fly to carry each his burden

[greygirlbeast]

There has been an unexpected change of plans, and it looks as though I won't have to spend the remainder of March proofreading. I will likely get started on Dinosaurs of Mars, instead. Anything at all is better than more proofreading.

Yesterday was quite decent as days off go. My days off usually go sort of askew and frustrating, so yesterday was a nice exception. It was also the sort of day that makes me laugh at things like that LJ "50 movies in a year" challenge. First, we made a 1:40 matinee of The Host. It was awesome. Someone called it Jaws meets Little Miss Sunshine, but I think it's a lot more like Godzilla meets Little Miss Sunshine. Anyway, I was very pleased.

Unfortunately, then we stopped by Videodrome and rented Eragon, because I just had to see for myself. Gods, what a dull, lifeless, unimaginative film. What artless crap. Right off the bat, I could not stomach the flavourless Dawson's Creek stench of Edward Speleers. Could they have ever found a blander countenance to foist upon the world? At least Jeremy Irons was pretty. There was hardly any John Malkovich at all. I think he was ashamed to appear in more than four scenes. This is the worst fantasy film I've watched since I tried to watch the abomination that the SCF made of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Wizard of Earthsea. Oh, sure, Sienna Guillory was hot, but that hardly made up for the overall crap factor (OCF) of Eragon. And then there was that gawdsawful Avril Lavigne song over the closing credits. I suppose I could wonder if the books are any better, but I suspect I'd only be wasting a perfectly good bit of wondering. Seeing Eragon was the sort of disheartening experience that makes me never want to write another word. Especially if the Christopher Paolini books are even half this bad. Maybe that's counter-intuitive. Maybe seeing crap ought to make me want to write something better. It doesn't, though. It leaves me with a nasty "why bother" feeling. After all, I've spent the last fourteen years writing stuff that's better.

But, fortunately, Netiflix had brought us Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, which, it turns out, is the perfect antidote for Eragon. I made myself ill with the laughter.

At some point, we also finished Cannery Row and began reading Sweet Thursday.

And the digital camera seems to have died. The damned thing's only three goddamn years old. Not even. What good is all this technology if it breaks down so quickly and so quickly becomes obsolete? I bet anything it would be far cheaper for us to buy a much better digital camera — buy a better one for less than we paid for the one that just expired — than it would be to have this one fixed. That's just the sort of unspeakably vile world we live in.

Lately, I find myself in the mood to go Luddite again. No technology post-1945. That sounds about right. No more cellphones or digital cameras or computers of any sort, no more goddamn videogame consoles, no scanners or fax machines or iPods. No CDs or DVDs. And no fucking internet, word wide web, LJ, MySpace, Blogger, Amazon.com hooptedoodle. I'll write on an old Royal typewriter or with pen and paper. There's a lot to be said for pen and paper. I'm at least half serious. I'm sick of all this mindless electronic consumption in the name of Faster and "Better". Fuck faster and "better." Fuck all the plastic, the silicon, the petroleum by-products molded into chic designs. Fuck LCD screens. Fact: I'll never write a book half as good as Ulysses. Fact: James Joyce did it without a goddamn laptop.

It's like all this magical 21st-Century medicine that no one can actually afford.

I suspect this will pass and soon I'll be drooling over MacBook Pros again, which is an awful shame.

Comments

[reverendcrofoot.livejournal.com]

If I may recommend the Kodak 835 Digital for the price and the Canon 630 for the fact it is a Canon.

While I am somewhat on the subject you mentioned that you had some film and you doubted it was still good. Go ahead and develop it, or put it in the freezer if you are still waiting to for the right time

[humglum.livejournal.com]

Our presently deadish camera is a Canon PowerShot A75.

[katrina-strauss.livejournal.com]

I haven't read or watched Eragon yet...but I can tell you that my 12-year-old daughter loves both the books and the movie. As a budding young writer, she has been duly inspired by the fact that the author penned the first of the series when he was a 16-year-old homeschooler. And she thinks both of the boys in the movie were hot and has apparantly been writing slash fic about them. (She and I are taking the don't ask/don't tell approach when it comes to my erotica and her fanfic...) So while I, myself, am not inspired to partake of the Eragon craze, I can't judge anything too harshly that inspires my child's creativity.

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

James Joyce was an amazing writer. But, that said, Ulysses--and, gods know, Finnegans Wake--were more gimmick than substance. Fortunately, the gimmick was Totally Effin' Cool(tm) and what substance there was was amazing!

He also liked it when his wife would poo on him. But, hey, whatever gets you through the night....

Speaking of Dinosaurs of Mars, I have a few musical ideas percolating in my head concerning that beast. You might want to fire off an email to the Crawling Chaos to see what's up. :)

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

He also liked it when his wife would poo on him.

That's it. I'm gonna drink AND poo on my boyfriend for Bloomsday!

Dinosaur Stuff

[yvonnenavarro.livejournal.com]

Something you might enjoy:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070324/sc_livescience/tworaptordinosaursunearthedinmongolia

[tactileson.livejournal.com]

If I may, I just bought a Cannon SD600 at the local staples for $250 and it rocks. I needed a camera to take around with me that fit in my pocket and this was it. The traditional viewfinder is a little tiny to use, but the LCD screen works really well as the main view. I didn't think I'd like it but I do. It's really a wonderful little camera with great power. I'd recommend this one over the next step up as the SD630 has a bigger LCD screen but tinier buttons and I personally prefer sacrificing a half inch screen space for easier to use buttons.

[humglum.livejournal.com]

That's very good to know.

[sovay]

After all, I've spent the last fourteen years writing stuff that's better.

Which is why I preorder Daughter of Hounds, and do not even make it past the second page of Eragon.

[humglum.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's a fine book, for something written by a 16 year old. But fine books by 16 year old boys deserve to be recognised in regional (and maybe even national) "young writers" conferences so that the kid can be encouraged to write more and maybe get published when he's matured as a writer.
I cannot help but feel the only reason the book is such a big deal is because of his background. If he were a 40 year old housewife, would the book be so successful? Somehow I doubt it.
But what do I know?

[sovay]

I'm sure it's a fine book, for something written by a 16 year old. But fine books by 16 year old boys deserve to be recognised in regional (and maybe even national) "young writers" conferences so that the kid can be encouraged to write more and maybe get published when he's matured as a writer.

Yes. I don't know if it's a fine book for a sixteen-year-old: I wasn't impressed enough to keep reading, but I doubt that he will ever write better than he does now, because he has absolutely no incentive to; which is sad for all sorts of reasons.

[jacobluest.livejournal.com]

Before you sign off on technology, why don't you take a gander at this astronomical wiki (http://www.wikisky.org/).

"The site features a map of more than half a billion astronomical objects. You can navigate around it easily by clicking and dragging the map and using a zoom-in/zoom-out sidebar. You can also search on specific objects by name from a database..."

~Jacob

[curt-holman.livejournal.com]

God, I hated Eragon. It was like it was written by a computer program called Fantasy Movie Screenplay 2.0.

eragon

[npj333.livejournal.com]

ahh... but here's the rub... the book is actually ecxellent. inventive, original, and seeking, the way only a young writer can write. the problem is hollywood got hold of him before he grew the balls to stand by his words. he was still at the age where a producer could tell him "this is what you were saying" and he says "yes! with more spectacular effects!". because he's young and dumb. great imagination, but still, young and dumb.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

I have realized one of the reasons I'm sort of fond of The Dresden Files is Dresden's allergy to modern technology. I can't be too much of a Luddite, having used computers since 1978, but good grief I hate cell phones.

It's interesting, just earlier this week I was looking around for information of the cognitive differences between handwriting and typing. I couldn't find much on it, and the one study I found seemed to say there was no difference, which seems bizarre to me - if for no other reason than the one hand vs. two hand reason. I suppose I should ask sclerotic_rings - he'd be able to dig up some good info, I'm sure.

[sharonafyre.livejournal.com]

SFC's Earthsea movie was a crime against humanity.
They should be punished.

I can't believe she gave whoever it was permission to make such a ghastly film. I read an interview with her disavowing it after the fact.

[story-from-end.livejournal.com]

Personally speaking, I feel there is a lot to be said about the concept of No technology post-1945, and I can relate to it on many levels, as well as the MacBook Pros. Technology has gotten out of hand, but it's still too much fun to play with. It'd be nice to take a step back sixty years, but the reality of it seems all but impractical. To me, it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation... and while I could venture on for days on the subject, and the perversion of technology, I shan't, and take my bow, exiting stage right.

But I part with this thought I once had; wouldn't it be beautiful if humanity was suddenly wiped off the face of the planet and Mother Nature reclaimed what was rightfully hers? I see buildings overgrown with weeds, and it gives me hope.