Guardians, Good Days and Getting Things Done

The word of the week is formidable.

July 28 - Already?

Where has half the summer gone?

It's hard to believe that July is finished and done as of this week. I've been concentrating so hard on my novel and my new job that time has just flown, to the point where I haven't really done much in terms of going places or seeing people this summer.

All in all that's not such a bad thing, though on occasion I think about how we only get a few decades to do all this before we're past wanting to get out and do things on a regular basis.

For me, some things have already 'gone' and I'm not talking about my hearing. No, it's all about finding time these days and something that's gone by the wayside along with my Olympic-level reading list has been television and game-playing. Not to mention socialization, but I'm hanging on by my fingertips in that aspect of my life with the hopes that I can get a better grip on it early next year when the first draft of my second novel is done.

I've noticed a difference already in my general fitness level; not having to cycle about 400 km every month really does make for reduced energy levels. Not to mention a subtle weight gain of a few pounds, which for me isn't much overall but I've still noticed the change. Being someone who now only has sugar occasionally, I'll have to work on the exercise portion of my lifestyle to ensure that I make up for my admittedly sedentary day job and writing habits both of an evening.

If I could figure out how to dictate creatively while riding a bicycle and not get myself injured, I do it in a heartbeat. Hmmm…

Maybe I should buy an exercise bike for my living room?

July 29 - Lucy

What's that - a film about ultimate intelligence?

Count me in and even better: Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson!

I have to admit, I didn't look into the film all that much before going to see it tonight because, as I mentioned just above, it's a film examining intelligence and the fact that such a beast made it to theaters with a decent budget speaks volumes about its content even though it's only an hour and a half long.

Did I mention it also stars Morgan Freeman, in his usual Genial Scientist role? He's got it down pat by now; here he is with Scarlett:

As to the film itself, I won't give you any spoilers and will only say that I thought the concepts presented were fairly interesting overall, but the director, Luc Besson of The Fifth Element, didn't do much with them save use the concept as a setup for gun battles and car chases. 

Kinda disappointing. If you want a spoiler-heavy( and not positive, by the by )review of the film, click HERE.

At the end of the movie, I was left wanting more to have been done on the main topic. It actually encapsulated some of the thoughts I've had, on and off, ever since I was a kid, regarding intelligence. What if someone suddenly became 'super-smart' ? If they did, what would they do with that gift and why? There's a whole long line of questions you can pursue in that direction of reasoning and it's unfortunate that the movie didn't do more than touch the surface of any of them.

Which was rather dumb, in my opinion.

July 30 - Barbarian Rewards

I'm quite excited today: I have a new comic to read - sort of.

It's a crossover comic, which I'm glad to say I've seen a lot more of in the last few years. Publishers seem to be getting the hint that the storylines they've recycled for a few decades now are just plain stale, so some new blood is needed. Literally, in a few cases, but in the one today, it promises to be a case of bloody meets funny.

Conan Vs. Groo is, as you may imagine, what happens when fantasy's most legendary barbarian meets comic's dumbest barbarian. I anticipate Much Funny, as evidenced by this pic:

I'll be honest, I haven't read the copy I picked up today. Nor will I soon.

Why wait, you ask?

It's a reward... which I do to myself, so that I can have one more reason, more motivation, to WORK hard and write. If I don't, if I slack, well... I don't get my reward, right?

If that sounds both difficult and amusing, it is. At least to me.

Surprisingly, it works for me. Has for some years now, ever since I started writing seriously. Sure, I'd do it for other things many years ago, but since there was a lack of a definite goal in many cases, then the witholding of a reward seemed somewhat trivial.

Believe me, I want to read that comic, almost as much as I want to see Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend. But as it's a test of both my willpower and my work ethic, I'm just going to soldier on and Get Things Done: either I get up to Chapter Ten outlined in FULL by August 15th, or I don't read the comic until I get up to Chapter Twenty done.

That's mean, I know, but I'll tell you: the guy I work for values hard work. And he's got a mean streak when it comes to people not taking their potential seriously.

Both are good reasons to buckle down.

July 31 - Mindzap!

I had a book breakthrough today - TWO, in fact!

Again, I'm stuck on the one hand with the burning need to TELL someone who's read my first book just HOW significant the one breakthrough is and how COOL the second one is.

But I can't, as that'd spoil a lot of  things.

So, I'm left with the simple fact that I'll have to write things in and let people find out for themselves. Since you've heard it here first, if and when you come across what you think is The Breakthrough in my trilogy, let me know! I'll give you one guess and if you get it right, well... I'll think of a suitable reward, that I can promise you.

Yep, it's that big. I'm all a-tingle!

Seriously though, it's days like this that make me want to write full-time. today's revelation has obviously been percolating for a few years, ever since I wrote up the first few chapters of Book One. Looking at a few key chapters of that novel, I can see now I WAS thinking along the same general lines of my breakthrough idea back then and everything's crystallized now into a forehead-smacking moment of clarity as I finally 'got it' at last.

Magnificent feeling, that.

As a sop, I can let you listen to this: there's one song that really inspired me to make the breakthrough. The music actually generated a scene all on its own while I was listening to it a few weeks ago and it still makes me tear up when I hear it in the right frame of mind at work. Fantastic sounds:

Aug 1 - Who's watching me now?

Cameras are everywhere these days, for good or bad.

Some places have it worse than others; two examples I can think of are London England and Washington DC, both cities being covered in literally thousands of cameras. In The UK overall, there's estimated to be one camera for every eleven citizens - scary!

Now, for the average person, that's not something they'd usually worry about, but at the same time you should at least be aware that you're on camera. Your image is being studied whether you like it or not by software algorithms that can find single your face out from the crowd and identify you, much like systems that it been in use for almost a decade now by casinos the world over to identify known cheats and other individuals who are not welcome in their facilities for various reasons.

Some people really don't like that. They have taken steps to ensure that they are not able to be identified by the camera systems without having to wear a bag over their head or otherwise conspicuously disguise themselves. Have a look at what this gentleman came up with:

What you're seeing is a form of dazzle face paint, named after the camouflage patterns adopted in the first world war by navies in order to break up the silhouettes of ships, before the later widespread adoption of radar made such visual disguises unnecessary.

The face paint works by confusing those computer algorithms that identify the various parts of the face and put it all together into an identifiable picture. While it's quite obvious to any people who look at you that you're wearing patterned face paint, to computer it's enough to throw its recognition software for a loop. Which, if you're one of those people who was really bothered by facial tracking, might be worth it. Take note: the author of the article above did not have the opportunity to test actual government systems, which may be more advanced than we realize.

Me, I'm just going to stick with a hat and sunglasses. Really, really big sunglasses.

Aug 2 - HALO, on TV?

Well, isn't this interesting…

I just found out today that HALO, the game we all know and love, is going to get a TV series. In fact, it's getting ON a TV near you THIS November! And it's being directed by none other than Ridley Scott of Aliens fame - how cool is that? Take a look:

Apparently separate from the movie that's still in pre-production with Spielburg, the Halo: Nightfall series will be set in between Halo 4 and Halo 5( neither of which I've played, incidentally )so it’s all canon. Being someone who loved the original Halo storyline( and Halo 2 )I find this news very exciting. It's also interesting that Microsoft is timing the TV series premiere with the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, a re-mastered edition of the first 4 Halo games which unfortunately is only for the Xbox One, which I do not own. Nice that they're upgrading the graphics for the next-gen console, though.

As for the TV series, I haven't heard enough about it to say anything at this point. But I'm glad they've made it, for all that Microsoft's been trying for a decade to generate some interest in Hollywood.

Aug 3 - GUARDIANS! DISCOURSE! MUSIC!

What a day!

In the early afternoon, I treated myself to a viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy, coincidentally running into several friends from my gaming group at the same theater showing.

What a movie!

I went into the film knowing very little about it, having kept myself away from any kind of spoilers or even teasers after seeing the initial trailer for the film. I wanted to go into it completely without bias or otherwise informed as to what I would see in order to get a true reaction to the material.

I wasn't disappointed! The film was everything I hoped it would be and more: chock-full of action, great characters, with actual plot development, liberally sprinkled with much humor and with an irreverent streak that I immediately fell in love with. There was a ton of solid  CGI and while I went to go see the 3-D version, it was so subtly done that I wasn't pulled out of the film by a 3-D shot even once; finally! The film was so much fun that I'm going to go back to see it again tomorrow, which I almost never ever do, so let that be my final say on this great joyride of comic book cinema magic: go see it twice, at least!

From there, I went down to Moka House to relax, mull over the film and write a bit of my blog while sipping on tea and just generally enjoying things in the fantastic August weather.

Wouldn't you know, there I ran into the same interesting, highly-intelligent young lady again that I'd met a few weeks ago? We spent easily two hours talking about philosophy, observation, writing, positivity in one's life and quite a few other things. It was a true pleasure to chat with her again, as it's rare that I can have such a far-ranging conversation with someone who really, truly thinks about their replies every single time. Very refreshing.

My third and final stop today was the 25th Annual Victoria Symphony Splash in the evening down at the inner Harbor. I met up with those same gaming friends from earlier today, plus familial attachments, on the lawn of the BC Legislature, to enjoy several hours of classical music while playing a game called Smash Up on blankets and sipping punch. It was wonderful to see a crowd of nearly 40,000 people taking their leisure peacefully while enjoying the sounds of magnificent music on a perfect summer evening.

I'm definitely marking down today as a Very Good Day in my book - 3 for 3, by my count!

It was a fantastic week, creatively and lifestyle-wise, not to mention MOVIES: two in one week! I'm on a roll here folks... next week should be even better at this rate!