Steven Barnes's Blog, page 18
July 31, 2018
The Power of Love…and Tribe
Everything, every single thing I say about race and gender comes from a simple basic premise: equality. Sometimes modified by complementarity, but basically…equal. Trust me, I take crap from both sides about the implications of my positions. As the song goes, “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.” If you think I feel anything but bemusement by the attacks, you don’t know me well at all.
Hang around. You will.
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I posted a link to news stories about the recent event where a white guy name...
July 30, 2018
What will this week be for YOU?
Every Sunday, my primary “work” is to figure out the most important thing to accomplish in the next seven days. Last week:
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WHAT: The most important thing I had to accomplish last week was a fabulous 20th anniversary celebration with Tananarive.
WHY: Because I adore her, and thank God every day that this fabulous, beautiful, brilliant, exceptional woman chose ME as her life partner. And I never, ever want to take her or my life for granted, or let time pass without celebration.
HOW: An Air...
July 29, 2018
Millennial Woes
“While everyone else was telling these young white men to check their privilege, the alt-right was speaking powerfully to their Millennial woes.”
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I honestly believe that our culture, perhaps our species, is on an evolutionary cusp. A few of the core questions are:
UHC and “Universal Income”. As...
July 28, 2018
OMG…That’s Jason!
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Oh My God. That’s my baby boy on the extreme right. Getting ready for his first game. Its one thing to no longer be able to just pick him up in one arm. Its another to realize that he is so close to being a man.
I figured I had one job with my kids: to help them safely to their adulthood. And all I can do there is to teach them the very best things I’ve learned over the course of my life. Over the summer, Jason has really matured–I’m hoping the pressures of high school don’t c...
July 26, 2018
Tom Cruise weirds me out a bit…
Leaving Malibu today to drive down to San Diego, where we’ll connect with Nicki. Probably see “Mission Impossible” tonight.
Of course, one motivation is to watch Tom Cruise’s insanity manifesting onscreen. Since Douglas Fairbanks (at least) we’ve been fascinated by stars who “do all their own stunts” and yes, it DOES add to the enjoyment of the film itself. Hard to say “that’s impossible!” when you know a stuntman actually did it, that it isn’t green-screen.
And it is hard to say: “no on...
July 25, 2018
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (2018)
Cher KILLED “Fernando” in “Mama Mia: Here We Go Again.” Fabulous. And watching Pierce Brosnan “sing” and “dance” through (my personal favorite Abba song) “Dancing Queen” was worth the price of admission. The movie is a buttermilk pancake: warm, fluffy, sugar-dusted, tasty and enjoyable without being in the least filling. So much fun.
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The movie deals with the back-story for Meryl Streep’s character Donna, who has a lovely daughter by one of three different men, no one knows who. And...
July 24, 2018
Today’s Morning program
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So what I brought with me to exercise on the deck overlooking the Pacific is a yoga board, and two 36 lb kettlebells. So the schedule today will be:
Tai Chi with morning ritual. Primary focus today? Rewriting the story “Danakil” and having a GREAT time with Tananarive. That party, if its any of your business, has already started. Ahem. Martial Arts. Basics of Silat, Kali, WAR, and Kenpo. I paid blood and sweat for those skills, and damned if I’m gonna give ’em up in THIS lifetime. K...July 23, 2018
Celebrating Your Life
Drove back from San Diego last night, where I attended the Comic Con memorial panel for Harlan Ellison. Remarkable man. I might post part of the audio for that later.
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Taking the week off to celebrate my 20th anniversary with Tananarive. I’ll have more thoughts about that later–so many to think about. Eulogizing a dear friend, celebrating the love of my life. We went to see EQUALIZER last night, which was a little disjointed in terms of tone, but very satisfying, with a last act...
July 21, 2018
SuperYou
My sister Joyce got re-married yesterday, and it was great. At the reception, I met some new cousins, and we bonded over discussions of comic book mythology. One subject was the reason DC is struggling in the cinema (but producing really good television animation). There are a lot of layers here, but part of it is that Zach Snyder doesn’t really seem to believe in heroes and heroism, and in trying to imitate the success of “The Dark Knight” they gave the reins of their universe to a man w...
July 20, 2018
Becoming a Superhero
“Right now everything looks so strange to me, as if I don’t belong here. It’s me that’s out of place. And the worst thing is that I feel there’s somewhere I do belong, but I just can’t find it.”–seen this morning on a thread.
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My all-time favorite movie serial is “Captain Marvel”, with those wonderful practical-effect flying scenes that still look astoundingly good, and Billy Batson saying “Shazam!” and turning into (basically) Superman. Great stuff. The villain is “The Scorpion”, and the...
