A Brief Hiatus from from Epic Historical Novels

If this book is a good indication of the general quality of these Hard Case paperbacks I'm going to have to get them all for sure. The packaging is awesome, trying to emulate those old Fawcett Gold Medal paperbacks and doing a wonderful job of it. The cover on this one (by Art Suydam! no less) is superb. The guy with the knife looming in the doorway has some very Frazetta-esque styling to him, but I just love this painting in general. I started this book yesterday and I finished it this morning just reading it in my breaks between other work and I enjoyed every minute of it. I think I have only read two books by Mickey Spillane before, one was called Day of the Gun or some similar title, not a Mike Hammer novel if I remember correctly. I remember enjoying the book, but when I was younger I only read crime, mystery and thriller novels sparsely, basically only reading Science Fiction and Fantasy type novels. Recently I have been discovering that most of my favorite stylists are from the mystery field currently - Guys like Charles Willeford, Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, etc.

This is one of Mickey Spillane's last novels ( he was working on four at the time of his death) with the last couple of chapters finished by Max Alan Collins. I like the writing in this book, it's spare and to the point with some nice turns of phrase. You get the feeling sometimes in this book that the modern world has passed the characters (and Mickey) by. The plot is the weakest part of this book, the McGuffin being some nuclear material that is handled in ways not even the dumbest criminal would attempt, but for me plot is become more or less incidental to my enjoyment because really there are only so many ways things can play out. I'm more interested in my enjoyment of the authorial voice and the resonance of the characters and I found a lot to like here. I'm going to be reading some more Mickey Spillane novels in the coming weeks, but right now I decided to segue into a Carl Hiassen novel and then I'm going to circle back to the long Historical series that I recently started to read (John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles and Wilbur Smith's Courtney Cycle of novels).

Randomness

Currently reading Monsoon by Wilbur Smith and I am enjoying it immensely as it combines many of my favorite things in one novel, i.e. Nautical fiction, hints of Africa, the Spice Trade, and it's close enough to my favorite period in history (the Elizabethan Age) that I feel at home. It's a huge book but it's so enjoyable to read.

I just finished reading John Jakes' first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, The Bastard, another excellent historical novel. I'll probably read the second Kent Family Chronicles volume The Rebel when I'm done Monsoon. At this point I can't even conceive of writing a novel like these but maybe someday. It would be fun just to have an excuse to immerse myself in the research. Right now I just want to get some headway on a stripped down 200 page novel that plays to my current writing strengths and at least get one completed novel under my belt before I try something more ambitious...

Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Huge storm last night blew down a tree in the backyard and created much havoc across the city, knocking out power on Whyte avenue and to some neighborhoods by the University (i.e. mine). With no power for more than eight hours and no battery powered alarm clock or functioning cell-phone (my died on the way home from work and the power went out when I was heading upstairs to charge it); I ended up having to sleep with my son's Donkey clock and waking myself up every so often to check the time. The storm also stranded one of the LRT trains on the bridge where it remained for over 16 hours causing system-wide delays and assisting in the general conspiracy to make me late for work. Started the morning trying to read a nautical novel by Dewey Lambdin but wasn't able to get into it at this time. It did seem to have some refreshingly new elements, the main character having a nit of the same predelictions as Flashman which should lead to an amusing and entertaining series of nautical adventures but I'm just not in the mood right now. Have a pile of books with my reading in various stages of completion, most of them being single author short story collections.

Meeting Entropy

Recently made a visit to my father's farm to pick up some more of my stuff that has been sitting in a shed there since 1994. I haven't been back there since my father's funeral July 26, 2005. since I hadn't been out there in three years, i was relieved to find that at least my shed was still standing if nothing else. But upon opening the door I realized I had suffered a few invasions of members of the order of mammals Rodentia. Ordinarily I am friends with members of this particular family but at times they do test my patience. I forgive them their little indiscretions while gritting my teeth and cursing under my breath. Thankfully overall the damage wasn't too severe.

The above picture is off my grandfather Fredrick Arthur Carlson's homestead house. The tin roof is obviously a new addition, my Uncle put it on so at least the building would remain standing for a few more years.

River Valley ODDyssey

Today had been an interesting and eventful day. Finished the last bit of Tigers in the Snow by Matthiessen and Hornocker, then went on an expedition to the River Valley with my son, which is always a lot of fun for both of us.

Trying to give my long dormant bent toward Natural History full reign lately and instead of trying to push it to a dark corner in the back of my head Ihave started to take my first fumbling steps toward figuring out how to learn what I wish to know in my own way and see if it leads anywhere productive. Hence my recent predeliction for photographing and attempting to identify the local varieties of weeds that I have been seeing all my life without knowing their proper names, or in most cases, any name at all. I have also noticed a distinct absence in this area of the city of a lot of weeds that were common around our farm at Buck Lake, that I would have assumed would have at least a few representatives here in the city, the distance between not being great, and the climate and soil types for the most part the same. I imagine part of it is because of intensive spraying by the municipality of Edmonton. One of my favorites when I was young was Pastinaca sativa, or Wild Parsnip, which always looked very exotic with giant elephant ear like leaves and a thick hollow stem that combined to make for great fun when I felt like trouncing a mass of vegatation with a suitable stick. Aah, the simple pleasures of youth. Other favorites were Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea, which I always thought looked cool and a carpet of this plant feels great on the toes and they smell good too. Pineapple Weed is related to Chamomile, Matricaria Recutita.

In any case, during our walk I was collecting and photographing various of these plants. The picking of which few would frown upon as they are scheduled weeds in Alberta. Plants I am not aware of the status of I'll simply photograph in situ. Found some interesting plants today that I am still trying to ascertain what they actually are.

Also got involved with my son playing in a rock pile and managed to shatter a piece of some variety of sandstone into a servicable cutting tool, the evidence being me slicing my thumb open pretty good leaving me bleeding pretty bad in the middle of nowhere, and my son still intent on having a picnic. So I grabbed a fistful of wild grass and wrapped it around my thumb as a makeshift tournequete while we sat for our picnic. We then returned to our rock smashing site, and I was again drawn to the same rocks which I have been finding a lot on our walks, and started smashing them again hoping to uncover something interesting. I ended up finding a couple of geodes, and was so intent on my discovery I backed into a bush which seemed to be the home of some very cantankerous bees which chased me around for a bit while my son sat and had a bit of a laugh. The bees called a halt to our geological expedition and we returned home.

Built a fence in the backyard to keep the dogs from a Peony we just transplanted, and had a quick chat with my uncle from Buck Lake where I was raised who I haven't spoken to for a couple of years and haven't seen since I was at my father's funeral. This phone call put me in much better spirits, I had been fearing the worst, but everyone was still doing well back home and I am heading out for a quick visit on Saturday to pick up some of my things that have been stored out there since I left home at eighteen for the big ol' city.

The item I am most excited about having home once more is a saddle that was made in 1867 in Kansas City that has passed down through a few hands in my family, once belonging to a cowboy named Johnny Wright from Texas, who gave it to my uncle Laurel Ives, a professional Rodeo Cowboy, who left with my father when he moved to California, and my father then gave to me a couple of years before he died. I'll rest a lot easier knowing it is with me, it is one of the few heirlooms I have I absolutely do not ever want to lose. It weighs half a ton so I hope I never have to hump it out of a burning building though.

The Joy of Weeds

Spent the day photographing and trying to classify various weeds. For fun. Yes, I know. Strange.

This is Common Hemp Nettle, Galeopsis Tetrahit, which I first was convinced was some kind of Mint. Which it is. Kind of. At least it's in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). Another burning question answered and my life is that much more complete.

Four Years Since Last Posting

Attempt number two at a consistent blog. This time I'm not going to worry so much about trying anything specific, I am just going to use this blog as a tool to get my brain rolling every day and clear out and untangle some of the various threads that are always rattling around aimlessly in my bean.

Today started with a random genealogical quest to discover something of the origins and ultimates fates of a CHARLES IVES who settled in Barbados in 1680. I was only aware of one Ives in Barbados, namely the aforementioned Charles, but it appears there were also a John, Peter, James and Urania, possibly all siblings or some variety of cousins to each other. If any Ives from Barbados end ups reading this send me a line...

So now I start poking around again and already I am reshuffling my previous assumptions. Barbados is divided into parishes, and we find Charles and Peter in St. Michael, John and James are in St. Philip, Urania in Christ Church. This makes it less likely they are all one family, though anything is possible. Christ Church borders on St. Michael's parish on the south so maybe Urania is connected to Charles and Peter. Saint Philip is on the south-east tip of Barbados, Christ Church parish borders it on the west.

Barbados come under English rule in 1625. I think out of all the areas that the British established plantations Barbados had the highest percentage of slaves versus free whites and so was became an unattractive destination for poor white emigrants, plus the climate and other factors contributed to a very high mortality rate for new arrivals. The majority of the white population on Barbados in the 1600s were either very wealthy planters, or the poor whites mostly indentured servants, the British small-holders being squeezed out by the large plantation estates and either emigrating to surrounding islands in the Caribbean, or to North and South Carolina, Panama, or British Guiana.

Next we Have a Richard Ives emigrating to Nevis, now with Saint Kitts, The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. 1620 beginning of English sovereignty. Beginning of settlement by British in 1628 by Anthony Hilton and 80 followers, plus another hundred from London. Richard Ives came to Nevis in 1654.

I'll return to these at a later date.

The rest of day has been spent reading Tigers in the Snow by Peter Mathiessen and Maurice Hornocker (Also heartily recommend Of Tigers and Men by Richard Ives - and any biographical information on this Richard would be appreciated). To me Peter Mathiessen and another naturalist friend of his Geroge B. Schaller have among the most interesting lives possible - roaming around the wilds of the world (or what is left of them) and observing animals. Any excuse to wander around Siberia, Mongolia or Central Asia is a good one I think. Even better if somebody funds you to do it.

Also procured a couple of the new editions of the Flashman Papers by George Macdonald Fraser and a couple more in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's series so overall a pretty good day.

Blog Three - The Son of Blog

Watched Gods and Monsters last night. A couple of weeks ago I had read the book Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram, which I loved. I thought Gods and Monsters would be a lot better, considering who was involved, but I didn't like it very much. There were some good visuals (the scene of Brendan Fraser in the WWI gas mask had made me want to read the book and see the movie in the first place. I glimpsed that scene briefly somewhere, and it stuck in my head.). But the movie was just a pale shadow of the book, I think in this case mainly because it followed the book too closely. The book moves forward by showing us the fragmented mental state of James Whale, the phantom scents, and the endless parade of memory. In the movie we are limited to two senses, so I think following the book so exactly was a mistake. They should have played up the visual symbolism a lot more, and been more aware of their intentions. If you are going to read the book and watch the movie, I would suggest you read the book, then wait a long time to watch the movie. However long it would take for your impressions to start to fade. If you watched the movie first, I am afraid you might be put off from reading the book, which would be a shame. I recommend the book highly. And in one of those odd Synchronicities, recently I decided to put Remarque's All Quiet On the Western Front and The Road Back on my reading list - and James Whale, of course, directed the movie version of The Road Back.


I have recently been wondering why a lot of old, classic movies are being released on DVD (in very crappy versions) in TV aspect ratio instead of 1.85/1?? The IMDB lists Frankenstein as being shot on 35mm film in 1.37 aspect ration, and the DVD is 1.33. This is the aspect ratio the films were shown at? If so, when do we get the first 1.85/1 films?

What are the chances of a DVD being released of The Road Back? Does an original print exist? Does a print exist of the movie before it was recut? I would very much like to see that. (In modern times I would like to see a DVD of McTiernan's original cut of The 13th Warrior. Say what you will, I happen to really like the damn movie, and I would LOVE to see the original cut. )

Finished The Land of Laughs, which I enjoyed though I wasn't completely satisfied. The ending third I found a lot weaker than the first parts of the book. I am looking forward to reading the rest of Carroll's novels in any case. (Currently, I am in the process of working my way through a few different oevres - Ed McBain's 87th Precinct books, Robert Parker's Spenser (forget which way this is spelt, it's the opposite of the Faerie Queene guy), Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey series, and the complete works of Joe R. Lansdale (which I am almost finished, excepting some of the rarer chapbooks and uncollected short stories). Started working my through the Lemony Snicket books, but that stopped pretty quickly. I'll get back to them someday, but I have other stuff I want to read first. I also have to go back and begin working my way through Lawrence Block's Scudder books. I am sure there is more on my reading list (beside the recent decision to read all the books that movies I like are based on, which is an interesting and challenging task in some cases).

Tomorrow I get to go to the library! Whee!

A brief note to recommend Lost in La Mancha. If you like Terry Gilliam, or you are a movie buff, watch it. It's bizarre, it's tragic, it's magnificant, it's hilarious. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a movie I would have loved to have seen. Rochefort looked great. Go Go Gilliam! He might have stolen #1 in my favorite all time director's slot. Sorry Mr. Milius. I think he bumped Walter Hill as well.

The List:

#1 - Terry Gilliam (for The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing)
#2 - John Milius (for Conan the Barbarian, Farewell to the King)
#3- Walter Hill (for loving westerns still (before Eastwood made it cool again), Last Man Standing, Wild Bill)
#4 - Tim Burton (for Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Batman)
#5 - Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, 1492 (Awesome! Don't care what anybody says, this movie rocks.), Black Rain, Legend. (Looking forward to Kingdom of Heaven and Tripoli as well (thank god Keanu is out.).
#5.5 - Jake Scott, Honorable Mention, Plunkett and Macleane. (Aw Hell, Tony Scott too for Spy Game, The Last Boy Scout and for being pretty consistent.)
#6 - Peter Weir (for Master and Commander, Dead Poet's Society
#7 - John McTiernan (for Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, Medicine Man, The 13th Warrior)
#8 - Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves, Open Range)
#9 - John Woo - (Face/Off, Hard Boiled, MI:2)
#10 - Christophe Gans - The Brotherhood of the Wolf

Movies that almost put their directors on the list :

Cold Mountain
Secondhand Lions
Excalibur
Mountains of the Moon
Restoration
From Hell
Lord Jim
Silverado
Gangs of New York



Enough for now. Time to contemplate some real work.

Blog Two - The Bride of Blog

Today has been mostly involved in relocating and rehousing and releasing some wild mice that were captured in my home. The original batch was captured during the winter, so I didn't want to release them as their chances wouldn't have been too good. Before the basement started flooding all the time this house was a mouse paradise, but now with the combination of the floods, my trapping, and the bumbling efforts of our cats, we seem to be running out of mouse problems. NOw it is just all the ones that ar hanging out in cages. Two males from the original capture each have their own Habitrail Mini, and seem to enjoy their lives, specifically The Wheel. They were seperated off from a group of females, that were pregnant, of course. So then I seperated out the male babies, but not quick enough. Mice breed very quickly, and as soon as a doe has a litter the male will breed her again. The problem is removing the males before they are sexually mature. Not fun when they are all wild. Today I released a total of five males, I believe. Two were recent captures that do not like caged life, the other two to three were from the Beta Batch, removed from the females and all showing good wild traits. They are now exploring the river valley, I wish them luck. Five more are on the slate to be released. We have two wild mice that were hand raised from babies, one before his eyes were opened. The male, Squeaker, is very tame, while the other, Mikki, exhibits wild characteristics. Mikki was near death when we found her. Both were captures by cats, and I didn't have much hope for them, but we nursed them back to health. There is also one wild female, Stubby, that was attack by her littermates losing part of her tail. I though she was going to die she looked in such bad shape, but she has been nursed back to health as well. These three will be staying, as will the two original males, Mr. Mouse and Achilles. There is one older female that is a recent live trap capture that might stay, as I think she might not survive long in the wild, and I think she might have been an escapee from the original Alpha Batch. It's pretty much up to her. If she exhibits a lot of wild behaviour and attempts escape, I'll let her go, if she is content she can stay.

Today I have been reading Harry Stephen Keeler, which is an experience. His writing is horrible and great at the same time! He describes things in minute detail in horrible run-on sentences, but he comes up with some of the most bizarre ideas that you can't help but be intrigued. http://www.blackmask.com/cgi-bin/newlinks/search.cgi?d=1&query=keeler to read some of his work on the net. Ramble House is reissuing his work in beautiful volumes, I want to own them all!

No writing yet today, did some research. Have two stories on the go right now, both involving historical time periods and semi-obscure myths. Seldom used in recent literature at any rate. One is set in Venice in the 1600's and the other in Poland during World War II. I am happy with the direction of both stories, I feel they are a step up for my writing style, though I think both will fall short of my original vision, simply because at this point in time I don't have the resources to do the kind of research I would like. Lawrence Block says in his books on writing that you basically fake what you don't know, as writers are basically liars anyway, but I like to have some autheticity to the stories. As much as I can put in at any rate. Often telling a story is a way for me to explore a period of time and an area that interest me, so the research is often as interesting or more so than the resulting story.

Also two thirds of the way through Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs, which is a very well written book and very magical. Marvelous writer. Next on the block after this is either Kara Dalkey's Goa which I have dipped into a little already (and it looks marvelous) or Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. (I probably massacred his name). The latter was a best-seller in its day (this leads me to recommend Michael Korda's wonderful book on the bestseller, I'm unsure of the title at the moment, but it is very enlightening).

Well, it is off to cook dinner.

BLOG ONE

Well, here we go. Starting out small and simple. KISS. Eventually (read, when I get my lazy butt in gear), this will be on my website. No stunning or surreal thoughts today.

Submitted two poems before I got fed up with looking at my old stuff.

No real writing today, though I did some cursory notes for the start of a novel, which is gelling from some old ideas set in my main universe and some thinking about what I like about Harry Potter, and what I don't. Have an hour and half to do my daily thousand. YeeHa.

I'm outta here.

Catch you on the funway.