PeterDavid.net

The origin (kinda…sorta…maybe) of Layla Miller, the character I resolved from issue #1 to reverse the mostly negative fan opinion about. Whad’ja thnk?

PAD

That’s not me asking, actually. That’s the cover story in the current “Rolling Stone,” issue 999. (It’s dated May 4, so i don’t know how much longer it’ll be on the stands.) It’s a detailed, scholarly overview of the Bush administration as provided by one of the country’s leading historians. As much as Bush supporters will cry foul, it is difficult–if not impossible–to argue with the thorough, reasoned and historical comparisons of Bush with other presidents…those deemed both the greatest successes and the greatest failures. Recommended reading.

PAD

I just finished the script for “Spike vs. Dracula #5,” the last installment of the series. It takes place during the early part of the fifth season of “Angel.” Dracula shows up in LA, because naturally his attorneys are Wolfram and Hart…and when he shows up, the ghostly Spike is lying in wait to drive him absolutely bonkers.

It may well be one of the funniest comic book stories I’ve ever written.

But now I have to wait for it to be drawn and everything. It’s so frustrating, because as soon as it’s done I’m anxious to get it in front of reader’s eyes. Kathleen and Ariel both read it and thought it was great. Now I want to get the finished product out there.

So next time you think how frustrating it is to have to wait a month to see what happens in a comic, keep in mind that the writer has to wait even longer to see what your reactions are to what happens.

PAD

For local fans, I’ll be doing a signing (along with Clifford Meth) at Midtown Comics in NYC this Thursday from 5 to 7 PM.

Also, at 1 PM EST, the Freedom Clock finally drops below 1000. The end is…well, not near…but nearer. Unless, of course, the GOP congress tries to do away with that pesky two-term-limit thing. But that doesn’t seem terribly likely.

PAD

…since he was the one who, years ago, heavily pushed the notion that the correct direction for “Star Trek” was to go retro and focus on Kirk, Spock et al in their Academy days. This notion was reviled by most fans that I know of, contending that there was no point in taking “the franchise” backwards. Star Trek, like a shark, must constantly be moving forward or it dies. And furthermore, what remote interest was there in watching the adventures of our heroes as teens? It seemed a pathetic and obvious ploy to court teen viewers rather than accommodate the interests of long time fans.

And now it’s years later.

And “Enterprise” took the franchise backwards and knocked it off the air.

And the success of “Smallville” plus other teen-oriented dramas must have registered on Paramount.

And thus do we boldly go backwards. Well…forwards, I guess, since it’s moving forward from “Enterprise.”

Of course, whether this actually makes it to the big screen, JJ Abrams or no, remains debatable. After all, quite a few Superman films by various big-name individuals crashed and burned before the upcoming installment got off the ground (no pun intended.) But if it does make it to screen, Harve Bennett–who was mentioned nowhere in the “Variety” article–is going to have to be wondering why he had to be so darned ahead of his time, in his concept if not his execution (Bob Greenberger swears Bennett’s script was terrible. Then again, who knows? By the dwindling standards of many of today’s moviegoers, it might have been a smash.)

PAD

It always takes me a day or so to get geared up after returning from a convention. In this instance, I’m back from ShowMeCon in St. Louis, which I attended along with Ariel. The folks who ran the convention were uniformly friendly and helpful, and escorted Ariel and I out to see the Bowling Hall of Fame (which was really cool.)

Also in attendance at the convention was Noel Neill, best known as Lois Lane from the original Superman movie serials and TV series.

Not in attendance, sadly enough, were fans. It wasn’t expected to be a huge convention in any event–predicted attendance was between 300 and 500. But it seemed to me as if there were less than 150 people. Has anyone been noticing a general drop in attendance at conventions, or is it only the ones where I’m guest of honor?

PAD

So while Ariel was out of town, Kathleen and I attended the awards ceremony for the Long Island Junior Bowling Association, which has over 4000 young bowlers in its membership.

Turned out it was a good thing we did. Ariel won a trophy, which we accepted on her behalf, for highest scoring over the season in her category (Handicap All Events, Junior Girls). There were only ten categories, so basically she placed as one of the top young bowlers in Long Island.

Anyone who says “size doesn’t matter” hasn’t gotten a load of this trophy. It’s almost as big as Caroline. A couple of kids in the ten-and-under crowd could barely carry theirs. This should be a really nice incentive for Ariel’s future athletic endeavors. As soon as Kath’s computer is up and running, we’ll run a picture of Ariel holding the trophy on the website.

PAD

For fans of the most errant knight around, I thought I’d let you know that a new “Sir Apropos of Nothing” novelette will be featured in the forthcoming short story anthology, “Heroes in Training.” Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, it will be published by Daw. No finalized pub date yet, although they’re hoping for 2007.

The story, “Sir Apropos of Nothing and the Adventure of the Receding Heir” takes place late in Apropos’ career, when he’s actually managed–through his customary combination of deceit, skill, and luck–to become ruler of his own complete country, and circumstances require him to find someone sufficiently harmless that he can put into a position to take over for him. Also making his literary debut in the same story: Schlepper the Leper, the character first incarnated by Ariel during a convention masquerade. She won the prize for most humorous, so I figured that’s a reasonable pedigree for Schlepper to join the Apropos Universe.

PAD

Conclusion of the two parter involving our hero, Mexican wrestling, deep discussion over magic versus science, and a twist ending that had fans howling a week ahead of time.

Whad’ja think?

PAD

You know, with so many people angered over the perceived corporate cowardice of Comedy Central, and the assertion that being worried over violent response is having a chilling effect on free expression, and how terrible it all is, and how someone should do something…

Here’s a thought. If you want to make a point about rights of free expression and standing firm in the face of potential negative reaction, here’s what you can do:

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The producers of the show “Martha Stewart” contacted Pocket Books for permission to display the cover of a “New Frontier” novel that features Ashley Judd as “Robin Lefler,” since Judd is slated to appear on the show today. I’ll be watching to see if they do it and what they say, if anything.

UPDATE: Oh well. Apparently not. God, what a boring show. I think they should have Eve Plumb come on and whine, “Martha, Martha, Martha!”

PAD

Okay, so now we can chat about it AFTER it’s aired. Spoilers, I assume, to follow…

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Kath and I are usually on the same wavelength when it comes to television, but one thing we’ve always split on is “Family Guy.” She likes the series; I’m, at most, lukewarm. So I have to say I got a truly snarky amount of amusement out of last week’s episode of “South Park” in which “Family Guy” was skewered, a storyline that ostensibly is supposed to be concluded tonight (although, I dunno…I still wouldn’t put it past them to have the second half be no second half at all. The bait-and-switch of Cartman’s father is not easily forgotten.)

The great thing, of course, is that the storyline isn’t *really* about “Family Guy.” It’s about religious fanatics going completely nuts over things that are depicted in cartoons. An obvious shot at the riot-inducing pictures of Mohammed, and particularly appropriate for “South Park” since years ago, in the episode “Super Best Friends,” Mohammed was depicted on the show and it caused no stir whatsoever that I can recall. It almost makes you wonder if they’re going to reair “Super Best Friends” just to remind people that, when it came to visually lampooning Mohammed, “South Park” got there first.

PAD

“Spike vs. Dracula #1.” I finally got my comp copies, only to page through it and discover that page 21 was completely devoid of dialogue. Didn’t ANYONE wonder why the ending made no sense? What’s really mystifying is that it was on the jpegs that IDW sent me for approval. Somewhere, between the printer and the printing, an entire page of my dialogue completely vanished.

For those who bought the issue and would like to have some idea of what the hell happened at the end, the actual page of dialogue is reproduced below–

UPDATED 4/14: I’d appreciate it if people would stop sending angry e-mails to Chris Ryall at IDW. Chris, who has been nothing but one of the classiest and most supportive editors I’ve ever worked with, was not REMOTELY responsible for the missing dialogue. Neither was anyone else at IDW; as I noted, the approval material they sent me and the material sent out to the printer all had the material right. Considering that no reader appeared to twig to the fact that the dialogue was missing, or certainly not enough to comment upon it, and it certainly ruined no one’s good time or their ability to understand the story, the only one who’s REALLY got a reason to be worked up is me, and even I’m not angry at IDW. I’ve been subjected to far more stupendous, and inexcusable, screw-ups in the past from far larger companies, so cut IDW some slack, would’ja, please.

PAD

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The results of Election Day, tinged with a tragedy that has been in the making since last December. Discussion and spoilers below:

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Gorgeous day. Ferris Bueller would cut school again on a day like this. Ariel and I took Caroline to the local playground where Caroline ran around like a nut for close to an hour. Went out to lunch, then got a sitter for Caroline. Took Ariel to see “Take the Lead,” which is kind of a combination of “To Sir with Love” and “Strictly Ballroom” if both films were kinda dull. Then again, I’m not the target audience for the film.

Going out bowling tonight. Kath is already over at the lanes for her Monday night league. She showed me the doll she made at the Froud class; very cool. Looks like something Wendy Froud would have made.

PAD

Was awoken this morning by a rapping, a gentle tapping on my chamber door. ‘Twas more than the wind; ’twas Caroline looking for Kathleen, who had already headed out to the Froud class. Once Ariel was up and around, we headed over to a massive kiddie play area called “Fun4all.” The moment we got to the outside of the place, Caroline shouted joyously, “Ballpit!” She made a beeline for the aforementioned pit where she spent much of her time.

Took the kids out to lunch, then came back and watched the closing match of the PBA season. Chris Barnes won, in case anyone is interested.

Then I brought them over to a local carnival and they had a great time going on assorted rides (including a gigantic slide.) Playing some of the typical midway games, I won a doll of Dora the Explorer (dressed as a pirate) for Caroline and a huge penguin from Madagascar for Ariel.

Came home, ordered in pizza. Watched “West Wing,” and will do a Cowboy Pete about it tomorrow once folks have had a chance to watch it.

PAD

With Kathleen in the city for the next three days attending a doll-making workshop being given by Wendy Froud, I’m on kid patrol.

Took Ariel to her morning bowling league while our house keeper (who comes every Saturday, so how’s that for timing) kept an eye on Caroline. Then, as rain poured down, I packed the kids off to go see “Ice Age” at the local multiplex. We had lunch there and then saw the film. Caroline was fairly well behaved after we made it clear to her that she couldn’t go running around in the theater. The film itself was technically superior to the previous one, although once again the story itself was no great shakes (actually the preceding one was better.) But there were enough action set pieces to rivet Caroline’s attention, as well as most of the kids in the fairly packed theater. And, hey, how can you resist a film where Queen Latifah voices a mammoth who’s convinced she’s actually a possum.

PAD

I have no thoughts on this one way or the other in terms of its religious impact. It’s just that, every time I hear about this, I keep thinking, “Piltdown Man” or “Hitler Diaries.” It just always seems that when some fascinating historical discovery comes along that’s too good to be true…it turns out to be just that.

PAD

Apparently the following e-mail is making the rounds:

“Please,
My name is MR.PETER DAVID,the Director of a Security Company.
There is an Investor,former governor of Bayelsa state the richest oil
state in Nigeria, DSP Alamieyeseigha lodged some fund cash for
safekeeping, he reliably told me to look for a foreign partner/investor
who can receive and manage the fund for him until he is clear with the
problem currently in the state.

For him, his arrest and detention was
politically motivated because {this man supports the presidential
aspirant vice-president Atuku for the next election come 2007 while
Obasanjo the president of Nigeria is planning to rule for the third
term against the constitution;however the money $58,600,000.00 USD
originated from contracts and gratification from multi national oil
companies in the state.We must move the money out from African shores
due to the letter sent to Financial Institutions in Nigeria last week
by Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) requesting her
assistance to trace all money lodged in her bank/Security Companies by
government officials.

His family recently arrived Ghana for safety due
to the problem. Now can you receive the money or find an investor whom
I will offer to give 15% of the total sum for your assistance,5% have
been mapped out for expenses made by both parties,Your role to this
proposal is strictly to receive the fund and provide suitable account
that can receive and hold the money until my physical arrival to your
country.

MR.PETER DAVID.”

No matter where you go…there I am. Apparently with this site under unceasing spam assault, someone decided to go one better by incorporating my name into one of the longest-running scams around.

Notice they don’t post as Neil Gaiman. Nor Harlan Ellison. They ain’t writing, “My name is John Byrne,” nossir. Just me.

What an honor.

PAD