PeterDavid.net

For those out there naive enough to think the anti-Semitic sentiments expressed at that Muslim get together the other day were somehow isolated, check out the following article.

There you can read about an exciting new series that I’m sure will be available on DVD just about any time.

When I wondered how Israel can negotiate with people who want them dead, I was asked if I was implying that all Palestinians want them dead. No. I don’t think all of anybody wants anything. But there will always be those who want them dead, and I suspect they will always be working to torpedo anyone who tries to have it otherwise.

I have a relative living in Israel who flatly thinks the country won’t survive. That history will remember a brief time that the Jews had a homeland, and that’s all. Interestingly, he has no intention of leaving the country, so maybe deep down he doesn’t believe it. But let’s face it: Things aren’t going so hot right now. Not in this country, not abroad. And when things aren’t going well, historically what’s the first, best response of humanity? Blame the Jews.

Hey, look over there! A whole bunch of Jews in one country LET’S GET ‘EM!

PAD

I understand that Hal Clement passed away in his sleep last night.

There are folks far more capable than I of writing a comprehensive obit, and I’m sure they will. I just want to say I encountered him any number of times at conventions…even dragooned him into participating in a sketch at one around twenty years ago…and found him to be a genuinely sweet guy who epitomized class and elegance. There is a dwindling number of his type in the SF world, and he will be missed.

PAD

I don’t know how long you’ll be able to access this page at ebay, but you should really check it out since it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on an auction.

You have to read all the commentary from the guy through to the bottom as he does a not-so-slow burn. It helps if you imagine Daffy Duck’s voice as his frustration mounts.

Thanks to Brandy Hauman for pointing this one out.

PAD

For some reason I have a mental image of “Survivor” with all the members of the Endless as contestants. And the group of them coming to tribal council, and Jeff pulling out the ballots one by one and saying, “Destruction…Destruction…Destruction,” and Destruction is voted off the island, which would be the untold story of why Destruction departed. And my guess is that Dream would be the next one voted off (since so many people are willing to give up their dreams.)

And people wonder where I get ideas.

Don’t even ask about my notion for “Pilates of the Caribbean.”

PAD

I wonder how Jon Stewart, himself a Jew, felt on “The Daily Show” when they were running that clip from a meeting of various Muslim reps worldwide, where a speaker was talking about how Jews were secretly running the world and were manipulating others into doing their fighting for them. A speech that, according to Stewart, received a standing ovation (“Indicating,” he noted, “that the other speeches must have really suuuuuucked.”) I mean, you joke about it, but geez. It just underscores once again the fundamental problem Israel faces in trying to negotiate with people whose long-term goal is its eradication, and America’s problem in the eyes of the Muslim world since we’re allies of Israel.

PAD

One of the most famous sequences in Spidey history is from the original “Amazing Spider-Man #33,” the conclusion of the Master Planner story. Spider-Man, buried under a hunk of machinery, gives himself a pep talk while he hoists it off himself. He’s saying something like, “Anyone can be a hero when things are going well. It’s when the going gets tough yada yada,” something like that. Problem is, I don’t have the issue or a reprint handy, and I need it for an article I’m writing. Does anyone more organized than I am (which is pretty much anybody) have the exact dialogue I’m ham-handedly summarizing? I don’t need the caption narrative; just what Spidey was saying to get himself stoked.

Thanks in advance.

PAD

Here is the absolutely last, no two ways about it, this time I mean it blog entry about baseball for this season. Ready? Here it comes:

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

UP YOURS, GEORGE!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Ha.

Whew.

Okay. I’m done now.

PAD

AND THIS JUST IN In a move that may provide some small solace to Yankees fans, Derek Jeter will not be charged for the error in the sixth inning. Instead, he’s having it charged to Visa.

Terrorists. No, really.

From a recent open letter by Bill Jemas:

“At the same time, the friends that I work for and with are giving me reign

to do what I do best; exploring new challenges.”

Here’s a suggested challenge, Bill:

USE THE RIGHT FLIPPIN’ WORD.

It’s “rein,” damn it, not “reign.” To “reign” is to rule, as a king. You’re not a king. To “give rein,” just as in “give free rein,” is a horsemanship term. It means to ease up on the restraints and let the horse go at whatever clip it wants in whatever direction it wants.

I don’t know why so many people screw this up, but I see it all the time and it just makes me nuts.

PAD

A note to our friends in other countries who have requested that this be broken up into individual threads for spoiler purposes: Sorry, guys. I sympathize, and that’s actually the way I used to do it. But there were times it seemed that every blog posting was TV discussions. So I decided to consolidate all the major ongoings I watch into one place. Hence the “round up.” I apologize if reading the thread in its entirety muffs up your enjoyment of the episodes when they eventually hit your airwaves. On the other hand, you can always wait until you’ve seen all the shows and then read this in the archives.

So…onward…

(more…)

No, it’s not a baseball blog entry. This is a pencil preview of an upcoming issue of SOULSEARCHERS & COMPANY which will feature the introduction of the Enclave of Incidental Individuals…an assortment of literary also-rans such as Inspector LeStrade, Renfield, and a hypochondriac martian from “War of the Worlds,” who have not-so-compelling adventures.

Leave a message at the comment tag. [beeeeeeep]

I’m going to start up another open thread for questions. Way it works is, you put your questions to me and then, using the edit function, I’ll be responding to them directly in the thread. Anything you’re interested in regarding my past, present or future projects, general thoughts about industry-related stuff, etc. And please, guys: We’ve already done the oh-so-witty “What’s the average wing speed of an unladen swallow?” or “Who wrote the book of love?” or abstract scientific theory questions. Just, y’know, save us the cleverness this go-around, ‘kay?

PAD

Okay, that’s enough of that. It’ll take a while to hack through these, so there’ll be less blog activity from me. And guys, next time…one question each, okay?

UPDATE 10/25–Okay, THAT’S done. Geez.

http://www.draftwesleycrusher.com/

We just came back from seeing “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” the new play starring Mark Hamill and Polly Bergen currently in previews on Broadway at the Belasco Theater. Seeing a show in previews, when the kinks are supposed to be worked out, can always be an adventure. In last night’s performance, for instance, the sound system was so out of whack that three minutes into the show, the feedback was practically rupturing everyone’s eardrums. Bergen suddenly dropped character, announced that this was simply unacceptable and she walked off the stage. Mark stood there flummoxed for a moment, then turned to the audience and said hopefully, “So…want to know how a light saber works?”

Twenty minutes later they finally got the sound running properly, earning the gratitude of both cast and audience, and the play started over again.

Fortunately enough, the performance we saw tonight went off without a hitch. Hamill plays a dance instructor hired to come to the home of a baptist minister’s wife and, as the title would imply, spend the next six weeks giving her dance lessons. The reason I call it “Dancing Miss Daisy” is that, at its core, it’s about an aging Southern woman, disconnected from the world, who finds a way of coping with her environment through the most unlikely of touchstones (her character is actually named Lily, but hey…daisy. Lily. Close enough). The characters are engaging, the show is briskly paced, and there’s enough unexpected revelations about both protagonists (it’s a two-person play) to keep you wondering what’s going to be sprung on you next.

What was also classy about Mark was that his throat was getting so strained by the end of the show that the theater personnel had arranged for him to be brought directly to an emergency room afterward to have it treated. Yet despite that, he stopped and signed autographs and posed for pictures with waiting fans.

Support the theater, support Broadway, and support Mark (whose “Comic Book: The Movie” comes out in January on DVD from Miramax.)

PAD

Well, the beans have been spilled about new Captain Marvel artist Aaron Lopresti coming aboard as of issue #19. Newsarama has the item, along with artwork that has every single fan saying, “Yea! Captain Marvel is back in his old costume!”

What’s great is: Every fan who says that is wrong.

Mwaahaha. Dance, puppets, dance…

PAD

Interesting week. Spoilers throughout.

(more…)

Issue #15 is out. What’d'ja think?

PAD

And so the world can continue to turn peacefully on its axis, with no imminent threat of any so-called curses being broken. Let us consider the following:

1) By blowing the 7th game, the Sox spared us the sadness of watching them go to a Cub-less World Series. It would have been like arriving at the Prom and discovering your date had a flat tire and never made it. Here, it’s more like you and your date were driving along, had a blowout which sent you plummeting off a cliff to a fiery doom and thus never made it to the prom.

2) Had the Sox made to the Series, they likely would have lost. Losing to the Cubs would have been a big deal because, y’know, the Cubs would’ve won. Losing to the Marlins…who cares? The only way history would have been made in a Sox/Marlins game is if the Sox had won the first three games and everyone would have been saying, “Well, that’s it, no team has ever come back from a three-game deficit in a best-of-seven Series, it’s a lock,” at which point the Sox could have been the first team to blow a three game advantage. That would’ve been kind of cool.

3) If it had been a Cubs/Sox game…one of the teams would have lost their mystique. I mean, one of the things that’s so legendary about them is their constant inability to win. If one of them had won, they would have been reduced in status to a team that wins on rare occasions, and we’ve got a bunch of those. This way, parity remains between the AL and NL.

4) If it had been Cubs/Yankees, I would have felt compelled to watch, and thus suffer through another twenty showings per game of that damned Visa Check cashing card commercial. Since it’s Yankees/Marlins, I can skip it and thus not have to be badgered by it anymore.

Thus ends the baseball blog entries for the year 2003.

PAD

The Cubs should hire him.

Seriously. Find a job in the organization for him. He’s not stupid. Guys’ a finance major. Must be something on the business side he can do. Plus he coaches youngsters. Let’s keep in mind that he, an amateur, displayed the most often quoted baseball axiom that even many pros forget: Keep your eye on the ball. He did that. So if the Cubs have a youth club (as many ball organizations do) put him in charge of that.

And just imagine the commercials for next year: “I’m Steve Bartman. As Chicago Cubs associate business manager, I have permanent seats at Wrigley…nine rows back of home plate. I’m nowhere near the front row. NOTHING can stop us now.”

PAD