If not, I’m afraid there is no excuse. We all know Wil, we all enjoyed Star Trek : The Next Generation so he was part of our childhoods. Some of the best times in the evenings were watching a group fail at Knightmare, then switching over to BBC 2 at 6pm to watch Star Trek : TNG. If I was very lucky “The Crystal Maze” would be on a little later (but I’m not sure they happened on the same days.. so I might be making that up).

Either way Wil is about to publish a book called Memories of the Future : Volume One. He has started at the beginning of Star Trek : TNG and takes a look at episode, what it was about, how it fitted in the series, and just his general observation about what was going on and off set at the time.

To go along with this he is doing a series of shot pod casts talking about the book, reading excepts, and just generally being funny. The second episode has just come out, and Wil’s thoughts and observations are excellent. I especially like how he is not precious about the work he did, the show has it flaws, but on the whole its great and he just had fun.

Check out this episode, then the first one (or in order if you are crazy like that) and bask in the glory of Wil.

*When I say everyone.. I might mean the geeks among us.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I want to talk to you if I may about something very serious. Something that has always annoyed me and continues to annoy me now. Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles. The “Ninja” part is very important. This is the story of a little boy and his eyes being opened to the larger world. When he realised you can have great meaning and significance in something that on the surface appears to be only very small.

21 years ago I was introduced to Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Four characters that still mean a lot to me now. The year was 1989 and I was just a small boy. Transformers had come and gone. But even now the voice of Peter Cullen and Optimus Prime bring back fond memories, and always puts a smile on my face (I am fortunate I can share this with my son, and my daughter when she is a little bigger). But that was 1985, I needed something new, something fresh.

Hero Turtles

The film that changed it all

Then something came for me “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles”. Four amazing mutant turtles trained in martial arts by their rat master Splinter. Every week they fought the evil Shredder and all was good with the world. If I am honest with you I loved the series when it was on, but I always though the style was a little weak, but the concept was and is solid.

Then in 1990 when I was just 11 I got to see an astounding film. I still remember going to the cinema with my dad to see it. He was not so keen, but I had waited months to see it. It was everything I had hoped for, and it created a new interest in me, a fascination with Special FX and animatronincs. I saw it another three times at the cinema and longed for the day I could buy it on video.

Movie Trivial for you. Watch closely for Sam Rockwell in one of his first roles.

There is nothing I wanted more in the world than turtles. The toys we some way off, and when they did eventually come they were very hard to get hold off and not well made. I managed to nab a Michaelangelo and Leonardo .

World destroyed, eyes opened

The cover that changed it all

Then in 1991 (I was 12) I discovered the original comics. They came in four large books, I remember standing in the book shop looking at the cover thinking they look like the turtles, but its not right. They are all in red, and they are “Ninja” turtles? Something is wrong here. I managed to persuade my mum I needed the book, and my sister got the second volume.

From that moment the world I thought I knew was no more. The cartoon, the film, everything I had was destroyed. Raised to the ground and rebuilt better than before. This comic showed something I had always thought was missing from the idea. A real weight and meaning to the story, it was not just whimsical and a little silly. It was serious and deadly, it was a dark story of  revenge and family. This was not the turtles I knew at all, this was much more real.

But there was something else I noticed over the course of the books. From the very start of the stories to the end the turtles are evolving, changing their personalities and growing. The films stole various elements from the comics, but the comics themselves make you feel a lot more.

Loving to hate Raph

If you had asked me who do you liked the least I would have said Raphael. No question, he was just a jerk in the cartoon and films. A hot head who refused to listen and just wanted to do his own thing.

But the comic makes the reason for this perfectly clear. He is the best of all of them, he is the most natural and most skilful. He feels is held back by his three brothers, and rejected by the world around him. He can not come to terms with the fact that they see Leo as the leader. He should be the leader because he is the best, and that’s what makes him a jerk. But he knows why they look to Leo and not him, and while that hurts him he feels it as well.

Understanding Raph has to be my favorite story of the turtles. Its always there in everything they do, but you just don’t see it until later. Then you can look back and say “oh yeah.. how did I not see that?”.

Leo, Mike and Don

Again as a small boy I would have told you Don is my favorite because he is clever and makes cool things. Mike was always in third place after Leo. He was cool, but that was really all he did and while I enjoyed it, it was not really enough.

Leo has always been great. He has two swords.. what’s not to love about that. He leads the group and over the course of the comics comes to realise that being a leader is not always fun.

Evolution of more than just turtles

But something else I noticed over the course of the comic was the evolution of Eastman and Laird‘s drawing style. From the initial book to the last book, the styles are very different, it accentuates the evolution going on in the turtles, showing you they are not the same as they were when they started.

It’s Ninja not Hero

Once I had started down the path of the ninja, there was no going back. I could never look at the “Hero Turtles” the same way, they seemed childish in comparison to real story that inspired them. In a way I was a little saddened I could not enjoy them any more. But in many more ways I was happy I had seen something much better.

The best arcade

But I am thankful to the hero turtles for the arcade game that shares their name. It is still one of the best arcade games ever made, and I lost a lot of time and money to that machine.

Who’s your favorite?

If you ask me that now… I would have to say Leonardo (he is the leader… and has two swords). But Raphael comes a close second.

If I had to put money on one of them in a fight.. it would be on Raph.

(Opens in new window)

As a child of the 80s, it was an amazing read for me as Bret was always one of my favourites. Reading what was going on behind the scenes and happening to him while remembering how I felt while watching some of the matches he talks about was a super nostalgic experience and brought out the kid in me who used to argue with the Middle School Caretaker that wrestling wasn’t fake.  Yeah I was that much of a believer, the Hart Foundation matches were one of the reasons I believed in it. Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart looked like he could slam anyone and Bret always seemed capable of out wrestling anyone.  Bret’s pink shades were the first wrestling merchandise I ever got.

Bret doesn’t seem to shy from the truth even when it can be quite a shock to read how often he cheated on his wife or the stories of himself and especially other wrestlers pills, drugs and drink problems.  It’s strange that despite me knowing the ending of the book well in advance, it still made me so sad.  To read about how my hero was struggling to go out on TV while suffering injuries and making them worse puts me in awe and plenty of guilty that as a fan I couldn’t even tell.  Even the concussion that eventually finished Bret’s career he stubbornly carried on working through. When I see people skip a desk job with every feeble excuse under the sun, that devotion to duty and dedication seems incredible.

The sad breakup of his family, his stroke and the death of his parents really ends the book in a sad way. There is an afterword where he talks of being a survivor but even then, he mentions his friends lost along the way, wrestlers I grew up watching and I can’t help but think how I’d have liked a happier ending for all concerned.

Thank you Bret Hart. You went through so much for me, my brother and all your fans.  You put on good matches with everyone and I feel ashamed that I didn’t use a day off work to go and meet you when you were in London signing copies of this book. My copy is signed but I fear it wasn’t until I read your book that I remembered how much I truly appreciated all your work and if I had a time machine, going back and making sure I met you and told you this would be one of my top things to do.

Live long and enjoy your retirement Bret. It’s more than deserved. For me you always were and always will be, The Best there is, The Best there was and the Best there ever will be.

Gareth

I throughly recommend you read this book

As I have already mentioned I am not one for reading books (although I wish I was), there are so many books I would like to read but just can’t do it. But I do enjoy listening to audio books, so as long as I can find the book I want read aloud I can “read” it and thoroughly enjoy it. So I got a wonderful surprise this week when I was browsing one of my favourite sites (BoingBoing) and I came across this. A fan reading of “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom”.

Written by Cory Doctorow in 2003 under a Creative Commons license. So anyone is free to make a recording of the book, and even give it away as Cory does on his own site. Cory himself is a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) as well as contributor to BoingBoing, and a prolific writer on many subjects.

The Story

The story is set in the far future, where technology has advanced so far that death and scarcity are no longer issues for the human race. All the major world problems have been solved in one swoop, so money is no longer required. Without scarcity of products no one needs it any more, so everyone trades in Whuffie, a rating of the respect you gather from others for doing useful and creative things. The higher your Whuffie the more respect you get, and the more respect you command from others.

When we meet Julius he has already into his hundreds, but with out outward appearance of mid twenties. He has already live a full life, composed three symphonies. But when you can live forever, and you can do anything what do you do with your life, what do you do? You go and live in Disney Land!

So we follow Julius’s life with with girlfriend Lil as they live and work in the magic kingdom, working there fixing and looking after the rides. A peiceful and sublime existance. With different groups look after different parts of the park, it falls to them and their group to look after the “Haunted Mansion”.

All is going well until Debra arrives and Julius is suddenly killed. Annoyed at being murdered, Julius sets out to solve the question of who killed him, why, and to work a way to stop Debra taking over his beloved “Haunted Mansion” and the rest of the park.

Review

This is a truly excellent book, a fascinating look into a weird and wonderful far future. It is not often I am presented with new science fiction ideas, but this book delivered to me some truly innovative ideas. As well as some emotional looks at the consequences of this technology. But always presented in a positive way, a way allowing humans to do as they please instead of a “Terminator” style future. It makes a refreshing change to think the future will be much better than if is now.

But as compelling as the technology is, it is weaved into an equally as compelling story. A look at this man’s life as he goes from having it all, to a complete wreck, all in the bitter sweet world of Walt Disney. This is where the book has its brightest and darkest moments, even in a future where you can do anything, and death is not the end of you, what do you have to do to define yourself? Is the world of the Magic Kingdom any more or less real than the world outside?

I recommend reading this book. It will present you with something new, that is not easy to swallow. With a truly inspired twist that I just did not see coming.

More Info

More information on the book: The official web site

Or get the excellent audio version I listened to

]]> http://www.biggiantrobots.com/books/down-and-out-in-the-magic-kingdom/feed/ 1 http://www.biggiantrobots.com/books/dracula-and-the-joy-of-public-domain/ http://www.biggiantrobots.com/books/dracula-and-the-joy-of-public-domain/#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:24:13 +0000 binny http://www.biggiantrobots.com/?p=41

Cover of the original dracula novel

One book I have always wanted to read is ‘Dracula’. Beside the fact it is the birth place of vampires (a fascinating subject). It is a classic piece of literature that everyone should at least attempt to read. So I was faced with a problem. I want to read the book, find out where the ideas all began, understand the original story. But what if is rubbish? Beside the fact I will never get through it no matter how much I want to, I will be very disappoint that a book that I have held in high regard as not only an original idea, but a great piece of horror history turned out to be no where near as good as I had hoped.

The book

People who know me, know I don’t read many books. Its not because I dislike reading. The problem is I read very slowly and get bored very easily. So if the story is not taking me along, or I feel confused with what it is trying to tell me (the plot is not clear, or I want to think about what they are saying). I will put the book down and promise myself I will come back and read it at some point (knowing I never will). This has happened countless times, and I’m sure will happen again (I’m looking at you Neuromancer).

Well. I am pleased to say ‘Dracula’ did not disappoint me. In fact I was surprised at how good the story was, and how it was not what I expected at all. We all think we know the ‘Dracula’ story. We have seen it countless times in b-movie horror films (can’t beat Christopher Lee. Though Bela Lugosi is very good). But this is not the story of Dracula (not a surprise I’m sure). Frances Ford Coppola’s Dracula is probably the closest, but it is only half the story. Coppola’s film gives a hint there is much more to it than Dracula coming to London, being discovered, and being chased down by Van Helsing.

The namesake of the book, the legendary ‘Dracula’ is hardly in the book at all. You meet him at the start when Johnathan Harker goes to his castle to meet with him. He slowly comes to realise just how evil the count is. This is told through his journal. In fact the entire story is told through the journals of the various people involved. This is an effective way to tell the story as it keeps reminding you of the period of time that is passing as the events unfold. It also lets you see some aspects of the story from different view points, and gives a better understanding of what the characters are thinking as the strange events occur.

I’m not going to go into a full review of the book. Suffice to say the films I have seen do not do justice to the ideas put forth. Nor do they really express the true nature of Dracula and how it affects those who come into contact with him. Parts of the story are truly touching, and it is a real battle of good vs evil.

The Joy of Public Domain

So why is public domain such a joy? Bram Stoker wrote this legendary story in 1897. Under British law, all work falls into the public domain 50 years after it was first published (some exceptions). ‘Dracula’ falls into this category. That means anyone can do anything they want with the story and its ideas. So that means I could reprint the book in its entirety here if I wanted an no one can stop me. This is very important to me (especially with the current climate on copyright). The idea is not about taking away someones work after a certain period of time. Its about making sure all work survives, and work that is important to society become available to be kept freely and used without restriction.

So if you want to read it, download it here. Recently discovered FeedBooks. An excellent site with a massive library of public domain books in various formats.

I was orignally going to buy the book and read it on the train. Nothing wrong with that (except of course the book is actually free and borders wanted to charge me £7). But as the book was written at the end of the 19th century I knew it could be hard to follow, and I really wanted to follow the story. I knew if I read the book, I would get bogged down in the language (and it really is great) and miss the story.

So what about an audio book? I have always loved audio books and plays. I checked around and found there are a few (of course) but non stay close to the book. Then I found LibriVox. Its a site where the public can volunteer their time to read public domain books. The site has a whole structure around creating projects, getting volunteers, proof “reading”, and making them available. They have tons of content, and they will be my first stop from now on.

I found Dracula on there and downloaded all 27 chapters. They even give you a choice of formats to get the audio in, including Ogg-Vorbis (excellent). Stuck it in the car, and away I went. It was exactly what I wanted. A word for word reading of the original book. All I had to do was listen to all 16 hours of it and I can say I had “read” it.

I am really glad I “read” the book this way. It is great to just be able to concentrate on the story, and enjoy the victorian use of language.

If there is one problem with LibriVox it is the quality of some of the reading. Please don’t think I am meaning this to be harsh. People give there time freely to read these books and they do a sterling job. But it can be quiet jolting experence going from one reader to the next. Some are much better than others and this is not an easy text to read. I would say it is a very english story, with very english language. Hearing someone miss pronouching the words, and missing the inflections can get quiet annoying. But some readers do an outstanding job of really bringing it to life.

On the whole I loved listening to the story, and I am glad I now know it as it was written. It is actually much better than I expected, and througly different to what I expected. I think I will actually read the sotry again for myself at some point. But for now I am happy I at least know it.