PeterDavid.net

While trying to block some folks from posting garbage, I appear to have blocked a number of AOL subscribers from posting– including Peter, even.

We hope that the problem has been addressed, and we apologize for those folks who were blocked in the meantime.

You can let go of my throat now, Peter…

Had a good time at I-Con this weekend, despite the miserable weather that swept up on Saturday evening and remained all through Sunday. Did a bunch of panels, signed a few autographs.

It’s the first I-Con in a while that the entire family was there for, although there were almost no times when we were all together at the same moment. The major problem, as pointed out earlier, was they scheduled me for two solid hours opposite Harlan’s major talks on Saturday night. Bob Greenberger, however, made both of those panels go away, so that was nice.

PAD

I will indeed be attending I-Con this weekend at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. It’s pretty amazing: I’ve been attending the convention since it occupied exactly one small building and had a dealer’s room about the size of my living room. Now the dealer’s room occupies the entirety of a sporting arena and the convention itself is sprawled over four buildings all over campus (which makes going from one panel to the next very exciting.)

The ever-reliable Glenn listed a link below, although if he wants to repeat it RIGHT HERE, he can go ahead and do so. I’m not sure what my schedule is, although I know I do have an autographing Saturday from 11:30 to 1. Also, they’d originally put me on a panel Sunday at 2 PM that was supposed to be about how New wave 1960s SF continued to resonate today. When I discovered the panel also had Harlan Ellison, Barry Malzberg and David Kyle on it among others, I dropped out. My feeling was that I had zero to contribute to the panel that guys like that couldn’t cover and then some. I’d rather be in the audience.

I will not be attending today, Friday.

PAD

First, Peter will be appearing this weekend at I-CON at SUNY/Stony Brook. He’ll be there with Harlan. Everybody duck. (I’ll be there too, if anybody cares.)

Second, we’ve had to take steps and cut a few loudmouths from the comments sections, including the Brian Michael Bendis impersonator and the guy who thought he could insult Peter by calling him a cigarette. Go figure.

Behave, kids. We know the tensions are running high with the fun in the desert sun, but a bit of calm does us all good.

Understand, as I’ve noted repeatedly, I’m a free speech advocate.

However…

Disruption of this board purely for the sake of disruption and making other’s lives difficult won’t be tolerated.

PAD

I’ll tell ya, I’ve been waiting for ages for a good Gunn episode.

And this sure as hell wasn’t it.

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People have been writing to me with some degree of alarm after the brand new Diamond “Actual Sales” chart was posted on Newsarama. Why? Because “Captain Marvel #6″ was ranked as #259, which would indicate the most staggering sales plummet in comics history. As if retailers had suddenly decided to slash their orders to “Archie Comics” levels.

So I sent an alarmed e-mail to editor Andy Schmidt, who replied (his e-mail is printed here with permission):

“Okay, what that chart is is the “actual sales” chart for February. The

reason Marv is ranked so low is because 6 was late and didn’t come out until

March. It was ordered at 32,000 and will show up on next months “actual

sales” chart. So, it’s a meaningless number. How’s that?”

That’s fine by me. Hope that assuages concerns.

PAD

Looking good. Looking *very* good. A strong episode that brings long-standing plot threads to full boil.

Spoilers from here on.

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The only thing new about a politically-oriented speech being given on the Oscars is the degree of hostility with which such endeavors are met in this country.

One would think that spirited discussion of the current state of affairs would be greeted with an air of appreciation that we live in a country where such things are not only accepted, but encouraged and protected by our Founding Fathers. But no. Opposition instead is drawn in the most stark and distorted of terms: If you’re opposed to Bush’s actions, you’re in favor of dictators. If you’re opposed to the war, you’re against the soldiers risking their lives. And heaven help anyone in the entertainment industry who speaks out: They’re risking watching their livelihood spiral down the drain.

What a shame we don’t live in a country where criticism of the government carries stiff penalties. Where the citizens know better than to speak out. Where the residents fall into line…or else. A country like…I dunno…Iraq.

PAD

PAD will be back this evening and probably will be blogging shortly after the Oscars.

How many of you have seen all the movies nominated for best film? How many live in a city that is showing all of them? Out on Long Island you have to go a fer piece to see “The Pianist” or “The Quiet American”.

The race I have the most interest in and have seen all the nominations is best Animated Film.

The nominees are

Ice Age

Lilo & Stitch

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Spirited Away

Treasure Planet

This is a tough call. I loved the animation and direction to both Lilo & Stich and Spirited Away. I enjoyed Ice Age quite a bit but the animation did not knock my socks off. Treasure Planet…..well it’s watchable. I much prefer Muppet Treasure Island. Spirit for me had a straight to video feel.

I think Lilo and Stich should get it but think Spirited Away will get it.

What do you think?

Kathleen

This is Kathleen again. Peter is having a very good time at AggieCon.

I had the chance this weekend to finally watch my way through Children of Dune.

I will say this, I felt like I was reading the books again.

If you didn’t like the Dune miniseries, this was not your cuppa. It was a lot of ponderous images and dialogue. And the repetition of phrases, which I don’t remember from the book.

Over all it looked good and I found myself wanting to watch the next part. Susan Sarandon was faaaabuloussss with some very fetching hair doos and a few hair don’ts.

Finally it all wrapped up and I though, OK I have seen this now I need never see it again. Which is how I felt about the books too. If you have the time to devote to it and liked the books. It is worth your time.

This is Kathleen posting under Peter’s name. He is at AggieCon this weekend and will be at I-Con next weekend. I’ll be at I-Con with Peter, Ariel, and Caroline.

Not that this matters at me right now. I have seen the last episode of Farscape and well ….WHAT THE FRELL!

That is the last image I am left with? (spoilers in the extented teext)

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Since we already sort of have a SUPERGIRL thread already going…

CAPTAIN MARVEL #7. After doing a six issue arc that was pretty out there, I decided to do a few issues that was more “traditional.” Still bizarre, but traditional. Thoughts?

PAD

People have been asking me what my plans were for SUPERGIRL had the series gone past issue #80. I’ll tell you, but am putting it in the “extended” section of this entry so as not to spoil the issue for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

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They seem to be having trouble casting a lead actor in “Superman.” I’m not surprised. The problem with casting a known actor is that you don’t think of him as Superman. You think of him as so-and-so wearing a Superman costume.

So what they want is someone with some degree of recognizability, but without a rep as an actor so he could possibly make the character his own.

Perhaps they should screen test Evan Marriott. You know: Joe Millionaire.

Seriously. Look at the guy. Big. Tall. Hunky. Ready smile. Charming. Kind of looks like Superman already if you smooth out his hair. Lots of experience lying to women, so that works for the Clark/Lois thing. Could he pull off Superman and Clark as two different people with the believability that Chris Reeve did? Unlikely. Then again, George Reeves put almost no effort into distinguishing the two, and that worked.

Joe Superman. Works for me. Work in a cameo for Zora and you’re all set.

Either that or cast him as Batman with Paul as faithful butler Alfred.

PAD

Although everyone agreed that the Mike Kaluta cover for “Fallen Angel #1″ (the B&W sketch for which I showed you folks some time ago) was beautifully moody, the feeling at DC was that the first issue cover should practically leap off the stands visually, especially with so many titles out there vying for the reader’s eye. So Brian Stelfreze (man, I hope I spelled his name right) was brought in to do a new cover for the first issue, and the Kaluta painting will be saved for a few issues down the line when the book’s established.

So here’s what you’ll be seeing on the newsstands in July for “Fallen Angel’s” debut.

PAD

…I keep returning to one simple conclusion. If 9/11 had never occurred, and George W. Bush was doing exactly the same thing he’s doing now–actions motivated supposedly because of Saddam’s breaking of UN resolutions–then we would be seeing calls for impeachment from everywhere. He would be viewed as a war-mongering madman by everyone, including the Brits. Hell, it wouldn’t have been allowed to get this far.

But the destruction of the Twin Towers, an event which–as far as we can tell, had nothing to do with Iraq–has given license to unprecedented aggression. Why? Because, in my opinion, the administration does not want to risk looking impotent in the face of terrorism.

I’m thinking that this will go down as the most spectacular incident of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in all of recorded history.

PAD

Took Caroline to see her first movie yesterday: “Chicago.” Actually, I’d already seen it, but Kathleen and Ariel hadn’t. So we all went with the understanding that, if the baby started to fuss, I’d take her out. As it happened, she fell asleep ten minutes in and napped through the whole thing.

I come away from seeing it a second time with my opinion even more solidified than ever. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rene Zellwegger act the roles great, but the success of their dancing is a tribute to direction and editing rather than talent. They move very well…but there’s a difference between being a great mover and a great dancer. I’m not sure what it is. A confidence, a sharpness, a focus. Any or all of those. All I know is that Bebe Neuwirth as Velma on film would have amazing. On the other hand, she would have left Zellwegger so far in the dust that you would’ve had to use someone else for Roxie as well.

On the other hand, perhaps it’s appropriate to the film to have used two women whose singing and dancing was good, but not great. It plays to the notion that their success stems from their notoriety rather than their talent.

PAD

April 19, 1991

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April 12, 1991

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