Sunday, December 23, 2018
Merry Kaiju and a Happy New Year
The 12 Kaiju's of Christmas for me include monsters, guardians, robots, prehistoric beasts and protectors of his people. These are treasured moments and memories in my life, and I have to say, if you look closely, most of these creatures came about a long time ago. I am told by my son, who I love, that I am old. Well perhaps.
But recently, I have great hope. I've loved movies about the beasts and ideas and genres of my past, but, recently, Pacific Rim, Godzilla 2014, and Kong Skull Island give me as much or more joy as those of my childhood. And while some people hated, or did not like any of these, I am not saying they are fucking greatest movies in the cinematic history of mankind. Movies by Tim Burton, Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, Ridley Scott, and precious few directors don't just appear out of the blue. We have to enjoy some movies for what they are, others for what they did with what they were, and enjoy those few gems we have a chance to see.
Tim Burton once referred to Godzilla Versus King Kong as a cathartic experience, or even, a joyful experience to his sensitivities as a child. I so agree.
And while it happens that not every movie that gets a series continues to be great, I like the movies I've seen recently and have great vast expectations for the future.
LONG LIVE KAIJU. ALL HAIL OUR PROTECTORS FROM THE MONSTERS WHO WANT TO DESTROY THE EARTH!
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Art and the propaganda to build a new society
“All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescabably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.” Upton Sinclair
(All images are public domain, click upon them to see them in larger form.)
Art is a means of expression. Creative ways of presentation can draw new ideas, and new perspectives. Or art can serve the corporate state and allow and encourage the state to dictate values, ideas, and desires, or more, create a new version of the history of that state. Beyond that, the corporate state can cause a false memory to grow.
“The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is
small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of
these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few
points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the
public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.”
Adolf Hitler
Human minds wander, gathering recollections and beliefs, and a disciplined presentation of a certain few points can cause the mind of an individual to believe in, but actually remember falsehood.
Not every piece of propaganda by a state is wrong, necessarily, but causing people to believe in space exploration isn't an enormous or great thing. Most consider exploration and space to be a fine thing. But add space exploration which is a far off desire to that of the presentation that the state can only grow and serve more people if you accept its version of reality, means, getting people to agree that space exploration is great is not the point, but, the concept is, only by following the Soviet leadership can we achieve this great goal. Of course we think the environment deserves saving, we only have one planet. But, saying such through the auspices of the Soviet state means, only by supporting the state can we save the planet.
The Soviet Union was not, necessarily aimed at evil goals. The rise of the collective state is meant, at least in the theoretical, to be a beneficial spreading of the resources to all the people, rather than to the wealthy, the elite or the powerful. In practice we know that the truth was quite different. The state served the political elite. Does that mean we should declare all of the state bad? In this case, we should at the very least recognize that the corporate state killed anyone who disagreed with it. It starved 5-8 million Ukranians who refused to go along with farm collectivism.
"Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both." Martin Luther King, Jr.
I might
here be accused of suggesting I think Communism is evil. I think how it
was practiced was evil. Do I throw in Socialism with the Communist
failures? No, but, I think we have ignored the mass insanity it
often requires to make it work. If you tore the theories apart as people tear
apart capitalism, you might end up thinking nothing works. And the
truth is, there are reasons why capitalism works that are often
ignored. Did the US grow economically due to pure capitalism? No. It
grew upon the backs of tobacco and cotton farmers and the availability
of cheap, indeed, even slave labor. If you think slavery would have
been removed if it wasn't a waning economic boon, well, you need to
reassess your view.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Where to find talented writers from across the pond
I was told by a reader of one of my blogs that I have elitist taste in
comics. Yes, I like the work of Grant Morrison, Jamie Delano, and more
UK/Ireland writers, but a lot of American, French, Japanese and other
writers and artists as well.
Liking intelligent writers creating great work isn't elitism. Doesn't
anyone prefer good creative arts? Who wants to read drekk? I don't
think I read only elitist work. I think good work doesn't = elitist.
However, I do think there has been an enormous amount of great writers
from the UK and Ireland who I've read and enjoyed.
For the most part I think they can be found here, but I am sure I've
missed one or two. I like a lot of UK/Ireland artists as well. But
again, I like many creative talents regardless of their country of
origin. But it got me thinking, holy crap there are a lot of writers
from the UK and Ireland who I like a great deal.
Website
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Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Asking questions about Comics
One of the most ardent supporters of my creative work is Peter Urkowitz. He is a dear friend, a talented artist, and a moral kind person. He is now writing poetry for public consumption, and we are working together on a future work that will blow the world's balls off.
We chat a lot, and I am usually humbled when I have a small thought that he speaks about and I learn how very little I know, and he is in fact, a librarian, so hell, I should know better. He is bright, and as worthy a human for a friend as there exists.
We began chatting this subject and we arrived at the present list, which considers builders of the industry, publishers who shaped the market, artists and writers who created work that influenced others and enjoyed great sales.
Some of the names you the reader will recognize. But some are either from a period of the industry's history when writing or drawing comics didn't result in stardom, or, were more influential in the work that followed than their own circumstance. We included talents from across the oceans, in both east and west directions.
Robert Crumb is associated with the world of underground comix, but has a great deal of recognition by purveyors of high culture, and art, in general, and as such, could be pointed to as a major talent. But at the same time I say that, he is also not as widely recognized due to this not working in the mainstream.
The list includes two amazing women who were instrumental in making the comics world better, Jenette Kahn published DC Comics, and under her reign she encouraged new imprints. When DC comics birthed the imprint Vertigo, Karen Berger was the very excellent editor there.
Some non-frontline talent or influential parties was Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, publisher of the first true comic book. Another is Phil Seuling who was responsible for the rise of a direct market that allowed more independent comics and experiments by major publishers.
And, while everyone on this list deserves attention, some are here for their determination, Dave Sim's Cerebus ran 300 issues, as an independent, and never saw it fall from his ownership or vision. Joe Kubert was a very successful artist, but chose to create a school to help artists discover their talents to create comics. Some might dispute the concept, but some very successful people can be named that would considerably establish how great the work he did as an educator was.
Row 1
Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee,
Jenette Kahn, Karen Berger
Row 2
Neal Adams, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster,
Bob Kane, Will Eisner
Row 3
Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Kazuo Koike,
Goseki Kojima, Moebius
Row 4
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Osamu Tezuka,
Robert Crumb, George Herriman, Harvey Kurtzman
Row 5
Phil Seuling, René Goscinny, Dave Sim,
Dennis O'Neil, Hayao Miyazaki
Row 6
Neil Gaiman, Roy Thomas, John Byrne,
Bill Finger, Joe Kubert
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Interview Week: The Writing Craft with Jamie Delano
What writers formed the larger part of your influences upon your writing? Has that group of writers remained as your influences or have other writers, perhaps colleagues, new discoveries, or change in outlook led to more and or different ones?
Many claim the ultimate goal is ‘naturalism’; I’d say, listen to the average natural human vocal interaction, with all it’s stuttering, barely coherent sentence fragments, syntactical shorthands, non-verbal enhancements, etc, and tell me that is what you want to read on a page…
Personally...
I regret not developing an early love for poetry. I was tempted by journalism at one point. But, on the whole and being kind of lazy, I don’t really feel I have much unrequited capacity weighing on me.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Interview Week: The Writing Craft with Seán Martin
You’ve written poetry, plays and prose, which of those three disciplines are you most fond of? Is it the discipline that you find yourself best at?
I suppose poetry, as I’ve been writing it the longest. I see poetry as underlying everything else - the best films are poetic, the best fiction. But of the other disciplines, I want to write more fiction.
Many people enter the field of writing with purpose and others find themselves writing as a reflection of opportunity or new epiphany. When did you decide in life to become a writer and why do you think you did?
I always wanted to be a writer. I remember my father asking me when I was about eight years old what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I replied that I wanted to be a writer. He did not encourage me. He said ‘you can’t be a writer until you’ve got something to write about.’ That was his way of discouraging me, but in a sense, he was right. You need to find what it is you want to write about, and then write it. Having said that, I spent a long time focussing on other projects (films), and only thinking of myself as a part-time writer. Now having lost a certain amount of faith in filmmaking, I want to concentrate more on the writing.
What life experiences have helped in developing your life as a writer? Do you think that your education was helpful beyond the basics of learning skills to go along with your talents?
As a child, I always liked writing stories, and being asked to write a story for school was the best homework ever. But beyond that, I’m not sure how much my education played a part. I had a brilliant English teacher, Mr Thompson, whose enthusiasm and passion (and humour) were certainly a major factor in getting me interested in reading contemporary writers. I don’t think any life experiences as such played a part in my writing, more my developing perception of the world.
You’ve addressed the Templars, Black Death, the Gnostics, the Cathars and much more in your work. As I’ve told you in private conversation, I think your Templar book was the best of the many books I’ve read about them… Do your plays and or poetry involve those subject matter? Do you pursue the exotic aspects of Christianity to understand better the wide span of the Christian world? Is it a matter of belief or curiosity?
I’ve written a couple of poems with Cathar themes, and I’ve been trying to write a poem about alchemy for years, but keep not finishing it. I see all those books being linked by my love of all things mediaeval; and also heresy (or free thinking). I’ve always been opposed to the idea that someone can tell you what you can or can’t imagine. I’m interested in church history, but that’s about as far as it goes. I’m deeply suspicious of organised religion, and the three Western monotheisms in particular. It always seems to be that the heretics and outsiders are closer to the truth. (Whatever that may be!)
What part of writing do you wish you could improve upon? Which of your talents regarding writing is your strength?
I wish I was more disciplined and productive! I’ve always been rather stop-start in my writing schedule; blame poetry for that.
Do you follow a routine in writing, is it done daily, do you write the book first and then offer it to publishers, or, do you give a proposal and then write the work thereafter?
I usually do a proposal, and then take it from there. When writing, I try to work every day, but it doesn’t always work out like that. I can often take days off, and then write a lot quickly.
What subject areas do you desire to approach in your non fiction, and do you intend upon covering other than European history and cultural?
I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a book on the Dark Ages. I know most historians tend to use the term ‘early middle ages’ now, but I think Dark Ages is more evocative. And we’re living in one at the moment. My PhD, when it’s finished, will hopefully become a book. It’s on the Scottish metaphysical fantasy writer David Lindsay who wrote A Voyage to Arcturus.
What internet tools do you make use of in writing, do you use the “Cloud”, does Wikipedia help, or do you have grammar or spell check? Do you think perhaps that using those tools makes a writer, say a writer like me, lazy or forgetful and too dependent upon them?
I use Google Drive and Docs a lot. Wikipedia can be a good starting place, but for serious research, I always use the National Library of Scotland here in Edinburgh. When I lived in London, I used the British Library a lot. Real books win out over websites every time. I find spell-checkers and auto-fill/auto-correct very annoying and try to avoid them.
What is the best advice you’ve received as a developing writer, and, what advice do you hear commonly given that you think is perhaps not as good or less than helpful?
A difficult question to answer, as I’ve received a lot of good advice over the years. I think realising that it was OK to write about the things I’m interested in was crucial. You have to write what you are, in a sense. If you’re not doing that, then perhaps you’re not writing what you really should be writing. I think the famous adage, ‘write what you know’ is perhaps not very helpful. You need to write what you’re passionately interested in.
With such an esoteric set of works, do you risk having the mainstream dismiss your work, or, are people more sophisticated now than previous generations? How do you engage the mainstream if they are either defenders of the orthodoxy, or, rather, nutjobs?
You always run the risk of being dismissed. But I’ve had good reviews from the mainstream media as well. I think it really depends on the reviewer! I don’t really think about engaging the mainstream. I just want to write more books, and hope that they will find readers, one way or another. This could be via mainstream publishers or small presses. I think a writer these days has to work with all available channels, moving between them as appropriate.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Interview Week: The Writing Craft with Alan Dean Foster
Obviously any creative artist is influenced by the world in which they exist, but, you write science fiction primarily, how does a sci-fi writer know what can only be speculated upon, and in a consistent way?
When you write dialogue, do you hear the character voices speaking in the sound of their voice, and if not, do you have a way to write dialogue so it becomes more, for want of a better term, ethnic? Or a product from their universe?
Did you desire to world travel before deciding upon becoming a writer, or, did creating worlds and peoples inspire you with a desire to world travel? How hard is it for a writer to create a culture, a people different from any earth culture? Is that the key to great sci-fi, language and culture?
Do you write something creative daily? What kind of routine do you get into, or, do try to not have a routine, and work out of pure fire, not labor?
I am not herein asking for you to choose a favorite writer, but, as a writer what creative talent inspires you as a role model more than any other? What is it about that choice that causes that response in you?
What factors are necessary for a writer to become a professional and published creative talent? Are the basic talents transferable, that is, can a writer, with time become a good artist? Can a painter decide to write, and after time because of the nature of creative talents, become a good writer?
Do you believe humans will find a way to travel in space that is good enough to escape the world crisis of over population, climate change, war, pandemics?
If humans could escape earth, and find a planet empty of human like analogues, could they create a better society, knowing what we did to our first planet?
In 50 years what will things may happen daily or simply regularly and become mundane, that we cannot now perceive in the way and size of it? How can a writer imagine the future, without having a gift of prophecy?
Monday, November 5, 2018
Interview Week: The Writing Craft with Chuck Dixon
That’s when I thought, “Hey, this is what I want to do.”
I just liked stories and I liked relating them to others. And I liked hearing other people tell stories and admired anyone who could tell a story well. I’d listen to my dad talk to his friends about their experiences in Europe and the Pacific during WWII. It was better than TV. We had a priest at our parish who was really good at telling stories. I met a lot of really interesting people when I went to work after school and heard unforgettable stories from them.
The most educational part for me was whenever I got into a conversation with someone about movies. I learned a wealth of knowledge about storytelling listening to a former prize fighter relate the plot of the movies he’d watched on the TV the night before. This guy was a high school drop-out and zero education in film making or literature. But the guy could get all worked up relating the plot to Vera Cruz or Forty Guns. He’d not only get across the story but the character nuances and the important snippets of dialogue. He was a movie consumer not a critic but intuited everything about what he was seeing. Listening to him taught me a lot more about what we all expect from a story and what entertains us, move us or makes us laugh than a film degree ever would.
But to make a living telling stories I had to get over the hurdle of writing. I taught myself to write by reading other writers and, very important, reading criticism. I’ve never been a wordsmith and admire those who are. In comics you need to be terse and work broad but there’s not a lot of call for eloquence or artful writing. The pictures do all that.
Now that I’m writing more prose I had to work on that muscle. It was intimidating, still is. But one thing I’ve learned is that it doesn’t come easy to anyone. In prose you do more re-writing than writing. In comics you have to get it right the first time. In prose you go back and tweak and polish and tuck.
When you write dialogue, do you hear the character voices speaking in the sound of their voice, and if not, do you have a way to write dialogue so it becomes more, for want of a better term, ethnic? Or a product from their universe?
I have a very toy soldier approach to history. By that I mean, not terribly scholarly. I read about or look into a period until my curiosity is satisfied. Basically, until I understand the gist of things and have some understanding of it.
For example, I know next to nothing about the War of the Roses. I wouldn’t know where to begin. But ask me to write a story about the Russian Civil War or the Boxer Rebellion and I’m all over it.
Even if I don’t write daily I’m thinking of stuff to write.
Then some days it is a wild fire. Last week I was averaging eight or more pages a day and finished the equivalent of two comic books.
I need a deadline. Even if it’s one I assign myself. And I generally beat the deadlines given to me by publishers. I have my own schedule to meet if I’m going to balance all the work, And my schedule supersedes the publisher’s every time. I know I want to stay well ahead of the demands so that I have built-in downtime in case something special comes along.
Sometimes the tighter the deadline the better. What I call mini-deadlines. Like when I’m sitting and staring at the screen and my wife pops in to remind me of an appointment I have that afternoon. Suddenly I have NO time to meet my quota for the day. The mist falls away and my fingers are flying on the keys. It’s giddy-up time.
I don’t clash with anyone. I respect the time and effort the artist puts into the work. He’s selling it. He’s the first thing the reader sees. And, while I write full script, my scripts are flexible. I always make it clear that I’m open to collaboration. 99% of the time it works. And the 1% when it doesn’t the reader never knows.
What creative work did you most enjoy? What work of yours would you most like to return to? Why is that?
On the other hand, adapting P.G. Wodehouse’s Right Ho, Jeeves to comic book form felt so right. I was so conversant with the novel after countless re-readings that I knew just what was needed (and not needed) to make it work in the medium.
Nothing pleases me more than a comic fan telling me that that they cataloged or re-bagged their comics and were surprised at how many of their comics were written by me. That tells me that they liked the story without remembering who wrote it.
You've written great alternative history, and straight forward history subjects, is writing the alternative history easier because you now control the path? What categorized alt history work by others is a favorite of yours?