Search and Research
For my screenplay, "Green Light," I need to talk to some coppers. Gang Unit coppers. In the past I've often written about more... "fantastic" things, and have never been burdened with the need to do research that couldn't be done out of a couple of books and maybe a little reading in Wikipedia.
So I've got one name of a gang expert and gave her a call yesterday. Without a credit to my name, it was very difficult to describe myself as a screenwriter. I did it anyway and explained that I am hoping to portray an accurate vision of the harsh street life in Salinas, California. There is some significant interaction with police in my story, therefore I feel a great need to get the portrayal right. I'm actually a little concerned, because I've written the screenplay already, and I'm afraid something I learn about the way things work is going to throw a wrench into my plot. I doubt it, but you never know.
So she gives me the name of the sergeant in charge of the Violence Supression Unit, explaining that he'll know more answers and will know what he can and cannot tell me about methodology and procedure. Great. That will work.
Had to leave a voice mail. He hasn't called me back yet. That's okay.
Funny, I felt the need to tell her that I had a major Hollywood agent ready to read my script. Actually, it's true, the luck of who you know kind of thing, but did I really need to say that? I guess so. I imagine that she became more forthcoming when I told her that, but that's probably all it is, imagination.
I'm really rarin' to get at this rewrite, so I wish he'd hurry up and call.
Call, dangit!
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Thursday, January 26, 2006
O, Brothers, Let's Go Down
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O sisters let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sisters let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O brothers let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
Come on brothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O fathers let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O fathers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O mothers let's go down,
Come on down, don't you want to go down,
Come on mothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O sinners let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sinners let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
Down in the River to Pray
Traditional
Posted by Looney @ 9:50 AM
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Samwise the Strong
I saw a very interesting little documentary I had TiVo'd from pay-per-view last night.
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
It's a fun little amalgam of history, biography, interviews (both stars and fans) regarding the range of fandom and it's myriad little manifestations all over the world throughout the last half-century since the publication of The Lord of the Rings.
It really made me think through my experience with the Lord of the Rings, as literature and as cinema.
Now, let me say right off the bat that I am a serious fan, so if you're looking for a little pseudo-intellectual pan of this magnificent fairy-tale, well, go off to Google, type in "Gandalf Sucks" and click "I'm Feeling Lucky." The rest of you read on.
At the outset I found that I truly love this story. I would give up reading nearly every other thing I ever read just to hold on to this one. I love it, not in the way I love East of Eden, The Old Man and the Sea, or The Sound and the Fury. Those I love for their richness and quality, for the way I feel like I'm viewing a gorgeous work of art at a museum, for the same sort of visceral reaction I have to viewing Van Gogh, Picasso, Da Vinci, or Rodin, in which the beauty, the skill, the craft are all overwhelming and sometimes beyond words.
No, I love it for the way it makes me feel about me, about life, about people, about hope, faith, love, friendship, and death. What many people miss is that Tolkien, regardless of his sometimes uneven craft, was eminently skillful at reaching into the hearts of his readers to that deep, heroic, place inside of us where mythology lives. He wove a story where faith, love, and friendship were the most powerful weapons of war, and were sufficient to win the battle. He made you feel that Middle Earth was a place, a place with history, love, sadness, bitterness, regret, melancholy, happiness, and joy. He made it feel real. His characters took you into your own heart and you smiled, laughed, and wept with them as they experienced victory, friendship, and loss. He gave you the sense that once you passed a place, you can never go back. That death happened once, but it was not the worst that could happen. What bittersweet joy resides at the docks of the Grey Havens!
Most who have read and loved the story have felt these things. But I think most readers miss the true heart of the story. They miss why they identify with it as they do, why it touches the ordinary, non-heroic, everyday Joe and Jane, you and me.
I'll tell you a secret. It's because of who is at the heart of the story.
The heart of the story is not Frodo. It's not Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, the elves, the dwarves, or the men. No, the true heart of the story is Samwise Gamgee. It is because of Samwise, and him representative of all the hobbits, the ordinary, workaday hobbits, that Frodo goes on the quest. He endures so much for the sake of those he loves, yet, in the end, he would have failed were it not for Samwise. The quest was Frodo's, but it was Samwise who rescued him from Shelob, and from Cirith Ungol. It was Samwise who carried him up the slopes of Mount Doom. It was Samwise who was there all along, with Frodo, even at the end of all things.
Samwise represents you and me. Without Samwise there is no need for a quest, yet without him, no quest can succeed. Samwise is not the quester, the hero of the age. Samwise is the one who labored long and hard to give the hero the chance he needed to win the day, regardless of the personal cost.
See this: Frodo failed. He failed. The temptation of the ring was too much. But Samwise never did. He tarried on beyond hope. When he'd made a terrible mistake, he did not turn away from it, but he strode into Cirith Ungol to undo it, knowing he would not survive, yet willing to face his mistake and give his all to right it.
Sam chastised himself for his silly fantasies about being Samwise the Strong. What he didn't know was that the ring wasn't trying to deceive him by calling him Samwise the Strong, but had seen the truth in the young hobbit's heart and tried to twist it to its own ends.
Sam truly was Samwise the Strong. Had he not been, all would have been lost.
Yes, I love this story. I love it because I may never be a hero, but I always hope to be Samwise to the heroes around me so that perhaps other great works might someday be done.
Posted by Looney @ 9:11 AM
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Ready, Set, Read!
Well, Nobody inspired me to write this post. She posted a list of all the books she read last year. So I figured it might be interesting to see what is on people's reading lists for next year (so far, anyway.)
Here's mine:
Rebels on the Back Lot, by Sharon Waxman
Truman, by David McCullough
The Ancestor's Tale, by Richard Dawkins
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norbert, by Susanna Clarke
It's So Much Work to be Your Friend, by Richard Lavoie
Always Running, by Luis J. Rodriguez
Bullets Over Hollywood, by John McCarty
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
The Myth of the Eternal Return, by Mircea Eliade
Collapse, by Jared Diamond
Travel in the Ancient World, by Lionel Casson
The Geography Behind History, by W. Gordon East
Empires of the Plain, by Lesley Adkins
The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene
I'm sure I won't finish all of these, but they'll be attempted. I sometimes go a little ADD with books, so you never know how fickle I'll get. But even looking at it now, it looks a fascinating list... in fact, makes me want to dive in to all of them right now.
Good reading. Make sure you post your lists in the comments.
Posted by Looney @ 2:06 PM
Friday, January 06, 2006
Four Meme
I didn't get tagged by UV but I stole 'em anyway...
1. Four jobs you've had in your life: Manufacturer's Sales Rep, Office Manager, Director of Purchasing, Paperboy (twice, once at age 10 and once at age 30, LOL.)
2. Four movies you could watch over and over: Searching for Bobby Fischer, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, A Few Good Men, On the Waterfront
3. Four places you've lived: Anaheim, CA; Fallon, NV; Santa Cruz, CA; King City, CA
4. Four TV shows you love to watch: Australian Rules Football, Cold Case Files, American Idol, Beavis & Butthead
5. Four websites you visit daily: Amazon, Ebay, Google, Gameknot
6. Four of your favorite foods: Tri-tip, Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies, Asparagus/Cauliflower (tie), Soda Crackers
7. Four places you'd rather be: Santa Cruz, CA; Steamboat Springs, CO; Grand Canyon, AZ, West Coast of Ireland (okay, maybe when it gets a little warmer)
8. Four albums you can't live without: U2 - Joshua Tree, Eric Whitacre - The Complete A Cappella Works 1991 to 2001, John Adams - Harmonium, Arvo Part - De Profundis
The only problem with limited lists is that you don't get to talk about all the things in these categories you'd like to... Future bloggery, I guess :)
Posted by Looney @ 9:08 AM