Lucky Seven

I got tagged by Julie Butcher earlier tonight to do this Lucky Seven thingie.

The rules to the Lucky Seven are as follows:

*Open the document for your current MS/WIP

*Go to page 7 or to page 77

*Go to line 7

*Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them exactly as they are written. No changing or cheating!

*Tag 7 authors and let them know.

So, from page 7 of the WiP–

It had a wire-wrapped hilt, a small rounded pommel, and a crosspiece curved slightly upward at the ends.  This thing was Excalibur?  Okay, yeah, it was sharper than it looked.

Surely, it wasn’t, though.

“Yes, that is Excalibur.  And don’t call me Shirley.”

I blinked at him.

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John Carter

Rob and I saw John Carter this afternoon.  Rob’s read the books; I haven’t.  I’m glad we had the chance to see it before the theaters stopped showing it.  We did see it in 3D–all the early showings, at least here, are all 3D–and I thought it was similar to Phantom Menace, where the 3D enhanced and gave depth.

This doesn't even do it justice.

The movie is gorgeous.  But that should be expected, since the director is the same guy who made Wall-E and Finding Nemo.  And it was fun.  Plenty of action, plenty of romance, and all of it evenly balanced.  At least to me.

I am sad that the movie’s not doing that well, and that it seems like the theaters are doing almost everything they can to move it along and get rid of it.  From one article I’ve read about John Carter’s marketing, it did poorly for several reasons.  The highlights of that article–Andrew Stanton hadn’t made a live action movie before, and he was learning as he went so he didn’t have the flashy action scenes ready for trailers; the first teaser was slow and had no action, and another was all incoherent action.

It didn’t help that people saw the trailer and started saying that it was ripping off Star Wars, Avatar, and other movies.  Except, ya know, the book John Carter is (mostly) based on, A Princess of Mars, was written in 1917.  …Yeah.  But then, I’ve also actually heard people say, about Lord of the Rings, “Look, they wrote a book based on the movie.”

The score also helped make the movie.  Now, I want to own it.  Plus, some of the track names amuse me–“The Blue Light Special,” “A Thern Warning.”  Since the composer is Michael Giacchino, I’m not surprised.  Some of the scores I’ve seen from him have track names like that.

So, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, go see it.  And if you have?  Go see it again.  I would, but I need to write.

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2D glasses

When Rob and I went to see Phantom Menace 3D, one of the reasons we’d waited awhile was because of his eyes-recovering from the detached retina and all.  Because of that, we weren’t entirely sure how well he’d be able to see 3D movies yet, or if he’d even be able to.

So, I ordered the 2D glasses from ThinkGeek.com.

2D and 3D glasses, side by side

The glasses were originally one of the April Fool’s products.  But the really cool thing with Think Geek is that when enough people show interest, they’ll turn the April Fool’s products into real ones.  Other things that started out like this–the TaunTaun sleeping bag, iCade, canned unicorn meat(this one has one of the funniest stories).  They have some pretty cool April Fool’s stuff, though not all ends up as real products.

But back to the glasses.  They look exactly like 3D glasses, aside from the writing on the side, and yes, they do work like they say.  We took them to Phantom Menace, and Rob tried them with a trailer.  After checking the 3D glasses to see that, yes, he can use them.  He gave me the 2D glasses to check, and yup, the 3D trailer went 2D when I put them on.  And this was putting them on over the 3D glasses over my glasses.

back view

We’ll likely take them with us now, just in case–sometimes the motion blur can bother me, and sometimes Rob still has a bit of trouble with his eye.  But for people who get headaches, motion sickness, and whatnot from 3D, or just can’t go to 3D movies for whatever reason, these are good to have.  And in response to the likely “Why don’t you just see it in 2D?” that’s sure to pop up, sometimes your friends or family want to see 3D, and sometimes, like with Star Wars, seeing it in 3D is the entire point of going.

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Geek happy

I’m a happy geek today.  Rob and I went to see Phantom Menace 3D. If I hadn’t gotten to see it, I would’ve been pretty unhappy.  I mean, really, it’s Star Wars.  In a theater.  And I don’t give a rat’s ass about whether people love or hate it.  I’m entertained.  Enough with the vitriol, okay?

I quite liked the 3D conversion.  There was none of the in-your-face, stuff-flying-at-your-face gimmicks.  All Lucas did was add a depth of field to the movie.  Which added to the overall experience.  Yeah, there were some times where parts were still flat, but you can’t expect every leaf on every tree and every blade of grass to be converted.  It was more akin to watching action on a stage.  Aside from the closeups and all.

For me, it’s all about the experience.  The sounds, the music, the images.  I will go see Star Wars anytime it’s showing in a theater for that reason.  It leaves me wanting more, wanting to rewatch the rest and experience them again.  It’s that whimsy and wonder that makes me want to create.

When we got to the theater, there were maybe three other groups of people.  By the time the 20th Century Fox fanfare began, the theater was decently full.  Mostly families.  When we walked out of the building, there were a few kids making lightsaber sounds and spinning and whirling and pretending to fight.  That?  That’s why I’m glad the movies continue to be released and why I’m tired of all the arguments.

Cause really, it’s Star Wars.  Sit back and enjoy the ride, and don’t think too hard.  Don’t get hung up on what you think it could’ve been, what you think it should’ve been.  Chances are, you wouldn’t have been happy, no matter what Lucas did.  Just let your inner child out and enjoy it, and afterward, pretend to have lightsaber fights with your friends.

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Too cold to write

I want to be writing.  I would be writing, if it weren’t so cold in the house.  Sometimes, I go outside, and it’s warmer outside than inside.

I could wear layers-in the past I have-and it’s still cold in my room.  Rob says I have poor circulation because I’m always cold.  Except if that were the case, wouldn’t it be my extremities-fingers, toes, etc-that would be cold?

This starts with the tops of my thighs and the backs of my upper arms.  And this can happen when I’m wearing a thermal shirt, a t-shirt, and a hoodie.  My nose and fingers do eventually get cold, which can make it even more difficult to write.

The heat is set to come on when the temp in the living room is about 65.  Or at scheduled times, like 5am, 7am, 4:30pm, 6pm, midnight.  Or something like that.

So I’m thinking that I’ll be heading to Lowe’s, or Home Depot, to get a small space heater because I’m tired of being too cold to write and having to hunch over myself to stay warm so that I can try to write.

The only other option is to go into a different room, and I know I won’t get much writing done if I do that.  Gaming computer and TV in the bedroom.  Not conducive to getting words out.

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