How goes the Xmas Carol edit, Keith?

Thanks for asking. It's going very well. Yesterday I edited seven scenes in chapter ten of Xmas Carol -- a big load for one day. I'm smack dab in the middle of the climax, which makes the editing fun.

It sounds good. The pace of the book is much better, after the series of edits. The story feels like one smooth movement that stretches from start to finish. Hopefully I've included enough attractions along the way to hold the reader's interest and pull her all the way to the ending. I think so; it seems to be an easy read, which is what I've been aiming for all along.

Pretty soon I'll be done, in about a week, I think. Now, tell me again why I should send this to a publisher? They give you, at most, about $18,000 for a book these days, and they keep the rest of the loot. Think about this: that's a one-time payment for your book.

But if you self-publish, you get the majority of the money -- forever. If your book sells, it will never stop paying you money. Doesn't this sound like going through a publisher is no longer a smart move? I'll have to make a decision within a couple of weeks. Sigh. The business end of writing is not at all interesting to me. (The business of anything bores me.)

But the book sounds terrific. It seems to me this should be my only concern.

Understanding evolution

A lot of people think they understand evolution but all they really understand are the headlines. Yes, they agree, we evolved from a long line of creatures, possibly extending all the way back to the very first life form. Well, it's great to agree that evolution happened, but does this mean you understand what evolution is? Today, I'd like to push aside a few incorrect notions that are floating around out there. I'm not a scientist, far from it, but I'll do the best I can.

Evolution is not a process whereby creatures morph into more splendid versions of themselves, in a nice straight line, over immense periods of time. That's the cute, slap-happy version of evolution. The thing people don't grasp is that evolution is equally about creatures dying because they cannot adapt to changing conditions in their local environment -- a climatic shift, the arrival of a new predator, a change in oxygen levels, an upgrading in the armament of their favorite prey, etc. Evolution is a bloody, painful story of survival and death -- lots of death.

Let's consider a specific case: primitive horse precursors that existed long ago. These creatures were happily trotting around for hundreds of thousands of years in a beneficent climate, eating food that was easy to chew and swallow -- soft, moist vegetation, in other words. But then climate change hit their world and as a result, the vegetation changed dramatically. Suddenly these horse progenitors had to rely on harsher, drier, more abrasive vegetation for sustenance. Now, here's the thing -- it's not that the horses magically developed new teeth that were perfectly suited to their new food source. They didn't morph into a happy new shape. That's not how evolution rolls.

On the contrary -- all the horses that had soft dentition died because they couldn't eat the new food. And of their young, only those few that happened to have harder chomping surfaces in their mouths, survived. They could obtain nourishment from the vegetation and were able to thrive and reproduce, passing harder dentition along to their young.

Evolution requires that massive numbers of creatures die when they cannot survive the changing environment of their world. Only those few creatures that develop a beneficial mutation (harder chomping surfaces, in this case) survive into the future. And in the case of our horse-like creatures, they survived all the way up to the current day. As a result, we see horses with nice, big, hard teeth.

Now let's take a simpler, more visual example. Consider a huge population of happy, fat, brown mice who are living far north at a time when even the Arctic is warm and inviting. This idyllic happy-brown-mouse period goes on for ages, and in that time the population doesn't change much. But then one day, climate change arrives and the north is suddenly snow-covered all year round. In this new environment, the brown mice are very easy for predators, especially avian predators, to see and catch -- so all the brown mice are eaten. And only their young that happen to be born white because of a mutation, can survive in the new, snow-covered landscape.

It's not that the mice suddenly morphed their fur from brown to white to survive -- it's that the brown mice died, and only their white or near-white descendants survived. In the end, all the mice in the area were white. If an occasional brown one was born, it would be eaten before it could reproduce. (And if conditions changed and it became warm again, the white mice would stick out and be killed --  and the group would soon be brown again.)

See how this works? Species that are ill-equipped to survive a change in their environment, die. Many times an entire species will go extinct because of environmental factors. In fact, most species do become extinct. Evolution eats up a lot of creatures. It is stunningly successful, but there's a sea of blood and suffering in its wake.

This process is what scientists mean by "selection pressure". Creatures with beneficial characteristics are selected by evolution to survive into the next generation and pass their genes on to their young. All this means is: the creatures are a good match for current conditions, so they survive while others don't. And as for the selection pressure, it's many things: competition for food, quality of air, strength of predators, climate, etc. This is the process of natural selection, which we refer to in our simple way, as "survival of the fittest." Yup, and the deaths of trillions of creatures who weren't as lucky.

Evolution isn't hard to understand but you do have to pay attention. It's not grasped in a minute. You have to actually look into it, read about it and then think about it. Most people don't do this and never come to understand how evolution works. It's not a morphing contest; it's not quick; and there is a ton of death and suffering that goes into it. (Which also tells us there is no god; if there was, and he allowed this bloody process to be the way life proceeds within "his" creation, he would have to be a sadistic monster, not a god.)

This post barely touches on the topic of evolution. It's a fascinating field. If you pick up a book on evolution, I don't think you'll be sorry. And it's a principle that, once learned, deepens your understanding of the universe. It's not just critters that evolve -- but that's a post for another day.

Gays come for hets

Hat tip to Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars for pointing me to this article in The Onion:

Marauding Gay Hordes Drag Thousands of Helpless Citizens from Marriages after Obama Drops Defense of Marriage Act

WASHINGTON—Reports continue to pour in from around the nation today of helpless Americans being forcibly taken from their marital unions after President Obama dropped the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this week, leaving the institution completely vulnerable to roving bands of homosexuals. "It was just awful—they smashed through our living room window, one of them said 'I've had my eye on you, Roger,' and then they dragged my husband off kicking and screaming," said Cleveland-area homemaker Rita Ellington, one of the latest victims whose defenseless marriage was overrun by the hordes of battle-ready gays that had been clambering at the gates of matrimony since the DOMA went into effect in 1996. "Oh dear God, why did they remove the protection provided by this vital piece of legislation? My children! What will I tell my children?" A video communique was sent to the media late yesterday from what appears to be the as-yet unidentified leader of the gay marauders, who, adorned in terrifying warpaint, announced "Richard Dickson of Ames, Iowa. We're coming for you next. Put on something nice."

The mad faces of Weegee

I used to have a book of Weegee photos. Alas, I lent it out and the book was never returned. (I could have a burning resentment against the person who didn't return it. However, I have two books on my shelves that I failed to return so I can't cast any stones. Too bad; I like casting stones.) Weegee is a sort of stage name. The man's actual name was Arthur Fellig, and he was a photographer and photojournalist in the early to middle of the last century. I don't think many people remember his real name, but Weegee will never be forgotten.

I don't know much about the man but I'll share what I do. Most importantly, he seemed to stay up all night. The man chased mayhem -- ambulances, police cars, fire engines, whatever -- and attended all the latest fights. Weegee's magic trick was that he pointed his camera not at the object of everyone's attention but at the people who were watching: the fight, the murder, the dead body, the accident, the crash, the explosion, etc. In a movie theater, his shots were of the audience. At a fire, same thing -- he would point his lens at the horrified onlookers. As a result, he captured the most bizarre, intimate photographs. And the photographs are of us. 

Weegee showed us as aliens, as wild, possessed creatures barely constrained by the customs of a civilized society. The mad expressions on some of the faces in his photographs are clearly out of control. And there is a joy in those faces -- a joy at seeing the horror. They like it.

The realization that hits us as we view his photos is that these are pictures of us. The weird images are merely the result of Weegee holding up a mirror. And we recognize this, we recognize us. That is the shock of a Weegee photo -- the moment when we see ourselves without a mask. There is a peephole element to Weegee photos; we feel we're seeing something we're not supposed to. The worlds Weegee captured are secret. And the secrets are ours.

A wonderful artist, Weegee left behind startling images not only of a lost time, but a lost people. Most of the subjects in his photos are gone from the world today. (The photos range from the 1930s to the early 1960s.) This large separation in time, and the consequent impression that we're seeing an ancient world, adds to the allure of the images. 

We can't touch this distant past, can't walk through the night of a Weegee photo. Yet he left us windows through which we can peer into that time. The view remains haunting today and there is a stark message in these photos for latter-day viewers -- we have not changed. These remain photographs of us.

Hillary Clinton says what we watch is not news

You don't often hear American politicians say something that's, you know, true, but Hillary Clinton did today.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Al Jazeera is gaining more prominence in the U.S. because it offers "real news" -- something she said American media were falling far short of doing.

Clinton was speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and she said the U.S. is losing the "information war" in the world. One of the reasons she cited for this was the quality of channels like Al Jazeera.

"Viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it's real news," she said. "You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads and the kind of stuff that we do on our news which, you know, is not particularly informative to us, let alone foreigners."

Now could someone please erase all our news stations and start over? It's easy: news, not tripe. Is that such a difficult formula to achieve? I sure wish I could get Al Jazeera on my teevee. But of course, I can't because that would allow real news to reach an American. Me.

About those dead Afghan boys

Found on CounterPunch today in an article by Patrick Cockburn:

One of my neighbors here in Petrolia is Dr Dick Scheinman, who emailed his address list Thursday thus:

“I recently read a horrifying article in the NY Times about Afghanistan and could not help writing my representatives. Maybe you can too. Tax time is coming up and tax resistance is an option.

‘May I call your attention to an article from March 2 in the NY Times entitled ‘Nine Afghan boys collecting firewood killed by NATO Helicopters’.

‘I live with my grandson, 12, and as part of our making a living we collect and sell firewood. Nathan gets paid 25 dollars for loading and unloading a cord of wood from our truck. When I read this story I could not get out of my mind the pure chance that made Nathan a healthy American boy who could collect firewood and earn money, rather than a poor Afghan boy whose life was destroyed by  NATO (American?) men (women?) in a helicopter thousands of miles from their homes. With rue my heart is laden.

‘David Petreus has “apologized.” Perhaps he has children and grandchildren. Perhaps he should send his children over to Afghanistan to collect firewood for these boys’ sisters for the rest of their lives to atone for this outrageous cold blooded murder.(‘they shot the boys one after the other”.) Maybe the men in the helicopter should do the same. Perhaps Barack Obama’s two daughters could help.

Perhaps they should put on  rags and kiss their feet and beg forgiveness.

But the least, the very least that YOU can do is to never, ever vote to spend any more money to continue this war.’”

Truly scary movies

There aren't many truly scary movies. This is my list of the scariest:

Dumplings. This Asian horror flick by director Fruit Chan is so creepy you won't believe it. I don't know if it's "scary" exactly but it's definitely one of the freakiest movies I've ever seen (and it makes you want to hold a pillow in front of your face). If you haven't seen it, toss this one in your queue -- but only if you have great intestinal fortitude. And then you too can wonder, "What's in Aunt Mei's secret dumplings?" Lotsa fun (and okay, it's disgusting too).

Carnival of Souls. This low-budget, black-and-white Swedish thriller from 1962 is excellent. It doesn't look fabulous, which is not a surprise given the almost nonexistent budget, and there are a lot of overexposed versions of it out there, but the movie is definitely scary. They took what little they had and ran with it to a very frightening place. To tell you what it's about would ruin the experience for you. If you haven't seen Carnival of Souls, do so. That is an order.

The Exorcist. This movie is so familiar to us that it's lost its horror luster. But it was certainly horrifying in 1974 when it first slammed the US population. This movie was an event, people. If you weren't there at the time, you can't imagine the aura that surrounded its release. I think I waited six or eight hours on line to see it. We hardly knew anything about special effects then, which was the key to our terror. Now, of course, people's heads spin around all the time. I just saw a woman's head do this at the Quickie Mart last Thursday. Still, it's a nice film, a well-made movie. All the actors are excellent, terrific music, great visuals -- you couldn't ask for more.

American Werewolf in London. This 1981 movie made its way onto two of my lists: weird movies and scary movies. Thing is, it's also a funny movie! This is the only movie I've ever seen that was both funny and scary. John Landis performed a miracle. But again, the movie was more startling when it came out because we'd never seen a guy turn into a werewolf right in front of our eyes before. (The Howling notwithstanding; that was just blowing up balloons, next to these transformations.) However, the movie's impact doesn't rely only on special effects. There are some genuinely scary moments here, like the little Mickey Mouse hello from Jack (for those who've seen it). Downright creepy -- and you get to watch Jack decompose as the movie proceeds. This is a special added bonus. Plus, the movie's hysterically funny. I don't know how Landis did it.

Dead of Night. This 1946 black-and-white movie is a treasure. It must have knocked audiences out, back in the day. It's one of those old movies that has several stories within it. At the time of its release, each of the tales contained in the movie would have been startlingly new to the audience. Many of its novel ideas have been copied since the film's release -- over and over and over, in fact -- making the plots in the various stories all too familiar to today's viewers. But the movie was wonderfully creepy and innovative in a time when audiences were more naive. The look, sound and feel are charming. It's like visiting long-gone days. (This one came out before even I was born. It's old.)

The Mephisto Waltz. Okay, so maybe this movie from 1971 isn't that scary. But it's so stylish that I want it on my list. It's a sophisticated, appealing tale of Satanism in Manhattan. What more could you ask? I don't want to reveal the story idea, in case you haven't seen it. A lovely movie, worthy of repeated viewings (and despite the inclusion of Jacqueline Bisset in the cast; they didn't know she was white trash yet).

Alien. This has to be on any scary-movie list. Alien broke new ground and though it's been copied to death, we need to recognize the incredible innovation that went into this movie. Not only does it have the best monster even seen on film, it's also got that great, organic-looking alien spacecraft. And the view inside certainly wasn't a letdown. What a scene! And the scale of the aliens in that huge chamber! Though we only saw them in death, their innate alienness was terrifying. A giant race of space-faring aliens -- and this was just the sideshow before our main alien decimates the crew. Amazing. Everything about this movie is a 10. I know we've seen it a million times but you have to admit it's the king of the scary movie pile.

(Of course, when making up this list I peeked at internet lists of the mostest-scariest movies, and boy, was that a joke! People listed garbage like "Children of the Corn"! On a "scariest movies" list! You know how frightening corn is. And "Stephen King's It"! One of the stupidest movies ever made. And let us note that both of these wildly bad movies are from the mind of Stephen King. As I said in another post, the man used to have talent. Anyway, people today are idiots. Just read lists to confirm this.)

Additions? Subtractions? I'm sure there are other scary movies out there. Enlighten me.