Reflections

There’s an east wind coming, Watson. All the same, such as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it’s God’s own wind nonetheless, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared.” His Last Bow, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1917.

The east wind that Sherlock Holmes told Watson about alludes to the east wind mentioned in the Bible, beginning with Moses. It is a powerful, destructive, but potentially beneficial or malevolent element of nature or divine intervention, take your pick. Artificial intelligence is our east wind for the ages, and whether it proves beneficial or not, it certainly will be powerful and destructive and oddly beneficial too. But for whom remains to be seen. It is the closest we have come, so far, to realizing science into magic. With the ongoing technologies in robotics and quantum computing, that magic can become either white or black depending on who wields it and, more concerning, who can make money from it.

But here we are. You and me and everyone else are like that unseen character in Zork, suddenly standing in an open field, given a few hints and hoping to make the right decisions to figure which way to go. AI is the white house with the small mailbox, but the front door is wide open. You must go through that door, willingly or not. That east wind of AI is too strong now and it is pushing all of us in the same direction. Frankly, it is a coin flip whether AI will eventually work well for all of us. Or not. But for right now, you can use it as your assistant to benefit your writing and anything else you care to.

I say now because we are still in the first level of AI, the generative stage. It means we prompt AI–provide input–and hopefully it generates good responses as outputs. The next stage is general AI. That is when robotics merges seamlessly (one can hope, right?) with AI, when prompting is no longer needed by us. Instead, AI does the thinking and takes actions or provides outputs based on what it learns (just like us). All those science fiction movies where room-sized computers took over the world or tried to, well, that’s general AI. So you can breathe a little easier as my guess is we still have some years before that kicks in. Once we have self-determining humanoid robots that can do lots of varied jobs people do, that techno-cat’s clawing out of the bag pronto. …

AI and the WriterRead More »

Binge watching the streams and eye-balling the books falling off the shelf. What a life.

Finished the fifth season of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and I’m wondering how much to the Hydra well they will go. I like that each season builds on that never-ending threat, sort of, but constantly making S.H.I.E.L.D destroyed by the lop off one head, two more take its place thematic is getting scripturally claustrophobic. And there’s the time travel goto that seems more a what-do-we-do-next necessity than an inspired creative exercise. I liked the first season more, where there was a solo episodic feel to the stories instead of a multi-threaded continuing narrative as the team came together with Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg–just sublime in the role, really). That team has the requisite techie nerds/hackers du jour/problem solvers duo of Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (lain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge), May (Ming-Na Wen) the martial arts prone pilot with a grim past; Ward (Brett Dalton) the dashing and heroic agent who turns out to be…but that would spoil it for you; Mack (Henry Simmons) who provides the moral compass and some solid knuckles; and Skye(Chloe Bennet) who can whip up a quake in a second. Interestingly, you can find some similarities between the Skye and Jane Doe (Blindspot) characters. Luke Mitchell, who plays Lincoln Campbell, an inhuman here, and Roman, a mean human in Blindspot, also generates a similar ambivalence in both of his characters across the two series.

Surrealestate is back for its third season on Hulu. A novel touch has a real estate group tackling the more paranormal aspects of their properties with August (Maurice Dean Wint),  the nerdy guy who builds their ectoplasmic-fantastic gadgets to deal with the supernatural; the good hair guy, Luke Roman (Tim Rozon), who leads the group and can sense through the ether and talk to ghosts; his partner Susan (Sarah Levy) with her telekinetic and pyrotechnic abilities; and Clytemnestra (Elena Juatco) or just Lomax for short, who seems the more grounded-to-the-ordinary side of things person among them. Zooey (Savannah Basley), former receptionist and office manager, but now law career-minded–one foot in, one foot out–character, rounds out the main cast. There was Phil (Adam Korson), a former priest who worked with the group, but he was in seasons one and two. Being a Canadian production, like the X-Files first five seasons,  it has that narrative je ne sais guoi quality that differentiates it from American television storytelling. At first I thought a show about ghosts every episode would be redundant, but Surrealestate goes the heavenly highway route as seen in Touched by an Angel, Highway to Heaven, and Ghost Whisperer. But, and it’s a big but, it manages to avoid the saccharine aftertaste and leans more toward sinister shenanigans that need to be excised. That’s not to say that each story doesn’t wrap up to a white light ending, but in these stories, the characters and storylines are presented with more salt and less sugar. …

Crossing the Streams:
Blindspot, Surrealestate, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.DRead More »

At AMC, heading in to see F1 (which was good by the way), I spotted these new standees in the lobby. I have mixed feelings about Fantastic 4: First Steps. Love that they finally seem to have Kirby’s Galactus, which is an awesome character. Sad to see Silver Surfer is not male. I make no apologies. I understand that Shalla-Bal becomes the silver surfer in alternate universes’ stuff (Earth X), but in the original comics it was Norrin Radd. If there’s a thematic or planned storyline reason for her as Silver Surfer here, I’m all ears, but for now just not fully buying it. Just really tired of the redundant multiverse excuse for character timelines, that are picked up when original storylines run dry. The trailer for Superman gave me goosebumps, though. Looking forward to that one.

The AMC Dine-In theater I go to had these standees in the lobby. Man, if I had a warehouse, I’d start collecting these. As for the dine-in part: sixteen bucks plus change for a small bag of popcorn and a small bottle of water. That’s just me, lone wolf movie goer. It’s either Goobers or popcorn (and the occasional Bon Bons). But a family, or even just two people, “dining in” at an AMC Dine-In, is sardonic, as it is expensively prohibitive. I realize theaters are dying and struggling to survive. Dine-In is not the way to do that. Whoever thought this up didn’t think it through. Either you make it affordable or you keep complaining about how people are avoiding the theater. It’s not entirely streaming (though their play window is a kick in the gut to theaters)–who doesn’t want to catch movies on a BIG screen with awesome sound? It’s the pricing. And the lounge chairs we didn’t need. Give us a bargain or give you empty seats. Just saying. And for chrissakes, get the lighting and focus on the projector right for a change! Oh, right…standees.

Binge watching the streams and eye-balling the books falling off the shelf. What a life.

Ever since I was laid off from my full-time job of eleven years I’ve been working part-time. That means the other part-time portion of my life is spent staying up late (thinking of you Joe Franklin) to rewatch all the shows and movies I’ve seen over the years while tallying up the new ones clogging the channels.

There’s something nostalgic and potentially mortifying when you do that. Nostalgic because you have fond memories of times spent in and around those shows, and mortifying when you approach them again with adult eyes, sometimes forcing you to figure out what your younger mind was thinking back then. Or, worse yet, generating friction between those memories and the reality of now. Times do change. What was fun and engrossing THEN  can become but-that’s-not-how-I-remembered-it! So holding to those fixed points can be a mixed-up bag of rapture and remembrance or rupture and disappointment. For the most part, though, if nothing else, it helps keep the gray cells sparking along and can show how much you’ve grown (or not). Funny too, while time may change, it often repeats events, just swapping out old windows for new, but the dressing stays the same.

…

Crossing the StreamsRead More »

Such Interesting Stuff in my inbox…

Universal City, Calif., March 5, 2025 – On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was unleashed by Universal Pictures, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon. Now, 50 years later, the film remains one of the most influential and gripping adventures in motion picture history. To mark this milestone, a nearly year-long celebration has kicked off through a theatrical re-release, an anniversary edition on Digital and Blu-ray, summer streaming on Peacock of the film, all-new merchandise in various categories and much more — including the upcoming Jaws: The Exhibition, planned by the Academy Museum. The most epic summer blockbuster is back and bigger than ever!

As announced during the 97th Oscars telecast this past weekend, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will debut Jaws: The Exhibition on view beginning September 14, with tickets available now. The Academy Museum exhibition, the first ever of this size dedicated to a specific film, celebrates the Academy’s largest collection object—the sole surviving shark from Jaws —and is timed to the film’s landmark anniversary.  Visitors will step into the world of the iconic film, scene-by-scene, as it translates the movie into a spatial experience with over 200 original objects including concept illustrations, costumes and props. To top it off, exclusive new merchandise will be available in the Academy Museum Store celebrating the legacy of the film. …

Jaws 50th AnniversaryRead More »

While heading in to see Companion, I saw these standees at my local AMC. I also saw they now highlight promotional popcorn buckets in the glass showcase at the concession stand. I confess I can’t resist collecting them. If I had the room, I’d collect the standees too 🙂 I’m dying to see the one for the Fantastic Four. The initial trailer hints they finally got Galactus right. Not too thrilled about their choice for Silver Surfer though, but we’ll see. Changing Jack Kirby’s designs is a Bozo No-No for me, nuff said. I was puzzled by the small size of the Dog Man standee until I realized it’s a kid’s movie, so a kid-sized standee provided a good photo op. However, it did get dwarfed by the the much larger standees I walked past, especially the Snow White live-action one with the dwarves holding up a billboard of the Queen and Snow looking very movie-ish, while only those dwarfish legs showed underneath. Clever. As for me, though, the animated original is a classic that can’t be repeated, but I hope the live-action does well and pleases new audiences. I just hope they don’t forget the original.

Here's a picture of me (recently fallen out of a photo album) that captures some of the zeitgeist of the 1960s. I'm pretty sure this was taken at 1000 Acres Dude Ranch (though they call it a horse ranch now). I'd be stuck there for much of the summer, anxious to get back to my comic book and monster magazine racks and color television (a Sony Trinitron). I remember one summer I almost missed a critical Fantastic Four issue with the Silver Surfer and Galactus, but, luckily, when I got back home from the ranch, the corner luncheonette, which was awesome for getting my monthly comic and magazine fix, had been closed for vacation too. I didn't miss the issue! It was still on the rack waiting for me.

But the ranch wasn't all that boring for a Brooklyn kid. I learned how to shoot an arrow, row a boat, play pool, tilt a mean pinball, play ping pong and shuffle board, and ride a horse without falling off. Getting on was always a challenge, and one fine day a horse stepped on my foot and refused to move. Man, that hurt like a son of a… All of that was fun (sort of) but my point is more related to those arrows and bow in the photo. I'm pretty young there.  Those arrows were steel tipped. I shot them into fabric targets wrapped around straw, about 10 or more feet away. No fencing, no protections for bystanders or passersby, and I'm, like I said, pretty young there. If that doesn't say much about where we've been and how paranoid and litigious we've become, I can't think of a better illustration. I also remember one summer when I walked into the ranch's management office and up to the counter. I asked for the bow and arrows  and was told they had discontinued it. Some idiot kid had aimed the wrong way and that was that. He ruined it for the rest of us. 

And isn't that always the case? It's always some idiot messing up the good stuff for the rest of us; or complaining about the good stuff and how evil the rest of us are for liking it; or preaching about how bad the good stuff is for the rest of us and we must return to the light. Seems there are a lot more idiots these days than back in the 1960s. I miss the comic and magazine rack. I miss Joe's corner luncheonette. But mostly I miss the good stuff we can't have anymore because of so many idiots now ruining it for the rest of us. 

Perhaps that's why I like horror movies so much. It's pretty much the only genre where the idiots always get their due. Go monsters!