Dark Dharma

VEEP Dreams

During these lazy dog days of summer, speculation about the candidates' vice presidential picks seems like as good a pastime as baseball (especially with my Giants flirting with a 100-loss season). Just heard over at the Washington Note -- the best political blog out there -- that Obama's choice will not be Evan Bayh. That means it's more likely to be Biden, given the cold war redux wakeup call we got last week when Russia invaded Georgia, than Tim Kaine. Biden's sharp-tongued savvy and foreign policy experience (he's over in Georgia right now) probably trumps Kaine's change-agent not-from-Washington duplicate branding. I was a bit worried about Bayh, because of his hawkishness, and think Biden is a better choice anyway because he's a terrific debater and would knock the socks off of any Repub VP pick. Kaine is also a fine debater (see him on Meet the Press this morning, he was excellent) but there's that thin resume again. Anyway, the speculation continues....

Nuance Doesn't Work for Democrats

Well, so much for my perceptions about politics. Here I thought that McCain had proven for all time what a downright panderer he was, and that Obama had shown how calm and thoughtful he was. Yet the pundit class seems universally negative on Obama's performance last night. David Gregory summed it up on Meet the Press this morning when he said, referring to Obama, "Nuance doesn't work for Democrats." If this is the case, then we're in for a much closer election than we've been thinking. If Obama loses this election it will be because he became too cautious and calculated just when he needed to be bold and visionary. Obama seems to be trying awfully hard not to make a mistake, like the last month or so of the primaries when Hillary kept winning big states and Obama rode out the clock. But you can't ride out the clock when the presidency is at stake, Barack. Remember what got you this far. Keep telling the truth. On the other hand, as McCain's performance sadly proved again last night, pandering works.

I'll Be On TV

I'll be appearing on the local TV show Movie Close-Up with moderator Bonnie Steiger on Wednesday night, August 20th, at 7:30 PM, on local access channel 29, with MindFlesh director Robert Pratten. Should be fun.

Obama & McCain at Saddleback

I thought Obama looked great tonight. Relaxed, funny, warm, he gave pretty good answers to questions posed by a very polite Rev. Rick Warren. But how wacky for McCain to name Rep. John Lewis of Georgia as one of the wise people he would call upon if he were president? Who voted against making Martin Luther King Day a national holiday? Pretty bizarre, if you ask me.

Holy Cow, Where Have I Been?

Seems like my intention was to blog every few days, but it appears that life has intervened the last month or two. Busy making a living as en editor and developing a career as a stress reduction trrainer, as well as my volunteer gigs, etc. Not that there isn't a lot going on with my writing. There's plenty, including a nice review of White Light on Amazon by Stoker award-nominated novelist Joe McKinney. (Joe's novel Dead City is one of the outstanding zombie novels you'll ever read.) In the works are a revised cover for White Light, a possible name and content change for The Alchemy of Nightmares, and the early stages of a Buddhist dark comedy which may take the form of a screenplay or a novel. Meanwhile on the MindFlesh front, the film just received its first award (see earlier post) and it's on its way to film festivals in at least three other countries.

Hopefully I'll have more specifics to share with ya'll soon.

MindFlesh wins best horror film at Philly Indie Fest!

MindFlesh was selected as best horror film at Philadelphia's independent film festival last night. So, now we're an award-winning film. Good going, Robert, and congratulations!

MindFlesh Screening at the Roxie in S. F.

MindFlesh made its north American premier last night at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. We had a good-sized audience, who seemed to respond pretty positively to the film. After the screening, director Robert Pratten and I did a Q & A and answered some really thoughtful questions. An absolute delight to have my home town support our film so well.

Here's a glimpse of audience reaction after the Q & A:

White Light now on Amazon!

At long last, my novel White Light is now available for purchase on Amazon.
You can search inside the book to check out samples.

Hole in the Head Screening Date for MindFlesh

MindFlesh will premiere in San Francisco on Friday, June 6th, at 7:15 P.M. and Tuesday, June 17th at 7:15 at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco's Mission District. I'll be there with director Robert Pratten, so please come by and check it out!

Off to Yucca Valley

I'm off to Yucca Valley for a 7-day Buddhist study retreat. See you when I return.