Swimming with Cormorants and Pelicans

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Tom Hopp

PelicanBayCaboHi there. How are you? I’m fine down here in Baja, swimming around with the cormorants and pelicans. We’re all getting along just fine. The picture is a view from our hotel, showing you what we call Pelican Bay, although it probably has another name, or maybe no name at all. Click for a closeup.

The water is about bathtub temperature, and I just couldn’t resist jumping in with a snorkel this morning to check out what all the seabirds were busy chasing. The pelicans were circling overhead and diving in from above. Meanwhile, the cormorants were buzzing around like underwater bees, zipping to and fro and popping up out of the wave wash for a breather.

So I got a snorkel and mask and got into it with them. There are about a zillion types of fishes, some colored pretty like aquarium show-offs, others sleek and speedy. The most numerous, though, are schools of mini fish. They’re some sort of anchovy or minnow–tiny, little, bite-sized fishies. And everybody here seems to want some. And nobody’s shy.

I was checking out the mini fish when a dive-bombing pelican plunked its head right in front of my mask. It grabbed a gulletful of minnows and floated there so close I could have touched it, filtering the water and sand out of its pouch and keeping the goodies.

I swam in another direction with a shoal of minnows moving before me. Along came three cormorants, scuppering around underwater with their webbed feet kicking and their necks S-curved to strike. And strike they did, grabbing and gobbling the bite-sized guys right in front of me. The cormorants here aren’t shy. One swam right in front of my mask and looked me in the eye. I think he was thinking, “C’mon, ya big, slow-moving hulk. Stir up some more yum yums.”

The view from homeI did my best, and then sloshed out and went back to our rooms. By the way, here’s the view from our deck. Not bad, huh?

No wonder I’ve been getting nowhere fast on my revision of Dinosaur Wars 2. Ah, well. There’s always mañana.

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Typing in the Tropics

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Tom Hopp

ElArcoSomebody has to do this kind of work. I packed up my redlined copy of Dinosaur Wars 2 and my computer, and flew off to Los Cabos, Mexico. Sitting here in my hotel room, I’m just about ready to begin typing those corrections into my manuscript. However, I keep getting distracted by those pesky whales leaping outside the front windows, the warm ocean breezes, the rush of the surf on rocks, the major case of Mexican mellow that has me in its sway. All these annoyances make it hard to concentrate. Or even think.

InfinityPoolMaybe a swim in the infinity pool will help. Did that yesterday. So maybe a dip in the ocean. Sure, that sounds good. And then back to the computer. Or not.

Maybe a sunbath to try to tint this pale hide.

Maybe a fiesta. Or siesta. Or both.

Maybe a margarita.

I dunno. Maybe I’ll do some work mañana.

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Still scribblin’

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Tom Hopp

I’ve got that red line copy whittled down to chapter 24 of 25.

Close, huh?

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Redlining Dinosaur Wars 2

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Tom Hopp

RedRiverNext book, on its way. I am working with publisher CreateSpace to bring out a paper copy of book two in the Dinosaur Wars series, Counterattack.

I have the dreaded galley proofs in hand, and have been using every minute I can spare to scribble corrections onto them. That’s an actual example page at left.

Some pages need little improvement, but every now and then a page comes along that I just can’t manage to live with, without some heavy revisions. You can see why the process is called redlining. Boy! Is that page red!

I hope to get through this process and release Dinosaur Wars: Counterattack as both a paperback edition and as a new, improved ebook edition, sometime before Christmas (just barely, no doubt). If you’re looking for a stocking-stuffer, keep it in mind. It should be available just in the St. Nick of time.

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Tribal Whaling in The Neah Virus

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Tom Hopp

WhaleStrikeAmong the many issues brewing in The Neah Virus, the problem of tribal whaling by Makah Indians is a key source of dramatic tension. The tribe’s attempts to re-establish their millennia-old practice of harpooning gray whales from dugout canoes, has been the subject of news coverage and world-wide concern by those opposed to it. When I wrote The Neah Virus, I didn’t shy away from the subject.

In fact, I have sat down with the Chairman of the Makah Tribal Whaling Commission on several occasions and had long discussions of what makes Makahs want to resume their ancient practice, now that gray whale populations have recovered enough to get off the Endangered Species list.

It has been eye-opening. And not just about whaling. And not just about Makahs.

I can’t go into all the details here, because that would spoil the fun of reading The Neah Virus. However, nothing is stopping me from writing a few teasers. So here goes.

First of all, I had to consider whether I would be pro- or anti-whaling. That ought to be an easy choice, but hold on. If I were to write a pile of anti-whaling rhetoric, then I’d come across as anti-Makah, which I am not. My journeys to Neah Bay have taught me to be thoughtful when confronting the cultural and dietary issues inherent in the Makah whaling controversy. Sure, the protesters have a point–the killing of a beautiful and graceful sea creature is horrific. I think even Makahs would agree to that. But Makah consumption of whale flesh is such an ancient dietary practice that the possibility exists tribal members may actually be adapted to whale meat and harmed by diets in which it is lacking.

I became sensitive to this subject in my sit-downs with Makahs. So, as I wrote The Neah Virus, I decided to side-step the issue by remaining neutral as the author. Instead, I gave one of the two central protagonists–Fin Morton, the medical reporter–the role of taking the anti-whaling stance, while the pro-whaling position was staked out by several of the Makah characters. The foremost of the characters is, of course, the Sherlock-Holmesian Dr. Peyton McKean. Like me, however, he tends to be scientifically withdrawn and circumspect on most subjects, this one included. Meanwhile, the clash between Makahs and protesters drives much of the fierce tension that develops, even as the Neah Virus itself begins striking down every non-Makah it encounters.

If you read The Neah Virus–and I hope you will–you will have plenty of occasions to make up your own mind about whaling if you haven’t already. But don’t be complacent. As you will find on the pages of The Neah Virus, the subject is fraught with great complexity and layers and layers of arguments and counter-arguments.

As the fate of humanity comes down to the answer to this and some other questions, you may find yourself turning pages at a feverish pace, almost as if you had caught the Neah Virus and were desperate for a cure. You might even find yourself praying to the whales for help.

Maybe they can give it.

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Obamacare for Dummies

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Tom Hopp

Obamacare for dummiesWhew! I almost had to admit I was too dumb to make it through the Obamacare website IQ test. But I hung in there.

Along the way, I realized something. Dumb people will have some trouble with Healthcare.gov. And I realized something else. Stupid people will not be able to use it at all.

I had my challenges. It took me two tries, and each time I tried, it took me more than a half-hour to fill out all the forms and numbers. Toward the end, with more than an hour of my precious time invested, I was beginning to have my doubts. But I kept on keepin’ on.

At one point, I got bounced right off the system. I got a screen that said, “Error! Your session has been terminated!” I definitely felt like giving up and shouting out that Obamacare really does suck.

But then I went back onto the site and lo and behold, I had entered some of my own information incorrectly. So, actually I was to blame for getting bounced. I think some of Obamacare’s critics might do well to go back and see if they haven’t been responsible for their own failings. Doh!

Anyway, once I put in the correct information–voila! A page flashed up in a couple seconds with 38 different plans I could look at. A bunch of them are cheaper than the one I’ve got now. How ’bout that?

So now I’ve got the new problem of having too many good healthcare choices. That’s what I get for being Mr. Smartypants.

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2 bz 2 blog

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Tom Hopp

Gotta make this short.

I’m on healthcare.gov and it’s taking awhile to file my application.

I can already see it will make my healthcare more affordable.

–if only I can afford the time to fill in all the forms!

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Step Away — From The Trans Fat!

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Tom Hopp

Mom poisons kidIt took a few decades, but the FDA has finally done it. The agency has decided to tackle the mega-industrial farming and manufacturing corporations who have been poisoning us all. I have railed for years about the harm done to the human body by the partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils in most of the foods we eat. These weird, unnatural chemicals have been killing us off for about a century, and the FDA has finally seen fit to ban them–well, almost ban them.

Here’s how tricky the food companies have been: When the FDA demanded labels on food packaging that list trans fats, you would think the consumer (you) would be safe. Not so much. The response of industry was incredible. Packages of chips and crackers and cookies and pies and breads and pancakes and buns and muffins quickly appeared sporting a label on the front of the package declaring loud and clear, “Zero Grams Trans Fat.”

That means trans-fat-free, right? Wrong!

Master PoisonerIncredibly, the foods proclaimed to have “Zero Grams Trans Fat,” actually could contain up to about a teaspoonful per serving. Yeah, you’re right if you’re thinking “That’s A LOT!!!” Cynical execs at major corporations were (and ARE) just using the loophole that 0.499 grams or less can be rounded down to 0, if you remember third-grade math class. Click the image at right for a close-up of a lying label.

The FDA and its advisors have obviously known about this cynical (I’d say criminal) activity for the whole decade or so that it has been going on. And finally they have taken action to propose (not yet impose) a complete ban on partially hydrogenated oils added to foods.

Hallelujah! This is a day I have waited for, for years. At last (well, soon) I can order pancakes at a restaurant and hope that they do not contain a ton of trans fats because they were made using one or another of the most common pancake mixes, which ALL contain large doses of trans fats even if their package fronts scream “Zero Grams.”

Lying labelOr eat a piece of real honest-to-God homemade pie and hope the person who made it from scratch didn’t go to the supermarket and grab a can of Crisco, which also loudly proclaims “Zero Grams Trans Fat,’ right on the front of the can, but lists partially-hydrogenated oil as a major ingredient.

I have avoided trans fats scrupulously for about twenty years, but my blood tests still show I have been exposed to these deadly chemicals. That’s because restaurants, friends, and family have been hoisting them under my nose at every turning.

You may say, “Jeez, Tom, don’t be so paranoid.”

I say, “Wake up and smell the CoffeeMate.” This isn’t over until the FDA formalizes its ban.

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Symbolism of The Raven

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Tom Hopp

Quoth the RavenEdgar Allan Poe isn’t the only one to use the dark symbolism of the Raven in his writings. This inky harbinger of death and evil has been a perennial favorite of storytellers for centuries, if not millennia. So, can you blame me for folding in some raven lore as I put together the dark tale of disease and death that is The Neah Virus?

Some natural aspects of ravens recommend them for portrayal as messengers from The Dark Side. For instance, their jet-black color makes them synonymous with night, and by extension, the eternal blackness of death. They are thought to be the most intelligent of all birds, and that can be creepy too, when they take an interest in you or yours. And take an interest they will, because they have a disturbingly keen sense of curiosity, poking their beaks into anything and everything that catches their sharp eyes. Lastly, how can you help but get a little tingle at the realization a raven’s favorite food is carrion? Scary, huh?

On the wingRavens were deified by Pacific Northwest Coastal tribes, partly in recognition of their creepy side, but also because they were viewed as great tricksters and agents of transformation. As bringers of change–wanted or not–ravens appear on totem poles, house carvings, and other items of ceremonial significance. The mythical spirit Raven was said to have brought light to the world of humans by stealing it from the Creator’s longhouse and carrying it to the world concealed in a box.

As I mentioned, I have entwined my story of The Neah Virus around Raven and his helpers, the crows. Time and time again a raven or crow comes on the scene to challenge the hero, Dr. Peyton McKean, as he fights the mysterious “Lost Souls Disease,” moving the plot toward a horrific conclusion. A carved raven adorns the top of the ancient coffin found in the Spanish crypt in the opening scene. Again, raven has something he’s concealed in a box! And a pair of ravens caw as if acting as witnesses to an old shaman as he prophesies a modern plague arising from the coffin. Thereafter, ravens and their crow cousins appear at each crucial turning of the story.

Are they simply witnesses to the transformations taking place? Or do they have some deeper and more sinister role? Read The Neah Virus and find out!

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Serpent Symbolism in The Neah Virus

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Tom Hopp

NeahVirusI have tried my best to pack symbolism and deeper meaning into my new novel, The Neah Virus. One of the most potent of these symbols is the image of the double-headed serpent shown on the cover. This strange, powerful, and mystical creature is not just something I made up. While I was researching this novel over a period of a decade and more, the two-headed beast kept popping up here and there, and I actually began to feel it represented some sort of communication coming to me from “the other side.”

I am not much given to metaphysical meditations, but of all the creatures I have encountered in literature and culture, this one really speaks to me. In the local Northwest native cultures, it is widespread and still has some currency in social and religious practices. Although it is often seen as a warrior spirit, it also has strong associations with medicine and healing, the connection being invincibility–the unconquerability of a warrior or the immunity of a patient.

When I came across this creature at the Makah Museum in Neah Bay where a small wooden carving of it was recovered from an archeological dig at a 500-year-old buried village near Ozette, I decided great supernatural power was on the move in this spirit beast.

CaduceusBeyond the local scene here in Washington, twin serpents have been found throughout the world, and deep in time. They appear as medical helpers, often with the dual power to heal or to kill. The most recognizable in western tradition is the ancient Greek symbol of the caduceus, the winged staff carried by the god Mercury with twin serpents entwined around it. This use has been disputed as an incorrect interpretation of Mercury’s powers, but is common nonetheless.

Long lifeFurthermore, old Mercury probably stole his caduceus from an even older tradition, the Mesopotamian god Ningishzida, worshipped by the Sumerians in the 21st century BC. Associated with the underworld and usually depicted entwined by two serpents, Ningishzida had the power to prolong life.

In writing The Neah Virus, I tried to weave this symbolic creature deeply into the plot, where it underlies many of the twists and turns, just like a serpent’s twisting and turning body. It appears in the opening scene, in which an ancient coffin is uncovered. The four sides of the box are emblazoned with two-headed serpents. But are they there to ward away evil spirits from the dead? Or are they there to entrap the soul of an evil spirit within the coffin for eternity? And what happens if this snake-entwined seal is breached?

You might want to read The Neah Virus to find out.

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