Ebola Comes to the US

Captain Trips is a bitch.

Oh, here we go. As a voracious reader of Robin Cook and Stephen King over the years, this is just the scary thing that resonates with me. I'm heartened that it's difficult to catch Ebola, and that its gestation is so fast that people don't go around as carriers for extended periods. That should keep it from becoming an epidemic here. But yikes, let's hope this is one time that truth is stranger than truth. Meanwhile, we can delight in how FOX News and Right Wing world will turn this into: a) President Obama's fault, and b) somehow a distraction from and related to Benghazi.

[Excerpt]

First U.S. case of Ebola diagnosed in Texas after man who came from Liberia falls ill

A man who flew from Liberia to Dallas this month was diagnosed with Ebola on Tuesday, becoming the first person to board a passenger jet and unknowingly bring the disease here from West Africa, where it has killed thousands of people in recent months. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Conservatives Mock Conservation on Earth Day

"Trashcan Man" from Stephen King's
The Stand, would probably be considered
a "conservative" today.

I'm posting this not because I have some sort of particular interest in Earth Day, but because I'm genuinely curious as to what "conservatism" actually means. If you were going to be literal about it, conservative ought to denote a person interested in conservation, right? Conserving things ought to be conservative. And if you get a little more esoteric about it, it could mean keeping things the way they are, or conserving them. Or, it could even mean "tighter" or "more restrictive." So how does this relate to wasting energy? Why do arch-conservatives think it might be funny to waste energy on Earth Day? Yeah, I know that "punching the hippie" can be fun, even for the left, but how does wasting energy = conservatism? Somebody help me out here.

[Excerpt]

Right-Wing Media Celebrate Earth Day By Mocking Conservation



In the lead-up to Earth Day, members of the right-wing media have ridiculed conservation efforts and downplayed the concerns of environmentalists. This is nothing new for conservative media figures who have, in the past, used the Earth Day to attack conservationists by urging audiences to cut down trees and increase their energy consumption. . .
 
Read more at: Media Matters

Movie Review: Carriers

Image from Wikipedia

I've continued on my obscure movie quest, watching one or two a week on the Cox On Demand. This week, I picked Carriers, because it starred Chris Pine (Capt. Kirk of the new Star Trek), and the whole end-of-the-world genre has always been a favorite. It also co-stars Emily VanCamp, one of the stars of Brothers & Sisters, and Lou Taylor Pucci (from no other project I've ever heard of).

The film starts after a world-wide epidemic has already claimed most of its victims, and centers upon four survivors, Pine and Pucci (as brothers), Piper Perabo as Pine's girlfriend, and VanCamp as fellow traveller whose origins aren't explained.  The setup is not original, having been used for countless genre stories, most notably Stephen King's The Stand. Since we've been spared the actual horror of the plague--save for a few flashbacks--this is basically a road picture, with a vague destination in mind.

The brothers have memories of their favorite childhood vacation spot on the beach, and decide that's where they should go. Along the way, they reluctantly pick up a man (Chris Meloni of Law & Order: SVU) and his daughter, which waylays them a bit. There are of course also stops for gas, presumably food and water, and run-ins with other survivors.  The picture is basically a suspense/thriller, with hints of horror and just a touch of gore.

Image from BSCReview

I enjoyed it. Van Camp and Pucci are both quite good, with a jaded innocence about them, and obvious emotional pain mixed with practical ruthlessness.  Pine is quite frankly good in everything I've seen him in.  So the acting brings the quality of the movie up a couple of notches.  Story wise, there are a couple of areas where the movie started to feel like The Happening (and if you click that link, you'll find my review of the worst mainstream movie of all time), but never falls all the way into the ridiculousness of that film.

Ultimately, the ending is bound to blow.  A happy ending is almost out of the question, because it would feel forced and phony.  As in George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (and its sequels and prequel) or 28 Days Later (and sequel), you're pretty much guaranteed to have an ambiguous, open ending.  As with any road picture, the story is really about getting there, and once you're there, where do you go?  Because of this, I can't give the movie my full endorsement.  It's well done, and if you are a fan of any of the actors or sibling writing/directing teams (in this case Àlex Pastor and David Pastor), by all means, check it out.  As a lazy Sunday time waster, it isn't bad either. But in the scheme of things, I can only say it's only slightly. . .


Recommended

Book Review (Part 1): Stephen King's Under the Dome

Image from QuarterlyConversation

There's a reason I haven't blogged about anything since yesterday. I've been immersed into a book. A big, heavy, 1074-page book.  I first checked Stephen King's Under the Dome out of the library several months ago, but partly intimidated by its heft, I returned it unread.  Last weekend, while still reading Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Lost Souls, a book I enjoyed but with which I was disappointed.  As I said in my review of that book, it left me wanting because it ended mid-story--or more accurately--only a third of the way in.  Unlike the previous Frankenstein trilogy, this edition didn't carry a chapter number, or any other indication that it was only one volume of a longer story.

I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue for Under the Dome. I'm only halfway into the book (at page 545!), and have only come up for air now, after reading since 7:00 am this morning!  If you've ever read a Stephen King novel, you know that he can be wordy, sometimes at the expense of the story.  As much as I loved Misery, I found myself skipping the "Misery Chastain" romance novel portions of the book only partway in.  At other times though, say with The Stand, King's wordiness can be rich and rewarding.  One thing I think I can be relatively certain of is that it won't have a rushed conclusion!

Under the Dome takes place in Maine (naturally), just up the road a piece from Castle Rock, a town you're intimately familiar with if you've read very much King.  The small town of Chester's Mill finds itself suddenly trapped--right to the town's borders--by a transparent, seemingly indestructible barrier.  This has a calamitous effect on anything actually at the border at the moment the dome came down, or for anything preparing to cross it at high speed. 

This first part of the book is an outstanding, gripping, can't-put-the-book-down good time.  If your idea of a good time is kinda gory.  Mine is.  Anyway, a large section of the book deals with the setup, introducing us to a broad section of Chester's Mill's citizenry and public servants.  By the time we begin to gather some vague understanding as to what's going on--about a third of the way in--we'd have already been to the end of many books of this genre (Koontz's included).  I was a little leery of what the thick mid-section of this book was going to be like.  For the sheer genius that was The Stand, another long King book, Duma Key while good, wasn't quite as satisfying. So far though, I'm still along for the ride.  There are protagonists I'm rooting for, a couple of deaths--hey, this is King--that I've lamented, and a few deaths I'm looking forward to! 

I'll be following this review with a complete one when I'm done reading. I may have to extend my library check-out period to do that, unless next weekend is as schedule-clear as this one was.  But so far, I've got to say I recommend it. Especially, I recommend the idea of books like this to other writers (you listening, Dean?).  Having the space to flesh out a story this rich, and not having to wind it up at page 400 or so has got to be a freeing experience for a writer. It's also an entertaining and memorable way to read one.  I've read hundreds of books, and if we winnow it down to just the King and Koontz stuff, I could name several titles, but few details.  That said, I can tell you that The Stand had characters like Mother Abigail and Trashcan Man, and the song "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?."  Those big books stick with you!

M-O-O-N, That Spells Swine Flu!

OK, this is blatantly stolen from Wonkette. As you might have noticed, I'm not real big with the original material this blogging day. Oh, well. The clip is from the opening moments of Stephen King's The Stand, one of the best adaptations (and most star-studded) of the author's books. It has to do with (at least at first) a world-wide pandemic. It doesn't end well, particularly for those of us who live in Las Vegas.

Gas to Hit $4 This Summer?

Photo from source, AOL News

Nobody wants to believe it, but it looks like it's going to happen: $4-per-gallon gasoline. Oddly, I've gotten rather used to the $3+ price, no longer cursing--as much as I used to--at the total bill each time I fill up my Jeep. There was a time when it cost me just over $20. Now $20 whizzes before it's even half full. I, and we will suck it up and pay $4 too. But if it stays at $4--or creeps up to $5 or more--I have a strange feeling we'll actually start to change our ways.

None of this takes into account the price of everything else, which will all have to go up in price too, to offset the trucks and planes that get everything to us. It's especially dicey for folks like me who live in a remote desert locale. There's a reason Stephen King picked Las Vegas as one of his end-time locales in The Stand!

[Excerpt]

Summer Gasoline Prices Could Hit $4

Retail gasoline prices pulled back slightly from record levels Tuesday and gave some consumers a small break, but a new government forecast said gas could reach as high as $4 a gallon during the summer driving season. . .

Read more at: AOL News