» Fringe Blog – Writing on Film, Culture, and Things on the Fringe

The Cold Goodbye

jelewis8 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 06:50:31 +0000

It is done, inasmuch as done means “until the next revision.” There’s always edits that can be made to a text. They’re still working on the Bible, from what I understand. A jot or a tittle may need to be adjusted here and there, but from what I can tell, the text is solid.
It’s got a new look, too, different from the two separate books I put out. It’s got a more 1980′s feel now, as opposed to 1950. The Communist red text offsets well with the cobalt blue of the rest of the cover, giving it a sense of menace, maybe even dread, whilst the imposing buildings rise like sentinels, with the illusion of shaking to subtly hint at things to come. The back is far more abstract, dealing with issues of light and dark in syncopated patterns that more or less represent visually the thematic material present in the book. The dark, monochromatic visual should be iconic without being specific. I think, overall, the cover depicts what I want it to without being overly bold or outlandish, rather presenting the material as understatement, leaving an initial first impression of curiosity. What is this “Cold Goodbye”?
The back text explains the barest hint of a plot, along with a selected/edited quote from the book itself which best wraps up and summarizes the main idea of the story, without giving away too much. This was a simpler task to accomplish than you might imagine. Which may not be a good thing, I don’t know.
I hope the full version will make you as happy as it has made me. It’s 418 pages, 6.00″ x 9.00″, perfect binding, 60# cream interior paper, black and white interior ink , 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink. As with my other endorsements of Lulu, the quality is unexpected in its superb presentation and production.
I may do a bit of media blitzing on this thing for a while, though hopefully I can keep most of it off the blog. However, I do encourage you to purchase this or one/both of the other two books (Apophenia and Caliph) which comprise this full version copy, just printed and published as separate volumes. If you would like your copy autographed, contact me before ordering. We’ll arrange for something. I’m not saying I’ll be famous or anything after this, but I have gotten some requests for autographs already, so I figured I’d throw it out in case it was on your mind.
And yes, I will be famous after this, though not necessarily for this. If anything, my fame will involve a Slip ‘N’ Slide, a barrel full of monkeys, and a 30 aught six. But it never hurts to get a piece of the action before it occurs. Ebay is mighty friendly to collectors of John Hancocks.

NorCal Part Deux

jelewis8 — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:27:24 +0000

Whenever it seems like I’m getting ahead in my work, I remember that the blog hasn’t been updated, and then my Inadequacy Meter does something like a red line rev, the mercury shoots through the crack in the casing, and I feel the cold dread that you get whenever you handle liquid metal without protection. Or that might just be disappointment. So I scramble to come up with something that’s mildly witty and interesting, though it comes across as barely functional English narrative neither noteworthy or particularly insightful in form or fashion.
But at least I fill the page up, right? I don’t know why I keep forgetting it’s not the concessions that bring people to sports arenas. Why do I persist in serving cotton candy and wimpy beer on my blog? These are mysteries to be contemplated, best by philosophers of the future who read and suddenly, the questions of why civilization failed will not seem so unanswerable. There are clues, scattered about on every blog.
My continuing adventures in the Northern California region, which, seems like it’s the freak cousin of Southern California–the relative that everyone sort of acknowledges in half-tone whispers of regret and embarrassment. If only Oregon and Mexico hadn’t slept together. Northern California seems to lack the settled and laidback surfer sense of Southern California, and it overcompensates by trying too hard to be cultured in a sophisticated, we-make-and-sell-wine-what-do-you-do sort of manner. To a southern California resident, it comes across like the professor who wears the big bow tie and tries to fit in at frat parties. Dude, we may be stoned, but we’re not fooled by the rocks you got. C’mon!
Saturday night we grilled hamburgers and cooked silver corn and onions and peppers and then reclined en masse in front of the god-like twelve foot rectangular projection screen to watch Bad Boys…in HD…so it was like I’d never seen it before! Picture so clear you can see Martin Lawrence’s future arrest record in full-on Michael “Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder” Bay mode.
Sleeping in was great. Waking up at eight. Not so much. But lately, that is sleeping in, so it averages out, and since I opted out of the morning church service, I got to take in a leisurely morning of chatting with Emily and reading. The churchgoers returned and we all spent the rest of the morning eating cinnamon buns and talking about theology, including the history of the popes. We’re a wild bunch, we are.
Based on an evangelical acquaintance’s recommendation, we pile into the car and drive to Vacaville, which is home to a jazz fest and wine tasting. We arrive, only to find that the word jazz had been replaced by fey-southern rock and wine referred to lemonade. Derek and I found ourselves walking around town looking for an ATM, which, we were assured before leaving, there would be in abundance, since the fest was sponsored by a bank. Though if I had been more lucid, I might have questioned whether ATMs would be wheeled out en masse for the gathering to stave off any possible lack of cash flow.
After some debate, we decided we were having more fun insulting the town than enjoying the lamentable festivities, and so made our way to Suisan, which is not the town where Bruce Lee grew up. I knew what you all were thinking. We dined for late lunch at the Athenian, a Greek bistro on the water, where we repasted and discussed the shallowness of today’s culture (Entry–See: blogs, fringe) and whether one of us could get away with murder. As I said before, we’re a wild bunch.
After the delicious (and cheap!) food, Mike and I grabbed ice cream and we wandered along the canal, observing the two hobo-like men who were attempting to bring a stranded RC boat back into dock using a fishing line. (They were unsuccessful over a forty minute period, and at the time of our departure, had failed to retrieve the craft.) Tanika and I created a plot for a novel which may in fact be the single greatest political thriller of all time. I now have a Nanowrimo project. We headed back in the westering sun, said our goodbyes, and made our way back to Los Angeles.
Was it good for you? Leave comments as appropriate.

Cocoa Krispies and Haircuts

jelewis8 — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 21:45:02 +0000

You haven’t lived if you haven’t eat Cocoa Krispies for breakfast. No, wait, what I mean to say is, if you want to live, don’t eat Cocoa Krispies for breakfast. Or any other meal, for that matter. This is clearly a cereal marketed toward the part of a kid’s brain that has no intention of ever living right. It consists of tiny puffs of rice-based cereal (so not eligible for Communion food) dipped in a chocolate-like substance. It however does not have the pleasing taste of chocolate, rather the equivalent of a sickening dread you get when you are being stalked by an unseen, omnipotent killer (I could say cereal killer, but that might be going too far). If any of you has ever been stalked by a killer, you know exactly what I mean.
Los Angeles is currently experiencing another spate of round-the-clock hotness. One problem with moving to a new location is you’re never sure if the weather you’re experiencing is the norm or an anomoly. Even if it’s an anomoly, it might be a normal anomoly, and if you want total confusion, you can consider that the weather is neither normal nor an anomoly, but the onset of a new weather pattern paradigm. Then everyone’s screwed, and we can all blame Bush for not signing Kyoto.
In general, moving to a new town means having to establish new routines, new places to frequent, new schedules. I have happily found a coffee shop that, despite its lack of wifi, is quite good, and I go there often to wake up in the morning. One thing I haven’t found is a hair cuttery. This is quite a frightening ordeal, going into an untested hair place. You never know if you’re going to come out looking like your stylist was a psychotic lawn care professional or not. The most you can hope for is not to be disappointed. You will almost never come out of a new place thinking, “That was the most amazing experience of my life.” Then again, not everyone has access to Hollywood’s finest.
So I have yet to get a haircut, despite that I am back on my short hair kick. I like short hair, I like not having to deal with the intricacies of hair combing and knot untangling and shedding. I think I look better with short hair. But with no haircut, I’m fearful every morning. I wake up and look in the mirror and think about the possibility of immediate removal with a surgical, military strike. But no, I haven’t lost every brain cell.
I apologize for my lack of updates. I have a review of A History of Violence half-finished, and another short story I’ve been wanting to start writing. I have no excuse. Please forgive me, and come again tomorrow. I promise I won’t be slack.

Avid Technology Consumer Here…

jelewis8 — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 08:47:29 +0000

I’ve already lost the ability to see around the edges of my monitor. It fills almost my entire field of vision, and it’s only been a day since I got it and set it up. Scary how quickly assimilation to technology aesthetics happens. My own feelings on the subject are somewhat murky, owing my livelihood to the advances and advantages of technology as I do. I mean, on the one hand, sure, okay. It’s a consumer trap. It’s a neverending cycle of buy this, buy that mentality; upgrades to fuel our desire for the latest and greatest; the loss of touch with the “real” world; etc. I could be Ludditic and appropriate frowns and shaking of my fists as a reaction to the unbridled surge of consumer technological progress, but that would be so 1990.
I’m not even sure Luddites exist anymore; the last of them was actually my dad, I think, and he succumbed to the dread march of digital photography. He now sings the praises of his Canon Powershot A70 and the deluxe colour photo printer (purchased from the interwebs, of course) whilst staring vacantly ahead, a good little Borg-nine. Next he’ll be getting DSL and downloading music from iTunes.
Me, I’m happy losing myself in whatever new toy I happen to have purchased, and believe me, I don’t buy toys often. My Christmas usually comes once every two and a half years, where I take part of the hog and invest in a video card or processor that’s been on the market for six months. By then, prices have dropped, video game selections have stabilized, and I can be happy with something that should work for at least a year before totally falling behind in the performance needs department. Then it’s Christmas again.
I received inheritance money from my paternal grandparents’ estate, and decided, after quite a bit of thought and prayer (though more thought than prayer, admittedly), to buy a new video card. That turned into an additional couple of hard drives, some new high speed memory sticks, a new processor, motherboard, sound card, case, power supply, and DVD burner. Oops. Funny how that happens. And it also happens, this time I pretty much went with the best I could find, or nearly so. I should be totally set for another two years solid, if my luck holds.
I can justify the purchases pretty easily. Video editing is a fine occupational hobby, but it can also get longwinded–more so than usual–without the appropriate hardware. I’m not saying my current rig isn’t up to the task, but it does get rather clunky when doing real-time editing of a ten or twenty minute video. Add to the fact that I keep six or seven windows open at a time, most of which are memory-chewing software like Photoshop and After Effects, and you have a bonafide shipwreck on your hands the second you try to do anything more processor and memory intensive than moving your cursor.
Then there is the gaming aspect, of which I do a small amount. I’ve yet to play a game on a system that’s been totally decked to the nines–none of my hardware could ever accomodate the special needs of video games, and it’s been a sticking point for me–almost a convincer for me–that one day I would build a computer that could handle everything thrown at it and more. This one should do the trick, for which I can say: Cool.
Because that’s what technology is for me. Ten years ago, I never imagined the amazing advances in video rendering capabilities, in wireless applications, in graphics tools, or even in high definition video and audio capabilities. All the gadgets working together, nearly seamlessly on a single operating system…it’s enough to make a fella grin with wonder at the possibilities.
Me, I’m working on my third “major” film work, of which I will be, at the end of the process, quite proud. The technology that affords me the opportunity to work on my dreams, I’ll continue to acquire from time to time, when the need arises. If that means spending a few thousand here and there…well, call it an investment in my future.
Cheers to that.