Secret Pleasures and Hidden Gems by Warren Bull

Secret Pleasures and Hidden Gems by Warren Bull

Talk of rebooting Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series has me remembering how much the original series was a secret favorite of mine. Once you accepted the concept, which I have to admit was tough for those not into vampires, demons and such, the writing was great switching between humor, angst, identity and friendship themes. What made it especially interesting to me were a lot of inside jokes about therapy and there was even a villain named Warren. Show creator, Joss Whedon, was willing to experiment. Several episodes mixed in social commentary and teenage angst. Quite a few were funny. I could count on being surprised. There was one musical episode and one absolutely terrifying episode without any dialog at all.

Another secret pleasure of mine was watching some of the plot lines on professional wrestling. One wrestler changed from a pseudo-pimp to a righteous goody two shoes and railed against the “immorality” of the other wrestling characters. A female wrestler who resembled Sarah Palin was referred to as “Gov.” She took other women wrestlers through the wringer making comments about politics. The best part of the story lines managed to satirize aspects of society and poke fun at the business it was in.

I thought of Kermit the Frog on The Muppet Showas a Chekhovian hero trying to wrest order from a chaotic world. His valiant failure never dampened his stubborn optimism even though he knew his efforts were futile.  

Tom Hanks went from doing Shakespeare in a summer festival to a bit part in a horror movie before he got a leading role in a short-lived comedy series (1980-1982) Bosom Buddies. He and Peter Scolari played two broke friends who dressed in drag so they can live in a cheap apartment building that only allowed women tenants. The premise was totally unbelievable, I know. The show commented on absurd gender stereotypes and discrimination in a way that was far ahead of its time. Part of the pleasure for me was watching the improvisation between Hanks and Scolari. They had a real chemistry.  The show attracted enough attention that Hanks was able to start his movie career.

An even shorter-lived series, Police Squad, lasted only six episodes in 1990 but it starred Leslie Nielson with smart and funny wordplay plus visual gags like the writers, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker had used in the movie Airplane. Nielson had been a successful actor for decades playing leading men and then villains. In Airplane he played hapless character of Dr. Rumack. For Police SquadNeilson developed the character of Detective Frank Drebin who bumbles through life inadvertently solving crimes as he creates chaos for those around him without even noticing. Nielson’s deadpan delivery worked for him through three Naked Gun movies. And apparently inspired his “autobiography” with claims about the three Oscars he “won” and his torrid “affair” with Elizabeth Taylor. 

Beware the Assoonas! by Warren Bull

Beware the Assoonas!

Image from thejoural.ie.

It Lies in wait, like a crocodile beneath the murky water’s surface. Patient, motionless, not a single ripple shows.

But it’s there

Ready for that moment of inattention

For the sweet, distracted fantasy

The alluring delusion

That I know is not really real

Oh, but if it were…

It springs, mouth agape

To chomp down with the power as inexorable

As the passage of time

On whatever appendage dangles before it

It pulls me into the water

With roiling furious strength

The death spiral begins

There is no chance of escape

Just like last time

Will I ever learn?

Asssoonas crunches contentedly on the bones of

Time it assassinated.

As soon as….my out-of-town guests leave I will finish that troublesome phrase. Then I’ll be ready to edit the article from the very beginning, remembering to check the reference for that section with the clang.

But the dishes need washing. The sheets need to be changed. That spill on the rug will turn into a stain if I don’t attend to it quickly. What will I have to wear if I don’t pick up my clothing from the drycleaner’s? They close in forty-five minutes. The car is almost out of gas. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. 

After two more hours of frenzied activity, I’m tired. A little nap would do me a world of good. Look how late it is. A nap? No I need a good night’s sleep.

I can start fresh tomorrow.

As soon as I finish breakfast and call the Hendersons back. After I finally make that appointment I’ve been putting off. I really need to check on Jenny before I get too involved in anything else. Who knows how long she will want to talk?

How long has it been since I called Mom? I haven’t done a thing about Randy’s birthday. It’s almost here.

Just a few errands to run and I’ll have free time.

I will write, just as soon as …

The Alphabet Ends with Y: An Appreciation of Sue Grafton’s Books by Warren Bull

Image from NewYorkTimes.com

It will be hard for new readers to understand how important Sue Grafton was to mystery fiction. From their point of view, her work will be remarkable for her skill and her evident evolution as a writer from book A to book Y. Interested readers will be able to read her honest blogs about writing a mystery as she writes one. What they will not be able to fully grasp is her contribution to writing and reading mysteries. She, along with Marsha Miller, Sara Paretsky, Maxine O’Callaghan and others, infused private eye mysteries from the hard-edged style of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald with new life by writing about female private detectives who were competent, commanding and feminine— not men in drag.

Kinsey and her clan felt no need to apologize for their gender. They were clear-eyed realistic, and they knew how to cope with a world dominated by men, just as their authors coped with the male domination of mystery writing. The detectives worked well, sometimes at a sacrifice to their personal lives. They cared about their clients family and friends without sentimentalizing them. In one way or another people generally got what they deserved.

Part of Kinsey’s attraction for me as a reader and a writer was her slowly developing relationship with those around her, especially with her elderly but spirited landlord and neighbor, Henry. That was sufficient reason to read her books and there were many other reasons. I admit a fondness also for her yellow Volkswagen. I am one of those people. I name the cars I own.

Of course I enjoyed reading from letter to letter and seeing how her writing expands and acquires depth and nuance over the course of her work.  I admire the authenticity of Grafton’s writing. If there is a form to be filled out, it is the exact form needed in the time and place of Kinsey’s world. I also respect Grafton’s complete refusal to use cardboard cutouts in place of actual characters. If Kinsey calls a stranger, that stranger will have a distinct personality by the end of the call. 

It is such fun to watch Kinsey lie and charm her way to find out what she needs to know. Her quick thinking and ability to “read” people is like improvisational theater.

Grafton chose to have time pass slowly in the world she created. A to Y took six years, while thirty five years have passed in this world. Agatha Christie lamented the age she selected for her  characters when she began writing because time had to pass in each novel and by the end of her writing they would have been ancient.

I truly love the surprises and humor that ambush the reader. For example, in T is for Trespass Kinsey finds a professional caretaker who has worked with the caretaker she is investigating. The caretaker’s description of her coworker is delightful.  

Her most autobiographical book, Kinsey and Me is, a gem. First she lays out am unparalleled description of the process of writing mystery short stories. Then she demonstrates how well short stories can be written. She follows that with a group of the most revealing short stories she has ever written.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Sue Grafton, but like readers everywhere, I will miss her.

Lessons from Edgar Allan Poe by Warren Bull

Lessons from Edgar Allan Poe by Warren Bull

Edgar Allan Poe, inventor of the detective story, master of the short story and renown poet offered some thoughts on writing short fiction and poetry. I summarized some of them below: 

1. Before putting pen to paper have the entire work including the ending worked out in your mind.  

2. Write what can be read in one sitting. The time the typical reader is willing to spend reading has changed since Poe’s time but the concept is still valid. 

3. Work toward unity of “effect.” Poe believed that the aim of a short story was to create a single mood, or ambience, which he called an effect. He favored melancholy and horror, but this applies to any mood. 

4. Poe insisted that the effect should start at the very first line. 

5. Related to the idea above include nothing that detracts or distracts from the design of the piece. 

6. Regardless of the genre keep the story true to the way people really act in a given situation. It may be a fantasy, romance or science fiction but the characters’ actions should ring true to the human heart.  

7. Stress imagination, invention, creation and originality. It is not necessary to invent a totally new situation. Familiar plot lines can be presented in fresh ways. 

8. The resolution must be satisfying. In fact Poe suggested that the ending is often where to begin the piece.

By Warren Bull, author of Abraham Lincoln For the Defense http://tinyurl.com/z9grc2j and Abraham Lincoln in court & campaign http://tinyurl.com/zoxazej