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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Ari's LiveJournal:
| Friday, June 26th, 2009 | |
| 3:40 pm | No matter where you fall politically... Republican, Democrat, or other; Liberal, Conservative, or other... This is disgusting, and more than a little horrifying. http://www.ceasespin.org/ceasespin_blog/c ETA: Okay, it's been brought to my attention that this story is several years old. For not catching that, I apologize. Mea culpa. That said, especially in this day and age of warring "Red vs. Blue News Media," I think the ultimate point stands. And that is, why do we have laws governing truth in advertising, but not truth in news reporting? Whether it's Fox or MSNBC, some level of oversight--or at least a statute that says, "Uh, hey, guys? Tell the truth"--wouldn't be a bad idea. Current Mood:  pissed off |
| Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | |
| 6:31 pm | Always in threes So I know the whole thing about celebrities dying in threes is crap, but this week, it's hard to refute. First Ed McMahon. Then Farrah Fawcett. And now Michael Jackson's gone. Childhood's getting farther and farther away, isn't it? My sympathies to all affected. Current Mood:  contemplative |
| Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | |
| 1:40 am | Alice in WTFland Pictures from Tim Burton's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland." I'm not as big a Burton fan as some--I love some of his movies, but I can really do without others--but I love the look of this. It's nightmarish and horrifying, which, frankly, Wonderland should be. (And Disney can bite me.) And yes, that's Depp as the Mad Hatter. Plus, the movie's got Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Crispin Glover... Damn. Current Mood:  excited |
| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | |
| 12:04 am | It's my world, and I'll view it the way I want Man, it's fantastic that the network had the brains to allow the writers to end Season One of Heroes the way they wanted, and to move on to new characters for the next season. I mean, it was such a perfect conclusion to all those character arcs. Can you imagine how awful it would've been if the network tried to force the writers to produce further seasons with those same characters, even though their stories were told? Good thing that didn't happen. Current Mood:  mischievous |
| Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | |
| 8:57 am | In regards to my previous Heroes-related post Point the first: I'm not talking about the fact that evolution doesn't really grant superpowers. Of course it doesn't, and of course I understand that in a comic book-like show, things like that happen. I'm not an idiot. I'm talking about the fact that, judging by Mohinder's speeches and the class he's teaching in the pilot, it's clear the writers don't even understand the process of evolution. Point the second: Anyone who thinks I'm seriously upset about the fact that they're getting it wrong needs to reevaluate their humor-meter. Do you really think I'd use a picture of fricken' Morbo from Futurama if I wasn't mostly making a joke out of it? Or, to put it another way...  HUMOR DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!! :-P Current Mood:  amused |
| 12:30 am | Morbo has a message for the folks who write for the TV show "Heroes": EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!! Ahem. Thanks, Morbo. Current Mood: amused |
| Friday, June 19th, 2009 | |
| 1:10 am | Date day... ...with George today. No work. Mini-golf (where I sucked even worse than usual, but was fun), Chinese food, "Drag Me to Hell" (which, unlike most of my friends, I thought was awful1), and a few more episodes of season 1 of Heroes2. All in all, a good day. :-) 1 I ought to clarify, since I get irritated at people for the same thing. When I say I thought "Drag Me to Hell" was awful, I don't mean that I thought it was necessarily poorly done. I mean that I, personally, didn't even remotely care for it--but as a personal taste thing, not so much as a purely qualitative thing. 2 Yes, I'm just now getting to this. I know, I know… Current Mood:  satisfied |
| Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | |
| 10:58 pm | Mega-Suck Okay, so when one decides to watch a movie called "Mega-Shark vs. Giant Octopus," one doesn't go into it expecting high-quality film-making. But I had expected something like the Evil Dead movies, or One-Eyed Monster, where it's clear that the cast and crew are in on the joke. No. Oh, my, no. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that I truly cannot remember the last time I saw a movie this bad. It's not even fun bad; you can make fun of it for a while, but eventually it becomes a boring train wreck. I cannot count the number of movie cliche lines spoken with faux sincerity. I cannot overstate how stilted and poorly written the dialogue is. I cannot understate the quality of the acting. This is, for instance, the worst performance by Lorenzo Llamas I have ever seen. Go back and read that last sentence, and take a minute to let it sink in. I'll wait. There's not one memorable line. There's not one performance that isn't surpassed by your average high school play. The relative size of the creatures changes from scene to scene. The "action" scenes are boring. The sets are half a step up from the original Star Trek series. The science... Oh, dear God, the science. Think about how utterly awful the understanding of evolution is on the TV show Heroes. Now, if you reset the bar so Heroes actually represents the pinnacle of scientific understanding, this movie is about where Heroes should be. Seriously. They talk about how these two creatures hated each other so much, that they didn't flee for their lives when the Ice Age "descended," and thus were frozen in the midst of combat. And that's not the only such example. This movie is not worth renting. It's not worth watching if you can get it for free. It's not worth watching with your friends, while drunk, for the sole purpose of making fun of it. It might be worth keeping for use as a coaster if someone gives it to you. It's not "a fun, mindless romp." It's not a fun anything. With the exception of some halfway decent CGI shots--some, by no means all--it is lower in overall quality than your average movie made for the SciFi channel. There is nothing redeeming about it. At all. Current Mood:  tired |
| Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | |
| 12:27 am | Helter swelter I am very irritated that it's 80 degrees after midnight. Not 80 degrees outside; 80 degrees in the apartment. Damn fricken' weak-ass AC unit. Current Mood:  hot and pissed about it |
| Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | |
| 1:28 pm | Blurb! The following blurb text comes from the inner cover flap of the hardcover printing of The Conqueror's Shadow: They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of enchanted black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda. Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amidst the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage—a young noblewoman named Tyannon—to guarantee his escape. Seventeen years later, Rebaine and Tyannon are married, living in obscurity and raising their children, a daughter and a son. Rebaine has put his past behind him, given up his dreams of conquest. Not even news of an upstart warlord, Audriss, following his old path of conquest, can stir Rebaine to action. Until his daughter is assaulted by Audriss’s goons. Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine dons the armor of the Terror of the East again and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda—to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement. But even if he convinces his comrades to join him, Rebaine faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to? Current Mood: excited |
| Monday, June 8th, 2009 | |
| 10:27 pm | Hey, Austin gamers! I'm going to be doing a signing at Dragon's Lair, for the midnight release party for the 4E Eberron Player's Guide. It's on Monday the 15th (though I suppose, technically, it'll be Tuesday by then, but you know what I mean). If you're in the area, stop by, say hey, maybe even pick up a copy and get it signed. (I'll be happy to sign anything else I worked on, if you'd like.) You can find address and directions at www.dlair.net. Hope to see you there. Current Mood: excited |
| 12:53 am | Eddings' "The Dreamers" The recent passing of David Eddings has gotten me in the mood to read his stuff again. I've long been a big fan of his--I know that his plots tend to all be the same, but I've enjoyed his writing--but I never read his most recent series, "The Dreamers." I'd heard some negative reviews, but I finally decided to give it a try. Having now gotten over 100 pages into the first book, I'm honestly not sure I'm going to keep reading. Part of it is that the characters don't appeal to me as much as his others, but if that were the only issue, I could work with it. It's just... There's something off about the actual writing of this series. Those of you who have read his stuff doubtless know how he always writes his prologues in a sort of formal, "ancient tales" sort of prose, before switching to his far more informal, conversational style for the book proper. It feels like, with this book, he forgot to keep going after taking half a step out of his prologue formality. The rest of the book so far hasn't been quite as formal as the prologue, but it certainly hasn't reached his normal style of writing. And because of that, there's an added layer of distance between the reader and the material (or at least for me there is). It's as though, rather than being immersed in the story the way I usually am, I'm reading about someone who is, in turn, relaying the events to me. There's no immediacy, almost like I'm getting a summary of the tale. Not only is that not the style I prefer, but it clashes with his dialog, which--for some characters--keeps to the same casual tone as his other works. The whole thing feels a bit schizophrenic, and it's completely ruining my ability to immerse myself in the book. So, for those who have read "The Dreamers," am I making any sense? And if so, is this something that improves later on? Current Mood:  disappointed |
| Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | |
| 11:30 pm | "Black Crusade" compiled! So, for those of you who didn't want to have to wait a week between chapters, or dislike reading material in your browser, your excuses are over. ;-) WotC has put a compiled PDF of Black Crusade. And it's still 100% free. Current Mood: tired |
| Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | |
| 1:43 pm | David Eddings is gone According to numerous sources, including his publisher Random House, David Eddings passed away yesterday. I'm absolutely crushed. While I'm not blind to their faults, the Belgariad got me through a lot of painful periods in middle and high school, and his Sparhawk series are both among my favorites to go back and reread. I consider Eddings to be in the list of authors who inspired me to go into writing myself, and while I've had the opportunity to communicate with several of them, I never got the chance to thank him. :-( But then again, his wife--who had been sick for years, and whom he always stood by--died a few years ago. So maybe this is what he wanted. I don't know. Godspeed, Mr. Eddings. Current Mood:  sad |
| 12:07 am | Fool me 19,847 times, shame on you... The Internet's greatest sin is that it has foisted upon so many of us, who really do know better in real life, the false belief that idiots can be reasoned with. Current Mood:  cranky |
| Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | |
| 3:56 pm | Whoah... NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists. Current Mood:  impressed |
| Monday, June 1st, 2009 | |
| 1:49 pm | Yay, I'm newsworthy! In an "entertainment review" sort of way. ;-) http://www.examiner.com/x-12470-NY-Spec Thanks, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jlasala. Current Mood:  awake |
| Friday, May 29th, 2009 | |
| 12:08 am | The Crusade ends Chapter nineteen: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dn While I'll always regret that this book never saw actual print, I'm delighted that you were able to see it in some form. I had a blast writing this one; I hope you had as much fun reading it. Current Mood: content |
| Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | |
| 8:40 pm | And here we go... The Conqueror's Shadow is now available for preorder at Amazon.com. :-D Current Mood: excited |
| 1:54 pm | Musical tastes So, question. When you're deciding (consciously or not) whether you like a song, do your taste and your decision tend to rely more on whether you like the music, or whether you like the lyrics? Poll #1407238 Meaning and Melody Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All When determining whether I like a song or not, I tend to focus more on... And no, there's not a "both equally" option. Even if the difference is 1/10th of 1% of your process, go with it. Current Mood:  curiousCurrent Music: One Day, Matisyahu |
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