Quill & Claw/Pen & Paw

I just had to go to this conference in the mountains this past week, and I was alright with going. Sure, I was alone, but the drive was through some of the most beautiful terrain, so I had zero concerns as the roads twisted and turned, attempting to make me barf with motion sickness. See, I hate driving. Three hours stood between me and the meetings. I stacked up on CDs and the portable DVD player for when I got there. One hour in, I looked over and saw what I referred to in the past as a 'creamer truck. A long, silver cylinder being hauled by a Mack or a Peterbilt through the narrows of I-70. Behind it, I knew for sure, a bright red Mack followed. And my mind flew back to seeing this title last week, when a Mack truck was doing the same thing...only making faces in the rear end of the silver cylinder. Yes, after seeing this movie once, I memorized everything. You see, in our neat little nation of ours, the car-culture rules. That is why this gas problem hits us so profoundly; this...

I read an interesting article in the Advocate a few days before seeing this movie. It talked about why people like my partner and myself have such a liking to comic books and their many facets of television and movies. It was an editorial, but it made a good point--super heroes tend to live a double life like many gays and lesbians. Not mention, they are hot, but we don't need to elaborate there. Still, that's why so many of my kin ran to the movies when "X-Men" opened up. The whole story line of being 'different' and having to survive in a discriminatory world was profoundly (and sadly) too easy to relate to. I took "X-Men" probably more strongly than most. I knew I was going to see this movie. I was nervous, being a cineast and knowing from my sources some of the changes they were making (Juggernaut as a mutie? Where's Bryan Singer's style? Why did James Marsden leave?). But I had no choice in those matters. This film, like others I've...

Sorry it took so long to post, friends. The blogsite's been having troubles uploading my posts and I decided to just write at home. Hopefully, we're back in business--especially since I sent some of you all emails! Like answering a question with a question, I'm going to start this review with a book review. I hated the Divinci Code book by Dan Brown. I'm really surprised I read it cover to cover. Complicated and completely devoid of adjectives, Mr. Brown's text reads like a Grisham novel---it reads like a movie adaptation. 'You've seen the movie, now read the book!' is it's attitude at the time, even tho there was no film yet. You could practically see the camera angle comments and editing remarks between the dialogue. He wanted to make a movie. Worse, he deals with art for goodness sakes, but lacked the ability to create said art in the reader's brain. I had to keep running to the internet to see exactly what he was describing. So, as I read, I ...

You know, it has been a long time since I published anything on this blog. Seriously, it's not that I've not wanted to write; oh you have no idea how much I've wanted to write--but situations being what they are, life gave me a hand this past school year. Not only a hand, but one, very strong, finger. How did it happen after being a teacher for 13.5 years and a writer all my life did both things go to pot so quickly? Luck, perhaps. Situational ethics, maybe. Whatever the situation, movies and weekend escapes of that sort took on a new meaning this school year. Now they weren't merely 'diversions.' Now they carried a weight to them, a weight that made mistakes appear more profound; a consequence that made successes even more joyous. I was cursed with very few 'awake' hours with my significant other. So those few hours became precious. When I went to the movies; I WENT TO THE MOVIES. The school year had ended and, quite thankfully, so has my partner's ...