Thursday, January 9, 2014
Blogging at Dawn: Prose and Comicons
Blogging at Dawn: Prose and Comicons: This weekend I will be signing books at the ABQ Comicon with another author. I have argued felony cases before 12 angry jurors, but selling ...
Prose and Comicons
This weekend I will be signing books at the ABQ Comicon with another author. I have argued felony cases before 12 angry jurors, but selling books to someone dressed as the Green Lantern can be far more challenging.
I have only one book that is even closely in the Comicon context--Lawyer Geisha Pink is the story of a lawyer who thinks she's a superhero, she's not, she just thinks she is. That book is perhaps the only legal thriller-anime hybrid in existence. It always gets a great response. People that are interested in that book see it as a gateway to my other work. I also have a book on writing which is welcomed by other creative people.
Rattlesnake Lawyer my first novel has several Superman references. I have some Star Wars mythology in my other books. So while my books might not seem to be in the fantasy realm, I would call them fantasy adjacent.
I was a comic book geek growing up. I was more Marvel than DC. I did have X-men 1, which my mom threw away when I went away to college. it might have been able to pay for college if we had kept it. I loved the Fantastic 4, Thor, Dr. Strange and the Avengers. I never really liked Batman growing up. However, I must admit that I cried at the end of the final Batman film. Yes, I actually cried.
I do feel a sense of community, a sense of innocence when I go to these events. I'm channeling my inner 15 year old who rushed to the Comic Book store for the new releases as opposed to the attorney author who worries about what is deductible on my tax releases.
I am working on a science fiction manuscript right now. Hopefully, I won't just be a vendor in the future, I will be a speaker. Perhaps someday, the person in the Green lantern costume will dress up like Lawyer Geisha Pink.
I have only one book that is even closely in the Comicon context--Lawyer Geisha Pink is the story of a lawyer who thinks she's a superhero, she's not, she just thinks she is. That book is perhaps the only legal thriller-anime hybrid in existence. It always gets a great response. People that are interested in that book see it as a gateway to my other work. I also have a book on writing which is welcomed by other creative people.
Rattlesnake Lawyer my first novel has several Superman references. I have some Star Wars mythology in my other books. So while my books might not seem to be in the fantasy realm, I would call them fantasy adjacent.
I was a comic book geek growing up. I was more Marvel than DC. I did have X-men 1, which my mom threw away when I went away to college. it might have been able to pay for college if we had kept it. I loved the Fantastic 4, Thor, Dr. Strange and the Avengers. I never really liked Batman growing up. However, I must admit that I cried at the end of the final Batman film. Yes, I actually cried.
I do feel a sense of community, a sense of innocence when I go to these events. I'm channeling my inner 15 year old who rushed to the Comic Book store for the new releases as opposed to the attorney author who worries about what is deductible on my tax releases.
I am working on a science fiction manuscript right now. Hopefully, I won't just be a vendor in the future, I will be a speaker. Perhaps someday, the person in the Green lantern costume will dress up like Lawyer Geisha Pink.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Blogging at Dawn: The Other Jonathan Miller
Blogging at Dawn: The Other Jonathan Miller: Signing books at Barnes & Noble in ABQ, an elderly woman approached me and told me how fantastic I looked. She was amazed by all my acco...
The Other Jonathan Miller
Signing books at Barnes & Noble in ABQ, an elderly woman approached me and told me how fantastic I looked. She was amazed by all my accomplishments and couldn't wait to read my latest work. When I thanked her, she told me that I had lost my accent. I didn't know I had an accent, but smiled. She wondered if I was still devastated by the death of Dudley Moore.
"Dudley Moore?" I asked. "The short guy in the movie with Bo Derek?"
"Wasn't he your best friend?"
I had seen the film, and had a crush on the aforementioned Ms. Derek, but the passing of Dudley Moore did not affect me that much. "Are you confusing me with someone else?"
"Aren't you Jonathan Miller from Beyond the Fringe?"
I had lived in Roswell, but I was puzzled for a moment until I realized that she was confusing me with Jonathan Wolfe Miller, a British knight, physician, opera buff and the co-founder of a comedy troupe called "Beyond the Fringe" with the late Dudley Moore. Jonathan Miller has written medical and opera books. He has lived in Santa Fe.
I have a popular name. Take a minute and google Jonathan Miller. In addition to the British Knight from Beyond the Fringe, there was a President of AOL. He also wrote a book. There is another Jonathan Miller who writes darkly comic legal thrillers, whose book is placed next to mine.
The woman was looking at my book, and seemed torn. "It doesn't look like your usual stuff," she said.
She read a few pages and actually laughed out loud. She handed me a book for my signature. "I'll take one copy and one copy for my friend."
"Thank you so much," I said. "And thank you on behalf of Dudley."
"Dudley Moore?" I asked. "The short guy in the movie with Bo Derek?"
"Wasn't he your best friend?"
I had seen the film, and had a crush on the aforementioned Ms. Derek, but the passing of Dudley Moore did not affect me that much. "Are you confusing me with someone else?"
"Aren't you Jonathan Miller from Beyond the Fringe?"
I had lived in Roswell, but I was puzzled for a moment until I realized that she was confusing me with Jonathan Wolfe Miller, a British knight, physician, opera buff and the co-founder of a comedy troupe called "Beyond the Fringe" with the late Dudley Moore. Jonathan Miller has written medical and opera books. He has lived in Santa Fe.
I have a popular name. Take a minute and google Jonathan Miller. In addition to the British Knight from Beyond the Fringe, there was a President of AOL. He also wrote a book. There is another Jonathan Miller who writes darkly comic legal thrillers, whose book is placed next to mine.
The woman was looking at my book, and seemed torn. "It doesn't look like your usual stuff," she said.
She read a few pages and actually laughed out loud. She handed me a book for my signature. "I'll take one copy and one copy for my friend."
"Thank you so much," I said. "And thank you on behalf of Dudley."
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Blogging at Dawn: FSU-Auburn; Wolf of Wall Street v American Hustle
Blogging at Dawn: FSU-Auburn; Wolf of Wall Street v American Hustle: Watching last night's Florida State game, I thought of another rivalry -- American Hustle vs the Wolf of Wall Street. The two films ar...
FSU-Auburn; Wolf of Wall Street v American Hustle
Watching last night's Florida State game, I thought of another rivalry --American Hustle vs the Wolf of Wall Street. The two films are very similar, both are true stories dealing with con men, both have non-Jewish men playing Jewish lead characters, unfaithful relationships and in the end both men get their supposed just desserts. In the end, like the Florida State game, there is a clear winner, but it is a close one.
Some recent articles have dealt with how faithful these films are to the truth. Names have been changed in both to protect the innocent, well to protect the guilty. I will not read Jordan Belfort's book, the Wolf of Wall Street because I don't want to give him any money. In terms of acting, Leonardo and Christian Bale are both superb. Leo's character is a really bad guy who punches his wife in the final scenes. Christian's character is a con man, but someone who learns his lesson. Leo's character is more mesmerizing on screen, but I found myself rooting for Christian's in spite of myself.
Florida State is flashier than Auburn. There are many similarities between the directors. Ironically, the actor most associate with Wolf's Scorcese, Robert DeNiro, makes a cameo as a gangster in American Hustle. The only difference in style is that Wolf of Wall Street seems much brighter-- the film literally pops off the screen, while American Hustle is deliberately more drab.
Both films depict small time cons and glamorize the con-men as opposed to the ones being conned. Wolf of Wall Street depicts Leo and the Stratton Oakmont gang convincing some schmuck to part with 10,000 dollars. We do not see the patsy onscreen, just the whole office laughing at him and flipping him off. as he gives away his life savings. We do see the desperate men in American Hustle giving Christian the 5,000 to get 50,000 loans. They are also presented as schmucks. Again, the con men look cool and there are people in the audience thinking "I could do that."
When it comes to women, Wolf has many nameless, fleshy strippers as opposed to flesh and blood characters. Leo's character is married to a gorgeous blond Naomi, but he still sleeps with the strippers. One stripper is used in a con, but only as a money mule.
Jordan Belfort's wife Naomi is very sexy, but I can't remember the name of the actress playing her. The role is two notes--sexy and jealous. In American Hustle, the female characters are as potent as the Florida State passing game. Amy Adams plays a woman who started as a stripper, but becomes a con women herself. She is Jennifer Lawrence should also get an Oscar nomination as the con-man's wife. I am on Team Katniss on this one, J-Law is just amazing.
Both leading characters are portrayed as family men, but Leo's character kidnaps his child and tries to drive away while clearly intoxicated. Any sympathy for the character fades the instant he crashes the car with the child inside. Although he cheats, it's clear that Christian's character loves his son, and stays with his wife to be a father.
As fro the FBI agents, both films have FBI agents who exhibit passing envy of their perps. American Hustle's Bradley Cooper is the flashier part, but he is less sympathetic. Wolf's Kyle Chandler gives a more realistic performance. His best scene is when he rides home alone in the subway. Chandler doesn't say a word, but his performance is off the screen.
In each film, the "hero" gets a slap on the wrist by the authorities. The slap on the wrist for Jordan is so light, it doesn't even upset his tennis swing when he's in prison. I'll save the moralizing to other bloggers, but that did bother me a bit. Christian's character seems to walk away without prison.
Like the FSU game, it is a close one, but as they say in Auburn, War American Hustle.
Some recent articles have dealt with how faithful these films are to the truth. Names have been changed in both to protect the innocent, well to protect the guilty. I will not read Jordan Belfort's book, the Wolf of Wall Street because I don't want to give him any money. In terms of acting, Leonardo and Christian Bale are both superb. Leo's character is a really bad guy who punches his wife in the final scenes. Christian's character is a con man, but someone who learns his lesson. Leo's character is more mesmerizing on screen, but I found myself rooting for Christian's in spite of myself.
Florida State is flashier than Auburn. There are many similarities between the directors. Ironically, the actor most associate with Wolf's Scorcese, Robert DeNiro, makes a cameo as a gangster in American Hustle. The only difference in style is that Wolf of Wall Street seems much brighter-- the film literally pops off the screen, while American Hustle is deliberately more drab.
Both films depict small time cons and glamorize the con-men as opposed to the ones being conned. Wolf of Wall Street depicts Leo and the Stratton Oakmont gang convincing some schmuck to part with 10,000 dollars. We do not see the patsy onscreen, just the whole office laughing at him and flipping him off. as he gives away his life savings. We do see the desperate men in American Hustle giving Christian the 5,000 to get 50,000 loans. They are also presented as schmucks. Again, the con men look cool and there are people in the audience thinking "I could do that."
When it comes to women, Wolf has many nameless, fleshy strippers as opposed to flesh and blood characters. Leo's character is married to a gorgeous blond Naomi, but he still sleeps with the strippers. One stripper is used in a con, but only as a money mule.
Jordan Belfort's wife Naomi is very sexy, but I can't remember the name of the actress playing her. The role is two notes--sexy and jealous. In American Hustle, the female characters are as potent as the Florida State passing game. Amy Adams plays a woman who started as a stripper, but becomes a con women herself. She is Jennifer Lawrence should also get an Oscar nomination as the con-man's wife. I am on Team Katniss on this one, J-Law is just amazing.
Both leading characters are portrayed as family men, but Leo's character kidnaps his child and tries to drive away while clearly intoxicated. Any sympathy for the character fades the instant he crashes the car with the child inside. Although he cheats, it's clear that Christian's character loves his son, and stays with his wife to be a father.
As fro the FBI agents, both films have FBI agents who exhibit passing envy of their perps. American Hustle's Bradley Cooper is the flashier part, but he is less sympathetic. Wolf's Kyle Chandler gives a more realistic performance. His best scene is when he rides home alone in the subway. Chandler doesn't say a word, but his performance is off the screen.
In each film, the "hero" gets a slap on the wrist by the authorities. The slap on the wrist for Jordan is so light, it doesn't even upset his tennis swing when he's in prison. I'll save the moralizing to other bloggers, but that did bother me a bit. Christian's character seems to walk away without prison.
Like the FSU game, it is a close one, but as they say in Auburn, War American Hustle.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Blogging at Dawn: The Last Blog?
Blogging at Dawn: The Last Blog?: Is this the last blog of the year? Is this the last blog ever?. Nearly 10,000 people have read this blog. I have no way of knowing whether t...
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