cleolinda: (Default)
[personal profile] cleolinda
Got a good bit of writing done today--by hand, no less; about six pages on plain white paper--but of course it wasn't anything I'm actually supposed to be working on. Still, any writing is good writing, I figure, and (slight TMI!) I'm at that point in my cycle when I'm generally more creative. I try to make hay while the sun is shining, is what I'm saying.

To clarify from yesterday: Amazon UK seems to be pairing the hardback M15M with the paperback M15M as a "great deal," and since the paperback has a slightly different title, it's confusing people. I can't tell if they're doing this intentionally or if someone's asleep at the switch over there, but don't fall for this. I mean, unless you just really want a hardback and a paperback.

I'm not commenting on the actual controversy here, except to say that "(Blah) is more important than free speech" always sets off bells with me, but just as an FYI: Warriors for Innocence protesting certain kinds of fanfic on LJ. Communities and personal journals have been suspended. Again, I'm not really interested in holding a referendum on whether you're okay with fanfictional underage/incest/whatever stories; I'm just saying, if you're wondering what happened to certain LJs, or you have controversial material on your own, well... now you know.

(Which reminds me of something my sociology professor wrote on the board one afternoon: "ALCOHOL AWARENESS WEEK. 6-PACK BEER IS 2.99 AT THE GAS STATION ACROSS THE STREET. NOW YOU'RE AWARE.")

[livejournal.com profile] scornedsaint: "I was wondering if you could mention the Adrienne Shelly foundation in your next linkspam? Adrienne Shelly was one of the few female directors out there, and if Waitress is any indication, she would have had an amazing future ahead of her had she not been murdered. For any woman who wants to enter the film industry or is just sick of seeing the Best Director nominations read like the membership of Get Rid of Slimy Girls, they should check the foundation's website out."

Still the center of the universe: Ala. terror Web site angers activists. "The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a Web site it operated that included gay rights and anti-war organizations in a list of groups that could include terrorists. The Web site identified different types of terrorists, and included a list of groups it believed could spawn terrorists. The list also included environmentalists, animal rights advocates and abortion opponents." *facepalm*

Save the Cheerleader Internet: "As Save the Internet.com details, we've been taking for granted open access on the Internet for decades. But big cable and telecom companies are all lobbying Congress for deep control over the express lanes on the Information Superhighway. This is about more than the freedom to share LOLs on MySpace. Hundreds of millions of people work, communicate, and connnect online every minute. The threat is real to the open exchange that helped the Web blossom in the first place. Even though it's only just little old you versus a billion-dollar cartel, you can act."

Flags replaced with swastikas in Wash. "Vandals burned dozens of small American flags that decorated veterans' graves for Memorial Day and replaced many of them with hand-drawn swastikas, authorities said Monday. Forty-six flag standards were found empty and another 33 flags were in charred tatters Sunday in the cemetery, authorities said. Swastikas drawn on paper appeared where 14 of the flags had been." What the hell?

Palm oil puts squeeze on Asia's endangered orangutan.

Well-heeled art collector publishes lulu of a novel.

From boutros boutros kitty: Presidential macros!

Best alarm clock EVER!

Pegleg Pomeranian! Pirate cat!

7 films to watch from the Cannes Film Festival.

First Look: Topps 'Hollywood Zombies' trading cards. Okay, "Sanjaya Malacarcass" for the win.

4th 'Pirates' film already on horizon. Okay, I don't know about a fourth in this particular series, but you know what? I like the craze for sequels we've had the last ten years or so. They're not cheap afterthoughts the way they used to be in the '80s and early '90s (for some reason, a very sad commercial for Another Stakeout always sticks in my mind regarding this subject). In addition to the series-of-standalone-movies we usually get (the Spider-Man franchise, for example), people are really looking into serial filmmaking again, particularly fantasy films due to the remarkable number of series being published now, and I love that. I love big multi-film epics (the fact that they involve swords and fantastic costumes doesn't really hurt). I mean, I admit that the world doesn't really need another Rush Hour, but I like that people are really looking at this or that franchise and seeing that people really love certain characters, and generally doing their best to continue telling stories about them. It doesn't hurt that the filmmakers involved are often genuinely fans of or at least attracted to the material--even in the case of the Harry Potter movies, the directors will say, I didn't like the way the previous one(s) were done, I want to do it this way. They'll at least come up with a particular vision, which is so different from the half-hearted, half-assed, half-baked sequels you'd see in the '80s, several years after the originals. You can feel any way about the two POTC sequels that you want, but I love that they took this huge chance and did this giant two-part epic; I'd rather see people fail big and go down swinging than succeed with small, safe, piddling efforts.

Stigmata 2 in the Works. Okay, this isn't the kind of sequel I was talking about.

New 'Hulk' Movie Synopsis Revealed.

Weitz Bros. Conjure Elric.

Confirmed: Change to US "Order of the Phoenix" Release Date, Now July 11.

Michael Madsen Says 'Sin City 2' Might Not Happen; Blames 'Grindhouse' Bomb. WHAT. NO. NOOOO!

Director Mike Figgis Detained at LAX for Threatening to "Shoot a Pilot." Dude, you'd think that people at LAX of all places would be up on TV terminology.

Helen Mirren Takes On Gaza Strip Story.

Trailer for George Clooney's 'Michael Clayton.'

Vague Glimpses of the Joker. I don't know, I'm more creeped out than if they were full shots.

Whee, I can has spaghetti now! Oh, but one more thing: I have a MySpace that I totally don't use because I loathe the way the site looks, and since author/musician/actor MySpaces are the big thing these days--particularly for people just starting out--I should probably do something with it. What are some good MySpaces in that vein? What kind of things should be on an author's MySpace?


Site Meter

Date: 2007-05-30 12:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vampirepig13.livejournal.com
I still can't get over how much the Joker looks like that painting in The Black Dahlia, I can't, I can't.

Ugh.

Date: 2007-05-30 12:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fortuna-juvat.livejournal.com
As far as non-offensive myspaces go, I think the Dresden Dolls do well for a band:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2663038

(not too flashy, but gets all the required info out)

Jenna Fischer has also gotten quite of bit of positive interaction with fans/media through her myspace as well.
http://www.myspace.com/pambeesley

Obviously, neither of these qualify as "starting out" but they're on myspace and don't make me want to throw things at the screen - a rarity these days.

Date: 2007-05-30 12:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lauramcvey.livejournal.com
A lot of authors have custom backgrounds, usually of their book covers. It's up to you whether or not you use the hardback or paperback designs. Sorry I can't be more helpful; I deleted my MySpace account a while back. 'Sides, you should also get a Facebook- it seems to be getting more popular.
Pirates? Yar! Erm, more seriously, I was under the impression that Elliot&Rossio (the writers) wern't interested in doing another one, and they were the reason the movies were so good. However, if they didn't use the original characters and made it about Will Jr. (which I suspect) they wouldn't need the original writers, because they wouldn't be butchering the characters.

Date: 2007-05-30 01:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chocolat-violet.livejournal.com
I don't know if I can handle another Pirates sequel. If it were to only carry over Jack and his crew, and diverge from the Will/Elizabeth story line -- I love Will and Elizabeth but Ted and Terry closed that chapter in Pirates 3 -- then I think I'd like it better.

Date: 2007-05-30 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wmetoile.livejournal.com
Whoa. I can has Potter two days early?!

(I'm doing my Book 5 re-read right now. Forgot how much I love Fred and George. Forgot how vile Umbridge is. Bring. It. On. Imelda Staunton.)

Date: 2007-05-30 01:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nimlotbradamant.livejournal.com
Word. Will and Elizabeth are finished now. For the next sequel, resurrect Norrington as the straight man and include the Pearl menage, but that's it.

Date: 2007-05-30 01:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] claidissa.livejournal.com
Meh.
That whole "Pirates 4" article is just icky. It's not really saying anything, just speculating. It could happen, yes, but the title is misleading and makes it sound like it's already in production or something.

If they do make a fourth one they'd better be sure that it's really freaking good.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theatre-angel.livejournal.com
I hadn't heard about the communities being shut down thing until this evening, but I think it's a little weird that they're suddenly getting all gung-ho about it. Those Joker shots, however, are seriously creepy.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:27 am (UTC)
fiveforsilver: (Default)
From: [personal profile] fiveforsilver
Diane Duane and John Scalzi have myspace pages - inspiration ahoy, or whatever. And I guess search for other random authors?

The main thing they seem to have (if I remember right; I don't go there much) is it's set up attractively, there is a fan-recognizable main image, there are links (of course), and they friend absolutely everyone back.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] justjayj.livejournal.com
From your post to Verbinski's ears. I've always wanted a Jack/Norrington buddy movie. A Jack/Ghost!Norrington buddy movie sounds even better.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] edoraslass.livejournal.com
For the next sequel, resurrect Norrington as the straight man
I think I'll dream about that happy thought tonight.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nimlotbradamant.livejournal.com
I would ha' gone for a living, breathing corporeal Norrington, but as everyone knows, from dead to mostly dead is a small step, and from mostly dead to alive is no further.

Norrington needs--nay, deserves--his own love interest and pirate legend.

Date: 2007-05-30 03:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kosher-jenny.livejournal.com
Agreed on all points!

Date: 2007-05-30 04:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reiko18.livejournal.com
I can't be the only one that thinks zombie Britney Spears looks like Courtney Love.

Date: 2007-05-30 04:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leila82.livejournal.com
Here's a link to Meg Cabot's myspace (http://www.myspace.com/meg_cabot), which is a lovely, tasteful dark purple. She has a bunch of other YA authors on her friends thingy which you can look through (I want to call it a flist but that's not right) - a lot of them use their book covers for their pictures, things like that.

Date: 2007-05-30 04:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skyblade.livejournal.com
I don't think Grindhouse would have any effect on Sin City not coming to pass, unless Dimension is out of money. Usually when a talent has something that flops, that's exactly when they get crankin' a sequel to a successful work. Plus, the movie is only going to get a higher profile because of 300. Maybe Robert Rodriguez is distracted from banging Rose McGowan silly.

Interestingly enough, I've been kind of making this "sequels week" at my journal. The thing is, a big part of the backlash I'm feeling (And that I think other people are) is that we got three third installments in one month. They'd be much easier to tolerate of it was mixed up a little. And I think as most series tend to run out of steam by movie three, there's jsut a wariness about them being actually good in the first place.

Plus, I think it comes from looking at movies from a socialogical vantage point where I think sequels are built on the goodwill of previous years, so their success is kind of their predecessor's success. Whenever articles talk about "The slump being over. Studios gave audiences movies they wanted to see" I'm like "Well yeah, but that's not exactly their fault." They can only make a Pirates or Spider-Man sequel in so much time. I kind of want to see years yield their own cinemtaic icons. It's not so much that I hate sequels, as I'm wary of a year where it's nothing but. It's also a little worrying because they're not going to last forever, (Each of the titans three look to make signifigntly less than the last one) and then what are we left with?

Date: 2007-05-30 05:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] casirafics.livejournal.com
As far as design goes, possibly the world's best proof that MySpace doesn't have to be ugly: Mike Industries: Smacking MySpace Code Into Submission Since 1872 (http://www.myspace.com/mikeindustries).

Date: 2007-05-30 06:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] edda.livejournal.com
Oooh, Elric. That should kick some serious ass if they get it right.

I don't think the Joker they're doing in Chris Nolan's movie is really much like the comic-book Joker (and I will always have a place in my heart for Jack Nicholson's interpretation), but I'm becoming intrigued.

Date: 2007-05-30 06:14 am (UTC)
elbales: (Bitch please saw-whet owl)
From: [personal profile] elbales
Desecrating veterans' graves, now that's low.

Thanks for the heads-up on the THINK OF THE CHILDREN issue. Massive feh.

Date: 2007-05-30 11:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flamingtoilet.livejournal.com
I can't get over how much that face shot of the Joker that we've gotten looks like Gacy.

Date: 2007-05-30 11:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flamingtoilet.livejournal.com
I'm tired of thinking of the children. Think of the adults who are paying for this shit. Don't we get any say in our internets? And if you don't care enough about your childrens to TURN IT OFF, then why do you care enough when they do something horribly wrong?

Date: 2007-05-30 11:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flamingtoilet.livejournal.com
Just out of curiosity, why DOES the paperback have a different title? Is that something you chose or something your publisher did?

Date: 2007-05-30 01:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] word-herder.livejournal.com
I second Facebook. I try to avoid MySpace because it actually crashed my Mac. MacBooks aren't supposed to crash; it was scary.

Date: 2007-05-30 01:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ironclad1609.livejournal.com
I had no idea Grindhouse bombed. But then again, it's only for a certain kind of people. Hell, it's not even out here yet (they will actually split them in two anyway).
I want Sin City 2 anyway!

I'd be okay with a Pirates 4 if they tried to take it into a slightly different direction. What I mean by that is mostly: More Jack and Barbossa and preferably no Will and Liz.

What a Myspace site needs is pictures: childhood pics, pet pics, vacation pics, current pics ;)

Date: 2007-05-30 02:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hulamoth.livejournal.com
YES NORRINGTON

I'm totally afraid that if they return to Will/Elizabeth, it will only be to split them apart or steal Telemachus in the name of dramatic tension.

I'm sad that the whole plotline with the East India company died before getting any steam. That could've been fun.

Date: 2007-05-30 02:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hulamoth.livejournal.com
he needs groupies -'s what he needs
am happy to supply

Date: 2007-05-30 03:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
I had no idea until a friend sent me a link to a page advertising the book. I wasn't even informed, much less asked.

Date: 2007-05-30 03:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
Does Facebook actually require real pictures of you, or that you attend school? I seem to remember there was some reason why I couldn't or didn't want to do it.

Date: 2007-05-30 03:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flamingtoilet.livejournal.com
Wow. I'd be more than a little annoyed by that if I was you.

Date: 2007-05-30 03:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
I'm trying to keep a lid on public indignation, but yeah. You could say that.

Date: 2007-05-30 03:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] apocalyptically.livejournal.com
Awesome interview with Bill Nighy. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/celebrity/la-et-nighy29may29,1,6522927.story?coll=la-celebrity-news) "Andy Serkis and I, we are pioneers. We have had many conversations about it. Of course I was fortunate. He had to wear the white Lycra suit. Lycra. For a man of my seniority, the secret nightmare is Lycra."

Seriously, he is so awesome. And the ending is fantastic.

A warning received too late

Date: 2007-05-30 05:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] larabeaton.livejournal.com
Sadly, I had already fallen for the "great deal" of owning both the hardcover and the paperback, since I assumed the "Cut!" one was a sequel.

Oh well, one less Christmas present that I'll have to buy.

Date: 2007-05-30 05:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrelgoddess.livejournal.com
It used to require attending college, but they changed that a while back.

Re: A warning received too late

Date: 2007-05-30 09:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
Oh no! I am so sorry--I kept meaning to say something about it sooner and forgot. Honestly, I didn't think anyone would notice it in the first place--I hadn't realized until the other day that Amazon was actually sending people emails about it.

Date: 2007-05-30 09:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
Okay, good, because I can imagine that was severely limiting their user pool. Do you still have to use real pictures only?

Date: 2007-05-30 10:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jackieocean.livejournal.com
My friend Katie uses a photo of a monkey, and for a while my cousin was using a non-realistic self portrait that she painted. Basically, it boils down to copyright infringement - they don't want people posting something that isn't theirs.

Date: 2007-05-30 10:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laughing-cities.livejournal.com
I really don't think so, I'm pretty sure you can use any kind of picture you want. my friend had a calvin and hobbes profile picture for a while.

Date: 2007-05-30 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com
I wonder if they'd let me use my Yahoo avatars, which Yahoo seems to encourage you to use out on the interwebs.

Date: 2007-05-30 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jackieocean.livejournal.com
I'd say it's worth a shot. The worst they can do is tell you to take it down.

Date: 2007-05-30 11:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alpheratz.livejournal.com
Or a gay man. I would enjoy that too.

Date: 2007-05-31 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nimlotbradamant.livejournal.com
Telemachus! precisely what I thought upon wondering what on earth it reminded me of :P.

I sincerely doubt Will/Liz will have anything more than a cameo in any further Pirates movies, what with Knightley's "I've been playing this girl since I was seventeeeeeeen!" and Bloom's "Hello, London stage!". So any further movies will probably have Jack and Barbossa, with some new photogenic couple dashing around; I just hope it's Norrington, and not someone having to do with the Turner family.

Date: 2007-05-31 04:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] agatha-mandrake.livejournal.com
A good MySpace page is for the book The Adventures of Cow (http://www.myspace.com/adventuresofcow). Visit it if only for the "I Like Birds" song.

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