Mike Gold has been a comic book go-to guy like forever. And now that comics have become mainstream – maybe even more than mainstream, certainly in terms of ancillary earning power – and are attracting a whole new generation of writers, he has something to say.
Something important:
British TV shows are better than American ones. I’m sorry, there’s no other position to take. They don’t try to crank out 26 episodes a season, like we do here. When you do that, you are guaranteeing that at least 10 of the episodes will be “meh”, even if all the others are good. It takes a lot of work to make a superior hour of filmed television. Aside from the necessity of great scripts, the days are very long when in production, at least 12 hours, often longer. It’s too much of a grind to survive and still end up with a jewel at the end. The Brits have it figured out. Make 6-8 episodes/season, so they’ll all be good. Not only that, but it leaves the actors free to have a real life, or perform in plays or even to be in a different series at the same time if they wish. It’s civilized.
I’m totally hooked on another series about city folk moving to the country. It’s an ITV production called Doc Martin that’s shown here in Port Townsend but not where I used to live. You can, however, see three season’s worth of episodes (21 shows) in full 420p, 16×9 aspect ratio at hulu.com. Because I loved it from the moment I saw it, I went back to see it from the beginning. It fits what I wrote about in the previous article on Green Acres. The city guy is the fish out of water, in this case in the fictional coastal Cornish village of Portwenn.
The show is filmed in beautiful Port Isaac, and is about a once-successful surgeon from London who becomes a GP in a sleepy fishing village because he suddenly can’t stand the sight of blood. The Dr’s name is Martin Ellingham (Ellingham is an anagram of the last name of show creator Dominic Minghella), and the locals refuse to call him anything other than “Doc Martin”, which he finds disrespectful. The doc is a surly curmudgeon, has no bedside manner whatsoever, and is constantly in conflict with the villagers, except for his Auntie Joan (Waiting for God’s Stephanie Cole), a long-time resident. This is a dance of dominance between the doc and the locals, so in an inspired choice the show uses catchy tango music for its theme and underscore.
We aren’t sure what this title means, but, hey, it’s Peggy!
Well, not stalking…not really, but readers don’t you want to discover some writers who aren’t always just the main stream? There are some great writers out there who aren’t on the “best sellers” list whether said list is for real or manufactured. Yep, for every great or even rather poor author you see heavily promoted through a publisher, ther are many others wonderful writers out there who’ve opted to self publish and go the Indie route.
The market is driven by just that, the market. If a book doesn’t fit the cubbyhole a certain agent or publisher has, then the book is passed over and it may be a great read you’ll never see because of it.But the Indies are bringing it to you. You might fine great light reading in your favorite genre or discover very specific technical or research materials.
Hey, it’s from Lifehacker.Com, so you know it’s about Real Stuff:
“We Have to Continually Be Jumping Off Cliffs and Developing Our Wings on the Way Down” – by Whitson Gordon
Authors Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut, both of whom have been cited as saying versions of this quote, know a thing or two about creativity. They say that “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” Apart from being a vivid image, it’s a great metaphor for taking risks. Sometimes, you need to just jump headfirst into a project, even if you don’t know where you’re going with it yet. You’ll learn as you go, and sometimes that’s the best way to get the results you want.
Heartless, that’s what she is.
And that’s why we love ‘er:
Ever Wondered How To Kill a Character?