As some people might find this confusing, note that when you click the “opinions” (previously called “comments”), the comments will expand on this same page, just underneath. Click again, and they vanish…like magic!
Don’t be confused, or scared. Take a breath. Everything will be all right.
(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)
I didn’t want to make much mention of my contribution to this cruelly entitled upcoming collection until a) I’d finished my story, and b) the Dominatrix Jordan had condescended to accept the damned thing.
My tale goes by the decidedly un-noir title of “Hungarian Lessons”, featuring the same intrepid main character who graced my Dublin Noir story—myself. And as usual, I’m getting into plenty of foul-mouthed trouble.
Perhaps Mr Wignall would be interested in touting his contribution as well?
(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)
Although I’ve watched plenty of television in my life, over the last year I’ve become almost emotionally attached to the damned thing. Getting a big-sized flat-screen didn’t help the situation, but to be honest my attachment is rooted in my fascination with narrative structures, and what I sense as a renaissance in television production values. For me, many current shows stand head and shoulders over the Hollywood & even foreign cinema fare I formerly thought of as the pinnacle of the visual narrative medium. TV, I have to admit, gets me excited.
In the old days, it was comedy that kept me coming back to the tube. The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and (sad, but true) Friends convinced me that I should be sitting on my couch at X-time on X-day. But looking back now, those (excepting, perhaps, The Simpsons) strike me as quaint relics, like The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy.
Now, dramas have taken center stage. How many contemporary films can compare to the writing and acting talent on those HBO wonders: Six Feet Under or Deadwood? How many films rachet up the emotional tension so well? Not many. And how many could do it continuously for 22 hours each year? I’d say, none.
Remember when sci-fi shows were full of computers so clean you could eat soup off of them? And everyone (think of all the Star Trek spin-offs) talked as if they were in the middle of a public speaking course? Well, with the Sci-Fi Channel’s remake of Battlestar Galactica, that all changed. And who would’ve ever thought a sci-fi show could get you into an emotional pickle? Not me. But Galactica is something different in the universe, and possibly one of the best shows on TV.
Galactica, like all sci-fi, has clear-cut themes and motifs—philosophical questions that are examined. Usually, I find this to be sci-fi’s flaw. It wears its themes too much on its sleeve. But the Galactica writers are smarter and more nuanced than this. Their remaking of the Cylons as humanoids obsessed with their monotheistic religion is nothing short of brilliant.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I do love Alias. I love it in the same way I love 24 or an older James Bond film. Candy. Kick-ass entertainment, wherein a lot of ass gets kicked, but you know none of the people are really real, so it doesn’t really matter. But if you watch Alias from the beginning, then go back and rewatch the early episodes (as I have), you see that there’s a narrative genius at work here. In those first episodes, you see the seeds of everything that will follow. In season 4, a piece of evidence will appear, which will connect to something from season 1, which then leads to something amazing by season 5. Though the writers had no way of knowing Alias would go past the first season, they prepared themselves for the long, labrynthine haul.
Lost follows a similar kind of narrative strategy—it is, after all, by the same creator as Alias—but a more obvious one. The mysteries are self-conscious mysteries, whereas in Alias each mystery has some temporary explanation that’s turned on its head later on. I enjoy Lost, but always from an emotional distance, like a particularly fun mathematical puzzle.
What I’m loving about TV these days is what was once only available in high quality miniseries—the proper use of time. The gradual build-up of plot, character and themes that didn’t have to be squeezed into 90 minutes. BBC had this nailed down with such masterpieces as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Edge of Darkness. Low-budget, but fully utilizing the available space and talent. But things have come a long way since then.
And the camerawork. Who’da thunk, ten years ago, that TV shows would look so damned good?
There’s an Asian-run TV channel here in Hungary called AXN. That’s short for action! The bulk of its schedule is devoted to some pretty crappy programming (like 18 Wheels of Justice—about a truck-driving US Marshall), but since it’s one of the few channels in English, I check it out, and am sometimes rewarded. Particularly with ReGenesis, a Canadian show focusing on a group of researchers working as an action-team to stop outbreaks of diseases. A Canadian CDC called NorBAC. Intense acting and wonderful writing make this show stand up beside all the ones I’ve mentioned above.
What connects these, my favorite shows? There’s a western, sci-fi, lab work, and plenty of general espionage. But no matter the genre, all these shows speak to me in a novelistic way. That is, they have breadth and length. I’m not getting everything in an hour or two. I’m getting prepared for what will come. The seeds are being laid for next week or next year, and by viewing them I’m investing a piece of myself into the narrative endeavor.
And yes, they do inspire me to do my own, non-visual work.
If this post inspires anyone to check out some of these shows, I suggest finding a way to view them from the beginning, which is how I watch all of them. Snag a DVD or simply break the law and download. It’s worth it.
Any other wonderful, innovative series out there? Let me know. It’s not like I’m doing any writing over here.
(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)
From Books and Writers:
In an interview [Len] Deighton confessed, that he became a writer of espionage after realizing that he did not know enough about police procedure. “So I wrote my first books the way people would write science fiction, because they gave me much more latitude to invent situations.” (New York Times, June 21. 1981)
As Kevin has pointed out before, it’s sometimes interesting to go through your site stats to find out how people have come upon you, where they’re from, and how long they stayed. I agree, and I often click over on the Site-Meter (that little colored square at the bottom of this page) to see how people are arriving at the Nomad.
To me the most useful service they offer is to show what page people were at just beforehand they arrived—that is, how they linked to your site. This tells you what search terms they use in Google, or what other fine bloggers are linking to your thoughts. But just now, I found something I’d never seen before:
http://search.blogger.com/?q=gay%20boy%20sexy&hl=en&ui=blg
Yes, someone from (and I’m not kidding)
| Continent | : | Asia |
| Country | : | Yemen  (Facts) |
| State/Region | : | Hadramawt |
| City | : | Sana |
| Lat/Long | : | 15.4, 47.7667 (Map) |
A very interesting quote, sent in by my ever-attentive mother:
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.— Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952
In honor of our fellow nomad’s success in that Holy Grail of the financially minded writer (and aren’t we all?), I point you to another podcast that’s been giving me some pleasure lately.
Creative Screenwriting Magazine proves generous in the free-stuff category, specifically with their screenwriter interviews series, which can be found here:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/CreativeScreenwritingMagazine
…or at the iTunes store.
What you get are casual yet very informative conversations with some talented screenwriters (think: Crash, Memoirs of a Geisha, A History of Violence, Capote) about writing and the business of Hollywood, which often leads to some quite funny, eye-opening tales. Check it out.
(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)
Many visitors may have heard of International Thriller Writers, a young version of the Mystery Writers of America, but not State-centric, and focused on the thriller genre. I’m a member of both organizations, and have noticed how ITW, being the young, energetic sibling, is constantly in motion. It’s apparent through its newsletter, which keeps bringing up new calls to form sub-groups for this or that purpose. But I’m a sporadic newsletter reader, and only today did I notice something called “The Big Thrill”, and it’s a podcast.
Listen to some of the world’s greatest thriller writers talking about their work and reading from their books.
From the Times. I suppose we’ll finally get to the bottom of it….
AN ITALIAN judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.
The case against Father Enrico Righi has been brought in the town of Viterbo, north of Rome, by Luigi Cascioli, a retired agronomist who once studied for the priesthood but later became a militant atheist.
Signor Cascioli, author of a book called The Fable of Christ, began legal proceedings against Father Righi three years ago after the priest denounced Signor Cascioli in the parish newsletter for questioning Christ’s historical existence.
[…]
Signor Cascioli’s contention — echoed in numerous atheist books and internet sites — is that there was no reliable evidence that Jesus lived and died in 1st-century Palestine apart from the Gospel accounts, which Christians took on faith. There is therefore no basis for Christianity, he claims.
…The Vatican has so far declined to comment.
