Prometheus was the titan who brought fire to humanity, kick-starting our ascent to civilization, for which he was punished with an endless fate of stomach-bursting (thanks to a liver-hungry eagle). There are clear parallels to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, a story of genetic ‘fire’ disseminated on Earth by a god-like super-tech alien, who dies a hideous death for the privilege (with some delightful stomach-bursting to come later). Prometheus the movie is massively ambitious, with stunning atmosphere, effects, and scope, though it does not really deliver on its premise. There are serious problems with editing and structure, as Scott seeks to stitch … Read More
I need your vote!
My story ‘Bone Diamond‘ about blood-lust and greed in alt. ancient Egypt is in the running to be published in an anthology! It was published last year in the pro-zine Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and now they’re doing a vote to see which stories from 2011 will go into the anthology. I’d love it to be my story, so I’d love for you to go vote! Though of course it’s really only honest if you did read the story and do think its worthy. It’s very easy to vote- just go to this site- http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/2012/07/30/reader-poll-for-best-of-bcs-year-three-anthology/ And type this (copy-paste)- Michael John … Read More
Cryogenic Love
Here are more little people, this time sweating out a hot summer in giant bricks of ice. Like the aurochs from ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, they gradually melt free of their frozen prisons, to gallivant across the world and teach us all a thing or two about the most stylish way to wear swimming trunks. Or perhaps this is a love story, not a southern-gothic fable, wherein two permafrost golems eyes each other through the glass walls of their cages, and by the heat of their endless ardour, over the extremity of centuries, finally burned their way free, to … Read More
Why Pixar’s ‘Brave’ missed bullseye
There’s something wrong with Pixar’s Brave. It’s not anything to do with the acting, the animation (which is pretty stunning, especially around Merida’s fluffy hair), or even the surface level script. The problem is deeper, in the structural bones of the story, and I’ll tell you why, with SPOILERS abounding. First off, what is Brave? It is a classic-style, though (to my knowledge) brand new fairy-tale. It features a teenage princess, who doesn’t want to do what her very nice mother expects her to do (get married for the sake of her Scottish highland Kingdom), so by happenstance takes action … Read More
Synecdochic Picnic
Look at this lovely couple having a picnic. Good thing there are no ants about. What fetching lime-green pants he has on! Bazinga. Can you spot the tiny picnic? (HINT- it’ just above the watermark ‘i’) And for comparison- Some points of note- Lime-green pants: I ‘rented’ them from Uniqlo, by buying, wearing (with great care), then re-bagging and returning them. I would never have worn them again. I felt a little dishonest, but no harm, no foul. Plastic ground: You can see a kind of plastic netting under the ‘grass’, which is common in Tokyo parks. It’s very uncomfortable … Read More
story craft #17 Thin vs. Fat Stories
What is the right balance of thin vs. fat in a fantasy or sf story? I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’ve had a few story sales to the pro and semi-pro markets now (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Ideomancer, etc..), plus dozens of rejections, and been trying to deconstruct the patterns that work. I think I’ve found the/a winning pattern, and it’s all about thin vs. fat. First off, what do I mean thin vs. fat? Thin is plot, conflict, movement, Dan Brown style writing. There’s very little time spent establishing character or setting, so very little sense … Read More
Onsen Stroll
I shot these onsen stroll photos as a proof of concept, but liked them so much I went back and added a final component, in the fourth shot, so the stroll and outfits would make sense. “Keep up, Junior!” says Dad (in Japanese). Get it? It’s tricky to make water stay in the top of an aloe plant. Also tricky to photograph and make it look like water. But that is the intent. The big clues are all kind of buried in Japanese stuff- the word ‘onsen’ means naturally occurring hot springs, around which spa-like baths are built. Families (especially … Read More
100th Day
For some time I’ve been looking for a photographic subject to succeed haikyo. Haikyo was great, and doubtless still can be, though my passion for it has flagged in the last year or so. So, what would come next? For a while (years ago) I walked around Tokyo taking photos of architecture, people, traditional culture, and whatnot. I also took pictures of funny products (all the flavors of Kit Kat and Pepsi) and Japangrish, but neither of those really excite me much. So, what next? I want something that subverts normal life, that is surreal and unusual in the same … Read More
My photo in the Royal Academy of Arts
Two of my Tokyo architecture photos are currently on display in the Royal Academy of Arts, in London. They are part of an exhibition entitled Weird, Wacky and Wonderful in the Architecture space. That is pretty cool. I was contacted a month or so back about the exhibition- with regard to this funky Gundam building in Shibuya: It’s actually part of a local college for architecture. I went to the Gundam building ages ago, when I was into photographing odd buildings just as much as I was into shooting haikyo. You can see more photos of it here. The Royal … Read More
Ruins of the Russian Village Revisited
4 years ago I went to the Russian Village– one of the grandest failed theme parks in Japan, abandoned 20 years ago and left to fend for itself. On that first trip I camped overnight in a still-pristine hotel room, admired the mint-condition giant mammoth sculptures, and was even able to loot a few tatty matroska dolls from a (mostly already looted-out) gift shop. Now, 4 years later, I returned to see how the old Village was faring. Not well, it turned out. Modeled after the Kremlin, I believe. Its poor condition was not obvious to see from the outside, … Read More