There's a saying that's escaping my fogged memory at the moment equating writers who are controversial/offensive to their being relevant. However it goes, it seems I'm a little more relevant today than I was yesterday.
I apparently offended a person or two earlier today who may, or may not have understood my intentions behind a joke I made on Facebook. That honestly was not my goal as such, but I feel strongly about the issue behind it all and hope that the explanation I provided on there and reprinted here provokes thoughtful discussion on the subject because it deserves it.
The joke went as follows:
The Vatican announced the release of a tablet computer called the iPed. Unlike Apple's product, you can only touch it when no one's looking.
Designed to be both topical and potentially a little controversial, I was simply doing a mash up of items currently in the news and targeting it at the guilty parties alone: it was not an anti-religious statement or even a blanket statement that I believe to be true about all priests -- some are quite sincere in their calling and do much good in this world and have my complete respect -- and it was certainly not directed at followers of Catholicism, unless, of course, it's someone who finds pedophilia to be acceptable or a non-issue. To those individuals I say, if you were offended, then good.
So here's my reply reprinted from the thread and I'll let it stand as my statement on the matter.
And to reference Steve Martin, "Comedy is not pretty!"
-B
I am not, nor have I ever been a follower of the Catholic faith, but I respect every person's right to believe as they wish; when it comes to my particular thoughts on matters of faith/religion/spirituality, the vast majority of my friends do not entirely believe as I do -- I believe that Jesus is the Messiah but also observe the seventh day sabbath and the associated holy days as well as follow the laws of clean and unclean meats, etc -- and I'm comfortable with this and love them for who they are whether we see eye to eye on all issues or not. My friends represent a wide spectrum of cultures, races, and ideologies on issues of things of a religious nature, including those who think it is folly: I love and am interested in people, period, and focus on our commonalities as a starting point for bonding and accept, admire and often learn from our differences. I try to never force my particular beliefs on others but rather to simply be an example because I believe an individual's suppositions and the gift of free choice are very personal things and I respect everyone's entitlement to the decisions they make in that regard whether it is line with my personal views or not. There are INFINITE opportunities for contention in this life, so I prefer to avoid confrontations under most circumstances. I am always willing to DISCUSS beliefs, but I'm very rarely the first one to introduce them into a conversation and I absolutely refuse to argue issues; what purpose would it serve other than possibly salving egos?
But that doesn't mean I am without opinion and sometimes I express what's on my mind as I feel each of us have the privilege to do; and I generally try to do so with some forethought because all actions have the potential of consequence; some folks will agree and some won't and that's fine. The expression of an opinion is NOT NECESSARILY something to get bent out of shape about, even though the temptation to do so may often be there. So, as to your questions, Paul: I'm an equal opportunity offender; I have no problem offending the offensive no matter who they might be, and that's exactly who the barbs of my joke were SOLELY aimed at: those involved with the atrocities that have gone on for ages, whether they be the actual molesters or those who cover up for them; in my book, one is just as complicit as the other. Would I express the same sentiments if the perpetrators were Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan etc or even of my own personal faith, you ask? Without hesitation. If I were the one guilty of such offenses, I'd expect and advocate punishment so why should I hold anyone else to a lesser standard?
And I'm certainly not ignorant to the fact that, as you stated, corruption is everywhere; that's a given potential when humans attain power. In line with that, I'm also sure that other organizations have similar issues to varying degrees and, if so, those will come to light in their own time; even the Bible – the basis for all beliefs claiming Jesus as their Lord -- states in Numbers 32:23 “and be sure your sin will find you out” does it not? But the fact remains that at this present time, the magnitude of a longstanding problem within the priesthood of the Catholic church and the appalling and inexcusable confederacy of those in high office who sought to merely absolve the wrongdoers without, at the very LEAST, their removal from office has been brought full force to the attention of the world. It's no longer primarily the fodder of jokes or merely an urban legend as some seem to have long thought. And neither is it being sensationalistic in calling attention to it: it's reprehensible and those involved should be and NEED to be called into account for their actions.
A fundamental attribute and teaching of ALL religious beliefs is standards of morality, conduct and ethics, and those who serve in the capacity of that faith's leaders, expectedly, are to be both examples to and the guardians of the people that follow the practices of that belief and therefor are held to the highest standards as a result. So when someone BLATANTLY abuses their ordained authority and tramples upon the trust put into both the individual and the office — ESPECIALLY something perpetrated on children, as is the case here -- then I have a VERY, VERY serious problem with that and zero qualms with expressing such.
In fact, what really sticks in my craw in all this and where I lose further respect for those within that particular organization and how it's being handled is the blatant attempts to use methods of misdirection — likening it to the persecution of the Jews; forgiving the Beatles, etc -- and halfheartedly acknowledging that there is an abhorrently egregious problem within the ranks and not doing something to expunge it; I have a million times more respect for an individual or organization with a serious problem at hand that takes responsibility and acknowledges and deals with the issue rather than tries to sweep it under the rug or obfuscate the particulars of the matter. These are the types of actions that affect a person for the entirety of their life and handling it so callously does nothing to improve the situation or to justify the trust placed in either the organization or the individuals running it.
Bottom line: I'm less concerned with the organization than I am with those betrayed by it, but if the outcome of what has been brought to light does not result in a serious internal examination of past and existing policies and procedures and rectification of things -- if that's even a possibility at this point -- then The Vatican can only expect further repercussions and outcry by those who are watching. If they feel that they are bleeding from all this, then they need to put down the razor in their own hand; the only innocents in all this are the victims.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
RE: My Blog Schedule...
It was originally my intent to do a weekly blog every Monday, and I apologize for having failed in doing so, but due to many factors at this present time I'm rethinking my plans and giving myself some flexibility in the matter. I'll still try to post weekly but it's no longer my goal to do so; at least not for now. Instead, I'll revamp my schedule with the intentions of writing a new blog at least once a month and more frequently whenever possible, but I'm still not making it a hard and fast rule here. It's simply a case of having a lot on my plate right now in terms of producing stories and possibly even a script and those things have to be my priority. I'm the type of person that doesn't like to promise something I can't deliver and that's what I have been faced with in terms of my blog. While I like the challenge of giving some rigidity to my posting schedule, I also have to be realistic in this regard. I'll announce via my Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace accounts when there are new additions and I hope folks continue to read and tell others.
Thank you one and all for your understanding and support!
-B
Thank you one and all for your understanding and support!
-B
Friday, April 2, 2010
My Report on and Review of the Latest HorrorHound Weekend (March 26-28, 2010)!
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend HorrorHound Weekend, a convention celebrating all things related to the horror genre, particularly film and broadcast media. I've been at every occurrence of the show held here in Indianapolis since it first launched in July 2007 but I was unable to attend the show in Pittsburgh, nor did I go to the one held in Cincinnati. Of the shows I've been to, this particular one was, in my opinion, THE BEST offered to date. All other cons, take note: THIS is how you do a show RIGHT.
The show's sponsor and titular source of name, HorrorHound Magazine, delivered a guest list this time that was absolutely phenomenal and the size of the crowds attending each day was a strong indication of that. Some of the notable guests responsible for attracting such a huge throng to Indianapolis included: George Romero, Clive Barker, Elvira, Sid Haig, Tom Noonan, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Greg Nicotero, Ken Foree, Mike Christopher, Tom Savini, Joe Bob Briggs, Danny Roebuck (as Dr. Shocker), and many, many more! In fact, there were so many great guests present that I'm simply not going to list all of them here: click HERE for a complete registry of guests in attendance or click on any one of the individual names above for more information on that particular guest.
Also included in the festivities was a record-setting assembly of Media Horror Hosts: 83 as reported by author, drive-in enthusiast and host of Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater and Monstervision, Joe Bob Briggs via his Twitter page. The gathering of so many macabre emcees was done in tribute to the late Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, television's first horror host. It really helped set the tone of the show seeing so many in their outrageous, inventive and darkly-fantastic costumes throughout the weekend. After all, how many times do you get an opportunity to see a werewolf at a urinal?
A staple of the show, the HMA.net Mask-Fest was bigger and better than ever this time with some fantastic, frightening and phantasmagorical examples of the craft on display. And, as per previous iterations, the film festival, guest panels, vendor areas with incredible memorabilia galore and the after hours parties and gatherings provided a lot of additional entertainment value for the price: master of the hula hoops, Alexander J. Hamilton, is a show unto himself.
A special inclusion and highlight of the weekend was the debut presentation of the uncut work print for Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Never before publicly viewed by an audience, this showing was preceded by a well-deserved HorrorHound Magazine lifetime achievement award presentation to Mr. Barker; the award was offered to him by an iconic representation of one of Barker's most famous characters, Pinhead, dressed and made up in full cenobitic regalia and bowing in deference and respect to the famed author, artist and filmmaker who had created him. This was followed by a Q& A session, enjoyably emceed by HorrorHound writer Jessica Dwyer, who introduced and oversaw the entire portion preceding the film's showing. The panel was comprised of Clive Barker, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Ashley Laurence and John Harrison and included Mr. Barker inviting the audience to engage in a dialogue on the modern state of literary horror. After the lively Q&A session, the film was presented to an anticipatory and appreciative audience.
At present, Morgan Creek, the studio that owns the rights to the footage, has no plans to follow through with a DVD release of the completed version of the uncut project, so if you would like to help Mr. Barker and company demonstrate to Morgan Creek that there is indeed sufficient interest to support such a release, email: philandsarah@clivebarker.info or send a Tweet via Twitter to @philandsara. More information, including the history behind the footage's discovery is available on Clive Barker's Official Site.
The majority of attendees and guests that I spoke to both during the convention and afterwards reported similar favorable experiences to that of myself, but I've also seen a handful of complaints posted by individuals on various forums that it was too crowded and poorly organized, etc. The turnout was huge and was accompanied by some problems inherent with that, but those issues were addressed and dealt with in as reasonable a fashion as could be expected of the organizers and volunteer staff and I would suspect, comparing my experience this time to those in the past, that it was most likely a case where the actual number of attendees far exceeded the expectations projected by advance sales and other indicators; the venue has always sufficed at previous shows. I'm sure it impacted individuals most who only attended for one or two days of the show, and, sadly, no experience could reasonably be expected to be flawless and without incidents, but by-and-large I would rate the experience an overall success:
The show's sponsor and titular source of name, HorrorHound Magazine, delivered a guest list this time that was absolutely phenomenal and the size of the crowds attending each day was a strong indication of that. Some of the notable guests responsible for attracting such a huge throng to Indianapolis included: George Romero, Clive Barker, Elvira, Sid Haig, Tom Noonan, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Greg Nicotero, Ken Foree, Mike Christopher, Tom Savini, Joe Bob Briggs, Danny Roebuck (as Dr. Shocker), and many, many more! In fact, there were so many great guests present that I'm simply not going to list all of them here: click HERE for a complete registry of guests in attendance or click on any one of the individual names above for more information on that particular guest.
Also included in the festivities was a record-setting assembly of Media Horror Hosts: 83 as reported by author, drive-in enthusiast and host of Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater and Monstervision, Joe Bob Briggs via his Twitter page. The gathering of so many macabre emcees was done in tribute to the late Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, television's first horror host. It really helped set the tone of the show seeing so many in their outrageous, inventive and darkly-fantastic costumes throughout the weekend. After all, how many times do you get an opportunity to see a werewolf at a urinal?
A staple of the show, the HMA.net Mask-Fest was bigger and better than ever this time with some fantastic, frightening and phantasmagorical examples of the craft on display. And, as per previous iterations, the film festival, guest panels, vendor areas with incredible memorabilia galore and the after hours parties and gatherings provided a lot of additional entertainment value for the price: master of the hula hoops, Alexander J. Hamilton, is a show unto himself.
A special inclusion and highlight of the weekend was the debut presentation of the uncut work print for Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Never before publicly viewed by an audience, this showing was preceded by a well-deserved HorrorHound Magazine lifetime achievement award presentation to Mr. Barker; the award was offered to him by an iconic representation of one of Barker's most famous characters, Pinhead, dressed and made up in full cenobitic regalia and bowing in deference and respect to the famed author, artist and filmmaker who had created him. This was followed by a Q& A session, enjoyably emceed by HorrorHound writer Jessica Dwyer, who introduced and oversaw the entire portion preceding the film's showing. The panel was comprised of Clive Barker, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Ashley Laurence and John Harrison and included Mr. Barker inviting the audience to engage in a dialogue on the modern state of literary horror. After the lively Q&A session, the film was presented to an anticipatory and appreciative audience.
At present, Morgan Creek, the studio that owns the rights to the footage, has no plans to follow through with a DVD release of the completed version of the uncut project, so if you would like to help Mr. Barker and company demonstrate to Morgan Creek that there is indeed sufficient interest to support such a release, email: philandsarah@clivebarker.info or send a Tweet via Twitter to @philandsara. More information, including the history behind the footage's discovery is available on Clive Barker's Official Site.
The majority of attendees and guests that I spoke to both during the convention and afterwards reported similar favorable experiences to that of myself, but I've also seen a handful of complaints posted by individuals on various forums that it was too crowded and poorly organized, etc. The turnout was huge and was accompanied by some problems inherent with that, but those issues were addressed and dealt with in as reasonable a fashion as could be expected of the organizers and volunteer staff and I would suspect, comparing my experience this time to those in the past, that it was most likely a case where the actual number of attendees far exceeded the expectations projected by advance sales and other indicators; the venue has always sufficed at previous shows. I'm sure it impacted individuals most who only attended for one or two days of the show, and, sadly, no experience could reasonably be expected to be flawless and without incidents, but by-and-large I would rate the experience an overall success:
* * * * */5
Until Monday...
-B
Until Monday...
-B
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Blog That Wasn't There
Doing this mostly as a filler and to explain the delay; attended HorrorHound Weekend this past weekend and have been sick with the flu since Sunday night. I'll post a more extensive blog in the next day or two.
Thanks for understanding.
-B
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
And It Begins to Come into Focus...
First things first: the nature of the beast, or blog, as it were...
I previously mentioned this as a possibility, but the decision has now been ratified by my committee of, well, one: I MOST DEFINITELY, without any doubt whatsoever, will be including interviews as an integral part of this blog! In fact, I've already lined up several great interviewees for your reading pleasure and I'll do my best to make sure that you enjoy the experience. So, next comes the hard part: composing and presenting the actual questions; which, if that's truly the hard part, then I have nothing whatsoever to complain about because the very thought of doing these puts a great big ol' smile on my face. See? >>> :D
The first interview I plan on presenting will be with Bizarro (no, he's not an enemy of Superman...at least I don't think he is...) Author and Brahm Stoker Award Nominee, Jeremy C. Shipp! Shipp's work has been presented in such notable publications as Cemetery Dance, ChiZine, and Apex Magazine as well as numerous anthologies. He is the author of two novels: Vacation and Cursed (on the 2009 Stoker Final Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Novel). His writings have been praised by fellow authors including Gary A. Braunbeck (In Silent Graves; Coffin County), Piers Anthony (The Xanth Series), John Skipp (Light at the End; Jake's Wake) and Jack Ketchum (Off Season; The Girl Next Door).
If you'd like to see a sample of his unusual, yet hauntingly told and grippingly written stories, CLICK HERE.
I previously mentioned this as a possibility, but the decision has now been ratified by my committee of, well, one: I MOST DEFINITELY, without any doubt whatsoever, will be including interviews as an integral part of this blog! In fact, I've already lined up several great interviewees for your reading pleasure and I'll do my best to make sure that you enjoy the experience. So, next comes the hard part: composing and presenting the actual questions; which, if that's truly the hard part, then I have nothing whatsoever to complain about because the very thought of doing these puts a great big ol' smile on my face. See? >>> :D
The first interview I plan on presenting will be with Bizarro (no, he's not an enemy of Superman...at least I don't think he is...) Author and Brahm Stoker Award Nominee, Jeremy C. Shipp! Shipp's work has been presented in such notable publications as Cemetery Dance, ChiZine, and Apex Magazine as well as numerous anthologies. He is the author of two novels: Vacation and Cursed (on the 2009 Stoker Final Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Novel). His writings have been praised by fellow authors including Gary A. Braunbeck (In Silent Graves; Coffin County), Piers Anthony (The Xanth Series), John Skipp (Light at the End; Jake's Wake) and Jack Ketchum (Off Season; The Girl Next Door).
If you'd like to see a sample of his unusual, yet hauntingly told and grippingly written stories, CLICK HERE.
And speaking of Gary...
Had a wonderful weekend and the pleasure of spending time with several friends and fellow members of Indiana Horror Writers including Sara and Bill Larson, Michael West, and Kathy Watness. We traveled to Madison, IN to visit with authors extraordinaire (as well as married couple and people extraordinaire) , Lucy A. Snyder and Gary A. Braunbeck as they participated in the 4 Year Anniversary celebration for That Book Place.
I have to give high praise to the bookstore itself: I love the chain emporiums with their myriad selection of new books, coffee moieties and free WiFi service and I think Half Price Books has a fantastic selection of used material, but to see a small, indie store like That Book Place thrive gives me a great thrill. I used to own and operate an independent comic and collectibles shop for a number of years in Indianapolis called The Realm of Dreams Comics, so “the little guy” has a special place in my heart. It was my first visit at that particular store and, barring limitations of travel due to the proximity to my home (it was a ninety-or-so-minute drive), I hope it's not the last.
A fun time with friends at a wonderful bookstore, followed by a meal at a Chinese buffet made for one perfect day.
Until next Monday...
-B
Friday, March 19, 2010
Happy Birthday to Me! Well...sorta...
Hey, folks. Thanks for checking out my LiveJournal and Blogger accounts and welcome, one and all!
And no, it's not MY birthday, but it IS the birth date of my new blog and that's something for me to celebrate, right?
Since you're here I'm assuming it's because you saw the link I posted on Facebook or Twitter and decided to follow it over here and see what I'm up to this time. In my book that means you're curious, so I say “Congratulations!” to you because curiosity is indeed a sign of intelligence, or at least that's what I've been told. Come to think of it, it's also a quality often attributed to cats of the formerly-living variety too, though, but I'll assume my deceased-felines-come-back-from-the-dead readership is a relatively low one; it is called LIVEJournal (unless you're seeing the Blogger version), after all. But if I'm wrong then I guess I owe many a zombie kitty a thorough and heartfelt apology; it's not my intent to discriminate. Here's a zombie mouse for your troubles.
So, as I was saying, you may be wondering what exactly I'm up to over here at LiveJournal. And that is quite assuredly, WITHOUT A DOUBT a most reasonable question, yes siree. Indeed it is. In fact, it is SUCH a reasonable question that I truly wish I had a definite answer for you, but the truth of the matter is I honestly don't. Not at this point, at least.
Now please keep in mind that the key word in all that was “EXACTLY"; that's not to say I don't have some vague little plan in mind as to what I'll be doing with this site and where I'll be taking you fine, fine folks, but I want to keep it a little experimental and play it by ear, as it were. Hey, I've never done this before so work with me here. Besides, it adds an air of mystery if I keep it vague, right? And who doesn't love a mystery. But if you're going to press me to share some of what you'll most likely be seeing here-and you will I can just tell-then I'll say this: I'll probably mix it up a little here and there and see what works best. At present I plan to have some general blogs involving an unsolicited and, preferably, none-too-idiotic opinion or two, but I'll try my best not to slip into a full-on, foaming-at-the-mouth, complete and total rant. I'll also work in some movie reviews and probably some book reviews as well. I'll share some things about my experiences involving the day-to-day fun of trying to get established as a professional writer and I just might even do an interview here and there with friends and acquaintances in the writing and film world.
As to my current scheduling plans for posting new blogs? My intention is to have a new one up every Monday morning so we'll see how that works. Again, nothing is carved in stone.
Oh, and as to the name? Hmm...no clue, but I'm open to suggestions so if you have any ideas shoot me a message or leave me a comment. “Confessions of a Crazed Insomniac”? Maybe? Or not.
So, yeah. That's it for now. Where's the off switch on this thing?
-B
And no, it's not MY birthday, but it IS the birth date of my new blog and that's something for me to celebrate, right?
Since you're here I'm assuming it's because you saw the link I posted on Facebook or Twitter and decided to follow it over here and see what I'm up to this time. In my book that means you're curious, so I say “Congratulations!” to you because curiosity is indeed a sign of intelligence, or at least that's what I've been told. Come to think of it, it's also a quality often attributed to cats of the formerly-living variety too, though, but I'll assume my deceased-felines-come-back-from-the-dead readership is a relatively low one; it is called LIVEJournal (unless you're seeing the Blogger version), after all. But if I'm wrong then I guess I owe many a zombie kitty a thorough and heartfelt apology; it's not my intent to discriminate. Here's a zombie mouse for your troubles.
So, as I was saying, you may be wondering what exactly I'm up to over here at LiveJournal. And that is quite assuredly, WITHOUT A DOUBT a most reasonable question, yes siree. Indeed it is. In fact, it is SUCH a reasonable question that I truly wish I had a definite answer for you, but the truth of the matter is I honestly don't. Not at this point, at least.
Now please keep in mind that the key word in all that was “EXACTLY"; that's not to say I don't have some vague little plan in mind as to what I'll be doing with this site and where I'll be taking you fine, fine folks, but I want to keep it a little experimental and play it by ear, as it were. Hey, I've never done this before so work with me here. Besides, it adds an air of mystery if I keep it vague, right? And who doesn't love a mystery. But if you're going to press me to share some of what you'll most likely be seeing here-and you will I can just tell-then I'll say this: I'll probably mix it up a little here and there and see what works best. At present I plan to have some general blogs involving an unsolicited and, preferably, none-too-idiotic opinion or two, but I'll try my best not to slip into a full-on, foaming-at-the-mouth, complete and total rant. I'll also work in some movie reviews and probably some book reviews as well. I'll share some things about my experiences involving the day-to-day fun of trying to get established as a professional writer and I just might even do an interview here and there with friends and acquaintances in the writing and film world.
As to my current scheduling plans for posting new blogs? My intention is to have a new one up every Monday morning so we'll see how that works. Again, nothing is carved in stone.
Oh, and as to the name? Hmm...no clue, but I'm open to suggestions so if you have any ideas shoot me a message or leave me a comment. “Confessions of a Crazed Insomniac”? Maybe? Or not.
So, yeah. That's it for now. Where's the off switch on this thing?
-B
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