Tuesday, October 31, 2017

I Have Had IT With These People

I'll warn you straight up, folks. This is going to get down and dirty, and if you aren't up for that, come back tomorrow when I'm in a better mood, please.

Earlier today, on the Pajiba website, I posted something that is factual. Namely, that Donald Trump's chief pollster was quoted very recently as saying there's "no question" that Trump would have lost in last year's election had he been running against Bernie Sanders. I also stated that some of us have known that all along, which I believe to be true.

By the end of this afternoon, there were several responses to my post. Every single one of them were rude to me, dismissive of me, or both. If you want to see for yourself, check the article about White House Chief of Staff John Kelly with the words "Morning Briefing" in the title. There are now over 300 comments so, getting to mine requires quite a bit of scrolling down. For the record, no one disputed the fact of what Trump's pollster had said. Instead, some folks chose to just be not very polite.

Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty, as it were.

In supporting Bernie Sanders, I chose to believe in a man who, I feel, cares about us. Cares about the future of our country. Hilary Clinton, while she was highly qualified, is a centrist who comes across as cold and calculating. There are a whole lot of us who believed in Bernie and still do, and we are not going anywhere. We believe in a living wage, we believe in health care being a fundamental human right, and we believe in the future.

Every single person I know who supported Hilary Clinton felt they had good reasons to do so. Some wanted a centrist in the White House. Some wanted to make history by electing a woman. I get it, and I respect them. However, there was all along a notable lack of respect on their part for myself and my fellow Sanders supporters.

They called us "unrealistic". They called us "spoiled children who want everything." And worse, in some cases.

So, let me say a few things.

In my life, I have had times when I went as long as four days with no food. My late wife and I survived an attempt on our lives made by rogue police officers who were protecting a drug dealer in our apartment building. I've been dirt poor at times, and homeless, for a few brief but terrifying hours.

In other words, I've never had it easy.

Now, these are words on a screen and I have no proof to back up what I've said. Nonetheless, every word of it is true.

I know that some people believe things will never change, no matter who we elect or what we do. I disagree with them but I always try to do so politely. I'm just that kind of person.

Sadly, the level of politeness and respect I once considered to be normal in our society is now far too rare a thing.



Friday, October 27, 2017

Thoughts On Fan Films

Hello, again. I've been busy with a few things but I hope to resume posting on a more regular basis soon.

In the meanwhile, I'd like to say a few things about fan films. Most of the ones I've watched are based on some version of Star Trek. Some of these feature original characters while others portray established ones. Perhaps the two best known series are both continuations of the original series.

These are "New Voyages / Phase II" and "Star Trek Continues". Both had good episodes and not so good ones. "New Voyages" disappeared literally overnight as its creator James Cawley closed the web site and pulled all of the episodes. Some may still be available on Youtube, and I highly recommend my favorite "World Enough And Time" to anyone who likes the original series. "Star Trek Continues" put its next to last episode up for viewing earlier this month. I liked it a lot.

Of the other series I've watched the one I like the best is "Hidden Frontier' which is set in the same time frame as "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine". The first few episodes are a bit rough around the edges but by the end of the series, the people involved in making it were creating some really good material.

Many of the same people have done spin offs that are audio dramas. The show does have an active website but there seems to be none of the episodes of the show available. There was an effort underway to remaster them but it appears that has been put on hold, pending clearance from CBS in accordance with the new official guidelines.

Again, Youtube may be your friend here, or some of the torrents may still be active, though that seems unlikely.

Most of what else I've seen have been shows that produced only a few episodes. Of these, I recommend "Starship Farragut" and "Starship Exeter". Beyond that, the quality of other series is very much hit and miss. 

Now, let me tell you about the single best one I've ever seen. One I watched earlier today. It's on Youtube and if you enjoy the original series, you might really find it worth your time to watch it.

It's titled "The Paradise Makers". This is a 2-part episode with a total running time of 2 hours and twenty-five minutes. I do not wish to give away any of the plot, but I do want to share some general thoughts on it.

First off, the episode is set just a few months into the five year mission. The way the characters behave reflects this quite nicely. There's a short but very nice scene with a character we've seen only seen once before. I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'll just say that it's a nice thing.

The animation is a blend of traditional style and what looks more like computer generated imagery that's pretty realistic looking. I've seen feature films that didn't look this good. As someone with a background in video production, I know that a lot of effort had to be put into this. I also have worked in the field of audio and except for one sequence of about half a minute, the sound mix is quite good to my ears. 

I found the film to be well written for the most part. A few lines could have been rewritten to work better, but, you know,  no script is perfect. The voice acting is good for the most part, though the voice for McCoy took a little getting used to. I got the feeling that the actor in question needed a little time to get it right, and I can live with the minor imperfection. Both Kirk and Spock are pitch perfect to my ears.

If you are a fan of the original series, you might very well really like this. To me, it truly felt like a very good first season episode of the original series. There was a reference in the comments section about it having been deleted and then uploaded again, so if you have the time to spare, you might want to watch this while you can.

Final thoughts: On a scale of 1 to 10, as a film I rate this an 8. As a Star Trek story, also an 8. There are a boatload of bits and pieces of Trek lore, most of which haven't been seen or referred to since their original appearances. The sound effects are classic. The writer got the star dates right. The animators even recreated both the opening and ending credits perfectly. 

I have no idea if the people behind this are unaware of the guidelines CBS has issued for fan films or if they chose to ignore those guidelines. I'm just glad they put such an amazing effort into making it. 

To find this just search for the title on Youtube. I did so and found it with no problem. 

As always, wishing you well, dear reader.


Monday, October 16, 2017

"We Built This City" And Other 45 Singles

Okay, so here we go.

I am officially fed up with music snobs who will tell you that certain records are so bad that no one should ever listen to them again. In my experience, most of these people came of age in the 1960s and they tend to worship the music of that decade. I freely and without any shame state that I am a child of the 1970s.

Some of the records that get this treatment include:

#1- "We Built This City" by Starship. This of course, was recorded by the band that had once been known as Jefferson Airplane and then as Jefferson Starship. Almost every person I've seen criticize this record fails to state exactly just what makes it so bad in their opinion. If anyone out there can actually analyze the record and tell me why they don't like it, fine. I'm willing to listen to what you have to say.

All I know is that thirty-two years after its release, I still like it. I bought the original single on vinyl when it came out and I also had a compact disc with the rare promo version on it. That's the version with no DJ chatter, that allowed local radio stations to record and mix in their own voice-overs. I wish like crazy I still had that CD because it also had some other very rare singles on it.

#2- "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace. Come on, people, just give in and enjoy it. It's like a really good short story that just happens to be in musical form.

#3-  "Copacabana (At The Copa)" by Barry Manilow. How can you not like this record? Do yourself a favor and buy the original A-side version, which is hard to find, but I'll tell you how to get it legally.

It's on the soundtrack to a film titled "Foul Play" and it's available from Amazon as an MP3 file. Spend $1.29 to get it.

Do not waste your time with the B-side version that has an extended instrumental and please, whatever you do, don't listen to any of the remixes that are out there. None of them can match the experience of hearing the original.

Some closing thoughts...

I've noticed that many of the people who show disdain for these records are often into very obscure bands who, quite frankly, aren't very good, in my opinion. Also, there's a real tendency among oldies fans to rant and rave about how Record A by group B is a lost classic and should have been a hit.

I've listened to literally hundreds of these records and yes, some of them are quite good. I'd put a ball park figure at about 10% when it comes to saying that yes, such and such a record should have been successful. Of the other 90%, for me at least, it breaks down as follows:

About one-third of them are good enough to play on air every now and then. About one-third I have no issues with listening to them at home but I'd never play them on air. The rest of them are records that I don't like at all but I can at least understand why some people do.



Sunday, October 15, 2017

Recent Events

I have gone almost two weeks without posting anything new here. The reason for that is simple. I'm increasingly fearful for this country. I try to keep politics out of this space but I just can't resist the need to say some things here and now. If you stop reading right here, that's fine with me, but I'm asking you to read all of this post.

Donald Trump is a fascist dictator who, being unable to get any significant legislation passed, relies on executive orders. Mike Pence is a theocratic disaster waiting to happen. We're dangerously close to losing our republic to either a theocratic regime or a military takeover.  I'm a survivor, and I can probably get through whatever happens. But far too many of us are simply not going to make it through to the other side, if things go bad.

Far too many of us are wrapped up in our own selves, to the point of ignorance, indifference or both.  We need to get our f***king heads out of the sand. We need to put down our smart phones. We're in for a full four years of Trump, I believe. Eight, if he somehow manages to get reelected. God only knows what shape we'll be in by then. The powers-that-be are hell-bent on waging war. The right-wing government of Israel would love to see us eliminate Iran for them. North Korea is a bear we keep poking.

Is this a real downer of a post or what?

Yeah, it is. But whatever reach I have, however limited, has to be used as I see fit.

I'll cover some of what is going right and ways to resist in a day or two.




Monday, October 2, 2017

The Seasons Change

We're now into the second week of autumn and I'm glad to see its arrival. The summer we just finished had far too many days of temperatures in the high eighties and low nineties. I've written before about how I don't handle heat very well. I do however, have few problems with cold temperatures. I once went up the street I lived on at that time to get a few things from the bodega on Washington Avenue when the temperature was ten degrees below zero.

The first week of autumn in this area was just a continuation of summer; every day saw temperatures in the eighties for the highs and low-to-mid sixties for the low. But over the weekend, things really changed. Last night we got down into the thirties and this morning when I went to take out the trash, there was a dense, cold fog hanging over the ground.

The heating system here at the Y.M.C.A. is one that works well. Last night, with the heat running (something that either happens or doesn't, residents have no control), the temperature in my room when I went to bed was sixty-eight degrees. For me, that's just about right.

Wishing you well, dear reader.