Stardance : : The Official Movie Blog

Another Year

2012-12-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

We've had a request for an update...

I wish we had more to say regarding Stardance. It has been put in the hands of David Gerrold's new agent. A friend of mine in Hollywood very recently told me that he spoke to a respected colleague/mentor of David's who read it and said "it was good". David and I are planning who should get it next, but both of us have other responsibilities superseding Stardance in the mean time.

David has been publishing his catalog on Amazon and in other digital forms, teaching screenwriting at AFI and taking care of his literary career while my life has gone back into the world of business after my hiatus spent writing this screenplay - and my energies are fully directed at my new technology startup, Xtrant. Once Xtrant is fully launched this year I will be redirecting some energy back into pushing Stardance up the Hollywood hill.

(I must mention that I have two daughters in college now, one pursuing film at NYU and the other taking her own hiatus from Parsons to pursue her music career. Any of you who've put kids through college can probably sympathize.)

But we know you want to see the movie - everyone does. The best I can do right now, for those so inclined, is to let you read the screenplay.

Contact me personally via Facebook or Google+ and I will grant you secure access to it.

A New Post?

2012-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

The months have been hurtling by, 12 of them since Mr. Gerrold and I wrote the first complete draft of our adaptation of Stardance, about 9 since we felt it ready to show.

I don't want to give anyone false hope, so please take what I say with the understanding that "Hollywood" can be a slow place to do business. In those nine months it has been, and is being, shown around. It is in the hands of various producers and agents. Some have said nice things, our fingers continue to be crossed.

In the meantime, life goes on and much more important things are happening.

Spider and Jeanne's lovely daughter Terri is now battling cancer.

Give her your energy and love - and read about it on her blog.

Thank you for your love, kindness and patience.

Some Good News

2011-01-29T11:42:00.001-08:00

Since Jeanne's passing I promised myself that I would not post again on this blog until I could share some good news. As most of you know, a little over a year ago - with a "faithful as possible to the original" feature screenplay adaptation about half done (ask anyone, the middle of a screenplay is the hardest) and with Jeanne's health failing, Jeanne and I brought famed SF and TV writer David Gerrold in to assist with the completion.

David reviewed everything we had created to that date; the original story, the previous treatments and beat sheets, the IMAX version of the screenplay we had started and abandoned, the 45 or so pages of feature screenplay and our notes, notes, notes. David then made a major change in perspective about one of the characters - a launching point for us to create a brand new treatment - we met every week and argued and refined and developed and ultimately created a completely new, more cinematic vision of Stardance guided by David's mastery of structure. We presented the new treatment to Jeanne on May 19th 2010, and she gave her glowing approval saying "All we have to do now is write the screenplay."

Jeanne passed away 10 days later. At that point I knew the most important thing in my life was to complete that task.

Since David did a lot of the heavy lifting for the treatment, I took on translating it into the screenplay - meeting with David as often as I could, especially when running into walls, until were were again about half way through. There it was again, that dreaded half way point. David and I would make great progress every time we met. I'd show him what I had done, he would edit or make suggestions, and I would be able to move forward a little. But those productive meetings were hard to schedule, both David and I are busy people with more than just this screenplay on our plates. What we needed was some dedicated time.

In December I came upon the answer: we would set aside an entire week in January and fly David to Memphis (away from the distractions of Los Angeles) with only one goal, to sit side by side and FINISH STARDANCE!

So, as Memphis was pummeled with Snow, David arrived for an uninterrupted week of writing and brainstorming and arguing and writing some more - and I'm proud to say that six days and 55 pages later David Gerrold and I finished the screenplay adaptation of Stardance.

That was two weeks ago: We're presently giving it a quick polish before sending it into the Hollywood machine. Wish us luck, you won't hear from us much until we have more real news to share.

In Jeanne's Name

2010-06-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

Questions have come up a few times about donations to honor Jeanne.

We are suggesting donations go to Green Gulch, Jeanne's zen center in California. A place that has meant so much to her for many years. If you wish, you can donate (and learn more) here.

Or you can simply memorialize and honor Jeanne by helping to bring peace to the world, and yourself. Thank you all for your kind wishes.

Buchi Eihei In pacem

2010-05-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

(from Spider)

Jeanne Robinson left this life at about 4:45 Sunday afternoon, a gentle smile on her face. Her departure was quite peaceful and she was in no pain at all.

Because her Palliative Care doctor, Paul Sugar, was able to forecast her passing almost to the hour, her daughter Terri, son-in-law Heron and granddaughter Marisa flew back from NYC just in time, and were with me at her side when Jeanne died; and her mother Dorothy and sister Laurie arrived from Massachusetts only a couple of hours later, after Terri had had time to expertly make Jeanne look better than she had for days. Zen priests Michael and Kate Newton were also present per Jeanne’s wishes, as were our oldest friends in this part of the world, Greg McKinnon, Anya Coveney-Hughes and Stevie McDowell. Over the next few hours more sangha buddies arrived, and chanting of the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra was done. Her body was then bathed and dressed in her hand-sewn rakasu as per Zen tradition.

In accordance with her wishes she will be cremated. Half her ashes will be scattered off this coast, and half will be taken back to her childhood home, Cape Cod, so that her East Coast family will have a place to go and visit her.

Only moments after Jeanne had passed, Terri put little Marisa down on Jeanne’s breast and told her to give Nana a hug. Marisa did, one of the boneless-sprawl, cheek-rubbing, no-hurry hugs we’ve all come to know means she really loves and trusts whoever she’s hugging. And then she raised herself up on one arm, looked at Jeanne’s face....I swear this is true.....and waved bye-bye. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

If you’re in the Vancouver/North Vancouver area, you should receive a second message later, as soon as I know when her services will be held, at Cates Hill Chapel here on Bowen Island. At this point I don’t even know when or where she’ll be cremated: her social-worker sister Laurie O’Neil is, with characteristic kindness, fielding such practical matters for me and Terri.

One thing I can report: Jeanne, a lay-ordained Soto Zen monk, always yearned to become a full Buddhist priest.....but the five-year-period of intensive practice and fulltime study in the monastery required was logistically difficult for us, among other things, and we kept putting it off. In a recent farewell phone conversation, she told her personal teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson Zenki that her biggest regret was that she had never been able to find a way to study to become a priest. Reb (who gave her both her Dharma name, Buchi Eihei—”dancing wisdom; eternal peace”—and her nickname in the Zen community, “Wired Buddha”) immediately told her he would come to her funeral, and ordain her a priest on the spot. That brought her deep joy—and will, I have no doubt, assist her greatly in her travels through the bardos.

The only dying wish she missed was to be driven down to Seattle in a few weeks, to see/hear Crosby, Stills and Nash. I should probably go myself...but I doubt I’ll have the heart, that soon.

I cannot praise highly enough Dr. Paul Sugar and the entire staff of the Palliative Care Wing of North Vancouver’s Lion’s Gate Hospital. All nurses and nursing aides are heros, but those who work exclusively with the dying are a breed apart. (as are those who work Burn Units.) These boddhisattvas—over a dozen of them in the course of a week—were without exception willing to accede to absolutely any reasonable request by a family member, and any unreasonable request by a heavily drugged patient—with infinite patience, competence and compassion. They ignored regulations that were unreasonable, and enforced the important ones with firm kindness. Visiting hours are 24-7. They actively encourage the playing of instruments and singing, raucous laughter, and the sound of crying babies. They are not stingy with the dilaudid. When your loved one enters endgame, they offer you blankets, pillows and a special chair which can effortlessly become a startlingly comfortable bed, so you can stay at the bedside all night, for as many nights as necessary. If you’d rather get a nearby hotel or B&B, they’ll find one for you and get you a rate.

Maybe this will shorthand it. One of the nurses assigned to Jeanne got chatting with her as she worked, learned a bit of Jeanne’s story. Then, completely on her own initiative, she went to one of the computers in the nurse’s station, Googled up both our websites, found and printed out the best photos of Jeanne dancing, solo and with her company, and also driving across America in a red, white and blue VW microbus with her first husband Daniel Corrigan, and winning a Hugo Award in Phoenix with me—and then she taped them all those photos up to the closet door beside Jeanne’s bed. As James Taylor sang, “Whatcha gonna do with folks like that?”

I have lost my best friend, teacher, partner, lover and co-grandparent—seemingly forever as I understand that word. But by chance, on this same day, two different people emailed me links to a letter written by Robert A. Heinlein to Forrest J. Ackerman near the end of World War Two, consoling Forry on the loss of his brother in combat. In the middle of it, he suddenly wrote, “Forry, I have not a belief, not a conviction, but personal knowledge of survival after death. You will see your brother again.”

If that’s true—and who am I to doubt Robert Heinlein on a matter so important?—then all I have to do is find her again. I’ll simply track her across the universes and through the dimensions like Kimball Kinnison and his Clarissa, or Alexander Hergensheimer chasing his Margrethe to Hell itself, if I have to. Shit, for a minute there, I thought I had a problem. Merely a tedious delay. Have a lot to tell her about when we finally do find each other. Try to spend the downtime becoming a better, kinder man.

I believe the Tibetan Buddhist tradition says a dead person’s soul takes 49 days to get its act together and fully depart this plane of existence. So please keep an eye out for Jeanne, and continue to toss out an occasional prayer or good thought for her—at least until July 16 or so.

Thank you for being her friend and mine. I must sleep now, if that is possible.

Spider

Jeanne Robinson March 30th 1948 - May 30th 2010

2010-05-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

I met Jeanne very briefly in 2003 at TorCon in Toronto. I got to shake her and Spider's hand, get a picture with them, and that was it.

In July of 2007 I attend Robert Heinlein's 100th birthday party, otherwise known as the Heinlein Centennial, in Kansas City. There we met again, after she made a presentation about her plan and hope to create a short film featuring a zero-gravity dance. I asked her if I could help. I was looking for a new project and wanted to explore making a version of Stardance into an IMAX film. We hit it off and started working together on the project.

I won't recount the last three years for you - you can read through this blog from the beginning to get the gist. I'll just tell you that in the last three years Jeanne and I became very close friends. The last time I saw her in person was in January of 2009, just before she was diagnosed with Cancer – and just when we decided to forget IMAX and develop Stardance into a feature screenplay.

We had been working long distance, via skype and phone since then, making and postponing plans to get together as Jeanne rode the roller-coaster of treatment and recovery, relapse and more treatment. Our progress on the screenplay suffered as well, partially due to my loss of a collaborator much of the time as well as having painted ourselves into a corner adapting such a sprawling work into a filmable form. A few months ago we brought in author and screenwriter David Gerrold to ply his expertise to the project. Two weeks ago, David and I presented Jeanne with a new version of the story, and the first pages of the new version of the screenplay.

This was her response...

Dear David and James,

I’ve read the treatment, and I’m in awe. Applause, applause! It works on so many levels. You’ve distilled our over-sized opus into a manageable work of art that reads like a dream. It makes sense. It flows. It’s a page-turner. It’s fresh (even though the idea has been floating around for decades). What more can I say -- except deep bows of gratitude and love. Words can’t reach it. I’m just so happy to be sitting here -- overflowing with hope at this challenging moment in time. All thanks to you.

As you all know by now, Jeanne passed away Sunday afternoon (May 30th) at 4:45 PM Pacific Time. She is dancing free of this earth, free from the confines of body and gravity, and I am sure she is watching over all of us. David and I will finish the screenplay in her honor - and do our damnedest to get the thing made.

We love you , Jeanne.

Here are some moments I was privileged to share with Jeanne.

Jeanne, Spider, Me and Kathleen the night before the Zero-G flight.

Jeanne and I the day of the flight.

Jeanne at our at our booth during NewSpace promoting our project to potential sponsors .

Jeanne and I start the feature version of
the Stardance screenplay.

Spider sings to Jeanne in their home on Bowen Island. (The song he wrote to woo her shortly after they met.)

Spider, Jeanne and I waiting for the water taxi to Vancouver.

A New Auction

2010-04-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

Podcast Sci Fi Saturday Night is helping to raise funds on behalf of
author Spider Robinson's wife Jeanne, who is battling cancer and needs
assistance with her medical costs. On Saturday May 8th, Sci Fi
Saturday Night will have a special benefit episode starting at 8pm
eastern time featuring Spider Robinson, during which several pieces of
original artwork will be auctioned off on eBay. Among the many
artists donating to the auction are Mike Mignola, Sergio Aragones, Joe
Michael Linsner, Ben Templesmith, Mike Lilly, Bob Almond and Frankie
B. Washington; several more have contributed original artwork, signed
prints, and limited-edition comics.

Currently, donations for Jeanne Robinson can be made at
http://www.wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/. Please visit
http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=972 to see scans of the auction
items. Help Jeanne Robinson with her battle against cancer!

Sincerely,
Brian Belanger "Illustrator X"
www.scifisaturdaynight.com

Sci Fi Saturday Night is New England's premiere science fiction podcast,
with new episodes airing live every Saturday night at 8pm eastern time at
www.scifisaturdaynight.com. Sci Fi Saturday Night is the official podcast
of both the Boston Comic Con and ComicArtHouse.com.

Update on Jeanne

2010-04-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

From Spider (relayed through Jim.)

Dear friends,

This will be hard to read; it is certainly hard to write.

Jeanne’s doctors have ended her chemotherapy. There’s nothing more chemistry can do for/to her. Radiation was never an option. She is therefore now in Palliative Care Phase. We asked roughly how long this stage might last—repeatedly—and the only answer we got was, “somewhere between a month and a year—more or less.”

Some good news: the Palliative Care doctor she’s been assigned is considered one of the world’s best. His name, I swear, is Dr. Sugar. Dr. Paul Sugar. Jeanne and I both liked him on sight. Her best friend Anya has been a patient of his for many years, and gives him top marks. So do all his patient-reviewers online.

Jeanne has been in Lion’s Gate Hospital for the past week with digestive troubles, and may be there for as long as another week. She is extremely weak and tired, but not in pain. She is being well cared for. And today they finally diagnosed her problem, which should be easily fixable. It is hoped she will soon return home, and rally, now that the chemo is no longer battering at her system. We all know her strength and determination. Our pharmacist tells us she has many customers who’ve been in palliative stage for more than four years and are feeling fine.

Right now Jeanne welcomes prayers, good thoughts, short emails of love and support that don’t require an answer, flowers, letters, or cards. (NO FLOWERS, PLEASE!) Address the latter to Jeanne Robinson, Palliative Care Section, 7th floor, Lion’s Gate Hospital, 231 15th Street East, North Vancouver, BC V7L 2L7; her email is stardance@shaw.ca..

But please: NO VISITORS. NONE. THIS MEANS YOU. I’m serious: don’t even “pop in for a quick second.” She has blood family with her every day: me, her sister Laurie, her daughter and son-in-law and little 10-month-old Marisa. Her mom and her sister Dori is on the way. That’s all the fun she (or her immune system, or the nursing staff) can stand, at the moment.

And please, DON’T PHONE HER UNLESS/UNTIL YOU HEAR FROM ME THAT SHE’S BACK HOME AGAIN AND READY TO YAK. Right now talking on the phone exhausts her, especially with concerned friends. And no matter when you phone, you’re liable to wake her up. She needs to nap. Thanks for understanding; I know it’s frustrating.

Paypal donations for Jeanne and Spider are still being gratefully accepted at http://wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/ you'll find a hotlink halfway down that page.

I hope I’ll have better news to report next time. Meanwhile your loving thoughts are much appreciated.

Spider

And now there are three - Writing with David.

2010-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Jeanne and I are now working with David Gerrold on the Stardance adaptation. How's it going, you say? Take three strong and passionate personalities and put them in a room together (or, actually, since I'm in Memphis, David is in L.A. and Jeanne is in BC...put them on a conference call together.) No, we haven't come to blows - but we're all learning to hear and be heard by each other, and making real progress. My wife tends to leave the house during these calls as my voice slowly gets louder and louder as our meetings progress and I begin shouting out run-on sentences that start out "What if we do this?" Jeanne is somewhat more reserved, but stern, David is...diplomatic.

David is quite direct, though he couches his directness in a cushion of tact and praise. He will stop us and throw a hand-grenade suggestion into our midsts, and while Jeanne or I might initially rail against the suggestion, we talk out the implications and see how this radical change in our thinking can send us in a direction that often makes the story come together.

While adapting a literary piece for the screen, one’s original intention is to be as true to the source as possible. That intention can become a fool’s errand in the screenwriting world. The things that bring the reader deep into a piece like Stardance, the sharing of the narrator's thoughts, are much harder to show cinematically. Even with the many adjustments that Jeanne and I have made in our adaptation, we have found ourselves lost in the caverns of some of our previous choices not knowing how to extract ourselves.

David is blasting us out. Spider is throwing us flares now and again, helping to light our way as well. I have the line belayed...I'm running out of metaphor. I better save it for the cows.

(Q: What's a metaphor? A: To keep cows in.)

Jeanne’s Dance — Inconceivable Mutual Benefit

2009-11-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

We've had quite a few requests to post this clip. Here's video of Jeanne's dance at the "We Dream for Jeanne" benefit.

It’ll Be No Tribble Atall, Now…

2009-10-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

We have BIG news to report, and a bigger favor to ask.

Short back story (if you’ve been on Mars) – Jeanne has been sick, and Jim is doing his best to continue writing “Stardance,” and so far Jeanne approves, but the going has been a bit slow as hospital stays, surgery, doctor visits and most recently chemotherapy have gotten in the way of Jeanne’s direct participation in the process.

End back story – here’s what’s new.

Jeanne says to Jim “What if we get a pro screenwriter to help?” Jim says, “Sounds good, as long as the screenwriter is good and we can afford her/him – it should speed us up and give us some new perspective.”

Jeanne, feeling “Time Pressure” asks some writer friends what it might cost to hire such a gun, and one of them says “Hey Jeanne, I’ll join your little team. I can carve out three months for you starting as soon as next month.” Jeanne and Jim say “You’re ON!”

Hopefully the title gave it away, that generous writer is David Gerrold. This is the man whose first pro sale was Star Trek’s “The Trouble with Tribbles,” way back when. More recently he penned the Nebula and Hugo winning “Martian Child,” and scripts for Babylon 5 and Twilight Zone, among others. In between these impressive bookends David has done a slew of television writing and script doctoring plus he has written loads of fantastic SF prose. Not only is he an old friend of Jeanne’s but Jim has been a fan of his novels for a long time.

So, here’s the pitch. Counting what we have in the donation kitty, a chunk directly from Jim’s savings, and the generous donations of a few special Starseeders, we have rustled up the first third of David’s fee. That buys us a month and gets us started. I know we’re asking a lot, but we’re holding out our Buddha Bowl one more time, to ask for your help.

There’s a Paypal link on the Supporters page http://www.stardancemovie.com/supporters.html
We promise to add your name to the list of Honorary Stardancers you’ll find there, if you can find it in your pants to help us. (Presuming your name isn’t listed there already. If it is, we’ll put it in boldface, with asterisks.)

David’s talent, experience, discipline, and ferocious energy will be a godsend to us both, particularly while one of us is dealing with chemotherapy. From here, things should go back into high gear again.

Oh, and if you’re listening to the theme music on this website’s home page, we recommend you not use your computer’s built-in speakers…or there’ll be no treble atall, Captain.

Love, Jeanne and Jim.

Inconceivable Mutual Benefit

2009-09-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Before I danced at my benefit concert, I told the audience that my Zen teacher Reb Anderson Roshi describes the fourth and highest state of samadhi as the collective realization of "inconceivable mutual benefit"....exactly what we were all experiencing together at that moment. What an extraordinary event. I felt bathed in love and warmth and kindness and support. Matt Maxwell and Michelle Meyrink had everything running smoothly on tracks, and the musical talent was absolutely top notch, even for Bowen Island. My sister Laurie startled the dickens out of me by appearing as a Surprise Guest at the beginning of the evening, all the way from Dartmouth MA....bearing with her a video of my youngest sister Dori Legge singing a song she had just written for me, "Three Wishes," accompanied by her guitarist husband Donn.

After intermission I got up onstage and danced a dance of shared love and bliss. Spider was the last act, singing two love songs to me (one by him, and one written by my elder sister Kathy Rubbicco); then I joined him for his finale: James Raymond's beautiful song for Crosby & Nash, "Lay Me Down."
The concert took in a substantial amount of money which will be a huge help to us in the weeks to come. But more would still be most welcome: you can send donations via PayPal and Jan Schroeder continues to run her science fictional Dream For Jeanne Auctions on my behalf. I literally can never thank enough all of you who have contributed already, for your kindness and accompanying words of support and love. It means a lot to know that I've touched so many lives so intimately.

The Third Act

2009-08-29T22:22:00.001-07:00

For over 2500 years, Buddhists have studied the question of how one can best live in the presence of death. In a sense, a life-threatening disease makes Buddhists of us all, waking us from the illusion of immortality, suddenly and from that time forth.

As some of you know, I’ve been dealing with a rare biliary cancer for many months. It has already taken my gall bladder, bile duct and most of my liver…and it’s not done yet. It looks like in a matter of weeks I’ll be facing chemotherapy, in an attempt to at least slow its progress.

I originally came to Buddhism as a result of a Near Death Experience, or what I now call the Bodhicitta Awakening of arousing the mind of enlightenment. So for decades now, I’ve been studying the matter of living and dying. I’m not afraid of death. But I do fear pain, nausea, and diminished capacities.

Despite this I have been surrounded by loving friends and family. Above all else, I’ve been blessed with my beautiful granddaughter Marisa Alegria.

I feel I have so much to be thankful for….and whenever my time comes, I will not have a lengthy list of regrets, of opportunities missed or things left undone. As a matter of fact, my partner Jim and I are steaming away on the Stardance screenplay. With luck I’ll be there for its premiere.

There are many things I need as I prepare for my third act—supplements, prescription drugs, counseling, expensive alternative therapies, etc—and they all cost money…money I don’t have. So, after all these months of being silent and private about my illness, I recently said yes to my close friend Michelle Meyrink when she asked if she could organize a benefit concert for me. http://www.spiderrobinson.com/images/Dream%20for%20jeanne.pdf
Others have since jumped in, including my Vancouver Buddhist sangha, Mountain Rain Zen Community, and a dear friend in Florida, Jan Schroeder, who has been auctioning donated items (such as rare Babylon 5 scripts and other SF memorabilia) on eBay for me. Goods or services can be donated for the auction by contacting Jan at dreamforjeanne@aol.com. Several other methods of helping out, including a straightforward PayPal donation account, can be found at http://wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/.

Another way to help would be to buy our books from Amazon by clicking-through from Spider's site, so we can get the affiliate commission. We’ve spent decades holding up visions of humankind’s highest evolutionary potential while entertaining you enough to keep you turning pages.

Any help you can offer is gratefully appreciated by Spider and me.

In the meantime, I continue to work on, as Roshi Joan Halifax titled her latest book, BEING WITH DYING: Cultivating Compassion And Fearlessness In The Presence of Death. Which aptly describes the human condition, don’t you think?

A 40 year old vision of the future?

2009-07-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

I watched "Moon" today. This film is fantastic - true to form, hard science fiction, literary...yeah, this is one of the very rare ones. Kudos to director/co-writer Duncan Jones (David Bowie's son, no less, who should know a thing or two about existential astronauts.)

While watching this film, I noticed something; from a production design standpoint, the "future" hasn't changed much in the past 40 years. There are exceptions to point to, no doubt, but take a look at these images from various space based films of the last 40 years and you tell me, is this progress?

2001 (1968)
Solaris (1972)

Alien (1979)

Mission to Mars (2000)

Solaris (2002)

Moon (2009)

The most striking vision of the future seems to be "padded walls" - perhaps we will need them due to the high cost of health insurance, or due to a propensity for beating our heads against them.

Speaking of which; I've been doing a lot of thinking about how the "future" we are envisioning in Stardance should be described, especially the space habitat and space factory and the like. I'm thinking perhaps we should be a little more vague...leave those thoughts up to a very talented art department during pre-production.

Oh well, back to the asteroid mines.

Zietgeist - Guy Laliberté - Space - Art

2009-06-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

It seems Mr. Cirque Du Soleil is on his way to the ISS on a "Poetic Social Mission" - we wish him well. Through Space Adventures (our friend Peter Diamandis' company, who helped us in our Weightless Research) he will embark on high to bring attention to his "One Drop" foundation. No word on weather he plans to dance, but he seems to be taking a page out of our fictional playbook, to unite humanity around an extraterrestrial artistic event.

We're so glad to witness again that, as with so much of SF, life not only imitates, but embraces art. I know that Spider and Jeanne are proud to see the concepts they brought forth in their Stardance series of novels begin to come to fruition in real life, and both Jeanne and I agree that this bodes well for our film.

Exciting times we live in, folks.

Birth Announcement!

2009-06-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Our granddaughter, Marisa Alegria da Silva, arrived on planet Earth in New York City on Thursday, May 28th at 1:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, weighing 8 pounds 5, long and lean and hairy and impeccably beautiful in all respects. Mother and child are both in good health, save for a minor fever that showed up at the last possible second, controlled easily by antibiotics.

Terri Luanna was in labor for 36 hours, beating my record by 8 hours. She's exhausted but exceedingly happy....as is everyone here, especially her husband Heron.

Waiting Is…

2009-05-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

….as Valentine Michael Smith was always telling Jubal Harshaw in Robert Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

Spider and I have been in New York City for a couple of weeks now, awaiting the birth of Marisa Alegria, our first grandchild. By now, we’re almost as eager for it to happen as our daughter Terri Luanna is.

While we’re here, though, we’ve been making good use of our time. For instance, on May 9 we both attended the NYC Aerial Dance Festival 2009, presented by Fly-By-Night Dance Theater.

It was inspirational. As I sat and watched I realized there will definitely have to be at least some aerial dance in the Stardance film. I’ve been following it closely for years to study how to adapt some of their rigging skills and harness work for the zero gee sequences. Now I realize the third and final earthbound dance I have in mind will definitely have to feature some aerial dance on its own terms, too.

And of course Spider and I both found ourselves a bit teary-eyed as we watched Sara Joel’s piece “Surface,” which opened with her inside a transparent Plexiglass sphere that unmistakably represented a womb, doing movement clearly designed to evoke fetal life. Then halfway through she hung upside down from the sphere’s opening…..and it became apparent that she was in fact pregnant, at least five or six months along. It was a transcendent moment, and everyone gasped, even those non-grandparents-to-be in the audience.

The entire evening inspired and informed my next script-meeting with Jim. We’re moving right along—somewhat interrupted by this and that of course—finding ways to adapt the storyline of the original novella to the differing demands and constraints of the screen. It’s an exciting process…..even compared to waiting for a grandchild.

Back to waiting. As soon as we have Marisa on film, we’ll post a snapshot or two for you.

Miracles of Each Moment

2009-05-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Underneath the blazing orange-red Zen circle hanging above my altar, calligrapher Kazuaki Tanahashi wrote, “Miracles of each moment.” I’ve been studying those words daily since I became ill.

My latest miracle came last week on West 10th Avenue where Dr. Sharlene Gill and the board of specialists unanimously agreed that I’m healed enough to travel cross country to NY for our granddaughter’s birth. A true miracle!

For the moment, I’m off the hook, and in joyous disbelief. After weeks of lamenting the lost opportunity to be there for the birthing of my first grandchild, I find once again that as Mark Twain said, “The worst moments of my life…never happened.”

Spider and I found a fabulous cat-sitter for Symba, and now we’re busy packing for our early morning departure. So we’re happily heading east in time to meet baby Marisa Alegria da Silva, Buddha’s newest incarnation.

--Jeanne (aka: Nana Canada)

The Drain And I Are No Longer Circling Each Other

2009-04-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

...because I had it taken out last week by my brilliant surgeon, Dr. Buczkowski. I am once again a standalone, totally autonomous human person, without a five-pound weight and a bunch of circled tubing hanging from my side. I’m 5 weeks into a 6 to 8 week healing/recovery process following major abdominal surgery.

The public health nurses still come by to visit two days a week, to clean the wound and change the dressing. But it looks like I’m healing pretty well. I’ve even been encouraged to eat my favorite foods, to gain some weight back—so I’m having fun....but in small portions.

Things are looking good. I would like to thank my family, my husband, my sisters, for their amazing support and love throughout this ordeal. And now that I’m home, all the wonderful meals, home-made breads and other gifts that have turned up from my dear friends are deeply appreciated as well.

All this has served to remind me of the words of Suzuki Roshi, my first Zen teacher: “Don’t waste time.” I treasure each day as a gift, in a whole new way I’ve never experienced before. I’m so grateful for my 35 years of practicing Zen.

New news from Jeanne and Spider

2009-03-07T21:17:00.001-08:00

Hi Folks, Jim here - we didn't want to broadcast this at the time, but just before I went out to work with Jeanne she came down with...well...something (at the time the doctors were guessing at a few causes of her illness - ranging from somewhat minor to extremely scary.) We almost postponed, but the docs did something to tide Jeanne over and she felt good enough to work - and we did work, quite a bit. But during my trip out there Jeanne started to feel not-so-good again, and when I say "not-so-good" I mean to say TOP OF THE PAIN SCALE bad. She soldiered on, when she could, but shortly after my visit the docs finally figured out what was wrong - and they did something about it, pronto.

The pronto has lasted a few days now and Spider has asked me to post the following to the blog and get everyone up to speed. Take it away Spider...

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS:

Jeanne’s recent surgery at Vancouver General Hospital was a great success, from which she is expected to make a full complete recovery. YAY!!!

But it was far more complicated than expected, taking over 9 hours; that recovery will be slower and more difficult than anticipated. We’re now hoping she’ll be sent home Monday the 9th, by which time I’ll be over the flu I caught by hanging around hospitals all day and night. Her sister Laurie O’Neil has arrived from the east coast to help, with 2 others on standby.

PLEASE DON’T send flowers or cards; we appreciate the thought, a lot, but neither of us has the energy to deal. Emails that don’t call for response are OK, but please send them ONLY to my website, spiderweb@shaw.ca —I want to keep her personal In Box as empty as I possibly can. Prayers, healing thoughts of any sort, are more than welcome; thank you.

And God bless Tommy Douglas, who created Canada’s socialized medicine.

-- Spider

Two and a Half Weeks Later

2009-02-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

It's been two and a half weeks since I left the Island - and while there we got a good start on the screenplay adaptation - over 20 pages, and we've added about 6 pages since then. I had a blast with Spider and Jeanne as they hosted me in their lovely home. (That's the three of us waiting for a water taxi to take us into Vancouver to see a marvelous play called "SkyDive" - that happens to use some technology that might prove useful for our film - yes, research can be fun.)

As far as those 6 pages go we're a little behind schedule (having the stated goal of 3 to 5 pages per week) but I blame some of the slow progress to catching up on personal stuff left by the wayside while I was living on a island in Canada, though I can't rule out writer's block coupled with procrastination. I will tell you that BREAKTHROUGHS are happening in these few pages.

Other cool things happened during my "writing vacation": I got to play some tunes with Spider (he did most of the playing, but I sung along and tried to keep up on guitar...as any of you have seen Spider live can attest, he's the consummate showman, even when playing for an audience of one.) Also, we hiked out to Jeanne's Zen spot on the rocky north point of the island. But collaborating with Jeanne and getting a good deal of writing done eclipsed everything else.

Afterglow

2009-01-31T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here at Tottering-on-the Brink, my home, Jim’s radiant light continues to remain visible even though he’s currently in midflight, on his way home to his loving family.

We shared a remarkable week -- with Stardance at its centre. Not only did the screenplay progress, but Jim and I became a solid writing team. Collaboration is an intimate act of trust, respect, generosity, and faith. By the end of our first marathon session, we knew we were a solid karass, and will be able to complete the script long distance.

We’ve mapped out a schedule to keep us on track. Feel free to ask us questions about the work or our process, and we’ll do our best to respond as time allows.

Spider spent part of the week looking over our shoulders as we worked at the kitchen table. (He took the photo that accompanies this.) A few days ago we invited him to sit down at Jim’s largescreen monitor and read the work, and he says we’re nailing it.

(Spider here: it’s way better than I could have done. I’m dead chuffed, as they say on Coronation Street. Jim isn’t just a very good screenwriter, he’s compatible with Jeanne’s mindset: they make a good team.)

Continued thanks to all of you who have helped make this wonderful process possible. It’s gonna be great….

Writing Marathon

2009-01-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

Jim’s here! He arrived safely on the doorstep of our island cottage, Tottering-on-the-Brink, for a weeklong script conference/writing marathon. We’ve just come back from dinner at Doc Morgan’s, a local pub, and the coffee’s brewing in the background as I type this. Jim looks great, and we’re both excited about the opportunity to advance this project.

Spider will be looking over our shoulder and cheerleading, since Tor has not yet seen fit to grind out the contract for his new Orphan Stars Trilogy (check his website for details). Fortunately, the weather has finally decided to have mercy on us: it doesn’t look as though any snow or hail have been scheduled for this week. I have several “Muse-spots” on this island that I use for inspiration…and we can bring our laptops with us as long as the weather permits.

Wish us luck. I’m excited….

High Tech Collaboration

2009-01-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

Things just keep getting better and better.

I purchased a copy of Final Draft, an amazingly powerful screenwriting program, specifically for Stardance, and it makes formatting a breeze - anticipates every keystroke....I wouldn't be surprised if it warns us of tired plot devices and filters worn-out phrases.

It get's better - I get two installations with my license - so Jeanne and I both have FinalDraft installed on our respective mac-books, and today I discovered the feature to end all features. These puppies talk to each other over the Webbernet - allowing us to open ONE document together and take turns writing on the thing IN REAL TIME. (And here I thought we would only be able to do true "lets sit down and write together" stuff with the help of an airplane.)

Add SKYPE or YIM with sound and video into the mix and we'll be practically in the same room.

We're just steps away from stepping discs, Larry. WooHoo!

Happy New Year, thanks all for your support.

Our mission – a year later

2008-12-30T08:57:00.000-08:00

It’s the traditional time of year to look back and reflect—and we zero-G dancers are nothing if not traditional. So I’ve just finished rereading our earliest blog entries about last year’s zero-g ride on December 30th, 2007.

The entry I wrote a week later on January 6, 2007 says it best, marrying the past with the present. I’m as committed today as I was then, following our first zero-g research ride. The thrill of that gift will remain with me for lifetimes. And I have Dr. Peter Diamandis and Zero G Corp to thank for their visionary generosity in giving me and the Stardance team that extraordinary gift.

As I’ve said before, being free of falling is an unforgettable experience. For a fleeting eternity, you feel bathed in a delicious, unspeakable delight. It’s a universally familiar experience the first time it ever happens to you; one whose memory lingers. Odd, really, when you consider that not one of my evolutionary ancestors was ever in zero-G for longer than it took them to fall off a roof. (Or maybe I’m just not going far enough back into my ancestry. Spider may be right: we may all be descended from stardwellers.)

Last year on the day of our flight my Zen Calendar offered a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away."

I said it then and I’ll say it now: be assured that I won't be silent about the gifts I've been given, and they are being fully used.

The Stardance team continues on its mission of discovery to expand the vocabulary of human feeling by presenting us with something we've never experienced before. Last year's zero-g ride was a breathtakingly weightless step toward the realization of our mission.

And the year just past has been a period of long, slow reentry, which as you know is a process of building energy that only starts to seem really exciting to an observer right at the end. Jim and I are now at that stage Spider calls the most paradoxical part of writing, where we are busting our chops so hard that to a hypothetical outsider it looks as though we’re both just staring into space, doing nothing at all. Things will continue like that, Spider says, for a hundred million billion years…and then we’ll suddenly look up and realize we’re holding a completed screenplay (our third) in our hands, ready for the cameras. And meanwhile we continue to beat the bushes for our angel: the funding source who can greenlight us to make the film. Exciting, satisfying times, for Jim and I both.

(There’s an added layer of meaning for me. I’ve spent a lot of time recently trying to establish telepathic communication with my first grandchild—who is, at this moment, in free fall, being a zero-G dancer…in my daughter’s womb. But more on that after I’ve seen the kid, sometime in May.)

Today, right now, Jim and I just want to honor and thank all of you who have joined the Stardance mission of discovery. We could not have come this far without you—and we’ll continue thanks to you. We’re creating a new artform together: what could be cooler than that?

That is after all (somebody once said) what it is to be human: to persist.

Happy New Year!

--Jeanne