Chapter 1 of the WORLD of the DEATHSTICK is complete and FREE online

Working on the graphic novel World of the Deathstick has been wonderful. I have put up the first chapter and hope everyone will go on and check it out.

As chapter 1 ends the key phrase to remember is: Aquain Swarm!

Enjoy the action!

www.wotds.com
Click and enjoy.

Movie Analysis opinion and stats episode 2: Man of Steel

Here’s the thing, I have, since I was a boy, hated Superman as a superhero. What’s to love in a character that can’t be hurt, flies, has super strength, x-ray eyes, laser vision, and a hot girlfriend who is so blind and stupid a pair of glasses can shield her from his true identity.  Then he never uses the x-ray vision the way everybody else would, and let’s face it he never—never ever—does the human thing. He is just too perfect for my comic book tastes.

I preface this review because my point is, I had an extreme bias going to see Man of Steel. I love comic book movies, but usually with characters I followed in the inky pages in my youth. So having admitted my loathing for the Daily Planet’s Stringer, you get a feel for how good Man of Steel really was, because it totally won me over. I absolutely loved the destruction of Krypton, the dramatic and heroic depiction of his father and mother was much more interesting than other superman offerings. Action packed, but with the scientific gadgetry that I wanted to see from the planet of Krypton’s chief scientist. He seemed like a kind of Batman meets James Bond, but fighting with the kind of desperation only a father about to send his son into a space alone could have. His death also sets up a wonderful revenge battle at the end of our film, which is a great detail to include.

Truly the strength in this film is in the details. This isn’t a film in a hurry to get to the amazing special effects action sequences, but don’t worry it has many, it’s a film made by filmmakers who are adhering to the oldest adage in film making, ‘don’t be lazy because every frame counts.’ Much like the comic book which inspired and developed this film, each frame was delicately chosen. Handheld cameras and go cameras replaced tripod stiffness in the dramatic scenes, the actors seemed to be living their roles instead of tongue-and-cheeking them the way some comic book films have errantly interpreted the genre.  To non-comic folk comics are kid stuff, but trust me the stories in these graphic masterpieces tell amazing, character driven tales and that is why their fans want to see a film that captures these elements while bringing the action to a cacophony of sound and splendid vision. 

In my opinion, Superman with an edge is a wonderful divergence from the Boy Scout image of pervious offerings. This man of steel is a true bit of internal angst and rage. After having a beer dumped over his head he walks away, but only to go outside and crucify the villain’s truck with telephone poles. In another scene we see him being bullied as a boy, and when the older boys walk away the tight shot of the metal pole he’d indented while fighting his urge to pummel them was a nice shot. I also liked the fact he really kisses the heroin, and when she jokes that it’s all downhill after the first kiss, he’s got enough bad boy in him to say, ‘Maybe that’s with humans.’ This is not, your 1950’s Superman, despite the obvious Jesus Christ reference in the church scene when he has been asked to sacrifice himself to save the Earth and we see him ponder this in a Christian church with an image of Jesus hanging in the background. Okay, perhaps the director was having a little poke at his subject matter after all.

This film is the best Superman film ever made. The character development and backstory is fabulously believable and complete. The action sequences are the best kind of mayhem and madness because we justly hate the villain who killed Superman’s father, and we also know that Clark Kent’s Earth father sacrificed himself for the benefit of both mankind and man’s best friend (the family dog), so we know that Superman must follow in the footsteps of this humanitarian. Even if you have no interest in this character, but love amazing action sequences this movie will not disappoint as they destroy parts of Small Ville and Metropolis with seamless special effects and a blend of animation and real action. It’s an achievement on all levels of action.

Okay film students I know, ‘Tell us something we can use, this is all self-evident.’ Alright, how about this, draw your comparison to Zod, Krypton’s own Dick Cheney who represents the American war machine bent on protection the empire so vehemently they are capable of great evil, for goodness sake. In the end, once his mission is taken from him, only his vitriol views remain and his warrior spirit. Okay, this is not a film latent with anything but obvious symbolisms and overt metaphor, but here’s a bit more help for the ever studious but non-Christians who are looking for a metaphor to impress their instructor. What other historical, Biblical and mega well known individual had a father on Earth and a father who lived in the heavens? His initials are J.C.

So how did the world view the film? Oddly they agree with me. The global box office, which is still not completely finished is at:

Worldwide:

$662,845,518

So look, up in the sky it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the box office smash hit, THE MAN OF STEEL.

A graphic novel version of The Journey of the Astropaths series

Free Online Comic Version of the Astropaths

So after a number of young people read my YA modern fantasy novel The Ones Who Hear, the resounding thing I heard was, 'you should turn this into a comic or manga.' I was approached a few years back about doing this and dismissed it at the time, but always thought it would be a great idea. Then I began searching for artists who could bring this series to life. It was difficult and expensive because my artists would come and get into it and we would begin rolling along and then they would either get hired away for more money or have life take away their time. Three artists later I found Mr. Mostafa Zaki. 

Max and I went to work at first on the comic and then we switched to having him illustrate the reprinting of The Ones Who Hear. He really brought to life my characters for the book and I knew as soon as the book was published we needed to start the comic again and get it out there. So here we go. We are simply doing this to spread the story of the Astropaths and let people enjoy. The comic is FREE on line and updating as often as I can find the cash to pay Mr. Zaki.

Here is an example of one of his illustrations.

Movie Analysis opinion and stats episode 1: Annie Hall

Sim on IMBD
The other night I received a call from some mildly frantic film students who were being tested over Woody Allen's classic Annie Hall the next day. They had seen the movie several times, discussed it and yet still felt a lack of confidence -- despite feeling it was great -- in detailing why it was so good. The problem can be when  film has won BEST PICTURE film students and novice film buffs all want to find that it that is in it that makes the film resonate with critics and fans so well. 

Now I hadn't seen Annie Hall in about a decade, but it is not a film I have any trouble pontificating about to anyone who is within ear shot. (sorry couldn't resist the temptation to toss that in) So after a marvelous chat with these future film makers I decided to make Annie Hall the first episode in my Movie analysis opinion and stats. 

So if you are about to face a quiz over this film-instructor favorite, well perhaps I can offer a bit of insight. Of course those students haven't called back so perhaps I offered them more convulsion than hard essay responses. 

Annie Hall is a great film because love is long. Great romances, although in the film industry the hot ones are often a weekend, stand the test of time. People fortunate enough to have loved someone and been loved by someone know how time works on relationships--wears on it and alters it--and yet in film directors shy away from endeavors like time because of the degree of difficulty in making this come across to their viewers. It's why epic films like Gone With The Wind, A River Runs Through It, Forest Gump or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon are so well respected. Alvy Singer sets out to show us the story of his love with Annie Hall. He is remembering this, probably from a couch in an over paid psychiatrists office, in much the same way we all remember past loves; not with chronology but sporadic bombardments of sense and sentiment.It is the out of sequence style that truly brings this film into it's greatness. We see them falling in love, but already know it won't work as we have been made aware of their recent problems. In a way Woody puts us so deeply into this stories back story and current running struggles that we resist at all cost admitting that Annie is not going to come back across that street and beg to be back with him. She will not come back, they can not get back to that innocent and captivating awkward beginning, because Alvy has changed her, fertilized her growth and now has no more nourishment to offer her. The seed has not only taken root, but taken flight and can not go back to a gardener who is obsessed with death and all it's dreary splendor.  

'What do the lobsters represent?' Okay the moment he has with Annie and the lobsters is the epitome of spontaneity and sparks a romance that will forever change both their lives. In typical man fashion when the women we love leaves us, we go right back to what worked last time i.e. carriage rides, ski trips, French restaurants, ice skating or what have you. Sadly spontaneous joy can not be replicated and what occurs instead is a stagnant failure of over expectation receiving under stimulation. The scene is genius, capturing the loneliest and lowest point of Alvy's broken heart.

Stats: This 1977 film was made for 4 million dollars, won an Oscar for best picture and grossed more than 38 million dollars. I don't give IMBD's ranking all that much credit, but they list it as an 8.1 out of 10.
Sim says SEE THIS MOVIE especially if you will be tested over it or just have any interest in film.   

Artists Process captured on video

 www.wotds.com
I have an amazing artist working with me on World of the Deathstick. Alberto Verdejo is from Chili and loves to create with color. We have been working together now for several months and he put together this video to show me his process in bringing my story to life visually. Comic fans enjoy. 

www.wotds.com is a FREE online comic by Jonathon Siminoe

In my life there has been stories that I immersed myself in during troubled times. In my rather tumultuous and at times tragic teen years, I lost myself in the fantasy worlds of authors such as Robert Howard, Ray Bradbury, Heinlein, C.S. Louis, Arthur C. Clark, Philip K. Dick, and Tolkien. When I spent a lonely summer in Fort Collins Colorado, just after high school, I took a number of long scribblings from my high school notebooks--notebooks I filled with stories instead of notes--and comprised a hand written (yes we once wrote by pen) novel entitled, THE WORLD OF THE DEATHSTICK.  This 300 plus page effort was thrown in a drawer and seldom thought about during the past twenty five years. But I often thought about the basic concept of this story, a world in which the God of Death gave the world a plant that when picked, dried and rooted, can fire a ball of fire from the seeds within the stock that will stop the heart of anything it touches.

So recently when I began a graphic novel version of my novel The Ones Who Hear. I decided why not breath new life into this old story. My clumsy teenage prose would be better served as a comic book anyway, so I began searching for an artist that would work with me to develop this project.

So I want to give this comic away. I will keep the website up as long as I can afford to and we will add pages every week to continue the story. Please come and ENJOY it free, fantasy and and msg free.

LAUNCH of THE ONES WHO HEAR

http://www.theoneswhohear.com/

The release of The Ones Who Hear is a long story, but in a nut shell I will describe it. About 5 years ago I wrote a book called Those Who Hear which was produced by a publisher here in Bangkok. I was not happy with the cover or the promotion or the over all handling of the book. I waited for contracts to expire and am now proud to reboot this series with The Ones Who Hear as book 1 of a 5 book series called The Journeys of the Astropaths. The story has had a bit of a touch up and most importantly the book has been illustrated by Egyptian artist Mostafa Zaki. He adds 15 illustrations to the story which are truly amazing enhancements of the story. 

We have been working on FORMLESS for a long time. So excited shooting some action design and sharing my good friend Marrese Crump with the world. He is the next great martial arts star and I have been lucky enough to get to watch him work. The stunt guys did a great job too, it ain't easy being hit by Marrese over and over again. Get ready martial arts fans, FORMLESS is going to take the genre to a NEW LEVEL. That's why RZA is presenting it. Panna is designing the action, and oh yeah why Anderson Silva (yes world champion) is in it! We are still building as well and I'll keep updating our progress.

Film projects are dominating my life in Thailand right now. This is a pilot that we put together with the hope of being picked up as a series. We had a blast making it on NO BUDGET, but now the hard road trying to sell the concept to producers or providers or sponsors. We have a great team if someone wants to get involved with us, let us know. Enjoy our PILOT for THAI BEACH. It's an ENGLISH SPEAKING Situation comedy.

Tutoring and Teaching in Thailand

So the wave of foreign workers to Thailand has been swelling for years. Now it is actually very rare, while in Bangkok, to go out somewhere and not see a foreigner who lives here. When I first came, nearly a decade ago, it was so rare to see other westerners around the city of Bangkok, but now there are really no areas of the city that are foreigner free. When I cam back then usually the foreigners I met were business people who were importing or exporting goods, but now the city is a wash with foreign teachers.

There is plenty of work in education here as a new fervor to learn English has brought Americans, English, and Australians and the Thai people's desire to learn Chinese and Korean has brought teachers from these nations. Thai people firmly believe you should learn a language from a native speaker. So jobs are here, but the pay for these jobs is held in check because of the numerous teachers looking for a break from their home country and a life here in Thailand.

Most teachers pay here is not bad considering the cost of living, but what you'll find is that it doesn't have much growth potential. Thai schools have a very different idea about raises than western schools. So most of us end up supplementing our income with tutoring.

I am selective about my tutoring and prefer to write or work in film for extra money, but if an exceptional case comes along I will consider it. It's fun to work with successful people who are looking to improve their edge as the world today operates, more and more, in English.
Anchisa, the lovely young lady in the first photo is currently studying in Harvard. Mai the proud gentleman using his only day off to come study with me, is a VP for  Dumex Thailand. Thailand's leading baby food and child supplement company.
Teaching in Thailand is very rewarding, students are respectful and happy to learn. You won't get rich, but the environment is relaxing and the living is easy.

Santorini Park in Cha Am

Keeping to my mantra of getting out of Bangkok more often I recently visited Santorini Park. On a normal day this is about 2 hours south of Bangkok on the way to Hua Hin. It's pretty hard to miss as the ferris wheel towers above the free way and will assure you of your arrival. You really can't miss it.

For Thai people this place is superb because it offers them the opportunity to do what they do best, take pictures. Thai people can not get enough photos. The developers of this park knew their audience well. MY STUDENTS ALWAYS KNOW MY FAVORITE 2 LAWS OF WRITING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING. "Audience and Purpose, Ajarn," my students just mumbled. Well they got it right at this park. Hip little shops wind around cute rides until you reach the main court yard where the big rides dominate. There are more photo opportunities here than even the Thais can exhaust in a day. It is currently at about 75% capacity, as some shops have not yet opened, but with the crowds flocking down from Bangkok and up from Hua Hin I predict great things for this ambitious cross between an outlet mall, theme park, and photo set.

My highest recommendation is for the 6D shooting game. Only 4 minutes long, but the visual quality is amazing, the seat is shaking, there is a breeze in your face as you zoom along, and best of all "YOU GET TO SHOOT ZOMBIES!" If you are courageous, I mean really fearless, you can try the sling shot--video footage follows.

RED GO TANGO

Found this footage from when the flood was still funny. 21 days later when I'd been outside my home living in hotels and my credit cards were all maxed out things were not so humorous.

To Rome With Love

Woody Allen’s newest film is worth a frantic trip through down town Bangkok traffic at rush hour to catch the 1 of 3 showings in the tiniest and furthest back corner theater on Sukhavmit. Hey, Woody Allen films are not for everyone, in truth to appreciate his work it’s best to be Jewish, neurotic, a hypochondriac, born before 1990, had your heart ripped out do to someone’s ambiguous affections, or at the very least a connoisseur of lovely women (let’s face it no other franchise but the bond films can boast a better list of starlets) or your just not going to make the trip to the off mall kind of theaters where his films play. For anyone whose interested where I am on the list of targt market characteristics, every one of them fits me but Jewish.

So about the film, well it’s not one of his best. Critics have come out and said his tour of European excellence died in Rome, but these critics are looking at the film in a very narrow light. I would like to open the aperture a bit and let you see the entire paining. You see Allen’s work is not to be taken in one glance and it is not to be taken in with one film. This film is a classic Allen full of romantic angst and spanning 4 interesting couples. Our early twenties ‘God your best friend is hot’ couple is perhaps the most fun. Our super hot newlyweds from the sticks come to Rome to make good’ is certainly the sexiest. Our parents the age of great grandparents (Woody and Judy Davis) dealing with their daughter marrying a communist scenario brings Woody back in front of the camera, so that wonderful. Finally our everyman character, one Woody does better than he gets credit, in the vise of an Italian couple who have to deal with becoming famous for no reason. You see, classic Woody.

I don’t think it is a good idea to focus on his films individually, because our most prolific living film maker is on a journey and his fans and critics need to simply get on board. His creative genius is his inexplicable ability to create through farcical situations feelings that we have all experienced. Giving away our daughter to a man we don’t love, finding our love’s best friend the sexiest girl in the world, believing a move to the city is all we need to make it big, and of course what would it be like to be famous for a day. Come on, we’ve all dreamed these dreams and felt these feelings.

Please don’t see To Rome With Love as a piece of art to be hung on the wall, see it as a brush stoke upon a masterpiece that Mr. Allen has been working on—while we watch—since the late sixties. His work is delightfully funny and heartfelt and although perhaps this one is not along the strides of Annie Hall or even Midnight in Paris, it is a joy for those of us who have been watching the maestro work.