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Getting well and thinking
Dec. 17th, 2007 11:42 amOne of the things that inspired me about George Alec Effinger was how often he wrote while he was ill. Some times he barely dragged into the monthly workshop that he started, but he usually had something to read. I’m not so disciplined. Or maybe I can’t compartmentalize discomfort away.
All of this to say that I’ve been home sick and haven’t written a thing, despite the welcome break from work. Maybe because there has not been much of a break. I’ve had to dial in several times to complete tasks that were not going to go away.
It wouldn’t have been necessary when I first started in the computer business. Everyone was cross-trained and easily supported each other. Now some systems require intense hands-on learning. Surely you’ve fallen into this type of training hell? It’s more efficient to train a small group and give them a project to complete. When the second project comes down the pike—well, it is more efficient to give it to the people who are already trained. They will finish the new project faster. I was very bitter when this first happened to me because there is no arguing with the logic of the situation. Many projects have hard and fast deadlines. They don’t have the luxury of new learners. Some of that business logic has eased now. Mainly because businesses found that their hotshot teams were valued elsewhere also. They ended up with the people that they classified as second and third string people anyway. If the business is lucky, those second string people channeled their anger into learning the new technology on their own. They created their own “project” and solved internal problems on their own time.
So, why am I dialing in? Everyone in my small team has loads of work of his own. Teams work because everyone tries to pull their weight.
What I have gotten down is some reading and watching movies. I’ve been responsible (remember I supposedly have the flu) and stayed out of movie theatres even though I want to see some of the December movies. Netflix has sustained me. I finally watched “The Lives of Others” that I missed when it was in the theatre. It was more hopeful than I expected. (Is hopeful the word? I swear my brain isn’t all here yet.) The movie wasn’t as depressing as I had expected to be. I watched “The Castle”, based on a Kafka novel. Which I didn’t know was unfinished! So, the ending of the movie got a minor exasperated cry from me. My fault. I’ve only read story-story Kafka. Not novel Kafka. And in the genre field—“DayWatch” from Russia. Enough fun that I watched it again with the commentary. The imagery was exciting and startling. It’s great to see another country’s fantasy. I know that I don’t get all of the references and I wished that the commentary had elaborated on the references. But the commentary is very tight-lipped. He did point out a few things that American audiences would miss. The opening credits are represented as neon sign reflections in the windshield of the truck that one of the protagonists is driving. Sweet! The people in the “magic class” scene are actually top Russian SF/Fantasy writers. A nice tribute. I wanted more explanation of the imagery. Ravens morph into fighters. I picked a sample book recently from Russia that also used ravens prominently. What’s with ravens in Russia? What’s with mosquitoes in the gloom? The director briefly mentions in his commentary that he wanted to emphasize the Asian influences within Russia as the first movie emphasized the European influences. Hence, Tamerlane is a framing character in the movie. I was curious enough to go googling Tamerlane today. The director mentions that vampires have never been a major movie phenomena in Russia. Is the legend missing from there completely? If not, what makes our society more susceptible to vampire movies? If the lure of vampire stories were only sex, you would think that county would be no barrier. Questions like that.
I completed reading “The Threepenny Opera” by Bertolt Brecht last weekend. Full of disreputable people. More than “Sweeny Todd” which has the two lovers to redeem it. Even still, I recall seeing people walk out of a local production of “Sweeny Todd”. They were probably season-ticket holders who didn’t know what they were getting into. Could “The Threepenny Opera” be produced at all now? In the small town atmosphere of New Orleans? Maybe at the CAC, but certainly not at La Petite (the theater that put on ST years ago). Strangely enough I recall attend a performance of what was supposed to be “The Threepenney Opera” ages ago at a local dinner theatre. I don’t recall a thing, other than actors dancing on tables. I rather suspect that I saw the songs performed and not the play. I wanted to read the play because Kalamu included Nina Simone’s version of “Pirate Jenny” on Breath of Life (http://www.kalamu.com/bol/) last week. I wanted to know the context of the song. The lyrics in the play are slightly different. I wonder if Simone changed them, or if they were changed for the modern audience. This is one of those curiosities that I will not be looking up on google.
Well, coughing and breathing like an heavy smoker, I’ve managed to write a few words for this blog. Percolating? The story of Jacob and his ladder. Not so much the ladder, but Jacob asleep using a stone as his pillow. When the homeless are sleeping in front of City Hall, what else should I think of?
All of this to say that I’ve been home sick and haven’t written a thing, despite the welcome break from work. Maybe because there has not been much of a break. I’ve had to dial in several times to complete tasks that were not going to go away.
It wouldn’t have been necessary when I first started in the computer business. Everyone was cross-trained and easily supported each other. Now some systems require intense hands-on learning. Surely you’ve fallen into this type of training hell? It’s more efficient to train a small group and give them a project to complete. When the second project comes down the pike—well, it is more efficient to give it to the people who are already trained. They will finish the new project faster. I was very bitter when this first happened to me because there is no arguing with the logic of the situation. Many projects have hard and fast deadlines. They don’t have the luxury of new learners. Some of that business logic has eased now. Mainly because businesses found that their hotshot teams were valued elsewhere also. They ended up with the people that they classified as second and third string people anyway. If the business is lucky, those second string people channeled their anger into learning the new technology on their own. They created their own “project” and solved internal problems on their own time.
So, why am I dialing in? Everyone in my small team has loads of work of his own. Teams work because everyone tries to pull their weight.
What I have gotten down is some reading and watching movies. I’ve been responsible (remember I supposedly have the flu) and stayed out of movie theatres even though I want to see some of the December movies. Netflix has sustained me. I finally watched “The Lives of Others” that I missed when it was in the theatre. It was more hopeful than I expected. (Is hopeful the word? I swear my brain isn’t all here yet.) The movie wasn’t as depressing as I had expected to be. I watched “The Castle”, based on a Kafka novel. Which I didn’t know was unfinished! So, the ending of the movie got a minor exasperated cry from me. My fault. I’ve only read story-story Kafka. Not novel Kafka. And in the genre field—“DayWatch” from Russia. Enough fun that I watched it again with the commentary. The imagery was exciting and startling. It’s great to see another country’s fantasy. I know that I don’t get all of the references and I wished that the commentary had elaborated on the references. But the commentary is very tight-lipped. He did point out a few things that American audiences would miss. The opening credits are represented as neon sign reflections in the windshield of the truck that one of the protagonists is driving. Sweet! The people in the “magic class” scene are actually top Russian SF/Fantasy writers. A nice tribute. I wanted more explanation of the imagery. Ravens morph into fighters. I picked a sample book recently from Russia that also used ravens prominently. What’s with ravens in Russia? What’s with mosquitoes in the gloom? The director briefly mentions in his commentary that he wanted to emphasize the Asian influences within Russia as the first movie emphasized the European influences. Hence, Tamerlane is a framing character in the movie. I was curious enough to go googling Tamerlane today. The director mentions that vampires have never been a major movie phenomena in Russia. Is the legend missing from there completely? If not, what makes our society more susceptible to vampire movies? If the lure of vampire stories were only sex, you would think that county would be no barrier. Questions like that.
I completed reading “The Threepenny Opera” by Bertolt Brecht last weekend. Full of disreputable people. More than “Sweeny Todd” which has the two lovers to redeem it. Even still, I recall seeing people walk out of a local production of “Sweeny Todd”. They were probably season-ticket holders who didn’t know what they were getting into. Could “The Threepenny Opera” be produced at all now? In the small town atmosphere of New Orleans? Maybe at the CAC, but certainly not at La Petite (the theater that put on ST years ago). Strangely enough I recall attend a performance of what was supposed to be “The Threepenney Opera” ages ago at a local dinner theatre. I don’t recall a thing, other than actors dancing on tables. I rather suspect that I saw the songs performed and not the play. I wanted to read the play because Kalamu included Nina Simone’s version of “Pirate Jenny” on Breath of Life (http://www.kalamu.com/bol/) last week. I wanted to know the context of the song. The lyrics in the play are slightly different. I wonder if Simone changed them, or if they were changed for the modern audience. This is one of those curiosities that I will not be looking up on google.
Well, coughing and breathing like an heavy smoker, I’ve managed to write a few words for this blog. Percolating? The story of Jacob and his ladder. Not so much the ladder, but Jacob asleep using a stone as his pillow. When the homeless are sleeping in front of City Hall, what else should I think of?
