(no subject)

[camwyn]

I got today off. I've been to the used bookstore and come away with Edgar Rice Burroughs' first Mars book, since I have confirmed that neither Mandala nor Abraxas has any Doc Savage whatsoever. *snif* I'm told the Mars books are pretty much crap, but eh, it was $2 and I can always resell it somewhere. I also went to the beach, but it's a week after a hurricane and I got there at high tide. There was just barely enough room for the traffic lanes and a couple of people on towels- yes, traffic lanes. A beach loses much of its charm when people can drive their big snorting cars along it and park on the sand. I saw pelicans and sandpipers, though, so that's nice.

I am not currently very impressed with the tech facilities here at the county library. AIM doesn't work well, and Telnet doesn't work at all. My IE connections are horribly laggy. I think I'll hit the cybercafe tonight so that I can talk to people properly, but my hope of writing here today-

Ooh! Ooh, yes, that reminds me. Hadda BUNNY. See, in my copy of The Scarlet Riders there's this one long, overwrought story of a Northwest Mounted corporal who tries to track down a legendary valley in the far north country. It's got the usual trappings of gold and ivory and bla bla bla did I mention there was a woman? A pretty one? Right, yeah, you get the idea. Lost volcanic valley which for some reason was briefly accessible by ship. Everyone in the valley is described as 'some kind of giant Oriental' (look, it was the 1930's, okay?) except- EX-CEPT- the chick, whose parents were on the boat and lived long enough to teach her something like three words of English. And of course, because this is a pulp story, there is a Wicked Witch Doctor and a Threatened Sacrifice and the witch doctor dies and the girl lives and the valley is forever blocked from the outside world with our hero inside and the girl falls in love with him and you get the picture.

Now, this is the bunny. If the valley is populated by these weird Asiatics, who are clearly viewed as Lesser Beings by our hero... and if the only other White person in the valley is the girl... and if our hero gets the girl pregnant... who the heck is his kid supposed to marry? I really can't see him being willing to let his kid pair off with one of the locals, regardless of what Thir-Keld (the chick) might think. I'd like to see the story of either the hero who found the lost valley, or the hero's kid, being forced to find his way back to the outside world. Not quite Tarzan, or Mowgli, but the same sort of idea... 'find your own people' compounded with 'er, did I mention that I was sort of a big part of making it nearly impossible for my descendants ever to do so?'.

Anyway. I'll get properly online tonight, I think. Might get to write something this afternoon, might not, I dunno. I'm gonna go suck on some cough drops in the meantime, as I"m still drippy as anything.

Comments

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Yes, but how's the weather, darling?!

Oh so glad you are writing. I want to see Sky Captain but I loathe Gwyneth Paltrow so much I just can't bring myself to see it.

[camwyn]

Today the weather was actually quite sunny and nice, and not as humid as the last few days. As long as I either stood in the water or sat in the shade I could bear the heat. There really weren't all that many clouds.

Wish I could think of some way to get around Gwyneth's presence in the movie for you. I mean, if you weren't that fond of Jude Law I'd say 'squint a little and pretend it's Brendan Fraser', but you can't switch anyone else in for Gwyneth really.

[midnightlurker.livejournal.com]

Funny people should mention Sky Captain and A Princess of Mars in the same post.

Guess what Kerry Conran's next movie is?

[midnightlurker.livejournal.com]

Just once I'd like to see someone convince the Great White Hero that, no, the Asiatics or whatnot are NOT a lesser breed, and "miscegenation" is NOT a dirty world.

There's an idea. Young hunter gets crush on hero's daughter, has to go through five kinds of hell to convince him he's worthy of her...

[camwyn]

I've gone back and reread the story. The hero's attitude is not as bad as I had originally remembered; it's just that, well, the initial meeting with the valley natives doesn't go well at all. You know, 'hey, what's this net doing over me, hey, what are they doing to my dog, oh look they're all hooting and hollering around the fire and the altar, oh joy the witch doctor is eight feet tall and the warriors are chanting for my sacrifice' kind of thing. After that he doesn't waste any time on the usual drivel about degenerates or primitives, which is something.

The valley natives in this particular story are described as looking like 'giant Asiatics', but it takes the hero some time to realise this. His initial impression is that he's been captured by Vikings. The natives are white-skinned and red-haired, and wear sleeveless fur tunics and sandals. They wield clubs and ivory-tipped spears (they have access to petrified mammoth ivory). No indication of whether they know what bows or atl-atls are or not... anyway, as I said, the hero's attitude isn't quite as bad as I had originally thought. I could see him saying it was okay for his son to take one of 'em (or multiples of 'em) for a wife, but I get the very distinct feeling that as soon as he and Thir-Keld have a daughter? Forget it. Which could get interesting very fast, given that I'm pretty sure his son leaves the valley during a manhood ordeal driven strongly by disgust at his father's double standards in a number of areas. ("Duty and responsibility to these lesser people, my ass. Tell me again what that uniform you keep hidden in the back of the hut is for, Dad?")