Books: Blood Canticle by Anne Rice

I recently got hold of the book Blood Canticle by Anne Rice.

I'm into the first 80-odd pages of the book and have to say: GREAT! Great story-telling, great scenes, in short: I love this book. It is so different to Blackwood Farm. The main difference – at first glance – is the fact that Lestat does the talking again, means he has written the book.

I found the book by accident, I wasn't actually looking for another book by Anne Rice since I was not able to finish Blackwood Farm, yet.

I'll keep you posted…

Technorati Tags: Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice, Books

The Top-Ten Geeks on TV

How are Geeks portrait on TV, how believable are they? What is missing in this list are Geeks in Sci-Fi Shows, it is just not that easy to judge someone reversing polarity on a warp-engine.

Here are, without further ado, counting down from 10 to 1, the Top-Ten of the TV-Geeks. [IMHO, of course ;-)]

• 10. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) (The X Files)


• 9. Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) (Stargate: Atlantis)


• 8. John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) (Lost)


• 7. Dr. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) (Stargate SG-1)


• 6. Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen) (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)


• 5. Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)


• 4. Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) (Numb3rs)


• 3. Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)


• 2. Marco Pacella (Richard Kahan) (The 4400)


• 1. Dr. Nigel Townsend (Steve Valentine) (Crossing Jordan)

And as honorable mention for coolness: Dr. Al Robbins (Robert David Hall) (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation).

Technorati Tags: TV, Geeks on TV, Top-Ten Lists

OS X: Supplied Scripts

From the stating the not so obvious department: There is a plethora of scripts on every Mac, waiting to be used. Thing is, they are there, but you'll have to know where to look. The key to activate them is the AppleScript Utility app in /Applications/AppleScript/. Start the application and activate Show Script Menu in menu bar, this gives you a new menu-item (looks like a scroll) with all kinds of menus in it. Happy exploring.

I never thought of that feature as unknown, until a friend asked me about the menu.
;-)

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OS X, AppleScript

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Laughter

The post Can the canned laughter by Kevin Levine is a very interesting read. You should read it in its full glory. My favorite part is quoted here:

Can the canned laughter:

…
One final note: On CHEERS and FRASIER we used recorded laughs from our own shows. Not so with other series. A lot of the laughs you hear were recorded fifty years ago. Many of the people you hear laughing are now dead.

Talk about leaving a legacy. Grandma may now be a distant memory but she’s still with us, every week, laughing at Jim Belushi.

(Via By Ken Levine).

Kind of scary, isn't it? OTOH, who would notice?

Technorati Tags: Sitcom, TV

Who is to blame for a bad Story?

I just finished reading the post Q: Who's Fault Is It When The Story Of The Movie Is Bad? at The Artful Writer. I have to say, that I agree with the final statement, but, seen from a writers point of view, some of the people involved with the development of a story are in the same responsibility as the editor at a plain vanilla book-project. It's their decision if a story or a subject, for that matter, sells. I know, doing something creative (like writing) and sell in the same sentence, but, let's face it, writers have to eat, too. ;-)


My point is, no book or film (besides the well-known exceptions) is created by one person alone, be it the input of friends or co-workers or the guiding comments of the editor (or whoever has to make the decisions while writing a script), there will be influences from the outside nudging, or even steering, the development of a story. If everything goes well and the whole project is a success, everyone is happy. If not, one or the other will utter 'told you so! So, yes, Failure is an orphan.

Technorati Tags: Writing

Books: The Map is Missing!

My girlfriend started reading the latest book by Jilly Cooper titled Wicked!. Jilly Cooper is one of her favorite authors and she waited for four years to get her hands on the book.

She told me, that really likes the book, but that one important feature (present in all other Jilly Cooper books) is missing: The map that shows the location of the houses the acting persons live in.

I have no idea if the publisher just dropped it, or if the author herself decided not to use it this time, but readers tend to notice the little things. Something, we as writers, should keep in mind; needless to say, that the same holds true for the publishers, as well.

Technorati Tags: Books, Fiction, Jilly Cooper

HDTV: Did they blew it already?

According to Bud Meyers' article The End of the Early Adopter or A Declaration of Independence, they did.

A thought-provoking opinion piece, which should be placed – for everyday viewing – over the desks of every single executive working in the entertainment industry (the name says it all, doesn't it?).

Technorati Tags: HDTV

Hackman Double spotted at Soccer-Match

I don't know much about Soccer, but I saw a guy – the coach of Portugal's national team, apparently – who is a spitting image of Gene Hackman.

His name is Luiz Felipe Scolari. They could be brothers, seriously. The other thing I noticed, is the fact that both of them have a Steven Hill-like on-screen presence. ;-)

[IMHO: There are not to many actors sporting a presence like Steven Hill in, e.g. Law & Order or Gene Hackman in most of his acts.]

My favorite quote from Luiz Felipe Scolari during a press-conference is (asked why he turned down the job as coach for the british national soccer team): I want to work somewhere, where I can wear shorts all the time and need the sea in close range. The only other team I'd be interested in would be the one of the Maledives.

Technorati Tags: Actor, Gene Hackman, Luiz Felipe Scolari

John August: I want a cheap, slutty DVD player

John August is obviously looking for a DVD-Player:

I want a cheap, slutty DVD player:

I don’t want a princess. I want a whore.

…but I’m officially sick of trying a disc in three different players before finally getting it to work on my MacBook.

I suspect my ideal DVD player is a no-name made in Guangzhou which can play drink coasters. If anyone can point me towards it, thanks in advance.

(Via johnaugust.com).

IMHO: Smart move, the DVD-Drives in the computers my brother is using die periodically thanks to the copy-protection schemes on commercially available DVDs. Swapping the slot-in drive in a laptop is a PITA (excuse me). The other thing is: DVDs written in a computer – given that the writing machine isn't brand-new – tend to be a little bit off track, tricking the internal DVD-drive to get off track, too. I can't prove this theory, but I got the feeling that the loss of a couple of DVD-drives had something to do with that. Still IMHO, mind you. ;-)

…and Amanda's Answer

To be found here.

[This could unfold into a full-blown Soap-Opera, couldn't it? Let's sit back and watch/read. ;-)]

BTW: I will not take either side, because I don't know the persons in question personally, and thus won't be able to judge the validity of the statements. (Just to make sure.)

Rocketboom: The other Side of the Coin

There is an official Response to Amanda Congdon's announcement on Rocketboom's main page.

What do they say? There are always two sides.

[Who are they, by the way?]

Amanda Congdon is leaving Rocketboom.

I'm sad to hear this, but I'm looking forward to see her again somewhere in the Net.

Amanda Congdon is leaving Rocketboom.:

Amanda Congdon is leaving Rocketboom.

(Via Scripting News).

[Getting rid of old habits is harder than it seems, apparently. ;-) I'm not complaining, the man, let me rephrase THE MAN brought me to blogging in the first place, soߪ
I will really miss reading Scripting News if Dave should stop blogging for good.]

upmarket hamburgers

I just found this while testing a new feed-reader:

upmarket hamburgers:

Finely chop a couple of shallots and a clove or two of garlic. Put them into a saucepan with a lot of red wine, and some salt, some pepper-- a teaspoon of brown sugar helps too. Boil until the reduction is syrupy, about 3/4ths of a cup. Cool a bit.



mix with a pound and a half of good lean minced beef. Form into patties. Grill to desired doneness.



toast some focaccia. Brush the cut side with a little extra-virgin olive oil mixed with fresh-chopped rosemary. Top the burgers with mature cheddar and a rasher of smoked bacon.

(Via Nibblous).

The site is great, but now I'll have to get something to eat instead of working; does this mean, the site is not safe for work?

[The feed of Nibblous obviously went straight into the new reader. :-) ]

I'm back

I was busy and neglected this blog, sorry.
New posts will show up within the next couple of days, I probably found an editor (for blogs) to my liking. More coming up soon, promised.

TV: Philips and the Reactions

I stumbled over the post Philips' Stupid Move and I have to say, that Lance Ulanoff has a point here.
Just a hint: Read carefully ;-)

Moving Books in the Store

This is from the Things you learn about eventually, while reading other writers blogs department. The post Confessions of a book mover made me aware of something I did not know. Really, I had no idea.
Bang, there goes my believe in another myth. I thought the placement is about being new and/or good. All-right, I suspected it. Somewhere deep inside.
;-)
Don't pity me, read the post!

What Logic?

Kevin Levine's post It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a logic problem about the original (?) Superman series got me into a reminiscing state. I'm too young to have watched them when they first aired, but I really loved them when I was old enough to watch the re-runs.
Sure, from a logical point of view some of the super-hero's powers would fail for environmental reasons, but this is supposed to be fiction, right? BTW: one thing that Kevin missed was the fact that, using tele-vision (was that the term?), would require the hero to look through parts of the earth's core, e.g. when watching something in India from the office in Metropolis.
Anyway, let's see what comes up when the new movie comes out. To put it bluntly, I prefer the old King Kong from 1933 over every other incarnation it went through, though.
[Is it just me or do the last two words look funny when just separated by a comma and a blank?]

Good Writing: Who Is Cletis Tout?

I stumbled over Who Is Cletis Tout?[imdb] yesterday, while watching TV. I've never heard about this movie before, but I think that it is worthy to be bought on DVD and to be part of my permanent collection.
I really like the setup, especially Tim Allen Critical Jim, a hitman/movie-buff. My favorite quote is The new movies start with a good first act, but then the story lacks and everybody goes 'let's blow something up' to cover up the faulty story-line. I won't go into more detail, because it would spoil the story for you. Chris Ver Wiel did an excellent job as writer/director, in my (humble) opinion.
If movies like Lock, Stock and two smoking Barrels, Pulp Fiction, or Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang are examples of your taste, have a look, really.

Stories that stand the test of time

Fun Joel wrote an article called Good vs. Great?. Spot on! IMHO, Big Fish and Pulp Fiction already stood their test of time, though. But that's just me.
;-)

OS X: Logging Mail.app's Activities on a Port

Another one for the command-line geeks. If you want to log what Mail.app is doing on a specific port, launch it from a terminal like so:

/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail -LogActivityOnPort 25

Mail.app will start as usual, but all activities regarding port 25 (smtp) will be logged into the terminal window. Another port of interest would be 110 (pop).

I found this in one of my one-liner-docs. As I wrote in the "Unix/Linux Survival Guide" (link on the right), always keep a text file with one-liners you stumble over handy. I forgot to take note where I found this hint, though. Whoever wrote about this somewhere in the Internet, thanks a million.