I don't feel I will ever be able to write another great story again. There of course lies the problem in being consumed by the process of creating a good piece. I get so into the story that I live and breathe every word and sentence. When I come up for air I am rattled by the fact that I may have reached a pinnacle. Even though I know that this is not the case. At this point in time I'm still just some chump prattling away on his keyboard that nobody has ever heard of before.
By nobody, even as a regular person a lot of people haven't heard of me. Some of the old comrades in high school were Brad who-ing me even after 6 years together. I swear I have been introduced to this one guy at university about 5 times. He always seems to forget my name. Even though we sat together for an entire semester and I shared some of my witticisms. I think I have one of those faces too. I often get confused for other people. For 18 months at a previous job I got called 'Ben' by some of the folks. Even after correcting them after every time and the fact that the badge hanging from my front pocket said 'Brad'. Those were the biggest clues one should take that my name is not Ben.
I have so many ideas in my head, I need to be able to let a few go every now and again. Even if they don't live up to my expectations, at least it will be one less idea buggering my brain hole to be set free. Often they never do, the way of things is that they exceed or go under or are exactly expected (which is almost never the case). Everything I write turns different to my original vision. Not entirely though. I will establish a voice at the beginning and try to keep it consistent throughout the prose unless some story development dictates I should alter it. What happens afterward is that especially with the short stories I've wrote I will write to a goal. Keeping in mind some of the points I have to hit along the way.
The latest short story I polished. Let's call it 'The Release' which was the working title up until I decided it was too generic. I wrote it at the start of April and finished it completely earlier today. The first draft of the piece was written in about 4 hours. After I had hit the end I wanted, I went over and read it quite a few times tweeking it along the way.
The major edit which lead beyond the vague line between draft numbers with computers came along after laying down some goals to improve it. Mainly prose and dialogue. I filled in holes and inserted everything I thought was needed to get to the end. So the 2nd draft was basically expansionary.
In the '3rd' draft which I will call completely over last night and this morning. I printed out the document and went to town with a highlighter and pen. Chopping out all the fat in the story, making sure I was spot on with tense, grammar and spelling. I often found ways of streamlining the prose to say whats needed in an efficient way. I ended up with a 5% reduction on a 3000 word story.
I went into such detail I would usual just gleem over and not notice. That after multiple corrections and multiple crumpled and reprinted pages, finding a comma instead of a fullstop is almost enough for me to start biting my fingers until they're white. Overall I am extremely happy with the outcome. I think it's the best serious short story that I have written. It's lean, mean and has a good forward thrust for plot. As always I aim for originality, for things I haven't seen or read before.
It's the first one in the goal this year of 5 short story submissions. That is five different stories, not the same one to five different places. Submitting to either competitions or magazines.
I've got this one packed and ready to post Monday morning. I'm sending it off to a competition that has more of a literary flare, so I've kept that in mind while writing this. The Release gleems the boundaries that separate genre writing to literary. It contains a spirituality, an almost supernatural element. I felt it important to drop hints that there is both a 'real' and a supernatural interpretation of how events unfold. So the pessimists and pretentious that are literary folk can be satisfied. While I can sneak a speculative piece into their hands.
The second short story I wrote last month has to go through at least a few more passes. It's humorous, some folk who I palmed it off to to read have literally laughed out loud. So I take it as a good sign. I know I can still improve on it, and bring it up to a really professional level. I may film flam around a bit at the start while I was finding my footing. The end is pretty neat already. I have my eye on an Australian magazine that it could fit in with. Surprisingly this doesn't contain much in terms of speculative fiction. More fun nonsense. I was about to work on this when I had the 'I can't write' niggles so I decided to write a blog post instead.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Finishing a 'masterpiece' and other uninteresting personal tangents.
Friday, March 12, 2010
V: Anna and Chad.
As I am an Australian TV shows from the states often take a bit of time to reach our screens. While in recent times networks have been pushing forward the newest shows alot more so than even five years ago. Under the guise of such catchy words as 'Fasttracked' and 'Streamlined'. The remake(reimagining in exec speak) of the 1980's tv series 'V' finally premiered last Sunday after a few months of its US premiere.
My first impressions were that this was an entertaining science fiction show. It sure has been geared to reap in whatever audience is attached to sci-fi veterans. Morena Baccarin(Firefly, Stargate SG-1), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Joel Gretsch(Taken, The 4400) all star in V and have been in TV shows that have cult followings. The first episode also guest stars Alan Tudyk from Firefly fame. The special effects have that multimillion dollar shine. Having not seen the iconic original series my instincts are that the earlier episodes will feel better after the series has finished.
What I really want to focus on is one exchange which I thought summed up the first episode and the direction of the series beautifully.
Anna the Visitor or V is walking through a sea of reporters. She is thrown all sorts of curly questions which are only met with her calm controlled demeanor.
Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) is a local journalists who hosts his own news program. He manages to silence the crowd.
Chad Decker: Is there such a thing as an ugly Visitor? You all seem to be what we consider attractive.
Anna: Thank you. You're not so bad yourself.
At this point in time much of the world has accepted that the V's are friendly. They have dished out advanced medicines and healed that which cannot be healed. Such as paralysis. The public mood toward them is overwhelmingly positive.
Chad's dialogue can be taken at least two ways.
1. I find you all hot.
2. Why are you trying so hard to appear friendly to us? What are you hiding? (How am I suppose to score with a V if I cant make friends with a slightly ugly, obese relative?)
The interpretation of what he had said plays a large part in why Anna later chooses him to interview her. Her interpretation is that he was implying 1. Which raises the question, have the V's underestimated the human race?
On the flipside, this is the first evidence that the V's are not perfect. Anna misinterpreted Chads meaning. So there may be a way to ultimately defeat them, if that is the direction the series will take.
I just appreciate the cleverness of the exchange. Also the dynamic it creates when Anna and Chad are together on screen for the interview. Her arrogance and belief Chad is a journalist with lightweight questions may be the undoing of their public goodwill.
Tt is shown more bluntly that the V's are not the benevolent beings they claim when they storm a super secret meeting guerilla style and only leave four survivors. Even so, that exchange between Anna and Chad remains my favourite scene in the Premiere.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Why Avatar was predictable.
Let me say this straight of the bat. Avatar was a very good movie to see at the cinemas. That being said I want to go through a few of the reasons why I thought the actual story of the film was predictable. I could easily do the same thing about Why Avatar was awesome.
I saw Avatar about a month ago now and in that time its showed no signs of slowing down at the box office. It has now spent 5 consecutive weeks at the top of the US with similar results mirrored across the markets. Even new debut blockbusters such as Sherlock Holmes and the Book of Eli couldn't topple Avatar of its nice little cash cow. It's the movie that everyone must see, its also one of the hottest topics going around. Critics and moviegoers alike have praised its stunning special effects while criticising its at times cliche characters and predictable storyline. I tend to agree with this.
If you have yet to see it, beyond this point will contain spoilers for the entire movie.
Even before going into see the movie everybody seemed to know at least one or two things about the story of Avatar. Its about blue aliens and its about humans taking down those aliens. It's a story about the everyman hero Jake Sully who via the Avatar program he links with a na'vi-human hybrid and infultrates and befriends a local tribe on the moon of Pandora. The tribe so happens to be sitting on a vast deposit of a rare metal that goes for $20 million a kilo. The na'vi want to keep it, the humans want to have their slice. Cue conflict.
At the very heart of the story is the Hero's Journey. It's used over and over again throughout a great many stories. I think its present in Avatar in one of its most basic forms. Where the inexperienced hero, Jake Sully, is given the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in the Avatar program as his twin brother who had trained for years for the program dies. At the very beginning of the story Jake signs up with no idea what to expect. He is a fish out of water, but we have seen the familiar story so many times before that you just know he is going to end up outshining everyone and becoming the ultimate hero of the day. This trope is particular used often in science ficiton and fantasy. (Frodo, Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter. Spiderman. Neo, The Matrix. Rand Al'Thor, Wheel of Time...)
I love Hero's Journey type stories, its often how they are executed that really matters. Really it can either go two ways, the hero wins or the hero fails. Most of the time especially in blockbuster hollywood movies the hero will win.
Prediction: Jake Sully would save the day.
Result: Jake Sully saves the day.
The question was how at this stage, which can be pieced together quite easily as you keep watching the movie.
In addition to the Hero's Journey we have a David v Goliath situation. Where the big bad guys have all the resources and have overwhelming favourable odds to do away with the little guys (Na'vi). There is an implicit promise within a tale like this that the small guy will be able to through an epic struggle defeat the big guys (Humans). To put it simply that is exactly what happens.
Using this makes the victory all the more satisfying in the end. Whats the fun in seeing the story from the big guys perspective and having the big guys win? Thats why David v Goliath adds to the hero's journey. Seen in Lord of the Rings (Mordor v the rest of Middle Earth/mostly men), Mistborn (Small gang pulls of a heist to topple the long in power Lord Ruler), Gladiator (Maximus defies the Empire), Firefly (Independents v Alliance, Mal's crew v the Alliance)
Prediction: Na'vi beat the Humans.
Result: Na'vi beat the Humans.
The next one is more a case of clearly stated motives that don't change rather than predictability. But it adds to the sense that I can see whats happening. The bad guys are ruthless, they will Stop at nothing to destroy the na'vi if they don't move. We know that the humans want whats under the big tree. There are no real hidden agendas from the bad guys, no suprising tricks. The bad guys want to destroy the na'vi and they would rather use force.
Prediction: Humans unload a can of whoopass on the Na'vi.
Result: Their Home Tree is annihilated. They keep attacking.
Im going to tie a couple of points together on this one. Jake Sully ends up being the Chosen One which is often used with the Hero's Journey. Many times what sets the hero apart and is perceived as possibly a weakness in the beginning is the very strength that's needed to become the Chosen One(Avatar specific jargon is used for the 'Chosen One'). In Jakes case im going to say that it was a simple mind and big heart that got him through in the end. Not all chosen ones have to have this, but there is usually some predetermined set of criteria or trials to complete that will determine the Chosen One. (eg. Neo, King Arthur, Jeffrey Sinclair - Babylon 5, many examples in children's fantasy.)
The first promise that he could be something special to the Na'vi comes with the flowers graviating and sticking to his skin. It is said to be the Eywa's doing. And earlier when one lands on the tip of Neytiri's arrowhead. You know something is going to happen, but questions of whether he is or isnt are always played with.
Prediction: Jake Sully chosen one.
Result: Jake Sully chosen one.
What plays into the Chosen One trope really obviously is the heavy handed foreshadowing. The one major example I have in mind is during the first Leonopteryx sequence. Which is the giant aggressive pterodactyl beast. When Neytiri spells out that only the ____(Chosen One) can tame that beast. (Wink, Wink, BIG HINT.) I wonder if Jake Sully is ever going to tame it? (Yes, yes he does.)
Prediction: Jake Sully tames the Leonopteryx.
Result: Jake Sully tames the Leonopteryx.
From the very start you get the feeling that as long as Jake Sully has one foot in both the Human and Na'vi camps he won't fully belong to either. The question was constantly in the back of my mind when watching it. I believe there was a promise that Jake would ultimately find a way to be a full time Na'vi.
My feelings were confirmed when Grace is on the brink of death and below that funky tree they attempt to fully transfer her mind to the healthy Na'vi body. To me this was writing on the wall in capital letters. JAKE WILL USE THIS.
Prediction: Jake transfers his mind to the Na'vi body permanently.
Result: He does in the final scene.
So that covers the main plot in the movie. The Jake-Neytiri subplot was also very predictable, I didnt get much of a will-they wont-they vibe from the two. In fact the romantic portion of the movie plays out very much like a romcom.
A really big trope I have seen practically word for word previously is the Chief's Daughter. Where Neytiri happens to be the daughter of the pseudo king and queen of the tribe. This trope fits into the broader trope of the poor boy winning the princess. (Aladdin, Titanic)
But if you really are looking for a case of de ja vu, take a gander at the season 1 episode of Farscape Jerimiah Crichton. There is the chiefs daughter (Neytiri/Lishala) who has feelings for the lovable rogue (Jake Sully/John Crichton) but tensions are a brewing when the chiefs daughter is already betrothed to an arrogant warrior who is an already accepted leader with his people. ( Tsu'tey/Rokon). The end result is ultimately different from the episode. In Farscape Crichton continues on his way to other adventures. In Avatar they have chemistry, they love eachother, they will be together despite the boundaries.
Prediction: Jake and Neytiri sittin' in a tree...
Result: k-i-s-s-i-n-g. (for starters)
A favourite of the romcom genre is the Double Double agent. One party originally had motives that the other party finds morally unforgivable. Somewhere along the story the hero will decide that he loves the other, and the original motive is no longer the primary motive but it's love.
The love interest will eventually find out about the secret, the hero may have already had an opportunity to come clean - they wanted to - but missed the opportunity and it then blows up in their face. But after the heat dies down, the hero may reason or the other party may find out from a third party the hero is the real deal. In the end this is just a speed bump in the road to happiness.
This trope works, people like to see it much like the Hero's Journey. So it is used over and over again with Avatar no exception.
Jake gets a chance to learn within the tribe itself. The military leader wants his hands greased with information on the Na'vi. Sully obliges with kudos in the beginning. He then falls in love with Neytiri, his tips become slimmer in content. But he is sadly unable to tell Neytiri the truth before his secret literally blows up in his face with Home Tree's destruction helped along by Sully's intel.
I think I got the amount of doubles right. Poses as Na'vi(double), then Poses as someone who poses as a Na'vi(double double).
A large factor I believe that plays into the predictability of the story has nothing to do with the story itself. It's the giant reported $150 million marketing campaign that seeped Avatar into the minds of the world.
James Camerons ten year return to directing, his pioneering camera technology were present years before its actual release. People were already excited to know more, so they got a hold of every scrap of info they could.
In the months before its release, trailers were released, there were tonnes of newspaper articles. The media coverage was huge compared to other movies, even against such films as New Moon the original story of Avatar has held its own for attention.
All of this means that people were very familiar with the story early on. The trailer eludes heavily to the actual story itself. The trailers of course are to wet your appetite, spoilers or not the producers want bums on seats. And they did.
Maybe I would of been singing a different tune if I had have seen it completely cold. It may not have seemed as predictable, but it wouldn't change the fact some common tropes exist within Avatar.
The marketing campaign could also have been a contributing cause to the presense of a tall poppy syndrome (A poppy gets to tall, people need to cut it down). The movie was massive before it was even release, with that much hype surrounding the movie before it had been proven. People will look for reasons for fault an otherwise brilliant movie. If they are looking for flaws, the audience will be criticing instead of emercing themselves in the movie. Knowing too much before hand and having the hype hinders ones ability for suspension of disbelief in a story. If you don't believe then all there is, is a sequence of storytelling techniques played out on screen.
Avatar was predictable. At the same time it was one of the most original, breathtaking new movies to come along this year. Sometimes to make a successful story a mix of the old and new is needed. The setting was very original, but they told a story that was familiar to the audience already. A groundbreaking unique story may have alienated some of the broad target audience. Instead they told a story that already appeals to everyone. Avatar may not have been as successful without it.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Books I did not read.
This year I set out to read 52 books ie 1 book per week. I thought I may have some trouble with this target, as I mostly read epic fantasy. So books can be 700+ pages long, and difficult to complete unless I put in a few marathon sessions between regular monotonous tasks each week.
My total stands at 30, and will most likely end at 32 with The Eye of the World reread and the Swarmthief's Dance (Deborah J. Miller) which has some cool fantasy concepts.
It would of been possible if I hadn't taken a 3 month break from reading books. This was caused by the Book 9-10 slump in the Wheel of Time, amongst other books I tried to read and were just terrible for whatever reason. I was really unlucky with my choice in books. Often they sounded really awesome, it was the actually reading them part which got me.
The Book of Names (Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori)
Its a Davinci Code-esc thriller that takes its cues from the Kabbalah and works a story around 36 righteous souls whose existence alone the world survives. The story goes these guys are getting assassinated as the bad guys have got their grubby mits on a book containing all the current righteous Souls.
So it falls on a professor Langd-ahh Shephard to save the world and solve the mystery.
The mystery and the pieces of the puzzle get more and more absurd. I didn't particular like their style either. I felt it lacked any kind of depth.
But the part that had me turn off is when the Ancient Super Secret orgasisation of killer Rabbis raided the shit out of the Professors office to recover some arbitrary ancient Jewish artifact. What they really needed was some pie in the face gags.
The Gone-Away World (Nick Harkaway)
Reason for buying: Cool name, cool cover. The gist of the blurb is an offbeat tale of a post apocolyptic world. "a tale of... ninjas, pirates, politics; of curious heroism in strange and dangerous places."
Pirates you say? Is that ninjas I hear? Sold good sir. Apparently the author is the son of an uber famous british author also. It is a thick read, at 532 pages with tiny font.
The trouble is I read for a couple of hours and nothing really happened at all. As far as I could tell all that happened was some merceneries had a game of pool and some other rough and tough guys had a job for them. The narrator goes off on essentially 5 page random tangents that are irrelevant to whats going on. It would be like "So Gonzo took a shot at pool.... WHICH reminds me of the time we were blah blah blah, alice liked to play cards, bananas, cabbage patch dolls, loud noises.... and so Gonzo started to line up his second shot WHICH reminds me of the.... blah blah blah
The Dark Mirror ( Juilet Marillier)
The family tale of the lonely orphan who grows up to realise hes the chosen one and will need to save the world with politics, magic, wise old guys all thrown in for good measure.
Sounded cool. But really wasnt my favourite type of book. Its essentially a romance novel in save-the-world fantasy's clothing. It appeals more toward the feminine spectrum of fantasy readers.
Souls in the Great Machine (Sean McMullen)
Post apocolyptic tale when a new society has been built with no real electricity. The calculor is a large scale attempt to build a computer type machine with units being enslaved intelligent librarians skilled at maths.
It was a really interesting concept, but I didnt feel the characters to be highly engaging. I may have another go at reading it. I still have it bookmarked on my shelf. As well as the Book of Names for that matter, but that one is only bookmarked with an old receipt. 'Souls' is privileged enough to earn the use of a shiny purpose made bookmark.
The Broken World (Tim Etchells)
I'm going to throw this one onto the list as well. Even though I only had a go at reading it a few days ago, a good few months after my reading drought had ended and I perserviered through Books 9 and 10 of WOT. They weren't half bad really.
The Broken world is a little different. Its about a guy in his 20s who is writing a walkthrough for a fictional videogame. So half the book is his walkthrough, and Im assuming the other half is about how his obsession and laziness affects his real life.
Note that this book also had a shiney awesome cover and cool name. (Maybe I'm strangely attracted to novels with 'world' in the title..)
Ok I did not really give this one a fair go. But reading the walkthrough section at the start was incredible dry. It is exciting as reading an actual walkthrough for a game you have never played. It is like 'Guy goes here, jumps through this, collects item x' It was all action and no real thought or emotion in the writing. And he chooses an idiotic nerd as his view point character, one that uses non-words such as 'coz' and 'thru'. It gives a bad name to all nerd kind. If the main character was a 14 year old who 'teh pwnzorz teh n00bs' then maybe it would be a little more forgiven as they don't know any better. But even writers of walkthrough have to have some writing credibility.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
This Guy
I never really liked the title for this blog. 'The General Escapist' as it rhymes with rapist and to a lesser degree, racist.
That is likely what happens when I over think a title. So i've gone with something generic for the moment. To rename this blog I used the part of my brain I usually reserve for watching reality tv.
So. Me thinks I should be writing stuff again. Just really for my own benefit and pleasure more than anything. Because as you can see not even my mum follows this blog. Not even I follow this blog. I gave up on it after a month. But with this post it looks like I've been on it for a year.
As soon as I think of something better to call this, I will butcher this blog and move these posts over to a new url.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Book 3: Openland
Openland is the second book by Australian author Michael Liddy.
I read this book in only a few sittings. The story goes that Jeremy, an archaeologist carries an alien relic around that was found by his father decades ago. He enlists the help of a talented geologist friend, Marc to investigate the relics origins. After a while they eventually find some of the Aliens and set off on an adventure.
The story took a good 100 or so pages to actually pull me in. The first part of the book is mainly filled with irreverent banter between the two protagonists as they follow a few linked clues across the country. After the first part is over what held my interest were the questions raised rather than the main characters themselves.
The science behind the book was believable enough to suspend disbelief. A lot of science jargon is thrown around between the characters trying to explain their situations and find solutions. The prose offers vivid descriptions of the alien surroundings. Most of it I found is bogged down in too much dialogue. After finishing it I still can't distinguish personality differences between the two main characters. There were chapters that urged you to read on. All of them had a decent length.
What Openland offers is a journey of discovery about ancient alien races and questions the origins of Earth itself. As you read on, everything just keeps building from the small dig in outback NSW to the books climax. From where they began to where they end up its hard to believe they were born on Earth at all.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Gabriel: film review
The movie starts with a polished sequence of the angel Gabriel falling through space. The Arc Angel is sent to a place called purgatory where he takes human form. Like those that came before him he must fight the fallen to determine whether light or dark rules the bleak middle world.
I have now seen this film twice. Once in the cinemas and I now picked up a dvd today. I highly anticipated this films release. When I first came across it I was genuinely excited that finally an 
Australian team was putting together a different film. This is definitely not what you would expect from an Aussie film. This isn't another dreary drama about a couple of drug addicts that can't find a plot. The director Shane Abbess and crew have put together something thats built to please audiences rather than the arty types.
Abbess didn't have the dollars to work massive fight scenes so instead he has taking a more creative intimate approach. He has tried things that are unusual and not typical of regular action movies. For this Gabriel is worth at least one sit through. Watching it on the cinema screen the film was grainy. At home with a dvd that same distortion is hardly noticeable. I've read that it was down to the camera they had used. So experiencing it the first time at home is probably best.
The first time through I really, really wanted to enjoy it. And I did. The second time through I did get bored in places of the story. To me it didn't offer any real connection with the audience. The actors sometimes drifted in and out of American/Australian/neutral or some combination of accents. I remember one of the Arc Angels, Uriel opened with a short first line something along the lines of “Whadda you want?” with a distinctly Aussie accent, afterwards he settled into an American accent. It can be very distracting.
I just didn't feel anything for the story or characters. They were put in a very dark fantasy world and had dialogue that didn't draw you in at all. That seemed to have a high fantasy tone and wording. Always talking of grand concepts much of it to do with strength and obligation to fight evil. Something is lost in the grandness they attempt to pull off.
It was interesting enough to hold together the action sequences and low budget, fancy visuals. It does address some interesting thoughts like how does a person stay good within such an evil place. You will definitely remember this cult movie.
Gabriel is a huge accomplishment. The people that were involved in this project will go on to bigger things because of this. One thing is certain is that Australia should be making more movies like Gabriel. Movies that actually appeal to audiences. It is beyond me why this didn't get at least one nomination at the AFI's.
read more...
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Book 2: Fires of Heaven
So I finished off Fires of Heaven - the fifth book in the wheel of time series. Even though I didnt start it this year, I'm still going to count it as one of the 52 i'm reading this year.
I cant remember why I got bored of it. For whatever reason it doesnt matter. What counts is that everything within the book came to a satisfying conclusion. No matter how long these books are the pay off is always pretty good. They are really just one long story with smaller self contained parts for each novel. To be honest I only vaguely remember where Fires of Heaven kicked off.
In any case im still over a week behind in the book a week stakes. That and a few days.
Also I have bought delicious lollies for doctor who tomorrow. Should be tasty.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Game Over.
So I have reached what I liked to call the 'point of cbf' in terms of gaming. I hadn't picked up a single game for the longest time before the start of this year. A year, maybe two wouldn't suprise me.
Final Fantasy XII had me appreciate previous installments of the franchise a hell of a lot more. So after I had clocked up 75 hours on that beast I dusted off Final Fantasy VIII. VII was a hard act to follow, and it didn't do wonders for how it was reviewed. It generally was not as well received as the others, thrown into the larger pool of games comparatively speaking it was though. The fans and critics placed it between 8 and 10.
So the 'point of cbf' came on disc 3 of FF VIII almost right after the Laguna flashbacks had rapped. I think that its always about in this place I really don't feel the need to continue with the game. The flashbacks always hold my interest. I was a young teen when I first played the games and the Laguna flashbacks are still the most memorable parts of the game. Aside from Squalls transformation from self proclaimed outsider to leader of the garden. The whole orphanage twist certainly threw me as well. You also have to love the gf's.
Now that I am older, wiser and hairier I can put my finger on what I love so much about the Laguna flashbacks. The message it conveys is that nothing lasts forever and nobody waits forever for you. You must go after the opportunities you have before they are gone. They are very powerful messages and are done very well. Laguna missing out on Julia and Raine makes the conclusion with Ellone all the more powerful. The one single thing that did last through Lagunas life was the friendship of his comrades. Friends were always there for him.
I felt like the game was over for me at that point. I have played it through before. I hadn't even got Ragnarok yet this time. There are other things I need to do before committing more time to gaming. Not that I have much on, I still need to work on avoiding a real job. Gotta hate those.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
52 novels and other goals.
I dedicate todays entry to the 4 visits this blog had yesterday. (Before I changed the template and forget to re-add google analytics code again). You know who you are. Ok it was all me.
Always so early in the year I get to thinking about what I want out of this one. Its a fresh new year, like a new platform to work off of thats just had a good polish. Although nothing really does change in reality. I will most likely be doing the same things this time next year. As it was with last year. I may be a little bit smarter, know a few more random facts like the RBA has a goal of 2-3% inflation for each year. I also grew to dislike children much more this year. Sticky, small fingers.
Last year I drew up one bitchin' list of goals to achieve. I completed probably 75% of them. I missed out on a couple of the more important ones. I do happily report that I did slap a tree while driving 80km/h in my car this year. Put a big tick next to number 14. Cheers.
This year I only have a few achievable goals. I've given up on the social goals I had. How does it go? If at first you don't succeed, try again.. then again.. then again.. then realise failure, give up and play your ps2. And I have. The 75 hours I played FFXII where done in some time intense 10-12 hour sessions in the beginning.
The most ambitious goal I have this year is to read 52 novels. Ambitious, yes, but it is quite achievable. Just as long as I don't attempt to devour too many Wheel of Time novels in too shorter time. At 12 books and 300,000 a piece they do take a while. I have four books on the fly at the moment.
- Enemy Glory by Karen Michalson
- The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time)
- Greek Fire by Winston Graham
- The Outsiders by SE Hinton
I do confess that I borrowed the idea from another blog that I came across. It's because it's a good idea. I found it at a very convenient time as well. A couple of days before the turn of the year, I find a concept that could work well. A delicious coincidence.
So it is already two weeks into the new year. My progress has been.. well there has been some progress. I have read one book in total. Its not exactly the book a week target I have been going for. I could polish off Fires of Heaven in about 6 hours. 300 more pages to go. Some books aren't even that long. It is worth it though.
The book I have read is Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay. The story that spawned my current tv obsession, Dexter. A serial killer who kills serial killers. Twisted morals. Disconnected feelings. It is awesome. I'll right up a review thingo of it later on. As I will with all of the books I read this year.
The other largish goal is to stock up on some more dvds. My goal is to hit the 200 mark this year. In my collection now I have 129. That should work out to be about $1000 worth of dvds. The trouble is finding more decent dvd's to buy. I know tonnes of tv series I can buy, but its also a good recipe for time acid. What I don't want is another Tongan Ninja situation. Even if it was $3. Stay away. Don't be lured in by Jermaine Clements of Flight of the Concords fame like I was.
Oh yeah. I should get a job.
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