I do not know the power of my handI do not know the power of my black handI sit stumped in the conviction that I am powerless,tolerate ceilings that make me bendmy godly mind stoops, my ambition is crippledI do not know the power of my handI see my children stuntedmy young men slaughtered...I see the power over my life and death inanother man's hands and sometimesI shake my wooly head and wonderLord have mercy!What would it be like...to be free?Excerpt from When I Know the Power of My Hand, Lance Jeffers1974There are a few things about this era, my favorite era, that must be said before I move on. The 1950s through the early 1970s were a time in which people were willing to speak out, to fight, for what they believed in --hell they were willing to die for their beliefs. America was watching and she was listening.But this was also an age beset with hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Peoples of Color were encouraged to ignore their own problems, to look back on history with rose colored glasses.We seek to learn from history. One of the biggest mistakes we can make as we journey through the 21th century is to deceive ourselves that all of our problems are from some place outside our own communities -- outside of ourselves. We have to be secure enough to clean house, no matter who happens to be looking on. Growth, real growth, engenders self-discovery and change.From 1964 through 1968 Black folks took their rage to the streets, President Johnson commissioned a study of this "problem" and the myth of the Black Matriarchy was born.Copyright Valjeanne Jeffers-Thompson 1997, 2009 all rights reserved
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Posted by Geoff Thorne on November 27, 2009 at 12:30pm
Here's what folks are already saying about the first issue of PRODIGAL: EGG OF FIRST LIGHT
"Exotic locations, earth-shattering stakes, dialogue you wish you'd written, heroic bad-assery, and a macguffin to die for. Larger than life villains versus equally outsized heroes. This is the stuff we're talking about when we talk about action-adventure." - DWAYNE MCDUFFIE (JLU, BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE, MILESTONE)
A hidden monastery.A group of chanting monks.A pack of kill crazy ninjas.A secret, powerful prize worth killing any number of men for.And a pair of heroes on the case.All elements that would go into making the perfect action flick.Or what you experience in the first eight pages of Prodigal, written by Geoffrey Thorne, drawn by Todd Harris, and coming soon from Ape Entertainment...To go any further into describing the tale would ruin the readers’ opportunity to discover this world and these new heroes for themselves. What can be said is that the writer and artist presented a thrilling ride in the opening 24 pages of a double sized first issue that left this reviewer wanting more.Our heroine and hero bring to this reviewer’s mind such classic pairs as Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy or Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in the easy way writer Thorne turns the dialogue between Ms. Jacinto and Mr. Lennox in a cross between a ballet and a fifteen round bout worth of Ali and Frazier...Full article at COMICS WAITING ROOM. COM
Todd Harris knows how to tell stories with pictures. PRODIGAL is an adrenaline rush of babes, bullets and blood. A blast to look at and read. - SCOTT STEWART (director of PRIEST and LEGION)
Geoffrey Thorne is a sci-fi writer who also dabbles in comics. Us Star Trek fans know him for some of the Trek novels and short stories he’s written, the most recent one beingwww.amazon.com');" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Star Trek Titan: Sword of Damocles, so I can attest to his skill as a writer. The link takes you to a preview of the entire book, and from what I can tell, it’s not bad. Light action-adventure, lively dialogue, very good art. Pretty straightforward. Let’s see how it does. RICH WATSON - POP CULTURE SHOCK. COMFLAT OUT GREAT. I love it. Wish most of the books I paid for this week were that good. - REGINALD HUDLIN - (Black Panther, Boomerang)See for yourself what all the fuss is about!PRINTABLEORDER FORMON THE LAST PAGE!!Read more…
I've been "away" for a while, primarily because an internet glitch prevented me from connecting with BSFS or any of my other ning groups. Thankfully, the problem has been fixed, and you'll be seeing a lot more activity from me here in the future.As far as news goes, I've recently finished the first draft of my second volume of Dossouye's adventures. Now, it's polishing time.Also, I've just posted a blog entry about Dossouye's war-bull, Gbo, at my website, www.charlessaunderswriter.com. To see it, click on "Blog," and then "Buffaloed."I continue to be amazed by how fast this group is growing, and by the impressive talent that the membership represents. You make me really proud.
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*Always like combining speculative fiction & politics--two of my favorite things. Wrote this review/analysis originally back in 2007, but since there's word they're making a sequel for 300 (why gods!?! why?!?), thought it'd be relevant anyway...
written March 2007So I saw 300 last week. Driven by action, the movie had enough blood and battle to dazzle the senses and up testosterone levels. As cinematography it was a visual CGI masterpiece—though one might ask when and where reliance on computer generated imagery enhances or devalues a movie. The acting was tolerable—not like Ghostrider where I wanted to gnaw off my left leg rather than sit through the excruciating dialogue. As plots go, it was mediocre— not bad but not exactly filled with complex intrigue. Syriana or Babel this movie was not. Noble Greeks fight scary Persians to Alamo type finish. Freedom. Honor. Glory. The End. But my anticipation of 300 was only partly based on my expectations of it as a film.300 is based on the Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, and is a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae between Spartan Greeks and the Persian Empire in the 5th Century BC. I read the comic back in 1998, and found it fascinating—yet discomforting. The story itself is a surreal fantasy. And though the film's director Zack Snyder makes the grandiose claims that "the events are 90 percent accurate," I hardly expected it to be factual. So that these Spartans fight bare-chested with CGI enhanced abdomens straight out of Chippendales, instead of in breastplates as would have been common, wasn't really of consequence to me. I took it for Hollywood cosmetic to sell tickets—and maybe even reach that coveted gay male audience. I was more concerned with the changes to the movie—and before that the comic—that had deeper meaning, and give us an interesting mirror into the society we live in.The SpartansIn 300 there is much celebration of Sparta—the Greek city-state known well for its warrior cult, who pose as the heroes of the film. But these are not the Spartans of history; they are instead, something else. For instance, though it's alluded that Spartans were known for killing infants who may have been born with defects or bad omens (this might be a physical deformity or a birth mark), this ritual infanticide is toned down to ambiguity. While the harsh life of a Spartan male, who endures years of brutality to become a warrior, is portrayed, it too is softened and made noble—in its own way. In the movie Spartan boys are forced out into the wild and must face fierce animals, not becoming a true warrior until they kill one. In reality however, Spartan youths didn't go out and kill animals to prove their worth. They actually had to go out and kill a slave—a Helot, fellow Greeks of nearby Lakonia and Messenia conquered and reduced to bondage by Sparta's "free" militaristic elite.Perhaps because this sounds too much like a modern gang initiation rite (and the comparison certainly fits), it is altered for the viewing audience. As told by the film, slavery is absent in Spartan society—and is something only their enemies practice. This sanitizing of Spartan history may be because in 300, there is much made about Sparta being a land of "freedom." In fact, this is the central theme of the story—the entire reason for the war against Persia. These Spartans are even mildly homophobic, laughingly scoffing at homosexuality among their fellow Athenian Greeks. This is ironic, as ritualized homosexual liaisons among Spartan boys in training was both common and obligatory at the time. In the film Spartan women are not altogether equal, but gender relations have an air of egalitarianism hard to find in the historical record.The reality, that Sparta was actually a slave society that conquered fellow Greeks, practiced state sponsored eugenics, and was run by a patriarchal male-dominated military oligarchy who maintained their power through force and violence, is radically altered—as it would no doubt clash with the cries for liberty and the "new era of freedom" Spartans boast of repeatedly throughout the film. Altogether, Spartan culture is re-arranged to fit modern (mostly American) ideas on democracy, masculinity, sexuality and gender. And this is necessary not merely to glorify Sparta, but to make certain they were seen as different from their enemies as ever.The PersiansOne of the first things I noticed when I read Frank Miller's 300, was the main villain of his story—the Persian King Xerxes. He was black—a towering bald giant with earrings in his ears and face and nose, like a brown-skinned Michael Clarke Duncan merged with Dennis Rodman. More than a few of Xerxes soldiers and generals were also black. I found that odd, because the historical Xerxes was Persian—modern day Iran. While the Persian Empire was certainly massive and assimilated all sorts of people, its black population was probably nowhere near that pronounced. And there are enough depictions of Xerxes to not mistake him for the average brother. So why make Xerxes a black giant?Frank Miller's version of the Battle of Thermopylae took its cue from age-old western notions of Orientalism—a Western perception of the East as alien, inferior and yet menacing. The Persia of 300 is the opposite of the Greeks, the opposite of the Occidental West: a fantastical imagining of the mysterious East, both exotic and frightening, with bizarre peoples and customs, ruled by superstition and tyrants. Most of all the "Orient" is dangerous, and holds the power to destroy the West if it isn't controlled or beaten back. For Miller, Xerxes as a Persian wasn't enough to embody this dark symbolism. He had to be transformed into a more threatening figure—one that only blackness seemed able to conjure up. The movie version changed this somewhat. Xerxes is no longer black. He is however still a giant, garbed in a speedo and decked out in about two tons of bling—from earrings to body chains. As opposed to the hyper-masculine Spartans of the film, Xerxes is effeminate, foppish and a gender-bending sexual deviant. His army is either dark and faceless, or horribly monstrous—and, as we are told, all slaves whipped into the service of their tyrannical god-king.But like Sparta, this depiction of Xerxes and the Persian Empire has more to do with modern western—and especially American—imagination than reality. The actual Xerxes of history probably dressed little different than many of his Greek enemies, though much better—in velvet robes or tunics, as Persia was an opulent kingdom. As far as his rule went, while he was probably not someone you'd elect to the local city council, for a monarch of an Empire of his time, he and the other Achaemenid kings of Persia were not precisely the tyrants of Hollywood depiction. They actually instituted what some have called one of the earliest declarations of Human Rights, detailing religious tolerance and (albeit limited) expressions of personal freedom. They even debated the merits of democracy, though choosing against it. Now don't get me wrong. Kings like Xerxes were undoubtedly conquerors, and were no nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. By our standards, his empire would be unilateralist, rapaciously imperialist and ignore many aspects of international law. But Persian rulers also allowed their territories to have limited independence, demanding only tribute and conscript soldiers. And in what is probably one of the greatest ironies that the movie manages to reverse, under the Achaemenids, for religious reasons, slavery was nominally opposed—though by no means non-existent. This is at least a step-up from Sparta, where the enslavement of fellow Greeks was not a topic up for debate. In the end Xerxes and his fellow rulers were not saints, but neither were they the bloodthirsty tyrants of 300.The Battle of ThermopylaeCentered on the famed Battle of Thermopylae, 300 depicts fantastic fight scenes—as endless hordes of Persians bash themselves against Spartan soldiers who skillfully hold them off. For Frank Miller's graphic novel and the movie, 300 Spartans led by their king Leonidas hold off 1 million Persians. In reality, the Persians probably numbered between 60,000 to 120,000. The Greeks were actually a force of 7,000—some 4,000 of which were killed—whose success was based mostly on better bronze weapons and a tactical strategy of utilizing the natural landscape. While it's true that fellow Greeks abandoned the Spartans in the final battle, some 700 remained and also fought to the end. As for the Athenian navy who kept Persia occupied at sea and unable to deploy their full might, these Greeks are wholly absent from 300. The movie instead is certain to give the full glory only to the 300 super-manly Spartan soldiers (not those wimpy "gay" Athenian sailor boys), who in death achieve a cinematic display of quasi-Judeo-Christian sainthood. The undignified beheading of Leonidas and the eventual burning of Athens with the Greeks scurrying away in fright before the Persian forces, is erased from Hollywood-created history, to be sure our Spartan heroes are able to keep their manliness intact.Just a Movie?So in the end, what's the point of all this? 300 is just a movie after all, and before that a comic book. It's not history—even if it's director tries to pass it off as such to his audience. It's a story. And it doesn't have to follow the facts. If we're looking for historical accuracy, we'd be better off sticking to a classroom. Films are sold to us as entertainment, not lessons. But at the same time, like any work of art, we would be remiss to leave it at that. Films reflect our culture, our values, our perceptions, what we think of as normal or perverse, right or wrong, good or bad. And they can reinforce larger societal thoughts we take for granted. That Hollywood alters history isn't particularly surprising or even relevant. But how that history is altered, what history is altered and why the altering takes place can reveal a great deal.The Battle of Thermopylae has long been more than just an ancient event, a comic book or a movie, in modern western imagination. European colonisers and conquerors often portrayed themselves similar to the Spartans, facing hordes of usually darker-skinned enemies—be they Native American Sioux, East Indians or Afghans. In 1964, using the Battle of Thermopylae as partial inspiration, the popular movie Zulu depicted several British soldiers who make a last stand against hordes of fierce African warriors. (Curiously, no one seemed to catch the irony that these latter-day Europeans, unlike the Spartans, were the invaders.) In this way, an ancient battle was changed to not only support European colonialism and the "white man's burden," but also the claimed physical and moral superiority of western civilization, as opposed to the savage multitudes of the East.Some have accused 300 of being intentional propaganda, portraying the modern West (embodied by the Spartans) as noble freedom fighters and Iran (Xerxes and the Persians) as dangerous threats to freedom and democracy. The film even comes equipped with a local Spartan anti-war movement, who in the end are corrupted or weak and ineffectual. In Iran, the movie has caused an uproar—with protests against what are seen as negative and even racist portrayals of their beloved ancient Persia. Many Iranians even charge 300 is a precursor to a US invasion. Paranoia? Certainly. But given current US threats against Iran, coupled with daily images of US bombs caving in homes in next-door Iraq, those fears aren't merely plucked out of thin air.Still, I don't think that's the case. I doubt Frank Miller or this movie rendition has anything to do with current US foreign policy maneuvers. This isn't 24—where Jack Bauer's torture acts were literally tied to the Bush White House. And the average American may not even know Persia is one-in-the-same with modern Iran—though hordes of veiled and monstrous enemies from "that" part of the world might serve the purpose just as equally. Rather, what 300 portray are common images of ourselves—or how we would like to see ourselves—with themes of masculinity, whiteness, freedom and moral virtue. And in order to create that image, a foil is needed—darker in both skin and deed, threatening and powerful, but at the same time able to be overcome if we just show the courage to do so. It is Orientalism—part of a long history of western perceptions of the "other," made exotic to fit our ideas of how different "they" are from "us." On some level these perceptions help define "us"—as it previously helped generations of conquerors and colonizers—by defining "them." In that sense Frank Miller's 300 is not dangerous new propaganda. Rather, it's the same old propaganda—just more entertaining.
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Tonight on the Wicked Wednesday show we'll be reading an excerpt from Zane's upcoming release "Total Eclipse of the Heart" then Saturday Night at 9pm CST join Penelope and Otto for the "In Like Flynn " show where we tackle the sticky issue of whether cleanliness is close to sexiness!
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Tonight on the Wicked Wednesday show we'll be reading an excerpt from Zane's upcoming release "Total Eclipse of the Heart" then Saturday Night at 9pm CST join Penelope and Otto for the "In Like Flynn " show where we tackle the sticky issue of whether cleanliness is close to sexiness!
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OK it's not really a story -- more like a blurb -:) And it's beside I'm sure countless others. But my feelings on the night Brother President was elected were (and are) heartfelt and I'm so proud!!Here's the link:The Obamas: Portrait of America's New First Family: From the Editors of Essencehttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Valjeanne+Jeffers&x=13&y=24P.S. I sure wish Brother President would pick up a copy of Immortal -- he likes Harry Potter (laugh)!
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Hearing what that Fat sack of festering feces ( Rush Limpburger) burbled on the propaganda network about President Obama and his appearance at the final coming home at Dover AFB of the Afghan War's dead, and thefact that none, zero, nein, there callled him out on it, fills me with a disgust. The mainstream news media allows such hatewhippers as Limperoo to getaway with this by allowing them to mask themselves with "political entertainers." They held themselves shocked with the same froth when Pres. Carter called the nation out for its flareup of racism. Pres. Obama an example of being a centrist politician tried not to give the befouled furtherammunition by being called an angry Black Man by agreeing with Pres. Carter openly. And if he called the backward Dems and the reprehensible Lieberman out on health reform, the backlash would be fevered if he did so forcibly and in public. Those registered "Uncle Toms" inc. Ron Good Colored man Elder, Foureyed Beanhead Ron Christy and that Mikey Rusted Steele, would be screeching how ashamed they are of the President and by the way he's uppity. And let's not forget Armmmy "Weak" Williams that bought off 'ho who didn't gag when he said he counted the King of the Dixiecrats, as his mentor. Vile, Vile, Vile ConstipatedRepoobs Coloreds are vile. We see the content of their character, what ever Boss Moneybags thinks theys sho nuf should be. And if some bloated bag of... slanders the President, well massa got the 'nawledge and I beleef what he say. Bastards.
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Reasonable men adjust themselves to their environment. Unreasonable men attempt to change their environment to suit themselves. Therefore all progress is the work of unreasonable men.-- George Bernard ShawHistory is often unkind to unreasonable men. But I also know that nothing is every accomplished by reasonable men. They are content with the status quo. They exploit and profit on the frailties of the human condition without making any changes to improve that condition. I strive to make the world a better place despite being told it was impossible. I am not a reasonable man.--Thaddeus HowzeI was asked to give a short presentation to a group of young people of color who were trying to get to the straight and narrow path that a career might offer. Some of the young men had fallen from the path of education, of self improvement and had been convinced by the efforts of a dedicated few to return and try again. All previous sins forgiven, all that was required was a re-dedication to the efforts to improve their lives. I was asked to speak to them about taking some coursework in IT done at an accelerated rate in an effort to prepare them for a summer internship in the middle of next year. I became involved with mixed feelings.Not because I do not think it is a worthy cause. On the contrary, I believe it is the worthiest of causes; without such efforts, my own redemption at an earlier point in my life would not have ever occurred and I would likely be dead, or in a state such that death might be a preferable condition. My trepidation came from having to tell these young men the truth about my occupation; or at least, as I knew it. I love what I do. I have done it now for over twenty five years; not the same job, but the same industry, information technology and communications with overlap into the publishing, banking, government, technology, game design, publishing, retail, small business and educational sectors. How do you distill that into something someone can use?It's impossible to write something technical that would be useful to someone who has never even done IT, so I decided to write down the things that I learned along the way; stepping stones that have to be touched on the stairway to occupational success. Thinking about these things, I decided these would be the things I would tell myself if I could meet myself on my way to my first IT job interview.These are the fundamentals. If you aren’t careful,violation of these rules can cost you your job.1. Pick your battles. Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win a war. Keep your eyes on the war. Give up some things to gain everything. Outlast your enemies. Just because you did not make them your enemies did not mean they did not declare war on YOU.2. What got you to the top, won't keep you there. Don't get complacent. Stay frosty. Sharpen that saw!3. Previous success is just that; what you did before. It has no bearing on your present circumstance other than it appeared on your resume. Succeed in a different this time! Innovate, create something new each time.4. Don't be afraid to fail. Failure is a tool and a quite necessary one.5. You learn nothing from success. (You got it right the first time!) Failure teaches and the world's greatest minds learned best from this harsh schoolmaster.6. If you work somewhere you cannot fail or failure is a punitive event, leave. They are not doing anything important there anyway.7. Real innovation is risky. When forced to choose between innovation and efficiency management, the long-term win is in innovation.8. Know the difference between being effective and being efficient. The first deals with deciding the right things to do and the other deals with doing things right.9. Hire the guy who came in second. He tries harder. Persistence is the real talent. Plus he will love you for taking that risk and work even harder to prove he’s worthy. It has always paid off for me.10. Be right. But don't be an ass about it. Do your research; know your craft. Be right but if you make everyone hate you because of it, you won't last long there, even if you were never wrong. Sometimes it is better to be heard than to be right.11. Never compromise your work. Stand up for what you know, through dint of your effort, research and intellect to be the right thing to do. Find a way to get it done. IT that is compromised serves no one well and costs everyone.12. When you become master of all you survey, allow your team to innovate and fail. The things they succeed with will amaze you. Empower your team. Give them the ability to make decisions on the things they work on. Less paperwork for you, more autonomy for them. Make them responsible for their work, because, well they are. Insist on diversity. Hire people smarter than you. (Don’t be afraid. They don’t want your job. If they did, they would certainly have it already.)13. Hire people who don’t look like you. Avoid groupthink. Give your team the power to tell you that you are wrong. This may be the second greatest thing you ever do for yourself. The first was hiring someone smart enough to tell you that you are wrong.14. Just because everyone says it can’t be done, does not mean they are right. Believe and do it anyway.Those core rules are non-negotiable and will likely work for any occupation. These are my IT-related truths. They too may be applied to any occupation. Adjust as necessary.You must learn to love new things.1. Every three years all that you know may become obsolete. Even if it does not, the IT industry will certainly have expanded further than expected. You have a lot of learning to do.2. Start your career learning about everything you can. Specialize once you know what feels good to you and you are able to do with maximum efficiency and minimum wasted effort. Be a generalist when you can, specialize if you must but maintain your versatility. Your employment may depend on you being able to do an array of things.3. Maintain your versatility over time by taking a variety of IT careers in a variety of business models. Business skills will become more important the further up the command structure of the corporation you want to go. Get some training or some education related to business if your mission is to conquer the executive suite.4. Learn the soft/social skills of how to deal with people. That is a skill set that will only grow more valuable with age.5. Find the time to take an assessment exam and to read books that deal with occupational growth and career design (i.e. Myers-Briggs, What Color is Your Parachute, Zen and the Art of Making a Living, the Success Principles by Jack Canfield.) These books guide you to consider your reasons for working in the occupation that you do now and how to maximize that experience, or suggest a career better suited to your skill set.6. Learn 10 things today that you did not know yesterday. Real facts - don’t cut corners. (3,650 new ideas every year will keep you sharp, and yes, that means you learn on the weekends, too!)7. Knowledge, Information and Data are not equal. Data is the raw stuff of databases and reports. In and of itself, it does nothing. When organized and understood, data can become information and has the potential to influence events and empower the person using it. Knowledge is the state that information assumes when it has helped to accomplish work. Knowledge is the ultimate expression of data in use. Knowledge is Power. Data is just data.Know your limitations.1. If you don't know your weaknesses or limitations, ask someone you trust and don't take it too personally if they tell you something you didn't know. Then you should take the time to know yourself better. When in doubt find an enemy and ask him. He has nothing to gain by not telling you the truth.2. Lose a bad habit a year, every year until you approach perfection. You are not likely to become perfect, but people may like to be around you a lot more.3. Know yourself; do work that complements your skill set. If you don't like databases, don't become a database administrator, even if you know how. You will resent your work and it will show.4. Learn your strengths and use them, they will grow even stronger. Don't dwell on your weaknesses; you don't plan to keep them anyway.5. Be introspective. Introspection is a lost art. Introspection is the art of looking into yourself to find out who you are. You cannot do it with your iPod or stereo blasting at 11. You cannot do it while you are texting your friends or playing World of Warcraft. Introspection can only be done, in silence and the harsh light of honest analysis of who you are and what you do (or have done recently). If you cannot stand a silent room or be alone with your thoughts, ask yourself why? Then do it anyway. The life you improve will be your own. If you find introspection especially difficult, learn/take a class on meditation or yoga, (or both).No one outside of IT will really know what you do or understand it. So kudos may be slow to arrive after you pull the company fat out of the fire for the fourth time this month.1. Love, admire, respect and support each other’s work. It may be the only acknowledgment you receive from your workplace. Cross-train so you can help each other over time and allow everyone to take a vacation sometime.2. Complements are rarely given to the technical masses that do the most difficult of work. Know that the bulk of the people who benefit from your work, appreciate it greatly. Why management is less able to do that is still a mystery…3. In some work environments, your work will barely be acknowledged; do it well anyway.4. Your work is your signature. When you leave your work behind, it should be a monument like the Pyramids of Giza; built to last, with vision in mind. Also see: timeless.5. When you become the boss of your own IT Empire, sing the praises of your team to everyone. That praise will be the greatest tool in your arsenal.6. Under-promise and over-deliver. Keep the masses clamoring for your support happy with this simple mantra. Learn how to budget and manage your time. Be realistic when you promise your client a delivery date. Then deliver on your promise, in spades.7. In IT, everything takes longer than you thought it would. Make sure you think of everything your client would want and a half a dozen things they never considered. Treat them as you would desire to be treated.8. Document everything you do. Keep an electronic paper trail of your labors. Hercules had only 13 impossible things to do, so he did not need to take notes. Make a to-do list every day. Keep it on a flash drive or in a wiki. It helps you determine how well you are doing, what you are doing and whether it is what you should be doing.9. Once a year, make a list of things you want to accomplish in that year and make sure those things get on your daily or weekly to do list. At the end of the year, check that list, if more than half are not done, where is your time being spent?You must appear perfect in word and deed.Unrealistic? So what. Who said life was fair.1. Your parents are responsible for what was, you are responsible for what is. If your life was not a bed of roses, get over it. Every day is a chance to make it better. Real life is progressive and iterative (meaning it builds on the work of the day before. So it will take time to correct all that was wrong. Do it anyway.)2. Mastery of self must occur before you can master anything else. Self-control means control of your habits, your mind, and your body. The most powerful thing you can do for yourself is to maintain your self-control especially when everyone around you is waiting for you to lose it.3. If you are out of sorts; get help. There is no shame in seeking support. The IT industry can undermine your self-esteem and morale. If you are psychologically stressed, IT work can drive you to the brink in record time.4. If you say it, it must be so. Your word is law. Keep your word, your integrity is everything.5. When in doubt, say nothing. Everything you say will be remembered. When you say nothing, you appear wise and inscrutable. "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." No truer words were ever spoken. Remember them.6. The most powerful words you can say are: I don't know. But I will find out. Become a master of research!7. Rest; use your vacation. Learn to walk away. Many IT types have an inability to walk away from a problem. This dogged determination is how they solve the impossible issues that end up on our desks. But it leads to stress, wear and tear on our minds and bodies over time, rendering us less effective over time. Don't let this happen to you. Take time out. Plan for it. Then do it. You will be better for the time away. (Plus, it lets them miss you, especially if you are great at your job. Familiarity often breeds contempt.)8. Do things not IT related. The greatest minds in the world have often discovered that things apparently unrelated to your work can sometimes inspire you to find new ways of solving problems. Rejuvenate your mind by doing things that don't require a keyboard and a mouse. Read a book, take up painting, do crosswords or Sudoku, learn a new language, play a musical instrument... When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Get at least one physical hobby or sport that puts some wear and tear on your body. The sedentary life of an IT guru can add inches to your waist and pounds to you behind. Your mind is only as strong and resilient as the body that houses it. (Weight-lifting, aerobics, running, martial arts, bicycling, swimming, ultimate Frisbee, touch football, soccer, to name a few.) Get your heart rate up and keep it up for 50 minutes a day. Your life depends on it.Love IT as the complex and dynamic craft that it is.1. You must enjoy the challenge of finding the straw in a needle stack. You are about to become part of the largest, most distributed neural network on the planet and possibly the greatest technological wonder ever created by humanity. Savor the moment. Done? Now get to work. With that membership, you will also have the great responsibility to ensure that whatever part of that network you build, patrol, protect, guide or create, that you do it with a vision of the future, being mindful of present circumstances and with an awareness of what has gone before.2. It will, if you choose it, be the hardest job you will ever love. People will tell you that what you do is not work. Do not listen. This career is as challenging as any being done anywhere:* IT is as challenging as medicine, because your patient will sometimes span the world, be in more than one place at a time, and have thousands of discrete elements, with millions of parts and billions of lines of code holding it all together. IT changes faster and more consistently than medicine ever has. (To be fair, medicine may soon accelerate the pace now that they are embracing IT in their diagnosis, management and coordination of information. More work for you...)* IT may be as hard to handle as law, because there are no precedents for every event. Each time may be the first time that circumstance has EVER been seen. What was true this morning may no longer even be relevant by sunset. Human laws develop at a geologic pace compared to the shifts that technology witnesses every year. (On average, law firms are incredibly slow when it comes to utilizing the full power of IT. I am amazed to see how many law firms are still running Windows 98 or NT.)* As difficult as architecture and engineering because what you build must offer stability and adaptability and is constantly under attack from threats within and without and yet must make the people using it feel safe and productive. Depending on the IT you are responsible for lives may hang in the balance. Be vigilant. IT is ever-challenging and has constantly expanding horizons.3. Learn all you can, all the time. If you are not a strong reader, I recommend you work on expanding your speed and your literacy, because a strong and fast reader has a decided advantage in IT. Technical publications, both in print and online are your friends. Take an 8 hour work day, once a week and do nothing but read technical journals or publications on that day. Your productivity will still be higher than anyone who doesn’t.4. IT will offer you impossible deadlines, put you in positions to affect the highest stakes (you have four minutes to save the world...) pair you with some of the strangest and often brilliant people, keep you working long and sometimes nonstandard hours, and ultimately provide you with immense satisfaction. IT will give you the satisfaction of creating something out of nothing whether that be a circuit board, a processor, a network, an application, a database, or a website, you will be creating something from the realm of ideas (Logos) and bringing it into the world. Create something the world needs they will pay you handsomely for it. (Sometimes, even if the world didn't need it, you will get paid too, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.) Know that when your skills mature (in 5 to 7 years), you will be able to call yourself one in a million and mean it.5. Mastery of this craft makes you rare amongst humans. Even the most sophisticated and educated often pale when confronted by a computer on their desk and a demand to use it. And despite our recent economic misfortunes, work in this field will likely continue to expand to those who stay at the forefront of their fields of expertise.6. There will never be fewer computers on Earth than there are now. They may be virtual computers under unknown operating systems but the number of computers is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. And on the off-chance that the number of computers actually goes down, the skill level required to manage, understand and control those computers will likely be greater than ever. The only people who would have a chance of controlling or working with them would be people who already have the core fundamentals at hand. That would be you.If you don't love IT, you will leave it in 2-4 years for something easier, less stressful with a greater sense of acknowledgment from the common masses. Your powers will diminish somewhat but you will always remember what it was like to have your finger on the pulse of the world. Good luck.These ideas were from my private journey of twenty five years in the IT workforce. I am curious to see if anyone else sees anything familiar here. If not, share with me those things that made it possible for you to succeed. I am always looking for other great tools for my belt.About the Author: Thaddeus has a WordPress technology and science commentary blog called Storm Warnings: A Matter of Scale and can be reached at ebonstorm(at)gmail.com. He is also a writer at the Examiner.com.
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Mistress Penelope to get into the Halloween spirit reads an excerpt from "My Sanguine Valentine" a portion of the Renfield Chronicles. In this excerpt Morris Priestley, a hotel concierge unwittingly interrupts a Revenant feeding and his life is forever altered. The entire Renfield Chronicles can be found at www.renfields.net and you can find out more Renfield information at www.Renfields.ning.com. Join us in the Chat room and Call in at 718/506-9683 for the post-reading wrap-up on Wicked Wednesday!
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Finishing school has been a journey but I'm through now and I got my sheepskin. However I think I hate psychology (laugh). OK maybe hate is too strong a word...how about intense disliske (laugh).Just kidding I'm suffering from thesis defense hangover (laugh)
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I am going to make the rather radical statement that Science Fiction as a genre is "modern" prophesy. It is prophetic because it states with great accuracy who men and women will react when the changes caused by new technologies alter our environment. Whether it be faster-than-light space travel, meeting new species, or facing god-like decisions that new technology made possible.If you doubt the importance of Sci-Fi in the creation of prophecy all you have to do is look at history. While most people know about Verne and atomic power submarines, consider the contribution of the likes of Assimov's Laws of Robotics and Arthur Clarke's vision of satellite communication (The belt in which communication satellites orbit is named for him). My point is that the members of this site are the predictors of a more inclusive, and thereby more accurate future.The creative brilliance of the minds here, and others like them yet to be discovered but more likely to be because of your efforts, offer new views of worlds yet to be discovered. If the world is a reflection of a broader universe, it possible that people of color are such an overwhelming majority that the number so-called "whites" would be infinitesimal.Consider the possible repercussions on this planet from a Universe of people of color viewing the treatment of people based on race! Maybe we are already being ostracized because of our behavior.Pardon me. I shouldn't be offering those kind of suggestions here, but it is just a thought. At any rate this line of thought is just a small portion of the potential of stories that I am sure that will come either directly or indirectly from this group. Thank you for adding a much needed touch of color to an infinite Universe.Now Go Out and Prophesize!Read more…
Posted by Geoff Thorne on October 23, 2009 at 4:00pm
If you know what DIAMOND PREVIEWS is, our book, PRODIGAL: EGG OF FIRST LIGHT will be soliceted there in NOVEMBER.if you don't know what PREVIEWS is, it's the catalogue retailers use to determine which comics they will be buying. It's three months ahead so, if you want your local store to carry our book, you have to tell them next month to order it.I hope you will. Duh.
Hello everyone,
I see a few brave souls have joined us on in our Black Science Fiction virtual online space on small worlds. Make sure to sign the guestbook when you login. If you need help just send me a quick note. I want to start the weekly chat sessions back up and this would be a good place to do it. Send me your suggestion for a convenient time to have the weekly chats.
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Posted by Turtel Onli on October 18, 2009 at 5:30pm
We at ONLI STUDIOS are glad to say that "BLACK AGE XII" was a success from every point of view. It opened doors, built bridges, and entertained all who were there. I have always maintained that the Black Age was the most independent movement in the game. Resistance is futile. We rock! We come! We conquer!We have pioneered a complete genre and support system all in one. It is no mystery that the growth area of Sci-fi, graphic novels, and games will run right through the Black Age. I look forward to meeting y'all at the nearest Black Age event next year.The best, illustrators, writers, and new characters are in the Black Age.Respect us.....collect us!Onli
Last week I became embroiled in this hot debate over whether it was prudent for authors to self-publish vs. going through the traditional publishing route. The debate was spirited, but it did bring to light the prevailing thought among many why self-publishers are loathed in the writing community. First of all, many I debated referred to the self-publishing business as vanity press and not small press or even self-publishing. This in itself indicates their position that those who self-publish do so just to see their name on a book. In fairness this is probably true for some of the people that take the self-publishing approach, but not all.Those I debated made many compelling arguments against self-publishing. However, I will boil down their arguments into one issue. The opposing issue I took from the debate is that there is no policing in the self-publishing field. What do I mean? Well, it is simple. Policing assures quality, or at least adherence to the standards of writing. What I call the gatekeepers (e.g. agents, publishers and editors) are conspicuously missing in the self-publishing industry. There is no one to offer critical critique or check your grammar and spelling. To compound the issue, the advent of the computer has given false security to writers that they are producing quality work.I’ve learned the hard way, computers and word processing applications can cause more harm than good; especially the auto correct function on most processors. All in all, the lesson learned is, writers cannot rely on the computer or themselves to edit/proofread manuscripts. Unfortunately, many self-published products are a result of self-editing efforts. Thus, those I debated last week concluded, the quality of work of “all” self-published writers could not withstand the scrutiny of the traditional publisher.My argument is with the scrutiny the gatekeepers are applying. I forward the idea, the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing community use the explosion of the computer as an excuse not to delve into an author’s submission and really examine if the story is marketable or not. As soon as they see one spelling or grammatical error in a manuscript, it goes into the reject pile. When I started out writing my manuscripts, I read that the gatekeepers were not looking for pristine work, but for marketable stories written by authors with high potential. Granted the author has to exhibit sufficient writing skills in the manuscript so not to detract from the story. But I think a few misused words, misspelled words, or grammar errors should not kill a manuscripts chance for acceptance. Today’s gatekeepers only accept a flawed manuscript when it comes from famous people. Because the famous people have marketable stories, they are willing to attach a slew of editors to those projects. No, I am not advocating that each manuscript that comes through can be riddled with mistakes as long as it is a marketable story. I’m just saying manuscripts should be judged on the story and not on a few…catch what I write here…a few errors. Don’t get me wrong, quality is appreciated and warranted by the system. The writer still needs to make every effort to present his best product to the gatekeepers.With that said many authors with quality projects do become frustrated trying to get passed the gatekeepers and decide to go the self-publishing route. Although, this affords the author more control, it also increases the risks. The author has to act as agent, editor, publisher, advertiser and owner of his own business. With so many hats to wear and probably working only part-time on the book, many errors, problems and mistakes insidiously slip into the final product. This is where those I debated have a solid argument against self-published work. Until there is a mechanism to assure quality work, the self-publishing industry will continue to be spat upon by the so called “writing community” as frustrated no-talent hacks that couldn’t withstand the scrutiny of the traditional publishing process. As an independent author, I reject the notion that all that use the self-publishing process are frustrated no-talent hacks. I just believe the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing industry sometimes get it wrong.They get it wrong because they have a checklist to follow. This checklist is too rigid and inflexible and not visionary enough to recognize a new voice…a different voice…cutting down the ivory pillars of what the book industry believes is necessary to make money. Today, artists write the same old story, just with a twist, because the gatekeepers stifle imagination. There is a formula and no one can alter it. The formula is (known writer + publisher defined audience = success). Emerging stories do not see the light; new ideas never get to grow; and young writers never mature because of this formula. I promote the formula should be changed to (creative writer + dynamic audience = success). In other words the writer needs to be able to capture the reader’s imagination and that the publisher’s paradigm of who the audience is, needs to be challenged. The old way of defining an audience by just demographics is outdated. Demographics only work in census taking. Today, reading habits, personal experience and raw attraction is what should define an author’s audience.For example, the gatekeepers regulated my manuscripts/novels, Osguards: Guardians of the Universe, to black readers only, which in their opinion are only attracted to multi-cultural, exotic romance novels. They are wrong on both counts. First, just because my books have black protagonists, doesn’t mean I’m writing for a black audience. The audience I’m writing for love to read military adventures, have experience with disciplined organizations, and are attracted to science fiction. Second, regulating the reading habits of one group of people without consideration for anything other than demographics is somewhat offensive. Now, I admit this is not always the case. Steve Barnes, Octavia Butler, Samuel Delany, Tananarive Due, Walter Mosley, Jewell Gomez and Ishmael Reed, to name a few have been very successful in crossing the gatekeepers’ threshold. So I have hope that my forage into the writing community was met by an anomaly from the gatekeepers rather than the rule. I may once again make that journey to push my work through the traditional means. But for now I remain an independent author.However, independent authors like me are at a disadvantage. Because of this notion of being frustrated no-talent hacks, it is difficult to get wholesalers and distributors to carry our work. Foremost it is impossible to attract book reviews from media outlets. To fix this, independent authors need a dedicated book review process embedded in main stream marketing. The industry needs a review process that is able to dive into the trenches and weed the chaff from the wheat. There are reviewers that do so, but they do not stand on the same level as those reviewers that critique traditionally published works. Until this happens, marketing a “quality” self-published book will be like pushing a wet noodle up the hill with your nose.Finally, I understand the reluctance of many to disregard anything tagged with self-published stink on it, but I feel they are losing out on some of the best contemporary works in writing today. The question I have yet to sufficiently answer is with the stigma surrounding the self-publishing industry how can independent authors assure their quality novels get fair attention in marketing and distribution.
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Hello Everyone,I am in the process of creating a "Friends of Kandake" page on my website so I was wondering if any of you would be interested in posting links to your blogs, interviews, websites, bookstores, etc. It's just an additional way to share your links with the public. If anyone's interested, send me your banner or link in an email to kandake@live.com and I will announce the launch of the page as soon as it's completed. Thank you!
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I thought I'd give everyone a peek at the story that I'll be submitting to the My Africa Diaspoa short story contest. I really had to tone down the violence in this one. Kind of like a crackhead being required to do half a pipe. LOLOLOLOL!!Ahem...anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!Skyboat StrangersByRonald T. JonesEveryone knows when the white men arrived. No one in all the empire that was Benin had ever seen the likes of one. Light of skin, almost pink. Hair that looked like grass spouting from their scalps. They wore shiny armor and carried strange looking sticks called muskets that made thunderous noises and spat out little projectiles in blooms of smoke and fire. Time quickly eroded the whites’ novelty. Pale skinned as they were, the whites were still recognized as men.Then rumors floated to the Oba’s palace one hot afternoon of the arrival of more strangers. Whites? The Oba wanted to know. The messenger who brought word said that these strangers were neither white nor human.Were they gods or demons? The Oba demanded. The messenger could only shrug. Who knew? They could have been one or the other or both.Not satisfied with answers that revealed nothing, the Oba sent me, Ewu, to lead an expedition to the frontier of mighty Benin to discern the nature of these strangers.My military title is Ezoma. That makes me the third in command of the army of Benin. I gathered 5,000 men for the expedition. I did not want to chance rushing into an unknown situation at less than full strength. There were additional disturbing rumors that these gods or demons were burning villages, and slaughtering their inhabitants. Part of our army was dealing with a rebellion in the west. The Oba enlisted the aid of white mercenaries to crush it. I would have loved to have had some of those whites with their muskets accompanying my force. I would have valued more so Benin soldiers trained in the use of muskets. But the whites’ religious leader forbade the sale of firearms to black men. So be it. A Benin soldier with a shield and sword is worth more than a dozen whites. I only wanted the whites’ muskets. I resolved to do without. I marched out of the capitol at the head of a formidable host.For three days we were on the move, winding through forests so thick, night and day were indistinguishable. A day long march across a vast grass covered plain quickened our pace. We consumed our rations, lived off the land, and finally the generosity of the occasional village we came across. Whether the villagers’ willingness to share their provisions was generated by love of the empire or fear of its armed servants was a question that I entertained and abruptly dismissed. I had a mission to focus on.As we were preparing to leave a village weighted with supplies for our journey, my senior officer, Genogbe approached me. In his company was a withered, bent old man, who looked ancient enough to have witnessed the rise of the first Oba.This elder has something to say, Genogbe told me with an odd look. My senior officer stepped aside and the old man spoke. I had more than an inkling to dismiss the honored elder’s tale as the product of a diminishing mind. Except, the man’s tale, accorded with rumors floating around the capitol. The clear headed manner in which the elder recounted his story spoke of first hand experience. A boat falling from the sky in a blanket of fire. Strange creatures exiting this skyboat spreading across the land, pillaging, killing, destroying.We sped up our departure and, on the old man’s word, headed north to where this skyboat supposedly landed. Trepidation gripped the ranks. According to reports from my junior commanders, the men were becoming increasingly unsettled. Some were convinced that gods were walking the Earth. Or that the ancestors were unleashing their wrath upon their wayward descendants. Or that we were marching to our doom. I honor the ancestors and worship the gods, but I cannot see nor touch them. As such, I cannot truly devine their purpose. But I know the ways of men. I was determined to make sure that my soldiers knew my ways. I authorized my commanders to execute any man who voiced fears about this mission. After that, I heard no talk of Earth walking gods and avenging ancestors.We passed a number of blackened acreages that used to be villages. Scattered bodies of villagers provided sustenance for ubiquitous carrion birds. The smell of corruption assaulted the nostrils. Men, women, children, even animals lay among the dead. The skyboat strangers spared no one.The men marched with a new energy. I could feel it. It was an energy fueled by our rage, sustained by an itching desire to exact retribution from those responsible for these dreadful incursions into Benin territory.Two days after we left the last razed village, we met the enemy. It was in a valley of swaying grass, dotted with gnarled trees that looked like malformed old women. The skyboat strangers must have been awaiting our arrival, because they were formed up into a solid mass. Upon first glance, it was unnervingly clear that the strangers were not men. They were short of body with long slender arms and legs. Their faces were shaped like yams and every bit as parched looking, with black dots for eyes, nothing indicative of noses, and vague, creased suggestions of mouths. They wore green attire that covered their awkward forms from neck to feet. There was nothing fear-invoking in their appearance. Not even their weapons, which were little more than skinning knives, warranted much concern from me.It was when the skyboat strangers released a collective howl that the depth of their unearthliness was driven straight to my bones. Then they charged, their long strides closing the gap between our armies at speeds the fastest man could never hope to challenge. I shouted for us to hold firm, counting on my voice and my steady presence to strengthen my men’s resolve.Benin archers darkened the sky with projectiles. The arrows hit home numerous times, staggering the enemy’s advance. Scores of skyboat strangers tumbled to the ground, arrows protruding from their bodies like grisly frills. Next, Benin spearmen flung their iron-tipped spears, impaling more enemy soldiers. The skyboat strangers, even as their ranks thinned, sustained the crashing momentum of their charge until it collided into the solid wall of our shield bearing infantry. For an eternity wrapped in minutes, a serene valley churned violence. The skyboat strangers exhibited frenzied aggression combined with a frightening facility in the use of their modest weapons. More than a few Benin soldiers fell to skillfully delivered blade slashes and thrusts. I was very nearly sliced across my neck by a blade-wielding skyboat stranger. Only my nimble reflexes in conjunction with a timely intervention by my personal guard stayed death’s hand. My guard cut the skyboat stranger down with a single sword stroke and moved on to engage the next foe. The skyboat strangers fought with a tireless fury despite being outnumbered three to one. They should have retreated. Even as their numbers dwindled beneath the pitiless teeth of Benin swords and spears the enemy never broke. We pressed in on the skyboat strangers from all sides, hemming them in with our shields while we hacked and stabbed like madmen. Enemy dead fell precipitously at our feet. We closed the circle, reducing a sizable army into a ragged knot of holdouts.It was after the last of the skyboat strangers was killed that I noticed that their blood was deep yellow in color, like a thicker version of piss.We spent part of the aftermath mourning our losses and tending to our wounded as best we could. Then we moved on. I wanted to see the strangers’ skyboat.A half day later, we discovered the skyboat. It was in the middle of a forest perched on ground that had been scorched to ash by the vessel’s descent. I hardly knew what to make of this gray, round, smooth skinned behemoth. Its immensity overwhelmed. The skyboat was larger than a cluster of villages. Its flawless craftsmanship put our best iron forgers to shame. Utterances of awe and fear wafted from the men. I dredged up the courage to approach the vessel. No, Genogbe, warned. I ignored his plea. Something compelled me closer to the vessel…coercive magic? Insanity? Or, perhaps, simple curiosity. I placed my hand on the strangely cool surface of the skyboat…I woke up to looks of agitation from my soldiers. Genogbe told me I blacked out. All I know is that the skyboat spoke to me. It spoke of beings from another world coming to our world to conquer. The beings had weapons that could have erased my expedition in a single sweep. How fortunate for us that those weapons did not work on this world. Rather than return to their home in failure, the beings chose to continue their mission, knowing they would die.We swiftly cleared away as the skyboat rumbled to life, rose from its crater, and soared into the sky.The skyboat strangers died well.We headed home.
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