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Tuesday, February 23, 2010
On the Prowl
I was reading some of the online scuttlebutt about this coming Spotlight issue, and the number of erroneous assumptions about what it is, what it means, and why we're doing it was impressive even for the Transformers boards. The nice thing about that is knowing how many "pleasantly surprised" responses we'll see after people read this one.
44 comments:
- DanielW said...
Is that Prowl's holoavatar?
I'm loving it already. Law and Order. Order and Logic. Logic and Survival.
The pillars of Prowl's life IMO.
I can't wait to see how Prowl is explored and shown off as being awesome in the issue.
- February 24, 2010 at 12:02 AM
- Feikki said...
I'm really waiting for this one because of Su's art!
...and then it saddens me that instead of drawing Prowl he desinged himself, he's drawing it like a friggin' toy!
But anyway, I hope to see Su drawing more TFs.
- February 24, 2010 at 6:09 AM
- Mel said...
E.J. drew Prowl like that in Spotlight: Jazz as well, so it's nothing new.
- February 24, 2010 at 6:24 AM
Yeah, I'm sure I'll be "pleasantly surprised" at how much it sucks.
Costa, McCarthy... when's the suck going to end, Ryall?
- February 24, 2010 at 9:09 AM
"I was reading some of the online scuttlebutt about this coming Spotlight issue, and the number of erroneous assumptions about what it is, what it means, and why we're doing it was impressive even for the Transformers boards."
Chris, a plea: could you maybe stop laying into fans for mere speculation, cynical or otherwise? Andy has said himself that this story was brought forward to explain an abrupt change in character that people found jarring. It seems you damn every idle theory that isn't a spot-on direct quote as 'erroneous'. Maybe you should think instead about *why* people might reasonable feel cynical and what moves have visibly eroded that cynicism.
I know there's some ungenerous theories about what goes on 'behind the scenes' but there's no need to rise to it, nor to tar everyone with the same brush.
- February 24, 2010 at 10:00 AM
- Detour said...
I honestly don't know how "pleasantly surprised" I'll be.
I'm not hard to please. I loved Furman's run on IDW Transformers. I am totally gay for anything Nick Roche can write (Last Stand of the Wreckers is easily my favorite IDW G1 piece yet). The Arrival was a terrific add-on piece to the Animated cartoon. Give me good fiction and I'll be happy.
Sadly, ever since Shane McCarthy came on board, good fiction seems to have taken a backseat. His work was incoherent, fragmented, poorly paced and just plain bad. It didn't help that it was also full of complete misinterpretations and/or rewrites of what Furman had established before him.
(Actually, I'm not being fair... Megatron Origin sucked pretty hard too, it's just a lot easier to ignore)
Mike Costa and Zander Cannon haven't been good, either. Honestly the best thing I can say about them is that they're not Shane McCarthy. They both suffer heavily from protagonists constantly carrying the proverbial "idiot ball", poor characterization, slow, uninteresting plot threads and just awkward dialog.
It doesn't help that there's absolutely no consistancy in character design between the Ongoing and Bumblebee titles... Different art styles are fine but when one guy has Bumblebee in a Sneerformer interpretation of EJ's redesign and the other has him looking like he did in the Sunbow cartoon, it doesn't feel right. Blurr going from an Earth-based vehicle mode in the Ongoing to his old Cybertronian car mode in Bumblebee is even iffier.
On the other hand, Nick Roche and now his writing partner James Roberts have constantly delivered winning stories. Roche's half of AHM #15 was considered almost unanimously as the best story of the entire AHM run, Spotlight: Kup was an engaging story with art that truly carried itself and Last Stand of the Wreckers... well let's just say I'd never been that disappointed in a book delay before, ever.
And therein lies the problem. As I've said before, Roche's AHM story was great, and provided easily the best "logical, by-the-book" Prowl ever. Everyone I spoke to loved him like that. That's why his complete change in behavior in the Ongoing struck to many fans negatively. After all that build-up for Prowl in Roche's tale, why bring him about a complete 180?
Just bringing about a Spotlight explaining the character change isn't really going to smooth things over with the fans. The fans loved Prowl The Prick.
What you guys need to do, really, isn't putting out explanations for changes... rather, you need to have your editors (looking at you, Andy Schmidt!) step up their game and make sure things like continuity and characterization remain consistant and natural. They need to pay attention to the stories and the history and the characters and be sure it all works without having to bring about Spotlights or Codas to explain all those changes the fans aren't even liking to begin with.
The mere fact that this isn't being done already makes a lot of people wonder if IDW even cares about its fiction. Why allow Roche to do a tale showcasing a coldly logical Prowl if it's just going to get tossed out two comics later? Why throw fans off with inconsistant art between two titles that feature events happening concurrently? Why release a "definitive chronology" book that's completely inaccurate to the continuity?
The only answers anyone can find to these questions is "IDW, Ryall and the editors just don't care."
And frankly, that's not how it should be.
Hopefully, you'll take what I've said under consideration, Chris.
- February 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM
To be honest, I feel that a lot of the editorial backlash in "voice" is due to the increasingly undiplomatic tone that readers are using themselves. Although I am inclined to agree on the face of it with the SPIRIT of a lot of the criticism, at least to a certain extent, I find that fans have become increasingly bombastic, condescending, or arrogant in the *voice* that they use to express their critiques. Mind you, the frustration is understandable and genuine...you guys are passionate about this stuff, and incensed when it doesn't go the way you want it to. But I think you shoot yourselves in the foot with your tone, and would win a lot more flies, if not with honey, than with just laying your opinions out there straightforwardly without such a heavy dollop of cynicism. Either that, I'd recommend finding a more humorous way to express the POV...AHM has stirred up an outrage whose intensity scares me a little at times, and there are plenty of ways to express that in a less humorless or nasty way; take Allsparker Boltax's one-page comic summaries of AHM; I enjoyed AHM, but even I thought those were gold.
Things are just gettin' friggin' MAUDLIN when I read some of the reactions to the comics, folks.
- February 24, 2010 at 10:53 AM
- Chris Ryall said...
Detour, ending with something as absurd as "The only answers anyone can find to these questions is "IDW, Ryall and the editors just don't care." tells me to not even try to respond at length. But everyone is welcome to their opinion, however far off-base it might be. When you respond with something like that, I can't see how any words I could reply are going to sway you.
- February 24, 2010 at 11:10 AM
'Detour, ending with something as absurd as "The only answers anyone can find to these questions is "IDW, Ryall and the editors just don't care." tells me to not even try to respond at length.'
Dismissing the messenger doesn't change the fact that this attitude is very widespread. The thing is, we don't WANT to think this. I'd like nothing more for this to be categorically proven wrong.
Telling us how much you care doesn't amount to much if it doesn't come across in the final product. Opinions about Andy Schmidt in particular are heavily shaded by Continuum. LSotW's high quality seems to be the exception, not the rule.
IDW's burned up a LOT of goodwill over the past year and a half, and refusing to respond to valid criticism about wildly inconsistent art styles or Continuum's many errors doesn't help.
- February 24, 2010 at 11:53 AM
- Detour said...
Sadly, Chris, I do not want words, but action. Something done so that continuity works and established characterization isn't carelessly tossed out as soon as a new writer comes on board.
As Cattleprod just said... Saying you care doesn't mean much if that care doesn't come across in the final product. Continuum in particular shows an incredible lack of care, which is frightening because it was written by the editor to the TF titles.
Last Stand of the Wreckers is the only good TF comic right now, thanks to dynamic action, great dialog and characters as well as a beautiful blend of drama, action and humor, as well as the fact that Nick Roche actually cares about continuity and characterization and it actually shows in his work.
You need to have Nick do more. And hire more writers like Nick. Guys who are not only passionate about the Transformers they write but also the Transformers they read.
- February 24, 2010 at 1:17 PM
- Jeysie said...
I'm with Cattleprod and Detour here. Based on the constant rebooting, ignoring of past continuity, abrupt character changes, inconsistency in art styles and writing, etc., not to mention your dismissive "the Transformers fandom is always wrong" attitude, your claim that saying you don't seem to care is "off-base" just doesn't match up with what we're getting in action.
I second Roche and Roberts' work being the best thing you've got going at the moment, because they show a knack for action, characterization, dialogue, humor, continuity, and interesting & intelligent ideas, and for being truly excited and interested in all of past Transformers lore (not just the old cartoon). These are the things that will get us "unpleaseable fans" excited and buying, and, unfortunately, things the rest of your output is currently lacking.
It used to be that I was excited by every new IDW release and couldn't wait to buy. But other than Last Stand of the Wreckers, I haven't really felt that way in a long time, and I'd like reasons to start feeling that way more often again.
- February 24, 2010 at 1:47 PM
I think Roche's writing is a bit overrated. I mean, people act like he's some writing god. I enjoyed Kup and the Prowl/Kup story in AHM was ok. Didn't grab me like it did everyone else. Also LSoTW's has yet to excite me. I actually don't like it. When reading the first issue I got bored. But that's just my opinion and how I feel. Everyone can't be pleased.
So far I'm enjoying Costa's ongoing, not as much as Furman's earlier "ations" though.
I give everything a chance. I read it before I condemn it.
- February 24, 2010 at 6:34 PM
- Armagon said...
Chris, while folks like Detour might be a bit outspoken and prone to some hyperbole, it's because they're emotionally invested in the product and WANT it to succeed. So you shouldn't see it as being borne of rancor, but an unintended consequence of being invested and disappointed.
A lot of the underlying criticisms are still valid, even minus the hyperbole. Prowl's characterization in AHM #15 was pretty much universally lauded... so why the change? Transformers is somewhat of a unique franchise in that it's filled to the gills with characters who are underdeveloped. There's really no need to make a character completely 180, as there's likely another character who can fill the gap just as well. Prowl's change right now looks like it's going to be change for change's sake; trying to "force" characterization instead of doing it naturally.
It's never a good idea to continually turn a deaf ear to the people who are most invested in the product and the most likely to stick with it.
- February 24, 2010 at 8:12 PM
But I think Chris' point is that many people are assuming the characterization Roche gave Prowl in AHM # 15 is being chucked out the window, when we have no idea if that's going to be the case or not. You can't make that assumption based on one action Prowl took in the ongoing series.
- February 24, 2010 at 8:32 PM
- Detour said...
Andy Schmidt himself said this Spotlight would "explain why Prowl acted so differently in the Ongoing than he did in the Roche issue of AHM".
That's why we know it'll just be an explanation of why he isn't awesome anymore.
- February 24, 2010 at 8:38 PM
- DanielW said...
Gotta love Transformers fans.
Someone tries to address incorrect assumptions and all you do is slag them off.
Someone tries to do something new with the franchise. And you slag them off. They listen, despite the abuse, and change stuff - so they get abused again.
Who'd be an editor or a writer of TF fiction.
- February 24, 2010 at 10:34 PM
- Chris Ryall said...
"Chris, while folks like Detour might be a bit outspoken and prone to some hyperbole, it's because they're emotionally invested in the product and WANT it to succeed."
Not sure how anyone could assume that those of us who care about Transformers enough to work on them every day and whose jobs are vested in these books working for the fans could be anything but emotionally invested ourselves. Do you really think fans want these books to succeed more than those of us who've tied our fates to them? Do you not see how leading with these kinds of assumptions makes me reticent to even try to address any of these complaints?
The rancor about Prowl, and the misconstruing of Andy's words in that interview, and the opinions already being set before the Spotlight even arrives tell me there's no point in trying to have reasonable discourse here. What;s reasonable is seeing how the book is and then talking about it, not deciding ahead of time that this book is an apology or a retcon or an explanation. It's not those things. It's delving deeper into Prowl's actions and psyche, so things you don't think are in character now will make sense. The book wasn't added late as an "oh, crap, we messed up, let's try to explain it away" sort of thing, it was something we were going to do as an extension of Prowl's actions in the TF series.
But look at the comments here--I post a few nice pieces of E.J.'s art and the overwhelming negativity, from Feikki saying E.J.'s great work looks like "a friggin' toy" to even more unenlightended comments that me or Andy or IDW don't care, and then people act like they're entitled to an explanation because they don't agree with something? The comics are the explanation. My hope is that everyone keeps reading, and sees that this is all a plan and not an arbitrary whim. But for me to address things here, especially comments that accuse me of not caring, instead of letting them play out in the book as intended isn't going to happen.
I never quite get why comments are always as contentious as they are. I appreciate everyone's passion for the franchise. But understand that WE SHARE IT. We love these characters and are trying to tell good, different, intriguing stories, not screw with you or the characters or the franchise. If everything was explained and made perfect sense at all times, where'd be the point in reading? And if people really plan to stop reading over a story point they don't personally agree with, whether they give us time to show how it plays out or not, well, that makes me question how much they really care. So that trust is a two-way street, folks. We do our best to earn it, and I wish the more vocal of you would realize that whether you agree with what we're doing or not, we're not doing controversial things because we don't care. Quite the contrary.
- February 24, 2010 at 11:18 PM
- Jeysie said...
Except that the comics aren't explaining anything so far... we were told we'd get some explanations of things, and it never ended up happening.
I'm willing to watch things play out if there's signs that things are deliberately changing gradually and "naturally". The -ations and now Wreckers have both done this the "right" way, showing character changes over time and seeding little mysteries and hints and acknowledgments that things are different. You always trust you're going to get answers because you can see a progression of changes and mysteries in the stories themselves.
Whereas after the -ations ended, we basically got the story arc that had been building up abruptly cut short, and a new arc that at first completely changed a lot of things and dropped others out of the blue, with the few explanations only coming long after the fact. We've also gotten various retcons and inconsistencies and things like Continuum that were just totally out there. There's just no natural buildup or gradual exposition going on here, no hints that things weren't just changed due to a new writer on board. (Because let's face it, new writers coming in and changing stuff just because is pretty commonplace in comics.)
Maybe it's just that I'm a "character junkie", but when a character starts feeling like they're acting out-of-character and there's no hints within the story that this is odd or will be eventually explained, well, let's just say I've been burned by a lot of bad writing over the years. I run on signs in the story itself that there are mysteries to be explained, not meta-commentary. The same goes for plot developments.
Personally, I find "controversial" and "big deal" events tiresome and wish you wouldn't waste time on them. Just give me solid, consistent, intelligent writing, and I'll be hooked just fine without gimmicks or pointless changeups. If you look at the most-loved things in the fandom like Animated, Beast Wars, Roche's stories, the Fan Club prose etc., you can see it's good writing, continuity, and characterization that's what they all have in common.
I wish you'd stop treating us like enemies and realize we're telling you what's making us unhappy because we want to stop seeing these problems so we can go back to being happy. I sure don't get a kick out of complaining just for the sake of complaining. I mean, personally I'd love if every single IDW story was like Wreckers is at the moment... something I enjoy reading and can't wait for the next installment of and can't think of any problems with it.
- February 25, 2010 at 12:17 AM
- DanielW said...
The only person here "treating someone like an enemy" here Jeysie is you.
- February 25, 2010 at 1:15 AM
- Andrew Sorohan said...
"I was reading some of the online scuttlebutt about this coming Spotlight issue, and the number of erroneous assumptions about what it is, what it means, and why we're doing it was impressive even for the Transformers boards. The nice thing about that is knowing how many "pleasantly surprised" responses we'll see after people read this one."
I gotta say, Chris... I'm kinda surprised and disappointed by this statement. It comes off as condescending and derisive towards the very fans who buy your books.
While I understand that it can be frustrating that the fandom makes incorrect assumptions about the comics... these sorts of statements aren't helpful.
You haven't explained what kind of erroneous statements the fandom has made -- or why they're wrong. So this just feels like baiting.
I understand -- you're trying to reassure us that the comic is more than we think it is. But the way you're doing it feels really negative and condescending.
This same negativity towards the fandom has been expressed by a lot of other IDW personalities talking to the media, or on public forums -- and frankly I find it frustrating. I understand how hard it can be to face the criticism that the Transformers fandom can level at you -- but taking your little stabs back at us is not a very professional tone.
This tone is slowly building a sense of 'us and them', where the fandom feels like IDW hates them, so they should hate IDW. It's completely unreasonable -- but the more that IDW representatives talk about how the fandom is wrong, or the fandom doesn't understand, or the fandom is emotional the more frustrated we become -- and the more willing we become (as Detour did here) to point fingers at specific people.
I'll put it plainly. We buy your comics out of a loyalty to the Transformers brand, not out of loyalty to IDW. I think you should keep this in mind when communicating with the fandom.
--Andrew Sorohan
(In the fandom I'm known as Boltax/Jhiaxus)
- February 25, 2010 at 2:03 AM
You transformers people are insane. Buy the books or don't buy them. Ranting isn't going to change the plans of a national publisher. Get a life.
I'd love to see any of you edit a professional comic book without losing your minds.
And as far as the artists or writers go, they DO CARE about the comics, but they don't care about your bullshit complaints.
Cheers chumps!
- February 25, 2010 at 5:12 AM
- Jeysie said...
"The only person here 'treating someone like an enemy' here Jeysie is you."
If you consider giving praise and support to the IDW things I'm happy with, and giving constructive criticism about the things I'm not--because I'd love to have everything from IDW be something I'm happy with--as "treating someone like the enemy", then I really miss the Daniel who used to actually be intelligent and wise about people.
If I hated IDW, I wouldn't waste my time saying anything to begin with. Instead I'm trying to point out why many of us are being critical, and why Ryall and Schmidt are coming off as not caring even if they actually don't mean to, so they can not keep giving the wrong impressions.
I think Sorohan expressed my feelings on the matter best here. I can't think of anyone--even the "meanie wiki people"--who are "hating" on IDW just to be haters. We all crave good Transformers comics. We would be totally happy for IDW to deliver them to us, and I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be happy if they got to be able to heap praise on IDW's comics all the time the way they do with other top-notch TF offerings. But we're currently unhappy because we feel like IDW is currently not delivering, and they feel like they keep dismissing us when we try to say what things we'd like to see fixed or see more of.
Especially since the majority of the issues aren't "Trukk not munky!!"-type superficial criticisms. Instead it's often about things like consistent characterization/believable changes, acknowledgement of continuity, proper buildup of changes and mysteries, and other good writing principles. It's just not a matter of unpleaseable hardcore fans here, unless you think only hardcore fans appreciate good writing.
I mean, I wouldn't even consider myself a hardcore fan anyway. I didn't grow up with Transformers. What little advanced/obscure knowledge I have I often learned second-hand from the wiki. Last Stand of the Wreckers is supposedly the "hardcore fans" mini, and I admit I don't know about 80% of the characters as more than just names, and much of the little hardcore refs fly over my head. Yet I'm currently loving it anyway, because Roche and Roberts have been building up the characters in the mini itself, telling me everything I need to know to understand what's currently going on, and giving little hints to upcoming mysteries.
If I got that sort of quality story-telling from IDW all of the time, I'd absolutely happily fork over my money. And Roche, Mowry, Hutch, Su, etc. will tell you I give the creators plenty of praise about the things they're being kick-ass at.
So I say again, we're not the enemy. We're fickle and blunt and have wildly different superficial tastes we disagree on, yes. But we almost always agree on being won over by good writing no matter the superficial details (look at how many people love Animated despite the art style or Beast Wars despite munky instead of trukk, etc.), and are happy to support people giving it to us. We'd all love for IDW to be that company all the time.
- February 25, 2010 at 6:03 AM
Looking forward to this!!!
The return of EJ Su -- yes!
The return of Spotlights -- yes!
A whole issue devoted entirely to a treasured character -- yes!
Love the Furman/Roche version of Prowl!
Love the Michael Bell/Sunbow version of Prowl!
Do I have two versions sitting on my desk as I type -- er, well, actually no, but you get the idea.
But seriously, I can't wait to see what Costa does with all this. His work on G.I. Joe has been great -- I don't see how he can miss (at least in the eyes of those who come with an open mind).
And EJ's art, as always, looks great.
- February 25, 2010 at 6:27 AM
Well of course Prowl looks like a toy. The Transformers are based off toys.
I wonder if someone said this back when. "Oh my god did you see how they drew everyone in Marvels #1. They all look like the toys! I'm never buying this again. Waaaaaahhhhh."
- February 25, 2010 at 6:53 AM
- Mel said...
I guess I should have given my opinion on the book itself, and some sort of overall opinion on IDW's output to date --
You guys are doing a great job, and despite some missteps, always have. Without you, I'd have no Transformers comic books to read and be subjected to the constantly negative opinions of the mostly 'unpleasable fanbase'.
There are people out there who read the comics and see the larger picture of what is going on, or at least can appreciate that things take time to be revealed in a monthly format, no matter how 'jarring' it may be.
There are people out there who love what has been done with Prowl, both in AHM and after, and definitely don't want him to be a 'prick'.
I have two versions of Prowl on my desk Oracle1984 -- Universe and World's Smallest Transformers.
- February 25, 2010 at 6:54 AM
- Chris Ryall said...
>I gotta say, Chris... I'm kinda surprised and disappointed by this statement. It comes off as condescending and derisive towards the very fans who buy your books.
Not at all. It comes off as me being positive about what we're doing and thinking that people will like them after they read them. There's been lots of pre-judging about the Prowl book and many comments from people who think it's an apology for his actions in TF #1. It's not that at all, it's an extension of why he's acting the way he's acting.
How you somehow construe my comments here as condescending just tells me you're looking to be negative. I'm not. I love interacting with the fans when I can find the time, and I appreciate the passion for the books. I just wish everything wasn't always so picked apart like we have bad intentions or no respect for the fans. That attitude just makes no sense to me.
- February 25, 2010 at 7:57 AM
- wade2501 said...
E.J.'s back!
I'm looking forward to this issue. I've never been a fan of Prowl and maybe this will make me one.
- February 25, 2010 at 8:49 AM
Getting around to commenting on the actual content of the preview, I'm catching a bit of a Mike Mignola vibe/inspiration from this preview art, and love it for that. (I really like stark shadow/light patterns and precise linework, and EJ has always been Mr. Precision) Very hard-edged and moody. Plus, EJ takes the toy design and makes it look lean and mean here. Costa told a great, dark tale with morally ambiguous protagonists in Cobra, so I'm hoping we see some of that side of Mike's work in this issue. This art bodes well for it.
- February 25, 2010 at 9:44 AM
- Detour said...
Okay... First, the anon:
"I'd love to see any of you edit a professional comic book without losing your minds."
I'll take the job. I bet I can do a better job than Schmidt.
Now, Mel...
"Without you, I'd have no Transformers comic books to read"
I truly doubt without IDW, Hasbro wouldn't find another comic book company to license the title.
"and be subjected to the constantly negative opinions of the mostly 'unpleasable fanbase'."
Yes. I'm unpleasable. I'm so unpleasable I loved the -ations. I'm so unpleasable I'm gay for anything Roche. I'm so unpleasable I love EJ Su, Nick Roche, Guido Guidi, Dan Khanna and all those other great IDW artists. I'm so unpleasable I never wasted my money on anything related to Transformers Animated.
It's such a major cop-out for people to outright dismiss criticism as being "an unpleasable fanbase". Please.
And Chris....
"It comes off as me being positive about what we're doing and thinking that people will like them after they read them."¨
Forgive the snarkiness, but didn't you people say the exact same thing about All Hail Megatron?
I'm with Jeysie. I'm here voicing my grievances because I used to love IDW's Transformers output, I was hooked from Infiltration #0.
There were bumpy steps, sure, the Beast Wars output was severely lacking and Megatron Origin was just plain bad, but reading Furman's new take on Generation 1, coupled with side stories from Nick Roche and Klaus Scherwinski made it all so forgivable.
Then you guys decided to go soft reboot and it all went downhill... Sales didn't go up despite AHM's hype. And now with the ongoing it's like the cycle repeating itself.
It really saddens me, because as I said before we used to have a great main book and mediocre "side books".
Ever since AHM, though, it's been the other way around.
Chris, you asked us why we take all you say so negatively? It's probably because there's been very little evidence of what you've said recently in contrast with the actions taken that would make us think positively.
Coda was promised to bridge the gaps between the -ations and AHM, yet the only writer who actually did that was (surprise surprise) Nick Roche. Hell, Shane McCarthy didn't fix any plot holes, he tore new ones with his awful Sunstreaker short in Coda, completely rewriting events that had happened barely a year ago.
And Continuum was a typo-riddled mess that seemed to ignore continuity left and right. When fans took it negatively, Schmidt came out and said that it's because it "wasn't meant for us"... who was it meant for, then? And more to the point, why aren't you aiming to sell your books to your fanbase?
And on that point, why is it you always seem determined to drive said fanbase away to attract hypothetical "new, casual fans"? Why risk losing the loyal readers for new readers who may or may not come?
Well I think I've gone off on a rant again so I'll stop here, but Chris, I really hope you take what I've said into consideration. I wouldn't be posting here if I wasn't a fan of IDW's Transformers.
- February 25, 2010 at 10:35 AM
"Then you guys decided to go soft reboot and it all went downhill... Sales didn't go up despite AHM's hype."
Ok, couple of things Detour since you brought the sales issue and Chris has said repeatedly he doesn't like to discuss those things.
1. All we have to go on as fans are the ICV2 sales ESTIMATES. I can't bold that last word enough. Those figures are estimates, not actual sales numbers. So when Chris came out and said that AHM # 1 sold really well and higher than TF's comics have in some time, I believe that. I don't believe for one second that the estimates shown for AHM # 1 or the Ongoing were accurate but were underestimated.
If you read the bottom of the ICV2 pages it also states a few things like the chart doesn't account for Diamond UK distribution which can account for significant sales AND IDW IS NOT listed as a publisher that distributes 100% of their comics through Diamond. Which means they may use other distribution outlets further accounting for the underestimates of sales of their titles.
So only IDW knows how much they are selling. If ations series were doing great, as a buisness, why would IDW cut that short? It must have been shedding readers for IDW to have felt the need to change things up with AHM for the viability of the franchise. Because IDW can see what preorders on titles are months in advance, we can't. They can see how well the issues are tracking in stores, we can't. They can see what titles are getting more reorders than other titles, we can't.
There's a lot we as fans don't know. Sure we can look at the ICV2estimates for an idea on how things are trending, it that. But for you to make that statement above is highly inaccurate.
IDW just didn't flippantly decide one day, oh, let's get rid of Furmans Ations run even though it sells great and the fans love it. No, they make the best decisions they can so that they can continue to produce TF comics and we can enjoy them, which I do.
- February 25, 2010 at 11:18 AM
Going back to Detour's initial post, it really seems that his key point wasn't "IDW doesn't care", but "people THINK IDW doesn't care, and here's an extensive list of reasons why.
His criticisms echoed those of many others, including myself, and simply dismissing them out of hand does little to shake our opinion. I want to know WHY you think he's wrong.
Look at Chee's artwork in the Bumblebee series. There's been much discussion about how it doesn't mesh at all with Figueroa's work in the ongoing, but I think a far more important point is how it contradicts Zander Cannon's script itself.
In #2, it's mentioned several times that Bumblebee's Skywatch badge is in the center of his chest, covering his Autobot symbol. Blurr specifically asks why his symbol had been replaced, and the gunshot that disable the badge is said to have hit 'dead center'.
In #3, we meet a man with an obviously Indian name. His daughter is named Serena, and I eventually suspected that she was intended to be the IDW-verse's version of Sari. It took a while to realize this because she appeared to be quite clearly Caucasian.
Again, these are simply two complaints amidst a sea of them. The fact that the head editor wrote something as error filled as Continuum raised a lot red flags on its own. I'd honestly like to find out that it was mistakenly published with the unedited first draft text. The notion that IDW was genuinely pleased with how it turned out fuels a lot of the fire.
We WANT to know that IDW is aware of these problems and will avoid them in the future. I complain because I'd much prefer a product that gives me no reason to.
- February 25, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Sorry, I forgot the last sentence of one of the paragraphs, it should read as follows:
In #2, it's mentioned several times that Bumblebee's Skywatch badge is in the center of his chest, covering his Autobot symbol. Blurr specifically asks why his symbol had been replaced, and the gunshot that disable the badge is said to have hit 'dead center'. The badge itself is drawn on the corner of Bumblebee's chest, away from the center, leaving his symbol clearly visible.
- February 25, 2010 at 11:25 AM
- Chris Ryall said...
I gotta move on and go make comics and annoy other people now, but really, I do appreciate all your comments, good or bad. Like I say, I know you all really care about the characters and that's why you take us to task. And I do the same on my end, talk to the editors about making sure everything jibes and that we do as good as possible on everything. With monthly comics, things will occasionally slip by, or art styles won't mesh as well as people would like and any number of other things that make people pull their hair out. But we do all expend great effort in producing these books, and strive to make you, Hasbro, retailers, everyone happy with them.
At times, that doesn't happen. And you lash out negatively. And I'm human, and react less well to biased negativity or comments about books people haven't read yet. But at the end of it, know we do read the comments and if we fall down in one issue, we pick ourselves up and move forward on the next.
Now, let's at least all move on up the Blog to today's entry, about TF #4, so everyone can at least weigh in on a book that's actually already been released.
- February 25, 2010 at 11:32 AM
- Jon said...
Chris, just a few brief points, if you find time to read them:
"But look at the comments here--I post a few nice pieces of E.J.'s art and the overwhelming negativity ... I never quite get why comments are always as contentious as they are."
The eruption of comments on this thread is, I would postulate, purely down to your comments in the post, which I, among others, found unnecessarily derisive. Certainly that was all I was responding to.
"Do you really think fans want these books to succeed more than those of us who've tied our fates to them?"
I don't think anyone believes this. What people find themselves thinking, perhaps, is that your strategy for success relies more on focusing on the accompanying publicity than knuckling down on the quality. This is how they might interpret relaunching a title with different writers in a way that harms the existing storyline.
I've no doubt you would fiercely contest that but I think it's important you get a clearer picture of the POV you're fighting against.
"The rancor about Prowl, and the misconstruing of Andy's words in that interview, and the opinions already being set before the Spotlight even arrives ..."
Again I make the point about tarring everyone with the same brush and your conflating 'assumptions' and 'opinions already being set' with speculation.
Let me put this to you: there are plenty of threads that speculate, sometimes emotively, about what will happen to a particular character in a story, or where the plot will go. Are you equally concerned about these 'erroneous assumptions'? It's simply human to try to construe beyond the limits of one's knowledge.
"It's delving deeper into Prowl's actions and psyche, so things you don't think are in character now will make sense."
Two points: first of all you, while I'm sure this is unintentional, you seem to be admitting here that as things stand, things don't make sense. Semantics maybe, but that might be telling.
More importantly, please understand that the real 'rancour', as you put it, comes from the idea that however well this delves into Prowl's psyche, if the end result is that Prowl is transformed from his AHM15 portrayal to a more, shall we say, 'clean' figure, that seems like wasted potential. Just that *possibility* (without need of an assumption) worries some people.
Final point, in the hope of reaching an understanding: the language sometimes used in confusing, partly because it's informed by emotion, but I think what is generally criticised is errors of judgement. No one thinks you're all callous or scheming or workshy of anything like that. It's just sometimes fans feel a particular series of decisions (say, the ones Andy made when composing Continuum) are really bad calls and have a tough time reconciling this with the idea that someone is a reliable custodian of the fiction.
As I say, I know you would passionate disagree with this, but I just want you to better understand the nature of the negativity you perceive.
If you've got to the end of this, thank you for reading.
- February 25, 2010 at 12:03 PM
- Feikki said...
Ryall: "But look at the comments here--I post a few nice pieces of E.J.'s art and the overwhelming negativity, from Feikki saying E.J.'s great work looks like "a friggin' toy""
I knew I should've written a longer (and slightly more sugar coated) post... Instead of being as a whining-nothing-satisfies-me-raving-fanboy. I tried to just say that I myself like much more seeing Transformers drawn as the reallife vehicles they're trying to imitate. I didn't mean to bash on E.J. personally. Since I hate it also when Don Fig does it...
For me the most exciting thing in the Transformers is the "Robots in Disguise" aspect. I'd love to see more hiding TF's in the middle of people. I'd love to see this "disguise" and "alt-mode" stuff used more innovatively and rich. It's just interesting to see and imagine Transformers interacting and coping among us on the Earth. Space operas like Strombringer have different interesting aspects. The bigger the battle the better there, no worries if Tf's don't have real world non toy looking altmodes there.
I don't understand what is the point in drawing into comic book vehicles that look like toys that try to look like real word vehicles. Ok, so do understand the point. It's selling these friggin toys to people... But what makes you think real looking cars and military vehicles wouldn't do the same trick.
I've had this problem ever since I saw Don Figueroa's art in DW's Generation 1 vol.3. It's not aimed to E.J. only. I like very much both these guys' art! But I wished they draw cars not toys.
P.S.Optimus is trukk not toy! ;)
- February 25, 2010 at 3:21 PM
- Detour said...
Chris, again...
"art styles won't mesh as well as people would like"
The problem isn't a variety of art styles. I love EJ's art, I love Nick's art, I love Guido's art... they all have different styles.
The problem is the character models are being dramatically changed. While I don't like Don's new Sneerformer art style, it wouldn't be so bad if he and Chee would work from the same character models. Back in the old days Geoff Senior, Andy Wildman and Jose Delbo all had very different art styles... but they still worked from the same character models.
Because, again, Blurr went from having an Earth car mode in the ongoing to having a Cybertronian car mode in the Bumblebee mini.
- February 25, 2010 at 4:36 PM
Sorry to butt in again. I just wanted to lend support to this part of Detour's last post:
"The problem isn't a variety of art styles. I love EJ's art, I love Nick's art, I love Guido's art... they all have different styles."
Again, no doubt you won't agree with the position, Chris, but please understand that it's been of great concern to a lot of us that the 'company' line (ie. what you've said and others at IDW have said) appears to completely ignore the difference between style and character model.
I really don't think anyone objects to a variety of styles. But in the past, EJ would draw Don's and Nick's designs, Don draw EJ's and Nick draw pretty much everyone else's. Design change was a plot point - something to pay attention to.
I, for one, just don't understand why that approach was abandoned. All the TF artists seemed to do a great job mixing their own style with other artists' designs. Did they complain? Was it a headache to manage? I'd be really interested to know the reason for the switch.
- February 25, 2010 at 4:49 PM
- Mel said...
It's such a major cop-out for people to outright dismiss criticism as being "an unpleasable fanbase". Please.
Please nothing. It's not an unfair assessment to call many of the people who choose to post their thoughts about IDW's Transformers an unpleasable fanbase, since they simply never seem to be pleased. The term is self-explanatory. No one is 'dismissing' criticizm here, though. I just don't happen to share the opinion of the majority of posters here. It is fine to criticize, and believe me, I'm not in love with everything IDW has put out...rather, I realize they are doing their level best, and we get this stuff in a monthly format (pertaining to criticisms of the ongoing) so some details have to wait to be explained.
Many of the posts above treat their criticisms as hard fact, when they are merely opinions. And you know what opinions are like, mine included. I merely wanted to get mine in there, to show that not EVERYONE feels the way you guys seem to feel. Dissenters tend to be more vocal than supporters, and I took my chance to break that particular jinx.
- February 26, 2010 at 5:28 AM
Mel, I posted this over on IDW's board, but it seems pretty relevant to your post. Just let me preface this with the suggestion that your perception might be do to the fact that people generally *don't complain* if they're happy with a product.
I like Simon Furman. I like E.J. Su. I like Nick Roche, Guido Guidi, Chris Mowry, Alex Milne, Marcelo Matere, Marty Isenberg, Emiliano Santalucia, Dario Brizuela, Casey Coller, Robby Musso, Andrew Griffith, Dan Khanna, Andrew Wildman, Boo, and Klaus Scherwinski.
I like good writing. I like consistent characterization. I like stories that build logically on what's come before. I like characters capable of expressing emotions. I like concurrently running stories that compliment rather than contradict each other. I like it when a continuity I've grown invested in is treated with respect. If liking all these things makes me a 'hater', then so be it.
I've been following this series for over 4 years, I wouldn't still be here if I didn't enjoy some aspect of it. I know they're capable of producing better material. I WANT them to produce better material. Burying your head in the sand and dismissing the readership as 'unpleasable' when they don't like material as genuinely substandard as Continuum doesn't help anyone.
- February 26, 2010 at 9:33 AM
- Jeysie said...
"Please nothing. It's not an unfair assessment to call many of the people who choose to post their thoughts about IDW's Transformers an unpleasable fanbase, since they simply never seem to be pleased."
You mean the unpleaseable fanbase currently loving the heck out of Last Stand of the Wreckers, and promoting the mini in their sigs, webpages, and on the Wiki? The unpleaseable fanbase that loved the Allspark Almanac and Animated in general? The unpleaseable fanbase that's been lauding the recent TFCC fiction?
Yes, we're so unpleaseable that we tend to band together in near-unanimous praise for every bit of really awesome TF storytelling we get.
I'm with Detour: It's a inaccurate cop-out to dismiss legitimate criticism as us being "unpleaseable".
- February 26, 2010 at 2:26 PM
- E.J.Su said...
and there I thought there were 40 comments welcoming me back. ;)
- February 27, 2010 at 10:50 AM
- Jeysie said...
*chuckles and pats*
Well, I have to say your art alone will likely get me to pick this up anyway, EJ. I miss having you on the art regularly, though I've no doubt you're busy with your wee ones.
- February 27, 2010 at 12:25 PM
- Detour said...
I love your art, EJ....
But good art is useless in comics unless it has a good story to go with it.
- February 28, 2010 at 4:41 PM
- Mel said...
cop-out also copout ( ) n. Slang A failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squarely.
I am not 'copping out'. It's you people who are using the term cop-out that are doing it. I just don't agree with your opinion(s), and many of the criticms leveled against IDW are personal preference in terms of story points (in examples like Prowl in the ongoing). I don't have as big a problem with the issues leveled against AHM, as it is clear the writer did things in story that reflected his personal preference and not necessarily what the characters would do in a given circumstance, but hey...it was his story. I didn't like certain aspects of AHM, and I stated my grievances, but that pretty much was the end of it. Droning on and on about it and just not moving on and letting the new material speak for itself simply never occured to me...but maybe I just don't expect 'perfection'. It's not a cop-out to treat the company that puts out the material charitably if I actually enjoy the material for what it is. I guess everybody isn't capable of that.
To the poster who pulled out LSTOW, do you really want to use that as your example of clemency on being accused of being an 'unpleasable fanbase'? Really?
Is anyone here blind enough to think that whatever Nick Roche (and Mr. James Roberts) came up with wouldn't be instantly championed by the TF community after SL: Kup and AHM 15? It is well deserved, but it's certainly no suprise it would hit all the fanboy buttons. It's written specificially for old-school diehards like us. Detour even says he or she is 'totally gay for anything Nick Roche can write (Last Stand of the Wreckers is easily my favorite IDW G1 piece yet).'
I like how you are totally willing to make me out as the enemy (by telling me i'm copping out rather than just disagreeing with me) because I actually LIKE what IDW is doing and decided to speak up about it. To me, you all are just stuck on your mostly negative opinions because you WANT to be, historically. You say 'we want great TF stories, and would love them if they were great, but these aren't it'. So what is, then? Because I've been reading these stories since I was a little kid, and these are by far the overall best TF stories ever produced, in any medium. It is not and will never be 'great literature'. The subject matter simply doesn't support it. However, within that 'limitation', some thoroughly enjoyable stories have been told since IDW took up the license, but the complaining has been here all the time.
On the other hand, I complete agree with Detour when he says 'But good art is useless in comics unless it has a good story to go with it.'
Truer words, man, truer words.
- March 1, 2010 at 5:59 AM


text:
Here's hoping you had the under on Dolphins-Seahawks.
At the end of the first quarter, there have been seven possessions completed. Six of them ended in punts. One ending with a Ryan Tannehill interception. During that span, there were two first downs, both owned by the Dolphins.
Both defenses are playing well, and the first one with a field goal may win this one.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
sa S diatothoiute
by Lorene Janssen
Vol. XXIV — No. 1 BETHEL INSTITUTE, St. Paul, Minnesota September 22, 1944
"Deeper Life Week"
October 2--6
"Deeper Life" week will be held
this year from October 2 to 6.
Missionary Eric Frykenberg will
be the speaker and will conduct
services daily in the chapel and
every evening from 6:00 to 7:00.
Missionary Frykenberg has spent
several years in India, and has
had many rich experiences and has
tested the power of prayer. It is
hoped by the committee that this
week will prove inspiring to every
Coming ...
On Thursday evening, Septem-ber
28, Mr. Sven Liljeblad of Swe-den
will present a special lecture
on Swedish Folklore in the College
Chapel. Mr. Liljeblad has been
very active in the establishment
and maintenance of the Folk Art
Museums of Sweden.
On October 3, 1944 at convoca-tion,
Mr. Bert Harwell, National
Audubon Society lecturer, will
show all-color motion pictures on
travels he has made from coast to
coast over the mountains,
prairies and valleys of the nation.
Mr. Harwell has amazing whist-ling
ability, and with his lecture
will give whistled imitations of
bird songs.
Bethel Adds
To Faculty
Bethel has several new mem-bers
added to her faculty this
year. They have been asked some
of their first impressions of life
at Bethel.
Miss Johnson who teaches Fresh-man
Composition and American
Literature says she finds Bethel
to be nothing but the very best
and knows she will like it very
much. She has seen no one that
she doesn't like.
Rev. H. P. Archard who teaches
Spanish says, "I think Bethel is
delightful and I find the students
very attentive".
Mrs. Sjordal is an old Bethelite
and is teaching Swedish this year.
She says, "Bethel is just like home
to me".
Mr. Swan Engwall is a new
teacher in the Christian Workers'
Course department and also teach-es
sociology and general psychol-ogy.
Mr. Engwall is very enthusi_
astic about Bethel and says, "If
the students enjoy it half as much
as I do, that's just fine."
Rev. Omark is another old Be-thelite
and is a new teacher in
the Seminary. He enjoys work-nig
with young people because of
the many possibilities of it. He
says, "I owe much to Bethel be-cause
of what it has done for me."
Students Appear
From Everywhere
Bethel College, since its origin
thirteen years ago, has gr-own with
surprising rapidity. This year with
an enrollment of 177 it has reach-ed
the peak in college history. Of
this number 123 are freshmen and
54 are sophomores. Attendance in
the seminary keeps up well too,
tnd there are 56 students enrolled
in that department.
Of the 221 students enrolled at
Bethel, there are 136 girls and 99
men. Students have come from
all over the world, two from India,
one from Ireland, and one from
Rumania. Also they come from
every part of the States. Minne-sota
leads with 69 students, not
including the 38 from Minneapolis
and St. Paul.
Bethel Students have various
ambitions for their life work. The
majority of the students will be
preparing for definite Christian
work. There are 138 preparing
for work in home churches and on
mission fields. Thirty-seven girls-are
preparing to enter nurses'
training, 10 students are pre-medi-cal,
and then there is one girl
whose ambition is to be a "farm-er's
"An unhappy gentleman, resolv-ing
to wed nothing short of per-fection,
keeps his heart and hand
till both get so old and withered
that no tolerable woman will ac-cept
them." So says Hawthorne.
But not so in the lives of many
Bethelites for whom wedding bells
have rung merrily this past sum-mer.
June ninth seemed to be a
favorite day for taking the nup-tial
vows. Among those choosing
this date were Miss Enid Platts,
former speech and English in-structor
at Bethel, and Verne Var-hus
of Minneapolis. Also wed on
June 9 were Warren Magnuson
and Margaret Johnson. FrOm Du-luth
came the news of the mar-riage
of Henrietta DeCamp to Mel-vin
Swanson. While down in Io-wa,
Truman Halvorsen claimed
Verna Jorgensen as his bride. Also
this summer Joyce Nelson chang-ed
her name to Mrs. Richard Slei-ter.
Oh yes, John "Knobby" Ber-
On Tuesday morning, Septem-ber
12, 1944, the fall term of our
Seminary opened officially with an
extended chapel service. The mes-sage
of the morning was given by
Dean K. J. Karlson who as dean
of the Seminary gave the opening
message for the nineteenth time.
Other pastors from our state and
locality also spoke.
Dr. Karlson's message was pre-ceeded
by a song service and spe-cial
numbers by Lloyd Nordstrom.
The message itself was based up-on
Galations 1:15, 16, drawing
from the life of Paul. The early
dedication, separation, and mis-sion
of Paul was portrayed and
then applied to the preachers-to-be
who were in attendance. From the
later student comments it was
quickly understood that his mes-sages
were a "real starter" for
the year.
Following the message the visit-ing
pastors were given an oppor-tunity
to express themselves.
Their greetings and admonitions
were also well received by the
audience. The service began about
10:00 and proceeded for approxi-mately
two hours.
geson and Gladys Peterson are
now Mr. and Mrs. Another fellow
missing this year from the "bache-lor
club" is Roger Youngquist who
took Harriet Anderson as his
Perhaps being treasurer for the
Male Chorus gave him some valu-able
experience in figuring expens-es,
at least Robert Norstrom and
Veona Magnuson must have decid-ed
that two can live as cheaply as
one. Another Bethel couple re-peating
the solemn "I do's" were
William Hagstrom and Ethel Ahl-quist.
Incidentally Cupid did his bit
down in Rockford, Illinois too,
where Margaret Appelquist and
Stanley Paulson were united in
marriage by the bride's father.
Surprised? Well, we were too and
we believe that it was a fitting
climax to a summer of Bethel wed-dings.
Freshman week activities began
with the annual freshman picnic
at Battle Creek Park on Thurs-day,
September 7. Games were
played which acquainted the new
Bethelites with one another and
Kay Shimatsu as chief chef.
Friday evening, Septerber 8
was game night in the college
building. The freshmen were giv-en
another chance to get acquaint-ed
with each other and upper
On Sunday, the new students
were given a chance to visit a
Twin City church and attend the
Young People's Rally of the State
Conference at the Central Baptist
church in the afternoon.
Friday evening, September 15,
was kInown as Jludgment Night
when the freshmen were duly ini-tiated
into Bethel's family. Among
other numbers was a skit portray-ing
freshmen girls in Miss Nel-son's
office at different stages of
their freshmen year, and finally,
of the reunion when they returned
as sophomores. After the sopho-mores
had been patient with the
"freshies" all week the tables were
turned and the freshies were the
"patients" during their initiation.
Refreshments were furnished by
Arlene Peterson and Gladys Biller
of "Pete's Retreat".
Freshman week activities were
in charge of the College and the
Student Council.
Faculty wives extended the offi-cial
welcome to the Freshmen
girls when they entertained at the
first B.W.A. meeting of the year
held in the reception room of the
Dormitory, Thursday, September
Installation of officers took place
at which time the following offic-ers
were assigned to their new
duties: Alma Iblings, president;
Lily Johnson, vice-president; Bar-bara
Edson, secretary; Jane Lar-son,
assistant secretary; Gladys
Biller, treasurer; Miriam Nelson,
assistant treasurer, and Miss Effie
Nelson, advisor. Everyone partici-pated
in the candlelight service.
Big and little sisters were in-troduced
at this meeting. Maxine
Olson and Arlene Peterson are
Big and Little Sister chairmen.
New Bethelites Arrive
Dean Karlson Activities Welcome
Opens Seminar y Freshmen
For 19th Time
Page 2
A bI-weekly campus newspaper.
1480 North Snelling Ave., St. Paul, Minn.
As a Sophomore . • •
by Jane Larson
After what seemed to be an endless summer waiting for Bethel
days to roll around again, I finally found myself back in the dear 'ole
familiar surroundings. Familiar—yes—but strange. Many faces were
missing replaced by new ones set with bewildered eyes expressing
eagerness and determination. These were new Bethelites—freshmen.
Then did I realize I was now a member of the class known as "wise"
sophomores. I used to wonder how that must feel but admit I have
experienced nothing different in the way of feelings. Perhaps (I hope)
it takes a while for that wisdom to creep in.
At any rate, just the idea of being a sophomore is a satisfaction.
It is the reward of a lot of hard work, adjusting one's self to college
life—and a lot of fun.
As we sophomores gather in groups here and there, our conversa-tion
invariably turns to reminiscing. Never shall we forget our fresh-man
week, the Deeper Life services with Rev. Martin Erickson, "Home
On The Farm" at Homecoming, the farewells and then reunions at vaca-tion
time, Founder's Week, the J. S. Banquet, and last but not least,
when we bade farewell to our upper classmen.
It was a great year but we look forward to another just as full and
rich. Freshmen and sophomores will soon become indistinct and we'll
all be bound together as one big Bethel family again.
Now on behalf of all sophomore girls may I say "A very hearty and
friendly welcome to all our new Bethel friends!"
"I am in Memphis, Tennessee, going to Aviation Radio-man School.
I am glad I have the chance of going to a school because if you don't
go to school your chances of a rate are very slim. All Navy rates from
July 1st on are only temporary anyway, which means that your rate
can be taken from you for little or no reason and at any time.
I go to school 6 days a week and for 8 hours a day. My day starts
at 6:00 in the morning and goes until 9:30 at night. I'll have to admit
that school is tough and that when I get back to Bethel I'll have
learned a great lesson. I know that I will appreciate Bethel more. My
devotions have led me into Galatians and in the 2nd chapter and the
20th verse I find a favorite verse of mine "I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me."
JOHN ROBERT NELSON S 2/c
j04 a 14e.litonan gal
Hear us, we pray Thee, our Father, as we remember the girl who,
with thousands of others, has this week left home companions, dear
familiar faces, streets over which since a little child she has traveled
to church, to school, to play, that she may enter her castle of dreams
When on this night of strangeness and great loneliness the rosy
dream seems gray and the longing to go back, even for a moment, to
all that is dear, sweeps over her soul, comfort her Thou Christ, who
wast young and lonely and can understand. Strengthen her will; help
her even in her homesickness to remember the high purpose which has
led her to college; keep her ideal unveiled before her; show her the
large place of service and happiness that awaits her. Even in this mo-ment
of weakness let the knowledge that the only way by which she
can comfort herself is to forget herself, send her out to seek another
girl as lonely as she and whisper to her that tomorrow will be differ-ent.
Give her the courage to sit down and write a word of gratitude
and cheer to the father who misses her, though proud that she has gone,
and the mother who wishes her back, yet would not have her come.
If when the lights are out and the great hall is still she cannot
keep back the tears, help her to speak to Thee, to ask Thy blessing
upon all whom she loves. Turn her thoughts, we pray Thee, to the days
to come, to the friends to be, the good times in store, the great things
to be lived and learned. Thou who art Creator of a universe and the
heart of a girl, give her sleep and peace. Through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.
—Margaret Slattery in "A Girl's Book of Prayers"
by Marianne Schouweiler
"What do you think of the
upper classmen?"
Doug Smith—Swell, especially
one of them.
Neretta Perry—Bunch of drips!
Grace Larson—The GIRLS are
Carl A pplequist—An evil that
has to be tolerated.
Jim Anderson—Too lenient with
the "Freshman Rools".
Norma Baustiam and Jackie
Lundquist agreed—Pretty fine.
Vergie Dahlman—They certainly
look intelligent.
Maxine Bjork—How did they
get through the first year? ! ?
Verna Waller—They gave us
some swell ideas on how to haze
the Treshies' next year.
Jeanne Holmgren—It'd sure be
nice to be one! !
Pauline Widen—I could tell you
R uth Gimbert—They pretend
they're forceful—but it's all noise.
Jean ette Lyster—No complaints
so far.
Dagmar Jenson and Grace Jor-genson—
Mae Belle Anderson—I don't
want to get ruined!
Frank Shindo—Swell—but they
are rather cocky.
Wendall Lindstrom—Well, —I
think of them all right.
Walter B. Eddy, Jr.—A little
by Arleth Brask
Sept. 11—Rev. Martin Erickson
"The Bible is a book above every
book. I even dislike to see anoth-er
book placed on top the Bible."
Sept: 13—Dr. Wingblade
"As a student body we are go-ing
forward shoulder to shoulder
to win the victory. We are here
to receive all that we possibly can
for education and growth. We al e
here at Bethel to give influence
to the atmosphere of Bethel. We
cannot hide that which is in us,
nor express that which is not in
Sept. 18—Prof. Norstrom
"The heart is the depository of
God's Love."
"Today youth needs to be gov-erned
by a purpose. Think things
through, but think them through
with the Lord."
10 ebitation
by Dana Larson
Colossians 1:25-29
Another year at Bethel has now
begun. I imagine that there are
many reasons for you students
coming here. Some, no doubt,
have come because of the urging
of others; some for the Christian
fellowship; some have come for
College training with a Christian
background, and then others have
come with a definite purpose in
mind of serving their Lord by
their life. My prayer, and the
prayer of all who have been here
before, is that you new students,
especially, will be able to grow
in your Christian experience while
We are truly privileged to be
here at Bethel in these days and
privileged to be Blood-bought sons
of God. But this privilege, as all
privileges, carries with it a great,
inescapable responsibility. We
who have experienced salvation
through Christ have been given
the Mystery of the ages—it works
but we don't know how. Paul, in
writing to the Collossians realized
this fact and wanted to share the
mystery with others. (Col. 1:26)
Having the mystery made mani-fest
is not the end of things, but
God "would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mys-tery
among you". What are these
riches? -Perhaps some of you have
been living in spiritual poverty
and have found defeat and loss
at every turn. The Christian life
is not intended to be that way. It
should be full, rich and joyous.
EVery Chrtstian should be that
way because "God would"—wants,
to make His wealth known to you.
What is it then? "It is Christ in
you, the hope of glory." Paul lived
with Christ in him trying to make
other men "perfect in Christ Je-sus."
He did this by "warning all
men" of the wrath to come and
"teaching every man" of Christ's
glorious salvation. This work he
did in all wisdom and truly wis-dom
or.tact is needed in witness-ing
for our Mighty Master whether
the witnessing is being done by
preacher or layman.
Evangelism is the greatest "bus-iness"
of all because Christ is the
"General Manager". But it can be
a failure too, if the instruction of
the "General Manager" is not tak-en.
Paul was "striving according
to this working which worketh in
me mightily". He didn't just work
as he was instructed but let Christ
work within and through him.
Therefore, Paul was not himself
but was Christ living in Him. As
he said in Phillippians 1:21 "For
me to live is Christ".
May the Lord guide you in your
knowledge of Himself that you
may be able to live like Paul and
be Christ to someone else.
Deeper Life Week
In Your Prayers
q4ant a liwAhmen Qpti
by Jacquelyn Lundquist
An old saying is often quoted as follows: "First impressions are
lasting ones," and I certainly want my first impressions of Bethel to
be lasting. When first arriving at Bethel, I was deeply impressed by
the manner in which we were so cordially welcomed by strangers as
well as old friends. Immediately, I knew I could anticipate a marvelous
time at Bethel for no other reason than the wonderful Christian atmos-phere
which was so prevalent.
At the picnic on Thursday evening I am sure that each Freshie
had a swell time becoming acquainted with one another through the
games played (especially, passing the ring on tooth picks), hiking
around the grounds and also eating the good things which were set be-fore
us, but it was most inspiring to end this time of fellowship prais-ing
Christ through songs and testimonies.
For several years I have been planning to attend Bethel and during
that time I have always been interested in viewing pictures especially
of the Girls' Dormitory but through all my dreams, plans and anticipa-tions
I have never dreamed the dorm to be as perfect as it really is.
All ready many of us have gotten to know each other as personal friends
through dormitory life.
Then too, as Freshies we are having a lot of fun getting adjusted
to college life and at the same time wearing braids and trying to break
the harsh rules which our upper classmen have so eagerly bestowed
upon us. But no kidding, it has been loads of fun.
As each day passes Bethel impresses me more and more . I truly
thank God for this great opportunity and may Christ so impress us
wnile we are here that we will never stop praising Him.
140-in aq4eAhineftqeilaw
by Harvey Rakow
Thinking my interview completed, I turned, and was about to leave
the room, when the individual whose advice I sought in respect to col-lege
training said, "By the way—I think you'll find you'll like it at
Bethel!" I shall never forget the smile of satisfaction upon the face
of this former Bethel student. It seemed to reflect memories of enjoy-able
experiences—experiences that he must have had during his days
at Bethel. However; the words of this alumnus made even a deeper
impression than his smile. They literally burned into my mind.
I have been in the Bethel family for almost one week now, and I
surely am finding Bethel a delightful experience. A spirit of true, Chris-tian
industry seems to possess its faculty. As to my fellow students, I
can only say that they seem to be about the best group of Christian
young people I have ever met.
Before I close, I should like to mention that the thing that has im-pressed
me most has been the after-supper prayer meetings. These
nightly gatherings, just before we go to our studies, unify us into one,
large, happy family—a family of God, dwelling in a house of God—
THE BETHEL CLARION Page 3
Fem Snatches
by Mabel Anderson
September! Yes, it doesn't seem
possible, but that ninth month of
the year has rolled around again,
and of course that means that the
school bell is now in action. The
Bethel Campus is buzzing with ac-tivity
and the girl's dorm is just
as peppy as ever.
While making the rounds
through the dorm your reporter
overheard. . . Dagmar Jensen talk-ing
about the frog she found in
her closet. "I was brave," said
Dagmar, "and really kept the frog
jumping." . . . Clara Hintz admir-ing
Mary Paulson's orchid dorm
booties . . . Joy Berry wishing she
still had her 1922 Model T Ford—
"Gilbert" by name. . . Florence
Hedman and Florence Peterson re-lating
their recent shopping ex-periences
(the two "Flo's" were
going to investigate the reason
for such a long line in a certain
department at Wards when sud-denly
someone said to them—"Get
to the back of the line if you want
shells for your shot gun!" Start-ing
the semester with a bang, eh,
girls?).. . . . Juanita Barfknecht
bemoaning the fact that she
stepped off the streetcar twenty
blocks too soon. . . Gretchen
Clausen and Miriam Nelson in-troducing
their new dorm pets,
namely Thorwald and Dale Martin
. . . Arleth Brask and Virginia
Anderson already entertaining a
guest, Lucille Fisk by name. . .
Greta Fredrikson dreaming about
that certain someone (Emory Ren-dahl)
whose picture monopolizes
Greta's desk. . . . Jane Larson still
saying the same old thing—"Fel-lowship
is so wonderful". . . .
Carol La Gesse naming her pretty
pink and white cat—"Fluff. . . .
Upperclassmen welcoming all new
students. . . .
Girls, this is your column, so
how about sending some "con-tribs".
See you next issue!
It's great to see so many new
faces around the campus. We of
the Seminary bid you all a hearty
welcome. You can breathe a little
easier now that Freshman Week
is past history. Gone but not for-gotten.
If any of you suffer from
home-sickness or any other ail-ment,
come to Dr. Bill Peterson
for relief.
To our Seminary faculty we wel-come
Professor Edwin Omark. Al-ready
we have learned to love him
and to know him as a real man of
Well, everyone in the Sem Dorm
is pretty well settled. The furni-ture
they have in their rooms will
have to carry them through until
next June and some of the poor
fellows haven't got too much to
go on. Gene Nyman, our new
"dorm ma" is taking good care of
the fellows, however.
We have all kinds of mixtures
living here this year. Imagine
"Smokey" Hails and Sprecher as
roommates. These two can get
lonesome together now.
But what about poor Ankerberg
who has a room by himself. Don't
worry he likes living here. Don't
tell his wife but he says he's get-ting
something to eat for a change.
Incidently, many of the Sem
Students think that a home econ-omics
course should be added to
the college curriculum. What do
you think, Gene Johnson?
Have you seen the yellow tie
that that man about town, the
one and only Lloyd "Sweetheart"
Nordstrom h a s recently pur-chased?
Poor guy, he's really
changing from a conservative to a
radical. Is that how that "ring
job" affected you, Lloyd?
"Bergie" and Dana really enjoy
the boarding club this year and so
do we all. It sort of completes
our co-educational system. Thanks
for your good meals, Ma. (I won-der
how long the big attendance
at breakfast will last).
Gustav Westmo, that supersales-man
came over to school last week
for a social (?) visit. Seeing Lloyd
Nordstrom in the library and
knowing that his car was without
insurance, he called him out to
another room. Right away some-one
said, "I'll bet Lloyd comes
back with insurance". Wanting to
hear a good sales talk, I followed
him. Sure enough Lloyd bought a
policy—and so did I.
Wilbur "Knap" Erickson, who
has enlisted in the Naval Air
Corps left us last week. We're
going to miss "Knop" for several
reasons. However, he did leave
his car around. While here he got
it caught between a street-car and
a parked car so if you see a tall
thin Model A Ford around you'll
know why.
Well, enough's enough, so with
this article I close my career as
the writer of Sem Snatches and
turn the job over to another.
Virginia Anderson Sept. 2
Anton Cederholm Sept 3
A. Neretta Perry Sept. 6
Mildred Lindblom Sept. 7
Rhoda Anderson • • 1 Sept. 8
Grace Larson __..Sept. 9
Earl Trude Sept. 7
Betty Person Sept. 11
Merle Bergfalk Sept. 12
Harold Carlson • •__ Sept. 12
Jacquelyn Lundquist Sept. 13
Barbara Edson Sept. 14
Carl Ekstrand Sept. 14
Margaret Anderson Sept. 18
Jeanette Lyster Sept. 21
Miriam Nelson .Sept. 21
Lois Marsh Sept. 23
Gladys Klassen Sept. 27
Week Finale
The Freshmen at Bethel Jr. Col-lege
were "guests of honor" at a
party sponsored by the upperclass-men
in the college gym on Friday
Bill Peterson was master of cer-emonies
and the party was opened
by singing some old-time tunes.
The upperclassmen gave the
freshmen an idea how stupid and
"green" they looked the first day
of school when they came to the
Dean for advice.
The theme was in a doctor's of-fice
with Dr. (Bill) Peterson in
charge and Mabel Anderson assist-ing
as the nurse. The following
freshmen were given prescriptions
by the Doctor for the ailments that
had taken place during the week.
Virginia Peterson was first in
line to pay the consequences for
the crimes she had committed du-ring
the week. After she, like
most of the ogler girls had had
their hair up all day, hoping to
catch some of that "Nyman and
Larson stuff" running around
school, it was quickly rendered free
of curls by an unceremonious
dunking of cold water.
Bob Nelson enjoyed a delicious
repast consisting of raw liver and
Bob Daley's breath was refreshed
by the odor of a tangy onion.
Doris Engwall, Carl Appelquist,
Jackie Lundquist, and Doug Smith
were given the honor of doing the
dishes for the students and faculty
members and their families after
lunch was served.
The "campus nut", Walter
Blaine Eddy, Jr. was given a sham-poo
which consisted of molasses
and chicken feathers.
The initiation came to an end
with the Doctor and his nurse giv-ing
Bill Thompson an operation.
It really scared some of the fresh-men.
Didn't it, Janet?
The group then went to the cha-pel
where the meeting was led by
Dana Larson. Choruses wer sung,
followed by Scripture reading and
an interesting talk by Dr. Carl-son.
SEM SNATCHES by Harold Carlson
The Anderson Press
4210 E. 34th St. DUpont 5495
Minneapolis, Minn.
Sid Harris, Manager
Modern Equipment
20 Minute Battery Charges
Como and Snelling
Finally, Maurice said, "These
few months of working for our
Lord have been a great storehouse
of spiritual experiences and inspi-ration
for Sahlin and me."
Larpenteur and Snelling
Ne. 9042
Visit Our Soda and
Sandwich Grill
1545 W. Larpenteur at Snelling
During convocation hour on Sep-tember
19, Vernon S. Peterson,
Consultant of the •Agricultural Ex-tension
Division E. I. Du Pont, De
Nemours and Company, presented
a lecture and display on plastics.
Hamline Hardware Co.
General Hardware
F. 0. Hagen J. W. Hagen
755 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul
LINCOLN 5c-roc $1 and up
Larpenteur and Snelling
Page 4 THE BETHEL CLARION
Keeping Up State Conference
At Central COAST TO COAST IN
With '43-'44 CHRISTIAN SERVICE
Bethelites of '43 and '44 who did
not return are scattered widely.
Eunice Anderson, June Anderson,
and Shirley Coleman have entered
Mounds-Midway School of Nurs-ing.
There are twelve who are at
the University of Minnesota. They
are: Elwood Anderson, Stamford
Widen, Howard Olson, Dale Bjork,
Delores Clauson, Gunnar Hoglund,
Marian Larsen, Robert Peterson,
Carol Rexion, Robert Otto, and
Janet Rye. Eileen Etter is teach-ing
school in North Dakota.
There are several who are in the
service of our country. Conwell
Anderson and Robert Nelson are
in the Navy and Herbert McDon-ald
and Wilbur Ericson are in the
Naval Air Corps. Stanley Yam-ashita
is in the Army Intelligence
at Fort Snelling. Margaret Swan-son
has joined the =Waves. Clar-ence
Sahlin is attending Bemidji
State Teachers' College and is stu-dent
pastor at the Lengby Baptist
Church. Wilbur Haring is also at-tending
Bemidji State Teachers'
College and is student pastor at
the Farris Chapel.
Lois Carlson is in Chicago at-tending
the Medical Technician
School. Julie Ann Ericson is in
nua*es training at the Swedish
Hospital. Stanley Paulson is at
tending the Medical Technician
School. Julie Ann Ericson is in
nurses training at the Swedish hos-pital.
Stanley Paulson is at Har-vard
University Graduate School
and Wilmer Quiring is at the Ger-man
Baptist Theological Seminary
in Rochester, New York. Melvin
Swanson is attending the Universi-ty
of Chicago and Gordon Thomp-son
is attending Macalaster Col-lege.
Irene Benson and Betty Mae
Nelson are at Cable's Secretarial
School. Dorothy Benson is also
in nurses training at Kahler Hos-pital.
J. Weston Seaquist is at the
University of Wisconsin. Mary
Oliver is a nurse at Mounds Hos-pital
and Wallace Henk is in Du-buque
Seminary, Iowa.
There must be many in the
Freshman class who have had
experience working on high
school papers. Also, there may
be many sophomores w h o
would enjoy working on the
Clarion staff this year. Let us,
therefore, urge you to sign up
for this student publication. It
is work, but it is a lot of fun.
Many thanks go to the fol-lowing
for their willing help
on this first issue: Adeline
Sivertson, Lois Thomas, Vir-ginia
Anderson, Dorothy Dahl-man,
Norma Seaquist, and Glo-ria
The Minnesota Swedish Baptist
Conference held its eighty-sixth
annual sessions at the central Bap-tist
Church of St. Paul, Minneso-ta,
September 6 through 10, 1944.
The Conference opened officially
at 1:00 P. M. on Thursday, the af-ternoon
was -taken up with elec-tions
and reports. In the evening
Rev. Gordon Hasselblad of Fergus
Falls gave the conference sermon,
"I Must Be About My Father's
Friday morning and part of the
afternoon were occupied with busi-ness
sessions. In the afternoon
Rev. Walfred Johnson of Worth-ington
spoke on, "The Holy Spirit,
the Administrator of our Father's
Business". In the evening Dean
Emery A. Johnson presented the
servicee's project of Bethel Col-lege
and the sermon was given
by Chaplain Carl J. Bergstrom,
Fort Knox, Tennessee, "Our Fa-ther's
Business as it Concerns
Those in the Armed Services".
Saturday morning "Temperance
is My Father's Business" was giv-
'len by Rev. Herbert H. Parish,
United Temperance Movement of
Minnesota. The Women's Union
Service was at 9:45 with Mrs.
Bengt Anderson as the speaker.
Sunday morning, Rev. Albert J.
Bergfalk spoke. At 2:00 Rev. Ed-win
Omark spoke at the State
Young People's session. The even-ing
session closed the conference
with the sermon by Rev. John D.
Lundberg of Milaca.
September 19 Convocation
and Exhibit on Du Pont Plas-tics
0 Missionary
September 21 B.W.A. Instal-lation
of officers
September 26 Election of
class officers
September 28 Mr. Sven Lil-jeblad—
October 15 Bethel day—St.
Louis Park and Payne Avenue
Baptist Churches
Bethel students were scattered
all over the United States holding
Bible Schools this summer. Hel-en
Soder and Grace Swanson
reached the western extremity.
They taught seven schools in the
Columbia Conference and have a
report of about fifty decisions
made for Christ. Helen said that
the work they did made her ap-preciate
more fully her own op-portunities
of attending Sunday
School. Maxine Olson and Gladys
Biller spent their summer on the
other coast. They taught several
schools in the New York Confer-ence.
Several of the fellows also
taught schools. Philip Johnson
taught a class of beginners at the
Rumanian mission in St. Paul—one
of four classes being taught in one
room and a closet. Phil says that
he liked it and the youngsters
certainly did like him. When he
walked he had five children hang-ing
on either hand—one for each
Other Twin City and Twin City
suburb teachers were: Lily John-
Trailer Life with
Lundh and Sahlin
After a very pleasant interview
with the very pleasant "Maurie
Lundh," the Clarion is able to re-port
the summer activities of this
gentleman and his comrade, Clar-ence
These two Bethelites spent two
and one-half months teaching Bi-ble
School and holding religious
services throughout the state of
Minnesota. They visited Sandy
Lake, Reynolds, Clotho, Farris,
and the Red Lake District.
Their auto and house trailer
were furnished by the Minnesota
State B. Y. P. U. Maurice stated
that trailer life was great except
for one thing—for seventy-five
days he wasn't able to stand erect'
All the cooking was done person-ally
by Lundh and Sahlin. The
result was no weight gained on
either side.
son, Ruth Raski Lois Raymetz,
Gloria Mitchel, Virgina Anderson,
Arleth Brask, Alma Iblings, and
Merle Bergfalk. Arlene Peterson
and Alma Iblings taught schools
in and for the churches for which
they are missionaroies. Alma said
she liked her work especially well
because it is such "real pioneer
Lois Thomas, Edna Sahl, Alice
Olson, Richard Sleiter, Margaret
Jensen, Phyllis JohnsOn, Helen
Holle, Adeline Sivertson, and Wil-liam
Peterson were other Bethel
students who taught Minnesota
Elaine Ballantyne, Harold Carl-son,
and Dana Larson taught
school at Twin Lakes, Michigan.
Dana Larson and Lloyd Nord-strom
went to Victory, Michigan.
Jane Larson taught Bible School
in her home church in Youngs-town,
Ohio. The reports vary in
these schools from one and two
accepting Christ as Saviour to as
many as fifty whom Helen and
Grace, helped lead to Him on the
West Coast.
Films Introduce
The State
All Bethel students were given
an extra welcome to Bethel and to
the state of Minnesota at the first
convocation period of the year
which was on Tuesday, September
12. At that time two films cover-ing
some of the natural beauties
of the state were shown to the
student body. The first film pic-tured
a large pheasant farm as it
was in pre-war days. The other
film showed to us some of the
wild life found on a wild life res-ervation
which is located only thir-ty
miles from the Twin Cities.
These technicolor films were
furnished and introduced by Mr.
Morrison of the Publication Divi-sion
of the Department of Conser•
vation for the state of Minnesota.
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text:
Pictori is a non-profit project that aims to improve access to images relating to Korea. We seek feedback on the project and any further information you may have about images on this website. Email: email@example.com
Tobacco sellers ± 1915
From collection of R. Maliangkay
Picture by Harold Hardy-Smith (died in Narooma, Australia, on 31 July 1965), a mining engineer who lived in Korea and Japan around the years 1914 to 1916. One of several hundreds of photographs (in three albums) donated by his step-grandson, Mr Ross Milligan. The photo albums can be viewed at the Australian National University's Menzies library.
Harold Hardy-Smith
Date original created:
Digital image source type:
Digitised from a print on non-transparent medium


text:
Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker Review - Corsair enters another market
Corsair 2.1 Audio: Hold the DRAM!
It is funny where starting out as a small memory manufacturer will get you? Corsair started out its business doing just that, and they had some interesting ideas about where the memory market should go. Catering to the high end and enthusiast crowd allowed the brand to become widely recognized, and it was simply the go-to memory manufacturer of the time. People inside the company quickly learned that with fluctuations in the memory market, the ability to consistently make a profit is pretty much impossible. So some years back they decided they wanted to expand their reach. Starting with some water cooling products, and then moving onto cases and power supplies, Corsair has made a solid name for itself in a variety of markets.
Shipping damage? The SP2500 shrugs it off!
The audio market was one that was stepped into gingerly. The first product Corsair made was the HS-1 USB headphones. These were well received overall, and they set the bar pretty high for an introductory product for a company that is still best known for memory. Obviously there are some audiophiles in the company, as their introductory product was far from being a mushed up mess. Whether it is pressure inside the company from the audiophiles, or some very smart hiring of audio engineers, Corsair put a stake in the ground for computer enthusiast audio.
Corsair is taking this one step further. Not only are they providing two sets of cans (one standard analog plug, and the other USB based) but they have introduced two sets of speakers. For those that were around ten or so years ago, Logitech entered the audio market with a real bang. The Z-560s were a 4.1 speaker set which really kicked computer audio into high gear. The massive subwoofer with gobs of power could really kick the bass, and it made PC gaming… explosive in a way that hadn't been adequately heard before (at least with computer speakers). The only downsides to this system were the anemic high end and a very annoying hiss that just wouldn't go away.
The box is pretty large once unpacked from the other shipping box... Kid tested, FTC approved!
Corsair obviously has been paying attention to history, and it seems they are trying to repeat it without the mistakes that others have made. Their first speaker set is a lower end 2.1 setup which is aimed at more budget minded consumers. The SP2200s features a simpler setup than what is found with its big brother, but it still pushes out a clean 46 watts of total power. These should be available around $100, but these are obviously not the big splash that Corsair hopes to deliver.


text:
Does the world seem good to you?
Does the music get to you?
Does the wisdom of your heart
Show you how to play your part?
All my blond and twilight dreams,
All those strangled future schemes,
All those glasses drained of wine,
All this crazy gift of time...
Kevin Ayers, All This Crazy Gift Of Time, 1968.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time...
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven & Hell, 1793.
Time is the trick. Time is the missing piece of the puzzle. Time is the bit none of us understands. We are time-bound beings caught in the nick of time.
Stuck in time like a train on its tracks, moving relentlessly on, relentlessly forward. No one knows what it is. No one knows what it is for. It is part of the woof and weave of the fabric of the universe, the fourth dimension of space, but there is absolutely no reason why time should travel forwards. In an alternative universe, perhaps, it travels backwards instead. Indeed, while in this universe space expands and time unravels as it travels forwards, if the universe ever collapsed back in on itself, overcome by the dead hand of gravity, then perhaps time would reel backwards then, like a yo-yo on its string, back to its source.
In fact there is no saying which way round time is supposed to go. How long is a piece of string? Which end is the beginning? Currently we appear to move in one direction, from the mystery before birth, through blissful growth to painful growth to slow decay and peaceful quietude, until we enter again the mystery after death. Who is to say, really, which is the beginning and which is the end? Either way we emerge from a womb and enter a womb.
Perhaps time is always reeling and unreeling, backwards and forwards, like the pulse of the heart valve opening and closing for all eternity.
Is there a life beyond this life? Is there another life?
It depends on your faith, of course.
Do you have a purpose? Is there reason behind your existence? If the answer to either of those questions is "yes" then - it seems logical to me - you must also believe in a life beyond this life.
If death is the end life can have no purpose and there can be no reason.
You can't have it both ways. If life is an accident, there is no purpose and there is no reason, and there is no life beyond this life. But if life is not an accident, if it has purpose and it has reason, then at the very least someone somewhere must be taking note of it. At the very least, it must be being marked down in the records of eternity, like a video awaiting playback.
In the end, perhaps, we have to make a choice. Do we live our lives as if they have purpose, as if there is a reason? Or do we choose to live them as if they are the products of some meaningless accident, as if matter slipped up on itself somehow and accidently gave birth to consciousness?
As time-bound beings we cannot think of time in any other way but as something eternally disappearing into the eternal past, eternally lost.
But, freed of time, time is a dimension like any other. We can travel back and forth in it at will.
In the time beyond time maybe time is a country we can explore.
Which is where I take Fred to be right now: in a country beyond time.
So, now, back inside this time, on time's tracks, somewhere in the South East corner of that venerable old country we call England (relatively ancient, but merely a staging-post in the vast sweep of time) having been through some adventures on the Western side of the country, and with two women, at least, under his belt (as it were) Fred is settling down to yet more drinking.
I'd never known just how much he drank until this trip.
Prior to that - yes! - we'd done a lot of drinking together. But, me, I can't keep it up beyond a day or two. My body gives way, and I have to rest. What I never knew about Fred until this moment was that for him every day is a drinking session. Every day from morning till night. Every day bar none.
I came back from our trip burdened and unsure. All this stuff going on in my head. All these suspicions I was carrying around with me. Was he a paedophile? What had really happened between him and his kids? Why had his eldest daughter disowned him? And how did he make his money? Was he really a sparky? Or did he deal in child porn?
I thought that the answer to this last question was definitely no, since I thought I understood the source of his strange outburst in front of my friends in Glastonbury. It was what he considered a joke. But it takes a peculiarly deranged person to think of paedophilia as a suitable subject for a joke, and, even if it all turned out to be some kind of a misunderstanding - which still wasn't clear - the fact remained that he had behaved appallingly, that he had insulted his hosts, my friends, who were merely offering him shelter and food for the night, and that he had not apologised to anyone for any of it, least of all me. Meanwhile he was two-timing one of my best friends.
All this time. All these moments. All these strands of history knotted together. It's hard to disentangle it all.
What happened next?
There was a phone call. Fred and his Kentish girlfriend had gone on a holiday together with a number of our friends. This was a few weeks later. It was a weekend trip to Butlins Holiday Camp. Fred had his child by his second marriage with him, a little girl of about eight. Another of my friends also taken her child. She was about the same age.
I was at home, doing the washing up, when the phone rang. It was Fred.
"Hello," he said, laughing, "guess where I am?"
"I dunno, Fred, where are you?"
"I'm in the shower."
"OK, you're in the shower. So why are you ringing me up?"
"Yes, I'm in the shower with two little girls. Two little eight year old girls. We are all naked aren't we girls? Having a shower. Ha-ha."
The sounds of giggles in the background.
"Why are you telling me this Fred?" I asked.
"Because I thought you ought to know."
"Fuck you Fred," I said, and slammed down the phone.
When my friends got back from their holiday I felt I needed to unburden myself. I spoke to a woman who was on the holiday with him, an old friend, and a close friend of M---, the woman he was going out with in Kent. We were down the pub. I told it all. The weird behaviour. The strange hints. The phone call from the holiday camp. The woman in Glastonbury. The night I'd spent in his room, listening to him making love. The drinking. The lot.
And as I finished, right on cue, Fred walked in.
"So you've got a girlfriend in Glastonbury?" my friend blurted out. "You're fucking someone else behind M---'s back?"
Which wasn't exactly what I was intending. Fucking someone else behind M----'s back was the least of his crimes. At least M---- was an adult.
Fred turned on me.
"Why did you tell on me?" he said.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Cos you're my friend. Cos you're a man. Cos you're supposed to be loyal."
"I don't remember promising any of that," I said.
I really wasn't sure I wanted anything to do with him any more.
But this story isn't finished yet.


text:
And then there were 12 — soon to be 10.
"The Voice" teams began Monday night at three members apiece, after each was whittled down from four last week, but eliminations threaten to cost a single team as many as two members.
That's because after the night's performances by all the 12 remaining contestants, two of them are going to be axed, regardless of their team, depending on how America votes.
And it made for some serious heat on-stage and in the coaches' chairs — made worse by problems with the studio's air conditioning amid a blistering Los Angeles heat wave.
Team Usher's resident R&B up-and-comer Vedo didn't exactly cool things off, either, when he kicked off the night with an energized, dancing-heavy take on Michael Jackson's "Rock with You" that Blake deemed "awesome."
"The work that you did with your coach really paid off, and it showed," Shakira told him. "You leave your heart onstage every time you perform, and tonight wasn't an exception."
Next up was one of Team Blake's three country acts — Holly Tucker, who served up her own interpretation of Martina McBride's "Broken Wing."
Usher had fighting words for her performance: "Anybody who ever doubted your talent is a frickin' idiot," he said, while Shakira busted out a "gosh dang" in her praises. But Blake's praise for a song he loved was perhaps soberest: "You did it justice. You made a difference tonight for Nashville."
Next up was Garrett Gardner, whose gravelly voice belies his 17 years and whom Shakira championed since he returned from a past-season "Voice" attempt that never bore fruit.
Shakira gave Garrett the tall task of re-purposing a '90s boy band standard, the Backstreet Boys' hit "I Want It That Way," as a rock anthem — a tall task, to be sure, and the reviews from the coaches were mixed.
"That wasn't my favorite choice," said Adam, though Blake noted, "sometimes in order to find out who an artist is, you gotta throw them something out of left field." But Shakira was adamant in her praise of Garrett's performance, calling it "cool as hell."
Next was Team Adam's Sarah Simmons, a Memphis-based soul-pop singer whose coach gave her Brandi Carlisle's "The Story" to give her a grittier alternative to the soft but powerful ballads that make up her comfort zone.
Her performance, with its dramatic climax, won the praises of the coaches, especially Blake.
"Thank you for showing us the extremes of your voice," he said. "That's one of my all-time favorite songs, by the way. That's an incredible job."
Hers made a hard act to follow, but the task fell to the playoffs' only resident duo, Team Blake's The Swon Brothers.
The Oklahoma-bred pair had asked to sing "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" by George Jones, who died just this month, and their coach obliged.
The brothers delivered a haunting take on the classic, one of them on piano and the other on guitar. Usher called it an "incredible tribute," Adam a "beautiful, beautiful rendition" — and the Maroon 5 frontman also said he "forgot it was a competition" during their performance.
Next came another performer beloved by Adam — though not enough to have stayed on his team. Team Shakira's Sasha Allen, a one-time Team Adam member, performed Heart's "Alone." Shakira warned the musical theater actress to avoid the impulse to Broadwayify it.
"The advice she gives is perfect," Sasha said in rehearsals. "I want to make Shakira proud."
Her performance accomplished that in spades, and it also wowed the other coaches. "You're really miraculous," her one-time coach told her, while Shakira called the performance "beautiful and heartfelt and emotional" — even as she proclaimed, "I promise you, I'm gonna write a song called 'My Sasha.'"
Team Usher's next performer, model-cum-singer Josiah Hawley, didn't need a song named for him. He already had one whose title his coach hoped the polished crooner would overcome by striking a more intimate tone: The Script's "The Man Who Can't Be Moved."
Performing on acoustic guitar, Josiah pulled off that feat, the coaches agreed. Adam said he'd found a "sweet spot," not to mention his own voice.
After Josiah came the competition's youngest contender, country prodigy Danielle Bradbery, from none other than Team Blake. Her rendition of the Carrie Underwood alcoholism screed "Wasted" had the other judges impressed and unnerved.
Shakira called Bradbery "a 16-year-old Margaret Thatcher" for her unflappable demeanor — a comparison that drew a baffled response from Adam even as he deemed Danielle "the one to beat."
That was high praise for the man who counted among his talented team members the former Michael Jackson backing singer Judith Hill, with a fearsome talent and a stage presence Blake had already deemed that of a "diva."
For Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," she accompanied herself on piano with no other backing musicians, and she gave a performance the coaches said was predictable only in its brilliance.
Next was Team Usher's unassuming vocal powerhouse Michelle Chamuel, the indie pop singer who had her breakout performance last week with a vulnerable take on "True Colors." This time, she got to cover one of her favorite songs, the Robyn dance-pop anthem "Call Your Girlfriend."
The coaches marveled at the breadth the two songs took, and Shakira at her ease dancing while singing. Usher said he was glad for the chance to see Michelle have fun.
Perhaps Team Shakira's most unique performer came next, Kris Thomas — the satin-voiced crooner who almost joined the Navy but instead brought his incredible vocal range to "The Voice." He took on the Jackson 5 ballad "I'll Be There," and the coaches felt he nailed it.
"That is a task that you definitely rose to," Adam remarked, while Blake praised Kris for always pushing himself to his limits in his performances and called this one "incredible."
Finally, closing out the night was an emotional performance by Team Adam's country crossover hopeful Amber Carrington, who chose to tackle Martina McBride's "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" — a song that hit close to home, given her own mom's struggle with and death from cancer, and wowed the coaches.
"Right when you think she's giving it all, she's got more," Usher marveled, saying her vocal power "defies the laws of gravity."
"You did Martina proud, and even more than that, to me, you did country music proud. You did Nashville proud," Blake told Amber soberly, echoing the praise he gave Holly Tucker for her own powerful take on a McBride song. "Adam's got a star on his hands," he added.
Indeed, the coaches had a whole constellation of stars on their hands. The question now — and it's one viewers must answer — is which is brightest.
"The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesday at 8/7c.