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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

"It's never a good sign when your quarterback is bleeding profusely from the nostrils"

The Blog - I think we have all dropped the ball here on our initial idea. This is partly due to real life circumstances, partly to lack of motivation or coherent ideas, and partly due to laziness (on my part, at least). However – times are changing and it’s time to get back into this. As I already mentioned, I’m marketing and recruiting – don’t know how much success I’m having or am going to have, but I’m trying – and that’s worth something. I think thus far, the biggest problem here has been participation – and unfortunately, the way I see it, the more participation we have, the more participation that will encourage – kind of a vicious circle that once we get going, things will really get going.

That being said – and welcome to all new authors/readers – what would all of you like to see from this community? Obviously, my intentions have been made clear, but what would make this blog, and participating therein, more attractive to everybody else? I know I would participate more given more feedback from all of you, seeing as I can talk to myself anywhere; this is more for letting out opinions and getting feedback. So how can we change the format or the layout that would make things better for posting, better for reading, better for all around participation? Also – it is advisable to give everyone admin privileges in order to encourage more use? One might think that if we all have our friends here, in an open community, would provide the best results, however – we are tied to 100 authors (which we are far from at the moment, especially if we remove those who don’t participate), so some resourcefulness with those spots will be required.

The Hulk – well, I’ll be honest…I haven’t seen it. I haven’t seen many movies this summer…lack of funds, lack of time and lack of anything I actually want to see have gone into contributing to that sad fact. I do have to agree with you on Edward Norton – he easily fits into my top three actor’s list. As for Liv Tyler, I got nothing against her, but she does tend to fade into the background of most of her films – that could just be me, or the fact that she’s usually involved in all star casts, making her less noticeable, or the fact that she just has no screen presence and very little charisma. She’s never made an impression on me, regardless of the reason.

Summer Movies – while we are on the topic, let’s resurrect my summer movie preview and see how we’re doing thus far…(Summer Movie Preview 2008)

Super Heroes – also, while we’re here, let’s talk about these comic book heroes (and villains) who are more and more often, populating our movie screens. What are the thoughts on this new trend? What are the thoughts on these characters as…well, characters? Can we get some literary insight into that’s going on here – the struggles, the triumphs, etc…?

Atlas Shrugged – Yes, this is our classic fall back topic. I think all of our old conversation were either entirely devoted to this, or analyzing metaphors in Bright Eyes songs (a tradition I wouldn’t mind restarting, although I think expanding our artist base would benefit us greatly). First and foremost, have you read the Wikipedia page on the novel lately (Atlas Shrugged)? It’s quite a resource – I’ll have to read it more thoroughly later (I just took a peak at it to get the latest on the movie).

As for the movies, I have heard this as well – from my understanding right now, they are making it a two-part film, to negotiate with the length and many, many plot points. I know Angelina Jolie is currently slated to play Dagny Taggart…I have some reservations based on that decision, but I can see it working, so I’ll let it slide. As for the concept of turning books into movies, a) I don’t think there will ever be any satisfaction because one of the beauties of a book over a movie is everyone sees something different, the picture in my mind of what the Ents (in Lord of the Rings) would be like is much different than that which was featured in the film. It is for these reasons that I think it’s important to rationalize prior to seeing a film based on a book that the two are separate entities based on similar storylines. With the proper direction, screenplay and not too many hands in the pot, it can produce a damn fine film (see Prince Caspian), but otherwise, it can become a disaster (see The Golden Compass…wait, don’t). Either way, I’m with you – I’ll see the film regardless. I figure – more exposure (being the highest selling novel, other than the Bible, just isn’t cutting it apparently) will be good, I guess. Like Heather, however, I do encourage everyone who hasn’t read it to read it.

Gas Prices – yes, the inevitable hot button topic of the summer…gas prices. As prices (here in the States) hover around $4/gallon, and the rest of the world being much worse off than us, it’s an easy hot topic…especially in an election year. Oh the discussions. Personally, I don’t think there’s a whole lot to discuss here – sure we could delve into the politics of it – drill in Alaska or focus on renewable resources? How can we moderate our oil consumption without giving up the convenience of our daily lives? As for how much we were deluded…I wasn’t at all, but I agree – as a society, I think we were kind of turning the other way, hoping the problem would just go away (also, see National Debt).

Iowa – Let’s talk about the Midwest for something other than the storms…although word to cool storms. From what I hear from my brother, and a few others in the industry, the next computer explosion is going to be in states like Iowa because the cost of the living is much lower and computer geeks can work anywhere. I think this is excellent news, at least for me, seeing as that’s the industry I hope someday to crack into. I love the Midwest, and while I’d like to end up near a big city (Chicago, Cleveland and Minneapolis all come to mind), I wouldn’t mind ending up in a state like Iowa, Nebraska, or even someplace as detached as Montana.

Writing – I’m right there with you when it comes to writing. The power of words, more often than not, just astonishes me and I think (and I think I’ve mentioned this before) that words and language as a whole is the greatest accomplishment of the human race. Without language, society as we know it would be non-existent without the foundation of language. As for my own personal reading/writing habits – I’m afraid I’ve allowed myself to become too lazy, preferring the instant gratification of the Internet for information over the joy of discovering. Do I want to read more? Sure – will I? Probably not…I have an ever expanding list of books to read, but until I am able to set aside thirty minutes to an hour a day to just reading, it won’t happen. As for writing, I’ve gotten back into my poetry – although I’ve only put one foot in for now. I’m still conceptualizing stories on a daily basis, what comes of all these ideas however, who knows? And as for these (and other) blogs…well, as I’ve already mentioned in this post – I’m motivated to get this started once again. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Past Entries – Don’t worry about past entries, topics, or anything if you don’t want to – however, if you (or any of our new members) are bored one day and decide to rehash some golden topics (and there are definitely some gems that got overlooked) – feel free to do so. I am always up for discussing something already discussed and given the time element, there’s a good chance my opinion has changed…so you’d be getting a new discussion participant as well!

NPR – I too have occasionally found the pleasures of listening to NPR during my over abundant time spent in cars, driving nowhere. Sounds Eclectic, in particular, hits the spot in this time when I can’t afford as many new CDs as I’d prefer (at one point in time in the somewhat recent past, I was getting 3 new CDs a week, now I’m lucky to get that in a three-month span). My latest obsession has been podcasts, I can download something to my laptop and then listen to it during my long drives and because it’s controllable, I can pause it and not miss a beat, or refer back to something later. I will likely, now that I’ve discovered them, subscribe to more podcasts than I can listen to in a day, and then get rid of them all, but for the time being – my car rides are filled with talk radio and I don’t think I ever thought I’d say that.

Music – finally, a topic of my own…recently I read somewhere that people often stop following new music around the age of 23 and just rely on old favorites for any “new music” fix they may have. This frightens me, not because I’m quickly catching 23, but because I can feel this happening and I like to argue that it’s due to external conflicts, not internal desires (I have no money, it’s not that I don’t want new music), but how honest am I being with myself there? I have a mile long list of CDs I want, and that list grows more and more every day, but most of the CDs I’m adding to the list are…from that old group of favorites I know I like. When I can afford a new CD, I get one I know I’ll like, I’m not willing to take a chance at a crap CD from a new band because I get so few new ones – I have to make the most of what I get.

Lego – the Lego mini-man (you know, the little yellow guy), is turning 30 this year. Discuss Lego’s, their effect on society and their outlook as we head into a more and more digital age.

That’s all for today people, more later as I have lot’s of ambitious posts sitting in the wings, but no promises (as you see – post Friday night became post Wednesday afternoon).

Ta.

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