Isle Watch Both...

Perhaps you recall that Treasure Island is one of my favorite books. In my top five. Or three even. Besides being connected to Peter and Wendy (Peter Pan) both in text and the friendship of Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir J.M. Barrie, it’s a masterpiece of entertainment and the source (it would seem) of EVERY pirate cliché [with the exception a hook for a hand, of course. ;) ]

You might also recall that in this post I reported on a new film adaptation of it. Despite it being slated as a “hipper” version, I’ve become excited, or at least hopeful, that Stevenson’s classic is done justice with modern filmmaking.

Well, now we have two shots at it. You know how there were two volcano movies virtually at the same time, two asteroids hitting the Earth movies, two cute insect movies, etc… well, now, yes, it seems Warner Brothers is also setting sail with a film based on the book Treasure Island.

Normally I’d roll my eyes at the “two alike movies” scenario, but here it’s a second chance to get it right, so to speak. I certainly have not seen ALL (there roughly 50) of the adaptations of the book, but the few I have seen have been good, but not “good enough.”

So here’s hoping the complexities of Long John Silver shines on the silver screen. And a lot will depend on the actor playing Jim Hawkins. Without a good Jim, you’ll have nothing.

Where's That Dang Crocodile?

To quote a cliche: How time flies!

It's been just about a week and I've not posted anything. My apologies to regular readers. I'm sure you know what happened... I had things to do, places to be (that old drill) and time just got away from me. And yes, I had also been writing Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between during that time. In fact, I've come up with a "tagline" for it, too. Bart loves it... and I also bounced it off Andrea Hook & Jill Jones, who is likewise fond of it. I'll reveal it later, of course.

A couple Peter Pan related items I've found since last post:

The band Kula Shaker has a new single out: "Peter Pan R.I.P." I sorry to say I'm not that much of a fan of this song. No, the title/subject idea has nothing to do with it. Truth is, I rather like Kula Shaker. Their song "Tattva," to put it in a creative way, spins my soul the other way around when I hear it. And many of their other pieces I enjoy very much. Unfortunately, for me, this Peter Pan song does nothing for me. It's just not as engaging somehow. On a non-aesthetic level, I also don't fully understand it. Evidence more than suggests that Peter Pan is far from dead. Perhaps they're saying kids grow up too fast today? My other guess (and this is probably it) is that it refers to Michael Jackson. (Jackson's self-proclaimed Peter Pan-ness never [ha!] sat right with me in the first place - not to mention that his "Neverland Ranch" had Disney Pan sculptures in it.) That all said, it doesn't say much about Peter Pan at all. At any rate, I wish I could be more of fan of Kula Shaker's new song. You can listen to it here, if you like (in the little music player top right side.) [At least at the time of this posting, the song is/had been available.]

There's a re-release of a book called Neverland by Douglas Clegg. I admit I have not read it, but from what I can gather it is not about Pan's island. Though it does take place on an island...hence the title. Actually, there are other reasons. It's a horror novel touching on some of the themes from Barrie's masterpiece.

Neverland is the story of a dysfunctional southern family summer-vacationing on a Georgia island of badly faded glory, and of the horror that washes over them, literally like a hurricane, when the children turn an abandoned shack into their clubhouse and discover there dark secrets about the family, the island's history, the supernatural, and ultimately themselves.

As the title suggests, themes and elements from J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan figure prominently, such as imagination, the wish never to grow up, and even the fantasy of enchanted flight.
- quoted from The Groovy Age of Horror

(If the title of this post is too cryptic, I'm referring to the Croc in Barrie's story, of course, and the idea that when you want to know the time in the Neverland you need to find her.)

-DO- Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

Another OZ movie is on the way. When I first heard it, the proverbial alarm went off, bracing myself for some new remake atrocity. But no. This... this sounds like it could be good.

Imagine a prequel to The Wonderful Wizard of OZ. Rolling your eyes? Don't yet. How about a prequel dealing with the Wizard, or rather the man from America's Heartland that became the Great and Powerful OZ. The story of his arrival and ascent to mysterious stardom. Sound a little better but like it could be headed for disaster? How about if the story is pieced together from the information available about the "Wizard" from the series of OZ books? Now that's intriguing. It's at least worth a try.

In fact, Bart reminded me that I'd given the matter a little thought before. When reading Gregory Maguire's Wicked I started to wonder about the origins of the little circus fellow who would be a Wizard. I immediately tried to recall what we do know about him - and what backstory and motives and challenges he might have had. But I also knew that I'd not be the perrson to tackle that tale.

Well, here it is from Hollywood, OZ the Great and Powerful, reportedly starring Robert Downey Jr. as the little man behind the curtain himself. Here's hoping Mitchell Kapner's script (originally called Brick) combined with the team that films it creates something as awe-inspiring as the Land of OZ itself.

Plot Twists? No, Plot Braiding.

Very late last night (the wee hours of the morning, in fact) I made great progress on Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between. No, I didn’t write any more of it (not counting a few tweaks.) Rather I wound up shuffling texts around. Specifically my notes to myself for the rest of the story. Since I had just figured out the specific order of a few events the other day, I wound up with a much better handle on the rest of them. I saw that one note could be paired with another, this scene belonged two notches down, and so forth. I wound up with an outline up through the end of the novel. Hoash! I’m sure the characters will send new moments my way or take me variant routes. Even while re-configuring it one of them showed up to put in a scene I thought I’d not be using. But now I am — however not at all the way I originally conceived it. How nice to have it all fall into place beyond a general understanding of the story.

If you’re wondering how I would not have already had it all plotted out, see this post.

It’s going to be fun to write the rest. Ever onward.

My Life in Random...

It turns out that the new episodes of Johnny Test consist of only one new story, not two. Darn.

It also turns out that I wound up seeing Burton's Alice in Wonderland again with a friend, Buttercup, who had been curious - but a little leery. I kept telling her it's amazing and she's come to value my opinion based on other things. Guess what. She loved it and said "I need to see it again. It's not that I just want to... I need to." She also agreed as to what the title of this film should be. :) [Oh, I didn't see it in 3-D this time and, yes, it didn't make a difference.]

And on the Peter Pan front, my novel Betwixt-and-Between is still going well. I am rather enjoying 'working' with Tiger Lily again. I'm guessing I'm two-thirds done. And if that sounds like I haven't done much, it miught be on account of me revising it as I write it. Plus the characters keep throwing new stuff at me. But the latest scenes that I have completed turned out much better than I thought they might. I also figured out the exact sequence for some of the smaller events - which means I'll have no trouble (it would seem) forging ahead. [Yes, that is the title portion of the cover.]

I rather feel like someone else scripted this past weekend... since nothing quite went as planned. It turned out lovely, ending up with an unexpected and sudden gathering of folks at our place on Sunday night. Bart made a shrimp pasta for everyone. As if you needed to know...

A "Novel" Idea

Back in this post, I'd pondered what would happen if novels became "remakes."

Well, it seems some has been brave enough to tackle this idea.

John Scalzi has “rebooted” H. Beam Piper’s 1962 science fiction novel Little Fuzzy.

It had been one of his favorites and what began as an experiment/exercise turned into a Piper Estate sanctioned novel titled Fuzzy Nation.

You can read all the details on Scalzi’s blog here.

Best of luck, sir!

Oh Boy.

Peter Pan showed up on Jeopardy! again.

This time in the form of a wrong question.

It had also been wrong by way of the category: 19th Century Literature

Thus ended the reign of the current Jeopardy! champion.