Monday, November 30, 2015
Poor Scan of Celia Cover
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
More Scattered Thoughts
Ideology freaks me out.
Its essentially what you believe without knowing. Slavoj Zizek puts it another way, defining it via a quote from Marx (in a sense putting words into Marx's mouth): "They do not know it, but they are doing it." And that creates a different conversation, too, about whether ideologies are primarily acted out or spoken out, because, of course, people don't always do what they say. I'm not the biggest Reza Aslan fan by any means, but I do think he's onto something when he says the way people act out their religions is more about what they bring and their culture brings than what the religion itself says. Same goes here. (But what makes a 'good' capitalist?)
Anyway, ideology...mostly freaks me out linguistically. What I mean is that when people decide to defend their ideology, they jump through all sorts of hoops to keep it. We have words for the various ways they do this. Confirmation bias, for example, describes when people take facts that support their view and leave aside the ones that don't. There are numerous logical fallacies used, mostly in assuming the antecedent and similar abuses: "I can ignore externalities, because left alone, the market will fix them."
I'm a fan of markets. You might even say I'm pro-market...anti-capitalist though. I think this would confuse most people. There are people who have a problem with 'capitalism' being used as a pejorative (see here and in its comments), and prefer things like 'free market' or 'free enterprise'. I find this a little hilarious and worrying, because this is that same ideological back bending I was speaking to. Rather than seeing that 'Capitalism' is being used as an alternate, pejorative term for 'free market', because it has a certain basis in actual criticisms of the marketplace, they perceive it--in typical fashion of the executive class--as a naming/marketing problem.
more later...I suppose...if I weren't busy writing awesome fictional things...
Its essentially what you believe without knowing. Slavoj Zizek puts it another way, defining it via a quote from Marx (in a sense putting words into Marx's mouth): "They do not know it, but they are doing it." And that creates a different conversation, too, about whether ideologies are primarily acted out or spoken out, because, of course, people don't always do what they say. I'm not the biggest Reza Aslan fan by any means, but I do think he's onto something when he says the way people act out their religions is more about what they bring and their culture brings than what the religion itself says. Same goes here. (But what makes a 'good' capitalist?)
Anyway, ideology...mostly freaks me out linguistically. What I mean is that when people decide to defend their ideology, they jump through all sorts of hoops to keep it. We have words for the various ways they do this. Confirmation bias, for example, describes when people take facts that support their view and leave aside the ones that don't. There are numerous logical fallacies used, mostly in assuming the antecedent and similar abuses: "I can ignore externalities, because left alone, the market will fix them."
I'm a fan of markets. You might even say I'm pro-market...anti-capitalist though. I think this would confuse most people. There are people who have a problem with 'capitalism' being used as a pejorative (see here and in its comments), and prefer things like 'free market' or 'free enterprise'. I find this a little hilarious and worrying, because this is that same ideological back bending I was speaking to. Rather than seeing that 'Capitalism' is being used as an alternate, pejorative term for 'free market', because it has a certain basis in actual criticisms of the marketplace, they perceive it--in typical fashion of the executive class--as a naming/marketing problem.
more later...I suppose...if I weren't busy writing awesome fictional things...
I think about economic justice...
You have 1000 free men and 1000 slaves producing the goods that allow them to be free. The free men work, to be sure, but they get out what they put in, and they also get out the majority of what the slaves put in. Productivity increases, and we now have 1,000,000 free men and still 1000 slaves. Is the situation better, because as a percentage there are fewer slaves? Is it the same, because there are still 1000 slaves? Is it worse, because with the productivity increases, there's less justification for having 1000 slaves?
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Ghost in the Shell
Saw the new Ghost in the Shell. I haven't investigated fully into if this is supposed to be a reboot or what. It's simply called Ghost in the Shell, or Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (which is actually on the poster art which is maybe somewhat silly, but whatever).
At any rate, its not as good as the original, but wait! That's ok!
I'm a notorious curmudgeon, and usually it doesn't take a whole lot wrong with a movie for me to say I think its garbage, even if everybody else thinks its awesome (see my existential meltdown after seeing the new Mad Max movie I had such high hopes for). The new Ghost in the Shell never hits the emotional highs of the original film nor is the animation ever as lifelike and immersive, despite being 20 years newer with all the new tech to bear. The artistry of the animators just isn't there.
But ya know what, I still really enjoyed it. It was very much its own film and didn't seem to be ineffectually trying to one up the original nor riding its coat tails. This one is its own film, with its own feel, its own strengths and weaknesses. And while the strengths may not be what they could be, it doesn't have the weaknesses in storytelling or over reliance on tech that frequently ruins new movies for me.
In some ways, the tone and the characterization of Motoko is closer to the manga than the original film. Perhaps it would be better to say its a pretty clear cross between the two. She isn't quite as sassy as she is in the manga nor quite as dour as in the first film, but this movie also seems to take place earlier in her career, though that's just the feel. Its very episodic in nature, so where it fits and what came before and after it is pretty unimportant, much like an older Bond film or even (sigh) like the Mad Max films, which are all essentially stand alone pieces.
In short, I would see it again. The nerds in the theater were all pretty into it, too, from their many utterances. If you're into anime, its definitely worth your time.
At any rate, its not as good as the original, but wait! That's ok!
I'm a notorious curmudgeon, and usually it doesn't take a whole lot wrong with a movie for me to say I think its garbage, even if everybody else thinks its awesome (see my existential meltdown after seeing the new Mad Max movie I had such high hopes for). The new Ghost in the Shell never hits the emotional highs of the original film nor is the animation ever as lifelike and immersive, despite being 20 years newer with all the new tech to bear. The artistry of the animators just isn't there.
But ya know what, I still really enjoyed it. It was very much its own film and didn't seem to be ineffectually trying to one up the original nor riding its coat tails. This one is its own film, with its own feel, its own strengths and weaknesses. And while the strengths may not be what they could be, it doesn't have the weaknesses in storytelling or over reliance on tech that frequently ruins new movies for me.
In some ways, the tone and the characterization of Motoko is closer to the manga than the original film. Perhaps it would be better to say its a pretty clear cross between the two. She isn't quite as sassy as she is in the manga nor quite as dour as in the first film, but this movie also seems to take place earlier in her career, though that's just the feel. Its very episodic in nature, so where it fits and what came before and after it is pretty unimportant, much like an older Bond film or even (sigh) like the Mad Max films, which are all essentially stand alone pieces.
In short, I would see it again. The nerds in the theater were all pretty into it, too, from their many utterances. If you're into anime, its definitely worth your time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Busy Busy Busy
But unfortunately not busy writing. Worked 12+ hour days at a Celtic Fest. Its always fun to run around all day, getting like 10 miles walked just being the gopher/monkey boy who has to climb poles to place tarps and stuff like that. Am working a bit on BOOM this morning. I have a rough draft for an alternate Celia cover I had in the works that I'm going to put up later when I have more time.
In other news, the new Ghost in the Shell movie! I'm seeing it tonight! Woot.
This hasn't been the most interesting post ever, but I'm not a natural blogger, but I'm told its a good thing to keep these things updated for, ya know, up and coming authors of notoriety, so people know you're alive and writing. Ciao
In other news, the new Ghost in the Shell movie! I'm seeing it tonight! Woot.
This hasn't been the most interesting post ever, but I'm not a natural blogger, but I'm told its a good thing to keep these things updated for, ya know, up and coming authors of notoriety, so people know you're alive and writing. Ciao
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Sales!
Well, some folks have taken advantage of me putting the Celia up there for pay as you like, and maybe they will meander their way over to this blog somehow. If so, welcome to my seldom updated blog, hope you enjoyed the story. Leave a comment if you like.
Got some stories in the pipeline at the moment, some short siders. I'll put them in a single volume. There's Drakenschloss, my personal take on the straightforward fantasy story of knights in shining armor and dragons and princesses. Then there's BOOM (working title), the post-apocalyptic tale I write while listening only to Die Antwoort...makes me write pretty loopy. I've been working on it, hence the odd verbiage. Think you'll like those stories, along side the other few I have prepared. I'll get them to y'all Eh Es Eh Pee.
Got some stories in the pipeline at the moment, some short siders. I'll put them in a single volume. There's Drakenschloss, my personal take on the straightforward fantasy story of knights in shining armor and dragons and princesses. Then there's BOOM (working title), the post-apocalyptic tale I write while listening only to Die Antwoort...makes me write pretty loopy. I've been working on it, hence the odd verbiage. Think you'll like those stories, along side the other few I have prepared. I'll get them to y'all Eh Es Eh Pee.
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