cowgirl blues

My first experience with Tom Robbins was when I was about 25 or so. Skinny Legs and All had just come out in paperback; my Mom and Dad had read it and its was making the rounds in my family. That would been around 1990-91, not long after that book first came out. Robbins is not one of those super-prolific, book a year or four a year kind of writers. Skinny Legs sits at the middle point of his 8 published novels, which span from 1971 to 2003. Robbins is getting close to 90 now, so maybe he has slowed down. I don't have high hopes that we'll see another novel, but who knows, the man is a genius.*

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is Robbins's second novel, published in 1976. So how does this 45 year old book hold up? Wrong question. Sure, you can hear the crackle of Nixon/Ford, the sigh of the ERA's recent passage, the swish of polyester slacks, and the squish of the still young sexual revolution, positively pulsing in the pages of this book. But what sets it apart (other than the quirkiness) is the philosophical undercurrent. 

I don't know enough about Robbins to call him an anarchist or a hedonist, which are two that come to mind, but I think the former is more accurate than the latter. He does seem to advocate free love, but seems more interested in each individual's right to govern what is right for them, and to police ones-self by entering into relationships based on what is right for each of the participants. It seems clear that social constructs such as marriage and monogamy don't appeal to him. He seems to place larger social constructs, such as government and laws, in the same boat, along with more vague notions, like our collective notion of adulthood.  He goes as far as to say that a kind magic exists--or is even brought about by--the relationships that people have with those around them, and all the people, places, and things they come into contact with.

Sissy Hankshaw is the main protagonist in Cowgirls, and she was born with a gift that allows her to excel in her chosen field. So much so, that her understanding of, and her relationship with her chosen field expands to the point where it intersects with everything else. keanu-like whoa  This is another of Robbins's beliefs: it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you can get there. Its another branch of the same theory: doing what is right for yourself.

Importantly, he ties all of these personal freedom issues together with a ribbon of peace. He clearly believes that the ideas he is advocating are for the self, and while he believes these idea should be shared he does not think they should be preached. he doesn't believe in any kind of preaching it seems Just as he does not think one should fight against what we don't believe in, only ignore it as much as possible. Its the long game: change not by revolution, not by revolt, but person to person. It seems like he believes that we can love one another to change.

Robbins's stories are peppered with strange facts, that he seems to have carefully researched and included in the story, almost arbitrarily; using these little know tidbits as analogies and metaphors for events in the story, in only the most stretched and contorted ways possible. They often come up at the ends of chapters, and there is little breaking of the fourth wall when it happens.

There is really too much to cover in a book review like this. Robbins seems to be winking at us with his impish grin on every page. This is the kind of book I imagine that Rolling Stone, Playboy and National Lampoon, all would have recommended when it came out.**

Surprisingly enough, Cowgirls was adapted into a movie directed by Gus Van Sant in 1993, with Uma Thurman playing Sissy Hankshaw. Not a big hit at the time; and 19% on the Tomatometer as of this writing. All star cast too. Should have been good, but maybe Robbins's ideas are just too difficult to capture in a movie.

Read this book. Then read the others.

* Tom Robbins was born in 1932, so he'll be 89 in July. He published a collection of essays in 2005, a novella about beer in 2009, and what he called an un-memoir in 2014.

** If anyone knows this, let me know in the comments .

end game

Its been a while since I put up a book review. I just finished End Game by David Baldacci. My wife likes this author's books, so we've got some of them around and I think I've read a number of them, but they don't seem as good overall as some of the other folks in this genre.

End Game is the fifth installment in the Robie and Reel series. This is called the Will Robie Series on Baldacci's website, and I assume that is because it started out with him, and Jessica Reel came after. Another quick look at Baldacci's website reveals that Reel shows up in the second book in the series; The Hit.

This is a pretty easy read, and follows our two heroes to a quiet part of the country where folks can live away from the fuss of urban live, and have the freedom to do what they like. Referred to in the book as flyover country. The freedoms here include open carry laws, very little government, and even less oversight, which, in Robie and Reel's case, means very little to prevent unsavory types from setting up shop. So there are skinheads, and Nazis, and cult groups hanging out in the local tavern in the small town they are sent to to find someone. It seems like everywhere they turn, they run into some other odd neighbor, and everyone has secrets.

I haven't read the rest of this series, but I don't think its a spoiler to say that Robie is an assassin, and Reel is a sniper. Given that, I guess I don't see why these two were sent to look for someone, regardless of how dangerous the locals may turn out to be. Seems like someone with some detective skills may have been a better choice.

If you've been reading along in this series, I'm not sure how you'll feel about this one, but that's only because I don't think I've read any of the others. Of course, after I typed that, I went and took a look in The Books section of this blog, and I found that I have read one of these; the aforementioned The Hit, and I apparently enjoyed it. So I'll revise my earlier statement and say that End Game isn't as good as that one.

wonder woman suit redesign - part iii, final

Wonder Woman Suit by Phil O'Brien, 2021

 

Here's what I came up with. click on the image to bigerize it I actually did this drawing and one more version, which I'll put in down below so you can see why I decided against it, just recently.

I worked on the original design drawings late last year, and I'm just getting to the posts on these things now. I'm not sure why, but its been fun to do. After working on the posting of the drawings I did a while ago, I got to thinking about some fine tuning. I had some favorites in the Wonder Woman sketches I did and so I took those and worked on adding back a little bit of that iconography that helps identify Wonder Woman. Even tho I don't like the tiara, I can see why the numerous folks that have redesigned her suit have kept it; its a really strong icon.

If you take a peek below, you'll see an image of the lorica musculata or muscle cuirass I talked about in my earlier post redesigned with the eagle similar to Gal Gadot's from the movies. I tried to incorporate that better into the breast plate and tried to avoid the eagle's head sticking way up over her chest, which seems a little dumb to me. I was bale to pull that off, but ended up with an eagle design that is just too... eagley?

My other favorite design from my earlier versions is the red armored top, so I took that and incorporated a stylized eagle wing design inspired by the Linda Carter TV version; the later one. The early design of that top is horrible. Here's a picture of the later design from the 70s TV show with the stylized eagle wings I used for inspiration for mine.

Its a subtlety in my design, but I've also picked up on the interlaced Ws used on the Gal Gadot suit. I didn't use the Ws myself, because why would the amazons fabricate a suit with WW on it when they had no idea Americans would call Diana Wonder Woman. My design just picks up on the weaving idea.

Here's that other design with the eagle armor that is over the top. Fun, but a little campy.

Let me know what you think, nerds!

wonder woman suit redesign - part the second

You can read about some of the recent history of Wonder Woman's super suit, and my problems with it, in a previous post. In that post, I planned to write a few quick thoughts and then get to my design efforts, but I guess I had more to say than I thought. 

My redesign efforts are driven by improving on Wonder Woman's suit; to make it better, more usable (and user friendly) and perhaps a little more dignified. I won't repeat what I don't like here, you can read about on my other post. I did have some goals I set for myself for the redesign, which you may or may not agree with, but I felt it was important for the task I set myself to understand those goals.

Design a suit for Wonder Woman that:

• Is flexible, usable, and comfortable to wear
• Is suited to the tasks and challenges the user may undertake
• Is robust enough to withstand the wear and tear expected
• Is identifiable and iconic, appropriate to the wearer's status as a hero, both in reality, and within the reality which the wearer is extant
• Is dignified. In other words, evocative of the wearer's heroism foremost, as opposed to her sexuality

I think there is room in a design challenge like this to keep a lot of what we think of as Wonder Woman's iconography. Part of that image IS her sexuality, and I would argue that is the case for most superheros, male and female alike. the ladies in my life are like, 'oh, Thor!' As part of this endeavor, I've tried to think of it this way: If Wonder Woman was to design her own suit, even assuming she is aware of the history of her suit design over the years, what is she likely to want to improve upon? What would her goals be? I have a hard time thinking her goals would include things like: 'more thigh,' or the irreconcilable 'armor here, but completely naked there.' *

I tried a series of things--some are just variations--so I stuck them in a simple movie so you can see what I did and how it evolved. [UPDATE: The movie was a bust, Blogger potatoed it, so I junked it put in pics] started with a two part suit, long sleeve red top, long blue pants, red boots, gold trim. Simple, but I thought it could be simpler, so I removed the gold star and the boots. [CLICK on the images for a larger view, and you can scroll thru them]

Next I added a gold breast plate that extends over the shoulders, as most armor breast plates do. A variation of that is the armored breast plate without the red long sleeve shirt.

The last three are variations, showing a lower cut breast plate built into the top. Tactical clothing or armor integrated into the clothing, so its red with a faceted red breast plate, red with faceted gold breast plate,and last is a gold breast plate, sleeveless, with a red tint on the some of the gold plating.

I'd still like to look into how to incorporate the eagle insignia, and I have some ideas about simplifying that similar to what I did with the Superman logo. I would also like to think a little more about lariat carrying and storage. A rope hanging at your side seems like a hazard, and because its used pretty rarely, I think storing it in suit on the lower back or something may be better.

And the sword and shield? Those are a newer developments, and tho a sword has been used occasionally in the comics, it didn't really show up consistently until the New 52, in 2011. And of course the movie from a few years ago figured them prominently, but not in the newest one. My biggest problem with them: Wonder Woman doesn't need them, so in keeping with my simplification ideal, I'm going to ignore them and assume that if needed, she can strap on a sword belt, baldric, or back sling as needed.

 So... more to come...?

* You're right, I'm not a woman, and I'm not a super hero, so maybe I'm not the best person to make decisions like this on Wonder Woman's behalf. Moreover, Wonder Woman's creators may have written the character with the personality traits that embrace the design of her suit as it is. Its hard to argue with an author, but, as with Superman, these heroes have so long been a part of our pop culture, that I feel some ownership.

wonder woman uniform re-design

Why is Wonder Woman naked?

All the men get to wear clothes.

I actually had ideas about Wonder Woman's uniform* before I started working on Superman's suit redesign. It seems to me that the 1941 Wonder Woman was dressed as a hero which reflected the time in which she was developed, regardless of how forward thinking and empowering the ideas behind her development were. Diana's suit has been updated over time, and the flowing, star-studded skirt has taken on the appearance of a Roman centurion's cingulum militare; those straps of metal studded leather or baltea, worn hanging down over the lower part of their tunic. The eagle adorned bustier has become a gold lorica musculata or muscle cuirass; the Roman decorative breast plates with muscles (and other decorations) formed into the metal. These were normally only used for parades and other showy events, by folks really high up, like the Caesar. The bullet deflecting bracelets have become vambraces. And the high-heeled red boots, have become a combination of centurion sandals, or caligae, and greaves. they still have high heels, but they're 3 or 4 inch wedges now, so much more practical for crime fighting

The Wonder Woman movie of a few years ago and a lot of the current comic book art mostly agree on these updates to the suit, and depending on what issue you're looking at they're pretty consistent, altho there are some variations. I haven't seen the current movie, but I have seen an image or two that lead me to believe there is a special suit that is different there, and the comics have certainly had suit variations as well. There has even been some versions of the suit with pants, from Jim Lee's 2010 version with what looks like a bolero coat with the sleeves magically pushed up, and the ill-fated 2011 TV pilot.

Now in 2015, a new suit rolled out that picked up on the pants idea, and ran with it, adding an apron looking (loincloth?) thing over the pants, and some gold pauldrons to the breast plate, and some wicked, Conan-esque, stabby looking things that shot out from her bracelets (vambraces) and some thigh-high boots. All in all, not bad, in that it does check off some of the boxes for me: the most import being getting her out of a bathing suit and into a super suit. The 2010 and 2011 efforts did that as well, but what they all have in common is that they are too complicated, and they all include the tiara. Call it a headband if it makes you feel better nerds, the whole 'every little girl wants to be a princess' trope is not what we need now.

What we need is a super suit designed for a woman that provides what she needs, and eliminates what she doesn't.

What she doesn't need is her arms and legs hanging out there. I know she invisible, but so is Superman, he's got pants. She also doesn't need sharp, pointy bits of metal poking up at the top of her armored breast plate. And I'm pretty sure she doesn't need 4-inch wedge heels.

What I think Wonder Woman does need is a simple, dignified super suit, which recalls her history and iconography so that she is identifiable. Why is that important, out may ask, even if you are playing devil's advocate? I think its important because in both reality, AND in Wonder Woman's fictitious universe, she is a symbol; of peace, and standing up against evil and violence. As such, her symbolism needs to be acknowledged. speaking of violence, if you're standing up against violence, I'm not sure the aforementioned punching knives are most peacekeeping or elegant weapon for Wonder Woman to wield.

So what did I come up with? Actually, I came up with some options. Its kind of a kit of parts, which can be changed out depending on the task, or the weather.

Wonder Woman Suit redesign by Phil O'Brien, Option 6

More to come.

*Costume? super suit? kit? PPE? Lets say suit, mostly what I see on the interwebs seems to say suit.

superman uniform redux 2

My Design - Click for larger view

As I mentioned in recent post, I've had these ideas about redesigning--and simplifying--Superman's uniform for a while. Its an idea that's been rocking around in my head for a while but I think it may have been the collective nerd whine that went out following the recent movie version of Superman that eliminated the traditional red short pants from Superman's suit. is suit better than uniform? proly more standard [this shrug is for you, nerds]

I've always thought the short pants looked like super-tightey-whiteys, or something,  so my earliest thoughts were about getting rid of those. Just looks like he got dressed in the dark. The little yellow belt helps a little, but its still a little like a European style swimsuit, you know, hot pants for gentlemen.

 

1947(?) comic, used w/o permission

I've also had some other issues with the suit, that are really based on usability and practically. Yes, I get that Kal-El is an alien, and I'm projecting my petty human fashion sense onto his more advanced cultural ways, but come on, I'm not sure it was absolutely clear to his parents what his powers would be when he got to earth, so the cape idea seems a little odd to me, and what has bothered me for a while now is not the idea of a cape. This isn't one of those "No Capes!" mandates laid down by Edna from The Incredibles, this is a design issue. The cape makes no sense, and adds no value to the uniform. Actually, where the cape meets the collar of the suit, it just kind of tucks in, all bunched up on either side, like... no other cape, anywhere. A cape is an article of outerwear, like a coat. Its not just tucked into your crew-necked jersey. 

Its like sewing your scarf onto your shirt: dumb.

Christopher Reeves Superman used w/o permission

The Superman played by Tyler Hoechlin on the Supergirl* TV show tries to solve the dumb cape connection with some heavy straps to anchor it to the suit. Henry Cavill's Superman also has some anchors built into the collar for the cape to engage the suit in a more sensible way.

Why do I point out these examples of other cape connection ideas, simply because other designers have noticed that the cape jammed into the shirt is dumb, and they've all tried to solve this problem. I've eliminated the problem. what holds the cape inside the shirt, safety pins?

Lastly is the red boots, with the pointed tops. Not sure why they're necessary, and they just complicate the overall design. I've streamlined the boots out, integrating them into the suit. And streamline is the word,  the driver, behind my redesign. I've tried to recall the idea, or flourish of a cape by pulling the red down over the shoulders and engaging the El crest. I envision this front and back, by the way.

I've also added a mandarin style collar instead of the boat neck that has traditionally been used, probably because they needed the extra room to jam in the cape. Boat neck just doesn't say uniform. No boots, no cape, no hot pants, no make-pretend belt Henry Cavill suit, I'm looking at you just a simple, identifiable supersuit. More about my redesign of the Superman crest is here.

UPDATE: While working on my recent Wonder Woman suit redesign post I ran across this article from DC which shows a superman suit redesign with a very similar red triangular section on the chest which incorporates the insignia, and eliminates the cape. Still looks they've got him in underpants and red boots but its hard to tell. This also looks like one of their different universe editions, but I'm not a comics guy.

*The original uniform (with the skirt) that Supergirl wore in the current TV show still had the cape-collar-jam, which was even worse than Reeves, given that her collar was more open because shes a girl and we need to see some collar bones? but the current suit (with pants)** has a similar cape anchor strap design to her cousin's in the more recent seasons.

 **I've also been looking at Wonder Woman's uniform, and I have been since before Supergirl got pants. When I saw that Supergirl got pants, my first thought was, hey, I was thinking the same thing for Wonder Woman. Its just looks odd when she stands next to Superman and Batman, and she's half naked, and they are dressed head to toe. More soon...

boooooo

January 6, 2021

Boooo!

Boo on terrorism on your own front lawn, dressed up as patriotism.

Boo on violence as a vehicle to deliver your message.

Boo on disrupting the work of our elected officials, and maybe more importantly, the regular people that work as public servants for all of us everyday.

Boo on asking armed militia to stand down and stand-by, presumably to "stand-by" for a day like today.

Boo on lies and incitement to violence by a sitting president.

Boo on a halfhearted, recorded message from the president that led with more lies, and buried the most important part of the message, which is to disburse.

Boo on the obvious glee the president feels--and showed in his video message--at the unrest he incited, and fools himself into believing has spontaneously arose in the people. (It didn't)

Boo on the end of peaceful transition of the power of the presidency, created by the pettiness and insecurity of the president.

Boo on the toxic fusion of bottomless fear, dread, and ego that drives the president's actions.

Boo on thinking that you, personally, are more important than the office you hold, the people you serve, or the nation whose very freedoms allow you to achieve what you have thus far in life.

Boo on those foolish enough to follow fools no wiser than themselves.

Boo on those who allow themselves to believe it was their own idea to terrorize others.

Boo on those who allow themselves to believe that their protest is patriotic when it it is not peaceful.

There is no such thing as a violent protest. As soon as violence begins, protest is no longer possible. Once violence begins, or is even contemplated, protest is long longer possible. Once violence begins, you are a rioter, a terrorist, or an enemy combatant.

Boo on insurrection. yeah, thats you

Go home. 

And apologize to your family and your neighbors.

superman logo redux

superman logo redux by Philip O'Brien (c) 2021

 

I've had some ideas about re-designing Superman's uniform for a while, and I even did some sketching a few years ago. More recently, while on on vacation between the holidays, I downloaded a new application: Sketchbook by Autodesk, and decided to give it a go. Sketchbook was pretty easy to learn, reasonably powerful, and best of all, its now free! so I'd go get it if I was you

I used Sketchbook to try out a few of my re-designed uniform ideas, and one of them included a more streamlined version of Superman's logo. its, um... actually his family crest, durp * so I took a look around the internet to see if any of these ideas had come to life elsewhere, because who wants to be the guy that spends an afternoon fooling around with Superman's insignia only to find that he's independently created what someone has already done. Its also possible that someone HAS done this already, or something very similar, and I just failed to find it.

One of the logo re-designs I found was this one by Daniel Beadle, who not only did a great job, but went into the reasons why a re-design was needed. I have a lot of the same reason's Daniel Beadle does, so I won't repeat them all, you can read his post here. In summary, I'll say that the S shape in the traditional Superman insignia looks like a capital typeface letter S, with serifs on it (a slash at the top, and a round at the bottom.) These serifs make the insignia read like the letter S, rather than an alien crest for the House of El. Superman, as storyline, is essentially science fiction, so my idea is to create a family crest (and a new uniform design) that is more alien, modern, and wouldn't be confused with a capital S. It was also important to retain the elements that make Superman's insignia so recognizable, so that when you see the redux I've done, you can tell what it is without being told.

I feel like I've achieved the goals I set for myself. In fact, when I finished, I felt that that someone must have already came up with something very similar. If at some point I find that to be true, I'll post that information here in an edit. If you know of another design similar to this, please let me know!

I'm also planning on posting my drawings for Superman's re-deigned uniform, soon. And I also have some ideas for Wonder Woman's uniform as well!

* The S originally stood for Superman in the comics. The change to family crest came about during the 1978 movie 'Superman.'

Pinnacle at White Hill

Here goes some horn tootin' (and then I'll give an update on why I haven't written anything here in a while.)

So I spent some of my spare time recently putting together a drawing <yeah, that's it right there based on a science fiction (SF) book I've been writing over the last... 20 years? The drawing is for the One Drawing Challenge put on by Architizer, which is an online journal about architecture and design.

My wife found this juried contest in a newsletter and its their second annual outing, so I took a look at what did well last year, and the rules are pretty relaxed. From the FAQ section on their website: "Your drawing(s) can take the form of a plan, section, elevation, perspective, sketch or abstract. As long as it portrays part or all of a building or group of buildings, it is eligible." Any part of a building, so a still life, in a room, would do it.

When I looked at last year's submissions though, there were a fair number of the entries that included speculative and/or abstract architecture and design, and that led me to my domed city. Over the years, I've sketched some images, and I even drew up some plans in CAD of the city, including some of the sub-levels below the city. Come on, what futuristic city ISN'T under a dome, and of course its got miles of piping and basements drilled into the earth.

There are 100 finalists in The One Drawing Challenge; that was announced earlier today. The winners--there will be two, a student winner and a non-student winner--as well as 10 honorable mentions will be named on September 28 (or the 29th, depending on where on the site you look.)*

SO where have I been for the past year? Well I've been busy with some other projects,** but what really messed up my blogging was that we cleaned up around the house last year around this time, and a handful of books I had read but hadn't written about went to the donation box at my library. I tried to remember what they were, and piece together list, while continuing to read other books until I got hopelessly lost and enough time had gone by that I didn't think I could recreate what I'd read.

In the recent past, here's what I've read, in order:

Skylark - Sheila Simonson

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2015 - Adam Johnson, Editor

Robopocalypse - Daniel H. Wilson

Blue Moon - Lee Child

The Day After Tomorrow - Allan Folsum

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand

Warlock - Winbur Smith

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon during which I learned the term 'self-insertion'

The Order - Daniel Silva

The Way of Kings (Part One) - Brandon Sanderson

This is not everything in the past year, just what I can put my hands on and reasonably reconstruct in order (based on my piling system.) I'll try and write about these soon, but I'll probably write short summaries and combine a few together at a time.

* FAQ section says 28th, the new splash page posted today announcing the finalists says 29th.

** Making Youtube videos about tool making and restoration is one of the things I've been doing. My channel is here.