Instant Justice

Sounds like Infinite Justice. Remember that? Dubya's original non-PC phrase for the War on Terror?

Anyway, instant justice is what some people want in Britain. No judge, no jury. Forget a case that drags out for months or years with appeals thrown around like beads at Mardi Gras. I mean, if a person's arrested that means they're guilty, right?

That's my current events post for the day.

On religion

For a long time in my online existence, I didn't let people know my religion. Most of the time, it colored the discussion.

And then there's the discussions where the poster subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) tries to "persuade" me away from my religion. I hate preaching in my literature. Although I have (sometimes very) religious characters in my writing, I try to avoid turning it into a "let's see how many people I can convert today" lecture.

I've decided to change that today. I'm not going to preach in my stories (I'll try to avoid it anyway), but I am going to let people know my religion.

At right, I've added two links that explain more about the religion I've chosen. The first one is specifically designed with non-members in mind while the second is geared more toward members. Have fun clicking.

About the links to your right (or is it my left?)

On the right I have several links that I've recently added. I'm creating this post so that you'll know what you're getting into when you click on those links.

Peel the Bun is a blog run by Mr. Metallic Vinca. I really enjoy his writing... when he writes (grr).

Mr. Writing Person is hilarious. The best parody I've seen so far of all those people who think they know the absolute rules of writing.

The Evil Robot Monkeys Chronicles is pretty self-explanatory. And surreal. I'd tell you who writes it but I've told you too much already.

Taverna Gruff is a blog dedicated to the development of a fantasy novel by a friend of mine. (I have a weakness for blogs that show you the process of writing as it's occurring).

Hatrack's Writer's Workshop is a great resource for those who have never been involved in a workshop before. It's part of Orson Scott Card's website and is just fantastic. After a year or two there my style had improved so much I can't revise any of my older work. It would take too much effort: I'd have to write the darn things from scratch.

Holly Lisle's website has some great info about writing including, but not limited to: revising novels, definition of "a scene", a writer's life, and who won't make it as a writer.

and finally

Edmund R. Schubert's website: the website for the current editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. He also happens to be a fantastic writer with a novel coming out very soon. If you want to know the name of it, check out his site.

Well, I wanted to post but...

... I couldn't think of anything to say.

So, I decided to make this a nonsense post (as if that's unusual in the world of blogging).

I've been watching InuYasha lately. Once I accepted the fact that it's meant for young boys, it became a fun show to watch. The last anime I saw was the Cowboy Bebop movie: very entertaining, very grown-up subject matter. InuYasha has a lot more humor and is... well, a "feudal fairy tale". It also has one of the coolest villains I've ever heard of: Naraku. Just the idea of a villain creating himself is neat, let alone how they show him in the anime.

My absolute favorite character, though, is Sesshoumaru. He's. Too. Cool. ^__^

I also have to say that the dialogue is well done most of the time, at least in the episodes I've seen. At times it's a bit too childish and on occasion it can be annoying, but I remember the target audience and then it's not so bad. This is the dubbed version I'm talking about. I've only seen one episode with subtitles and, in my opinion, it improved the dialogue.

Ah! I have a point now. :)

I rarely enjoy watching foreign films because of the language factor. It began with French. Le Placard (a very funny film btw) has a scene where the main character is being asked to join a gay pride parade since his company will have a float in said parade. Part of the "sell" includes a t-shirt with the phrase "sortez couvert!" printed on it. I happened to be watching this film with Mr. Metallic Vinca, who just happens to know a fair amount of French. He paused the film, trying to figure out a good translation because he said the subtitles didn't really capture the pun in the film.

The original translation was fairly long and sounded like something out of Babelfish. I liked Mr. Vinca's much better.

His translation? "Come out covered!"

Hooky. Catchy. Short. Perfect.

The subtitles didn't make me laugh in that scene. Mr. Vinca did.

A few years later, I watched Cyrano de Bergerac and realized that Cyrano usually speaks in metered verse. It doesn't come across in the subtitles due to the translation. The only reason I figured that out is because I had learned just enough French that I felt comfortable ignoring the subtitles.

Back to InuYasha.

There are times in the series where I feel a concept isn't quite getting across through the language. I've felt that several times with anime in general. So, what do I do? Do I suffer through a third party's interpretation of what's being said? Or do I learn Japanese, a language that others have said is extremely difficult to learn? I've taken a little Spanish (most of it forgotten now), a little French and I know a few words in German. That's it. Japanese intimidates me.

I tell ya though... realizing just how good anime can be makes learning Japanese mighty tempting.

Doublethink in Characters

(If you're unfamiliar with doublethink, take a look at the link I've provided and read at least the first paragraph.)

I don't intend to go on a political rant.

Why? Because doublethink is fun! The only thing more fun is putting it inside a character.

Authors have been doing this for ages. Orwell wasn't the first to think up the idea, only the first to actually put a label on it. People have been like this ever since the first few words popped into existence. That's why the study of logic was once considered an integral part of a person's education.*

From what I see, it isn't taught anymore and I guess I should be upset. But it makes for such delicious characters.

For example: the woman who says that you have to give up some liberty to have freedom, or the environmentalist who fervently believes that oil consumption is evil and yet feels technology (encased in plastics which often come from oil) will save the world. I could give several more examples, but I don't want to ramble. However, I will provide a link to this blog entry that contains an email explaining why Mormons aren't Christian. Paragraphs 3 and 4 are the most beautiful examples of doublethink I've seen in a while.

The thing is, I haven't really seen much in the way of doublethink in stories lately. Everything is too neatly explained within the characters, too mapped out. Maybe I just haven't been reading the right stories. Humans are messy. Most humans make very little sense. Not every character has to have some doublethink, but it certainly adds some depth when a character faces a moral quandry.

So, my plans for today are to -- in addition to my usual daily stuff -- read up on doublethink and see what kind of story ideas it generates.

*Note: I have never studied formal logic. The school I attended during my teen years had its hands full just trying to teach reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic. The first taste I got of logic was in college during a freshman English class.

What will this blog contain?

Very little that's interesting to the rest of the world.

Seriously, my blog will cover two main topics: writing (and anything that relates to it) and current events (and anything that relates to it). And when I say "anything" I mean anything. I tend to have pretty far-off tangents, but I eventually tie it back in to these two topics... somewhere.

And just so you know, I've only been published twice with no expectation of being published in the near future. Not because I really, really suck (though there are days...) but because I'm not sending anything out. I feel lucky if I write a little here and there for fun.

So, what am I doing writing a blog?

I have a few reasons: it helps me keep track of my life, it helps me think about writing even if I'm not actively writing much at the moment, and it gives me a place to rant or shout for joy. Finally, this blog is a test so that I can get used to blogging before I have to do some serious blogging type stuff.

So, there you have it. Tomorrow, the real posts begin. [evil laugh]

And this is a test