Quill & Claw/Pen & Paw

Memorial Day weekend of 1998. Nope, no husOtter in sight yet, and that's why I remembered it. I was solo in those days, a competiting mix of wanting to be in a relationship and fighting off loneliness; and just wanting to be left alone so I can read a book for more than an hour. I was so single that when my mother invited me to go for a day hike and picnic in Boulder, Colorado for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I said yes. Now, understand, I was not any kind of outdoorsy kinda guy. It's kinda the reason I eventually left Colorado. So? I did what any guy would do before the invention of ereaders and wifi. I took a radio, a stack of magazines, wore a swimsuit, and found a cheap paperback at the library. I was looking for something spooky. I'd already conquered all the Clive Barkers I could ahve found by that point, Stephen King was already exasperated. But the librarian selling books saw me eyeing the book " The Stranger Beside Me ." "You've not ...

Whoa. Just whoa. A good movie that was worth watching that didn't have violence or sex. Hollywood? Are you paying attention? I had been meaning to watch this title for some time. The thing is, I live out in the middle of no where. To get to any of the good movies, I have to hike. That's okay, but remember, hiking takes money and time. So, sadly, I gotta see the popular stuff. And I missed out on Chef . A simple and direct picture.  And, like the best of them, can be interpreted several ways-as all good movies really can be. Is the Matrix an actioner or another Jesus story?  Get it? On the surface, we have the artist, or, in this case, a chef, played wonderfully smooth by Jon Favreau.  Yes, that one. The dude who made all of those big super hero movies referred to as Iron Man.  After the Avengers, the creative genius Joss Whedon made a small art house Shakespeare piece, Much Ado About Nothing, a calm, direct film with terrific nuance and temperment. And now ...

What if they threw a movie that none one really cared about? I just spent a semi enjoyable afternoon watching the DVD selection for the movie, The Raven, and I have to say, I'm not sure why it's a bad movie, it just is.  You have good actors, a well versed script, and a very interesting premise. But it didn't gel.  It didn't gel in the theaters; it didn't really connect for me either. And I'm not sure why. The idea is wholly creative.  And we know taht audiences are kinda fickle douchebags these days. Unless it's a reboot or a sequel, they won't risk seeing a new movie that might have original concepts. But that's the reason why it was coming together correctly. I'm not sure what it is. Okay, so here's the conceit. Imagine, if you will, someone so impressed with Edgar Allen Poe that they act out his famous homicides in 1849 Baltimore. The design is great, any kid who survived reading any of his stories in high school should nod i...

Wow, that does sound kinda dirty, that idiom for a title, doesn't it? I mean, really. If you're not familiar with the idiom, "a set of pipes," you're probably not going to get that much from this article. RahrahPancakeEater, another blogger, pointed out the musical talent so many in Hollywood are starting to illustrate and I realized, believe it or not, this is a long, long tradition. Heh. Another innuendo. So he and I started the discussion about the need for music talent, not only on the big screen, but for students all over. As Big Government does it's best to gut schools and channel their money into their private coffers, music is usually slashed first and thrown into the trash.  Which is sad, because research has illustrated, repeatedly, that, when we look at the brain, there is a truly activate portion of the intelligence that warrants recognition. Now, it varies in degees from person to person-just like visual arts and the ability to interact with...

Superhero movies are weird. If we see people walking around in our world with such zany costumes, we either figure they're on their way to a convention or some sort, or that they're nuts and loving breaking society's norms.  But superhero movies are the wave right now, the Most Popular Thing. And people are buying tickets. There's sequels and interconnected storylines, bad baddies and do-gooders with great abs. It's wonderful. But it's weird. And, until Deadpool opens, we'll have to satisfy our realization that this world doesn't really work within the rules of reality with such wonderful schlock as Ant-Man. Instead of explosions, we have a brief and sincere tale of a thief hired to heist a piece of superhero equipment-the MacGuffin, if you will-and, of course, he'll become the hero he was meant to be. Of course, we've been down this road before. I'm not giving any spoilers by giving you that one sentence encapsulation. This time...

I just stumbled across this. I say "stumbled" because I don't read the news, I tend towards what's posted on other people's blogs. This is a person running for the Presidency. I just gotta say, "wha?" I can assure him, it's not a choice. ARTICLE (Click to read, video there too) But, really? I would love to know, from my non-gay friends (they seem to be a majority by this point), when, oh when did they choose to be straight? When were they tempted to go gay? Cause I never was tempted. It was just...what I was. I fought it, yes, but there was no choice. Oh dear Fate, this is a concern. Peace, Roo

I often wonder about the real purpose about reviewing anything from Pixar, or for Disney, for that matter. I know the legions of fans will go in droves, anyone with grandkids or babysitting responsibilities will also find their way there as soon as possible.  Will I have an effect? And does anyone ever care? I even paid to see Cars 2. And, bucko, that theater was PACKED. Why didn't this go straight to video? Why did we release it wide? Oh...merchandising... And, yes, Pixar's done it again with a movie that's for adults...and children. It's amazing that Hollywood hasn't taken this formula and used it, you know, on things like original movies. Instead, they'd rather fall back on movies where they can promise a legion of nimrods who don't like to think during their movies. But not Pixar. Strong storylines, full plots, amazing humor bits that fit in classic movies, all with very little violence or graphic details (okay, well, usually, I'm excusin...

It goes without saying, of course, I'm writing a book. I'm always, let's face it, writing a book. But this novel is different. See, in this one, a fantasy tale, I'm attempting something totally different-world building. For the first time, ever, I have visualize a place that doesn't exist and make it constant for the reader, as well as myself. Which means "place" has been on my mind alot lately. I mean, really.  Setting is so much more than, "it happened on a dark and stormy night." Of course that homicide did. It was dark, things lurked in the shadows;  the rain hid the approaching footsteps. But what about tales where the 'setting' became part of the presentation? Where the setting could happen there and no place else? I give you these few titles to ponder and view, and think about, where that setting was imperative to telling the stories. I took some liberty here. One is a book, I'm sorry to say, because, even though ther...

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm still alive! Wow, that was a violent video, wasn't it? I mean, really. As a Taoist, as a Buddhist, I detest violence. I do my best to diffuse it, to rub in into something else. Sometimes humor, sometimes arguments, but it is something that must be avoided. People in the Deep South find it weird I don't have a gun. For me, that's just asking for trouble. Please note, I did say conflict was alright. Just not...violence. Not the bodily harm. So, wait, why do I love martials arts movies? I suppose I could get all Freudian on my own butt and talk about the need to be primal, to have some sort of expression of the basal emotions on a level that would not be appropriate in polite society. Yes, that might be true, and I might even agree to it. May I point out, however, that, even Gandhi agreed with war-when all other options have failed. My theater arts teacher, during one scene I had of conflict in a play I was directing...