Month: June 2005

Technical Difficulties

Writer guy

Due to technical difficulties yesterday the site may or may not been accessible at certain points of the day. At present, this issue has been addressed. To the best of my knowledge besides a reboot in March, this was the only site outage thus far this year. My goal is 100 percent uptime and while there are just a few other accounts on this box that can impact the server, the goal is a reach sometimes.

The book buy went well; I secured lots of titles normally unavailable. Not sure if that was because there was just more stock, or if the competition was busy elsehwere in the warehouse. Maybe it was a combination of both.

Been on a writing tear for the past few days, a positive trend I trust ( and hope ) continues.

Bad Supreme Court

Writer guy

Because every Supreme Court justice receives lifetime tenure, I have never liked the Supreme Court. This arrangement seems positively unnatural, and leaves the final word on the Constitution in the hands of very old and wrinkled jurists. Tenure rewards sand baggers as much, if not more so, than people who pull their own weight. Of course if I had tenure it would be the greatest institution in the world, beyond reproach or political considerations. But I don’t, so it sucks. And besides the tenure issue, there’s the matter of the age gap between the majority of the country and the Court.

Please don’t get me wrong, I love old people. A hallmark of advanced age is the privilege to say exactly what one wants. It’s refreshing really, especially at Thanksgiving. However, the reverse side of that coin – no one has to listen to Grandpa when he’s all lubed up on Wild Turkey. We just laugh and lock him in the closet until Grandma wakes up from her midday nap.

Not so with the Supreme Court, because nine Grandma and Grandpas pilot that ship, and the entire country has to listen.

Recently the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the government can seize private property from private citizens to transfer to corporate interests that the local government perceives are of public interest. This isn’t the same as the government seizing a few homes obstructing an on-ramp for a new highway. It’s more like Marriott wants Motel 6 out, or a developer wants a hotel in the middle of a subdivision. I can’t see the public interest in either displacement.

In a surprise move from the last state where the Constitution matters – New Hampshire – a private group has petitioned for the condemnation of a residence to make way for a hotel. The owner: Supreme Court Justice David Souter who sided with corporate interests over private property.

Read about it!

Manic Monday

Writer guy

At last something of interest, a replacement title for Velocity. Thank you Mr. Dean Koontz for confirming Velocity was a great title by selecting it as well. As a precaution on the blog it remains Velocity ( or book two ) until I have a check/representation. It’s an indulgence, and perhaps one borne of superstition, but one that I consider reasonable. I’d rather not blow two more days on a title a third time on the same book. One more coincidence like that and it’s Star Wars – Reloaded. Bring on the lawsuits, Herr Lucas.

Writing output is way up as of late, so much so that October 2005 is the projected finish date. Thereafter my writing priorities are three-fold: query actively for Velocity, revise a screenplay ( more about this later ), and draft an outline and synopsis for the sequel.

I pray that the next synopsis is my last because revealing the ending of a story I invest months, years, god knows how long on, is painful. Unpleasant as it may be, there’s little alternative option for a writer trolling for representation; agents don’t invest time reading unless they sense the writer can deliver the goods. While I sympathize with the plight of a thousand manuscripts and twenty-four hours in a day, a big whatever to that practice!

Seriously, three pages is sufficient ink to reveal a diamond. If the story is still agreeable, keep reading. Continue until completion or the warm fuzzies fade. Don’t like the pages? Toss it aside and grab a manuscript that delivers the goods, like say, Velocity. 😉

The movie is dead. Long live the movie.

Writer guy

Sales of movie tickets are down this year and Hollywood is taking their ball home in a snit. Message to Hollywood � if Passion of the Christ was removed from consideration ticket sales were also down in 2004. This chasm that was box office profit, that shrinks by the weekend, isn’t exactly news.

Several theories might explain the two year decline. First, DVD’s arrive mere months after theatrical release. One expert makes the point that it’s not that people are seeing less movies, it’s that they are seeing them in different ways. That’s true in part, as DVD sales are steady. To many it’s a lot nicer watching in the privacy of their home, no lines, no commercials, cheaper food all of which dovetails into the second issue – the sorry state movie theater experience.

A four hundred and fifty pound woman testing out the recline feature of the seats against your knees while slobbering into a wheelbarrow of popcorn, and slapping her son all the way through the flick can only lead to great tragedy. Inconsiderate cellphone man? Why he’s next to me. Behind, a pack of teenagers kick my seat. Despite the obvious annoyances, I believe a third theory is the most likely culprit, that quality is down and consumers don’t perceive the benefit of the big screen.

As a hard core theater goer I do not say this lightly, but this season offers the smallest number of flicks I consider must see in years. This is the biggest reason the frequency of reviews dropped on the site. I still see a lot of movies; it’s difficult saying nice things about many of them. So I skip the review.

An endless stream of sequels, prequels, reverse engineered television series, half baked horror shows, and reality styled flicks have soured my taste buds. Yes, there’s commercials and steep concession prices, but neither bother me. Really, the commercials beforehand are no problem at all, I just show up 12 minutes after the film �starts�. I’ve yet to miss the final trailer before the flick. And food? What I can’t smuggle into the multiplex in my jacket and jeans, I eat later. I actually don’t mind the woman and her child yapping. However, I do mind when the film is weak.

A final theory for Hollywood. People who pay full price for movies have friends, email and telephones. Weak box office sales because of poor word of mouth and low quality eventually means weaker DVD sales.

America knows what it wants — less crap! Stop making crappy 70’s television shows into crappy movies. Except Wonder Woman. That one will be a smash.