The Blarg

I want to post, but I don’t have anything specific to talk about. Ever since the last election I really haven’t cared about politics that much. I still have opinions, and I still love talk radio, but I just don’t care enough to post on here and try to convince anyone. Maybe I need some big issue/topic to come around that really lights a fire beneath me, but that hasn’t happened yet.

I’m working on my novel idea, and it’s an amazingly big project. Granted I’ve never written a 100k+ word story, so this is brand new territory for me. I started with a central theme which I could tell you in one sentence, but that has to turn into numerous characters and a lot more detail to be a full story. It’s been a slow process with lots of changes, but it’s gradually taking shape. I’ve done a lot of reading about port security and nuclear weapons, but that’s all I can tell you right now. Typing about it makes me want to go work on it, so I should finish this up.

MRI is moving to San Diego! Congratulations!

I played Wario Ware the other day at a friends house. It was actually pretty fun, but not for $50. If it comes down in price I’d get it.

Heroes on Monday was downright SICK! I believe that’s the new cool word for, well, “cool.” It’s so SICK, I bet it would even be cool in regular non-hdtv.

Ok, I’m outta here.

Nothing very exciting to report. I got a little sick yesterday, but here’s hoping it’s a short cold. We went over to MRI’s house on Friday for some food and social activity which was nice. She finds out today where she gets to do her internship, so give her site a visit. I’m sure it will be up as soon as she knows.

I found this cool tv ratings chart that shows all the primetime shows and their ratings. Good to see Heroes is just as popular if not a little more than 24 going head to head in the same time slot.

Hope everyone has a great week doing whatever it is you do.

Today I started sketching out some notes for a real novel. My first attempt was about Moltar. Aliens invade the bodies of a family to infiltrate and destroy the world. I got a few notes down, but it seemed like a really bad Disney movie. Then I started sketching notes on another idea I had. In about 20 minutes I had a full front and back page covered!  Let me backtrack for a moment.

One of the things I haven’t looked forward to about trying to write a novel is research. As I’ve considered novel ideas I’ve gravitated towards highly fantasy ideas, and areas where I can just create characters, settings, and plots out of thin air. As I started to think about this new idea though, I quickly realized that wouldn’t be possible. The problem is my brain might know a lot, but it’s nowhere near enough to fill an entire novel. A necessary evil when trying to write a story is learning new things to populate that story.

That brings me back to today. As I took notes and started brainstorming, there were certain aspects that I clearly would have to research. Not just to make the story better, but to make it at all. If you want to write a story about a dragon, you obviously need to know about dragons. If not, your plot and characters will suffer. If you don’t know that dragons breathe fire, your story about dragons is going to be missing key elements, like fire. Same goes for the story I’m thinking about writing. I wish I knew everything, but my knowledge is limited, and without a little research the story would be limited. Thank goodness for wikipedia. After a few hours reading not only did I have a better understanding of certain technical aspects of the story, but the researching alone gave me new ideas.

I want to spend another week or two brainstorming and creating a huge foundation to build upon. After that it’s simply a matter of time. Anyone can write a story, but not everyone is willing to put in the time. Here’s hoping I find the time and motivation.

GO DODGERS!!!

This is a recurring short story that I can write in spurts. There is no real beginning or end, but will simply chronicle the mishaps of a pizza delivery man. It is most certainly inspired by my time as a pizza delivery truck driver, but as you will see, the similarities stop there.

    A couple of shady looking characters walked into Mancini’s Pizza in Santa Monica. The elderly lady, and what appeared to be her granddaughter, were obviously up to no good. They approached the counter. The owner, Mr. Biagio Mancini, waitied warily behind the register. He’d seen their kind before, and at the tender age of 74, he was suspicious of everyone.
    “Excuse me sir,” the old woman asked in a frail voice, “But could you change our dollar for quarters?”
    At least five times a day this happened. The parking outside, save for two spots reserved for Mancini’s Pizza, were all metered. People like these two sorry beggars were the bane of Biagio Mancini’s existence.
    “What? I’m so so sorry. You think this is a bank, no? Down the street, you go the bank.” Mr. Mancini’s aged voice had practiced this line countless times.
    “Oh, no sir, we just needed change for the meter and wondered-”
    “Yes, yes, you and everybody else. No change! You go now!”
    “But just four quarters sir…”
    Mancini’s Italian accent grew thicker with his anger. In a whisper the woman could barely hear he said “Get out of my store.”
    “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
    Mancini reached for the long metal pole used to reach deep into the pizza oven. Using both hands he held the pole like a warrior headed to battle.
    In a slightly louder voice he said again, “Get out of my store.”
    The woman looked downright confused and began to back away from the crazed grey haired man.
    “Get out of my store,” Mancini said, now slightly louder than the average speaking voice.
    “What a sad old man-”
    “Get out of my store!” he said, now at yelling volume. He muttered Italian curse words of the foulest nature under his breathe.
    The old lady and her granddaughter hastened their pace and left the store without quarters.

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I remember hearing that all Lakers games will be broadcast in HD from here on out, but I don’t remember hearing that so will the DODGERS games! KCAL will broadcast all their Dodgers games this season in HD. In case you’re not a Dodgers or HD fan, last year all the games were in old blurry SD tv. Even the rare FOX televised games on Saturdays weren’t true HD. I’m way excited about this. You can check the schedule here.

We don’t have satellite or cable tv, but I was curious to see how much it would cost to get the Dodgers cable games in HD. Sadly it’s not that easy to figure out. The cable games are broadcast on FSN Prime Ticket, but it’s not clear if all of the games are in HD, or only some of them. That being said, Direct TV’s cheapest HD package is $55, but that doesn’t include the regional sports networks. To get FSN you have to pay another $10 or so. Then if you want a DVR it’s a one time fee of $200. All of this for games that may or may not be in HD on FSN Prime Ticket.

Obviously you get more than Dodgers games for your $65 a month, but I’ve got plenty to watch on regular TV, and I don’t need to watch every Dodgers game. A couple games in HD a week for FREE will be plenty.

In case you haven’t been reading as I’ve been posting, or you would like to print out and read the whole thing together, I’ve made a PDF version.

Nice Guy, No Hope

Here are the final two installments to my first “real” story. It’s a little longer than previous chapters, so make sure you have a few minutes to spare. I hope you enjoy.

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I am a definite HD lover, but I have yet to jump into the HD-DVD or BluRay battle for a couple reasons. The main reason is that I see little reason at this point. Movies cost a lot, players cost a lot, and there just aren’t a lot of choices in terms of titles to watch. The second major factor has been the undecided “battle” between the formats. I read an interesting article talking about how that is playing out here. It sounds like BluRay is strategically placing itself to win. Seeing how I’ve yet to invest in either, I think that’s a good thing. It’s the superior technology, and it would give me a good excuse to buy a PS3 in the future.

Today in some of my classes I showed a video about building a gigantic skyscraper in Spain. My intention was to show students a couple things. One, that the math they are learning is still very basic, and there are applications in the real world that require math far more advanced than they have even been exposed to. The second was to show them that there is more to life than idiot A said something mean about idiot B, and that there is more to strive for than being a loser.

I’ve been listening to a few new albums lately. Right now it’s the new Fall Out Boy CD. I’m not as impressed as the last one, but there are some notable tunes on it. Other albums I’m diggin’ are by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Paramore.

Tim Hardway said he hates gay people. The NBA said don’t come to the All-Star game. Larry Elder was suggesting it was hypocritical of the NBA, and I agree. After all, if the NBA doesn’t care that a large portion of it’s players are actual criminals (here), then why should they care what a retired player says?

It’s a long weekend. I have plans to finish my story, grade some papers, and relax!