Journal 2002
December 26, 2002
Feeling very behind on the 3LBE #12. Doubtful it will come together by Jan. 1. The holidays are often exhausting, still so even without traveling this year. Parents came to town, we witnessed a double rainbow at the coast, and six cooks produced an excellent meal.
reading: Abarat (C. Barker), The Unstrung Harp (E. Gorey)
watching: The Two Towers, Return to Oz
December 6, 2002
Bigfoot is apparently dead.
watching: Heathers
November 30, 2002
Saw fam & friends. Ate turkey. Heard Aaron’s music.
reading: Riven Rock (T. C. Boyle)
November 22, 2002
Now I can say I’ve been to an Indian kitsch restaurant.
reading: The Grifters (J. Thompson)
November 16, 2002
3LBE Annuals shipped today. Hard drive running better. Brain running better… I think.
watching: One-hour Photo
November 11, 2002
Nadir.
reading: Nightlife (B. Hodge)
watching: Heaven, The Fast Runner
November 5, 2002
Took the 3LBE Annuals to the bindery today. It will feel good to get them out in the mail soon. Hard drive woes at home. Two drives piggy-backed in my machine, may need a new CD burner.
November 2, 2002
Indulged in the guilty pleasure of sneakiness. Played paintball today. Beautiful weather. One melée was two kills without pulling the trigger. Like counting coo.
Then stood in line (cold night) for Bruce Campbell introducing a showing of the unreleashed film Bubba Ho Tep. Perhaps he does know who Joe R. Lansdale is, but I was a disappointed in his saying the script just came to his house. I thought the movie-going less-apt-to-read-a-book crowd should be encouraged to seek out the original story, or at least that the original writer be given credit. Perhaps Bruce didn’t think it worth the arguement. His performance was excellent, and the film well done. I hope it finds distribution.
watching: Bubba Ho Tep
November 1, 2002
Rest in peace, Jam Master Jay.
October 31, 2002
Pumpkin glowing outside. Three trick-or-treaters tonight. Is all. So much candy left. Feel the need to read Bradbury’s Halloween Tree. And Something Wicked This Way Comes. And The October Country. And never work again.
watching: The Ring
October 23, 2002
The autumn colors are incredible. Me wants to swim in leaves…
reading: Concrete (P. Chadwick)
watching: Ginger Snaps, Das Experiment
October 13, 2002
Attended the first night of HPL Film Fest, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The film shorts were very entertaining, with an equal mix of parodies (including a Cthulhu Lego set commercial) and some shorts that were so amateurly acted and filmed that we were rolling in the aisles. We did not see the additional two sessions of shorts, and missed performances by the Darkest of Hillside Thickets, but we did get some Q&A with director Stuart Gordon (Reanimator) and S.T. Joshi (HPL scholar), and saw a big screening of Dagon (Gordon). To date, I think it the best, most Lovecraftian flick. Very moody and relentless.
Gordon responded to the hardcore fans’ demand for period-piece HPL films with the observation that HPL himself did not write period pieces, that he wrote in the contemporary, and so, to Gordon, it made more sense set HPL adaptations in the present. He and Joshi seemed to agree that HPL would see himself as a science fiction author in today’s genres and literary circles.
And, a completely different observation (like the Blazing Saddles one, which never occurred to me before either)… hmm, The Prisoner and… the Truman Show… hmm.
watching: Dagon, The Prisoner, The Transporter, Army of Darkness
October 9, 2002
Why would they choose to release One Hour Photo at the same time as Red Dragon? Why in blue hell, exactly?
watching: Igby Goes Down
reading: Stranger in a Strange Land (R. Heinlein)
October 4, 2002
Fridays. Are. So. Good.
watching: Firefly, The Terminator
reading: Transmetropolitan (W. Ellis)
October 2, 2002
I’m quite late on this one, but just to catch anyone who missed the news, Sci Fi Channel is cancelling the excellent show Farscape. I haven’t had cable TV for a year, but the first four seasons I did view episodes of were worth-watching TV, and worth-watching science fiction (rare, and rarer, respectively). Show your support through efforts like SaveFarscapeCentral. There are rallies.
watching: CSI, Smallville, Buffy
October 1, 2002
Didn’t realize it before, but hmm… Blazing Saddles… Last Action Hero, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Hmm.
watching: Blazing Saddles
September 29, 2002
The Heroes Among Us exhibit was in town these past two weeks. Very moving.
consuming: Trader Joe’s original cheesecake
watching: Animal House
September 27, 2002
More research reveals further software conspiracies. Apparently, Macromedia’s widely-used font creation software Fontographer writes unstable code into a font when it’s created. This FSType setting marks the font as one that cannot be included when creating a PDF file.
The wide-spread ramifications of this situation are frightening. Thousands of fonts were created 1995-2002 with Fontographer, by commerical font foundries and font hobbyists alike. Until 1999, no one knew that their fonts were prevented from PDF inclusion. No one knew the software was buggy and was making that choice for them. Can you see where this is going?
Millions of publishers and designers have been told by printers to “bring in a PDF” file, which supposedly embeds all fonts, and subsequently argued with each other about why the file prints improperly. Worse, the FSType code often marks fonts for inclusion for on-screen viewing of PDFs, but not for printing. So the PDFs appear fine before you rush off to the printer to meet the deadline.
Many people in the industry have been working under the assumption that Adobe’s Acrobat software was to blame. True, since version 4.0, it has included code that detects the FSTYpe in a font — a feature that protects font designers. But the problem for everyone is obviously the lack of control in the original font creation software.
Macromedia discovered this problem with Fontographer in 1999, and has not released a patch or upgrade fix.
A full article on this http://www.pdfzone.com/rich/fonts2.html
Most frightening of all, is that, since Rich Sprague’s 1999 discovery, very little of the industry is aware of this software bug, and the entire SNAFU continues under the guise that there is no problem at all.
This freeware app promises to fix FSTypes in fonts (PC only). http://www.derwok.de/downloads/ttfpatch/ I’m still trying to find a fix for Mac users.
reading: Anubis Gates (Tim Powers)
September 17, 2002
One story returned this weekend. Looking for its new home.
listening: The Reincarnation of Luna (My Life with Thrill Kill Kult)
reading: The Time Machine (H.G. Wells)
September 14, 2002
Page imposition software is now a completely different classification than page layout software (Quark, InDesign). Older, simpler software had this feature included (PageMaker’s Build Booklet plugin). InDesign has an unsupporte third-party script which turns out to be less than successful. Adobe recommends purchasing a separate commerical product — pay for a plugin or an entirely different app. I tried a demo of one such plugin, and it fails. Reordering pages to print in booklet format is suddenly, stupidly, more difficult than it should be. And more expensive.
Adobe’s tech notes say that their InDesign is intended for small publications like magazines and that’s why they do not include a page imposition feature. I feel literally grifted. I would not have upgraded from PageMaker to InDesign last year, had I known this feature was missing. I assumed page imposition was an essential part of any newly developed publishing software app, and that InDesign would certainly develop and include it in order to compete with Quark. It’s like selling a car without wheels, methinks.
attending: Slayer and Soulfly
reading: The Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)
watching: Dazed and Confused, Gosford Park
September 7, 2002
Moved to town a few weeks after last year’s event, but the 9th annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is happening in my neighborhood at the historic Hollywood Theater over the weekend of October 11-13. Director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, Dagon) and HPL scholar S.T. Joshi will be in attendance, plus the infamous band Darkest of Hilside Thickets, while many short film adaptations of HPL tales will be shown. Methinks I’ll have to pop over and experience this cultural event.
reading: People of the Black Circle (Robert E. Howard)
watching: Strange Brew
September 5, 2002
Assembling 3LBE #11 was exhausting. This reading period was the fullest to date, with more submissions than any previous issue. Not complaining, tho, definitely keep ’em comin.
reading: Titus Groan (Mervyn Peake)
September 2, 2002
Congrats to all 2002 Hugo Award winners. Neil Gaiman’s American Gods now has a Hugo and a Stoker under its belt.
watching: Night of the Lepus, Trilogy of Terror, Shaolin Soccer
August 31, 2002
A three-day weekend never tasted so good. 3LBE crunch time.
watching: Night of the Lepus, Trilogy of Terror, Shaolin Soccer
August 22, 2002
Chapter Thirty-one
"Nothing much else happened, all the rest of that night.”
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury
August 20, 2002
Happy birthday, HPL.
reading: The Hungry Moon (Ramsey Campbell)
August 18, 2002
Vroom, vroom.
attending: Portland Adult Soapbox Derby
August 17, 2002
Today I touched the tail of a squirrel.
Watching: The Jerk
August 16, 2002
Got some old beaten up out-of-print paperbacks of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Kull tales. Quite excited about that. Also the obsessively beautiful design book Metalheart. And a collection of Henri Michaux pieces. Been waiting a long time for some of these, and finally just bit the bullet.
Oh, how precious the weekend.
playing: darts and billiards
August 13, 2002
Yesterday the one and only Dean Kamen (plus some crew) showed up at the organization where I work and demo-ed the Segway personal transportation device. It was very exciting. After waiting in line for a half-hour, I was able to try it out. Smooth and awesome… I should have been more aggressive and chatted Kamen, told him that I am a fan, but the big wigs had to talk big ideas with him, and my guilt factor kicked in and sent me back to do busy work. I was saddened by the fact that none of my co-workers seemed to know anything about codename:Ginger, unless they had caught the Goodmorning America debut or Fraiser episode or whatever, and they were more impressed with the cuteness of a gadget than the presence of a brilliant mind like Kamen’s. Which is exactly the kind of too-sheltered ignorance that keeps people from buying hybrid cars, much less even being aware that they are available for purchase.
wearing: Andy Warhol design underwear
consuming: Black Lab Stout, corn chowder, vegetarian’s nightmare sandwich
August 12, 2002
New job is a time vampire. Which is no surprise, but important things are being consumed in the wake. Like writing, unfortunately. Social activities have been fun and many, but I look forward to a calmer routine.
concerting: De La Soul, Cake, Kinky, The Flaming Lips
August 11, 2002
Picked-up with a Salem team at this weekend’s annual Kleinman Eruption ultimate tournament. Playing seven games in two days was a bit of shock to the system. Mostly a good shock.
Seen a few flicks in the past few weeks, and… I’ve overtalked my reactions with various people. Suffice to say, I enjoyed the older ones much much more than the new releases.
reading: American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
watching: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Signs, xXx, Tombstone, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
July 25, 2002
My short story “(All That Happens) Before the Epilogue” will be included in the upcoming anthology Breaking Windows: A Fantastic Metropolis Sampler published by Prime Books.
July 24, 2002
Finishing up cover artwork for 3LBE Annual vol. I — well, Rew X is, anyway. Look for a JPG on the Legion Press site soon.
reading: Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
July 23, 2002
While dusting out all the cubbies and nooks in the CD storage, I discovered a spider egg sac. Of all the CDs to hide behind, it was — of course! — behind Diamanda Galás.
July 22, 2002
So, that’s three stories I’ve been waiting on for three months — needlessly. Because all three magazines have no record of the submission. It’s more than odd, I must say, that three particular emails with stories attached never made it to their recipient. In three years of editing 3LBE, I have never had anyone query about a story that never reached me, or that I had misplaced in my file/record keeping.
July 21, 2002
I like people who read, who really read. Not people who just read the latest King, Grisham, Clancy or Koontz when it comes out, but people who read old stuff, lesser known stuff, different stuff. These readers truly seek out books. And I knew this from the first day that I wrote about a book on this news page: that I was catering to the lowest common denominator. So I’m taking a stance here. I’m not gonna spend the time it takes to create a link to amazon.com or imdb for every single thing I talk about. If you are such a fool who can’t seek out a book or movie, who can’t even use an Internet search engine, then I ain’t doing the work for you. If I feel like talking about it, if I feel like I really want people to seek out a bit of culture that has less than a bestseller or major movie studio release, then I might give you a pointer. In the meantime, just keep on with your silly ways, you lazy bums. (And by the by, yes, I do read some King and Clancy and Koontz, even so often. No Grisham yet, but I might do, someday.)
reading: Tree and Leaf (J.R.R. Tolkein)
watching: Y Tu Mamá Tambíen, Eight-Legged Freaks
consuming: Black Butte Porter
July 21, 2002
the Three-lobed Burning Eye - Annual vol. I will be published by Legion Press on Oct. 1. Limited editions — color and B&W — will be printed only in the quantity of orders received by Sept. 20. So, hey, order yours now!
I have been editor of this quarterly online magazine for three years, featuring great stories of horror, magical realism and suspense. The gallery artists have been an added treat, with such like Joachim Luetke who received an Oscar nomination for short film production design this year. The print annuals have always been part of the plan, and have fallen prey to numerous setbacks. Now I have the layout nearly complete, enough funding, and vendors selected. I looooove book design. It is so close to writing, and still very far. Grrr, another distraction.
reading: Lost Souls (Poppy Z. Brite)
watching: Reign of Fire, Ocean’s 11
July 19, 2002
Well crap. I seem to have gotten myself a job, dern it all. How’d that happen?
reading: Little Nemo in Slumberland
watching: Miller’s Crossing
July 7, 2002
Followed up with a magazine about a story I submitted three months ago. They have no record. Like mama said, “Always get a receipt, dear.”
Getting back to the climbing gym. Carpal tunnel, here I come.
watching: MIIB, Billy Jack, Fight Club, Metropolis (2001), No Man’s Land
June 29, 2002
Yesterday was a full day of rain, not done that in a long while. We live in the NW, and neither Aimee nor I have a rain coat.
watching: Bottlerocket, Powerpuff Girls: The Movie
eating: Kettle Chips - Salt and Black Pepper flavor
June 27, 2002
Aimee and I attended Cirque du Soliel (the Dralion show) and wished our bodies could do such amazing things. Awesome awesome stuff. Then we treated ourselves to dinner at the Montage, with spicy mac & cheese, oyster shooters, and some Mickey’s Big Mouth.
watching: The Talented Mr. Ripley
June 23, 2002
Drove through endless suburbia strip mall purgatory via highway 99-W, and eventually found vineyards, and finally the coastline. Aimee, Amanda, Shel, Angie, and I arrived in Newport, and picked the wrong place to have seafood. Interesting towns, though. The drive back along 101 and 6 was beautiful.
playing: Grand Theft Auto III
June 22, 2002
Lots of company this week. Matt came through on a whirlwind driving tour of the west coast, stopped for two days. He thinks Portland is rainy all the time, and bought an H.R. Giger watch. Were the watch hands shaped like phalluses? I didn’t study it closely enough.
June 20, 2002
Somebody was fibbing, somebody was. Real work should be followed by payment. Unless there was fibbing involved. Like mama said, “They won’t know you have a contract unless you use it, honey.”
watching: Minority Report
reading: Empire of the Sun, The Language of Ornament
June 16, 2002
Got a story back from Zoetrope: All Story. Gots ta get that sucka back in the mail, yo.
June 12, 2002
Dern it. Got me some real work coming in. Time ta git buzy.
watching: Rashamon
reading: Threshold by Caitlan R. Kiernan, Little Nemo, Empire of the Sun
June 11, 2002
Gathering price quotes from vendors. Also researching, trying to fill in the holes in my partial and slumbering knowledge about book design: composition, justification and hyphenation. The software has changed since the assembly of my last chapbook — which was poetry. The rules are different.
June 10, 2002
Mondays. Just. Suck. Nothing working right. Including brain. Especially brain.
Except broccoli cheese crawfish soup. Awwwww yeah.
watching: The Claim
June 9, 2002
Assembling 3LBE Year 1 print anthology. Issues #1-4. Yes, quite late. But getting married and moving and job hunting for seven months manages to warp time — and deplete savings. I love love love designing books. The color space of the lines of text, the typestyles, and all the ways in which to break the rules just slightly. And then the cover design, and the packaging.
watching: Highway 61
June 8, 2002
Finals for Spring League ultimate finished today. Team lime green (Wasabi!) did not make it to the semi-s, but seeing how vicious the teams that were… no thanx. We had great fun, played smart and well. And Clay brought sushi to toast our close of season. Summer League starts in a week.
watching: Detour
June 1, 2002
3LBE #10 is up now. Whewww. This was the most exhausting assemblage ever. Always worth it, tho.
Some people have asked me what’s in it for me, and why don’t I sell advertising to make $$. Somehow, through three years of doing the magazine, I couldn’t ever phrase my arguement in a convincing manner — until a few weeks ago, when I (re)found the phrase “labor of love.” And there you go. Plus, you know, what drives a professional to write a story or make a painting or start a magazine? Unequal parts, unimportant portions of the need to 1) see if they can, 2) see if they can do it better 3) see if they can do it the way they wanna.
Toni Morrsion said, “I write the kind of stories I like to read.” While a critical thinking professor could rant for hours about the holes in the vagueness of this statement, it was the one time in class that he acknowledged that body language, facial expression, body language, context, and inflection might occasionally change the meaning of vague statements. This is one of the best reasons for writing I have come across, and it appllies well to me being editor of 3LBE.
Okay, I just finished Minority Report. Is Tom Cruise supposed to be the “I’m getting bald and old and fat” main character? It’s really seeming like the basic concept has been turned into a senseless Mission: Impossible action fest. We’ll see.
May 31, 2002
Went to Smith Rock again today. Made it up a 5.10a and did it feel good.
May 30, 2002
Enjoying digital painting again.
Also reading Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard. (Oh no! Another Speilberg movie!)
May 29, 2002
My hold copy of Little Nemo in Slumberland came in at the library. I’m quite excited. Echoes of his work come through in Edward Gorey and Sandman.
Also picked up a hip version of Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report that has a horizontal-top binding. Am I disgusted by the fact that this story would probably not be reprinted and pubicized if Speilberg weren’t doing a summer movie? Well, I’m always disgusted that people go to see movies instead of reading the book, and remain utterly clueless of the obvious difference in quality that is so often the case. “You can’t condense a book into two hours” is not even an arguement that I’ll listen to. It’s a quality issue, says I. Science fiction is consistently dumbed down for the big screen. We’ll see how Speilberg does with this one… the trailers look like an action flick. I’ll admit I haven’t read Dick’s story yet (originally published in 1956), but I’m apprehensive about such previous “now a major motion picture!” books into film. Treatments like Starship Troopers, which was definitely not Robert Heinlein’s novel; and Total Recall, which was not very Philip K. Dick; (and I say this with complete awareness that these were Paul Verhoven movies, and you can’t expect much humanity in his character performances, and only a smattering of concept).
Assembling issue #10 of 3LBE. As though editing and doing artwork weren’t enough, I decided to implement style sheets. Lots of backward coding, despite my attempts to keep a template over the last 3 years of the mag. Code code code hurting my head head head.
May 23, 2002
Two very important measures did not get 50% of the votes in the primaries. The libraries will lose half of their funding, and the so will the parks. I am so angry about this that I’m numb and can’t think of a good insult. This is Portland, I thought, and I expected some “progressive” voting behavior. I was impressed by the voting system here, whereby all registered voters are mailed ballots and informational guides. And, you become registered when you get your driver’s license. How difficult can it be?
Obviously the system is progressive, but the voters are not pulling their weight.
So I’m gonna say this: never be complacent about the advantages of your life situation. You have a responsibility as a human being. If you live near the mountains or the sea, go appreciate them once in awhile. If you live in a place where voting is easy, fucking do it.
May 21, 2002
After having been in Portland for a few months, I finally went to Smith Rock for some climbing. I can see why it’s world famous. It’s huge, lots of climbing. And beautiful. Took it easy. Greg and I climbed a 5.7, two 5.8s and two 5.9s (all sport). Did I mention how beautiful…?
May 19, 2002
Why did I believe that Episode II would only be on one screen at a few theaters? Ahh, my fanciful dreams of the unlikely recession of the corporate world. So, we went. And when it was bad (dialogue, oh god) it was quite bad. But it was good, in the Lucas-trite-’50s-inspired-cheesey-adolescent-entertainment kinda way. I expected no more than some CGI eye candy, but was dazzled by the action. I was impressed with the story, its layers, its self-reference to its own mythology. But the story, sadly, is quite buried in a flawed film. It is unfortunate that Lucas can recruit good actors, and write a good story, and make an unreal world look more real than anyone else — but cannot make the characters real. The performances are wooden, like auditions or script rehearsals. Nonetheless, it remains a poor movie that I’m glad I saw, tho it doesn’t quite qualify for my list of guilty pleasures (movies like Starship Troopers, Con Air, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Rock). Maybe just to see Yoda in action.
May 17, 2002
Turns out the library had the 9th book of the Preacher series, and I was overjoyed that it was the final collection. Got some closure on that 66-issue storyline.
The neighborhood library has moved to a new building, and they have twice the books and tapes. Grabbed some recipe books. Gonna make use of that fondue pot, I am.
I believe Episode II comes out today. Have heard rumors that it’s not getting as many screens as Spiderman (which was on 3 screens at the theater we went to!) So we were thinking we might try for a matinee on opening day, me and all my unemployed buddies. But then I thought: not as many screens, and so many people in Portland are unemployed… and I have so many good books to read here at home.
Have been reading Wrong Things, a collection of shorts by Poppy Z. Brite and Caitlan R. Keirnan — both excellent crafters of horror tales. Was rather struck by “Onions” (Keirnan) last night. Today, by complete coincidence (and my almost-complete ignorance) I realized I hadn’t reviewed the list of this year’s Int’l Horror Guild Awards, (awarded April 13 at WHC) and discovered that “Onions” won for Best Short Fiction. She also won for Best Novel for Threshold. Congrats, Cait, rock on.
May 16, 2002
From the library, watched The Whole Wide World, a (romantic?-)drama based on the life of Robert E. Howard, pulp fiction writer, creator of Conan, correspondent with H.P. Lovecraft — adapted from the memoir of his sweetheart Novalyne Price. Vincent D’Onofrio and Renee Zellweger are good actors, and they play these people well. Also watched The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, an early screenplay by John Milius, and definitely definitely a movie that he and John Huston would make, no question about that. And tonight, going to see On the Waterfront for cinema classics month at one of the brew-&-views.
May 13, 2002
Second day of Spring League Ultimate. We did well. I like my team. They are fun. (Hi team, I like you — you are fun!)
There is a spider on my ceiling. I don’t think he’s radioactive. He was on my wall last night. He’s stopped moving now. He still hasn’t said anything.
Wrote yet another version of my résumé today. Within the confines of the business document structure, I must supress the writer in me. I must squelch the imagination and use incredible will power to prevent myself from turning the whole thing absurd and interesting. I must physically restrain myself from writing something like: 5/99 - 2/01 Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, and then composing a bulleted list of duties. Oh, but there… I did. How better I feel, how better.
Finished collection 8 of the Preacher comics. Almost done with the John Shirley collection. Got some Poppy Z. Brite and James Ellroy and J.G. Ballard coming up next.
May 12, 2002
Happy day, mama. Happy happy happy day!
May 11, 2002
Had a grill-out with buddies and saw Raising Arizona at a brew-&-view. One of their earlier films that began my interest in Joel and Ethan Coen. Was reminded of how very much like some of the camerawork in Evil Dead the whole Huggies chase scene is. Slightly interesting that Barry Sonnenfeld was the director of photography, considering the very visual movies he went on to direct. Though not quite as classy as — and I now see he was also cinematographer for — Blood Simple and Miller’s Crossing. Two of my favorite Coen movies.
May 8, 2002
Sidney Poitier does rule the known universe. Finally watched In the Heat of the Night. Well shot. Excellent performances. Can always count on Quincy Jones music to rock yer mood. It made me wonder if perhaps the idea for Beverly Hills Cop…
May 7, 2002
The job/training was not for me. I can do much better. I told them so. And why.
It was like, perhaps, being trapped in the movie Office Space, only without any humor. Endles labyrinth of cubicles. Maybe a living example of the Dillbert comic strip.
From the libary, watched 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. On DVD, even. Excellent. Of course, some less than p.c. ethnic stereotyping, but not too surprising. Almost a reverse- Something Wicked This Way Comes.
May 6, 2002
I have been a number before. This time, I would be a decimal. Or a fraction.
Four weeks of training, then an 8-hour test. Then I would be officially given the job. And it wasn’t the job they promised. Nor the pay.
Went to see Spiderman. Wow, it was quite fun. I never liked the comic, he wasn’t dark enough for me. But it preserved the original story well. And I found myself quite enjoying the awkward, incomplete triumph of the dorky kid. Well cast. And the web slinging scenes, the CGI, were breathtaking. Were I still a boy, my daydreaming would be entirely about superpowers.
May 5, 2002
Starting a new day job tomorrow. Gonna get myself all Big City, ride the train every day. They made me sign a confidentiality agreement, so I can’t tell you who or what I will do. Let’s pretend that it’s like Harry Tasker’s secret identity in True Lies. Come on, pretend with me!
Day job. Yeah, bustin all ya’lls ’lusions, yo? Those of you who thought I was a full-time writer, scraping by on tha mad story sales. Believe you me, you’re not the only one who’s crushed and weepy.
May 4, 2002
Reading my first John Shirley. Liking his short story voices in Black Butterflies.
May 3, 2002
Neil Gaiman reports that he was searching for a web site domain for his new book, Coraline, and found many obvious and not-so-obvious ones were taken. So he settled on http://www.mousecircus.com I think that’s just dern cute. Anxiously awaiting the book.
May 2, 2002
Finally reading the Preacher comic books. The Portland library system has the collected editions. Sometimes poetic, but often senseless in its strain to be clever. Garth Ennis is no Neil Gaiman, and I can’t help but think DC Comics was trying hard to duplicate the success of Sandman. It’s not a Hellblazer either. It’s good escapism, like one long trip to the brew pub, 75 issues long.
April 30, 2002
Secret revealed! Yes, I play Quake 3 and more specifically the Urban Terror mod. It’s like playing paintball, only doesn’t sting as much.
April 28, 2002
Read a rumor that Tom Stoppard is being courted to write Indiana Jones IV. I have been reading movie rumors for a few years, and I make it policy to not believe them right away. I am usually just amused, and just wait until a studio makes an official announcement. (There was a time when Sam Raimi was still negotiating to do Spider Man, and I remember how excited I was that the old Evil Dead director was gonna get a big budget to do something fun.) While I am remain horrified at how many movies run a story through a couple of writers before it gets in front of the camera, I just thought this Stoppard rumor was interesting.
April 26, 2002
Just learned — from a market listing site, not from the editor — that a magazine I had submitted to two months ago is going on hiatus. They’re too busy to continue the magazine. And, apparently, too busy to contact the last people who submitted stories to them. Grrrrr.
April 24, 2002
Pondering the idea of adding current reading/viewing/music lists. Just pondering. As though this news page hasn’t become enough of a diary blog thing already.
April 23, 2002
Enjoyed the treat of seeing the cult classic The Warriors on the big screen at a local brew-&-view theater. My accompanying friends had not seen it before, but they were soon loving admirers of the Grammercy Riffs, the Baseball Furies and chink-chink-chink of bottles accompanying the addictive, “Warriors, come out to play-yay!”
April 22, 2002
It’s Earth Day. And Spring League Ultimate starts today in Portland.
April 20, 2002
Saw the movie Scratch and learned much. I too was guilty of misusing the term hip-hop. Also worth checking out is Modulations, a documentary about electronic music — 1998, and available for rent [imdb entry].
April 18, 2002
Apparently the horror writers’ discussion forum at The Pit is shutting down (though it seems Horrornet will be sticking around). A few other places have opened up, but I will be frequenting The Quiet Room set up by Medium Rare Books. Already had an eZboard account, so I’ll try this one. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be under the name “owlsoup.”
April 16, 2002
A company is offering me $9/hr for part-time job that requires extensive experience and expertise. There are no benefits, the wage is locked for one year. Holding back an opinion is like trying to dam a floodgate with my pinky finger.
April 15, 2002
The new project at home is painting the bathroom, kitchen and breakfast nook. Beloved orange and almond beige. With each stroke of the brush, each squeal of the roller, come the memories… ah, the memories… of painting my room at the rental house in college. Of painting it black. Of the hostility of my housemates. Of the ruthlessness of the landlord. But he said I could paint it any color I wanted!
April 14, 2002
One must be able to enjoy things one does not own. How selfish is s/he who cannot admit s/he has not experienced everything. How smug. How ignorant. How limited.
April 12, 2002
Unfortunately, I will not be attending the World Horror Con ’02 this weekend. Was looking forward to meeting many of the people I’ve published in 3LBE and corresponded with. Dang, and I just finished reading my first Gene Wolfe. Funds and circumstances just don’t permit the travel. Next year is in KC, and I just moved from Nebraska to Oregon — how cruel is that? Have fun ya’ll. Send me taunting updates about fun special happenings.
April 9, 2002
Thinking about putting a current reading list on the site. Thinking about it.
April 8, 2002
The plumber is cutting and hacking at the floor under the toilet. He keeps exclaiming about outlandish things the previous plumber had done. I wander in to look every so often, and while all the chaos scares me, there are no skeletal remains arranged in a manner suggesting foul play, no otherworldly forces angrily awakened and swirling about. I sigh, and I sigh again.
April 7, 2002
Made 3LBE a paying market. (Tho not a highly paying market, no not at all). Sent out a call for submissions.
April 5, 2002
Sometimes I get that old pulp fiction itch. I exhausted all the H.P. Lovecraft there is, junior high thru college. Now I’m itching to read some of Robert E. Howard’s classic Conan stuff — and yes, ashamed too at having waited so long. Reading about the author a bit. He corresponded with Lovecraft, both were published in Weird Tales. There is a movie about Howard’s romance called The Whole Wide World, starring Vincent D’Onfrio. I like that guy.
April 3, 2002
An editor passed on one of my submitted stories, remarking this type of demon story was way too traditional for them. Sigh, oh, sigh. Deese kids got no sense uv histry anymo.
April 1, 2002
Pushing back issue #10 of 3LBE to June 1. Sadly, just not much good stuff coming in.
March 29, 2002
Saw a prescreening of Panic Room. I liked it. Moody moody David Fincher. Did not expect any humor, but welcomed it. (Come to think of it, Fight Club was actually pretty humorous, overall.) This one, like Monster’s Ball, felt like reading a good short story. Tight, no insulting explanations, hints of character depth, perfect pacing. I can just hear some self-appointed critic remarking, “Yeah, I guess I wanted more action, I can’t believe the action never left the house.” I have to stop listening to these voices, they just enrage me.
Quotations are rarely accurate, but this is funny and true even if he didn’t say it, or say it exactly… “I don’t know how much movies should entertain. To me, I’m always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws is the fact that I’ve never gone swimming in the ocean again.” - David Fincher
I’m liking David Koepp too. Glad he is selling entertaining genre screenplays to Hollyweird. And I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him bringing Richard Matheson’s Stir of Echoes to the big screen. (Dumbheads that think this was a rip off of Sixth Sense should know Matheson’s book was written in 1958.)
What a minute, I like all these guys… David Koepp, David S. Goyer, David J. Schow, David Twohy, David Fincher… it’s freaking me out.
March 28, 2002
I guess you’re never too old to get advice from your parents. When, I wonder, does “advice” become a “lecture” ? Is it tone of voice? the emotional interpretation of the recipient? the alignment of the planets?
March 27, 2002
Everybody’s a movie critic. Come to think of it, everybody’s a graphic designer, everybody’s a web master, everybody’s a résumé expert, a relationship authority, and a storyteller. No wonder there aren’t any jobs available.
March 24, 2002
Why do I watch the Academy Awards? Why?! It seems like I do so every other year. Give up, then try again. Give up again. Cycle of abuse, methinks.
The nominations and winnings are just as disappointing as the state of mainstream cinema: there simply aren’t many good movies. And the good movies, performances and achievements are rarely recognized.
I must admit, I enjoy Sidney Poitier receiving an achievement award… and, yet… no, I don’t. It reveals how few African-American actors there are in Hollywood (still!), and the lengthy history of racism in the industry and the country. Halle Berry was excellent in Monster’s Ball, but why is she the first black woman to receive an Oscar? That was a rhetorical question.
Cirque du Soliel is never a bad thing to see.
March 23, 2002
Why didn’t I know Dino De Laurentis produced Barbarella? Just wasn’t paying attention. Wondering whether the comic artists for the Heavy Metal magazine (early 1970s) were influenced by the movie (1968), or if it was all a “movement” of the times… Moebius and Drulliet et al.
March 22, 2002
Saw a prescreening for Blade 2. Didn’t have the out-of-nowhere attitude and fine-line cheeseyness of the first (of course not, it’s a sequel), and definitely committed a few insulting no-no’s (bad voice-over rehash during opening credits). I expected no more than I expected for The Mummy Returns — over-the-top excess designed to entertain. All in all, I was not disappointed. Longer, more brutal fight scenes, more shit-talkin, lots of attitude. A comic book character on the big screen. This sequel serves its purpose well, and I cannot empathize with those who are critical of it. Why be so critical? What did you expect? Realistically? Do such people know a good sequel when you see one? Empire Strikes Back — yes. Highlander 2 — please. More importantly, do these people know when to expect a good movie?
March 21, 2002
Tasted the mountain again. It’s been awhile, old friend. Zooooooom!
March 19, 2002
If I could be (magically?) transplanted into the career of any actor, it would be Ron Pearlman. He’s my faaaaavorite. (My friends will tell you that I make chaotic usage of the word “favorite.” And so…) Previous favorites include: Christopher Walken, Sam Neil, Jeffrey Combs, Seth Green, Tiger Joe, Roy Schieder…
March 17, 2002
Three stories came back, and I shooed them out the door again like naughty children who must pick pockets and bring me the wares. And no, Oliver, you may not have more soup.
February 26, 2002
Session 9 comes out on DVD today. It came out in (very few) theaters last August, and I caught it at the local 3rd-run theater two weeks ago. The plot uses the historic Danvers Mental Institution as a backdrop. I highly recommend it. It felt very fresh, simple and different. It did not try to be too hip as the latest horror fad fix — just good and moody. I thoroughly enjoy not reading reviews for most movies beforehand, because I like to figure out what’s going on by myself (…and, let’s face it, most mainstream release movies are terrible anyway, so if it is good, I enjoy all the goodness, if not, I’m not too surprised). Luckily, I stuck to that, because both local rags ruined the best part of this movie with two sentences.
February 25, 2002My parents are sending the link to, I believe, every person they know. Egad, therein lies a horror story.
February 24, 2002
Sometimes I think I can only write at night. The evidence is heavy.
February 23, 2002
I don’t think I can watch TV anymore. I simply cannot abide such programming. It is giving me panic attacks. The commercial breaks are at least five horrible torturous minutes long. Maybe if I record the few shows I might enjoy, simply watch them later.
February 22, 2002
It’s up now. At Fantastic Metropolis. Huzzah, it’s been awhile.
February 20, 2002
One of my stories was accepted today. Editor says he’ll let me know when it’s up. Not a paying market, but I like the site, a science fiction site that features fiction, essays and reviews. Michael Morcock is one of the guest editors.
February 11, 2002
Received an email from someone in Toledo who was listening to an old Charlotte’s Webb demo tape. Thanx, man.
February 9, 2002
Might have a lead on a job. The thought of being on the phone all day… the horror, the horror.
Watched the first season of Twin Peaks. Ahh, the memories. Ahh, Audrey.
February 7, 2002
Jobs are scarce here. Been searching, responding to adds, querying and send out résumés for over 3 months. Not even an interview. The market must be saturated with designers looking for work. Portland is #1 in unemployment in the US. George W. recognized this and made a trip here. Yet his recent cuts to certain programs have directly affected the employment agency he visited. tha doesn’t even qualify as irony, just stupid.
February 1 , 2002
Sent out another one. An old story I wrote in one sitting back in college. Always liked the recklessness of that story and its dialogue. Now I have four stories out there. It’s getting to be time politely ask some editors what the delay is. It seems customary to wait a bit beyond their declared response time. Also, I know that, as an editor, I am not always on schedule.
Also reading The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. Couldn’t remember where I had heard this book recommended, though I classified it in my head as magical realism. Pessoa wrote fiction and poetry under different pseudonyms, which he called “heteronyms.” These personae developed periodically during his life, exploring and writing for him various literary projects. Fernando Antonio Nogueira Pessoa was also Chevalier de Pas, Alexander Search, Richard Reis, Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos and Bernadro Soares. The Book of Disquiet is described by his biographer as an “intimate diary,” a collection of fragments from the writer’s life.
January 23, 2002
It appears I share a birthday with type designer William Caslon, physicist Hideki Yukawa, astronaut William Pogue, jazz musician Django Reinhardt, and the actors Richard Dean Anderson ("Macgyver” ), Rutger Hauer ("The Hitcher” ), and Gil Gerard ("Buck Rogers” ). On the day I was born, Robert Redford and George Segal were starring in The Hot Rock at theaters, “The Rookies” and “The Waltons” were new prime time TV shows, Al Green was singing “Let’s Stay Together” on the radio, and Sly & the Family Stone had a hit with “Family Affair.” I have been alive for 946,684,800 seconds.
January 22, 2002
Gremlins are getting into my story files, I’m convinced. Keep thinking I’m done with the latest story, and give it a quick read-through to polish mistakes… there are words I swear I did not type. Someone is trying to rewrite me behind my back. Is it me?
January 16, 2002
Begun reading Tolkein’s The Silmarillion. I am immediately impressed by the very scope of it all. The Fellowship and its journey pale in comparison to the battles, trials and darkness that came long before the end of the Third Age. Indeed, Sauron himself was but a lieutenant in one of many armies of Melkor/Morgoth (a Lucifer-like figure), and Durin’s Bane (Balrog at Khazad-dûm), Smaug and Shelob seem to be childish versions of their monstrous ancestors. Though Sauron did manage to hide and return, where Melkor was eventually defeated. I have found a great on-line resource at the Encyclopedia of Arda. I remain a little skeptical of how much of the mythology was intended by J.R.R. and how much was filled in by his son Christopher for this posthumous publication, though less skeptical of the ten volumes of tales that have been recently published.
January 9, 2002
Rather late on this one, but I finally saw Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill. Beautifully shot, over-the-top. How many Rob/White Zombie fans (like me) have neglected this experience?
January 2, 2002
Dreams of talking spiders. But what did they say?
