My Top Five Favorite Books

I turned 58 years old the other day. The horror, the horror. So, I gots to thinkin’ about which of the millions of books I’ve read (and it depresses me that phrase doesn’t read the “millions of dollars I earned” or “millions of women I dated”) were my favorites. After an intensive, scientific review (I downed some Jack and fell asleep), here they are, not in any particular order:

1. The Forgotten Door, by Christopher Key. I read it when I was eleven or twelve years old. A lot of very bad things were happening in my family at the time, and I really, really wanted to find that Door and get the hell oudda there.

2. Knee Deep in Thunder, by Sheila Moon. I read this when I was about thirteen or fourteen. Got it out of the Bookmobile which used to show up in our godforsaken part of Alabama every ten days or so. The last couple of pages, where Maris watches the boy (Jetsam?) dwindling in the distance, got to me.

Tied with it is a book called The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, by John Fox. I read it at about age 12, when I was hospitalized because of some mysterious fever I kept having. Turns out I just didn’t want to be at home. Anyways, this book, with the schmaltzy title, is one of the most tearing stories of loss I ever read.

3. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. Ten times better than The Grapes of Wrath, this is fin de siecle at its best.

4. Nightworld by F. Paul Wilson. Probably one of the scariest books ever written.

5. Empire Falls by Richard Russo.  Just read it and tell me that I’m wrong.

This, of course, doesn’t list the five best series I ever read, or the best scifi or fantasy or whatever. Gist for future posts.

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The Adventures of Gracie the Wander Cat: Helpin’ out

That D. Krauss is some piece of work. Gets up early, reads the paper, goes off on some silly bicycle for awhile, then sits and bangs on a keyboard for no apparent reason. Get a job, dude.

Obviously, the guy needs help, and I pitch in where I can. Like, whenever he presents an empty lap, I’m right on it so he doesn’t waste any energy slapping the keyboard around.

 

Just think of how much carpal tunnel I’ve saved him.

I take up some of the research slack, too.

Check his spelling.

Look for that mouse he keeps talking about.

Collate,  while jammin’

Man, Aerosmith can blow your hair back.

Watch the hands, bub.

Who says Wander Cats are useless?

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Tomb Stories: Battlefields and Graveyards

National Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia.

Creepiness: Non-existent. C’mon, it’s a national cemetery,

Coolness: Five stars. C’mon, it’s a national cemetery.

A fitting subject for Memorial Day, considering that this cemetery:

   

 

is also a battlefield:

 

So no fooling around allowed in here. Better keep that speed confined to a walk, mister.

The first ones interred here were the ones who fell here, mostly in mass graves:

  

There are monuments commemorating them:            

And graves of their known dead grouped about: 

 

During the battle, the 8th Vermont did a bayonet charge:

 

Exactly one month later, they did the same thing at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Badasses:

James Mathers rests under the shade of the tree.

James Parson rests IN the tree.

Others, from other wars, joined them later:   

And those were joined by family, like the Leggs:

 

Both born the same year, she on Christmas Day, dying at 56 years old. He went on another 20 years, alone.

The Whitlocks:

Almost a reverse, he dying just before he turned 38 years old, and she living another 57 years past him.

What a great name.   

She lost her son then her husband.

Now this one’s interesting:

Charles Anders Blake died on the day Japanese resistance ended on Iwo Jima. Was he one of that battle’s last American casualties? His grave is located next to this guy:  One of the casualties of the Third Battle of Winchester. Related? Don’t know, the internet is not forthcoming.

And here’s John Beug:

Two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Now, sure, by the end of WW2, the Army was handing out DFC’s and Air Medals like candy, but you still had to go on lots of missions and shoot down lots of German planes to get just one.

Badass.

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The Return of Joffrey Charlemagne

Some of you (well, the 1 or 2 of you who actually come back to this blog) may be wondering what, exactly, has Jason Smith been up to after his succesful Indiegogo campaign. Well, wonder no more:

 

1. So, how’s the project going?

Well, I’ve sold all assets and moved to Maui where I am currently writing to you. JK, pre-production for the second half of Losing Cable 2 is going swimmingly. We’re nearly finished building and decorating the sets, getting everyone’s wardrobe fitted just right, and tweaking the scripts so that it lives up to the bold claims of this series being the “Citizen Kane” of stoner comedies.

 2. Was Mafia money included in the totals?

Unofficially, no. Officially, yes. 

3. Where’d you get the cool space stuff?

A few months ago I found this fan film for a video game I really love where the filmmakers bought some motocross body armor and painted it all pretty. It looked like a legitimate sci-fi space suit, so I thought I’d copy that process, because I’m definitely not clever enough to come up with ideas like that on my own. So I, too, bought a few motorcycle helmets along with other motocross body armors, and am currently in the process of painting everything. I also picked up a few kevlar neck slips to make the helmet and body armor look connected and flow together, along with shiny black gloves and knee pads. I’ll be writing a blog on the whole process in the coming weeks, so definitely stay tuned for that. Spoiler alert: glossy paint samples from Lowes are your best friend. 

4. What cast additions are you planning?

Well the biggest thing, and what I’m super excited about, is bringing quick fun characters into the script who are played by the $100 IndieGoGo donators. The reward for that perk during our fundraising campaign promised a flash of brilliance as a memorable character in an episode. So far, I have a war-hero-gay-janitor who leaves origami animals (Blade Runner style) throughout the hotel our protagonists are staying in, also a mega fanboy who knows all sorts of Space Commander lore at the convention, and even Odin Ruler of Asgard.

Aside from that, a friend of mine came up with an awesome character that we’ve been writing together for Space Commander named Garry. Garry’s basically a test dummy for all dangerous missions and a throwback to the “red shirts” of the original Star Trek who always seemed to die first on every mission. Raul sends Garry into a hot zone, Garry inevitably dies, is cloned, and then rushes back into the hot zone, repeating as necessary. He’s kind of like a super manic Data from Next Generation, who’s also strangely giddy and stuck in this 1950’s “Leave it to Beaver” personality.

I’m also including a new character in the LC2 world named Gunther, who is the leader of the Patch Scouts (think Boy Scouts minus the lawsuit), who was hired by Jordan off of Craigslist to run the Senate campaign for Joffrey. Gunther’s a real by-the-book guy who’s super serious about his job, unlike Joffrey.

One more big new character is Reginald Wallace, the soon to be father-in-law of Charles, who is also the competition for Joffrey Charlemagne as he runs for Senate. He’s a war hero who’s been in the Senate basically since it’s inception, but he also has a secret that we’ll learn about later in the series. He’s got a lot more to him than meets the eye and plays a huge role in the story as things start spiraling out of control. 

5. Who’s going to play the parts?

Konrad Turnbull, who came up with the idea of Garry, will also be playing that character. He’s British, which makes the series mega legit since the cast is now suddenly all diversified and stuff.

Jake Rakowski, who also plays Jensen and Chef, will be playing Gunther as well. He’ll be playing three characters at once, but I have explanations as to why this works because I’m awesome at covering my bases.

Edward Rakowski (Jake’s dad), will be playing the role of Reginald Wallace. He played one of the three main characters in the feature film I made a few years ago called “A Chrome Horse and a Diplomat“. He’s an awesome dude and a blast to work with and he’ll be working with a lot of alum from Chrome Horse, which I’m stoked for. 

6. Has success spoiled Jason Smith?

My cat told me the other day that I’m but a shell of the man I once was. I think once you get that 100th subscriber on YouTube, your life forever changes. I mean, I’m snorting coke off of stripper’s thighs while sky diving into volcanoes just to feel some semblance of an existence. You reach that high of attaining 100 subscribers and you think, “Well, I guess I’ve made it. Now what?”. I think after Losing Cable 2 wraps, I’ll retire somewhere in the South Pacific and play russian roulette with Kiribati pirates for the rest of my days. Something simple. 

7. If you could be any color you choose, what would it be?

It’s always a toss up between Atomic Tangerine and Purple Mountain’s Majesty. Both real colors, I assure you. But if Jason Smith was a color then I’d chose me, of course, which would resemble something like Mauvelous (still a real color). 

8. When can we expect a Joffrey Charlemagne for President campaign?

I’m all for a Losing Cable 3, Commander-In-Chief Edition. I think America is ready for the Joffreyocalypse (which is not a real color, sadly). Let’s see if he can get through this Senatorial campaign first though. It’s gonna be a hell of a ride. 

9. Is there swag?

To quote the bible: “Yes, there is swag.” 

10. Is your Mom still hoping you get a real job?

I think she gave up all hope of me being normal long ago.

 

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Iron Man 3: Attack of the Lava People

My son treated me to an early birthday present by getting me tickets to the Iron Man Marathon, prelude to Iron Man 3. Yeah, I’m a geek. Even won a poster and a cell phone sticker answering some trivia questions during the shows. And it was quite the pleasure seeing, in Imax 3D, Iron Man 1-2, then the Avengers, which is the Greatest Movie of All Time, and then, and then! the much anticipated, much ballyhooed, Iron Man 3

What. The. Hell?

Iron Man 3 is a big fat middle finger directed at comic book fans across the world. It just is. It looks like Shane Black, during the production meeting, said, “You want a comic book movie? I’ll give you a comic book movie. I’ll stuff it with every single stupid comic book thing I can think of. Those comic book people are too dumb to know a good movie anyway, so we’ll make billions!”

And he was true to his word, because this was bait-and-switch at its most cynical. You probably think the Mandarin is in this movie. He ain’t. You might even think A.I.M. is in it. They’re not. And you might even expect Tony Stark to, get this, actually be Iron Man in it. But, he’s not. And, oh yeah, there’s another Iron Man called Iron Patriot and that’s War Machine, but uh, uh; uh uh, it’s noooooot!

Big fat middle finger.

Best I can figure from the incomprehensible plot, some lava people are going around exploding and some guy is A.I.M but isn’t; is, instead, the King of the Lava People and blames some actor for the explosions so it’s terrorism, man, not my Lava People formula causing people to randomly explode. And Tony Stark has PTSD.

Got it?

No mention, anywhere, of possible threads to the Avengers’ upcoming Thanos battle: no Ten Rings, no Infinity Gauntlet, not even, as my son pointed out, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Just a great big fat middle finger, America.

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Coriolanus versus Wallenstein: this time it’s personal

After spending two Saturdays in a row attending Shakespeare Theater’s productions of Coriolanus/Wallenstein in repertory, I came to new appreciations of arrogance and hubris. My own efforts in both areas fall short of mastery. But I’m working on it.

Coriolanus is the arrogant one, of course, a man so loathe to mix with his lessers that he loses his city and his honor. Wallenstein is hubristic to the point of megalomania. And, yeah, one could just be a rest stop on the road to the other, but a subtlety separates them: Coriolanus, while contemptuous of just about everyone except the guy in the mirror (and, man, what a Mom complex), loves his country and family and is willing to fight to the death for both. Wallenstein only loves himself, and is willing to sell out country and daughter and friends to keep that self-regard. The difference is stark in both productions. Good job, Michael Kahn.

You’ve probably seen the movie version of Coriolanus, you know, Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, lots of Hollywood royalty running around declaiming. But you were probably scratching your head about halfway through and going, “Geez, Martius, get with the program, why doncha?” Was the guy mental? Eh, lesser Shakespeare, shrug it off. But, I tell ya, after watching Patrick Page’s interpretation of the title role, the play made sense. Sorry, Ralph, you’re a great actor, but you missed it.

Coriolanus was one of the loudest productions I have ever seen anywhere, with drums banging and gongs sounding and a lot of yelling and jumping around. Very stimulating. And Page was maniacal. You don’t want to get into a dustup with this guy. But what shone through in his portrayal was the character’s basic honor, his unselfishness. Now, yeah, Martius is a jerk, not a guy you want over for Sunday tea, but he’s also a straight shooter and, well, them Roman lumpenproletariat are just not people you want at Sunday tea, either, so you can see Coriolanus’ point. He’s simply not willing to kiss their derrieres, and, boy, does he make that clear. To everyone. In public. Which has a somewhat deleterious effect on his political career, so he gets exiled (which is a bit of overreaction, I must say) and Martius, in turn, overreacts by joining the enemy and laying waste to the countryside. Excessive way to prove a point, methinks. But this is a play of excess so it works.

But, tell ya, Coriolanus is a far more principled man than Wallenstein, who is, basically, a dick. For all his larger-than-life hailfellowwell met “I am one of you low scum soldiers” posturing, I was ready to jump on stage and smack him with a halberd. What a calculating, backstabbing jackass, switching sides as the mood hit him, selling out his troops left and right, all for the wonder that is he. Steve Pickering  was just outstanding in the role.

Both productions used the same staging, a stark mass of cement that was bleak and loveless, as befitting both plays. The other actors/actresses did an extremely good job, but were overpowered by the lead. If that’s intended, okay, because there was definitely no scene stealing. I did very much like Derrick Lee Weeden, who played Sicinius in Coriolanus and Kolibas in Wallenstein, because he has got just the best voice. And Brian Russell is a naturally funny guy, providing the only comic relief in a hilarious chest-bumping scene with Max Reinhardsen (who is equally funny) and Jaysen Wright in Coriolanus, and as the hapless Harvaty in Wallenstein.

So, kiddies, if you have an overblown sense of your own importance, be a Coriolanus. Or a successful Wallenstein.

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The Adventures of Gracie the Wander Cat: Springtime for Gracie

Finally! some warm weather. It was cold here way too long. You try walking on a snow-covered fence:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or spotting a snow-covered mouse:

 

Got old, quick.

I guess the only upside was finding new and better places to sleep the cold days away:

    

This one, when available, taking first place:

We were all going stir crazy, believe me. Look what happened to that D. Krauss guy:

But that’s all over. Time to get up and outside and at’em:

                                  

Waddayewlookinat? 

Of course, spring means the mice are no longer snow covered.

Which means they’re running around the neighborhood. Which means that D. Krauss guy is going to be screaming like a little girl.

Relax, Krauss, I’m on the case:

 

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Gracie Flirting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKsDccX854M

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Contest

I am under constant spam assault. Seems like I spend a good half hour a day erasing ridiculous spammed comments and I guess I should get with my website guy, Mike at ktf designs (hit the link below) and do something about it. But some of them are pretty entertaining, like these:

In notion I would like to put in writing like this additionally.

Continue to keep up the fairly fantastic operate.

You’ve bewitched your words and you walk off your judgments
And stick them onto all
If it don’t coincide with to what you were born into,
Then you take french leave the other trail.
 

During the striving between Francis I and Charles V serious damage was caused next to the mutation of the armies invading Provence; pestilence and scarcity raged in the new zealand urban area on the side of a few years.

So, let’s have a contest. Your assignment is to use these as writing prompts. Use them any way you want, but let’s make this a flash fiction thing, so no more than 100 words (and here I hate flash fiction with a passion. Guess it does have some uses). Feel free to put your results in Comments.

The winner, judged solely by me with no criteria other than what moves me at the moment, will get my two story collections for free. Deadline? Eh, coupla weeks or so from now. Whenever.

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Whew

I just watched my DVR’d episode of Community, the Sophie B. Hawkins dance one. What a relief. Things seem to be back on track.

Because the previous episode (which was actually two weeks ago), the one about recruiting the slacker, was just bad. Real bad. Season-ending bad.

I think that’s why the following week they re-ran the InspectorSpaceTimecon one, just to assure us that some studio executive’s idiot son had not, somehow, taken over production. It was like an apology—sorry, fans, we realize the last show was a big stinking turd, so we’re going to show you a good one while we quietly take a few people out back and shoot them.

At least I hope that’s what they did.

Because Community survives only because of the frenzied fanaticism of the three or four of us who love quality TV. We are so tired of shows like Freaks and Geeks and Firefly getting summarily chopped that whenever a rare gem like Community somehow makes it onto the networks, we cling to it like drowners to spars.

But, producer dudes, if you start jumping sharks, we’re oudda here.

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