Monthly Archives: April 2006

There’s a word for everything

(cryp·tom·ne·sia) (krip²tom-ne¢zh[schwa]) [crypto- + Gr. mnasthai to be mindful] the recall of memories not recognized as such but thought to be original creations.

According to Wikipedia:

Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra includes an almost word for word account of an incident also included in a book published about 1835, half a century before Nietzsche wrote. This is neither considered to be purposeful plagiarism nor pure coincidence. Nietzsche’s sister confirmed that he had indeed read the original account when he was 11-years-old.

There’s also, apparently, a 1916 German short story, written by Heinz von Eschwege, about a middle-aged man traveling abroad who becomes obsessed with a young pre-teen girl named Lolita. Vladimir Nabokov composed his Lolita in the 1950s, but lived for some time in the same section of Berlin as von Eschwege, and was likely familiar with his work.

So it does happen.

There’s a word for everything

(cryp·tom·ne·sia) (krip²tom-ne¢zh[schwa]) [crypto- + Gr. mnasthai to be mindful] the recall of memories not recognized as such but thought to be original creations.

According to Wikipedia:

Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra includes an almost word for word account of an incident also included in a book published about 1835, half a century before Nietzsche wrote. This is neither considered to be purposeful plagiarism nor pure coincidence. Nietzsche’s sister confirmed that he had indeed read the original account when he was 11-years-old.

There’s also, apparently, a 1916 German short story, written by Heinz von Eschwege, about a middle-aged man traveling abroad who becomes obsessed with a young pre-teen girl named Lolita. Vladimir Nabokov composed his Lolita in the 1950s, but lived for some time in the same section of Berlin as von Eschwege, and was likely familiar with his work.

So it does happen.

National Anthems and Rhetorical Questions

There’s a few upset about a recent Spanish translation of the National Anthem

George Bush has entered a row about the US national anthem,
criticising a Spanish version featuring Wyclef John and Gloria Trevi.

“I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English,” he said
when asked at a news conference.

The song also drew derision from Mark Krakorian, head of a US
think-tank called the Center for Immigration Studies.

“Would the French accept people singing the La Marseillaise in English
as a sign of patriotism? Of course not.”

Apparently Bush believes either that learning a language is something which can be accomplished by swallowing a pill, or he believes that immigrants/refugees should be prevented from showing their patriotism by singing the national anthem until they have learned the language.

Mark Krekorian and the Center for Immigration Studies needs someone to tell them that one should never ask a rhetorical question when one doesn’t know the answer.  To assume you know the answer is an extremely risky proposition.

An English translation of France’s National Anthem
(from the French government’s ‘Office of the Presidency’…so that makes it pretty official.)

Joe, Speed, Mel, Mario, and me

May 1st would be the 83rd birthday of Joseph Heller, if he hadn’t died in 1999.

Some point during this month of April also marks the 20th anniversary of my exiting St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 1986 after a four month stay.   Joseph Heller’s autobiography, “No Laughing Matter“, co-written with his friend Speed Vogel, was also published in 1986.

It all began one typical day in the life of Joe Heller. He was jogging four miles at a clip these days, working on his novel God Knows, coping with the complications of an unpleasant divorce, and pigging out once or twice a week on Chinese food with cronies like Mel Brooks, Mario Puzo, and his buddy of more than twenty years, Speed Vogel. He was feeling perfectly fine that day — but within twenty-four hours he would be in intensive care at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital. He would remain hospitalized for nearly six months and leave in a wheelchair.

Heller’s novel, God Knows, would cause me much grief years later in college.  The “pigging out once or twice a week” was with a group which referred to themselves as the “Gourmet Club”. As Speed writes:

We laughingly called ourselves “The Gourmet Club.” It started in the 1960s. Once a week I’d gas up the Jeep and start on the Upper West Side picking up the guys: Joseph Heller, Mario Puzo, George Mandel, Joe Stein, Mel Brooks (the funniest man alive), Julie Green (a diamond merchant whom the funniest man alive calls “the funniest man alive”) and Ngoot Lee (a painter and our Chinese dining guru). Sometimes Carl Reiner or Charles Gwathmey would show up. A meal in Chinatown was a crucial part of our lives.

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry were writing the pilot for “Get Smart!” at Talent Associates on Madison Avenue. They had a pool table there, and while we waited for Mel to finish up, the rest of us would shoot a few games. For a time in the late 1950s, Mel and I had been roomies, and one night we started joking about this producer we knew who lived high on the hog on Central Park West but who had flop after flop on Broadway. At the time, I didn’t figure it was the germ of a fine idea.

I was born in the 1960s.  The fine idea was of course The Producers.

In July of 1986, Joseph Heller wrote the following words:

[You] have a sense of humor good enough to qualify you for the Gourmet Club, if it is ever revived.

He wrote those words to me!  Was he just being kind to a 17 year old kid who went through the same ordeal he did, but without the famous friends?  Maybe.  It’s also possible he didn’t write it.  A few months after receiving the postcard, I received a letter.  He wrote that he wasn’t sure if he had written earlier, and thought he might have handed it off to Speed to reply to.  (Speed had learned to sign Joe’s name while he was in the hospital.)  So Speed may have written those words, but since he too was a member of the Gourmet Club, they’re equally valid.

Currently, once a week, I dine out with some writing colleagues of mine.  It’s not Chinese food.  I’d love it if it were.  We usually think of ourselves more of an Algonquin Round Table than a Gourmet Club.  But whatever works.

sundry thoughts

An article on plagiarism, written by fantasy author, Mercedes Lackey.  I actually linked to this before, back in August of 2004 after meeting the author at a convention.  However, it seems appropriate this week.  Here’s one opinion piece where the author suggests Kaavya Viswanathan might be an innocent bystander.  If you haven’t yet seen the actual quotes, here’s the original Harvard Crimson article.  If innocent, one feels sorry for the author, as she will have a difficult time getting people to believe her.

We’re nearing the end of this year’s pilot season.  The Hollywood Reporter says, “Nearly 100 comedies and dramas are in contention next month for a dwindling number of time slots on five networks.”  It lists the pilots in contention for each network.  A few SF/Fantasy concepts among them.

It’s good to have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Will and Grace – the conclusion

The finale is May 18th. Since television and radio stations across the country had contests to win a trip to a taping of the final episode, and since all the tapings are over, it is of course hard to believe the plot could be kept off the internet.

I found a spoiler posted for the final episode (Don’t read unless you want to know.)

I have no proof that it is accurate. All I personally know is my cousin appears in the final five minutes, and according to IMDB his character’s name is Ben.

The description of the finale sounds confusing, but then again, it was a fan writing it. I suspect given an hour the writers of the show can make it work.

ShowMeCon IV

ShowMeCon IV is over, and boy, was it fun!

Friday morning, I travelled to the Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame with Peter David, his daughter Ariel, and 3 other convention staffers. PAD rode in my car. There’s a small alley in the HoF, and we bowled a game. PAD is what is termed an 800-series bowler, meaning he’s managed to achieve a total of 800 out of 900 in a 3 game series. (This weekend was pretty close to the 1 year anniversary of that achievement.) His daughter has won trophies on the Jr. circuit. Meanwhile, I rarely break 100 in a given game. While my game didn’t improve much, I learned a lot about the history of the game at the museum.

I saw a lot of PAD over the weekend — various panels, and at a dinner banquet Friday night. I purchased from him a script he wrote for the television show Space Cases called The Impossible Dram. The title is naturally a reference to Man of La Mancha. It was one of two such scripts he was offering, the other for the pilot of the show. Both were signed by Jewel Staite, as she was on Space Cases in 1996, playing the role of an engineering genius, 8 years before she got the role of Kaylee for Firefly. I also managed to narrow down the books of his I wanted him to sign to just five.
I also talked with several other less known authors, and the media guest, Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane opposite Kirk Alyn and George Reeves.

ShowMeCon V will be April 20-22, 2007 – at the Maryville Marriott off Hwy 40/64. The author guest of honor will be local author, Barri Bumgarner. The media guest is yet to be named.

Forget Ishmael, Call me Fan-boy

I dropped some alcohol off in the hospitality room a few hours ago, helped set up the art-show panels, and then headed home, as I still wasn’t packed for the weekend. I have been to many conventions, and have helped staff four or five, but I suspect this will be one of my more memorable. Hopefully I’m not jinxing it with this post.

I went to my first convention back in 1991. It was a pure Star Trek convention, and Michael Dorn (Worf) was the guest. For several years I was the traditional Trekkie, and I would stand in line for autographs, listen to the guest speeches, buy blooper tapes in the dealer’s room, etc. But I got bored with the autographs. They’re nice to have, but I have no intention of making money on Ebay or anything, so what’s the point, really? Proof that I saw the actors? I know I did. I have some cool autographed wall hangings, but I have enough. Really.

This weekend Peter David is the guest of honor. I have counted 92 comic books, 13 paperbacks, and 3 hardbacks I could have him sign. 108 autographs might be a few too many to ask him to sign. But it is 18*6, and picking is going to be so difficult. And as I said, I don’t really care about the autographs that much. I just want to keep him busy for a couple minutes so I have a chance to talk to him, and you know, I don’t need my books to do that.

Because at some point this weekend I am one of only a few staff members who will be accompanying PAD (he refers to himself by his initials a lot) on a trip around St. Louis. Where and when exactly I’m not going to say. But the trip should take about four hours. If I don’t get the chance to say everything I want to say in those four hours, there’s something wrong with me. Of course, I have to try not to come off as a total geek. And that could be difficult. Especially if I began with, “when we get back to the hotel, would you mind signing 108 books of yours for me?”

update I’ve narrowed it down to 20: 15 cbs, 2 ppbs, 3 hcs.

Su-wha?

Maybe you heard — Tom and Katie had their baby.  They named her Suri.  The couple explained that it was Hebrew for Princess.  Apparently in Israel (see link above) many are shaking their heads in bewilderment, being completely unfamiliar with the word.  It’s not a complete mistake, but apparently it’s an obscure pronunciation of Sarah, the Biblical heroine.

What I don’t understand is I thought they were Scientologists, and not Hollywood Kaballists.

Where I’ll be this weekend

ShowMeCon4

Author Guest of Honor: Peter David

Media Guest of Honor: Noel Neill (Lois Lane from the 1950s)

The easiest way to find me is to go to the hospitality room, and if I’m not there, wait.  Not that I go to a convention for the free food and drink…but because I am on the staff, and my responsibility is the hospitality room…so while I will have relief on occasion so I can attend a few panels, and get Peter David to sign my stack of books…ultimately I will return.