Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Gregory G. H. Rihn's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, May 24th, 2012
1:40 pm	Florentine Opera, "Idomeneo" On Sunday, May 20th, we went to see the Florentine Opera's production of Mozart's first opera, "Idomeneo". The story of Idomeneo, King of Crete, is one of the many classical stories spun off from that of the Trojan War. Idomeneo is an ally of the Greeks, and has taken and sent home many captives from the Trojan population, including Ilia (Marie-Eve Munger), one of the daughters of King Priam of Troy. the young prince Idamante (Sandra Piques Eddy), ruling Crete in his stead, sets the dispirited captives free and urges them to become part of the Cretan community, an act that sparks love in the heart of Ilia. This ignites jealousy in the heart of the Grecian princess Electra (Georgia Jarman), who has fled to Crete following the murder of her father, Agamemnon, and has promised herself to Idamante. Idomeneo (Arturo Chacon-Cruz), still at sea, is overtaken by a great storm (probably one of those raised by Poseidon against Ulysses--)and makes the rash vow to the sea-god that, if he is spared from the shipwreck, he will make a sacrifice of the first person he meets ashore. When he does make it to land, his first encounter is with Idamante, whom he initially does not recognize since he hasn't been home in ten years, and the boy was a child when he left. When he discovers Idamante's identity, he drives him away in horror and shame, not telling what he has promised to do. Idamante is staggered and hurt by his father's seeming rejection. Idomeneo schemes with his advisers to try to spare Idamante, and decides to send him to Thebes to restore Electra to her father's throne, much to her joy, since her rival, Ilia, will be left behind. However, the voyage is aborted by the advent of a sea monster sent by Poseidon, which wreaks havoc along the Cretan coast. While Idomeneo dithers, Idamante, hoping for a heroic death to redeem himself in his father's eyes, goes alone to fight the monster, and succeeds in slaying it. When he returns, wounded and covered in the monster's blood, he asks his father for forgiveness of whatever failings Idomeneo sees in him. Idomeneo confesses that the sin is his own, adn admits his vow, to general horror. The priest of Poseidon declares that the sacrifice must be carried out, and Idamante declares that he is willing to be sacrificed to save his people from Poseidon's further wrath. Idamante lies down on the altar and Idomeneo is about to strike the fatal blow when Ilia offers herself in Idamante's place. Idamante's willingness to be sacrificed, and Ilia's love for a former enemy, move the gods to pity, and an oracular voice is heard, declaring that Idomeneo is forgiven, but must abdicate and Idamante and Ilia will rule Crete together in his place. Electra, mad with jealousy and disappointment, tries to kill Ilia, but is overcome by the king's guards and taken away. The opera ends with a chorus of thanksgiving. The singing and music were the high points of the opera. Chacon-Cruz and Piques Eddy, in particular, sang beautifully with full, rich voices that filled the hall. Munger and Jarman were also excellent, and were well supported by the rest of the cast and chorus. The cast were also given a number of interesting and subtle acting bits to do. For example, in the first scene, when Idmante orders the Trojan's chains to be struck off, the Trojans then go and bow to their princess, but none go to Idamante or thank him until he himself comes to them. Only gradually, over the course of the opera, do the Trojans and the Cretans intermingle. This is fortunate, because there's little else to look at. Costuming is low-keyed, with the islander Cretans in modern dress, in colors of sea-green and blue. The Asiatic Trojans are all in dusty orange and brown garments reminiscent of Afghani hill tribes. The only set pieces were two movable black walls which served as screens for a number of rear-projections intended to illuminate the interior dialog of the characters. While sometimes interesting, they were not equally viewable from all angles, and sometimes undercut their purpose--as has been noted in other reviews, a supposedly romantic close-up in Electra's dream of life with Idamante made it very hard to ignore the fact that Idamante is played by a woman made up as a man. At other times, the walls acted as background for a shadow play as low lighting cast silhouettes that shifted place and size as the actors moved around, hinting at underlying dynamics. This, however, was not quite enough to relieve the disappointing and dull barrenness of the otherwise empty black stage. At the performance we heard, the orchestra, under Maestro Joseph Resigno played Mozart's score with power and passion. This was a very interesting opera to listen to. Besides the classical subject matter, one could note the transition Mozart was making from Baroque style to his own style, right in this opera. The first act begins with a lot of down-front solo singing, recalling older operas, but, as the opera goes on, the music moves into the choruses and ensembles which enliven Mozart's operas. Verdict, lovely to listen to. Not so much to look at. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/210328.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
12:31 pm	The Bolshoi in HD: "The Bright Stream" Late May is proving a good time for ballet for us. On Tuesday evening, May 15th, we braved a sudden thunderstorm to get out to the Marcus Majestic in Brookfield, to see the Bolshoi Ballet's production of "The Bright Stream," to music by Dimity Shostakovich, and choreography by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov. Georgie knew the music from recordings, but had never seen the ballet because it was suppressed by the Soviet state after its 1935 opening, and was never performed again until revived by the Bolshoi in 2003. (Shostakovich had generally bad luck with the reception of his major works, and struck out with his ballets. His first,the 1930 "Golden Age," was censored. The second, "The Bolt", 1931, closed after one performance. "The Bright Stream" was surpressed solely for being a comedic ballet, when State policy favored serious drama in all things.) "The Bright Stream" is the name of a collective farm, or kokholz, in the Caucasus. Zina (Svetlana Lunkina), a former ballet student, lives there with her husband Piotr (Mikhail Lobukhin), an agriculture student. As the ballet opens, they and other members of the collective have come to the train station to welcome members of a ballet company who have been detailed to provide entertainment for Bright Stream's harvest festival. Zina is at first delighted to find that the prima ballerina of the corps (Maria Alexandrova)is her old schoolmate. Together, they dance a piece that they both know, and Zina demonstrates that she still has much of her ability. However, Zina is not delighted when Piotr, smitten with the glamorous ballerina, flirts with her. Others from the countryside around are invited to the festival, including the comic foils, characters known in the program as "the old Dacha Dweller" (a kulak, or "rich peasant")(Alexei Loparevich)and his wife, "Anxious-to-be-younger-than-she-is Dacha Dweller" (Anastasia Vinokur). The old man also makes a strong, if oafish, play for the beautiful dancer, while his wife comes on to the dancer's handsome male partner (Ruslan Skvortsov). The young women of the kokoltz join forces with the ballet corps in deciding to make fools of both the lustful couple and of Piotr. It is decided that Skvortsov, disguised as a woman, will keep an assignation with the old man; that Alexandrova, disguised as a man, will rendesvous with the old woman; and that Zina, disguised as Alexandrova, will keep a meeting with Piotr, her husband. These incidents take up the second scene of the first act, and showcase some wonderfully funny dancing and acting. Skvortsov, 'en travestie' makes an unlikely woman, showing, as he does, a thick thatch of chest hair above his low-necked gown. However, the old peasant has lost his glasses stumbling around in the dark and is fooled, and attempts a feeble and clumsy courting dance with the disguised dancer. Things are little better with Alexandrova; the old woman pursues her doggedly. Unlike opera, there are few "breeches" roles in ballet, and it is rare to see a woman dance a man's role. Alexandrova, who had demonstrated ample strength and power in the first scene, does so admirably. At last, pursuing their respective objects of desire, the old man and old woman come across one another, realize the other is up to no good, and an argument ensues that ends with the woman chasing the man off, armed with his antique shotgun. Zina, dressed in the ballerina's performance costume, which includes a domino mask, meets Piotr and dances a flirtatious dance with him, although the audience can detect her barely restrained anger. The second act is the festival day. When the ballerina is scheduled to dancer her solo, both she and Zina come out, identically garbed, and dance the piece together. When Zina unmasks, Piotr realizes he has been had, and humbly apologizes to her. They are reconciled, and the ballet ends happily. The plot action is interspersed with folk-inspired dances by the farmers and townsfolk, set to Shostakovich's lively and happy music. This was a delightful performance of a ballet we're probably not going to see anywhere else, at least for a while, and we enjoyed it very much. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/210089.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
3:39 pm	Milwaukee Ballet, "Peter Pan" revival It's rare for a ballet production to be revived only two years after its premier (as least in these parts), but Michael Pink's "Peter Pan" has proven so popular both here, and in Denver, where it sold out twelve performances out of twelve, that it seemed a good ideal all around. For details of the action, you can see my May 17th, 2010, review at: http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/166578.html. The plot has remained the same, but the production has benefited from some tweaking, with choreography being tightened up in some spots, and expanded in others. There were some subtle changes as well. In 2010, regarding the first act, I wrote: "The action moves inside with readying for bed as John (Petr Zahradnicek) plays a hook-handed pirate fighting Michael (Nicole Teague) as a feather-wearing Indian. When the pirate loses his sword, Wendy seizes it and joins in, a nice bit of foreshadowing." In this version, Wendy has her OWN wooden sword, and engages John as an equal from the outset. The role of Tinkerbell is expanded somewhat, as she accompanies Peter into the nursery on his first exploration, making her first appearance earlier than I recall from before. Marc Petrocci, Luz San Miguel, Susan Gartell, David Hovanhannisyan, Petr Zahradnicek, and Nicole Teague all reprised their 2010 roles as Peter, Tinkerbell, Wendy, Mr. Darling/Captain Hook, John, and Michael, respectively. This was a very good thing, as there's nothing like having done a role before and had time to think about it, to allow a performer to find ways to add depth and nuance to a character. This was true of all the principals, but especially of Petrocci, whose dancing is even more bravura than before, and who practically radiates the joy and mischief of the character. All of the cast integrated dancing, acting, and action into a seamless whole. The orchestra, with Maestro Pasquale Lorino also reprising his role, did great justice to Philip Feeney's exciting score. The result was a performance that was an unalloyed pleasure to behold. It will probably be longer before "Peter Pan" comes around again, but we were very glad to have had the chance to see it this second time. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/209879.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
1:23 pm	My thoughts on gay marriage With the gay marriage issue coming back into the spotlight, it seems a good time to restate my thoughts on the subject. In the first place, marriage qua marriage is not the holy of holies many people make out. True, it is one of the "seven sacraments" but many historians argue that, until comparatively recently--perhaps the last couple centuries--most poor people were not married in church, or even on the steps of the church, because they had no money to pay the clergyman's fee, and so either just moved in together, establishing what has become known as "common-law marriage," or had some kind of folk ceremony like "jumping the broom," both of which were socially deemed legitimate. Second, let's not even get into the "sanctity of marriage." Deplorable as it might be, marriage is no longer "till death do us part" for half or more couples. Third, I have never heard ANY argument, let alone a coherent one, from anyone, attempting to explain why letting homosexuals marry in some way cheapens or dilutes heterosexual marriage. This is always stated baldly as a fact, so there, and no one even attempts to explain why this is so. Fourth, the idea that marriage (and by extension, sex) is for procreation only, was way off base from the beginning, and is totally outdated now. This position always left out the economic grounds, which historically ranged all the way from combining Princely fortunes to the poor man recruiting a helpmeet for the farming. (These days, I've known a number of happy couples get married so as to combine insurance coverage--.) Economics is a major reason why we SHOULD allow gay marriage. Like the piece of grit at the center of a pearl, the sacrament of marriage has accreted thick layers of laws, regulations, rights and privileges related to the married state. Like the pearl, these accretion layers are not made of the same stuff as the center, but have been tacked on for numerous social and political reasons. Really, giving legal status to a religious ceremony--the only one, that I can think of--should have been forbidden under separation of church and state, but I doubt that the Founding Fathers ever even considered that because, after all, everyone does it, right? So, my proposal would be that we should "divorce" (so to speak) the sacrement of marriage from all those laws that refer to it, and replace all reference to marriage with "domestic partnership." A domestic partnership would be formed by filing papers at the appropriate office, just like a business partnership, and be dissolved the same way, with accounting and division of assets. Some additional procedure would need to be provided for custody of minor children, I suspect. Membership in a domestic partnership could be limited to two people of legal age to contract, regardless of sex or other consideration. (The reason I would limit it to two people at least at first is that we haven't really even had any discussions of how heirship and custody sharing might work in families of more than two "parents" and until someone comes up with some models to discuss, we are not ready to go there.) Then, if the partners want to have the union sanctified by their church, congregation, or coven and call it a marriage rather than a partnership, they can do so, but this would confer no additional legal status or benefits. Pretty radical, I admit--but also rational, sensible, and fair. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/209563.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
1:07 pm	Alison Bechdel at Boswell Books On Monday evening the 7th, we went to Boswell Books on Farwell Avenue in Milwaukee for a reading by cartoonist and writer Alison Bechdel, creator of the "Dykes to Watch Out For" comic and author of the highly regarded graphic autobiography "Fun Home," which was concerned with her complex relationship with her father. Now, she is touring in support of the release of her new book, "Are You My Mother?", which is her second volume of autobiography, and, as you might expect, deals with relations with her mother. This, as Bechdel admitted, was a rather more touchy task than writing "Fun Home," because, unlike her father, Bechdel's mother is still alive and able--though largely unwilling--to comment on the process. Reading from a graphic novel to an audience would not have been optimal in years past, but, thanks to small portable projectors and programs like PowerPoint, Bechdel was able to project pictures from the first chapter of the book while giving the commentary that went along with them. The book looks and sounds fascinating--as "Fun Home" was in that slow-motion-train-wreck sort of way--and the audience of easily 200 people was quite intrigued. There was a question and answer session after the reading, in which Bechdel said that she was essentially finished with the "Dykes" comic and had no plans for any more--a disappointment, but not a surprise, given it has been on hiatus since 2008. We bought a copy of "Are You My Mother?" to take home and read. I'll post something here when I finish it. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/209377.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
12:41 pm	A Couple of Steaming Piles of Hypocritical Crap-- Could anyone who knows anything about the current state of Wisconsin politics do anything but laugh ironically when when Scott Walker chided unions (most of whom's head offices are located out of state)for meddling in Wisconsin politics, the day after he returned from yet another fund-raising junket loaded down with money from his almost-exclusively out of state donors? And, another entry in the "What THEY Think of US" department: yesterday's Journal Sentinel carried the front page story "Wife hits man with SUV after recall fight." It seems this Chippewa Falls man was refusing to let his ESTRANGED wife (i.e., they are on the outs--) drive to the polls on Tuesday because he disagreed with her voting plans. He repeatedly stood in front of her vehicle, jumped on the hood, and, when she attempted to drive AROUND him, jumped IN FRONT of the vehicle AGAIN, and was struck and seriously injured. So: 1) Here's a man who thinks he's got the right to dictate how his wife votes; 2) Thinks he has the right to physically prevent her from going to the polls (probably a crime); and 3) jumps in front of an SUV to stop her voting. Loon, right? However, the man's brother was quoted in the paper as saying, "These crazy liberal nuts are always pulling this crap." Excuse me? Seems to me the crazy is all on the (avowedly pro-Walker) side here. Not to mention that it's the PRIMARY election, for crying out loud. One more vote for Walker wouldn't have made a difference, and SOME Democrat's going to win the Democratic primary, so why the grief? I suppose one should expect a man's brother to stick up for him, but, in my opinion, it's easy to see why the couple is "estranged". This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/208928.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 7th, 2012
10:27 am	The Raven On Sunday the 6th, we went to see "The Raven," the movie which pits author Edgar Allen Poe against a serial killer who is reenacting the grisly murders from Poe's stories. The always-interesting John Cusack does a good job of playing Poe as an arrogant and angry character, railing against his literary rivals, and against both his poverty and the mercenary motives of his current publisher, newspaperman Maddux (Kevin McNally). When two women are found dead in a situation mimicking Poe's mystery story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," Poe is dragged into the investigation by Detective Emmet Fields (Luke Evans). Detective Fields, although not a fan of Poe, has read his stories, and seems to be trying to apply the techniques set out by Poe's detective, Auguste Dupin; at any rate, he is a highly rational and thoughtful policeman for the 1840's. The situation gets worse when the killer, prefiguring "Jack the Ripper", starts corresponding with the newspaper, and demands that Poe himself chronicle both the murders and Poe's part in the investigation. In proper Poe-esque fashion, the story goes to some very dark places and is unsparing in the horror (with one scene that is VERY gory and graphic--be warned!)and winds to a grim, but satisfying, conclusion. Cusack and Evans are well supported by Alice Eve as Poe's love interest, and a strong cast of veteran character actors. The setting is very nice (one doubts that 1849 Baltimore looked as good as the East European locations that stood in for it) and costuming ranging from very handsome to gorgeous in the Masked Ball scene. My one criticism would be that Cusack looks too healthy to be the alcoholic Poe in the last year of his life. Other than that, the script treats Poe well, pointing out real items from his past including that he attended West Point. The plot is a good whodunnit, which kept us guessing almost up to the final reveal. There are some plot holes and required suspensions of disbelief, but not so large as to derail being drawn in to the story. Recommended for fans of Poe, of period crime stories, and of horror films that still have some class. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/208790.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
8:45 am	The Pirates! Band of Misfits On May 1, we went out to see "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," the new stop-motion (mostly) animation film from Aardman Animations, creators of "Wallace and Gromit." The film is done in a refined version of Aardman's classic style, with sight gags piled one upon the other, such that we're planning to go back a second time just to try to catch more. (The credits are worth sitting through because they give you close ups of the many posters, portraits, and other graphics that decorate the "sets".) The seamless subtlety of the stop-motion, particularly in the character faces and expressions, makes you forget it's done with "clay" and meshes completely with CGI generated backgrounds. The movie begins with Queen Victoria (voice by Imelda Staunton) getting a briefing from her Admiral on Britain's rulership of the seas, which is complete except for the nagging, minor, pirate problem. This sets Victoria off into a rant against pirates, whom she hates because, among other reasons, they are anachronistic. (Which is quite true for her time, and a satirical swipe at "Pirates of the Carribean"--.) Cut to somewhere at sea, where The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is planning his campaign to win Pirate of the Year after many failures. In real life, any pirate who managed to keep himself, his crew, and his ship alive for twenty years would have been a great success. However, Pirate of the Year is based largely on how much booty you can bring to the judging, and he is far outclassed by rivals "Peg Leg Hastings," " Cutlass Liz," and reigning champion, "Black Bartleby." Frustrated, he scours the seas for more treasure, coming up empty until he overtakes Charles Darwin's survey ship, "The Beagle". Darwin (David Tennant) beguiles the Pirate Captain by telling him that he already has something that may be of "incalulable worth." However, Darwin's plan involves sailing to London and into the teeth of Queen Victoria's emnity. Lots of slapstick swashbuckling ensues. It turns out that not only does Darwin have a hidden agenda, so does Victoria, who turns out to be a formidable foe. The ultimate result is very funny, and thouroughly enjoyable. Suitable for all ages old enough to follow the plot. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/208639.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
1:45 pm	OddCon, 2012 We had a very good, if somewhat low-keyed time at this year's OddCon for 2012, "The Year Earth Gets Creamed." This year's Mad Cow by Georgie was very well received and a lot of t-shirts were sold. Just to note, the cow's head-dress and regalia are based on those of a genuine Mayan astronomer-priest, although his staff was replaced with the femur bone that appeared in the very first (2001) OddCon cow drawing--. We got to the Con after noon on Friday after a good drive over, and started our convention by listening to the "Deconstructing Green Lantern" panel, which I mainly agreed with--the film was marred by having been constructed "by committee," and by having too much crammed into it. The panel made it a very entertaining and not mean-spirited deconstruction and we enjoyed it. Next, Georgie had her panel, "Werewolves; Embrace Your Inner Beast!" She and the panel got their teeth into discussing this most popular species of shape-shifter and its current popularity. This was a well-attended panel and the audience seemed to enjoy it. We sat in on the "The End Of The World As We Know It" (literature) panel, in which Richard Russell and Jim Frenkel gave a good presentation on books about The End, and the various kinds of "ends" there can be. After that, we got checked into our room, drifted around, chatted with people and quickly checked the dealers' room before meeting Bill Bodden and Tracy Benton for dinner. We went out to Takara for Japanese food, which was as good as I had remembered. We got back well in time for the opening ceremonies, which were actually more coherent and tightly scripted than is usual for OddCon skits, ringing the changes on the "The End Of The World As We Know It" theme. Georgie was quite flattered that Janet Lewis, who appeared as "The Apocalypse Cow," had had a headdress made that referred quite well to Georgie's drawing. After the Opening, we hung around and chatted with Leah Fisher, among others, until the Poetry Slam started. We heard some interesting pieces from the contestants, but were lured away by the Chocolate Reception in the Art Show. (Besides being yummy, I do think this is a marvelous way to lure people in for close looks at the art.) My first panel was 11:30PM Friday night, "The Space Invaders Hall of Fame," which started with H.G. Wells' novel "War of the Worlds," up to the present day--concentrating mainly on movies and TV, since books would have been too numerous to mention. Lee Schneider, I, and an audience of insomniacs had a good time dragging out our favorite or un-favorite menaces from space. I was up early for the first panel of Saturday morning, "Under the Moons of Barsoom," with Richard West, Richard Chwedyk, and Jim Leinweber for a far-ranging discussion of Edgar Rice Burrough's "Barsoom" stories and those inspired by them. I had put together a PowerPoint presentation of cover art from the early days on, which I, Reena Noel, a gentleman from GeekCon whose name I didn't get, managed to have flowing out of the projector just in time for the panel to start. After that, I was on the panel "Steampunk: Is There a Canon," with TeslaCon Mastermind Eric Larson, and Professor Janice Bogstad. After an interesting discussion defining what a literary "canon" actually is, we more or less settle on the answer "yes AND no," and went on to mention what might be considered "essential" works of Steampunk. After that, we had a break until we were both on panels at 4:00PM. Mine, about games based on other works, was staffed with game industry professionals and turned into an interesting, gossipy, where's-the-dirt story session about the ins and outs of adapting literary properties to games. Georgie's panel,"Innkeepers and Bartenders of Fiction" went well and both panelists were well prepared and played off one another nicely. Out for dinner again, this time with Steve Johnson and Darlene Coltrain. Darlene's talented daughter, Fritha, was dancing at Shish Cafe, which was an extra treat besides Shish's excellent Mideastern food. That went pretty late, so we didn't do much on getting back to the hotel before going to bed. Sunday, Georgie had her panel, "The Muse Feels No Respect," which talked about the tensions between creative cross-pollination and increasingly restrictive ideas of copyright, and was very well done. Next up was "The End Of The World As We Know It" (Media) which focused on the apocalypse in film and television. Georgie had been a bit chagrined to end up on this panel, since she'd wanted to be on the Literature one, but contributed strongly to what was quite a fun panel. We ended the con with "Improv GM'ing," a panel on what to do when the players break your game, or when you're all there and the game-master calls in sick, or you just need something else to do. Lee Schneider, "Nix", and I shared anecdotes and ideas with an enthusiastic audience. That done, we disengaged and rolled home, another enjoyable OddCon behind us. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/208263.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
8:03 pm	"Creativity," an essay by Georgie Schnobrich Creativity I thought businesses had got over the vogue for saying they desire creativity in their employees, but recently I heard it again. This annoys me greatly, because from all I've seen, they don't, really. They see that money can be made from creativity sometimes and they want that potential - without all the mess, time, error and expense involved. They want to adopt their brain children, not gestate and give bloody birth to them themselves. Creativity very often is inefficiency in action. Creativity willfully goes down dead-end alleys and stays to rummage in the dumpsters. And most of the time what it finds is interesting, useless junk, not treasures. Which it enjoys anyway. Creativity lives on waste. It needs enough material to ruin and discard in order to come up with the truly nifty, surprising things, and to get them right. After investing time and effort, Creativity changes its mind, and can't give good solid reasons why. After finding a workable combination, Creativity goes on to try all the rest anyway, because knowledge is good even when it isn't authorized or being paid for. Like Edison, Creativity knows that finding out all the ways a project won't work is an important and desirable stage of development. Business calls this Failure; especially if it persists longer than a Quarter. Business values profit, efficiency, organization, economy, consistency, profit, accountability, right answers, steady progress, and all that good left brain stuff. Creativity values that too, - as it might value a "good" set of dinnerware too precious to ever get around to using often. Because Creativity tends to break things. Business seems to want the golden eggs without having to feed and house and breed the troublesome goose. It's also true that discipline, skill practice, judgment and objective assessment are ingredients of Creativity. They form the framework that inspiration can illuminate. And there's Creativity in minimalist situations too, where it finds ways to do wonders with barely anything. That's the respectable, industrious part that Business finds attractive. But unless they can accept that their hired Creative people must be welcome go out to play and ruin their expensive new shoes, they don't really want them. Anyway, this is how I see it. * This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/208020.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
7:39 pm	Why "We" Demonize Teachers, an essay be Georgie Schnobrich Georgie's had a couple of really good thoughtful pieces in her writing lately, and gave me permission to post them, for those who don't get TurboApa. Why "We" Demonize Teachers A year ago in Wisconsin, during the Walker administration's gutting of public unions, we heard a surge of bitter resentment and contempt directed toward public school teachers, - from the public itself. Quite a number of teachers seemed as surprised as they were dismayed. Public education is not a high status job, - and no one knows this better than elementary and high school teachers, - but a lot wondered what exactly they had done to deserve a New Jersey whack. How they "don't care about the kids, only money." How they are incompetent, stupid, immoral, wasteful, and, basically, blood-sucking leeches on the body politic. Adequate reasons, you'd think, if it were true: but why do so many prefer to think it is true? Where did this come from? I heard something else going on underneath, the - what Ursula K. LeGuin called - shifgrethor. On some level, the demonization of teachers is nothing new. Kids have always done it. When I was a Fourth Grader, we kids sang "...teacher hit me with a ruler. I bopped her on the bean with a rotten tangerine..." Some added the version "...I met her at the door with a loaded .44..." And we sang it with gusto and an odd sincerity. Whether we had teachers we admired, who supported and rescued and inspired us, or ones who disliked, misunderstood us and behaved unjustly, we all understood that Teacher was a category opposite that of Kids. Now and then we fraternized as individuals, but we were natural antagonists. (Not that we analyzed it at the time, of course, but looking back, I can see it.) Teachers are the bearers of the Death of Childhood. That's a lot of it. Their job is to bring us messages we don't yet want to accept: that we must change to fit our future, and in specific ways that go against our inclinations. Teachers expect us to do inner work as well as schoolwork, like impulse control, self-restraint, persistence, time-planning, patience, fairness, and an awareness of, and consideration for, Others. Teachers work to temper the sovereignty of Child Will, understanding, as a kid cannot, that submitting your will to another - conditional obedience - can be the first step in learning to control it yourself and have some measure of command over yourself lifelong. Civilization rests on these lessons, but none of it is easy, comfortable or enjoyable. The first stages of skill and character acquisition rarely are. And the process is unremitting and goes on and on, starting anew every year for 12 years! It sounds more like doing serious prison time to some kids than the prospect of doing real prison time. So we resent and resist it - till we grow up, and are able to see it all in a different light. Except we don't all necessarily grow up. A lot of us have found we can get away with not growing up as we go through life, and getting away with something is such a buzz, we pride ourselves on it. Kid culture has always been important in neighborhoods and in school, even in the times and places it was driven underground. It's the way we learn to connect and interact with our peers. But for a couple of centuries, the understanding had been that true self-realization and real power came from joining the adult world. There was a trade-off of sorts. The dangerous pleasures, like sex, drugs, alcohol, babies, authority and money, were officially off limits until you demonstrated that you could make yourself useful in society, and follow its shibboleths: work, marriage, solvency, responsibility, sometimes military service. And then times changed. Sometime between the Playboy Manifesto and the end of the revolutionary 1970s, adult culture came to seem solely one of boring burdens and grim obligations, with no real power or thrill. So Kid culture got brought along with kids who matured - or at least got older - while preferring a standard of less responsibility to rules and self-denial. It was a victory to get the goodies of adult life while retaining your allegiance to the "inner child" that was so fashionable in pop psychology. Grown up inner children still doesn't like to be told what to do, or to follow the rules of somebody who doesn't even pay them, as a boss does. A grown up inner child's allegiance is with other kids over authority, and when they have kids of their own they automatically side with them against the teachers and the cops. I have heard the following uttered by actual parents: "NO ONE has the right to order MY CHILD around!" and "I hated doing homework. My kid doesn't have to. Because I said so." This isn't about their child, it's about their visceral memory of hating their first experience of not being the dominant force in their world. It isn't even always conscious. But it enhances the pleasure of payback on that caste whom they reluctantly underwrite with their taxes. Still, plenty of people do grow into traditional adults, responsible, hardworking, god-fearing people. But the problem remains: teachers are the Bearers of the Death of Childhood. The teacher is still the permanent Antagonist, the infector of liberal ideas, the corrupter of their child's innate ignorant purity. They remember how they were forced to share and take turns in Kindergarten, and they still resent the imposition. They conveniently forget how scary and hard it was to fine out about sex from other kids or exploitive adults because their parents, who are the only ones who can convey this sacred information, found it hard to do and put it off. Teachers brainwashed children into feeling for "the Environment", and often encouraged sympathy for the scourges of multiculturalism, secularism and pacifism, and against the proper divisions of race, sex and class. AND they have the gall to do it while picking your pocket! So, either way, teachers bear the brunt of a lot of unresolved resentment or ambivalence on the part of voting age citizens who, if faced with actually having to do their job (never mind for 20 years or so) would prefer long term dental surgery. Anyway, that's my take on it. * This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/207635.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
3:40 pm	What THEY Think of US-- In his "No Quarter" column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel April 30, investigative reporter Daniel Bice related a very telling quote from "GOP campaign strategist" Mark Graul. In discussing the unusual fact that the location of Governor Scott Walker's recall campaign headquarters is apparently a deep, dark, secret, Graul said: "I don't know that I recall a campaign not publicizing their campaign offices, but based on some of the ridiculousness of the absurd protesters, it make sense not to let those people know where they're at so they don't go over there and dump beer on their heads or any of the other stupid things those idiots do." Woo! In one breath, Mr. Graul worked in ridiculous, absurd, stupid, and idiots, referring to those of us who protested the Republicans unprecedented power grab last year. So much for respecting others' opinions--. Dump beer on their heads? I don't recall anything like that being reported during last spring's protests, or since. Perhaps mr. Graul is recalling the last baseball game he went to, instead--. (Note. Mr. Graul is not mentioned as being a representative for Governor Walker or his campaign. Bice describes him as a "veteran Republican handler". He is the founder and CEO of Green Bay-based Arena Strategy Group, LLC, "a full-service grassroots mobilization, public affairs and public relations consulting firm that works for clients in multiple Midwestern states." Mr. Graul boasts a long record as a political operative, but not, evidently, as a diplomatist. Mr. Graul went to work for himself after being caught up in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, in which it was alleged that, as chief of staff to Congressman Mark Green, requested and accepted questionable gifts from Abramoff's office,and then was deceitful about it when questioned. http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/DPWGraul060106.pdf ) Note also, that it isn't just that Walker "isn't publicizing" the address of his campaign headquarters, it is definitely at an "undisclosed location," which Walker campaign chairwoman Clara Matthews declined to disclose to Mr. Bice. The full column can be read here: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/guvs-hq-in-double-secret-location-6i56lbh-149449655.html I'm not saying that if the location of Walker's campaign headquarters WERE known, they wouldn't be picketed. They probably would be, but it is ridiculous, absurd, stupid, and idiotic to suggest that anyone working there fear any form of assault, as the history of the protest movement shows. This is an example of the pervasive paranoia and fear of the people that seems to be endemic among Republicans currently. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/207609.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
7:54 pm	Gloom & Doom Dept. Part 2: It's Not Just Me-- Next Great Depression? MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030 'A new study from researchers at Jay W. Forrester's institute at MIT says that the world could suffer from "global economic collapse" and "precipitous population decline" if people continue to consume the world's resources at the current pace. Smithsonian Magazine writes that Australian physicist Graham Turner says "the world is on track for disaster" and that current evidence coincides with a famous, and in some quarters, infamous, academic report from 1972 entitled, "The Limits to Growth." ' Read the full story at: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/next-great-depression-mit-researchers-predict-global-economic-190352944.html This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/207187.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
1:20 pm	Cream City Chorus: "We Are ONE: Celebrating Diversity" On Sunday, April 1, we went to the Unitarian Universalist Church West, to enjoy the Cream City Chorus’ spring concert, “We Are ONE: Celebrating Diversity.” Rather in keeping with the theme, this concert was heavy on numbers for the whole group, with few small ensemble songs. The chorus as a whole was in very good voice, which made for very enjoyable listening. The songs that did have major solo parts had very strong performances, such as by Hillary Giffen in “Blessing,” and Chuck Ellingson on “Not In Our Town.” Serious songs on the themes of inclusion were also leavened with funny pieces, such as “Can’t Take the ‘Color’ Out of Colorado.” All in all a very fine concert. April 1 was the actual 25th anniversary of the Chorus’ founding. Founders, past members, and friends gave short remarks during the performance honoring the day. Georgie was asked to provide cake for the reception after, and made two, one with the concert rainbow design, and one with the Chorus’ 25 year logo, both designed by Emory Churness. We had previously gotten the melancholy news that this is going to be the Chorus’ final season. There are life cycles in all things—particularly volunteer organizations—and the Chorus has evidently come to the end. The actual final concert will be the cabaret show scheduled for June 16th, also at the UUCWest. The Chorus will be missed—at least by us. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/206867.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
12:58 pm	The “Limits to Growth” (Gloom & Doom Dept.) In preparation for the March installment of Sue Blom’s salon topic on whether or not a sustainable economy could be achieved, I found myself looking in the Library system for a copy of the 1972 Club of Rome report “The Limits to Growth,” which I read shortly after its issuance and tended to disagree with. I was intrigued to find that the authors had done two follow-up books, “Beyond the Limits” in 1992, and “Limits to Growth, the 30-Year Update.” I got and read the 30-year update book. While the book is very well written, I found it both horrifying and depressing. Although the authors do their best to take an upbeat view and point out technically feasible means of averting the worst possible outcomes, what I get out of it, given the general stupidity, short-sightedness and self-centeredness of humanity, is that we are screwed. While the authors take care to point out that the computer models they base projections on cannot be considered to be reliably predictive, the fact remains that certain of their past models have matched reality very closely and projections have by and large been matched by real-life economic, industrial, and environmental events. Given that, I’m inclined to take their most recent sets of projections seriously. In particular, there is NO projection in which we can continue on as we are. Even if it is proposed as a given that there can be continuous growth with unlimited increases in production of energy and food (two major limiters) there is still the issue of what to do with a likewise increasing amount of waste product. There are a number of terms that should be understood in this context. “Environmental Footprint” refers to that amount of land, water, and air that is required both to produce enough food and other products including energy to sustain the present human race, and to absorb the concomitant waste products, including carbon dioxide, in a sustainable fashion. “Overshoot” is the term describing the condition in which our environmental footprint exceeds that which the Earth can provide. “Collapse” refers to a marked decline in life-expectancy, population, and overall standard of living that is projected to occur if the ‘overshoot’ condition is not corrected. Now, consider that, based on statistics collected by governments and other organizations not the Club of Rome, we have been overshooting the Earth’s carrying capacity since the 1980’s; that the present overshoot is calculated at TWENTY PER CENT (i.e., planet is presently at 120% of capacity); that, since the 1970’s essentially NONE of the necessary corrective measures have been implemented; that, given politics as usual and the competing aspirations of nations, none are likely to be implemented in the foreseeable future and it’s pretty clear collapse is inevitable. (Update from the Club of Rome’s website: “In 2008 the human demand on the biosphere exceeded the global biocapacity by some 30 %. Global greenhouse gas emissions were some eight times above sustainable levels. Most global fisheries were overfished. The world of 2010 is “in overshoot”.) My only hope is that the projections putting the beginning of collapse 20+ years out are more correct than those guessing more like, oh, 2015. That way, I can get old(er) and hopefully die peacefully before it all goes to smash—which is selfish of me, too. My heart breaks for our young friends and relations who will inherit the disaster, but there’s damn-all I can do about it. Words like this are sand thrown against the overwhelming wind of ignorance and greed. I am so, so, sorry. When I first read the “Limits to Growth” in 1975 or so, I also read G. Harry Stine’s book, “The Third Industrial Revolution,” and said, oh, but the Club of Rome does not take into account the possibility of extending our environmental foot print off the Earth, and expanding the planet’s carrying capacity into space. Well, here we are almost forty years after that, and, just as we don’t have any remedial economic or environmental policies in place, we don’t have any orbiting industries, habitats, or solar power stations, either. Nor are we likely to in the future. Providing for even a significant amount of humankind’s need from space would require a massive mobilization of capital, materiel, and willpower. While we might conceivably muster the money and the materials, the willpower is totally lacking, especially given the stranglehold the greedy are seeking to put on government spending all across the globe (see, “The Big Con” in this journal), again despite the well-documented HARM “austerity measures” do to economic growth and prosperity. This I largely blame on lack of decision on the part of NASA in failing to come up with an immediate successor to the Space Shuttle, and the lack of vision in our government for failing to push the issue. Unless China has the will to really put a push on, it’s my prediction that the age of human space exploration has essentially ended. Oh, well—if the Chinese get their act together, maybe at least one science-fiction future will come true. Anyone for "Armageddon 2419, A.D."? This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/206646.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
11:36 am	The Hunger Games On Monday the 26th, we went to our local cinema to see “The Hunger Games,” the film adaptation of the popular “Young Adult” novel by Suzanne Collins. If you’ve read the book, you know the movie plot since it is a remarkably faithful adaptation, although—and kudos to the movie makers for this—the working out of events still allows for surprise and suspense. If you haven’t read the book, you can still enjoy the movie, since it’s pretty much all up there. It is set in an alternate world/dystopian future, where the USA has been replaced by an authoritarian central government . Seventy-four years ago, the “Capitol” ruthlessly put down a rebellion by the thirteen “districts”, and, since then, has underscored its tyrannous power by annually exacting two twelve-eighteen year-olds as “tributes” to fight to the death in the so-called “Hunger Games.” The Hunger Games draw of course from the ancient myth of the Minotaur, with Athens’ tribute of maidens and young men to Crete; from the gladiatorial games of Rome; and a healthy dose of modern “reality TV” complete with sponsors and audience participation. The film is unsparing in depicting the Depression-era downtrodden-ness of hardscrabble District 12, home of protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), and comparing it with the futuristic Capitol. When Games “Escort” Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) appears for annual lottery, her garish makeup and over-the-top costume is so shocking that her mere presence is menacing—as though a female version of The Joker had shown up to menace a village of 1930’s coal miners. The film also takes an effective low-key approach which actually punches up the often gut-wrenching emotions. That the District people stand in bitter silence while their children are taken away to die is far more effective than any crowd muttering or musical stings could be. For the Capitol, the Hunger Games are a joyous festival, and, except for the few people directly involved in running the games, we only see the citizens as a mass audience, approving of what they are shown, oooh-ing, and ahh-ing over costumes, or clever remarks in the obligatory interviews. Only in once sequence, the playback of a prior, brutal “victory” do we get a hint of the potential underlying bloodlust. Otherwise, we see only the smug satisfaction of the Gamesmakers as they control the Games. Stanley Tucci, as Games host Caesar Flickerman, gives a remarkable performance, sometimes seeming human, and sometimes a caricature out of something like the “Judge Dredd” comics. The long sequence of the actual Games is well done. There is generally a restrained approach to combat, with most of the deaths taking place off camera, and minimal gore. The necessary ones are handled sensitively. We remarked that very seldom in the conventional action/adventure movie is the hero given the time or inclination to weep for a fallen comrade, but, in this context, it happens, and is the right thing. Casting and acting are of a uniformly high standard: beside those already mentioned, Josh Hutcherson looks just as I’d pictured Peeta Mellark, and is excellent in the role. Woody Harrelson grew on me in the role of Haymich, whom I had pictured as older and craggier: in fact, (as we learn in the second book) Haymitch was the victor of the 50th Hunger Games and therefore can’t be older than 43. Thus, Harrelson looks the right age—another instance of the moviemaker’s attention to detail. I’m not going to say that this movie is for everyone: a bunch of nice-looking young people get killed in nasty ways, and not just for being stupid or in the wrong place, as in the average slasher film, so there’s genuine pathos and tension. (On the other hand, no sex, and no bad language--.) Otherwise, if the subject matter interests you at all, I predict that you will not be disappointed. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/206465.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Monday, March 26th, 2012
1:20 pm	“The Big Con” I’ve recently read a fascinating book by Jonathan Chait, entitled “The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics.” Everyone who is interested in current politics, economics, or, particularly how things in this country got into their current sorry state should read this book. Chait is a senior editor at New Republic magazine among other journalistic credits. He does not pretend to be non-partisan, but, the facts he cites match up with those I have seen from other sources, so I believe that as far as his factual basis goes, he is on solid ground. In the first part of the book, he explains that “supply-side economics,” which ALL the Republican leadership, and all the present crop of Republican presidential candidates have signed on to, is bunk. It is based on a hypothesis, commonly known as the “Laffer Curve.” This purports to demonstrate that there is a consistent positive relationship between lower taxes and economic growth, and that tax levels are the single most important factor to be considered in planning for economic growth, essentially outweighing all other factors. In point of fact this conjecture had absolutely no scientific, statistical, or historical underpinnings, and has consistently failed to predict any economic developments since it was propounded in the 1970’s. So, how has this idea nevertheless become the sole paradigm of Republican economic thought? Shortly after its inception, it was seized upon by a number of ‘small government’ zealots* and aggressively promoted, in large part to the newly rising big business/big money lobbies. After having been caught flatfooted by the wave of liberal-inspired public interest regulations of the early 70’s, Business went into lobbying with a vengeance. Not surprisingly, any policy which would reduce taxation and increase profitability looked just fine to the Business lobby, whether or not the other supposed benefits would actually accrue. With this expressed interest, the Republican party more and more began to see running on a lower tax platform a good way to be elected, which has resulted in a positive feedback loop. The result, simplified, is that everything you’ve been afraid of about the Republican party becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Big Business is functionally true. In fact it’s more like that the Party, Big Business, the “K-Street Project” lobbying firms, and the pool of people that move among the three have solidly interlocking interests that work to exclude considerations of tax justice, worker’s or consumer’s rights, or environmental, health, or safety. And, in order to maintain a nominating interest in party organization, they have made an alliance with social conservative Republicans-guaranteeing an emphasis on lip-service to regressive civil rights policies. So far, the social conservatives have not twigged to the fact that they are the very junior partners in this alliance. Wisconsin being a case in point: immediately after getting in office, the Republicans rammed through legislation intended to keep themselves in power and to gratify their corporate sponsors. Now, fifteen months later, and having lost control of the State Senate, they are getting around to jumping on the anti-women’s rights bandwagon and debating onerous limitations on abortion. I note that this is a 2007 publication: the fact that we haven’t heard more of this book points out another conservative “big lie”—the so-called “liberal media.” I don’t know what can be done to break up this logjam. I’ve seen modest hopes expressed that either the ethical/moderate wing of the Republican party might break off and form a Centrist party with conservative Democrats, or that the Tea Party might form their own hyper-right party, neither of which I find very likely to occur. All I can suggest is that we continue to get the word out that the current Republican economic platform as stated is based on nothing; and in practice is totally serving the interest of the 1% (actually, the 0.1%--but who’s counting?). *It may not surprise you to find that one of the early adopters and stalwart advocates of “supply-side economics” was and is former Vice-President Dick Cheney. Given this added to his oil-fueled advocacy of war on Iraq, and his anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional “unitary executive” theory, history may find Cheney to have been the most malign American political figure of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.) This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/206275.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
3:02 pm	Stand Your Ground? NOT! Those who have been regular followers of this blog know that I am an advocate of the right to keep and bear arms. Therefore, I feel it appropriate to comment on the dreadful Trayvon Martin case. Before this, I had never heard of such a thing as a "stand your ground" law; having heard of it, I think it is abominable. In general, I support what it commonly called the "castle doctrine," which holds that in one's own home, one is not required to "retreat" or avoid confrontation with an intruder. This is a specific exception to the historical laws on self-defense/defense of others, which had always ruled that if one could escape or avoid an assailant with out use of force, one should do so. Obviously, this becomes problematical when in one's own home--you might be "cornered" and have nowhere to retreat to, or, one's loved ones may be elsewhere in the dwelling, and retreating might expose them to attack in your stead. Even the castle doctrine has its problems. Although the average citizen is not expected to be able to judge what constitutes "excessive force" in the same way that a trained police officer might be expected to, it makes me uncomfortable that it is frequently interpreted as the right to kill an intruder out of hand. In a recent case in upstate Wisconsin, a 20 yeasr old man, fleeing police who were breaking up an underage drinking party, took shelter in what has been described as the "enclosed porch" of a nearby home, whereupon he was shot and killed by the householder. Police issued no charges citing Wisconsin's recently enacted castle doctrine law. Is an "enclosed porch" really part of the "castle"? Per the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel: "The partygoers fled from the garage. Morrison was seen running behind the house of the man who called police. The man told investigators he heard noises by the back porch, thought someone might be breaking in and grabbed and his loaded revolver. The light in the porch room was not on when the man opened the door and entered before encountering Morrison, who had been hiding behind the door between a refrigerator and a dresser. The man then asked Morrison what he was doing there before Morrison stood up, raised his hand and took a step toward him. The homeowner then fired once, striking Morrison in the chest, according to the report, before yelling to his wife to call 911. According to the district attorney's statement, the limited requirements under the castle doctrine law regarding reasonable use of force were met by the homeowner and he reasonably believed it was necessary to fire his weapon to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself. That the room was small and dark, the belief that someone was breaking in and that he was startled when he saw Morrison were cited as factors that showed the homeowner's action was lawful. Protection of his wife, two children, along with another child younger than 10, all of whom were in the home, was also cited as a factor." Prior to enactment of such a thing as a "stand your ground" law, the law has been that there is no expectation of privacy or security in the public street, and therefore there was the duty to retreat or avoid threats. The "stand your ground" law turns centuries of precedent on its head: basically, it makes wherever you are a "castle" that you are entitled to defend. This is a recipe for disaster, as we have seen. It relieves agressive yahoos of any responsibility to consider consequences of actions and absolutely sets up the conditions for the infamous "wild-west style shootout" that gun critics always predict will happen, but never has--so far. To give anyone the right to use force to "defend" a piece of street is totally wrong and the height of legislative irresponsibility. I would call upon the legislatures of the states that have enacted these foolish laws to repeal them at once. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/205882.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
1:36 pm	Gene Deweese, R.I.P. I am sorry to report the passing of Milwaukee author and fan, Gene Deweese. He died on March 19th, after a long illness. Gene, born Thomas Eugene DeWeese was an SF fan from an early age, and writer of fiction, particularly science fiction but including Gothics, mysteries, romances, suspense, fantasy, and horror; as well as non-fiction books on technology and folk art. He published as Gene DeWeese and Jean DeWeese; his pseudonyms as a collaborator included Thomas Stratton and Victoria Thomas. His oveure included forty novels, plus short stories, essays, and hundreds of reviews of science fiction. If I recall correctly, Gene was a panelist at early WisCons and X-Cons, as well as numerous other Midwest SF conventions until his shyness caused him generally to withdraw from public life. He worked for General Motors' Delco Electronics Division as a technician in Kokomo, Indiana from 1954–1959, and as a technical writer (including for the Apollo space program) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1959 to 1974 (when he became a fulltime freelance writer). DeWeese's first professionally published fiction, the novels "The Invisibility Affair" and "The Mind-Twisters Affair" (both 1967, one of which included the infamous Wisconsin Margerine Smuggling episode), were part of the series of Man from U.N.C.L.E. books written with fellow science fiction fan "Buck" Coulson under the pseudonym Thomas Stratton, which the two had previously used for fiction published in fanzines. DeWeese since has written over forty books, including novels in the Star Trek, Ravenloft, Dinotopia, and Amazing Stories series. His best-known young adult novel is The Adventures of a Two-Minute Werewolf, which was made into a television movie of the same name. With Buck Coulson, Deweese was also the author of two fond satires on science fiction fandom, "Now You See It/Him/Them" (1975) and "Charles Fort Never Mentioned Wombats," (1977). Gene is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Beverly "Bev" Deweese, herself a long time fan and regular convention panelist. Thanks to "Orange Mike" Lowrey for the notice, and Wikipedia for the details. Steve Silver has also posted an obituary at SFSite.com today. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/205581.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
3:36 pm	Spring! Today is 2012's vernal equinox, and for once in my life so far, I can truthfully say that we seem to be having an early spring of the type oft-predicted by the Groundhogs, but seldom actually delivered by Mother Nature. We had snow and ice here on March 2nd, which did not last long. Last week, crocuses were up and blooming. Yesterday, daffodils, snowdrops, violets, wood hyacinths, forsithia, and even an early tulip were in bloom, some of them actually overnight. The cardinals and other birds are singing nesting songs. In part, this is due to the jet stream dipping far south to the west of us, then veering north of Lake Superior, so that we are getting considerable southern air. How long this can last is anyone's guess--the best we can do is enjoy it while it lasts without being too worried about the strangeness of it. This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/205503.html. Please comment there using OpenID. (Comment on this)