Head (1968)

 The movie review is further down. First, in the good news/bad news of the week, one of my short stories--a special favorite of one of my Skirmish Team beta readers--was rejected by an editor. That's the bad news. A different story, was accepted to an anthology, and I've returned the signed contract. That's good news. Another story has been tentatively accepted, depending on whether the editor is able to group it coherently with the others under consideration for that anthology. That's also good news, and I really enjoyed writing that particular story as I did a mash-up of the requested theme with something else that was on my mind. I think that leaves one other story still under consideration, but I think it's actually a stronger tale than the story that was already accepted--of course, there are always lots of variables and what other stories have been submitted to a particular publication will affect the decisions.

In other news, I did battle with car dealers this week--but that's in the newsletter--and the new ground speeder seems to please the one most intimately connected with the vehicle.

I know I saw a black and white movie recently that I wanted to discuss, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Therefore, I'll talk about the movie I do remember--sort of.

I remember watching a documentary about the Monkees several months ago and noted that they had made a movie. Having never seen the movie and stumbling across it during one of the hunting expeditions I often make over free streaming services, I bagged the beast on Tubi after a short stalk with a shot in the only part of the anatomy in the title. 

WARNING: The spoiler is that there isn't a spoiler for this movie.

Head stars Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith. I'll mention some other notables as the ramble progresses. The credited writers are Bob Rafelson, who also directed the movie, and Jack Nicholson, who has a cameo in the film.

If viewed as conventional movie with a linear and sequential plot, the movie makes less sense than an episode of the Monkees TV series. That's what I meant by the warning that there isn't a spoiler. There's no plot to give away. The movie opens with a mayor attempting to announce the opening of a bridge. Our 4 stars race through before the mayor can cut the red ribbon. They're chased by a strange bunch. Mickey leaps from the bridge into the river and is rescued by mermaids filmed in psychedelic negative. He wakes up someplace else being kissed by a girl who goes on to kiss each of the 4 musicians before she leaves.

 The rest of the movie is a barrel of short skits--which are mostly incomplete as they bleed into the next sequence--old movie clips, and a continuity thread so tenuous that it often breaks completely. There is one concert scene near the beginning.

I was disappointed that we only got a single song from the concert. None of the other songs were bad, but I can't recall any of them.

There's also a point where the voices of the stars address the audience letting everyone know that this is their movie, not the prepackaged creation of a studio--sort of a warning that they'll be breaking the molds into which they've been pressed, and telling their own story.

On that note, they are frequently placed in a big black box and have to find ways to escape.

When they escape, they often find themselves running from Victor Mature--named Big Victor, which may be a reference to RCA Victor, the original distributor of the Monkees' records, and which was owned by NBC which aired the series.

Another pursuer is Logan Ramsey - best known to me as Proconsul on the "Bread and Circuses" episode of Star Trek.

Another Star Trek connection is a young Teri Garr who appears in a western vignette early in the movie. I believe this was around the same time she played Roberta Lincoln in "Assignment Earth."

Also appearing are Dennis Hopper, Frank Zappa, Annette Funicello, Vito Scotti, and Sonny Liston. A memorable scene includes the latter boxing Davy Jones. Dolenz finally climbs into the ring and knocks out almost everyone before the cops take him. The poignant part of that sketch is Tork appearing to assert that he's the dummy, he's always the dummy.

Jones goes into a dance number that switches from a white suit with black trim and surroundings to a black suit with white trim and surroundings.

Apparently he's a song and dance man whether he's in the black box or not.
 

In one sequence, Dolenz is in the desert and encounters a Coke machine that is empty or not working.

Mickey rages against the machine and eventually uses Vito Scotti's Italian tank to blow the machine to smitheroons (smitheroons being somewhat larger than smithereens in my private lexicon). In spite of the location, no Fremen, giant worms, droids, Jawas, or sand people made an appearance.

I don't even remember what sequence the above picture is from. Same with the one below.

Which is a pretty good summary of the movie. You probably won't remember what happens, because nothing really does happen. In fact, the movie concludes where it began, with the stars interrupting the bridge ceremony while being pursued. All the Monkees leap from the bridge. 

The movie isn't about what happens. It's a surrealist presentation that succeeds brilliantly in conveying the angst and frustration of the individual stars in dealing with the system that created, packaged, and confined them inside the black box--whether that be a TV set or the rigid boundaries that stifled the group's creativity in favor of what the machine could sell. Unfortunately for the Monkees, they broke out of the box, but nobody cared.

British Invasion of Quebec pt. 1

 Fun Fact:

General Wolfe is in the middle

After the campaigning of 1758, Brigadier James Wolfe believed he had a Ticket to Ride and returned to England of his own volition, much to the surprise of William Pitt who had sent orders for Wolfe to stay in America only like Yesterday. Pitt didn't dwell on Wolfe's improper return because he had decided on an expedition up the St. Lawrence and wanted the redheaded general to lead it. In the meantime, Wolfe became reacquainted with Katherine Lowther, with whom he opened up a can of Love Me Do. When he sailed from Portsmouth February 14, 1759 aboard the Neptune, he carried the new rank of major general, a small portrait of the lady, and, in response to his plea to Please Please Me, her promise of marriage on his return.

Wolfe commanded 9,000 men with brigadiers John, Paul, George, and Ringo, Robert Monckton, James Murray, and George Townshend. Wolfe was the youngest by 6 months. Before the expedition to Quebec was over, all three brigadiers would come to consider him to be a real Nowhere Man.

Quebec was founded as a permanent settlement in 1608. It stood on the east end of a promontory in the river. Behind the city, the island widened and fell away on the Plain of Abraham. Although it occupied a stern and defensible position, all was not well in the city. A bad harvest and cold winter had left the populace starving and looking for Help!

Vice Admiral Charles Saunders had the task of getting Wolfe and his soldiers and supplies up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. Unfortunately for Wolfe, two French frigates and 14 supply ships managed to get up the St. Lawrence before him to provide relief to the starving city. Montcalm would be able to mount a strong defense Eight Days a Week.

Although the British proceeded up the river without major incidents and successfully installed artillery on the Ile d'Orlean where they could shell the city, and Wolfe sent regular bombardment From Me to You, the French were not frightened--Michelle was still belle, apparently. Montcalm spread his 14,000 men about the Beauport shore to defend the landing areas. 

Wolfe ordered a full assault on July 31. An amphibious attack would land on the shores and other forces would attack across the river against Montcalm's flank. The assault had to be timed so that the forces at the river could cross at low tide. Unfortunately, that caused difficulties for the amphibious landing craft. British Grenadiers left their boats far from shore to race into a storm of French fire. By the time the attackers were able to break free, British losses had mounted to 443 men during the Hard Day's Night.

With the city and shore stoutly defended, Wolfe sent Murray up river to raid and probe the area northwest of Quebec. Murray learned from British prisoners liberated during the foray that General Amherst had been successful in taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and that Fort Niagra belonged to the British as well. 

Hearing news of Amherst's successes, Wolfe was unable to say I Feel Fine, and fell ill. He held a council of war with his brigadiers with regard to three options he presented, and which were all variations on the same attack that had already failed. His brigadiers said You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, and rejected all of them. However, they said We Can Work it Out, and favored moving the camp to cut communications and supplies to Quebec from Montreal.

--I've consulted my highlights from The French and Indian Wars: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman, Chapter 13 for this fun fact episode.

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In the future we'll see if any other album can help complete the British invasion of Quebec.

I've completed only one chapter on the bugmageddon novel this week, as the real job and play practice absorbed almost all available time. I did get a rejection on a short story, but I also got definite maybe on another one depending on whether the anthology can fit it thematically in with the others that are chosen. I've still got two others to hear back on as well, and I've got high expectations for them.

Alexander R Davis

 Interview with Alexander R Davis

Author of

Omeron: The Hero’s Chronicle, and more

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

                I’m working on a series. It’s about what is means to be a hero, not just having a bigger stick than the next guy or some hidden talent, but who someone must be as a person to become a hero. The only problem is that an objectively terrible human being is chosen for the task. It’s a fantasy adventure that will have some romance as the series goes on.

 

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

                It started to form when the big superhero kick started with marvel. I love heroes and it made me wonder if there is more to heroes than their powers. So, I decided to write a fantasy novel about that very thing.

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

                I definitely do. Self help, inspirational, and fantasy. Fantasy will always hold a special place in my heart though, since it is what finally got me to start reading.

 

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of

attention.

                I like to mix genres that aren’t often mixed. Like in my most recent series. It is dubbed as a fantasy, but because of some of the things that happen in the story, there is self help weaved into the book as well.

 

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in

your writing?

Personality wise I would say yes. Even when I write fantasy books, I can’t help but sprinkle in and sometimes douse with a fire hose, some self-help. Being entertained is great! But I really care about growing as a person, so if the two can be combined that’s what I like to do.

 

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

                I love encouraging people. If I get the chance to lift someone up, that just makes my day and I wish others would do the same. If everyone did that, just imagine what the world would be like.

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that

more people read? Why?

                This is a super lame answer, but I honestly only really read books that are recommended to me. So, I don’t get my eyes on many underrated books.

 

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

                That is a hard question haha. I want to recommend my recent book “Omeron: The Hero’s Chronicle”, because I am always excited about my most recent book, but I may have to recommend another. I have one on amazon that is quite often trending at #1 in its genre, so I would probably have to recommend that one. “A Counselor, an Old Man and a Park Bench.”

 

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing

career the most?

                I would say it was when a relative of mine offered to be my literary agent for my first book. At that point I wasn’t even thinking too much about publishing it.

The funny thing about it all is that he didn’t really do anything. Pretty soon he just stopped working with me, because he had never done that job before, and it entailed more than I believe he was expecting. But regardless, just the offer itself made things seem more real to me and gave me a lot of motivation to actually move forward with my writing.

 

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

What do you really care about?/What are your dreams?

 

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose

it?

                Have fun. It’s something I almost always say to people in place of goodbyes. It’s not because I think life is all sunshine and daisies, because it’s not. I do believe that life was meant to be enjoyed though. life is supposed to be fun. We were meant to have joy in the journey, even if we do get some flat tires along the way.

 

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Chapter 10 of the bug dystopia is complete. My newsletter subscribers got a little taste of it last week. Expected and unexpected diversions have eaten much of my writing time, so I'm not progressing as fast as I should on this book. I had planned to finish it by the end of the month, but I can see that's not going to happen. On the bright side, the weather was good enough that I was able to spray a bunch of noxious weeks that are attempting to take over the grounds of the estate. 

Marlowe

 I see that Prime has a new Marlowe movie out. I chose to watch the 1969 movie of the same title directed by Paul Bogart, written by Raymond Chandler and Stirling Silliphant, starring James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor, and Rita Moreno. Jackie Coogan, William Daniels, Bruce Lee, and Kenneth Tobey are among the others I recognized in the film.

Marlowe has a problem. Orfamay wants him to find her brother. He gets a lead that takes him to a fleabag hotel. He doesn't find the brother, but he does find Jackie Coogan with a bad toupee. 

Coogan says he'll give him information if he gets any. As Marlowe leaves the hotel, he discovers that the clerk acquired a new piercing while Marlowe was upstairs--an ice pick in the brain. Marlowe returns Orfamay's $55 retainer. She's insistent, but Marlowe sends her on her way. 

At this point, or maybe after the next part, Marlowe gets a visit from Bruce Lee.

Lee does some minor remodeling on Marlowe's office and offers him a wad of cash to do nothing for a while, to not be looking for anyone. When Marlowe refuses, Lee goes into full contractor remodel mode, breaking everything in sight, including a leg of Marlowe's desk, the wall, and the glass in the door. We know we haven't seen the last of Lee.

Coogan calls from the Alvarado Hotel. He's got info on the missing brother and is offering a hundred dollars if Marlowe gets right over. Marlowe thinks it smells hinky, but goes anyway. The piercing craze must be catching on because Coogan has adopted the affectation by the time Marlowe finds him. His inspection of the new accessory is cut short by a short woman in black with a firearm. When he fails his saving throw to charm, she whacks him with the weapon and flees the scene. The hotel detective sees her run out and gets the license plate on the jag she's driving. Marlowe will later get that information and his girlfriend will let him know it belongs to the movie star Mavis Wald, played by Gayle Hunnicutt.

Marlowe does his own investigation before the cops show up and discovers that Coogan's toupee hides a ticket to a photo shop. Marlow later gets the pictures and see that they're photos of Mavis with Steelgrave--who was suspected of perfecting ice pick murders in Chicago or somewhere (I forget the place).

When Marlow goes to Mavis' apartment, he find Rita Moreno.

Mavis rejects his offer to help, but her boyfriend, whose name rhymes with heelgrave, has a couple goons explain things to him by ripping up his jacket in the search for photos and delivering a number of educational punches to his midsection.

Always resourceful, Marlowe goes to Mavis' manager or the relevant guy at the movie studio and gets the studio to hire him. Bill Daniels plays the guy.

At no point did Daniels break into song about the Declaration of Independence or try to pull rank as the school principal. 

Marlowe means to stir up Steelgrave and therefore takes his girl to Steelgrave's restaurant. He is told there's a telephone call for him, which he recognizes as a way to get him alone, and ends up on a balcony with Wong (AKA Bruce Lee). We totally see what's coming--but enjoy it anyway--when Marlowe dodges Lee's flying attack and the dragon enters a battle with gravity, which lands the final blow of the fight.

I forget why, but Marlowe goes to a doctor who may have had something to do with the missing brother. It may have been that Orfamay told him her brother was there.

Marlow has a chat with the doc who offers him a cigarette--which inspires an irresistible urge in Marlowe to spend several hours smelling the carpet.

When Marlowe has absorbed all the carpet odor he can take, he stumbles out of the room and hears a couple shots. He goes up the stairs to embrace the missing brother who staggers out to plant an ice pick in Marlowe's back. Brother takes his final exit down life's stairway with a bullet or two helping him on his way.

Carroll O'Connor, the police lieutenant (and this probably happened earlier in the show than where I'm putting), is getting a little weary of dead bodies turning up in Marlowe's vicinity. He has questions about why Marlowe's card was found on Jackie Coogan's body. Also, I forget when, Rita Moreno pays Marlowe a visit and they have one of the most interesting kisses I've seen on film.

SPOILER ALERT -- this movie is over 50 years old, but I'll bet most of you haven't seen it. If you plan to see it and don't want to know the end game, skip down to this point: ***

 

 

Marlowe goes home to find Orfamay trashing his place in a search for the missing photos. The detective had discovered a picture at the missing brother's place showing him, Orfamay, and Mavis as siblings. Mavis shows up and the sisters go bitter-sibling-girl-fight and it becomes clear that Orfamay was supposed to get a cut of the blackmail money that brother was supposed to get from Mavis. When brother didn't contact her soon enough, she came to California with her greedy cleats on. She sold out brother to Steelgrave for a grand and sent Marlowe over to intervene before Steelgrave could kill brother--but it hadn't worked out that way.

Later, Rita Moreno finds Marlowe to let him know that Mavis is at Steelgrave's and is in trouble, asking for him. She drives him to the place and leaves. He finds Mavis alive and stunned. Steelgrave may have been stunned earlier--just before the bullet in his chest left him very unalive. Marlowe tries to save the day by getting her out of there and staging the scene as best he can.

 Archie O'Connor isn't having it and tells Marlowe that he's not nearly a big enough meathead to buy this scene. He orders Marlowe arrested, even taking a punch at the titular detective. Fortunately for Garner's face, the sergeant steps in and catches the fist on his own mug. O'Connor is sobered and has Marlowe get out.

Marlowe's putting puzzle pieces together and goes to see Rita Moreno. While she performs her stage number, she confirms his suspicions that she's the one who killed Steelgrave--her old flame until he fell for Mavis--and Mavis pretended to be the killer. Marlowe goes to call the cops. The doc with the special cigarettes (an ex of Rita's) shows up and tries to rekindle the romance with a dose of hot lead. Although the bullet gets her attention, her mood is more moribund than amorous, and the doc tests the gun on himself with the same results. Marlowe drives away before the cops show up and the credits role.

***

What to make of this "neo-noir" from 1969? Would it have been better in black and white? Probably. It has Garner and Moreno and hits the notes of a basic Chandler story. Garner brings a different tone than Bogart did to the Chandler adaptation. He's great. He's different, but he's great; his Marlowe doesn't have far to go to arrive at Rockford a few years in the future. The ending lacked satisfaction in my opinion. The events in the film felt somewhat scattered or unfocused. I don't know whether that was a writing issue or a directing issue. The dialog stood out for me as the best part. Marlowe's wry quips may have lacked the deadpan gravel delivery that Bogart featured, but they were perfect Garner and provided the most consistent notes in the story. I'll have to watch it again to catch what I missed the first time. Maybe my opinion will change.

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On the writing front: It's happening. I spent part of yesterday re-reading, editing, and getting back into the bugmageddon story. I should start hearing back on short story submissions next month.

Of Parties and Pencils - British Arms Ascendant

 Fun Fact:

Abercromby had his brief and ill-fated Iliad at Carillon in 1758. General Amherst was set to make another attempt at it in 1759. After beginning construction on Fort George--to replace Fort William Henry--Amherst had assembled 10,000 men to embark on Lake George in July. The clash between Amherst's 10,000 and Charles de Bourlamaque's garrison of 3,000 at Fort Carillon is difficult to describe--mostly because there was no clash. The French commander and his troops slipped away as the British approached, leaving only 400 men to decorate and plan the welcome party for Amherst. 

(Portrait of Jeffery Amherst by Joshua Reynolds)

The British occupied the trenches and hauled up six 24 pounders to RSVP for the reception. Just before midnight on July 26, the party began with a bang--an explosion even. The last of the garrison had departed via Lake Champlain, but being no slouches at party planning, they had left a fuse burning slowly to the fort's ample powder magazine. 

Amherst set to work rebuilding the damaged fort and christened it--apparently because of the prodigious supply of number 2 pencils strewn about the place--Ticonderoga. Among the many individuals with Amherst who would rise to prominence in the future were both Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. Those two would revisit the fort several years later in arms against the British.

The French continued their retreat, blowing up Fort Saint Frederic as well. Amherst advanced and began construction of Crown Point on the rise to the west of the ruins of the old fort. 

Fortune favored the British on many fronts. Brigadier General John Stanwix advanced from Fort Pitt to take Venango, Le Boeuf, and Presque Isle, and Sir William Johnson had already captured Niagara. Brigadier James Wolf had taken Louisbourg and had his sights set on the greatest prize of all: Quebec.

--I've consulted my highlights from The French and Indian Wars: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman, Chapter 12 for this fun fact episode.

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Based on some communications with some of my readers, I've honed my ideas about the three elements of literary alchemy--The Trauma, The Drama, and The Dream--to an edge as keen as a nine-iron and added their thoughts to create a presentation about How to Write Unforgettable Stories. I've submitted an incomplete skeleton of the idea for consideration as a presentation at an upcoming writer's conference. I suspect I'll have more to say on that later, one way or another. Now I'm hoping the kind words from my readers were more than mere flattery. Maybe I can arrange a presentation to local writers as practice for the potentially larger show.

The image below was the best result in my attempts to get an AI image generator to create a picture of the Atu character from my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. I think Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson could play him in the movie.