Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

Archive - 09/13/2008 to 11/10/2008

Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

Ne faire qu'une bouchée d'un adversaire...
Dear Unca’ Harlan,

Thank you very much for the edification and clarification your purely hypothetical story gave me re: recent events involving Mlle. X. When the needle alone is more attractive than the lovely, intricate quilt of a functional relationship, sometimes a good, old-fashioned blanket party is necessary to salvage what tattered remnants of mutual interest remain.

Since I find violence in any form abhorrent (she says, stroking her albino Persian pussycat like Ernst Stavro Blofeld), should Mlle. X. reappear in my life, I would have to rely on consistently providing a wall of kindly negative reinforcement to dissuade her. That or go all Uma on her.

But do not, dear Sir, think for a moment that your fable, your nibble of bait, (or rather of nouvelle cuisine), has not hooked a particularly slow-floating sunfish, or a sunny, sloe-eyed, fun dish, and reeled her back into reality re: dealing with utter leaners, scum, lowlives, junkies, users, and the like. The full course, thank you very much, the chef may keep in the kitchen.

With, as always, tremendous respect and gratitude,

Gwyneth

Ace in the Hole on DVD, too
In DVD news, Sunset Blvd. is newly released, and Ace in the Hole came out on Criterion DVD last year. Ace is one of the most cynical pictures ever, and has this great line from Jan Sterling: "I don't pray.....kneeling bags my nylons." Such deadpan delivery, ya gotta love her. Tomorrow brings Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh in Disney's tin-box Treasures series. Can't wait to see that again...haven't since the mid-sixties...and recall having the daylights scared out of me by that scarecrow figure riding through the dark marshes. Great stuff. Richard.

Harlan On Hunter

Harlan,

I recently read around these parts that you are an admirer of Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. It got me thinking, Do you had any thoughts, memories or Stories to tell on Rolling Stones previous political correspondent the late "Dr" Hunter S. Thompson

Just Wonderin is All

Jarod Hitchcock

Ace in the Hole -- next showing on TCM
Turner Classic Movies has shown ACE IN THE HOLE several times in the past year. Next showing will be Dec. 9, at 8:30 am CST. And Mark's right -- it's well worth catching.

Bests to all,

--tr

Billy Wilder and tamer subjects.
Sunset Blvd is one of the great hollywood gems, a bitter, cynical, noirsh take on the glamour factory, but the film to see is the film BEFORE that one, a major failure critically and commercially for Wilder. The film is called "ACE IN THE HOLE". Rarely seen, even on late night TV it paints one of the most prescient views of how news media manipulates and exploits tragic stories for fun and profit. It also offers one of Kirk Douglas' truely loathsome villians as the newspaper reporter who finds a man trapped in a cave and uses it to relaunch his career into the big time.

It is one of those movies that I saw once and stayed in my head for years and years. It has all of the bite of Sunset Blvd. without the glamour. It is definately worth the while of any movie fan here at the pavillion.

The discussion about addicts and their ability to suck the kindness of others rings deeply with me. There have been people who I thought I could help, save, put on the right road, for one reason for another and ultimately found myself burned out, betrayed, used, and when I would no longer play their game, I was accused of being a villain in their life. It did not enter well, it never seems to end well in these cases and you learn the bitter lesson that you cannot save anyone, and until a person hits bottom, no one can get well without really wanting it. Another report from those with a bitter lesson learned.

Guilty! Guilty I say!!

I can't take it anymore, I admit the deed! No more waterboarding, no more bamboo splints under the fingernails! I admit it.

I have never seen The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Or Wuthering Heights.
Or, to the best of my knowledge, any movie having starred Greta Garbo.

I... I am clean! Thank Gawd almighty... free at last!!

Thank you, my support group. Refreshments to follow.

"The Straight met the Bent. The Bent accused the Straight of "betrayal" and "screwing me over" and so on and so forth, and the Straight punched the Bent in the throat, sending the latter to the dirt, whereupon the Straight smashed, two blows each with the maul, the Bent One's right elbow, right hand, left knee and left ankle."

Total bullshit. Never happened. Are we really supposed to believe that you _crippled and mutilated_ some ex of yours with a _maul_? Come on, Ellison--stop snowing us and stop trying to outdo everyone's hard luck stories. It's getting embarrassing.

I just recorded Sunset Blvd., back-to-back with an old RKO I'd never crossed, The Spiral Staircase (a Lewtonesque 'Cat and the Canary' bit). Both, on the same tape, make a pretty bitchin' showcase.

ADAM.

SUNSET BOULEVARD, for the fist time?, impossible, incredible, how can a person be alive and NOT seen that movie?.

I have to sit down and think?

What was it?, solitary confinement?, coma?.

What!, I have it, you’re an alien right?, you just came here and have been living inside a human but your race doesn’t see things in black and white?, yes that’s it, color blind.

I feel better.

Well let’s hope all goes well now, I’m standing up now and my head has stopped spinning, now just don’t let me hear that you never saw Casablanca!.

And Susan, happy birthday.

All in fun!, …….Gary.

SUSAN: Was in France all week but now saw your message re Dietmar. Solution: Send letter c/o Suhrkamp Verlag, Postfach 101945, 60019 Frankfurt, Germany. That's the only safe address I got since he left the newspaper. I would believe he picks up his mail personally.

Michael Crichton - I will certainly miss him. He did some harm recently but as a writer he was important.

HARLAN: In Paris I didn't come across old Vic but yesterday I photographed the house of Balzac (also went around and inside where you could look at his corrections etc.), so - regardless if you've been there or not - here it is:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1218/balzacln3.jpg
Hard worker but has nice garden.

I always forget to ask but think I can only ask you:
Can you recommend the 70s Paramount movie version of GATSBY? Only respond if you need to warn me against it.

What helped me stay straight:
At age 13, "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin", left me ashudder.

I am, unwavering from that straight-and-narrow,
Rick

For Gwynie
Hon,

I know from frist hand expirence that what you did was not only right, but may be the one thing that will kick this woman's butt into a desire for sober life.

At least you came to your moment of clarity on your own. It took my cop father reminding me that being arrested during the week wasn't so bad, I'd have been out after 24 hours. That's how long it would have took the county to process my blood to find out I wasn't using. But, he also knew that I only spent extra amounts of time with this person on the weekends, and made it very clear to me that I'd have to stay in jail untill things were worked out in the proper manner.

Needless to say, I dropped that hot potato as gently as I could without looking like a total Ass. Told her that I'd be there to help her get sober and the whole nine yards. About 5 years later I ran into the guy she was dating when she got hooked, and he was on a pay phone with her. I spoke to her, and she told me that between her grandparents not allowing her to live with them untill she cleaned up, and what I told her she had been clean for 4 of the 5 years I'd lost with her.

I'd like to say that we kept in touch and all that good stuff, but I'd be lying. It's just nice to know that by doing the right thing for myself, I did the right thing for her as well.

Here's hoping your story has at least that kind of a happy ending.

Lori

correction
"improbable," of course...typed too fast.

Enjoyed fable...
What a wild, improbably tale! You are one terrific fiction writer, Harlan.

As for Moondog...Yes! Wow. I have some wonderful memories of meeting him in the late 1960s on the streets of New York (42nd Street, I think), going to several of his poetry readings and thoroughly appreciating, enjoying, relishing them. One of life's true originals,that old Viking.

Faisal: Citibank's website doesn't show any branches located in Phoenix or nearby, unfortunately. There are some Citibank branches in Cancun, however, so if you are still in Cancun, going there may be a better bet.

Faisal:

Thank you for my birthday wishes, although not my birthday. Will apply the kind thought to next year.

Steve:

Not 52. 22! Repeat after me...22

All best--Susan

GWYNETH ---- a fable for your edification

This may or may not be a true story. Your choice.

Once upon a time, a person became involved with another person, who turned out to be a dedicated dope fiend. The straight person--hereinafter merely called the Straight, as opposed to the dope fiend who will hereinafter be referred to as the Bent--was hooked through the mouth and on that hook, in short order, for several thousand dollars, which the Straight could not afford. Not to mention almost-daily contretemps and problems similar to that which you, Gwyneth, patriated in your initial post.

Moving on, in this fable. The Bent One was excellent at the short con, and the Straight One was heels-over-head, and so it went on for a substantial time, till the Bent went so far over the line, that the Straight had to Do Something Serious.

What happened was that the Straight, not entirely in full possession of ratiocinative observation, made the mistake of allowing the Bent One to accompany on a visit to the home of a well-known personage, a long-time friend of the Straight One. Two days or so after the visit, which had been a large, lush party, the Straight One got a call, well, no, TWO calls--one from the well-known friend, the other from the cops--making it very clear that the Bent One had light-fingered some items from the home of the well-known friend. It was not hearsay, the evidence of same was overwhelming. They knew WHO the Bent One was, but not WHERE said Bent was. With extreme difficulty, the Straight managed to convince all concerned that no Straight involvement in the theft had transpired. But it wasn't easy.
And the shadow of it all poisoned the Straight's friendship with an old pal. And it made the Straight wake up about how malign was the association with the Bent. Who was not heard from for a number of years, not a sound.

Then, one evening, a few years later, said Bent--who had long since been revealed as a dope fiend via other sources--called the Straight and tried to sweetly set up a liaison. The Straight said no way, and hung up. Thus began a series of attempts on the part of the Bent to weasel back into Straight's good graces, exchequer, and circle of friends. Bent showed up in person several times, at awkward venues that had been publicly announced, but the Straight utilized the blow-off, warning said junkie that the cops might still be on the earie, so take a hike before I let them know where you are.

The Bent became obsessed, and caused the Straight considerable inconvenience and bad cess among the general circle who knew the Straight. It got very troublesome, time-consuming, endlessly annoying, and infuriating. And showed no sign of ever ceasing. On the lam, the Bent was nonetheless still doing what a junkie does. Finally...

In this fable, this hypothetical if you will, the Straight carefully, secretly, and purposefully--with malice aforethought and knowing full well the responsibility involved--set up a meet with the Bent, and brought along a good old construction-worker's implement: a 16 oz, mar-resistant composition head, genuine hickory-handle maul. With the 2" circular head covered in a plastic Baggie. Hypothetically.

The Straight met the Bent. The Bent accused the Straight of "betrayal" and "screwing me over" and so on and so forth, and the Straight punched the Bent in the throat, sending the latter to the dirt, whereupon the Straight smashed, two blows each with the maul, the Bent One's right elbow, right hand, left knee and left ankle.

The Straight then said, looking down at the Bent on the ground, in this made-up little fable of hypothetical unbelievability (fer shur IIII wouldn't believe this story, if someone told me it had actually happened), "If I ever hear from, or about, you again...ever...from you personally or from the cops...who are already looking for you for grand larceny...

"I promise you, I swear to you on the graves of my parents...look at me...LOOK AT ME...do you see I'm telling the truth...I will kill you myself, with this hammer...and nothing on this earth, no god, no man, no court, will save you.

"I will dedicate my life, if I should go to jail for this...when I eventually get out...even if I'm ten thousand years old...I will seek you out and find you...and

"I will kill you with this implement. Do you see it?

"Now...convince me I don't have to kill you right here, right now, with this hammer."

And, as legend has it, the Bent went away from that place, with no transportation out of the dirt or out of that lonely place, to a hospital or a grave, or anywhere else known to Straights or Bents the world over, and the Straight went on with a darker -- but no less viable -- Straight life.

As we say in culinary circles, Gwyneth, this is an "amuse bouche."

Harlan

Apologies for the double posting...
But is it your birthday today Susan,

If so, happy birthday to you. Hope you have a great time.

Best.

FAQ

Now looking for a bank....
I lost my Citibank card yesterday, I presume I mislaid it at a restaurant but will be in Cuba with enough dollars to tie me through but... will be arriving in Phoenix on the last legs of my US trip and need to find a branch of Citibank in Phoenix, Arizona. Not an ATM but an actual human operated branch of Citibank located in Phoenix that is open on a Saturday morning.

Not that unusual in the UK to see a bank open on a Saturday morning but is there such a thing in Phoenix? I want to take Mr. Ostrovsky for dinner and realise I don't have the dollars to cover it as ATM's don't accept my security info.

Yours sliding into poverty and now going to visit another hurricane disaster zone...

FAQ

Susan, get that old man of yours to treat you like the queen that you are.

Life is great.

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

Anniversary of Allende overthrow in Chili. Light a candle.

---------

Michelle O was looking hot in that red dress. woo

Pig, me.

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

Yea, avoid posting phone numbers online. Hackers can use that number to send malware. If you want a dead computer try it.

-----------

Obama went to Washington on a public jet. Cool.

----------

Best way to stop drug abuse: decriminalize them.

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

Obama may close down Gitmo. Yippee.

Hi Susan

Thanks for you Birthday Wishes (52!!!!!)

Best to you and Harlan

Love Steve

What more can be done to poor So Cal?
There's been heat waves, wildfires, an election, and passage of discriminatory legistlation...

Sadly, you poor denizens don't get a break. I'll be heading to the coast for Thanksgiving with my family. I will be up in the LA/OC sprawl for 2 days sun 23rd and mon 24th - and then down in the SD area through sat 30th.

If some of you cool, hip, and friendly western webderlanders are about and available and interested in hooking up over coffee, books, wine, food, fun, etc., drop me a line at the email above...

Cheers,
Peggy

Jeff R., You might inform your co-worker that even Obama does not refer to himself as president and that he was very clear at his last news conference that there is only one president presently, and his last name is Bush. He further stated the obvious that our system does not allow for two simultaneouly elected presidents. I suppose if you wish to be technical, he is the president-elect. You're no racist and your co-worker is amiss.

A word of caution, if I may...

I've noticed more than a couple of phone numbers being posted here and in the Forae.

It's wonderful we all communicate and want to be there for each other, but posting personal phone numbers is probably not the best of ideas.

Just a friendly suggestion...

Gwynnie,

Don't, just don't, feel bad for even one second about your actions. How you treated this former friend was not only correct, but the only thing you could have done under the circumstances, unless you want to be pulled down with her.

The best possible outcome in this situation is that the person reappears in your life clean and sober some time in the future and credits you for helping place her on the path to sobriety. In the meantime, however, stay the hell away from her.

You know how to reach me if you want to talk more,

Mark

A Side of Myself of Which I Was Unaware, Perhaps?
The other day, a co-worker called me one of the worst things that one human being can label another: a racist. Why? Well, she referred to "President Obama." I smiled and, very quietly and politely, told her that he really isn't the president yet and won't be until Inauguration Day. She told me that I wouldn't have said that about him if he had been white. Therefore, she inforned me, I must be a racist. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to deal with that sort of logic, I'd love to hear them.

Aside to Harlan: Very sorry I inadvertently irritated you with my recent post about a lawsuit THAT NEVER ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE. I misremembered something I read over twenty years ago, and should have double-checked it before posting about it. All I can do, besides apoligizing, is promise to me more careful in the future.

Gwynneth,
Good to know you're well-grounded in your approach to your afflicted friend. It looks to me like you've got your head on pretty straight. Here's hoping it's peace and quiet from downstairs.

Adam Troy,

I love to watch a favorite movie with a friend who hasn't seen it yet. I get to vicariously experiece it for the first time. If you see a movie that way, with someone you know who has seen it, it could be the same way for them. Or vice versa. Double the pleasure.

Chuck

I never thought I'd be quoting Nancy Reagan...
Dear Unca’ Harlan, Steve, Rob, Frank, Shagin, and everyone who responded – many thanks for your “take-no-prisoners” advice re: dealing with junkies.

Dad was a heroin, LSD, alcohol, and hashish addict. He was self-medicating for bipolar disease. His habits killed him at 62. So perhaps that was why I was so blind to the behavioral clues, since I was so used to them I merely overlooked them. I had no problem kicking my own father out on the street to die, so this chick was a piece of cheesecake.

She showed up on my doorstep again today, again in tears, wanting to leave her stuff in my apartment. She needed to make a phone call and send an e-mail. In a word, “No.”
Sorry. No can do. You disrespected me. You disrespected our friendship.

So, off she went. Too bad. Bye Bye.

I still feel like a piece of shite though for treating another human being like this. But thanks, especially to Unca’ Harlan, for putting it in such razor-keen, cleanly defined terms that even a numbskull like me couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room. With the needles hanging out of his veins, the spoon up his trunk and the paper on his tongue.

And if the pomegranates don’t start doing the shim-sham tonight and disturb my tetchy (and probably drug-abusing downstairs “boyfriend-of-chick-user”) neighbor, with their rapitty-tap-tap, setting off the tomatoes in the choral version of “In the Mood”, then all should be quiet again chez Gwyneth’s Teapot. (The one I was bundled up in and rolled down the hill.)

Signed,
The Hedgehog (who has always been clean and sober)

Adam-Troy
Don't worry about gaps in your movie experience; instead, revel in the experience of seeing Sunset Blvd. for the first time.

M'Own Story!

Consciousness-altering substances are one of those trinkets that reach to our beginnings 50,000 years ago. It's in the DNA, and that's never going to change. Get rid of ONE substance, and I guarantee, human beings will find something else.

This reality, of course, doesn't make it any less frustrating and tragic when coping with an addict. About a year ago I started dating a girl named Jennifer. She wrote poetry, she could play Chopin on the piano, she could remember lines from movies like 'Clockwork Orange', and she had a great sense-of-humor. And, she was beautiful (I still have her photo in my wallet).

Unfortunately, she was also bi-polar. She'd been diagnosed with the illness when she was 21. Over the years, she became addicted to crystal. When I met her at my job, I was very turned on by her looks and personality (she was in her mid-30's at this point). When I learned of her issues, I kept my guard, but continued hanging out with her. At this stage, she'd been a recovering addict for 6 months, having sought treatment after terrible years of attempted suicides, scrapes with the law, and total ostracizing by her relatives.

I tried to help her with SO much. But over the months, I found what a real USER she could be. She was always flat broke; she hit on EVERYONE for money, and never returned a cent (from myself, included); she stole her ex-husband's car 3 times; she wound up in jail a bunch of times; her mood swings were startlingly unpredictable; her own dad filed a restraining order to keep her away from her 6-year-old son (she finally tried to get me on the phone to talk to her kid so that she could find a way to meet him. I knew of the restraining order, so I refused to take that risk. She walked away as if I'd TOTALLY betrayed her, after I'd driven her everywhere, given her money, and offered emotional support!).

I could no longer do a thing for her. She got fired from her job (mostly, for failing to show up a good 60% of the time), and wouldn't listen to ANYONE's advice. She got into more and more trouble. I finally broke it off completely, realizing my own continued efforts could only lead to my own destruction (I never had her over to my place, wary that she might steal something, or create other problems; I mean, she tossed eggs at her ex-husband's apartment door one time, in a fit when he refused to let her visit her kid).

It's enough when an addict falls prey to his or her own mortal weaknesses (a feature, as I said, largely in our DNA); but when the spring bolt itself is mental illness (bipolar, in particular), the sense of hopelessness for an otherwise terrific and intelligent human being is so FUCKING tragic.

You can't help feeling both resentment and sympathy for such victims.

Such is the reality of the human genome.

From my end of it, I know how crippling addiction can be to a relative, because, as I've related a couple of times here, my mother was an alcoholic throughout my entire childhood. Coping with her completely alone, and knowing the crushing self-image that can inflict on a young kid (particularly, when there's no one else to turn to; friends and relatives never gave a shit, and neighbors simply mocked my mother for her behavior; now, YOU guess how that shaped my own perception of human nature. Every single one of us lives in our own vacuum, man; yet, while figuring most others see and experience life as YOU do; this is a formula that often leads to apathy), you may think you can imagine or relate to what happened, but you've NO true idea of how bad my experiences were with my mother. Shit: You'd be able to detect the intense and paralyzing resentment embedded in me just looking at a brain scan! It was fucking humiliating!

I think, of course, that's why I wanted to TRY to be something to Jennifer. I knew what this was probably doing to her kid (who really did care about her, even though he had his dad to turn to) ; to this degree, I empathized with her. If NONE of this had been part of her life, Jennifer would have become a regular girlfriend. During her more "stable" moments, she and I had some mighty nice times together. Thus, when, ultimately, we parted ways...I found it a painful ordeal.

I, myself, stayed clear of this stuff, with all this baggage over the years. Smoking an occasional joint with friends was about as far as I ever went. (I never really felt much with marijuana; some people are ultra-sensitive to it, and some not at all. Thus, I've never had any particular need for it. Alcohol I've always been more wary of. Wine once-in-a-while, and that's about it for me. TELEVISION was probably the biggest threat to my cerebellum when I was growing up; I was seriously addicted to that damn thing. If you ever want to attain some stage of ADD, just sit there hour after hour, and see what happens! That's something I had to overcome in my twenties!)

The overall resolution for these sad issues, I believe, does NOT lie in the dictates of any society - of self-appointed legislators with no empathy, and without a clue about the complexity of the science - but in practical measures, as they'd taken in the Netherlands.

These casualties are a major drag, but not as tragic when they are individuals accountable only to themselves. It's when they threaten to ruin someone else's life, like that of their kids, that it gets tougher NOT to hate them.

I happen to hope the future answers rest somewhere in the genome labs. Who knows how that technology will shape human evolution in some 20,000 years from now? That's right: I plan to be around to watch!

Frikkin' Impossible to Believe
Over at Aintitcoolnews.com, one of their contributors is doing A MOVIE A DAY, where he daily catches up with some movie on DVD that he's never seen before; and it's often, I repeat, often, some movie that you cannot believe a stone movie junkie has never seen before.

Among them, in his case, have been the entire run of Pink Panther movies, WAIT UNTIL DARK, RED RIVER, and -- coming up in a few days -- MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.

I, too, am a stone movie buff, and I have seen any number of classics multiple times, but I must occasionally report catching up with one I've somehow never managed to see except in excerpt. It's never disinterest that caused these gaps in my movie knowledge -- just a reflection of an excess of great historical classics, and limited amount of movie-going time to see them.

And sometimes, I know, the names of those movies represent downright friggin' unbelievable gaps in a constant movie-watcher's experience. Sorry. It just happens.

So I report.

Ending ten minutes ago, I just saw, for the VERY FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE...

Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD.

Faisal and Drugs
Nobody ha to worry about getting my contact info to Faisal. We met up at Penn Station soon after he posted the note. Spent a coupla hours hanging in NYC, while I got to enjoy accounts of his various projects. Later, we met up with two other friends from the old Kubrick group, Bilge and Gordon, and I had one of the most entertaining evenings I'd had in a long while.

(This followed a pretty dismal evening, where I stayed with a friend at the ER to get her head injury checked out. Spent three hours waiting, and one film you do NOT want to have on an ER waiting room TV is _Road to Perdition_. Not when you're hearing women wail over the death of a loved one from gunshot wounds.)

Now, for the drugs. The train ride home gave me a severe headache, and to self-medicate I broke precedent and took a leftover-prescription painkiller of the sort that could make me Rush Limbaugh's best friend if I so chose. (Not something I use very often. I had a molar pulled two weeks ago, so the 'scrip left me waay overstocked.) I woke up twelve hours later, which _could_ be chalked up to the lack of sleep over the previous two days... but I hereby resolve to stick to ibuprofen. Abnd after reading the accounts of junkies, it's nice to know that I'm just not the sort to _get_ addicted to stuff.

Response to request from Mr Ellison
I got your request and came over. I'm pleased you read my blog post. I've been a fan for many years and, having recently started my blog, decided to post after seeing the trailer for the documentary.
I just wanted to say hi and I've already bookmarked this site so that I will be a frequent drop-in.
Respectfully,
Randy Johnson

Odd timing on Gwynneth's post.

We had lunch today with one of my favorite relatives, my older cousin Linda and her husband. They were in Long Beach for the weekend and since we hadn't seen them in nearly five years -- she's the sort you immediately fall back in line with regardless of the time in between -- we dragged them down to Gladstone's. Linda has always been a force of nature. Just one of those incredible people who genuinely energize a room when they walk in.

As we sat and talked, the subject turned to our mutual cousin who has had a long-term battle with alcoholism. She was surprised with some of my "revelations" about his problems since she wasn't all that close to him.

On the other hand, she opened up about her brother's problems with both drinking and gambling (he lives in Vegas). His drinking leads to the gambling, which has so far set back his family several hundreds of thousands of dollars. (No exaggeration here. None.) And still he refuses to leave Vegas. He is separated from his wife, who now lives with their 21 year old son. They lost the house, and his father (my uncle) was forced to sell a family piece of property to pay some of the debt -- the portion owed to people you don't want to mess with when you owe them money. You end up losing body parts. (Again, no exaggeration.)

Then Linda hit me right between the eyes. "I don't think my brother has hit bottom yet." And she shrugged and we moved the conversation to more enjoyable areas.

Gwyn, back slowly away and keep yourself together. Y'got more than enough to handle already, so don't let them drag you down too. Yer too good a person to let that happen.

They need to do it themselves. Don't beat yourself up -- we've all tried to help these folks before we discovered you CAN'T help them. You're not their parent, you're not their guardian, and you're not responsible for their problem. They are.

So let them sort it out, and you take care of yourself.

I've recently had to deal with a similar situation. It took me a while to accept the reality of someone I love succumbing to addiction. I don't view it as a character issue. Addicts crave their drugs in the same way anyone else craves food when they're starving. Their brains are telling them they will die without it. Knowing it's not true doesn't matter. Will power is useless. Rehab works if you can accept the basic principles. Many can't, at least not the first time around. Drugs are a scourge. However, banning them is pointless. I've never talked to a druggie who had difficulty obtaining drugs because of their illegality. It's a crap shoot, whether or not you will become an addict. It's genetic. I remember Harlan's story about being locked up with the circus geek, who was a far-gone alcoholic. We should all be so lucky. My heart broke over this issue in my family, and has mended imperfectly. Millions of others could say the same thing.

Gwyneth:
What Harlan says.

I'm going through this with my son right now. We had to find out the hard way, through repeated stabs through the heart, that just about everything he tells us now is a lie. Failed classes, his mother's missing jewelry (and an extensive collection of Criterion DVDs!) and money, drugs and paraphernalia that "a friend left in my jacket by accident," and so on. He's in rehab now but it doesn't seem to be doing him any good. Ecstasy, he tells us, is harmless. Pot gives him deep insight. Oxycontin and Oxycodone are prescription drugs and therefore just what the doctor ordered. All the stories and studies of meth addiction are just lies perpetrated by fat cops and fatter pharmaceutical company executives who are pissed off about someone cutting into their business.

It's one lie after another. I just hope he stops lying to himself before he ends up in the mortuary, I've seen this happen to friends of mine,

Giving an addict money--for ANY reason--is not a good idea. Good luck to you.

always wondered about MEDEA
Harlan is there any tape in any format recording of the u.c.l.a event?

The Black Lotus of Kandahar
I don't know, any "problem" somebody may have with an addict certainly pales in comparison to what their suppliers will generally do to those who appear on the radar. It's fairly common for the families of a "straight" to unknowingly get stalked by Portuguese transvestites and the like, before disappearing, mysteriously and without any logical clue. Except for this one fact: you inadvertantly let that harmless junkie person see some envelopes that were lying around, envelopes showing the return addresses of close family members.

Oh, by the way, you didn't happen to tell a pig about any of it, hopefully. The first person those guys tell anything to, unfortunately, is their mobbed-up compadre who pays most dearly to discover the odd rat or three. And their kids...

Holy Endeavour complete
Sadly, I didn't have anything better to do (I already spent time today identifying fragments of four posters from John Grisham movies in order to enter a drawing for his latest book) and I posted a comment inviting Mr. Randy Johnson to come on over.

Be that as it may, it was my pleasure to serve...

RICK OLLERMAN:

Tried to send a thankyou note (and an advisement of how to buy HE books through HERC--mint, signed, etc.) to Randy Johnson, pursuant to his gracious comments about Goode Olde Ellisone, but as I ain't got an e.mail address, even though I entered the URL for the Pavillion, not only didn't it send, but the lengthy (and, humbly, hysterially funny) message vanished with a poof! and a pop!

Er...uh...ahem...

Rick, if you've got nothing better to do, could you go over there, and get him to come over here, so I can thank him hysterically funnily? I take your efforts as Holy Endeavour.

Yr. impaired Pal, Harlan

GWYNETH: A MANIFESTO ON JUNKIES

Have had more contretemps with juicers, hopheads, daytrippers, addicts and assorted shoot-em-up skags than I could cover in one mere post.

Had a girl o.d. in a bathtub in a Greenwich Village apartment while I went out to pick up the Chinese food; had a junkie go into convulsions here at Ellison Wonderland back in the Vietnam days, had to throw myself on top of her and get her tied up so she wouldn't break her own spine spasming, got her to County General and, through the "good offices" of Richard Dreyfuss--yes, THAT Ricky Dreyfuss--who was serving out his Conscientious Objector stint as a slop-bucket clean-up toady in the hallways, got her in without "signing" her in, because she was destitute; sought out a junkie who'd stiffed me for the bail bondsman money to get her out of the lockup on a breaking&entering beef, and sold her car for the recompense (and later turned it into a tv script for "The Young Lawyers"; and on and on and on. Though I've never used, I've been around loathesome dope all my life: from bindlestiffs smoking redolent weed in boxcars of the Northern Pacific when I was barely into my teens; to watching Charlie "Bird" Parker going into a toilet at a $1 admission spaghetti/rent party in a ratty Spanish Harlem railroad flat so he could fix before jamming; to attending LSD shindigs with Ted Sturgeon; to being a valued regular "square" visitor at Synanon in Santa Monica for four years. So: in terms of being a moderately knowledgeable advisor in this area, well, let's say:

Been there, done that.

And THIS, dear heart, is all and everything you need to know about such leaners. Because that's all they are. Junkies are leaners. Dope fiends. That's what they call themselves: dope FIENDS.

They are liars. Not just casual, save-face liars, but stone righteous about ANYTHING fucking pathological liars. They will lie about who they are, what they've done, what they're doing, what they WILL do s'help'm God, where they come from, what they want, how much they need you and love you and would do anything for you, onaccounta you're their one and only save-me save-me help-me friend, may I just use your phone, may I just crash here overnight, can I borrow ten bucks?

Liars. Leaners.

They are amoral, sociopathic, tunnel-visioned, going from one source of shit to the next and taking down anyone they can con
on that goo-slippery slide. They are divorced from reality, feel no remorse, do not have shame or love or ethic or need beyond The Next Fix. They want the jolt, and life inbetween each fire-up or hit is a blur, a Lovecraft scenario in which there are no friends, no relatives, no paramours who cannot be used as ruthlessly as possible, and as effortlessly as their lazy lying existences permit.

They are leaners, Gwyneth. Liars, amoral shells of what may or may not once have been human beings, and barely worth the turds to fashion the cairns when they die.

You ask; I answer. If you allow yourself to be gulled even ONCE more, do not bitch and complain, because you'll have been--once again--an Enabler. You cannot help them, my response to junkies is merciless and unchanging and unforgiving. There are too many unfortunate men and women and children out on the streets, living in squats, trying to get their lives back under daunting oppressions of Destiny, not to waste a nanosecond bewailing the "helpless state of these tragic" assholes.

You ask; I answer.

Yr. Pal, Harlan, who has been there, done that.

BRET:

Not only did I know Moondog, but spent many an hour sitting in a doorway with him on 42nd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, in the early '60s when I was an aspiring writer, and working the 7pm-2am shift at the Broadway Bookshop, between the Victoria and Astor Theaters. He was an erudite, even charming man, whose early albums still hold a special place in my collection. That he should have been saved from Obscurity by good ears such as yours, brings an exultant expression to my 42nd St. countenance. Thank you for asking, thus reminding me of that which I hadn't really pulled into close focus in many years.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

70the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Hold up a candle, say Never again.

But, will we learn?

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

Gwyn, it's not your fault that you are a loser magnet.

Just kidding, sweetness.

Eventually, people have to help themselves. People dig holes, they also have to fill them in. When the grave digger gets the spade it is too late.

Today's Sinfest comic is work appropriate, recent election appropriate, and a nice homage to DC comics. Check it out when you have a moment.

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2987


shagin

One of the Best Writers Working
I came across a blog post written about our esteemed host with the above title. It's nice and it's short and its URL is:

http://randall120.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/one-of-the-best-writers-working/

Heroin and Jello
Gwyneth - suffice it to say, and I know most on here defintely wouldn't approve of the alternative either, I have a lengthy list of friends/acquaintances who'd still be alive today had they just stuck to smoking weed instead.

Re: Jello Biafra - he's already spoken out at length about Obama (links can be found on the alternativetentacles.com site), and no, he's not all that keen on our new president-elect.

You're welcome!
Glad your Goodman disc arrived safely - enjoy the music!

Nothing "due." We've done each other good turns in the past, and will again in the future, I'm sure.

All best - Dave

Gentlemen Junkies and Trauma Drama
Anyone here have any experience dealing with drug abusers? If so, please e-mail me. Thanks with flourishes...

Got dragged through a domestic trauma drama yesterday for trying to help out a friend. I found her at my doorstep in tears asking to use my phone. Used my fire escape under the guise of going out to smoke a cigarette to try to break into her boyfriend's apartment. Turns out she is a junkie. Boyfriend comes charging up to my apartment slamming on my door, screaming at the top of his lungs. Can't blame him. However, I was in the middle of a computer-conference with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia --- my supervisor to be --- during the whole mishegoss.
Finally, I spoke with a nurse at SF General, found out that X. could go to the ER and get into a program and got her into a cab.
So, apparently X has been telling Boyfriend that I've been supplying her with pills. They both have been telling me that she has had cancer and alcoholism. What an ass am I! I totally fell for all the lies. I'm still shaken.

Why is it that some people feel the need to drag others through all the muck that is the messed-up part of their lives?

Well..."THEY" are not wasting time:

Already, I see an HTML ad online, splashing the copy: "Did Obama BUY the election?". Nestled on the left, of course, is the worst pic they could find of Obama with a pout of shame on his face.

I wouldn't be so incensed if these pricks hadn't been spending the last 8 years doing PRECISELY what they're trying to flip. They're unspeakably without shame, man. Freaks. They're FREAKS.

Y'know, I saw a fascinating documentary about Hitler yesterday. It revealed data previously little known about his family history, and what he did with some of his kin to preserve his image in office.

This may shock the shit oughtta ya, but Adolf, it turns out, had mental illness running through his family line. WHO'da knowed (sadly, this does not lift accountability of the German masses of that time, who were so easily swayed by scapegoat propaganda, and "master race" spiel) According to more recent data uncovered, Himmler, head of the SS, knew of this, and a mentally ill relative of Adolf Hitler was gassed. Likewise, another relative, mentally retarded, was put away. They knew of this, as did Hitler himself, yet proceeded to murder and purge Germany of the mentally ill, condemning them as subhuman. Needless to say, I'm sure these measures to protect their fuhrer were extensive.

This is the kind of sick, malignant hypocrisy we ourselves are constantly threatened by. Imagine giving the Neo-Cons, Cheney, and Limbaugh-types sweeping permanent power in this country. Yeah...IMAGINE it. There's a potential Hitler in every fold.

And for anyone who thinks such a comparison is over-the-top, I've nothing different to say...except that you should look at stark facts in the face. (That's just a 'preemptive', in case anyone wants an argument!)

Frank,

I play a colorado version of hard core honky tonk and western swing, of the Spade Cooley/Hank Penny variety. Solo, though, is with bass drum and slide guitar, Lefty Frizzell meets R.L. Burnside.

But I digs all kinds of stuff. It's partly Harlan's fault. Back when I was in college he wrote about a Schoenberg album, and I rushed out and bought the damn thing. (Later discovered I was more a fan of Berg.) Nowadays I'm on a Moondog kick. (Mr. Ellison, you ever see him hanging around NYC in his Viking helmet and cape?)

Gotta go to Moab for the Folk Festival now. If anyone's there, come say hello.

FAQ said: "LA is again been cancelled"

Aw, crap. Not again. I hate when they cancel LA. Makes getting to the San Fernando Valley a real pain...
________________________________________

JAMES - If you're peeking in to see if anyone enjoyed Crusoe, consider it given two "enthusiastic" thumbs up in this small neck of the woods. Looks like we have a new series to watch.
________________________________________

We just finished watching JEROME BIXBY'S THE MAN FROM EARTH. Bixby wrote the screenplay, based on one of his stories. Very intelligent and excellent film all around. Highly recommended.
________________________________________

Some new pics uploaded to barbergallery.net

The front page pic, and five new ones on the Monthly Gallery page. Click on the thumbnail to see the piece enlarged.

Scott Edelman's Pants
Who's that poking out of Scott Edelman's pants? Oh my God, it's Harlan!

http://scottedelman.livejournal.com/#scottedelman19259

BRIAN SIANO....
Am still at Penn Stations Starbuck downstair. If anyone has a cell number for Brian contact him ASAP. My number +447747604814.

FAQ

CBR interview
Just read your CBR interview, part II. Rare and fine vintage form. Two quotes I particularly liked. "Yes. They pay hommage. But they pay hommage to shit." and "I'm not young enough to think I know everything."

Have you listened to the Crawford yet?

Funny Stuff
When the British Army surrendered to the American Revolutionary ragtaggers, their band played the song "The world turned upside down." I do hope some soon to be unemployed white house staffer has the good taste to be letting this tune waft through the hallways.

In celebration and knowing that the pavillion's sense of humor runs from whimsical to ultra violet, I off up a link. Bob Claster did a wonder show at los angeles station KCRW, interviewing comedians and wits of all sorts. I am sure you will find one that appeals to your interest, but bring special note to the Brother Theodore interview. Without further ado the link: http://www.bobclaster.com/

Enjoy.

The first thing Obama should do is....
Stop this stupid thing against Cuba. I can't get anywhere near the place even on US ISP's, it's ridiculous, stupid, counter-productive and annoying. LA is again been cancelled, personal apologies to all those generously offering couch space and time filling. Now am preparing to tango and siesta for the rest of the week. Darn global politics!

FAQ

David, yes, I am truly an evil man.

Words turn bullets into pop tarts.

Somebody should jail me for my cruel turn of a word.

Bad Frank.

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

Bret, what kind of music do you do?

Lou Reed has his moments. But Metal Machine Music is pure junk. Sounds like a subway crushing a brood of Oompa Loompas.

Jello will not have kind words to say about Obama. But I do love that man. Anyone who risks jail for their beliefs is ok in my book.

-----------

Once again, I am an awful, evil man.

Frank-n-stein.

Damn!
HARLAN: Damn!Guess it would help if I actually pasted the link on here. From one Luddite to another, here ya go:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18586

-DTS

message for Harlan
HARLAN: Not sure if this was already posted, but I noticed that the long-awated part two of the "Comic Book Resources" interview with you is online now. (Does being the one to alert you mean I get an extra 25 percent off the price -- in addition to my HERC discount, cause I'm getting set to renew the membership, when the boxed set of the GLASS TEAT books is published next year?)

Cheers,
DTS

Forrest Ackerman Almost, or Already, Dead
Word has it that Forrest Ackerman was quickly slipping from this planet, and one bit of buzz is that he is already gone.

Followers of Harlan will know what this means to him. Just missed 92 years: but if Harlan had had his way......

-TODD

THANK YOU TO DAVID JESSUP in Rochester

The Benny Goodman arrived today, Boss. Youse a gooood guy; and I plan some intense listeing just this weekend.

My gratitude. If there is a sum due, you'll let me know, right?

Yr. Pal, Harlan

DOG FOR DAUGHTERS
Today at his first press conference as president-elect, in the context of discussing the new White House puppy for his children, Mr. Obama referred to himself as a "mutt."

This must be a presidential first (unless Pierce or Grant chewed themselves out during a drunken stupor).

Hey Frank:

No joke, I loved that song. Though I might have gone with Lou Reed's "I Wanna Be Black" from his brutal 1978 masterpiece Street Hassle, which includes the lines, "I don't wanna be a fucked up middle class student anymore...I just wanna have a stable of foxy little whores..."

It was a kick meeting Jello Biafra, local hero from the People's Republic of Boulder, when he introduced himself after I'd opened a show for The Reverend Horton Heat and the incomparable Split Lip Rayfield about three years ago (as my alter-ego, which is, for me, the best way to access one's ego).

Ergo, keep on rockin' in the free world!

B.

Something for Frank -- our Official Obama Ombudsman
FRANK (and any other interested parties): Ya gotta check out this article on Obama, written by a wag Down Under. Definitely worthy of a smile and a chuckle or two.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24617075-5001031,00.html


Enjoy,
DTS

John Leonard

I strongly disapprove of Frank's bad habit of repeatedly stirring the pot where it need not be stirred (in this case, among friends and, even more distastefully, immediately after a man's passing from this life) -- not to mention Frank's tendency to exaggerate, mislabel, and otherwise confuse the issue -- but since Harlan asked and to forestall everyone floundering around to find it, here is the bit where I mentioned John Leonard in my summary of _An Edge In My Voice_ elsewhere on this site:


:: INSTALLMENT 31: June 21, 1982

:: Synopsis
:: “The Spawn of Annenberg, Part 2.” Ellison goes after the big
:: cheese -- Walter Annenberg, former U.S. Ambassador to Great
:: Britain, president of various foundations, and publisher of
:: TV Guide -- himself. He places the magazine, with its weekly
:: circulation of 17 million, at “the forefront of anti-
:: intellectualism.” Ellison takes particular umbrage at the
:: fact that in a recent issue, John Leonard of the New York
:: Times, whom Ellison had admired in the past, ridiculed
:: intellectuals who say they don’t watch television in a
:: piece “rife with paralogical thinking and as self-hating as
:: a Jewish anti-Semite talking about kikes….”

HERC STUFF
Tom Morgan: Done and done.

Lost HERC member--Dietmar Dath, Freiburg, Germany.
Jan, would you pass this on to Dietmar, we're trying to send a letter.

And...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Steve Hatton.

With much love--Sue.

Not, "of Leonard." ugg.

I don't have a copy of An Edge In My Voice, but I do recall that Harlan "lost respect" of John Leonard, when he was with the New York Times. I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember the name John Leonard. David Loftus mentions it in his review.

Loftus, how did you survive that review?

I should not have even mentioned it. Sorry.

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

I love Cindy more than life itself and she is my buddy. She gets my humour. Snort.

Love you, my leige.

I saw a great movie last night at the AFI european film festival. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN directed by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson.

A beautiful brooding sad love story disguised as a horror movie though it transcends genre in every way. The movie is getting some US distribution but probably only the coasts but make a note wherever you are and catch the DVD. No spoilers but DON'T MISS THIS MOVIE!

http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/

Harlan Ellison! TV's James Moran here. Sorry to miss your call, had to make an emergency last-minute trip to Dublin for the weekend and didn't get a chance to let you know about the episode, was going to post a message here letting you know but Mr Barber has done the decent thing for me. Got the mobile switched off to avoid getting skull-shafted with roaming charges - but have been checking voicemail, and very much appreciated your message. Glad to hear you've been enjoying the show, it was great fun to work on, and I hope tonight's episode doesn't disappoint re: swashbuckling and witty banter.

Will call when I'm back on Monday, to hear what you've been up to, and run some dates past you for our royal visit to your shores in February. As for Obama - that cheering noise you can hear is the sound of every single person here in the UK roaring in delight. Feels like absolutely anything is possible now, it really does. So, *SO* relieved...

BARBER

Called James and Jodie Moran in the UK when I saw your post, Steve. Told him Susan and I had grown very much to like the new CRUSOE series, and all of us here in The New America would be watching his segment tonight. Thank you for alerting me/us.

Yr. Pal, Harlan, who received the printouts you heroically, and graciously...uh...printed out, duhh.

FRANK CHURCH:

I had a "scrap" with John Leonard? Please refresh me.

Oh, and leave Cindy alone. Whatever her stated political leaning, I know she is as happy today as the rest of us. She is NOT one of "them!"

So, behave yourself; and refresh me.

Harlan

JEFF R.:

Get it right. Specificity, not sloppy quasi-memory.

There NEVER WAS a lawsuit. Not so much as a preliminary filing.

One ambulance-chaser letter ... then, NOTHING, for more than 20 years.

Then...

It went away.

After fucking up my deal at MGM.

I did not cry when Judith Merril passed away.

Harlan

BRET BERTHOLF:

Thank you, and you're welcome. Hell, kiddo, it's only a mere-small lifetime of trying to wrench Excalibur loose from the stone; no big deal.

Abashed, Yr. Pal, Harlan

Dear Republicans -
Now that we have your undivided attention, let us say how much we appreciate your graciousness Tuesday night. Mr. McCain impressed us -- though there were still a few rowdy sorts who rained on your otherwise pitch-perfect acknowledgement.

This is a great achievement for all Americans, yourselves included. We have finally lived up to the image we try to project about American values and opportunities.

Speaking for ourselves, we're heartened to see a few of you taking the loss seriously and realizing that it is you, not the American people, who need to change. Sadly, there are those in your party who still believe Americans want Rovian politics and it is this group you need to silence once and for all. We're all above that. Americans desrve better, and whether President Elect Obama is a great President, or even a lousy one, he changed the tone of the campaign towards topic and away from division and hatred. Yeah, it wasn't a perfect record, but it was notably different and in the right direction.

You will rise again, much as we did after the eighties and early 21st century. We hope you note that no matter how the debate rages we do not question your patriotism or devotion to our great land -- and now that America has spoken so eloquently, we hope you no longer question ours.

Yours in partnership and affection,

The Dems
_____________________________________________________

TV ALERT TV ALERT TV ALERT TV ALERT

James Moran, friend to Harlan Ellison, husband to the lovely Jodie, scurrilous decapitator of things special-effecty, and caged writer for TORCHWOOD and DOCTOR WHO, is the writer of record for tonight's episode of CRUSOE, "High Water".

Tonight at 9pm on NBC.

(I'm told it has loads of buckles getting swashed, mutineers mutineering, and whole scenes of pirate-y sort of action.) (And it's 'Friday', fergoshsakes. How much more appropriate can you get?)

TV ALERT TV ALERT TV ALERT TV ALERT TV ALERT

Hate to doublepost, but literary critic, John Leonard died--he was only 69.

What a great writer. I mention this because Harlan and him had a scrap a ways back.

RIP John.

Harlan, where you perhaps thinking Maltzberg when you typed Manilow?
==============================
KOS said:

"...But some of your friends here...

Like the wise man said, "It is enough that they are my friends. I cannot expect them to like one another as each does myself.""

Truer words have not been spoken here today.

This goes out to all my liberal friends:

http://www.imeem.com/people/UiGDsHM/music/c5Lwf81a/jello_biafra_mojo_nixon_love_me_im_a_liberal/

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

Nobody should ever tell me I cannot question the great leader. PC from the left is just that.

It works both ways folks. I will give Obama a grace period, but I am right in being worried about Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers.

He has a mandate and should use it.

I will pray for him. I will continue to be critical. Always.

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

Cindy, how does it feel being in the minority? hehe. Kiss.

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

Harlan, you may have had one of those funny brownies. Watch yourself, my leige.

Barry Manilow sends his love.

I knew you had better taste then that.

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

"THE PIECES OF FATE AFFAIR"
Very entertaining show. One of the few third season episodes of
U. N. C. L. E. that was genuinely witty, rather than merely childishly silly. The opening optical credits billed Grayson Hall as Jody Moore (a post-lawsuit print), yet she was called Judy Merle (pre-lawsuit!) in the show itself. Odd.

Yesterday, I made a typographical faux pas and called "The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair" DEADFUL. Oops.
Deadfully sorry... uh, I mean, a dreadly error, ah, that is... oh, skip it!

Barry Manilow

No reason to fear! There is a well known Barry Manilow gremlin that forces that name to appear randomly in internet posts.

It's a common occurrence.

Rob Redux to the max
Whatever, Rob. Whatever. We judge freedom by different standards. I got ya. Amsterdam. Hash bars. Whatever.

Born ca. 1972, right? Am I off by more than five years?

Elections over. Best man won.

My world works fine.

Whatever.

Paralogia isn't just for breakfast anymore.

Adam Smith hated capitalists, yet loved capitalism.
If you wonder why, you can go read about it.

I am tired of this rowing against the tide. So I will stop.

Love ya, Harlan. Even if Barry Manilow never touched tuchas (sp?) to The Chair.

Oh, and I love your stories, too. But some of your friends here...

Like the wise man said, "It is enough that they are my friends. I cannot expect them to like one another as each does myself."

Peace.

KOS

Cup of Tea
Oz O.K. maybe I did read to much James Joyce as a child, an am in constant state of tired but no other excuse but new to jotting on blogs. In fact this is my first. I will try the strong tea. maggie hoyal-patterson

Richard Dreyfuss
Saw Dreyfuss at an event in Century City (I was working it -- I'm not invited to things like that) and asked if he'd been to lunch with Harlan.
He said he slept through it. He might have been pulling my leg. But if he wasn't, I hope he apologized.
(But he looked quite elegant in his evening attire.)

Ricky Dreyfuss...
...playing both Ellison AND Cheney? What a thesp.

Also, re: Prop 8 - at the rate we're going I estimate the first openly gay US president will be elected in 2164. Wasn't there to vote on it one way or another, but, sorry George (and everyone else).

Bret Bertholf

Thanks for that.

Rick

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”
--Barack Obama

"They never came right out and said it, but I could see they were uncomfortable at the prospect of all three network TV cameras looking down on their spontaneous Nixon Youth demonstration and zeroing in--for their own perverse reasons--on a weird-looking, 35-year-old speed freak with half his hair burned off from overindulgence, wearing a big blue McGovern button on his chest, carrying a tall cup of 'Old Milwaukee' and shaking his fist at John Chancellor up in the NBC booth--screaming : 'You dirty bastard! You'll pay for this, by God! We'll rip your goddamn teeth out! KILL! KILL! Your number just came up, you communist son of a bitch!'"
--Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72

"This week, we do it in tones of black." --Harlan Ellison, The Glass Teat

"And come out and accept the gasping crowd,
Shake off the praises with an airiness.
And, searching, see love shining in an eye,
But never smile.

In such an armor he cannot be slain."
--Gwendolyn Brooks, "Bronzeville Man With a Belt in the Back"

Delurking to send a love letter:

To you on board the Ellison Board, passionately posting, it has been a stunning few days. If you're someone who knows another someone standing around with his mouth agape, in a daze, unbelieving and reveling, you know me. After Obama's speech, I found myself checking my e.mails, and, excited by a message from Vaughn Richards, hitting this web site to read what all of you had to say. (As I find myself generally doing more frequently than I care to admit.)

About a year and a half ago, before my wife and I caucused for Obama, before involving myself more than ever before (not that I was that involved, really) in an election, I began a project of rereading most of Hunter Thompson's works, getting jazzed about this election by ferreting around in his Campaign Trail of 72. Laughing and damn near sobbing.

Oh, how I wish Hunter S. were here to see this.

And last Sunday, unable to sleep at 3 in the morning, I experienced a fit of Ellison-compulsion (again) and picked up The Glass Teat. I read, "Young people, as we all know, obtain their images of themselves from what is commonly called 'role models,' those from whom they derive their manners, their morals, people they look up to." I laughed.

There's the story I related on the other place about a visiting journalist from the Fort Worth Star Telegram telling my high school journalism class that "kids today (1982-ish) have no role models," and me blurting out "I have one: Harlan Ellison."

It's been a long time since that day in high school, and I ain't such the righteous dude as that kid might have imagined, but Tuesday night reached deep, reminded me of that kid, and I found myself wanting to be with other people, to connect with those who felt similarly inspired (and we indeed sought out that company, perhaps getting a bit too deeply into the gin, as Hunter S. used to say), and I stopped in here.

That night made me want to do great things, to be a better person. President freakin' Obama! Can you believe it?

Which, by leap of logic, is to say, oh, how glad I am that Harlan Ellison is here to see this. I echo the words of Graham Rae, when he wrote "thanks for marching Harlan." And thanks for writing and writing and writing. About race, about courage, about elections and television and all the sounds of fear and just all of it.

Which is to say, I love that this site is here. And I love all you guys. And here's this, because I'm suddenly remembering Harlan at a writer's workshop sponsored by the Colorado Free University (which we later determined means only that nothing about Colorado is included in any course, it's "Colorado Free") telling our over-capacity audience, "James Baldwin--scariest black man I ever met."

"Now, this country is going to be transformed. It will not be transformed by an act of God, but by all of us, by you and me. I don't believe any longer that we can afford to say that it is entirely out of our hands. We made the world we're living in and we have to make it over." --James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name

And when the enormous visage of Manilow comes knocking, tell him "Mandy" was the shit.

ELLISON'S MIND FAILS COMPLETELY

I have NO idea how and why Barry Manilow got into my post about Michael Crichton and tall people who have been in my home.

I have never even MET Barry Manilow.

He has not been here. Not ever.

Gawd knows what I'm about, but I'm beginning to question whether even IIIIIII have been here. Ever.

One of the more amazing brain-farts of my most recent stages of dementia. I beg your, and Josh Olson's, pardon. If you want me, I'll be lying down with a moist compress over my eyes.

Harlan

Good Reading
ALL: Anyone looking for a good read to ring in the New Year should preorder a copy of DROOD by Dan Simmons. Admittedly, I'm only 100+ pages into the novel (it's 773 pages long), but it is already (in my humble opinion) a far better novel than THE TERROR (which was a pretty damn good book -- just a bit slow-going here and there). What makes Simmons's new one so great is the fact that it centers around a well-known writer, Charles Dickens (if nothing else, "A Christmas Carol" is known to lots of folks), and it is conveyed in the first person by a writer friend (Wilkie Collins) -- which makes they "you are there," voyeuristic quality of the tale that much stronger (and anyone who has at least read Kaplan's bio of Dickens will realize that a _lot_ of truth is incorporated into this piece of fiction). But what cements the deal is the fictional Wilkie Collins that Simmons has created (the PR material says he's Saleri-like, and even though we know Saleri wasn't really "Saleri-like," it works like gangbusters): other than Melanie in CARRION COMFORT, the poet and/or Raul in the Hyperion/Endymion series, Duane in SUMMER OF NIGHT/A WINTER HAUNTING) or the fictional Ernest Hemingway who had a sort of supporting role in THE CROOK FACTORY, for me, there haven't been a lot of singularly memorable characters in Simmons's book (that doesn't mean a lot of them aren't great -- it's just that the plot and/or the prose were more memorable). But Simmons's Wilkie Collins is a corker. And the suspenseful story -- which begins right after Dickens' brush with death in a train accident, and follows him on a dark journey into London's underbelly and the world of drugs, crime and murder -- is page-turningly addictive.
(A bit of lagniappe is that DROOD has some connection with the story at the heart of THE TERROR, so the books can almost be read as companion novels).

Cheers,
DTS

Whose in L.A?
Right my side trip to Havana and Bogota fell through, whose in L.A. whose able to meet and chat? Off for drinks with Pulitizer Prize dude, Larry Wright, he's gonna sneak me into some soiree and then making faces at Norman Spinrad topmorrow,

Proposition 8

My rage about the passage of prop 8 has banked down to a low, very hot fire and I am better able to think. Here's what occurs to me:

1) in the long run, we are going to win this. The original anti-gay marriage proposition passed by a margin of 22%. Prop 8 passed by a margin of only 4%. Also, the best news, young people were strongly against it. Check out the stats (via DailyKos)

Vote by Age
Yes No
18-29 (20%) 39 61
30-44 ( 28%) 55 45
45-64 (36%) 54 46
65+ (15%) 61 39

So, as the bigots die off, change comes to California.

2) All that said, this was a blown opportunity. The right to marry had been established, the danger was clear, and the No on 8 campaign was slow off the mark and not well organized. Early in October I called and emailed the campaign offering my services as a video editor for free to help with either commercials or YouTube material or anything else they needed. I never heard back from them. At all. Not even a "We don't need an editor but come help out at the phone bank." Last night hundreds of people took to the streets in West Hollywood to protest the decision. If the same energy had arisen last August, we might have carried this. As Obama has demonstrated, the ground game is everything.

3) The effectiveness of the ads saying that children would be taught that gay marriage was okay was telling to me in this respect: I think a lot of folks still think that gayness is contagious. Like, if impressionable minds learn that some men love other men, that they'll be infected with the idea and "turn gay." Which sounds stupid to those of us who know better, but I think a lot of folks are genuinely fearful of that. So, as with so many things, education and outreach is the key to victory.

4) Most of my gay friends seem to feel as Steve Barber does, that this is just a setback. They take the long view that it's only been 40 years since the Stonewall riots, and that these things take time. But for myself I am still disgusted and angry and ready to put the next proposition on the ballot to restore the rights that have been taken away.

MM

yes, more politics

Sonny wrote:

:: Hopefully the right will not treat Obama like the left
:: treated Bush, although I doubt it.

Nothing “the left” did to Bush compares to the hectoring and institutional hounding the Clintons took from the right during their administration -- and they STILL did better by the country than Bush, by almost any measure. I think if you look at your history, you’ll find the right tends to be worse sore losers than the left. Just think how they would have behaved if they had been on the short end of the 2000 election and Bush v. Gore. I think it’s hilarious that Franken’s opponent, Norm Coleman, has urged Franken to be gracious and not demand a recount because, if Coleman had been down by a mere 337 votes, he would not have insisted on a recount. Su-u-u-u-rrre you wouldn’t, fella.


Duane wrote that Frank should have voted for Nader. I too think Frank should siddown and shutup until we’ve seen something of what Obama can do, instead of anticipating the worst already; but on the other hand, the fact that person believes much of what you believe, and has done a lot for you already, does not necessarily make him the best candidate for President. I’ve long admired Ted Kennedy and appreciated all he’s done for the country, but I’m also very glad -- for any number of reasons -- that he never got close to being President. Of late, it seems to me that Nader has turned petty and vindictive, and that he’s lost sight of the country’s best interests in favor of his own. He’s more effective on the outside, as a critic and a gadfly, and putting him in the driver’s seat (so to speak) would have been a disaster, in my opinion.

Political Pondering
I am so very proud to be an American. I haven't been able to say that in so long. 43 years after giving Blacks the right to have their voices heard by voting, we finally have one in office. Way to go my fellow Americans.

But that is so tempered by my shame at being Californian. I haven't got the stats to back this up, but I think that we are the only state in the Fracking union that has both given a right, and then taken it away from a group in less than a year.

I don't know how to express my dismay without resorting to language that may offend some of you reading this. But, I'll try.

It was so wrong of the Anti 8 people to use children to foster hate. When I was growing up, my parents always kept a door open for my brother and I to talk to them about things we learned in school that went against the morals we were being taught at home, and I think that's the way it should be for ALL children.

And while I'm on the subject, whatever happened to the Golden Rule... You know the one I'm talking about, the one that says to treat others the way you would like to be treated. I suppose this is the Morality Police's way of showing me that it's all right for me to be hateful and totally disrespectful of them and the relationships they cultivate for themselves.

Anyways gang, I'm sorry about going off like that. I could fill pages with my feelings, but I kinda like most of you and don't wanna end up making frenimes outta any of you.

Lori

The most distressing thing about the passage of Prop 8 is that of African-American voters, fully 70% supported the proposition.

Consider this mind-numbing disconnect: celebrating the election of Barack Obama as a victory over racial prejudice and then voting for a proposition that condemns a whole class of persons to be second class citizens because of their essential nature as human beings.

What is the difference between racial bigotry and bigotry against homosexuals?

What is the social and psychological force that allows an otherwise rational person to hold and rationalize two mutually contradictory ideas?

Religion

The campaign against Gay rights is motivated and enabled by religiously sanctioned bigotry.

So I echo others here when I say that my joy at the election of Obama is leavened by sadness and the sure and certain knowledge that the war against stupidity and ignorance is not over.

Sidney Poitier.

Man - only people coming to lunch here are those pain in the ass Campbell's Soup kids. And neither one of them could ever have played Pete Sandich or Matt Hooper.

SIGH

Doug
hatemystupidthermos, va

jiggry-pokery and other illusions

"Guess who's coming to lunch"

HARLAN ELLISON?
____________________________________

Michael Crichton. He wrote some of my favorite fun novels. But, being a traveler of sorts myself, my favorite all-time Crichton book was TRAVELS.

It's a little odd, a little amusing, but mostly a very different sort of travel memoir. Given the personal nature of the writing, if you haven't read it you might enjoy meeting Crichton the traveler, up close and personal.
____________________________________

Prop 8.

Yes, it passed. But we need to take heart that as evil a piece of legislation it is, it can be fought. Civil rights; a woman's vote; lowering the voting age to 18. None of these came to be the law of the land without a fight.

Prop 8 is a setback. No more. No less.

But we've taken those first few steps...

(BTW - There is a special seat in Hell reserved for those proponents of Prop 8 who used the fear of children's eduction as a tool to pass their agenda. Using kids to pass hate legislation is an act of pure evil. They ought to be ashamed.)

Frank, you know we've had our differences in the past (aired out, thankfully, "over there"), but to be perfectly honest, if you are serious in what you posted below, you should have cast your ballot for Nader.

Ralph has been saying everything you just said throughout this campaign. In fact, it is Obama's stated goal to reach across the aisle and govern from the center that has Nader up in arms over Obama's upcoming presidency. What you posted below is basically what Nader is telling the media: Unless Obama does (what you posted below) the second his pants hit the Presidential Chair, then, well, he's an "Uncle Tom."

(Nader's words, not mine).

And I KNOW FOR A FACT you don't believe that.

MICHAEL CRICHTON

Many of you know Michael and I were long-time friends, though I hadn't heard from him in about ten years. He was too young, too sweet and good, and too talented to have gone away so early.

I haven't done this public wailing for a couple of days, but for those of you who've read Michael's nifty introduction to my APPROACHING OBLIVION collection, you know that he was dear to me; and I took especial pleasure in watching his nearly-seven-foot-body bend double to come through the front door at Ellison Wonderland, same as Barry Manilow and several NBA players I know. So if I come late to the wake, well, it's rugged, folks: too many friends vanishing almost daily. Anomie is all that is left behind.

Harlan

LYNN, MY LITTLE CAVALAXIS:

You know how I hate letting you down, but baldly put, I'm the wrong guy to ask: I never even met Robert Kennedy. I supported him, admired him like crazy, hated what he was complicit in doing to Marilyn Monroe, revered him for his smarts and courage going after the mob, would have voted six times to put him in the White House, was horrified as I saw his assassination live on tv as it happened, and saw the writing on the wall that this was the end of progressive government in America for the foreseeable future--and, sigh, I was prescient, dammit--but beyond that, I was just another American pedestrian being witness to history. Sorry, sweetie. But with affection, as always,

Yr. Pal, Harlan

SYNCHRONICITY STRIKES

All this jiggry-pokery in the last few days about Richard Dreyfuss as Harlan Ellison.

Heh.

I challenge you to guess who's coming for lunch today.

Heh.

Yr. Pal, Heh.

Look away everybody, Rob has you under some evil spell. It is a trick, trust me. The guy has evil glittering in a shoe box in his coffin. Look away, don't let his eyes get to you. When the axe swings, guess whos head will be in the basket. It sure won't be mine. I see through him like Holmes sees through a deep fog. Look away, I say, look awayyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Throws holy water and crosses himself.

Where's my durn stake?

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

I will give Obama a grace period. He will have until january 21st, then my radical boot will be on his neck. He will have to serve the poor and working class in a way that no other President has. He has to be on the side of fairness for all and a living wage. He must end this war and not go into another one. Russia says it will put missiles on their border, right after the Obama win. How will he respond to that? Many questions need to be asked. He must go a progressive way or suffer my fire.

Cherry bombs don't curtsy.

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

Lynn, I've missed you. Come here, give me a big hug. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Ha! Yes, settled. Thanks for the extended effort.

One of the many, many reasons I'm so glad Obama won is because his victory means that Sarah Stepford Wife is NOT, to use the cliche, "one heartbeat away from the Presidency."
They keep talking about how nice she is. Anyone who senselessly slaughters moose and wolves (from a helicopter, no less!) is NOT a nice person.

Spent a small fortune on the complete MAN FROM U. N. C. L. E. DVD set yesterday. Very much enjoyed "The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Deadful Affair" last night. Tonight, for the first time in over twenty years..."The Pieces of Fate Affair!"

Things funny and not
The election is over and it seems that indeed prop 8 has passed in CA. In numerous ads promoting prop 8 I heard the same refrain:

They already have the same rights! Just get yourself registered and you people CAN share the taxes and get into the hospital. It's just the same!

Does anyone else think this sounded eerily familiar?

Well no, you can't eat in THIS restaurant, but there are lots of restaurants across town where your kind CAN eat. So what's the big deal?

No, of course you can't drink from THIS water fountain, but there are water fountains from which your kind CAN drink. See, it's just the same!

No, you can't go to this school, but there are schools where your kind CAN go. Dammit, we have the governor on our side. Jeez, you people can get so uppity!

And now we get:

Well of course there is a word for 2 people pledging their lifelong love for, and commitment to, each other. The word is marriage. But no, YOUR KIND can't use it. Hey, don't get upset, we have come up with 3 words that your kind CAN use:

REGISTERED DOMESTIC PARTNER

See, it's JUST THE SAME!

I wish the homophobes would just come out and use the 3 words that they have described so accurately but of course will never actually say:

SEPARATE BUT EQUAL

Now for the funny part. One of the local rock stations plays a short bit of stand-up comedy every weekday at about 5:30. They call it the 5 O'clock Funnies. The theory is that people get off work (not off OF work) at 5 and by 5:30 they are on the freeway and wanting to kill each other. So 5:30 is a time when people can use a little comedy. They usually play bits from comedians who will by playing locally but in the days before the election they decided to play things appropriate.
On Monday they played a bit that George Carlin performed for the National Press Club. It is in my opinion GC at his best. George using words to describe the way people use words to describe things. In this case the way politicians use words to evade responsibility for their actions. If you haven't heard it go to:

http://www.955klos.com/

and look for Pod casting/Uncle Joe Benson. It will take you to a list of all the recent clips. On Tuesday they did Richard Jeni's classic description of the Left, Right and Middle. Also a treat if you haven't heard it.

A good day to all here. We now return you to the ROB/KOS steel cage death match.

So Obama won. Couldn't stand the suspense anymore and I'm glad. I watched him give his historic acceptance oration and couldn't help thinking of how far America has come in the last few decades alone. I'm from Scotland so we have a whole different set of societal tics and tremors to deal with (though with the last few years of idiotic unchecked immigration influx, I suspect that country will suffer some of its own multicultural teething pains - already has to a degree), which is why America's melting pot example is always a useful indicator of the way things could go.

Andas the rainbow TV colors splashed electric across my face I thought about Harlan being interviewed in Dreams With Sharp Teeth and talking about marching with MLK in the 60s, and how that decade wasn't a failure, and thought of how this sort of social activism laid the groundwork for a half-black man ( to lead the country - though I still find the whole self-aggrandizing 'Greatest Country in The World (TM)' label laughable - but any foreigner would say that - and probably say it about their own country too) out of 'the darkest period of capitalist-psychotic horror America has ever known' (to paraphrase the adline for Romero's superlative Day of The Dead).

It was a deeply touching and moving sight, probing dusty locked-away recesses of long-since-dried-up mournful despairing hope, and even though 8 years of insane psychopathic presidential hell has really sapped a lot of the fight out of me and a lot of other people...I couldn't help but feel the glacial internal tundra's ice start to crunch-grind and crack apart slow and sure and steady...and feel a bit of warmth start to seditiously creep through. What happens now is anybody's guess. Obama has a lot to do, that's for sure. But thanks to activists like Harlan and millions during the 60s, we at least have the chance to see a difference in the world now. Surely for fuck's sake.

Thanks for marching Harlan.

Can I be permitted an un-PC joke? I heard a comedian say a few months ago that "If Obama gets elected they'll have to rename the White House the Half-White House."

Consider it renamed. Gladly so.

Hope yer well Mr. Ellison , catcha around,
G.

Rob, you're my new best friend.

How the Left treated Bush????? Splutter splutter spill. The followers of FOX News are suddenly concerned about respect? Now THAT's chutzpa!

Prop 8
Re: Prop 8 and Prop 2 passing (and I supported 2):

Chickens have more rights than gays.

I'm still shocked.

Newsweek article
Lynn,

Thanks so much for mentioning that. I'm reading a couple of the highlights online and it's very intriguing.

Peggy

Tell us a story, Unca Harlan
TO HARLAN:

So I'm reading this article from Newsweek, the first in a seven part series entitled "How He Did It, 2008", an inside look at the last year of the campaign from a team of writers who were allowed unprecedented access on the stipulation that nothing they heard or saw would be revealed until after the polls closed, and I read the following passages:

"In November 2006, Craig sat next to George Stevens, an old friend of the Robert Kennedy clan, at another Obama speech. Stevens leaned over to Craig and said, "What do you think of this guy for president? I haven't heard anybody like this since Bobby Kennedy." Craig instantly replied, "Sign me up." "

"At Coretta Scott King's funeral in early 2006, Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert Kennedy, leaned over to him and whispered, "The torch is being passed to you." "A chill went up my spine," Obama told an aide. The funeral, he said, was "pretty intimidating." "

Now, I know about JFK from my dad, who went to work for NASA during the Mercury program, and who took President Kennedy's photograph from street level in Houston, just one day before he was assassinated in Dallas. Kennedy is a legendary figure in our family mythos. But I only know a bit about Bobby Kennedy, mostly from his impromptu speech after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I've told many of my peers that Obama is the Kennedy of my generation.

But which one? Am I educated enough to make that comparison?

My first thought, visceral and immediate, was, "Call Harlan." This proved impractical as I was reading the article out loud to my husband as we drove home from work this afternoon. (Bill says, "Hi!")

And on reflection, I think this is a better forum, because I will not be the only one to benefit from the answer.

So, Harlan -- what do you remember of Bobby Kennedy, and what does it mean to you to hear Obama compared to him?

Respectfully and with much fondness,
Lynn H.

PS. I hope you don't consider this a useless time suck that the Internet is rife with. If it wasn't for the Internet, you and I would never have met and I would never have had the opportunity to ask your esteemed self this question, the answer to which will enrich generations of enlightened citizens to come.

PPS. I am actually asking in all seriousness. Help me, Obi Wan. You're my only hope.

Good and bad news
The good news: Obama won.

The bad news: Prop 8 passed.

So right now I have mixed feelings about California. On one hand, they went blue. On the other hand, they voted for one of the most hateful pieces of legislature ever.

Sonny: Rhodes moved on to Nova M Radio, which is owned by the guys who'd STARTED Air America. The latter is now controlled by chairs who are more interested in their commercial sponsors than the right to free speech.

Randi is speaking her mind on Nova M, in peak ironic and candid form.

However, whether an entity is leaning right or left, it is corporate America, which is FIRMLY cemented by your right wing lemmings, and has shaped the decline in free speech.

As to how "we TREATED Bush????"

I know it isn't in common form for right-wingers to ask themselves this question, but COULD it be that it was Bush who'd destroyed so many lives, pushing the poor and the middle class into the abyss?

No: Bush and his thugs need to be held accountable; and YOU right wingers, so flustered that a great mind has been given the reins thru a TRUE Democracy, will hopefully wither under the weight of your own simian brows.

I still remember back in 2000, when Bush stole the election, how single-mindedly arrogant right-wingers were about the whole matter. And now, like Limbaugh insisting that Obama has no mandate and even bullshit like votes were stolen, even though you guys have been doing it for the last 3 elections, all hosted by Karl Rove, you have the hilarious audacity to spit out your hypocritical crap.

But you got me way off the track with your incisive comments: the whole thread was about the degree to which we can actually claim this country is "free", regardless of WHO drives its course.

To YOU bozos, "freedom" is being able to make tax-free money, and be able to step on, exploit, manipulate, or destroy anyone you'd like in the process. For those who can't survive, it's THEIR problem. Who cares if they die in the streets? You support a system that only favors passive recipients of wealth: the fallacy of the "ownership" society

To US, "freedom" is a more complex route understood in such a huge nation, wherein the very factionalism you represent has to be curbed so that people of EVERY class can benefit from the potential mobility a republic can offer.

To you, "freedom" is pure cut-throat capitalism. You give lip service to Democracy only when you get that leverage; but you don't support Democracy when it is the MAJORITY vote. What do you guys like to call it? Oh, yes: "tyranny by the majority". And therein lies my own deepest contempt for your mindset.

The greatest of right wing hypocrisies, to my mind, is market policy. It is competition that drives the markets. YOU guys clearly don't support that; for the last 30 years merging has been rampant, reducing this country to a boat now owned and operated by China and Saudi Arabia. It's the Democrats, for all THEIR spineless history till now, that's emphasized the needed thrust of competition.

To us, "freedom" requires checks and balances, so that consumerism and labor alike can get a fair shake, and safety nets exist for those who get shafted by monoliths like the credit industry.

OK...I don't want to take too much advantage of the stage I've been granted today. I just gotta learn how to stomach moronic comments, and, when necessary, to keep my place.

Wotta month this has been.
On a personal note: I refi'd my house for an amazingly low rate, because my bank is now run by the government. So a large chunk of my finances are now fixed and reliable for the next three decades, generally speaking. So that's a great thing for me personally.

Expanding the Circle of Concern a little, my home town won the World Series.

And expanding it to a nationwide scale... we will soon have a President we can rightly admire and be proud of.

Did I expect the worst? Sure. I was worried. Right up until 11 last night, I was worried. By midnight, however, I was part of a joyous crowd filling the streets at 47th and Baltimore, shouting along with the drum circle and hugging my neighbors and enjoying the victory.

I could work up reams of material about this. I could write up pages and pages of luminous, heart's-blood pure ideas. But there is no end to the ways in which this is a magnificent moment in history. This has been _too great_, and I'm humming over the fact that we all got to witness it.

Glad To Be Wrong
So I was a tad over the top about the Electoral College and its possible effect on what I was sure was going to be a much closer election. I was Wrong, and I'm glad to say so. Yes, I was wrong... this time. But the EC is still with us, the Great National Booby-Trap, rearmed and ready to spring in 2012. All you need is a close contest - and if a really effective third party (one with enough power to carry states) should arise, all bets would be off. Just sayin', is all. So I'll shut this part down and serenely wait for Richard Dreyfuss (laughing and loving as you like him!) in HARLAN! the Motion Picture! Also starring Emily Watson as Susan, with special appearance by Theo Bikel as Isaac Asimov. COMING SOON!(?)

MICHAEL CRICHTON'S FIRST FILM
.

ROBERT ROSS--

I second your call to give Michael Crichton's John Lange-penned thrillers a read.

My favorite is BINARY, which was made into a terrific ABC Movie of the Week called PURSUIT back in 1972. It starred Ben Gazzara, E.G. Marhall, Martin Sheen, William Windham and Jospeph Wiseman in a thinking man's suspense thriller about an assassination attempt during a Presidential convention.

It was Michael Crichton's first time in the director's chair, working from a script (adapted from the Lange novel) written by Robert Dozier (HARRY O). Jerry Goldsmith did the score.

It's on DVD and well worth the look.

ROB SAID: "And in forays into free speech over the recent years, look what happened to Randi Rhodes when she spoke her mind in a corporate-controlled Air America."

Methinks it might be the Dems/libs attacking free speech in the coming months by trying to enact the (un)fairness doctrine. Chuck Schumer was pushing this on Monday.

And yes, I voted for McCain.

The following website has already popped up with '1-20-12 Obama's Last Day' shirts & stickers which mimic the popular ones for Pres. Bush:
http://www.cafepress.com/1_20_13

Sorry for dropping in unannounced. Congratulations to Sen. Obama. Hopefully the right will not treat Obama like the left treated Bush, although I doubt it. Ah well, time now to go listen to Michael Savage. Should be an interesting program.


--Sonny

Emerging From the Creaking Doors of Mine Coventry

Harlan...

And in accordance with my new role model, I am going to aspire to better manners, as you've so frequently urged here. Ain't gonna be easy for me, mind you, 'tween my ornery ways and comments like KOS'. But...WATCH: I'm more chameleon-like than the chameleon.

(Incidentally, I've emailed directly to Obama's campaign several times, and it seems someone on the other end really is reading our pleas and input; it's reassuring to sense that Obama is genuinely interested directly in all of us)

KOS:

Let me try to balance your equation:

As long as the U.S. is determined - both domestically and overseas - by transnational corporations and Puritan dictates, it will never be the "freest nation on Earth".

I mean, the most recent example is the victory of Prop 8, which just struck down gay rights to marriage.

And in forays into free speech over the recent years, look what happened to Randi Rhodes when she spoke her mind in a corporate-controlled Air America.

And what happens if I'm stoking a joint? I go to jail, while, most likely, 90% of the cops out there have smoked pot or continue to do so.

Those are just a few slivers from the greater ramifications.

On the flipside, to use a counter-example, I visited the Netherlands twice. NO WHERE have I seen more tolerance, social practicality, protocol between labor and contract, wise medical access for all, rational drug laws savvy to the realities of addiction, a more thriving republic, and, historically, refuge for people from all over Europe who were persecuted for their beliefs.

The Republic's motto is, "Strength lies in unity", while acknowledging that unity must allow for diversity.

As for other regions, although I don't think they're up there with Holland, I, nevertheless, would have no issues about living in Canada (although, I want them to stop murdering the seals), England, or Switzerland.

Bottom line: "freedom" is relative. Wherever it may move on the delicate and CONSTANTLY jeopardized gradient of checks and balances, it comes in conjunction with your personal situation. This is the best place to be if you're rich. It is not particularly the best place to be if you're, say, broke, and stuck with a LOT of medical problems.

To be sure, every country has its pluses and minuses. Its advantages and disadvantages. Its virtues and its evils. A history it must own up to. Its own need to grow. No country is without its share of corruption, bigotry, and all the other human animal frailties we all share. Which is the reason that once a country believes it's #1 in everything, it falls into its own vacuum and goes the way of the Roman Empire.

That's why my own mind draws a difference between national pride and patriotism. The former, in my mind, is stoked by a desire to improve the system and eliminate the hypocrisy; while the latter feeds on blind conformity, regardless of the direction your country takes.

KOS, you give me the distinct impression you've lived in your own world for a long time. (I, myself, have had my OWN share of that, but in different ways) Yet, must the logic be entirely omitted from your text?

Prior to that moment, just after 8pm PST, when Barack Obama was named President-Elect by our media elite, I had done the math. When Obama's number reached 200 electors I told my wife it was done, over.

Then, at 8pm, you could feel the energy rise in the various broadcasts. (We'd been invited to a friend's house to watch the result, but I demurred because, as I told my wife -- who giggled at my honesty -- that I didn't want to give up control of the remote.) Obama was roughly 207, McCain at 159 (if memory serves...I'm a little hazy).

But I was proud as, at 8pm sharp, the states of Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California arrived on the scene with a slapdown repudiation of McCain's campaign. Let the other states argue, let them count 'til the cows come home. The West Coast spoke with a single unequivocal voice and made it a night to remember.

At Starbuck's this morning, I fought the urge to order my coffee black..."like my President".

___________________________________________

ROGER: Carl's puts their chili fries in a box that resembles their hamburger boxes. Cris looked in the bag, saw two such boxes, and drove off.
___________________________________________

Hidden in the rest of the election news is California's approval of our spanking new High Speed Rail system.

Lots of hoops yet to jump through financially, but we're finally getting our own TGV.

California: America's France.
___________________________________________

I would love to blame "the other counties" for the approval of Prop "(H)8" -- but the truth is the map shows that LA County voted with the majority. Inexcusable and humiliating that the Golden State should be so narrow -- and that children should be used as a tool to defeat human rights.

KELL BROWN:

I will try to accomodate you, even though this is precisely the kind of woolgathering time-waste that infests the internet and is vile in my view. Please don't do it again. And please don't waste any time/space apologizing. That only compounds the pointless curiosity plague.

Here's what you sought, as best I can convey it, given that I don't know EXACTLY what you mean by "carriage length," as the platen is one length, the platen and frame wherein its set is a second length, and the additional space to the ends of the roller knobs is a third. The machine in the photo goes back to the middle '60s, and though I still own it, there is nothing visible that will tell me WHICH of the three or four Olympia office standards I owned at the time, is THE one.

But having gone up and measured EVERY LAST OFFICE STANDARD, I would estimate that the "carriage" length on that one, from furled turning knob left, to furled turning knob right, is 21 and 1/2 inches.

I hope this settles your bet for you.

Going back to what matters, Yr. Pal, Harlan

Michael Crichton's death
DENNIS: I second your feelings of sadness. I just read about his death on the news page of our internet-provider.
I had the luck to interview him three times -- a _very_ nice man, and _very_ good writer. I didn't agree with some of his political 9and scientific) views, but he was always a gentleman about it when discussing them with others. And his handling of the armed break-in which happened to him and one of his children not long ago, was pretty amazing (I'd have been more freaked out). I'd been looking forward to his second "Travels" book, but I'm pretty sure that's in vain, now.
He'll be missed.

--DTS

What an amazing night. I watched the returns at my pal Dan Waters' house (former owner Orson Welles), the same place I watched them four and eight years ago, and it didn't hit me until it happened how worried I still was that we'd get robbed again.

This is bawdy and rude and absurd, but what the hell. I lost a huge bet last night, and I've never been happier.

Enjoy my loss and America's gain:

http://gallery.me.com/josholson/100197

ROB:

Herewith, my faux-Papal dispensation from Coventryizing yourself from the Pavillion.

Not only because I revel in the delicious passion and dolphin-smart sensibleness of your comments, with which I hit the nail where required, but because -- like Barney -- I never lost faith, no matter how shaky things seemed from day to day. The ONLY reason I did not broadcast (beyond my wife and Josh and close circle) my belief and passion for an Obama win, is that Susan truly believes, "if you put it in the air, evil will smell it, come, and destroy the dream." Well, you know where I stand on black cats and broken mirrors, but...well...YOU argue with her, not I.

So, Rob, post at will today.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Dear maggiehoyal:

Regarding ordering books: you don't need an order form. Just write your order on a piece of paper...no problem. Or, send a SASE to the HERC address (P.O. Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413)and I'll send you a list of HE's available books.

With kind regards--Susan

bad news, good news
Yma Sumac, 87. But- Howard Waldrop,well enough to go fishing.

DAVID SILVER:

It's CHANGELING, not "The" Changeling. Big difference, and very purposely intended.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Victory
I couldn't turn the TV on, or get on the internet until midnight out of fear of what I might see. I finally looked and was delighted to see Obama had won. I almost cried I was so relieved. a great deal of stress departed, as I realized America might just survive for four more years. I hold no love for the Democrats, but actively hate the Republicans for what they've done over the years. Louisiana may have gone to Mcain, but the race to Obama. At least my vote canceled out some jarhead redneck's. It feels good to know that the presidency is no longer just a "white only" country club.
It's also a shame it took so long. I can actually see the possibility of a positive future for the first time in 8 years.

KOS, when Democracy Now has the same clout as NPR or FOX has then we can talk. Corporations and corporate elites control the debate and they control what we can see or hear. Sure, we can inform ourselves, but that takes intellectual curiosity that most Americans do not have at the moment. The Obama win is a hopeful sign.

This is why you do not see Chomsky or Tariq Ali on CNN.

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

Greg Palast has some splainin to do.

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

Seems African Americans and hispanics went big on voting on the gay bashing proposition 8. Blame the black church, which has been infiltrated by the religious right.

Sad on such a monumental day.

Gays should get married anyway. Fuck it. They cannot arrest them.

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

I celebrated way too hard last night.

I woke up with juju bees and popcorn in my pants. There was a large goose kissing me and somebody with black rubber gloves was waxing my legs.

I am very patriotic today. Wonder how long that will last.

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

Ralph Nader ends his career--hopefully for good--calls Barack Obama an Uncle Tom:

http://airamerica.com/blog/2008/nov/05/watch-nader-sorta-calls-obama-uncle-tom

Machines and Souls
All possible props' to Dannelke, indeed.

His call in January was what first put me on to the sheer breadth and depth of what was happening. A Sea Change.

I will try to join our Esteemed Etc. Host in being polite. I want to be part of the Great Polite Conversation.


Rob wrote:

"Yes, I DO deny it. That's the kind of jingoism that leads to blind arrogance and self-destruction. (Look what it took, after 20 years, to get us where we are! It's like waiting for global warming to show its consequences before enough people believe the warnings)"

Referring to my chher that the USA is indeed the greatest and freest nation on Earth.

I do not have blind faith in that belief. It is not blind faith, it's informed belief, based on what happened these past six months and more.

It's not "jingoism" to love your ocuntry when it is beautiful. It's not singing in some loony Monty Pythpnezque latter day version of an English music hall "We've got the men and the muh-nay too!"

Doctor johnson's famous aphorism about patriotism and scoundrels is a critique of scoundrels, not patriotism.

It's called seeing the warts and wrinkles, and beneath the beauty that shines through.

And then:

"And, finally, as long as the media is still controlled by corporate America so absolutely, shaping information and news only as THEY want us to hear it, a new media machine needs to be built to offset that tyranny."

A new media machine? How about NO "machines", and instead we have PEOPLE talking to people about what's going on, and not get our panties in a wad everytime someone disagrees with us or says something that upsets Aunt Millie?

When I turn on NPR (and yes, I do listen to it regularly, as well as Foz News, CNN, Air America, Limbaugh, Prager et. al. It's called being informed. If it were the Thirties I would have read Mein Kampf") and hear them spouting the "Corporate Line", then I wil agree the media are "controlled" in the sense you appear to believe it to be. This sort of Chomskyesque grotesquery of how the world works has got to be called what it is: dangerous and paranoid. Sorry, Frank. I love ya, but that's how I see it from MY corner of the well. Agree to disagree without being disagreeable?

On a lighter note, Al Franken(stein to the Right) is down by just 571 with a recheck going on. I may be conservative, but I would love to see that rascal in the senate for six years.

When your country is beautiful, you ought to love it.

Along that vein, I was pleased to see last night an ad for a film I have waited forty plus years to see. It's about one of my all time heroes. I know nothing about the film, other than the lead actor and subject, but if it stays true to the facts and all, it may be a great one.

The film is "Valkyrie".

The hero? Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, "Valkyrie" is taken from the code name given by Stauffenberg to his plot to overthrow the Nazi regime on July 20, 1944.

Through two cruel flukes of bad luck (only one of two bombs planted worked properly, and at the last moment the bfiefcase containing the bomb was moved to the far side (from Hitler) of a massive oak map table support, Hitler survived the blast and was able to crush the coup. It came within a haris breadth of succeeding, finally coming down to one phone call, made by Hitler to the one man in Berlin who controlled troops able to put down the revolt.

It is a heartbreaking story. Even more so when you are made aware of one horrible statistic: World War Two in Europe killed about forty million people. Half of them died in the last year of the wat. If the war had ended in July of 1944, most of those people, their possible descendants, their possible contributions to humanity, for good or ill, would not have been lost.


Stauggenberg knew he had committed a great crime in serving the Third Reich, and atoned for it with one of the greatest actions of self sacrifice in history. Few men can be called hero without blushing. He was the real deal.

He was shot. His brother was executed. His pregnant wife was sent to a concentration camp. His four children were given to Nazi families.

He was rich, he was honored by his masters, he was literally a fair haired child of the tyrant. Yet he repudiated it all, and struck a blow for humanity, for the country he loved when it was at its' most delusional and hateful.

I wish humanity had more like him.

KOS

Louisiana
*** Carol *** That was a bit confusing for me earlier this year as well. In fact, one of the few "calls" I was wrong about was contemplating flipping Louisiana, Georgia or Arkansas. It was frustrating to see that the dixiecrat machine had degraded to the point where the Clinton's could not deliver Arkansas nor could Carter (combined with the large black turnout) flip Georgia.

But getting back to Louisiana I think there were two dynamics at work there. First, many of the folks left in Louisiana were of two minds. There were the pure haters who just thought "good riddance to bad rubbish" and that it was an act of God - and then there were those more thoughtful citizens who blamed the Army Corps of Engineeers over a 50 year period and no one particular administration.

The second half of the dynamic were those people directly misplaced by Katrina or screwed over in the short term by FEMA. Many of those folks ended up in Texas and Arizona and elsewhere and may have been responsible for .05 shifts towards blue in states that were too red for it to be noticed. It's a pity, but that's what that sort of instant displacement and diffusion will do in those circumstances. Drowned people (like Mark Twain's naked people) have very little influence.

- Barney Dannelke

Michael Crichton

The best way to remember Michael Crichton I think is to read or re-read his books; and don't forget all the books he wrote under the name John Lange. In particular I liked THE VENOM BUSINESS.

I attended a lecture he gave here in Minneapolis more than two decades ago, and RUNAWAY was about to come out, so he talked a lot about robots, and their relationship to mankind, et cetera. Someone asked him a question about WESTWORLD, something about the philosophy of the movie, what it was really about, and Crichton cut him off and said something like, "I can tell you exactly what WESTWORLD was really about. That movie was all about, can I get this movie made for less than a million dollars? That's really all that movie was about."

A lot of those John Lange thrillers were written while he attended medical school. I saw him interviewed by Dick Cavett once, and he said that when he was on a one or two-week break from school, he would go home and write another book, which paid his way through school.

And don't forget about his afterword to STATE OF FEAR. A lot of people seem to believe that Crichton claimed global warming doesn't exist, but that's not what he said; just read what he really said.

Just read his books ...

Just gotta say this... and then to work.
There was always going to be more work to do. There were always going to be more fights to fight.

There will always be some great things that we don't quite manage to pull off. There will always be some regress here and there.

But we won. We won, we won. So quit your bitching and roll up your sleeves.

It's a brand new day.

I can't say if America's glass is now half full or half empty, but I can hope the water tastes a damn sight better than the stuff we've been swilling for the past eight years.

***

MARK wrote: "Sandra, since one of the things I do in my current role is to write job descriptions, perhaps I should take a crack at composing one for Young Jackanapes. It would be good to get the old creative juices flowing."

It's hard to get the creative juices flowing when you're in a full body cast. Remember that.

***

TONY wrote: "Yesterday, my daughter Kelly donated 10 inches of her hair for cancer patients."

Having seen far too much cancer in my life of late, I feel your daughter did a wonderful thing. Thank you for sharing, and thank her for sharing as well.

***

Proposition 8 and the adoption issue in Arkansas hurt so very much. My mother-in-law is good friends with a single gay man who adopted a special needs child. He's a proud father, and a good one.

Some people say hate has its place. I say that place is not in the family.



shagin

Louisiana
Does it surprise anyone besides me that the state of Louisiana voted heavily Republican? After the Bush-supervised levy failures following Hurricane Katrina (which 3 years of inadequate federal response later still has much of New Orleans looking like a disaster zone), you might think they'd had enough of Republicans running the national agenda.

Michael Crichton
Just heard that Michael Crichton died after battling cancer! Had no idea he was ill.
Sad news.

bittersweet

I'm so thrilled about Obama's victory, and in the exact same moment so heartbroken that a little over half the electorate in my state feel that our constitution needs to be amended to make gays and lesbians second class citizens.

As a nation we've climbed so far, yesterday made that abundantly clear. But from this vantage point I see that we still have so very, very far to go.

And checking the returns from Minnesota last night till 2am was more stomach-churning suspense then I ever want to experience again.

On balance, it's a very good day today. But my heart aches for what might have been.

MM

The Typewriter in Question

HARLAN:

Here's a link to the photo. It's b&w and you can make out the carriage but not definitively.

http://staff.xu.edu/~polt/typewriters/ellison.jpg

Sixteen! And I thought I was going overboard with three computers. Clearly I need to speak sharply to the wife about her criticism of my habit. I've barely applied the needle compared to you.

Kell

I'm tired of nihilism. I'm tired of despair. I've lived with both for eight years, and I'm not eager for another eight.

Please, Mr. Obama, deliver on your promises. Shove the snarls of the cynics back into their collective faces.

Wow!
When the looooooooong line I was in had just about snaked through the entrance to the NOAA building where the polling place was, I saw an old black man coming out looking like he was in his 80s being helped along by what looked like his middle-aged daughter. He was feeble and leaning on her. But he was so proud, beaming.

I was just so filled with emotion. I thought, what was this country like when he was a boy? I'm going to be 50 next March. When I was a boy, in the little Georgia town where I grew up, the Klan still marched in the July 4th parade. The evil fuckers (some were my relatives) would ride in the back of a pickup and fire shotguns into the air waving that goddam flag.

Now we have elected a black man to be President of the USA. OK maybe we are not entering paradise. We are a troubled fucked up country and the jury is still out on us.

But things do change. Slowly but surely.

The cloud on this fine day though is that the efforts to ban Gay marraige seem to be succeeding. A reminder that religious bigotry remains alive and the fight is not over...

No one can say if Obama will be a good President or not. I happen to think he will be but right now, before he is sworn in, he has become something else: a synbol of hope. For the last 8 years we have watched as our federal government has treated the public as if they were an abusive parent, talking to us only when absolutely necessary and ruling us through fear.

Many questions remain about the type of administration Obama will run (although the odds are it will closely resemble his idol Abraham Lincoln's) but I think we can safely say that they days of terror levels being adjusted because of political reasons are now long past. I think Obama's first 100 days in office will give a clear indication of the what the remainder of his term will bring and what the priorities of this new Democratic majority are.

I was surprised to find that there are some Senate races that have not been decided. The race here in MN is still too close to call and will probably go to a recount. The senate seat in OR is still up for grabs, but will probably go to the Dem, as one of the main Dem districts has not been counted. One of the biggest surprises for me though is Alaska. For some reason, it looks like that convicted felon Ted Stevens will be sent back to the Senate. No idea how that happened.

Regardless, no matter what your political leaning, you have to feel good to be an American today as it feels like, once again, we are the greatest nation on earth

Greedy, greedy me
Given the monumental top-line result here, I suppose it would be unseemly of me to wish for more, but, goshdangit, I do. It looks like Al Franken has lost in Minnesota--by fewer than a thousand votes out of over two million--and he would have brought a great voice to Washington. It looks like Ted Stevens, unbelievably, is going to win in Alaska. I've always thought of Alaskans as sensible, down-to-earth people, but apparently this year they decided that being represented on the national stage by a winking moron wasn't enough; they also wanted to be represented by a convicted felon. Overall, down-ticket Dems did well, but not spectacularly; Obama's coattails were pretty short, and 2010 is just around the corner.

The most disappointing thing to me: California seems to have passed Prop 8. You could expect something like this from Arkansas--which has indeed demonstrated that it values homophobia more than children--but California? There's obviously a lot of hill left to climb there. Obama could go a long way toward climbing it with an executive order ending discrimination in the armed forces, and I'm hoping that will be one of the first things he does.

All that said, I too teared up last night. It was a beautiful moment, and could mark a real turning point for the country. Maybe the hard right in this country can now start to fade back into the shadows....

I guess I'm being greedy again.

Signs of My Times 11/5/08
This is one of the blog-type bits I post daily at my own message board. I hope you enjoy it.

**********************************
Signs of My Times 11/5/08

It is a great day for the country I love.

After eight years of darkness in the form of a criminal administration that failed the American people at every turn, we have hope that our better angels will bring us a brighter tomorrow. We ever saw a hint of the old John McCain and not the sad man who pandered to some of the most hateful voices in our land. Dare I hope that he'll somehow manage to redeem himself before his career is over?

I suppose Obama and McCain had to say complimentary things about Sarah Palin, but, to me, Palin remains a hideous symbol of all that's wrong with the Republican Party and the right wing. I was greatly heartened by a conservative commentator who sees her, not as the new face of his party, but as its last shrill culture warrior. It's time to put aside the dishonesty, fear, and intolerance that plagues the party of Lincoln. Palin is a throwback and the GOP should throw her back.

I was not pleased to see Arkansas enact a cruel law prohibiting unmarried couples from adopting children in need. It is an evil law on so many levels.

I'm praying that decency will prevail in California and that the bigots will not enact their hatred into law in that state.

I haven't looked at all the races, but it does look like the Democrats have achieved serious gains in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In Medina, we are sending a Democrat to a House seat formerly occupied by a Republican. And, in Cleveland, despite the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dennis Kucinich was reelected.

However, I cannot help but be concerned that George W. Bush still has 70+ days to do further damage to our country. He's already lowering standards for clean air and water and will doubtless pardon his fellow criminals.

That Bush may well escape justice for his crimes is an abomination.

On a personal note, my kids continue to fill my life with joy.

Yesterday, my daughter Kelly donated 10 inches of her hair for cancer patients.

Last night, my son Eddie called to share his excitement over Obama's win. He's a serious voter, he studies the candidates and issues, and he considers his decisions.

Eddie and Kelly give me further hope for the future.

It is a great day for the country I love.

Tony Isabella

**************************
My message board is located at:

http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/tony/

the sun rose
Holy carp. Just the other day I was telling a coworker I'd be just as happy if I never saw history made again in my lifetime. We had been talking about 9/11 and fears of the future.

I completely dismissed the possibility that good history happens, too.

haHA! Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Yesterday and Today
I spent yesterday working the Obama table outside the polls at Miami's Hammocks library.

It was a full hour wait for most of the day; by afternoon there just weren't any lines left.

There was a truly nasty group of the opposition with us, as the polls closed: I'm talking folks who not only called Obama a communist but also compared him to Hitler, and at one point yelled at one of our people, "Go to Auschwitz!"

Their funniest paralogia had to do with their favorite sign, STALIN WANTED CHANGE! HITLER WANTED CHANGE! CASTRO WANTED CHANGE! which they waved alongside their other favorite sign, MCCAIN, THE REAL CHANGE! This was an interesting case of failed consistency.

But now it's done.

Folks, I have absolutely no idea whether Obama's going to be a good President. The job has a way of coming up with unexpected challenges, and some people rise to the occasion while others fail in ways that we never expect. I believe he's a much-needed corrective as far as direction is concerned, but history may provide a game-changer at any point during the juggling of agendas, and I'd be remiss not to recognize that. I only know that I *believe* he's the man we need at this time, and that I don't want to be disappointed by him.

That said...I am just barely old enough to remember the last vestiges of Jim Crow, politicians who were able to openly say "nigger" in their speeches, the bullets fired at those who said that things did not be this way.

I do not like Jesse Jackson, but I saw him weeping uncontrollably at the moment of Obama's victory and I remember that he stood within twenty feet of Martin Luther King when that leader was killed. The sheer emotion on his face affected
me as well. I wondered how many people grew up in the days of regular lynchings and people arrested for drinking at the wrong water fountain and a Governor standing in a schoolhouse door saying that no negro would pass, how many felt helpless in the face of injustice that stark, how many "knew" that the phrase White House would always mean more than the exterior paint job, how many now sit stunned at the spectacle of an articulate and impassioned black man inspiring a nation to vote for him.

Regardless of Obama's level of success in office, the world is a better place today because he has expanded the definition of what can be done in America. Regardless of the compromises he will have to make, that much, by itself, is an absolute good.

I have not earned the right to weep, as Jesse Jackson has.

But I have overstepped my bounds, today.

Heheheh
I don't wander around these parts much anymore, but I had to come here and cop to swiping an Obama sign (post-win) that I'd proudly stuck my "I Voted!" sticker to earlier. Call it a swap for my donations. Guess I don't have to move to France after all.

Amy

My twenty-fourth post here
‘Lo, all. Haven’t checked in here in a few months (probably ‘cuz I’ve been transfixed by this fascinating election), but I just need to say:

PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!

Can it be? Is it true?

I tell ya, my earliest political memories are of Nixon’s scandal and shame. Since then it’s been (1) a well-meaning but dry stand-in, (2) a goodhearted but ineffectual farmer, (3) a bizarrely popular cardboard jingoist, (4) a goofy, compromised aristocrat, (5) a slick, compromised skirt-chaser, and (6) the most malfeasant moron ever puked out of my old home state.

Finally, someone for my generation to look up to--someone with (a) the leadership temperament of F.D.R., (b) the rhetorical wattage of J.F.K., and (c) hopefully the transformative passion of L.B.J.

I think I can believe in my country again.

Much love to the world tonight!

Black is the new black,
T.Y.

Making a rare second posting. Got an e-missive with no sending address:

Boy-howdy. America done went and made history. While this here land is far from perfect, you have to admit we’ve come a long way from my day when a black man couldn’t drink from the same fountain as the more fair-skinned among us.

Obama’s one hundred watt smile will sure be a nice change from Mr. Cheney’s crooked leer. I mean, I know I said I never met a man I didn’t like but Cheney…

Then again, I haven’t met him just yet. The way his heart is going, I might not have long to wait. I just hope I don’t have to take the down escalator to pay him a visit.

If I had advice for Mr. Obama, I’d say don’t take things too serious. It’s the biggest job in the world, but you got the most help in the world to assist you. You got the whole United States behind you, judging from your landslide.

And when it gets to be time for you inaugural speech, after all the fear-mongering that’s been passed out the white house, maybe you could remind the American People what FDR said: That the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Good luck, Mr. President.

Will Rogers

KOS,

Yes, I DO deny it. That's the kind of jingoism that leads to blind arrogance and self-destruction. (Look what it took, after 20 years, to get us where we are! It's like waiting for global warming to show its consequences before enough people believe the warnings)

BUT...for the first time in my LIFE, I really do feel national pride.

For the first time in my life - LITERALLY - I can say the country has a leader of substance, literacy, wisdom, charisma, and vision; a mirror of real virtue we can hold to ourselves. An example for each of us to follow in so many ways.

I always wondered if, in my lifetime, I would ever see a Teddy Roosevelt, an FDR, or a Kennedy. For the first time in my life, I believe I'm at that threshold.

The next tests encompass a path as tough as the election itself has been: we, the majority, have to support Obama so he'll have a mandate; with the inconceivable damage done, only a mandate will turn things around. Then, we have to make sure none of the primitive loonies out there ever try a JFK on Obama. We need this man. For ONCE, may the higher spirit among us "live long and prosper"; for ONCE, may it be the LOWEST examples of human life (the Cheneys, The Bushes, the Neo-Cons, the Limbaughs, the hording CEOs, the racists, etc) that get buried and forgot. And, finally, as long as the media is still controlled by corporate America so absolutely, shaping information and news only as THEY want us to hear it, a new media machine needs to be built to offset that tyranny.

Obama has more youth and stamina than any president in history; because of this, I'm confident that he will cover all these bases, and stave the pressures that are surely ahead. He is a chess player; a chess player who cares about others. He is therefore mindful of these realities, and he knows he cannot do it without the rest of us being equally so. If we're ever to make this country truly as we idealize it, we CANNOT let ourselves get lulled into a cultural coma again; the individual cannot thrive without the community, and the community cannot thrive without the individual. Civilization is defined by synchrony between the two.

For the first time in my life, I really do feel hope.

And, incidentally...I had a lot of wine with friends tonight as soon as we heard Obama got PA.

We're entering the gates of the 21st century.

Feeling I HAD to convey my ecstasy and passion, breaching the rules in doing so, I'll take a long break from the Pav.

Dept. of Redundancy Department
Yes, Steve, if he kept the faith "unwaveringly" that would pretty much entail "never wavering." Sheesh. It's late. Going to bed now.

Steve J.

From the archives:

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

Barney Dannelke
Allentown, PA. - Monday, January 7 2008 14:34:6

I'm calling it now. Monday, January 7, 2008 - 5:24PM
I'm calling it now.

...

The 44th President of the United States of America is going to be

Barack Obama.

- Barney Dannelke

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

Here's to Webderland's political prophet extraordinaire: Barney Dannelke -- a gentleman, a scholar, and a snappy dresser, with or without pants. He kept the faith unwaveringly since last January, never wavering.

You called it before any of us, pal, and tonight you have every right to gloat from your ivory tower up there in Vindication, PA.

Steve J.

Ding-Dong, the Witch Is Dead! He won't be gone where the goblins go until January 20th, so I won't start dancing yet - but I confess to an indescribable level of relief. Goodbye, you horrible man (if only the World Court would drag you away screaming), and your cartoon would-be successor and Dan Quayle in drag (who I'm sure would have been as happy to be shooting at you and I from her helicopter, instead of moose, elk and shriners).

KOS - Nobody likes a smart-ass. Then again, being able to say "I told you so," is a sweetness rare and true as watermelon acquired in the Mark Twain fashion...

I get to play Obama in the movie! Nyah! Nyah!!!
First, Harlan Ellison is bound to be cast in a movie; call it fate, call it destiny, call it...Kismet.

I am hopeful, happy, shocked, amazed, prayerful, relieved, cautious and most of all pleased that I can look my niece in her eyes, smile widely and tell her that people that look like us can run for the highest office in the land and win.

In my family and community, here some of the reactions before the election:

- "You know what's gonna happen"- What's the point of voting? The Republicans are going to find a way to cheat Obama. One fellow even painted a scenario that martial law would be declared and Bush would stay in office!

- "The USA always crowns it's soldiers" - Hmmmmmmm, like Kerry?

- "I HOPE he'll win" - This is from the older folks. I liken this to being a battered spouse. After 2000 and 2004, it's hard to believe that this would actually happen.

Next, I want an Indian, a woman, a Latino, a gay person, a Jew...aw heck, Serafina Patel-Rabinowitz in 2016!

(and let's see Prop. 8 DIE. I don't believe that the murder by the denial of benefits on the basis of sexual preference is a Christian value)

Brian Phillips

Had a quiet birthday dinner with hubby. Very nice. Another reason I love him.

***

Obama is still a politician, I can't overlook that. What I can do is hope that his brand of politics is healthier than the crap we've been forced to endure for the past eight years.

I'll be happier once he's sworn in.


shagin

wow.
I thought I would be an old man before I saw this.

As an atheist, I'm usually a bit short on hope and faith. And I have been buttressing my emotions against a likely McCain victory.

wow.

I don't think Obama is liberal enough, but I'm happy we're pointing in the correct direction again.

Let's roll.

-Keith

Told Ya!
So, yes, I am going to write "I told you so!".

I Told You So!

Three, four months back I wrote here that Obama would win about 55% of the PV, with at least 340 EV and possibly go as high as 370 EV. At 9 PM PST the latest estimate is 54% PV and 338 EV for BHO.

Please note that I lay no claim to genius at predicting elections. I used what was right there every day in the newspapers and on the street. This was as difficult to see coming as the five PM evening freight outbound to the Cajon pass. A mile long, and with the horn blowing all the way down the track.

America so IS the greatest country on earth. America so IS the freest country on earth.

Even Rob cannot deny it. The wind that overturns the world is upon us.

Now the hard part begins.

KOS

President Obama
(wiping away tears, a crack in my voice)

As I said many months ago when some joker said we'd be safer under a Republican president:

"I will feel very safe and happy under President Obama."

Recent posts....and a muted expression of delight
JACK: god (or God, or Gawd) had nothing to do with it. That particular wish-stick has been a hollow icon for centuries (otherwise, He/She/It would've interceded about eight years ago).

MAGGIE: Your stream-of-consciousness phrasing at the beginning and end of your post makes ME feel drunk (or tired from lack of sleep), so I'm sure that was the problem. (Right?) Then again, maybe I just need to light up a doobie and re-read from the beginning (oops, no doobage...I wonder if a cup of really strong tea will do the trick).

DELIGHTED -- absolutely, DEEE-lighted -- that Obama won. But I'm still pissed off at many Americans for not being smarter eight (or even four) years ago.

Cheers,
DTS

So, Bush is gone (in a few months) and it's time for another Democrat in the White House. Haven't heard much about Obama's libido; so I'm ready to see what the other party's got for a leader without the distractions of blowjobs and bitchy First Ladies (perhaps).

....and at least two more years of a Democratic majority in Congress.

C'mon, President Obama, bring it on and convince this lifetime Republican!

-TODD

Thank God, or whoever's in charge.

The polling place I go to was busier than normal, but still only stood in line maybe five minutes to get my ballot.People were coming and going veru quickly. There were also four tables of baked goods they were selling cheap as a fund raiser on your way out.

Steve, out of curiousity, given they messed up Cris's order in the first place, I was very surprized she did not check the bag and see what they gave her when she went back to get the right order.It sure would have saved her a trip and she would not have had to go back a second time.

Harlan and Susan
Dear Susan, wish to order books and tape. Printer not working to down load order form. Do not want to anoy by just listing requests and sending checks without your o.k.? Harlan after publishing and writing (gut you like a fish-broken glass under my bleeding feet walk through life writing had a reader look over a several page piece today in which she laughed three times. Of course new to site an many years after Clarion and a 4 day workshop I once took with you. I one of millions I am sure and quite forgetable at the time . Could have misread your blog of Nov.4 and you might rip my head off and shove it down my neck. Aw well no risk no knowledge. It is wierd to fit in my own skin finally with marriage, writing and life. The work reflects it. Best to Susan and Harlan Besides maybe A Clean Well Lighted Place by Hemingway the greatest American Man of Letters

11 pm: CNN's called it for Barack Obama.

POTUS
Yes, it seems to be.

We breathe a sigh of relief. Our will be done.

Thanks voters.

I can try to believe in America again.

PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA

May the best actor win.

May tomorrow be a brand new day.

Good luck
Am off to Times Square in a few minutes to check out the celebratory gang banging. Good luck and may that dude I hope in wins.

FAQ

Well gang

This time tomorrow, I'll know for sure if I get to be a proud American or will be looking for a bunker to hide in for at least the next four years.

I hope by the time you all read this, you've gone out and voted!

Lori

VOTE!
It was nice weather, so I walked to the polls, only 8 blocks. A good decision, since there wasn't a parking spot for blocks.
Waited an hour, but it was worth it.
Big turnout, bigger than 4 years ago, Good to see.

Fun at the polls, Hydrox redux, and local Webderlanders unite!
You want a good laugh? Okay, I'll give you a GOOD laugh...

I'm waiting in line at my local polling place for a voting booth to open, when this young lady in front of me, obviously voting for her very first time and nervously clutching a General Election booklet, suddenly says to her friend, "Oh my God, I didn't know we were voting for a general today!"

A-hem...

Another election laugher...here in San Francisco we've been cursed for many years with a sewage treatment plant and overhaul of the city wide sewage system that's created more "crap" for the citizens than it's managed to process. One of the things we're voting on today in San Francisco is Proposition R, which would change the name of the treatment plant from "Oceanside Water Treatment Plant" to "George W. Bush Sewage Plant".

To K.M. Kirby, wondering where all the Hydrox cookies went: I found Hydrox in the Safeway at 17th Avenue on Taraval, way out in the Parkside District. I live on 34th Avenue. The weird thing is I bumped into the distributor early one morning at the Lucky on Sloat Boulevard, standing in the cookie aisle doing inventory, and I accosted him about why there wasn't Hydrox there. He said there had indeed been a case of Hydrox left for the Lucky manager to put out, but when they sat untouched for a month, they had to be taken away again! I was furious and said I was going to hunt down the manager to give him a piece of my mind. However, the distributor told me to try that Safeway instead. When I asked him how he knew Safeway had any, he replied that he had stocked the display himself just a few minutes earlier! So I hustled my butt up there later in the day and grabbed four packages. That was a month ago. Now I visited Safeway again yesterday, the display was still there, but it's now empty. Speaking with a store worker, they're supposed to get another load because the first one sold out so quickly, but they don't know when, or definitely, it will arrive. I'm in limbo, but at least there's hope.

Gwyneth and Lori and Kevin (Wall), I've sent all of you e-mails off list, but I'm not sure yet what day I'll be free to do "The Changeling". I'm saving one of my packs of Hydrox for the occasion. In the meantime, K.M. Kirby and any other San Francisco Webderlanders who wish to join us (if you can get away for a midweek morning matinee), please feel free to shout out! And even if the movie gig doesn't work out, we can still get together for something else. For example, Gwyneth and I are planning to do coffee one morning soon. We live in the smallest city in the country; there's no reason to be so darn far apart!

Everybody think good thoughts today. Change, I hope, is in the wind...and I think the wind is finally blowing in the right direction.

David

VOTED.

Go, Obama!
Go, Udall!

Down with Amendment 48!

Didn't have to wait in line at all. Of course, the voting place is at the local fire station, and it has always been well-run.

Chuck

There's a contingent of skeptics out there - particularly among minorities - who maintain that "Obama's presidency will make little or no difference" in such matters, by-and-large, as opportunities for minorities, favoritism to the wealthy, racism, education, etc.

While SOME of their arguments may prove right, I really believe they are overlooking parts of the picture. In the LONG run, Obama is a profound shift for the U.S.; it will slowly but steadily chip away so many stupid myths about race and ethnicity, and gradually usher out that atavism called the racist. Self-perception, so crucial in EVERYONE'S mobility, will find better grounding, allowing people of all backgrounds to see more doors open to meet their potential. This, in turn, will create a new panorama, at least in terms of education, and, therefore, possibly, the distribution of wealth. Not something that will happen overnight; but I don't think it would happen for another 75 years if Obama weren't where he is. We'd be mired in another century of tribe-torn Everytown.

These skeptics may not see the changes they themselves would like to see, or the changes will be too slow to notice; but I really believe Obama's victory and leadership will lead to transitions long, LONG overdue in this country. I think these skeptics are being simplistic.

I hope, of course, I'm proven right.

ADAM-TROY & STEVE BARBER:

Apart from ME playing me in DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH, which, candidly, I thought was lazy typecasting on the part of Erik Nelson--

(I'm SICK SICK SICK of always playing tormented heroes! No more Lear; no more Willy Loman; no more Faust! I want to play light comedy, do you hear me, loveable clowns, henpecked husbands, teen-age lotharios with puppies biting my crotch! Let me entertain you, I cry: say, UNDER THE YUM-YUM TREE or THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH!)

--there has already been (as I've told you many times) the most perfect Ellison-manque--

Richard Dreyfuss in THE GOODBYE GIRL!

Ricky actually took my mannerisms, and some of my words.

Dusty would be grand, and Ron Liebman is a particular fave of mine, but apart from the variorum interpretation of Harlan Ellison BY harlanellison, it is Dreyfuss six-to-one.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Casting HE
Either Joe Pesci or Robin Williams would serve better than Dustin Hoffman - Hoffman's too deliberate, which was always my problem with his Lenny. You need an actor that crackles: Tom Cruise.

Hey, did I tell you how recently I'd dreamt I was watching a particularly good episode of HARLAN ELLISON'S DREAM CORRIDOR? Robert Altman directed Harlan's script for "Paladin of the Lost Hour" with Peter Falk as Gaspar and Gary Dourdan as Billy Kinetta? I never mentioned that? Jeez, we need to hang out more.

KELL:

I'd have to see the photo to tell, because:

I use, in rotation, 16 office standard Olympias, most fit with Congress Pica typefaces and extended carriages, but some with just standard carriage ... and 22 Olympia portables, including three of the War Correspondent extra-thin "wafer" model (one of which is, s'help me, pink ... apparently intended for FEMALE war correspondents). ALL are manuals, no electrics.

Best I can do for you, without seeing your reference.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

REPLY TO SEMI-WRITER

It was, indeed, I whom you let make that turn. (It is very very nice, by the way, to have one of one's ingrained courteous gestures--my "thank you & wave of gratitude--documented.) Now, as I owe you one, I ask you to look at shadow vs. reality: you have heard what a rude monstrous curmudge I be, yet you yourself casually experienced my ACTUAL behavior when not being observed for posterity. Can it be that I am, in fact, as polite as I tell everyone I am ... and only deal harshly with the same sort of liferoaches YOU would heel underfoot?

If you'd like to name yourself, and hang out, I'd very much like to meet another Polite Fellow.

And again, thanks for the traffic boon.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

O FRABJOUS DAY, TODAY!

BECAUSE:

TODAY

IS THE DAY

AMERICA RANSOMS ITSELF

OUT OF DURANCE VILE!

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Why I didn't vote for Obama, either.
It's not what you think, perhaps, but it's what I thought. Fascinating reading.

http://tinyurl.com/5k8yfz

Brian Phillips


P.S. I must meet this Jackanapes. He cracks me up!

BARNEY – It’s not often you remind me of Wile E. Coyote. How’s that Bat Man suit working out for ya, bunkie?

FRANK – No rain in northern VA this morning, no breakdown in machines witnessed. Long, steady lines with helpful, upbeat volunteers moving things along. Then again, I went paper and gave Diebold the finger. Now Republicans AND the Green Party hate me…

JohnE – At 6:30 this morning, after passing two polling places in Ashburn, VA (with lines out the door at both), I took my spot at the end of the line at mine. On the way to the end of the line, I stopped counting people in front of me at 200. I expect the day will be light, lunch will uptick, and 4 to 7 will be utter mayhem. Glad I'll be home.

ALL - Worried about the youth vote? There’s YouTube video of the over 1,000 Penn State students who lined up this morning at 7 am to cast their vote. I suspect this isn’t an isolated event.

HARLAN – I am remiss with my feats of telephonic derring-do, but I haven’t forgotten a ping owed you. It’s an asses/alligators equation right now; I’m making wallets with the remaining fingers. Good things going on, propped up against schoolwork and personal deadlines and the soulless job I hope to trade in and some very nice warm fuzzies and – hell, you know how a lived life goes. But soon. Post-election, when we might need a chuckle. In the interim, rest assured I’se A-OK.

There was a light rain still falling as I drove past my polling place this morning. Roughly a hundred people in line at 6:50. I will be voting this afternoon around 3, when hopefully the initial wave will have concluded and the evening crowds are still at their desks.

Voting No on H8. Voting Yes on Hope.
___________________________________

DIMA - Glad you had a good time and I'm sorry we couldn't connect. Next time.
___________________________________

Cris had a day full of "stupid people" yesterday and took a bit of consoling to bring her down. Kinko's and Carl's respectively.

Some "stupid" kid at Kinko's refused to give Cris her professional discount because she didn't have a card and her name "isn't in the system", and she had no proof she owns Paws Here Productions which is, of course, "IN the system".

This was followed by a late drive through Carl's Jr., a twenty minute inexplicable wait to get the food, the short drive home to discover they hadn't actually given her the burgers they had her wait the twenty minutes for. The bag contained two, count 'em two, servings of chili fries and a side of zucchini. (The zucchini we ordered.) She raced back to the Carls, veeeryy unhappy at this point. When she got home, the bag contained one -- count 'em one -- burger.

I haven't heard Cris use language like this in years. The word "stupid" was modified a hundred different ways.

She was very obliged when an unsuspecting "Yes on 8" caller happened upon our number a half hour later. The poor volunteer may never go near a phone again...

Cris doesn't reach her boiling point more than maybe once a decade. But when she does, it's rather spectacular.
___________________________________

VOTE

OK, remember, if you are a registered Republican OR if you have ever disagreed with me about anything, even briefly, ever, your voting day is tomorrow and your polling stations are open from 3:30AM to 5:47AM.

If you mention me by name you will be given a $50.00 gas coupon and a free puppy or kitten of your choice.

Free beverages will be served - by strippers.

- Barney

Nopants, PA.

It's cloudy and cool here in Communist Northern Virginia but not raining. I'm working from home today so I was able to take a short walk to the polling place where there was nary a line. That it was 10:30 am probably had a lot to do with why the crowd seemed light. I am otherwise cautiously hopeful.

I wisely early voted. Anarchists, we love anything free. Gonna scam a bunch of free coffee. haha.

Saw a few voting locations, lines tend to be going smoothly, lots of african Americans in line, especially young people--good deal.

Went past the McCain office, not a soul in there.

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

Bad lines in Minnesota, I hear. Virginia has rain and voting machines breaking down.

Early voting internals have stunning Obama numbers. He wins more independents, young voters, women. White men don't have the juice this year, so to speak.

What's wrong with white men?

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

Kill Proposition 8 guys.

Aanold even agrees.

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

Palin can stay in Alaska, go ice fish.

Sandra, since one of the things I do in my current role is to write job descriptions, perhaps I should take a crack at composing one for Young Jackanapes. It would be good to get the old creative juices flowing.

To the Semi-Writer With Token Street Credibility, why on earth would you be afraid of Harlan? I have only been in his company once but many others here can testify that, much like his hero Zorro, he only strikes at the wicked and the unjust. While he is still perfectly capable of blistering the skin of those who provoke him, I find this irrational fear that many in the science fiction community have of Harlan laughable. Treat him courteously, deal with him in a respectful manner, and you will not find a writer in any genre who is more engaged with his fans

Coffee, coffee, coffee
Don't know if this has been mentioned already. However, if you go to Starbucks and tell them you voted, they will give you a free small (or whatever they call it) coffee.

I early voted, and they took my word for it.

The opportunity to vote, AND free coffee. What a country.

Mike

fabulous privileges


Just as most of the world goes to bed hungry, just as much of the world has never seen the inside of a school house, just as much of the world lives in a one-room home and has never tasted salmon, or a fresh kiwi, or even a McDonald's toadburger (as Someone has repeatedly termed it), so most of the world doesn't get to do what you do today:

VOTE!

It's a privilege and a pleasure, even if it takes a couple hours to get to the booth and the ballot. (As you know, I live in Oregon, where I was able to vote by mail two weeks ago.) Take a good read; take Ellison's _An Edge In My Voice_, and VOTE!

Going to vote.
I should have done more. But in the end, it comes down to voting.

Good luck everyone. May your local lines be short, but the lines nationally be long and liberal.

-Keith

Comment from Young Jackanapes at the dinner table when the subject of "things not to do at school" came up: "Of course we do things and don't tell you about them, Mom. We're kids. That's what we do. We have a job description too, y'know."

Gotta love 'im, though I don't recall why.

***

My brother and niece gave me a very nice journal and pen as an early birthday present (tomorrow's the day; no, my mother didn't vote on the day I was born). It doesn't hold the same thrill at this age, but I remember one birthday/election day where they closed my school to use it as a polling center. That was a birthday rush! No school on my birthday!

***

Cindy -- Yeah, I learned the "Yessir", "Yes Ma'am" during my years in the south as well. My parents' were sticklers for the "Mr." and "Mrs." when addressing adults, a habit I have found hard to break.


shagin

Consensus
If anyone still has an open mind on the subject, this is an article by an MIT science professor on global climate change and the politicization thereof.

I don't know what is going on. All these savants tell me to trust them, and yet too often what arguments they do present along with their request for trust (i.e. "faith") don't stand up to the twin tests of fact and logic.

Quote from opening of article follows:

Climate Science: Is It Currently Designed To Answer Questions?
by Richard Lindzen, October 30th, 2008

Has global warming alarm become the goal rather than the result of scientific research?

When the history of the early 21st century is written, it may be the financial health of the global economy was rescued by a new currency, carbon. This new asset class, fungible and tradeable, reinflated the balance sheets of governments and international financial institutions alike, and pulled humanity back from the brink of a worldwide depression. That is the hopeful scenario, and not one to be lightly dismissed.

The other outcome that may be our legacy, however, will be that just when technology and capitalism were about to deliver prosperity and security to an unprecedented number of people everywhere, and just at the time when what our financial systems needed was to embark on new investment in cost-effective energy and water infrastructure, we instead committed the wealth of humanity to deploying immature energy technologies, and arcane projects of no use and stupefying expense - such as blasting CO2 gas into underground caverns."

About the author: Richard S. Lindzen is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://web.mit.edu).

End of quoted material.

Read the rest at:

http://ecoworld.com/features/2008/10/30/climate-science-is-it-currently-designed-to-answer-questions/

I await the election with confused interest. Despair is a sin. The best of the past taken into the unknowable future. Further, deponent sayeth not.

KOS

Did I see... was that...?
I'm pretty damned positive that I saw Harlan driving around Beverly Hills a few days ago. Some guy was trying to make a left turn onto a busy street (five or six lanes) from a side street. I stopped and the city bus beside me stopped, and the man pulled his blue car out into the street and checked that the way was clear on his right. He then gave a quick wave and called out, "Thank you very much!" as he made the turn. The "you're welcome" died in my throat when recognition kicked in.

Holy CRAP! Was it Harlan? I think so. And I say "holy crap" because as much as I admire the man, his personality scares the HELL out of me. Love his work, love his stance on issues, and absolutely love his inner strength... but I've always secretly hoped never to run into the saber-toothed tiger in person lest my weak, pitiful soul shrivel up on me. Nevertheless, his words in "Ellison Wonderland" are what drove me (after years of insecurities about leaving the Midwest for good) to move to Los Angeles, so I owe him considerable thanks for that inspiration. And I'd like to believe that, yes, the older gentleman in the little car was him after all, if only to feel that I now exist because Harlan Ellison has seen my face.

Reply to Steve Barber
Hi Steve,

I just got caught up with the board after my trip. Don't worry about it, I understand how life gets busy - I hope everything goes well for you in your new job. I had a good time in LA, enjoyed the warm weather and learned lots about genetics :) Hopefully I'll get to meet you again someday.

Regards,
Dima

Harlan
Harlan- Richard Dreyfuss

Well, tomorrow's the day guys. Good luck. The whole world is counting on you. . .

Studs Turkel, R.I.P., and Reply on Epitaph
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

First time near a computer since learning of the death of Studs Turkel. Read "The Good War" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?". Wonderful. Haven't been this down since learning of Dr. Asimov's death in 1992. Writers' deaths, especially of "The Greatest Generation", seem to hit me especially profoundly. More to say, like my grandparents. The fount stops.

As to earlier reply to comment about epitaph proposed by our dear host, I couldn't beat that. (I suppose that should Mr. E. predecease me, and I were to borrow later his epitaph after passing, he might, from beyond the grave, ........) I'll just leave that thought alone.

As to tomorrow's election, being a denizen of the Eastern Time Zone, I'll probably vote before most of you, so I'll start the Obama parade, as my dachshund and bulldog have pulled out of the campaign and have thrown their support behind the Democrats.

Good luck to us all tomorrow.

Finished "Geek Love": wonderful.

Regards from the Fremen-eyes bluest-within-blue state,

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Blah Blah and Oblahma
I just wanted to post 5 cents.
Its funny that as a white guy. I want Obama to win just to stick it to the Man. I know that he is a politician and therefore under the control of the Fed and The Money Machine.(Sickly funny how Greenspan started all this wall street Debacle)

But By God I'm Sick of it! and even if it turns out to be a superficial gesture. At least it is telling the Powers that be that we, Well we frankly just don't like them.

Sadly I do not see any real change a comin. I think the only way to get real peoples voices heard would be to put a poor man in the white house and make it law that he stays poor. Ya know that money will change ya quick.

Yeah Pipe Dreamin here. Somebody gotta match?

Naaaaah
Steve Barber: yeah, Dustin Hoffman could probably do it, though I saw no resemblance in that film. You want resemblance, though? Check out NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN, a little-known, and powerful (though in his body of work no better than middling) corrupt-cop drama directed by Sidney Lumet. It's not as great as SERPICO or PRINCE OF THE CITY or DOG DAY AFTERNOON or THE HILL or even his most recent, the brilliant BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, but it's pretty good, and has many of the same virtues as those films, including terrific location work. Among other things there's a wonderful performance by Ian Holm, of all people, as a tough New York City cop. But I'm getting off the subject here. You want resemblance. Check out the performance by Ron Liebman, as the Manhattan D.A. As an energetic short guy who uses his body in the same way, and a hebraic motormouth who takes over a room in the same way, even up to the vague physical resemblance, Liebman was so unnerving that I was moved to ask Harlan, some time afterward, if he'd ever spent any time with the man.

John McCain IS Harry Flashman
Great column by Alexander Cockburn, from over the weekend:

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn10312008.html

(Pssst - ROBERT ROSS! Don't let "H" scare you. He does that. You should see the police reports from his area every Halloween. The freshly turned soil in the ravine behind his house gives only a faint whiff of decaying flesh, don'tcha think?)

(If you haven't already gotten his number, feel free to give me a blast at the above email. No spamming, please.)
____________________________________

FRANK - Good advice regarding Georgia. I'm voting early in the morning and I expect lines. As I've noted before, I won't feel entirely relieved until after January 20, but good news tomorrow would certainly be welcome.
____________________________________

FILM NOTES (Sans Spoilage) - We spent a good portion of the weekend nursing the last of our sniffles and watching a few good films. Thoroughly enjoyed STARDUST and NO RESERVATIONS, but would like to offer a serious literary recommendation for STRANGER THAN FICTION with Will Farrell, Maggie Gylanefelandellrmans (or whatever it is -- she's Jake's sister), Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah.

Halfway through the film it struck me that if any actor is ever called upon to play Harlan Ellison in "da movies", it ought to be Mr. Hoffman.

Just sayin'.

Mark, are you smoking something funny? Franken is ahead by four points in a poll I saw. Barack will give him coattails. Trust me kiddo.

Eight hour lines in Florida on sunday, in early voting? That doesn't sound right. Can someone say poll tax?

Gallup has Obama up by 13, but McCain may still win.

Voting suppression is real.

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

George Will gives Obama 378 electoral points? I bet they kick him out of the club.

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

If all is well Obama may get 320 or so. You heard it here first.

Georgia will be the bellweather. If the vote there is close, expect a blowout.

Re: Paul Riddell
Thanks, Alejandro, for that Riddell update. I have been wondering what he's been up to since shutting down his other Livejournal account some time ago, and I'm glad to see that he's still playing in the dirt.

James

Sandra, great news on your psycho ex being locked up tenporarily. Hopefully, this is the last time he is able to intrude upon your life again.

Although I am undoubtedly preaching to the choir, I would urge you all to get out and vote tomorrow, but to be prepared for long lines when you do so. Some of the early polling precincts are reporting lines of up to 8 hours and, while that is an extreme case, every voter should be aware that due to a huge turnout, you could be waiting around for a while.

My predictions on the outcome tomorrow are as follows:

Democrats increase by 6 seats in the Senate (AL, NH, NM, CO, NC, OR, looks like that odious prick Norm Coleman will be re-eelcted, but it will be close)
Democrats pick up 20-25 seats in the House
Barack Obama wins the popular vote by 6 percentage points and will garner 364 electoral college votes

2"

HARLAN: A buddy and I were arguing about something unrelated and we wandered into territory he knows something about - manual typewriters. I mentioned that you still used one for day to day work, he scoffed, I ran to the internet, pointed to a picture, he relented and then went on about the Olympia before putting his foot in his mouth and pronounced the typewriter an SG3 with a 15" carriage. I pointed to the picture again and corrected him. It's too small, has to be 13". High school physics was brought to bear, then some references to his mother, all true, but each of us remain unconvinced by the other's proofs.

So, which is it, 15" or 13" carriage on the SG3? A steak dinner and a public admission of mental retardation is on the line.

SKILLMAN COMMENT LOGGED
Done, with a url directing him back here. It's an old post from the summer, but his e-mail should ding him that it received a reply.

http://ericskillman.blogspot.com/2008/08/harlan-ellison.html

BRIAN SIANO OR ANYONE ELSE

Yesterday (Sunday), Brian Siano posted a heads-up to the artsite of Eric Skillman. I knew of the essay, distasteful, and the art, excellent, some time ago; but as I would rather be kneecapped than register a password with Google, I would take it as a small favor if someone already in the thrall of La Bete Electronique would post this small encomium to Mr. Skillman's site. Thank you in advance.

MR. SKILLMAN:

Though I found the essay to be just about six centimeters below odious, I did very much enjoy the style and quality of your accompanying art, which a number of my friends and/or readers have commended. Thank you.

Harlan Ellison

Just the above, if you have a moment to post it for me, Brian...or whomever. And again, thanks. Yr. Pal, Harlan

Our friend Paul
Mr. Riddell, he of the The Healing Power of Obnoxiousness and The Esoteric Resource Center, and his carnovorus plants were profiled by the Dallas Morning News. Oh, the sweet irony:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/home/gardening/stories/DN-nhg_garden-triffids_1030gd.State.Edition1.112d1a0.html

Forrest Ackerman
Ain't It Cool News is reporting that Forry Ackerman will probably be leaving us in the very near future:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38960

I'm well aware from having kept up with this page that the opinion of HE and some others toward Mr. Ackerman has extended well toward the unfavorable of late, and why that is the case, but those who might wish to extend a brief kindness toward the man while he's still here can do so via the address posted in the link.

European football question
*** Mostly for the "Brit Pack" *** I have a friend, Derek, who I "pal around" with a bit up at Christian's Spring who is another one of these transplanted U.K. ex-pats. At a party in his home this weekend he gifted me with a VERY nice Leeds knitted hat and official team jersey. The hat is nice but the jersey, well hell, these things are damn near lingerie they're so nicely done. The hat was gratis, but the shirt came with a pretty firm obligation that I make some effort to sort of follow the team and get up to speed with some* of the team history - with, which the help of Wikipedia and the Leeds United A.F.C. official site I'm actually going to do.

(* I'm pretty sure there will be quizzes on things going back to 1919.)

Here are the question(s);

What the hell have I let myself in for? I am given to understand this is a little bit like declaring yourself Greek Orthodox or C.of E. in the wrong century if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Is it safe to wear this thing in airports? Pubs? Just how serious is all this?

Secondly, does anyone in the Brit Pack have STRONG feelings about all of this? I've not kissed any rings yet so it may not be too late. ;-)

- Barney

Hooligan, PA.

STEPHEN HUFF,

Not just alive -- alive and KICKING. Walking the picket lines for the writer's strike, giving interviews, and opening his life to a documentary filmmaker as the subject of the feature length film DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH, a clip from which has generated over 196,000 hits on Youtube (do a search for "Harlan Ellison" and look for "pay the writer"). But most importantly of all, he is still pounding the keyboard and producing the pages. His most recently produced teleplay (with Josh Olson) was for the "Masters of Science Fiction" series last year, and is available on DVD.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Stephen. As someone who appreciates Ellison's work, I think you'll find this a congenial online community. Please stick around.

Steve J.

Still Alive
For some reason watching the election coverage I suddenly thought of Harlan and wondered if he was still alive. Never met him, never will, I expect. Still I recall once suddenly realizing that a lot of the most striking SF stories I ever read were by him. I knew I was a fan of Heinlein, Anderson and Asimov, but realized suddenly one day that I really, really liked his works as some of the most memorable I ever read.

Well, glad he is doing well. Best wishes to him.

Greg,
My kids all say "sir" and "ma'am". They're Texas raised too. I don't think it hurts anything to show respect to older folks. I also taught them the importance of standing up for things that are right. They have nice manners but they can set them down quickly if a situation requires salt instead of sugar. They pretty much know the difference at this point...the baby is 12 now.

It's-- a Southern thing, I guess.
:)
Cindy

Studs on the Prairie
Yeah, that was a really swell tribute to Studs.

It'll probably show up here: http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/

It appears that they post episodes a week after they air. When it does post, you can find it in the last half hour, as part of the Guy Noir piece.

Studs
In it's most recent airing, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPAINON payed a heartfelt tribute to Studs Terkel.

It's well worth dredging up if you have the time and energy. It must be available for a listen somewhere in the hinternet.

Rick

Eric Skillman art of Our Host
Okay, I don't want to dredge up a _bad_ article... but a few weeks ago, there was some complaint about an article about Harlan that appeared in nextbook.org. That'll be all I'll say about the article for now.

The thing is, the artist they got to illustrate the article, Eric Skillman, is pretty good: he's also designed Criterion's packaging for their edition of _Berlin Alexanderplaatz_. Over at his blog, he posted three illustrations he did for the Ellison piece. The style is very reminiscent of the Dillons'. You can see the artwork (without having to dredge up that article) at

http://ericskillman.blogspot.com/2008/08/harlan-ellison.html

ROBERT ROSS in Minneapolis

What a letter. Geezus, kid. Yes, of course, I remember you. In fact, I would much like to have a chat about this'n'that. If you need my phone number, you can ask our Beloved Webmaster, Mr. Wyatt, or even Steve Barber, who actually has an e.mail address, and who simply ADORES being asked to depart from experiencing his OWN life to serve our petty needs.

I'm home all day. Harlan

I received a call from the Bremerton Police Department this morning informing me that psycho-boy was in temporary custody in Denver. The officer I spoke with didn't know if he was going to be remanded to a state psychiatric unit or released into his own custody.

I'm glad he's okay. I'm even happier that he's a thousand or so more miles away. I'd be even happier if someone took out a contract on his parents for the way they worked him over as a child, but that's another story.

Wanted everyone to know.

Back to laundry and life.


shagin

Richard Dreyfuss schools Fox News viewers:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x232163

He is soooooooooo serious. We love you Richard, but lighten up.

Nifty Flying Blue Monkey
Dear Harlan and other Webderlanders,
Have you seen these? They're from Tonner, a well-respected doll-maker.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tonner-Dolls-Winged-Monkey-Wizard-of-Oz-NRFB_W0QQitemZ290257295178QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116#ebayphotohosting

Lori -- e-mail me!
David -- e-mail me!

Cheers,
Gwyneth

To Joseph J. Finn:

Glad to see someone else who likes Michael Haneke's CACHE. Sadly, I've found fans of this film few and far between.

If you liked CACHE, you should really see his other films. THE SEVENTH CONTINENT is mesmerizing. The last half of the film brought me (literally) to the edge of my couch. I found myself leaning forward as if the image was drawing me closer and closer...trying to pull me inside of it. There comes a moment (I won't spoil it for you...you'll know it when you see it) during that second half when a strange feeling of euphoria comes over you, a feeling of freedom and triumph. This feeling is strange only because of the circumstances in which the characters are involved.

Terrific movie. Great director.

I also remember that Turkel/Wolfe/Asimov/Ellison program. In fact, I'm 95% sure that I have it recorded on an old Betamax tape. (I can't lay my hands on it to be certain because we just moved, and everything is in boxes.) "Nightcap" was a wonderful program in general. One of the things I loved about it was that it began with the participants in mid-conversation. Then Studs would casually look at the camera, invite us in, and turn back to the discussion. At the end of the allotted time, he would again address the camera to bid us farewell, as the conversation rolled on behind him. No time was eaten up with elaborate introductions or a big wrap-up. Instead, one was left with the feeling of having wandered into a room where an intimate group of world-class conversationalists had gathered, and having been invited to sit in and listen. Another highlight of the series was the program with Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner. Wonderful stuff.

So long, Studs. You were the real thing. No complaints here -- you hung in there with us like the champ you are for 96 years -- but we're sure going to miss you.

JOSEPH FINN,

I'm so glad to hear you mention that connection between THE RULES OF THE GAME and GOSFORD PARK. I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed it. It seems pretty clear that Altman intended an overt tip of the hat to Renoir, but for some reason the homage is rarely mentioned.

Steve J.

(Ignore the sound of effing crickets)

Dan Compora, in his 'Syfy 101' column at Syfyportal.com -- this one entitled "When Sci-Fi Becomes Sci-Frightening" -- notes Unca Harlan's contribution to the world's terror quotient.

"It is, however, Harlan Ellison’s masterful short story "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" that ranks, at least for me, as the most frightening piece of science-fiction literature.

Survivors, trapped in the belly of a hateful, sadistic computer, are subject to the whims of the machine. This 1967 short story has aged surprisingly well, considering the increasing role technology plays in our everyday lives."

The comment is strapped between an appreciation of Robert Louis Stevenson's THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE and a mention of John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

http://www.syfyportal.com/news425516.html
___________________________________________

Yes, Jan, I get it. But I always try to note something good in people even when I don't necessarily agree with them.

(The exception being politicians, of course.)
___________________________________________

Last night the weather was quite pleasant here in LB, so a friend came over and the three of us (He, CB, n me) barbequed up some tri tip, wheeled the fire pit around front, and sat around a fire on the front patio distributing candy.

At one point an older gentleman who was escorting his kids (we assumed) around, looked longingly over at our chairs, fir and bottle of wine, and remarked that "THAT is the way to do Halloween". His expression suggested he wanted very much to ditch the kids and pull up a chair...

We lost count, but last night had well over 85 Trick or Treaters, which is down from last year but certainly not bad for our area.

Half Price
Just got back from Half Price Books and did not find any Ellison titles for sale. Haven't seen any for the 10 years I've been going there.

Naturally, I would not buy Harlan's books from a reseller because, you know, no royalties. I was just checking.

Studs Terkel is a God on our side. This death really hits me. He represented radicalism in the greatest way--with wit and humour and what Harlan said--moxie.

He made radical mainstream, as it is. Radical just means that you have to look under some rocks to find the real truth. What squirms underneath may be ugly, but it has to be reported on--for the sake of honesty. It doesn't make you the cool kid or popular at dinner parties, but it makes you human.

Studs was as human as they come--sadly proving that today.

He obviously didn't want to go through another sad election, if McCain won.

Bless him. There is a heaven and he is there--taking notes.

LOST HERC MEMBER
Pam Stanfield, Sayward, British Columbia.

Thanks--Susan

TRILLIN, not Trllin.

STUDS

Before we began the taping of the interview show he was, at the time smartly co-hosting with Calvin Trillin, I had just come pell-mell from uptown (with the fear that the cops were right behind me), had come from (literally, physically) savaging the executive at Grosset & Dunlap who had refused to recall and pulp the Ace pb editions of SPIDER KISS cover and spine-mislabeled "science fiction."

My editor, at the time, the wonderful Terri Windling, had witnessed the assault in the guy's Executive Country office, and had literally smuggled me out of the building, past Security, down the basement, out the loading dock. I had snagged a cab, and rushed downtown to the studio where Studs, Calvin, Isaac Asimov and Gene Wolfe were waiting to begin the roundtable conversation for the syndicated talk-show.

I arrived in a state. I'd met Studs only once before, briefly, when I was working in Chicago. He knew me, but not so much. Calvin was mesmerized by the street gypsy who had come slamming in and now stood gasping before him, sweating and rolling his eyes. I felt like Jean Valjean.

Studs, Isaac (and to a lesser degree, the most restrained of the group, Gene) anxiously sought an answer to the query, "What the hell happened to YOU?"

I hurlyburly'd an explosive, expletive-bedizened answer, and no less an answer than (actually) blow-by-blow. When I finished, emptied of all and everything, they as a group stared at me, as if a survivor had just come crawling off the beach at Dunkirk and was relating transformational recollection of historic events only a few minutes old.

I just stood there, shaking, finally coming to realize I was likely going to jail in New York City for having physically manhandled a publishing executive. Did I have time to get to La Guardia to catch the next plane to ANYwhere? And Studs Terkel, that Great Man, looked at me and said:

"Kid, you got some real moxie there!"
---------------------------------------------------------------

Aw, Studs, why'd ya have to go an' die.

Harlan

Studs Terkel, 1912-2008
Amidst all of the election hubub, the news may not make much of a mention of this, but the great Studs Terkel passed away on Friday, age 96. An amazing interviewer and storyteller, a mainstay of Chicago radio for decades, a hilarious public speaker, and all-around nice guy. If you haven't been reading his books, you are missing out. If you haven't heard his interviews, go to www.studsterkel.org to listen to clips.

At age 96, he had a great run, but he was such a vocal critic of W and his cronies that I do wish he had been able to stick around for at least one more week. He was a big fan of Senator Obama, but Studs has always been just slightly to the (radical) left!

Anyway, for anybody interested, the Los Angeles Times has a nice article about Studs online.

JCM

Rules of the Game, by the way, was a big influence on the excellent Robert Altman movie Gosford Park. Another French movie I can recommend, not New Wave but more recent, is the odd Cache, a movie where I'm still not sure exactly what happened but I do like mulling the possibilities occasionally.

"On Thanksgiving, the only things I'm interested in are the turkey, dressing, gravy, and sweet potato casserole."
You godless person you!

Steve in the FAIR USE thread at DIAL B:
"And, note, I like that Robby posts links for people to find more of the work if they like it. Nice touch."
Steve, do you realize that people get commissions from Amazon for products sold via such advertisements/banners? It's not only a "nice touch", it's also $$$.
(If anyone needs to go there, the thread is here: http://members.boardhost.com/dialb/msg/1225335916.html)

Swwet Potatoes
Oh, fresh sweet potatoes are the way to go! Bake them just as you would an Idaho potato, then load with butter and brown sugar. Definitely Good Eats. On Thanksgiving, the only things I'm interested in are the turkey, dressing, gravy, and sweet potato casserole.

And, oddly enough, sweet potatoes are better if you are on a low sugar diet, as its carbs are more complex than those of other potatoes. Go figure.

Another? Why We Hate Us
Hi,
I failed to access back issues of "The Week" online,but found an NPR interview with Dick Meyer,author of "Why We Hate Us",with an exerpt,"Land of The Fake".

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93261726

I'll be checking the library for "The Week",but Meyer is on my list as well.

play nice,share yer toys,mike

TIm McMahan + lyrics
You might be thinking about Michael Moorcock who co-wrote some Blue Oyster Cult songs (as well as Hawkwind + others). Seems HE was aboard a Stones tour and Three Dog Night as well. I gotta defer to others on the lyric thing.

In case nobody's mentioned it already -- while we're recommending French films, let's not forget THE WAGES OF FEAR.

Bests to all,

--tr

As I type this, the man of my dreams, the light of my life, the cheese of my fondue, is perched on the front porch in a black trench coat, a gargoyle skull mask, skeletal gloves, and a pair of black cloth wings rigged to open and close when the control cords are pulled.

I knew there was a reason I loved this man, and tonight is one such reason.


shagin

I just wanted to second Mark Spieller's recommendation of THE RULES OF THE GAME. Not only is it wonderful and witty, but, as evinced by this line of dialogue (spoken by Jean Renoir himself), a very wise film: "You see, in this world there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons."

J. Michael Straczynski...FORBIDDEN PLANET REMAKE????????!!!!!!

Oh, fer chrissake! He's capable of getting new stuff out there; he's more talented than THAT. I wish he wouldn't join the "remake" band wagon! I'm SOOOO sick of it.

Anyway...I'm about to run out to smash some pumpkins, but, very quickly, I'll tell you right NOW, Godard's Bande A Part is a smack dab SMASHING piece! Whimsical avant garde noir, at its best.

Didn't realize, until I was absorbing the dialog, that this was the one Tarantino referenced to hype his own stuff.

Howdy you harlanheds!
I was just looking around to see what Harlan was doing these days and I found you goombahs (I wouldn't even be here except that Wikipedia seems to be down at the moment). Sorry to see that he is not doing much but at least you lot are lively!

Years ago I had a girlfriend who claimed that Harlan made a pass at her in an elevator in Las Vegas in the late 80's. Everytime I talked to her, I got an unreasonable feeling that I was in the prescence of greatness! In fact, she even *looks exactly like* his current wife!

(BTW, the bio needs to be divided up, Wikipedia style, into sections. Could not find the year he got married or previous marriages.)

Have a great day and good luck with the election, whichever way you swing!

Forbidden Planet
Harlan's pal J. Michael Straczynski was named in the trades today as the one to write the remake of FORBIDDEN PLANET.

I'd rather they didn't remake FORBIDDEN PLANET, but if they must, he's the man to write it (if Harlan isn't available to do it).

Rock lyrics?
It seems I read somewhere in my Ellisonian collection -- probably in an interview -- that Harlan has written lyrics for a rock band. Anyone know the band(s) and the songs?

Or perhaps I just dreamed the whole thing up...

Manners
I disagree... I am constantly reminding my Texas-raised children not to address us as "sir" and "ma'am." That's not how *I* was raised in the Midwest. Most kids in this part of the country are very polite (except tonight, Hallowe'en, when greed overcomes Baptist strictures).

We've lost Studs Terkel today.
No tears. The man was 96, and he'd given us so much of... well, ourselves, or people like us.

I have vivid memories of the TV show he did with Calvin Trillin, "Nightcap," and the special SF show with guests Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe and Harlan Ellison.

Manners
The civilizing affect of basic good manners on a person, in a family, in society at large is a lost art today. But manners or lack there of can be a self-defining statement by all the above. Dark days. Not much sass today. Best to Susan Harlan.

Still Worried After All These Months...
Seen the polls, seen the maps, seen the numbers... but there's still one more weekend to go - one more weekend for it to go wrong. The Neocon Newsers are ramping up attacks like it's 1952. Someone I know showed me how McCain could pull off an Electoral College win even if Obama is up a million or more in the national popular vote: there are that many states where it's close enough to flip. Even after Tuesday, expect a Republican war effort in any close state where ACORN has high visibility. That's the old newspaper rule: accusation on page one above the fold, retraction back in the middle of the paper, next to the mortuary ads. I hope I'm worried for nothing; I'm still Catholic enough to even pray that I'm worried for nothing. (Me and Father Greeley.) But as long as Cold War II cntinues to fester... damn, I'm fresh out of cliches. Each and all of you, VOTE... that I may retire my acid reflux with honor.

Oh, shit, I meant jump cuts, not shaky cameras. Sorry guys.

Hate jump cuts. Husbands and Wives had that, plus shaky cameras. Damn, I wanted to strangle Woody Allen.

If I want reality I will see a documentary or go outside.

Shakes Hans' Lucas' hand. I'm sure you didn't mean it. We all have our days.

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

A shaky camera would not help a Souffle either.

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

The Catholic church jumps the shark every day.

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

Sam Jackson backs a new anti-8 ad. Hope it helps. Stop the hate.

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

I don't hate McCain, I pity him. I don't hate Bush, but I do want him tried and sent to jail. Justice, ya know. I try not to hate, but to learn.

I'm with Coil on fresh sweet potatoes--ewwww.

Give me the canned suckers, with brown sugar and loads of butter.

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

Rumours abound that McCain will be forced to campaign in Arizona monday!

Those Gallup numbers are fucking amazing.

-----------

Gallup also has a poll where most Americans like the idea of "redistributing wealth." A shocker.

A NOTE TO HANS LUCAS

I have no dog in this "Godard" hunt. But I DO have a lesson in manners and simple courtesy to deliver to you. At least as pertains to this site.

Your post should have ended with:

"The only Godard film which has a 'shaky camera' is A BOUT DE SOUFFLE."

That which followed was snotty, uncalled-for, and a perfect example of the cultural rot that has infected us all with road rage, umbrage, in yer face, and rudeness. You made your point; you should have been polite enough, thereafter, to shut your face and not to veil an unwarranted dig, particularly on such an unimportant matter of personal opinion. You might want to look at your manner, sir. And that goes for several others who indulge this toxically picayune pique with annoying regularity. I am one of them.

Harlan Ellison ...
who remembers a more courteous time ... and who recommends to you all, as the "Last Word" feature in the recent issue of THE WEEK, a piece titled "why We Hate Us" that addresses the above with a weight we should all feel.

A NOTE TO HANS LUCAS

I have no dog in this "godard" hunt. But I DO have a lesson in manners and simple courtesy to deliver to you. At least as pertains to this site.

Your post should have ended with:

"The only Godard film which has a 'shaky camera' is A BOUT DE SOUFFLE."

That which followed was snotty, uncalled-for, and a perfect example of the cultural rot that has infected us all with road rage, umbrage, in yer face, and rudeness. You made your point; you should have been polite enough, thereafter, to shut your face and not to veil an unwarranted dig, particularly on such an unimportant matter of personal opinion. You might want to look at your manner, sir. And that goes for several others who do this picayune pique with annoying regularity. I am one of them.

Harlan Ellison ...
who remembers a more courteous time ... and who recommends to you all, as the "Last Word" feature in last week's issue of THE WEEK, a piece titled "why We Hate Us" that addresses the above with a weight we should all feel.

sweet potatoes

Alan - your dislike of sweet potatoes makes me wonder if you've been stuck with the mushy canned variety. I hate those too. But I like them when prepared from scratch.

And sweet potato fries are one of the truly brilliant inventions of the last few years, IMHO.

In curiosity,

MM

"They're probably laced with something."

response

"Yes, they are. They're laced with hope."


=================

Rick Keeney--if your son is spitting out all food at you, it means nothing, but if he is spitting out sweet potatoes only, then maybe he just doesn't like them. I don't. Have tried them again as recently as 3 years ago, and felt like spitting them out myself. Yuck.

faith-impaired


:: My vote for best line in Webderland all year: "Also, for
:: anyone who hasn't seen it yet...Christianity has officially
:: jumped the shark"


Loved the line -- and the link -- too, but my personal feeling is that Christianity jumped the shark under Constantine, in the fourth century . . . not to mention during the sale of indulgences in the early 16th century.

My vote for best line in Webderland all year: "Also, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet...Christianity has officially jumped the shark"

Thank you Mr. Powell, I haven't stopped giggling and am going to appropriate this comment accordingly.
___________________________________________

ATC - Nicely handled. One of the mysteries to me is the permission to hate given Repubs by their leaders. Not dislike the policies of... Not find fault with... Not disagree vehemently with...

Hate.

I don't hate John McCain, though I completely disagree with what he stands for. I don't even hate Dubya, though I hate what he has done to our country.

But HATRED is something we, as a country, should be outgrowing by now. FEAR is another one. The GOP is the party of fear.

"The terrorists are coming to get you, Barbara."

"He's one of 'THEM'."

"He's a terrorist/socialist/baby killer."

HATE.

FEAR.

This is not the future I want.
______________________________________________

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!!!



(*giggle* ...Jumped the shark... *heh*)

French Film Lists from a recovering Film School Grad
Definately, take in Alphaville, Breathless, The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Theif of Paris, My Night at Mauds and Umbrellas of Cherborg and the others listed. But do not neglect yourself the pleasure of Jean Renoir's wonderful The Rules of the Game. One of the greatest french films of the prewar era. A great look at class through the "Upstairs/Downstairs" antics in a french countryside manor. In the realm of the fantastic in french films take in Beauty and the Beast and Vamypr, both visually stunning and startling films.

Godard
Try as I might, I don't recall seeing much of a shaky cam on "Breathless". Yes, a lot of it was shot handheld (but it was a pretty steady handheld) and the tracking shots down Parisian streets were shot with cinematographer Raoul Coutard seated on a wheelchair. "Breathless" is better known for its jump cuts. In fact, Godard is much better known for the use of editing, titles and the manipulation of sound than anything else (although his 360 takes in "Weekend" are breathless.

ATC's last post
Hey ADAM: I was tell my daughter to keep lots of smart-aleck comments handy, inside her coat pocket, for just such ocassions. In your case, regarding the ladies and the lollies, you should've whipped out, "No worries. There only laced with good ol' common sense. Have one...and come join us across the steet."

--DTS

"Don't like Godard. Shaky camera only works with Blair Witch. With movies, I want to be transformed into a different world. The shaky camera brings me back to the fact that cameras are filming things"

The only Godard film which has a 'shaky camera' is A BOUT DE SOUFFLE. Though, since Godard's work is aimed at people who want to learn something about the world they live in, as opposed to being transported (let alone 'transformed') into a different one, this is actually kind of a shame.

I'd say those two white power mooks they arrested this week have now given us the perfect comeback to any wetbrain out there trying to pull that "OMFG OBAMA = HITLER" shuck on us: "So then, why exactly *was it that they arrested two NEO-NAZIS for trying to off him before the election? What, was Obama not Hitler *enough for them, or was he too much Hitler? C'mon, help me out just a little here."

Also, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet...Christianity has officially jumped the shark:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/30/wonkette-jesus-peopl.html

Saffron's Mad About Me
Spent eight-plus hours today with my 6 month-old son, Ben.

He peed on me at 8:30am. He either thought that was funny or he knew what was coming, because that was a huge smile he shot me. He had a brown blowout at around lunch time. 'Nuff said. (I believe I heard him snicker on that one.) The boy had a lot of fun spitting his sweet potatoes back at me over lunch. (This kind of scheduling helps with my diet. Sights such as these work better than Atkins. I'm just not very hungry.)

Aaaaaaaaaanyway; packaged up the diapers, and sent them off to the McCain campaign. Which action led to an interesting back-and-forth at the P.O. :

Dedicated Civil Servant: "Anything breakable, volatile or prehensile in the package, sir?"

Me: "Nope, just poop and pee."

Ben: ~snigger~

DSS: "Whatever. Cute kid. Five fifty, please."

We also mailed photos of the kid to the Ellisons, just to show the next generation is more than solid. Most of the time.

Ben and I are wishing the Obamas well.

And daddy is voting for Nader.

They call me mellow yellow,
LoveRick

The troubling "Dial B for Blog" situation has been handled amicably. I have spoken to Mr. Kimball; he is going for some serious dental surgery but expects to be back in fit shape next week; and we will quickly and smoothly do what of needs must be done to make the both of us smile. A chat was all it took.

I'll keep you apprised. But lay back; it has become a not-problem. Thanks for your various intercessions ... particularly the staunch friend, Anthony Tollin, who produces the swell SHADOW double-novels I recommend highly.

Thank you all. Yr. Pal, Harlan

Spent eight hours today working as a data entrant for the McCain campaign.

Feels bizarre, kinda like I'm a spy, but they're paying me, and I seriously need the work. (I'm merely culling the voter lists, separating out the folks who have already voted from those who have not. If they were to ask me to work the phones, I'd refuse.)

Only one or two nutjobs there (including a fella who is Rapture-ready), and my immediate coworkers are pretty level-headed and sane. But I really can't wait for Tuesday, when this gig is over.

SJPO

Spent ten hours today as an Obama worker outside a polling place in Miami.

Need to report that ALL the craziness on display was McCain-oriented. The guy holding the sign, HITLER WANTED CHANGE TOO. The other guy holding a sign, VOTE FOR THE MOMMY NOT THE COMMIE. The guy who had four signs, each more racist than the last, and switched back and forth between them, proudly facing the voters with the intelligence that Obama was a TERRORIST and another that called him HITLER and BROTHER TO BIN LADEN and at one point a drawing of Obama meant to look like a monkey.

Now, noting that all the crazies were McCain folks is not the same thing as saying that all the McCain folks were crazy. I honestly *liked* some of the McCain people -- the bunch of young Columbians, mostly pretty young girls, who came bopping around in a colorfully-painted bus, shouting whooo! And McCain!
Yeah! Yeah, I disagree with them, but that showed pep and enthusiasm (and even good-natured friendliness toward us while chanting their guy's name). There was no hostility there, is what I'm saying. They had their bag, but weren't bitches about us having ours.

But on the other side of the equation? Several folks who took it upon themselves to scream abuse at the Obama supporters. One who dressed up like Osama Bin Laden and said OBAMA IS THE NEW HITLER. Standing out there on the sidewalk holding a sign beside several folks carrying anti-Obama signs of the OBAMA KILLS BABIES variety, was one woman who said that she was "dying of thirst" and needed somebody to get her some water. Just "none of the Obama water" (since both groups of partisans were handing out water bottles and treats to the people waiting for more than an hour in the hot sun).

I was moved to say to her, "You know, nobody at the Obama table's gonna refuse you a bottle of water."

"I don't want anything from that man."

"It's JUST WATER. Identical to the water you'll get walking half a block further at the McCain table. Hell, if you want, I'll get it for you."

Angrily: "I don't want any Obama water!"

Oh-kay.

At one point I had a big bag of lollypops and was offering them to people on line, "Lollies for the line," promising everybody that these were "nonpartisan lollipops" that anybody could have. I even went over to the McCain folks to give them some. One lady said, "They're probably laced with something." The
woman standing next to her said, "He doesn't know you're kidding." I said, "Of course I know you're kidding." But the lady who made the joke accusation seemed a little upset that I hadn't risen to the bait.

Interesting study in human nature, today.

As much as I love Godard and Truffaut, the French New Wave filmmaker whose work I respond to most keenly is Alain Resnais. LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD is a delight, and HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR gets better every time I see it. Resnais didn't splash around a lot of jump cuts and freeze frames, but the things he and his screenwriters did with narrative structure are subversive in the best sense.

Steve J.

Godard
I would second all those Godards Alejandro chose -- but also include TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER, CONTEMPT (LE MEPRIS) and ALPHAVILLE.

Regarding other French New Wave: Also recently saw Agnes Varda's CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 and was blown away by it.

And you can't go wrong with Truffaut's 400 BLOWS. (and later his DAY FOR NIGHT)

The Case of the Case of Missing Hydroxes
A mystery has just been solved. A San Francisco Safeway store that had many packages of Hydrox one day, then none the next, is located at Church/Market. David Silver, is this the store location of which you speak?

Why won't they restock them? After managing to get a package of these cookies a few weeks ago, before they all vanished, I definitely got the sense of a long lost flavor.

Godard
Rob:

You may want to try "Breathless", "Pierrot Le Fou" and "A Woman Is a Woman" starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, "Masculine-Femenenine" and "La Chinoise" with Jean-Pierre Leaud and "Weekend". Those are my favorite Godard films.

AR

ooooh...
Alphaville! Alphaville/La Jete double feature dvd disks. Find one today.

There are some real intellects down there at that blog. They call us fanboy ass kissers. Harlan knows I play it straight. We disagree on Chomsky, rap music, horror movies with blood, the worth of John Simon, Gloria Alred.

But we respect each other. All the rest of you are fanboy asskissers.

yowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaa

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

Don't like Godard. Shaky camera only works with Blair Witch. With movies, I want to be transformed into a different world. The shaky camera brings me back to the fact that cameras are filming things.

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

Nate Silver says that most polling is bad because of the unique nature of this election.

There, I feel better.

CBS/times poll will be out later with Obama up by eleven.

Since the subject came up, anyone here into Jean-Luc Godard?

I'm diving into French New Wave fever over the next couple a' weeks to do some some personal research.

A lot of people have knocked Alphaville, but I Googled the original poster art, and it looked friggin' awesome!

The sf film, Dark City, shares many elements from Godard's.

The one I'm about to pick up is 'Bande A Part', with Anna Karina.

Harlan...what are your own personal basket pickins from that school?

If you indulge me for once, I'll take out your garbage every weekend.

Mr. Silver, YOU are a goddess send!
Hey David

I'm still here. Don't know what that means in the grand scale, but I'm here.

I'll take you up on your offer of The Changling and Hydrox.

You should have my email addy for further planning, but just in case you don't, it's up there and working!

BTW, you may want to stop by the forums and read my thread Just an Update to catch up on me and my sordid life!

Lori

Damn.

Forget anything I ever said about the guy from Dial B for Blog.

And maybe ignore anything I say in the future. Saying nice things about people you have heard good things about just gets you a big case of heartburn.

authors' rights online

Mark Spieller and the rest a' yuz:

I know less than the next guy about the Google settlement, but here's what Authors Guild president Roy Blount, Jr. has to say about it:


A couple months after I became Authors Guild president in 2006, we met with Google to propose a settlement to our class-action lawsuit. The Guild had sued Google in September 2005, after Google struck deals with major university libraries to scan and copy millions of books in their collections. Many of these were older books in the public domain, but millions of others were still under copyright protection. Nick Taylor, then the president of the Guild, saw Google’s scanning as “a plain and brazen violation of copyright law.” Google countered that its digitizing of these books represented a “fair use” of the material. Our position was: The hell you say. Of such disagreements, lawsuits are made.

Our proposal to Google back in May 2006 was simple: while we don’t approve of your unauthorized scanning of our books and displaying snippets for profit, if you’re willing to do something far more ambitious and useful, and you’re willing to cut authors in for their fair share, then it would be our pleasure to work with you.

We’re happy to report that our proposal found a receptive audience at Google and at Association of American Publishers and the several publishing houses that had filed a separate lawsuit in October 2005 against Google. Reaching final agreement turned out to be not so simple, but today, after nearly two and a half years of negotiations, we’re joining with Google and the AAP and those publishers to announce the settlement of Authors Guild v. Google.

The settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge before it takes effect, includes money for now and the prospect of money for later. There’ll be at least $45 million for authors and publishers whose in-copyright books and other copyrighted texts have been scanned without permission. If your book was scanned and you own all the rights, you’ll get a small share of this, at least $60, depending on how many rightsholders file claims.

Far more interesting for most of us — and the ambitious part of our proposal — is the prospect for future revenues. Rightsholders will receive a share of revenues from institutional subscriptions to the collection of books made available through Google Book Search under the settlement, as well as from sales of online consumer access to the books. They will also be paid for printouts at public libraries, as well as for other uses.

The payments will flow through the Book Rights Registry, a new independent entity that can be thought of as the writers’ equivalent of ASCAP. Much as ASCAP tracks the uses of songs and collects royalties for songwriters and musicians, the Registry will serve the interests of authors and others who own the rights to books appearing online as a result of this settlement. The Registry will be controlled by a board of authors and publishers; as part of the settlement, Google will pay $34.5 million to get the Registry up and running, notify rightsholders of the settlement, and process claims.

Readers are also big winners under the settlement of Authors Guild v. Google. Readers will be able to browse from their own computers an enormous collection of books. We hope this will encourage some readers to buy full online access to some of the books. Readers wanting to view books online in their entirety for free need only reacquaint themselves with their participating local public library: every public library building is entitled to a free, view-only license to the collection. College students working on term papers will be able to point their computers to resources other than Wikipedia, if they’re so inclined: students at subscribing institutions will be able to read and print out any books in the collection.

We expect that millions of out-of-print books (and many in-print books) will be available through Google Book Search to readers, but we don’t know how many, since that depends partly on you. Participating rightsholders can choose to pull their books from this service with reasonable notice at any time and will retain substantial control over Google’s presentation and pricing of their books.

As with any class action, individual class members remain free to opt out of the settlement.

There are many, many more details, but I’ll leave those to the official notice. There’s also an official press release, edited to within an inch of its life and the settlement agreement itself. They’re linked below; be my guest.

Roy Blount Jr. President Authors Guild

October 28, 2008

Press Release Class Notice Settlement Agreement

Copyright 2008 Roy Blount Jr. Mr. Blount authorizes any recipient to forward and post this message in its entirety.

DIMA, DIMA, DIMA - I am so very sorry that I evidently ignored your posts. I've been very self-centered lately and meant to respond but each time I went to SAY SOMETHING (the actual title of the page where we input this drivel) I had other topics at hand, can plead serious mind-bending sickness, a new job, workers traipsing through the house spending MY money on the new bathroom, blah, blah, blah. I apologize. (You're in good company, however. Yesterday I remembered my sister's birthday. October 23. Unfortunately, yesterday was October 29. The math doesn't work.)

So very sorry to have stiffed you. It was unintentional.
_____________________________________

I would echo JOSH's plea for donations to help defeat Prop 8. It's a very nasty bit of legislated bigotry, foisted upon us by the religious conservatives (Knights of Columbus and the Mormon Church are the two major contributors).

As George Takei noted on Stephanie Miller today: "No church has the right to impose its values and morals on another church. This is America."

To place such a religious sentiment into the California Constitution devalues everything we, as Americans and Californians, have stood for. Unacceptable.
__________________________________________

Speaking of unacceptable, looks like trouble in Paradise. Palin thinks she's the next big thing, while McCain-ites are going to use her as the scapegoat for the abysmal campaign they've run.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/15073
__________________________________________

We watched the Obama video last night (how could you miss the blinkin' thng???)

As Cris noted, if Obama loses, it might be one of the greatest missed opportunities in American political history.

If you think that's self-serving or somehow overstating things, we acknowledge that he may be an utter failure as a president, or a sensation, or something in the middle. But if he loses it's the triumph of negative politics, the death of optimistic politicians, and evidence that fear drives Americans more than hope does -- and our ancestors would be appalled.

Copyright on the net
Our recent conversation about Dial B and fair use comes at a interesting moment. In the New York Times, there is an articale about Google setteling a lawsuit in San Francisco, considering the copyright infringement of the rights of authors. Google is writing a check for $125 million, demonstrating their own lack of understand of proper ownership of the rights of creators. The article can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/technology/internet/29google.html?partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Dial B has gone into re-runs (in fact the Rock God one had been posted previously), of past posts. He also does one on the Shadow. www.dialbforburbank.com I am not sure if he is making any missteps in the fair use area over there, but I do offer it for its entertainment value. i did not see any of the post once the Pavillion became aware of things, but the post that were there, amounted to the usual small timer, cheap shots that Harlan has dealt with from seems the get-go. Having those removed is no great loss.

For those on the Great Hydrox Hunt. Lucky's brand markets in the bay area seem more sensitive and generous in self space, then Safeway. For those in my stomping ground, the Lucky's on El Camino in burlingame has a generous stack of them

Found a stone bargain through www.oldies.com A stack of box sets that were going for 10.00 a piece. 10 cds per box, 20 tracks per CD. I bought the Charlie Parker and Django collections. No booklets or annotations, but the parker is prime Dial and Savoy period, and the Violin on the Django is definately Grappeli. I also got a wonderful collection of Blues selections. They had several others, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington (My next purchase) and Count Basie. The sound is very good, with some of the thinnes found in early recordings, but the music itself will just wash right over you.

Oldies.com is a spiffy place for bargains on DVDs, CDs, and even a book or two. A lot of public domain material for those with a taste for Poverty Row movies, serials, and other bits of pop culture. Have fun browsing.

Whoops...hit Send without meaning to...
ATC: National Geographic is your friend. May your sanctum always be well stocked.


shagin

BRIAN wrote: "Our Ignorance of What Mercury Looks Like (ca. 3rd Millenium BC - 2008) R.I.P."

Horray for the dream and the dreamers that light the way. No, it may not be an angry god of war circling the blazing glory of battle, but seeing the surface with such detail is spectacular.

***

It's official. The world as I know it is gone. This morning I confirmed what hubby and I suspected, that Young Jackanapes has a girlfriend. She asked him if he wanted to be her boyfriend. He's taken a great deal of heat over this because his 17 year old cousin (read: cousin with older sibling syndrome) lives in the same house as one of his classmates and has a steady stream of reliable information on his activities.

When asked how it felt to have a girlfriend? "It makes me happy." They both like the same cartoons, they like to play cards, and they write stories together.

My heart's breaking even as I cheer.


shagin

Bleeuuurrrgh, Adendum
(I am trying to explicate without the offering of Too Much Information.)

The burning cramps that pained me all day yesterday have abated a bit too much in the opposite direction; I am, for lack of a better phrase, digestively precarious. Lots of sudden widening of the eyes, followed by periodic frantic dashes to a certain inner sanctum, is involved. I know that this is just the price that has to be paid to get to the other side of this.

Nevertheless, I am about to get dressed and attempt to go honor my volunteering time over at local Obama headquarters.

This might lend an entirely new meaning to the phrase, "The Audacity of Hope."

Or I might fail and end up adding an entirely new color to the electoral map.

Stay tuned.

follow up comments
The "Fair Use" remarks have been moved to their own thread on that fellows message board. I took a few minutes over my second cup of coffee to refute a few charges and feints I felt deserved a response. I also noted that the "cute" last line added below Harlan's copyright in my original post over there was NONE of my doing. Anyone who needs to see how it originally appeared can check my MySpace blog where I stuck a copy as a placeholder in case I needed to re-create the world in a hurry.

I would ask that if anyone does respond that they PLEASE keep a VERY civil tongue in their head. Any flame war escalation will only waste Harlan's time in the end and I think we can ALL agree that serves nobody's interests here on this board.

Going about my day now - Barney Dannelke

Harlan-

3 days does not equal a month. But, thanks for playing anyway.

Seventy years ago today
Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the Air did their War of the Worlds broadcast. There's some disagreement as to how many people were actually panicked by the broadcast, but it nevertheless demonstrated the godawful power that the new broacast medium had.

All because people didn't want to hear Nelson Eddy sing, so they did what any red-blooded American would do -- they worked the dial looking for something else to listen to for a few minutes. Some music by some guy named Ramon Raquello and his orchestra? Huh.

And then: "We interrupt our program of dance music for a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News..." hooking the listeners and reeling them in.

I'll never listen to "La Cumparsita" without thinking of that broadcast.

And now a tune that never loses favor, the ever-popular "Stardust." Ramon Raquello and his orchestra...

Chuck

Obituary
Our Ignorance of What Mercury Looks Like (ca. 3rd Millenium BC - 2008)
R.I.P.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=096284685

This is safe for dial-up folks and it has two nice pictures, but I read the site for the articles.

Brian Phillips

Me. Ellison's Epitaph
Dear Mr. Sherman,

Forgive me for answering in our host's stead, but I once read what Harlan thought he epitaph should be, and it has stuck with me over many years: "For a while I was here, and for a while I mattered."

All best wishes to the folks at Webderland.

b for blog
For the record, I did not ask Robby to take it down, I only relayed Harlan's wish that Robby contact him and that Robby knows where to find him. Steve and others have seen my ONE message, which Robby has deleted along with everything else.

So I wasn't part of his website being "blasted", "flooded" and "attacked" (an occurance quest claims to have witnessed) NOR have I seen anyone else do it. Which is only a small part of what's wrong with quest's message and vocabulary, but that's yesterday's business. As for Robby being annoyed at very civil criticism - don't have a feedback section then.

For the record, no one from the Pavilion trolled the Dial "B" site. I was polite, James Van Hise was polite, the "Robby" guy not so much. It seemed this entire incident had upset him greatly and our posts were apparently not helping, so he deleted all the exchanges. So be it, it's his board.

David Tennant
Much as I grooved with his run on the show, and sorta hoped David would've stuck around for just one year with Moffat, I have to say this is for the best.

The Tenth Doctor's storyline was more or less entirely played out by the end of last season, and he got about as much closure as he possibly could have with the Journey's End fadeout.

Farewell, Ten (and Tennant)...we'll miss ya.

Notes on this and that...and Hydrox, anybody?

Hello all, I've been away for many weeks (months perhaps?), busy with life (ie. trying to make a living), and just found a moment to pass through and see what's cookin'.

At random, first thing I stumbled through was this, from the estimable Frank Church: "Is it possible that Jaws was inspired by Beowulf?" No, Frank, something much more contemporary than that. "Jaws" (the Peter Benchley novel, not necessarily Speilberg's visualization) was a blatant rip-off of an earlier short piece by the lovely Gina Berriault. Virtually the same location, plot, great white shark antagonist, characters, etc., but in short story format, published years before Benchley's moment of miraculous inspiration. Sorry, I simply can't remember the name of Gina's original work, but I did read it years ago after she told me about it. I was floored by the similarities. Why didn't she pursue some sort of grievance against Benchley? Gina was my dear friend, a brilliant award winning writer, and a motivator to so many other younger writers, but she was also kind and generous and forgiving to a fault. Instead of complaining, she only wished good will and success to Benchley, and busied herself with her own life and works. Gina left us about eight years ago. If you're not familiar with her writing, her novels were darn good, but her short stories was amazing. If you recall an emotionally draining film that came out some years ago, "The Stone Boy" with Robert Duvall, then you've seen her work. It's a pretty fair treatment of one of her tougher stories. Thanks, Frank, for this opportunity to remember her here. I introduced her to Harlan's writing way back in 1981, and she told me years later that he eventually became one of her favorites. From a writer of Gina's ability, as I'm sure Harlan would attest, that is the highest praise.

Now, where are all the San Francisco Webderlanders? Gwyneth, Lori, whoever? I wanted to know if a bunch of us could get together for a midweek matinee showing of "The Changeling" in the next week or so. My treat for whoever wants to go, and...drum roll, please...I'll bring a supply of Hydrox cookies to snack on during the show! Yes, I found the Hydrox mother lode in a Safeway about a mile from my house! Bought four packs to start, more to come later. So if you want some of my stash, you gotta come to the movie! Well, maybe not, maybe we can all at least get together for coffee or whatever, but one way or the other it would be nice to see all of you again. Drop me a line!

Harlan, a quickie food question for you. Big pot of chili for friends and family, not necessarily gourmet and/or spicey hot, but hearty and filling for a gathering of different folks. In the chili...beans or no beans? Do you think they detract from a good chili, or make it more palatable to a general group, or doesn't matter one way or the other? I'm having a friendly spat with a buddy helping me plan a holiday open house. He insists chili MUST have beans, and I keep telling him "real" chili doesn't need them and I don't want to add them to my recipe. Your expert opinion would be appreciated, plus any other points or hints you'd care to add regarding chili in general. Thanks much!

For those of you who appreciate good British television as much as I do (I know you're out there...I remember you thanking me last time I commented about some super shows from over there before), and have a PBS affiliate in their area with the good sense to acquire it, I highly recommend "New Tricks". That's all I'm going to tell you. Go. Find. Enjoy. If possible, start with the first season and the first episode so you understand who the characters are, but see 'em all if you can. Nuff said!

More later. Life calls. Be good.

Best,

David

Weird World
Just from here, to -there-, but it;s ever so far for being so near.


The FBI was founded by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte. His great-uncle was Emperor Napoleon I of France.

Actor Rene Murat Auberjonois (Benson and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) is a descendant of Napoleon Bonapartes sister Caroline and her husband Marshal Joachim Murat, one time King of Naples.

Benito Mussolini's youngest son was a famous jazz pianist.

William Patrick Hitler served in the United States Navy during World War Two. His uncle was Adolf Hitler.

The first manned airplane to be flown in Australia was piloted by Harry Houdini.

President James Garfield, who was ambidextrous, could write in classic Greek and Latin simultaneously.

American composer Cole Porter served a hitch in the French Foreign Legion.

Cellophane tape, when pulled from the roll in a vacuum chamber, emits x-rays in significant quantities.

"Kleenex" were originally developed for use as filters in World War One gas masks.

After all, it is a weird world.

KOS

Late Doctor Who breaking story
Hey, it's the first time in months that I have posted anything about our favorite show but this news is way, way, way too important for it to go unnoticed:

David Tennant announced tonight, during the National Television Awards in England, that he will leave the series after the 2009 Specials which he will begin shooting in January. Big change of the guard now with Steven Moffat on board. For more details: www.gallifreyone.com

URL correction
try this instead:
http://members.boardhost.com/dialb/msg/1225335916.html

got the 404-error (page not found) on your other link. no idea why. maybe this one will stay around for more than a few days before being deleted. I couldn't even find cached pages for issue 474 which contained Harlan's story (et. al.) using Yahoo! and Google.

sorry - should be

http://members.boardhost.com/dialb/msg/1225334248.html

water carried
OK - the Phillies got that out of their system. Let the car burning begin. ;-)

*** Harlan *** I posted your message along with my lead in inquiry over on his message board at 10:37PM EST.

Should appear here;
http://www.dialbforblog.com/

I used a copyright trademark used on the bottom of one of your other internet essays and just changed the year so it appears thus;

Copyright © 2008 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. Harlan Ellison® is a registered trademark of the Kilimanjaro Corporation.

Best unpaid help you'll get from the East Coast post World Series victory.

Best regards - Barney

THANK YOU, Harlan.

I will happily carry that water over to that site and post it if you OR Rick OR Steve Barber would be so kind as to either provide me with the copyright and trademark line as you would prefer it to appear at the bottom of all that OR tell me it's not required in this instance.

AFTER I watch these last two or more innings. I'm FROM Wisconsin but after living the last 30+ years in this state I find I have a team to root for in pure bandwagon fashion. ;-)

- B

Out-of-work writer.
The worst part about getting laid off is the indignity of an HR moron saying you are being, "transitioned" because of the "macroeconomic environment" and it hurts them just as much as it hurts you.

Like fun it does!

Then they sent an e-mail to the division saying that, despite today's mass firings, the planned Hallowe'en "Spook-Tacular" Potluck Lunch (bring your own soft drinks please!) is still on for tomorrow! Thank God for small, gestures like this, they are truly a comfort in tough times.

REPLY TO BARNEY RE : "FAIR USE"

I cannot answer simply, Barney, because it devolves on legal interpretation in each instance--as with, say, "pornography" or "endangered species" or "fighting words" which are legally actionable (and I have a list of THOSE)--courts of law adjudicate such "multiply and nuanced interpretational words" as casebook law refers to them. It's in the eye of the beholder. The beholder being, finally, unless you can work it out a priori, a court of law. Which is what "Robby Reed" (aka Kirk Kimball) of DIAL B FOR BLOG is forcing me to do: go after him, rather than confabbing personally.

I never asked Kimball to take anything down. Never. If one of my deputies--in this case the beloved Steve Barber, or Jan who first posted this to my attention--said or wrote to the guy, in passing, "take it down," or somesuch, either Jan or Steve was speaking for himself...

Let me pause a moment before we create ANOTHER misreading...

I APPRECIATE Steve and Jan doing this for me. I don't want to hear any "er-uh-o geezus" from either one of you. You did nothing wrong. No negative vibe on my part, even if one or both of them suggested to Kimball that he remove it. They assumed, which was an overreach...if they even DID IT...or wrote it...or said it. And I have only Kimball's assertion, because he keeps trumpeting that "I" demanded he remove the material. Which I didn't. At any point. The guy has acted arrogantly and, in my view, with steadfast ignorance and fecklessness. He has no idea what actually IS "fair use" because he has no legal definition to fall back on. But that's BESIDE THE POINT!

I never WANTED him to remove my and Frank's and Neal's work. I wanted to do what Copyright Law INSISTS I DO, whether I like it or not, whether it's a time-wasting pain in the ass or not, but that which I MUST MUST MUST do (get it?)--which is, each time something appears, is "demonstrate that I control the rights to said material." I HAVE to do that, and I would have brokered amicably the same ploy with him as I've done with literally hundreds of others: backdate a one-page permission letter for a token, negligible sum--usually ten or twenty bucks, purely to indicate "for value received"--and let him keep the material up. Half the monetary part of this jerry-rigged solution would, of course, go to Neal Adams. I sought to have "Robby Reed" Kimball act responsibly and have him call me so I could explain all this quietly and without contumely...

But he responded as have so many of these self-important "I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT" jerks, and he rebuffed both Steve and Jan, with dismissive and bloviating posturing, forcing me to have to send this nonsense to the attorneys, who will now cost me, and him, their fees for handling it. He advises me he has loads of money and "you don't scare me at all, Ellison." I smile.

Had he merely done as he was politely asked, to get in touch with me, without demanding that I come hat-in-hand to him, who had misappropriated my, Neal's and Frank's work, as if his arrant opinions had any legal standing, this would all have ended in a moment, and cost him virtually nothing.

But, like so many of these amateurs who have elevated themselves and their little ego-blogs with bogus opinions ("Well, it looks like 'fair use' tuh ME, duhhhhh,") with which they dangerously continue to mislead themselves ... Mr. Kimball has strutted and ignored the offers and outstretched hands, and forced The Evil Censorius Harlan, BrrrrrrrScaryKids, to bring him to heel. Which I have begun to do.

And none of the dolts on his website who cheer him on in this folly, is doing him any good. Nor does his removing the infringed material after nearly a month. That was what AOL claimed, too, and it became clear that they could not COMMIT THE ACT OF INFRINGEMENT and THEN ask forgiveness without consequence. What I took them to Federal District Court to teach them; what resulted in their losing UseNet; what eventually cost them a quarter of a million dollars to discover was, er, uh, "wrong thinking" -- was that they had to respect ownership and ASK PERMISSION beforehand. Which I would've given Kimball in a heartbeat. But apparently Mr. Kimball wants a lesson, and I am condign to provide same. He tells me he has a lot of money. I smile.

Thus, in a 'round-Robin-Hood's-barn sort of way, to attempt to answer your query, Barn, "fair use" (as owner of the infringed material)is NOT served by reproducing 1) a full color cover, 2) a published prefatory page of bios, 3) Neal Adams's portrait sketches, 4) a substantial word-for-word extract of my published, copyrighted, registered story amounting to a few thousand words of prose, and 5) at least half a dozen pages of art drawn to accompany MY story. That ain't what we, who have been down this road, would call "fair use."

Fair Use, in my view, would have been a small repro of the cover, possibly that bio/portrait page, and a few panels of the art from throughout the story. Not to mention use of my copyright indicia, and, er, uh, the Trademark Registration that MUST BY LAW accompany my name when it is used in a "display context."

I don't know if that approximates an answer, Barney, but as I say, "fair use" is not a unilateral decision...if one wishes to stay out of the soup. Mr. Kimball could have avoided all of this--a heads-up to all others--if he had been a trifle more humble, and a lot more accomodatingly civil. Ignoring the problem, dissembling, and being a smartass, and being too dumb to "get it" when someone is trying to help you OUT of the soup, well, that's how obstreperous children get into trouble all the time. One would've thought the wonderful Internet would've brought universal maturity to everyone. Hmmm.

So that's where it stands this evening. Mr. Kimball was given a phone number with which he could have availed himself of an adult resolution to a dopey problem, but his response to me was:

"Call you? What on earth for? I have nothing to say to you, I am not interested in hearing further flowerly insults..."

Apart from what I think he meant--"flowery" not "flowerly"--he has continued to place himself at the Center of the Universe by suggesting he had nothing to say to me, when the point is: I had something to say to HIM. Such as, How about letting me help you to save your pathetic ass, you bag of wind?

You, Barney, or anyone else, has my permission to pass along this little exegesis, perhaps to the Clarence Darrows on his ego-blog who fancy themselves wise enough to know "fair use" from theft.

Yr. Pal, Harlan





















What comes of this, we shall see. But if anyone knows me, they know I will take this arrogant ignorance on the part of yet another puffed-up amateur as far as it needs to go.

If anyone can try to get "Robby Reed" off his high dudgeon, I wish them well. I've done as much as I can, short of bopping that slow pony in the forehead with a ball peen hammer.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

What Shall My Epitaph Be?
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

Just watched an ABC piece on McCain and Obama. Each was asked a question on this or that. One question grabbed me, though: what would you like written on your epitaph?

McCain: "He served his country honorably, and put country first."

Obama: "He was an honest man."

These exchanges stimulated thoughts of my own epitaph. My best for my own someday: Yes, it's cold down here.
Runner-up: Never finished Proust.

Ah, the show horse: Death sucks.

Regards from the other coast.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

NOTE TO JIM THOMAS

Called the DVD Verdict number, got the machine. The machine gave me Michael Stailey's cel-phone number. I called Michael Stailey on his cel-phone. I got a machine. Okay. So far, so good. So I gave Michael Stailey's machine my home phone number. Michael Stailey's machine did not say thank you. I pouted for a few minutes, went and had a nice glass tomato juice with a brief schpritz lime juice, and felt loads better. Then I called the DVD Verdict number again, and got the machine--I presume it was the same machine from earlier, though these days one never knoweth--and I said to this machine (whichever) that if they wanted to pass along to Jim Thomas that I had called Michael Stailey's various machines, and left my home number, then Jim Thomas could call Michael Stailey and/or his mechanical minions, and get my home phone number, or leave his own, and we would talk so I could help him kvell, although at THAT point I hadn't read Jim Thomas's sweet message. But, in all honesty, I think I've exhausted myself pursuing the honest transference of props to Jim Thomas and half the mechanized yentas of the Western World.

Further, deponent sayeth not.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Ordinarily, I wouldn't post a plea for money here, but this is beyond the pale. Here in California, we're on the verge of passing a proposition (do NOT get me started on our insane and utterly brain-damaged proposition system) that could actually take away the rights of our fellow Californians. Imagine a bunch of Mormons spending a ton of money to annul your marriage.

That's exactly what's happening. They're spending millions of dollars to eradicate the right so hard won for so many Californians - the right to marry the person you love, regardless of gender. My pals Ellison and Peter David recently attended the wedding of George Takei. That marriage is in danger of being rendered invalid.

In MY America, we don't let the majority decide to eradicate the rights of the minority, but apparently we don't live there yet. Some day.

In the meanwhile, PLEASE help stop Prop 8. Every nickel helps.
Go here:

http://www.noonprop8.com/

And here's a direct link to the contribution page:

https://secure.ga4.org/01/3million?source=emaila

Thank you.

STEPHEN B.,

You know, Peter DOES have his own website (www.peterdavid.net). Your chances of a response are probably a lot higher there, if you'd like to try.

Adam Castro, feels ooogie.

Drink a glass of tabasco, run around naked, with feathers on your body, yelling, "the feds have my winkie!"

You will feel fine in no time.

Huggers.

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

Great, Al Franken is down five points in a new poll. Obama needs to do an ad for him. I need humour in the Senate. Laughs and laws, a deadly embrace.

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

Gallup and the new ABC/Washington Post poll have better numbers...thankfully.

Those 3 point polls skurr me.

----------

The new line: Obama loves arabs, hates the Jews and thinks Karl Marx is the fresh aftertaste after a forbidden kiss.

In Florida, two Obama supporters were almost beaten up by McCain people. The fun never stops.

God, make it end.

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

Is it possible that Jaws was inspired by Beowulf?

Grendel/the shark, Beowulf/Brody?

Actually, almost all monster movies are part of the Beowulf inspiration.

Do I get a cookie?

quest

Thank you for posting, but you're in error in a couple of ways. You are commenting strictly from what you read third person, and not from any actual knowledge of what may have happened and not been posted.

First, we did not "troll" or "flock" over there. Jan made a post. I made a follow up post. Both of us suggested he come to thsi website to see what Harlan's concerns were. Harlan was, behind the scenes, very open to discussion, etc. He, in turn, was keeping Adams "in the loop". I will admit I mischaracterized Harlan's position as "remove it" versus his actual position of "remove or pay to use it." Meaning pay Harlan, Neal and Frazetta. Harlan knows I mischaracterized it and has my apology.

Nor did we "blast his site". Jan posted twice, I posted twice.

Yes, I noted that in my personal opinion posting 6 of 12 pages exceeded "fair comment", but I made it clear I was posting thas for myself and not Harlan. If you knew me at all you'd know this has been a long-time opinion, which I reserve the right to freely express on my own behalf.

Robby has graciously removed the copyrighted material, all of the posts and has said he wants to let it go. I would suggest we all follow his wishes.

b for blog
Wait a second.... you guys are astounded that Reed didn't like it when you trolled his site and blasted it with posts. But when people ever come here to do the same thing for any reason.... you consider it in bad taste. You guys could have all emailed Reed, but instead flooded his message board repeating the same shit over and over and over. Even after the art was taken down, you still flocked over there.

Also people claimed on his site that over here Harlan and Crew were equally angry over the alleged theft of the artwork by Adams and Frazetta. But in reality, nobody not even Harlan mentioned the rights of the illustrators. The whole beef here was that Harlan's work was posted. And Adams still has a link to his site at Dial B For Blog; there was and is no spite by Adams.

Also NO OTHER issue of Dial B For Blog has been attacked in this matter. No other artist felt it necessary to troll and spam Dial B For Blog. Harlan is just waaay too sensitive.

Lastly, Harlan makes a career of calling other people dumb, yet he couldn't figure out how to leave a post on a website that doesn't even require a registration/password???

-
Peter David -

I read some year or two of your run of INCREDIBLE HULK. Also, numerous comics by you since that time (and a prof in college pointed out quite a few STAR TREK novels created by you!)

Where do you get the time?! (I could say 'where do you get your ideas', but recall Douglas Adams made a reply (paraphrase) “I get them from a mailorder shop in New Jersey.” Or was that Alan Moore?

HE -
This week, I began a re-read of SPIDER KISS - reminds me a touch of A FACE IN THE CROWD (Schulberg/Kazan).
- Stephen Blotner

I'll have what she's having...
Estelle Reiner,94

There's only one train-hoppin' tramp I know who could be from 'Bosko'.

Ellisoniana: 1999 Wizard Magazine interview with HE
Hey fellas, the economy has tanked, my living space has shrunk, and I'm unloading some stuff.

Here's a copy of Wizard Magazine number 97, cover date September 1999. This issue includes a nifty 6-page interview with HE. Highlights include an impromptu exchange between HE and a just-happened-drop-in Joe Straczynski in which HE accuses JMS of having done time in a South American prison for molesting a cat in public; and HE's closing line, "I will live to piss into the open mouths or open graves of my enemies, whichever comes first."

There's also a 3-page full-color Stan Sakai "Usagi Yojimbo" story in this issue, if that floats your boat.

In good condition, apart from a crease on the front cover (which sports a busty image of Spider-Girl and Batgirl by J. Scott Campbell and Alex Garner). And, obviously, the plastic wrapper is long gone, and so are whatever trading cards, trinkets and gewgaws might have fallen out when that wrapper was removed. I have no idea how rare this thing is--probably not at all--but it's yours for the cost of shipping: let's say four bucks, which might be more than enough but I do want to cover my ass when I lug it down to the increasingly extortionate post office. If nobody bites it gets recycled. Email jmhpowell@gmail.com if interested.

(P.S. Way back in the '90s I used to post here as Sheriff Buck. Howdy-ho to anyone still lurking around from the good ol' pre-W days . . .)

This and That
Adam...feel better soon, my friend.

Re: Robby Reed. I couldn't find any discussion of "Rock God" on his message board, but I didn't look beyond the first page. It could be he realized he was being the jerk. I hope so; I have enjoyed his blog in the past.

I wore my "Obama by Alex Ross" t-shirt while running errands this morning. Oh, the looks of defeat on the faces of the Republicans that I ran into. It warmed my soul.

Of course, my real celebration won't start until the Election is actually over. I'm hopeful, but I'm not going to start cheering early.

Back to work.

The "Dial B for Blog" Problem
The sad part of all this is that if the blogger had contacted Harlan ahead of time, they probably could have worked out a satisfactory agreement as to what could and could not be posted, and for what fee, if any.

They know, or SHOULD know, how justifiably ferocious Harlan is about protecting his legal rights, yet they keep trying to get over on him anyway. When will they learn?

Dial B For Blog
Apparently "Robby Reed" didn't like the criticism he was getting. Originally he had it as "post deleted" with his brief explanation followed by reactions. So long as he was being supported that was apparently fine. But when myself and others started criticizing what he'd done he just deleted everything like it never existed.

Bleeurrrrrggggh
Serious, nasty, feellikecrap today. May sleep thru the afternoon. Bleeurrrrggghhh.

American Gods and Anansi Boys

Mark Goldberg - I know I am very much in the minority, but while there were big chunks of American Gods that I thoroughly enjoyed, I did not connect with the work as a whole in a powerful way. For whatever reason, I just wasn't all that moved by the main character's plight, so for me the book had the quality of a watching a guy move through a series of events, some more interesting and some less so, but never with a powerful rooting interest in the outcome.

Also, Gaiman's take on gods -- as I understand it, that there are old ones and new ones but none of them matter much for ordinary people -- seemed to lower the stakes for the whole affair. I am more drawn to HE's Deathbird Stories conceit -- that the new gods are VERY powerful, and we worship them unknowingly and at our peril.

There are many, many very smart people who love American Gods, however, so maybe I missed something that a second reading might reveal. I tend to read at a very simple level -- do I like the characters, am I engaged in their problems enough to wonder what will happen next, are there things about the language of the story that delight me? On that level I liked American Gods but did not love.

Anansi Boys charmed me and made me laugh, but again there wasn't that deep connection.

The connection I was hoping for with a Gaiman novel finally happened, for me, with the Graveyard Book. For whatever reason, I was very moved by the story of Nobody Owens and his life in the graveyard. I really cared about him. And the characters live on in my head. Also, there is a cleanness, a simplicity to the story that really works for me.

So that's my take. Your milage may vary.

MM

He also said a few days ago that he's not a fan of HE and suggested that people look at the art and "ignore the words". So I think it's no great loss that "he will never be discussed here again".

I thought ROCK GOD (which is in DREAM CORRIDOR Vol.2 - I doubt he mentioned that) was impressive in many ways, and if I knew where I could find something else like that - equally well written and drawn, I'd be very interested in it.

I couldn't resist posting a comment on Dial B's message board, especially because this comment from "Robby Reed" cracked me up:

"Apparently he views any usage of his work as copyright infringement. Bringing several thousand new fans to his work is apparently not something he is interested in."

Here's my response:

http://members.boardhost.com/dialb/msg/1225292639.html

Dial B for Blog Posting Deleted

Robby Reed has deleted out the posting and the works associated with it.

I'm sure he thinks we're all a bunch of jerks (he does, he says so in a post), which is toobad since he seems to have a fairly neat idea for a blog -- but copyright is copyright.

In his case, and to give my own little input to Barney's question, Robby posted six out of twelve story pages. From what I saw he made very little comment beyond "I love Neal Adams' work".

That's not fair use. It's very nice of him to appreciate the work, but that would be tantamount to my posting half of JEFFTY IS FIVE and saying "Isn't Harlan a great writer?". The sentiment is wonderful, but there's this thing about "Pay the Writer".

Fair use would be one or two pages, along with more detailed commentary. Not fully half the story and a high-def scan of the cover.

Alas!
Woe unto me!

My poor Mister Boop has shuffled off this mortal coil, and I do not mean to Buffalo.

Beside his cold, cold form , swaying in the breeze where it hung from the swing set he had put up just last weekend for the booplets. from which he had appended himself by the neck until dead, dead, dead, was found the following note:

Darling Boopster,

As one with such great men as Raoul Mitgong and Shipwreck Kelly, I can no longer live with the horrible, terrible terror-filled horrific knowledge of my inattentive ways, as well as my obtuse rambling nature and the lack of proper syntax (and then there is my aptitudfe for egregious typografik... typogapik... mistakes!)) in my semantics. I leave now for a far, far better place than I have ever been before. Say farewell to my three little booplets, and kiss yourself for me.

Your Loving Boop (soon to be an ex-Boop, if I can remember how to tie this damned knot!)

PS

Please let DTS and Rob know they are heartless, obtuse, jejune poopyheads. Don't worry, sweetheart, they'll understand. It's their way of saying "I love you!"

And that was all my dear loving Boop had time to write. Ever considerate, he hastened to finish his forlorn and lonely task before the Booplets awakened for their morning swing, and tried to save their dear, poor forlorn Papa. Alas and alack, they did discover him hanging there, though they did not raise the alarum (is that how you spell that word?) until when one of them tried to cliamber upon his cold, cold shoulders in a vain attempt at a piggyback swing, and noticed the rope burns upon dear, dear Boop's neck!

The last part of the note mystifies me greatly, as many of Boop's friends can well understand, as he was such a deep and profound, not to mention cavernous, thinker. Alas, I cannot fathom this mystery, as I must be off to find a new husband and father for myself and three little fatherless booplets. Fortunately I still have my figure, not to mention my loving and kind nature.

The Widow Boop

PS
There will be no services, as some of the coyotes got to Boop as I was searching for a knife with which to make a stab at cutting him down, with. All that was left was his left middle finger, and we have installed it as a memorial hot-pad holding hook thingy in the kitchen.

PPS
Who is Raoul Mitgong?

Harlan--thanks for the shout out
An interview with you is up on Comic Book Resources and you listed "Fallen Angel" as one of the comic books you enjoy. So thanks for that.

PAD

Perhaps there is no short answer to this one
but since we are already hip-deep in this particular can of worms I would like to ask a tough (but not rude) question.

*** Harlan *** Can you give me a short answer on what YOU consider to be fair use? Is it a words-per-thousand sort of thing? A "one pull quote and your done" type of deal? Is there any leeway - and how much before it's abuse? I'm not asking in the spirit of "how much can I get away with?" as I'm much better about just providing links to source material than I used to be - but I'd honestly like to know, as this may be very well defined boilerplate - but I never got the memo.

And hugs to you both as I sit here in a landscape painted by Ray Bradbury.

- Barney

BOOP wrote: "DTS wrote, more or less, "America may be voting for a black guy named Obama to be president, but come on now, he ain't THAT black!", ..(snip).. That should be real enough for anyone."" (Edited for length, not content.)

DTS wrote: "It is my belief that THOSE types of people (and there are more of them than there are the violent, vocal racist types) would NOT have allowed Obama to get very far in the primaries or elsewhere if his sking color had been closer to that of actor Samuel Jackson."

And, like it or not, DTS's response is on the mark. US VS. THEM is alive and well in the world whether in the form of racism, sexism, education, tastes great/less filling. Humanity's intellect has warped our reptile brain's push to survive, sharpening the edges until it can't swing the damn thing around without hurting itself.

Do I like it? Not one bit. I don't have time for it, thanks. Should America get "props" for hoped for votes, Boop? I don't know, but don't kid yourself into thinking Obama's greater resemblance to one man's US versus THEM isn't a factor to his success.

***

TONY: You're intelligent, witty, and a damn sight stronger than any black thoughts working to drag you down.


shagin

Booop Boop A Doop,

I hate to break this to you, but the ONLY thing I'm "disappointed by" is your obtuse rambling.

Dyslexia and semantics never did go well together.

Here's a tip: Pull the cork out of your brain, breath a little O2, read an alphabet chart...and MAYBE we'll actually detect a brain wave! Even a wee LITTLE one!

errata
Make that "skin" color. I was typing too fast (again).
-DTS

Boop's Loopy Doopy response...
BOOP: As Harlan once wrote in an introduction to short stories: PAY ATTENTION!

I didn't say that Obama isn't "black enough"...whatever that would mean (are there actual gauges used to measure our ethnicity?). I said that because of the color of his skin, and (this remains to be seen) the nature of his political beliefs (I'm guessing mostly middle-of-the-road, but if I'm wrong, dynamite)...because of those two factors, he is "white" enough in the eyes of the MANY white folks who still harbor what I think of as a very low level racism (call it bigotry if you need a label) that makes them react in kneejerk fashion to anyone different (skin color, eye shape, whatever) but doesn't materialize via blantantly racist actions like hurling epithets, physical abuse, etc., etc.

It is my belief that THOSE types of people (and there are more of them than there are the violent, vocal racist types) would NOT have allowed Obama to get very far in the primaries or elsewhere if his sking color had been closer to that of actor Samuel Jackson.

Get it? Got it?
Good.
-DTS

Dear Me!
Where do I start?

DTS wrote, more or less, "America may be voting for a black guy named Obama to be president, but come on now, he ain't THAT black!", so apparently the USA is still an Evile Fascist Corporate State by and for Racist white crackers because Obama is not as black as (to use DTS's example) Jesse Jackson? (Leaving aside the fact BHO is not just lighter than JJ, but also smarter and sexier.)

Hoo boy! Look, I know, I KNOW that even BLACKS buy into that pattiuclar "dark/light" canard. I was floored when young and naive to hear a black co-worker talking to another black co-worker about growing up in the 'hood, of how their momma's told them to be careful about "them dark ones", how they were told they were real bad. I know about terms like "High Yellow" and "Cream In Your Coffee". Racism infects everyone, not just whites. My response to DTS is not that he is racist, which would be silly. It is , instead, akin to that of the Jews who were told by the religous authorities in Israel, when they applied to immigrate to Israel, that "The Law of Return" did not apply to them because, by the religous authorities ruling, they were not "real Jews": "Really? Well, we were real enough Jews that the Nazi's would have thrown us in the gas chamber with you. That should be real enough for anyone."

Obama is black enough that if he had whistled at a white woman in Mississippi in the nineteen-fifties, he'd have been lynched. Is that black enough for America? For DTS? Sheesh, give me a break. What, America gets no props for tens of millions of white citizens vor\ting for a black man unless he's Snoop Dog or Don King? Get Real. Right now. Outrageous. not racist, not to mention downright silly.

Adam TC thinks the Republicans will split into two parties. Right, just as the Democratic party split after getting trashed three straight in 1980-92? All major parties in American national politics are, have been and will likely still be coalitions, with little in common except they are not the other party. D is center left, R is center right, and both are driven ideologically by the extreme of the party, the wing that has little to nothing in common with the other party For D it is the Left, for R the Right. That's how it works. The Republicans all know this, and they all know if they split, they are Out Of The Game, and it IS the only game in town. Bloodletting always happens when a party get's trashed in an election. Then they kiss, makeup and move on. Sheesh, look at what happened between Hillary and BHO, if you want an example. Wishful thinking. Nothing wrong with it, but do return to reality after indulging yourself.

I had to get my "Shrill To English" dictionary out to parse Rob's screed. He's still in the early stages, but shows promising signs of becoming completely incomprehensible. Apparently still in shock that the USA is not the greatest country on earth, Rob, near as I can tell, believes it must therefore be among the worst. I don't know much about just who on Earth are freer than Americans, but will grant him both points: What the hell, the USA is not the greatest country on earth and Americans are not the freeest people on earth. Maybe Iceland is greater, if only because of all those blondes? Maybe Zimbabwean's are freer because they don't have all those rich people to envy? Who knows?

I do not need my country to be the best on earth, or the greatest, coolest or whatever Rob is disappointed that the USA is not. I do want it to aspire to be all those things, and the USA has always aspired to those thing, in spades.

It's also still true that you could go to just about any country other than the USA, and before you had walked a block in any big city you could find a person who would take you up on an offer to come live here. Yes, I have done the experiment. More than once. Never failed to prove out correct. In Tehran I found three people in half a block. In Paris there were two, and one was my cab driver!

Rob, one reason this is true is that we have people like you criticizing us and reminding us it is good to aspire to better. You get props for that.

As fot the USA being "cool": we invented jazz, we invented "cool". Put Louis Armstrong on the turntable, oh, say "Laughin' Louie". turn up the volume, lean back against a wall, thumbs in your pockets and head to one side, down a bit, close your eyes, do your best "James Dean" and then remember: Louis, black as the proverbial Ace of Spades, made that sound in the middle of the Great Depression, in the Deep South of Jim Crow and "Strange Fruit", and yet he was cool, and he was the voice of the future, the sound that led directly to the society that dominates the USA and the world today, the world where a black man might well be president in one week, and where the United States can be better than it was, and hope to be even better than it is.

Who needs to be Number One, when you're all that?

I intend no offense, just some rough and tumble. Love to all.

Boop Has Left The Building.

Robby Reed & Rock God
.
HARLAN--

I'm sorry that I'm just now responding to your Sunday post about Robby Reed's DIAL B FOR BLOG and his use of sample pages from your ROCK GOD story. I only pop in here at the Art Deco Dining Pavilion about twice week or so, thus the delay.

I hope that, by now, you've gotten the information that you were looking for regarding "Robby Reed's" identity and contact info.

To be clear…I don't know who "Robby" really is. I've never contacted him for any reason any wouldn't know how to do so (aside from the email address that's on his site). I have no connection with the DIAL B FOR BLOG site aside from visiting it every four or five days to see if there's anything new and fun to read there (kind of like I do here).

I do know that you're very protective of your work and your copyright (as any writer should be), but I didn't think I was pushing any buttons by mentioning Reed's ROCK GOD excerpt here in the Dining Pavilion.

When I first saw Reed's posting, I noted that he reprinted only a few of the ROCK GOD pages and that he included a commentary. I'm no lawyer, but I have produced lots of documentaries and TV magazine pieces and saw Reed's posting of the ROCK GOD pages as fair use, which allows for the reprinting or re-presenting of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, research, reporting and scholarship.

Had I thought "Robby's" use of a percentage of your ROCK GOD story was an infringement of your copyright, I would have shouted that out to you. I did not and, so, did not.

Sorry for the tsuris, if there was any. Best, -- MV

top 5 horror
Big Steve, Harlan,Nigel Kneale, M.R.James,Fritz Leiber

Michael Mayhew, I agree with you on The Graveyard Book. It is a very enjoyable work that can be read by anyone ages 11 and up, I would say. I am told that the reading he gave of the last chapter here in Minneapolis was excellent. Not sure what you meant when you said it was what you were hoping for from Neil's other books. I thought both American Gods and Anansi Boys deserved all of the accolades they received.

On this site being harvested for email addresses, I cannot say that I have received any additional ones, but I have a pretty strong filter on this computer so they may not be reaching me.

Like Adam-Troy, I am also enjoying watching the Republicans tear themselves apart. They are in full cover your ass mode now, with lots of McCain's people ripping Palin apart for lacking even basic knowledge of foreign or domestic policy and for being a "diva". I do, however, think that Adam-Troy is underestimating the amount of fracturing that could take place within Republicans.

Yes you have the religious fundamentalists that will go with Palin but on the other side you have the Lou Dobbs xenophobes; the free market mavens; the neocons, who nobody likes; and moderates like Olympia Snowe and Nancy Collins. Virtually none of these groups have anything in common other than the affiliation with the Republican party. John Dean in Conservatives without Conscience discusses this subject with far greater clarity and experience than me.

The current Republican dominance began in 1980 when Reagan brought the religious true believers into the Republican fold and was able to convince most of the Southern whites that he was a kindly old chap. This period, where the term liberal has become a dirty word, may very well end this November. Obama has the potential to be a transformational leader the likes of which we have not had since FDR. And I think he will succeed because this country is in desperate need of leadership and vision, qualities Obama has in abundance.

DVD Verdict--Starlost review
Hi all--

I'm Jim Thomas, who wrote the review of the StarLost over on DVD Verdict. Harlan, thank you so much for your kind words--particularly since I've been a fan of yours for years.

I'm sure than Michael Stailey, out "Chief Judge" would be delighted to have something from you for the site; you can send ti to my address or directly to Michael at mstailey@dvdverdict.com

Thanks again. If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of kvelling to do now.

Harlan, Mission Accomplished.
Harlan,

I signed up for an account on The Jury Room at www.dvdverdict.com and I posted the following:

"Hi.

"I am posting this on behalf of Harlan Ellison, the creator of THE STARLOST who went running and screaming from the project when it became, as he once put it, 'a Thalomide baby.' He read your review of THE STARLOST and enjoyed it immensely. He wanted to post something here, but, well let me quote him directly and use his words:

'So I go to the URL Jan posted to read the review of the horrible STARLOST boxed set of crapola, and it's a SENSATIONAL review, very fair, very funny, very condemnatory. And I try to post a reply thanking them, but it wouldn't take my post...no "username" or "password" or somesuch Foreign Agent sh*t...so if someone can get through to their Head Judge (or Whomever) and advise same that Ellison is trying to reach them, ask them to come to this spot, declare him/herself, and I will type in a spiffy encomium they can banner-up on their excellent site.'

"The 'this spot' to which Harlan refers is discussion board on http://www.harlanellison.com, found by clicking on the Art Decco Dining Pavalion hyperlink on said site.

"Or you can go directly to this URL:

http://harlanellison.com/heboard/unca.htm

"As Harlan said, if you go there and identify yourself, he'll give you a 'spiffy' quote you can use on your site.

"This is absolutely on the level. Harlan's a good friend and I am speaking on his behalf.

"Bob Ingersoll

"P.S. I edited Harlan's original comment with asterick. Harlan wouldn't be shy about using the word, but I wasn't sure what the guidelines of this site are."

If this works, the nice people from DVD Verdict should hie themselves to this site so that you can pass on your laudatory remarks directly to them.

Glad to have been of service.

Bob Ingersoll

DVD Verdict
Hehehe. I had a feeling you'd get a good laugh out of it. I relayed your request to Jim via e-mail. (They also have 24hr. office voice mail at (310) 878-4968 for feedback.) - Jan

Here's what is on the Fox News webpage:

"Obama on Obama: Marxist Friends."

"Obama- led boards funded controversial groups."

"Joe the Plumber: Obama would bring 'death to Israel.'"

How the fuck does that bald headed nazi know?

Joe the Punkass pieface can sit on a number ten candle.

Faux news must be purged.

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

The new book of lists, horror edition is out. Fun and lots of laughs.

My top five horror writers:

Edgar Poe
Richard Matheson
Dean Koontz
James Herbert
Robert Bloch

JAN or ANYBODY ELSE:

So I go to the URL Jan posted to read the review of the horrible STARLOST boxed set of crapola, and it's a SENSATIONAL review, very fair, very funny, very condemnatory. And I try to post a reply thanking them, but it wouldn't take my post...no "username" or "password" or somesuch Foreign Agent shit...so if someone can get through to their Head Judge (or Whomever) and advise same that Ellison is trying to reach them, ask them to come to this spot, declare him/herself, and I will type in a spiffy encomium they can banner-up on their excellent site.

Thanks in advance, Jan or Whomever. Ah, weary me.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Deep inside you'd find a place, hidden behind my comedian face

So Jim Nutzo thinks there will be a "Bloodbath". Typical. These people are happiest when dreaming about wading up to their armpits in blood.

I prefer the idea of this election being a high colonic for the Repulican Party. If it does split in two because of the christofacists, one should remain the Republican Party and the ones with the goose-steppers for Jesus should just come out of the closet and call themselves the Anti-Freedom League.

Chuck

CHANGELING
And how about Jason Butler Harner as Gordon Northcott? Could be a career-making performance.

Coupla Harlan bits
First of all, thanks for the comments in the CBR interview: I've given up on even _trying_ to follow modern superhero comics, thanks to all of the alternate histories, special editions, megatwisted story arcs and "retconning." Also, when I was younger, I spent a lot of time trying to catch up on a lot of stuff that came before my time; it's disappointing to find that even the stuff that was current _then_ is ancient history to people now. Nice to know I ain't alone on this.

I found this website called Tastekid (http://www.tastekid.com/) that ofers some fun. You type in the name of something you like, and it spits out a list of things you _might_ like. (I know: nothing new about this.) It could provide no suggestions on the name "Dobald E. Westlake,) but for the name "Harlan Ellison," it recommended:

"I think you might enjoy some of these similar books:
Ambrose Bierce, Martin Heidegger, Greg Bear, Philip K Dick, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Herbert, William Shakespeare, Aldous Huxley, Neil Gaiman, Sandman, Mark Twain, Charles Bukowski, Dean Koontz, Edgar Allan Poe, Dan Brown, Stephen King."

I'm gonna second Harlan's recommendation of Changeling. It's terrific stuff, and feels like the best Joan Crawford movie she never made. Always fun watching Clint do it old-school, and Joe's script is top notch.

Most is well...
Harlan...things are improving. Thanks to you and all the rest of the fine people here. I am lifting the load.

Tony

Robby Reed and "Fair Use".

I won't go into the debate regarding the printed word and the fair use of extracts of same. I'm not a writer.

As a visual artist, however, Mr Reed exceeds "Fair Use" by a mile. He uses complete pages of storyline, but those complete pages are copyrighted works by Mr. Frazetta and Mr. Adams -- and therefore cannot be posted without permission.

We all know Mr. Ellison's take on copyright. I would guess that Adams and Frazetta -- both extraordinarily talented artists -- would share the view.

I have added a note to Jan's suggesting he come here to contact Harlan.

Various
VARIOUS.

Assuming that McCain fails to pull off an election day miracle, the Republican party is going to split into two: Those who feel Palin was a disaster, and those who think she remains the future of the party.

Among those who feel that Palin remains the future of the party, Republicans who criticized her or who jumped ship because of her deserve to be, quote, "excommunicated."

Jim Nuzzo, an aide to the first President Bush, says that there will be a "bloodbath."

The religious wing of the party wants Palin in 2012, because Palin embodies faith-based politics. Many are ANGRY at anybody who says otherwise, even those who suggest that somebody like Romney may be a better choice, if that's the criterion.

Nuzzo says, "David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?"

From the Huffington Post: "Yowee. So, for the sake of Sarah Palin -- who many conservatives correctly assessed as the candidate-born-yesterday -- a whole slew of Republicans-in-good-standing are going to be thrown under the bus? That's a serious civil war, or rather, a war betwixt the Serious and the Un-Serious. Keep in mind that Palin's critics are not marginal figures in the conservative movement. We're talking the aforementioned Brooks and Noonan and Frum, and we're adding Christopher Buckley, George Will, Kathleen Parker, Colin Powell, Charles Krauthammer, Matthew Dowd, and for the sake of argument, we'll throw in Chuck Hagel, Andrew Sullivan, and Christopher Hitchens, even though I hesitate to pin any of them to any sort of doctrinaire conservative group."

This is, in short, the fracture of Reagan's coalition between the Fiscal Republicans and the Holy-Roller Republicans. And I think it's a disaster for the Republicans, even more of a disaster than being trounced on a national level in one election. IF the pro-Palin forces continue to act the way they have, the Republicans might actually have to split into TWO parties. And that's going to change the whole game.

***

Quickie Recommendation. There's a new author of thrillers, Cody McFadyen, who writes about an emotionally and physically scarred FBI agent named Smoky Barrett. I deeply enjoyed his first novel, SHADOW MAN, but did not recommend it widely because the identity of the killer was obvious EVEN BEFORE the crimes started. (There were other attributes worth recommending, including some fine prose and great characterizations.) The sequel, THE FACE OF DEATH, is wonderful. One of the most evil villains I can recall -- nasty in ways that make Hannibal Lecter or Edgler Vess look cuddly -- and he is matched by equally mysterious good on the part of the protagonists. Do check it out.

***

Harlan, quickie thumbs-up on the interview. Entertaining as always.

Safe Posting...
Jan, thanks for the reminder that email addresses are optional. I guess I come from a more innocent (=naive) age when it was nice to think that someone might want to contact you privately, off-board. I will leave the email field blank from now on!

- Phil

(Late correction: Rick's posting page says "all fields are optional". Had I only known that earlier because I always find it hard to come up with something for the message field.)

Back from Amsterdam. I am almost able to focus my eyes on objects again.

PHIL & RICK: That's why we don't put our e-mail addresses here, at least not our primary ones. However, I would suggest that Rick put a warning in the posting module. As it is now, it looks like entering the e-address is required. (The only non-required field is the subject. Yes Rick, there is always more work.) :-)

HARLAN: Not sure if this has been posted before but the DIAL B blog is by 'Robby Reed' robby@dialbforblog.com - no phone number or real name given on purpose. Have just dropped him a forum message to get in touch with you. He posted this earlier:

Posted by ROBBY REED on October 26, 2008, 22:43:12, in reply to "Re: DBB #474- Frazetta - Ellison - Adams: ROCK GOD"

If I hear an objection from Ellison or anyone else involved, I will delete the posting. Until then it stays. I did not post the entire story, and ample credit was given.

END OF QUOTE. One guy commented on this saying: "Which seems to fall within the guidelines of fair use." Obviously receiving ample credit and having the unity of a piece of literature destroyed is all a creator could reasonably ask for, in the minds of some people. And the minute Harlan does something about it he will probably get more negative "internet press". It's sad.

**ALL**:
There have been some STARLOST reviews now that the DVD set is out. DVD Verdict has what I thought was the best written one:
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/thestarlost.php
"Note to self: When Harlan Ellison calls something an abomination, take him at his word."

- "I just heard somebody is remaking The Day The Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves!" -
Fools Tread Lightly: Harlan Ellison, Part II
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18586

Although Harlan has said some of those things before, it's probably one of the best statements of Harlan's on contemporary America and the state of the western world. Harlan, don't forget that not all of the readers of your various interviews disagree with you - many agree but may not be as vocal on the internet as the people you're thinking about. There's just no denying what you observe. People need to hear such things - those who don't know and those who already know. It helps everyone refine their ideas about the phenomena we are dealing with. It also makes people who see what's going on feel less alone.

Harlan and Susan
Reading Harlan is like swallowing a live cherry bomb, feeling the hot liquid lead explode in your belly and shatter your mind into pieces. Great. maggie hoyal published but not Harlan. No one is...

Beware!
For most, this won't come as news. For a few, however, it may save some frustration and heartache:

When I post here, I use an email address that is unique to this board. Just lately, this email address has been receiving a HUGE amount of spam. We are being harvested, folks! Probably not just now, but through the archives of the Pavilion.

Advice: get yourself a disposable email address, and use it just for the Pavilion.

Or be like our host, and don't use email!

- Phil

Saw Joe Straczynski's CHANGELING tonight.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

It is a stunner, without flaw or misstep.

Two hours, twenty minutes went in a heartbeart.

Certain Oscar nominations for Joe as scenarist, Angelina Jolie as Actress, Jeffrey Donovan and the kid actor who astonishingly plays "Sanford Northcott" will get the nod, if there is any justicce. This kid is SOME actor!! And Eastwood as director!

Do not deny yourself this artifact. It has been so long since a film treated me as intelligently, as decently, as adultly as this, I'd almost forgotten what it was to come out of a theater enriched.

CHANGELING. See it!

Yr. Pal, Harlan

---------------------------------------------------------------
ALAN COIL:

Sunday you posted--in re the person who put up "Rock God without my granting permission--"I don't know the guy at Dial B for Blog, but by all accounts he is a good guy, and you shouldn't have any trouble talking to him."

Well, so far, he hasn't contacted me.

What "by all accounts" are you speaking of? Please tell me what you know or have heard. If he is a good guy, he ought to be hastening to work this out with me. Thus far, silence. Not good, silence. So tell all you know, hoever miniscule.

Thanks, Yr. Pal, Harlan

It's cool, David. Give him the number,
-he

person-to-person


HARLAN:

Andros Sturgeon would like to give you a call, but he lost your phone number when the hard drive on his computer crashed some time ago. (It's kind of like typing it up on an Olympia manual and then accidentally tossing the paper in the trash.) I offered to give your number to him, but he wanted me to ask you if it's okay for him to call. (You know, you have this REPUTATION for being a real busy guy, and sometimes kinda grumpy . . . that sort of thing.) I thought it was silly, but I told him I would ask. Anyway, it gives me another excuse to talk to him about this new project he's working on.

So long, Lt. Leaphorn. Farewell, Jim Chee. Thank you Tony.

Flying the Coup

Today's news item:

"Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday."

Scary shit.

They are REALLY gonna have to watch for, weed out and put away these moronic, subhuman fucks. The equivalent of raking up all the leaves around your yard, and gettin' em in the trash.

This country is reaching a crossroad; we haven't yet left the 20th century, but we're approaching the gates. WHO can say what's waiting for us all beyond those gates?

Historically, I always kind of sensed that 1915 marked the true beginning of the 20th century - when, more-or-less, 19th century attitudes, aesthetics, lifestyles, and economics were visibly shedding.

I'll bet the years of transition for us will be similar.

The more depressing news today was related to the votes-stealing issue; I learned that in North Carolina, if you vote a straight ticket on that computer, it will automatically void your presidential vote. Thus, thousands voting for Obama saw the computer glitch out their votes.

And, of course, news continues coming out all over the country of McCain supporters leaving deceptive robocalls about Obama, or of disenfranchised voters, who actually saw their votes on the computer switch from Democrat to Republican (it's the latter that concerns most).

The depressing news is the Justice Departments will not step in to investigate or apprehend or arrest the assholes perpetrating this shit. Basically, this is the equivalent - no, the absolute sense - of a coup. It's a passive coup; that is, the voters factored in to get us where we are, many voluntarily voting against their own interests.

This is NOT the "greatest county in the world"; it certainly isn't the most free, except for the top wealthiest. Time to wake up, and part the myths!

It's official folks: Sarah Palin "pals" around with a convicted felon.

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

KOS, you need prune juice, truly cappie.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Sit under a mighty oak. Let the zen of the universe transport you for a soft landing. Be still. Remember, fire is the devil's only friend.

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

28 degrees tonight. You LA mooks better thank your lucky stars. Damned Canada.

JOHN Z. wrote: "RIP Tony Hillerman,83."

Dammit, dammit, dammit...


S.

sans voce

So yesterday, even though I had a sort throat, I put in about an hour and a half at an Obama phone bank, drumming up the vote in Missouri.

And today, I have no voice! When I try to talk I sound a little like Barry White and a little like air leaking out of a balloon. Kinda hurts, too. So yesterday was maybe not my most bestest decision.

On the other hand, if Obama takes the Show Me State, then maybe I did a little good in this world.

This year was my first time making those sorts of calls. My initial feeling was that I suck at it (New acronym -- WOMSS -- Way Outside My Skill Set), but after watching some other folks robot-reading their way through the campaign-approved script, too nervous to deviate even a little (we were told we could), I've concluded that I'm right in the middle. I'm not the guy who can reel in the fence-sitters, but I can at least to talk to someone on the phone in a normal, conversational way.

Definitely a good and interesting thing to do -- don't know if I'll be doing it a whole lot more, however. Certainly not with this voice.

* * *

Geek Love is indeed an excellent novel. I read it ten or twelve years ago and the characters are still with me.

Speaking of novels, I really enjoyed Neil Gaiman's latest - The Graveyard Book. It's the novel I was hoping for with most of his other work. Funny and tender and creepy and sad, with lots of eccentric details. Also, if you know Kipling's Jungle Book stories (from both the original and the Second Jungle Book), there are lots of references that are fun to catch. His videotaped reading of the book online is also a treat.

* * *

Lots of news today. Some of it good -- Stevens in Alaska convicted. Some of it scary -- skinhead plot.

I certainly am ready for this election to end. It's taking me over so that I can scarcely think about anything else.

Off I go to obsessively follow the news,

Squeaky

Andros
Yeah, Andros. I remember him from around 1968 and then a few years later. One should trust him implicitly in this endeavor.

Rick Warren supports Prop 8 surprise surprise.

http://saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/newsandviews/index.html?contentid=1502

"Pastor Rick" is the new kinder gentler face of the Religious Right with the death of Rev Falwell and the marginilization of people like Hagee and Robertson.

But behind that easy going demeanor and that warm smile is the same empty irrational shadow, that void that sucks out the soul of the know-nothing.

My SF Reading Group, Various Flotsam and Jetsam
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

Just a few words. My SF reading group just read and reviewed our dear host's anthology, "Slippage". Happy to report that all loved it. (My personal favorite is "Nackles", I suppose, since I'm currently a landlord. Would have loved to see Ed Asner in the role of the landlord.)

Went to my 25th prep school re-union and linked up with my former English lit instructor. I reminded him of a question on my MIT application, with which he assisted me: In which novel would you have liked to be a character, whether actual or an added character? My response today: a character in a Grahme Greene novel, preferably a loiterer, wearing a crisp linen suit, sitting in the reception area of some hill station in colonial India, reading a two-week-old edition of "The Times" and watching Greene's protagonist begin his day's adventures. Nothing else. A fly on the wall really. Brother loved my up-to-date idea, even better that my wanting to be Nick Carroway in "The Great Gatsby", circa 1983. Certainly not the landlord in "Nackles".

Just began reading "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn. Wonderful.

Regards from the "other" coast.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

UNREPENTANT HARLEQUIN
Is this merely a second printing, which I don't need, or a revised edition which I definitely WOULD need?

Reply to Query

Unca Harlan,

Received the following e-mail come-on this morning from Amazon.com:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated Ellison's Dream Corridor Volume 2 by Harlan Ellison have also purchased Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (Popular Writers of Today ; V. 6) by George Edgar Slusser. For this reason, you might like to know that Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (Popular Writers of Today ; V. 6) will be released on October 30, 2008. You can pre-order yours at a savings of $3.73 by following the link below.

Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (Popular Writers of Today ; V. 6)
George Edgar Slusser
List Price:$16.95 Price: $13.22 You Save: $3.73 (22%)

Release Date: October 30, 2008

Harlan's question
This is the new listing for the title "Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (Popular Writers of Today ; V. 6)" on Amazon.

It SEEMS the new edition (Oct/2008) is now from Wildside Press instead of the defunct (?) Borgo press. I have no information about Wildside or how they came by the rights to reprint this title but some dealers are offering the NEW edition and not just the old Borgo copies. Here's the details for Tim Richmond;

http://tinyurl.com/5rln2v

# Paperback: 68 pages
# Publisher: Wildside Press; 1st edition (October 30, 2008)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0893702099
# ISBN-13: 978-0893702090
# Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches

and now, back to my packing table;

- Barney

Bluemonkey, PA.

RIP
Tony Hillerman,83.

QUERY TO RAY CARLSON

Answering your question raises several for me.

This is a book published decades ago by Borgo Press. It is a chapbook. George Slusser was (still is?) a very smart fellow, and the essay is interesting. We still sell it through HERC.

But the publication date of 30 October 08 bewilders me. Please convey to me, if you will, all you know of this, where you encountered it, who is offering it, et al.

It is something of which I have not, to this moment, heard. And my brow is furrowed. I cannot believe that my friend "Robert Reginald," the Borgo Press publisher, and a man of impeccable manners, has scheduled a new edition without mentioning it to me.

So...PLEASE! Every jot and tittle of datum on this is much desired. Thank you in advance.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

John Zeock:
Talk about coincidence: I was doing a copyright search on Harlan's "Rock God" (don't ask, it's a twisted hobby of mine) and "The World's Greatest Sinner" was returned:

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=8&ti=1,8&Search%5FArg=Rock%20God&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=E0qjYmuEak2y7glUsO4xM1yccN4e&SEQ=20081027112729&SID=4

Thanks for the heads-up, by the way, I've wanted to experience "Sinner" for years. he bad part is, the movie was followed by "200 Motels" and I missed it.

writing - and not throwing in towels
***Tony*** You have my sympathy and my empathy. I've been more or less BLOCKED from what I think of as true creative writing for almost 17 months. These daily posts here and elsewhere are sort of keeping some knives sharp - but nothing lasting or genuinely creative.

The good news is my personal block is (so far as I can tell) pure life circumstances - and I am actively working to change all that up. So, with a little luck, perhaps sooner, rather than later, a few of these impediments will have vanished or taken a back seat.

I know Peter David and guys like him don't get much critical respect - but ONE of the reasons I really love Peter David is he has kept swinging through some times that would have reduced me to a point where I would not have been able to fill up a post card. I think Peter MIGHT say something like, "well, no, that's when I write BECAUSE it's the thing I still CAN do" and I get that - but the getting and the DOING can be miles apart.

And I speak about Peter here in this way based only on some real outsider information. I'm sure Harlan has encyclopedias of anecdotes and testimonials along these lines.

Gotta run. Hugs - B

Unrepentant Harlequin

Unca Harlan,

My apologies if you've addressed this already. Is this book a "buy" or a "pass"?

"Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin" (Popular Writers of Today ; V. 6) by George Edgar Slusser Release Date: October 30, 2008.

*Cough, cough*

(or, in European markets, "*kaff, kaff*")

I was days away from posting a thank you note to Josh for his suggestion a year or so ago of Oreganol to help knock down/keep away colds. Cris had one and ... until Friday ... I'd ducked the bastard by nigh-on freebasing the substance.

*cough* *wheeze*

%$#@ I hate colds.
__________________________________________

Jim - That's hysterical!! I think he has a chance!

God help the rest of us, however...
__________________________________________

HARLAN - There's a printing problem with that project we discussed. Stay tuned, but it ain't coming out exactly as planned.

(Yet!)
__________________________________________

TONY - I was never much of a writer (no comments from the gallery), and never earned much beyond a pittance, but am related to one and have a bunch of them for friends.

Sometimes the very best stuff comes after you've backed away. Some people work well under pressure, others do not.

When it becomes more of an imperative to write than to not write you'll go back with a vengeance.

Good morning, all. I seem to be both awake and up and out. Hmmm. What difference does it make if Barack is very black, kinda black, a little black, or white and wearing makeup? In my book, none. That which matters is he is intelligent, has a good education, is loyal and faithful, has both judgement and discernment, seems to really think things out before acting, is tolerant, considers other's opinions before acting, which means if he becomes Pres. he might actually think for a moment before nuking the Republic of Ireland for no good reason. Just my opinion.

Peg and Paul, hi guys. I was in the Forums, still don't know how to post there, but I would observe that Joe Ely really is from Texas. I guess he's on me brain, since I saw his performance on Austin City Limits a week ago. This question is more for Peg than you, Paul, but is Joe cute or what? I've seen him like four or five times though not in a couple years. Each performance was betterer than the last

Shagin, sadly it was the slutty parts of Ms. Hamiltons novel which I enjoyed the most. If you had told me I'd grow up to be a dirty old women.....

This is of interest to no one but me, but the towing company in my lawsuit offered me a hundred bucks to go away. I said thank you but no thanks. But I am encouraged by the fact of the offer if not the amount. And I shall continue to fight. Who says one can not fight city hall.

Must now drive nephew to school. Be well all. L and K, Diane

Notes to Susan Ellison and Lori Koonce and...
1. Hytone is available here: http://www.medshopexpress.com/10009632.html and if you feel uncomfortable doing business online, I will happily secure it for you.

2. Lori Koonce: Thank you for your kind words about my post.

3. Latest Republican line: They are not willing to say that Palin wasn't vetted properly, now they are saying that she was "mishandled". This may be true, but how comfortable can I be with the idea with a group of folks that wish to "handle" the country and cannot "handle" one of the most important people in their campaigns?

Brian Phillips

Harlan,

Why have you been keeping this a secret??? This is simply amazing. This is very funny and just in time:


http://www.inews3.com/topstory.php?id=4861726c616e7c456c6c69736f6e

Wonderful piece by Ebert
In his blog Roger Ebert writes beautifully about how writing has become a much more powerful tool of communication for him at this stage in his life. It's quite inspiring:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/10/i_think_im_musing_my_mind.html

DAVID LOFTU.
DAVID LOFTUS:

Andros is Ted and Weena Sturgeon's kid. I held him mere days after he was born. Don't even know if Andros read the long essay I did on Ted late last year in INTERPOLATION., Yes, by all means, say hi to him, and assure him Unca' Harlan always hopes he's doing portentously.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

KOS's last post
KOS: At the risk of sounding like a racist and possibly drawing the ire of one or more posters on this here forum...
...Barack Obama is one of the whitest black men I've ever met. And I _don't_ say that in a derogatory -- it's just a fact. Obama resembles white middle class folks more than say...oh, a candidate like Jesse Jackson.

Yes, this will be historic, and yes, it's at least some of the medicine we need to maybe (and that's a BIG maybe) get the country pointed in the right direction to get back on track.
But don't kid yourself: if Obama's skin color had been more of a dark chocolate rather than "coffee with cream"...I have my doubts that he would have made it this far.

There's racism and then there's _racism_. Although Obama isn't a guy who can fit into the "passing" category that some African-Americans used to speak of back in the bad ol' days, he is pretty close. And therefore, not as threatening to those who still harbor a low-level amount of racism (otherwise called fear of the unknown).

Thus sayeth a guy who has gone through life hearing things like, "Ain't that a black man's name?" after introducing myself.
-DTS (who replied, "No sir. It's my name.")

Did you ever?
Tony: You know that was a rhetorical question, right?

Every writer has that voice in him that says "This is bullshit, give it up and get a life!" Some listen to it more than others, some will deny they even have it, but it's there, Jack.

I -am- an eBay seller. How do you think THAT happened? Yo.

A few months ago I got approved for SDI, and receive a small motnhly stipend (think half my rent(. My writing went all to shit for two months or so. Seems like the least bit of financial good news demotivates me. It's like Heinlein burining his paid off mortgage papers in 1941 and announcing he was never gonna write again because he had accomplished what he set out to do.

Most of us know how well THAT resolution worked.

Frank Frank Frank: So you are a decrepit old war horse of forty something, and a hot young blonde schoolteacher with a hundred million cool ones "sets her cap for you", and you are gonna be all "Sorry, hunny, I got standards. Take your hunnerd million and your pert lil pixie butt elsewhere, I ain't buying!" This is a "pig"? Maybe politically, but then that game leads to everyone that you disagree politically with being a swine. That would mean that, what, something like 299 million Americans are gifted with the cleft hoof and corkscrew tail, metaphorically?

Methinks you'd slobber all over that particular sort of "pig" if she winked at you. Then again, I assume you are a heterosexual male. Just saying...

How's this for a science fiction scenario: What happens to the USA as a society and as it is viewed by the rest of the world, if it gives an African-American candidate the greatest landslide victory in USA presidential election history?

Could happen. Weird Times. We need a newsmagazine with that title, for we surely live in them.

Question for Harlan: While I imagine you are pleased with the so far successful candidacy of BHO, and, assuming trends hold, and he does win big: Did you ever think you would live to see this, as opposed to fervently hoping you would? I confess to being amazed at all of it. It's as if I slipped sidewise in time and am in an alternate universe to the one I was born into.

KOS

cogs in cogs

HARLAN:

Yesterday I auditioned for a proposed Web-based video series -- an ongoing science-fiction video drama to be circulated on YouTube and perhaps elsewhere. The slim bible for the project described a high-paranoia, rebellion-against-an-unscene-conspiracy situation that reminded me a little of X-Files and the Matrix.

For the audition we had to create our own character to fit into the scenario and describe him or her on camera. I figured your name might buy me some street cred with the creators of this project, so before doing my bit for the videocam I mentioned that I knew you and had done some work for you in the past.

The creator-director of this project, one Andros T. Sturgeon, said "Hey, I know Harlan, too. Next time you talk to him, tell him you saw me; he'll probably say 'what the hell is that guy up to now?' "

I have no idea whether I have a shot at a role in this project, but if I get on board, I'll let you know what else I pick up.

"Bless you, my son, on a looming day of hard work!"

We cheese-makers look for blessing wherever we can GET it!

Good one.

"At Sunday's London gig, Sarah Silverman told a story about attending a fundraising event for Barack Obama: 'I wanted to have a smart question to ask when I met him, so I went over and said, "Senator Obama, when you were a student in Boston, did you encounter racism in any form?" His answer was really profound. He said, "I'm Kanye West."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/oct/26/sarah-silverman-live

DRUGS!!!!
Susan- Hytone may have been available in a non-RX strength a bit back. I'm fairly certain that it's only available now in the RX 2 and 1/2 % strength. Always yours and Harlan's, John

OKAY, EVUH'BUDDY, ALL T'GETHER NOW .......

TONY IS A FRIEND OF MINE

HE CAN HAVE IT ANY TIME

FOR A NICKEL OR A DIME

ISABELLA IS A

FRRRRRRRRREND OF MINE!!!!

okay, evuh'buddy, all tuhgether now, one more time ...

TOOOOOEEEEEE-NEEEEEEEE IS A FREN' UV MINE!!!!

HE CUN HAVE IT ENNYTIME!!!!!!

FOR A NICKEL OR A DIME!!!!!!!!

(say it real fast to make it fit) TONY ISABELLA IS A FUUUUUHHHRR
ENNNNNND OF MUHY-UHNNNNN!!!!!

YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Harlan--

I don't know the guy at Dial B for Blog, but by all accounts, he is a good guy, and you shouldn't have any trouble talking to him.

Rob, confess, you ripped that off. You are rarely that clever.

I don't get the onion on his pants, because as you know McCain is sensitive to onion or kissing a pig, unless it is his wife.

One day you may be as clever as a fourth of me.

The bees will give you a honey enema. Hows that.

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

Adam Castro, I admire writers who can work with other people's charactors, ideas. That's one talent I could never have. If I wrote it would be original stuff. Working with hallowed charactors would scare me blue.

Get Spidey laid, ok?

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

McCain is going bat shit crazy. You should have seen him in Iowa today. He kept whipping his onion head from side to side, like he was slapping away hungry bats. He glowered, banging his chubby paw against the pulpit. I guess he now fashions himself a modern day PT Barnum. Thinking he can sell snowcones to Jack Frost.

I almost worried that his head would pop off.

This guy cannot be trusted anywhere near the white house.

Harlan, I sent an email to the one on the person's contact page with a copy of your request.

MIKE VALERIO

Thanks, I guess, for posting the link to the "Dial B for Blog" website, which has breached my copyright and trademark registration for "Rock God."

I Mneed your help--or someone's--to get to the owner of this site, and to have him or her call me so we can discuss this pirating before I have to go to the circling covey of sharp-beaked attorneys. I have no desire to defenestrate this tone-deaf entity, despite his/her moronic inattention to ten years of ACTIVE PURSUIT of just such misappropriaters of my work.

When I wrote a short contact note, and tried to post it to the site, I couldn't get through. This party needs to get to me FAST before the situation compounds itself and I have to go after him/her.

Anyone (singular or plural) who can effect this liaison--I'll need his/her name and a contact phone number--will be on my Best Friend List.

Thank you, in advance, Mike or anyone else.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

It's Sunday morning, and I'll be up in the office all day. I have a major piece of writing to do, and I'll be incommunicado till it's finished.

But, hully geeezuss, Rob ... that spot-on-perfect stump speech by McCain as Grampa Simpson jus' blew me outta the water! I laughed so hard, Susan heard it at the other end of Wonderland, and came galumphing in to see was I havin' a fit or something!

Bless you, my son, on a looming day of hard work!

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Dear One and All:

Can you still get HYTONE (a 1% cortizone cream) at you local drugstore? Tried to get some last week--no luck. I have the other brand, but Hytone is just better. If anyone sees some, would you pick me up about three or four tubes.

With kind regards--Susan

To Tony
Tony,

After completing the Spider-Man / Sinister Six trilogy, which was a nightmare for reasons I don't need to explicate here, I was hit with the thought, "You can stop now."

That was very clearly a command to stop writing. To just chuck it all. To give up. It was an insistent thought. It would not go away.

For days I walked around in a state of shock, knowing that the thought was serious, and believing it.

After about a week, I entered a state of mourning, and after about a month, the thought went away and I began writing again.

So, yeah, I do know what you mean.

Question for Uncle Harlan and the other nieces/nephews who write for a living:

Did you ever hit a wall, even momentarily, when you just wanted to chuck it all and become a full-time eBay seller?

How did you overcome this moment of sanity/insanity?

Tony

Science Fiction authors political onions
I heard Lovecraft is supporting Cthulhu. Something about "Why choose any lesser evil?"

You can use the internet to find out who Science Fiction authors support for president?

Really?

And Harlan says it's not much use!

Pshaw.

KOS

curious question
hello. its amazing to find this little corner of the internet. i have always had a huge respect for harlan, so its kind of cool to discover this place. i was browsing the internet trying to find some information on science fiction authors political affiliations, and my browsing lead me here. with this election looming close, and what appears to be major change hovering near, i wanted to see which of my favorite authors were leaning in any particular direction. does anyone know any site i can go that give a sense of who's supporting who? I'm assuming Niven and Pournell are leaning McCain. Brin seems to be Obama. But I haven't found out too much else. Any input would be great. Thanks.

Shangri-La, sans Golden Arches
I'm a schmuck and didn't get round to finally seeing LH till just about a decade ago.

Suffice it to say, I had never in my life thought of Jane Wyatt as sexy till then.

Otherwise, I'm in full agreement with everything JohnE just posted.

Some things that liberals support and Hussein Obama believes in.

Is separating individuals into male and female as "evil" as racial apartheid?

Scientology Hollywood believes sex is a "role" not a genetic fact.

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/pdf_files/TVCSpecialRptTransgenders1234.PDF

ROCK GOD
.
Maybe someone here has already mentioned this (if so, forgive me) but...

Over at the very fun site DIAL B FOR BLOG, Robby Reed offers up a look back at the Harlan Ellison/Neal Adams story ROCK GOD from the April, 1970 issue of CREEPY (cover and story inspiration by Frank Frazetta).

http://dialbforblog.com/

De-Lurking.
Floating by, just to say hey. Be well.

Shangri-La
Just wanted to pop in and say that the wife and I spent a cozy, rainy, thoroughly delightful afternoon watching the AFI-restored version of LOST HORIZON, which I haven't seen or read in decades and my wife has NEVER seen. What a joy this film is, I can't remember the last time we had such and enthralling viewing experience.

If you've never seen it, or haven't seen it in a long time, go get it and watch it tonight!

"Be kind!"

A-TC: Bwahahahahahahahaha.....*snicker*

***

BRADY: No. Leave the cartoons and movies alone. Educate yourself as to the cultural relevance, don't naysay because the square peg doesn't fit the modern round hole.

***

ZACK: Sinfest is exquisite. While the majority of strips aren't work appropriate, it's a rare strip that doesn't make me smile if not laugh out loud. The characters, the commentary, and the remarks about religion are priceless. Some of the earlier ninja poontang bits can be a bit much, but they are the yang to the Buddha strips yin. Hi thee to the archives, man!


shagin

Do you think all Humphrey Bogart films should have public service announcements at the beginning warning that Time Warner or Disney/Michael Eisner doesn’t condone smoking, and that its harmful to your health? The same way that Whoopi Goldberg notifies watchers how racist the 1940s Warner Brothers cartoons are at the beginning of those DVD’s. What about Song of the South? Do you think Michael Eisner and his corporate henchmen should keep that out of print forever, in order to placate Spike Lee (Summer of Sam, Get on the Bus with O.J. Simpson, etc) and his million men?

An eerie thing just happened. Barack was doing a speech in Reno Nevada, in front of a huge ass crowd, and the sound went out. His microphone didn't work for about five minutes. He joked around that it was a McCain supporter who kicked the plug but it weirded me out.

Didn't realize I was superstitious.

I pet black cats, walk under ladders, break mirrors, kiss frogs.

I agree with Larry David--Lord make it end.

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

Adam Castro, you are a sweetie.

The middle name thing is a bit much, but we still love ya.

-----------

Barack needs to quit saying "when I am President," that's too arrogant, say "if you give me the privilege to be President."

After all 1960s America was still mostly white in a cultural sense. So aren't liberals really revealing themselves to be nostalgic closet-haters when they consume cultural artifacts or reproductions of that lost era?

please god i don't believe in, make it stop, part II
co-panelist ATC writes ..."That's AN ACTUAL BLACK GUY, complete with certificate of authenticity."

Is this one of those Wizards of the Coast C.O.A.'s, or just some trumped up fake Hawaiian birth certificates?* And Adam, just how black? Bernie Mac/Yaphet Kotto black - or lots of cream in the coffee Halle Berry type black? 'Cause that won't scare nobody. Just sayin'.

I fully expect Carol Cooper will be putting someone on a bus from the Port Authority now to kneecap me - and I will have that coming.

- Barney

Ocho, PA.

*total bullshit Obama slur in case you've not read me before.

And now a word from our sponsor
Are you sad and lonely? Are you seeking attention? Can you use some publicity?

Have you considered writing nasty shit on your face?

Tawana Brawley, Morton Downey Jr., and a McCain campaign worker have!

To date, this exciting new field of expression has never quite worked as intended. All three blamed hulking villains of another race, and all three failed to make the illusion stick.

But now there's an exciting new product, GRAFFITOCHEEKS (tm).

GRAFFITOCHEEKS will write the nasty words for you, in a reasonable facsimile of insane thug handwriting, in ACTUAL LEFT-TO-RIGHT handwriting capable of fooling the police.

It works like any home labelmaker.

Simply decide the medium you want to use (shit, paint, actual cuts in flesh).

Type the message you desire on the miniature screen, either something personal (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY) or one of the many ugly hate-filled messages provided in the database. We have the N-Word, the C-word, the S-word; even obscure slurs you've never heard about, like those that attack Bolivians.

Apply directly to the forehead. Repeat to yourself. SLUR-ON. Apply directly to the forehead. SLUR-ON. Apply directly to the forehead.

Simply squeeze the trigger, call the cops, tell them your story of violation, and instant tabloid sensation!

Act now and we'll send you THE ACTUAL BLACK GUY you want to blame for this atrocity. That's AN ACTUAL BLACK GUY, complete with certificate of authenticity.

Call now. Operators are standing by.

Not even paleo
The neo's can have their own party, but "Paleo-Conservative" they are not either. Though I dislike rhe term, "Paleo-Conservative" has been adopted by some conservatives to distinguish themselves in the public mind from the self-labeled neo-conservatives.

I think it's silly to call myself a paleo-conservtive, and thus to allow the shifty neo-con's (who are con artists, hence the applicability of that term) to gain some legitimacy as a "sort" of conservative. There's nothing conservative at all about spending the country into the next Dark Age while invading every crackpot-istan that has an oil patch or mullah that hates us. WYF! Nothing conservative about No Child Left Behind, TSA, Homeland Insecurity or the war on Drugs.

Don't even get me started on the Republicans attitude towards personal lives. I am in favor of religion as a stabilizing force in society, but want it as far from political power as it can be.

Not that it matters, since the average person thinks anyone with "conservative" attached to their nametag is what you wrote: a wild eyed America Is Always Right zealot.

Sort of like the way the average American also thinks anyone self-identified as being left of the Democratic party is a radical, and thus by definition a bomb throwing, gluesniffing whack job.

It's all so much easier than thinking, especially when you haven't got time or energy to think, because you work three jobs and still live in a trailer.

America, anti-intellectual not just by choice, but by dint of overwork.

KOS

Rob
Let me guess, he's already got Mr. Burns tapped for Energy Secretary....

America's Pride...Goes ON

McCain, having lost a few pages on where he is right now, has just delivered his Presidential inaugural speech:

"My frenz, my frenz, my frenz...now that I'm your President, we can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. I will tell you stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I took the fairy to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe so I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them... Give me five bees for a quarter, Joe the Plumber would say...

Now where were we? oh ya.

The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones. The ones I bombed the holy crud ougttha in my years as a nipper.

Anyhow, I promise to cut taxes for Joe the Plumber, and all Americans who can extract my underwear and wave it at all the happy races who RAISED onions so that the rest of us could thrive in a fundamentally sound economy.

Where wuz I? Oh, ya...

The following is a list of words I never want to hear on television as long as Sarah is your President: Number one: bra. Number two: horny. Number three: family jewels.

And now...I will address the issues of spittoons, bed pans, witch hazel, donut pillows, and tha fine texture of quality toilet paper...further proof of America's fundamentally sound economy"

Booze
I too find most alcohol vile.
I drink about once every six months, which is enough to remind me why I don't drink.
Margaritas are about the least intolerable drink to me, but only with 100% blue agave tequila. I did kind of like amaretto at one point too. Beer is the worst to me, horse piss must taste better.

She did it again!

shagin:

You've brought me another good webcomic! You are beautiful!

Zack

KOS, you wrote:

Those of you who don't know it: neo-conservatives are not conservatives.

Absolutely, I think most of us know that. There's nothing Neo about them, more Paleo.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again and again: The Paleos need to leave the poor Republican party alone and start a political party of their own.

They could call it the Nationalist American Zealots Incorporated party.

Chuck

"wet or dry?"
Harlan,

Its good to know that there is somebody out there like me who cant stand alcohol!, I tried it as a young teen and it made me sick, ever since then I’ve never be able to take even a little sip, horrible stuff!.

I’d rather drink dish water then beer and all wine makes me gag, I wonder if there is some kind of gene that makes a person like that?, I don’t mind others drinking around me but hate people who get drunk.

I always feel a bit embarrassed when people offer me a beer or wine or whatever but it great to know that there are a few like me out there who can get by without it.

Your “dry” friend……Gary

Begging the forgiveness of the great Webderland Masters...
...but today's Sinfest cartoon is one that folks here would appreciate.

It is work appropriate.

http://www.sinfest.net/

shagin

HE,

Does your Olympia stick? I learned to type on a half-frozen SM-9 years ago and still bang on the keyboard with two fingers because of it, drives my coworkers nuts.

tcm
Tonight- TCM- The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) 2:00 AM Eastern time. Score...by...Frank Zappa... Soundalikes-sarah Palin and Erica Durrance. Happy weekend, Go Phils ! JZ

Harlan ...

No.

(Presuming you're referring to the recent author of CAUSE OF FEAR, et cetera. And even presuming there's another Robert Ross out there ... sadly, it's not me. I remain unpublished.)

Beyond that, I'll probably be sending you something that will tickle your recollection as to when and how we met. Not really a big deal, but if you've ever had your recollection tickled, you know how much fun that can be.

One odd little note about names: At the clinic where I treat, when the nurse comes out to call the next person in, she'll always use only first names. Quite often, there's more than one Robert. Once, a nurse walked out and said "Robert?" and three of us stood up. It just seems odd, to have that many men named Robert treating for cancer at the same clinic.

Penpal
Hi Tom,

Paypal is faisal underscore A underscore Qureshi at Hotmail dot com.

Thanks for this.

FAQ

BBC news
Hi Harlan & Susan

On the BBC news tonight a report on the US election interviewed people in,

Painsville, Ohio

It may appear at some point on the BBC website.

Hope you are both well

Steve

PS Susan, Portland Hotel, Manchester, 30 years ago this week

Steve--I understand--no problem.

Tom--thank you for your HERC renewal.

All best--Susan

STEVE P.O.:

Thanks for the offer, but you seem to have missed the 74-year-old advisement: I don't "drink." Never have. Beer, wine, and everything in-between. Can't stomach the taste of alcohol. Beer always looks so godlike in appearance, but one sip and my face does an outtake of Chaney in Hunchback. I have an Isotopes t-shirt, and that's plenty for me. The gag works once, not so much in triplicate.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Just a daily round-up
I know I'm mostly preaching to the converted now but it's another good data point day. The R.C.P. web page bumped Obama from 364 to 375 in the no toss-up state map which is a nice 11 point bump at this stage of the game and looks VERY do-able.

The 538 site now is giving McCain only a 3.7% chance of pulling this one out of his ass. That sounds like some Dukakis type statistical burial as near as I can tell.

I'm seeing words like "landslide" and "avalanche" being used more freely in the last 24 hours which means the media pundits are tiring of carrying McCain the way they tired of carrying Hillary in later days.

I sent out a big e-mailing to a number of my friends who are women about the "Palin can't call a planned parenthood bomber a terrorist" culture war bullshit from Huffington Post. That's going around the net like wildfire because to some it's more offensive than the concept that Palin doesn't know the Veep does not run or even caucus with the Senate.

Ezra - no argument on the tv front. I lived without for three years and after Obama is elected and I'm up in the Brainery in Nazareth I will probably only see a few minutes per day - if that. This election cycle has been a bit of special circumstance I'm afraid.

- B

ps. - Happy to see my "no pants" meme is catching on in the back room. Trust me, when the first network declares a winner (Obama) I will be dropping 'em and toasting with some decent Speyside single malt while screaming the sort of obscenities that would make a member of the House of Lords blush. Trust me.

pps. - ***TIM*** Very sorry to hear about your friend. I did indeed enjoy his company at your 21st birthday bash. We have a LOT to catch up on. You have no idea. Soon baby, soon.

ppps. - Someone asked about The Brainery logo. That sepia tone barn from my blog was just a filler illustration because it was the architecture of a German grainery which is where the play on words started. The actual logo art will be done by a friend in a Wally Wood/Mark Schultz style featuring a bunch of LARGE disembodied brains floating around a country barn on a moonlit night. I expect some kick-ass Halloween shows both for children and adults come next fall. If you can't engage kids with a little Bradbury in a "haunted" book barn - well, then I give up.

- Barney

Pillaroffire, PA.
_________________
History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins (1915-1990)

Limbaugh & co. are vicious bastards-may they choke on their own lies. I have today's Honolulu Advertiser newspaper in front of me-the photo of Obama says it all-the man is fighting back tears. It's hell losing someone you love-may his tutu(Hawaiian for grandmother) pull through.

Colleen

There is No Sub-basement
In the category of there are no depths that these people will not plumb, no sub-basement below even minimal decency that they must dig, I must report that Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Jerome Corsi, G. Gordon Liddy and company are all flogging conspiracy theories about Barack Obama's evil ulterior motives in flying to visit his grandmother on what may be her deathbed. Y'see, it all has to do with the long-debunked canard that Obama's birth certificate is a forgery; Obama is flying to Hawaii to head off the investigation that will prove it. He must, of course, do this HIMSELF, because Presidential candidates do not have extensive staffs filled with advance men, flacks, lawyers, and so on. No, Obama must fly to Hawaii himself for this secret undercover mission. He must break into the hospital record room at night, and either remove the incriminating document or plant one that seems to clear him of being a furriner. And ISN'T IT FORTUNATE that his grandmother, the grandmother who raised him, broke her hip AT THIS PRECISE JUNCTURE, when a cover story was needed?

"Well, that must be part of the evil plot! He must have had an agent do it!"

Question: as long as there was an agent running around Hawaii, why doesn't THAT GUY perform the cover-up Obama is now dropping everything to do?

"Ummm...well."

The big bombshell today is that Palin couldn't call abortion bombers terrorists. She did want to keep talking about Bill Ayers, but couldn't use the same word to describe abortion bombers.

God, get this woman away from us.

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

Huffingtonpost has another bombshell where they report that McCain met with dictator, Augusto Pinochet in 1986.

Once again, the internet is my lover, my wife, my all.

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

Mathis went from a jazz artist to the champ of easy listening glop. Even the most cynical retch has to drip baby tears after hearing Misty.

Mathis made his choice. He went for the bread.

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

You can chop off the fish head, but you still have the smell--and that far off look never dies.

DIANE - My niece reads the Anita Blake novels; her usual comments are "she goes from intense hunter and heroine to ta-da! super slut."

***

DOC - You offered an ear to bend if I needed it, and I wanted you to know that my ears are pretty flexible, too.

***

JOHN F. - The check is in the mail, and I'll respect you in the morning. As for the other, um...no promises.


shagin

I am stupid
It just occurred to my still sleeing brain that I may have inadvertantly said something rude. Frank, I was just trying to be whimsical. I should know better at this early. No frontal lobe action for me till after noon.

It's a bad habit of mine, but I form mental images of people I haven't met. The one I described is not acutally the one I have of Frank. I was attempting humor and whimsy. Frank, I think very highly of you from what I know of you from here. And Harlan's good opinion goes far towards recomending a chap. In some ways, this is a wonderful medium; but it perforce deletes the warm chuckle in my voice, and the twinkle in my eyes. So, no offense ever intended,Frank. Don't get an ulcer over this election. Drink some milk, soy or otherwise. Sorry for double post, but I get mad at me if I think I have hurt someone. I'll go away for a while.
For some reason, and this is mostly irrelevant, almost all of you really do have blue eyes in my mind's eye. Go figure. Bye, bye

Right back at you, Frank. You're really a six five (Just not up to reaching for the top keys this early)man of Polynesian origin, with inexplicably violet blue eyes behind delicate gold spectacles and a long black blue braid of hair. I just know I'm so right, right. I try, Paul, I try.
I have changed my mind about the Laurel Hamilton novel I am reading. It's great, marvelous, ever so much better than good. But try to read it with someone you love, or at least lust after severely.... The reason will become clear oh long about the third or fourth chapter. This specific one is Cerulean Dreams, her latest.

SUSAN:
Apologies for the bounced cheque. I canceled my Chicago bank account, not realizing that my HERC resub hadn't cleared yet. Will get the appropriate funds out tout de suite.

DOC:
I also misplaced 25-30 pounds recently. Pretty certain it had to do with my anxiety over The Big Move from Chicago to ABQ, with all of its attendant issues (finding new job; farther than 100 miles from the parents for the first time ever; wife and pooch moving out 2 months before me). Talked to my supercali GP (also moving away from her), and she got me on the Lexapro, and all is swell. Hope your issue may be as easily solved.

HARLAN:
I'm now enjoying one (too many) bottles of the Albuquerque Isotopes Triple A Blonde Ale. Used to be you could only find this brew at the ballpark, but now you can get it at select liquor stores in the city. I know you enjoyed the ballcap Peter David procured for you. If you'd like a bottle (or a sixpack) of the associated intoxicant, jes lemme know and I'll get it in the post for you a.s.a.p.

SJPO

Thanks, all, for the directions - I'll be looking for it!

Re: the mystery weight loss - I hadn't weighed myself for quite a while, so I don't know how long it took to accomplish. For also a while (love me, love my syntax), my appetite has kind of waned. I don't know how many of you know of my situation with my mom, but I just haven't felt much like eating. Stress, depression, sturm und drang, getting about 2-3 hours of sleep at a stretch, because I'm always on duty (feeling very much like the only whore in Chile Verde; go watch "Lust in the Dust") - probably all contributing factors. I've been type II diabetic for a few years now. Anyhow, there are plenty of reasons for the weight loss and it ain't like I couldn't spare it. Anyhow, I get peckish, I have a glass of milk - that tends to douse the hunger pangs, until My Stomach actually insists on a meal. I didn't mean to worry anyone - sorry about that.

Cheers,
Doc

DOC - The album - simply titled "Johnny Mathis" - is currently available via iTunes if you want the quick-fix compressed MP3 version. It was re-released on CD back in 1996 on CD by Sony (originally on Columbia), but the factory-pressed silver discs are now out of print. That's the bad news.

Good news is that it can be had used from Amazon sellers used for as little as $4.32.

P.S. TO DOC: I was off the site for a few days, so I didn't read Brian Phillips's solving-of-the-problem post before I entered my comments. But...there y'go, kiddo.

20-30 pounds lost inexplicably...? Not good, son.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

REPLY TO TONY ADAMS

No.

ROBERT ROSS:

Just dawned on me...could you be the F&SF writer of note, Robert Ross? Or the other one?

Querulously, Harlan Ellison (the OTHER one)

That should be, of course, "off this kid."

-he

THE SPECTACULAR FIRST "LOST" JOHNNY MATHIS ALBUM

Doc: It doesn't really HAVE a name, other than just JOHNNY MATHIS, but I've heard it mentioned as "Autumn in Rome" which may be its actual. The only way you can know it (with John Lewis of the MJQ on piano on some of the tracks) is that it features the most astonishing version of "Caravan" that I HAVE EVER HEARD. Columbia's George Avakian introduced Mathis with this album (subheaded "a new sound in popular song") but the A&R genius who oversaw the actual sessions with arrangements by such as Gil Evans (the brains behind Miles's SKETCHES OF SPAIN), Manny Albam, John Lewis himself, and Bob Prince, was no less than the breathtaking jazz immortal, Teo Macero, who arranged and conducted three of the tracks himself, including "Caravan." The list of sidemen is unbelievable: Milt Hinton on bass; Gunther Schuller on French horn; Hal McCusick, Buck Clayton, J.J. Johnson, alto saxist John La Porta, Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Don Butterfield on tuba, Eddie Shaughnessy on drums on "Street of Dreams." And that's only the personnel I REMEMBER, after what???maybe thirty-five YEARS!

If you can ever lay your hands on one of these, it will blow you the fuck away.

I sometimes use it to test out my snob-ass friends. I lay it on the turntable, crank up the gain to 280 and let the first few bars of Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" fill the atrium as they lovingly emerge from my Quad ElectroStatic Speakers...and I DARE anyone in the room, for a sawbuck, to guess who the vocalist is, before I have to illuminate them. I've only lost the money once in, oh maybe, fifty sixty times I've played this game over the decades.

THIS was a voice, Doc. Yeah, he became a pop legend, and he got a lot more of us laid than ever Sinatra did, but you will weep when you realize what a jazz voice was lost when Columbia decided to make millions and millions of this new kid.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

Hate and the election
It's a two way road: you may hate Ann. but calling someone "Hitler" is hateful. I know, YOU are on the side of the angels. Even Hitler believed that about himself.

Olberman and O'Reilly, a pox on them both.


One reason among about three that I am voting for BHO despite being a conservative: I want the Republican party purged of the neo-con bullshitters. A few years in the wilderness does wonders for your focus on what is important. Let the physic of getting their ass kicked bring on the Big Enema.

Life is a mystery wrapped in an enema? I thnk I misheard that.

I'm not a Republican, but I want a healthy diversity of views, One Party systems are not much of a party.

Those of you who don't know it: neo-conservatives are not conservatives. I do know the difference. You can, too. The information is out there; educate yourselves if you care to. I suggest a good start is to read up on the names of Burke, Hume, Mills and Bentham. The latter two started what is called Progressivism, so it ought to be Mother's Milk to most of you Red Diaper Babies (said with love and no rancor). Scottish Enlightenment is a good term to start your education with. Any country that can produce Scotch, golf and Hume is not to be messed with. "Ladies from Hell" ("Die Damen von Holle" as the Krauts used to say when they heard the pipes of the Black Watch in the distance) and all that.

Michael Savage is an idiot, but you got to love "Red Diaper Babiies". If you got a sense of humor.

Yeah, I am part Scotch, and part Cherokee. They knocked each other in the head in the dark bloody ground (which is what Kentucky means), and the ones who were left alive married those that they could not kill and that's where I come in. "What do you mean, 'We'? White Man?"

RE: Neo-Con's - It has nothing to do with Trotsky or anti-semitism, either.

Pragmatism is one thing that conservatives hold in common. If it works, it works. Ditto for if it does not work. Like redistributism, as opposed to distibutism, which works. See Chesterton.

The problem is not too many capitalists. it's too few. The government needs to enforce the anti-trust laws. If there had been three hundred equally small financial companies instead of three dozen equally huge ones, you would not have had three dozen idiots at the top of those firms lead the rest of us over the cliff. Diversity is good in economics too.

Too much of anything will kill you. See table salt and water, not to mention William Shatner. Is that the past tense of Shitner?

I love both teams in the Fall Classic. One has only won one title in over a century, the other has never won so much as a penny in a tossing match, but is only ten years old. Think Snuffy Smith in a Death Match with Kenny from South Park.

I'm tangentially related to William Faulkners agent and the sheriff who hanged Tom Dooley. Weird America in Levi's and Ugg boots.

KOS

Question for HE
I apologize ahead of time if you've been asked this before, but did you ever meet Jack Benny?

Thank you,
Tony Adams

Joe Straczynski interviewed on NPR concerning 'Changeling'
Behind 'Changeling,' A Tale Too Strange For Fiction by Elizabeth Blair
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95935010

Review of 'Changeling'by Mark Jenkins
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95990500

The Many Facets Of 'Changeling' Eastwood
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96024840

007 & PALIN
Technically, Blofeld didn't pull the trigger on Mrs Bond, that's true---just like Bush, technically, personally didn't kill any of the 100,000 + Iraqi civilians.

Joe Don Baker was a bad guy in LICENCE TO KILL and a good guy in GOLDENEYE and TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

What's Palin got to do with this? Nothing, except I didn't want to double post. Mrs Palin would like to thank all the people who donated money to the Republican campaign so she could have $150,000 worth of wardrobe.

GOPple GOPple!

William Sherman wrote:

:: I say let them twist in the wind for four years.


I'm in an expansive mood . . . let's give 'em three or four times that.

Charles Grey and Assorted Flotsam and Jetsam
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

Yes, Charles Grey acted as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother, but, I believe only in the early 1980's in the Granada-produced T.V. series--seen in the U.S. on PBS-TV--starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock. I believe in that series he had only one or two cameo appearances. Ditto for the Bondage references. Blofeld in "Diamonds are Forever", and as Bond's Tokyo contact in "You Only Live Twice". Characters were nicely killed off in both.

As to the invectives levelled by both sides in the presidential campaign, students of American history in the nineteenth century should realize that invective was much worse by far. (See elections of 1800, 1824, 1828, 1860 and 1864.) At least civil war does not hang in the balance.

Article 8 in CA: I'm sure Californians aren't Mormon-crazy. No golden tablets lying in the dirt out there, I trust. You'll do the correct thing. (We're intent on de-criminalizing possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, banning greyhound racing, and abolishing the state income tax. Nothing grand.)

Shatner's Rant: Man's entitled to his opinions. 'Nuf ced.

The Angry Political Right: The Neo-Conservative Right displays atavistic anger because a) it has lost the battle of ideas on so many topics (deficit spending and the national debt, Iraq, the economy, gay rights and "family values", global warming, relations with Russia, NATO, the EU, etc.); b)it knows it will lose so much political clout on November 4; and c) it suffers, as a result of a) and b), from a severe case of cognative dissonance. No acceptance. I say let them twist in the wind for four years.

Joe Biden: Thirty-six years in the U.S. Senate inflicts things upon its members. Bouts of taking "stupid pills" are some of them. He'll be fine.

Obama: Could he be any worse than the Dauphin currently looking longingly at the White House EXIT sign? Like a system of molecules in thermodynamics, the U.S. can't drop below absolute zero, which is where we are now. African-Americans have been in the U.S. since 1619; my people, the Irish, only since about 1845. It's their turn, I suppose.

GWB: I'd take Hoover, in 1932, right now. Eighty-nine days 'til he pedals his tricycle back to Crawford, and Cheney slithers back into Gollum's cave.

Regards from the bluest-within-blue state.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Voting and Refraining
Two and a half hours on line today, but cast my ballot. The venue was a library and the line was all inside, so I plucked a Graham Masteron novel off the shelf and read it as I traveled the distance, completing it just as I reached the voting area.

As I got to the auditorium where the booths were lined up, I said to no one in particular, "There had BETTER BE Pirate of the Carribean at the end of this line." The poll workers heard me. Two spoke in unison. "Wrong ride, sir." At which point, I swear to Gaad, they sang "It's a small world."

Came home and virtuously refrained from subjecting the denizens of the pavillion to the URL for William Shatner's YouTube rant about George Takei, though not from mentioning it. (Harlan: avert. Avert. Forget it exists. Ignore.)

Straczynski interview
J. Michael Straczynski is interviewed by Time Magazine. Don't forget, his "Changeling"opens tomorrow in a theater near you:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1852963,00.html

Voter caging and disenfranchisement.

Prop 8

Media control on information.

Conservative pundit, Paul Weyrich:

"I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

Doc - PLEASE READ
Hey:

I noticed that you mentioned dropping 20 - 30 pounds, and can't tell why it happened. Hie thee to a doctor, pronto, unless you were being facetious. Major indicator of adult-onset diabetes. Get tested.

Back to lurkdom. VOTE!! Early if possible, not often. My ancestors and yours sacrificed much for this privilege.

Barn E.:
That's GREAT news Barn. I'm very happy for you. Sorry I haven't gotten to speak to you as of late, (or Harlan & Susan). Andy (Andrew) Wiernicki, one of my oldest and best friends is very ill. To all of you; please google him and check out his work. At one time he worked for Marvel but has since gone on his own to do the sculptures/casts for high-end movie and comic related pieces. I know you met him several years ago at my birthday Barney. He was the fella that gave me the framed Ellison watercolor. Andy was in Denver when Harlan and I worked out the details with Overlook for "Fingerprints" (I should be through with the final corrections within a week). Anyway, please take a look at his work. Cheers Barn (Talk to you soon HE)

It was indeed Charles Gray. He also played the investigator in ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, and Sherlock Holmes' brother (I believe) in THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION.
_____________________________________________

You're welcome Diane. It does depend on the brand, I'm sure, but after looking at the label on my box o' milk it matched what my Doc said. Higher carbs, not much lower fat. (Note: I drink 1% milk, not 2%.)
_____________________________________________

"Terrorist. Socialist. Liar. Muslim."

Hatred is ugly.

Prop 8

Hatred is ugly.

Voter disenfranchisement.

Hatred is ugly.

Just sayin'
____________________________________________

Cris came home last night and told me she'd volunteered us for Obama campaign phone bank duty. I whined, wheedled and generally compained about not wanting to be a telemarker. We had, I explained, made several donations to the campaign and have a sign in our front yard.

She looked me straight in the eyes and said: "So? Don't you think it's time we put our mouths where our money is?"

I'll be on phonebank duty this weekend.
_________________________________________

From the west facing windows in my office I can see the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory. It's a bright clear day, with the air cleaned out by the prevailing Santa Ana winds. Last night a huge fire broke out near the San Diego Freeway and the Getty Museum. The brown ribbons of smoke are still hanging over the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.

Conditions to continue for several more days.

FRANK,

I absolutely will check out Biden's NC speech -- when he repeats it a couple of hours from now on the campus of Wake Forest University, where I work. He'll be speaking just a short stroll from where my office is located.

Steve J.

Boy, I have this interesting theory that people are starting to wake to the true nature of how the right thinks. First there was the Michelle Bachmann comments that got her ad money canned, to the point that she will probably lose to a guy nobody knows. Palin said certain parts of the country were more patriotic than others. Biden has been taking that on with barbed wire glee. His speech today was mindbending. The poison that we have seen, from talk radio to the Ann Hitlers of the world have sewn seeds of division so deep that the normal American can smell the sewage. They didn't want to believe McCain was one of them, but their eyes can now see. The blinders have been torn away.

Just let the right talk and they will bury themselves. The downfall may actually be with us. A new dawn may be ahead of us as well.

If it wasn't for the internet we would not know half of this stuff. So thank God for the internet--every nutty aspect.

I love you all. Lotsa tongue.

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

Diane, calm down, you know I love ya.

-----------

Paul, what in God's name was that about?

Doncha ever say that I am short.

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

You guys have to check out Biden's speech from NC, wow.

I forgive him for his latest idiocy.

Robert Ross
Charles Gray is the actor I believe you are thinking of - played Bond's contact in Japan in 'You Only Live Twice'.
I'm not a big Bond afficiando but I think he is the only actor to play both sides of the line in the franchise.

Cheers, Iain.

Johnny Mathis - Johnny Mathis
Dear Doc,
The album that Harlan Ellison refers to is his first album, entitled "Johnny Mathis". It is available as part of a compilation called "Johnny Mathis 40th Anniversary Edition" or it can be downloaded from buy.com on it's own.

It's the only Mathis album that I can deal with. I don't deny the man his talent, but by the second album, he ran directly to the middle of the road and made his fortune.

As Jerry Seinfeld talks about his parents moving to Florida because, "...it's the law", two other branches of the cultural police were also at work. One branch broke into people's houses and placed a variety of Ray Conniff* LPs and eight-tracks in them.

The "Negro" precinct, as it was then called, was asked to stop putting all that Nat "King" Cole into homes. They were then asked to put loads of Mathis' albums there. Questionnaires were sent out and if they were not filled out with the proper responses, you lost your race card.

The upshot of this heretofore unknown form of police brutality gave me a long-standing dislike of all things Mathis. Fortunately, I have hidden my race card and have not had to play it. Since I have his first album, which is quite good (I recommend his version of Duke Ellington's "Caravan"), I may be safe from the Secret Negro Police, Af-Am Division.

The man CAN bust our music,
Brian "youneversawmehere" Phillips


*I have a 78 by Cozy Cole, "Concerto for Cozy", which features Ray Conniff on trombone, so he wasn't always as pop-oriented as he became. Also, if you MUST Conniff, the albums that are credited to the Ray Conniff Singers are a bit easier to swallow.

A dream and a vision

I had a dream last night that may be a peek, just a glimpse, if not the actual answer ITSELF as to how our country got into the mess that it's in right now. I know, I know, no one ever wants to hear another person's dreams, but just hear me out.
~~~~~~~~

There was a party at the White House, and we come in the morning after. A huge, messy, frat-type blast. Kegs and clothes strewn all over the grounds, it looks like the set for Animal House IV: The Apocalypse. Every conceivable food-group of trash in existence litters the place.

A few sleeping/passed out souls are draped here and there, around the doors, slumped over chairs. George W. Bush is stumbling around in that, "Holy shit, I'm still drunk, but I gotta get up and take a look around before i go throw up and pass out again." kind of stupor, and a man is following him, harassing him. He is a caterer, and he is royally pissed about being stiffed for his bill.

"You bastard!," he screams, "How can you have this party, how can you take my food, but not pay me? It's been WEEKS! You have to pay what you owe!!"

W. is lumbering around with this man trailing behind him, dunning him every step of the way. The Prez is just barely listening, it's background noise. He's broke. Has been broke for a very long time. He can't pay this man, nor the beer guy, nor the laundry, nor the chauffeur, nor the cleaning staff.
But he just had to have a party. It was important for his image, important to keep people happy (though not happy enough to loan him money), important for people not to know he was broke, but to keep up appearances. And besides, dammit, he WANTED IT. He finds and empty chair, and collapses in it.

The mailman arrives and gives W. his mail. As Bush is picking through the letters, he pulls one out and, double-checking it by doing that hold-it-up-to-the-light trick which never works, opens it and smiles. It is a check, for $445, 370.00.

The man sees this and pounces ."You have the money! Sign it!! Goddamn it, just sign the damn thing over to me right now! Now! Right now!" He is quite insistent.

G.B. looks at him and says, "Aww, shoot, you know i was gonna pay yuh." He gets out a pen from his pocket, uncaps it and looks at the man.
"Now how would it look if the president don't pay his bills? Tell you what, you've been patient and kind, and I shore do appreciate that. I'm gonna git you a little something extra, just to show you my heart's in the right place, how 'bout that?"

He then, deliberately and carefully, writes a 1 with a comma after it in front of the 4, and draws a 5 over the zero just after the decimal point. He's got to draw the 5 over a couple of times, in that attempt to make it look like it's not a zero anymore.

"There yuh go!" Bush signs the back of the check with a flourish and gives it to the man.

The man looks at it and smiles, then looks back at the President of the United States and scowls.
"You are one seriously fucked up dude," he says, and walks away.

W. leans back in the massive overstuffed chair, arms out to either side, tilts his head back, closes his eyes and falls asleep.
~~~~~~

Then my alarm woke me.

Hey Frank, are you a small mexican man with a Cheech Marin mustache?
-------------

I recently re-discovered that if you take a gallon of milk (i drink 2%, use whatever I can get for cooking), then freeze it completely, then put it in the fridge to thaw out normally all on it's own (about a week), after you open it, it will last at least three weeks or so without going bad. Damnedest thing I ever saw. I remember my mom doing that. She was mad that a gallon opened four days before the expiry would go bad four/five days after the date. She probably read it in McCall's or Harper's or summat like that.
-----------

Diane, nice typing babe. Growl.
-----------

Barney, magnificent kudos to you and your endeavors! Just one more reason i need to get my ass back north.
----------

Voted yesterday. Middle of a Wednesday, line out the door and halfway around the store. Good feelings, gang, good vibes.

I'll be manning the polling booths again this election. This will be my first Presidential in this state. I did some local ones, D.A, County Commish run-offs, etc., but this is, i dare say, going to be the largest voter turn out in this towns history, even more so than 2004.

Get voting. Now or on the 4th.

Let's go people. Moose ain't gonna shoot themselves, you know.

Bond and Soy Milk

Wasn't there an actor who played Blofeld in one of the Connery Bonds, and then appeared in a later Connery Bond in a tiny role where he was killed?

Or was it vice-versa, he played a tiny role in one Connery Bond, and then in a later Connery Bond he played Blofeld?

Either way, the phrase "Connery Bond" is now stuck in my head, and I can't stop making up sentences ...

I'm sorry, you have to post a Connery bond before I can release your belongings.

You need this type of glue to achieve a Connery bond on that joint.

This Connery bond is superior to the bearer bonds that you're holding.


And I drink soy milk ... there are many, many kinds out there. I drink a plain, non-sweetened version that is low in carbs, high in protein, and tastes only a little like Elmer's glue.

thank you Steve B.
Steve, thank you for your statement about soy milk. I've been trying to develop a taste for it; but it tastes like liquified cardboard to me. I switched to 2 percent milk several years ago; I find this a good contribution to my health and well-being. I tried 1 percent in Feb. but of course I can taste the difference. I notice the difference between caffeine free and regular cola also. Never smoked; very sensitive taste buds.

Saw the bestest thing on tv Sat. night. Austin City Limits. Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clarke, John Hyatt (sp?) Just heavenly. Best Sat I have had in awhile.

Frank, dear, explained the fast typing the other day. Was at Kinko's. Twenty bucks on card. Reviewed what all had said since my last check in. Had small time to type and no more cash. Yes, I spent the last large bill I had on me that night to communicate with all of you. Got more from the nice bank next day. Otherwise, I have White Rabbit syndrome from Wonderland. "Oh, dear, I'm late, I'm late." The Red Queen's been after my head forever.

I am back at sister's. It's godawful early. She is waking kids for school. They are faking blindness, deafness, and illnesses of varying severity so they don't have to go. The dogs just came in from outside. The little one is demonstrating just how wet it was outside last night. The big one is awaiting her turn to spread the slobber over me. My sister just uttered the fateful, "I don't want to fight with you". And yet Frank wonders why I type fast. Oh, mon ami, ..... I have come to the conclusion that life is just a party, and parties were most definately made to last.

Have any of you ever read Laurel K. Hamilton's works? I just started one. It's interesting.....very interesting. Anyone else remember Laugh In. God, I'm old. Tolstoy should not worry. Harlan should not worry. But it is a good read so far. Characters good. New story elements. Very (how can I phrase this in polite society?) spicy... very.

What is with all the new vampire, werewolfe, witchy stuff the last couple years? There is that show "True Blood" which I have now watched twice on my brother's house. Different. Lots of books, videos, games. Interesting resurgence. I wonder why now.

Harlan, just an update, cause you advised me and that helped. Re my suit against Skokie Village, they filed their appearance but not their answer. I am debating myself as to whether this is good or bad. At any rate, I pretty sure I will move this mess to federal court. ( I am) Constitutional claims. I am a bad typist. Must fit keyboard class in.

Obama rocks. I shared this sentiment with an elderly gentlemen at my local library the other night. He was attempting to explain why the Democratic Congress was responsible for Wall Street's failure. Obama rocks, I said with a warm sweet smile. He ran away, literally. I think in a huff. Oh well.

This paragraph thingy is kinda cool. I could get used to it. Maybe. Bye bye, all. Didi

Quick Question for Harlan
If you have a moment, Maestro - once upon a time, you mentioned a very early Johnny Mathis album that you much enjoyed, because it preceded his "sound" being dipped in confectioners' sugar. Would you, could you, please-O-please, supply the title of this disk?

And how did we get on the subject of losing weight? I recently discovered that I've lost (probably merely misplaced) 25-30 pounds, and haven't a clue how it happened. I'll start worrying if/when I get down to my fightin' weight...

Love to you and Susan!

Cheers,
Doc

All Thumbs
Please forgive accidental double post.

If you want to be technical...
Blofeld didn't kill Tracy. Blofeld drove the car, while Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) fired the shots. Too bad Bond wasn't driving his special Aston Martin with the bulletproof glass.

By the way, why does the Aston Martin have a rear bulletproof shield in GOLDFINGER and THUNDERBALL when all the glass on the car is supposed to be impervious to bullets anyway?

If you want to be technical...
Blofeld didn't kill Tracy. Blofeld drove the car, while Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) fired the shots. Too bad Bond wasn't driving his special Aston Martin with the bulletproof glass.

By the way, why does the Aston Martin have a rear bulletproof shield in GOLDFINGER and THUNDERBALL when all the glass on the car is supposed to be impervious to bullets anyway?

007 ad infinitum
Blofeld was snagged by a forked tree branch at the end of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and wore a neck brace when he killed Mrs. Bond; Blofeld was in same neck brace and wheelchair when Bond dumped him down the smokestack in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Sequentially, though, the franchised Bond pictures were:

previous films - no Blofeld

THUNDERBALL - Blofeld not revealed
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - Blofeld escapes - no neck brace
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE - Blofeld escapes in neck brace
LIVE AND LET DIE - no Blofeld
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - no Blofeld
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME - no Blofeld
MOONRAKER - no Blofeld
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY - neck brace, dumped down smokestack

subsequent films, no Blofeld

Perhaps these things don't follow strict timelines, even before CASINO ROYALE.

Daniel Craig is the most versatile and talented actor to play Bond, but the best fit of actor and role remains Connery.

Excuse me, now, while I go get a life.

A Dream With False Teeth
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

At about 3:45 a.m. EDT today, I awoke from one of the more fantastic dreams I've experienced in a while. Set in Stockholm, Sweden, I saw our dear host, in a tuxedo, just receive his medal as recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Just before commencing his acceptance speech, an octogenarian, tux-wearing "liferoach" rushes the dais, tackles Mr. E. at waist level, knocking both of them to the ground. Just as "liferoach" tries to grab the medal and head for the exits--guarded by satyrs, mind you--down comes Gore Vidal, wearing a Batman costume, on a rope. He swoops down and retrieves "liferoach" and medal, whisks them away; then, he throws Mr.E the medal, after which throw he yells, "Rip their aortas out, Brother Ellison." I awoke, waking up my dachshund and bulldog pup, and proceeded to the bathroom to conduct business.

Either I ate too much pizza watching "The Public Enemy" on TCM last night, or I've been both reading both the "Pavilion" and too many Neil Gaiman comic books lately.

As to the Bond franchise, I am reminded of an interview our dear host granted, I believe, on Tom Snyder's CNBC (?) program many years ago. The question centered on sequels and multi-volume series in literature. His response: "Cows don't chew the same cud twice, so why should an author?" My exact sentiment about Bond. Lost its punch about the time Christopher Walken starred as Zoren. Only two twists of which I do approve: Dame Judi Dench as "M" (Wow! From Lady Macbeth to Bond's boss), and John Cleese as "Q" (inspired casting). Plots, technology, and product placements hurt me to watch otherwise.

To my fellow Pavilion dweller seeking info from "Asimov's" from the summer of 1985, I shall peruse my boxes of pulps this upcoming weekend in search of said story--sounds vaguely familiar. Might I suggest in the meantime e-mailing both magazines said inquiries?

As to politics, the year will be Democratic, unless the U.S.A. has completely lost its anti-intellectual mind.

Literature: just started "Mozart's Sister", by Rita Charbonnier. Looks fantastic.

Dieting: see pizza during "The Public Enemy".

Regards from the "other" coast.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Barney's Project Object++
I think many of us here have toyed with your plan at some point. Best of luck!! Found two items on Yahoo News, both of which came back as a dead link or not accessible:

"Scientists discover Scotch tape emits X-rays"

"'Captain Kirk' upset because 'Sulu' didn't invite him to wedding"

The truth must be out there some where....

*gasp*

(Nobody tell Harlan, but Necco Wafers are on the Bottom 10 list for Halloween giveaways. Right up there with raisins, apples and toothbrushes.)

(From YAHOO!:

Smarties and Necco Wafers - These chalky candies are supposedly "fruit-flavored," but no fruit I know tastes like dust -- and makes everything eaten after taste like dust, too.)

( http://food.yahoo.com/blog/edlevineeats/13401/the-10-most-disappointing-treats-for-trick-or-treaters )
________________________________________________

I too am now on the weight-reduction bandwagon. In my case, very low carbs, and high protein/vegetable consumption. No fruit.

(Did anyone else here know that soy milk really isn't a lot healthier than low fat milk? Much higher in carbs, and not much less in fat.)

I guess this means I picked a bad week to give up sniffing glue.

Just read about your pal, J. Michael Straczynski, getting his script "Changeling" filmed by Eastwood.

It's compelling material, both in Straczynski's 1928 newspaper sources, and its story potential.

BOND: Let's see, what else?
Bond's defeat of Dr. No is mentioned in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. The titles for GOLDFINGER include clips from DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.
The titles for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE include clips from all the previous films.
Before final editing, there were many references to the murder of Bond's wife (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.
I could go on, but maybe someone else wants a chance?

Bond
Doctors said of Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE, that there is absolutely no known syndrome that causes the symptom of occasional bleeding from the tear ducts; the chief attribute of disorders that cause you to bleed (menstruation, which is not a "disorder," excepted) is that they either heal or worsen. They don't show up just often enough to punctuate your evil behavior.

On the other hand, I once heard a doctor make a similar comment about the disorder that plagues Ratso Rizzo in MIDNIGHT COWBOY. No known syndrome fits that particular disability.

Let us just say that sometimes it's acceptable to just Make Shit Up.

Oh, and there was at least one prior Bond film that functioned at least in part as a sequel to the film before it: the gamey MOONRAKER followed THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, in including the popular indestructible henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel).

According to Rachel Maddow last night on MSNBC nineteen percent of Colorado voters are already purged from the voter roles. McCain could win easily. His pulling out of Colorado seems very deceptive.

Once again, Greg Palast was never mentioned even though he did most of the work on the story for Rolling Stone. Rachel had on Robert Kennedy, mentioning a "co-writer" but not saying Greg's name. I guess even the sound of his name makes babies burst into flames.

At least give the guy credit.

But this is scary stuff. There is a country wide purge of the vote. Obama could still lose. We must be on alert.

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

Diane, much better.

Just quit writing so fast.

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

Come on Californians, Issue 8 is leading because of outside money from the Mormon church. This evil has to be defeated. You guys have to keep your reputation as the left coast.

Well, every movie has its little flaws, and most Bond villains have some sort of physical defect. And it made this exchange possible:

Le Chiffre: You changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.
James Bond: A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood.

Worth the price of a Bond movie cliche, I think. It'd be nice to see a Bond (or any) film without its somewhat unbelievable moments, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Chuck

HERC Membership and James Bond
Tom,

If you’re going to be mailing an order form to Harlan and Susan do you mind if I take this opportunity to become a HERC member? Same PayPal account as before.

As a former James Bond obsessive, I can tell you that they have referenced previous films before, but never made a full-blown sequel which this one is likely to be. The closest they’ve come is in Diamonds are Forever, where in the pre-titles sequence Bond is hunting Blofeld for killing his wife (which happened in OHMSS). Though once we’re past the credits and the film gets underway we never hear anything about. Blofeld comes back from the dead later-on but by this time 007’s completely forgotten about the woman he fell in love with and lost on his wedding day. They sort-of did a retread of this in the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only: Bond’s suddenly grieving for his dead wife again and wants to get even with the man who killed her etc, etc.

There are also the times when they’ve shown old gadgets as an in-joke like in OHMSS, with the themes from their respective movies playing in the background. They also did this in Die Another Day, but to the extent that they though it would be better to fill the whole movie up with them in lieu of a plot. The hideousness of that film is probably why everyone adored Casino Royale so much.

I realise a planet-load of people loved the latest movie but didn’t anyone feel it was the slightest bit stupid that Bond thought of nothing better to do than shoot up an embassy? Or hijack a bulldozer and drive it through a busy construction site? And why was there so much Sony product placement? And why did they change it from baccarat to poker? And why did the villain have a stupid foible (a constantly bleeding eye)? Wasn't the movie supposed to be intelligent?

Anyway, I hope the order isn’t too much trouble.

Thanks,

Jonathan

uh, make that
FRANK:...uh, make that, "refrain" not litany. Sometimes I get too fancy for my own good (refrain works better).
-DTS

Sandra and Frank (absolutely nothing meant by that pairing)
SANDRA: What Tom said.
FRANK: Thanks, for the heart, girlfriend. Right backatchya. And for what it's worth, yeah, I also think there should be a mandatory 5 second delay on everything Biden says. And I thought _I_ was bad at talking too quickly, letting my lips outrun my brain. Did you notice that Obama's speech writers finally picked up on my litany (willful ignorance) and had The Man use it in Florida (regarding the Mcain campaign)? No? Check it out in this here article. (Them dudes owe me royalties, 'cause I've been using that refrain about the far right and American's in general for nearly a decade):

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD93V3B2O0

Always three years ahead of the crowd,
I remain,
D(elta) T(ango) S(ierra)

Hello, all and sundry. Must type quickly, very quickly. At Kinko's. Not having happy relationship time with Sister Mine. Dost thou all recollect Disney's Wicked Witch as she gave Snow White the apple? Well, there's an image of my sister lately.

I have been ill, guys, as well. Naught serious, but aches and pains occurring with season change, and a pain in the neck cold that comes and goes and comes again. Much like an ex of mine. Harlan, as someone who struggles with weight gain all my life, the weight loss is to be applauded. Congrats. Cross your fingers that I get on with mine.

Barney, your store sounds like the kind of place I long for. Stuart Brent like, so to speak. Found that place late, but I loved it. He was a very good man. When I get money in Jan. I might come just to see the store. Love books. Almost all books.

Frank, relax. I think it would take an unimaginable diasaster to lose Barack the Presidency now. And I think he will be a good president, and a just one. And I think we'll have the Congress too. And maybe a couple of folks on the Supreme Court will wisely retire. So drink some milk, preferably chocolate, and relax already, will you?

Sandra, hang in there. You are much like Cindy, much braver, kinder, smarter and wiser than you yourself realize. When I have my own Internet account, (also in Jan.), I have some stuff to say to that my best friend said to me when I lost my mom. Made me cry, but helped. And my nephew, Vinnie, who is also one of my dearest friends, has some form of autism also. The doctor flip flop back and forth on his exact diagnosis, but it ain't easy not being average. In my opinion....

Much of my life, I longed to be average, in just the way you guys mean. All through my grammar school and the hell of high school, and the silence from my mom's extended family, who wouldn't know what to do with a book if it slapped them. My mom was different, as was my dad. They read, thought, conversed, had lifes of the mind. No such luck with others till I got to college.

One thing though. During my brief sojourn in law school, while my classmates had book smarts, and IQ intelligence, their minds were closed to most thought, and they were horribly dull. I was blessed by the people who came into my life. My dad's sister, who gave me poetry, and art and fiction. My first teacher, Dee who made me read and write and think. Thom, my friend who shoved Harlan Ellison's books in my hands at 18 or 19 and said read this. Oh and Keats and Poe and Hemingway and Dickens and you get it. And my teachers at college. And all of you. I think is this kind of exposure was part of general education in this country, we would have many fewer dully average averagely dull folk.

Well there were many more things I wished to say, but my Kinko card is about to give up the ghost. Harlan I turned the cool young male librarian onto you the other day. We share faves. He hasn't got back to me yet with what he thinks. But I think he will enjoy. Forgive typos as I typed much faster than I knew I could.

And ten bucks and hour ain't shit. Bout now, I'd shovel elephant shit I think. Times be hard all over. But we shall all prevail. And all manner of things will be well. Love, Diane

Catching up
Sandra,
Have you contacted local authorities of this situation? If not I suggest you do.

Faisal,
That would be me. Do you just want to renew or are there items you want to purchase? In any case just get me the e-mail address of the person with the PayPal account and I will send a request for the amount. It will include extra to cover their service charge, which is not much. I forget the particulars, but it has worked twice and the purchasers and Susan have been happy with the results. One note, if you send me an e-mail you may get a message that it didn't go through. They do go through. Still arguing with my ISP about whose fault that is.

All,
I have started seeing commercials for the new Bond film. Looks like it is going to be at least partly a sequel. Plenty of references to the last film. I am not a Bond expert but it seems to me this is a first. I have never seen a Bond film make any reference to a prior film. Usually because all of the bad guys are killed in the end. Any Bond experts know otherwise? And for what it is worth I think Craig made a great Bond and the last film was one of the best.

Locals,
Speaking of the new film, Connie has stated she would like to see this one on a big screen. For us this usually just means going to a cinema instead of waiting for home video, but it got me thinking. Years ago the Times Calendar section had a story on the really big screens in which they listed the physically largest screens in and around LA. I know there are legendary places like the Chinese but does anyone know of other BIG screens that still operate in LA or even down here in Orange County? Thanks.

A good day to all here. I'm off to take control of the Senate.

Paypal Service
I forgot but who offered the Paypal services for foreigners like myself when it comes to purchasing items from the Ellison household? I wanna renew my subscription.

Gratefully.

FAQ

Brian Phillips
Just when I thought I couldn't cause my father any more grief this week, you go and post that wonderful link.

I hope he looks at it. It's probablly gonna cheese him to no end if he's the well informed person I want to believe he is.

Thanks!!

Biden's no dummy, nor psychic
Biden was apparently at a closed door meeting of some sort when he made that "crisis" comment, and he ought have known better about it still being "on the record", but:

It's a no brainer that Obama, as with ANY new president, is gonna be tested by other leaders. From gentle pushes by "friends" to elbows and slaps by "unfriends", powerful people everywhere (some domestically, another no brainer) will want to take his measure. If a guy has been painted as a naif for a year or so, as BHO has been (and the injustice of it don't matter. The idea that he is relatively new to the scene will stick) then the scent of blood will be on the wind and the predators will try to grab a piece of the fresh meat. I trust BHO is up to the coming test, and there will be a test.

Biden's point was well made, and required no psychic powers. It was just not smart to make it publicly, politically speaking. Even smart people do dumb things. Like me posting here, most of the time.

One example that could make Biden right: What do you think the Israelis will do once BHO is elected and they realize that IF they want to do something about Iran and Nukes, that they have two months of long, dark winter nights and a friendly Republican administration left in which to do it, after which they will have an BHO admin that will NOT be cooperative?

Imagine the mess that will likely confront BHO on Day One of his administration if THAT particular kettle of fish appears sometime in the transitional period November 4 - January 20?

Biden might be wrong, it might be even BEFORE BHO takes office that he faces a crisis.

Biden is smart, way smart. It's one reason so many non-DEM's are voting for him and BHO.

KOS

Sandra,

I hope Creepy Ex fails miserably in his quest and you never see or hear from him again. Good to know there are people looking out for you.

Chuck

Help on Short Story
There's this wonderful science fiction short story I once read that I'd love to track down, but I am unsure of the writer or the title. I know it appeared around summer 1985 in either GALAXY or ASIMOV, and was about a woman living in a semi-futuristic environment wherein a disembodied voice would command her to "push the button" in order to carry out her day. For example, she would hear it upon entering the shower in the morning ("push the button"), when she boarded public transportation ("push the button") and as she worked at her job ("push the button"). The wonderful fillip was that it slowly became clear to the woman -- and to the reader -- that rather than being some menacing Big Brother encroaching on her freedom, the voice might in fact be merely an aid that she had begun to outgrow. To find out, all she had to do was NOT "push the button", which is I believe where the story ended (we don't get to see what happens). That's no doubt a terrible summation of a far niftier point and plot, but it's all I got.

Sorry in advance if my aging memory has this all wrong, hope you guys can help.

Holy "ALL THE BIRDS...", Cordwainer!
I just got off the phone not 45 seconds ago with Deputy Morris from a certain out of state sherrif's department asking to speak with Sandra Odell. When I told him that I was she, he was calling to ask if I was all right, and if I'd had any recent contact from my ex-husband. My last contact with psycho-boy was over eleven years ago, and told him as much. It seems my ex was last seen on Saturday, and he'd recently been talking about me, about how he wanted to see me again so we could "work things out" and so he could "tell her how I feel". According to witness reports, he seemed focussed, depressed, and intent on talking to me. His girlfriend finally reported him missing yesterday, and the authorities called me today because they're afraid he may be making his way to Washington to try and find me.

This is the guy who wrote a letter to the Montel Williams show about our relationship and all of the things he'd supposedly done, and they called me the DAY AFTER MY FIRST ANNIVERSARY to my current, and most loving, husband wanting confirmatino of the things he'd written and asking if I wanted to be on their show.

This is the guy who tracked me down at my mother's house when I was pregnant with my youngest, asking if we could get together and meet. Two days later, I received a similar call from the Colorado City sheriff's department saying he'd gone missing, and asking if I was okay.

This is the same guy that has been the cause of various law enforcement agencies calling me 4 times since marrying him to make certain I was okay and that there were people around to make certain I stayed that way.

Deputy Morris stated that my ex's girlfriend was very concerned, not for my ex, but for me because he sounded so insistent.

Y'know, I really didn't need that call.

***

On the other hand...

BARNEY -- That is wonderful news! Is the sepia picture that you have posted on the link going to be the logo for The Brainery? I really hope this turns out well for you.


shagin

STARLOST Dvds
I apologize in advance if this subject has come up before.

Apparently some outfit called VCI Entertainment is planning on a Region 1 Dvd release of "The Starlost."

Mr. Ellison, I realize that for you just mentioning the name of the series is the mental equivalent of gargling with Drain-O but I thought you might want to know if someone is trying to rip off our beloved Cordwainer Bird. (Again).

P.S. I have a copy of Phoenix Without Ashes by Edward Bryant and yourself, just to prove my street cred.

this n' that

Frank: stay frosty, my friend. Biden sometimes gaffes, but he's also very smart, his accomplishments are pretty impressive (the bankruptcy bill notwithstanding) and he's not a prima donna -- which will matter a lot if the good guys actually take this thing. So maybe not the perfect dude on the campaign trail in a YouTube world, but an absolutely excellent man to have on your team in tough times, once the actual governing begins. I think Obama chose wisely.

Barney: C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!! on the new space. You're mighty far from my part of the world, but if I'm ever in your state again, I shall make it a priority to see those 22k books with my own eyes, and buy a few to take home!

MM

Joe Biden cannot seem to keep his ratbag closed. He recently said that in the first six months of being President, Barack will be involved in a crisis. How the fuck does he know? The right is using this line to show that even Biden has doubts about how Obama will be able to lead.

Why can't this guy just shut up?

Bring back Hillary. I will even eat her lousy cookies.

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

Steve, you bring the bread, you butter it for us, you feed it to us like we are royalty.

We want Palin to keep talking. Every time that dungeon of foolishness opens, good things fly out.

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

Mitch McConnell is now tied in his Senate race. Wow.

We might deep six the whole GOP at this rate.

Looking for Josh Olsen at the suggestion of Frank Church...
Two movies that I've never been able to identify--thought perhaps someone here would know of them...

The first, possibly 1950s, opens with a young woman being killed for her necklace by someone that a witness is completely unable to describe. A second young woman modeling for a painting while wearing an identical necklace meets a similar fate. The inability of witnesses to give a picture of the killer suggests something of the problem at the root of "Murders in the Rue Morgue." What happens after that I don't know.

The second, possible mid-1960s, features a scientist who freezes attractive women in pods and a Rolls Royce with a billboard action that conceals it from pursuing cars. It seems a James Bond spoof of sorts, but much more vicious than funny.

Any clues as to the titles?

The Brainery
***Alan*** Thanks for the kind words. Because the square footage will be significant there will be a few comfortable reading and lounging areas - although nothing quite as sophisticated as what your new Barnes & Nobles can throw at the problem. There will be one reading area that will also be a permanent stage with lighting and P.A. system so that we can have musical acts some evenings and weekends.

By "soft" opening I mean that there will be plenty of hours between the middle of December and March where I'm going to be there and there will be books on shelves that may be browsed but it will be more of a "if Barney's Jeep is in the driveway he's probably sort of open." I'm pretty good about keeping consistent hours. Mostly it's just a matter of getting 22,000 books and other things priced and properly shelved.

The heating thing is the biggest issue. With a proper roof barn temperatures can be pretty self regulating if we have the sort of milder PA. winters that we have been having. But for 2008/2009 only my 10 x 12 office and an attached book vault for rare books will be temperature controlled. Better climate control will be installed by the Fall of 2009. Book hawks are a hardy breed and most of them will happily wear a scarf and sweater if the stock is worth browsing. At least that's been my experience.

- Barney

Sarah Palin, a person 43-ish percent of the voting public would like to put in office, has recently labeled some parts of America as "more American" than others.

I, like many of you, remember being taught an American History in which we described ourselves as a "melting pot", or a "quilt", or several other analogies all pf which were designed to give the impression of a many-textured culture. One that welcomed diversity, cherished and revelled in it.

We spoke of a nation devoted to being that "shining light", that "beacon on a hill", that place where the rest of the world envied and wanted to go.

And now, a person who will be one step from the Presidency, is telling us we're not good enough. We're not American enough. We don't believe the way she does, therefore we're not patriots.
Evidently, in her world, conformity to doctrine -- hers...theirs -- is required for admittance to the club.

However, hers is not the America *I* believe in.

I believe in an ideal as well, and the quilt is one of those ideals. Texture. Color. Design. Many little bits of fabric, sewn together to create the whole.

My quilt doesn't have holes, where we've cut out the unacceptable portions. It doesn't have panels that are lesser than others.

I do not like this woman. I do not like her ideals, nor her methods to achieve them.

My good friend Jim has told me I'm destined for Hell because I do not believe in the same God he does. My God is less than his, and anyone who disagrees with Jim's theology is wrong.

Sarah Palin makes the same claim for her America. In her version of America, some of us are more American than others. In her America, it's okay to hate.

Not mine.

Barney,

Good luck with that project. We need more book places. Make sure to include comfortable reading tables.

Does '"soft" unheated opening' mean the obvious---no heat---or is it a term used in business? As your next words mention a grand opening, I'd like to guess it's a business term.

save the world, folks!


I HAVE VOTED!

Make sure that each and every one of you do so as well, when the opportunity comes.

This is good, folks.
Nip over to http://tinyurl.com/6a4o45 and see the video posted on The Whole American Hog. Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski gives Joe Scarborough a run for his money on the Morning Joe Show on MSNBC.

For those with dial-up, here is the summary of the video from the site:

"...Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski just destroyed Joe Scarborough on his own show and left him speechless and lying bloody on the ground. Scarborough had been ranting and raving for most of the previous segment with Pat Buchanan, belittling the Powell endorsement because of the Iraq War of all things and beating up Obama’s Press guy, Robert Gibbs (again) ad nauseum about how Obama had lied and broken his word on public financing and how they were buying the election and how Sarah Palin with all her years as Mayor of Wasilla (please!) and Governor was more qualified to be President than Barack Obama and he was nothing more than a Community Organizer, and a State legislator with one year in the Senate and blah, blah, blah.



A few minutes before they went to the break, Mika announced that Lawrence O’Donnell had arrived in the studio, so that was a good sign. But when I saw the 80 year-old Dr. Brzezinski pull himself up onto that stage, I knew Joe was in for all he could handle and more. Of course I wasn’t disappointed. When Joe was stupid enough to ask about the lack of experience of Barack Obama, Brzezinski countered beautifully, making the intellectual argument for Barack Obama sound like lyric poetry. He made the case for Barack’s intellect, temperament and good judgment over the unpredictable volatility of John McCain.



...Brzezinski points out that Powell’s endorsement shows that Obama’s administration will be a bi-partisan administration, as it must be. He says one has only to look at what Obama has accomplished in this historic campaign and the millions of people he has inspired at this time in history when our nation is mired in this deep and dangerous crisis. He is a transformative figure. Besides, look at the guys who made the worst foreign policy decisions in our lifetimes, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. They had thirty years of “foreign policy experience.” Look what they got us into. Give me Barack Obama’s wisdom any day.



We didn’t hear any more from Joe. He was pretty much knocked out for the rest of the interview. Gotta love it. You just have to hit these guys where they live. You have to wait them out while they rant and rave and go through their little talking points. And when they are finished, you start making the intellectual argument for truth. They’ll end up on the ground with a bloody nose every time."


Brian Phillips

Mr. Walker Redux
Skull Cave? Oh sure, cousin Kit's place. Used to go there for long summer weekends. They don't show it in the funnypages, but he's built this bitchin' deck right out over where the bridge of the nose would be. He's got a top-of-the-line grill out there and an inflatable pool for the kids. Good guy, Kit.

Thanks for the historical perspective, Harlan. I think you're right that the new communications make the hate so much easier to spread. The good news is that the good guys get to use the same tools, and I think they're getting better at it. Obama's campaign is like a machine for making use of the internet and related tech, and you can see the results in things like that stunning $150 million in September. There are a lot of sites and organizations out there that give me hope, where people are sharing knowledge, ideas, resolve and resources.

One of them, speaking of polls, is the marvelous fivethirtyeight.com, where Nate Silver applies the number-crunching wizardry of fantasy sports geeks to every poll number he can get his hands on and then runs them through 10,000 daily simulations to see what they really mean. He currently gives McCain a 7.5% chance of pulling out a win somehow. That's up from a couple of days ago and higher than I'd like, but it's still oh so pretty to look at.

The Brainery
A preliminary report on my newest life project...

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=78385948&blogID=442381797

- Barney

This may or may not be of passing interest. I was at the American Film Institute last week acting in one of their movies and during a break, the conversation turned to what we liked to read, and eventually it turned out that among the new young directors-in-training who care nothing about written science fiction, there were those who knew of HE's battle against James Cameron in the Terminator affair.

For some of you who didn't get it: life coach--liferoach.

Reverse karma in the chuckle file.


I bake cakes with files, the escaping is on you.

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

Glad to see Gallup back up at eleven for Obama. I may just concentrate on that poll and the Kos one. Zogby is so full of holes they could hide all the gold at Fort Knox.

I plan to stick with unreal reality until Nov. 5th.

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

The amount of money Obama has to spend is pretty sick. He should need only spend as much as McCain, since he has the better ideas. This says something about the public I dare not get into.

You want clean politics, but expect to be pandered to. You can't have both.

JOHN @ django

The only thing holding up VOICE FROM THE EDGE, Volume 3, is me.
Sorry about that. I undertook to design the package, and the easy, quick job has gotten bogged down on my desk. Blackstone keeps nuhdzing me--appropriately so--and I am chagrined--but it HAS to get done quickly, so I guess I'll just do it. Be patient, John. I swear it'll happen before either of us croaks.

Shamefacedly, Harlan

?Questions Gallore?
Good Morning/Noon and late night to all. In the dying light of my Vision I have resorted to nothing but the Audio Versions of books. Which has its own rewards. One of which is a writer who can really read his work. As you know Ellison is the Top this list!

Doing what research I can on future Harlan Read works, And of course eagerly awaiting Voice from the Edge 3.
I have yet to find out a release date or the stories that will be read. Can someone help me out with this out of control need i have to find out in advance(crazy huh) Why is it important that we know
in before we can even enjoy it. I don't know the answer. it just is Man.

Also a Question for the Man Himself. Are you still thinking of doing the Glass Hand into a Novel? or doing a novella version of the Story? Im not sure what was left out of the Tv show. But its a age old desire for many of us to find out!

Thanks for making the time go by more entertainingly!!!

John

Harlan in the Voice, again
This time, it's an account of how he wound up in the Tombs for 24 hours. Harlan gave a fuller account in one of his books on gangs (I don't have ready access to my library, but I think it was _Memos from Purgatory_), but here's the piece he did for the _Voice_ in 1960.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/10/clip_job_harlan_1.php

(By the way, nice story about the restaurant, the creep, and Gore Vidal.)

To: Mrs Who-san Ellison
Susan - my pleasure. I'll keep on the lookout for other items as and when.

And I'm told you're missing a treat with David Tennant in HAMLET at the moment.....

Cheers
Rob E.

Last night's fine dining experience
Liferoach Guy throroughly sounds like the kind of "individual" that compels me to break out the Raid.

Also...Harrison Ford and Ron Jeremy even adjacent in the same sentence (this one included)? Ugh, visual! VISUAL!!

I loved reading Josh's account of the evening's encounter with the "liferoach" (Thank you Frank!) but I give my Hatlo tip of the hat to this line:

"Don't worry, the one I'm building is going to work".

Thank you, Faisal. The look on her face must have been priceless.

Chuck

Legendary Dining
.
A meal with friends at Musso & Frank's is always a treat. My fave menu items are the broiled squab with bacon and the lamb chops (French Cut, please). I've had better Black Forest Cake at other restaurants, yet I seem to order it there every time.

My favorite Musso celebrity sighting was six or seven years back. Robert Stack (with whom I once worked back when I was at NBC and he was hosting UNSOLVED MYSTERIES) was holding forth in the big room, at the head of a table with about 15 or so guests, all focused on him. He was telling stories and eliciting much laughter. Mr. Stack seemed to be having such a terrific time that I decided not to spoil it by dropping by to renew our acquaintance and tell him what dream he had been to work with,

A year or so later, Robert Stack passed away. I still get a pang of regret whenever I go to Musso & Frank's...but at least I didn't ruin his fun.

LA trip
Hello all,

Just thought I'd try once more before I leave - I will be in LA for 6 days, from the 22nd till the 28th, for a conference. If any of the local webderlanders would like to meet up please drop me a line at ladybird16 at hotmail dot com. Hope to see some of you there! (Not you Steve, I know you're ignoring me...:))

Regards,
Dima

Frank,

What Harlan said. Hilarious. Thank you. It helped.

As for star sightings, I've seen Mr. Vidal at Musso's several times over the years, but my favorite in terms of strangeness was the night we saw Harrison Ford and Ron Jeremy the same night, at adjacent tables.

Thank You for the Recommendation
Dear Mr. Ellison:

Thank you for the recommendation. (Too many eateries in the Boston area with "Grille" in the title. Force of habit.) Will note on my "to-do list" for SoCal next year, as I only visited Anaheim in 2006 for one week. No time to explore.

Agree on Mr. Church's post: wonderful, hypothetical news item. Roared with laughter. The late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson could not have written about such an encounter better. (Hope all Webderlanders saw "Gonzo: The Life and Works of Hunter S. Thompson". Nice first bookend for documentaries this annum: "DWST" would be the other in the pair. Still kick myself for missing it when it played for a New York minute in Boston in April.

A parting thought: HST surmised IN 1972 that should Richard M. Nixon win that year's election, he would convert the country into one of "220 million used car salesmen" ("Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail"). Resigned before finishing the task. Seems President Dauphin has more or less accomplished it.

Regards from the right coast.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Dudes, dudes, dudes...

A heck of a good tale. Reminds me of an incident last year the day after some wanna-dies tried to blow up a London nightclub and Glasgow Airport with gas cylinders and petrol. They were too incompetently put together to do any damage at all though.

All the papers are full of pics and headlines of the incidents. Whilst queuing at the local Spar, the old woman in-front of me starts bitchin' to everyone about how these evil Muslim immigrant were just waiting to take over the country and that it was the lax laws that enabled them to carry their nefarious schemes out. She turned round and gave me some of this, a copy of the Daily Mail popping out of her shopping bag.

I just looked straight at her and calmly said, "Don't worry, the one I'm building is going to work".

Sometimes I worry if I'm even going to be allowed back into the country...


FAQ

HEY, JOSH!

You gotta love Frank Church. "Liferoach!" Geezus, I near lost it. The whole post is a killer, but liferoach is a keeper, Josh. Oh, and thanks for telling it more than well enough.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

WILLIAM SHERMAN:

Do not, under any circumstances, miss dinner at Musso & Frank Grill (no "e") on Hollywood Boulevard. For close to one hundred years it has been magnificent. Make sure you sit in a booth in the smaller room, not the big dining room. More ambience. You will see many famous people. (Last night, as Josh mentioned, as we were standing near the rear exit of the restaurant, abaft the parking lot, I remet Gore Vidal coming in. He remembered our encounter at Norman Lear's house many years ago, he grabbed my hand and held it, and said, in a whisper, "Brother Ellison." Yeah, the food is spiffy at Musso & Frank. And so is almost all of the company. You'll thank me.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

That would have been some crazy ass story to read coming online:

FAMED SHORT STORY WRITER, HARLAN ELLISON AND ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED WRITER JOSH OLSON IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY JAIL AFTER A STABBING INCIDENT INVOLVING AN 85 YEAR OLD OWNER OF A BOUTIQUE THAT SELLS NAZI TRINKETS. GENTLEMAN, BERT GOERRING CLINGS TO LIFE AT CEDARS-SINAI HOSPITAL.

NO REPORTS YET ON WHY ELLISON, A FAMOUS AUTHOR OF 'SCI-FI' NOVELTY STORIES AND OLSON, KNOWN FOR HIS VIOLENT REACTIONS TOWARDS MIMES AND MOVIE CRITICS, COULD HAVE DONE SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME. MORE INFORMATION WHEN AVAILABLE.

GORE VIDAL WAS AT THE SCENE, BUT SAID THAT HE HAD MISSED THE INCIDENT, BUT DID AVAIL THE PRESS WITH MORE STORIES ABOUT HOW JACKIE O WAS A MAJOR BITCH.

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

UPDATE: HARLAN ELLISON, MURDEROUS WRITER OF FLUFF AND JOSH OLSON, FAILED SCREENWRITER, ARE NOW ON THE LAM. THEY HAVE TAKEN HOSTAGES. THEIR ONLY DEMANDS ARE LOADS OF PINKS HOTDOGS AND FOR SARAH PALIN TO GO AWAY.

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

Seriously, you guys have to calm down. Some 85 year old liferoach aint worth your salt. Restraint sometimes pees a steady stream.

Big hugs for both of you. Hope you at least digested well.

Chicken Presidents
OK, my one and only double post on the Pavilion EVER!!!

That Racist asshole should be reminded that there WAS a president who promised a "chicken dinner" if elected: the corrupt, Depression-era Republican Herbert Hoover.

From the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum Website:

"The link between Hoover and the phrase "a chicken in every pot" can be traced to a paid advertisement which apparently originated with the Republican National Committee, who inserted it into a number of newspapers during the 1928 campaign. The ad described in detail how the Republican administrations of Harding and Coolidge had "reduced hours and increased earning capacity, silenced discontent, put the proverbial 'chicken in every pot.' And a car in every backyard, to boot." The ad concluded that a vote for Hoover would be a vote for continued prosperity."

And look where that got the country -- straight into the Great Depression.

Well, perhaps voting for a pot-smoking Chicken-Little President effected about the same result...a Finger-lickin' Chicken in Every Bush (although that sounds like some kind of lesbian slogan, come to think of it)

So sometimes it might taste like chicken, and walk like a chicken, and even stew like a chicken -- but that doesn't mean that it isn't a turkey in disguise!
Gwyn (who won't post anymore for two days in penance)

'a small party made its way past us to go into the restaurant, and we saw it was Gore Vidal. Harlan stepped up and said hello, and Vidal greeted him warmly as "Brother Ellison.'

That was actually ME in disguise!

Pretty damn impressive, huh?

Racist @$$holes will have to stow it now
This is probably old news to everyone here except me, but former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, has formally endorsed Barack Obama for president! Whoopie! :-)

Signed, a 'thinking Republican' who is voting for Obama.
Gwyn

P.S. Anyone who has to pass off old vaudeville blackface routines as wit at the dining table in front of complete strangers to discuss politics is obviously such an idiot that, to put it as 'playing the dozens' his momma was so ugly his daddy had to F@$k her in the dark, which explains why he came out an @$$hole!

Chicken dinner spook my @$$! Hope the old F#$ker's pension fund went down the crapper with the stock market's crash. He probably won't be eating at fine restaurants like that one for very much longer. At least one hopes.

Harlan: As perhaps a small anodyne to the unpleasantness of last night's dinner (I know only too well the variety of creep you and your party encountered: I used to be related to many of the same mold, or strain of mold if you prefer), an open letter from your sometime collaborator William Friedkin appears on the Huffington Post addressing a threatening mass-mailing from a wealthy South Carolina right-winger. It's accompanied by a second letter from Friedkin's attorney. Both should be good for at least a brief evil grin in appreciation of tactical skill in the ongoing war with trolls.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-friedkin/right-wing-intimidation-h_b_135015.html

Cheers!
Don Hilliard

blather on the street

A few seconds of Internet fame:

http://www.ivillage.com/

There's a box on that front page that says "iVillage videos" -- click on the "view all" button, which takes you to a page where there is a "Video Search" box. If you type in "Street Talk," you'll see a menu of videos pop up in the box somewhat left of center.

The most recent (at the moment) are "Does negative campaigning work?" and "How long will the economic crisis last?"

Click on each of them, and buried in the 2 minutes they run is some footage of me, holding forth on a bench in the Park Blocks outside the Portland Art Museum. You'll have to sit through download and a 15-second ad that must have paid for all this, but it's mildly (VERY mildly) diverting.

Musso and Frank Grille
Dear Mr. Ellison and Mr. Olson:

Sounds like the "Cyclops" chaper in Joyce's "Ulysses". Too bad neither of you gentlemen, or the entering Mr. Vidal, poked his one eye out. Your antagonist did dine with a Minotaur, didn't he?

On a more civil note, my father and I might visit SoCal next July for the racing season at, I believe, Del Mar. Might check out this spot. Good food overall? Will Google.

Regards to Ithica from the "Athens of America".

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Weirder weather

I didn't mow my grass for 6 weeks this summer. Oh, I mowed a couple times during that time, but it was just to trim the weeds that sprouted 4-6 inches high. I had noticed that there was a drought here in SE Michigan. So I checked the local weather history and found that Detroit reports that rainfall is above average for the year, yet August was the driest August in 100 years.

And the weird weather has been going on for 2 decades. 1988 was the hottest year on record. Global warming is a simple term. The more complicated term, by which the 'average' American citizen would be confused, is Catastrophic Global Climate Change. Those of us who are, say, over 50 will not see the worst of this. Those under 20 may have a great struggle in the future just to stay alive.

Ay yi yi.

It's not that much of a tale, and I can't do it justice.

I'm not Harlan. I don't have his total recall, nor do I have the ability to maintain my rapier-like wit when I'm fuming mad. Last night's encounter hit a level with me I rarely reach, where I had to shut up and concentrate very hard on staying calm, because my only response to the events would have involved beating a geriatric to death, and not in an amusing manner.

Here's a messy version, told improperly:

We're enjoying our meal, and there's an older party sitting across from us, kinda standard issue conservative looking dude. At one point, early on, he was joined by a woman who had one of those faces you see a lot in Hollywood - the "I've had so much facial surgery I look like what happens when a frog cross breeds with a horse" punim.

Anyway.

As we're waiting for the check, Ellison's going on about something political - I believe we were discussing that cockroach Sarah Palin - and the horsefrog looked over at him, seemingly startled (although, you have to understand - as a result of the hideous surgery, "startled" is her default look), and Harlan asked if he'd upset her. She said no, she hadn't even heard him, was just looking around.

Short version is, this ends up leading into a brief political diatribe by Ellison, to which the older party with the horsefrog replies, "Did you hear Barack today? He promised his acceptance speech will be the shortest in history: Winner winner, chicken dinner."

I don't think Harlan caught it at first, cos the guy was talking over him, but he was closer to me, and I nearly dropped my coffee. He then said, "If Obama wins, when people look at the portraits in the White House, they'll come to the last one and say, 'He looks spooky.'"

Harlan heard THAT one, as did my dad, Vanessa and Susan. At this point, I'm going into shutdown mode. I love an argument. Any time, any place. But this was something else. This was a mean, well-to-do cocksucker who knows better, and at that moment, my only response was to stick my fork in his neck, which I knew would be unacceptable. He and Harlan talk for another thirty seconds or so, during which the guy says he's 85 - he looks younger, but apparently is on some miracle diet - and when Harlan says his comments are unfunny, the guy shrugs, when he says they're racist, he smiles and says "I know."

The story doesn't go anywhere. Harlan left early to go hit bricks in the parking lot, and I paid and we all got out, not making eye contact with the loathsome motherfucker and his grotesque companion. I can't speak for Harlan (sure I can), but if the guy had said a single word to us on the way out, I would have hit him. There is no doubt in my mind. And I don't think that's a good thing.

Susan's rolling her eyes, and my father maintains - rightly so - that we really shouldn't get so worked up. The guy's an imbecile, and his vote is meaningless in California, and really, who gives a shit?

Well, some of us are wired differently, and I wish - and I suspect Harlan does, too - that such loathsome stupidity and ugliness didn't get to me as much as it did. Nothing good would come out of it. There's no upside to engaging a geriatric racist Los Anglian, and before I knew he was a monster, I was feeling sorry for him for having such a repulsive wife. So it all works out in the end, I hope.

I suppose what happened next was karmic payback for NOT gutting the old troll, because while we were in the parking lot, a small party made its way past us to go into the restaurant, and we saw it was Gore Vidal. Harlan stepped up and said hello, and Vidal greeted him warmly as "Brother Ellison."

Otherwise, it was a grand evening, and everyone ate well, and enjoyed the fine fellowship of good people. The finale could have gone much worse, and it's true - a racist right wing goober in LA doesn't have much impact on the world.

But his smugness spoke to something, and it strikes me that as this campaign winds down in its last few weeks, things are going to get even uglier than they are now. John McCain has made it crystal clear that he doesn't give a rat's ass about what happens to this country - his current robo-calls are going to leave us with a significant percentage of the population convinced our country is being run by a terrorist (assuming - praying - Obama wins). I don't want to confuse the personal with the universal. Last night was a run-in with a solitary douchebag, that could have happened anywhere, at any time. But it felt like part of something else, and I really hope like hell that Obama's impressive ability to rise above this crap can be transmitted to all of us in the days, weeks and months to come.

JOSH OLSON HAS A STORY TO TELL

Just back from a terrific grenadine of beef, zucchini florentine and Diplomat Pudding dinner with Josh and his dignified, enormously likeable father, Bob, my Susan and Josh's Vanessa; at Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood, an old cinematown fumed-oak and capacious-booth Real Restaurant from the Golden Age. The canker on the rose was the feckless rascist ignoramus sitting in the double across from us. Had I not put my knife in Susan's Coach bag, because it was protruding painfully above my waistband, I would've pulled it, as sure as gawd makes little green apples, and I'd've shanked the pendajo Republican motherfucker.I am still too filled with contumely and the pother that accompanies it, to tell you the tale. But Josh can tell it. He was there.

I am not a sane person, and should not be allowed out among others. No shit.

-he

Just When Things Seemed Hopeless
Dear Mr. Ellison et al.:

Yes, there is much to incite despair about "The Forever Campaign", to borrow Mr. Haldeman's title, or these narrow-minded S.A. wanna-be's, led by these hatemongers trying, but still not succeeding, to imitate that most famous Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment. And yet, as George F. Will said at Salem State College on September 23, "Relax, the playoffs begin next week." The Red Sox have come closer to pulling off another "Miracle of the Marne". Bill Veeck once said that "baseball must be a great game, because the owners haven't destroyed it yet." Same should apply to the U.S.A. We are a good country, since those we have elected haven't destroyed it yet. Yet.

Regards from a stunned Red Sox Nation.

William Sherman
Boxford, MA

Tsk, Harlan
"would you be any relation to the "Mr. Walker" who makes his home in a Skull Cave?"

You forgot the obligatory asterisk next to "Walker*".

"* For the Ghost Who Walks"

William Claxton, RIP
One of the great Jazz photographers has just died.

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0103/claxton_intro.htm

Also, although it probably needn't be said, but...I have seen a lot of great political discourse here, but don't let your pessimism stand in the way of your activism. Vote, volunteer and thwack folks upside the haid of those who say they can't or won't. Mr. Ellison once wrote, "Call me Hoppy", so, maybe, call me hippie, but do what you must.

I'll get rid of the comic books ('cept the real neato ones),
Brian Phillips

W.
I recommend Oliver Stone's new movie "W." Just as a movie movie. It engenders sympathy for Bush in the same way that, say, Ted Bundy's life story might elicit an iota of understanding when we learn that Bundy was horribly abused as a child. Richard Dreyfuss is outstanding as Cheney and deserves an Oscar nomination.

You heard it here first
Thomas Friedman was a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher last night. He was promoting his new book Hot, Flat and Crowded. He told Bill that instead of global warming he preferred the term "Global Weirding":

"The weather's gonna get weird. The hots are gonna get hotter, the drys are gonna get dryer, wets are gonna get wetter. That's really what happens with with climate change, the weather gets weird."

From my post in this pavillion on September 10:

It is not just a matter of the increasing temperature but weather getting more dynamic in general. The hots are hotter, colds are colder, wets are wetter and droughts longer.

Mr.Friedman, have you been lurking? I know, if the book is in print now the final draft was probably written over a month ago, but hearing those words match up so closely did give me a verbal double take.

Regarding the CA proposition against gay marriage, Connie said a simple phrase the other day that I have not heard elsewhere and in my opinion sums it up: 8 is hate.

A good day to all here. Dynamic times indeed.

just a quick note
I just wanted to say a sincere "thank you" to Mr. Walker for his very perceptive post and to Harlan for his equally perceptive response. My thank you adds nothing - but I've been yammering on and on about a lot of this in the back room for the better part of this year, and it's just a pleasure (in a kind of sad sense) to see posts like this. Just to know that others are filtering our profoundly messed up political landscape in much the same way I do.

Also, I had to take a week off to inject some genuine pleasure into my life, which has been far too joyless lately. So it was a small but pleasing thing to see Mr. Walker and Mr. Ellison shouldering that Ol' Debbil Stone up the steep and rocky hill of the internet. Thank you.

As I often say these days - it just needed saying.

- Barney

ps. - Doug Lane, you sooper-genius. Hang in there or tread faster or any other dumb motivational posters I can ball up and toss your way. You are missed and I hope it's all coming together and not unraveling. - B

That should've been FABLE, not "fabe."

Sorry.

-he

REPLY TO JOSEPH WALKER

I remember all the way back to FDR's final campaign. And you perceive correctly, Mr. Walker. For all of the fervor and backroom skullduggery of the various political machines, and I'm including Tammany Hall and the Dixiecrats and all the Red Scare tactics, both parties amuck, I think it IS worse now. And mostly because of the technology. Yes, it CAN inform and illuminate; but mostly it does what had to be done by whisper campaign and word of mouth and yellow journalism in the past.

Now, a woman can actually say to McCain, in front of thousands of cell-phone cameras and tv lenses, "Obama's an Arab," and even McCain, horrifiedly confronting what he hath allowed to be wrought, has to wrest the mike from the poor sad stupid woman's grasp, mumble no no no no, and try to move on -- and yet it registers in the minds of heaven-knows-how-many pre-programmed haters and undecideds and even pro-Obama functional illiterates for whom fabe and reality are melded.

I cannot remember a time, all the way back pre-Truman, when I have seen daily proof that we are coming full into the opening scenes of both IDIOCRACY and C.M. Kornbluth's memorable story, "The Marching Morons."

Yeah, Mr. Walker (would you be any relation to the "Mr. Walker" who makes his home in a Skull Cave?) -- I think it grows steadily, daily, more troubling; and I see no bootstrap climb out of this fen of mediocrity, cheap celebrity, and cultural devaluation. I am, much to my sorrow, growing more and more benumbed by the answer to your query. Spero meliora ... but not so much likely.

Depressingly, not a yuck in the bunch, Yr. Pal, Harlan