ANTARCTIC BLAST (From Antarctic Press)

ATTENTION: Time for your weekly Antarctic Blast forecast!  This week's forecast shows a high percentage chance of a COOL front carrying Antarctic titles into your area.  Click the button below for details!   Coming this Wednesday! *NOTE: Depending on the climate in your local comic book shops, not all areas may be affected equally.  Please consult your local stores to make sure you're equipped, or do the necessary preparations by ordering directly from our website, antarctic-press.myshopify.com. If you do pick up your issues in person, DO NOT attempt driving during an Antarctic Blast.  Read your comics once you're safely back at home!

MEDIA Stories, Art enhances or changes the power of Words

MEDIA GATHERED, ART ENHANCEMENTS
By Alex Ness
April 25, 2022

FICTION THROUGH TRUTH

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us
realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand.
The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others
of the truthfulness of his lies.”                           Pablo Picasso

Fiction has a role in the story telling of truth. I've been asked, isn't fiction actually just a lie, well told or otherwise? No. Story telling has roots in myth, and myth is manner of explaining truth through fiction. The greater truth of life isn't found in actual events, however much they exist and inform us. The deeper truth of life isn't found in the idea of what is true. What the absolute truth of life is, is found in the understanding what the truth is, as applied in idea and memory, and in practical ways. Civilization has reached a place where reality entertainment is considered one of, if not the most popular forms of entertainment media.

One of the reasons for this could be our self indulgence and desire to watch ourselves or proxies for the same. It could also have come from some entirely real but often ignored, even odd roots or origins. Since the late 1970s and the rise of cable news, we've become more fascinated, focused, as well as addicted to spectacle. Part of that is simply having all that information presented, whenever we wish to view it. Part of that is the desire by news corporations to create news when there is nothing more exciting to report, in the search for ratings, advertising dollars, and self perceived relevance.The evening news used to be considered as providing a service to community, rather than a money making entity.

Before cable news, it was less biased, less aimed at spectacle, and more at aiming at the highest goals of journalism. The use of fiction in news, either by accident or in the creation of fake news, in the present, it is a travesty. The desire to see real people doing crazy or wild things, might not be a travesty, but it surely can be a spectacle. Short of death in the gladiatorial ring, it nonetheless diminishes humanity. However much that might be true, the enhancement of lives through fiction offers an even more important means to ennoble humanity, to raise its focus from the ground, to higher places. It might be true that the lowest risk of fake news as spectacle is the loss of empathy. But I don't actually think that is what happens. It is far worse. The addiction to information causes context to be lost, and division to be more easy to achieve, than having a reason for worry, or joining forces to fix something that is broken.

Imagine that you have woke up in the middle of the night, wide awake and can't sleep. You click on the television and find yourself on LOCAL 58, a channel including public access and other offerings. But the information rolling before your eyes is speaking to an American history that you don't believe has ever happened and it surely isn't what you've experienced. The further in you dive, the more you realize, something insane seems to have replaced the world you understood. Or your day begins, and seems normal, but when you read a different/new twitter feed, one that includes videos, news, commentary, that makes you aware that to this twitter profile, he has experienced the SUN Vanished, and the world outside of his own, is one that is horrific, dangerous, and something we've never experienced. The Sun being gone leads to social unrest, fearful predictions, and seems worse than living in a real horror movie.  You read further, and think, what is the cause, where will it end, are we doomed?

LOCAL 58 and THE SUN VANISHED are vital, full of life and questions, fictional stories. They tell of disaster or fear, odd changes in known facts, and stories that leave you to consider more deeply the world that they present. Most importantly, they don't spoon feed the reader, and whatever spectacle exists, it is there not for our entertainment, but to give notice of what we should or should not fear. I'd definitely recommend taking a deep look at both of the source pages for these stories, but beyond that, there are many intelligent works aimed at considering both stories. A well done critical consideration of LOCAL 58 thus far. An intriguing critical look at THE SUN VANISHED thus far.

ELRIC ENHANCED BY ARTISTS

When one reads the stories of the last emperor of the elder race of Melniboné, Elric, who is somewhat elvish in nature, they read of a stark weakling albino, with powers of sorcery, but when enhanced by herbs, magic and potions, his body becomes mighty, far greater than the range of normal humans and far beyond that of his own race. He bears a sword that drinks the souls of his enemies. Which is all quite lavish in descriptive powers.

However when Michael Whelan, Robert Gould, and Gerald Brom were engaged to provide their version of the characters of Michael Moorcock's Elric saga, they all added to the reader's perception of such, and did so differently. Where Whelan's Elric is powerful, dangerous, and threatening, Gould's creation is beautiful, if also desolate, and wicked. Brom's work utilizes a palette that allows the pale skin, and white hair of Elric to look deathly, and absolutely violent. I admire the writing of Moorcock, without loving his characters. Whatever I feel about his Elric character, and the world he lives upon, every story is enhanced by the interpretation of the fine artists considering his creation.

TIMOTHY BRADSTREET ENHANCES EVERYTHING

I used to say Tim Bradstreet cost me a lot of money, because whenever I saw his work upon a comic book cover, I felt compelled to buy it. Often in comic books, the covers don't reveal the quality of work within, whoever did the work. Often with works Tim Bradstreet helped create and collaborate upon, such as in the Punisher and Hellblazer, the quality inside and out was well worth the purchase. I do know some people who felt the iconic images didn't reflect the content within and I understand that issue but I don't have that issue. I genuinely enjoy most the books TBradstreet touched, inside or out, and his art sincerely raise the quality of any project he is part of. And quite honestly, Tim is a hell of a nice guy. Find him at Timothy Bradstreet

MY WORDS WERE ENHANCED BY BOB GIADROSICH and many others

Since the year 2000, I have been very fortunate to make the acquaintance of numerous high quality artists through my comics and entertainment journalism. However poorly done or brilliant upon on my part, I tried to offer a service to readers and creative talents. I offered interviews, reviews, commentary allowed me to get to know many people who would later contribute to my own writing life.

Chief among those people was Bob Giadrosich, a writer, artist and thinker from the American South. His work as my art director, and artist for a third of my first solo written work, A LIFE OF RAVENS, helped me establish myself in the world of narrative history, fiction, prose, and poetry. His illustrations and those artists that he brought upon the book, helped create a vital, lavish visual aspect of my written words. The project ended up as a wonderful book, and whatever life events affected the reception of it, I received offers from numerous publishers almost immediately and my path was set. Bob is a friend, an ally, and while I'd like to do more books with him immediately, life has a cost, time is lost the moment it is spent and we do not receive more to replace what we've lost. Also, however much a creative person invests in a project, the real world doesn't pay per hour, per energy expended, so, until we both make millions of dollars, who knows when we'll collaborate again. But I do deeply thank Bob for all he has done.

Find Bob Giadrosich

About Getting Reviews from Me

First off, I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email at Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that.  It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

MY LINKS:
My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
Published Work  AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
Amazon Page Amazon.com/author/AlexNess
Cthulhu Horror CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com
Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com

All works and art remain the property of the owners/creators and nothing more than fair use is asserted.

EARTH DAY SAMPLE BOOK

Free Book Sample For Earth Day- Aaru Book 1  (Colorado-April 22, 2022) Dystopian fiction allows readers a chance to explore worlds that are a step away from current realities. Class issues, gender inequality, climate change are all issues that are exacerbated as our environment is buckling under the toll of civilization. They are a safe space for people to explore issues that may be uncomfortable between the safety of pages and so author Yash Mehta wanted to offer a free sample of his book Aaru to help start the conversation on such topics. His book is set in a future where technology and living off the land clash in two main characters. A tribalist and a survivalist must decide what’s important and the reader can explore how they feel in a world both foreign and familiar.  Get your free sample ---> HERE  Purchase the Book ---> HERE Book Trailer Found ---> HERE

About Aayu: 

When modern technology becomes obsolete, chaos ensues as governments collapse and communities struggle for resources and survival. Annie Grey lives a quiet life with her brother inside the woods of Oregon until her former classmate appears at the gates. He tells her he is from a city with technology, and they are hoping others might join them. 

But that night, the community is viciously attacked, forcing Annie to go on the run. She soon finds herself on a terrifying journey of self-discovery and survival. 

Diego Santoro is a killer without remorse, but being alone has brought him to the brink of insanity. He knows why the world’s computers went down overnight, and he’s on a mission to restore them. 

Now, the paths of tribalist and survivalist will cross, and the pair must decide whether they will continue alone or join forces for this life and death battle through a ruined world. Aaru is an epic adventure of nonstop action, suspense, and dystopian tribalism. 

About Yash Mehta: From high points to low points living in the U.S. and abroad, Yash Mehta learned what people value in life and what people will sacrifice to pursue their own forms of happiness. Mehta worked as a cop for a few years and saw real evil for the first time, but I wasn’t scared of it. He witnessed people who were just trying to survive and it showed him firsthand how fast a person can fall. 

AAYU reflects Mehta’s real-life experience. He saw firsthand how different people survive hardships and how dangerous society is when tribalism rears its ugly head. His work peels back the curtain on mental challenges like depression, suicide, PTSD, and psychosis amidst a far-off future dystopian landscape. Is kindness a weakness or a strength? Read Mehta’s first book and find out.

Meet The Peach Mountain Friends

Peach Mountain Friends Mobile Game To Hit Phones Spring 2022 April 19th 2022 -Science Lifestyle Brand Elementiad Inc has announced a mobile game based on their 2021 release  Peach Mountain Friends: The Science of The Seasons.  The mobile game, Meet The Peach Mountain Friends is designed for ages 4-6 and lets kids fall in love with Hannah, Cat, Monkey, and Sid as they explore their world in the search of peaches while learning about science and math in the process. The game will be available via on the web and on mobile phones. Elementiad Co-owner and Art Director Pat Redding Scanlon explained, "I hope gamers will have as much fun playing PEACH MOUNTAIN FRIENDS as I had designing Monkey, Cat, Hanna, and Sid--- and mapping out their STEAMy world!! Enjoy the adventures, dream building, problem-solving, and team playing featured in our new game!"   "Our foundation for STEM learning is a blast! This game experience will introduce young players to a world that they will enjoy and parents and caregivers will also love,” remarked CEO Amy Kohtz-Tiffany.  About Meet the Peach Mountain Friends: Description: Meet the Peach Mountain Friends is an open-world role-playing game for little kids. Peach Mountain is a fully narrated, cheerful, magical cartoon environment. Players encounter math and science puzzles while learning vocabulary. Four inclusive game characters show that science and math are for everyone. Meet the Peach Mountain Friends plays for 20-45 minutes per session. Generative programming provides opportunities for re-play. Challenge level increases as skill levels increase, powered by secure and anonymous personalization and level progression. Meet the Peach Mountain Friends is fun for kids while introducing essential science and math thinking styles and mental tools.Target Age: 4-6 Elementiad Inc has two book products and a full line of apparel in their Threadless shop. They will be attending the Pax East convention and are open to interviews and meetings at the show.   About Elementiad Inc:  Elementiad, Inc. is a privately held company based in New Hampshire and New York, USA. Our philosophy is that games and stories can be fun even when grounded in math, science, technology, and engineering. We create educational entertainment for diverse audiences across a broad age group. Our beautifully illustrated stories and games are crafted with a strong sense of humor. Our products emphasize building teams to make cool things and have fun.

JAPANESE AUTHORS & FANTASY GENRE THOUGHTS

A BRIEF LOOK AT AUTHOR HARUKI MURAKAMI
By Alex Ness
April 25, 2022

Haruki Murakami writes works that are deeply emotive, intelligent, and work in vast layers.  His worldview contains observational writing, philosophical questions, and absurdist settings. Along with all that, he writes in fashions that make references to current culture, without judgment, but by doing so
allows the reader to plumb further depths.

I'd point readers to the book 1Q84. In the city of Tokyo, the year is 1984, and all of the dystopia that refers towards, exists but in ways the reader has to discover. Character Aomame, a young woman, is faced with asking her reality about the world around her, and questioning the clues and mysteries that she eventually discovers, leading her to perceive she has found an alternate reality, and one that can't be fully defined, perhaps only experienced. Tengo writes, and in the course of work discovers threads of a different reality too, but from a different entry point.

This work is not altogether similar in structure to 1984 of George Orwell, but is delightfully intriguing in the some powerful ways. 1Q84 asks questions of the reader, about love, life, control, and how we might respond, ourselves, if faced with such a weird discovery.  Would you dive head first in a different reality, or would we run like hell to escape it?

FIDELITY TO GENRE

I think it'd be wrong to start off here by saying any genre of writing or more generally entertainment, should be ______ or _________.  I think there are some aspects of every genre that help to define the genre, but it isn't up to the reader to demand one thing or another. As a matter of fact, I think we help guide the publishers of books when we buy what we buy. If a book sells greatly and it is found to be outside of a genre, it might be that whatever that book has created will be adopted into the genre as a guideline or boundary marker to the other writers yet to come.

A decade ago in the Steve Niles Forum, I was asked, for example, what Horror movie was my favorite. Since I love the movie and franchise, I said Alien. People immediately began to say how I had cheated and that Alien in Science Fiction, not Horror. They said it nicely but I thought about that for a long time afterward. And I do think Alien could belong in either genre, but without the trappings of Science Fiction the concept would still be horror. In the reverse, if an alien being hunted humans, even if it did terrible things to the humans, it would be Science Fiction due to the setting and events being those that could only exist in a work that speculated about creatures from fiction, and outside of our normal existence. (So far...) The people were kind and the discussion wasn't an argument, but still, to me the thing we like doesn't actually need to be dissected and labeled. It should simply work.

I've mentioned before here that I've met people who believe that fantasy is frivolous and less than serious. But first off, that isn't actually true, secondly, I think it limits what can be found in the genre, beyond the normal expression of the genre of fantasy, and thirdly, it doesn't really matter. In the 1960s one picking up a Superman comic might read on the inside, this is an imaginary story, or basically, a story that doesn't happen in the canon of the character. But of course, as you readers know, all stories that aren't detailed factual events are born from one's imagination. Just as fantasy isn't limited by someone who doesn't like the genre's boundary, stories are only limited by the mind of the writer of the story.

DIFFERENT THAN THE NORMAL FANTASY SUGGESTED READINGS

I've absolutely mentioned Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series. It is high fantasy, but, why I recommend it, is the reliance upon intelligence, humor and wit versus combat, the clichéd massive battles that solve everything.  The main characters might not inspire you to go out and lift weights and go kill an army of orcs, but the role of the bard has a great heritage about it, and should inspire the reader if not similarly, with as much depth. Alan Dean Foster is an author who well could write about muscular hero and stereotypical battles without cliché, but he excels in being a storyteller, and like the main characters, he found different ways to win the battles, and different goals to solve problems.

Meryn Peake might be somewhat forgotten at this point, with fantasy books being turned into movies being well remembered most of all. But his writing was rather unique, in that as an artist his words paint settings and characters differently than most other writers, and in creating as he does, he allowed for a story that was new for the day it was written.  It is a thoughtful work about a kingdom and two young men, Titus and Steerpike.  It shows a kingdom filled with oddities, rituals needing to be modified or abandoned, and the consequences of holding power, when perhaps the divine right is wrong.  Who is more worthy of a throne, one chosen by birth, one chosen by circumstance, or one where desire is balanced by the ability and willingness to lead. 

About Getting Reviews from Me

I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that.  It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.



MY LINKS:


My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

Published Work  AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Amazon Page Amazon.com/author/AlexNess

Cthulhu Horror CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com

Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com

All works and art remain the property of the owners/creators and nothing more than fair use is asserted.

Some Thoughts and Views

FANTASY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS
By Alex Ness
April 11, 2022

The reason I like to read fantasy isn't because I want to escape. It isn't because I long to be an elf or a dwarf, or a bad guy riding a big black horse.  I am not interested in most of the reasons given by various people for why someone might be moved by fantasy. I think fantasy, like science fiction, thrillers, crime, and romance, does not resonate unless the story feels real, or like how our mind understands things, or that it portrays people who we might have within us. We need to see ourselves clearly of course to see ourselves in others. But I think fantasy shows us, without real world limitations, who we might aspire to be. I don't think I'd be heroic in battle, perhaps I'd get hurt, run away screaming.  But that isn't who I'd want to be. I'd like to be able to fight my enemies, somehow, and to do so with honor, becoming the person everyone wishes I could be.

 

I did spend time in the military, briefly, and failed. It wasn't about courage, it was about mental illness and some unfortunate choices made by people that came to haunt me. Contrary to the image people have of me as being a soft, sensitive sort, I do think society needs warriors. I don't think about it a lot, but there are those who say if war is evil that warriors are only there to be used. Therefore we don't need them as a constant of our country or society, or the overall civilization. But peace doesn't just happen.  Or it hasn't just happened. Problem there isn't with the goal, as I think peace is great, and war and killing are terrible things. It has been seen over time over the centuries, that very few people who begin as pacifists remain since the tyrants of existence often take advantage of those who choose peace. And frankly, whatever we consider to be a warrior can come in the form of those who fight wars, but also fight injustice, those who fight against those who demand conformity, and warriors can be those who call out for action in a world demanding our continued apathy.

I find that fantasy allows for many sorts of heroism. The weak have magic, the strong use steel, the enemies are fierce, the defenders are filled with hope despite facing forces of despair. Or they are scoundrels who amuse us. Beautiful and kind, ugly and vile, the characters fill all sorts of roles, and they look different than could be found in any other genre. The fact of the diverse characters allows for a stretching of my own limits of culture, knowledge and comfort. I mention this now about my own journey, but, I believe God meant for humans and all forms of life to be diverse, for the benefit of our minds and spirit.  The more we see and realize who the spark of life, thought and hope exist in the cloak of flesh, whatever its culture, ethnicity, look, or limits, we grow, and see the beauty of diversity, rather than linger in the limits of 'monocultivo', racial or cultural purity, or the most pure form of foolishness, idolatry and racial preference. Fantasy has no limits. When we dive into that great ocean, we should expect to see impossible, wonderful amazing things.  Fantasy allows me that.

By the end of the read, fantasy doesn't force me to believe or disbelieve anything. It invites me into a comfortable place, and speaks about things that never happened, but deep down, you know that they well should have happened. They do not provide an escape, they provide for me a way to delve deeper, trust more, love harder, and try to endure.  Fantasy also causes one to make choices as a reader, as to whether you would do what was done, and what you might do otherwise or differently in that position.  Fantasy also allows the reader a first hand look at real human interactions and choices, in the prism of war, or catastrophe, alliance building, and the seeking of pleasure.  It does so in ways that inspire, provoke thought, give hope, bring darkness.

For example... Slight Spoiler alert for the Lord of the Rings, Books and Movies

Now, I've mentioned my issue with the Lord of the Rings movies, particularly that in the second movie/ book, there is a small change that bankrupts the story of its truth, however exciting or happy it might be. When Rohan is surrounded and attacked by Saruman's horde of Orcs and Dunlendings the forces of Rohan are driven to Helm's Deep, where the fight will be desperate, and fought to the death.

The riders of Rohan fight alone and have little hope. They do survive and Saruman is defeated. They then rush to the rescue of Gondor, despite having been alone in their own struggle. Gondor absolutely needs the help. The sacrifice of the Rohan riders and innocents did not lead them to selfishly withhold their assistance to others, as would be a normal reaction. No, it was a galvanizing event leading them to help others because they weren't helped and knew how that felt, and they had also learned how grave the threat was.

In the movie the elves arrive in Helm's Deep, to the rescue, ready to assist in the fight. No longer alone, they again win the battle and help the others. Well of course they did, Peter Jackson, you just helped them and it became a feel good story, instead of a heroic response to despair and existential elimination.

I point all of this out because Fantasy isn't silly, or lacking in seriousness. People who don't read or like Fantasy have a view of it that is frivolous or stupid. They perceive it as faeries and elves dancing upon the midsummer darkness, and songs and spells, festive feasts and joy.  But Fantasy can be as soft or as hard as it requires the story to be. Choices to live or die, to retreat or fight, are all rather important choices.

About Getting Reviews from Me

I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that.  It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.



MY LINKS:

My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

Published Work  AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Amazon Page Amazon.com/author/AlexNess

Cthulhu Horror CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com

Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com

I've an email list for AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com If you're interested please send me an email to join the list. Send the email: Alexanderness63@gmail.com to join the list. I promise never to sell the list or share it.

 

All works and art remain the property of the owners/creators and nothing more than fair use is asserted.

Inspired by and De-Inspired by

REAL INSPIRATIONS

By Alex Ness

April 4, 2022

INSPIRED TO WRITE

I've been praying for healing and trying to heal physically just by time spent waiting. Since 2019 I have had a septic ankle joint, broken bones in my back, neck and tailbone, and had surgery upon my neck and shoulder. I kept writing during this, but going sleepless caused me to have to rewrite much of my own work (poetry and fiction prose) needlessly, as it is near impossible to write and say what you think, when you have oatmeal for brains. I lost my sister in January, and when it comes at a time of lengthy physical difficulties, it just feels like being kicked in the head. I loved Denise, even though I only knew her for a short time.

While my writing projects and writing life has become more difficult, it would not be true to say I'd quit writing. I haven't come to the end of my creative journey, but I am finding that what I do, why I do it, and who I do it for have all changed. I never cared about critical appraisal, nor have I cared about popularity. That kind of means, whatever I am doing is for my own reasons. Everyone, and I mean every creative person wants to make enough money to support themselves. But most of those I know personally are not interested in having their worth come down to how much money they make, or how popular their work makes them. But as it has been 3 long years without releasing a book, my aim is to put out things I like, rather than those I hope others like.

The article I wrote here recently about constructing my own fictional world and placing all my fiction prose and poetry upon that world, is being placed upon hiatus. I might do it, but it is more personal than most other works. I am guessing, but, at this point I believe my next four books will feature, Vikings, Faeries, Samurai and Cthulhu. News will be shared when it happens.
 

ART VERSUS ARCHITECTURE

I met someone who said the only important college degree is engineering or chemistry. He said that the creative arts do nothing but replay the same old crap, with new names, new ethnic faces, and the same old stories. They don't deserve to be remembered well, they just recreate the already created.

And to some small degree I agree that that there is nothing new under the sun. (For the specific quote and or reference: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Ecclesiates 1.9) Some people have debated that nothing matters but human conversation. The music of the band The Talking Heads, for good or ill (and for me quite good), is said to be inspired by the concept, that the only thing worth remembering is done while people talk, and usually it is in the form of two talking heads in front of an audience. Almost everything else, gun fights, robbery, discovering a lost city, divine experiences, emergencies, are all rare, while the people talking is rarely depicted but happens every day. In media you can see that the human conversation is missing, as rare events are being offered as meat of the story of humanity. But is that truth? It is true to say people do amazing things, but on average? They wake up, go to work or school, or sit home, and they eat, and go back to bed. That might not have a lot of excitement about it, but it is the reality.

Reality might not inspire us, but whatever movies, music, books, poetry or games exist, all have sources from somewhere that inspired their creation. This isn't to say that they don't have originality, but they couldn't help but have inherit the roots of the work done many generations prior to our own. Not true you say? Just look at Science Fiction? One of the largest franchises in the realm of Science Fiction is Star Wars. George Lucas never hid the roots of it, as it was originally influenced by the many adventure/sci fic 1930-1950s black and white serials, Kurosawa's film Hidden Fortress, and anything else Lucas had watched, loved, and mentally kept. This isn't aimed as an insult to say it isn't good, because of the aspects of the story that were hybrid or homage, Star Wars is what it is, an entertaining franchise I like quite a great deal. I just think we should remember, that our world of entertainment, all media included, ends up flowing from the rivers that flowed, and the creative water flows beyond barriers. Creating unique stories is difficult, perhaps telling them in new ways helps, but ultimately I am fascinated by things that ring true, rather than new. And having said all that, I've been recently fascinated by the sources of inspiration for fictional characters from direct real life sources.

In OMEGA MAN The newsman and leader of the cannibal clan, Matthias was meant to look like Joe Pyne, and sound like his over the top pronouncements upon the fate of the human race. In SEVEN DAYS OF MAY General Edwin Walker and perhaps many other military strong men is presented in the form of Burt Lancaster, acting as a general who wanted far more power than he was allowed as the head of the military. PSYCHO had numerous influences, but Ed Gein was the most obvious and original influence for the writer of it, Robert Bloch. Gein killed, ate and wore the flesh of numerous people. INDIANA JONES was based upon a number of men, who sought to discover ruins, and make names for themselves, Hiram Bingam was the primary source. He found the magnificent Machu Picchu. ZORRO was a brave man who fought injustice and forces of evil, wearing black and a mask. In reality he was a man who sought revenge but was also an outlaw himself, and not for his kind and noble acts, by the name of Joaquin Murrieta.

In CITIZEN KANE Orson Welles played a character based upon the powerful publisher William Randolph Hearst. It was so powerful a depiction and so obvious in aim, that the publisher tried to prevent its release. Bartender Moe Szyslak from the Simpsons is famously pranked by Bart and others, and in this he was based upon bartender Louis "Red" Duetsch of the Tube Bar in New Jersey who was recorded over a period of time being pranked by callers, responding with threats of violence. US patriotic posters had a character named Uncle Sam, the elder voice of patriot response to threats of war and tyranny. He is said to be based upon a real man, Sam Wilson who was a meat packer, who shipped product for troops, among the many suppliers. Shrek's look is based upon Frenchman Maurice Tillet, a wrestler who had the genetic disorder acromegaly. Milhouse from the Simpsons is said to be based upon the appearance and second banana status of Josh Saviano, Fred Savage's best friend on the Wonder Years.

I am a wee bit disappointed to show the women who inspired, as they aren't serious, not murderers or saints, they are cartoons. Ursula from the Little Mermaid was inspired by gender bending actor Divine (who I acknowledge was a trans person, but was born male.) Betty Boop was based upon the character created or portrayed by an actress by the name of Helen Kane or perhaps Esther Lee Jones. There is a debate regarding it, and I honestly don't know. Arial of the aforementioned Little Mermaid's face was based upon Alyssa Milano. Miss Piggy was originally called Miss Piggy Lee and directly based on singer Peggy Lee, until Peggy Lee threatened to sue or actually sued. Alice in Wonderland's Alice was indeed based upon a real person, Alice Pleasance Liddell. The writer of Alice in Wonderland was so taken with Alice he wrote his tales featuring her. I honestly tried to find more characters based upon real women, but it was difficult.

CLUB 27

Many have heard of the 27 Club, but no one truly wants to be a member. It is a list of musicians who died at the age of 27. There are far more people than shown (27 for symbolic reasons), and since musicians are relatively rare, as is dying before reaching your 50s, the combination makes for a shocking, and disturbing collection of people. We've lost many and I am not going to name those shown, since the well known are no more dead than the less known, and the popular are no more important in how or why they died, than the less popular. I thought on an article showing lists of people, this would be a list no one wants to be upon.

ABOUT GETTING REVIEWS FROM ME

First off, I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email at Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that. It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

MY LINKS:

My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

Published Work AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Amazon Page amazon.com/author/alexness

Cthulhu Horror CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com

Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com

All works and art remain the property of the owners/creators and nothing more than fair use is asserted

Persist like the weed crawling through and breaking concrete. Refuse to let the world crush you.