150419 Obvious Anniversary -- For Some

So, yeah, it's an infamous anniversary, but no comment.

Instead, let me tell you about this TV show I started watching. It took four or five episodes to find out what the real story was. That might just be Russian character. They are big on hiding the real agenda. That was true in Czarist Russia, the Soviet Era, and today. Why do I like the language? OK, it sounds cool, but I have no desire to live under any form of government that they ever tried to inflict on their citizens. They also have some nice scenery, but yada, yada, yada...

While the English title is, "The Day After," that's not what it says in Russian. As near as I can figure, it says, "Ran After" or "To Run After" or something like that. There is a lot of running involved. Half of Moscow is dead, and the larger portions of those not dead are undead. Only twelve people are neither dead nor undead. I'm guessing that this show would be a lot less interesting if it were in English and filmed in places with which I am familiar. Meanwhile, I'm hearing native speakers converse, (or scream as the case may be), in a language I wish to learn better. :D

141023 Registering for NaNoWriMo

There is a story bubbling in my soul, and this is the right time to write. Now, the rules are that I have to wait until the 1st to start. I shall be hampered by the trip we have planned, so I'll need to fit that into the schedule. Some people write the novel in two weeks. I'll shoot for that.

I won't post anything here until it's done.

141021 The Fastest Way of Being Hit

I like Robert Downey, Jr. He plays arrogance well, and it seems that his characters have used their arrogance to hide painful weakness. They may have depth, but use shallowness to cover it.

The Judge made me laugh and brought a tear. It also had Robert Duvall in it, as well as a few other familiar faces. Robert Duvall does the "I'm too tough to have weakness."

Downey played a NYC attorney who liked to win at all costs. The rest of the family stayed in Indiana, where the dad, played by Duvall, was a judge. Downey played the middle kid. Mom died, and the two men had to face each other. Fireworks ensued.

Why did I like this movie? I'm the middle kid. Middle kids suffer from not being good enough, and not being cute enough, to have "love". This was one of those movies that spoke to me on many levels. Yes, I realize that I can be a self-centered *** at times, but only when I'm feeling slighted. I promise.

The Judge may find its way into my video collection. No where can I fault the acting, and the story appeals to me. It is neither action/adventure nor SF, but it made my day.

BTW, there is a proverb that applies to birth order as well as the highway of opinion: "Standing in the middle of the road is the fastest way of being hit."

141014 SoA

I know and have known dozens of people who own motorcycles. Maybe a double handful of those Ride. Four Bikers have been close personal contacts. At least two of those associates are born again.

A month or so ago, two unrelated Facebook friends referenced a TV show known as The Sons of Anarchy. Good Internet had just been piped into my home, so I watched the first couple of seasons online.

Like a fifteen car pileup, it drew my attention. It took until the start of the third season for me to pull my eyes from it. Yes, there was a code of honor; there was the love of family; there was a kind of justice, but there was nothing inherently good about it. Hollywood keeps its characters in constant strife, and tweaks all story lines to conform to their own worldview. Truth doesn't matter.

Truth is, while isolated incidents and even some story lines were believable, the combination was not. There should have been more jail time, injury, and/or death for all. I know of only one old biker who still rides, and he does that only for show. Also, he has lost his hearing. Cops are not stupid, and in any department, more than one of them is going to be a 'straight arrow'. Based on these deviations from reality and the excessive emotional pain the characters constantly generate, I developed a great dislike for the show.

I realize that TV is not real, but Hollywood acts like they are showing the 'real deal' in their fiction. Actually, many writers such as myself do attempt to illustrate reality with our fiction. Aesop used stories to convey wisdom. Shakespeare and Steinbeck illustrated the human condition. Maybe that's why most of Hollywood disgusts me. It seems that they have completely abandoned this facet of fiction that reveals truth and replaced it with this facet of coercion. They seem obligated to drive home certain narratives without ever allowing certain alternate opinions or even facts that contradict.

My daughter told me that new experiences, even second-hand or fictional, cause the brain to produce dopamine. Even unpleasant experiences can cause the production of dopamine. That must be why SoA captured my attention. I am not, however, an addict (dependent personality disorder). Nope. Not me, but I was married to one.

In sixteen days, I may return to an old experience that causes a rush: NaNoWriMo. November is usually a tough month with many obligations, so maybe not. It is, however, my kind of fun! Certainly, I can do better than watching SoA!

120901 Barbara's Prompts

Which TV character, past or present, is most like you?

Dr. Rodney McKay is obnoxious, loud, self-centered, sometimes generous, at times brillant, but totally lacking in social acumen. He has to be right ALL the time as well as the center of attention. He acts like a hurt puppy, or a wounded bear, when anyone says anything against him. The only reason I am not exactly like this caracture of an immature super-genius rests in my adherence to the rightly-divided Word of God. (2 Timothy 2:15)