More Dark Tower News

One lucky fan will have the opportunity to hang with Mr. King himself, that is if he or she can win this contest.

Sounds like a great idea and I cannot wait to see what some of the movies look like upon completion. I just hope the quality of the work submitted is worthy to review.

Long Live The King

The Tower draws nearer! This past Sunday I read a new introduction to The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three while in a Costco of all places. Stephen King wrote in it about how he wanted to create a Tolkien-like saga in a Sergio Leone movie landscape (think Lord of the Rings set in “The Good, The Bad & the Ugly”) and I immediately and gleefully starting thinking, “Yes! I knew it! I knew it!” He wrote about what motivated him, way back when, to write this series and what is driving him now to finish it. Yes, finish it. Over the next year and a half, expect bold new things from Mr. King!

First things first – Books V, VI and VII of the Dark Tower series have been named and slated for delivery. The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla will arrive in stores on November 5th, 2003. The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah, will arrive in store in the Summer of 2004 and The Dark Tower VII, The Dark Tower, will arrive in November, 2004. It also seems that Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger has been updated to make it more in-line with the other books. Supposedly there is now 10% more content than the previous edition. Speaking of previous editions, new introductions have been written for all the first four books.

Second, at Stephen King’s web site there is a section completely devoted to the Dark Tower. Click here to go check out either a short flash movie or enter the site itself. Overall, it’s a really well done flash site – definitely one deserving to be associated with The Dark Tower.

Third, I learned from George about this book entitled The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Volume 1. It is a comprehensive handbook for all things Mid-World (characters, high speech phrases, etc) from the first four books. Volume 2, published when Dark Tower V comes out this November, will cover the last three books. While my reading load is currently backed up by a couple of books, I will need to buy this ASAP. I think pretty soon I’m going to need a new bookcase…

Language Again

My misuse of promises has lengthened that word's character count in my vocabulary. It is a long word, heavy. It is now false-promises; chic with a stylish hyphen in the middle. Each day is perpetual fall; my how the leaves twist and dance on the slow way down...

Two Choices

A man sitting in a chair holds out two hands, each held straight out, curled into a fist. A man sits across from him.

“Vanilla or Chocolate? Choose one.”
“I choose Vanilla.”
“Why? I choose Vanilla because…?”
“I choose Vanilla because it is my favorite flavor.”
“No. That is a reason and you must get beyond reason. Again, Vanilla or Chocolate?”
“I choose Vanilla.”
"Why? I choose Vanilla because…?”
“I choose Vanilla because that is what I want.”
“No. Want is a desire and a desire is a reason and a reason is based on a decision. Get beyond reason and get beyond decision. I ask again, Chocolate or Vanilla?”
“I choose Vanilla.”
“Why? I choose Vanilla because…?”
“I choose Vanilla because that is the flavor that agrees with my palette.”
“No. Again, that is a reason and you must get beyond reason. I ask again, Chocolate or Vanilla?”
“I choose Vanilla because.”
“Because why?”
“Just because. Is that the answer you are getting at?” “No. That is not good enough and that is not what I want you to see. There is no insight there. I want you to see the insight behind this choice. Once a choice is made, a choice is made. A decision is something one can back on; one can question one’s decisions, one may decide his previous reasons were incorrect. Later on you may regret your decison and change your mind. You must get your beyond reasons and decisions. Choices and decisions are two different things and you must learn the insight as to why.
Choice is the act of selecting while a decision is a judgement. Judgements are the formation of an opinion. Choices should not be based on judgements. You can see this insight or else I would be asking you to make this choice. Once an insight is gained that insight is yours forever. I will help you get that insight but I will not give it to you. Again I ask, Chocolate or Vanilla?”
“Is there an answer here? Is this a rhetorical question?"
"No and yes. This is not rhetorical and there is an answer. Again I ask, Chocolate or Vanilla?"
"I choose Vanilla because I choose Vanilla.”
“Correct."
"How so?
"When a person is born, does he choose his mother? No. You choose your mother because you choose your mother. Embrace your choice and move on. Do not spent your time wondering and/or thinking about your choice for it was not a decision. The decision is made after the fact. Spend your life moving forward not backward. Embrace the choice and ignore the decision.”
"I see."
"I knew you would."