Arlene Lagos's Blog, page 9
April 15, 2013
Dear Stan Lee,
You are failing my gender! Where are the women?
Growing up, I have always been a fan of your work. I love the idea of people out there trying to save the world, fighting against crime with super cool abilities and magnificently designed outfits! I love reading comics and I loved the recent Avengers movie, it was an incredibly awesome film!
So why are you putting great female characters in the shadows? There’s not only been a huge lack of emphasis on how strong and intelligent female superheroes can be, but the fact that even when you do create them, they are left in the shadows of the men. Avengers is a great example, five men and one woman, really? Maybe Hollywood did this, maybe it wasn’t your fault, but maybe you should speak up then?
Same thing with Fantastic Four, one woman. At least with XMen we were graced with the pleasure of seeing Storm, Jean Grey and Rogue. But even in the title itself, “XMEN” the emphasis is always more on the dominant alpha male, leaving the women in the shadows.
How come Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, and Thor get their own movies and none of your female superheroes do? Was Black Widow not worthy of her own story? You created these beautiful characters like Thundra, Ms Marvel, Tigra, Wasp and the Invisible Woman; just to brand them as hot-sexy sidekicks that couldn’t hold a box office down on their own?
I’m sorry sir, but I disagree. My gripe isn’t just with you though. I’m still pissed at DC Comics for the fact that I’ve had to watch endless remakes of Batman, and Superman but not one movie about Wonder Woman, really? Not one? And just how many versions of Spider-man can one girl take?
Well Stan, and all the others out there that think the female superhero is just a sexy sidekick, I have two words for you: Beyond Earth. My story has seven superheroes; four women, three men and all equally badass. So hold on to your privates, because there is a new sheriff in town and she’s all woman. See you in June.
Arlene Lagos
Author, Beyond Earth Series
*picture courtesy of Northern Illinois Geek
(Black Widow didn’t even make the picture!)
April 11, 2013
Book Trailers: The Reel Deal
Making their way to YouTube day after day is the newest form of book promotion: Book Trailers. Similar to a movie trailer, they serve the same purpose of promoting and peaking interest in your potential audience. They are designed to build interest in your work and to encourage people to buy the book!
Although it’s a bit easier with a movie trailer because they are already working with clips from the film, a book trailer has to use visual images like pictures or even film short clips in order to convey their story.
“The trick is to convey a sense of what the book is about without giving anything away – and without really clearly defining what the characters look like, as most readers prefer to visualize what they are reading about as they imagine it themselves.”- Squidoo
Most book trailers are between one to three minutes and have been low-budget do it yourself works to the most high budget and elaborate movie style trailer.
So out of the three movie trailers listed here, which if any made you want to buy the book and why? I welcome your feedback!
Join me, as I begin my journey into creating my own book trailer for Beyond Earth Series due to launch this June 2013!
April 7, 2013
Bring Your Friends: Saul Brooks
Saul Brooks began playing music at the age of two when his stepfather taught him to play drums. By age four, he was playing drums in church. At age fourteen his mom bought him his first real guitar and he hasn’t looked back since. The singing came later. “One day I just sat down on the couch and started humming along to a song and thought ‘well let’s see if I can really sing”.
His first live performance was at Happy Valley High School’s talent show where he won first place. After that he began playing shows opening for his close friend and mentor, country singer Cody McCarver. He recently played a role in the film “Vengeance Without Mercy” by Christopher Forbes (release date set for this spring 2013), and is currently producing two music videos for songs on his upcoming CD “Bring Your Friends” to be released this May 2013.
Saul and the band will be hosting Open Mic at Mynt at 135 Calhoun St, Charleston, SC on Tuesday, April 23, beginning at 8PM. They will be doing pre-sales for the CD(autographed), and you can even sing a song with the band! Mynt will be offering great drink specials, and as always $1.00 tacos and $3.00 Margaritas. Come on out and join us, and please, “Bring Your Friends”.
Saul Brooks Band is composed of singer/songwriter Saul Brooks, Lead Guitarist Curtis Vanoy, Bass player Chuck Hendrix, Drummer Brandon Gordon, and Drummer Will Newhouse.
Saul Brooks Band needs your help to be selected as one of three bands to participate in a battle of the bands for the chance to open for Kenny Chesney on May 4th in Columbia, SC.
To vote, go to the Contest page at www.WEZL.com; keyword: “win”.
Voting begins 4/08/13 at 12 noon/EST and ends on 4/17/13 at 11:59 PM/EST
Voting is limited to one vote per verified email address per day.
At the conclusion of the voting period, the Station will select up to 3 semi finalists which will include the submission which receives the most votes. The semi finalists will compete in a live performance at Red’s Ice House on 4/25/13.
April 4, 2013
Putting A Price on Carbon Dioxide
We need to put a price on carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is an invisible gas that’s all around us and has always been
here, we breathe it in and out, and it’s even essential for life. So why
should we put a price on it? And who should pay that price? And where
does the money go?
Let me explain.
Why we need to put a price on carbon dioxide is that we simply have too
much, and it’s changing our weather and changing our climate. We’re on a
path to a truly catastrophic future and its carbon dioxide that’s taking us
there.
We got too much of it from burning things. We started thousands of years
ago with burning wood, and then 300 years ago we discovered coal and we
started burning that. About 200 years ago we started burning a lot of
oil. About 100 years ago we started burning a lot of so called “natural
gas” – which is methane.
And every time we burn something we make carbon dioxide. Boy are we doing
a lot of burning! When we turn on the heating, when we drive a car, when
we cook, when we use electricity for air conditioning – every time
something is being burned, coal, oil and gas – what we call “fossil fuels”.
Every year we emit 9 thousand million tons of CO2, and that might not sound
like a lot but it adds up.
Since we started burning we’ve increased the amount of CO2 in the world so
much that ¼ the CO2 in this room came out of the ground.
That’s too much. It’s changing everything that mankind has ever
experienced in climate and weather.
Right now the fossil fuel industries emit carbon dioxide for free. It goes up the
smokestack, out of the tailpipe, as I said it’s invisible and that’s
that. No one counts and no one pays for dumping that pollution. The fossil fuel
industries are the ONLY industries that get to do that. The plastics
industry, the smelting, medical, nuclear, computing industry they all have
pollution and they are all required to get rid of it or pay for it. The fossil fuel
industries should do the same. There are some companies that want one that
you might be surprised about – Exxon Mobil and Shell Oil both want a price on
carbon.
Fossil fuels are literally costing us the Earth.
And that’s why we need to put a price on carbon dioxide.
Who should pay is the surprisingly easy part of all of this. We charge the
major producers at the point the stuff comes out of the ground. Coal
companies, oil companies, gas companies. When they dig it up they pay a
certain amount per ton of carbon and they pass that increase on to us. So
ultimately we all end up paying for the carbon dioxide we produce.
And the more something costs the less people buy. The more gasoline and
electricity cost the less people will use.
The good news is that we CAN use less of it. We used to believe that
absolutely nothing would cause Americans to use less gasoline but now we
know that’s not true – when gas hit $4 a gallon in 2008 we used less of it.
We can use more efficient lightbulbs, we can use more efficient AC, more
efficient cars, more insulated houses, more public transport, better
designed cities. But it goes further than that – we can use wind power,
solar power, hydro power and other renewables. These give us electricity
without burning ANYTHING. And once we are paying for carbon we suddenly
realize just how cheap they are. And that leads me to where the money goes.
The money collected from the coal oil and gas companies is given back to
us, once a year, in a check. The government administers the scheme but it
doesn’t keep the money. The exact same system exists in Alaska for oil
revenues – the government collects the money and hands it out to every
citizen. And they love it. So here is how it works.
You pay a little more for gas and electricity and if you’re the average person and you don’t change a thing, you get the same amount of money back from the government
every year – it’s all a wash, you’re back where you started. But what if
you notice that gas is costing more and you’re buying a new car, suddenly
the extra $5000 for a hybrid is a very good deal – you get a car with
better mileage. Now you pay less, but get the same check from the
government. You’re ahead, and the total amount of CO2 has gone down.
A million decisions every day all now moving in the right direction.
SO – and here’s the big question. How do we GET a price on carbon?
There’s one organization that’s doing the best work on this and they are
very active in Massachusetts – the Citizen’s Climate Lobby – write that
name down, check them out, get their emails and do what they say – write,
petition, lobby, and speak up. We need a price on carbon and it’s much
easier to do than you might think.
This informative presentation was brought to you by:
Presenter: Quentin Prideaux
http://presenters.climaterealityproject.org/presenter/quentin-prideaux_3588
Citizen’s Climate Lobby
http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org/
April 1, 2013
Don’t Quit Your Day Job
This is something people usually say when someone tries to step outside the pretty little box that society has built for us, reminding us that art, music and pretty much anything creative is a dream for suckers. That we can “dabble” in these fields as hobbyists but that we should “stay realistic” and do what needs to be done to “pay the bills”.
Yet, I see many successful people who have quit their day job and go on to obtain a successful career doing what they love. So if they can do it, why can’t I? Perhaps it is a lack of faith, which leads me to my next thought.
“Take a leap of faith”, “Let go and let God”, “When God closes a door, he opens a window” are the sayings that pop in my head whenever someone throws me the painful, “Don’t quit your day job”. So which is it? Do we stay planted in “reality” and “do what must be done” as we sludge through 40+ hours a week of mindless work that literally tears at the very fabric of our souls, killing us slowly one uncreative second at a time?
Or do we take the leap of faith, quit the cube, and go after what we know deep down in our hearts is the driving force behind our every breath…even if it means possible starvation while en route to success? I guess it all comes down to something I wrote about a while back, in one of my first blogs. The question of, “Is this a hill you want to die on?”
Is this driving force, this passion, and this stronghold of creativity that is bursting at the seams and restless to get out, worth giving up everything for? Is it worth it at the end, and if so, what are you really giving up? Money? Time? Family?
When something inside of you is pushing so hard to get out, denying it, is denying the very essence of you. If you’re a square peg, the round hole will never feel right. In the end, isn’t it just creative starvation versus torturous suffocation?
Do you want to die a slow torturous death that rips your soul and spirit into shreds just so you can look back and say, “I was financially stable”? Or do you want to slave away, day after day, unappreciated for your endless amounts of talent in the hopes that one day someone will see the wonder that is you? I guess if we all die a little everyday, we should at least have the choice in how we go. I say, if you can’t ignore it, it will never go away- so you might as well embrace it and die knowing that you lived.
March 29, 2013
Thoughts From A Six Year Old
Kid: Bunnies don’t lay eggs.
Me: No they don’t.
Kid: Then why is it an Easter BUNNY. Shouldn’t it be an Easter CHICKEN?
Me: That would make more sense.
Kid: Maybe the chickens lay the eggs and the bunny’s deliver them?
Me: Maybe
Kid: Bunnies are faster.
Me: True.
Kid: How do they get the eggs to be chocolate instead of regular?
Me: Maybe they are special chickens?
Kid: Like magic chickens!
Me: Maybe
Kid: That makes a lot of sense.
Happy Easter, Passover and Spring. Wishing you all great conversation with inquisitive minds.
March 26, 2013
Marriage Equality
Right now, fair-minded Americans are gathered outside the Supreme Court on the first day of hearings on marriage equality cases. More than 150 events are being held in every state of the union.
We are united in showing the nation that we believe all Americans deserve to be treated fairly and equally under the law – no matter who they love.
Do you stand for marriage equality? Share one of these graphics if you do.
Stay tuned to HRC.org/supremecourt through the day for live updates on the cases and events.
(Reblogged from HRC.org)
If you believe that love is love, that it cannot be defined by a few folks in Washington, and that others have the right to choose who they love and have the right to marry them, then put up this equal sign as your facebook profile to show your support, watch updates online and be involved.
March 24, 2013
The Day I Taught How Not to Rape
Reblogged from Accidental Devotional:
Yesterday, the news invaded my classroom. I think the kids aren't paying attention. I think the kids only care about the news as it relates to Justin Bieber. I think they aren't listening or capable of advanced thought. Every single time I think one of those things, I sell out the ninth-graders that come traipsing through my room every day.
A must read...
March 22, 2013
Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors
Reblogged from beyondearthseries:
As many of you know, I have been involved with a writers group of sixteen authors that have been writing short stories to be included in two anthology's under the pen name, Professor Limn. I'm happy to announce that Book I, "Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors" is now available on Amazon.com. Read below for more details and check out the link.
March 21, 2013
Timebanking: The Evolution of Barter
Let’s roll the clock back a few hundred years ago when only the highest of society had the means to live properly and everyone else had to work their fingers to the bone to make ends meet; and when that wasn’t enough, (and it never was) they had to resort to bartering for goods or services.
Sound familiar? Sadly, are country is not too far from that reality right now. The problem is that many folks are either afraid to admit it, or they aren’t aware of their own self-worth. We are all assets and have something to give, more than just what you do for work. We need to redefine the word “work” as something beyond a price tag. Many industries have been using bartering to improve their business for years.
For example, photographers use unknown models who are happy to pose for free to build their modeling portfolios; a novice hairstylist will jump onto the project to build his/her portfolio and a make-up artist joins the team as well for the same reason. Four people working together towards the same goal without any money changing hands (add a fifth if you want to include a fashion designer who’s showing off their clothing line). But not everyone works in these types of circles.
What I am talking about is an evolution of bartering: Time Banking.
Time Banking is a system of exchange where participants donate an hour of time and can redeem an hour of services for their time. But it’s more evolved than bartering; because, if I do something for you, you might not have the skill to do what I need. Maybe I baby-sit for you and what I need help with in exchange is to have my car fixed….except you’re not a mechanic. So that’s where Time banking becomes a great solution.
Maybe I offer my writing skills to put together a press release for you and a few others. I take my time dollars from that and use it to get a haircut from another member at the timebank. Maybe the hairdresser uses his/her time dollars to get their car fixed and so on and so on.
Timebanking is also great for building self-esteem. Many social service agencies put too much emphasis on how they “help” those that are “helpless”. But they aren’t helpless, everyone has value.
Maybe you are older and can’t stand long enough to bag groceries anymore for a little extra income. But you can use a timebank to teach someone how to crochet or sew. Maybe you are disabled and are limited in what you can do for work. But you know how to read, and maybe you can read to someone who can’t. The point is not to limit yourself to jobs that earn income. Use your skills and barter for the things you need.
“Money is a tool, the value is in the people”- anonymous
Today, time banks exist in more than 34 countries; there are over 280 in the United States, and 13 here in Massachusetts. For more information on how to get involved with a time bank in your area go to www.timebanks.org
