Chris James

Oh WOW...methinks our Emu Extraodinaire should get a gold star for his poetic verse.

I am sorry, Camy, for having contributed to the wanderlust that has occured under this topic, but it just shows you never know where the minds in this forum will go once aroused. A...hem, perhaps that is an inevitable statement here. Fictional angels and Catholicism aside, I will impart a very real conversation I had about sperm: She was a doctor in a very well established sexual disorders clinic when we first met, I cannot name the place for obvious reasons but they are huge in the medical industry. Dr. P and I met at an author's convention about twenty years ago and I had read one of her books on sexual disfunction. (yeah, I'm a medical nerd on occasion). We ended up spending the afternoon together and she was more than willing to discuss her work. This whole subject of puberty rites was a part of her lexicon of study and she told me the most fascinating case she had ever encountered involved a man in France who claimed to be a vampire. Only in this instance he did not feed on blood but the semen of young men. The man was sixty-four years of age but looked to be in his early thirties and was in remarkable physical condition. The circumstances of his life allowed him unfettered access to young men and boys from ages 13 to 25 and he had committed fellatio on thousands of them. A physical exam revealed he had never had any major medical problems, was free of disease, and in fact had no dental problems either. He credited all that to the ingestion of sperm. Dr. P's study was on the means of predatrory behavior this man displayed, and yet she said he was the least predatory individual she had ever encountered. Whenever the man wanted to commit fellatio on a subject all he did was ask for it, something he claimed to do on a daily basis. He told them their sperm would keep him young and in good health...his fountain of youth...and he needed it to live forever. Okay, I was fascinated but I have never used this in a story because I consider it too volitile. Maybe the Frenchman knows something we don't, but at least the tribe in New Guinea would probably understand. Sorry again, Camy...I'm bad

Gay puberty was not a conflict for me. Like some of you I was raised a Catholic and was filled with the absurd dogma which included guardian angels. But I had this image of my guardian angel as a beautiful young man with wings, it was inspiring and I hoped he was watching as I lay in bed stroking myself. Yeah kid, you're gay...so much for religion and the guilt trips. I ran across this on the Wiki site under male masturbation: "The Sambia tribe of New Guinea has rituals and rites of passage surrounding manhood which lasts several years and involves ejaculation through fellatio often several times a day. Semen is valued and masturbation is seen as a waste of semen and is therefore frowned upon even though frequent ejaculation is encouraged. The capacity and need to ejaculate is developed or nurtured for years from an early age but through fellatio so that it can be consumed rather than wasted. Semen is ingested for strength and is considered in the same line as mothers' milk."[ So why is it this group of people, who some would consider extremely primitive, have such an open view of puberty in their society? This ode to male-centric physiology embraces sperm as the life force within a man and celebrates that early production. Yes, our modern society would find fault with this but I imagine their cultural beliefs predate "the civilized world." Perhaps the ancient Greeks would understand, but not the Puritan ethic of our forefathers. No, they are not gay...well some of them may be, and I would be curious to see if any of them feel guilty about it. With the incursion of Islam in that part of the world I can see this rite of passage fading away and being replaced by older men marrying pre-pubescent girls. Tisk, tisk...did I just offend Islam? I hope so.

It isn’t very often that I sit down and watch a foreign film. I should probably do it more often because there is great variety out there and some very talented filmmakers. We just don’t get to see these films in theaters and have to wait for the DVD to hit the market. (I know, I know, someone will say Netflix, but I don’t like eating all their spam with a subscription) This latest viewing is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a Chinese offering. This is a story about love and devotion between two sets of women, one modern and the other over a hundred years before. There are no sexual overtones, just a pure and complicated sharing of emotion. We’ve seen this type of woman oriented film before. Think Beaches or any of the other sisterhood kind of films, but this one is special. As a romance-styled author I found much to offer in the plot, perhaps I should say both plots. The look at China in the 19th Century was fascinating and filled with wonderful scenic images. The modern China scenes exposed me to a lot about the current culture. This isn’t a chick-flick in any sense of the word, but a broad and poignant look at the commitment two people can make for life. Not going to give anything away, no spoilers, but the director gives us wonderful scenery, costumes and good acting to mitigate having to read all those subtitles. You’ll be relieved to know that about half of the film is in English. The director, Wayne Wang (no pun here) gave us Joy Luck Club some time ago and I appreciate his style very much. If you get the chance, give this a try. We could all only wish to write a romance this deep and moving.

Thanks, Richard. Looking up the film allowed me to see the trailer and sample the emotions you spoke of...so now I want to see the film. It's available new from various sources on Amazon, only $9.00...cool!

They probably spent a lot of time figuring out an excuse for having done this bit of stupidity. Just imagine the next busload of school kids who noticed the event: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/10/13217139-pennsylvania-road-crew-paints-yellow-line-over-dead-raccoon?lite

The Color Purple, a great book, but...after the first long bout with the dialect I kept thinking "Okay, I get it." The speech patterns were difficult to absorb. I think if you are trying to tell a story with a setting where local speech patterns suggest the Deep South it behooves the author to make sure readers understand what the characters are saying. Nothing wrong with being accurate, just don't obscure the intent of the dialogue. If you have to stop and explain what a character just said then you have lost the train of thought for the reader. I pondered just such a problem when I wrote Trogdon Way. (Okay, a blatant plug for my story, but...) Mixing black and white characters in a rural Georgia setting was the perfect setup for loads of southern drawl but I didn't use it. I think the readers got the point through the description of the characters lifestyle. I did clip words and use a few expressions found in that area, but my characters were all educated persons. In a modern setting I don't think the author needs to revive the old stereotypes too much when the story will support the characters. The Help was a good film and a better book, but neither of them went overboard with the dialect. Live speech has the added benifit of geographically placing the character. A Southern speaker would be known even if they were reading Shakespeare. "To be or not to be...Y'all get it?"

Like Colin, the notification from Pay Pal is enough to let me know the donation has found it's way to the right place. I get my thank you every time The Dude posts my work. Don't be needin nothin else!

Any way to let the character voice those doubts? If the character is an elderly black woman then 1970 is a part of her later years. What was she as a young woman? Using her thoughts from that earlier time to reflect on a current situation would be an ideal way to meet the racism head on. If the setting is in the South then many of the characters will assume similar spoken characteristics. Speech is generally geographic and beyond that the patterns would be broken up into racial and socio-economic groups. Wealth most often meant a higher education and different speech patterns than in the uneducated population. But if your black woman is now 70 years of age then her patterns of speech were formed at the turn of the century when racism was alive and well in the south. Certain expressions could be used to indicate a level of education, but I would think even a housekeeper had some kind of formal education. Just a few years ago while living in North Carolina I was fascinated by both the black and white persons of local persuasion who didn't say "ask" as in "Can I ask you a question" but the word came out "axe"..."Can I axe you a question." Education had nothing to do with the usage, they all did it which led me to believe it was a geographical expression. So after all, perhaps your dialogue would serve the character best. "Can I axe you sumpthin?" would show less education but would be more likely from a younger character. An older woman would be more aware of her speech in certain company, especially if she had been a housekeeper for many years. There is no racism in portraying a character properly based upon speech of a certain time and location, but the words you say will matter. And by now I have said too much.

Only Cole could give us a story that leaves the reader with empathy for the kidnappers. It was easy to figure out who the bad guy was since from the moment he was introduced he was...well, a bad guy. But figuring that out did nothing towards helping us discover the major puzzle of the story and what happened to Carly. Once again Cole has given us young heroes to admire as they cleverly figured out what was happening. That was a Hardy Boys moment for me, although they never had any lesbian characters in that old series. On too many occasions we think that kids don't have enough imagination, and then we meet these characters. Well done, Cole!

July 10, 1994, The Division Bell Tour at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C....I still have my ticket stub. I have seen several hundred rock concerts in my life, but none matched this one (although live Journey in the early 80's came close) Came pretty close to starting a religion around David Gilmour's musical ability back then when he played this song.

Yup, E.J., really looking forward to the Life of Pi the moment I saw the trailer. I hesitate to write fantasy but I sure do appreciate it on the screen. The CG effects in this one look awesome.

I'll tell you, Lugz...music often inspires thoughts of writing stories. I play music when I write and there is often sound somewhere in the house when I am reading. Let the music guide your muse and give us a sweet story. I didn't write a story based on this song, but I love the singer and it did inspire me to write a story about trains: A footnote: this was taped at Wolftrap Farm Park in Northern Virginia, a place I worked many a show as a stagehand. That could have been me on the followspot, but this was performed after my time there.

Goodness Camy, Floyd is all over YouTube so there must be a version you can find. I would help except I am feeling strangely numb...

Dude...I think the fat lady is in the wings warming up. Could Cole have ended the story here? Probably, because like the jury we have the evidence necessary to conclude the case. But there are things left unsaid and no one is walking off into the sunset just yet. And I agree with Des, I'm sure many of us had already decided who the bad guy would be. The journey through this story is well worth the read thanks to Cole. Now awaiting fat lady and sunset.....

I didn't know Swedes competed like that, what an unfair distraction, someone might trip over that.

Seems to me I always come late to films like this, and I do love those Indie films. This one from last year's lineup I seemed to have missed until the DVD came out. Directed by Brian Crano, and written by Crano and Jake Sandvig, who also has a leading role, Bag of Hammers is a quirky little film. At first I thought this was just a typical 'buds' film, two guys in their 20's who have known each other forever and just never grew up. But that was just the set-up. The film is labeled as a comedy, and there are some silly moments probably best forgotten. Then life gets serious for these guys and the plot pivots around a 12 year old boy. Reviews suggest that the film is presented in vignettes, cutting from one point in time to another, but it works, at least it did for me. I know many actors get concerned when there is a child in the script...kids are notorious scene stealers, and young Chandler Canterbury does just that. His emotional appeal in the role of a boy with secrets kept me focused on his character throughout and he certainly delivered on his assignment, a good little actor in the making. But I would be remiss if I didn't give you my take on the undercurrent in the film. This is NOT A SPOILER since nothing is said about it in the film, there are only clues: I began to wonder if the two 'buds' were in a gay relationship. The plot drops in a few hetero moments for the guys, but then backs away from them leaving us to wonder. Most of the clues are in the dialogue. It wasn't until I watched the interview with the director that Crano suggested he was careful not to show any scenes with the two guys in the bedroom. Why say that if he didn't mean to suggest there might be something going on. But if they were meant to be a gay couple it had very little impact on the storyline...until the last 10 minutes of the film. That's all I will say. Some tense moments for the viewer, but some very heartwarming and emotional scenes as well. The story is light and based upon some silly observations made by the characters. But it evolves, just as each of the characters has to face up to their own shortcomings and make changes in their lives. Indie films are often difficult to understand, but this one wears its heart out in the open. Worth seeing.

Oh yes, where were we? Religious insanity is not limited to Islam, but they sure do have some very strange ideals. Fortunately after viewing this video I now know that being homosexual is due to the Supreme Being...or was it the devil? Fruitcake alert: http://youtu.be/WT3cnFCPKxY The really sad part of viewing this is that the Middle East used to be filled with cultured and intelligent people who understood math and science. Then about 600 BC this young man had his religious awakening in Saudi Arabia and the cult of Islam was born. That was end of intelligent life in the region.

How little do those of us in Western culture understand the workings of Islam. I will grant you that Muhammed as a prophet had some interesting things to say, but then much of his original thinking has been twisted and screwed up by those religious holy men like this: http://youtu.be/RveEw0VjN5g I have studied religious belief over the years because I believe that the truth people believe is often stranger than fiction. It has always been hard to understand why so many put their faith in the God or Allah that these folks aspire to worship. I have never seen anal sex justified like this, when as a gay man I understand it as an expression of love. These people are frickin nuts!

I don't know, Des. They have released the film on DVD in Sweden and you can buy it on Amazon...except of course you can't play it here in the U.S. with our DVD format. Language be damned, put the darn film on a DVD I can buy. The cast list alone will sell the film. I need my John Cleese fix!

I know that Hollywood is easily made jealous, even Bollywood makes them nervous, but I didn't think they would feel threatened by a film from South Africa. But in 2010 John Cleese was one of the featured actors in Spud, The Movie, filmed in South Africa. Now I am reading they are making the sequel and yet here in the US of A the first film has not been shown or released on DVD. I want my John Cleese!!!! Yes, I can download it online, but then I feel like a pirate...arrrgh matey. Whatever is going on, they have released the film in NZ, Australia, and several places in Europe. Is there a rating issue do you suppose? No doubt it looks like a fun film with inappropriate language and delightful sexual overtones, with a perfect part for Mr. Cleese to play. All I can say is...WTF?

Well...finally, but I haven't heard the fat lady sing. I am sure Cole has some other tricks up his sleeve.

Cole, that sound you hear isn't bats in your belfry, it's people digging on your attic for the older stories. Golden oldies doesn't just apply to music, your early work has always been something admired. I bet you could rummage around and find some unpublished things to share. Maybe we ought to have a thread for everyone about things unseen.

I have seen the highlights here on the web. Not sure I would have watched the whole thing live. As for the problems, I'm sure Camy enjoyed it immensely, after all it was in English...most of the time. The Queen did look a little bored on occasion.

I agree with Colin, water should be everyone's favorite. But alas, the taste across the land varies and some water is nigh on to undrinkable. Now that I am in Florida I miss my North Carolina well water...sigh. But if I am out and someone offers me a soda I like to have 7-Up or ginger ale. Anyone ever have Tiger Ale? Now there is an eye- opening experience.