Playing with Facebook

Well, I tried myspace.com. That website seemed like it was straight out of 1995. What a joke.

Now I'm playing with facebook. You can my account here.

Cheerio!

Shelby Foote's "Civil War"

For the past two years I have been reading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative. It's about three thousand pages of detailed history. Having read all that, I don't really know what to say. First of all, it's the first in depth history I've every read. It's still not at the academic level, as far as I know. The the detail is more than anything I've ever experienced.

I was surprised by how repetitive the descriptions of battles became. The attacker either tried to get around the defenders flank, or concentrated forces for a break through. What was tricky and much more interesting was larger scale view of keeping the troops supplied and dealing with the geographical considerations.

What was sobering for me, besides the sheer number of casualties, was the political situation. Hardliners on both sides refused to budge, preferring blood. They, at least, had Lincoln. A moderate despite the South's hatred of him, he was catapulted onto center stage out of no where. Prior to his election he was mostly unknown and lived the life of a typical country lawyer. He served in congress in a fairly unremarkable fashion before losing his seat and returning to Illinois to practice law.

Once he had the job of President, he proved to be a brilliant politician. Then he died, just as the war was ending. Foote talks about him being a sort of late bloomer.

There are some interesting passages. Here's one from Jefferson Davis, Confederate President, which he stated in 1862:

"There is indeed a difference between the [North and South]. Let no man hug the delusion that there can be renewed association between them. Our enemies are a traditionless and homeless race. From the time of Cromwell to the present moment they have been disturbers of the peace of the world. Gathered together by Cromwell from the bogs and fens of the north of Ireland and England, they commenced by disturbing the peace of their own country; they disturbed Holland, to which they fled; and they disturbed England on their return. They persecuted Catholics in England, and they hung Quakers and witches in America."

He continues:

"The issue before us is one of no ordinary character. We are not engaged in a conflict for conquest, or for aggrandizement, or for the settlement of a point of international law. The question for you to decide is, Will you be slaves or will you be independent?"

I find the way he conflates the North with Puritans and the hypocrisy of "Will you be slaves..." fascinating.

Lincoln's second inaugruation address is famous and shows his intended leniency for the south - leniecny he could not practice because Boothe killed him thus putting reconstruction in the hands of the South's worst political enemies. Here's the closing of the speech:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations."

Previously in the same speech he had noted:

"If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?"

I think that once evil is entrenched in society it can't help but cause devestation.

Sergeant Berry Benson served in Lee's army from before the war broke out until Lee's surrender to Grant. Here's what he said about war in later years:

"Who knows but it may be given to us, after this life, to meet again in the old quarters, to play chess and draughts, to get up soon to answer the morning roll call, to fall in at the tap of the drum for drill and dress parade, and again to hastily don our war gear while the monotonous patter of the long roll summons to battle? Who knows but again the old flags, ragged and torn, snapping in the wind, may face each other and flutter, pursuing and pursued, while the cries of victory fill a summer day? And after the battle, then the slain and wounded will arise, and all will meet together under the two flags, all sound and well, and there will be talking and laughter and cheers, and all will say: Did it not seem real? Was it not as in the old days?"

Is war a part of us, I wonder? Deep down, do we lust for it? Freud talked about "thanatos", a death instinct, a desire for violence, as being an inherent part of human psyche.

In contrast to Benson, there was George H Wood, a line officer who fought in all the major battles of the army of the Potomac during the last three years of the war. Wood was fatally injured by the accidental discharge of a gun after hostilities had ended. As he lay dying he spoke to his chaplain saying, "[D]o you suppose we shall be able to forget anything in heaven? I would like to forget those three years."

Iron Man and Cloverfield

I saw two movies this weekend. Iron Man and Cloverfield.

E and I were able to put the kids to bed and E's sister's house and catch a late viewing of Iron Man. Frankly it's awesome. I don't much like reading comic books and the only Iron Man I've ever read is from the early issues of the Ultimates. But having a suit that does all those things was really cool to me as a kid. Who wouldn't want an Iron Man suit?

Cloverfield I saw on DVD while E was doing some shopping. This is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The filming style was completely disorienting and made it so that I, as the viewer, could never really figure out what was going on. My heart was thumping and I was gripping the arms of my chair.

Both movies are rated PG-13 and rightfully so.

Anyway, if you wait until after the credits in Iron Man you will see a scene that foreshadows where Marvel Studios is taking their movies. Imagine a whole series of movies that are both individual and tie in to the greater Marvel universe.

I've always thought a movie about the Avengers would be impossible. There're too many characters and too many famous people that play those characters. I would only be interested in such a movie if it was more in line with the Ultimates (a modern retelling of the Avengers) rather than the Avengers as they first appeared in all their comic book campiness back in the '60s.

What form will Marvel's Avengers movie take?
Well, here's the original Nick Fury:

Here's Ultimate Nick Fury:

Look familiar? Well, they got Samuel L. Jackson to show up in the Iron Man movie as Nick Fury. So I'm thinking Ultimates is where the Avengers movie is going.

If you look at Marvel's movie plans there's another Hulk movie out this year and down the way they are planning another Iron Man movie, a Thor movie and a Captain America movie. Well guess who the Avenger's starting line up is? Finally in 2011, after all these movies have been release we're supposed to get an Avengers movie.

I can't wait.

I'm, Like, Totally Offended!

...Okay, not really.

There are two great ideas I try to live by. One is: "I could be wrong." I learned this is an important outlook while serving as a missionary. If I expected people to change their life view, than I should be willing to change mine. I shouldn't smugly accept the fact that I was living the best of all possible worlds.

This blog is for me to post my opinions without sugar coating them. I accept the fact that my view may be narrow focused, misguided or simply wrong. That's why I like people to post with their ideas.

I want to thank everyone for posting on my blogs. When people want to comment, discuss or provide opposing arguments to my opinion, that's awesome.

But I am going to have to insist that people not put "I hope I didn't offend anybody" disclaimers in their posts. It's annoying.

An individual being honest with their opinions does not constitute offensive content just because it might differ from someone else's. I don't think anyone who has ever posted on this blog means to offend or be disrespectful.

If I think someone is being mean, I'll contact them about it. If you read something that is offensive, feel free to bring it up with the individual who posted it or with me and we can talk about it.

Oh, and I'm not sorry if I offended anyone.*

*Please don't make a habit of posting this kind of disclaimer either.

What's Up With Dutcher?

A recent post on my family's website left me thinking about Mormon cinema, it's overall suckiness, and the only guy who I've ever seen really get it right, Richard Dutcher.

I loved God's Army. It had some lame "living the Wymount dream" falling action. But the story seemed honest and has been the most realistic depiction of missionary life that I've ever seen, out side of reality of course.

I also really enjoyed Brigham City. It takes standard Mormon stereotypes and turns them on their ear. It's completely subversive. It drew me in with it's tried and true stereotypes and then totally spun everything around. I don't think anyone not steeped in Mormon culture would get half of what he does in this movie. And as it turns out, most people who are steeped in Mormon culture didn't want to have anything to do with it. According to Wikipedia a number of Mormon crew hands were so incensed they walked off the set.

I heard rumors that he was going to make a Joseph Smith movie, but after seeing The Book of Mormon Movie I became completely disenchanted with Mormon cinema and have avoided it ever since.

So, Today I started wondering what Mr. Dutcher has been up too. Well, first of all, I found out he completely agrees with me concerning the state of Mormon cinema. Though I completely disagree with him concerning the power of cinema. The written word will always have more power than a movie.

But he's also jumped out of the boat, so to speak. He's no longer a practicing member of the Church, doesn't plan on making Mormon themed films any more and his next movie is rated R.

I'll leave it for another post to discuss why I think R rated content is like cooking food with poop. (Yeah, you can do it, but why?) For now I'll just return a farewell to Dutcher, albeit belatedly, and also say good-bye to the promise of a good movie about Joseph Smith.

Mike Doyle

Mike Doyle is a graphic artist. His blog can be found at mdoyle.blogspot.com. He also happens to be an avid board gamer. He has teamed up with (among others) an up and coming game company called Valley Games to produce new and highly sought after out of print games. And the results are largely breath taking.

Check out what he's done with the classic Avalon Hill game Titan on his blog. I love the way the board looks like it's made of semi-precious stones. Glorious.

One of the new games he's got in the works is Supernova. I've played the prototype of Supernova and it's an innovative expand and conquer styled game. Mike's work on the game can be seen here.

The problem with game art is that there is traditionally only two sorts. First is art aimed at the family crowd. This art makes games look fun and interesting for the whole family. The other is "genre" art, or cheesy over-the-top art depicting space marines, women in chain mail bikinis and, of course, zombies.

I'm not saying traditional game art is bad, per se. It's just been done to death and there is no sign of letting up. Mike Doyle is the only game artist who's really shooting for a refined, beautiful and adult look to board games.

I hope he keeps it up.

Review of H. P. Lovecraft

I’ve recently been fascinated by pulp fiction and have read The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. If you’ve never heard of him here’s a quote from the man himself describing his modus operandi:

"All my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large."

H. P. Lovecraft is probably the only writer that gives me the creeps. I think it’s primarily due to his ability to make the advancement of knowledge and science a horror. I typically view the quest to understand the universe as one of the noblest undertakings anyone can pursue. In Lovecraft’s fiction there are only two options, ignorance or insanity.

Despite the fantastic nature of his stories many should really be considered Science Fiction. The conceit is that there are super advanced beings that exist in the universe. Fortunately for lowly humans, these beings don’t care about us one way or the other. But sometimes humans get caught up in the affairs of these beings and invariably regret it.

Here’s a list of the short stories found in Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre with my short review and a score out of 10 to show my relative enjoyment.

The Rats in the Walls – This is one of the creepiest stories in the book. A ghost story about a man investigating his distant ancestors only to discover there’s a good reason his more recent relatives abandoned all genealogical endeavors. Imagine, if you will, the sound of thousands of invisible rats crawling in the darkness. Has a rather gory climax. 9/10

The Picture in the House – A trite tale of the macabre. Predictable and short. 1/10

The Outsider – A story that’s great simply for its weirdness. 7/10

Pickman’s Model – Classic Lovecraft. The reader is never made aware of what exactly is going on. That is the only way to write a scary story and I love it! The narrator learns just enough that he doesn’t want to spend any more time in Mr. Pickman’s art studio. 9/10

In the Vault – Similar to “The Picture in the House” in scope. It’s like a mediocre episode of the Twilight Zone. 3/10

The Silver Key – Oddly life affirming and even beautiful. This story is about a man’s search for meaning. This is part of Lovecraft’s “Dream Cycle” of stories and shows his world view had a few bright points in it. 10/10

The Music of Erich Zann – I like the mystery in this one as well. The whole thing is dreamlike. 8/10

The Call of Cthulhu – One of Lovecraft’s most famouse stories and Cthulhu is certainly his most famous monster. Davey Jones, from the Pirates of the Carribean movies, was obviously inspired by the great Cthulhu. The plot is the standard Lovecraft arc: the protagonist tries to understand a certain mystery and is made aware of such eldritch horrors that he longs for ignorance. Among geek circles, Cthulhu is as common as Paris Hilton is in the tabloids, so it’s hard to get into the story. 7/10

The Dunwich Horror – Has more of a plot that a lot of Lovecraft stories do. In Lovecraft’s mythology, the rural Northeastern U. S. is a land of absolute terror. Is one of the best plotted stories in this collection and comes to an exciting and dramatic conclusion. 9/10

The Whisperer in Darkness – Another “attack of the monsters from rural New England” story. Absolutely spooky trying to imagining the buzzing whispers of the various recordings discussed in the story. And the final condition of the narrator’s correspondent is great, in a pulp fiction sort of way. 9/10

The Colour Out of Space – In my opinion this is the most disturbing and scary story in the book. There’s no violence or gore, just a family confronted by inexplicable, abstract horror that manifests as an indescribable color. 10/10

The Haunter of the Dark – A man decides to go snooping around an abandoned church and gains the attention of undesirable entities from beyond space. Great for what is left unsaid. 8/10

The Thing on the Doorstep – The Lovecraft gimmick is starting to wear thin here and is pretty predictable. He makes it a little too obvious what is going on. 5/10

The Shadow Over Innsmouth – Another of Lovecraft’s more famous works. It’s definetly weird and bizarre, but not that scary. The final denouement is what makes this story interesting but feels too much like it comes out of left field. 7/10

The Dreams in the Witch-House – Lovecraft tries to scare us with quantum mechanics. This story is about a man who learns how to teleport himself through time and space. This part of the story fills me more with a sense of wonder than dread. The witch that keeps bugging him seems totally out of place. Gory and disturbing images in the final scenes. 6/10

The Shadow Out of Time – One of the more interesting stories in the book. Again, no gore or violence. Just an incredibly odd premise that, in and of itself, shouldn’t be that scary: aliens that attack through time rather than through space. It’s more an exploration of Lovecraft’s fictional universe. Having said that, the final scenes are creepy. 8/10

In conclusion, Lovecraft tends to refrain from lots of gore and violence, though such things make their appearances at times. Typically the terror comes from creating a sense that there is indescribable horror “out there” that can never be understood. And what’s more frightening than ignorance?

His skill as a writer is debatable. It’s his ideas that are compelling. Primarily for the utter lack of hope to be found, I would not recommend Lovecraft to children.