At about 12:05 am on my birthday, I got up from my desk and went over to where Sean was sitting and said, "Kiss me, I'm 27!" (That then became the title of a post.)
I stayed up for about 45 more minutes, burning some stuff to DVD, and then went to bed.
I don't really remember when I got up. Sean was off work, and I didn't have anything to do really, so we both slept in. I think I got up around noon or so. After piddling around on the computer for awhile, I decided to go biking.
As I was getting ready to leave, Ben called to wish me Happy Birthday. I was so happy he called. We talked while I gathered up my things, carried the bike down the stairs, put the bike rack onto the car, put the bike on the rack, and tied the bike down securely. Then I was ready to go, and I sat in the car as we finished up our conversation. He said that he and Manda are going to have a reception for friends and family, and they don't know when but that it may be near the end of June. I said that as long as we had enough notice, Sean and I could both come. We hung up, and I headed off to bike in a cheerful mood.
It had been raining on and off all day, so I was hoping that I would hit a window of dryness while I was out riding. Because it was bound to be muddy, I went to the Greeneway instead of the Canal.
I pushed myself really hard. Normally I stop frequently to take pictures, but since it was rainy and I wanted to finish as soon as possible (lest I be caught in a downpour), I didn't take any pictures at all. I rode from the golf course down the new stretch of trail, to the intersection with the old Greeneway, up past the street where we used to come in from Mari and Kelly's old apartment, and past the Activities Center. Then I started to feel funny, and I was out of breath, so I stopped to rest for a moment. I ended up having to crouch to balance myself; apparently I was dehydrated. It wasn't hot at all; it was in the 60s, so I hadn't thought I could dehydrate that quickly. A few chugs from my water bottle, and a few more moments of rest, and I felt better.
I then got back on the bike and kept going. I forced myself to go as fast as I could. And, of course, I rode no-handed as much as possible. I do that all the time now. I can easily steer around people and gentle curves without using my hands. I've been thinking of finding some way of hooking small freeweights to my handlebars so I can use them while I'm biking. (Or, you know, getting wrist weights...)
I didn't stop again until the water fountain just before the bridge over Martintown Road, and at that point I stopped to get more water. But I didn't dawdle, and soon enough I was charging forward again, passing streets, going over another bridge...and then finally I was at the last water fountain before the end of the trail. I stopped, got some more water, and then rode up to the parking lot and turned around.
The way back was much faster, because it is more downhill. But I kept pedaling the entire time. I wasn't going to stop my workout for anything...especially since it started raining, and I needed to get back to my car in a hurry. Fortunately it was just sprinkling, so I didn't get too wet.
I didn't stop at all on my way back. The new stretch of trail that runs past the river has some severe inclines on it, and those slowed me up, but I powered through them as best I could.
The result was that I biked for an hour at over 12 mph. And I felt great.
Due to a huge puddle in the middle of the new trail, I was splattered with mud. I went to Wal-Mart looking quite the mess, and bought skim milk, whole wheat bread, and laundry detergent. Then I picked up some McDonald's for lunch/dinner (by then it was around 4:30) and went to R. Gabriel's for a smoothie. Since it was my birthday, they gave it to me for free :)
I got home, drove around to the carwash area to hose off my bike, parked, lugged the food and groceries upstairs, lugged my bike upstairs and carried it gingerly onto the deck to dry, changed clothes, and immediately started the laundry (including the muddy clothes I had been wearing). Then I sat down with my Cobb Salad and smoothie and watched some Kyou Kara Maou.
I basically did laundry and watched Kyou Kara Maou for the rest of the evening. It was neat to see how some of the characters who become influential later were introduced--Adelbert, notably. It was also interesting how Conrad (I guess that's the official spelling now) answered Yuuri's shy question, "Will you cry for me if I die?" (He said, "When that happens, we'll meet in another place." Now that I know more, I have a better idea of what he meant by that, and I find it bittersweet and complex.)
Towards the end of my day I logged onto AIM and IRC, chatting with various people about various things. I've started to think a lot about the AMRN lately; I've posted a few editorials there in past days about things I think are wrong with it. Of course, it's easy for an outsider to pass judgment. I've been thinking that I would like to become actively involved with the community again. And so I have offered to help Sam with site documentation. (This, in turn, has prompted me to once again search for ways to organize my varied projects. I have the Battlecry website, my own website, and now AMRN documentation on my plate. There are other things I'd like to get done, too, and apparently I'm going to have more contract work soon. I need a way to organize my tasks so that I can effectively complete them.)
After awhile, I decided to hit the sack, both because I was sleepy and because I had a doctor's appointment this morning. (Women's yearly exam. No problems.)
And that was my birthday. Not a whole lot of fanfare, but I enjoyed it.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
On the road to being prolific
I never used to write much. When I wrote, people liked it, but that never seemed to be encouragement enough for me. I wrote mainly for school. On the side, I started several stories that I never finished. I also journaled a little, writing every day in week or monthlong spurts and then neglecting to write again for months or even years.
That began to change when I started writing online. There was something about the experience that made me prone to write more often. Part of it is certainly the ease of it. All I have to do is go to a website and type in a form. That has made it simple and convenient for me to update frequently.
A second reason, of course, is the exhibitionist pleasure I derive from knowing that what I'm saying can be seen by anyone, anywhere in the world. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts through the Internet ever since I first started responding to messages on Bulletin Board Services. And the collaborative nature of a 'blog' was appealing. I liked that I could write something, and other people could answer it, and everyone could see everything. It was similar to what originally drew me to the AMRN (besides Sean and Charles dragging me there kicking and screaming).
I am happy that now I typically post more than once a day. I can honestly say that I journal. I write what's on my mind and post it often. It's different for me. Thanks to the Internet, I have changed from the type of person who would write every now and then out of a feeling of obligation into the type of person who writes solely for the pleasure of it. I like that.
I recently asked readers of this journal whether or not the things I have been writing recently are interesting, because I haven't been seeing many comments. I visit my blog many times a day, too many to count, and every time I see a "Comments (0)" I feel a little depressed. I wanted to figure out what I could do to get people to respond.
Because I post a lot, there often isn't time for many replies before a post is pushed off the main page. I recently increased the number of posts displayed on the home page for that reason. Also for that reason, I didn't write much at all after I asked my question. I wanted people to see that post, and to answer it.
As of now, I have three replies.
I have only posted three times prior to this post in the interim, and I have refrained from posting many things that have interested me of late. A recent, rambling yet structured and wholly moving eulogy on Websnark. News about bizarre crimes in Japan. Google's work towards effective machine translation. An essay about science fiction fans' obsession with internal consistency (or, as we used to call it on the AMRN, "canon").
I didn't post about these things both because I didn't want to push "more important" posts too far below the fold, and also because people have mentioned that my newsposts don't do much for them. But not posting has not made me happy.
Avoiding posting seemingly trivial things has not made me any more likely to post meaningful things.
The fact is, I want to post when I read something interesting. I want to have a record of it. I want to write things that are totally uninteresting to anyone but me--like analyses of aspects of the Japanese language I've recently encountered; or long-winded discussions of the plot of Kyou Kara Maou (which I am currently rewatching); or rants about stupid people who piss me off; or essays on collaborative storytelling and online messageboard roleplaying, how they seem to function and why they fail; or, yes, a post that says nothing more than "I was touched/saddened/angered/intrigued by this today".
I want to write these things. And I don't want to write them in a private journal...because, to be perfectly honest, I simply won't do it. I know I won't. And that will annoy me.
I think what I needed to realize was not that I was writing uninteresting things, but that I wasn't writing them for anyone but myself. And that's okay...because this is my space, for indulging in whatever I see fit.
Instead of forcing myself not to post about certain things, I should instead post as much as I want, and push myself to write more. Quality is obviously better than quantity, but you don't get quality without practice. And this journal is not a professional piece of work. It's a diary, a scrapbook, a place for me to throw everything that seems important so I'll have a reference later when I go back to do something professional.
And so I will be pushing myself, from now on, to write more stories here. Things that reflect my life, and my feelings and opinions. Things that aren't simple links elsewhere. But alongside these nobler efforts, those simple links will continue to appear.
Out of respect for my readers, however, I am brainstorming ways to make it easy to find things that are interesting and ignore things that aren't. One way, of course, will be the categories that will exist in WordPress. I can have a category called "Stories", for example, and people who aren't interested in anything but crafted works can bookmark that category's page instead of the homepage, or subscribe to that category's RSS feed. (WordPress is going to rule.)
But I am also considering changing the face of the homepage--styling it to show the post title, date, time, and categories, with perhaps a brief summary. This should allow for quite a few posts to be "highlighted" on the main page, and readers would be able to skim along until they found something that seemed interesting to click on. I am starting to believe that this would be the best way to go about things, so that people who really don't care about Touch can just bypass that post without having to scroll past twelve screenshots of Tatsuya striking out Nitta.
Ultimately, the goal is for me to write more. If I am ever going to write anything worthwhile, if I am ever going to seriously try to get published, I am going to have to write far more than I do even now. That's daunting...and so I don't need to do anything that will encourage me not to write.
That began to change when I started writing online. There was something about the experience that made me prone to write more often. Part of it is certainly the ease of it. All I have to do is go to a website and type in a form. That has made it simple and convenient for me to update frequently.
A second reason, of course, is the exhibitionist pleasure I derive from knowing that what I'm saying can be seen by anyone, anywhere in the world. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts through the Internet ever since I first started responding to messages on Bulletin Board Services. And the collaborative nature of a 'blog' was appealing. I liked that I could write something, and other people could answer it, and everyone could see everything. It was similar to what originally drew me to the AMRN (besides Sean and Charles dragging me there kicking and screaming).
I am happy that now I typically post more than once a day. I can honestly say that I journal. I write what's on my mind and post it often. It's different for me. Thanks to the Internet, I have changed from the type of person who would write every now and then out of a feeling of obligation into the type of person who writes solely for the pleasure of it. I like that.
I recently asked readers of this journal whether or not the things I have been writing recently are interesting, because I haven't been seeing many comments. I visit my blog many times a day, too many to count, and every time I see a "Comments (0)" I feel a little depressed. I wanted to figure out what I could do to get people to respond.
Because I post a lot, there often isn't time for many replies before a post is pushed off the main page. I recently increased the number of posts displayed on the home page for that reason. Also for that reason, I didn't write much at all after I asked my question. I wanted people to see that post, and to answer it.
As of now, I have three replies.
I have only posted three times prior to this post in the interim, and I have refrained from posting many things that have interested me of late. A recent, rambling yet structured and wholly moving eulogy on Websnark. News about bizarre crimes in Japan. Google's work towards effective machine translation. An essay about science fiction fans' obsession with internal consistency (or, as we used to call it on the AMRN, "canon").
I didn't post about these things both because I didn't want to push "more important" posts too far below the fold, and also because people have mentioned that my newsposts don't do much for them. But not posting has not made me happy.
Avoiding posting seemingly trivial things has not made me any more likely to post meaningful things.
The fact is, I want to post when I read something interesting. I want to have a record of it. I want to write things that are totally uninteresting to anyone but me--like analyses of aspects of the Japanese language I've recently encountered; or long-winded discussions of the plot of Kyou Kara Maou (which I am currently rewatching); or rants about stupid people who piss me off; or essays on collaborative storytelling and online messageboard roleplaying, how they seem to function and why they fail; or, yes, a post that says nothing more than "I was touched/saddened/angered/intrigued by this today".
I want to write these things. And I don't want to write them in a private journal...because, to be perfectly honest, I simply won't do it. I know I won't. And that will annoy me.
I think what I needed to realize was not that I was writing uninteresting things, but that I wasn't writing them for anyone but myself. And that's okay...because this is my space, for indulging in whatever I see fit.
Instead of forcing myself not to post about certain things, I should instead post as much as I want, and push myself to write more. Quality is obviously better than quantity, but you don't get quality without practice. And this journal is not a professional piece of work. It's a diary, a scrapbook, a place for me to throw everything that seems important so I'll have a reference later when I go back to do something professional.
And so I will be pushing myself, from now on, to write more stories here. Things that reflect my life, and my feelings and opinions. Things that aren't simple links elsewhere. But alongside these nobler efforts, those simple links will continue to appear.
Out of respect for my readers, however, I am brainstorming ways to make it easy to find things that are interesting and ignore things that aren't. One way, of course, will be the categories that will exist in WordPress. I can have a category called "Stories", for example, and people who aren't interested in anything but crafted works can bookmark that category's page instead of the homepage, or subscribe to that category's RSS feed. (WordPress is going to rule.)
But I am also considering changing the face of the homepage--styling it to show the post title, date, time, and categories, with perhaps a brief summary. This should allow for quite a few posts to be "highlighted" on the main page, and readers would be able to skim along until they found something that seemed interesting to click on. I am starting to believe that this would be the best way to go about things, so that people who really don't care about Touch can just bypass that post without having to scroll past twelve screenshots of Tatsuya striking out Nitta.
Ultimately, the goal is for me to write more. If I am ever going to write anything worthwhile, if I am ever going to seriously try to get published, I am going to have to write far more than I do even now. That's daunting...and so I don't need to do anything that will encourage me not to write.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sometimes we get upset over the silliest things.
After shifting the laundry from the washer to the dryer, I moved the basket from the top of the dryer so I could clean the lint filter. There, lying right across the rectangular spot where the filter pulls out, was my FlyLady featherduster.
My first reaction was a spike of annoyance. Obviously Sean had put the duster there, because that isn't where it goes. Why would he put it there? I groused. How does that make any sense?
And then I stopped. Why, I countered, would Sean say, "Hmm, where does this duster go? Oh, the most logical thing is obviously to lie it across the tupperware." Because, you know, whenever anyone sees a shelf stacked with tupperware, they automatically think, "Where's the featherduster?"
The whole thing gave me a good chuckle.
My first reaction was a spike of annoyance. Obviously Sean had put the duster there, because that isn't where it goes. Why would he put it there? I groused. How does that make any sense?
And then I stopped. Why, I countered, would Sean say, "Hmm, where does this duster go? Oh, the most logical thing is obviously to lie it across the tupperware." Because, you know, whenever anyone sees a shelf stacked with tupperware, they automatically think, "Where's the featherduster?"
The whole thing gave me a good chuckle.
Kiss me, I'm 27!
I always joke that I'm getting old, but I don't really think of it that way. I certainly don't feel "old". Old is something I'll be when I'm 100. Certainly not twenty-seven, as I am as of 31 minutes ago. (Or as of whenever I was actually born.)
I've already celebrated my birthday a little. As you saw, my mom sent me beautiful flowers on Friday (I imagine because most places are closed today for Memorial Day). On Saturday, I met up with Mari for biking, and then we met up with Brooke at Kinja for sushi. Mari treated me, and Brooke gave me some beautiful pink flowers.
It was so nice to be out with both of them again, and to enjoy Kinja's fantastic sushi. Really, their maguro nigiri was superb. Getting it delivered or picking it up from Mikoto has been convenient, but having it made in front of you and eating it fresh is really the way to go. Aside from the tuna, I had miso soup, unakyu (eel rolls), salmon steak rolls, and inari (sweet soybean nigiri). Soooo delicious. After we finished I raided Kinja's little grocery section and found some mochi ice cream in the freezer, so we bought that and split it among us. Mmmmm.
Today, Sean is going to take me out. Somewhere. I don't really know where yet. We might do Kurama, since we have a gift certificate. I hope we can also go to Riverwalk or someplace pretty to just spend some time together.
This coming Saturday, I'm going to have my actual party. I'm tentatively planning a picnic, followed by bowling. I'm not sure if I want to have the picnic at a park, or at the Canal (the snakes are kind of a deterrent), or if I want to just call it a pool party and do it at the apartment clubhouse, where we can cook out on the grills and eat at picnic tables. The latter might be the most convenient, if I can make sure the apartment office is okay with me having a few people there. (You watch--they'll ask for money ;P)
In any event, I'm really looking forward to it. I love doing stuff with people, and being outdoors. I'm also looking forward to bowling again, because I haven't been in a long time. Actually, I think the last time I went was for my 26th birthday!
I think birthdays are something to celebrate no matter how old you are. Once you become an adult, it's less about your age and more about the fact that you were born at all. That's reason enough for anyone to celebrate! So next year, I'm hoping to organize a trip to Myrtle Beach. I'd like to stay in a house on or near the beach, and have all my friends come up. That would be so nice. Hopefully I'll land a good job this year so I can afford to do that. (Of course, around that same time next year we'll be buying a house of our own, so it might not be in the cards. We'll just have to see!)
I leave you with this picture of the awesome wireless keyboard and mouse Sean got for me:
I've already celebrated my birthday a little. As you saw, my mom sent me beautiful flowers on Friday (I imagine because most places are closed today for Memorial Day). On Saturday, I met up with Mari for biking, and then we met up with Brooke at Kinja for sushi. Mari treated me, and Brooke gave me some beautiful pink flowers.
It was so nice to be out with both of them again, and to enjoy Kinja's fantastic sushi. Really, their maguro nigiri was superb. Getting it delivered or picking it up from Mikoto has been convenient, but having it made in front of you and eating it fresh is really the way to go. Aside from the tuna, I had miso soup, unakyu (eel rolls), salmon steak rolls, and inari (sweet soybean nigiri). Soooo delicious. After we finished I raided Kinja's little grocery section and found some mochi ice cream in the freezer, so we bought that and split it among us. Mmmmm.
Today, Sean is going to take me out. Somewhere. I don't really know where yet. We might do Kurama, since we have a gift certificate. I hope we can also go to Riverwalk or someplace pretty to just spend some time together.
This coming Saturday, I'm going to have my actual party. I'm tentatively planning a picnic, followed by bowling. I'm not sure if I want to have the picnic at a park, or at the Canal (the snakes are kind of a deterrent), or if I want to just call it a pool party and do it at the apartment clubhouse, where we can cook out on the grills and eat at picnic tables. The latter might be the most convenient, if I can make sure the apartment office is okay with me having a few people there. (You watch--they'll ask for money ;P)
In any event, I'm really looking forward to it. I love doing stuff with people, and being outdoors. I'm also looking forward to bowling again, because I haven't been in a long time. Actually, I think the last time I went was for my 26th birthday!
I think birthdays are something to celebrate no matter how old you are. Once you become an adult, it's less about your age and more about the fact that you were born at all. That's reason enough for anyone to celebrate! So next year, I'm hoping to organize a trip to Myrtle Beach. I'd like to stay in a house on or near the beach, and have all my friends come up. That would be so nice. Hopefully I'll land a good job this year so I can afford to do that. (Of course, around that same time next year we'll be buying a house of our own, so it might not be in the cards. We'll just have to see!)
I leave you with this picture of the awesome wireless keyboard and mouse Sean got for me:
Sunday, May 29, 2005
I believe that people, all people, deserve respect and consideration.
Here are three news stories to illustrate my belief.
First, via Drudge, an essay entitled "10 Reasons Not To Kill President Bush". Here's the best part.
It's important to remember the past, and not just as numbers. I've been to Hiroshima's Peace Park twice, and I welcome the chance to see this documentary. Not out of some sort of guilt, but because I respect the people who had to make that choice, I respect the victims, and I don't ever want to forget why such a thing can never occur again.
And third...Gaijin, stay home!
First, via Drudge, an essay entitled "10 Reasons Not To Kill President Bush". Here's the best part.
In all seriousness, I don't hate President Bush. I dislike a lot of his administration's choices, but I think he's a good man doing a difficult job. As a leader, you're always going to be hated. I am too often shocked by the vitriolic repulsion many people feel for our leader and America in general, especially because the loathing is often poorly informed. I've met people on this campus who see America as the worst human rights abuser in the world (unlike the angelic paradise of Cambodia) and people who sway liberal not because they actually know anything about issues but because it's popular.Second, a Japanese-American will be making a documentary about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to air on cable next summer.
Liberalism has to be more than a college fad or a collection of loudmouths whose idiotic comments stir headlines. The rabid dislike some people feel for a man they've never even met makes me ashamed to be a Democrat.
Steven Okazaki, a 53-year-old third-generation Japanese-American, said he hopes the documentary would convey to Americans the sentiments and messages of people who suffered the U.S. atomic bombing in August 1945.Ignore, as always, the vitriolic and idiotic comments from the peanut gallery at Japan Today. The sheer amount of "They deserved it!" notes is appalling. I have heard a lot of debate about the bombing, and I understand the practical argument that it "saved lives", but I can't stomach casually dismissing the suffering of the people--men, women, and children--who were burned, melted, maimed, pounded with horribly painful, slow-killing radiation, and (in the merciful cases) incinerated.
It's important to remember the past, and not just as numbers. I've been to Hiroshima's Peace Park twice, and I welcome the chance to see this documentary. Not out of some sort of guilt, but because I respect the people who had to make that choice, I respect the victims, and I don't ever want to forget why such a thing can never occur again.
And third...Gaijin, stay home!
Almost 90% of the Japanese public are concerned that a growth in travelers from overseas may lead to an increase in crimes, a transport ministry survey showed Sunday. Asked about the negative aspects of a rise in visitors, 89.4% said criminals, who pretend to be tourists, may enter the country, followed by 33.4%, who responded they worry about problems caused by differences in languages and customs.This makes me uncomfortable. It feels like a decided step backwards for Japan.
The "blogger market"; plus, a question for my readers
I was following a trail of links (BoingBoing over to Joi Ito where I found a trackback from S A L E S M I N D S E T) and I surfed over to that last blog to see what it was about. I actually never found the post that had tracked back to Ito's blog, but a cursory scan of the topics that were on the site made me wonder what exactly it was. It seemed to be a professional blog--that is, he's paid to post there by a company. So I checked the About Me section to see who he works for, and why.
I discovered that this guy is in charge of Tucows' attempt to branch out into the world of blogging. In his sidebar, you'll see some "example" blogs--they're totally not real, but somebody put a lot of time and effort into making them look authentic (and snazzy). I visited the homepage of the service, Blogware.com, and looked around some more.
I'm still not exactly sure what this service is. I mean, is it just another Blogger/LiveJournal/Xanga/Blog-City/Typepad? Why are the "about us" pages so elaborate? And why do they have so many "example" blogs and hardly any real ones?
It seems a little slimy to me, and I'm not sure why.
I think maybe I have an idea of how blogs are, and maybe I think of them as being more grassroots? Whereas this service seems more like a sell-out. They essentially tell you how to make your blog, including what you might write about. It makes blogging seem less like something for people who have something to say, and more like something for everyone to do, regardless of whether or not they have any insights whatsoever.
Maybe I feel threatened by the potential levelling of the playing field? But I'm not sure about that, because I think it's great for people to have tools that can help them easily create online journals. Maybe, instead, I'm worried that people who are boring will feel like they need to blog--that the blogosphere will become saturated by sleep-inducing diatribes. (Don't we have enough of those already?)
I don't mean to sound elitist, but I guess I can't get behind a company whose strategy is to encourage anyone and everyone, regardless of talent, ability, and insightfulness, to create something which they can then charge for. (Because, ultimately, that's got to be the point of this, right?)
But maybe I'm too harsh. After all, maybe one of those people who never would have blogged without encouragement will develop into a passionate, fascinating writer. It'd be a shame for that not to happen. And somebody's gotta make money off of blogging somewhere, right?
I suppose I'm just concerned about how the blogosphere is evolving, where it's going, why it's going there, and what will happen to it. I hope it grows and thrives. I don't want to see it burn out, or amass into nothing but a glut of mediocre whine-rants.
Of course, saying all of this makes me wonder about my own blog. I've mentioned to others that the main purpose of this journal is to archive myself. (Yes, new readers, I am that arrogant.) This journal will remain after my death as an information archive for my biographers. My links to news stories will tell people what I was interested in. And hopefully my projects and workshops (these don't exist yet, by the way) will help literature students understand my process. But at the same time...I am very much interested in contemporary feedback.
I look back on my more recent journal entries and I see very few comments. Many of the people who have linked to me in the past haven't remarked on anything in quite some time. I wonder why they liked my blog to begin with, and whether or not they still like it. I wonder if I am posting too many links, and not enough commentary. I wonder if what I'm writing about is uninteresting. I wonder if I spend too little time revising and polishing my posts. I also wonder if I'm simply not attracting readers due to a lack of advertising.
If anyone is still out there, won't you chime in? What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? Is there a reason you don't comment much? What do you think of my blog in light of my discussion above?
I discovered that this guy is in charge of Tucows' attempt to branch out into the world of blogging. In his sidebar, you'll see some "example" blogs--they're totally not real, but somebody put a lot of time and effort into making them look authentic (and snazzy). I visited the homepage of the service, Blogware.com, and looked around some more.
I'm still not exactly sure what this service is. I mean, is it just another Blogger/LiveJournal/Xanga/Blog-City/Typepad? Why are the "about us" pages so elaborate? And why do they have so many "example" blogs and hardly any real ones?
It seems a little slimy to me, and I'm not sure why.
I think maybe I have an idea of how blogs are, and maybe I think of them as being more grassroots? Whereas this service seems more like a sell-out. They essentially tell you how to make your blog, including what you might write about. It makes blogging seem less like something for people who have something to say, and more like something for everyone to do, regardless of whether or not they have any insights whatsoever.
Maybe I feel threatened by the potential levelling of the playing field? But I'm not sure about that, because I think it's great for people to have tools that can help them easily create online journals. Maybe, instead, I'm worried that people who are boring will feel like they need to blog--that the blogosphere will become saturated by sleep-inducing diatribes. (Don't we have enough of those already?)
I don't mean to sound elitist, but I guess I can't get behind a company whose strategy is to encourage anyone and everyone, regardless of talent, ability, and insightfulness, to create something which they can then charge for. (Because, ultimately, that's got to be the point of this, right?)
But maybe I'm too harsh. After all, maybe one of those people who never would have blogged without encouragement will develop into a passionate, fascinating writer. It'd be a shame for that not to happen. And somebody's gotta make money off of blogging somewhere, right?
I suppose I'm just concerned about how the blogosphere is evolving, where it's going, why it's going there, and what will happen to it. I hope it grows and thrives. I don't want to see it burn out, or amass into nothing but a glut of mediocre whine-rants.
Of course, saying all of this makes me wonder about my own blog. I've mentioned to others that the main purpose of this journal is to archive myself. (Yes, new readers, I am that arrogant.) This journal will remain after my death as an information archive for my biographers. My links to news stories will tell people what I was interested in. And hopefully my projects and workshops (these don't exist yet, by the way) will help literature students understand my process. But at the same time...I am very much interested in contemporary feedback.
I look back on my more recent journal entries and I see very few comments. Many of the people who have linked to me in the past haven't remarked on anything in quite some time. I wonder why they liked my blog to begin with, and whether or not they still like it. I wonder if I am posting too many links, and not enough commentary. I wonder if what I'm writing about is uninteresting. I wonder if I spend too little time revising and polishing my posts. I also wonder if I'm simply not attracting readers due to a lack of advertising.
If anyone is still out there, won't you chime in? What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? Is there a reason you don't comment much? What do you think of my blog in light of my discussion above?
I had a dream about a collaborative writing website
In my dream, I had written a brief story about an event in my life, and posted it. After that, other people kept coming and posting their own stories, without having to be asked. Even my mom came by and wrote one.
I was so excited and happy.
I was so excited and happy.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
It's funny because it's true
Learn Japanese through the Conditioned Response Method at the Japan Times. Via Simon.
Big Ben finicky in its old age
Apparently Big Ben has inexplicably stopped several times in history, and recently did so again. While nobody really knows why the clock stops, weather and damage from the Luftwaffe attack during WWII are possible causes. The article doesn't explicitly state the latter, but in regards to the former notes that
Poor dears. I can't imagine how they'd react to living in Yatsushiro, Japan, or Augusta, Georgia.
There has been speculation a recent spell of hot weather may have been to blame. Temperatures in London reached 90 Saturday, and forecasters called it England's hottest day in May since 1953.Yesterday I read that Seattle, Washington is under a heat advisory, and that the temperature there has gotten up to a positively sweltering 89 degrees Fahrenheit in the past week.
Poor dears. I can't imagine how they'd react to living in Yatsushiro, Japan, or Augusta, Georgia.
More on the Japanese toilet; plus, an unknown part of Japan
Chris (Man in Japan) explains why he sometimes avoids the trough and heads into the handicapped, sit-down stalls. No worries, man--we've all done that ;>
Meanwhile, Ampontan over at Japundit highlights an island south of Japan that no one has ever heard of. It sounds like a really neat place to visit! Japundit keeps giving me more and more cool vacation ideas...
Meanwhile, Ampontan over at Japundit highlights an island south of Japan that no one has ever heard of. It sounds like a really neat place to visit! Japundit keeps giving me more and more cool vacation ideas...
Friday, May 27, 2005
Outcast, Unclean
Battlecry (my favorite band ;>) has a song called "Outcast, Unclean" that was inspired by Thomas Covenant from Steven R. Donaldson's Unbeliever books. The song's a tribute; they didn't set out to capitalize on Donaldson's achievement. So they worried about what Donaldson would think, and actually wrote him to ask permission to release the song on their upcoming album.
Well, it took awhile, but Donaldson actually responded--and his answer is very cool:
(Once I get my shit together and finish Battlecry's website, I'll link it. There, you'll be able to view lyric sheets, CD liner art, and photos of the band. Later, you'll get to buy the CD itself, or individual tracks as mp3. There will also be some bitchin' music videos. Yes. Bitchin'. I am sure my lameness has embarrassed AJ beyond all mortal comprehension.)
Well, it took awhile, but Donaldson actually responded--and his answer is very cool:
I always feel flattered and gratified when people find inspiration for their own creativity in my work. I believe that even the most vicious of lawyers could not find fault with your "use" of my work. And I encourage you (belatedly, I know) to go ahead with your CD.Awesome. "Outcast, Unclean" is probably my favorite Battlecry song. The CD wouldn't be whole without it!
(Once I get my shit together and finish Battlecry's website, I'll link it. There, you'll be able to view lyric sheets, CD liner art, and photos of the band. Later, you'll get to buy the CD itself, or individual tracks as mp3. There will also be some bitchin' music videos. Yes. Bitchin'. I am sure my lameness has embarrassed AJ beyond all mortal comprehension.)
Cycles of form
Ruth Phillips has a lovely rumination today on the nature of art:
In art I believe the same form appears over and over again because art, surely, mirrors life. (I also believe the form's presence is felt through it's absence but that is a whole other subject!): The tension of home (The Base) - Moving away from home (The Journey) - Going back home (The Transformation). Add or detract to this shape the ingredients which go to mould the authorial voice:I loved the closing paragraph, too, but I won't spoil it for you :)
Architecture, Climate, Ceremony, Time, Nature, Religion, Education, Diet, Animals.....
And ponder 'The Voice' as it is used in day to day life (giving sermons, whispering confession, singing in protest, communicating across valleys, gathering herds, sending to sleep, proclaiming love, healing, entertaining, distracting, celebrating...)
...and perhaps it is just possible that, across the seas, the forests and the deserts from each other, there might be two Romeo and Juliet stories, two folk tunes, two buildings, two painted skies that are, in their essence, 'the same'. It is also possible that, because of their context and their authorial voice, they feel very different.
The prison of royalty
Wow, I never realized how much life sucks for the Imperial family of Japan.
Japundit has an interesting piece today about Princess Sayako, who is giving up her status as royalty to marry a regular Joe, and the life she is leaving behind.
The article's really eye-opening; I'd like to read more on the subject.
Japundit has an interesting piece today about Princess Sayako, who is giving up her status as royalty to marry a regular Joe, and the life she is leaving behind.
The Imperial Household Agency, part of the Japanese government, controls every aspect of the public life of the Imperial family, and a large part of their private life. The agency determines how their time is spent in official duties, where they go, what they wear, who they see, and, for the most part, what they say.Nobody in the family can even have his/her own private telephone. Crazy stuff.
The article's really eye-opening; I'd like to read more on the subject.
Well, I was pretty unprepared for that
The "interview", which was really just a written test, was for the position of copy editor at the Augusta Chronicle. I was shown to a private conference room and given an hour and a half in which to take the test, using no references.
I did not sign a nondisclosure agreement concerning this test, nor was I told that this procedure was a "trade secret" or anything of that sort, but if posting about it constitutes a violation of the company's privacy, I will be more than happy to remove the following.
There were several parts to the test. The first few consisted of one-page, simple questions that focused on the writing/editing craft. Page 1: Grammar, word choice, and punctuation errors in short sentences. Find and correct them. Page 2: Commonly confused words. Read the sentences and choose the correct word (e.g., "The news editor was [adverse/averse] to the changes"). Page 3: Common misspellings. Find the misspelled words in a list and correct them. (An example misspelling: seperate)
Next came two pages I hadn't even expected. One was a page full of people's names. I had to identify who each person was. There were sports stars, pop singers, actors, writers, politicians...all kinds of people. This was bad. I am pretty horrible with names. (I did think it was great that "Winston Smith" was on there, though.) The other page had a series of questions about current events in fill-in-the-blank format. It was very, very sad how few of them I knew. I recognized most of the stories, but I didn't know people's names, nor did I know death toll numbers.
The last part was putting theory into practice, using real, unedited news stories. I had to look over the stories, correct errors, write down what questions I would have for the reporters in order to flesh out the articles, and create headlines. This was the most challenging (after all, questions I don't know the answers to aren't "challenging"), and also the most enjoyable. I think my headlines were okay, but I don't know that they were gripping. My copy edits were good, and made the stories flow the way I've seen stories flow in other news articles, but I don't know if I did them correctly, because I've never copy-edited for the news before and I have no training in it.
So I am not wholly confident about my performance. I think I did well in the writing and editing, but my showing in knowledge of people and events likely hurt my score considerably. There are half a dozen other applicants, and it will take time to pick "the best" (their words), so I will find out if they liked me sometime in the middle of next month. It all comes down to what they're ultimately looking for, and how I performed against the others--if, for example, someone else got all the references right, but messed up a lot on grammar, would they pick me over that person?
Whatever the result, it'll be interesting to hear what they have to say. Hopefully I'll learn something.
I did not sign a nondisclosure agreement concerning this test, nor was I told that this procedure was a "trade secret" or anything of that sort, but if posting about it constitutes a violation of the company's privacy, I will be more than happy to remove the following.
There were several parts to the test. The first few consisted of one-page, simple questions that focused on the writing/editing craft. Page 1: Grammar, word choice, and punctuation errors in short sentences. Find and correct them. Page 2: Commonly confused words. Read the sentences and choose the correct word (e.g., "The news editor was [adverse/averse] to the changes"). Page 3: Common misspellings. Find the misspelled words in a list and correct them. (An example misspelling: seperate)
Next came two pages I hadn't even expected. One was a page full of people's names. I had to identify who each person was. There were sports stars, pop singers, actors, writers, politicians...all kinds of people. This was bad. I am pretty horrible with names. (I did think it was great that "Winston Smith" was on there, though.) The other page had a series of questions about current events in fill-in-the-blank format. It was very, very sad how few of them I knew. I recognized most of the stories, but I didn't know people's names, nor did I know death toll numbers.
The last part was putting theory into practice, using real, unedited news stories. I had to look over the stories, correct errors, write down what questions I would have for the reporters in order to flesh out the articles, and create headlines. This was the most challenging (after all, questions I don't know the answers to aren't "challenging"), and also the most enjoyable. I think my headlines were okay, but I don't know that they were gripping. My copy edits were good, and made the stories flow the way I've seen stories flow in other news articles, but I don't know if I did them correctly, because I've never copy-edited for the news before and I have no training in it.
So I am not wholly confident about my performance. I think I did well in the writing and editing, but my showing in knowledge of people and events likely hurt my score considerably. There are half a dozen other applicants, and it will take time to pick "the best" (their words), so I will find out if they liked me sometime in the middle of next month. It all comes down to what they're ultimately looking for, and how I performed against the others--if, for example, someone else got all the references right, but messed up a lot on grammar, would they pick me over that person?
Whatever the result, it'll be interesting to hear what they have to say. Hopefully I'll learn something.
Send positive vibes my way, please!
In the window of about 12:45 am to 3 pm today (I'm buffering just in case), please wish me luck in my interview thingy. Some would say that I'm a shoo-in, but I really don't know what to expect, so there's a chance that I'll misrepresent myself. I do know that I can do this job, and do it well. Hopefully that confidence will bleed into my performance today.
I'll post more information--including, possibly, what this job is--after the interview. I tend to be secretive concerning my job hunting, both out of respect for the companies involved, and because I don't want to jinx anything ;>
I'll post more information--including, possibly, what this job is--after the interview. I tend to be secretive concerning my job hunting, both out of respect for the companies involved, and because I don't want to jinx anything ;>
Awesome hackers mark up phishing scam websites
From Yahoo! News UK-Ireland:
The argument at the end of the article that vigilantism is bad is not very well supported. Most of the quoted persons liken it to vigilantes in the Old West, as if this explains everything.
But vigilantes in the Old West arose because the law couldn't do anything. Vigilantism mostly ended once law and order asserted itself. In the meantime, vigilantes were all that stood between many people and disaster.
And so too are the vigilante hackers of today, who will keep shooting fraudulent websites dead and riding off into the sunset until the system evolves to solve the problems more peacefully.
Hi-yo Silver, away!
Angered by the growing number of Internet scams, online "vigilantes" have started to take justice into their own hands by hacking into suspected fraud sites and defacing them.I personally think this is awesome. Go for it, vigilante hackers!
These hackers have targeted fake websites set up to resemble the sites of banks or financial institutions in recent weeks, and have inserted new pages or messages. Some say "Warning - This was a Scam Site," or "This Bank Was Fraudulent and Is Now Removed."
The efforts by the self-proclaimed "hero hackers" come amid a surge in online schemes known as "phishing" in which victims are lured to fake websites to get passwords or other personal data.
The argument at the end of the article that vigilantism is bad is not very well supported. Most of the quoted persons liken it to vigilantes in the Old West, as if this explains everything.
But vigilantes in the Old West arose because the law couldn't do anything. Vigilantism mostly ended once law and order asserted itself. In the meantime, vigilantes were all that stood between many people and disaster.
And so too are the vigilante hackers of today, who will keep shooting fraudulent websites dead and riding off into the sunset until the system evolves to solve the problems more peacefully.
Hi-yo Silver, away!
The changing face of movie night
Via Drudge, here's a New York Times piece on how American consumers are more and more turning to entertainment on demand. This, of course, spells doom for non-time-shifted media, such as theatrical films.
While I agree that people like the convenience of being able to watch what they want when they want, I don't think the majority is in the position of being able to duplicate the theater experience at home. Right now, while that slice of society is a niche minority, the movie producers need to act.
It's obvious, though, that they need to start working on it now.
While I agree that people like the convenience of being able to watch what they want when they want, I don't think the majority is in the position of being able to duplicate the theater experience at home. Right now, while that slice of society is a niche minority, the movie producers need to act.
- Lower the standard ticket price.
This will get more people coming to the movies on a whim. "Hey, while I'm out shopping, let me kill a couple hours. It's only a couple bucks!" - Get rid of the anti-piracy ads in front of movies.
You are preaching to the converted in most cases. It gets tiresome. People may start pirating just to avoid the stupid ads. - Plug people in.
In the "old days", a newsreel used to run before all the movies. Now we can get our news whenever and wherever we want. But in the movie theater, it's polite to turn off your mobile devices. Why not replace much of what people miss out on before and after the movie? Start a Movie Theater Channel that offers newsbursts and other bite-sized chunks of information. A movie theater is like an oasis where you're cut off from the rest of the world, and more and more I think people don't want that. (Another idea is to offer wireless content to mobile devices before the movie starts--news, entertainment news, movie trailers, ringtones, etc.) - Sell merchandise: movie posters, action figures, soundtracks, etc.
Give the movie theater more than just one function, and more people will find it reasonable to spend time there. - Rethink the standard movie theater setup.
When I visited Kentucky last, Faye, Connor, Logan and I went to "Gattitown", which is an expanded Mr. Gatti's, similar to Dave & Buster's. They had a room where they screened movies at all times, and a pizza/pasta/dessert buffet just outside. You got whatever food you wanted and sat down to watch movies. Theaters could do something similar--serve healthier food, whole meals, and allow people to eat while watching. Lighting might be tricky, but I think it's doable. There could be a "dinner theater" and a "regular theater", and the dinner theater could have long tables similar to those found in college lecture halls. Ticket price for the dinner theater would include the meal. - Create more comfortable areas outside the theaters.
When you go into a movie house, you're directed straight past the food and into the theater. Rarely are there chairs, and when there are they are usually uncomfortable benches. People are encouraged not to spend much time there. What about opening a coffeehouse style area where people who just saw a movie could sit down and discuss it? What about Wi-Fi access so people could blog about how great the movie was? Again, if movie theaters would diversify their offerings, more people would be willing to go more often. The idea of one stop shopping has taken hold in our culture, and movie theaters need to work on some sort of implementation.
It's obvious, though, that they need to start working on it now.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Japan news
Youths arrested for violating 116-year-old dueling law
I would have called this article "Fight Club", especially given this quote:
I can only imagine what that must have done to the social lives of teenagers...
I would have called this article "Fight Club", especially given this quote:
"What's wrong with hitting each other with consent," one of the arrested youths was quoted as saying.Vodafone problem leaves users without Internet, e-mail for hours
I can only imagine what that must have done to the social lives of teenagers...
Too many photos
Okay, so I have finally uploaded all the pictures I've been taking recently. I haven't tagged or captioned them or anything, but I thought you'd like to see them regardless.
The first set, Augusta Canal Trail/Waterfall Trail, is what happened when I decided to check out the trail off to the right of the Pavillion, instead of heading to the left and over the bridge. I found a little waterfall!
My former coworker Audrey had told me there was a waterfall near the canal, but I'd forgotten about that, thought I'd never find it. So this was a nice surprise. The trail continued on into the woods, circling around for awhile before finally coming out at the other end of the parking lot. It's a short, pretty hike.
The next new gallery is North Augusta Greeneway Expansion, which shows the all-new trail that extends off from the Greeneway, along the river, and back to those huge waterfront houses. Brooke and I discovered it on our most recent ride to the Greeneway; we decided to go down towards the golf course and check out the construction, but instead of just a dead end we found a brand new trail! It's a beautiful ride that includes two bridges and lots of pretty forest. (And did I mention it runs along the river?!)
The third new gallery is Augusta Canal Trail/Construction. The canal is beautiful at this time of year, and I was really excited about getting some pictures of the lush greenery. I even managed some decent pictures of the quarry this time!
Two eventful things also occurred.
Towards the beginning of my ride, I stopped to take some photos and got very close to a cottonmouth without realizing it. When he moved, I glanced down, muttered an expletive, and took his picture. (For an idea of his size, note that his head is just off-camera in the top left hand corner of that shot.) He slithered off back into the waters of the canal, and I went on my way.
The second thing, which was not life-threatening and was in fact very cool, was that I discovered that the Augusta Canal construction has moved along quite a bit. The pumping station is seeing a lot of action, but I was more concerned with--and pleased about--the work on the other side of the canal.
You'll recall last winter when I explored (and photographed) the muddy, barren landscape that lay beyond the bridge over the canal, wondering what it was going to turn into. Well, now I know that it is indeed the Canal Trail extended--the trail is there and open to the public. It's a dirt path, and there are still construction machines all around, but it looks totally different now from the way it used to.
I found out that it comes out right across the canal from Sibley Mill--in other words, right across from where the New Bartram Trail comes out. A family who was walking along the trail ahead of me went up onto the bridge at Sibley and headed back on the other side, but I just turned around and went back the way I'd come.
The last new gallery consists of some shots I took before my internship work and during my lunchbreak today. There are pictures of (what else?) the Lamar building, as well as lots of Riverwalk shots. It was totally beautiful out, which accounted for my lovely mood thereafter.
The first set, Augusta Canal Trail/Waterfall Trail, is what happened when I decided to check out the trail off to the right of the Pavillion, instead of heading to the left and over the bridge. I found a little waterfall!
My former coworker Audrey had told me there was a waterfall near the canal, but I'd forgotten about that, thought I'd never find it. So this was a nice surprise. The trail continued on into the woods, circling around for awhile before finally coming out at the other end of the parking lot. It's a short, pretty hike.
The next new gallery is North Augusta Greeneway Expansion, which shows the all-new trail that extends off from the Greeneway, along the river, and back to those huge waterfront houses. Brooke and I discovered it on our most recent ride to the Greeneway; we decided to go down towards the golf course and check out the construction, but instead of just a dead end we found a brand new trail! It's a beautiful ride that includes two bridges and lots of pretty forest. (And did I mention it runs along the river?!)
The third new gallery is Augusta Canal Trail/Construction. The canal is beautiful at this time of year, and I was really excited about getting some pictures of the lush greenery. I even managed some decent pictures of the quarry this time!
Two eventful things also occurred.
Towards the beginning of my ride, I stopped to take some photos and got very close to a cottonmouth without realizing it. When he moved, I glanced down, muttered an expletive, and took his picture. (For an idea of his size, note that his head is just off-camera in the top left hand corner of that shot.) He slithered off back into the waters of the canal, and I went on my way.
The second thing, which was not life-threatening and was in fact very cool, was that I discovered that the Augusta Canal construction has moved along quite a bit. The pumping station is seeing a lot of action, but I was more concerned with--and pleased about--the work on the other side of the canal.
You'll recall last winter when I explored (and photographed) the muddy, barren landscape that lay beyond the bridge over the canal, wondering what it was going to turn into. Well, now I know that it is indeed the Canal Trail extended--the trail is there and open to the public. It's a dirt path, and there are still construction machines all around, but it looks totally different now from the way it used to.
I found out that it comes out right across the canal from Sibley Mill--in other words, right across from where the New Bartram Trail comes out. A family who was walking along the trail ahead of me went up onto the bridge at Sibley and headed back on the other side, but I just turned around and went back the way I'd come.
The last new gallery consists of some shots I took before my internship work and during my lunchbreak today. There are pictures of (what else?) the Lamar building, as well as lots of Riverwalk shots. It was totally beautiful out, which accounted for my lovely mood thereafter.
A very productive lady
Great-Grandmother Gives Birth to Twins
Christian Kaczur Hart and Diana Rose Angelina, conceived through in vitro fertilization, were born April 20 at UAB Hospital in Birmingham four weeks premature. Swain and her husband, Jay, brought the babies home to Fort Payne on Friday.From the article, it sounds like the twins were born into a good family. I hope all goes well for them. I personally can't imagine having to deal with teenagers at the age of 75, but you never know what you can do until you try, I suppose.
The couple, whose youngest child, Jimmy, is 6, said they did not want Jimmy to grow up as an only child.
"There are lots of options out there for older women like me," Rosee Swain said. "And women shouldn't give up hope without exploring all their options."
In addition to the twins and Jimmy, the Swains have two grown children; two other children are deceased. They have six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
I am so happy
My self-study at the ad agency is going well. I pretty much know my way around Illustrator, and today I've worked through the entire A Preview to QuarkXPress, which consists of five long exercises whose purpose is to familiarize the reader with all the functions. I'm looking forward to mastering all the software, so I can move on to design theory.
I also got a callback today concerning a job I keep telling everyone I should get. I have an interview tomorrow.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I hope I get it. I need to get it. And I hope if I do get it that there will be a way for me to continue my internship at the agency, because I am really enjoying it. The environment is great, the people are fun and friendly, and I have access to scads of learning materials. So here's hoping :)
And after a nice relaxing lunch at Riverwalk, it's back to work!
I also got a callback today concerning a job I keep telling everyone I should get. I have an interview tomorrow.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I hope I get it. I need to get it. And I hope if I do get it that there will be a way for me to continue my internship at the agency, because I am really enjoying it. The environment is great, the people are fun and friendly, and I have access to scads of learning materials. So here's hoping :)
And after a nice relaxing lunch at Riverwalk, it's back to work!
Note to self
Taking contract jobs that are due the following morning, when you have to get up in the morning, is ludicrous.
Don't do it again!
Don't do it again!
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The Archie comics "beat off" joke
I'd just like to point out that this guy and this girl are way behind Superdickery.com, which had this entry up at least since May 1, when I first saw it. (I knew those AIM logs would come in handy someday!)
It's nice that they highlighted the comic, though I find this one funnier.
It's nice that they highlighted the comic, though I find this one funnier.
FBI aided and abetted torture of US citizens by Pakistani authorities?
From Human Rights Watch:
U.S. FBI agents operating in Pakistan repeatedly interrogated and threatened two U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin who were unlawfully detained and subjected to torture by the Pakistani security services, Human Rights Watch said today.If they had turned out to be terrorists, this would be somewhat easier to justify. But they weren't, and this situation brings up the question of how far we can and should go with our anti-terror tactics. On the one hand, you don't want people who you strongly suspect are terrorists to get away. But on the other, it is very scary to think that you could be held for months and interrogated without cause. Add torture to that scenario and it's more than scary. Law-abiding US citizens shouldn't have to be afraid of their own government, of being sold out by their own government, or of having their own government turn a blind eye as they are abused.
The brothers Zain Afzal and Kashan Afzal were abducted from their home in Karachi at about 2 a.m. on August 13, 2004. They were released on April 22, 2005 without having been charged.
During eight months of illegal detention, Zain Afzaland Kashan Afzal were routinely tortured by Pakistani authorities to extract confessions of involvement in terrorist activities. During this period, FBI agents questioned the brothers on at least six occasions. The FBI agents did not intervene to end the torture, insist that the Pakistani government comply with a court order to produce the men in court, or provide consular facilities normally offered to detained U.S. citizens. Instead, they threatened the men with being sent to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay if they did not confess to involvement in terrorism.
Michael Jackson
There are reports (via Drudge) that Michael Jackson will move to Europe or Africa once he's been acquitted. Who can blame him? He's practically being driven away with pitchforks and torches.
Here's an article about Michael Jackson that I think comes closest to the truth of the matter.
Honestly, I just feel sorry for the guy. He's a little out there. He wants to be Peter Pan and stay young forever. And he happened to earn enough money to at least partially make his dream come true, and now it's all come back to bite him in the ass.
I hope he can find some form of happiness once this mess is over.
Here's an article about Michael Jackson that I think comes closest to the truth of the matter.
Honestly, I just feel sorry for the guy. He's a little out there. He wants to be Peter Pan and stay young forever. And he happened to earn enough money to at least partially make his dream come true, and now it's all come back to bite him in the ass.
I hope he can find some form of happiness once this mess is over.
Why can't they just get along?
It would appear that neither China nor Japan is willing to back down on the Yasukuni issue.
Here's some further discussion at the Japan Times, via Japundit. Briefly: the Japanese are getting pissed.
Here's some further discussion at the Japan Times, via Japundit. Briefly: the Japanese are getting pissed.
Stupid people
Via BoingBoing, blowing yourself up in the name of Star Wars. Sean was so sure this wasn't real that he traced the url.
Meanwhile, here's a moron who doesn't seem to care if her family is safe. Honestly, I am getting sick and tired of idiots having children. While I won't go so far as to say we should sterilize stupid people (although I'm tempted), I do think we need widely available, free birth control and sterilization procedures. Easy access to all. (It's actually unclear from the article whether or not those kids are her children. If not, I hope whoever let her watch them has now gotten a clue.)
Finally, all this guy wanted was his smoke. But the world wouldn't let him have it!
Meanwhile, here's a moron who doesn't seem to care if her family is safe. Honestly, I am getting sick and tired of idiots having children. While I won't go so far as to say we should sterilize stupid people (although I'm tempted), I do think we need widely available, free birth control and sterilization procedures. Easy access to all. (It's actually unclear from the article whether or not those kids are her children. If not, I hope whoever let her watch them has now gotten a clue.)
Finally, all this guy wanted was his smoke. But the world wouldn't let him have it!
Monday, May 23, 2005
Elf Life
I have had a love-hate relationship with the webcomic Elf Life (click here for outdated Wikipedia entry, and here for a fan-produced official guide to the series) for years now. The story is rock-solid, the art is beautiful, and the characters are more than just three-dimensional. They're real, and they grow and change and affect each other and the plot in intricate ways. Elf Life is a grand undertaking that deserves every minute of the time Carson Fire puts into it. More than that, even.
At the same time, I have been put off by many things. The website's design is constantly in flux, making it difficult to navigate. Updates tend to come in clumps, then fizzle and die off for weeks (or months). And then there has been the issue of Carson's methods of fundraising, which upset me so much that I made this post. Given the fact that this is a tagboard that was embedded elsewhere, it's difficult to determine the context of what I was writing. I don't feel like going into it too much, but basically Carson was posting on the front page about how he didn't know what to do, because he couldn't pay the bills. He kept listing options. Finally, he grew so desperate that he stated that he would delete portions of the Elf Life archives from Keenspot if he didn't meet fundraising goals. In order to give people something for what they paid in, he offered sketches at exorbitant prices.
My argument was not that he didn't have the right to do this. It's his content. He can do with it whatever he wants. My argument was that this is offputting. It's bad PR. Instead of making people sympathetic to his cause, it makes him seem like a greedy whiner who's going to take his ball and go home...especially given the fact that so many of his promises were broken.
If he needed to take his content offline and have people pay for access to it, that would have been acceptable. A lot of webcomics are doing that now. I'm not sure that would be the wisest thing for Carson to do, given how it's really the story of Elf Life that sells the webcomic, and that story is drawn out gradually over time. But it wouldn't have pissed people off.
Today there is a new announcement on the front page of Elf Life.
But you know, not everyone is business savvy.
Not everyone knows how to schmooze.
What Carson Fire does know how to do is make damn good comics. And if nothing else, this announcement of his has drawn my attention directly to the fact that he does need help. This is not a case that can be solved by Carson swallowing his pride and pulling himself up by his bootstraps. He's been trying to do that for years.
In a perfect world, Carson wouldn't have to try to sell his comic. He sucks at selling his comic. In a perfect world, all Carson would have to do is produce it. And he wouldn't have to take jobs that ruin his health (like data entry or warehouse positions) to afford to do so, either.
Elf Life deserves to be made. Carson Fire deserves the chance to create it. And the series merits the funding it would require to allow Carson to do just that.
What Elf Life really needs is a business manager--much as Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade needed Robert, and lucked out when he came on board for free a few years ago. Carson needs someone to take care of his books, to create a PR campaign for his comic, to tell him what he shouldn't say, to nail the site design down as something clean and simple to navigate, and to determine alternate ways for Carson's art and storytelling skills to make money.
But all most of us can do at this point is toss a few coins in the tip jar.
And so I'd like to make my own appeal. Go to Elf Life. Read a few strips. Hell, check out the entire archives; they're still there, and they're still free. And if you agree with me that this thing is great, that there is something there that deserves to be continued, then please...donate.
(I made that banner myself. Ain't it purty? ...yes, we are all wondering why I have an art internship. ;P)
At the same time, I have been put off by many things. The website's design is constantly in flux, making it difficult to navigate. Updates tend to come in clumps, then fizzle and die off for weeks (or months). And then there has been the issue of Carson's methods of fundraising, which upset me so much that I made this post. Given the fact that this is a tagboard that was embedded elsewhere, it's difficult to determine the context of what I was writing. I don't feel like going into it too much, but basically Carson was posting on the front page about how he didn't know what to do, because he couldn't pay the bills. He kept listing options. Finally, he grew so desperate that he stated that he would delete portions of the Elf Life archives from Keenspot if he didn't meet fundraising goals. In order to give people something for what they paid in, he offered sketches at exorbitant prices.
My argument was not that he didn't have the right to do this. It's his content. He can do with it whatever he wants. My argument was that this is offputting. It's bad PR. Instead of making people sympathetic to his cause, it makes him seem like a greedy whiner who's going to take his ball and go home...especially given the fact that so many of his promises were broken.
If he needed to take his content offline and have people pay for access to it, that would have been acceptable. A lot of webcomics are doing that now. I'm not sure that would be the wisest thing for Carson to do, given how it's really the story of Elf Life that sells the webcomic, and that story is drawn out gradually over time. But it wouldn't have pissed people off.
Today there is a new announcement on the front page of Elf Life.
Quick update: Computer go BRRZZT! Updates resume shortly.It has now become obvious to me that Carson Fire has no business savvy whatsoever. Most of what he said there serves no purpose, and could be interpreted as self-pity and vanity.
In the meantime, please scroll down and consider donating to Elf Life. So far the vote of confidence is leaning against us; please tell us you want to keep Elf Life going!
This month's donations so far have gone towards keeping the electricity on; the computer upkeep budget is nil (as is the budget for doing just about anything else related to the series), which is why stuff like this keeps happening. And instead of spending premium time working on the comic and other new content (not to mention site upkeep), I'm still spending a lot of time trying to find other ways to make money to support *Elf Life*. I'm not a white collar pro working a tech job on the side, but a blue collar 40-year-old with a broken back and bad eyes; apart from an intermittent temp job, I'm not in demand even for minimum-wage jobs these days (I was turned down for a warehouse job last week that I shouldn't even be taking because of my back). And so I have to spend a *lot* of time trying to make up the difference between the high hours/low revenue of Elf Life, for not much in the way of positive results.
I'm nervous about posting this more blatant appeal, because I have been attacked and berated and embarrassed at every turn in the past for trying to raise the funds to keep Elf Life going. But nothing has changed; some individual support for Elf Life is extremely strong; but overall, support is very weak. Many people have vocally supported Elf Life, too, and I thank them for that. It is only a small number of voices who happen to have very large soapboxes that manage to misconstrue and mischaracterize efforts to keep this series going. Before these people go back to their websites and loudly denounce me for trying so hard to raise funds -- and failing miserably -- let them spend some time criticizing their own friends who run similar donation drives and succeed wildly. I am getting tired of being kicked in the ribs by people who do not know me, do not know my family, and do not know what I have had to overcome to get even this far.
Anyway, with support this weak, Elf Life will always have a hard time staying on a consistent schedule; funding to complete the book will continue to be non-existent (that comes back to the computer); no major Elf Life projects will ever be finished. Please help us turn this around!
Not even any false modesty this time: Elf Life is incredibly unique, with odd but better-than-average art and a story as big as a novel. The comics may seem to go slow sometimes, but that's the trade-off for examining the characters as closely as we do, making them real individuals (the real magic of the series) instead of simply familiar stereotypes.
We also aim to bring a classical element back to comics, and create a work that could stand on par with Don Quixote, The Decameron, Tom Jones; great literature, ever eternal, yet each flawed in their own special way, like great shining gems; great works of humanity that make the intangible tangible by using language and imagery to express thoughts and story precisely, bucking the trend of comics to simply be pop, hip, and intellectual.
This is what your donation to Elf Life goes to support. I apologize for this lengthy harangue, but the future of this series (as always) is on the line.
But you know, not everyone is business savvy.
Not everyone knows how to schmooze.
What Carson Fire does know how to do is make damn good comics. And if nothing else, this announcement of his has drawn my attention directly to the fact that he does need help. This is not a case that can be solved by Carson swallowing his pride and pulling himself up by his bootstraps. He's been trying to do that for years.
In a perfect world, Carson wouldn't have to try to sell his comic. He sucks at selling his comic. In a perfect world, all Carson would have to do is produce it. And he wouldn't have to take jobs that ruin his health (like data entry or warehouse positions) to afford to do so, either.
Elf Life deserves to be made. Carson Fire deserves the chance to create it. And the series merits the funding it would require to allow Carson to do just that.
What Elf Life really needs is a business manager--much as Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade needed Robert, and lucked out when he came on board for free a few years ago. Carson needs someone to take care of his books, to create a PR campaign for his comic, to tell him what he shouldn't say, to nail the site design down as something clean and simple to navigate, and to determine alternate ways for Carson's art and storytelling skills to make money.
But all most of us can do at this point is toss a few coins in the tip jar.
And so I'd like to make my own appeal. Go to Elf Life. Read a few strips. Hell, check out the entire archives; they're still there, and they're still free. And if you agree with me that this thing is great, that there is something there that deserves to be continued, then please...donate.
(I made that banner myself. Ain't it purty? ...yes, we are all wondering why I have an art internship. ;P)
A few meandering thoughts re: Japan, photography, and plans
From Japan Window's archives, here's a discussion of the preliminaries considerations in building your own house in Japan, rather than buying an existing one. Lots of good advice there. Also from the archives is this piece discussing strategies for learning Japanese. One of the comments particularly struck me: purchasing books and their corresponding books on tape in Japanese. And finally, here is a funny cultural story.
Over on Sushicam, I suggested that Jeff enter Mainichi's "Unseen Japan" photo contest. His photo choice may be problematic due to a rule that states that any picture in which a person can be identified (e.g., their face is clearly discernible, regardless of whether they are "famous" or not) be submitted only if the person in the photo has given permission for it to be entered. One of the commenters, Jon, linked to his own discussion of how problematic it is to photograph strangers. I well know the issues he discusses. (Jeff seems to do all right, though. Maybe it's an extravert thing.)
Speaking of Sushicam, Jeff is also going to be switching to WordPress, and he's also taking his sweet time about it. I'm not alone!
Plans for today:
Over on Sushicam, I suggested that Jeff enter Mainichi's "Unseen Japan" photo contest. His photo choice may be problematic due to a rule that states that any picture in which a person can be identified (e.g., their face is clearly discernible, regardless of whether they are "famous" or not) be submitted only if the person in the photo has given permission for it to be entered. One of the commenters, Jon, linked to his own discussion of how problematic it is to photograph strangers. I well know the issues he discusses. (Jeff seems to do all right, though. Maybe it's an extravert thing.)
Speaking of Sushicam, Jeff is also going to be switching to WordPress, and he's also taking his sweet time about it. I'm not alone!
Plans for today:
- Have bloodwork done (expecting FSH levels to be high as usual; giving up hope)
- Get a job
- Possibly see Revenge of the Sith again (that'll be my reward if I get a job)
- Continue work on WordPress changeover
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Always something
I'm continuing work on my theme for WordPress. Today I've been messing with how to integrate my Bloglines blogroll. First I was trying to see if I could style it the same way as I'm styling all the other links in my sidebar. However, when I decided that I wanted my menus to be collapsible, I hit a snag. There didn't seem to be a way to assign the HTML properties to the Bloglines folders as they were brought in through JavaScript.
So I looked into WordPress' OPML importer. And boy, does it suck. And boy, does the Link Management section suck in general.
Okay, first of all, it doesn't auto-create my categories from the XML file. It just sticks everything all in one link category. So I would have to go back through and create all the categories, then move everything where it's supposed to be by hand (and delete the "links" that had been created from my category titles). Given the sheer amount of links I imported, that seems to defeat the purpose of importing.
Secondly, there is no mass delete option. What the fuck? I can toggle checkboxes next to all links to change ownership, visibility status, and/or category, but I can't delete all checked items?! Needless to say, I've been having a hell of a good time clicking "Delete" and then "Okay" 76 times.
:>
I'd have to go through all that any time I changed my Bloglines subscriptions, too, if I wanted the list to reflect my current subscriptions. Or I'd have to remember to go through and add/delete individual items. Hell, the whole point of using Bloglines for my blogroll was so I'd have easy, instant updating of the list of links on my blog. Using WordPress for this just doesn't make any sense.
So I'm going to leave my blogroll in Bloglines. Maybe I'll find a way to make it collapsible the way I want. If I don't, I guess it just won't match the rest of the page.
I despise imperfection. I hate not being able to do what I want. But them's the breaks, I guess.
So I looked into WordPress' OPML importer. And boy, does it suck. And boy, does the Link Management section suck in general.
Okay, first of all, it doesn't auto-create my categories from the XML file. It just sticks everything all in one link category. So I would have to go back through and create all the categories, then move everything where it's supposed to be by hand (and delete the "links" that had been created from my category titles). Given the sheer amount of links I imported, that seems to defeat the purpose of importing.
Secondly, there is no mass delete option. What the fuck? I can toggle checkboxes next to all links to change ownership, visibility status, and/or category, but I can't delete all checked items?! Needless to say, I've been having a hell of a good time clicking "Delete" and then "Okay" 76 times.
:>
I'd have to go through all that any time I changed my Bloglines subscriptions, too, if I wanted the list to reflect my current subscriptions. Or I'd have to remember to go through and add/delete individual items. Hell, the whole point of using Bloglines for my blogroll was so I'd have easy, instant updating of the list of links on my blog. Using WordPress for this just doesn't make any sense.
So I'm going to leave my blogroll in Bloglines. Maybe I'll find a way to make it collapsible the way I want. If I don't, I guess it just won't match the rest of the page.
I despise imperfection. I hate not being able to do what I want. But them's the breaks, I guess.
Get more Vitamin D
Via Drudge, an AP article with the results of research that indicates getting a little sun is actually good for you.
I personally don't wear sunscreen at all. It's not that I'm against it in some way...I'm just negligent due to laziness. I don't have any sunscreen in the apartment. I looked around vaguely for it at Wal-Mart one time, didn't see any, and gave up. Even when I do have it around, I tend to forget to put it on. I've recently been thinking that I should buy some and keep it in the bathroom, so I can make putting it on part of my morning routine, but now I'm thinking that wouldn't be such a great idea.
Now, I think I'll keep going along as usual, and save the sunscreen for full-on sun experiences like the beach.
The vitamin is D, nicknamed the "sunshine vitamin" because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Sunscreen blocks its production, but dermatologists and health agencies have long preached that such lotions are needed to prevent skin cancer. Now some scientists are questioning that advice. The reason is that vitamin D increasingly seems important for preventing and even treating many types of cancer.The article has some compelling evidence.
In the last three months alone, four separate studies found it helped protect against lymphoma and cancers of the prostate, lung and, ironically, the skin. The strongest evidence is for colon cancer.
Many people aren't getting enough vitamin D. It's hard to do from food and fortified milk alone, and supplements are problematic.
So the thinking is this: Even if too much sun leads to skin cancer, which is rarely deadly, too little sun may be worse.
I personally don't wear sunscreen at all. It's not that I'm against it in some way...I'm just negligent due to laziness. I don't have any sunscreen in the apartment. I looked around vaguely for it at Wal-Mart one time, didn't see any, and gave up. Even when I do have it around, I tend to forget to put it on. I've recently been thinking that I should buy some and keep it in the bathroom, so I can make putting it on part of my morning routine, but now I'm thinking that wouldn't be such a great idea.
Now, I think I'll keep going along as usual, and save the sunscreen for full-on sun experiences like the beach.
I am getting so tired of MSN.com's misleading headline links
For example, for the past week or so, there have been graphics either in the big spotlight box up top or in the entertainment section down below about Revenge of the Sith. They kept changing them, and including the word "reviews". But whenever you clicked on the link, you would go to this page. Invariably. And how many "reviews" of Revenge of the Sith appear on that page? One.
Today, I followed a link entitled "Why are email viruses still around?", expecting to get a neat editorial about stupid people who open any and all attachments (and commentary on more subtle methods of infection, like scripts that automatically run when you open the email). Instead, I got this page, which seems to be the front page for MSN Tech & Gadget's Virus and Security news (with the help of McAfee). The top headlines on this page are:
The only title that sounds even close to what I was expecting to see is that third article, but it sounds so bland that I'm not even going to click it to see what it is. Where is the cute and funny editorial I was expecting? Nonexistent, just like so many other stories that MSN.com advertises.
I'm getting tired of it. I have always liked MSN.com. I like its features, its nice pictures. I like the site design. It's always been more appealing to me than My Yahoo!. But I am getting freaking tired of the dishonesty. I'm tired of chasing illusions. I want to know that when I click on a link, I'm going to a story, and that story's focus is summarized by the text of the link.
But I don't know that. I can't have any confidence in that. Now, it seems that I just have to click on stuff that is designed to catch my attention and hope that it will at least lead to something interesting.
I'm not really willing to do that.
Today, I followed a link entitled "Why are email viruses still around?", expecting to get a neat editorial about stupid people who open any and all attachments (and commentary on more subtle methods of infection, like scripts that automatically run when you open the email). Instead, I got this page, which seems to be the front page for MSN Tech & Gadget's Virus and Security news (with the help of McAfee). The top headlines on this page are:
- Virus writers losing their creativity
- Special: Identity theft guide
- Avoid spam and virus attacks
The only title that sounds even close to what I was expecting to see is that third article, but it sounds so bland that I'm not even going to click it to see what it is. Where is the cute and funny editorial I was expecting? Nonexistent, just like so many other stories that MSN.com advertises.
I'm getting tired of it. I have always liked MSN.com. I like its features, its nice pictures. I like the site design. It's always been more appealing to me than My Yahoo!. But I am getting freaking tired of the dishonesty. I'm tired of chasing illusions. I want to know that when I click on a link, I'm going to a story, and that story's focus is summarized by the text of the link.
But I don't know that. I can't have any confidence in that. Now, it seems that I just have to click on stuff that is designed to catch my attention and hope that it will at least lead to something interesting.
I'm not really willing to do that.
Funny Revenge of the Sith spoof
PADME: I LOVE YOU.Heheheheh. And of course:
ANAKIN: I LOVE YOU.
PADME: K, now that we've established that, let's move on before we get accused of cheesy dialogue again.
ANAKIN: You are so beautiful because I'm in love with you! Out there, every second I was thinking of you. Protecting the Outer Rim became a torture. The longing became UNBEARABLE. I've never been so happy as I am at this moment. Like back on Naboo, when there was nothing but our love...
PADME: DAMN IT, ANAKIN. There goes the Oscar for Best Screenplay.
PALPATINE: *does the lightning thing*;D Check it out.
MACE WINDU: YOUR PUNY LIGHTNING DOES NOT FRIGHTEN ME.
PALPATINE: *does the I'm helpless thing*
MACE WINDU: ANAKIN, do NOT, NOT, NOT fall for it.
ANAKIN: *falls for it*
MACE WINDU: DAMMNNIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttt. *dies*
ANAKIN: Crap. Oh crap. I should not have done that. I SHOULD NOT have done that!
PALPATINE: So, join the Dark Side?
ANAKIN: *getting over Mace's death rather quickly* Fine. I pledge my life to you, my master. I will do anything you command. I will be LORD VADER.
AUDIENCE: ......that's it? That's IT?
GEORGE: Um, yeah.
A few Japanese vacation ideas
Ampontan at Japundit suggests the Pavilion of the Sex Gods in Utsunomiya.
Here's a Japanese restaurant in China where you could, until recently, eat sushi off women's naked bodies. I suggest visiting in protest!
And finally, here's a vacation idea that I doubt anyone would recommend...sowing rice the old fashioned way, including manually lugging a huge piece of lumber across the field to flatten it. (I feel like I would like to try it, just once...obviously this is the curiosity of the ignorant.)
Here's a Japanese restaurant in China where you could, until recently, eat sushi off women's naked bodies. I suggest visiting in protest!
And finally, here's a vacation idea that I doubt anyone would recommend...sowing rice the old fashioned way, including manually lugging a huge piece of lumber across the field to flatten it. (I feel like I would like to try it, just once...obviously this is the curiosity of the ignorant.)
O_O
From WXIA-TV Atlanta:
Anyway, that's scary and freaky. What kind of person would do something like that? (The guy's last name is pretty fitting. :P)
AUGUSTA (AP) -- A former bail bondsman was arrested Friday after being accused of soliciting someone to harm two men, including an Augusta attorney, and to rape one of the men's wives.At first I thought one of the targets, Billy Morris, was the Billy Morris. But it wasn't. (Here's an interesting--and melodramatic--story about the Billy Morris.)
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Columbia County Sheriff's office arrested Danny Lee Savage Sr., of Appling, at about 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Anyway, that's scary and freaky. What kind of person would do something like that? (The guy's last name is pretty fitting. :P)
New bullet train planned between Hakodate and Aomori!
This will cut down the time it takes to get from Hakodate to Tokyo by two hours. Sweet!
Japan Today seems to have moved/removed the article, but I'll link it if they ever put it back up ;P Here's a story about it in the Japan Times, that I found by googling "hakodate aomori bullet train". Ah, Google.
Edit 2005/05/22 1:41 pm: The Japan Today article is back up.
Japan Today seems to have moved/removed the article, but I'll link it if they ever put it back up ;P Here's a story about it in the Japan Times, that I found by googling "hakodate aomori bullet train". Ah, Google.
Edit 2005/05/22 1:41 pm: The Japan Today article is back up.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Clone Wars
Paul and his girlfriend Ashley had us over tonight to watch the first season of the Clone Wars cartoon. I'd seen the one that introduced the Punisher-esque cyborg(?) on the speeder bike, but that was it, so this was a treat.
I have to say, for most of the beginning, I was laughing at everything. The exposition was very terse and to the point (which makes sense, as each episode was five minutes long), resulting in some hilarious moments between impatient teacher Obi-Wan and surly student Anakin. (And I must say, Anakin's pout-scowl is hysterical.)
The show is essentially a bunch of fighting (including a scene with the mostly ineffectual--and horribly cruel to poor Threepio--Padme Amidala), but it's stylized, and the voice acting is decent, and all the Jedi are badasses. It certainly explained why Paul's reaction to Revenge of the Sith was "They gimped so many people who were much bigger badasses." Mace Windu and General Grievous certainly stand out along this vein. I mean, you should have seen Windu singlehandedly taking on about a zillion fucking droids, plus a giant droid ship (that looked like something out of an anime) whose sole purpose was to smash everything in about a mile radius. (Seriously. Its stomper thingy covered that much ground. I told you it was huge.)
And where was Grievous' signature limping and wheezing? That sort of confused me. He was, in any event, definitely a badass.
There was all sorts of cheese in the series, and the dialogue really wasn't all that great. (After the DVD was over, we flipped on Cartoon Network and caught the last half of an episode of Justice League Unlimited. The dialogue in that show was leaps and bounds over Clone Wars. Man. I'm starting to wish we had cable, because that show was cool.) But anyway, it was neat overall. I liked the use of original Star Wars music and sound effects, mixed with new stuff. And I liked how every time the Jedi did something badass, they paused in a badass pose. It was hilarious.
So yeah, I recommend it :)
I have to say, for most of the beginning, I was laughing at everything. The exposition was very terse and to the point (which makes sense, as each episode was five minutes long), resulting in some hilarious moments between impatient teacher Obi-Wan and surly student Anakin. (And I must say, Anakin's pout-scowl is hysterical.)
The show is essentially a bunch of fighting (including a scene with the mostly ineffectual--and horribly cruel to poor Threepio--Padme Amidala), but it's stylized, and the voice acting is decent, and all the Jedi are badasses. It certainly explained why Paul's reaction to Revenge of the Sith was "They gimped so many people who were much bigger badasses." Mace Windu and General Grievous certainly stand out along this vein. I mean, you should have seen Windu singlehandedly taking on about a zillion fucking droids, plus a giant droid ship (that looked like something out of an anime) whose sole purpose was to smash everything in about a mile radius. (Seriously. Its stomper thingy covered that much ground. I told you it was huge.)
And where was Grievous' signature limping and wheezing? That sort of confused me. He was, in any event, definitely a badass.
There was all sorts of cheese in the series, and the dialogue really wasn't all that great. (After the DVD was over, we flipped on Cartoon Network and caught the last half of an episode of Justice League Unlimited. The dialogue in that show was leaps and bounds over Clone Wars. Man. I'm starting to wish we had cable, because that show was cool.) But anyway, it was neat overall. I liked the use of original Star Wars music and sound effects, mixed with new stuff. And I liked how every time the Jedi did something badass, they paused in a badass pose. It was hilarious.
So yeah, I recommend it :)
Some Japan news
Asahi has three interesting stories:
Draft-dodging youths scramble to renounce S. Korean citizenship
A change in South Korean law has twentysomethings scrambling to renounce their citizenship before the law goes into effect.
The growing air freight industry in Japan, fueled by new speeding restrictions on transport trucks, promises to speed up business and promote trade throughout Japan. It will also support local economies near the airports involved in the service, such as that of Kumamoto-shi. (I stayed in Yatsushiro-shi in Kumamoto-ken in 2001, and visited Kumamoto-shi while I was there. -shi: city, -ken: prefecture)
This article discusses how a citizen committee invoked what is referred to as the "ultimate weapon" to investigate the use of public lands for private use, and how their following actions are questionable. It's an interesting discussion of Japanese law.
Draft-dodging youths scramble to renounce S. Korean citizenship
A change in South Korean law has twentysomethings scrambling to renounce their citizenship before the law goes into effect.
Under the South Korean draft system, males mainly in their 20s, must serve in the military for more than two years.Overnight freight service taking off
To exempt their children from the draft, however, many pregnant women began going overseas, particularly to the United States and Canada, to give birth. Since nationality in those countries is conferred as a birthright, the children end up with dual citizenship.
The practice became such a big issue that South Korea's National Assembly revised the Nationality Law to close the loophole.
The growing air freight industry in Japan, fueled by new speeding restrictions on transport trucks, promises to speed up business and promote trade throughout Japan. It will also support local economies near the airports involved in the service, such as that of Kumamoto-shi. (I stayed in Yatsushiro-shi in Kumamoto-ken in 2001, and visited Kumamoto-shi while I was there. -shi: city, -ken: prefecture)
ANA rival Japan Airlines Corp., meanwhile, plans to start a midnight freight service between Haneda and Kyushu's Kumamoto airport in July.Witch hunt in Tokyo
The airline aims to attract business from all over the island as the airport is located at the center of Kyushu and 10 minutes' drive from an expressway interchange.
"We expect the service will encourage businesses to set up shop in our prefecture and also expand the market for our farm produce," a prefectural government official said.
This article discusses how a citizen committee invoked what is referred to as the "ultimate weapon" to investigate the use of public lands for private use, and how their following actions are questionable. It's an interesting discussion of Japanese law.
This spring, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly established the Article 100 Committee. The last time this was done was 35 years ago. After its deliberations, the committee determined that Vice Governor Takeo Hamauzu had committed perjury during a committee session.
When a situation arises that gives cause for strong concern about an administration, it seems perfectly reasonable that the assembly should be able to invoke its powers of investigation. But in this case, everything about the investigation--from the reason why it was set up to the conclusion it arrived at--was very unclear.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Have you seen Audi's new ad campaign?
I stumbled across it while watching some MSN Video (which always crashes IE, but I wanted to see Daniel Radcliffe waxing poetic about Harry Potter's love life. "That's what I like about Harry as well, is he's PATHETIC at the whole romance thing. He's RUBBISH"). I was pretty sure the banner ad stating that a certain Audi had been stolen, and asking that people go to http://www.audiusa.com/a3 to report any sightings, was just a clever way of getting people to visit the website. (And, of course, I visited the website.)
But the campaign is much bigger than just that. The A3 site led me to this homepage for their "internal investigation" into the "theft". A little box on that page states, "Recently uncovered information has led us to believe that the missing 2006 A3 might be related to other events."
So I clicked the link on the text "other events", and found Chapter 1 of a story about spies, hackers, and an eccentric art thief who hides information in Audi A3s.
The story is being blogged. And there are about fifty gazillion videos. The blog has been up since April 1; here's the original post, which explains that this is all for fun.
Additionally, there's a website for the spy/hacker team trying to track down the missing Audi (and thereby some missing art), and you can "hack in" (just click the "username" box and pick somebody's name) and see about a hundred gajillion emails, voicemails, phone calls, videos, and other documents supposedly created by people in this fictional company.
I mean...wow! This is fucking elaborate!
But the campaign is much bigger than just that. The A3 site led me to this homepage for their "internal investigation" into the "theft". A little box on that page states, "Recently uncovered information has led us to believe that the missing 2006 A3 might be related to other events."
So I clicked the link on the text "other events", and found Chapter 1 of a story about spies, hackers, and an eccentric art thief who hides information in Audi A3s.
The story is being blogged. And there are about fifty gazillion videos. The blog has been up since April 1; here's the original post, which explains that this is all for fun.
Additionally, there's a website for the spy/hacker team trying to track down the missing Audi (and thereby some missing art), and you can "hack in" (just click the "username" box and pick somebody's name) and see about a hundred gajillion emails, voicemails, phone calls, videos, and other documents supposedly created by people in this fictional company.
I mean...wow! This is fucking elaborate!
Do you see what I see in this picture?
Normally I wouldn't take other people's pictures and post them here, but I mean, wow. What the hell is going on there, Obi-Wan?!
More on the Japanese textbook/Yasukuni issue
Alexander Bukh has written an article for the Asia Times offering a different perspective on the Japan/China/Korea political maelstrom. It's a good read and brings up many important points, including the following:
No doubt Japan bears a certain responsibility for the recent wave of anger in China and Korea and the resulting diplomatic frictions. The Japanese leaders seem not to understand that certain acts send the wrong signals to their neighbors. At the same time, putting the whole blame on Japan simplifies the issue and leads to a rather one-sided perception of the situation. We must not forget that both in Korea and China, the state plays a major role in education, exercising complete control over what textbooks are chosen for usage at schools and put a strong emphasis on "patriotic education", while in Japan the role of the government is much more marginal as the writing is done by scholars not affiliated with the government and the process of choosing a textbook is conducted by local committees.Via Japundit.
The projection of the "self" on Japan, in Korea and China, can be seen as one of the reasons for the anger.
One of the funniest things I've ever seen
From Yahoo! News - Oddly Enough:
(I wonder who'll be the first to try and delve into the "toy pit" [as opposed to "ball pit"] market?)
A 3-year-old boy upset that his mother wouldn't let him use a crane vending machine to try to win a small stuffed animal took matters in his own hands. He climbed up the chute to get the prize himself.This next part is great.
Manges said James has been sick and sleeping odd hours so they went shopping about 3 a.m. Thursday at a Wal-Mart in the city some 15 miles east of South Bend. She let the boy play on some of the rides, but wouldn't give him money for the vending machine.That is hilarious. Personally, I'm glad the woman has a sense of humor. I can imagine how it would be to think you'd failed as a mother or something because your kid climbed up into a toy machine while your back was turned for two seconds. And I'm also glad she got pictures, because that is just priceless.
At first, Manges thought it was funny.
"He was playing with all the toys and hanging from the bar like a monkey," she said.
Manges said people leaving the store went back inside to buy disposable cameras to take photos of her son. She bought one herself.
About 40 people watched as the firefighters removed the back of the machine and freed him.I think this is a funny, great story. And I think it's fantastic that the mom didn't just cave to the kid and give him a toy. Good for her! The kid sounds like a smart cookie, and with a mom who knows how to say no, I think he'll grow up to be somebody special.
James still came up empty handed.
"He definitely didn't get a toy after that," Manges said.
(I wonder who'll be the first to try and delve into the "toy pit" [as opposed to "ball pit"] market?)
Just a bunch of crap all in one post
I've subscribed to a couple new Japan blogs: dottocomu, which I've known about for awhile but hadn't subscribed to for whatever reason, and Japan Window, which I discovered today through Global Voices Online.
Here's a story from Wired (via Slashdot) that startled and scared me:
Here's a story that Kevin might like (if he'd ever read my blog). (Keep Your Fork - There's Pie!)
Hai's cousin Dom posted a cute and funny rant about his whirlwind trip to E3. (I guess since it's a blog post on a webcomic, it has to be called a "rant". I don't create the lingo, I just abuse it.)
Wil Wheaton has a good anecdote and some advice about parenting.
Simon has defeated the trough toilet! I must say, bravo. I, personally, had some problems with it...
Andy Gray of Japan Window posted last month about feeling his own mortality:
Mr. Gray also has an insightful piece about politics in East Asia, focusing on how the Japanese have offered a revised history to their schoolchildren.
(Side note: I'm not sure if it's a Moveable Type thing or an IE thing, but I have trouble highlighting text to copy and paste on his blog. I have to double click each paragraph to highlight it--click and drag seems to want to highlight everything that is in front of the mouse. Very irritating.)
Finally, I'd like to redirect everyone's attention to my Return of the Sith review--more specifically, the comments section. I've added a few thoughts there. Please feel free to continue the discussion if you'd like.
Here's a story from Wired (via Slashdot) that startled and scared me:
Korean scientists have used cloned human embryos to derive tailor-made stem cells, a breakthrough with dramatic implications for the development of useful therapies that could help shift the debate over human cloning.And here's a story about a lesser panda that can stand upright on two legs, complete with cute picture for all you furries out there. Via BoingBoing.
The researchers derived stem cells from patients with spinal cord injury, a congenital immune disorder and juvenile diabetes. The advance, announced Thursday, raises the stakes in the political and ethical argument surrounding embryonic stem-cell research. Once a pie-in-the-sky possibility, human cells now exist that could theoretically be transplanted back into patients without the fear of immune rejection, since as cloned cells they would be a genetic match.
Here's a story that Kevin might like (if he'd ever read my blog). (Keep Your Fork - There's Pie!)
Hai's cousin Dom posted a cute and funny rant about his whirlwind trip to E3. (I guess since it's a blog post on a webcomic, it has to be called a "rant". I don't create the lingo, I just abuse it.)
Number of miles on the odometer so far: 480Speaking of "rants", J. Jacques most recent "newspost" (ah, there's another term for it!) on Questionable Content contains the following neat little story:
Number of hours it has taken to rack up that many miles: 10
Number of hours if you take out the 60 total miles of commute to the LA Convention Center: 6
While riding my bike on a trail today, my front tire caught in an unexpected ditch and sent me flying over the handlebars. As I lay there, battered, bruised, and beset by opportunistic mosquitoes, I could not stop laughing. This is what it is to be alive.I dunno, I really liked that. It made me smile last night at around midnight, as I was sitting around waiting for my damn pot pie to finish cooking so I could eat it and go to bed.
Wil Wheaton has a good anecdote and some advice about parenting.
Simon has defeated the trough toilet! I must say, bravo. I, personally, had some problems with it...
Andy Gray of Japan Window posted last month about feeling his own mortality:
I think I began to face my own mortality for the first time in the weeks leading up to my marriage. I didn't want the fickleness of life to cut short the journey we had begun. I realized in the face of great happiness that I was helpless to guarantee it would continue. The second time I experienced mortality so intensely was prior to the birth of the twins. Hitomi was in the hospital on bed rest; Reia and I were staying with my in-laws in their house. At that time, on the news they were saying an earthquake could be imminent on the major fault that passed nearby. Furthermore, I knew that an engineer had declared that the house would completely collapse if that happened. I had a hard time sleeping at nights. I didn't want to miss seeing my daughters and watching them grow up. No wonder sometimes we're afraid of even good things, because they make us so vulnerable.In the comments, he talks about why he's writing, and the kind of person he targets his blog to. I found this pretty interesting, especially since I fit the description to a T.
For now, I would say this about my intended readers:There was a time in my life when I'd read someone talking about their faith, and immediately turn up my nose. I'm glad I'm past that immaturity now. This guy seems to have a lot of interesting things to say, and I'm looking forward to reading him further.
1) They are interested in Japan, Japanese people and Japanese culture.
2) They are sensitive, postmoderns who are open to a story that talks about truth and love among other things (my story).
3) They are attracted to creative expression (e.g., photography).
4) They read blogs and realize what they are reading is personal and autobiographical.
5) They are not Christians necessarily. Although I talk about Jesus at times, I'm more interested in hearing honest responses than agreement. I don't intend to write myself into a box of popular "Christian culture," but I realize some will put me there at the first mention of the "J" word.
As I write this, I know that I'm narrowing down my potential audience a bit, but I'm optimistic that most people won't automatically reject my blog because I write openly about my faith. Either way, I always knew I'd eventually have to go there in order to be honest as I write.
Mr. Gray also has an insightful piece about politics in East Asia, focusing on how the Japanese have offered a revised history to their schoolchildren.
My wife completed her education in Japan and graduated from a good university here, but she never knew what really happened in Korea and China until she went to the USA for graduate school. In the USA she learned about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers and saw (through Korean and Chinese friends) how real and raw the wounds are even today.And let me also point out this post, which talks about his family's trip to Karuizawa, a mountain/forest tourist town that he said reminded him of Colorado. I want to mention it because of this line:
Every locality in Japan must be known for some kind of food or craft. If not, they make something up.That is so true.
(Side note: I'm not sure if it's a Moveable Type thing or an IE thing, but I have trouble highlighting text to copy and paste on his blog. I have to double click each paragraph to highlight it--click and drag seems to want to highlight everything that is in front of the mouse. Very irritating.)
Finally, I'd like to redirect everyone's attention to my Return of the Sith review--more specifically, the comments section. I've added a few thoughts there. Please feel free to continue the discussion if you'd like.
One last thing before I give in to sleep
Here's an interview with CheeseburgerBrown (Matthew Frederick Davis Hemming), author of The Darth Side. It's really good. Hemming's got style, like Tycho or Eric Burns. I'll definitely be watching for his next project.
And now, I'm finally going to bed.
Gah.
And now, I'm finally going to bed.
Gah.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Nature vs. Nurture and the Skywalkers
CNN has a neat article up entitled "Was Darth Vader born bad?" It provides insight into the characters of Luke and Anakin from Lucas, Christensen, Steven Spielberg, and even a child psychologist.
"However Luke managed to become selfless, because he wasn't really trained in the same way a Jedi would be trained, but in the end, when push came to shove, he made a decision to be selfless," Lucas said. "He did not want the power to control the universe. He didn't want to be the emperor's right hand. He didn't want to destroy his father, and he refused to go along with the program."
Put simply, Han Solo once carped at Luke, "Don't get cocky."
Luke got the message. Anakin didn't.
"I think it comes from someone's obsession and someone's ambition, letting their ambition get the better of them," Christensen said. "That's something that Luke didn't really have. Although he had this sense of wanting to have something bigger, leave Tatooine and all that.
"But Anakin believed the hype. He thought he was the chosen one. That's a much different level of wanting something more. Absolute power, that's not something Luke wanted."
First full day of interning
I was ubertired due to Revenge of the Sith, but I made it to the office on time at 8 am this morning. First order of business was paperwork--I made sure I didn't sign away my soul, but I did note that I'm not allowed to discuss company business practices for two full years after my internship is over. This is obviously to protect their trade secrets; I just think it's funny.
I also think it's great that they have that policy. In fact, they have lots of good policies. I won't go into them, because they might be trade secrets or something, but let me tell you that it is refreshing to have everything spelled out. I much prefer knowing what is expected of me to having to haggle with my boss every day.
Today I did a lot more with Illustrator than I did yesterday. I actually did draw some designs. Some of them aren't half bad. I hope the art director likes them. She did say that I have a good eye for laying out text (or something to that effect), but she wanted me to make my logos more logo-ish. Hopefully I at least partially succeeded today. By the time I go back next Thursday, she will have looked at the nine or ten logos I put together today, so hopefully I'll get some good feedback.
(I'm pretty sure that telling you what I did today isn't a trade secret, because it's all stuff I chose to do. You never know, though; let's cross our fingers.)
For lunch I was going to carry my food over to the Augusta Common, but the company president (who I met while I was standing there waiting on the microwave to finish my frozen dinner) suggested I head to Riverwalk and sit on a bench in front of the river. So I did, and it was quite nice :) I took a couple of pictures while I was out there, and got back to the office just as it started raining.
Despite being extraordinarily tired, especially after lunch, I got a lot accomplished today, and I really feel like I'm getting the hang of Illustrator. Yay me!
I also think it's great that they have that policy. In fact, they have lots of good policies. I won't go into them, because they might be trade secrets or something, but let me tell you that it is refreshing to have everything spelled out. I much prefer knowing what is expected of me to having to haggle with my boss every day.
Today I did a lot more with Illustrator than I did yesterday. I actually did draw some designs. Some of them aren't half bad. I hope the art director likes them. She did say that I have a good eye for laying out text (or something to that effect), but she wanted me to make my logos more logo-ish. Hopefully I at least partially succeeded today. By the time I go back next Thursday, she will have looked at the nine or ten logos I put together today, so hopefully I'll get some good feedback.
(I'm pretty sure that telling you what I did today isn't a trade secret, because it's all stuff I chose to do. You never know, though; let's cross our fingers.)
For lunch I was going to carry my food over to the Augusta Common, but the company president (who I met while I was standing there waiting on the microwave to finish my frozen dinner) suggested I head to Riverwalk and sit on a bench in front of the river. So I did, and it was quite nice :) I took a couple of pictures while I was out there, and got back to the office just as it started raining.
Despite being extraordinarily tired, especially after lunch, I got a lot accomplished today, and I really feel like I'm getting the hang of Illustrator. Yay me!
It's weird news day!
Russian lake disappears, baffling villagers
Companies sync dogs-to-buns ratio - This is the kind of paradigm shift that could totally destroy our reality. Via BoingBoing.
Officials in Nizhegorodskaya region, on the Volga river east of Moscow, said water in the lake might have been sucked down into an underground water-course or cave system, but some villagers had more sinister explanations.Girl Pitches Perfect Little League Game
"I am thinking, well, America has finally got to us," said one old woman, as she sat on the ground outside her house.
Companies sync dogs-to-buns ratio - This is the kind of paradigm shift that could totally destroy our reality. Via BoingBoing.
Vienna Beef and Alpha Baking Co., which manufactures S. Rosen's buns, promise to sell the buns and hot dogs in the same numbers.Camel Sits on W.Va. Woman Painting a Fence
According to a news release, the companies will sign a formal "piece" treaty, vowing to package hot dogs and buns in quantities of eight.
Volunteer firefighters and the property owner helped move the 1,500-pound camel off the woman, who was having trouble breathing, ambulance driver Brent Hicks said Wednesday.
"There is no protocol on something like this," said Hicks.
There is apparently a real archaeologist named Dr. Jones
And Raiders of the Lost Ark was based on him and his exploits. [Edit: Or was it? Via BoingBoing, 5/20/05 5:48pm] It's been Dr. Vendyl Jones' life work to locate the Ark of the Covenant. Now he says he knows where it is. Via Israpundit (copied from Arutz Sheva), via Global Voices Online.
(I'm a little suspicious of the "Endy Jones" explanation--wasn't Indiana Jones named after George Lucas' dog, Indiana? Did it just happen to work out that conveniently?)
Dr. Vendyl Jones has a website.
Jones' escapades and explorations were the inspiration for the blockbuster movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' of the 'Indiana Jones' trilogy. The man who wrote the first draft of the film, Randolph Fillmore, was one of the volunteers who worked with Jones in 1977.Dr. Jones also predicts the future based on scripture.
"I agreed to help him write the movie," Jones said, "as long as - number one - he wouldn't set it here (In Israel). Some people believe the ark is in Ethiopia or Egypt, some believe its in Constantinople or Rome. I just didn't want it to be portrayed as being here. The second thing was, 'Don't use my name.' So he didn't. My name is Vendyl - V-E-N-D-Y-L. So he just dropped the first and last letters and it ended up Endy Jones."
Although at the time of the film, Jones was far from pinpointing the location of the Ark, he has come a long way since then. With the help of an ancient document found in Qumran together with the Dead Sea Scrolls, known as the "Copper Scroll", Dr. Jones has pinpointed the location of the Ark of the Covenant.
(I'm a little suspicious of the "Endy Jones" explanation--wasn't Indiana Jones named after George Lucas' dog, Indiana? Did it just happen to work out that conveniently?)
Dr. Vendyl Jones has a website.
My reaction to Revenge of the Sith. SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS.
I am three kinds of depressed right now.
The first kind is a result of the perfect tragedy of the story. Anakin turns against everything he believes in, everything the people who love him believe in, in order to save the woman he loves. But as he walks further and further down that path, he loses even that. Just enough. Just enough so that when Sidious causes Padme to die, Anakin finds it conceivable that his own Force-choke was the reason. That he had killed his wife; that his ties with his former life have been completely severed; that all he can do now is move on down the dark path, continue his quest for power--not for any noble purpose, but because it is all he has left.
I could have believed in that tragedy.
The movie didn't let me.
It was so good. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I was happy. New things were happening that I didn't expect, but that made sense. I watched Palpatine's web of deception and I understood, to the depth of my being, how it was affecting Anakin. I was convinced that it would all culminate in one great event that would send Anakin plummeting into the Dark Side; I had every indication that the story was that strong.
The event turned out to be Palpatine pretending to be frail so that Anakin would save him from Windu--Anakin slicing off Windu's hand--Palpatine "recovering", screaming "unlimited power!" and blasting Windu to his death with Force lightning.
This happened, and Anakin said thickly, "What have I done?"
And you see how this could not possibly have been the scene that turned him. For he still had remorse.
But he staggered forward as Palpatine approached him. He dropped to his knees. He said, "I will do whatever you wish." He said, "I pledge myself to you." And when Palpatine immediately slay all the Jedi, he said, "Yes, my master."
In his very next scene, Anakin ignites his lightsaber to kill a child.
I do not believe in Anakin's fall to the Dark Side!
I do not believe that the man who, for the duration of the film's exposition, was in anguish over his feelings of ambition and jealousy, who strove to do the right thing, who refused to leave Obi-Wan to die, could so quickly turn to slaying children.
The Windu scene could have been a factor. One that caused him to rethink everything. But it couldn't be the factor.
Not unless Palpatine was doing something to Anakin's mind. And while this is a possibility (especially given Palpatine's apparent ability to kill people from afar), there is no indication that he is doing anything. The film does not provide evidence of this theory. I have only come up with it out of desperation.
That scene is the primary reason for my second depression, my depression at the fact that the movie could have been brilliant. There is another.
Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel.
"Don't try it," Obi-Wan warns, but Anakin leaps anyway--and then Obi-Wan relieves Anakin of all his remaining limbs. Anakin's body falls to the edge of the rocky hill and catches fire due to the molten lava not a foot away from him. He burns, and writhes, and screams.
And Obi-Wan watches, and then turns and walks away.
"You were my brother," he said. "I loved you."
But he was going to let this "brother" die in torment, rather than putting him immediately out of his misery. He didn't expect Anakin to survive. But he didn't ensure Anakin's death.
I can understand the reasoning that Obi-Wan couldn't stand to kill Anakin. He said as much when Yoda sent him on that very mission. But I find it hard to believe that Obi-Wan could stand to watch Anakin suffer through that much pain. I find it hard to believe that Obi-Wan wouldn't show his padawan, his brother, mercy.
There is an answer for both of these scenes, and it is the worst answer possible.
"Well, it had to happen that way, to prepare for the other movies."
These scenes were very good, but in the end they were both forced to fit a mold that was no longer suitable. Realism--I mean story realism, realism of character--was abandoned in favor of getting everything to work out correctly.
I think Lucas was on the road to telling a different story than he originally intended, and I think the new story changed how other things worked out. Padme wasn't supposed to die in childbirth, after all. Leia remembered her mother. "Very beautiful...kind, but sad." Lucas had to change this to make Anakin's fall work out properly. I'm not happy with that edit, but I can understand the need for it. Anakin needed to lose Padme so that Palpatine could manipulate him fully. Leaving her alive would have fit the later movies, but it would have felt unbelievable. "Surely Anakin could sense Padme," people would say. "Surely he'd look for her, surely he wouldn't just believe Palpatine's word."
Lucas saw that this would be unrealistic, and he modified it. But he didn't apply the same wisdom to the two most important scenes of the movie.
I do not believe in Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and I do not believe in Obi-Wan's decision to leave Anakin writhing in pain.
Those two scenes were the pillars for the entire film. And they completely collapsed, taking the rest of the movie--which was perfectly planned, well-executed, beautifully rendered, and even decently acted--down with them.
I think the overall story was sound. I think the acting was good. I think the special effects were wonderful, and they didn't seem to overshadow the plot this time. This could have been a brilliant movie.
But in crunch time, at the moment when everything had to make sense, when I was supposed to be twisted up inside with the terrible necessity of it all, when I should have been thinking, "They don't know what they're doing, but it couldn't have happened any other way"...it all fell flat. None of the artistry that went into making the rest of this film beautiful could save the two glaring plot inconsistencies that sucked all joy out of my final Star Wars experience.
And that, my friends, is my third depression. This is it; this is the end. This movie, that could have been great, that should have been great, has put the final nail in the coffin of the girl who once introduced herself to her dormmates with "The most important thing about me is that I love Star Wars."
It's all over. And I don't even get to say "What a way to go."
The first kind is a result of the perfect tragedy of the story. Anakin turns against everything he believes in, everything the people who love him believe in, in order to save the woman he loves. But as he walks further and further down that path, he loses even that. Just enough. Just enough so that when Sidious causes Padme to die, Anakin finds it conceivable that his own Force-choke was the reason. That he had killed his wife; that his ties with his former life have been completely severed; that all he can do now is move on down the dark path, continue his quest for power--not for any noble purpose, but because it is all he has left.
I could have believed in that tragedy.
The movie didn't let me.
It was so good. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I was happy. New things were happening that I didn't expect, but that made sense. I watched Palpatine's web of deception and I understood, to the depth of my being, how it was affecting Anakin. I was convinced that it would all culminate in one great event that would send Anakin plummeting into the Dark Side; I had every indication that the story was that strong.
The event turned out to be Palpatine pretending to be frail so that Anakin would save him from Windu--Anakin slicing off Windu's hand--Palpatine "recovering", screaming "unlimited power!" and blasting Windu to his death with Force lightning.
This happened, and Anakin said thickly, "What have I done?"
And you see how this could not possibly have been the scene that turned him. For he still had remorse.
But he staggered forward as Palpatine approached him. He dropped to his knees. He said, "I will do whatever you wish." He said, "I pledge myself to you." And when Palpatine immediately slay all the Jedi, he said, "Yes, my master."
In his very next scene, Anakin ignites his lightsaber to kill a child.
I do not believe in Anakin's fall to the Dark Side!
I do not believe that the man who, for the duration of the film's exposition, was in anguish over his feelings of ambition and jealousy, who strove to do the right thing, who refused to leave Obi-Wan to die, could so quickly turn to slaying children.
The Windu scene could have been a factor. One that caused him to rethink everything. But it couldn't be the factor.
Not unless Palpatine was doing something to Anakin's mind. And while this is a possibility (especially given Palpatine's apparent ability to kill people from afar), there is no indication that he is doing anything. The film does not provide evidence of this theory. I have only come up with it out of desperation.
That scene is the primary reason for my second depression, my depression at the fact that the movie could have been brilliant. There is another.
Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel.
"Don't try it," Obi-Wan warns, but Anakin leaps anyway--and then Obi-Wan relieves Anakin of all his remaining limbs. Anakin's body falls to the edge of the rocky hill and catches fire due to the molten lava not a foot away from him. He burns, and writhes, and screams.
And Obi-Wan watches, and then turns and walks away.
"You were my brother," he said. "I loved you."
But he was going to let this "brother" die in torment, rather than putting him immediately out of his misery. He didn't expect Anakin to survive. But he didn't ensure Anakin's death.
I can understand the reasoning that Obi-Wan couldn't stand to kill Anakin. He said as much when Yoda sent him on that very mission. But I find it hard to believe that Obi-Wan could stand to watch Anakin suffer through that much pain. I find it hard to believe that Obi-Wan wouldn't show his padawan, his brother, mercy.
There is an answer for both of these scenes, and it is the worst answer possible.
"Well, it had to happen that way, to prepare for the other movies."
These scenes were very good, but in the end they were both forced to fit a mold that was no longer suitable. Realism--I mean story realism, realism of character--was abandoned in favor of getting everything to work out correctly.
I think Lucas was on the road to telling a different story than he originally intended, and I think the new story changed how other things worked out. Padme wasn't supposed to die in childbirth, after all. Leia remembered her mother. "Very beautiful...kind, but sad." Lucas had to change this to make Anakin's fall work out properly. I'm not happy with that edit, but I can understand the need for it. Anakin needed to lose Padme so that Palpatine could manipulate him fully. Leaving her alive would have fit the later movies, but it would have felt unbelievable. "Surely Anakin could sense Padme," people would say. "Surely he'd look for her, surely he wouldn't just believe Palpatine's word."
Lucas saw that this would be unrealistic, and he modified it. But he didn't apply the same wisdom to the two most important scenes of the movie.
I do not believe in Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and I do not believe in Obi-Wan's decision to leave Anakin writhing in pain.
Those two scenes were the pillars for the entire film. And they completely collapsed, taking the rest of the movie--which was perfectly planned, well-executed, beautifully rendered, and even decently acted--down with them.
I think the overall story was sound. I think the acting was good. I think the special effects were wonderful, and they didn't seem to overshadow the plot this time. This could have been a brilliant movie.
But in crunch time, at the moment when everything had to make sense, when I was supposed to be twisted up inside with the terrible necessity of it all, when I should have been thinking, "They don't know what they're doing, but it couldn't have happened any other way"...it all fell flat. None of the artistry that went into making the rest of this film beautiful could save the two glaring plot inconsistencies that sucked all joy out of my final Star Wars experience.
And that, my friends, is my third depression. This is it; this is the end. This movie, that could have been great, that should have been great, has put the final nail in the coffin of the girl who once introduced herself to her dormmates with "The most important thing about me is that I love Star Wars."
It's all over. And I don't even get to say "What a way to go."
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