The day the blues died

Hard to believe it's been twenty-five years since the fateful helicopter crash that took the life of Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Let's take a moment to remember him.

Stephen Ray Vaughan

October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990

Rest in peace, man, and thanks for the music.

A favorite movie scene

In the late 1930's, suspicions between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were high, their mutual treaties notwithstanding.  After all, both countries were authoritarian and aggressive, and it's only natural for leaders of such nations to look askance at one another.  War between the two may or may not have been a certainty at that time, but it was a possibility, and the Soviet government decided to psychologically prepare the Russian people for it.  They did this with propaganda movies, including one of my favorites, "Alexander Nevsky."

It's the story of a 13th-century Russian prince who rallies his people to defend their homeland against the Teutonic Knights.  The invaders are not only German, but Roman Catholic, too, and the film paints that religion in as poor a light as possible.  Roman Catholic priests nod with approval as the Teutonic Knights throw naked Russian children into a bonfire to be burned alive.  It's powerful stuff, and I can only imagine how effective it was for a people already predisposed to hate the Germans.

The score is, quite simply, awesome.  It was composed by Sergei Prokofiev, and he really nailed the battle scene.  But don't take my word for it.  See for yourself.  It's incredible stuff.

And now... the Battle On The Ice.

(Psst... crank the volume up.  ;))

Meandering

Didn't do any revision today.  I needed a break--something to cleanse my mental palette.  So I wrote a thousand words or so of a brand new story.

I know, I know... I should be polishing up things I've already written.  But I'm risking burnout.  I need this.

I think it's already helped a little.

Rashomon

Just watched it for the first time.

I'd been meaning to check out Akira Kurosawa's movies for several years.  I'm just now getting around to it.

What impressed me early on was the use of music to create the mood.  I thought it did an excellent job.  The juxtaposition of the present-day downpour and the sunnier skies of the recollections was a nice touch, too.  The swordplay was amateurish.  I expected such from the bandit, since he's a commoner and supposedly untrained and all, but I was hoping for something a little more polished from the samurai.  Ah, well.  Perhaps I'm spoiled by modern action movies and the works of the Shaw brothers.

Anyway, I enjoyed it.

Splattering alien guts

Yeah, I'm gonna do it.  That will probably be the thing I do after Terrestrial Planets.  A nice "space marine" sort of thing.  Not in the conventional sense of military SF, of course.  I never served, and I don't want to try to get all the military-related minutiae correct.  Easier if the "space marine" is the only human in the story.

In the meantime, I'm still working on Buddy: Evolution.  And I'll start on Mercury at some point.  Don't know when.

I'll also need to squeeze in my Wool fan-fic piece.

*sigh*

So much to do...

The caffeine crash

It sucks.

That is all.

In a fog

Woke up with hives.  Don't know why.  I've got a huge insect bite, too, and it itches.

I took an antihistamine, and I've been "comfortably numb" all day.  Unfortunately, my brain is in no shape to write or edit or anything.  :(

I hate feeling useless.