notes on notions:

96) vernon vance and the return to polasia

former famous military leader- originally an nco, made colonel during the outer territories wars ( the cobra campaign) and retired after his last mission went horribly wrong...his arch-enemy was the genetically enhanced Polas Prime of the Polasians, a former earth colony turned independant and determined to poison all colonies against the earth greater commonwealth. unwittingly, vance slept with polas' wife and she had a son through him.

the last mission concerned the dropping off of toxic gas at an alien colony getting ready to declare independance; vane was not informed of his cargo and when the ship was hit, the gas leaked and caused his troops to go insane and forced him to shoot them. furious, upon his return to earth, he shot dead the head of earth defence, his old superior officer, major hugh Killane; an incident which was hushed up.

now, they need him back for a mission to go behind enemy lines and rescue a top earth alliance scientist; but once again, he hasn't been told the truth behind the mission.

' sir, with all due respect, that's insanity!' Gillesipie looked the man down. ' attention, soldier'. Lieutenant Carver stood stiffly to attention.Admiral Gillespie sighed. ' I don't like it any more than you do, Lieutenant but this has come down from the highest sources. you have your orders. Colonel Vance will be joining your mission as a special attache from the ministry. ' Carver nodded. ' Yes, Sir.' ' Dismissed', Gillespie returned to the reports that littered his desk. ' permission to speak, sir? ' the admiral looked up, mildly irritated. ' what is it, man? ' 'Does Colonel Vance know about this yet, sir? ' the admiral frowned. ' of course not. do you think we're all mad? '

Busby looked at the tall man who stood before the fireplace with his back turned to his old executive officer. ' colonel, you know they'll find a way of making you do it' . colonel vance grunted. ' come on vince, you know better than anyone else that the ministry can't be beaten this way. you can't ignore their calls or avoid their messengers. they'll just end up sending troops in to drag you kicking and screaming to the launch site if that's what they have to do. ' vance remained where he was. busby was exasperated. the money would allow him to retire in a fashion much more to his liking, but it wasn't going anywhere fast without colonel vance's agreement. busby knew he could only push it so far with his old commanding officer. vance turned to face him. tall and somewhat gaunt looking, colonel vernon vance looked the part. legendary war hero and model for movies and vid-net shows based on his exploits, he had been out of the public eye since the horrendous events of the final cobra campaign mission. many in the ministry were glad to be rid of his presence, an annoying reminder of an honest, patriotic soldier who fought with his conscience and for every single man under his command, no matter who he had to disagree with along the way.

'they'll have to kill me before i'll set foot on one of their ships again, busby. ' i know how you feel sir.' vance raised an eyebrow. ' okay, bad choice of words' , busby raised his hands in resignation. ' i know that it all went wrong, but your country needs you agin; surely you can see that. ' vance thought of so many replies but at the end of the day, Busby was the soft touch. he was the human link the ministry had tapped first to try to get at what they really needed which was vance's expertise and natural skills. so now busby wouldn't get his handsome retirement bonus unless he managed to get the colonel to come back for this vital mission.

three weeks later he stood on the flight deck of the 'callisto', a mid-level infilitrator ministry ship. he hated it from the moment he saw it. he had commanded hundreds of missions in his career, all of them proudly flying the flag, showing the enemy who they were and what they represented. his ships had been a beacon of hope. now he was here in this thing, this dark, fast, disguised, invisible to tracking sneak attack vessel. and nobody else wanted him there either. the rumors about him snapping had been long put in place. old colonel vance, couldnt take the strain. colonel vance, he went space-crazy, poor old bastard. oh, what a tragedy, vance and his personal problems. vance sat by the viewscreen in the main lounge, watching the stars filter by the ship. a gentle knock on the main door made him turn his head. it was a young nervous looking man, ensign by his uniform. ' sir? ensign tattaglia, sir. ' vance looked quizically. ' any relation to Harold? ' the ensign smiled and nodded. vance smiled back at him. ' a great man, harold; he your father or uncle? ' ' father, sir. ' vance looked at the ensign. yeah, he could see the resemblance, similar features though without the thick-set jaw and slightly too prominent forehead. his mother had obviously helped out in the looks department to balance his father's somewhat neandettheral appearance. ' sir? ' the ensign asked. vance replied ' hmmm? ' . ' sir, why don't you just tell them what really happened on the last leg of the cobra campaign? ' vance stared sharply at him. ' i mean' the ensign stuttered, ' why do you let them whisper about you and tell each other stupid rumors about why you originally retired? ' vance shook his head. ' because there's no need for them to know that right now. what happened at the ass end of cobra was a horrible tragedy and not something that i just wheel out anytime some kids wants to take a cheap shot at me or talk about me behind my back. ' he shrugged. ' believe me, i've been through a lot worse. ' vance turned to look at the young man who looked like a vague echo of the man who had served under him faithfully for so many years, even through the horror of the cobra missions and the unfortunate aftermath. ' now, im here to make sure a friend is able to retire with grace and comfort so it's not my chance at glory. I'm just along for the ride, here as a specialist adviser from the ministry. my days of being a hero were over a long time ago, son.' the ensign smiled slightly. ' oh, i doubt that, sir, I doubt that very much. '

97) kevin mustard and the remarkable story of the strangest man in great britain

' i'm not interested.i'm a recluse' the young boy looked at him. ' come on man, when you were my age, if you had approached a rich weirdo who once knew your mom who's now missing, you would have wanted him to stop reclusing and come out and help' the old man double-blinked. ' you talk a lot' . the boy agreed. ' yeah' . ' and recluse isn't a verb' . ' i know' the boy replied. ' then don't use it like that. the english language isn't your bitch, you know' .the boy stared at him. ' yeah, you're right. it won;t happen again. ' the old man thought for a moment. ' well, why not. come on in. i'll get my coat. '

they sat in the small cafe, the eccentric billionaire in the grey coat and the small dark haired boy, at a cramped table sitting across from each other on faux red leather seats, cracked and stained. ' so what is it? ' the boy blinked. ' it's my mother. mrs tara mustard. ' the billionaire stirred his impressively huge cup of coffee with a dollop of cream in it. ' what about her? ' . ' she's gone missing' kevin said. ' mustard, eh? ' the older man said. 'that's a very strong name, mustard. a gritty name. it has texture. i like names with texture. ' kevin agreed. the other kids laughed at him but he usually told them to fuck off when they did so. he liked his name as well and if the richest and strangest man in great britain agreed, then that was good enough for him. ' so what's your mother got to do with me? ' kevin unfolded a letter that he had kept tucked away in his pocket for this very moment. he passed the letter across the table to where Lord Killingsworth sat. he read through it and looked up. ' oh' .he passed it back.

' so you see? ' the boy enquired, folding up the sheet of paper and placing it back in his front jeans pocket. ' yes, i do. I do indeed. ' so your mother once purchased a bag from one of my stores and the strap broke and they replaced it immediately without any hassle and she was so impressed that she wrote me a letter of thanks and she got a hand-written letter back from me that she kept all these years. ' kevin nodded. ' she always referred to you as a decent man and someone who could be trusted. that's why i came to ask for your help in finding her. ' John killingsworth leaned back and smiled to himself. ' why not? let's do it, kevin.' ' so when was the last time you saw your mother? '

kevin spoke. ' i last saw her in tesco's by the freezer section. there was a man in a black coat standing by her, looking at her strangely. then she was gone. and so was he. ' Lord Hollingsworth tapped his fingers on the table. ' shady sounding bastard' he muttered. he turned to the boy and took his hand laying across the table and shook it. ' don't worry, kevin. we'll find your mother one way or the other. ' kevin mustard beamed.

98) dwight osbourne's big ghetto adventure

' i'm afraid the cancer has spread, mr.osbourne. there's only one possibility left to you, and that's getting your corporate sponsor to sign you off on a sympathetic DNA program to merge with a low-soc. ' this was it. dwight osbourne, successful sales executive and disease ridden human being was moving bodies. he was excited but somewhat alarmed at the prospect of takign over the most suitable host's body, a young beautiful hispanic faemale.

99) marketing jesus

a four person team is sent back in time to document the life of jesus christ but when they go to set up preliminary shots and interview neighbors and so on, they are told the tragic story of mary's boy who died of fever at age 10- ' but that's impossible; he went to the temple at age 12' heads shaken, eyes averted. poor mary. and then joseph up and leaving as he couldn't handle the silence after the boy's death.

' what the fuck do we do now? jesus died at age 10. there goes our documentary. ' ' there goes western civilisation as we know it too' karyn spoke. ' well, then we'll just have to invent him, won't we. '

100) the death of naruba, the spider-queen

darkness cloaked her; moving, swarming, twitching dark mass of legs and eyes and tiny furry bodies. her own once-human eyes shoen brightly in the cave. ' welcome' came the voice that dripped with hatred and suspicion. she was of the spider-tribe; she was their chosen one. she was the one voice that spoke for many. she was naruba and she was dying.

( here is the general outline for the final stories up to 100 in the notions series; once i hit 100 that's it, it's done)

71) raiku the merciless : things from the darkness ( medieval village; wounded alien; raiku is a scout for an invasion fleet who crash-lands- he is a legendary officer of notorious ruthlessness- he is attacked by a mob whilst injured and they try to burn him- fleet command sends officers to rescue him and finds he has wiped out half the village in the meanwhile and he gives the order to cull the planet's humans)

72) retrieval 1942 ( necessity to pull out temporal officer from Berlin 1942; he has lost his perspective and forgotten his real mission here)

73) the mirror prince ( chuck peake meets the mysterious mirror prince )

74) personal spaces  ( a philosophy of extension of the self)

75) rama and the forgotten frequency ( the discovery of a forgotten radio station...)

76) monsters  ( old irish vampire character with one of his proteges from a hundred years ago...)

77) gasman ( murderous insane gasman lunatic...full on rampage...absoulutely bonkers...bloody...starkly funny)

78) garden ( statues in a midnight garden...dreamlike....past, present and future in one physical space....describing how you interact with each different girl...physical and mental ...emotonal and physical)

79) georgina hope: just a girl  ( ...her everyday life...relationships...parents...brands....a day in the life of a teenage girl in the near future...being looked back upon after temporal wars which wiped out a few hundred years of records)

80) star trek love

81) wonder boy:dull life

82) red jack red jack

83) beginnings and endings

84) the return of the crimson skull

85) short jemima: long summers ( summer where jem falls in love and gets married...her husband's creditors track him down and beat him up....he goes after them...she gets caught in the middle...she's captured and he runs away....she escapes and tracks him down)

86) the ghosts of breakfast ( tony, snap, crackle, jolly green, hold a board-room meeting)

87) that vampire summer ( young girl meets guy whilst her family holidaying in a small town...last night together he makes her an offer how they can stay together for a long long time)

88) oh england: that faraway feeling ( the land of do as you please, a magic tree, an ex-alcoholic is fired from his job and retreats to a childhood holiday home in the midlands district)

89) magus- futures and present days 

 ( leaving space for 90-94 for new on the spot ideas)

95)  eternal  ( beauty- hate- love- fear all in one woman)

96)  epic song ( creation myth of monkey gospels but stretching from start to finish- summary of old books)

97) despair ( short sharp shock like bliss but encapsulating a moment of despair)

98) the return of the spider queen.....queen naruba reveals herself to a worshipper who takes the spiders upon himself as she must leave this plain...ceremonies of blood and life-giving....

99) going under ( a la surfacing) .... about someone running away from life, all responsibilities...wrapping up things....taking off...changing identity

100)  notions of writing ( russian doll syndrome)

5) 'brief'

4) 'short ode'

 3) 'bliss'

2) 'naruba, queen of the spider people'

 1) 'surfacing'

...so the new ones will mirror the first five like this, with 100 being a reflective piece on writing about writing and eggshell layered realities

100)  notions of writing ( russian doll syndrome)

99) going under ( a la surfacing) .... about someone running away from life, all responsibilities...wrapping up things....taking off...changing identity

 98) the return of the spider queen.....queen naruba reveals herself to a worshipper who takes the spiders upon himself as she must leave this plain...ceremonies of blood and life-giving....

97) despair ( short sharp shock like bliss but encapsulating a moment of despair)

96)  epic song ( creation myth of monkey gospels but stretching from start to finish- summary of old books)

95)  eternal  ( beauty- hate- love- fear all in one woman)

playing catch up

 i've been devoting a lot of time to my livejournal for my 'notions' series which is now up to seventy stories

 http://livejournal.com/users/thecolin1" title="http://livejournal.com/users/thecolin1" target="_blank"http://livejournal.com/users/...

 on the fantasy/sf front- i got the 2 disc hellboy dvd on saturday- excellent stuff.

i'm currently on 4th season ds9 which is pretty consistently high quality- captain sisko being quite a different character than commander sisko with him definitely taking more of a back-seat command role than mr. has to be in the center of every story.

finished buffy vampire slayer season six so that's it; i've seen season seven previously. excellent seasons, six and seven; much more mature and character driven arcs and stories, despite fan criticism of certain elements, the darker edge worked for me with the actors knowing their roles so well that the tension and situations ring so true.

dead-zone dvd box-set is excellent with lots of good special features and the sheer high quality of the series itself.

 Almost there with one disc left to go in Season III; It's been a fascinating ride with some things being very different from how I remember them. As usual, there are some stand-out episodes and some well-done arcs. The two ' evil willow/alternate willow' episodes are intriguing in the way that alternate universe stuff always is and obviously thoroughly enjoyed by Alyson Hannigan in that Willow started to totally change after the first episode and become much more self-confident and strong in terms of character. The whole Faith malarkey isn't bad if a bit one-note with Wesley being very cartoony and slightly annoying, though a good foil for Giles to bounce off of.

 Buffy herself is quite pedestrian with little growth from season II; the Angel and Buffy scenes are well-done but with the inevitable treading of water air to it as they can't get together without Angelus coming back and yet, they constantly fall into heavy petting sessions.

 'Band Candy' was highly amusing and ' Gingerbread' had an excellent central concept with the uber-creepy Hansel Und Gretel twins inciting mob-violence and witch burning.

 High points include the mayor, the ongoing growth of Cordelia Chase, Willow's progression and the brilliant villain, The Mayor who is 1950's Dad on crack.

 Maybe it's just me liking dark subject matters written well, but I prefer the tighter writing and darker tone of the last three seasons to this one; the third season has some excellent episodes but in many ways, after seeing some later shows, it's like coming back to early versions of characters you know and love.

Just finished watching the second season again; I hadn't watched it for a few years and have in the meantime, seen several later episodes, including most of the fifth and all of the seventh season.

 Probably the best thing about it is how much all the characters have grown by the time of the final explosive two-parter 'Becoming' . Giles has lost his chance at love with Jenny Calendar, Buffy has found love and lost it in the worst way and all that is encapsulated perfectly in microcosmic form in the last episode, Xander and Cordelia have both grown and changed, Willow has started in on magic and also matured.

 The second season shows that the key component in Buffy, and the main ingredient for it's success is that it's a show that uses it's own continuity to show effect and consequence. It's a show that is realistic in terms of character development and growth and in not being afraid to show and use to powerful effect it's emotional core. Buffy is a teenage girl who suddenly has to save the world again and again, despite the personal cost. Of course, she will suffer; of course she will lose out on life and of course there are times when she will break down and ask herself if the cost isn't too high.

 The brilliance of ' Innocence' , ' Passion' and ' Bewitched, bothered and Bewildered'. Passion and Innocence especially are just perfectly crafted with nary a step put in the wrong place.

 The framing device used in ' Passion' in particular is just class with David Boreanz owning the episode in his chil;lingly calculating portrayal of Angelus; personally, I think it was this storyline moreso than any other that catapulted him into the spotlight and started the wheels of ' hmm, maybe we can give him hiw own show' spinning around in the production team's head.

quick updates; firstly, I'm obviously delighted that this blog has gotten such high traffic since I started it and I thank everyone who has logged in for their interest and I would ask anyone else viewing this to take a minute to leave a comment on what you like, dislike or just saying howdy.

many thanks :)

okay....this post was accidentally eaten by tblog whilst editing- I have the piece on my home pc so will pop it back up later on

 meanwhile brief comment on one of the most brilliant scenes in tng; from the end of ' The best of both worlds part I'  where Picard has been cut off from the Borg collective after the brilliant ' sleep' command has been sent to the Borg. When Picard is asked how he feels, he responds ' Almost human...'. Tying this in with the final scene where it is clear that Picard's recovery will not be immediate as he goes to drink a cup of tea and then pauses mid raising of cup and just stares out into space, replacing the cup into it's saucer.

This is trek with real life ramifications; once the battle's over, it's not finished- then we have the human factor to deal with.

Season III overview will be back up later on

It's the way forward; Enterprise Season III was an excellent step forward and now we need to build on that by going that step further and exploiting the existing properties whilst building solid new opportunities for future entertainment franchising.

If Paramount had half an ounce of sense, they would employ me as a ' properties' consultant and see an immediate growth in the new quarter's fiscal projections with my coming on board.

 ST: Universes as an ongoing anthology series would offer Trek junkies a regular fix whilst getting the most out of existing writers and also attracting new fresh talent to contribute vibrant and excitingly different approaches to the ST: Universe. First time syndication worldwide as well as merchandising and a stepped up dvd release program would guarantee an almost instantaneous ROI.

I'm telling you...it makes the most sense, on all levels; creatively as well as fiscally.

Oh Yes, some trekk lunatics would hate the idea but I love it and I trust me more than some trekk weirdo fan so I go with my idea.

Here's the plan, Stan; an ongoing anthology series which can be one two or three parters. Looking at a season of some 22 episodes per year. Within this framework are several different time periods, characters and settings. Obviously, sets would have to be redressed or nicked off of Enterprise or something else ( though not any Stargate show as they're all a bit shit, really) . Recurring characters or loosely linked stories as well as really good fun involving short stories within the Trek universe is what this show would be all about.

Some ideas I would propose include

1) a pair of gay klingons on the run

2) alternate universe mirror sage continuing on from the TOS classic episode with new young actors playing kirk, spock and the gang- this storyline has so much potential

3) Single episodes exploring good ' tweak' ideas with nice high buzzy concepts.

4) very first starfleet academy.

More next time

 Prior to the release of the upcoming 'Serenity' movie, borrowed the DVD box-set of Firefly ( all 14 episodes and special features stuff). What a show! Superb, if a little strange at first with the whole ' post-civil war in space' theme.

Right now..comics wise...the good stuff

Monthly (or thereabouts)  comics, I look forward to Planetary, ultimate ff, Legion Superheroes, Kurt Busiek's JLA ( featuring the crime syndicate), the ultimates, powers and a few others.

 Main excitement and drive with me these days is trade paperback collections

 Doom patrol- waiting for Vol III of VII - beautiful packaging

 Strangers in Paradise Vol III coming up soon

 Daredevil by Bendis and Maleev..drop dead brilliant

 Amazing Spiderman by Stracynszki

Same dodgy dealer that I got my complete TNG dvd box-set from, I got a complete set of Buffy Seasons I-VII ( tho it's missing half of season II but he refunded me 2/3 of the price so I can't complain as I can buy season II on ebay without losing out) .

 BUffy season I is very very good, it accelerates into it's pristine form with Joss never disappointing us character-wise.

Im playing catch-up here as disgracefully, I am now at season III on my watching through tthe complete TNG on dvd.

So season II and a few immediacies are thrown at us from the beginning of the season. Firstly, Commander Riker now has a beard as Jonny Frakes had had just about enough of Rodenberry wanting him to be kirk and not have a beard. Then we see that the slightly dizzy Dr.Crusher has buggered off to be ' ahem, cough, head of some starfleet made up medical facility cough cough gene didnt like her cough' and instead we have the older and permenantly sardonic Dr.Polaski.

 Also we see that the ship suddenly grew a bar and a lady in a funny hat who is mysterious and says nothing about the Borg until they beat the living shit out of our intrepid crew whereupon she goes ' Oh yeah, you might want to watch out for those mechanical bastards'. And Wesley is not half as annoying now that he's an acting ensign and not just some relentlessly annoying kid who keeps wandering into inappropriate situations.

 Other than that, the second season was really a case of tightening things up a bit from season I and taking the show a bit further out in terms of establishing it's own identity rather than continuing as a TOS clone.

 High-points of the second season ( for me) were the absolutely superb

 'Elementary, dear Data' which was one of the best-written and acted TNG episodes ever, and definitely the high-point until ' Yesterday's Enterprise' appeared in Season III.  ' Time Squared' was a very well done story as well, chilling, exciting, mysterious and with Counsellor Troi actually showing her usefulness as opposed to meerely whining about 'pain'.

 ' Q-Who' came out of nowhere and slammed a superb story and previewed the marvellously human and realistic approach that would become more consistent by the latter half of the third season. The sudden introduction of the Borg as a brand new and scarily unbeatable adversary raised the bar considerably and silenced a lot of TNG's critics at the time. The brilliance of this episode was mainly down to it not being a blip but with the threat being followed up on in later years.

' The Emissary' was a great Worf episode with the marvellous Suzi Plakson completely stealing the show and the chemistry between herself and Michael Dorn sent sparks all over the set.

All in, not a very consistent year with some truly diabolically awful stories such as 'The Royale' and ' Up the long ladder' but with the aforementioned high points and a lot more of a focus on character and a higher level of writing and directing, it set the stage for the triumphs to come.