Monday, January 4, 2010

Red and Green, and Awesome All Over

I'm not talking about Christmas, silly, I'm talking about "True Blood" by Charlaine Harris and "Weeds" from Showtime. These are two of the smartest, funniest programs that I have seen in a long time.

For those of you who have never seen "True Blood" it is a vampire serial set in Louisiana. The premise of the show is that vampires have revealed their presence to the world and, two years after this revelation, we see how the world reacts to them. This is what Joss Whedon would have done if HBO had picked up "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", instead of it being on the WB.

Diva Zya read the first 7 books of the series (currently 9 with 4 more coming) and from that she decided she wanted to see how the HBO adaptation had gone. Swimmingly, is my vote. I would love to pop over to Ms. Harris' home and take a look at her bookshelf, because she shows a deep understanding of the vampiric condition that far too many authors lack when they approach the subject.

The same can be said for "Weeds," a program about a suburban housewife who becomes a major pot dealer to support her family after her husband's death. It's been on for 5 years now, but I had never seen it (although I was aware of it) because no one I knew had ever watched it and I refused to get cable tv. Now, thanks to the internet, I am able to keep up with intelligent programming without spending a ridiculous amount every month on cable service just to watch 3-5 shows that don't make me want to choke someone.

The big draw for me, with regards to both programs, is how well-written the characters are. Especially the criminals that populate both fictional worlds. There is so much wisdom and insight (especially in Lafayette in "True Blood") that it makes you wonder about the people who write these shows. What have they been up to in their lives?

There are rarely cut-and-dry answers in life and good writers show this through meaningful dialogue, introspection, and believable conflicts. This is the kind of stuff that I want to write.

Now I just need to come up with the cash to hire an artist.

Friday, January 1, 2010

A New Decade BEGINS

I have neglected this blog for too long. And the reason for this, quite simply, is that I was asleep. I began this project with great enthusiasm, but got sidetracked by issues with mundane things like work, a mortgage, etc.

No longer.

I have decided that the next decade will be VASTLY superior to the previous one, at least as it applies to me and my projects. The key to this, is being awake and aware.

I am disconnecting from the bullshit. It was a gradual process I began in the past 3 years, and I have decided that it is time to accelerate it. To fully embrace the concepts that I am so enamored of, to live a life free from useless crap; be it material, emotional, cultural.

Watch this space, my friends. The next decade is going to be GOOD.