May 27, 2012 · 5:01 pm

“Saving Private Ryan” Changed My Life

We are halfway through a beautiful Memorial Day weekend here at Casa di Panek. My father, who lives with us, worked hard all week on the various outdoor tasks culminating in the boys being able to swim in the pool Friday night. It was the perfect start to a long weekend.

Later that evening, after the boys were in bed, I was flipping channels on TV and found AMC starting their War Heroes Weekend by playing a favorite- The Dirty Dozen. It’s the kind of movie that will stop my channel surfing regardless of what point the movie is at. Friday evening I picked it up just as Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) gambles on the Dozen’s tenacity to beat the stiff-necked Colonel Breed’s unit.

Doctor in the soon-to-be hijacked ambulance: “But you’re wearing red force insignia!”

Jim Brown’s deadpan menace: “That’s right- we’re traitors!”

Love it!

I got to pondering, as I often do, about the movies and my love of film. Keeping in the spirit of the War Heroes Weekend, I thought that a story about another great WWII movie, Saving Private Ryan, would be appropriate.

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May 8, 2012 · 8:48 pm

The Blog Post from the Black Lagoon

My middle boy, the Noodle, is in Kindergarten this year. It’s the beginning of May, which means it’s PARP time! PARP- Parents As Reading Partners- is designed to build a love of reading in children by engaging parents to spend 15 minutes a day reading to their children. Designed in New York State in the late 1970’s, the PARP program is an idea that I can really get behind.  I think if we can teach children that reading can be fun we’ve given them a powerful tool to spur lifelong learning.

The Noodle and the Goon have just been tucked into bed but right before that we spent about 20 minutes reading tonight. The selection tonight was a series that is an old favorite in our house, going back to when my 13 year old was starting Kindergarten. We read our entire series of the “Black Lagoon” books. Have you heard of them? On the reading list tonight:

  • The Teacher From the Black Lagoon
  • The Principal From the Black Lagoon
  • The Gym Teacher From the Black Lagoon
  • The Librarian From the Black Lagoon
  • The School Nurse From the Black Lagoon
  • The Custodian From the Black Lagoon
  • The Music Teacher From the Black Lagoon
  • The School Bus Driver From the Black Lagoon

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May 5, 2012 · 10:12 pm

Marvel Movie Marathon Maniac (Spoiler-Free)

Happy belated Star Wars Day! (aka May the Fourth Be With You!)

Two days ago Marvel’s The Avengers opened in the United States. I’d been waiting for this movie for some time so when I saw that the local movie chain was taking part in the Marvel Movie Event (a marathon beginning at 2:15 pm with Iron Man and culminating with the 12:01 am Avengers premiere) I knew that was how I’d be spending my Thursday. I started beating the drum on Facebook about two weeks before the event. By the time Thursday afternoon arrived I had quite a group of guys ready to nerd it up.

On a hunch, I brought my pocket notepad with me as I figured the event might inspire some writing. Also, I thought that tweeting between movies might be entertaining. Here it is- enjoy!

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April 15, 2012 · 4:04 pm

My Rant Against the Hollywood Adaptation (Avengers Assemble!)

The Avengers, the next installment in the mostly-solid string of Marvel adaptations, opens May 4th. I, along with my fellow diehard fans, will be sitting down at midnight to take in the next adventure. This particular subset of the Marvel Universe has really rocked with two Iron Man movies, Thor, and Captain America. The reboot of The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton was solid. (Sorry Ang Lee- I loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but Hulk was shit.)

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April 7, 2012 · 9:27 am

A Peek at Story Blue!

Hi- still writing here and wanted to check in.

I’ve been trading emails with Matta for the last few days. I’d been sharing my thoughts about my writing and where my head is at. Matta’s been sharing similar glimpses of his comics and potential direction for them. During one of his emails, Matta sent a link to the website Letters of Note and, in particular, a letter from C.S. Lewis on the topic of writing itself. (Take a moment to check it out. Pretty interesting.)

I’ve been a fan of this website for awhile and had coincidentally also read that letter before the email exchange with Matta. It got me thinking about advice I’d read a few years ago from Robert Heinlein, one of my all-time favorite authors. Heinlein also wrote at length about the craft (and business) of writing. He articulated 5 rules for writing that seem pretty clear to me. They are:

1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you write.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put the work on the market.
5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

(This website credits Heinlein’s 1947 essay “On the Writing of Speculative Fiction.”)

These rules are posted just over the top of my monitor Heinlein's Rules for Writing and they truly provide direction for me. Sharing them got me thinking about Story Blue again. I started it in the middle of February and have more than 2400 words of story with another 600 or so words worth of notes for the story. Although a previous post discussed my thoughts on needing to develop the story’s main character more, apparently the story had enough time simmering in my unconscious mind to be ready for some more attention this morning. I woke up early and before 9 AM had added a few hundred more words (and a better visualization in my mind of the protagonist).

So in the spirit of Heinlein’s 4th rule, I posted the opening of Story Blue this morning. (Heinlein says to put the work on the market. I don’t know if I’m at a point to try to sell anything but I think posting on the blog is consistent with his direction.) Currently titled “The Third String”, it’s just a few hundred words but I think representative of the story. Please read, share, and comment. Thanks!

-T

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