Sorry for the post being a tad late, life has been busy, and some of it actually in a good way. (The root canals while required were less fun.)
I have a general rule with both Mel Brooks and Wood Allen movies, the 
less they appear the funnier the film turns out to be. Young Frankenstein is my favorite of the films directed by Mel Brooks. The majority of the credit I feel would have to go to star and writer Gene Wilder. Continue reading
It was not my intention to keep away from my blog for almost ten days, but life has been hectic.
The day-job has been very busy, and that is a good thing because it means my job is secure in the troubling economic times. In the evening I have been working hard on getting through what I suspect will be the hardest part of my book to write, a massive space battle of ninety ships, with characters scattered and a lot invented tactics to try to slip into the exposition. I’ll be very happy to be back among simply character scenes and emotion dangers versus space battles.
On the plus side I have finished the first draft of the space battles and I’m now about 15,000 words into the novel. I’m happy with the progress and I am looking forward to the rest of the book.
I’m going to try and be better about my blogging, I have things to say, lots of things to say, but my time seems to slip right on by me.
People wonder why I am skeptical of the GOP on financial issues, well, they should read this article by a former member of the Reagan team, it really lays out in simple terms just how massive of a lie it is that republicans are better with the money than the Democratic party.
So, 30 years after his last SF film, visionary director Ridley Scott has returned the genre he so deeply marked in the late 70s and early 80s with his films Alien and Blade Runner. The thing about Ridley Scott is he can not tell a terrible script
from a wonderful script. If you hand him a wonderful script you are likely to get a piece of cinema that will be breath taking in it style and in it substance. If you hand him a poor script, you are likely to get a watchable but ultimately pointless film such asKingdomOfHeaven, and if you give him a crappy script, you will get junk that looks like gold.
Sadly, Prometheus falls into the final category, a visually stunning, conceptually audacious, but ultimately an epic failure in terms of character, plot, and logic. I saw Prometheus in 2-D, and this is the only time I have regretted skipping the 3-D format. Scott used the frame with all the mastery of a visual master at the top of his form, some scenes I expect would have truly stunned me in 3-D, but they would have not saved this film. Continue with the review knowing that you will be spoiled.
Often in the posts here on the blog you can see me attacking the G.O.P. and its insane stance on cultural issues and it hypocritical stances on fiscal issues. (If the GOP wins the White House, it is likely to retain the House of Representative and could take the Senate, in such a future plan on deficits in the federal budget as ‘not mattering’ once again.)
Some people interpret my criticisms of the GOP as a indicator that I must be a Liberal, and this is not the case. Of course many people can only see black and white when it comes to American politics and real Americans are always found solely on their own side. That is not a view I share, reality is full color, not black and white, but here are a few examples of why I cannot be a liberal. Continue reading
Sunday morning I went to the movies by myself and caught a bargain showing of The Hunger Games. This movie franchise is based upon the best selling series by Suzanne Collins. It is SF, it is aimed at young adults, and it is post-apocalyptic. Proceed only if you are unconcerned by a few spoilers. Continue reading
The frequent eye strain headaches have made the desire to sit and compose blog posts rather rare of late. After spending 8 hours at the computer for my day job I am disinclined to spend much more at home. Even bumping up the font only helps so much. However on Wednesday I had my annual eye exam, discovered that the axis of my astigmatism had shifted quite a bit. So while my visual acuity is about the same, I still require new lens. They have been ordered, 7-10 days which is like something from the last century, and when I get them I should be back to my old happy self.
Having just finished the Book of Job, I’m about halfway through my reading of the Old Testament. God has finished making he transition to a spirit above and encompassing the world, quite a change from the wrestling guy in Genesis or the dude who appeared, wrapped in smoke and flame like a Balrog, above magic boxes. I’m not sure if I will finish this read, it has been sucking up a lot of my time and I really shouldn’t waste too much.
Today, 5/25/12, the Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space station, opening a new era for spaceflight. Space X is going where only governments have gone before, and while I cheer this achievement should we consider where other corporations might go if given the chance? Is this is herald of a bright off-world future or the sign that the cyberpunks might have been right?
Paging Dr. McCoy, your hypo is ready. Speaking as someone who despises the needle, I can’t even watch one on the movie screen, I truly cheer this invention.
The three day weekend is nearly upon us. I have plans, but hardly anything extravagant. Sadly I will not be going to BayCon this year. It was a choice between BayCon and WorldCon and in that contest WorldCon always wins. So tonight will be D&D, where I am a player. We’re in the middle of a fight, outnumber and fighting under hampered conditions. So far the gamemaster has been holding back, but we’ll see if this is the last game for my Arabic Paladin, Alladin. Tomorrow and Sunday will be board and card gaming with friends and my sweetie-wife, must resist buying the Game of Thrones board game, and on Monday I will be going toDisneyland. Sadly by myself, my dear friend who was going to go is under the weather health wise and that has caused quite a bit of financial stress. I already had paid for my ticket, so alone I go. I shall have fun in his honor.
So there I was, washing the dishes, softly singing ‘Double Feature Picture Show’ from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when I realized it have been 
decades since I had last seen It Came From Outer Space.
Sadly that movie is not one of the films in my collection. I have a good number of he movies referenced in that song, but not all of them. (As a side note, none of the songs films in the song were made by RKO.) Once the dishes were in the drying rack – though we have a dishwashing machine my sweetie-wife prefers them washed by hand – I went to my computer to see if Netflix had It Came From Outer Space on instant view, nope, disc only. Next I checked with Hulu Plus, nope though I almost gave in and watched Plan 9 from Outer Space with the RiffTrax commentary. My final check, Amazon Prime instant videos struck mithril, yielding not only It Came From Outer Space, but it was one of the free videos. Continue reading