Are You Freaking Kidding Me?

Microsoft and really the whole gaming anti-piracy thing has finally crossed a very creepy, very 1984-y line. For a while, the story on everyone's lips was that the next Playstation and Xbox consoles would block used games but it seems that this may have been thrown out; which I'm thankful for because it just made already greedy-appearing companies appear even greedier.

I'm a dedicated gamer. I buy the games I want, used or new. I buy DVDs, too, rarely going in for downloads due to an obsession with physical copies of things lest the Internet collapse in on itself and my computer simultaneously explodes - at least I know I'll always have the hard copy.
And like anyone who owns a console, I use mine to watch films. Sometimes - shock! horror! - with more people than just myself and my girlfriend.

Well, looks like Microsoft is putting out a new patent which is going to make viewing films with 'too many' people more or less impossible, without buying an extra license. Yeah, that's right. In case you didn't click on that there link (you should), the article basically informs us that, well, here's a quote:

The abstract describes a camera-based system that would monitor the number of viewers in a room and check to see if the number of occupants exceeded a certain threshold set by the content provider. If there are too many warm bodies present, the device owner would be prompted to purchase a license for a greater number of viewers.From the abstract: “The users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.”

 This. Is. Ridiculous. While I may understand that copyright states I can't show a DVD on a jumbo screen in the middle of the city center, it is a whole different matter for it to tell me that I can't have a big group of over to watch it for a movie night. Now, admittedly, it doesn't say how many people is "too many" but still, I can't help but feel that this is just further shoving down our throats that we do not own the content we buy, we are merely renting it from the copyright owner, despite spending the money and being given a physical copy of the product.

On top of the legal mumbo-jumbo that's involved in this - which would make someone buy numerous licenses for one film/game/whatever as if it were a highly guarded piece of software like AVID or Adobe Creative Suite - I just simply don't like the idea of Microsoft having a direct camera into my living room without me knowing if anyone is watching at any given time.

Also, what's to prevent me from unplugging the damn thing when I watch a film? Will it not work? Will it be compulsory? Even worse. If it is, they sure won't be getting my business.

Mahalo.

The Year of Doing Things

A lot of people make New Year's resolutions. They make decisions that, in the new year, they will better themselves by quitting smoking, working out more, getting a girlfriend, losing a boyfriend, anything that they truly believe will shift the course of their lives. And to those people who stick to them, I salute you.

I don't like to make resolutions because I find that I don't really have anything to say other than "be better than last year". This year, however, is different. I've given my year a progress bar and a name. The Year of Doing Things. I am going to do things this year. All of them. All the things.

In the past, I've been either too lazy or too discouraged to go out and make the things I want happen. This year, I want to do things. I want to make at least two short films. I will post more music of my own creation to my YouTube page; maybe even poetry and spoken word readings. I will finish screenplays and work towards getting them made. I will get a literary agent. I will start acting again. I will go out to open mics and story nights and tell stories. I will become better at art. I will get my comic started up again.

I need to do these things or I will become lazy and fail. This will not happen.

Mahalo.

Another Soundtrack Rant

If I may, I'd like to return to the blog-verse with another rant about how awesome some soundtracks are. As I've discussed before I think that the soundtrack people are unsung heroes of video games. Well, I'm going to say it again.

While I'm back at a job that I hate - even more than I remember! - it's been made more bearable by some pretty great music. Admittedly, I've also been listening to the outstanding William Elliott Whitmore as well as video game soundtracks, but there's one in particular I'd like to mention here.

The Skyrim soundtrack is a goddamn masterpiece. Composed by the amazing Jeremy Soule, it's the right mix of relaxing, exciting and passionate. Ranging from the thundering highs of action chanting in true Norse form to very delicate ballad-like pieces designed for wandering about nature, the soundtrack makes working a menial job a lot more bearable.

Mahalo.

Good Job, Dr. Watson

In my recent quest to have my girlfriend watch more or less everything on my DVD shelf in our spare time, I recently finished re-watching the Steven Moffat series Sherlock. Besides enjoying the clever - and sometimes a bit cheesy - re-imagining of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle's classic stories and characters, I got to appreciate the performances of some pretty tremendous actors.

For those of you who don't know, besides writing, my dream is to act. I love to act. I love pretending to be someone else and say things and do things that I wouldn't normally do. To make people feel something. To make them laugh or cry or even just smile. I love it. Entertainment is the best thing ever. A lot of the time, when I watch films or commercials or TV shows, I pick out which character that not only I'd like to play but - more realistically - which one would I be cast as. When I watch Criminal Minds, I can see myself in the role of Dr. Reid portrayed by Matthew Gray Gubler. I always imagine that I could do any role given to Michael Cera or Jesse Eisenberg or Jay Baruchel.While watching Sherlock, I liked to pretend that I could play Holmes or Watson or Moriarty. If I just looked older.

But that's not really true.

Maybe I could do a decent job with Holmes or Moriarty (again, given I looked older than I do) but upon re-watching the final episode of the second season, I was struck once more by the simplicity and the haunting of Martin Freeman's delivery of Watson's final monologue in the graveyard. Martin Freeman was not only subtle but delicate, emotional but restrained. In short, it was perfect. Freeman evoked waterfalls of tears by the simplest intake of breath, always stopping himself short of out and out weeping. Because that's not what Watson would do.

I just wanted to say that Martin Freeman is an incredibly underrated and wonderful actor, and I look forward to The Hobbit.

Mahalo.

Week 18 - Catching Up!

Though in previous weeks I've been behind on my short story writing, this week marks a wonderful turn; I'm ahead. Yesterday, I spent most of the day scribbling out stories, which caught me up to this week's quota of 18 in total. I punched out the finish to a story I'd started weeks ago which desperately needed an ending; I wrote a short film which - as it is a short piece of fiction, totally counts - I'd been fermenting in my head for days; and the best one of all, I revisited an old favourite and wrote a new pulp piece featuring the heroic Captain Horatio Silverthorn. Anyone who'd like to read that joy, please just comment and I'll pass it along to you. This one's a doozy - airships!

I even started a new one today. A new story, when I don't have to! I've decided to get a head start on Week 19 so that way I don't fall so behind again.

All of this, of course, means I've fallen desperately and perhaps irretrievably behind on NaNoWriMo - but you know what? I don't care. I didn't really feel the impetus when I started this year's one and so I'm not perturbed by being so behind. It's been good to revisit the old story that I'd started so many years ago, work on that world again, but I think I'm going to do it at my own pace. When I have days where my mind just isn't conducive to writing and yet I am forced to, I just write out schlock that I know I'll have to remove or edit later, and I'd rather not do that labour. So, for now, I'll work on that beast when I feel I have the right reigns.

Mahalo.

Weeks 15, 16 & 17 - And NaNoWriMo

Jesus it's been another intense month. I've been terrible at updating and I apologize. I was doing so well there at the start, too.

In Week 15 I caught up to where I was supposed to be and started a Zombie short story but for some reason I couldn't finish it. It was just going to be too damn long and I didn't have the energy to sit and write a long piece. Then Week 16 rolled around. Just like I knew it would.

I started another story but it, too, I soon lost the taste for. I was losing my impetus. Starting to want to give up on this whole nasty, diabolical business. Sometimes, I still do. I know I did when Week 17 came upon me.

I managed to pump out a pulpy story about an explorer and quicksand and etc, etc. It was fun to write. Really fun. I miss writing pulp, so I think that'll be the case for the next few weeks.

And November started and so came NaNoWriMo again. For the third time. I wasn't going to do it initially - why do that when I have so much Bradbury-ing to do, right? Wrong. When so many people assaulted me with "are you?" and "why aren't you?" and "you should", I said what a madman says when asked if he hears voices, "yes".

I'm seven and a bit thousand words in now and I'm honestly not regretting it. I'm working on a story that I'd given up on a few years ago and it's good to settle into something like this. I'd clearly been reading a lot of Bukowski at the time. That feels good. Fun to write, too.

And then there's the comic. But that's a story for another blog post.

Mahalo.

UPDATE: 
I don't know how I forgot to mention this, but it seems I did and apologies to all those involved!
It was around week 16 that a friend, Mr. David Sander of Surfaces Rendered, came to me with a proposition. He gave me some work on editing his screenplay. I accepted and began to devour and twist and edit! That was something nice and different from my usual fare. With Final Draft open on my desktop each night, it was certainly a fruitful labour that continues!

Weeks 11, 12, 13 & 14

Argh! Well this has been the worst month for writing.
I missed one week and then another and another and before I knew it, three short stories behind. I managed to get one down but then a new week flipped over (14) and then I was still three behind!
I scribbled out another one, just something short and weird and kind of erotic and I don't know why but it's there and it's done and it's something to mark on the tally.
I was debating starting to write an issue of the comic or the pilot of my TV show I want to do but that seems like cheating. It is, right? Right.
I'm pushing out the last two now and it's just a fierce bastard to do. It's amazing how you completely reset to absolute zero when you miss out on a couple of weeks of this. Shit. It builds up like NaNoWriMo and resets your mind to NOTHINGNESS.
Irritating.
Once again, if anyone wants to read these things, let me know.

Mahalo.