Billie Holiday song
Harlan -
I am not an expert on Billie Holiday at all, but isn't the song title "Strange Fruit"? Or maybe it's gone by more then one name over time? Or did you mean that the film title was "Bitter Fruit," meaning to harken to the song without being word for word the same?
Or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about?
In genuine curiosity,
MM
Kage Baker
I don't know how many of you are fans of Kage Baker's work but I think you should be kept abreast of her delicate health at this point. Locus just posted a link which includes a link to a note from her caretaker:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/01/kage-baker-health-update.html
Sidney!! Ya right wing nut you, I missed ya.
Sure, individual Americans have been wonderful. We are a decent lot. We are sending millions in aid, even corporations and it is a wonderful thing to see, beyond your heros Pat Robertson and now Rush Limbaugh, who mysteriously now has Haitian aid banners on his noxious site. I am talking about our history with Haiti, not American morality, which is heartening. How much did you give, Sidney?
Reagan supported Baby Doc. Clinton forced Aristide to leave. Bush kidnapped Aristide a second time. Haitians make about 38 cents an hour, to make clothing and other things for the Wal-Marts of the world. Haitians cannot even afford a lousy lunch for work. Neo-liberal policies took over their economy, giving them huge debts, gave pay offs to dictators and thugs, Haiti has been our sweatshop of choice. We do not have clean hands.
Extremely sorry to say...
I'm NOT wrong. It's easily checked. To give Mr. Goldstone credit, though, he got to the point where he refused to work when Irwin was on the set.
JEFF R.
Yes, back in 1962, when I came out here to the West Coast, Jim Goldstone--who subsequently directed the film based on the then-popular Jimmy Breslin novel, THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT--had an option on "Daniel White For the Greater Good" (the story singled out for praise by Dorothy Parker as the best treatment of the black/white matter she had ever read)(and that from the woman who had stunned the American literary scene with "Arrangement in Black and White"). His screenplay, never produced, was named after the heartbreaking Billie Holiday song, "Bitter Fruit."
It was in large measure because of Jim's option, and the sale to Hitchcock of my MEMOS FROM PURGATORY, that I actually came out here, and stayed. Jim and I were friends for a while...he was a very decent and large-hearted guy...but then, we sorta drifted apart, and I haven't heard of/or about him in many decades. I wish him well, if he's still with us, but all of that is long ago now.
My mind rejects, however, the suggestion that Jim Goldstone directed that gawdawful VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF IRWIN ALLEN'S ID. I think I would've known...if not THEN, certainly sometime in the time intervening.
I think you are wrong.
I HOPE you are wrong.
Yr. Pal, Harlan
Poe Movie
Have you seen they're going to make a movie about Edgar Allan Poe? Guess who they've selected to play Poe? Mr. Sherlock Holmes - Robert Downey. Not a bad choice there - I think. A more interesting note is who wrote the screenplay and who's going to direct it - Sylvester Stallone. Things that make you go - huh?
Eli Easter Egg
Just got home from putting together and screening BOOK OF ELI--if you look verrrry carefully at the walls, HE fans will see a very special homage to the post-apocalyptic groove. Also, everyone but Denzel must've attended Stormtrooper Shooting Academy.
Hello from the booth...hope everyone is doing well.
Hi, Adam-Troy,
I received your books and other material today. Thank you so much. I was doing my happy dance around my bedroom and the cats and the rat were just staring at each other. "She really flipped this time." But I'm looking at some medical tests next week or so and now I have stuff to read.
Thank you for the picture of Ralph. I was going to ask for one but I didn't want to impose. He was beautiful. And here's the scary part- he could be the twin brother of my younger cat Mandy Oreo. I mean face, coloring, expression. Only she's little and he was big you said. Life is interesting and very wonderful to say the least. Be well, you and Judi and kitties.I will keep you all and Ralph in my heart and thoughts.
To George, I am so sorry if we didn't welcome you. You are very welcome and I hope you come back. I've been jumping around here lately, and skipped most of the rap debate. (Sorry guys). With that, I missed your post. Please try again. Believe me, this is a good place.
Diane
Those Evil Americans
Frank is so right. Those Evil Americans are at it again, pretending they give a damn about Haiti.
Yessiree Bob, dozens of ships, hundreds of helicopters and planes, thousands of soldiers, sailors and civilian aid workers, all heading for Haiti just to make it look like the Evil Americans give a rat's ass.
Not to mention the zillions of others from other countries. Just putting on a show, puttin' on the Ritz, giving crackers to the starving poor black people while the cameras are on, then dumping the whole danged box into the gutter once the red eye turns away to the next Happening, right?
Yeppers, they are just putting on a good show. After all. because they did nothing the day before, anything the day after is just BS. Theee's no generosity, it's all a show. Is that it, Frank?
Right?
Just our tax dollars, millions and zillions, to stimulate the economy by putting on a pretense of giving a flying whatever about some poor dying folks down south, right?
Why, it's enough to make anyone anti-government, anti-capitalist, anti-socialist, ant-whatyougot, right? There's oodles of aid, from all of 'em. Heck, even Commie Castro Cuba is sending help, so I say screw 'em too. Anti-everybody. Yeah, even Hugo Chavez, El Padrone The Castro Clone. He's sending help. as if he wants to actually help. Nah, he's just exploiting the sitch-you-a-shun, huh?
Except the anarchists. Lord bless 'em, they done such good. Every day they be out there tilling the field of humanity for the betterment of All God's Children, right?
I mean, just look at all the Anarchist helicopters, laden with food and other means of succor, headed to Haiti. The skies are black with them. Each and every day, anarchists head south from their North American havens,eager just to help the poor people of haiti. It was a flood of bottom up do gooders before the earthquake, right? Now a veritable tsunami of Black Tee-Shirted, Masked Anarcho's zooming down, or wading ashore from the vast fleet of Anarcho shps that set sail the moment they were needed. Megatons of anarchist delivered food, water, medicine and specially trained Anarchist Canine Rescue units. right?
No?
I must've been misinformed.
And there's no gambling in Casablanca, you say?
The ancients believed that government was a gift from the gods, a working government was a blessing, and good government a rare blessing beyond price.
Smart cookies, then ancients.
Sidney Lemoknkrantz, Citizen and Miscreant Critic
I still haven't seen the blog in question.
Then again, I haven't seen Avatar either.
_______________________________
Cris plays in Palos Verdes tomorrow night. She's also just been booked for the Long Beach Mardi Gras fest February 20th.
_______________________________
BURN NOTICE returns. One week from tonight.
_______________________________
Personal news: I am debuting a new website shortly. Just posted my first blog and a couple of galleries on the test version, but it's not yet ready for Prime Time (kinda like Leno).
Stay tuned.
Interesting...just reading the New York Times review of "The Book of Eli", and the reviewer mentions that while the main character Eli settles into a room, a poster for the movie version of "A Boy and His Dog" shows up on the wall behind him.
I don't think I'd go see the film just on that basis...I'll wait to see when the reviews start coming out...like Denzel Washington, fed up with depressing movies...
Still waiting to hear about that job...will keep my chin up Shagin!
Okay, so I'm actually posting from roughly 30 miles outside Portland, but you get the idea...
I re-read "Daniel White For The Greater Good" last week. The 50th anniversary edition currently resides beside my bed for a nightly random flip and read. The stories within are like old friends, comfortable and great food for thought.
I don't see "Daniel White For The Greater Good" as a story that needs to age well. The historical context carries both the plot and characters through, not only providing an insight as to the era it portrays, but the languaged used to craft the story itself.
Rather than being hemmed in by the strictures of "genre" writing (gah! Hate that!), "Daniel White For The Greater Good" presents the human condition (of which Harlan writes so eloquently in "Telltale Tics and Tremors") in a manner in which people who don't care for more fantastic fiction can relate to even if they might not otherwise have a point of reference.
And the specter of repeating history should it be forgotten further fuels the need for stories of this caliber.
shagin
For our amusement (I think) Eubanks has written, a few days ago, a follow-up entry entitled "Just the Facts, Ma'am". Referencing his Ellison piece and our reactions, he states he's "a 35-year veteran private investigator" who checks his facts "down to the correct ZIP code for an address or area code for a phone number". (That's more or less his standard response to people who want to correct him, as the comments section shows.)
In the next paragraph he paraphrases me using quotation marks. Then he opens a paragraph with "Needless to say" and delivers straight-faced nonsense about me not knowing the definition of libel and "reacting only to his hero being called an asshole".
I was reacting (if it was much of a reaction - I don't think so - it was mostly internal) to a person I know and respect being mis-portrayed in elaborate form by a fellow writer with an audience. Like Josh said, many people or computer kids call Harlan something or other, good things, bad things. And since he suggested here that I should look up the definition of libel, I thought I'd do him the favor, so here's Mirriam-Webster: "2a: a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression".
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Libel
Then he goes on to say that everything he said is true because he "checked my facts and conclusions carefully... (...) Whether I am writing fiction, non-fiction, plays, screenplays, or a daily blog, I intend to get the facts."
Too bad his work ethics had a day off when he wrote about Harlan, "probably America's most prolific science fiction writer" who "raves about L. Ron Hubbard's inventing a religion", never wrote any episodes of New Twiglight Zone etc. By the way, he's "done bickering about it", so save your breath now.
On the whole, another interesting lesson on human nature.
He's fed up with himself just like everybody and wants to improve the content of The American Writer. So on January 8th he took a bold step and posted an entry called "Wanted: Guest Writers".
No mention of payment but they're supposed to be able to "write and entertain" (don't HAVE to be professionals though). They're supposed to write about the topics he evidently has no clue about such as: Researching a Non-fiction Book, Marketing a Self-Published Book. He signs off in teacher-mode with a generous piece of wisdom: "And remember: writing is communication done very slowly." I just had an epiphany.
--
As most of may you know, the Google cache deletes itself after a short while when Google bot notices the original is gone, and it can be deleted sooner by the site owner/copyright holder, as far as I remember, by filling out a form and inserting the link into the Google bot section somewhere. But it's less trouble to wait, and a search for the book (title) doesn't actually bring up any illegal links on the first few pages (maybe more).
Also still there: the Wikipedia-based Harlan Ellison "book" by Alphascript Publishing.
www.amazon.com/Harlan-Ellison-Frederic-P-Miller/dp/6130091893
This has excellent worldwide distribution and, for example, comes up FIRST for HE on at least three of Germany's major book shops (bol.de buch.de thalia.de). Their website says: "Our titles are produced on-site in the USA, UK and Germany, and distributed worldwide via the leading retailers." (They also say, "Alphascript publishing publishes academic research worldwide." Hahaha.) This is from the Guardian: "Q: …do all of Alphascript’s books take their content from Wikipedia? Alphascript: Yes, since we believe that the quality of the Wikipedia-articles is so good that it is worthwhile creating books with them. (...) It is pointed out in every Alphascript book that contents are Wikipedia articles. Do we now have to write in Amazon-books: “Attention! Books contains Wikipedia!”?"
www.alphascript-publishing.com/index.php?&act=nav&nav=10048
What times.
Everybody,
I was pretty shocked when I discovered those links and I'm sure there is more than one way for Harlan to report this to Google so they can remove this from their search engine and delete the cache and any other pieces of stored information. "Gentleman Junkie" is one of HE's masterpieces and I'd hate for him to lose money with this (to quote Rick) "e-fuckjob."
DS
Josh's Syllogism:
"Google the following - "Harlan Ellison is an asshole"
Now Google this: "Josh Olson is an asshole"
I rest my case."
Y'know, that seems to WORK for me!
Josh's Syllogism:
"Google the following - "Harlan Ellison is an asshole"
Now Google this: "Josh Olson is an asshole"
I rest my case."
Y'know, that seems to WORK for me!
Pogue,
"You know there are amateurs and then there are amateurs. I've always found the worst kind of amateur is the one who preys on other amateurs."
Indeed. And I now feel like a schmuck for having done anything that could possibly have increased the traffic to his website. I'll leave it all alone, and encourage others to just ignore this parasite.
More on the Ant
Okay, the last time I will abuse my more-than-one-post-a-day privileges.
But I went off Mr. Eubanks' blog page to his home page and found all sorts of delights (was right about the vanity press, by the by). Basically, this guy offers his writing services, proofreading services, ghost-writing services, and other writerly advice to budding writers. Maybe he thinks if he defends poor misbegotten amateurs by tilting at the mighty whooshing windmill of Harlan Ellison, it will drum him up some business.
You know there are amateurs and then there are amateurs. I've always found the worst kind of amateur is the one who preys on other amateurs.
"Daniel White for the Greater Good": A Half-Remembered Rumor
Didn't the same man who directed Harlan's much rewritten VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA ("The Price of Doom"), James Goldstone, have an option on the story?
JOSH
...see you've been busy stomping on ants. I did break down and leave a comment...a simple request for some detailed credits of the theatres he's worked at, the screenplays he's worked on, and where to find his novels. We will see whether such request for illumination appears.
Needless to say, I haven't found him on AMAZON yet and the only Tom Eubanks found on IMDB is a producer and the film KNOCKOUT does not sound like his kind of thing.
Pogue's observations
FRANK: You're correct in your statement about genre writing/writers and the way mainstream critics and such ignore them. But Pogue is on the money as regards how writers are treated in the USA these days -- especially in comparison to other countries. I've noticed how the popularity of writers as guests on "talk" shows in TV (and then radio) has waned in the USA. And having had the chance to live -- not visit, but _live_ -- in two other countries, so I've had the chance to see how people behave on a day-to-day basis for extended periods of tiem. And I've noticed how more people in Germany (at least in the 80s) and more people in Australia (even given the penchant in OZ for mimicking the USA) read more than most of the folks in the U.S. Thus, authors are still more revered.
Cheers,
DTS
Frank Church
Frank, re: Fame, celebrity, and authors, I refer you to Lord Dunsany's short short story THE ASSIGNATION in his book, THE FOOD OF DEATH.
"Daniel White, for the Greater Good" remains in my top 10 of all Ellison stories ever written. It has not aged perfectly, but neither has anything else - including me - or the author.
http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/title/daniel-white-for-the-greater-good-ellison-ebooks.htm
In case you want to drop 6 bits and re-read it.
- Barney
Attended a Jewish funeral yesterday. My first. To the extent that one can ever "like" watching a friend placed in the ground I liked this ceremony. The pauses. The Cantor. The backwards spade of earth. Nice.
PAL dvd redux
Jason et al., I rec'd the Australian PAL dvd and couldn't get it to play on the newish pc or my dvd player. However, I pulled my 7 year old Mac out of storage and voilà, I was good to go!
Sphincter Redux
All this reminds me of an old Jewish joke,the punchline paraphrased as:
"Now look who thinks he's an asshole!"
The talk about "Gentleman Junkie" last night got me to read some of it. I read "Final Shtick" and "Dan White For The Greater Good".
I had never read this collection before, though it's been around me. The stories are very much of their time and place. A careless reader might call them "dated", but I find them very much of their time, and speaking to us through the lens of time with the same truths they spoke in their own time. That lens focuses the truth sharply, if you can place yourself at the focal point, there to see clearly the truth of the stories.
"Dan White For The Greater ood" still cries out for a filmed adaptation. It would make one hell of a radio play.
Reminds me why I love Ellison's writing, all over again.
"Final Shtick" was just painful, in the best way.
Our new poster, from the Bay Area, who was a bit miffed: I liked your origfinal post about you and Dan Silver. I ocld not comment because I read your post AFTER I had posted for that day, and by the time the next day arrived, "poof" I was onto something else.
But I liked your story.
Doc. Z.
Gormenghast.
Hi guys,
Well it would appear that a manuscript has been found to a sequel to the Gormenghast books. Or so it has been reported in the UK press. See the link below..,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/6988490/New-Gormenghast-novel-found-in-attic.html
Now personally, I have always been a huge fan of these books. They are simply wonderful. A very British, but definitely a stunning vision of a world in decay. The idea of a postumous end or continuation of the story worries me. I had always liked the fact that no-one has ever tried to do it, the Gormenghast world was left untouched by meddling hands, after Peake's death. So now I am worried.
I hope that the new book will be well written. I hope it will have the same fantastic imagery. I hope for so much. And I fear so much too...
Arrgghh! It cut me off.
That was supposed to say "Should we do, like, sorta, a "Spartacus" thingy here?"
So, should we, like, sorta, do a
I am an asshole!
No, _I_ am an asshole!
Oh, and PS:
Harlan Ellison IS an asshole.
I speak from authority.
Not as his close friend, mind you. But as an honest to god authority.
Don't believe me?
Do this:
Google the following - "Harlan Ellison is an asshole"
Now Google this: "Josh Olson is an asshole"
I rest my case.
I'm really going back and forth on this Eubanks schmuck. I DO agree with the esteemed Pogue that it's like stepping on an ant, but I live in an area that gets a lot of ants, and I find that if one doesn't step on them, they tend to eat all the food.
I posted the following on this nitwit's website, where it's been submitted for moderation. Who knows whether or not it'll actually show up. I was gentle and kind with him:
Tom,
You may want to look up the definitions of "superstition" and "religion" before getting haughty about people who use the first word to describe the second. If you choose to believe in magical, unseen forces that control the world, knock yourself out. But don't get huffy when people label your irrational beliefs properly.
I have no idea what the clip you saw was, but if you think Harlan Ellison would ever, in any way, endorse Scientology (or any superstitious belief system), you are genuinely out of your mind. Sarcasm is wasted on the dimwitted.
As far as the rest of your rant, it's little more than the bitter ravings of an ignorant child. To those of us who love it enough to do it for a living, "Writer" is a profession. That you choose to take an amateur's approach to our job is, of course, your prerogative. That you would have the audacity to dictate to professionals how they should behave regarding their profession, however, is unconscionable.
And in that spirit, I would request that you change the name of your blog. You are NOT THE American Writer. You are, simply, AN American Amateur.
Speaking for the Unwelcoming Committee
George said -- heavy on the sarcasm: "Just stepping in briefly to thank everyone for the friendly and enthusiastic welcome I received in response to my first message here several days ago. It was -- illuminating. I do hope I didn't distract from the rap debate too much. But don't worry, I will go away now and be a distraction no more. My apologies. Good bye."
Hey, don't go away mad, George. Just because we didn't just drop what we were talking about to slap you on the back and welcome you with open arms into the literary circle (which, yes, from time to time merits the word "jerk" after the "circle," doesn't mean we want you to get miffed and leave.
We all have our own axes to grind, and sometimes the sparks obscure things as we apply the wheel to the steel. The nature of a forum in which one is restricted to a once-a-day posting is somewhat limiting. The give-and-take gets stretched out a bit.
You sound pissed-off because your heartfelt entry into the fray was brushed aside by a sometimes-fatuous discussion about rap.
Don't take it personally, kid. Sometimes the piano player stops and the cowboys at the bar go quiet when a stranger walks into the saloon, and sometimes nobody pays any attention.
That's how it goes.
Perry
JOSH OLSON IN COVENTRY
I suppose the shadow-play has gone on long enough.
In a wholly duplicitous and no-less-than cruel ploy to give the semblance of evenhandedness in the lee of the long, boring, and ultimately cranky hoop-de-doo about Writers Vs. Directors...I banned one of my best and most-beloved friends, Josh Olson, from this site.
Ostensibly, because he had taken advantage of the one-post-a-day dictum on the grouds that if one had to put up with me as a friend, one culled some small perks, such as posting more than once.
And a couple of you whinged at that, saying it wasn't fair. So I sent Josh to Durance Vile.
Well, in truth, I was just dicking with him.
I don't give much of a damn about the subject (though I do wish it had been taken to another of Mr. Barber's alternate threads, where folks could post a hundred times a day, just so I didn't have to put up with it). But I WAS moved to make it look as if I were being egalitarian ... not to mention, it was a grand opportunity to mess with Olson's equilibrium.
But all that is past. We are all friends again. So the fatwah is rescinded, and Josh can be welcomed back to this stewpot.
Sorry, folks. Sometimes I just can't control myself.
Yr. Pal, Harlan
Pogue, I think you may be slightly wrong there. They don't know about Harlan because they see him as a genre writer, which he isn't, but that's their viewpoint. This explains the New Yorker. Hell, Gore Vidal even hates Hemmingway.
Overamped elitism on parade. Watch the horse shit.
-------------
Harlan, A Boy and his Dog, the talking dog--God backwards, mocking the talking snake in the garden of Eden, accept this garden is the garden of hell. I can read minds babe.
Much love.
--------------
Now the US loves Haiti. What a crock.
"The Reason Harlan is not more Celebrated...
...these days" is simple. We're living in a less literary society. I can remember when authors, editors, and raconteurs were the staple of talk shows...Anyone else recall when Bennett Cerf and Jack Douglas (and his lovely wife, Reiko) had their rumps on Jack Paar's couch. Hell, I can remember when Harlan was always on with Tom Snyder...Alas, those days seem to be gone forever.
Unless your Dan Brown or JK Rowling, authors have no star power anymore. And even those two's stars will wane in time.
"Dreams" being REBROADCAST on the SUNDANCE CHANNEL....
....for those keeping score at home....
Film Critic on Harlan....
...and "Dreams" (which is being REBROADCAST Monday night, 6.15P, on Sunday!):
"O’Shea: why do you think there was not a greater degree of coverage regarding the Harlan Ellison documentary, Dreams with Sharp Teeth?
Rich: Well, the words “independent documentary” immediately spring to mind. I’m not necessarily surprised the mainstream media hasn’t heralded the work more, but I can’t understand why the comics and more pop-culture oriented press hasn’t been talking the movie up. It’s the kind of portrait that is perfect for reinvigorating interest in an extremely influential author, one without whom I don’t think a lot of current writers, including myself and I daresay Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem, would exist. Neil Gaiman makes no bones about how Harlan influenced and helped his career, and the fact that there is a lengthy conversation between the two on the disc you’d think would be sufficient enough to see it get some heat.
My personal theory about why Harlan is not more celebrated these days is that I think he doesn’t fit. The entertainment industry is increasingly cautious, increasingly cowardly, and a guy like Harlan who isn’t beholden to anyone, who is unpredictable and unafraid to speak his mind, scares the living crap out of them. His skills as a raconteur should have made him one of the more sought-after guests in our chat show culture. His commentary would be colorful, his anecdotes are always entertaining, but anymore, celebrities are expected to show up and pretend everything about what they are promoting is perfect, artists are expected to humbly thank the world for looking their way, and pundits are expected to take an extreme position regardless of whether they believe it or not. Inject any truth into that, and the illusion will shatter."
The Rest:
http://tinyurl.com/yhz24a2
Playing PAL (after a brief other comment on that other thing)
Been gone from here for a time and just made my way through a long stretch of back posts. Won't touch on most of them, but re: the rap discussion -- aren't the definitions of music getting a bit pedantic? Reminds me of arguments I used to have with a schoolmate over whether the Beatles' #9 is music. Yeah, maybe a better technical name for it would be "sound collage" or something similar, but music is the blanket name that we've decided on as a people for the organization of sound for entertainment purposes. Whether it fits a classical definition of music is fairly well beside the point. We don't have a generally-used over-term like "sound art", so while maybe, under a strict definition, calling rap "not music" is like calling poetry "not prose," in actual conversational function it's like calling poetry "not writing." In simpler terms: if you can throw it on in your car and bop your head, or move to it on the dancefloor, it's probably pretty safe to call it music.
ANYWAY: the real reason I decided to post was because I saw a conversation about trying to play PAL DVDs, and wanted to recommend a free program that works great on my Mac for such purposes. VLC Media Player can be found online at videolan.org/vlc. It's a free program that plays just about any kind of media file. If you put a European, region-other PAL DVD in your Mac DVD player and open the disc in VLC, it will play -- or at least mine does, every time. The interface is a bit buggy, and it might crash if you do too much pausing or fast-forwarding and rewinding, but if you just want to hit play and watch the movie straight through, you should have no problem. Looks like there is also a version for Windows, but I've never used it on a PC, so I can't speak to its ability.
(Oh: on most Macs the Apple DVD player will open automatically when you put in any DVD. You can just quit the Apple player and move to VLC, or you can change your Mac settings so that it doesn't open anything automatically upon DVD insertion.)
Unauthorised e-books
DS, the Gentleman Junkie instance you found is the tip of the iceberg - a bit of poking around with variations of the URLs you mentioned brought me to lots of other stuff that shouldn't be there.
Rick Wyatt, I've emailed you with further details in the hope that you can alert Harlan (if he's not already aware).
- Phil
Just stepping in briefly to thank everyone for the friendly and enthusiastic welcome I received in response to my first message here several days ago. It was -- illuminating. I do hope I didn't distract from the rap debate too much. But don't worry, I will go away now and be a distraction no more. My apologies. Good bye.
jumping in briefly
Harlan, I took a careful look at the links posted by DS.
He's right so far as I can tell. It's another e-fuckjob.
otherwise
only good things,
Rick
Should I be surprised, dejected, or inured by the fact that I have nearly as many "thanks, but no thanks" job responses as I do rejection notices?
Ah, well...
MARY: Make me proud, girl! Get a job!
DENNIS C.: Don't give up!
SEMI-WRITER: Yeah, I'm right there beside ya.
I indulged in the informative beauty of "Telltale Tics and Tremors" earlier today, calling it research.
shagin
Ray Carlson
How odd. I just picked up Bob Crais' new book when passing through a book store. Didn't even notice the dedication.
I was researching Gentleman Junkie on Google and came up with a link to the entire book to view online for free:
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache%3AldAW0LPzsKcJ%3Awww.itks-training.com%3A8888%2FeBooks%2FScience%2520Fiction%2520and%2520Fantasy%2FHarlan%2520Ellison%2FHarlan%2520Ellison%2520-%2520Gentleman%2520Junkie.pdf+%22Nodded%2C+because+we+aLL+AGREED%22&hl=en&gl=us
Then there's this link, which allows you to download or print the work:
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ldAW0LPzsKcJ:www.itks-training.com:8888/eBooks/Science%2520Fiction%2520and%2520Fantasy/Harlan%2520Ellison/Harlan%2520Ellison%2520-%2520Gentleman%2520Junkie.pdf+%22Nodded,+because+we+aLL+AGREED%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi5IyB_M3hjpAE_kI8aQel1XWieqZU0GJNewf7khfHjtqV3ZOxRQvdMx4N3dym7ffw2zD3rH9QlYKUor1L-TJ8KCxO52cSOiJsFfGDNXZ4uHesvwCtFSCAjbU9Ifmuw4Wo89jy1&sig=AHIEtbRIYpDCg2Fwfb4lVc_2x7YtlGTH_w
This entire thing is a cache of this dead link:
http://www.itks-training.com:8888/eBooks/Science%20Fiction%20and%20Fantasy/Harlan%20Ellison/Harlan%20Ellison%20-%20Gentleman%20Junkie.pdf
I just wanted to pass the word along, I know Harlan would not want this available for free.
DS
Harlan & Susan:
what Diane said. In spades.
Pogue: that comment with the Hemingway/fish line? Yeah, that was me. I'm flattered that you quoted me.
My daughter is visiting for a couple of days. I'm a happy camper.
Harlan,
This is a post for you and Susan. You have people who are so vile to you often becausr you are brave, and smart, and honest.
You are also just absurdly scary talented, which rouses jeolousy in the untalented.
You have one special rare quality, among many. You are you, always, despite all the bullshite they throw. This scares the rest of us. Those of us with a brain admire you for it and wish to emulate you. The rest fling mud at you.
You have entertained, enlightened, educated, enobled, encouraged enflamed, inspired me since I was 20. As of this past Jan 4, that is 30 years. You have also made me laugh my but off. And cry the huge lump of grief out of my heart, where it was killing me. More, so much more. Thank you.
Dont let any of these blather skites hurt you or Susan. So say we all.
With the most much affection and gratitude to you and Mrs. E.
Dont worry be happy.Ps Sorry, can neither write or type today
with FEELING
Don't think. FEEL. It is like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.
Once more, with FEELING
There once was a man who screamed love was all he needed for his work.
'
"In writing, in life, i's the only way, you jerks!"
Though if he sweated all day into night digging ditches
And then got no pay, he'd yell "You Son's Of Bitches!!"
No matter he loved shovels and dirt
Doz. Z.
I was about to comment on Mr. Eubanks less than intellectual contribution to this page, but Pogue, you summed it up nicely. Pogue's right...the guy ain't worth the attention. He's one of the many wannabes hoping someone will feed into his so called arguement and make him feel better about himself. I think he tripped over himself and landed squarely on his face when he admitted to having never read any of Harlan's works. That put him out of the running for me. If one would like to bring forth a topic and have a discussion with our host, then do him the courtesy of reading the many stories and essays Harlan's written over the years. That way, you might have a fighting chance with whatever it is you disagree with what he's written.
Wouldn't give Mr. Eubanks the time of day Rob. The guy just ain't worth it.
The First Rule Dedicated to Unca Harlan
From The National Review On-Line. To listen look for "Between the Covers" or use link below.
"In Your Crais" by John J. Miller
My new NRO podcast is with crime novelist Robert Crais (rhymes with "face"). We discuss his just-released book, The First Rule. We also talk about Eastern European crime gangs, why he quit a successful career as a television writer to become a book author, and how come he dedicated The First Rule to Harlan Ellison.
http://radio.nationalreview.com/betweenthecovers/post/?q=ZDJkNjRjOGNlYzE4MTZmOWM2ZDZkOTM2YmM5MmY1NTE=
Tom Eubanks
Really, folks, is this one even worth frothing at the mouth about?
When an ant gets in your way do you really need to step on it? It's just as easy to walk over it.
He runs a community theatre where everyone works for free. He writes novels that he says he expects to get paid for, but doing a search on the "just-released" title, I couldn't find it anywhere. Vanity press or just really bad PR?
And, as someone commented on his post, describing the vast depth and breadth of Harlan's work as a science-fiction is a little like "calling Hemingway a writer of fish stories."
We all know the many young and talented writers that Harlan has encouraged, trumpeted, and befriended (I consider myself one, though not so young anymore). Mr. Eubanks' comments, in the light of the overwhelming evidence, is simply fatuous and the worst kind of opinion...the uninformed kind.
I think Mr. Eubanks has gotten his knickers in a twist over that dreaded word "amateur". I find most "amateurs" do when professionals try to explain the idea of the professional ethic, but I think he has misinterpreted Harlan's comments.
I think we all know the writers Harlan is referring to in the clip: the guys who give free options on their labour; take any note any producer gives; that don't fight and defend their work in the trenches; that don't think that when they walk into a room, they are equal to and their voice is just as important as any producer, director, actor, studio head,; the writers that place no value on their work because they are so desperate for approval, they'll give it away for nothing.
To the writer...or any labourer...who gives his work away, I say: If nothing is the value you place on it, that is what it is worth. And if you're willing to do it for free, then you're an amateur.
Perhaps, it's time to proffer the oft-discussed quote from HEARTS OF THE WEST again: "If someone saying he was something was all there was to it, this country'd be full of rich men and good-looking women. Kings and queens...know what I mean? Too bad it ain't that easy. In short, when someone else says you're a writer, that's when you're a writer...not before."
Given the internet and fan fiction, I think we have seen a steady rise in what I refer to as the "cult of the amateur". Anyone who can point a digital camera is now a "film maker", any one who writes a blog is now a "writer". I don't think this is particularly a good thing because it simply diminishes standards.
I recently helped a noted playwright out by informing him of a local amateur theatre posting clips of their production of one of his plays on YouTube unauthorized. Now some playwrights wink at this; thinking any publicity is good publicity.
This one, thankfully did not, he referred to the clip as "embarrassing." And it was, I had seen the original production where the actor in the role had won a Tony. Chasm of difference. Yet if you write in pretty much any play's title on YouTube, you're apt to discover a horde of bad amateur video of bad amateur performances of good work. It diminishes the work and the playwright derives no income from it. It's one thing, if your local little theatre at least paid royalties. But the amateurs think that it's okay to steal from the playwright and post this crap. It's about them and their insignificant egos, not about fair compension for a man's labour. Too much of amateurism is about ego and not the work.
Oh, and since Mr. Eubanks has apparently visited here, excited by the one stir he's created on his blog. I blog occaisionally too, Mr. Eubanks. Frequently about the importance of the professional ethic. There's a post on it right now that ought to give your blog plenty of fodder; it's about how amateurs constantly talk about "pursuing their passion", a premise I question: Just how passionate can they be, if they are not prepared to sacrifice for and challenge their passion? Check it out.
http://poguespages.blogspot.com
Oh, and amateurs don't have a lock on doing it "for the love of it". We professionals love it a lot more than the amateurs do, because we kill ourselves daily over it. There ain't enough money in the world to keep us there, if we didn't love it. There are a lot easier ways of making a living.
Post a New Message or see previous ones in the Comments Archive
Return to the Harlan Ellison Home Page