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RP, Fanfic, and other pursuits

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On October 27, 2006

In Blog

altoidsaddict has a fascinating essay on fanfiction and RP, and why people engage in it. The conclusions he reaches are interesting, and a lot of food for thought.

Comparing fanfic to original writing is not quite like apples and oranges. It’s more like grapefruit to tangelos. Okay, so fanfic is writing – but it has a different purpose than original writing, and to urge fanficcers to stop wasting their time and write something original ignores that the act of writing is almost incidental. (Yes, yes, you who are about to object, you’re precious, creative stars in the galaxy of craft. Just a sec.) How I communicate to a reader as a writer is drastically different in purpose from how fanficcers communicate with other fandom folk. Yes, they have a lot in common – but the primary purpose is different, the human motivations are different, and that changes everything.

Go read the whole thing. It’s chewy crunchy thoughtfood.

Classical Surf pop

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On September 11, 2006

In Blog

Thanks to John Scalzi, I now have an entire album’s worth of classical music interpreted as 60s surf pop, as performed by Takeshi Terauchi & The Bunnys.

If you can listen to these mp3s and not smile, I would seriously question the state of your soul. Go listen, it’s all good stuff.

Today’s timewaster: 3-D Tetris

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On September 5, 2006

In Blog

Seen over at John Scalzi’s By The Way, Tetris in 3-D:

http://www.3dtris.de/ (Requires Flash)

This could eat my day if I let it. Good grief. I still remember hejira2006‘s description of the original Tetris: “It’s the most boring game I’ve ever played for hours and hours and hours.”

Iowa Not Like Dar Williams Song, Report Disappointed Lesbians

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On August 22, 2006

In Blog

Iowa Not Like Dar Williams Song, Report Disappointed Lesbians

Three lesbians on a cross-country road trip were disappointed to find that the state of Iowa bore little resemblance to the Dar Williams song that they had belted as they crossed the border from Illinois.

“Where are the hills of Iowa that are supposed to make me wish I had a way with women?” demanded driver Rebecca Lally. “This place is total flatlands.”

Her passengers were also underwhelmed by the Hawkeye state. “I thought maybe once we got to Des Moines, we would start to see some sort of feminist folk song magic,” said Latonya Brewer. “Sadly, I was wrong. The indoor walkways were kind of cool, though.”

“Maybe we built it up too much in our heads,” said Lally, who reported that the friends had first begun fantasizing about Iowa after attending a Dar Williams concert at Wellesley College in the fall of 2001. “I mean, it was okay and everything, but I wouldn’t write a song about it.”

“I thought Iowa would help me find a way to say ‘I love you’ to Latonya,” confessed passenger Hillary Uxbridge. “I had it all planned out in my head. I would tell her, and then she’d say that she feared that to fall in love with me would be to fall from a great and gruesome height. And then we would make out.”

“But when we were in Cedar Rapids, Latonya went off with some chick she met at the motorcycle museum,” lamented Uxbridge. “I’d say that she was wandering out on the hills of Iowa and not thinking of me, except I still haven’t seen any hills. Things with me and Latonya are just the same as they were in Ohio. Screw it. I’m listening to Metallica for the rest of the trip.”

Concluded Lally, “Overall, Iowa’s been kind of a letdown. All I can say is, Nebraska better live up to the Springsteen song.”

Amusing tidbits

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On June 22, 2006

In Blog

Conversation between myself and kitanzi this morning:

autographedcat: (lying across the bed, stretching my back): I want a medieval torture rack for my birthday.
kitanzi: Um….sure.
autographedcat: I want it to help stretch out my back.
kitanzi: But where would we put it?
autographedcat: Yeah, that’s always the problem with exercise equipment.

Today in Creative Loafing, there was a sidebar article about a new DVD series designed to help parents get their toddlers well indoctrinated to follow the right university sports:

“I’m pregnant.” “I’m getting a tattoo.” “His name is Snake, and we’re in love.”

Those are all words most parents dread. But if you went to the University of Georgia, there is one phrase above all others you don’don’t want to hear from your teenager: “I’m enrolling at Florida.”

Up until now, there was only so much parents could do to instill in their children a love of all things UGA. You could take them to games,make them listen to Larry Munson, teach them the Bulldog fight song.But in the end, you just had to trust that you had raised them right.

Now Bulldog parents have a secret weapon. A company called Team Baby Entertainment has released a DVD called Baby Bulldog, which “allows parents, grandparents, alumni and friends to share their love, loyalty and passion for their university with their children.”

The DVD is targeted toward babies and toddlers and uses Sesame Street tactics to “teach” kids just how great it is to be a Bulldog.The video features young children dressed up in UGA costumes, and footage of the university’s sports teams, mascot and marching band “to expose children to the university in an exciting and playful manner.”Translation: If you’re desperate for your kid to follow in your footsteps and you’re not above brainwashing, this DVD is for you.

Didn’t attend UGA? Don’t worry, Team Baby Entertainment makes DVDs for parents from a variety of large universities, including LSU,Auburn, Florida State and — sorry, UGA fans — Florida.

A product which nicely fills a much-needed gap.

Elsewhere on LJ today, cjdoyle shared some of his Viagra-themed spam in a friends-locked entry, prompting this insta-filk. I hope you enjoy it…i spent minutes writing it:

The Love Pill
TTTO: (Theme From) The Love Boat

Love, Exciting and new
Pop the pill. She’s waiting for you
Love, life’s sweetest reward
Get it up, it stays up for you

Viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiagra
Soon you’ll be ploughing another field
Viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiagra
Four hours of fun just one dose will yield
Set a course for erection
Your mind on a new romance

Love won’t hurt anyone
See her open legs on a friendly bed
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!

…

I’ll get me coat…

My bologna has a first name, it’s WTF…..?

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On June 8, 2006

In Blog

One of the amazing, mind-staggering things about the Internet is that you can buy just about anything on it, including a Las Vegas wedding, a Mexican divorce, a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot, or a baby’s arm holding an apple. [1]

Now, Amazon.com, that all-things-to-all-people web merchant, has started finding the last hidden niches of e-commerce, the things that it never actually occurred to you that you might want to shop online for.

That’s right, you can now order bologna from Amazon.


The customer reviews are utterly hysterical.

At last, my search for bologna, a search that had oft awoken me in the middle of the turgid night, condensed with perspiration and mind a-swim with luncheon shortage paranoia, is over. No more eating of 2 slices of Wonder bread with naught but mustard inbetwixt, no more frustration of desiring that hot-dogged flavor in a flatter and more throwing-disc like form, no more eating of lesser substances that come not in a gleeful molded plastic tray nor come unbecircled in red plastic, no, Dear Lord, I have seen the light, and it is bologna. O loving, nay, GODLY meat, thou fulfilleth me and giveth me purpose. Amen.

Our cups truly runneth over.

[1] Yes, kitanzi, that’s your fault.

Fall of Civilization Imminent. Film at 11

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On June 5, 2006

In Blog

Courtesy of mvaldemar, I learn that a minor league ballpark in St. Louis is serving Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburgers:



It’s sweet like a doughnut, and then you’ve got the hamburger. You’ve read that right. It’s a burger with cheese and bacon, sandwiched between a Krispy Kreme doughnut — a heart attack waiting to happen. A burger so perfect, they say, tampering is discouraged.

“You’re ruining it! You’re not supposed to put ketchup on it!” Bowers says to a diner.

“Well, I don’t know. It’s my first time,” he replies.

For a mere $4.50 it’s breakfast, dinner, and a little dessert all in one. That it packs up to 1,000 calories — the donut alone has 10 grams of sugar — doesn’t seem to faze diabetic diner Floyd Schuetz.

“Oh, I’ll have another one of these,” he says.

That is quite possibly the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen served on a plate.

Have some Kool-Aid

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On May 18, 2006

In Blog

Mike Peterson pointed this out over in rec.arts.comics.strips

Meanwhile, here’s an amusing little piece — this is an INS site that
helps immigrants prep for their citizenship tests. Click on the answer
button and see if you notice anything missing — do suppose they know
something the rest of us haven’t been told yet???

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/citizenship/flashcards/question_80.htm

Hmmmm.

EDIT (29 May 2006): Well, it looks like it’s been updated to include Freedom of the Press after all. I guess enough people were poitning out the lack.

We really could have used your help here, Phil.

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On April 10, 2006

In Blog

Chris Clarke commemorates The Thirtieth Anniversary of a Suicide.

Best. Headline. Ever.

By

On March 18, 2006

In Blog

Thanks to tigerbright for pointing it out:

Flying Cow Leaves Two Police Cars in Flames

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