit, not where I'd logically checked with the other Wii software, but sitting happily on an endcap beside five or six other Wii Fit boxes.

Whew! The exercise is over!

(What do you mean that wasn't the exercise?)

Thomasina

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:52:00 +0000

I don't know whether you've ever come across Paul Gallico's Thomasina. Subtitled "The Cat Who Thought She Was God," the novel was originally published in 1957. The writer (1897-1976) had several of his works adapted to film; these included The Poseidon Adventure and Love of Seven Dolls (filmed as Lili). As noted, among the film adaptations of his writing is the Disney 1964 film The Three Lives of Thomasina.

That film starred Patrick McGoohan as the vet father of a little girl (played by Karen Dotrice) who loves her cat Thomasina, who narrates the film -- and dies, only to return to life to be with the little girl. It's a children's film and it features a cat (well, actually, a bunch of male cats, each playing Thomasina and each clearly distinctive to the adult cat-lover's eye, but never mind) -- so it was a natural for 5-year-old grandson Devon (who first saw it when he was 4).

Switch the scene now to Devon's household a couple of weeks ago. Beloved kitty Dactyl was in such an advanced stage of cancer that it was time to say goodbye. Devon was told this, though he didn't seem to grasp the details (which was probably just as well), and -- after much family cuddling -- Zander had the sad job of taking Dactyl to the vet.

It was then decided that the family desperately needed cheering distractions, so Valerie, Zander, and Devon went to the Quassy Amusement Park (on Lake Quassapaug in Connecticut , founded in 1908, one of only 11 "trolley parks" still operating in this country). They had a lovely time and then headed to the multi-lane highway for the long ride home. They were driving in the outside lane, when both Valerie and Zander simultaneously (and incredibly) spotted a tiny, road-colored lump by the side of the road. "Isn't that --?"

Zander (carefully) pulled over and (carefully) got out and ran back to the lump, then carried it back to the car. Valerie, who had had no reason to bring along a cashmere sweater on a hot day, took the tiny lump and wrapped it in the seemingly useless sweater. And Devon, from the back seat, asked, "Is that my Thomasina?"

And, yes, it was. Clearly, someone had decided it'd be (shudder) merciful to throw a six-week kitten out by the side of a major highway (with a Jersey Barrier in the middle, so nothing could ever cross it safely). The fist-sized kitten was covered with ticks but otherwise OK, and all arrived home safe and sound, albeit with ensuing tick-picking ahead.

Kitten has now seen the vet, and it is clearly established that (again, as was the case in the Disney film) Thomasina is a boy kitty. And a wonderful addition to the household.

46 years ago

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:50:00 +0000

I don't know whether this photo was taken exactly 46 years ago -- but here are the circumstances:

Don and I had been engaged for a year and a half. It was the end of my sophomore year at Oberlin College, and Don had taken the bus to Oberlin each weekend for the entirety of my Oberlin stay. (I'd even managed to stay in Oberlin between my freshman and sophomore year with the excuse of taking typing at the little business college that was also in Oberlin.)

I was staying in the Fairchild dormitory, where I'd met Ron Hardin, who was a junior, played the lute, snapped a mean camera shutter, and ate at the same dining-room table as I did. Ron occasionally hung out with Don and me -- and, as something of an end-of-year gift, took several photos of Don and me clowning in front of Fairchild within the month before we were married.

So here we were, as of June 1962. Hee!

51 years ago

noreply@blogger.com (John Jackson Miller) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:48:00 +0000

It was on June 8, 1957, that Mom (science-fiction writer Betsy Curtis) drove to a science-fiction picnic at the home of Basil and Virginia Wells. She'd thought the event would be held at the home of Ed Hamilton and Leigh Brackett in Kinsman, Ohio, so we arrived there -- only to be told (by Leigh's parents in the farm across the road) that it was at the Wells home.

Undeterred, we ended up at a delightful event, attended by a number of SF professionals and fans. Among pro attendees were P. Schuyler Miller, the Hamiltons, and Andre Norton. Among the fans was a Penn State sophomore who'd heard about it through the National Fantasy Fan Federation.

The college student had hitchhiked there from his home in Grand Valley, Pennsylvania -- and we happened to reside in a house that was on the route back to Grand Valley, so we were glad to take him as far as our place on his way home. But that's not why we hit it off: What happened was that we spent most of the day discovering almost identical fannish interests, ranging from Old Time Radio (which wasn't Old Time at that point) to Western movies to fantasy to science fiction to mysteries to, yes, comics.

The next time I heard from him came when Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug #1 (Aug 57) was released; Don Thompson folded it in two and sent it to me in a #10 envelope with a note telling me of its publication.

It wasn't until some time later that he sent me this photo:

On the back, he had typed this message:

This picture was taken before I became a science fiction fan. Anyone gazing at my ravaged features today will see only too clearly the detrimental effects of this insidious activity.

Don't let this happen to your child! Join the Crusade to Stamp out Bug-Eyed Monsters. See your neighborhood chapter of the Society For the Prevention of Science Fiction Books and Magazines.

Support the SFPSFBM. Cash contributions are welcomed. Send your donation to:

Ray Palmer
Amherst, Wisconsin

It is difficult to believe that this innocent, wide-eyed child is today, not only a science fiction fan, but a radio announcer.

(Annotation for the history-minded: Don worked on the Penn State radio station WDFM.)

(Further annotation: Who'd have thought that, 25 years later, Don and Maggie Thompson would move less than 20 miles away from the home of SF and flying saucer editor Ray Palmer? It was, clearly Fate -- another in-joke. Sorry.)