Rod Rees's Blog, page 5
May 20, 2012
SUMMER COVER
Just got a first look at the cover of the third DM book 'The Demi-Monde: Summer'. It's a rough draft but I think it looks pretty good. As a lot of the action takes place in the Coven the Sino-Japanese sector of the DM I asked Nigel to come up with an appropriately yin/yangish emblem (or as the belief system of the Coven is based on the ancient philosophy of Confusionism I suppose that should be yin/yang/ying). The inter-twined dragons (dragons are a passion of Empress Wu who runs the Coven) were his idea and like all things Nigel-sian are terrific. Well done, Nig!
The Demi-Monde: Summer (draft cover)
The Demi-Monde: Summer (draft cover)
May 19, 2012
GOGOL-ESQUE
One of my characters in the book I’m currently working on (‘Tesla vs The Martians’) uses the expression ‘Gogol-esque’ to describe the feeling of unease he experiences when the Carnivores (don’t ask) are being described to him. The exact phrase is: ‘Images of the Gogol-esque monsters flickered through Denisov’s mind, the devilish creatures that had haunted his childhood dreams’.
Now I submitted the chapter this phrase was in to be critiqued by the Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group and was a little taken aback when one of the group took me to task by saying that as Gogol had only written one horror story – ‘Viy’ – he was better seen as a writer of romances. QED my use of the term was inaccurate.At the time I was so non-plussed that I didn’t really know what to say so I’ve gone and checked with my Russian friends what their take on Gogol is. It seems to correspond with mine. The words they used to describe his writing were ‘surreal’, ‘grotesque’ and ‘unsettling’ and, of course, Gogol wrote stories other than ‘Viy’ which, whilst not horror per se were at the very least horrific (and here I’d cite ‘A Terrible Vengeance’, ‘A Bewitched Place’, ‘St John’s Eve’, ‘The Nose’ and ‘The Overcoat’).
So having considered the matter more fully I think I’ll leave ‘Gogol-esque’ in!
Now I submitted the chapter this phrase was in to be critiqued by the Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group and was a little taken aback when one of the group took me to task by saying that as Gogol had only written one horror story – ‘Viy’ – he was better seen as a writer of romances. QED my use of the term was inaccurate.At the time I was so non-plussed that I didn’t really know what to say so I’ve gone and checked with my Russian friends what their take on Gogol is. It seems to correspond with mine. The words they used to describe his writing were ‘surreal’, ‘grotesque’ and ‘unsettling’ and, of course, Gogol wrote stories other than ‘Viy’ which, whilst not horror per se were at the very least horrific (and here I’d cite ‘A Terrible Vengeance’, ‘A Bewitched Place’, ‘St John’s Eve’, ‘The Nose’ and ‘The Overcoat’).
So having considered the matter more fully I think I’ll leave ‘Gogol-esque’ in!
THE COUNTRY WIFE
The second play I saw this week was the very antithesis of ‘Cowboy Mouth': I switched from punk grunge to Restoration bawdiness when I took in The Univ Players’ take on ‘The Country Wife’. Written in 1675 it was banned until 1924, the lewdness and innuendo being considered too much for a respectable audience to swallow.
There are two interlocking threads to the tale: the adventures of Horner, a young blood, who feigns impotence in order more easily to seduce women, and Mrs Margery Pinchwife – the eponymous ‘Country Wife’ – who has come to London and is determined to sample all the delights the big, bad city has to offer.I thought it a terrific production tho’ marred by being performed al fresco – it’s hard to concentrate on complex dialogue when you’re worried about incipient frostbite – which didn’t do the acoustic any favours either. Andre Laithwaite was brilliant as Horner, with just the right amount of devilishness about him. Lazlo Barclay deserves a mention too: his Mr Sparkish was convincingly naïve. Kathryn Smith made a good fist of the tricky role of Mrs Margery Pinchwife tho’ I think she should have emphasised the yoke-lish aspect of the woman more: an actor can’t go too far over-the-top playing this character. Perhaps my favourite performance tho’ was Claire Rammelkamp’s Lady Fidget: she really nailed the ditziness of the woman and communicated better than any of the players an understanding of what it was like to be caught up in the sexual hysteria pervading Restoration London.
Criticisms? This was a play that was banned for almost 250 years … it’s bawdy and salacious but I had a feeling the actors (the girls especially, tho’ I exclude Ms Rammelkamp from this criticism) were much too PC in their approach, much too tentative. Their acting didn’t reflect the dialogue.Still a commendable 8/10 (even if it was bloody cold!).
There are two interlocking threads to the tale: the adventures of Horner, a young blood, who feigns impotence in order more easily to seduce women, and Mrs Margery Pinchwife – the eponymous ‘Country Wife’ – who has come to London and is determined to sample all the delights the big, bad city has to offer.I thought it a terrific production tho’ marred by being performed al fresco – it’s hard to concentrate on complex dialogue when you’re worried about incipient frostbite – which didn’t do the acoustic any favours either. Andre Laithwaite was brilliant as Horner, with just the right amount of devilishness about him. Lazlo Barclay deserves a mention too: his Mr Sparkish was convincingly naïve. Kathryn Smith made a good fist of the tricky role of Mrs Margery Pinchwife tho’ I think she should have emphasised the yoke-lish aspect of the woman more: an actor can’t go too far over-the-top playing this character. Perhaps my favourite performance tho’ was Claire Rammelkamp’s Lady Fidget: she really nailed the ditziness of the woman and communicated better than any of the players an understanding of what it was like to be caught up in the sexual hysteria pervading Restoration London.
Criticisms? This was a play that was banned for almost 250 years … it’s bawdy and salacious but I had a feeling the actors (the girls especially, tho’ I exclude Ms Rammelkamp from this criticism) were much too PC in their approach, much too tentative. Their acting didn’t reflect the dialogue.Still a commendable 8/10 (even if it was bloody cold!).
COWBOY MOUTH
It has been a week of some cultural involvement. My daughter Kit has been involved as the producer of two plays at her college in Oxford. The first of these was ‘Cowboy Mouth’ the punk play written by Patti Smith and Sam Shephard back in the 70’s.For those of you unfamiliar with the play it’s a two-hander, with Cavale (a highly-strung and highly disturbed girl who has ambitions of being a rock Diaghilev) and Slim (the rock singer who’s the object of her ambitions). The action takes place in a dismal room of a slummy New York hotel.
I have to admit that I approached the play with a deal of trepidation – I find most of the output of the New York punk scene to be pretty thin and feeble fare and I’ve never been a fan of Patti Smith – and, like the Curate’s egg, I found it good in parts. The play is de-constructed and almost impossible to assess regarding plot etc. being rather a device to deliver a collection of monologues and poses, but it has to be said that some of these are quite powerful.The contrary thing is that these sort of fly-on-the-wall, cinema verite-type pieces of theatre are more demanding of the director and actors than conventional productions … they have to really go for it and if they don’t the thing generally falls flat.
The good thing is that this Ba-Laylah production performed at the Burton Taylor Studio in Oxford almost made it … almost. There was certainly a deal of verve on show and there was no faulting the enthusiasm of the actors. But …I couldn’t help thinking that the director bottled it a little and couldn’t find a way of communicating the whole psychotic madness –the lunacy –of the situation Cavale and Slim found themselves in. Sitting watching the play unfold I wondered how much better (and ludicrous) it would have been to have portrayed Slim as a Sid Vicious-esque punk! But all-in-all I thought it well directed.
The three actors were good. Tara Isabella Burton as Cavale did tend to gabble her lines (I’d been hoping for some good, old-fashioned, drug-fuelled slurring) and was, I think, a little too chary of her character’s sexual abandon to really convince. Dylan Holmes as Slim was fine, though a trifle cleaner-cut than I think any grunged-up wanna-be rock god has any right to be. Jonathan Sanders was a terrific Lobster Man.In sum, a respectable 7/10 … worth seeing, but …
May 9, 2012
WHY THIS WRITER CAN'T BE A READER
I have always been amazed by the number of works of fiction my fellow writers seem to consume. They are always recommending this book and saying how much they enjoyed that book, while I stand in awed - and unread - amazement.
It isn't just a function of time - though that is a factor - but I've always had a suspicion that reading the works of your contemporaries can have a corrupting effect: try as hard as you might there is still a danger that you might begin to ape a style, pinch an idea, or steal a phrase. So it's for these reasons that I've religiously refused to read any novels for ... well, years. Reference works, okay ... that's necessary research but a hot SF bestseller, no way will I open its cover.
Until Monday.
We've recently moved and as some of you might know a move requires a cull of unwanted books. In my case it was a particularly vicious culling and only very few novels made the cut and most of them survived purely on sentimental reasons. I enjoyed them when I was younger and can't bear to be parted from the memories they evoke. Included in the survivors was 'The Lost Regiment' series by William R. Forstchen. These I collected when I was hopping across to the US on a regular basis (this was before Amazon and they were never printed in the UK) and every time I did I'd buy the next in the series to read on the 'plane. I loved 'em: inventive, well researched, good characterisation and exemplary world-building.
So, clearing out a box on Monday I came across #1 'Rally Cry' and couldn't resist: I started reading. BIG MISTAKE. Immediately I started I had my editor's hat on ... he's switched POV ... he should have cut this paragraph ... show don't tell ... on and on and on. I had to stop.
That's it for me and novels, but the question remains - if I reread The Demi-Monde in twenty-odd years time will I be similarly critical?
It isn't just a function of time - though that is a factor - but I've always had a suspicion that reading the works of your contemporaries can have a corrupting effect: try as hard as you might there is still a danger that you might begin to ape a style, pinch an idea, or steal a phrase. So it's for these reasons that I've religiously refused to read any novels for ... well, years. Reference works, okay ... that's necessary research but a hot SF bestseller, no way will I open its cover.
Until Monday.
We've recently moved and as some of you might know a move requires a cull of unwanted books. In my case it was a particularly vicious culling and only very few novels made the cut and most of them survived purely on sentimental reasons. I enjoyed them when I was younger and can't bear to be parted from the memories they evoke. Included in the survivors was 'The Lost Regiment' series by William R. Forstchen. These I collected when I was hopping across to the US on a regular basis (this was before Amazon and they were never printed in the UK) and every time I did I'd buy the next in the series to read on the 'plane. I loved 'em: inventive, well researched, good characterisation and exemplary world-building.
So, clearing out a box on Monday I came across #1 'Rally Cry' and couldn't resist: I started reading. BIG MISTAKE. Immediately I started I had my editor's hat on ... he's switched POV ... he should have cut this paragraph ... show don't tell ... on and on and on. I had to stop.
That's it for me and novels, but the question remains - if I reread The Demi-Monde in twenty-odd years time will I be similarly critical?
April 16, 2012
TESLA VS THE MARTIANS
Okay, been beavering away on a new book, the working title of which is 'Tesla vs The Martians'. It's a stretched version of the short story 'Alternate Currents' included in the recent anthology 'Dark Currents' publish by NewCon Press and deals, as the title suggests, with how Nikola Tesla (the unbergenius who gave us electric power generation) battles it out with some Martian nasties trying to take over the world. I've shifted the action to Russia of 1906, the time of the first Revolution, the Duma, Marxist revolutionaries and enormous social upheavals, so it's a perfect setting for a writer. Meshing history with my SF fantasy was a little tricky, but in the end I only had to take one liberty with the timeline so I'm quite chuffed about that.
All-in-all I'm pretty pleased with it but now comes the difficult bit: polishing it into a readable story. A couple of the characters I've got to make a little more extreme and I want to push up the gore count but Tesla (who was a real wack-a-doodle anyway) sits really well in all this made-up mayhem.
All-in-all I'm pretty pleased with it but now comes the difficult bit: polishing it into a readable story. A couple of the characters I've got to make a little more extreme and I want to push up the gore count but Tesla (who was a real wack-a-doodle anyway) sits really well in all this made-up mayhem.
April 4, 2012
TITLES
My American publishers are considering using a series title for the Demi-Monde books and using 'The Demi-Monde: Winter' etc as the title that demarks the individual books in the series.
So ... the names I've come up with are ... any suggestions/preferences/comments welcome!:
CounterFate (a play on counterfeit)
Adventures in a CounterFate WorldThe CounterFate WarsMust we Die in a CounterFate World?Adventures in an CounterFate WorldOf course you could substitute CounterFate with ReBorn;ReDie
UnderLand (a play in Wonder Land)
Ella's Adventures in UnderLandMisAdventures in UnderLand
Shadows The Shadow WarsThe War of ShadowsShadowLand WarsBeware the Shadow Stalkers Those Inspired by Jose Farmer and Philip K. Dick Who Will Dry My cyberTearsPrey … for I am made dust.Swathe me in ShadowsAdventures in a ParaHell Universe
Into the Vortex I Freely TumbleRise of the Dark Charismatics
And then there's the simply random
Abandon HopeThe CyberBloc WarsCyberBloc GirlsThe Girls in the CyberBlocConfliction
CyberDeath
CyberKnellDieVille
Dupes
NeverEverLandTerrorVille
Ella vs The SingularitiesSoul Cage
Split InfinitiesThe Ghosts in the Machine
ReDie
So ... the names I've come up with are ... any suggestions/preferences/comments welcome!:
CounterFate (a play on counterfeit)
Adventures in a CounterFate WorldThe CounterFate WarsMust we Die in a CounterFate World?Adventures in an CounterFate WorldOf course you could substitute CounterFate with ReBorn;ReDie
UnderLand (a play in Wonder Land)
Ella's Adventures in UnderLandMisAdventures in UnderLand
Shadows The Shadow WarsThe War of ShadowsShadowLand WarsBeware the Shadow Stalkers Those Inspired by Jose Farmer and Philip K. Dick Who Will Dry My cyberTearsPrey … for I am made dust.Swathe me in ShadowsAdventures in a ParaHell Universe
Into the Vortex I Freely TumbleRise of the Dark Charismatics
And then there's the simply random
Abandon HopeThe CyberBloc WarsCyberBloc GirlsThe Girls in the CyberBlocConfliction
CyberDeath
CyberKnellDieVille
Dupes
NeverEverLandTerrorVille
Ella vs The SingularitiesSoul Cage
Split InfinitiesThe Ghosts in the Machine
ReDie
March 28, 2012
CALLING ALL MARXIST-LENINISTS
Well into the first of the post Demi-Monde books. Most of the action will take place in St Petersburg of 1906 and those history buffs amongst you will remember that this is when things really began to kick-off in Russia. 1905/1906 has been called 'the dress-rehearsal' for the revolution of 1917.
In the scene I'm currently writing my hero (called Samuel) and heroine (called Jemilah) are attending a meeting of the Social Democrats (revolutionary socialists) where one Comrade Lenin is orating. Therefore I needed to concoct a speech that was suitably 'Lenin-esque'. Now never having had much time for politics (or politicians) this is new territory for me so any of you who have expertise in this area, please feel free to critique it as hard as you like. All comments welcome! Here it is ...
Theadmiration in Samuel's voice made Jemilah a little uncomfortable: she had anatural suspicion of 'great men' and their motives. They edged closer and nowshe could make out what Lenin was saying.
'…told that terrorism is not a legitimate means of class struggle. We are toldthat we must eschew robbery as a means of financing the revolution. We are toldthat anarchism demoralises the workers, alienates wide swathes of thepopulation and injures the revolution. We are told we must remain quiescent.This is wrong! We must not expect the triumph of the proletariat to be servedto us on a plate. In the whole of history there is not one example of the classstruggle being resolved without violence. When violence is exercised by theworking people, by the mass of the exploited against the exploiters – then we,the Bolsheviks, are for it.'
Therewere cheers around the hall, cheers which also provoked boos. This Lenin, itseemed, was something of a divisive figure in revolutionary circles. But he was a powerful speaker; that muchJemilah had to admit. She glanced towards Samuel who seemed to be quiteentranced by the man.
Whenthe room had quietened Lenin resumed his oration. 'That is what the struggle ofour brave Comrades in Moscow taught us when they manned the barricades and tookcontrol of the streets: that as the revolution progresses it will stimulate astrong and united counter-revolution.The criminal Tsar will be compelled to resort to more and more extreme measuresto defend his illegal and immoral regime: has he not been forced to declaremartial law over much of the country, has he not had to mobilise regiments offresh troops, has he not connived in the despicable pogroms perpetrated by theBlack Hundred and has he not used military courts to execute protestors withouta fair trial?
Morecheers; anti-Tsar rhetoric was obviously popular. 'We socialists must recognisethis mass terror and we must resist it. And that will necessitate the embracingof violence. It is inevitable that the Russian proletariat will have to resortto the same method of struggle as was used in the Paris Commune – civil war. Wewould be deceiving both ourselves and the people if we concealed the fact thatthe overthrow of the bourgeoisie will necessitate a desperate, bloody war ofextermination. Those of you who are opposed to it, those of you who do notprepare for it, are traitors to the proletariat, are traitors to therevolution.'
Provocative little bastard, decided Jemilah, and obviouslya born rabble-rouser.
'Wemust show no mercy to these enemies of the people, the enemies of socialism, theenemies of the working people. War to the death against the rich and theirhangers-on, the bourgeois intellectuals!'
Lenin'sappetite for blood and slaughter was obviously contagious. The crowd began toshout and yell its support.
'Onlyby violent disorganisation will we seize the attention of the downtrodden,giving them hope whilst simultaneously creating fear in the heart of theoppressors.'
'Terrorismis wrong!' shouted a doubter from the side of the room. 'Anarchy is wrong!
'No,Comrade,' Lenin shouted back, 'it is you who is wrong! The armed struggle tosecure the victory of the proletariat legitimises the assassination of theleaders of the bourgeoisie and the confiscation of funds by robbery. It is notthese guerrilla actions which disorganises the revolutionary movement but ratherit is the weakness of a Party which is incapable of taking such actions underits control. It is not guerrilla war which demoralises but unorganised,irregular, non-party guerrilla acts. The very act of violent politicaldisorganisation imbues it with ideological credence. It is time we all acceptedthat nothing can be done in this country except by putsches. We arerevolutionaries who have dedicated our lives to the cause of socialism and thefreeing of the proletariat and the peasants from bondage so we must stand readyto sacrifice our lives for the cause: to triumph we must kill and, ifnecessary, die!'
'Whatabout the Duma?' This, to Jemilah's surprise, was a question shouted by Samuel.
'Ah… the Duma … the very fact that you have asked the question, Comrade, shows howour revolutionary certainty has been obscured by the debate regarding the Duma,how successful this ploy of the Tsar has been in confusing and distracting therevolutionary energies of the people.' He paused for a moment in sadreflection. 'We are told by the liberals that the success of the politicalstruggle against the government can only be secured by the consolidation andexpansion of the rights of the Duma. What nonsense! We all know that the Duma isa miserable travesty of popular representation. This fraud must be exposed and thiswe can do only by boycotting the Duma … but it must be an active boycott … a boycott accompanied by intense agitation inorder to provoke an intense political crisis.'
Forseveral long seconds Lenin stood silent on the stage. Then, 'It is time,Comrades, to grasp the nettle. It is time we recognise that only by a campaignof brutal and ferocious disorganisation and an espousal of agitationalpragmatism will we free the people of the autocracy lauded over by thatembodiment of despotism, Tsar Nicholas II.' Again he paused, 'Comrades, we aremet at a cross-roads of history: do we take the fork signalled by the Kadetsand signposted 'Passivity and Submission' or the fork signalled by theBolsheviks and signposted 'Action and Terror'? Are we to remain supine in theface of judicial murder or are we to smash and pulverise our opponents intosubmission? I say to you: down with the Dumtsy!'
Callingthe Duma representatives by the diminutive 'dumtsy'raised a laugh.
'Downwith this new police fraud! Honour the memory of the fallen heroes of the Moscowbarricades by making fresh preparations for an armed uprising! Long live therevolution!'
Therewas wild cheering and as though carried away by the audience's enthusiasm Leninbegan to pace the stage. 'And let us all hope, Comrades, that by such acts ofselflessness and sacrifice we will create the longed for popular rising of thepeople. It is my hope that from such a rising will emerge an ambitious man ofgenius, a Caesar, a demigod, who will lead our benighted country out of thedarkness of autocracy and to whom all men and women will bow their heads asequals.'
In the scene I'm currently writing my hero (called Samuel) and heroine (called Jemilah) are attending a meeting of the Social Democrats (revolutionary socialists) where one Comrade Lenin is orating. Therefore I needed to concoct a speech that was suitably 'Lenin-esque'. Now never having had much time for politics (or politicians) this is new territory for me so any of you who have expertise in this area, please feel free to critique it as hard as you like. All comments welcome! Here it is ...
Theadmiration in Samuel's voice made Jemilah a little uncomfortable: she had anatural suspicion of 'great men' and their motives. They edged closer and nowshe could make out what Lenin was saying.
'…told that terrorism is not a legitimate means of class struggle. We are toldthat we must eschew robbery as a means of financing the revolution. We are toldthat anarchism demoralises the workers, alienates wide swathes of thepopulation and injures the revolution. We are told we must remain quiescent.This is wrong! We must not expect the triumph of the proletariat to be servedto us on a plate. In the whole of history there is not one example of the classstruggle being resolved without violence. When violence is exercised by theworking people, by the mass of the exploited against the exploiters – then we,the Bolsheviks, are for it.'
Therewere cheers around the hall, cheers which also provoked boos. This Lenin, itseemed, was something of a divisive figure in revolutionary circles. But he was a powerful speaker; that muchJemilah had to admit. She glanced towards Samuel who seemed to be quiteentranced by the man.
Whenthe room had quietened Lenin resumed his oration. 'That is what the struggle ofour brave Comrades in Moscow taught us when they manned the barricades and tookcontrol of the streets: that as the revolution progresses it will stimulate astrong and united counter-revolution.The criminal Tsar will be compelled to resort to more and more extreme measuresto defend his illegal and immoral regime: has he not been forced to declaremartial law over much of the country, has he not had to mobilise regiments offresh troops, has he not connived in the despicable pogroms perpetrated by theBlack Hundred and has he not used military courts to execute protestors withouta fair trial?
Morecheers; anti-Tsar rhetoric was obviously popular. 'We socialists must recognisethis mass terror and we must resist it. And that will necessitate the embracingof violence. It is inevitable that the Russian proletariat will have to resortto the same method of struggle as was used in the Paris Commune – civil war. Wewould be deceiving both ourselves and the people if we concealed the fact thatthe overthrow of the bourgeoisie will necessitate a desperate, bloody war ofextermination. Those of you who are opposed to it, those of you who do notprepare for it, are traitors to the proletariat, are traitors to therevolution.'
Provocative little bastard, decided Jemilah, and obviouslya born rabble-rouser.
'Wemust show no mercy to these enemies of the people, the enemies of socialism, theenemies of the working people. War to the death against the rich and theirhangers-on, the bourgeois intellectuals!'
Lenin'sappetite for blood and slaughter was obviously contagious. The crowd began toshout and yell its support.
'Onlyby violent disorganisation will we seize the attention of the downtrodden,giving them hope whilst simultaneously creating fear in the heart of theoppressors.'
'Terrorismis wrong!' shouted a doubter from the side of the room. 'Anarchy is wrong!
'No,Comrade,' Lenin shouted back, 'it is you who is wrong! The armed struggle tosecure the victory of the proletariat legitimises the assassination of theleaders of the bourgeoisie and the confiscation of funds by robbery. It is notthese guerrilla actions which disorganises the revolutionary movement but ratherit is the weakness of a Party which is incapable of taking such actions underits control. It is not guerrilla war which demoralises but unorganised,irregular, non-party guerrilla acts. The very act of violent politicaldisorganisation imbues it with ideological credence. It is time we all acceptedthat nothing can be done in this country except by putsches. We arerevolutionaries who have dedicated our lives to the cause of socialism and thefreeing of the proletariat and the peasants from bondage so we must stand readyto sacrifice our lives for the cause: to triumph we must kill and, ifnecessary, die!'
'Whatabout the Duma?' This, to Jemilah's surprise, was a question shouted by Samuel.
'Ah… the Duma … the very fact that you have asked the question, Comrade, shows howour revolutionary certainty has been obscured by the debate regarding the Duma,how successful this ploy of the Tsar has been in confusing and distracting therevolutionary energies of the people.' He paused for a moment in sadreflection. 'We are told by the liberals that the success of the politicalstruggle against the government can only be secured by the consolidation andexpansion of the rights of the Duma. What nonsense! We all know that the Duma isa miserable travesty of popular representation. This fraud must be exposed and thiswe can do only by boycotting the Duma … but it must be an active boycott … a boycott accompanied by intense agitation inorder to provoke an intense political crisis.'
Forseveral long seconds Lenin stood silent on the stage. Then, 'It is time,Comrades, to grasp the nettle. It is time we recognise that only by a campaignof brutal and ferocious disorganisation and an espousal of agitationalpragmatism will we free the people of the autocracy lauded over by thatembodiment of despotism, Tsar Nicholas II.' Again he paused, 'Comrades, we aremet at a cross-roads of history: do we take the fork signalled by the Kadetsand signposted 'Passivity and Submission' or the fork signalled by theBolsheviks and signposted 'Action and Terror'? Are we to remain supine in theface of judicial murder or are we to smash and pulverise our opponents intosubmission? I say to you: down with the Dumtsy!'
Callingthe Duma representatives by the diminutive 'dumtsy'raised a laugh.
'Downwith this new police fraud! Honour the memory of the fallen heroes of the Moscowbarricades by making fresh preparations for an armed uprising! Long live therevolution!'
Therewas wild cheering and as though carried away by the audience's enthusiasm Leninbegan to pace the stage. 'And let us all hope, Comrades, that by such acts ofselflessness and sacrifice we will create the longed for popular rising of thepeople. It is my hope that from such a rising will emerge an ambitious man ofgenius, a Caesar, a demigod, who will lead our benighted country out of thedarkness of autocracy and to whom all men and women will bow their heads asequals.'
March 14, 2012
VIRGINMEDIA IS SHIT
Do NOT use VirginMedia … this is my sorry saga.
I moved house on the 28th February and decided(foolishly) to ditch BT and go to Virgin as my telephone and broadbandsupplier. They arrived on the 8th March and connected me. On the 9thI 'phoned to enquire if they did a special rate deal for calls to Russia (Nellimy wife is Russian and likes to chat with relatives and friends). They did –for £2.00 a month they would take my call rate down from £1.00 per minute to10p per minute. Yippee!
So all was well until yesterday evening when at 6.30 p.m. Iget a call from Virgin (I didn't take the girl's name) who informed me that inthe past week I'd spent £250 on international calls. Now at 10p per minute thatworks out at a little under 42 hours worth of calls and whilst Nelli might liketalking to Russia but she doesn't talk that much. I suggested to Miss X thatthe preferential call rate hadn't been put through. 'Oh yes,' she said, 'but toput the changes thru you'll have to speak to the 'Debt Collection Department'(Debt Collection?). I'll put you thru.'
TIME SPENT ON THE 'PHONE TO MISS X: 37 MINUTES
Eventually I get thru to 'Daniel' who seems to know nothingand who eventually admits that he'll have to refer my problem to his manager 'KirstyAitchison' who will 'phone me 'definitely before 9.00 p.m.' to resolve thesituation.
TIME SPENT ON THE 'PHONE TO DANIEL: 35 MINUTES
'Kirsty Aitchison' doesn't call.
At 8.30 a.m. I call VirginMedia and am put thru to 'Joanne'.After a lot of toing and froing we establish that maybe, perhaps I have beencredited with the overcharges made. But when I ask for a statement this inducesmeltdown.
TIME SPENT ON THE 'PHONE TO JOANNE: 40 MINUTES
I am transferred to 'Andrew' in Technical Support whoexplains to me that VirginMedia is so cutting edge that they don't dostatements, they do 'on-screen billing information'. With Andre's help I go tothe VirginMedia website. I have difficulty logging on because no one seems toknow the e-mail address my log-on details demand. Eventually I penetrate and amfaced by an announcement that 'no billing information is available'. Andrewscratches his head and says he will flag a problem and will get back to me.
TIME SPENT ON THE 'PHONE TO ANDREW: 28 MINUTES
I ask to be transferred to someone who can tell me how tocancel my VirginMedia account. I eventually speak to 'Rachel'. After muchhuffing and puffing – and Rachel gets very exasperated that I don't understandVirgin-speak – I understand that:
· I can't see my billing information because it isonly posted monthly, and,
· It will cost me £45 to leave Virgin.
TIME ONE THE 'PHONE TO RACHEL: 25 MINUTES
I receive 3 identical text messages from Virgin telling meeverything will be sorted in '48 hours'.In sum I spent nearly 3 hours (3-fucking-hours!)on the 'phone sorting out something which WASN'T MY FAULT. Virgin screwed upand I had to waste my time unscrewing it. I'm shifting to BT!
February 26, 2012
SUMMER END PAGES
The final sstep before 'The Demi-Monde: SUmmer' is put to bed is to provide the artwork for the endpages - that's the inside of the covers. Those of you familiar with the hardbacks of Spring and Summer might recall that these showed blueprints of, respectively, a steamer and a Zeppelin, but as most of the action of Summer takes place in the Coven - the Sino-Japanese sector of the DM - Nigel Robinson (who does the DM artwork) came up with a WarJunk, the 'blueprint' done Chinese style.
This is a representation of the ship that the Coven use to fight the ForthRight's Monitors, the inspiration being the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Covil War in America when the USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia. Unfortunately I become TOO focussed on this and I missed a trick: in the book I refer to the Coven's ships as IronClads - the name that Nigel came up with, 'WarJunk', is so much better. Ah me.
This is a representation of the ship that the Coven use to fight the ForthRight's Monitors, the inspiration being the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Covil War in America when the USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia. Unfortunately I become TOO focussed on this and I missed a trick: in the book I refer to the Coven's ships as IronClads - the name that Nigel came up with, 'WarJunk', is so much better. Ah me.
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