Month: December 2015

Making A Case for a Director’s Cut for the 1998 Avengers Film #Avengers #DirectorsCut #OpenLetter

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Making A Case for a Director’s Cut for the 1998 Avengers Film In the dying end of the summer box office rush in 1998, Warner Brothers quietly released a re-imagined feature film version of the cult classic UK spy TV series The Avengers (not based on the Marvel comics superhero series). Directed by Jeremiah Chechik (Benny & Joon, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and countless episodes of great TV shows such as Chuck and the Middleman) and produced by Jerry Weintraub (legendary producer of films such as Nashville, Diner, the Karate…

Postwritum is a Serious Condition and is Very Real #Postwritum #NaNoWriMo

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Postwritum The birth of a novel can trigger a jumble of powerful emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and anxiety. But it can also result in something you might not expect — depression. Many NaNoWriMo writers experience the “postwritum novel blues” after completing their first 50,000 words in just 30 days, which commonly include mood swings, crying spells, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. Novel blues typically begin within the first two to three days after winning NaNoWriMo, and may last for up to two weeks. But some NaNoWriMo writers experience a more severe, long-lasting form of…

Women, Race and Sexuality in Video Games #Gamergate #Equality #Diversity

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As I finished the last chapter of the excellent episodic video game series: Life is Strange, it occurred to me that not nearly enough games portrayed the themes of individuality, choice, slice of life and sexuality with much maturity and/or gravitas. Certainly there are numerous high profile video games that attempt to tackle these themes, but mostly as an afterthought or even worse as merely a plot device for the villain to exploit at some point in the game. As a gamer that is now pushing 40 years of age, I…

From the Journal of Gwendolyn Parker: Private Investigator #OriginalFiction

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***Brief Intro from the author. As I was getting ready for NaNoWriMo, I had 2 ideas that I had been bandying about for NaNoWriMo. Then, out of the blue I had an idea to write a P.I. story, about a secret society and other such shenanigans. I wanted to write something that set the tone for the main character, so I wrote up a Journal entry, where in she tells the conclusion to one of her own cases in her own words. It’s the perfect way to introduce the character…

Ten Terrific Tunes for Tuesday – Vol. 6 #Punk #TTTT

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Oi! It’s time to challenge the system and to declare ourselves rude in front of everyone… essentially, it’s a punk/ska mix. So, dig it… or don’t, if you are really feeling punk rock. As always, here’s the Apple Music link: in case you wanna take this punk/ska mix on the run. NOFX – Separation of Church and Skate: in which the band asks the question, when did punk rock become so safe? Short answer, when students and professors on all major college campuses decided that political correctness was more important than free…

I’m Done Saying “I’m Back”… But I’m Totally Back #ImBack

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So, NaNoWriMo took it out of me, big time! It is one hell of a commitment both of time and energy to create 50,000 words typed in one month for an original novel. It is a tough task, especially when you are responsible for a family and hold down a very demanding full time job. On top of that, Joel Hodgson had dropped a massive bombshell on me and started a bid to resurrect one of my top 5 trapped on desert island of all time TV shows, Mystery Science Theater 3000,…