ed2drobinski

There's so much here, I could ramble a long time, but have had a chance to distill. Despite what comes next I have no disagreement with what has been said above and below; but I think I have some nuance I'd like to mention. First, regarding sequels, it seems to me that if someone is going to tailor the main character, no doubt update the technology employed, and maybe alter the plot line, why not call it something else? Perhaps, this is too puritanical, but to call it James Bond seems a farce most likely aimed at box office. Yes, it can be done extremely well in some cases. Tim Burton is great. And, yes, your reference to the original Bond in book form complicates that. I'm only speaking of the movie history. I also recognize that had I been in the position to decide whether or not to finance the first Batman movie, I'd have decided "no," thinking; "No one above the age of ten wants to see a comic book on screen; and those below the age of ten are dependent on their parents to pay for it. ................ Ah, OK, but very low budget with an option." Regarding the cat-dog-art-transcendence thing, the short answer is just to remind you of John Estes, silver, imperfectly reflecting telephone booths. On a side note I'm told this is extremely difficult to do technically. And I'd bet that in 100 years few will remember what a telephone booth was, and the painting will lose some of its meaning, I think you addressed that generally. The longer answer starts with Narcissus at the pond. If you painted a dog and I saw a cat, I hope I would not have made my view known to you. If I had I'd have been embarrassed. If you said; "That's a dog, stupid," I'd have responded either; "Well, you have to admit that's a funny looking dog," or borrow a line from the Replacements which said; "I suppose your guess is more or less as bad as mine." Your inclusion of my "disconnect" in the work itself strikes me as overly egalitarian; though well within the non-definitions of post-modern and post-industrial. Without all the detail it seems that some responses would qualify and others would not. Or do you lean a bit toward the Cocteau acceptance, and perhaps pedestal placed, artist who says nothing? I don't. Someone called this the ultimate art dilemma. I'm homeless and more or less live with 20 other homeless people. One day I find a movie camera in a garbage can. I start filming my friends who are having a great time posing for and playing in front of the camera. I meet some producer who likes the film. We cut it up and make it into a movie. The movie is a smash. My old friends see it and are incensed. Universally, they say; "That's not me. How could you show me that way?" They never talk to me again. I sit alone in my million dollar house and drink till I pass out. I don't really care to attempt a definition of "art." But, I think that I know it when I see it. For the last year I've been going on GR and Booklikes, primarily because home improvement contractors hired by my wife have been coming and going and I can't concentrate on writing. I also thought it would be a good time to learn something about "literature." I often focused on what people seemed to like. Its kind of all over the place. With a deference to box office potential, a YA story, with a likable, kickass female protagonist set in a dystopian future or past world not very different from where we live today was the best guess I got. To Red. My "NEVER MIND" comment was intended to be a joke aimed at myself, based on something Gilda Radner did in the early days of "Saturday Night Live." I think my interest in these subjects are obvious. Its just a little embarrassing and funny to me to find that I went on and on about something everyone already knows or has taken further. Its so long ago, I really don't remember a lot about the attitudes displayed in the early James Bond movies. I'm sure they were at least some degree over the top. To deplore past behavior, currently viewed as reprehensible seems a safe 20-20 hindsight. To delineate a view of how these same games may be being played today in different costume risks social ostracism. Oooh, ooooh, oooh; the perennially smiling "New Age" guru, who used to be a nun denied priesthood, again exhibits the Joker mask she wears at all but bed-times, and says that it might be best if you find another group. For the sake of congeniality you affect a facial crunch which appears to be one trying to hold back tears. As you walk away you affect a facial crunch which appears to be one trying to hold back tears. As you walk away you return to your natural expression and you know you are free. Hey, for the sake of the youngsters who may not have heard it the first time through, on something close to secondary topic, in the hopes of prompting conversation, I close with a few lines from Bob Dylan taken from his song; "Visions of Johanna." "Inside the museum infinity goes up on trial. Voices echo this is what salvation must be after a while. But, Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues. You can tell by the way she smiles." Can't resist. Have to at least include the opening as it blew away two of my young poet friends. "Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying for peace and quiet? We sit here stranded, though we're all doing our best to deny it. And Louise holds a handful of rain tempting you to defy it. Lights flicker from the opposite loft. In this room the heat pipes just cough. The country music station plays soft. But, there's nothing, really nothing to turn off. Just Louise, and her lover so entwined. And these Visions of Johanna that conquer my mind.”