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Saturday, January 13, 2018

The Writer's Life 1/13 - Arrivals & Departures

Correction: In yesterday's blog I cited Arkansas senator the late J. William Fulbright as Hillary and Bill Clinton's mentor. It is true of the latter, but HRC's mentor was, of course, the former Grand Dragon of the KKK, the late West Virginia senator Robert Byrd.

I've been lucky renting obscure sci-fi movies from Netflix lately. Last night I watched Alien Arrival (2016), produced and shot in Australia. It begins as a prison drama, evolves briefly to a tale of revolution, then becomes one of survival. For awhile it seemed to be going the way of the Alien series. Fortunately, it brought a fresh spin to that tired angle. There were several aspects of the story I didn't get, but I enjoyed the main one. The cinematography is fantastic, but the special effects are not up to the standards of contemporary cinema. The beast especially seemed to be from the pre-CGI era. I was completely unfamiliar with the cast, which is usually good, as there are no pre-conceived notions about the actors. Dan Mor, an Israeli, and Aleisha Rose, an Aussie, star. It was written and directed by Jesse O'Brien, his first big screen effort after three shorts. 1400+ users at IMDb have rated Alien Arrival, forging to a consensus of 4.5 on a scale of ten, way too low in my opinion. Six is more like it. It runs only 95 minutes. Those squeamish about violence, and those who need a fast pace and constant action should pass. I would not call it cerebral. It's quirky, although virtually without humor, and a little different. Here's a still:


RIP legendary sports announcer Keith Jackson, 89. He covered the AFL and NFL, the NBA, MLB, the Olympics and worked on ABC's Wide World of Sports. He did the first broadcast of Monday Night Football. But his most memorable work came calling NCAA football. He was always a pleasant listen. I particularly enjoyed his take on passes completed downfield: "Got im!" Well done, sir. Thank you.

Almost three weeks after Christmas and an unusual amount of packages are still being delivered to my building. I hope it means the first quarter will see continued vigorous economic growth.

This morning I submitted the updated file of Present and Past to Create Space. Once that is approved, I will scan the online reviewer, then decide whether to approve publication or order a third proof copy.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, as long as one was out of the wind. My thanks to the young man who purchased a sci-fi compilation, and to the elderly woman who bought a short story collection by the fairer gender.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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