| Post about Aliens |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|10:31 pm] |
I've been thinking some more about this new Avatar movie, and why when I saw the trailer I was a bit underwhelmed. The thing is that I watched it after watching a really rather good sci-fi movie, District 9. The point about District 9, and one of the reasons I liked it so much, was that the aliens actually, y'know, looked like aliens. Okay they still had two arms (technically four actually) and two legs and two eyes, but that was where the resemblance ended, and when you consider that my 'stock image of an alien' is a glowing red ball trailing tentacles and communicating via vibrations, you know I'm one of those 'really alien aliens' fans.
A really rather good little documentary is one called 'A Natural History of an Alien' (it's on Youtube somewhere), which really reinforced in me, at a young age, that considering the sheer range of animals we have or have had on our planet alone (Pre-Cambrian springs to mind, invertebrates with five eyes and a trunk-like mouth? Big multifinned beasty with a mouth that opens and closes like a camera shutter? Spiny worms? Yup) thinking aliens will look like us is a bit daft.
Now, I will cut films and programs slack for a) age, I love the original Day the Earth Stood Still and they did damn well with the tools they had, and b) low production values, same for Dr Who or Red Dwarf or other such sci-fi films whose budgets tend to be what's at the back of the props closet.
See where I'm going here? Avatar is a) brand-spankin' new, and b) cost as much as a small island nation, and it's idea of aliens, coming mind you after a range of wonderful aliens in films like D9 or Aliens or The Abyss is... the offspring of Legolas and Smurfette. After, note, having hyped it up that this would be a 'totally new kind of alien' and 'a total reimagining of an alien world' (not direct quotes but you get the idea).
Dude, I grew up with The Dark Crystal. It was 1980s and they were puppets, and that world still looked more alien than yours. At least they had skeksis.
So yeah, give me really alien aliens. We've got the technology. |
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| To my American peeps |
[Nov. 20th, 2009|09:36 pm] |
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These... um, rumors of a 2012 Sarah Palin-Glen Beck ticket that have been circling the internet... they're just rumors, right? Or else a really sick joke. I mean, it's like announcing a Bin Ladin-Adolf Hitler ticket. |
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| Just watched 2010 |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|01:40 am] |
(not 2012)
I want to hug that film and pet it until it's fluffy.
Then I want to turn Jupiter into a sun because That. Is. Awesome. Binary Star systems are win. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|04:00 am] |
Getting on quite well, a bit behind though, but the stories a lot faster right now.
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| Hello everyone |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|02:14 pm] |
This is Meeks. Meeks has arrived as part of my major re-thinking of AIoM. He is the rather decent doctor Kapo of the Hospital Block Mirek is now working in.
He worked in the Charles University in Prague until it was discovered he was giving abortions to women (In his words "If I didn't do it those women would have found themselves in a back alley with a coathanger, the baby would have died anyway and probably the woman too.") He was sent to prison and stripped of his medical license until the nazis decided they were looking for useful crminals to act as Kapos in Auschwitz, he was sent there, and copes with the situation by getting very, very angry. He shouts at everyone, a lot. This is fine since if any of the SS walk past they think he's a perfectly good Kapo despite the fact he doesn't beat anyone, hurt anyone, is scruplessly fair with food and generally succeeds in being a decent human being despite the circumstances.
When I saw him, I looked at Mirek and said "Now I know where you got your bedside manner from."
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| I LIVE IN LONDON, WHAT DO YOU THINK? |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|11:46 pm] |
Would you rent or buy the home of your dreams if a brutal murder had taken place there? What if you got to live there rent-free? Would you think twice if neighbors warned you that it was haunted? <input ... > View 685 Answers
3 possibilities:
a) I'm right, there's no such things as ghosts and the house is just creaky, nothing a few nails won't fix. No problem.
b) I'm wrong, ghosts do exist, but this one is friendly or otherwise not dangerous. I re-think my world-view. Again. No problem.
c) I'm wrong, ghosts do exists AND this one is hostile. I ask my demon-summoning pagan friend to banish it. The ghost vanishes and we have a fun time. No problem. |
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| Two Eureka moments today |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|09:19 pm] |
Firstly; realising that what I need to do to get AIoM out of its rut is to go back and move the whole thing from Block 11 to the Birkenau hospital. Johannes is happy: he'll get to watch over Mirek while he's working. Mirek is... relatively happy: he'll be able to help people and this'll introducing him to his calling as a doctor. I am really, really not happy because now I have to rewrite 50+% of the story.
Second: going to bed and having a very vivid dream of the first scene of my zombie story, introducing the characters (Dom, the total power-girl zombie killer, Carol her best and rather girly friend, and Guy currently unnamed who's got a knack for killing zombies, but is overweight and
slow and only armed with a poker). The zombie outbreak started in an anime con (which was set in Hyde park, but what the hell, I'm sure it's been done) and the zombies sort of warp and mutate and look, in Dom's words: "Like what our vaccination teacher told us would happen if you got Rubella while pregnant." Oh ouch. Anyway, they're going to steal a Duck Tours bus and drive down the Thames to the South bank, and hole up in the Imperial War Museum because Dom mistakenly believes they have guns there. They do. But no ammo. With the other survivors they get the old tanks working and drive them south towards the Isle of Wright. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|02:32 am] |
Having the usual Wrimo panic of 'god I'm writing a load of crap!' moment now. Afraid I haven't made Mirek's family strong enough to act as counterpoints to Karl, but it's bloody hard because Mirek does not make human connections very well and in this fucking setting it could be constituded the wrong way. God I hate my story right now.
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| Nano check |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|03:28 am] |
Um... cool? Way beyond my set limit, because this scene is getting interesting and I'm forgetting where to stop.
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| Snippet from the scene I've just written |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|02:28 am] |
"You know the punishment for. Thieves in the camp. Johannes?” Schwartz calling him by his first name. Johannes can’t help but swallow this time. His fixes his gaze just behind Schwartz’ cap, staring at the wall. “Loss of privileges sir.” “For inmates. Dieter. Not guards.” His stomach clenches. “Death sir.” “Just as well you. Are not an inmate. Yes Johannes?” “Yes sir.” “See that it remains that way. Your leave is cancelled. Dismissed.”
Dear Schwartz. You are evil even for an SS. Case dismissed. You are probably the most fucking evil person I have ever written, simply because you are so human.
Brrr.
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| Jackboots, hardjacks |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|03:31 am] |
Getting there :) Thanks to massive history fail (not my fault. How many ex- Death camp SS write their memoirs anyway?) this is basically meshing a lot of 1st draft and second draft. Fortunately I've nearly finished the rewriting and will be writing straight. Rewriting is very hard to do to a wordcount because if I cut words away I have to make them up to get a positive difference to the wordcount. Fortunately there are enough changes for me not to have to waffle too much, but I still have to cover a lot to make up full 2,000 count.
But rejoice! I have a new full scene to write tomorrow, a Schwartz and Johannes forshadowing conversation where the Morowitz Kommandant would like to know why he saw a certain inmate coming out of Johannes' quarters when he supposed to be on leave. Heinrich's practically foaming at the jaws at this moment, and Deiter's pretty much trying to walk a really nasty tightrope. Chop chop.
I love these characters. I only hope I can do them justice. I mean, they're my first real, fully fleshed characters who could go toe-to toe for realism against any of my fanfic characters and still come out heads up.
I'm actually confident about this :) :) :)
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| NaNo |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|11:19 pm] |
You know, after this long (3rd time) it's not such a panic. I've done it twice already, and even though I'm doing is at 60,000 and the first 10,000 is going to be editing (keep editing until I've written 2,000 fresh words every day), thus making it the hardest I've ever done, it's still cool.
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| Hallowene and November 1st |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|05:33 pm] |
Went to an art show and preformed the demon-summoning. Show was great, with mechanical things that walked, screamed, pecked or just stood around looking like a cross between Giger's alien and a motorbike. Summoning was okay and by some sort of miracle we actually managed to get to the end without getting arrested. Demon rather pointedly did not turn up so we cursed to to hell and went home.
Doing wrimo again, and this time aiming for 60,000 rather than 50,000 words. Getting a new computer too, at last. |
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| Bechdel's Test |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|12:18 am] |
As far as I can see, AIoM only passes because it doesn't count, being set in an all-male environment. Everything else I've written doesn't pass.
:-( The perils of only liking to focus on two characters, and a fondness for those characters to have gay sex. |
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| Yesterday's Homework for Nan-Fiction was to Write About Something We Hated |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|11:50 pm] |
I picked religion. I decided not to draw my claws this time, my characters don't, so why should I? The result was a roaring tirade:
( Religious types should probably not read this unless they want to be pissed off. I may like you for some things, but your religion is NOT one of them. )
To my surprise, the group I read it out to all laughed. At least two were Christian and one was Muslim. When each group had to choose one group to read, I got picked. The response was... well, I don't think most of them were expecting this one. Felt pretty good about it, although I can't say I was feeling too safe about walking home, with the glares some people were giving me. One person all but accused me of being a nazi, which, coming from her, is a compliment.
Oddly, loads of people were congratulating me too, mostly due to sheer balls. So I think this made me more friends than less.
One think I've learnt this past year is that some people really aren't worth the bullets it would take to kill them.
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| Dear New Friend of Mine |
[Oct. 19th, 2009|07:27 pm] |
I am the last person you need to apologise to for liking Nazi memorabilia.
Really. |
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| So if November in Nano Month... |
[Oct. 15th, 2009|10:27 pm] |
October is now officially DON'T PANIC month. Waaahhh!
Especially so since this year I have decided that the standard 50,000 word limit is just too easy (done it twice after all) and I'm going for 60,000.
It's a nice round figure, it means a straight 2,000 per day.
But now I'm running around trying to iron out the last kinks in All Instruments of Measurement. Does anyone know, beloved friendlist, where the SS in Auschwitz actually lived, as in, slept? Were they in communal living quarters or had they hijacked local Polish houses? I have no idea and it's becoming a real problem becuase I don't know for certain where Johannes is living.
PANIC |
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| Jack Chick just shat himself |
[Oct. 11th, 2009|06:16 pm] |
Had probably one of the daftest request I've even heard proposed to me a few days ago: One of my friends has gotten hold of the Key of Solomon (which supposedly allows you to summon demons) and wants to try it out for Hallowene. In the middle of a major tourist attraction, no less.
So, being me, I just laughed and said sure, because it's one of those things, like coming into uni dressed like an SS, which while I wouldn't come up with it myself, I'd do if someone offered, just for kicks and giggles.
So we're summoning a demon. It's called Ipod or something, and I'll be tracing the summoning circle while said friend will be preforming the incantation. Hopefully we'll attract quite a crowd, and look pretty damn silly when nothing happens. At which point we'll retire to some bar for drinks and a good laugh.
If by some insane, off the wall, facepalming luck it does work, all of us will have to reevaluate our respective belief systems, but that shouldn't be too bad, 'cause we're planning to ask it for next week's lottery numbers, and nothing helps religious evaluation better than several million pounds (split four ways, of course), not to mention the bonus from the scientific community for successfully proving the existance of a supernatural being becuase we'll get a guy to film it.
Anyway, the other night we were settling down to run through the neccessary preperations, with the little occult book and various candles and incense, and I told the others "Dude , if Jack Chick could see this he'd probably spontaniously combust of something."
Spent the rest of the evening trying to make a talisman out of tin to control the demon. The closest we could get to tin was solder from the DIY shop (99.3% so hey), and we nearly choke trying to melt that into a recognisably round shape.
So yeah. We're going to make a bit of a show of it, with masks and robes and weird archaic stuff (had to remain a friend that no, a Cthulhu puppet would not be appropriate, but thanks anyway), so I'll be pretty disappointed if it rains.
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revolted