Ninety minutes of misery

that's how I had determined to classify the concert as the first half wound down to the intermission. My wife tried to persuade my daughter to leave at that point, but daughter wanted to see more David Archuleta. He only did one number during the first half and she knew that he would be doing at least one more song. So we didn't slip away like thieves in the night. That was probably for the best as the second half showed some improvement--in fact, it would have been a nice concert if it had consisted of only the second half. Actually, there was a piano solo that I believe came before the intermission which I thought was great--the piano solo, I mean, not the intermission.

I received some free tickets to a concert (a food donation was required). The concert featured Marie Osmond, David Achuleta, and Alex Boye -- that's all I knew about it. I left the decision about going to wife and daughter. Daughter decided she wanted to go--so we did.

Before I reveal what a horrible person I am by sharing the details about the concert that made it subjectively unpleasant for me, let me say that in addition to the piano solo, there were a few other bright spots, and I think that many of those in attendance enjoyed it in its entirety, or were at least enthusiastic about the show. I'll cover discuss those bright spots at the end.

Seating: My tickets were general admission. Two staff members, young men (late teens or early twenties), responded to my question about where we were allowed to sit with an answer that led me to believe that only the front portion of the floor seating was reserved. I suggested some seats in the back that looked directly forward to the stage. Daughter chose a nice seat on the side that gave her a view of the stage--then we had to move when folks started arriving with reserved seats in that section. I spoke with another staff member. She told me I could sit anywhere in the gray areas. I told her that didn't help me (the reason being that although certain seating sections were marked in gray on her map, the actual seat sections was not marked in gray). She explained that the general admission seating began at section A6. I noted that no one was sitting in that section. I selected seats just beyond A6 that would allow us to watch without turning our heads to the side the entire time. Then my wife saw some seats remaining in the section in which I had first suggested we sit. So we moved again.

The seats were decent. I think some signage or perhaps some staffers who both knew what the seating arrangements were supposed to be and who were equipped to explain that would have been helpful.

Sonic sewage sound system and The Lights of Zetar:

I don't go to many concerts--by which I mean that I don't go to any concerts other than high school choir concerts, and then only when I have to. So maybe I'm not qualified to judge sound systems outside of our local high school (which has really great sound). If I were qualified to judge, I would rate the sound system from this concert as very poor with a frequent distortion and some buzzing--I suspect that most artists wouldn't consider that as an enhancement to their performance. Additionally, many of the lights on the stage would sometimes sweep the audience. I'm pretty sure that was by design. The maneuver did not double my pleasure. At least one of those lights would regularly strike me right in the eyes, momentarily blinding me and leaving me to wonder if aliens were trying to take over my soul.

Crazy clapping choir: The backup choir of a hundred (or fewer) women and girls (maybe there were men too, but I didn't notice any) sounded nice and did not lack for enthusiasm. They liked to raise their arms and clap their hands above their heads. I didn't see the need for that clapping most of the time. They also did a lot of swaying back and forth and raising they hands into the air and looking at them as though they were having their first experience with some mind altering substance. Such activity could be regularly accepted procedure in some religious services but I found it rather disconcerting (disconcerting--yeah, I went there).

The mystifying music: I must say that I had not realized beforehand that the concert was intended to be a religious experience. That proposition did not put me off. I had very high hopes; given the headliners who were doing the show, my expectations groveled not. Therefore, when the arrow of disappointment struck, it struck to the bone (cue the Golden Earring song). Most of the music was performed by Nashville Tribute Band. I had seen these guys on PBS once and had watched for a few minutes before determining that their sound wasn't for me. I'm confident that thousands love them and their music--that's great for them. I'm not a fan. The music was mystifying in the sense that most of it was utterly bewildering or perplexing. I respect people who enjoy that music but for me there was too much demented drumming and vociferous vocals. I saw it as a clash of country and strange rock music in battle for scriptural supremacy. I recognized and enjoyed two vocal selections from the entire concert.

One example I would point to was a song with vocals performed by Daniel Emmet (who I thought was quite good and I would have liked to have heard more from him without the band and sound system interference) and a woman whose name I forget. The song began so sweetly and I was confident that this would be one that I would really enjoy with two nice voices singing in harmony (at one point it made me think of "Endless Love"). Unfortunately, the longer the song went on, the more raucous it became. By the end the music had gone full Ozzy Osbourne off the rails on the crazy train with overpowering drums, words I couldn't make out, and red and black background on the big screen--that's not exactly the direction I'm looking to go for a religious experience.

Wacky woo-hoo lady: At least one person at the concert was having a marvelous time. She sat a row or two behind and to my right. She possessed the enthusiasm that artists love but which the audience about her hates. It must have been a transcendent encounter for her because she was moved all too frequently to articulate praise by screaming, "Woo-hoo!" Occasionally the experience became so overwhelming for her as to rob her of half her eloquence, rendering her capable of screaming only, "Woo!" It's absolutely fabulous that she had a great time. What wasn't fabulous was that her screams fit tightly into that bandwidth of sound which forms an ice pick stabbing against my inner ear. She transformed what was a strange, eerie, even slightly creepy experience into absolute torture for me. Think before you scream--I think that should be a rule; maybe even complete a puzzle and solve some trig and calculus problems, take a walk in the park and grab a bus across town before screaming.

The praiseworthy: On the one hand it was all worthy of praise for the effort expended in an attempt to accomplish something good and uplifting--so that's an "A" for effort. Thousands of pounds of food were also donated for the food bank. Praise for actual accomplishment goes to Marie Osmond. Her solo of "How Great Thou Art" was the best part of the performance in my opinion. The sound system even cooperated. She sounded wonderful. There were no drums, no wild music, no woo-hoos, just the pleasing strains of her voice in a hymn of praise. She was the phial of Galadriel in Shelob's lair. David Archuleta's second half performance of "Glorious" also illuminated the darkness with wondrous flair--flare with flair. Daughter's favorite was Archuleta's lead during the final number of the concert. I put it up there with the piano solo.

***
After the concert, I expected to finish writing Power to Hurt but I saw that Forbidden Planet was on television. I needed to watch it as a follow up to reading Shakespeare's "The Tempest." So the novel will reach the first stage of completion later this week. Then editing can begin. The cover is already done. I'll post it soon.

Have you had an interesting concert experience?

Bond and Thor - because girl power

Every time word of a movie remake with a gender swapped lead appears, the articles praising it sprout like noxious weeds. The latest word concerns the upcoming entries in the Bond and Thor franchises.

This article explains that gender swap remakes have fared poorly in the past.

Some claim the continuing cavalcade of lame gender swap remakes is a sign of progress. Others say it's an indication that women aren't capable of carrying their own original movies and can only climb aboard franchises already made successful with male stars. See this article. Of course they're both wrong. It's only a sign of progress if "progress" is defined as failure to learn and insistence upon a false narrative. It's like claiming that communism just hasn't been implemented correctly yet, and it's going to succeed beyond our wildest dreams if we just get the right people in charge (meaning those who want to be in charge this time). As for the other claim, I believe women are perfectly capable of carrying a movie. This article even claims that movies starring women make more money than movies starring men. There is some fine print to read about what "starring women" means in the context of the study--because it doesn't mean what you think it means. I'm not going to argue with how the study defined "starring women" but it may be like "teen pregnancy" which drops off significantly after age 25 because the studies decided that "teen pregnancy" would be defined as pregnancy up to age 25. So without arguing, I'll agree that a female star can successfully carry a movie or a franchise with original stories. Of course, it all depends on the story, the script, the acting, and the directing.

Notwithstanding the fact that female stars can carry a movie or franchise, I'm of the opinion that most of us tend to get attached to the characters (and actors) in stories and roles that we love. We don't want to see them significantly altered. Although J.J. Abrams may have made many errors with his Star Trek reboots, he didn't try to makeover (bad pun intended) Kirk and Spock as women, or Uhura as a man. Anyone who wants to see through a glass darkly how badly that could've turned out need only watch a few episodes of Voyager--but I digress. Box office bucks don't seem to be the reason for such switcheroos because those movies are not box office successes. Is it possible that the reason is simply an expensive attempt to destroy something whose success is based upon (obviously and always toxic) masculinity? Or is it simply a political maneuver to raise awareness, to elevate the "woke" quotient? While it may well be the latter, it seems that the former may be the actual result. The wreckage leaves a pretty clear trail: Last Jedi, Ghostbusters, Ocean's 8, whatever that thing was/is with Rebel Wilson and Ann Hathaway, Overboard, etc. Replace the male leads with females and destroy the subject. (I'm aware that Last Jedi doesn't really fit this category. Rey was great, in my opinion, but the feminist/SJW freight train that drove through the middle of LJ left no survivors of interest for me in that franchise--so I admit including LJ in this list is sloppy on my part, but I'm entitled to rant outside the lines).

Also of interest is the fact that the gender swap tends to run in but a single direction. Until we see a Wonder Woman remake with a male lead...and I have no interest in seeing that either. Leave Wonder Woman as she is. I see no reason we can't enjoy The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. (Those of you under 40 may have to google those). She does not have to replace him to be successful and it's moronic to think that she does, or that she can effectively do so, and vice versa.

As for Bond and Thor... I suppose it could have been worse, they could have tried to give Bond a man-bun.

***

As for my work in progress, Power to Hurt (which no one will want to read after taking offense at the little rant above), I should finish the actual writing this week. That means 5K words or less should wrap it up. It's currently at 86K words and 90K is the new target for completion, but it may go as high as 95K.

A few weeks ago I engaged in a new game. What follows is an after actin report of the adventure.

Rescue from the Hangman's Noose - a home brew scenario of Flashing Steel

Athos, Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan (at 501 points) must rescue the prisoner before he is hanged. He is guarded by Lt. Rousseau on horseback and 5 more of the Cardinal's Guard on foot (at 500 points).

Each musketeer rolls 1d6 to determine at which of the 6 possible entrances he will arrive.

The house/scenario rules employed include that if a model has one failure on its activation roll, any opposing model may roll for a reaction move, and, if successful, complete it before the original model begins its action(s); if a model rolls two failures on activation, an opposing model may roll for a reaction move and complete it before the original model begins its action; after the original model's action, the initiative passes to the opposing squad. If a musketeer rolls a catastrophic fail (three 1s), the hangman gets a free action. If a guard rolls a catastrophic fail, the spectators knock the guard to the ground.

The guards can take no action other than movement and watching for trouble until they discover the musketeers or the musketeers reveal themselves by any swashbuckling or combat actions. The guards may scan the spectators for signs of trouble - succeeding at spotting a musketeer by passing a very difficult Q check (3 successes) if the nearest musketeer is a long distance or more away, difficult (2 successes) if the nearest musketeer is within medium distance, and tricky (1 success) if within a short distance.

Neither party may fire a weapon until the crowd begins to clear. The crowd will begin to clear after the second change of initiative after the musketeers are revealed/discovered.

No morale checks are required for outright kills.

The Hangman may only attempt one action per turn. His movement distance is short. His Q is 5 and his Cis 0; he may not be attacked nor may he attack, but swashbuckling moves against him are allowed. He must move from deep inside the jail to the scaffold, climb the scaffold, move to the prisoner, put the rope around the prisoner's neck, move to the release lever, and release the trapdoor to hang the prisoner. (In later replays for a more interesting game, the hangman's move was one short move per turn automatic)

Once contacted by a musketeer, the prisoner may move with the musketeer on the musketeer's activation but is limited to one short movement distance per turn. The prisoner does not engage in combat and may not be attacked. Swashbuckling actions may be taken against him.

The game ends if the prisoner is successfully hanged. The Cardinal's Guards win if the prisoner is hanged. The Musketeers win if they prevent the hanging. 

Athos and Aramis come in at entrance 1 on the right of the plaza. Porthos enters via entrance 4 at the bottom left. D'Artagnan arrives at entrance 5 on the left between the jail and the hotel. The jailer (represented by a woodland Indian model) starts at the back of the jail. Three guards monitor the crowd between the pillars near the center of the plaza. Lt. Rousseau on horseback oversees from a distance directly in front of the scaffold. The Sergeant stands in front of the jail waiting for the hangman and the last guard watches between the hotel and the scaffold.

The Musketeers begin.

-Athos begins (rolling three dice with one failure, which gives the hangman a chance to activate, but the hangman fails the activation). Athos advances toward the guards.

-Aramis prepares to advance but is blocked by the spectators. He loses the initiative and the hangman gets a free move for the catastrophic fail.

-After the free move, the hangman tries for another move but fails. Aramis is still blocked by the crowd and unable to react.

-Guard 3 attempts to scan the crowd for trouble. His view is blocked by a ladies large hat, and the initiative goes back to the rescuers.

-Aramis moves through the crowd.

-Athos also moves but is delayed by a pickpocket which allows the hangman a chance to move - and the hangman advances toward the scaffold.

-D'Artagnan decides that he must move to intercept the hangman. He advances and is momentarily lost in the press of the crowd. The initiative goes back to the guards.

-Guard 2 pushes spectators away, giving the musketeers a reaction move - but Athos can't do anything with it. The guard scans the crowd but doesn't notice Athos moving toward him.

-Guard 3 also separates the crowd - and gives the musketeers a chance to react - D'Artagnan takes the opportunity to fling a nearby barrel into the hangman who takes the hit and goes down, shaken. (The barrels weren't in the previous picture because I had forgotten to place them).

(The hangman will have to spend two actions and as he only gets 1 per turn, D'Artagnan has bought at least 2 turns for the prisoner.

-Guard 3 spots Aramis.

-Guard 4 spots D'Artagnan in the crowd.

-Guard 2 is confused by the activity back near the scaffold where the hangman has fallen and turns over the initiative.

-Porthos rushes Lt. Rousseau and attempts to drag him from his horse. Porthos only succeeds in pushing Rousseau back.

-D'Artagnan can see that the time for stealth has expired. Thanks to his Dashing ability, he is able to attack the nearest guard. The Gascon was delayed by someone in the crowd and muffed his attack, being pushed back by Guard 1, and turning the initiative back to the guards.

-Guard 1 attacks back at the musketeer and knocks him to the ground!

-The hangman tries to fight through the haze that enshrouded his head when he hit the paving stones but isn't successful.

-Rousseau turns his steed and attacks Porthos, bowling over the big musketeer.

Two of the musketeers are down!

-Guard 4 rushes to his Lt.'s aid (because the best time to help is when the opponent is down). The musketeers get a chance to react but can't.

-Guard 3 sees Aramis as the crowd in the square flees from the armed combat, but gives the musketeers a chance to react and Porthos scrambles to his feet. The guard fires his pistol at Aramis but misses.

-Guard 2 fires his pistol at the oncoming Athos, but Athos is quicker and gets a shot off that causes the guard to dodge as he fires; both shots miss their targets.

-All the guards and hangman having had a chance to act, the musketeers take over.

-D'Artagnan gets to his feet, and puts his rapier through Guard 1's heart. Things aren't looking quite so dark for the musketeers.

-Athos moves in behind the black powder smoke from the pistols but Guard 2 has guessed his move and forces Athos to the ground to avoid a fatal wound. 

-Aramis benefiting from his Impetus and Dashing abilities moves into combat with Guard 3, making him retreat back across the courtyard.

-Porthos puts Guard 4 to the ground, but still faces the Lt. on horseback.

-The turn passes to the guards. The Sgt. who forgot to move last time (my fault) elects to engage D'Artagnan but is unable to attack and turns over the initiative.

-Athos rises only to be knocked down again.

-Aramis takes aim at the Lt., giving Guard 2 a chance to stab at Athos but the Guard can't react. Aramis' shot goes wide. He rushes to engage the mounted guard.

-D'Artagnan struggles with the Sgt and is knocked down again. He immediately rises and knocks down his opponent.

-The guards take over. Guard 4 wants to get up but slips and falls back to the cobblestones, turning over the initiative.

-Porthos finishes off Guard 4 and turns over the initiative. (Guard 4 had a chance to react and rise but failed). Two guards are out of the fight and the hangman is still down and shaken.

-Guard 2 tries to take out Athos but is so slow about it that he allows Athos to rise to his feet, but knocks him back down again before turning the initiative back to the musketeers.

-D'Artagnan slays the Sgt, runs to the scaffold and climbs the ladder. Three guards are out. D'Artagnan has slain two of them.

-Aramis attacks the mounted guard leader, but gives the guards a reaction. Guard 3 races to the bottom of the ladder. Aramis attacks the Lt. without result. 

-Porthos is driven back after attacking the Lt, and he causes a turnover.

-Guard 2 stabs at Athos but the musketeer bests him even from the ground allowing Athos to rise.

-Lt. Rousseau pushes Aramis away and rides to the fallen hangman.

-Guard three wants to reload but doesn't, instead giving D'Artagnan time to fire at the Lt, but the shot goes wide.

-Athos allows the guards to react. The Lt. fires at D'Artagnan who dodges out of the bullet's path. Athos lunges, skewering Guard 2, putting a fourth guard down and out. The guards test morale. The Lt. thinks that he should go for help and rides his mount out of the plaza. Guard 3 has the courage to stand but sees no point in continuing with what has become an unwinnable contest. He bows and sweeps his hat in salute before giving up the field and the prisoner to the musketeers.

Let me first note that in the Spirit of 1776, I've completed 76K words on Power to Hurt, and I'm offering FREE pdf copies of the first book in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series Threading the Rude Eye. Contact me through the comments and give me your email address to receive your free copy. This offer is good for a limited time. I hope to give away a hundred free copies before Power to Hurt is ready for purchase.

Independence Day marched in again to the sound of trumpets, drums, fireworks, fanfare, and whining. It's the latter that I'll address somewhere below. As for me and my house, we attended the veteran's march in our community. The A-10s roared over at the conclusion (or about fifteen minutes after the conclusion) for the fleeting pleasure of the happy, patriotic throng. Following the Wart hog fly-by, I had to go home to attend to a problem of no small significant. Fortunately, much like the song says, I got by with a little help from my friends--one friend in particular. Catastrophe slunk away in shame at having been averted stumbled to the curtain like an emaciated model wearing more heel than her frail limbs can manage making a retreat from the catwalk. I'm not looking forward to a return visit. All that and I still smoked pork ribs and steak for the celebratory dinner with family--and also wrote a few hundred words on Power to Hurt; I would've written more but the averting of the catastrophe swallowed part of the writing time. The only unfortunate bit of the holiday was the lack of cherry pie. As for lighting fireworks, I recommend the propane torch as the never-fail answer when matches are cheap and the breeze is brisk.

***

One whining incident of which I became aware concerned a tweet or other social media flatulence featuring a quote from Frederick Douglass. Others responded that that quote was taken out of context, etc. I've read the speech before, but it has been some years. I took the opportunity to read it again. 

Here's a link to the speech and I've included some portions here which I believe fairly represent the general tone and point of the speech.


Frederick Douglass' July 4, 1852, Speech


"This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act, and that day."
...

"Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.

From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! That bolt drawn, that chain broken, and all is lost. Cling to this day — cling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight."

...

"Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?"

...

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour."

...

"Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? It is neither. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it."

...

"Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. "

Douglass' speech came, of course, prior to the Civil War (and before Lincoln's Gettysburg Address)  when hundreds of thousands of Americans went to war beneath the star spangled banner for the very purpose of holding the union together on a basis which extended the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Those lives spent in dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal consecrated and hallowed this nation and its founding principles far beyond the power and whining of those with little understanding or appreciation to detract from that sacrifice of the last full measure of devotion. 

I must wonder: Does the blood of patriots yet hold this nation together? Although the principles in the Declaration of Independence remain hallowed beyond detraction, if those principles are not taught in union with the history of the sacrifices in blood and treasure that were required to give the principles substance and effect, the ignorant will reign, the machinery created to empower the principles will be subverted, and the people will morn until the tree of liberty is nourished yet again.

***
Finally, I seriously enjoyed writing on Power to Hurt this week with scenes of combat and carnage among ancient ruins and the first appearance in the series of my unique and fully armed and operational battle station matured fire-breathing dragon. I love it when a plan comes together. Honestly, the plan has been changing regularly--but it's only getting better.