Welcome to 2011!
Goodbye 2010!
When times are troubling remember it could be worse. I promise it really could. Pray (to whoever from Cthulhu to The Spaghetti god and so on). Give to someone you don't know, and someone you love. Enjoy a hug. Enjoy a drink. Enjoy a meal with friends that you like talking to.
Do not resolve to do something, do it. Share a secret. Kiss someone you love, tell them that you love them. Take pictures! A lot of pictures! Get them off your camera and off the computer. Put them in a picture album, or a frame and show them off to people. Write, read, laugh, dance, cry, all in one day! Watch a sad movie. Watch a comedy. Film yourself and your friends, doing anything! Post it on youtube (link it here). Make someone's day. Tell someone off that you don't like. Go to a library and thank them for what they do, then check out a book from someone you've never heard of before.
Live, because that's what life is about.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, November 26, 2010
Book to Movie
I have always been an avid reader, and as always I enjoy going to see movies based on books. Sometimes I have read the book and have been gravely disappointing with the movie (My Sister's Keeper), other times I have read the book and have walked away from the movie saying that is the best anyone could have ever wanted from a movie based on a book (The Road; The Time Traveler's Wife).
Recently Disney decided to make movies based on the Narnia Chronicles. That was cool with me. I had seen some BBC production years before and enjoyed it greatly. I had a few complaints, but nothing that I couldn't get past. Disney made "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", while not as good as the BBC version, it was still good. It was better for the graphics, I must admit. Then Disney went on to make "Prince Caspian", I was fine with this movie, until the last 10 minutes (I have noticed the last 10 minutes break or make a lot of movies). At which point I was almost got kicked out of the theater for the outrage that spewed forth.
Now Disney has gone and done it again, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is coming out. Already I know some plot points are ruined, because of how they treated "Prince Caspian", but to add insult to injury Susan and Peter are in this atrocity.
I loved the Narnia Chronicles, I read them multiple times as a kid, I know how "Prince Caspian" works and what it means to the rest of the books that certain characters are represented when they should not be.
~Spoilers~
Let me explain the plot of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Edmund and Lucy are staying at their aunt's house, they have an obnoxious cousin, Eustace. He continues to be obnoxious until he is carried off by a dragon at one point. The older siblings have stopped believing in Narnia. This became apparent at the beginning of "Prince Caspian", when only Lucy could see Aslan. Susan is especially annoying about Narnia saying things like "Oh that old game we used to play".
Now much later in the books Susan being a...brat, yes we'll go with that, means much more about all of the religious "under"tones within the series. ~MAJOR SPOILER DO NOT READ IF YOU CARE~ They all die and go to the world that has cast the shadow (which is the world we live in/Narnia/etc) except Susan who wasn't on the train and did not really believe all that non-sense. This means she didn't believe in Jesus and when everyone died she did not go to heaven, get it? Ok so hear is the problem, if she loves someone in the "pretend" world, how does she justify herself when she begins to stop believing? Is it a jealousy thing because Prince Caspian ends up with the star princess, and not with Susan. In fact Susan should be in her teens or possibly her 20's during "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and several years have past since "Prince Caspian" which means Prince Caspian aged quite a bit more than the rest of them. Try that one on for size, what was originally a match of proper ages is now gross.
~End Spoilers~
With all this rewriting of a classic, I can't handle it I am refusing to go see the movie. Feel free to do the same.
Recently Disney decided to make movies based on the Narnia Chronicles. That was cool with me. I had seen some BBC production years before and enjoyed it greatly. I had a few complaints, but nothing that I couldn't get past. Disney made "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", while not as good as the BBC version, it was still good. It was better for the graphics, I must admit. Then Disney went on to make "Prince Caspian", I was fine with this movie, until the last 10 minutes (I have noticed the last 10 minutes break or make a lot of movies). At which point I was almost got kicked out of the theater for the outrage that spewed forth.
Now Disney has gone and done it again, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is coming out. Already I know some plot points are ruined, because of how they treated "Prince Caspian", but to add insult to injury Susan and Peter are in this atrocity.
I loved the Narnia Chronicles, I read them multiple times as a kid, I know how "Prince Caspian" works and what it means to the rest of the books that certain characters are represented when they should not be.
~Spoilers~
Let me explain the plot of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Edmund and Lucy are staying at their aunt's house, they have an obnoxious cousin, Eustace. He continues to be obnoxious until he is carried off by a dragon at one point. The older siblings have stopped believing in Narnia. This became apparent at the beginning of "Prince Caspian", when only Lucy could see Aslan. Susan is especially annoying about Narnia saying things like "Oh that old game we used to play".
Now much later in the books Susan being a...brat, yes we'll go with that, means much more about all of the religious "under"tones within the series. ~MAJOR SPOILER DO NOT READ IF YOU CARE~ They all die and go to the world that has cast the shadow (which is the world we live in/Narnia/etc) except Susan who wasn't on the train and did not really believe all that non-sense. This means she didn't believe in Jesus and when everyone died she did not go to heaven, get it? Ok so hear is the problem, if she loves someone in the "pretend" world, how does she justify herself when she begins to stop believing? Is it a jealousy thing because Prince Caspian ends up with the star princess, and not with Susan. In fact Susan should be in her teens or possibly her 20's during "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and several years have past since "Prince Caspian" which means Prince Caspian aged quite a bit more than the rest of them. Try that one on for size, what was originally a match of proper ages is now gross.
~End Spoilers~
With all this rewriting of a classic, I can't handle it I am refusing to go see the movie. Feel free to do the same.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
New Year's resolution Update
It has been almost a year since I posted that I was going to stop using chapstick, I have been really bad about updating about that and for that I apologize, but as I sit here trying to avoid working on this years NaNo (word count 7,171) I was wandering around my blog and found the post about my desire to no longer use chapstick.
The update is: I am no longer using Burt's Bees (the first step of my plan), I no longer sleep with my chapstick. After I brush my teeth I don't even put on chapstick. I have been rather good about going hours without using chapstick, some days I haven't even used it. I am super proud of myself for this. Now my next goal is to leave my chapstick somewhere (such as at home when at school), which means leaving my comfort blanket at home essentially. This will be a bit more difficult.
The update is: I am no longer using Burt's Bees (the first step of my plan), I no longer sleep with my chapstick. After I brush my teeth I don't even put on chapstick. I have been rather good about going hours without using chapstick, some days I haven't even used it. I am super proud of myself for this. Now my next goal is to leave my chapstick somewhere (such as at home when at school), which means leaving my comfort blanket at home essentially. This will be a bit more difficult.
Copyright...or public domain
The Internet (not just for porn), is a wealth of posted articles. I have posted articles on the Internet, specifically I am posted on a protected site that copyrights my material, even if I re-publish it on another site or through a magazine I can get in trouble of it, because I essentially sold my material to this site. They pay me (not very well mind you) to have it posted on their site.
If you follow, say @neilhimself you have probably heard about Cooks Sources big faux pas and possible Copyright infringement. If not here is a link to the story or if you want a more elegant version of the story here is that link.
Now here is my issue with this whole thing (meaning Cooks Source claiming they did no wrong). The words about the Internet is public domain. It isn't. Not when the article is posted on a copyright protected page (which this article was). It'll be interesting to see what the court says about this, I have a feeling that we may be finding out. For good reasons too. This issue if it hits the court system will change how Internet posting is dealt with completely. If Cooks Source wins, as a writer I will be extremely disappointed and will have issues from here on out of how, when and where I post anything. Hopefully Monica Gaudio wins, if so I think from then on the Internet will never be considered public domain again.
Before I sign out on this posting I would like to point out that as a college student that if I so much as use three words in the same order as someone else I have to give that person credit (yes Cooks Source did give credit to Gaudio, but they did not so much as contact her about using it). This is a different situation, because thankfully in that way I do not have to contact every source I use, but also different is I am not lifting an entire article (editing added or not).
If you hear more about this let me know, though I will probably be following this situation closely out of respect for a fellow writer.
If you follow, say @neilhimself you have probably heard about Cooks Sources big faux pas and possible Copyright infringement. If not here is a link to the story or if you want a more elegant version of the story here is that link.
Now here is my issue with this whole thing (meaning Cooks Source claiming they did no wrong). The words about the Internet is public domain. It isn't. Not when the article is posted on a copyright protected page (which this article was). It'll be interesting to see what the court says about this, I have a feeling that we may be finding out. For good reasons too. This issue if it hits the court system will change how Internet posting is dealt with completely. If Cooks Source wins, as a writer I will be extremely disappointed and will have issues from here on out of how, when and where I post anything. Hopefully Monica Gaudio wins, if so I think from then on the Internet will never be considered public domain again.
Before I sign out on this posting I would like to point out that as a college student that if I so much as use three words in the same order as someone else I have to give that person credit (yes Cooks Source did give credit to Gaudio, but they did not so much as contact her about using it). This is a different situation, because thankfully in that way I do not have to contact every source I use, but also different is I am not lifting an entire article (editing added or not).
If you hear more about this let me know, though I will probably be following this situation closely out of respect for a fellow writer.
Monday, October 25, 2010
An observation from a JC Student Lounge
So right now, as I write this, I'm sitting in the JC's student lounge. Prior to this day I had started noticing small things that differentiated JC from a CSU, today was proof of that.
A group of kids, I mean that when I say that, they are fresh from high school they are kids, were playing toss back...or hacky sac with a balloon. This on its own does not bother me, in fact I almost joined in. They were having fun, that's cool some juvenility should happen. Then out of no where (maybe I wasn't paying that close attention) one of the other kids in the room comes over grabs the balloon and yells "I'm putting an end to this!" and popped the balloon. I hate the sound of balloons popping so I jumped a bit.
Let's put this room into perspective, 90% of the people (the ages vary so I'll use a more broad term now) are playing Magic: The Gathering, or something similar (Yu-gi-oh etc). Some are on their computers playing games and listening to music. Most conversations are ones I'm used to, about his anime or this comic book or the last game of Dungeons and Dragons. I can participate in a lot of these conversations. I probably couldn't with the card games (never got into them really), but it isn't the games or the conversations, or even that a group of people will step outside every half hour and smoke for ten minutes (I don't know how many of these people are over 18 (most probably though)). What is important about this group is how they deal with issues, it is how they act about a situation. That is what is different. At the CSU there was juvenility, I won't deny that. In fact I was juvenile at one point, and very good at it thank you very much. Here though there seems to be a disconnect to the fact that they are in college, it is a JC I know, but what they do here is important to their future. Instead is feels like high school has continued. For having been to a 4-year college and then coming to a JC I feel like I went back to high school. I'm glad that I did not start here. I don't think I would have matured the same way.
As a follow up to my "Late Night Thoughts" Post I'll say this. I didn't keep my promise. I made friends. That is part of the reason of why I am in the Student Lounge. One of the guys that I LARP with occasionally is in a class and hangs out here.
OMG Helium! The kids are breathing in the helium from balloons now. I can say I have done this. This may be juvenile behavior, but it is practiced by a lot of people...I don't know why I'm surprised by this roomful of people doing it.
Back on subject. Like I said I didn't keep the, "make no friends" promise. It had to be changed to "make little friends" I have friends in almost every class now. I'm taking 4 classes. My first class of the week is the one with the guy from LARP, after that I have a couple of study partners, one of them I'm friends with. Tuesday and Thursday my first class is the only one I've kept from talking to people in. The second one I have a study group with.
And a guy dressed like the Joker just walked in. Fairly good make-up job too. I know it's the week before Halloween, but isn't that a bit early? Sorry that this post is all over the place this is what happens when I write about a room that I'm currently sitting in *sigh*.
Now I've been told a joke "What's the difference between Heath Ledger and Heath Ledger jokes?...Heath Ledger jokes can get old" *face palm* Ok I'm going to edit this later when I'm not sitting in the room I'm talking about.
A group of kids, I mean that when I say that, they are fresh from high school they are kids, were playing toss back...or hacky sac with a balloon. This on its own does not bother me, in fact I almost joined in. They were having fun, that's cool some juvenility should happen. Then out of no where (maybe I wasn't paying that close attention) one of the other kids in the room comes over grabs the balloon and yells "I'm putting an end to this!" and popped the balloon. I hate the sound of balloons popping so I jumped a bit.
Let's put this room into perspective, 90% of the people (the ages vary so I'll use a more broad term now) are playing Magic: The Gathering, or something similar (Yu-gi-oh etc). Some are on their computers playing games and listening to music. Most conversations are ones I'm used to, about his anime or this comic book or the last game of Dungeons and Dragons. I can participate in a lot of these conversations. I probably couldn't with the card games (never got into them really), but it isn't the games or the conversations, or even that a group of people will step outside every half hour and smoke for ten minutes (I don't know how many of these people are over 18 (most probably though)). What is important about this group is how they deal with issues, it is how they act about a situation. That is what is different. At the CSU there was juvenility, I won't deny that. In fact I was juvenile at one point, and very good at it thank you very much. Here though there seems to be a disconnect to the fact that they are in college, it is a JC I know, but what they do here is important to their future. Instead is feels like high school has continued. For having been to a 4-year college and then coming to a JC I feel like I went back to high school. I'm glad that I did not start here. I don't think I would have matured the same way.
As a follow up to my "Late Night Thoughts" Post I'll say this. I didn't keep my promise. I made friends. That is part of the reason of why I am in the Student Lounge. One of the guys that I LARP with occasionally is in a class and hangs out here.
OMG Helium! The kids are breathing in the helium from balloons now. I can say I have done this. This may be juvenile behavior, but it is practiced by a lot of people...I don't know why I'm surprised by this roomful of people doing it.
Back on subject. Like I said I didn't keep the, "make no friends" promise. It had to be changed to "make little friends" I have friends in almost every class now. I'm taking 4 classes. My first class of the week is the one with the guy from LARP, after that I have a couple of study partners, one of them I'm friends with. Tuesday and Thursday my first class is the only one I've kept from talking to people in. The second one I have a study group with.
And a guy dressed like the Joker just walked in. Fairly good make-up job too. I know it's the week before Halloween, but isn't that a bit early? Sorry that this post is all over the place this is what happens when I write about a room that I'm currently sitting in *sigh*.
Now I've been told a joke "What's the difference between Heath Ledger and Heath Ledger jokes?...Heath Ledger jokes can get old" *face palm* Ok I'm going to edit this later when I'm not sitting in the room I'm talking about.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Short Story work
Well working on a short story right now. According to a friend I need to work on the connection to the "main" character. I say "main" because I'm not sure if she actually is or not. This story is this odd ball of ideas all rolled up into my mind. I think the editing process is going to take a while. But when I publish it I'll post where it is.
Of course NaNo is coming up too...just a few more days....For that I plan on re-writing a story I wrote in middle school. It has changed a lot since those days so I'm probably not even going to look at the old draft for it. This will be like writing from scratch except for the plot has been in my head for years.
Of course NaNo is coming up too...just a few more days....For that I plan on re-writing a story I wrote in middle school. It has changed a lot since those days so I'm probably not even going to look at the old draft for it. This will be like writing from scratch except for the plot has been in my head for years.
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