Leonard Nimoy—In Memoriam

public domain

1931 – 2015

Please click on the video below to watch
(with speakers on)

Progress

I’ve started work on a new novel manuscript. All I’ll say so far is it’s science fiction. I’m already writing chapter 3.

These handwritten pages are not in focus enough for you to read. But take it from me, you’re looking at great content.

Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending

Jupiter (Mila Kunis) is a typical girl on Earth who earns a living swabbing toilets. Caine (Channing Tatum) is a furry-looking alien who constantly tries to save her from inter-planetary aliens who want to kill her, marry her, or dissect her for their own devious reasons. That’s pretty much the plot.

What is outstanding about the movie is the visual effects. Incredible planetary scapes and enormously complicated spaceships fill the screen, evoking awe. The battle scenes are also elaborate, but hard to follow. Just to let you know, critics panned the movie for reasons having to do with my first paragraph, but the people who did choose to see it enjoyed the movie.

And now for some literary analysis.

Jupiter Ascending references Cinderella early on. But really, it’s a version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (the movie version). Caine is the Cowardly Lion who never passes through a cowardly phase, and who appears early in the story. But then it pretty much follows suit. Jupiter, as Dorothy, goes up in a way that blows her mind, then comes back down. She encounters the forces of a wicked witch (Balem, one of three evil siblings). Jupiter then meets a wise Scarecrow (Stinger played by the ever-reliable Sean Bean). She then encounters a good witch (Kalique, one of the siblings). This is out of order, but it’s a matter of whatever serves the flow of the story.

She is captured by an evil witch who prepares for the precise moment to kill her (Titus, one of the siblings). Jupiter is helped along the way by an intrepid Tin Man of a starship captain (Captain Tsing). And the sibling Balem changes roles from wicked witch to Wizard in the ultimate battle scenes, where he unexpectedly flips personalities.

Am I saying they copied The Wizard of Oz on purpose? Maybe, maybe not. With three evil siblings, maybe they wanted to put a twist on Cinderella and ended up imitating another familiar story on accident. But the overall series of characters seem so strongly to identify with Oz that I think they mentioned Cinderella at the start to throw us off. If nothing else, it shows the lack of originality in Hollywood.

I think what disappointed the critics was the lack of connections and growth. Dorothy had to retrieve the witch’s broom for the Wizard. And each of her companions experienced character growth. Nothing like that happens in Jupiter Ascending. But I did like it, and the 12:30 matinee I went to was packed.

Arnold Schwarzenegger—Laughingstock?

For the past two movies I’ve seen in theaters, they’ve shown a trailer for the next Terminator movie. They showed a compelling new Sarah Connor, but when Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared, the audience laughed.

I’ll be back

public domain

Has he become a laughingstock? I remember several years ago, there might be a wildfire in California, then the news anchor would say, “And now a statement from the governor.” To my surprise, Arnold would step up to the mike. I would initially think it was a mistake, then realize that oh yeah, he got elected. But is his renewed acting career worth it?

Surprisingly, I did see the movie. 

Seahawks vs. The Hunger Games

Now that the Superbowl is over, we in the Seattle area can explain that all those idiots running around with flags showing the number 12 represents the fans—the 12^th man on the team. This has become exceedingly obnoxious, with all sorts of posters, banners, flags—even flags on cars. And of course, on jerseys.

Meanwhile, Suzanne Collins already has some trademarks for “District 12,” where Katniss and her family live in The Hunger Games novels. She wants to expand the trademark to clothing, which would probably look cool. The Seahawks tried to stop them.

I like the soundtrack

This was stupid. Obviously, “District 12” has nothing to do with the Seahawks. They can’t trademark the number 12. All they did was delay Suzanne Collins in getting the trademark on clothing.

I can’t know if there were plans for “District 12” clothes this past Christmas, or if they would have sold well if they did, but since the Seahawks have stopped their legal maneuvering, she’ll be free to do so. 

Buffy Bloopers

I didn’t realize these bloopers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer were online. Charisma Carpenter has a genuine-sounding laugh.

Stop hitting Giles!

Magic: The Gathering—at the Mall

I sometimes hang out in malls to write. If I stay at home, I end up thinking about what I should do to clean things up.

This past weekend, I went to a mall in the Eastside suburbs of Seattle and saw that part of it was dominated by gamers.

Yes, those tables go all the way down

When I asked a guy there what it was, he said it was card-trading for Magic the Gathering.

What’s really interesting is that if you look at this picture close enough, you’ll see a girl sitting there among the guys.

Click to enlarge

Best Covers of 2014

Completely subjective, of course. My choice for best science fiction cover is Upgraded, art by Julie Dillon.

This cover is endlessly fascinating. I especially like how the arm is drawn in break-apart schematic style, only the arm really is breaking apart under the influence of the metal rings. (Or maybe it’s coming together?) The cyborg herself looks very relaxed during this.

Upgraded is an anthology of cyborg short stories. I haven’t read it myself. The stories seemed too avant-garde or new wave or something.

For best fantasy cover, my choice is Night Owls, art by Dan Sipley.

This cover captured the contrast between the two female leads. There’s a great deal of subtlety here, and you can see how claw-like the crouching woman’s nails are.

Night Owls is an interesting New Adult novel about occult forces invading a college campus. Facing off against them is a mismatched group of people who really don’t trust each other, but who will have to work together. Believe it or not, though I liked the plot and characters, I didn’t finish it because I didn’t like the casual swearing in one viewpoint character’s narrative.

Best runner up is Peacemaker, art by Joey Hi-Fi.

You have to give this artist points for being different. This definitely attracted my eye to it on the bookshelf.

Set in the future, the character on the cover is a tough ranger in the world’s largest nature reserve, set on a coast near a megacity in Australia. I did read Peacemaker and enjoyed it. Then I was shocked to see it described as fantasy. I thought of it as science fiction, and the cover reinforces that.

But she does have an animal companion who is invisible to others. So does the hunky U.S. Ranger who barges into her life, whom she resents at first. And she’s attacked by things that don’t show up on recordings. Oh. It’s an urban fantasy, set in the future. So this is the best cross-genre cover. 

Space Needle Drone Flight

If you’re having a bad day, watch this: A skilled drone pilot launched a drone that buzzed the space needle.

I don’t know if this is the same flight where the police tracked down the hotel room the drone emerged from and had a good talking to with the owner, as mentioned in my previous blog post. There are the usual concerns: I remember the scene in the movie 1984 where a helicopter operated by the Thought Police looked in the window of Winston Smith’s apartment. And this makes it easy for a terrorist, whether domestic or foreign, to drop poison in a city’s water supply.

But see the beauty of this shot. Also, consider how this can revolutionize search and rescue. The common use of some drones will also make a dividing line between stories.

I watched a rerun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which a couple of her friends were kidnapped. When she saw they were missing from the library, she thought they might be out looking for someone. I thought, “Why doesn’t she call them?” Then I realized the Buffy series was before cell phones were in common use.

This is an enormous divide in movies and TV shows: pre-cell phone and cell phone. (I know that smart phones also make a divide, but not as drastic.) The same is true for novels. And in the near future, novels will be viewed as pre-drone or drone. If some child is lost in a city or a wilderness, readers will puzzle over why no drone was sent out. To spy on someone who is sunbathing or unloading supplies from a ship, readers will wonder why a satellite had to be co-opted rather than just use a joystick and drone.

And for novels set in the future, 3-D printers will manufacture military drones for the battlefield or exploration drones to send out from spaceships that have landed on planets. Drones are the wave of the future, or perhaps I should say waves of drones are the future.