greygirlbeast | Around the throat of the one I love...

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Around the throat of the one I love...

Yesterday, I did 1,265 words on the new werewolf vignette for Sirenia Digest #31, and finished it. It has a title now, "Unter den Augen des Mondes." And if there's some obvious error in my German, I hope someone here who is a native German speaker (I know we have several) will correct it. Thank you. I do like this piece. It is only 2,423 words long, but that's as long as it "wanted" to be, and feels a lot like the pieces in Frog Toes and Tentacles and Tales from the Woeful Platypus. It is the last piece of fiction I shall write in Atlanta. How weird is that?

Anyway, today will be my very last work day here, before the move to Providence next week. Counting today, we have eight days remaining until moving day. Well, except that eleven hours and forty-seven minutes of today have already passed. So, we have seven and a half days. About 180 hours. 10,800 minutes. Some 648,000 seconds. Except we lose tomorrow on a trip to Birmingham to see my doctor there. Six and a half days. The time has grown so short so quickly. Today, I'll work on getting Sirenia Digest #30 together, though I'm not precisely sure which day I'll be sending it out. I'm still waiting on Vince's artwork for "Rappaccini's Dragon." This month's issue will also include a new vignette by Sonya Taaffe (

sovay), "The Mirror of Venus." Oh, and I probably haven't mentioned this, but Vince will also be providing interior illustrations for A is for Alien.

The packing is truly wearing us down. The house is a maze of boxes, a veritable labyrinth of cardboard. Now that all the books are packed, I've moved along to fossils and such. The truly tedious, time-consuming stuff. For example, last night I packed the Camarasaurus and Maiasaura peeblesorum skull casts. Tonight, many more fossils, my display trilobites and ammonites and Solnhofen specimens and such.

We got out of the maze yesterday evening long enough for a Thai dinner. And then, much later, we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in preparation for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I hope we can take time to see on Friday. I'd not seen Temple of Doom since its initial theatrical release in 1984. Then I hated it, but I had some meager hope maybe it was not as bad as I recalled. But it is. There are a few good moments here and there, but, overall, it's a fairly ridiculous film. Somewhere after the plane's engines sputter and fail, the whole thing goes to crap. A huge part of it is the intolerably screechy Kate Capshaw. Gegh. But, though I could list many reasons this film fails as a "prequel" to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), the most important is simply that Temple of Doom presents us with a Dr. Jones who can accept (and use) supernatural forces. Can we really buy that after using those stones to defeat Mola Ram, that he doesn't accept even the possibility that the Ark possesses supernatural abilities? No, we can't. Well, I can't. It's just an awful, awful movie, and it's a shame that the second film in this series could not have followed the example of its predecessor, instead of delivering something that feels like a parody of Raiders. It's an eyesore, and I was completely justified in dismissing it all those years ago.

Oh, someone on my FL was asking about favourite Speilberg films. Mine would be Jaws, with Close Encounters of the Third Kind in second place.

Very late, we read the first chapter of the book I'm reviewing for Publisher's Weekly.

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I'm still waiting on Vince's artwork for "Rappaccini's Dragon."

I continue to love that title.

Oh, and I probably haven't mentioned this, but Vince will also be providing interior illustrations for A is for Alien.

Very cool!

Very cool!

Yep.

(Nice icon, incidentally.)

"Temple of Doom ... it's a fairly ridiculous film ... the whole thing goes to crap ... It's just an awful, awful movie ..."

Agreed. I think Spielberg musta' had a house payment due or something ...

I think Spielberg musta' had a house payment due or something ...

That, and he was shtuping Kate Capshaw.

Notice that she hasn't exactly been burning up the IMDB since then? Just as how Lorraine Gary never recovered from marrying former Universal head Sid Sheinberg, there's a price to pay for being Spielberg's ~~beard~~ (http://www.steamshovelpress.com/latestword13.html) wife.

Now I know that you're the little sister who was stolen away by the elves and replaced with the oxygen-sucker that's currently in line to inherit my parents' estate. I haven't seen Temple of Doom since 1984, either, having seen it right after I graduated from high school. In my case, though, I invoke Proverbs 26:11 to explain why I won't be seeing it again: I use that same proverb to explain why I also won't be wasting my time on Star Trek III, Buckaroo Banzai, Give My Regards To Broad Street, or any of the other gibberish from that horrible time in Earth's history. (At one time long ago, I was incredibly nostalgic for that year, seeing as how massive changes in my life in 1985 and 1986 made me crave what I thought was stability. These days, though, I look back on my life 24 years ago and say "If my high school years were the best years of my life, I would have put a shotgun in my mouth and pulled both triggers right then and there.")

Now I know that you're the little sister who was stolen away by the elves and replaced with the oxygen-sucker that's currently in line to inherit my parents' estate.

:-) Shall we off the impostor, then?

These days, though, I look back on my life 24 years ago and say "If my high school years were the best years of my life, I would have put a shotgun in my mouth and pulled both triggers right then and there."

Indeed.

Sure: you open the airlock, and I'll get the forklift. Sigourney Weaver's going to be pissed that she wasn't able to get in on the fun, but that's her problem.

Sure: you open the airlock, and I'll get the forklift. Sigourney Weaver's going to be pissed that she wasn't able to get in on the fun, but that's her problem.

Snork.

"If my high school years were the best years of my life, I would have put a shotgun in my mouth and pulled both triggers right then and there."

I would've had to pull the bong out of my mouth first, but yeah - I'm with ya' ...

We just watched it ourselves, for the same reason... Really, though there are some interesting elements, the main thing I liked was Short Round. He's ridiculous in a very entertaining way, but I kept expecting him to start chanting "Chester Copperpot! Chester Copperpot!"

You should have a package showing up from Ziraxia anytime now...

Really, though there are some interesting elements,

As I said, a few good moments, and may some other screenwriter might have even saved the story, but there's nothing there that even halfway makes up for the overall awfulness or the gigantic continuity blunder.

You should have a package showing up from Ziraxia anytime now...

Just came today. Thank you!

And apparently the film wasn't written to be a prequel, but sometime in production the filmmakers changed that. The reason I heard (rumor!) was that they felt he wouldn't be as harsh post-Raiders as he was in Doom, that surviving the Ark business would've made him more humane.

His character arc definitely works better from Raiders to Last Crusade, where Jones is reacting to icons from his culture's religious history and in the process finds his spirtual side, especially when he must reach the knight in the cave and save his dad.

Doom's rehash of the "just shoot the son-of-a-bitch" gag from Raiders always kind of bugged me; "Why would he think to do that before Raiders?"

And apparently the film wasn't written to be a prequel, but sometime in production the filmmakers changed that. The reason I heard (rumor!) was that they felt he wouldn't be as harsh post-Raiders as he was in Doom, that surviving the Ark business would've made him more humane.

This is so stupid it's probably true.

His character arc definitely works better from Raiders to Last Crusade, where Jones is reacting to icons from his culture's religious history and in the process finds his spirtual side, especially when he must reach the knight in the cave and save his dad.

Yep.

Doom's rehash of the "just shoot the son-of-a-bitch" gag from Raiders always kind of bugged me; "Why would he think to do that before Raiders?"

Agreed. So much of the film was, "Hey. This gag worked well in Raiders, so lets do it TWICE as big and it will be TWICE as cool!." Gagh.

I'm not sure how, but I never realized Temple of Doom was set before Raiders...

I did notice something interesting, this time through... The guy that ushers them onto the plane in the beginning of the film? I'd never noticed that it was Dan Aykroyd before.

I'd never noticed that it was Dan Aykroyd before.

Did you notice "Club Obi Wan"?

There's nothing worse than stories that are not true to their own substance. All I remember about ToD was Kate Capshaw constantly screaming... and at some point they acquired some wise-ass child companion. It never stopped feeling like a slapstick version of RotLA.

All I remember about ToD was Kate Capshaw constantly screaming...

That was about 67% on the film.

It never stopped feeling like a slapstick version of RotLA.

At times it seemed like the film was trying to capture the "screwball" comedy of the '30s and '40s, but, if so, it fails miserably.

I persist in loving Temple of Doom, and here's why: It's a completely over-the-top farce, when what everyone wanted was Raiders of Another Lost Ark. It's a playpen for Spielberg, and a gathering place for all the stuff he wanted to do in Raiders but couldn't. Everything is the reverse of Raiders — Kate Capshaw is everything Karen Allen wasn't: a stereotypical brassy helpless dame from the '30s. I understand why everyone hates it, but I think it's got some of Spielberg's funniest, most exciting set pieces, and some of his most playful filmmaking. This is not a rebuttal to you so much as an explanation of why at least one person digs it so much.

As to Indy's acceptance of the power of the Sankara Stones vs. his later skepticism about the Ark, I always read that as Indy being skeptical about anything he hasn't seen firsthand. He was skeptical about the Sankara Stones until he saw what they could do. So basically it was 'Hmm, maybe this Hindu stuff isn't all superstition.' In Raiders he was the same way about Xianity — or, perhaps more specifically, Hebraic beliefs — until he saw the power of the Ark.

So in the trilogy you have Judaism, Hinduism, and Xianity (the Grail). The new one seems to focus on ...I dunno, aliens and psychic phenomena? I guess they ran out of world religions, or didn't think a movie about Islam or Buddhism would fly.

Though I clearly disagree, I can understand what you're saying as regards the reasons that you like the film, however:

As to Indy's acceptance of the power of the Sankara Stones vs. his later skepticism about the Ark, I always read that as Indy being skeptical about anything he hasn't seen firsthand. He was skeptical about the Sankara Stones until he saw what they could do. So basically it was 'Hmm, maybe this Hindu stuff isn't all superstition.' In Raiders he was the same way about Xianity — or, perhaps more specifically, Hebraic beliefs — until he saw the power of the Ark.

:-(

No. I mean, unless we also have to (ad hoc) accept that he's an utter moron with this patchwork approach to supernatural, religious vs. scientific, rationist explanations. In Raiders, we have a man who sees impossible things and is changed (though to what degree, is uncertain). That makes sense. Positing (without any actual evidence to that effect) that Indy only believes in the power of a given artefact or belief system after having seen it demonstrated firsthand is a bit of a stretch, I think. It's like presenting a scientist who says, "Okay, I see evidence that birds evolved, sure, but that doesn't prove anything about whether or not horses evolved."

Oh noes, frowny face!

I guess the only counterpoint I can offer is that the Sankara Stones don't put on quite as much of a supernatural show as the Ark does. They glow. They make the bag catch on fire. Mola Ram tears the guy's heart out somehow, and the chest seals back up and the guy's still alive. (Amusingly, Pauline Kael — who loved the movie — pointed out that it would've been a perfect place for Willie, whose grandfather was a magician, to spot Mola Ram as a fake, similar to the 'faith healers' who 'pull out' hunks of meat that are supposed to be tumors.) But by the end, not much in the way of supernatural phenomena affects the outcome. They bring the kids back to the village and Indy says 'Yes, I see its power now,' which could just mean the stone's unifying power for the community. Actually, Indy doesn't seem all that skeptical of the village elder's story; he tells Short Round it's just a ghost story, but it could be argued he's lying to reassure the kid.

Be that as it may, I suspect you've given more thought to the script than the writers did. It was designed as a string for stunts and thrills and gags. The story isn't the strong point; I respond to it as a visceral adrenaline buzz.

It was designed as a string for stunts and thrills and gags.

Exactamundo. And if that's all that Raiders of the Lost Ark had been, maybe it wouldn't have been such a travesty.

Actually, and quite interesting, I thought, was something Kat asked me at the end of Raiders (since she hadn't seen any of the Indiana Jones films since roundabout 1984)... The Ark never made a peep, as far as Indy saw or heard, until the climax of the film.

Before it had displayed any power, Indy tells Marian to close her eyes, and keep them closed, no matter what happens. Kat was perplexed as to why Indy was putting any stock into the legends of the Ark, and more importantly, how he knew that not looking would save them.

If I recall correctly, before he says that, the Ark starts making noises and destroying equipment. Then Indy tells Marion to close her eyes, and the Ark really kicks into overdrive.

Before it had displayed any power, Indy tells Marian to close her eyes, and keep them closed, no matter what happens. Kat was perplexed as to why Indy was putting any stock into the legends of the Ark, and more importantly, how he knew that not looking would save them.

Because. Herein lies the distinction between fact (or knowledge) and truth (belief). Indiana knew the myths, that one can not look upon the face of the Hebrew god and live, and so, when things got weird, he acted on the knowledge, at a point when it seemed maybe there was something to the stories after all and he had little to lose in an act of faith.

Precious few films, indeed, could measure up to Raiders, which I adore with the intensity of a supernova.

Owl is currently tiddly off her ass on chocolate liqueur. She is making increasingly little sense and is becoming increasingly funny as she attempts valiantly to make sense. This is my evening.

Caitlin,

As I know you like looking at Tilda Swinton, I'll pass this along: she makes a cameo at the end of Prince Caspian as a centaur (http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=1794&dl=19168890).

As I know you like looking at Tilda Swinton, I'll pass this along: she makes a cameo at the end of Prince Caspian as a centaur.

Whoa.

Under the eyes of the moon? Yes? Looks right to me.

Under the eyes of the moon? Yes? Looks right to me.

Yep. Thank you.

Yes, your German is right.
Here they showed the three Indie movies during the last three weeks.
Missed Arc, saw Doom and Crusade. Should probably have the DVDs anyways
I preordered my tickets for Skull yesterday for Sunday.
Doom is by far worse than the rest, i agree.
From an outside perspective it is funny how you convert your remaining time to seconds each time. But it really shows how your move will be so much more than just changing the adress on Amazon.
Labyrinth of Cardboard boxes sounds fascinating.....but then i have a thing for mazes of all sorts. Write a book about a maze and i will order a signed version

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Around the throat of the one I love...

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Off-Topic, unless the topic is THE HOTNESS OF TILDA SWINTON

Re: Off-Topic, unless the topic is THE HOTNESS OF TILDA SWINTON

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