funny

I love this sort of thing

Standard

First, a funny thing

Standard

On my last post, ethelmay dropped a link in the comments of my LiveJournal for this video by debut author Lara Zielin. You’re going to be seeing this link all over the web, so you might as well watch it now.

Besides, she’s funny and she has verve. Like.

What am I doing posting again so soon after I said in my previous post that was going to a thing at my son’s school. Well, I felt worn down and flushed, and I told my wife I was feeling sick. Out I went to catch the bus home early.

While I was standing at the bus stop, I remembered that, as a kid, I was sick on the first day of school every year. My nervousness about going back to the hall of bullies always manifested as illness.

It’s denial. I’m good at denial. It helps me behave like a sane person, but it also sneaks up on me and makes me miserable.

It’s good to be aware.

“Road Cones Protect My Head”

Standard

Speaking of tower defense games, here’s trailer for a new game, Plants Vs. Zombies:

Or you can check out the more traditional trailer here. And if that’s not odd or cute enough for you, this has to be the cutest zombie moment ever

You’re welcome.

Today (5 things make a Monday)

Standard
  1. For dinner tonight, I made roast chicken (note: I hate my oven) and a from-scratch baguette that had tapenade rolled in it. Olive bread? Big hit with the fam. I’ll be doing that again.
  2. Just watched the latest CASTLE.  Yeah, it’s a good show.  And I would like 26 bestsellers, too, please.
  3. Just when I thought the swine flu thing was winding down, I find out it’s actually getting much worse.
  4. And I realize I’m a little late (hah!), but there are a couple of free comics online you can check out.  One.  Two.  That second one was written by Chris Sims, of Invincible Super Blog fame–it’s pretty ridiculous funny.  What’s that you say?  The internet is full of free comics?  Never mind.
  5. If you Google funny robot, no quotes, you get this animation, which at least has a robot in it, although I’m not sure where the funny comes in.  Look for more Google top hits in this blog in the future, since actual, thoughtful content turns out to be pretty hard to come up with.

More lol-ing at trainwrecks.

Standard

I’m going to keep this one short so you can get right to the WTF?/gape-mouthed expressions of astonishment/guffaws.

Literary agent Janet Reid: What not to say when you’re pitching an agent. Number three is the one that really dinged my bell.

Quick links and notes

Standard

First: I’ve mentioned before that I cut my writing teeth on Wordplay, a screenwriter’s site, and I maintain a friendship with many of the people I met there. Well, another Wordplay alumnus, Keith Calder, has a movie coming out this weekend: Battle For Terra. His previous film was The Whackness, and if that doesn’t say “this producer has a wide range of skills and interests” what would? It opens this Friday, and I’m planning to take the whole family.

Next: this is what the term “office hijinks” was created for.

Next: I passed the halfway point of the revision of Everyone Loves Blue Dog, and I’m about to start a scene that will need heavy changes (for the better, I suspect). As soon as I finish this post and a little more kitchen work, I’ll be back at it.

Next: Tonight we have a taste test of the three pizza crust recipes posted in my LJ last week. The family decides tonight!

Next: Andrew Wheeler posts the genre bestsellers of 2008. Hmm. If each hardback sale earns about two bucks for the author…

Next: The deadline to opt out of the Google/Author’s Guild settlement is May 5th. Find out more about it.

Next: I’m on Dreamwidth as burger_eater. Currently, I have no idea what I’m going to use the account for, but once a WordPress cross-poster comes into the world, I may start copying everything over there, too.

Finally, on Saturday we took a couple buses across town to check out the final weekend of Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. It was beautiful, and I loved the idea of paintings where the same characters appear several times in different places, each different image coming together to tell a story. Amazing stuff.

Exciting!

Standard

Some friends of mine are planning to make a low-budget sf film. I have the script at home waiting to be read, and I know–know–it’s going to rock. No cheapo aliens, Ed Wood monsters, or SiFi Originals-level acting for these guys. They’re smart and clever.

The title is NEWTON’S CRADLE, and I can’t wait to read it.

So! For my own contribution to the glittering screen, I offer a failure-proof of my idea for use in any Hollywood mega-production. For free!

Because you know it’s good if it doesn’t cost you anything.

The movie will be called JIG, and it’ll be about a woman who collects rare jigsaw puzzles–you know, for the art–who discovers a WWII era German jigsaw artist who hid clues in his many puzzles that will lead a clever puzzler to the location of Secret Nazi Gold. It’ll be just like a Dan Brown novel, but with pretty pictures of leaping dolphins and homey villages populated with anthropomoriphized kittens.

Our Heroine teams up with the smoking hot great grandson of the jigsaw artist–a detective with a love of Nazi puzzles–in a race against [mumble mumble] to find the secret treasure. But was the jigsaw puzzle artist really a secret Nazi and a killer? And is his great grandson one too????

See? It writes itself. And after people left the theater, they could tell all their friends they “Saw Jig.” Heh heh. Get it?

Call me, Hollywood!

I’ve been wanting to write a couple of more substantive posts…

Standard

But that’s going to have to wait until I have some quite time. With Salad Eater attending a conference this weekend and working today, I’ve had a couple of Midays in a row.

Meanwhile, I will shock and surprise you all by posting a link.

Darths and Droids, a fumetti (as in: a webcomic made from photographs) that justifies the utterly random plot of THE PHANTOM MENACE in the only way imaginable–it was a fictionalization of an rpg campaign.

All the photos are stills from the movie, and I swear it is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Just as funny as DM of the Rings, which is a couple of years old (in case you haven’t seen it). The dialog for the comic is the dialog between the game master and the players.

And, God, does it bring back memories. Seen via AntickMusings.

It’s that time of year again (5 links)

Standard

The stellar bluejays and hummingbirds are back. To celebrate, here are some links.

A pretty cool book trailer for A Madness of Angels. Check it out.

Writers get so much respect: here’s a job opening for a screenwriter/office assistant. Because what you really want for your films is a writer who can answer phones in a professional manner.

How professional athletes lose all their money. I’m so going to use this in my current book.

Amazon rank. Hey, folks. If you’re looking for a good alternative to Amazon.com, consider Indiebound.org. They’re an online ordering system for a network of independent bookstores. When you order a book from them, the sale goes to an independent near you. And it’s not just books, either.

Finally, the Kinda Sutra. A short, partially-animated film about the screwed-up ways people are taught about sex. I think it’s SFW, but you might have different situation.

Five Linkies make a Linky post (plus)

Standard

First! Affordable off-site backup for all of your files. We have many, many gigs worth of photos, so I’ll be signing up for this after we get our taxes squared away.

Second! Bert and Ernie go brutal! Aren’t you glad I didn’t embed that? Anyway, I loled. Be sure to watch to the end. And you can find the name of that song if you click the “more info” link.

Third! writes a guest post at Victoria Mixon’s blog about what really matters when you’re trying to write for publication.

Fourth! Sarah Monette comments on a review of the fourth and final book of her Doctrine of Labyrinthe series that criticized it for not making sense if the reader hasn’t read the previous books. Be sure to check out the comment thread from editor about the appeal of different kinds of series, why marketing puts a notice on a book indicating it’s part of a series (or doesn’t put one on), who the publishers consider their true customer, reader preferences, and more. Also, talks a little about PW reviews, who they’re meant for and what certain passages mean.

I’ll admit that I bounced off the first book in that series, but I loved The Bone Key. I’m sorry to hear that Ace hasn’t offered her another contract, but I’m sure she’ll get snapped up somewhere else.

Finally… Fifth! Beaker is, unquestionably, the greatest of all the Muppets, (yes, that is a truth that can not be questioned!) but what semi-celebrity does he most look and sound like? Find out for yourself. Aren’t you glad I didn’t embed that, too?

And, in non-link-related info, taxes are almost done. Ugh. So annoying. And yeah, we’ll have a bigger bill than I’m used to, but we’re prepared for it. Next year, I’m going to go with a pro; Turbo Tax doesn’t cut it.