1. -2° (F) at the moment outside–up from a low of -8°. Feels almost like home. My son, a sun-belter by temperament despite his Minnesota roots, hates the guts out of days like this, but I’m kind of enjoying the cold snap.
2. In honor of Patrick McGoohan, my son and I watched “The Girl Who Was Death,” maybe the best of all the Prisoner episodes. AMC, the guys who are producing the new Prisoner, are (trying to atone for their sins by) kindly offering the entire series online in streaming video. (The AMC linked snaffled from Chris’s Invincible Super-blog.)
3. I’m not saying it’s cause and effect, but, you know. I join SFWA. and within a few months–BAM! New rules for the Nebula that actually make sense. I’m not saying there’s any causal effect. Because there isn’t any: I didn’t contribute to the discussion and was as surprised as anyone by the announcement. I’m just saying… nothing, apparently.
Since I didn’t even know what the old rules were, you won’t find me complaining… What I would like to know, however, is, are there any advantages to being a member of the SFWA? I’ve thought about joining a few times, but haven’t been able to overcome my apathy.
There’s an emergency medical fund (which would be of limited interest for anyone living in a country with rational health care policies) and a committee that helps with grievances between members and publishers. I’m hoping that neither ever has a personal relevance for me. I joined so that I could nominate/vote for the Nebulas (which don’t mean what they once did, but…), and because of a sense that there was some untapped potential in the organization. I’m still sort of feeling my way around, but it has been sort of interesting so far.
Well, sure please keep me updated if it turns out to be really cool and/or groovy. I’m just about to let my dues run out for the Horror Writers Association, basically, because I write so little horror.
Will do.
It’s been a few days since we’ve seen zero, but it’s supposed to hit 5F tomorrow. Downright balmy. The ski trails will be full.
I don’t remember “The Girl Who Was Death.” Didn’t think I’d missed any episodes, but the plot summary isn’t ringing any bells.
I’m one of those who was left scratching his head by, well, pretty much the last season, but I have no hope that AMC will come through with a good product.
–Jeff Stehman
I Like “GWWD” because it’s sort of a ripping yarn which is about ripping yarns–what they are, what they’re for. Also, I had no idea what was going on until the last five minutes, and then it all made sense. It’s nice when it works out that way. (Hm. Maybe that’s next weeks Blog Gate post.)
It’s so warm here so often that I find myself surprised when the temp is below freezing for a few days at a time.
The Girl Who…
I loved that one when I saw it as a kid because it was, as you say, a ripping yarn, filled with danger & excitement. And when I saw it again as an adult, I enjoyed it still on that level and simultaneously as a burlesque of spy movies. I wouldn’t call it my favorite episode of “The Prisoner,” but I’d certainly place it in the top three or four.
On a negative note, this movie remake of “The Prisoner” is a bad idea on so many levels. The obvious false step of remaking a classic. And for a slightly more subtle mistake: do you suppose the makers of this flop-to-be realize that “Prisoner” was, among other things, a statement on the Cold War? By that I mean, the Cold War duality — you’re on my side or their side, and despite efforts of the Bush/Rove/Cheney axis, that’s simply not the world today. There is no single “Other Side” that Number Six would be abducted by or could defect to. Most likely, this new movie will have the “surprise” revelation that Number Six has been abducted by His Own Side, and they’ll expect the audience to be Shocked! SHOCKED! to find out that gambling has been going on here!
By the way…it was -2F inside my three-season porch this morning.
-24F outside.
Re: The Girl Who…
It’s hard for me to pick just one favorite–“The Chimes of Big Ben” and “Many Happy Returns” are other candidates, “Arrival” is very good (unlike most pilots/1st episodes), and I have a soft spot for the Western episode, “Living in Harmony,” although the ending is a tad heavy-handed.
I couldn’t agree more about the Cold War stuff.
I wish there wasn’t such a strong predisposition to remakes in modern show business. If NBC had taken the resources it devoted to “Bionic Woman” and “Knight Rider” and used them instead for some genre project which (a.) was new and (b.) did not suck… it would be a different and a better world, I guess.
Even colder here, today, but still not in the Minnesota range.
had no idea what was going on until the last five minutes, and then it all made sense.
So it’s kind of the opposite of the overall show. That’s elegant. 🙂
–Jeff Stehman
It is sort of the flip side of the last two episodes. (And has a lot of the same actors. Hm!)