wasting time

I’m so damn tired I feel a little sick

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I really shouldn’t still be up. In fact, a smart person would have gone to bed two hours ago.

Not me. I’ve been zoning out in front of the TV–I haven’t even had time to read all the online stuff I’m supposed to read.

Ah well. Tomorrow morning I will finish the page proofs and maybe take it a little easy. I’ll skim through my sorta-final-I-should-be-so-lucky revision of Everyone Loves Blue Dog and dabble at it, then pop over to the library for some quality wireless internet time. That’ll catch me up.

Meanwhile, check out this comment from SF archivist Lynn Thomas (aka: rarelylynne on LJ) all about the best ways to organize and archive your writing work.

Meanwhile, it’s after 10:30 here, and I’m wiped. I’m going to bed before I pass out on my keyboard.

Stupid video game…

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Question: Do you agree that Indiana Jones would never destroy priceless works of antiquity, even if it forwards the plot of a stupid computer game– Y/Y?

Some people shouldn’t play computer games

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And I’m one of them.

Last night, I was playing “Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb” and I was trying to work my way through the Prague levels, which take place in a castle. Why is that bad? Because the character has to walk on high ledges, jump from one building to another, shimmy of chains, use his whip as a swing and generally get very very high.

Me, I don’t like the heights. I could barely watch the end of Peter Jackson’s version of KING KONG on my 19″ TV set because the image of the ape at the edge of that building made me nauseous.

And yeah, so did Indy. Several times, I had to jump out into the void and catch a chain, then swing back and forth and jump to catch another chain or a ledge by my fingertips. Then there were the fist- and gunfights on balconies.

Whenever someone fell, screaming all the way down, I got a knot in my stomach. And when it happened to Indy I had to walk away from the computer.

Some people shouldn’t play computer games.

TV channel has chance to be popular; can’t afford hang out with geeks anymore

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I’m sure this will be all over by the time I post it, but check it out.

Sci-Fi Channel to change it’s name to SyFy this summer.

No, that’s not The Onion. And today isn’t April 1st (I checked). Despite a double-digit increase in earnings, they really are changing the name because they think it’s been holding them back.

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.

“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”

But wait! Turn off your outrage machine! There’s also this:

It also positions the brand for future growth by creating an ownable trademark that can travel easily with consumers across new media and nonlinear digital platforms, new international channels and extend into new business ventures.

That’s right. Hidden beside the bashing of its core audience (you know, people who like science fiction) is a smart business decision. They want a trademark they can paste onto projects in other media, including a long-rumored MMORPG (did I get that right?) that will tie in to a TV series.

They’re also planning to launch Syfy Games and Syfy Kids. I think they were smart to change the name. They’re going to have branding that is uniquely their own.

Although they should have gone with “Skiffy”.

The Writer’s Life

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Can I be CASTLE? Seriously?

I don’t know if any of you watched that show, but Nathan Fillion plays a filthy rich bestselling novelist with the mayor on speed dial. Now, I realize that, fundamentally, TV is not real, but I still love the fantasy life–as long as I don’t have to become a divorced, irresponsible boy-child who drinks and gambles too much. I’d rather keep my wife, and I’m happy to accept all that money, too.

As a show, it’s fine. The two stars have a bit of chemistry and the mystery was fun. Too bad it’s on so late.

Next: here’s a NSFW review of some time-traveling erotica. Um, yeah. Has to be seen to be believed.

Also, some folks are very happy that Warren Lapine has bought Realms of Fantasy, and will continue publishing it. I admit to being more skeptical that things will turn out well.

Finally, I finished the minor revisions for Everyone Loves Blue Dog during the wee hours of the morning. Being sick and sleepless has advantages. There’s still more work to do, since the ending needs work. Not coincidentally, I also read this interview. The author being interviewed at that link has a refreshingly practical attitude, but I’m not sure it would suit me.

If I’m still sick tomorrow, I’ll stay home for work and try to finish the whole thing.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

DOLLHOUSE, part 2

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More mostly spoiler-free thoughts.

Apparently, Whedon has been telling people the show “gets good” after the first five or six eps. Sorry, but I don’t think Fox is going to stick around that long, and only the Whedon die-hards will still be watching. They can try to convince their internet buddies to give it another chance, but… no.

Here’s why I think the show is in trouble, talking solely about the concept and the tone:

If the show is about corporate creeps who erase people’s memories and then whore them out to billionaires, then the creeps are evil and the whoring is repulsive. The pleasure of the show comes from seeing Echo resist and strike back. If the show is more action-adventure, as the network has reportedly insisted, then the audience is supposed to be thrilled by the dangers she’s been whored into.

That doesn’t work. It breaks the tone with a nasty undercurrent of ick.

And not only does the lead character not actually have any, she also doesn’t have any agency.

Compare it to a show that I think works, mostly: BURN NOTICE. The hero of that show is a spy who’s been “burned” — fired from his agency, all his assets frozen, no explanation needed or given. He’s stranded in Miami taking on PI and anti-con artist jobs for rent money while trying to find out who burned him and why. In the second season, he’s put a face to the people who destroyed his career, but he is still trying to work out who they are.

The major difference there? Michael in BURN NOTICE has agency. He makes his own decisions, plans, takes action, fights, whatever. Echo in DOLLHOUSE can’t. She can only be what her creepy pimps make her.

The only way to make this show work is to do what they hinted at once or twice–she needs to break her programming, and fast. Maybe that’s what Whedon is hinting at when he talks about the sixth episode.

“Something fell on my leg.”

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DOLLHOUSE. I watched it. It wasn’t what you’d call fun or exciting, but it was a show that lasted an hour on Friday night.

While I’m sure that it seems like a great concept to the actors and writers–new roles to play every week! Acting chops on display! Write in a new genre every script! Hooray for variety!

But isn’t the point of a TV series to give the audience a lead character they will know and identify with? Because they don’t have that here. They just have this vacuous, child-like nothing.

One thing I did like about the show was the parallels they drew between the pretend character’s pretend memories of abuse and the actual character’s actual abuse–she even lies down in a sealed box just the way the little girl is sealed in that refrigerator.

But yeah. Kinda dull.

Another game

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To follow up on my previous post (LiveJournal harryjconnolly.com)about the game Bow Street Runner, I want to offer another in-depth mystery game.

This one isn’t a historical, though. It’s based on a Canadian kid’s show: 11 Somerset is the link to the game (English language version). It’s an immersive environment, like Bow Street Runner, but there are no prostitutes, gin smugglers or suspects to beat up. Each chapter looks like it’s derived from an episode of the show (I say “looks like” because I’ve never seen the show–hell, I don’t even know if it’s still on the air).

Anyway, in the first chapter you sneak around an office searching for the hidden parts of a mysterious device. Once it’s assembled, you get sent on missions by the dead(?) inventor. Collect a bunch of clues in the form of photographs and then try to answer the mystery. Fun. But not as costumey.

Dial up users need not apply

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Superbowl=fun. However, in two weeks I’ll have forgotten about the game and won’t be able to tell you who played. I’ll still be able to tell you about the fresh lemon/limeade we enjoyed, burning out my decade-old juicer in the making. Those are my priorities and I’m sticking with them.

Now that that is done with, let me offer something fun to take the place of all those football games you barely cared about:

It’s 1754, Covent Gardens, London. John Fielding has just hired you as his newest Bow Street Runner–in a city filled with crime of every sort, Fielding and his now-deceased brother Henry are trying to form a police force of sorts. It’s a dangerous job, and no one believes it’ll work, but if you can solve crimes and bring criminals to justice, you just might institute a new social order.

Such is the setup for Bow Street Runner, a free online flash game created as a companion to the TV series City of Vice. And where most flash games are goofy animation of one sort or another, this is a live-action mystery game, with real actors and excellent costuming. Hell, they even have professional lighting.

You, as the newest runner, are given a murder to solve. Is it a simple robbery or is it something more? You click around the screen to find clues, interview bystanders and defeat simple puzzles (mainly by clicking a tracing shapes on screen to represent feats of dexterity like picking locks or pockets).

It’s not perfect. You can’t leave a scene until you’ve collected all the necessary evidence, and the game environment is so rich that it can take a while to load (note the subject header of this post). It’s tremendously fun, though, even if it is a little grim ‘n’ gritty. If you get stuck, though, you can find a walkthrough here.

Really, this is impressive in many different ways.

Caution: not kid-safe. If you want kid-safe, play Aether, which is beautiful and fun.

And now I’m off to stimulate the economy. Also, still waiting to get notes about my proposal.

Four things

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A routine traffic stop in Florida turned up a man who faked his own death in 1989. He isn’t being charged with a crime and claims to have abandoned a fiancee and a child twenty years ago because he has grown paranoid about his “narcotics-related activity.”

Two men in New Zealand, after being convicted and sentenced, were being taken to jail when they made a break for it. Handcuffed together, the men fled across a parking lot, only stopping when the men tried to run on opposite sides of a light pole.

There’s video at that site.

The men had been pepper sprayed in their escape attempt, so I’m guessing they were running blind.

And, watching SUPERNATURAL, I realize I have no interest in seeing Sam and Dean’s high school years.

Finally, I just listened to Michael Pollan talk about healthy food and healthy eating. Interesting stuff, and not the usual “low carb/low fat” dumbosity.