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From Last Night's 60 MINUTES
Jan. 14th, 2013 03:34 pmMarch of The Machines.
There was a part that meshed directly with the "firmware" portion of POI's Machine. Law offices, prosecutor and defender divisions are now commonly using analytical computers to research cases and collect evidence in the "discovery" phase. How much you want to bet that The Machine already is looking in on every single one of these systems to tell who's being investigated...and who's doing the investigating? Maybe even to recruit potential future assets?
There was a part that meshed directly with the "firmware" portion of POI's Machine. Law offices, prosecutor and defender divisions are now commonly using analytical computers to research cases and collect evidence in the "discovery" phase. How much you want to bet that The Machine already is looking in on every single one of these systems to tell who's being investigated...and who's doing the investigating? Maybe even to recruit potential future assets?
Stories Jane Bierce Never Got To Tell
Apr. 25th, 2012 03:12 pmThis may or may not surprise you: while I did "go to college", I never actually "left home" and so I had a front row seat for my mother's entire literary career. She started by subscribing to Writer's Digest magazine at about the time my brother started school, and she took up the magazine's correspondence courses in creative writing. After a few short stories that never saw print, she turned to novel writing.
I LINK TO MOST OF HER COMPLETED WORKS HERE, but since that time one of her previous print-only books was re-issued as an e-book, we were attempting to get her only remaining print-only novel re-issued as well, and two other complete books had been submitted to her publisher but hadn't seen release. (I'll have to get back to her publisher[s] about that myself.) She's done a lot of work on her final book, and I hope to arrange for an author friend of hers here to complete it for her.
That still leaves a kennel full of orphaned story pups and kittens. As her assistant, I tried to keep track of them so I could help Mum stay focussed; I had a little file called the Tracker set up to log down which project was which. I'll share with you a selection of what was in it as of 2006, plus some other older concepts Jane had come upon.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: About a drama professor getting started at a small liberal arts college.
CELEBRITY CAMP: A reality-show inspired story about a secluded retreat where newly-rich and newly-famous people get accultured and learn to avoid the troubles of the new realities. (Previously, Jane had a similar idea called SNOB SCHOOL, about a teenage girl of a rock radio entrepreneur having to attend debutante school on the orders of her new stepfamily.)
THE CHILI POKER CLUB: A set of fast college friends try to keep their relationships alive after graduation by perpetuating a poker game club.
COMPLETE SET: A struggling young woman acquires a box of what she thinks is sewing patterns from a deceased lady's estate sale, but it turns out to be a collection of baseball cards kept in memory of her son lost in Vietnam. The discovery brings the woman into conflict with a recent widower friend of the lady and his pre-adolescent baseball fan son.
THE CONDO: A suspense tale about a woman fleeing a stalker, a private detective investigating hints of an impending cybernetic break-in at a bank, and the condo room they wind up having to share over that weekend.
CRISPY CONE: A sequel to DEARLY BELOVED set in the same town, about the family who runs a drive-in diner that is one of the social centers of the community.
THE DUCHESS: Based on the true life of Eleanora, an heir to nobility in Renaissance Italy who was at the center of many political intrigues and married the young Duke of Urbino in 1508.
THE FLIRTATION: It's been a long time since I'd seen this, so I've forgotten a lot about it. I think it's about a wager between two romantic intellectual rivals.
I'D RATHER BE IN VENICE: A very self-referential romantic suspense story about the world of art thieves and forgery.
MARRYING MAN: Set in Andrew Jackson-era Tennessee, it's about a "horse whisperer" woman who is something of a feminist--and her family's attempts to find a match for her and get her to "settle down".
THE OTHER WOMAN'S OTHER MAN: A fiancee hires a detective to verify the faith of her would-be husband...and the two determine that what looks like infidelity may in fact be blackmail.
PIECES OF THE PAST: The discovery of a quilt hidden in a wall of an old house being renovated leads to a treasure hunt--and some antics from ghosts of the house's previous occupants.
RESOLUTIONS: Three women at a New Year's Eve party are told by a psychic to write down their resolutions and the psychic promises to make them come true. The narrative follows the three over the course of the year...at the end they, and their loved ones, find that it all came true, but with changes.
SAFE AT HOME: A woman who swears off men after a break-up instead gets a break-in when a new tenant at her duplex mistakes her side for the side he's started renting. Can he make it up to her? Will she let him?
TWENTY-ONE GUN SALUTE: A young woman in a rich family turns twenty-one and gets full use of her share of the family trust fund...and she decides to start a business.
THE WIDOW SANDS: Based on true history...during the Pennsylvania Oil Boom of the late 19th Century (basically a parallel to the Wild West--and the spawning ground of much great industry wealth and robber baronies), a widow goes to the boom town and finds that the "school for girls" she inherited from her late speculator husband is a saloon and brothel. She struggles to set things right, and has difficulty riding herd over her "students", but eventually earns a respectability for the town that keeps it alive once the boom ends.
THE X.Y.Z. AFFAIR: Two law students (one named Xavier and one named Yeoman) and their professor (named Zackery) work together for the Public Defenders office when a poor landscape worker is accused of murdering a rich landowner. (This was intended to be the start of a series of mystery novels involving the same characters.)
I LINK TO MOST OF HER COMPLETED WORKS HERE, but since that time one of her previous print-only books was re-issued as an e-book, we were attempting to get her only remaining print-only novel re-issued as well, and two other complete books had been submitted to her publisher but hadn't seen release. (I'll have to get back to her publisher[s] about that myself.) She's done a lot of work on her final book, and I hope to arrange for an author friend of hers here to complete it for her.
That still leaves a kennel full of orphaned story pups and kittens. As her assistant, I tried to keep track of them so I could help Mum stay focussed; I had a little file called the Tracker set up to log down which project was which. I'll share with you a selection of what was in it as of 2006, plus some other older concepts Jane had come upon.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: About a drama professor getting started at a small liberal arts college.
CELEBRITY CAMP: A reality-show inspired story about a secluded retreat where newly-rich and newly-famous people get accultured and learn to avoid the troubles of the new realities. (Previously, Jane had a similar idea called SNOB SCHOOL, about a teenage girl of a rock radio entrepreneur having to attend debutante school on the orders of her new stepfamily.)
THE CHILI POKER CLUB: A set of fast college friends try to keep their relationships alive after graduation by perpetuating a poker game club.
COMPLETE SET: A struggling young woman acquires a box of what she thinks is sewing patterns from a deceased lady's estate sale, but it turns out to be a collection of baseball cards kept in memory of her son lost in Vietnam. The discovery brings the woman into conflict with a recent widower friend of the lady and his pre-adolescent baseball fan son.
THE CONDO: A suspense tale about a woman fleeing a stalker, a private detective investigating hints of an impending cybernetic break-in at a bank, and the condo room they wind up having to share over that weekend.
CRISPY CONE: A sequel to DEARLY BELOVED set in the same town, about the family who runs a drive-in diner that is one of the social centers of the community.
THE DUCHESS: Based on the true life of Eleanora, an heir to nobility in Renaissance Italy who was at the center of many political intrigues and married the young Duke of Urbino in 1508.
THE FLIRTATION: It's been a long time since I'd seen this, so I've forgotten a lot about it. I think it's about a wager between two romantic intellectual rivals.
I'D RATHER BE IN VENICE: A very self-referential romantic suspense story about the world of art thieves and forgery.
MARRYING MAN: Set in Andrew Jackson-era Tennessee, it's about a "horse whisperer" woman who is something of a feminist--and her family's attempts to find a match for her and get her to "settle down".
THE OTHER WOMAN'S OTHER MAN: A fiancee hires a detective to verify the faith of her would-be husband...and the two determine that what looks like infidelity may in fact be blackmail.
PIECES OF THE PAST: The discovery of a quilt hidden in a wall of an old house being renovated leads to a treasure hunt--and some antics from ghosts of the house's previous occupants.
RESOLUTIONS: Three women at a New Year's Eve party are told by a psychic to write down their resolutions and the psychic promises to make them come true. The narrative follows the three over the course of the year...at the end they, and their loved ones, find that it all came true, but with changes.
SAFE AT HOME: A woman who swears off men after a break-up instead gets a break-in when a new tenant at her duplex mistakes her side for the side he's started renting. Can he make it up to her? Will she let him?
TWENTY-ONE GUN SALUTE: A young woman in a rich family turns twenty-one and gets full use of her share of the family trust fund...and she decides to start a business.
THE WIDOW SANDS: Based on true history...during the Pennsylvania Oil Boom of the late 19th Century (basically a parallel to the Wild West--and the spawning ground of much great industry wealth and robber baronies), a widow goes to the boom town and finds that the "school for girls" she inherited from her late speculator husband is a saloon and brothel. She struggles to set things right, and has difficulty riding herd over her "students", but eventually earns a respectability for the town that keeps it alive once the boom ends.
THE X.Y.Z. AFFAIR: Two law students (one named Xavier and one named Yeoman) and their professor (named Zackery) work together for the Public Defenders office when a poor landscape worker is accused of murdering a rich landowner. (This was intended to be the start of a series of mystery novels involving the same characters.)
Writer's Block: Critical Acclaim
Apr. 2nd, 2012 04:51 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I loved a LOT of One-Season Wonders. The most recent being the Americanized LIFE ON MARS. ABC just kept screwing around once it premiered, messing with the time-slot and keeping it off air when it was building an audience. I wish it had been given further seasons and a chance to live up to its potential. I suppose I'll have to eventually get the British version and its sequel on DVD to figure out where it was actually headed.
PS: I decided to do a quick survey of one-season wonders of my lifetime. I've only made it through most of the Seventies and Eighties when I was watching much more television than I do now.
One-Season Wonders:
ABC: 240-Robert, The Associates, Best of the West, Blue Thunder, Breaking Away, Call To Glory, The Insiders, Masquerade, Masters of Science Fiction, Max Headroom, Operation Petticoat, The Phoenix, Renegades, Salvage, Strike Force, When The Whistle Blows, When Things Were Rotten
CBS: Bring 'Em Back Alive, California Fever, Concrete Cowboys, The Flash, Frank's Place, Mr. Merlin, Otherworld, Q.E.D., Spencer's Pilots, Square Pegs, Whiz Kids
NBC: Amazing Stories, Games People Play, Mike Nesmith in Television Parts, Misfits Of Science, Project UFO, Sword of Justice, Voyagers
FOX: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Space: Above & Beyond
I loved a LOT of One-Season Wonders. The most recent being the Americanized LIFE ON MARS. ABC just kept screwing around once it premiered, messing with the time-slot and keeping it off air when it was building an audience. I wish it had been given further seasons and a chance to live up to its potential. I suppose I'll have to eventually get the British version and its sequel on DVD to figure out where it was actually headed.
PS: I decided to do a quick survey of one-season wonders of my lifetime. I've only made it through most of the Seventies and Eighties when I was watching much more television than I do now.
One-Season Wonders:
ABC: 240-Robert, The Associates, Best of the West, Blue Thunder, Breaking Away, Call To Glory, The Insiders, Masquerade, Masters of Science Fiction, Max Headroom, Operation Petticoat, The Phoenix, Renegades, Salvage, Strike Force, When The Whistle Blows, When Things Were Rotten
CBS: Bring 'Em Back Alive, California Fever, Concrete Cowboys, The Flash, Frank's Place, Mr. Merlin, Otherworld, Q.E.D., Spencer's Pilots, Square Pegs, Whiz Kids
NBC: Amazing Stories, Games People Play, Mike Nesmith in Television Parts, Misfits Of Science, Project UFO, Sword of Justice, Voyagers
FOX: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Space: Above & Beyond
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The pilot storyline for Gargoyles. I know the world has completely changed in the time since it was on TV, but gosh darn it!--Revive it somehow! A Pixar CGI feature version would be billions of tons of cool.
The pilot storyline for Gargoyles. I know the world has completely changed in the time since it was on TV, but gosh darn it!--Revive it somehow! A Pixar CGI feature version would be billions of tons of cool.
Everybody's Gotta Be Somewhere
Oct. 20th, 2011 12:20 amIt's weird seeing Navi Rawat (from Numb3rs) as a nasty villainess in Burn Notice. It's just a complete 180% turn from the previous role.
(Yes, I know they're LAST YEAR'S episodes. I don't have cable, okay?)
At least she isn't being typecast.
(Yes, I know they're LAST YEAR'S episodes. I don't have cable, okay?)
At least she isn't being typecast.
When You've Made Your Secret Journey...
Oct. 19th, 2011 12:03 amSagittarius Horoscope for week of October 20, 2011
In addition to reading your astrological omens, I did a Tarot reading, consulted the I Ching, and threw the runes. They all gave me the same message: The coming week would be a good time for you to spend quality time mulling over the Biggest Mystery of Your Life. It's not mandatory that you do so. You won't cause a disaster if you refuse. Still, wouldn't it be fun? Life is inviting you to get re-excited about your personal version of the quest for the Holy Grail. Your future self is calling and calling and calling for you to dive into the ancient riddle you've been working on since before you were born. The mists are parting.
I've sorta already started. I'm wondering if I could have EVER gotten anywhere near where I wanted to be in life from where I started and the path I was forced to take. What choices dd I really have? What mistakes were necessary ones that I couldn't possibly have avoided? What did I do right that I could have done better? I've got to get to the core, hardwired program and see.
In addition to reading your astrological omens, I did a Tarot reading, consulted the I Ching, and threw the runes. They all gave me the same message: The coming week would be a good time for you to spend quality time mulling over the Biggest Mystery of Your Life. It's not mandatory that you do so. You won't cause a disaster if you refuse. Still, wouldn't it be fun? Life is inviting you to get re-excited about your personal version of the quest for the Holy Grail. Your future self is calling and calling and calling for you to dive into the ancient riddle you've been working on since before you were born. The mists are parting.
I've sorta already started. I'm wondering if I could have EVER gotten anywhere near where I wanted to be in life from where I started and the path I was forced to take. What choices dd I really have? What mistakes were necessary ones that I couldn't possibly have avoided? What did I do right that I could have done better? I've got to get to the core, hardwired program and see.
Writer's Block: Remote control
Sep. 27th, 2011 07:31 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
On television in general or on television AND I get to actually watch it?
In the first catagory: Top Gear (original UK, please?), Torchwood, Doctor Who, Burn Notice (all of which I'm lucky to catch on recorded video).
Stuff I get to watch: CHUCK, Criminal Minds, Person Of Interest.
On television in general or on television AND I get to actually watch it?
In the first catagory: Top Gear (original UK, please?), Torchwood, Doctor Who, Burn Notice (all of which I'm lucky to catch on recorded video).
Stuff I get to watch: CHUCK, Criminal Minds, Person Of Interest.
On The Fall TV Premieres So Far
Sep. 22nd, 2011 10:55 pmCRIMINAL MINDS
I don't know if any of my readers are as big of fans of the series as I am, but just in case you are and you haven't seen the first episode yet...
( Spoilers Behind This )
PERSON OF INTEREST
ALIAS meets Early Edition, with a good measure of Burn Notice thrown in (John Reese is basically a clone of Michael of Burn Notice--a former spy gone rogue). It's going to have to work to get an audience but I think it deserves one. The premiere episode had plenty of topspin. And since it's set in that Big Apple, I imagine a crossover with Bluebloods or CSI: New York might happen one of these seasons.
I don't know if any of my readers are as big of fans of the series as I am, but just in case you are and you haven't seen the first episode yet...
( Spoilers Behind This )
PERSON OF INTEREST
ALIAS meets Early Edition, with a good measure of Burn Notice thrown in (John Reese is basically a clone of Michael of Burn Notice--a former spy gone rogue). It's going to have to work to get an audience but I think it deserves one. The premiere episode had plenty of topspin. And since it's set in that Big Apple, I imagine a crossover with Bluebloods or CSI: New York might happen one of these seasons.
Tags:
Adventures In Re-Imagination #2
Sep. 22nd, 2011 01:43 pmAnother TV series that used to be regularly shown on Retro:
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
Original Premise: A war veteran who became a successful lawyer has the shock of his life when he is diagnosed with a unavoidably fatal--and inoperable--condition. Luckily, it's still in its early latent stage, so he'll be healthy for a while. But his physician only gives him a year or so to live.
"I haven't taken a day off since Law School," the lawyer says.
"See if you can pack twenty years of living in twelve months," his doctor tells him back.
And so the man quits his practice, and goes out into the world on a perpetual whirlwind adventure. He takes on daredevil missions for ad hoc causes, such as smuggling spies out of hostile nations, or testing race cars, or guiding a sailboat out of the path of a hurricane--whatever needs to be done and done NOW. He'll take on any task where the reward justifies--and circumstance demands--the risk of a man's life.
Reimagined: He takes his situation to the Internet. He has a blog, which is virally popular, written under the pseudonym "The Runner". He has a top-of-the-line smartphone through which he gets his assignments. Since he's amassed loads of Frequent Flyer miles from his previous life, he can go anywhere in the world at any time. His readers across the web find missions for him and help him whereever they can. (Since he is a military veteran, this series can be plugged into the NCIS [nee JAG] continuity too!)
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
Original Premise: A war veteran who became a successful lawyer has the shock of his life when he is diagnosed with a unavoidably fatal--and inoperable--condition. Luckily, it's still in its early latent stage, so he'll be healthy for a while. But his physician only gives him a year or so to live.
"I haven't taken a day off since Law School," the lawyer says.
"See if you can pack twenty years of living in twelve months," his doctor tells him back.
And so the man quits his practice, and goes out into the world on a perpetual whirlwind adventure. He takes on daredevil missions for ad hoc causes, such as smuggling spies out of hostile nations, or testing race cars, or guiding a sailboat out of the path of a hurricane--whatever needs to be done and done NOW. He'll take on any task where the reward justifies--and circumstance demands--the risk of a man's life.
Reimagined: He takes his situation to the Internet. He has a blog, which is virally popular, written under the pseudonym "The Runner". He has a top-of-the-line smartphone through which he gets his assignments. Since he's amassed loads of Frequent Flyer miles from his previous life, he can go anywhere in the world at any time. His readers across the web find missions for him and help him whereever they can. (Since he is a military veteran, this series can be plugged into the NCIS [nee JAG] continuity too!)
Writer's Block: Life in the boob tube
Aug. 3rd, 2011 02:44 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
Back when I was a more active otaku I used to joke that we (my friends and I) wanted "Super Dimensional" lives but were probably more likely to get "Rumik World" ones. The problem with the "cool" stories is that they're also horribly dangerous ones. I love Chuck, but would you want to live in a Burbank where if you go to the big-box store for a barrel of cheese balls, you could wind up in a fight with master super spies? I love Criminal Minds, but would you want to be in a situation in which the BAU may be your only hope of surviving? Burn Notice is great--but would you want to live around these characters? Life On Mars...cool, but I don't know the British version. (In fact, my own "Hackett Continuum" was going to have some thematic parallels.)
I know this doesn't answer your question. Let's just say I'm still chewing on it.
Back when I was a more active otaku I used to joke that we (my friends and I) wanted "Super Dimensional" lives but were probably more likely to get "Rumik World" ones. The problem with the "cool" stories is that they're also horribly dangerous ones. I love Chuck, but would you want to live in a Burbank where if you go to the big-box store for a barrel of cheese balls, you could wind up in a fight with master super spies? I love Criminal Minds, but would you want to be in a situation in which the BAU may be your only hope of surviving? Burn Notice is great--but would you want to live around these characters? Life On Mars...cool, but I don't know the British version. (In fact, my own "Hackett Continuum" was going to have some thematic parallels.)
I know this doesn't answer your question. Let's just say I'm still chewing on it.
Useless News
Aug. 2nd, 2011 01:42 pmJust south of Corbin, Kentucky on Highway 25E, at the used car dealership named Slusher's, there is a Chevy Astro van painted up as Scooby-Doo's "Mystery Machine" in all its quasi-hippie glory. I didn't stop to see whether it was for sale, or if so what the asking price is, when I went by there Sunday.
A Little Mystery Solved
Jun. 18th, 2011 11:45 pmhttp://www.theearlhayspress.com/index.html
You'd have to be about my age or older to understand.
It's all about product placement. The rules were a little different in movies and TV prior to the 1980s. The studios used to have to pay and pay big money to include branded products on screen. So instead of doing that, they'd hire somebody, the above link for a very big example, to fake it.
The "Nacy L. Courey's" beer can was an unintended icon of the late Seventies/early Eighties dramedy show. I have no idea where it first appeared, but it appeared frequently on The Rockford Files and Eight Is Enough and a lot of other genre shows.
Now the world has reversed; companies compete with one another to appear in big movies, and now, when a studio does a fake like this it's more likely for satirical intent. But it's still enough to keep The Earl Hay's Press open and busy.
Now I want to design a race car livery celebrating Courey's Age-Dated Beer. After I do one for Schleppo, of course.
Wednesday Night Weirdness
Jan. 21st, 2011 01:40 pm( Posted Here Because It Times Out Or Glitches When I Try To Watch It At CBS.Com ).
PS: When I attempted to establish a CBS.COM account using my Facebook ID, I found out that I already had an account with there, and revived it. Unfortunately, I can't link to it, but if you want to friend me there just look for sbierce@hotmail.com in the Friend Search function.
PS: When I attempted to establish a CBS.COM account using my Facebook ID, I found out that I already had an account with there, and revived it. Unfortunately, I can't link to it, but if you want to friend me there just look for sbierce@hotmail.com in the Friend Search function.
