Keith R.A. DeCandido's Blog, page 452

I never could get the hang of Thursdays

I'm still working on The Project That Cannot Be Named (Yet), which is totally kicking my ass, hence the lack of substantive updates hereabouts.

However, today is a beautiful day in Enn Why See, and I took great pleasure in just walking around Manhattan today en route to my PO box (which had an unexpected, if small, check within it, always a bonus). I love my city so much. Just all the stuff, all the people, all the food, all the variety, all the everything. In fact, I was thinking about how much I loved it when I passed by this:



Today reminded me why I never want to live anywhere else, ever. :)

me as a high school student performing Bill Cosby's "Noah" routine

One of my high school classmates, Tony Buckland, was digging through some old video from our school days. He was looking for stuff the band did (he was in the band, you see), but he also found this little gem. We had a talent show at some point, and I entered by performing Bill Cosby's famous "Noah" routine.

I have to admit, I totally forgot that I did this, and my jaw just dropped when Tony posted it on Facebook. Watching it now, I'm just boggled -- and amused. I also forgot that my Bronx accent was that much thicker when I was a kid. *wry grin*

Anyhow, because I have nothing like shame (or pride), I hereby present this to all y'all:



(As a point of reference, here's Cosby's original: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "Emissary"

Introducing Sisko, Kira, Odo, Quark, Bashir, Dax, the Prophets, Dukat, Opaka, the wormhole, Deep Space 9, runabouts, and more! Plus O'Brien, Picard, and the Enterprise for good measure. The DS9 Rewatch commences with "Emissary."

An excerpt:

Sisko in particular is very obviously different from the other two Trek commanders we’ve seen, in part because he’s a family man. Kirk and Picard were very much above-it-all-type commanders—lamented by Kirk in “The Naked Time” and Picard in Star Trek Generations—but Sisko spent his entire career married and most of it also with a kid. His relationship with Jake in the present and Jennifer in his memories makes him a very compelling character. His manipulation of Quark is very entertaining, and the slow burn in his first scene with Picard is devastating. Avery Brooks is maddeningly inconsistent, though. He handles quiet anger, amusement, and affection superbly. Every scene with Cirroc Lofton’s Jake conveys a strong father-son bond (which would become one of the show’s most compelling features), and the two scenes with Sir Patrick Stewart are magnificent (it’s only a pity these two fine actors weren’t given another opportunity to be on screen together). Stronger emotions, though, tend to trip him up—neither his screams to not leave Jennifer at the beginning of the episode nor the catharsis he undergoes when watching that happen at the climax are especially convincing. Ditto his breakdown after the first orb experience. There’s also this odd head tilt he does that just seems like a bizarre affectation.

how much rope should the Yankees give the struggling Ivan Nova on the Pinstriped Bible

I discuss how poorly Ivan Nova has been pitching, not just this year, but since the All-Star Break last year, and it's not pretty.

An excerpt:

Right now the Yankees are defying expectations, sporting a 10-7 record, and have three starters going very strong, so they can afford to give Nova another shot or two at righting the ship, but only that. If the team starts playing down to their talent level, or if Kevin Youkilis or Travis Hafner suddenly remember that they're old and fragile and break, the team's going to rely on their pitching and defense to keep things going unless and until the Bronx M*A*S*H unit finally releases Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez. David Phelps and Adam Warren are right here on the roster, though Phelps hasn't exactly been covering himself in glory, and Warren has mostly been sitting on his ass as the poster boy for the inanity of carrying 12 pitchers. (Seriously, why have a twelfth pitcher if he's only going to appear twice in 17 games? A pinch-hitter would be way more useful occupying that roster spot...) Vidal Nuno and Graham Stoneburner have both pitched well at Scranton (as has Chris Bootcheck) in an admittedly small sample (and also each have really cool names), and in an even smaller one (one game), Chien-Ming Wang looked very 2005-ish. Knowing the Yanks, they'll sooner try veterans Wang or Bootcheck if Nova continues to falter, forgetting that Wang had a career because they gave him a chance as a minor-leaguer when the big team struggled—for that matter, that's why Nova's here. Wang's unlikely to have anything left, whereas Nuno or Stoneburner or Warren might actually turn into the next Wang ca. 2005 or the next Nova ca. 2011.

David Ortiz speaks for Boston

This past weekend, there was a pregame ceremony celebrating the city of Boston after a day of lockdown while the hunt was on for the two brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon -- a shitty end to a shitty week in Beantown, but once it was over, baseball resumed (Friday's game was cancelled) and as part of the ceremony David Ortiz -- long the leader of the Red Sox -- gave a little speech:



Yes, he dropped the f-bomb on live television. Fucking A. :) As a Yankee fan, I dis the Sawx all the time, because that's what we do, just as Red Sox fans dis the Evil Empire. This past weekend, though, the Red Sox helped a city heal. Bravo, guys.

my Sunday feeling

Back home safe from a delightful TrekTrax. I believe that every convention should have me, Emmett Plant, and Lawrence Schoen as a guest. *nods* I had a wonderful time, met lots of cool folks, sold many books, heard wonderful things, got to see good friends, saw two excellent bands (Go, Robo! Go! and the superb Il Troubadore, the latter playing a mandolin, cello, percussion, and clarinet while dressed as Klingon), and generally had a wonderful time. Nobody ever went wrong bringing Manu "Icheb" Intiraymi to a con (he's an absolute pip, and wears a porkpie hat well!), and it was good to see Ken Feinberg again. Sadly, James Cawley couldn't make it -- he got into a car accident en route to the airport and while he's fine, his car isn't -- but I did get to meet some of the other fine folks who do fan films.

A high point of the con was meeting Emmett Plant (we've been at the same con in the past, notably Shore Leave and Dragon*Con, but our paths never crossed until this weekend) and Moxie Magnus (the Star Trek drag queen), and both are magnificent people.

I also did a talk on Sunday, which consisted of me reading "Love Over and Over," a Cassie Zukav story from the upcoming Ragnarok and Roll, which prompted sales of my final two copies of Tales from the House Band Volume 2, which has another Cassie story in it. So yay.

I took several pictures, which you can see on the Book of Face, and I've posted a bunch on Twitter as well. Check 'em out!

Tales from Dragon Precinct trade available for preorder from Amazon and Dark Quest!

You can now preorder the trade paperback of my upcoming short-story collection Tales from Dragon Precinct -- featuring ten stories of the Cliff's End Castle Guard, both reprints and brand-new stuff -- from both Amazon and Dark Quest Books.

It should be preorderable from Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, and Kobo soon.....

Star Trek: the Next Generation Movie Rewatch: Nemesis

The TNG movies end with several bangs and a big whimper. Chris Lough deconstructs the disappointment that was Nemesis.

An excerpt:

Nemesis gives us no theme at all. No message beyond “a duplicate of yourself can be a real asshole.” Or possibly, “A great crew is like family. So it sucks when your asshole duplicate starts raping and killing them.” Nemesis is an okay action flick, but unlike other action flicks it has a responsibility to the history and the unique message of Star Trek. Especially when you consider that the filmmakers and cast knew going in that this was going to be the final Next Gen film. There is nothing in Nemesis about humanity bettering itself and helping others in need. Nothing about exploring boundless new frontiers. There are no hard choices here, and no mistakes to atone for. There’s just a crazy guy tearing things apart for no reason. Also, Shinzon.

For the other movies, check Emily Asher-Perrin on Generations, me on First Contact, and Ryan Britt on Insurrection.

Friday fanfare: "Red Alert/Everything I Do (I Do with William Shatner)"

In honor of TrekTrax Atlanta this weekend, here's the Trek humor band Warp 11 doing two of their songs live: "Red Alert" and "Everything I Do (I Do with William Shatner)." It was recorded at Harlow's in Sacramento, California.

Fans: The New Hollywood Moguls debuts with me! (also Ben Browder & Avenue Potter)

The first episode of the new show from A Gypsy Life... Productions, Fans: The New Hollywood Moguls is now live! It features interviews with Farscape's Ben Browder, fan vidder Avenue Potter, and some hack name DeCandido, as well as director David Maloof touring New York Comic-Con.

Check it out: