No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on June 2, 2014

The author Jay Lake passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

I wouldn’t say that we were close friends more nodding acquaintances with a lot of mutual friends. We had been thrown onto panels at various conventions and if I saw he was on a panel I knew that there would be some interesting discourse and a loud Hawaiian shirt.

I don’t say my usual rest in peace in deference to Jay not believing that there was anything after this life. So out of respect for him, his family, and loved ones I choose to use the language that Jay had asked us to use when talking about his death.

I am hoping that someone wises up and publishes Jay’s web blog about his journey through cancer. He didn’t sugar coat his insights. He talked about the good days and the bad. The hopes and dreams that he might never get to fulfill. His frustration with the health care system and the airline industry at times. He gave good information on how to deal with all the minutia that goes along with getting ready to shuffle off this mortal coil.

He was so much more than his cancer narrative. He was a dámņ fine author with a number of books to his name. You can find out more about his work here. I liked his work that I read and plan on reading more.

We have lost a man who brought lot to the table. He was always good for a gastronomic adventure and a fun tale. He will be missed.

I am grateful that I got to talk to Jay at SDCC last year.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 31, 2014

As in I am of two minds on a number of subjects and am sorting out what I need to do, what I want to do, and where these might intersect along with what must be done first.

Kind of in mixed brain mode right now. Allergies seem to be easing so I am hoping that will allow of some clarity. I am tired of fuzzy brain.

Snow and Charming are the parents of a little boy. Well the actors who portray them did. Congratulations to the Dallas’ and their newborn.

Caroline is getting into Buffy. She is the right age for it now. It is interesting seeing the series from the beginning.

Still grooving on Xmen Days of Future Past. Yes, not the perfect X-man film since that has yet to be made but right up there with First Class in my books.

Maleficent was magnificent. Best thing that I have seen Angelina Jolie act in. The movie script is occasionally a bit cringe worthy but she rises above it and gives the performance of a life time which makes it worth seeing this film. 3-D would add to the experience but not necessary for it. Does need to be seen on the large screen just for the scope of some of the scenes.

I have been getting some interesting reaction to my essay “Not Your Trained Monkey” including a barista who pointed out that how you treat the people who serve you coffee is a great indicator of your general way of interacting with people. Personally I was taught to be polite to everyone as a good rule of thumb.

Think good thoughts for Jay Lake and Lisa Costello. Jay has gone into hospice care. Lisa had to deal with rumors of Jay’s demise on the Internet, which is energy she really didn’t need to expend right now. As of this morning, Jay is still with us.

I am proud of myself for fixing the printer. The drum had run out and I worked out how to get the printing reset and talking to the computer again. Not the logical path to resolve the problem at all. In fact parts of it were counterintuitive.

So going to start the day and get things done.

I am grateful I can work things through in my head.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 29, 2014

This is not to most people in fandom. This is to that small minority that can’t seem to get a grip on boundaries. But this behavior bothers the ever loving out of me and all I see is, in the land of right now, it getting worse.

I read yesterday a bunch of people taking James MacAvoy to task for swearing at some teenagers. How rude said some. What a dìçk said others. And here I thought he was such a nice guy said some more. So I did some digging around and found closer to the whole story. Mr. MacAvoy was with a bunch of his mates in a pub celebrating a friend’s birthday. These teens asked for pictures and autographs and Mr. MacAvoy informed them that he was there to spend sometime with his friends and could they just leave him alone. Now the teens were not the first ones to approach him and ask this of him. This had been going on all evening. But apparently these teens wouldn’t take no for an answer and he blew up at them with language that was pretty harsh. So now he is the bad guy in the piece.

Well may be he shouldn’t have been out in public said some. There is a price for fame said others. He shouldn’t have to hide because he’s an actor and a popular one in some circles. He wanted to go where his friends wanted to go which was this pub. He shouldn’t have to hide.

Recently there have been a spate of pictures from Glasgow of Robert Carlyle. He is filming a film there and spending time with his family. He has been very polite and gracious to people and taken a lot of selfies. But I can see the strained polite smile on his face. I have seen it before on friends who have to deal with the same thing. I had more respect for the fan who just posted that she had her hands full and Robert Carlyle opened the door for her at a grocery store. No picture just her moment with the actor out on twitter.

I remember years ago I was working at the Emory University library and I had gone to another library to pick up the books that belonged in our collection while returning books that belonged in theirs. I had to do that about once every two days. Well that day had been around finals so there were more books than usual and I was juggling the stack trying to figure out how to get the door to open when I heard a familiar southern voice say, “Here, let me get that for you.” The door opened and I turn to thank the person who did me a kind deed. I was a bit startled so I did stammer but I managed to thank President Carter for opening a door for me. No selflies or the like back then in the mid 80s just someone being very polite and honestly I wouldn’t have asked anyway.

I have had meals with people who tend to get the general population to do a double take when they realize who is sitting at the table. I had a lot of fun watching people walk by Peter’s at the rehab hospital when Stephen King and I were just sitting there talking waiting for Peter to finish up his physical therapy session. There were two looks that were prominent. One was those that were trying to figure out where they had seen Stephen before because he looked familiar and the other were people who had been informed that he was in the building and were coming by for a glance. Now props to everyone there, no one asked for an autograph or a selfie. They were professional about it.

Misha Collins got some serious flack for saying the actors aren’t your trained monkeys after being asked to say this or do that. But they aren’t.

Actors are people to. They have to deal with cat boxes and walking their dogs. With laundry and dishes. With all the issues of living and they should be able to go places un-harassed and do what they need to do. They should be able to go out with friends to places and have a drink or a restaurant and have a meal without it being interrupted 20 times by fans. This holds true for everyone really.

I remember when I worked at Del Rey, I was out to lunch with a good friend. We were over towards on 8th avenue having walking from Time Square. Walking towards us was David Bowie and Iman they were hand in hand just enjoying the day. There was what we call the New York nod acknowledging that their greatness had been recognized. They smiled and nodded back and we went our way and they went theirs. That is the way it should be.

There is a time and place for everything but I really wish people would realize when it is neither.

I am grateful for those who recognize boundries.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 28, 2014

I am using Mojo in terms of talent/skill for the purposes of this entry

Recently I have been working through what I want to get done before X convention.

And I have discovered I would like to do quite a bit and a lot of it is challenging.

How much have I gotten done?

Other than a few commission pieces that would be a big fat zero.

Reason why?

Well to be honest my motivation seems to be on vacation.

So there is a vicious circle of wanting to do but not doing.

Happens sometime to the best of us.

Now the trick is to get both my motivation and Mojo back on track before I end up in a panic situation that consists of me blowing through everything to get X project done at the cost of a lot of other things.

Why am I putting this out here?

I know that others feel the same but are scared to voice it. It is OK to have these sorts of events in one’s life. The hard part is getting past it and back on track.

And if I put it out here, I feel more accountable. Have no idea why but I do.

So here it is. This week I am working on getting my Mojo back online and working for me rather than tearing my brain apart with regret and disappointment.

I’ll report back next week on how that goes.

I am grateful for positive motivation.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 27, 2014

To understand why I liked this film as much as I did X-Men First Class, you need to understand that I am a dyed in the wool X-Man fan and have been most of my life.

I was a bit dubious when I heard the name of the film because those issues of X-Men hold a special place in my heart along with a chunk of Claremont’s run. Then I heard how they were going to rework it and I was not sure if it would work. But Peter pointed out the plot hole that would have existed if they hadn’t so I was willing to wait and see.

Bits and pieces came out of the filming and my concerns came back because of the set up and the number of actors being added to the cast. I was worried it was going to be cameo central and the story would get lost in it.

Well I was wrong to worry. This film did the source material proud and gave us a number of things we didn’t even know we needed.

Casting was top rate and, with a couple of exceptions that I will put being the cut because spoilers, everyone got their moment to shine in the sun.

Top marks go to Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, Sir Patrick, Sir Ian, Fassbender, McAvoy, Dinklage, Hoult, and Jackman. More on that below the cut.

Can someone who has never seen an X-men film and has only a vague idea who these characters are see this film and totally understand it? Mostly, but it does help to have seen X-Men First Class since they skirt about a couple of plot points that came out of that film.

The action is good and doesn’t seem inserted. It is a nice mix of big booms and quiet scenes. The plot does a nice job of weaving between past and future where neither seem to be the total focal point of the film but part of the same film.

Now I was 10 in 1973 so I have some pretty clear memories of the time and the dress so props to the costuming and set people for pretty much revisiting the 70s as I knew it. Some of it seemed a little over the top but based on the TV of the time, that is what everyone wore so I went with the flow on this one. I give the costume designer high marks for the crowd in Paris which was a mix of 50,60, 70 fashion which is exactly what would be floating around at the time.

3-D is not a deal breaker on this one. There are some nice effects but only two scenes really sing more because of the technology and one of them is the teaser for the next film at the end.

More spoiler type review behind the cut and in the comments.

I am grateful that they didn’t screw this one up.

(more…)

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