November 19th - The Running Man, Richard Bachman, The Long Walk, Dystopia, Coheed and Cambria

How it started: Bored in the afternoon at home on my day off and decided to enjoy some quality 80’s action……in goes The Running Man.

The Running Man: A 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Paul Michael Glaser. The general plot involves a former police officer framed of the massacre of innocent people in the year 2019. Schwarzenegger (who plays the lead character, Ben Richards) is forced to take part in a popular TV show called The Running Man, where the contestants (called Runners) must avoid being killed by gladiator-like killers (called Stalkers). The film achieved moderate success at the time of its release. Patrick Swayze was one of the original lead candidates for the role of Ben Richards. The film was adapted for the screen from a novel of the same name by Richard Bachman.

Richard Bachman: Richard Bachman is the pseudonym used by Stephen King. When King’s writing career began, it was common practice to have not publish more than one or two books per year. King’s passion led him to develop a pseudonym under which he could publish additional books. The literary style of the two authors led many to believe that Stephen King was the author behind the Bachman pen name, but King attempted to cover his trail by dedicating his 1984 novel “Thinner” to Claudia Inez Bachman and including a phony author photo on the dustjacket. King’s move to a pseudonym was also done to see if his literary style would hold up with the general public even if his name was not associated with a novel. There are 7 “Bachman Books” thus far, including a personal favourite of mine: “The Long Walk”.

The Long Walk: A 1979 novel by Stephen King penned under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. The Long Walk is a fictional work where 100 teenage boys are randomly selected to take part in the ultimate marathon called The Long Walk. Each walker must travel at 4 miles per hour or receive a warning. Warnings can be accumulated for a variety of other reasons (including deviating from the designated walk course). If a contestant has received 4 warnings within an hour, he is ticketed. The novel intentionally leaves the concept of being ticketed as a fairly ambiguous term, but it is later made clear that to be ticketed is to be executed by soldiers monitoring the walk. The winner of the contest is the last one to survive and will receive anything they wish for the rest of their life. You have to read this book as it is an interesting view into the dystopian future.

Dystopia: The term dystopia refers to a fictional society that is the antithesis of a utopia. Where a utopia typically characterizes society as both successful and happy, a dystopia is usually illustrated with poverty, violence, worldwide ruin, and more often than not, an overruling dictatorship. Dystopias are particularly popular in critical literature (most notably George Orwell’s 1985) and movies (THX 1138).

Coheed and Cambria: In March 1995, Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever joined Nate Kelley to start a band called Beautiful Loser. When Stever left (leaving Sanchez, Nate Kelley, and Jon Carleo) the band, the trio renamed themselves as Shabutie. The band would make slight member changes and release The Penelope EP in 1999. A marked changed occurred at the end of the year, when Nate Kelley left the band, apparently upset with a drunken performance done by the band (a problem that has repeatedly plagued the band even during recent shows). When Josh Eppard joined the band, they released another album titled Delirium Trigger, which marked the beginning of Coheed and Cambria. This lineup worked together to release 3 albums: The Second Stage Turbine Blade, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, and Good Appolo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. In November 2006, Josh Eppard and Michael Todd left the band, although Michael Todd returned in April 2007. Taylor Hawkins, drummer for the Foo Fighters, aided in recording the drum tracks for the 4th album: Good Appolo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow which was released in October of 2007. Often classified as emo, the band is more appropriately described as a progressive rock unit, particularly considering the eclectic nature of their music. Claudio Sanchez, lead singer and guitarist, also has a side-project called The Prize Fighter Inferno. The Prize Fighter Inferno is relevant in that it ties into the story of Coheed and Cambria as related to a fictional story called The Amory Wars, on which all musical work by Coheed and Cambria is based upon.

I will talk about The Amory Wars tomorrow. It’s a long story and deserving of it’s own post.