Slightly Off the Mark

Update on Hoosier Hysterical II: The Sequel

The last thing I thought would happen with Hoosier Hysterical II: Crying Out for a Subtitle is that I would run out of space.

Yet a few days ago my planned 53,000 word manuscript for Hoosier Hysterical II: The Wrath of Corn hit 59,610 words. This is a problem. I wanted it to be close to the length of the original Hoosier Hysterical: How the West Became the Midwest Without Moving At All. I also wanted it to have a cool subtitle, although not as long as the first one.

But wait, there's more: I got my word count wrong. Despite the length of the subtitle, the original Hoosier Hysterical weighed in at only 43,023 words, not the 53,000 number going through my mind. I didn't catch it until the sequel's rough draft was finished.

There's a lot of research involved, and I made the mistake of deep-diving. It turns out a few little details at the top of a biography aren't nearly as interesting as all the stuff that comes between the "B" and the "D".

No, that's not the code for bondage: It's "Born" and "Died". Get your mind out of the black leather.

People I planned to spend a few paragraphs on ended up taking whole chapters. Meanwhile, I had no idea how many people of note have connections to the Hoosier State. Did you know Ian Fleming's first pick to play James Bond in the movies was a singer from Indiana?

Or that not only Garfield, but Clifford the Big Red Dog, Raggedy Ann, and Little Orphan Annie were born in Indiana, along with the infamous Dick and Jane from the early reader books? Or that Ohio may have birthed more astronauts, but we educated them? Or that the Governor of Indiana saved President Lincoln from getting kidnapped?

Neither did I.

56,000 words doesn't seem like much: George R.R. Martin’s last Game of Thrones book had so many words that, if laid end to end, they’d reach the orbit of Jupiter. Still, that's a 13,000 word difference, and yes, I counted them individually. I've often wondered if the reason my second Slightly Off the Mark humor book didn't sell as well as the first is because it was much longer; now I'm facing the same thing.

So here's my plan: I'm going to divide this book up into two. One would concentrate on people, the other on items, inventions, and events. For instance, Katherine Bailey was born in Marion and died in Indianapolis, so she would be here. The incident in which President Van Buren’s buggy overturned in Plainfield, after he vetoed a bill that would have improved the road, would be in Hoosier Hysterical III: Here We Go Again.

Or whatever it ends up being called.

Look up our humor, history, and other books at many of your favorite Mark R. Hunter locations:

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Remember: History can be fun, if you try hard enough.

Colorful Carnival Photos

When I was walking home from work Saturday night I decided to take a few photos of the Chain O' Lakes Festival rides. It rained (a lot) earlier, as kinda/sorta shown in this photo I took during the storm.

That's when the rain just started coming in; it turned into a real gully-washer for awhile. During the Festival, the only choice of weather is usually either wet or hot. After the sun came back out, we got the hot part.

This one was when the rain was coming down harder, and some lightning drove everyone off the rides. A lot of them came right back as soon as it lightened up, though.

I didn't have a lot of hope for taking pictures outside. I don't traditionally have a lot of luck with nighttime pictures using my iPhone. Not only that, but it was so humid my lens started fogging up.

But honestly, I kind of liked the effect. It kind of smeared the color out in a way I liked. Maybe I'll try to post the video I took on here too, although I really have trouble with video.

The last two are essentially the same photo, with the rides changing color between them. I'm a big fan of color and light. I'm not much of a festival goer anymore, but I do like watching them. Unless there are clowns with balloons.

Notice the double exposure effect. Not on purpose, although back in the film days doing something like that was a huge pain.

You can find us, whether indoors or outdoors, here:

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Remember: Reading is always a good thing, except when you’re on those rides.

Movie review: The Madalorian and Grogu

There are two ways to approach a summer blockbuster Action/SF movie: Compare it to "Citizen Kane" and snipe at everything you think could have been done better; or buy the cup, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

We bought the cup.

"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" is set after the end of the original trilogy at a time when the New Republic is trying to eliminate the last vestiges of the Galactic Empire. It's also, of course, a spinoff of "The Mandalorian" series, and if you're a Star Wars fan you'll see plenty of callbacks and Easter eggs. The non-Star Wars fan can still watch and enjoy the show, which explains enough of the universe it's in to keep things straight. Sometimes franchise movies are good at that; sometimes, not so much.

Pedro Pascal plays Din Djarin, a member of a cult of Mandalorian warriors who never remove their helmets. In fact, we only see Pascal's face in one scene, which begs the question: How do we know it's not a stuntman in that armor the whole time? Well, we don't, although how different is that from an animated show? Darth Maul is Darth Maul in every medium.

This is the way. On a related note, Grogu was done with live-action puppetry at the urging of the legendary Werner Herzog, who saw the efforts to go CGI and said, "You're cowards. Leave it." He was right.

A former bounty hunter, Djarin has adopted Grogu, formerly known as "Baby Yoda". (He's not: Yoda, at this point in the story, has passed on.) Grogu is a Force-wielding baby, less than a hundred years old and not yet talking. That kind of makes him Djarin's apprentice, and Heaven help everyone if he ever gets his hands on a lightsaber.

The Mandalorian used to find people for gangsters, but he's given that up and now works for the New Republic, tracking down Imperial bad guys. When the local New Republic leader gives him his new assignment ... it's to find someone for gangsters, who say they have information on Imperial movements. His quest is to rescue the son and heir of the now deceased Jabba the Hut, who turns out to be not all that eager to be rescued.

(By the way, Sigourney Weaver took on the role of Colonel Ward because she wanted to act with Grogu.)

Things go sideways, of course. A lot.

Which brings us back to the only important question when it comes to a movie: Is it entertaining?

(I know people disagree on that: It seems like the Oscars usually go to movies that I find wildly un-entertaining.)

But yes. "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is a slam-bang thrilling adventure with just enough humor, and also just enough pauses in the action (I'm looking at you, Baby Yoda), and doggone it, isn't he cute? The movie also has one of my favorite cameo "appearances" ever: I actually blurted his name out loud when it appeared on the opening credits, and I don't do that.

It's basically a space western, and that's a compliment. Apparently some people have been complaining that it's just like an episode of The Mandalorian TV show. That's also a compliment.

It's the best Star Wars movie since "Rogue One", coming from one of the best Star Wars series ever. Naturally, that depends on who you ask, because being agreeable is how I roll. This is my way.

My rating:

Entertainment value: 5 out of 4 M&Ms. My rating system, my rules.

Oscar potential: 2 out of 4 M&Ms. There is Academy Award worthy work going on here, but this movie has zero chance of snagging one of the big categories. Still, it has an outside chance of putting Star Wars movies back on track.

Of course, after the movie you’ll want to look us up:

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