Oh, Joy - My second tag ever

Okay, this time the tag subject is one that is very dear to my heart - Joy!
Holly Lisle started the tag and Carter, Jean and Heather all decided I needed more tag practice.
Lucky for me this is a subject I can never tire of.

Well, it just so happens that the last (and only) time I've used the word joy in a post was in the context of the "joy of reading". I can't believe how appropriate that is. Makes me joyful...

Just to make sure this wasn't the only mention of happiness in my blog, I've checked happy (the other words aren't my style):

I was so happy; the sky was the limit.

For me, for now, I'm so happy to be sitting again in my office, at my desk, typing away at my keyboard with my familiar computer and -- without a soul around.

I never thought I would be so happy to be back - yey!

I'm usually a happy person...

I'm so happy to be home again.

I've submitted what I needed to submit and while I'm not happy about my overall progress, I'm happy that I've at least accomplished this.

That makes me happy.

Most times I'm happy because I choose to be.

I'm happy to report I was too busy writing at night to update you.

Seems I didn't need to look that hard for joy in my life and that it doesn't take much to make me happy - reading, writing, internet access, peace and quiet, etc. I was happy to see the numerous times I've mentioned I was happy. Other than the above sentences I found, there were many more happies in the comments, from me, and occasionally from others.

Last, but not least, I even wrote a post about happiness not too long ago: Meditation, Happiness and Mind Control. It's one of the posts I love the most and one I am most proud of even though it didn't seem to create as much interest.

Now for the tagging part, let's see:
Liz, Gina, Yzabel, rdl, Terry

(Eric, Cavan and Trée this is the second tag I'm not tagging you because I'm certain you'd ignore me... :)

Oh, and if anyone wishes to ignore me - no worries. Feel free...

THE SEARCH FOR JOY

Search your blog for the word "joy" used in the context of "happiness." If you cannot find the word in your weblog, you may use any of the select list of synonyms below.

joy - amusement, bliss, cheer, comfort, delectation, delight, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, exultation, exulting, felicity, gaiety, gladness, glee, good humor, gratification, happiness, hilarity, humor, jubilance, liveliness, merriment, mirth, pleasure, rapture, regalement, rejoicing, revelry, satisfaction, wonder

If your weblog does not include a built-in search engine, then you can use Google to search it only for the word you wish to find.

If you’ve found the word and it was not used facetiously or sarcastically, good for you. All you need to do is link to your earlier entry, and write a few words about that joyous moment. If, however, you have no joy (whole words only) in your weblog, you must dig deep in your soul and find something wonderful in your life right now. One little thing that fills you with warmth, that bubbles you over with quiet happiness, or tickles you with its good-hearted hilarity, or makes you glad you just took a breath, and are getting ready to take another. It doesn't have to be anything big. A smile someone gave you; your cat on your shoulder; the way the light angles through your window and casts rainbows on your floor. All it has to be is something genuine, something real, something that matters to you.

Because we all need joy in our lives, and need to take the time - from time to time - to recognize it. And sometimes, we need to pass it on.

Even if we're a big pain in the ass when we do.

When you've dealt with your own joy, pass the quest on to five other bloggers.

Categories: meme, misc

Boring Admin Stuff

I've decided not to wait until my new template is ready before updating my links.

The template that some of you were kind enough to comment on was a table, which wasn't my first choice, so now I've reverted back to floating 3-col CSS template. And it's not that easy. At least not for me. But I'm stubborn when it comes to such things.

If any of you linked to my template page, thank you, but there's no need. Really. It will be deleted or just used as an experimental coding page for me.

I hope I didn't mess up my links since I'm doing it manually. Please let me know if I did. It was just an oversight if you used to be there and you no longer are.

The joy tag will be the next post. Promise :)

Categories: blogging, coding, misc

Dark Matter in Art, in Writing

It's been a while since we talked science, and don't you worry, we'll get to writing too.
Today, I finally caught up on some of my science news of the past week.
Seems that I missed a lot of news about Dark Matter. To those unfamiliar, a quick explanation from Wikipedia:

In cosmology, dark matter refers to hypothetical matter particles, of unknown composition, that do not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be detected directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter such as stars and galaxies.

Just to explain it a little bit further, or more plainly perhaps (and those who know better are welcome to add and correct), it was argued back in 1933 by Zwicky that the gravity of cluster galaxies is insufficient to hold it together, and that there must therefore be additional gravity from dark matter, or otherwise the cluster would fly apart.

One news item I missed seems to have given the final proof:

[...]an Israeli cosmologist showed that the existing model of elliptical galaxies was wrong, proving that dark matter was there all along.

(Of course that this still isn't a smoking gun, but it is sufficient to continue assuming in dark matter's existence).

Now let's switch gears. You may recall that two posts ago I questioned what is art. I claimed that art is beyond skill and beyond creativity. I claimed that art is something that combines all of these but I was hard pressed to find an exact definition. Then, in my comments, ObilonKenobi said that art is more than the sum of its parts.

Well, I think that's just it. What makes art art? What makes a good book art? Dark Matter.
That invisible, undetectable something that helps bind the sentences, the paragraphs, the ideas, the plot, the characters in a way that is more than simply the sum of its parts. Something we cannot necessarily pinpoint or see but that we can identify its existence when it is present. It helps bring a good book together and hold it there in what we call a work of art.

Maybe if scientists one day find a way to 'see' dark matter, that would also be the day in which we'll find a way to identify artistic dark matter.

Categories: writing, science, art

My First Tag Ever

I've never been tagged so this is quite exciting.
Here are the rules as they were passed to me by Jean:

1. Delve into your blog archive.

2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).

3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas.

5. Tag five people to do the same.

I already mentioned my luck two posts ago. Well, this time is no different:
My 23rd post - Classical Reading - consisted of one (that's 1) sentence only:

I've posted this list of sites where I read classics online on my other blog, but it's also important for writers to read the classics.

Then a link to another post.

So I went to my 22nd post - Beginnings are Hard, Endings are Even Harder - Part II - and found a fifth sentence there. Hold your breath - it's a beaut:

But no worries, it's not so much.

I couldn't leave it at that, this being my first tag and all, so I tried my 24th post (the instructions do specify: "Find your 23rd post (or closest to).").
My 24th post was about writing discipline. I should be able to find a good 5th sentence here. So here goes:

When professional and successful writers keep emphasizing the importance of writing, they don't mean only for the sake of practicing and improving, they also mean for the sake of discipline.

I can breathe again, now that's much better.

As for meaning, subtext or hidden agenda - well... er... yeah... - I'm a pretty straight forward person, so I couldn't find any subtext or hidden agenda, and the meaning isn't worth repeating really.

Jean had such a beautiful post and meaning (go read), and I have the above. What can I do???
Nothing, I guess, except fulfill the last part of the tag and tag five other people:
- Easywriter - cause her sentence will be full of subtext Okay, so Easywriter's been tagged for this one (popular lady), so instead I'm tagging...
- Jennifer - cause I know she'll enjoy it the most

- Patry - cause her sentence will be full of meaning

- Pat - cause she's bound to have a hidden, cynical agenda (and probably get pissed at me ;)

- Lee - just to bug him (Lee posted his tag on an earlier date. He thought he could avoid detection. Well, tough. Lee's post where he did indeed tag five others.

- AriadneK - cause I'm curious to see what "fumed" her on that day :)

Alas, I'm limited to five.

Categories: misc, meme

Art

Yesterday I spent about four hours discussing different issues with six other people, the oldest was in his later 60s, and the youngest in her early 20s. One thing just led to another, you know how it goes.

We started off talking about a horrendous case where an 11-year-old-boy was turned into a sex slave to six other boys aged 12-16. We tried to understand the seemingly increasing numbers of these cases, so we discussed education and parental ability to control over internet/TV. This led us to discuss the effectiveness of tough laws as a deterrent effect, which led us in turn to Singapore and corporeal punishment.

And so the conversation continued with different views expressed until we reached the subject of art, and more specifically - what is art?
Before I continue telling the rest of the discussion and what we finally agreed on, or what I agreed on, I want to digress, because not too long ago in my post about my
poet friends we started discussing what is art right here.

Pat Kirby said:

I respect any art form (except maybe freaky modern art where a guy puts a toilet seat in a corner and calls it Man's Frustration or something equally un-pithy).

In response to my question if the example she gave was for real, she replied:

I think I saw the toilet seat thing, looong ago, in Newsweek article about an art exhibition. I think art is the manipulation of one thing into...I dunno, something else. The idea that someone can "artfully" (ha) array toilets or other furnishings, affix some philosophical significance to the arrangement and call it art...offends me.

Lee Carlon also had something to say about the subject (in reply to my complaint about extreme abstract art):

As for the art thing, it's how you arrange the triangle and the square in relation to each other that counts.

Done right, and with the correct understanding of colour, light, shading and composition, a simple triangle and a square could represent man's continuing struggle to dominate his environment and attempts to come to terms with his own human-ness, coupled with the...

No I'm sorry, you're right. It's nonsense.

There were other great comments there especially from Eric.

I agreed with what was said above; I simply refuse to accept everything and anything that someone calls art as art.

And so back to my great conversation from yesterday. We mentioned how fashion can affect art or what is perceived as art and aesthetics. We mentioned how skillful street portrait painters aren't necessarily artists despite their high skill level. We mentioned how the context matters - Once "something" is in a museum it becomes art.

We tried to get to a definition we were comfortable with and here is what we agreed on:
Art is something made by a human with intent behind it and that follows certain rules of aesthetics. It has to be combine skill and creativity.

Two things follow from this:
1) What is aesthetics?
2) A skillful artist who knows the rules can break them and create something very artistic. In the manner of Picasso's examinations of paintings, or a good author who breaks grammar rules intentionally.

I realize I'm opening a can of worms here, but - opinions?

Categories: writing, art

100 Blogs in 100 Days

I can't believe it!
The Blog Herald featured little me in their 100 Blogs in 100 Days and of course it had to be my luck that it happened while I was away and I missed it. So here it is: Day 45: All Kinds of Writing.

My first reaction was jubilation naturally, but then I couldn't stop laughing (still am) at my luck. How could I not? I was featured on The Blog Herald, as Milly, while I was on a few different excruciating flights. That's me. Always a day late...

Oh, well. At least I'm featured and I even got the whopping number of five (that's 5!) visits from the Herald.

Must be my punishment for harassing the nice sales lady for half an hour yesterday when I was in the Milan airport about the right kind of Limoncello and grappa. Not to mention how I raided the Lindt sales guys who just kept giving me more samples (or was it me demanding more samples?). And they all had that adorable Italian accent.

Alas, Italy wasn't my final destination, but I'm here and I'm connected and I hope to have a more meaningful post by the end of the day. In fact, I started writing one on the plane, but the plane had an "engineering problem" and the lights went out, including the movie screen. So there I was, without a light to read or a movie to watch and with my laptop out of juice. I ended up staring at the back of the seat in front of me for over four hours. No wonder I took my frustration out later at the duty free.

Thank you all for coming to visit while I was away and commenting on my new template. I see I still have some work to do...

Raising a Limoncello glass now - To Friends!

One for the Road

This weekend is Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada.
I read Shirazi's post about Ramadan, and I read Carter's post about Rosh Hashana. Yom Kippur will be on Wednesday/Thursday.

I just found it interesting that this year all three holidays/important days were in such close proximity. Maybe this is the year that things will change... world peace... who knows?


In the next few days (probably until Wednesday), I won't be able to post. I might still have internet access until Monday though.

I know that some of you, being the sneaky people that they are ;), have already discovered my template test site. If you feel like it, please have a look and tell me what you think template experiment.

I haven't updated my blogroll in a while, but it will be done when the new template is up and running. Please be patient with me.


And in case you get bored:

Games:
• Daily Puzzle I found through Cool Beans Mama
• Samorost - a simple point and click web game.

Quizzes:
• What's Your 2005 Summer Anthem?
• What Muppet are you? - I'm Gonzo the Great of course.
• How Boyish or Girlish Are You? - I'm 60% Boyish and 40% Girlish
• What Does Your Birth Date Mean?
• What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
• the spacefem.com html color quiz

Sources:
Shaken & Stirred
Ramblings from the Desert
Rantings and Ravings
Death by Absurdity
Renegade Mom

Categories: quiz, misc, games

For Word Lovers

No, not MS Word. Just words.

I found an article today about Weird and wonderful vocabulary from around the world.

Apparently, this guy, Adam Jacot de Boinod, wrote this book - The Meaning of Tingo: And Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World where he collected words that have no direct translation in English. Some of them very culturally specific and some are just specific. For example: tingo--from the Pascuense language of Easter Island--means "to borrow objects from a friend's house, one by one, until there's nothing left".

Some of my favourites:

• KOSHATNIK Russian - A dealer in stolen cats.
• BUZ-BAZ Ancient Persian - A showman who makes a goat and monkey dance together.
• GRILAGEM Brazilian Portuguese - The practice of putting a live cricket into a box of newly faked documents, until the insect's excrement makes the paper look convincingly old.
• SEIGNEUR-TERRASSE French - Someone who spends time, but not money, at a café.
• NYLENTIK Indonesian - To flick someone with the middle finger on the ear.
• LATAH Indonesian - Uncontrollable habit of saying embarrassing things.
• DESIR Malay - The sound of sand driven by the wind (isn't that poetic?)

Now if only someone could write a story using the above words...

Update: Trée actually used all these words in a reply to my comment in his FNF: East and West post. You have to check it out. I couldn't stop laughing.

Update 2: Eric started a new blog called Teh Blog Father in which he reviewed this post. Go here.
Anyone is welcome to submit to Teh Blog Father to be reviewed. Don't wait - go check it out and submit your post!

Categories: writing, words

Top Ten Questions Writers Ask

Poets & Writers brings us Top Ten Questions Writers Ask.

This is a great resource for the newbie to the publishing world. It's short, succinct and comprehensive. It's a good start.

For the more seasoned writer it can serve as a quick reminder.

Categories: writing, publishing

New Sci-Fi Magazine - New Market

I can't believe I missed the announcement on September 29th but a friend emailed me this:
Card Debuts Web Magazine

Multiple award-winning SF author Orson Scott Card told SCI FI Wire that he will be helming a new online genre fiction magazine, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show.
[...]
Card said that he considers new writers to be the lifeblood of the magazine, and Medicine Show will be accepting submissions from authors after the first issue appears. "We're paying 6 cents a word, up to $500, in the ballpark for a professional publication," he said. The first issue of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show will debut Oct. 15.

From Tobias Buckell

No word about how to submit, though through the grapevine and message boards at Hatrack River, his personal site, it looks like graduates of his workshop are making some sales there.

Via Scifi.com
Via Card's site

Categories: writing, publishing, markets, science-fiction, magazines

Retro Car

Okay, I'm not a big car enthusiast, but this was just too cool not to share.

In Nissan's new model - Pivo - the cabin rotates 360 degrees. This means that if you drove this car and had to drive in reverse, instead of turning your head and twisting your body, you could just turn the cabin.

Other features:
- 3 seats
- electric
- cool dashboards gadgets and other new features.

Articles (each one with a different picture):
New concept car: a rotating egg on wheels
NISSAN AND ARTIST MURAKAMI TEAM UP TO UNVEIL PIVO
Nissan's new concept car: a rotating egg on wheels

Categories: misc

Another Angle on Copyright Issues and Ebooks

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First Yahoo!

You could just tell it wasn't going to be long before Yahoo! dipped it's hand into digitizing books.
Yet, I always had a soft spot for Yahoo! and even now they haven't disappointed me.

Instead of going head first into the fray, banging whoever is in its way like Google did, Yahoo! chose to digitize public domain books or those books whose copyright owners have given permission. Very different from Google's negative option where all books will be digitized unless authors specifically asked not to digitize their books.

And what's the difference between Yahoo!'s collection and, say, Project Gutenberg?
Not much except it allied itself with Adobe and others to perhaps give a better service.

Articles:
Yahoo jumps on the library bandwagon
Yahoo! follows Google into print minefield
Yahoo to digitize public domain books


Second - Digital Music vis a vis Ebooks

I don't know if you heard yesterday, but digital music sales soared in the first half of 2005, up 259 percent compared to the first half of 2004.
At the same time, physical media sales went down by about 6%.

Books and music are two different things of course. While music lends itself to being digitized, a print book doesn't (have you ever tried scanning a whole book?)

And yet, we can see by example that the fight against piracy is taking effect and while actual CD sales decreased, digitized media sales increased, offsetting somewhat the decline in CD sales. But more importantly perhaps is that people actually bought digital music as opposed to downloading it online. Could it be that the education helped?

Regardless, I think this shows great hopes for ebooks and for containing piracy in the digital world.

Articles:
Legal music downloads soar as CD sales fall
Digital music revenues soar
Digital music sales triple

Categories: writing, publishing, ebook

Name the Nobel Prize Winners

In this "game" you're supposed to identify the Nobel prize winner from a partial photo.
I recognized four and I think I also know who two others are. The rest - I have no idea. Can you do better?

Slate Magazine will award the winner with "a Slate hat and a signed copy of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank, by Slate Deputy Editor David Plotz."

Link

Categories: game, misc

Solar Eclipse

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Eclipse
Uploaded on October 3, 2005
by rowrguez

In one of my previous posts I mentioned that there would be a solar eclipse today over Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.

What is it about a solar eclipse that still excites us?
Why does it still seem magical? Mystical?

I can understand that for our ancestors this was a disturbing phenomenon, but why is it still so enchanting for us? Don't we all know it's only one object in the way of another. Nothing more to it. Is all!

We love the mysterious and the supernatural, one might say, yet a solar eclipse isn't supernatural. It is very natural, only in a super, grand way.

I react the same way to any eclipse and I can't understand why. I read fantasy knowing very well it is just that. Why then do I bother? What is it that attracts me to a world I don't live in? What is it that attracts all of us?

If you want to read a beutiful magical eclipse experience, please read Yzabel's description in the comments.

There's also a pretty picture in the Guardian.


Uploaded on October 3, 2005
by Vedia

Categories: science, writing

Just Because Atwood Does It Doesn't Mean You Can Too

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I'm finally out of my Reading Slump, and am happily reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I'm really enjoying it.

Of course, I'm reading as a writer as Karen so well noted, so I pay attention to writing techniques and methods (without the joy of reading being spoiled though).

First I noted that Atwood wrote the novel in present tense which is by itself different from your usual run-of-the-mill novel. Then I noticed that Atwood used other writing devices not often found in mainstream. Somewhat experimental writing I would say.

What if this was Atwood's first novel? Do you still think it would have been published? Would it have been published as it is now, without being butchered?

I think that what established writers can "get away" with is very different from what a first-timer can. I think that if this was someone's first novel, they'd never publish it. Too risky. Too experimental. At most, they'd "edit" it completely.

(Please don't take it as an attack an Atwood, quite the opposite. It's more of a criticism of the publishing world).

Categories: writing, publishing

Movie Stars As My Characters

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This was Cavan's question: What would be your Dream Cast?
That is, what actors would you choose to play the characters in your novel?

I bet Cavan had no idea how much time I needed to think about it.

Not being very visual, this question took me places I wasn't familiar with. I had the big picture in my head but not the details. I knew how I want my characters to look in general, or I had a specific thing in mind, like big nose or large breasts, but not everything.

Also, the big difference was that I find film stars to look unreal, very plasticky, if you know what I mean.

Even after a long hard thought, I wasn't successful.
Here are my (incomplete) choices:

The gals:
- Protagonist - Holly Marie Combs (Piper Halliwell from the show Charmed). Holly is one of the most natural beauties I've seen on TV or on the big screen. She's also not impossibly skinny. She looks normal.
- Secondary heroine - Renée Zellweger - both my heroine and Rene are hotties. Need a blond too.
- Minor female characters - Tina Majorino who can play the geek well, Emily Perkins who can be my disturbed smart dyke, and I still need to think of one more.

The guys -
- Antagonist - Chris Martin (another pic), vocalist of Coldplay. He's good-looking enough without being Brad Pitt. (When I was looking for a picture I found out he's married to Gwyneth Paltrow and that they have a kid - pop-culture trivia.)

- Actually, I couldn't come up with any movie stars for the rest of my guy crew. They're all too pretty. I need a good-looking guy with a pronounced nose for example. The only guys I can think of are rock stars, not movie stars. Rock stars tend to look more real. I'd have Chris Cornell and Kurt Cobain (we are talking fantasy here, right?) and Eddie Vedder just to complete the grunge trio. So Cornell can be the Don Juan, Kurt can be the lover, and Eddie the disturbed smart guy.

This was a very good exercise for me. Recommended.

Categories: wrirting, characters

Things I Find Interesting, Just the Facts

Uncovered Capote novel published

An early novel written by Breakfast at Tiffany's author Truman Capote is to be published after being found last year.

Serenity

From Salon


Joss Whedon's unfairly canceled TV series "Firefly" comes to the big screen -- and marvelously. But for all its wit, it's just not the same.

From Slate


Joss Whedon
Why he should stick to television.

Bird flu 'could kill 150m people'

Experts fear birds will carry the virus across borders
A flu pandemic could happen at any time and kill between 5-150 million people, a UN health official has warned.

List of top 100 intellectuals includes only 10 women

Commenting on the list, writer David Herman criticises its strong male content, querying the whereabouts of the new generation of female intellectuals.

Solar Eclipse Oct. 3 for Europe, Asia, Africa

If you plan to be anywhere in Europe, Africa or parts of western and southern Asia on Monday, Oct. 3, you will be treated to a solar eclipse.

An update about my pop-culture post: Some poor sod actually reached my post after searching "Paris Hilton" Pregnant. I can't imagine his/her disappointment when reading my views about pop-culture and realizing that any information about Paris Hilton's pregnancy is miles away from this blog.

Categories: misc

Question About Writing Markets

I used to list writing markets (for freelance, short fiction, novels etc.) and writing contests here.

Would anyone be interested in this? Should I bring back this feature?

I don't mind doing this, I have an extensive DB, but at the same time I wouldn't want to waste my time if no one cares.

Categories: writing, markets, publishing, blogging

More Blogging Issues - This Time It's Personal

it's me as me
Uploaded on September 12, 2005
by Born Sleepy

In my previous post, Meditation, Happiness and Mind Control, Virginia from Sumptuosity asked me to share some information about myself. It got me thinking. What kind of information am I willing to share?

I discovered that I'm not willing to share much online in terms of personal details, but I am willing and in fact am sharing quite a bit. My thoughts. Which is more than I share with most of my non-bloggy friends, save a couple of my very best, of course.

It's not that I'm two different people, it's just that I see it as two different forms of expression. But I'm always me.

This whole thing led to another thought that Carter planted in my head when he asked Why am I blogging?
I've realized that it's not that easy to answer.
The reasons why I started blogging are very different from the reasons I'm blogging now. And even now I'm not one-hundred percent sure.

I think that one of the main reasons I blog is the immediate feedback re my writing. Not just the writing itself, but the subjects I choose, the way I discuss them and the angle I take. I make mental notes about what I see (maybe I should make actual notes). Some things I take to heart and change according to what I find works better, that is if it works for me too - like subject matter, but some things I don't - like the pictures I choose.

I see that many of you put your full names on your blog and regard your blog as self promotion (in addition to other things I'm sure). I also see some who use aliases, but then feel more comfortable discussing some personal details. Do you give it any thought? Did you decide on boundaries you wouldn't cross?

Karen, the Fantasy Scribe had another take on the matter.

Other questions Carter asked in his post:

• Do you post your first draft or edit?
  I edit. Not very successfully I might add. And only if not inebriated, I should say.


• Why? - asked and answered above.


• How much time do you spend thinking about and preparing a post before it goes online?
  I'll give you one of my favourite answers - that depends. It depends on the topic and on the time I have.


• Anything else you'd like to add? - asked and answered above.

Homework complete. Phew!

Categories: writing, blogging

Shonky Coding or Markuping

As some of you may know I've been working on my template.
You see, I want to add many more things to my sidebar, but alas, I have only one sidebar with little room left in it. So I want another one.
At the moment, the third column keeps coming at the bottom right of the second column, the one to its left. Be it another sidebar or the main content. I've tried both ways.
(I don't want to go the table route, but I may have to.)
If anyone has seen a good template for that, please let me know.

I've been waiting for quite a while to use the word shonky. I believe it's Australian in origin. I've learnt it from Lee who challenged me to use it in a post of my own. So here it is and I hope I used it right...

From freesearch

shonky
adjective AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH INFORMAL
of low quality

(Now I'm going to find out how to my shame I was the only one who had to look shonky up.)

Categories: blogging, coding, words

Meditation, Happiness and Mind Control

Uploaded on August 1, 2005
by Richardsu

Once upon a time there was a martial arts practitioner -- me.

In the martial art I practice(d), meditation is done standing. The thighs are bent so that all the weight is absorbed by the leg muscles. In addition to dealing with the shaking legs and burnt muscle sensation, one is supposed to also clear his/her mind and focus on some distant point (there's more to it but I'm giving you the quick version).

To be honest, I hated it. Not so much because of the rigorous stance but more because I had a hard time "clearing my mind" and because, truth be told, I'd get bored. However, it's been nearly two years since I stopped practicing and I miss it terribly. More and more each day. I can't explain why I miss it, or what it is that I miss about it most. I also can't explain what is different about me when I practice (other than not having any bruises from sparring) than when I don't. I just know/feel that I miss it.

Uploaded on February 7, 2005
by ze1

Then, a while back, I watched a show - The Pursuit of Happiness - where, among other things, they checked brain waves of Tibetan Monks(they meditate a lot). The brain waves showed that the monks were happy. Very happy.

It's very preliminary work, but the implication may be that the lamas are able to move right through distressing events that overwhelm the rest of us – in other words, one of the keys to their happiness.

It may tell us something about our potential. "Our brains are adaptable, our brains are not fixed. The wiring in our brains is not fixed. Who we are today is not necessarily who we have to end up being," Davidson says.
[...]
"Rather than thinking about qualities like happiness as a trait," Davidson says, "we should think about them as a skill, not unlike a motor skill, like bicycle riding or skiing. These are skills that can be trained. I think it is just unambiguously the case that happiness is not a luxury for our culture but it is a necessity."

About the same time I also came across this article in Nature about mind focusing as a result of meditation, again, of Tibetan Monks. (Alas, the article is now restricted to paying customers so here is another source for the same article.)

Meditation could conceivably help people with depression, or who have recently suffered a trauma, to stop their minds constantly dwelling on negative thoughts, she suggests.

"It has long been claimed by practitioners of meditation that when faced with bad news or tragic events they are able to acknowledge the tragedy, but rather than dwell on the situation they have the capacity to redirect their thoughts to other, more positive directions," Carter says. "This is something that the average person cannot do."

Happiness comes easily when you're open to it
Uploaded on March 13, 2005
by OpenEye

I, personally, always thought that the mind is something we can control and exercise more than we think. If we're down, we can make ourselves 'up' by positive thinking, if we're obsessed and/or worried we can calm ourselves by being occupied. The trick is not to get dragged down by emotions and not to let them control you. It's not easy to accomplish, and one needs to practice this a lot, but it is possible as the monks demonstrate.

What does that have to do with writing? I think everything in life has to do with writing, but I also think I wrote better and more when I was practicing.

My point? I have many: First, I think that despite my already existing scheduling problems, I'll go back to practicing my art this fall - obviously I miss meditating. Second, I'm going to control my mind into writing now. Last, I'm a true believer in happiness. Most times I'm happy because I choose to be. I think most people can be too. If with meditation, prayer or physical activity. Anything that can focus a mind is a good practice. More than anything, I'm a happiness practitioner.

[[A note: Meditating isn't practicing another religion. One can be of any faith and meditate, it isn't against any religious 'law' as far as I know.]]

Categories: science, martial-arts, writing

Zen and the Art of Solving Computer Problems

I've written a post the other day about meditation, happiness and scientific research in the matter (of happiness). I haven't posted it yet.

Today my computer went caput all of a sudden and I'm sorry to say that no Zen and no meditation helped. I'm cranky, annoyed, even a bit depressed.

This afternoon I'll take it to the tech (unless the motherboard jumpers reset will work first).

For now I'm on the laptop trying to remember where I left off.

I'm pretty sure I haven't lost the data on the hard drive, but if I did that would suck big time. Last time I backed my system was a few months ago.

So no Zen and no art of solving computer problems. Just angst.

Update: The motherboard jumpers reset worked. I'm back up and running baby. You should see the stupid grin I have on my face - YAY!

Back to our regular programming tomorrow. Now, I need a beer!

Pop Culture and... Writing???

A while ago, around May, I wrote this:

Paris_magazine
Uploaded onAugust 25, 2005
by Strouss Gallery

It seems that more often than not I miss what's going on in the pop culture world.

As one whose two best friends are pop culture junkies, I sometimes feel left out of the conversation. Paris Hilton was the topic of their conversation yesterday. It only hit me then. Paris Hilton is a name of a person and not the name of the Hilton hotel in Paris as I've been thinking all along. Shame. Shame on me.

How important is it to be pop-culturally updated?
Do I need to know who married who, divorced who, had an affair, is pregnant etc? No.
Do I care about these things? Ahhh... that's where the big difference lies.

No, I don't care. And hence these kind of news items brush me tangentially, never leaving an impression.

Most people, I guess, do care. To different degrees. To some it's a form of gossip, to others it's a form of idolizing stars, and to other yet it's a way of staying informed. They view pop culture news as any other news. I disagree, but hey, it seems that I'm in the minority.

For the sake of not being left out anymore I'm going to make a changes in my life. A conscious effort. I promise to watch one of these pop culture shows once a week. You know, like Extra. I will know who is who in no time, and then I will feel worthwhile. Knowledgeable. Able to hold my own in a conversation about Paris Hilton.

I found the above little blurb today and laughed. I didn't watch even one Extra since. I still have no idea who dates who. Sometimes, when I open technorati, I see in their Top Searches This Hour something like "Britney Spears baby" - so I figure she finally gave birth (yes, yes, the news of her pregnancy reached even me), or "Demi Moore" which I have no idea why she would be a top search, but I figure there must be something going on.

I still haven't decided how important it is to my life in general and my life as a writer to know more about pop-culture, but judging from my not keeping my promise, I'm leaning towards -- not important.

Categories: writing, general, misc

GenX, Health and World Series - Science Stuff

I had no idea my previous post about the Banned Books Week would lead to a discussion of a controversial nature. Being naive, I was certain every author and writer would automatically be against banning. I was wrong.

So to avoid any controversy this time--I hope--here's a few science snippets without any controversy attached to them--I think.

After giving the world Grunge music, my generation - GenX - is about to settle the moon - Generation X-plorers Energized by NASA's New Plans.

"We now have an opportunity for our generation to make our mark on human history," said George Whitesides, Executive Director of the National Space Society, age 31. "Our parents and grandparents took us to the Moon the first time. Now it's time for us to go back to the Moon to stay, and then head straight for Mars."

And I hope they will heed the warnings this time. Don't say that scientist don't warn and predict: Research Indicates Health Effects of Air Pollution Are Underestimated

They found that as the number of fine particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter increased, so, too, did the risk of dying: each jump of 10 micrograms per cubic meter corresponded to a 11 to 17 percent increase in the risk of dying from any cause.

And finally, as the world series approaches, this is just too funny. Go read how Watching World Series Causes Drop In Hospital Visits

During the most popular games (game seven of the ALCS and game four of the World Series) hospital visits were 15 percent lower than expected based on historical data.

Categories: science

Banned Books Week

We're in the midst of the American Library Asociation Banned Books Week.

It is hard to believe that today this is still going on, but here is the list of The Most Frequently Challenged Books Written by Authors of Color 1990-2000. And I beg you to look at the date. It doesn't say 1900, it says 1990-2000. The nineties, people.

Three of the 10 books on the "Ten Most Challenged Books of 2004" were cited for homosexual themes - which is the highest number in a decade. Sexual content and offensive language remain the most frequent reasons for seeking removal of books from schools and public libraries.

Between 1990 and 2000, of the 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom (see The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books)

Reasons: “sexually explicit” “offensive language” “unsuited to age group” “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism,” “violent” “promoting homosexuality,” “promoting a religious viewpoint.” “nudity” “sex education” “anti-family”

Seventy-one percent of the challenges were to material in schools or school libraries. Another twenty-four percent were to material in public libraries (down two percent since 1999). Sixty percent of the challenges were brought by parents, fifteen percent by patrons, and nine percent by administrators, both down one percent since 1999).

2004 Most Challenged Authors

Top Ten Challenged Authors 1990 to 2004

Book Burning

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." —Heinrich Heine, from his play Almansor (1821)

Fighting the Fires of Hate

Book Burning in the 21st Century

The Canadian Freedom to Read Week will take place on February 26 to March 4, 2006.

Categories: writing, publishing, books, fiction, literature

Some of my best friends are... poets

No Frigate Like a Book
Uploaded on August 25, 2005 by olivander

Those of you who know me for a while, know that I don't "do" poetry. I'm not sure why, but I think that poetry requires the kind of thinking that I'm incapable of. It requires deep thought and understanding of words, their meaning and their interaction and I'm simply not wired that way. My bane in English classes.

I accepted the fact long ago that while I may be able to do math, I won't be able to understand poetry. Fine. And yet, I find poets to be fascinating people. Their views on life and the living is usually very interesting to say the least. So as long as my poets' friends philosophizing isn't too deep, I'm there and listening.

What brought this whole discussion, or more like who?
Ken from Dark Sparks.
Why?
Because when I go visit blogs I shy away when I see poetry except if there are also other things that intrigue me in the blog. Except when the blogger is interesting.
So when I visited Ken's blog and explained to him that I don't "do" poetry, he asked me if I have any poet friends.
Mais oui, bien sûr (Hey, what do you want? I am Canadian, we speak French too :)
I realized that in fact I have many among my blogger friends.

So without further ado, but also without commenting on their poetry--I'm not one qualified to do so--here are my favourite bards:
First there is Patry with her Waitress Poems, then there is Lance who also posts his poetry on a regular basis. Now I'm getting to know Erin from Poetic Acceptance and Dana the Southern Gal. Others I visit who are poetically inclined are the muse and Liz. And it just come to my attention that Jennifer too writes poetry occasionally. If I forgot any other poets, I apologize, you're welcome to remind me.

Update:
1) I looked at my stats today and it seems people were clicking away at my poets' friends links. That makes me happy.
2) If it wasn't clear, Stranger Ken is also a poet.
3) Ericalso rhymes from time to time
4) I don't know the following blog, but was asked to add Nedful Things it to the list of poets.

Now, without opening a can of worms here, I would like to know how others feel about poetry.

Lyrics I like and even understand at times, although I'm not sure about this one:
From Tool, Album: ænima, Song: Forty-Six & 2

See my shadow changing,
Stretching up and over me.
Soften this old armor.
Hoping I can clear the way
By stepping through my shadow,
Coming out the other side.
Step into the shadow.
Forty six and two are just ahead of me.

Categories: writing, poetry

A New Version for the ... Bible

Religion is a topic I shy away from. Too many people feel too strongly about religion.

However, today I started my day with a post over at Monica Jackson's blog about the topics SFF writers discuss in their blogs, topics such as politics and social commentary, ones that Romance writers tend to avoid.

Then, I went over to the Guardian blog, just like that, to read some interesting things and came across a post that normally I wouldn't discuss here, but darn it, I'm a sci-fi writer (with a splash of mainstream) so I decided it's time to mention the issue here.

The Guardian post reveals that a new version of the Bible was published yesterday. This new version is designed to be read in under 100 minutes and contains only 39 chapters of the Old Testament and 27 of the New Testament.

So there you have it, I'm about to mention religion in my blog.

What do I think about this 100-Minute Bible?
Not much. I don't like it. First, as a writer and a reader. I always prefer to read the original version, and if I could, I would read all books in their original language too. Taking a book, any book, and mangling it in this fashion is presumptuous. It presumes to know the writer's intent, which in this case is a very loaded argument.
I think most people would agree with me: The religious folks would agree because someone has just changed the written word of God. The non-religious people would agree because The 100-Minute Bible is, simply put, a "butchered" book.

I think the intention behind this "abridged Bible" is to reach a larger audience. The language is simpler and the content shorter. I've mentioned before in my blog how we're facing a cultural dilution problem (and I will one day post about it in more detail). Well here is just one more example of this dilution problem.

A CNN article announcing the launch of the bible.

Categories: writing, publishing, copyright, religion

About Hurricanes, Science-Fiction and Recon Missions

Cracking the code for hurricane forecasts
Go beyond the skinny black line to get a clearer picture of storm's effect

First, forecasters take data [...] and come up with specific forecast points: these predict the storm will hit a certain location at a certain time.
[...]
The forecast points, linked together, produce the skinny black line you see on storm-tracking maps.

Next, forecasters add the cone of uncertainty by mathematically computing an error range, based on a 10-year average of prediction errors. Because predictions are more likely to be wrong the longer away they are made, this cone widens around the black line as it gets further away in time.
[...]
"Don't focus too much on the skinny black line," Kiser warned. Last year, for example, the black line showed Hurricane Charley heading for Tampa, Fla., but the storm took an unexpected turn and made landfall well south of the city, catching residents in the danger zone unaware.

Two relatively recent types of forecasts now supplement the storm track and its cone of uncertainty: the strike probability forecast and an experimental set of wind probability forecasts that is making its debut just this year.

Wild Weather in Art and Fiction

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many of us are wishing that we had some sort of control over the weather.
[...]
The earliest science fiction reference I know about for control of the weather is in John Jacob Astor's 1894 novel A Journey in Other Worlds - people use aeriducts to make rain at will; complete control over all weather is also foreseen.

Housing for Katrina Victims: Ideas from Science Fiction

In the wake of hurricane Katrina, and the flooding of New Orleans, hundreds of thousands of survivors have been left homeless
[...]
Easily errected temporary quarters should be first on the list.

Robert Heinlein, wrote about knockdown cabins before World War II, gave us the Quonset hut. Government procurers should be scouring military bases for similar items for rapid deployment in the affected states.
In his 1992 novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson writes about the U-Stor-It apartment:

More examples and pictures in the Article.


This is a couple of weeks old, but I thought that if we're on the subject, you might find it interesting:
Unmanned Planes Survey New Orleans Damage

Tiny, unmanned surveillance planes are being pressed into action for reconnaissance over Katrina-ravaged New Orleans in what defense contractors call the biggest civilian deployment ever for the technology.

Ten of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, have been taking turns this week flying from the New Orleans Naval Air Station and relaying photos of the devastation below to the Air Force.

Categories: Katrina, Rita, Hurricane, Science-fiction

Copyright Copyfight

In today's world of digital media and the WWW, I find it fascinating to follow the two ends of the copyright issue debate: those seeking to keep the laws and restrict access to their work through strict copyright laws, and those seeking to expand access to their work and change copyright laws.

The first group took action today:

Uploaded on August 22, 2005
by amidanyorai

From The Book Standard - Authors Guild Sues Google

After an ongoing battle between publishers, authors and Google over the search engin's right to digitize copyrighted material, a formal lawsuit has been filed against the company. The Authors Guild, [...] alleging that Google, which is making copyrighted material publicly accessible through its Google Print for Library program, is "engaging in massive copyright infringement at the expense and rights of individual writers."
[...]
"It's not up to Google or anyone other than the authors, the rightful owners of these copyrights, to decide whether and how their works will be copied."

The Guild, which represents more than 8,000 authors, [...] are seeking an injunction to stop the search engine from further infringement as well as damages.

A more comprehensive article about the lawsuit can be found here.

Uploaded on August 15, 2005
by Leo Prieto

The second group, with Cory Doctorow as its most prominent speaker, seeks to reform copyright laws.

From Doctorow's interview with Worldchanging -

Copyfight is the broad banner to describe people who are fighting for reforms to intellectual property -- trademarks, patents, copyrights and what are called "related rights" (broadcast rights and so on).

WIPO -- the World Intellectual Property Organization -- is the UN's most captive agency. WIPO was originally a stand-alone organization, essentially an industry consortium for rightsholders' interests, and they got brought in under the umbrella of the UN thirty or so years ago, with the understanding that they would change their practices to make them consistent with other UN instruments like the Universal Declaration on Human Rights -- humanitarian instruments -- and that it would become a humanitarian agency for development.
[...]
The choice is not simply one of piracy or monopoly. There is a whole rich middle ground of public domain and open information regimes which could give developing world countries the tools they need to serve humanitarian purposes, while protecting the legitimate interests of authors, performers and inventors. WIPO could have created a global knowledge goods regime which protected both the commercial and the humanitarian fairly.

More resources on the matter Electronic Frontier Foundation.

You can also check out one of my earlier posts on the matter Writers Unionizing and Free Books

Categories: writing, copyright, publishing

This is sick: Gambling on the next terror attack

This site, where-next.com has a gambling game.
What kind?
'Where will terror strike next?' kind.

Where-next.com is an exciting gambling game. The most accurate prediction on where terrorists will attack next, wins.

The person guessing the right technique used (a bomb attack, a suicide bomber, chemical weapons, etc.) and getting the closest location of the attack, [...] will receive the exclusive where-next.com T-shirt, showing the place and the time of the attack.

I understand it's sarcasm and a guerilla marketing technique of some sort, but I still think it's sick.

Categories: misc

Never Post Drunk, Homework and Lee's Story

Never Post Drunk
Last night I decided to post after having a couple. The result - the mess you see/saw in the previous post.
No doubt most of you were so entranced, moved and taken by the post that you couldn't take your eyes off it. Yes, I can delete it, but I choose to leave it there as a reminder.
Lesson learnt: Never Post Drunk or Semi-Drunk or even Somewhat Woozy
I should have known better...

Skin Deep by Lee Carlon
Skin Deep written by Lee Carlon is my kind of sci-fi flash. In less than 500 words Lee manages to tell a whole science-fiction story that covers a new technology, relationships and ends in a twist -- a funny one no less. Lee's use of dialogue helps bring forth the issues fast and to set the reader in the story. Conversely, the last part is devoid of dialogue for reasons you'll understand when you read the story. This contrast by itself is a clever technique.
Skin Deep is just fun all around and is also nominated for the AntipodeanSF Award. Go vote.

Now the homework.
We've been receiving so much homework lately, I don't know where to begin.
I'll start with 90 Great Comments Contest from the Glittering Muse

I have two:


• First from josh who said in my post about How does the singularity affect writers?:
  
  
  I have a friend who is a physicist. We have discussions.
  
  Him: "If you think 4 dimensions is hard, try eleven."
  
  Me: "Ahh, but what is a dimension, outside of something we as humans have invented as a benchmark of perception?"
  
  Him: "Now you're just being difficult."
  
  Me: "Ahh, but what is difficulty?"
  
  Him: "Get out of my house, you metaphysical titwomp."


• The other best comment comes from carterCarter in response to my post about Creativity and Insanity:
  
  
  I'm not crazy!
  
  Yes, I am!
  
  No, I'm not!
  
  Yes, I am!
  
  Shut up!
  
  You shut up!
  
  *sigh* I could probably get more done if all the other voices would just shut up.
  
  You shut up!
  
  *SIGH*
  

There's another funny comment from Cavan, but I think it would be too obscure for those unfamiliar with Napoleon Dynamite.

Categories: writing, misc, science-fiction

Hail Caesar

I was watching Rome the other day, you know, that new HBO series. Oh, well, maybe you don't know.
In any event, Rome. It's exactly about that, the senate, Caesar, Mark Anthony...

As soon as they mentioned Caesar on the show, I was in somewhere else. Ummmm, Caesar.
It wasn't before long that I was gingerly sipping on a bloody Caesar.

That was a few nights ago. Tonight, again, I saw the Clamato in the fridge, and immediately had the same thought - that is, ummmm, Caesar.

I'm sipping another Bloody Caesar now and posting so I couldn't resist telling you about my Caesar. And then it dawned on me. Brits know what a Bloody Caesar is, but do Americans? I believe not. I have tried to order Caesars in the States, but it was forever in vane - they didn't know what it was.

So, for my American friends:
A Bloody Caesar is like a Bloody Mary, only with Clamato juice instead of tomato juice.
This is how I make it:
In a glass full of ice cubes, pour some vodka, say 1oz.
Then add a bit of salt and pepper, a few lemon or lime drops, some Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to taste.
Add the clamato and stir.
If you can put a celery stick in the glass, do it.
For the sticklers out there, there's a salt mix for the glass brim, but I don't go that far.

This was posted in a semi state of soberness.

By the way, do Australians know about Caesars?

Where is my blogroll?

So this is what I've tried so far:
- I moved the blogroll around different places in my blog
- I took it off, then put it back on
- When I log in to blogrolling.com, I can see all my links
- I emailed blogrolling
Nothing helps. My blogroll is still missing. Day 3 (or 4) and counting.
If it doesn't appear by the end of the week, I'd have to use a manual link list, which isn't as easy as pressing a button on my browser whenever I encounter an interesting blog.

Suggestions anybody?

Update:
Seems this was only a precursor. I now can't see others blogrolls either. Only static links.

Categories: blogging

Hockeyyyyyyyy

Last night, after not playing for over a year, the Leafs finally hit the ice.
I was sure I'd be glued to the TV along with some friends and some bottled companions, but guess what, we forgot.
Serves them right anyways.

No worries, I'm sure that on those cold winter weekends I'll be back watching hockey like a good little Canadian.

Blogroll

For the past couple of days my blogroll isn't loading for some reason.
You're all still on it.
I wish I knew if the problem is with my template (I have been tinkering with it), or with blogrolling.com.
I hope to fix it soon.

My Blog Crush is...

As per Darren over at Problogger's request, I've started thinking about who my blog crush is.
This was hard.
I thought about it probably more than I should have, but it was interesting to me.
I started looking at the blogs I visit almost daily, the ones I enjoy so much and saw how in a way I have a crush on each of them:

While I have four new crushes, Eric, Lance, Jennifer, and Yzabel, I'm still just getting to know them.

11 Crushes
- No one touches me like Patry and Carter do.
- No one makes me laugh like Josh and Pat do.
- Then there is the wisdom of Jean and the ever smart Gina.
- There is the sci-fi crowd of Lee and Cavan who also introduce me to the latest trends in the book business.
- Speaking of latest book trends, Georganna is a fountain full.
- And Trée is so cool that I was afraid to comment on his blog for a while.
- Yet, in order to be the writer I want to be, I would like to be able to write like easywriter. Easywriter's descriptive language is one of the finest I've seen. It is literary in the true sense of the word. It is poetry in prose. In fact, I had to stop commenting on her blog because I was embarrassing myself.
My crush on easywriter isn't new. I've already written about easywriter in an earlier post.

So there you go, my 11 blog crushes.

Categories: blogging, misc

This post will stay on top until the run on Sunday

Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 18-years-old.

Terry's leg was amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977, but despite going through his own ordeal, the suffering of other cancer patients touched him and he decided to start running across Canada, yes, with only one leg, to raise money for cancer research.

After practicing for 18 months, Terry started the Marathon of Hope in Newfoundland on April 1980.

He ran 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day and reached Thunder Bay, Ontario, but on September 1st Terry's cancer appeared in his lungs and he was forced to stop after running for 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles).

Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at age 22. Canada grieved.

More than $360 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world.

Terry's quotes:

I'm not a dreamer, and I'm not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.

If you've given a dollar, you are part of the Marathon of Hope.

You can find all about Terry Fox here.

Pledge Online
A person who is very dear to me collects pledges online here.
Donations are accepted from countries around the world.
September 14th - CAD$613.
September 15th - CAD$350 for a total of CAD$963.
September 16th - CAD$0 - for a total of CAD$963.
September 17th - CAD$205 for a total of CAD$1168.

I'll be running in Toronto, Beaches. Join me, if by running, donating or pledging.

My sincere thanks to Trée.

If you have any questions you can email me: allkindsmelly AT gmail.com

Update: Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot. I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I ran, and I'm glad I donated. The support was phenomenal and people were amazing. Thank you Terry Fox for the legacy you left behind.

Festival Movies and Sucky Writing

The Toronto International Film Festival closed its doors yesterday, but not before duping me into watching one of the films.
Don't get me wrong, some of my favourite films started off as festival films (along the lines of some of my friends are...), but I tend to be very cautious about the type of movie I go see in festivals. Quite honestly, most of them suck.

Yesterday, I had the displeasure of watching Festival. Yes, yes, a film in a festival called Festival. Should have been my first warning. Actually it was, but the ticket was free, so I figured, what the heck.

As writers, and as readers, you're about to cringe when I tell you all offenses the movie has committed. Such basic mistakes.

• First of, the movie has no plot. The whole bloody movie was bits and pieces of disjointed parts of obscure conversations, sex scenes (don't get excited, they weren't good), people hanging out, stand-up routines and fringe theatre acts.
  If these pieces had ever come together, I'd be more forgiving. But nothing. That's why I can't even give you a synopsis, but only tell you that the movie is about people who come to perform and judge in a fringe festival in Edinburgh.


• Second, the characters. My goodness, I shudder at the thought. There were too many of them to be developed. The characters that were more central were flat and stereotypical - a couple of assholes, a spiritual priest, a virginal goody girl, a going-for-the-top ho.


• The movie combined comedy and tragedy in a way that was unnerving. For example, one of the characters, a lonely person, dies alone, and the scene was comical - beats me why!


• Fine. I'd still be a hell of a lot more forgiving if it wasn't for the fact that the movie committed the worse offense - it left the audience with a sense of - so what? There was no resolution, no issue resolved, no sense to anything. Completely unsatisfying.

Just to prove to you that I like festival movies, I'll give you two other festival movies I liked.

The first is Broken Flowers. A Jim Jarmusch movie that won the Grand Prix in Canne this year. While not the best Jarmusch (but also not his worse), Broken Flowers is able to artistically combine the funny and the sad. The main character, Don, played by Bill Murray is developed and layered, as are the other characters, especially the brilliantly funny neighbour played by Jeffrey Wright. There is a plot, a conflict, some sort of resolution, all done in the Jarmusch understated way.

Another festival movie that became a cult movie is Napoleon Dynamite. The plot is minimal, the movie is slow paced, and yet there is character, evolution, resolution and even a cathartic ending.

From Napoleon Dynamite, I will leave you with one of the best speeches ever, Pedro's speech for presidency:

Hello.
I don't have much to say.
But I think it would be good to have
some holy santos brought to the high school...
to guard the hallway... and to bring us good luck.
El Santo Nino de Atocha is a good one.
My Aunt Concha has seen him.
And...we have a great F.F.A. schedule lined up--
and I'd like to see more of that.
If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true.
Thank you.

How does the singularity affect writers?

Prowler
Uploaded on September 8, 2005
by null photography

Most people humanize different objects to some degree or another.
I mean, how many times do we catch ourselves talking to our computer? Our car? That blasted Zerox machine at work???
Heck, by a show of hands, how many of us ever named an object, say a car, and then continuously referred to it by name, even when talking to friends?

As writers, we humanize things daily. I say 'things,' because we don't limit ourselves to objects, we humanize aliens, monsters and other figments of our imagination. We humanize them because that's the only way we know. We can skew them vastly to be creatures of evil or beings of pure goodness, but these are always human traits that we are familiar with.
[I believe it was Gene Roddenberry, and please correct me if I'm wrong, who said that most aliens on Star Trek should be humanoid because it was very important that they'd have eyes to show emotions (not only he gave the aliens eyes, he also gave them emotions).]

What does that have to do with the singularity?
The singularity, to those unfamiliar with the concept as Vernor Vinge put forth, claims that within a few decades technological advancement will be such that we would create a superhuman intelligence. Some claim it would be the end of the human era, and Kurzweil even tries to predict the future after the singularity in his new book The Singularity Is Near : When Humans Transcend Biology

Let's assume for a moment that we are on the verge of such a change, how can we write beyond that? Even if someone was smart enough to see beyond, others wouldn't comprehend. I personally doubt that it is possible for us with our average 100+ IQ to understand beings with an average of, I don't know, at least 200+ IQ. I do not think we can understand beyond our intelligence and therefore we cannot envision or predict past that.

Another example: one of the best books I've read that is truly trying to grasp a concept that is beyond our perception is Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer. This fictional account tries to go beyond our instinctive understanding of the three dimensional space and perceive a fourth one. In order to do that, Sawyer utilizes a derivation of the fourth dimension. Ingenious. But even here, the derivation brings it back to the familiar three dimensions.

Before I lose the non sci-fi folks, I should move on.

Now I'm going to tie writing to the singularity concept. Sawyer, despite a noble attempt, couldn't possibly write about the fourth dimension without writing it in terms he and we understand. Continuing along the same line, regardless whether or not we believe in the singularity, we cannot write past it. And similarly, as far as writing is concerned, we cannot write past the 'write what you know.' Case in point - humanizing objects, we cannot really avoid that.

The 'write what you know' writers' dictum, is not to be interpreted literally, otherwise we would not have fantasy, science-fiction and horror books, for example. It is also not to be interpreted as not exploring things we don't know, just as Sawyer did in his book. Researching and learning is part of being an author.

'Write what you know' as a human-being and as part of the human collective knowledge, memory and imagination.

You can learn more about the singularity here.

Categories: writing, process, singularity