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 |  "Putting on the Game Face" |
  This blog is a doorway into the mind of Percy Goodfellow. Don't be shocked at the lost boys of Namby-Pamby Land and the women they cavort with. Watch as his caricatures blunder about the space between audacious hope and the wake-up calls of tomorrow. Behold their scrawl on the CRT, like graffitti on a subway wall. Examine it through your own lens...Step up my friends, and separate the pepper from the rat poop. Welcome to my abode...the armpit of yesterday, the blinking of an eye and a plank to the edge of Eternity. Note: This blog is my journal. I've no interest in persuading anyone to adopt my views. What I write is whatever happens to interest me when I start pounding the keys. |
| Defining the Bad Guys I have been wondering why it is that many affluent liberals are Democrats in the United States, for that matter, throughout the world, have Socialist leanings. One would think that having earned their fortunes through the economic engine of capitalism that they would be hardcore Republicans. I have a theory on this that I will share with my “Army of Readers.” After the French Revolution rich people (Aristocrats) got a wake-up call. Many very wealthy old families (Money) had to flee penniless or worse went to the guillotine. Not just the adult males but wives, and family members. This sent a chilling message to the “Blue Bloods” that there were limits beyond which they dared not venture and a consensus evolved thereafter that it was better to control the government than to be the government. By not being the government they adopted a low profile (As low as one can get for those who are fabulously wealthy) and settled on pulling the strings rather than standing in the spotlight. (Bulls eye) This was not just a US strategy but one that was pretty much followed worldwide. When Communism came along they were naturally against that because a Communist government would take away all their wealth. With Socialism however, there were mechanisms they could take advantage of such as trusts, foundations, off shore accounts etc. where they could protect their wealth and pass it on to their heirs from one generation to the next. Thus the “Old Money” who have nothing but contempt for any form of government, and for that matter anyone below their social status, elected as a strategy to foster socialism as a mechanism to protect their interests and also to exclude from their exclusive club as many of the upstart “Nuevo Rich” as they could manage. The New Rich, are currently defined as those who make more than $250 thousand dollars per year. Does this sound familiar? Thus the bad guy, who the old guard wants to keep in the spotlight are the current generation entrepreneurs and they are the ones who are being portrayed as the greedy capitalists. The New Rich are more visible to the population even though they try and hid behind the sentry posts and fences of their gated communities. The socialists (Old Money) want them taxed to death and subject to Inheritance taxes, so that their money goes down the drain to appease the masses in Socialist give-away programs rather than the hoards of money they have stewarded and stashed in a host of world-wide shelters. The Democrats, or “New Socialists” who claim to be champions of the working class are really cup bearers of the “Old Money Aristocracy” who want to preserve the status quo and of course their control of the government. Why do you suppose they use ownership of most of the traditional (NBC, CBS, ABC)news media as a propaganda tool that most have quit listening to? These news networks are suffering in the ratings, but instead of trying to emulate the FOX “Fair and Balanced” format, they simply don’t care if they make money or not. Their purpose is not to make money (They already have plenty of that) but rather to promote their special interests. Once the average citizen understands this it is easier to appreciate what is going on in not just American but the world-wide political arena. |
| Stream of Conscious I have a Mac in addition to my three Microsoft computers. When I bought the Apple I took the “One on One” support package. To participate in a class I have to go to Madison and that is a pain. Wonder why they don’t have on line training… DUH! Anyway I like Mac “Pages” better than the Microsoft Word Processor. It really has a nice outlining feature and handling graphics is a snap. I upgraded to Mountain Lion and there is a voice recognition feature that I want to explore and see if it’s an improvement over what they had five (5) years ago. While talking to the “Apple Smart” girl (An English Major) she asked how I used my computer and I said I teach some courses online at New Horizon’s Academy. The question came up as to the fundamental difference between a Stage and Screen Play and I answered that in a Stage Play the ear trumps the eye. In a Screen Play it is the other way around. Now that might sound like a simple difference--- but it's huge. This became more self-evident when she demonstrated the voice recognition software. She told me to say something and the first thing that popped to mind was the Gettysburg Address. Despite all the noise the software did a pretty good job translating the spoken vibrations to written words. We got to talking about why Lincoln’s famous speech was so enduring and I responded, because it was short for a political speech but more importantly it was almost poetic in structure. He took the thrust of the message and made it resonate. I have read that he was panned at the time for brevity, however when it was printed in the newspapers, people immediately warmed to the address. Nobody remembers him standing on the podium, that sad day, but they do remember what he had to say. The same might be said for Shakespeare’s plays. The monologs resonate and that is what really sets his writing off. In the Bible it says, “In the beginning was the word….” If that’s true then God must prefer a Stage Play to a Movie or TV production. Don’t quote me. One of my students recommended that I make it clear at the beginning of the Exploratory Writing Workshop, the importance of having a story in mind before taking the class. For many I am sure this might help, but it gets back to the chicken or egg thing. Where do stories come from? Do we think them up or does our brain latch onto the thread of a passing muse? To my way of thinking it is curtain number two. Students often lament, “How can I write an outline if I don’t know what the story is?” I really get that, so the idea of the “Free Spirit” vignettes came to mind in the developmental phase of the Workshop. I think we need a “Muse” phase of unconstrained thinking that leaves us predisposed to what is happening in the world around us rather than fixated on the revelations of our diminutive brains. |
| Relationships Out in my workshop I have seven RC flying models. Some fly and some don’t but I work every day at repairing the unflightworthy. Some of the models I bought new, some came to me severely damaged and another I am trying to build from scratch using materials I bought at the local lumberyard. This morning I was thinking about a priority of work and it struck me that these RC airplanes are a lot like relationships. When a model is shiny and new everything is straight, the finish is shiny and the future looks bright. Then as time goes on there come the vicissitudes of flying and the inevitable hard landings. Suddenly the model doesn’t look quite so new and begins to gain weight from all the epoxy we use to keep it running. That is how life is too when it comes to our relationships with others. We might have a dozen of these involving those we interact with on a daily basis and they have their ups and downs. Sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t and we do what we can to keep them going. As a writer the author needs to think about relationships between the characters and how they change as the story moves through its various cycles and between the geographies the writer creates. The reader loves to see change in these relationships as they develop and go from good to better or bad to worse. This is an aspect of writing a novel that I think is neglected. We see a lot of focus on story line, backstory, rising action and all that stuff in the standard model but what I can never get enough of is the change in relationships between the Central Character and the Supporting Characters (CC.) As things happen what is the CC thinking and what how are the SCs responding and how is all that resonating with the story line. In the Exploratory Writing Workshop we talk a lot in the objectives and checklists about the components of good story telling and students are encouraged in the exploratory vignettes to demonstrate an understanding in their weekly assignments. For six weeks we practice using the components of good story telling practice to get a feel for how they work. In the seventh week it is time to write the story line outline and in the last week to take all the components and make sure they are included in the outline. At the end of the workshop a big chunk of the developmental work is done (less the research) and the student is ready to write the first draft. There is so much to think about that a comprehensive outline is essential to allow the author to write in bite sized chunks confident that when the end of the outline is reached there will be an integrated novel waiting with all the good stuff that has historically worked. Still I need to work more on Geographies and Relationships in the structure of the course as these are often neglected.. |
| Negative Feedback Last night we got some much needed rain. I heard a distant clap of thunder and then one louder and much closer. This morning, I walked outside and noticed the deck was wet and the rain barrels full of water. One of the problems I have flying RC Models is vision. Another is hearing the motor and last, making a slow approach to land. If a pilot is inside an aircraft, they are looking out the windshield and listening to the engine. Plus they have a host of gauges to help them stay informed on what is happening. As I grow older my vision dims, my hearing requires aids and my reflexes have gone south. All I have left is experience and a sixth sense of what works and what doesn’t. An RC flyer is on the edge of the flying field and sees the airplane from afar. This is the same way a writer sees their novel. The RC pilot relies on vision to determine the plane's attitude, distance and orientation. Then the sound of the engine to determine how fast the Revolutions per Minute (RPMs) are turning and finally upon a sense of touch that gives exactly the right movement to the controls to accomplish the desired function. If the operator lacks vision, that is a problem. So is not being able to hear the engine and finally touch is of critical importance. The same is true for writing a novel. Without vision the author doesn’t know where the story is going and depends upon a muse or whatever inclination pops first into mind. This is not a good approach in the actual writing phase. It might be OK in the developmental phase but not the writing. A writer has to understand the components to good story telling and make sure they are integrated and plugged into an outline... before they start to write the first draft. Next the writer needs an ear for the exposition and dialogue. Is it a good blend, is it enough but not too much and does it resonate with the story? If it won’t rev when it should and sputters along, the manuscript is an accident going somewhere to happen. Finally the writer needs a light touch on the controls. Writing is as much about what you don’t say as what you do. Going heavy on the adjectives and adverbs and trying to say six different things in the same sentence is a no go. Too bad there isn’t a “Writing Simulator” like there is a “Flight Simulator.” Then writers would get instant feedback in the form of a power stall, a nose dive or the model getting out of range and disappearing over the horizon. Then the writer would see clearly the error of their ways in the form of a handful of crash site debris, a totaled engine or a wayward model. There would be no blaming publishers and the most straightforward undisputable feedback a writer could hope for. |
| Persistence Yesterday evening I fired up the flight simulator on my computer. It is like a video game that lets you fly different types of RC model airplanes and get a feel for their handling characteristics. I found one that is exactly like the trainer I am flying with the flight Instructor at the field. I found it difficult to fly and will continue to practice on it a little bit every day . Writing a Novel shares a similar degree of difficulty and is something a writer has to practice every day. Anyone familiar with trying to get published quickly discovers how hard a threshold it is to break through and like learning to fly an RC model, there are frequent “Crash and Burn” experiences. The writer needs to keep reminding themselves that they can succeed and need to simply keep after the goal of getting published. Several years ago I wrote a stage play that kept getting rejected. My goal was to have it produced by a college or university so I could see it come alive on the stage. I still feel it is a production quality work and in several instances I was told it just barely missed the cutoff for selection. I still send it out each year for consideration and who knows, maybe someday I’ll get a letter inviting me to see it enacted in a real theater. The point is that you have to keep yourself in contention. A writer needs to always have something “working” out there in the publication selection process. You can’t win if you aren’t out there on the field of contention. Just submit and then turn your attention to writing something new. Don’t wait with baited breath, but instead try and forget it is even out there in the mix. If you get a rejection shrug, learn what you can, submit something else or resubmit the same work over again . I know you have heard this over and over again but it’s true and bears repeating. You know deep down if your work is professional quality and if that recognition does not come immediately then what the heck! Nobody said getting a publishing contract was easy. |
| Class Warfare The claim by our current President that he will impose no new taxes on those who make under $250,000 is baloney. All tax payers will see an increase across the board when the Bush tax relief measures expire but the largest increase will be in health taxes. To promote his reelection President Obama is currently on a Class Warfare campaign directed against those he claims are only the top 3 percent of taxpayers. “Why can’t they pay a little more,” he laments, “to the poor and downtrodden?” Of course this plays well to the social welfare mentality of many of his constituents but it is really misleading. There is certainly class warfare going on but it isn’t between rich and poor. It is the struggle between the upper middle class entrepreneurs who have made it big and the Old Guard. It is the same old class warfare that has existed forever between the super-rich and the wannabys. The Super-Rich are those who come from what is often termed “Old Money.” They have so much it defies the capacity of the average mind to envision. This money is passed via Foundations from one generation to the next into perpetuity. Inheritance tax does nothing to diminish this tax exempt nest egg. There has always been a bone to pick between the Old Money aristocrats and the “Nuevo Rich” entrepreneurs. The Old Guard, who protects the status quo, wants to exclude these “Upstarts” from the top tier and that is where the Class Warfare has been going on since the Industrial Revolution. The Old Money class takes the long term view. To insure things don’t change they send their sons and daughters into Politics, The Media, Law School, Finance and other loci’s of power to insure the status-quo doesn’t change. These modern day “Aristocrats pander to the Democrats and find ways to insure the Nuevo Rich are kept in their proper place. They have battalions of lawyers and other professionals who work for them. If they don’t make money in the short term that is not an issue because they already have more than they will ever know what to do with. The Democrats love the Aristocrats. Don’t you see the irony? These liberals who claim to be champions of the downtrodden are anything but. They don’t give a rat’s petottie about the environment, the arts or the downtrodden. These are all devices to take the bull’s eye off themselves and focus it on the emerging class of successful business men and women. They want inheritance taxes, and clap with glee as our President riles about taking more money away from the top 3% of taxpayers. While their old money sits in a protected status, immune from inheritance taxes, they want to see the wealth of the “Johnny Come Lately” diminished to the extent possible and in no way (heavens forbid) find its way into the perpetuity of unwashed heirs. I certainly don’t have a dog in this fight but it is interesting to note how this never ending game plays itself out in American politics. |
| Foundations If there was ever a legal scam to protect the wealth of people who didn’t earn it, the public rip-off is called a foundation. Many people think that the wealth of rich people passes through inheritance like it does for middle class folks. Sure a small percentage does for the Fords, Kennedys and Rockefellers, but most of their wealth is passed via Foundations. Now think about this. Say a foundation is created by its founder and seeded with a billion dollars. Many think they are created for Philanthropic purposes by benevolent families interested in returning a portion of their wealth to the public welfare. Baloney! If you believe that you’re mistaken. Sure, a portion of their investment earnings are donated to charities but only because they are “Nonprofits” and don’t have to pay taxes. Since they don’t pay taxes they have to get rid of the excess that would otherwise be considered profits. So they give some of that to worthy causes... to make themselves look good and balance the books. The principle of a Foundation is never eroded and earnings are used to insure the families that manage them are well taken care of. There is a chairman who gets a large salary, board members who get a large salary and everybody else the board decides is a legitimate heir gets a job that pays well. What is left over is given to charities. This has been going on for a long time and for the most part, those who benefit from a foundation did nothing to earn the money. What they have is a free ride that lasts a lifetime and a government which refuses to touch the foundation nest egg. Now this wouldn’t be so bad except for one thing. Many of those who are the family beneficiaries of these foundations sit around and lead a dissipated life style, claiming to be the intellectual elite, with their own socialist political views on how society should be run. Don’t you see the irony….? If you want to see class warfare, the Haves versus the Have-Nots, go to New Port Rhode Island and see all the mansions and yachts anchored in the harbor. Many of these elitists, who fancy themselves intellectually superior and modern day aristocrats, exhibit a high-brow disdain for the capitalist system that gave them their gravy boat. Surprising a majority seem to embrace the liberal point of view. Is this because deep down they feel a sense of guilt over all the money they get to spend that they did nothing to earn? What makes them feel qualified to to tell the average wage earning citizens how their tax dollars should be spent? Foundations are a sham and the worst sort of tax shelter and should not be granted a tax exempt status. Indeed they should be taxed at of rate of ten percent a year until their principles are exhausted. If the government wants to know where a good source of revenue beckons, they should start here. Then they need to look to the endowments of Colleges, Universities, and Churches and get them to start paying their share and quit shaking down the people they are supposed to be serving. |
| Two Bags Full A mutual fund has two major account categories they keep book on. These are investor money and fund money. Now it is a reasonable to ask, “Where does the fund money come from?” At the fund’s inception some is no doubt “Seed Money.” This is money to get the fund up and going. No doubt that for the life of the fund the profits the fund generates pays interest on the seed as a part of operating expenses. Over the long term however, most of the “Fund” money comes from profits. All profits are not paid annually to the investors as one may believe. A percentage is moved from the customer money account to the fund money part of the leger. For Example suppose a fund incurred losses of $6 Million in a fund cycle and revenues of $14 Million. That means the profits for the year were $8 million. The first thing the managers will ask is what will the traffic bear with the investors? By this they mean is how measly a percentage of the take can they give their investors before the members get disgusted and decide to move their money elsewhere? Now let’s say management decides that the payout on shares is going to be around 8 Percent. Anything less will make them look like just another “Ho-Hum, Luke warm, uninspired fund”. So they do some sensitivity analysis with different arbitrary percentages around the 8% threshold. If we pay 8% their reasoning might go, the investors will swallow it… but how much will that leave us to transfer into the General Fund? . After playing with the numbers the Brain Trust decides that 7.1% is the best that they can pay out to the “I” investors and 7.9% to the "Y” investors. Say the result of this decision pays out $6M and leaves $2M to be transferred to the General Account (GA). The GA is a super slush fund the managers can do anything they want with. (Naturally with the approval of the board which consists of clueless members often appointed by management and rubber stamped at the annual shareholders meeting.) The General Account pays the bonuses we hear so much about but sometimes it must be used to cover-up some of the serious managerial gaffs. Keep in mind Management fears the investors will walk, if payoff expectations on shares fall short of what intuition tells them the market should have yielded. However, this is conjecture because the investors are never privy to the real number crunching. They must rely instead on rules of thumb based upon market experience. So what the CEO does at the annual meeting is lament what a “Challenging” year it was and try and sell the numbers cooked up by the CFO to the stockholders. Great stress is placed on all the risk and volitility and how profits were wisely garnered from a stubbor and unyielding market place while how good earnings actually turned out to be is downplayed and covered up in a kubooki dance of statistical voodoo. Tomorrow I will talk about Dividends. |
| Be Wary of Mutual Funds For years it has been the conventional wisdom that little guys need to protect their nest eggs by investing in mutual funds. “Let the experts manage your money,” the spiel goes, “and then just let it sit there.” Ever heard of the “Rule of Seven”? That rule claims that these fund managers will double your money in seven years. Now I don’t doubt that there are honest reputable well managed funds out there that maintain a commitment to traditional fiduciary values. However the business is littered with the likes of Madoff, Corzine and a host of other bankers and financiers of questionable repute, waiting to rip the small investor off. Bankers, financial managers, and brokerage firms have been tainted by the excesses of the unscrupulous and even the honest ones push the margin to the absolute limits of good judgment. If you are a small investor there are not many alternatives and if you get a good fund management team working for you it is more the result of good fortune than any prudence or sagacity on your part. If the experts can get “Blindsided” what chance does the little guy have? Here are some of the problems. Big Investors and Little investors. There are “Preferred” investors and “What the hell, we’ll take your money” pip-squeak investors. In the Summary Prospectus of my fund they are referred to as Class Y and Class I. A class Y investor must open an account with $2 million dollars while a class I investor can do the same with only $1 Thousand dollars. An ambiguous example is provided that fails to tell the investor how the distribution of yields will be split between the two groups. However, it is reasonable to assume that the large investor will get a better percentage. Fees: There are sales charges, redemption fees, management fees, distribution fees, operating expenses, and other expenses. Regardless of how poorly or well the fund does the investor pays these fees. Risks: The investor takes on the burden of Credit Risks, Foreign Securities Risks, High Yield Securities Risks, Income Risks, Interest Rate risks, Liquidity Risks and Management Risks. You pay for their failure! What is business as usual for them is money out of your pocket. This means that any profits the fund makes can be adjusted by these risk factors to take earnings from the investor and retain them in the fund. Thus any setback or adversity the fund faces can be compensated for by raking the shortfall off the top of the profits. The Fund has the best of both worlds. They get a percentage of the take and the fees and losses are born by the investors. If managers want to squeeze more profit, they simply tweak the risk factors. In good economic times this is easier to swallow than in bad times. The small investor is expected to accept this fund skimming of profits as a matter of course.... business as usual. Under the Mushroom Mutual Fund Investors are not kept well appraised of how the instruments are doing. The Prospectuses are next to worthless. Sure, buried somewhere in the reams of CPA statistics is probably the management information a small investor needs to make an assessment of how the fund is doing. There might be an occasional report or statement that shows the funds starting and end period value. However, nowhere will it show what the total profits were and how much was deducted for fees, commissions, services and losses. What ever happened to the profit and loss format? The fund managers seem to think Hey! You made 6%.... shut the heck up and quit complaining! Buying a Fund through a Bank Never do this! A bank is at best getting a preferred rate and at worst a kickback when they refer a customer. (Remember Y and I customers) Their fund advisors face pressure to sell the company product even though it might not be in the customer’s best interest. (A poor performing fund) It is called conflict of interest and permitted in the trade. |
| How I Rebuild a Wrecked RC Model Airplane. Recently I got a wild hair and decided to try and fly a model airplane I had bought from the president of our flying club. When there was nobody left on the field to observe the consequences I cranked her up and launched it down the runway. As the model lifted off the ground it began to react erratically and I over-compensated with the controls. It was an unforgiving design, stalled and crashed at the end of the runway. I already have the nickname “One Turn Bob” and I was glad nobody was around to see my latest fiasco. As I picked up the pieces it was evident that I had wrecked this model “Big Time.” It was broken into four major sections. The wing had escaped relatively unscathed but the fuselage had shattered leaving the nose and tail laying in pieces. In my shop the next day I took what was still good of the tail section and trimmed it square. There was about a foot and a half left of rear boom, and the elevator and rudder were still attached and in good shape. The nose piece, which was plastic fitted on thin plywood and balsa, was also intact. I removed the engine and squared up wood part that was still left. There was about six (6) inches of nose cone when I finished. Hmmm, I thought stroking my closely cropped beard. All I have to do is connect the nose to the tail and I am back in business. How hard can that be? Often when I write there are parts that I really like in a manuscript, interspersed with parts that need some major work. Sometimes I can beef these up in the edit but often they need to be surgically removed and a new connecting structure be substituted instead. For example, some parts of the novel soar and other parts are a real drag. In novels we often see this shortcoming and sense a serious shortcoming. In a flying model this problem will bore the builder for only a short period before demonstrating its flaws and expiring in a spectacular manner. You don't need a publisher to explain why it won't fly. The writer in doing an edit needs to think about the parts that are causing the problems and take steps to correct then. In the next series of blogs I will be talking about how to repair a flying model that has crashed and speak specifically about how one goes about fixing the same sorts of flaws in writing a novel. |
| Voodoo It is difficult to explain just how light the touch must be on the transmitter sticks to get an RC Airplane to respond. Think of coming up to an intersection and applying the brakes in a manner to achieve a smooth deceleration and seamless stop. Then take this to an order of ten and you get some idea of how slight the motion has to be. A jerky heavy handed movement of the stick is sure to launch the airplane into a maneuver that if not deftly corrected will result in a catastrophic crash. This is true about writing. For example in sensual prose a little bit of the graphics goes a long way. The writer needs to know what he wants to show taking place in the bedroom but not get carried away. Keep in mind that two people engaged in an act of intimacy have been drugged by euphoria producing hormones. This effect gives the flesh slapping of the participants a much different spin than a fly would see on the wall. The reader is like the fly and the more the reader is expected to become involved the more that same euphoric effect needs to be given by the writer to put the reader in the same mood as the participants. If the reader is not prepared properly then just like a partner brought cold into the experience the intimacy and joy of the union will be lacking and the whole effect will be lost. Another example is using dialect. I know many great writers have used it to good effect but a little bit goes a long way. If every word requires the reader to hick-up and squint to grasp the meaning then that is too much. Once the reader gets a taste and the idea forms, then the writer needs to dial back a bit so the meaning of the story doesn’t become clouded by the difficulty of the read. The operative word in both examples is deftness or having a light touch as a writer. As a youngster I thought that if a beer tasted good and produced a high then a case must produce the same effect multiplied by a factor of twenty-four (24). Another example that comes to mind is sentences that have no clear focus and are filled with modifying adjectives and adverbs. A writer needs to take the time to write sentences with good word choice in which a single idea is expressed. Most adjectives and adverbs could be deleted and the sentence would suffer no ill effect. Those with more than one idea need to be broken into two sentences. Syrupy writing is a bad in prose as it is in poetry. For example a sentence might read, “… as the orange orb of sunset settled gently into the still distant horizon, John wondered what his girlfriend, Julia, was up to and pondered what unexpected delights the night would bring…" How about, “John watched the sun set, radiating like a yellow disk. As the light refracted its shape lost roundness, like a glob in a lava lamp. that’s how my heart feels, he thought pensively. Julia has her voodoo on it. “ |
| Soaring Yesterday I got to fly the Club Trainer under the buddy cord supervision of our flight instructor. I am relieved to say that I didn’t crash the club’s training aid model. That would have been embarrassing. I discovered that my nickname is “One Turn Bob.” This is because I crashed my new trainer last week in the first turn of its maiden flight. As nicknames go I’ve been called worse. As an aside, normally I don’t offer unsolicited advice but in this case I will. The first year at WDC I faced a recurring frustration. Often, when I would write a lengthy and complex review or email to someone, using the comment block, the screen would flash (Usually just as I prepared to send it) and the whole enchilada would vanish into the electronic netherworld of the internet. Finally I quit using those various blocks to compose a reply and instead put everything first in my word processor. Once I have it written I copy it and post it. This is the way I do my blogs and since adopting this policy I can’t recount how many times it has served me well. I have been told that I have a connectional mind. Not a powerful mind but a connectional one. Often I write analogies like comparing my RC flying experiences with my writing. Some of these are a bit of a stretch but it helps my understanding and reinforces some of the notions and ideas I get, if there are examples in other unrelated but familiar models. For example I take my experience RC flying yesterday and ask myself, “How does this relate to my writing at WDC?” Yesterday the blog I wrote talked about being detached from the model airplane and comparing it to the writer/character relationship. I really liked this connection and felt it was particularly insightful. Like RC flying, I explained, it is not the writer who is actually behind the stick (steering wheel) in the story but rather the characters. The writer is standing on the edge of the field. He/She is controlling the story while at the same time explaining to the reader what is happening. The reader is being “Told” through exposition and “Shown” through dialog, the action of what is taking place. Like the crash that gave me my knick-name, the unexpected often takes place. By this I mean things come to mind that were not anticipated and rather than say “Aw Shucks,” another unwanted digression and unexpected detour the writer should take note that maybe somebody “UP THERE” is trying to tell them something. As I flew figure eights yesterday, I commented, “I’m all over the sky,” to which the instructor replied, “Ride it Bob… As long as you are in control learn as much as you can about what is happening.” That is exactly the point I try to make in the Exploratory Writing Workshop. In the first six vignettes, the student shouldn’t worry about anything but soaring with the story and seeing where it takes them. Sure the writer wants to stay in control but they should expect the unexpected and take note of it. I guarantee that as the writer you will find a place to include these unexpected revelations in the outline of your novel. |
| The Art of Writing Yesterday I worked, for the most part on fixing the RC model plane I crashed earlier in the week. It was a serious setback but not catastrophic. The right side of the front of the fuselage crumpled and the engine was buried in the muck. The metering valve used to lean the mixture and get max performance out of the engine broke off and there was internal breakage to fix. Sometimes when I read a chapter as I edit a novel I can see a real analogy to my RC flying experience. Sometimes after laying a work aside for several weeks or months and then going back reveals that I crashed and burned. That fixing the chapter is going to require some extensive work. In my course, the Exploratory Writing Workshop, I don’t try and teach student the art of writing. My focus is on the science. Not the science in a grammar and spelling sense although this is extremely important. I focus on demonstrating components such as characters, dramatic premise, themes, repetition, foreshadowing, and back story to mention a few. Then there is writing a blend of exposition and dialog that shows and tells the reader at the same time. Of course there are the rising action, crisis development and a host of other considerations that culminate in an outline that captures the thread of the story and also insures the writer includes the components mentioned above. However I tend to avoid getting into the Art part because the students are overwhelmed with getting the fundamentals the workshop offers. It is possible though to help students with the art part just like my watercolor teacher helped me many years ago. Things like over use of modifiers, including too many thoughts in a single sentence, using words that imperfectly convey meaning are a whole different and critical dimension of writing. Fortunately there are other classes that New Horizons Academy teaches that help the student with many of the areas I don’t get into. Still it can be troubling to see the scientific understanding in a student coming along and see at the same time that the art part is not keeping pace. When I first came to WDC I tried a review technique whereby I would rewrite portions of a writer’s work to illustrate in very specific terms the parts of their work that in my view could be improved. Rather than speak in abstractions and beat around the bush I made my points and illustrated specific improvements that in my view enhanced the work. This technique met with a firestorm of indignation which I still don’t fully understand. To my thinking if someone rewrote a paragraph of my work to show what they were getting at in their commentary this would be the highest and most valuable form of review. Oh well, this is the difficulty part of helping someone in the art part of writing. |
| The Author’s Perspective Whenever I write a blog about my new RC flying hobby my “views” plummet. The only thing that makes the “plummeting” worse are my blogs that reflect my political point of view. I can almost see my “Army” of readers when they see one of these themes…. “Oh my goodness, Percy is off on another tangent.” I bet that most of my readers are unaware of the following aspects of flying an RC model from the typical flying perspective. This view is different from driving a car or flying a real airplane. In a car you have a behind the wheel perspective just like in an aircraft you are looking from behind the stick. However standing on the edge of a flying field while the RC model soars about in the distance is distinctly different. The most worrisome aspect of ths is when it turns and comes back towards you. At that instant, suddenly everything reverses. The same would be true if you were using an RC transmitter to drive your car. As it drives away the direction you turn the steering wheel is unchanged but when it comes back towards you everything is opposite. The same is true for flying inverted. In a real plane you experience the sensations from inside the cockpit but from a distance all you have is a visual perspective and when the plane flies upside down, everything becomes reversed. In order to make the adjustment I wiggle the wings slightly and that tells me what the motion of the stick is doing. That is OK if the airplane is flying slowly but not so good if it is flying fast. Today I tried something I read in my “Getting Started” RC book. It said that if the operator, seeing the plane approaching from afar, notes one of the wings dipped lower than the other, that trimming to level, one imagines that the stick is actually up under the low wing and you turn it in the direction necessary to lift it back up. This works better for my brain that turning about and imagining I am in the seat. Now I know my readers are glad they stuck around for that smidgen of esoteric knowledge. A writer is in a sense more like an RC pilot than an actual one. In a novel the author sits on the sidelines while the Central Character does the actual performing. Often we are required to write about characters who have behaviors we find reprehensible and worry that readers will think that because we write so well about them we must have some vicarious affinity to them in real life. For example, since Percy Goodfellow writes sensual prose it must be a subject that occupies a great deal of his thought. What if the members of his church knew what he writes about? Why they might conclude he's some sort of pervert! I work at writing in areas I feel I need the need to improve in and sensual prose is one I make no apology nor protest too loudly. It is an aspect of writing that I believe very few writers ever master and WDC is a good place to explore what works and what doesn’t. Finding out what doesn’t is like the RC pilot who crashes and realizes that what he tried didn’t work. Writing good sensual prose is as much knowing what not to say as boldly going where few writers dare to venture. I am glad I don’t write novels about serial killers. What would my fellow Methodists think then? |
| Look at Me, I’m an Aviator Yesterday I went to the flying field and crashed a new airplane. My wife goaded me into buying it at the Hobby Shop in Wausau. She does that often… goads me into doing things that I sometimes want to do and sometimes don’t. One of her techniques is to say, “If you want it get it… heavens know you can afford it… Chase your passions and dreams…. Can’t take it with you… We are on the home stretch, Honey…” and on and on with that type of encouragement. Then when I indulge myself, she smiles that loving smile, but afterwards on the ride home always points out the same thing. She says, “Why is it that when I buy something it’s small and when you do it is ten times more expensive?” Then she cackles that inimitable chortle that takes some of the joy out of the purchase and I am flooded with buyer’s remorse. Even a loving wife has to get her digs in. It’s a compulsion buried deep in in the female DNA. It isn't just women but men too. For every high there is a low and and doesn't everybody have a tendency to "Poop" in their mess kits? (A famous military saying.) The president of our flying club told me that those learning to fly Radio Control (RC) need to crash the nicest model they can afford and get past that experience. That after that crashing the novice will become calloused and not suffer the dread of worrying about failure. (One of his favorite saying is “Been there done that.” One of the things I have noticed is that many of the members of the flying club are divorced. Not one or two but a disproportionate number. When I think about it, which isn’t a lot, I see a behavior practiced that if exercised in real life could lead to catastrophic consequences. The cost of the hobby is not trivial but not as expensive as real automobiles or airplanes. Still I think it illustrates a male spending money on things that take away from the overall family. Maybe the attraction is that vicarious sense of danger. When you wreck a plane on the computer simulator or even at the flying field you wind up with a pile of kindling but otherwise you are not physically injured. Could it be that this hobby is a vicarious sort of “Death Wish?” Or maybe after failing in a complicated relationship like marriage there is a sense of guilt and a man wants to prove himself thru learning a difficult skill? (Look at me, I’m an aviator) Think about it…. The wife is gone with the kids…. Has the model airplane become the proxy for a relationship that went south? I think socially we are in the process of redefining the purpose of the male in modern society. Women are so much better suited to many of the tasks necessary to succeed economically. If escape through drugs isn’t an option then there are other ways to find relief from feelings of low self-worth and esteem. I think that like Golf, NASCAR, and a host of other hobbies, men get to return to doing things with their hands that excite a passion that the work place and home environment no longer can provide. It this the grist for a novel or what? |
| Head Hopping I have not done well the past several days with my blog. It has been extremely hot and we don’t have air conditioning. We have been lethargic and fled in the car to escape the heat. I have been thinking about the whole idea of head hopping and how thoughts should be reserved to the Central Character (CC). I find this notion acceptable if, as in case 1, there is a clear CC but not so much so as in case 2, when the novel is written in a way that each chapter focuses on a single character. The head hopping rule it would seem to me applies to case 1. In Game of Thrones each chapter was headed by the Highlighted Character (HC) and the reader had no difficulty dealing with the character’s thoughts. It might have been boring in parts but the reader was not confused by the perspective of who is thinking what. In the fantasy novel I am writing, which uses the George Mason approach, I intend for my HCs to show thoughts. The big advantage is that in character development, the HC's thoughts, contrasted by what they say and how expectations square with reality, speaks volumes about who they are. If you want to get to know a character in a hurry delve into their expectations and then show what actually happens. The difference in the two is illuminating and spikes reader interest. As a sensual prose writer I have used WDC to perfect my skills in portraying the sexual experience but at the same time learned that often it is best to dispense with the graphinc details. It is the emotional anticipation and the consequences which speak to the experience more than the flesh slapping.... still learning where to venture and how long to stay are a real challenge to writing in this vein which for most writers is unexplored. Since the book deals with women who conceive children destined for great things, the circumstances surrounding the conceptions should be of interest to the reader. This is not to say that all the intimate details of the act need to be graphically portrayed but rather that what these women were thinking about before, during and after the intimacy are areas worth exploring. Each of the women will bring to the experience a different set of baggage and while all will feel maternal warmth for their embryonic hopes it will not be the same experience for any one of them. In the case of four of the women, their pregnancies are the result of a blood scarab, a relic that has passed from generation to generation for the past six hundred years. It is more a symbol of who they are and the social backgrounds of where they come from. None of them really expects that after the passage of so long a time that these legacy artifacts are still viable. However, there are other woman in the story who conceive in the traditional manner and in accordance with the prophesy. It is important to the story that each one show what they think about events leading up to, during conception and in the weeks and months that follow. Thus I will be suspending the head hopping rule and hope that in doing so I won’t confuse or outrage too many readers. |
I have always considered myself a moderate, swing voter and historically voted for as many Democrats as Republicans. In more recent times I have drifted more to the right of center because I see an assault on our Constitution by those who want our country to become more socialist, and instead of continuing our traditions of individual responsibility advocate becoming more like the states we see in Europe. Trying to see both sides of the argument I read left leaning books and commentaries and also listen to right leaning talk radio. The latest book I am reading is “It’s Even Worse than it Looks” by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein. I really liked the title but disagree with the premise which is, “How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.” I really think the premise should be, “How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Socialism.” In my mind this restatement characterizes the real problem more accurately and the “Extremism” is but a symptom. Defining problems is not easy and if writers get that part wrong then everything that follows becomes suspect. The writers might try and explain facts but what they are describing isn’t really the problem. By defining the problem thus the Democrats are cast as the good guys and the Republicans as the ones wearing the dark hats. As I read the book it becomes clear that rather than a rational, scholarly examination and a balanced view of the events that have led to the failed presidency of the Obama Administration, they present only those facts that support their left leaning, one sided and preconceived views. It is always good to read partisan views because it gives the reader a perspective of what the left is thinking. The authors are great apologists for the Democrats and make an entertaining and lopsided argument for why the Republicans are responsible for all that is wrong with this country. For me it was disappointing because under the pretext of a scholarly and objective point of view their slant is clearly lopsided. There is nothing fair and balanced about the book. On page 40 the writers refer to Republicans Joe Scarborough, J.D. Hayworth, Helen Chenoweth and Mark Neumann as “Gadflies.” This tone that vilifies Republicans and promotes Democrats cause the reader to raise a skeptical eyebrow and take the case Mann and Ornstein provide with a grain of salt. It is a good book only in the sense that it provides a clear snapshot of the left’s world view. |
| Enough! Yesterday was a huge milestone in the direction our country is taking. There is still time for the people to turn off from the road to Socialism. If we vote out the current regime, we won’t have to change the name of this country to the Union of United Socialist States. Justice Roberts made an interesting observation. He said words to the effect that it is not the job of the Supreme Court to save the voters from the legislation (folly) of their elected representatives. He hit the nail on the head. If the people can’t correct what they set in motion in the last election, then we deserve to have foisted upon us the failed politics inherent in a Collective Farm form of gobvernment. It is ironic that we fought throughout our history for liberty and freedom, just to have it handed over those who don't realize what a blessing we have. Actually what the Supreme Court did was offer the Constitution one last gasp of hope. Justice Roberts handed the Republicans an opportunity on a silver platter. He defined Obama Care as a TAX! How many times did the current President rant and rave and swear up and down that there would be no tax increase for American’s who earned under $250,000 a year. Was it a hundred or a thousand times? What did we get? The average American household will be soon be required to pay about $4,000 annually in Health Insurance Coverage. Robert’s said the mandate in the current law was unconstitutional but went on to explain that what the President really meant was to call it a tax. Everybody with two marbles in their brain knew it was a TAX, a HEALTH TAX. Remember when President Clinton said “He didn’t have SEX with that girl?” Middle Americans have just been handed the largest tax increase in history called at last by its real name... one that everybody should be able to understand. Obama Care is so flawed it has to be repealed. It can’t be fixed by changing this and that. I believe we need a health care safety net but not Obama Care. There are two huge problems with it and a host of lesser ones that collectively make it unworkable. The first is portability. State Insurance Commissions might be able to collude with insurers and allow local rates to become inflated, but not nationally. Having to buy health insurance within a State allows price fixing that would not be possible if someone could buy coverage out of state. Competition would bring down the cost dramatically. Second is tort reform. The President is indebted to the American Bar Association just as he is to the Unions. What drives up costs are frivilous law suits. Say a doctor makes $100,000 a year. Approximately 30% goes to staff, fees and overhead. He/She gets to keep 20% and the other 50% goes to malpractice insurance. Put the ambulance chasers out of business and health care costs come way down. This current legislation was written by the Insurance Companies and they will become the agents for collecting the new TAX that all Americans will be forced to pay. The president complains loudly about insurance company policies and then makes them his bill collectors. The IRS will become the enforcement arm of making sure we all pay. Is this really what we want? The failed policies of the Democrats have cost the American Taxpayer over 5 trillion in the past three and a half years. The National Debt has skyrocketed and unemployment continues to grow. When will the American People stand up and say ENOUGH! |
| God Bless Dow Chemical I hear the drone of the Crop Duster, spraying the fields to the West of here. I love to watch them swoop in and lay that fine spray of mist over the crops. The elitists hate herbicides and pesticides. They have this misguided and quaint belief that instead the farmers should grow organic, and sing “Cum-by-Yah.” Sort of like the Pied Piper. I planted potatoes one year and watched the beetles gnaw all the leaves off. Every morning I went out to pick them off and every evening a fresh battalion would show up to finish the job. It was the same about the liberals complaining about using Agent Orange in Vietnam. I slept in it for a year and all I have to say is “God God Bless Dow Chemical A near ambush is much more terrible to contemplate than any chemical that might kill you in fifty years. Read “La Rue Sans Joie” (Street without Joy) and see what happened to the French Convoys without defoliants. This might come as a shock to many but it’s the chemicals that people ingest voluntarily that are far more deadly than any crop residue. Alcohol, drug, and the sheer volume of food we intake are much worse. At the VA center one can’t help but feel compassion for many veterans but you know what? Many were pot heads that indulged nightly on a heroine induced substance called SCAG that was so pure it could be smoked in a cigarette. They say the war screwed them up or Agent Orange but if the truth be known they played a huge role in where they sit today. My wife told me that I was a better person after I returned from my two Vietnam tours, one in an Infantry unit. She claims that I was much less of an “A-Hole” when I got back than when I went. I believe that what we did in Vietnam showed those Communists and Socialists that all Americans were not a bunch of limp wristed hippies and pot smoking liberals… That we showed them the price of imposing their failed policial beliefs on others... don't you see the irony? Dear God! The liberal press would have you believe the true heroes were the protesters and not all those “misguided” names inscribed on the wall. History will probably show that their craven behavior somehow qualified them as morally superior… Nobody wants to go to war and they took the cowards path… to avoid paying a Citizen’s duty. And you know what? Deep down they know what they did… and they’re ashamed. We’ve been overtaken by these misguided fools. They have taken root in our Religious institutions, Schools and Government. What they advocate is absurd. For example athletic competitions should not keep score and all the kids should get a trophy. Can you believe it? Is that the way life is? Heck no! It has its moments but for the most part it is an endless grind with as much tears as joy. Americans get by through hard work. That is our legacy, not hand-outs and food stamps. The liberals are ashamed of what our country represents while the rest of the world streams across our borders to get a piece of it. The socialist want to make everybody the same and sameness is boring… People are not the same… we are all uniquely different. Those who carry the freight are entitled to a little compensation. I hope it isn’t too late to get things turned around. Compassion is one thing, giving away the store is another. |
| Rhyme What makes a musical is the music… DUH! When I think about poetry I think about words put to song--- or is it song put to words? (Must be another example of the chicken or the egg thing.) It’s interesting to ponder however, does the music come first and then the words or the other way around? Anyway, songs have a lyrical quality and the words often rhyme in a glorious and nonsensical sort of way. I love that lyrical and rhyming quality. I wonder why all these modern poets and literary scholars hate it so much… Ask them and they will tell you that free verse is the ultimate poetic expression and lyrical, rhyming verse is a bunch of Dr. Seuss. I wonder sometimes about free verse. I hope this doesn’t seem too harsh but when I read it I think about a monkey with finger paints. If a poet can’t write something lyrical they can always jot down some thought fragments and call it poetry. To me these little piles of words have an unfinished quality. Whatever happened to Rudyard Kipling? Now there was a poet! Gung-Din blows the socks right off my feet every time I read it. The liberals have consigned him to the outhouse of political incorrectness, for his use of the “N” word but I really think it was because his poetry rhymed. Intellectual elitists hate meter and rhyme and I suspect the reason is because they are totally unable to work the forms without sounding inept and heavy handed. So they conclude that because they can’t write it, then somehow it’s inferior to their preferred… unconstrained, uninhibited, free flowing form. Most free verse makes me want to gag! Still despite efforts to suppress it, rhyming and metered poetry persists in song. People like songs that rhyme. People like stage dramas with music. They are called musicals and some of the lyrics are spell binding. “Maria… I’ve just met a girl named Maria… and suddenly that name will never be the same to me. Maria… I’ve just kissed a girl named Maria… and suddenly I’ve found how wonderful a sound can be…” Or how about... “What do you get when you fall in love…? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia… And when you do she’ll never phone you…” The list goes on and on. Rhyming, melodious, lyrical, metered poetry survives in song despite all the elitist efforts to suppress it. All these socialist thinking self-proclaimed educators and literary experts have tried to strangle the baby in the crib but it hasn’t happened yet. There is still a joy to life and try as they do to make our lives as miserable as their own… they can’t quite manage it. |
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Love it! Especially the safety measures for us homo sapiens...
