Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Arrandene, Mill Hill, London
I went for a long walk around the Arrandene nature reserve the other day. Originally I had a little slideshow going on in this blog entry, but I have decided to remove it as it uses up a lot of bandwidth - not a problem for those of us with unmetered broadband or better, but too slow or costly for some viewers. So, instead, if you would like to see the pictures, you can go to my Web Album.
How's the Writing Going?
Actually, quite well. The question is, though, how do I figure out how much is still to be done? Today I reached 30,000 words, i.e., 50% of my original estimate of 60,000 words.
However, I am certainly more than halfway through the story. Counting scenes in the script, I am up to scene 86 of 116. That's 74%. That seems more like it! I think I had better count it that way in future. So, I am almost three-quarters of the way through the first draft. Excellent!
However, I am certainly more than halfway through the story. Counting scenes in the script, I am up to scene 86 of 116. That's 74%. That seems more like it! I think I had better count it that way in future. So, I am almost three-quarters of the way through the first draft. Excellent!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Big Brother 8
This year's Big Brother 8 (UK) has begun so my annual addiction to this programme has begun too. I even auditioned for it last year! Sadly, I didn't make it through to the programme, but maybe I have been saved for something better. ;-) But... why do I like this detestable programme, you might ask? Isn't it voyeuristic, moronic, and salacious? Well, yes.
In fact, I think the series suffers from one rather strange paradox: the more detested the programme is, the more it is worth showing. My position on it is a bit like Oscar Wilde's when he said, "An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." Big Brother certainly causes controversy, and flushes out the usual rent-a-quote MP's. But controversy is not a bad thing: it allows society to evolve peacefully, after all. It is one of the bases of our much-neglected democracy. And with the average viewer having between 30 and 400 channels to choose from on the TV, plus much more on the Internet, they really don't have to watch it if they don't want to.
There is another aspect to the series as well. Unlike other programmes, you actually get to know the characters of real people. What happens in the house is not scripted or limited by the imaginations of scriptwriters and producers. You have to use your social skills to get the best out of this programme, unlike any other (except perhaps some of its imitators). This is what is truly novel about it: it requires a different kind of intelligence to watch: social intelligence and emotional intelligence. With ordinary programmes, if you can stay awake long enough to watch them, there is little requirement for intelligence on the part of the viewer: we are spoon-fed the 'entertainment' or 'information' and that is all that is expected of us (other than to watch the spam - sorry, adverts). But if you watch Big Brother passively, you will miss out on exercising your brain. The housemates are constantly jockeying for position, changing tactics, lying, being friendly (genuinely and not so genuinely sometimes), and so on. Are you able, after years of watching passive TV, even capable of keeping track of their relationships? Can you figure out who will win?
Steven Johnson explains these ideas in more detail in his book, Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Popular Culture Is Making Us Smarter
. I don't recommend betting if you're prone to addiction, but whether you bet or not, you can get a good idea of what the public thinks of the housemates by looking at their odds of winning at oddschecker.com. Betting odds are likely to be a better guide to what is really going to happen than what the pundits say: after all people are putting their money on it!
In fact, I think the series suffers from one rather strange paradox: the more detested the programme is, the more it is worth showing. My position on it is a bit like Oscar Wilde's when he said, "An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." Big Brother certainly causes controversy, and flushes out the usual rent-a-quote MP's. But controversy is not a bad thing: it allows society to evolve peacefully, after all. It is one of the bases of our much-neglected democracy. And with the average viewer having between 30 and 400 channels to choose from on the TV, plus much more on the Internet, they really don't have to watch it if they don't want to.
There is another aspect to the series as well. Unlike other programmes, you actually get to know the characters of real people. What happens in the house is not scripted or limited by the imaginations of scriptwriters and producers. You have to use your social skills to get the best out of this programme, unlike any other (except perhaps some of its imitators). This is what is truly novel about it: it requires a different kind of intelligence to watch: social intelligence and emotional intelligence. With ordinary programmes, if you can stay awake long enough to watch them, there is little requirement for intelligence on the part of the viewer: we are spoon-fed the 'entertainment' or 'information' and that is all that is expected of us (other than to watch the spam - sorry, adverts). But if you watch Big Brother passively, you will miss out on exercising your brain. The housemates are constantly jockeying for position, changing tactics, lying, being friendly (genuinely and not so genuinely sometimes), and so on. Are you able, after years of watching passive TV, even capable of keeping track of their relationships? Can you figure out who will win?
Steven Johnson explains these ideas in more detail in his book, Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Popular Culture Is Making Us Smarter
. I don't recommend betting if you're prone to addiction, but whether you bet or not, you can get a good idea of what the public thinks of the housemates by looking at their odds of winning at oddschecker.com. Betting odds are likely to be a better guide to what is really going to happen than what the pundits say: after all people are putting their money on it!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
No Topic
I've called this entry 'No Topic' as I don't have any particular topic to write about: I'm in a non-write-about-it frame of mind lately - hence the lack of entries for the last few days. Nevertheless, some more writing has been accomplished.
And some surfing... Did you know some people are trying to build a time machine? And not using a black hole - that method is old hat:
On a totally different slant, have you ever tried hurling yourself down a 1:1 slope (that's 45 degrees - I don't know what it is in percentage units: 50% of vertical, I suppose)? Well, at Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, people do it every year in a stupid old festival that allows grazing rights on common land or some such. It is a race in which the contestants chase after... a piece of cheese. Yes. Cheese. Double Gloucester, to be exact. I was actually present one year. A woman was knocked unconscious by the aforementioned cheese as it bounced into the crowd. This video shows the 2007 event:
Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling - Watch more free videos
After all that excitement, how about a bit of cyberwar? It seems somebody is attacking the government of Estonia - they suspect the Kremlin. Alternatively, how about a bit of art? It takes a few moments to load (it is a flash drawing), but it is worth the wait. Click and drag up or down with your mouse to move in or out.
And some surfing... Did you know some people are trying to build a time machine? And not using a black hole - that method is old hat:
On a totally different slant, have you ever tried hurling yourself down a 1:1 slope (that's 45 degrees - I don't know what it is in percentage units: 50% of vertical, I suppose)? Well, at Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, people do it every year in a stupid old festival that allows grazing rights on common land or some such. It is a race in which the contestants chase after... a piece of cheese. Yes. Cheese. Double Gloucester, to be exact. I was actually present one year. A woman was knocked unconscious by the aforementioned cheese as it bounced into the crowd. This video shows the 2007 event:
Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling - Watch more free videos
After all that excitement, how about a bit of cyberwar? It seems somebody is attacking the government of Estonia - they suspect the Kremlin. Alternatively, how about a bit of art? It takes a few moments to load (it is a flash drawing), but it is worth the wait. Click and drag up or down with your mouse to move in or out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)