Neil Gaiman on freelancing, being creative, and being successful in arts.
“More and more of today’s world is freelance because the work is good, they’re easy to get along with and because they deliver the work on time; and you don’t even need all three. Two out of three is fine.”
Was the Avengers really that good? A dissenting opinion
Image from this website.
I’ve heard everyone from film critics to common movie fans state their unfettered love of The Avengers. The movie has a 93% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and has been praised for everything including its dialog, pacing, visual effects and casting.
But was it really that good? Consider this a dissenting opinion.
The movie was overall enjoyable, but in hindsight, largely forgettable. Thinking about it now, only a few scenes have been added to the trailer that was injected into my brain for the past year in various media—a snarky comment or a particular visual effect.
It seemed that when the movie had no larger ambitions than to be a summer blockbuster, and that any themes that may have expanded its intellectual reach were quickly painted over. At risk of being a spoiler, I will say that the one scene in which Shield’s true intention for Phase 2 of its secret project is revealed has no impact the rest of the movie; the heroes continue on their way to stop the villain and the villain continues his plot.
For the Avengers to turn on Shield and its board of shadowy figures would have been an unexpected left-turn for the movie. But I guess it’s not in the long-term plans for the franchise. A lost opportunity, in my opinion.
Back to the immediate threat: a rather bland and recycled villain in Loki - an evil mastermind whose plot to take over the world is no more creative than super weapon + army = world domination. We know this from the very first scene of the movie and very little changes in this arc.
Ottawa's Fall Down Gallery About More Than Paintings
I had a great time talking to Robbie Lariviere for this article. We talked in the basement at Fall Down Gallery, near the corner of Bank St. and Somerset St. West.
It’s the sort of place where the community matters as much as the location and the products. They host events on a regular basis and they’re celebrating their first anniversary along with dance studio Flavor Factory tonight! (Saturday, April 28, 2012).
White Guilt & Groupon
White people agree (and others concur): Indian food is fantastic.
So when the Groupon for $30 worth of Indian food for $15 comes up, any white man with half a tongue will gladly jump on that deal. I certainly did.
But knowing the mathematics of Groupon makes them… let’s just say ackward to use.
I waltz into the shop with a hidden, golden secret. They seat me - still unknowing - and place a menu in front of me.
A shameful secret
It’s time to break the bad news: “Yeah, hi there… we have a Groupon… I hope that’s cool.”
If it wasn’t cool, we would probably stick around and have the butter chicken just as a means of apologizing for having gaul of asking for 50% off. And worse yet: doing the dirty deal behind the server’s back over a week ago!
“No problem. That’s good for all food and drink except alcohol.”
I resist the urge to order 10 beers off the bat to end the indentured servant-powdered wig aristocrat relationship that has now been established. (Conflicting historical references notwithstanding.)
Knowing the economics of the Groupon makes the relationship all the more shameful. Of the $30 value that was bought for $15, only $7.50 will land in the coffers of the establishment. The remainder will go toward boosting Q2 2012 revenues for NASDAQ:GRPN in hopes of a 2014 Class B stock split and 3% investor dividend! Fuck yeah!
What I presume Game Of Thrones is like
I have never seen Game Of Thrones, but I do have a twitter account. From tidbits of commentary and off-the-cuff remarks, I have created a scene that might appear in the show based on my random encounters with fans of the program. Am I close?
Messenger of Landholdion: Greetings, King of Regionalia! My King sends his tidings in this time of war.
King of Regionalia: Your King is a fool! His incompetence has allowed the hoards from the north to invade unmolested!
Messenger of Landholdion: But… my King left the north unprotected as your virgin daughter was meant to marry the viking prince to reinforce our defences to the north!
King of Regionalia: My daughter shall never give her hand to viking scum!
The impulse to perfection cannot exist where the definition of perfection is the arbitrary decision of authority. That which is born in loneliness and from the heart cannot be defended against the judgment of a committee of sycophants.
Community writer Tim Saccardo (@TimSaccardo) posted this picture on his twitter account today. It looks like where I want to be.
Netflix original series will change the course of TV history
I’m left wondering why folks aren’t in the streets raving about the TV breakthrough that occurred just yesterday: Netflix released its first original series.
You’re right. It sounds kind of dull. AMC has their own series, so does HBO - for that matter, so do ABC and NBC and CBC.
So why is this a breakthrough? Because my TV only has one cord connecting it to the wall: the power cord.
With Netflix releasing its first original series, a crime(-comedy? …from what I can tell from the trailer…) called Lilyhammer and releasing it exclusively through their Internet video streaming service, we’re seeing the first time an online-only TV network is taking on the big guys with its own content, rather than buying content from them.
(And I’m not talking some 10-minute The Office webisode bullshit here)
Starting to get it?
For the first time, a non-legacy TV network (i.e.: no antennae or government funding in its past) is competing with major networks for eyeballs on a nightly basis, and doing so without broadcasting through traditional means.
…and leaving out the commercials too.
Now, consumers don’t have to buy a 24-hour network in order to get the content they want. Also, TV content producers now have the means to pitch a show outside of the big networks and the cable channels and get viewers’ attention.
Think about it: Netflix could add a comedy show (as it plans to do with Arrested Development in 2013), a daily news broadcast, and the rights to stream or replay sporting events and we will have a truly new kind of TV network.
Netflix also adds a new facet to TV series in that it will never tie its content to a broadcast schedule; it is releasing Lilyhammer in one eight-episode chunk. It’s not competing with Mad Men Sundays at 10pm; watch Lilyhammer all at once, or on Monday and Wednesday every other month.
It seems dull because all of the changes are below the surface. Consumers don’t care how the show appears on the TV, they want good quality programming and a reasonable price point.
Well, Netflix has driven the first significant stake into the heart of traditional TV programming, and TV production and viewing will never be the same again.
Review: Infamous 2 - A Spark Of Brilliance
Is it hard to write a good video game review? I got three new video games in the mail last week and I’m reviewing the first of them, Infamous 2, to see if I’m any good. Let me know if you found this a good summary and evaluation of the game.
I can remember my most frustrating moments in the original Infamous. As bike messenger-turned-electric-superhero Cole McGrath, I’m hopping across rooftops trying to get to my next mission across town, when a gang of criminals would spot me from street-level or from an adjacent building and begin firing their sub-machine guns in my direction.
It seemed that 30% of the hundreds of bullets shot at me would connect. While I was jumping manically for cover behind building-top air conditioners or ducking into alleys, the thugs would continue to shoot and eventually track me down. Sometimes, their incredible accuracy could kill me before I could even find cover.
We need more power!
I could huddle behind that air conditioner and peek over its top, shooting an electric burst at my assailants, hoping to take him down before a rogue bullet caught me. But as a character in a well-written story with dozens of missions to tackle, I’ve got better shit to do than defend myself from a passing random thug.
It was a regular occurence and one that killed the momentum of an otherwise enjoyable gameplay experience. In other words, for a game that tells the story of an average man given incredible power, the ordeal left me with a feeling of powerlessness.
Be in love with yr life
Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
Blow as deep as you want to blow
Write what you want bottomless from the bottom of the mind
Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
