Raven's Tales

Goodnight Sweet Watchman

Ravenpen — 2009-11-17T20:05:49-06:00

Renowned British actor Edward Woodward passed away yesterday at the age of 79. Woodward was a staple of UK television starring in the series “Callan” in the seventies and “The Equalizer” in the eighties in addition to numerous other TV and film roles. My personal knowledge of the man came only a couple years ago, but the meeting was memorable. Woodward played overzealous Neighborhood Watch commander Tom Weaver in Hot Fuzz. The man stole every scene he was in, especially after he was revealed to be one of the ringleaders of the secret and sinister village committee. The director of the film Edgar Wright wrote a wonderful and touching memorial to Woodward that really encompassed his body of work and how beloved he was as an actor. His warmth and talent will be sorely missed. -Quoth the Raven

For the Bookworms

Ravenpen — 2009-11-14T08:33:54-06:00

I recently ran across a great tool for all us author stalkers. New Book Alerts is a website that allows you to create a custom list of your favorite writers and receive an email whenever any of them releases a new novel. I tested it out a bit, searching for some relatively obscure authors, and so far the site has managed to find every name I’ve thrown at it. If you’re like me and tend to go months or even years not knowing that your favorite writer put out a new book, then you should definitely give this site a try. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Twenty-One Done!

Ravenpen — 2009-11-08T15:21:36-06:00

After more than two years and countless revisions, I’m happy to report that my novella Twenty-One is finally finished. Sections 36, 37, 38 and 39 are now up, thus completing the saga. ...My style of writing does not immediately lend itself to the Mystery genre, which made certain aspects of the project rather tricky. ...I tried to ask a question that doesn’t have an easy answer, but I felt was worth discussing. In this climate of Avian-Flu fear and N1H1 terror, the whole thing feels more poignant to me than ever. I know some of you have waited a long time for this conclusion. ... For those who never got to this one or need a refresher, I’d invite you to start from the beginning and give it a whirl. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Happy Halloween!

Ravenpen — 2009-10-31T10:41:54-05:00

The grand day is upon us once more. It's time to don your costumes and grab that candy. There are Jack'O'Lanterns to be carved and scores of horror movies to be viewed. Whatever you all choose to do, I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween. I know I will, even if I have to dispatch some undead hooligans along the way. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Season's Greetings

Ravenpen — 2009-10-29T18:15:37-05:00

A little while ago my fellow Oddlots compatriots Einhander and Rude started coming over to my place for a monthly movie night. Some of our recent viewings have been Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Delicatessen and the excellent Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which I recently reviewed. Our upcoming selection for this month is the much-buzzed-about and finally-released Michael Dougherty film Trick 'r Treat. What many people don’t know is that the film was inspired by a short piece Dougherty created years earlier much the same way Neill Blomkamp made Alive In Joburg before creating District 9. So without further ado, I present Dougherty's original fright flick Seasons Greetings: -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Film Review: Behind the Mask - The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Ravenpen — 2009-10-27T22:45:10-05:00

I’ve complained many times about the state of the horror film industry; that the prevalence of mindless and plotless Torture-Porn films and cookie-cutter remakes of classic films has left little to admire in the current landscape. Despite feeling this way, I have made an ardent attempt to keep watching new material so that I can be an honest critic and in the hope that every so often I’ll run across something special. ...In the world of our story Leslie, his mentor and others in his profession view the famous anti-heroes above as legends whose exploits are so renowned that they’ve had films made about them. ... In one memorable scene we watch as Leslie, who’s hidden in the bushes, lures his chosen adversary outside of her work and then closes the door unexpectedly behind her. The above example is a classic horror-flick jump scare and the film takes great glee illustrating Leslie’s MacGyver technique in rigging the door. Leslie talks at length about the rigors of trying to become an iconic killer, stating that it “takes a lot of cardio” to keep up with a fleeing victim. ...I don’t want to go into too much detail and give away the good bits, but I will say that the film is played straight and that decision informs how the events unfold. ...It’s a great choice for your upcoming Halloween festivities and is sure to entertain both aficionados and newbies alike with its mixture of humor and horror.

Pumpkin Pie Alert

Ravenpen — 2009-10-23T23:23:16-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line to remind people about the delicious, wagon-wheel-sized pumpkin pies available from your neighborhood Costco. At six bucks these things are priced a tad higher than last year's model, but they’re still a fraction of the cost of getting a pie at someplace like Baker’s Square, especially when you consider that the Costco pie is nearly double the size. As you can see from the photo below, I’ve already purchased my first pie of the season and am well on the way to my second. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Halloween Roundup

Ravenpen — 2009-10-22T23:11:55-05:00

Rather than go over the standard list of pumpkin recipes and upcoming horror films, I thought I’d try something a little different this year. The following is a list of totally non-essential, and in some cases disturbing, Halloween accouterments. For recipes that resemble parts of the human anatomy look no further than this site and while we're on the subject of food why not give a gander at some classic candy admired more for its fond memories than tantalizing taste. ...Only the recent rise of the zombie can match our fanged friends in terms of prevalence, and over the years the vamp's popularity has led to some interesting items being produced. But lest you think my lycanthrope love is making me harsh on old Dracula, here are some songs that even The Count could get down to. ...Fortunately some new blood is starting to change all that, but in the meantime you can journey back to horror's golden age of the slasher. I'll end things with some spooky travel destinations for those planning a little haunted jaunt this holiday season. Hopefully these suggestions add some lovely supplemental material to your festivities, or at the very least provide you with a few cheap laughs.

Food Excursion No. 2

Ravenpen — 2009-10-19T07:58:49-05:00

Our second gastronomic journey comes courtesy of one of my frequent excursions with a group of like-minded souls that congregate at the website Roadfood. The site has members from all over the country, but our particular contingent of foodies live in Chicagoland and various areas of Wisconsin. ...Our first stop took us to a Greek grocery called "Parthenon Foods" where we snacked on sesame bread, feta cheese, a wonderful roasted red pepper dip and Kajmak, a traditional Mediterranean spread that tastes like a combination of soft butter and cream cheese. ...Our next stop was to "Mekato's Columbian Bakery & Restaurant" where we sampled a plethora of traditional South American faire. ...To drink I had a Milo, a chocolate and malt concoction that tastes a bit like Ovaltine. ...Our third stop was to the "El Rey" grocery story, which had a wide array of baked goods as well as some lovely homemade specialties. ...Our final stop was to the "Milwaukee Public Market", a massive indoor bazaar with a myriad of things to eat. ...All-in-all it was a great and delicious day and I look forward to our next trip into foodie land.

Monkeys and Debt

Ravenpen — 2009-10-15T07:16:42-05:00

My inability to compose within the 140-character Twitter limit has caused some more of my poems to seek sanctuary here. So please welcome our two new arrivals "Steady Gig" and "If At First You Don't Succeed". The first is based on a television show I saw about "animal bars" in Japan and the second came to me after listening to this little tune. Enjoy. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Werewolves Tearing It Up In Comics

Ravenpen — 2009-10-13T18:43:48-05:00

Unlike the scads of Vampire and Zombie movies that get made every year, you'd be lucky to find one werewolf flick every few years and when these films do get made the results are often lackluster at best. ...In 2007 Robert Kirkman debuted his new title The Astounding Wolf-Man, which centers on a man who is bitten by a werewolf and decides to use his curse for the betterment of mankind by becoming a super hero. Tutored by a Vampire mentor and equipped with the latest in high-tech gadgets, Gary Hampton patrols the night looking for crime to stop, like Batman only with a lot more body hair. ...The first book in a planned series, Murder Moon centers on an ex Civil War officer who tries to leave the horrors of war behind him only to be attacked by a creature that turns him into something more horrible than he ever imagined. I first heard of Maxwell during an interview he gave for a podcast and was immediately taken with his passion for his craft and his love of the subject matter. ...Created by David Gallaher, Steve Ellis and Scott O Brown, High Moon is another period comic set in the 1800's and it uses this backdrop to tell of the hardships and horrors of frontier life. ... I'd summarize this one in more detail like I did the others, but there's really no need when you can view the whole first volume yourself for free online. ...We werewolf lovers may not ever get the kind of attention that vamps and zombies receive on the silver screen, but the world of comic books belongs to the wolves.

Monster October TV Guide ‘09

Ravenpen — 2009-10-08T20:23:36-05:00

Normally my habit is to link to the places that provide the most bang for your Halloween buck, but alas, this year my trusty channel aggregators decided not to participate in the festivities. ...2:45 AM - Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007) ...08:00 AM - SCARIEST PLACES ON EARTH - ISLAND OF NO RETURN – PT 1 09:00 AM - SCARIEST PLACES ON EARTH - ISLAND OF NO RETURN – PT 2 ...12:00 PM - SCARIEST PLACES ON EARTH - RETURN TO CHILLINGHAM – PT 1 01:00 PM - SCARIEST PLACES ON EARTH - RETURN TO CHILLINGHAM – PT II ...05:00 PM - 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN MOVIE - HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 ...That is offically the longest post on this site and I think it's gonna hold the top spot for quite some time (unless I go on a drunken rant after watching the new Nightmare film).

Paranormal Activity

Ravenpen — 2009-10-05T23:59:18-05:00

A new indie horror film is making the rounds and is being heralded by many as the heir apparent to the Blair Witch Project. ...The first is the film's miniscule budget of 15,000 dollars, a figure that makes Blair's 500,000 dollar cost seem gargantuan by comparison. ... The advertisement hasn't gone quite as far as Blair in trying to pretend that the events depicted in the film are real, but the movie is presented as a series of home-video footage so the effect ends up the same. ...They actually use test screenings in the marketing materials, and the general tone of the viewing participants could be summed up as "scared shitless", at least from what we've seen in the commercials. ... ...That said, I find the attempt at verisimilitude in this film and others like it intriguing. There's currently a contest going on to vote to get the film released in your city. ...I'm fairly confidant it will come to Chicago and if it does I definitely intend on trying to see it.

One, Two, Freddy’s Coming For You

Ravenpen — 2009-10-02T21:41:03-05:00

The maestro of nightmares is creeping ever closer to his reemergence in April of 2010, which has continued to leave yours truly in a state of unbearable confusion. ...I mean the guy took the seminal horror movie from my childhood, put one of my favorite actors in the lead role and then filmed the thing in my hometown. He’s either trying to disprove my theory about him by making the new Elm Street remake really good or he’s trying really hard to make it appear good in order to lull me into a false sense of security at which point he will crush my dreams in his usual accustomed manner. ... ...It seems pretty clear that the movie is in fact going to be a remake and not a re-imagining. ...The new movie also looks like it may be going for a darker tone than its predecessor, which is saying something considering how dark the first film was; Freddy hadn’t developed his trademark gallows humor in the initial outing and was mostly content to simply scare the shit out of you. ...That said, I’m going into this situation with my eyes wide open and I’m still convinced that Bay may find a way to foul things up. ...

Food Excursion No. 1

Ravenpen — 2009-09-30T23:16:31-05:00

When I changed the focus of this blog to include talking about my life instead of just my artistic pursuits, I did so in order to open up this space to a broader range of topics. Since that time I’ve widened the scope of the kinds of news items I’ve written about, but I still haven’t really touched on anything personal. Part of my reluctance to do so is based on the fact that I’m not sure the events in my day-to-day life are worth discussing, but I’ve decided to give it a try and open myself up a bit to see what people think of the idea. ...Thus I have decided to dip my toe timorously into personal territory by starting off with the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing series of “Food Excursions”. This certainly isn’t intended to be a journal of everything I eat, but rather an intermittent series of notable stops where some exceptional edible was consumed. ...Well for starters, how about something that motivated me to drive this very night for an hour and a half into Milwaukee just to sample it. ...It had that lovely texture combination you get from eating birthday cake and ice cream together and the maple flavor went exceptionally well with the vanilla custard. ...

Film Review: Children of the Corn

Ravenpen — 2009-09-27T08:53:39-05:00

This time around however our lovely couple is on the verge of splitting up, so the playful bickering and minor arguments that slowly escalate things in the original film are replaced in the new rendition by shouting matches and insult hurling that begin in the first frame and don't stop till halfway through the movie. ...Meanwhile Burt goes into full CSI mode and determines that he couldn’t have killed the boy and insists that Vicky examine a gory neck wound to prove his point despite the fact that she’d have no real way to determine whether he was telling the truth. The rest of the first half of the film is spent watching Burt and Vicky snipe at each other while trying to find some local authorities to report the boy’s death and in the process try to convince whoever they find that it wasn’t Burt who ultimately killed him. ...Whether he really talks to their God is meant to be ambiguous in both films, but in the '84 flick Franklin makes Issac self aware enough to choose his words carefully and let the perception of him by his flock do most of the work. ...As it turns out Vicky’s quite right to be nervous seeing as how all the children suddenly surround her car and then go to town on it using rakes, pitchforks, shovels and other implements of farming destruction. ... It takes Vicky firing off a shotgun to finally get his attention at which point it’s already too late and Burt runs out just in time to see Malachai torch Vicky alive. ...Burt fights two of the bigger kids and kills them, Issac throws knife into Burt's shoulder from rooftop, Burt runs away into Corn, kids give chase but get freaked out by corn and wait for Issac/Malachai, they show up and kids all enter corn, chase, chase, chase, chase, chase, Burt takes out a couple more kids including tiny wannabe profit that might’ve replaced Issac, kids all get called home for supper, Burt gets bored waiting around for kids in corn field and has Vietnam flashback to pass the time, Issac and Malachai have heart-to-heart about their faith, Malachai’s pregnant girl is sad after Issac drops the age of self-sacrifice from 19 to 18, kids all go to church after dinner to watch two of their members have sex while the others look on excitedly, Burt continues having flashbacks and stumbles onto Vicky’s corn-crucified body, Malachai tells his girl he has to kill himself for the faith, girl gets pouty and has vision of burning the corn, Burt suddenly shows up crucified next to Vicky without any explanation, cut back to Malachai and a bunch of the other eighteen-year-olds who walk off into the corn field presumably to sacrifice themselves, THE END. ...Here we have two underage kids doing the nasty and a whole bunch of really underage kids getting off on watching it, all while Issac reads from scripture.

Weinstein Joins the Bay Game

Ravenpen — 2009-09-26T08:55:14-05:00

Bob Weinstein, head honcho over at Dimension Films, has decided to “…go back to doing what I do best”, which in this case means taking beloved horror classics and creating pointless remakes and sequels. ...Because clearly the later iterations of those films were vastly superior to the originals and hell they can just get anyone for the Scanners sequel, who needs that Cronenberg guy anyway. ...Here’s a hint Bob, they tried reviving this one before and no one went to see it because even the trailer looked terrible. ...Even if that ends up being true, it’s still part of a disturbing trend that favors regurgitation over original ideas and I can’t see that as a good thing in any situation. ...It’s possible that Weinstien is being sincere and that these new films may add something to the legacy of their predecessors, though I remain highly skeptical. As a show of good faith I plan on watching the television remake of Children of the Corn that’s airing tonight on the SciFi channel and I’ll report back here with my thoughts on it tomorrow. ...Well I’m sure a reboot of a reboot won’t seem tired at all by the time it comes out. I can see that you're clearly concerned with reviving the quality of your franchise films and that this is in no way just an attempt to make a quick buck.

Everyone Remembers Their First

Ravenpen — 2009-09-21T17:55:05-05:00

Yesterday’s post about stop-motion got me thinking about my past experiences with the art form. My first exposure came when I was a kid watching holiday specials with a light bulb-nosed Rudolph, the song and dance stylings of Snow Miser and Heat Miser and some claymation California Raisons who had become bonafide celebrities after paying tribute to Marvin Gaye. Still, the first moment that really blew my mind and inspired me was seeing a film in a college video-editing class that was created by a pair of identical twins known as The Brothers Quay. Everything about this piece from its visual style to the mood it evoked filled me with a sense of wonder and really opened my eyes to the possibilities that Art of all forms had to offer. It was a very special moment for me, one that helped me take my own timid first steps into film and animation, and now I’d like to share that moment with you. ...
(use full screen mode for better viewing)

The Return of Stop Motion?

Ravenpen — 2009-09-20T01:50:54-05:00

British humorist and claymation guru Nick Park gave us the wonderful, cheese-loving Wallace and Gromit and then of course there's the master of the posable arts, Henry Selick, who directed both The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. These movies all came out several years apart from each other and though all three later received cult followings, none of them managed to set the world on fire during their theatrical run. ...In November director Wes Anderson, auteur of the movies "Rushmore", "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Darjeeling Limited", is trying his hand at the frame-by-frame game by adapting another children’s story, Roald Dahl’s "Fantastic Mr. ...

I don’t know if this is merely coincidence or the start of a bonafide trend, but it’s encouraging to see stop-motion in the forefront of film again. ...

Greetings Fellow Oddlots and Irregulars

Ravenpen — 2009-09-19T00:15:02-05:00

For those who don’t, the short version is that our service provider underwent a major overhaul and in the process somehow managed to jumble up our site something fierce. We have backups of most of the crucial information, but there are certain key things we need from our former host in order to put Oddlots up on another server and that's currently what we're missing. ...He's still trying to reach them, but in the meantime we didn't want the Oddlots' website address to keep pointing towards a dead page. ...At this point in time we have no idea how long things will remain this way, but it will likely be for the foreseeable future. I have emailed those of you that I have addresses for from back in the ReCAT days. If any of you visiting here are in contact with other Oddlots members who might be wondering what's up, you can tell them that the address now points to a live site. I know this isn’t the same as Oddlots, but I hope it can still be a place for us to congregate. I intend to ratchet up the news quotient back to my previous posting levels and am happy to open my Forums for the RPG’s and other threads that members have come to know and love.

The Sparkly Sheen of Tween Misogyny

Ravenpen — 2009-09-15T23:45:53-05:00

The real heart of that piece was about the constant struggle that artists face when dealing with their own self-doubt and insecurities. How the popular success of a seemingly lackluster talent can shake ones belief in their own abilities or serve to bolster their faith by illustrating that success can be as much a fluke of fate as an indicator of actual talent. I was using Brown as a jumping off point to explore a larger issue, but I’ll be the first to admit that my motives weren’t entirely pure. I took a considerable amount of glee watching Pullum dismantle Brown’s work with his scathing critique and I’d wager there’s almost no artist out there who doesn’t take some pleasure in exposing the hacks in their particular corner of creation, especially the ones who have amassed great fortunes peddling their schlock to the masses. ...I think it’s fairly indisputable that the Twilight books have some pretty troubling misogynist overtones, especially considering the fact that they are primarily targeted at young girls. Before anyone points it out, yes I know the author of Twilight is female, and no that doesn’t insulate it from being misogynistic. If it was aimed at an adult audience I could almost dismiss the whole thing as a vampiric spin on the classic bodice ripper tales of old, but that is clearly not the case here. ...Michael Bay may be a multi-millionaire, but he’s also by and large a completely talentless fuck and no amount of cash can erase that fact.

Growing Up Muppet

Ravenpen — 2009-09-06T01:11:39-05:00

The amount of events I can recall from my three-plus decades on this earth could easily be condensed into a ninety-minute movie and it would probably play out in broad, mashed-up bits like one of those filmstrips from grade school where they used a single image of a tree frog to represent the entire African rainforest and then moved on to something totally unrelated like road construction. ...I can remember all of us hurrying through dinner, the show came on at 6:30, and plunking ourselves down in front of the TV to catch the opening song and see who the special guest was that night. ...Going back and watching some of it now, I’m amazed at the sheer number of jokes that must’ve gone clear over my head at that age, but even the ones I got felt dangerous and worth repeating to friends on the playground the next day. ...If anything the programming has gotten more and more regressive and is often so cravenly politically correct that the thought of a character telling a joke at another’s expense or being in any way sarcastic or caustic, aka funny, is simply unheard of. ... I remember this as my first glimpse into the realities of late-night television and what it must've been like for guests on Carson and Letterman coming to promote their latest album or movie only to find themselves unwillingly roped into some lame sketch by the host. That the Muppet Show was so fearless in portraying something that wouldn’t be touched on until Conan O'Brien came on the scene decades later is a testament to how far ahead of its time the program was. I’ve written before about the show’s origins and about its potential future, but it’s these golden years that will always stand out to me.

Fuzzy Logic

Ravenpen — 2009-09-01T23:12:39-05:00

My deep and abiding love of werewolves is a powerful thing, as is my nostalgia for the decade of my adolescence. These two elements have combined to form a perfect marketing storm, one designed to pull me in despite my better judgment. ...Teen Wolf was amusing for its time, but not extraordinary in any way and certainly not something one could hang an entire television series on. The American Werewolf In London angle sounds intriguing, but the idea that anyone could fuse these two movies together sounds ridiculous and updating them for a "modern audience" feels like a mistake waiting to happen. Still, I can't help but be drawn to the potential, however slim it may be. I want so badly for my fuzzy friends to have the renaissance that vampires and zombies have enjoyed that I find myself grasping at whatever meager offerings are presented. I can only hope that one day my enthusiasm is rewarded, though I have no intention of holding my breath waiting for it to happen. My optimism may be boundless, but it certainly isn't blind.

Close Encounters

Ravenpen — 2009-08-30T10:36:15-05:00

There’s a movie coming out this November called Fourth Kind that deals with alien abductees. The film centers on a therapist and her group of patients in Nome Alaska, all of whom have similar abduction stories and experiences. The plot sounds like something straight out of an X-Files episode except for one small difference. The characters and therapy scenes in the film are taken from actual events that have been documented and are presented side-by-side with their film recreations in the trailer below. This may just turn out to be another Blair Witch style marketing ploy, but for now I’m pretty damned intrigued. Not many movie trailers make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. -Quoth the Raven

Striving for Understanding

Ravenpen — 2009-08-29T09:13:00-05:00

Anyone who wonders about my opinion of Michael Bay need look no further than my magnum opus of hate. ...His original films make me weep for the future of cinema and his remakes of the beloved horror films of my youth make me want to inflict grievous bodily harm on the man. Even my moments of doubt make me loathe the man and the way he dangles something tantalizing in front of you only to crush it to pieces with his ineptitude. I’ve taken great joy in despising Bay at every turn for his utter disregard for things like coherent storytelling, cogent dialogue and action sequences that don’t induce bouts of epilepsy. ...I think in his mind he has a specific esthetic he’s going for and probably even has something to say with his films, though what that something is completely eludes me. ...Zack Handlen over at the venerable AV Club has written an in-depth treatise on the possible machinations and motivations behind the hacktastic thing we call Bay. After reading it I found that I began to contemplate pitying poor Bay rather than scorning him. ...Wait, wait, I think I’m starting to feel something...yes there’s definitely something happening, I think, maybe, hang on, hang on....aaaaand......

The Bull and the Wolf

Ravenpen — 2009-08-20T20:24:46-05:00

In 2010 Benicio Del Toro will take on the mantle of Lon Chaney Jr. in the remake of the 1941 classic The Wolf Man with an updated rendition. ...I’ve had an avid interest in werewolves for many years, and in that time I have learned that being a lupine enthusiast is similar to being a Cubs fan, disappointment is inevitable. ...Few people have touched on the psychological horror inherent in being cursed with lycanthropy and the decision of the afflicted to either end their own life or continue on as a monster. Chaney understood this and in his depiction of the Wolf Man he conveyed the confusion, resentment and despair of what is ultimately a tragic figure. David Naughton gave an equally winning interpretation in An American Werewolf In London where he spends the entire film trapped between his desire to live and the threat he poses to the woman he loves all while dealing with the progressively-rotting corpse of the best friend he couldn’t save who mercilessly prods him towards suicide. Judging from what I’ve read thus far, it sounds like Del Toro understands the contradictions of the character and is on the right track. ...I’d love to be able to add this movie to the very short list of well-made werewolf films and I have a small, but growing hope that Wolf Man may actually have the goods. ...

Catastrophe Avoided

Ravenpen — 2009-08-02T11:14:21-05:00

Back in June it was announced that Futurama would be returning to television and there was much rejoicing. But then in the midst of all the fan revelry there came another article, the kind that makes you want to pull out TV-Executive teeth with a pair of rusty pliers. Thankfully it looks like things have been resolved and there will be no need for a spree of angry amateur dental extractions. Or maybe they were just worried about being turned into Torgo's Executive Powder. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Whoa here she comes....

Ravenpen — 2009-07-22T19:16:37-05:00

Drawing inspiration from the 2007 movie Teeth, in which a teenage girl discovers an unexpected evolutionary defense mechanism and uses it to dispatch her would-be suitors, Cody’s upcoming movie Jennifer’s Body centers on another teenage femme fatale. Jennifer, played by Megan Fox, is an object of lust for all the straight boys and a source of idolization and jealousy for the girls. ... It’s a typical life for the queen of the social elite until Jennifer becomes possessed and starts eliminating her male classmates by giving them exactly what they think they want. The horror plot sounds like pretty standard fare ala Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but add in the comedic side of the movie coupled with Cody’s flare for catchy dialogue and Jennifer has the potential to be a modern camp classic in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead and Slither. Admittedly I’m not much of a fan of Fox as an actress, but I’m hoping that her lackluster performances thus far may simply be a case of not having been given a decent role yet. ...I’m also stoked to see Amanda Seyfried of Veronica Mars fame cast as the “geeky best friend” and I love the fact that they pulled the turn-stunningly-attractive-girl-into-nerd-by-adorning-her-with-thick-glasses-and-an-unfashionable-hairstyle trick, which I'm assuming is meant to be purposefully ironic. We’ll have to wait until September 18th to see how Cody does with her second swing for the fences, but I'm fairly excited and optimistic. ...

Farewell Teacher Man

Ravenpen — 2009-07-20T21:55:09-05:00

He was the author of a trio of autobiographical books that chronicled his life from early childhood into adulthood. The first of these, Angela’s Ashes, won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 and was followed by the novels ‘Tis and Teacher Man. ...Before that he had spent thirty years teaching English at McKee and Stuyvesant High Schools in New York where he was beloved by his students. There’s an expression that says that the only story anyone can really tell is the tale of their own life. McCourt seemed to take that to heart when he chronicled his impoverished, rough and tumble childhood growing up on the streets of Limerick Ireland and later his struggles to make a place for himself and his family in New York. For me McCourt will always be a literary hero; a man who wrote simply and succinctly while simultaneously filling his prose with character, warmth and charm. ...Personally the thing I admired most about the author was his unfailing honesty, which is perhaps the greatest achievement any writer can hope for. McCourt turned the heartache and hardship of his adolescences and the adventures of his youth and young adulthood into the epic and compelling struggle of an ordinary life.

Methods of Persuasion

Ravenpen — 2009-06-28T18:00:53-05:00

As much as the idea of another Muppet movie excites me, there is always the worry that any new material won’t live up to the legacy of the original show. ...Here were these fuzzy, felt creatures that looked like three-dimensional versions of children’s cartoon characters, but which spoke and acted like full-grown adults. ...Seeing The Muppet Show at that tender age was a revelation for me and it helped shape my understanding of both humor and art. As unexpected and unfiltered as Henson’s opus was, it turns out that he was even edgier back in his early days. ... ...I know Stadler and Waldorf were pretty harsh critics, but neither of them ever put a bullet through Gonzo’s beak over one of his failed Evil Knievel-inspired stunts, though secretly I’m sure they wanted to. I can’t imagine what viewers seeing these spots thought, but I’m willing to bet they didn’t go over so well. Thankfully the feedback from the experience probably saved Henson from having his later work yanked from the air before it ever found its audience.

Return of the Weird One

Ravenpen — 2009-06-16T21:02:28-05:00

Everyone’s favorite pop-song parodist is back and this time Weird Al and crew have turned their considerable talents to dissecting the strange world of Craigslist by way of The Doors. The lyrics are Al’s usual blend of observational witticism and humor. His ability to hold a magnifying glass up to the fads and ephemera that grip our collective culture and then turn those phenomena back in on themselves is one of the secrets to his longevity. ...As with his previous hits, the musical impersonation in this tune is shockingly accurate with Al and the band taking bits from Door’s classics like “Light My Fire” “Strange Days” “Riders On The Storm” and “The End” and mixing them into a melange that sounds like it could be a lost track from the band’s actual catalogue. The video, created by Liam Lynch, plays like an homage to the Oliver Stone biopic. I must say I was a bit shocked at the visual similarity created between Yankovic and The Lizard King when Al dawns Morrison’s trademark silver-belted leather pants and ruffled white shirt. So without further ado, here’s Craigslist by Weird Al Yankovic. ...Added: Turns out the Door’s own Ray Manzarek is playing keyboards on the track.

Futurama Is Back Again!

Ravenpen — 2009-06-09T18:12:28-05:00

Apparently Matt Groening and crew drank some extra Lazarus juice after their DVD resurrection because Futurama is once again returning to TV! The show has had 26 new episodes ordered which will begin airing in 2010 on Comedy Central. Ya hear that Fox! You can bite our shiny metal asses! What’s that you say? Comedy Central is owned by 20th Century Fox? Eh, I stand by my statement. -Quoth the Raven

Huge Rhythm Game Sale!

Ravenpen — 2009-06-09T11:40:14-05:00

Alert! Alert! Anyone who’s been holding off on buying Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour needs to check out this sale! Everything is half off and the stuff is all new, despite the boxes being a bit shopworn from extended storage. It’s first come, first serve, so get a move on! That is all. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Film Review: Drag Me To Hell

Ravenpen — 2009-05-31T21:16:15-05:00

When I made the decision to stop reviewing mainstream movies and shift my focus to covering smaller films, I did so because I thought there were a lot of pictures out there that were being missed by audiences simply because they didn’t know these films existed. ...I think the Evil Dead trilogy benefitted from being homemade movies with an underground following because it allowed Raimi to make them the way he wanted to without worrying about things like market demographics or test screenings. ...It is in essence an indie film made by a man who no longer has to scrounge to create his art, but understands the value of doing things on your own terms. ...The child’s family brings him to a healer who attempts to rid him of his affliction, but ultimately she is unable to stop the wheels already set in motion and watches helplessly as the child is hurled around the room by an unseen force and dragged to the fiery depths below through a large hole in the floor. ...Ganush pleads with Christine, but she refuses to acquiesce and when the old woman starts getting physical Brown calls in security, which shames Ganush and causes her to curse Brown, though only through the use of garbled profanities. Later as Christine’s leaving work Ganush confronts her again in the parking garage and the two proceed to have a knockdown, drag-out fight, which ends with Ganush cursing Christine again, this time with the gypsy variety. ...Raimi’s love of gross-out effects also comes into play during several cringe inducing moments that’ll make you want to avoid eating any big meals before viewing the movie, especially after learning that the production used actual creepy crawlers rather than CGI insects for the various hordes and swarms. ...The healer tells Christine that she will let the Lamia possess her and then pass the demon’s spirit into a ritual animal, in this case a goat, which will then be slaughtered thereby lifting the curse.

Your Weekend Assignment...

Ravenpen — 2009-05-28T18:02:29-05:00

Is to hie thee hence to your local moving-picture house and go see Drag Me To Hell. Here’s all you need to know: - It’s an old-school fright film written and directed by Sam Raimi, you know the guy who did those Bruce Campbell movies, and looks to be a glorious return to his roots. - It combines humor and horror in a way that for once doesn’t center on a pack of myopic, moronic, sex-starved teens and their wacky hijinks. ...-It has absolutely nothing to do with J-Horror, Torture Porn, Remakes/Reimaginings or any of the other hackneyed, cliché frameworks that have been choking the life out of the Horror genre over the last several years. Seriously, all you silver screen scream freaks need to see this film. It currently has a 95% at Rotten Tomatoes, a feat that’s all but unheard of for a horror movie on the site. For those of you who just can’t make it over the weekend, or for some reason actually value my opinion, look for my review to appear on Sunday.

Fanboy Joy!

Ravenpen — 2009-05-18T20:59:26-05:00

I've watched this show since the beginning and enjoyed it, but having said that I'll be the first to admit that the initial episodes were a bit formulaic and didn't really pull me in the way I'd assumed they would. I'm a big fan of all Whedon's previous television work, but when I started watching Dollhouse it didn't really feel like one of his shows. The first five episodes had a very paint-by-numbers approach, a style that was apparently mandated by Fox to be that way in order to "ease viewers into the series". ...This became such a problem that Whedon and the show's star Eliza Dushku had to keep telling people in interviews, "just wait for episode six". ...The series started to find its footing and get a feel for its identity in addition to gaining a momentum that was carried through to the end of the season. Despite my earlier comments, I don’t advise skipping to the middle of the series to "get to the good part" as you’d end up missing out on all the setup, which is rather crucial. Hulu still has the last few episodes of the season online, but if you’re new to the show you’ll want to wait for the DVD set to come out so you can rent them and start from the beginning. ...I don’t know whether Dollhouse will end up realizing its full potential in the second season or garner the kind of ratings it needs to continue on for future years.

Persistence Is Key

Ravenpen — 2009-05-07T23:28:51-05:00

A few years back there was a great deal of excited chatter surrounding the proposed Halo movie and its connection to Peter Jackson who was riding a career high after his masterful turn as director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. ...Halo was slated to be Blomkamp’s feature-length directorial debut and at the time I thought it a bit odd to entrust such a large project to a man whose only previous experience in the director’s chair was a six-minute short film called “Alive In Joburg”. ...“Well, the film has to have a feeling of reality, and so that means that I want to keep him real as much as I can, there is a necessity for him to become cg in sequences where a guy in a suit would just not work, but for the most part I am aiming for real.” ...Still, I wasn’t totally convinced of his sincerity until I got the opportunity to watch the aforementioned Alive In Joburg for myself, which you can view in its entirety below. ...After viewing that piece and seeing how well he blended the fantastic elements with the grit of the real world I was a believer. ...At last count the film was supposedly on temporary hiatus and set to emerge sometime in 2012, but by most accounts even that far-away date is shaky at best. ...He and Jackson must’ve hit it off pretty well because the two have paired up to turn Blomkamp’s Alive In Joburg into a full-length feature called District 9. ...

Get Off My Lawn You Rotten Punks!

Ravenpen — 2009-05-05T19:00:02-05:00

A while back a friend introduced me to a game called And Yet It Moves and shortly thereafter I found that all my free time had vanished. It got me thinking about the other simple little games that have wound up consuming me completely for extended periods of time such as World Of Goo and Peggle. ...Zombies is a new take on the tower defense genre that asks you to harness your inner cranky old man as you attempt to protect the homestead by transforming your humble suburban yard into a flora fortified fortress. ...This legume spewing turret, which bears a striking resemblance to Birdo from SMB 2, shoots a steady stream of ammo from whichever row and section you plant it in. In addition to artillery, the other two major types of combative units are various stationary defensive impediments used to temporarily block or disable the enemy, and a myriad of explosives, which do just what you’d expect them to. ...The zombies come at you slowly at first, approaching in one of six rows and you have to make sure that each row has sufficient defenses to stop them from reaching your door at the end of the yard. ... As time goes on the numbers increase and before you know it you’re dealing with an all-out infestation fighting desperately to keep up with the horde. Beyond this brief description, the best way to understand the game is simply to play it, which you can do by downloading the free demo.

Elm Street Coming to the Windy City

Ravenpen — 2009-04-29T07:27:02-05:00

The remake of Nightmare on Elm Street continues to roll along. Earlier this month it was revealed that Jackie Earle Haley would fill Freddy’s razor-fingered glove. Now it’s been announced that the filming location for the new Elm Street will be in none other than my hometown of Chicago and students from two local suburban high schools are being given the opportunity to get in on the act. Personally I’m not sure how I’d feel about being an active participant in the film series that fueled so many of my adolescent nightmares. That said, the Krueger movies are one of the reasons I got into the horror genre and a part of me thinks it might be pretty cool, and possibly therapeutic, to have the chance to be eviscerated by the gloved wonder himself. It’s probably for the best that I’m too old to qualify since I no longer have the time to spend night after night avoiding sleep at all costs or the constitution to consume can after can of Coke in order to do so. That level of fright is best left to the young or at least people less jumpy and accident prone than yours truly. -Quoth the Raven

Phair Returning From Major Label Exile?

Ravenpen — 2009-04-25T13:25:51-05:00

Her followup album Whip-Smart went on to sell even more copies than Guyville, but all anyone seemed to want to talk about was her debut. This sentiment persisted with the release of her third record Whitechocaolatespaceegg and shortly after that Phair disappeared for five years eventually reemerging on major label Capitol Records in 2003. ...There’s been a lot of speculation as to why Phair altered her routine and started working with teenie-bopper, hit-makers The Matrix on her self-titled album and the subsequent followup Somebody's Miracle. ...I think Phair was tired of people expecting her to make another Guyville and angry that she couldn’t appease either the fans or the critics by doing her own thing. ...To hear her now say that it was more pressure from the label than frustration with her musical identity or legacy actually makes me feel a lot better about it. This situation has happened before with countless artists; bands like Radiohead who have a love/hate relationship with their early success, notably with their first hit single. It’s also the same excuse that scores of artists have used about their less than stellar material since the dawn of time, but honestly that doesn’t really matter to me. ...If it means that Phair will go back to making records of substance, albums like her first three, then I’m willing to forgive her just about anything.

You Can’t Keep A Good Kermit Down

Ravenpen — 2009-04-23T22:15:06-05:00

I’m not sure how I took so long to find out about this, but file me in the better-late-than-never column for some exciting news about everyones’ favorite felt entertainers. It seems that while evidence of a new Muppet television show continues to elude fans, despite persistent rumors, a new Muppet movie may be in the works. This latest attempt at a big screen Muppet adventure is being helmed by Judd Apatow protege Jason Segel, who first attracted the attention of the creative crews at Henson and Disney with his Dracula musical featured in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Segel had already been working on the project outside of the film and when his puppet bloodsuckers found their way into the story the Henson Creature Shop was called in to create the characters used in the production. This collaboration apparently inspired Segel to pitch his idea for a new Muppet movie to the powers-that-be and it appears that Segel impressed the two studios enough to give him a shot. ...This could of course all fall through and a part of me is wary of even getting excited about it, but I just can’t help myself. Even if this doesn’t end up being what I hoped for it will at least be nice to see the gang again if only to find out what they’ve been up to. ...

An Unexpected Development

Ravenpen — 2009-04-06T19:43:06-05:00

His abysmal remakes of classic scare fare like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hitcher leads one to wonder if he was somehow wronged by the genre as a child. ...Regardless of the reason, it seems that Bay has made it his mission to sully the beloved movies of my youth and thus he has raised my ire and made me scorn his very existence. ...Fate it seems is not without a sense of humor and thus it has placed the venerable Jackie Earle Haley as the Christmas-sweater-wearing, razor-gloved Freddy Krueger in an attempt to torment me. Haley was easily my favorite part of Watchmen and in a lot of ways his role as Rorschach has parallels to Freddy. Being able to spout gallows humor quips while maintaining a sense of menace is a fundamental quality of both these characters and Haley has already shown he’s up to the task. Off hand I can’t really think of anyone as qualified or more desirable to take over for Robert Englund. ...Do I ignore this remake because of my loathing for Bay and his shit-equivalent of the Midas touch or do I give Haley the benefit of the doubt and assume he can pull this picture through? Guess I’ll have to wait and see how things develop, but there’s this twinge inside me that might just be hope.

Film Review: Severance

Ravenpen — 2009-03-27T19:20:21-05:00

Worse still is the fact that this new breed of slasher has amped up the carnage to ludicrous levels and morphed into “torture porn”, whose only rule seems to be the more gore the better. ...Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for blood and guts in horror, but I guess I’d like to think that the genre has more to offer than simply turning stomachs. ...One key difference with our merry band of cubicle dwellers is that they happen to work for Palisade Defense, a military weapons contractor that, not surprisingly, has made more than a few enemies in the name of supplying land mines and mortars to the oppositions of various warring factions. ...You’ve got the earnest, but haggard, boss who still believes in the company, the office beauty that’s the object of constant unwanted advances, the sycophantic brown-noser, the overenthusiastic go-getter, the burned-out lifer, the foreign-exchange coworker and the drug-indulgent, perpetually-partying slacker. ...Everyone aside from the boss, sycophant and go-getter are understandably disappointed and when our intrepid band of travelers further investigate their humble abode that disappointment begins to turn to dread as they uncover evidence of the dwelling’s sinister past. ...When one of the leads is trapped in a room with a madman on the other side pounding on the door and in the midst of this nail-bitter a funny little moment occurs that hearkens back to an earlier scene it makes the whole thing turn on its head for a second and that’s a wonderful feeling. ...As I stated earlier, this is a tried and true gore fest so those expecting a couple of slightly bloody scenes mixed in with their off-beat comedy might find themselves covering their mouths when things start to get gruesome. ...For those like me who enjoy horror, but don’t like the mindless brutality that seems to dominate most of the current crop of films, then I heartily recommend you give this one a try.

Cloud Computing the Future of Gaming?

Ravenpen — 2009-03-25T00:04:15-05:00

I ran across an article about an up and coming company called OnLive who claim to have developed a server-based processing mechanism that eliminates the need for heavy-duty hardware for the end user. According to the article, OnLive plans to let anyone with as little as a laptop Mac or PC play the latest and greatest games without ever needing to upgrade. Those in the console world would have to purchase a small, custom box from the company with minimal specs in order to get the same experience over their television sets. This certainly sounds like a great idea in theory, but it will be interesting to see if it actually materializes and if it does what the end experience is like. So what do you guys think? Is this the wave of the future or simply vaporware in the making? Added: Looks like the guys at PA read the same article. -Quoth the Raven

So It Begins

Ravenpen — 2009-03-23T07:13:26-05:00

Rather than watching a plethora of films with my subscription, as any rational person would, I opted to pay for the privilege of holding onto a single movie for months on end; not to watch said film over and over, but rather to play an elaborate game of hide-and-seek at which the DVD in question easily outmatched me. It’s true I could’ve reported the disk as lost, but that would’ve meant publicly acknowledging that I’d been duped by an inanimate plastic disc and I just wasn’t willing to do that. ...Turns out Netflix had started streaming some of their films online which could be viewed for no additional charge using your computer, or better still, a media device hooked up to your television such as the X-Box 360 I’d recently acquired. ...I’m sure that using a game console for this purpose might be daunting to some users, but I was a child of the Atari and Nintendo generations and had spent countless hours of my sun-shunning youth and subsequent “adulthood” mastering such devices; this was something I knew I could handle. ...In short order I had gone through everything available and once again felt as though I’d been defeated, this time by a rectangular, plastic brick, which had lured me in with promises of riches only to leave the cupboards bare after a few scant weeks of entertainment. ...One day while riffling through my cue looking for something familiar to occupy my time, I discovered a film that hadn’t been there before. ...Over the coming days I viewed this trove of curiosities and though many turned out to be ghastly ghouls disguised as celluloid beauties, a few of the movies were genuine treasures like my previous discovery and they gave me a reason to press onward. ...Heaven knows that no one needs my opinion on something like Watchmen or any of the other blockbusters that are always given enough ink to fill a swimming pool.

Póg Mo Thóin Isn't Gaelic For Good Day

Ravenpen — 2009-03-17T19:14:54-05:00

Fond of a good drink, a good song and a good story, the people of the Emerald Isle, their descendants and those unrelated souls who simply are moved by the spirit, choose today to kick up their heals and kick back with a few pints. ...We throw massive parades on both the north and south sides of the city, we dye the river green (well greener anyway), we listen to live bands from sunrise to sunset, and we eat and drink till we can’t see straight, though I’m not sure whether it’s the food or alcohol that does it to us. ...So for those of us staying in this holiday, I thought I’d compile a list of ways to have some Irish-inspired fun in the comfort of your own home. ...For those of legal drinking age, traditional Irish beer is of course Guinness and for the cider drinkers like myself there’s a great import I enjoy called Magners, it’s really lovely stuff. ...If you’re looking for something that combines traditional sounds with a contemporary feel, then there’s really no better band than The Pogues (thought I was going to say U2 didn’t ya). ...Admittedly it is a somewhat one-sided account of history and I don’t know how fairly Eamon de Valera was portrayed, but even with that caveat the piece is still very moving and gives a sense of the internal conflict that Ireland faced as a nation trying to stand on its own. ...This film centers on a group of men and women who are brought in for a crime they didn’t commit and forcibly coerced into false confessions. ...Since I don’t want to come across as the world’s most depressing Irish cinema lover, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite films of all time The Commitments.

Blast From the Past

Ravenpen — 2009-03-12T22:54:57-05:00

This has happened before; the little gremlins that live inside the website are apparently capable of adding things to your list that they figure you’ll find interesting based on your previous selections. I’d watched several horror films the week before, one of which I’ll be reviewing on this site in the coming days, which made the Netflix gremlins think I’d appreciate ”100 Years of Horror”. ... Each show is dedicated to a different subject ranging from monsters, mutants and space aliens to psychos, slashers, sadists and everything in between; naturally I went straight for the werewolf episode. Anyone who’s even vaguely versed in the golden age of monster movies knows that Lon Chaney Jr. is pretty much the godfather of silver-screen actors with body-hair issues. There were arguments made during the show that earlier efforts like Werewolf of London more justly deserved the title, but most will concede that The Wolf Man is still where it all really began. ...The results came back and I clicked on one of the entries labeled “A Story of Dracula, The Wolfman and Frankenstein” and was greeted with this image: ...Experiences like this are interesting because they not only make you remember what happened years ago, but also make you recall who you were and how you felt. Nostalgia is really the closest thing to time travel we’ve got and it doesn’t even require a flux capacitor, just a little spark of memory and some persistent internet searching.

Beware Of Bear

Ravenpen — 2009-03-02T23:48:32-06:00

What's better than a PSA about surviving an encounter with a bear? How about the same PSA done entirely in the wonderful world of stop-motion. Check out these claymation safety tips and take notes so that your next trip into the forest winds up better than it does for our intrepid clay camper. -Quoth the Raven P.S. Page 33 of Twenty-One is now up. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Brown Baggin' It

Ravenpen — 2009-02-11T17:58:40-06:00

Ran across this really cool site of a dad who draws custom art on brown paper bags during his lunch break so that his kids have a new design every day for their lunch at school. ...I’m sure one of our Oddlots members with more insight into the craft can tell me what he’s drawing with. ...There’s some nostalgia from my childhood like this robot from Blackhole and his larger Robotech buddy, videogame characters like our good friend Toad and the star of Okami and then there’s just the stuff that makes me smile like Trent in Mystic Spiral mode, a Pixar-style Batmobile, m’sieurs Calvin and Hobbes and what I interpretted as some sushi-to-be fighting back. All of the artwork is really well done and it’s clear this guy has a lot of talent. Unfortunately the company he works for recently went under and he’s currently out of work. Anyone out there with any leads on videogame illustration jobs should give this guy a buzz at the email address linked above. I wish our mystery lunch artist good luck in the job hunt and I hope that when he does land a new position that he still has time to create more of the wonderful pieces like the ones he’s done so far. Chin up good sir, you clearly have a gift and I’m certain you’ll land on your feet.

Updates and Intrigue

Ravenpen — 2009-02-03T18:07:15-06:00

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that page 32 of Twenty-One is now up. My schedule has once again become very busy so things may be a bit sporadic, but I will keep trudging forward. I also have an exciting announcement coming up, but I have to wait until some things are finalized to make it. Hopefully you find such cryptic tidbits of information titillating and tantalizing rather than just infuriatingly vague. I'm going to assume it's the former. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Sexism and the Seven Dwarves

Ravenpen — 2009-01-12T18:51:44-06:00

In the writing arena they're almost seen as a badge of honor; a sign that you can hack it and have developed a thick enough skin to survive in the rough-and-tumble world of publishing. Regardless of the medium, putting yourself out there artistically is a difficult and often scary thing to do and no one wants to be told that their efforts aren't up to snuff. Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast and the best any artist can hope for is that their work is judged fairly and in the case of rejection that the reviewer provides some constructive criticism and perhaps even a few words of encouragement. What one doesn't generally expect is unmitigated discrimination, especially not the kind that is blatantly spelled out like the example below: ...Cliane was simply trying to be honest, but her tone seems a bit too passive-aggressive for me to truly believe it. (the scheming witch right below her signature is painfully ironic). ...My mother went to college in the 60's and on her first day in a biology course she was singled out by her male professor and told that she was "wasting a seat that could be occupied by a boy". ...I hope that Mary Ford got to pursue her dream, if not at an animation studio then in some fashion, and that she was able to give the finger to close-minded bigots the same way my mother did to that professor. Incidentally it would be far from the last time my mom flipped the bird figuratively or literally, though these days she usually reserves it for reckless motorists.

Twenty-One Update

Ravenpen — 2009-01-10T01:11:36-06:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say that page 31 of Twenty-One is now up. I apologize for the delay. The holidays sidetracked me quite a bit, but as of now I'm back on schedule. Full speed ahead! -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Swing and a Miss

Ravenpen — 2009-01-03T21:12:18-06:00

So I finally heard back about the story I submitted for publication, Road Kill, exactly one year ago today. Unfortunately my persistence with that publisher did not pay off and I regret to inform you gentle reader that my efforts were rejected. I have no qualms with the rejection itself, but I am displeased that it took a full year to receive the reply. Given the publisher's situation the delay was understandable, but I've decided that I am not willing to tie up my work for that period of time again and will be observing a much more stringent set of timetables for future submissions. I've already sent the rejected piece to a new publisher and I'm hoping to wrap up revisions on a third short story very soon and send it off as well. Additionally I'm coming to a close on Twenty-One and plan to devote the time after its completion solely to short, publishable works with a goal of getting one completed piece done each week. That's my strategy going forward and I hope I'm able to stick to it. ...-Quoth the Raven

Expanding the Boundaries

Ravenpen — 2008-12-15T00:35:12-06:00

When I started the blog section of this site I wanted to focus solely on writing and other creative interests. Given the nature of the space it seemed like a wise decision and I liked the idea of having a narrow focus when looking for topics to discuss. As time went on I've found myself wanting to talk about things here that didn't fall into the category of Writing or Art. On some of those instances I went ahead and wrote about them anyway, usually adding a prefixed explanation, but most of the time I wrote about them at other sites such as Oddlots or in some unfortunate cases let the idea go altogether. The whole notion began to feel silly to me and I found that more and more I was simply posting pieces to both sites regardless of how well certain pieces fit in with the Raven's Tales esthetic. To make a long story short, I know - too late, I've decided to lift the restrictions on the RT blog and make it all-encompassing. Thus I have rechristened the section from it's old moniker of "Thoughts on Writing & Art" to "Thoughts on Writing & Life". I figure the new title pretty much covers all the bases and has the added bonus of being only one letter longer than former header, which is fortunate seeing as how I was nearly out of room in the menu bar.

Twenty-One Update

Ravenpen — 2008-12-08T22:43:52-06:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say that pages 29 & 30 of Twenty-One are now up. I apologize for the delay. I've actually been keeping up with my recently-elongated writing schedule, but I never got a chance to do the Photoshop work for 29 until a few days ago and decided to just wait and post the pages together rather than putting up one right after the other. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these entries as we continue on towards the home stretch. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Black Friday

Ravenpen — 2008-11-29T19:27:52-06:00

The following piece isn't about Art or writing, but I felt strongly enough about it to include it on my personal site as well as Oddlots. ...Many stores offer special discounts and sales and it is not uncommon for people to line up hours before businesses open to try and take advantage of the various deals. Dubbed "Black Friday", the name has come to have a financial association, "in the black" is a term used to indicate that a company is currently profitable, but the original meaning was actually coined in the 60's by Philadelphia police who used it to describe the traffic jams and chaos they had to deal with trying to keep things in order. Tragically the term reverted back to its origins yesterday when a Walmart employee was trampled to death by zealous shoppers who broke down the doors of the store and rushed in moments before it was set to open at 5:00 a.m. ...I'm not sure what mania possesses people in large groups that causes them to behave in ways they never would on their own, but the results are truly frightening. ...It seemed scary to me at the time, but somewhere in the back of my head I thought "these people are adults, they wouldn't really go crazy over a doll". ...I realize that the current economic conditions are pretty dire, but disregarding people's safety to save a few bucks on some gifts is deplorable and in this case should be criminal, though I doubt any charges will be brought. ...I'd like to think that appealing to people's empathy and rationality would solve future occurrences like these, but since I know that's not likely to happen, a better alternative would be to eliminate these Black Friday sales or at least spread them out over the entire shopping season.

Film Review: Fear[s] of the Dark – Part II

Ravenpen — 2008-11-12T18:23:21-06:00

Diving right in, our next animation comes from Lorenzo Mattotti whose story involves the burgeoning friendship of two young boys who get caught up in an adventure as they try to unravel the mystery of a monster that has become the terror of their small town. ...All the adults have their own theories about what the creature is and where it might be hiding, but no one seems to have any real handle on the situation, which makes it difficult to try and track the beast down. The first of the boys, who serves as our narrator and main protagonist, meets his new friend while out for a walk and the two quickly develop their own ideas about the mysterious monster. ...The first and most obvious is the town’s fear of this monster, which seems impossible to catch, but more specifically they fear losing their children to this unseen force that they feel powerless to stop. From the boy’s point of view, he fears that he didn’t really know his friend and that he may have been tricked along with the others. ...At the outset of the animation the old man let’s loose the first of the dogs after a small boy; the two chase each other for a while and then vanish off screen never to be seen again. ...Victim three is a woman who is knocked down by one of the dogs and then raped/mutilated by it and the fourth and final “victim” is the old man himself when the last dog turns on its master. ...We follow the man as he goes from room to room, the light from his ever-dimming lantern casting shadows on the walls that turns a rocking chair into the Loch Ness Monster, a vase into a vampire and a bureau into the boogieman.

Film Review: Fear[s] of the Dark – Part I

Ravenpen — 2008-11-10T17:47:02-06:00

One day while walking in the woods the boy finds a bug he’s never seen before and adds it to his collection of jarred critters, but come nightfall the creature escapes and burrows into his captor as he sleeps. ...The two have a whirlwind night of drinking, dinner and dancing which ends the way our hero had only dreamed about, but in the morning he is horrified to find his insect stowaway has left him for the confines of his new lover. ...Our next piece was helmed by artist Marie Caillou who presented us with the trials of tribulations of a young Japanese girl caught in a struggle between this world and another. ...The doctor administers a shot and the girl falls asleep, returning to her tormentors who proceed to tell her a tale about the ghost of a bloodthirsty samurai and then force her on a dark path leading into an ominous looking forest. Various supernatural denizens of the woods find the girl, each creature stranger than the last, with her final visitor being the spirit of the warrior who starts to speak to the girl at which point she abruptly awakens in the hospital and is once again sedated by the physician who insists she must “finish the dream”. ...Caillou’s piece addresses a few classic phobias including the fear of doctors/hospitals, fear of being a stranger in an unfamiliar place (like a new school or a new job) and the fear of being lost and isolated. ...Maybe it’s just the anxiety-ridden, OCD side of me, but I found it quite comforting to hear someone lay out all the niggling little thoughts that go through your head when you can’t get to sleep. I realize for many this may not be something they deal with very often, but for me it really resonated in a very personal way and I suspect that I’m not alone.

Happy Halloween!

Ravenpen — 2008-10-31T07:45:03-05:00

In celebration of this most momentous of holidays I present you with a list of things to help provide additional firepower to your fiendish festivities. Horror movies are a stalwart part of Halloween and to assist you in your watching spree you can consult this comprehensive collection of classic fright flicks. ...And to help guide you on your gourd gouging adventure, I present you with a plethora of free Jack-O-Lantern pattern sites. ...The right costume can show your love of videogames, your desire to be groped and fondled by drunk guys (this applies to both women and men wearing the outfits -beer goggles are a powerful thing-), your need to humiliate your pet, your wish to get the shit kicked out of you or perhaps just the fact that you’re completely insane. Last but not least we have the driving motivation behind the holiday itself, the distribution and consumption of Candy! If you’re a provider of said sweets, you certainly don’t want to give away the same old boring stuff that every other house passes out. What you need is a batch of products so unique that no one will ever forget your address, though in truth they may only remember it so they can avoid you next year. No matter what plans you have tonight, I hope everyone has a terrifically terrifying holiday.

The Great Pumpkin

Ravenpen — 2008-10-30T22:17:06-05:00

The first entry in our carving contest has arrived. Domon has used his prodigious pumpkin-slicing skills to grace us with his Jack-O-Lantern masterpiece. Behold: __________________________________________________________________________________________

The Things That Really Scare Us

Ravenpen — 2008-10-28T17:30:44-05:00

This Halloween season they’ll be a slew of new movies featuring monsters, maniacal madmen and torture devices so needlessly complicated they would make Rube Goldberg jealous. For myself and my horror-movie-enthusiast brethren, these films might satisfy our need for thrills and frightening spectacle, but they likely won’t bring much originality or insight to the table while we’re wriggling in our seats. ...This is actually quite a shift from the horror films of the 50’s and 60’s, which often used their non-mainstream status to talk about controversial or even subversive subjects. Fortunately those of us looking for some substance with our scares can turn to a new film opening this Friday that may just fit the bill. ...The release appears to be fairly limited, but those of you with Art House theaters in your area should be able to locate a screening. The run probably won’t last terribly long so if you’re interested I suggest going to see it sooner rather than later. If I’m able to make it to a showing I’ll write up a full review of the film and tell you my impressions. Hopefully it’ll harken back to those films of yesteryear or at least give us something to think about as we sit there in the dark staring up at the screen.

Pumpkin Creation of an Excessive Nature

Ravenpen — 2008-10-23T17:39:01-05:00

I reflexively cringe a bit whenever I see the word “extreme” as it’s frequently attached to some sort of advertising ploy centered on snack chips or athletic beverages deemed so intense that they threaten to cease the function of my internal organs. Why someone would want to experience such a sensation, much less pay for the privilege, is beyond me, which is why I tend to shun the advances of said extreme products. When it comes to pumpkin carving however, I am more than willing to make an exception and thusly encourage you to check out Extreme Pumpkins. The site has several tutorials on the art of extreme pumpkin carving including the use of power tools and pyrotechnics in your gourd gouging endeavors. There’s also a large collection of impressive photos taken from the winners of their annual carving contests. Some of my personal favorites include this stylish skull, an ode to pumpkin Godzilla, a creepy Hannibal Lecter lantern and this poor little guy, who looks like the unfortunate victim of one of the Saw films. Alas my own lantern-creation skills have never been up to such impressive feats, but I’m willing to bet that you fine readers are more capable than I. I encourage all of you with pumpkin-carving prowess to send photos of your completed masterpieces to:

State of Affairs

Ravenpen — 2008-10-09T16:13:52-05:00

Depp spent the first half of his career taking diverse, non-traditional roles that practically shunned Hollywood stardom and I give the guy a lot of credit for having some integrity and not just chasing the money early on. ...Obviously this issue is a large theme in the upcoming presidential race with both Obama and McCain promising to give tax breaks to the shrinking middle class and increase taxes for those lucky few who don’t ever need to wonder how they’ll pay their bills and make ends meet. I certainly wouldn’t mind getting back more in taxes, but considering that I’ve worked under both Democrats and Republicans over the years and that each has always taken almost a third of my annual wages in taxes and given me less than a tenth back, I’m not holding my breath. ...My problem is that the salaries for most folks have not kept up with the cost of living in recent years and I can’t really figure out why. ...I know the thought of redistribution of wealth or anything even hinting at socialism is a taboo subject in capitalist countries and I personally don’t want to limit anyone’s possibilities or tell them what they can and cannot earn. What I do want is some genuine justification for why most people continue to make less and less while CEOs of companies get 40-million-dollar severance packages for running a business into the ground. ...I want to understand why we as a society are willing to make kings out of a few at the expense of everyone else and why we seem so willing to devalue the vast majority of the mundane jobs that keep the world running. I’m not placing the blame at anyone’s feet, I’m as culpable as anyone else, but I just wish I could understand how we got to this place, because the current explanation of our financial situation just doesn’t add up to me.

Monster October TV Guide ‘08

Ravenpen — 2008-10-03T17:27:44-05:00

The tenth month of the year is once again upon us and with it comes a plethora of terrifying television treats as networks everywhere turn their normally horror-shy stations into flickering visions of the macabre. Rather than linking to the various poorly-organized web pages that seem to be a hallmark of virtually all TV channels, this year I’ve decided to utilize a resource I discovered last October. ...Some of my personal favorites from this marathon are the Steven King classics Pet Sematary and Christine, as well as some of my childhood favorites like the original Nightmare on Elm Street and An American Werewolf in London. ...I’m not all that familiar with most of the films in the Turner lineup, but a few titles have definitely peaked my interest. I’m pleased to see The Tingler, starring the late great Vincent Price, in the lineup as it’s a film I’ve always wanted to see, but had never gotten around to viewing. Other promising entries include White Zombie, which inspired the band name, Two Thousand Maniacs!, which inspired another band name, and the cult classic Freaks, which I finally saw for the first time last year and enjoyed immensely. ...There’s some good stuff to be had here including the Michael Keaton masterpiece Beetle Juice as well as one of the first films to scare the bejeezus out of me, the original Gremlins. ...Those looking for some education in their eerie entertainment should check out the History Channel’s Halloween site as well as the Discovery Channel’s explorations on haunting.

Good Night Infinite Jester

Ravenpen — 2008-09-14T01:50:21-05:00

I am saddened to report that David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, was found dead in his home on Friday at the age of 46. ...It was my first exposure to Wallace's writing and I was instantly struck by his prose style, which was simultaneously conversational and academic. Wallace's ability to turn personal musings about mundane subjects, such as the geography of his home state of Illinois and its effect on tennis, and transform them into intellectual discourses was both unique and surprisingly captivating. His mastery of language was staggering and I found myself both inspired by his writing and jealous of it. ... A lot of Wallace's philosophizing took on an introspective bent and in many ways I suspect his examination of the world and its machinations was also an examination of himself. If there was one common theme to Wallace's varied and often-disparate works, I would say that it was a constant search for meaning. There's no way to know or understand what caused Wallace to end his life, but I hope wherever he is that he has found some peace. I have no doubt that his writing will continue to fascinate and inspire those who read it and hopefully convey some of the intricacies of a mind that was continuously trying to unearth and expose the connective strands in a world that can often feel detached from those that inhabit it.

Trudging Along

Ravenpen — 2008-09-12T18:04:20-05:00

It's been taking me two weeks rather than the usual one to complete the last couple entries and I suspect this trend will continue. My professional duties have once again attempted to metamorphosize into something completely different, a trick they've tried on several occasions in the past, but this time the transformation seems to have stuck leaving my lunches and breaks wrought with unavoidable sources of distraction. On the one hand I find the change of pace rather refreshing and am glad to have some variety from the routine I've been performing for the better part of a decade. As for the other hand, well it's currently trying to bludgeon its kin for taking on our current gargantuan heap of hectic responsibilities. Though technically I suppose neither me nor my appendages are to blame for the increased load being that this new assignment wasn't so much presented as a request, something that would imply choice and possible compensation, but rather as a memo with a list of responsibilities. Ah well, at least I'm managing to keep producing even if it is at a slower rate. In addition to the ever-growing veinti-uno, I've got another short story I'm currently working on for publication. I'm a little stuck on it at the moment, but that's why I like having a couple projects to bounce between as starting to write the shorter piece kicked me in gear again for the novella.

Black Widows

Ravenpen — 2008-08-26T22:13:48-05:00

Once again Twitter's loss is your gain. I present to you a new poem that combines spousal skullduggery and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. This deliciously debauched piece is entitled "Three of a Kind". Enjoy. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Hot Off the Presses

Ravenpen — 2008-08-15T14:45:11-05:00

My first fiction publication, which I initially mentioned last month, has finally hit the stands. The piece is titled "The Negotiation" and appears in issue no. 6 of the literary magazine The Delinquent. I've added a new section to the site called Published Works that lists all the particulars of where this story, and hopefully future stories, can be found. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation goes out to everyone visiting this site for all your support and encouragement. I couldn't have reached this milestone without you guys. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Two More Refugees

Ravenpen — 2008-08-13T18:20:38-05:00

Once again my inability to compose within the 140-character Twitter limit has caused some more of my poems to seek sanctuary here. So please welcome our two new arrivals "Low Wage Blues" and "Lost Soles". The first is a companion piece to a poem I wrote a while back called "Workplace Blues" that further details my employment woes and the second is a fun little guy that reminds you to be grateful for what you've got. Enjoy. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Curse of Cthulhu

Ravenpen — 2008-08-08T16:00:26-05:00

Why the work of certain writers sparkles on the printed page, but falls flat on the silver screen can be a bit of a mystery. Generally though there’s something in the story that is difficult to translate, a crucial aspect that simply cannot be replicated with a visual facsimile. ...Lovecraft whose words have seen many film adaptations, most of them ranging from bad to awful. There has been the occasional notable exception, but even in those cases the flicks were usually amusingly kitschy or clever rather than truly frightening or disturbing like its source material. But hope springs eternal and we Lovecraft fans have another chance to have our wildest cinematic dreams met with a new indie movie titled after HP’s most well-known creation, the elder-god Cthulhu. ...The acting and visual look of the film both came off as rather amateurish in the preview and the presence of Tori Spelling in what appears to be a leading role does not bode well for this or any other movie she’s cast in. Still, there’s always the possibility that this film will defy expectations and be a really great representation of Lovecraft’s work. And if it doesn’t then at least it can rest assured that in won’t be lonely in that great bin of failed celluloid that has made up most of the adaptations thus far.

Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince Trailer

Ravenpen — 2008-07-29T22:47:06-05:00

Stumbling around the net just now and what do I run across? Why it's the brand-spanking new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The three available sizes are all in HD so they might take a bit to download and you need Quicktime to view them so grab a copy if you haven't got it already. I promise the effort and wait are well worth it. This one looks like it's going to be nice and dark. Joy! -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Film Review: X-Files - I Want To Believe

Ravenpen — 2008-07-28T17:33:33-05:00

Having been a fan of the show for a long time, it was exciting to know that series creator Chris Carter and agents Mulder and Scully, played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, were coming back to bring we loyal X-Philes some more of their paranormal adventures. As the release day grew nearer there were some rumblings about the plot, that the new movie plumbed some pretty dark and controversial subjects that had more to do with politics and social policy than it did with creatures that go bump in the night. Though this certainly wasn't new territory for a show steeped in government conspiracy, it did somewhat contradict the prediction that the new movie was going to be based off the standalone "monster-of-the-week" style episodes rather than the ongoing myth-arc variety that had made up the first film. ...Initially I found myself very defensive of the film, especially after reading several reviews that knocked both it and the intelligence of movie viewers by saying that IWTB was inaccessible because it didn't conform to the modern-day style of catchphrase-driven dialogue and Michael-Bay-CGI-explosion aesthetics. ...Mulder's search for the truth and Scully's search to understand her faith and its place in her day-to-day life is really the soul of this story making the subtitle "I Want To Believe" all the more resonant. ...We never get a family member or work colleague talking about these people or worrying about them and they wind up feeling like a means to an end rather than the driving force they should have represented. ...I thought Duchovny and Anderson both did a fine job in their roles and I give Carter a lot of credit for taking what was essentially a film for the fans and making it a think piece on spirituality, redemption and belief. ...If Carter had kept in mind more of what made the show great while he was working to stretch it to new levels, I think he would've had a real winner on his hands.

Woo to the Hoo!

Ravenpen — 2008-07-23T17:29:35-05:00

Got word today that my flash-fiction story “The Negotiation” was accepted for publication. I’ll post all the details of when and where it will appear as soon as I have them. Happy, happy, joy, joy..... -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Film Review: Hellboy – The Golden Army

Ravenpen — 2008-07-22T20:08:52-05:00

While Del Toro has certainly retained his eye for wondrous creatures and creations in The Golden Army, the film's story suffers greatly from an overindulgence on smarmy dialogue and clichéd romantic tropes. ...Broom denies this request, explaining that Santa won't come if they don't go to sleep, but acquiesces to his adopted son's insistence that his father read him a bedtime story. ...Flash forward to the present day and we have the son of the elf king, who disagreed with his father's decision, at an auction house where a piece of the crown is being sold. ...This finally brings us to the BPRD where we see Abe escorting the meddling Agent Manning around and explaining what he, Hellboy and Liz have been up to in their superior's absence. The scene serves as a way to bring the viewer up to speed and bridge the gap from the first film and mostly works in this regard, at least until we actually get to HB and Liz where we find the two squabbling over their domestic troubles. ...Ron Perlman on the other hand is a fantastic actor, those who don't believe me need only watch City of Lost Children to confirm this fact, but even he wasn't able to carry off the stilted, sappy dialogue. ...Honestly, it's not that I didn't understand or even agree with what Del Toro was going for, it's just that it didn't work. ...The scene ends with Liz and HB called away before they can completely tear down the BPRD with their fight, as the team is assigned to investigate the incident at the auction house and thus the main storyline begins.

Film Review: The Dark Knight

Ravenpen — 2008-07-19T15:39:54-05:00

With the heap of positive reviews already out for this film it may be a bit redundant to add my praise to the pile, but I'd like to give my take on why I think this film worked so well without giving anything specific away. ...Don't get me wrong, I think Nolan's initial effort was a solid film, but I felt the third act had some definite structure and execution problems and that the villains in general came off as somewhat cardboard and cliché. ...In truth I was a bit worried for the new film, since sequels often suffer from a lack of vision when compared to their progenitors and the original, as I said, already had issues. ...After seeing some of the early clips and photos of Ledger in the role my opinion began to change and after viewing the movie I'd say that for me Ledger's Joker is the definitive screen representation. ...The dissection of good vs. evil and right vs. wrong is the central tenet of the film and it is woven throughout the movie in the arcs of the film's three central characters: Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent. ...It comes as no surprise that The Joker is an "agent of chaos", but the movie does an excellent job of expounding upon this idea and making it an actual viewpoint rather than just a tagline. ...Batman and Harvey Dent have a more clouded perspective with both men trying to rid Gotham City of crime in their own way and each finding it increasingly difficult to do so while still staying true to their ideals. ...Add to this the exciting pacing, the stunning cinematography, the clever writing and the inspiring acting and you're left with something that makes you consider the essence of human nature all while providing an incredibly entertaining viewing experience.

New Poem

Ravenpen — 2008-07-16T18:18:33-05:00

I was in the midst of writing my Twitter micro-poetry entry for the day, when I realized that I wouldn't be able to fit what I wanted to say in the allotted space without drastically altering my poem. Rather than trying to shoehorn it in, I decided to compose a new piece for Twitter and have placed my original composition up in the poetry section of this site. The piece is called "Underhanded" and details the rivalry that beings of like minds sometimes fall victim to. I hope you enjoy. -Quoth the Raven P.S. The new Twitter piece is also up. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Teeny Weeny Poetry

Ravenpen — 2008-07-09T08:23:57-05:00

Each post, called a "tweet", can be no longer than 140 characters, which is about a line and a half of text in a standard word processor. ...The biggest utilization however seems to be casual updates about a user's current status: "I'm eating a taco", "I'm watching The Venture Brothers on TV", "I got heartburn from the taco", "I'm taking some Tums", etc. Personally I find this practice kind of ludicrous since the only thing more egotistical than writing about the mundane minutiae of your existence is expecting other people to read it. Then again I suppose that's what all blogging is essentially about and being that I'm currently composing an entry in one I guess I've just painted myself as a hypocrite (yet again). ...Still, I just can't see myself typing miniscule missives about my activities without at least having some kind of festive gimmick to make it more palatable and entertaining. That being the case, I've decided to utilize Twitter for the forces of creative good by wrapping my daily observations in a warm, fuzzy poetry blanket. Since turning all my spare resources to fiction, I've come to miss writing poetry and I think this abbreviated format will give me a way back into the form without diverting too much of my time. ...Those wishing to keep updated on the feed can sign up for a free Twitter account and then click the "follow" button under my name "ravenpen" or alternatively you can also just link to it from this site.

We Finally Got a Good One

Ravenpen — 2008-07-04T10:01:04-05:00

Back in the beginning of June I excitedly announced that NBC was launching a brand new horror anthology series over the summer called Fear Itself. ...That’s because the episodes…oh how can I put this…the episodes haven’t been very good, in fact most of them have been cliché, badly written, predictable and not particularly scary. After the first installment, which I commented on in my initial post, I was a little worried, but the director of that episode was not someone whose work I particularly knew or cared about. ...The premise about a bride-to-be whose slipped a note that she’s about to marry a serial killer is wonderfully ripe for the type of tongue-in-cheek humor that Landis excels at. For whatever reason Landis or the writers decided not to go in that direction and instead we get a weird, tension-laden piece that just didn’t work with the setup, especially the ending which I predicted in the first few minutes, but assumed they wouldn’t actually use given what happens in the rest of the episode. So after four entires that ranged from lackluster to bad, I’d pretty much given up hope, but continued to watch the series because what the hell else do you do on a Thursday night. I had completely forgotten that this week’s show, titled Eater, was the Stuart Gordon directed one and from the very beginning I knew I was in for something different. The setup is a trio of cops in their small-town police station charged with guarding a serial killer overnight before he’s transferred the next morning.

Real Life Daredevil

Ravenpen — 2008-07-01T10:27:32-05:00

Matt Murdock’s got nothing on Ben Underwood. I know this story isn't technically writing or art related, and at least a couple years old, but it was the first time I’d seen it and it was just too remarkable to pass up. It’s just unbelievable to me how this kid has been able to adapt to his lack of sight. Talk about talent and innovation, not to mention persistence and perseverance. I think the most incredible bit is his ability to play videogames. I know that sounds kind of silly given his other more practical abilities, but when you think about the fact that he’s fully interacting with something that complex based solely on minor nuances in sound it just blows me away. At any rate, just wanted to share this incredible story with those who hadn’t seen it yet. -Quoth the Raven

Dark Knight Goes Back to Basics

Ravenpen — 2008-06-27T18:33:21-05:00

Director Chris Nolan decided he wanted to use real-world methods whenever possible, which means that many of the stunning sequences you’ll see on screen come July were produced physically rather than digitally. ...Even the scene of Batman hanging off the top of the Sears Tower is real and if that weren’t impressive enough it turns out that the man behind the cape and cowl is actually Bale himself who decided he just couldn’t miss out on the opportunity. ...Though he may have gone old-school for the effects, Nolan went high-tech with the shooting when he decided to film several of the movie’s more spectacular scenes using 70-millimeter IMAX film stock rather than the 35-millimeter used in standard motion picture cameras. This not only gives the film the ability to be shown on the enormous multi-story screens, but also gives the images a depth and richness that carries over to your plain vanilla multiplex as well. Another interesting tidbit to come out of the article is the fact that Nolan dislikes doing overdubs and prefers to rerecord any garbled audio from a scene on set while the cast and crew and are still present. This sheds some light on how Heath Ledger had already finished all his work on this picture despite having tragically died while the film was still in the editing room. ...While I certainly enjoyed Nolan’s first Batman film, I think this one is going to top it by a startling degree. I’m waiting with popcorn in hand on opening night for this one, which considering where it was shot will be a bit surreal.

Thanks For All The Little Things

Ravenpen — 2008-06-23T17:50:22-05:00

Carlin in many ways was as much a sociologist as he was a comedian and his material was mostly constructed from his astute observations on society and its evolution. He was one of the first comics to satirize consumerism and our need as a species to accumulate things. Later in his career he took on everything from politics to religion, performing a savage, satirical dissection of some of society’s most sacred subjects. ... He had a knack for calling things as he saw them and for removing some of the pomposity from everyday life. ...More than anything I think he sought to break down society’s barriers in order to bring people together. So much of how we choose to define ourselves as people can end up blocking out others who see things differently. ...Maybe that view makes us a bit less unique as individuals, but at least it puts us all in the same boat. ...I hope you’re having a good time wherever you are and that they’re letting you say whatever you want, even those seven little words you could never say on television.

Grosser Than A Note From My Mother

Ravenpen — 2008-06-21T01:14:56-05:00

Last week when I announced that Twenty-One would be late, I mentioned a "minor surgical procedure" on my arm as being one of the reasons for the delay. Just so no one thinks I'm making up excuses, here's a nice shot of the stitches from my mole removal: ...I think my dermatologist did a top-notch sewing job, so much so in fact that with the clear thread it's almost hard to see the incision. For those curious about the procedure, the mole in question was about half the diameter of a pencil eraser. The incision was originally about half an inch wide and as the photo illustrates is about two inches long. This is obviously a lot larger than the mole itself, but the extra skin removal is necessary to get all of the potentially effected area. Personally I got the little bugger removed for medical reasons, but some people also do it for cosmetic ones. This puzzles me a bit since the procedure leaves you with a nice little scar and I can't imagine how it would be favorable to just keeping the mole as far as appearance goes, but hey that's just me.

Twenty-One Up

Ravenpen — 2008-06-20T00:18:34-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that page 18 of Twenty-One is up and ready to go. Thanks again for your patience with the fluctuating schedule. I'll do my best to keep it as consistent as I can. I'm going to try and get a bit ahead in the writing so that any schedule conflicts in the future won't derail the progress. With any luck it should be smooth sailing from here on out. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Twenty-One Delayed Again

Ravenpen — 2008-06-11T19:17:58-05:00

Hey gang, I’m currently in the midst of our busiest time at work, a series of days I lovingly refer to as hell week. My lunches and breaks have once again vanished and that being the case I don’t think I’m going to be able to post this week’s 21 installment. I have actually started writing it, but I don’t think I’ll have the time to finish and properly revise it the way I need to. Next week I’m having a minor surgical procedure done on my arm, which may also slow me down a bit, but I think between this week and early next I should be able to finish and post page 18 to appear this coming Thursday, the 19th, so that the gap is only just this week. Sorry again about this delay and thanks for your patience. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

NBC Brings Some Spooky to Summer

Ravenpen — 2008-06-06T17:00:10-05:00

In my part of the world these months also herald the coming of burned skin, high electric bills and a sinister humidity that seems almost sadistically sentient in its trampling of the human spirit. ...Though the cinemas pump out fright flicks pretty much year round, TV only seems to view October as worthy of such scary spectacles and does not deign to acknowledge such fare during the other eleven months. ...NBC has decided to buck the trend and has come out with a summer series of scary stories appearing on Thursday nights under the moniker Fear Itself. The series seems to be formatted similar to classics like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits as well as the current Showtime program Masters of Horror, a little research revealed Mick Garris listed as the creator of both Masters and Fear. As in the above examples, the various tales and characters in Fear will change from week-to-week and are being helmed by some pretty notable names in the industry including: Brad Anderson the writer/director of Session 9, one of my favorite little indie horror films, Stuart Gordon director of cult classic Re-Animator and the incomparable John Landis who I feel personally indebted to for giving the world one of the great werewolf films of all time. ...The premiere of the series actually launched last night and a review of that episode can be found at the venerable AV Club, who will be following the show and providing their thoughts each week. As a remedy for my being a little slow on the draw, and to entice those who prefer to watch such things on their own time rather than the network’s, you can view yesterday’s episode and all future episodes for free at the following location. Time will tell whether the series is a success, but considering the general lack of entertaining programming during June, July and August, I think even a mediocre horror series will be better than the standard spate of reruns and dodgy summer-replacement sitcoms.

Film Review: Indiana Jones

Ravenpen — 2008-05-27T19:02:24-05:00

For younger viewers however, there’s bound to be a question of relevance, particularly what an action hero from the "decade of excess" has to offer their modern movie-viewing experience. ...Given the enormous amount of tickets these two groups represent, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is in the unenviable position of having to simultaneously satisfy both old-school fans and today’s generation of kids looking for a good time at the cinema. ...Eventually the badies from the opening sequence reappear and the rest of the film is filled with over-the-top action, crafty historical puzzles and general rollicking adventure as Jones and crew race their pursuers to the film’s mounting climax. ...It’s something I think a lot of serious filmmakers are afraid to do, which is a shame as I think there’s a lot of potential for directors of Spielberg’s caliber to try something different than the heavy, dramatic fare that so many of them seem to cling to. ...That said, there were times when I wish the movie had been given a little more room to breathe, particularly the scenes with Indie and his young protégé and also later on when he encounters Marion, who we haven’t seen since Raiders of the Lost Ark. ...Having no real interaction to sort out the awkwardness that was revealed only moments earlier left me feeling a little hollow and I also wish they kept Marion a little more acerbic and a little less loving as she came off kind of cloying, which is not something I remember being present in the original incarnation of her character. ...The movie incorporates the massive action set-pieces and modern effects that younger moviegoers have grown up with while still retaining all the old-school camp that made it a classic for kids who first saw Raiders in the theater back in ’81. ...If you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned popcorn flick to keep you amused while avoiding the summer heat then I think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will suit you just fine.

Game Review: Penny Arcade Adventures

Ravenpen — 2008-05-25T02:12:57-05:00

Creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins took their illustrated alter egos Gabe and Tycho, who’ve spent nearly a decade brutally satirizing both the good and bad of the videogame industry, and put them in their own game. ...For Penny Arcade this is doubly true since the comic not only lambasted games they disliked, but also other reviewers and pretty much anyone else in the industry they felt was lacking ...Though the time and place may have changed, Gabe and Tycho still retain many of their modern-day traits including the former’s loveable naivety, the latter’s urbane wit and a healthy dose of profanity from both. ...Additionally the combat system with its myriad of D&D byway of Munchkin inspired modifiers and its varied special moves for each character, which were pulled off via a series of mini-games, kept things fast-paced and exciting. One thing I'd never experienced before was the "live" click-and-point combat environment where instead of being turn-based, each character simply acts whenever they're ready rather than alternating between sides. For 20 bucks the game did feel a bit brief, but since my options for games on my “legacy” computer and PS2 have dwindled down to almost nothing, I didn't really have to worry about deciding between this and other titles. Those of you with modern entertainment devices may have to weigh the decision more carefully, but I still think the game is a good bargain. ...I'm sure they'll be some detractors who take issue with one aspect or another, but I don't think anyone can accuse PA of putting out a half-baked product.

No fun, my babe, no fun

Ravenpen — 2008-05-16T06:43:46-05:00

It's a declaration that life should be a good time and that all things not fun, should be eschewed from your day planner. The older I get the more difficult I find it to factor in fun as part of my daily activities. Sure, there's entertainment to be had after work and on the weekends, but that still leaves a great deal of time where there's a distinct absence of joy from the proceedings. Now maybe this is just "the way of the world" and I'm supposed to: "grow up", "take my lumps", "swallow my medicine", "grin and bear it", etc. ...Still, I think the reason that creative jobs are coveted by so many people, myself included, is because it gives us a way to not only express ourselves artistically, but also to have some fun in how we interpret our work. A prime example of such unabashed whimsy popped up in Oak Lawn, Illinois where the city officials tried to curb the frequent flouting of stop signs by adding a little something extra to the standard message. Unfortunately the Illinois Department of Transportation didn't see the initiative as beneficial and so this clever and creative idea seems destined to be shut down. ...I wish I had a witty or insightful way to end this, but honestly the whole thing just makes me sad.

Twenty-One Update

Ravenpen — 2008-05-15T23:52:34-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that page 14 of Twenty-One is now up. Barring further complications the story should be back on schedule, appearing in its normal Thursday night slot. I hope you enjoy this installment and sorry again about the delay. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Official XF-2 Trailer Released

Ravenpen — 2008-05-12T22:57:40-05:00

I would recommend downloading the video from the site rather than viewing it online since the streaming version is only slightly larger than a postage stamp and kind of hard to interpret. Though it doesn't give much away, I like the general feel the trailer sets for the film. I'm still nervous that this new flick could sully my love for the series if it turns out badly, but I'm fairly hopeful that Carter and crew got it right. With the new film purportedly having a very modest budget, it wouldn't take much for it to make a profit or at least break even. If it does then we'll likely see future installments as Carter, Duchovny and Anderson have all expressed interest in reviving the show as a series of films. Having the show carry on in film form would be a really interesting way to continue Mulder and Scully's journey. I'm not sure if something like that has ever been done before with the exception of Firefly and Serenity, though in that case there will likely only be the one movie. Only time will tell what happens, but for now the future of The X-Files looks bright.

Twenty-One Delay

Ravenpen — 2008-05-09T06:51:32-05:00

So it figures that the moment I set a schedule I'd be forced to break it. Unfortunately a couple people at work have been out this week, which means I've been doing the jobs of three people and thus my lunch and break times, when I usually write, have become temporarily non-existent. Sorry about the delay, but things should be back on schedule by next week. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Free NIN Coming at Ya!

Ravenpen — 2008-05-05T07:00:01-05:00

As a thank you to his fans for their continued support, Trent Reznor is giving away the new NIN album "The Slip" for free. You can download the tracks, which come in a variety of different audio formats and include both individual art for each track as well as a PDF booklet, here. This is a pretty cool gesture and not the sort of thing you see very often. As far as the music itself is concerned, I've only had the opportunity to listen to a couple songs, but I'm liking what I've heard. It reminds me a bit of his earlier work during the Pretty Hate Machine and Broken years. Thanks for the record Trent! Hope everyone goes out and grabs a copy. -Quoth the Raven

Twenty-One Schedule

Ravenpen — 2008-05-01T23:06:51-05:00

It looks like my release schedule for Twenty-One has found a good groove. From here on out look for updates to land late Thursday night or early Friday morning depending on your time zone. Now that there's a set release time I won't update the blog with reminders unless something is going to be delayed. Thanks for the continued readership. I'm really glad I was able to revive this one after being away from it for so long. Hopefully you continue to enjoy it as much as I do. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

The Bitter Wine of Rejection

Ravenpen — 2008-04-23T17:44:53-05:00

I spent a long time crafting a carefully worded cover letter in which I tried to convey my expertise, my sense of humor and more than anything my enthusiasm for both the position and the company. ...After a week went by with no response I sent a follow-up email to confirm that they'd received my information and to reiterate how eager I was to speak with them. ...Last night I finally heard back from the company and much to my dismay I was told that they could not grant me an interview at this time. ...It may be that this was going too far, but the posting really emphasized humor and naturalistic sounding dialogue as an important aspect of the position so it seemed to me that having elements of that in my letter would be appropriate and welcome. ...I had intended to bring samples along to the interview, assuming that was when they would want to see such things, but in retrospect I think I should have included them in my initial email as it would have given them a better feel for what I'd been creating. ...In the back of my mind I really didn't think I was likely to get the job, but I was excited to talk with the company about my writing. ...Having even a small amount of validation that indicated I wasn't talentless and wasting my time would've been worth almost as much as a job in the industry. ...It's clear to me now that I won't be happy simply writing in my spare time while I toil away at a subsistence-level job that I have absolutely no passion for.

Areas of Interest

Ravenpen — 2008-04-22T19:55:47-05:00

A couple of my favorite artistic subjects have recently been the focus of some attention. The first of these pet affections comes from the land of the silver screen where the upcoming X-Files film, which has now been christened with the subtitle I Want To Believe, has been garnering press in anticipation of the movie's July release. ...The AV Club has an interview with series creator Chris Carter that goes into some detail about the history of the show as well as Carter's aspirations for the new film. Additionally EW has a nice overview of the movie that discusses how it came to be and even talks a bit about the storyline, which hasn't been discussed in previous interviews and remains a closely guarded secret. ...In this first installment, written by artist Josh Medors, the article goes through the various visual incarnations of the lupine and discusses how to choose which iteration is right for you. ...Medor's explanations for why he would use a wolf-man ala Lon Chaney Jr. in an urban situation and a more animalistic creature in a rural environment are insightful and broach the subject from an interesting angle. ... Admittedly my opinion is swayed greatly by my own personal belief of how a werewolf should look, but I think any fan of the creature can appreciate Medor's take on it. ...I know that they aren't the general artistic discussions I usually post here, but I feel they still fall within the parameters and frankly I find it hard to contain my enthusiasm for items of such great personal interest.

The Vanishing Art of the Auteur

Ravenpen — 2008-04-19T09:00:09-05:00

It’s remarkable to witness the amount of minute and specific detail Kubrick put into his description for the filming of that one scene. That kind of care and attention make it easy to see why he is considered one of the great cinematic masters of the last fifty years. ...It saddens me that there seem to be few men and women with this level of artistic vision and commitment making films today. Granted Kubrick was the sort of unique talent that doesn't come along very often, but the fact that he put more thought and effort into a single shot setup than most current directors put into an entire film makes me worry about the future of the medium. ...If the current trend continues it seems inevitable that movies as a whole will eventually be relegated solely to the realm of entertainment rather than art. ...It used to be that filmmakers were allowed and even encouraged to combine these elements and render the banal and sublime as a single image, but with an ever-increasing emphasis on demographics and target markets, making the mundane beautiful seems to be a dying form of expression. ...I can only hope that we audience members begin to demand more from our movies and decide that cinema can and should be both a form of amusement and an artistic experience. If we don't then visionaries like Kubrick, Coppola and Scorsese may simply become examples of a lost art rather than inspirations for future generations of filmmakers.

Twenty-One Back in Business

Ravenpen — 2008-04-15T22:50:50-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update to say that my novella Twenty-One has finally come back from its six-month hiatus. You can find the latest entry here and should hopefully being seeing a new one every Wednesday or Thursday from here on out, assuming of course that I don't get derailed. I thank my readers for their continued interest and apologize for the extended delay. Hopefully it won't happen again. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

An Ode to Grave Robbing

Ravenpen — 2008-04-01T20:05:00-05:00

I just added a new poem to the poetry section called "In Defense of Herbert West". The piece is my little tribute to author H.P. Lovecraft and in particular his story Reanimator. Though today you can find it almost anywhere in the world, most of Lovecraft's writing originally appeared in local pulp-fiction magazines that were often considered lowbrow and crass by much of the populace. Because of this bias H.P. never really got his due while he was alive despite publishing dozens of stories. It was only over time that his fame and recognition grew eventually making Lovecraft one of the greatest influences on modern horror and its creators. I guess it just goes to show that even great writers sometimes have it rough and that not being appreciated is no reason to stop creating. -Quoth the Raven

Film Review: Skinwalkers

Ravenpen — 2008-03-26T20:50:42-05:00

The horror movie genre in general produces more than its fair share of lousy pictures and werewolf movies seem to attract a particularly disproportionate amount of atrocious celluloid. ...That said, there have been some real gems in the category such as the classic An American Werewolf in London and more recent entries like Ginger Snaps and Dog Soldiers. ...There is a legend in the lycanthrope world that revolves around a young boy imbued with both werewolf and human blood. ...This legacy is unknown to either the boy or his mother, but the town that they have lived in for most of their lives is populated with werewolves who wish to be cured and have devoted themselves to protecting the boy. ...Not only does it deal exclusively with werewolves, rather than delving into the world of vampires and other supernatural adversaries, but it also eschews mindless monster rampages and instead discusses the fundamental essence of lycanthropy and what it means to those possessed by it. ...Though the film avoided the common mistake of modern monster films, whose soullessly, slick productions champion style over substance ultimately leaving the audience feeling cheated, Skinwalkers falls into another trap by being apathetic. ...This lethargy is something I’ve come to expect from the horror film industry, but the promise of Skinwalker’s premise made it particularly disappointing this time around. I can only hope that in the future ideas such as this one are handled with a bit more care.

Drifting Out Among the Stars

Ravenpen — 2008-03-19T17:36:17-05:00

It is with great sadness that I report the death of legendary science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, who passed away yesterday in his home in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. ...For over 50 years Clarke wrote about space exploration, extraterrestrial and artificial life and perhaps most importantly, the nature of man. ...Best known for his film collaboration with Stanley Kubrick that produced 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on Clarke's short story The Sentinel, Clarke's work influenced not only future science-fiction writers, but also future scientists. Holding advanced degrees in both mathematics and physics, his early ideas about artificial intelligence and the potential applications of satellites are evident in the computers and space stations we see today. ...As a writer Clarke's creations gave us a glimpse not only into the glorious potential of advanced technology, but into the pitfalls and perils that such creations might cause if left unchecked. More than anything Clarke told us that advancement, no matter how altruistic, always held a price. ...His contributions to the creative and scientific communities will be greatly missed.

Printer Creates Coffee Canvases

Ravenpen — 2008-03-18T17:59:29-05:00

The artistry of food can be seen at fine restaurants where the color and physical arrangement of your entrée is as important as the taste. These carefully composed plates add another element to our eating experience, but one enterprising espresso lover has taken to concept of edible art to a whole new level. ...We've all seen baristas carve cute designs into the foam of our cup of coffee. Many of these dairy sculptors are quite skilled, but inventor Oleskiy Pikalo has created a device that makes even their best work look like a finger painting by comparison. ...Made from an old Philips 8155 plotter printer, Piakalo's machine dispenses edible inks that recreate images in remarkable detail. As seen in the linked video, these recreations simply would not be possible with human hands, which brings up the age old debate of whether art created by an emotionless device should be compared with something created by a living being whose flaws an imperfections often give a piece much of its character. ...I'm not sure that they'll be much demand for these devices, but it certainly is an impressive feat both mechanically and artistically. ...So which would you prefer, a simple piece of latte art done by soulful human hands or a mini coffee masterpiece created by an inanimate object?

Legend's Original Ending

Ravenpen — 2008-03-15T02:05:56-05:00

It turns out that there was originally a different ending to I Am Legend that was a lot more in line with the novel. Had the film ended this way it would’ve made a lot more sense and gone a long way in explaining some of the earlier events. This resolution certainly left me with a better impression of the film than I had originally. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

The Assault Continues

Ravenpen — 2008-03-10T18:12:53-05:00

Explosion-meister Michael Bay and his hacktastic-remake-machine Platinum Dunes have struck again. This time the victim is the Roman Polanski cult classic Rosmary's Baby. ...I wrote about Bay back in January and discussed his recent spate of leaden and largely pointless remakes of classic horror movies. Unfortunately it seems as though Bay is bound and determined to put his garish stamp on all my favorite fright films. I'm sure that his redo of The Shinning is already in the works and that a "re-envisioned" version of Evil Dead complete with blinged-out chainsaw is likely being scripted as I type this. ...My only hope is that this recycled cavalcade of mediocrity may inspire younger viewers who see these remakes to seek out the originals and discover what they've been missing. If Hollywood moguls like Bay can make millions by simply pillaging the corpses of great films and creating pale imitations, then maybe experiencing the vastly superior source material will inspire the next generation of film lovers to open their eyes to true talent and send these dime-store hucksters packing. ...To quote the great animated film critic Jay Sherman, "If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic" and even more importantly "If the movie stinks, just don't go."

More X-Files Insight

Ravenpen — 2008-02-26T18:28:23-06:00

At the recent WonderCon comic convention in San Francisco there was a panel discussion with X-Files creator Chris Carter, series writer Frank Spotnitz and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. For those of us unable to attend, some enterprising audience members captured the discussion on video, which can be viewed in its entirety in Quicktime here or broken up on YouTube as part one, part two and part three respectively. Much of the Q&A session was standard fan adoration and appreciation, but both Carter and Duchovny did go on to discuss the nature of the show and why they believe it was such a success. It’s a pretty interesting discussion both for fans of the show and those interested at a glimpse of the inside world of television production. Though I’m certainly bias, I think that the merits of what made The X-Files work holds true for most character-driven pieces and it gives me hope that the upcoming movie will provide more of the things I’ve come to know and love from the series. Now I just have to find someone to go with. ;) -Quoth the Raven

TV Scribes Score a Victory?

Ravenpen — 2008-02-13T18:37:46-06:00

Yesterday the WGA brought a new contract to the picket lines and after taking ballots to decide whether or not to ratify the document, the striking writers approved it with a vote of over 90 percent in favor of the new deal. ...Details of the agreement are unknown at this time, but it is almost certain that the writers got at least some slice of the digital distribution residuals that they fought for. ...As to when we viewers will start seeing these programs return to the air, it will probably be at least three to four weeks before the first wave of episodes start to reappear and many series will likely take additional weeks to get back up and running. Here's an itemized breakdown by show of the timeline; just be aware that this list is mere speculation and as such is subject to change. ...Though I'm certainly happy to see the strike ended and the writers back to work, I can't help but wonder where all their sacrifice landed them in the end. As I said earlier, the contract details are unknown and the writers obviously agreed to the terms, but that may have been as much out of desperation as it was satisfaction with the deal. Having seen many members of my family suffer through teacher's strikes, that were generally waged not for additional earnings or incentives, but simply to hold on to what they had, it makes me wary of the supposed generosity of those in power. ...It's never easy to stand up for yourself and what you believe in; it's even harder to maintain that stance when that which you depend on is taken away.

The Exploitation Flick Revival

Ravenpen — 2008-02-12T18:15:22-06:00

All of the buzz about this film came from its title which was so irresistible that it made both Samuel Jackson and a well-respected screen writer clamor to be a part of it. ...But what this movie really represents is a genre of film that has been absent from mainstream cinema for many years and is just now starting to make a comeback, the exploitation flick. ...My understanding of the exploitation genre has always been that its main focus was that of situation; to begin with a simple scenario and let the rest develop from there. ie: killers on a rampage, let’s see what terrors they’ll inflict next and poisonous snakes on plane, how will the passengers survive? Just as Slither harkens back to an earlier genre of horror films Snakes on a Plane is trying to recapture an era of “dirty cinema” that puts people in shocking situations, often sexual or violent in nature, that are meant to appeal to the voyeur in its viewers. ...Granted, the audience is aware of the intent of these films, but it still makes one wonder whether bad jokes intended to illustrate how lame a pack of films are don’t ultimately end up making the roaster part of the group it’s criticizing. ...As discussed in my previous article, the creators of these movies knew that there was only so much they could do with the limited funds they had so they put in elements that were guaranteed to gather a crowd. ...The difference between the original pictures and Tarantino and Rodriguez’s tribute is that the latter isn’t constrained by a budget essentially making the humorous and shocking moments often spawned by such financial restraints a fabrication rather than the product of restricted creation. ...That being said, there’s still a part of me that can’t help, but feel that to recreate something without any of the external factors that caused the piece to turn out that way it did will inevitably end up being hollow and out of place.

The Bay of My Existence

Ravenpen — 2008-01-30T17:55:13-06:00

The first is Uwe Boll who specializes in taking compelling videogames like Alone in the Dark and Dungeon Siege and creating film treatments that discard all the intelligence and character from the source material and replace them with generic, clichéd plots that only an ADD-addled-adolescent could watch with any kind of enjoyment or satisfaction. ...Anderson who turned the venerated Resident Evil franchise into a cheesy made-for-TV special and is single-handedly attempting to destroy both the Alien and Predator film legacies by taking the scary, extraterrestrial creatures and transforming them into WWF Wrestlemania contestants. ...All the gritty charm of the original had been scrubbed clean and what remained was a trite, gutless shell that could've easily been substituted as one of the myriad sequels to soulless clunkers like Urban Legend or I Know What You Did Last Summer. ...After Massacre Bay remade Amityville Horror with similarly disastrous results and then went on to make a Texas Chainsaw prequel, which ratcheted up the viscera to try and appease gore hounds but ended up being nothing more than a pointless splatterfest ala Eli Roth's hilariously, stupid Hostel. The latest and perhaps most egregious entry in the Bay remake saga came in 2007 when he released The Hitcher, a redo of the ’86 road film that starred Rutger Hauer as a deranged hiker who preys on the good samaritans who stop to offer him a ride. ...Now I know that Nightmare on Elm Street is pretty tame by today's standards, but it was the first horror movie to really scare the crap out of me as a kid. ...My only hope is that auteurs like Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro and actors like Nathan Fillion and Johnny Depp can help elevate the industry since those in charge of green-lighting these pictures clearly don't seem to care one way or the other. ...And while it may seem strange to hold up the often-disregarded horror genre as a measure of quality, I think that the so-called “lowbrow" corners of cinema have the opportunity to provide a greater insight into sensitive and controversial topics that most higher-profile pictures are unable to touch on.

Suffering for my Art

Ravenpen — 2008-01-24T17:45:03-06:00

About a week ago I acquired a piece of software that allowed me to tentatively venture into the world of stop-motion animation, which is an area of art that I’d wanted to explore for some time. Though I’d first seen the technique in various claymation holiday specials, it wasn’t until being introduced to the Quay brothers and their piece entitled Street of Crocodiles that I really fell in love with the form. ...Seeing the visuals he crafted for Sober, Stinkfist and Aenema left me in awe, but also made me feel that I’d never have the time needed to try my own hand at it given my other responsibilities and artistic interests. As fate would have it, this little program came as part of a discounted software bundle I’d purchased through a charity event and in just a few short hours it enabled me to create my first little stop-motion test piece. Now don’t get me wrong, the process is still quite time consuming, but having a program that allows you to snap frames directly into your computer and has live overlay tools to show you where your last position was is incredibly helpful and makes the process manageable even for a novice like myself. After creating my little 12-fps opus, I thought I’d put it online, but it seemed kind of silly having a whole section of the site for one lone video. This in turn inspired me to try and find some of my other first attempts and before I knew it I was digging around my drive for the final projects from the seven-week video editing and Flash animation courses I took during my brief stint as a student-at-large at Columbia College. Locating the video project was easy, but the Flash project required scouring through old zip disks and unlabelled CD’s from years gone by and searching for the correct files so that I could export it in some sort of useable format.

Film Review: I Am Legend

Ravenpen — 2008-01-10T18:11:23-06:00

It is generally my custom to avoid malls and other centers of mass commerce during the apex of the holiday season as I find the rampant hysteria that fills shoppers and causes them to pummel each other over the last Torture-Me Tickle-Me-Elmo or pink Moto Razor rather disagreeable. ...Neville it turns out is immune to a viral plague that killed 95% of the world's population and turned the remaining residents into mindless nocturnal monsters that in the film seem to be a cross between vampires and the newer variety of hyper-zombie made popular by "28 Days Later". ...The first half of the film revolves around the day-to-day drudgery of survival and shows Neville and Sam foraging for food and supplies, searching out entertainment at the abandoned video store, passing the time by launching golf balls off a moored aircraft carrier and sitting at a desk on the pier where Neville cranks out a daily radio broadcast declaring his presence to any and all humans that might be in the area. ...A series of flashbacks laced throughout the film reveal that Neville was part of the team of scientists and doctors, led by an unnamed character played by Emma Thompson, that helped develop a cure for cancer based on the measles virus that ends up mutating and wiping out the population leading to the shit state Smith currently finds himself in. ...This causes Neville to go off the deep end and stage a nighttime vehicular rampage on the Zompires which goes terribly awry and looks to be the end of our wayward protagonist until he is saved at the last minute by a mysterious stranger. ...So surprise, Neville isn't the only human in New York anymore as his saviors turn out to be a young woman and a little boy who heard Smith's transmission and decided to drop by for a visit. ...What follows is a big, silly action set-piece where our three homosapien heroes defend themselves against wave after wave of Zompires who are apparently being directed by their new leader, a critter shown earlier for about five seconds who we were apparently suppose to surmise was the smart one (maybe he figured out where the sun block was). During this massive melee, Smith and his companions discover that he has found the cure for the virus just in time to shove his friends and the vaccine in the all-protective, rickety coal chute before dying heroically and of course saving civilization.

Mulder and Scully Return

Ravenpen — 2008-01-07T17:56:11-06:00

Though it's only been a little over five years since the series ended, for many fans, myself included, it feels like a lifetime ago that we last saw our two beloved FBI agents trying valiantly to thwart an extraterrestrial occupation of earth and keep the monsters and unexplained phenomena at bay. ...At the time I actually thought it was some strange incompatibility between the medium and myself that I didn't get choked up or moved by episodes of M*A*S*H or Taxi. ...I had actually been catching the show on and off for its first few seasons, but because it aired on Friday nights when I typically wasn't home I hadn't really followed it with any regularity. ...Though I don't consider myself a "shipper", the term used for people who focus more on the relationships in a TV series than the overall plot, I do think that the chemistry between Mulder and Scully was the strongest element of the show and the thing that differentiated it. ...The fact that the characters had such a deep respect and affection for one another and that the those feelings were based, for most of the series, on a profound friendship rather than a sexual relationship was not typical of most TV programming at the time and was all but unheard of in the horror and scifi genres that the show occupied. ...The fact that Doggett and Reyes, played admirably by Robert Patrick and annoyingly by Annabeth Gish, aren't in this new film is likely reason enough for many fans to see it if only out of spite for the characters. ...The fact that I got through all 24 episodes of season one and into season two during the course of only four days speaks a lot to how well the show has held up over the years. ...There's a lot riding on this for Carter, Duchovny, Anderson and the fans and it makes me nervous but hopeful that I'll get to see the triumphant return of some sorely missed familiar faces this summer at the box office.

Sometimes the dream doesn’t seem so dreamy

Ravenpen — 2007-11-13T17:39:15-06:00

I’m sure that any of you who are fans of television, which by my calculation is roughly all of the four people reading this site, have no doubt heard about the ongoing writers' strike. ...This image is fairly easy to sympathize with as those jobs are generally physically demanding and often operate under conditions that most people wouldn’t want to work in. ...I’d comment on this quote myself, but the infinitely witty Joss Whedon already did such a bang-up job that I’ll let him speak for me on this one. ...Whedon’s point that writing and other artistic jobs are often not viewed as “real work” is equally important as it illustrates the point that this strike is trying to make. ...The fact of the matter is that most working writers with steady jobs scripting for a television series only make a bit more than I do as a meager civil servant, which is both shocking and sad. Add to this the fact that about 40% of writers are unemployed between gigs at any given time and you come to the crux of what this strike is about. ...They did this with the assurance that they’d be cut back in once the market took off, but this didn’t happen in much the same way that CD prices never came down and toll roads were never eliminated as promised by the various powers that be. ...It’s true that no one is forcing these individuals to be writers and the opportunity to express yourself artistically is certainly an enviable one, but the illusion that such positions are infinitely privileged with the participants rolling in dough is largely a fallacy, one that many in the media seem bound and determined to perpetuate.

The Agony of Delay

Ravenpen — 2007-10-19T17:58:18-05:00

The reason for this reaction was based on the query times I'd seen from others who'd submitted to this particular publisher. ...I sent my story in on September 1st, making the elapsed time 49 days, a number that did not bode well for my chances. ...Rather than a rejection what I received was an apology and an explanation stating that the publisher was on hiatus and was currently not accepting submissions. They wished me well on my search for another publisher and invited me to submit again when they reopened. ...Originally I had another place all lined up and ready to go as my next publishing possibility, but after trying to visit their site a few days ago they appear to have become defunct. Unfortunately the rest of my current potential submitters list doesn't quite fit this particular story as well as the first two did. At this point I have to decide whether I want to wait for the initial publisher to begin soliciting again or find another. ...I’ve already started looking for additional publishers and as soon as my current novella, Twenty-One, is completed I plan to focus all my attention on short fiction so I can really start hitting the market in earnest.

Into the Breach

Ravenpen — 2007-09-03T10:12:15-05:00

Yesterday I submitted my short story Road Kill for publication. It’s the first piece of fiction that I’ve ever sent to a potential publisher and I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. As far as my outlook over actually bring accepted, I really have no idea what to expect. There are aspects of my writing style that I still find unruly and amateurish. Even after several revisions there are always pieces of my stories that trouble me in some way. Still, I’m hopeful and eager for a response. In the self-deprecating world of the aspiring writer a rejection notice is almost as prized as an acceptance letter so either way I’ll have something to hang on the wall when I hear from the magazine. Wish me luck and I’ll be sure to report back here as soon as I hear word about my story.

I need this to happen here

Ravenpen — 2007-08-25T09:26:45-05:00

He’s in his thirties, writes during his free time at work, prefers writing fun fiction as opposed to “serious literature” and distributes his ongoing stories online. ...Muye and myself is that his book “Ghost Blows Out the Light” has been viewed more than six million times online and based on that success has gone on to sell 600,000 copies in print. ...In China online fiction reading is all the rage and having a popular web novel that was distributed for free go on to become a printed volume, or in some cases even a movie or television series, is not only possible it’s sought after. ...While it’s true that most of these online authors may not see the kind of success that Mr. ... Here in the states online fiction is still seen as a bit of an oddity and even successful print authors like Stephen King, who released his novella “Riding the Bullet” on his web site for free in 2000, probably don’t garner the kind of internet attention that amateur writers receive in China. My hope is that this kind of cultural shift will occur in the US as people seek more and more of their entertainment online. ... Hopefully demand will start to grow and perhaps then a whole new crop of unpublished authors will find their way into the homes of eager readers. Until then most of us will have to use conventional publishing to try and make our mark while keeping our online presences up as a hopeful nod to the future and the possibility of what might be.

Another reason to howl in pain

Ravenpen — 2007-08-12T11:31:58-05:00

So it looks like any hope I had for the new werewolf movie Skinwalkers to be anything worthwhile has quickly gone up in flames. Listen, I know that horror movies have always been the black sheep of the film industry and that werewolf flicks are even further buried within the genre itself as the ugly cousin at the family reunion that no one likes to talk to. Still, if you’re going to bother putting the time and effort into making a lycanthrope picture it would seem prudent to actually try doing it properly. Though I have yet to see the film, and likely won’t until it’s available for rental, I can already say for certain that it will fall short on certain expectations as it appears the film was hastily re-edited at the last minute and neutered from its original R rating to a more mild PG-13. I’m not one who advocates gore for gores sake and I’ve found the recent spate of “torture porn” films like Hostel to be laughably stupid and completely devoid of any worthwhile content or even genuinely scary moments. ... Being that this film is set against the backdrop of two waring werewolf tribes, I find it hard to believe that one can effectively tell that tale without delving into a certain amount of bloodshed. ...Any time you alter a piece of work from its original vision simply to please the masses it inevitably ends up a pale imitation of the original intent. ...Hopefully one day they’ll get a bit of proper exercise and a face lift; maybe then they’ll finally be allowed back in the family photos.

iTunes Widget

Ravenpen — 2007-08-10T17:51:31-05:00

I wanted to drop a quick note about the little Flash widget in the sidebar that shows some of my iTunes purchases. Just to be clear it isn’t any kind of paid advertising system or endorsement deal. This site is currently ad free and I intend to keep it that way. So then what’s the point of the widget? Generally I don't have much use for these sorts of things, as I don’t tend to write “what-I-had-for-breakfast” type personal commentary. That said, the blog portion of this site does deal with opinions on Art in its various forms including album reviews and I figured that if I was going to recommend records then I might as well give full disclosure on the songs I buy. This way if you’re thinking about purchasing an album I discuss you can look at some of the other music in my collection and decide whether you think our tastes line up or whether it’s best to avoid my suggestions like an auditory plague. Hmm maybe I shouldn’t have bought all that Ricky Martin before I uploaded the widget.

All the world's a stage

Ravenpen — 2007-07-30T17:32:22-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how certain artists are able to create a narrative using just about anything. A prime example of this is the burgeoning Machinima movement, which took a formally locked down medium, videogames, and opened them up by manipulating the characters and adding voiceover dialogue to play out stories like a digital incarnation of a puppet or marionette show. While scouring the net I came across another novel narrative approach, this time using Google Earth as its canvas. I won't go into detail as I don't want to spoil the surprise, but suffice to say I found the results surprisingly and in this case disturbingly effective. I'll be very curious to see what you all think of the piece and if you were as affected by it as I was. ...-Quoth the Raven

Street Graffiti 2.0

Ravenpen — 2007-07-13T14:05:43-05:00

Imagine if you could create stunning art on any public surface without permanency and the pesky hassle of criminal vandalism that goes along with it. ...Some artists have found a way to do just that by using their tagging skills in a new medium called light graffiti. ...In those cases the object is generating light and moving at a high enough speed that the luminescence created leaves a streak on the still image. ...The trick with light art is to duplicate that effect by turning the exposure on your camera way up so that it exaggerates the movement as if the object in front of it is moving very quickly. After that all one needs is a glowstick, flashlight, or other lit object to "paint" with. ...Additional examples of this craft can be found here and a video about the subject can be found here. ...It allows people the immediacy and power of public expression without the need to permanently cover up one piece of art with another. ...Even better it makes anything the artist can see a potential canvas and that alone is a revolutionary step towards future creation and possibility.

Film Review: Ratatouille

Ravenpen — 2007-07-03T21:45:31-05:00

Unfortunately I really can’t go into any detail, since even revealing the premise would spoil the surprise, but I can say that it was a clever tribute to the kind of physical comedy found in the classic silent films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. This short had me laughing out loud throughout its brief runtime and easily surpassed many of the more recent Pixar featurettes such as Boundin’, which was cute but ultimately forgettable. ...Granted it is an animated feature and it’s rated G so there isn’t anything inappropriate for young viewers, but the film isn’t geared towards them either, aside from the cute, fuzzy characters. Pixar is known for putting out movies with a wide appeal that are generally entertaining to both adults and children, but this is the first time where I couldn’t really identify the “kid sections” of the film. ...This theme is present throughout the duration of the movie and unlike many supposedly subject-specific films, which often devolve into generic easy-to-digest plots, it stays faithful to its topic. ...In an age where movies often contain so many subplots that it becomes difficult to even remember the names of the characters much less follow the story I found this a refreshing and welcome change of pace. ...If I had to pick out a few things I’d say that the realism of the rat fur in its various states and the details of the cooking such as the steam, heat waves and of course the food itself was what really wowed me this time around. ...I’ve been a fan of pretty much all the Pixar releases and I can say that this one ranks in my top three and I could easily see it becoming my favorite.

Shadow Sculptures

Ravenpen — 2007-06-28T20:58:46-05:00

I ran across some photos of an incredible art exhibit in which mounds of garbage are used to cast stunningly-realistic shadows of people and objects. ...The premise is quite simple. Take a pile of trash, hit it with a floodlight, project the resulting shadow onto a white screen or wall and then arrange the refuse so that it forms that shape you want. ...Despite this straightforward premise the actual arrangement was no doubt time consuming and painstaking, but given the incredible quality of the resulting images it's easy to see why all the fuss is worth it. ...There have been some questions raised regarding the authenticity of the art and whether or not the silhouettes were faked. Just looking at the comments on the site reveals a heated debate between naysayers who believe the pieces are digitally altered reproductions and others who claim to have seen some of the highlighted pieces in person at various museums. ...Personally I'd like to believe that these shadowy images are real. If so, then they are a remarkable testament to the continually evolving canvas of creativity and prove that anything has the potential to be art if someone simply takes the time to look at an object and see the potential lying dormant within it.

RT Album Picks - No. 1

Ravenpen — 2007-06-20T23:03:14-05:00

Instead these segments will give a brief overview of the album, delve into the individual tracks focusing on their sound, pace and feel and end with a summary of my thoughts on the piece as a whole and why I think it’s worth plunking down your cold, hard cash. ...This record represents the Stripes sixth full-length effort and follows up the somewhat controversial Get Behind Me Satan, which saw Jack trading in his trademark buzz saw guitar riffs for bluesy ballads centered around piano and marimba parts. ... Icky Thump – The lead off and title track of the album, this foot stomper proves to be one of the most experimental songs both in its use of spastic modulated organ bursts during the bridge and in its pseudo-political lyrics that evoke issues of immigration and the fact that almost everyone starts off as an outsider. ...You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told) – This churning, bluesy story song featuring the woes of a wayward woman is an old stalwart for the band joining such other tales as “Apple Blossom”, “Now Mary” and “Little Acorn”. ...The amount of energy and campy fun packed into this little three-minute ditty is really remarkable and it ends with an incredible instrumental battle between Jack and the accompanying horn player that leaves you wanting more when it ends. ...In his defense Jack has gone on record saying that he prefers writing about the troubles of others rather than his own and honestly the guy is quite humble and I can take a song like this a lot easier from him than from someone like say J-Lo. ...Catch Hell Blues – Propelled along by a classic slide-blues riff that builds in intensity until it’s ready to explode, this song clearly illustrates why Jack White is considered one of the greatest guitar players living today. ...To sum up I think Icky Thump is another minimalist masterpiece from The White Stripes that incorporates their early core sound from the first three albums with some of the experimentation found on Get Behind Me Satan.

Slight Delay

Ravenpen — 2007-06-14T22:37:23-05:00

Due to a hectic work schedule I had to bump this week’s School Days pages over one notch. Pages 11 and 12 are now both online and available for your reading pleasure. Next week will return to the standard Tuesday / Thursday routine, so look for the next two pages at their regular time. Thanks for your patience and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Moving Forward

Ravenpen — 2007-06-05T07:26:58-05:00

The first is to try and create the finest art you can making sure that you’ve done everything within your power to put forth your best effort. ...It’s natural to want to rest after finishing a piece, but if you remain in stasis for too long you risk becoming rusty and losing some of the momentum that continuous creation provides you with. ...It’s been a little tougher revising this piece than I initially anticipated and I’ve had to invest a fair deal of time, but I’ve been happy with the results thus far so I think the extra effort has paid off. ...Currently the story is being read over by a couple close friends and after I get their feedback I’ll begin my second full revision. Assuming the story shapes up well, my plan to submit it to a couple of magazines in hopes of receiving my first publication. At the very least I’ll get a couple of rejection slips, which in the masochistic world of writing are almost worth more than a publishing credit. Trying to keep motivated in the creative world isn’t easy, but it seems to me that the more you create the easier it is to keep creating. ...Though this may seem contradictory I think it only gets easier as time goes on and if I’m right than that means the sooner you start the better off you’ll be.

Feathering the Nest

Ravenpen — 2007-05-30T21:08:14-05:00

It’s now been almost two full months since the launch of this site and it’s beginning to feel comfortable and lived in like a well-worn pair of jeans. In addition to the regular content updates, I’ve also been doing my best to upgrade the site trying to make it ever more functional and aesthetically pleasing. Some recent additions to the site include a new aviary avatar for the blog posts, a new banner for the forum and new “inline comments” that display similarly to the ones on Oddlots and can be accessed by clicking on the title to the blog post you wish to comment on. My favorite of the new features however is the story image navigation, which is now located at both the top and bottom of the page so that you no longer have to scroll all the way back up to access the next page of a story. All-in-all I’m quite pleased with how everything’s coming together. A few more improvements and I’ll have this place running like a well-oiled machine, which reminds me; I think the oil in my car was due to be changed a few months ago. Forget that last analogy. ...Page eight of school days is now available.

My Auspicious Beginnings

Ravenpen — 2007-05-23T19:04:07-05:00

I was over at my parent’s house the other day, sorting through some possessions I keep stored there trying to figure out what could and couldn’t be sold at an upcoming garage sale they were having. ...The stories, each two to three pages long written in the fourth grade, were part of a murder mystery series starring myself and my grammar school classmates. ... Each tale began with the untimely demise of a student leading the rest of us to try and uncover the killer while inevitably being picked off one-by-one during the process. ...It seems that in my formative years I thought “where” and “were” to be the same word, using the first spelling for both occasions. ...While a bit more vulgar than my little tales, Lee’s piece was at least fairly generic and non-specific unlike mine which featured my entire class by name being bumped off by one of their fellow students over and over again. ...That little verbal jab was the most forceful thing I had ever said to a teacher and remains to this day one of the very few times in my life I’ve openly confronted an authority figure. ...Though I understand the need for heightened security in the trying times we currently find ourselves in, I think it’s important to always look at these matters with an objective eye and not automatically assume sinister intent. I’d be willing to wager that most of the time a story is just a story and when it’s not there are almost always additional signs that point to the individual or individuals being disturbed in some way.

That word, I do not think it means what you think it means

Ravenpen — 2007-05-16T18:05:00-05:00

Sometimes trying to communicate the simplest ideas can take an enormous amount of effort, especially when you think you're saying one thing and the person on the other end is hearing something else. ...A way to avoid this problem is to choose the words you use very carefully and make sure you understand their meaning. This ensures that your audience is receiving the same message that you're sending out to them. ...Unlike verbal interaction, which has the luxury of context and body language, writing requires you to know exactly what you want to express. Using a word with a meaning that differs from what you intended risks confusing your reader or giving them an erroneous impression of what you were trying to convey. ...Unfortunately English, like many languages, has a number of words in its lexicon that have similar spellings and pronunciations, but very different definitions. These little sneaks try to trick us into using them incorrectly, but if you're careful you can navigate these common grammatical missteps with poise and grace. ...Study that list well my friends and you will soon discover that going to the movies with two of your friends and eating too much popcorn while you're there need only be a problem for your stomach and not your sentences.

Story Update

Ravenpen — 2007-05-14T19:19:55-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say that the third page of School Days is now up and ready to go. Look for page four of the series this Wednesday. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Back Round to the Beginning

Ravenpen — 2007-05-07T17:58:47-05:00

Tonight is the debut of a story I originally began working on back in early 2004, which I suppose to be fair doesn’t technically make it new. The interesting thing about it is the fact that it’s a dual narrated story told from the perspective of the two main characters it revolves around. Only a week ago I sent out a plea for you fine folks to help me out with my dual perspective story dilemma completely forgetting that this previous work had been exactly what I was trying to create. ...Some of you may remember a comic that Rude and I started posting in June of ‘05 titled “Kyle & Joel” that ran for seven pages before becoming defunct. Unfortunately the rigors of trying to put out a full-fledged graphic novel proved too difficult for either of us to cope with while trying to deal with day jobs and all the other work and artistic demands on our time. ...When I created this site to house my collected writings I began looking at my past and realized that this story deserved to be put out there. ...True as that may be, it is also true that if not for those first steps there would be no others to follow; so in that way we owe everything to them. ...As mentioned above this is a dual perspective story and therefore will appear twice a week on Monday night / Tuesday morning and Wednesday night / Thursday morning until its completion.

New Comment Goodness

Ravenpen — 2007-05-03T18:27:29-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick note about some changes to the blog comments. ...As you can see "recent comments" now appear in the sidebar. If you click on them they will bring up the comment window and take you to the specific post you selected. ...Also I was pleased to discover, thanks to posts from Katt and Doomed Wanker, that putting in your Oddlots/Gravatar email address when posting a comment places your avatar alongside your post. ...I recommend everyone use this feature as it adds an instantly recognizable face to the posts rather than having to search for the small and somewhat hidden signature at the bottom of each entry. ...The new site is really starting to take shape. Look for a never-before-published tale to appear soon as well as a new serial story both here and at Oddlots. ...Woo hoo fiction a-go-go!

Girl Group Mixes Retro Sound with Modern Attitude

Ravenpen — 2007-04-30T18:34:24-05:00

I recently ran across a group called The Pipettes that made me simultaneously nostalgic and happy to be living in the here-and-now. ... Now take that image and set it in current day with all the cultural and social changes and you can see how intriguing this dichotomy might be. ...The difference comes from subtle things like drum beats that incorporate modern rock and hip-hop rhythms and guitar riffs that are edgier and darker than the sugary strumming found on the original girl-group albums. The vocals arrangements duplicate the multi-part harmonies of legends like The Supremes and namesake The Pips with remarkable accuracy and in some ways are the element least affected by modern considerations. ...The Pipettes, Becki, Gwenno and Rose, take the pop standards that inspired them and turn them inside out with songs about one-night stands, clueless guys, cheap thrills, and brawling beauties that make tunes like My Boyfriends Back look positively tame by comparison. Add to this the infectious joy with which the three leads belt out these catchy ditties and I defy you not to sing along with lines like these from “One Night Stand”: ...Their debut album We Are The Pipettes hasn't come out stateside yet, but you can pick up an import for a couple extra bucks. ... Tracks to pay special attention to in addition to the aforementioned One Night Stand include: “Pull Shapes”, “Judy” “Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me”, and “Because It's Not Love”.

Style over Substance?

Ravenpen — 2007-04-26T17:38:17-05:00

While kicking around ideas for my next story I came to the decision that I wanted to develop two projects at the same time, one as my next serial story over at Oddlots and another for this site. ...Since I'm fairly certain that rushing my stories to complete them faster would only result in work I was unhappy with, I figured that working on multiple pieces would be a way to increase my output while maintaining the quality of the prose. ...My concern was that working on two storylines simultaneously might also detract from my focus ultimately making one more important than the other or worse yet leaving both as inferior versions of what they could have been had they each been given my undivided attention. ...Eventually I came up with what I thought was a clever compromise, which was to write a dual part tale with the different perspectives appearing on Oddlots and Raven's Tales as a kind of crossover story. ...While it's true I had to tackle this sort of thing in DPD, the different factions in that story developed organically as I was writing it and thus never seemed out of place or obtrusive. ...I suppose all this could just be the early-creation-stage blues, which I almost always suffer from when starting a new project, but part of me really thinks it's the "gimmick" aspect that's slowing me down. Granted I really do like the idea of a dual-perspective tale, but I think that starting a piece from its structure rather than its story may be a bad idea regardless of what my overall intent is. ...I know that this decision is ultimately mine to make, but I think some outside perspective could really help me focus in on what each choice would mean.

Communal Art on your Desktop

Ravenpen — 2007-04-17T16:58:02-05:00

One of the aims for this site has been to forge a community where artists can talk with one another about their work and the art world in general. It has been my experience that such collaborations can bring a lot to the table and that having the perspective of someone in a similar situation as your own can be useful in a way that generic criticism generally isn't. ...That data is then fed back to the server and the sheep with the most votes get to remain in circulation while others are put of out to pasture. ...A computer algorithm is used to morph aspects of different projects into brand-new animations that are then put out on display where they will have to face the same judgment their parents did. This process continuously refines the sheep making them an amalgam of the most popular elements and introducing new ones as more outside sheep are brought into the fold. ...I do admit to a little trepidation over the continuous downloading and what that means to my bandwidth and the integrity of my system, but really it's no different than other popular projects such as Seti and Folding. ...It's also a great way for animators and visual artists to get instant exposure and feedback on their work from thousands of people around the world. Add to this the fact that it's free and you've got yourself an instant distribution network that you can use anytime it strikes your fancy.

Remembering a literary master

Ravenpen — 2007-04-12T18:07:40-05:00

Kurt Vonnegut, renowned author and literary figure, died yesterday at the age of 84. Vonnegut's novels ranged genres from science fiction to modern satire, but all of his work dealt with the complexities of the human condition and our place in the world. His social and political commentary in novels like "Slaughterhouse 5" and "Cat's Cradle" remains hauntingly acute and his wry, biting humor in books like "Breakfast of Champions" gave us a chance to laugh at some of the absurdity of everyday life. ...One of the writer's greatest gifts was his ability to combine the mundane, the fantastical and the profound in a way that was both easy to relate to and intriguing to uncover. Very few writers either past or present posses a vision as clear and distinct as Vonnegut's was. ...His talent was unequaled in many ways and his voice will be sorely missed. ...-Quoth the Raven

What does it take to make it?

Ravenpen — 2007-04-11T17:07:55-05:00

I'd wager that most people who engage in the act of artistic expression have at one time or another seen a successful example of their craft and said to themselves: ...For the purposes of this discussion I'd like to focus on a specific example, The Da Vinci Code by author Dan Brown. ...That fact alone should probably place me out of the running for further discussion, but if you'll allow me some latitude I'll illustrate my points using the analysis of another scribe. ...He read Brown's book on a long plane flight and was immediately struck with how poorly constructed the writing was. ...My first thought was that Pullum was likely just being a “grammar snob” by pointing out minute sentence structure violations that were probably used by Brown for stylistic reasons. ...I assumed that this was just another case of professional jealousy and that Pullum was simply “hating-on-Brown” because of his immense popularity. ...After reading through Pullum's entry it was apparent that Brown's writing contained a number of fundamental flaws that should have been picked out by any competent editor long before this book got anywhere near the publication process. ...Or maybe, just maybe, it gives hope to all the aspiring artists out there by proving that popular success is not limited to the work of inscrutable geniuses whose talent far outstrips that of mere mortals.

Everything old is crude again

Ravenpen — 2007-04-09T21:59:31-05:00

It tells us what life and society were like at a particular place and time. As we move forward some forms of diction are discarded while others remain, though their meaning often changes. I remember a friend telling me how the word “ejaculated” was once commonly used in dialogue attribution. ...Recently I ran across a wonderfully funny example of this phenomenon in a collection of old comic strips with unintentionally comedic dialogue. What’s interesting is that most of the examples are not errors or horrendously poor writing, but simply a change of context. When these strips were published I’m sure no one batted an eye at it, but nowadays it comes of as ridiculous or perverted. Maybe one day someone will see the word “blog” or “iPod” in print and have themselves a good chuckle at our expense. Hell it already happened with the word “googled” and we just made that one up a year or two ago.

Short Story Added

Ravenpen — 2007-04-05T23:18:19-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that a new story, “The Long Drive”, has been added to the Short Stories section. I originally wrote this piece back in the late 90’s and it later appeared on Oddlots in my portfolio page. I’ve spent the last few days tightening it up and rearranging a few elements to give it a bit more depth and scope. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this little tale about the open road and growing old as we discover that highways aren’t the only things that get neglected as they age. -Quoth the Raven __________________________________________________________________________________________

Begin the Begin

Ravenpen — 2007-04-02T00:28:03-05:00

Welcome everyone to the official launch of Raven's Tales, a repository of stories, poetry and thoughts on writing and art in general. For those of you not familiar with my presence at Oddlots Irregulars, Raven is my nome de plume for that site. I chose to keep it as my moniker here not only because it will be familiar to those who have followed my work in the past, but also because I have yet to enter the world of professional publishing and decided to keep my online and traditional publishing worlds independent of one another. This site was created to display my work in its various forms and to discuss the craft of artistic creation. My expertise is in writing so that's where much of my commentary will lie, but it is my belief that all art shares similar characteristics and that the questions that arise from it are fundamentally the same. To help facilitate this I have included a forum to discuss not only the items on this site, but the personal projects and queries of our members. It is my wish to build a community of burgeoning artists and art enthusiasts that can aid and support one another. At the very least I hope to entertain and inform you so that you get the most out of the time you spend here.