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July 21, 2006
Clerks II
You will believe in a crack-smoking donkey-f'er
Summary: See it.
There. Now you don't need to read the rest of this review. But if you're actually curious as to what my views of the film are, then read on. I'm not going to cover any of the plot points but I will discuss the movie in two separate ways:
1. For those who have never watched a Kevin Smith movie:
You will most likely be wondering why half the audience is laughing when nothing is apparently happening on screen. Don't worry about it, you're just the schlep who didn't bother to watch the original Clerks before going to see the sequel. And you may be shocked, appalled, or just plain offended by what you see and hear during the film if you are a person who is regularly told to "get the stick out of your ass". But again, this is completely your own fault. There have been ads out for months warning that the material may be offensive.2. For those who have seen and are fans of the original and/or cartoon spin-off.So dislodge your blockage and enjoy the ride because, contrary to popular opinion, Smith does manage to write poignantly about life, love (both romantic and platonic), and the human condition. He just won't unnecessarily dress it up or flog the audience with it. If Kevin Smith's film making has one flaw it is this: he does not think his audience is dumb.
Come to think of it, flogging may be the only subject not covered in Clerk II.
This movie delivers on every front you could have wanted. And that's probably all you wanted to know. Besides, you're going to see it regardless of what anyone might say. You won't let some prissy critic decide for you what is or is not good art.
But unfortunately, there was one thing about Clerks II that did sadden me. It reminded me how much I miss New Jersey.
Posted by Skayhan at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2006
History of the Traviss Affair
This history is by no means complete and focuses primarily on Traviss's statements.
May 2005
"Foreshadowing"
LiveJournal Blog: May 26, 2005 Neologism of the Day
Traviss discovers the term "Talifan" in relation to the work of another media tie-in writer.
September 2005
"And so it begins..."
TheForce.net Literature Forum: Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic (Sept 20)
(this is the last page where Karen Traviss participates)
Board members begin questioning the veracity of 3 million(+) clones. Traviss and Kaufmann attempt to answer these questions but their answers (save one by Kaufmann stating that the number "does not represent the entire fighting force") are not found satisfying to those who find the number too small.
After the authors' departure from the thread, the debate continues and becomes somewhat heated as these discussions do (SSD length), but that is part of the normal canon debate process; strongly held opinions will be strongly defended. However there was no flaming of Traviss or Kaufmann in that thread.
October 2005
"The Fuse is Lit"
Karen Traviss on her SW.com Blog
Special Forces (Oct 1)
Why Maths is a Slippery Slope in the GFFA (Oct 2)
Ms. Traviss continues her defense of the 3 million clone numbers. In the first link above is the first known claim by Traviss that she is being flamed somewhat over this.
Karen Traviss on LiveJournal (Oct 2): Worst.Episode.Ever.
Traviss's first use of the term "Talifan" to describe her critics. She thanks Dark Moose for "riding to my rescue in the Talifan Wars". This is likely a reference to threads and member blogs on SW.com discussing the clone number issue that were heavily moderated.
Karen Traviss on SW.com (Oct 6): Angels Pinheads and Inquisitions
This post is where it all really began to go to hell. "Techies/Fleet Junkies/Saxtonites" felt that they were being insulted by Ms. Traviss on the way they choose to enjoy their hobby and on their personal lives (unable to distinguish between fiction and reality). If this post was an attempt to calm both sides of the debate it failed utterly for, right or wrong, it is from this point on that clone discussions on various Star Wars related webboards become more heated and more focused on Karen Traviss herself.
TheForce.net Literature Forum: (Oct 15) Making the Boards Safe for Ms. Traviss's Return
Saxtonites are accused of driving/keeping Karen Traviss off the boards with rude and insulting behavior. While repetatively challenged to present evidence of anyone flaming either Traviss or Kaufmann on TFN, none is found or presented.
April 2006
"Using Gasoline to Put Out a Fire"
Star Wars Insider #87: Odds by Karen Traviss
TheForce.net Forums: ODDS in Insider 87 (Controversial Issues Abound) (April 2)
Stardestroyer.net Forums: The Size of the Droid Army "Retconned" (April 9)
A retconn that is intended to lower the canon number of driod soldiers which had previously been quantified as quadrillion or quintillion (Lord of War, RotS:ICS). While accepting its place in official hierarchy, critics (same people as those who railed against the 3 million) claimed that this went against prior EU sources and is over-ruled by the droid factory scene in AotC. More importantly, they claimed this was a poor attempt by Traviss to explain how the three million clones were enough to fight the Clone Wars which was now considered a "brush fire" and not a major conflict. Basically, this opened up a new front in the flamewar.
GalacticSenate.com Forums: (April 10) Republic Commando Sequel: Triple Zero
In a discussion of numbers (again), (an exasperated?) Karen Traviss twice accuses her critics of sexism: "Every argument I see that I - and Ryan, too - but it's obviously more rewarding to attack a woman)" and "This final comment isn't directed at you, but is a general observation about the tone of the attacks on me since last September: they are highly emotional and gynophobic." Her detractors see this as another unfounded attack on their persons. Traviss also states her distaste of the TFN forums.
Karen Traviss on LiveJournal (April 13): Nuts... or there but for the grace of God
What little chance of peace that existed between Traviss and her critics vanished with the appearance of this post. This is the source of the now infamous quote "My gut reaction is that they all need garroting, but my rational self finds it all... fascinating." It also had the effect of drawing in people that previously had no interest in the clone number debates but found Traviss's statements bewildering and distressing.
Wayne Poe: The Karen Traviss Database (April 14): Talifan!
(Note: the linked page was not written until May; the video is at the bottom of the page. The page also contains further history of the flamewar from Poe's perspective.)
Created in response to Karen Traviss's recent blog post, Talifan! is a film intended to satirize (albeit lacking subtlety) the whole Traviss affair. However, Traviss and her supporters saw it as a violent "revenge fantasy" and point to it as an example of what a Talifan is and the extreme lengths they go to.
May 2006
"Spreading the Love"
You are Dumb Forums (May 5)
Lee Goldberg LiveJournal (May 26, 2005)
Examples of Karen Traviss visiting other non-SW sites to raise awareness of the Talifan. In the second link this involved resurrecting a year old post.
June/July 2006
"18.5 Missing Minutes"
Traviss deletes blog posts on both LiveJournal and SW.com that reference the clone numbers or Talifan.
These, to the best of my knowledge, are the major events in this fracas. Since Traviss never directly quoted any instances of sexism, libelling, or threats, I could not document them. Talifan! might be seen as the exception, but I could argue its designation as satire and point out what and how it is parodying if needs be.
This post will be revised and updated over time.
Posted by Skayhan at 02:33 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2006
It's not the Crime but the Coverup
July 18: This post was heavily redacted to save being redundant with the timeline posted above.
Karen Traviss has apparently undertaken the task of deleting any blog posts of hers that may not reflect well upon her in order to perpetuate her claims of being an innocent victim in the clone numbers flamewar. I might have considered the deletions as a mea culpa had it been accompanied by any sort of apology, but there is none.
Therefore, in order to preserve history from this Orwellian purge, I saved as many files from the Google Cache so it would remain possible to trace the course of this schism between author and fans.
Posted by Skayhan at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
Next Summer's Blockbuster
With all the remakes and reimaginings, I would hardly be surprised.
Posted by Skayhan at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)