I have a friend who has a friend who used to work at the History Channel. I have always loved that channel, I really like accurate, actual information shows, as opposed to "reality" (not actuality) shows and channels. Yes, they can be entertaining, but I prefer non-fiction for my history and science.
But I heard some disconcerting things about the History Channel. That they forgo fact for impact and sometimes, for no apparent reason at all, change things from what the designated historical script should be.
What?! Seriously? I said. Oh my God! That's not good. How much of my mind, has been diluted, infected, degenerated, by the History Channel. And if the History Channel does it, what about other such "factual" and accurate channels?
So, I started looking around on line.
From Huffington Post on a Kennedy family series:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/kennedy-tv-series-causing_n_464656.html
Oh, great.
Someone on a site somewhere said they don't think the producers ever intend to be inaccurate. But that isn't what I was hearing from an ex employee of the channel, someone, who should know from the inside. And what I was told, was horrifying. To a historian anyway.
Here are a few of the postings I've found around the internet complaining about the History Channels misinformation programs:
1) From Answerbag July 6th, 2008
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/839973
"...I believe that those who produce the various documentaries strive for as much accuracy as possible given the sources they have available, and I don't believe that any bias is ever intended. In some cases, such as re-enactments, or new archaeological findings, conjecture is involved and the reasoning is explained. It may not necessarily be accurate, but it is the latest theory and best explanation available to us at the time."
[I wish this were the case, but that is not what I have been told was the case in many cases.]
2) From John Major Jenkins. July 28, 2006:
http://alignment2012.com/historychannel.html
The press release write-up on the History Channel’s website reads as follows:
"The world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012! The ancient Maya made this stunning prediction more than 2,000 years ago. We'll peel back the layers of mystery and examine in detail how the Maya calculated the exact date of doomsday. Journey back to the ancient city of Chichen Itza, the hub of Maya civilization deep in the heart of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, to uncover the truth about this prophecy. The Maya were legendary astronomers and timekeepers--their calendar is more accurate than our own. By tracking the stars and planets they assigned great meaning to astronomical phenomena and made extraordinary predictions based on them--many of which have come true. Could their doomsday prophecy be one of them? In insightful interviews archaeologists, astrologers, and historians speculate on the meaning of the 2012 prophecy. Their answers are as intriguing as the questions.
"Sounds like a fairly non-biased survey of ideas, theories, and scholarship. Well, it’s not. It’s 45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism. The History Channel educates us only in how NOT to make a documentary about 2012
"Last summer, I was contacted by the segment producer and asked if I wanted to be interviewed for the program. I discussed with him what they wanted to do. He said that their initial contact, who contributed formative ideas for the script, was a novelist named Steve Alten. He was the author of a book called Domain. This book liberally drew ideas and original research from my 1998 book Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, and combined it with science fiction and the space alien thesis of VonDaniken to offer a heady stew of fast-paced sci-fi adventure.
"For an example of a forthcoming documentary on 2012 that DOES raise the bar, produced independently without the benefit of $350,000 worth of wasted corporate funding, see http://www.2012theodyssey.com/"
[This is the kind of thing that concerns me, but worse, was the person who worked for the History Channel and said they were told specifically, that they were to put in detail that was incorrect, not to even make it a better show entertainment-wise, but just because the producer liked it better as it played incorrectly. What in the Hell?]
3) Posting on TruWest
http://truewest.ning.com/forum/topics/historical-accuracy-on-the
"On the evening of Nov. 22, History channel ran a piece about the settling of Abilene, Kansas. Early in the show there was some discussion of the buffalo runners & a purported photo of buffalo runners standing over a buffalo carcass. The rifle one of the men was packing was highlighted in red. There's a minor problem with it. The rifle so carefully highlighted was a Winchester Model 1895 with a box magazine. That rifle was capable, in the .405 Winchester chambering, of taking American bison--but it came along about 15 years after the great buffalo slaughter was over."
[This is not the type of thing I'm concerned with on the History Channel. However, it would be nice if they would be correct down to this kind of detail.]
4) From AllEmpires Posted: 24-Oct-2005 at 22:46
http://www.allempires.net/topic6304.html>http://www.allempires.net/topic6304.html>http://www.allempires.net/topic6304.html
"What is this madness!? The ironclad known as the Turtle Ship was made by the Koreans under the leadership of Admiral Lee Soon Shin... Someone should go and point this thing out to the History Channel... They've really got this all screwed up!"
From another:
"Yes Yi Soon Shin used the turtle ships during his first campaigns (interestingly, he did not use it in his very first naval battle), but after the Korean navy lost all but 13 of its ships, the turtleship was never rebuilt (at least not during the war)."
From another:
"The History channel is after all a commercial channel, so its prone to sensationalism, and often the producers themselves don't know much about the subject (they got the job because they can make programs, not because they know history)."
So, some of these are older posts, but it shows an ongoing process of a lack of perfection. That is understandable for most channels and most entertainment channels, but by calling itself the "History Channel" it puts itself up to scrutiny and a need for accuracy above and beyond the norm.
What this all does point out, is television, is still just television.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Save a National Treasure: Prof. Perry Mills, WWU
Perry Mills. What, can one say about Perry Mills? He's awesome? Yes. True. He's a national treasure? Also true. Write to Western, write your congressman!
First of all, Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Washington, chastised him, essentially, for his personality.
Also, he blew the whistle on a teacher (Mark Kuntz) for diverting student funds where, legally, they shouldn't be going. I never knew Mark but I'm getting the feeling that he was a real piece of work; at least, from reading student comments about him (see further below).
Well you know, I've been trying to describe Perry to people since I was a student of his back in the early 80s before he acquired tenure. Perry is a big bear of a man. I was his student, I like to think I was his friend, even for years after. We have since lost touch, but I have always held him in high esteem, with a great deal of affection, and he sits high in my mind as one of the few people I've met in life, that I am happy to have been in the presence of.
When I was going to Western in the early 80s, after I met him in the Theater department, I did what I could to spend as much time around him as possible. I got to know him as well as he would let me. I was at his house on many occasions, which was intricately perfected with even the bear stained glass window in his bathroom. I always thought it was interesting that though the house wasn't that big, the attention to detail was amazing. As well as his collections of things. I even ended up being invited to his Summer lawn parties, which he stopped after a few years for his own reasons, that I'll keep to myself.
At school some of us used to joke that Perry, was a God, so highly held was he by those who knew him. What does that say about someone, to evoke that kind of loyalty, that you would wish to go to the ends of the earth for him and protect him at all costs?
When I was later married and split with my son's mother because of an affair she was having, one weekend of the 4th of August in 1992, I decided to ride my bike to Bellingham from Seattle. I was still living with my son and his mother due to money and our lease. End of August we were out of there. That weekend, she took off with her lover, and I decided to leave town, my son was at his grandparents.
I got there on a nice Summer day. I rode around looking at the old places I used to frequent since I left in 1984 having graduated. I ended up calling Perry. I told him my situation (broken, lost, looking for a way out of my life for a weekend) and he said, "Weeeelll, you'd better come over then, you can spend the weekend in my loft in my shed. It's pretty comfortable and all the broken ex husbands I've known seem to come over and spend some time there." That was when the tales of "The Turkey Wars" came up, but that too was an interesting story.
So I did. He set me up, yes it was comfortable. And he said, go hit the town, get laid, whatever, and you can sleep here. So, I hit he bars, got drunk or whatever, came back and crashed in the loft. I woke the next morning, a little out of it, but happier. I ran into Perry and his girlfriend at the time, being up and around and they asked if I'd like breakfast. I said yes, and although my stomach was a little rough, I had a very nice breakfast with them.
Mark Kuntz
This is the guy Perry blew the whistle on, who was diverting student funds and started a hornet's nest.
Now a few words from the Perry Blog site (which Perry is not responsible for):
It's been awhile, hasn't it? Well, I know you've been as sick for both
the presence of Professor Mark Kuntz--really, the man who started it
all, an inspiration to educators and educatees alike--as well as the
concision and attention to detail that defines the Western Washington
student. So, here's a little treat for your attendant patience,
unedited for "letter-order" and grammatic creativity:
From Rate My Professor (Mark Kuntz)
1/5/08
Ugh. Terrible class. I usually love theatre. I didn't with Mark. He was self-absorbed and, though he would ask student opinions in discussions he would usually just make what they said fit his own narrow-minded opinions. The tests were confusing and I thought his grading on papers was kind of harsh. Obnoxious guy, obnoxious class.
1/1/08
What a god awful teacher. I couldn't stand the man....so full of himself, disorganized, unavailable and he out and out lies about stuff. Huge ego way out of proportion to any talent I saw ....as a director he sucks. Actors actually fell asleep on stage in the last play he did it was so boring.........
12/3/07
I was interested in theater prior to taking this class, but I really didn't learn much about it and I have completely lost interest. He grades papers too hard and the basis of the tests are several uninspiring articles written by people with large egos.
10/8/07
Mark is hilarious! He's such an awesome guy. Get to know him on a personal level... it helps!
Indeed! Truly awesome.
Note: I would have been happy to balance this post with some student musings on the criminal pirate himself, but--ah, helas--it's somewhat difficult for students to properly rate their professors when their professors aren't allowed to set foot on campus...
Articles about the issues between WWU and Perry:
NW Citizen article
Blog about Perry by a student/friend
Random photos from the blog mentioned above if not elsewhere:
Perry Mills some years ago when I knew him
Today?
Perry at home I presume
Had some good times there with him
When I was going to Western in the early 80s, after I met him in the Theater department, I did what I could to spend as much time around him as possible. I got to know him as well as he would let me. I was at his house on many occasions, which was intricately perfected with even the bear stained glass window in his bathroom. I always thought it was interesting that though the house wasn't that big, the attention to detail was amazing. As well as his collections of things. I even ended up being invited to his Summer lawn parties, which he stopped after a few years for his own reasons, that I'll keep to myself.
At school some of us used to joke that Perry, was a God, so highly held was he by those who knew him. What does that say about someone, to evoke that kind of loyalty, that you would wish to go to the ends of the earth for him and protect him at all costs?
When I was later married and split with my son's mother because of an affair she was having, one weekend of the 4th of August in 1992, I decided to ride my bike to Bellingham from Seattle. I was still living with my son and his mother due to money and our lease. End of August we were out of there. That weekend, she took off with her lover, and I decided to leave town, my son was at his grandparents.
I got there on a nice Summer day. I rode around looking at the old places I used to frequent since I left in 1984 having graduated. I ended up calling Perry. I told him my situation (broken, lost, looking for a way out of my life for a weekend) and he said, "Weeeelll, you'd better come over then, you can spend the weekend in my loft in my shed. It's pretty comfortable and all the broken ex husbands I've known seem to come over and spend some time there." That was when the tales of "The Turkey Wars" came up, but that too was an interesting story.
So I did. He set me up, yes it was comfortable. And he said, go hit the town, get laid, whatever, and you can sleep here. So, I hit he bars, got drunk or whatever, came back and crashed in the loft. I woke the next morning, a little out of it, but happier. I ran into Perry and his girlfriend at the time, being up and around and they asked if I'd like breakfast. I said yes, and although my stomach was a little rough, I had a very nice breakfast with them.
We hung out a little that day and I ended up going to see a classic motorcycle someone had come by to tell Perry he really wanted to come over and see it while it was there. I have a photo somewhere of it in this the back of this guy's truck. I remember riding on a bike over to the guy's house behind Perry, something both scary and interesting as Perry had his leg problem due to motorcycle racing (legal or illegal I never knew).
That night I went out again and indeed, didn't make it back. After bidding the lass farewell in the early morning, I made it back to the loft. Later said my thank you's and goodbyes and headed back home. I was forever grateful to him for that weekend.
The funny end to this story was that when I returned, later my estranged and strange wife returned, dropped off by her new "friend". I stood at the window and could only see the orientation of their feet as they said goodbye. I contemplated various philosophical principles while wringing the neck of a baseball bat until she came in. We had "civil" words and it came out what we both did that weekend. She smiled and luxuriated in her memories of what she did as she told me. So, although I wasn't going to tell her about my weekend, I thought she deserved it at that point.
I told her about the repeated run ins with a cute artists lady and on my last return to a certain downtown BTown bar, followed her out with her friend. He seemed gay, so I stopped on my bike and asked her if she needed a ride. She looked at her friend and he smiled and said, "Go for it girl!" So she hopped on. We had a wonderful night interspersed with little sleep.
In hearing this, and seeing the smile on my face (I tried, I really tried to not do that, but it was just such a grand night, you know?), that she got angry. She had the affair, set things up as the were and now she was mad? I asked why. She said, "It's my birthday. How can you do something like that!" Uh, okay...
End of August (and MY birthday is the 30th) we moved out, and it was over, but even before that, really.
Alas, we're here to talk about Perry....
Yes, he can be gruff, but when you need it, he can really be a generous and compassionate guy. He has a brain like an encyclopedia. He has a grand understanding of Human nature and people, to the point that his sometimes brutal honesty, something I can only dream of exhibiting, can be jarring, but if you PAY ATTENTION, you will not only learn something, but you can make yourself a better person. However, if you are weak in the attitude department, well, you are only asking for a difficult experience in dealing with him at times.
Sometimes being around him, I felt like he was beating a steel rod into a sword, or a pair of scissors, or an angle bracket or something, but still, something more than I was and more useful. I have always held him in the high-test esteem and in a bit of awe. We need more people like him, not less, he's not someone to be censored.
Now having read most of the complaints against Perry in the articles I've supplied links to below, I can see how he looks bad, on paper. But when I read these things, I saw Perry in my mind doing them. Rather than being a mean bully, he's kicking someone's ass, trying to make them stop feeling sorry for themselves, holding them to the same standards as anyone else. He's trying to get them to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. He did it to me too. Sometimes it hurts, but you're in college, by now, you should be an adult.
As someone said, life is tough, he's not training you for grade school but for life. You either love him for it, or hate him. I found, back in my University days, that the people who I heard complain about him, were people I mostly didn't care for. They were kind of people I didn't want to be around.
I was in the Theater Department office once and Perry spewed some fascinating things to those of us there and the two ladies working at the main desk. They were giggling as he buffaloed down the hall. I looked at them and said, "How come you're not offended by that?" They laughed. One of them said, almost finding it hard to explain to herself so that finally she just said, "Well, its PERRY! How can you NOT love him, regardless!"
And that, my dear friends, pretty much sums it all up.
I've found a blog someone did about Perry:
http://perrymills.blogspot.com/
From the Blog:
A Word From Our Professor (via George Carlin)(Thursday, January 24, 2008):
Perry sent this quote to me in the mail. Seemed like something worth sharing, as I imagine it's very much on his mind these days, as should it be on your own.
Political Correctness is America’s newest form of intolerance, and it’s especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance. It presents itself as fairness, yet attempts to restrict and control peoples language with strict codes and rigid rules. I’m not sure that’s the way to fight discrimination. I’m not sure silencing people or forcing them to alter their speech is the best method for solving problems that go much deeper than speech. -George Carlin
I also found a Facebook page dedicated to him (gone now as so many of these links and photos over the years after writing this blog), the author of that page said (must be an old page).
That night I went out again and indeed, didn't make it back. After bidding the lass farewell in the early morning, I made it back to the loft. Later said my thank you's and goodbyes and headed back home. I was forever grateful to him for that weekend.
The funny end to this story was that when I returned, later my estranged and strange wife returned, dropped off by her new "friend". I stood at the window and could only see the orientation of their feet as they said goodbye. I contemplated various philosophical principles while wringing the neck of a baseball bat until she came in. We had "civil" words and it came out what we both did that weekend. She smiled and luxuriated in her memories of what she did as she told me. So, although I wasn't going to tell her about my weekend, I thought she deserved it at that point.
I told her about the repeated run ins with a cute artists lady and on my last return to a certain downtown BTown bar, followed her out with her friend. He seemed gay, so I stopped on my bike and asked her if she needed a ride. She looked at her friend and he smiled and said, "Go for it girl!" So she hopped on. We had a wonderful night interspersed with little sleep.
In hearing this, and seeing the smile on my face (I tried, I really tried to not do that, but it was just such a grand night, you know?), that she got angry. She had the affair, set things up as the were and now she was mad? I asked why. She said, "It's my birthday. How can you do something like that!" Uh, okay...
End of August (and MY birthday is the 30th) we moved out, and it was over, but even before that, really.
Alas, we're here to talk about Perry....
Yes, he can be gruff, but when you need it, he can really be a generous and compassionate guy. He has a brain like an encyclopedia. He has a grand understanding of Human nature and people, to the point that his sometimes brutal honesty, something I can only dream of exhibiting, can be jarring, but if you PAY ATTENTION, you will not only learn something, but you can make yourself a better person. However, if you are weak in the attitude department, well, you are only asking for a difficult experience in dealing with him at times.
Sometimes being around him, I felt like he was beating a steel rod into a sword, or a pair of scissors, or an angle bracket or something, but still, something more than I was and more useful. I have always held him in the high-test esteem and in a bit of awe. We need more people like him, not less, he's not someone to be censored.
Now having read most of the complaints against Perry in the articles I've supplied links to below, I can see how he looks bad, on paper. But when I read these things, I saw Perry in my mind doing them. Rather than being a mean bully, he's kicking someone's ass, trying to make them stop feeling sorry for themselves, holding them to the same standards as anyone else. He's trying to get them to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. He did it to me too. Sometimes it hurts, but you're in college, by now, you should be an adult.
As someone said, life is tough, he's not training you for grade school but for life. You either love him for it, or hate him. I found, back in my University days, that the people who I heard complain about him, were people I mostly didn't care for. They were kind of people I didn't want to be around.
I was in the Theater Department office once and Perry spewed some fascinating things to those of us there and the two ladies working at the main desk. They were giggling as he buffaloed down the hall. I looked at them and said, "How come you're not offended by that?" They laughed. One of them said, almost finding it hard to explain to herself so that finally she just said, "Well, its PERRY! How can you NOT love him, regardless!"
And that, my dear friends, pretty much sums it all up.
I've found a blog someone did about Perry:
http://perrymills.blogspot.com/
From the Blog:
A Word From Our Professor (via George Carlin)(Thursday, January 24, 2008):
Political Correctness is America’s newest form of intolerance, and it’s especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance. It presents itself as fairness, yet attempts to restrict and control peoples language with strict codes and rigid rules. I’m not sure that’s the way to fight discrimination. I’m not sure silencing people or forcing them to alter their speech is the best method for solving problems that go much deeper than speech. -George Carlin
I also found a Facebook page dedicated to him (gone now as so many of these links and photos over the years after writing this blog), the author of that page said (must be an old page).
"This group calls for the immediate return of Perry F. Mills, the sweetest
professor ever, to his teaching post at WWU. After being unfairly suspended, the
only thing that will return him, in all his glory, to Western, is a Facebook
group. Invite all your friends, and let's make this the biggest group at Facebook.
[I have this book myself, since it was published.]
From Western's own web site:
"Perry F. Mills was hired by the founder of the CFPA, William
Gregory, to further the liberal arts component of the Fine and Performing Arts
curriculum. For thirty years he has taught aesthetics, film, dramatic
literature, playwriting and patience. His book on film studies is out of print
and in the WWU Wilson Library. His playwriting students have won
numerous awards and have plays in current productions in NYC and London. Take a
class with Perry if you want a sample of academic diversity: he’s not
good-looking, but he’s hard to kill…"
- "I suggest you all pick up "Simply Cinema," Perry F.'s forgotten masterpiece. For some God forsaken reason, this book has gone out of print, but there are still used copies available on Amazon. Trust me. It will be worth it."
From Western's own web site:
Mark Kuntz
This is the guy Perry blew the whistle on, who was diverting student funds and started a hornet's nest.
"Mark Kuntz is currently in his ninth year on the theatre faculty at WWU after spending eleven years at Eastern Oregon University. He received his BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon. Mark has served three times as a member of the National Selection Team for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and was recently elected as National Vice-Chair. His work as a director has been produced regionally with K.C.A.C.T.F., and his production of Lips Together, Teeth Apart was recognized at K.C.A.C.T.F. . Some of his recent directing credits include Shakespeare’s R&J and Summer Stock’s 2005 The Foreigner and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
Now a few words from the Perry Blog site (which Perry is not responsible for):
Monday, January 14, 2008
Do You Miss Mark Kuntz? I do, too...
From Rate My Professor (Mark Kuntz)
1/5/08
Ugh. Terrible class. I usually love theatre. I didn't with Mark. He was self-absorbed and, though he would ask student opinions in discussions he would usually just make what they said fit his own narrow-minded opinions. The tests were confusing and I thought his grading on papers was kind of harsh. Obnoxious guy, obnoxious class.
1/1/08
What a god awful teacher. I couldn't stand the man....so full of himself, disorganized, unavailable and he out and out lies about stuff. Huge ego way out of proportion to any talent I saw ....as a director he sucks. Actors actually fell asleep on stage in the last play he did it was so boring.........
12/3/07
I was interested in theater prior to taking this class, but I really didn't learn much about it and I have completely lost interest. He grades papers too hard and the basis of the tests are several uninspiring articles written by people with large egos.
10/8/07
Mark is hilarious! He's such an awesome guy. Get to know him on a personal level... it helps!
Indeed! Truly awesome.
Note: I would have been happy to balance this post with some student musings on the criminal pirate himself, but--ah, helas--it's somewhat difficult for students to properly rate their professors when their professors aren't allowed to set foot on campus...
Articles about the issues between WWU and Perry:
Yeah, anyway the Times article said:
"As a result, the university might have to revisit a painful chapter in
its history, rekindling arguments that not only touch on the alleged
boorish behavior of one of its faculty members but also broader issues
of what constitutes academic freedom and free speech."
Perry is anything but boorish. Ill-mannered, clumsy, or insensitive; rude? Well, ill mannered, sometimes it may seem that way, if he thinks you deserve it; clumsy(?), no, the man has a mind like a laser, if he goes for the jugular, its accurate, clean and quick; insensitive, well, I've always believed he says many of the things he says because he really does care, though he may try to hide it, or else perhaps, it just seems to get lost in the barrage of stately and historical quips; rude?
Well, perhaps, but really it's all in how you conceive what it is he is saying and why. If you are mental midget, surely I believe you would take it so, but if you have any decent intellect at all, its quite clear you have nothing to fear or abhor. Just shut up and listen, think. Maybe, come back later, and say something, when you are prepared. Because you really don't want to go up against him if you aren't prepared, and have an intelligent thought either in your mind, or your speech. But if you stick it out, in the end, you will be a far better student and person.
NW Citizen article
Blog about Perry by a student/friend
Random photos from the blog mentioned above if not elsewhere:
Julian! I haven't seen him in years!
Special Ed.: Boehner Pays Tribute To Arizona Victims. Excuse me?!
This is ludicrous. Boehner needs to be removed for this. Yes, they should have opened on this note, had a moment, but then THEY NEED TO GET TO WORK. Have they noticed the mess our country is in?! Is this the kind of thing we can expect from a Republican house led by a guy that can't stop whimpering? God help us if we have another 9/11 event....
From NPR:
"House Speaker John Boehner has opened a session of the House by honoring victims of Saturday's shooting in Arizona, speaking in a halting voice, his eyes welled up with tears.
"Boehner (BAY'-nur) told House members that "our hearts are broken but our spirit is not."
"Wednesday's six-hour session is a remembrance for the 19 people shot, six fatally. Many of the remarks are expected to focus on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat shot in the head as she spoke to constituents outside a supermarket. Giffords is recovering in an Arizona hospital, and is expected to survive."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=132858940
From NPR:
"House Speaker John Boehner has opened a session of the House by honoring victims of Saturday's shooting in Arizona, speaking in a halting voice, his eyes welled up with tears.
"Boehner (BAY'-nur) told House members that "our hearts are broken but our spirit is not."
"Wednesday's six-hour session is a remembrance for the 19 people shot, six fatally. Many of the remarks are expected to focus on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat shot in the head as she spoke to constituents outside a supermarket. Giffords is recovering in an Arizona hospital, and is expected to survive."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=132858940
Premiere of Episodes on Showtime
I'm watching the premiere of "Episodes" on Showtime. Its written on salted ground, as its about a TV show. Its been being hyped by the network, because Joey Tribiani, better not known as Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc.
Matt LeBlanc was in the top sitcom through the 90s, "Friends"; the not always so bright but sweet, womanizer of the set. After Friends, he had one of the only successful sitcoms for a while, of all the "Friends" cast.
So now he's back. Before he even gets on screen, in the premiere, I'm already liking certain aspects of this show. But then I like Brit shows for the most part. And I wasn't really expecting much to begin with. So now, I'm left in the middle at this point. I could...like it, or I could, end up not liking it. But I'm at least willing to give it a try. Or three. Matt wasn't really IN this episode, well only for a moment, but he was in the preview of next week's episode, on screen for more time than he was this entire pilot episode.
Some of the gags, as others have mentioned, like the Gate security guard, really needs to be dropped. MAYBE it was funny the first time, although I admit to a mental yawn; and then, if something is funny once, typically it can be funny a second time; but unless there is something really funny about it, or it is divested in many different fresh ways at each iteration, by the second time (if not the first), its already a cliche'.
Though there are some elements about the show that are worth watching and giving them a chance to evolve the show into something. No, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. Watch the show and see what you think. Typically, a show needs a season or two to find its pacing (and its place) and I resent networks for not giving shows the time, the chance they need, and not having some balls to back up the large sums of money they make off of we the public, instead all too frequently, whimpering off to their grand abodes to think up the next "big thing" to hit the screens and fail again due to no substance from the networks behind them.
But, what is one to do?
And critics that are already wanting a perfected show from the pilot forward? Well, they can also suck on sour grapes.
Matt LeBlanc was in the top sitcom through the 90s, "Friends"; the not always so bright but sweet, womanizer of the set. After Friends, he had one of the only successful sitcoms for a while, of all the "Friends" cast.
So now he's back. Before he even gets on screen, in the premiere, I'm already liking certain aspects of this show. But then I like Brit shows for the most part. And I wasn't really expecting much to begin with. So now, I'm left in the middle at this point. I could...like it, or I could, end up not liking it. But I'm at least willing to give it a try. Or three. Matt wasn't really IN this episode, well only for a moment, but he was in the preview of next week's episode, on screen for more time than he was this entire pilot episode.
Some of the gags, as others have mentioned, like the Gate security guard, really needs to be dropped. MAYBE it was funny the first time, although I admit to a mental yawn; and then, if something is funny once, typically it can be funny a second time; but unless there is something really funny about it, or it is divested in many different fresh ways at each iteration, by the second time (if not the first), its already a cliche'.
Though there are some elements about the show that are worth watching and giving them a chance to evolve the show into something. No, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. Watch the show and see what you think. Typically, a show needs a season or two to find its pacing (and its place) and I resent networks for not giving shows the time, the chance they need, and not having some balls to back up the large sums of money they make off of we the public, instead all too frequently, whimpering off to their grand abodes to think up the next "big thing" to hit the screens and fail again due to no substance from the networks behind them.
But, what is one to do?
And critics that are already wanting a perfected show from the pilot forward? Well, they can also suck on sour grapes.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The New Military and an end to the God's of War and Weaponry
I have an idea. I've always heard that war, is a young man's occupation. That old men, make the decisions to send young men to war. I've heard it said, that we should take the president of our country, put him in a field, and have him fight the president of our enemy country. Or, the top Generals from each side.
I have another thought. Because, let's face it, neither of those things are ever going to happen.
Let's make it illegal for anyone under the age of forty, to be in the military. Interesting idea, yes?
How do you think that would work out? You might say, well, what about their military? Won't they use younger men, or women? If they do, then we break out the big guns and simply, wipe out their country. Period.
New law, under 40, means we go in and take out the government, and everyone else until its ended. But, they can option out and have the same military situation as everyone else.
So, then, when you get to a certain age, that age where you have NO desire to be going to war, I submit, there would be less wars. And the wars there are, will be much slower, much less damaging overall. While, back home, all those young people will be building up the country, putting new thought into work, changing things. And we get the dead weight and old fluff, killed off, more quickly, more efficiently and all those old jerks who are so concerned about putting others out to war, to making money, to ripping people off, will be sitting in a hole somewhere, wishing they could go home.
The shape of the military industrial complex would drastically change. Because, those in charge, will one day, be themselves, going to war, if there is one. Otherwise, they will have the chance to make war go away.
I think, the military industry would begin to dry up. The fat old, rich, greedy, self centered people who are now pushing way, pushing take overs, pushing death for money, would all drop dead of fear and bullets.
What about those who try to get out of it, who try to buy their way into an easy life? Nope, they have to go too. NO one would get out of it. Think of the motivating factors involved. People would be in a panic to end war. I bet, within fifty years, twenty years, maybe ten years, wars around the world, would end and we would move into a new age of enlightenment.
Something to think about.
I have another thought. Because, let's face it, neither of those things are ever going to happen.
Let's make it illegal for anyone under the age of forty, to be in the military. Interesting idea, yes?
How do you think that would work out? You might say, well, what about their military? Won't they use younger men, or women? If they do, then we break out the big guns and simply, wipe out their country. Period.
New law, under 40, means we go in and take out the government, and everyone else until its ended. But, they can option out and have the same military situation as everyone else.
So, then, when you get to a certain age, that age where you have NO desire to be going to war, I submit, there would be less wars. And the wars there are, will be much slower, much less damaging overall. While, back home, all those young people will be building up the country, putting new thought into work, changing things. And we get the dead weight and old fluff, killed off, more quickly, more efficiently and all those old jerks who are so concerned about putting others out to war, to making money, to ripping people off, will be sitting in a hole somewhere, wishing they could go home.
The shape of the military industrial complex would drastically change. Because, those in charge, will one day, be themselves, going to war, if there is one. Otherwise, they will have the chance to make war go away.
I think, the military industry would begin to dry up. The fat old, rich, greedy, self centered people who are now pushing way, pushing take overs, pushing death for money, would all drop dead of fear and bullets.
What about those who try to get out of it, who try to buy their way into an easy life? Nope, they have to go too. NO one would get out of it. Think of the motivating factors involved. People would be in a panic to end war. I bet, within fifty years, twenty years, maybe ten years, wars around the world, would end and we would move into a new age of enlightenment.
Something to think about.
My first foray into writing
When I was younger, I had a lot of problems with allergies and my sinuses. But we didn't know that back then. I wasn't tested for allergies until later in high school. I would contract bronchitis nearly yearly or get a sinus infection. Mostly it was justs a lot of sinus headaches I didn't know were sinus headaches. Had I known I could have alleviated a lot of pain.
One time back in September 1970 when I was in tenth grade I was sick again with bronchitis, out of school for a week, and on codeine cough syrup medication. The codeine was liquid, colorless, but definitely not tasteless. It was in fact one of the foulest tasting things I had ever had to take. But it did help with avoiding coughing and it put you into a kind of dream state.
The cough was excessively loud and about the same in the pain department. My doctor said he was also giving it to to me to keep me sedated so I would stay in bed that week. My mother made sure I did just what he said. I was climbing the walls in short order. But I stayed in or on my bed.
Late Monday morning of that week my mother came into my bedroom to say she was going to the Tacoma Mall. Going to the mall was still a big deal back then. As I was to stay in bed all week, she asked if there was anything I wanted from the to keep me from going nuts. Growing up she had always been good when one of us were sick, to give us little gives to cheer us up.
At first, I said no. Then I remembered listening to the radio a few minutes before she walked in. "Wait a minute," I said, "actually, yes." Black Sabbath had just released their latest album "Masters of Reality." I figured I had little chance of her getting me that album, but it was worth trying.
So I asked. It was an all black album with a raised pressing of the album title in black on the cover (highlighted in gray here so it's easily seen). I was pleasantly surprised when she actually returned with it!
Actually, she surprised me at times with the things she would let me have. Just ignorant of what it was I guess. Not that I think MOR was a questionable album for a kid at that time. But some did.
As you can see, the words are easy to read. But the copy I got, must have not had much or any coloration to it as it was very cool and mysterious in being a little hard to read. As I remember it anyway. This is how I remember it:
At the time, I belonged to a science fiction book club. I had recently received Frank Herbert's book, Dune. He was a local author growing in popularity. I had no idea what the book was about but the write up sounded interesting to I thought I'd give it a shot. I read a lot as a kid. I read sixty novels just in 1968 alone, but that's another story for another time. Mostly because each book only took me about an hour.
A side note...many years later, I had considered driving to Frank Herbert's house to ask for an interview for my college newspaper. But in the end I was so intimidated by the idea, I didn't do it. Then he died a couple of years later. I've regretted not going every since. Just goes to show you that sometimes when you have a stupid but cool idea, just do it. Think about it, later.
So, I spent that week in bed, on codeine, listening to Black Sabbath over and over as I digested the now famous book about Paul, Muad Dib. When I finished it, I felt something had changed in me. Some of that was because I had never read anything quite like it. The closest thing I could think of at the time was Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy which in the end became a seven book series and is now known as the Foundation series.
Anyway, when I finished the book I was stunned by what I had just experienced. I realized by Tuesday that I was reading it too fast so I slowed down, taking breaks so it would last throughout the week. The breaks were misery. I just wanted to read it to the end. Start reading and never stop. I found Dune amazing. So much more so in my being on "Spice" myself. That is I mean, codeine. I lied there on the bed for like an hour, just staring at the ceiling, thinking about it.
Finally, I found a need to write. To create my own universe. Dune became my inspiration to write my first fully completed science fiction short story. So I started in writing. That story became over the next day or two, "Ten Steps to Shado-kan-dom". A rather valiant effort for my 10th grade mind, but rather sad from my perspective now.
In the years following I had a dream that I kept pushing back in my mind. How cool would it be to write stories? But, I couldn't do that! Could I. I mean, I wasn't a writer. I didn't have the talent, nor the skill. I lacked the immense knowledge and understanding of the mechanics of language and grammar one must need to be a writer. Just thinking about all those rules my high school English teacher tried to shove down our throats was a killer.
Life sometimes offers us the strangest asides from the path we're heading on. It really pays for us to pay attention to it.
It was years later when I finally entered college. It was after years in the military and even then, not until a college English composition professor told me that I really needed to write more and keep at it. He said I had a mind that was shooting sparks out from it and I really needed to be a writer. He said not to worry about the things I was worried about like grammar, fear, or whatever. He said, just write. Writers write. And besides, that's what editors were for anyway.
And so, years later, here we are. Like some like to say, "Seek, your bliss." Go for it.
And so I have...and now have my own books others can read.
And screenplays. Because, why stop with books?
And other books and screenplays.
Cheers! Seek your bliss!
One time back in September 1970 when I was in tenth grade I was sick again with bronchitis, out of school for a week, and on codeine cough syrup medication. The codeine was liquid, colorless, but definitely not tasteless. It was in fact one of the foulest tasting things I had ever had to take. But it did help with avoiding coughing and it put you into a kind of dream state.
The cough was excessively loud and about the same in the pain department. My doctor said he was also giving it to to me to keep me sedated so I would stay in bed that week. My mother made sure I did just what he said. I was climbing the walls in short order. But I stayed in or on my bed.
Late Monday morning of that week my mother came into my bedroom to say she was going to the Tacoma Mall. Going to the mall was still a big deal back then. As I was to stay in bed all week, she asked if there was anything I wanted from the to keep me from going nuts. Growing up she had always been good when one of us were sick, to give us little gives to cheer us up.
At first, I said no. Then I remembered listening to the radio a few minutes before she walked in. "Wait a minute," I said, "actually, yes." Black Sabbath had just released their latest album "Masters of Reality." I figured I had little chance of her getting me that album, but it was worth trying.
So I asked. It was an all black album with a raised pressing of the album title in black on the cover (highlighted in gray here so it's easily seen). I was pleasantly surprised when she actually returned with it!
Actually, she surprised me at times with the things she would let me have. Just ignorant of what it was I guess. Not that I think MOR was a questionable album for a kid at that time. But some did.
At the time, I belonged to a science fiction book club. I had recently received Frank Herbert's book, Dune. He was a local author growing in popularity. I had no idea what the book was about but the write up sounded interesting to I thought I'd give it a shot. I read a lot as a kid. I read sixty novels just in 1968 alone, but that's another story for another time. Mostly because each book only took me about an hour.
A side note...many years later, I had considered driving to Frank Herbert's house to ask for an interview for my college newspaper. But in the end I was so intimidated by the idea, I didn't do it. Then he died a couple of years later. I've regretted not going every since. Just goes to show you that sometimes when you have a stupid but cool idea, just do it. Think about it, later.
Anyway, when I finished the book I was stunned by what I had just experienced. I realized by Tuesday that I was reading it too fast so I slowed down, taking breaks so it would last throughout the week. The breaks were misery. I just wanted to read it to the end. Start reading and never stop. I found Dune amazing. So much more so in my being on "Spice" myself. That is I mean, codeine. I lied there on the bed for like an hour, just staring at the ceiling, thinking about it.
Finally, I found a need to write. To create my own universe. Dune became my inspiration to write my first fully completed science fiction short story. So I started in writing. That story became over the next day or two, "Ten Steps to Shado-kan-dom". A rather valiant effort for my 10th grade mind, but rather sad from my perspective now.
In the years following I had a dream that I kept pushing back in my mind. How cool would it be to write stories? But, I couldn't do that! Could I. I mean, I wasn't a writer. I didn't have the talent, nor the skill. I lacked the immense knowledge and understanding of the mechanics of language and grammar one must need to be a writer. Just thinking about all those rules my high school English teacher tried to shove down our throats was a killer.
Life sometimes offers us the strangest asides from the path we're heading on. It really pays for us to pay attention to it.
It was years later when I finally entered college. It was after years in the military and even then, not until a college English composition professor told me that I really needed to write more and keep at it. He said I had a mind that was shooting sparks out from it and I really needed to be a writer. He said not to worry about the things I was worried about like grammar, fear, or whatever. He said, just write. Writers write. And besides, that's what editors were for anyway.
And so, years later, here we are. Like some like to say, "Seek, your bliss." Go for it.
And so I have...and now have my own books others can read.
And screenplays. Because, why stop with books?
And other books and screenplays.
Cheers! Seek your bliss!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Old West vs East Espionage - Fact and Fiction
Currently, I am working on an adaptation of a new spy novel at the author's request. First, of course, I had to read the book to decide if I wanted to adapt it to screen. It took a while because I've been very busy, but I finally got it done. I responded to the author that I enjoyed the read, and that I accepted doing the adaptation.
I won't yet say what the book was, I'd prefer to wait until I have the screenplay completed.
I won't yet say what the book was, I'd prefer to wait until I have the screenplay completed.
NOTE: that screenplay is now long completed as of 2025. The book is, Sealed in Lies by Kelly Abell. The book was optioned once a while back, then another was interested but neither panned out. I've run into the same issues with my very good, multi-awarded true crime/drama screenplay, "The Teenage Bodyguard".
Today I received an email asking for a more complete consideration of what I thought about the book. We writers like to hear what our readers are actually thinking, or else, one is not really a writer, is one? And so I responded with the words below. I have changed them a bit to make them better fit this format but they are essentially the same. As my email included various other quite possibly interesting addenda, I thought I would include it here for your pleasure and edification. Yes, I got off on a bit of a tangent, but I thought it was relevant.
I found the book very fun to read; cathartic even, as it was supposed to be in the "guy finds interesting girl" arena. I do like that kind of story from time to time, though in the spy realm, I’m mostly used to reading non-fiction espionage information; like from ex-CIA officers, or KGB (or FSB now, but I've seen none of those around yet); or occasionally some in the know politician or some such entity. The character in the book, Caroline reminded me of my ex in some ways, though more educated than my Carin was (see, it was a little strange for me to read, but there were enough differences that it wasn’t too strange); but very attractive and a few other things.
See, as I’ve alluded to in the past, I studied KGB/CIA histories years ago and was afraid for some years, to even read fiction spy novels in fear of mucking up my mental catalog of events and all that. I did read a few fiction authors though, Len Deighton especially, being my favorite; especially his Game, Set, Match series (Berlin Game, then Mexico Set, then London Match; then later on, three more books, Spy Hook, Spy Line, Spy Sinker; then later still, Faith, Hope, and Charity to conclude the monumental trilogy of a trilogy which captured very well, life in the Cold War as an operative, albeit, a British one in this case).
If you want to know what it can really be like to be a spy, at least before advanced technology; or in the mere human aspects of it, Game, Set, Match is very good on that account. Although these are very good books, they are quite dated, being involved in KGB, Berlin as front lines, and such, and way back when. I have read the infamous espionage writer extraordinaire, John le Carré who is good in my mind, but too much the Hollywood spy writer, really (however, he did have a lot of real spy friends, but some of his fiction was just too much fiction for me), and there were a few others, but none of them ever really did it for me as well as Deighton.
Today I received an email asking for a more complete consideration of what I thought about the book. We writers like to hear what our readers are actually thinking, or else, one is not really a writer, is one? And so I responded with the words below. I have changed them a bit to make them better fit this format but they are essentially the same. As my email included various other quite possibly interesting addenda, I thought I would include it here for your pleasure and edification. Yes, I got off on a bit of a tangent, but I thought it was relevant.
I found the book very fun to read; cathartic even, as it was supposed to be in the "guy finds interesting girl" arena. I do like that kind of story from time to time, though in the spy realm, I’m mostly used to reading non-fiction espionage information; like from ex-CIA officers, or KGB (or FSB now, but I've seen none of those around yet); or occasionally some in the know politician or some such entity. The character in the book, Caroline reminded me of my ex in some ways, though more educated than my Carin was (see, it was a little strange for me to read, but there were enough differences that it wasn’t too strange); but very attractive and a few other things.
See, as I’ve alluded to in the past, I studied KGB/CIA histories years ago and was afraid for some years, to even read fiction spy novels in fear of mucking up my mental catalog of events and all that. I did read a few fiction authors though, Len Deighton especially, being my favorite; especially his Game, Set, Match series (Berlin Game, then Mexico Set, then London Match; then later on, three more books, Spy Hook, Spy Line, Spy Sinker; then later still, Faith, Hope, and Charity to conclude the monumental trilogy of a trilogy which captured very well, life in the Cold War as an operative, albeit, a British one in this case).
If you want to know what it can really be like to be a spy, at least before advanced technology; or in the mere human aspects of it, Game, Set, Match is very good on that account. Although these are very good books, they are quite dated, being involved in KGB, Berlin as front lines, and such, and way back when. I have read the infamous espionage writer extraordinaire, John le Carré who is good in my mind, but too much the Hollywood spy writer, really (however, he did have a lot of real spy friends, but some of his fiction was just too much fiction for me), and there were a few others, but none of them ever really did it for me as well as Deighton.
They always seemed to be lacking something, or perhaps they had too much(?), or worse, they just annoyed me. It’s easy for spy novels to do that to me. Strangely enough, spy fiction movies don't bother me quite in the same way, perhaps because in the beginning, I know, I've accepted, I've suspended reality in the knowing that it is film.
I have an interesting, personal story about when I read the Game, Set, Match trilogy.
You see, I hadn’t seen my real father in seventeen years. It was his choice when he married a woman (strangely, not physically that different from the main character in the book I'm adapting now). She already had ten kids from two previous marriages. My dad left us in 1958 Franco Era Spain, when I was three, by way of a rather violent outburst because of a final argument with my mother that required my Grandfather (mom's dad), who got my dad that job, to expel him from the country.
That's my Grandfather in his diesel injector shop, this one, probably from Southeast Asia, however.
Below is my esteemed self and our maid. The arrow points to where my dad was chasing my mom in that villa, my Grandfather's.
The story goes that my mother was running to her Dad's villa, and we were in a village on the ocean (Atlantic side of the south of Spain. She was yelling for her Dad ("Daddy, Daddy, he's going to kill me!"), and my dad, according to her, in chasing her, got hit in the legs and rapped hard by the swinging gates from her entry. She said she turned and saw that it really hurt him. So, pissed off, he grabbed the gates and literally ripped them from their brackets, which destroyed most of the posts they were attached to. I can understand her being scared. Strong dude. I have the photo somewhere, it looks like a grenade went off.
Years later, when my dad died, I went to the funeral. My understanding was that his being an electrician and all those years of working around PCBs and other toxic elements all those years before the knew how toxic they were, led to a bad ending for him. My dad's new wife and family invited people over to their house, and so I went, with my mother, who attended the funeral with me. There at the house, I saw my younger
half-brother, who is a genius artist by the way, for the first time since he was eleven and here now, he was, at twenty-eight; and we got
reacquainted. It was great for us to see one another.
Before I left, he wanted to give me a few of our dad’s things. This is where we see the relevancy of my bringing all this up. One of the things I was given, was "Berlin Game", the first of the series and the last book our dad read before he died of cancer. My brother told me that our dad was really into the book. I too was really into the story.
See, what was so very strange was that I had just recently finished watching the British miniseries with Ian Holm as the main character, Bernard (accent on the BERN, not the American way on the NARD, which really annoys the main character). Anyway, I dearly loved the story. I was as fascinated by it as my dad had been. Also, strangely enough, My brother and I found that even though we'd hardly ever seen one another, our thought patterns, were eerily close in how we processed things.
It seems that Len Deighton hated that BBC series and had actually tried to ban it. When I heard that, it became a passion to find a video copy, and it was Hell to do so until a few years ago when I finally found a DVD set in Australia. Even better, as up to that point, if I found a copy at all it was stated to be a bad recording and only on VHS tape. What I purchased was perfect either, but at least it was on DVD.
So I took my dad's book home and read it and thus, learned about Len Deighton, who wrote many books; many of which had been turned into hit movies in the 60s and 70s mostly, like "The Ipcress File", with one of my all-time favorite actors, Michael Caine. Caine had played in the role of my favorite spy of the 60s, Harry Palmer, whom Deighton also created. Its all just rather odd. Honestly, it's a toss up between Sean Connery as Bond and Caine as Palmer. Okay, then there was Patrick McNee and Patric MacGoohan and Robert Vaughan and Bill Cosby and Robert Culp and, oh, never mind. You get the idea.
To put my comments on the novel I'm adapting to screen in a better perspective, allow me now to give you some background on my history related to espionage. Well, at least some of it.
I was in the Air Force. At the end of my first term in, I joined the OSI. That in and of itself, is an entirely other story in that I had to risk my life to even talk to the OSI.
The Office of Special Investigations is the AF's FBI. In fact, I've read "FBI Magazine", while sitting in the offices of the Spokane, Washington Fairchild AFB's Strategic Air Command's OSI (yes, there IS, or was, an FBI Magazine, I've seen it, I've read it). I went in the service to serve as a Law Enforcement officer as a way to end up in the CIA. Hey, at the time it seemed like a plan, like the thing to do. But I got kicked because of my flat, bad feet. Actually, they tried to kick me out completely, but I fought back and they let me choose another job.
So I chose something else. Finally, after four years, I was getting out and thought I’d try to get back on course. I walked into the office of the OSI and presented my case. The Commanding Officer of that local OSI office, after many interviews and testing, etc., told me that I had achieved the highest rating he’d ever seen on their entrance exam. That made my day.
So I took a slot that was newly opened in Berlin; no one seemed to be jumping on it. It seems it was replacing an agent that was blown up when he got in his car one day at work, to go home for the night. In asking who did that to him, the CO (Commanding Officer for the local OSI office who I was strickly interviewing with through the entire process), would only allude to the fact that the KGB didn’t like that guy very much and it was they who made him, go away.
Hey, it happens. Well, he must have been poking around somewhere he shouldn’t be. That sounds funny but it happens. To kill another agent, you have to have a good reason. Otherwise, you have to find the new one, learn his habits, etc., etc., and its a pain in the ass. But if you were say, doing some black market work, something your bosses didn't know about (I'm merely conjecturing here), it might be worth it at some point, to simply eliminate the opposition.
So then, I was to replace him. See, I wanted to go where I could learn the most, the fastest, then move on, and they said that at that time, in 1979, that was the best place in the world to learn and the front lines of this ongoing battle between democracy and communism, and other things (again, check out Game, Set, Match). In a brief aside, at first I said I want to learn the most the fastest and I as told to go to the base in the Philippines. Which surprised me. When I asked why, he said it was because the most theft in the world happened their and you learn detective work as well as filling out forms (oh yea). When I said, that wasn't what I mean, then he understood and said that there was a slot open in Berlin, expecting me to shoot that down.
Anyway, as it turned out, I never made it there to Berlin. Again, that’s another story all unto itself. Had I gone though, I would have been nearly in, the Len Deighton Game, Set, Match book's world, in a way. Why I instead left the service, among other things, I had a disagreement with the OSI tactics and code, and so instead I got out, got my degree and spent the ensuing years instead, reading on the history of the clandestine services.
Its all secret. Right? Civilians can never know the truth about what spies do, right?
But guess what? If you read the right books, sometimes, if you talk to the right people, you can actually piece things together. Between what ex-KGB officers wrote about publicly after leaving USSR, or those of whom we "turned", or things like that. Then also, there's information available from ex CIA men who wrote, and ex-British agents who are great, or Japanese agents, or other people and things. By comparing what both (all actually) sides say, you can pretty much ferret out the truth. Its pretty much what these agencies do themselves, really. Anyway, I found it pretty interesting.
This history search took me all the way back in history to before the CIA began, and into the history of the OSS (no not the OSI, the OSS: Office of Strategic Services), and then even before them, to the ABC, which few know about. William J. Donovan was the first head of the OSS, whom they called, "Wild Bill" and is now known as the father of Central Intelligence.
"'Wild Bill' deserves his sobriquet mainly for two reasons. First, he permitted the "wildest," loosest kind of administrative and procedural chaos to develop while he concentrated on recruiting talent wherever he could find it - in universities, businesses, law firms, in the armed services, at Georgetown cocktail parties, in fact, anywhere he happened to meet or hear about bright and eager men and women who wanted to help. His immediate lieutenants and their assistants were all at work on the same task, and it was a long time before any systematic method of structuring the polyglot staff complement was worked out.
"Donovan really did not care. He counted on some able young men from his law firm in New York to straighten out the worst administrative messes, arguing that the record would justify his agency if it was good and excuse all waste and confusion. If the agency was a failure, the United States would probably lose the war and the bookkeeping would not matter. In this approach, he was probably right.
"In any case, Donovan did manage during the war to create a legend about his work and that of OSS that conveyed overtones of glamour, innovation, and daring. This infuriated the regular bureaucrats but created a cult of romanticism about intelligence that persisted and helped win popular support for the continuation of an intelligence organization. It also, of course, created the myths about intelligence-the cloak-and-dagger exploits that have made it so hard to persuade the aficionados of spy fiction that the heart of intelligence work consists of properly evaluated information from all sources, however collected.
"The second way in which Donovan deserved the term "Wild' was his own personal fascination with bravery and derring-do. He empathized most with the men behind enemy lines. He was constantly traveling to faraway theaters of war to be as near them as possible, and he left to his subordinates the more humdrum business of processing secret intelligence reports in Washington and preparing analytical studies for the President or the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
"Fortunately Donovan had good sense about choosing subordinates. Some were undoubtedly freaks, but the quotient of talent was high and for the most part, it rose to the top of the agency. One of Donovan's greatest achievements was setting in motion a train of events that drew to him and to intelligence work a host of able men and women who imparted to intellectual life in the foreign field some of the verve and drive that New Deal lawyers and political scientists had given to domestic affairs under Roosevelt in the 1930s."
The previous quoted material was from Ray S. Cline... Secrets, Spies, and Scholars: Blueprint of the Essential CIA - 1976.
Donovan learned how to set the OSS up from the Brits, while secretly working on the ABC (America, Britain, Canada), a group that worked clandestinely prior to WWII gearing up completely, meaning, before America joined in; and as Canada was associated with Britain, so too, obviously, America wanted to be included.
The Brits had learned a lot from the KGB in all those years of being so close to Soviet antics in Europe and so then we learned a lot from the Brits; really, we have a lot to be grateful for to them. KGB invented disinformation tactics and so much more. And the had cooler gadgets. Many of James Bond's gadgetry was born in the old KGB offices in Old Lubyanka building (an affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow).
Obviously, things have changed from back then.
Nowadays, as the book I'm adapting is all about, we have drug cartels as the new bad guys, as well as other groups, terrorists, and such. Of course, we still have the KGB in the form of the newer FSB (headquartered in the same building), and really, not much has changed there; orientation perhaps, things are more corporate-oriented now than national security; or, more like national security has become corporate concerns. Even terrorists are going corporate. The corporations are one way or another, running so many things in our country and around the world.
So, that’s my orientation related to spy novels, to some degree; I go deeper into other things, but I’d just as soon skip all that. I’m actually working up a novel myself in this area, but I have to tread the difference between realism as in Deighton’s books, and fantasy, and adventure novels (which sadly sell better). All of which are great fun, but one does have to find one’s focus before doing. So I’ve been biding my time, and right now I have other works to deal with like the screenplay (I so need to get rid of my day job!).
I have an interesting, personal story about when I read the Game, Set, Match trilogy.
You see, I hadn’t seen my real father in seventeen years. It was his choice when he married a woman (strangely, not physically that different from the main character in the book I'm adapting now). She already had ten kids from two previous marriages. My dad left us in 1958 Franco Era Spain, when I was three, by way of a rather violent outburst because of a final argument with my mother that required my Grandfather (mom's dad), who got my dad that job, to expel him from the country.
Below is my esteemed self and our maid. The arrow points to where my dad was chasing my mom in that villa, my Grandfather's.
Grandpa in his 1914 racer in New York
NOTE: as of 2025 I have my grandfather's photos of his 1914 race cars ni New York that he had worked on, and my own photos available for sale on Zazzle and Redbubble.
Before photo of the gate
Photos of the gate, before and after. That's me, stunned.
Before I left, he wanted to give me a few of our dad’s things. This is where we see the relevancy of my bringing all this up. One of the things I was given, was "Berlin Game", the first of the series and the last book our dad read before he died of cancer. My brother told me that our dad was really into the book. I too was really into the story.
See, what was so very strange was that I had just recently finished watching the British miniseries with Ian Holm as the main character, Bernard (accent on the BERN, not the American way on the NARD, which really annoys the main character). Anyway, I dearly loved the story. I was as fascinated by it as my dad had been. Also, strangely enough, My brother and I found that even though we'd hardly ever seen one another, our thought patterns, were eerily close in how we processed things.
It seems that Len Deighton hated that BBC series and had actually tried to ban it. When I heard that, it became a passion to find a video copy, and it was Hell to do so until a few years ago when I finally found a DVD set in Australia. Even better, as up to that point, if I found a copy at all it was stated to be a bad recording and only on VHS tape. What I purchased was perfect either, but at least it was on DVD.
So I took my dad's book home and read it and thus, learned about Len Deighton, who wrote many books; many of which had been turned into hit movies in the 60s and 70s mostly, like "The Ipcress File", with one of my all-time favorite actors, Michael Caine. Caine had played in the role of my favorite spy of the 60s, Harry Palmer, whom Deighton also created. Its all just rather odd. Honestly, it's a toss up between Sean Connery as Bond and Caine as Palmer. Okay, then there was Patrick McNee and Patric MacGoohan and Robert Vaughan and Bill Cosby and Robert Culp and, oh, never mind. You get the idea.
To put my comments on the novel I'm adapting to screen in a better perspective, allow me now to give you some background on my history related to espionage. Well, at least some of it.
I was in the Air Force. At the end of my first term in, I joined the OSI. That in and of itself, is an entirely other story in that I had to risk my life to even talk to the OSI.
The Office of Special Investigations is the AF's FBI. In fact, I've read "FBI Magazine", while sitting in the offices of the Spokane, Washington Fairchild AFB's Strategic Air Command's OSI (yes, there IS, or was, an FBI Magazine, I've seen it, I've read it). I went in the service to serve as a Law Enforcement officer as a way to end up in the CIA. Hey, at the time it seemed like a plan, like the thing to do. But I got kicked because of my flat, bad feet. Actually, they tried to kick me out completely, but I fought back and they let me choose another job.
So I chose something else. Finally, after four years, I was getting out and thought I’d try to get back on course. I walked into the office of the OSI and presented my case. The Commanding Officer of that local OSI office, after many interviews and testing, etc., told me that I had achieved the highest rating he’d ever seen on their entrance exam. That made my day.
So I took a slot that was newly opened in Berlin; no one seemed to be jumping on it. It seems it was replacing an agent that was blown up when he got in his car one day at work, to go home for the night. In asking who did that to him, the CO (Commanding Officer for the local OSI office who I was strickly interviewing with through the entire process), would only allude to the fact that the KGB didn’t like that guy very much and it was they who made him, go away.
Hey, it happens. Well, he must have been poking around somewhere he shouldn’t be. That sounds funny but it happens. To kill another agent, you have to have a good reason. Otherwise, you have to find the new one, learn his habits, etc., etc., and its a pain in the ass. But if you were say, doing some black market work, something your bosses didn't know about (I'm merely conjecturing here), it might be worth it at some point, to simply eliminate the opposition.
So then, I was to replace him. See, I wanted to go where I could learn the most, the fastest, then move on, and they said that at that time, in 1979, that was the best place in the world to learn and the front lines of this ongoing battle between democracy and communism, and other things (again, check out Game, Set, Match). In a brief aside, at first I said I want to learn the most the fastest and I as told to go to the base in the Philippines. Which surprised me. When I asked why, he said it was because the most theft in the world happened their and you learn detective work as well as filling out forms (oh yea). When I said, that wasn't what I mean, then he understood and said that there was a slot open in Berlin, expecting me to shoot that down.
Anyway, as it turned out, I never made it there to Berlin. Again, that’s another story all unto itself. Had I gone though, I would have been nearly in, the Len Deighton Game, Set, Match book's world, in a way. Why I instead left the service, among other things, I had a disagreement with the OSI tactics and code, and so instead I got out, got my degree and spent the ensuing years instead, reading on the history of the clandestine services.
Its all secret. Right? Civilians can never know the truth about what spies do, right?
But guess what? If you read the right books, sometimes, if you talk to the right people, you can actually piece things together. Between what ex-KGB officers wrote about publicly after leaving USSR, or those of whom we "turned", or things like that. Then also, there's information available from ex CIA men who wrote, and ex-British agents who are great, or Japanese agents, or other people and things. By comparing what both (all actually) sides say, you can pretty much ferret out the truth. Its pretty much what these agencies do themselves, really. Anyway, I found it pretty interesting.
This history search took me all the way back in history to before the CIA began, and into the history of the OSS (no not the OSI, the OSS: Office of Strategic Services), and then even before them, to the ABC, which few know about. William J. Donovan was the first head of the OSS, whom they called, "Wild Bill" and is now known as the father of Central Intelligence.
"'Wild Bill' deserves his sobriquet mainly for two reasons. First, he permitted the "wildest," loosest kind of administrative and procedural chaos to develop while he concentrated on recruiting talent wherever he could find it - in universities, businesses, law firms, in the armed services, at Georgetown cocktail parties, in fact, anywhere he happened to meet or hear about bright and eager men and women who wanted to help. His immediate lieutenants and their assistants were all at work on the same task, and it was a long time before any systematic method of structuring the polyglot staff complement was worked out.
"Donovan really did not care. He counted on some able young men from his law firm in New York to straighten out the worst administrative messes, arguing that the record would justify his agency if it was good and excuse all waste and confusion. If the agency was a failure, the United States would probably lose the war and the bookkeeping would not matter. In this approach, he was probably right.
"In any case, Donovan did manage during the war to create a legend about his work and that of OSS that conveyed overtones of glamour, innovation, and daring. This infuriated the regular bureaucrats but created a cult of romanticism about intelligence that persisted and helped win popular support for the continuation of an intelligence organization. It also, of course, created the myths about intelligence-the cloak-and-dagger exploits that have made it so hard to persuade the aficionados of spy fiction that the heart of intelligence work consists of properly evaluated information from all sources, however collected.
"The second way in which Donovan deserved the term "Wild' was his own personal fascination with bravery and derring-do. He empathized most with the men behind enemy lines. He was constantly traveling to faraway theaters of war to be as near them as possible, and he left to his subordinates the more humdrum business of processing secret intelligence reports in Washington and preparing analytical studies for the President or the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
"Fortunately Donovan had good sense about choosing subordinates. Some were undoubtedly freaks, but the quotient of talent was high and for the most part, it rose to the top of the agency. One of Donovan's greatest achievements was setting in motion a train of events that drew to him and to intelligence work a host of able men and women who imparted to intellectual life in the foreign field some of the verve and drive that New Deal lawyers and political scientists had given to domestic affairs under Roosevelt in the 1930s."
The previous quoted material was from Ray S. Cline... Secrets, Spies, and Scholars: Blueprint of the Essential CIA - 1976.
Donovan learned how to set the OSS up from the Brits, while secretly working on the ABC (America, Britain, Canada), a group that worked clandestinely prior to WWII gearing up completely, meaning, before America joined in; and as Canada was associated with Britain, so too, obviously, America wanted to be included.
The Brits had learned a lot from the KGB in all those years of being so close to Soviet antics in Europe and so then we learned a lot from the Brits; really, we have a lot to be grateful for to them. KGB invented disinformation tactics and so much more. And the had cooler gadgets. Many of James Bond's gadgetry was born in the old KGB offices in Old Lubyanka building (an affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow).
Old Lubyanka building
Nowadays, as the book I'm adapting is all about, we have drug cartels as the new bad guys, as well as other groups, terrorists, and such. Of course, we still have the KGB in the form of the newer FSB (headquartered in the same building), and really, not much has changed there; orientation perhaps, things are more corporate-oriented now than national security; or, more like national security has become corporate concerns. Even terrorists are going corporate. The corporations are one way or another, running so many things in our country and around the world.
So, that’s my orientation related to spy novels, to some degree; I go deeper into other things, but I’d just as soon skip all that. I’m actually working up a novel myself in this area, but I have to tread the difference between realism as in Deighton’s books, and fantasy, and adventure novels (which sadly sell better). All of which are great fun, but one does have to find one’s focus before doing. So I’ve been biding my time, and right now I have other works to deal with like the screenplay (I so need to get rid of my day job!).
NOTE: I retired from that job in September of 2016 after 20 years there. Since then I have become an award-winning author, filmmaker and screenwriter (for several screenplays).
In the end, I felt it was a good book to adapt to screen and I am working on it. And having a good time with it.
In the end, I felt it was a good book to adapt to screen and I am working on it. And having a good time with it.
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