Month: July 2003

When I referred to the current Iraq situation as “the new Vietnam,” that seemed to spur a discussion as to how it couldn’t possibly be, because the casualty numbers don’t match up. This is, of course, ridiculous. Vietnam didn’t have 50,000 dead in the first few months. These things take time. But the point is, comparing it to Vietnam has nothing to do with the total number dead. It has to do with the fact that the military is sent into a situation for an indefinite period of time with only the vaguest of ideas of what they’re supposed to be doing there or how they’re supposed to go about it.

From the get-go, the Administration has been hazy on what was to happen after Saddam was deposed. The idea of the natives shooting at us for an extended period of time was never addressed. When one military advisor stated that several hundred thousands troops would be required indefinitely to maintain order, the upper echelon shouted the notion down. Except that’s exactly where we are.

And when I said Saddam is fine, thanks, I thought the meaning was clear: He’s alive. And he’s planning. And he’s waiting. And bin Laden still isn’t caught (remember “dead or alive?” Remember that promise?) And soldiers are being picked off. And there’s no end in sight.

We should never have gone in without, at the very least, a clear idea of a long term plan. We didn’t. And now we’re stuck.

And all the responses that are essentially name calling aren’t doing diddly to change that.

PAD

The first sign should have been Ari Fleisher’s resignation. If things were coming that were so bad that he couldn’t find positive ways to spin them, that was a tip-off right there.

American soldiers are continuing to die and, at this rate, within a month or two more will have died since Bush declared fighting was over than before that point. The Iraqis who were supposed to have loved us are shooting at us while we pour billions into the new Vietnam. Saddam is just fine, thanks (as is bin Laden.) Deficits and unemployment are spiralling out of control. And it appears that the administration lied to the American people about matters of greater consequence than oral sex with an intern.

Am I happy about this? No. The wheels are coming off the wagon, the worldwide sympathy we had as a result of 9/11 is long-squandered, but hey…let’s get right to work on trying to pass a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages. Thank heavens our priorities are in order.

PAD

Just for chuckles, I looked in on the current John Byrne Fan Site since, a few months ago, they couldn’t wait to dismiss “Fallen Angel” as a Buffy rip-off. Now that they could actually read it and comment upon it, I was wondering if anyone would do so.

One guy started a thread and was immediately jumped on for launching an “off topic” thread (despite the plethora of “off topic threads” already extant) with such an “obvious agenda” (because apparently bringing up my work constitutes an agenda). I could just feel the warmth radiating from my monitor.

The best, though, was the genius who (not having read the book, of course) declared he thought that “Bludhaven” was “a lousy name for a town,” but he never thought he “would see another even worse. Who would call a town “Bete Noir”?? Or “Bludhaven” for that matter??”

Well, gee. I could have gone for something even more obvious, like Hëll, but that’s a real city in Michigan. Or perhaps Panic or Fearnot, but those are both in Pennsylvania. Some believe that Bete Noire is where the dead reside, so I could have called it River Styx, but that’s in Ohio. Peculiar would’ve been good, but the folks in Peculiar, Missouri, might have objected. Maybe the sound makes when one is scared: Eek. But no, that’s in Alaska, the state that also gave us a town called Chicken. The population of Bete Noire is eclectic, but we’d probably hear from the mayor of Eclectic, Alabama, who might have been tipped off to it by the mayor of another Alabama locale, Muck City.

I could have gone for something ironic and called it Plain City, but that’s in Utah, or Boring, but that’s in Maryland. Or just plain No Name, but that’s in Colorado. My search for a city name built to a Climax…Climax, North Carolina, not to be confused with Climax, Pennsylvania, which is also not to be confused with Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

And shall we discuss Monkeys Elbow, Kentucky or the name of another city in Louisiana…Uncle Sam, LA? Nah.

Man, whenever my name comes up anywhere on a Byrne related board, it’s always good for some laughs. The current fan board says “All New, All Different.” Seems pretty same old/same old to me.

PAD

As always, had a great time at Shore Leave. Kathleen, Ariel and Caroline were in tow, and Caroline smiled at everyone and charmed them while Ariel enjoyed total freedom to go and do whateve she wanted in the family friendly security of the hotel. Still for my money *the* best Trek/Media con for families to attend.

Andrea Thompson was an incredibly good sport as she joined us for the opening sketch of Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000, and the world premiere (and, by coincidence, closing night performance) of “Bye Bye Buffy” went off, not without a hitch, but with only one or two minor hitches. And these were more than made up for by the talent and enthusiasm of the cast and director, who came up with some wonderful twists and augmentations on what I’d written (a gag involving a Klingon Weather Report used actual live Chroma Key to present the Klingon standing in front of a weather chart explaining why today was a good day to die, as was tomorrow, but over the next few days weather conditions would make dying less good.) Plenty of people in the audience and very enthusiastic.

Also spent time with the ever-delightful Carolyn Seymour, briefly spoke with Marina Sirtis, told Alan Ruck how much I liked his work, and discovered that Phil Morris is a big fan of Spyboy.

PAD

…it appears that somebody who’s already dead in the Marvel Universe will remain dead.

Peter’s going to be on the road for a while, between Boston, Shore Leave going on now and lord knows where next week, plus somewhere along the line he has to write those books you love… so I’m going to putting various things up in the meantime.

First off, we point you to Mark Evanier’s blog, which points us to Herb Trimpe’s website, and a few other Trimpe tidbits that are elsewhere on the web This link goes to a recent interview, in connection with the Hulk movie. This link goes to the article Herb wrote for The New York Times about how his career in comics ended due to apparent ageism…

And this link tells how Herb pitched in after the 9/11 tragedies and worked at Ground Zero for the Red Cross.

More to come, including a whole passel of BIDs recently unearthed.

Well, it’s out. Thoughts?

PAD