Joe Haldeman reports that he’s doing well after an extended illness and a substantial amount of hospital time. His newest, Starbound, has just been released by Ace. A copy is on the table beside me as I write this. I’m looking forward to it. Can’t recall ever being disappointed by a Haldeman novel.
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I had not seen Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution before watching the St. Simons Island Players’ performance two weeks ago, so I didn’t know where it was going and nearly fell out of my chair at the conclusion. Never saw it coming.
I have some regret that I didn’t take time somewhere during the past quarter-century to audition for any of the shows. I’d have enjoyed getting on stage to play, say, Simon Capra in Desire Under the Elms, or Julius Caesar in Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. (Not sure I could have managed the Shakespearean version.) I do actually have some experience with dramatic roles. When I was directing high school shows I played a guard in The King and I, carried a spear in South Pacific, and portrayed the corpse in Arsenic and Old Lace. Now, looking back, I’m sorry I didn’t take the plunge. I mean, with that kind of resume, how could they not have taken me seriously?
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Avatar is an interesting film. Most critics seem to have concluded the special effects carry the movie, but the story is pedestrian. In fact, the story line carried me along, even though it got lost occasionally in the technology. I thought the problem was that some stuff simply got dragged out, especially the climactic battle. Killing off the Colonel took too long. Still, I liked the thing.
We also saw Extraordinary Measures. Solid cast, excellent film. Be prepared for an emotional ride.
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I’ve been reading, and enjoying, Civilization, by Roger Osborne. Also have finally gotten around to Carl Sagan‘s The Varieties of Scientific Experience, a perspective on the meeting ground between science and theology. Both are well worth my time.