Sunday, June 24, 2012
Nigia Imagines...: Snow White and The Huntsman & What Went Wrong.
Nigia Imagines...: Snow White and The Huntsman & What Went Wrong.: In the briefest statement I can make, this was a good film that was not allowed to be a GREAT fantasy. The actors were good and Charlize...
Nigia Imagines...: About Prometheus...
Nigia Imagines...: About Prometheus...: PROMETHEUS DAMN! Wow! Ok, If you go to see it thinking you want just a scary space story, you will not like it. I repeat, don’t go looking...
Nigia Imagines...: The New York Times GRAPHIC NOVEL Best Sellers List...
Nigia Imagines...: The New York Times GRAPHIC NOVEL Best Sellers List...: I just stumbled upon this. Sorry for the rant. Here I go. Someone tell me exactly when did The New York Times add a Comic Book Best Sellers...
Nigia Imagines...: New to WIne? An Odd Way to Choose a Decent Bottle....
Nigia Imagines...: New to WIne? An Odd Way to Choose a Decent Bottle....: I like wine a great deal. Summer is the perfect time for a chilled glass of the stuff. I was talking to a friend on FB about choosing wine...
New to WIne? An Odd Way to Choose a Decent Bottle.
I like wine a great deal. Summer is the perfect time for a chilled glass of the stuff. I was talking to a friend on FB about choosing wine and thought I'd share this. Here's my tip for those new to drinking wine.
I want to say this without offending anyone. This is an observation I have had over the years and I mean it in the best ways possible. I think it will be helpful in demystifying wine a bit so PLEASE don't FREAK OUT.
I find that wines are like the people that grow them.
California Wines are easy and can be a bit fruity. HOGE is one.
French, Spanish and some German wines are fantastic but more complex and maybe too rich to hang out with most of the time. I can only afford one a month. Funny enough, the Germans make a GREAT sweet wine with a huge name, Gurwurztraminer, its complex, and pricey but worth it.
Anyway... wines from Chile are great! They are cheap but not trash. They are good and flavorful and do what they are supposed to do relatively inexpensively. About $8 to $12 bucks. I would by this over most Australian wines. I feel most that I have tried needed more age and are too sweet but fun to try out.
In white wine, Washington State wines are a more sophisticated, affordable compared to California, more wood and Oak in the end more serious. Chateau San Michelle is one.
On the sweet end, Port is a surprise. It is very sweet, strong but not usually harsh. Great to sip slowly and a bit sexy. It is almost always great tasting starting at $12 bucks and up. If you drink too much and abuse it, will hit you hard in the end.
I think I love the Italian wines the most. Even the reds like cabernet Sauvignon or bubblies like Perseco are not as sweet but over all are softer to me than French or even Spanish wines. Italians drink wine like water and seem to love easy and flavorful on the way down. Gallo Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect combo of California and Italian and can be not obscene to bring to a party with The Recession still going on. Their Sauvignon Blanc is an affordable wine that's great tasting chilled and good with most food combinations. It is great at for a large party, a bit sophisticated than Chardonnay and easy going when you need it.
I'm on a Sauvignon Blanc kick now. Once a week or so, I grab a bottle form Italy or Chile.
I hope this was helpful to you. Enjoy!
I want to say this without offending anyone. This is an observation I have had over the years and I mean it in the best ways possible. I think it will be helpful in demystifying wine a bit so PLEASE don't FREAK OUT.
I find that wines are like the people that grow them.
California Wines are easy and can be a bit fruity. HOGE is one.
French, Spanish and some German wines are fantastic but more complex and maybe too rich to hang out with most of the time. I can only afford one a month. Funny enough, the Germans make a GREAT sweet wine with a huge name, Gurwurztraminer, its complex, and pricey but worth it.
Anyway... wines from Chile are great! They are cheap but not trash. They are good and flavorful and do what they are supposed to do relatively inexpensively. About $8 to $12 bucks. I would by this over most Australian wines. I feel most that I have tried needed more age and are too sweet but fun to try out.
In white wine, Washington State wines are a more sophisticated, affordable compared to California, more wood and Oak in the end more serious. Chateau San Michelle is one.
On the sweet end, Port is a surprise. It is very sweet, strong but not usually harsh. Great to sip slowly and a bit sexy. It is almost always great tasting starting at $12 bucks and up. If you drink too much and abuse it, will hit you hard in the end.
I think I love the Italian wines the most. Even the reds like cabernet Sauvignon or bubblies like Perseco are not as sweet but over all are softer to me than French or even Spanish wines. Italians drink wine like water and seem to love easy and flavorful on the way down. Gallo Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect combo of California and Italian and can be not obscene to bring to a party with The Recession still going on. Their Sauvignon Blanc is an affordable wine that's great tasting chilled and good with most food combinations. It is great at for a large party, a bit sophisticated than Chardonnay and easy going when you need it.
I'm on a Sauvignon Blanc kick now. Once a week or so, I grab a bottle form Italy or Chile.
I hope this was helpful to you. Enjoy!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
The New York Times GRAPHIC NOVEL Best Sellers List. Really? WOW!
I just stumbled upon this. Sorry for the rant. Here I go.
Someone tell me exactly when did The New York Times add a Comic Book Best Sellers List? Oops, I meant Graphic Novel Best Sellers List? How many parents had I met all of my life with incomes across the board, that HATE that their kids draw 'cause they saw no future in it, let alone like comic books? I've met hordes and hordes of parents like this. I guess comics are acceptable now that these stories make HUGE, galactic sized amounts of money. I love the Graphic Novel set up. The general layouts I've enjoyed are typically adult and gorgeous, with smart storytelling, all of this in a quiet package you can hold in your lap or take to the beach. I'm not talking ereader, I'm talking distasteful, tree killed pages of pulp. (Yes, I'm tactile.) I even love harsh old skool stories like "Lone Wolf and Cub" or "Hard Boiled" that's rehashed. These books were the pleasure and language of artist and geeks and various combinations of us for decades. I don't buy them too much these days. Money is tight and I've become very selective in my old age of 43. I'm not impressed by video games like I am with comics. I find my writing is great and often difficult fun but Figuartive Art is my best friend and my eternal lover.
I dig the graphics of video games but to take a static image and tell EVERYTHING, is hot, it takes craft the way animation used to. Geeks/artists and the occasional scientist I knew have ALWAYS known the pleasure and brilliance of comic books but for The Times to have a Best Sellers Listing of them is a shock for me. It must have been around for a few years. Though I read the paper a few times a week, I missed this change. I'm actually pleased in a way but very sad. That means lots of brilliant writing may become less risky, tempered and toned down or spread out thin till it's water down like how Vampire stories are in YA books. Screw it, nearly all mythological animals that can possibly date a human are already drained of substance. I think we have to think of new mythologies to make it interesting again yet, it is something to be in a subway car with a vast mix of folks and hear two twentyish black gals talking about ware-panthers and werewolf combos. It did plant a huge smile on my face.
Anyhow, dose anyone actually follow the recommendations of the NY Times on Graphic Novels? Of course the list is smart and interesting but who can't find something they like at their local comic shop if they are lucky to still have some around, and go from there?
I'm just thinking out loud.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Snow White and The Huntsman & What Went Wrong.
In the briefest statement I can make, this was a good film that was not allowed to be a GREAT fantasy. The actors were good and Charlize Theron will NEVER be topped as the queen. She was remarkable. There are huge gaps like the entire relationship between Snowhite and The Huntsman. Rule number One, in a relationship, everyone introduces themselves eventually. So, what was Strong, Protective and Handsome’s name? How are we supposed to feel any magic or tension in the three way split between The Huntsman, Snow and the boy that was to be her real lover if they leave the “slowly growing together with the older and wiser man parts” on the cutting room floor? Two, stop ripping off Guillermo Del Toro and make up your own dark magical imagery. Three, leave in as much detail as you can about the story and characters. Fantasy lovers are very forgiving. This should have been two huge movies. Fantasy fanatics LOVE detail. If it’s too long, we will see part two. So, go see it in the theater if someone takes you and pays for dinner. Not a bad film but it could have been amazing.
About Prometheus...
PROMETHEUS DAMN! Wow! Ok, If you go to see it thinking you want just a scary space story, you will not like it. I repeat, don’t go looking for ALIEN. It’s not the same. Wrapped around some super nasty, impossible births, deaths and murders, it ask about were we came from and it questions faith and beliefs. It's way more like Robert Heinlein (Green Fields of Earth ) and old school stuff kinda Frank Herbert from Dune (the books) and LOADS of 2001 a Space Odyssey but with lots of super nasty killing. All the actors in it are very good. Not one stands out. I think that is what makes the whole story stand alone and stand alone it dose! Again, it's deep and DARK territory. I wish it was more general in asking who made us and why. There are a lot of more Christian questions and equal amounts of just secular questions as well but not everyone is Christian. I so wish one of the guys in it was Buddhist or Animist or something other. Yet, the film worked for me. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Fixing Issues WIth Amazon
Here is a copy of a note I'd sent to Mimi Wolske, the CEO of Mimi and Mona Publications.
The subject was Amazon problems. Apparently authors often have trouble with some of the stuff Amazon dose. This has been my experience.
"I found that when I joined their Author's Program, they treated me way better. I'd been after them for months on a separate issue and WHAM! In about a day after I'd join, an actual human got back to me and handled the thing. Ever since then, if I contact them about my book, I get an attentive response via e-mail. Then, an actual person and it gets handled. I'm not sure if this info will help with any of this but its good to know."
My page on Amazon is
I still have to fill it out but it's present.
My website for my last book A Time of Blood and Fire is
I hope it helps more people sort through Amazon issues.
N.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Feeding Your Muse
I found myself in a rut. There were lots of sad and stressful things in the early part of this year that nearly drowned me. Working like a dog in my day job then having surgery, death of a loved one, fighting addiction issues with a number of people dear to me threatened to do me in. Then, while recovering from surgery, I began a new novel. At first, I felt guilty as my head went off into a Steampunk dreamworld of sex and Jamaica and pirates and such. Soon after though, I felt blessed by my creativity that I didn't crawl into a bottle or worse. I am so grateful to not have cracked up completely. As things got worse, I found far less time to write. I thought the new story would die outta me but I did somethings I recommend for everyone facing such harsh times and need to not clog up creatively and permanently. It's like crawling from a trench flooded with bodies, blood and ruined lives to the safty of firmer ground, discovering something loving, quiet and pleasurable.
To feed your Muse through such emotional wars, I recommend these actions...
STEAL TIME. No one needs us to be connected by phone 24 hour, seven days a week.
DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. If you can, don't even check it once you have that precious "alone" moment while you are enjoying it. I don't give a damn what excuse anyone gives you, even the finest Doctor has a moment away from the phone. I visited Forbidden Planet Comics here in NYC and brought "The Art of The Dragon" and "SAGA" a new comic from Image. I looked at and made plans to buy a HUGE tome on Alan Moore. This was a massive leap away from the horror my life was spinning in an out of.
Another helpful thing I did was instead of endlessly talking to friends and family over and over about the stuff going on, I'd take that half hour I'd spend on the phone after the more critical stuff was over and write. I found that I'd spent lots of moments talking with people about stuff that was no longer in my control and I suspect many of people do.
Taking the long route to and from work to grab a few more moments on the way home via the park and or, to pass some gallery widows or a Museum facade was super helpful. It was a promise to myself that I'll get back THERE. The numbness began to subside. Lastly, all the goofball affirmations that are squirted out like ketchup from well meaning friends, I avoided. I found words and sayings that meant far more to me then, I shared them. As a result, I receive images and affirmations from friends that understand my needs online. My story "Gold Veil Angel" is flowing now. The moment there was a break, I snatched two days at the beach then, my fiance and I took a weekend away. We did it the very cheapest ways we could and it worked. No matter how broke you are, steal time for yourself, buy one creative item or join a Library and borrow a good book you can actually touch, take a tiny vacation no matter how broke you are to avoid a nervous breakdown just as long as the most basic stuff is cared for first. Above all else, love what project you are working on and completely ignore the phone from time to time.
I'm pretty sure my next selfish moment will be to find a few hours to see Snow White and The Huntsman. YES, I think seeing a movie that is not on Netflix, count as feeding the Muse.
To feed your Muse through such emotional wars, I recommend these actions...
STEAL TIME. No one needs us to be connected by phone 24 hour, seven days a week.
DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. If you can, don't even check it once you have that precious "alone" moment while you are enjoying it. I don't give a damn what excuse anyone gives you, even the finest Doctor has a moment away from the phone. I visited Forbidden Planet Comics here in NYC and brought "The Art of The Dragon" and "SAGA" a new comic from Image. I looked at and made plans to buy a HUGE tome on Alan Moore. This was a massive leap away from the horror my life was spinning in an out of.
Another helpful thing I did was instead of endlessly talking to friends and family over and over about the stuff going on, I'd take that half hour I'd spend on the phone after the more critical stuff was over and write. I found that I'd spent lots of moments talking with people about stuff that was no longer in my control and I suspect many of people do.
Taking the long route to and from work to grab a few more moments on the way home via the park and or, to pass some gallery widows or a Museum facade was super helpful. It was a promise to myself that I'll get back THERE. The numbness began to subside. Lastly, all the goofball affirmations that are squirted out like ketchup from well meaning friends, I avoided. I found words and sayings that meant far more to me then, I shared them. As a result, I receive images and affirmations from friends that understand my needs online. My story "Gold Veil Angel" is flowing now. The moment there was a break, I snatched two days at the beach then, my fiance and I took a weekend away. We did it the very cheapest ways we could and it worked. No matter how broke you are, steal time for yourself, buy one creative item or join a Library and borrow a good book you can actually touch, take a tiny vacation no matter how broke you are to avoid a nervous breakdown just as long as the most basic stuff is cared for first. Above all else, love what project you are working on and completely ignore the phone from time to time.
I'm pretty sure my next selfish moment will be to find a few hours to see Snow White and The Huntsman. YES, I think seeing a movie that is not on Netflix, count as feeding the Muse.
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