Lee Goldberg - Mensch

If you go to the sidebar and activate the player you can listen to our wonderful conversation last night with author/screenwriter/man about Europe Lee Goldberg on Geekerati. It was like sitting down for coffee with a buddy and having a good time. Lee was honest, interesting and illuminating -- just like his blog.

Drop him a note to convince him to do a .357 VIGILANTE compendium edition. My paperback copies died a disintegrating death awhile back and we need new pulp for the library.

Tune In Tonight...

Or is that Log On Tonight?

Hmmm...either way, The Geekerati crew will be talking with Lee Goldberg, television writer (and book author) of the MONK series, DIAGNOSIS MURDER and of course, SHE-WOLF of LONDON.

Lee has been working on a TV Movie over in Germany and I hope to discuss with him first hand some of the insights he's gleaned from working on an international project and his pulpy alter-ego, Ian Ludlow, author of the .357 VIGILANTE paperback novels.

Post Tryptophan Hangover...

So, still feeling stuffed after the big bird blowout yesterday. Now as the serotonin levels in my brain begin to lower I am left with a desire to get to work on some projects that I've been juggling lately, and yet here I am blogging...and here you are reading.


(You enablers! Damn you all)


The holidays are now officially in full swing and we will be addressing this in an upcoming Geekerati podcast with our "What I want for Christmas this year" episode. I am taking suggestions now.


John Rogers (who is experiencing the cold up north for the first time in a long time I wager) has a discussion about short online fiction and the death of the anthology following a post by Warren Ellis on the same subject. I'm also wondering what happened to our series paperback characters that seemed to dominate the drug store spinner racks when I was a kid. Does anyone here besides me remember the Richard Blade series of books?


Warren Ellis reminded me the other day about Createspace - a division of Amazon - where you can publish on demand and videopost on demand and monetize the whole thing - including selling DVDs on demand. This is an excellent step toward self-sufficiency for filmmakers. It's possible that there could be a shift toward "regionalism" with something like this set up. Imagine a group of mediamakers who aren't in LA, New York or Chicago who have their own local programs and "stars" and are able to create content for a local market that pays the bills. Possibly similar to where Quebec is in the Canadian market - separate and distinct, but accesible to those who look for that programming. Then, as an afterthought the rights to the programming is sold elsewhere as added revenue not necessary for financial solvency.


(Yes, these are the things that run through my head as the serotonin dips)


Congrats to Denis McGrath whose THE BORDER premiered in Canada last night. I will be searching the webs for it.

I've been searching the web looking for a new blog template that reflects my pulp, movie-making and new media sensibilities. If anyone has a suggestion that seems to fit the bill, please send me a link. The template must be compatible with Blogger, easily adaptable and rockin'. I'm going to be breaking things up into better categories for navigation's sake as well as providing links to my other digital shadows - message boards, networks, business related matters.

I set aside my short story for Astonishing for a week so I can go back to it over the holidays and polish it up. I wrote down a lot of notes and put the file away so I can read it with fresh eyes right before I polish it. The twist doesn't work yet as I haven't set it up properly in the story. It has to be obvious when it happens, but not so obvious that the reader gets it before I give it to him in the story. A delicate touch to be sure and I'm a freakin' sledgehammer...

Later...

We Now Return You To Our Regularly Scheduled Podcast

So last night I had some technical difficulties joining the gang over at the Geekerati Podcast (see sidebar player to your right). We were supposed to discuss Scary Television - horror television shows of exceptional quality...

So in the interest of my keeping up my end of the conversation, why don't you go over to the podcast and listen and wherever appropriate insert my comments:

My list of scary television (in no particular order):

KOLCHAK:
The grand-daddy of horror television. From the 2 pilot movies to the regular series, Kolchak was a monster-of-the-week show that was a reflection of the writers and directors as well as star Darren McGavin. I only wish the remake had half the genius this show had.

THE OUTER LIMITS (original B/W series):
Another monster of the week show with overlapping scifi elements. Great stories with real emotion and superior production value and featuring great television and movie stars who sold the story to the audience. They also used the writing of renowned scifi and horror authors - Matheson, Ellison, Binder, etc...

DARK SHADOWS:
A Vampire as the hero of a soap opera that played for five days a week. Barnabas was evil and ruthless but you understood his agony as we relived how he became a vampire. Groundbreaking.

FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES:
A brand name that expanded beyond the hockey maskand machete movies. Great late night television.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED (based on stories by Roald Dahl):
Clever stories that fulfilled the promise of the series' title. Because it was syndicated late night it could "get away" with more horror.

NIGHT GALLERY:
Horror on Primetime network tv. Who'd a thunk it? From prolific genius Rod Serling who wasn't afraid to scare the pants off the adults.

ULTRAVIOLET:
Vampires are here and we have to do something about it - because they want to control their food supply. You couldn't see them on video nor hear them over the phone (a great continuation of the idea Vamps can't be seen in a mirror) but they can and will do whatever they have to in order to survive. A six-episode series from the UK that should have gone on to several more series, but didn't. What a missed opportunity.

WEREWOLF:
"The Fugitive with fangs." Excellent makeup FX wrapped into a cheaply produced show that premiered on the fledgling Fox network back in the 80's. From Frank Lupo who was part of the whole Cannell explosion of the 80's tv. A lot of fun that played with the werewolf mythology.

THE X-FILES:
Mixed elements of Kolchak with Werewolf , but set in a format/premise that allowed not only horror, but scifi thrills. One episode about an inbred family that kept reproducing throwbacks by tying the mother under the bed with chicken wire so she could "service" her boys was never broadcast on Fox again as it was deemed too gruesome and horrifying.

Yah gotta love that...

Last Night on Geekerati...

We discussed the term "torture porn" and how it is being used to classify movies such as SAW, HOSTEL and CAPTIVITY...

It was our usual scintillating geekfest which you can listen to by going to my right-hand sidebar and activating the player.