Fantasist's Scroll

Yes, finally! Sashimi storage for the masses!
Okay, for those of you who are part of the Network Geek Inner Circle (that’s like the Committee of 300, but smaller and more focused), you know how I love sushi. It’s damn expensive so I can’t afford to eat it very often, but I do enjoy it. So, for those of you in the know, I present the ultimate Network Geek storage device: Sushi USB Drives. Yes, they’re not “real” fish, but they look frighteningly realistic and, well, yummy.

Oh, I think I need sushi this weekend…. While I hunt that down, y’all go click on that link and have a great Friday!

I was originally inspired to post this by a commentor on my other blog who was in Bangladesh. I’ve been a fan of Bollywood for some time now. In fact, I paid for extra international channels on my cable system just to see more of Bollywood productions. But, this is a little different. In fact, it’s a “new twist on an old myth”, according to the website. The myth is the Sitayana, as animated by Nina Paley. The link will take you to a page that has all the parts, so far, of this animated myth that you can look at for free. Seems like the perfect thing to show on a wall in Bangladesh as part of a free, mobile drive-in to me!

Besides, it’s Friday and a long weekend, too, so why pretend you were doing any work? Turn the volume up and check out the amazing Friday Fun Link!

Hmm, is this geeky or just plain cool?

Well, either way, I would LOVE to have my own personal, James Bond-style jetpack. It’s really more than just a simple jetpack, though, as it incudes a sort of wing suit that, I assume, allows one to steer more easily. Also, there’s room for a parachute, essential gear for the flying spy, and a “payload” backpack. After all, if I’m jetting about the European countryside, I’d best be doing it for darn good reason. You know, like a spy mission that requires the use of super, high-tech gear that I stored next to my parachute on my flying wing jetpack.

Hey, what do you want from me? It’s Friday, and I am totally in need a little escapism! And, admit it, you are too, so, just click the link.

Today is Ernest “Papa” Hemingway’s birthday.
He was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899. Hemingway snuck off to fight in World War I when he was just 17. He had bad eyesight, so he volunteered as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Italy. Just about a month after he got to Italy, he was hit by shrapnel from an exploding shell. He spent weeks in the hospital and then came back home to his parents in Oak Park.
After his parents got tired of him hanging around, he started writing stories for Chicago newspapers and magazines, and then got a job as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Daily Star and went off to Paris with his wife Hadley. He became friends with a lot of writers who were in Paris at the time, including Fitzgerald and Joyce and Pound and Gertrude Stein. And he wrote every day, sometimes in his apartment, sometimes in cafés, but he wrote every day.

His first collection of short stories, In Our Time, came out in 1925 and the following year, his first big success, Sun Also Rises. Three years later, Farewell To Arms came out. By the 1930s, he was one of the best-known writers alive. He developed cancer and, in true “Hemingway hero” fashion, killed himself with a shotgun in 1961. But, by then, he was one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

Or, why I like comic books and cartoons.

To put it quite simply, I like the way these two art-forms condense and compress plot. Think about it for a minute. A comic book, or graphic novel, has considerably less room to develop a deep, complex plot than, say, a literary work because a lot of space that could be used to develop plot via text is taken up with art. Also, there are generally fewer pages in a comic book than a novel, of any significant length, at any rate. The writer, therefore, has less space, or literary “time”, if you will, to develop a lengthy plot, so it usually is condensed down to its tightest form, its most simple aspect. It makes comics the perfect medium for examining plot to see how it works, really.

The same is true of cartoons. Now, I’ll admit that other regular shows can condense plot fairly well, too, but nothing seems to do it as well as kid’s cartoons. Take anything from Bugs Bunny to Sponge Bob Square Pants to G. I. Joe to Batman and you’ll find plot in its simplest form. Two, or more, characters in conflict struggling toward a resolution and, of course, finding one, all in 30 minutes or less. Now, one might argue that the sitcoms do the same thing, and they do, to an extent, but not with the same simplicity that cartoons manage. There’s rarely call for complicated subplots in a child’s mind. Oh, sure, the more adult “cartoons”, or animation, might have this, but how many Cowboy Bebops or Full Metal Alchemists or Ghost in the Shells are there running around out there? Right. (And, two of those three were manga, Japanese comic books, first.)

So, if you’re a writer who struggles with plot the way I do, check out a comic book. Find the plot. Identify the elements of it. Find the starting state, the conflict and trace it through to the resolution. Don’t be put off by the threads they leave open for the next book in the series. Just remember, each little plot is like a chapter in a larger book. Besides, there are worse ways to look at plotting a longer piece of work than to treat each chapter as a short story.

Oh, and I read them for the pictures, too. 😉

Have you ever thought about your gave marker? Have you considered making a “statement” on it with a clever saying or quote or what have you? Then, have you ever considered having something other than marble or granite or any of the other more traditional materials?

Okay, so maybe you haven’t thought about this, but the folks at Lundgren Monuments have. Really, when you consider it, a glass tombstone is a fairly innovative concept. I mean, in this age of trendy architecture and performance art, what could make more sense than a tombstone that stands out in a crowd? Either that, or it’s my sick sense of humor that finds this amusing. After all, when I’m dead, will I really care what my tombstone looks like anymore?

Well, before I get too morose for a Friday, click the link and admire the pretty headstones. Really, they are cool and, after all, it is a Friday. The way some of my readers drink, we may not make it all out alive!

Yea! Genetically modified pets right off the shelf!

No, not those silly glowing fish, but something far more interesting. Straight to you from the future, Genpets, Bioengineered Buddies! They come in seven different, color-coordinated tempraments right out of the package. Sadly, they have limited vocal capabilities and need specially designed food to carry on, but their almost total lack of excretion makes up for that. They come with a “freshness” indicator right on the blister-pack and will be available in one and three year life-expectancy models. They look a little more anthropomorphic for the average genetic ethicist, I’m sure, but kids will love ’em!

Now, before you freak out, this is not real. It is an art website showcasing some very interesting and thought-provoking sculptures. I have to admit, even though they creep me out, I’d probably buy one of these suckers should they ever be comercially available. I hope that doesn’t send me straight to hell, but, well, I love science-fiction and this sort of thing has been the promise of sci-fi stories since I can remember. I’d love to see it available, just for the “cool” factor.
But, no matter how you feel about it, you have to admit, the site is thought provoking.

I love cartoons.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m a fan of rather unusual literature. I admit, I tend toward the fantastic, surreal and bizarre, but, hey, if it’s getting published, I can’t be the only one! One of my favorites, who I discovered in early High School, is H. P. Lovecraft. I started with The Tomb and Other Tales
and moved on from there.

Well, there are a lot of fans out there and we all seem to have slightly skewed senses of humor. Often times, this results in very, very strange homage taking forms that the human mind can barely encompass. The Unspeakable Vault (of Doom) is one of those things. It’s a parody of much of Lovecraft’s work. It’s also a very funny cartoon. Enjoy!