Ryan

My nine favourite films of 2009. LImited, obviously, to the movies I saw, which means they're slanted heavily towards Hollywood, English-language stuff - it was that kind of year for me. No real metric of "objective quality" is in place here, it's just a question of how much I liked it.

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Another #fridayflash original by Ryan Harron:

Just as Norman had gotten himself settled in, the man in the tall hat sat in front of him. It was curious, as far as hats went; obviously something that at one point had been popular, but not a style that he was familiar with. The stylishness of it wasn't really the point, though. Norman's main concern with the hat was that it was completely blocking his field of vision.
He checked his watch. Norman's usual behaviour, when this sort of thing happened, was to just suffer in silent indignation. He had had many experiences, in theaters, cinemas, and concert halls, where he was only ever able to see the edges of what was happening. This was a special occasion, however. He had come too far to miss out on this one.
Working up all the courage that he had, Norman tapped the man on the shoulder, which was promptly ignored. He tapped again, this time clearly his throat as loudly and as obviously as he could.
The man turned around and stared ruefully at Norman. “Do you mind?” he asked, in a way that made it clear to Norman that was he actually meant was “fuck you”.
“Could you, uhm, maybe, possibly, take your hat off?” Norman asked.
The man stared at him for a moment. “No, I'm afraid I really couldn't,” he finally said, his slow, British accent revealing him as being from the Victorian era.
“Why not?” Norman asked, surprised.
“I'm afraid,” the man said, “that my physician has advised me I must keep my hair covered at all times. doing otherwise causes a chill on the brain, you know, and who knows what sorts of nasty complaints that could give rise to?”
Norman sighed. Victorians were always terrible about this sort of thing.
“Well,” he said, “it's just that ... Well, I can't really see what's going on. Your hat is getting in the way.”
“Oh, dear boy, that is terrible,” the man in the hat said, shaking his head slightly. “Could you maybe move to another location?”
“There's nowhere else,” Norman said. “All the other seats are taken.”
“Oh, that's terribly unfortunate,” the man said. “Wish there was something I could to be of assistance to you.”
“Well,” Norman said, “you could always take the hat off.”
Norman received another of the “fuck you” looks. “I'm afraid not, as I have explained to you,” the man said. “Now, if you don't mind, the show's about to start.”
The man turned around, ignoring Norman. Norman once again tried the tapping and throat-clearing techniques, but again nothing happened. Norman then went to extreme measures, grabbing the hat and lifting it off of the man's head.
The man quickly turned around, snatching the hat away from Norman. “What do you think you're doing?” he half-asked, half-yelled.
Norman had had enough. “Listen, buddy,” he said, “I didn't travel back to the dawn of time just to look at the back of your fool head! Take the damn thing off!”
The man took the hat off, and as he did, Norman felt a wave of accomplishment roll over him. Then, without any warning or ceremony, the Big Bang began. All of the spectators stood up, rushing to press themselves against the glass of the temporal observation booth to get the best view possible. It was all more beautiful than Norman had imagined it would be, and he was so glad he'd devoted his life to building that time machine..

This one feels a little unfinished, but I've run out of time to edit it, so it's going to have to be good enough :o)

"The Family Stew"
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I've never believed in love at first sight, but there she was, staring at me from across the piazza as I sipped a glass of '97 Tunina. As soon as my eyes met hers I knew that everything that I had ever thought about love was going right out the window.

She slowly walked across the Piazza de Spagna. I could hear her every step, the heels of her shoes creating a rhythm that my heart raced to match. All the other sounds throughout the piazza fell away, and I knew that she was crossing it just to talk to me.

I rose up from the cafe table just as she approached, bowing to her.

“Buona sera,” she said with a voice that was sweet, yet raspy. The words seemed to dance off her tongue and across her lips, mamboing into my ears with a gentle caress.

“Uh, hi,” I stammered out in response. Even after all these years in Rome, I still default to English when I get nervous.

Our timeless moment was shattered by the shrill sound of a police whistle. She snapped her head around in the direction of the whistle in a way that told me that, whatever they wanted her for, she was guilty. I didn't care. In that moment I would have fought Rome's entire police force to keep her safe.

She didn't seem to agree that that was the best courses of action, however. As quick as she could, she reached into her purse, pulling out a pendant on a simple gold chain, a blank business card, and a pen. She hastily put the pendant around her neck, and then wrote something down on the business card.

“We'll have to continue this another time, mi amore,” she said, a smile breaking across her beautiful face. “Meet me here,” she said, handing the card to me. “Meet me here, and meet me then.”

I looked at the card – it had a set of latitude and longitude coordinates, as well as a date – March 14, 1956. I paused for a moment to marvel at how exquisite her handwriting was, even when she was so rushed, and then looked up from the card in just enough time to see her clasping the pendant around her neck. There was a bright flash of light, and then she was gone.

Crap, I thought to myself. I'm going to need a time machine.

We gather in the courtyard as the king takes to his podium. I know we'll be able to hear him, even though the entire courtyard is filled to the brim with soldiers, because his wizards have worked their magic well.
"Noble warriors," he calls out, "our hour of destiny is at hand. Our enemies are at our gates, seeking to overthrow me and take back the princess that journeyed so far to be with us."
He motions to the princess, who stands beside him, and the crowd breaks out into a clamour of fear and excitement. I'm not ashamed to say I join in on it. After all, was the coming of the princess not ordained by the gods? Did it not herald the rise and rebirth of our kingdom?
The king motions for us to quiet, and we obey. "Our enemies have started to spread lies about their warrior," he tells us, and I nod in agreement. I have heard the stories: that he can grow to staggering heights, spit fire, and even transform into a tanuki, flying and turning his body to stone. I know, however, that these are only stories they tell to hatchlings to frighten them.
"They tell us that we may strike him down once, twice, even thrice, but he will continue to rise against us," the king tells us. I hadn't heard that one. "I know, however," he continues, "that we shall strike him down a million times if need be, until he can rise no more!"
The crowd erupts into cheers as the king pumps his fist into the air. I feel a tingle of ecstasy run down my shell and into my wings. I know, if he commands it, I will gladly die for him at this moment.
"Go forward!" he tells us, and we know what he's going to say next, so we join in, yelling as one. "For glory! For honour! FOR KOOPA!"



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(yeah, kind of cheesy, I know, and kind of dependent on you being familiar with Super Mario Bros, but the idea struck me and I decided to run with it)

I've created a profile on www.smashwords.com, an online service that allows authors to sell ebook versions of their works. No 'new' content on there, just some of the same short stories that are available on my website, but formatted in a way that they can be read on your Kindle, Iphone, PDA, and etc. It seems like an interesting and useful service.

Check my work out, if you're so inclined, at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/harron

I've never really been much for non-fiction writing, but I've been trying to branch out lately.

As a result, I've been writing comic book reviews at The Phantom Zone, and reviewing the 2009 Polaris Prize shortlist at http://www.polarisprize.blogspot.com.  I'm feeling at times like I'm a little out of my element with it, but both have been a fun ride so far.

If you're reading this, you're more than likely familiar with Star Wars, as a cultural touchstone if nothing more. After the success of the original trilogy, Lucas authorized the continuation of the story in a series of novels, the first of which was published in 1992 and looked at the attempts by the Rebels to build a new galactic order after the death of the Emperor. The New Jedi Order, specifically, picks up the story 20 years after the end of Return of the Jedi, where a new generation of Jedi have to stand against a new menace that threatens their very existence.

( Cut for length and for spoilers ... )

Note: Spoilers for the current season of 24 below.

As anyone who knows me knows, I've read a lot of superhero comics in my day. One of the character types that tends to reoccur is that of the patriotic hero, most popularly seen in a character such as Marvel's Captain America. It's an interesting character type, because it allows for an analysis of a country's ideals versus its reality. As a recent example, there was Micah Wright's Citizen Soldier in Stormwatch a few years ago. The plot of the arc was that there was an undying "Spirit of American Revolution" that acted like a guardian angel, being reincarnated in moments of great crisis for the American people. The current Citizen Soldier was one that felt the Bush administration had commited gross and egregious crimes against its own people, and as such waged war against the American government.

While it started as a comic book hero archetype, it's been applied in other media as well, and I think Jack Bauer from 24 is an interesting iteration of this hero type. 24 has been criticized, in some quarters, of having an unfair right-wing bias. When you first see it, as well, it's easy to interpret it that way; the world of 24 is one where America is constantly threatened by terrorist threats that are real and credible, and as such its defenders have to take extraordinary measures in order to combat those threats.

Despite that, though, I've felt for a while that there's a lefty undercurrent of subversion to the show at the same time. While there are terrorist threats against the US in the show, they show time and time again that the greatest source of those threats are the military-industrial complex, if not those in the halls of government power. For each of the past four seasons, we've seen that the greatest threats come from within.

What's most interesting, and most subversive, though, is when we look at 24's own Captain America, Jack Bauer. Jack is, at heart, someone who wants to be a good person. He has committed horrible acts, and has admitted to such, but we've constantly seen in Sutherland's performance that doing so has slowly torn the man apart. Much like the Operative from Serenity, he believes in building a Utopia, but realizes at the same time that it is a place that he could never comfortably live. When you've taught someone to be nothing more than a killer and torturer, what becomes of him when there are no more wars left to fight?

In the current season, we see that taken to its logical conclusion; Jack was exposed to a "prion variant bioweapon" that is destroying his mind and body. This is the end of Bauer; his wars have brought an end to him, with the commentary being that America has brought itself to the verge of destruction in its actions over the past decade. Hopefully, as much as I've enjoyed watching Jack over the past years, this will be his swan song, and he'll be able to rest after this season, reflecting the new government administration's hopes to end the failed policies of the "War on Terror".