Yep, I’m more than a little bit brain-fried at the moment. I mean…more than usual.
Apparently I’ve fallen victim to the Forbidden Planet Bandit. Well, to be fair, that’s not quite the most accurate description I could give it, but I can’t think of a better way to put it either. … Read more
Kelly Groucutt, bassist and backing vocalist for ELO from 1975-1983, died unexpectedly on Thursday at the age of 63. You can say the words “Electric Light Orchestra” and get 50 geeks like me going off about the genius of Jeff Lynne as songwriter and producer, but not nearly enough people ever raved about the sheer showmanship of Kelly Groucutt. Put simply, Kelly could work a room, or a stadium – the size of the crowd was irrelevant, he could entertain them: it’s just what he was there to do. After the breakup of Lynne’s ELO, Kelly soldiered on with his own group, OrKestra (the K emphasized to point out that he and fellow ELO alumnus, violinist Mik Kaminski, were in the band), which was later absorbed into another ELO reunion band, ELO Part II, in 1992. Now with several former members of the original band at its heyday, Part II gamely played to any crowd that showed up, gaining a slightly humorous reputation as being a classy British band that would show up for any ribfest or state fair that would foot the bill.
It was in that phase of the band’s career that ELO Part II landed in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1996, the night before Thanksgiving as I remember. I was at a fairly miserable nadir in my own life, desperately wanting to get out of the job I was seemingly stuck in, when – more by accident 
than anything – I caught wind of Part II playing Fort Smith. The tickets were only ten bucks. The crowd was sleepy – they really seemed to be there for the booze, not for the band, so I was a bit of an oddity, sitting off by myself, taking in the music, and as always not touching a drop of anything, which I’m sure made me a valued customer at that venue.
The show was as good as you could hope it would be; the only recorded documents of ELO Part II’s live act have “guest starring” local symphonies, but this was the show most folks got for the price of admission: no orchestra (aside from whatever was coming out of Louis “Hooked On Classics” Clark’s keyboards), just rock ‘n’ roll. The group’s own originals sounded better on stage than on CD, and they did the old ELO chestnuts proud too. Sensing that he was losing a sleepy room in an already-sleepy town, Kelly grinned mischeviously as he started changing the words of “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” into “Can’t Get Her Out Of My Bed” on the fly.
It wasn’t difficult to get to say hi to the band after the show – if anything, it was more a case of “Holy crap, a fan!” I try hard not to be starstruck by anyone if I can help it, but when you’re talking about Kelly Groucutt and Bev Bevan and Mik Kaminski and Louis Clark, you’re talking about people who I’d been listening to since the age of six. Bev was friendly but intimidating – I was a little too aware that this was someone who’d played at the Marquee with the Move; he was Walking History and I could barely look him in the eye, which was okay since he was incredibly tall as well. Kelly and the rest were very approachable, and I think all I was able to croak out was that I’d been listening to them my whole life, loved the music, and was glad they’d finally landed within shouting distance so I could see them live. The weird thought occurred to start handing out hugs, because I’m a big, hug-giving teddy bear of a guy, but I thought maybe that’d be pushing it.
I can still go on for days about the songwriting and studio genius of Jeff Lynne, but I’m not sure I’ve ever said nearly enough about Kelly and the other guys having the chutzpah to get on a stage and entertain. As a musician myself, I’m more of a Lynne: a studio rat, holed up by myself, playing and singing everything myself because I’m aware of my limitations and know that I’d be holding a live group back with my own self-consciousness: I’d kill any vibe that was there. But to see Kelly and the other guys on stage, playing their songs, plying their trade and trying to leave a crowd with a few smiles, was to want to be a musician more like Kelly Groucutt: a real entertainer.… Read more
Every year I compile a list of my favorite and least favorite things about that year, just for giggles, and for future perspective, just to get it on the record. This year, much to the chagrin of everyone reading this, shall be no different.
The Good
The Bad
I consciously steered away from pop culture on my best/worst of list here; it just seems like 2008 was dealing with weightier stuff than that…and besides, there’s still the end-of-the-year podcast-o-rama thingie for that sort of stuff…though with the way my throat’s been lately, everyone’ll probably thing I’m trying to sound like House.
I also have to give a runner-up “good” mention to the discovery of Facebook. I’m reluctant to give this a berth on the list because I’m still a new convert to the book o’ the face, but I’m really enjoying it thus far; I’ve all but stopped going to Myspace. I explained it to someone else a few weeks ago this way: remember, in the late 90s heyday of pre-sued-out-of-existence Napster, how awesome it was to have this one central resource to go to where you were nearly sure to find anything you were looking for? To stretch an internet analogy to its snapping point, Facebook is to social networks what old-school Napster was to file-sharing: I’ve run into many more of my friends here, and many more people who either aren’t on Myspace or are unfindable on Myspace. Facebook doesn’t seem like it’s aimed at ADHD-addled tweens, whereas Myspace does come across that way sometimes. The goofy extra features like the virtual Star Wars figure trading app, Scrabble and D&D Tiny Adventures are kind of neat, especially when they work (I’ve gotten a few invites to things that just never seem to work for me), but even at their worst they’re not as annoying as, say, Myspace layouts drenched with virtual “bling” and busy backgrounds that completely obliterate any legible text that may or may not be on the screen. I’m hooked on the ‘book, and I’m not even remotely sheepish about it – in my situation, it’s a sanity-saving link to the outside world. And it’s just plain fun to see what old friends from school or several workplaces ago are up to, and to litter everyone’s status updates with godawful puns. Good times.
Here’s hoping everyone has a good 2009 despite all the dire predictions. Remember, by the time you’ve finished reading this sentence, the future has begun.… Read more
It’s two years today since a lot of stuff happened around here, but perhaps the best way to mark the occasion would be to celebrate Obi Day. Two years ago today, we adopted a fluffy little kitty guy who had been hanging out in our yard for about 48 hours or so. Unlike a lot of other stray kitties who had come and gone over the years, Oberon was laid back enough to pass muster with Othello…and of course, it didn’t take much for Olivia to decide he was a new friend. I’m going to hazard a guess that there are probably all of two months’ difference in Oberon and Olivia’s age. The rest litmus test, though, was always getting Othello’s approval. That was a rare and precious thing. Othello had readily accepted Olivia earlier that year, but she was a tiny kitten and it was pretty easy for him to establish dominance there; Oberon was bigger than Olivia and – more importantly – male, but Oberon never made an attempt to be the alpha male of the house. Even when challenged, he was laid back – he’d give ground. I’m sure that appealed to Othello in his old age. Obi had permission to stay. … Read more
Announced yesterday in the forums on Ellison Webderland:
Tomorrow, at about 8:30 AM, Susan and one of my attorneys, John Carmichael (he of the successful AOL lawsuit, & others), will go before a judge of the California Superior Court for a preliminary conference hearing on my litigation against Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, Sony, Paramount, STAR TREK, and about a dozen editors and apparatchiks thereto owing allegiance, in the first large step to making the gigantor ST franchise pay me what they owe me for using the elements of my CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER story and teleplay. In the offing, if they choose to continue to be arrogant and non-responsive, is a Federal Suit that will make it possible for ALL past Star Trek writers–such as, notably, David Gerrold–to seek substantial reparations for 40 years’ worth of pillage and greed by Paramount, et al.
Watch this space. I’m old, but not yet senile or frightened.
Harlan Ellison is one maddening little cranky-assed bastard. He’s capable of such brilliance, but what does he do to draw attention to himself? Nutball crap like this. I’m not saying this out of – as he frequently accuses anyone who disagrees with his stance – some kind of fealty to a particular studio, show, or what have you. My biggest beef with Harlan, as he whittles away what’s left of his career complaining about how many times and ways he’s been “wronged” by every other producer in Hollywood who hired and paid him to write stuff, is that for all of his complaints about artistic integrity…where’s Harlan’s integrity? Why the hell does he keep cashing the check if he feels this strongly about it? ‘Cause you know he’s getting some kind of residuals for this one episode of Star Trek he wrote in 1967. Maybe it isn’t as big a check as he’d like, and maybe he’s pissed that the story he created has been absorbed into the Trek legend overall and has inspired novels, comics and whatnot…but you know, most writers would probably wear that as a badge of honor.
It’s funny that he invokes David Gerrold’s name here: Gerrold’s not far behind him in the whole “still cashes the check and does the paid convention appearances while moaning about how mistreated he is” schtick. And invoking Gerrold may sink his whole case, because we’re just a few days away from the fan-film adaptation of Gerrold’s rejected TNG script hitting the ‘net – technically, violating Paramount’s copyright and leaving himself without a leg to stand on. I’m not sure I’d be grateful for Harlan dragging my name into the fray if I were Gerrold.
I’m all for the underdog, but this is just undistilled 100-proof stupid. Harlan could have a fantastic legacy as one of the definitive voices of 20th century fiction, except that he’s spent most of the latter half of his life pulling attention-whore stunts like this rather than creating more works of literary genius that he should be remembered for. I can already hear him saying that he’s forced to do this because the well’s run dry for him and he has to make a buck somehow.
If that’s the case, maybe he shouldn’t have spent decades bitching in public about how awful every studio or producer is who’s ever hired and paid him to write scripts – scripts that he’s frequently abandoned in mid-stream and left for others to rewrite because he disagreed with being asked or told to perform rewrites that would dilute his original vision. Never mind that, barring The Starlost or a few installments of anthology shows like The Outer Limits, these were always works-for-hire, based on someone else’s characters and situations, rather than wrongfully mangled installments of The Harlan Ellison Show. If he hadn’t spent a few decades making himself virtually unemployable as a scriptwriter, maybe he wouldn’t be in dire straits now.
Harlan Ellison’s a brilliant writer – I love his prose and even many of the TV projects that he feels turned out wrong, but I can’t stand this attention whoring routine he’s settled into, especially when it’s turned into a career of its own with books written on the subject. It’s because of his TV credits – TV credits which almost always read “written by Harlan Ellison,” despite his frequent habit of jumping ship (and, I feel compelled to say again, cashing the check) before the cameras even roll – that I’m even aware of his prose to begin with.
The man has had an extraordinary career and has had an extraordinary voice (I feel compelled to put that in the past tense for some reason). I’m awfully sorry he hasn’t gotten his way all along. That just puts him in the same boat as the rest of us.… Read more
Yay! The election’s over. That’s the good news, right? Well, maybe just from my perspective – I think it’s vitally important for everyone to at least make the effort to participate in the process, no matter who they vote for. But I guess I’m all chipper because – at the risk of making this all sound like a contest where you try to bet on the winning horse – for the most part, at almost all levels, I got my wishes. My guy’s headed to the White House. I have faith in him. I have faith that where he has rough edges and maybe not as much experience, his advisors, his instincts and his even-keeled temperament will be his best assets.
I didn’t agree with Barack Obama on everything, straight up-and-down-the-line, platform-wise. Maybe about 75% of it, really. Which is a hell of a lot more common ground than I had with Senators Clinton or McCain, or with anyone running on a third party ticket. (Keep in mind – I voted for John Hagelin in 2000. I liked the backbone of his policies enough for forgive/overlook the wacky-doodle stuff in the background about how he hoped to achieve peace through transcendental meditation. I have no qualms about going third party.) On the issues, I agreed with Obama 3/4 of the time, which is a better match than I had with either Gore or Kerry. I tend to lean left in some areas (but not all). I felt distinctly discouraged when, post-primaries, it seemed like so much of the inspirational message of primary season fell by the wayside in favor of party-dictated talking points that seemed, by comparison, diluted. I was incredibly irritated by the wildly unprecedented amount of innuendo that was put into circulation by folks who apparently felt like they had a lot to lose, accusing Obama of being everything from the Godless socialist baby-killing spearhead of a secret Muslim takeover of the government to the Antichrist. Whatever. For my money, he’s a more even-tempered, pragmatic and adaptable candidate than anyone else who was in the running.
But that’s all water under the bridge: the man will be President of the United States. And that’s an occasion that opens the door a bit for something I’ve been wanting to vent about.
I’ve been sick of politics for much of this year because, among other reasons, it’s generated more spam than all the Nigerian bank cons, penis enlargement drugs and other crap I’ve gotten in the three years prior to 2008. A lot of it was anti-Obama, accusing him of being the aforementioned Godless socialist baby-killing spearhead of a secret Muslim takeover of the government, but let’s dance the real waltz here: with me being in the redneck south, if you’ll forgive me being uncharacteristically blunt, a lot of it was recycled nigger jokes. Any racist joke you can think of where you’d ever seen the word “nigger” was regurgitated here with Obama’s name cut-and-pasted in. I even received some of this crap tonight after the Arkansas polls had closed – what the hell effect did the sender think this e-mail would have?).
Let me get down to why, exactly, this bugs the fuck outta me. I can go on and on about respecting the position even if you don’t respect the man (come on, if we’ve been according due respect to President Bush for the past eight years, I think this one’s a no-brainer). But ultimately, my concern isn’t about political correctness. I am raising a young boy who’s already walking, working on talking, and is eagerly drinking in everything he sees and hears and experiences and taking it on board. I intend to teach my son that people – all people – are to be valued and respected. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they look like. You treat people with decency unless they give you a damn good reason to treat them otherwise.
I see President-Elect Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech and outlining his hopes for the future, and I can’t help but marvel as how far we’ve come as a nation. I then think about the number of times that I’ve heard people around me, including close family members, talking out in the open about how they “don’t want a nigger in the White House,” and I can’t help but be reminded that we have so far, so very far, yet to go. And so much more to learn – about according basic respect to a fellow human being.
I realize that there are plenty of people who voted against Obama on grounds of policy rather than race. I respect that. And for those who, for whatever reason (oh, let’s cut to the chase: it’s upbringing, pure and simple), object to Mr. Obama on the grounds of his race, I don’t expect to change your mind. I don’t expect the world to hand me an obstacle-free path to raising my child – I know better than that. But show some common decency and respect in public. The world does enough to gradually strip away the carefree joys and innocence of childhood as our kids grow up; I’ll have to cushion those blows and teach my son to rationalize them as best I can. Just because you disagree with Obama politically does not qualify him for that insulting label (or any of its synonyms for that matter).
A black man is about to become the leader of the free world. And it’s not the end of the world. I’d appreciate it if some folks would stop going on and on like it is.
So far to go, so much more to learn. All of us.… Read more
I saw this the other night and instantly thought it was more insidious than any campaign spot I’ve seen this year – and that’s saying something.
A big part of my diet this year has been kicking the high fructose corn syrup right off the menu. I have no doubt that it’s a big part of why I’ve dropped as much weight as I have. But this commercial is just off-the-scale insidious: because this guy can’t think of anything wrong with it, it is therefore by definition just hunky-dory? You know, I probably couldn’t, on absolutely no notice, cough up detailed studies about why smoking is bad for you from memory, or instantly recall a full list of the side-effects of taking heroin. This doesn’t mean, however, that these things are “just fine in moderation.”
Sometimes I think all the Cold War psych ops types moved to Madison Avenue when there was no more Soviet Union to topple.… Read more
George Carlin has left the building. Can’t say I agreed with him across-the-board in all of his thinking, but I always, always, always came away from his comedy with a few thoughts rolling around in my head, and a few belly laughs too.… Read more
My apologies if I’ve seemed like an asshole the past few days (or at least like more of an asshole than usual) on message boards or elsewhere. I’ve had trouble sleeping and between being exhausted and being in pain (more in a moment) and having a little bit of cabin fever from the “stuck in a submarine with a baby” syndrome. The pain and the lack of sleep came from a lump that appeared, disappeared and reappeared immediately behind and below my left ear. It felt like it was about the size of a bottlecap, but it was resting right on that bone, putting constant pressure on it…hence constant pain. I think to put it charitably I’ve been impossible this week. Also, having a lump suddenly grow on you is very unnerving with or without the pain, so off to the doctor I went. Turns out that it’s an infection that’s set up near the glands back there, so now I’m on these horse-pill-sized antibiotics…and I’m still just having to rough it where the pain is concerned. I can tell that the swelling is going down, but it still hurts like hell. So at this point I’m not much better behaved than Evan is when he’s feisty, only I know more colorful four-letter words than he does (but I certainly can’t do the cute BAH BAH BAH BAH BAH! that he does).
Funny thing about the doctor I saw: I went to elementary school with him. He was the first kid I knew who had a TI 99/4a, and he introduced me to Tunnels Of Doom. I think I may have sold him on the PDF DVD while I was there – I probably need to start carrying a couple of them with me for these kind of eventualities. 😆 We also had a mutual friend with an Astrocade, so with me and my Odyssey2, we were kinda like The Kids Who Don’t Have An Atari and stuck together pretty closely. I’ve wondered more than once how in the world I came across to someone I haven’t seen in nearly 30 years. If I try to look at it from outside the sphere of my own interests and hobbies, it’s like I’m suddenly this fat nerd who’s still playing the games that were out in 1982. I tried to explain that I’m a bit of a historian in that regard, but I’m not someone who’s got an acclaimed book to back up that claim – just a self-published DVD, most copies of which are labeled in Sharpie. I don’t have any regrets for my own life choices, except maybe the Eating Too Much part, but I kinda wonder what the discrepancy was between what he expected to see and what he did see. Really more out of curiosity than any sense of being self-conscious. I am who I am, and I look like what I look like, and I’ve grown into a sense of comfort about both of these things.
Anyway, I’ve taken enough stuff to knock the edge off the pain from this thing (which is still there), so I’m gonna go to sleep.… Read more
My apologies for not getting theLogBook updated on time – I’ve literally spent most of my weekend filling PDF DVD orders (!!). Hopefully everyone who’s gotten one has liked ’em. So help me God, I’m going to go get a new office chair in the next couple of days, so I thank everyone from the bottom of my…well…bottom. It’s a little unnerving to sit down and feel the seat start to slide down to its lowest altitude like someone’s let the air out of the tires. I look forward to not experiencing that anymore very soon! Seriously though, the response to the PDF DVD has blown me away. At this point, my biggest fear is that I’m not going to have duplication nailed down for the second run while the orders keep coming in. I honestly was not expecting it to blast off like it has. I’ve also learned a few things (the hard way) along the way, including how to generate Paypal links that actually do something helpful. I think you guys would be stunned to know just how much I’m making this whole thing up as I go.
Turbo Turtle, a.k.a. Gamera, has disappeared from the yard – hopefully to go kick back in a body of water somewhere. Turns out he was a humongous snapping turtle…not good for Zathras. I really don’t need to step out my door and have one of my toes eaten by a cranky and huge turtle.
Another thing that’s occurred to me today is that everything I’ve been doing pales in significance next to the loss of life in China and Myanmar. I can barely even begin to process the kind of numbers of dead we’re talking about there, much less what can be done about it. Perhaps it’s just as well that I’ve got all these distractions.… Read more
