dashPunk

The Author and the Founders of Discursivity

Eric Dorsett — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:33:17 +0000

I don't want to spend any time on Foucalt or Barthes' theories that the author is merely a function of the text who melts into the many other functions of the text. I am more curious about the idea of the Author as a Founder of discursivity.

Genre and Fields of Discourse

While in mainstream literature, we don't often name a style of text after the founder or primary evangelist of that type of writing, the same is not true within Genre fiction.

In Genre fiction, we talk about the Agatha Christie and the Doyle types of mystery. We refer to Tolkienesque, Lovecraftian, and Roddenberry-like stories and settings. Genre writers often have a pedigree, for example, Lovecraft is said to be a Dunsanian because of the similarity of his early works to those of Lord Dunsany.

Why is this true in genre fiction, while it is not true in mainstream literature?

Genre and Symbolic Schemes

One of the things that differentiates Genre from Mainstream fiction is the conventions of story necessary to fit within in its parameters, and the lens the genre overlays on reality.

Science Fiction, for example, is defined as a story in which the plot would not be possible without the science at its core. Speculative Fiction requires the story be built around the question: "What if realty functioned in a certain way?" or "What if X happened?" The Speculation take the stories out of our mundane world and into a different reality.

More over, Tolkienesque fiction requires a large amount of world building, large powers struggling against each other with a high contrast between good and evil.

Lovecraftian fiction exhibits the problem with genre more than any other. Most fiction in this style has monsters, a strangeness or alienation in the world, and the defeat of the protagonist. What they miss is the cosmosism and general misanthropy of the original, and thus look like poor knock offs.

The point is, these styles of fiction carry with them a world view that colors the nature of story that can be told, the manner in with we expect to discover the world and story, and certain conventions that highlight aspect of the real world through a mythologized lens.

Authors and Creativity

A big part of me feel like the difference between an author and a writer is a combination of whether or not they try to subvert conventions or expand their genre and the amount of success they have in doing it.

I am not sure the appellation can be adopted by the writer. It is more of a title they earn, often posthumously.

Why care?

I have spent most of my life working on my craft as a writer, and I feel like it is important to understand what all the elements of the craft are, so I know what I should be working of.

It is pretentious to think I could ever start a genre or subgenre, but I love to mashup genres to see what will happen.

While thinking about what elements I as a writer bring to the fiction contrasts with what a reader brings to the story, hopefully, I will be able to craft a better story.

I think every writer should dissect their contribution to the work, and really focus on the elements they can improve. We also need to understand that once the story enters the world, we loose control over how the story will be perceived and experienced.

Social Media and the Idea of the Author

I can't wait to see how social media and the internet will change the nature, effect, and perception of the author.

I have read many books because I met the writer on Twitter or Facebook. I know more about many of the writers I read because of these sites. I am sure it has affected the way I perceive their work, but I cannot quantify how much or in what way yet.

In the past, it was easy to forget the writer when reading a book. Some people will choose to do that, but it will not continue to be that easy to do.

It way seem strange to think that Twitter and Facebook will have an effect of Literary Theory, but it inevitably will.

Holiday Windows 2011

Emerian Rich — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:30:04 +0000

Hello all you dashPunk readers! It's that time of year again, when Emz gets to geek out on the Holiday windows, in my favorite city, San Francisco, California. I'll start by bringing you the pictures from Macy's Annual SPCA Holiday Windows. This year, they tripped it out steampunk. You may be thinking, really? Steampunk Christmas pets? Check out their windows and see if you can spot steampunk influence from the way the snowflakes seem like gears falling from the sky, to the way their mannequins are dressed.

You may be humming to yourself the "Just Glue Some Gears On It And Call It Steampunk" song, but you have to admit that thier sign stating 215 animals have found loving homes, is pretty rad. Since the Holidays are all about "gluing some something to something" and calling it festive, I'm going to have to give this design an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Every year, millions of people of all ages walk by and ogle these awesome homeless pet displays. The goal is to raise funds and awareness about the orphaned pets residing in the posh San Francisco Macy’s department store for the month of December. Donations can be given at the windows, online, and by text.

This year, Sara Kuwabara volunteered her precious Sunday holiday shopping time to stand out in the cold and tell natives and tourists alike about the SPCA. To find out more about donating to the San Francisco SPCA, go to: www.sfspca.org

Now on to the winners of this years Emz picks.

1st pick: Anthropolgie

This retailer has quickly become my favorite Holiday display creator. Not only do they try to reuse and recycle items in their display, they have an innovative way of doing it. This year, I want to concentrate on the inner elements that I am going to call giant snowballs.

Suspended from the ceiling and hung on the wall are giant artsy clumps of packing plastic. The effect looks as if you are in the lair of the Abominable Snowman! Their front window display contained string balls commonly made from balloons and glue. Only these guys can take our garbage and make it look cool.

2nd pick: Swarovski

This crystal art display was so awesome to look at in person. The picture shows what looks like a purple aurora borealis behind a white crystal swan, which is the companies logo. Beautiful.

Some of our old friends:
Tiffany's windows were pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary. Unlike the last couple of years, where I have been awed by their paper cutting creativity, this year, the theme was carousel. Cute, but not very inventive. Saks Fifth Avenue, who used to have the most awesome windows on Union Square, have totally fallen off the radar. It's almost not worth making the trip across the square to see them.

Although rather tame, I liked one element of the Nordstrom windows. Using the birdcage theme, they placed a mannequin inside wearing a garment looking much like a bird's feathers. Birdcages are one of my favorite motifs right now, so it struck a chord with me.

Not so hot: H&M

The display in itself isn't bad, it's cute even, but the ghastly SALESALESALE banner turned the display into a disaster. The mannequins had strange pink circles on their cheeks, perhaps to make them look like dolls? Could have been a cute idea, but it didn't come off right. Not only was it weird, some of the dots were crooked on the mannequin faces. Please, next year guys, try to be worth my time.

Japantown Christmas Explosion

The owners of this restaurant have the holiday decor cornered. If they were going for the "Christmas Just Exploded On Us" theme, they excelled fabulously. I mean no disrespect. I appreciate their enthusiasm!

Finally, my favorite non-retail decor this year goes to the Flood Building. Owned at one time by the San Francisco millionaire James Flood, and one of the only buildings downtown to survive the 1906 earthquake and fire, the Flood Building is awe-inspiring to walk through. Their decor is simple and traditional, but paired with the grandeur of the building, this is a must see.

I hope you all take little pieces of this article and incorporate the artistic spirit into your own works. And don't forget to show us here at dashPunk your pics when you're finished!

Happy Holidays!

New John Carter Story Trailer With Rant

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:30:51 +0000

The new trailer for John Carter is here:

I have read a couple sad reviews of the trailer from people who have never read the books, so I thought I would take a moment to respond.

While I am not yet convinced this is going to be a good or great movie, I take umbrage with the people who are saying that this movie is a knock off of Star Wars and Avatar...

The first Barsoom book was published in 1912. That is all that needs to be said. The books came first, and the movies that came after it inherited themes and imagery from it. I know it is a lot to ask from internet folk to get their facts straight, but they need to do it.

I hope the film benefits from the technology used in Star Wars and Avatar, that will only make it a better movie, but that does not mean it copied them unless the filmmakers went off script.

O Sweet Anne, may the Harpers sing your song...

Eric Dorsett — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:56:36 +0000

O Sweet Anne, may the Harpers sing your song forever.

Our sweet Dragon Lady, Anne McCaffrey has died (Galley Cat).

Dragon Song was the first book I ever read on my own, not because someone bought it for me, not because it was assigned to me in school. I saw the book on the shelf, and bought it, read it, and fell in love.

I read through all of the Dragon Riders of Pern books, and to this day, I keep a canister of Klah in my kitchen and often have a cup of it instead of cocoa.

Anne's books were the first books that I ever read to feature strong female characters. Her stories are amazing, and should be read by anyone who loves relationship centric fiction.

From Pern, to the Ship who Sang, to Crystalsinger, Rowan, and the Doona books, her work covers so many topics and worlds. She will be missed.

O Master Harper sing:

Writing, NaNoWriMo, and Copyright Crazy?

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:53:43 +0000

"Work continues on my writing project, which despite my best effort looks like I am going to be writing it in November, so maybe I should turn it into a NaNoWriMo project. Marathon writing is fun, but at any rate it looks like I will have a new book out next year.

It has engendered a new debate in me about about how much to share about my creative process. As usual, I have a lot of inspirations feeding into this project, and I feel like they will be obscured in the final version so that the story and its elements are uniquely mine, but with some of the more recent copyright claims going around, I am seriously waiting for someone to claim a right to inspiration.

You might think that I am being overly cautious about this, but after the recent Rhianna S&M case, I don't think that is too far fetched. I might share them, just because that is my instinct, but I'm curious to see how it will all play out.

The Wand and Weaver mini-series is in editing, so hopefully you will all get to see it soon. If you are interested in beta-reading it, let me know. I am really looking for notes on the stories. I like them, but they are very different from the kind of stories I already write."

Walking Dead

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:47:03 +0000

Most Zombie shows are boring excuses to do terribly violent things to our neighbors. I suppose just writing this will bring the wrath of Zombie fans down on me like a crowd of walkers after a gunshot in Atlanta, but season 1 left me with such mixed feelings.

This show was a different experience for me than most genre series. Usually, I am only moderately interested in the first episode and then with each passing episode my interest grows.

With Walking Dead I loved the first episode. It was everything I wanted in a series, and reminded me of everything I loved about Romero's Night of the Living Dead. It was suspenseful and thrilling and introduced interesting characters.

But after the first episode, everything changed. I am not sure if the quality went down or if I was immunized to the techniques they used to engender suspense.

Don't get me wrong, there were scenes that I liked in the later episodes, but the magic of the first episode never returned. I found the plots to be overly predictable. They foreshadowed every event so well, I knew when everything was going to happen, and each event happened right on queue.

As a cord-cutter, it will be a while before I can watch season 2. Hopefully, they will focus more on the characters, which is the strength of the series, and less on the plot devices and obvious story models they did in season 1.

Ninja Stop Motion Animation

Eric Dorsett — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:09:19 +0000

Need I say more?

Ninja from Olivier Trudeau on Vimeo.

The art styling is amazing. This is a great short film that shows how to convey a sense of place in a short amount of time.

What is a gaming community?

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:22:13 +0000

Chistina Kelly put together this great presentation on what makes a gaming community, and it really made me think:

Copy of Community in Gaming v3 on Prezi

I think the problem that we are all facing an issue about how to bring in people in a way that they contribute to the project, without clouding the issue of copyright and ownership to the point where no one can make money off it. This presentation is a great start.

This Transmedia Storytelling stuff?

Eric Dorsett — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:37:56 +0000

What is Random House up to?

"Random House has a team that already does "bible" development for hire. If, for instance, a video game company has an idea for a game -- but hasn't fully broadened out the storyline or storylines -- it can hire Random House to develop an entire world for the game." (Blacklight Transmedia partners with Random House - Yahoo! News)

That's interesting work if you can get it. Their new partnership will help them translate their novels into other media. Does this mean that they see the death of the novel coming? Or are they just hedging their bets to try to find a way to make more money.

I have always set my goal to do more "Transmedia Story Telling," or simply to tell the same story in various media types, but to see a major publishing company going this way makes me feel like the end is nigh for the traditional publishers as we know them.

Good riddance to unnecessary companies. You are out! Auf wiedersehen.

The grand disruptors...

Eric Dorsett — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:09:40 +0000

"The grand disruptors..."

Jeff Jarvis just called Steve Jobs that on the TWiT network, and it is a great word, a powerful word. Someone like Jobs was a disruptor, and that is the message of the moment. We need to ask ourselves are we disrupting the status quo or are we moving down the stream with the rest of the herd.

Steve Jobs didn't invent anything. He was not the first to bring most of the products to market but we will remember him because he made them better. He focused on what on what people needed and wanted, and made products that people would want to use.

He is role model for us all, and though no one will ever replace him, we have to pick up the slack. The genius has left the room and we have a lot of learning to do."

The loss of one of us diminishes us all, ...

Eric Dorsett — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:12:44 +0000

"The loss of one of us diminishes us all, and when a luminary like Steve Jobs passes the whole world dims.

Some will remember him as a founder of Apple, or the founder of Pixar, or as a business man without equal. I will remember him as a Dreamer who allowed himself to think that nothing was impossible, and who had the strength to prove himself right.

I hope we all will be able to learn from his life, and embrace the greater vision to make our world more magical and revolutionary, and to always strive for one more thing."

Well, I am not coughing as much, and my voice...

Eric Dorsett — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:39:49 +0000

"Well, I am not coughing as much, and my voice is mostly back. The turn of season always brings out the strongest allergic reactions in me. There is a bright side to living in an antihistamine/decongestant haze for weeks: I dreamed a lot.

Weaving in and out of consciousness, I thought a lot about those boring things that interest me, like narrative theory, story structure, and what I want to work on in my heart of hearts; and honestly, not a lot has changed.

I've had some insights into Blake Snyder's ideas, but I need to build those up a little more before I share, but the benefit is, I think I figured out how to move forward with my own projects.

I've got a bit of writing to do today, and hopefully, that will be followed by a squeal of joy this evening. If this doesn't get me my groove back, then maybe I need to visit an island."

Ebook Library from Amazon?

Eric and Brian — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:00:49 +0000

Ebook Library from Amazon?

A part of me is horrified by the idea of this. Amazon offering a subscription service which would allow readers access to a number of digital books at a time. This move raises many concerns. (Amazon in Talks to Launch Digital-Book Library - WSJ.com)

Will writers get enough compensation so they can afford to keep writing?

It makes me think about the infographic about how much musicians make from online streaming services.

How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?

Breaking The Free Model

I give away most of my fiction for free off the idea that people who love it will pay for it, but this model will make them feel like they already did pay for the book.

The beauty of the current model is that I don't need to be a mass market success to make a living from writing, and this will seriously jeopardize that. I suppose that means I will have to do something special to encourage my readers to help me out, but it will break the emerging model even more than it already is.

The only benefit I can see is that I would be compensated for the reads that would have been free. Kind of like putting several pennies in one hand while taking the dollars out of the other.

Not sure what to think about this.

Are writers an endangered species? If apps...

Eric and Brian — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:00:08 +0000

"Are writers an endangered species?

If apps like this work, the market will be thinned:

Genre and children's book authors are most at risk for this kind of work. The benefit is that it will make obvious fiction unsellable, because (sorry Apple) there will be an app for that.

My mother would love a mystery version of this. It would also be easy to make one for Star Trek fiction. That hurt to admit, but those are fairly cookie cutter stories.

There will still exist a market for writers. Like with other industries that automated the manufacturing process the authors will have to forge out a niche of quality and craft. This way those who want cheap will have automated stories and those who want "hand crafted" stories, they will pay a premium price for artfully crafted stories.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

(An App That Can Generate Infinite Bedtime Stories | Co. Design)

Cyclops Pig Is Just Creepy

Eric and Brian — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:00:22 +0000

"This is just creepy:

In Guatemala a monstrous pig was born just after a string of strange UFO sightings. The pig was was born with what appears to be more of a human like face.

A birth defect

It is a birth defect. That much is apparent in the fact that pig does not look like the millions of other pigs born.

The debate resides in the source for the birth defect. There is a lot of speculation over aliens being behind because of the sightings. Others point to a more terrestrial source for the defect like genetic mutation or pollutants in the environment.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard much association between these events and the past reports on governments secretly working on splicing pig and human together. Then again no one would be irresponsible enough as to take lab animals and secretly dump them into the wild.

Will It Survive?

I would love to see updates as to how long it lives, and what it looks like after it grows up, if it does."

(UFO Sightings Followed by Birth of Pig Monster)

Open Letter to the CW I read that you are...

Eric and Brian — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:00:59 +0000

Open Letter to the CW

I read that you are going to Reboot Beauty and the Beast: (CW To Reboot 1980s ‘Beauty And The Beast’ – Deadline.com)

DON"T! DO NOT DO THIS!

If you knew or understood what story arcs, characterization, or mood where in fiction, I would not be so adamantly against this. This show had 2 unrecastable actors in the lead roles, and was a story of longing and unrequited love that your tween audience will not be able to understand.

If You Must

If you are committed to doing this,

Please watch the original.
Cast Ron Perlman to play father as an homage to the original and to give some gravitas to the series
Hire writers who understand subtlety, nuance, and longing.

Eric & Brian

P.S.

Your original programming would have better ratings if you did not ostracize a segment of your audience. For better or worse if you do go forward with the show I probably will never see it due to your stand against cable-cutters and your continued efforts to make watching your shows as difficult as possible... Thank You? I think...

I sat down with all my notes about the Swan...

Eric Dorsett — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:30:23 +0000

The Swan Knight Story

"I sat down with all my notes about the Swan Knight Story and looked them over. I have an interesting idea for a 4 part serial, but I needed to flesh out and get working on it.

The serial is named, the Mirror Man, for reasons that are hard to explain outside of the story. I'd hoped to outline the serial today, and maybe even write a chunk of the first part, but that was not in the cards.

Fleshing It Out

I wrote the outline of all 4 parts, and I kind of liked it. This is not a good sign, it really need to be improved. Something was missing, that spark of magic that made me feel like it was really something that I hadn't seen or written before, so I scrapped version 1 of the outline.

Seeing its flaw. I think I have a fix. Then my nemesis struck: how long it takes me to name new characters. I picked a name, Ian... yeah, a villain named Ian, well, it will be good for the outline at least.

I finished the new outline of part 1, and have a decent idea for part 3, but there really needs to be a bridge between them. The new intro could be used to smash the old part 1 and 2 together... I might do that.

The Feel

The story has taken on a nice Alice in Wonderland meets the Matrix feel, even though it doesn't share much in common with either. I want to extend that forward, and that texture was missing in the original outline, so I think I need to take some time to think about it."

I have been obsessed for a while with the...

Eric Dorsett — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:51:01 +0000

"I have been obsessed for a while with the Knight of the Swan. I am not sure if there is a good way to use this as a source for a space opera story, but I am going to give it all the fight in me to try to work it out.

I came up with a story idea for the origin of my "Swan Knight" character, and I am working on it now, but I am wondering if naming the main character Swan after he looses his name is a cool homage or something just too silly for it to be taken seriously."

Ok, has Netflix just lost its mind?

Eric and Brian — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:25:41 +0000

"Ok, has Netflix just lost its mind?

Netflix is rebranding its 12-year-old movies-by-mail service as Qwikster and adding video games to its catalog, Reed Hastings, the company's CEO, announced Sunday night. The Web-streaming portion will continue to be called Netflix, he wrote on the company's blog.

After the separation, people who subscribe to both services will have to log into two separate websites, Netflix.com and Qwikster.com, to manage their movie queues and account information... (via cnn)

I was one of the few who didn't freak out about the new pricing structure Netflix introduced. As a person who works online, I understand the need to make money on those endeavors, but now seeing that they are spinning off part of their service I am not sure I understand it at all anymore.

Why split off the DVD part of their service?

The only thing I can think right now is that Netflix has decided it is their mission to kill physical media.

This feels so premature. After the studios pulled out or instituted stalling tactics on streaming rentals my Netflix streaming dropped. After all If their streaming offering was better, I could see how this is a good move, but right now... ugh. To compensate I had plans to keep both. Renting DVD's for those few things I wanted to see right away and that was not available for streaming. For the rest I would just wait for it to show up on streaming or never bother watching.

I was fine paying a little more to have both physical DVD rental and streaming rental in one convient place. The convience of managing my ratings and que was one of the biggest draws to Netflix. Like most we live a busy life with our time divided and enough inconviences that no one wants to pay for another one. On top of that the extra step is one I know I will forget to take...

Then that name: Qwikster.

Really? That sounds like something Randal from Clerks thought up one morning after recovering from a heavy night of binge drinking and salsa shark attacks. Time to cancel the DVDs?

Video game rentals sweeten the deal, but I haven't turned my 360 on in about 6 months. In addition to that I tried a seperate Video game rental service but the inconvience added an extra step that I did forget to take.

And then their subscribers drop and stock drops. Not a suprise here. They claim they made the split and price changes for 4 reasons:

(1) to create a dedicated DVD rental division that takes pride in great execution and maximizes the opportunity for disc rental over the coming decade;
(2) to enable us to improve our global streaming service even more rapidly, because it is not meshed with a domestic DVD business;
(3) to enable us, with the growth in revenue, to license more streaming content and thereby improve our streaming service even more;
(4) to remain very price aggressive, with $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming of a huge library of TV shows and movies, and $7.99 per month for unlimited DVD rentals, 1 out at-a-time. (via Online Video News)

Didn't they already have a great rental division that had pride?
A big improvement to streaming would be providing a service in which I could manage both my streaming videos and my rental videos. By the way wouldn't the extra cost help to pay for them to make streaming improvements?
Wouldn't it be easier to streamline costs when both divisions are under one roof verses two seperate companies?
Sadly they forgot about and now are loosing the convience and service of one que one rating place.

Foo Fighters smack down the Haters

Eric Dorsett — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:41:39 +0000

**The Videos in this post are Not Safe for Work**

There are people in this world who have absolutely no sense of humor. I don't even want to say their name, but a certain group of ultra-right wing homophobes became upset when the Foo Fighters, a band with a brilliant sense of humor, released their video for Hot Bun.

The homoerotic trucker pastiche enraged these, well out of generosity, I will call them people (link), and they announced they were going to picket an upcoming Foo Fighter's concert.

So, How did the Foo Fighter's respond?

That's right, they pulled up in front of the protesters dressed in their costumes from the Hot Buns video on the bed of a truck performing a country parody of Keep it Clean that can be heard at the beginning of the video.

Brilliant! Love it. This is the way to fight hate. The best part of the video is watching the people who came to protesting them break out in laughter and bop along to the song.

Are eBook Soundtracks the next big thing?

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:46:57 +0000

Are eBook Soundtracks the next big thing?

Booktrack thinks it is (Daily Finance).

I have posted links to songs that inspired me when I was writing a story, but that is a very different thing than an auto generated playlist that tracks my reading speed. I don't think I would like this at all.

I am not sure how many people will like to have music timed to their reading. If they do some kind of Music Genome Project and let Authors tag portions of the book by mood so the music is appropriate, it might work, but other than that, I cannot see it.

What do you all think?

After 48 hours of waking angst

Eric Dorsett — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:38:49 +0000

After 48 hours of waking angst, I figured a lot of things out. I have struggled a lot over the last couple weeks with my own muse and the need to make more money from the site.

I don't want to be all about money, and I don't think I am now, but it costs us more to run the site, and we have to cover the difference.

I think I have direction now. We have reorganized dashPunk, and I have a story to write.

The balance I found started with forgetting about money, and asking what I missed reading most, and starting to move forward.

Sorry to be enigmatic, but I figured out a lot of things and I don't want to overshare.

Ideas For a Cthulu Priest Throne

Brian Logee — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:00:41 +0000

I was looking over a Trendland article about Maximo Riera's Animal Collection and it got me thinking.

His chair collection is an odd assortment that mashes up animals and chairs. That said it is also very evocative and got my imagination churning especially the piece from the picture.

I started to think what would a cool throne chair look like for a high priest of Cthulu if they took more of this style into the design.

lets start with a nice throne with a high back on it maybe even gold colored like a papal throne. Then put the octopus on the top facing forward with it's tentacles oozing down over the chair in a gelatinous way. Instead of a plush material use leather so that the octopus will look more life like and it still be comfortable to sit against but still have the tentacles be raised up. Then fill in all of the background color of the chair with a gloss black color like still dark water. This will also help to evoke a sole eating madness for those staring at the chair too long. What do you think?

(via Maximo Riera's The Animal Collection | Trendland: Fashion Blog & Trend Magazine)

Giant Crocodile IRL

Brian Logee — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:00:37 +0000

When beholding an image of a real life Giant Crocodile my first thought is astonishment. That says a lot for someone who watches a many episodes of river monsters and other shows like it as I have. This 21 foot long crocodile is a great reminder that large reptilian dinosaur like creatures do still exist, roam about and are a present danger even in our modern day.

I've often entertained the thoughts of what it would be like living with dinasours roaming about. Then i'm conforted with the followup thought of it not being a good idea. It would probably be very messy especially when the carnivorious ones figure me for a nice snack.

My second thought when looking at the image makes me giggle as the image of Betty White cussing at some kids hoping that the giant crocodile will eat them floods my mind. Lake Placid might have sucked horribly but that scene will for ever make me laugh.

(via Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines - Yahoo! News)

Star Trek Online Goes Free-To-Play

Brian Logee — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:00:10 +0000

I enjoyed playing Star Trek Online and think giving a Free-To-Play option is a good move. Along with many fans, Eric and I played Star trek Online when it first came out. It's huge fun for fans of Star Trek and those who like getting into the story of the game. They did a great job with ongoing story and an evolving galaxy.

As an MMO player my hardest choice is picking which MMO to pay a monthly subscription for to play. I find with more offering free play options I can go back and forth between them and then paying for the one that I am mainly playing at that point in time. After all there are those times when one wants to swing a sword and cast spells and other times when the mood strikes and piloting a Prometheus class ship into combat against a Klingon bird of prey sounds like a blast. This option also allows those unsure about getting into the game a way to try it out and make an informed choice, aka get hooked.

Cryptic will not restrict the play for the free-to-play options which is smart. In other words both options will get to level up to maximum level, explore the whole galaxy, join fleets (aka guilds), enter into pvp which is a lot of fun in STO, and have access to all of the classes.

The main difference between the free-to-play option and the subscribers is the conviences and perks that does not have main game play impact. For instance subscribers will get more storage slots for items and credits, create fleets, have more character slots and additional bridge officer slots, and vet rewards.

I hope this move will allow Star Trek Online to continue and to bring back some of those players who had to make the hard choice and left.

Nerves, Horror, and Revealing Secrets

Eric Dorsett — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:56:42 +0000

I am trying to calm my nerves at the moment. I am extremely arachnophobic, going back to an infected spider bite when I was a child. A giant, jumping spider just hopped onto my chest, then arm, then off into the shadowy recesses behind my chair. I screamed like a little kid, and ran out of the room.

Brian is hunting for it now, and I am sitting in my office still shaking. I know, I am a coward, right?

Irrational Fear

I hate that irrational fear can grip my very being and shake me to my very core. It is embarrassing, and beyond the limits of how someone my age should react.

Fear is a powerful motivator. It unfortunately drives politics, and fascinates me. Sex and fear are two of the most irrational factors that tend to motivate people. They are hard to control because they are not rational. Reason is little to no help, only a healthy dose of willpower has a chance to rein in these powers.

This is something special to be thinking about today on the anniversary of 9/11.

Remembering that evil day

I remember how I felt that day. I sat safely on my couch in Oakland, Ca, rocking back and forth watching the smoke billow out of the tower. I felt like a sword was swinging at the Gordian knot that held our nation together.

I remember sitting on the cold concrete outside my appartment, desparately trying to keep my candle lit for the memorial. I sat in my appartment listening to the Kiss' song, "We are One" on repeat.

I hoped this moment of unity would pull the nation together. Entropy is a powerful thing, and eventually it all fell apart.

Fear and Horror

I think that is why I occasionally dip my toes into horror writing. I have written a lot of disaster fiction since then. If you look at them carefully, then you will notice that most of them are about everything falling apart.

I suppose it is a way for me to explore those deep resources of horror and terror that reside just out of view. My own unresolved issues, and those I see in others. Shine Like Thunder is really close to me on these issues.

In some ways, I might want to be careful with the horror tales I share. It is possible I am sharing things that are too personal.

Can a writer be to personal?

I am not talking about sharing private information. At its best, writing is about sharing aspects of our psyche personified. I have scrapped several stories because I felt they were too close to home to share. Maybe that was a mistake.

Maybe I should open up, and just let these stories out.

Peace upon them

I know this has been one of my most rambling posts, but somehow, I think it works this year.

Peace be upon the blessed dead of 9/11, and the families whose wounds will never heal.

BTW

The Spider turned out to be a grasshopper. My bad.

Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines

Brian Logee — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:00:43 +0000

Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines is coming out September 16th and I can not wait. Battle Lines "... brings viewers right up to the front-lines of the massive galactic conflict, revealing the stories that forged the Star Wars galaxy." (starwars.com)

Get your copy of Clone Wars Season 4 through our affiliate here:

Looking Forward to

Updated graphics included more facial expressions
New Captain Rex Story Arc plus the return of Fives
Katee Sackoff will voicing a female Mandalorian
Nightsisters return with Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress
Get to see Planet Umbara with it's unique technology and weapons
The debate over Clone independence and dispensability Captain Rex's Dilemma
Bounty Hunters are back and with them are Cad Bane, Bossk, Boba Fett and even Dengar
Anakin will struggle with his dark side and face difficulties as he has to deal with slavers and his personal past.
Ahsoka also faces her own challenges with a new character Lux who makes her question her feelings about someone she cares for.
Introducing Jedi General Krell

Watch the Trailers

Episode line up

Like the previous seasons this will be a 22 episode season. "George Lucas has said he would like to make at least 100 episodes, regardless of the ratings. Episode 100 would be in the middle of Season 5, so the series is likely to go up to 110+ episodes..." I expect to see more conflicts but not to see the connecting episode to lead up to Star Wars Episode 3 until next season.

Episode 1 Water War & Episode 2 Gungan Attack

air September 16, 2011

Underwater unrest! The assassination of
the King of Calamari creates conflict between
the Mon Cala and the Quarren, so Padme and Anakin
are dispatched to make peace.
But the Separatists have other plans...

Plot: The inhabitants of the watery world of Mon Calamari find themselves on the brink of a civil war. The Jedi soon realize they will need the help of a powerful and amphibious ally to stop the war and drive out the Separatist invaders.

The Jedi find themselves trapped by
sustained Separatist attacks. Can the Gungans save the day?

Plot: The Jedi find themselves trapped by sustained Separatist attacks. Can the Gungans save the day?

Clone Wars Season 4 Looking Ahead at Water War and Gungan Attack

Episode 3 Prisoners

September 23, 2011

Seemingly crushed by the might of the Separatist assault,
the only hope for the Republic is a Padawan and a Prince.

Episode 4 Shadow Warrior

September 30, 2011

Can Jar Jar Binks defeat a Separatist invasion
led by the evil General Grievous?

Clone Wars Season 4 Death Watch Preview

Brian Logee — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:00:29 +0000

In Clone Wars Season 4 we will get more Mandalorian fun. The Death Watch will return and we will be introduced to a new character, a female Mandalorian voiced by Katee Sackoff.

Like padawan like master always loosing their lightsabers.

We will also get to see in this episode more interactions between Lux and Ahsoka.

Get your copy of Clone Wars Season 4 through our affiliate here:

Clone Wars Season 4 Looking Ahead at Water War and Gungan Attack

Brian Logee — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:00:03 +0000

Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 4 Preview - "Water War"

This fun preview shows Kit Fisto in action, for some reason I just can not get enough of that jedi. We will also get to see Captain Ackbar in action as a youth before his imperial imprisonment and eventual rise to Admiral Ackbar. Even though Ackbar will be in it he will not mention traps Filoni said at Comic Con pannel.

Water War is the First in the two part release for Clone Wars season four. It is also the beginning of a three part story arc.

The Jedi find themselves trapped by
sustained Separatist attacks. Can the Gungans save the day?

The second half and second episode is Gungan Attack.

Plot: The Jedi find themselves trapped by sustained Separatist attcks. Can the Gungans save the day?

I beleive this will take place on Naboo this is due to two peices of evidence. First, in Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines Trailer there is a breif moment when Count Dooku mentions attacking Naboo. Secondly, there are gungans involved in helping the Jedi from a sustained Seperatist attcks.

Both will premier on September 16th 2011

Get your copy of Clone Wars Season 4 through our affiliate here:

Clone Wars Season 4 Battle Lines Trailer

Brian Logee — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:00:53 +0000

Clone Wars Season 4 starts back up on September 16th 2011 and I can not wait . Watch the trailer above.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4 from iTunesThere are some really exciting things in the trailer like the fight between Asajj Ventress and General Grievous. More Dathomir force witches. Anakin will struggle with some of his past and more of the dark side. The Mandalorians are back with Death Watch and was that a lightsaber whip I saw toward the end or just and energy whip.

Was that Count Dooku ordering a rentless attack on Naboo?

The fourth season is titled Battle Lines.
The season premier will be a one hour two part episode.
Get Your Copy
More Clone Wars on dashPunk
Watch it streaming online here