#438. General Updates, The Hustler

I haven't really done this in a while, but I thought I'd provide some general updates from around my family of blogs:

At Fan Companion I've transitioned from an extended look at a few seasons of Star Trek: Voyager to the first season of Deep Space Nine, which may be one of the most misunderstood in the franchise.  Most fans know that there was a standout episode called "Duet" near the end of it, but to underestimate the rest of it because of a few bad apples or because it seems a little irrelevant compared to the Dominion-heavy later seasons is a little short-sighted, so it'll be fun exploring the show's first season.  It's my favorite Star Trek, besides, so you know I'm going to have some fun.

I'm accelerating the "Star Trek '12" project at Sigild V, and today passed any era seen in film or television in any regular capacity, with a story involving the Nexus ribbon last seen in Generations.  I have seven installments left to go in this cycle, with appearances by Future Guy, Captain Braxton, and Daniels coming up.  Congrats if you know who those characters are!

I'm also wrapping up Epistles from the New Fade, less than a dozen poems left to go before I reach a hundred, all of them part of the concluding "Alone with the Myths" cycle.  I hadn't recently posted at this blog very regularly, but I've plotted the rest of it out, and so will finally finish it, and have one less thing to worry about.

At Comics Reader I've been talking about new comics, including the conclusion of Scott Snyder's Court of Owls arc in Batman, plus the launching of DC's ambitious and controversial Before Watchmen project, plus getting back into the Quarter Bin column, whose title is a tad misleading.  Check out the comments in the most recent entry if you want details on that.

I'm still reading books, and so still writing about them at Hub City.  Lux the Poet from Martin Millar was pretty amusing.

Also, as you know, I recently launched my writer's blog, Tony Laplume.

Last Saturday I saw Paul Newman's classic The Hustler for the first time.  It concerns a pool shark who bites off more than he can chew, running into Jackie Gleason, who's better than he is, at least as far as keeping his cool.  Col Powell apparently referencing the opening act, in which Gleason embarrasses Newman in an all night game, in his new book, which my sister recently picked up, and that was the reason she knew about any of this.  The best part of this film, as he is in all his appearances, is George C. Scott, whose look may have inspired Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs.  Newman is about as impressive here as he is in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which to my mind is: not very.  He seems to have been Hollywood's effort, at least in the early part of his career, an attempt to trump Marlon Brando with a somewhat similar but more conventional acting presence.  He's Marlon Blando, in effect.  I'm glad he got better with age.  And started marketing salad dressing!  Still, The Hustler is worth a look.