Alan Baxter's Blog, page 120

Ten words you need to stop misspelling

There are a few words that are commonly misspelled or simply used incorrectly. I'm quickly becoming a fan The Oatmeal comics and today they've got a good list of ten commonly misspelled words, along with that special brand of Oatmeal drawing and comedy. The words they cover are:

Lose/Loose

Weird not Wierd

Their/They're/There

Your/You're

It's/Its

Definitely

Effect/Affect

Weather/Whether

A lot not alot*

Then/Than

Find the comic and explanations here.

* Also in this category there should be a discussion of ...

Slice Of Life by Paul Haines – review

I'll start by saying that I'm lucky enough to call Paul Haines a friend, so I don't want any accusations of friendly bias. Think what you like, you cynical bastards.

You may remember that I was going on about the X6 novella anthology from Coeur De Lion earlier this year. There was this post about the book and this post after I'd been to the official launch. Paul had a novella in there called Wives. It is, without a doubt, the best thing I've read this year. Buy X6 just for Wives if nothing...

Irony of the week, from Peter Jensen

Ah, this did make me laugh. It's the belief equivalent of "my dad can beat up your dad".

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

[Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen:] Speaking to the congregation at St Andrews Cathedral on Christmas morning, he said recent polling showed Australians were religious and still looking for an answer on the purpose of life.

"But many of the answers are superstitious, such as astrology," he said. "Superstition can never satisfy the longings of the human heart and they...

I'm starting a movement

And no, before anyone gets smart in the comments, not a bowel movement. More a movement in response to the season (which is a kind of bowel movement in itself). Christians are always bleating on about "Put the Christ back into Christmas!" I'm sick and tired of that.

I'm starting a new movement:

Get your Christmas out of Sol Invictus!

Who's with me? It makes just as much sense as the Christians harping on.

Anyway, here's hoping that this season of manufactured madness doesn't drive you all...

Avatar 3D – review

I'll discuss the general plot in this review but I'll give you a warning before there are any real spoilers.

I was very dubious about this film. I really wanted it to be a great movie, but it could so easily have just been a tacky display of special effects without any substance. I try to keep faith in James Cameron, the writer/director. After all, he's given us Terminator and Terminator 2, Aliens, True Lies and Strange Days. He's also given us Titanic. It's not a spotless track record.

In...

The contradictions of belief in Australia

An interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald caught my attention today. One thousand Australians were polled by Nielsen on the subject of faith. You can read the whole article from the link above, but a few things made me shake my head.

Firstly, it's worth remembering that 85% of statistics are made up on the spot. Including that one right there. You can pretty much bend any figures to suit your point of view. Another key point is that 1,000 people is a very tiny fraction of...

Pretentious spam arsehole of the week

I got this spam comment today:

Well, the article is actually the best on this precious topic. I fit in with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your future updates. Saying thanks will not just be enough, for the great lucidity in your writing. I will at once grab your rss feed to stay privy of any updates. Genuine work and much success in your business endeavors!

Can you guess what post it was on? It was this one, where I reposted the list of Aurealis Award finalists.

Seriously,...

Why The Phantom Menace was awful

I picked this up from S F Signal and enjoyed every minute of it. Essentially it's a review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. We all know that the prequel movies took the original Star Wars trilogy, one of the best things ever committed to film, and shat repeatedly all over them, forever tarnishing something wonderful. But why exactly were those prequels so bad? Well, Lucas pissed all over his legacy by relying on CGI and completely nonsensical plots as a vehicle for selling merchandise and...

The masters of double standards strike again

Those faithful believers in the best selling epic fantasy of all time, the Bible, are at it again. At what, you ask? Promoting amazing levels of hypocrisy and double standards, that's what. According to today's Sydney Morning Herald, the Catholic Church has been accused of derailing the second and third movie of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

The novels are fundamentally about the struggles of young Lyra against an institution called The Magisterium. The Magisterium is clearly...

Not all rejections are all bad

More often than not when submitting stories for publication a rejection comes in the form of a standard line. It's usually something along the line of "thanks but no thanks" and that's it. It's fair enough too – having been on the other side of the fence I can sympathise with the editors. As a writer, however, it's always good to get a bit more feedback from an editor. A rejection is one thing, a rejection with a reason is better.

Today I got a rejection that makes me feel like I'm on the...