Sunday, February 11, 2007
Idols
More CDs from more American Idol season 5 contestants have come out or are coming out. Some I wasn’t even aware of until now.
First, second place winner Katherine McPhee came out with a very standard pop album that is in keeping with the current music sounds. Not very inspiring or original and it doesn’t use her great voice to it’s abilities, which is a shame. She could go into Christina Aguilara’s territory and pull it off, but no.
Next up, to my surprise, Alya Brown put out a CD in October. It’s not bad. She was in the top 12 end eliminated early. But she brought game to every show she was on. She just wasn’t as experienced a singer as the others. But she obviously got some practice because she sounds great on her new CD. Forward. It’s available on iTunes for a sample.
Following that up is Elliot Yamin’s first CD simply titled Elliot Yamin (most Idol CDs have the name of the star, it seems). Even though I ragged on the guy last year, I am really looking forward to it because he improved by leaps and bounds in a very short time, making it to third place last year. He is definitely a great singer, so I’m interested in what he does. The CD comes out on March 20th.
And finally, Bucky Covington has a CD coming out. It’s called Bucky and it’s due out April 17th. Bucky was a very likable country singer. I will definitely give it a listen when it comes out.
Now we’e on to a whole new season of Idol. Next week they will start doing their eliminations. So I may go back to doing reviews since i had so much fun last year.
No one has grabbed my attention so far, the way Taylor Hicks did from the start. But they seem to have another year of some talented people. And some smoking hot women this year. Wow.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Thriller Wedding
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Secrets of Writing: ScenesNow that we understand polarity, we can talk about scenes. Scenes are the smallest component of the story, after panels. They are like miniature stories within the story. And they should follow the same basic formula of story structure. A>B
A is the hero of the scene. B is the conflict/villain standing in the way. C is the Grail.
If we look at the one act comic strip as an example. We see that one character is usually talking to another character. Character A wants something, be it information, attention, money, etc. Character B is always going to resist in some way. The punchline of a comic strip is how they resist. Usually it’s with some joke that has a negative effect on character A. So we see polarity in action. Comic strips almost always start positive and end negative because humor is usually found in pain.
A scene should follow the rules of the one act story. The ending should have some kind of punchline at the end. A pay off. This gives the scene it’s own premise, which gives it weight.
The average scene in a comic takes up one or two pages. The one page scene is a good size because you can set up a tight series of panels to get to a quick punch at the end. But when you need a long scene you can add pages or panels until you accomplish the length you want.
A scene in a book or a movie can take a few pages (or a few minutes) but remember that the length of a scene controls the energy of the story flow. A short scene is punchy. If it’s too short it won’t have much impact. If it’s too long it can bore the audience or make them lose their attention to what the scene is about. Focus is your critical element. You need to focus on what the scene is about and not be distracted with being cute or showing off something that is not part of that scene. Remember that a scene has to have a point, just like a story. And the ending of the scene has to deliver the story something to move it forward.
When you try to put more than one scene on a page you need to make sure they are compatible. The Audience should have a sense that this next scene is somehow linked to the events of the storyline in a logical progression from the last scene. Otherwise it’s rather jarring to make a jump from one into something completely different in tone and pace.
Another thing to remember when doing one page scenes (in comics) is that even numbered pages are what you see when you turn a page, odd numbered pages are the page you have to turn. Therefore, the last panel on an odd numbered page can be used to set up a surprise when the reader turns the page. The only thing that can screw you up are the advertisements. You may have to find out where they normally get placed or ask that the ads don’t effect something you’ve set up. They can usually play around with the ads to accommodate the needs of your story.
The panel count to a scene should be based on the type of actions taking place. The kinetic principle holds that the shorter the scene, the faster the pace. If you want to slow things down, add more panels and make scenes longer. By the same token, double page spreads are very static to look at, even when they are action shots. A choreographed series of panels showing action cinematically flows in a more exciting manner.
REMEMBER: Scenes are like miniature stories. Make them end with a pay off.
The 20th Century. He was a movie star. Sort of. He also used to get rides to school by Samuel Beckett, the playwright. Beckett wrote “Waiting for Godot” so you could say he was waiting for Beckett.
Anyway, this amazing drinker did 7,000 calories worth of booze every single day. Yeah.
At CES today, Apple released details of it’s new iPhone which is the long awaited merging of a computer with a phone that we’ve been seeing with things like Blackberrys. But this is the kind of interface that is much more appealing. For one thing, it doesn’t have a tiny keyboard taking up real estate. The screen is the keyboard.
I’ve been dreaming of suck a device for awhile now. But I will need more info before I buy one.
There’s lots more info on it at Gizmodo.
UPDATE: The official site. Very nice.
Here’s a classic example where multi-culturalism is a burden to society. The arrogance displayed by CAIR in this instance is typical, which is why they should be shunned and ignored.
Islamic taxi drivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are refusing passengers carrying alcohol and blind folks with seeing-eye dogs because the animals’ saliva is sacrilege according to Sharia law.
The enterprising Muslims during the past year have stranded 100 passengers a month, sometimes for more than an hour, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, since three-fourths of the 900 taxi drivers servicing the airport are Somali Muslims who have decided to participate in the new discipline.
To make matters worse, a local outreach director of the ever-obliging Council on American-Islamic Relations, Damon Drake, dismissed the issue, saying, “Now that the Muslims are here, they need to be accommodated.”
The issue originated 12 months ago when the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society. It stated that “Islamic jurisprudence” prohibits taxi drivers to carry passengers with alcohol “because it involves cooperating in sin.” Damn! Some of these are amazing...ly stupid.
The most popular Britney Spears fan Web site WorldOfBritney.com is closing after its owner declared the controversial pop star is “done.”
Ruben Garay, who has hosted WorldOfBritney.com since October 2000, yesterday announced the site will no longer exist after January 31 because the singer is “losing her identity and credibility with fans and industry people.” This site has lots of pictures of some of the developments going on in Dubai, which include the world’s tallest buildings, the world’s largest amusement park, the first underwater hotel, hundreds of man-made private islands, the world’s largest waterfront development.
Personally, I think it’s good to see an Islamic country channel its energies and money into something constructive, instead of destructive. I wish more of them would follow suit.
Audio Book Podcasts of classic literature.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Drunk of the Century
Computer/Phone/iPod
Monday, January 08, 2007
Outrage Dujour
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
World’s Worst Tattoos
Friday, December 29, 2006
Ouch of the Day
Crazy Dubai
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Open Culture
