The Hive
The official blog of science fiction / horror author Terence West.
William Gibson Blog
Famed author of Neuromancer and Johnny Mnemonic: The Screenplay.
The Word Foundry
Joe Clifford Faust's "blog of a working writer: tracking writing projects, musings on the
creative process, occasional side trips into music, media, politics, religion, etc."
A Writer's Diary
By Cynthia Harrison, who has the good sense to quote Virginia Woolf: "The truth is that writing
is the profound pleasure and being read the superficial."
The American Sentimentalist
"Never has any people endured its own tragedy with so little sense of the tragic." Essays by Mark W. Anderson.
Screenwriting By Blog
David C. Daniel writes a screenplay online. "I've decided to publish the process as a way to push myself through it.
From concept to completion, it'll be here."
SeanAlonzo.com
Official site of occult fiction author Sean-Alonzo, exploring symbolism, alternative
history, philosophy, secret societies and other areas of the esoteric tradition.
Crafty Screenwriting
Maunderings of Alex Epstein, tv scribe, about life, politics, and the tv show I'm co-creating.
Stealing Heaven From The Lips Of God
Writer & Artist, Dee Rimbaud reflects upon politics, religion, art, poetry, the meaning of life,
the nature of God and why toast always lands butter side down on carpets.
The Writing Life...
"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's." J.D. Salinger
"All my best friends are writers and are dead." A friend over beer, Berkeley, winter, 1959
"And it came to pass that all the stars in the firmament had ceased to shine. But how was anyone to know?" The Half-Life Conspiracy
Monday, July 31, 2006 Kudos "Thanks for this major creative effort," ends an email from a writer I admire, in which much praise of the review is given. A nice way to start the day.
7/31/2006 11:16:00 AM |
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Disappointing
There is much I like in "Mad Hot Ballroom." Begin with the kids. They're great. Listening to them is great. Watching them is great. But "a story is a promise," to use the title of a book by Bill Johnson, and this film does not deliver on what it sets up, which is a kind of human drama about competition and its appropriateness for children. The film ends with victory, period, at exactly the wrong moment -- as if this is all that mattered, begging the dramatic question. A close call but thumbs down.
7/31/2006 07:14:00 AM |
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Sunday, July 30, 2006 SCOOP: Light and clever Woody Allen having fun in a solid, witty two hours of entertainment. Lots of great lines and funny bits, wonderful performances.
7/30/2006 05:24:00 PM |
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Saturday, July 29, 2006 Guru shmuru Every now and again I stumble upon a reference to me as a "screenwriting guru." Here, for example.. Now, granted, I had one of the very first screenwriting websites online at which, being a teacher, I gave basic screenwriting tips and advice. But alas I am not a guru -- no, not alas, because I have a great mistrust of gurus, particularly when they want your money. What the electronic version of Screenwright does so well, I think, is gather together information from a wide variety of resources, showing how many, many writers, screenwriting teachers and "gurus" are really saying the same thing. Now this is not a popular stance in the marketplace. Indeed, when Focus publishing wanted to publish my screenwriting book, they required me to remove many of these inclusions and references because they wanted the book to be more about "me" and "my" theory of screenwriting. This is why I prefer the original electronic version to its various print children, including the latest, Practical Screenwriting (which I use in the classroom nonetheless). I embrace the fact that many people say the same thing. However, when you are trying to make a buck, you set yourself in competition with these people, which is why everyone reinvents the wheel and gives it a new label in order to appear to be saying something new. But not much new about storytelling has been said since Aristotle. The simple truth -- and, of course, the simple truth is not marketable.
So if you want to call me a guru, it's better than being called a Republican. Or a Democrat (got you!).
7/29/2006 10:27:00 AM |
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The meeting... ...yesterday was very long and very productive. Cut some songs, shifted some songs, found some script problems and determined what is left to do. Onward.
7/29/2006 10:06:00 AM |
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Eric Monte What an inspirational story on NPR this morning! The story of Eric Monte, the early black sitcom writer who created the Jeffersons for "All in the Family," created "Good Times" and wrote and produced the movie "Cooley High." A pioneer with a tragic story turned inspirational. Here's the outline -- and here's the link for the audio story.
Monte hitch-hikes to LA from Chicago with five bucks in his pocket. Goal, write for the movies. Sold some spec scripts to "All in the Family" and created the Jeffersons. Created an original black sitcom -- but trouble began when the white producers wanted more cliches about black family life -- the clown, the weak father -- than Monte wanted to write. Finally left the show. Then the Jeffersons got their own sitcom with no credit or remuneration to Monte. He sued -- and won a million dollar settlement. End of writing career. He was virtually blacklisted as a troublemaker. Then the not unusual slide into addiction, finally losing everything.
What makes the story inspirational is where he is today. He is homeless. He lives in a Salvation Army shelter. But he has a constant companion -- his laptop. He writes every day. He calls himself a very happy man. I write, therefore I am. Writing as an existential act, which is writing at its best, always. Hearing the man is an inspiration. From fame and fortune to the homeless shelter -- and he's still on top of his game (his words). He has 30 new projects ready to pitch, written in the shelter on his laptop. Listen to this story.
Friday, July 28, 2006 Sunset A full afternoon planned, going over the musical with the composer. Presumably I'll come out of this knowing what to rewrite (not much, I hope) and seeing light at the end of the tunnel etc to get this puppy wrapped up. Meanwhile, continuing the heavy brooding about Sally.
7/28/2006 06:15:00 AM |
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Thursday, July 27, 2006 B&B Early morning "brooding & brainstorming" on Sally, thinking about its story development down the road. Some new notions that may stick. I'm such a fumble-bum this first draft through, but it's always been the way the process works for me. Before I had confidence it would all come together in the end, this part of the process was a nightmare. Now I appreciate its mystery, its false turns, its sudden insights, and try to go with the flow and save my analytical brain for later.
Made some notes for Nails In My Coffin. A book of related stories, all set in a retirement center, each a story about one of the residents there.
I have three thin volumes that represent some of the best of my work, I think, which together would make a nice gift: maybe I'll give a few out for Christmas. Elvis, the recent collection of 11 stories; Famililly, my award-winning play; and The Brazen Wing, my recent and probably best screenplay. Each book only a tad over 100 pages. A nice sampler.
Still have the new Bedrooms & Bars to finish as well, mostly grunt work.
I think I finally have Salty Dog Blues down on the 5-string banjo. I may put an mp3 here.
Time to haul out our camp gear and make sure everything is in order in prep for a trip down the road. After Labor Day the dog and I are bachelors for a few weeks, H off on one of her east coast journeys. That will be school prep time. Using almost all new books next term, so I have lots of work to do. I'm using my book and Sideways, the two from last year, but also Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters and Casablanca. I hope it works so I use these all three terms. I've never done that! In fact, I don't think I've duplicated two terms. I keep tweaking everything, trying to get it perfect, I suppose. Never do.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Sally This is going to be more difficult a project than recent ones. I need to be patient with it, move forward through the draft however slowly, and trust I can figure it all out in the more analytical rewriting process.
It might be helpful to be working on something easier at the same time. I looked into a possible history project but finally rejected it. Looking into another. Also, I do have an idea for a collection of related stories, gathered under a title I love, from a country song, Nails In My Coffin.
I also found a half-completed screenplay based on my Army experiences. Will see how it reads, if I have enthusiasm to finish it. Again, a title I like: Hitler's Blue Movie.
7/26/2006 07:55:00 PM |
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True roots Some months back I received a phone call from a NY filmmaker working on a documentary about the real roots of rock. He'd seen my essay, Birthing Little Richard about my own experiences during this period. At any rate, he's also put together a 2-CD collection of great roots music, called Rock Before Elvis. An amazing collection.
The first CD
1. Let It Lay Kenzie Moore Specialty 456 1952 2. Atlanta Boogie Tommy Brown Regent 1003 1949 3. Rock Little Baby Cecil Gant Decca 48200 1951 4. Rock-A-Bye Baby Roy Brown DeLuxe 3319 1951 5. Rock And Roll Doles Dickens Decca 48110 1949 6. Rock A While Goree Carter Freedom 1506 1949 7. Rock The Joint (original version) Jimmy Preston Gotham 188 1949 8. Bouncing With Red Piano Red RCA 20-4524 1951 9. Juiced Jackie Brenston w. Billy Love Chess 1472 1951 10. Drop Top Billy Love Chess 1508 1952 11. Leroy Sent Me Joe Brown and his Kool Kats Regent 1012 1949 12. How About Rockin' With Me Piney Brown Apollo 423 1950 13. Fat Mama Jimmy Smith Savoy 709 1949 14. Rock And Roll Wild Bill Moore Modern 674 1948 15. Willow Tree Blues Freddie Mitchel w. Walter "Sandman" Howard Derby 762 1951 16. Rock And Roll Blues Erline Harris DeLuxe 3220 1949 17. The Fat Man Fats Domino Imperial 5058 1949 18. Rocking Chair Blues Paul Hucklebuck Williams Savoy 814 1951 19. Let's Do It (Rock Away Blues) Stick McGhee / Brownie Atlantic 912 1950 20. Sausage Rock Doc Sausage Regal 3251 1950 21. Rock The Joint Chris Powell's 5 Blue Flames Columbia 30175 1949 22. That's Right Chris Powell's 5 Blue Flames Okeh 6850 1949 23. It Ain't Nothing Happening Paul Gayton Okeh 6972 1952 24. Rock Little Francis The 5 Willows Allen 1000 1953 25. Rockin' With Red Piano Red RCA (alternate take) 1950 26. Red's Boogie Piano Red RCA 22-0099 1950 27. Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee Stick McGhee Atlantic 873 1949 28. Come On-A My House Louis Prima Robin Hood 111 1950 29. Rockola Joe Lutcher Modern 20-661 1949 30. Shufflin' Boogie Luke Jones Atlas 122 1947
The second CD
1. We're Gonna Rock Cecil Gant (as Gunter Lee Carr) Decca 48170 1950 2. Rock That Boogie Jimmy Smith Acorn 301 1949 3. Talkin' Boogie Jimmy Smith Savoy 709 1949 4. Rock H-Bomb Rock H-Bomb Ferguson Atlas 001 1950 5. Rock And Roll Manhattan Paul Bascomb Manor 1137 1947 6. Everything's Gonna Be Alright King Perry Specialty 367 1950 7. Leave Married Women Alone Jimmy Cavallo BSD 1005 1951 8. Rock The Joint Jimmy Cavallo BSD 1005 1951 9. Rocket 88 Jackie Brenston / Ike Turner Chess 1458 1951 10. Rockin' And Jumpin' Honey Brown Derby 761 1951 11. Little Rock Special Pat The Cat and His Kittens w. Vic Fontaine BSD 1009 1952 12. Rock Me All Night Long The Ravens Mercury 8291 1952 13. Rock Little Daddy Freddie Mitchell Orch. w. Eunice Davis Derby 752 1951 14. Rockin' Is Our Bizness The Treniers Oheh 6960 1952 15. Gonna Dance All Night Hardrock Gunter Bama 201 1950 16. We're Gonna Rock Wild Bill Moore Savoy 666 1947 17. Around The Clock Blues Big Joe Turner Stag 508 1947 18. Rockin' The Blues Max Bailey Bullet 310 1949 19. Real Rock Drive Bill Haley with Haley's Comets Essex 310 1952 20. We're Gonna Rock This Joint The Jackson Brothers RCA 20-475004 1952 21. Cuttin' Out Walter "Sandman" Howard Derby 762 1950 22. All Night Long Johnny Otis Savoy 788 1951 23. Amos Blues Amos Milburn Aladin 159 1946 24. I Want To Rock Cab Calloway Okeh 6616 1942 25. The Boogie Rocks Albert Ammons Commodore 617 1944 26. Good Rocking Tonight Roy Brown DeLuxe 1093 1947 27. Good Rocking Tonight Wynonie Harris King 4210 1947 28. Rockin' At Midnight Roy Brown DeLuxe 3212 1949 29. Bad News Baby (There'll Be No Rocking Tonight) Wynonie Harris King 4593 1951 30. Ain't No Rocking No More Roy Brown King LP 1953 31. (Secret Bonus Track) Severe Sly Lip Sun 210 1954
Chores A full morning of editing chores for the review, not letting the work pile up too much. Keeping ahead of the submissions etc. And brooding about the next chapter of Sally, which I think I'm about ready to begin. Where would writers be without brooding? It's one of the more important activities in the process. This is what studio heads could never understand in the old days, seeing their screenwriters sitting silently at their typewriters, staring into space, looking like slackers to be sure. "Schmucks with typewriters," they were called. Not much has changed since then.
7/25/2006 10:50:00 AM |
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Monday, July 24, 2006 Onward Ah, this is the first good writing day I've had in a while. Feels good! Now to keep up the momentum through the week.
7/24/2006 06:05:00 PM |
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Fresh start Determined to get back on track with Sally, I'm printing what I have to go over it and get back into the rhythm of the piece. I think I've written myself into a problem, hence the sudden halt on it. The concept is right, I think the tone is right, there must be a story point I'm missing or otherwise am drifting too far off the through-line. Will read what I have carefully and see.
My late best friend appeared before me yesterday, clear as day. I was listening to a morning poetry reading - jazz concert at a church. Good stuff for the most part. Then a lady vocalist sang, who was mediocre. When I looked away, there was Dick grinning at me, with that silly "oh my!" expression he used to shoot my way when we experienced mediocrity together. He's been gone almost eight years but still isn't all that far away.
I have some touch-up to do on musical lyrics, which hopefully I can finish up today. Lots of grunt work to do on two other projects, a good way to fill non-creative time. I am eager to get in gear and be more of my old obsessive self than I've been so far this summer. I ain't dead yet ha ha (knock on my wooden head).
7/24/2006 06:52:00 AM |
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Sunday, July 23, 2006 War and baseball I was listening to the Mariners game on the radio when there was a brief newsbreak about, what else?, war (in this case, Israel in Lebanon) -- and suddenly thoughts rushed in from 1960 when I was a soldier newly arrived in Germany. I was struck by how many Nazis I ran into (it's only 15 years after the war, of course). I met several in German bars who, learning I was American, argued that war was like the world series and we won the first two but it's best of seven. In a gasthaus near our kaserne, after the German cops made their last rounds, the owner opened up the jukebox and put on banned Nazis marching songs, to which everyone sang along. It was more weird than scary to me at the time. At the same gasthaus -- in those notoriously politically incorrect times -- a guy in our outfit would recite Hitler speeches for free beers for all the American soldiers present. Came in handy at the end of the month when everyone was broke.
I've never written my Cold War, Russian spy novel. It's in that dark comic tradition of the great ones. Maybe I need to get to that.
7/23/2006 05:24:00 PM |
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Me bad I need to follow my own advice, such as, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Not following this, I screwed up my computer trying to do something more decorative than essential and it took me a while this morning to get it back as it was before. Jeez.
7/23/2006 02:17:00 PM |
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Saturday, July 22, 2006
Bluegrass discovery We wandered into a small town funky bluegrass festival in Troutdale today. A band there blew me away: Zach Driscoll and Three Quarter Time, with incredible 17 year-old banjo and fiddle players. First rate stuff! Going to search them out and see more.
7/22/2006 03:39:00 PM |
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Friday, July 21, 2006 Heat Well, summer is here at last, over 100 today, which is better than under 70 as far as I'm concerned.
Reading but not doing much writing -- still. Interesting. I don't think I've "quit," though this is a very long unproductive period for my usually obsessive self. Doing some editing duties but no work on Sally lately. Maybe I'm still in relief over finishing the hardest work of the albatross-musical.
7/21/2006 03:42:00 PM |
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Thursday, July 20, 2006 Fine-tuning Went through the musical and found three scenes/songs in the much-too-long first act that I think we can cut. Getting the composer to do this won't be easy: he's new at this and like most beginners, therefore thinks everything he does is sculpted in gold.
7/20/2006 02:18:00 PM |
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Wednesday, July 19, 2006 Changing times It's been forty years or more since I read this Hemingway classic last. I'm enjoying it a lot but I can't imagine this would be easily published today since its plot elements are so low-key, far secondary to character elements. I can just hear an agent saying, Who wants to read about guys talking in a bar? What happens? They go to another bar ha ha. And then they get out of town for a trip. But every scene has such a ring of truth, who cares if the narrative isn't very suspenseful? Truth mattered more half a century ago than it does now in the eyes of the literary power brokers.
7/19/2006 06:31:00 PM |
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Broken Trail We taped this miniseries on TiVo and finished watching it last night. Quite good! Runs four hours, I believe, an unusual on-the-trail western of cowboys rescuing young Chinese women who had been sold into prostitution.
7/19/2006 06:23:00 PM |
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Mellow As if in relief from getting the albatross of the musical off my back, I've been loafing all day. Biggest accomplishment a long, leisurely people-watching lunch with a friend at a sidewalk cafe.
7/19/2006 06:21:00 PM |
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Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Relief Just sent the full script/book of the musical to the composer ... a great load off my back! Been working on this sucker for a few years, having taken over my friend Ger's role after he passed away. It's been a pretty stressful experience, the musical not really natural ground for me (as opposed to opera, say). I'm damn glad I'm mostly done now. Rewriting is analytical, not like pulling teeth in a draft you are struggling with.
Downhill side Finished the lyrics for the musical, so I think all that's left is analysis and rewriting, less stressful work than first draft stuff for me. To raise my spirits, I fiddled with cover ideas for the coil bound script, music we'd market. Rather like the direction the cover is heading in. Onward.
7/18/2006 11:43:00 AM |
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Monday, July 17, 2006 Sunset Finally back to work on my albatross, the musical. Did two songs yesterday and two more this morning. The end is in sight!
7/17/2006 09:29:00 AM |
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Sunday, July 16, 2006 Ultimate Sacrifice As I've noted here before, I've lived through two great historical controversies that I'd like resolved before I pass on: the assassination of John Kennedy and the alleged UFO crash at Roswell. I've read and thought a lot about both events but in the past no argument has convinced me, though I tend toward these conclusions: Oswald was a patsy; and yes, a UFO did crash at Roswell.
The 900+ page study Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann settles the matter for me. I find the thesis here proven with extensive documentation: and the thesis is that JFK was murdered by the mafia in retaliation for RFK's obsession to put the godfathers in prison; that the mafia infiltrated a coup planned for December 1, 1963 and was able to make it too risky for the government to thoroughly investigate an assassination without making public the plan for a coup; that attempts in Chicago and Tampa failed before the successful one in Dallas; that Oswald was easily set up to take the rap (and Trippit set up as well) -- as far-fetched as this plot may sound, the documentation in recently unclassified documents and interviews of those with first hand knowledge of the planned coup build a very convincing case. This historical mystery, as far as I'm concerned, is now put to rest.
7/16/2006 01:44:00 PM |
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Saturday, July 15, 2006 Mississippi Street Fair Took in the funky homegrown Mississippi Street Fair this afternoon, a festival not yet institutionalized, gentrified, and corporate-wed, as festivals come to be after they've been around for a spell. Once again in my neighborhood of 1967, where I came of age as a writer, my apartment at the time still there looking remarkably the same, the tavern that was home-away-from-home now a nursery. Always get nostalgic in this neighborhood, now the bohemian center of Portland, which means gentrification is just around the corner.
7/15/2006 04:32:00 PM |
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KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Barbaro was given a walk in the intensive care unit by his veterinarian, perhaps a sign the ailing Kentucky Derby winner was responding well to treatment for an often fatal condition in his left hind leg.
And after spending 2 1/2 hours visiting Barbaro on Friday, jockey Edgar Prado came away feeling much better about the colt's chance to survive a severe case of laminitis and a reconstructed right hind leg that was shattered in the first few yards of the Preakness Stakes on May 20.
"He looked much better than I thought he would," Prado said after leaving New York at 4:30 a.m. and visiting the colt who gave him his first Derby victory. "I fed him, walked with him and he put his head on my shoulder and fell asleep."
Office To my university office early in the morning again -- can't stay away from this place ha ha. Grunt work that goes more quickly with a T1 line.
I really need to get in gear on this musical and finish my end of the damn thing! This is going to be top priority in the immediate weeks ahead. I can't let this drag into the new term.
Also find myself doing various end of career chores. I don't feel like it's the end but they are things that need doing.
7/15/2006 07:03:00 AM |
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Friday, July 14, 2006 Haiku What a strange summer! Mostly reading, not writing. Old age? Change of life?
7/14/2006 09:05:00 PM |
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Thursday, July 13, 2006 Nightmares & Dreamscapes The producers who decided to bring Stephen King's short stories to the television screen in this new series made a mistake, at least judging by the first two episodes: making a one hour program instead of a thirty minute one. The stories drag from repetition and lose much of their power as a result. I think I've seen enough.
7/13/2006 09:06:00 PM |
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Say what? Continuing her optimistic teenage-logic, Michelle Wie after shooting six-over to blow the first round with the men today: "Considering that I had the water hazard penalties, considering that I had to call unplayable, considering that I hit my driver like 50 yards right, I felt like I played really well." She's a sweet girl, I assume, but why can't she tell reporters, "Boy, did I play lousy today!" She's the Candide of sports, living in the best of all possible worlds as it crumbles around her.
7/13/2006 05:45:00 PM |
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Sad news From the wire:
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has developed a severe case of laminitis, a potentially fatal disease caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs, and his veterinarian called his chances for survival "a long shot." ADVERTISEMENT
Dean Richardson, the chief surgeon who has been treating Barbaro since the colt suffered catastrophic injuries in the Preakness on May 20, said the Derby winner's chances of survival are poor.
Early start To the office early to do some large uploads. Then to breakfast. Hopefully, I'm about to get into my belated summer work rhythm, which I really haven't found yet. All the same, having fun!
Rec'd an email inviting me to make a presentation of hyperdrama to a playwriting conference in Ohio. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll pay my way, so I probably won't do it.
7/13/2006 07:01:00 AM |
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Wednesday, July 12, 2006 New blood A fine long chat over coffee this morning with a 30ish beginning playwright who recently moved here from New Jersey. He's very interested in writing plays based on Oregon history and regional issues -- and has several good ideas in this direction. I encouraged him to go for it. I like his enthusiasm, and I like that he's not from here, which will give him a fresh perspective. In a way, he reminded me of myself thirty years ago. I'll be keeping in touch with him.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Slow day A bit of writing in the morning, reading the rest of the day. Running at half speed.
7/11/2006 08:29:00 PM |
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Monday, July 10, 2006 Sanctuary A busy morning. Went early to my office at the university for a change of environment and easily wrote a chapter on Sally. Then some chores and home. A good start to the week.
A couple of disappointing moments in sports over the weekend: first the head butt and ejection by France's soccer star, hell of a way to end a career; then Michelle Wie, after being blown out by 4 strokes in match play, saying in an interview she was "awesome" in her play and just had some bad breaks. There's a teenager for you. Dear Michelle, when you miss an easy putt it is not a bad break. It is screwing up. Screwing up is not "awesome."
7/10/2006 11:57:00 AM |
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Sunday, July 09, 2006 Another by Art Art, you need to title these! How about "L.A." for this one?
7/09/2006 06:40:00 PM |
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Hanging out Harriet and I had a lovely afternoon yesterday hanging out in northwest Portland. First stop Nobby's, for the 70th birthday of the waitress who's been serving me breakfast for twenty years. After that, we decided to try someplace new for lunch and found a real winner, eating on the porch in great weather, fine food reasonably priced, we'll be back.
We don't do enough of this, H being twice as busy as she was before retirement, what with a zillion organizations she belongs to, volunteer work, art classes, a long list of friends to keep up with. The opposite of me, who has outlived all my close friends and most of my acquaintances. Indeed, most the people close to me now live in LA or Idaho. When I go out with someone for coffee in town any more, more often than not it's with a stranger, usually a young writer, who wants to meet me for one reason or another. An ex girlfriend is about the only one I'd feel comfortable calling up for a coffee date. I'm not complaining, at least not very loudly, but merely pointing out how different our social worlds are. As I've said before, I've reached the time in my life in which my best friend is a dog -- which also happens to be the resolution of Kerouac's Scroll. Speaking of which, I did a private printing for a few people I wanted to get it to but otherwise continue to market it, if without success, though last week an agent asked for the first fifty pages. I don't expect anyone to pick it up. However, I reread it recently and it's exactly what I intended it to be. My tastes aren't shared by many.
Yesterday morning I got some work done on this musical that's been hanging over me far too long. I'll try to devote a lot of time to act two this week and see if I can get out from under this thing. I'm not that enthused about it, alas, though it has its moments, but to my ear all the damn songs sound too much alike, it gets boring musically.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Beautiful film Paul Newman directing Joanne Woodward in a film based on Paul Zindel's Pulitzer-winning play: what could be better? A sad poignant story of Woodward as a bitter single parent of two daughters, one of whom is a science whiz and finds in her school experiments hope and escape from her depressing home environment. The play is a favorite of mine, and this is more than a filmed play, it's reinterpreted, and very well, for the screen. If you missed this one, rent it.
7/08/2006 08:18:00 AM |
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Friday, July 07, 2006 First rate sports documentary Heart of the Game is the best basketball documentary I've seen, including Hoop Dreams. Following several years with a Seattle girls basketball team, the film is full of humor, surprises, drama and true moments, with a cast that includes a charming eccentric coach and a troubled-turned-brave superstar. Highly recommended.
7/07/2006 07:59:00 PM |
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Blue sky Summer weather has returned. I was up to greet it before sunrise, watched the sky become blue, got some writing done on Sally (!), now am about to do some watering of the flowers outside before the predicted 80+ heat of the day. Summer! Let it stay longer this time around.
7/07/2006 07:16:00 AM |
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Thursday, July 06, 2006 Gray An umbrella of gray cool weather has settled over the city, interrupting our heat wave, relieving many -- and depressing the hell out of me. The forecast has 80-degree weather ahead, not really "hot" in my book but better.
7/06/2006 07:06:00 AM |
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006 Survived the 4th! Sketch and I survived the holiday fireworks. Back feels a tad better, too, so maybe I can start to get into a writing rhythm. Lots to do, lots I've been brooding about.
7/05/2006 07:28:00 AM |
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Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Ritual It's fortunate the holiday streets are abandoned because I'm screaming, "You insensitive idiot!" at the car radio as some lady vocalist butchers the WWII classic song "I'll Be Seeing You," changing the tune, changing the rhythm, turning it into a showcase for her horrid taste. If you're going to mess with a song, especially a classic, better move in the direction of proper interpretation and not destroy its intention, this sweet melancholy tune speaking to the human cost and sacrifices of war. Who is the idiot DJ who played this piece of crap? Usually our local jazz station does better, this is some holiday sub screwing up the morning.
I've been cruising and brooding, an old pre-writing ritual, and along the way decided to tweak the structure of Sally, the novel I'm working on, not much but just enough maybe to tilt it a certain way. Coffee at hand, Starbucks not abandoned at all, jazz on the radio but not after this, I change to the classical station to get me home reasonably sane.
Later the world cup returns. A nice holiday diversion. Until then, I'll test the changes in the novel. See how they take.
Not looking forward to tonight, the noise, comforting the terrified dog. In fact, I can't wait for this holiday to end.
7/04/2006 08:58:00 AM |
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Monday, July 03, 2006 Long Day's Journey Into Night I had this DVD in the house for over a month before I was in the mood to watch it again after many years -- it's not escapist, easy viewing material. The wait was worth it. A first rate version of the great O'Neill play. The quintessential dysfunctional American family story, I suppose, though it works on so many levels. I'm rereading the script while the story is fresh on my mind. Also I'd like to watch the Jack Lemmon TV version from twenty years ago, which I remember fondly as well. I was especially impressed with the pacing of this one, lots of overrunning lines, typical of drinkers.
7/03/2006 02:00:00 PM |
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Sunday, July 02, 2006 Blues cruise Fortunately, our blue cruise yesterday had something for everyone. There was music playing on each of the ship's three levels -- headliner, loud electric on the main deck; more loud electric on the second deck; and acoustic topside. Needless to say, I welded myself into a chair topside for the least popular but more enjoyable acoustic music, played by a highly talented lady whose name I forget. Very clean fingerpicker in the Mississippi John Hurt tradition, straight sensitive singing without histrionics, lots of class, lots of craft, I loved her. I would have jumped overboard if I had to listen to the other, ha ha, my driving electric deafening blues days long gone though I once enjoyed the genre, particularly if I fortified myself with alcohol first.
Topside I talked to a blind man who had fled the other decks with even more energy than I had. He depends on hearing, he says, and such auditory overload made him feel disoriented and, well, blind. Interesting perspective I never thought of but will make use of one day.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. Had a superb dinner afterwards at a sidewalk cafe, the best meatloaf I've had in a while, then came home to learn that France had upset Brazil in the world cup. I had taped it on the TiVo and watched the highlights. Then the Mariners made a terrific comeback to win and get within a game of first place in their division.
Only less-than-perfect moment of the evening was the premature firecrackers sending Sketch into hiding.
Saturday, July 01, 2006 Kudos I'm proud of my electronic screenwriting tutorial, Screenwright. As a hypertext educational tool, it was ahead of its time in 1997 when I first released it -- and it's still ahead of its time. It's received much praise over the years, and I'm still delighted to hear from happy customers, like the one today:
Thank YOU for your great tutorial. I have only just begun working with it and I am totally thrilled! I am a fiction writer who has been interested in trying my hand at screenplays for a long time. I purchased First Draft software which certainly saves a lot of work, but I have never had a good understanding of the logic behind the screenplay format and have searched for simple answers for a long time. I have already learned more from an hour of working with Screenwright than I have been able to after months of surfing the web in search of answers.
The Nation's birthday I spent July, 1993, in a VA hospital and my feelings about the 4th of July haven't been the same since I saw Vietnam war vets dive for cover at the sound of fireworks, some yelling, "Incoming!" Our dog feels the same way and takes to hiding under the bed. So I can do without all the firecracker racket, though I enjoy celebrating the remarkable feat of our Founding Fathers with picnics and parades. The early noise started last night and poor Sketch went into hiding.
Today we take a blues cruise, the most ambitious holiday outing I'm taking. Weather is perfect for it. I'll try to remember to take along my camera.
Getting some early submissions to the review. Want to do a better job of staying ahead of them than I did last time. Also got some new songs for the musical, which I intend to wrap up this summer. Need to get back into writing gear after the holiday. I've been moving slowly. Back a tad better but it really slows me down.
7/01/2006 08:12:00 AM |
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_The Writing Life