LookingLand

I thought I better turn in my "I saw the new Star Trek movie report. This is generally spoiler-free.

First off, I can't imagine how difficult it is for an actor to play another actor's character. while there's a little bit of room for doing your own thing, it's the moments when you nail it that it really works. Zachary Quinto was phenomenal as a different kind of Spock (though I confess: at first I had a hard time seeing him as anyone but Sylar from Heroes). Chris Pine was okay as Kirk. The final scene was the only real moment of recognition for me, though there were other moments where he was really trying. McCoy was dead-on in some moments, less so in others. Scotty was also excellent. I feel more ambivalent about Chekov (the voice was spot-on, but the hair was distracting), Sulu (generally good, but nothing particularly amazing), and Uhura (I think they felt the need to "empower" the character; she looked great, but I didn't feel a connection; also, there's some plot stuff with her that's maybe too weird).

The plot is good, but gives lots of room to complain. Some of it is a little facile and silly (but then so was the TV show). I think the writers wanted to create something new without violating the canon). I think they succeeded (and what a monumental task, considering!). There were a few things here and there that I snerfed at, but overall it was a rollicking good ride, lots of stuff blew up, there was plenty of good humor, and it was an opportunity for a new adventure with characters I love. A lot of it is origin stuff, so I'd like to see a sequel, though this is the last Star Trek that will ever feature Majel Barrett (she's in every incarnation of the show ever made). And who knows how long Leonard Nimoy will last. His role in this was just right and exactly needed to make the passing of the baton work.

Die-hards will likely call foul on many a detail, but I've always been an easy fan (which is why I never liked Next Generation: it was too snobby for my goofy "space western" tastes).

It's worth a watch whether you're an old fan or never even saw an episode in all your life. That's a pretty major accomplishment, so overall I give it the thumbs up.

: D

Mostly for my own amusement (and because I have a ton of stuff to do so I need to break up my day), I thought, after posting the draft of my next installment yesterday, I would sort of follow the process through to the finished deal (see if I can't kick this thing in the right direction).

So while I'm typing and futzing with the text (and this is a very short piece to boot), I'm also working on the picture. Above is the pencil sketch for it. My pencil sketches are usually much dirtier than this. I really managed some relatively clean lines here and less erasing.

Now I'm going to make breakfast and tea and finish up the text so I can move on to the next stage.

Hope everyone is having a happy Saturday!

: D

edit: rather than spam with a buncha little posts, I've added the followup on the above image! (apologies if it's a tad wide).


I will probably use this set of images (along with some narrative) for a "process" section in the FAQs on the website. It's a little bit atypical in terms of how I generally work, but I think it covers all the bases. And it looks cool, which, as we know, is what's really important ~ !

In reorganizing my website for Reconstruction, i decided to put some texture on the page (it's always been too flat for me). i'm also cramming the glug of "information" onto an information page to free up the homepage for the latest updates. not quite sure how this will work, but it's getting closer to what i want (is that even possible?)

i think the only thing i'm fretting about is having a link somewhere to make the "recent updates" more readily available rather than having to paw through the archives (which are still cumbersome, but i'm leaving them alone for now). the "recent updates" menu on the left just feels sort of lost. i feel like i need something a little flashier. what i think i will do is just have a "posting order" update page so it's easy to see what's new. it's one more page to maintain, but that's all right. it's not a big deal to just have piles of links somewhere.

anyway, so there it is. all of the changes aren't "live" yet and i have a lot of work to do still ~ including some slash and burn on the scenes that have already been posted (bad, i know ~ but it has to be done). this weekend, i hope, everything will be more in order. i'll definitely be very glad when all of these technical issues are resolved and i can just focus on the content for a change.

Let's see ~ a list of things that might make a book delightful: under 150 pages long (check), illustrations (check), George Washington (check), snow! (check), Christmas (check), Valley Forge (check!).

With a list like this, S. Weir Mitchell's A Venture in 1777 can't help but be satisfying!

Okay, so the story isn't all that much. Young Tom Markham and his twin brothers (but mostly Tom) conspire to steal an important military secret from Colonel Grimstone and relay it to Valley Forge just after Christmas. Their house is occupied by the British and they'd like very much to get rid of their unwanted guests ~ and get their father back (he is currently a prisoner of war).

Mitchell apparently enjoyed writing "historical" fiction and has a number of books set during the American Revolution and Washington's term as President. This particular little tome, he wrote for charity with the proceeds going to the Philadelphia Church Home for Children. The book isn't terribly fancy, but it does have some nice vignettes and illustrations (spot colored in cyan). The artist, unfortunately is uncredited, but you can see what nice work was done in the image below.

I have to say it was especially nice to read this simple, uplifting little story after what's been passing lately as bedtime fare. A little Mitchell is a good tonic for the ills of research. Though there is mention of the privations at Valley Forge in this book, the story is clearly written for a young audience and so the hardship and violence is kept to a minimum. That does not mean it isn't full of adventure, however, and the capture of Grimstone, especially, is a good time. I especially like Tom's sense of "fairness" in handling these matters (oh chivalry, thou art dead). Tom as a principal character is nicely restrained and his interview with Washington is the best part of the book (totally expected, of course, but also totally satisfying).

Near as I can tell, the story is entirely fictional outside of the circumstances of the war. General Washington would appear to be the only "real-life" character. I've haven't yet read any of Mitchell's Revolutionary War novels, so I don't know whether he's predisposed to adhere to much fact. His Civil War novels are certainly grounded in fact, but the historical people who appear in them generally pop in and out of scenes rather quick (much like Washington in this one).

By the way: Two amusing things about the illustration above: Tom is fifteen (nearly sixteen). In the picture he looks more like twelve! Also, do you really think Washington wore stockings at Valley Forge? Much as I like the picture, the shoes, I had to laugh at.

i originally made the threat here, and then i followed it up by actually conceiving a character here. but i put it all in the back of my mind because i wasn't quite sure how to fit this strange outsider into the careful epic that i had spent so much care constructing.

well thanks to a wretched sinus infection and a lot of medication that has made me both loopy and cranky (and i mean really cranky ~ like, sleepless, homicidal cranky), i think i've solved all those niggling problems and whitney ballard will be making his debut this weekend (Sunday) on Reconstruction (in his own words, no less, which is utterly terrifying to me!).

i have to say, spending time with ballard, getting to know his particularities has been very disturbing, but likewise very rewarding (especially in terms of bringing together a few loose sheep in the story ~ if i ever thought the plot was intertwined in an impossible complex fashion, it's now ridiculously so). but even more gratifying, perhaps: it's not often that i challenge myself to write a character so utterly repugnant and try see things from a point of view I couldn't disagree with more ~ and to find good in someone whose whole livelihood depends on a gross systematic bigotry.

i actually found qualities to admire in ballard, which is frightening, but i hope good for the story. and i'm proud of myself that i am not going to shrink from putting this character front and center in his own little opera.



a rather cleaned-up whitney ballard
and his long-time nemesis (unfinished),
the mysterious "reverend" luther.
three guesses who the dashing mister luther really is
(and the first two don't count)
( some slightly spoilery background for the truly masochistic )

oh the immensity ~ !



[crawls into a corner and dies]

lookie what i made while listening to really bad 80s music (oh Lord, i was a closet fan of Falco's "Jeannie"!). anyway, try not to think about that (i fear your harsh judgment). instead, look at the pretty logo! i figured since i just finished the Reconstruction website, i ought to use my current coding-fu to set up the In Pursuance of Said Conspiracy site (i can't believe i still have everything in a folder called "Poppet").


you will, no doubt, hear more of this as we get into April. consider yourselves forewarned.

: D

Recently I posted about a project I brought home involving the experimental restoration of 14 volumes of Harper's Monthly Magazine. As I have been working on the books, I've been perusing some of the contents. In June of 1881 an article appeared about Edwin Booth. This opening is the sort of film-worthy anecdote that makes the Booths so irresistible, so I thought I would share it.

( article portion is under a cut for bigness )

p.s. the article respectfully makes no mention of that other brother.

x-posted to jwb1865.

It's nearly April and I haven't gotten back to In Pursuance of Said Conspiracy, which is just a crying shame. If I can't "launch" it mid-April, I will definitely at least try to be knee deep working on it then. I just ordered Steers's two new books: The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators: Their Confinement and Execution, As Recorded in the Letterbook of John Frederick Hartranft ~ (grumble grumble grind and grumble), and The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence (less grumbling).

I'm sure they will kick me off in the right direction ~ if only out of sheer fury on the first count.

But then, this is what happens when you come up with an idea and then sit on it for two years. I will never learn.

: o p

it's taking all my willpower not to bid on this.

because owning two copies already just isn't enough.

i am so sick.

: o p

meanwhile, i have increased my weir mitchell collection by three (soon to be four) this past week, and am likewise resisting this.

edit: oh holy crap! to say nothing of this!

(and this is why i have no business on eBay. period.)