Well, part III of the Priestess Saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future" is up and an epic journey begins! On Monday, the second phase of the Saga will begin and that is, "All Things Sown Before Harvest". The Valley Knight, Chief of the Aesir and the boy Little Fish must travel to a distant place by unconventional means. Will they successfully complete their journey and what will they find if they do? These and many more questions will be answered next week. So for you old and new fans of the Priestess, get ready!
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CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO PLAYER http://soundcloud.com/archivaldirections/weeksville-pumzi-x
weeksvILLe puMzI X : speculate BLACK acetate
a sound collage sourced from black wax dealing with afrofuturism and black speculative fiction. This sound collage was inspired by the screening of the sci-fi film Pumzi at Weeksville Historic Houses during the Summer of 2010. That film imagines World War III, the Water War and the beginnings of the Black character’s bold journey to a new fertile world. It is executed with the inspiring cinematic excellence of a George Lucas film. The vistas sighted in this film are breath-taking, the technology introduced in its water-depleted context is jolting. The only disappointment about this production, born from the efforts of an up & coming Kenyan-born female filmmaker, is that it is less than 35 minutes long.
The screening was part of Weeksville’s programming on Black Speculative Fiction and was accompanied by a discussion with writer Kiini Salaam and her reflections on studying under Octavia Butler , an award-winning Black sci-fi writer. As expected , the discussion flared with enriching Q & A and Show & Tell and I introduced the mix that I played out as DJ/sound provider for the event, weeksvILLe puMzI X.
I had been contemplating this mix for many years before the opportunity to play it at Weeksville on a beautiful summer evening amongst an audience of afrofuturism enthusiasts. My intrigue with the concept of an imagined Black future peaked more than a decade ago, around the time Kodwo Eshun ’s More Brilliant than the Sun was published. The book plucked hyper theories on rhythm, psychoacoustics, and music culture from the ether and revealed memes that had never been synthesized in quite the same way before. Or at least not in the same language that Eshun had invented. Then, the Internet was much newer and the community, Afrofuturism, was listserving brainfood by Paul D. Miller, Alondra Nelson and others on the daily.
The sounds found within this mix are all recorded moments on black vinyl. Sources ranged all genres of music, spoken word, recorded skits, sound effects, historical dramatization, etc. Each was recorded for widely differing purposes and audiences but are pieced together here to illustrate my Afrofuturist narrative.
FOLLOW for now, MUCH more to come.
ENJOY!!
The Inagural story story saga for The Priestess Fanpage, "All Things Present, Past and Future" has been launched! Part I is now up on the fan page ready for waiting eyes. Serious events loom large over some of your favorite characters living in the Valley. Events which will ultimately affect all who live there in unexpected ways, including the mighty Priestess! So take a look at this latest work written on a cellphone!
All hail The Priestess!
Whoo boy! After months of keeping this under wraps and getting everything ready, the short story inspired by the Sword and Soul Challenge: 'Stop This!' now has its own group page. The Priestess online series of adult/fantasy short stories is currently exclusive to the BSFS. Not only intended as a fan page, this is also intended to be an experiment with an interactive experience. Artwork both standard and motion graphic are coming in addition to more stories.
All the original stories from my blog posts will be available along with the new material. Biggest news is the upcoming 5 story saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future". This will be bring revelations concerning the major characters and flesh out the 'hows' and 'whys' of the Valley and those who live within it. Most important is the entire saga will have been written on my smartphone!
So for the Priestess' current and future fans, there are big things coming and I hope you'll come along for the run!
There are a host of films where something didn't totally click; the stars were too old for their parts, it's the sixth damn sequel, the villain(ness) had more zest than the erstwhile hero/heroine, Racism! Sitting around in one happily organic smog and malt liquored den in the late 2oth Century, several of us had opinions on what would have made the flicks we had seen Right. It was easy. Tarzan getting his ass whupped by an angry tribesman. Buckwheat pulling Dora and kicking off in Spanky's and Alfalfa's butts. The soldoff husband of Mammy from Gone with the Wind, coming down the stairs in Union Army uniform and pimp slapping Scarlett, with Melanie behind him having had his baby. The Mexicans have an easy time of it at the Alamo, putting the scum down hard. Stagolee boards the "Showboat" and sings " It Ain't Necessarily So" and blows Julie's mind. Charlton Heston and the cinematic Jews being deported from Egypt by Pharaoh James Edwards very pissed off elite regiment of Nubian infantry, who thought they had leave. The original Imitation of Life has the daughter Fredi Washington telling her slave minded mother, " Go for a 35-65% split of profits, ya dumb cow!" And in the second, Dianne Sand tells her "mother" " I love you Mamma, but gotdamnit you're a dumb bitch!" Then driving off with Brock Peters. Stuff like that.
Just messing around, Im practicing new techniques of drawing characters. Let me know what yall think.
-Rob
"What are you trying to do?" the creature asked peevishly. "Wake the dead? We're already awake and we're very, very angry with you!" She narrowed her eyes. "You've allied yourself with a terrible evil. You should be ashamed!"
So reads a bit of dialog in Valjeanne Jeffers' Immortal II: The Time of Legend. You can't beat writing and an attitude like that!This is an incredibly complex and well thought out novel. It's a fast and furious read, too. Werewolves and demons, time travel and mythological creatures, drug addiction and rehab, saints and sinners, streets gangs, mucho sex and action, and oh yeah, some Immortal beings, too. This is such a unique blend of fantasy, horror, and science fiction that it's hard to nail down. So I won't try. It's a fantastic world to get lost in. It has humor and drama, a touch of the street and the 'hood, and is wrapped in what I think is a very cool 1960s flavor. Think the Equal Rights Movement, the woes and sorrows of places like Alabama and Watts, student demonstrations and the Viet Nam War protests all sort of joined together and set in a future -- or futures, if you will -- that is both beautiful and terrible at the same time. I look forward to reading Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Valjeanne has definitely topped book one!!
It depends on how you ask the question, I never learned to draw people. I have a buried desire but no skills.
You take a photo of a person, you steal a part of their soul, I kind of believe that. You can read the imprint of light captured by the camera, it does not lie. What did you capture, just an image or a part of that person, the light that is/was that person.
It is so compelling to draw faces, bodies in poses. The artist trying to put a soul into a likeness to give it a life of its own. Attribute after layered attribute the person designers hard at work. Who is playing god now? Even writers talk of characters taking on a life of their own.
I don't draw people, never developed the skill. I do imagine people standing in front of my art, all kinds of people of a specific mentality, artist, poets, dancers, quantum mechanics, star gazers. These are archetypes, beyond personalities. Filling in the soul with lower vibes, coarser harmonies makes them real people we can comprehend, our friends and what not. So complex and subtle the gradations, god would craft each one and we persist to dress up or mess up what he has done. We drift from plain to different to just weird but that's from our vantage point. We too are looking at light like a camera with a complex eye and even more complex neural-net, yes we are light aware beings.
My 93 year old mom-n-law, former art teacher, always tries to press me into art the way she learned it. I resist because even though I am 34 years younger than her, a youngster to her, I am not starting from scratch setting aside my non-art training to learn something else. I've been drawing on the computer since the 70's, it is so different. The tactile experience is different, even if you draw like you do on paper, the whole thing is different. The only thing not changed is composition and color.
I am an artist I say, they always ask me to do their portrait. I should say I am a graphic designer, they would ask "am I a commercial artist?" I think folks are stuck with job descriptions. Don't google, the first description of an artist is a musician or a singer.
I think labels have been used widely, I can't even say I do abstract art because most think you take something known and abstract it. I know, "I do sci-fi art!" Now there's a can of other worldly worms.
So as I watch the parade of people pass by my eyeballs I imagine what I can draw behind them, a stage, a view, an environment. I let others draw the people.
Why don’t you like science fiction? Is it because you think only Geeks enjoy science fiction. Or is it because you think it will turn you into a Nerd. Or is it simply because you think it is not cool and only the lonely, social outcasts follow science fiction. It is a common misconception that people who like science fiction are Geeks or Nerds.
This is not so. Science fiction is a misunderstood genre. Science Fiction is a complicated genre made up of many genres that tell love stories, adventures, mysteries, spy thrillers, and even comedies with imagination, innovation, technology and science. Science fiction stimulates the imagination with eye popping, jaw dropping scenes and plots that move a story along while dealing with the future, alternative timelines, space travel, aliens, time travel, dreams, wars, and even comic book superheroes.
Think of James Bond movies, Jason Bourne movies, Harry Potter, Avatar, Iron Man movies, Inception, X-Men movies, Transformers movies, I Am Number Four, Tron, Priest, Star Trek movies, Paul, Green Lantern, Thor, Cowboy vs. Aliens, Alien movies, Predator movies, The Adjustment Bureau, Hitchcock, Megamind, Superman movies, Batman movies, Species, Monsters vs. Aliens, Time Travelers Wife. The list is too exhausting to write, but you get my point. You’ve probably seen a science fiction movie and didn’t realize it. Now think of your favorite T.V. Shows, Lost, 24, V, Walking Dead, The Event, Undercovers, Charmed, and Supernatural just to name a few.
Hopefully, you can see, science fiction is where man first dreamt of computers, flight, rocket ships, moon landings, cell phones, laptops, iPads, smart phones, Velcro, GPS, Radar, calculators, HDTV, microwaves. Face it, without science fiction or at least the imagination that science fiction stimulates, we would still be riding horses, sailing in wooden ships and hunting for our food.
So no…liking science fiction doesn’t make you a Geek or a Nerd, it makes you exciting, stimulating and insightful. It fuels you as a soldier of the future.
Do you still think science fiction is only for the Geek or Nerd? Sound off; let me hear your voice.
Malcolm D. Petteway, Rage Books LLC
Eun Mi and her brother Jorge were in last place and gaining on the other contestants. This was the third year and a row that they competed in the cave races and Eun did not want to lose again. Jorge was scared and barely helped guard their box cart, but Eun kept pushing at full speed. As they came closer to the next turn.....
It's just a preview and so far the people involved have said the actual film will be different then this, I can't wait to see what the have in store.
Would be nice if Warner/DC paid this much attention to the Milestone characters
a drabbler is a story with exactly 100 words here is my first go at it hope enjoy. leave comments.
It was just a handshake, that’s it. But it turns out that’s how Glarcarians reproduce. Galactic Space Exploration Incorporated`s mission specialist didn’t bother telling us that though. So as soon as I jump of the ship on Glarcon, the first thing I see when I jump off the ship is a Glarcarian female with an out stretched hand, and you can guess what I did next, yep that’s right.
We`re headed home now, with my slimy light blue Glarcarian- Human hybrid son in the cradle. I`m going to keep him, I just have to explain that handshake to my wife.
I guess I admire all the cosmic beings cooked up in the pages of comic books and such, but what rattles my cage is the kind of science fiction where technology crosses over. Technology is always an extension to man's natural talents and abilities. What happened to me is I dream and struggle to get my art in print, even print in a larger size or context. I get a wide format printer and my perception of things changes. In sci-fi I think of that movie 'Contact' where the woman has an other dimension experience for a good while but in her native dimension only a heart beat of time passed. The amazing technology that supported that opened window, did it open outside of her and she was immersed or was it opened in her mind, her spirit?
My new printer sits there waiting for me to give data and spit out words, 2d forms, vistas. What happens if it records pictures from the ether, since my PC is connected to the 'ethernet? Or I can print out a device, like the portable stargate I found in the back of a sci-fi paperback. I could print an array of them, go anywhere. Doorways, it prints doorways. Simultaneously it prints both sides, in two worlds.
If I met myself in another universe would I recognise me, like me, hate me. Would we be the same or a mirror image (why does he shake with his left hand?) or polar opposites. Would we struggle, trade places unknowingly (what I knew is somehow different sun sets in the east, toilets whirl in the other direction).
Why is it when I print the same doorway again, it goes elsewhere? Or when I find an old doorway print, go through, I am tattered and worn? Maybe it's not the printer but the ink. When I was a child, there was a story about a boy with a purple crayon who drew his world. Maybe he grew up, went digital and I stumbled upon his melted crayon in my ink cartridge.
Jack Dempsey was the last of the great actors of 2026. His dashing smile and trademark Kung Fu made him the action hero other actors wanted to be for more than a decade. His star as an action hero finally lost his luster in the last series of movies he made, Planet Raiders III: The Unforsaken. The movie, while grossing well barely covered the production costs and the injuries incurred by Jack's drinking problem caused his agent and the company Screen Brothers, to finally drop his contact.
"We love you, Jack, but we're gonna have to let you go. There is a new wind blowing and its AICGI," his agent Florence Butterman told him over the vidcam. He was sitting in his Malibu home drinking his morning Mai Tai and nursing yesterday's hangover.
"You are not serious. That stuff they do with computers and factors?" Demsey had a bit of a slur going already. Florence just grimaced and tried to ignore it.
"They are not fake actors. They are based on real people, who used to be actors. Many of the screen tests have been quite favorable and several hundred movies were released straight to the 'Net from Nollywood and Ballywood. If we want to keep up we have to do our part to stay with the times. Those Nigerians are eating our lunch in southern Africa and they have already expanded into the South American markets. I'm sorry Jack, the margins are just too tight nowadays for living actors." Florence looked down at her watch.
"What, you got someplace to be? You too busy for the man who made you rich? Everything you have in that house, I bought you Florence. How can you be thinking about turning your back on me? What about helping me out? Can you farm me out to one of your friends over at Light Industrial Films? I heard through the 'vine they are still planning on making movies with real actors." Jack downed the rest of his Mai Tai and nodded to his butler to bring him another one. The butler winced and then moved on reluctantly to bring another. There, was however, no reason to rush.
"Look Jack, I am not blowing you off. I will be putting in a word for you, but I would not get my hopes up with Light Industrial Films, they are still going to be making movies with actors, but they are going to be working in the mountains of Tibet, telling the stories of the remaining survivors of the Great Purge of Tibet in 2016. That's going to be done on location with local actors. I might be able to get you a role on the Chinese side as a consultant or as a White who worked as a servant to the Chinese."
"A slave? That is the best hope you can give me? A slave in a Chinese melodrama? You got to be kidding me. You know what Florence, I don't want your goddamn pity. I don't need you. I am Jack fucking Dempsey, the best thing to happen to Hollywood since Clint Eastwood. I will be alright." Jack stood up and pointed at the monitor. "When I make my comeback, you remember it was me who told you it would happen."
Having stood up too quickly and after having twelve Mai Tai's before breakfast, Jack Dempsey fell to the floor unconscious. Florence Butterman shook her head, watched the butler throw back the Mai Tai and signed off. She did not think about Jack Dempsey for another seven years until the Academy Awards mention his name seven years later.
"And the nominations for Best Actor in a Science Fiction Film are, Kren Davis in Sundiver's Six, Kazuo Koke in Inner Space, and Jack Dempsey in Planet Raiders: Neutron Star. No, no folks, I'm just kidding. You know scifi hasn't paid an actor in years. The award will go to the company that has created the most awesome representation of these amazing actors in their AICGI movies created completely on computer. I mean, can anyone remember the last time anyone saw that drunken bum, Jack Dempsey."
The theater explodes in laughter, that long mean laughter when you are talking about someone behind their back. The laughter that comes from an uncomfortable position that you know you might find yourself in, akin to being in the bathroom without toilet paper. The doors fly open from the side of the stage and Jack Dempsey staggers onto the stage. A security guard with a swollen eye, tries to stop him and is returned back stage with a sound kick.
"How's that," was picked up from the mikes all over the stage. "Real enough for you? You might want to put some ice on that. So how is everybody? Go on, open that envelope. No, let me" Jack snatches the envelop from the comedian who stands shocked and quiet on the stage.
"The Award for Best Actor in a Science Fiction Film goes to... Factor Jack Dempsey. Factor Jack Dempsey can't be here to get his award, cause he was made on a damn computer, so Jack Dempsey is going to take that award for him." The young woman who carried out the statuette hands it to Jack and scurries off the stage.
The director continues to move the cameras around and filmed everything as if this was what was expected. "Since I am here to take my award from my factor, yes FAKE ACTOR, I think I should say a few words. All you people sitting out there laughing at me, thinking you are better than me, and won't have to worry about this because you can really act, can kiss my ass." A collective gasp sweeps the room.
Jack reaches into his jacket and pulls out a flask, takes a hit and continues. "Once upon a time, I was just like you, thought I was something, on the top of my game and nothing could ever touch me. I had a great time, spent my money, partied all day and all night. I made twenty movies in my career and most sucked, I know that, now. I watched them when I was living in the streets, sitting outside of Electronic Huts playing my movies while I panhandled."
Jack looks down and pauses for a second. "I realized I got paid because it was what people wanted to see, not because I was any good. I got ahead of myself and didn't pay attention when I needed to. I did not see the world changing around me. I signed contracts without reading them. And all of you did too. Because if you did, you would not be sitting here today."
Three security guards came to the edge of the stage and hesitantly began to make their approach. None of them were in a hurry to tackle Jack Dempsey because while he may have been an actor, he did his own martial arts movies and those were not stunts. Many a stunt double went to the hospital and the tabloids loved talking about it. He waved at them and made the sign for two minutes and they retreated to the edge of the stage.
"I just wanted to say to Florence Butterman, I am sorry I didn't listen to you when you told me to read everything. You told me that the industry would take advantage of my stupidity. You see, I don't have anyone to blame about Factor Jack Dempsey. In my contracts, I made it possible for him to exist. In my contracts, I signed away my likeness to be used in any kind of AICGI based movie for the next twenty years. And they do not have to pay me anything because I did not read the contract well enough." His voice was bitter and sharp.
"But the best part of this, is I had time on my hands and more that a few favors. I know that almost none of you read your contracts either. So when you lose your mind, or piss someone off, or when they get tired of you getting old or weak or crotchety, they will replace you with a factor, too. So, you guys enjoy your awards, one day there won't be anyone in the theater to accept one, unless they can teach a computer to walk too. Y'all have a good night. Come on, boys, I haven't got all night."
It took twenty security guards before Jack Dempsey was dragged off stage. The Academy Awards had never had higher numbers.
And the Award Goes To... © Thaddeus Howze 2011. All Rights Reserved
While doing some research on the Marine Corps for an old space opera of mine I hope to rewrite one day soon, I discovered this fascinating piece of history.
On August 27, 1776, a black man named Isaac Walker enlisted in Captain Mullan's Continental Marines. He was listed as "Negro," as was another recruit later that year. There may have been others, but records are sketchy and incomplete. However, when the Marine Corps was reeastablished in 1798, the official recruiting regulations clearly stipulated "no Negro, Mulatto or Indian to be enlisted." The Corps was to remain lily white until the eve of World War II.
On June 1 (my late Dad's birthday, btw) 1942, Alfred Masters and George O. Thompson became the first modern black Marines. Two months later, the first black unit was activated -- the 51st Composite Defense Battalion, at Montford Point, a new camp near Camp Lejeune. However, all the officers were white.
Early black recruits were exceptional. Charles W. Simmons held a masters degree from the University of Illinois. Gilbert H. "Hashmark" Johnson had been in both the Army and the Navy. Pvt. Luther Woodard, a truck driver from Memphis, was awarded the Silver Star, the highest decoration earned by a black Marine in World War II. 19,168 black Marines served in that war -- 12,738 of them overseas. Nine were killed during the war, and seventy-eight were injured.
President Roosevelt's Executive Order 8802 in 1941 was the first major step toward ending segregation in the armed forces. Sceretary of the Navy Frank Knox insisted that the Marines take a thousand black recruits a month.
In 1967, Sergeant Rodney M. Davis gave his life for his country and his fellow Marines, in Viet Nam. Two years later, his Mother received the Medal of Honor her son had finally been awarded for his bravery. On May 9, 1987, Davis's Mother and Widow and two children watched the commissioning of the U.S.S. Rodney M. Davis, the first warship to be named in honor of a black Medal of Honor winner.
I know we've come a long way over the years, still have a long way to go as a nation and as a people, and sometimes I fear that we may never get to where we should be -- but the election of our first black president, and stories like those of Rodney M. Davis continue to give me hope. Semper Fidelis!
