© by Gerald So | 8:00 a.m.
My weekly poetry site, The Five-Two, is booked through mid-January 2018. Beyond that, submissions are needed to fill January and February and ensure the site debuts a new crime-themed poem each Monday without interruption. Please consider writing and submitting poems yourself and spread the word to anyone interested.
I would like nothing more than to find a virtual stack of submissions on Christmas morn. If you need more time, try a deadline of December 31. For February, I'd like to continue our tradition of love- or passion-themed crime poems, but I am open to any themes anytime.
Thank you for your ongoing interest and support. All the best for the holidays and the new year.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
THE LAST JEDI
© by Gerald So | 3:30 p.m.
I'm back from seeing The Last Jedi with much the same group of friends who saw The Force Awakens. Not to spoil anything, I disliked how Awakens ended and how it characterized Kylo Ren overall, lowering my expectations for Jedi. I expected Luke Skywalker to be part of the story, but only for a ceremonial passing of the torch, like Han Solo's role in Awakens.
To my delighted surprise, Luke was as much a part of the story as Rey and Finn. Rey's arrival forced him to confront his failings, and he returned to be hero younger viewers have heard of and older viewers like me remember.
Now to my main complaint: On one hand, Jedi consciously turned away from retelling the original trilogy's father-son redemption arc, and it used humor well to say it didn't take itself too seriously. On the other hand, there were too many moments of overindulgence and heavy-handed homage not to mention them as reasons you might be less than thrilled as the closing credits roll.
I don't know what to expect from Episode IX, but you know I'll be in line for it.
I'm back from seeing The Last Jedi with much the same group of friends who saw The Force Awakens. Not to spoil anything, I disliked how Awakens ended and how it characterized Kylo Ren overall, lowering my expectations for Jedi. I expected Luke Skywalker to be part of the story, but only for a ceremonial passing of the torch, like Han Solo's role in Awakens.
To my delighted surprise, Luke was as much a part of the story as Rey and Finn. Rey's arrival forced him to confront his failings, and he returned to be hero younger viewers have heard of and older viewers like me remember.
Now to my main complaint: On one hand, Jedi consciously turned away from retelling the original trilogy's father-son redemption arc, and it used humor well to say it didn't take itself too seriously. On the other hand, there were too many moments of overindulgence and heavy-handed homage not to mention them as reasons you might be less than thrilled as the closing credits roll.
I don't know what to expect from Episode IX, but you know I'll be in line for it.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Bill Crider Day
© by Gerald So | 12:00 noon
On December 5, Bill Crider blogged what may turn out to be his final entry, giving an update that his cancer had worsened to the point he was advised to enter hospice care. Today, Patti Abbott is collecting tributes to Bill through her Friday's Forgotten Books series.
This is a spontaneous entry, more about my friendship with Bill than his books. We first corresponded through DetecToday, my discussion group for 1980–present P.I. fiction. We were also great fans of Robert B. Parker's fiction and of short stories, serving as reviewers on Nasty. Brutish. Short.
Bill was first to greet me at my first Bouchercon, 2008 in Baltimore. At Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis, he saw me in the audience at one of his panels and recommended my ebook of 1930s aviator stories, Stones. I'm especially grateful to have chatted with Bill two months ago at Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto.
On December 5, Bill Crider blogged what may turn out to be his final entry, giving an update that his cancer had worsened to the point he was advised to enter hospice care. Today, Patti Abbott is collecting tributes to Bill through her Friday's Forgotten Books series.
This is a spontaneous entry, more about my friendship with Bill than his books. We first corresponded through DetecToday, my discussion group for 1980–present P.I. fiction. We were also great fans of Robert B. Parker's fiction and of short stories, serving as reviewers on Nasty. Brutish. Short.
Bill was first to greet me at my first Bouchercon, 2008 in Baltimore. At Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis, he saw me in the audience at one of his panels and recommended my ebook of 1930s aviator stories, Stones. I'm especially grateful to have chatted with Bill two months ago at Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto.
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