ReviewStack: McAllister's Mates Thirteen
Hi all
A change to the format - less reviews BUT deeper, more elaborate ones and hopefully more frequent going forward.
These reviews are part of Reviewstack run by the great writer and pillar of the Substack Community : Thaddeus Thomas
An ongoing series of reviews of some of the wonderful articles, poems, and stories I’ve discovered on Substack (and other places) and more importantly the beautiful souls behind the works.
Please take a few moments to read the works of these authors and if you find their work as life-affirming and life changing as I do, then please let them know. We need to support and cherish these voices.
You can meet some of my other friends in the previous instalments: 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
If you want to keep me in caffeine (and keep the ghostly voices whispering for the poetry side of things) - consider clicking below. For any who do so, you have my deepest gratitude.
As something of a middle range graphic designer - (I can create interesting layouts and illustrations for poetry but I can’t see Pixar beating a path to my door), I find this captivating. The texture work is gorgeous. The stained wood of the stars and the frog, combined with the watercolour feel of the background elements, make this feel like a scene from a puppet show. At first glance, I was reminded of the puppet sequence in The Sound Of Music and the old Kid’s TV show button moon. Excuse me a moment, there’s dust in my eyes. I SAID IT’S JUST DUST IN MY EYES!
The scene is just charming, with the deceptively naïve art style belying the hand of a master modeller and texture artist. I’d be delighted and impressed to see these figures move, but this is actually part of a gaming project with all the subsequent demands of physics and cloth/skin animation. This will be truly something special when released. As both a software developer and graphic designer, I happily tip my hat to this.
As AI gains traction, it’s work like this that will highlight its shortcomings and deficiencies. Simplicity and elegance reveal James’ mastery. The characters and key focal points claim their rightful space. The claustrophobic and baroque level of detail always unmasks AI. Superfluous flourishes and overwrought textures choke every space, creating a bland visual soup where nothing is discernable.
The Night The Stars Fell, however, showcases the most powerful facilities human artists have; imagination and discernment. This deceptively simple image is a masterclass in storytelling. The composition works in a diagonal rule of thirds, the falling stars and the deep swimming frog framing a central scene where the major action takes place. A fallen star bobs in the water where one frog gazes at it in wonder. Another frog stares open-mouthed at the three stars falling from the heavens.
We immediately see the nature of our three subjects. The forward thinker watching the heavens and seeing the next stars ready to fall, the action taker - the frog investigating the fallen star in the water, living in the moment, and lastly the oblivious frog - playing in the water somewhat heedless of the drama going on around him/her.
This is just one work in James Sheddon’s impressive portfolio. With the free availability of Blender, the world and his wife are creating 3D images. I’m not knocking that for one minute, I’m always happy to see barriers to art melt away, but as volumes of published work increase, it gets harder to find that something very special - well, here it is.
What starts out as something of a heartfelt confessional and a tale of tragic romance becomes something altogether more surreal and frankly hilarious. Before I get to the funny part, I think it’s worth praising Anthony for his brave and insightful thoughts about the end of a long-term relationship.
Loneliness can be soul crushing, especially when it comes as the bitter end to a blissful romance with all its associated plans and hopes for the future. People often compare dealing with the end of a long-term relationship to bereavement—rightly so. Maybe there wasn’t a physical death, but you’ve lost someone in a deep and meaningful context. They can never be the same person to you again, even if they’re still in this world. Speaking publicly about such matters and showing vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. To show compassion and understanding towards the other party, and not indulge in insults, shows maturity. To take that heartbreak and use it to find humour and ridiculousness in the world is the work of a phoenix and master alchemist.
My own writings and my new book in particular (ohhh shameless plug) explore the idea of language as a tool of raising consciousness. Where I explore the idea of words transforming the self - Anthony executes it beautifully. I applaud him for his emotional intelligence, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word - the imagination, the will, and the emotions working in harmony. Now on to the fun stuff.
Like many of you, I’ve ranted, stamped my feet, and raged about the proliferation of bots, A.I. and scammers across the Internet. Complaining is one thing, and many of us are doing so. However, some of us are more practical, delightfully devious, and beautifully vicious. Anthony LaFucai gives those bots and click-baiters a gallon of their own medicine (well, poison).
Part performance art, part exercise in testing AI to destruction - this one cheered me up immensely. Anthony lays a series of carefully placed logical traps that we gleefully watch the bot fall into. This is more of a delicate art than you might suppose - AI is just about smart enough to realise obvious red herrings and blatant obfuscation. Anthony plays along just enough to reveal the pullstring toy for what it is. It willingly plays along as ever more bizarre scenarios are thrown at it - it all becomes VERY Monty Python!
To quote one of Anthony’s excellent quips - Unlike A.I. the human heart can take a little beating. His courage, resilience, ability to transcend the “crash” of his previous”program” - i.e. a long-term relationship (if that metaphor seems a little gross - I do apologise) - my point is that he is a writer of joy, conviction, and spirit - this is what the bots threaten but this is where we’ll win - support him!
I hope you enjoy these beautiful works as much as I enjoyed reading them and writing about them.
You can meet some of my other friends in the previous instalments: 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Substack has proven to be a treasure trove and I already have a few more gifted writers lined up for my next review newsletter.
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and for the incredibly kind and thoughtful words!