A hairshirt for whoever’s responsible

September 30, 2006

It’s a travesty.

One of the greatest movies of all time — a multiple award Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, starring two “hall of fame” caliber actors (Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton) — has been canceled for its DVD release.

Yes. Becket has been canceled.

This movie is a fascinating account of the legendary battles between King Henry II and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. The history alone is DVD worthy, but this film transcends it all. After watching it for the first time in Carl Swanson’s British Literature class, it quickly became my favorite story of British history. I even named my dog after Thomas Becket. And now? The movie’s being banished into the same dark corner that Banacek (a great television show from the 70s) and the second season of Twin Peaks occupy — a shameful area where brilliant, classic pieces of film and television are left without DVD release.

It’s sad.

*sigh*

So, for now, let’s try to get this movie back on track. Sign the petition to bring Becket to DVD. Do just do it for me. Do it for history.

Do it in the name of good film.

Tags: Movies |

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Happy Anniversary HenkinSchultz!

September 28, 2006

It’s not every night you get to drink on the company dime.

Of course, when it’s the 15th anniversary party — for clients and employees alike — it happens to be a tradition.

Happy Anniversary, HenkinSchultz!

Tags: Career |

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Inspired

September 26, 2006

I like to think I’ve got the world figured out. Unfortunately, I don’t. This weekend, I learned something.

At the 4th Annual Festival of Books, I learned a lot of things, actually – both about books and about writing. And through it all, I found myself inspired in a way I haven’t been in years. I came close to literary greatness, to success in a difficult field, and I’d like to think now that, while I don’t have the world figured out, I’ve at least seen the keys to getting started on that road.

I spent a couple hours being a moderator and host for Rob Fleder, editor for Sports Illustrated magazine and a handful of Sports Illustrated books. More than introduce, I listened. I had the opportunity to eavesdrop on a true success in a field I once fancied myself a rising star. As he recounted, humbly, his style and his profession, I realized that while journalism wasn’t exactly my game, writing was.

There was a connection – if only to me, by him – that made me realize that I was surrounded by genius. And later, when I sat side by side as he gave opinions and advice to other published authors, I realized that I was getting a true gift – insight on how the book and magazine industry works. Rob Fleder met with two people: John E. Miller, a Laura Ingalls Wilder scholar and author of the book Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder (a biography reviewed by the New York Times and Washington Post), and Jean Patrick, who wrote the children’s book The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth.

These people were coming to him for advice. Published authors. Looking for success.

As we were leaving, and after I had said goodbye to Rob, I was asked by Jean if I was a writer. I said “kind of,” conceding that I was at the sleazy end of the writing spectrum – a blogger and advertising copywriter.

She told me that some of the most well written authors started in copywriting, goaded into the field without a formal writing education. They know how to write to people, and not to professors. It made this desire-without-training idea sound plausible – possible, even.

She asked me what I wanted to write. I didn’t know. I’ve never really thought that far ahead. I’m so interested in becoming a writer, so focused on becoming good at writing and qualified in my job and well known on my blog, that I’ve never even thought about what I wanted to write. Which, actually, might be part of the problem.

I said short stories. Columns. I don’t have the patience to throw myself into a full length novel – at least, not yet. Novels take years to write. That means years with the same characters. The same settings. The same lives, being formed and perfected and then sometimes chopped off, for three to five years. And then, what if it’s not good? What if it’s a failure? That’s a lot of time to spend working towards nothing.

Which brings me to Marilynn Robinson – so far, the only Pulitzer Prize winner I’ve ever shaken hands with – who inspired me to not worry about what I can or can’t do. She inspired me to just do it.

Two novels in twenty five years. That’s Marilynn Robinson’s output: Gilead, a beautiful book made even more beautiful by an amazing panel of speakers, including Robinson herself, and made understandable by some deep thinking and group discussion; and Housekeeping, another award winner from the 70s. Regardless of how prolific she is (or isn’t, actually) she’s always on key. Still, while she speaks gracefully, it’s with a bit of hesitation, as if she’s afraid to be on stage, afraid of being judged. She seems a little high and mighty, but she also seems timid, afraid to embrace the culture that comes along with a major literary prize. She’s internal. But she writes wonderfully.

Through that discussion, I discovered that Gilead was more amazing than I had thought on my first read. The first line alone, simple, striking, yet unsupported at the time I read it, became so much more meaningful after finishing the book and coming back to it. It spans so many relationships and encompasses so many themes that it’s difficult to understand without reading it. And it’s so uniquely written, with a style that slows the reader down to a more sensible pace, that it seems to really take into consideration the age of the novel’s protagonist. It’s beautiful.

And, it’s possible.

Great writing doesn’t need as much talent as it needs inspiration. Let’s see how long this inspiration lasts. If it’s even there at all. Maybe this is all just a ploy; my mind’s way of thinking that this sudden urge to write and start a book club and buy books and read five of them a month and emerge from the other side with a clear head and a name tag that says “writer” is truly inspiration.

Regardless, it starts with inspiration – false or not. And that’s good, because it’s got to start somewhere.

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“I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I’m old, and you said, I don’t think you’re old.” — John Ames, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Tags: Writing, Writers |

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Web 2.0 comes to BMOWP

September 25, 2006

For some of the web, the future is bright — bright like a neon blue logo with the obligatory “beta” tag. Of course, for some of us — especially those of us who cling to the ancient form of information called “the book,” the future might not be as positive.

Don’t worry about me, though. Even if Black Marks on Wood Pulp becomes an archaic reminder of my life as it was at age 27, I’ll always be “next generation, 2.0″ with my logo.

Now I just need a 2 million dollar IPO.

(From the Web 2.0 Logo Creator)

Tags: Black Marks on Wood Pulp |

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Instead of books, can we ban stupidity?

September 25, 2006

Don’t worry. One of these days I’ll get back to my pointless blathering. But until then, it’s more about books, authors, and writing.

Tonight, I plan on getting a reaction up about the 4th Annual Festival of Books from my point of view as an outsider with access to the inside. As a host, I helped one author for about two hours while getting a sneak peek at the insides of the festival’s structure. I got to listen to a wonderful author speak, and I learned things about writing that I really hadn’t even considered – a new motivation, really, and a full understanding of what it takes to be an accomplished author. I’ll talk about that later.

For now, I want to welcome everyone to Banned Books Week, a time put aside by the American Library Association to promote and embrace books deemed unworthy of inclusion by a variety of groups.

Never read a banned book? Actually, you most certainly have. Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. These aren’t just books that straddle the line between fiction and racy art; these are books that are analyzed in schools, supported and held up as the best of the best, the reason that children should learn to read. Most of us have read these books whether or not we wanted to. Because we ought to.

Amazingly, it’s still going on today. I would think that in a country that was built on free speech, one that has created it’s own rules on everything but still holds to the idea that anyone is free to voice his or her opinion, that banning books would have gone the way of the cassette tape. The 8-track. Banning books is the type of thing that happens in a communistic dictatorship, not in the United States.

But it still happens. There are still groups out there who can’t keep their nose out of everyone else’s business. These are the people who feel their value system should dictate someone else’s choices, like we’re all seen as unfit to read anything that might otherwise undermine the status quo or cause our children to think outside of the safety of banal self-help books and right-wing political theory.

Howie Rumberg (AP) wrote a nice article about the ten most challenged books of the 21st century. In it, he describes the reality of fringe groups attempting to pull books from libraries and schools, and how often times these groups can be successful.

Banning books is not something from another era or for science fiction — like Ray Bradbury’s chilling ‘’Fahrenheit 451′’ — it’s taking place today. There was a renewed outcry against ‘’The DaVinci Code'’ when the film came out this summer. Last year 44 requests to pull a book were successful in the United States, including Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam collection, ‘’The Things They Carried,'’ and Nobel winner Toni Morrison’s ‘’The Bluest Eye.'’

So what should we do? We should fight this. Illuminate the moronic notion that some vocal minority is trying to tell your library what to stock. In fact, start requesting that your library holds these banned books, if they don’t already. Every book on the list – organize a group and request each one. Make noise. Challenge the validity of their claims. Insult them, if you have to. After all, they’re doing the same thing right back at you – they’re insulting your ability to make a literary choice, and they’re insulting your freedom to have access to reading material that might change your views on life.

Or in the case of Harry Potter, change your views on magical castles in the middle of England. I mean, they can really undermine a nation’s security.

Tags: Books, Politics |