A recent post at ProBlogger emphasizes the importance of visual elements and how they can alter the impact of the written word. Okay, what the article says is any blog post is better with pictures.
I agree and I try to use something for every post. It's not as easy as it seems. I am an amateur photographer, but even in my catalogue of pictures, I can rarely find something to go with every topic about which I write.
Not that I haven't tried to forage beyond my own small collection. Once I tried to find a simple picture of a dump truck, using the search terms of free pictures or royalty free pictures. Almost all links took me to sites selling pictures, but not allowing them to be used otherwise. Well, I'm not a professional blogger so I don't have any money top spend on pictures that will likely get used only once.
It seems as though every blogger out there has found a secret cache of free pictures/money with which to buy pictures. I just haven't found it yet.
So, fellow bloggers, when you can't find a picture for your blog post in your own collection, where do you go to find it? Outright free pictures are good, but I'm more than happy to use someones pictures in return for an attribution. I am always eager to promote someones good work to the one's and two's of my blog followers.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Friday, 16 December 2011
My little corner of the Blogosphere
If anyone tells you that writing a blog is simple, easy or some other sort of larking about, punch them in the beak for me.
I have a difficult enough time writing my own blog and now friends of mine, some who are veteran bloggers, others who started around the same time as me, have been on my back about reading their blogs. rightly so I guess, as I promised them all a mention here and haven't even done one of those yet!
So, here is the update on my little corner of the Blogosphere!
My friend Holly went back to school this fall. She's taking a course in Interactive Multimedia. Holly is already an accomplished graphic artist but I think she may have found her 'special little niche' when it comes to moving pictures. She's been spending a lot of time on her video projects and especially flash animation (which I think is her strong suit).
The end of semester quickly approaches and hopefully she has been able to move past that little bit of controversy regarding her "Call to Action" video. Go check it out!
Sandy Carruthers is a long time comic illustrator. He was the original artist for the Men in Black, and for a number of years has been illustrating kids adventure books. The latest is out now, called "Peril in Summerland Park", which is available from Lerner Publishing Group. Sandy also penned political cartoons for over a decade at the local newspaper. As if that isn't busy enough for ya, he also has his own comic book character. Canadiana might soon be hitting the paper as it were.
Never one to let his own muse rest idly, Sandy has been practising his inking skills with a Cintic Tablet from Wacom. Get on over to his blog and check out how the Sandy and the Cintiq do on the sketches of some of the comic book masters.
In other gadget news, the Nearly Mad Mind continues to dig out neat stuff, this time around a multi-lens addition that will make your iPhone look like one of the machines your eye doctor uses. It might even take better photos as a result!
Kent is also a book reviewer and has added another to the growing library of books he has reviewed on the subject of Moodle. His latest is "Moodle 2 for Teaching 4-9 year olds". The Madman is the administrator for the E-Learning system (Moodle) where I work, so if you have questions about Moodle, get over to his blog!
Last but not least is the veteran of my blogging world and the single biggest motivator for my own blogging. Bonnie Stewart has shared her personal ups and downs, her educational adventure and many other aspects of her life, with the tools warm humour, sharp analysis, and a somewhat other-worldly compassion. The latest adventure at cribchronicles is her family's move to a new crib, er pad, uh house! The story is gold with a bit of a twist.
I have a difficult enough time writing my own blog and now friends of mine, some who are veteran bloggers, others who started around the same time as me, have been on my back about reading their blogs. rightly so I guess, as I promised them all a mention here and haven't even done one of those yet!
So, here is the update on my little corner of the Blogosphere!
My friend Holly went back to school this fall. She's taking a course in Interactive Multimedia. Holly is already an accomplished graphic artist but I think she may have found her 'special little niche' when it comes to moving pictures. She's been spending a lot of time on her video projects and especially flash animation (which I think is her strong suit).
The end of semester quickly approaches and hopefully she has been able to move past that little bit of controversy regarding her "Call to Action" video. Go check it out!
Sandy Carruthers is a long time comic illustrator. He was the original artist for the Men in Black, and for a number of years has been illustrating kids adventure books. The latest is out now, called "Peril in Summerland Park", which is available from Lerner Publishing Group. Sandy also penned political cartoons for over a decade at the local newspaper. As if that isn't busy enough for ya, he also has his own comic book character. Canadiana might soon be hitting the paper as it were.
Never one to let his own muse rest idly, Sandy has been practising his inking skills with a Cintic Tablet from Wacom. Get on over to his blog and check out how the Sandy and the Cintiq do on the sketches of some of the comic book masters.
In other gadget news, the Nearly Mad Mind continues to dig out neat stuff, this time around a multi-lens addition that will make your iPhone look like one of the machines your eye doctor uses. It might even take better photos as a result!
Kent is also a book reviewer and has added another to the growing library of books he has reviewed on the subject of Moodle. His latest is "Moodle 2 for Teaching 4-9 year olds". The Madman is the administrator for the E-Learning system (Moodle) where I work, so if you have questions about Moodle, get over to his blog!
Last but not least is the veteran of my blogging world and the single biggest motivator for my own blogging. Bonnie Stewart has shared her personal ups and downs, her educational adventure and many other aspects of her life, with the tools warm humour, sharp analysis, and a somewhat other-worldly compassion. The latest adventure at cribchronicles is her family's move to a new crib, er pad, uh house! The story is gold with a bit of a twist.
Sorry God, no last minute recant here
I learned this morning that outspoken journalist, essayist and atheist Christopher Hitchens has passed away. No doubt, the religious among you are having a nice guffaw, clap of hands or perhaps just a sigh of relief that one of the world's best know atheists is dead.
While I have been aware of Hitchens and his beliefs (or lack there of) I have never been a "devoted follower". To me, those that weep and cry and gnash their teeth over how proper atheism is as opposed to any other belief system, are just as bad as the any religious fanatic - Jihadist or Crusader alike. To me, talking about how you don't believe in God is as good a promotion for God as going to church. I don't spend a lot of time talking about the fairies that make my lunch every night while I'm asleep, why would I moan on about an equally mythical apparition like God.
However, I *am* an atheist and so what he has to say occasionally amuses me and because he will never again utter a word, I thought it proper to commemorate one of his best bits - re-chiseling the Ten Commandments.
First, the video of 21st Century Decalogue ~or~ Don't swallow your moral code in tablet form.
After watching this, I searched around a lot, but couldn't find a location where the 21st Century Decalogue was actually typed out. Bad Internet and yet another reason why video on the Internet does more harm than good.
Regardless of my own personal rants, here is Hitchens' newly realized 21st Century Decalogue:
Here's another one. Read, weep, spread around or ignore as you see fit.
(I never did find an attribution for this one, so if you own it, fess up and I will properly attribute it.)
While I have been aware of Hitchens and his beliefs (or lack there of) I have never been a "devoted follower". To me, those that weep and cry and gnash their teeth over how proper atheism is as opposed to any other belief system, are just as bad as the any religious fanatic - Jihadist or Crusader alike. To me, talking about how you don't believe in God is as good a promotion for God as going to church. I don't spend a lot of time talking about the fairies that make my lunch every night while I'm asleep, why would I moan on about an equally mythical apparition like God.
However, I *am* an atheist and so what he has to say occasionally amuses me and because he will never again utter a word, I thought it proper to commemorate one of his best bits - re-chiseling the Ten Commandments.
First, the video of 21st Century Decalogue ~or~ Don't swallow your moral code in tablet form.
After watching this, I searched around a lot, but couldn't find a location where the 21st Century Decalogue was actually typed out. Bad Internet and yet another reason why video on the Internet does more harm than good.
Regardless of my own personal rants, here is Hitchens' newly realized 21st Century Decalogue:
21st Century Decalogue
~or~
Don't Swallow you moral code in tablet form
It's a pretty straight-forward list.1. Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or colour.2. Do not even think of using people as private property.3. Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in a sexual relationship.4. Hide you face and weep if you dare to harm a child.5. Do not condemn people for their inborn nature.6. Be aware that you too are an animal and dependant on the web of nature.7. Do not imagine you can escape judgement if you rob people with a false prospectus.8. Turn off that fucking cel phone.9. Denounce all Jihadists and Crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions.10. Be willing to denounce any God or any religion if any Holy Commandments should contradict the above.
Here's another one. Read, weep, spread around or ignore as you see fit.
101 Atheist
Quotes
1. The fact that a believer is happier than a
sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier
than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
- George Bernard Shaw
2. Faith means not wanting to know what is
true. - Friedrich Nietzsche
3. I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.
- Frank Lloyd Wright
4. We must question the story logic of having
an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them
for his own mistakes. - Gene Roddenberry
5. To surrender to ignorance and call it God
has always been premature, and it remains premature today. - Isaac Asimov
6. A man is accepted into a church for what
he believes and he is turned out for what he knows. - Samuel Clemens (Mark
Twain)
7. Religion is regarded by the common people
as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca the
Younger
8. Philosophy is questions that may never be
answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. - Anonymous
9. Not only is there no god, but try getting
a plumber on weekends. - Woody Allen
10. If I were not an atheist, I would believe
in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their
lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and
righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose
every deed is foul, foul, foul. - Isaac Asimov
11. Belief in the supernatural reflects a
failure of the imagination. - Edward Abbey
12. With or without religion, you would have
good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good
people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg
13. I still say a church steeple with a lightning
rod on top shows a lack of confidence. - Doug McLeod
14. The world holds two classes of men -
intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence. -
Abu’l-Ala al Ma’arri
15. Since the Bible and the church are
obviously mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust them to
tell us where we are going? - Anonymous
16. I distrust those people who know so well
what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own
desires. - Susan B. Anthony
17. The invisible and the non-existent look
very much alike. - Delos B. McKown
18. Two hands working can do more than a
thousand clasped in prayer. - Anonymous
19. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to
philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be
guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious
superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds
of men. - Francis Bacon
20. The God of the Old Testament is arguably
the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty,
unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser;
a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal,
pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. -
Richard Dawkins
21. A God who kept tinkering with the universe
was absurd; a God who interfered with human freedom and creativity was tyrant.
If God is seen as a self in a world of his own, an ego that relates to a thought,
a cause separate from its effect. he becomes a being, not Being itself. An
omnipotent, all-knowing tyrant is not so different from earthly dictators who
make everything and everybody mere cogs in the machine which they controlled.
An atheism that rejects such a God is amply justified. - Karen Armstrong
22. It is not as in the Bible, that God
created man in his own image. But, on the contrary, man created God in his own
image. - Ludwig Feuerbach
23. People ask me what I think about that
woman priest thing. What, a woman priest? Women priests. Great, great. Now
there’s priests of both sexes I don’t listen to. - Bill Hicks
24. All the biblical miracles will at last
disappear with the progress of science. - Matthew Arnold
25. Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to
the Creator of human intelligence. - Anonymous
26. Be thankful that you have a life, and
forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one. - Richard Dawkins
27. What can be asserted without proof can be
dismissed without proof. - Christopher Hitchens
28. In Christianity neither morality nor
religion come into contact with reality at any point. - Friedrich Nietzsche
29. It will yet be the proud boast of women
that they never contributed a line to the Bible. - George W. Foote
30. On the first day, man created God. -
Anonymous
31. I contend that we are both atheists. I
just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss
all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. - Stephen
Roberts
32. You do not need the Bible to justify love,
but no better tool has been invented to justify hate. - Richard A. Weatherwax
33. What’s “God”? Well, you know, when you
want something really bad and you close your eyes and you wish for it? God’s
the guy that ignores you. - Steve Buscemi (From the movie “The Island”)
34. As far as I can tell from studying the
scriptures, all you do in heaven is pretty much just sit around all day and
praise the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I think that after the first, oh,
I don’t know, 50,000,000 years of that I’d start to get a little bored. - Rick
Reynolds
35. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a
day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion
and he will die praying for a fish. - Anonymous
36. Calling Atheism a religion is like calling
bald a hair color. - Don Hirschberg
37. God should be executed for crimes against
humanity. - Bryan Emmanuel Gutierrez
38. To say that atheism requires faith is as
dim-witted as saying that disbelief in pixies or leprechauns takes faith. Even
if Einstein himself told me there was an elf on my shoulder, I would still ask
for proof and I wouldn’t be wrong to ask. - Geoff Mather
39. I do not fear death. I had been dead for
billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the
slightest inconvenience from it. - Mark Twain
40. Of all religions the Christian is without
doubt the one which should inspire tolerance most, although up to now the
Christians have been the most intolerant of all men. - Voltaire
41. And if there were a God, I think it very
unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those
who doubt His existence. - Bertrand Russell
42. Is God willing to prevent evil, but not
able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is
malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither
able nor willing? Then why call him God? - Epicurus
43. I’m a polyatheist - there are many gods I
don’t believe in. - Dan Fouts
44. If it turns out that there is a God, I
don’t think that he’s evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that
basically he’s an underachiever. - Woody Allen
45. A lie is a lie even if everyone believes
it. The truth is the truth even if nobody believes it. - David Stevens
46. Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a
God superior to themselves. Most Gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled
child. - Robert A Heinlein
47. I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God,
“for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing. - Douglas Adams
48. It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I
can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. - Mark
Twain
49. He that will not reason is a bigot; he
that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave. - William
Drummond
50. Remember, Jesus would rather constantly
shame gays than let orphans have a family. - Steven Colbert
51. Which is it, is man one of God’s blunders
or is God one of man’s? - Friedrich Nietzsche
52. Religion does three things quite
effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people. - Carlespie Mary
Alice McKinney
53. Religion has caused more misery to all of
mankind in every stage of human history than any other single idea. - Anonymous
54. When a man is freed of religion, he has a
better chance to live a normal and wholesome life. - Sigmund Freud
55. They felt that science would be corrosive
to religious belief and they were worried about it. Damn it, I think they were
right. It is corrosive to religious belief and it’s a good thing. - Steven
Weinberg
56. Take from the church the miraculous, the
supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the
unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains. - Robert G. Ingersoll
57. History teaches us that no other cause has
brought more death than the word of god. - Giulian Buzila
58. Atheism is a non-prophet organization. -
George Carlin
59. We are all atheists about most of the gods
that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -
Richard Dawkins
60. A believer states everything must have a
creator but fail to say how he was created. - Anonymous
61. “There are no atheists in foxholes” isn’t
an argument against atheism, it’s an argument against foxholes. - James Morrow
62. People will then often say, ‘But surely
it’s better to remain an Agnostic just in case?’ This, to me, suggests such a
level of silliness and muddle that I usually edge out of the conversation
rather than get sucked into it. (If it turns out that I’ve been wrong all
along, and there is in fact a god, and if it further turned out that this kind
of legalistic, cross-your-fingers-behind-your-back, Clintonian hair-splitting
impressed him, then I think I would choose not to worship him anyway.) -
Douglas Adams
63. Properly read, the bible is the most
potent force for Atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov
64. If all the Christians who have called
other Christians “not really a Christian” were to vanish, there’d be no Christians
left. - Anonymous
65. An atheist is a man who has no invisible
means of support. - John Buchan
66. Gods dont kill people. People with Gods
kill people. - David Viaene
67. If God were suddenly condemned to live the
life which He has inflicted upon men, He would kill Himself. - Alexandre Dumas
68. Atheism is nothing more than the noises
reasonable people make when in the presence of religious dogma. - Sam Harris
69. I don’t believe in God because I don’t
believe in Mother Goose - Clarence Darrow
70. No philosophy, no religion, has ever
brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism. - Annie
Wood Besant
71. I refuse to believe in a god who is the
primary cause of conflict in the world, preaches racism, sexism, homophobia,
and ignorance, and then sends me to hell if I’m ‘bad’. - Mike Fuhrman
72. Faith does not give you the answers, it
just stops you asking the questions. - Frater Ravus
73. Believing there is no God gives me more
room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o, and all
the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever
have. - Penn Jillette
74. Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as
absolute power but absolute power is corrupt only in the hands of the
absolutely faithful. - Anonymous
75. Gods are fragile things; they may be
killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense. - Chapman Cohen
76. The inspiration of the bible depends on
the ignorance of the person who reads it. - Robert G. Ingersoll
77. When one person suffers from a delusion,
it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called
religion. - Robert Pirsig
78. I wonder who got the shit job of scouring
the planet for the 15000 species of butterfly or the 8800 species of ant they
eventually took on board Noah’s Ark. But at least we got that magical rainbow
for all their trouble. - Azura Skye
79. I have no need for religion, I have a
conscience. - Anonymous
80. Man has always required an explanation for
all of those things in the world he did not understand. If an explanation was
not available, he created one. - Jim Crawford
81. I am against religion because it teaches
us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins
82. What has been Christianity’s fruits?
Superstition, Bigotry and Persecution. - James Madison
83. The characters and events depicted in the
damn bible are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental. - Penn and Teller
84. If god is the alpha and the omega. The
beginning and the end, knows what has passed and what is to come, like it states
in the bible, why do people pray and think it will make any difference. - Mark
Fairclough
85. The finality of death is the coldest truth
one must face. Religion makes the perfect distraction. - Anonymous
86. Religion is the opiate of the masses. -
Karl Marx
87. If God created the world, then who created
god? and who created whoever created god? So somewhere along the line something
had to just be there. So why can’t we just skip the idea of god and go straight
to earth? - Ryan Hanson
88. If we expect God to subscribe to one
religion at the exclusion of all the others, then we should expect damnation as
a matter of chance. This should give Christians pause when expounding their
religious beliefs, but it does not. - Sam Harris
89. Atheists will celebrate life, while you’re
in church celebrating death. - Anonymous
90. Animals do not have gods, they are smarter
than that. - Ronnie Snow
91. I have observed that the world has
suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not
skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and
progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a
heretic, or an unbeliever. - Daniel Boorstin
92. I have never seen the slightest scientific
proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for
individuals, or of a personal God. So far as religion of the day is concerned,
it is a damned fake… Religion is all bunk. - Thomas Edison
93. Fundamentalism, of any type, due to its
prerequisite lack of intelligent thought, could prove to be the worst weapon of
mass destruction, of all. - David J. Constable
94. To really be free, You need to be free in
the mind. - Alexander Loutsis
95. Most religions prophecy the end of the
world and then consistently work together to ensure that these prophecies come
true. - Anonymous
96. Jesus hardly made the greatest sacrifice.
He knew he would be resurrected anyway. - Anonymous
97. Religion is like a virus that affects the
behaviour of its host in such a way as to propagate itself further. - Jack
Pritchard
98. Religions are like pills, which must be
swallowed whole without chewing. - Anonymous
99. Today’s religion will be the future’s
mythology. Both believed at one time by many; but proved wrong by the clever. -
Steven Crocker
100. The
Bible - A Fairytale book of rules brainwashing millions. Obliviously used to
help create war, kill, hate, judge and discriminate. - Anonymous
101. Isn’t
it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that
there are fairies at the bottom of it too? - Douglas Adams
(I never did find an attribution for this one, so if you own it, fess up and I will properly attribute it.)
Thursday, 1 December 2011
John Carter of Mars, come save me!
I've been reading a lot of moaning lately about the upcoming John Carter Movie. Of course, it has nothing to do with the actual movie - you know, because it hasn't been released yet and so we have no idea if it's good or bad. Here were my first comments (made to me inside my brain, because no one else listens):
Learn more about Edgar Rice Burroughs at Wikipedia.
So, as you can see, I am a big fan. I've only read a few of the Tarzan books - my interest is firmly focused on Barsoom - but I continue to try to collect all of his writings. The paper books are quite difficult to find. I imagine this is because the first editons are now over one hundred years old, and because they were "pulp" novels, many may never have been published as high quality bound volumes. In fact several of the John Carter novels I have in later, paperback editions have all disintegrated. Thankfully, a lot of his material is available through the Public Domain via Project Gutenberg.
As a self acknowledged "big fan" I am also biased about this project. Because I've seen so many other properties get trashy unsympathetic treatments from Hollywood, I do not hold a lot of hope for this movie. Oh, I have no doubt *I* will thoroughly enjoy it but I am discouraged by the comments I recently read in response to the trailers, over at IGN.com.
For your own sake, let's start with watching the actual trailers without the ignorant comments. You can find them both over at the IMDB - John Carter - Trailer 1, John Carter Trailer 2. Hell, you might even want to download the first book in the series from the Project Gutenberg link above, entitled A Princess of Mars.
Complaint #1 - the lead actor is icky
To quote a comment from IGN:
Complain #2 - I don't like the title
I can take it or leave it - the story is the thing for me. Interestingly enough, director Andrew Stanton has offered an explanation of the title and it could be as classic an example as any, of why Hollywood shouldn't be allowed to make movies. From the interview at collider.com:
Director Andrew Stanton says the movie is not entirely faithful to the word-by-word plot of Princess. He says he felt free to take memes from later books, in order to tell a better story. I have to admit that the sense of fulfilment I get from the John Carter books is largely due to how the world of Barsoom unfolds in later volumes.
In the end he can call it "A Walk in the Tall Grass" for all I care because I think this movie is most likely to draw established fans to the theatre, and not so much new fans. If you think you want to become a fan, read the books. They *are* the original stories after all.
Complaint #3 - this just looks like a remake of [insert recent crap remake or movie]
The comments are that this movie is a ripoff of Star Wars or (heaven forbid) Avatar, revealing the overall ignorance of humans beings when they gather in herds of more than 2. Again, I turn to a quotation from the comments at IGN:
All and all, I am excited about this new movie (oh, really?) and I'm looking forward to seeing it. About the only thing that could sink my happy little boat right now would be an announcement that this movie is going to be ruined by being 3D.
Hollywood seems to be bankrupt of good ideas or even new ideas*** and so a movie based on one of my favourite books from way back, that apparently few have ever heard of (no one seems to be able to read for longer than 60 seconds these days) is about as close as I can get to that Christmas thrill I felt as a kid. Hey, isn't that Christmas thing coming up soon?
***bankrupt of new or good ideas
Maybe this should be another post - maybe when I have fully realized my "bankruptcy of Hollywood" rant.
Just last night I saw a trailer for the new movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Yes I hear you - "Oh silly Curmudgeon-at-Large, I saw that movie a couple of years ago, what do you mean "new" movie?"
Well, some knucklehead in Hollywood decided the original movies weren't good enough and was able to convince some marblehead in Hollywood with deep pockets that they should be remade.
Yes all three "Girl" books have already been turned into movies. The books are written by Danish author Stieg Larsson and so the original movies are Danish but that shouldn't stop you from seeing them. Just do what my video store hero told me to do. When you start the DVD, go into setup and turn on the English sound track. Yes, Scarlet my dear, that means there is English over-dubbing for the original Danish sound track.
I was skeptical but I have to say whoever did the dubbing did an incredible job. Within 5 minutes, I was completely accustomed to the dubbing and was able to concentrate on the movie and it's story. Granted the dialogue can be sparse, but in scenes where there are full blown conversations going on, the voice actors in the over-dub are completely synced with with the on-screen actors. It's truly the best lip-sync job I have ever seen and it remains fantastic across all three movies.
I'd like to read the Larsson's books to see how they compare to the movies, but I can say this about the movies - they are riveting and suspenseful and a must see. You are free to ignore the ass-hat versions now spurting forth from Hollywood.
For cryin' out loud it's a frickin JOHN CARTER OF MARS MOVIE people. How many other John Carter of Mars movies have been made that you can turn to if you don't like this one? The movie hasn't even been released yet! Just a trailer. Wasn't there *anything* in the trailer you liked?In case you didn't know, I'm speaking of an eleven book series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the first half of the 20th century. The series is about a disaffected human living on earth after the war. He longs for the days of adventure. When men where men, and women would fall at their feet. It's pulpy writing at it's finest and if you can take the old fashioned, backwards attitudes about relations between the sexes, it can actually be pretty fantastically entertaining writing! Burroughs also created Tarzan, who to this day remains a firmly planted cultural icon and he created at least 4 other book series including the three book Caspak series that features The Land that Time Forgot.
Learn more about Edgar Rice Burroughs at Wikipedia.
So, as you can see, I am a big fan. I've only read a few of the Tarzan books - my interest is firmly focused on Barsoom - but I continue to try to collect all of his writings. The paper books are quite difficult to find. I imagine this is because the first editons are now over one hundred years old, and because they were "pulp" novels, many may never have been published as high quality bound volumes. In fact several of the John Carter novels I have in later, paperback editions have all disintegrated. Thankfully, a lot of his material is available through the Public Domain via Project Gutenberg.
As a self acknowledged "big fan" I am also biased about this project. Because I've seen so many other properties get trashy unsympathetic treatments from Hollywood, I do not hold a lot of hope for this movie. Oh, I have no doubt *I* will thoroughly enjoy it but I am discouraged by the comments I recently read in response to the trailers, over at IGN.com.
For your own sake, let's start with watching the actual trailers without the ignorant comments. You can find them both over at the IMDB - John Carter - Trailer 1, John Carter Trailer 2. Hell, you might even want to download the first book in the series from the Project Gutenberg link above, entitled A Princess of Mars.
Complaint #1 - the lead actor is icky
To quote a comment from IGN:
realdjfakt - "I'm a huge fan of the actors from Friday Night Lights and The Wire..."I have never seen either of those shows (movies, series?) so I can't judge if any of the actors are going to be a big deal for me. In many ways I prefer it that way. I won't have any preconceptions of what might be right or wrong with this movie.
Complain #2 - I don't like the title
I can take it or leave it - the story is the thing for me. Interestingly enough, director Andrew Stanton has offered an explanation of the title and it could be as classic an example as any, of why Hollywood shouldn't be allowed to make movies. From the interview at collider.com:
"...the title had already been changed from A Princess of Mars because it was a “truth” that boys wouldn’t go see it if they kept author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ original title. But then, when they changed it to John Carter of Mars, Stanton believed it was also a “truth” that girls wouldn’t see it because apparently girls hate planets."I can hear girls growling across the universe. This is the type of marketing induced ass-hattery that seems to run rampant in Hollywood. I agree with some saner comments that the title of the original book, "A Princess of Mars" would outright be the best title for this movie. At least it would directly link the movie to the books upon which it is based.
Director Andrew Stanton says the movie is not entirely faithful to the word-by-word plot of Princess. He says he felt free to take memes from later books, in order to tell a better story. I have to admit that the sense of fulfilment I get from the John Carter books is largely due to how the world of Barsoom unfolds in later volumes.
In the end he can call it "A Walk in the Tall Grass" for all I care because I think this movie is most likely to draw established fans to the theatre, and not so much new fans. If you think you want to become a fan, read the books. They *are* the original stories after all.
Complaint #3 - this just looks like a remake of [insert recent crap remake or movie]
The comments are that this movie is a ripoff of Star Wars or (heaven forbid) Avatar, revealing the overall ignorance of humans beings when they gather in herds of more than 2. Again, I turn to a quotation from the comments at IGN:
david alexande11 - "H P Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke and George Lucas have referenced him as a founding influence - you have got to take the guy seriously this is foundational work. If the film looks like so many other things, that's because the conventions it established are so deeply embedded into the genre, we can't imagine that once upon a time they were novel."As I mentioned elsewhere, this is a book that over 100 years old and to think that Avatar and Star Wars are *not* derivative is another example of how humans probably shouldn't be allowed to talk, never mind gather in herds of more than 2.
All and all, I am excited about this new movie (oh, really?) and I'm looking forward to seeing it. About the only thing that could sink my happy little boat right now would be an announcement that this movie is going to be ruined by being 3D.
Hollywood seems to be bankrupt of good ideas or even new ideas*** and so a movie based on one of my favourite books from way back, that apparently few have ever heard of (no one seems to be able to read for longer than 60 seconds these days) is about as close as I can get to that Christmas thrill I felt as a kid. Hey, isn't that Christmas thing coming up soon?
***bankrupt of new or good ideas
Maybe this should be another post - maybe when I have fully realized my "bankruptcy of Hollywood" rant.
Just last night I saw a trailer for the new movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Yes I hear you - "Oh silly Curmudgeon-at-Large, I saw that movie a couple of years ago, what do you mean "new" movie?"
Well, some knucklehead in Hollywood decided the original movies weren't good enough and was able to convince some marblehead in Hollywood with deep pockets that they should be remade.
Yes all three "Girl" books have already been turned into movies. The books are written by Danish author Stieg Larsson and so the original movies are Danish but that shouldn't stop you from seeing them. Just do what my video store hero told me to do. When you start the DVD, go into setup and turn on the English sound track. Yes, Scarlet my dear, that means there is English over-dubbing for the original Danish sound track.
I was skeptical but I have to say whoever did the dubbing did an incredible job. Within 5 minutes, I was completely accustomed to the dubbing and was able to concentrate on the movie and it's story. Granted the dialogue can be sparse, but in scenes where there are full blown conversations going on, the voice actors in the over-dub are completely synced with with the on-screen actors. It's truly the best lip-sync job I have ever seen and it remains fantastic across all three movies.
I'd like to read the Larsson's books to see how they compare to the movies, but I can say this about the movies - they are riveting and suspenseful and a must see. You are free to ignore the ass-hat versions now spurting forth from Hollywood.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Swearwords and Shockwords
I like all types of authors, but especially those that really know how to use the language. What I call "fine writers".
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of those. I haven't read many of her books, and that was mostly 20 years ago, only because I haven't purchased a new book in such along time and because I live in a back water where the books I like to read are not available in bookstores.
So, today when I discovered this blog post by Le Guin from back in March, I was thrilled
I have to say I have been a prolific user of those shock/swear words, but I also agree with Ursula. They don't really have the meaning or impact they once had. I loved her bit about them being used as the glue between other words, because surely that's what the usage has descended to.
What I find delightful these days, when I want to make my words emphatic or shocking is to use a word that starts off sounding like a swear word. I love seeing people blush half way and then realize that what they're hearing isn't what they thought they were hearing. Like "Holy Sugar", or "Shut the Front Door". It just proves that the shock has more to do with the context of the word usage than the actual word. You'll understand this if you ever hear a parent reprimand their child for calling a sibling stupid.
However, the use of shock words has become a reflex I'm trying to break. I must also be getting old, because I find myself squirming in my seat, for instance, when a comedian's only punchline is the word fuck. A disturbing lack of imagination, and that is what irks me most about my own reflex.
My grandfather (among others) used to rant about using swear words displayed a shocking lack of vocabulary. After looking up the word vocabulary, I found myself in total agreement and yet totally unable to stop swearing. If anything, I swore more. It became another way to separate myself from the adults in my life, as I got older.
To this day, I have a fine appreciation for a well placed cuss. I think there is still room for swearing at just the right time to drive home your point but, as Le Guin points out, overuse drastically erodes the impact you might have had otherwise.
As the "Elements of Style" gods Strunk and White moaned, "...omit needless words...". I might modify that to include the admonishment "...omit over-used words...".
How do you feel about using swear words or shock words? This isn't about whether you do or not (I will call you a liar right here in advance, so that we can get it over with...lol) but more about how you use them and whether or not you agree with Ursula and me about use and over use. Do they still have a place in your heart?
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of those. I haven't read many of her books, and that was mostly 20 years ago, only because I haven't purchased a new book in such along time and because I live in a back water where the books I like to read are not available in bookstores.
So, today when I discovered this blog post by Le Guin from back in March, I was thrilled
I have to say I have been a prolific user of those shock/swear words, but I also agree with Ursula. They don't really have the meaning or impact they once had. I loved her bit about them being used as the glue between other words, because surely that's what the usage has descended to.
What I find delightful these days, when I want to make my words emphatic or shocking is to use a word that starts off sounding like a swear word. I love seeing people blush half way and then realize that what they're hearing isn't what they thought they were hearing. Like "Holy Sugar", or "Shut the Front Door". It just proves that the shock has more to do with the context of the word usage than the actual word. You'll understand this if you ever hear a parent reprimand their child for calling a sibling stupid.
However, the use of shock words has become a reflex I'm trying to break. I must also be getting old, because I find myself squirming in my seat, for instance, when a comedian's only punchline is the word fuck. A disturbing lack of imagination, and that is what irks me most about my own reflex.
My grandfather (among others) used to rant about using swear words displayed a shocking lack of vocabulary. After looking up the word vocabulary, I found myself in total agreement and yet totally unable to stop swearing. If anything, I swore more. It became another way to separate myself from the adults in my life, as I got older.
To this day, I have a fine appreciation for a well placed cuss. I think there is still room for swearing at just the right time to drive home your point but, as Le Guin points out, overuse drastically erodes the impact you might have had otherwise.
As the "Elements of Style" gods Strunk and White moaned, "...omit needless words...". I might modify that to include the admonishment "...omit over-used words...".
How do you feel about using swear words or shock words? This isn't about whether you do or not (I will call you a liar right here in advance, so that we can get it over with...lol) but more about how you use them and whether or not you agree with Ursula and me about use and over use. Do they still have a place in your heart?
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
The big things around us
There are all kinds of big things in our solar system and sometimes it just freaks the daylights out of me.
Oh sure, here on the surface of our planet there are big things. There are pyramids and long rivers, deep gouges in the face of the planet and the Great Wall. Our planets is a big thing and yet it's puny compared to others planets in our Solar System.
Hell, Our planet is puny compared to the storms on other planets, like this doozey on Saturn:
That photo was taken by Cassini. If you follow me on Twitter, you've heard me bleat on about how much I love Cassini because it takes pictures of Saturn.
Anyway, this picture is what they call a false colour image which means the colours were added so that our eyes can see the details. It's pretty fuzzy compared to other pictures taken by Cassini, and I encourage you to visit the Cassini spacecraft's homepage for some pictures that will blow your mind, possibly even freak the daylights out of you.
Recently, a fairly big thing went zipping right by our little blue marble - closer even than the moon* ever gets.
I neglected to record who took this picture. If it's yours, let me know how to attribute it please.
The International Space Station is not the only spacecraft to have visited our solar system, although I think it was some sort of time travel that brought the Borg cube this far.
Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to write something serious?
* - the moon is actually slowly moving away from us. It makes me a little sad to think that someday Earth will be without its constant companion.
The pendulum swing of life
I learned earlier this week that one of my favourite authors, Anne McCaffrey has passed away, at the age of 85.
Like many others, my first McCaffrey read was the Harper Hall books that eventually developed into the Dragonriders of Pern series. They started with three volumes I later learned were written as books for adolescents. The series was continued in another trilogy in the exact same setting, but with a more adult approach. The entire Dragonriders of Pern series is said to cover 22 novels.
My recollection of the books and their reading is kind of gauzy and golden it has been so long, but I do remember clearly my wonder at how McCaffrey presented me with a fantasy story in a science fiction wrapper. Fantasy readers love their dragons, but here was a fantasy world where science required their existence. The books helped me reconcile the two ends of the pendulum swing of my reading.
Just as Anne M. passes 'between', another pendulum swing continues. Earlier this month every grade one student in the province got a free book as part of a yearly program to foster a love of reading.
I can't help but marvel at the symmetry of the universe - out the door goes one person and her life long devotion to books, while across our land a shiny new generation of book lovers is awakened.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
HalCon weekend
I drove to Halifax yesterday, in the driving rain - pardon the pun. Except for one spot just past Truro, where the rain was so thick as it swept across the highway that it looked like blowing snow, it was mostly just a rainy day.
I've had my first day at HalCon and so far, things are good. I wish I had more photos to show for the day. I took quite a few but I think I fudged up a setting on the camera. That and shooting in low light conditions conspired to make it one of the worst photo session I've done on the past five years. It was massively disappointing but these are the bumps in the road we all have to deal with.
In many ways, this years HalCon is a winner. The venue at the World Trade and Convention Centre is a superior setting. Here are the big rooms with lots of artists, vendors, game demos.
Here is the variety of special function rooms where a sizable audience can pack it in with their genre heroes for demonstrations, Q&A sessions, and photos.
Here are the wide corridors that can accommodate milling crowds with or without costumes. Yet, my joy has been small and fleeting.
I'm hoping Sunday will be a better experience, but it feels like something is missing and I can't put my finger on it and if I can't figure it out, I'm afraid it will bug me so much I'll be distracted from the business of having fun.
The highlight of the day for me was hearing Steve Jackson promote his latest game creations. Here is the man from Texas, whose namesake - Steve Jackson Games - is a 30 year old veteran of the indie game industry.
Apologies if the Duck or the Tentacle confuse you. Go check out the website.
My favourite Steve Jackson Game is OGRE (but I think I told you that once before). I'd show you photos of the cool new Ogre 6th edition stuff coming this time next year, but I have this horrible photo shoot thing going on.
SJ Games' big property these days is a game called Munchkin. The game is designed to make fun of all those rules lawyers you've ever been forced to play with. Wonderfully, today Steve revealed for the first time, the latest add-on for the game called Munchkin: Apocalypse.
I was really pleased that he choose this setting to announce his newest game.
All in all a good first day, although there are some things that could be improved. First, I walked the Con for several hours but never found a handy source of food. The convention centre is attached to a mall, and there is mall food available, but nothing directly related to, or within the physical bounds of the convention.
The vendor area is still too closely packed. This may have been a space constraint, but I think a more creative arrangement of tables would help. The artists area seemed to have people just crammed together too.
I was disappointed with the game vendors. The selection seemed smaller than last year, and the prices looked like they were up. The variety of games represented was much narrower and past mainstays of the industry like Dungeons & Dragons seemed to have all but disappeared.
As they say, tomorrow is another day. My convention buddy Andrew and I are raiding his game closet tonight, looking for something to bring with us to play on Sunday, something quick and easy to play, with some action to attract on-lookers, and maybe something that interested players might want to join for a couple of turns.
I've had my first day at HalCon and so far, things are good. I wish I had more photos to show for the day. I took quite a few but I think I fudged up a setting on the camera. That and shooting in low light conditions conspired to make it one of the worst photo session I've done on the past five years. It was massively disappointing but these are the bumps in the road we all have to deal with.
In many ways, this years HalCon is a winner. The venue at the World Trade and Convention Centre is a superior setting. Here are the big rooms with lots of artists, vendors, game demos.
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| Tables and tables of Warhammer 40K players and their wicked looking models |
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| John Paladin painting up an audience member as a Klingon |
I'm hoping Sunday will be a better experience, but it feels like something is missing and I can't put my finger on it and if I can't figure it out, I'm afraid it will bug me so much I'll be distracted from the business of having fun.
The highlight of the day for me was hearing Steve Jackson promote his latest game creations. Here is the man from Texas, whose namesake - Steve Jackson Games - is a 30 year old veteran of the indie game industry.
 |
| It's a Duck of Doom dice bag, inside a Cthulhu tentacle dice bag. What else? |
My favourite Steve Jackson Game is OGRE (but I think I told you that once before). I'd show you photos of the cool new Ogre 6th edition stuff coming this time next year, but I have this horrible photo shoot thing going on.
SJ Games' big property these days is a game called Munchkin. The game is designed to make fun of all those rules lawyers you've ever been forced to play with. Wonderfully, today Steve revealed for the first time, the latest add-on for the game called Munchkin: Apocalypse.
 |
| The apocalyptic future of Munchkin |
All in all a good first day, although there are some things that could be improved. First, I walked the Con for several hours but never found a handy source of food. The convention centre is attached to a mall, and there is mall food available, but nothing directly related to, or within the physical bounds of the convention.
The vendor area is still too closely packed. This may have been a space constraint, but I think a more creative arrangement of tables would help. The artists area seemed to have people just crammed together too.
I was disappointed with the game vendors. The selection seemed smaller than last year, and the prices looked like they were up. The variety of games represented was much narrower and past mainstays of the industry like Dungeons & Dragons seemed to have all but disappeared.
As they say, tomorrow is another day. My convention buddy Andrew and I are raiding his game closet tonight, looking for something to bring with us to play on Sunday, something quick and easy to play, with some action to attract on-lookers, and maybe something that interested players might want to join for a couple of turns.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Blogging about blogging?
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| A little tweeter |
Several friends in the past have suggested I try writing a blog. While I agree I have a lot to say, usually I am describing the number of words that I use and not so much the value of them. What could I possibly say that anyone would want to hear? As sad as it sounds, my utterances are largely limited to bitching about how crummy my life is. Hardly uplifting stuff.
I am amazed, perhaps more so than any reader, that here I am writing blog entries. I am getting positive feedback from friends, so I will take that as moderate encouragement to continue.
I'm certain my strategy is nothing new, but recently I had a chat with someone else trying to get into blogging and promised I would blog, well, about blogging.
What do you write about?
It's the first thing people ask me when I tell them I blog. Most of the blogs I read are topic focused, but I'm not that focused and I don't think you have to be. So I just say I haven't found my voice yet and I'm just learning.
I write about anything that interests me and if I don't write I can usually find some inspirational quotation to post. Sometimes I get a good snapshot and share that. A lot of the time I regurgitate something I've found out there on the intertubes that matches the interests of someone I know who is reading. Because I'm a computer geek, I talk about using computers.
I'm experimenting with a lot of different little things. Depending on how those work for me, this blog will evolve and may become more focused. I'm in no hurry. I started blogging to scratch a writing itch and I have a lot of scratch left in me yet. ;)
I suspect due to my background in journalism, I like to have a lot of information around me and I use Twitter and Google+ to manage it. They both have the ability to be topically focused which helps to sift a lot of information into a manageable amount.
Twitter is a fast response tool where ideas and media are shared in a rapidly changing surf-like ebb and flow. It's can be very impromptu and very fast for organizing.
Twitter is like a conversation on the dance floor - fast and jumping around a lot. Google+ is that same conversation taken to the living room - there's plenty of room to spread out and it's comfortable for lots of people to get involved in the conversation.
In fact, that's a lot of what Social Media has been about for me - listening, compiling, accumulating and when there are enough items to talk about, then write about it. I have been surprised several times when themes emerge without any effort on my part. It happens more often than you'd think. I suppose that has something to do with my news background again.
Most of all, here at the starting line, I'm not listening for "big issues". I'm just doing day to day things, and telling people about it. To be honest, I'd be really happy if a theme emerged from all the noise in my head, if only so that I could stop writing this blog about writing this blog.
Friday, 4 November 2011
How do you write?
I've been chatting back and forth (in the real world) with a Mad Mind this week, about writing in general. We've both started blogging just recently, so it's come up in conversation quite naturally..
I was a journalist for a while, people consider me to be a good writer, and I often get asked about it. I've always thought I was a better editor than writer - it's much easy to sit back and re-arrange the work of other people, than to create original work yourself ;)
Here, at his request, is what I told the MadMind about his first blog post:
As I noted above, my challenge in writing is to create original material. I can get good ideas, but rarely can translate them into a finished, written product. So, a nice quiet environment is what I seek when it comes to writing from scratch. However, if I'm compiling material from several sources or if I'm revising a draft (you *do* use drafts don't you?), I like some music on in the background and generally noise is not a bother.
Then I ran across a guest blog post over at Blogging Authors by Ralph Ewig. He talks about the "specific instruments" used for writing. He mentions starting out with a 5 line LCD equipped word processor. Yes Ralph, those were heady days weren't they?
I too use particular instruments when writing, which also seem to be specific to *what* I'm writing. If I'm writing poetry it has to start on a blank pad of paper with pen in hand. It seems that kind of emotionally charged writing requires a different approach. Revisions are done on my computer. If I'm writing technical material such as is required by my job, it's done start to finish on the computer usually in WordPerfect.
Writing this blog has been a different adventure. In trying to embrace the mobile nature of social media, I subconsciously committed to writing blog posts on the Mac laptop provided me by my employer. I like the computer but I find the Mac keyboard a wretched horrible thing. The so-called "chiclet" keyboard makes hardly any sound, the keys are almost flush to the case and I am distracted trying to feel the keys to keep my finger location on the keyboard.
I find more of my blogging is back on the desktop computer. I have a nice black plastic keyboard I can literally pound on and the keys are noisy and have distinct edges to them, so I encounter fewer typos and get nice physical feedback from every key press.
It's tricky stuff this writing. How are you finding it?
I was a journalist for a while, people consider me to be a good writer, and I often get asked about it. I've always thought I was a better editor than writer - it's much easy to sit back and re-arrange the work of other people, than to create original work yourself ;)
Here, at his request, is what I told the MadMind about his first blog post:
"I will give you the advice I give anyone who writes, or feels like they are struggling with writing, and that is to read it out loud before you commit to it.
It doesn't matter if you are a good out loud reader or whether you *like* reading out loud. Your post was pretty well structured, but there were a few sentences that felt kind of awkward. If you read them out loud, you will *definitely* find those right away.
This also has the benefit of teaching you to write the same way that you speak. In broadcasting it's called writing "the spoken word" and it's the style every broadcaster wants to achieve. It's less formal, more friendly and more approachable. It's also easier to read for the readers. It allows you to "Omit needless words" as Strunk and White recommend and it keeps you from getting all florid in your prose - no one these days feels comfortable talking like a bloody Victorian!
My final lesson I learned from working for ten days at the CBC. Their style guide specifies writing with one thought per sentence. Sometimes, it results in a lot of small sentences which sounds choppy, and so I don't follow it to the letter. But it *will* improve your writing and prevent you from committing style suicide with long run on sentences, over use of commas, and weird clause structures that can ruin a reading experience."Yesterday, someone on Twitter asked about the environment people write in. Specifically, do they like or require noise or do they need absolute quiet to achieve their writing goals?
As I noted above, my challenge in writing is to create original material. I can get good ideas, but rarely can translate them into a finished, written product. So, a nice quiet environment is what I seek when it comes to writing from scratch. However, if I'm compiling material from several sources or if I'm revising a draft (you *do* use drafts don't you?), I like some music on in the background and generally noise is not a bother.
Then I ran across a guest blog post over at Blogging Authors by Ralph Ewig. He talks about the "specific instruments" used for writing. He mentions starting out with a 5 line LCD equipped word processor. Yes Ralph, those were heady days weren't they?
I too use particular instruments when writing, which also seem to be specific to *what* I'm writing. If I'm writing poetry it has to start on a blank pad of paper with pen in hand. It seems that kind of emotionally charged writing requires a different approach. Revisions are done on my computer. If I'm writing technical material such as is required by my job, it's done start to finish on the computer usually in WordPerfect.
Writing this blog has been a different adventure. In trying to embrace the mobile nature of social media, I subconsciously committed to writing blog posts on the Mac laptop provided me by my employer. I like the computer but I find the Mac keyboard a wretched horrible thing. The so-called "chiclet" keyboard makes hardly any sound, the keys are almost flush to the case and I am distracted trying to feel the keys to keep my finger location on the keyboard.
I find more of my blogging is back on the desktop computer. I have a nice black plastic keyboard I can literally pound on and the keys are noisy and have distinct edges to them, so I encounter fewer typos and get nice physical feedback from every key press.
It's tricky stuff this writing. How are you finding it?
Thursday, 3 November 2011
HalCon 2011
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| Choose your weapon wisely |
Hal-Con is in it's second year after a decade long hiatus. They have a varied and extensive guest list.
I go to these things when I can so that I can catch up on gaming news. Not video games so much - I have different channels for that.
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| I will crush your head |
I'm talking about board games, historical simulations, and other pen and paper games. If the games have anything to do with sience fiction, I'm your sucker.
I'm quite excited. I'll get to visit with some cool friends
I haven't seen all year and we'll attend a "con". We alway hope to play a game or two and this year hopefully chat with a game industry pioneer.
Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games will be at HalCon. His company makes a very cool cybernetic tank game called OGRE. I have several products from this line and I'm hoping for an autograph.
I suppose I sound like a fanboy and I can't deny how much fun it is to attend these events. Just keep in mind, I will not be dressing up nor will I be wearing Spock ears.
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| They called him Baby Fett one too many times |
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| Axis and Allies |
"Oh Bother!" as Pooh would say; AND, So let's get on with it then.
Heh...the best way to get past writer's block, is to write. Like life; clever yet unintuitive.
Gorgeous day to be stuck at your desk all day. I did get out around lunch time when the sun was out and the temperature at 10-12.
Here's a shot from outside my building. I watched them all through October and marveled at how nature keeps on busting out all over despite the odds. Mind you it was a pretty temperate October.
The new plantings out front includes some spectacular holly. I have always loved this plant. The shape of it's leaves, the sharp regular scallop along the edges, triggers my childhood memory of Christmas decorations and Christmas cards.
Altogether a nice bright day...
I know, I know. It's creepy, how cheerful I can be, isn't it?
Gorgeous day to be stuck at your desk all day. I did get out around lunch time when the sun was out and the temperature at 10-12.
Here's a shot from outside my building. I watched them all through October and marveled at how nature keeps on busting out all over despite the odds. Mind you it was a pretty temperate October.
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| Not dead yet |
The new plantings out front includes some spectacular holly. I have always loved this plant. The shape of it's leaves, the sharp regular scallop along the edges, triggers my childhood memory of Christmas decorations and Christmas cards.
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| Bountiful Holly |
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| The big and the small of it |
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Not a lot of options
I have a lot swirling around in my mind right now, but none of it's coming out coherently.
I chatted with someone today about blogging and while I have a lot to say (for someone who just started himself) I'm torn between wanting to reveal my journey and not wanted to bore anyone with YAWIBBE - Yet Another "Why I Blog" Blog Entry (tm).
However, I always have room for a quotation ;)
I chatted with someone today about blogging and while I have a lot to say (for someone who just started himself) I'm torn between wanting to reveal my journey and not wanted to bore anyone with YAWIBBE - Yet Another "Why I Blog" Blog Entry (tm).
However, I always have room for a quotation ;)
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."Perhaps, that is the true nature of blogging.
~ Kurt Vonnegut
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Blog 2.0
This is the first evolution of my blog. The first blog was a short term experiment over at Tumblr. Feel free to peruse Blog 1.0 at Tumblr.
Yes, apparently I lied in my first post when I said you'd probably never see it. After doing a backup and going over what I thought were meagre posts, I realized there was a lot there I liked, so I may re-post some of the items here in the next few days, just to warm the place up a bit ;)
Yes, apparently I lied in my first post when I said you'd probably never see it. After doing a backup and going over what I thought were meagre posts, I realized there was a lot there I liked, so I may re-post some of the items here in the next few days, just to warm the place up a bit ;)
Got royal hang from The Man in Black last week. He found my blog alright, but the story goes that it was a hideous and peril fraught journey into some of the darkest corners of the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. I may be exaggerating, but I was glad he couldn't find it, and here's the long-winded reason why.
Everyone to whom I've mentioned blogging always asks right off, what is it about? It's also a theme in everything I've read about writing for a blog. My research isn't encyclopedic but you pick things up.
In this case, I really am not writing about any single thing. I have a lot of interests and I couldn't write about just one. So for now, I write about anything that interests me but that can't be expressed in 140 characters. If you're following me on Twitter you will no doubt will see some overlap with a little more jumping and shouting going on here.
Even though I don't have a central theme the experiment at Tumblr allowed me to try out a few things involving writing and also some of the automation that can be found behind blogging. Now that I've stretched those muscles, I'm ready to dig in.
I chose Blogger mostly because I have some friends who have blogs here, and following them is easier. I also hang out on Google+ and use Gmail, so the integration between those services is attractive/convenient as well.
Surely, the Man in Black will be able to find me now.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
First Post to Blogger - it's all still an experiment
I starting blogging just a couple of weeks ago. No, you probably won't ever find that blog and I suspect it will be some time before anyone even sees this post. But even a virtual life needs to have a "Hello World" moment, and this is it.
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