Vince has no blog but he's got Kate on the radio
right now and I think he deserves an LolMoose.
right now and I think he deserves an LolMoose.
Showing posts with label UCF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UCF. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Contemplating The Ultimate In Hijackey Goodness.
On occasion, I've been accused of being a Hijacker. Yes, you folks see me as someone who blithely dances into someone's thread about Third World Debt Relief, sees some mention of Kinshasa and proceeds to post a lengthy comment about how disgusting the toilets are at the train station in Newark. (Yeah, there'd be a specious connection.)
These accusations hurt. The fact that there's a pebble of truth to them is completely irrelevant.
Anyway, I decided it might be better to embrace my inner-Hijacker instead of wallowing in feelings of distress. After all, I'm certain this would prove much easier than actually moderating my behavior. But how to go about it? What would the ultimate Hijack look like?
Since you all know I'm a big fan of the mashup, (remember this? And that other thing I can't think of, but when you say you're a big fan of something, you'd better come up with at least two examples and then you can just claim you forgot to post a link?). Well anyway, here's my idea.
I put up a post labeled The Ultimate Hijack. That's the title. The body of the post just says, "...can be found here." And it's a link. It links to one of those blogs I discussed running across while using the "Next Blog" button feature of Blogger. And then in the comments section of that randomly chosen blog, you'd find a lengthy post in their comment thread that isn't even vaguely related to anything in the aforementioned blog. I promise I'd watch the language and I'd avoid any kid's blog or getting all ranty on some poor well meaning religious person's blog. In fact, I'd make sure that my post would be a complete Non-Sequitur as opposed to challenging anything about the blog I'd Hijack.
And the cool thing is, you guys would all go there giving some randomly chosen Confusee a whole new (temporary) audience. Maybe we could Digg-it and send the world.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.
The odds that I'll actually follow through and do something like this are really pretty slim...but the idea makes me laugh.
These accusations hurt. The fact that there's a pebble of truth to them is completely irrelevant.
Anyway, I decided it might be better to embrace my inner-Hijacker instead of wallowing in feelings of distress. After all, I'm certain this would prove much easier than actually moderating my behavior. But how to go about it? What would the ultimate Hijack look like?
Since you all know I'm a big fan of the mashup, (remember this? And that other thing I can't think of, but when you say you're a big fan of something, you'd better come up with at least two examples and then you can just claim you forgot to post a link?). Well anyway, here's my idea.
I put up a post labeled The Ultimate Hijack. That's the title. The body of the post just says, "...can be found here." And it's a link. It links to one of those blogs I discussed running across while using the "Next Blog" button feature of Blogger. And then in the comments section of that randomly chosen blog, you'd find a lengthy post in their comment thread that isn't even vaguely related to anything in the aforementioned blog. I promise I'd watch the language and I'd avoid any kid's blog or getting all ranty on some poor well meaning religious person's blog. In fact, I'd make sure that my post would be a complete Non-Sequitur as opposed to challenging anything about the blog I'd Hijack.
And the cool thing is, you guys would all go there giving some randomly chosen Confusee a whole new (temporary) audience. Maybe we could Digg-it and send the world.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.
The odds that I'll actually follow through and do something like this are really pretty slim...but the idea makes me laugh.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
The Management Responds.
Matt has posted Part XXI of Sophie from Shinola. The beginning and the explanation of the whole thing can be found here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In today's topic Polybliggimous Goes Edumacational, Justin Ryan asks a question and has a couple of excellent suggestions. I deem this worthy of its own thread and solicit UCF evaluation. Also, I realize that there are 1 or 2 others out there who may feel themselves to be in the Netherworld that Justin imagines himself in. Feel free to ask your status and face the UCFers verdict.
P.S. Even if you've been lurking since day 1, you're not UCF material. You're welcome to keep lurking or to delurk at the time of your choosing and be considered for PAL membership, but the UCF is a noisy bunch who have a deep distrust for those who put a lot of thought into things before yelling their opinions at the top of their lungs.
So, this is what Justin had to say:
"Though I'm not sure if I arrived in time to be a UCFer or will be consigned to being a PAL, I most humbly suggest that the term of venery for the PAL be "cackle," as they're merely scavenging that which is left by the far more luminary UCF.
I further suggest that the whole lot of us, UCFers and PALs alike, be christened a flange.
My answer is:
To quote a favorite movie around here, "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
ven·er·y 1 (v
n
-r
)
Moving past that however, this is a difficult question to answer since, technically, you did arrive before the cutoff and have participated marvelously in Sophie from Shinola."
And beyond that, I'm most pleased with both of your suggestions.
I'm not going to decide until others have had a chance to mouth off, but 'Cackle' conveys all that 'Giggle' does but without the adolescent girlyness. And Flange evokes 'fringe' but it's funnier. These two now stand atop the heap unless someone else comes up with something better.
I've thus decided that the UCF should decide whether or not you have earned inclusion and I shall heed their decision.
However, before you and they decide, I'd like to offer an alternate position. First Chairman of the PAL. I'm envisioning that the PAL will be Polybloggimous' Commons and the UCF, The House of Lords. As First Chairman you would have great powers that I'd make up later regarding the PAL membership (including nominating folks for membership).
You'd also have the right to blather away to your heart's content, hijack any topic at the moment of your choosing, disagree with management and ridicule my spelling, grammar and ideas...so, yeah, pretty much like everyone else here, just with a nifty title.
In thinking about this, I believe the post would last for a year and then some other worthy would be elevated to this exalted position. The incumbent would move on to Emeritus status. (And to clarify, the position being offered is first 'First Chairman'; the next guy'd be the 'First Chairman' too...just the second one.)
Frankly, this whole thing is giving me delusions but WTF, I'm having fun.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In today's topic Polybliggimous Goes Edumacational, Justin Ryan asks a question and has a couple of excellent suggestions. I deem this worthy of its own thread and solicit UCF evaluation. Also, I realize that there are 1 or 2 others out there who may feel themselves to be in the Netherworld that Justin imagines himself in. Feel free to ask your status and face the UCFers verdict.
P.S. Even if you've been lurking since day 1, you're not UCF material. You're welcome to keep lurking or to delurk at the time of your choosing and be considered for PAL membership, but the UCF is a noisy bunch who have a deep distrust for those who put a lot of thought into things before yelling their opinions at the top of their lungs.
So, this is what Justin had to say:
"Though I'm not sure if I arrived in time to be a UCFer or will be consigned to being a PAL, I most humbly suggest that the term of venery for the PAL be "cackle," as they're merely scavenging that which is left by the far more luminary UCF.
I further suggest that the whole lot of us, UCFers and PALs alike, be christened a flange.
My answer is:
To quote a favorite movie around here, "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
ven·er·y 1 (v
n-r)n. pl. ven·er·ies Archaic
1. Indulgence in or pursuit of sexual activity.
2. The act of sexual intercourse.
Moving past that however, this is a difficult question to answer since, technically, you did arrive before the cutoff and have participated marvelously in Sophie from Shinola."
And beyond that, I'm most pleased with both of your suggestions.
I'm not going to decide until others have had a chance to mouth off, but 'Cackle' conveys all that 'Giggle' does but without the adolescent girlyness. And Flange evokes 'fringe' but it's funnier. These two now stand atop the heap unless someone else comes up with something better.
I've thus decided that the UCF should decide whether or not you have earned inclusion and I shall heed their decision.
However, before you and they decide, I'd like to offer an alternate position. First Chairman of the PAL. I'm envisioning that the PAL will be Polybloggimous' Commons and the UCF, The House of Lords. As First Chairman you would have great powers that I'd make up later regarding the PAL membership (including nominating folks for membership).
You'd also have the right to blather away to your heart's content, hijack any topic at the moment of your choosing, disagree with management and ridicule my spelling, grammar and ideas...so, yeah, pretty much like everyone else here, just with a nifty title.
In thinking about this, I believe the post would last for a year and then some other worthy would be elevated to this exalted position. The incumbent would move on to Emeritus status. (And to clarify, the position being offered is first 'First Chairman'; the next guy'd be the 'First Chairman' too...just the second one.)
Frankly, this whole thing is giving me delusions but WTF, I'm having fun.
Polybloggimous Goes Edumacational
If you're following our Sophie from Shinola saga or are just joining us, the beginning of the story and an explanation of WTF we're doing is here.
And Eric has now posted Part 20.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You guys are all big fans of words and language, so today were going to discuss animal group names. Some are obvious. Some are a little weird. And some are downright baffling.
What could be more apt than a Pride of Lions. Or an Intrusion of Cockroaches. An Ostentation of Peafowl makes sense. A Prickle of Porcupines works fine. A Murder of Crows, a Convocation of Eagles, a Charm of Finches, a Scold of Jays, and an Unkindness of Ravens all create the appropriate mental picture. And surely, more than one Skunk is a Surfeit.
Clams and Oysters congregate in Beds. Fish come in Schools, which some claim is a bastardization of Shoals, and therefore improper. A group of Sharks is a Shiver.
Then there's some odd ones. How about a Smack of Jellyfish? Or a Hover of Trout? Why are a bunch of Flies a Business? A Knot of Toads; a Bale of Frogs? A Fall of Woodcocks or a Building of Rooks? A Parliament of Owls is fitting, I guess, but still seems like a reach. What did the poor Lapwings do to be grouped in a Deceit? And where the hell did they get the Cete of Badgers.
Since I'm a firm believer in taking charge of one's own destiny, I now pronounce that whenever two or more UCFers (yes, that's now the proper plural), they will be called a Cacophony. Denizens of the PAL shall be a Gaggle (although I'm open to changing that one if you've got a better idea.
Have a happy Sunday!
And Eric has now posted Part 20.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You guys are all big fans of words and language, so today were going to discuss animal group names. Some are obvious. Some are a little weird. And some are downright baffling.
What could be more apt than a Pride of Lions. Or an Intrusion of Cockroaches. An Ostentation of Peafowl makes sense. A Prickle of Porcupines works fine. A Murder of Crows, a Convocation of Eagles, a Charm of Finches, a Scold of Jays, and an Unkindness of Ravens all create the appropriate mental picture. And surely, more than one Skunk is a Surfeit.
Clams and Oysters congregate in Beds. Fish come in Schools, which some claim is a bastardization of Shoals, and therefore improper. A group of Sharks is a Shiver.
Then there's some odd ones. How about a Smack of Jellyfish? Or a Hover of Trout? Why are a bunch of Flies a Business? A Knot of Toads; a Bale of Frogs? A Fall of Woodcocks or a Building of Rooks? A Parliament of Owls is fitting, I guess, but still seems like a reach. What did the poor Lapwings do to be grouped in a Deceit? And where the hell did they get the Cete of Badgers.
Since I'm a firm believer in taking charge of one's own destiny, I now pronounce that whenever two or more UCFers (yes, that's now the proper plural), they will be called a Cacophony. Denizens of the PAL shall be a Gaggle (although I'm open to changing that one if you've got a better idea.
Have a happy Sunday!
Friday, April 4, 2008
UCF Membership Is Now Officially Closed!
If you're looking for our round-robin writing game, Sophie from Shinola, it can be found here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over on Snavely's Web Log, Kim (formerly Kimby and formally Kimberly-Ann, no E, thank you very much), asked who comprised the complete membership of the UCF. Snavely answered "...Nathan is very free with membership status, so the group grows all the time." For those of you unfamiliar with the UCF, it stands for Union of Collaborating Founders and (at least at first), was populated by a bunch of folks who had "met" over on Whateveresque, (I think mostly on Jim's Future Ultimate Emperor of the Universe (all Hail!) thread).
What it meant was that when I got around to starting this blog, I shamelessly ran around to all these peoples' blogs and promptly went off topic in whatever threads they had going and yelled, "Lookee, lookee! I started a blog! Come look! Puhleeeeeeeeeeze!" And those nice folks showed up and a few other folks drifted in from various places, and since I felt like I had lucked into a pre-established readership, I dubbed them the Union of Collaborating Founders.
So, here we are. It occurs to me that I have been rather free with membership and I'm happy I have been. I really like the regulars. I hope to attract pantloads more of 'em. But it also occurs to me that if I keep accepting new members, the concept of Collaborating Founders will soon lose all meaning and cache. So membership is now closed. And I'm not even going to list who the members are. You know who you are and it's more fun if we've got a little bit of that Secret Society thing going. So, congratulations all, on your status. Bathe in the radiated glory of it all.
That said, I feel the need to establish a group name for the thousands who will be pouring through the gates any minute now (or maybe by Thanksgiving...2009?). At any rate, (and this is open to UCF'ers and newbies alike), I 'd like some help coining the term for my future legions of acolytes. Polybloggimites sounds a little dirty...but in a good way. :D
Other entries are invited.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over on Snavely's Web Log, Kim (formerly Kimby and formally Kimberly-Ann, no E, thank you very much), asked who comprised the complete membership of the UCF. Snavely answered "...Nathan is very free with membership status, so the group grows all the time." For those of you unfamiliar with the UCF, it stands for Union of Collaborating Founders and (at least at first), was populated by a bunch of folks who had "met" over on Whateveresque, (I think mostly on Jim's Future Ultimate Emperor of the Universe (all Hail!) thread).
What it meant was that when I got around to starting this blog, I shamelessly ran around to all these peoples' blogs and promptly went off topic in whatever threads they had going and yelled, "Lookee, lookee! I started a blog! Come look! Puhleeeeeeeeeeze!" And those nice folks showed up and a few other folks drifted in from various places, and since I felt like I had lucked into a pre-established readership, I dubbed them the Union of Collaborating Founders.
So, here we are. It occurs to me that I have been rather free with membership and I'm happy I have been. I really like the regulars. I hope to attract pantloads more of 'em. But it also occurs to me that if I keep accepting new members, the concept of Collaborating Founders will soon lose all meaning and cache. So membership is now closed. And I'm not even going to list who the members are. You know who you are and it's more fun if we've got a little bit of that Secret Society thing going. So, congratulations all, on your status. Bathe in the radiated glory of it all.
That said, I feel the need to establish a group name for the thousands who will be pouring through the gates any minute now (or maybe by Thanksgiving...2009?). At any rate, (and this is open to UCF'ers and newbies alike), I 'd like some help coining the term for my future legions of acolytes. Polybloggimites sounds a little dirty...but in a good way. :D
Other entries are invited.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Get Me Rewrite. Take 2...And The Writing Begins
OK, since Michelle was bored and since I have the attention span of a soapdish and since I have the patience of a three-year-old, we're starting the writing early. Shawn and MWT have said they're ready to go, so I put them first in the on-deck circle. The rest of the writers are in order of how I literally pulled their names out of a hat. (A Red Sox cap, if you must know.)
Note: I'm still going to leave this open to more people as long as they sign up by Noon on Sunday. Just ask to be included in the comment thread and I'll add you to the lineup.
Nathan
Shawn Powers, Part 2
MWT, Part 3
Eric, Part 4
Matt Warnock, Part 5
Jeri, Part 6
Saqib, Part 7
Michelle K., Part 8
Vince, Part 9
Kimberly-Ann, Part 10
Tom, Part 11
Kate, Part 12
Justin Ryan, Part XIII
Bryan, Part, The 14th
Tania, Part 15
Charles Duggelson, Part 16
Part 17, from me.
Part 18 from Shawn Powers.
Part 19 from MWT.
Part 20 from Eric.
Part XXI from Matt.
Part 22 from Jeri.
Part 23 from Saqib.
Part 24 from Michelle.
Part 25 from Vince.
Part 26 from Kimby
Part 27 from Tom.
Part 28 from Kate.
Part 29 from Bryan (that I somehow missed linking here when it went up. oops)
Part 30 from Charles.
There's two new parts today! One from Justin and another from Tania.
And Now everyone who wants to has been invited to post a final entry. Once they're all in (by Noon April 24th), we'll decide which one is the official ending.
Eric has posted this as his entry.
And here's mine.
And Michelle's.
Important Note: Justin, my link for you is broken, non-functional, pffffft! Please post your link again in the comments below. Oops. My bad
How it works:
Each participant's entry should be in the range of 100 to 500 words. All entries will be a sequel to the person's entry before them so that it becomes one coherent story-line. We're looking for two entries per day (one morning, one evening) and we'll each write a second entry when our turn comes around again. When you put up your entry please link the following: 1. This post for people who want to start from the beginning, 2.) the post of the entry preceding your, and 3.) the blog address for the person who will be following you. (It'll be nice to try to edit your link to the actual following post once its up. I'll be trying to keep them current here as well.) Vince's parts will be posted on my blog and he'll email me his entry which he can do easily from the link on my profile.
At the end of this post, you'll find the first part of the story...by Moi. Each subsequent writer, (reacting to the portion immediately before theirs), must change one significant element of the story. You can change the gender of one character. You can change the season. You can change the locale. You can change the time period. You can change any element but only one element. (The only exception is that if you change a character's gender, you may change that character's name to fit the gender if necessary, but you should do what you can so that readers recognize that its the same character [i.e. Sam could remain Sam, Joe could become Josie, etc.]). Also, you may switch from Third Person narrative to First Person or vice-versa, but that does not count as your one significant change. Your change could also be to return something to the way it was before (Summer could become Winter again), but you can't change the same element that the person immediately before you changed.
You may also choose to follow the story by writing about a character who may have only been secondary to that point, but you must make it coherently flow from what's come before and the character you're following must have been in the portion of the story immediately preceding yours.
So, without further ado, I give you:
As much as she was trying to hide it, Sophie knew her anxiety was as apparent as the landing beacons at shuttleport 3. She was fidgeting and alternated between swinging her legs and stopping to pick at one of the twin scabs on her knees. Both actions brought a remarkably similar reaction from he mother; “Sit still, Sophie”, “Leave that be Sophie.”
Sophie was trying to be calm, but everything was riding on this interview. She had only just turned 11 the previous week, and so, she was now old enough to apply for SpaceForce Training Academy. And she desperately wanted to be accepted.
She glanced once more at the receptionist sitting pinch-faced and silent behind her little protective counter. When they’d arrived for the interview the lady (Ms. Wilberforce, her placard declared), had told them they’d be called when the interviewers were ready for them. She hadn’t even looked up from her display (which Sophie noticed was tuned to one of the more garish celebrity gossip channels). Now, Ms. Wilberforce was completely engrossed in filing her long chartreuse nails. Sophie, young as she was, already felt a deeply abiding distaste for people grooming in public. “Is she gonna start flossing next?”, she thought.
Sophie didn’t know what she’d do if she wasn’t accepted into the Academy. With the certitude of all 11-year-olds, she knew that if she wasn’t accepted, she’d be stuck here on Chenolla VI for the rest of her life. And that, obviously was a fate worse than death. Chenolla VI had only reached the point in its terraforming 60 years earlier where it could begin to support life and start to be colonized. Her parents had signed on with the third wave of colonists, so it wasn’t exactly like they were starting from scratch, but face it; Chenolla VI was a pit without much going for it. The mining operations and the planetary fisheries were the only things that made the planet worth maintaining in the first place and were also responsible for the God-awful stink that pervaded the place.
Sophie’s parents both worked in the clerical section at the beryllium mine just outside of town. The presence of beryllium in such vast amounts was one of the only things that made the planet unique in any way. Otherwise, the place was just one more fairly cold rock hurtling ceaselessly through space. Sophie saw absolutely no future for herself here and this interview was her only chance to get off. On top of that, Sophie’d been addicted to stories about SpaceForce since she had learned to read. All the stories were available on readers, but Sophie’s father actually had a collection of over 1200 titles on actual paper. He’d been collecting them since he was Sophie’s age and she cherished the collection, having worked her way through almost half of the them.
Objectively, Sophie knew that the real SpaceForce wasn’t all adventure and excitement, but compared to Chenolla VI, anything had to be an improvement. “Jeez”, she though, “What’s taking so long?”
Part 2 is up on Shawn's blog.
Part 3 is up on MWT's blog.
Part 4 is up on Eric's blog.
Part 5 is up on Matt's Blog.
Part 6 is up on Jeri's blog..
Part 7 is up on Saqib's blog.
And Part 8 is up on Michelle's blog. (Wow, that was quick)
Part 9 from Vince is up on my blog.
Part 10 is up on Kimby's blog.
Part 11 is up on Tom's blog.
Part 12 is up on Kate's blog.
Part 12 plus 1 is up on Justin's new underblog.
Part, The 14th is up from Bryan on Jeri's Joint.
Part 15 is now on Tania's blog.
Part 16 is now on Charles's blog.
I've posted Part 17.
Shawn has posted Part 18.
MWT has posted Part 19.
Eric has posted Part 20.
Matt who prefers Roman Numerals has posted Part XXI.
Jeri has posted Part 22.
Saqib has posted Part 23.
Michelle has posted Part 24.
Vince has posted Part 25,
Kimby has posted Part 26.
Tom has posted Part 27.
Kate has posted Part 28.
Bryan posted Part 29 a couple of days ago and I suck for missing the update here.
Charles has posted Part 30.
Justin has posted what might be an ending...but Tania chimes in too.
Note: I'm still going to leave this open to more people as long as they sign up by Noon on Sunday. Just ask to be included in the comment thread and I'll add you to the lineup.
Nathan
Shawn Powers, Part 2
MWT, Part 3
Eric, Part 4
Matt Warnock, Part 5
Jeri, Part 6
Saqib, Part 7
Michelle K., Part 8
Vince, Part 9
Kimberly-Ann, Part 10
Tom, Part 11
Kate, Part 12
Justin Ryan, Part XIII
Bryan, Part, The 14th
Tania, Part 15
Charles Duggelson, Part 16
Part 17, from me.
Part 18 from Shawn Powers.
Part 19 from MWT.
Part 20 from Eric.
Part XXI from Matt.
Part 22 from Jeri.
Part 23 from Saqib.
Part 24 from Michelle.
Part 25 from Vince.
Part 26 from Kimby
Part 27 from Tom.
Part 28 from Kate.
Part 29 from Bryan (that I somehow missed linking here when it went up. oops)
Part 30 from Charles.
There's two new parts today! One from Justin and another from Tania.
And Now everyone who wants to has been invited to post a final entry. Once they're all in (by Noon April 24th), we'll decide which one is the official ending.
Eric has posted this as his entry.
And here's mine.
And Michelle's.
How it works:
Each participant's entry should be in the range of 100 to 500 words. All entries will be a sequel to the person's entry before them so that it becomes one coherent story-line. We're looking for two entries per day (one morning, one evening) and we'll each write a second entry when our turn comes around again. When you put up your entry please link the following: 1. This post for people who want to start from the beginning, 2.) the post of the entry preceding your, and 3.) the blog address for the person who will be following you. (It'll be nice to try to edit your link to the actual following post once its up. I'll be trying to keep them current here as well.) Vince's parts will be posted on my blog and he'll email me his entry which he can do easily from the link on my profile.
At the end of this post, you'll find the first part of the story...by Moi. Each subsequent writer, (reacting to the portion immediately before theirs), must change one significant element of the story. You can change the gender of one character. You can change the season. You can change the locale. You can change the time period. You can change any element but only one element. (The only exception is that if you change a character's gender, you may change that character's name to fit the gender if necessary, but you should do what you can so that readers recognize that its the same character [i.e. Sam could remain Sam, Joe could become Josie, etc.]). Also, you may switch from Third Person narrative to First Person or vice-versa, but that does not count as your one significant change. Your change could also be to return something to the way it was before (Summer could become Winter again), but you can't change the same element that the person immediately before you changed.
You may also choose to follow the story by writing about a character who may have only been secondary to that point, but you must make it coherently flow from what's come before and the character you're following must have been in the portion of the story immediately preceding yours.
So, without further ado, I give you:
Sophie from Shinola, part 1
As much as she was trying to hide it, Sophie knew her anxiety was as apparent as the landing beacons at shuttleport 3. She was fidgeting and alternated between swinging her legs and stopping to pick at one of the twin scabs on her knees. Both actions brought a remarkably similar reaction from he mother; “Sit still, Sophie”, “Leave that be Sophie.”
Sophie was trying to be calm, but everything was riding on this interview. She had only just turned 11 the previous week, and so, she was now old enough to apply for SpaceForce Training Academy. And she desperately wanted to be accepted.
She glanced once more at the receptionist sitting pinch-faced and silent behind her little protective counter. When they’d arrived for the interview the lady (Ms. Wilberforce, her placard declared), had told them they’d be called when the interviewers were ready for them. She hadn’t even looked up from her display (which Sophie noticed was tuned to one of the more garish celebrity gossip channels). Now, Ms. Wilberforce was completely engrossed in filing her long chartreuse nails. Sophie, young as she was, already felt a deeply abiding distaste for people grooming in public. “Is she gonna start flossing next?”, she thought.
Sophie didn’t know what she’d do if she wasn’t accepted into the Academy. With the certitude of all 11-year-olds, she knew that if she wasn’t accepted, she’d be stuck here on Chenolla VI for the rest of her life. And that, obviously was a fate worse than death. Chenolla VI had only reached the point in its terraforming 60 years earlier where it could begin to support life and start to be colonized. Her parents had signed on with the third wave of colonists, so it wasn’t exactly like they were starting from scratch, but face it; Chenolla VI was a pit without much going for it. The mining operations and the planetary fisheries were the only things that made the planet worth maintaining in the first place and were also responsible for the God-awful stink that pervaded the place.
Sophie’s parents both worked in the clerical section at the beryllium mine just outside of town. The presence of beryllium in such vast amounts was one of the only things that made the planet unique in any way. Otherwise, the place was just one more fairly cold rock hurtling ceaselessly through space. Sophie saw absolutely no future for herself here and this interview was her only chance to get off. On top of that, Sophie’d been addicted to stories about SpaceForce since she had learned to read. All the stories were available on readers, but Sophie’s father actually had a collection of over 1200 titles on actual paper. He’d been collecting them since he was Sophie’s age and she cherished the collection, having worked her way through almost half of the them.
Objectively, Sophie knew that the real SpaceForce wasn’t all adventure and excitement, but compared to Chenolla VI, anything had to be an improvement. “Jeez”, she though, “What’s taking so long?”
Part 2 is up on Shawn's blog.
Part 3 is up on MWT's blog.
Part 4 is up on Eric's blog.
Part 5 is up on Matt's Blog.
Part 6 is up on Jeri's blog..
Part 7 is up on Saqib's blog.
And Part 8 is up on Michelle's blog. (Wow, that was quick)
Part 9 from Vince is up on my blog.
Part 10 is up on Kimby's blog.
Part 11 is up on Tom's blog.
Part 12 is up on Kate's blog.
Part 12 plus 1 is up on Justin's new underblog.
Part, The 14th is up from Bryan on Jeri's Joint.
Part 15 is now on Tania's blog.
Part 16 is now on Charles's blog.
I've posted Part 17.
Shawn has posted Part 18.
MWT has posted Part 19.
Eric has posted Part 20.
Matt who prefers Roman Numerals has posted Part XXI.
Jeri has posted Part 22.
Saqib has posted Part 23.
Michelle has posted Part 24.
Vince has posted Part 25,
Kimby has posted Part 26.
Tom has posted Part 27.
Kate has posted Part 28.
Bryan posted Part 29 a couple of days ago and I suck for missing the update here.
Charles has posted Part 30.
Justin has posted what might be an ending...but Tania chimes in too.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Location Scout Mysteries: An Interim Report
A while back, Janiece asked if Jeffery Deaver's Location Scout Mysteries got the film business right. I read Hell's Kitchen, but there was really little film business involved, so I wasn't able to answer that question. What he did put in was mostly not good, and I think he researched NYC in Cleveland. You can read about that here.
I also promised to read Shallow Graves, the first book in the series where presumably there would be more movie insider stuff. Guys, I'm 26 pages in and I'm not sure Jeffery Deaver has ever actually seen a movie. Yup, 26 pages in and he's gotten one thing right and a bunch of things wrong.
I'll wait until I finish the thing to post in detail, but I don't think its going to be pretty.
I also promised to read Shallow Graves, the first book in the series where presumably there would be more movie insider stuff. Guys, I'm 26 pages in and I'm not sure Jeffery Deaver has ever actually seen a movie. Yup, 26 pages in and he's gotten one thing right and a bunch of things wrong.
I'll wait until I finish the thing to post in detail, but I don't think its going to be pretty.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
On Books. Mine and Others.
Part One:
You will recall (I command it!) that Janiece asked me a while back how well Jeffry Deaver's Location Scout Mysteries represented the reality of the film business. In a fit of pique, I stomped on the first 53 pages of Hell's Kitchen. I've now finished the thing, and it was a slog.
The book only makes a few oblique mentions of film. What there is is mostly wrong. He makes reference to the "off-duty gaffers" on a film. Well, there's only one Gaffer on a film. By definition, its the "Chief Electrician or Lighting Technician" so having a gaggle of gaffers on one movie might be a little awkward. He refers to a Post-Production House as a "Post-Pro House". Never heard that one before. Its a "Post House", plain and simple. And I don't know where Mr. Deaver buys videotapes, but I've never seen two cassettes that would hold "20 or so hours" of material.
Anyway, the book continued to make mistakes about NYC; we don't have any "day-glo yellow-green" fire trucks that I've ever seen; grimy subway cars were mostly a thing of the past by the time this book was published in 2001. And I won't give it away, but the plot hinges on some of the most ludicrous swings I've ever read.
Did. Not. Like. (I will read Shallow Graves when I get around to it. I'm interested to see how he does when he's writing one that seems to be more firmly set in a Film Biz setting.)
Part Two:
I haven't posted a new chapter for "There's No Crying in the War Room" for about a week. Some of you have even chastised me which I totally take as a compliment, since it means you want more. This makes me happy. The reason I haven't posted is that I've been stuck. There's a new character who will be introduced in Chapter 35 and I didn't know enough about him to write him. All I knew about him was that he was going to be brought into the campaign by Darrell, who had known him when they served together in the Marines. I didn't know his rank or specialty or much of anything else about him. And a few days ago, I slapped myself in the forehead and said, "Schmuck. You have military advisers."
So, today, I had a really enjoyable phone conversation with Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station fame. (You could just change it to Kitchen to make my life easier ya'know.) Anyway, I now know a whole lot more about Senior Chief Warrant Officer Gil Shefflin and I think I can write him. And Jim earns a slot on the Acknowledgments page as military consultant...all errors are the author's yada, yada, yada.
And for those of you keeping score, in the last three days, I've had lunch with John the Scientist, gotten a prank call from Shawn Powers, received a shout out from Vince on live streaming radio and gotten advice from Jim. That's a pretty UCF-full week, if I do say so myself.
Watch the sidebar for news about Chapter 35 in the next couple of days
You will recall (I command it!) that Janiece asked me a while back how well Jeffry Deaver's Location Scout Mysteries represented the reality of the film business. In a fit of pique, I stomped on the first 53 pages of Hell's Kitchen. I've now finished the thing, and it was a slog.
The book only makes a few oblique mentions of film. What there is is mostly wrong. He makes reference to the "off-duty gaffers" on a film. Well, there's only one Gaffer on a film. By definition, its the "Chief Electrician or Lighting Technician" so having a gaggle of gaffers on one movie might be a little awkward. He refers to a Post-Production House as a "Post-Pro House". Never heard that one before. Its a "Post House", plain and simple. And I don't know where Mr. Deaver buys videotapes, but I've never seen two cassettes that would hold "20 or so hours" of material.
Anyway, the book continued to make mistakes about NYC; we don't have any "day-glo yellow-green" fire trucks that I've ever seen; grimy subway cars were mostly a thing of the past by the time this book was published in 2001. And I won't give it away, but the plot hinges on some of the most ludicrous swings I've ever read.
Did. Not. Like. (I will read Shallow Graves when I get around to it. I'm interested to see how he does when he's writing one that seems to be more firmly set in a Film Biz setting.)
Part Two:
I haven't posted a new chapter for "There's No Crying in the War Room" for about a week. Some of you have even chastised me which I totally take as a compliment, since it means you want more. This makes me happy. The reason I haven't posted is that I've been stuck. There's a new character who will be introduced in Chapter 35 and I didn't know enough about him to write him. All I knew about him was that he was going to be brought into the campaign by Darrell, who had known him when they served together in the Marines. I didn't know his rank or specialty or much of anything else about him. And a few days ago, I slapped myself in the forehead and said, "Schmuck. You have military advisers."
So, today, I had a really enjoyable phone conversation with Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station fame. (You could just change it to Kitchen to make my life easier ya'know.) Anyway, I now know a whole lot more about Senior Chief Warrant Officer Gil Shefflin and I think I can write him. And Jim earns a slot on the Acknowledgments page as military consultant...all errors are the author's yada, yada, yada.
And for those of you keeping score, in the last three days, I've had lunch with John the Scientist, gotten a prank call from Shawn Powers, received a shout out from Vince on live streaming radio and gotten advice from Jim. That's a pretty UCF-full week, if I do say so myself.
Watch the sidebar for news about Chapter 35 in the next couple of days
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