I am going to bring together two things that have been talked about a little recently. One involves "gLee". (Did you know the first gLee soundtrack is out soon? Did you know I may get tired of typing it gLee?) Now people always say that muscial TV shows don't work, pointing to "Cop Rock" and "Viva Luaghlin". I actually think "Cop Rock" wasn't that bad (can't say the same for "Viva Laughlin", even having Wolverine there didn't help). But clearly "Cop Rock" didn't find the right audience and got pulled early. Of course, there was this little show called "Fame" that had singing and was also had other things that people say don't work (movie spinoff, diverse cast, high schoolers that actually graduated) and it managed to survive pretty well.
(Did I mention that the gLee soundtrack is coming?)
With the apparent weak opening of "Amelia" the latest discussion is whether or no women can open movies and if it's that women won't watch movies about women that aren't fun group movies. I think honestly when I can watch movies on my phone, getting me to a theater has to offer me an experience that justifies my needing to be in a special place, at a special time, for a "special" amount of money, with only "special" snacks and surrounded by people who might cough or whisper about where they saw that guy before*. It has to be something that I think the movie screen will make better than watching on my couch. That's why I think visually interesting movies are doing well. Or movies where you can gather all your friends for dinner and a movie (because my couch is only so big.)
So, in the Post article about the end of movies with strong women, I think it totally ignores the possibility that people didn't want to see "Amelia" because it's possibly boring, or a movie where you know the main character dies in the end and instead said, oh, it must be because it's about a woman. (I am not unbiased on the subject of Amelia Earhart, but still.)
I think the important thing is this quote from Dergarabedian "Ultimately, everything comes down to the movie. If the movie's good, it can cross over all kinds of lines and break all sorts of rules."
And that's really the end result, people see movies that intrigue them. People watch TV shows that intrigue them. I ignored "Buffy" because vampires creep me out. (And it was on opposite "Ally McBeal".) But I heard and read enough things that made it sounds like something I might like until I finally checked it out. And loved it.
I love "gLee". (Did I tell you the sound track is out soon?) I love it despite it's faults. I love the singing and the dancing and I love the little moments they get right, the little bits in the midst of the crazy.
Now, I agree with the point by March Hirsch over at Monkey See that more live singing, or less produced stuff would make it even better. And yes, the kids sitting around singing was better than the crazy over produced version of "No Air". ("No Air" was still fun, but let's face it, it was clear we had crossed over into a music video with not even the tiniest bit of reality left.)
I also think a great point is made by there, that yes, we know it's a TV show, but there is a point where all the things that remind you this is just TV add up to too much and it starts to be less fun. (My tolerance level is usually raised when people sing for me. The gLee sondtrack is coming, had you heard?)
So in the end, I think the point is people watch stuff not because it's "good" or "about a strong woman" but becuase they think they will enjoy it. And while everyone's standard for that is different (and certainly about a strong woman might well be your benchmark) people watch stuff they wouldn't necessarily choose in a survey when it looks good enough to get over their other issues with people singing, or period pieces, or biographies or blood and gore or whatever their normal not for me's are.
Hey, had you heard about the gLee soundtrack? Since the Monkey See Article had the jam session, I will leave you with this. (Yes, it also looks like a video, but it;s so great, that I don't care.)
*It was George Clooney! And no this wasn't young people being disruptive, they were senior citizens.
Rants About New (and old) Things
Monday, November 02, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Knitting Saves Lives (Other People's)
I once, somewhat jokingly, presented a formula that went something like this:
Yarn (and knitting) makes me happy. And (to borrow from "Legally Blonde") happy people don't kill people. So really the ruse and stupid people I encounter are being saved because I sniffed a little wool (or cashmere, or cotton, or silk, or bamboo...).
And the Yarn Harlot recently(ish) asked a very good question:
How do non-knitters handle stress? I mean, I know they must do something, since it's not like I see them all weeping on the bus all the time, but when everything in their lives is all messed up, what is the thread of sanity and sameness that runs through it and keeps them from being a lunatic? Does knitting attract people who need something to moderate stress more than others? Do you think that you use knitting to moderate your behaviour, and in this spirit of this shirt (I knit so I don't kill people) do you think your behaviour would be different if you didn't?
Now I have made it to this point in my life without killing people (as far as I know) and I was not knitting the whole time, but I absolutely turn to knitting when I am stressed. I keep a project by my work computer both to while away the time while a large document is opening or to keep me from surfing the web during conference calls but also for those moments when people are ticking me off. So, it's also helping keep me employed.
I don't know if knitter are stressed or stressed people are knitters any more than I know if impatient people are knitters or knitters are impatient, but it does make me wonder about the non-knitters. Perhaps they should teach people to knit in prison.
Yarn (and knitting) makes me happy. And (to borrow from "Legally Blonde") happy people don't kill people. So really the ruse and stupid people I encounter are being saved because I sniffed a little wool (or cashmere, or cotton, or silk, or bamboo...).
And the Yarn Harlot recently(ish) asked a very good question:
How do non-knitters handle stress? I mean, I know they must do something, since it's not like I see them all weeping on the bus all the time, but when everything in their lives is all messed up, what is the thread of sanity and sameness that runs through it and keeps them from being a lunatic? Does knitting attract people who need something to moderate stress more than others? Do you think that you use knitting to moderate your behaviour, and in this spirit of this shirt (I knit so I don't kill people) do you think your behaviour would be different if you didn't?
Now I have made it to this point in my life without killing people (as far as I know) and I was not knitting the whole time, but I absolutely turn to knitting when I am stressed. I keep a project by my work computer both to while away the time while a large document is opening or to keep me from surfing the web during conference calls but also for those moments when people are ticking me off. So, it's also helping keep me employed.
I don't know if knitter are stressed or stressed people are knitters any more than I know if impatient people are knitters or knitters are impatient, but it does make me wonder about the non-knitters. Perhaps they should teach people to knit in prison.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
7 Things: The Amy Johnson Issue
A small moment in Judith Krantz's Til We Meet Again mentioned Amy Johnson. Intrigued I looked her up, and a few years later a new biography on her came out which I immediately purchased. I didn't finish it until a few years later where I brought it on a long trip, but I find it strange that Amelia Earhart seems to get all the press when their two stories are so eerily similar. And yet I find (personally) Amy Johnson more interesting. So, I present 7 Things: The Amy Johnson issue.
1. Amy married a fellow pilot Jim Mollison. She had set flying records prior to their meeting, and together they set several more.
2. Amy also broke one of her husband's records.
3. Planes at that time had relatively small fuel tanks and there were limited places to refuel, so pilots carried extra fuel cans on board with them. Amy and her husband ended up crash landing in Bridgeport, CT after running out of fuel during a flight from Wales to the US and, after recuperating, were thrown a ticker tape parade.
4. A song was written about Amy's flight to Australia. Another song was written about her years later in the 1970's.
5. Amy and her husband divorced and she reverted to her maiden name.
6. In 1940 the ATA was formed to assist the transport of newly built aircraft to the airbases, using pilots that could not fly combat, such as women. (The Women's Army Air Corps performed similar duties in the US.) Amy joined, and on a mission, went off course and bailed out of her plane. She was never found.
7. In the late 1990's a man came forward claiming that Amy's plane was shot down after failing to provide the correct code of the day and that they were told not to reveal this.
1. Amy married a fellow pilot Jim Mollison. She had set flying records prior to their meeting, and together they set several more.
2. Amy also broke one of her husband's records.
3. Planes at that time had relatively small fuel tanks and there were limited places to refuel, so pilots carried extra fuel cans on board with them. Amy and her husband ended up crash landing in Bridgeport, CT after running out of fuel during a flight from Wales to the US and, after recuperating, were thrown a ticker tape parade.
4. A song was written about Amy's flight to Australia. Another song was written about her years later in the 1970's.
5. Amy and her husband divorced and she reverted to her maiden name.
6. In 1940 the ATA was formed to assist the transport of newly built aircraft to the airbases, using pilots that could not fly combat, such as women. (The Women's Army Air Corps performed similar duties in the US.) Amy joined, and on a mission, went off course and bailed out of her plane. She was never found.
7. In the late 1990's a man came forward claiming that Amy's plane was shot down after failing to provide the correct code of the day and that they were told not to reveal this.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Provisionals
We had our final Discovery class last week. (Lani will be offering the classes again in January,keep an eye out if you're interested.)
I have listened to several author's talk about opening scenes. How the first time you write it, it's just practice. Especially if you (like me) are a pantser (compared to a plotter). There are all sorts of things one wants to accomplish in an opening scene and you can't properly figure all that out until you know what your whole book is. (I hear tell that even the plotters are often surprised at the twists that happen. Which is why (although this might change (hey, have you noticed I'm getting really parenthetical here?)) I think plotting is like swatching, it makes you feel better but often as not it doesn't really reflect the finished product.)
Now of course, you might say, well, just skip it. And you could. But it usually helps to have some sort of placeholder in there even if the gazillionth time you tweak it it ends up looking nothing like how it started.
Lani, who is also a knitter, explained that your first crack at the opening scene is like a provisional cast on. You need something to anchor all the stuff after, but you're going to come back and do something cool with it later. This is just the waste yarn.
I loved this. It's made that extra click in my brain.
I have listened to several author's talk about opening scenes. How the first time you write it, it's just practice. Especially if you (like me) are a pantser (compared to a plotter). There are all sorts of things one wants to accomplish in an opening scene and you can't properly figure all that out until you know what your whole book is. (I hear tell that even the plotters are often surprised at the twists that happen. Which is why (although this might change (hey, have you noticed I'm getting really parenthetical here?)) I think plotting is like swatching, it makes you feel better but often as not it doesn't really reflect the finished product.)
Now of course, you might say, well, just skip it. And you could. But it usually helps to have some sort of placeholder in there even if the gazillionth time you tweak it it ends up looking nothing like how it started.
Lani, who is also a knitter, explained that your first crack at the opening scene is like a provisional cast on. You need something to anchor all the stuff after, but you're going to come back and do something cool with it later. This is just the waste yarn.
I loved this. It's made that extra click in my brain.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Dear Folks #24
Dear DC area folks,
I have just ordered a pair of boots. I expect this will result in a return to balmy weather as soon as they arrive. You're welcome.
Sincerely,
Can you have too many boots?
I have just ordered a pair of boots. I expect this will result in a return to balmy weather as soon as they arrive. You're welcome.
Sincerely,
Can you have too many boots?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)