Bryce Moore's Blog, page 307

The Stone of Destiny

Denisa and I have been working on trying to get to bed a bit earlier, now that I'm shooting for a 5:45 wake up each morning (I've done 1,000+ words each day so far--going great!). So our solution thus far has been to watch shorter movies at night. :-)



Some of the types of movies I enjoy reviewing most are ones I'd never heard of before I watched them. I love the feeling of discovery--of finding something that is lots of fun all on my own. Of course, now that I have Netflix, that discovery process isn't quite so hard, and I can't take a whole lot of credit for what I find, but at the same time, someone has to branch out--watch the movies outside the mainstream sequels Hollywood's churning out these days. Why not have that someone be me?



So the movie of the night last night was Stone of Destiny, the story of a group of Scottish college students who decide to steal the Stone of Scone, the Scottish coronation stone that had been taken by the English centuries before. It's based on a true story--events that happened in 1950. One of those movies that defies classification. It's a comedy heist drama coming of age movie, and it was a lot of fun. Life changing? No. Quality entertainment? Certainly. I'd rather watch a three star movie that I didn't see coming than a three star movie that I thought would be four--make sense?



The movie starts out a bit slow, but it's only an hour and a half long, so there's not much time to bog down before it takes off. The college students don't really know what they're doing, and it's fun to watch them try and figure things out. The best part for me was that you really have no idea all along whether they'll succeed or not. It could go either way, and I won't tell you how it ends.



Anyway--it's on Netflix streaming, so you could start watching it now, if you felt so inclined. I really recommend it. Three stars, and worth every one.

Borrowing eBooks and the Future of Publishing

Wrote a post for my library blog that seems like it would carry over well here on this blog, too. Instead of just linking to it, I think I'll provide the whole thing for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!





Big developments in the world of ebooks over the last week. Well, one big development at any rate. Amazon has announced it has decided to start allowing the sharing of Kindle books. There are strict boundaries to what they'll allow right now--each person may share a book one time (and one time only) for up to two weeks. During that two week period, the book can't be read by the sharer--only the sharee. So this is quite similar to what you can do right now with regular books: you can loan it to a friend for a few weeks so the friend can read it. The friend returns it, and then you can read it again.



I personally think more of this needs to happen--without the silly "one time only" clause--for ebooks to really flourish and take off. Everyone's talking about the death of the printed book like it's a bad thing, as if it signals the death of the book publishing industry as a whole. I find this idea silly. I mean, look at the music and film industry. We've had many years now when you can get those songs and films without the need of buying a physical copy. People can record their own songs or make their own movies and share them using the same channels that music or film companies use. However, you don't suddenly see the collapse of the music industry or the film industry. What's changed is the method of delivering the material, not the demand for quality material itself.



Yes, everyone can now write his/her own book and publish it online. So what? The fact is that most of the stuff people write and publish on their own is (more or less) garbage. I'm sure it's very interesting to that person and his five closest friends, but that's about as many people who are going to read it, in the end. Publishing companies--editors and their buddies--will still need to exist. They act both as a wonderful filter for all the rest of the garbage, and as a refiner for the end product itself. When everyone can and does publish an ebook, you need to be able to go to a place where you know you can find quality material.



So this brings us to the question of why there's such reluctance to enable borrowing in the digital era. I mean, it's not like people can't obtain copies of whatever they want to watch, listen to, or read for free. There's this thing called the internet, and it excels at connecting people to pirated material. So why not turn on borrowing privileges on ebooks, with no limit? After all, people have been lending friends their books for years, and that hasn't done in the publishing industry--it just promotes more reading and spreads the word on good authors. If someone really likes the book, then they can go and get an e-copy of their own.



I know I for one would be more inclined to buy an ebook if I knew I could then turn around and lend it to others. That way, I'd feel like I was getting more bang for the buck. I suppose the biggest concern would be people would start setting up online communities where one person would loan out their book a hundred or a thousand times to different people. Of course, that's sort of the exact model libraries have been using for a long long time, and again--the publishing industry seems fine to me. Changing, but surviving and even flourishing in some areas. Book stores, on the other hand, are having a difficult time. Selling the physical copy of things will get more and more difficult, which is why having a solid ebook format and delivery method in place is so important. Who knows--maybe publishing houses take over the selling of their books. Maybe agents do it for their authors (my agent has already started doing this for some hard-to-find, out of print books by his clients). Maybe authors do it themselves. I imagine it will ultimately be a mixture of all of these, but who knows?



Anyway.



I know I'm oversimplifying some of this, and that there are greater issues at hand, but in the end, I think that the more owners of content try to control that content with an iron fist, the less likely those owners will be to succeed. Those who are more loosey goosey with things have a great chance at financial success.



What do you think?

Goal Setting for Fun and Profit

Because what's more interesting? A simple New Year's Resolution, or a way to convince yourself you've earned that extra month of World of Warcraft? That's right, folks. I don't just set yearly goals--I break those goals down into monthly or daily sized pieces, and then I attach monetary figures to those pieces. It works for me, whether from OCD tendencies or just pure unabashed greed. But if it gets me to floss daily, how is it a bad thing? Allow me to go over my goals for this year.



Write at least one book, preferably two. This is in addition to revising Vodnik for publication (which I'm still hoping to start doing any day now--more info on that when available.) How will I do this? I'm going to write not just 500 words a day, but 1000. I used to do 1000 when I was in grad school, but once I moved to Maine and got a full time job, it seemed like too much. I was trying to figure out how to own a house and take care of it, how to juggle my work duties, how to be a father to two children and still be a successful husband--something had to slim down, and since my writing wasn't paying any bills, that was that. However, now that my writing IS paying some bills, I'd like for it to start paying more of them, thank you very much. So I'm back to 1000 words a day. (This is actual writing words--I don't count Facebook, blogs, Twitter, or any other random writing. Fiction or bust.) Remembering my pace back in the day, I think this will get me to two books finished fairly easily. I do it six days a week, so that's 312,000 words a day. Figuring that my books typically clock in around 85,000-100,000 words, that leaves me with time to revise some, plot some--all that good stuff. I haven't finished a brand new book in a while. I want to fix that this year. (Currently working on a new YA, and I just crossed the 11,000 word mark this morning. Going at a pretty good clip, and feeling great.) My reward for this goal? I get five whole dollars at the end of each month where I completely accomplish it. 5 bucks, baby. Sweet! Oh yeah--you might wonder how I'll find time to reach this goal. Easy--sleep less. That's right. I'm just waking up earlier. The key will be going to bed earlier. Who knows if that will work.
Lose weight--That's right. Sad as I am to admit it, my dieting days didn't last like I wanted them to. It turns out that when faced with an almost limitless supply of egg nog and fudge, I gain weight. So now it's time to lose that weight. I'm looking at 180 as a goal this time, which would mean I have to lose approximately 33.2 pounds (you do the math). My goal was 190 last time, which was a loss of 38 pounds. I'll do this by exercising some (I'd say "more," but that would imply I'd been exercising at all to begin with. When I say "some," I mean play Wii Fit and thus feel like I've exercised. Maybe take a walk now and then, too. Hey--it's better than nothing.) Hopefully when I hit 180, the bounce back up will take me to 190, at which point I'll settle in and begin part 2 of my master plan (Part 2: Don't Eat so Much Fudge and Egg Nog). If I exercise some each day and count my calories like a miser, I get to earn four dollars.
Teach piano to Denisa and TRC. They both want to learn how to play. We debated paying for actual lessons for TRC, but that would clock in at around $50/month. I'm too cheap to spring for that when I (perhaps foolishly) think I could just teach him myself. In an effort to actually give this a good shot at succeeding, I'm devoting up to $50/month to reaching this goal. (My theory is that I'd rather have the $50 be spent on fun activities than have it go to a piano teacher.) So 15 minutes/day, five days/week. I can earn $15 doing this. (My biggest incentive yet--but this is a goal that's proven really hard for me to stick to. Harder even than weight loss. Go figure.)
Read something churchy for 15 minutes each day--As a Mormon, I'm supposed to read the scriptures some each day. That's the goal. I do a terrible job at this. I read, but not daily. This goal will hopefully fix this. I can get 2 bucks for doing this each month.
Write a journal entry each day--I still keep a journal. When I take a minute to think about it, I'm not entirely sure why I do. I mean, my journal entries are pretty short: "Went to church. Watched ______. Played _______. TRC did ______. Rinse and repeat. But sometimes I have thoughts I don't feel like sharing with the world at large, so I keep the daily journal going to make sure I write them down when I do have them. (If I don't write daily, then I don't end up writing on the days when I really wish I had--make sense?) I get a dollar for doing this.
Floss and rinse every day--Without tracking this goal, my flossing goes the way of the dodo faster than you can say "extinct." With tracking it, my flossing is flawless. Since my dentist assures me flossing will lead to me losing fewer teeth, and since I don't want to lose teeth, this is a no-brainer goal. It also earns me a whole dollar.
So there you have it. My goals. I'll reassess at the end of each month to see how things are going. I also have family goals (like eating vegetables each day, decluttering my house every day (which is where I took the picture for this post--it's my favorite decluttering How-To book ever--highly recommended if you want to slim down all the junk you've got lying around your house), work on the house an hour a day (as a family, on average, total time) and read a bit from the Book of Mormon each day as a family. There are money rewards for those, too.

I have all of this (and goals for Denisa and TRC) stuck on my fridge in grid format, with boxes for each goal for each day of the month. Yes, I am strange. But like I said--this works for me. For a grand total of $28/month, I bribe myself to lose weight, do my writing, floss, read scriptures, teach my family the piano, and write a journal. I pay $45/month for internet alone.

In my opinion, $28/month is a steal.

How about you--what goals do you have? How do you motivate yourself to reach them? Do share . . . 

(For goal posts from years past, check out here, here and here--take a walk down memory lane with me. Surprising to see how some things just don't change . . .  The good news is that looking at those goals, I reached almost all of them. The Bryce Goal Setting Method for Fun and Profit works!)

Narnian Cabins and Filthy Lucre

Wonder of wonder, I actually got to see two different movies in the theater this week. The first was Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which I went to with Denisa on Thursday. First, a bit about my experiences with the Narnia books. My family has a cabin up in the mountains near Park City, Utah. It's Narnian themed, meaning each of the rooms has a different label (Eagles, Giants, Unicorns, etc.) There's a playhouse out back called the Wardrobe. The cabin itself is Cair Paravel. My cousins and I would go up to this cabin for one week a year each summer, where we spent time with my grandparents and each other. We'd go there for many holidays to spend time together as extended family. If I were still in Utah, I'm sure I'd still be making the pilgrimage as often as I could.



So, yeah. The fam likes Narnia quite a bit.



I've read the books many times. When Denisa and I were just married, I read them out loud to her, and she became rather attached to them, herself. We saw the first Narnia movie in the theater, and I loved it. We saw the second one at home, and it was okay. This time we had the time and the babysitter, so we went to see the third. What did I think?



I think the people making this movie were making it not from a love of the source material, but from a desire to make money. They saw that Lord of the Rings made a boatload, and so they decided to see if another fantasy classic could cash in, too. There's a huge difference in the two approaches. When Peter Jackson made LOTR, he did it because he loved it. He wanted to make the best adaptation he could for himself. There was a lot of personal interest in it. When you make something to make money, you lose that connection. Jackson could easily know if he was succeeding, because he had a clear vision in his head of what he wanted. What did Apted (the director of Dawn Treader) have to go from other than a vague idea of what he thought would pack the seats.



So we have the requisite fantasy action scenes, the marvelous creatures, the intricate armor, the amazing special effects. All of that's executed wonderfully. But what's missing is the heart of the movie, and that's what really packs people into the seats. The rest is just trimmings. If I were to start writing a book I thought other people would want to read, and I based all my decisions on what I thought other people would like most . . . I don't think I'd like to read the end product. This isn't to say that I don't want to make money off my books, just as I'm sure Peter Jackson wanted to make buckets of money on LOTR, too. What I mean is that it can't be the main motivation. I have to write what I love first, then mold it to what can be commercial second.



Some people might disagree with this distinction, but it's pretty clear in my mind. I think it particularly applies to adaptations, but it also extends to any art-making endeavor. Just look at all the trends in books. If a few vampire books take off, then you know you're going to start seeing a glut come along soon enough. Yes, some of those are also good, but odds are those are projects done by people who were writing vampire books long before the trend got hot. The ones written by people who wrote them because there was a trend? I'll pass, thanks very much.



In any case, this post has gone on longer than I'd intended. That's what I get when I have the day off and get going on a topic. There are particular gripes I had with Dawn Treader--the fact that many of the characters don't seem to behave like real people, but instead dutifully do whatever the script demands. The details that don't connect, which add up to a fantasy world that doesn't feel like it's living. The irritation that this is the third Narnia film in a row where Edmund has a character arc centered around Not Being a Jerk Anymore. The fact that they felt it necessary to give Lucy self-esteem problems so she could have a character arc, too. (Folks, sometimes characters don't need arcs. James Bond doesn't deal with overcoming anorexia. Indiana Jones doesn't finally face his fear of snakes and develop a life long love of them.)



Yes, I could get more specific, but I won't. It's a decent movie--2 stars, I suppose. But for a Narnia fan and adaptation fanatic, it only left me thinking of what could have been. Will a fourth be made? Seeing as how this one has made 260 million worldwide, on a budget of 150 million . . . I'd say it's likely. Will I see it? Also likely. I just hope they get a new director.

In Which the Entire Family Gets Sick (except, for once, me)

So as I type this, Denisa is sleeping off a sore throat, TRC is coughing up a storm with a cough that's been hanging around for weeks, and DC has the Pink Eye That Wouldn't Go Away. She's been getting up multiple times a night, which in turn gets other people up, which in turn aggravates other illnesses . . .



Not a whole lotta fun right now, folks.



However, on the good news front, I'm more or less healthy. Which means I was really lucky this time (possible), my immune system has been using all the sickness to beef itself up (doubtful), or I'll get mine later (likely). In the meantime, I have the day off, and so I'll be tending to everybody. Also on the agenda? Breaking down all the boxes from Christmas and taking them to the dump. I live a glamorous life, folks. Let's just hope the paparazzi don't hound me too much on the way to the dump. I'd hate for my adoring public to see me doing such menial tasks, as opposed to my normal life of crawling under desks to fix computers and then sitting in front of a computer screen typing for hours a day.



Try not to be too jealous. :-)



Because I care about you, here's a bit of movie illness goodness for you. Remember: never eat the fish.

Movie Review: Tron Legacy

You might remember I reviewed the original Tron a while ago (it fell quite a bit short of my cherished memories). I'd watched it with TRC, and last Thursday I took him to work with me for our annual pre-Christmas take TRC to work and a movie tradition, and so I took him to Tron: Legacy. I hadn't been leaning that direction--seemed a little grown up to me, judging from the ads--but it was that or Yogi Bear, and there was no way that movie was going to pry one red cent out of my cold clammy hands, so Tron Legacy it was. I checked into the ratings a bit more to see why it was PG, and from what I read, I felt TRC could handle it.



How was it?



About like the first one. It's got really cool special effects, the 3D was pretty nifty, and the story pretty much stunk. At least in the first movie, there was this kind of cool concept of what it would be like to be living in one of the video games at the time. My thought for this one was that it was going to explore what it would be like if that video game world continued evolving. I think this preconception was justified, seeing as how that's how they'd advertised it. What I ended up getting was this hodgepodge of mysticism that did for Tron about what metachlorians did for the Force--tried to explain something cool, and by doing so, make it crappy.



What am I supposed to take away from this supposed evolution of video games? Apparently, the idea that video game people are stupid and trendy and complete lemmings (the lemming part probably makes sense, I suppose--they're so used to doing what other people tell them to). But there are these other non-program, non-user beings that sprang into existence somehow, and somehow they're going to change our real world if Jeff Bridges can remember for long enough that he's not playing the Dude in this movie. Honestly, I just couldn't feel concerned for anything that happened, because I had no clue how it would have any sort of ramifications for the characters involved, and even if I had understood, I didn't care for the characters. Son wants his daddy, Daddy wants his son, blah blah blah insert generic yearnings here.



So really, it's a testament to how cool the graphics were that I'm willing to give it two stars. (Though looking back on it, I'm thinking of downgrading that to a star and a half.) What else did it have going for it? An awesome soundtrack. Any time I got bored or fed up, I could close my eyes and listen to the goodness Daft Punk brought to the table this time. I'm considering buying it even. It was that good.



What did TRC think? He got to watch video game action for 2 hours. He thought it was cool. Which means that in twenty five years or so, he'll watch this with his son, and he'll be disappointed. The circle will be complete, and chances are Disney will be coming out with Tron: Revolution just in time for the cycle to continue.



Anyway. To sum up, you should see this in the theater if you want to see the cool shiny 3D. Otherwise, I'd recommend skipping it entirely and buying the soundtrack.

The Un-Placebo Effect

So get this: I was reading an article yesterday about placebos--sugar pills that are given to people who are then told that those pills are real drugs which will make them feel better. These placebos actually help some people to cure their disease, just because their body believes they should be getting better. That's old news to most of you, no doubt. Well get this: in the study, the doctors looked at a group of people with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Half of the people were given no treatment. The other half were given sugar pills--and they were told they were sugar pills. The doctors explained the placebo effect, and the patients understood they were being given placebos. 35% of the people who had no treatment got feeling better. 59% of the placebo patients improved. So basically, being given a sugar pill, being told it was a sugar pill, knowing it doesn't treat your symptom--all of that doesn't matter. The placebo effect still works.



The mind is a really funky thing, and we understand only a fraction of why it does what it does. Sometimes we think we're really smart, and that we know everything there is to know--or at least everything that's worth knowing--but when you start to look at how much we DON'T know, you see a very different picture. Just sayin'.



And in other news, I wrote up a nifty little piece on Google Goggles today on my library blog. Click on over and check it out--cool stuff.

Being a Bum and a Report Back on Christmas

I decided this year to take the entire week after Christmas off, not so I could go do exciting things somewhere--just so I could hang around the house and relax with my family. There's been some pretty busy times this year, and my goal was to stay home with TRC while he was off from school. We could watch movies, play games, sleep in, eat too much and generally just have a good time.



So far, mission successful.



Except for the sleeping in part. The kids seem to have other ideas about that. It doesn't help that TRC has had pink eye, and in the spirit of Christmas, he gave it to DC, who has now kindly given it to Denisa. My kids learn their lessons well, what can I say? It's okay. No one's terribly sick, and it's a raging blizzard outside right now, which meant that they closed campus for the day, which in turn means that the day off I was planning on taking my own time for, I was kindly gifted by good ol' Ma Nature. It's the season of giving, all around.



So how did Christmas go for me and mine? Very well, thanks for asking. DC got up at 2, 4, 6 and then stayed up once she hit 7. We got up as a family at 7:30. Unwrapped presents, ate delicious caramel nutmeg walnut rolls made by Denisa, and then collapsed in bed while the kids went crazy with new toy frenzy.



Anyway--I'd write more, but . . . I'm feeling particularly lazy, and I still have to do my writing (no vacation from that). Hope you're all well, and that you got some cool loot for whatever loot-awarding holiday you celebrated.

Merry Christmas--Funny Christmas Article

[image error] I assume most of you probably won't read this, since many of you have gone home for the holidays, aren't at work, and certainly aren't checking your blogs. But some of you might be stuck at work today, and if that's the case, I'm here to provide you with at least a little bit of time-wasting and amusement. I read this article by John Scalzi the other day and debated linking to it. I personally find it hilarious, but some of you might find it sacrilegious. The author basically does a mock interview with the innkeeper who turned away Joseph and Mary. It spoofs many popular Christmas songs and even lampoons some of the concepts of the traditional nativity (what gifts the wise men brought, the cleanliness of a manger, etc.) So be warned--if you're the kind who holds your creche sacrosanct, you might not want to be clicking here to check out the article. Otherwise, click away and be amused.

Shopping at Christmas and How to Avoid Long Lines (or Not)

First, a confession: I rarely go to the store. It's even more rare that I go to an actual store during the holidays.* The reason for this mainly boils down to the fact that I don't like large groups of people, and one of the best ways to avoid large groups of people is to not go to the store. Especially during the holidays. That said, it's not an actual phobia or anything--I'm perfectly fine going to the movies, or to concerts, or football games. But stores bring out the worst in people sometimes, and when I actually do go to them, it's usually because I need something and am in a hurry. Inevitably, I get stuck in a slow checkout lane. I'm betting the same thing happens to you, too.



Today I found out there's a mathematical reason for that.



First, check out the video that explains it. I'll have a bit more to say about it after you're done.







Isn't that interesting? It makes me like BestBuy just a smidge more, and makes me understand my misfortune in all checkout lines that much better. Now if they'd only figure out why it is I always sit in front of the chatty obnoxious people in the movie theater.



*Where do I do my shopping? Almost 100% online. I love the reviews, the ability to find out more info about a product easily--all that good stuff. Of course, with bar code scanner apps coming to smartphones, it's possible to be in the store, scan the bar code and get all that info while you're actually holding the product, which might win me over to more in-store purchases in the future . . .