An idea whose time has come?

People have been going on for some time about the project of making Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged into a movie, most recently Richard Bidinotto, here. Apparently a version written and directed by Vadim Perelman, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, is in production with no release date yet announced.

As much as I'd like to see the book done as a movie (or better yet, a trilogy or miniseries) I'm not sure a drama is really the best approach. No, I think this monumental novel would be much better as a musical comedy, preferably directed by Mel Brooks. Gene Wilder may not be quite right for the role of John Galt (Brendan Fraser, perhaps?) but with the Wayans Family involved and a soundtrack by Rush, Atlas Shrugged: The Musical could, at the very least, become a cult classic on the order of Flash Gordon WITH MUSIC BY QUEEN!.

I'm not kidding, people. These are troubled times, and people want quality entertainment!

An idea whose time has come?

People have been going on for some time about the project of making Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged into a movie, most recently Richard Bidinotto, here. Apparently a version written and directed by Vadim Perelman, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, is in production with no release date yet announced.

As much as I'd like to see the book done as a movie (or better yet, a trilogy or miniseries) I'm not sure a drama is really the best approach. No, I think this monumental novel would be much better as a musical comedy, preferably directed by Mel Brooks. Gene Wilder may not be quite right for the role of John Galt (Brendan Fraser, perhaps?) but with the Wayans Family involved and a soundtrack by Rush, Atlas Shrugged: The Musical could, at the very least, become a cult classic on the order of Flash Gordon WITH MUSIC BY QUEEN!.

I'm not kidding, people. These are troubled times, and people want quality entertainment!

out on the weekend

We closed up shop at noon today, since there was nothing going on and little prospect of anything happening in he afternoon either. So, I swung by Walmart to pick up a fresh roll of Kerlix, a couple of boxes of Surgipads, and a box of Curad dots with which to cover & cure the occasional whiteheads on my legs. I would have picked up a couple 12-packs of Diet Coke for the weekend, but instead of 2/$5 they were $4.79 apiece (a pox on the signage crew!) so I threw them back. Of course, when I got to Harris Teeter for bread and yogurt, I found them on sale @2/$5.49, which is almost as good a deal. Also picked up a couple of pounds of Ballpark dogs (2/$3.99), so if I decide to burn tubes of meat for Memorial Day, I'm all set.

Departure for Balticon is being delayed by the need to do laundry, but once that's out in 90 minutes I'm going to grab the air hose and my backpack and hit the road. I'm tempted to leave Cowzilla behind, but I'll probably wind up bringing it along anyway, even though it'll be spending most of the time by itself in the hotel room three miles down the road from the con.

out on the weekend

We closed up shop at noon today, since there was nothing going on and little prospect of anything happening in he afternoon either. So, I swung by Walmart to pick up a fresh roll of Kerlix, a couple of boxes of Surgipads, and a box of Curad dots with which to cover & cure the occasional whiteheads on my legs. I would have picked up a couple 12-packs of Diet Coke for the weekend, but instead of 2/$5 they were $4.79 apiece (a pox on the signage crew!) so I threw them back. Of course, when I got to Harris Teeter for bread and yogurt, I found them on sale @2/$5.49, which is almost as good a deal. Also picked up a couple of pounds of Ballpark dogs (2/$3.99), so if I decide to burn tubes of meat for Memorial Day, I'm all set.

Departure for Balticon is being delayed by the need to do laundry, but once that's out in 90 minutes I'm going to grab the air hose and my backpack and hit the road. I'm tempted to leave Cowzilla behind, but I'll probably wind up bringing it along anyway, even though it'll be spending most of the time by itself in the hotel room three miles down the road from the con.

while waiting for the dryer

Ganked from phoenixalpha and edwarddain.
( cut for trivial justice )

while waiting for the dryer

Ganked from phoenixalpha and edwarddain.
( cut for trivial justice )

climbing up onto the board before taking the plunge

Well, yeah, I brought Cowzilla after all. The better to blog Balticon and all that...and to be truthful, to finish a couple of things I'd been working on desultorily this week. One of them is finished - most of the music off the old external drive is now on the new external drive, with 221 gigs left to go. I would have ripped the just-released Frank Sinatra compilation CD, but unfortunately left that behind. Welp.

I also need to stop by the Shoppers down the road and pick up a couple cartons of yogurt, since I stupidly forgot to bring any from home after buying five more cartons at Harris-Teeter this afternoon. I very badly need to get my blood sugar back under control - I stopped testing from the 2nd until the 22nd for fear of running out of strips - because the recent numbers have been pretty horrible.

Enough natter - off to Balticon!

climbing up onto the board before taking the plunge

Well, yeah, I brought Cowzilla after all. The better to blog Balticon and all that...and to be truthful, to finish a couple of things I'd been working on desultorily this week. One of them is finished - most of the music off the old external drive is now on the new external drive, with 221 gigs left to go. I would have ripped the just-released Frank Sinatra compilation CD, but unfortunately left that behind. Welp.

I also need to stop by the Shoppers down the road and pick up a couple cartons of yogurt, since I stupidly forgot to bring any from home after buying five more cartons at Harris-Teeter this afternoon. I very badly need to get my blood sugar back under control - I stopped testing from the 2nd until the 22nd for fear of running out of strips - because the recent numbers have been pretty horrible.

Enough natter - off to Balticon!

for no fan is an island

Good things: Meeting Rob Balder, who writes Erfworld, and giving him some egoboo.
Reading Connie Willis' GoH speech from the most recent LA Worldcon, which was reprinted in the program book and is full of win, awesome, and inspiration.

Okay things: The "How to write Military SF" panel, which featured Steve White and a bunch of folks whose names I didn't recognize...one of whom had an excuse since his first novel is coming out in a few days. Anyhow, it was adequate and didn't make me wish I'd spent the time watching the first volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya instead. Didn't learn anything, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Crappy things: Finding out that Yang the Nauseating and Paul Parsons (a Washington-area fan Mark and I know) had died. I realize I'm getting older, time is passing, and people who were adults in their prime in the 1970s are starting to die off, but when it's people I know, it bothers me some. Yang, along with Kelly Freas and Gordy Dickson, was one of the folks who sat up all Sunday night/Monday morning at Discon II singing "the old songs". (It was years before I realized "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" was from Cabaret and not some Great Dark Horde hymnal.) So, that really hurts. Paul, as I recall, was one of the founders of PRSFS (pronounced "Prissy-fish"), the Potomac River Science Fiction Society. PRSFS was founded by people who got tired of going to WSFA meetings, where nobody actually talked about SF. This will no doubt sound familiar to some people...

And now it is half an hour since I planned to go to bed, so I think I'll wrap this up and crash.

for no fan is an island

Good things: Meeting Rob Balder, who writes Erfworld, and giving him some egoboo.
Reading Connie Willis' GoH speech from the most recent LA Worldcon, which was reprinted in the program book and is full of win, awesome, and inspiration.

Okay things: The "How to write Military SF" panel, which featured Steve White and a bunch of folks whose names I didn't recognize...one of whom had an excuse since his first novel is coming out in a few days. Anyhow, it was adequate and didn't make me wish I'd spent the time watching the first volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya instead. Didn't learn anything, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Crappy things: Finding out that Yang the Nauseating and Paul Parsons (a Washington-area fan Mark and I know) had died. I realize I'm getting older, time is passing, and people who were adults in their prime in the 1970s are starting to die off, but when it's people I know, it bothers me some. Yang, along with Kelly Freas and Gordy Dickson, was one of the folks who sat up all Sunday night/Monday morning at Discon II singing "the old songs". (It was years before I realized "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" was from Cabaret and not some Great Dark Horde hymnal.) So, that really hurts. Paul, as I recall, was one of the founders of PRSFS (pronounced "Prissy-fish"), the Potomac River Science Fiction Society. PRSFS was founded by people who got tired of going to WSFA meetings, where nobody actually talked about SF. This will no doubt sound familiar to some people...

And now it is half an hour since I planned to go to bed, so I think I'll wrap this up and crash.