One little tidbit I only found out after publishing my blog yesterday:
Carlos Sanatana has some history of involvement with cults.
Now, of course, he got out - broke off contact with Chinmoy but one can't help but noting the influence that Chinmoy's theology seems to retain on the theology of Architects of a New Dawn.
Again, nothing to conclusively state that Santana is trying to start a religion with him at the centre but, again, a somewhat disturbing indicator.
Moving on to other topics;
I'm at a bit of a loss for something to read. I finished with the Simon R. Green novel I was reading before a while ago and have been picking half-heartedly through Rob Roy ever since. Thing is that Rob Roy is more research read than it is read for pleasure and my usual light read authors, Stephen King, Steven Brust and Jim Butcher haven't produced anything new in a while that I haven't already read. Barring magazine releases this leaves me at a bit of a loss. I wonder if anybody in my readership would like to recommend a book to me. Leave me comments.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Possible Cult Warning!
I recently had a group brought to my attention. This group, called "Architects of a New Dawn" is purportedly a social networking site founded by Carlos Santana which claims the mission statement of "creating a new global network, driven by extraordinary music and powerful media content. It is designed to engage people of all walks of life to work together to create positive change in the global community where love can replace fear and where peace can replace conflict."
Sounds like huggy hippy stuff right?
Well some warning bells go off.
To start with let's look at this article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
In it Santana says "I want the audience to be reminded that before they had all this stuff, this DNA and flesh and bones, they were made out of light."
Now one of his band members brushes this odd comment off, stating that Mr. Santana tends to "speak in metaphor" however the comment seems less metaphoric when you consider that the 62 year old guitarist says he plans to become a minister when he turns 67 and then says he is disaffected by the feelings of sexual guilt he thinks came from his Roman Catholic upbringing.
He never mentions what faith he intends to be a minister in... more on that later.
In this video Santana describes Architects of a new dawn in terms of faith and invites people to "create a new substance, a new reality, a new perception for this planet".
In this video he talks about a "sense of divine purpose" and states he plans to launch a 24 hour TV channel as the ultimate goal of Architects of a new dawn.
Within Architects of a new dawn you find an acceptance of several of the dumber and more dangerous new age beliefs, such as the belief that the world will end in 2012.
Finally, at this page, we see a huge countdown clock calling for all the "architects" to participate in a daily "global prayer for peace".
Ok, so there is the raw data. So the question becomes why do these things concern me, why do they make me say "this could be a potential cult"?
Well, let's look at the defining characteristics for a cult:
1) A cult is a religion.
With all the talk of new realities and divine purpose it certainly looks like Mr. "I want to be a minister in 5 years" Santana is trying to start a religion.
2) A cult has a charismatic leader.
Santana is unquestionably charismatic.
3) A cult may attempt to impose undue control over the daily activities of its' members.
Daily synchronized prayer clock. Doesn't matter where you are in the world or what else you are doing it's time to go pray for peace.
4) A cult may make undue monetary demands on its' members
Haven't seen evidence of that yet but I somehow doubt that record sales for Supernatural, Santana's last hit record (recorded before a California divorce) will be sufficient to start his peace and love TV network.
5) A cult may have a syncretic theology.
New age star-body stuff.
Christianity sans-sexual guilt.
"ZOMG teh world iz endingz on 2012" Terrence McKenna bad-trip bollocks.
Yeah, I think that is pretty syncretic.
Lots of cults preyed on hippies. Now the hippies are all older baby-boomers and have much more money than they did in the time of Chandra Mohan Jain, they are perfectly primed for a net-savvy, would-be cleric to come and take their money for his prostelytizing TV channel.
Is "Architects of a New Dawn" a cult? The jury is still out. But there is certainly cause for caution and concern.
Sounds like huggy hippy stuff right?
Well some warning bells go off.
To start with let's look at this article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
In it Santana says "I want the audience to be reminded that before they had all this stuff, this DNA and flesh and bones, they were made out of light."
Now one of his band members brushes this odd comment off, stating that Mr. Santana tends to "speak in metaphor" however the comment seems less metaphoric when you consider that the 62 year old guitarist says he plans to become a minister when he turns 67 and then says he is disaffected by the feelings of sexual guilt he thinks came from his Roman Catholic upbringing.
He never mentions what faith he intends to be a minister in... more on that later.
In this video Santana describes Architects of a new dawn in terms of faith and invites people to "create a new substance, a new reality, a new perception for this planet".
In this video he talks about a "sense of divine purpose" and states he plans to launch a 24 hour TV channel as the ultimate goal of Architects of a new dawn.
Within Architects of a new dawn you find an acceptance of several of the dumber and more dangerous new age beliefs, such as the belief that the world will end in 2012.
Finally, at this page, we see a huge countdown clock calling for all the "architects" to participate in a daily "global prayer for peace".
Ok, so there is the raw data. So the question becomes why do these things concern me, why do they make me say "this could be a potential cult"?
Well, let's look at the defining characteristics for a cult:
1) A cult is a religion.
With all the talk of new realities and divine purpose it certainly looks like Mr. "I want to be a minister in 5 years" Santana is trying to start a religion.
2) A cult has a charismatic leader.
Santana is unquestionably charismatic.
3) A cult may attempt to impose undue control over the daily activities of its' members.
Daily synchronized prayer clock. Doesn't matter where you are in the world or what else you are doing it's time to go pray for peace.
4) A cult may make undue monetary demands on its' members
Haven't seen evidence of that yet but I somehow doubt that record sales for Supernatural, Santana's last hit record (recorded before a California divorce) will be sufficient to start his peace and love TV network.
5) A cult may have a syncretic theology.
New age star-body stuff.
Christianity sans-sexual guilt.
"ZOMG teh world iz endingz on 2012" Terrence McKenna bad-trip bollocks.
Yeah, I think that is pretty syncretic.
Lots of cults preyed on hippies. Now the hippies are all older baby-boomers and have much more money than they did in the time of Chandra Mohan Jain, they are perfectly primed for a net-savvy, would-be cleric to come and take their money for his prostelytizing TV channel.
Is "Architects of a New Dawn" a cult? The jury is still out. But there is certainly cause for caution and concern.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Been Lettin' Things Slide
I haven't been feeling well lately. I caught a cold which turned into Laryngitis which turned into a lingering cough which just recently began to subside. Between feeling ill and finishing draft 1 copy editing I haven't even been twittering, let alone actually sitting down to write a blog entry. Hopefully that's in the past.
This summer has been marked by injuries for me. Of course I was almost run over by an SUV and bunged up my knee in the process, I think I mentioned that some time ago, but I also fell down a flight of stairs at my friend's place in Toronto. Fortunately I am on the mend and my maligned left leg has regained enough stability that I have started doing Qigong again.
Hold the boat you say, Skeptical Simon, who maligns spiritualism does Qigong?!?
Ok, well let me explain, I practice a form of Qigong called Iron Thread which combines breath control with isodynamic exercise. It is a good workout with meditative qualities that are beneficial. It does, however, involve low stances and puts a fair amount of pressure on the knees and ankles, the two things I injured.
Getting back to the point where I could comfortably do this again was a watermark for my recovery.
Turning to other things, as I alluded to previously I have finished copy editing draft 1 of my novel. Another of my beta-readers has volume 1 while Pam finishes up on volume 2. Once I get Volume 1 back from my beta-reader I will be getting to work on inputting the changes and incorporating beta-reader commentary into the master copy of the book. Then it'll be time to print draft 2 and pass it around to more of my beta-readers.
My planned writer's group seems to be coming to fruition. I have now got 3 serious responses to my adverts. I'm working on trying to arrange a time for the four of us to meet and hash out the structure. I'm very excited. If you are in the London, Canada area and are yourself working on a non-fan fic speculative fiction project and you are interested let me know. You can post a comment here on the blog saying you are interested or you can reach me through facebook; I am reticent to post my email address to the blog at this time but you can find it on the notices posted at every branch of the London Public Library.
In the political world Canada is aflutter with rumours of impending election. Too bad the only party worth voting for doesn't run candidates outside of Quebec. Outside of Canada all eyes are on Honduras.
If you don't know, the situation is this:
The rightful president of Honduras, Zelaya, came from a center-right party. After assuming the presidency his politics shifted strongly to the left due to the crushing poverty that right-wing, pro-business interests had caused for the majority of the Honduran population.
The hammer fell when Zelaya tried to propose a referrendum on whether to hold an assembly to discuss changes to the constitution. The conservative factions lied and claimed Zelaya was trying to extend his term beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms. The conservative supreme court then convicted him without trial and had the military exile him in direct contravention of the very same constitution they claimed to be protecting.
Well, needless to say, every South American state (excepting Colombia if I recall correctly) has opposed this blatantly illegal coup d'etat. Recently Zelaya returned to Honduras and has received shelter in the Brazilian embassy. The response of the Junta? Tear gas the Brazilian embassy.
Disgusting.
Please write to your member of parliament, your congressman, or (for my readers outside of Canada and the USA) your duly elected representative and call on them to act against the band of thugs who overthrew the democratically elected President of Honduras so that they could keep the people poor and the small elite rich.
This summer has been marked by injuries for me. Of course I was almost run over by an SUV and bunged up my knee in the process, I think I mentioned that some time ago, but I also fell down a flight of stairs at my friend's place in Toronto. Fortunately I am on the mend and my maligned left leg has regained enough stability that I have started doing Qigong again.
Hold the boat you say, Skeptical Simon, who maligns spiritualism does Qigong?!?
Ok, well let me explain, I practice a form of Qigong called Iron Thread which combines breath control with isodynamic exercise. It is a good workout with meditative qualities that are beneficial. It does, however, involve low stances and puts a fair amount of pressure on the knees and ankles, the two things I injured.
Getting back to the point where I could comfortably do this again was a watermark for my recovery.
Turning to other things, as I alluded to previously I have finished copy editing draft 1 of my novel. Another of my beta-readers has volume 1 while Pam finishes up on volume 2. Once I get Volume 1 back from my beta-reader I will be getting to work on inputting the changes and incorporating beta-reader commentary into the master copy of the book. Then it'll be time to print draft 2 and pass it around to more of my beta-readers.
My planned writer's group seems to be coming to fruition. I have now got 3 serious responses to my adverts. I'm working on trying to arrange a time for the four of us to meet and hash out the structure. I'm very excited. If you are in the London, Canada area and are yourself working on a non-fan fic speculative fiction project and you are interested let me know. You can post a comment here on the blog saying you are interested or you can reach me through facebook; I am reticent to post my email address to the blog at this time but you can find it on the notices posted at every branch of the London Public Library.
In the political world Canada is aflutter with rumours of impending election. Too bad the only party worth voting for doesn't run candidates outside of Quebec. Outside of Canada all eyes are on Honduras.
If you don't know, the situation is this:
The rightful president of Honduras, Zelaya, came from a center-right party. After assuming the presidency his politics shifted strongly to the left due to the crushing poverty that right-wing, pro-business interests had caused for the majority of the Honduran population.
The hammer fell when Zelaya tried to propose a referrendum on whether to hold an assembly to discuss changes to the constitution. The conservative factions lied and claimed Zelaya was trying to extend his term beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms. The conservative supreme court then convicted him without trial and had the military exile him in direct contravention of the very same constitution they claimed to be protecting.
Well, needless to say, every South American state (excepting Colombia if I recall correctly) has opposed this blatantly illegal coup d'etat. Recently Zelaya returned to Honduras and has received shelter in the Brazilian embassy. The response of the Junta? Tear gas the Brazilian embassy.
Disgusting.
Please write to your member of parliament, your congressman, or (for my readers outside of Canada and the USA) your duly elected representative and call on them to act against the band of thugs who overthrew the democratically elected President of Honduras so that they could keep the people poor and the small elite rich.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Novel Editing Continues (interminably)
I have got my last pages back from my mother and am now in the process of copy-editing them (and doing draft revisions occasionally too when the mood hits me). Did about 2.5 chapters yesterday but the .5 was a mistake. I was still feeling good to go and then hit the first major tangle-up in the third and was like: I don't have the mojo for this right now.
So it's today's project.
Pam picked up a bunch of shifts. On one hand I'm happy because she needed the hours but on the other hand it's a bit of a pain because her shifts are night shifts. This means I don't get to see her much, she's exhausted when she gets home and goes pretty much straight to bed, and our dinner plans for the week are kind of toast.
The Liberals backed the Conservatives on the Colombia free trade agreement. Just goes to show that if you claim to be anti-drug and pro-business it doesn't matter what a tinpot little warlord you really are. I swear, if they ran candidates in Ontario, I'd be voting Bloc who hit the nail on the head when they said "Deux Partis, Un Regard" about the Liberals and the Conservatives.
So it's today's project.
Pam picked up a bunch of shifts. On one hand I'm happy because she needed the hours but on the other hand it's a bit of a pain because her shifts are night shifts. This means I don't get to see her much, she's exhausted when she gets home and goes pretty much straight to bed, and our dinner plans for the week are kind of toast.
The Liberals backed the Conservatives on the Colombia free trade agreement. Just goes to show that if you claim to be anti-drug and pro-business it doesn't matter what a tinpot little warlord you really are. I swear, if they ran candidates in Ontario, I'd be voting Bloc who hit the nail on the head when they said "Deux Partis, Un Regard" about the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
RIP Juan Almeida
I know some of my readers are now in the USA. I know that you may not agree with me on what I'm about to say but, bear with me, a lot of what you are told about Cuba is a pack of lies. The truth is that there are more political prisoners held per-capita by the United States than held by Cuba.
The truth is that a media controlled by the state is no less free than a media controlled by multinational corporations.
the truth is that there is a flourishing artistic community in Cuba.
The truth is that although the Revolution has led some people to do hard things; things I don't agree with, such as executing some convicted criminals, it has brought equality to Cuba and improved the lot of the average Cuban over the Batista days. It would have done even more good if not for the morally disgusting blockade still perpetrated by the United States. Furthermore there is no moral grounds upon which to assail Cuba for which the United States is not a greater transgressor.
Now, let me say, I am talking about states, not the citizens therein and the majority of the people in both countries are undoubtedly good people.
It is notable that, according to the World Health Organization, Cuba ranks 118th for per capita health care expenditures and is ranked 39th for quality of care while the United States is ranked 37th despite having the highest per capita health care expenditures in the world.
There is a logic to socialist systems, to an egalitarian system rather than one that allows massive inequality, that can only be denied if one puts on blinders to the facts; the invisible hand of the market is as much an irrational deity as that of any other religion.
Having prefaced my statement I simply wanted to pay my respects to Juan Almeida, the Vice-President of Cuba and one of the original leaders of the Revolution, who died, at the age of 82 of a heart failure.
He will be missed.
I got the second volume of my book back from my parents and will begin proof-reading it tomorrow.
I also wanted to post a recipe. I whipped up a little vegetarian treat for supper tonight and it worked out even better than expected.
The dish is crepes with a ricotta / fig filling. To make it you first need to prepare crepes:
Blend together:
1 cup of all-purpose flour,
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp butter
3 lg or x-lg eggs
Lightly grease a wide-bottomed, shallow pan.
and cook on medium high for 1-2 minutes per side. As time goes by the pan will get hotter and you should gradually reduce the heat to compensate. Still expect later crepes will cook faster than earlier ones.
After you finish cooking all the crepes make sure any bits of crepe are removed from the pan and, keeping it at low heat, add about 2/3 tbsp of butter to the pan, spreading it evenly about the bottom. This will be used to cook the sauce and filling.
The filling requires:
3 shallots
4 fresh figs
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 lime
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp ground almonds (the almond powder you can get in the bakery aisle of most grocery stores)
1 small tub of ricotta cheese
75 ml (approx) of water blended with 2 tsp (approx) cornstarch.
Cut the shallots and figs into thin slices and put into separate containers.
Squeeze the juice from the lime and mix together with the honey, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom. Add the almond powder and stir until fully mixed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sautee shallots lightly at low heat.
Wait until shallots about half-way to cooked and toss in sauce.
Cook, mixing constantly for about 30 seconds and then add the figs.
Cook until the figs begin to fall apart. At this point divide mixture in half. Remove half from pan and leave other half simmering at minimum heat.
Put removed mix into a food processor and process until mostly pureed.
Add ricotta cheese to food processor and process until fully blended.
Occasionally stir mix on stove to prevent burning.
Spoon mix in food processor onto crepes and wrap into tubes. Place in an oven-safe clay dish.
Add water mixed with cornstarch to mix on stove and stir until cornstarch sets. Spread mix over top of crepes.
Put in oven and cook for 13-15 minutes.
Serve immediately.
The truth is that a media controlled by the state is no less free than a media controlled by multinational corporations.
the truth is that there is a flourishing artistic community in Cuba.
The truth is that although the Revolution has led some people to do hard things; things I don't agree with, such as executing some convicted criminals, it has brought equality to Cuba and improved the lot of the average Cuban over the Batista days. It would have done even more good if not for the morally disgusting blockade still perpetrated by the United States. Furthermore there is no moral grounds upon which to assail Cuba for which the United States is not a greater transgressor.
Now, let me say, I am talking about states, not the citizens therein and the majority of the people in both countries are undoubtedly good people.
It is notable that, according to the World Health Organization, Cuba ranks 118th for per capita health care expenditures and is ranked 39th for quality of care while the United States is ranked 37th despite having the highest per capita health care expenditures in the world.
There is a logic to socialist systems, to an egalitarian system rather than one that allows massive inequality, that can only be denied if one puts on blinders to the facts; the invisible hand of the market is as much an irrational deity as that of any other religion.
Having prefaced my statement I simply wanted to pay my respects to Juan Almeida, the Vice-President of Cuba and one of the original leaders of the Revolution, who died, at the age of 82 of a heart failure.
He will be missed.
I got the second volume of my book back from my parents and will begin proof-reading it tomorrow.
I also wanted to post a recipe. I whipped up a little vegetarian treat for supper tonight and it worked out even better than expected.
The dish is crepes with a ricotta / fig filling. To make it you first need to prepare crepes:
Blend together:
1 cup of all-purpose flour,
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp butter
3 lg or x-lg eggs
Lightly grease a wide-bottomed, shallow pan.
and cook on medium high for 1-2 minutes per side. As time goes by the pan will get hotter and you should gradually reduce the heat to compensate. Still expect later crepes will cook faster than earlier ones.
After you finish cooking all the crepes make sure any bits of crepe are removed from the pan and, keeping it at low heat, add about 2/3 tbsp of butter to the pan, spreading it evenly about the bottom. This will be used to cook the sauce and filling.
The filling requires:
3 shallots
4 fresh figs
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 lime
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp ground almonds (the almond powder you can get in the bakery aisle of most grocery stores)
1 small tub of ricotta cheese
75 ml (approx) of water blended with 2 tsp (approx) cornstarch.
Cut the shallots and figs into thin slices and put into separate containers.
Squeeze the juice from the lime and mix together with the honey, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom. Add the almond powder and stir until fully mixed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sautee shallots lightly at low heat.
Wait until shallots about half-way to cooked and toss in sauce.
Cook, mixing constantly for about 30 seconds and then add the figs.
Cook until the figs begin to fall apart. At this point divide mixture in half. Remove half from pan and leave other half simmering at minimum heat.
Put removed mix into a food processor and process until mostly pureed.
Add ricotta cheese to food processor and process until fully blended.
Occasionally stir mix on stove to prevent burning.
Spoon mix in food processor onto crepes and wrap into tubes. Place in an oven-safe clay dish.
Add water mixed with cornstarch to mix on stove and stir until cornstarch sets. Spread mix over top of crepes.
Put in oven and cook for 13-15 minutes.
Serve immediately.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Falun Daffy
Ok, time to jump back into the fires of controversy. Perhaps you have heard of the Falun Gong. The Falun Gong (also called Falun Daffa) claims to be a non-organized group of peaceful exercise enthusiasts being persecuted by evil communist devils and largely the media over here in North America has been happy to collude with this misconception. The participation of certain unimportant, former parliament hill back-bench jockies has not helped to correct these misconceptions.
Unfortunately the only dissenting opinion on this messed up little cult is usually Xinhua; a news agency not known for accuracy in reporting or transparency.
This makes it hard for me. Because, on one hand, I know that Falun Gong manipulates Western anti-communist paranoia to gain adherents but, on the other hand it's hard to point to any truly dispassionate reporting on them.
Well please say hello to one of my new favorite people: Dr. Heather Kavan. Dr. Kavan wrote the single best summary of the controversy surrounding the Falun Gong I have ever read and I think it is a must-read for anybody who wants to know what the yellow-shirted loonies handing out pamphlets in front of Chinese embassies and consolates the world around are really all about. You can read it here.
Supernatural premieres tonight. I am looking forward to it.
Unfortunately the only dissenting opinion on this messed up little cult is usually Xinhua; a news agency not known for accuracy in reporting or transparency.
This makes it hard for me. Because, on one hand, I know that Falun Gong manipulates Western anti-communist paranoia to gain adherents but, on the other hand it's hard to point to any truly dispassionate reporting on them.
Well please say hello to one of my new favorite people: Dr. Heather Kavan. Dr. Kavan wrote the single best summary of the controversy surrounding the Falun Gong I have ever read and I think it is a must-read for anybody who wants to know what the yellow-shirted loonies handing out pamphlets in front of Chinese embassies and consolates the world around are really all about. You can read it here.
Supernatural premieres tonight. I am looking forward to it.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
District 9
No blog yesterday because by the time I got home from District 9 I was too wiped to write anything. I am not going to give away any details about the movie because I hate it when people do that but I am going to say this:
Go to see this movie.
It was the best science fiction movie made this decade.
Seriously.
The best.
Hands down.
I do like hard Sci Fi. I really do (unsurprising for a Sci Fi author I suppose) and I have seen a lot of science fiction movies. This beat nearly all of them. It did so by doing what Science Fiction does best: taking contemporary, down to earth issues, and then expressing them through a lense of the fantastic.
Now, fair warning, this is a thinking man's splatterfest. This movie is gory and make no mistake about that. But if those who like intelligent Sci Fi can deal with the gore they will find one of the most effectively crafted tales to come out of the genre in a good long time.
For the fans of the pretty explosions and zappy lazers fair warning must also be given. This movie occasionally stops the relentless tides of violence to demonstrate the basic humanity of the protagonists and to provide well-handled social commentary on contemporary issues such as racism, poverty and genocide.
I will say that Neil Blokamp and Peter Jackson have crafted an uncompromising movie. It is unsurprising that some critics have panned it. I have to express my disagreement with them.
Regardless of how they are percieved by Mr. White, the Prawns are not Spielberg-type aliens. I would say more but that might provide spoilers.
Anyway, I fully intend to get the DVD as soon as it comes out. This is a movie to watch more than once.
In other news, I finished another two chapters in the endless saga of copy-editing my novel. I have my edit-copy coil bound in two volumes and these two chapters represent the end of editing of the first of these volumes. I am also getting feedback from beta-readers about the book which leaves me very optimistic for it's eventual fate while (thankfully) providing me with lots of useful stuff to consider for the second draft.
I've already decided to rewrite the first three chapters in order to include two of the protagonists who were previously introduced in chapter 5 earlier.
Finally I have finally got a response about the writer's group I have been trying to form. Looks like this thing might actually go somewhere after all!
Go to see this movie.
It was the best science fiction movie made this decade.
Seriously.
The best.
Hands down.
I do like hard Sci Fi. I really do (unsurprising for a Sci Fi author I suppose) and I have seen a lot of science fiction movies. This beat nearly all of them. It did so by doing what Science Fiction does best: taking contemporary, down to earth issues, and then expressing them through a lense of the fantastic.
Now, fair warning, this is a thinking man's splatterfest. This movie is gory and make no mistake about that. But if those who like intelligent Sci Fi can deal with the gore they will find one of the most effectively crafted tales to come out of the genre in a good long time.
For the fans of the pretty explosions and zappy lazers fair warning must also be given. This movie occasionally stops the relentless tides of violence to demonstrate the basic humanity of the protagonists and to provide well-handled social commentary on contemporary issues such as racism, poverty and genocide.
I will say that Neil Blokamp and Peter Jackson have crafted an uncompromising movie. It is unsurprising that some critics have panned it. I have to express my disagreement with them.
Regardless of how they are percieved by Mr. White, the Prawns are not Spielberg-type aliens. I would say more but that might provide spoilers.
Anyway, I fully intend to get the DVD as soon as it comes out. This is a movie to watch more than once.
In other news, I finished another two chapters in the endless saga of copy-editing my novel. I have my edit-copy coil bound in two volumes and these two chapters represent the end of editing of the first of these volumes. I am also getting feedback from beta-readers about the book which leaves me very optimistic for it's eventual fate while (thankfully) providing me with lots of useful stuff to consider for the second draft.
I've already decided to rewrite the first three chapters in order to include two of the protagonists who were previously introduced in chapter 5 earlier.
Finally I have finally got a response about the writer's group I have been trying to form. Looks like this thing might actually go somewhere after all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)