THE L.A. FIRES

 DANTES INFERNO:

BEVERLY HILLS 911-101- 451

ARE THE L.A. FIRES ARSON OR ACT OF GOD ?

By now you might be aware that Los Angeles faces its biggest wild-fires in living memory. Great swathes of city blocks raised to the ground. Mansions and hotels, local businesses, schools and community centres, homes. All wiped out of existence by raging fire-storms driven by extreme winds.

With a city such as L.A. boasting an average of 263 sunny days per year, perhaps it was a disaster waiting to happen. Particularly given the dry tinder-box conditions of California, in general, where temperatures can reach up to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That might not sound like a lot but in Britain that is the average room temperature in any domestic home. That’s basically 20 degrees Celsius.

But in Britain, temperatures fluctuate to minus zero degrees Celsius to an average of 20 degrees Celsius, coupled with our good old consistent British rain.

However, L.A. is classed as borderline Mediterranean because of dry weather almost all year round, with little rain coverage, making forests and grasslands susceptible to wild-fires. The most if ever rains in LA is like five days in February.

WATER SHORTAGES

Such bone-dry conditions are asking for trouble. Particularly when fire hydrants are empty and city reservoirs are filled to the bare minimum.

One of the worst affected areas is the Palisades area where 2,900 acres have been scorched out of existence, due to fire hydrants failing after three tanks (each holding a million gallons of water) went dry within a span of 12 hours.

Yet there are three reservoirs in the Palisades area alone, each holding 1,000,000 gallons of water. But somewhere along the line, that water wasn’t reaching the fire hydrants. And why is that?

ARSON ?

Reports now emerge that the Palisades fires were given a helping hand by an arsonist, apprehended Thursday by locals, when he was caught torching the area with a flame thrower !

This opens a whole new can of worms. Were there more arsonists at play here? And to what end were their plans? Is this an act of terrorism? Possibly.

In any event, its quite possible that L.A. has fallen fowl of a perfect storm of miss-adventure, as we shall see...

AI vs HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood itself has always been associated with making movies. It’s basically the epicentre of all things movie-like. Anyone who wants to be anyone, must do a stint there, even if it’s just a bit-part. The allure of fame and riches is all consuming.

But any way you look at it, Tinsel town is in trouble. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and Computer Generated Images (CGI), one only has to scroll Facebook or You Tube to see any high-end special FX movie scene, using only AI prompts by some kid with an I-phone.

These are utterly convincing and far cheaper than anything that Hollywood could ever hope to offer.

So it’s only a matter of time before AI makes entire movies to order. One day soon, you’ll slouch on your sofa and ask Alexa to conjure up an entire action-packed movie, with you, or your friends and family as its stars. Imagine your Grandmother as the Terminator or your Dad as Willy Wonker. That is the future.

Thus by the end of this decade, Hollywood as we know it, will cease to exist as a film industry. 

And that will spell certain doom for the rich and famous that live in its opulent quarters, to the many corrupt movie magnates sleeping with little girls for kicks.

And that must make certain rich celebs nervous.

But what has this to do with the L.A. fires?

COVER UPS

We’ve all heard about the Hollywood drug and paedophilia rings. The L.A. fires could also be a rather convenient way of disposing of any evidence that might lead to the conviction of anyone associated with the cities darker aspects.

In the wake of Ricky Gervais roasting celebs at the Oscars and the Harvey Weinstein scandal, whistle-blowers such as actor Corey Fieldman are coming out thick and fast.

High profile celebs have been put under scrutiny. Regardless of innocence. From Steven Spielberg to Mother Teresa.

What easier than to just burn up the evidence? Much like the Nazis burning all the paper-work to do with the death-camps. 

But the trick is to make it look like a lone crazy man. With whole neighbourhoods now evacuated, looting is now abundant.

Just pay off some hard-up Q’anon fruitcake, arm him with a flame-thrower and tell him to burn Hollywood for a million bucks. Simples.

Meanwhile, vital stores of information, such as libraries, banks and computer servers have been destroyed. Paper trails and police cases dealing with corruption and paedophilia likely erased.

INSURANCE SCAMS

The L.A. fires also make it all rather convenient for insurance fraud. Insurance companies get bailed out by Government, by taxing the average Joe Blogs. Insurance premiums then sky-rocket and insurance companies make a lucrative profit.

Not to mention shrewd real-estate agents who will just move in and take over.

It’s easy money for those in the know. I’m talking about your average everyday psychopaths in suits. The types that never get their own hands dirty. They just get everyone else to do the hard work.

CORRUPTION

All the above simply feeds into the never ending cycle of corruption in our society. Hollywood as a movie centre no longer matters. All that matters is making a load of money out of yet another disaster.

Meanwhile city officials seem unable to get these fires put out. Hmm. Very suspect.

This is a sign of our times. It’s easy to blame global warming and inept politicians.

But there’s nothing like chaos to enable evil men to play. Which is why World Wars and global pandemics mean good business to unscrupulous individuals, ready to cash-in on disaster. These are the very real James Bond megalomaniacs bent on world domination. 

Putin is a prime example. Other players are less obvious in the public eye but more destructive to democracy and freedom, such as the Rothschilds.

NO MORE HEROES

And the worst thing about it all is there are no real actual 007 super-spy heroes to keep these assholes in check. No Rambo to kick the bad guys asses, no amateur detective sleuths or Supermen, to bring our most heinous criminals to justice.

And the bad guys know this. And continue wrecking the world. The only world we got by the way.

The best we got to counter crime, is a failing police force and our crumbling judicial system, rife with corruption, where a few good men and women, working long hours, turn the wheels and keep things afloat.

But fear not. All is not lost. There are others who also make a difference. They work in our local shops and local offices. They work in the NHS and our Tax departments. They play musical instruments and create great works of art. They love animals and campaign for a better world.

They work in our schools and raise children, teaching them right from wrong. They don’t wear capes and they certainly don’t run around with flame-throwers. I’m talking about people like yourself.

And that can make all the difference folks, between heaven and hell.

THE FUTURE 

Ultimately once the L.A. fires have done their worst, when the Hollywood sign itself is mere cinders and the miracle rains finally come, there will be an token enquiry.

An inquisition perhaps, aimed at political incompetence. Perhaps Mayor Governor Gavin Newsom will pin it on various cut-backs, footing the blame on a crumbling infrastructure unable to cope with such an obvious disaster, in the face of global warming. 

An Act of God, he will say. We just need more money. Your money basically. 

And when its all done and dusted, you the tax payer, will foot the bill. 

SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT

 WHY

SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT

SUCKS ASS

Apparently there was a huge campaign for the ‘definitive’ version of this movie. A film I felt was pretty much perfect as it was. And if it aint broke, why fix it? But this is a movie spawned of two directors. Being Richard Lester and Richard Donner.

Originally Richard Donner was hired to direct both Superman 1 and Superman 2, with the idea of making both movies back to back, in order to keep the actors under contract. However, he got fired for running spectacularly over-budget, which is a big no-no.

Subsequently, Richard Lester was hired to finish Superman 2 and did a pretty good job of saving the movie from spiralling into developmental hell. 

THE LESTER CUT
He essentially reined-in the unworkable script, that excluded insane ideas such as Margo Kidder (as Lois Lane) jumping out of a skyscraper window just to prove that Clark Kent was Superman! Thank god. 

Another omitted scene was where she tries to shoot him with a Smith and Wesson 32 in a hotel room. It all seems quite outlandish. Yet that was the version Donner wanted to film. Most of which he actually did.

By this point Gene Hackman refused to return, as did several other crew members loyal to Donner. 

SALVAGE JOB

Fortunately there was plenty of footage on the cutting room floor that Lester could work with. And to finish the film he reworked this footage into a more realistic narrative. The only things left to do were to shoot the battle of metropolis and the amnesia kiss.

So in that respect Donner may have had the upper hand in terms of directing the first one. But Lester had surpassed him with his superior sequel. But for years the debate about the Donner cut prevailed. What would that version have been like?

Well finally in 2006, with the advent of Superman Returns, Donner finally got his wish and The Donner Cut was put together. I wasn’t even aware until I saw it last night. Some nineteen years after the fact. And I was looking forward to watching it.

But on viewing it, I was left fairly disappointed. The entire movie feels more like a rough cut, than a definitive piece. Much like the rough-cut of Star Wars, that Lucas showed to Spielberg and friends. This movie is rough. And there’s no way around saying it.

HALF-ASSED STUDENT FX 

This so called “definitive cut” is surprisingly crap considering the amount of expectation and work put into cleaning up the footage. If anything, it feels like Donner hired a bunch of half-assed film students to put it all together. 

The new special effects look dated and jar with the old effects. The new Phantom Zone FX look like first year student work in between lunch and beer time. And an angry General Zod yelling ‘Freeeeeeee!’ is just embarrassing.

General Zod : FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

It’s also quite strange watching the same film using different takes. After years being used to the original version and knowing it line for line (well more or less) suddenly the Donner Cut is like watching an entirely different movie. And it literally is.

Almost every scene is the same location but the characters are saying different lines and doing different things. It’s like watching an alternate universe via the Matrix. And these new scenes aren’t that great anyway. The acting is sloppy, compared to the tighter Lester cut, who obviously went through the footage with a fine toothpick finding the best of the best.

RE-CUTTING OUT OF SPITE

Whereas Donner seems to have gone the opposite purely (I suspect) out of spite. So much so that Lois Lanes insane suicide bid is put back in. And jeeze. It does look incredulous. 

The gloves are off. Its Donner vs Lester mono on mono. Even the cold open re-cap seems lengthy and laborious. Donner dispenses with Lesters French Nuke in favour of Lex Luthers Nukes from the first movie. Essentially establishing Zod and his buddies (freeeeee!!!) right off the bat before the credits even roll. But its all lengthy and tiresome and tacky.

TACKY TIME TRAVEL REHASH 

One of the classic sub-plots was the diner scenes, whereby Superman (now mortal) gets his ass kicked by a trucker thug. 

But in the Donner version, Superman turns back time (AGAIN) resulting in Zod etc never escaping in the first place. But we see Superman going back to that diner, just to kick the shit out of said trucker thug, none of which makes any fucking sense because in this time-line, he's basically just beating up some guy for no reason.

Honestly. It’s really retarded.

DIVISIVE FANBASE 

Perhaps the only merit to this re-cut is Zod and his Goons experiencing their new super-powers. Whereby the radiation from our sun gives them the same abilities and strengths as Superman. But thats about it. 

Thus now we have two camps of thought. Those who love the Donner Cut and those who love the original. But I also suspect that neither camps will agree on which is the definitive movie. And never the Twain shall meet. 

I for one can see a lot of problems with the Donner Cut. None of which have been addressed since. But I would consider a hybrid of the two might be in order.

In the meantime, to recover I think I’ll just sit down and re-watch the original Lester cut and pretend it was all a bad, bad BAD dream…

TIMELESS CHILD VS REGENERATION

TIMELESS CHILD PLOT VS 12 STOP REGENERATION.

WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

Nobody ever expected Dr Who to have lasted this long. And there’s no reason why it won’t be running for another twenty or forty years. 

Imagine by 2063, Dr Who will have run (on and off, more or less) for one hundred years ! Think about that. No, seriously. Sit down and actually consider Dr Who might actually out-live you. Take all the time you need. 

Because by 2063, there will be very few people still alive who might even remember watching that first grainy black and white transmission of Dr Who, way back in 1963 if at all. And the people who made the show in the first place will all be long dead.

Its initial run was only to be a few episodes, a small season at best, shoved in between the 6’Oclock News and Juke Box Jury. But show producer Verity Lambert inadvertently created a tv series that is as Timeless as its central character, The Doctor.

But there’s the rub. The growing controversy regarding that sticky issue of regeneration. After all, Dr Who was only supposed to regenerate twelve times right?

But wait, hang on a moment, he/she/ they must well be into their fourteen or fifteenth regeneration !! 

And then there was that notable continuity issue in The Brain of Morbius, where it was suggested eight other unknown Dr Who’s were floating about !

To be honest, I think I’ve lost count. But fear not. It’s only a tv show. 

So let’s put things back into perspective for a bit folks before someone spills milk on the carpet or over-jams the scones.

12 STOP REGENERATION

So what is all this flaff about regeneration anyway?

Well, by 1967 William Hartnell (the original Dr Who) was getting too old to play the Doctor. The show reached a crossroads. Should the BBC have stopped it then? Should they have shrugged and thought: oh well, fair enough, let’s call it a day and move onto something else?

Well, no they didn’t. Because by then Dr Who was bigger than just one man. It had become a British Icon, a worldwide sensation, the Flagship of the BBC.

And still is. So the idea that he could regenerate 12 times was really just a provisional plot device to keep Dr Who going for at least another twenty odd years, occasionally replacing the central character much like James Bond. Not much thought beyond that really.

As a result, Dr Who reached its natural end back in 1988, and everyone thought that was the end of the story. 

Until that is new TV producer Russell T Davis relaunched it in 2004, continuing on from where the original show left off.

But now its lived for another twenty odd years, the 12 year regeneration cycle idea has become problematic. Mainly because nobody expected the show to survive well into the 21st Century, let alone past William Hartnell and we’re now way past twelve regenerations.

I mean its sixty two years old and counting.

TIMELESS CHILD

So enter the timeless child plot-line. Where by a mortal space explorer/ scientist happens upon a child that can regenerate, holding the key to immortality. Thus she extracts DNA from her and the first Time-lords are born.

This plot-line is a small stroke of genius. It ticked all the boxes and answered all the tricky questions about regeneration, well most of them anyway. 

It heavily suggested that the character of the Doctor was treated like a highly valued prisoner (possibly like in The Truman Show), that the Time Lords leached DNA off. 

It explained why the Doctor stole a time machine and escaped Gallifrey in the first place. 

Meanwhile the Time-lords continued their efforts to sustain immortality but faulted because they couldn’t quite crack the Timeless child's DNA codes and duplicate them perfectly and thus make regeneration work beyond twelve times. 

HUMAN BIOLOGY vs TIME LORD.  

Lets go back to basics. The human body regenerates every seven years. It’s true. Our cells duplicate and replace themselves throughout our entire system. But the price of this is the ageing process.

Now imagine you’re a time lord and you can regenerate 12 times. That means you could potentially live up to around one thousand two hundred years. But the price of such is essentially the same problem humans face with the seven year cycle. Things wear out. Things age.

It would also explain why the Doctors nemesis, (the Moriarty like Master), looked so hideous by the time of The Deadly Assassin and The Keeper of Traken and why the Doctor seems to regenerate without error.

But hang on, Rassilon was immortal, wasn’t he? Well actually no, he just had his mind uploaded to Galifreys central computer hub, known collectively as the Matrix databank. Or so we're told. 

THE LOST STORY

Thus from a plot stand point, the 12 year regeneration idea isn’t sustainable. But if your character is essentially immortal and changes his appearance every so often, then that’ll suit the Vicar nicely my dear. 

But with this ability comes jealousy from everyone else. Mainly the Time-lords themselves. Ultimately the Time-lords needed the Doctor back for further study. 

But this begs the question: Why didn't they just kidnap the Doctor and be done with it long ago? Because that would contravene the established plot lines of previous Dr Who stories. 

Perhaps this is why there is so much debate about this issue. Because we've never seen that episode, whereby Dr Who is kidnapped by the followers of Rassilon or whatever and chained to a operating table and experimented on. 

Of course he would have to be rescued the bad guys are foiled. But all in all, if such an episode existed, it might go a long way to settling the debate once and for all.  

CONCLUSION

Anyway, there are armies on both sides regarding the shows direction. I for one don’t really care, so long as the good Doctor does battle with the occasional Dalek or Cyberman or two. 

And thus if a timey-wimey immortal child plot-line allows him/her/ they to do so, then brave heart, Tegan.