Punch In The Gut

November 16, 2015 at 2:48 pm

When you take a step back and consider the issue logically, the degree to which the fortunes of our teams can affect a true sports fan is almost inexplicable. Yet it is also undeniable. After all, the teams we choose to root for are not OUR teams in any meaningful sense. The relationships are all one way, and entirely voluntary (false fans hop from one bandwagon to another all the time). A loss by one of my teams does me no real harm; a victory does me no real good.

And yet, and yet… some of the greatest highs of my life have come courtesy of the New York Mets, the New York Giants, and (a long time ago, in an era far far away) the New York Jets. And losses by those same teams have been known to send me deep into the slough of despond. Truth be told, a really bad loss by one of my teams has been known to depress me far more than some of the times I’ve lost a Hugo, a Nebula, or an Emmy. I’ve learned to shrug off my own defeats in life… but when Big Blue or the Amazin’s or Gang Green go down, well…

Thursday night was a punch in the gut. Yesterday afternoon was another.

A loss for the Jets, a loss for the Giants. But not just any losses. BAD losses. The kind that really hurt. My guys should have won both games.

The victories were right there for the taking. So close I could taste them. But no, instead I had to choke down bitter defeats. What’s worse, both teams lost the games in THE SAME WAY, with truly inexplicable play-calling when the game was on the line. Deep inside the opponents’ territory, the goal line just a few feet ahead, the clock running down… all the Jets needed to do, all the G-Men needed to do, was RUN RUN RUN the ball, wind down the clock, make the opponent burn his final timeouts, then kick the winning field goal or score the winning touchdown.

Instead both the Jets and Giants chose to pass, pass, pass. Incompletions stopped the clock. The Jets did not manage to score at all, the Giants settled for a FG and a lead but left too much time for Tom Brady.

I guess they couldn’t hear me screaming at my TV set.

Life is miserable and full of pain.

(I am not feeling good about the chances of either team going forward. Some losses can be shrugged off, while others do more lasting damage, and can send the team into the tailspin for weeks. This week’s losses, I fear, are of that sort. The Giants, in particular, are going to have a hard time getting over what happened yesterday).

((I am also seriously despondent about Victor Cruz needing another season-ending surgery. A great player, and one of my favorite Giants. I’ve been looking forward to seeing him and Odell Beckham Junior on the field at the same time for more than a year. Now it seems that may never happen. Really sucks. Cruz seems a good guy, and he deserved better. The football gods are cruel).

Tags: nfl

A Conversation with Missy Suicide, Founder of SuicideGirls

November 12, 2015 at 11:18 am

MISSY SUICIDE: Oh yeah, we’re really big fans of helping out and giving back. The Wolf Sanctuary is more than deserving.

Tags: burlesque, jean cocteau cinema, nerdlesque, strong badass women, suicidegirls, wild spirit wolf sanctuary

Signed Books

November 11, 2015 at 2:26 pm

Been awhile since we updated the Signed Books page for the Jean Cocteau, but we’re finally starting to get caught up. Which means that some of the titles we’ve featured in our more recent author events are (at last!) available for mail order.

That includes two of my own titles — A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS and the coloring book — as well as Andy Weir’s movie tie-in edition of THE MARTIAN.

All three titles can now be ordered from the JCC bookstore at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/ — along with books from Dennis Lehane, Diana Gabaldon, Melinda Snodgrass, Steve Stirling, Junot Diaz, Anne Perry, Trent Zelazny, Steve Gould, and many more.

More titles forthcoming, so check back soon.

Tags: jean cocteau cinema, signed books

Maybe You CAN Go Home Again…

November 11, 2015 at 1:06 pm

[… at least for a visit.

Last week I returned to my old haunts in Evanston, Illinois, to Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism, where I was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award. The honor meant a lot to me, as did the warm welcome I received from the faculty and students at Medill.

I also got to attend a football game at Ryan Field (it was Dyche Stadium when I was there), and witness a thrilling last-minute victory over the ~~Lannister Lions~~ Penn State Nittany Lions. Good game (though Penn State did knock out NU’s starting QB, which could bode ill for the remainder of the season). Not only did I see a win, but I got to hang out with a fellow NU alum, AND was presented with a Northwestern helmet midway through the second quarter. VERY cool.

All that was great… but the best part of the visit was getting to meet some of the students, who turned out in large numbers for all of my public events. For some reason, they all seemed a lot younger than the students I remember from 1970… but just as bright.

I had forgotten what a pretty town Evanston is, especially in autumn. The city has changed a lot since I was last there, however, as has the campus. A LOT of new buildings, everywhere. Fisk and Harris and University were still there, I was pleased to see, but surrounded on all sides by big modern buildings I don’t remember. Deering looked unchanged, though. And Tech… where I took Bergen Evans’ introduction to literature…

A lot of memories. I would have loved to wander the campus a little more and wallow in nostalgia, but alas, I could not walk a block beyond the hotel without being stopped for half a dozen selfies, so I had to put that plan aside.

(I was saddened to see that Evanston has lost all of its old movie theatres. The Varsity, the Valenica, the Evanston up by the stadium, the Coronet down by the Main Street newsstand… gone, every one of them. What a loss).

My thanks to Dean Hamm, President Shapiro, Beth Moellers, the gang at the Nerd Bar, and everyone else who helped to make my visit so special.

Tags: awards, movie theatre, travels

Suicide Girls

November 10, 2015 at 3:18 pm

Just a reminder… the next big event at the JCC will be Monday night, when the Suicide Girls arrive in town with their Blackheart Burlesque show.

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As of about ten minutes ago, my loyal minions inform me that fewer than twenty tickets remain for the performance… so if you want to join us, I’d suggest you snag some advance tickets now, or else you risk being left out in the cold on Monday night.

(And it is getting cold in Santa Fe. But it will be hot inside the theatre).

Tags: jean cocteau cinema

Back to Evanston

November 2, 2015 at 4:01 pm

I will be returning to Evanston, Illinois this weekend ~~in search of my lost youth~~ to receive an alumni award from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

I’ll also be doing an interview and Q&A open to the Northwestern community.

http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/experience/news/2015/fall/best-selling-author-george-r.-r.-martin-to-visit-medill.html

And, hey, I also get to go to a football game. I wonder if I still remember all the words to “Go, U Northwestern.”

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Tags: awards, old times

Hugo Thoughts

November 2, 2015 at 3:08 pm

Talking about sports this morning is immeasurably depressing… so I am going to talk about science fiction and the Hugo awards instead.

After several months of relative quiet, the Puppygate mess seems to be stirring again.

It is my hope — maybe a naive hope — that this time around, we can actually talk about the WORK instead of engaging in endless recrimination and name-calling. I am, I confess, not optimistic on that front, but I am going to try to do my bit, by… well, by talking about the work.

In the past, I have usually made my own Hugo recommendations only after nominations have opened. But in light of what happened last year, it seems useful to begin much sooner. To get talking about the things we like, the things we don’t like. This is especially useful in the case of the lesser known and obscure work. Drawing attention to such earlier in the process is the best way to get more fans looking at them… and unless you are aware of a work, you’re not likely to nominate it, are you? (Well, unless you’re voting a slate, and just ticking off boxes).

Let me start with the Dramatic Presentation category. Long form.

Big Hollywood movies traditionally dominate this category. I suspect it will be the same this year. The new STAR WARS comes out at year’s end, and has to be the favorite here. I have not seen it, you have not seen it, no one really knows if it will be another EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or another PHANTOM MENACE… but it’s still STAR WARS, and I suspect it will be nominated.

THE MARTIAN should also be nominated. A great adaptation of a terrific book, I actually think it has a fair chance of upsetting STAR WARS. Fans of hard SF — and there are a LOT of those — love this one, and for good reason. I loved it too. (And wish we’d been allowed to screen it at my theatre). There seems to be some confusion about whether Andy Weir is still eligible for the Campbell Award, by the way… but if he is eligible, he should certainly be nominated.

Also, there’s MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. I loved the old Mad Max movies (especially THE ROAD WARRIOR), and this one was a worthy successor. Deserves a space on the ballot for sure.

Those are the big obvious choices. But let me draw your attention to a few more obscure possibilities.

PREDESTINATION is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic short “All You Zombies.” It actually came out last year (we showed it at the JCC), but had little distribution. For that reason, the Sasquan business meeting voted to give it a second year of eligibility, so it is eligible again this year. It is an excellent little film, with a wonderful performance by Sarah Snook. Very faithful to RAH. If you liked the story, you should like the movie. Seek it out and give it a look.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS is a comedy out of New Zealand, about four vampires living together in Wellington, NZ. I saw it first in Switzerland at a film festival. It’s hilarious. Won the festival’s audience award, deservedly. Comedy is often overlooked at awards time, if there are no special categories for it. This one deserves a better fate. Not a chance in hell it will ever win a Hugo… but wouldn’t it be cool if a small, funny film like this could make the ballot?

Finally… the Long Form category is not actually limited to movies, though those do tend to dominate. So do also consider JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, the seven-part BBC television miniseries adaptation of the Hugo-winning novel by Susannah Clarke. A lovely piece of work, I thought, and — again — faithful to the source material (a big thing with me). It should not be forgotten at nominations time.

I am not urging anyone to nominate any of these… but I am suggesting that you might want to check them out. They’re all works I enjoyed a lot. I suspect that THE MARTIAN and FURY ROAD and the yet-unseen STAR WARS are all pretty much locks for Hugo nominations regardless, but the other three, the more obscure three, are worthy efforts that might be missed, unless people seek them out. So…

Tags: awards, hugo awards, television and film

Sunday Bloody Sunday

November 1, 2015 at 6:21 pm

Some talking heads are saying this morning’s game between the Giants and the Saints was a great contest. I suppose it was. If you love offense, and hate defense.

I love defense, and I hate losing, so I went away very unhappy. I mean, 52 to 49, really? REALLY? Nobody stopped anybody, ever. 52 – 49 is a basketball score.

Okay, Eli was great, Odell was great, the Giants offense kept coming back and coming back. But the Giants defense must have missed the plane to Nawlins. Aside from the one pick six, they were absent all game. And the end of the game was ludicrous. After all that scoring, the game turned on a facemask penalty on our punter.

And just when I thought life could not get any worse, I watched the Jets game.

That one was lost the moment Fitz went down and Geno Smith came in. Geno showed flashes, sure, Geno always shows flashes. But when the clock is ticking down and the game is on the line, he will always came up short. As he did this afternoon. I sure as hell hope that Fitzpatrick can come back next week. If not, then I pray Todd Bowles sits Geno Smith and gives a shot to the kid they drafted, Bryce Petty. Because if Geno is our starter again, the season is over.

Also, we need Nick Mangold back… though his young replacement did well. And Cromartie and Marshall suffered injuries as well. Those could be season-killing too, if they are serious.

All in all, a horrid day. Life is miserable and full of pain.

Only one consolation: the Cowboys lost too. And just as painfully as the Giants.

Tags: nfl

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