Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion
John
Eric, you have a point. Check out this from the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26264-2003Jul22.html).
The part that infuriated me was when Laura Ingraham talked about the "anti-Christian entertainment elite." I felt that was clearly an anti-Semitic code phrase. No wonder the Anti-Defamation League is upset with Gibson. For years, fundamentalist leaders like Pat Robertson and Donald Wildmon have evoked ugly myths about Jews in their attacks on the media, academia and Hollywood. Does anyone feel that Dan Quayle's "cultural elite" remark was also intended to evoke those myths?
The worst of this is the "Left Behind" series. This crap is filled with hateful stereotypes, like financiers meeting in secret, and journalists and scientists dismissing Christianity as superstition. Every few chapters, a different Jewish character dreamily describes his or her conversion to Christianity, in the tone of "Gee, what was I thinking, being Jewish." The scary part is that these books are read by millions.
Sorry for ranting for so long about this.
Hollywood loves Republicans! Charlton Heston, Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer come to mind...these guys have made an awful lot of money. And the scripts we see filmed now and in decades past are hardly "liberal." If anything they are conservative to the core. The history of Hollywood filmmaking is a history of supporting God, the flag, and homespun apple pie values. If anyone is shut out from screen-writing consideration, it's the radicals.
Very rare is the Hollywood film that actually subverts. Can anyone name one (made in Hollywood) from the last two decades?
Troublemakers
Harlan, I got my copy of Troublmakers. Mahalo nui loa(for the book and for the words of wisdom you just posted).
Cheers, Colleen
Never thought I'd find myself quoting Frank, but...
How fun is this place?
Thanks, Harlan... once again your words have made my day.
best to all,
Michael
FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, A MANIFESTO
STAN in OAKRIDGE, OREGON:
While I find your strong assertion that "I'm a Republican and a Conservative and NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND" a statement of profound sadness, a statement of blindered and concretized closemindedness -- Bernard Berenson: "Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago" -- I assure you that what I say here would be identical in tone and passion to what I would say if someone had posted "I'm a Democrat and a Progressive and NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND."
Can you, in fact, perceive the intensity of my sincerity when I urge you to abandon that dead-end intellectual cul-de-sac? I truly do not give a hoot what you believe to your soul's depths, nor care what useless labels you attach to yourself -- realist, solipsist, republican, anarchist, democrat, liberal, socialist, libertarian, conservative, vegetarian -- because at one time or another we become each and every one of these labels ... AS WE LEARN, AS WE MATURE, AS WE GROW MORE INFORMED AND WISER ... labels so broad that they are as much gibberish as the catch-all categorization "science fiction," which means nothing, utterly nothing, save to people racking books at Barnes & Noble or at Borders.
My compassion for you addresses in NO WAY what you perceive your political stance to be, but only, solely and absolutely the tragic and harmful statement NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND.
Nothing? NOTHING?!!? No one thing that might cause you to question a regularly-accepted "truth"? You are that imbedded in amber, that tunnel-visioned, that cut off from thought and circumstance that you are beyond the reach of everyday Reality and the Niagara of new information, revisions, discoveries, lost data, reappraisals, confessions, scientific methods of proof, revelations that inundates us daily? Are you actually taking pride in, and puffing up like Custer at the Little Big Horn because of, your clarion call that NOTHING in this universe, now or hereafter known, for all of Eternity, can force you to open your mind to ratiocination, to refocus your eyes to examine new data, to do what homo sapiens has done since the discovery of fire and the wheel -- to reevaluate an opinion? (Incidentally, it now seems fairly clear, as an example of NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND, that Custer's "last stand" was not, in fact, at the Little Big Horn, but on what is called Custer's Hill, next to a holding area swall between that hill and the next one over, an area called the Keogh. Archaeologists have now almost absolutely verified this revision of "widely-held wisdom" that previously would never have been up for examination by anyone who would say NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND.) Are you, unbelievably, claiming hero status for being thick-headed? Because that's PRECISELY what your post claims: I know what I know, and neither god nor man can show me anything that will loosen my feet from the quagmire in which I'm trapped.
I truly hope you were only blowing off blowhard steam, trying to shame your fellow Webderlanders with a passive-aggressive, "You won't have good ole Oakridge Stan to kick aroun' no more, but even so, I stand tall onaccounta NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND!" Nothing, I tell you, through my bloodied lips, NOTHING!!
I'm not putting words or thoughts into your head, sir, I'm repeating WHAT YOU SAID.
And I find that no less than tragic; and I urge you, no, I BEG you to reconsider what you meant, truly meant, by those horrible words. And if you need an example of how dangerous such a stance is ... to YOU ... only to YOU ... not Society at large, nor gullible youths nor the body politic, but simply YOU ... consider this:
The concomitant of NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND is that (because it requires ignoring or rationalizing the aspects of Reality that don't gibe with your rock-hard world-view) anything you don't know, anything you don't understand, anything that thwarts you ... becomes twisted and redesigned by paranoia to fit INTO this System you've accepted wholly and without human question. And it has already happened to you.
How do I know this?
With only one posting to judge from?
Because your belief -- and NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND -- and the System you live within, has twisted and redesigned the difficulty of breaking into the screenwriting business in Hollywood (something we ALL have to suffer with) not simply, logically, truly and actually as a little fiefdom just like the duchys of automaking, shipbuilding, state politics, working for comic companies, banking, real estate, lifeguarding, etc. etc. etc. but as part of a great, invisible, evil cabal, ostensibly run by malevolent Democrat/Liberal forces that spend most of their time preventing enormous talents such as yours from reaching their true destiny as an Oscar-winning scenarist.
Now if THAT ain't bullshit paranoia, kiddo, then nothing is. But it's where your NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND mind went, instantly. That is just one example of how you consistently and automatically distance yourself from the Reality of Your Potential, by wallowing in a pit of regurgitated status quo thinking. It is an instant reaction-formation that I would bet is banging against your melon right now! I tell you with all the fidelity I possess, sir, that indeed there is an inarticulate conspiracy of johnny/jane-come-latelies, semiliterates, poseuers, know-nothings, power-brokers and just plain idiots who rule Hollywood. But their politics don't enter into it. They would hire Idi Amin or the Anti-Christ Beast itself if one or the other could give them a script that could be made into a Bruckheimer bombshell. Consider: if "Liberals" in this secret alliance were determined to stop good, honest Republicans such as yourself from ever making a buck, how come Schwarzenegger has made billions as a staunch Conservative, and may be running for Governor of California, just as successfully before him did Ronald Reagan, who was the pride and joy of every Conservative in the nation? Do not these blatant contradictions of your paranoiac conception -- engendered by the fact that NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND -- force you to stop and rethink what you said, to give you even a moment's pause before you twist and redesign demonstrable truths, these unarguable dollops of Reality, into another cobbled-up superimposed pre-continuum of conspiracies and shadowy assassins?
I WILL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND, I suggest, are the most tragic words any human being can utter. Worse for him, for you, sir, than for all around him.
Respectfully, Harlan Ellison
That's "impugn" not impune. Sorry for the 2nd post.
On Giving It All Away
When an artist is treated like a dog--thrown a few scraps of meat for his physical needs and then commanded to bark for the emperor--we are then living in a sick and debased society.
James Cameron made millions, the studio millions more, and the Terminator franchise has broken a billion dollars based on one "free" idea from Harlan. The exploiters and the thieves and the Ayn Randians would love someone like Harlan to roll over and play dead and low-rate himself. They have no souls and no creativity and so they must vampirically suck ideas out of real creators.
Your teaching metaphor is poorly thought out too. Take a moment to really consider what you're saying, you're not talking about higher salaries for teachers at all, you're saying something much more extreme--that artists and teachers should work for free all the time. Sadly, most artists and teachers live lives of quiet desperation because they do exactly that. But the real truth is that teachers are horribly underpaid in this affluent society, and right wingers, who sound remarkably like yourselves, would love to dismantle public education with arguments just like, "Good teaching doesn't require higher salaries." When education is privatized and the class system locked forever in place, this little statement will be the last nail in the coffin of democracy.
One other point: Haven't you ever noticed how the ruling class and the Ayn Randians always talk about a thing called the "Production of Wealth," which always seems to happen magically thanks to the inherent benefice of capitalism. Well, Marx had an answer to that. He said excess wealth comes from surplus labor--that's when workers (or artists) aren't paid the full value for what they do and are paid just enough to cover their physical needs. The wealthy then reap the excess as profit. This is what is meant by exploitation.
What is the real value in Harlan's ideas? One thing is is clear: the value is far in excess of what he has been paid for them. Despite this, Harlan has said in the papers that he would "go away" for a nominal fee that shows that the artist is still respected in this world.
Harlan is fighting to elevate the status of all writers and artists, not just himself. He is willing to give away everything he has to fight this battle. To call him a "sell out" or a "prostitute" is to insult a man of true ideals and to impune the dignity of all artists. As a frequent contributor to this board, I am embarrassed by your remarks and mortally ashamed.
You folks can sit in a comfortable little womb and say things like this only because you have never taken the time to understand this problem and because you have had your heads filled with nonsense by pirates like Napster. Ideas don't rain from heaven. People like Ray Bradbury, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Harlan Ellison are special, and they need to be cherished.
Try a little harder--think about it some more, and you'll see that Harlan is fighting to save the soul of this generation. He is a true teacher for us all.
Hathor: You said, "You mentioned Doctors and Lawyers in your response to Bruce's statement. Doctors and Lawyers have a SPECIFIC CRITERIA that needs to be met on a national level before you can call yourself one. (Not so with some medical tech positions, teachers, or security guards, but that's a BIGGER beef for another time)"
In the U.S., each state sets out rather SPECIFIC criteria for their teachers' certification. New York State requires a Masters degree in either your subject area or in education, several grueling and expensive tests, a video submission (which costs around $300), a fingerprinting check with the FBI, and a few other fun items after you've already gotten your provisional cert in order to get your permanent cert.
If I have to go through all that bullshit, I might as well just get an MBA (which requires no testing and no fingerprinting) and make six figures, instead of making $35,000 and having to deal with the disrespect of people who don't have the slightest idea what I had to do to get my job and lump me in with security guards.
I'm not sure what your point is about having to meet criteria on a "national level." What the hell difference does that make? I have plenty criteria to meet, don't you worry. Bruce's point, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the process of becoming a teacher, was that no talented teacher would ever claim that better salaries would make better teachers. My contention is that better salaries (like those made by doctors, lawyers, and entertainers) would attract a more highly educated, qualified, and ambitious pool of applicants, and it sure would make people like me, who do it for love, more comfortable as we pay off the massive student loans we incurred so we could educate other people's kids.
I apologize that this conversation has veered off the Ellison-related. Originally, I was trying to debunk the idea that people who will do work that's valuable and uplifting, like teachers and writers, should get paid for it, and paid well. I'm really unclear as to why that's such a hard concept.
PAB
Hey, Neil, you old dunderhead you!!! How's it goin?? Is Neil Elliott your real name or did you just use it on the internet so your feelings wouldn't be hurt like I did. I bet you named yourself after Neil Young and Chris Elliott. I saw Neil back in '88 in Capitola, CA with the Blue Notes. What a show!!
I ain't singin' for Pepsi
I ain't singin' for Coke
I ain't singin' for nobody that makes me look like a JOKE.
And who could forget those late nights with Chris Elliot. Remember "The Regulator Guy"--"Hey, don't do that". Great stuff, eh. Well, I could go on and on--and I intend to--right here and nowhere else. I'll be the filibusterin'-est Strom Thurmond (HY''D) type in Webderland.
Don't forget to write back soon.
Yr Pal,
Bruce
NO FAIR, DIANA. Castle Guards, Foo Dogs, and I have a credo....
Aw, what the f#%$! I already broke the "one post" rule....
BAAAAA-hahahahhahahahahaahhaah :# (weg)
Heh heh
Dear Mr Ellison,
My friend Ray The Perverted Pagan tipped me off to something funny...
"Try this soon, before Google fixes its site:
1) Go to Google.com;
2) Type in (but don't hit return): "weapons of
mass destruction"
3) Hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button, instead of
the normal "Google
search"
button.
4) Read what appears to be a normal error message
carefully."
Check it out.
Diana
Just because I sleep in garages does not make me a mechanic.....
P.A. Berman:
You mentioned Doctors and Lawyers in your response to Bruce's statement. Doctors and Lawyers have a SPECIFIC CRITERIA that needs to be met on a national level before you can call yourself one. (Not so with some medical tech positions, teachers, or security guards, but that's a BIGGER beef for another time)
In a forum where THE PRINTED WORD IS THE MEANS OF CONVEYING A MESSAGE, I find no problem with Mr. Ellison's fight.
If I have to pony up extra cash to read THE CRAFTED WORK over this EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE VIDEO-PHONE, fine. Makes sense to me.
(Then again, you'll find me in a biiiig mosh-pit with the rest of verbal bedlam shooting off stuff that would get me beat up at my local bar. Daaah....HAVE Ellison...Definitely Definitely HAVE Ellison....)
I surrender!
Okay guys and gals...no more political views from my end. I am Republican...I am Conservative...and no way in hell is anyone going to change my politics or my mind about it....end of discussion....I surrender.
I probably won't ever get published or produced in Hollywood, because of my politics...but what the hell...there are worse things...like being dead!
Rick:
If I want to look at the archives on the conversation that took place about "I,Robot" how can I do this?
Bruce, I gotta take you up on this gem:
"True talent cannot be held back to the highest bidder. Would a truly talented teacher make the statement, "Better teaching requires higher saleries". "
Without much modesty I'll admit to being a pretty talented teacher and yes, I'd say that better teaching requires higher salaries. Not everyone with an Ivy League degree is willing to work for half what he or she could make in the private sector to enlighten the youth of America; in fact, most aren't.
Most of my co-workers are the product of state school systems. I'm not knocking it, but if you want a "better quality" of teacher, you have to be willing to pay for it. There is no financial incentive whatsoever for those who shell out big bucks for the highest quality education to go into teaching.
You can rant and rave all you want about how we should all just do it for the commonweal, but when one has to go into massive personal debt to finance a Masters degree that is REQUIRED for one's teaching certification, it would be awful nice if salary were commensurate with other professional fields with similarly high mandatory levels of education. As Bush put it, it's tough to put food on your family these days. People can complain all they want about how crappy teachers are these days, but you get what you pay for, generally.
The same goes for artists. Sure, they're going to produce that art no matter what compensation they receive for it, but why shouldn't they be able to profit handsomely from their work? Why shouldn't they make whatever the market will bear for their work? When doctors, lawyers, baseball players, mediocre guitarists, vacant-eyed models, and all manner of talentless human detritus make lavish salaries for less socially redeeming achievements?
Bottom line is, don't spout off when you're talking nonsense. But you knew that and thought it'd be fun to do anyway, right? Ah, I don't know why I bother...
PAB
radio and movies
Harlan:
Thought you might appreciate an update on Robert Cannon and Marc Rose. They've revived "Dry Smoke and Whispers," and have 18 episodes in the can and ready to air on the XM satellite radio network headed by Lee Abrams this fall. The "Sonic Theater" channel apparently also airs the Firesign Theater, LA Theater Workshop, shows from the BBC, and lots of other fare coast-to-coast. (I don't think they're Web-based, though.) Supposedly, they have a contract for 2 years worth of shows.
I haven't met Cannon, but I did some voices for Rose on Sunday -- joke advertisements and brief news breaks that will serve as filler for the first 18 shows -- and he wants to use me more heavily in the next set of shows, which Cannon is writing. As I suspected, they will also re-do some of their classic shows from the 1980s, now that they have the technology to do them up right.
Movie notes: I watched DVDs of the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" over the weekend. I noticed that Miles (Kevin McCarthy) misquotes Oberon in the first, and that composer James Horner's score for the second liberally quotes a whimsical motif from Nino Rota's main theme for Fellini's "Amarcord," which tickled me no end. Nobody else had noted these on the IMDb, so I wrote up items for there. . . .
How much fun is this place?
-------------------
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
hat trick for Harlan
While I just started reading the 35th anniversary edition of _Dangerous Visions_, I noticed that HE scored 3 mentions in the current issue of _Entertainment Weekly_ (#720/July 25, 2003):
1) In the article "Fallen Star," discussing a revamping of the Star Trek: "The franchise needs to get back to the provocative scripting that marked the best episodes (Like Harlan Ellison's classic "The City on the Edge of Forever")."
2) Under the comics column "Graphic Novels You Have to Read," _Vic and Blood_ was listed with Eric Shanower's _A Thousand Ships_, _Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore_, and _Fallout_ by Jim Ottaviani et al.
3) Also under the comics column, a review of _Al Williamson Adventures_ (EW gave it an "A") including "scripts by Harlan Ellison, the late Archie Goodwin, and others."
Hey Eurobeast:
sa·pi·ent [ sáypee ənt ]
adjective
full of wisdom: wise or learned
[15th century. Via Old French from Latin sapiens- , the present participle stem of sapere “to be wise, taste.”]
Obviously used for irony....
And here's a question for Harlan and Charles: I have learned from my moles in the Evil Empire that AOL is currently shutting down the accounts of their clients whom the RIAA is reporting as having downloaded uncopywrighted music. Does this strenghten your position for the ongoing struggle?
best to all,
Michael
Mark: Don't worry about it. I ran into a similar sort of thing, years and years ago. I was working as a stock monkey at a Winn Dixie in Louisville. Flash back with me: Clinton was in the White House, I was a pimple-faced buffoon--far removed from the cultured Eurobeast you see before you--and Ellen Degeneres decided to come out of the closet. Remember? I guess it must've been a slow news week because Ellen made the cover of Time, I think it was. So a bunch of cretinous suckfish from the local God Squad decided to launch Operation Dykewash: the removal or defacement of every copy of Time we had in the Winn Dixie. Copy after copy was scuttled off our unholy shelves, and those that remained often had the most hideous things written on them in black magic marker.
Don't let that sort of thing bother you. Whatever it is these people believe in so fervently, it's not enough to give them anything better to do. It should give one the yuks, not the creepycrawlies.
Can somebody please tell me what "sapients" means? It's not in the dictionary. Harlan strikes again. I do have "saponite" (a hydrous magnesium aluminum silicate occurring in soft soapy amorphous masses and filling veins and cavities), a great word I plan to popularize in the near future, but that one just doesn't match the context clues.
HARLAN,
LOL!!!!!
I wantcha to know I copied and saved that one.
BRUCE, I'D LIKE YOU TO MEET NEIL ELLIOTT:
Here's a nice rubber tire to swing on, and a squishy toy for you to masticate. Now be good little sapients and go off and play nicely together. Oh, and Bruce, before you go, take this pooper-scooper, and clean up that, ahem, "unfortunate aspirant" you left on the floor.
Harlan, aka "The Phantom Prostitute"
Harlan is listed as one of the contributors to the revival or Argosy magazine. For more info check out the following link:
http://www.locusmag.com/2003/News/Markets.html
Alejandro
"I really didn't want to get involved in this dispute, in truth I have no opinion about it whatsoever..."
Hey, Bruce, if you have no opinion about the matter then why ask a loaded question about it? If you have no concrete position concerning the topic, then why chime in with an insulting obfuscation that has nothing to do with the state of reality?
"Would a truly talented teacher make the statement, "Better teaching deserves higher salaries?"" Does this mean you're against rewarding achievement?
"I say, "LIBERATE THE ARTISTIC TALENT FROM THE CLUCHES (sic)OF THE EVIL ARTIST MAN." Give him enough for his physical needs and make him give his art away for free." Ok, now I see, you're living in fantasyland, buddy. Who's going to give artists enough for their physical needs? And what do you mean about "physical needs?" What person or persons chooses the artists in question? And who is going to "make (them) give (their) art away...?" Are you talking about yourself? Are you, like, one of the richest persons on the planet who can support all of these hypothetical creators who will freely surrender their works for the "greater good?"
Talk is cheap. Facing the economic realities of existence is hard. Most of us all have to do it, and those who work freelance, who sell the wares they create, who exist by their talents, wits and hard work donnot deserve to be stolen from. Stolen from so that others can enjoy that work absolutely free of charge... so that a john like you can get his trick.
R.Wilder
Gimme that ol' time religeeon
Stopped in at my local Broders the other day to check out the new magazines. I found the new edition of Scientific American, the one with David R. Begun's article on evolution and picked it up only to find that someone had taped a note on the cover that read "I LOVE JESUS". I looked at the second and last copy and found another taped message saying "JESUS IS GOD CREATOR OF ALL." If there had been ten issues on the newstand, I'm positive I would have found each with its own taped message. I turned the magazines into a employee that I know, saying "A coupel of fan letters from the faithful." Needless to say he was pretty cheesed off. So was I. Well, not so much pissed off as troubled. The persistent, mindless application of dogma increases. That's the real closing of the American mind. As a college teacher, I try to do my part to open the minds of my students, and get them to think for themselves, but with each year I come across more students operating under fundamentalist dogma and closed-minded approach to world, and it worries me deeply. It's as if they are terrified to consider anything outside what that their reveredn/minister has drilled into them. I'm presently covering the Renaissance thinkers in my philosophy class and when I think of our present situation, with all the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells and Ralph Reeds infusing ignorance into people and contributing to the fear that motivates someone to leave messages on magazines in bookstores, wow. How far we have fallen from that Golden Season of Humanism.
Sorry for the rant but it's been on my mind and I had to vent.
Thanks for your time.
Mark
*** Bruce *** That one of the most poorly reasoned arguments I've come across in months. Apart from making no sense whatsoever it also manages to simultaneously get wrong how Harlan has lived in Hollywood as a creative artist AND misconstrue the motives and "terms of engagement" of Ayn Rand's fictional characters. Her wooden one-dimensional characters, I might add. That's a lot to get wrong just for a discussion you admit to having no vested interest in. Nobody discussed I, ROBOT because it was covered by Harlan himself - on this board - in detail - awhile back. No new news is all.
*** Brian/Jay *** That's me but webderlander's are welcome to bid against me. Not only do I already have a RUMBLE but anything that drives Ellison prices up or establishes prices will benefit my wife and daughter someday. Gotta look at the big picture. For me it's just having the biggest pile of stuff. Sure, it's speculating, but it doesn't do me a damn bit of good nor will it.
My eBay rating is because I sell books on-line mostly through Half.com. I have about 5,000 presently listed.
*** Rick *** I was wondering if the WSJ article would stand after getting pinky slapped last year for making the same mistake. There is a free printable version of the article at;
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB105882058352830200,00.html
*** Harlan *** Received your "item" and note. Thank you. I am sending the BLB package before the end of the week. I know I had said it was sent but things kept getting added to it. I know you know how this is. Also, I picked up hard copies of yesterday's WSJ. I have one for Tim and my copy. If you need additional copies I have 3 extras. Let me know. If I hear nothing they go into the basement shot at the end of the first Indiana Jones film.
- Barney Dannelke
Portrait of the artist as a prostitute.
Dear Harlan,
Not everyone considers becoming a Hollywood sellout a virtue! Some people think that artistic talent comes from a place higher than the belly. Why do you think corporate foundations give huge grants for the arts? Why is there PBS? As long as we're name calling--You're an AynRandNik if I ever saw one!
True talent cannot be held back to the highest bidder. Would a truly talented teacher make the statement, "Better teaching requires higher saleries". What if your wife were to say, "Gee honey, our marriage is really falling apart, but if your salery were to reach six figures. . ." Saying the creator is solely responsible for what he creates is like saying a super-model created her own body. It's true it takes alot of work; diets, make-up artists, practicing smiling in front of a mirror,etc, but what is the true source of that beauty?
I say, "LIBERATE THE ARTISTIC TALENT FROM THE CLUCHES OF THE EVIL ARTIST MAN." Give him enough for his physical needs and make him give his art away for free. A true artist can no more withhold his art than an e-lax eater can withhold his you-know what.
Respectfully,
Bruce
P.S. I really didn't want to get involved in this dispute, in truth I have no opinion about it whatsoever, but no one was talking about what I wanted to talk about (I,Robot) so I had to vent my frustrations elsewhere.
Yeah,
I'd say the person responsible for that article in '72 got it right--all right--"5 feet 5 inches of charisma, wit and sarcasm".
I love it.
Still laughing over the Roget's reference..and the breeze of intelligence remark.
God- you KILL me.
yer pal,
Cindy
TROUBLEMAKERS
Harlan,
The first edition copy of TROUBLEMAKERS that you sent me arrived today. Many thanks for the gracious personalization. I'm glad I was able to help out.
Steve J.
HARLAN ELLISON RESPONDS
TO NEIL ELLIOTT:
I have made it a lifelong policy never to answer moronic, lamebrained, idiotic, ignorant, mischievous, smartass, duplicitous questions asked by dunderheads. In case the word "dunderhead" is not part of your vocabulary, look it up in Roget under "asshole."
Otherwise, have a lovely day, and do try to permit a breeze of intelligence to blow between your ears, across that arid savannah you call a mind.
Respectfully, Harlan Ellison
Stan, this is why I am not a republican:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House—make no mistake about it."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."—Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet."—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000
"If I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're going to have gag orders."
"I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."
"I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children."—Second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000
"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have—he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."—To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."—Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000
Your President's many stupid quotes. Scary.
About that WSJ article...
um...
i hate to point this out, but your posting of the full WSJ article here is a copyright infringement, and given Harlan Ellison's current legal efforts, I don't think it would be wise to keep a copyrighted article on the message board of someone who is suing AOL for not removing copyrighted materials...
if someone's got admin powers to remove that WSJ article (or edit it down to an intro/summary with link to original), you might wanna do that pretty quick...
Truth is Stranger than Fiction
Saw this... made me think of sci fi and this board...
The following is an intro; click on the link for the full story.
SlugBot: Enemy of Slugs
By Louise Knapp
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,47156,00.html
02:00 AM Oct. 08, 2001 PT
In the near future, the very mention of SlugBot could send waves of terror through the slug community, while farmers will sing its praises.
A prototype robot capable of hunting down over 100 slugs an hour and using their rotting bodies to generate electricity is being developed by engineers at the University of West England's Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory.
The SlugBot is an attempt to build the world's first fully autonomous robot. When completed, the SlugBot will be the first robot to work completely independent of human care. It won't even need help to recharge its batteries....
[click link above to read entire article...]
WSJ Article
Ray Carlson, thanks for bringing that article to our attention. I also heard that Harlan had several mentions in the latest EW, regarding Vic and Blood and also a collection of work by Al Williamson, anyone see that issue?
Rob/Stan,
Could you guys please take this discussion to the other board? This isn't really the place for these long, political tirades.
Thanks guys... :)
Stan,
"would you ever have thought of becoming a conservative or leaning back and just maybe we conservatives are right about a few things?"
Oh, now and then I caught a conservative being correct about something. But so long as he or she still maintains Copernicus' heliocentric theories were wrong I can grant that individual very little.
I could go through every "argument" you rattled off, from Communism early in the 20th (and how Capitalism was, shortly before, failing in HORRIFIC ways, thereby INVITING an alternative) to the American flag (as if to suggest only a conservative could be passionate about our country; if I don't wag a flag in everyone's face I guess I don't give a shit!) and tell you where you fucked up. But I agree, this thread already went on too long.
But your summations remind me of some words by HARLAN ELLISON on the Moral Majority (from his column in Future Life): "If you fought in Vietnam you're a patriot...as long as you don't stage a sit-in on the lawn of the VA hospital and demand to know why you're rotting away or going insane from exposure to Agent Orange. At that point you become a freako troublemaker. If you're a woman who got raped and knocked up and want the fetus aborted, well, that's sad as hell, sister, but your womb has citizenship...so have the kid, even if it's born without a nose..and shut your mouth, bitch."
libraries question
Does Unca Harlan think libraries should be shut down if they don't pay authors' royalties each time a book is checked out?
Didn't Stan just invoke Godwin's Law and therefore has to end the conversation? I mean really, equating abortion rights to what Hitler did, that would be silly if it weren't so wrongheaded and downright meanspirited. Give it a break, Stan. Talk about Harlan Ellison for a little while, won't you please? Or, if you must go on and on about your political beliefs, do it on the other board. There's quite a bit of discussion going on there that would interest you.
PAB
Wall Street Journal Article
That explains why I've picked up a few donations from the Kick site this morning after a long drought. It would be nice to be able to send the Ellisons a big check for the fund since there hasn't been enough activity to merit one for a long time.
UNCA HARLAN: FRONT PAGE NEWS
The Wall Street Journal July 22, 2003
Battle-Scarred Author Takes On Web Pirates Harlan Ellison Has Scrapped Over Terminator, Star Trek
By ANNA WILDE MATHEWS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Copyrighted material posted from WSJ deleted by Management, Department of Irony
Write to Anna Wilde Mathews at anna.mathews@wsj.com
oops
Crap...new ebay, my bad. Seller's on the right... Barney's the high bidder. (Impressive rating, btw...you buy your groceries on Ebay, there, Barney?)
The "Rumble" Auction
Brian,
Check the name of the seller... ain't that Barney?
Again...To Rob
Tell me Rob....would you ever have thought of becoming a conservative or leaning back and just maybe we conservatives are right about a few things? I think not. You are so established in liberal thinking, it is you who has his head in clay. Look what liberalism has brought us in the last Century....in 1917 it brought us Communism which we fought tooth and nail for over seventy years...until they themselves found it does not work.
Freedom to jump on the bandwagon of abortion rights, of which now we in the U.S. must be proud to have killed more babies than Hitler killed people in Europe at least ten times over the six million...free love comes along and now we have AIDS to contend
with....oh and I could go on and on, but I won't. I am proud to be conservative....I spent three years in the service of my county back in the sixties....I am proud of that too....and I am proud to associate myself with a party who will get the government out of my back pocket (believe me...the rich are not the only ones griping about tax relief...we working poor also have our gripes about taxation)...most of all Rob, I am proud to be an American and I put my flag out on my front deck to show that pride. I will not comment anymore, because I believe this page is to discuss the work of Harlan Ellison, so if you answer this Rob, I will not respond.
Virus
Hi all,
Diana, the virus warning you recieved is a hoax. Lots of these are sent around the internet like chain letters. If you wish to know more try here. http://www.sophos.com.au/virusinfo/hoaxes/ittakesguts.html
Cheers
Kerry
Coupla things. First of all, someone's got a copy of _Rumble_ on sale at Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3539574092&category=1135
Second, this chat about heart problems has made me VERY worried, especially since I ain't got health coverage, and every little twinge or weird numbness sorta stimulates the imagination in ways I'd like to avoid. (If anyone knows what an emergency room visit costs, lemme know.)
Third, read Michael Chabon's _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_. A marvel. A true marvel. Read this. It'll make you a better person.
It's Tough To Say Jesus
Dear Mr Ellison,
No hi-jinx today. My son's dad's girlfriend sent me the following e-mail, I thought I should pass it on. You can tell those who've been missing me (I know some of you have :=P) that I have a new personal web site. I got sick of my old one so I dumped it. I didn't like it anyways. When I was designing it I was all the time worrying about getting things right (whatever THAT is), focusing on making a good impression or something (on WHO?????), and other boring things of that sort and I never had any fun working on it, but now I've decided..."Screw it!". If you want to see my new site, which I JUST just started (so there's like NOTHING there yet really, but I still think it's cool, and it's actually expressing ME this time, not me worrying, "What will they THINK?!?") well you can. If you want to. I'm not assuming anyone does, I'm just saying in case... It's heavy on graphics, and slow to load. If you don't like wav's you might want to turn down your volume before you visit. Okay?
Alright,so here's the e-mail I was telling you about, which said to to pass it on at the top, and I think that's a good idea, so I am.
Sincerely,
Diana Graham
(http://dianagraham.homestead.com)
"If you receive an email titled: "It Takes Guts to Say
Jesus"
DO NOT OPEN IT. It will erase everything on your hard
drive.
This information was announced yesterday morning from
IBM; AOL states that this is a very dangerous virus,
much worse than
"Melissa," and that there is NO Remedy for it at this
time. Some very sick
individual has succeeded in using the reformat
function from Norton
Utilities
causing it to completely erase all documents on the
hard drive. It has been
designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer. It
destroys Macintosh and IBM compatible computers.
This is a new, very malicious virus and not many
people know about it. Pass
this warning along to EVERYONE in your address book
! and please share it with
all your online friends ASAP so that this threat maybe
stopped. Please
practice cautionary measures and tell anyone that may
have access to your
computer. Forward this warning to everyone that you
know that might access
the Internet.
Joyce L. Bober
IBM Information Systems
Pittsburgh Mailing Systems
412 - 922-8744"
Harlan,
TROUBLEMAKERS arrived today. Thanks a bunch. And, again, glad I could help.
Take care,
Bill
Irony is its own motherfucker. I was driving down the "Urban" part of town and noticed two billboards, side by side; one had a blurb about "Stopping the violence, and spreading peace", and the other billboard was a Colt 45 Malt Liquor ad. Sigh.
---------------
"The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around."
---Herb Caen
Correction!
In my e-mail yesterday, I was speaking of Golden Age artists, so I should have said the Harry G. Peter Wonder Woman, not the Marston Wonder Woman. Of course, Marston dreamed her up--she was his brainchild, but Peter did draw her. I think it's important to keep these things straight. DC also plans a C. C. Beck Captain Marvel action figure. Wow, this should be quite a run.
Steve Dooner
DAVID,
Yeah: "MOST people" would have been more accurate phrasing. To back up your point, later the very day I posted my comments about SM Farmers Market, the news interviewed an elderly man, a retired doctor in the early stages of Parkinson's, who STILL carries an active license but now refuses to drive, conscious of the responsibility. He leaves the driving up to his wife.
Sure...there's a few out there with enough sense to do that. MOST people don't (young OR old OR ill), I believe. I wonder if ANY who DO live in L.A., where a car seems like a dire need. Try interviewing seniors about the prospect of taking away their cars (I'm hardly an expert on the issue but I'd seen a detailed news report on it). A frantic response is pretty much what you get. And where frenzy strides determination tends to follow: organizations used age discrimination laws to prevent heavier testing targeted at seniors. My summary may not be PRECISE but that's what it came down to. There IS an emphasis on driving courses for seniors and safety programs. Now, with the inevitable weight of testing laws to come, more seniors will be more cognizant than ever of those programs to maintain a privileged and independent existence, I'm sure.
But your point was well taken: perhaps I was going too light on this man in Santa Monica. He already had a history of ramming his car into things. With such a history, if HIS sense of responsibility wasn't there, where was his family? Like the doctor I cited above, maybe he should have turned to someone like his wife OR one of those driving courses. I retract what I suggested as to who should be blamed (I felt sorry for him at first - and to an extent I still do - because he was so out of it). It seems to me he didn't stop to think much about his problems behind the wheel; and if his sense of responsibility was giving way to senility (when you can't make the difference between the brake and the accelerator!!) his family and/or the DMV should have been stepping in (more). The responsibility was HIS as WELL as his kin's and the DMV's.
BRUCE,
Well, Harlan DID once write a story about a fine gentleman called AM. Pleasant enough fellow. A little on the megalomaniacal side.
Harlan,
"Troublemakers" arrived in the mail today; many thanks!
Here are two quick Gene Wolfe anecdotes from Readercon. The first reminded me of your introduction to Mr. Wolfe's stories in "Again, Dangerous Visions," where you described his tremendous dignity during the Hugo Awards mix up in the early 70s. At Readercon, Mr. Wolfe was late for a panel discussion (I can't say for certain, but I think he was waiting for his wife), and when he arrived on stage the moderator had to bad taste to say "I'm tempted now to introduce the late Gene Wolfe to all of you." Some of the audience members chuckled but I thought the comment to be crass. The man is in his mid seventies and walks with a cane (as does his wife). In addition, through the whole weekend I took note of the care Mr. Wolfe took in escorting his wife from place to place and making sure she was settled in before he went about his business. So Mr. Wolfe considered this comment and in a moment replied "I am two years past the point where that joke was funny." And I said, man, what a beautiful response. Dignified and cutting.
The second anecdote concerns a comment he made responding to a question of originality. He gave several examples on how ideas can come about in the course of everyday life, like when you see an curious-looking person in a parking lot and how that alone can get the writer's imagination working. The rest of his ideas, he said with a wink, he stole from the great writers. "Except that Harlan Ellison," he said. "He's unswipable; his ideas are so orignial they can only be his own." But he did admit being tempted to kidnap you and keep you in his basement; that would be the only way he could come up with those ideas before you already wrote them down and had them published.
Thanks for your time,
Mark
Killers on the road
Rob wrote:
> ANYONE is going to keep driving if he or she is allowed
> to. This is another one of those sad lessons we're forced
> to learn the hard way.
Wrong, Rob. Some people have a little sense and, rather than march-step with the great brainwashed masses, CHOOSE to do the right thing, as anyone could if he stopped to think about it. My wife's father worked for General Motors for 45 years (which these days almost makes him part of "the enemy," because my wife has become a transit advocate and we chose to become a carless household last September -- donated our aging Honda CRX to the Humane Society to auction off in order to raise funds), and he voluntarily gave up his driver's license before he turned 80.
But there are a lot of people out there who have little sense. Up here in Portland last month, a 90-year-old man sailed off Highway 99 in the suburb of Sherwood and plowed into two young mothers walking their infants in strollers, and killed a mother and a kid.
Hey, did anyone hear about Hollywood making a movie out of I,Robot? When I heard about it, I took an old copy from the library to re-read it. I had forgotten all about the positronic brain and the 3 laws of robotics. This was probably the book that spawned the whole idea of talking, thinking computer brains. Although 50 years later the idea is silly, I guess people assumed that if you semi-conducted enough simulated synaptic type processes you could generate randomness with constraints.
Did HE ever write a story with a computer generated consciousness, or did he consider it as ridiculous as a bullet shaped spaceship?
Toy News and Kelland on the Web
Dear Harlan,
I caught a piece of recent toy news that may be of interest to you. DC Direct has plans to do a new series of Golden Age style action figures called, "First Appearnaces." These include a Joe Shuster Superman, a Bob Kane Batman, a William Moulton Marston Wonder Woman, a Harry Lampert Flash, and a Mart Nodell Green Lantern. The sculpts for the Kane Batman and the Marston Wonder Woman look beautiful. I wonder if these will make the cut for your legendary toy collection?
Incidentally, I've read most of what you've written about comics, but I would love to hear your reflections on the great toys you have, the great toys you have lost, and the great toys you always wished you had. "Jefty is Five" has some interesting references, but perhaps you might write an essay on this topic some time. (If you have written a piece, I would love to know where I could find it).
One last note of interest: Charles Budington Kelland is alive and on the Web, just barely. One work, Youth Challenges, exists as an e-book, free for all to read. So maybe there'e hope for us all.
Sincerely,
Steve Dooner
Stan,
"Nothing you say will change my mind"
Well, I already understood that.
No one can really change someone else's mind; not really. When I change my opinion or conclusions about something it's because I choose to re-evaluate it. I stand back to look at the whole picture and its details. But you've programmed yourself to impede this process. You've wedged your head into one resolute pov irreparably so that neither the logic of a counterpoint nor the light of new information will ever reach you. Absolutely: only YOU have the ability to "change your mind". But when we sink too deep into the soothing contentment of default programming it's very difficult to free ourselves. It's a trap of our own choosing.
It's nice to know you'd aspire to be a fearless crusader for the rights of the working man but it could never be until you pull your head out of the clay. That's always a loss for the rest of us.
I feel sorry for you, man.
And don't forget, at the turn of the century Pinkerton guards used to regularly shoot union workers in the back. The Ludlow massacre is another of those running sores. Unions have largely been made powerless by federal law, and the power they do have is controlled by an elite at the top; but at least their existense controls the onslaught of Hooverville shantytowns, in middle America--at least for now.
------------------
"I don't do black music, I don't do white music
I make fight music, for high school kids
I put lives at risk when I drive like this {*tires screech*}
I put wives at risk with a knife like this (AHHH!!)
Shit, you probably think I'm in your tape deck now
I'm in the back seat of your truck, with duct tape stretched out
Ducked the fuck way down, waitin to straight jump out
put it over your mouth, and grab you by the face, what now?
Oh - you want me to watch my mouth, how?
Take my fuckin eyeballs out, and turn em around?
Look - I'll burn your fuckin house down, circle around
and hit the hydrant, so you can't put your burning furniture out
(Oh my God! Oh my God!) I'm sorry, there must be a mix-up
You want me to fix up lyrics while the President gets his dick sucked?"
---Eminem.
Stan writes:
"big business Republicans have screwed the working man ...but guess what....so have the unions. And to date I have never heard of a working man paying the wages of another working man....the big businesses pay all of those who work for them."
Man, there's a lot wrong with this. For one thing, labor unions have provided the working man with job security, medical benefits, scholarship funds, an organized basis for political action (i.e., unions lobbying politicians on their behalf) and much, much more. Also, when unions go on strike, their strike funds frequently pay the salaries of the strikers. So Stan, yer wrong.
And it's worth considering just how well big business paid workers _before_ the advent of unions.
Amusing site:
http://www.googlism.com/index.htm?ism=harlan+ellison&type=1
To Rob
Nothing you say will change my mind about the Democratic Party. They both have their faults....but there is one thing you gotta remember...yes, big business is usually conservative Republican..and yes...big business Republicans have screwed the working man ...but guess what....so have the unions. And to date I have never heard of a working man paying the wages of another working man....the big businesses pay all of those who work for them...but dear Rob...that is beautiful thing about this country...a person can be a capitalist...it is there right!
so there!
I know this is not Harlan-related and I know I posted this at the forum but this is worth mentioning here.
It's been a rough week for Cuban music, friends. I should have posted sooner but work got in the way. Celia Cruz, Salsa's answer to Ella Fitzgerald, passed away Wednesday afternoon after a long bout with a brain tumor. She was 75. Her body was transported to Miami for a huge wake to be held tomorrow then it will be flown back to New York where it will be buried.
Death has taken her by the hand and if there is an after life, by golly, what a great place to hang out it must be. There Tito Puente, Compay Segundo and the many many great musicians that arrived before her are waiting for the grandest jam this universe has ever seen.
Alejandro
Super Di
Speaking of comic books (were we? who cares?), what are your thoughts on the recently announced and de-announced run of X-Force that was to feature Princess Di returned from the dead as a super heroine? Marvel made the newspapers with their Princess Di story; author Peter Milligan expressing his matter of fact notion that her character fits the book perfectly as she is someone famous for being famous.
Then Marvel chickens out and cancels the run. The House of Ideas gets a good one then decides to cut and run before the Di-worshippers attack.
Egad. This nauseates me.....unless it's simply a clever ploy to raise interest in a special graphic novel collection in a year.
Heaven forbid we have a little bitta fun with the empty shell of celebrity known as Princess Di!
Marvel deserves a big smack in their sleepy faces over this one.
Yeesh. -TODD
TRACY:
Fret not, neither fulminate. Everybody in the Business -- and I mean, without reserve, EVERYBODY -- knew that Freddy Frieberger was the shoo-in universal choice as poster-boy for mediocrity when he was still producing; and subsequently everyone knew he was the worst sort of talentless hack. His name is one of those words that becomes synonymous with what it describes: Quisling, Sadist, Falstaffian, SigAlert, Crapper. His record-- obstinately tasteless tenure at any odd bottom-of-the-ratings job his agent could get him--presaged toilet-twisteroo for whatever series he was helming.
He was an ass-kiss then; he remains so in memory. That he lauded the evisceration Roddenberry countenanced was pro forma
for a guy as pathetically back-of-the-steerage as Freiberger.
Sanguine in my achievements, I remain, yr. pal, Harlan
Well, I'm properly nauseated now. I've just finished reading an interview with "Star Trek," season three Svengali, Freddy Freiberger. The interlocution took place somewhere between the brilliant veneer that he added to the British Science-Fiction series "Space: 1999," and his trip to the boneyard.
But you'd better believe this much, buster: In the day, Fred was the DaVinci of science-fiction, and no Abe Mandel, or Lew Grade told him where the bear shat in the buckwheat, and he told them so.
Towards the end of the column, he waxed sentimental as he recounted his adept, tantamount reshaping, and the intellectual history that he contributed to the Trek/Nytol Mythos. Fred never worried about dissipating the artist's canvass (a.k.a ignoring the writers). If taking chances meant jumping head first into Vesuvius, then so be it. As a by God, case in point--after copious self-flagellation, and admonitions of inferiority--he offered his humble worship for the editorial changes that Gene Roddenberry made to "City On The Edge Of Forever." It proved, Fred said, that you can use other tools (otherwise known as, ignoring the writers), and still achieve something tremendous.
Perhaps I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I do try--but the minus-Ellison version of 'City' always impressed me as being just another mediocre episode of "Star Trek," though it would prove thrilling when juxtaposed to the joys held in store for season three.
Wordsworth was right. The world is too much with us. It's time to down some Rolaids.
Cindy...
You took me way too seriously (though, believe me, not about that silly comparison between logging protesters and anti-abortionists - simply because it was factually inaccurate) and wasted a lot of bytes in doing so. I just had to take a shot about Frank's crooning because it always sends me running for bottles of the Pepto.
Mark,
Ben EDLUND (not Englund; I have a suspicion you crossed the name with the actor Robert Englund) was the writer/artist who created THE TICK. I was introduced to this here masterpiece by way of the brilliant animated series, most of which I taped. The live action effort, in a word, sucked. You sound like you'd only caught that lame heap but missed the animated version, which went on for several seasons and moved from Fox to Comedy Central after its run. The animated series followed every story in the comic quite closely since Edlund was involved in the writing and storyboards. I think, therefore, you'd dig the animated version a LOT. I mean it's fucking hilarious, man. It even includes The Tick trying to speak Yid at Dinosaur Neal's Jewish wedding. It'll probably pop up on Comedy Central again but it's also likely to be in the vidiot rental stores.
To an extent the parody infected my once steady ease with the comic book universe - because more often than not, now, when I glance at superheroes on the page, I see these reclusive wretches sitting in an all-night diner on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
It's my assumption Harlan has been obviously familiar with Edlund and The Tick.
In a contrasting close to everyone,
I'm not good at elegies but, man, the curfew tolled the knell of a parting day in Santa Monica...right up the street from me and I just had to offer some word about it, however paltry it might be. That was Wednesday, late in the afternoon when I was on the freeway heading back into SM, when I noticed a swarm of newscopters hovering near the beach area. I disgarded it as another one of those car chases local news shows love to exploit. When I returned I got the message on my voicemail from a friend who was there when it happened. He called me shortly after the poor, 86-year-old man glided his Buick through the crowded farmers market. His voice was shaking as he described in his message what he was seeing - almost like a reporter on the scene; a woman with blood pouring out of her head, and two infants smashed. He cut off when he chose to run over and help the woman. I was blown away by the message, of course, and I turned on the news for the details. Later that evening he filled me in - about when he took off his shirt to tuck under the woman's head and struggled with the options left to a medical layman about what to do. The lady, still conscious, was begging for water; he started giving her some when the only paramedic on the scene thus far told him not to. At any rate, he later learned she would be one of the survivors. Understandably, he needed to talk about it a lot; it was along the lines of, "why am I alive and they're dead". We went on talking about chaos, the sometimes tragic roll-of-the-dice. I reminded him, as it was the only helpful reassurance, that the lady he stuck with made it. But I assured him too that the fortitude in my voice was from the security of my apartment and that I could't possibly imagine what it was like for people with victims dying in their arms.
The old man is in a pathetic situation. At first, a group of witnesses wanted to beat the hell out of him; a store owner who'd pulled him out of the car made them back off. It wasn't really his fault. It was the fault of the DMV and the state laws. He'd already had a record of bad driving but they allowed him to keep his license without subsequent driving tests. ANYONE is going to keep driving if he or she is allowed to. This is another one of those sad lessons we're forced to learn the hard way.
At any rate, I can't say enough for those who were lost - the Mexican woman who left a family behind, Dennis Weaver's daughter-in-law, and the rest, who all made up a broad age and ethnic cross-section. They all woke up that morning to another typical sunny day and ended up splattered on the pavement at the hands of a frail old man. It's incredible: we just don't know when it's waiting for us.
As I'm typing this I'm supposed to be working, so I need get going. But I'm going to be watching my back.
>Those who would deliberately harm others-- who are just trying to make a living ARE devoid of humanity.<
Careful. There are a lot of ways to "make a living" that are very deserving of being harmed. Were I a Jew in the Polish ghetto, back in 1941, I'd be doing my very best to harm those paycheck-drawing German soldiers (ok, I just saw "The Piano").
That's the good old Nazi example, of course, the one we can always drag out for any argument, but I hope you see my point. "I'm just making a living" is NOT a good enough excuse to be left alone, if the occupation itself is heinous. And let's not forget that along with defending Joe Logger, who may or may not be noble in his own right (I personally tend to doubt it), you are defending some truly awful extraction companies like Maxxam/Pacific Lumber. A quick check of their ecological record will leave you aghast.
I agree that extremism is always ugly, and the eco-movement has its share of dangerous fruitcakes. But I'll take a tree-spiking Earth-Firster over a bomb-hurling Bible-thumper any day. I suppose it's a matter of degree.
There goes our Cindy, spittin watermelon seeds at the moles popping out of holes in her lawn. Cindy, I would bet you would also think people who sit in trees to stop logging trucks would also be a weirdo protest ritual. I agree with that practice myself, the only reason I do not do it, is because I do not have the kind of guts it takes. See, I admit it. With my luck, some logging truck would turn me into Frankmush.
-------------
There's this literary prize that was given for the worst beginning to an imaginary novel--the prize went to a lady from Alabama for this ditty:
""They had but one last remaining night together, so they embraced each other as tightly as that two-flavor entwined string cheese that is orange and yellowish-white, the orange probably being a bland Cheddar and the white ... Mozzarella, although it could possibly be Provolone or just plain American, as it really doesn't taste distinctly dissimilar from the orange, yet they would have you believe it does by coloring it differently,"
She definetly deserved the 250 duckets.
Strangers
The Newsweek essay was the subject of one of Harlan's TV commentaries. See URL below.
http://harlanellison.com/buzz/bw175h.htm
Harlan,
Any time, pal. I'm glad I was able to help out.
Apropos of nothing whatsoever, Harlan, are you familiar with the comicbook THE TICK published by New England Comics? I know that FOX turned it into a TV show starring Jeffery Wharburton that had limited success but never quite caught the flavor of Ben Englund's offbeat humor. Anyway, THE TICK is a wonderfully absurd book that brings a fresh approach to the superhero genre, a kind of existential ennui centered around the question, what do these guys do when they can't find crimes to fight? Although it's still quite good, the first two years of the run are still the best.
For what it's worth!
Later,
Walshy
No Rob,
While I wouldn't presume to speak for Frank, mine is a genuine affection for him. I play with him because he's sweet and he plays back, pulling his punches (I believe) because he feels the same about me.
Political polar opposites though we be- I consider Frank to be my friend and I like him. I also respect the fact that he doesn't change his message or dilute his antipathy for social correctness. Frank is who he is, no soft soap no tricks and in MY book it only makes him more of a man. No, Rob there is no patronizing from me-- it isn't my manner. If I were given to such oblique methods of conveying disdain I would refrain from it where Frank is concerned my respect for him would not permit it.
I like to argue with Frank because he's sharp and credible. He's dogmatic in his beliefs and he does provide me with a new perspective to contemplate.
Now, Brian--
Are you saying that a belief in the sanctity of plant life neccessitates a reverence for human life as well? I do espouse your opinion that a majority of tree spikers are probably not trying to harm people. However, if one were to ratchet up the intensity of emotion required to become pro-active over a tree-- you'd find a few individuals possessed of a malignant focus lacking in compassion for people who do not subscribe to similar beliefs. It's the same sort of crackedpottedness that presents in some pro-life nutburgers as a belief that nurses and physicians who work in abortion clinics should be killed.
There are crazies in every camp... nobody has a corner on the market.The same bats in the bellfrey cause the demented notion that pro-life terrorist actions are right because dead abortion providers are incapable of killing unborn babies.. as cause some envirionmentalists to rationalize that a dead or maimed logger is incapable of killing trees.
Just pick your passion-- and throw in extremism. Are the feelings of outrage that one criminally insane person has for the unborn any less than those another has for the redwood? It isn't about any particular issue it's about mental stability.
Those who would deliberately harm others-- who are just trying to make a living ARE devoid of humanity.
Was I any more clear this time? I think I missed the mark before.
Cindy
Hello Dorman,
I miss you.
Are you here?
Cindy
Harlan,
Let me know when Jim sends your swag or if I need to send a gentle reminder. :)
Thanks
Jay
problem solved - THANK YOU DORMAN!
OK - Dorman saved the day.
*** Rick *** Please feel free to delete this - I'm copy/pasting it in a Richmond bibliography thread I started in the other "room" - BD.
----- Original Message -----
From: Dorman Shindler
To: dannelke01@enter.net
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 7:40 PM
Subject: re: Strangers in a Strange Land by Harlan Ellison
Barney,
That's the title of the essay that Ellison wrote for "Newsweek." It appeared in their April 7, 1997 issue (page 49) -- I kept a copy. I think Harlan ran the unedited version in his Rabbit Hole newsletter (and I think Newsweek slapped the aforementioned title on it -- I believe Harlan might have had a different title -- check your backissues of Rabbit Hole.
Best,
Dorman
Dorman,
Thank you so much - I'm fwd'ing this to Tim. I'm sure you're correct. That's why I couldn't find it in the older anthologies. You da man. Back to work...
- Barney
Battle Chasers
Harlan, your welcome and Battle Chasers are going into the mail tomorrow.
Cheers, Colleen
Harlan,
You're welcome. I'm truly glad I could be some help.
Take care,
Bill
One Last Bibliographical Question - until the next one.
Okay - I got off the phone with Tim Richmond a couple of hours ago and after confirming and denying a couple of obscure bibliographical references he had one for me that just stumped me - and it's probably obvious and I am simply sun-fried from setting floor joists -
"STRANGERS [note plural] In A Strange Land" by Ellison. This would be a NON-FICTION piece, probably the title of an introduction, but for what exactly I simply cannot remember because every time I stare at the title all I can see is the Heinlein novel and Silverberg anthology and then my eyes roll up in my head. Tim was hoping to throw this in as a post-it note to the manuscript of FINGERPRINTS ON THE SKY ASAP as he is leaving for vacation and I don't have the time to start looking through books before Sunday.
I/WE need the 1st appearance and page #'s of that appearance. Year composed as well if that's cited. Your time and attention in this matter will be rewarded in heaven where your no-prize will be given to you by either Twain or Asimov.
- Barney
BILL ... COLLEEN ... MARK ... STEVE:
Books received. They were probably lying in the rack at the PO Box for a few days, which explains why I haven't thanked you before this ... but the deadlines have been coming thick and fast, so we didn't pick up what was waiting for us till today.
In any case, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou, he said, turning widdershins in jubilation. Your signed and personalized first editions went out this afternoon.
I am in your debt, the quartet of you.
Yr. pal, Harlan
HARLAN: Thanks much for the response. The person in question went to the doctor, had the usual battery of tests done, and is informed the most likely cause of being tired at this point in life is simple: He ain't 17 no more.
There are a few more tests to be done, but apparently the best remedy at this point is getting enough sleep.
Until next time. . .
I picked up my copy of Locus this morning. Thanks for the info Alejandro. I am back in the land of the employed after a little over 2 months of looking, thank goodness. I had worked 11 years and 23 years plus at my previous 2 full time jobs and was not expecting such difficulty in finding a new one.I could not have lost my job at a worse time as far as the number of people I was running into everywhere I applied that were doing the same.At any rate I start Monday morning doing customer service on incoming calls for Citi Corp in West Des Moines.
On the fun side I am going to see Joe Cocker here in Des Moines Sunday night and Crosby, Stills and Nash at the Iowa State Fair in two weeks on a Friday night so looking very much to both events. Roger
"you are a peach...sweet petunia"
FRANK AND CINDY...
Y'know...sickly-sweet, eye-twitching, neurotic patronizing of this sort makes me suspect you two would be blowing each other away with 12-Gauges if you ever met, in the worst this side of a Hatfield-McCoy feud.
And being a spectator "devoid of all humanity" I'd honestly want a front row seat.
FYI
Hey Gang,
I came across a website a while back called wired for books and on it, I found a collection a radio interviews conducted by a man named Don Swaim for his radio show that came out out Manhattan. Some of you may be familiar with this show, but for those of you who aren't you may want to check the site out. You can listen to the interviews on RealPlayer. Among the list of authors interviewed are:
Ray Bradbury (twice)
Isaac Asimov
Brian Aldiss
Douglas Adams
Robert B. Parker
Ray Carver
John Gardner
Gore Vidal
Norman Mailer
And dozens and dozens more!
Here's the link:
http://www.wiredforbooks.org/swaim/
Swaim is a very good interviewer. He grew up in the 40s and 50s reading Asimov and Bradbury and gives both men the utmost respect.
______________________________________________________
My issue of LOCUS finally arrived. Hoo-rah, now I get to read Harlan's essay!
______________________________________________________
Frank: where did Vidal say that about Bush & the Sept. 11 bombings? An essay? an interview? Just curious.
Best,
Walshy
I fear I was sleepwalking when I last spiked a tree, glad Cindy reminded me. Cindy, you are a peach, but you hit your head on the lower evolutionary branch with that comment, sweet petunia.
------------
Dooner, Vidal did say that he believed Bush set up 9/11; that was where my wacky comment came.
--------------
Harlan, you may not be as elitist as you seem. I'm sure many elitist types would say comic books represent a lower culture--I don't, but many would. Maybe, "pop culture" elitist is more the moniker you should hang over your door.
Shatoga Says....
Dear Mr Ellison,
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water :=)
Anyways, the following was written by my pal Shatoga. He is
wise in the ways and wiles of the world. I found it very enlighteneing, and it seemed sort of relevant to some of what's being nattered on about at this forum, so I thought I'd share it. Yes, it's okay with him if it get's shared. ("That's how the light gets in"*)
"Understanding US and Britain's Neo-nazis
what Liberal 'news' media.
When was the last time you read of "Managment Problems"
The conservatively biased 'news' media skew coverage towards the right...and always have!
"Labor Problems/ Labor Disputes'- never Managment problems/ Managment Disputes.
It's always Management makes "offers" and Labor makes "demands";
Offers: such as lower wages, longer hours, less benefits,
Management stealing Pension Funds (as ENRON proved beyond doubt)
Demands: (historically)
safe working conditions
an end to child labor
the 40 hour work week
overtime pay
health care
retirement/pensions
A Liberal media would have
exposed the greed of management
and championed the plight of overworked underpaid Americans and foreign nationals (imported as cheap labor)
A Conservatively biased media would do exactly as NBC-CBS-ABC-CNBC-CNN have done...
Take the side of the corporations with editorializing within the 'reporting'
by using such skewed terms as "Labor Disputes" (when UPS execs were trying to get their greedy hands on UPS employees Union controlled pensions.
The Federal government watches unions like hawks, but trusts management to
just
do the right thing, without any oversight.
a la ENRON (who invested pension funds to inflate stocks
so management's stock options could make the thieves richer as the workers lost everything.
It's the American way!
Peaceful demonstrations are falsely reported as riots after Police attack peaceful demonstrators,
some of whom fight back against the police state's unjustified violence.
it's gotten to the point that many citizens are so brainwashed that they see only one side of all issues.
Which side do they see?
Why the side the media they loath tells them to look at!
As rightwing media 'reporters' tell him how the 'Liberal' media is lying.
They themselves are that media they bash.
And some people aren't bright enough to see the contradictions:
Star Trek episode:
Kirk:
"Everything I say is a lie."
Norman: "If you're telling the truth, you must be lying..."
Oliver North used this skewed logic successfully during the Iran Contra coverup.
Testified that he'd lied to congress, yet swore he was telling the truth when he testified that he had lied to them before.
'Conservatives' (neo-cons/ not true Conservatives like Goldwater) will believe any lie from their own side!
.
That is what's most bewildering.
They know the media is lying,
yet they believe the lies the media tells them."
~Shatoga~
I've been wondering how it is you keep from jabbing a fork in your eye or something, just to distract yourself from the agonies of boredom you must suffer when you read most of the posts around here. Or maybe you don't keep from doing that. Maybe your face is riddled with tine punctures. I could understand if it was.
Signed,
Diana "You Don't Own Me" Graham
P.S. Shatoga loves me. He thinks I'm a blessing.
(*"Ring the bell that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in"
~Leonard Cohen~ ("Anthem" The Famous Blue Raincoat Album)
Cindy,
"those who would spike trees to injure loggers..."
THANK Brian for straightening out your thong on that because I was ABOUT to snap you in the ol' wazoola with a wet towel for the oversight.
"Both ends of the spectrum remain devoid of humanity"
Harlan. Vidal. Lennon. Just a few obvious names associated with the Left...and CLEARLY devoid of humanity. Damn cold-blooded monsters!
You KNOW generalizations (which I, of course, NEVER make) always get you in trouble!
Uh, Cindy, they don't spike trees to injure loggers. They spike trees to keep'em from being cut down. They put up signs to announce which trees have been spiked, so the loggers don't get hurt. T'ain't the same thing as bombing abortion clinics.
Readercon 2003
Dear Harlan,
I attended Readercon out here in Boston with my good buddy, Mark Walsh. Though we would have loved to see you here in the Hub of the Universe, we did get a chance to talk to Hal Clement and Gene Wolfe.
In one strange panel sessions, two inferior writers gave a critique of Clement's work in the author's presence. Though they tried to be effusive in praise, they couldn't help but insert their own egos into the discussion, and they started to quibble with Clement's works in a panel that was supposed to speak to its value. I found it odd and uncomfortable. They made several less than charitable remarks to the author himself; however, Clement took their remarks graciously.
At a coffee table session with Gene Wolfe, he told us some wonderful stories in which he was a bit too modest about some of his work. One of his best stories, he explained, came about because his editor, I believe it was Campbell, had an illustration of Hitler selling a Volkswagen to Churchill. He went on to say that the editor went alphabetically through a list of writers to write a story to accompany the picture, and was growing desperate by the letter W. Wolfe said "yes" fortunately.
As Mark Walsh mentioned in an earlier post, Wolfe shares your love of Borges and told us a marevlous anecdote about Borges. According to Wolfe, the great author traveled with translators, not to explain the English questions (his English vocabulary was extraordinary), but to translate the bad Spanish that well-meaning spectators insisted on using when asking him questions.
Ellen Kushner, the NPR/PRI ethno-musicologist was there as well to read some of her fantasy writing and to make a plug for her upcoming show on Gamelon orchestras. I'm not sure if you have heard Sound and Spirit out there in California, but it's playlists are really groovy.
All the best,
Steve Dooner
Frank, Frank,
The truth is more complex, lamb choppie. The middle is moderate. The two extremes have those who would murder physicians at abortion clinics and those who would spike trees to injure loggers. Both ends of the spectrum remain devoid of humanity and common sense so I choose to roost in the center... as would you my little sweet tart if you would only use that excellent brain God gifted you with.
You're a delight, Frank-- so quit trying to be such a pain in the tuchis.
:)
yer buddy,
Cindy
This is an even better review: Steve Grant's take on Vic & Blood. You do have to scroll down a little bit until you find it:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=10
Vic and Blood
Check out this link for a nice little review of the new Vic and Blood graphic novel. The comments can get a bit asinine, but what do you expect form a comic book board? Hell, the next thing you know those little joke book fans will be debating politics ad nauseum!
http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4605
-TODD
Martian eclipse, tomorrow at 5:30am. Brightest Mars will ever be for the next six hundred years. Should be visible from the general Caribbean area. If you live in the U.S.A...you'll probably miss out on it. Ah, well. Life's a bitch, then you go to Mars.
Alejandro
Magnificent, many enormous thanks.
Best
Jes
Jes:
The Fourteenth Annual…is the volume you are looking for.
Alejandro
Incognita, Inc
Hey Alejandro
If I may momentarily delurk (I don't feel anywhere near as erudite or brain-nimble as the rest of you guys, so I'm content to read and learn) do you, or any other of the wise 'n wonderful Webderlanders, know in which of Datlow and Windling's 'Year's Best Fantasy and Horror' collections Incognita, Inc appears? I'm eager as all hell to read it...
Thanks in advance
Best
Jes
Heads up, people! The new issue of Locus magazine, with Alan Moore on the cover and an entire section devoted to comics and the graphic novel, just hit the stands. It features a peachy keen essay by Harlan about his love for comics, pretty much an update on the essay he wrote for Playboy back in 1988. It also includes essays by Charles Vess (who edited the special), Neil Gaiman, Carla Speed McNeil (author of Finder) and assorted other.
Miss me, fuckers? :-)
Stan, I could introduce you to the wonderful world of Libertarian Socialism (anarchism); the worlds only hope for the working man or woman. Remember what Jim Hightower said:
"There's nothing in the middle of the road except yellow lines and dead armadillos."
Capice? You too Cindy Sue.
----------------
Everyone email Mahar's show on HBO, and get them to include Harlan in their new season. Believe me, they do listen to emails. Worked for me years ago on his old show.
COLLEEN ... sweetie honey baby lovey ...
Hell, yes, I still need BATTLE CHASERS 7 and 9. Do I want'm?
yew betcha!!!! please send soonest, and let me know what recompense will bring a smile to your pomegranate-sweet lips.
Ever thine, Harlan (with a whoop-dee-doo!)
JIM:
"Tired" could be a lot of things, but if you want my best advice, get this "tired" person to a great -- not good, but great -- cardiologist, and have said specialist run a non-exclusionary, exhaustive battery of every conceivable stress test known to cutting-edge medical science, including an Echo-Stress and the one whose technical name I've forgotten ... though it is often referred to as the "Test to Destruction," in which they lay you out on your back on the table, they put your legs up in the air, and an overhead bicycle-pedalling device is stirruped onto your feet; then you pedal as fast and as long as you can, till you think your head will implode, and they track it on a heart monitor. This is the one that located my arterial blockages six, seven years ago when I had the quad-bypass. The Treadmill Test was showing me as peachykeen; the monitor-audited tracking of the colored fluid showed I was just fine; but when it came to the Upside-Down Bike action, I thought I was going to croak, right there on the table; and a day or two later I was in the ER, and thence to the chest-burster. It spotted everything, and the bells and sireeens went off, and that's what likely saved my ass.
"Tired" could be low blood-sugar, pre-diabetes, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, overweight, hypertension, any one of a hundred others, some more and some less serious. Get this person to a full-battery cardiologist ASAP.
Yr. pal, Harlan
Dry Smoke and Whispers
Harlan:
Long, long ago, in installment 39 (Aug. 16, 1982) of "An Edge In My Voice," you urged readers to seek out the home-made, old time radio-style drama "Dry Smoke and Whispers," created by 24-year-old Floridians Robert Cannon and Marc Rose. Later, I understand you did a little work with them.
Yesterday I discovered that Cannon and Rose have since drifted up to my neck of the woods (to be more precise, the unextinguished Portland suburb of Beaverton) and are poised to revive the adventures of telepathic Special Detective Emile Song, first in audio form and then perhaps as an animated show. I'm meeting with them Sunday afternoon to talk about the possibility of doing voices for them. Will keep you posted.
Rejoice!
Hear ye, hear ye! Now is the time to rejoice:
http://www.cartoonresearch.com/news.html
Buy it when it comes out and maybe they'll release others. And for those that refuse to follow links, it says that October 28th will be the release date for a multitude (56 to be exact) of Looney Tunes cartoons. Thassright. Looney Tunes. Apparently, Warner Brothers even brought back Chuck Jones from the dead to say a few words.
Mark,
Thanks for the head's up on Lucius Shephard. I'll check him out.
If you've never had the pleasure to read DANGEROUS VISIONS, iBooks and Edgeworks Abbey released the 35th Anniversary Edtion last year with a new intro by Harlan. Also, in the past ten years he released SLIPPAGE, where he talks about his coronary episode in the intro. It also has "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Colombus Ashore," his story that made it into the Best Short Stories of 1994 (wasn't it? Or was it '93?).
Or you can go to Amazon or some other online bookstore and look up the name and see what's out there...
Bill
Not to mention that Harlan contributed a story to McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales and his "Incognita, Inc." was chosen (was it last year?) by Ellen Datlow's and Terry Wiendling (sp?) for their annual anthology of the best fantasy and horror stories and the recent release of the Vic and Blood graphic novel featuring the original tales by ibooks and I know I am leaving something out but I am quite sure some of you out there can fill in the gaps.
I've been lurking for too long a time, but I had to chime in to that last post. He's still writing all right. He's had a couple of books come out within the last couple of years--The 50th anniversary edition of The Essential Ellison and Troublemakers, with more on the way. (By the way, when is the new edition of Deathbird Stories coming out?) He's very very busy, as always.
Re-Reading Ellison
I was looking around the house for something to read.
There was my tired copy of Again Dangerous Visions.
The pages are browning, getting a bit brittle even.
I started reading it ... again.... (for the umpteenth time in as many years)
What a great collection. (I never had the pleasure of reading DV...)
Love the political undertones of the last couple of stories. (I started with the last one and am working my way backwards through the collection.) Still relevant to today's world. Love HE's commentary on each story, each author.
I wanted to find out if Ellison was still around. I haven't followed his work as closely as the rest of you on this board...
Seems like he is, although if I understand correctly, he's experienced (but survived) a heart attack. Holding you in the Light, Mr. Ellison. I hope you get through okay.
Doesn't look like you're still writing, though.
Pity.
Love your work.
Love your edge.
Today's world needs the edge that's reflected in ADV.
Needed it then; still need it.
I'm curious... if you were going to put together a new ADV (ADVA?), who would you put in it? Who are you reading?
What story would YOU write for it?
My best to you...
Sincerely,
Jillaine Smith
Heart to heart
Me? No. I don't have time to be tired because I am--odd of odd--busy writing, among other things, film criticisms and movie reviews of some length: Essay length efforts, to be more precise.
No. There is someone I know who is the same age as Mr. Ellison and last year or thereabouts he began experiencing tired periods. So. . . See where I'm going with this? Since Harlan is, uh, an 'expert' on heart matters I thought he might be of assistance.
Until next time. . .
film critics
Rich: I couldn't agree with you more. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see Mr. Ellison return to film criticism, or another forum where he writes essays regularly.
But Rich, have you checked out any of Lucius Shephard's film reviews in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction? He's quite good and brings the criteria you set out in your post to his reviews.
Thanks for your time,
Mark
Just a thought.
After reading some movie reviews in the NY Times (specifically, A.O. Scott's scratching-at-the-surface column regarding comic books and movies) I'm left to wondering where the truly good movie critics are and it got me to thinking what would Ellison say about certain films. And not just science fiction/fantasy flicks.
Harlan Ellison's Watching is the book I should've stolen from the public library and I miss the essays that talked about film. There are two qualities that make a good film reviewer and Ellison has that in spades: love of film and the ability to critique.
The first is easy. I could throw a keyboard at this site and probably hit a bunch of us that love film. The second, though...As Ellison's thoughts on McSweeney's awhile back demonstrated, the man do know how to critique. There is an art form to it that few movie reviewers today demonstrate and fewer still retain any consistency from one review to the next.
Why doesn't someone pay the man to write reviews? Maybe he doesn't have the time, but for every Entertainment Weekly review or .com crapola review, I long for and remember those Watching columns for their clarity and insight. Especially in these "comic book" days of movies, it'd be interesting to hear from a true professional.
BATTLE CHASERS comics
Harlan, I've located issues #7 & #9 if you still need them. Let me know if they're needed. Mahalo, Colleen
Heart Attack
Jim,
If I might also provide an answer, since I've recently had that joyous experience, I didn't so much feel fatigue, but I did feel 'winded'. I used that term because I didn't want that raw, achy feeling in my chest and the shortness of breath whenever I went for a walk to be a problem with my heart. It wasn't my asthma, it was angina.
However, my case wasn't as severe as Harlan's. I had an angioplasty, which cleared up two of the three clogged arteries that caused the problem. The third was left alone because my heart had grown a bypass of it's own to supply the right side of my heart with the blood flow it needed. That must have taken time. Prior to the last year or so, I didn't know there was ever a problem.
Heart disease is not called the Silent Killer for nothing.
Who, may I ask, is feeling fatigued, etc.?
I hope it's not you. If so, get thee to a physician, pronto.
Chuck
Medical matters
(Elbowing his way in and making his onto the precarious and wobbly orange crate to seek out HARLAN ELLISON):
Mr. Ellison, you may not to want repeat the events that transpired, and that's fine, but a question, all the same, that perhaps you would answer:
Prior to your heart attacking you, resulting in your rib cage being cracked, and a nifty new zipper in your butt cheek, did you feel physically tired for, oh, a year before the big event?
I ask this as a medical matter, not as morbid curiosity.
Thank you for your time.
Until next time. . .
Jim Hess
look what pops up!
alejandro reported:
> Just wanted to call your attention to a recently
> released anthology titled "Cosmos Latinos", published
> by Wesleyan University Press and edited by Andrea Bell
> and Yolanda Molina-Gavilán.
Glad to hear the book has hit the streets, and pleasantly surprised to see it mentioned here. Yolanda's an old friend of mine. . . .
Ben:
We've got three separate versions of the Encyclopedia done by Peter Nicholls and John Clute; 1979, 1993, and 2000. Then there are editions of SF encyclopedia by Robert Holstock, Donald Tuck (His is in three volumes), David Pringle (His is titled "The Ultimate Science Fiction Encyclopedia"), Brian Ash with the Visual Science Fiction Encyclopedia, not to mention the "Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", a new one Scotty purchased as few months ago, edited by George Mann. That doesn't include the CD-ROM version of the Encyclopedia, which has some really neat interviews with Mr. Ellison.
Now, Scott will buy the book suggested by Alejandro, and the house will groan again in growing complaint at the load it must bear.
It's a dammed good thing I've got those Ultraman model kits already.
Melissa
Stan
"someday the Democratic Party will see the errors of its ways...and go back to standing with the working man and woman in this country"
I see. Your explanation is...well...so LUCID!
Defect from a party which once stood for the working man and allegedly no longer does to join a party that NEVER stood for the working man and STILL doesn't.
I sense that this GOD of yours must disdain the working man (the one on the lower end of the income scale, anyway) not to mention the universities, community colleges, medical clinics, and health coverage for those struggling economically as much as the Republican party does.
(Incidentally, the Bush administration just officially conceded there IS no God. CFCs blew a hole in blind faith along with the ozone. So, you better look for a better argument).
Re Stan, who wants the Democrats to get back to helping the working man: I guess this means you're definitely _not_ a Republican, then. That's good. At least they haven't reneged on their heritage of _screwing_ the working man.
To Steve, Rob and Cindy
TO STEVE: Nothing to apologize for...but...humbly I accept it.
TO ROB: Reason for my change...at the time...was for moral reasons. Though I have for three years chucked any affiliation to any organized religion...I still have the basic belief in God and what the Clinton Gang did in Washington....well....draw your own conclusions. Maybe it is a pipedream, but I still hold true to the belief that someday the Democratic Party will see the errors of its ways...and go back to standing with the working man and woman in this country.
TO CINDY: I thank you Cindy for your reply.
For ye collectors of Ellison-provenanced stuff, HE is offering up some mint model kits and rare Dick Tracy wallpaper at Heritage Auctions.
http://www.heritagecomics.com/common/auctions/lots.asp?SID=727E7198A6954A51AF9232F057998E7C
Sorry, that previous post was supposed to be addressed to 'ME'. Goddamn sub-tropical humidity, it's warping my brain...
MELISSA,
I actually have a copy of THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION right here in front of me. The price tag on the cover reads $39.95. I wouldn't know if that price would be any different in your location. Also, it's a mighty old edition. Scott is correct in saying it needs major revision, but to be fair it DOES have one kick-ass section on great SF authors, from Verne to Bradbury to Herbert to K. Dick to good ol' Isaac. Speaking of which, there's an interesting segment on Harlan too. (Yes, Harlan, you ARE classified as a 'SF author' in this book, but it doesn't truly mean anything. Edgar Allan Poe's in here as well, and unless THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM permanently categorizes Poe as a 'science fiction author', you really don't have much to worry about.)
Here's a couple of quotes from the article, if you want a taste:
"There is something very odd about Ellison as a writer. It helps to explain both his weakness at longer fictional forms and his remarkable strength at the short-story length."
"At his best, Ellison's work is full of a rage for authenticity, an urgency about being human and real in a world of deranging impersonality and evil. His world is an existential testing ground, and the future is a gauntlet that human beings must run."
I disagree with Clute, in that I think Harlan can be perfectly formidable in the novel-length format (I return to ALL THE LIES THAT ARE MY LIFE to confirm that statement to myself), but otherwise the segment reads pretty accurately. Then again, how should I know - I'm not Harlan.
Friends:
Just wanted to call your attention to a recently released anthology titled "Cosmos Latinos", published by Wesleyan University Press and edited by Andrea Bell and Yolanda Molina-Gavilán. "Cosmos Latinos" is the first comprehensive anthology of science-fiction written in Latin America and Spain since the beginning of the 20th Century.
Highly recommended if you want to find out other countries approach the genre.
Alejandro
ME:
The husband suggests "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. Scotty said it's good, but needs revison.
Melissa
the best encyclopedia of sf
dear anyone,
i picked up a used copy The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Brian Ash, Harmony, 1977) awhile back. I like it... lots of nice illustrations and essays on topics. However, I'd really like an Encyclopedia organized like a typical encyclopedia... more current and more author and story-focused, rather than theme-focused.
what are your opinions of the best encyclopedia or encyclopedia-like resource on speculative fiction? feel free to email me directly... and thanks!
ME
And for more fun MLA-hijinks, check out Frederick Crews' hilarious _Postmodern Pooh_.
My favorite bit is when Christopher Robin is revealed as the Mao figure.
Convention fun
Well, I'm jealous as all hell of those of you attending the comics convention out in San Diego. That's a full-on list of attendees!
But I'll carry on and consol myself with Readercon 15 going on right now in Burlington, MA. Spent most of the day listening and chatting with Gene Wolfe, which was quite a treat. He had some wonderfule anecdotes to relate on Borges. And what was the one discussion group we passed on to spend more time with Mr. Wolfe, you ask? "The Closet at Bag-End": a discussion of the unconscious gay impulses in The Lord of the Rings. MLA meets Skiffy!
Later,
Mark
USA
Steve and Stan,
How beautifully y'all have behaved! Would that the pair of you were in Washington representing all of us.
We have all been done in by both sides. The truth lies in the middle.
The middle is where we all belong.
Cindy
Sorry Stan
My pasion got the better of me, Stan. I'm sorry if I used spin in my comments. I think its because I don't see the conservatives in Washington as conservatives, I see them as radicals.
Again my apologies,
Steve Dooner
Susan: a belated Happy Birthday.
To any Palm ebook readers out there: Gerald Kersh's Night and the City was released as a Palm format ebook yesterday; you can find it at www.palmdigitalmedia.com
To Stan: ...and welcome back. Perhaps you see why I usually save the expression of my conservative leanings for the voting booth.
And bests to all.
--tr
Stan, Steve, et al: Just popping in to ask, why do you think American politics is so partisan? Our founding fathers, and George Washington especially, were dead set against the idea of a two party system. Washington believed it was inimical to democracy, and I agree.
Stan, I agree that there's such thing as too liberal and too conservative. But it's not an either/or, black/white deal. It's a spectrum, and there are many valid, important viewpoints that are not covered by the Democratic or Republican Party platforms. I was a Democrat for a decade, until I realized that they had sold out my agenda horribly, and I could no longer support them. I am now a registered Green.
Why hasn't a multiparty system thrived in this country? Does anyone else feel like they're trapped by a power duopoly and resent it? They've convinced us that they're the only game in town; a lot of people I knw don't vote b/c they can barely see a difference in candidates, and b/c they don't think their vote matters in the vast sea of either/or votes.
If every disaffected Dem or Repub took a stand and voted third party, things might have a chance of changing around here. We might actually have a representative government, or closer to it than what we currently have.
But I'm not holding my breath.
PAB
Stan,
"My Democratic beliefs then were that the party was basically for the working man"
Your concern was "for the working man"? So, you became a Republican? I'm sure this isn't the first time you've been asked this: what the hell kind of logic is THAT?
As "corporate" as the Democrats are these days (and I do NOT necessarily vote Democrat; I DO necessarily condemn the hell out of the Republican party), they still provide a better chance for those struggling. The Republicans have unwaveringly, and unashamedly, represented the interests of the wealthy - generally at everyone else's expense. History shows this was true during FDR's time and it remains true today.
Harlan & Susan;
The package arrived yesteday. Many thanks; a holiday in July! Alexa particularly enjoyed the video.
Susan; Sorry your birthday package is slow in coming. I had to wait for it to get here from the mid-west somewhere. Talk to you soon. Cheers, Tim
Mispelled last name correction
Sorry Steve...It is late at night and I am tired I apologize for mispelling your last name. At least this conservative will apologize when he does wrong....goodnight all.
To Steve Donner
I am so sorry if I hit a nerve Steve...but you see I was a Democrat before I changed to Republican...for over thirty years.
My Democratic beliefs then were that the party was basically for the working man...that is not true today. There is such a thing as too liberal and too conservative. I am neither one. I am middle of the road, therefore if Republicans fuck up...I will get on their case too. So...Mr. Donner don't spin me. I am not for the Patriot Act as it is written now...I think more thought should have gone into it. No matter what you say...I have a right to quote Voltaire if I want to...because as a writer I do believe in the First Amendment and I will fight for the right for you or I, or anyone else to write and speak with freedom.
Oh...and I've got the new issue. hee hee hee
Confirmation...
Harlan,
Spoke with Jim tonight. He's excited that you enjoy his book. I'll forward the address and will send you a signed #7 with all speed. He's up for an Eisner this year. An awesome book, I agree.
Jay
Harlan,
Sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it. If for some reason you should though, dinner (or other meal of your choosing) is on me (and that means Susan too). I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the BATTLE CHASERS' issues, on the offhand chance they should turn up (seeing as how Jay's takin' care of your other request).
-Andrew
JAY:
I much enjoy AMELIA RULES, and have since issue #1, so if it isn't too big a Convention imposition, I'd get a kick out of having a Jimmy-signed issue #7.
(And tell him he's late with the current issue, and I'm anxious.)
Many thanks, Yr. pal, Harlan
Sorry...clarification.
Harlan,
Jimmy will be at the San Diego Comic-Con and I'm assuming he'll have back issues there. If you're able to make that lunch, I'm sure Jim would be happy to find a copy. If not, I will send one of mine or have Jim send you one.
Jay
Amelia Rules? Harlan, the author's a friend of mine. I'll get it..signed or unsigned?
ANDREW: Probably not going to San Diego Con. Too busy; and too wearying. Julie Schwartz MAY be recuperated enough to be flown in, and I promised him if that came to be, that I'd bust my hump to get down to have lunch with him and Irwin Hasen. But it's all tentative. After the Con, in any case, most of my friends make the few-hour drive up here to LA for a hanging-out. And there's the final Wolfman after-con bash, of course; and the Golden Apple party. so I get to see quite a lot of the gang.
If you REALLY wanna scrounge for me, I need the following;
BATTLE CHASERS (Image) issues 7 and 9
AMELIA RULES issue #7
Beyond that, what I need is so obscure I wouldn't burden you with trying to ferret it out. But thanks, anyway. If'n you find the 3 items above, I'll count it in the miracle category.
Yr. pal, Harlan
Questions for Stan
I must admit I feel too much like Har