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You've made some changes since the virus caught you sleeping

Okay. Things I have done in the last couple of weeks that have not stressed out my life.

In my latest quest for fanfiction of quality, read the first volume of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and rented Stephen Frears' Mary Reilly (1996). The first of these I liked immensely, such that I am now looking for the next volume; the second didn't quite focus as I think it was intended to, but at least I have now seen John Malkovich and his Jekyll and Hyde were quite acceptable to me.

Also rented Jim Henson's The Storyteller (1987), about which only good things can be said. I'd seen two or three episodes before with

spectre_general and his wife, but I sort of went on a bender and watched all nine episodes in a night: fortunately, it is impossible to overdose on John Hurt. The number of random character actors who populated that series impresses me. I even spotted Jason Carter—I frankly hadn't thought he'd ever been anyone other than Marcus Cole.

Met some friends in the Yale Bookstore for a few minutes of random browsing, only to discover a five-actor reading of a local playwright's retelling of A Christmas Carol was in progress near the magazine racks; I came in around the Ghost of Christmas Present and stayed to the end, and had a very nice conversation with the actor who had played Scrooge (and who looks like a character actor from the 1930's) afterward.

hans_the_bold more or less had to drag me out, because the bookstore was closing, but we repaired to HGS and watched The Hunter (1980), which features Steve McQueen in his last role and a very young LeVar Burton as a supporting character. Yes, of course I watched Reading Rainbow religiously as a child.

Rented The Corpse Bride (2005), because I am under the general impression that I need more Tim Burton in my life, and loved it. I have now had "The Remains of the Day" stuck in my head for over forty-eight hours.

Caught the last third of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) on television, which reminded me again that quite possibly the character for whom I feel the most sympathy in the entire trilogy is Admiral Piett. I had not realized, however, that he has such a fanbase. This is actually kind of awesome.

Had sushi tonight with a friend who is a divinity student, and conducted a conversation about trinitarianism, grace, and salvation without exploding. Also, tempura-fried ice cream.

The story I'm writing for

greygirlbeast's Sirenia Digest has mutated: I thought it was first-person futuristic, but it seems in fact to be third-person steampunk. Yeah. No recent influences there. Excuse me while I blame Nikola Tesla.

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Many readers don't like the second volume of League, but I think you will. Have you read Moore's Promethea?

Have you read Moore's Promethea?

Not yet, although there are several volumes at the bookstore. I've read V for Vendetta, From Hell, and at least one collection of Swamp Thing—that's it. Also the short story "A Hypothetical Lizard" in Liavek: Wizard's Row, which was technically the first thing by Alan Moore I ever ran into, but I'm not quite sure that in this context it counts.

nineweaving once characterized The Book of Magic as "psychopomps on parade", but it's Peanuts beside Promethea.

"psychopomps on parade", but it's Peanuts beside Promethea.

Okay. I need to read this.

Leafing through Vol. I..."What did I DO? I haven't DONE anything! I'm a COLLEGE STUDENT! All I ever did was read BOOKS! What did I do?" "Wrong books."

Yes, you do. You surely do.

...and now i have dreams in digital stuck in my head...

...and now i have dreams in digital stuck in my head...

I'm sorry; that's the steampunk . . .

read the first volume of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on the book.

quite possibly the character for whom I feel the most sympathy in the entire trilogy is Admiral Piett.

One of the things I love about The Empire Strikes Back is the attention given to the Imperial officers. You can feel the tension Vader creates amongst them and their individual personalities are subtly exhibited.

I consider Empire the best in the series largely because of its attention to subtle characterisation. I wrote quite a long post about it (http://setsuled.livejournal.com/121055.html#cutid1).

That was Leigh Brackett at work. Such a pity they didn't have her do all of them up front. Imagine how much better the third one with the teddy bears would've been. (For one thing, possibly no teddy bears...)

Such a pity they didn't have her do all of them up front.

Yeah. I imagine Lucas might not have had the connexions at the beginning, and maybe Brackett wouldn't have been interested. Alec Guinness, after all, wasn't enthusiastic until he first saw the completed first film.

But it's really too bad she died before Return of the Jedi. The fact that Lawrence Kasdan was carried over suggests Brackett might have been, too. Then again, Jedi also suffered from an inferior director . . .

"We probably expect too much of George Lucas..."
---Weeping Gorilla

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on the book.

I liked it very much—it felt to me like the graphic novel counterpart to Kim Newman's Anno Dracula (1992), in which practically every fictional character from the late nineteenth century makes an appearance at one point or another, and it successfully contrived to comment on, criticize, and pay homage to all the genres and attitudes it drew upon without detracting from any of the fun. (The appendices and advertisements did not so enrapture me, but the veloci-midden was hilarious in a horrifying sort of way.) Is the series ongoing or finite?

I consider Empire the best in the series largely because of its attention to subtle characterisation.

I need to see it again. Not counting the prequels, the last time I saw any of Star Wars was in high school, and my memories are fond but fragmentary.

One of the things I love about The Empire Strikes Back is the attention given to the Imperial officers. You can feel the tension Vader creates amongst them and their individual personalities are subtly exhibited.

I believe you: Piett just seems to be the one who really impressed himself on me. And this time around, I noticed Captain Needa, but that's partially because I realized he was played by Michael Culver, whom I had heretofore only associated with Cadfael. It made me wonder how many other random character actors were floating around these films.

Kim Newman's Anno Dracula (1992)

Huh--I'd not heard of that. Sounds interesting.

Is the series ongoing or finite?

Technically, it's considered ongoing, but Moore's having his usual tangled troubles with publishers.

According to the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen), the next part is supposed to take place in the 1950s. There's an interesting comment by Moore about the possible inclusion of William S. Burroughs' Interzone and characters from Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

Not counting the prequels, the last time I saw any of Star Wars was in high school, and my memories are fond but fragmentary.

Ah, I envy you being able to go to them that fresh.

It made me wonder how many other random character actors were floating around these films.

I marvel sometimes at the amount of good actors in those movies. Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing in the first film, a movie the studio considered a big risk . . . The interiors were mostly shot in London, so the British cast members were drawn from a bigger pool. In the second movie, director Irvin Kershner made a conscious decision to make the Imperials predominantly British and the Rebels American.

You might enjoy this (http://impstherelentless.com/tek9.asp).

Huh--I'd not heard of that. Sounds interesting.

You might like it very much; at least, I'd recommend you give it a try. It's essentially alternate history to Stoker's Dracula, in which the main characters fail terribly in their efforts to destroy Dracula—specifically, they are unable to prevent him from turning Mina in Chapter 21—and he not only survives, but fathers the race of vampires in England that Van Helsing so feared. ". . . He is experimenting, and doing it well. And if it had not been that we have crossed his path he would be yet, he may be yet if we fail, the father or furtherer of a new order of beings, whose road must lead through Death, not Life." Of course, since it's alternate history to fiction, all sorts of other fictional characters are allowed to enter the picture; Dr. Jekyll gives expert testimony on the biology of vampires, Inspector Lestrade has turned in hopes of sharpening his policeman's senses, Lord Ruthven is Prime Minister. And historical ones, as well. The central mystery of the book revolves around the identity of this 1888's Jack the Ripper—a murderer of vampire prostitutes, whom the newspapers have nicknamed "Silver Knife." There are two sequels, The Bloody Red Baron (1995), set during World War I, and Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959 (1998), set exactly when the title says it is, and a handful of short stories farther along the timeline. I believe a fourth novel is in the works, but this may be only wishful thinking on my part.

Ah, I envy you being able to go to them that fresh.

I'd known about the movies before then; I'd just never seen them. Maybe a few bits and pieces on television or at friends' houses, but nothing that really made an impression. I did have a stuffed-animal Ewok as a small child, but damned if I knew what it was. I think I just accepted it as as species of slightly scary-looking teddy bear.

Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing in the first film, a movie the studio considered a big risk . . .

I love Alec Guinnesss.

(Okay, back to our regularly scheduled conversation . . .)

In the second movie, director Irvin Kershner made a conscious decision to make the Imperials predominantly British and the Rebels American.

I'd wondered if that was deliberate, or just a side effect of casting for people who looked the part. Is this is the case in the other two movies also?

You might enjoy this.

My life is imploding into fandom all of a sudden . . .

You might like it very much; at least, I'd recommend you give it a try.

You make it sound very good. I'll add it to my list, although I'm still reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, so that gives you an idea of my reading speed . . .

I think I just accepted it as as species of slightly scary-looking teddy bear.

Hehe. They are the intergalactic Neanderthals of teddy bears.

I'd wondered if that was deliberate, or just a side effect of casting for people who looked the part. Is this is the case in the other two movies also?

No--in the first movie, it was pretty random. Though I think the impression of the Imperial officers being British may've been enhanced by Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin. The third movie had Piett and a vague carry over from Empire of the scheme, but I do remember at least one American Imperial officer on Endor.

My life is imploding into fandom all of a sudden . . .

Just you wait until I finish the "Moving Nameless" fan fiction--you'll be exploding.

Have you read Valerie Martin's Mary Reilly, the book the movie was made from?

the book the movie was made from?

I have not: do you recommend it?

I haven't read it for about a decade -- I read it when I was sixteen, and again at twenty, and really enjoyed it both times. I absolutely fell in love with Mary and Dr. Jekyll. Stevenson's original book has always been an intellectual exercise for me, while Martin's book was both intellectual (in terms of teasing out symbolism, etc.) and incredibly emotional. It's not a horribly long book, and is certainly better than the movie.

If you do pick it up, let me know what you think. I may pick it up again in the near future myself.

Speaking of books I've enjoyed, I recently finished Singing Innocence and Experience. I truly enjoyed it. There are some simply gorgeous stories and poems in your collection. I even convinced my local public library to pick up a copy.

Stevenson's original book has always been an intellectual exercise for me, while Martin's book was both intellectual (in terms of teasing out symbolism, etc.) and incredibly emotional.

See, I really like Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, partially because it is so low-key and almost without supernatural (or science-fictional) incident until very near the end. There's no mystery for a modern-day reader, of course, but fortunately the story holds together on more than revelation. But I will definitely read Mary Reilly, and let you know what I think.

I recently finished Singing Innocence and Experience. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you! I'm very glad.

I even convinced my local public library to pick up a copy.

All right, you rock.

Piett is arguably the most human and sympathetic character in the whole series.

Piett is arguably the most human and sympathetic character in the whole series.

What I love about Piett is how he breaks up the facelessness of the Empire. He's not a masked and anonymous stormtrooper, he's not a villain for villainy's sake, he doesn't even seem to be particularly brutal or cruel—although he is an officer on the Emperor's flagship, so he may not be particularly nice or innocent either; none of which means he cannot be sympathetic—he's a man with the most unenviable boss in the galaxy and no matter that he's onscreen for perhaps five minutes total in The Empire Strikes Back, you care whether he survives or not. (The odds are, admittedly, against him. The heroes are practically guaranteed by the conventions of myth and cinema to reach the finale unscathed, but the moment Darth Vader calls him "Admiral," you know the crew have started taking bets on Piett's life expectancy. One wonders if a career in the upper echelons of the Imperial Starfleet always involves this fine tightrope-walk between success and suicide.) He's not in many ways plot-critical. He's not even that deeply characterized: I couldn't tell you a single fact about him before his sudden promotion. But he's a person, and that's remarkable for the supposedly straightforward war, noble Rebels against evil Empire, white hats and black hats and very few shades of grey, that George Lucas has set up onscreen. He has complication. Hence, I suppose, the impressive amounts of fanfiction dedicated to him.

. . . Besides, if it hadn't been for Piett, I wouldn't have been able to read the best T.S. Eliot parody ever.

But he's a person, and that's remarkable for the supposedly straightforward war, noble Rebels against evil Empire, white hats and black hats and very few shades of grey, that George Lucas has set up onscreen.

That was nice. In his commentary for Brazil, Terry Gilliam mentioned having a conversation with Lucas about the soulless, drone-like quality of the stormtroopers, and how it sort of atrophied the emotional impact of the action sequences. The more human black-helmeted troops in Brazil were something of a reaction to that, apparently.

The prequels actually do a slightly better job at creating moral ambiguity with imperfect, arrogant Jedi and actually logical rationalisations for the formation of the Empire.

But the subtle characterisations hinted at in The Empire Strikes Back did create a nice sort of open-ended mystique. It's one of the reasons TIE Fighter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_TIE_Fighter) is my all time favourite video game.

the soulless, drone-like quality of the stormtroopers, and how it sort of atrophied the emotional impact of the action sequences.

I think it certainly tips the audience's sympathies: when the rebels die, we know they have faces. But the stormtroopers might as well be robots, or pieces of scenery, so to kill them carries no charge of murder. It's not so much that the emotional impact is blunted as that it falls only on one side.

The more human black-helmeted troops in Brazil were something of a reaction to that, apparently.

I still need to see Brazil . . .

But the stormtroopers might as well be robots, or pieces of scenery, so to kill them carries no charge of murder. It's not so much that the emotional impact is blunted as that it falls only on one side.

I guess Lucas tries to rationalise it by making them clones in Episode II. It provides for a creepy bit in Episode III, but I'm still not sure it was worth it.

I still need to see Brazil . . .

I think it's a brilliant movie, although there is a lot of contention on the subject.

I guess Lucas tries to rationalise it by making them clones in Episode II. It provides for a creepy bit in Episode III, but I'm still not sure it was worth it.

They're not still all supposed to be clones by A New Hope, right? Because that utterly doesn't work.

(So what was the creepy bit?)

They're not still all supposed to be clones by A New Hope, right?

I'm not sure. The movies kind of avoid answering that question.

In the "Extended Universe"--or stuff writers came up with for Star Wars things other than the films that are still licensed by LucasFilm, and which I know a bit about because I'm that much of a nerd--I seem to remember that clones were gradually phased out. I also remember one of the books describing a psychic connexion between all the stormtroopers and the Emperor which made them a sort of like zombies. It's all a little up in the air. The fact that, in the newest special editions of the original trilogy, Lucas dubbed in the Jango Fett actor's voice for Boba Fett but not the troopers seems to support the idea that they're not clones.

The starwars.com stormtrooper profile (http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/stormtroopers/) also doesn't describe them as clones. While the clone trooper entry (http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/clonetroopers/index.html) seems to suggest that stormtroopers are clones. The Expanded Universe section is somewhat helpful by implying that the original troopers are a mix of clones and "birth-borns".

(So what was the creepy bit?)

Aw, I don't wanna ruin it for you.

Yay, The Storyteller!

Yay, The Storyteller!

I seriously need a John-Hurt-as-the-Storyteller icon . . .

You can borrow "Storyteller: Greek Myths" when we get back in town!

You can borrow "Storyteller: Greek Myths" when we get back in town!

That would be wonderful. So long as I can also borrow a promise that I'll see you guys in person this semester!

... shun the "film" adaptation. At. All. Costs.

I'm afraid it's too late (http://sovay.livejournal.com/127745.html) for that . . .

Good lord. I'll have to go back and read all that in detail.

Sorry to have deleted the entire thread, I realized that I didn't have (and couldn't find any) evidence to support my comment about Reading Rainbow. This is what I get for listening to my mother.

I'll have to go back and read all that in detail.

I leave my brain to its own devices, it produces footnotes . . .

Sorry to have deleted the entire thread, I realized that I didn't have (and couldn't find any) evidence to support my comment about Reading Rainbow. This is what I get for listening to my mother.

Heh. That's all right. If it turns out to be true, that will possibly be the best piece of random news I've run across all month.

If it turns out to be true, that will possibly be the best piece of random news I've run across all month.

Well, the story as I heard it ran that back in the early 80s, Lavar Burton got involved in some minor legal hassle (I don't remember if it was a DUI, felony/misdemeanor possession, or something) & was sentenced to X amount of community service. So, he negotiated getting a pro bono gig on public television for this fledgling show as his service.

However, Snopes.com does not have any information on Mr. Burton & Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Rainbow) credits him as the executive producer. It would seem unlikely that you would executive produce a show where you were working for free (and had been "sentenced" to perform on). Of course, in 1983 Mr. Burton could probably still be considered a struggling television actor (Roots not withstanding). IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000996/) is a little unreliable for his credits (Reading Rainbow doesn't show up until 2002), but they don't appear to have much in the way of continuing roles until ST: TNG. It kinda seems equally unlikely that he would have executive produced a show when his star was seeming to fade (TNG would not appear until 1987).

Conclusion? Nothing definitive. In the face of only anecdotal evidence, I will have to believe that this is rank hearsay.

Ha! I almost feel like we've been hanging out -- I bought Storyteller on a whim, because it was just so cheap, and one of those things I've heard so much about ... And I've quite enjoyed the episodes I've watched thus far. Same thing goes for "Corpse Bride". I never saw it in the theater, partly, I guess, because so many people said it was "okay, but a disappointment if you liked Nightmare Before Christmas". I loved it! So good! Poor Corpse Bride!

I never saw it in the theater, partly, I guess, because so many people said it was "okay, but a disappointment if you liked Nightmare Before Christmas".

I never saw The Nightmare Before Christmas. But now that I've seen The Corpse Bride, perhaps I will.

Oooh, yay! Tesla....

Can't wait to read.

Can't wait to read.

Thanks. I hope I can live up to the expectation . . .

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You've made some changes since the virus caught you sleeping

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