Author Archives: Bob Evans

No Post Trump GOP Part II

It is a presidential election year, the economy is in shambles, a pandemic ravages the US population, and the political partisanship is a mental pandemic that has infected out psyche for years.

Trump won the presidency with an electoral college victory from votes that total less than the number of Americans that have died from COVID-19 against an opponent that rightly or wrong carried 30 years of personal and political baggage into the contest with an electorate that had the erroneous sense that Trump simply couldn’t emerge victorious.

This time his opponent doesn’t spark the same visceral emotions, unemployment is skyrocketing, everyone knows he can win, and there is a clear record that Trump is incapable of making a pivot to being ‘presidential.’ There is every possibility that Trump will lose.

Setting aside the more fantastical result of a Trump defeat that he simply refuses to leave office and assuming the much more probable outcome that Biden is sworn in next year what happens next?

First off, Trump will insist and never move from the position that the election was ‘stolen.’ Illusionary and delusional claims of ‘voter fraud’ will be his constant whine. Because the GOP voting base is solidly behind him, they will pick up and echo these baseless conspiracies.

Because there is money to made in sky high rating, Fox News will make him a frequent feature in the broadcasts, keeping the base energized and watching.

In order to retain the support of the GOP voters that determine life and death in the primaries Republican Politicians will hew to, endorse, and legitimize all of his insane, nonsensical, and baseless charges of fraud, driving the party further into his ‘ideology.’ White nationalist will continue to gain power in the GOP and the ‘Never Trumpers’ will be as outcast of the Birchers once were.

This is the future of the National Republican Party for at least the next decade.

 

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Quick Hits

I’ve started outlining a new novel proposal. I have already stepped through the five acts and bullet pointed all the major beats, Now it is time to produce a prose document synopsizing the story and show that to my editor. It’s another dark cynical SF story.

Also, I am working my way, finally, through Netflix’s Marvel Limited series The Defenders but so far, and I have watched six out of eight episodes, I am far from impressed. The writing on this one fails to lock into the voice for the various characters and they instead feel like that they have the shape of the personalities but lack the depth. There has been a tendency, possibly created by time pressures, to go for the most obvious plot turn or bit of dialog. Several times I have mentally delivered the upcoming dialog before the character on screen actually utters it.

San Diego has recieve3d the go ahead from the State Government to move forward into loosening social distancing restrictions and Saturday I will be at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore to sign stock of my novel Vulcan’s Forge.

 

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The Inadvertent Comedy of Creature with the Blue Hand

After hearing about the subgenre of films called Krimi on a documentary about Giallo my sweetie-wife and I decided that we needed to watch some of the German crime movies. She found one starring Klaus Kinski as twin brothers, one locked away in an asylum for a heinous murder and after his escape a series of grisly bizarre killings plague his noble English family.

Creature with the Blue Hand is a West German production, for the kids out there Germany used to be broken into two countries one democratic and one communist, based upon the novel The Blue Hand by Edgar Wallace. Sadly, the version on Fandor is not only dubbed but taken from a poor quality video

I really want to know what edition this image is from because nothing in the one watch was this clear.

recording of the film with washed out colors and some scenes so dark that’s it is impossible to discern what is actually transpiring on the screen. On its own Creature with the Blue Hand is a substandard feature, thin characterization, tropes that were tired in the 70s when it was produced, and resolutions to mysterious the repeatedly rely upon information not previously disclosed to the audience.

That said the movie does provide moments of unintentional hilarity.

For example, there is a scene where Dr. Mangrove, a corrupt and evil psychiatrist moves to a secret safe in his office. Really when I have a secret safe it is never going behind an oil painting. With the context of the scene you’d expect that he’s retrieving cash or some other valuable but what is pulled from the locked steel container is a live python with which he murders a disloyal member of his staff.

The other scene which burned into my memory in any other movie would have been placed for deliberate comedy but nothing in the presentation here suggests that the filmmakers were aware of the absurdity I am about to describe.

The heroic police inspector has finally figured out that Mangrove is a villain, but not the ‘Boss’ and after a brief struggle has thrown him to the floor in his asylum and gotten to drop on the thugs/staff with a pistol. Two of the thugs have taken Mangrove by the arms and are helping him to his feet while the others threaten the inspector with club. (Yes, they brought clubs to a gun fight.) The Heroic Inspector orders them to get their hands up, thrust his handgun forward to empathize the threat. They all throw their hands up, including the pair helping Dr Mangrove who tumbles right back down on his ass. There’s no cut to a shot of the outraged or indignant Mangrove to put a button on this comedic scene because they seemed to have truly missed that moment of slapstick.

I can’t say this is even a mediocre movie but we did get entertainment value from it just not what the filmmakers intended.

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Trump’s Obesity Should be Off the Table

Listen, I am far from any fan of the current narcissistic man-baby occupying the Presidency. In my opinion he is a conman, corrupt, dim-witted, mean, lying and morally reprehensible. The sooner he can be removed from this position and someone of general competence installed the better for this nation and yes for the world. The current pandemic illustrates perfectly why there is always someone to vote against and that the office of President of the Unites States of America is not place for On-The-Job training.

That said attacks on his weight are offensive and stupid. The man’s corruption and incompetence are a factor of his BMI. People who would consider themselves sensitive to marginalized communities will still, gleefully, share memes and gifs that are hurtful far beyond their target of the man-baby president. These attacks belittling him due to his size are no better and in my view equivalent to Trump’s mocking of a disabled reporter. Is that really the company you want to keep?

I also despise the food snobbery people direct at Trump and indirectly at others. Food is one of the purely personal pleasures in life. I’m not going to judge you by what you eat to make you happy and if that’s what you do to others then in that instance, you’re the asshole.

I’ll vote for a potted palm to get this cruel, petty, dishonest, conman out of the office but I will maintain my morality while I am doing it.

 

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Things Named Vulcan’s Forge

I titled my novel Vulcan’s Forge as a reference to the Roman god of fire and smithy because the McGuffin at the center of the sf/noir was capable of producing effects well beyond the character’s normal access. Of Course, I was aware that Star Trek had popularized Vulcan as an association with its particular alien species. In fact, I had expected that there might have been a push from the publishing house to re-title the novel and that would have been fine with me, I am generally not precious about my titles.

The book sailed through the editing and publication process without any ever suggesting or hinting that an alternative title should be explored and now I am discovering all the other things that are called Vulcan’s Forge.

Vulcan’s Forge 1998 a techno-thriller, that’s when you don’t want to be marketed as present day science-fiction a category invented by The Hunt of Red October, by Jack Du Brul.

Vulcan’s Forge a 1997 Star trek­ tie-in novel set a year after the events in the movie Star Trek: Generations.

Vulcan’s Forge a custom Jewelers located in Kansas City Missouri.

Vulcan’s Forge a thoroughbred racehorse from the 1940s.

 

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No Two Books Get Written the Same Way

Mind you that title isn’t referring to no two authors write their books the same way I am talking about that as an author myself each book follows its own unique process from concept to manuscript.

My editor recently told me that he’d like to see material that is closer in tone to Vulcan’s Forge than the military SF adventure I recently showed to him. I’m good with that, after all I did write Vulcan’s Forge and I understand the wisdom of keep a stylistic and tone consistency to help build a readership. So, I responded with a few ideas that had been bouncing around my head and he came back indicating which one at this point interested him the most.

Now, I’m drafting the outline for this book using my typical five act structure as a framework. Her, it is was good enough for old Bill Shakespeare it’s good enough for me.

As is typical for me the very act of outlining, in even the basic form, expands and deepens my concepts turning vague ideas into concrete story and plot elements.

But, it’s not the same process I used on other books. Sometimes I just write out a long prose document telling the basic story from front to back, leaving spots that I know are too thin that I will have to work out later. Sometimes I craft careful character studies and maps first and then start the outlining, and this time it’s numbered bulleted points for act of the five acts with a separate character files that grows as I explore the story and structure.

The point is when you attend a con or a writing workshop and someone tells you from on high that this is the ‘one way’ to write a story know that what they are passing is bunk. There isn’t one way for different writers and not even for the same writer. Experiment, investigate, and discover the way that works for you for the project at hand.

 

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It’s My Birthday

Today May 14 is my birthday and I feel pretty fine about that. I have friends and family for whom these events no longer happen and sop I know the blessing and privilege it is to have another go around our local star.

We’re here in the middle of a global pandemic with tens of thousands dead and more to come, our economy freefalling and our political world in utter chaos but I can also recognize that my life is going pretty damn well at the moment.

Six years ago, I transition from a contract, read ‘Temp’ worker to becoming a full Kaiser employee and this has hand down been the best place I have ever worked. My associated are good people and there aren’t any that I have personality conflicts with, I am well paid, and I have very good benefits.

Later this year will make 13 years married to my sweetie-wife and those have been good happy years.

March saw the publication of my first professional novel and I am working on a proposal for another book for this editor while waiting for a different house to finish evaluating my military SF book so artistically I have little to complain about.

Peak television and the explosion of streaming services along with the wonderful work done by people like Film Geeks San Diego and Horrible Imaginings film festival are doing wonders for broadening my exposure to interesting and challenging cinema expanding my horizon and making me a better artist.

All in all, I have to say that life is good.

 

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One Possible but Unlikely Scenario

With Jared Kushner’s irresponsible and utterly unsupported and unsupportable statements about not being ‘committed’ to holding the Presidential contest on the scheduled election date, and you can imagine the utter freak-out if anyone close the Obama had ever even whispered such an idea, people are concerned and frightened for what this lawless corrupt conman of a president might do to steal the election.

Moving the election date requires an act of congress and the House ain’t going to do that. Canceling the election is not going to happen. No, there will be an election but it is vital to remember that in November you are not voting for a person but a slate of electors committed to voting for a particular candidate. The constitution does not require that the people have a direct say in how the electors to the electoral college are selected, that is a matter left to the states. Voting for slates of electors to support this or that candidate arose very quickly after the constitution was adopted but it is not required at all.

So, take an important swing state like Florida, currently under GOP control in both the executive and the legislature. There’s nothing constitutionally preventing the Florida Senate and House in coordination with the governor from setting aside all votes cast in the November election and sending a slate of electors of their own choosing to represent the state in the electoral college. Such an action would take place after the popular voting and before the Electoral College meets and could swing the legally results of the election.

Our system is built on a foundation of trust and norms that presupposes honorable people acting with moral motivations and there lies it fatal flaw.

This scenario is vastly unlikely but entirely plausible.

 

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Noir Review: 5 Against the House

Continuing my expedition into Columbia Noir hosted on the Criterion Channeland early Kim Novak performances Sunday night I streamed the 1955 noir 5 Against the House.

Directed by Phil Karlson from a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant and John Barnwell based on a novel of the same name by Jack Finney who is better known for penning the novel The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 5 Against the House is about a collection of college students that decide to rob a Reno Casino as a prank with intentions to return the money. Naturally the plan goes from prank to plot when one of the students seizes on the idea that this sudden influx of cash will end his troubles.

While the characters attend Midwestern College, they are older than the usual student body because they are Korean War Veterans going to school on the G.I. Bill, particularly Al, played by Guy Madison, whose life was saved in combat by ‘Brick’, played by Brian Keith. Brick suffers from what is now known as PTSD and struggles both academically and socially due to his difficulty integrating back into civilian life and leaving the horrors of the battlefield behind. His instability coupled with a tendency towards violence drive much of the films tension for the second half.

My trouble with this movie is that while there is taunt tension in the second half the first is devoid of any serious conflict and none that concerns all of our major characters. Al wants to marry his girl Kaye, played by Kim Novak, but she’s uncertain about their love and skittish to commit while the others in the friendly clique engage in freshman hazing and comic banter that is well written but serves no function in advancing the plot, making this 83 minute feature feel much longer. The actors rang from adequate to quite engaging with the obvious star power of Novak and Keith driving much of this movie’s appeal.

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COVID-19 in the Executive

With reports that members of both the presidential and vice-presidential Staffs have tested positive for COVID-19 the pandemic has now reached the executive branch of the United States of America.

It is not inconceivable that both the president and the vice president who have been directly exposed to members who have tested positive for the virus may themselves catch the virus and become ill. Should that occur with both men being of the demographic group likely to be hard hit by the virus it is equally conceivable that both men could be incapacitated and admitted to intensive care units to deal with a raging infection.

If you think the current political environment in Washington DC is not chaotic enough just imagine the sheer pandemonium that would result from such a situation, the succession of power for the presidency is clear. In the event that the president is incapacitated and fulfill his duties those duties devolved to the vice president if vice president is also unable to fulfill the requirements of the office then the powers devolved to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

I can think of no greater political thermonuclear device and our heated divided and sharply partisan times then to have the powers of the presidency residing with Nancy Pelosi. That is not to make a comment on whether she would wield those powers well or badly or if this a desired or undesired outcome only an observation that such an event would prove catastrophic Lee cataclysmically disruptive to our national political conversation, such as it is.

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