Farscape: Back And Back And Back to the Future

My Farscape rewatch continues (after a bit of a break through December) with "Back And Back And Back to the Future." The fifth episode produced, this is the first one filmed in the "American style" as opposed to the "Australian style" for series, in that all the production effort focused on the single episode as opposed to the filming of two simultaneously. I'm not certain there is any difference apparent to the casual viewer, but to me,it seems as if character development takes a strong step up to the forefront of the show.

The episode opens, as they often do, with an alien space craft disintegrating amidst a strange green cloud. The crew of Moya rescue two survivors in a shuttle--Ilanics, a race that is a genetic offshoot of Luxans. D'Argo immediately feels kinship to them, and pledges to help the elderly male, Verell, and his female companion, Matala. Crichton, checking the shuttle for any other survivors, gets zapped by strange green glowing energy and begins to experience strange time-loops, like deja vu set to stutter. D'Argo is hot to trot for Matala, not having enjoyed female companionship for many years, and gets all esprit de corps when he learns the Ilanics and Luxans are at war with an invading race known as Scorvians. Crichton's flash-forwards grow progressively more disturbing, starting with Matala sexually assaulting him and culminating with her killing pretty much everyone on board Moya, Crichton included. His attempt to discuss the situation with D'Argo only generates hostility and jealousy from the Luxan, while Zhaan and Aeryn are skeptical. Aeryn, though, doesn't like Matala and invites her to a "friendly" martial arts sparring match. Aeryn essentially kicks Matala's butt, to the point Matala responds with a scorpion-like hand-strike that leaves Aeryn paralyzed in the workout room. When Aeryn recovers, she finds Crichton and Zhaan in conversation--one Crichton experiences over and over. Aeryn reveals Matala is a Scorvian in disguise, exposed by her distinctive hand-strike. Crichton finally convinces them of the accuracy of his future flashes by finishing their sentences before them and generally predicting everything that happens moments before it does. They uncover that Verell is a weapons expert, and has harnessed a singularity to use as a weapon against the Scorvians--and Matala is a Scorvian spy intent on stealing it.

Most future courses of action result in the deaths of Moya's crew, or even the destruction of Moya by the captive black hole weapon aboard the shuttle. As a Scorvian ship approaches to collect the weapon, Crichton has a flash-forward in which he overhears D'Argo telling Matala he has not revealed to his companions on Moya the true crime for what he was initially imprisoned by the Peacekeepers for. Once back in the present, Crichton confronts D'Argo with this information--which D'Argo has revealed to nobody at this point--proving his time-jump story. Reluctantly, D'Argo joins Crichton in confronting Matala, who stabs Verell and flees D'Argo and Crichton. She gets into the shuttle and flees to the approaching Scorvian ship, but Verell, in his last, dying act, remotely triggers the singularity which consumes both the shuttle and Scorvian ship. Moya escapes via starburst.

Commentary: This is an interesting episode in many ways. As I mentioned above, character takes center stage more than it has in previous episodes. D'Argo, apart from the arrogant bluster, is shown as vulnerable and isolated. His character deepens considerably, although his true crime is not revealed. The fact that he has a secret burden is fascinating. He also develops an unwilling bond with Crichton, since Crichton was astute enough not to "out" D'Argo's secret with any other crew around to witness, thus preserving a portion of D'Argo's private dignity. The appearance of the Ilanics further defines the broad universe of Farscape, laying out alliances and a sprawling interrelated universe of widely- and closely-related species. And while the Moya crew is just as dysfunctional as ever, the classic Jim Henson theme of "family is what you make it" shows up pretty overtly here for the first time. D'Argo is quick to abandon, or at least sideline, his crewmates on Moya for a race that is historically and genetically closely allied with his own. But this alliance of blood turns on him and leaves him vulnerable--it is the uneasy friendships he has forged on Moya (namely Crichton, but also Zhaan and Aeryn) who really have his back when the chips fall. Also, Crichton unambiguously takes command of the situation for the first time.

Quote of the Episode:: D'Argo: "Crichton, I am normally unaffected by females during a crisis... it is just... it has been so long..."
Crichton: "Now that, I understand. Man, do I understand."

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Friday Night Videos: Chicken Ranch edition

Last week I reported that Larry L. King had passed away, the legendary Texas writer who penned the Playboy article that later became the Broadway hit, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In one of those sad cosmic coincidences, Charles Durning, who portrayed the sidestepping Texas governor in the film version of the Broadway musical, died this past week at the age of 89.

Durning's career is too vast and varied to go into here, and his life outside of acting is fascinating, indeed. But in getting back to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, I feel compelled to point out that Durning, performing the scathingly funny political satire "The Sidestep" in the august halls of the state capitol building, provided one of the few bright moments in an otherwise disappointing film. For anyone who has seen the live play, the reason is obvious--"The Sidestep" is one of the few elements of the musical that the filmmakers didn't dramatically alter in some fashion. Apart from the changing locations and special effects, what you see on the screen is pretty close to what you'd see on stage. That's pretty telling.

And yes, I like to think that somewhere, Durning is giving Dolph Briscoe pointers on a few dance moves while Larry King and Edna Milton watch with amusement.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Eartha Kitt.

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Chicken Ranch report no. 31

This post is coming several days late, but the kids are out of school for the holidays and I'm riding herd on a bunch of things. Not least of which is a two-day cleanout of my office, during which most of the time I couldn't reach my computer. That's my excuse.

Larry L. King has died. The Washington Post, as always, has a well-done obituary up. Matt Schudel, the author of the piece, is the same journalist who wrote up Miss Edna when she passed away in February--the same fellow I spent several hours on the phone with, exchanging many emails on the topic. This is fitting, as King called the D.C. area home for pretty much the past 40 years even though he's always been the iconic Texas writer.

If it weren't for Larry L. King, it's doubtful I'd have written my Chicken Ranch book at all. Hell, it's likely nobody would remember the Chicken Ranch today, other than old timers and Aggies. Back in those dusty August days of 1973 in the aftermath of Marvin Zindler's closure of the La Grange brothel, King came down to Texas to do a little hell-raising in Austin and pounded out a quick article for Playboy with the fanciful title of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Fast forward a couple of years, when actor/director Pete Masterson and songwriter Carol Hall decided the "Whorehouse" article would make a good basis for a musical comedy, and brought King on board. Despite clashing egos and visions, the unlikely play picked up steam and became a Broadway hit, earning a couple of Tony Awards before spawning a somewhat bastardized movie starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.

The upshot is that everyone knows about the Chicken Ranch these days, even if nobody knows what actually happened for true in La Grange back in 1973.

Sadly, I never got to interview King for my book. This wasn't for lack of trying. He's one of the first people I approached on the subject, and before all was said and done, I'd probably mailed a dozen letters to him (I had his phone number, but chose not to intrude on him so directly). King, you see, had been in failing health for a number of years, and spent part of 2007 in a coma after one particularly nasty illness. The good folks at the Wittliff Collection at Texas State (which archives King's papers) were great help to me, and gave me access to his relevant letters and writings. Also, King's book on the play and history surrounding it, The Whorehouse Papers, proved invaluable. I eventually talked with his collaborators, Pete Masterson and Carol Hall, but never King himself.

It's a pity. I'm certain King would've given me some of the great quotes for which he's notorious. Once King, Masterson and the rest of the creative talents behind the Broadway hit were forced out of the film production, King unloaded during an interview with Maxine Cheshire for the Washington Post:

“I think Burt Reynolds wants to make Smokey and the Bandit Go to a Whorehouse," groused King. "Apparently, they don't intend to follow our script at all and Dolly's said to be writing her own songs. I see only a tenuous connection between Whorehouse as we did it and the mess they're concocting in Hollywood. I doubt whether I'll even go to see the film version of the son of a bitch, though I may send my lawyer so she can take my name off if it's as bad as its potential."

"Will Dolly wear her outlandish wigs?" Maxine asked.

"I suppose she will," said King, "and probably Burt will wear his, too. I understand they're both bald.”

For the record, King was not invited to the movie's red-carpet premiere. Big surprise that, eh?

As for me, there is little to report on the book front. The current publisher has informed me that they remain interested, but (there's always that "but," isn't there?) they are not willing to make me an offer now. They might in the future, or they might not. They're not rejecting my book, they're just putting me in limbo. Which is not my ideal situation going into the new year, now, is it? The good news, if you can call it that, is that they've told me I can shop the book around while they dither. Since Random House and every other big publisher these days don't accept unagented submissions, it's back to the agent-go-round for me. I wasted a significant portion of 2011 shopping the book around to pretty much every competent non-fiction agent out there with nothing to show for it. It is baffling to me how hard a sell this book has proven--nobody seems to recognize the interest in the Chicken Ranch that exists. I certainly know, because I see the traffic on my stat counter and get the random emails and comments on my blog. But August 2013 is going to roll around and every newspaper and TV station in the state is going to run stories on Marvin Zindler and the closing of the Chicken Ranch, and a golden opportunity for promotion will come and go, unexploited. Heck, put me in the MSC bookstore at Texas A&M on a football Saturday, and I guarantee I could move 500 copies of the book on the spot. Seriously.

This is a book that will sell itself, and never go out of print. If I can just convince someone to publish the damn thing in the first place.

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Friday Night Videos

Here's the late, great, Eartha Kitt with her signature holiday staple, "Santa Baby". I couldn't find an original-era performance of this song, but she still rocks it pretty hard in her golden years. Besides, when she intros it with "I used to have a lot of fun with this song... then Madonna sang it," how can you not love her?

Previously on Friday Night Videos... The Kinks.

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Friday Night Videos

I maintain that the Kinks' "Father Christmas" is one of the best holiday songs ever. Certainly tops in the rock era. So here are Ray, Dave and the rest of the boys performing on a German television show for your entertainment. Poor Mick. I wonder what kind of bet he lost to have to wear the Santa suit?

Previously on Friday Night Videos... The Beach Boys.

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365 / 40: Sting

So, remember how I mentioned in yesterday's photo that I'm a huge fan of passion flowers/passion vines/passion fruit? Well, one aspect of growing passiflora is the fact that several species of butterfly lay their eggs on it, and their larvae eat the passion vines as their only food source. Passiflora generate a natural form of cyanide in their foliage as a protection against being eaten, but these caterpillars have evolved to absorb that poison and use it as a defense mechanism to prevent them from being eaten. They've got little black spines all over their orange bodies to drive the point home. Normally, they're harmless. Just brushing or touching one isn't harmful (unlike bushing an asp/puss caterpillar, which is excruciating). However, if you happen to bump into a fritillary caterpillar with any force, and those spines are actually jammed into the skin, well, the effect is not pleasant. This is my leg today, after an encounter with a caterpillar two days ago. You can still make out the puncture marks where the individual spines impaled me. So let me serve as a lesson to you: Don't try this at home!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 39: Late-Season Passion

Yesterday, after sorting through the issues surrounding my eldest daughter beating up a misogynistic boy (see previous 365 post by Lisa) I went outside to bring in several passion flower vines. Passion flowers are something of a hobby of mine, and most around the Blaschke house are native or hardy species that live in-ground throughout the year. But I have several that are cold-sensitive. Two are passiflora edulis the tropical species grown commercially that passion fruit juice and fresh passion fruit come from. They'd grown up into a large pomegranate bush on the side of our house, and I had to prune the passis back to get them untangled. As I was doing this, the big, green fruit in the image below dropped to the ground. A nice, fat, passion fruit. I hadn't realized any of the sparse flowers that bloomed this year were pollinated. It's a shame, because given a few more weeks, this one would turn deep purple and be delicious. As it is, the fruit is unripe and actually poisonous. Then, I happened by the pecan tree in our front yard, where another passion vine grows. This one, "Incense," is a hybrid that stays out all year. Despite several attempts to hand-pollinate it over the years, the few fruit it's produced have been uniformly hollow and small. But I found this small yellow fruit lying on the grass, and it felt unusually heavy. I tore it open to find it full of seeds. I figure the Edulis provided the pollen, rather than one of the other species (as they haven't flowered much this fall). I'll pot the seeds to see if any interesting hybrids sprout.

Late-season passion fruit are something of a tease. Next year, though, I expect them to produce fruit all summer long.

Camera: Canon 5D mark III
Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8 L

Lisa On Location Photography

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Farscape: Throne for a Loss

My Farscape rewatch continues with "Throne for a Loss." The fourth episode produced, there are several significant milestones reached here: 1) it's the first episode with a pun for a title, which will become a staple of the series; and B) the classic Farscape plot formula solidifies.

Moya's crew, broke and desperate for money to buy food and other things to sustain their flight from the Peacekeepers, decide to hire out Moya as a cargo transport.To increase their bargaining position, they make Rygel their frontman, as the greedy Hynerian Dominar knows how to negotiate and his regal heritage would give their business an air of legitimacy. Unfortunately, the Tavleks--whom they are negotiating with--are in actuality ruthless mercenaries who abduct Rygel to hold for ransom. During the skirmish, one of the younger Tavleks is knocked unconscious and taken prisoner by Moya's crew. They discover the Tavleks use a sophisticated gauntlet weapon that injects the wearer with an addictive drug that increases aggression as well as strength and stamina. Zhaan attempts to comfort the hostile young Tavlek as it goes through withdrawals while Crichton, Aeryn and D'Argo plot a rescue of Rygel from the planet below. Although most of the crew would happily abandon the pompous Rygel, the Hynerian covertly "borrowed" a crucial circuit crystal to decorate his royal scepter, rendering Moya's propulsion system inoperative. Simply put, they need to get it back.

In turn, D'Argo then Aeryn put on the gauntlet as they try to gather information and logistics necessary to free Rygel. In turn, each is left exhausted and nearly helpless once the gauntlet is removed and the drug leaves their system. Rygel, for his part, is nearly killed during an escape attempt by the occupant of the cell next to his--the octopoid Jotheb, next in line of succession in the Consortium of Trao--revives Rygel and announces his empire will pay Rygel's ransom in order to absorb the Hynerian Empire into his. Rygel mocks him, admitting he'd been deposed and no longer has any official standing on his homeworld. Finally, Crichton puts on the gauntlet and attacks the Tavleks, but in the middle of the firefight the gauntlet runs out of drug, leaving Crichton helpless. After a series of fanciful lies fail to sway the Tavleks, Crichton admits the crew of Moya has nothing of value and negotiates a straight-up swap of Rygel for the captured young Tavlek.

Commentary: "Throne for a Loss" is interesting for several reasons. First and foremost, it feels like a Farscape episode, whereas the previous episodes merely had flashes of that vibe. Part of this, I think, results from the fact this was the last episode filmed in the Australian style--that is, two episodes simultaneously. This approach (judging from commentary tracks) proved difficult with such a complex series, and the actors and directors had trouble keeping the plots straight during filming. They switched to the standard American one-episode-at-a-time schedule for all subsequent episodes. For the first time, D'Argo shows his Qualta blade can transform into a Qualta rifle. Also, when D'Argo is wounded, we learn that Luxan physiology is susceptible to deadly infection unless the wound is cleansed by the blood "running clear." As significant as those revelations are for the future of the series, Virginia Hey provides the episode's WOW! moment with full backal nudity, complete with elaborate blue body paint depicting her alien Delvian physiology. Just remember, Rebecca Romijm may have impressed audiences in 2000's X-Men movie by performing clad only in blue body paint, but Virginia Hey did the same thing a year earlier.

I also quite liked Jotheb, and felt the non-humanoid alien the best effort by Jim Henson's Creature Shop (excepting Pilot, of course) to this point. As the series progressed, I halfway hoped to see this race again, and maybe follow up on his grudge against Rygel. Alas, it was not to be.

Finally, the infamous "I have a plan" rears its head in all its glory. Previous episodes--including the premiere--had some low-key variation on this, but "Throne for a Loss" is special in that for the first time the grand plans fail spectacularly and disaster is averted only through urgent improvisation. Think of it like Scooby-Doo in space: Each week, an elaborate scheme is concocted to capture the ghost/monster (or in this case defeat the alien menace) which invariably fails at some crucial point. Mayhem ensues. Then the heroes somehow salvage victory from certain defeat. That is, in a nutshell, the Farscape formula. A lot more gets added to the mix as the series matures, but at the heart lies Crichton's failed plans. It's wildly entertaining stuff, and I can't wait to see more of it.

Crichton Quote of the Episode:: "That's your plan? Wile E. Coyote would come up with a better plan than that!"

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Post-Heisman update

I just received this hidden camera footage (obtained by the great Cuppycup) of Coach Sumlin, Kliff Kingsbury and Johnny Football driving back to Texas from the Heisman Awards Ceremony, and just had to share. You're welcome.

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365 / 38: Tammy

Another Picture of the Day, another photo of a lens. This is the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 lens that Lisa purchased when she made the decision to start photographing weddings. It's proven to be a workhorse for us over the years, and is now the lens that spends the most time on my (Jayme) camera since Lisa's traded up to the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8 L. The Tammy is an extremely sharp and light lens, and one of the best cost-per-performance lenses we've got. As you can see in the photo, it's not anywhere near mint condition. It's been used, and used a lot. There are a lot of miles racked up on this one, and a lot more to go.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 37: Cactus Flower

There's a little cactus in a broken pot sitting on our front porch. It was a gift from someone in the family to someone else quite a few years ago. Several other ornamental cactus with it have since died, but this one soldiers on. Today I noticed a tiny flash of color--on closer examination, I discovered it blooming. I felt that kind of perseverance deserved a Picture of the Day spotlight.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 36: Holiday (Traffic) Lights

The holidays are here in full force, with decorations hither and yon. The traffic circle in downtown New Braunfels is a veritable blaze of lights, so last night I thought I'd try for some long-exposure shots of traffic to get some nifty light trails. Naturally, as soon as I set up, the traffic flow slowed to a trickle. I spent an hour there, camped out on the island, taking a whole lot of photos of nothing. Eventually I got a few decent shots and was able to stack this image. Once I broke down my tripod and packed away my camera, however, it was like the Daytona 500 broke out: I had to wait almost five minutes before a break in the traffic allowed me to escape the traffic island, and as I reached my car, a horse-drawn carriage decked out with thousands of blue-and-white twinkle lights showed up to make leisurly loops around the traffic circle. I will not share the words I used at the time to express my feelings on the matter, but I'm sure you can come up with a general approximation on your own.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Opteka 6.5mm 3.5 fisheye II

Lisa On Location Photography

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Friday Night Videos

What better way to kick off the incessant holiday music season than with the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick"? Here's a vintage performance from Shindig! for your seasonal enjoyment!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Cheap Trick.

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365 / 35: Constellation Orion

Confession time: My interest in photography began with the stars. I've been a nut for space for as long as I can remember, and shortly after I bought my first telescope at the age of 13 (which I still have) I also ponied up some of my hard-earned lawn mowing money to buy a camera adapter for the family's Canon AE-1 so I could shoot through-the-telescope astro photos (I still have that adapter, by the way).

There was just one problem... I was terrible at astrophotography. This was back in the days of film, mind you, so it was very challenging. Add to that the fact that I had no clue about photography, and it's no surprise I burned through a whole lot of film rolls to get exactly zero good images. Fast forward to today. I've learned (with Lisa's help and patience) a great deal about photography. Digital makes astrophotography infinitely easier. Seriously. Unfortunately, despite all that, I still stink at astrophotography, the one photographic discipline I really, really want to be great at. Part of that stems from equipment problems--I've only got a primitive, 30-plus year old clock motor on my telescope mount for tracking, which limits deep sky and long-exposure images. My high-quality telescope mirror got damaged by a company I'd sent it off to for resurfacing, and the replacement mirror I have is not quite as good. But mostly the fault lies with me. I don't have the instincts for it--every little aspect I have to struggle with, while I've seen other comparable amateur astronomers take jaw-dropping images their first night out. Someday I'll get it, but it may take a while. Until then, here's my Picture of the Day for today, a series of stacked images of the constellation Orion taken between midnight and 1 a.m. this morning. And yes, I am indeed tired today.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 34: Mesquite Sunset

There is a field of mesquite trees I pass to and from work every day, one which I love very much. I've photographed it before. Sometime last week I missed photographing an incredible, fiery sunset with those striking trees in the foreground because I had a pressing engagement to get to. I promised myself that if I saw another potentially spectacular sunset, I would make the time to shoot it. Well, this evening's sunset held potential. Alas, it didn't live up to that potential, at least not for the widefield shot I was hoping for. On a whim, I ran back to my car and grabbed the FD 500mm reflex lens, as I had a hunch that lens would frame this particular mesquite tree perfectly. Turns out my instincts nailed it. And there will be other sunsets for the rest of the trees...

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm 8.0 reflex

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 29: Blanco Shoals infrared

Went for a little walk on my lunch break today, scouting out Blanco Shoals Natural Area in San Marcos for possible future photo shoots. As undeveloped park land, it's a little confusing getting around and knowing where the boundaries are. There are some old, overgrown roads that offer a rough guide for the hiker, but beyond that you're on your own. There are only a couple access points to the Blanco River--and most of the time it's not even visible, which is surprising considering that it borders the length of the park. Today's Photo of the Day is from the south end of the park, looking north east. I thought it would make a good false-color infrared scene, and it looks as if I was right.

Camera: Canon XTi/400D 720nm infrared converted
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 33: Steel Wheels

Today turned out to be dreary and overcast for the most part, a little drizzle here, a little fog there. Nothing dramatic, weather-wise. I hadn't used Lisa's manual fisheye lens to any real extent--she's kept a pretty short leash on it--so I borrowed it and stuck it in my camera bag, planning to experiment with it a bit if the opportunity arose. Opportunity presented itself in the form of a train parked on a railroad bridge spanning the Blanco River. The colors, lines and textures appealed to me, so I squeezed off a few shots before getting out of there before the train decided to start moving.

Thoughts on the lens: It's a decent buy for the price, and this newer version, with the removable lens hood, is preferable to the original with the fixed lens hood. Corners were definitely cut, though, to keep the price down--in addition to having manual focus and aperture, the aperture ring doesn't even have a setting for f/4. Believe it or not, it skips from f/3.5 right to f/5.6. Bizarre. The stated focal length of 6.5mm is bogus as well: I'd say it's closer to 8mm, as the wide field views it gives aren't that much more expansive than my EF-S 10-22 (although the fisheye distortion is obviously more pronounced). Finally, I noticed some significant chromatic aberration in the images, which is not unexpected with an inexpensive lens like this. Fortunately, CA can be corrected to a great extent in Photoshop.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Opteka 6.5mm 3.5 fisheye II

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 32: Pomegranate

I've always liked pomegranates. The seedy arils make great tart/sweet additions to breakfast cereal, and are a bright, fruity addition to countless recipes. Plus, they're pretty good to snack on straight. But I think what appeals to me most is the fact that when you crack one open, it's like a fruity geode, filled with glittery, juice-filled gems. What's not to like?

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 31: Leaf-Footed Bug

I wasn't sure what I'd do for today's Picture of the Day after my somewhat elaborate concept photo from yesterday. But then I noticed this leaf-footed bug resting calmly on the car's front windshield, and I knew I had to try a macro shot. It's not often the opportunity to photograph an insect from underneath presents itself--and even rarer for our cars' windshields to be clean enough to shoot through!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 30

In recent months there's been a meme circulating around Facebook and elsewhere, "How I see me/How others see me." I suppose that's the underlying theme for today's Picture of the Day. I call it "Self-Portrait: Guy With Camera."

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

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