Joe Haldeman's Blog, page 70
January 26, 2011
the Whirlpool
Greg Frost sent a remarkable pair of images from the Hubble – The Whirlpool Galaxy in visible light and infrared, superimposed. You run the cursor over to flip it back and forth. Cosmologists of the fifties would have given their left lobes for this.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Joe
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Joe
January 25, 2011
grit
[Talking about True Grit in sffnet . . . ]
I agree, Dave. It's a remake, but a story whose time has come round again.
The stuff about John Wayne brings back a memory. As people have noted, The Green Berets came out about the same time as True Grit. I was in Vietnam at the time, recovering from wounds at a convalescent center in Cam Ranh Bay, and they showed Berets at an outdoor theater – actually just a screen stretched up in front of some bleachers.
We were having a great time with the blustery he-manliness of it, so absolutely phony, about forty of us drinking beer and passing around a bottle of whiskey, hooting at the Duke. Then the sirens went off and a little mortar barrage came in. We kept drinking and watched the last part of the movie from under the bleachers, better protection than nothing. Mortars were just part of the weather. Wayne's soldiers got all hot and bothered by a similar attack, and that passed for high humor.
After the movie we went down to the beach and smoked opium in the moonlight, beautiful surf and stars. We wished it had been a movie, so some nurses would come along. Or they'd be splashing out in the water, nude. A little more opium and we might've seen them.
But it's 2011 and the attacks on my person are coming from a computer rather than a bunch of guys with a mortar tube out in a rowboat. The Mac Air has been giving me fits. Settled down now, and I think I'm back online. If you're reading this, I am.
Joe
I agree, Dave. It's a remake, but a story whose time has come round again.
The stuff about John Wayne brings back a memory. As people have noted, The Green Berets came out about the same time as True Grit. I was in Vietnam at the time, recovering from wounds at a convalescent center in Cam Ranh Bay, and they showed Berets at an outdoor theater – actually just a screen stretched up in front of some bleachers.
We were having a great time with the blustery he-manliness of it, so absolutely phony, about forty of us drinking beer and passing around a bottle of whiskey, hooting at the Duke. Then the sirens went off and a little mortar barrage came in. We kept drinking and watched the last part of the movie from under the bleachers, better protection than nothing. Mortars were just part of the weather. Wayne's soldiers got all hot and bothered by a similar attack, and that passed for high humor.
After the movie we went down to the beach and smoked opium in the moonlight, beautiful surf and stars. We wished it had been a movie, so some nurses would come along. Or they'd be splashing out in the water, nude. A little more opium and we might've seen them.
But it's 2011 and the attacks on my person are coming from a computer rather than a bunch of guys with a mortar tube out in a rowboat. The Mac Air has been giving me fits. Settled down now, and I think I'm back online. If you're reading this, I am.
Joe
January 22, 2011
New Grit
It really was a prize-winner, Esther. We shall see.
Last night, we saw another good one, almost a polar opposite: the remake of True Grit. Of special interest to me, because I taught the novel last semester, and we saw the John Wayne movie after class. The contrasts are fascinating, both cinematic and American-cultural, in the sense of our perception of our own history.
The 1969 version was definitely a product of star-system Hollywood; the new one far from it. The new one also reflects the postmodern revisionism (or re-vision) of what the West was really like, and what might be the psychological makeup of a Western hero. John Wayne had an element of anti-hero in his Brewster McCloud, but he was at heart a grouchy old decent fellow. The Jeff Bridges McCloud is an alcoholic psychopath who happens to be on the right side of the law. But he kills bad guys – and not so bad -- like shooting tin cans down at the dump.
It's interesting that almost all of the scenes and dialogue are the same! But the Coen brothers had an edgier take on the story, which made a lot of difference. I liked it better. But mine is a minority opinion, I think from a cursory Google. A lot of people see it as "the Duke versus the Dude," and think the Duke owns the territory.
The other actors are also standouts. The girl who plays Mattie, Hailee Steinfield, does a hell of a job for a 14-year-old (it was 22-year-old in teenage drag before); Josh Brolin is a bad guy you love to hate.
There's a lot more grit in this version, and gore. A lot better acting. John Wayne just had to be himself. Bridges read the book, evidently, and came out with a much more interesting anti-hero.
Good "business," too; recreation of the actual pre-turn-of-the-century West. The sets and scenery are understated and fine. Two pistols up! Worth seeing.
Joe
Last night, we saw another good one, almost a polar opposite: the remake of True Grit. Of special interest to me, because I taught the novel last semester, and we saw the John Wayne movie after class. The contrasts are fascinating, both cinematic and American-cultural, in the sense of our perception of our own history.
The 1969 version was definitely a product of star-system Hollywood; the new one far from it. The new one also reflects the postmodern revisionism (or re-vision) of what the West was really like, and what might be the psychological makeup of a Western hero. John Wayne had an element of anti-hero in his Brewster McCloud, but he was at heart a grouchy old decent fellow. The Jeff Bridges McCloud is an alcoholic psychopath who happens to be on the right side of the law. But he kills bad guys – and not so bad -- like shooting tin cans down at the dump.
It's interesting that almost all of the scenes and dialogue are the same! But the Coen brothers had an edgier take on the story, which made a lot of difference. I liked it better. But mine is a minority opinion, I think from a cursory Google. A lot of people see it as "the Duke versus the Dude," and think the Duke owns the territory.
The other actors are also standouts. The girl who plays Mattie, Hailee Steinfield, does a hell of a job for a 14-year-old (it was 22-year-old in teenage drag before); Josh Brolin is a bad guy you love to hate.
There's a lot more grit in this version, and gore. A lot better acting. John Wayne just had to be himself. Bridges read the book, evidently, and came out with a much more interesting anti-hero.
Good "business," too; recreation of the actual pre-turn-of-the-century West. The sets and scenery are understated and fine. Two pistols up! Worth seeing.
Joe
The King's Speech
I've been out of touch for awhile, putting together the novel to send out. Did surrender to the gorgeous weather a few times for longish bicycle rides – should be doing more of that, and more gym, so as to be in the best possible shape for surgery.
Still a few weeks away. Talking to the docs Feb. 10th; operation scheduled for the 17th. Not too trivial, reattaching the large intestine to the ileum, but routine in that there's no rush.
Did go off to see a good movie, The King's Speech. Convincing and affecting story of Prince Edward (Colin Firth) trying to correct a serious speech impediment before kingship. His relationship with the speech therapist (Benjamin Rush) was a marvelous movie story that was evidently pretty accurate.
It must be quite a job for a person trained in elocution to impersonate one who can hardly ask for a cup of tea without screwing it up; Firth really makes you squirm for the poor lad. A lot of nice dry humor. Good writing and impeccable period background.
Joe
Still a few weeks away. Talking to the docs Feb. 10th; operation scheduled for the 17th. Not too trivial, reattaching the large intestine to the ileum, but routine in that there's no rush.
Did go off to see a good movie, The King's Speech. Convincing and affecting story of Prince Edward (Colin Firth) trying to correct a serious speech impediment before kingship. His relationship with the speech therapist (Benjamin Rush) was a marvelous movie story that was evidently pretty accurate.
It must be quite a job for a person trained in elocution to impersonate one who can hardly ask for a cup of tea without screwing it up; Firth really makes you squirm for the poor lad. A lot of nice dry humor. Good writing and impeccable period background.
Joe
January 18, 2011
the master speaks
Just for the record, when he turned 70 (in 1949), Einstein was thinking about economics as well as women. Economics and human welfare:
". . . This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by a educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow-men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."
What a wild and crazy guy.
Joe
". . . This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by a educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow-men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."
What a wild and crazy guy.
Joe
the naked truth
Um . . . speaking of sexual matters (not to distract people from this lofty discussion), I had a mundane but I think amusing experience Saturday.
As happens about one time out of four, the model for open studio was a very attractive young woman. More fun to draw than the musclebound guys we've been getting. Certainly more fun to look at, although at a certain level of discourse it makes no difference what the model looks like, and the farther away she or he is from conventionally beautiful, the better. (The best model I've ever had was an eighty-year old fat man, a total fascinating wreck.)
[image error]
Anyhow, I spent three hours in pleasant contemplation of this lady, and then biked off to have lunch with Gay and then go to a Saturday matinee performance of Chinese acrobats. This was 25 or 30 kids doing absolutely astounding physical feats of balance, speed, and strength. I would guess in age they went from about twelve to about thirty. The youngest were so flexible as to be weird, bending in ways you would think the human skeleton would not allow.
Some of the oldest males were muscular mesomorphs, Asian versions of circus weightlifters, but most of the performers were thimbleweight androgynous sylphs. I found myself concentrating intently on their forms, trying to identify individual gender on the basis of exceedingly meager evidence, because I didn't want to waste time staring at some boy's ass.
Afterwards, it struck me as odd. How many hours a day can a 67-year-old man stare at women before something else distracts him? Einstein was about my age, I suppose, when he said he was impatient to be seventy, so he would finally be old enough to think about something besides women.
Joe
As happens about one time out of four, the model for open studio was a very attractive young woman. More fun to draw than the musclebound guys we've been getting. Certainly more fun to look at, although at a certain level of discourse it makes no difference what the model looks like, and the farther away she or he is from conventionally beautiful, the better. (The best model I've ever had was an eighty-year old fat man, a total fascinating wreck.)
[image error]
Anyhow, I spent three hours in pleasant contemplation of this lady, and then biked off to have lunch with Gay and then go to a Saturday matinee performance of Chinese acrobats. This was 25 or 30 kids doing absolutely astounding physical feats of balance, speed, and strength. I would guess in age they went from about twelve to about thirty. The youngest were so flexible as to be weird, bending in ways you would think the human skeleton would not allow.
Some of the oldest males were muscular mesomorphs, Asian versions of circus weightlifters, but most of the performers were thimbleweight androgynous sylphs. I found myself concentrating intently on their forms, trying to identify individual gender on the basis of exceedingly meager evidence, because I didn't want to waste time staring at some boy's ass.
Afterwards, it struck me as odd. How many hours a day can a 67-year-old man stare at women before something else distracts him? Einstein was about my age, I suppose, when he said he was impatient to be seventy, so he would finally be old enough to think about something besides women.
Joe
aiming points
[They're discussing interstellar colonization in sff.net . . . ]
Perhaps when we're talking about interstellar travel, even if it's a thousand or ten thousand (given some backing and filling) years in the future, the notion of colonialism is a distracting fantasy. Analogy is not useful, because nothing in human history presents a physical barrier as profound as the limitations imposed by the nature of time and space on an interstellar scale.
It might be more interesting to think about (physical) interstellar exploration as a scientific endeavor on the Antarctic model and reserve considerations of "colonization" more as a kind of futuristic publishing: we send out our thoughts, including complex models of ourselves, and see what happens.
Of course the von Neumann idea is a sort of middle ground. Send out a payload that might be relatively small, but which includes instructions to find materials and reproduce itself. And sell Cokes and porn to any creatures it finds.
Joe
Perhaps when we're talking about interstellar travel, even if it's a thousand or ten thousand (given some backing and filling) years in the future, the notion of colonialism is a distracting fantasy. Analogy is not useful, because nothing in human history presents a physical barrier as profound as the limitations imposed by the nature of time and space on an interstellar scale.
It might be more interesting to think about (physical) interstellar exploration as a scientific endeavor on the Antarctic model and reserve considerations of "colonization" more as a kind of futuristic publishing: we send out our thoughts, including complex models of ourselves, and see what happens.
Of course the von Neumann idea is a sort of middle ground. Send out a payload that might be relatively small, but which includes instructions to find materials and reproduce itself. And sell Cokes and porn to any creatures it finds.
Joe
January 15, 2011
Patty Larkin
Went to a Patty Larkin concert last night, and it was interesting but not exactly compelling. Partly equipment failure combined with my sketchy hearing . . . the mike was extremely directional, and high tones disappeared for me if she wasn't singing directly into it. So I missed a lot of the lyrics.
She's a strong guitarist, not subtle but very forceful, and inventive in her use of drone strings and harmonics. She mainly played a workhorse Epiphone steel-string acoustic, but also brought out an old-fashioned solid-body Fender with a wah-wah bar and did some cute stuff with that – including stroking and beating the strings with a violin bow! All kinds of reverb and loops and echoes and god knows what, in a series of black boxes she played with her feet (and often squatted down to adjust). Kind of un-folky for stodgy me.
We saw her in Cambridge when she first started out, 25 years ago. (She'd just stopped busking in the subway there.) She's much more professional now, but I wasn't particularly moved by the performance.
An odd coincidence . . . looking at the mail this morning, I checked the Jack Williams discussion list, and he answered a request for his song "A Full Moon On" -- http://www.jackwilliamsmusic.com/mp3/A%20Full%20Moon%20On.mp3 (from an out-of-print album "Highway From Back Home") -- and noted that back in those days he used a lot of electronic doo-dah . . .
"the electronic effects I was using on my Martin in those days disappoint me when I listen to anything recorded with them now.
"I depended upon these effects (chorus and delay) in live performance because, when playing in the bars, so much more sound seems to be needed to provide variety, fullness, and interest to an audience which, very often, is chatting loudly and isn't really paying much attention. Unfortunately, the effects didn't translate well to recording."
Also, the fanboy in me has to add, Jack is such a virtuoso on the guitar that the electronic stuff is really painting the lily. Patty Larkin is good, but Jack's in another dimension.
Joe
She's a strong guitarist, not subtle but very forceful, and inventive in her use of drone strings and harmonics. She mainly played a workhorse Epiphone steel-string acoustic, but also brought out an old-fashioned solid-body Fender with a wah-wah bar and did some cute stuff with that – including stroking and beating the strings with a violin bow! All kinds of reverb and loops and echoes and god knows what, in a series of black boxes she played with her feet (and often squatted down to adjust). Kind of un-folky for stodgy me.
We saw her in Cambridge when she first started out, 25 years ago. (She'd just stopped busking in the subway there.) She's much more professional now, but I wasn't particularly moved by the performance.
An odd coincidence . . . looking at the mail this morning, I checked the Jack Williams discussion list, and he answered a request for his song "A Full Moon On" -- http://www.jackwilliamsmusic.com/mp3/A%20Full%20Moon%20On.mp3 (from an out-of-print album "Highway From Back Home") -- and noted that back in those days he used a lot of electronic doo-dah . . .
"the electronic effects I was using on my Martin in those days disappoint me when I listen to anything recorded with them now.
"I depended upon these effects (chorus and delay) in live performance because, when playing in the bars, so much more sound seems to be needed to provide variety, fullness, and interest to an audience which, very often, is chatting loudly and isn't really paying much attention. Unfortunately, the effects didn't translate well to recording."
Also, the fanboy in me has to add, Jack is such a virtuoso on the guitar that the electronic stuff is really painting the lily. Patty Larkin is good, but Jack's in another dimension.
Joe
January 13, 2011
PLAN NING FOR OUTER SPACE
Just returned from the 100-Year Starship conference.
Coming back from San Francisco was less involved than getting there; it only took nine hours and one weather glitch, some shuffling around in snow-crippled Atlanta.
There are a few small epistolary brush fires to be dealt with before I can write up a summation of the day-and-a-half whirlwind conference. I'm going to put on my microphone and dictate my 19 pp. of notes along with comments, and then see about putting them into some kind of order. Probably nothing coherent enough to pass as an article; the discussion was almost too wide-ranging for that. But I'll see what it looks like.
Joe
(P.S. Are other people experiencing annoying commercial interference from LJ? Used to be able to just click them away and get on with business. Now there are long commercial film strips that won't be avoided.)
Coming back from San Francisco was less involved than getting there; it only took nine hours and one weather glitch, some shuffling around in snow-crippled Atlanta.
There are a few small epistolary brush fires to be dealt with before I can write up a summation of the day-and-a-half whirlwind conference. I'm going to put on my microphone and dictate my 19 pp. of notes along with comments, and then see about putting them into some kind of order. Probably nothing coherent enough to pass as an article; the discussion was almost too wide-ranging for that. But I'll see what it looks like.
Joe
(P.S. Are other people experiencing annoying commercial interference from LJ? Used to be able to just click them away and get on with business. Now there are long commercial film strips that won't be avoided.)
January 7, 2011
origins
[A correspondent on sff.net asked about planning ahead.]
I usually do have one or several books waiting in the wings. I don't make contracts for single books; it's always for two or three -- this benefits publishers for one set of reasons and writers for another.
I'll be working on WORK DONE FOR HIRE for another year or so. Next up would be a hard-sf novel tentatively called THE PHOBOS PROJECT. Don't have contracts beyond that, but I'm fiddling with a couple of ideas that I'll write up in the next year or so and waft up to New York.
I like to play it kind of loose. You never know when an irresistible idea will materialize. Sometimes, as with THE HEMINGWAY HOAX, THE COMING, and CAMOUFLAGE, it just sneaks up and says "Boo!" Okay, okay, where's my pen?
Joe
I usually do have one or several books waiting in the wings. I don't make contracts for single books; it's always for two or three -- this benefits publishers for one set of reasons and writers for another.
I'll be working on WORK DONE FOR HIRE for another year or so. Next up would be a hard-sf novel tentatively called THE PHOBOS PROJECT. Don't have contracts beyond that, but I'm fiddling with a couple of ideas that I'll write up in the next year or so and waft up to New York.
I like to play it kind of loose. You never know when an irresistible idea will materialize. Sometimes, as with THE HEMINGWAY HOAX, THE COMING, and CAMOUFLAGE, it just sneaks up and says "Boo!" Okay, okay, where's my pen?
Joe
Joe Haldeman's Blog
- Joe Haldeman's profile
- 2191 followers
Joe Haldeman isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
