National Novel Writing Month [Its That Time Of Year Again]

I wrote a ton about this last year, mostly because I had the time to both keep up with a blog and write a partially crappy novel.

With the full time job, though, neither of these things has been done properly. Although I'm succeeding partially at NanoWriMo, keeping right on pace. So that's going okay, but mostly because I'm getting a good thousand words in during my lunch breaks.

In other NaNo news, someone is apparently writing a comic strip while participating:

[EDIT: OMG for some reason the format was off. The cute comic and others like it can be found at the web address below. I can't figure out why its broken, I have a word count to catch up on!]

[Found here]

Apparently she's also created a hashtag for those behind in their word counts, called #nanopanic. Pretty awesome.

And now back to writing.

Facebook now catering to my nostalgia

In case you can't read it, it says, "Re-live the good old days, come and check out the video to Blur's classic tune, "Girls and Boys". We all know it's awesome!"

Wow. Facebook is now a little eerie in its accuracy. Thanks....I think. I wonder who paid for that advertisement, and what they expect out of it. Me watching the video doesn't do anything monetary for anybody. Are they prepping their U.S. audience for a (possible) tour and want to refresh fans memory?

[Want to watch it? Go ahead. Click here.]

Frak It Friday: In which I forgive Brandon Flowers

There's a problem with Brandon Flowers, and its that he's epic. "All These Things I've Done" is epicly good. But when he fails to be epicly good, he becomes epicly bad, something that is hard on the ears.

[Here is where you think of the words, "Are we human? Or are we dancer?" and groan. Truly awful. Here are my original thoughts, like, eleven months ago.]

But today, on the train while doing the Samurai Sudoku, I forgave him. Specifically because of the song "Dustland Fairytales".



It is epicly good. Hopefully this continues.

[The video out-epics the song! Truly astounding. Thousands of years from now, they'll think of Brandon Flowers the way we think of Homer. Maybe.]

Lego Blur Rock Band

Just in case you wondered what the boys of Blur would look like if they were Legos:



This is a thing that people are about to buy.

[Push]

Its not news of a U.S. reunion tour...but its something.

My Least Fave Facebook Ad [Paranoid (Ex)Girlfriends]

So, at some point in the past, Facebook decided to go with ads that were targeted to the person viewing them.

Which, I kind of understand. Except that I've been getting this ad:



Facebook thinks that I'm a super jealous girlfriend who needs to confirm her paranoia. Excellent.

Thanks, Facebook!

Fiction Ain't Shit

[The following post has spoilers for both Inglourious Basterds and Atonement. Like you were interested in seeing either of them.]

Spring 2007 I sat down to watch a movie called Atonement. It was a lovely Sunday night and I had just gotten off work.

[Full disclosure: I worked at a Blockbuster Video and got to watch it for free. This situation could have been much, much worse]



Two and a halfish hours later, I was in a state of despair. Two people [Cecilia played by skinny girl Keira Knightley] and Robbie Turner get their lives completely ruined a false accusation of rape. Robbie gets carted off to jail. Cecilia pines and cuts herself off from her family -- her sister is the one who made the accusation.

Things suck. A lot. For a longass time. But at the end, the sisters reconcile and Robbie and Cecilia live by the coast together.

Except: this ending is a fictional one, the atonement for the false accusation years ago by the younger sister. If they couldn't be together in real life, at least they could be together in this novel the younger sister wrote like sixty years later, right?

Wrong. Cold comfort. You think that just because in fiction they get to be together forever, that makes any bit of difference? You think that just because in fiction you reconciled with your sister that you are somehow closer to her in her death?

[Yeah, I get that Atonement is completely fiction. But within the universe, this is the situation]

It bothered me. I've seen the movie again and read the book, but the same things bother me about it. Like, who could think that this was honoring anyone? Would the two people's lives who were ruined be happy that you made everything happy fictionally?

[Twoish years later]

I saw Inglourious Basterds. And it was basically the same premise.

You think just because you depict Adolf Hitler being tortured and killed, being scared of the "Bear Jew" that makes any difference to real life? That anyone really feels better about all the deaths he directly and indirectly caused?



Sure, it might be nice to briefly inhabit a land where revenge (cosmic or otherwise) is exacted on the Nazis, the most perfect movie villian of all time. But -- just like Atonement's false happy ending -- its a cold comfort. World War II doesn't end with that kind of justice.

[Turns out the skull that was thought to be Hitler's belongs to a woman]

I left the theater both disgusted by the films climactic scene -- torture is still torture, even if its done to Nazis -- and empty. No amount of film fantasy or fictional happy endings is going to change what happened. Fiction doesn't make up for anything. Not even a little bit. Its like getting a wet blanket to keep yourself warm with.

[Or fiction ain't shit]

The Attack of the Lawnmower!

[The good stuff in the video starts at the 1:45 mark. From the episode of Mad Men "Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency"]

You know how when you were a kid, people would well meaningly tell you about dangerous household items in hopes that you would take care around them?

I was afraid of lawn mowers when I was six because a guest to the classroom told us a story of a little kid getting their foot chopped off by one. The child was running behind it.

I was frightened of the deep freezer, because I was told that if you let it close on you, you would suffocate. Anytime I got anything out of the deep freezer, before I would let the door close I would run to the opposite side of the room. You know, to prevent me somehow getting sucked into it.

I refused to swim when my parents weren't home because I might drown. They themselves warned me of this, and to this day refuse to believe I didn't once take a dip while they were at work while I was stuck home, alone, with no air conditioning. [Not to digress, or anything]

And the above video? I guess it was the sixties, so no one warned them as children that lawnmowers are DANGEROUS DANGEROUS RUN AWAY!!!! [unless you are the one on it, of course] That is the moral of the above video.