Why a Publishing Company

Why not a publishing company, or a bakery or a store or anything else for that matter? I'm tired of waiting for my future to happen to me, I want to make it happen and I don't want to look back and say I regret not  trying and how my life could have been better had I only done x, y or z. I'm going to do Z. Because it's what I want to do.

The written word is my passion, it opened up new worlds to me, places I had only dreamed of, places that I thought were dreams and could only be imagined. Early on I took a liking to Hemingway, Steinbeck and Fitzgerald, mostly because my dad was becoming a reader at the same time that I was. My father was a notoriously bad reader and more than likely had a learning disability that was never diagnosed, but he was determined to read. The problem with having young parents is that you grow up with them, it's not a bad thing but sometimes it is because they're still trying to find themselves and you're growing up trying to figure it out too, but it's good when they're readers and self educators like my dad and mom were. My mom is an exceptional reader, still reading at least a book weekly. When I was little she would take me to the library weekly, it was my first playground. I was a late reader not really catching on until the 3rd grade and my mom was devastated, she had spent so much time reading with me and to me, she just couldn't believe that I wasn't going to be a reader as well and wasn't reading in kindergarten. For my part at the time I just didn't see the point and then I met my 3rd grade teacher Mrs.Martin. I will forever be indebted to Mrs.Martin, she opened a world of possibilities up to me that I had never known were there before her and books. I'm not exactly sure what she did but I think it was that she explained things to me, and talked to me like I was an adult in charge of my own future and that my life could go anywhere that I wanted it to go. By the end of third grade I was reading at a sixth grade level and by the time I was in high school I had read through most of the classic literature canon and was bored by most of my literature classes that I was reading Hunter S. Thompson, Vonnegut, Mailer, Twain and David Foster Wallace. Reaching for the most odd voices I could lay my hands on, they were different and most of all they wrote for themselves. I remember being blown away by Vonnegut's Mother Night, his use of past and present to blend into a well rounded voice that came together to tell  the tail of a man suffering because of his past. Books bring worlds alive to people that may never travel and give insights to the best and worst in humanity. I'm hoping to bring out the best in humanity.

There are stories that people want to tell and I want to help them to bring them to the world in whatever way that I can. Maybe it's because I feel like an outsider in the world, this would be my way to be a part of the world in a big way. What I really want Reckless Press to be able to do is to make the world a better place by helping authors and artists to contribute to the world around them. I believe like Bob Marley did, that if you lift the people around you up the world begins to lift up and become a better place for everyone. My favorite story about Bob Marley is that he would set up a table in front of his house and if you needed money to pay the bills, start a business or whatever you needed to make your life and dreams become a reality he would give you more than what you needed to make it happen. That's what I want to be able to do with my company. And to take care of my family and for my voice to be heard.

What To Catch on TCM This Week - June 10-June 16, 2018

This week is a musical week on TCM, and usually I don't care for many musicals, I like musicals, but there sometimes I just can't cope with it. I will however take a good Bollywood movie any day of the week. But I digress, I do think that there are a few that are going to be on this week that are worth mentioning and checking out. 

The Black Stallion- Young Alec is on a ship with his father off of the coast of North Africa when a beautiful horse is brought on board. When the ship starts on fire later that night, Alec and his father are separated and Alec becomes stranded on an island with his only companion being the horse. Alec and The Black, as Alec comes to call him, become bonded by their shared experience and when rescued from the island Alec takes him back home with him to Flushing, NY. Once there Alec finds it hard to adjust to his everyday life and Black is finding it hard to be cooped up, and runs off when a garbage man, not expecting to find a horse in the yard leaves the gate open. Alec finds Black at the home of an old racehorse trainer that sees the racing potential in Black and begins training Alec as a jockey and Black as a racehorse. This movie showed me how you could tell a story just by showing instead of always having to use words as most of it is shot with no dialogue between Alec and Black. I loved this movie and book as a child, my favorite part being the story of Bucephalus that Alec's father tells him before they discover that the ship is on fire. This movie is so worth the watch, Sunday, June 10th ,12:00 A.M.

Time Bandits - My dad loved Terry Gilliam and the Monty Python, so when Time Bandits came out  my birthday weekend of course he took me to a Sunday matinee, thus starting a tradition of taking me to the movies for my birthday almost every year, in fact before he died he had taken me to my first rated R movie, a reshowing of The Lonely Guy with Steve Martin for my birthday that year before his death. This is a fantastic fantasy through time and space and it even includes exploding parents! Kevin has a wild imagination and spends hours alone making up stories and scenarios while his parents ignore him for one upping the neighbors. One night his armour bursts open and out tumbles a knight on horseback that quickly runs into the forest on the other side of his room. Dazed by the events, Kevin decides that he'll be ready for whatever comes through the following night and is stunned when six dwarves spill out with a map that they are using to time hop across history. They take him on a wild adventure while they rob from the wealthy historical figures that they visit, while trying to avoid their boss, The Supreme Being and eluding EVIL. Sunday morning, June 10th, 2:00 A.M. 

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane - Bette Davis at her greatest steals the show from Joan Crawford in this horror classic of sisterly love gone very wrong. This is probably my mom's favorite movie as it's been the only movie that I've ever seen her watch more than once and was a mainstay around our house for as long as I can remember. It's just so sad that everything went so very wrong for two women who had Hollywood by the horns at one time in their lives. Sunday, June 10th, 3:30 P.M. 

Easter Parade - Vaudeville star Don Hewes has just lost his dancing partner and decides to take on the task of training, Hannah, a chorus girl that he found at the bar he was drinking at. Well, they become a hit and Don's old partner becomes jealous and tries to break them up, but to no real avail and Don and Hannah walk off in the end together. The costumes alone are reason enough to watch, but to see Fred Astaire dancing some of his best solo work and Judy Garland's singing, how can you not watch this sweet romance? Tuesday, June 12th, 2:15 P.M. 

Dollars Trilogy - Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western masterpieces start off Wednesday, June 13th at 6:00 P.M. with A Fistful of Dollars, followed by For A Few Dollars More at 8:00 P.M. and ending with The Good, The Bad and the Ugly at 10:30 P.M. If you want to see where Quentin Tarantino got the idea for the look of D'Jango Unchained and Inglourious Basterds and the character of Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill 1 & 2 (which is his Spaghetti Western), these are a must see to understanding Tarantino, as he was heavily influenced by Leone and Jean-Luc Godard. 

You Were Never Lovelier- Another great Fred Astaire musical with Rita Hayworth cast as his love interest and Adolphe Menjou as the meddling matchmaker father. It's quirky and fun, with Astaire and Hayworth complimenting each other wonderfully in this movie. Thursday, June 14th, 12:00 P.M.

The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner - Colin Smith has always used running to get away from the law but is now using it to reflect on his life while he is training for a long distance race that he is being forced to participate in at the reform school that he is in for robbery. Written by Alan Sillitoe, it was written during the "angry young man" literary movement in England after World War II, a movement that Sillitoe fully rejected as a label from the establishment. Friday, June 15th, 6:00 P.M. 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - While working on a power outage, electric lineman, Roy, is buzzed by a UFO and chases it to find out where it is going. Much to his wife's dismay, Roy becomes obsessed with UFO sightings and creating a mountain out of everything, his wife leaves him and Roy follows a news report to Devils Tower. One of Spielberg's most notable films this is also one of his most successful. Richard Dreyfuss is masterful as the common guy, Roy who goes on a wild goose chase to see if what he saw was real. Saturday, June 16th, 3:30 P.M. 

The Bourdainess Of It All

Devastated. Shocked.

I had just stepped out of the shower, wrapping my head in a towel, when I heard the news announcer on NPR say, "CNN is reporting the death of their 'Parts Unknown' host Anthony Bourdain, by apparent suicide. Bourdain, 61 was found in his hotel room in France." My stomach dropped and I had to sit down. I bawled.

How unfair that a man that lived for life has taken his own. You can think that you know a celebrity because of how much they let you in, but in Bourdain's case he had given fans the sense that he had taken them balls deep into his life. Tony was known for his honesty about his life, talking openly about his drug addiction and his personal downfalls.

Within the last year Bourdain had felt personal responsibility for how women had been treated while  they were working at The Spotted Pig, and that none of the women had felt that they could confide in him about what was going on. Stating in an article with Isaac Chotiner for Slate, "I've been hearing a lot of really bad shit, frankly, and in many cases it's like, wow, I've known some of these women and I've known women who've had stories like this for years and they've said nothing to me. What is wrong with me? What have I, how have I presented myself in such a way as to not give confidence, or why was I not the sort of person people would see as a natural ally here? So I started looking at that." Taking it as his personal obligation to these women shows what kind of man Tony was, he was always looking to better himself and make the world better for others, he wasn't one to shrug off self improvement and knowledge.

I went on many trips with Tony, followed him to the Congo, Beirut to Vietnam and back to the states, visiting what looked like a war torn country to the city of Detroit. He kept me company when I was on bedrest with my daughter, when I was sick or just plain bored for a little culture in my life. Tony took me to places that I, for the most part, could only imagine and he taught me that listening to people and letting them tell you about their lives, culture and sharing food opens up the world a whole hell of a lot wider and makes it a much better place. Tony showed that breaking bread with somebody that is completely opposite to you can bring                                                                            about so much understanding. He broke down walls just                                                                          by sitting, listening and eating.

I hope his daughter finds peace in knowing that her father was so well loved by the people he loved, the people he worked with, had meals with and the people that loved him. As Tony would say, "It was a site to behold."

                                                         

What To Catch on TCM This Week - May 28 - June 2, 2018

Just a few favorites on TCM this week. Hope everyone finds something new or an old favorite to check out this week.

The Best Years of Our Lives - About the struggles of servicemen adjusting to civilian life after serving in World War II. It's a great look at how hard it can be to get back to some sort of normalcy after the endless battles and how everyday life is a battle. Shows why we should value ALL of our servicemen and try to make their lives easier when they come back. Monday, May 28th 3 P.M. MST

Road to Bali - Is one of my favorite Bob Hope movies next to My Favorite Brunette. I loved the Road to movies, I would always watch them with my dad late at night or early on Sunday mornings, but Road to Bali was my favorite, George and Harold once again philandering their way across another performance gig and ending up in a world of trouble because of beautiful woman. This movie wouldn't be made today because of how women are treated in this film, but I'm glad it was made and it's funny as all hell. Who can't watch Bob Hope? Tuesday, May 29th 2:45 P.M. MST

A Night at the Opera - Next to Duck Soup, this is one of the most prolific Marx Brothers movies, Zeppo had just stopped working with his brothers and had become an engineer and theatrical agent. One of the best scenes in the film is the stateroom scene where 15 people end up in a small 3rd class stateroom, you can use your imagination or catch it on Tuesday, May 29th at 2:45 P.M. MST. it's worth the watch, I promise. It's Groucho at his best.


Flipper - Including this one because it was one that my dad used to make us watch, this and Johnny Quest were a Sunday morning favorite. A young boy befriends an injured dolphin and they have a special bond and way of communicating. Thursday, May 31st, 2:30 P.M. MST.

Stage Fright - A woman, secretly in love with her fellow actor helps him to hide after his girlfriend kills her husband and the police are looking for him. Although not one of Hitchcock's most noted films, it's still very well done and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Thursday, May 31st, 10:15 P.M. MST.

Executive Suite -  Avery Bullard, president and visionary for the Tredway Corporation has just died in the middle of the street in New York on a trip to meet with investors. Having never named a successor, all of the Tredway executives go to underhanded lengths to be the next president.                                                                                          Friday, May 1st, 10:45 P.M. MST.

Dial M for Murder - Finding out about his wife's affair, tennis champion Tony Wendice, plans to kill her. Grace Kelly is once again a magnet on the screen as the philandering wife who fights off her attacker. If you've ever seen A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, this is the original that it is based, but this is better, although I really do enjoy A Perfect Murder. Saturday, June 2nd 10:00 A.M. MST.

Birdman of Alcatraz - Based on the real life incarceration of Robert Stroud and his insightfulness of raising and healing birds. Stroud became one of the most renowned ornithologists in the United States. Burt Lancaster gives what is one of his best performances of his career in this film. Saturday, June 2nd 3:15 P.M. MST.

Strangers on a Train - Two men meet on a train and one comes up with the idea to switch murders, both wanting to get rid of dysfunctional people in their lives. One man doesn't take the other seriously and doesn't follow through on his end of the deal and the other man attempts to blackmail him into it. This movie is the basis for Throw Mama from the Train and is another Hitchcock film that dominates TCM this week. Saturday, June 2nd, 8 P.M. MST.

A Few of My Favorite Movies

I wanted to have a little fun and writing about movies is one of my favorite things, (besides watching movies) so from time to time I might put up a list like this just for a little insight into my thought on movies, music etc., or just for fun. If you have any suggestions for a blog post or a list like this please leave it in the comments or send me a Tweet on Twitter at ChristineLarran@twitter.com

Annie Hall - Alvy Singer examines his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Annie Hall, through flashbacks and discussions with the audience. There are so many reasons why this movie is great, the backdrop of New York, the great dialogue and the Diane Keaton of it all. But the reason I like this movie is the story and the heart that Woody Allen shows his audience. Allen tossed in all the real emotions that we go through in relationships and what we feel when it all goes wrong. To me, this film is a masterpiece because it shows how                                                                                               imperfect we all are.

Kill Bill 2 - Beatrix Kiddo is on the rampage road and her ex-lover/Assassin Boss is the main target. What is there not to like about this movie? Amazing dialogue, story, and beautiful cinematography, Tarantino's version of a Spaghetti Western is by far one of the best revenge movies ever. My favorite reference to Superman is a monologue by David Carradine (Bill), it's true, Superman has to become Clark Kent but he was born Superman.

Seven Samurai- This is my favorite  of Akira Kurosawa's films. Sure there are other's that are just as good if not better, but this is my favorite. This is the movie that so many directors have repeatedly made over as Westerns and action movies, but they fall short of this original. The plot is simple, a farming village is being exploited by bandits that plan to rob them after the villages crops come in, to dissuade them from coming they decide to hire a group of Samurais to protect the village.

Jaws - A great white shark has made the small town of Amity live in terror. Chief Brody has decided to hunt the shark himself with the aid of a young Marine Biologist and a salty fishing captain he sets out to lure the shark out to the ocean, not realizing that is exactly what the shark wants. I probably saw this movie way to young it made a deep impression on me. Jaws is really the movie that made me love movies and want to figure out how to make movies. It was beautifully shot, the plot is intriguing and the characters are some of the most colorful. The actors in this movie work so well together to bring this story to life, you almost want them to be real. I honestly thought when I was a kid that someday I would meet Hooper. Also because of this movie I have never, ever waded out past my shins into the water, it really made an impact on me about what is in the ocean.

Comet- Sam Esmil's directorial debut, Comet is an ethereal movie examining the relationship between Dell and Kimberly. Using flashbacks of conversations and glimpses of parallel universes, showing what Dell really wanted all along and ended up losing.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Based on the life of t.v. game show producer and host Chuck Barris, Confessions  is a memoir of what covert CIA operations Barris says he was involved in. SAm Rockwell is genius as the off the wall but controlled agent that Barris says he was. It's also one of the first movies that George Clooney directed.

The Darjeeling Limited- The Whitman brothers have met up in India at the insistence of oldest brother Francis to have a spiritual journey of sorts, really he's brought them there to see their estranged mother who has been missing since their father's death the year before. Really he just wants them to be a family again. It's a look at a family still reeling after the death of their parent and favorite person. This is my favorite Wes Anderson directed film, maybe because I've had a lot of los in my life or because I like the thought of getting lost in India and finding myself.

Marley- This documentary about the Jamaican born reggae music star is enlightening. It shows a reason and love in life. I like it because of it's message of positivity and creativity.
  
Clerks- Kevin Smith's writing and directing debut, it's a story about lifelong friendship and off the wall customers that two clerks have to deal with in their life. This movie showed me that anything is possible in the world, if a guy could max out his credit cards and go on to have a successful career in movie making than anything is possible.

Stress Is The Worst for Creativity

Lately I have been going through some stress personally and professionally. I think I'm just letting too much get to me and really need to get back to meditating daily and yoga. I've just been so preoccupied with the being stressed rather than focusing on what can unstress me and working. Contrary to what it looks like lately, I love working. It relaxes me and good things come from it. More and more I'm starting to realize that I'm not writing for anyone else but myself. So, everything here is about things I like or am interested in or have a viewpoint on. No matter what this is all my work no one else, so why not just do what I want to do. I like writing about movies, music and politics and maybe some bad poetry and decent short stories. I'm just going to do all of this for me. I need to be a little selfish right now. Life's to crazy and short not to be doing what I want to do. I'd always be wondering what if I had just done what I wanted to do? I'd regret at least not trying to do what I want and I think the saddest thing would be just to not even start.

How SNAP (Food Stamps) Should Really Be Reformed

To read this post go here . Reminder that posts are moving to Patreon, two posts will be public and published here a week. Also the submission deadline has been extended to July 7, 2018.