The Geek's Meow

So if you’ve read some of my past posts, you may remember my connection with my dad being forged through Robert Heinlein’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’.

Which means you think I’d be delighted to hear about this:  Robert Heinlein’s Scifi Classic Stranger in a Strange Land Is Coming to TV

They’re turning ‘Stranger’ into a TV series – I assume a mini series rather than an ongoing seasonal show, but nothing has been said at all so that might be wrong.  Shouldn’t I be thrilled?  This book, that means so much to me, is going to be put into TV form for even more to enjoy!

But ‘Stranger’ doesn’t, in my mind, translate well to that form.  Even the novel itself has a slow set up and start.  When I recommend it to people it comes with the caveat “Just get past the hospital.”  Most (not all, but most) people I know that didn’t care for it or never got into it fall into a group that just couldn’t get through the initial parts of the book, which mostly consist of scenes in a hospital, but the set up is needed for the rest of the book to work.  In a mini-series, much less a seasonal show, this means our “grab the audience” episodes are bogged down in set up purgatory.

Heinlein also likes to leave out certain descriptions, to let the reader’s mind fill in the blanks – sometimes with a surprise when he goes back and fills in the blanks.  One of the pivotal scenes in this book relies on not knowing who the second party in the scene is, a tidbit that is never revealed or clarified, and is damnably hard to do when you have voices and visuals involved.

And the sex!  Whoo!  ‘Stranger’ is no stranger to getting it on, especially later in the book, in a very plot necessary way – but unless we’re going with HBO, American TV seems to have some issues with sex scenes.  I mean, if it’s violence, yippe-yi-kay-yay motherfucker, let’s go!  But doing it… shield the children, how DARE they?!  I don’t imagine Sy-Fy is ready to go down that HBO Game of Thrones road, yet.

To be honest, I’m not very afraid – I don’t think this will make it to the screen.  Since Starship Troopers there hasn’t been a lot of Heinlein making it’s way to popular media, despite several false starts.  For me the one that I’m still waiting on is ‘The Moon is a Harsh Mistress’ because it’s actually got a lot of potential in several different ways, and they still keep starting, stopping, promising, renegging, and otherwise teasing me but nothing will ever come of it.  So ‘Stranger’ seems safe, at least for now.

Nope, not politics again!

It’s damn 2016, apparently heaven (or hell) is trying to put the band back together, because we lost Leonard Cohen.

So I’ll just leave it with this:

It’s four in the morning, the end of December
I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better
New York is cold, but I like where I’m living
There’s music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you’re building your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now, I hope you’re keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody’s wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane’s awake —

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I’m glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear —

Sincerely, L. Cohen

I’m not usually very political.  I keep aware, more than the average person, primarily by listening to NPR.

But last night… whew.  Did not see that coming.

And it’s funny, I’m pretty sure Puppet-President Trump is not a threat.  He’s full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  He will be used as a distraction when needed, and otherwise he will bluster around on the POTUS twitter and generally operate the pen to sign things when told to.

Oh no, Puppet-President Trump is not the threat, Shadow-President Pence, though…

This is a man who things conversion therapy is okay (shock the gay away!) and that smoking isn’t dangerous to anyone’s health.  He’s not loudly disrespectful in a way we can call him on it like Trump, he just knows how to get things done and seems all too happy to use Trump as a distraction while he does it.  He is the political animal who will interface with Congress, “guide” Trump in the ways of Washington, and generally rule from behind the scenes.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he sees this as a way to get 16 years of presidency.

And that, that terrifies me.

So Saturday was a very quiet and slow day at Nottingham Festival.  Sunday picked up quite a bit.

At one point I had a trio of girls, two who were totally ready to get their hair braided, and one who was super reluctant.  She wanted to see the fortune teller, despite promises to do so after the braid.  So her sisters get their lovely locks made into beautiful braids, and just as they’re wrapping up she’s back.  Still, as much as her mom and aunt try to convince her, she remains reluctant.

Then the Queen arrives!  Since they’re a booth away I try to teach the little one how to properly reverence (a type of curtsy) while still trying to decide which braid she might want.  And then one of the ladies from the yeoman’s group comes over to teach better than I am doing – and the Queen herself sweeps up to talk to the little one.  Including asking what braid she was getting, from which SHE got a confident answer of a coronet.

So sure enough, I have a coronet ready to go get started – so basically Queen Elizabeth totally sells my braid for me.  And then we have one very happy little girl.

Hooray, small faires!

Feeling a little burnt around the edges, like I’ve burned the candle at both ends for too long.  I’m a crispy critter.

Alright, so enough cliches.

I have Nottingham Festival (http://www.nottinghamfestival.com/) coming up this weekend.  I love Faire, and I will get to see my people which is recharging in it’s own right, but during the run of Southern Faire (The Renaissance Pleasure Faire) I realized I’m done for a bit.  That was part of why I let myself dye my hair, so it could enforce me taking some time off.

But I do love small Faires, there’s something close knit about them that got me to agree to do Nottingham.  I also don’t feel like I’m hurting business too much with my hair covered at Nottingham the way I do at Southern.  So I am committed to one last run.  They’re even accommodating a family request to have me free the evening of the 12th.

But in playing catch up from my vacation, gearing up to be coverage for the group taking vacation next, and running myself ragged over Halloween weekend… whoo boy this is going to take a bit out of me.  I still don’t have new garb (and my old garb is both a little small and a lot worn out), nor did I acquire a cloak as I planned last year.  I do have a hat my blue and green hair can hide in.  But in short, I don’t feel prepared at all!

For a planner, not feeling prepared is about as bad as I get.  I’m trying to relax and go with it… just like packing the day before my travels this year worked out.  Everything will be fine.  Breathe, you fool!

So if you happen to be up Simi Valley way this weekend or next, come see me, I’ll be at Braids for Maids as always!

Okay, okay.  So Halloween is over.

I suppose we can start prepping for “The Holidays”.

(And by that, I mean…. ROGUE ONE!)

I’m the ghost with the most, babe.

So this is the costume I’ve been working on since July – Femme Beetlejuice!

The Ghost with the Most…