Turn the Page

My 12 year old self would be really excited.

My 12 year old self would also be really impatient, because while this first series which has become a book (or, is in the process of becoming a book), it’s not done.  There’s a second series coming which will go through just as much work as this first one.  Well, not as much work.  Most of the ground work has already been laid.  In truth, while the first book started in November of 2012, the ground work started in November of 2010 when I wrote Swift Fox and the Pirates of the Jackai.  That was a NaNoWriMo project, and elements of that story will see the light of day in this revamp of the series.

One could even say that the ground work was set in motion over 30 years ago, when my 12 year old self made the star system and many of the species that are encounter in Rocket Fox.  At the time, mind you, the Vulpine were called Foxian.  I think the change in name is much better.  For the longest time, each planet and species was in the same star system, but again, that’s all changed with this new series (and the many hours watching talks on Youtube by Neil deGrasse Tyson about star systems, learning about habitable zones, reading about new interstellar discoveries and watching copious amounts of Star Trek and playing Star Trek Online).

Naturally, my 12 year old self would want pictures in the book, because while I’m an adult and read novels and wrote this as a novel, my 12 year old self was still reading some of the Wind In The Willows, Watership Down and other books that had pictures before each chapter.  Which, I will be attempting.  It’s been a long time since I drew anything, and to be honest, I could be lazy and just pay someone to draw different pictures before each chapter or character sketches, but part of my wants to do it all myself.  Though, I’ll not say no if anyone wishes to draw them for me.

The work is not done, but at least I am safe in the knowledge that the first step was taken, and it went well.  There’s still editing that needs to be done and a couple of rewrites, all the while I’ll be setting up the scenes and writing them out for series two (which will eventually become book two).

My 12 year old self would be really excited.

No need to be polite

I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to be polite and try to quell arguments with those of the Christian right for being rude and ignorant.  Two reasons, really.  First, right wingers (mostly claiming to be Christian) insult the scientific community.  They call it out, call it junk science, say that it’s a lie, and cry and cry and cry.  And when someone tries to politely point out the flaws in their argument, they again cry out, claiming that their freedom of speech is being violated.  This, naturally, includes topics other than science in general.  It includes women’s health issues, issues of race equality, freedom of choice, freedom of worship (or not to if one so chooses), taxes, climate change and so much more.  And it doesn’t just include those who happen to call themselves Christian.  There are atheists who can be called out on some of this as well.

The second reason why I’m done being polite with these people, and this is mostly to those who identify as Christian, is because it makes a complete and total mockery of my faith.  I often say that my faith is very private, and very personal, and I don’t talk about it much at all.  But there’s times when I just can’t sit idly by, stewing in my own rage that there are people in the world, like Mittens, like Palin, like Bachman, who claim to be Christian but act in ways that would make Christ feel ashamed.  Their attitudes, actions, and comments are a complete slap in the face to the Christian religion and it makes me incredibly mad.

So you don’t get a pass with me anymore.  Especially if you claim to be Christian, but demand that things like abortion is made illegal, that contraception is banned, all because it’s against your religion.  I’ve had enough of that bullshit.  Those who would want that have no more right to dictate that then I do.  And please take note of the word “dictate”, it’s not that far off from dictator.

Easiest way to get into space… NOW!

We should colonize Mars.  Really.  We should.  And I have a simple and fast way to do that.  Encourage NASA to fib a little with the findings from Curiosity.  Tell politicians that they believe they’ve found oil on Mars.  Do you realize how fast we’d have a colony on Mars?  How much NASA’s budget would increase just so we could get to Mars.  How quickly the technology would come about so that living quarters and environments to survive on the Martian planet would be made.  Guaranteed, by the end of 2013, we’d have a fully functional colony on Mars.  Forget the moon, though that would be cool, too.  Let’s go to Mars.  Because we wouldn’t be that far from the asteroid belt, and who knows what minerals would be there.

Hell, could even tell a fib and say there’s a possible tree that grows on the asteroids that would be the equivalent of one hundred Earth trees.

One side note; if we do this, we have to make sure that the oil magnates and the forestry magnates and any politician supporting oil, forestry and coal, gets shot into space as well.

Updating words

My dictionary in my office at work, an old, frayed edition of the Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Seventh Edition, that was published in 1984, has many a spelling of a word that I sometimes do need assistance with.  But it’s interesting to read those definitions and see how much they’ve changed.  Both my dictionary and thefreeonlinedictionary.com agree that it does have aspects of pompousness to it.  However, my Pocket Oxford always points to it being the administer of an office, a bishop or Pope.  Which is true.  But the online version also states that it means to express opinions or judgements in a dogmatic way.  And, to behave in a pompous or dogmatic manner.  Interesting how the term has gone from identifying the head of a church or one aspect of the church, to describing someone who’s really full of themselves.

On another note, regarding my fraying dictionary, seeing how it was published in 1984, it does not have the common phrase Double Double, which is Canadian for two creams and two sugars in a cup of coffee.  The current edition of the Oxford does, however.

What goes around

So according to CBC News (‘cause that’s where I read it) Newsweek is making headlines for a controversial cover about a doctor who is said to be describing the after life.  I’m sorry, but that’s not new.  Every five years or so, someone comes forward to say “I have seen Heaven and this is what it’s like”.  I even remember one time reading about people who knew they were going to Hell.  That must have been an eye opener.  To bad that couldn’t happen to some politicians, maybe they’d change their tune.  However, I think Mitt Romney has changed his enough for one election campaign cycle.  But this stuff about the afterlife, it’s not new.  It’s not even confirming anything for anyone about anything.  We won’t know what the afterlife is until we die.  Or maybe we all just become jackrabbits in Texas.  Who knows.  The short answer: nobody.  The long answer: No-fucking-body.

Before I actually get around to posting up Rocket Fox Chapter Nine (I will, I promise) I’ve had a few things on my mind lately.

Video games and cultural representation

I often hear the cry of how people can’t relate if there’s a person of a different colour on screen than the same old white dude (and yes, it’s almost always a white dude) in a video game.  Often, if there is a black/brown/red/yellow person on the screen, they aren’t made as a playable character, and they often have huge stereotypes.  Insulting stereotypes as a matter of fact.  I don’t include MMOs into this, because in an MMO, you have a costume creator, and you can make your character look however you want.  I’m talking single player games, for the most part.  But I guess there is that cultural aspect in video games that we don’t get to see different cultures and explore those realms.  For instance, any video game I pick up is most likely to take place in the United States.  As a Canadian, there is a very rare number of games that have a Canadian city that I know of off hand.  Deus Ex Human Revolution does have a futuristic version of Montreal in it, and Champions Online does have a Canadian zone, but that zone happens to be “The Great White North” (in it’s own a stereotype) and even the “native tribes” have been replaced with Sasquatches.  And the lone “Native American” in the Champions Online Canadian Zone happens to have a real white name.  It goes further than that, mind you, to other cultures.  For instance, we see a lot of representation from Asia, but bottom line those nations and culture include only China and Japan.  Maybe Korea.  There’s quite a few other nations in Asia and include Bangladesh, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and to an extent Pakistan.  Go further west, and you find lots of games represented in Europe, from fantasy right up to a plethora of World War II games.  But how many are in Africa that doesn’t star a white archaeologist from the United States or a white archaeologist adventurer from England?  Not many.  By my count, one.  Guild Wars: Nightfall was the only game that I know of that created an African style setting in their own world.  Even the NPCs were all people of colour.  I’d really like to see more of that, but sadly, I’m in the minority on that mark.  Maybe that’ll happen more in the future where we get to see video games taking place in a setting with the main hero/heroine being a person from that setting not just a white guy there to save the day.

Na Na Na Na Na Na - COMICS!

There’s been a lot of talk lately (some good, some bad) about the actions and reactions of some of the writers of DC Comics titles.  One of whom was Scott Lobdell.  I’m not gonna repeat it here, but he said a few rather unflattering things, especially about Native Americans, relating to the back story of Roy Harper/Speedy who is one of the characters in the book Red Hood and the Outlaws.  Now, I read RHatO when it first came out, and I found it to be a complete pile of trash.  The book didn’t appeal to me, the characters were all one dimensional, Jason Todd’s a douchebag, Starfire has none of the appeal from the old Teen Titans (sort of like they wiped her backstory and replaced it with something that was incredibly misogynistic) and Roy Harper is a dick.  Red Hood and the Outlaws is a complete waste of time, but it seems to sell and sell well because the lowest common denominator in readership keeps picking it up.  That book, along with Hawkman, Green Arrow and a couple of other titles were reasons why I was very close to just giving DC Comics a big “fuck you” and move on.  However, I realized that a personal boycott of DC would be detrimental to other, better books.  Don’t get me wrong, me on my own wouldn’t crush DC and make them see the error of their ways, but if there were enough then books like Batwoman, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Animal Man and Demon Knights would all suffer as well.  Those books are good books.  So my suggestion, keep buying those books.  They have really good stories (except for Wonder Woman supposedly now dating Superman -giving you the side eye, DC) with writers who really are good at their craft.  The others, not so much.  And don’t just wait for collected editions in trade paper back.  Buy the single issues, give them to friends and then buy the collections.  I did that recently with my Mike Grell and Chuck Dixon Green Arrow books as well as the Kevin Smith run.  Same with Spider-Girl from the M2 line and Vampi.  All those books are now being enjoyed by someone else, and I have a nifty trade sitting on my bookshelf.  Essentially, what I’m trying to say is boycotts don’t always work, because the good stuff has a tendency to suffer more than the crap.  Buy the stuff you like, avoid the stuff you hate, and pass on the stuff you like to others.

The leaves, they are a fallin’

With apologies to Bob Dylan for ripping off his song Times They Are A-Changin’, we are officially now into autumn.  I, however, have no intention of letting go of summer without a fight.  Autumn is wonderful and colourful, but it’s also a stark reminder of just what’s coming; winter.  Around here, winter is a harsh mistress.  Only the hardiest of people can survive this province with summers that scorch and winters that freeze.  Granted, autumn does mean that Halloween is not far away, and I shall hold onto that hope with bated breath.  I enjoy Halloween, because it’s filled with mystery and stories.  I shouldn’t complain too much about autumn, it is after all, when my writing bug gets bigger and bigger and happens to be the most productive for me, right on up into winter.  Which hopefully means that the end of book one of Rocket Fox and most of book two of Rocket Fox should be completed this autumn and winter.  Which may mean that sometime in the next year, both book one and book two will be ready for publication.

That’s it, that’s all, ‘til next time…

…keep ‘em flyin’!

The sun is risen, though it’s still a cloudy and grey morning.  There’s spring in the air, that’s for certain.  It rained a little over the weekend, which gave the air that old, familiar smell.

I sit eating breakfast, pleased with the fact my left shoulder isn’t at that dull, throbbing pain that it was earlier.  The truly sad reality about it, is that I can’t even claim to some sporting injury or wild ruckus that went into my shoulder’s dull, pain filled throb. The only reason it does so, is because I’m old.  Or at least getting older.  The tendons are inflamed, that’s all.  So, I picked up some medication, and hope for the best.  At least I don’t need surgery.

Yet.

I know that today is going to be busy.  A paper to produce.  One section that has to go up by the end of today.  The regular section to go up tomorrow.  And on top of that, funeral cards that have to be printed off.  And more designed.  I’m looking forward to the end of the day, when I can come home and not worry about what all that has to be done today.  Just evening writing and possibly television or a cup of coffee on the balcony as I enjoy the evening.

It’s Friday.  I’ve printed off the Christmas ads for the special issue next month.  And it’s looking like a 16 page paper for this week (don’t kid yourself, it’s hard to put together 16 pages of material in a tabloid format weekly newspaper).  I’ve also finished the only ad that’s come in for next week’s paper.  Next, I’ll do up posters for the Ice Hawks games coming up next weekend.

So, there’s not much to do right now, except contemplate the randomness of the world.  Usually that happens by reading different blogs and news sites.

A woman in the States pepper sprayed shoppers; described it as competitive shopping

How stupid do you have to be to grab a container of pepper spray and think “hey, this would be great to take shopping for major bargains”?  Obviously, anyone who thinks of using pepper spray in a casual manner like that isn’t thinking of the future consequences.  Please see “casually pepper spraying cop” for more like this.

First Nation band declares state of emergency; Ottawa says nothing about it

Not just politicians.  The media in general.  There’s been nothing about it, except some sketchy information found on bing.  If it is true, this will not surprise me coming from the Harper Government.

The Girl With The Oscar Tattoo

Is it possible with all the talk about Fincher’s take on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, this could be early Oscar material?  Personally, I haven’t seen the movie, but I have read the book.  If the movie follows the book, then I think it should.  But, it’s up against My Week With Marilyn, which will probably play to the sensibilities of the judges more.

Whacky Weather

First it was -20 Degrees Celsius outside.  Then, it was +3 Degrees Celsius outside.  The roads will become a sheet of slick ice.  And the weather office says we should expect snow showers soon.  Not just snow.  Snow showers.  One level away from sleet, I guess.

Here is a large number of things that I need to get down.  All of them completely random.  All of it completely rambling.

Have you ever noticed that the people who most hope for a zombie apocalypse are more than likely the least likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?

It’s not thought of as proper to wear shorts to work.  Well I don’t think it’s comfortable to sit in my own sweat when it’s 33 degrees Celsius outside and the air conditioner doesn’t work.  My comfort while I work outweighs your appropriateness.

Individuals who happen to call out people for being lazy have a tendency of being more lazy than the people they are calling out.

Never call out someone for longing for something they can never have again.  Saying “that’s silly” is quite ridiculous.  Most likely you’re longing for something equally or more silly than they are.

People make the comparison between Harry Potter and Twilight all the time.  There is only one comparison needed.  They were both printed on paper, start comparing the paper and you’ll find there is no difference.  The stories, on the other hand, are completely different.

On the same note of Harry Potter and Twilight; compare the reactions in certain circles to the two series.  Harry Potter has been called devil worship and instruction to witchcraft, when at it’s core it is a story about friendship, love, overcoming massive obstacles and the triumph of good over evil.  Twilight is telling young girls that they aren’t any good unless they have a boyfriend who plays mind games with them, is extremely white, and is kind of a stalker.  It is held up as good reading for young adults.  This is a reflection on our society, when we hold up something that treats women poorly over something that values friendship.

When you find a job or career that you truly like, getting up in the morning will be easy.  Waking at 5:00 in the morning, especially if you work day time hours, will take no effort.  On a personal note, this does not include the morning anchor position of certain radio stations.

We’re never truly aware how dependent we are on something until it’s gone.  Thus, why I don’t own a cellphone.

Yes, I don’t own a cellphone, and really don’t need one.  However, I have been in situations where I’ve thought “now would be a great time to have a cellphone.”

I have come to a point in my life where watching movies is difficult.  It’s not that they’re hard to watch, as in a sort of labour, though that’s not far off, but it’s more that most movies now are complete and utter crap.

The book is always better, although there are a few movies that are extremely close.

My joints will ache, my vision will grow more and more blurry.  Then I meet someone who is a paraplegic or who is considered legally blind.  I resist the urge to compare, because really, my mobility and vision is far better than that person’s is.  Yet, each of us has this compelling urge to “compare injuries” in a way to make themselves feel better about having a sore knee while talking to a person who has lost their legs.

Chances are the person who has no legs is happier than you are.

We do an awful lot of sitting.  Sit at a computer at work, sit at a computer at home, sit and watch television.  Then we log onto flickr or tumblr and click “like” on all the lovely scenic pictures of people doing things outside.

I’m writing this on Wordpress, but I’ll eventually post it on tumblr, because I know that I have followers there who are not nameless, faceless entities.

It’s easier to write 1,000 words that ramble on and on than it is to write 1,000 words that connect into a coherent story that flow eloquently.

Ask yourself next time you find yourself writing a large number of incoherent thoughts; are you doing this just to get this stuff down, or are you doing this just to see how many views it will get?

The war between the book and the Kindle can be summed up like this.  When a fly is buzzing about my head, the book becomes a tool for the moment that extinguishes the fly.  After, I go back to reading the book.  Replace book with Kindle, then once the fly is extinguished, go buy a new Kindle.

Why do we have to associate war with most everything in life?  War on drugs, Battle of the Sexes, and so on.  War on drugs conjures up images of Hollywood cop shows, while battle of the sexes conjures up something much more pornographic.  And there in lies the problem with the battle of the sexes.

Remember, all of this is completely random.

What some people call philosophy, others call lunacy.  Mostly because the latter doesn’t take the time to consider what the former has just said, due to the fact that the latter has been raised with certain social parameters enforced upon them.  Really, the latter isn’t calling the former a lunatic because the former is indeed a lunatic, it’s because the latter is afraid that everything they’ve known is wrong.

I remember that time in the Bible when Christ said “let the poor pull themselves up by their boot straps” and then gave a bunch of money to large corporations.  Good times.

I know there’s someone out there who’s going to say “you should do this on a weekly basis”.  It would hardly be random anymore, would it?

You’ve been counting this word count, haven’t you?

I use the tumblr dash board so much that I’ve forgotten what background I use.

A sentence can either be translated as angry or happy, but never moreso does it become angry by use of the word “fuck” somewhere in the middle of it as an adjective.

Before I owned a car, I thought it would be wonderful to go on a drive every now and then.  Now I hate driving.

Someone, somewhere is laughing at that last sentence.

Someone, somewhere, just looked over their shoulder after reading that last part.

Nothing says desperation more than the sentence “we’ve run out of coffee”.  Every desperate moment should be treated as though we’ve just run out of coffee.

And now the word count sits at 1,067.