Thank goodness I didn’t see ‘Night Watch’ when it first came out in 1973

I would have been ticked off paying for the tickets.

My wife and I were looking through the movies on DISH for something but didn’t really find it. The night before, we watched “Elvis” (2022 with Austin Butler and Tom Hanks) which we liked, so we took a chance on “Night Watch.”

What a mess. I liked Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey in “Butterfield 8,” but I didn’t think the same kind of chemistry was there in this mystery/thriller. Very different roles to be sure, but even so, I think the most patient viewers would have gotten tired of Taylor’s repeated claims that there were dead people in the boarded-up house next door. Frankly, Taylor–whose character was recovering from a nervous breakdown–was over the top manic about the dead people which nobody else saw, including the viewers and the police.

The reviews were mixed, “Time Out called it a “tired, old-fashioned thriller”; whereas The New York Times wrote, “Elizabeth Taylor, and about time, has got herself a good picture and a whodunit at that”; and Variety opined, “Lucille Fletcher’s Night Watch isn’t the first average stage play to be turned into a better than average film. Astute direction and an improved cast more than help”. – Wikipedia

“Tired” and “old-fashioned” summed up my reaction. But then, I never liked Laurence Harvey, merely tolerating him in “Butterfield 8.” How many of you have seen this film, either at the theater when it came out or years later on a satellite or cable channel? Did it seem tired to you? Would you have gone nuts if you ever saw bodies in your neighbor’s house on a dark and stormy night?

–Malcolm

Blinken must raise Tibet, Panchen Lama on China trip

April 23, 2024

by International Campaign for Tibet

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken must raise the “deteriorating” situation in Tibet both privately and publicly during his trip this week to China, the International Campaign for Tibet said today.

ICT, an advocacy group that promotes human rights and democratic freedoms for the Tibetan people, sent a letter to Blinken today, 22 April, 2024, on behalf of its roughly 50,000 members in the United States. Blinken is scheduled to visit China 24-26 April.

In the letter, ICT President Tencho Gyatso urges Blinken to “raise the issue of Tibet during your meetings with Chinese leaders later this week as well as publicly in front of the press.”

The topics for Blinken to address include China’s kidnapping of the Panchen Lama, the high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist leader who will turn 35 during Blinken’s trip; China’s attempts to interfere in the succession of the Dalai Lama, who is now 88; and China’s responsibility to resume negotiations with Tibetan leaders to resolve Tibet’s status.

China has occupied Tibet, a neighboring country in the Himalayas, for over 65 years, turning it into one of the worst human rights crises in the world. Under China’s iron rule, Tibet now has a global freedom score of 0 out of 100, according to the watchdog group Freedom House. Click here to read more.

‘The Nature of Personal Reality’ by Jane Roberts (Seth)

“Dorothy Jane Roberts (May 8, 1929 – September 5, 1984) was an American author and poet, who claimed to be psychic and a spirit medium channeling a personality who called himself ‘Seth.’ Her publication of the Seth texts, known as the Seth Material, established her as one of the preeminent figures in the world of paranormal phenomena.” Wikipedia

The Seth books channeled by Janes Roberts were very popular during the 1960s-1980s. I’ve read most of them and believe that The Nature of Personal Reality is the most practical in terms of how the reader can put the ideas into use. I’ve been greatly influenced by the Seth Material even though much of the information in the other books is interesting chiefly in a big-picture, philosophical sense rather than having a direct application to ourselves. It works! But, it requires dedication to use since it runs counter to everyday beliefs and concepts. I seldom meet anyone who believes that we create our own reality.

I can tell that interest in the books has waned because not only are they seldom mentioned, but the Amazon listings don’t include the original publisher descriptions the books had when they were new. So, while my link on the cover picture is to the book’s Amazon page, the publisher’s description below comes from the Internet Archive.

About the Book

“From the Bestselling Author of Seth Speaks, The ‘Seth Books’ by Jane Roberts are world-renowned for comprising one of the most profound bodies of work ever written on the true nature of reality.In this perennial bestseller, Seth challenges our assumptions about the nature of reality, and shows us how we create our personal reality through our conscious beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. He stresses the individual’s capacity for conscious action, and provides excellent exercises that show us how to apply his empowering insights to any life situation. His message is clear: we are not at the mercy of the subconscious, or helpless before forces we cannot understand. ‘We are Gods couched in creaturehood,’ Seth says, ‘We are given the ability to form our experience as our thoughts and feelings become actualized.’

“You are a multidimensional personality. Trust the miracle of your own being. ‘Make no divisions between the physical and the spiritual in your lifetimes, for the spiritual speaks with a physical voice, and the corporeal body is the creation of the spirit.’ — Jane Roberts, Speaking for SethPraise for The Seth Books by Jane Roberts ‘The Seth books present an alternate map of reality with a new diagram of the psyche . . . useful to all explorers of consciousness.’ — Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success ‘Seth was one of my first metaphysical teachers. He remains a constant source of knowledge and inspiration in my life.’ — Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love “I would like to see the Seth books as required reading for anyone on their spiritual pathway.’

“The amazing in-depth information in the Seth books is as relevant today as it was in the early ’70s when Jane Roberts first channeled this material.” — Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life ‘Quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read!. — Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull  ‘I count Jane Roberts’ brilliant book, The Nature of Personal Reality, as a spiritual classic and one of the influential books in my life. As I closed the last page, I looked up at a new world —boundless and filled with possibility.’ — Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior The Nature of Personal Reality had an important influence on my life and work. ‘Seth’s teachings provided one of the initial inspirations for writing Creative Visualization.’ — Shakti Gawain, author of Creative Visualization ‘The Seth books were of great benefit to me on my spiritual journey and helped me to see another way of looking at the world.’ — Gerald G. Jampolsky, author of Love Is Letting Go of Fear ‘As you read Seth’s words, you will gain more than just new ideas. Seth’s energy comes through every page — energy that expands your consciousness and changes your thoughts about the nature of reality.’ — Sanaya Roman, author of Living with Joy ‘To my great surprise — and slight annoyance — I found that Seth eloquently and lucidly articulated a view of reality that I had arrived at only after great effort and an extensive study of both paranormal phenomena and quantum physics….’ — Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe”

–

The book is in sync with James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh, the 1903 book I’ve mentioned often in my work. The book is available on Amazon and free of Project Gutenberg.  The concepts appear in many places, but this book brings them together.

—Malcolm

Male author writing from a female character’s POV

In some ways, this post is a shameless promotion. My apologies.

The four books in my Florida Folk Magic Series have female primary characters. I had already written one book, Sarabande (contemporary fantasy) from a woman’s viewpoint. It’s the opposite of The Sun Singer (the sequel) about a young man following a plotline based on the hero’s journey popularized by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

When I began thinking of a sequel to The Sun Singer, I discovered a lot of controversy among writers and mythologists about how a woman would go on such a journey. Many people said the woman would simply follow the standard tropes of the man’s hero’s journey; others thought that was absurd because men and women generally have different mythic focuses. I agreed: I needed a heroine’s journey, not a tweaked hero’s journey.

So after researching mythologists who wrote about strong mythic females, I opted to write Sarabande from a woman’s point of view by using a mythic journey, that of Inanna, an ancient Sumerian goddess, as a basis in a very general way. Research took a long time mainly because I needed to get to the point where the narrative sounded true to a woman’s thoughts and actions rather than to a man pretending to know how a woman would think and feel about the experiences encountered in the story.

I decided maybe I had accomplished this when a female reviewer, speaking of an assault scene in the novel, said the scene worked and that she had to keep reminding herself it had been written by a male author.  The mythic elements and the fantasy genre probably played a lot in my accomplishing this; had the woman been a modern-day character in typical real-life situations, I don’t think my characterization could have come out sounding true–that is, as a woman would think and feel.

However, when it came to the “older-than-dirt” African American conjure woman in the 1950s-era Florida Panhandle, this white boy knew better than to write from her point of view. The gulf in our ages, cultures,  and experiences was just too great even though the conjure woman is loosely based on a person I knew while in junior high and high school; then, too, I lived within the period when the book was focused and had observed the things I was writing about.

That’s why the narrator is a cat, something I thought I could get away with since the novels are written in the magical realism genre. That allowed me to do things that wouldn’t have worked in a non-genre book. I was helped in this ruse by having lived with one to three cats in the house since the 1980s when my wife turned me into a cat person. My “take” on how a cat might act and think was probably more believable than trying to write directly from my character Eulalie’s viewpoint. Readers worried more about something bad happening to the cat (Lena) than the people. I didn’t count on that, but I got used to it.

The writer’s “trick” is to write around the things s/he can’t possibly write “property.” Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t work.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the contemporary fantasy novel “The Sun Singer.”

‘An Unfinished Love Story’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I like Goodwin’s books because their accuracy has been proven over time, their readability has been acclaimed, and their focus never fails to hone in on the key elements of the historical period she’s writing about. This makes for an uncanny reading experience when she’s writing about a period I know well. And, the husband-and-wife debates/discussions give us something extra and unusual in this book.

From the Publisher

“An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.

“Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties, he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.

“Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.

“The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

“Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.”

–

“Just as An Unfinished Love Story is a testament to the Kearns Goodwin marriage, so is it a love story of the United States and its democratic government. The many speeches written by Goodwin, the writings of Kearns Goodwin and both their reflections demonstrate that words do indeed matter.”—The Columbus Dispatch

About the Author

“Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin’s book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin produced the American television miniseries Washington. She was also executive producer of ‘Abraham Lincoln’, a 2022 docudrama on the History Channel. This latter series was based on Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times.- Wikipedia

—Malcolm

 

Potpourri for April 14, 2024

• Our tax app filed our income taxes with the imperial federal government and the state so that chore is off the plate for another year. I sure don’t miss the days when we had a small business and had to account for sales taxes collected, equipment depreciation, payments to temporary employees, and enough forms to choke a goat. Things are much easier now.

• 

  Iranian missiles near al-Aqsa

  Last night as my wife and I watched the news coverage of Iran’s missile and drone attack against Israel, my first thought was what’s the point. The attack was so dangerous because it could have (and still might) morph into a larger confrontation. I was happy to hear that 99% of the incoming drones and missiles were destroyed and that one of those that was intercepted through the U.S. Navy’s use of a relatively new Layered Laser Defense (LLD) system which ought to be much safer aboard ships than explosives-based weapons.

• I’m enjoying re-reading Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library in which a person can choose one probable version of his/her life or another, see what it’s like, and then if s/he doesn’t, try another version.  I like the associations of the plot with the many worlds’ interpretation of quantum physics. My only quibble with the storyline is that when people drop into the middle of one of their probable selves’ lives, they don’t know what that self would know at that moment. So. they’re flying blind and that means a lot of time is lost figuring out what’s going on.
• In my novel in progress, my characters are discussing the devil’s outhouse. Since I’m writing magical realism, I don’t have to worry about how they’d know anything about that outhouse.
• I still have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Since this is a family values-oriented blog (hahaha), I’ll spare you the details of how that works. My long list of things I can no longer eat or drink isn’t too terrible. For example, I’ve switched from milk to Lactaid; that’s worked out fine.  I’m not supposed to have booze, including wine or moonshine. But sometimes I can’t resist even though I’ll pay for that indiscretion later in pretty much the same way I pay for putting too much Tabasco sauce in my chili or buying lunch from Popeyes Chicken (my favorite).
• I hope the lawn mower still works. It’s past time to find out.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the Florida Folk Magic series about a conjure woman fighting the KKK in the 1950s Florida Panhandle

Kissing Gates

A kissing gate is a traditional way of allowing access, but not security, between a pasture or other open area used for livestock, and the grounds of an estate where animals are not permitted. In a modern farm, one would probably place a latching gate there with or without a padlock as needed.

Today a kissing gate might be built to accommodate a wheelchair.

wood kissing gate

For people wearing good clothes, the kissing gate–which has no latch and doesn’t have to be dragged open and closed–allows people to easily step into a small enclosure, frequently circular, and then push the hinged gate and step through into the other side of the enclosure one at a time. The enclosure is too small for a cow or horse, so the gate effectively keeps out livestock.

The kissing gate was an easy solution where many people might come and go in a setting where a stile (more or less a set of steps built into a fence) doesn’t serve for people wearing formal clothes or for the elderly or infirm where climbing up and over the fence is unwise or ungainly. The kissing gate was frequently used to keep livestock out of rural cemeteries built within or next to a pasture.

The name which has been in use since the 1870s refers to the gate touching the metal or wood enclosure and not to the gate being a place where people meet for trysts.

–Malcolm

The four novels in the Florida Folk Magic Series can be bought together in one Kindle volume. The series features a conjure woman and her friends battling the KKK in the Florida Panhandle in the 1950s.

New novel from Marisha Pessl to be released on November 12th

“NEW YORK (AP) — Marisha Pessl’s first novel in six years is a psychological thriller with the kinds of intricate clues and connections she has been known for since her acclaimed debut, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.” – Associated Press

If Darkly offers the mysterious inventive spark we saw in Special Topics in Calamity Physics, her fans will be well pleased.

From the Publisher

“A seemingly ordinary high school student. A mysterious summer internship. And a legendary game designer, now dead, leaving a dark legacy. The New York Times bestselling author of Night Film spins a twisted web in this masterful YA psychological thriller.

“What would you kill for?

“When an ad for an internship with the Louisiana Veda Foundation poses this question, seemingly every high school student in the country rushes to apply. Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the late game designer whose obsessive creations have attained a cultlike status, ever since she and her mom played Disappearing Act—but Dia has never won anything in her life. So she’s shocked when she’s chosen as an intern, along with six other teenagers from around the world.

“Little is known about Louisiana Veda. Her game-making empire, Darkly, was renowned for its ingenious, utterly terrifying toys and games, rife with hidden symbols and secrets. But after Veda’s mysterious death, Darkly went bankrupt and production was discontinued. The remaining games are priced like highly sought-after works of art, with the rarest and most notorious items commanding tens of millions of dollars at auction.

Web site photo.

“Now the interns are thrust into the enigmatic heart of Louisiana Veda’s operation, and Dia immediately questions everything. Who are these other kids? Why do they all seem to have something to hide? And why was she really chosen? It soon becomes clear that this summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all.

“As chilling and addictive as one of Louisiana Veda’s complicated and inventive games, Darkly is an intricate labyrinth full of buried clues and hidden connections created by Marisha Pessl, whose dazzling prose and signature powers of imagination will startle, tantalize, and delight readers.”

—Malcolm

‘Fire and Bones,’ by Kathy Reichs

This upcoming novel in the Temperance Brennan series will be released on August 6, 2024. As I said in my post about Rhett Revane’s upcoming novel Ditch Weed, I won’t be first in line to purchase my copy due to my beauty sleep requirements, and besides, I haven’t done a long-line-in-the-middle-of-the-night mission since the wild and crazy Harry Potter days.

I’ve read all (or mostly all) of Kathy Reichs’ novels. I haven’t slowed down even though “Bones,” the TV series based on the book hasn’t aired in prime time since 2017 after running for 246 episodes over twelve seasons. [You can read a brief 2017 interview with Reichs about the end of the series here.]

From the Publisher

“New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.

“Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property’s ownership when she delves into its history.

“The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions.

“As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat.”

You can learn more about Reichs on her website here.  Here’s a sample. (“Dr. Reichs is one of only 100 forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.”)

-Malcolm

Fate’s Arrows is the fourth book in Malcolm R. Campbell’s “Florida Folk Magic Series.” It’s available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audio editions.

Good Plants: Yarrow

“I always keep yarrow in my medicine bag, as it has many uses. It is also called nosebleed plant, squirrel’s tale, plumajillo, and soldier’s woundwort. I recognize it by its leathery leaf shape, texture, and scent. It’s in the Aster/Daisy family. It is found in temperate zones throughout the world.” – Nicole Apelian in ‘The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies.'”

According to Wikipedia, “Achillea  is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known colloquially as yarrows. The plants typically have frilly leaves. The common name “yarrow” usually refers to A. millefolium. The genus was named after the Greek mythological character Achilles, whose soldiers were said to have used yarrow to treat their wounds; this is reflected by common names such as allheal and bloodwort. The genus is native primarily to Eurasia and North America.”

As always, consult with a doctor and/or an herbalist before using this plant for medical purposes, especially any involving internal use.

Web MD says that “Yarrow contains chemicals that might help to stop stomach cramps and fight infections. People commonly use yarrow for eczema, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), wound healing, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.”

According to VeryWell Health, “In test tube studies, yarrow’s active ingredients have been shown to work as antibiotics, antioxidants, antiproliferatives (slowing cell growth), and more. These properties make yarrow a supplement of interest for almost everything from multiple sclerosis to cancer.”

Following that introduction, the site lists specific uses, including wounds, skin inflamation, menstrual paint, IBS (irritual bowel syndrome), and ailments for which its use has been studied. Check the site for site effects and precautions.

It can be purchased over the Internet (Caring Sunshine  and others) in addition to herbal shops.

My go-to reference is The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies, however I also like to check the Mayo Clinic and Web MD sites for additional information. You can also find sites/posts by herbalists that focus on one herb or ailment.

–Malcolm

Malcolm writes novels about conjure including “Conjure Woman’s Cat”  set in the Florida Panhandle.