Stunning ‘Auld Lang Syne’ from University College Dublin’s choir
The poem ‘Auld Lang Syne’ captures two friends catching up over a drink or two, their friendship having been long and occasionally distant. The words were written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788.
The song’s famous title translates as ‘old long since’, or ‘for the sake of old times’ – in other words, looking back, as a way to look forward.
Have a listen: Ken Atchity on WillCast Podcast Hosted by Patrick Will
To begin with, Robert Rivenbark discovered he was a natural writer in the sixth grade. His homeroom and English teacher, Mrs. Lee, elected him as Program Chairman in their class elections. He became the class playwright and short story writer. He read his stories to his classmates and wrote and directed plays inspired by his favorite sci-fi and horror movies and books.
Writing is in his blood. Robert earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing from Antioch University. As a result, of that degree, he received a full academic scholarship to study for two years in Oxford and London, based on his winning short story collection.
Robert will tell you he has a relentless work ethic. He takes writing seriously. Consequently, he adopted a “Failure is not an option” attitude.
What is speculative fiction? According to Robert, speculative fiction draws on science and technology, as in hard and soft science fiction. There can be fantasy elements, too. Therefore, the distinction between speculative, science fiction, and fantasy can merge. Whatever the setting, the stories in this genre are driven by curiosity and the possibilities of what could be. As a result, the stories have endless possibilities. Enter, the speculative fiction novel, The Cloud, written by Robert.
The Cloud is the first novel in The Cloud trilogy. It’s also in development as a film or series with producer/literary manager Kenneth Atchity of Atchity Productions and Story Merchant. “When Everyone’s a Virtual Reality Slave, Who can Free the Human Soul?”
“The Cloud” is a terrifying vision of a possible future I hope we can avoid. It’s a cautionary tale with sexy, suspenseful thriller elements that will keep you turning pages, hoping for the hard-won redemption of the male and female protagonists, who face near-impossible odds.”
“What I hope listeners take away is that my novel The Cloud expresses their fears, anxieties, challenges, and hopes for healing and transcendence in a deeply flawed world. I’ve dramatized a possible future I hope we can avoid, based on research into what’s already happening. I hope my characters’ struggles will wildly entertain and stimulate a thoughtful, cathartic response that provokes discussion, debate, and insight.”
Are you curious? What happens in this Virtual Reality thriller?
Robert’s personality is contagious and that makes him an excellent storyteller!
He is a citizen of the world.
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Twenty-five years after the Srebrenica Massacre, the worst genocide in Europe since World War II, survivor Melika Žbanić encounters two vicious men from her past. Intent on revenge, her plans are derailed by disgraced FBI agent Thorne Hightower, who has personal reasons to involve himself in her affairs.
Melika escapes Hightower’s pursuit only to be kidnapped and taken somewhere in the Balkans where a grim fate looms. With the clock ticking, a persistent Hightower follows clues to her whereabouts—and by chance meets Melika’s daughter Valery, a physically impaired but gifted young woman determined to confront her own existence—and soft-spoken Victor Alvarez, whose sole purpose in life is to keep his wife alive. Amid the splendor of a desolate mountaintop nouveau riche hotel, they find themselves locked on an emotional collision course between brutality, and the GIFT OF LIFE.
My Favorite Year,’ comic salute to TV’s golden age, hits 40
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter O’Toole was famed for his commanding, Oscar-nominated turns. Mark Linn-Baker was a fledgling stage actor. Richard Benjamin, who’d made a leading-man splash in “Goodbye, Columbus” and “Westworld,” had a few TV directing credits.
The sum of these unlikely parts was the zesty 1982 movie comedy “My Favorite Year,” starring O’Toole and Linn-Baker, directed by Benjamin and produced by Mel Brooks. It paid loving tribute to the original golden age of TV in the mid-20th century and the variety shows that were the “Saturday Night Live” hits of their day.
When Benjamin read the screenplay credited to Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo, he immediately turned to his wife, actor Paula Prentiss.
“I hope they want me for this, because it’s just great,” Benjamin recalled saying.
The film, marking its 40th anniversary, is set in 1954 and topped by O’Toole as faded but still-glam movie idol Alan Swann, who’s appearing on “Comedy Cavalcade” only to pay off his IRS debt. Linn-Baker plays Benjy Stone, an energetic young writer tasked with keeping Swann out of trouble (read: sober) until the broadcast.
The inspirations for “My Favorite Year” included Sid Caesar, the decade’s reigning TV comedy star, and “Your Show of Shows,” the hit he topped from 1950-54 and was followed by “Caesar’s Hour.” The movie also is infused with the spirit of Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling films such as “Captain Blood,” with Swann’s “Captain from Tortuga” seen in a faux clip.
Brooks, who wrote for “Your Show of Shows” alongside another future giant of stage and screen, Neil Simon, said in his 2021 memoir “All About Me!” that the movie represented “my love letter to Sid Caesar and the early days of television, and it was also a damn good story.”
“It’s one of the three best productions about live TV that I’ve ever seen,” said David Bianculli, a TV critic for NPR’s “Fresh Air” and author of “Dictionary of Teleliteracy.” His other top picks: “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and Simon’s play “Laughter on the 23rd Floor.”
“My Favorite Year,” which is available on streaming services, had a respectable box office opening in October 1982, coming in third behind “An Officer and a Gentlemen” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
