Hi, folks, I thought I’d make an appearance here before the record-breaking summer heat conspired with my Pentium Northwood system to force me into the nearest garage.
I’m polishing up a couple of scripts for the perusal of our resident artist and webmistress, Alida Saxon. She’s asked to see them so she can percolate some album art ideas for Volume 2…not to mention threatened just out of sheer curiosity. It’s only to be expected.
I keep talking about new eps, dropping titles like “Sleepless Days” and “Damning Praise,” so someone’s bound to call my bluff eventually. Anyway, a couple thoughts on matters loosely related to Afterhell…..
Jamie recently pointed me to an article on the SFGate about a news story I’d been following for a while. A kid in San Jose was in serious hot water for a poem he’d written in school. It was a primitive, edgy piece of work that evoked the fears of any reasonable person after the events at Columbine High School a few years back.
Students and faculty were panicking. Was it a poem or a threat? A threatening poem? What was it?!
The case was before the California State Supreme Court. Fortunately, sanity reigned and the kid was cleared of any charges.
Now Jamie brought this to my attention for two reasons. The kid lives in San Jose, California. My hometown. And one of several writers who came to this kid’s defense is one of my favorites, none other than Harlan Ellison.
And this does strike a personal chord for me, for reasons other than the obvious. My brother once got into trouble for somthing similar. A counselor at his school saw a picture he drew and called our parents in. He was only copying some art from a post-apocalyptic RPG, an early edition of Gamma World. A line drawing of a humanoid rabbit packing a rifle was enough to make her, a normally reasonable and sympathetic woman, panic. And they had to show the counselor the book and prove my brother hadn’t gone postal.
I’ve always agreed with Ellison’s take on art, that its function is to disturb as well as inspire.  Complaceny, not fear, is the enemy. With enough time and mental adjustment, you can get used to anything. Complaceny is comfortable, reassuring and unchanging. Once you’re hooked on the junk, you’ll do anything to keep it going. Even comfort has its dangers.
I wanted to put in a world for Jerry Goldsmith, noted composer for fillms and television, who died in his sleep Wednesday night. Everyone has been touched by his innovative music at least once in their lives, from Patton to Logan’s Run, from The Omen to the Star Trek films, from The Man from UNCLE to The Waltons. I’ve loved film music for a long time. His work at there for me at the very beginning. The second film I ever saw was bits from Planet of the Apes, and the music I heard then has stuck to me all this time. I’d like to think an exciting new sound has been added to Heaven’s mix.