July Week 1
Since I can't sleep, and like to pretend I'm organized, I'm going to post my words. Here we have an entry on my wordpress weblog, an lj entry, the most recent two parts of a silly story I'm telling a friend via wallposts on Facebook, and a scrambled partial first draft of an essay-ish thought I'm too intimidated by to really write. It was a reasonable week. =] Tomorrow I will probably transcribe the first full draft of an essay-ish thought that I wrote down earlier tonight to quiet my brain.
Tally: 3248/2000 words
snurky finds fun magazine columns online (690)
the final outpost--my bedroom (1098)
Saga of the Blue Cheese: Part IV (161)
Mocky caught up with joy_theorginalrufflechip and Betsy the fish just as both of them stopped and stared upward in dead silence. Mocky looked up and only saw a glowing blue light on the surface far above, that shimmer and danced and reflected small furry mammals in Betsy and joy_theoriginalrufflechip's eyes. Betsy turned to Mocky and said, "I'm a fish" a moment before joy_theoriginalrufflechip swooped through the water like a shark with mad cow disease and captured Betsy in her fishbowl, then covered the opening with her highly water-resistant raincoat. Betsy began to bump insistently at the glass, trying to move upward towards the light. Pocky floated over next to Mocky, still licking her piece of berry-flavored cavern and stopped long enough to sagely nod at Mocky, "Go into the light." Mocky frowned and wondered what was really in berry-flavored cavern pieces (and would Pocky share?) then started swimming upward to where water and air meet in a slippery, shimmery, shiny, strange--
Saga of the Blue Cheese: Part V (151)
silly, subversive, serotonin-plagued embrace. Mocky fought her way beyond this fragile border (which actually took a good two minutes and five hundred calories) to looked to the mountainous form, which had become a dark peninsula rising out of the depths. Mocky swam to the shoreline stared at the vast icicle wall glowing pale blue. A small door was cut into the wall, and through it bright light streamed like the proud, triumphant banners of a small but angry Aztecan hunting party standing over Mayan war- wait, no, actually it just streamed like sunlight in a very white room. With large, unneccessary waterslapping and panicking noises (something like, "OMG! AIR! wtfshizzleman?!") Pocky, joy_theoriginalrufflechip, and Betsy arrived on the shore. Mocky took a deep breath and--filled with purpose and the kind of sentimental excitement only present in the final scenes of action movies-- she charged in heroic slow motion into the light--
Movies: Focus on the Moral, or the Question?, very rough draft, (552)
Many movies nowdays do not truly “have a moral” that they present, but rather they ask a question of the viewers who are subtly challenged to find their own answers.
It used to be a big thing: the “moral” of a story. Old yarns were told about why it is a bad idea to smack bears; fantasy novels insisted that (with effort) good triumphs over evil, movies prove that the good guy can get the girl. Our society lauded and fretted over the moral of any story, its overall message, especially in movies, particularly as our culture’s media became more violent, more graphic, more unreserved and undisciplined.
But today, is the moral of the story really still the focus-the driving force behind the creation or evaluation of a movie? Many people will argue that a movie’s moral is never the driving force behind a director or writer’s vision, but no one can deny that we are products of a people shaped by the morals of our stories. But are movies still leaving us (at their end) with a moral to take home? Or are they providing us with questions?
Recently I watched four action movies: Live Free or Die Hard, the Shooter, Apocalypto, and Children of Men. In all of these movies, the moral reflects that of almost all action movies: the “good” guy, the protagonist, succeeds in his/her mission in some fashion. Along the way people die, property is destroyd, and lives are changed forever, but “that guy” (even if he croaks in the end) makes his goal happen-the evil super hacker crippling the government is stopped and killed, the hunter returns home to save his family, the sniper takes out the people responsible for mass murder and calculated assassination, the husband ensures the pregnant woman gets a chance at a new beginning.
What I am struck by are the [ca?se??] pf the movies is the question it raises. Our hero might triumph, but the fact remains that the United States can be so quickly and effectively crippled and blinded, that conspiracy has many heads one must cut off (or that it is the result of human weakness and is inescapable), that children are our future, our hope, and that anything can become a commodity or a symbol.
We rented the Departed, as one of six movies for the week. In that movie, the good guy doesn’t succeed, a shitload of people (good and bad) die, the audience is satisfied only because one last aide to the good guy gets the last bad guy, and the audience in the story (the public) will never know the real details. The question there seems to be what can we do about this type of corruption?
We also rented Babel. My mother tells me it is similar to Crash-which touched on racial tensions in Los Angeles, and pondered the problems people have when communicating with each other, when touching each other’s lives. I assume Babel is about the breakdowns in human communication. Or perhaps it is only a story in which the isolated characters are really somehow connected.
I’ll wait to see what happens in Babel, what the story is. but even if I can see what the moral of the story is, I’ll still be left with answering its question.
scramble (546)
(Ar, wba bba baa bavababb apparabbla babb'b baab aaa abawaa)
Ba barbb parabrapb wall ab baarba ba baba aqaavabababb bbabababb abaab baw A baba abrabb bbab arbabla. Bababalla, ba palababal barabab bab (abaabbb ba babb abbarbb ab apabba) baab axpabbab ab ballaba. Aaa bar labaral arbb abb larba(r) abavarbabaab. Wbab A barbb baba abrabb bbab arbabla, ba ababaal rabpabba wab bba babbabb axprabbab ba ba raabbaba wbab bba baarb ab a babbarabb abbbabba ab wbabb babaaba bablarab bbabbalb "ba labbar aabbarb bab-babarabaxaal araabbabaab baraa." Ab bba axplaabab ab, (baabb brab Balabarbaa abb a rabaab ab abpabaalla babb qaaarbabb) baarabb abaab babaaba wba ab "ax-baa" ab baprabbabb babaaba ab bba paab abb brabbrabaab abb baar bbab ba baba paapla bababb aab ab bab-babarabaxaal axparaabba, babaaba wba ab "aab" abb bbab pablabla "bbaabab" ba ba babk (babaaba ab ab bara lakala bbab bbab parbab wall baw ba raprabbabb parbb ab bbaar laba bbab wara prababla bab ab bravalaab ar braabalabb ab bbaa baaba baw blaab) ab ab bavaral waab baapla abbarbababb bba abbarbb ab bba baba abbar paapla wba bava bab aab baba aab bbabbalvab. Bbab ab wba baaabb bba babla ab bba arbabla, "Baw a 'baa rabbbb' laabar bababa bbraabbb," ba Babbaal Blabba, abbabaabala baabbb ba abbabbaab abb pravakab babbaa. Raababb bba abbaal arbabla bparkab ababaabb ab abbar, babbabaab, abb babbaab--ab bbarbb abb wabb bba laba, " Bababaxaalaba baba aaba ba ba, babaaba A wab alraaba waak." Ba bba abb ab bba balabb, A wab jabb baprabbaba *bab*, abb baalb aabala abababa bba babraaal a lab ab abbar paapla balba. Babbaal Blabba wab a bababla laabar ab bba palababal/balbaral bavababb bar baa rabbbb. Bab rababb bbabababb bbab ba ab bbaababb ralabaaab brabb, ballawabb bab "Bab-bavab, Bbrabb-balb," avar "bababaxaalaba ar abbar labb-babab babavaar," ab a rababalaab barb-abaab bbab bba ralabaaab rabbb babb ba bavabb a baalb baa avar, abb a bavabbababb blaw bar bba "baa babbababa. Aab, ab A raab bbraabb bba balabb, A blawla babab ba raalaba bbab baba ab ba abbar wab bab ab Babbaal Blabba'b abbaabb, bab rabbar bab labab. Ab a-baal abbabpabaabb ba baarba ba bba arbabla paabbab aab qaaba brabkla abb babbarala bbab bbab wab a parbabb abbbabba ab barrabla labab bbab avaraaba baalb raab abb laarb brab, wbabb ab wbab A ab baabb ba ba. Wbab wab ba babbabbarbabb ba ba, ab A raab Babbaal'b arbabla, wab bba bbrabba baxbara ab babba abb arrabaabala all bwabbab ap abba aba abbabblabb pabkaba. Babbaal ballb ab bbab bbraabb ralabaaab abbrabpabbaab abb balb-avalaabaab ba babblabab bab bababaxaalaba (abb bbab ab abbar paapla) wab babbababballa wrabb. Bab bbarabbarababaab ab a bavababb ab "bab abb barrapbaab," alabb wabb bab apababb laba abaab bababaxaalaba abb waakbabb baba abb baba abaab bakab ba wabb ba barb awaa ab para babbabb. Bawavar, ab bba labab laka, "bababaxaalaba abbalb ab bab axabbla 'varbaaab'," A'b abbaalla babbabb ba baab abb baaabb "Aab, bbab ab braa, Babbaal" ballawab ba, "aaa barab--bab aaa avar bbabk ab wab?" Bba prablab wabb bba arbabla (abb Babbaal'b abbabpbab rabaabala) bbab A bava ab bbab ab bakab baba alababbb ab wbab A ba balaava, abb bwabbb bbab barrabla abba a babblabaab A bavar wabb ba baka bba babbaka ab bakabb. Brab raababb bbab arbabla, A bava bababab bbab Babbaal Blabba wab (abb bball ab) a bab-baabab abbavabaal.
Tally: 3248/2000 words
snurky finds fun magazine columns online (690)
the final outpost--my bedroom (1098)
Saga of the Blue Cheese: Part IV (161)
Mocky caught up with joy_theorginalrufflechip and Betsy the fish just as both of them stopped and stared upward in dead silence. Mocky looked up and only saw a glowing blue light on the surface far above, that shimmer and danced and reflected small furry mammals in Betsy and joy_theoriginalrufflechip's eyes. Betsy turned to Mocky and said, "I'm a fish" a moment before joy_theoriginalrufflechip swooped through the water like a shark with mad cow disease and captured Betsy in her fishbowl, then covered the opening with her highly water-resistant raincoat. Betsy began to bump insistently at the glass, trying to move upward towards the light. Pocky floated over next to Mocky, still licking her piece of berry-flavored cavern and stopped long enough to sagely nod at Mocky, "Go into the light." Mocky frowned and wondered what was really in berry-flavored cavern pieces (and would Pocky share?) then started swimming upward to where water and air meet in a slippery, shimmery, shiny, strange--
Saga of the Blue Cheese: Part V (151)
silly, subversive, serotonin-plagued embrace. Mocky fought her way beyond this fragile border (which actually took a good two minutes and five hundred calories) to looked to the mountainous form, which had become a dark peninsula rising out of the depths. Mocky swam to the shoreline stared at the vast icicle wall glowing pale blue. A small door was cut into the wall, and through it bright light streamed like the proud, triumphant banners of a small but angry Aztecan hunting party standing over Mayan war- wait, no, actually it just streamed like sunlight in a very white room. With large, unneccessary waterslapping and panicking noises (something like, "OMG! AIR! wtfshizzleman?!") Pocky, joy_theoriginalrufflechip, and Betsy arrived on the shore. Mocky took a deep breath and--filled with purpose and the kind of sentimental excitement only present in the final scenes of action movies-- she charged in heroic slow motion into the light--
Movies: Focus on the Moral, or the Question?, very rough draft, (552)
Many movies nowdays do not truly “have a moral” that they present, but rather they ask a question of the viewers who are subtly challenged to find their own answers.
It used to be a big thing: the “moral” of a story. Old yarns were told about why it is a bad idea to smack bears; fantasy novels insisted that (with effort) good triumphs over evil, movies prove that the good guy can get the girl. Our society lauded and fretted over the moral of any story, its overall message, especially in movies, particularly as our culture’s media became more violent, more graphic, more unreserved and undisciplined.
But today, is the moral of the story really still the focus-the driving force behind the creation or evaluation of a movie? Many people will argue that a movie’s moral is never the driving force behind a director or writer’s vision, but no one can deny that we are products of a people shaped by the morals of our stories. But are movies still leaving us (at their end) with a moral to take home? Or are they providing us with questions?
Recently I watched four action movies: Live Free or Die Hard, the Shooter, Apocalypto, and Children of Men. In all of these movies, the moral reflects that of almost all action movies: the “good” guy, the protagonist, succeeds in his/her mission in some fashion. Along the way people die, property is destroyd, and lives are changed forever, but “that guy” (even if he croaks in the end) makes his goal happen-the evil super hacker crippling the government is stopped and killed, the hunter returns home to save his family, the sniper takes out the people responsible for mass murder and calculated assassination, the husband ensures the pregnant woman gets a chance at a new beginning.
What I am struck by are the [ca?se??] pf the movies is the question it raises. Our hero might triumph, but the fact remains that the United States can be so quickly and effectively crippled and blinded, that conspiracy has many heads one must cut off (or that it is the result of human weakness and is inescapable), that children are our future, our hope, and that anything can become a commodity or a symbol.
We rented the Departed, as one of six movies for the week. In that movie, the good guy doesn’t succeed, a shitload of people (good and bad) die, the audience is satisfied only because one last aide to the good guy gets the last bad guy, and the audience in the story (the public) will never know the real details. The question there seems to be what can we do about this type of corruption?
We also rented Babel. My mother tells me it is similar to Crash-which touched on racial tensions in Los Angeles, and pondered the problems people have when communicating with each other, when touching each other’s lives. I assume Babel is about the breakdowns in human communication. Or perhaps it is only a story in which the isolated characters are really somehow connected.
I’ll wait to see what happens in Babel, what the story is. but even if I can see what the moral of the story is, I’ll still be left with answering its question.
scramble (546)
(Ar, wba bba baa bavababb apparabbla babb'b baab aaa abawaa)
Ba barbb parabrapb wall ab baarba ba baba aqaavabababb bbabababb abaab baw A baba abrabb bbab arbabla. Bababalla, ba palababal barabab bab (abaabbb ba babb abbarbb ab apabba) baab axpabbab ab ballaba. Aaa bar labaral arbb abb larba(r) abavarbabaab. Wbab A barbb baba abrabb bbab arbabla, ba ababaal rabpabba wab bba babbabb axprabbab ba ba raabbaba wbab bba baarb ab a babbarabb abbbabba ab wbabb babaaba bablarab bbabbalb "ba labbar aabbarb bab-babarabaxaal araabbabaab baraa." Ab bba axplaabab ab, (baabb brab Balabarbaa abb a rabaab ab abpabaalla babb qaaarbabb) baarabb abaab babaaba wba ab "ax-baa" ab baprabbabb babaaba ab bba paab abb brabbrabaab abb baar bbab ba baba paapla bababb aab ab bab-babarabaxaal axparaabba, babaaba wba ab "aab" abb bbab pablabla "bbaabab" ba ba babk (babaaba ab ab bara lakala bbab bbab parbab wall baw ba raprabbabb parbb ab bbaar laba bbab wara prababla bab ab bravalaab ar braabalabb ab bbaa baaba baw blaab) ab ab bavaral waab baapla abbarbababb bba abbarbb ab bba baba abbar paapla wba bava bab aab baba aab bbabbalvab. Bbab ab wba baaabb bba babla ab bba arbabla, "Baw a 'baa rabbbb' laabar bababa bbraabbb," ba Babbaal Blabba, abbabaabala baabbb ba abbabbaab abb pravakab babbaa. Raababb bba abbaal arbabla bparkab ababaabb ab abbar, babbabaab, abb babbaab--ab bbarbb abb wabb bba laba, " Bababaxaalaba baba aaba ba ba, babaaba A wab alraaba waak." Ba bba abb ab bba balabb, A wab jabb baprabbaba *bab*, abb baalb aabala abababa bba babraaal a lab ab abbar paapla balba. Babbaal Blabba wab a bababla laabar ab bba palababal/balbaral bavababb bar baa rabbbb. Bab rababb bbabababb bbab ba ab bbaababb ralabaaab brabb, ballawabb bab "Bab-bavab, Bbrabb-balb," avar "bababaxaalaba ar abbar labb-babab babavaar," ab a rababalaab barb-abaab bbab bba ralabaaab rabbb babb ba bavabb a baalb baa avar, abb a bavabbababb blaw bar bba "baa babbababa. Aab, ab A raab bbraabb bba balabb, A blawla babab ba raalaba bbab baba ab ba abbar wab bab ab Babbaal Blabba'b abbaabb, bab rabbar bab labab. Ab a-baal abbabpabaabb ba baarba ba bba arbabla paabbab aab qaaba brabkla abb babbarala bbab bbab wab a parbabb abbbabba ab barrabla labab bbab avaraaba baalb raab abb laarb brab, wbabb ab wbab A ab baabb ba ba. Wbab wab ba babbabbarbabb ba ba, ab A raab Babbaal'b arbabla, wab bba bbrabba baxbara ab babba abb arrabaabala all bwabbab ap abba aba abbabblabb pabkaba. Babbaal ballb ab bbab bbraabb ralabaaab abbrabpabbaab abb balb-avalaabaab ba babblabab bab bababaxaalaba (abb bbab ab abbar paapla) wab babbababballa wrabb. Bab bbarabbarababaab ab a bavababb ab "bab abb barrapbaab," alabb wabb bab apababb laba abaab bababaxaalaba abb waakbabb baba abb baba abaab bakab ba wabb ba barb awaa ab para babbabb. Bawavar, ab bba labab laka, "bababaxaalaba abbalb ab bab axabbla 'varbaaab'," A'b abbaalla babbabb ba baab abb baaabb "Aab, bbab ab braa, Babbaal" ballawab ba, "aaa barab--bab aaa avar bbabk ab wab?" Bba prablab wabb bba arbabla (abb Babbaal'b abbabpbab rabaabala) bbab A bava ab bbab ab bakab baba alababbb ab wbab A ba balaava, abb bwabbb bbab barrabla abba a babblabaab A bavar wabb ba baka bba babbaka ab bakabb. Brab raababb bbab arbabla, A bava bababab bbab Babbaal Blabba wab (abb bball ab) a bab-baabab abbavabaal.