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OMG I just realized that I did see Space 1999 as a kid and loved it ! But on Danish TV it was called Moonbase Alpha, so I didn't catch on when AC mentioned it. Maia was the character who could shape-shift, right ?

Wow, buddy! If you had just peeped at the vid i attached you would have seen Maia et al! lol. Somehow i knew you loved it, and don't ask me how.... ;)

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I saw above that AC is a fan of Space: 1999, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one out there!  I have always had a weakness for science-fiction in any format--most of my library is that or historical.  Of course, we now conjecture that the loss of the Moon would be a huge disaster altering our axial tilt and rotational speed, but that was incidental back in the '70s. 

 

Several observations I have about the series: I always liked Barry Morse who played the chief scientist--some thought he was dry and boring, but not me.  I also thought the blond Eagle pilot was hot, although the sideburns populart then were a big turn-off. :)

 

The second season I thought was a let-down since the show had then been tailored to sell in the American market--I think that's why there wasn't more of it--the old fans hated the new style, and the new Americans thought it was too 'stuffy'.  I never caught on to the Maia character, though her powers were cool.

 

This just occurred to me thinking about it: am I the only one who sees the communicator devices as vaguely penis-shaped?  Now the image of talking into one could make you squirm. :)

 

On a semi-related note: I loved three movies from the mid-70s, Planet Earth, Genesis II and Strange New World..all about coming back from suspended animation to a devastated Earth...all were by Gene Roddenberry.

Can't forget either, the Logan's Run movie and tv series, which sorta sucked, but that brings up a tv series called Ark II, which was pretty neat.

About Earth devastation, there was an episode of the show in which the moon and the survivors somehow swung back around to within hailing distance of Earth. The planet was in total shambles, as the pull away and loss of the moon wrecked the entire 'old' ecological balance. 

 

I have both series one and series two on DVD. When i first got them a few years ago, i was pleasantly surprised to see series one really was as 'dark' as i remember it as a kid. It is psychologically tense, and sometimes down right driven to be a horror show. I completely agree that series two took a turn, but in my mind it was an attempt to 'lighten the show up.' Perhaps you are right in thinking that this shift slightly alienated the old viewers, and failed to garner any new ones - so the show was dropped. 

 

I still feel the first series, with all of it dark introspection, is still among the very best SciFi out there. The pilot episode i've attached above is a great foretaste of the show's oevrall mindset. These people are alone, and the crush of space gets into their heads and drives them mad. 

 

Thanks ColumbusGuy for your comments!  

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Wow, buddy! If you had just peeped at the vid i attached you would have seen Maia et al! lol. Somehow i knew you loved it, and don't ask me how.... ;)

 

I'm not good at the whole clicking on links to see you-tube or other videos thing, so I usually ignore them in forums. And the 50 min play time was a further deterrent. Sorry, AC I should have known you would only include something awesome. :*)

I'm still not watching it, though, I prefer to keep my childhood memories intact.

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Now that you do mention it, I remember that episode, but wish there had been pictures--I don't recall there being any. 

Poor Tim, I almost never watch video online either, but I have copied some music videos from YouTube.  I found some really cool ones of an Italian duo playing recorder and harpsichord pieces from The Division Flute.  For movies and tv series I will try to find torrents to download when I can't find them on disk. 

 

Our local PBS (public broadcast station) has a tendency to do British shows, but not always starting at the beginning--I've gotten to like Doc Martin, but they are only showing season 5--so I had to get the first ones last night.

 

Now, without further ado, back to Judas Tree, without commercial interruption! :)

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Finally we see Simon take back his pride and joy in life and being who he is. Our faith in his good heart and strong soul was vindicated and he could dismiss and pity Terry and Father S and those like them. I'm glad he went to see sister Jodie and used her words to confirm his gut feelings.

 

The analogy of being left-handed was my favorite. My grandmother was left-handed and forced to use her right hand in school. She was a meek and kind person, who rarely stood up for herself. But when one of her children was also left-handed, she went to the principal of the village school and told him in no uncertain terms, that if he enforced the rule of not writing with your left hand (this was in 1950), she would send her child to a more 'modern' school in the city nearby. She did not want any of her children to be traumatized by being made to feel wrong and experience all the problems she had with writing, and using scissors and knives for cutting etc. He was wise enough to listen, and of course today no one would dream of attempting to 'cure' a child of being left-handed. I wish the same could be said of being gay.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So finally we will be told the story of Simon's last months in school. He is still lonely (without Dustin) and in opposition to most of the boys in his class. But he has Jodie - who I'm glad to see has ditched Terry. She seems to have guessed Simon's secret, but what will she do about it?

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This is a reply to ColumbusGuy's chapter one review left here: https://www.gayauthors.org/story/ac-benus/thecodewordnovellafive/chapterreviews/1

 

 

 

Thank you, ColumbusGuy! In terms of the poems, I clearly remember there being a section on WW1 poets in our 8th grade reader. The more and more I think about what we were actually exposed to, the more impressed I am with my formative education. That 8th grade book had Steinbeck's Red Pony, Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (which Miss Horrell had us act out with costumes and props, etc – and I played 'The Wall,' or the actor who was playing the wall in the 'play within a play' section), and other stories that I'm sure I can recall later on. Beyond that, Miss Horrell challenged me with some major reading assignments to do 'book reports' on. I mean, were other kids given Great Expectations to read at age thirteen..? I know I was! And of course, she knew. She knew I'd love it and get a lot from it. In terms of the poems in this novella, I was inspired to create my own based on all the wonderful and basically out poets of the time, like Siegfried Sassoon and his love Wilfred Owen. Wings is one of the greatest same-sex romance movies of all times, the winner of the very first Academy Award for Best Picture, and the film that made my 10-year-old father bawl like a baby at the kiss scene. He told me all about it himself. I hope you watched the small clip I attached showing just the kiss, as those two actors really are incredibly handsome (and hot!).   

 

About the time settings, I don’t make a big deal about them, because the story is contemporary with the way American kids act both today and 'back then.' But the first novella is set in the spring of 1978, and the clue is that Simon, thinking back to last summer, remembers being told that Star Wars is a new movie (which came out in '77). In Farther Along, all the songs playing on the radio are hits from April 1979. In From the Depths, Jodie talks about the newest movies, like Midnight Express, and the sequel to Halloween, and Paxton's car is a brand new 1980 Nissan Z (plus Dustin's obsession with Queen). In Unafraid, this is the spring of 1981, and Simon talks of his covetous feeling towards two of another boy's handheld computer games – Blip and Digital Derby – both of which I had in the 7th grade (hehe).

 

http://retrothing.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452989a69e2012877a5c8a7970c-pi

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynv-xpN25JE (Seeing it in action again really makes me smile!)

 

So now with The Codeword, we are in April of 1982. All the novellas are set in spring, as Simon is in the spring of his life, and I make much of the sight and scents of the natural world around him to compare and contrast with the closed-in feel he gets about the life the adults have chosen to lead. 

 

This ties into your last point that Simon is better grounded, and he is now that he has left the Church behind. You shall see more of this as the novella unfolds; he is however still pretty clueless, especially on the vibe about Blakie that Jodie is laying down for him to pick up. Ah, boys – we can be so dumb sometimes!      

 

Thank you for a great review!

Edited by AC Benus
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I am just so impressed that you wrote those poems...my longest effort at that was a re-working of 'Sir Gawain & The Green Knight' I did for a college class, using the form and rhyme scheme but set it on my college campus--got an A- on it because I switched to 3rd person two stanzas from the end.

Edited by ColumbusGuy
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I look forward to each new chapter - but I also look forward to Headstall's comments. Reading them makes the story even more poignant and important and beautiful. So thank you AC for a sad, but hopeful chapter  :worship:  and thank you Gary for another stunning review. :worship:

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I look forward to each new chapter - but I also look forward to Headstall's comments. Reading them makes the story even more poignant and important and beautiful. So thank you AC for a sad, but hopeful chapter  :worship:  and thank you Gary for another stunning review. :worship:

I agree! Gary, please keep your comments coming, they add so much to every story they grace on GA.

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Thanks to both of you...that is kind of overwhelming but I love that you both feel that way and would take the time to say it. I get my inspiration from words and stories that touch or move me or trigger a memory that lets me relive something important or influential to who I am now. These things open me up and allow me to express what I feel in the moment so it is the writer that deserve the credit,as such, for this...I feel I owe to you that piece of me that you touch and it is such an easy thing to do. I am so grateful to all the writers that make this site feel like a home to me and I am grateful to the site that it allows me to express my appreciation in whatever way I can. Cheers Tim and AC...I admire and care about you both...Gary

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  • 3 weeks later...

AC, I was listening to my music files, and this one came on--I'd completely forgotten about it--but it fits with the scene where Simon is talking about his dad seeing Wings as a kid.  It too, is a presentation of the deep bonds forged between boys, even as the years pass.

 

Surprisingly, this emotion-filled song is by the same man who did Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport!

 

Edited by ColumbusGuy
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AC, I was listening to my music files, and this one came on--I'd completely forgotten about it--but it fits with the scene where Simon is talking about his dad seeing Wings as a kid.  It too, is a presentation of the deep bonds forged between boys, even as the years pass.

 

Surprisingly, this emotion-filled song is by the same man who did Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport!

 

Gosh, what a fascinating song. I should go look for an older, that is a period, recording of it. I did not except the one to be dying, but it is a war song, after all. 

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  • 4 years later...

Hi, I found the novellas thanks to Renee Reviews Revisited (2014-2018) blog post. I have one question, I know there are several of them, but they are all marked in progress. Is it really true, or are the initial books finished?

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41 minutes ago, Sweetlion said:

Hi, I found the novellas thanks to Renee Reviews Revisited (2014-2018) blog post. I have one question, I know there are several of them, but they are all marked in progress. Is it really true, or are the initial books finished?

 

They're all finished and definitely worth reading. I'm delighted if my review inspired you to read Judas Tree. Have tissues ready. ;) 

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1 hour ago, Sweetlion said:

Hi, I found the novellas thanks to Renee Reviews Revisited (2014-2018) blog post. I have one question, I know there are several of them, but they are all marked in progress. Is it really true, or are the initial books finished?

They are finished...and are beautifully crafted.  AC is a wordsmith.  I loved the series... and any of his work is worth reading. Tim's review of Judas Tree is wonderful too.

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7 hours ago, Sweetlion said:

Hi, I found the novellas thanks to Renee Reviews Revisited (2014-2018) blog post. I have one question, I know there are several of them, but they are all marked in progress. Is it really true, or are the initial books finished?

Yes, Sweetlion, the 5 Simon novellas are fully posted. I hope you decide to venture into them :)

 

 

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