Can't wait, good sir! T'aint just a river in Egypt, doncha know?

Looking forward to the new essay. Keep em comming!

And seriously, you getting into the movie biz might actually lift my ban of going to the movie theatre.

Zzei

And we will be be waiting - but patiently?

Not so much.

Can't wait... but I guess I'll have to.

I am the model of patient anticipation.

Ohm....

I am in denial! I am in denial!

When can we read the screenplay? Surely you wouldn't deny your fans that pleasure.

About freakin' time ;p

If you need a quiet place to write, you know where one is. Or you WOULD know where one is if it wasn't so long since the last time.

::goes off muttering something about an airplane meaning we'd see him more often... harrummpf::

Oo! Oo! I know the name of the next essay!
"may find yourselves deep in DENIAL"

We've seen "War of the Worlds" explained with a subtext of the US invasion of Iraq. You have a long row to hoe to get past the entrenched mindset of the Hollywood crowd.

Don't go to be a writer - Lileks has a recent column where he explains how the writers get part of the net profits - which they call the nyet profits - and how there hasn't been a net profit since Gone With the Wind - and that only a few years ago.

A writer can get a serious advance on a script, but by the time the photons hit the screen, there's precious little left of it. Which is fine for the writer's bank account, but it makes no impact on the system.

Producing, directing is probably where the impact is. But keep in mind that Mel Gibson had to go through quite a few Mad Max years before he could make his real impact.

Maybe Mel is the answer...

Seriously, his last several certainly identify him as the type to at least LOOK at a "Bill Whittle Production".

Hhmmmmm....

- MuscleDaddy

Also - may I suggest installing a fill-in-the-number anti-comment-spambot feature, like Frank's over at IMAO?

- MuscleDaddy

Bill's making a movie? Can I help? Please?

I'm hoping for some gratuitous sex and violence.
And ninjas. (Frank J?)

Good to hear from you, sir! Can't wait to see what you've been cookin' up in Whittle's Amazing Mental Crucible.

Slower pizza's more luscious, the King of Spain never rushes!

Moxy Fruvous: hate the politics, love the music. But what're ya gonna do? They're Canadian.

Good G-d, the spambots are travelling in herds now!

Can't wait for DENIAL! Well, I suppose I can, but, y'know, don't wanna.

Bill:

Since the cover of your book appears as a non searchable graphic on your web site you could filter out most of comment spam by adding a fifth blank to your comment form asking the commenter to type in the "red letter" title of your book.

I'm already stockpiling munchies and refreshments in anticipation of whatever you next essay is called.

John B

Hope you get some quality pilot in command time.

Cheers,
Kip

(Eagerly awaiting the next essay)...

Can't wait!

I was going to remind you to have ninjas in the screenplay, but it looks DeKraker already reminded you that on my behalf.

The part of Frank J will be played by 'The Rock'.

Please enable TypeKey to prevent all those crap links. The folks at nicedoggie.net can help yuo out.

Need ideas for a screenplay about the Global War on Terror?

I've got a few. Drop me a line.

When Bill? When? If not now...WHEN??

The part of Spacemonkey will be played by Emo Phillips.

FINALLY!

My computer was down for over three friggin' weeks there (power spike, following a close lightning strike), my e-mail for longer. And then it took another few days to get the "Keys to the Kingdom" from Bill again, so that I could access his Movable Type account again. And this morning I was finally able to hose out the cyber-fungus again... it felt so good.

Wow -- just like that, the comment thread for this posting alone dropped from 47 to 25, just like that -- 22 pieces of spam-crap, POOF!

Got to run for now, but I'm back to my daily reviews again, so (a) I should be contributing again (sorry about that), and (b) the cyber-puke should be staying away now.

And by the way, I know what Bill's screenplay is all about -- I'm contributing. He's already got some top-flight computer graphics guys building some impressive digital "models," he's got the folks at XCOR providing technical support, and he's already got most of the financial backing arranged, as well as an unofficial "executive producer." It's happening, folks... gonna' be mighty cool, too.

But gotta' run. Just thought I'd whet your appetites before heading out the door though.

Hee-hee!

GHS

Umm, re: the screenplay - how can we help make it happen??

I'm with Larry: what can we do to help?

Maybe I should prod Bill into posting again, something that addresses that question. I just don't know how much I'm allowed to divulge here.

I know he's got a full, working storyline (sci-fi -- HARD SCIENCE, near-future sci-fi), and a screenplay well along in development, with a true "E3" message to it (nothing about war, though). He's got his industry connections, his own personal background in CGI, 3D animation, and obviously video editing. He's got cutting edge technical consulting already on-line, graphics wizards already working on the digital modeling, and some pretty powerful backing from further up the old food chain (you just never know who's reading and enjoying what you write on a blog like this). So I'm not sure of which areas he still needs assistance with, at least at this early stage of the game.

As he mentioned though, until he goes back to his regular job at the end of this month, this screenplay will continue to be the focus of his creative efforts. After that -- once regular old "life" barges back into the foreground again -- we should see him back here with more to say.

I really hope it goes all the way through, though, because it's a really cool idea...

... I think.

GHS

P.S. - If this post suddenly disappears, and my next contribution is long in coming, and sounds even more lobotomized than normal, you'll know I've already said too much. But I don't think it'll ever come to th

I'll second that!

I really hope it goes through as well - it WILL be awesome!

G.

Glad to hear the project has momentum and funding! Can't wait to see what you'll have been up to all this time. :-) Best of success with it, and keep your adoring fans posted when you can!

(ps - Thanks for cleaning up around here! The place looks much nicer sans the comment spam.)

The hard part will be finding someone to play Bill Whittle in the movie.

I was thinking either Ryan Stiles, or the guy who played the other brother Daryl.

Knowing Bill though, it'll probably be either Colin Farrell or Fabio.

I say we compromise, and go with Kathy Bates.

GHS

I smell Academy Award nomination.

Colin Farrell?

Maybe if it's the Oliver Stone version. That version would differ from the screenplay as it was originally written.

Clive Owen?

Jude Law? Play it like "Sky Captain" with a silk scarf, and a leather flight jacket?

Or Pee Wee Herman, with a World War One flight cap and goggles, and a big white-wall-tired bicycle with chimy bell.

Or maybe George Clooney... in drag.

GHS

Ok. This is Bill Whittles' BLOG. I wish him the best of success in all of his endeavors. However, I think someone is deep in denial if they think that whatever becomes of him for his core fans, or for any larger audience he might gain, time and events will soon overtake the ability of anyone(If they haven't already.), including the president, to stop the erosion of support for the war as it is now being conducted. Even among the troops and their families who have, thus far, been carrying the entire weight of this conflict.
Blame whatever forces you wish. Victory is it's own justification. But the longer the conflict continues, the more old questions keep popping up.
WMD's, intelligence failures, missed opportunities to get Bin Laden, broken relations with other countries.(Speaking of being in denial, Spain was raked over the coals for walking out of Iraq in the John Bull Flag portion of this blog, before the "job",however you define, it was done. They recently lost 16 soldiers helping to patrol Afghanistan. Forgot the other threatre of the Mid East there. Didn't hear that the Spanish were to terminate their mission there.)
Now comes the latest Time/CNN pole that says for the first time the majority of Americans believe that we can no longer win the war in Iraq, and that Bush deliberately misled them on WMD's.
More Disturbing was an article I read by Joel Kline describing how some of the brass in the military dislike the way Bush is leading the war. They feel he has laid the whole burden on them, while telling the rest of America to go shop. They want him to become the face of Uncle Sam saying "We want you!"
They want him to stop leaving it at homilies for those who serve, and become the militaries leading recruiter. Call for national sacrifice. Get the nation involved in the war. Raise taxes to pay for it. Don't allow the Chinese,(Own 500 Billion in US debt) and the Japanese(Own 720 Billion in US Debt)to pay for all this. Reduce the CAFE for all US made cars to end our reliance on Mid East (and Venezuelan) oil. NOW!
For godness sake, get the men out there all the equipment they need, come up with a definition of victory, send in the forces needed to reach the goal, and end it on our terms.
Finally, in coming up with a definition of victory. We need to decide not just on weather or not to help the Iraqis come up with a government, but whether or not Iraqis want to remain Iraqis.
Kurds were freed from Saddams rule by Bush 1, and their autonomy continued until the American Invasion. They see themselves as Kurds. Not Iraqis. They are relativly stable and their economy continues to boom.
The Southern Shia region has its own huge reserves of oil, and will no doubt do quite well on it's own once the insurgency subsides.
The central Sunnis, however, have nothing to fall back on. They are afraid of being shut out, and left impoverished.
The British colonial administrator who cobbled Iraq together from the ruins of the old Ottoman empire after WW1 left the Sunnis in charge so Britain could keep control over the Oil reserves there. The Sunnis held sway there until the US showed up.
Let's leave the Kurds, and the Shias the means to keep a firm hand on the Sunnis, and leave them to police themselves. Iraq is a fiction. It doesn't exist. Let's hold a referendum on forming three seperate countries out of Iraq.
I bet the Shias, and the Kurds will vote overwhelmingly to have their own countries. So what if the Sunnis are frozen out? After what they did to their fellows, they get whatever they deserve. Leave them to apologize and beg forgiveness of their neighbors.
Finally, the war has to be finished there because the center of the War on terror has moved away from there, if indeed,it was ever there at all. The latest series of attacks were master minded in Pakistan or on European soil.
Not in Iraq. That's why Britain isn't going to extend or increase it's commitment in Iraq.
Whether imported or domestic, the insurgents in Iraq are fighting for the removal of foreign
troops on their terms. That's it. Attacks on the west, are being coordinated elsewhere. Pursuing the terrorists who would attack here by leaving troops in Iraq is just becoming more and more unbelievable to the public, and the world at large.
If we don't figure out how to get ourselves out, and soon, the insurgents will realize their goal. Anyone who believes otherwise is deep denial.
Somebody else is payin' for this BLOG, and if they and their participants want to turn it into a fan club, that is their right. But I remember when I came to this Blog for serious, and HONEST discussion of issues from a conservative point of view.
If I can't, so what. Not that its important. It's not. Life will go on. Still, it'd be a shame to see it go.

Sorry about the length of the previous post.
Lookin' forward to hearing what others have to say on these matters.

Okay folks, some mystery-switch in the bowels of the evil Blacklist machinery has finally been "unswitched," and the world of free-flowing commentary has once again returned to the light.

I have taken the liberty of deleting the last 9 posts (which included 2 of my own), since they only dealt with the frustrations of the failing Blacklist filters, and I say again, the podium is open.

Sorry about the last couple of weeks of frustration. Now, let fly the opinions...

GHS

Fine piece; vigorous and insightful.

In a way, though, there is nothing new under the sun. The "old retired colonel" seems to have read his Plato, Republic, who originated the analogy of sheep, sheepdogs and wolves. Plato added, however, that the leaders of the city should be none of the above, but shepherds who look out for their sheep, not just themselves.

And then a few centuries later an even more famous man talked about sheep and shepherds.

I'm sitting at my computer until the next essay - so no vacations please. My bum is numb.

Jan

Just recieved and read your essay "Tribes".Wonderful!!!! I agree 100%. Don't sit around and bitch about the problems...get up and DO something about it.The hurricane was devestating to thousands of people but many more are trying to help by having koolade stands and many other ways to raise money. We do not want thanks for this as we know for one reason or other we can't go down there to help so we do it from home. Everyone, man, woman or child is a hero who in their hearts know that they did their best to help. God Bless.