Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

Archive - 09/02/2006 to 11/22/2006

Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

I missed the draft by one year. When I graduated from high school, Both the war and draft were over.

My father was drafted in 1954, just missing Korea. That's why I was born in El Paso, Tx. He was stationed in what was humorously know as Fort Bliss.

He doesn't miss it.

As has been mentioned, a draft didn't do anything to deter the debacle in Vietnam, for sure. I'm not so sure there is any more of a disconnect as far as the public and the war than there was in Korea. Hell, a lot of people didn't know where Korea was, or what the 'Police Action' was really about.

And I'd just like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Now's the time to get together with family and have them close. Even if some of them are a mite peculiar.

Chuck

I CORRECT & I SMILE

CORRECTION: Paul Leslie ... it's an ant, not a frog.

IT IS TO SMILE: As very likely the only person squatting at this site who was, in fact, actually and really, DRAFTED INTO THE U.S. ARMY, and served two stinking years (1957-59)(between WWII.3 and WWII.4), I am vastly amused by all of you, and that cadre of dimbulbs in D.C., discussing the abstract as if y'all had the ratiocination, the IQ, and the experience just southwest of something that perceives of its a petri dish as a vacation spa.

Yr. Pal, (Former PFC Ellison, Harlan J., US********) Harlan

Frank,

"Let me get this straight--first, our Josh, a man who was nominated for an Oscar is shitcanned, then the main dude, Peter Jackson is shitcanned, Oscar or no Oscar. Maybe O'Reilly is right, Hollyweird is sick. "

Sick Hollywood may be, but your straight's a little wiggly. I wasn't fired off of Halo, and neither was Peter. First stage was Microsoft and Jackson severing the connection with Universal and Fox, second stage was Microsoft and Jackson not making a deal with a new studio that satisfied them. All sorts of words describe what happened to the various and sundry parties involved, but nobody got shitcanned.

Just for the record.

It may seem like a minor quibble, but wikipedia notwithstanding, some folks do believe what they read on the internets. This is idle gossip to some, but to me, it's my professional rep, and I've never been fired from a writing gig.

The Tony Bennett special

I like Tony Bennett. Always have.

Frankly, Frank, you need to talk with your doctor about hearing aids.

I like Rangel a lot.

And I am certainly NOT for a draft.

But the vital message Rangel is delivering to Bush - a very practical one - is "put up or shut up". If the Bush administration has SO much faith and "determination" for "victory" in Iraq - then - in light of ever smaller numbers volunteering for what is practically becoming a long-run suicide mission - a DRAFT is the ONLY way it's going to work.

It would mean the deaths of recruits from both poor and wealthy backgrounds.

And what Rangel has done - whether or not you reduce it to "fear mongering" - is give these assholes a subjective sense of the real horror of loss. It's reality, if you review the statistics on the numbers volunteering against the "bold" long-run plan Bush has for the Middle East. There is no fucking way it's going to be "accomplished" if you don't have the right number of men in what will clearly be a long...LOOOOOOOOOONGG struggle.

You have to either implement a plan to pull out (where the hell is the UN in all this?) or be set to pump up the volume (in which case we'll be sending thousands to a pointless death).

Rangel's quote: "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way,"

I like what Barber said: "This is the most disengaged I've ever seen the public from the actual pain and suffering being endured/inflicted by our troops and the warzone populace."

Because it remind me - I mean crystalizes in my mind - the horror Bush has hurled this country into. And I don't think the American public truly empathizes with it or has weighed its true price. If we stay there we're dead; if we leave we're dead. Why? Because BOTH options will leave a far greater number of terrorist hate groups at our bedsides, many times the danger Hussein EVER presented to us, and greater danger than ever existed before for Israel as well. This is the legacy of a ball and stick with a jester's head that poses itself as an American President.

You might want to consider, then, the complexity of Rangel's point rather than just dispensing it as, "gosh, shit n'holy damn - HE wants ta reinstate da DRAFT!"

Paul, KOS are my initials. I don't actually type my name out because it's not important. YOu might disagree, but hey, I am the one who gets to choose. Anyone who has been around a while, here I mean, probably knows who I am as I -used- to post my full name; KOS are my initials.

Frank, whether a draft is good or bad as an idea (and I find it risible that you with your "Fuck Authority" attitude in most things are in favor of a draft simply because you think "rich kids" will suffer), to advocate a draft as you do, declare that we currently have a nercenary army of poor kids and then argue that we need a professional army leads to extreme cognitive dissonance.

An army like the one we have now, of long-term enlistment volunteers is a "professional army". You advocate an army of short-term conscripts, which is the opposite of "professional".

Professional armies are a hallmark of empires. Citizens in arms (militias and conscripts) are hallmarks of republics. Republics USUALLY go to war only when the majority of the citizens feel the nation is in fact threatened directly and imminently. Empires go to war when the leaders feel the Empires interests are threatened. Frederik the Great famously remarked that neither the residents of the towns nor the peasants in the fields of Prussia should know OR care whether the Kingdom was at war. Seems we are well down the road towards this attitude in our current America.

Yours for clarity.

KIS

Last Great Films / That Pesky Subconcious / Happy Gobbler
1) I think we did see "one last great film" from Altman. It was called GOSFORD PARK. Of course, he lived still longer and made several additional films, after that -- and even if they're not great, they're not entirely devoid of interest, either. Life and art are messy. Like great authors, not every great filmmaker can leave at the moment of a masterpiece, big or small, like John Huston did with THE DEAD. Most times, their mortality refuses to coincide with their greatest moments, with that level of neatness. Fortunately, we can bend the calendar facts, to jibe with the moments that deserve special appreciation, in much the way we usually regard the sublime BEING THERE, and not the awful THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, as the final film of Peter Sellers. We certainly know which one is remembered.

2) The instant Judi woke me up this morning, I serenaded her with this song, which did not exist when I fell asleep last night.

"Nobody ever wants the sommelier around!
Nobody ever cares!
Just drop off the wine and get the hell out!
Go get yourself eaten by bears!"

I can't take credit, nor do I want it. It arrived in my sleep. I'm not sure I could have come up with the word when conscious. She just shook her head and said, "You're a strange person."

3) Enjoy your tryptophan overdose, everybody.

Todd, I don't know nuttin bout Neccos...........

.......but about the draft it seems to me that Rangel did not do this for attention, unless it is to get attention to the cost of the war. I would rather this was not the vehicle he used but it is hard to resist enjoying the spectacle of the neocons. They tell us that we are in a struggle for our way of life and our very existence. They tell us we need to give up our civil liberties because "If your dead you don't have any liberties.". They tell us all muslims are suspect and the jihad is spreading, have you checked under you bathroom sink yet? But wait, don't ask me to sacrifice anything. I won't give up my tax break and I won't risk my neck in this struggle for civilization. No draft say the neocons.

No draft say I as well but Rangel's debate is good for the spectacle.

________________________________

On another subject Ursula K. Le Guin received the Maxine Cushing Gray award in October. She dedicated her award to Literature. In he acceptance speach she wrote:

"There have been governments that celebrated literature, but most governments dislike it, justly suspecting that all their power and glory will soon be forgotten unless some wretched, powerless liberal in the basement is writing it down. Of course they do their best to police the basement, but it's hard, because Government and Literature, even when they share a place, exist on different moral plains. Each is the ghost in the other's bedroom. A government can silence writers easily, yet Literature alwars escapes it's control. Literature cannot control a government; poets, as poets, do not legislate. What they can do is set minds free of the control of any tyrant or demagogue and his lies and disinformation."

That's just one paragraph but I think there is a deeper truth in there about why it is not really an Ellisons or a Le Guins job to go out there and say "the republicans suck" or "vote for prop. 6547". We can do that just fine ourselves. What we need the Ellisons and Le Guins for are their "Repent Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman and their The Left Hand of Darkness. If they can keep doing that then I can keep yelling about the neocons. Like the frog said, "We do what we can".

Let me get this straight--first, our Josh, a man who was nominated for an Oscar is shitcanned, then the main dude, Peter Jackson is shitcanned, Oscar or no Oscar. Maybe O'Reilly is right, Hollyweird is sick.

-------------

Bring back the draft? I am all for it. The rich kids, hiding under Daddie's money won't avoid the big pull--either you be a man and go fight in Iraq, or be a bigger man and risk jail. Would shake the place up, and we would not have to have this mercenary military of poor kids fighting all of our wars--loosing limbs and dying. Let Uncle Sam's leash drag those bastards, kicking and screaming in to get that buzz cut.

We need a professional military. Rangel is right.

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Altman will be missed. Sad that we will never see that last great film from him.

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You all missed a good one last night: The Tony Bennett special, on NBC. Great stuff, beyond the Target store pornography. Tony still has it. He is the Johnny Cash of jazz.

Ummmm...
Not to put words into Todd's mouth (or keyboard, to make the imagery more accurate), but reread his post.

He did not state that Bush was planning a return to the draft. He referred to the fearmongering (assummably Democratic), not to the fact Bush was considering the idea. If memory serves, it was presented by Dems to point out that the war(s), as they were (and are) being fought, are unsustainable in the long run with an all-volunteer force.

I believe that is exactly the same message that Rangel was pushing the other day. He knows it cannot possibly get past Congress -- and in fact voted against his own previous resolution on the matter -- but raising the spectre of a draft makes the war much more immediate to a general pulic which, so far at least, seems to think that we're fighting some sort of elaborate video game.

I ain't that old, but I've lived through Vietnam, Bosnia, multiple "police actions" and the two Gulf Wars -- and this is the most disengaged I've ever seen the public from the actual pain and suffering being endured/inflicted by our troops and the warzone populace. By suggesting the possibility of "YOUR kid could be sent over there" Rangel is bringing the horror of war into our homes, thereby creating an even greater backlash against it.

Make it visceral, and the public will react.

Todd will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he was referring to Democratic fearmongering against the war (as opposed to Republican fearmongering against the known, the unknown, and the terrorists).

Kerry is Todd's friend??
Kerry Says President May Bring Back Draft
Bush Campaign Dismisses Charge
By Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 15 -- John F. Kerry charged Friday that there is a "great potential" President Bush will reinstate the military draft if reelected, as the two candidates battled furiously for an edge with voters in Iowa and Wisconsin who are deeply divided over the Iraq war.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35517-2004Oct15.html

The Draft
Journalist Marc Cooper's been an advocate of bringing back the draft (no deferments, natcherly) -- and as compelling as his reasons are, I'm glad they weren't in force during my draftable period.

His blog entries on the subject are at
http://marccooper.com/getting-drafty/
http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=10835
http://www.marccooper.com/

Todd,

Not to dip my toes into the water, but...

"I recall all the fear-mongering in the 2004 campaign about how Bush will bring back the draft"

You do? I sure don't. I'd love to see some links or citations. It's always been crystal clear that the last person on the planet who'd bring back the draft would be Bush. It would destroy him on two levels. The first being that once it's EVERYBODY'S kids being killed, what little support is left for his illegal and immoral war will vanish overnight, and second being that it would once again raise the issue of Bush's own draft dodging activities during Vietnam. Any hope the man has of NOT going down in history as this country's single worst president would vanish with a draft, and at this stage, posterity is about all Bush is concerned with.

While you may have one or two friends who thought Bush would bring back the draft back in 2004, I assure you, there wasn't a real political thinker on the planet who predicted it, or expected it. Even Bush isn't that dumb.

Neccos
On a lighter subject, I have a question about Necco candy wafers. This does relate on a Harlan Ellison board, as he is a fan of the chocolate Neccos.

I'm bebopping home from work last night, which is how I usually try to commute even when not moving, and I'm sucking on Neccos and my usual frustration rises when I pop a chocolate Necco into my mouth: does anyone really think these things taste like chocolate?

It's not that I don't like them. Chocolate Neccos bring a mild sweetness to the sometimes powerful licorice and cinammon and clove and wintergreen, or the strong fruity lime and lemon and orange; but I never get a sense, after 40 some years of eating these things, that chocolate Neccos have a chocolate flavor.

Is it just me?

Also, though I know for sure that the yellow Neccos are lemon flavored.....there are times that I get a hint of banana. Is it just me? It leads me to doubt the little yellow Necco's true flavor, though I know that lemon is the official company line.

Is it just me?

-TODD

PS....love seeing the draft debate bubble up due to a Democrat's opinion, regardless of the reasoning. I recall all the fear-mongering in the 2004 campaign about how Bush will bring back the draft; yet it's Rangel who really wants to do it (or, truth be told, just wants the attention as there is no way his bill would pass).

weaknesses
Harlan and Susan,

Thanks for package. Harlan, your words make this Jack Armstrong glow red. My ego didn't need any more inflating, but thanks.

Barney,

I think Nate was being sardonic. I'm sure he can respond to that, but if you think about the comment for a bit...how can these soldiers be weak? You asked if the weakness took the form of mental, physical, or moral weakness.

Let me add this thought. America is a capitalistic republic. So the soldiers could be "economically" weak. In other words, they may not be able to make ends meet without serving as "weekend warriors," or to get tuition for college without GI incentives.

Sad thought, that.

-Keith

Nate's comments
***Nate*** Leaving aside the rest of your remarks, which you are entitled to, I found this one - "It's a game to this nation; weeds out the weak ones" to be insensitive and offensive. You can fairly make the argument that the armed services have been lowering the bar for admission to service and you can point to some ugly incidents on the ground over there and you can channel some ugly sound bites Michael Moore treated us to from a few ground pounding racists. You can slam this war and this administration and everyone who signed on to prosecute it. But when you start tarring everyone in the armed services with a brush THAT wide I'm going to object. Not just on behalf of a few injured folks I know or on behalf of the dead brother of a friend of mine but on behalf of all of those people who SERVE.

Just to put a limit on the scope of my objection - let's just look at the 100+ people who died in Iraq in October 2006. Hundreds of thousands of others could be brought into this tent but let's focus. The statistic I heard was five teenage Americans. The rest of the casualties ranged from age 20 to 53.

So my question to you Nate would be which were the weak ones? Were they physically weak? Mentally weak? Morally weak?

Please don't go out of your way to insult hundreds of thousands of good well intentioned people just to make a point. Because on the very best of days in the "best of all possible worlds" (as Voltaire, tongue in cheek would have had it) you don't help your argument.

- Barney Dannelke

"I'm proud and grateful beyond measure that I haven't been of eligible age while there has been an active drafting of military personnel; the thought of being sent to war against one's will is about as hellish a concept as I can muster. But I wonder if the mentality expressed by the student in this comic is part of why the idea of a draft appeals to people - that the consequences of war should be equally shared throughout a society."

Trudeau's point seems to be that it is hypocritical to support the war in Afghanistan while remaining opposed to the draft. A fair position, I suppose, since the only attitude which makes any sense to me is to unambiguously oppose the war. Suggesting that those who oppose this war should be forced to fight it makes about as much sense as saying that those who support the war should be forced to participate in protests against it!

Coincidentally, I've just started reading an edition of Dalton Trumbo's 1939 novel JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN which begins with a foreword written in 1959 in which Trumbo explains that he wasn't opposed to either the draft or the idea of war - he was simply opposed to the reasons behind America's involvement in WWI. He actually let JOHNNY go out of print during WWII, as he was worried that the novel might "adversely affect the war effort".

Hasn't service in the military usually involved class issues? Whatever the intentions of the college deferment in the 1960s, the effect was to exempt the sons of the wealthy and powerful. In the 19th century, drafted men could legally hire substitutes. I suspect most of the substitutes came from the ranks of the poor, although I have not seen statistics. I can easily imagine the draftees who hired the substitutes deluding themselves like the student in the Doonesbury cartoon.

I was too young for the actual draft, although I had to register for Selective Service in 1984. I had a weird perspective on the draft at the time. I dreaded the draft not necessarily because of the thought of dying in combat, although that was part of it. My main dread was in repeating the experiences I had with other males in high school. Although I have always been straight, most of the boys (and some of the girls) assumed I was gay, and I received the usual harassment because of it. (Why did they think I was gay? Who the hell knows...) I expected life in the barracks to be a hundred times worse. Matthew Shepherd's sad fate was years in the future, but that is the kind of fate I expected to suffer during basic training.

Elijah,

When we had the draft before, it didn't deteer an unneeded and immoral war. It didn't ensure responsibility. America is addicted to war; addicted to watching their children die in combat. It's a game to this nation; weeds out the weak ones. The draft isn't going to make people blink at the next dumb war our government comes up with.

Besides the point this type of proposed bill tries to make unfairly assumes that all non-military young people are not in service for the same reason - we are all just pampered. But a lot of us don't go to fight because it's not a moral war. A draft just to teach a bunch of ivy league kids a civics lesson also sucks people like me into combat. That makes no sense.

And if anything, the whole concept of draft reinstatement is most likely going to backfire and even more people are going to think that war is just a normal part of everyday life. Just like every kid learns to drive, every kid kills a foreigner.

I sent my request to the SFBC for a new printing of "Ellison Wonderland". I certainly hope a lot of you also use the email address I left in my last message to do the same.
Here's hoping you all have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING also. It will be just me staying with my mother for our dinner. She is really struggling in her recovery after her 2 surgeries on her broken hip. She is doing some therapy at the clinic again to try to strengthen her leg, but it really wears her out. I'm so glad I at least was able to get her to Minnesota for the convention earlier this year to meet Harlan and Susan.

Digital Zombies: Coming to a Theatre Near You!

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/061121h.php

I want to hurt Rob Cohen. Right now.

MILES:

Yes, please, thank you very much; do indeed send me the noted magazine. I would be most grateful.

Thanks in front, Harlan Ellison

Hizbullah also used cluster bombs...

David

Deaths in Threes
That's funny, I always thought deaths came in the hundreds (thousands?) per hour.

What? Only the famous count?

-TODD

Well, I don't know if they come in 3's, 4's, 5's, or whatever, but MP Pierre Gemayel was assassinated today in Lebanon. His car was bumped from behind, the assassin got out, shot him in the head, got back in his car, and took off. Also, Israel finally admitted to using cluster bombs in Lebanon during its invasion in civilian areas. If you don't know about them, learn, and be disgusted.

Favorite Altman moment, from The Long Goodbye:

"El porto del gato"

One of many.

HOGWASH!

" Some say it always comes in threes..."

HOGWASH, I say. It's merely chance. If you wait long enough, deaths will happen in threes. If you wait slightly longer, deaths will happen in fours. Just a smidgen longer, and deaths will happen in fives.

Get the picture? It's HOGWASH, I say!

Elijah I would support a draft if there were no exemptions. Pacifists could serve in non-combatant roles. And for just the reason you said.

We should only go to war if this country is directly threatened. If it's important enough to go to war then all should be willing to participate.

We have to stop these political wars where our "interests" are threatened (as defined by our leaders) but not the safety and existence of this country. A volunteer army that is not representative of the vast majority of citizens just encourages these political wars. It doesn't cost most of us anything so we let it slide on by.

Guillermo del Toro
Harlan,
you may already know this- but in the uk magazine SFX, Guillermo del Toro, cites you as one of his "heroes and inspiratons". You are in good company along with Charles Dickens, Ray Bradbury , Carl Barks and others.
Could send you a copy if you so wish.
Miles

draft
Doonsbury had what I thought was an interesting commentary on the draft :
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2006/db061121.gif

I'm proud and grateful beyond measure that I haven't been of eligible age while there has been an active drafting of military personnel; the thought of being sent to war against one's will is about as hellish a concept as I can muster. But I wonder if the mentality expressed by the student in this comic is part of why the idea of a draft appeals to people - that the consequences of war should be equally shared throughout a society.

This isn't the kind of question I'm in the habit of asking but here, in the presence of those I admire for clarity of thought and the ability to communicate with the written word, I have to ask : Does the lack of a draft pretty much guarantee irresponsibility on the part of the voting public and elected officials? What options are there to ensure responsibility other than a draft?

Respond here or to my email address. I'm just curious as to people's thoughts, so no offense is intended if I do not respond.

I got the news just now myself. Definite loss of a terrific artist. (And I had just caught an old episode he'd directed on Alfred Hitchcock the other night - shows I'd never seen before)

The drag is - unlike with so many directors late in their lives (Coppola is a good example) - his films in terms of strength and impact have been on an upswing. His output over the last 10 years, for ME, anyway, complement the classics he did in the early 70's. I've had my eye out for his new stuff consistently. A real drag to see this roll interrupted.

At least he made it to 81 - a better deal than SOME have had.

Robert Altman and death
CARSTONIO: I might be given the equivalent of a cyberspace "finger" for it, but I didn't really enjoy "Nashville." I did however, dig (in no certain order) "Short Cuts," "M.A.S.H.," "Kanas City," "McCabe & Mrs. Miller," "Dr. T and the Women," "The Player," "Gosford Park," "Buffalo Bill and the Indians," and "A Prairie Home Companion" (perhaps that last, like "An Unfinished Life," by a different director entirely, is a movie only someone who has lived in the Midwest for a while can appreciate). I also dug "Popeye" and "Quintet," mostly because they were so unusual at the time. I even enjoyed "The Gingerbread Man" for what it was, an interesting thriller. It's fitting that Altman's last film addressed the notion of mortality, and did so with such a dry sense of humor.

ALL: It _is_ a shame when someone of such talent, someone who made such a great contribution to his field, dies. Just like the rest of us mortals, guys like Altman (or Jack Williamson, who made it to 98) would certainly prefer to grab as much extra life as they could get -- mostly because they seemed to enjoy the ride, and get so much done while cruising the highways and byways. But I really believe that men and women with lives so full and well-lived wouldn't want others wailing and feeling bad after they pass on -- especially if they make it into their 80s and 90s (the natural life expectancy after all). I rather think they would want us to get on with our own lives and enjoy the the people we love, the work we do, the books and music we prefer and the sandwiches we're offered in the time each of us has left.

Then again, I'm as capable as the next guy of being dead wrong.
--DTS

Wow.


Fuck.



When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to the most inappropriate movies.... When I was 8, he took me to McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Three times.

There are two filmic images that have consistently haunted my brain from those days. The fat whores bathing in McCabe's bordello, and Robert Culp walking around the Bradbury with a glass hand.

Robert Altman
God DAMN it, God DAMN it, God DAMN it, God DAMN it.

We had several more films from him than we had any right to expect, thanks to his heart transplant...but God DAMN it.

Arrrrrrrrrggggghhhh!

God DAMN it!

Some say it always comes in threes...
Gary Graver. Robert Altman. Next...?

Robert Altman, 1925-2006
"M*A*S*H" is one of my favorite movies, and I also liked "The Player." But sadly, I have not yet seen "Nashville."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100624.html

What gives?
First HALO went up, now Jackson's off THE HOBBIT.
Josh, you're the inside man; is Peter making that big a stink over not getting paid? If so, good. Don't blame him one bit.
After that much sweat and time, and all the lucre he helped realized for the companies, if they can't make good, let them hire Richard Benjamin.

Blame it on Disney...
A web coming I frequent posted a link to a new show by The Jim Henson Company, Inc., called "The JIm Henson Company's Puppet Up -- Uncensored". It seems this combination of puppetry and stand-up comedy has received very favorable reviews over the past year, so TBS is taking a shot at producing a live show where the audience tosses out ideas for the puppeteers to perform. Here's the link:

http://www.puppetup.com/

I checked out the site and was very pleased with the delightfully left of center humor and possibilities presented by this performance. As a long time Henson fan, I admire the talents of the puppeteers and have quite an ear when it comes to matching up voice performances. Say what you will about television, children's shows, or PBS, Jim Henson knew his way around the production floor and his work influenced much of what we see on TV today. Okay, so The Jim Henson Company was behind "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars"....not every project is as stellar as "The Muppet Show".

Today has been a low down, chin scraping, blues wailing day. There have been worse, but this one generally sucked. I needed a pick me up, and the news about "Puppet Up" looked to do just that. And then I clicked the link to Henson.com and stood helplessly by as my innocence was sacrificed on the altar of Michael Eisner's corporate predations:

"In February 2004, The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company signed an agreement for Disney to buy the "Muppets" and "Bear in the Big Blue House" franchises, including all worldwide production, distribution and merchandising rights. All inquiries regarding Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House should now be directed to The Walt Disney Company. The phone number for their corporate headquarters is 818.560-1000 or you can visit them on line at www.disney.com
" (http://www.henson.com/entertainment/muppets.html)

Yeah, so there are bigger problems in the world, and I'm a day late and a dollar short with this announcement. It's one thing to bemoan the fact that Disney had its hooks into Henson in the first place. Reading that ranks right up there with thinking that Carol Spinney won't live forever.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be curled up in a fetal position with my stuffed Kermit, watching "Seven", reading The Handmaid's Tale, and thinking about thalidomide babies.

Gary Graver, Orson Welles' cinematographer for the last fifteen years of his life, died last Thursday. He made an extraordinarily good document about Welles called "Working with Orson Welles."

It's very sad to know that, for all Graver's hard work and effort, he, like Orson, never lived to see the completion of "the Other Side of the Wind."

Mark W.

Peg -
Thank you. I've already reported this to Rick. I can delete (and did) if it appears on the top four threads, but not SPIDER. I don't have Jan's email, so therefore sent a "crush, kill, destroy" to Rick earlier today.

Please, nobody click through or respond to the message.

Thanks for pointing out Peg. I'll remain silent for a day in penance for the second post, but thought this merited comment.

Steve B

Someone with the power, please?
Rick, Steve B, or Jan - whichever of you has the permissions and is quickest on the draw - someone has posted decidedly off-topic pics over on the SPIDER forums. (Of course, I'm simply assuming it's off-topic. For all I know, badly modified fake porn photos of Britney Spears really *did* kill the dinosaurs.) In any case, I'm calling this to your attention since posting of the photos - whether of dubious authenticity or otherwise - may be exposing the website to legal ramifications... [puns and/or double entendres intended]

Cheers
Peg

Please, nobody use my political nook for useless blather. That's my corner of the market. Sticks his tongue out.

Wyatt will probably nuke it soon, anyway.

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Somebody described Los Angeles as "beautiful?" Remember, crack kills.

Now, if you are talking about San Diego, or around northern Cali, near the beach, sure, kiss the breast of Morder.

------

Bengals beat those sorry Saints. Who Dey, Harlan, Who Dey!!

A HARLAN ALERT PART TWO

Yes, I know Gary Groth and Fantagraphics have posted "reams" of legal paperwork anent my lawsuit against them. My attorney, John Carmichael (who was ramrod on the AOL pracy litigation), is on it. He is a superlative litigator, and other than that --despite repeated requests from a few of you to "bring you up to date" -- I am content to say nothing in response, but solely to let John do his barrister best. Please be patient, all. In the fullness of time, you'll find out what happened.

Beyond that, I suggest if you visit any pro-Fantagraphics website or publication, that you stay steadfastly polite and non-combative. I must insist that me and mine must behave more sedulously than the defendants.

Thank you. Harlan

A HARLAN ALERT PART ONE

One or two of you noted here recently that a very nice snippet about the attractive SF Book Club edition of DEATHBIRD STORIES appeared in the "letters" section of the most recent monthly solicitation brochure that the SFBC issues. A satisfied reader mentioned that it would be nice if the SFBC next did a new edition of ELLISON WONDERLAND.

So.

Pursuant to that letter, the editor of the SFBC (Ellen Asher) (or perhaps it was Andy Wheeler)(I don't know who does the actual editorial work on the solicitation catalogue each month) replied that if they heard requests for ELLISON WONDERLAND, they would seriously consider doing it.

Well...

It so happens that Pete Crowther (PS Publishing) in the U.K. optioned the rights to do just such a new edition earlier this year. (If you haven't seen the PS titles, I urge you to go find the website and check'm out. They are among the most handsome, well-designed, elegant and reasonably-priced specialty press volumes being done: classy in every particular. In fact, DESPERATE MOONS, the freshman collection of stories by R. Andrew Heidl, has an introduction by me that might amuse you; I know the stories will.)

And so...

I called Ellen Asher, and passed along to her the awareness of several of you, that Webderlanders seemed interested in just such a book. She said she wanted to know precisely that, but needed people to come forward on their own--without my soliciting anything--in any way--free and clear of coercion--to advise either her or Andrew Wheeler, at the Science Fiction Book Club, that a new ELLISON WONDERLAND wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I've called Pete Crowther, to apprise him of all of this. I'm waiting for a phone call back. But in the meantime and

ONLY IF YOU WANT TO TO DO THIS KNOWING I AM NOT NOT NOT ASKING FOR EMPTY SOLICITATION NOT NOT NOT !!!!!!

You can get in touch with Ellen, primarily, or Andrew -- and say what you want to say.

If the idea flies at the SFBC, Pete Crowther might then, if feasible as amortization, gang-release such an edition in a print-run sufficient to cover the SFBC needs, as well as those of PS Publishing in the trade and signed/limited editions he'll be doing.

I leave this in your hands.

Respectfully, Harlan

A friend of mine moved here in January, right in the middle of the Santa Ana winds. Needless to say, his midwestern seasonal sensibilities have really taken a beating this year. He keeps asking me "When does November arrive?"

"It's already arrived," I reply. "Hot, windy weather, an occasional rain shower that quickly passes, and nothing but brown, brown, brown everywhere you turn your head. What were you expecting? Kansas?"

I love it, by the way. The fact that Winter and Spring arrive pretty much at the same time means that backpacking season starts in mid February after the rains let up and extends through the end of June, after which it's just a little too hot and dry to hike carrying a 30 pound pack. But that's ok; by that time, the Rockies have dug themselves out from under their mountain of snow (along with the Sierras). A perfect excuse for a road trip.

The "cool" thing about LA (as it were): as hot and dry as it gets, I can name three cool, shaded canyons with perennial streams within LA city limits that offer a refreshing alternative to the sardine-packed beaches. One late July day, when it was 120 degrees in the valley and 100 here "on the Westside," when there were close to a million people jostling for sand space from Point Loma to Zuma Beach, I found an isolated stretch of cool, refreshing creek a mere half mile walk from my car at Will Rogers. I spent the day there in the cool shade, napping, swimming in the creek (about 2 feet deep by that time), eating a great lunch......

(..... and praying I wasn't spotted by the small homeless encampment located just a hundred yards downstream from where I was set up.....)

This will make you feel better

Harlan, Susan, Josh, Duane and all other Angelenos:

Today is one of those amazing, crystal clear mornings where you can not only see the antennae on Mt. Wilson, but count 'em. I easily saw the Hollywood sign from Long Beach on my drive in. It's picture-postcard time and I forgot my friggin' Nikon.

Getcherself out of bed, away from the desk or otherwise to a viewing post and take a look. It's a reminder that when this place is clear, it's one a da' mos' beautiful places on Earth.

(Everyone else just ignore this and pretend it's a typically hot, smoggy day in LaLaLand.)

Get Better, Soon!
Unca Harlan & Josh,

Hoping you fellas are back in the swing, real soon.

Remind me again; why did we vote these people into power....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/19/rangel.draft.ap/index.html

They haven't even taken the reigns yet and they already have proven themselves to be nothing but a batch of idiots.

Harlan, Susan, Josh, and anyone else who've been attacked by the germs of the evil monkeys: I HOPE YOU'RE ALL WELL SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

I'm reading dead people...

(It's almost as if Josh never left.)



In other news, the quarantine has been extended around Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Laurel Canyon and the Sepulveda Pass. A Hazmat team is standing by...

Alan,

"Sorry to hear that about poor old Josh."

Christ, not half as sorry as I am.

Your mind may indeed boggle but I don't see where I assigned any position to you KOS. I just said that to me you soud like someone from Free Republic and in your blanket attacks of people here sounding like a blog-space on DailyKOS and good little boys and girls all trukling into line with the rest of the proles, that's about how it looks. The rest of my comment is what it is and you ain't the focus, although I refer to your comment about standing in the bullshit.

I don't want to bore Harlan and the readers here with a back-and-forth between me and you so if you want to keep on this track, why don't we go over to the forums. Believe me, it won't "feed my ego" if you show up or not, just save the readers here some time. Maybe "Frank Church's news corner, the sequal" if that is alright with Frank, as he deals with the political stuff alot.

Harlan, ya don't know me but it's good to hear you're better and writing. Sorry if my comments are too political or personal for your Pavilion. Just let me know.

Paul "real name", not yet drowning in a pool of puke, Leslie

Damn.

Sorry to hear that about poor old Josh.

The War on Evil Monkeys
Susan...

First and foremost, a heaping helping of my good wishes for speedy recovery of Harlan and Josh.

However...

In our understandable reaction to these blatant attacks, let us remember that many monkeys are not evil, that many monkeys want no more than to be left to live peacefully among us, indulging in rampant sexual behavior designed to embarrass parents at zoos and, occasionally, when provoked, hurling feces at those who annoy them. In truth, we all have our monkey moments.

Cheetah sends his love.

Tony

A pool of puke? GodDAMN, that sucks. I thought someone like Josh would have bowed out with a bang...being crushed underfoot by the Incredible Hulk, for instance, or taking on Toshiro Mifune in a final duel-to-the-death.

A pool of puke. Wow.

josh was a fine man.
I only met him once, but he seemed much larger than the three syllables of his name would suggest.

Do you think anyone has claimed his unused aftershave products?

-keith

Last night was a gasper, but I'm 90% today. I'll be up working tomorrow. After the Saints game.

Thank you for your concern.

Sadly, Josh Olson passed away in a pool of puke, late last night. Good guy. Real pity, that.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

DEAR HANS

If you're going to take a swipe at me, at least try to do it on the facts, NOT on corrupting what is written:

I have NEVER said "fuck Christmas."

What I said, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, was

FUCK XMAS.

Big difference. Xmas is a commercial cesspool of greed and mendacity; Christmas is a day of worship and rememberance of a fine philosopher. If you cannot perceive the difference, you and I have nothing to discuss. But if...your wits are so addled, or your field of perception so attenuated that
you cannot perceive the point a clear-speaking essayist is trying to make...I look on you with pity, as I would on any illiterate.

I have NEVER said, "fuck Christmas."

Get it straight, bozo, or buzz off.

Righteously, Harlan Ellison

Here's hoping Susan continues her recovery and Harlan and Josh follow soon after.There was a mention of Harlan in the most recent monthly catalog I just received from the Science Fiction Book Club. A reader sent a note praising the recent edition of "Deathbird Stories" that was released by the book club and put in a request for a reprinting of a new club editon of "Ellison Wonderland". The email address for passing on such a request is sfbceditors@sfbc.com. If you send a request please put letters to the editor in the subject field and include "I give you permission to print this letter" in the body.

Case O' the Pukes

Here's hoping that the health and well being are once again firmly in place in casas Ellison and Olson.

Here's a spell guaranteed to keep the Evil Monkeys away:

OOBA-CHAKA, OOBA-CHAKA, OOBA-OOBA-OOBA CHAKA!
I CAN'T FIGHT THIS FEELING...

Waitaminit.

Nah. Wrong spell. Get lots of bed rest and do what the nice lady says, Harlan.

Chuck

Harkan and Josh
Both of you get well soon.

No, not soon.

Sooner.

Break Susan's record for beating this wretched thing.

Bob Ingersoll

To the Ellison Household and Cadre,

Get well soon!

Mrs. Ellison, please don't over do it trying to nurse maid the menfolk. They're miserable now, and would only be more miserable worrying about you should you allow fatigue to undo your tentative hold on feeling better.

Ad Hominem etc.
Paul, Paul, Paul...

Ad Hominem attacks in political arguments are often a sign of a weak position.

So, is it your "argument" that because I oppose the war, and believe Murtha would be better at getting us out of it than "stay the course" Hoyer, I am then responsible for "innocent bloood" and war profiteering?

The mind boggles at your ingenuity.

My goodness, I had no idea i was so transparent. Obviously by wanting us out of the war I am actually trying to get us in even deeper.

Since you confess you don't know who I am, by what psychic power do you assign positions to me I have never taken? I don't read Free Republic and Little Green Footballs, and barely know the latter exists (the first I never heard of prior to your cryptic and nmildly entertaining post)?

I will predict that within a year there will be some sort of ethics bouhaha involving Hoyer.

Hubris always leads to a fall.

We should all be glad and thankful when we're in good health. We tend to take it for granted because society for the most part takes *us* for granted.

Josh and Harlan: Get well soon. It's one thing to be sick when you have a normal sort of job, but quite another when you're a writer and nothing gets done without you.

And Susan: Don't get sick again by overexerting yourself too soon.

Who the heck is KOS? Sounds like he got lost when looking for Free Republic or Little Green Footballs.

Meanwhile Cheney is yucking it up at the Frderalist Society, joking about how a federal judge would dare to call illegal Bush's domestic spying program, just because it violates the FISA law passed by congress. How dare she tie the presidents hands in a time of war.

Good old Ed Meese think's it is perfectly fine to engage in summary execution of illegal combatants or hold enemy combatants till the end of hostilities with no legal rights, which may be decades from now, and of course it is the president who declares you an enemy combatant. Meese says anyone on the field of battle is an enemy combatant so tough luck if you happen to live in a country the U.S. decides to invade. Of course Meese's view is predominant in the White House now.

The fact that the Dems voted for Hoyer over Murtha as their leader was not pretty but it was democracy in action. It is no more the end of the world portrayed by the right wing and the MSM then it was the end of the repubs world when they voted against Gingrich's choice back in 94'. Well, it may have been the begining of the end for the republicans because Delay got elected. The MSM could never bring itself around to reporting on secret prisons, torture, illegal spying, and war profiteering but here come the dems so it's back to the freak show. Is Nancy Pelosi a bitch? Is she in a catfight with Harmon for the Intelligence Committee chairmanship? Are the dems grown-ups like the republicans or damaged goods like CNN tells us?

I'm sorry KOS is standing up to his ankles in bullshit but it beats wading in the blood of the innocent and the vomit of our sick planet. Oil companies have hit the jackpot under Bush and war profiteers have found markets unimaginable five years ago. The U.S., which is the worlds biggest weapons producer and exporter has been riding the wave of the biggest market for arms since the arms race after the first gulf war.

These things do not happen in a vacuum. You elect an oil-man as president, he picks an oil-man as vice-president and an oil rich country gets invaded and oil prices go up. Violence and instability have been the hallmarks of Bush's rule and it is no coincidence that they are great for buisness if you sell arms or oil. Alot of that profit will go back into the GOP one way or another and there is always a position open for a new ex-congressman on their boards.

My favorite current quote:

"In what concerns you much, do not think that you have companions: know that you are alone in the world."
Thoreau
P not D
Get better Harlan. We need you U O
W
N
.

Get well
Well Harlan...Susan tells the board you are feeling a little puny. Wee now that Susan is out of the room, I say milk it. You know the ole "I bet some Red Lobster" would make me feel better. Or some Chocolate Chip Ice Cream would help parch a sore throat. You know she would be a great nurse while you are ill.

Get well soon, Harlan.

Glad you are feeling better Susan.

Jim & Cindy Argendeli

Harlan, and Josh,
Hope you recover with great suddenness. But, man, learn to stay away from those monkeys.

D.

Hi! What is your opinion on Michael Eisner (and his minions) banning Walt Disney's immortal "Song of the South" animated film classic.

Happy Thanksgiving! & Merry Christmas!

Of course the vegetarians and animal supremacists say Thanksgiving is prejudicial against them and atheists like Harlan (like in his lurid essay Fuck X-Mas) say the same thing about Christmas...

Thank you all for your kind wishes. I'm UP (although feeling like a wet noodle) but now Harlan's DOWN! Send many "feel better" wishes to my sweetie. Josh is also feeling bad. Although he came for a brief visit during my poxiness, I blame EVIL MONKEYS for his condition.

It was EVIL MONKEYS that infected the Brit Pack at MN. Right Rob? Bad evil monkeys!

Yrs. in yuck. Susan

Ruth Brown~ Jan. 12, 1928 - Nov. 17, 2006
A small teardrop from my eye. I really like her voice.

Murtha didn't get elected because he is too fat.

They want his voice, just not his appearance.

You all say you want out of the war, but when push comes to shove your rep.'s vote for Steny Hoyer, a man who want's to "stick it out", as opposed to:

Begin quote- "It is total crap that we have to deal with an issue like this when we’ve got a war going on and we got all these other issues," Murtha said.

I think the public is demanding some action on this issue. I don’t think they’ll accept anything less, and I’m hopeful that the—I talked to Baker-Hamilton Commission, but whatever they say, they have to find a way to give a timetable to redeploy our troops. -End quote http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15737141

And like good little boys and girls you all truckle into line with the rest of the proles.

So while the left hand waves "Ethics" around in the air, the right hand shovels more men and treasure down the jaws of Moloch.

Plenty to see here, plenty going on here. Lust for power, ego fulfillment and the smell of bullshit is in the air. Less than two weeks into the "New Era" and it's already up to our ankles.

Harlan, they are all ganging up on us. They don't seem to understand how politics works. It is a game, and the main players make the rules. They should all know this by now.

Murtha is wanted by the left, the same left that elected those fucks. They owe us, dammit.


---------

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"
Denis Diderot

"History repeats itself because nobody listens."
Laurence Peter

"Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers."
Mignon McLaughlin

"That's the heart of it: My shows were not that controversial with the American people. They were controversial with the people who think for the American people."
Norman Lear

Murtha's "support"

Murtha may support the ethics reform legislation at the end of the day, but he's made it clear that he would be doing it only because Pelosi told him to, to curry political favor, and is on record calling ethics reform "total crap".

Jason

Murtha (I know it's over, but I had to set one thing straight)
"Murtha was wrong for the job because he has a problem with the ABSCAM scandal and generally does not support ethics reform."

It should be noted that Murtha's widely reported "problem with the ABSCAM scandal" is a 26 year old video of him NOT taking a bribe. And he actually said he was supporting Pelosi's ethics reform bill.

All that said, the votes have been counted, show's over, nothing to see here, let's get back to work.

Jack Williamson Memorial
Hi,

Here is a Flickr page I set up for photos from the memorial for Jack Williamson yesterday. It was a wonderful day full of loving tributes and laughter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22901299@N00/sets/72157594380452679/

-Patricia Rogers

PS-Again Harlan...I know what a good guy you are by the phone calls you make!

Has anyone here had an opportunity to see IDIOCRACY? It's by the same fellow behind BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD and OFFICE SPACE. Given the movie's ridiclously limited release, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone gave a collective "no".

I've read a couple of summaries online, and it sounds like the type of film Webderlanders would go bugfuck over, Harlan included. It portrays a post-apocalyptic future (well, apocalyptic from MY point of view) wherein the entire human race has de-evolved into a vast collection of morons. Anybody with a vocabulary beyond five words is immediately accused of homosexuality, and soil is regularly watered with sports beverage.

The Road To Painesville
....so, I'm bebopping along Route 2 from Cleveland two weeks ago, heading toward Mentor, Ohio for a wedding rehearsal when I start seeing signs for Painesville. I nudge the wife and remind her of Harlan's birthplace and we wonder if his house still exists and whether we will soon see one of those brown historical signs pointing to a bronze plaque stating that Harlan Ellison was born here seventy-mumble-mumble years ago and life in Ohio, nay, the world has never been the same again.

But then we come to Mentor, exiting before the truth was to be told.

PS, sure is glad to be back in AZ. Whenever we venture back East between November and April it snows to make sure we never forget why we left in the first place. Yup, we had Wedding Day Snow and Slush a tad SouthWest of Painesville, Ohio the following day.

-TODD

My current favorite quote:

"If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you."

-Henry Rollins

"Maxine Waters, Henry Waxman, now those are my kind of dems."

Oh Frank, you and I may have to chat. But not here, mon frere, not here..... ;)

It's Daniel Ellsberg (2 "L's") and to paraphrase a great zinger, I know Dan Ellsberg, Dan Ellsberg is a friend of mine (he really is), and Frank, Murtha is no Dan Ellsberg.

I'm with Unca Harlan, Murtha should be the leader, not Steny Hoyer, some moderate creep using the packaging of the mild left. Steny, what a dumb name.

Murtha has been transformed, Hoyer is just another elite boilerplate nothing. Murtha did a Daniel Elsberg with the war, and he deserves canonization in heaven as well as this chair. Notice, all the moderate dems abandoned Murtha. Behind his back, these same people diss good ole Howard Dean.

Maxine Waters, Henry Waxman, now those are my kind of dems.

Murtha is reborn, and he will prove all you mooks wrong.

--------

Scott Reesten...We need you back babee.

Murtha was wrong for the job because he has a problem with the ABSCAM scandal and generally does not support ethics reform.

Hoyer was wrong for the job because he is too focused on money and raising it at all costs and because he has a bad history with not supporting Pelosi.

Murtha was right for the job because he courageously spoke out against the Iraq war and took the heat and because he backs up Pelosi all the way.

Hoyer is right for the job because his positions are more democratic and because he can help the Democrats raise money and get elected.

I think if Murtha had won, good man though he may be, it would have made the Democrats look like hypocrites on the corruption issue and been a big distraction. Too bad the Dems could not have found a third guy or gal who had not supported the war and had no ethics baggage. Someone like David Obey.

We will have to wait and see if Hoyer has the wisdom to not become a liberal doppelganger of Delay.

Amen on Hoyer over Murtha
I doubt that getting an F from the focus on the family is a bad thing and it's certainly not an "anti-family vote", more an anti-nutcase vote.

Feel better Susan. I have no witty ideas for the douc-bio; I just wanna see it soon.

KEITH CRAMER:

After reading your wise post ... see me: Man With Eyes Open. We calls it an epiphany. Thank you, Keith.

When I'm wrong, damn skippy, I am wrong.

Astonishing how little it smarts to admit it. Would that Bill Clinton and a few others who come to mind had understood how LITTLEthe truth hurts when youembrace it.

Yr. smartened-up pal, Harlan

Get well soon, Susan!

Argendeli Family - hooray for the homecoming. May the coming months and years roll smoothly past with more good times than bad.

Harlan and Company

Hoyer was the logical choice. Here's why:

Hoyer is further to the left than Murtha. Murtha's politics (and frankly political style) are old-school and more conservative than even the incoming across-the-political-spectrum Dem majority. Murtha espouses positions which often align him with conservative Republican agendas. He does not always vote that way, but these are what he states as his opinion behind closed doors and openly in public.

Yes, he was the first to publicly call for some sanity to this war and to bring the troops home, but that was a singular act and in electing a Majority Leader you need to consider ALL of their stands on issues. Hoyer is far more representative of Democratic values on the whole and deserves the position precisely because of that. Hoyer has a far better record of building consensus and being receptive to new ideas than does John Murtha.

In addition, Hoyer spent a good deal of time, as did Pelosi, working to get others elected. Many of the incoming congresspeople owe their victories, in part, to Hoyer's direct effort.

From a political standpoint, chosing Hoyer is a much better going-forward decision than is chosing Murtha simply to reward him for a heroic stand. This is about progress, not annointment.

Which, of course, brings us to Pelosi's first stupid mistake as Speaker-to-be. Publicly endorsing Murtha was a tactical error, but one which will be forgotten in the long run. Hoyer understands politics and is unlikely to hold a grudge, and Pelosi is herself a "move-forward" individual. Murtha may not have won, but he rec'd the endorsement, which will likely make him more amenable to Pelosi's direction -- rather than being the one-note Dem as pointed out above. She is building a solid coalition in order to ensure that a Republican voting bloc does not reappear during her reign. Having a dependable Dem vote for Republican issues will return us to the just-passed nightmare of a rubber-stamp Congress. This is a situation Pelosi needs to neutralize before it has a chance to coalesce.

This is not the stunning defeat or humbling first attempt that the FOX pundits would have you believe; this is democracy in action, which America seems to have re-embraced as a guidebook to making things happen in the Nation's Capitol. This was not ascension by annointment, this is a vote, pure and simple. Two candidates, both well qualified, both of whom gave it their solid effort on behalf of a dream of making things better, not worse. Power grab, of course, but I'll take either of these two men over their predecessor any day.

In a week, it will all be gone and everyone will play nice for the short run (pun fully intended).
__________________________________________

SUSAN: I hope you are on the road to recovery and are eating gentle foods this morn.
__________________________________________

Suggested Title for the Docu-Ellison:

"Harlan Ellison's Suck-Down-the-Microphone Trip Down the Rabbit Hole: a No Holds Barred Collection of Tales, Thoughts and Visions From the Edge. His Stories, His Story, and History."

"Featuring Susan Ellison, who will be calming him repeatedly throughout the film."


M'Just sayin'.

I too had hoped the Democrats would take a stand against the Iraq war. But I also believe such a hope is probably not realistic until the percentage of voters who oppose the war reaches a critical mass. I think such an event is probably a year or so away. For what it's worth, I live in Hoyer's district, and the Navy is the largest employer here. There is no way in hell any Democrat who opposed the war could get elected from this district. Most of my Republican neighbors see Hoyer as a Ted Kennedy liberal who favors a strong military only out of political expedience. (Luckily, only a few of them belong to the DeLay/Brownback wing of the party.)

With all due respect...
Murtha was a bad choice.

The Democrats House Majority Leader can't have even the appearance of impropriety, otherwise it taints the whole win. We need to show the country and the world that we are going to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and if that means putting Murtha in the back seat, then that's what we do. Hoyer is a good man, and an elitist.

Hoyer is ...

Rated 100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 87% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 15% by the Christian Coalition: an anti-family voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record
Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by SANE, indicating a pro-peace voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 87% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a pro-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by the ARA, indicating a pro-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted NO on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)

Murtha might be a great representative, but he was a bad choice for majority leader for the Dems.

-Keith

Murtha v. Hoyer
It was a poisoned race to begin with. Murtha has been under investigation for years, is on FBI surveillance tape talking about running his scams and very nearly taking a bribe, and recently called ethical reform legislation "total crap".

Hoyer is, as previously mentioned, a K Street style pieceocrap.

Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss...not exactly the same, mind you, but not different enough to stop my back teeth from grinding.

Considering that Hoyers has bragged about establishing a K Street type project for Democrats, I would say that the Dems have gotten off to an inauspicious start, to say the least.

Alex Jay, Brian Siano, and anyone else going to PhilCon this weekend, have a great time and post some updates over in the forums to tell us all about it.

As for Harlan's documentary, how about "Eternal Sunshine of Harlan's Mind"

Hope you are feeling better, Susan!

Get well, Susan!
Just visited the board for the first time in days and learned of Susan's illness.

Get well, lady! Casa Isabella and all those within its confines send you much love and their best wishes.

Lieberman and Pump Shotguns aimed at feet
Lieberman is a senator, so it's slightly impossible for even these confused Deocrat representatives to make him House Speaker.

One of the hallmarks of the Democrat in American political life of the past thirty some years has been the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. While one hopes this particular syndrome will have come to an end soon, it's still kicking some big time ass at the moment.

My wish is that Susan will feel better sooner, not later.

Milton Friedman is dead. He was 94. De mortui nihil nisi bonum. Here comes Frank.

With apologies to Ibsen, I like this as a title: "Enemy of the State - A Life of Harlan Ellison".

KOS

No chips 'bout it - thar be spineless, unreckonin' nose goblins representing' (and - bless us all - LEADING) the Democrats; like the Lorax - shortish, oldish, brownish, n'mossy. Completely unimaginative. Why else would it have TAKEN this long just to get the house back to begin with?

They have to ante up and that was a lousy start.

Next they'll start talking about getting Lieberman as House Speaker.

ADAM-TROY, HARLAN: Though currently at love's liberty, I have also in the past noticed the nanny-boo-boo achoo aspect of one's sickly significant other.
(So much so that I read her all the Pooh books while she was recovering; it was appreciated)

What would you call that? The Camille Consumptive Conundrum?

SUSAN: Please accept the adding of my wish to those blown by your way that you will soon be hale, heathy, and hellraisingly ready to kick the Old(er) Man's ass should he sass you.

IN OTHER NEWS: Woohoo! I gets ta see Webderlanders this weekend!

Susan,
Allow me to join the others in wishing you a speedy recovery.

Bob Ingersoll

Line 5, not 4.

This is what happens when I get REALLY angry.

he

Line 4: "he" not "she."

he

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
GAHDAMMED STOOPID MUTHUHFUGGIN' DEMOCRATS,

THE FUGGIN' GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT !!!!!!!!!

Couldn't even wait a fortnight before blowing off their foot with a pump shotgun. Rejected Jack Murtha as Majority Leader, just because she was Pelosi's anointed, when everyone in all of America...Republican, Greenpartyist, Democrat, Indy, Right- or Left-Winger, Libertarian, Chaosist...EVERYone knows it was Murtha boldly speaking out against Bush and the War ahead of all the other wee timorous slinkin' beasties, that WON THE FUGGIN' ELECTION for those pimplebrained nit-picking ambulatory pus-bags!!! Holy geeeezus gawd amighty, save us from the same stripe of shitheads we just started to get rid of.

See, you guys, the problem with having me "on your side" is that I cannot be counted on to toe the line. Dumb is dumb, Dem or Repub. Knout on the noggin is what they most deserve, all of 'em!

Pissed off royally, Yr. Pal, Harlan

Mr. Argendeli,

Having been on your wife's end of the emergency procedure (y'know, that could be a very tricky admission if taken out of context), and worried through a newborn locked tight in an incubator for his own good, I wish your family the best. It takes time, but much like labor this too shall pass, though it may not be in quite the way you expect.

Harlan

everything and everyone is going to be just fine, we just know it. susan, the movie, alla dat stuff.

Rick, Chloe and Chelsea

Documentary title
Harlan,
If the written history is not, nor will be, ready anytime soon, I humbly suggest that perhaps now is the time to use that wonderful title you’ve (semi)jested in the past:
Harlan Ellison- Working Without A Net.
(Better than “All the Jamooks and Mountebanks That Were My Life”)

Feel better, Susan.

Paul

Documentary title

As HArlan constantly mentions how much he loves his wife, I think the proper name for the documentary should be...

How Beauty Tamed the Beast

A day late and a dollar short, as usual
Allow Alia and I to add our wishes for Susan to feel better soon! Lia has a cold right now, and yes, she is still the cutest thing alive, even when hawking up a small Phlegmish village.

And big congrats to the Argendeli family on the return home! Where are the baby pictures?

Here's hoping you all have a great Thanksgiving... or as we like to call it, Día de los Glutónes.

Best to all,
Michael and Alia

Hope ya feel better soon, Susan! Not much sucks more than the week long feverish mind-fuck that the flu brings. Especially one of the real nasty strains. Hope ya'll feel better soon!

Request from Erik Nelson
I've been trading email with Erik Nelson, the fellow making the documentary about Harlan. Being a tad post-shy, he's asked me to pass along a request:

If you have any personal video or home movies of Harlan, or know of someone who has such material, please contact Erik and let him know what you have. The email address he provides is ejnels@aol.com.

KOS, the daily KOS wants his name back. You cannot go toe to toe with me fella. I hold little packets of anthrax in my secret gills. One flush of the colon and it's Fu Manchu with twenty thousand knots of forward thrust. Parry thrust ya mook.

---------

Danny Goldberg, who is the head of Artimus Records, and is a major player in the progressive movement in LA LA land, has a book out, where he castigates liberals who cannot understand youth culture, or who cannot get youth to join the movement, because of the cultural snobbishness from older progressives. Goldberg's prognosis is that progressives need to talk to kids in their own language, meaning, dumb it down to their level. I'm sure Goldberg doesn't mean it that way, but we know he has a motive in believing such stuff: Selling crappy records.

Hi Susan,

Harlan will get you up to wonderful health in no time at all. You know he worships you!! By the way Harlan and Susan, Cindy and I wanted to thank you for your concern and well wishes for our little family. Evangelia Francis Argendeli arrived home today after almost a week in Infant ICU. She is still small but has lots of room to grow. I am going to start reading a Harlan Ellison out loud to her soon. CIndy is quite sore after the emergency procedure but is delirously happy. The cats are confused.

Dear Susan:
Hope you rest well and feel better toute de suite.

D.

Get Well, Susan
Harlan: as a guy whose own better half gets bugs once every couple of months, I sincerely empathize with that observation. Whatisit about viral misery that makes the women we love cuter, whereas those of us belonging to the male persuasion just become balls of sweaty, moany pleghm, unfit for anything but storage in toxic-waste units?

A LATE BUT SINCERE WISH...
GET WELL SUSAN!!!

VASTLY TRIVIAL REPLIES

KOS:

Erik Nelson of Creative Differences has been apprised of your Super-8 offer. He says yeah fer shur. He'll be in touch by e.mail, I guess. Anybody else got something they think might succor the stew?

LATEST INTESTINAL BULLETIN:

Susan is much better today, but still in bed, weak as Thai tea. Nothing has gone in for two days, so whatever bug it was, it's had precious little to replicate on. We calculate one more day abed, which ought to bring The Electric Baby back up to her usual pixie self. (Here's the killer, though: in her comic pages p-jays, even with feverish mien, she is still the goddamnedest cutest thing you've ever seen. She gets very small, and I just want to to put her up on a shelf with the other exquisite Royal Doulton figurines.

Your good wishes, all of you, have scintillated her limited horizon. She tosses you all an infectious kiss.

Or is that an infected kiss?

Either way, Yr. pal, Harlan

AARRGGHH!
Somehow, via a devious process known only to the cybergremlins who have bedeviled me from the first time I (with fear and trembling) interfaced with a computer, I sent my previous message before it was complete. Obviously. Not that it matters in the Great Cosmic Scheme of Things, but I feel compelled to finish what it be I done started, ergo ...

... a better title would be THE LIVELY TIMES OF HARLAN ELLISON. (Sound of crickets chirping. Timing is all. Damn those cybergremlins!)

Best wishes and regards to Susan on her imminent (I hope) recovery.

Once more, with feeling: Damn those cybergremlins!

Having broken--yet again--the one-posting-a-day rule, should I be exiled to the outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth and endless reruns of THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW, I will not complain. Justice done. Gentlemen, start the bubble machine!

It's About Time!
A documentary about Harlan? Splendiferous! Should it reach a silver screen out here in the Holy Hinterlands I will be the first in line. Is there a title? If not, I facetiously suggest BUGFUCK! (Not that I mean this to in any way reflect upon Harlan's state of mind--far from it. But he coined the term, or at least popularized it, so ... )

Nah, forget it. The studio euphemizers would render it ENTYMOLOGICAL COITUS! and then NOBODY would see it. I am sure that Harlan will title it and, considering that he's come up with some of the best titles in contemporary fiction, I know it'll be a winner. Then again, if Harlan is NOT allowed to title it, but some kitschmeister with an MBA from Harvard and the soul of a polyester leisure suit is, then ... how does THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HARLAN ELLISON strike you? Nay, verily! At least hold out for

get well
susan-if you have not already tried it, you may want to check out a non prescription anti nausea product called emetrol. has always worked wonders in our home, with 2 pharmacists around. make sure you can take it. as always,i remain obediently yours.

Get Well Soon!
Dear Susan,

Wishing you back in the pink ASAP.

Another cheese encrusted but nevertheless interesting movie idea
THIS ISLAND EARTH

Go ahead guffaw. (This movie has been indelibly branded by Mystery Science Theater phony Hip Ironic Detachment.) But if you trowel away the Velveeta at its heart is a kernel of a good idea.

You're a famous scientist in your field. You discover evidence of a technology miles ahead of anything available. You discover that other scientists have been aprroached and introduced to little snippets of this technology. Just enough to get their attention and arouse their curiousity.

When you pursue it you are at some point offered what amounts to a kind of test. In the book and the movie it is the building of the Interocitor, a kind of interplanetary communications device. When you pass the test you are presented with an invitation from a mysterious group operating below the radar of the scientific community known to you.

Of course the government gets wind that some famous scientists working on high profile projects are disappearing. Who are these people? What's going on? The chase is on.

Seems to me you could have a basis for a nifty thriller.

CA
Broken Clocks: I stand corrected (and Frank is right more than twice a day, I was too hard on him. Keep the faith Frank!)

Y'know, I had completely forgotten there are two Christopher Priests. Shit. Now I'm going to be up all night trying to figure out if I sent that gift subscription for "Scientology today" to the right Christopher Priest, or the wrong one?

Say, did Tesla play a role in our getting the second Christpher Priest?

Harlan, I actually have some super 8mm footage of you sitting in a plastic pyramid shaped tent in Phoenix from 1978. Would the BioPic dudes like to have it? They could digitize it and add it to the biopic.

Get well soon, Mrs. Ellison!

Sandra

I'd also like to add to the congratulations on the Ellison documentary. You've earned it, fella.

I'd also like to send get well wishes to Mrs. Nice Lady Susan hoping that by the time I send this posting the bug is good and dead and you're feeling closer to normal.

Get well, nice lady.

Chuck

Yuk, Harlan! Susan, please get well! BTW, got the replacement flyer you sent me. in 2 days this time. (Germs! Should I wash my hands after handling it??)

Oh, and adding my voice to the condodlences re: Jack Williamson as well.

Kristin

Earned a complement?
Would that be a couple of extra sailors for your ship, or what? (Think you meant "compliment" there, Ace.)

Susan, get better. I'd love to see a documentary on Harlan, but it's got to have some beauty in it, too.

DAMN.

The first thing I post that earns a complement from our Gracious Host... and it's not under my own name.

DAMN.

Harlan,

"Susan is down with the worst stomach flu I've ever seen in 21 years together."

Oh, jeezus - not one of life's better offerings.

Hope Susan gets through it fast, as I'm sure SHE does.

Take care.

KOS

KOS said: "I mean, even a broken (analog) clock is right twice a day..."

Sorry. Not so. A broken clock is NEVER right. The hands merely coincidentally point in a direction that corresponds with the time twice a day.

A broken clock is no longer a clock; it is a decoration piece, no more useful than a dirty drinking glass left upon the counter.

I hope Susan gets well soon! I had almost forgotten about the documentary and I couldn't be more pleased they're pushing on. I hope they also delve into the past and unearth some older footage from public appearances. There should have been an Ellison documentary every decade, now this one has to cover it all in a mere two hours. Have there been any attempts before?

CINDY & JIM A.:

Been meaning to call for days, since Susan posted our concern. Is everything copacetic? Please let us know!

With additional concern, Harlan

We hadda cancel almost EVERYthing today: Susan is down with the worst stomach flu I've ever seen in 21 years together. Poor sweetie was up ALL NIGHT (no hyperbole) vomiting, culminating in her falling asleep on the bathroom carpet at 4 AM.

Coulda done it all, including the dinner (Neil's here), but I do NO DOCU-ELLISON without my honey is in it!

I wish she would at least swallow a little broth or chicken soup.

Miserably, Harlan

BOB MORALES:

That last line. Now

THAT'S

funny!

Yr. Pal, Harlan

PATRICIA ROGERS:

Oh, thank you, ever so much. Indeed, if you would look over the introduction I did to Jack's collection WOLVES OF DARKNESS (I'm pretty sure that was the title) and maybe perhaps pull out a couple of paragraphs ... or as much as you think is appropriate ... I would be enormously touched, and grateful.

Thank you, thank you.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Harlan, the false modesty aint workin' sparkles. Your ego will shine through on the big screen like Lucrecia Borgia's dining habits. Don't worry, posterity is the kink, trapped in a never ending game of tag. You're it, my friend. The prom king had his peg leg caught in a whirling turbine. Take the crown, do the dance. We love ya.

---------

SIDNEY DOUBLEPOSTER:

Now THAT'S funny!

-he

Harlan:
That's great news! I look forward to getting a look at it as soon as its completed. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Kudos sir.

Stacy

More Docu-Don'ts
Harlan starts things off by appearing in front of a huge American flag and reciting Criswell's monologue from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.

Harlan explains how he invented the internet - which he doesn't even LIKE.

Showing one of his scrapbooks, Harlan yelps when a b&w 8" x 10" glossy falls out: it's Thomas Pynchon, Frank Sinatra and Harlan at the Grassy Knoll!

On a disaster relief telethon, Harlan thinks he's giving out the pledge hotline - but it's really Frank Church's Social Security number.

Harlan inadvertently calls the wrong Christopher Priest "macaca."

More ways the documentary could raise eyebrows
Michael Baigent presents irrefutable proof that Cordwainer Bird is descended from Jesus Christ.

In a pathetic attempt to show that he's more of a man than Harlan, G. Gordon Liddy performs a vasectomy on himself with a ball-point pen.

The endeavor somehow becomes "Caddyshack 3." Judge Smails turns down Harlan's final appeal in his suit against an unethical publisher. To obtain the necessary parcel for his last resort, Harlan enlists the aid of Carl the groundskeeper.

Pat Robertson is tricked into reading "The Place With No Name" while on camera. He runs screaming from the room, convinced that he's been brainwashed into turning gay.

Bob Iger tells Harlan that all is forgiven from that incident in the Disney cafeteria. A keen judge of vocal mimicry, Iger hires Harlan as the new voice of Mickey.

A panel discussion on "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" degenerates into a fight over whether AM's operating system was Windows or Linux.

Anytime someone in the documentary says "sci-fi," the word is bleeped out. If the printed word appears on screen, it is pixelated out.

Harlan's BioPic;

All I wanna know is, "Can we go to the premiere Unca' Harlie? Huh, can we, CAN WE!!!??!?!?!??!"

The Rialto in South Pasadena can be rented for a small sum for private screenings. Hint, Hint.

Let's start a fund drive to raise the money for our very own screening with His Nibs front and center.

Just An Idea...

Williamson Memorial
Harlan,
Is there anything you would like me to read for you at Jack's memorial tomorrow?
-Patricia

Ten More Ways For the Documentary To Raise Eyebrows
10. Begin it with a James-Bond style action sequence, seguing with Harlan parachuting off the Alps, before we go to a stylized credits sequence with a theme song by Shirley Bassey (or Nelly Mckay)

9. The entire movie takes the form of Harlan being interviewed by Borat

8. Claymation

7. A big-budget reinactment of the Adrian Samish moment, soon to become (with the movie's unexpected blockbuster success), a ride at Universal Islands of Adventure, with generations of theme park visitors sliding down that conference table toward a screaming animatronic studio executive, who falls over just as the ride evacuates into a gift shoppe selling Ellison vs. Samish in plush and gummi

6. Two hours of glacial nature footage, narrated by Harlan, featuring the squirrels in his backyard

5. Slow motion Wire-fu as typing technique

4. Harlan deriving life-saving warmth from ten thousand penguins, huddled against a blizzard in the cold Antarctic night (narration by Morgan Freeman)

3. Close-captioned for viewers with mouths

2. Harlan jumping up and down on a couch

1. Absolutely no footage of, or material concerning, Harlan Ellison whatsoever

HARLAN - Trepidate not, kind sir. The mere fact they wish to do such a film is a nice clap upon yourn shoulderblades.

Think this way:

WITH your invited participation we get Terry Dowling's THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON (35th and 50th editions), a beautiful compendium that is a true representation of your work and legacy.

WITHOUT it we get Andrew Porter's BOOK OF ELLISON. I would describe it, but my mother told me never to use such language in public.

Trepidate not. It would seem they want you at the party, and your friends are likely to say some very nice things about you.


(Though I'm a little confused by the PENNY ARCADE PRODUCTIONS logo...)
_________________________________________



SUSAN: Is there satellite TV in Wonderland yet???

Harlan,

I realize this may be a bit early, but do you have any idea of this will be released in select cities or only in New York and LA? I know Greg Ketter has a relationship with one of the local theaters here that shows documentaries (the Riverview) and was hopeful that it would be screened here in Minneapolis.

This is a wonderful honor and you are unquestionably deserving of it.

On a completely different subject, I was curious about something. I just finished listening to volume 1 of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream CDs and was wondering if you chose the stories in the collection or if they were chosen by the producers.

If they were chosen by the producers, were there any other stories you would have liked the opportunity to read?

Again, congratulations,

Mark

Top Ten Ways the Ellison Documentary could be EVEN FUNNIER
10. Scene from Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is played. Documentary interviews script-boy from movie, who tells us Kubrick lifted the "precious bodily fluids" line directly from Ellison.

9. Harlan slips on a banana peel in front of his house as he's taking the crew on a tour around the outside.

8. Harlan is filmed stopping his car at an intersection, getting out, and escorting a group of elderly ladies across the street against the light.

7. Over 750 women with whom Harlan has slept are interviewed and all of them say he is a GREAT writer and a FANTASTIC driver.

6. At a luncheon for the EOE, Christopher Priest and Gary Groth re-enact the knife fight from Memo's From Purgatory in order to prove definitively that it couldn't have happened the way Harlan wrote it, and they are both mortally wounded on film.

5. Local owner of LA restaurant Mogos Mongolian BBQ has been saving Harlan's un-opened fortune cookies for 20 years, Geraldo Rivera is there for the documentary filming of the Grand Openings...and ALL the cookies contain the SAME MESSAGE: You Can Not Fall Off The Floor.

4. Jacek Yerka goes on record that Mind Fields is his least favorite book of all time.

3. It is revealed that Susan is a trans-sexual.

2. Footage is discovered of Harlan at an award banquet getting a titty-twister from Bob Silverburg.

1. At the end of the documentary, Harlan is killed and eaten in the LA sewer by an alligator. (Audio Only)

Frank does it, again.
Frank Church wrote:

"Yea, Cassini was great, NASA risked killing all of us with radiation poisoning, just so we could look at pretty pictures. I do think some scientists need to get out more."

Everyone's entitled to their informed opinion. You're ill-informed and wrong, again, Frank.

But you might be right.

I mean, even a broken (analog) clock is right twice a day...

Ellison documentary

I think it sounds like a terrific idea.

Top Ten Ways in which the Ellison Documentary could Not be Good
10. Directed by Uwe Boll

9. Directed by Michael Moore, who spends the film trying to get past studio security guards to interview Irwin Allen... never realizing that Allen's been dead since 1991.

8. A Film by Laurent Bouzereau: "'The Oscar': The Making of a Hollywood Classic"

7. Extracts from Harlan's stories read by actor-comedian Dane Cook.

6. Entire film focuses on Ellison's extensive collection of jelly glasses, his storage room, his memories about particular glasses, and his journey (three days, by car) to the Billings, Montana Jelly Glass Festival and Auction, where he fails to acquire the rare Flintstone "Pebbles Spits Up" glass that would have completed his Hanna-Barbera set.

5. Film actually portrays Morgan Spurlock spending a month esting nothing but Harlan Ellison books.

4. Late 1990s earthquake sequence accompanied with Sensurround.

3. Raging industrial-music soundtrack by Lars Ullrich is promoted as "a tribute to the man's ass-kicking, take-no-prisoners, balls-to-the-wall-with-flaming-heart-fury Gonzo legacy."

2. Entire film is actually a series of interviews conducted at rest homes for aging comedians, who were told that "Harlan Ellison, the manager of the Belasco theater for thirty years" has died, prompting them to babble incoherent reminiscences about a "dear old friend" who never actually existed.

1. "Painesville, Ohio: Cradle of Pride."

HARLAN: With all possible due respect ... shaddap.

Though I understand your trepidation, and I understand that perhaps there is a bit of the "Ike didn't get a biofilm; Alfie didn't get a biofilm; Ted, Gerald, Borges, Bob ..." feeling, where you fear being too hubristic ... screw it, man; you ARE worthy.

Yours has been a career marked by honors; a life marked by deeds; a person marked, as it were, by history.
... who himself did a goodly amount of marking on History's wall, himself. I think a docubio is a WONDERFUL idea.

Look at it this--or rather, THESE ways.

The movie will allow you to see great friends and people you admire say all kinds of nice things about you, long before either your mind or body require that your oeuvre or your carcass be eulogized. Think of Tom Sawyer at his own funeral, knowing he had many full years still ahead of him.

That's one; there are many more.

The movie will be seen by people who like you; it will give them enjoyment, and they will be more likely to go out and buy more of your books.
The movie will be seen by people who DON'T like you; and in looking for things with which they can hang you, they will still be inadvertently pushing gelt into your coffers.
The movie will be seen by people who barely know of you, and THEY will very likely go out and buy more of your books.
The movie will be seen by the mainstream press, who will be much more likely to a), ask for essays and opinion pieces and stories (NEW YORKER or VANITY FAIR, anyone?), and b) cause their readers to go out and ... well, you know the rest.

The movie will allow you to evangelize the world a bit; to expound on your own personal ethic. Maybe we'll see more people dumping lit cigarettes in pocketbooks, or the incidence of parcel-posted Punxatawny Phils will rise--but more likely, you'll make people think about the consequences of their beliefs, words, and deeds. Even if it's only a few, that's still a good thing.

The movie will enhance the sex lives of the unromantically-attached Webderlanders, who can point up to the marquee and say, "Yeah, I know him ... wanna go talk over coffee?"
[okay, maybe not that last one. And that's not necessarily a bad thing not to be happening, come to think.]

Twiddle your thumbs, scuff at the ground, and "aw-shucks" all you want, but I really can't see this as anything but a win-win-win situation.

Take the honor and wear it proudly.
Because, in a way, it is validation of your entire life and life's work; all you have ever done.
That validation, of course, being already evident in the life you currently enjoy: The friends you have, the home you have, the career you have, the love you share.

If it is true that the best revenge really IS living well ...

... the you must truly be The Man Who [Is] Heavily Into Revenge.

[or, to say all I just said much more concisely, I turn the dial to Zero:
"Flaunt it, baby; FLAUNT IT!!!"]



(*) and yes, I know it was a gopher, not a groundhog--but I am a slave to alliteration ...

Very cool! How could it not be good?

PRODDING POSTERITY IN THE POSTERIOR

Spent the entire day down at the Harrier Studio in Hollywood, in front of a gigantic green-screeen, doing teleprompter narrations of a dozen or so extended extracts from my stories for the documentary Erik Nelson's Creative Differences production company (who did Werner Herzog's GRIZZLY MAN among a hundred other documentaries) has been working on about ... well
... about, uh, me. Four years in prep, and it looks as if it's actually going to happen. I am much with trepidation about this.

Josh showed up for part of the shoot, and Huck Barkin came in for on-camera interview, and tomorrow Neil Gaiman hits town to be the "innocent tourist" who walks the viewer through my home.
Then a dinner-shoot at Corrientes 3.4.8. with Paul Guay, Susan Knight, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, my Susan, Erik, and Neil.

Figured you'd want to know about all this, but I GOT TO SAY ... I am much trepidatious about this whole thing.

They tell me it'll be ready for release some early after the holidays. R. Crumb. Harvey Pekar. Now me.

I am much trepidatious about this.

-Harlan

Talkin' Tao

Harlan - other than Bruce Lee, and his great etching in your life, which martial artists have you admired most?

Were you ever acquainted with Kam Yuen? (A Shaolin expert)

germany
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Aufiderzein!

ELLEN WILLIS, 1941-2006
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0646,durbin,75029,15.html

Easily one of the best writers - and more importantly, one of the best people - I've ever known.

Harlan is the magic rattling in a child's head. Good man, unfeeling, deadly universe.

Brother Theodore
My friend Kenton reminds me that Brother Theodore would have been 100 today. I am of two minds on this. Certainly I want for people to live as long as they want to. But, oh man, in his case it's probably for the best. Kenton rightly points out he would have **HATED** turning 100. On the other hand it might have been the launching point for one of the greatest rants of all time.

I don't believe in hell but I hope he's down there running around scaring the shit out of folks. Because they'll have it coming and because Brother Teddy will think he's in heaven.

- Barney

williamson,king
a magical morning of my life was spent under a tree in july with my pyramid paperback of the legion of time. blessings on him; peace to Harlan and Susan. Harlan-curious as to the choice of green mile as great american novel. i lean toward It and hearts in atlantis myself. but have no objection to mile and remain as always ,obediently yours

Quick response to Lee's post
Dude, you made me get misty. I felt the same way about Harlan's message and after I read your post I went upstairs to find my little five year old sleeping; my two year old boy's arm was around her chest. I kissed them both and rode that vibe that came through on your post.

You ain't the only one, bud.

Hey, you Forbidden Planet fans, there is a new dvd edition of the film with tons of extras and a Robby the Robot replica, out today. There is also a HD version based upon a new restoration of the film.

Williamson Obit

Dennis McClellan of The Los Angeles Times has written an appropriate obituary for Jack Williamson. Just thought you all ought to know that even the Times gets it right once in a great while.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-williamson14nov14,0,1595040.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

What the.....?
God bless Harlan Ellison!

Whether they believe in each other or not.....

Adam, I saw _The 27th Day_, and I really don't think it could be salvaged at all. It's partly due to that idiotic ending... but it's also due to my being a generally pessimistic person. Frankly, I think people'd use those capsules because they'd want to see what they did _first_. And even if they tried one of them, and wiped out Bahrain or something, it'd be only a matter of years before another pill-bearer was able to put that into the remote past, dissociate the horror from the urge to Make Something Happen, and try it again.

Think of it this way. How likely would it have been to create an atomic bomb, and then _not_ try it out on an actual city? And how often do we hear from people who think that using such weapons on Iran or North Korea'd be a worthwhile endeavor?

The _idea_ for _The 27th day_ is a neat _Twilight Zone_ sort of idea, but I couldn't see it as a morality play. As a black comedy, yes, definitely.

The 27th Day / Hardheadedness
Ezra:

As long as they could fix that astounding cheat of an ending, the cardboard characters, and the dialogue, THE 27th DAY does indeed cry out for a modern-day remake; I don't mind admitting that I've mused on it at length, myself, especially since I don't think I'd get the opportunity to work on such a project this decade. But my thoughts are aligned with yours. I imagine the capsules being given to, let's say, a starving tribesman in Africa...a disgruntled teen in a Palestinian refugee camp...an oppressed, abused wife living under a Taliban-type government...and a nihilistic suburban stoner in Los Angeles. Would we last a week?

Elsewhere in the world, I suspect the presence of some Ellisonian DNA in Patricia Goncalves Peirera, 21, a Brazilian housewife in Sao Paolo, Brazil. She was the target of a murder attempt by her ex-husband, who had wanted a reconciliation.

When she turned him down, he shot her.

Six times.

At point blank range.

In the head.

Not a single bullet penetrated her skull to enter the brain.

Peirera, who suffered no serious effects from the attack, was released from the hospital after about one day, when Doctors said that any bullets still lodged in her head could be removed with outpatient surgery...


ATC

Aww Frank, blow it outcher Warp Drive. Ignorance of science is a greater threat to this country than any possible radiation you might have received from the Cassini probe (which was none).

And to describe a picture of a storm larger than Earth itself moving twice as fast as the greatest Category 5 hurricane, that has been churning for millions of years and will probably churn for millions more, as "pretty"...

Well, how can anyone benefit from your usual astute and penetrating social and political analysis when you display such a fundamental lack of seriousness?

Duane, do you agree that ICANN made a poor choice in making the country-specific TLDs only two characters long? I wonder how they differentiated Mauritania from Mauritius with only two letters. I looked at ICANN's list and I couldn't tell. Also, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a push by science fiction fans to create a ".sf" TLD. I think I'm on fairly safe ground when I say that science fiction is hugely popular among hardcore computer users.

First, to the Argendeli family, I'm glad everyone survived the ordeal and congratulations on the new baby. May this be the last health crisis you ever experience.

I'd also like to give my condolences on the death of Jack Williamson. He certainly lived a long, full life but he also reminds us how our fleeting, mayfly existence can end too soon.

Especially when they bring some beauty into our world. We can use all the beauty we can get.

Chuck

Harlan,

Your post on Jack Williamson ‘bout broke my heart.

Just recently, I went in to kiss my five year old girl goodnight and found her crying quietly into her pillow. She was crying for fear that I might get hurt or sick, or even die. I held her gently for a few moments, and lied to her quietly in the dark, saying, “I will never go away. Nothing bad can get into this house. I will never let anything hurt you. ”

And she believed me, and went back to sleep.

I wish someone could do the same for you.

FRANK:

Nope. The site is not being hacked, but a certain African nation may get a few cents every time someone gets in too much of a rush to type the "o" in ".com".

An explanation:

.cm is the internet abbreviation for Cameroon.

From the looks of it, it is likely that any unregistered domain names typed with the ".cm" suffix go to what's called a "parking page," which is what that page appears to be.

The ".cm" page has nothing to do with the ".com" page.

It is there so that if Harlan chooses to register his name with that particular domain, he will have to purchase it from Cameroon. It's called cyber squatting.

However, I doubt it is any issue for Harlan to consider. His .com page is so well established that anyone who accidentally enters .cm will see the error of his or her ways, correct the typographical error, and make it over here with no problems.

Here's an article that will explain the whole thing. It's entitled "Nation of Cameroon typo-squats the entire .com space."

http://www.circleid.com/posts/nation_of_cameroon_typosquats_com_space/

Wyatt, a heads up for you:

If you go to HarlanEllison.cm, not com, it takes you to an advertiser site, or maybe it is spyware. I think you may have been hacked.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=17154

"Q: Will there be an episode where Dr. Gaius Baltar doesn't whine or cry?"

BOO-yah! Here's hoping Harlan managed to convince Moore to devise an episode where Baltar is bitch-slapped by one of the other primary characters. I'm getting exhausted with the doctor's quivering lower lip routine.

You've also gotta love how incredibly BEAUTIFUL everybody is on that show. Even with sweat and dirt besmearing their angelic features, the director and make-up technicians always make certain everybody looks like a GQ model.

Frank,

If I peeled back your stretchy Spandex outer layer, would I find Art Bell?

Re: Jack Wiliamson

A tremendous loss. My condolences to his friends, family, and fans.

Jack
Dear Harlan and Susan,

I just wanted to say that I am right there with you in missing Jack. I don't know that I have ever known a kinder more generous person. I will miss him forever too. I am headed to Portales on Thursday for the memorial service but it will feel so strange to be in Portales and not get to spend time with Jack.

-Patricia

Yea, Cassini was great, NASA risked killing all of us with radiation poisoning, just so we could look at pretty pictures. I do think some scientists need to get out more.

-----------

Steve, got a nice list for you:

Jesus Christ--the obvious name everyone forgot.

Martin Luther King--I know, the sex stuff...sex doesn't matter, as long as Coretta took him back, it was none of our business

Noam Chomsky--laugh all you want mooks, his record is flawless.

Isaac Asimov--pretty much a saint--an atheist saint, but that's the best kind.

My Girlfriend--she would kill me or forget giving me sex if I didn't include her. Yes, like Barber, I am whipped.

----------

Leiberman is saying he might switch parties, if the democrats do anything too crazy, like investigate Bush or his war. Now I really hate him.

Is there an Internet address where I might read harlan's PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY interview re: the Groth/Fantagraphics lawsuit?

Almost every week the Cassini probe sends back awesome pictures as it does its timeless waltz around Saturn.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/video-details.cfm?videoID=136

You know what this reminded me of? Remember that episode late in Arthur C Clarke's novel CHILDHOOD'S END when the young man Jan Rodricks at last reaches the home world of the Overlords and is escorted around a museum of alien cultures by the resident curator? He enters a vast hall and walks to the edge of a huge circular depression. Already giddy from having no familiar frames of reference (for one thing the Overlords are a flying race and think nothing of sudden drops and doors hundreds of feet above the ground), he nevertheless steels himself, approachs the edge and looks down at... Well if you know the novel I need say no more and if you don't it's a good one.

Adam-Troy, being a long time 50s SF movie fan I know THE 27TH DAY quite well. It is an interesting idea and I can see how it could be adapted from a Cold War piece to something more contemporary (say make the Russian soldier a Pakistani on the Indian frontier, or make the English woman an African. If the Aliens are going to challenge the whole world then let it be other than just white people with the obligatory Oriental bumped off in the second reel).

But what about the ending? That has always seemed to me to be a little too neat, too, well too much what you would want to happen. I don't know, you're the writer, you tell me, I'll go see it.

Who Among Us, Etc.
I dunno about Gandhi. From refusing to let his wife get medical treatment, allowing her to die from its lack, then accepting the same medication for himself...to behavior toward young female relatives that, if not actively molestation, did utilize them as objects of lust he could virtuously refrain from touching...he was not quite as spotless as some imagine him to have been. Good man, yes. Blameless? Not so much.

Just sent in a classics review on the 50s sf film, THE 27th DAY. I note therein that it is one of the few SF films of the era that could actually benefit from a big-budget, updated remake (made by the right people, of course).

Saw STRANGER THAN FICTION last night. I am in love with Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Harlan, Susan (and the rest of the world at large) - Deep condolences for the loss of Jack Williamson. I can think of no more fitting a tribute than a trip to the bookstore (independent if possible) to purchase some of his work. That written, I am headed to Acres of Books this very afternoon.
__________________________________

Hearty congratulations to the Argendeli family. Please keep us apprised as to everyone's progress. This proves that for every loss there is a gain. Mayhap the baby will one day be Grand Master as well.
__________________________________

Rob said: "Everyone is fucked up in SOME way. Name ONE individual - ONE talent - Harlan included - who's never displayed behavior his betters among us might not deem appropriate."

Walter Cronkite, who HAS no betters among us.
Gandhi, see above.
The Dalai Lama, see above.
Sir Paul McCartney, see above.
Lady Susan (Ellison), see above. (Go ahead, argue with me.)

My wife. See above, including parenthetical commentary.

Any and all of the buddhas.

Jack Williamson
Unca Harlan,

My deepest regrets on the loss of your dear friend.

Sincerest regards,
Ray

HE's interview with Ronald Moore appears here:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=17154

Rick Keeney,

I have dirty little files on Fred Rodgers that you wouldn't want know about!

Rob
"Everyone is fucked up in SOME way. Name ONE individual - ONE talent - Harlan included - who's never displayed behavior his betters among us might not deem appropriate."

Fred Rogers

Regards,
Rick

Jack Williamson mentioned to me that his novel "Golden Blood" (1933) was written in consultation with fantasy writer Abraham Merritt and therefore bears the Merritt ambience. When I asked him about his trip in a small boat down the Mississippi with Edmond Hamilton, he said there was a certain amount of friction of personality. Jack always had time for a friendly chat with fans at conventions.

The passing of Jack Williamson
Harlan,
My sincerest condolences to you, his friends, and family upon the death of Jack Williamson and for those of us who will only ever know him through his writing.

Shane

Damn!
I guess none of us should be surprised. Jack Williamson was 98 years old. But when I talked to him about "The Stonehenge Gate" last year, he still seemed so young, so full of ideas. I confess I simply assumed he'd make it past 100. After all, how many people his age still wrote anything, much less new novels?

I know one woman that age. She just turned 101. She finds letters too exhausting to complete these days. Williamson was _full_ of energy. He drew it from whatever secret wellspring gave him the wit to invent terms like "terraforming" and classic works like "With Folded Hands."

When I interviewed Fred Pohl a few years back, I asked him if he'd be using the newer "Gateway" characters in future books. Pointing out his age, he said this to me:

----------------

I can't count on another 20 or 30 years. You never know, though. My old pal Jack Williamson is now 96. I saw him recently, and I said, "I've just finished a new book." And he said "Me, too." So who knows?

------

Well, it was the last for Jack after all. Alas.

New novel from TERMINATOR author discovered!
While looking through the 'sale' section of a DVD store on Friday, I found a new (or at least recent) UK DVD release of L. Q. Jones' film of A BOY AND HIS DOG. The blurb on the back cover reads as follows:

"From the novel by Harlan Ellison
(THE TERMINATOR, STAR TREK, BABYLON 5)"

Jack Williamson
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting him at a few conventions over the years. Always struck me as a very warm and generous man. Had a toothy smile not unlike that of Henry Miller. Not that he was really "like" Henry Miller, just that he had a sort of "I'm damn happy to be here" sort of vibe, wherever here happened to be. When you can pull that off in "The Bunker" at I-Con, that's saying something.

There will be testimonials and retrospectives but oh, man - what a helluva span of work. Incredible. I always loved the painting of him on his biography as a small boy in the back of a covered wagon - a journey he actually took. From there to the stars. It's difficult imagining any other generation ever stradling a wider range of technological achievement.

I didn't really know him other than through his work - often, the best way - but I'll miss him, and moreso, the very idea of him.

- Barney

ps. - Hey, they may very well be on to a real cure for blindness this week - so, and I think Jack may well have appreciated it - Progress!

Very sorry for your pain, Harlan.

Jack Williamson is gone.

Two weeks ago he signed the insert liner/cover for the CD of STONEHENGE GATE whereon I'm the reader. He loved the reading, and they issued it as the "special grand master edition." He was the first Grand Master; I am the most recent. I cannot begin to express how much I loved and respected and admired him.

On the audio liner he wrote, in a failing hand,

"Your Friend Forever, Jack Williamson."

I wish I could stop hurting for just a minute, but I think it will go on forever.

-he

Cindy, Jim and new arrival - Congrats! Here's hoping mother and child feel better and arrive home soon!

Michael and Alia

Stefano's gone? I must have missed his obit. He WAS a great talent, even if he and Harlan did not get along. I can see how the two of them may have had "issues' (HE publicly disparaging the OL first season? Many of those episodes are classic, some less so but they heavily bore Stefano's stamp.) Was it that he was very controlling....It's significant that only after Stefano left did Harlan get to write for Outer Limits. Well "Demon" and "Soldier" are brilliant, but most of the second season kept getting worse, and just because the scripts were taken from literary sources (pulp sf) didn't all guarantee that they were better. Actually, the cheap budget and the network demands for a monster of the week (not to mention the suicidal time slot; in the days before VCRs you could NOT retain the young target audience on a weekend night) had more to do with killing the show.

Susan - how much did you say the tapes are?

Kristin

JOSH,

I'd just like to let you know that I've had a chance to re-watch the diner scene near the beginning of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, where the two killers make their appearence in Tom's town. After all is said and done about VIOLENCE, I really think you scored a hit with the diner sequence. Few movies have been able to convincingly catch that sensation of creeping terror when you gradaully realize that you're in the presence of a psychopath who's ready to bump you off at any given moment. Someone who looks "normal" enough casually walks into your house/store/restaurant, and coolly informs you he'll remove your tongue with a pair of pliers if you don't cooperate. I believe something happens at that split second, a moment where the brain synapses refuse to fire, and all of a sudden you're not sure where you are anymore. In that way, the scene was slightly reminiscent to the buildup to the rape sequence in DELIVERANCE. Boom, your life's suddenly a nightmare. Think fast, or you're fly-meat.

Thanks in part to Cronenberg's direction and the performances of the actors on-set, the diner scene was the first time in a LONG time that I've actually sensed the stark terror the characters felt at that exact moment. My sincerest congratulations on that achievement.

Thanks Susan and Harlan. Will relay your message when I go back to the hospital later.

jim

"What was Stefano's problem, anyway?"

Personally - speaking for MYSELF - I don't give a shit about ANY of that.

Everyone is fucked up in SOME way. Name ONE individual - ONE talent - Harlan included - who's never displayed behavior his betters among us might not deem appropriate.

Hell - I remember a thread here that went on for about 3 days about Ray Bradbury's occasional transgressions. Ray was a naughty, naughty boy MANY times himself. But it was always remembering his talent that would win the day.

Conventions are bullshit; talent is what's REAL.

I know how much I got out of Stefano's talent. I know he was a whiz when Hitchcock hired him to collaborate on the script for PSYCHO. I know that he invested himself in many of those first-season Outer Limits shows, using sf as a couch session, and lending viewers a walkway into dream consciousness where “truth is the shattered mirror strown in myriad bits."

...and I know that's enough for ME.

So, I really don't give a damn about such issues. Those are matters between other people, and as such are none of MY business.

Stefano was a mighty creative guy and a unique guiding force behind one of the most inventive series in tv history. That's where MY business comes in.

I'm sorry Stefano's gone.

(While we're on this subject, I was REALLY saddened by Ed Bradley's passing this last week; we also just lost Jack Palance)

"What was Stefano's problem, anyway?"

It sounds like maybe he was a putz.

Joseph Stefano
Joseph Stefano died a couple weeks ago so this question can no longer lead to any feud. Why did Joseph Stefano hate Harlan Ellison? I know of two occasions where Stefano went out of his way to be shitty to Harlan in a public setting. In the 1980s there was a science fiction convention in Orange County where Harlan was a guest. Someone had put together an Outer Limits panel with many of the people who worked on the show, but Joseph Stefano waited until he was at the convention to pitch a fit and refuse to be on the panel if Harlan was going to be on it. His excuse was that Harlan would "dominate" the panel and not give anyone else a chance to speak. Harlan graciously agreed not to be on it because it wasn't a big deal to him whether he was on it or not. But then about 3 years ago The Museum of Broadcasting in Beverly Hills scheduled a tribute to the Outer Limits and Harlan offered to have Robert Culp there and show "Demon With A Glass Hand." When Joseph Stefano learned of this he refused to attend at all if Demon was shown. The Museum backed down and refunded tickets (many had already been sold) to anyone who requested a refund (I certainly did). But I understand that not everyone got the message in time and some showed up still expecting to see Demon. What was Stefano's problem, anyway?

Or even Thanks!

Help!

An old HERC member renewed his membership. I mailed his newsletters (twice) but they came back as "attempted not known".

His name is ROBERT M. FRIEDMAN in Allentown, PA.

Any leads?

Thabks Susan

Wyatt, you're fine.

Adventures in good reading . . . out loud


STORY TIME FOR GROWNUPS

at Grendel's Coffee House presents the charmingly disturbing stories of John Collier

Monday, Nov. 13, 2006


A devil decides to have a little fun by tempting a psychoanalyst with an angel disguised as a pretty young woman. A gorilla writes a novel. A young man witnesses another man accost and club a lovely girl, and climbs into the trunk with the nude body. A fellow strolls into the dentist's office and demands that all his teeth be pulled out.

For November, "Story Time for Grownups" will feature the elegant and unsettling tales of a largely forgotten master of the fantasy short story, John Collier, at Grendel's Coffee House, 729 East Burnside, 503-595-9550, 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 13, 2006. Admission is free.

Born in London in 1901, Collier aspired to be a poet, and throughout his twenties his father supported him while he pursued his goal, never seeing the inside of a university. Having largely failed at poetry, he moved to Hollywood, where he wrote his stories and worked on screenplays (most notably, some uncredited plot and dialogue overhauling of James Agee's and John Huston's script for "The African Queen"). Several of his stories were adapted for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and Stephen Sondheim did a TV musical of "Evening Primrose" in 1966.

During the late 1960s, Collier labored mightily but in vain to get a film made of his screenplay for Milton's "Paradise Lost." He died in 1976.

Collier's stories occupy a genre all their own: literary, elegant, a little creepy, and quite witty. One of his biggest fans is Ray Bradbury, who discovered the story collection "Presenting Moonshine" when he was a struggling writer of 22, and fell in love. "He saw the irony in human encounters and the fun in putting it down," Bradbury writes.

Come have a cuppa joe or tea and a cookie, and enjoy the good old fashioned entertainment of being read to.

Harlan: You are due for some audio performin', man. Where is that Voice from the Edge volume III? (I said demandingly). I am one eager fan dying to hear new interpretations of some those neglected classics, "On the Downhill Side," "The Man who Christopher Columbus Ashore," "Deathbird" and so much more!

Any update you can give me?

Steve Dooner

Cindy and Jim: Congratulations!!! and one extra !

Our best to you. If you need anything...

Lots o' love
HE & SE

We hope to have a memorial event for Jack Williamson at Philcon next week. It's sad news that he's gone... but I'd rather celebrate the fact that he got nearly a century, spent most of it creating fantasy for thousands of readers, and just kept getting better at it as he went along.



I want to thank Rob for seconding my point about the crazy reactions Democrats had with Nader... and why voting _for_ someone instead of "voting strategically" like we're supposed to will only get you grief. Because people get _pissed_ when you follow your conscience instead of their moral imperatives.

The Clintons
Go back and rewatch the old Moore TV Nation series. Boy, does he stick it to the Clinton administration for tons of stuff. And I don't want them (through her) to go back into the White House. Bill and Hillary - they aren't evil just dumb. Plus with a Republican congress sure would have been impossible toget environmental legislation through.

The key for real ecological change is for the Greens to realize they are not going to be a real third party. A 3 party system is moronic anyway. Why would slightly under 2/3 (slightly under 1/3 for Dems and another 1/3 for Reps) America be pleased with a slightly over 1/3 majority? It ain't going to work. Its hard enough for 49% of America to be pleased with a 51% win. The Green Party has to be absorbed into the Democratic Party - and the Dems have to play along, they can't just take them in and silence them.

====

At Costco you can get the Ultimate FLint Collection for $12. Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, and the lost tv pilot film Dead on Target. Would have been awesome if the booklet that came with the set made a tiny mention of the "Flintlock" screenplay by our Host, but no dice.

For Stephen at Wrigley Field. Thank you for your well wishes and historical stats. I will print these up and let my wife and daughter view them when they return ftom the hospital.

Argendeli

How do you remove a bot?

David Perry of Trend Micro had a shocking statistic: half of all PCs connected to broadband are infected with bots.

Do some simple research, ya mooks.

Clinton's supposed environmental concern was more about rhetoric then actual laws passed:

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V117/N28/hove.28o.html

Clinton signed both GATT and Nafta, that both had no provisions for environmental concerns. Go to Mexico, drink the water, I dare you.

Sierra Club gave him mixed reviews and they are moderate in my book. Greenpeace, a better collective fries the fuck.

http://www.satyamag.com/oct96/clinton.html

The Sierra Club plays this cute game. They are way too deep into the asses of the democrats to serve any useful function. Latte Liberal cornholios.

condolences
Harlan,

I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend Jack Williamson. It seems like just the other day you were telling about how you had called him up to tell him about some project you were working on related to one of his works, and had to scream at him through the combined mediums of a cell phone with a bad signal and a nurse who was hard of hearing, to get the message to Jack, who was in bed in the next room, and who was hard of hearing.

I smile when I think of that story, for what it's worth. Take care.

-Keith

He would have smiled at this....and said, "No Contest."
Right about now Jack Palance is arm wrestling St. Peter for the keys to the Pearly Gates.

“How you doin’, bro?
Where you been?
Where ya goin’?
~from The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking

Jack Williamson RIP

I met him the same time and place where I first saw Robert A. Heinlein, and held them in equal esteem. They are sharing a drink somewhere right now. A gentleman, a gentle man and one hell of a writer.

His contemporaries in SF went from H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard to J. K. Rowling and China Mieville.

He sold his first story to Hugo Gernsback!

He went down the Missisppi in a rowboat with Edmond Hamilton, served during World War Two in the US Army Air Force (with Frederik Pohl) as a meteorologist and in middle age went back to school, got a Ph. D. in English and became a professor of same at a major university.

A life, indeed. A man, in fact.

http://www.locusmag.com/

"was pissed with Nader in 2004, but not 2000, he had a very good reason in going after Gore--Gore did have a history of being on the right on many major issues."

Almost everybody is to the right of Nader, so that doesn't mean a thing. (Granted, the terms right and left in politics are almost meaningless.)

"Before 2000, he didn't give a tinker's damn about the environment"

Huh. Could have sworn, actually looking at his voting record...let's see, co-sponsored hearings on toxic waste in the 70's and was the first representative to hold hearings on global warming, back in the 1980's when almost nobody outside the scientific community believed it was real. As vice-president, was huge proponent of the Kyoto Treaty, but sadly had that power of a bucket of warm pit as VP problem to deal with in actually enacting it. Then there's a little book called "Earth in the Balance," which came out 14 years ago. So, I'd say Gore showed a lot more environmental awareness than you're giving him credit for.

Welcome Evangelia
Greeting and felicitations Jim & Cindy! Learn to cherish the sleepless nights, this is the easy part.

Welcome to the world wee Evangelia Francis Argendeli. You share this day with the debut of Sesame Street, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, Claude Rains, Martin Luther, Richard Burton, and the United States Marine Corps. I wish you peace, joy and happiness all the days of your life.

I just heard Jack Williamson has died.

sorry if someone already mentioned this, no time to scroll

THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON reviewed here:

http://www.sfsite.com

Rick

All Puffed Up Like a Banjo Player...
ALL: Okay, I never (NEVER) toot my own horn where my writing is concerned because...well, in my opinion, it doesn't yet warrant it.
But I just _gotta_ brag to you guys about a phone conversation I just had with Ray Bradbury (regarding another matter entirely) which began with the GREAT ONE thanking me for my "Pages" review of his last book, FAREWELL SUMMER. Bradbury said it moved him to tears. And even if he was being a bit melodramatic for the sake of being nice to a small fish, it made my week. He's been one of my literary heroes since my brother gave me a paperback copy of "S is For Space." Which is why I am now all puffed up like a banjo player after a big breakfast.
Rick, sorry -- reaaaally sorry -- but I just had to blurt that out -- so to speak).
Once again, in self-imposed exile,
I remain,
DTS

I was pissed with Nader in 2004, but not 2000, he had a very good reason in going after Gore--Gore did have a history of being on the right on many major issues. Before 2000, he didn't give a tinker's damn about the environment , or he and his good ole boy President didn't do much on that issue. Then there's the issue of his wife:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6fzJEqcHvNs

Jello Biafra almost got put in jail because of ole Tipper.

I defend my friends too.

Gore is a bit better. Hope he runs. haha.

---------

Resisting the state is what I love to do most. There are some actual good Dems that got elected, but we need to wire brush some of those mooks. I saw a clip of Shumer, sucking up to O'Reilly, after the election, insisting that his party would not try to go after Bush. He even said that his party would not raise taxes, even on the rich! He would not roll back the tax cuts of Bush's. And, he's the fucking liberal! Yea, we have to watch these birds. Their nests all get feathered with the same campaign cash.

Brian Commenting on Nader

I too was royally pissed with Nader; not only for helping the Republican's voting machine, not even for the curious lopsided strategy he used in the 2000 race - where he went around trashing GORE far more than Bush (occasionally pointing out that the two were basically the same - until AFTER the election when he openly stated Gore's agenda HAD in fact been closer to his own!!)...and AFTER having promised the Democrats he would not do so in specific territories, but for sabotaging his OWN causes: by alienating himself he alienated his own constinuency. No one will go near him now. He was absolutely RIGHT, for example, about NAFTA; the free-trade agreement has sold out and outsourced jobs to the lowest wages as he'd predicted. But if I bring up his name no one wants to listen to me. They WILL listen to the issue (because now it's so obvious), but they don't want to hear about Nader.

Nader should have used careful, long-term strategy to build a constinuency over time (assuming he was serious about anything other than simply running) - so that it would GRADUALLY, and ORGANICALLY grow to give a 3rd party option a realistic chance in the elections. But this lazy approach he took using a blind banner of idealism (the other 2 parties are alike!!!) is not something that could be taken seriously. He has undermined his own legacy: among other things, he helped create the EPA, and the Bush administration has done unbelievable damage to it. Bush weakened the Clean Water Act, and has also proposed cutting billions from environmental protection (which neither Gore nor Kerry would have done).

Through a lack of imagination and REAL vision - a lack of any strategic blueprint - Nader has done a disservice to his OWN causes and to those who believed in everything he'd accomplished in the past. Rather than BUILD a constituency (hell, he could have worked with the Democrats inside out to bring gradual transition in policy if he'd really been serious about the landscape) he lost support and alienated himself. I don't see a future president in there, and for THAT - more than any OTHER reason - I resent what Nader has done.

He should have been clever. He wasn't. He's a smart man, but an unimaginative one.

Spoilers, etc. (...and a note to Susan)
Sheesh! I've only just rediscovered this board and already I've got to read it with one eye closed and the other squinting just to not hear twist endings of current movies I would really like to see!

I already had to sit through THE DEPARTED last weekend waiting to see which cast member(s) __________ , knowing from this board that that meant ________________. I won't say the movie was ruined for me, but it definitely killed some of the tension.

Now there are posts alluding to twists in THE PRESTIGE, which I was planning to see THIS weekend. Fortunately this time around I've been able to avoid them, as I guess I'll have to everytime a movie is mentioned I haven't been able to catch yet?

I love movies and, like a lot of people I'm sure, end up able to infer far too much about plot twists and endings based on trailers and thoughtless studio marketing as it is. I don't want to have to lay off my visits to the Dining Pavilion too!

Please folks, try to contain yourselves.

This ties into something else that's been an itch to me: I wonder if a lot of the discussion here might be better suited to the Webderland Forums? Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed reading a good many of the thoughts and opinions of the many posters here, but I would enjoy them no less on one of the other Webderland boards.

Now I realize discussion boards are subject to mutation, but this one is pretty clearly tagged as "Discussion of the man and his work," and when I come to the Pavilion, that's what I'm looking for. Obviously it's always a treat to hear from our gracious host on whatever topic is on his mind, but then it is his forum, after all, and the reason we're all here.

Am I the only one who feels this way? I'm curious.

Finally, a note to Susan: I don't wish to be a pest, but I wanted to confirm your receipt of my check(s) for both volumes of the VOICE CDs. I don't think they've been cashed yet, and all the scrambling around here for the last remaining copies has me worried I didn't cross the finish line in time...


Thanks,

Wyatt Doyle

Damn, Jim!
Sounds like they both still have some tough times to go through, but are both lucky to be here.
Best wishes to you all.

New Ellison reader!
Cindy gave birth to a four pound 12 ounce baby girl at 3:05 AM Friday, November 10. She had gone to see her doctor on a regular checkup Thursday morning. He checked her blood pressure and told her her number was 169 which was a stroke inducing number and she had to go into the hospital after she left the office. She called me and I came home from work and help her pack some things. Once in the hospital, thing did not improve. Her B.P, shot up (and kept shooting up regardless of the drugs they kept giving her). The plan was to induce labor but they could not till her BP was lowered. At one point it was 196—keep in mind he thought 169 was high. At 3AM, Cindy had gone to the bathroom-I was spending the night with her in the hospital. The nurse came in to check on her while she was in the bathroom (as they did every thirty minutes) and when she exited the bathroom she told the nurse she was bleeding. She was not just bleeding but major bleeding. The nurse called for assistance after getting her into the bed and literally within seconds they were five nurse/medical staff around the bed. I then her words which chilled my soul. “We have to get her in now or she is going to bleed out.” They rushed her into a surgery room for an emergency C Section. At this point in time they could not hear the baby’s heart. After about fifteen minutes in not knowing hell, the nurse came in and told me that literally after then got Cindy into the O.R. One minute after they put her under, they performed an emergency C Section. Our daughter had breathing problems and her color was very pale. Once they started working on her, she recovered very fast. She is in infant ICU with oxygen being fed into her nose. Her color is very good and she is fine. Cindy is in a lot of pain and discomfort.

Her name either Evangelia Francis Argendeli or Francis Evaneglia Argendeli

Thanks for your prayers.

If they can make magnificent filmed versions of Lord of the Rings…

If cinematic history can be made by bringing the Harry Potter books to the big screen….

Can someone, ANYONE (hello to all those reading this post who have Peter Jackson's ear) PLEASE bring Kim Stanley Robinson's MARS series to the big screen?

It's a no brainer. The novels are already set up as a trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars), and Hollywood LOVES trilogies.

And it would more than make up for that execrable "Mission To Mars" abortion foisted on us a few years ago.

Hello? Peter Jackson?

Re Josh's Olson's comment: "Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to go out in 2008 and actually vote FOR a candidate you were excited about?"

I tried that in 2000. I voted for Ralph Nader. At long last, I thought, here's someone I'd _like_ to see in the Oval Office. I didn't feel as though I were truly voting _against_ Bush or Gore, though my loathing of Bush and dissatisfaction with the Democrats were certainly factors.

That earned me several months of complaints _before_ the election, from Democrats, accusing me of being selfish, of not recognizing political "realities," of denying Gore a vote that (to my surprise) was really _his_ but for my selfishness. After the election, of course, there were the complaints that I and other Nader supporters were now wholly responsible for every horrible act of the Bush presidency. Lost a couple of friends over it, too.

Susan, since you have released the copies held for Kristen, would it be possible for me to order a copy of Volume 2 of the CD collection?

Josh, sorry about what happened with Halo, but hopefully you had a nice trip down to New Zealand. Did you have a chance to tour any of the Weta labs while you were there?

JOSH,

Speaking of KONG, did you ever have a chance to ask Peter WHY he felt his version required a running time of over three hours, when the original was content with a sensible hundred minutes?

I'm sorry - it's just Peter's decisions as a filmmaker have always made sense in the past, and this was the only instance I can think of where he got a little...weird.

Spoilers

My thoughts on spoilers:

0. The people standing in line to see a movie should have the legal right to beat anyone who spoils the movie until they can't lift their arms anymore.
1. Up until six months after a movie is released, spoiling in any way should be punnished by a punch to the face - glancing blows do not count and will have to be repeated.
2. Within six months of the DVD release you have to give a polite spoiler warning or offer to punk up the rental fee.
3. Anytime after that it's fair game.

On movie going:

0. People who kick the back of seats should be chemically castrated
1. People who continue to kick the back of your seat, after you've asked them politely not to, should be castrated on the spot with the rough edge of a Junior Mints box.
2. People who talk during the entire movie need to stand at the door after the movie offering refunds to everyone else who sat with them
3. People who throw food at the screen should be forced to have their ringpiece penetrated entirely by the chair they're sitting on (There's a word for throwing someone out a window (defenestrate), there has got to be a word for shoving things up another's ass).

The terrible necrology grows. I just spoke to Arnie Fenner, the creator of the SPECTRUM art annual volumes.

Stanley Meltzoff has died.

Painter. Foremost marine artist. THE PUPPET MASTERS by Heinlein, first NAL/Signet paperback edition. Dozens of others throughout the '50s.

Magnificent.

Gone.

-he

As happy as I am to see the depraved, child-fucking perverts drummed out of the house (and Senate), I admit, I kinda wish folks had gone out on Tuesday and voted FOR something, instead of against it. Harlan's dead-right. The top priority for those of us who have even the slightest hint of intelligence and decency should be to smack the ever-loving shit out of the Dems until they actually stand for something.

Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to go out in 2008 and actually vote FOR a candidate you were excited about?

On the subject of spoilers - my ex-girlfriend is still mad at me for the following exchange that took place last year:

Me: "The last remake was horrible."
Her: "I didn't see it. What was the problem with it?"
Me: "You just didn't give a crap when Kong died."
Her: "Kong dies?"

On the subject of The Prestige: I thought Nolan - otherwise an extremely capable director - gave away the surprise from practically the first shot.

I can't remember the last time I was afraid to go to the bathroom during a movie. The Prestige was immensely entertaining. But in the end, the long explanation was inane, and if you're going to hang everything on a big explanation at the end, that explanation better make sense when you think about it.

My vote for worst twist of all time: No Way Out, in which it's revealed that the lead just happens to be the mythic Russian spy that the cop just happened to pull out of his ass for no good reason whatsoever. Sheer idiocy.

Wow, can you spot the multiple grammatical and proofread errors in that previous post. Shit, I have got to stop typing these postings while at work.....or else, I must remind myself to proofread before clicking send.

Sheesh, maybe I'm just dizzy from this past Tuesday's "referendum".....you know, the one that happens every midterm election of a second term president.....?

Movie Spoilers
One thing I will never stop doing:

Whenever the wife and I exit a movie that contains a twist ending, especially if the movie is KNOWN to contain a twist ending (Can you say M. Knight, anyone), I will walk past the line of people waiting for the next show and mutter with excitement, "Darth Vader is Luke's father!" a few times.

Hey, I enjoy myself at times.

And if anyone in that line has never seen the Empire Strikes Back, or any of the prequels, then tought titty. There comes a time where discussion of a film has to be allowed in order to enjoy film discussion. If you don't know that Rosebud is the sled by now, which is something many people who never even saw Citizen Kane know, then don't go crying if someone says it. If you don't know that Bruce Willis has been dead all along, then I can't cry over mentioning it in a conversation without shouting or typing SPOILERS SPOILERS all the time. Sorry, but if a movie has been out on video and played on teevee for years and years, don't go crying if you hear a spoiler because you haven't gotten around to watching it.

For those who have not yet seen Gone With The Wind: Atlanta burns.

-TODD

Kristin:

Since I didn't hear from you, I'm releasing the "held" copies of the CDs. No problem.

Thanks--Susan

Fucked-up punch-lines
DAMN! I even mumble when I type: make that, "the last Hoes of _a_ crying party." I could ruin a wet dream with these screw-ups.--DTS

Phone calls and Political Hoes
SUSAN: Got tied up in an afterschool meeting yesternight around 5ish (3pm yer time); but I really (REALLY!) will call today (tell Harlan to calm down, I know how he so looks forward to my unintelligible speed-mumbling).
ADAM-TROY CASTRO: Ann Coulter only says that cause she's one of "the last Hoes of crying party." (I know I might've misspelled that slang word but hey, doing so would've taken half the, er, pun out of it). By the way: do you dig "Medium" as much as I do? When I first saw it advertised, I ignored it thinking it was one of many shows that was making a killing out of the popularity of supernatural/fantasy/sf genre on TV. Then I checked out the first season on DVD; and watched parts of the second season that I hadn't yet missed. And I found that the writing and acting (with the exception of the middle child, who, as a little actress, is Shirley Temple's hellish reincarnation) was top-notch. The way the writers keep the relationship between husband and wife -- and parents and children -- just as important as the weird plots is half the attraction. And the fun they have with the opening dream sequences (as they did with "The Song Remains the Same") is pretty groovy. Can't wait for their new season to start next week
--DTS (also not a temporary name -- you tell 'em, KOS)

Politics
--- "We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world"

--- "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-- ask what you can do for your country."

Words of a potentially great President, John Kennedy, struck down before the full effect of his leadership could be realized.

I guess I'm as cautiously optimistic as everyone else that we are emerging from a dark time -- "dark" not because of Republicans per se, but because of the actions of the Republican leadership. I don't mind being in the minority party as long as the Republic functions as it should. That the minority opinion is listened to and considered -- not dismissed out of hand and silenced with bully tactics and outright defiance. Closed-door sessions and strong-arm negotiations are not the hallmark of a functioning Republic.

A lot of damage has been done, much of which is still completely unknown to the general public. Congress' legalization of Gitmo trials, and approving of torture may have cost America our collective soul. In another quote, this one from the wise and venerable Pogo Possum, "We have met the enemy, and they is us."

Unfortunately, referencing back to the second quote from Kennedy, a majority of Americans are no longer asking what they "can do for our country", but "what's in it for me".
________________________________________

And I second Adam-Troy's bitch-slapping suggestion.

________________________________________

(Though, just because I haven't had enough caffeine yet this morning: it was Sue Ellen's sister Kristin what shot J.R.)

(G'head. Hit me.)

Spoilers (Discussion Of -- None To Be Found Here)
People who deliberately spoil major plot twists in books and movies, finding it funny to ruin the enjoyment of others, are despicable. I have done it a few times, by accident. I have also done it, to discuss significant plot twists, AFTER providing sufficient warning. That is acceptable -- it gives the audience leave to decide whether to listen. But the guy who hung out, outside Borders, on the night the latest Harry Potter book was released, and drove-by a bunch of children shouting, "***** ***** **********!" (later loading footage of himself doing this, on the internet, because he was proud of it)...and the guy mentioned here who laughed uproariously after telling ticketholders about Darth Vader...and writer Joe Queenan, who to research an article attended multiple showings of "The Crying Game," only to shout out a crucial piece of information upon Jaye Davidson's first appearance...have nothing to contribute to the social fabric but annoyance to other people. They exist to ruin fun, and should be bitchslapped til pieces of their skulls fall off.

Elsewhere: Ann Coulter has called Democratic wins "the last throes of a dying party." Listen to her. These people are always reliable when they talk about last throes.

There are 2 functions of the Dems. First we have the more conservative dems - whose job is to keep placate the South. These Dems aren't our cup of tea here in Cali, but those people over there aren't going to swallow the Feinsteins and Boxers. They aren't progressive by our standards, but they are progressive by their standards. So while we might not like em, conservative-dems are better than losing more of those states to neo-cons.

The second function of the Dems is to be progressive by our California super-liberal standards. And in this aspect, the Dems have been lacking. But to be fair, the general American population has been lacking in BOLD progressive vision for a while. We too often blaim the politicians, but they can only sell what the people want to buy. Most people don't like gay marriage. Most people don't care about global warming. Most people still think the US should spend more on the military than on education and health care.

Its not that the Dragon Lady doesn't care, its just that there's not a whole lot Nancy can say to convince people that real change is needed. It really is up to the us citizens to help influence the thinking of other Americans. The system fails becuase we want people like Nancy to fix everything for us. But change is a 2 part effort - the politicians, and the people. When the people don't just dream about change, but really honestly live change, and preach change, then the politicians can be more effective in bringing it about. People are just lazier, and we want Kerry or Kennedy to just wave a magic wand rather than do our part as citizens.

Politicization.

I went back and looked it up.

I am a good boy.

-he

CHRIS: Precious! Le mot juste!

KOS: Not sure it's "politicisation" (or however it should be spelt). This is Big Time, and I'd find it MORE troubling were these bright and clicking conversationalists NOT batting it back and forth. After all, even here, you cannot talk about me ALL the time. Eventually, even the godhood represented by my multifarious self might grow moribund. Imfuckingprobable, I know, but commonsense and self-effacement force to note the preceding.

It's part of the intellectual landscape around here; and even if it weren't de rigeuer, holy geeeezus, kiddo, what a great thumpin' week it's been for those of us who have suffered through the last twelve years or so.

Now, the job falls to us, to hold the Dem's feets to the fire and let them understand that we did not shoot one lame pony in the head just to saddle up and ride off into the sunset astride some swaybacked jackass. "He who serves the State best, opposes the State the most." Henry David Thoreau.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Man, Oh, Man ...
Am I glad I missed the spoiler for THE PRESTIGE. That probably would have killed me. MEMENTO was my favourite film of the last ten years, and so far as I'm concerned, Christopher Nolan can do no wrong. Rick, baby, I owe you big time for your timely edit.

Listen, fellow cinephiles. Please. Busy people can't always get to the friggin' theatre during a movie's first weeks. And some of us live in places with, at best, one crappy multiplex. There are a billion forums on the web where you can go to rap about the movie you saw twenty minutes ago, so--go there! Or may your partner dump ya.

D.

Mike - That IS bad. I broke up with my first boyfriend over "The Empire Strikes Back." We had gone on opening day, when we left the theater there were probably over a hundred people standing in line for the next show. This jackass says REAL loud, "Wow, can you believe that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalkers dad?" He laughed and laughed, he thought he was so funny. People were threatening his life. He probably would have gotten his ass kicked, except I guess no one wanted to lose their place in line. Talk about being too stupid to live.
Needless to say, I saw no future in the relationship and broke up with him that night.

Chris

Spoilers
My favorite/worst story about spoilers.

20 years ago my wife and I were watching Citizen Kane on local tv. At about the halfway point, the local movie expert (the host of the show) explained "Rosebud". My wife had never seen the movie.

I learned from someone else's wrongness.

Mike

Support
KOS, for what it's worth, I agree with you. I'd find politics more interesting if I saw more people with actual original, well thought opinions on politics instead of parroting mass media news angles.

If the Dems come into power I'd like to see them do it on a platform of something other than "we're not them." They can't last when they're strength is simply being the perceived lesser of two evils. Isn't that the position the Reps were in a while back?

The personal corruption can be found on both sides so in a political sense they cancel each other out. So yes, I vote, but it's because I try to block out the rhetoric and the personalities and vote on what I think may happen on most of the issues I think are important.

What really makes me ill is seeing some blue blood politician from the deep Massachusetts announce what Americans like me want. How the hell does he know? That kind of disconnect forces one on me and the end result, like KOS says, is a turning off of TV news, a shunning of newspapers and news magazines, and concentration of my family and the things that I can make sense of in my daily life.

It might be different if the Dems were really different from the Republicans, but after more than four decades of life on this planet, I've been around for both and what really changes based on whose got the majority? Not a whole lot; the checks and balances of the government help see to that.

mea culpa
Sorry kids... the film's been out so long I momentarily forgot that any salient comment on an elaborate narrative can be annoying. Not being much of a horror buff, I've never been bothered by "spoilers" myself. There is always so much more going on in a well-crafted film than the storyline. If knowing a plot killed more than the most superficial enjoyment of a movie then no one would ever bother going to film adaptations of famous books or plays. Nevertheless, in deference to the many who disagree, it shall not happen again!

Ales, ALex, Alex. KOS are my initials, not a temporary name.

I have no indignation at the politicization of a website. I just commented on said politicization. You do seem indignant at something though.

You are well and truly smitten with the political bug, and insist it is all to the well and good.

You might be right.

I ain't taking part in an argument on it. That's a mug's game.
When I fund my foundation, however, it will happily fund your indignation so long as it opposes the powers that be of the moment. Let them fight each other in Washington, and while they are distracted I shall live my life in liberty and peace.

Now there's a concept.

First, a moment--not of silence, but of respectful regret--for the passing of Ed Bradley. A classy guy, a music-lover, and above all--a REPORTER. In a world of perky talking heads Botoxed beyond humanity enshrouding perky little brains trivialized beyond reality, that is a feat, sadly enough.



But to the poster who took on the temporary name of "KOS"--YES, politics matter.

I just spent the better art of a week working all hours of the day and night--aside from my regular work duties (yes, I am at work now, but I'm posting on my break time)--working politics to ensure that good WILL come of it. Not just working to ensure that certain pols are elected, but to ensure that, once elected or re-elected, those pols will turn their heads and think about the 6,000 workers I represent and the issues germane to their continued employment and well-being. As we are federal workers, it makes the politicking all the more important, as these newly-crowned legislators are, after all, our bosses.

Still and all, it cannot be forgotten that those politicians in turn are employed by US, and serve at OUR two-year or six-year whim. Their job, to put it simply, is to work in any number of directions to directly better all of OUR lives.

But if you decry the temporary politicizing of this board, muse upon this:
Is the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in any way lessened because of the omnipresent political commentary contained within? Is Harlan's work, sufused as it has always been with social comment and on occasion outrage any less important because of that subtextual theme?

Hell, no.

Harlan has often quoted Mario Vargas Llosa's comment that writers are the exorcists of their own demons. But they are more than that--writers are not only mere chroniclers and entertainers, they are the canaries in the coal mine of our society, showing us what ails us all. That can be social, sexual, political--or, even, all three.

And before you grudgingly concede my point or even try to dispute it, thnk on this little bon mot dropped yesterday by a man who, it is certain, will never be known for his writing skill:

"What's different today is that the election is over--and the Democrats won."

That was our own Chief Executive, explaining his decision to finally kick Donald Rumsfeld to the curb.

Knock that one around in your head for a while. What that tells us is that the man entrusted with the greatest measure of power in the world feels that, hey; it's okay to be the architect of a failed military campaign; it's all right to be the planner of an unplanned war; it's just hunky-dory to have borne the most responsibility (save for Bush' own) for the wasted deaths of three thousand young Americans and anywhere from fifty to one hundred thousand innocent Iraqi civilians ... as long as your political party wins.

And you waste your indignation on the politicization of a WEBSITE?!?

Awards and Rewards
Harlan's honoraria are exactly that: honors bestowed upon him by admirers of his work. It's a way for the faculty of a college/university/school to design and define themselves, by recognizing those people with whom they want to associate. Kind of like the invitations to a fancy dinner party. There are those you are hoping will impress the rest of the guests, and those guests you are hoping to impress.

This is why you will find it unlikely Mark Foley will receive further academic recognition for his work, while Harlan likely may.

Some take it more seriously than others, but it makes for a nice plaque upon the wall -- were it not impossible for Susan to find any such wallspace any more.

(Hmmmm. Is this why Ellison Wonderland is getting a new wing???)
________________________________________

Rumsfeld is out, and as a side note I'm told by people who know these things that the senior military leadership is almost weeping with relief.

Additional bit of good news from ye olde Washington Post:
"Bolton unlikely to win Senate approval"
________________________________________

Now that the schadenfreude is dying away, we shall see how things shake out. Like an ungainly cruise ship, Washington has a momentum about it which discourages anything but more of the same, regardless which party thinks it has the rudder.

Oh, shit, Ed Bradley, of Sixty Minutes died! I really liked him, really classy fella, wonderful interviewer. Really sad about this one. That stop watch needs to be put on a velvet pillow in repast. The good ones keep dying on us.

---------

Harlan, a tangelo in the moosh? You really made me smile there. You get a mint on your pillow, fella.

Awards are piffle. All you need is the gold star in your soul.

Brian:

“The resignation of Rumsfeld was a pleasant surprise.”

Listen – I was laughing my ass off.

It had only been a few days prior when Bush smugly announced that Rumsfeld would be at his side to the end of his term.

Within a few hours of the Democrats’ victory, and, apparently, a quick phone call from Nancy Pelosi...Rumsfeld GOES. (I tend to wonder if Schwarzenegger set the example - to "dignify" the strategy of making concessions to the other side - in order to take an election; I'll bet they DID look at that)

How gallant.

How professional.

How magnanimous.

...these guys know NO shame.

Bush and his cronies are such sniveling, double-dealing little cowards. Smarmy little cowards, whose hands, btw, are covered with FAR more innocent blood than Hussein’s EVER were (in other words, there should be MORE than one noose up there).

Y’know who Bush reminds me of? Depending on how well you remember SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, he reminds me of Captain Hadley – that psychotic prison guard who’d smashed lots of heads mercilessly but, when finally caught up with and arrested, broke down crying. I mean – really – we’re seeing a SWARM of Duke Cunninghams there in Washington – who, ONLY when sentenced, weep and concede their errors.

There’s no end to the shame. No end to the self-satire.

We’re witnessing a "leadership" here who will declare, “we support our TROOPS”, while handing bed pans to the soldiers to use as chest armor. The kind o’guys who’d dump sewage spill in a kid’s inflatable pool if it meant another buck. The acumen to nuke Iran and THEN send in an inspection team to “find” evidence of a nuclear program.

It would be even MORE hysterical...if it weren’t SUCH an embarrassment.

Hopefully, we're bringing integrity back to Washington come January.

Yes, Rick. It's pretty obvious upon watching, but no sense in killing the little darlin's fun.
--------------------
Ed Bradleyis gone. Balance in all things, i suppose.

The Prestige
Someone please tell me if Cooper's comment spoils something in the movie. Because if so, (a) I need to remove it and (b) jesus fucking christ.

JOHN GREENAWALT:

I think ... uh ... three. Hard to remember, since -- once you (or, at least, when I) get an "honorary" -- I sort of file it and forget it, onaccounta they don't really mean anything solid in the Real World. They're nice; honest to pete they're nice; I'm not disrespecting such parchments; and they make you feel all puffed-up for a few minutes when you get'm; but essentially they're just mufti; insubstantial; pomp and circumstance; well-intentioned bunting intended more to make the dour institution presenting it seem weighty than to institutionalize s/he to whom the degree has been presented. Show your Honorary Degree at a Starbuck's, and they will NONETHELESS insist you pay for your latte. They're not even akin to Awards, because those, at least, are signposts indicating you still have the cojones to pull the plow. Honorary Degrees are some institution's way of saying "we like you, and we think you're of some value amid the ravening hordes." Which is swell. Lotsa better than, say, getting a putrescent tangelo in the moosh. But unless you are one of those jamooks who comes to believe his/her own publicity about what a "national treasure" you are (like poor Scott Fitzgerald) a hundred thousand "Honorary Degrees" ain't one ego-swell worthier than a single intelligent review from a sharp critic who tells you your chops haven't gone dull.

Is that a sufficient response to the query?

Yr. pal, (Dr.) Harlan Ellison (Grand Master)(Great Poobah)

The Prestige
for MIKE JACKA:

Yep. I told ya!! Despite the final improbability of (movie spoiler removed - Ed.)

How many honorary degrees does Harlan have?

Sympathies to Chuck Messer for his loss.

===
"I vote with great care, and double-check what I've done."

High five to Castro.
===

The notion that it was planned for Rummy the Mummy to announce his resignation after the election is bogus. If he was going to go anyway, Bush would have made him announce his resignation weeks before the election. There could have been a slim, but plausible chance the Senate would still be under Imperial control if Donald said ciao then. Bush was already denouncing "Stay the course"; was already saying he was changing tactics, and making changes militarily. It would not have been that odd for him to also toss in Rummy's resignation.

No, this wasn't about master plans, this was the doing of the Dragon Lady. I don't know what she did, but I like it.

The only way this week could get better is if the Pope announced that his whole deal is a ruse, told people to worship the Earth, then proclaimed General Sherman (1487 cubic metres of Holiness) the new Pope.

But alas, that is even beyond the Dragon Lady's power.

Well, I'm off to the state of Washington for my stepfather's funeral. Mel Hundahl was a good man, who was just the right guy for my mom to meet after the death of my first stepfather, Hugh. I didn't get to know Mel as well as I would have liked, being over a thousand miles away and not being able to afford to travel for five years.

But I liked him. I liked him a lot and I know he'll be missed by me and by everyone who knew him. My regular Dad is still alive, thank God, but this makes Mom a widow twice over.

My flight leaves tomorrow.

And as for November 7th: It's still the US of A, baby!

Sail on, sail on, oh mighty ship of state,
To the shores of need, past the reefs of greed,
Through the squalls of hate.
Sail on, sail on, sail on...

~Leonard Cohen

Chuck

Okay, it's good that the country cleaned a lot of right-wing deadwood out of the Congress, and that both houses are now hel;d by the slightly nicer party. The resignation of Rumsfeld was a pleasant surprise.

But the job hasn't even started. I'd love it if the Democrats got busy on repairing the country, but I'm not exactly expecting them to take a severe initiative on the project.

But, I'd like to draw your attention to journalist David Corn's piece at his blog (http://www.davidcorn.com, natch) wherein he outlines where Speaker Pelosi (and, I guess, her counterpart in the Senate) can get started. It's one thing to merely _hope_ for improvement, but it's a lot more hopeful when there's an agenda to apply.

"The good news is this: In the House, they can start approving legislation immediately and can initiate investigations. Pelosi has already promised that within the first hundred hours, her Democrats will approve bills that raise the minimum wage, increase funding for homeland security, lower interest rates on student loans and permit the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices. If she pulls this off--with or without a Democratic Senate (where opposition party members can easily block legislation)--she will be able to demonstrate to the public that the Democrats are serious and worth supporting."

After seeing the new Scorcese movie, The Departed, I was ready to crown it Movie Of The Year (for whatever my opinion is worth).

Then I saw Babel. Afterwards, I totally blanked on Scorcese's name. Like a girlfriend you never thought you'd ever get over.... ten years past. Babel was that good. It seemed ridiculous for me to proclaim it as Movie Of The Year, but like finally finding that girl who erases all the love tragedies of the past, how could I resist?

Today, I saw Borat.

Oh, man.

I'm never leaving the house again.

The Prestige
Loved it. Best movie I've seen in a long time.

Further deponent sayeth not.

Mike

For Josh
Thanks for the recommendation; ate at Great India last night and it was indeed excellent.

Witchcraft
DTS,

Actually, it's worth noting that the Christian Bible (as opposed to the Hewbrew/Judaism Bible) has only one additional verse on witchcraft, which I've read many a place would probably be better translated as 'poisoner' (someone who brews 'potions' to hurt another), anyway.

As for the Hebrew Bible, witchcraft A) seems to mean different things according to context, b) lacks a specific definition, and c) Utterly lacks the cultural context to be referring to the common defintion of witchcraft, which usually incorporates things that wouldn't particularly exist at the time those books were written.

As far as black magic goes, I've never known anyone who sacrificed babies--most Wiccans I've known have been much more interested in energies and auras and ley lines and whatnot. But, some friends of mine would be disappointed to know that their self-described practice of curses and other black magic makes their existence invalid. ;)

Wow
This board more and more resembles a blog-space on DailyKOS than something ostensibly for discussing Harlan Ellison's writings. Did Howard Dean dose you all with some of his famous medications?

But at least Frank won't be sawing his throat. Put the cutlery away Frank, for at least another two years.

The greatest lie of modern times is that politics really matters in our daily lives. Nancy Pelosi doesn't give a fuck about you. Neither does George Bush. It's all about power, and ego.

Now go ballistic on my ass and tell me it matters. You might be right. I ain't gonna feed your ego by indulging your taste for argumentation.

I'm gonna pay my bills and make another hundred thousand or two, then give half of it to some shit for brains foundation that will advocate whatever the dominant political party hates. If such a foundation doesn't exist, I will then found and fund the "Shit For Brains Foundation, Inc."

Balance of power, and I can live my life in peace.

What do y'all think of "The Prestige"?

Your honey? That's sweet, Unca Harlan, really. Good love is a hard thing to unearth.

Your honey got her reward for her hard work. Dem's done killed some GOP ass. Rancid, rat, Virginie Hamhead won't concede, but o' course, Gore and Kerry were whiners if they complained, and their elections were actually stolen.

----------

My boy Greg Palast better clean that egg from his face. He predicted a big stolen election. There may have been thrown away ballots, but the election seems fairly clean, beyond the electronic trickery. Watch, this will make republicans--if you can find any--rethink electronic voting. haha.

Bye Santorum, ya Nazi idiot. Bringing dead babies home muthafucka. Read the bible verse about humility and kiss my ass.

My Socialist, wonderkind, Bernie Sanders wins. A Jew, and a radical. He needs to bitchslap Leiberman for us. The dem's should shun that backstabbing fucker.

Connie Burns, bye ya montana turkey. Corrupt lil puptent wacker. Find some of your gun lovin pals and go mass suicide for me, kay.

Jim Webb, slap the smile from that evil George Allen.

Is the left back?

-----------

Dorman, please don't say that. The people are not dumb, that is an elitist cannard. They are marginalized from politics and propagandized, different animal then them being stupid. They don't feel they have a stake in who wins or loses. Blame that on the Dems, they deserve that, from straying from their progressive agenda. Just, no more of that dumb stuff. They believe in our issues, they just don't know it.

"It was a thumpin," said George this morning. Yup, Shrubya. It was. No more blank checks for you, bunkie.

And so long, Rummy. Don't let the Wilson Bridge dimple your tuchas on the way out. Take Dick "the Fudd" Cheney with you, huh?

So the Senate comes down to my current home state of Virginny. I voted Webb. Lesser of two evils? Yeah, Webb being an old Reagan man and all. But Allen is a train wreck, and completely aside from being a close friend of Shrubya, his campaign evidenced very little personal character. The "macaca" incident and the attempt to peg Webb as unfit to lead based on so-called "objectionable" sexually-explicit passages in his war novels were very telling; but the goofy, self-serving paid commercial in which he rambled on for several minutes of double-speak and fallacy was the icing on the mud pie.

To co-opt Ernie Banks, let's take two!

Now what?
Sundries:
Tom Morgan~ At least they ARE reading. I do not have the patience of a saint, but I’ll give anyone an extra minute to actually learn what the hell they’re doing, even late. Nathan’s got it right, second thoughts require thinking, period. I’ll vote for that.
And yes, I am one with you in the grocery line when the person had 20 minutes before they reached the register to fill out their check, they wait for the total, THEN they pull out the macramé check holder and start to fill it out. Heads should, in a perfect world, roll. Thanks for voting.

Ezra, I hear you loud. My fiancée’s gal pal Britt was imprisoned as a sex-offender at 18 by an angry father of a 17 yr old daughter whom he would not accept as gay. Britt was my co-worker, is my friend and she will make you laugh for hours. Now she has a permanent record as “sex-offender” under Tx law, with all the lovely askew glances that may immediately connotate and I understand it’s the laws in place, etc, but what it’s about is toleration by Neanderthals and I ranted for years about this, and I’m doing it again and it makes me so irrationally angry, I was worse off than she was. She had to tell ME: let it go, dude. I can’t even construct a coherent sentence structure thinking about this. Thanks for voting.

Harlan, I understand Steve McQueen’s memorabilia will go to auction on Sat. Wondering if you’ve a mind to go. Maybe they’ll sell a hat. Thanks for voting.

Volunteer thanx to Susan. I would love to hear that lilt explaining to a fresh voter how all this works. [I wrote ‘how this all works’. Ye gods, new job, first day off, voting result day for a political junkie, information overload, please forgive. I have no idea what I’m doing] Thanks for voting.

Wyatt~ I just wanted to give you props and genuine all around thanks for the service you do, crap you fix, aggravation you put up with and the dearth of rewards you get from it. Patience must be its own virtue, ‘cause it sure as hell doesn’t lower yer blood pressure.
I have no idea what you wrote, but thanks all the same. Thanks for voting. (if so.)

So we have to wait til Nov. 27 for the VA results? (shades of the past?)

Leiberman?

TX got Perry, duh. I swear, sometimes I wonder why I bother. I want- I WANT- to believe that if enough people vote for a 3rd party, an independent, anydamnthing besides the status quo of the 2 party system, it can grow a grassroots uprising to get corporate oligarchy out of our politics. Bush is still there, so perhaps we’ll get to see this interesting interplay of “checks and balances” i’ve been hearing about. Like others, I feel the mixed blessing is the yo-yo match: Proposals to curb – vetoes – compromise – line item – review - …. Wait a minute… this stuff might actually work.
A boy can dream can’t he?
I feel like Whitman’s “multitudes” , a cynical optimist. Not quite as strange as an anarchist urging others to vote. Love you, Frankie. Smooch.
=============================================
On two irrelevant notes:
1) I am in need of a good autobiography on ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok. I am looking for real info, preferably by family or someone who knew him; about his life, the shows, something comprehensive, a couple of books- there’s just so much info. I figured this is the place to go for help. A recommendation or two would be tremendously appreciated. My story lagged, Bill entered; now, research is daunting, and the whole thing is on hold until I get it right. Thanks in advance.
2) Does anyone know if there is an actor playing Robert Kennedy in the movie Bobby? I don’t see any listing for one, just curious if it was filmed unobtrusively around him. Admittedly too lazy to look.

Anyone else care to comment on why they did NOT vote, if such is the case? Not trying to stir a shitstorm, just curious. George Carlin aside, it’s a great way to interact, on all levels, with people. If you like that sort of thing.

Looking forward to some semblance of rationality at least attempting to reign in the insanity, not expecting a grand change but hoping for parity in damage, waiting and aiding the revolution as I can,
Paul

Disclaimer: Do not attempt to hedge your bets in local elections on your own. I am a trained professional.
-------------------------

P.S. I just saw the Rumsfield news. If he stayed, Pelosi wouldn’t want to bring him up on war crime charges would she? MT went D, and the sun is shining on a cool, breezy day in Austin, TX. Life could be much, much worse.
One state…. The mind boggles, spins, falls.
Paul

The Story on Rummy
Hey, Adam-Troy, the answer to your question is "none of the above." George W(here's-muh-brains?)Bush's plans have included dumping ol' Rummy for some time, now. It always astounds me how "loyalty" is listed as a trait of this White House. Bullshit. Ya fuck up their plans and yer gone (fuckin up the world and anything else is just fine). Dubya decided that the Democrats' BIG WIN was a good time to drop the ax, thereby making it look as if he is, indeed, "changing course," even though VP Dick's oil assets will continue to be protected for at least another two years; furthermore, it gives him the opportunity to upstage the Democrats in the news, and a chance to change the subject so he doesn't have to act contrite or magnanimous (not that he knows how to do either).

Congratulations friends, on sending the rats packing! And a great big "Thank You" on behalf of the rest of the world. We share in your joy.


Interesting that you vote on individual issues as well. Up here, we vote for the candidate, and the canditate alone. Or rather, the candidate's party. So the ballot is the size of cue-card, and voting takes a good ten seconds. Hopefully, there is a party which reflects your own beliefs.

I can see the advantages of your system, despite the complications. Though I much prefer the multi-party system.

Congrats again,

-Steve E.

Congratulations friends, on sending the rats packing! And a great big "Thank You" on behalf of the rest of the world. We share in your joy.


Interesting that you vote on individual issues as well. Up here,

Heh!
Even Somebody who should be up against the wall can still see the handwriting on it.

Rumsfeld's resigning.

How much do you think that has to do with hoping that they won't come after him, now?

Gad, this is satisfying.

(BTW: It takes me a LONG time to emerge from the voting booth. My wife, who is far better informed than I am on the judicial, county, and resolution levels, is one-two-three done. I vote with great care, and double-check what I've done.)

yesterday
Harlan- My wife feels your pain about losing a spouse to the polls. I put in a 20 hour day between pollmanaging, roving to other precincts fixing minor glitches and calling in results for the AP, on a rare mutual day off. SC did not do as well as the rest of the USA, but I'm pleased by the decent turnout and by the good guys taking the House back. Now for Montana and VA to get their S@$T together and give us the Senate. Thanks to Susan and all the other folks who let this election go off fairly smoothly and to all the folks who voted.

Also, the stickers are coming to the Library's graphic novel collection, but hopefully they will merely boost the circ numbers, resulting in more $$ to order them.

The Real Benefit From the Dems Win
I don't expect the new Congress to actually accomplish any meaningful legislation, Bush will veto everything, but you can bet they won't be rubberstamping the President's proposals the way their predecessors did. Even though the election results were a definite repudiation of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, there is little Congress can do if the President insists on 'staying the course."

But I believe that the primary benefit of a Democratic congress is that the last two year's of Mr. Bush's presidency will be fruitless. And that's enough for me. The erosion of human rights and national prestige that marked his first six years should finally be over. And if some of the President's worst policies (the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act and the domestic eavesdropping, for instance) do end up being overruled by the Supreme Court, the new Congress should pass more reasonable and constitutional versions of the legislation.

The Sadness of King George
Yesterday was proof that the bad guys don't ALWAYS win. That said, I can't call the conquest of the House--and maybe the Senate--a Democratic victory as much as a Republican loss. The scandals in the Republican Congress, coupled with the fall from grace of the Rev. Ted Haggard, probably caused some in the Religious Right to think that the law firm of Yahweh, Jesus, & Holy, the Friendly Ghost, has turned against them. Maybe it has.

I was sorry that Joe Lieberman won in Connecticut, as he's little more than a neocon in Democratic clothing. In a perfect world, Lieberman would be a Republican, and Lincoln Chafee, the ONLY Republican in the Senate to vote against authorization for the war with Iraq, would be a Democrat. But perfect it ain't, and Lieberman is in and Chafee is out.

No doubt Rush Limbaugh is popping an extra helping of Oxycontin this morning, not only because of the loss of the House, but also because Amendment 2 passed--barely--in Missouri. A high five for Michael J. Fox! The harsh anti-abortion law proposed in South Dakota also went down in defeat--bravo! On the negative side, several states approved laws banning gay marriage. Hey, this is politics: half a loaf is better than none.

So, while the sadness of King George will not be on display publicly, you can bet he cried in his (near?) beer last night. Having as his primary opponent a "San Francisco liberal" will no doubt rankle him. I'm just hoping that the Democrats will allow Conyers, Waxman, etc., to get on with some serious investigations of the past six years of folly.

Gentlemen, start your subpoenas!

California voted pretty dependably, though Arnold will continue to be Governator. He vows that the state will become a model of bipartisanship. Isn't that what Bush said six years ago, about working with the Congress???

Sadly, the oil companies once again "sold" Californians on maintaining Big Oil's profit margins. Just goes to show that a good advertising campaign and $100M can convince good people to do stupid things.
___________________________________________

It's my genuine wish that things now will be different, and they may be, but at least one quote from Fox News this morning (interviewing a Rep rep I won't disclose) involved asking how the Republicans can ensure this will be a "lame duck" Congress with Dems in charge. The pundit then laughed "I'm kidding, only kidding" while the congressman began seriously answering the question.

Another paraphrased comment, from an analyst, went something like: "Business considers gridlock in Washington good. It limits the damage that can be done."
___________________________________________

On the other hand... "So the news is that now he is cheesed as all hell."


Our work here, for the moment, is done.

line breaks fixed
Sorry, I took line breaks out of the preview because putting those BRs into the comments box was not only annoying it was causing the anti-spammer code to fire. I fixed it by moving the code that does this so it doesn't mess up the preview display.

I also put in code yesterday to log when we have a spammer try to make a post with HTML. As of this morning 7 attempts have been blocked and no posts have made it through. We'll see if the line holds or if the virus adapts...

"and watch you stand in the booth for about a 15 minute average"

I take a long time. Not 15 minutes, but not 2-3 either. In between. Why? Becuase it's different when just pondering the choice at home and actually filling in the little bubble. When it's GO time, suddenly the weight of what I am about to do kicks in, and I think all my dicisions over one more time. Yes sometimes, I even change my mind at the last minute. So while many people are taking their time becuase they didn't prepare for election, some take their time becuase....

Voting is serious and it is not supposed to be a quicky "Wham Bam you know the rest". Your party doesn't get extra points for you being a fast caster. Besides you should savour the experience... sniff the felt pens, etc etc.

"After giving my name and address (no ID offered or asked for)"

People don't ask for ID in my area. It's just not done here. There isn't any community outrage about it. And there hasn't been any reported cases of fraud. Maybe it is healthier that we (its a small city - if we were big I would feel different.) just trust each other.

"Gay couples cannot conceive children, and I suspect most of them would choose not to adopt."

You are right, but a growing number of us do want to adopt or have have kids biologically (by finding a friend of the opposite sex who would be willing to help out). As a gay man I want to thank people for voting against that gay marriage bans in states where it was an isse this election. Sure they didn't pass, but atleast we tried. We'll keep up the good fight.

Appearently nobody told Bush that the House was going to fall. So while the rest of America knew for weeks what to expect, it was a total surprise to our master. So the news is that now he is cheesed as all hell.

Only 98% has been reported in but it looks like Pombo is gone and McNerney is in.

Not Dead Yet, But Wounded

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms my beamish boy!
O frabjous day, Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

So, the beast let out a bellowing roar before it fell to the floor of the oval office writhing in pain. The vorpal blade of Democracy had but nicked the beast, but for a creature so accustomed to the impervious protections of power it must have felt as though a mortal blow had been dealt.


Calm yourself Paul, after all they are only Democrats. After seeing nothing but bad news for so long this is a relief. I hope Allen get's Maccaca'd then someone can tell him, "Welcome to America".

Results From the Parallel State
CHRIS: Although the paper said the Stem Cell measure was passing, the newscasts I caught -- and the goofy scrolling information down below -- all showed the Stem Cell measure losing by one or two percent. _Now_ those same outlets show otherwise. With hands thrown (gleefully) up in the air, I'll admit to being happy if I was wrong.

But I still stand by my earlier statement about the mass of men (and women) and mass stupitidy in the electorate. How else to explain the deep hole the middle class has allowed their elected officials to dig where the State of the Union (economy, etc., etc) is concerned? And how else to explain all the "squeaker" votes? (There are _still_ a lot of ignorant and superstitious folks walking around out there -- and on two feet, no less!)
--DTS (In self-imposed exile for three days -- or the next national or statewide election, whichever comes first).

I was in line yesterday morning at 6:50 AM to vote, and the line was already almost out to the street. While I am very pleased with the results of yesterday's election, even if the Democrats take both Virginia and Montana (both of which seem likely), they still will not have true control of the Senate because I do not trust Lieberman to vote with the Democrats on any major issue.


However, an under-appreciated aspect of the Dems taking the Senate would be the Dems being able to appoint Committee heads. Much of the key work in Congress is done through these Committees and if one controls them one can control many of the finer details of running a government.

Susan, Volume 1 of the CD collection arrived yesterday and I cannot express how much I enjoyed listening to Harlan read "Repent, Harlequin" while watching the election results roll in.

I am kicking myself for not ordering Volume 2. If Kristin does not want it (or if you magically find another copy of the CDs around), I would buy it in an instant.

As a Marylander, I look across the Potomac on this rainy post-election morning and shake my head ruefully.

I don't care if Virginia voters believe that homosexuality is wrong. But I do care that they fell for the bullshit propaganda about straight marriage needing "protection" from gay marriage. Would someone please explain to me how gay marriages are supposed to "intentionally create motherless families and fatherless families"? Gay couples cannot conceive children, and I suspect most of them would choose not to adopt. Do gay marriage opponents believe that gay marriage would tempt straight married people to abandon their families and run off with gay lovers? That's the only conclusion I can make from their rhetoric.

Also, following the Ted Haggard scandal, Harper's made its 2005 article about Haggard available on its Web site:

http://www.harpers.org/SoldiersOfChrist-20061103288348488.html

Election Results From the Show-Me State
HARLAN: Ask, and ye shall receive. A Democratic Senator, finally. It was something of a squeaker, but that simply reflects the the dead horse I've been beating for the last 20 years: that organized religion (Christian churches for the most part) and Fox News have made the mass of men (and women) much more stupid and sheep like: ready to follow the lead and words and beliefs of their pastors and favorite media pundits.

CHRIS: You're obviously living in a parallel universe Show-me State (either that or I am). Why didn't the Stem Cell measure pass? See the above explanation. Those Religious leaders and Fox News types are the ones who convinced a majority of voters that the Stem Cell measure would result in human cloning.

When my daughter was five, a neighbor, whose 10-year-old daughter often played with mine, came over to make sure my daughter wasn't a practicing witch (my wife had invented a make-believe game, telling my daughter that the thunder and lightning so prevalent in Mid-western storms _wouldn't_ hurt her due to a "magic bubble" my wife had put up around the house; because my 5-year-old daughter asked when she would get such powers, my wife goofily said it would happen on her 16th birthday, etc. etc. My daughter liked to share that "fact" with the just about anyone way back when, including the mother of her 10-year-old friend). That incident happened in 1995. Bad enough that there were relatively smart people in the late 19th century who actually believed in witches and witchcraft as the _Christian bible_ and religion defines them (no need to defend Wiccans, here). Flash forward to 2006, three days ago. I was at a supermarket, wearing a "hoodie" that has a Wiccan symbol on it, with the words, Salem, Massachusetts printed below it. Obviously something I bought in the city of Salem, Massachussetts, doing the tourist thing with my daughter, learning about history and seeing the sights (and sites). So the cashier at the supermarket asks, "Do they really do spells and stuff like that in Salem. Are they really witches?" I tired to explain to her that the sort of thing she was thinking of was hocus-pocus, that while some of the township practiced the harmless Wiccan religion, no one was sacrificing small babies at midnight or casting black magic spells. She began to defend her belief in witches and witchcraft, and asked why, if I didn't believe in it, I was reading the book in my hand: BROTHER ODD by Dean Koontz. The figure on the front is a robed and hooded _monk_.

Organized Religion+fundamentalism=willful ignorance and (in my book) stone-cold stupidity.
--DTS

Yesterday the lines were very long at the polls. I waited in line for an hour. I vote in every election, no matter how "small". This was the best turnout I have seen in years. Thank goodness the Stem Cell research bill passed. I can't tell you how surprised I am that reason prevailed here since
it doesn't usually work out that way.

Take care everyone.

At this point it seems the Demos have the House and two races are left which will decide the Senate.

What tempers my relief is the fact that after all the excitement what we wind up with is a bunch of...Democrats.

The goods news is that the religious bigot, scumbag Rick Santorum was defeated. The bad news is that foolish voters in Virginia have corrupted one of the oldest Bill of Rights in a state legislature with anti-homosexual bigotry by passing an anti-gay marriage amendment.

Some of my friends can't understand why a hetero would feel so strongly abouot this issue but I was born and raised in the American south during the African-American Civil Rights era and I regard gay rights as this generation's civil rights issue.

Still Waiting...
It is now 2:25 am EST, waaaaayy past my betime and I am listening to NPR's live coverage of yesterday's election results...

Although I could probably tune in now and find out froma a local station, I am dreading the results of Ohio's 2nd Congrssional district race. When I last heard, aboud 12:30 am, Dr. Victoria Wulsin( a former public health officer) was trailing that cheerleading, ill mannered, mudslinging, low-life bitch named Jean Schmidt, who insulted the honorable Rep. John Murtha on the floor of the House of Represenatives by calling him a coward a year ago, one of the single most despicible acts EVER committed in American politics.

I go to sleep now, hoping against hope that she lost and that something approaching civility and cooperation can be established in the House and Senate.

Chris Barkley

Long Lines
Sorry folks, I have to vent on this one. I agree that long lines indicate a lot of voters, which is a good thing. I think turnout percentage is a source of shame in this country. But I have to point out that the length of the lines is not just a function of the number of voters. It also depends on how long each person is spending in the booth. Every time I go to vote I sit and wait in line. Which I wouldn't mind, it's a hugely important function and worth a wait. Then I notice that the people in the booths are pretty much standing there. They aren't moving their hands. They aren't making choices. They are FRIGGIN' READING!!!!.

HELLO!!!! McFLY!!!!!

They sent you a book explaining everything you are voting on. It even included the complete texts. And they sent you a thing called a SAMPLE BALLOT. So you can fill it out AHEAD OF TIME. So when you go to the polls you just have to punch the corresponding buttons (or touch the screen, or push down the ink pen, whatever).
But a lot of people just figure "Hey it's election day, let's go down to the polling location and vote". Figuring the whole process must take place there. The reading.....the deciding... And the rest of us sit, with our filled out ballots in our hands, and watch you stand in the booth for about a 15 minute average. So we can get a booth and do our business in about 2 or 3 minutes.
I realize that, as Harlan recently said, the level here is above average and most of you probably show up prepared. But the "long lines" comment, well intended as it was, touched a nerve (can you tell?).
Thanks for letting me vent. This really gets me every year.

p.s. Susan, Harlan says you worked a poll. Did you notice this, and if so does it drive you crazy too?

p.p.s. Rick, I did a preview. Have carriage returns been outlawed?

While the Hyades loom in our autumn skies...
Controversial revolt and political strife remain in the air.

So, inspired by Mr.Barber's earlier quote:

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."

I am prompted to recall that rebel slave Nat Turner's trial was also held on Nov. 5...and his execution on Nov. 11, was followed by his ceremonial and symbolic flaying by a local surgeon on Nov. 12th....

At Last!
The fateful day has at last arrived. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, holding tight to my rabbit's foot and four-leaf clover, and hoping that the Democrats will at least be able to take the House. Early returns indicate that Republican Sen. Rick Santorum will soon be seeking other employment, and that Bernie Sanders--a Socialist, no less!--was elected to the Senate. All good news.

On the bad news front: Britney Spears filed for divorce from K-Fed. Ah, the humanity!

Voting is.

I was very happy to arrive at the polls at 7 this morning to find a couple of dozen people there ahead of me. LOng lines are a good sign.

Are those snazzy computerized voting machines really necessary? Do we have to subject people to a course in computer science just so they can cast their ballots?

If (SNAZZY NEW VOTING METHOD)
then
NEW PROBLEMS / ISSUES / COMPLAINTS / AGGRAVATIONS = CERTAIN.

There's a simple method: Los Angeles' good ol' InkaBlot System.

I strolled into my LA precinct polling station early this morning. After giving my name and address (no ID offered or asked for), I was given a long card and told to insert it into a slot next to a booklet that listed all our various choices for Governor / Insurance Commissioner / Assistant to the assistant to the guy who brings the District 12 Appelate Judge his coffee, etc., (not to mention all those nifty propositions).

I flipped the pages, pressing a small appendage filled with ink into one or the other of various groups of tiny holes. Once finished (the repeated pressings vaguely reminding me of all that DIDN'T happen to me in high school), I lovingly carried the card to the fine gentlelady at the exit table, who asked me to insert the card into an ATM style slot, verifying that I had indeed voted correctly.

(Note the lame attempt at sarcasm / humor. The machine simply read the card and verified that I had indeed cast only one vote per issue / candidate / assistant coffee getter guy/girl.)

A woman ahead of me apparently had made a mistake, and she was asked to clarify -- not sure how since my eyes were averted. The same thing happened to Our Mayor, the inimitable Villaraigosa. Mine came out just fine (applause).

There were no "hanging chads," there was none of this "did I really vote for So and So or did I end up giving the nod to What's His Name?. It was simple, quick, and efficient. Like an Olympia.

Harlan,

There is a flattering reference to you in today's review of Cormac McCarthy's book, The Road, on All Things Considered. You can listen to it here. The reviewer says the book reads as though Samuel Beckett had dared himself to outdo Harlan Ellison.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6449817

Hawking Rubber Spines
I dun voted muh votes an hour ago.

Reiterating a concern I posted in the forum, I hope MOST states show better outcomes than California has in the gubernatorial races.

Here in this state we have Democrats who show little vision and imagination - who bring in a weak, flimsy, lifeless, geekish, uncharismatic, paint-by-the-numbers candidate in the person of Phil Angelitis to run against pop snake oil like Arnold.

It is perhaps the spinelessness the Democrats revealed in the debates that reflect Angelitis' lack of personality: Arnold would ONLY do a debate - ONE debate, mind you - if it were done on HIS terms, because he has poor debating skills. It would be done in brief question-answer, and Arnold essentially was allowed to follow a script (so that he could SOUND clever). Well...Angelitis submitted to the format. As a result, nothing substantive came out of the debate.

If they'd stuck it out and delivered the terms under which ANY debate should be conducted properly they could have made Schwarzenegger look very bad, given his low ratings at the time. This race required strategy on the Democrats part because they were up against SO much money. But they didn't have it, the assholes.

I'm totally disgusted. The Democrats are largely led by unimaginative wooden figures who are either determined to sabatage their own chances of winning, or are secretly there to subvert the party because, in reality, they themselves may FAVOR Arnold.

That seems to be the case in Hollywood, anyway - as Spielberg and Katzenberg went the other way and handed big money to Arnold.

And ALREADY we know that Schwarzenegger is vetoing a package of bills to regulate 500 professional conservators that handle over a billion in assets of seniors.

I believe we're going to be seeing the usual long string of deregulatory measures that will benefit big businesses and the wealthy, and the USUAL consequences in the long run.

I hope you all have smarter Democrats over in YOUR states...because we're stuck with wanna-be losers over HERE in California.

GIT yer rubber spines right here! GIT 'em while thar HOT! TAKE 'vantage of a blow-out sale while y'CAAAAAAAAAAN!

Does Susan get to wear a uniform?
She would would be so cute!

I voted at lunch, after researching the ballot initiatives exhaustively last night. We have 3 Virginia Constitutional Amendments, including Prop 1, which is to further supplement Virginia's 1957 definition of marriage as being between a man and woman, to include a stipulation forbidding the state to make any laws granting exceptions to that in the form "civil unions."

Man, these pricks are truely evil. Anti-people, anti-individual, and anti-freedom-of-religion (for there are plenty of churches which will marry same-sex couples here in VA).

Not proud to have to vote against it, but PROUD to vote against it.

-Keith "macaroni" Cramer

Susan is an Asst. Precinct Captain. Got up at 5 AM to get to the polling station. Works tirelessly, suffers idiots, gets almost no breaks. Won't be home till 10 tonight.

You muddlefuggers BETTER get out'n vote!

I don't suffer the absence of my honey for this long without it's pretty damn important. As Adam-Troy says, the Republic is in a fight for its life.

Harlan

David, you should have voted today, they are more likely to throw away your vote if you vote early, or at least that's what my boy Palast has to say.

----------

Cindy, I know you did the right thing, ok? Leave the dark side, my dear, leave the dark side. I will buy you a birthday cupcake; ride the snake to the lake, the ancient lake...

Ah, how's it goin?

Light kiss on cheek.

----------

Go vote or get a foot in yo ass. MC Frank got the Timberland earthquake for dat booty.

I'm not comfrortible voting early with the absentee ballot. There's always that chance that at the last minute theres something new I learn about a proposition or candidate which could alter my vote. Or likewise I could learn about a prop/candidate I had no opinion on and now I am informed enough on the issue to make a choice. You gots to be pretty informed to be able to vote early and I'm not quite at that point yet.

Plus I feel people are motivated to vote when they see masses at the polls. Its a small chance but someone might see my "I voted" sticker or see me walk to/from my poll and decided to cast their ballot too.

(But on the other hand in some areas, absentee ballots are the only secure ballots in a recount.)

I'm really concerned about wierd little computer trickery. Santorum yesterday gave a speech warning us liberals that while we might go to the polls in munbers, Neo-Cons run the voting machines. Was he joking? Was he serious? We find out late tonight.

Simmons / Election Day
Just completed reading, for review, of Dan Simmons' new novel, THE TERROR. The real-life 1845 expedition under the command of Sir John Franklin, comprising 135 men aboard the ships the Erebus and the Terror, gets frozen in place in the Arctic, while searching for the Northwest Passage. The real-life expedition eventually fell to tainted supplies, scurvy, and starvation. Simmons provides an exhaustively-researched (and frequently amazing) narrative of the disaster, but also posits a giant arctic monster, picking off the hapless explorers in groups of up to five at a time. The actual terrors experienced by the historical personalities almost dwarf the supernatural ones posited by Simmons. Worth checking out, upon its release in January.

Also happening:

In Utah, Daggett County reports that four times the local population has registered to vote.

In Florida, the machines have gone so haywire that some areas have returned to paper balloting. The same has happened to 175 of about 915 precincts in one Indiana county. An apparent "computer error" has prevented voters from voting at all in 75 precincts, most Democratic. Election officials are seeking a court order to keep the polls open.

There have also been delays in Ohio, where poll workers in Democratic precincts report that they can't get any of their voting machines to work.

Republican Robo-calling, hammering Democrat names in a feint that some say is designed to make voters infuriated with Democratic candidates, is causing outrage all over the country. The Washington Post writes, "An Ohio woman, who did not leave her name, called (us) in tears yesterday, saying she could not keep her phone line open to hospice workers caring for her terminally ill mother because of nonstop political robo-calls."

The Republic is in a fight for its life.

Cheney Watch
Thanks mucho Steve. Good thing I voted by mail because now I'm too scared to leave my house.

Although, in my house may be the most dangerous place to be. Now what, move to Canada?

good citizen, good boy


I am expressly NOT voting today





... I voted last week.

One of the great things about vote-by-mail is that if you vote early, the campaigns check the rolls and take you off their phone lists. We haven't been bothered by calls from campaigns or people pushing their stupid ballot measures at ALL.

Gotta say, the radio ads I heard the other day, for splitting up judges' seats into districts across the state, and for term limits -- both VERY bad ideas I voted "no" on -- were extremely seductive. We'll see if the dumber voters buy them.

(What Chuck said)

Okay kids, time to vote. Get off your backside and into line. If you're qualified to vote and don't, (pointing) there's the door...

There are already reports of irregularities in Ohio and Missouri -- including an attempt to "card" the Missouri Secretary of State.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________





PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
Vice President Dick Cheney is at large. He is armed and considered dangerous. If you see him, do not attempt to approach. If he sees you, stop, drop and remain completely still until he wanders away.

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

Daylight Savings Time
TOM: Don't know if anyone would consider it rational --and I truly don't know if it makes a difference in other time zones -- but here in the Midwest, Central Standard Time, when they roll back the clock it means the little kids standing outside waiting for a school bus don't do so in the dark. If I hadn't become a parent -- and experienced the diastrophic shift in my emotions, and my thinking (my priorities) that I used to hear about from parents who _truly_ love their kids -- I still would've said that's a good enough reason for me (because I still remember all of the injustices one has to suffer as a kid -- more than half the time at the hands of an "adult").
--DTS

Tom,
So politicians can play more golf.

;)
Cindy

Kristin:

I held a copy of the CD for you before they sold out. If you still want one...

Susan

Remember, Remember, the Seventh of November

Yeah, you all know what to do.

Hey, Rick, I've got the latest issue of Westword here that has an article on spammers hijacking the websites hosted on University of Colorado, Denver in order to sell Russian rape porn to college kids. So, you are in a similar position as a university. I hope you can get this under control in a way that will cut down on your workload.

Then you can get back to your life, maybe.

Chuck

Phone calls From the Show-me State
HARLAN & SUSAN: Hey, Harlan. Called, but since the phone didn't roll over to voicemail on the 6th ring or so, I figure you're talking to Susan (or telling her how to navigate the LA freeway back home). Since she's busy with pre-Election Day duties and tomorrow is the BIG day, I can just call again on Wednesday -- during regular business hours -- about that thing I mentioned that one time (that's code). It's late, and it's been a so-so day here, and there's no rush to get this before Wednesday.

With a promise to speak slower from here on out (and actually enunciate rather than mumle like Hunter Thompson used to),
Dorman

Again I have to go to the dictionary.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mondegreens

Oh well.
Aargh. It's not your fault (i'm more apt to blame the postal service - a jillion people get a flyer and I don't?) but which volume is IHNMAIMS on? That one. I guess it's only on tape so I'll get tape. Does HE sign them?

Kristin

Speaking of pornography:

http://nugeboard.tednugent.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/274700.html

------------

I wish it was tuesday night already, I am spent and frightened. The GOP have their evil ways, with push polls and stealing elections. I am going to cower under the covers until tuesday night.

Ack.

Thanks Harlan
I appreciate your views on censorship; hell I share 'em. With that said, I am in the "Sahara of the Bozart", as I was reminded by a transplant recently, so I'm gonna bow to "community standards" and slap the ol "PG" sticker on HE's Dream Corridor v. 1, as well as Sin City and a few others. However, I hope it explodes in their faces and circ numbers soar, with demand for more HE, Frank Miller, et. al. Thank you, Harlan, for being so understanding of my position.

On a more personal level, my next book of SC ghostlore has been sent to the publisher. Now to pitch my idea for a new reality series... "Hey, Y'all! Hold my Beer and Watch This" about a redneck who goes ghost hunting with a note pad and a cheap camera...lol. The ghosts will probably eat me in about 2 episodes.

PLEASE vote tommorrow...the future of our country rides on this election like no other. The only comparsions are 1986, when we dumped the hard core Reaganites out of the Senate finally and 1960..when we stalled the Eisenhower maliase (sp?) for a while.

And my vote for right wing sleazebag to be outed and etc next is James Dobson hisself.

A confession in a safe place

A secret or a crime is always sweeter when you can tell someone.

I'm fucking the dog today. Hard and long and without the least bit of remorse or even bothering to lie to myself about making it up tomorrow.

Hey Gang,

Who ssez the internets are for dummees? Here's two cool links:

http://www.ubu.com/ethno/soundings/ketjack.html

http://www.ubu.com/sound/burroughs.html

My paper keeps backing Pombo. (Overall the paper is such a joke; fishwrap all the way. But people here take it so seriously; like its the most brilliant daily in the world.) The spin they use to make this guy look like the right choice is astounding:

* He's only really hated by "Leftist-Environmentalists" (they couldn't just say ecology organizations, but they had to toss in "leftist". And they never mention the air quality in huge patches of our county which in summers is below health standards. Besides, he's hated for so much more.)
* Only conspiracy theorists think the Pombo-Ambromoff connection is real.While they report on his scandals, they never mention them in their editorials concerning his re-election
* McNerney doesn't have the support/endorsement of the Democratic Party
* The do not bring up Pombo's stance on an increasingly unpopular war. When the paper discusses the Pomp/McNerney race, the war is never a consideration.

I don't see why papers feel they have the right to tell people how to vote; radio-news and tv-news dont do it (or rather not so blatantly). Although....and maybe I'm still a little tired and haven't totally woken up this morning but.... I still think McNerney can pull it off.

87 won't pass. Its a shame. Chevron and friends went all out to confuse people on what it does and why its good. They even advertise on AOL services and Yahoo. I'm not sure I like the idea of political ads on the net. Disturbing somehow.

Kristin:

Do you still want me to hold a VOICE FROM THE EDGE (volume 1 or 2?) for you. We are officially out-of-stock of both CDs. We do still have the excellent cassette versions.

Let me know. Thanks--Susan

audiobooks
I like a good reading out loud as well as anyone. Many stories (HE's in particular) are *best* when read out loud.

However, the popularity of full length audiobooks is being fueled by a verry bad phenomenon: urban sprawl. Automobiles are a plague upon America. America's most fertile soil is being paved over.

Kristin
yess i still want to order that cd set (but i haven't listened to all of the other one yet!)

BUD:

Yes, of course. -he

Hey, where's my spam?
Rick,

You deleted my faux-spam!?!

Aw, man. I spent 35 seconds on that. It was beautiful and meaninful play on the standard Nigerian E-Mail Scam, worked into a contemporary message regarding the pending election.

-Keith

Ellison Bondage
Harlan, I'm going to devote my next "Past Masters" column in HELIX to Nelson. May I have your permission to quote a few lines of your heartfelt tribute to him from a few years ago when we feted him and Betty?

RICK:

You missed at least one. November 4th, approximately 7:17.

Thanks, mijo. Ever thine, Harlan

Lovely spam, wonderful spam
Well, we keep getting hit with more and more spam here. I had to delete 20 spam messages, usually attempts to link to porn websites, in the past week alone. Recently I started logging every spam post and copying it to a workspace. Now think I may have one way to block some of it.

In my research, I found out most sites that do this are trying to raise their rank with various search engines by getting a website link posted. The Pavilion strips HTML, but previously it made the post and removed the html. I've now set it to block any posts that contain the symbols < or > ANYWHERE.

The bigger forums post ability is a harder beast - but going forward, I've edited the user signup function to remove the "website" entry. This should prevent some spammers from signing up as they generally don't signup if there is no website entry on the signup form. But I can't block HTML and links and also allow those links and other cool functions on the forums. So we'll rely on the moderators there to delete spam and notify me of the account name so I can delete it. I'll continue working on ways to get rid of the spam here and we'll see what happens on the Pavlion with these changes.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

ALAN:

It is, of course, as you said (in fact, twice), RISING STARS; not "distant stars."

I recognize this is truly picayune on my part, even to the juncture of identifying me as a doryphore, butI contend the mechanism of slovenly, cursory reading exemplified here, by this "Rising/Distant" Stars glitch, is one of the basic (yes, humanly explicable, but nonetheless nettlesome) evils of the entire internet mechanism. People read wrong, they read too fast, or incompletely; they misinterpret, they hypothesize based on a limited understanding of words, they misremember, they transpose, they misspell, they slapdash, they repeat rumor as if it were fact, they get facts wrong ... and we spend half our time -- even on this site, where the level of intelligence and ratiocination, in my experience, is BabelTower more elevated than at, say, the Penny Arcade or Pokemon venues, which remind me more of Arkham Asylum than the Great Library of Alexandria -- at LEAST half our time correcting sloppy-memory errors ... "distant stars" for "Rising Stars." Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast. Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well. (Add your favorite to the list HERE.)

They're not even useful as mondegreens.

Our thought for the day. Yr. Pal, Harlan

(Who would spend a buck or two for a plane trip to Iraq on the day they give Saddam Hussein to the great hemp swing.)

Harlan threatens my kid!!
Relax. It's nothing serious. My son and I attended DragonCon in Atlanta a couple years ago and I tried to introduce him to the great one. My son was only there for the "Firefly" folks and would have none of this Harlan Ellison person.

Harlan joked with my son, Sean, asking if he had "muskles". Sean didn't know what to make of this old dude. Then HE said he could probably beat Sean in arm wrestling. If the myths have any basis in reality, I believe Harlan Ellison could have at least given Sean a sore elbow.

I got my autorapahed book and a photo with the gracious Mr. E and ran off to do other stuff too boring to mention here.

But it is still one of our favorite memories of the first Con I got to take my son to. Meeting a big time author, chatting for a moment and then withdrawing from the man's space.

Sean still talks about this and now wishes he had gone Olympic with the author and had a more interesting story to tell.

Glad to have met the superstar, meself. Too bad the kid was scared of ya, though.

Good night, John-Boy.

I repeat

Isn't it "Rising Stars" ???

Daylight saving gives you more evening light on average. Modern industrial society doesn't get much value out of this, but there was a time when it was much harder to light up the night.

I have no idea why we still do it.

Just wondering...

Has anyone here ever heard a rational, convincing reason why we do Daylight Savings?

The NY marathon was up and running

A record 38,368 runners started the race.

Heroes, Distant Stars and......
For those posting about HEROES and it's similarities to JMS' DISTANT STARS comic books, you'll find some interesting comments in this week's Entertainment Weekly cover article on the teevee series. It doesn't appear that JMS is irked and lawsuit-ready.

Besides, it's not like his comic book idea is any more original than HEROES. A bright light strikes the Earth and grants superpowers to human beings/babies. Anyone remember a short-lived line of Marvel Comics in the 80's created by Jim Shooter called the NEW UNIVERSE? Look it up.

-TODD

Guy Fawkes Night

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."

Have a safe and funfilled Guy Fawkes Night, anyone who follows the tradition. Perhaps we may be celebrating a metaphorical "blowing up of Parliament" here in the states in a couple of nights.

"Guy Fawkes + 2", anybody?

Harlan, Susan -
We rec'd your package today. Thank you so very much. More later, but thank you for thinking of us.

Cris and Steve

har

bless my lousy latin, but

"shemale cum shemale "

that contains deeper meaning, no?

Regards,
Rick

The great, the inimitable Nelson Bond has passed. Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies weep, as should you, as do I. Nelson has passed, and lo! the bird...

In memoriam, Harlan

NELSON SLADE BOND: 1908-2006
I've just received a note from Lynn and Kit Bond that their father, Nelson Slade Bond, died earlier today from complications due to a heart-valve problem.

Nelson Bond was one of the giants, a pulpster who made the transition to the slicks long before any of his colleagues. He began his writing career in newspapers and public relations, but went on to publish more than 500 short stories in magazines ranging from AMAZING to BLUE BOOK, the latter featuring a Bond story in nearly every issue for more than a decade.

He was also one of the first writers to work in television, adapting not only his own works but those of others for a number of anthology programs. He told me of times when he was fractically typing scripts for a radio program while the actors were already live on the air, with secretaries rushing his stencils to the mimeograph machine.

He published eight collections of his stories plus a novel; most of his work remains unreprinted. He was James Branch Cabell's personal choice as literary executor, which task he performed until the death of Cabell's widow.

Nelson was a good friend, always willing to have us over for a beer and conversation, always willing to look over a story (until macular degeneration made it impossible), generous with his time and valuable advice.

I had the privilege to know Nelson for more than a quarter of a century, both as a fan and as a fellow writer and antiquarian bookman, and was highly honored when he asked me to write his biography for the BULLETIN when SFWA named him Author Emeritus. He was witty, smart, acerbic, and frequently cranky - but he'd earned the right to be so long since. He allowed me to act as his agent for one story, "Pipeline to Paradise," which I was able to place with Roger Zelazny for the _Wheels of Fortune_ anthology. Nelson insisted on paying me an agent's fee, which I took in the form of an autographed copy of my favorite of his collections, _The Thirty-First of February_, a title given him by Cabell.

As is too often true in these cases, I hadn't spoken to Nelson in more than a year. I will always regret that. Nelson, I will miss you and your jokes, and your beer, and the hard, practical advice you gave me as a writer. May the earth rest lightly on you.

Nelson is survived by his sons, Kitt and Lynn, and his wife, Betty.

election day
FRANK:
re: Nov. 7th and protecting the voting process-- there's a grassroots activist group called moveon.org who has launched a non-partisan campaign called "video the vote". They're asking voters in states where no laws prohibit photography at polling places to bring their camcorders and disposable cameras with them to keep regional elections honest. Not only can you record your own choices behind the curtain, but you can also document the following: How long are the lines? How many voting machines are there for the number of voters? How many machines are actually functioning? The recent documentary *American Blackout* followed the contested Florida and Ohio elections where civilians suffered--then exposed--all kinds of regional dirty tricks meant to disenfranchise certain registered voters in ways that would influence the final count.
So, to protect everyone's right to a fair election, moveon.org suggests that ordinary people be vigilant. (Use those cellphone cameras for good for a change!) They have a national hotline set up, so anyone who witnesses any voting day irregularities can report them as they are happening. And they have a battery of pro-bono lawyers ready to make official complaint if needed. Report any voting day problems with electronic machines at: 1-888-SAV-VOTE. To report other voting problems call: 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

You've got to hand it to the lying son of a bitch, he is one resilient bare knuckles street fighter.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6101178.stm

Do you suppose the average Iraqi insurgent has anymore idea of the distinction between Republicans and Democrats than the average American has of the distiction between Sunni and Shia?

Maybe they should invite Osama on MEET THE PRESS and see what he thinks about some of those tight Senate races?

The Idea Factory
forced sex and vagina pics: Thanks for reminding us why humanity created punctuation marks. Moderator: can you track down these culprits and perhaps cause their computers to explode? I'm not advocating that they be killed mind you; no, only that they suffer serious and permanent injury for so desecrating the Pavilion.

Bryan Harmon: I share your interest in the creative process. Creativity is perhaps the last form of magic left to us. I get the impression that most of us Webderlanders are writers of a sort: some amateur, some professional. I write mostly essays and doggerel and, for the life of me, I can't recall a moment of inspiration that set me off on anything. In fact, I can't even remember writing most of my stuff--and I wasn't drunk, either! I recall reading one of Harlan's essays in which he wrote of growing weary of answering the question, "How do you get your ideas?" and so he replied, "I get them from an idea factory in Poughkeepsie." Or was it "Schenectady"? I forget.
Anyway, that factory has been mighty good to Harlan over the years.

Josh: You may well be right about Sen. Santorum. Nothing, literally NOTHING would surprise me about our leaders in DC anymore. While hypocrisy is not limited to fundamentalist Christians and Republicans, this dismal duo has recently been exposed as being the domain of a great many hypocrites. A pox on the lot of them.

A bit of good news: On Monday, the 6th, an editorial will be published in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Times advocating the firing of Donald Rumsfeld. This, after our Cheerleader-in-Chief recently reaffirmed his desire to keep Rummy for the duration. Ah, the madness of King George!

Harlan Ellison Story Titles Redux
"A to Z in the Chocolate Alphabet"....

That title still stands out as one of my favorites.
And the quality of the writing for the piece/pieces/erm, has an equally strong showing.

FRANK:
Audiobooks are a godsend for my friends who spend hours a day in their cars.

Oh shit, that is disgusting. Nuke that Wyatt.

Steven King defends Audiobooks:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1551492_5_0_,00.html

I can understand the logic in audiobooks, but reading is great too. The imagination turns windmills.

King does have really bad eyesight, which may explain it.

--------

I'm really frightened about this coming election. I might saw my throat if anything bad happens. Watch for the story in the paper.

Late by a week or so.
Harlan,

Just stopped in to catch up and saw your post. Thanks. October was a particularly shitty month. All that's left to do is clean out the room and junk, sell or redistribute 85 years of history. Mom is heading to Alabama to start life over again living with one of my sibs. The holidays look to be hollow, but in two weeks Pam and I will get to spend a weekend hanging with some of the best - certainly the most entertaining - friends we have, several of whom we met here back when the decor was black and gold. Somewhere between dealer room sweeps, panels, parties and sleep, we will break bread and raise a pint mug to absent family and friends.

So, more than for "The Man Who Rowed.." which will remain my favorite work of all fiction ever, you have my gratitude for being the icebreaker, the point of introduction, the signpost under which we met some amazing people who make life enjoyable on the good days and workable on the bad.

Ləḥayyim.

And Rick: I've got relatives in Duluth who need a visit in the spring. Pam and I would enjoy the chance to shake your hand and share a meal.

Haggard
Most people (I think, I could be wrong on this) would rather be connected to a gay fling than a meth deal. But out of the two options he could confess to, he chose to go with the drugs.

...though he did say he didn't inhale. ;)

Just bought it for fun, I guess. :P

HARLAN'S STORY TITLES
HARLAN'S TITLES

In my opinion, Harlan Ellison is not only the greatest writer of short stories in the world, but the man comes up with better titles than anyone else. “All the Lies That are My Life”, “The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World”, “One Life Furnished in Early Poverty”, “’Repent Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” and, of course, “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”. Sheer genius, as far as I'm concerned. Once you read one of those designations, you're hooked. You just gotta know what the story is all about.

I credit Harlan for my own interest in writing. While I would never claim that I can write like The Man, sometimes I see his influence in my titles. I have written “The Man Who Couldn't Love Well Enough, Alone” and “Life Ain't Nothing but a Table Dance”, for instance. Now, some may claim that I'm just trying to imitate my idol. But I prefer to think of it the way Stephen King puts it in his introduction to “Stalking the Nightmare” (not too shabby a title itself). "Milk always takes the flavor of whatever's next to it in the icebox." I think I merely reflect that absorbed taste a little when I name my stories in a Harlanesque fashion.

Hey, I don't always do it. I also like a little alliteration in my appellation. It was good enough for Shakespeare; “Love's Labors Lost” comes to mind. I've written “Meeting My Muse”, “D-Day - A Decade’s Difference” and “Love Lost and Located”. And sometimes a song title will do the trick, “For You, Blue”, “A Day in the Life” or “You Can't Always Get What You Want”, for instance.

For me, coming up with a name for the work can be just as hard as writing the rest of the story. Many of my rough drafts have two or three titles that were scratched out before I settled on something I liked.

If you are reading this Mr. Ellison, I would like to ask how you do it. Do you write the story first and then name it, or do you come up with one of those amazing titles, and then write a story around it?

Any thoughts on the new Nellie McKay discs (Yeah, I'm one of them ol' fashioned folks that still gets their music on CDs)? While there are some songs I could do without (out of 23 total, mind thee), so far I'm enjoying this one even more than the first.

Thanks to various folks for their nice comments. I don't want to hijack Harlan's joint and turn it into a discussion of Halo (movies based on video games, in Harlan Ellison's Art Deco Dining Pavilion?!? Good GOD!), but here's the short version - condolences are by no means necessary. Every project contains an element of risk and possible collapse. My worst case scenario was an all expense paid trip to New Zealand for a couple weeks, and getting to hang with Peter Jackson. Anyone who thinks that warrants condolences is living a life far beyond my wildest dreams. It was a blast.

Lastly, while it seems Halo is dead for now, there's also the chance that this could all blow over in the next couple days and we could be back up and running. I wasn't sent back because Halo was dead, I was sent back because negotiations had slowed down, and we couldn't do any more work until we knew for sure what was happening.

In other words, what you've read may, in fact, be true, but there are things brewing that might change all that shortly.

And that's all I have to say on that.

PS: Anyone want to take odds on who will be the next right wing moralizing jack-off to be revealed as a felcher of small boys? I'm really, really, really hoping for Rick Santorum. That guy's got taint-licker written all over him...

CORRECTION:

That should be "is" not "are." Excuse'moi.

-he

REPLY TO TALLY

The weightload of The Real World are not unknown to me, kiddo. It was sweet and gracious of you to ask, but I've got no say in it. Do what you gotta do; and do it with no censure from me.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Nigel Kneale
john j zeock, thanks for the tip-off regarding Mr Movie/Quatermass. I'll try to catch the live stream, although it will be in the wee small hours for me. (The station web site claims to offer a podcast feed, which would be better for me, but I can't get it to work.)

I have posted a small obituary for Nigel Kneale on my Ray Bradbury website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Oh no, I've never touched a penis other than my own. I'm just contemplating starting up a meth habit.

Most people (I think, I could be wrong on this) would rather be connected to a gay fling than a meth deal. But out of the two options he could confess to, he chose to go with the drugs.

(Just wait, the Neo-Cons are going to say that all this media attention on Pastor Ted is 'gay bashing'. Oh it'll happen.)

Josh, Entertainment Weekly mentions it as well, sorry it went bad for ya. Hey, you got to see New Zealand and at least you don't do real work. Wink.

--------

Ann Coulter is the low impact aerobics of the mind. She makes your jaw hurt and your heart ache. The gal is a nasty bitch and a nasty person. Everybody knows Teachers have to contend with many hardships--bad diets of the kids, which affect learning, as well as the blue monster of television, which saps their reasoning skills. Testing is a shuck. Memorization doesn't make for a skilled mind. You forget what you learned because of the boring, non challenging atmosphere of the class. The books are out of date, the ideas are fuzzy and the kids are never challenged, except in the good schools, which exist in mostly rich neighborhoods. We have a class conscious society, no matter what the borish right say.

The sky snores instead of thunders every time that bimbo opens here mouth.

--------

Haggard is another sorry case. The right is righly falling apart. The left doesn't have to say boo. The statue in Bush square just gets pulled down, from the arrogance of these thoughtless, amoral theo-thugs.

only since I was spoken to...
I'm still debating. We have mostly "capes" in our graphic novel collection, but I have managed to slide some good stuff in. And they all will circulate (heavily), but I just don't want to be famous because some pea-brain rightwinger saw a flash of t and a in a book. The only reason I have ask is because all the graphic novels go in the Young Adult ghetto, not with the bodice-rippers or true-crime masterworks...sigh.

And I'm off to beat my breast over breaking the 1 post/day rule, sorry folks.

nigel kneale
anyone interested in Nigel Kneale may want to listen to steve friedman's mister movie show on wpht 1210 AM out of philadelphia on saturday night from 10-1 or webcast at www.thebigtalker1210.com. quatermass and the pit will predominate. i remain,as always,obediently yours.

A Universe of Delights
Pastor Ted Haggard, of the New Life Church-- one of Bush's big supporters-- is apparently facing charges of soliciting drugs and gay sex.

Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and the Dinosaur Adventure Land creationist theme park in Florida ("where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!"), and his wife face more than 200 years in jail for tax fraud.

Who says life isn't worth living? The thought of these self-righteous moralizing dickheads going to PRISON for their hypocrisy and corruption is just _wonderful_.

In fact, I might get my Happy Wish. Here's how it goes. A video surfaces, of Pat Robertson being gratefully buggered by a 6'4", 300 lb man with Nazi tattoos. Visible in the background are an assortment of small boys, chained to the wall for Robertson's perverse pleasures. Video pirates patch the footage into broadcasts of Robertson's network, and run a special version during the Oprah Winfrey show-- with titles added to explain who Robertson is. The children are quickly identified as kidnap victims, and the Nazi buttfucker is pegged as an international criminal knwon for his expertise with money-laundering schemes.

This prompts a confluence of the criminal investigations into all of the above. it also prompts legions of Robertson employees to run to their attorneys, offering confessions and information in exchange for deals. Within weeks, a decades-long story of sordid sex, racism, violence, crime, slavery, torture, forced abortion, sweatshop labor and blood-diamonds is revealed. Before being apprehended, Robertson airs an hours-long rant on his networks in which he reveals every disgusting aspect of his psyche, how it relates to his political and religious work, and how he'd been wroking to entice his followers into the same sick beliefs and practices.

So when I hear about Pastor Ted and Dr. Dino, I think _Maybe, someday, my wish will come true_.

Saint, or Son of Sodom?
I'm ALMOST starting to feel sorry for the Religious Right.

First, several of their beloved Republican legislators are led astray by that latter-day Pied Piper, Jack Abramoff, and even that Tribune of the Trinity, Tom DeLay, is forced to resign from Congress; the news from their holy war in Iraq keeps getting worse; Republican Rep. Mark Foley is revealed to have indulged in communiques less than pious with minor congressional pages, and, worse, there was apparently a cover-up; then, just as Sen. John Kerry's bout of foot-in-mouth disease had rallied their hopes, the head of the 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals steps down because of accusations that he's a ... Son of Sodom.

Yea verily, the very Rev. Ted Haggard, champion of homophobia, was accused of having paid a MAN for sex for lo, the past three years. The acting pastor of the New Life Church (from which Saint (?) Ted also resigned) wrote this in an e-mail to the congregation: "It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true." "Some"? Is this going to be replay of the Clintonian pubic hair-splitting? Okay, so she blew me--but I never had sex with her! Will the Rev. Ted maintain that, as there was no genital/anal contact, it wasn't REALLY gay sex? Inquiring minds wanna know!

I profess not to be on a chummy basis with a certain Mr. Christ, but my reading of his bio leads me to conclude that he was foursquare against hypocrisy. "Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matthew 7: 4,5).

Ted, you better start pulling on that beam.

red flags

Tally asked:

> Harlan- Would you never speak to me again if I put a small
> "parental guidance suggested" sticker on it, mainly due to
> the art in the "Catman" section? Personally, I'd rather not,
> but this is a small Southern town...


Do it! That's a great way to call extra attention to a book so more kids'll want to read it . . . even if they have to stay in the library to do it.

A quick "Vic Sage" for Unca Harlan
I FINALLY convinced my boss to order volume one of HE's Dream Corridor for the Library, since I wasn't going to donate mine. I mean, since she didn't order TROUBLEMAKERS for the YA section... but,

Harlan- Would you never speak to me again if I put a small
"parental guidance suggested" sticker on it, mainly due to the art in the "Catman" section? Personally, I'd rather not, but this is a small Southern town...

Your opinion 'umbly sought
Tally
PS- Sent the text of SC Inland Ghostlore (v.2)--it's a working title, geez, to the publisher yesterday. Hopefully, the edit won't draw blood...

Elderly concertgoers
AT's post about disrespecting concertgoers reminded me of the last time I saw one of my all time favorites, Frankie Valli. He was in concert in Clearwater, Florida, the place was sold out, and the opening set was well performed by Jay Black (of Jay and the Americans fame).

I think the night was too long for the bussed in elderly. At the end of Valli's set, he clearly walked off intending to return for an encore (he did several, in fact). The second the lights dimmed half the crowd jumped up and crept along the aisles out to their busses and what not.

I imagine performers get used to this but I was embarrassed and felt guilty of disrespect by association with the audience. To be fair, it was a little late in the evening but not very. It made me sad.

Rude Old Farts
Last night, Judi and I went with friends to see a comedy show starring Pat Cooper (whose material seems forty years out of date -- literally, "today's long-haired kids" jokes) and Robert Klein (still funny, though he's been better). Though I've paid money to see Klein twice, the first time in 1978, we probably would not have gone this time, had the venue, the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, not called us up, as regular gamblers there, and offered us free tickets. We said sure and took friends celebrating their fifteenth anniversary.

The venue was only about 60% occupied, and I know that many of those, like ourselves, were attending on "free tickets" offered us by the management -- the casino essentially giving away huge blocks of seats to avoid the embarrassment of a a totally empty arena. (This is a common occurence, I understand, in Vegas.)

The size of the audience, in contrast to the size of the arena, was indeed embarrassing.

I'll tell you, however, what was more embarrassing: the large number of the elderly audience members, up close near the stage, who decided to get a jump on the crowds and left immediately before, and DURING, what was clearly Klein's closing song. I mean, there were entire rows of them, from the middle of their respective rows, who decided that easy access to the urinals, ahead of the crowd, was not worth sticking it out through those last five minutes. And then, he finished the song? And while he bowed and the rest of the audience applauded, the first five rows of white-haired old folks, en masse, just got up and started walking. I mean, they just wanted to go and play the slots, and were taking even this moment of less-than-enthused applause as just closing credits they could walk out on, without even acknowledging the performer at ALL.

It wasn't that he was bad. It was that these people -- all of whom had grim, put-upon expressions stamped on their faces, as if their perpetually grumpy moods had not been pierced at all, by 90 minutes of performers who, if not at the very top of their game, at least showed professionalism and skill -- could not
be bothered to so much as acknowledge him. It was not disdain for his performance, which was good if not great. It was the eagerness to get up and leave after 90 minutes in a seat. So they could pee. Or gamble. Or just stand outside and suck tobacco.

They turned their back on him, and started pushing their way to the center aisle, while he was still on stage.

I had already muttered to Judi, during the exodus of the closing ten minutes -- when Klein was clearly wrapping up -- that I felt this audience to be one of the most self-centered and rude I had ever seen.

When a couple of dozen people in the four rows just got up and started hurrying to the exit, while Klein was still bowing to the rest of us, Judi gasped in horror. "HOW RUDE!"

I certainly think so.

Folks, I have noted this before, about behavior in movie theatres, but it applies even more to behavior at live performances: the cliche about young people who do not know how to behave in a theatre may carry some weight, but it is even more true of some folks who have passed seventy. In movie theatres, they are even less capable of shutting up than pre-pubescents and teenagers. They chat away and wrinkle their candy and conduct their "who's-that-again?" conversations at full volume. At public performances like this one, they sit in the center of their row and march out, in groups of four or five, not because what they're seeing is bad, but because they're eager to move on to the next thing, and the man on stage isn't real. They, honestly, suck.

On other subjects: wait'll youse guys get a load of the latest Dan Simmons novel, THE TERROR (due out in January). Gaaaaah. And, regarding LOST: with the most recent ep, we have plunged headlong into idiot plot.

Gravity waves

The gravity wave detectors we are using now have the most precise engineering ever created by the human race. And so far they haven't detected a thing. There's going to be a second generation of detectors a thousand times more sensitve next year. And 20 years from now a third generation will push the limits orders of magnitude even higher.

The detection of a gravity wave would create a sensation because of the massive amounts of information encoded therein.

audios
Susan - I already have the Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral (CD)set (it was my b-day present a year ago or maybe it was two) - don't have the other one and I haven't gotten the flyer yet or maybe it got lost in the shuffle. Can you reserve me a copy? sorry to have to ask but how much is it? I wouldn't be surprised if its around here somewhere and nobody told me I got mail, but I don't want them to run out in the meantime. Thx

Kristin

Response to, and kudos for, Mr. Barber
** And then ask them how much money we pay them for the privilege of educating our children.

I'm tired of the teacher bashing. The problem isn't usually with the teacher -- it's what we give to them and ask them to do with it that is the problem. **

Thank you, Sir! That was wonderfully said. I also work very closely with our local school district == I'm a parent who wants the best for my children and understands that I'm part of an education team, not an education task master. Supporting my children means supporting their teachers, and we've been very fortunate to have some of the best teachers our county can offer.

If any of you ever have a moment to perform a web search for Leslie Fish (frequently described as the Harlan Ellison of the filk music scene), her album "Firestorm -- Songs of the Third World War" (I believe that's right) has a song worth noting. "Teacher Teacher"...well worth it. The entire album is, actually.

RISING STARS

Not Distant Stars.

Unless there is a series I don't know about.

Umm...

"Third largest school district IN CALIFORNIA". Very important clarifier. Sorry for the second post.

Teachers in America

Jeff,
Coulter is completely, utterly off base.

Yes, there are undoubtedly teachers and districts in this country in which the quality of instruction is bad. But I deal -- on a daily basis -- with third largest school district. This district has won multiple awards as an excellent system and educator, as have many of their teachers.

I have peers who deal with other districts.

My sister and sister-in-law are both teachers. My uncle was a dean at a local community college for years. Teachers work against bureaucracies, poor parenting, draconian classroom restrictions and inadequate budgets. To unilaterally blame teachers for the state of education is tantamount for blaming Enron customer service for the state of your 401K, and about as useful.

Look in the mirror and at the kids, and then at your local school board. Then, and only then, question the teachers.

Rather than taking Coulter's word -- which is as valueless as a Confederate Dollar (and about as current) -- check into your local school district and talk to some of the teachers there. The ones who buy school supplies for their students out of their own pocket (and no longer get a tax break for doing so).

Ask them about the parental participation rates and what happens if they try to fail a failing student. Ask them about the attitude of the students and what they are allowed to do for discipline. Ask them about the basic tools they have to teach the kids. Ask them about the conditions of the school in which they work. Ask them about the support they receive from the local school board.

And then ask them how much money we pay them for the privilege of educating our children.

I'm tired of the teacher bashing. The problem isn't usually with the teacher -- it's what we give to them and ask them to do with it that is the problem.

What would Coulter know about the modern educational system in any case? She doesn't appear to have any current interaction with it, and has repeatedly displayed a pattern of thought that suggests she never really did.
________________________________________

Josh, regardless of the eventual dispensation of HALO, you got to work with Peter Jackson, and he with you.

How cool is that?
________________________________________

Weekly pimp: Send Susan a check, immediately, for one or both of the EDGE IN MY VOICE" recordings. I kyped one from her on Sunday (well, giving her $30 in the process) and it be effing damned good stuff.
________________________________________

Unlike others, I don't demonize all Republicans, though it really is up to them to clean up their own party.

But, regardless of party affiliation, gotta agree everyone needs to vote. But maybe after watching "V FOR VENDETTA" first...

Please feel free to re-write/structure at least one of the three sentences beginning with the word "but". Thanks.

HEROES
Regarding Hubbard's comments about HEROES and Stracynski's DISTANT STARS - I just wanted to say I got the very same vibe and that was just coming from the commercials and one 30 second segment.

On the other hand, with characters like that it all comes down to some fine-line distinctions regarding points of similarity. Mr. Petit who lurks here would know that stuff far better than I do.

Of course if JMS pitched the idea to someone at that studio or someone who heard a JMS pitch moved to that studio shortly thereafter, well then...

But that's way ahead of things. But yes, it did remind me a lot of some of JMS's pre-Spidey work.

It's funny because 30 years ago I'd have said, "who reads comics out there?" - But now I think that's about ALL they're reading these days. If that. Not that I don't love me some comics but still.

- Barney

Even though I'm hardly a Coulter fan, IF (and it's a BIG if) what she says in her latest book about the competency of many public school teachers, as reflected in their own test scores, is true, the kids of this country may be in BIG trouble!

Nigel Kneale
I was shocked to discover on this forum that Nigel Kneale had died. And a little shocked that no one else reacted to the news!

Kneale was one of the great British SF screenwriters, creator of the wonderful Quatermass series from the days of live TV (the greatest instalment of which was Quatermass and the Pit - get the beautifully restored original TV version on DVD, far superior to the Hammer movie remake of the late 1960s). Kneale also did a startlingly good adaptation of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four for the BBC in the 1950s, and some remarkable, prescient single plays through the '60s and 70s.

Kneale's influence was enormous, and to a large extent he defined the limits of acceptable/respectable SF in British TV. It's hard to imagine that there could have been a Dr Who without his trailblazing efforts for the genre.

it is not uncommon
For planks in a party platform to be re-laid, or abandoned altogether, as times change.

All this talk about "real Republicans," has me thinking that some of you don't understand this. It is called evolution.

Thanks to "traditional Republican values" we have the Bill of Rights, which is now something being defended to the death by Democrats. In times not too distant, most of the religious South was Democrat.

Big changes are happening, but the Democratic and Republican parties are never going to be what they once were. They are realigning, and people are going to switch sides to stay true to who they are, unless they are unthinking party-wipes.

The Republican Party is becomming the party that would legislate morality to save America, and the Democratic party is becomming the party of the Individual. It'll take years, and many of the Republicans abandoning the Republican Party will filter through the Independent Party and the Green Party first, before coming to rest in the Democratic Party. But it is happening.

Not sure what I'm going to do.

JOSH: Keep the faith. I hope everything is going well....news about Halo doesn't look good, but then, looks can be deceiving. Whether the light is green or red, though, they'll need a script eventually. Based on your history of scripting, you're the man for the job.

-Keith

I hope that the real conservatives, the real Republicans can take back their party. What this nation needs is the kind of political dialogue that has been stifled in the last decade or so, especially after 9/11.

Hell, even Howard Baker switched parties because of his disgust with the people running the GOP these days.

Here's a link to a story on the glories of our congress:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever

And a list of the ten worst, including Colorado's very own Tom Tancredo, who the National Review called "an idiot", and Marlyn Musgrave, the crusading gay basher, who is also kinda stoopid:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12054520/the_10_worst_congressmen

Not only are they corrupt, but they suck at their jobs as well. The Republicans are better than this. It's time to take back the party!

Chuck

Right On, Duane!

I URGE you to get out there and VOTE on November 8th!!

Ezra nailed it. What it comes down to is honorable people supporting honorable ideas, regardless of party affiliation. I suspect that more people share this belief than we realize.

My name is Duane, I'm a Republican and a member of the Sierra Club. And I vote.

I Hope They Nail The Bitch!
I know it's not nice to call a female a "bitch," but there are some for whom the tag is appropriate. I refer here to Ann Coulter, she-wolf of the Rabid Right, who is apparently facing some serious legal problems. According to an AP story I read today on CNN, it appears that Coulter voted in the wrong precinct during a town-council election in Palm Beach, Florida.

"Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison."

We all know that Coulter is not going to spend five years in the Gray Rock Hotel, just as her peer in putridity, Rush Limbaugh, didn't have to serve any time; however, even a couple of months behind bars would do her some good. (Hey, what's bad for Ann Coulter is good for America!) Failing that, a conviction and mere probation would be a big embarrassment for Coulter--who worked as an attorney earlier in her not-so-brilliant career.

Once more, with FEELING: I hope they nail the bitch!

A shame about William Styron. What a contrast between the noble literary legacy he leaves behind, compared to the one Coulter will leave when the Grim Reaper taps this hellish Harpy on the shoulder!

Carstonio, thanks for the link.

Bob Barr, who I remember well from my Georgia days, is an example of a REAL REPUBLICAN, an honorable conservative. This is why we should be careful not to demonize those with whom we disagree.

There are a whole host of issues on which we might disagree with Mr Barr but he's got the fundamentals right, he knows the real enemies of freedom are not people but bad ideas.

People can always surprise us. Just as there are many conservatives who dislike Bush, there are many liberals who detest the Clintons.

Me, for one.

J. Michael Straczynski and "Heroes"
Somewhat off-topic, but being that Stracynski and Ellison are friends, it has some bearing...

As much as I enjoy the show "Heroes", I'm curious to know if anyone who had also read the "Distant Stars" comic finds.... how shall we say it... some SIMILARITES in the works? And I wonder if Mr. Stracynski and his lawyers have notices those similarities as well?

Or is it just great minds thinking alike in Hollywoodland?

Just curious....

Bob Barr, My New Best Buddy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/10/26/DI2006102600881.html

I was shocked and gratified to read that Barr opposes the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping. This is the same man who rivaled Ken Starr as the bane of Bill Clinton's existence. Above is a link to yesterday's online chat with Barr, who made excellent arguments about the Administration's disregard for law, privacy, and the Constitution. (My question was one of the ones that he answered.)

Bob Barr, My New Best Buddy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/10/26/DI2006102600881.html

I was shocked and gratified to read that Barr opposes the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping. This is the same man who rivaled Ken Starr as the bane of Bill Clinton's existence. Above is a link to yesterday's online chat with Barr. My question was one of the ones that he answered.

RIP: William Styron
TIP O'THE WRITERLY HAT to the late William Styron, of whom James Baldwin once wrote, "He has begun the common history -- ours." Styron wrote some truly great novels, such as LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS, THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER and SOPHIE'S CHOICE -- not to mention the memoir, DARKNESS VISIBLE.
-DTS

Taking care of the future
A recent item over at PW's THE BEAT, lead me to Neil Gaiman's site. He spoke about recently passed writers who did not prepare wills that protected or indicated how they wanted their creative works handeled.

HE, has spoken and written in the past about how he has made arrangements for his own works, but many seem to have not taken such care. Mr. Gaiman with an assist from an Estate attorney prepared a boilerplate testament that can be used as a model for anyone who needs to think about the dipositiong of their creative works. It is valid in the United States. Requests are being made for like documents from other countries.

Here is a link to Mr. Gaiman's site where a PDF file can be found and additional suggestions on how to make sure you works don't end up like Poe's, Lovecraft's, or Robert E. Howard's.

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

Susan, I received Edge In My Voice Vol.2 today. I'm looking forward to listening to the various HE stories read by the master himself as I'm commuting to work. Thank you!!

David

ATTENTION eBay BROWSERS:
If you are new to hunting for books by Harlan Ellison on eBay, don't think for a moment that the seller with something to move knows what they are talking about (yes, most are knowledgeable, but some aren't). Research the book you are looking for, so you will know if a given title is indeed a first edition as listed, or a first printing of a later edition. Some sellers don't know the difference. Yes, most will let you return a book, but that takes both time and money from you, so know what you are looking for. I've been correcting sellers when I see a error being posted, but there is no way in Hades I can get spank them all. As for the prices (some are too high), that's up to you; if you want it that bad, you going to be willing to shake that wallet empty and do it with a smile (that is, until the electricity

Comments about Harlan in Eszterhas's new book
From THE DEVIL'S GUIDE TO HOLLYWOOD:

Annecdotes and quotes ala Harlan are related on pages 54, 73, 106, 213, 297 (it has an index too with these listed).

Dead gophers, Roddenberry, naked photos, Paramount, Terminator -- it's all there, baby!

nigel kneale
Nigel Kneale 1922-2006.

Don't remind me of Ben Stein. This is the guy who apologizes for Nixon's anti-semitism, because Nixon was a "friend" to the state of Israel. Stein kind of let the truth out of the bag: it was never about anti-semitism, it was about keeping the occupied land of Israel for Israeli's only.

------------

Dorman, you mean me, Cindy, Kristin and Peggy. I gots skills, kid.

Todd only likes missionary, Rob is too loud and John is too moody. Likes my mens ripe. Yow.

MC Scoop Snoobie Wiggles. Beeeach.

------------

John Kerry, keep tellin it fella.

Anyone who wants to read a wonderful piece on Halloween should check out Neil Gaiman's op-ed contribution to yesterday's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/opinion/31gaiman.html?ex=1319950800&en=936cc44f65110fa8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Carstonio, the good news is that I'd consider "WIN BEN STILLER'S MONEY" to be both an easier game and worth a lot more cashola in the long run.
_________________________________________

Should soldiers in Iraq be getting the impression that they'll need to exactly tow the party line upon their return from duty if they want to be appreciated? That would be MY reaction if I were on active duty.

From all appearances, service overseas doesn't seem to be of much value unless you're willing to support the President completely and unequivocably on all issues, otherwise they have no compunction thoroughly trashing you just to win an election.

(The experiences of decorated veterans John Kerry and John McCain being perfect examples of this expectation. The latter would appear to have caved completely.)

Service to America used to earn you respect from politicians, regardless of party affiliation. If Patton or Nimitz criticized a war or policy, you'd never have seen them so scathingly ripped apart by a sitting president the way Kerry and Murtha are.

I'm just saying...

Carstonio's Self-abuse
CARSTONIO: Holy Fuck, man, have you no sense of mercy? Have you no sense of scope when it comes to a punishment that fits the crime? Nancy Grace and "Wife Swap?" The only thing worse -- or as bad -- would be watching Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, "Survior," and/or "The Apprentice" for a week.

Either that, or a remake of "Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice," starring Rob and Todd and Frank and John (the un-named one of recent). The horror...The horror!
--DTS

Oh, shit! I am the world's biggest asshole for confusing the last names of Ben Stein and Ben Stiller. In the spirit of self-flagellation, I will force myself to watch Nancy Grace and "Wife Swap" for a week. I will force myself to imagine Stein in the Stiller roles in "Meet the Parents" and "Zoolander." Only then will I be purged of my guilt.

Edgeworks
Heya Wyatt,

This was pretty much the first question I asked when I came onto the message board, and the short answer is that it was discontinued. I'm afraid I can't remember who it was that responded with the following comment, but this was all I heard:

'To the best of my knowledge, Ellison's relationship with White Wolf and the "Edgeworks" series is terminated. HE and his agent Richard Curtis have proposed to carry on the series under their own imprint -- can't remember the name right now . . . Edgeworks Abbey, I think -- but so far it's not happening.'

People mentioned there was a longer explaination in the archives, but I didn't look into it further.

No copies of this one exist today

The single funniest movie I ever saw was never intended to be a comedy. I laughed so hard I almost ruptured myself. I would have thought that no movie could be that bad.

Ellisonia Post #2/TV Comments
I have posted the following Ellison related items on eBay at reasonable minumim bids:

A signed copy of Nebula Award Stories One ("Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman") and various other signed Nebula and Hugo Award volumes.

A signed copy of "The Man Who Rowed Christopher columbus Ashore" in The Best American Stort Stories 1993 edited by Louise Erdrich.

A rare trade edition of the 35th Anniversary edition of Dangerous Visions.

A VERY nice copy of a Phantasia Press edition of Medea: Harlan's World.

A special thanks to Barney D.; he helped me out on one auction in particular that was troublesome but he steered me in the right direction that led to a sale....

It's all going to pay the rent this month and it's nice to know that my books are going to good, appreciative homes. My ebay seller name is adastra729.



Picking up another recent thread regarding television; I make it a rule NEVER, EVER turn on the tube unless I KNOW what I want to watch (or record). If I don't want to watch, I read; if I don't want to read (a rare condition), I turn on the radio (mostly NPR , alternative rock, jazz or classical), walk, exercise or take a nap. On weekdays, I never watch before 7:30pm, when Jeopardy starts.

What I'm watching regularly:

Jeopardy (Natch).

Antiques Roadshow (I'm just wishing I could find some of that stuff at a yard sale some day!)

The original CSI, NCIS and Numb3rs (I love a good forensic puzzle with an algorithm chaser at least once a week).

CSI: Miami (I'm a David Caruso fan but honestly, you could devise a drinking game out of how many times he either squints, pauses for a dramatic bon mot or dons those dozens of pairs of designer sunglasses).

Medium (Glen Gordon Caron is a very interesting writer and Patricia Arquette is talented and easy on the eyes. Double play.)

Doctor Who (I'm a fan from WAAAAAAAY back in the 60's)

Jericho (Still hooked so far, but the reveal about the origin of the war had better better be pretty spectacular or I'm bailing)

Heroes (Stilled hooked here, too...mainly because I love watching the actor playing Hiro!)

Lost (Because I'm...lost in it's storyline and mythology and the fans be damned if they're frustrated. I'm in for the long haul.)

Smallville (An unexpected guilty pleasure.)

Desperate Housewives (I'm just about ready to jump ship here...although strangely, I find myself liking/sympathizing with Kyle MacLachlan's Orson. Weird...)

Battlestar Galctica (I recently came across a letter I sent to Sci-fi.com's weekly newsletter back in 2004 championing the announcement of Ron Moore revival and tongue lashing fans who wanted Glen Larson's original version of the show...I catch it when I can 'cause I don't have cable. Dang it.)

Late Night with Craig Fergeson (...but mostly for the nightly opening monologue...some nights the man is a genius at making me laugh out loud.)

This of course is still way TOO much television to watch but it's (thankfully) a hellva lot less than what I used to suck up as a youngster back in the 60' and 70's.

Chris Barkley

CARSTONIO:

Ben STEIN,

not

Ben STILLER.

-he

Frank, I didn't know Michael Medved had a radio show. Years ago I tried reading his "Hollywood vs. America" but tossed it aside in disgust after a few pages. At the time I believed that Medved was playing into the hands of the fundamentalist demagogues who use anti-Semitic stereotypes to bash the movie industry, or in the words of Laura Ingraham, the "anti-Christian entertainment elite." That was not Medved's game, since he is Jewish. Still, his work fueled the kind of resentment I mentioned here recently.

Is Medved still repeating his claim that Hollywood is anti-religion? I always felt that the claim misses the point. Harlan's "Watching" columns correctly summarized what Hollywood believed teens want to see in movies - defiance of authority, destruction of property, and gratuitous nudity. I conclude that the moguls see religion as just another authority to be defied, like John Vernon as a tyrannical college dean or former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stiller as a boring, out-of-it teacher.

Thank You So Much, Harlan
You expressed so well how I have been feeling over the past 15 years or so, watching with alarm the rise of these mean-spirited jerks on the far-Right. About ten years ago, I even considered suicide because of what these sickos were doing to my country. I just couldn't stand how they were poisoning the minds of so many people. The GWB dictatorship (yes, that's what I think it is) is just the (il-)logical manifestation of all of this. *Of course* they would go after MJF. He has more decency than any of them could even dream of having, & they just can't stand it. I can't think of one bad stain on MJF's career at all. He has been scandal-free up to now. MJF has more class in his little finger than Limbaugh has in his entire body.

David,

Good for you! I also voted for Teddy K.

SHE is here.....almost
In the latest Critics Choice Video catalog (www.ccvideo.com) they list the newly restored version of the 1935 versions of SHE. Both a black/white and colorized copy, with the usual bells and whistles all for the princely sum of 17.96 plus shipping and handeling if you are a catalog person. It would be nice to hear a critique of this edition from Our Esteemed Host, when time allows.

our wonderful election process

I just had a rather surreal experience over my lunch hour. I live in Oregon, where we vote by mail. My wife already voted more than a week ago, because she knows the campaigns will check who's voted and stop calling to pester her at home.

I took my ballot to lunch, along with voter's pamphlets and newspaper run-downs of the candidates and ballot measures. It took me roughly a half hour to work my way through them. When I had just finished and was going to seal the ballot in the mailing envelope, I looked up and there, one table away from me, was the Republican candidate for governor, pressing the flesh, followed by a videocam, a security detail, and a gaggle of teens in campaign tee shirts.

This guy is a successful businessman (I gather) whose only elected office experience was serving on a local school board. I was horrified at the thought he would recognize all the election materials in front of me and come over to chat. I didn't even relish the prospect of telling him, "I JUST voted for your opponent!" I just didn't want to deal with him. Fortunately, he moved off in another direction.

God, what a weird experience!

JOSH:

See immediately preceding post, do the link, and give me a call.

Harlan

Mike Lane,

"I do believe that there are political entities within our culture that need to be confronted openly and directly."

Mike, with all due respect, you're kinda arguing an argument that doesn't exist; don't make me kiss the Straw Man.

If you look at my post on the subject you can clearly see I never said a thing about trying to DEBATE Limbaugh. I stated EXPLICITLY that DEBATE plays no role in the game he and many Conservatives play.

But remaining SILENT - as you appear to be arguing - is cultural suicide. For a couple of decades the Left seemed complacent, as if assuming most Americans would be too smart to fall for lies and drivel, while the Right bought off most of the radio stations out there and slammed the country with ceaseless sound bytes. It's not like they'll go away if you ignore them; the audience they're bating is MASSIVE; and it accepts ANYTHING fucks like Limbaugh spit out. In short, there are WAY too many fuckin' stupid people out there.

Informed and CONSTANT rebuttal is what's necessary. PUSHING the facts in people's faces relentlessly is the only thing that will slowly and at least somewhat lend balance in the playing field. That's what people like Al Franken and Ed Schultz are doing; but we're still too outnumbered by the right wing radio stations (not to mention tv), and we need to get far more going.

No one here was talking about "DEBATING"

HALO, I Must Be Going
Looks like HALO is dead again; this links to a press release from Wingnut Films, which is Peter Jackson's company:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30560


-TODD

SPOILERS

Please, when you folks talk about recently released movies, use a spoiler alert before you give away plot details.

Thank you.

D.

Don't forget, they pad most bills with politicospeak, to confuse the public, because frankly, they don't trust the public. This is why they use propaganda to confound us during election time.

You don't vote this time, you don't deserve to be in this country. Period!

------------

Limbaugh may be a complete bleeding idiot, but he is taken very seriously in our culture. That is the bottom line. We can deny it all we want. Crowbars and pitchforks, who's with me!

Oh, shit, Levin is just awful. Him and Hannity recently called up Alec Baldwin, who was guest hosting some talk show, or wanted to be a talk show host for a day and frankly had a difficult time with it. Hannity and Levin call him up, because Baldwin had called Hannity an idiot, and Hannity wanted revenge. They go on about how Baldwin is a washed up actor and other lies, especially after seeing both the Cooler and The Departed, where Alec just aces his performance. Two punks like that have no right to anyone of Baldwin's stature washed up. Ratings are never enough fucks.

I usually call into Medved's show, which is one of the easier shows to get on if you are on the left, because Medved invites the left to call most days. I usually end up making decent points, until I am cut off and Medved pretends to act like he won the arguement, or make some rude kiss off remark. Hannity screens his calls. Once tried to debate the awful Jed Babbin, but that guy is pure evil--a real prick. He took my words and twisted them. The usual, he's anti-American, and all that.

Fuck em.

--------

Duane, don't get me started with that scene. Really surprised me. I did understand why there were so many head shots in the film: The one's that got shot in the head used their heads to think too much, so they got shot in the head. The one guy who got it in the heart, mainly used his heart, not his head, so he died with a hole in his heart.

Scorsese is a catholic, he cannot allow any evil to get away. So he ends the movie that way. The only actual flaw, beyond the overuse of fancy camera swoops and clever dialogue jabs every five seconds. There was never room to breathe, which was the point, I'd guess.

The lady who played the Psychologist did the most muted performance, but gave the best one, I'd say. Sometimes subtle moves are the best.

Keep it in yer pants
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-30-abstinence-message_x.htm

Yes folks, the White House is broadening the scope of their abstence only agenda. They ain't just targeting teens anymore; now Bush and Co wants people aged 20-29 to not have sex either. (Unless they are married of course, but even then those types of Christians still think sex is disgusting). I can't wait to see what kind of ad compaign they come up with tell tell a 29 year old that sex is icky.

I'm surpised Bush isn't a fan of human cloning. It seems like it would be a Right-Wing-Christian ideal to make skin-on-skin contact and nakedness completely unneccessary.

White Wolf editions?
Harlan (and friends),

I feel like I must have missed something with regard to the White Wolf EDGEWORKS editions of a few years back. I recall the line was launched with the intention of creating uniform editions of your complete works, but it seems only four volumes were issued. Is there a story behind the series being (apparently) discontinued?

Additionally, has there ever been any discussion of a follow-up collection of uncollected essays after SLEEPLESS NIGHTS...? Your opinions, reminiscences and reportage are easily among my favorite work of yours (and the reaction to your recent Limbaugh "rant" on this board suggests I'm not alone); it's a rare year that passes without my reaching for one (or several!) of your non-fiction volumes for re-reading.

Finally, a note to Susan: please put me down for one of each EDGE collection on CD and a HERC renewal! The check, as they say, is in the mail.


Best,

Wyatt Doyle

www.newtexture.com

Yes indeed, compared to the glorious days of yesteryear when nearly a million blacks were chopped to death in Rwanda and Saddam was busily butchering the Shia and Kurds and 100,000 slaughtered in Chechnya and thousands more in Darfur, Halloween was well worth celebrating. But since the calamity of three whole suicides at Gitmo we must succumb to the darkness and let Halloween pass into the oblivion of sadness and despair.
The horror. The horror.

The Sound of Gnashing Teeth
Here's some info on the forthcoming "Dream Corridor" quarterly -- straight from the site of Dark Horse Comics. Dig the new release date (Arrgh!):

Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor Vol. 2 TPB
Writer: Harlan Ellison
Artist: Eric Shanower
Cover Artist: Brian Boland
Genre: Horror, Fantasy


Ten years! Ten years of pain and gnashing of teeth! Ten years of deprivation and desolation! But the wait is over--at last! Yes, it is the ultimate, spectacular, senses-shattering, clobbering-time final damn volume of the Dream Corridor, hosted by the ever charming and irascible Harlan Ellison, and you can finally kiss those ten years of torment good-bye! At long last, see Harlan crucified! See Harlan disemboweled! See Harlan used as target practice and served up in stew! Pour yourself an otherworldly cocktail, with a pinch of Geritol for all those years, and snuggle down into the Dream Corridor!

Your host for this amazing final volume is of course HE himself, not just the most award-winningest author on the planet but now his very own registered trademark! Aiding and abetting Harlan in his own destruction is the Eisner-winning Best Artist Eric Shanower, as they introduce each of ten fabulist tales in this volume with a fabulous tale of their own. Too cranky to go down without a fight, the man who needs no introduction presents this brand-new collection of his own stories, written and drawn by the likes of Mark Waid, Gene Ha, Steve Rude, Steve Niles, Paul Chadwick, Gene Colan, and more, including the very last work ever by Superman artist Curt Swan. Come on in, throw a few knives, pull up alongside Hemingway and Einstein for a game of poker, and gamble on enjoying your stay in the Dream Corridor . . . because you may never return!

• Named Grand Master at this year's Nebula Awards, Harlan Ellison now officially joins the ranks of literary legends such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Ray Bradbury in being honored for lifetime achievement in science fiction and fantasy.

• Collecting the final stories from the landmark fiction series Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor--with gobs of new material!

• Cover by Brian Boland!

Publication Date: Mar 14, 2007
Format: Soft cover, 152 pages, Full color, 7" x 10"
Price: $19.95
Age range: 16+
ISBN-10: 1-59307-494-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-59307-494-4

The DePAAHHHHted
Frank sez: "The Departed, masterpiece. Scorsese rattles my zipper once again...."

I know for a FACT that you jumped out of your skin when that guy was shot in the elevator. I KNOW you did.

How do I know? Because my girlfriend got a face full of my popcorn the other night when we saw it.

Halloween
Harlan, do you tend to do anything special on this most sacred and holy of days, or is it just another day at Ellison Wonderland?

Mark Owens: Many thanks for the "glass" hand info. I think we're going to pass on it. But thanks for thinking of us.

Everyone: Re: VOICE FROM THE EDGE CD collections, We're down to half a box of each volume. Although we still have a number of the audio cassette version.

All best--Susan

Hi Mike: (Steve is fine, but there are a whole lot of 'em here!)

I don't suggest that a whole lot of time and energy should be spent counter-attacking conservative pundits (incidently, I think "Ultra-Right" or "Neo-Conservative" are more appropriate labels.) You are right; that would be attacking the cheerleaders as opposed to the team.

But I don't think they should be ignored either.

It's not a question of debating them, because it's not the pesuasiveness of their arguments which is the problem. It's the VOLUME of their arguments, which threatens to drown out rational voices. These are the watchdogs of the status quo. Their task is to silence, ridicule, belittle and generally undermine and hinder any who would question it. If we are to mount an opposition, they do need to be dealt with.

And again, this is not a question of engaging them in a point for point debate, because they have created an environment which renders this kind of discourse impossible. But rather, we will need to occasionally turn around and say: "No. You guys are full of shit." Not redirect the focus completely, but to show that we're not intimidated and we're not fooled.

Unca Harlan's "rant" for instance (and really, could we maybe call it an "essay" instead?) was an eloquent and effective rebuttal to those jackals. It is also I beleive quite sufficient. I don't think Harlan needs to go on the talk show circuit and devote any more of his time or energy to hunting these guys down; those paragraphs were quite enough. Not a huge expenditure of energy (I believe? Could be wrong?), but just enough to deflect some of the slings and arrows sent our way.

Then we can get on to more important matters.

Not to mention it is occasionally very satisfying to tell off the bully.

-Steve E.

A good post, Steve Barber.

I hope that after all the conversation, arguments, rants, fears expressed here in this delightful forum that all of you won't forget to go out at the appropriate time and...VOTE!

Most people forget to read the fine print in the democratic (small d) "social contract". Namely,

1. If you don't vote this automatically disqualifies you from having an opinion, much less expressing one. After election day my first question to someone who expresses an opinion will be "Did you vote?" If the answer is negative, then my next comment will be, "Then do me the courtesy of shutting the fuck up."

2. A non-vote defaults to the party in power. So it follows that there are two ways to vote for the incumbent. To choose them (which is honorable but alas in most cases misguided), or to simply not vote in which case see #1.

My hope for this mid-term election is simple. I wish for the Democrats (big D) to win the majority in at least one of the houses of Congress. Not because I particularly support the Demos, who are corrupt and compromised, but because it will at least stop the rubber stamping by the Congress of everything Bush intends.

Happy All-Hallows Eve

So. October 31st. Halloween.In many ways, my favorite holiday. It provokes in me an ancient, gothic resonance that instills the world once again with mystery and imagination. Anything, I believe, is possible.

And, yet, here I am, today, October 31st, 2006, with the house naked and undecorated, not even a pumpkin on the stoop to declare my love for All Hallows Eve and all that it represents. No skeletons in the window, none of the artsy little statuettes of caricatured Bradbury-esque mansions (complete with ghosts and bats and creatures of the night prancing about the base). No orange lights casting their eerie glow through the room.

All of it is still safely locked away in the garage, ensconced in cardboard boxes, up on the top shelf away from the mice.

Perhaps it is, at long last, that the reality of the world has exceeded the horrors in my mind. The creepy-dark magic of Tim Burton's frightening town of SLEEPY HOLLOW pales in comparison with the horrors of Gitmo. Or Bagdad. Or Pyongyang.

Reality intrudes upon my fantasy fears with cruel brutality. That tap-tap-tapping of mice or rats or other-dimensional creature is now the NSA as they listen to my thoughts, my dreams, my whispers. BRAZIL and 1984 have become political documentaries, and SHOCK TREATMENT only standard everyday reality entertainment. What was fantasy is now the everyday, and fantasy itself (not the HARRY POTTER or HOBBIT-related genre, the type of fantasy that comprises the dreams and escapes in our imaginations) has gone amissing. Cthulhu holds no sway.

So the boxes stay shut and the goblins slumber for another year. Perhaps I will rush home, stop by Vons for a baglet of candy (or two) and a pumpkin -- which will be carved willy-nilly for ghastly effect, and I will wait, anticipating, for the knock upon the door, the ring of the doorbell, for the children to restore my faith in things that go bump in the night.

The Evils of Conservative Talk Radio
I work second shift and my drive home every night takes about an hour. In order to stay awake, I listen to talk radio. And of course, that means I hear Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, Neil Bortz and others. Yelling my objections at the radio keeps me wide awake.

I haven't heard Rush Limbaugh lately, but, since all the other conservative hosts are saying the same things, I imagine Mr. Limbaugh uses the same talking points. Since I don't own a cell phone, I am unable to call in my objections when they are obviously wrong. But, listening to the liberals who do call in, I have reached the conclusion that anyone with intelligence is screened out. Or maybe only the hopelessly naive bother to call. Mark Levin is by far the worst and O'Reilly the least venomous, but they all make it clear that they have no interest in seriously entertaining opposing view points.

And speaking of Bill O'Reilly, because he maintains that he is not partisan, he presents a more subtle evil than the unabashedly biased Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. Neil Bortz is in the same category, supposedly he is a libertarian.

I believe that these conservative shills do represent a serious threat to reasonable political discourse. They are out there pounding away every day. Remember, if a lie is told vociferously and often enough it will be accepted by the gullible and naive. I'm afraid there is no short supply of voters who fit those categories.

Paul, thank you very much for pointing out the relevant section of the legislation. When I originally reviewed it, I looked over most of the main headers, did some searching for it on the 'Net, but found little on this piece of legislation other than the comments about the military appropriations aspect of the bill.

Elijah, I apologize. Your initial assessment of this bill is correct. This is a dangerous piece of legislation. There is not much I can add to Mike Lane's well written post other than to say that they did a good job hiding the passage. It is on page 322, in a section titled "Other Matters" and is bookended by sections on Patent Extensions and hunting and fishing opportunities. No, I am not kidding (although I am reminded of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where the notice of the demolition of a guy's house was hidden).

The language they use in this bill is broad, deliberately so I am sure but the implications contained within are ominous to say the least.

I have sent the legislation, with my comments, to the editorial board here at my paper, to a friend in the JAG corps and to another person who is a former Air Force officer. Unlike a certain author, I may not know any Lithuanian hit-men, but I try to get by as I can.

I have a real bad feeling about this, but I am very interested in hearing from people more knowledgeable than I about this legislation.

Dear Rob and Mr. Evil (with a capital E)

Mr. Evil, mind if I call you Steve (although I like the surname)? As for me, Mike is fine.

Anyway, although you may all be correct I think perhaps you might consider for a minute the possibility that confronting talking heads on either side of the political spectrum is
a waste of time. I do believe that there are political entities within our culture that need to be confronted openly and directly. I simply do not believe that Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly are the ones we should confront. And as others here have pointed out there are no real venues for directly confronting them. They never step forward for open
debate. Or at least I am not aware of any instances when they have. All of them hide behind their particular audiences and operate under conditions that are completely within their control. Unfortunately, such control is now being employed by our own politicians, e.g. our current president who handpicks his audiences for his speaks and appearances.

I once thought that I should attempt to listen to viewpoints of the Rush et al. under the old adage "know you enemy". But I found they really have nothing cogent to say beyond hate
speech. And they make a great noise with personal attacks against individuals or amorphously defined groups like "liberals".
Would it be emotionally satisifying to see someone like our host confront and debate Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh in an open forum? Oh man can you imagine what that would be like? Oh happy joyful motha ... day. But the results of confrontations like that are just fodder for attention grabbing entertainers (and that is what these characters are!) like them. I often feel like Frank Church and somedays would really like to confront them with a freaking crowbar. But that is what they want people who think differently than they do to think. They want us to think about them and they want us to invest emotional
energy in paying attention to them and not on other things that are infinitely more important than for example personal attacks like the one perpetrated on Michael J. Fox by Mr. Lardball
...I mean Limbaugh. Remember that all of these people are entertainers for people who have already made up their minds on the issues. Again, as for the rest of us, all that matters is that we pay attention to them and not what is going on in this country.

For an example of what we should be paying attention to, look at the website that Elijah Newton posted. Now take a look at what Mark Goldberg says about the bill HR 5122. The importance of his post is that he couldn't find the relevant information. Why? And that is because the relevant information in the bill in question is was buried deep within pages and pages
of listings of appropriations. If you really want to pay attention and get pissed off about something and confront someone about something, this kind of slight of hand legislation is it. They have with the language of this bill provided the executive branch with the power to use the military to maintain order under virtually any conditions that THE PRESIDENT DEEMS NECESSARY. The language is vague enough to allow damn near anything to be used as a provocation for martial law. Have you heard anything about this in the mainstream media? I don't think so.

Paul Leslie has already posted what we should all be doing right now. And that is go to the website he has provided and check out that appropriations bill. Forget Limbaugh.
With all due respect to Frank Church he is a lightweight mouthpiece for the really dangerous people we need to confront. Our own congressmen and president. Even if we attack and win against people like Limbaugh him we are just attacking the smoke and mirrors.

By the way Rob, my statements to Mr. Ellison weren't a plea so much as a suggestion. I wouldn't make a plea to him or anyone else here because I don't know him or any of you personally. And my thoughts to you are only suggestions as well. Maybe you and Steve are correct and attacking people like Limbaugh is part of the equation. I just think that they can wait. They will scuttle away once we turn the light on the real culprits.

Another Signpost on the Road to Perdition
I was perusing The Huffington Post today when I read an article by Bill Maher. At first I thought it was a joke--but no, it's the real deal. Seems the law 'n order folks in Levy County, Florida, have taken to drug testing library volunteers. The volunteers, most of whom range in age from 60 to 85, were required to drive all the way to Gainesville to pee in a cup. Not too surprsingly, the number of volunteers dropped from 55 to two in short order.

Why such testing was deemed necessary, I don't know. Perhaps some of the volunteers were smuggling out copies of HOW TO BUILD A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION by X. Plosion to al Qaeda members. Gotta wonder.

As Maher wrote, "They're not flying planes. They're showing the homeless how to use the microfiche readers. For free. The only people who profit from this are the stockholders of the drug testing company, who stood to make $33 a head, money the library would have otherwise wasted on books."

Good to know the senior citizens aren't hiding in the stacks, shooting smack. Another signpost on the road to Perdition, courtesy of Big Brother.

What don't we know about Harlan?

We don't know what his handwriting looks like.

EOM

Defense Authorization Act
So America takes one more step on it's march to becoming a police state. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act
( 10 U.S.C. 331-336 ) are the acts protecting americans from the federal govt. declaring martial law amd using the military to police and control american citizens. The new Defense Authorization Act amends section 333 of title 10, the Insurrection Act, in a terrible way.

Mark Goldberg, the act in question is indeed long but the relevant section is Sec. 1076. Use of The Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies. The section goes on to describe the conditions under which the president could call out the military to police american citizens and the wording is so broad you could drive a truck, or march an army through it.

Some of the wording in this amendment that allows the president
to call in the military includes;
(1)The President may employ the armed forces,including the National Guard in Federal service, to.....
(A)restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any state or possession of the United States, the President determines that.....
(i)domestic violence has occured to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State are incapable of maintaining public order.......

Going on to say.........

(B)supress in a State any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy ........

The whole law can be read at www.govtrack under the number of the bill h109-5122. The relevant section is 1076.

The way I read it, even if a protest started to get a little out of control, the president could deem it a situation that the police were "incapable of maintaining public order" and send in the tanks.

Combine this amendment with the new powers the president has to declare anyone an enemy combatant and detain anyone indefinitely with no charges and no access to a lawyer and the huge detention centers Halliburton is now building in the U.S. and it does not take much imagination to see a pattern here.

So this is how we lose our country boys and girls. Little by little and not with a BANG but with barely a whisper......

The Skylight Signing
HARLAN: Regarding the Skylight signing: more grist for the mill when writing that essay about yo-yos who are inconsiderate when it comes to author signings.

I seem to recall a guy who was bone-headed enough to encourage his shy, 11-year-old daughter to ask you for an autograph, saying, "Go ahead, ask him now. He wont bite," before looking up to see if the Horror Convention folks in Denver were getting ready to start serving food. I'm still chagrined about that, cause I put you in an awkward situation and my daughter in an embarrassing one. One of the many things I kick myself about.
And now that I think about it, I may have provided J.K. Rowling with material for your "Xenogenesis"-style essay about autograph hounds by recently hurling my body in front of her and blocking her exit from a green room in Radio City Music Hall, -- she probably thought I had a bomb strapped to my body.

With head still hung in shame (at some of the things I do while in "dad" mode), and mind still experiencing years of retroacive guilt, I remain,
DTS (the Honorary Jew and autograph hound/stalker-person)

Not that it really matter but for posterity, it's mister, not mademoiselle. The burden of unisex name. No worries.

John: On conservatives, christians, jews, muslims, creationist et al:

I don't hate you. I've never met you so I have no reason to hate you. Pity you? Oh yes. Now, I must qualify; not all conservatives are deserving of my pity. I'm conservative in some ways (e.g. Death Penalty where guilt is absolutely not in doubt (video, 500 eye witness, you get the idea)) but then again so are most people; conservative on this issue, liberal on that issue. What really gets me is when they let dogma and rhetoric dominate reason. This is a disease conservatives tend to, neo-cons demonstrate daily and religious types are devoted to and are no excuse for the evil done in the name of this abandonment of thought.

Lucky for them I grade on a curve. Creationists who argue bing-bang versus "let there be light": I mostly understand the desire to put off those questions until they become necessary; they're in on evolution, star formation, and all the really good stuff but they just don't want to look behind the big curtain and confront the very beginning and the very end with reasoned thinking. That fine, I guess, as long as they don't get any on me. Once they begin talking about a 6000 year old Earth and dinosaurs cohabitating with man my pity slides over to contempt and I want go off on them like Oppenheimer.

The nice thing about being an athiest is that there's no shame in being wrong. Earth's not flat? Oh, good then, that'll make it easier to get to Australia from where I am then. Homosexuality is not a choice. Great! I was getting tired of electroshocking Blaine here. He's been through 54 treatments and the only thing he remembers before his 20th birthday is having a crush on Ben Forrester in the 6th grade.

Religious types don't get to be wrong. Homosexuals? God says they're wrong and I don't care what you've "learned". They gave Alan Turing a choice: Chemical castration or 2 years in jail. He chose an apple injected with cyanide instead. And on top of that he's still going to hell (once of liking men and once for the suicide). These are the options a society governed by religion gives a man who, with his Ultra group, pretty much saved the WW2 for the allies.

Let's see, Ed Bernays was a liberal, the father of modern pr, but thought men were too stupid to control their own lives. An invisible elite had to guide the masses with propaganda.

Woodrow Wilson was a liberal, put socialists in prison and hated blacks and brown people in central America. Imperialism banged his butthole.

Walter Lippmann was a liberal, most respected in American history. Called men "rabble," and that the rabble had to be guided, by Bernay's kind of propaganda.

Conservatives are bad, but so are many so called liberals. Better to let the wind cry independent. My balls hang free. Yow.

-----------

Steve, I have an upside down flag in my window. Gonna stay that way till the winds of change sing the sweet tunes.

------------

The Departed, masterpiece. Scorsese rattles my zipper once again. Never thought the word fuck could be said in so many wonderful ways.

REPLY TO WYATT
WYATT:

Yeah, I share your pique. But the fault is mine, not Skylight's. I thought I'd handled the problem by announcing at the git-go that "for every new book you buy, I'll sign four older books." But they outflanked me by buying three books and having me sign 12 or 16 more ... all at the same time. Instead of going to the back of the line.

I signed for four hours after the talk. Got home after 1 AM.
Exhausted, of course.

Usually, I handle the situation in a more accelerated way but, the truth of the matter is this: people come out for the signings, and many of them are obsessive or singleminded, and they really don't think of anyone else. I try to talk to each person, rather than just signing and blowing them off, and that takes extra time; but I think in the end it makes readers feel better about waiting in line.

In future, I'll just have to make it a point to insist that if someo9ne has a stack or suitcase or duffel bag full, they'll have to pick three or four, get them signed, and then go to the back of the line for a second bite of the apple. That's as close to a mutually-reasonable solution to the very real problem you posit as I've got in my world-view. If anyone can come up with a better, PLEASE don't hold it back!

In any case, Wyatt, thanks for coming; and thanks for the post.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

book signings

Wyatt Doyle makes a very good point. If people exercised a little consideration and common courtesy toward one another, they would:

1. Bring no more than 2-3 items to an Ellison signing, or

2. Voluntarily return to the end of the line after getting a couple items signed, to give others a chance both to obtain signatures and say hello to the author, before cadging more signatures for themselves.


Over the years, I've done both. Usually I bring only a few items, and across several decades have gotten quite a few things in my collection signed -- and that was before one could obtain same directly from the house in Sherman Oaks. And I've been lucky that the Ellison events I've attended have not had long lines of more than, say, a dozen people, so it wasn't a bother for me to go back to the end of the line and wait a second turn.

The suspicion that those "collectors" were really dealers or hucksters looking to sell their signed goods at the earliest opportunity would make it hard for me to avoid glaring at them, let alone pulling out a rope (if I'd had one).

Todd,

I PROMISE - you've my WORD - it will NEVER happen again.

Skylight Books appearance
I just wanted to say thanks to Harlan for his Skylight Books appearance last night. I wish I had understood he would be speaking in addition to signing, as I would have dragged friends out to Los Feliz for the experience. It was the first opportunity I'd had to hear him speak since a CBLDF fundraising talk back in Philadelphia (easily over a decade ago), and it was great to see him in such a fun mood.

And while I don't want to rain on anyone's parade or cast stones, I did want to vent a little about one aspect of the event that got under my fingernails a bit.

Though I'm not an autograph collector, having a book signed at an event always makes for a nice keepsake. And if you'd like a few other editions signed and the man himself is game, what's the harm? Though I have ample Ellison on my shelves, I myself picked up a pair of books at Skylight as both a nod to the venue and with an eye to sharing them with out-of-state and Ellison-deprived friends.

But when people show up with duffel bags filled with books (as several did), It gets to be a bit much for those waiting in line to say hello, thanks, and get a signature in their paperback.

If there is blame to be laid at anyone's feet, I guess it would fall to Skylight Books. They sure seem like nice folks, so I'm guessing they weren't as experienced with the kind of... Let's say "collector mentality" of some HE fans. Things could have been simplified if only someone had thought to say, "HE will sign x number of books per person so we can move though the line more efficiently, and if you would like more signed, stick around and if there's time/willingness on HE's part/etc."

And if the venue isn't able to get it together along those lines, is it too much to ask of these fans to size up the situation and consider extending that little courtesy unasked to their fellow readers? I saw at least one collector doing just that, but he appeared to be alone in his gesture.

At the end of the day, I'm not complaining so much as letting off a little steam; most everyone I encountered seemed like decent folks. I eventually bailed out of the line and headed home without a signature, but was entertained as always by Harlan and grateful for the opportunity to thank Susan in person for her work with HERC and for a kindness from years earlier. Hardly a wasted evening!

Here's hoping it's not another ten years before I get to spend another evening enjoying Harlan at the mic. And here's hoping those in the signing line afterward will cut each other a little slack.



Wyatt Doyle

www.newtexture.com

I've been sitting quietly in the corner of this establishment for some time, but have never spoken up. Last night, I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Barber at the Skylight Books signing. Remarking on my fondness for this forum, Steve suggested to me that I should add my voice to the ongoing erudite fracas herein. Thus, I say, "Hello everyone. Nice to meet you."

An apology from Rob on the other board? I must still be asleep, dreaming the dreams of the innocent.

Did I ever tell you my Bill Clinton dream the night he beat Bush I in the election? Almost turned me Democrat. Almost.

Nah, I think I'll keep it to myself; don't need the upset stomach this morning.

-TODD

John, and others -- I'm not piling on here, but conveying, perhaps, a sense of why some of us (not all!) are a bit reactionary in responding to the Conservative voices.

Political debate has always been capable of achieving truly heated exchanges going back as far (or farther) as the ancient Roman Senate. As long as people believe, in their hearts, that problems can be solved a certain way they will be passionate about them. Ideas ARE things we should be passionate about, as is the process of solving a problem. Conservatives and Liberals have long struggled with slightly differing ideologies -- we agree, for the most part, on the problem. It's the solutions that give us pause -- but until a voting generation ago the rhetoric was kept to a dull roar.

With the advent of the 1990's however, we experienced a new escalation of the words in which it became permissible to not only denounce those who disagree with you, but to vilify and demonize them ... or worse.

Case in point: This morning, tuning into my usual drive-time programming, liberal radio talk show host Stephanie Miller read on the air an email she had received as a result of her appearance on Fox News. In short, it was a well-written but completely vile death threat. It accused ALL liberals as traitors (Benedict Arnolds) and treasonous. And yet, when she contacted the person -- who turned out to be a very rational sounding retired insurance salesman -- she had to read him the letter (which he had forgotten) and then listen as he proceeded to explain that yes, he would celebrate if both Stephanie and Cindy Sheehan were dead. (He was quick to point out that he, personally, would NEVER kill them, but would appreciate if someone else would.)(His words: "Stick an AK-47 up your glory hole and ..." well, you get the picture.) He ended his comments by saying that he was entitled to his opinions, adding that "just like you are", ignoring the obvious irony that her excercise of the right to speak freely is precisely what made him so angry in the first place. In other words, he has the right to speak out, but she'd better shut the "*" up.

John. It isn't, at all, that your words are unwelcome, nor is it that you yourself are unwelcome. Debate is good. It astounds me, however, that you come to this kind of a site and are surprised that posting a conservative point of view WON'T create a debate. Were I to go to the Fox News website and post that Bush is a terrible president, I would sincerely expect that I would be jumped all over, no matter how well documented my comments.

I don't dislike Republicans, I dislike Bush. I dislike Cheney. I dislike Rumsfeld, Rice and mostly I dislike Alberto Gonzales for what he has done to both our rights and freedoms, and his systematic destruction of traditional American values such prisoner's rights, free speech and the Constititution. This is not opinion, or spin, or even misrepresentation of the true history, it is part of the demonstrable public record. I DO consider it a primary responsiblity of Republicans to have reigned in this Administration, as they SHOULD under the rules of the democracy, but instead they have acted as enablers, worsening the situation exponentially in their subservience.

This isn't about the fact we -- you and I -- disagree as Democrats and Republicans. It's about the arrogance of those in power and demonization of the left by Conservative Pundits, labeling us as unAmerican because we will not cowtow and follow the Republican party line. Is the rhetoric found on both sides? Yes. But only one holds the reigns of power, and they have allowed the partisanship to have exceeded all acceptable boundaries.

I would characterize my own patriotism as significant. I have cried at the Arizona Memorial, and tear up at the playing of the national anthem. I come from a military family and understand, far more than many others, what true sacrifice looks (and feels) like. I have lived in foreign lands during periods in which Americans were the subject of rioting in the streets. I have a flag which flies proudly every holiday.

And I am a America-loving Liberal. Capital L.

I just happen to disagree with you, politically, about how we fix this badly broken nation. One thing is clear, in my point of view, and that is that Bush and Company need to be reigned in, lassoed and securely caged. The damage is significant. It's time for sobriety and fair debate. And it's time for a chance.

IMHO.

Elijah, just did some searching on the Defense Authorization Act, including reading some of the act (not all, because it is a really freaking long). Nowhere in it do I see any legislation allowing the use of troops within the confines of the US nor the ability to round up protesters. Basically, it looks like a standard military appropriations bill, but does provide more funding for these "detention centers" that have been in other pieces of legislation

The use of military within the US is prohibited by Posse Comitatus, which severely restricts the use of federal troops domestically. Overriding that, especially in these divisive times, would engender a much more vociferous response, even from the normally somnambulant media.

US vs THEM
I'm gonna talk about two little words that are behind most of the world's major problems, "us" and "we". Now these pronouns aren't always bad. When used instead of "me" or "I", they are great. I'm sure that most of you would agree that unselfishness is wonderful. But when used in opposition to "them" and "they", it's a different story. And the worst problem is that most people don't consider group selfishness, groupishness, as evil at all.

In my lifetime there has been some improvement in this area, but not much. Nowadays racial and ethnic groupishness is considered by most to be bad behavior, at least in this country. But there are other types of group identification, which, though just as discriminatory, are not only accepted, but thought of as good, even noble, ideas.

I believe there are three main group distinctions that humans use to categorize themselves and others. Racism, grouping by race or ethnicity, is considered wrong now in America, but it still causes problems all around the world. And even here, many people, who don't think they have a racist bone in their body, still consider other races as "them". That has an effect on the way they treat "them", even if it is only at the subconscious level.

The other two types are much more insidious because Americans, and others, are taught to think of them as good things. Nationalism, in our case thinking of Americans as "us" and everybody else as "them", is the cause of most of the wars that human beings have ever fought. "Dying for your country." Sounds noble, doesn't it? When you say, "'We're' gonna go kill 'them'," it loses some of its appeal. Not only does nationalism cause death by such direct means, but it also allows untold suffering of children and others because of apathy. "They" are dying of starvation or preventable diseases, but "they" aren't "our" countrymen, so it's not as important. People in wealthy countries, like America, allow suffering to continue, that they wouldn't stand for in their own country, because "they", the victims, are on the opposite side of that imaginary line "we" call "our" border.

The last example of groupishness is organized religion. It seems like the more organized a religion becomes, the more they teach the words of men instead of those of God. I'm sure there are many good Christians in this country, who have equal love in their hearts for all their fellow human beings. But religious organizations tend to divide folks up into "us and them". Whole countries, even regions of the world, get classified as "them" because "they" worship differently. When those poor souls are in the "them" category of both nationalism and religion, they are really expendable. You can kill a bunch of innocent ones, trying to get a bad guy, and nobody thinks there is anything wrong with it. It seems to me that the worst thing a church can do is support nationalism, but a lot of them do.

So there you have it. Of course selfishness is bad, but it can't hold a candle to groupishness when it comes to misery and death. I know I can't do anything about it, but I refuse to participate. My race: human. My citizenship: the world. My religion: a personal struggle to live by the teachings of Jesus.

nervous... very nervous...
While I doubt the objectivity of the site from which this came - http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911/ - they cite their sources (at the end of the article) and so the facts remain. New Zealand is looking _really_ good.

Bush Moves Towards Martial Law

Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."

The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential terrorists" and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton.

Title XIV of the new law, entitled, "Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Legislative Provisions," authorizes "the Secretary of Defense to create a Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the effectiveness of the Department of Defense (DOD) processes for identifying and deploying relevant DOD technology to federal, State, and local first responders." In other words, the law facilitates the "transfer" of the newest in so-called "crowd control" technology and other weaponry designed to suppress dissent from the Pentagon to local militarized police units.

Reprints and Signings

Just getting back from the Skylight Books signing, and a fun time was had by virtually everyone there -- though the line was long, our patron kept everyone suitably entertained for the duration. Very happy to have met Jason, and not so much at having missed FinderDoug (Susan assures me he was, indeed, in the room but I evidently couldn'ta picked him out of an LAPD lineup to save my life).

I asked Harlan about the "passing along" of the Limbaugh piece, as opposed to the more formal "reprinting to websites" process. He told me to post that it's fine for everyone to forward it out, as long as the phrase "Copyright c 2006 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved." IS included at the top.

Sleepy time...

fun 'n' games


Heh. Just a couple days after my Friday post at about 9:32:36, wherein I characterized the sort of miserable debate tactics I usually see in discussions of politics or religion, but were employed by Todd on the topic of television and the Internet, and I offhandedly added that I tend to see them more often from conservatives, whaddayaknow but if "John" didn't provide a perfect example.

Josh Olson and Larry, among others, posted more detailed responses, but I'd just like to say you either haven't been around here very long, John, or you don't read with much care. In the past three or four years, the persons I've tangled with the most on this page and in the Forum -- Eric Martin and Frank Church -- largely share my leftist views. I've fought with them because I didn't like their tactics; Martin because he too often bullied people and derived far too much of his identity from acting superior to everyone else, one way or another; and Frank because he's a rotten listener and debater, and I think he does the left more harm than good. In other words, he makes the rest of us left wingers look bad.

So it clearly ain't their beliefs that pissed me off about these guys. You may have noticed that Eric has been banned from these environs in the past month, so it clearly ain't his left-wing ideas that made him unwelcome around here, either. Frank, I just ignore, which seems to bother him no end because he's always trying to tease a response out of me in the Forum.

But apparently the subtlety of this level of thinking is beyond you, sir.

Rather than "us and them," the problems are quite often "them and them" (and by extension, there may well be a lot of solutions that involve "us and us" . . . so get on it).

Response to Tom Morgan
Mr. Morgan,

You may certainly use the line. Thank you for the compliment of considering worth repeating.

When I read John's post, I was reminded of "My Fundamentalist Education" author Christine Rosen, who has written some reviews recently for the Washington Post. (See the links below.) Unlike Tom DeLay, she doesn't explicitly compare people who disagree with her with people who killed Christ. But she does suggest that fundamentalism's critics refuse to understand the concept of faith and engage in elitist sneering at religious people. Is there a term for that kind of irresponsible defining and labeling? "Ad hominem" doesn't seem to fit. At times Rosen sounds like a politician, using phrases like "hostile to traditional conservative values" without defining what those values are.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/28/AR2006092801405.html

and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040601690.html

Kristin...As a further update, I just called the book store at 5 pm LA time to order a copy and was told HE was apologizing profusely about no Spider Kiss book for signing. I asked if any future signing plans for SK and was advised none. Oh well.

John: I will be one to say thanks for that post. I agree with a lot of it and pretty much expected to see the responses you got.
Shagin: That was a great description of hatred at the end of your post. Is it your's? Mind if I steal it?
Steve: Harlan answered the rant copying question. Scroll down. I think it was yesterday.

Now that the My Space situation, such as it was, is resolved, I wonder if I may inquire as to the status of another piece of Ellisonian writing, that being the Limbaugh "rant". I thought it was a marvelous piece of writing, and I know many people who are thirsty for this kind of counter-attack.

May I have your permission Unca Harlan, to forward said piece to said individuals, with all appropriate attribution? (that's Kilimanjaro Corp, right? Beginning of piece?).


Onto other matters, who was this Derleth guy and just how much did he tinker with Lovecraft's stories?


-Steve E. D .

OMG! Just got off the phone with the book store.....
realizing it was my last chance to mail order a signed copy.....It seems there's been a delay and they don't have it in yet! They took my pre order and said HE would sign the books when they did get it in. Well judging by the last post nobody told you, Harlan!!! I can't believe it! I feel sorry for all the people who are going to be disappointed when they show up for nothing! It isn't the store's fault, apparently, it's the publishers, whose PR people do the author bookings. Well it's perfect timing for a dinner run....you could take webderlanders and any friends who show up for dinner. No way to take everyone, but one doesn't owe anything to a mob of strangers I guess.

Kristin

THE MY SPACE MATTER

Everyone:

I've been in touch with Chris Adams, and he's cool. So am I. Yes, this is a no-no, and a boo-boo, but Mr. Adams seems a decent sort who had a brain-fart and didn't realize at the time what he was doing ... particularly since "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," along with something in the neighborhood of 30 other Ellison stories, is downloadable for a pittance at Fictionwise.com, so it would've saved him hours of transcribing time.

Nonetheless, all is well; and I thank you sentries who manned your posts with honor and ept. Charlie Petit is on the MySpace "situation" as he posted below; and peace reigns once again in the shire.

Hop to see some of you at Skylight this evening. Particularly you, Doug.

With gratitude, Yr. Pal, Harlan

That was a great parable.

And 'meshuganah'...thassa great word. Had it been in my vocabulary, it could have saved me a lot of grief last night at dinner (Karyn's Cooked at LaSalle and Chicago...check it out if you're in the area, it's the best vegan food I've ever had) when I was asked if I would ever consider having a child. Instead of going down the laundry list of reasons why not and coming off like a prattling misanthrope, effectively alienating everybody at the dinner table, I could have just said, 'A kid? Haha, silly person, that'd be meshuganah! No, go look it up, and leave me and my soy taco in peace.' Or am I not allowed to use it? I was once told to flense the word 'tchochkes' from my vocabulary, but I don't wanna.

Very much enjoying the pyrotechnics of Neal Asher's GRIDLINKED, and thankful for the recommendation...

-J

Regarding MySpace
Folks,

My apologies to Harlan. I'm no spitting image of Dershowitz, thus the legalese is not in the forefront of my mind. I have removed the copy of 'I have no...' and replaced it with a link to the site that has been granted authorization to post it. If this is unacceptable, I'll comply further.

-Chris

More MySpace Amusement
Although MySpace does have a DMCA Agent registered at the Copyright Office, there's no reply from the e-mail... and the fax has been continuously busy for 16 hours. Further, the website DOES NOT contain contact information--only a "web form".

This is sounding remarkably similar to another provider's mistakes. And it's owned by Fox, which makes it even more fun to attack than AOL (if it comes to that).

The re-run of FIRST ON THE BLOCK TO GET ONE
Note: You already this world shuddering dispatch before, but I couldn't sleep until I made the typo corrections and some tiny adjustments it was in need of...

I've been a collector of Harlan's work for better than 20 years and once in a while, I come up with things that even Harlan didn't know about. OK, technically speaking, my latest find wasn't built by Harlan, but once you feast your eyes on it, you just gotta shout (besides "Holly shit")that it looks just like what Harlan was writing about when he wrote the teleplay for the classic 1964 episode of The Outer Limits entitled "Demon With A Glass Hand"! So, what am I rambling on about? Go to the website: www.whatonearthcatalog.com, and when you kids get there, punch into the designated search slot: AW4462. What you will starring at, I already have of course. I immediately told Harlan and lovely Susan about it. Don't forget whose the one who exploded your mind...me at Little Ellison Wonderland. Now go and pillage or do what ever it is, to get some cash to pay for it. Nuff said.

Harlan, Right On!! in re to your rant about Limbaugh. I'm almost ashamed to be an American with all that has happen since 1/20/01.

I wish that one of these "compassionate conservatives" would spend the day with my Dad. He turned 73 two weeks and has been living in a nursing home for 6 1/2 years. At 52 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's and now except for physical therapy, is confined to a wheel-chair. He is at the stage where his speech is affected and has difficulty communcating with people. He never really had the shaking, but stiffness and muscle rigidity. On one of my visits he was lying on his bed and was having his Depends changed. It was like seeing a baby being changed. I quickly left as I didn't want my Dad seeing me cry. It hasn't been easy and knowing that because of politics all that can be done with research isn't being done is quite infuriating. What kind of society are we? A change needs to happen now before things can get even worse.

David

Dear John:
"It seems if someone brings a conservative point of view to this site, he/she's called a Nazi or some similar epithet and hounded off the site."
I hear this nonargument all the time whenever some mouth-breathing penny-ante fascist isn't allowed to dominate a non-wingnut site. I don't think you're one of 'em, so maybe you want to rethink the brownshirted bedmates you choose. The past six years on the Internet has clearly demonstrated that Leftists tend to raise the "we should hear all sides" banner (e.g., "bleeding-heart liberal"), & the Rightists never. Funny how so many Rightists claim "rights" they'd never think of granting to others.

"Most of you casually dismiss half your fellow citizens as unworthy of breathing the same air as you. The hubris of that is overwhelming."
What a neat bit of irony -- your second statement accurately describes the first! If you didn't have an agenda to flog, you'd see that (a) the NeoCons do not hold "half" the populace in thrall, check the poll numbers yourself, (b) us Eeeevile Lefties that (apparently) represent such an overwhelming weenie-wilting majority on this site dismiss errant fascists who happen to be Rightward & therefore we must hate everyone to the right of Barry Goldwater, (c) when we boot someone out the airlock, it's generally anything but "casual."

And now, for some Christlike & considered moderation from the Right:
"Get over yourselves. You don’t have the answer any more than anyone else does. You make me feel unwelcome in your little world, even though I rarely post, because of the waves of hatred that emanate from your writing. Frankly, you’re one of the most intolerant groups of people I’ve ever come across. Don’t bother telling me if I don’t like it, I can leave. I’m not here for you anyway."

Or, more succinctly: "Weh! Weh!"

John: "It seems if someone brings a conservative point of view to this site, he/she's called a Nazi or some similar epithet and hounded off the site"

...Not EVIL, John.

Not by a long-shot.

Myopic. Simply uninformed and detrimentally myopic.

It is, after all, not Bush and Cheney (whom I DO regard as evil) who got the country into this mess - but votes and "viewpoints" like YOURS (hey: the clues were all there in their background profiles).

Please consider the problem from MY pov:

"Viewpoints" and votes like yours will continually get this country in pretty much the same mess we're in now, reassuring the patterns of the past: Nixon; Reagan (the S&Ls, Iran-Contra, HUGE deficit spending); Bush Sr.'s economy, & his ingratiating of both Hussein prior to Kuwait, and the Saudis; and now the little scampy primate YOUR vote put in the office twice.

Finally, we don't talk Conservatives off this board. Some among us get more irate than others, admittedly. (I, needless t'say, ain't one of'em. Just look at the SIZE of this halo over my head. It's huge! N' it STAYS that way for HOURS! So, I'm one helluva SWEETIE!) But MOST here really do try to argue the facts with clarity when someone on that occasion posts UNSPEAKABLY clueless oversights on the issues.

With some continual nudging from Harlan people like myself have made efforts to behave more civilly than we did in those days of antiquity (though I don't think I proved that in my last post here, which contained a partial misinterpretation of Todd's intention; I summarily typed an apology to Todd over on the other board). I'm still working on that a bit myself; it's a little difficult sometimes because I am genuinely worried about many, many things going on. And WORRY makes me...extremely PISSED.

Having said that, it is my contention that most here are a helluva lot more civil, intelligent, and eloquent than 90% of those on Conservative forums - where mentalities are LARGELY shaped by Limbaugh sludge. No one is "hounded" off this site.

...and there sure as hell is PLENTY of debate here.

Frank,

In my humble but haughty opinion, Limbaugh is NOT intelligent - if, that is, knowledge is regarded as a feature of an intelligent person.

He knows nothing about science, economics, history, or, for that matter, how the medication works with Parkinsons.

And what he DOES know, he will deliberately distort. He is a smart radio tactician; and that's ALL. Of course, obviously, that's MORE than enough. His finely honed ability to distort reality reaches countless ignorant listeners, his "facts" almost never challenged on his shows. Part of his tactic is preventing hostile callers from getting through, saving himself the trouble of EVER having to correct what he says or be accountable for outrageously misstating the facts.

Any type of real democracy is built on debate. But Limbaugh has little use for debates; he has forged a media empire largely on unchallenged monologues. That's what makes him so dangerous. And that's why, with all due respect to Mike Lane's plea to Harlan, this bag-o-shit CANNOT be ignored. He needs to be dealt with through LOUD journalistic scrutiny; THAT tool is not yet strong enough.

It takes imagination to be an evil tactician; not necessarily "intelligence" (granting that MANY definitions can be applied to that label).

Hither and Yawn
John wrote, "There is no doubt that this particular forum is dedicated almost exclusively to left-wing (as opposed to the evil right wing ideology constantly decried here) thinking: Bush is evil, Republicans are evil, and every single conservative commentator has been painted with a similar brush."

Regarding "Bush is evil": Guilty as charged. It is now obvious to everyone with ears to hear and eyes to see that the Bush administration led this nation to war with Iraq under false pretenses, was hopelessly inept in its post-war planning, was sorely afflicted with ignorance and arrogance, and, last but not least, that it hasn't the foggiest idea of how to win this war--assuming that it IS winnable. Based upon this godawful clusterfuck alone, I consider our current Cheerleader-in-Chief to be EVIL. (Okay, maybe not so evil as that previous president who lied about getting his cock sucked in the Oval Office by a certain Ms. Lewinsky, but pretty damn near it. ILLICIT FELLATIO! The horror, the horror ... )

"Republicans are evil." Speaking solely for myself, I say: NO! Not all of them, at any rate. Hell, I used to BE one. I voted for Ford in '76 and Reagan in '80. I occasionally find myself in agreement with such GOPers as Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Lincoln Chafee. And I'm totally down with the late Barry Goldwater's opinion of the Religious Right: he couldn't stand 'em, and neither can I. That said, I also used to be a fundamentalist Baptist--from my late teens to early twenties--so it can be said that I've walked a mile in their shoes. When all was said and done, however, those Baptist shoes just didn't fit me--way too tight.

John also wrote, "And even though I don't go to church or practice any religious faith, I still respect other people's religious impulses ... " Well, I respect one's RIGHT to believe whatsoever one pleases, but that doesn't mean I respect the belief itself. I don't respect a belief which is anti-science, anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-separation of church and state, or which believes that 72 horny, heavenly virgins await some shmuck asshole who flies a plane into a building or blows himself up in a crowded place.

" ... and every single conservative commentator has been painted with a similar brush." I assume John is referring to the conservative punditocracy. Okay, on the Right we've got Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, G. Gordon Liddy, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Pat Buchanan--and that's not even mentioning the Religious Righters--which is, you've got to admit, a fairly venomous crew. Who on the Left compares to these ravers in terms of sheer hatemongering? Michael Moore? Al Franken? Cindy Sheehan? Randi Rhodes? I can't think of a single liberal pundit who is widely popular who is even in the league of the above right-wingers when it comes to hateful spew.

All that said, if John wants to debate whatever issue, that's fine with me. I promise not to engage in ad hominem attacks on him. But I will say EXACTLY what I think in no uncertain terms. Recall that Harlan described George W. Bush as, " ... a lying semiliterate president who spins truth to his own self-righteous purposes day after day, sending hundreds to their deaths, just to keep his party in power and to burnish his ego ... " Strong words. Ad hominem? Only if they can't be backed up, which I believe they can. Of Limbaugh, Harlan wrote, "He is, like his coven mates Coulter, O'Reilly, Buchanan, Falwell, Robertson and the rest of that slavering wolf-pack of loathesome inhuman scuts, a disgrace to the human race."

Ditto!

So, John, if you wish to take up the cudgels for any conservative issue or person, do it. And if someone here gets a bit testy, well, "Sticks and stones ... " right? Hell, I've been called every name in the book on the Internet and I've lived to tell about it, so ... let the winds of controversy blow! Or not, as the case may be--I'm easy.

CHARLIE P.:

Thanks, pal. Sorry to bother you on the weekend.

Hugs'n'such, Harlan

----------------------------------------------------------------ALEX J.:

I reply to your quizzical mien with a parable of My People.

An old man wandered out of the shtetl, idly contemplating as he strolled down the path beside the river; and as he came around a turn in the path, he saw an ant lying in the middle of the trail, lying on his back and feverishly thrashing all his arms and legs and antennae wildly in the air.

"What's all this about?" the old man asked, not unkindly.

"I have it on the highest and most reputable authority," replied the ant, "the sky is falling; the sky is poised to fall any minute now."

The old man looked at the flailing ant with bemusement and (one might say) quizzical mien. !The sky is falling...and this is what you do in the face of such an imminent catastrophe? You lie there and make meshuganah motions?"

And the ant looked up and said: "I do what I can do."

Maimonideslike, I remain, Yr. Pal, Harlan

Shark in the Water (MySpace)
The miscreants at MySpace (both the posters and the hoster) will shortly be getting messages originating from a cartilaginous ichthyoid concerning the copyright issues.

They've had plenty of time since yesterday's warning, and they really should know better than to poke at this particular target. Even the hardcore scanboys stopped posting Our Gracious Host's material after we sued.

No disrespect intended

Why aren't Christians interested in Christ? Where did Christ live? Was it a house or a tent? No. It was a cave and I visited the cave on tour with my feet planted exactly where his must have been many times. Huge line of Christians? Nope. They just weren't interested.

The Christians are coming! The Christians are coming!
The Fight to Save Christmas '06 has already begun:

http://mymerrychristmas.com/2006/battlelines.shtml

The big seller this season is the video game Left Behind:Left Behind: Eternal Forces. A Evangelically themed game set in the End of Days (which is supposedly.. uh.. now?) in which you are supposed to convert... or kill... non believers.

Of course any secular games where you run around killing completely ficitonal zombies and aliens are trounced on by Family Values assholes. But a Christian game where you kill seculars and heretics - groups that actually exist in real life - is praised by the Family Values assholes.

How's this for a Family photo:
http://www.randallterry.com/

There's Randall Terry, his grandkids, wife and daughter. Nice Christian family, but 2 people are missing from the portait. His gay son - DISOWNED. And his other daughter who got a bun in the over from pre-marital sex - ALSO DISOWNED. The son is tragic story, but the daughter was stuck between the rock and...well you know. See, Randall is not only hugely against abortion, but he's also hugely against women deciding to keep a baby born out of wedlock. I'm not exactly sure what the third option is (time machine?), but he thinks there's one and that women need to take it.

Now there's all this brauhauhau over who writes smuttier fiction: Dems or Christian Conservatives. Lynn's a beast in the sack, and a demon with the whip, so of course she's going to be able to write sexual disturbances that'll give you wet nightmares.

(I consider myself a Christian, but on the liberal/abstract fringe.)

Hi Keith. I thought i would throw my 2 cents in and try to answer your question. The fact of the matter is there are those who say they are Christians and live their lives in a Christlike manner and there are those who go to church on Sunday mornings and yet they live the rest of their lives in a very unChristlike manner. If you are truly living your life as a Christian there is no way you could commit murder or a serous crime of any type and actually be a Christian in God's eyes, and He is indeed the final arbiter. We do not get a pass on the way we live our lives when we become a Christian, we are required to live a Christlike life. There are a lot of people who claim to be Christians that are going to be very surprized when they die and do not find themselves in the Heaven they imagined because are only talking the talk and not walking the walk that God requires. I truly believe many of the people that get talked about here, the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells and Rush Limbaughs of the world, are not going to Heaven because they are not living their lives in a Christlike manner, and I truly believe that is the qualifier in God's eyes. Yes. Heaven is the gift of God to us as Christians, but in return we are to live the rest of lives returning that gift by actually being a good person and just helping other people in amyway we can. Obviously there is no way to ever do enough to pay back that gift, God just asks us to live in a Christlike manner and certainly those we have been talking about here just do not do that. I do not know if I am helping with this note, but this is truly what I believe and how I live my life.

Joseph, I don't think anyone was more surprised than the Cardinals themselves when they actually WON the World Series. Everyone around these parts is walking around with a big grin today.
I have a good friend here in St. Louis whose phone plays the Bears fight song when it rings, so good luck to all you Bears fans. What a terrific team.

Chris

John,

There’s a profound flaw at the heart of your statement, and while I share your lack of interest in stirring up a debate, I do think it would be wrong to let it pass without comment.

The issue is not that there is one right way to think. That statement trivializes each and every person who opposes Bush and his regime. You make it about partisanship, you make it about blinkered self-interest. What do you say to Republicans who find the war in Iraq indefensible? What do you say to Republicans who think the administration’s war on civil rights is immoral? Barry Goldwater died decrying the neocons, and he hadn’t shifted one iota in his own politics. A regime that can cause Barry Goldwater and Harlan Ellison to find common ground is pretty extreme, no?

If you want to go through the next few years telling yourself that the people who oppose Bush do so because of party affiliation or one shared world view, that’s your prerogative, but you’ll be blinding yourself to the glaring truth. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population finds America’s adventure in Iraq to be morally repellent. That includes a great many of your fellow Americans who don’t happen to share the granola-eating atheistic world-view you accuse the people here of buying into.

The issue isn’t us, my friend. It’s not that a bunch of hippies want to see the Peace and Love party installed (or even that cold-blooded corporate shill Hillary Clinton). It’s that we see the Bush administration as a violent threat to what little is left of the country we grew up loving. I don’t hate Bush because he’s a Republican. I don’t hate Bush because we differ over some philosophical beliefs. I hate Bush because, if nothing else, on his watch, America has taken more physical damage than under any other administration.

Let’s boil it down - If I’m sitting in Harlan’s kitchen, and Harlan punches me in the nose, I don’t turn around and punch Susan. I’d love you to look me in the eye and tell me that if Clinton’s response to 9/11 had been to wage war on someone who had nothing to do with the attack, you wouldn’t be calling for his head. If you saw Clinton sit idly by during Katrina, claiming to have had no warning, then saw video of him a few hours earlier being informed that what did happen WOULD happen, you’d be screaming for his immediate lynching.

Those two events alone are so appalling, so morally repugnant that I don’t feel I need to get into the eradication of habeus corpus, or his war on civil rights. Just the physical damage to our country and our people is enough.

I don’t mind a voice of dissent. It’s essential for our survival, frankly. What I DO mind is that the pure, visceral disgust I feel for the jackals who have hijacked my government is being written off to partisan politics, and a desire to have everyone think my way. Disagree with me to your heart’s content. But respect me enough to understand what my issues REALLY are. These fuckers want to eradicate everything that makes this country great, including the right you and I have to argue about it.
-----

Tom,

Great India, 141 Manners Street, just down from the Opera House. Tell them Josh sent you.

It's not online yet, but Julia Keller, cultural critic for the Chicago Tribune (and a wonderful writer in her own right, who won the Pulitzer a year ago) has a fantastic profile of Joyce Carol Oates in the Tribune Magazine in tomorrow's issue. The Tribune awards Oates their Literary Prize for 2006, and it's definitely a profile worth reading. It's so good that it's inspired me to finally read some Oates, whom for some reason I have never actually picked up one of her works (I know, it's a blind spot, but there is so much good literature that we all have certain gaps in our reading). Anyway, I definitely recommend reading the profile (I'll keep an eye out for it tomorrow and post a link if it goes up).

Oh, and congrats to any Cardinals fans here on the win last night.

Have no fear, Alex Jay Berman and others, there is no danger of this forum becoming overloaded with "heated partisan debate", because there is no debate.

It seems if someone brings a conservative point of view to this site, he/she's called a Nazi or some similar epithet and hounded off the site. There is no doubt that this particular forum is dedicated almost exclusively to left-wing (as opposed to the evil right wing ideology constantly decried here) thinking: Bush is evil, Republicans are evil, and every single conservative commentator has been painted with a similar brush.

That it is left-wing is the prerogative of the host and the members. I’m not saying you that you should all become Republicans or conservatives.

What I am saying is that, according to the vast majority of posters on this site, there's only one right way to think, only one political viewpoint with merit, and all others who think differently are fools, idiots, lock-step Kool-Aid drinkers, and all around worthless human beings. Having religious convictions is viewed as prima facie evidence of mental illness, or dim-bulb thinking.

There's not much about the war of ideas here, but there is a whole lot about how ugly/evil/Eva Braun-looking/Hitler-thinking all conservatives are. And red states? Holy moly, they should probably be somehow cleansed of all those Joe Bob hicks who voted for Bush, they must be genetic throwbacks and morons and fools and...you get my drift.

I think like a conservative, so I must automatically hate all non-whites (since it is automatically assumed that I am white), gays, disabled people, and any other group you can think of. I must be too stupid to see how Rush Limbaugh or George Bush or some other conservative thinker has pulled the wool over my eyes. I have no independent thoughts, I await my orders from on high.

Most of you casually dismiss half your fellow citizens as unworthy of breathing the same air as you. The hubris of that is overwhelming.

I come to this forum to hear what Harlan Ellison has to say, to see what he’s up to, because I have admired his work for many years. I don’t subscribe to 10% of his political philosophy, yet I like the man and respect him. I could sit down with him, disagree with virtually every political viewpoint he might choose to espouse, and still have a wonderful conversation or dinner with him. I guess that’s the underlying problem I have with most of you who constantly bash the “other side”, you show absolutely no respect for anyone who doesn’t think like you do, and you excuse it by crying like children: “Well, they do it to me!”

Get over yourselves. You don’t have the answer any more than anyone else does, and that includes Harlan. If he or any one else knew all the secrets, the world would be a paradise, because in the end, the truth will out. You make me feel unwelcome in your little world, even though I rarely post, because of the waves of hatred that emanate from your writing. Frankly, all of you who despise and ridicule religion could do with a shot of Christian or Jewish or Buddhist or whatever tolerance, because you’re one of the most intolerant groups of people I’ve ever come across.

Don’t bother telling me if I don’t like it, I can leave. I’m not here for you anyway. I’m here to listen to what a writer I respect has to say, even though I may not agree with him. And even though I don’t go to church or practice any particular faith, I still respect other people’s religious impulses, and so I say God Bless to each and every one of you, whether you need it or not.

Comment and question for Brian Phillips
Brian Phillips,

Well done. You come across like a genuinely nice person with some concerns.

While I cannot and would not speak for DTS (a mensch if ever there was one), I can say that Dorman wasn't talking about all Christians. He wrote about "fundamentalist Christians," and to me that means anyone who would kick science and reason out of the laws, the government and classrooms in favor of their Christian beliefs.

DTS wrote, and you quoted: "Neocons and fundamentalist Christians are a foul bunch of humans. I only hope their inbred sensibilities get strained (or drained) out of the gene pool with the advent of generations Y or Z or whatever the hell the my daughter's generation has been labeled."

Then you wrote: "I have a bit of an issue with that. I hope what he meant was, 'People who call themselves Christians'."

What do you mean to do by classifying those Christian fundamentalists as "people who call themselves Christians?" From my limited understanding, someone who professes to follow the principles laid out in the Holy Bible, who believes the only way to be saved is by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior, is a Christian. So to give these Christian fundamentalists a different appellation, when the totality of their justification of their behavior is Christianity, is kind of disingenuous, don't you think? The fundamentalist Christians could say the same thing about you (that you call yourself a Christian, with the implication that you are not). And is that going to make you any less a Christian?

To distance yourself from them by excluding them from your version of Christianity, seems to absolve you and Christianity of responsibilty for their madness. But the bottom line is, they are Christians if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. They could kill 20 doctors who perform abortions, but if they have accepted Jesus, they're going to be saved. It is up to rational and sane Christians such as yourself to reign in the extreme madness of the fringe and speak up on public issues, and give a public voice to moderate Christianity. I'm an atheist; I do not have the moral authority to do that in the eyes of the public.

I think you are a good and well-intentioned man, and I hope that my tone here has been as respectful and kindhearted as yours was. If it has not been, it is only because I feel passionately about this and have difficulty reigning myself in.

Thanks for your post.

-Keith

PS -- Thanks for the link to the radio performance of OCTAVIA BUTLER's book Kindred. I just started listening to it, and wouldn't have known about it except for your earlier post.

Myspace
Kevin:

I left a comment on "chasin' Blue's" blog saying:

"Hey, not to be a dick or anything, but I would take this down quickly, before Harlan himself finds out about it. I mean, over on his website, its already being discussed. No doubt you simply didn't realize, but Harlan does get very touchy about his work being used without permission.....of course, if you do have his permission, ignore this. And kudos for the great taste in literature!"

I doubt though, that he had any permission. And I sent a friend request to the other guy.....

There are benifits to being young with Myspace, eh?

Mr, I have to disagree.

It is true that Limbaugh and his ilk have no facts and are complete blowhards, unfortunately, their influence on the public discourse is considerable, and they have helped mislead a great number of people, and have an inordinate amount of air time to spew their filth to a very wide audience. They need to be confronted and counterbalanced. They will not go away if we ignore them. Because people ARE listening, these jack asses have huge audiences, their books are all best sellers. Someone is listening. If they are not confronted and shot down, more will listen. Their influence will only grow. We cannot afford to ignore them any more than we can ignore any of our problems.

Alas.

I've tried to view the offending MySPace blog, but I need to be the character's "Friend". I can't bloody well do anything on MySpace! I can't even respond to comments people leave about me (not that they do). It's such a useless program.

No, Limbaugh is a very heavy hitter, will remain so until the right bullet hits him between the eyes. How's that for Christian compassion? I will take the thug mantle from ya, there buddy.

The National Review, original oracle for dimwitted thinking, put Limbaugh at the top of the conservative heap. They gave him sole credit for the right wing sweep into congress in 1994. The crazed reaction after 9/11 has Limbaugh written all over it; donut crumbs in the slats.

He is no minor dude, no matter what you think of his intellect. He is a smart guy, you can tell by his manner and the way that he speaks. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. Watch this Limbaugh short, this is why he is effective, no matter what you think about him:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dSaBowQXaJM&mode=related&search=

This kind of piggish, tough talk works, and it will keep working until we change our attitudes about how the world works, and our place in it.

This is not about Limbaugh, it is really all about the man and woman in the mirror.

-----------

Hey, black Christian guy, welcome to the fold. I think our Dorman was talking about fundamentalists, not Christians. We have a few Christians here, so don't get all riled up over nothing. Christ was a swell guy. It is his followers who fucked his name all up.

Unitarian militant here. Welcome.

A response to DTS' post.
I apologize for another post on the Fox-'Baugh Incident.

1. Read this bit very carefully before you respond to what I wish to say; I absolutely agree with what Mr. Ellison said and I am NO fan of Rush Limbaugh and never have been.

2. I read the various and sundry responses to Mr. Ellison's post and I ran across a line in DTS' that said, "Neocons and fundamentalist Christians are a foul bunch of humans. I only hope their inbred sensibilities get strained (or drained) out of the gene pool with the advent of generations Y or Z or whatever the hell the my daughter's generation has been labeled."

I have a bit of an issue with that. I hope what he meant was, "People who call themselves Christians". I am a Christian and no, I am not about to start witnessing or quote Bible in this forum.

My issue is this: there are people out there that behave like utter and thorough lunkheads and do horrible, horrible things...and have the out-and-out gall to call themselves Christians (Ralph Reed comes to mind). I agree with DTS when he says that these sensibilities should be expunged; I cannot defend the actions of these people (I am required to pray for them, but BOY is it hard, sometimes!). There are also Christians (fundamentalist and otherwise) and, I gather, Neo-Conservatives, that do wonderful things and help people.

If I have misread DTS' statement, I apologize, but I am a bit sensitive to blanket statements (if this is indeed what it was), because such statements can lead to dreadful things. Being Christian and African-American, people can lay any number of stereotypes on me:

a) Conservative
b) Pro-Life
c) Thug
d) BabyDaddy (in other words, father of many illegitimate children)

NONE of the above apply to me. I am NOT, repeat NOT, calling DTS a racist(I brought up race, not DTS), none of his posts show him to be. I am just requesting that we should all (that means me, too!) be careful not to generalize.

Above all, let's pray (for those who say prayers) for Michael J. Fox and all of the people that suffer from this and other diseases that could be potentially eradicated by stem-cell research or any other research. Let us also vote for those who won't stand in the way of something that could benefit people.

As a Christian, that means I ALSO have to pray for Limbaugh's lack of couth and taste. Why? Because I'm not perfect and everyone deserves prayer.

To echo previous sentiments, it is horrific to think we will go down in history as a nation that ended up with a President and Administration that stole two elections and as part of it's reward, watched it's own innocent citizens die from ignorance.

Let us pray...and act,
Brian Phillips

Another MySpace Appearance
"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" showed up this morning on another blog, this one owned by "Chasin' Blue":

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=13222987&blogID=185867843&MyToken=abb95a2d-677b-44f7-a3f2-5eb5caf5fcde

"It's a wonderful little bit of sci-fi," Chasin' Blue writes, "and I felt sharing it is a necessary evil."

BALANCING ACT

When the founding fathers were setting down the framework for this experiment in Democracy called the United States, they had many issues to consider. But their primary concern was that the power of the leader of this country be kept in check. They were very aware of the lack of human rights that resulted from the almost omnipotent control that the sovereigns of Europe exercised in those days. They had just fought their way out from under the yoke of King George III, and they didn't want to put their newfound freedom in the hands of another despot.

They realized that there were decisions that would have to be made by one man, so there was a need for a chief executive. But they also wanted this leader to have limits on his authority, so they needed elected representatives to have some powers that the president didn't. And, because this was going to be a nation of laws, there was a need for a third branch of government to make sure that the power of the executive and legislative branches would be limited by the codified rules of the Constitution, thus they created the judicial branch.

This setup appears so logical to us now that we have to remember that this was all new. No country had ever done things this way before. It has worked so well for over two hundred years that it is now considered the ultimate model for a free country, and most nations that value freedom have adopted a similar system.

Remember, the primary reason for the way the US government is setup is to limit the power of the President. It only works if the other two branches exercise their power of oversight. Unfortunately, in the last six years the legislature has not been doing that. This has happened in part because both houses of Congress are controlled by members of the President's political party, but that can't be the only reason. The country has been in that situation before, and the legislators did not rubberstamp every bill the President presented to them.

It seems to me that what has brought about this abdication of power by Congress is the politics of fear. If anyone tries to dispute the President's will, they are branded as unpatriotic, as if only the executive branch can decide proper policy. The way President Bush looks at foreign relations, "You're either with us or against us,” is echoed in his approach to the supposedly co-equal other two branches. And the excuse that things have to be different in a time of war is a bogus one. Only Congress can make that declaration (remember the separation of power), and they haven't done that. What the President would have us believe is that he alone can determine proper action, and Congress is letting him get away with that. Fortunately, the Supreme Court is still one Bush appointee away from joining them.

Just think about the following. (1) The Patriot Act - Who could vote against legislation with a name like that? But in reality, patriotism should mean defending the Constitution, while this misnamed law undermines that document. (2) A previous congress had created a way for the government to legally tap into phone conversations in the interest of national security, but the current version of that body let the President get away with ignoring the law. (3) When the Supreme Court struck down Mr. Bush's military tribunal system, congress turned around and wrote that same framework into law. I know, supposedly some Senators appeared to be standing up to him on this one, but in the end they caved in and gave the President everything he wanted. And anybody who voted against it, saying SUSPECTED terrorists should be tried in a more acceptable way, is being branded a friend to Al-Qaida.

Don't let the Right mislead you. None of the congressional members who voted against these measures are saying that steps shouldn't be taken to make the country more secure. They are not saying that intelligence services shouldn't eavesdrop on Bin Laden and his ilk. And they're not saying that SUSPECTED terrorists shouldn't be detained and tried. The folks who oppose the President's plans are just saying that these things should be done without violating the traditional principles of this country.

Opinion polls show that the majority of the American people do not think President Bush is doing a very good job, and they think Congress is doing even worse. Hopefully, in the upcoming election, they will follow these feelings to their logical conclusion and replace the rubber-stamping yes-men in both houses of Congress with backboned representatives, who will fulfill their constitutional duty of oversight, and return the authority of the chief executive to within the limits placed on it by the authors of our governing document.

Liberals, you already know what I'm talking about. Conservatives, you are supposed to be the party of fiscal restraint and protecting the status quo. If you open your eyes (and minds) and look at the current administration, does Mr. Bush really govern by those principles? Freedom-lovers of all political persuasions, do you really want to live and have your kids grow up in the police state that the President and his congressional allies are creating? Everyone, do YOUR constitutional duty and restore the proper balance of power in Washington. If your Senator or Congressman responds, "How high?" every time Mr. Bush says, "Jump", vote for someone else.

I've never liked the recent use of the word "rants." For me, a "rant" is something that deranged people do. Once it became a glib marketing classification, the word died for me.

Humankind, like everything else, is subject to entropy. Sure, we can reorganize ourselves, make better and more creative uses of our energies. We can become more flexible, nuanced, powerful, complex, and capable of reshaping our destinies. If simple matter can, over time, achieve the consciousness of a human being, then human beings must be capable of even greater.

But there's entropy. The force that pulls us down to the base. Like gravity, it only eases up the further you get from it, and it gets stronger when you slide back to its source. So it offers the _ease_ of no longer striving against the imbecilities and prejudices of our past. It can even seem like the "smart" decision, when it's accompanied with the lazy scoffing of achievements and the improvement of mankind. And it's even more enticing when we see the short-term enrichment others gain by merely directing people _against_ the human race. Because of entropy, one can grow rich and sleek by telling people to remain children-- hateful, spiteful, selfish little ogres.

Uh, Harlan ...?
HARLAN: Your mini-rant actually ties into a couple things I keep meaning to post about here, but simply aven't had time of late. I realize that I may be fecally seeding the thunderclouds to bring down a mighty shitrain upon my head, but I must ask.

With the increasing polarization and poltroonization of the political arena in this country we share, with yet another war growing ever more indefensible, with yet another immoral administration takng the law into its own hands and crumpling it like so much newsprint, with the world filling with fevered rhetoric leading toward the possibility of nuclear exchange ...

... well, sir, you've been kinda quiet. In point of fact, you had, earlier this year or last, even asked that political discussions be shunted to the other board (to be fair, this very likely to avoid this board becoming swamped with nothing BUT heated partisan debate).

Now, were it to be argued that, hey--you've more than paid your dues in prose, voice, money, shoe leather, and blood in these political and social arenas ... well, it couldn't be argued. And as you reach a more comfortable age, it would be folly to demand that you come out again into the ring with muleta and sword in hand to face any number of raging bulls.
(Too, I do not know what activism--personal or financial--you may now be engaged in, apart from the public eye.)

But, a month and a a half before castigating Limbaugh and his ilk, you yourself quoted your good friend Tony Isabella, pointing out that "Hell hath no fury like that of the uninvolved." And while your past involvement with causes makes you far more qualified to sally forth into Rantville than those whom you cite, there still seems a bit of a disconnect there.

It is odd, to see a man who vociferously spoke out and acted out against injustice in four or five separate decades leaving mostly dead air where once the clarion call blared forth.

I know, I know; I presume, and should not presume. But I cannot believe that old soldiers truly either die OR fade away; i believe that the call to arms beats as strongly in a grizzled veteran's chest as strongly as it does in that of an Angry Young Man. And I'll be honest--it would me greatly to learn that a man whose activist leanings and dealings I have respected since first I read his name in print may have just decided no longer to fight; may have just decided to spare himself the trouble and leave it to others.

I should note, of course, that if that--after seventy-odd years, several medical issues, and all manner of stressors--is indeed the case, you may rest easy on your laurels without my respect for you dimming in the least (about which I'm sure you've lost sleep at night). But it would surprise me, is all.

I hope this does not make me seem like a scold; I am only honestly wondering if politics is still your bag ...

re: I Have No MySpace
I left a very polite comment for Greg on his blog - most people are clueless about copyright matters, and posting someone else's work violates MySpace's terms of service, so I'm giving him the presumption of ignorance (mostly because he has good taste). So let's see what Greg does.

While at my comic book shop this week I picked up the new release schedule for November. The new Dream Corridor is scheduled for Thanksgiving week to be out that Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the city you live. Pick it up.

First on the Block to Get One
I've been a collector of Harlan's work for better than 20 years, and once in a while, I come with things that even Harlan didn't know about. Ok, technically speaking, my latest find wasn't built by Harlan, but once you see it, you just gotta shout (besides "Holly shit") that it look just like what Harlan was writing about when he wrote the teleplay for the classic 1964 episode of The Outer Limits, entitled "Demon With A Glass Hand"! So, what am I rambling on about? Go to the website: www.
whatonearthcatalog.com and when you kids get there, punch into the designated search slot AW4462. What you will be staring at, I already have one of course. I immmediately told Harlan and lovely Susan about it. Don't forget whose the one who exploded your mind...me at Little Ellison Wonderland. Now go and pilage or do what ever it is, to get some cash to pay for it. Nuff said.

MySpace faux pas

Breaking the one-a-day rule to address this mini-emergency:

If there's anyone here who is already a MySpace member, could you gently guide this youngster (I presume) to a proper solution? MySpace isn't going to let a person comment unless he or she has signed up for membership, and I'm fairly certain Harlan isn't a member. (I'm not either, or I would have posted a comment already.)

I wouldn't want Our Man to get upset trying to get in touch with this fellow and end up abusing him.

I'm betting this is an Ellison admirer who doesn't realize what he's done and how much trouble he could be getting himself into.

"I Have No Mouth" on MySpace Redux
Sorry for the double-post, but here's the URL:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=9012958&blogID=185646163

"I Have No Mouth" on MySpace
Harlan,

Heads up: someone calling himself "Greg" has posted (in its entirety, as near as I can tell) "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" on his MySpace page.

Kevin

Good words after bad?
Dear Mr. Ellison,

With due respest, I think you wasting your time. What Rush Limbaugh has to say is not relevant, useful, nor even entertaining. What Rush Limbaugh and others of his kind have to say or write about most any subject is devoid of information content. It is pablum for those fools who chose to suckle themselves on the teats of ignorance and bigotry.
And unfortunately there will always be individuals who will choose to do so. As you point out, Michael J. Fox is a man of good character. His reputation cannot truly be sullied by
the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

What Rush Limbaugh says about Michael J. Fox will change nothing because those who have made the choice to consider Mr. Limbaugh's arguments did so before he even made any statements. They have already chosen their side to any argument. Their choice is and ever shall be "ditto".

Don't waste your elequence and energies on the likes of Rush Limbaugh. Save your ammunition for harder targets. Sharpen that rapier wit and draw it when it's really needed. I fear it may be some day. I agree with your observations. Our country is changing and not for the better it seems.

But people like Limbaugh should be ignored. Their comments should be brushed aside with digust like botflies. People like Limbaugh should be ignored because their arguments, their statements, their pronouncements are a diversion from more substantive attacks against what this country is supposed to be about. Even as you advance to counterattack, people like Limbaugh will fade away into the brush and move on to something else.

Ignore him and them. They must be observed yes, surveilled yes. They need their say because this is (or was) a democracy and forcing their silence only gives them a false credibility and sense of a legitimacy that only disenfranchisment provides and for the purposed of keeping a good count of those who would as you say "char the wings of the angels of our better natures".

If not they'll simply scurry off into some dark corner,wring their hands, and plan the long-bladed nights they so greedily hunger for. But when they have their little tirades like this out in the open they should be ignored like the petulent spoiled brats that they are. The ones that need to be chased down and attacked are the men and women behind the curtains.

I know it isn't my place to tell you which machine to rage against. Like everyone you need to have a place to do so and that is here. So, perhaps I am writing out of turn. I'm just a fan. Just some HERC member who's late on his renewal fee. But if I may be so bold Mr. Ellison, Rush Limbaugh ain't worth an oscillation of an atomic clock's worth of your time.
He ain't in your league. You might just as well try body punching some vast gaseous Dumbell Nebula. You're wasting good words on someone that just doesn't merit your efforts.

And they were good words. They were correct words. They were hard words. Good solid slap ya up-side-the-head, belly-punching Harlan Ellison type woids. But they are an artillery barrage that's falling on the wrong hill. Maybe it's time to redirect
your fire. If you were just venting or ranting then please forgive my impertinance for inadvertently attempting to qwell that here in Webderland.

I'm only suggesting you save that firery blue-eyed rage for someone or something that merits your time. Remember O'Reilly's "War Against Christmas"? This is the same kind of thing, man. Smoke up our collective bung holes. Shit tossed on a fan in a fertilizer factory. It don' mean nuttin'. Perhaps you have energy to spare for Rush but in my book you're wasting it.

Still. They were good and true words.

Sincerely

Mike Lane

I'll rub a bit of crow on my hat brim before tipping it. I was in error about Mr. Fox heing off his medications for the commercial. Turns out, it was an excess of medications in his system. After hearing him make that comment on the CBS News, I researched Parkinson's and found a number of personal sites where individuals with the condition remark on that same affliction when their medications aren't balanced correctly.

*****

Mr. Ellison,

That was a wonderful piece. It has now been cut and pasted (including the copyright line you requested of Mr. Barber) and tucked away in my keep box. While I'm not comfortable with the thought of passing your work out without your permission, keeping it close at hand and showing it to others when the moment is right is definitely in order.

*****

I watched the Fox/Couric interview last night on the news, as well as read the transcript of the interview on the web (I hesitate to call anything "complete" unless I was there in person). The interview was very telling, Mr. Fox was forthright and direct, and Ms. Couric did herself and her viewing audience the favor of admitting her father's condition, rather than letting it become part of the entire affair.

I've spoken out against Limbaugh and his like for years. Earned myself a fair share of ire from the conservative portions of Washington state and beyond. Hate is fear with no self-respect and less common sense. I just wish it didn't sell so well.

A COMMON BEDSIDE MANNER

My OWN “rants” on such items as the Limbaugh spew are not so much out of “passion” as out of a state of panic; panic and frustration.

Because for all the outrage in response to that bag-o-shit, Limbaugh, there are still SO many brain-dead lemmings out there who BLINDLY accept ANYTHING he says. Limbaugh does NO research to project facts accurately – he only says what his voice tells him. Either he is clueless on the issues or, more dispicably, he DOES know more than he seems to, but chooses to decieve his ignorant minions in behalf of his own political and religious biases.

But the bottom line is that SO many listeners out there – who are not in the habit of researching their information – stupidly go ‘YEAH, RUSH!’ – and take it whole.

Todd himself demonstrates the same pattern. He came on the board and went, “I didn’t hear the WHOLE thing”; yet, rather than pursue the whole sound byte from Limbaugh (“it was PURELY an act...and Michael J. Fox should be ASHAMED”) to SEE what it was all about, he launched the routine Conservative conceit, “oh, them uppity loonely liberals are all shittin’ in their pants again over some frivolous little soap bubble just to push out there anything they CAN”. Just go back and take a look at how he presented himself.

Well - Todd may claim not to listen to Limbaugh these days, but he works the same way: talk the right-wing bias without checking the facts. Work blind, stay detached, be arrogant, and say something stupid.

That’s why I make little distinction between right-wing “moderates” and right-wing extremists: you leave the vote to them COLLECTIVELY and you’ll achieve the same results:

Nixon was his own scandal; the Reagan era beget cascades of business scandals in the wake of massive deregulation, not to mention the heritage of the “all out for ME” mentality; Bush gave us the “BUSH” economy; and, now, after Clinton had given us an economic surplus, we’ve not only a BUSH economy, but an illegal, stupidly botched war.

It’s RIGHT-WING policy that worries me; because as long as that subtrahend behaves like uninquisitive lemmings we’ll NEVER escape the nightmare.

In summary, Limbaugh and his stupid-ass, contemptible ilk, like the corrupt dictators of the Middle East, USE the lack of education infecting the masses to DISINFORM; lies and rhetoric remain their effective tools.

Pertinent example: Limbaugh claimed that "the militant pro-abortion crowd" is "behind" efforts to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, "because you need abortions”, he says, “to get the embryos." In fact, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro ... and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors.

Either Limbaugh DOES know that, and he’s deliberately misleading his brainless listners; or he DOESN’T and just states his fancies (phrased as if they were facts) without confirming the hard facts.

What’s worse is he has a media chain behind him, like Fox. Several sources claimed Limbaugh “apologized” for his comments about Michael J. Fox. He NEVER did; quite the opposite, he declared he “sticks to what he sees as true”.

A LOT of assholes out there STILL take it whole. And I don’t believe there’s a lot we’re going to be able to do about it.

Ohhhh, yeah. That’s why we’re fucked.

And that's MY "rant". Not out of passion but concern and panic.

Fox's interview with Katie was not at all difficult to watch. It was enlightening and inspiring.

Michael J

this is tough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8lsjfjgAA8

gotta go see it

go,
Rick

New Zealand (and other things)
Josh, could I trouble you for the name of said Indian restaurant in Wellington? I'm going to be in Australia and New Zealand in November, and while I'm not yet sure if I'll be in Wellington, figure the info'd be useful if I do end up there.

Excellent rant Harlan. I'll confess to knowing at least one person who, while otherwise an intelligent and reasonable human being, actually pays attention in a favorable way to what Coulter says. Me, I wrote her off as a combo of clinically insane and malicious quite a while back, and I honestly don't understand how someone like said acquaintance can take her at all seriously.

As for TV, I've DirecTV for a few years now and been quite satisfied with it.

Shit for shinola, that was beautiful. Another Ellison classic. You should definetly send that to someone, maybe znet, they would publish that, I think. You are the mack daddy supreme, oh wise one.

That rant was almost as good as one of mine. Wink and kiss.

-----------

Kristin, Harris is full of shit on Chomsky, as is usual with the intellectual class--the most propagandized of all people. The guy who fixes your television knows more about world events then those mooks.

It's the usual lies about the left, when it comes to terrorism. We are 'soft' on Islamo-fascism, or whatever idiot term they have for the boogins they create. Fascism is a loaded word, and there are a lot of cheerleading babies, whos diapers are filled, ranting and raving about these Islamo-fascist thugs, who will, more then likely, one day walk over the border and kill us all in out beds--in the name of Allah.

It is not Chomsky and the radicals who are soft on Islamic extremism. Remember, we are the ones who tried to stop the United States from supporting terrorism, by giving Hussein the poison gas that killed the Kurds. After 9/11, we are the ones who said that Saudi Arabian funds should be frozen in our banks, till we can tell if it is used for international terrorism. Bush blocked it. Who is soft on terrorism, Mr. Harris? Read a bit more beyond the Hitchens thuggery, and you will be a more relaxed young man. He is a cute fuck though.

---------

http://mysite.verizon.net/res7n0zi/id17.html

STEVE:

Go to it.

Please add, at the start: Copyright c 2006 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.

Otherwise, go to it.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Oops
Make that Dobbs...Lou Dobbs (names matter) -- sorry -DTS

Todd
(Apologies for the second post, but this needs to be said)

You were never shown to be any other than a person asking a serious question, by Harlan or anyone else. But, in the interest of reposting what I feel is an excellently put "rant" on the current level of partisan rhetoric, I specified that I want to remove your name to excise you from the fracas.

Harlan was indeed using your post as a jumping off point, but at no time did I -- and I'd assume everyone else who wants to reprint this -- assume you were being chastised or otherwise held up to blame. Nor would we want to convey that message.

(Okay, two days of penance for the double post, but I didn't want Todd to have the wrong impression. Silently yours 'til Sunday booksigning, SB.)

Harlan's eloquent rant -- and my forgetfullness
SUSAN: First, just wanted to tell you that I got so busy (work, family matters, etc) that I forgot to drop the letter (with check for the CDs) into the drop box. Just did so today.
Sorry.
HARLAN: A very eloquent rant, indeed. I think you ought to apply for a job as part-time commentator on "Countdown With Kieth Olbermann." Although his producers still force him to cover clap-trap like celebrity news (and he makes a point of complaining about it on the air), Olbermann (along with Lou Dodd) may be the one of the last bastions of sanity in the cable news TV arena.

I've said it before -- here and elsewhere -- but it bears repeating: the remergence of religion in the eighties had a direct impact on the IQ of the masses in America. How else to explain so many people voting for Bush and his ilk? How else to explain so many people buying books written by Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly, or listening to the venomous bullshit they spew onto the airwaves (TV and radio) while nodding their heads in agreement? How else to explain 21st Century citizens willing to believe in gods and invisible forces while rejecting science. Xenogenesis, perhaps.

Neocons and fundamentalist Christians are a foul bunch of humans. I only hope their inbred sensibilities get strained (or drained) out of the gene pool with the advent of generations Y or Z or whatever the hell the my daughter's generation has been labeled.
-DTS

Harlan's breathtaking rant
What he said.

To all of you looking to post Harlan's rant all over the place: not that my last name is involved, but please note that I was in no way defending Limbaugh in his attack on the Fox advertisement. I was defending the only thing I had heard in this entire brouhaha; Limbaugh's voice saying something similar to, "He's either off his meds or doing a very good job of acting." I heard this on a brief, 20 second news story on the radio a couple of days ago.

I've neither seen the ad, nor heard anything else that Limbaugh said in his many hours of radio show, so don't think I'm out there defending whatever the bigger story is. I also had no knowledge that being off his meds would actually mean he would show an opposite response than the shaking we are used to seeing of those at this stage of the disease.

Harlan was not showing me to be a buffoon on this, he was using my post as a stepping stone for his rant, so please don't go off attributing my comments as a defense of Limbaugh's other comments on this matter, or other ridiculous ultra-conservative
ramblings from folks like Falwell.

Yes, I am a conservative, and yes, some of my opinions would irk many of you, but no, I am not an ultra-conservative moron and I would never think to put down Fox for anything that he does to show the rampages of his disease.

-TODD

Right on!
Hey Harlan,

I would also like permission to give that to a few folks. I have at least one teacher, a wonderful old gent who is a child of the 60's, who I think might be moved to tears.

and thank you, Harlan. It's been one of those weeks when it seems like no one cares, and that theres no point in fighting, so you might as well give up. And its things like that post that remind me of why we should keep going.

Harlan,

I'm with you. What drives Limbaugh and his filthy ilk is NOT trivial. But one of the reasons it's not trivial is that he and they are given credence by the media. They're treated like they're valid contibutors to the cultural and political stew, like they actually have an informed, thoughtful point of view. What surprised me about seeing this story in New Zealand is that it means the rest of the world takes these fucking monsters seriously, too. I had, up until now, assumed the rest of the planet got it a little bit more than we do back in the states. And, on the whole, they do. But the Bushies are clearly making inroads, when someone like Limbaugh is treated as a legitimate news commentator half way around the world.

My only problem with your "rant" is I think you're too easy on these people.

It's a terribly frustrating thing. These people stay hidden. They don't go out in the world much. Their television shows are done wthout audiences, and the odds of running into one of them at a party are virtually non-existent. I am not a violent man, but I think if every time these people went out, someone came up to them and slapped them hard across the face in disgust, it might start sinking in.

I remember seeing some great video of the great fat idiot Limbaugh many years ago. He was guest hosting a talk show (Pat Sajak's? Possibly.) For the first half, he tried to spew his usual garbage, but the audience wasn't having it. They booed loudly, and yelled back and argued vigorously. I wish I could have a poster made up of the man's face - he looked absolutely terrified, blubbery lips quivering, eyes wide in fear... magnificent. After the commercial break, they came back, and the audience had been cleared, and the great oaf went back to being the blustery blowhard we all know and despise.

We're not killing these monsters with art. Good Night and Good Luck isn't doing much more than patting its audience on the head and saying, "Good for you for thinking the right things," which is fine, but I remain on my lifelong quest to come up with the exact combination of words that can cause a grown man to drop dead upon reading them. Perhaps the first two are, "Dear Rush."

You gotta have a dream, man.

Anyway. Early morning ramblings from the other side of the planet. On a personal note, in the midst of all this bile, let me just say how much I miss everyone back home, especially you and Susan. I'm looking forward to much Mongolian barbecue upon my return.... whenever that may be...

And PS: Stanley Ellis! "He clutched the telephone as if pity could be squeezed from it." Great googly moogly, what wonderfullness! I have found the best Indian restaurant in Wellington, and I go there for lunch and a dose of Ellis every day. Out of pure vanity, I had to try the Banji Josh yesterday. It was as close I may ever come to tasting Lamb Amirstan. Magnificent.

Getting a message across.
Harlan,
I second Barber’s request. For printing to give to my mom, to mail to my computerless friends, for Myspace, for anybody, for everydamnbody I’ve been trying to convince their support has been mislaid.
If you please.
Paul

My God, I love you guys. I've never read a more effective put down of the Ultra-cons. They're schtick is all smoke and mirrors, and I've been waiting, begging for someone, ANYONE, to call them out. Yet our media continues to treat them as legitimate comentators with a reasonable grasp on reality.
Enough with them. Take them down, take them all down!

Alas Mmme Kelly,

We cannot blame the insiduous influence of America on the rightward lurch our country faces. We are an imperialist nation in our own right, with our own share of financial piranas gorging on the international cadaver. Our government is every bit as oportunistic and cynical, and our media has no shortage of its own ultra-con blowhards to fan the reactionary fires. Just flip the pages of the Toronto Sun or the National Post: we didn't need Fox News to put Harper in power. They're gouging Health Care, routing Indians and feeding troops into the meat grinder of their own volition, without much prodding from Darth Rumsfield and company.

And what's wrong with Neil Young Anyway?

TV vs. Internet

> It's wonderful that you are the rare person who does not
> waste his time on the 'net and uses it productively or
> not at all,

That's not what I said, and I suspect you know it's not true. This kind of misreading or misrepresentation, linked to dishonest rhetoric, is the sort of argumentation I'm more used to seeing in discussions of politics or religion. It's also -- from my observation -- the sort of tactic one sees more often from conservative speakers.

You tried to invalidate the multiple points of my argument (to flip it over, can you provide an example of when your TV allows you to participate in the discussion, gets you access to precisely the arcane and odd goods you want -- not the mass-market items other people want to sell you, or allows you instantly to shut down the ads and move on to what you WANT to see? . . . of course not) by pretending I said something I did not say.

My crack about a "guilty conscience" was a joke, but I wouldn't blame anyone else for thinking it hit the mark when they read the kind of twisted logic you offered.

This is not a discussion, so I'm through with it.

Harlan said almost everything I've ever wanted to say about the fearmongers and demagogues who masquerade as commentators. I say "almost" because I have a personal beef how they "they blacken and char the wings of the angels of our better nature," to use Harlan's words.

I believe it's wrong to use fear and resentment to manipulate one's audience. And that is exactly what these demagogues do. My revulsion at this manipulation is so strong that I can't stand to listen to someone like O'Reilly for more than a couple of minutes. Their message is the same kind of anti-elitist elitism that Agnew used. It's not just that they use "religion-hating intellectuals" and "tree-hugging Hollyweirdos" as convenient villains. It's that they tell their listeners that the "sophisticates" view "average Americans" with contempt. That rhetoric has a lot of emotional power, like the "blame Whitey" tactic used by people like Louis Farrakhan. It encourages the audience to blame others for everything wrong in their lives, to view with suspicion any person or idea that differs from their own.

I didn't hear the Limbaugh rant about Michael J. Fox. I suspect that part of Limbaugh's goal was to get his listeners to think, "How dare that wealthy Hollywood pretty boy lecture us on anything!" Did he say anything like that?

The Rant
Harlan, while reading your "rant," I was reminded of an essay you wrote for PLAYBOY back in the eighties, in defense of the tumultuous sixties. I was inspired by that then, and I'm inspired by this now. I was a little too young to indulge in all the political and social upheavals of the sixties; however, I recall two popular phrases from that era which sum up the way I feel about what you wrote: RIGHT ON! for TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!

And one more: WE SHALL OVERCOME ... SOMEDAY

Not that I want to pile on but...

You're gov't and a number of your people (the loud ones) are a terrible influence on my country and I don't want them playing together anymore.

The current minority conservatives are planning a vote in the House (of Commons) to reopen the debate on the legality of same-sex marriage. I'm quite sure they got the idea from your young Mr. Bush.

Our western province, Alberta, where I grew up is flush with Oil and God, a terrible mix if your at all intersted in education and they inexplicably want to own semi and automatic firearms which they say they need for hunting.

And then finally this Michael Fox thingy. If this is what even a few of you consider acceptable behavior (no one here), to mock citizens who are suffering from a disease like Parkinson's, then I'm quite sure we want a wall just like the one on your southern border and for the same reasons... to keep the undesirable out.

The sad part is that I'm not just fun'n with ya here.

Not that I would ever recommend listening to Neil Young but someone should break into the broadcast booth at Fox News, bolt the door, queue up the video for "Impeach the President" and nail down the loop button.

Harlan, I would like to respectfully request permission to reprint your comments below on my website, on my "Patriotism" page. Verbatim, (save with edits to remove Todd from the fray), with attribution.

UNCA HARLAN,

Wow! My computer monitor is smokin’! Thank you for the white-hot, right-on screed, that so passionately articulates what so many of us feel about the sad state of civic affairs.

Anybody but The Involved
Accusations of symptom fakery aside, Rush Limbaugh's specific complaint about Michael J. Fox is that the man considers himself "beyond criticism," because he actually suffers from a disease that might be alleviated by stem cell research.

The vile Ann Coulter said much the same thing about that group of 9/11 widows, who she has said should not be wconsidered "beyond criticism" just because their husbands died in the attack.

Bill O'Reilly has said that Cindy Sheehan should just shut up, because "we all lose things." Glenn Beck has called her a "prostitute" and a "tragedy pimp" who is exploiting the memory of her son.

Neil Boortz has said that he was sick and tired of the complaining of New Orleans natives who had lost their homes and their livelihoods to Katrina, and whose suffering was being exacerbated by FEMA foulups in the aftermath; he confessed that he know's he's not supposed to was "not supposed" to say such things, but that he's tired of hearing their "whining".

Donald Rumsfeld says that he doesn't want to hear from people like the Canadian citizen who we rendered to Syria to be tortured for nine months, or the British citizens who we held incommunicado in Guantanamo, then released without compensation
or apology when it was found that they had no connection to any terroristic activities.

Soldiers who return from Iraq with severe criticisms about our methodology and purposes there are demoted, hounded, and told to shut up.

This, folks, is the nature of the disease: the specific nature of the syndrome Rush's attack on Michael J. Fox embodies, and I want you to pay attention here, because it is very much an epidemic pathology.

THESE PEOPLE OBJECT TO HEARING FROM ANYBODY ACTUALLY AFFECTED BY THE ISSUES.

If you're a rich healthy safe white person sitting in a chair being paid to pull opinions out of your ass, then you have the right to your opinion.

If, however, AN ISSUE DIRECTLY IMPACTS YOUR LIFE, you should just SHUT UP, because your direct knowledge is not nearly as privileged as the wild spitballing of your betters.

This is what these people are about. This is what they stand for.

Harlan
*applause*

There is simply no excuse.

Right on Harlan,

If that was a rant then we need more rants from good people. Since when did people become so meek that they can't even call a spade a spade and speak out against the powerful abusing the weak. After this incident with Rush there has been so much misinformation in the MSM about how Rush apologized, how he only suggested Fox was acting and the proverbial "well, the liberals do it too".

This good morning dweeb Matt Lauer says "wasn't Rush just saying what everyone was thinking when they saw the add" to which I would have given my right tit to have been on his show and replied "Maybe that is what you and Rush thought Matt, but most people with a little compassion and a little knowledge of the issue were thinking jeez, how horrible that this disease is attacking people and destroying their lives. If there is anything the government could do to help find a cure it would be awful if they did not act on it." But no, the Fox News liberal Susan Estrich was there saying that if MJFox was going to inject himself into the political debate this is what he should expect. Makes me want to smash my TV.

Then we see Bernie Goldberg on O'Reiley, a man so blinded by years of railing against the "liberal media" he is now incapable of seeing the world we now live in. The only thing he saw wrong was Rush's mocking movements, and that only because it cast Rush in a bad light and caused the controversy, not because Rush did anything wrong. In fact, it is the liberal medias fault for coming to Fox's defense, something they would never do, he says, if it had been poor Limbaugh in the add.

Just to add a couple more names to Harlan's, people I have seen defending Rush or unable to criticize him as if their tongue had been cut out, Laura Ingrham and Sean Hannity. The usual suspects.
If good people don't speak up and rant this shit will just get worse.

The 946 words pulled out of your gut
Harlan,

You wrote what I feel.

Get you a bullhorn or a microphone. That deserves voice. And I mean now.

-Keith

Well written Harlan. This "story" of limbaugh giving his uniformed "opinion" is just par for the course for this houseplant.

TODD:

You really should have seen/heard the totality of Limbaugh's vile performance.

He accused Michael J. Fox of acting; that is, PRETENDING to have the acute symptomology. And only an ignorant meanspeaking person, either passively or intentionally uneducated as to the symptoms of this awful malaise, would fail to understand that when one goes OFF one's meds with this disease, one grows LESS agitated, and movement becomes so restricted that, eventually, they cannot move at all. Are, in fact, frozen like a gnat in amber.

But even were this NOT the case, Limbaugh did not rationally question Fox's acute wrenching, he repeatedly -- let me say that again -- he REPEATEDLY used the words

DESPICABLE

and

INDEFENSIBLE

and

INEXCUSABLE

though he admitted on-air that he had ABSOLUTELY NOT A SCINTILLA of evidence that Fox was "guilty" of his assumptions, his accusations: not taking his medicine...merely "acting." (And why SHOULDN'T he, if he was trying to make a passionate point, to demonstrate as powerfully as he was able, what the scourge looks like to the uninitiated, all in service not of, say, a lying semiliterate president who spins truth to his own self-righteous purposes day after day, sending hundreds to their deaths, just to keep his party in power and to burnish his ego, but in aid of scientific advancement that well might banish such awful terrors from human ken,) Urged to be their attack-hound yet again, Limbaugh unshipped his faux-outrage not because he gives a fuck about the verities of Fox's appearance, but because of the power, the passion, the EFFECTIVENESS of what this young man did. Had it been a dud, we'd have heard not a caw from this butcherbird.

He excoriated a young man whose career has been exemplary, his life scandal-free, his behavior gracious and decent, and he did it for odious ends. The pillhead lynch-mob spokesman fulminated on-command for his masters.

He is, like his coven mates Coulter, O'Reilly, Buchanan, Falwell, Robertson and the rest of that slavering wolf-pack of loathesome inhuman scuts, a disgrace to the human race. They operate with twisted eugenics and mildewed DNA, behaving like the worst foaming beasts ever bred in Satan's Cauldron. Their like cannot be tolerated a moment longer. They sully the earth they walk, they poison the air we breathe, they blacken and char the wings of the angels of our better nature.

Do not -- I beg you -- for even one vagrant moment, try to levy rationality into the behavior of these gobbets of human excrescence, all under the misperception that "fairness" requires giving them the barest. They count on ratiocinative evenhanded folks such as you to permit them the duplicity proffered by decency on your part, by well-intended "well, maybe..." rat-holes they need for plausible deniability.

They are the offspring of all the evil, self-serving, amoral Dems AND Republicans who have bludgeoned our great America to its knees, made it wallow in its most charnelhouse behavior, and drive us insane with The Big Lie again and again and again, using golem like this Limbaugh monster. They are no less than KILLING us, by crib-suffocating the kindness in us, the graciousness in our potential. They are turning us, may ALREADY have turned us into their troll and monster like.

This is NOT a minor news item, Josh; this is what one calls an emblematic insight. It is America Today in Microcosm. It is a rune, a glyph, an aphorism of the debased human spirit writ both large and small at the same time. Its resonance is that which we feel when we see the bullies kicking the crap out of a crippled kid in a schoolyard.

Limbaugh is as one with all sociopaths who drown their babies and slaughter their schoolmates with AK-47s and drive through crowded markets with pedal to the metal and fire into random cars on the freeway and pull off Enron scams robbing thousands of innocent investors and dilute medications and knife fast food employees for a few dollars. He is blood-brother to the scumbag who set the huge Esperanza fire here in Riverside, Southern California, today, and set it purposely in such a manner that the santa ana winds would pick it up and carry it directly into residential areas; and in the process got five firefighters barbequed. What soulless drives motivate these selfish, self-serving, bestial creatures?

Limbaugh should not be given slack for having abased himself (after months of denial and posturing) after he came out of rehab, because his forelock-tugging was mockery, and his true hemlock behavior toward someone whose affliction should have brought kindness and moderation to his criticisms, manifested itself yet again, for the thousandth time. They are swine, all of them -- Coulter disrespecting 9/11 widows, Santorum trying to force us back into Biblical Times, O'Reilly pretending Democrats are responsible for the Senate page sex scandal -- and giving them the barest claw-hold on "well, maybe..." plays right into their duplicity.

Please don't reply to this.

You're a good guy, and I don't mean to jump all over you.

I could hold my peace no longer.

Go, FBI, arrest a 16-year-old schoolgirl because she had the Emperor is Naked audacity to put on her blog what most of us who did NOT vote for the Beasts in Power think every day.

I have rejected the misuse of the word "rant" as used by blathering webfarts for any posting in which passion is demonstrated, but I think it only fair to say yes, this HAS been a rant.

Daily, I grow more and more ashamed of what my country has become. What it tolerates. What it responds to with "well, maybe..."

Harlan Ellison

atheism with your cable or satellite package
Aw, Susan... "to serve you better" indeed. That is the biggest lie pushed by evil empires like cable (although satellite cos can be evil empires on their own.) we can't really do satellite here because there are trees in the way due south of the house! What I mostly hear is that DirecTV is more sports oriented than Dish. (more sf fans I know have Dish) . YMMV....I HATE it when they move channels to a different tier just to force you to buy digital to get what you had before! They really want to move everyone to digital boxes (although the digital video-recording capability that comes with many cable and satellite-box services is really cool. In my personal experience a VCR doesn't stop the fights over everything - it just creates new ones!)

I read Harris' THE END OF FAITH, which is particularly harsh on Islam since (in its current form) it is more militant than Christianity, according to the author. Historically, the Christians are just as bad, but they aren't holding Crusades *now* and are trying to get away from the legacy of anti-Semitism also even if it took the Holocaust to shock people into thinking more about it. I understand the new book (LETTER TO A CHRISTIAN NATION) is basically an answer to all the hate mails Harris got from Bible-thumping Christians.

Frank take note: THE END OF FAITH is kind of down on Noam Chomsky too. Political views can be the same as religion if they are overly inflexible.

Both Harris and Dawkins are on the best-seller lists. I guess people just want something to get mad at, or throw at the wall or denounce as the work of the devil.

Still, there have been mlitant atheists before. I don't think religion is going to "just go away." Biologist E.O. Wilson has been working to co-opt religion rather than attack it by urging churches to work to protect God's creation, or what they see as God's creation (if you call trashing the planet a sin, more people will listen to you than if you emphasize things like leaving a legacy for your grandchildren.) I forget what his book is called, but somehow pragmatism doesn't sell books. Propose a solution that might actually work, and you just piss off everyone.

Kristin
Is it still a glass teat if it's three inches thick with a screen made of plastic?

A thank you column for Harlan
The following is a column of mine that was published in a local newspaper.

This week I’m going to talk about the man who has had more of an effect on my life than anyone else. Although I have never met him, his words have contributed greatly to the shaping of the person I am today. That man is the writer, Harlan Ellison.
The most obvious effect is in my decision to write. Only two of my stories were written in an attempt to be Harlanesque, ( The Man Who Couldn’t Love Well Enough, Alone and If I Had an Angel, both of which have appeared in this space.) But I would not be authoring this column on a weekly basis if I had not been inspired by his literary output. I wanted to be able to touch the hearts and souls of readers, the way he has touched mine. Harlan made me want to be an author and I started writing Now and Then to force myself to work at it. I have to come up with something every week and that keeps me from succumbing to my natural urge to procrastinate.
But the most life-changing decision I ever made was also a direct result of Mr. Ellison’s words. Allow me to explain.
As a teenager in the 1970’s, I was very much against the war in Vietnam. Once my sixteenth birthday arrived, I began to worry about the draft. Only two years to go and I knew I would never allow myself to be sent to Southeast Asia. I had nothing against those people and no one was going to force me to kill. The only uncertainty was whether I would flee to Canada or hide out in the hills.
Then the war ended, along with the draft. I graduated high school and made two aborted attempts at acquiring a college education. So when I turned eighteen, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Of course, I had never considered the military, but that was about to change. You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with Harlan Ellison, but, be patient, I’m getting there.
In August of 1974, I was working for my uncle, Freeman Back, at Paul’s Motel. I was approached by a man, who called me by name (I have a theory about how he knew that) and started talking to me about the Air Force. He convinced me to go to Louisville, just for the testing and the physical. I had no intention of enlisting, but I was bored, so spending a couple days at a hotel with a pool was a tempting offer. And the government would pay for it all and feed me, too.
Well, once I got there, they talked me into signing up, and a year and a half later, I was stationed at Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. The Air Force had spent a year training me to repair computers before they sent me there to SAC Headquarters.
Now, I had been introduced to the world of Harlan Ellison two years earlier when I purchased a paperback copy of "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". Since that time I had read every one of his books that I could find. So, in February of 1976, I obtained a copy of a collection of his stories entitled "Approaching Oblivion". When I opened the book, I read the following words in the introduction.

"…I’ve watched you loaf and lumber through college and business and middle-class complacency, pursuing the twin goals of “happiness” and “security.”
What fools you are. Happy, secure corpses you’ll be.
You’re approaching oblivion, and you know it, and you won’t do a thing to save yourselves.
As for me and you in this literary liaison, well, I’ve paid my dues. Now I’m going to merely sit here on the side and laugh… I’m going to laugh and jeer and wiggle my ears at your death throes. And how will I do that? By writing my stories. That’s how I get my fix. You can OD on religion or dope or war or toadburgers, for all I care. I’m over here, watching you, and giggling, and saying, “This is what tomorrow looks like, dummy.”
And if you hear me sobbing once in a while, it’s only because you’ve killed me, too…
I’m stuck on this spinning place with you, and I don’t want to go, and you’ve killed me, and I resent it, and the best I can do is tell my little tomorrow stories and keep laughing…"

And then it hit me, just like Bob Dylan said,

"…And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin’ coal
Pourin’ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul…"

What was I doing in the military? Harlan was talking about me.
I was working mid-shift and when I went on duty that night, the first thing I did was to explain to my supervisor that in case of a nuclear war, I would no longer be doing my job. I was sent to the commander’s office, stripped of my top-secret security clearance and eventually, after months of testing and interviews, discharged as a conscientious objector. But I was at peace with myself because I was no longer helping the world approach oblivion or participating in the murder of my favorite author.
The consequences of my early discharge were that I moved to New Jersey, where I met my second wife. And later I relocated in North Carolina, where her family was, and ended up meeting Samatha there. So, my current happy life, my kids, and my avocation are all the results of Mr. Ellison’s words.
Thank you, Harlan.

You've got mail!

Susan,
CDs arrived today, in great shape. Would be listening to them now but my hometown Cardinals are in the World Series. Thanks,

Tom Morgan

Octavia Butler's Kindred makes great radio!
At http://www.scifi.com/set/ there is a link to a radio production of (the late) Octavia Butler's "Kindred", featuring Alfre Woodard, Lynn Whitfield and Ruby Dee.

It requires the Real Audio player to hear it.

Sounds like they put some thought and money into this.

From what I understand concerning Mr. Fox. It seems to me that I heard that you are ON MEDICATION it creates the movement Fox is suffering from in the commercial. Without the meds, he would have difficulty speaking/walking.

Shaking Fox
It's such a non-story that I don't care to even dig further on it beyond what I heard, but the Limbaugh clip that I heard played concerning the Fox commercial said something like, "He's either off his meds or doing a very good job of acting."

If Limbaugh said anything else about it, I don't know, having not heard Rush Limbaugh speak in years and assuming he said more to fill in the hours of air. But it appears that the above near-quote is what everyone is up in arms about.

I heard this quote, and it definitely said "either off his meds" or "acting." What is wrong with that statement? Fox's publicist (or Fox himself) has stated that when he is makes some appearances relating to the disease, that, in fact, he does come off his meds for a bit to show the symptoms.....and yes, there will be a day when those symptoms will overpower the best of the meds.

But what is wrong with that statement? "Either he's off his med......" yeah? And......he is? Do we pretend he isn't? He wanted to make a strong point and his affliction put him in the commercial as a spokesperson for the disease. I see nothing wrong with what Fox did, and I see nothing wrong with what Limbaugh said (unless there is more to the Limbaugh quote, of course).

-TODD

JeffR.

I would push Fellini's LA STRADA over FOURTEEN HOURS, or, for that matter, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, in justifying my rant for Basehart; but - since you mentioned it - I rented HE WALKED BY NIGHT (which was, in fact, the inspiration for DRAGNET) only a few weeks ago. It's an excellent noir.

Currently, I'm looking for DECISION BY DAWN to rent.

There is one VOYAGE episode that really genuinely soared in acting AND writing - and a script that actually had something to say(!!!): THE SKY IS FALLING (wherein a benign alien crashes here and must confront the animal war-cry reflex in human behavior if he is to survive and get the hell off this planet; most importantly, the story makes clear that it is OUR actions that ultimately determine whether or not WE survive. It ends with this great brief monologue - a wink of cynicism about how lethally short our memories are to history, which could one day be our undoing - with a close-up on Basehart's face after Seaview helps the alien craft escape: "If they ever come back I hope they remember we treated them as friends" Basehart responds, "They'll remember. I wonder if WE will").

Charles McGraw - who played the sell-out gladiator trainer in SPARTACUS - co-starred in this episode too.

Basehart is also great in one called THE FEARMAKERS, which at the opening seems really obvious in where the plot is going but winds up exploring an interesting thesis on how complex fear can be, and the wide range of reactions we can have to it - showing that it is not as simple and predictable as we might assume.

The only other VOYAGE episode I can really praise about as highly is MIST OF SILENCE - the one where Hedison and his men are held captive by a Latin dictator, and the captain must watch his men get executed one-by-one.

BEN,

All I can tell you is that I really, really hated the original Stargate series with Richard Dean Anderson - hearthrob of the Patti and Selma Bouvier.

Stargate Atlantis - several times - held my attention long enough to make me realize the level of writing was superior. It is definitely a better show.

Still - the casting, the unmemorable soundtrack, and the tired high-powered rifle motif remain mighty staid to me pared next to a show that new how to make its strong points stay with a viewer.

Breathtaking pic du jour
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=3183

So you got an advance look at Pynchon's latest, eh? Lucky, man.

Personally, I did like _Vineland_ and _Mason and Dixon_ tremendously.

Still waiting hoofing the job applications until the good employment karma comes my way. Then again, the best way to catch up with karma is to keep moving.

****

Yup, Michael J. Fox has appeared less sympotmatic than he did during the commercial. Which means he was much more heavily medicated during those instances. People don't like to think about underlying causes when a pill "cures" the symptoms.

****

And in the vein of media worth touting, yesterday was filled with the joys of Tom Leher's "That Was The Year That Was" (Gotta love 'Smut' and 'The Vatican Rag') and "Shelly Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater". Throw in a pint of DOVE Chocolate & Brownie Affair Ice Cream and it was a good day.

Michael J. Fox
That whole affair has weighed on me, for some reason or another.

Basically, on one hand, it does seem fair to point out that Michael J. Fox has completed an acting job here or there and has been seen at a premiere or two, without having symptoms nearly as severe as were seen in the commercial.

And, it does see, like, to me, appearing in a commercial in a pretty vicious election year does leave yourself open to criticism.

Ah, but to question a suffering persons' illness just seems so cruel to me. Especially based on a commercial and all, and from someone with his own problems. Meh. This is why I hate politics.

Pynchon's latest novel
ALL: Just in case there are any out there who haevn't heard, Thomas Pynchon's latest, AGAINST THE DAY, will be out Nov. 21st. For my money (and I'll admit, I didn't have to buy it), this is his best novel since GRAVITY'S RAINBOW.
--DTS

Anyone who's attending Sunday's signing will have the opportunity for a rare West Coast sighting of the Findercus Douglasi; the company is sending me to our Mountain View office for three days at the beginning of next week, so I engineered a pass-through of Los Angeles for the weekend - seeing as I've never been to LA, it seemed like a good idea, and I've got most of Saturday (in at 11am) and Sunday (out at 9pm) to explore before I head north.

Harlan, if your schedule permits pinching claws / tossing groceries down your neck on Saturday, give a shout. I'd love the company. Otherwise, I'll catch you on Sunday.

Al & Tipper - It was something that a 'witness' told E! Online's Ted Casablanca that apparently happened "recently" in Nashville. "MSNBC gets half-baked screen-crawl 'news' from E! Online" SHOULD have been the headline...

David is right to defend the internet. Unlike television, which makes you a passive spectator, the internet is at least democratically interactive, or can be. Sure, chatroom melodrama is stupid, but so are many books.

The pentagon invented this thing anyway, so in essence we are all pentagon test tube babies.

"Can you believe Rush Limbaugh's comment about the campaign ad Michael J. Fox appeared in? Oy! He accused the trembling, swaying Fox of ACTING. It's a new low for Limbaugh: that jabbering, bottom-feeding, scum-sucking, neoNazi hophead."

That, I can believe. What I still can't believe is that the story made the evening news down here in New Zealand.

It boggles my mind every time I leave the country. The most minute aspects of our culture permeate the world.

This and That
Carstonio: Yes, there are two creation myths in GENESIS. There are also two different stories of Noah boarding his ark with clean and unclean animals (dinosaurs?), and two different sets of The Ten Commandments as well (see EXODUS chapters 20 and 34). Now if, as the fundies maintain, Moses wrote all this by his lonesome, all I can say is he must've been hitting the Manischewitz kosher wine pretty hard.

A-T Castro: But of course the dining plans of Al and Tipper are of vast import to the republic, for which we stand--while waiting for a table. The news media of today are the bastard children of information and entertainment (with an emphasis on the latter), aka, "infotainment." Someone should revise the song "That's Entertainment!" and call it "That's Infotainment!" Because that's what it is, y'all.

Chuck: Ditto your comments about the Big Dittohead and the rest of that rotten, reactionary crew.

The Gore's dinner reservations.

Impatience?

Another possibility is that -- given the fairly full schedule of this kind of tour -- maybe they simply didn't have an hour and a half window for that particular meal. (I'd also be a bit upset with their advance planners for not having ensured faster seating). It's possible that they weren't being petty so much as in more of a scheduling hurry than a 20-25 minute delay might permit.

MSNBC is usually above such things -- though their mixed-up buddies at FNC might "accidently" run such a crawl.
______________________________________

Last night's LOST was a good one, though it leaves me with the question of whether there are any other "unnoticed" islands in the archipelago -- and one heckuva "hope he's on some meds" suspicion about our new (somewhat psychotic) friend Ben. Where's Delenn when this guy needs some serious asskicken?
______________________________________

I'd agree, in a sense, that modern television shows are becoming a bit less melodramatic and dynamic than their predecessors, though it's more in the vein of "bland" being misinterpreted as "subtle" by some television executives. Then again, good as it is, I'd love to see a primary color on Galactica some time -- these people need lighting and maybe an image makeover from the Fab Five.

Seriously, what has changed is the perception that the audience is enticed by mood and image far more than energy and writing. The flashiness of wiz-bang SFX is supposed to be filling in the blanks -- though this isn't exactly a new criticism. It seems that more than a few "Glass Teat" entries may have dealt with this exact topic. Two decades ago. The argument itself is the same as saying that sitcoms are less funny than they were when "I Love Lucy" was around. They may indeed be less funny, but you're not comparing the newer shows with the AVERAGE '50s sitcom, you're comparing them with the FUNNIEST (and therefore most remembered) examples.

Is TWO AND A HALF MEN less funny than MR. T AND TINA? Is CSI MIAMI less well acted than CHARLIE'S ANGELS? Is BATTLESTAR GALACTICA inferior to, well, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA -- or BUCK ROGERS?

I agree that the revisualized TOS eps are excellent examples of what has gone before -- but hold the thought until the get to "Spock's Brain" and ask yourself if, indeed, this is still better television than the new DR. WHO.

Todd, if you want to know what I really think about TV, written in a more or less coherent fashion, I invite you to mosey on over to the SPIDER thread, "What Killed the Dinosaurs..."

The short and probably less coherent version is that, yes, I am a TV basher. I came to the conclusion that it was bad for me so I stopped. I think it's bad for you too but I'm not agitating for Congress to pass a law or anything (now cellphones, that's another matter).

All I am trying to do is share some of my hard won wisdom. You know, that "prophet crying in the wilderness" sort of shit.

Meanwhile it's back to the Knopf Everyman's Library collection of Chekhov's short novels. If anything approaching that level comes on the Tube anytime soon, say, couched between the "Dr Phil talks outta his ass" special and "Barbara Walters Interviews Demi Moore's Vulva" you TV fans will let me know, won't you?

Another Gore is oxed

> "Al and Tipper Gore left The Cheesecake Factory without
> dinner, upon being told that they would have to wait
> '20-35' minutes for a table."

> I SWEAR TO GOD I SAW THIS. THIS WAS THE NEWS ITEM.

Hmmm. Gore was here in Oregon yesterday -- or maybe the day before -- to campaign for our Democratic incumbent, as well as plug his own projects. Can't imagine where the incident above might have occurred, unless he had already moved on to Seattle. But maybe the news item referred to something the day before?

Sounds like something that would happen in Oregon, though. A lot of places don't stand on ceremony or pay undue attention to celebs.

From the footage on last night's news, it looks like Al's put on some weight -- both in the face and elsewhere -- which isn't gonna help his message. He'll live without that extra cheesecake.

Larry, your "Faith of a Heretic" post reflected almost everything I was trying to say when I posted yesterday.

I feel the same way you do about the Holy Hordes and their theocratic agenda. Part of their strategy is to slander the ACLU as an anti-religion organization. I'm fairly sure that Scalia is their mole on the Supreme Court, but I don't know of any decisions that would substantiate my belief. The closest I've been able to find is McCreary County v. ACLU, where Scalia wrote in his dissent that "it is entirely clear from our Nation’s historical practices that the Establishment Clause permits this disregard of polytheists and believers in unconcerned deities, just as it permits the disregard of devout atheists." At the very least, Scalia seems to argue that it's government's job to decide which religions are valid and which are not.

Where can I find "Adam and Eve Were Framed"? Numerous scholars have pointed out that Genesis actually has two creation stories, although many Christians read them as one. I see the stories as metaphors for the development of human sentience. First, it's obvious from a logistical standpoint that humans' larger brains would result in more pain in childbirth. Also, before humans developed sentience, they had no capacity for moral choice and no knowledge of death. So when sentience set in, it must have seemed like humans were expelled from paradise. The price that humans pay for large brains is that we know we're going to die someday, and we face difficult moral choices. As far as we know, animals don't have moral choice. (Can you imagine a wolf thinking, "Gee, would it be wrong to kill and eat that baby deer? Should I eat only the old and sick prey?") Finally, when humans lived as hunters and gatherers, it was a dangerous existence but also one that offered excitement and freedom. Agriculture provided a more stable existence but also one that may have seemed tame to early humans. That's why I see "by the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread."

Odd Crawl
Thanks for the plug of MY OX IS BROKEN, Mr. Barber. I am glad you enjoyed it!

For the rest of you, please explain what I saw last night, flipping channels past MSNBC. This was the text that ran across the bottom of the screen, while Chris Matthews discussed the election. I am not kidding. This is the news flash.

"Al and Tipper Gore left The Cheesecake Factory without dinner, upon being told that they would have to wait '20-35' minutes for a table."

I SWEAR TO GOD I SAW THIS. THIS WAS THE NEWS ITEM.

I need some coffee...
That should be "see Basehart at his best," NOT "say Basehart at his best!"

I have to start getting more sleep...

Richard Basehart
A recent poster mentioned VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, Richard Basehart and David Hedison, and how the talents of said gentlemen made many lousy scripts better than they would have been otherwise. I think that that's true, particularly in the case of Basehart. He was such an excellent actor that he could make the very worst script at least passable. I'm only sorry that he never had a chance to work from Harlan's version of "The Price of Doom" instead of a rewritten script. Even though I've never read Harlan's original, I'm just naturally taking it for granted that it was better than anything that the likes of Irwin Allen, William Welch and (shudder) Adrian Samish could have turned out.
Anyway, for those who want to say Basehart at his best, I'd suggest MGM's DVD of HE WALKED BY NIGHT, and Fox's more recent disc of FOURTEEN HOURS. The man may just have been one of the best actors this country ever had.

Larry wrote:

"PS: Can you believe Rush Limbaugh's comment about the campaign ad Michael J. Fox appeared in? Oy! He accused the trembling, swaying Fox of ACTING. It's a new low for Limbaugh: that jabbering, bottom-feeding, scum-sucking, neoNazi hophead."

Rush Bimbaugh is a buffoon. A professional buffoon, at that. Just like O'Reily, and so on. Ann Coulter said, during her interview on Leno, that she thrived on the contempt of others or some such thing.

Of course she does. Without the outrage and contempt her meal ticket doesn't get punched. It's her livelihood. The same goes for Bimbaugh.

These people are the political equivalent of the carnival geek, who entertained by rolling in his own filth and biting the heads off chickens. (Gee, who gave me *that* mental image?) They appeal to people's fascination with the debasement of others. These so-called political commentators work the same way, saying things they know will piss people off so their ratings will remain up-up-up.

So yes, I believe Bimbaugh's comment about Michael J. Fox. The sad part is that there are people who take this guy seriously.

Chuck