General Geekiness

Computer Bilingual

General Geekiness

This is prompted by the little poll on the WP log in page. PC or Mac? There was no option for both; annoying for those of us who use both with equal skill.

A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking with a fellow college student, trying to help her use a Mac. Apart from the fact that the machine was on its final legs, she had never used a Mac before.

Astonishing. The first computers I used were Macs. Yeah, the old school box ones, followed by iMacs. In fact, my pre-high school computer training was entirely on Apple products (following that, PCs until Commercial Art).

At home, I use PCs, so I built my knowledge of Windows around that.

Switching between computers has always been easy for me; I suppose it is like speaking two languages. Now, as a graphic design student, it comes in handy. I use Photoshop on both PC and Mac. I don’t care which computers are available in the school labs; I can jump onto either and work away.

So, WordPress Poll. What about those of us who are computer bilingual?

Why Alexander Dumas is Ready to Rise from the Dead.

General Geekiness

The other day while watching TV, a horrifying commercial came on: an advertisement for Barbie and The Three Musketeers.

I kid you not.

The technicolor world of Barbie just doesn’t mesh with the political intrigue of Dumas’ original work. I’m sure its stock full of girl power and all that jazz, but really? Do you really need to change a work of literature to bend it to Barbie’s ways?

Fortunately, the plot sounds completely different from the book. I wonder how Barbie would tackle Richelieu. In this world, would he wear a florescent pink robe and try to steal all the kittens?

I’m not sure how I stand on the whole “murdering retelling classics for the sake of our children” thing. I grew up watching Wishbone, which I adored, but I see that as a little different. Wishbone kept as faithfully to the stories as a thirty minute kids’ program could (with a talking dog to boot!), but this program really stood for getting kids to read the classics by introducing them in such a way that they were relatable.

View at own discretion. I advise not.

An Afternoon Well Spent

General Geekiness

With a heavy load of papers and projects in the offing, a friend and I did the only thing two self-respecting college students can do on a rainy Saturday. We hopped on the train and wandered into every used book store we could find.

One was Mecca. While it didn’t have any Roald Dahl collections, it was two floors of awesome. The size of a small box book store, everything was neat, clean, and organized. Fiction, music, art, military history, civilian history…ah! Nearly anything one could want to read! Giddy, we strolled through the stacks, picking up anything that caught our eyes. Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Dumas…the fiction section alone was enough to send any reader into fits of delight.

We ventured upstairs, picking through books of art, biographies (no luck on the Ogilvy memoir I’ve been keeping an eye out for) and military history.

I nearly hugged the bookcase labelled “aviation” and tore through the WWII shelves. What should I find hidden among the books on the European theatre land battles but a book about Spitfire pilots? Though this book (The Few by Alex Kershaw) is about American pilots in the RAF, research is research. So much of my story is up in the air (no pun intended), and dependent on my discoveries, I figured any little bit can help.

The Way We Think

General Geekiness

How we think intrigues me greatly. I’m not a huge fan of psychology in the academic sense (I find it rather boring), but I can’t resist Myers-Briggs personality tests.

Within the realm of thinking and perspective, it would be interesting to see how different “types” of people think, and from there, create. As for me, I’m an INTJ (Introverted, iNtuition, Thinking, Judging). This means that I ponder everything, wondering what works, what doesn’t, why, and I do what I know. Reason is key.

I have a rather scientific/mathematical mind for an English major. This probably results in my obsessive need for research; if I don’t know how something worked (at least at a basic level), then I get hung up on the details. I want to know exactly what uniforms looked like, the hierarchy, all of the social aspects, etc.

As a result, I hate to share my work unless it is absolutely perfect; I’m often secretive about the specifics of plots, scenes, characters, etc. Critique groups I avoid. Goals are swell.

I don’t put all of my faith in these tests, but they are fun, and provide interesting insight into oneself.

Meandering through Woodstock

General Geekiness

This evening, I saw Taking Woodstock. After finishing the movie, I began thinking.

The movie, directed by Ang Lee, is good. Not great. It’s entertaining and I enjoyed it.

But that’s not what I’m thinking about.

The film’s pacing is what made me stop (look around…). It was rather meandering. The characters talked about how they only had a short period of time to get Woodstock ready to go, but it didn’t feel like there was a short time. The pacing was leisurely, like taking a walk through the Catskills with no one to bother you. It lagged and dragged and stopped to smoke a cigarette or two, taking its own sweet time to get to the destination. But I’m not quite sure it was worth it.

There was no rewarding “aha!” moment in the movie. The characters were underdeveloped. The main character, Elliot, started out unsure of himself, and finished the same way. I was ambivalent towards him throughout the entire film. I neither rooted for him nor pitied his circumstances. The supporting characters were cardboard cutouts (a complete misuse of Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The townspeople were mostly angry with Elliot’s decision to host Woodstock, the town’s women mostly out to lunch, and the hippie characters floated on and off screen saying chill things.

I never felt truly engaged, as I did with District 9 (two totally different movies, but being drawn in is being drawn in). The entire time it felt as though I were merely observing, and was disconnected from what was occurring on screen. The movie lacked the energy one would expect from a movie about the most famous music festival.

In the end, I’ve realized that I’m watching movies and reading books more like a crafter of tales, and less like an audience member. What have I pulled from this? Always make sure your main character, likeable or no, is able to elicit some emotional response from the audience. And the pacing should be such that the audience is never bored.