Moody Blues Experience

I discovered the Moody Blues in my late teens, and it was only by chance.  I found one of their records (In Search of the Lost Chord) in a bunch of old LP's that someone was throwing out, and once I put it on the turntable I found something worth listening to.  My early musical interests were heavily influenced by The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, The Doors, and various other classic rock groups, so The Moody Blues fit right in.  In fact, they quickly became one of my favorite groups.

It was only after I'd become enamored of the Moody Blues that I discovered that they were one of my father's favorite groups.  Apparently, he'd given them up because my mother absolutely hated them for undisclosed reasons (she said it had something to do with her mother, but never elaborated further).  So, for over twenty years, my father had gone without hearing a single Moody Blues album for my mother's sake, only to be reunited with the music thanks to me.  For several years before my mother's departure, he would listen to them in private, reliving memories of his youth and enjoying the newer albums he'd missed.  Now, he listens whenever he desires, since there's nobody around to offend anymore.

I have all of their regular US release albums on the original vinyl (minus the extremely hard to get Keys of the Kingdom).  I have most of the albums on CD, and my father often borrows them for extended periods.  It's a good thing I have a decent supply of fresh diamond needles, so I can still hear the records when the discs are absent.

The Moody Blues have a sound that is uniquely appreciated around the world, by people of all walks of life and all philosophical persuasions.  Their music was some of the only western rock allowed in Communist China for years, and they're a perennial favorite of radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, just to name two far-disparate examples.  Their music really transcends all barriers.

So, that's what I have to say about the Moody Blues.  Before I go, my top 3 albums:

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

On the Threshold of a Dream

Long Distance Voyager

And Top 3 Songs:

Highway

The Story In Your Eyes

I Know You're Out There Somewhere

So, Moody fans, what are your top 3's?

Lost in Time

Time is an unstoppable force in many ways, something that at present cannot be challenged.  Once something has passed, it is over forever, and there are so many people and events that will never be seen again.

Photographs are the lingering echoes from the lost past, little bits of memorabilia that can give us insights into the imagery that cannot be reclaimed.  People long dead will live on forever in the pictures we have of them, though over time even those can be forgotten.  That is why it's vitally important that we keep them identified.



Mary Alice (Nelson) Kirton,
holding son, John Julius Kirton
1919



Almost everyone who lived during the latter half of the 19th century onwards has had a picture taken of them at some point, though a great deal of those older pictures have been forgotten.  So many unidentified faces may lurk in plain sight, simply because there is nobody left alive who remembers them.  Younger generations often ignore the past, and sometimes fail to care until it is too late.  This is how ancestral lines and family photographs can be lost and forgotten.

It's always fortunate to find a photograph with an inscription on the back.  Those who have the foresight to jot down something as simple as a name help to assure that these faces and places are not forgotten.  Those who know must leave more than the picture itself, but also some key to identify the people and places, lest they become little more than an odd curiosity.

As many unidentified photos as there are, I fear there are many more still that have been destroyed by the ravages of time.  How many family photos have sat in a damp basement, or steamy attic, and become faded beyond recognition?  How many have been burned in house fires, or simply thrown in the trash?  Too many.  With today's technology, it's fairly easy to scan and copy images, so hopefully the worst of the damage has been done, and we will not lose anything further to disaster.  Backup those old family photos, and spread them around to keep them alive!

Those of us today who care about the past must work vigilantly to preserve what is left from bygone eras.  We must take special charge of our family lineage, and make sure to preserve it for future generations, or our children will be left wondering in vain.

Killingsworth

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to a good friend of mine:  Madam Cuddles Killingsworth.

In January of 2011, a tragic accident took the life of our family cat.  On a moonlit night, Gene wandered over half a mile to the highway and got hit by an oncoming car.  His lifeless, frozen body was lying by the shoulder the next day, and it was a hard thing for the children to lose him.  He was a very personable cat, friendly to a fault.  He was such a kind animal, he could sometimes be seen petting mice.  Yes, I'm serious.  He wouldn't hunt them; he treated the vile vermin as his own pets.  As a friend, he was the best, but as a mouser he was worthless.

Last summer, a new cat came into our life.  She was free, an extra animal that nobody else wanted.  The previous owners had called her "Cuddles," and she was already five or six months old by the time we got her, so the name stuck.  When she first arrived, she was very calm and scrawny, and we quickly discovered the reason for her weakened state.  She had tape worms.  A quick stop at the pet shop and $15.00 worth of deworming medicine later, and she was suddenly spry and active.  Literally overnight, she became an active, happy cat, and she has since grown to be a very productive addition to our family.  When it comes to killing mice, she is the best, hence her official title, Killingsworth.  Our house is mouse free once more.

I have had many cats in my lifetime, and I hope that I won't be hunting for a replacement anytime soon.  I hope she has many children, and that Clan Killingsworth comes to dominate the land for catdom!

Julia's Story

A fresh idea came to me the other day, as it often does, concerning a future story I should write.  It involves Julia McCain, the long lost sister of Zachary McCain.  Zachary is one of the main protagonists in The Rogue Investigations, and his sister Julia is mentioned (and she does make a brief appearance, as well).  In the forthcoming sequel, Rise of the Rogue Fighters, she'll play a more significant role, and I have come to realize she has an amazing back-story that could make an exciting "prequel."

Julia's story is one of fortune and tragedy.  Born to affluent parents, she and her older brother Zachary grew up in the lap of luxury on the family estate in rural Maine.  Shortly after her twelfth birthday her parents die in a mysterious car crash, and Julia is subsequently yanked from her home and thrown into the foster care system, which is highly irregular.  With her family's stature in the community, and her own brother being a legal adult (albeit away at college), there is no reason for the legal system to toss her into government care, yet there are clandestine forces at work.

Taken into "the system," Julia is questioned by a creepy old lady who seems keenly interested in her.  After their meeting, Julia overhears the creepy lady talking to subordinates, and discovers that she is to become a lab rat for experimental brain surgery.  Rather than waiting around for agents from a shadow government to cut her up, Julia flees.  Managing to give her captors the slip, Julia makes her way to the train station, where she slips aboard a freight car full of potato sacks.  There, she runs into an enigmatic hobo, and she passes herself off as a boy, fearful that the man might have perverse intentions toward a girl.  The hobo, a washed-up newspaper reporter and obvious drunkard, is her first teacher on her long journey that will teach her how to survive on her own, and eventually lead to the truth behind her parents' deaths.

I'm thinking of writing it as more of a young adult story, a real coming-of-age tale that eventually leads back to her adult appearance in The Rogue Investigations.  In it, we'll explore her trek around the country, and expose the mysterious "Zeta Directorate," a government agency which will be a thorn in the side of Zachary McCain later on in the series.

Work on this fascinating story will have to wait, though.  At present, I have several other stories I'm working on, including the aforementioned sequel to the Rogue Investigations, and the fourth book in my Fantasy Western series.  Perhaps I'll write Julia's story as my National Novel Writing Month book this November.  It's another in a long list of possible candidates.

Innovative or Idiotic?

I'd like to take today's post to point out my concerns about Genetically-Modified Food (GM or GMO).  I will preface this by saying I am not completely sold on anything, but I am certainly worried by the prevalence of patented foodstuffs that currently make up a stunning majority of Corn, Soybean, Sugar Beet, etc... grown in America.   I'm no alarmist, and conspiracy theories are sometimes exaggerated, yet I'm starting to think that the GM food issue is being underplayed severely.

Scouring the internet, you will be hard pressed to find articles praising the Genetically Modified food that is now dominating the American market.  Yet, you will quickly see dozens of articles from highly educated and respected individuals who are shouting out a warning about the detrimental impact these artificially-manipulated crops are having on human health and the environment.

One of the more frightening and compelling articles I've come across is this one, which details the concerns of Dr. Don Huber.  He details the deleterious effects of GM foods on plants, humans, soil, and basically everything living.  Are these just more eco-freak conspiracy theorist ramblings, designed to push us back to an Amish level of living?  Obviously not, but it does point out that the current use of Genetically Modified Food poses some serious risks.

Science is very much a double-edged sword, and there are more than a few mad scientists who are eager to play with fire, and damn the consequences.  Worse still are their financial backers, who are blinded by their own portfolios.  These wealthy businessmen often pander to the "green" movement, while ignoring genuine environmental threats.  They'll promote their new "green initiative" to cut CO2 levels and plant a few trees, while altering the very genome of our sustenance in potentially toxic ways.  It's sticking out the right hand to hide what the left one is doing.

This doesn't even go into the true money-grubbing behaviors of some firms like Monsanto, who wantonly attempt to control our ability to grow food.  Take the Schmeiser case, for instance.  This case sets a most dangerous precedent, and this sort of behavior is a threat to any and all lovers of freedom.  When a company can own exclusive rights to the very seeds we need to feed ourselves, they essentially own us!

It's important that people educate themselves about the issues concerning GM foods, or we might sow the seeds of our own destruction.

Hollywood's out of Ideas?

It was bound to happen.  We all knew it was inevitable.  Yes, I'm talking about yet another movie remake, this time of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, Total Recall.  Apparently, the original movie isn't good enough anymore, so they're going to redo it.  Of course, after the remake of Footloose last year, I guess anything is up for grabs.

Get The Original

When it comes to Hollywood remakes, I have mixed emotions, and to be honest I can't think of many "new" versions that I prefer to the originals.  With a few rare exceptions, an updated version of a movie is rarely an improvement.  The story is already known, and when they try to mix things up by rewriting various scenes, I'm often left thinking, "I liked it better the other way." It can also be jarring to see today's actors trying to recapture roles that were previously defined by another cast.  Come on; Colin Farrell as Schwarzenegger, are you kidding?    Maybe that's just me.

There are economic motivations behind the slew of remakes as of late.  If a Studio does a new version of an old movie, they know there's a pre-existing fan-base that'll come out of the woodwork to see the new flick, even if it sucks.  (That used to be what sequels were for, but apparently that's too much work now.)  It is often more of a sure thing to remake a pre-existing movie than to create something entirely new that might or might not pique the interest of movie goers.  This is creative punting, plain and simple.

I can think of so many stories that would make great movies, but sadly they are passed over in favor of recycled ideas.  I don't fault Hollywood for trying to make a buck, but I feel they'd make a lot more money if they spent more time looking for fresh concepts and new, entertaining material.  Yes, they still do that to an extent, and maybe I'm being overly critical because of my own obscurity in the field, but I think the remakes are a waste of good screen time.  It's just an opinion, and if you enjoy the "new, improved" Total Recall, bully for you.  As for me, I'll stick with the classic version.  "See you at the party, Richter!"

Getting Satisfaction

It's important that we each find something to satisfy us in this life, or else we run the risk of becoming bitter and discontented.  Whether you find your satisfaction in simple pleasures, like having a good home, a good job, or that special luxury item that you always dreamed about as a kid; human beings need their mental salves.  Yes, it may sound all too worldly and materialistic, but that's the truth.  People need something to look at and say, "It's mine," or "I accomplished that."  When it comes down to it, they need to give their life meaning.

The world we live in is often filled with hardships and disappointments.  Most dreams are simply that, fanciful ideas that remain nothing more than a figment of our imagination.  How many aspiring actors never see the silver screen?  How many childhood athletes fail to get a professional sports contract?  How many amateur writers linger in obscurity?  Millions, surely, and those unfulfilled dreams linger to define us.

It is necessary to find something to fill the void, to supplant the ambition of our dreams, or at least dull the pain of falling short.  The religious among us will no doubt point out the value of God in this struggle, and as a believer I most certainly agree, to a point.  However, sometimes it helps to have something more, a purpose or prestige that augments one's own existence.

While many Christian purists will tell you that God should be the be-all, end-all of one's attention and focus, the nature of that service is what I dispute.  I don't agree our job in life is merely to read the bible and worship like a penitent peasant, waiting to die and be taken up.  As Galileo said, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use."

I'm not discounting religion, or denying that one should seek to understand God.  What I am saying is that the nature of your search and worship need not be confined to simple subservience and monkish attention to scripture.  God gave us great gifts of mind and body, and he intends for us to accomplish something with them.  This leads me back to my original point, about satisfaction.

Within each of us is the innate desire to better ourselves and the world around us.  We are tasked with understanding the nature of our existence, and furthering mankind's knowledge of the universe in all its forms.  It is implanted deep within our very souls, the desire to know God, and the first step toward seeking God is to understand the truth of his creation, which is everything.

Of course, it is a slow and arduous process, and something that none of us can seek to achieve in total (at least, not in this life).  Yet, we have a need to learn, and beyond that we have a desire for meaning.  We are compelled to do something of importance, but in many cases we are incapable of achieving that.  We go through our ordinary lives, seeking to make up for our inability to impact society, dreaming of being something more than we are.  That is why we need material things, to give us the illusion of improvement.  So long as we can look at something that we're doing or have done and say, "That's my contribution," then we can feel better about our mortal existence.

Perhaps it's all in vain, a failing of our human emotions, but it is something we truly need at this stage of human development.  Make sure that you do something to impact and benefit the future in some small way, and you will find a greater contentment.  Be careful of your chosen tasks and always seek the truth, no matter where it leads.

(*I was born at 3:36 AM on April 7, 1980, which means the minute this post goes online, I will officially be 32 years old.  Bully for me!)

Free Fiction Friday (and everyday)

As the blog sees more and more followers and visitors, I'd like to take today's post to direct your attention to West of the Warlock, most of which is available to read for free.  Just head on over to Hall Brothers Entertainment, and download 8 of the "episodes" in .pdf format.

This project was the product of an idea I'd had for years, about merging elements of Sword & Sorcery Fantasy into America's Wild West of the 1880s.  The first foray into the new, unexplored field of "Fantasy Western" was a short story called "A Dwarf at High Noon," which was published in the Hall Brothers Anthology "Villainy."  After accepting that short, the Hall Brothers were so thoroughly impressed with the unique concept that they asked if I'd be interested in writing a longer story based around the same characters/universe.  I was more than happy for the opportunity, and West of the Warlock was born.

The end result turned out to be one of my better works, which includes some crafty world-building, while clinging to the historical background of the American West, just with some magical flourishes.  The story follows Warlock Sheriff James Doliber, his dwarf deputy, Ron Grimes, and an independent elf widow, Joella Talus, and has a wide array of supporting characters.

Since the initial success of the first published volume, two sequels have been written and are under contract for release later in 2012, and a fourth book is currently in the works.  Get started with West of the Warlock, and get ready for more adventures in the West the way it wasn't!

If you happen to enjoy the 8 free parts of West of the Warlock and want more right away, you can always buy the complete book in either print or kindle format.  There is quite a bit of extra content in the printed version, including a short story featuring Ron Grimes fighting in the Civil War.  But save that for later.  Right now, just enjoy the freebies!

For some extra insight into the creation of the first Fantasy-Western, visit my own West of the Warlock webpage.

Europa Universalis III (PC Game) –Review

Here's a game that I've had sitting on my shelf for over a year, but I didn't get around to trying it out until a few weeks ago.  I'd played the previous versions, having picked up a copy of EU-I many years ago for only a few dollars at Mardens.

For those of you unfamiliar with the game series, EU is something of a historical conquest game akin to Risk.  There are different timeframes and scenarios to play, including The Grand Campaign (starting 1399), Age of Exploration (1492), Age of Revolutions (focusing on the American & French Revolutions), and several other times and events in-between.  While the starting points and nations are all historically accurate, your decisions during game-play can change fate considerably, making it fun and unpredictable.

Getting to Europa Universalis III; this game has several improvements over the previous versions, including a Court of Advisors, which gives you different bonuses to your research values, military prowess, and financial stability.  The military units are now more diverse and varied.  We also see the introduction of "National Ideas" which help to shape and direct the course of your nation.

Colonization and exploration are now more accessible.  Once you reach a certain Naval Technology level, you can pick a National Idea that lets you recruit explorers and conquistadors, where in previous version of the game you had to wait to get such a unit either at random or due to a real world historical event (which means in many cases you simply didn't get one).  Without a naval Explorer, you can't venture beyond known sea-lanes, and without a Conquistador, you can't explore unknown land spaces.  So, this is a major improvement in my opinion.  There is a new "colonial range limit" that can be frustrating at times, but it does keep things realistic and challenging.

Another great improvement in this version of the game is the ability to play any nation.  In previous versions, you could only select from a certain group of "primary" countries in any given scenario/timeframe.  In EU III, you can pick any nation in existence, even some North American Indian tribes, only you do remain hindered by historical reality.  In other words, if you're playing a primitive tribe, they remain primitive, and their technological advancement is slow to non-existent.  Still, it is nice to have the option of variety, and it is fun to pick from the hundreds of different countries found across the globe.

One thing that I dislike about this new game are the "sprites" used to represent the different armies and navies.  In previous versions, you had a little ship or a soldier to represent a unit.  In this game, you have a flag.  Yes, just a boring old flag!  This sadly gives it more of a board-game look, and this is the one feature I find truly inferior to the previous games.

The only other thing that I'm not real keen about are the North American territory boundaries.  While the basic geography is recognizable in most cases, the territories are chopped up into unrecognizable blobs that don't resemble the provinces, states, or even the old colonial territories in many regards.  That, and the names are mostly unpronounceable and hard to remember (generally based on some old native settlement or a single county in the area).  They still need to work on their representation of North America a bit.

If you enjoy complex strategy games, Europa Universalis III should pique your interest, and allow you to wile away hours of valuable time.  Overall, I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Dismal Star: The Original Flash

Long ago, at the dawn of my writing career, I wrote a short story called Dismal Star.  It was my first foray into the field of flash fiction, before I was even familiar with the term "flash."  It was something off the top of my head, based on a much larger premise that I'd like to share.

Putting this down on paper, I envisioned the life of a young man who has grown up alone, trapped within the wreckage of a crippled space station or outpost.  Some kind of great battle or cosmic catastrophe killed off his parents and everyone else, but he has survived, thanks to the lingering amenities and machines.  Perhaps it's not the most original concept in the world, but certainly one that hasn't been played out entirely.

I still think about the possibility of writing more about this lone man, and seeing what happens when he is finally discovered again by his fellow human beings.  What sort of universe will he discover beyond his isolation, and what sort of life will he make for himself in it?  That could be a very powerful tale if done properly, so I will wait for inspiration to call me to write the story.

Now, on with our bit of flash:

I stumble out of my sleeping alcove at a quarter to seven in the morning.  Another dismal day in this place I've learned to call home.  I'll never get used to it, the cold concrete and tarnished metal walls of the research station.  Whoever could?

It's only a short walk from my alcove to the food repository, and I grab a nutritional supplement pouch from the shelf as I pass on my morning jaunt.  I bite into the grainy package that reeks of artificial flavors.  When was the last time I had a regular meal?  I can't quite recall, despite my extensive memory.  Decades, perhaps?

A brief jog around the station, all fifty feet of it that's still inhabitable.  An easily-traveled circle in my small, isolated corner of this place.  The gloomy ceiling lights are always on, except in my sleeping alcove.  The light diodes will continue to shed light into this technological tomb for a thousand years, wired into the limitless power generated thirty thousand feet below me.  The limitless power harnessed from the core of a half dead planet.  How?  I could not tell you.  I know it's a fairly simple concept, and an easily accomplished feat, so long as you're a sci-tech.  I'm not.  My parents were, but I haven't seen them since the accident.  That was twenty years ago, according to the ever reliable computer.

The cold metallic companion whose voice has long been erased still speaks to me.  Through words on the screen it can answer my questions and respond to my constant queries to the best of its programmed abilities.  Some days I'll prattle on for hours through the keyboard, recording my dreams, or asking it about the other worlds it knows.  Much of the information is spotty.  There are many data holes, extensive damage to the entire station's network.  Despite its shortcomings, I'm fortunate to have such a friend, or I would surely have given out of mind and body many years ago.

It was much harder at first.  Being a ten year old boy, the isolation was unbearable, and here I am completely alone, separate from the rest of existence; the only living soul on this accursed orb of dust and vacuum.  All that protects me is a thin layer of metal and a great deal of debris which stacked itself in such a way that it prevents harm to the tightly sealed section of this dead fortress that was once rocked by some deadly bombardment all those years ago.  I once thought someone else might someday find me here, but after two decades, I have come to terms with the truth; the inevitable, inescapable truth.  I am never to be found, an isolated victim of time and space.

Alone is no way to spend your entire life.

Calendar Quandaries

The way we recognize the passage of time is an interesting study in and of itself.  Over the centuries, we've slowly shifted toward a more unified system for determining the months and days, though there are still some old traditions and religions to keep different systems alive.  Today I'd like to go over an interesting element concerning an issue that may arise with reviewing historical documents, most notably those of English origin.

When the Gregorian Calendar was adopted in the late 16th Century, a lot of countries, including England, refused to "adapt" for quite a while, and those who had changed over called us fools for sticking with the less precise calendar we'd always used.  Part of it was a political game, as Protestant countries didn't want to follow the new Catholic Calendar, but that's a whole other story.

Doing genealogical research, the disparity of the two calendars becomes quite apparent, with the "dual date months" that start to appear.  When you run across birthdays, anniversaries, etc... that take place during January, February, and March in years prior to 1752 in the English speaking world, you have to keep in mind that the year of the event is actually incorrect, for they continued to recognize the first day of the year as March 25th.  Say you have an ancestor born February 5, 1690 in Salem, Massachusetts.  If they were truly born in 1690 by our current standard, the birth record would list their birth as 1689, because the "New Year" wouldn't have happened yet by their record.  This is something important to remember if you ever have access to a time machine.  You might show up a year too late for an event!

Of course, if you run into Russian dates, it's even worse.  They didn't switch to the Gregorian calendar until the Communists took over.  Imagine that, it took the Commies to adopt a Catholic creation!

I suppose all these calendar quandaries will be null and void soon.  After all, the Mayan calendar is about to end on December 21, so we're all doomed.  Doomed!  Well, maybe not.

Birthday Book Bomb Reprise

Here's a post for those of you who are new to my blog, and for the preexisting followers who are still on the fence about participating in the following event.

This Saturday, I'll be turning 32, and to celebrate I'm holding a Birthday Book Bomb, which is a novel idea to help spread the word about my writings, recruit new readers, and to perhaps give my writing career a shot in the arm.  Whether you're a long-time friend, casual acquaintance, or a total neophyte, this is something that I urge you to join, and I guarantee we'll both come out winners.

Head over to the facebook event page today and sign up.  Then, on April 7, check out any of the book buying links on my website and get yourself a copy of one of my books.  Spread the word, invite your friends to participate, and make a difference.  It's that simple.

For a more in-depth explanation of the importance of this event, visit my previous post here.

With your help, this will be the best birthday ever!

An April First Birthday

April First has always had a special significance for me, as it happens to be my father's birthday.  He often makes light of being born on "April Fools Day," though if we look to the historic significance of the day, it really isn't all that foolish, just a tad amusing.

The origin of April Fools day is mysterious and disputed.  While the most common belief tells us that it has some connection to archaic New Year's Day celebrations, April 1st was never the first day of the year for anybody.  March 25th was the first of the year for much of Europe during the Middle Ages, and for England until 1752.  The most common connection made to April First and the antiquated New Year is the custom of some French communities that celebrated New Year's week, ending the festival on April 1st.  Maybe it's just easier for people to "round up" to the first day of the next month, rather than call it March Fools Day on the 25th, or perhaps there is a totally unrelated explanation that has been forgotten in the annals of history.

Getting back to my father's birthday, he is 66 years old today, and if asked he'll tell you that he refuses to be called a "senior citizen."  If he's in good spirits, he'll joke that he "graduated a long time ago," using a play on words about the whole senior thing.  If he's in a sour mood, he'll throw in an expletive.

Anyway, 25 years ago, my grandfather Ray Ingham sent my father the following birthday card in the mail.  It is a hand-drawn postcard, something that I found kicking around a while back.  It was wrinkled and forgotten, but I managed to get a sharp scan of it, and preserved this one of a kind item created by my now deceased paternal grandfather.  So, here's another little piece of family history.