Someone said they thought I'd like this little film I'd never heard of. They were so right. This is like digging in your garden and finding a diamond, folks. Based on a true story, the HBO movie starts in the 1930s and ends in the '60s, following the life of Vivien Thomas (Mos Def), a black man who helped pioneer the first cardiac surgery.

Like the film, Vivien Thomas is an undiscovered diamond -- a brilliant guy with a high school education who wants to go to med school but is thwarted by the depression. He hooks up with Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and over the course of decades they develop the techniques that allow them to treat pulmonary stenosis.

But the film's subtext is racism. Not the ugly, violent sort, but the matter-of-fact racism that makes Vivien Thomas invisible. In the film, he's the true innovator who makes the surgical miracle possible, but receives no recognition until long after he'd helped pioneered the field of cardiac surgery.

This film won a bunch of awards. Am I the only one who's never heard of it?

FF= 0

It is a shame Aurora went out of buisness, I am sure they would have made a superb Rakosh. Being a modeler from the mid sixties, I am always interested in anything anyone has to say on the subject. I re-read the Tomb last week and found that RJ's brother was said to be attending medicial school and Kate attending Rutgers law; Paul, did you change direction in Hosts.......?...........Also I would like to bring to your attention a Bond Arms derringer, interchangable barrels, .410 shotgun, .45 cal, .38/357 cal, etc......2 shot, extremly concealable......

I realized that, since I first tried to visualize these creatures, I've more or less had a mental image of the reptilian monster from the Kolchak episode entitled "The Sentry." Anyone else in the same position?

It could be because I am a cheap ass, or it could be that vampires have never held my interest. (Nosferatu with Max Shreck in the lead role held my gaze.) But I put off reading Midnight Mass as long as possible until I saw it at Kroger with the authors at sea emblem on it. I figured I should just get the damn thing and be done with it. That and it looks great on my bookshelf filled with FPWs work.

So I am reading it now and I am pleasantly shocked at how much I am enjoying it. It's wicked, clever and has enough gore and scares to keep me turning the pages.

I was halfway through the book when a throw away character is introduced with the name of Gene Harrington. It is for the mention of Harrington that this book is now my favorite.

Just saw it. Blew me away. Three hours never passed so fast. It's an epic, it's mesmerizing, it's amazing. They've added another dimension to the ape that makes the ending a little more painful than the original.

But is it better than the original? I'm not sure. The action sequences are light years better, the characters are better developed, it's got more heart, and Ann Darrow's character is so very much cooler -- no longer just a screaming victim.

So even though there's something about stop-motion animation that appeals to me, I've got to step over the line and say, Yes, it's better.

You must see this, if for nothing else but the spectacle. And the heartbreak.

Ive been a huge fan of RJ since i read The Tomb a couple years ago, since then ive read all of the adversary cycle and all the rj books and am currently reading Infernal, but i have read few rj shorts and i was wondering if there was a list anywhere of all the rj shorts?

I saw The DaVinci Code newest trailer. Looking good! I hope movie better than book. I completely hadn't interest to the book.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictu...inci_code/

hello everyone,

first post, so please excuse my dumb question:

HOW DO I GET STARTED WITH mr. jack repairman?

i checked the chronology, i checked the release dates, and i have no idea what book to read first.

also, there seem to be 2 different books available under the same title, different cycles, one cycle goes into the other etc.

i have absolutely no clue.

could someone please give me a short RJ-for-dummies answer like "start with this, then read this, then you'll know all you need to know" ?

thank you.

In the paperback edition of All the Rage on pg 116 (3rd line from the bottom,) the book mentions "Jacob Prather and his 'Infernal Machine.'"

We know that Jacob's son is connected to the Otherness, but I'm just wandering if it has any connection to the machines mentioned in Infernal or was it all just a coincidence.

Hey gang, we have the limited edition of Harbingers up for preorder at Shocklines.com. As always, you won't actually be charged until the book is in our hands, but the book will sell out before it comes out so we need your reservation if you want to get one through us.

And yup, we're offering personal inscriptions from Paul if you want one.

http://store.yahoo.com/shocklines/harejanobfpa.html