Robyn Paterson's Blog, page 52
April 2, 2012
Game of Thrones 2×01- or how NOT to do a Season Opener. (Spoiler Free.)
I just finished watching the first episode of season two of Game of Thrones, and let me start by saying that it was both gorgeous and spectacular at the same time. The production values have gone through the roof (few movies look this good) and the acting was superb as ever. It was a sight to behold, and I wish I could have loved it as much as I wanted to.
But I couldn't, and for that I completely blame the writer/producers. This is probably the first time I've seen them make a serious...
April 1, 2012
The Roundtable Podcast (on Writing)
This week I started listening to The Roundtable Podcast after hearing about it on the Dead Robots' Society writer's podcast. The premise is simple enough: each the two hosts and one successful writer help an aspiriing guest writer brainstorm their current project to improve it as best they can.
I've listened to the first two roundtables (J. Daniel Sawyer and Nathan Lowell), and I have to say that I haven't gotten much from the actual roundtables themselves- in both cases the guest aspiring...
March 29, 2012
March 24, 2012
The (Hunger) Shaky-Cam Games- A Spoiler Lite Review
The Hunger Shaky-Cam Games
I have just returned from watching a film about an epic romantic triangle between a director, his editing suite, and the shaky-cam that he couldn't resist. It was a passionate, torrid tale that exploded across the screen like a lens-flare, but unfortunately it was the only thing that was passionate in this cold, lifeless big-budget film.
As you might guess, I didn't like the Hunger Games film much. I know this seems...
March 23, 2012
Stuff I watched this week
Avatar: The Legend of Korra- a friend sent me a link to a slightly grainy copy of the pilot episode of the new Avatar series. I have to confess, I've only watched a handful of episodes of the original series. I've tried to watch it a couple times, but it always failed to keep my attention despite being very well done. Korra seems a bit more up my alley, and is extremely well all around. I found myself entranced by the pilot and enjoyed it greatly, although I do wonder what exactly it is...
March 20, 2012
Senior Citizen | Futility Closet
Well that's unusual. I'd like to know what Herbs this guy was taking! 
When Chinese herbalist Li Ching-Yun died in 1933, newspapers were hard pressed to write his obituary. Li had contended that he had been born in 1736, which would have made him 197 years old.
In 1930, Wu Chung-Chien of Minkuo University had reported finding records showing that Li had been even older, born in 1677 and congratulated by the imperial Chinese government on his 150th and 200th birthdays.
Read more here:
March 13, 2012
The OODA Loop
Came across this today, interesting reading:
The OODA Loop
Boyd's key concept was that of the decision cycle or OODA Loop, the process by which an entity (either an individual or an organization) reacts to an event. According to this idea, the key to victory is to be able to create situations wherein one can make appropriate decisions more quickly than one's opponent. The construct was originally a theory of achieving success in air-to-air combat, developed out of Boyd's Energy-Maneuverability ...
March 12, 2012
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
Here's a blast from the past! I'd forgotten that Marvel did a companion video to their classic How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way book. It looks like it was done sometime in the late '80s or perhaps early '90s. The book itself is a must-read for anyone intending to do comics, if for no other reason than it teaches many of the fundamentals of the American comics style.
