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I decided to do the Free Kindle Promotion again. So, Doing Time on Planet Earth is free on Kindle from May 17 until May 18th, midnight. Grab it before the window closes.
Kindle Link
Won't start until tomorrow.
Kindle Link
Won't start until tomorrow.
May. 16th, 2015
Brooklyn Then and Now ....
May. 16th, 2015 06:38 pmIt's funny how things change when you aren't paying attention. Ten years float by, you look up and think wait - what happened to that book store I used to go to, or that pub? When did a bank pop up in its place or a sushi restaurant?
There's a great scene in the 1990s flick Gross Point Blank, where hitman extraordinaire, Martin Blank, goes home, only to discover his house is now...a mini-mart.
Today, I was going to take photos of various sites in my book. Starting with my favorite, Fiske's digs. Fiske is the down on his luck PI in the novel Doing Time on Planet Earth. His digs are a funky shaped round tower on the edge of the Gowanus Canel, with a sign with the words KENTLE in the distance. I was going to take a photo, photoshop it, and post. So, I lug myself to the train this muggy May morning, camera in hand, and then walk the ten-fifteen blocks from the Carroll Gardens Station to the Carroll Street Bridge spanning the Canal. And...it's no longer there. It's a construction site. They are building luxury apartments, actually the term luxury is a marketing euphemism for brand new apts. The Kentle sign is gone as well.
[I did however find photos online of what once was there...several years ago:
( Read more... )
There's a great scene in the 1990s flick Gross Point Blank, where hitman extraordinaire, Martin Blank, goes home, only to discover his house is now...a mini-mart.
Today, I was going to take photos of various sites in my book. Starting with my favorite, Fiske's digs. Fiske is the down on his luck PI in the novel Doing Time on Planet Earth. His digs are a funky shaped round tower on the edge of the Gowanus Canel, with a sign with the words KENTLE in the distance. I was going to take a photo, photoshop it, and post. So, I lug myself to the train this muggy May morning, camera in hand, and then walk the ten-fifteen blocks from the Carroll Gardens Station to the Carroll Street Bridge spanning the Canal. And...it's no longer there. It's a construction site. They are building luxury apartments, actually the term luxury is a marketing euphemism for brand new apts. The Kentle sign is gone as well.
[I did however find photos online of what once was there...several years ago:
( Read more... )
X-Men Days of Future Past
May. 16th, 2015 11:53 pmJust finished watching X-Men: Days of Future Past, which basically rebooted the series after the mistakes of X-Men: The Last Stand. The writers had written themselves into such a corner with Last Stand that they ended up having to go back in time to reboot the entire series. There really was no where they could go after Last Stand. Days of Future Past ...makes it possible to restart it all.
And in some respects this was a far better movie than the last five or six they've made. I haven't seen the latest Wolverine. It's less action oriented and more character focused, also they use the talents of the actors - in which they have several top-notch ones involved. This was well cast. Peter Dinklage was a perfect choice as Trask. (Amusingly enough, Wolverine in the comic books is actually close to Trask's height, he's not a tall man in the comics. Hence the name Wolverine.)
I can see why they chose to focus on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto - they are the strongest characters in the films. Not necessarily the comics. I loved the X-men comics. Can't say I liked the other Marvel characters all that much.
In the DC verse - I was a Batman fan. In the Marvel Verse? X-men. Everyone else? Eh, I sampled from time to time, but mostly they just bored me. I did however find Spiderman 2099 interesting. So, not really much of an Avengers fan. The films are okay. But they lack the thematic depth and character layers of the X-men.
Don't read either now. Stopped back in 2001. Picked up the Whedon Astonishing X-men arc, then gave up again. Comics are a bit like Daytime soap operas, they like to retcon and reboot storylines indefinitely. After a bit, they start to either repeat themselves or
become farfetched. I did however love he 1980s-1990s run. My particular favorite - was the Ages of Apocalpyse, and the arc where Xavier was the bad guy.
But enough on the comics. I enjoyed the film. And the message at the end, about how peace can be achieved through helping each other, not killing each other. That humans do just want to help one another. It was actually an anti-war/anti-violence film. And it took place during the Vietnam War - which was an apt metaphor. With the weapons manufacturers - the villains.
Some nice plot twists. And Jennifer Lawrence is perfect as Mystique/Raven, one of my favorite characters in the comics.
Did not expect the ending at all. It surprised me. Definitely want to see the next one.
Wonder if it will be back in time or present day?
At any rate - this is by far the best film that I've seen based on a Marvel comic book.
(Yes, I know everyone thinks the Avengers is amazing, I thought it was busy -- too many action scenes, not enough character moments. And at times head-ache inducing. Not a fan of busy action films. Apparently Avengers 2 is even busier? Iron Man is good only because of Robert Downy Jr. Although I did enjoy Captain America - Winter Solider quite a bit, it was a classic superhero story.) So right now, my favorite Marvel comic films are:
* Guardians of the Galaxy
* X-Men Days of Future Past
* Captain America - The Winter Solider
* X-Men First Class
And in some respects this was a far better movie than the last five or six they've made. I haven't seen the latest Wolverine. It's less action oriented and more character focused, also they use the talents of the actors - in which they have several top-notch ones involved. This was well cast. Peter Dinklage was a perfect choice as Trask. (Amusingly enough, Wolverine in the comic books is actually close to Trask's height, he's not a tall man in the comics. Hence the name Wolverine.)
I can see why they chose to focus on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto - they are the strongest characters in the films. Not necessarily the comics. I loved the X-men comics. Can't say I liked the other Marvel characters all that much.
In the DC verse - I was a Batman fan. In the Marvel Verse? X-men. Everyone else? Eh, I sampled from time to time, but mostly they just bored me. I did however find Spiderman 2099 interesting. So, not really much of an Avengers fan. The films are okay. But they lack the thematic depth and character layers of the X-men.
Don't read either now. Stopped back in 2001. Picked up the Whedon Astonishing X-men arc, then gave up again. Comics are a bit like Daytime soap operas, they like to retcon and reboot storylines indefinitely. After a bit, they start to either repeat themselves or
become farfetched. I did however love he 1980s-1990s run. My particular favorite - was the Ages of Apocalpyse, and the arc where Xavier was the bad guy.
But enough on the comics. I enjoyed the film. And the message at the end, about how peace can be achieved through helping each other, not killing each other. That humans do just want to help one another. It was actually an anti-war/anti-violence film. And it took place during the Vietnam War - which was an apt metaphor. With the weapons manufacturers - the villains.
Some nice plot twists. And Jennifer Lawrence is perfect as Mystique/Raven, one of my favorite characters in the comics.
Did not expect the ending at all. It surprised me. Definitely want to see the next one.
Wonder if it will be back in time or present day?
At any rate - this is by far the best film that I've seen based on a Marvel comic book.
(Yes, I know everyone thinks the Avengers is amazing, I thought it was busy -- too many action scenes, not enough character moments. And at times head-ache inducing. Not a fan of busy action films. Apparently Avengers 2 is even busier? Iron Man is good only because of Robert Downy Jr. Although I did enjoy Captain America - Winter Solider quite a bit, it was a classic superhero story.) So right now, my favorite Marvel comic films are:
* Guardians of the Galaxy
* X-Men Days of Future Past
* Captain America - The Winter Solider
* X-Men First Class