Correspondence 4/26/09 14:41 - 15:24

   This marks a very important correspondence. It's where Raphael "the Feed" Lyles becomes an official member of the band! We're, like, legit, now.

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:41 pm

So, songs...?

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:43 pm

Yes, and on that note, Raphael agreed to work on the melodies of the songs, seeing as he can play drums and guitar, and can also write music, and has several lyric-less songs, would it be good to collaborate with him?

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:44 pm

Shweet shweet shweet shweet shweet

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:44 pm

I know right?

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:46 pm

Dude.

Okay.

So, track listings...

Whatever Happened...

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:49 pm

Anyway, he started coming up with a workable tune for 'D.

And, how many songs are on this one?

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:54 pm

lessay 12, including WH?

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:57 pm

Okay, that works, so, WH is a collaboration, right? leaving 11 more. How many of those 11 will be yours, and how many will be mine?

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:58 pm

I'm thinking, 12, 5 mine, 1 ours, 6 yours, of course because of the tracks written for the album specifically.

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:01 pm

Okay, so, should I pick my 6, or would you want to, if I present a list?

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:01 pm

No, is 'k.

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:02 pm

Alright, I'll go get them then.

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:04 pm

...

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:05 pm

I AM CONFUSED

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:06 pm

Just ak-knowledge-ing it.

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:11 pm

Okay, and here's my list.

Lovely Nuisance

Touch

Or in Our Beds

Love Names

Burn

Springtime

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:12 pm

So, that makes it

Lovely Nuisance

Touch

Or in Our Beds

Love Names

Burn

Springtime

Generation Y

Two Years Ago Today

Wrong of Me

Fur on a Wire

...To Die For

Whatever Happened?

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:18 pm

Yes, awesome. Now you do the ordering as I cannot be trusted in that business.

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:19 pm

Hold on, working on it...

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:20 pm

Standing by.

Re: BCF

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 3:22 pm

Hold on, crap, I had it, but then it logged me off. Did you get it?

Re: BCF

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 3:24 pm

The complete track listing? I'll repost it.

Lovely Nuisance

Touch

Or in Our Beds

Love Names

Burn

Springtime

Generation Y

Two Years Ago Today

Wrong of Me

Fur on a Wire

...To Die For

Whatever Happened?

Just Some Sketches

   Ears are pretty hard to capture from a quarters profile. There's one above the other one there, which you can pretend also is a nose.

Correspondence 4/22/09 21:58 - 4/26/09 14:39

   A lot of our correspondences are also mostly this. Aren't you glad I spared you most of this, through the magic of editing?

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 22, 2009 9:58 pm
Well, I am off to the west.

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 22, 2009 10:11 pm
Good travels to you.

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 9:25 am
I am back from the west.

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 1:48 pm
Good, I presume your expedition was toy your satisfaction?

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:31 pm
Say wha?

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:32 pm
...Nothing.

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 26, 2009 2:36 pm
...to your satisfaction?

Re: I wrote 2 more songs.
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 26, 2009 2:39 pm
Man, you know what it said, don't hassle me over typographical errors.

Hopper

   I guess I'm kind of invested in the idea of consumer rights, so I've got sort of an obligation to know what I'm talking about on issues of piracy, anti-piracy, creators' rights, and commercialization and advertising. This  particular story deals with many of those issues, so it's especially delicious.

   I had speculated that DISH Hopper might work through some payment mechanism, some form of micro-payments where DISH somehow automatically pays the advertisers a nominal fee for the commercials skipped during that time, so that was how that worked. This would, of course, be giving money to the companies/entities advertising there, whether the household would have bought the product or not and regardless of whether they even would-- whether they even agree with the politics of what's being advertised. Which would create an interesting conundrum. To... ad, or not to ad, I guess it would be. Either you don't have to deal with that crap in the first place, or you pay attention to what they have to say and thus not have to give them money. A big NO SOLICITING sign, paying someone not to bother you.

   Nope, nothing of the sort. It just... skips right over 'em. "Hops" right over those suckers. Like a DVR fast forwarding through them, only the fast forward is automatic. It's just the equivalent of... not watching the commercials in the first place. Mmm. Cue evil laughter.

   But it doesn't skip commercials outright. Well, it does, but, let me rephrase that. Hopper doesn't skip all the commercials all the time. You earn points, of a sort, by watching television with commercials in, which allows you to watch an hour of television without commercials. So the advertisers aren't completely cut out of the loop. But some would say that this is worse.

   In a sense, this extends beyond the apparent nefariousness of letting consumers watch commercial-free TV (horrors!) because it creates a reward system for television-watching in itself. Watch four hours of TV with us, we reward you an extra hour sans commercials! Gamification of television. Turning TV watching into a game, with its own reward system. Advertisers like to pile on rewards and create Skinner boxes for their consumers, but this is some next-level meta...ness... right here. Right here. The product, the middleman itself. The very medium of television is getting in on it. How cyberpunk. How postmodern. And actually pretty awesome.

   But it's what the consumers want.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, February 22, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Collin: Let's get down to pins and needles.
Marvin: I believe the phrase is "brass tacks."
Collin: They have a tax on brass now?
Marvin: It's...
Oohh, Never Mind!
Anyway... Many of you out there were offended by a recent cartoon in which we portrayed the comic strips "Born Loser" and "Marmaduke" as being "cultureless dreck."
To the makers of "Marmaduke," we apologize. We apologize to the strip that hearkens back to a simpler time, a time of American values, and Apple Pie. If our making-fun-of made us seem like Liberal Player-haters...
Collin: WE ARE NOT COMMIES!
As to the makers of "Born Loser"...
Marvin: You guys really do suck!

 

Correspondence 4/21/09 20:44 - 20:55

   We might have discussed the idea of doing an album of cover songs IRL before this, but obviously I can't post those here. We say 2 disks, as Raphael "the Feed" would not become a member of the band until later on that week.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:44 pm
Oh, well...
Which reminds me, what songs do we want to be on the cover album? Er... You, you want to be on the album of songs that we cover.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:46 pm
The album consisting of cover songs, or the literal, physical cover of the album?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:46 pm
Yes, cover songs. (2 discs!)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:50 pm
Hm, I'm not sure, can I pick anything?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:51 pm
Yes. One CD for each of us.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:52 pm
Brilliant! I'll have to compile a list...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:53 pm
Meanwhile I shall be doing the same thing.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:55 pm
I figured it'd be a long term thing, like I become aware of the subtleties in my favorite songs and write them down over a period.

Correspondence 4/21/09 19:33 - 20:43

   Trying to finalize the track listing for Birds Cracking Foxy, we gather up some songs and I introduce ...To Die For. Italics are made using a double slash (like this: //) in the mail feature's code, so Cailin just uses three slashes here instead of two. Which explains that in case you were wondering why she said atksha/.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 7:33 pm
BCF track listing?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:08 pm
Wasn't this already sorted out?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:20 pm
Not for Birds Cracking Foxy.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:22 pm
Well well, what songs are left?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:24 pm
g...
Your songs, and my songs.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:24 pm
that is vague, but okay

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:26 pm
do you know any potent, highly addictive psychedelic drugs? (don't ask)
Or am I just gonna have to invent one?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:30 pm
And now to gather mine...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:37 pm
Niche.
I mean... Nice. But with a Sean Connery accent.
Oh, and I wrote a new one: To Die For. It's influenced a lot by U2 and stuff, and... It's got a moral. (shudder.) If you call not going around making your God look like a doosh a moral.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:39 pm
I like that moral, to be perfectly honest.
And: Right bach atksha/

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:40 pm
We've quite the selection.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 21, 2009 8:41 pm
Atkshal?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy
From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 21, 2009 8:43 pm
Axel?

Bad Dreams

   I cradle my head in my hands. It feels so small there. My skull, on the outside, in my hands. Feels small. It feels larger inside my head than outside. I could be bound in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space...

   Were it not that I have bad dreams.

One Year of Posts

   It's been a year of posts so far. That's 356, plus one. Best of? Worst of? If I could figure out HTML or something I'd set up some kind of poll- no, wait, yeah, there's a way to set up a poll. But first I need some feedback on the best of/worst of for the first year. Hmm. You know what would be great, and I think actually would need some knowledge of HTML? Some kind of "random post" feature, that takes you to a- well, to a random post (there is a way to do that, right?)

One Year's Worth of Posts

   Not truly one year of posts, yet, because... because of what happened. But, still, 365 posts. We'll have our one-year-stravaganza tomorrow. Be sure to turn in your votes now, though, for our one year best of/worst of review. Out of a year's worth of posts, which ones made you impressed of me the most? And which ones ruined that respect that I cultivated with the other posts? Be sure to, you know, whatever.

Elementary

   Darn it. You're right. Elementary is better than Sherlock. Out of all the new fall TV series I started, it's the only one I'm continuing to watch while new episodes come out. (The other shows, I can still, like, wait for the DVD or something.)

   New York is a good idea. A smarter Watson makes a lot more sense for Holmes to be sticking around with. It's like I said to Craig Ferguson in the dream I told you about here, though. Elementary is Elementary. By that, I mean, it's still in elementary school. Though by now the combine episodes have a longer run time than the combined episodes of Sherlock, Sherlock is in its third season while Elementary is in its first.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, February 15, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Collin: HA, HA, HA, HA!
Marvin: ?
Collin: HA HA HA
Marvin, thinking: *sigh*
Aah, the newspaper comics: once, a shining beacon of hilarity among the dreary news of the world. But now...
Collin: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Marvin, thinking: Now, the "humor" found there is as bleak and disparaging as the rest of the world. Hallowed pages, once the home to such as  "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Far Side..."
Collin: HA, HA,
Marvin, thinking: ...Has now given way to such cultureless dreck as "Marmaduke" and "Born Loser"...
Collin: HA HA HA HA
Marvin, thinking: ct, one could...
Marvin: COLLIN!
WHAT ON EARTH IS SO FUNNY THAT YOU INTERRUPT ME?!
Collin: Sudoku.

NOTES:
  The first Sunday strip I ever drew. I had drawn two strips before this one, one as a proof-of-concept of the characters and one that was this but shorter. In fact, I also think there was a third one, hold on... Yeah, there was a whole week's worth. I'll be sure to show you those some time. Anyway, this was drawn the same night that Comrade Helicopter's name came into being: it was for a Scout merit badge for like drawing or something, so we (Andrew Adam and I) drew a picture. I drew this; Adam said he was going to draw a "Comrade Helicopter." Comrade Helicopter? Boom. There you go, I guess.

   Like last week's strip served to introduce us to Collin, this one is to introduce us to Marvin. Cynical and jaded, though not as smart as he thinks he is. (Playing a straight man to Collin, the man (mask?) who forgets to breathe sometimes, that's really not that difficult.) Really a tendency towards pontification. He's also kind of a jerk, and gets emotional easily, but, show, don't tell. As you'll see, this strip is not without its character development...

Correspondence 4/15/09 15:22 - 16:34

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 3:22 pm

That's a very very rough work in progress demo version, nothing is final, and I know the hammer is wrong, just showing you I'm actually working on it.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:17 pm

Ha Ha Ha, how do you do these things you do.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:19 pm

Photoshop, my dear watson.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:20 pm

Seriously?

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:20 pm

Mostly.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:21 pm

So what, like, which tools?

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:22 pm

Oh, this was mostly copy/paste business.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:23 pm

Well.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:26 pm

Though the stuff afterward, to fix the hammer, mostly, will be more complex, this is version 1.0 only.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:27 pm

And you need the choppy blade top things as well.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:28 pm

yep, I need to get on that when laziness subsides.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:30 pm

Okee dokey.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:30 pm

Glad I started at least?

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:31 pm

Sure.

Yeah.

Hey, wait a min...

No, never mind.

Yes.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:32 pm

Good.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 4:33 pm

Well, tell me when yo get back.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 4:34 pm

Sure thing.

Correspondence 4/15/09 14:38 - 15:03

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:38 pm

Okay, then how about...

Birds Cracking Foxy songs.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:41 pm

I see what you did there.

And I could probably start on the logo too, at least make some headway.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:42 pm

!

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:43 pm

Surprised I assume?

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:44 pm

!

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:44 pm

...

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:46 pm

!

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:46 pm

!

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:46 pm

!

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:46 pm

...

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:46 pm

Okay I'm good.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:47 pm

Spammin' mah inbox, how dare you.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:48 pm

Sorry.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:50 pm

Quite alright.

And, what color scheme will I need for this logo?

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:51 pm

4b464f

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:55 pm

and black.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 3:03 pm

Ah, no HTML colors please. And as for right now, I am just doing a standard yellow red soviet colorscheme, I'll change it to specifications later.

Correspondence 4/15/09 14:06 - 14:37

   Continuing from last time... We reference this Dinosaur Comics, and I feel that explaining that to you this one time is important enough, it is seriously why I sometimes have short little introductions at the start of my correspondence posts. That's why I started it. To explain that joke this one time. So, thank you.

One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:06 pm

It is a dilemma.

Weren't you going to, like, just write the "script"? I'm really good at writing movie novelizations in my head.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:09 pm

Oh yes, and I even recall starting that, but I had so many subtle details I wanted to fill in, that halfway through drafting it, it became another attempt at a novel.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:12 pm

Well, details is good.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:15 pm

Yeah, and I also figured, because it started to get lengthy, "If I'm going to write this much, why not just write the actual novel?"

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:15 pm

Hmm....

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:17 pm

It's a tough one.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:19 pm

And you haven't figured it out by now?

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:21 pm

Is the solution incredibly obvious?

And you're in on this too, man.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:22 pm

Well, if you can't figure out why, shouldn't the answer be "why not?"? (?)

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:25 pm

I suppose so.

We must come to a decision I think.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:26 pm

How 'bout have some sort of super-detailed...

No wait...

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:29 pm

....hmmmmmmm.

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:30 pm

I got your "I got it"

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:33 pm

I got your "I got your 'I got it'"

Re: One Minute Later

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 15, 2009 2:35 pm

Maybe some kind of gigantic illustrated encyclopedia.

Re: One Minute Later

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 15, 2009 2:37 pm

Ugh, that sounds like so much work....

(though it would admittedly be the most amazing thing in the galaxy)

Correspondence 4/14/09 20:21 - 20:45

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:21 pm

I am geeking out about PoM. It needs to be written.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:23 pm

I know... maybe we should get a bunch of money to hire someone to write this for us?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:23 pm

hmm...

It would have to be a triple billing.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:24 pm

And no one comes to mind...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:25 pm

We could writes it.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:27 pm

We could, but I know that I myself am not a very good writer, and I would hate to see PoM mangled in my own hands.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:28 pm

Good point...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:31 pm

I would probably cry.

So, it has to be good.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:34 pm

I'm not very good at writing mystery.

Are you?...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:35 pm

I have never tried, so I'd also wager a no.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:36 pm

Dropping hints?

(I am also not very subtle)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:38 pm

Yeah, I'm no good at either of those things.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:40 pm

I got it! Barrage the audience with info, so they don't know the important stuff.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 8:43 pm

Ha ha ha....ha?

Wait a minute.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 8:45 pm

one minute...

Other//half Protagonist

   The main character, as I understand him so far, is bipolar. Both//halves of him. Hmm, the pronouns here are kind of confusing. And that's not even getting into the fact that half of his spirit comes from a female. I'm sure I'll discover some system, maybe a fancy chart. I think it's going to include the slash system I've already devised, such terms as either//half and neither//half-- prefix slash (preslash?) to the word if it's the noun, sufslash to the word if it's the adjective.

   He was an artist, and he was off his meds, both swinging between mania and depression, creative genius and inescapable despair. His /halves were timed out so that one of them would always be in the high swing while the other/ was in the low, so that both of him combined was always cranking out inspired works of emotional and spirited creativity, which only happened half the time as a single spirit. This lifestyle was draining, so he stopped. His /halves began drifting apart, and he no longer considers himself to be the same person.

   Both of him are back on medication, both leading fairly normal lives, apart from each//other. Until, of course, the inception of the story. This is only one of the ways the combination of souls can go, only one story that can be told of all of them possible in this universe  though. I'm planning on a larger world beyond just his story. A big ensemble cast of characters.

   And I actually think I'll be able to do this one justice, too, is the thing.

Correspondence 4/14/09 19:12 - 19:53

   I dog Cailin (so to speak) to get on writing a song that she said she would. It's about a man who, twist ending, only likes his girlfriend for her cat. We call it, ...cat.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:12 pm

Which reminds me,

...cat

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:14 pm

...yeah, I don't think I'm getting it?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:15 pm

The song.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:16 pm

...cat?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:16 pm

The one about the cat.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:18 pm

Aren't there a lot of those?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:19 pm

Name two.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:24 pm

Um... shoot, you got me there, none of mine are, but aren't, indirectly, all of them about cats? I mean, our label is Carpe Felis is it not?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:25 pm

Ha.

Um...

You know, the one about the girlfriend's cat.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:27 pm

Oh yeah, I remember that one now, all I remembered was that you had one song directly about cats.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:29 pm

Holy crap....

Dido's actual name is Dido.

I never knew that.

...

Which song?

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:33 pm

Really now? And Feist's actual name is Feist, a lot of musicians have that whole thing going on.

And what?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:33 pm

The one actual song?

...cat?

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:35 pm

Is that what it was called?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:37 pm

Retroactively.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:38 pm

AH.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:38 pm

Yes, I am very retroactive about cats, aren't I?

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:39 pm

I suppose so. I also believe you are the first person in decades to say that sentence.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:40 pm

What was the last decade?

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:41 pm

You mean the last individual to say that last decade?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:41 pm

No, which decade was the last decade in which that sentence was said?

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:42 pm

The 1970's I bet.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:43 pm

An excellent decade.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:44 pm

An excellent decade for cats as well, it seems.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:45 pm

That was '81.

No, wait...

Oh, okay.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:46 pm

What was so good for cats in '81?

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:47 pm

the Musical.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:48 pm

Ooooooooh, I see.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:47 pm

Honestly.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:50 pm

so apparently being retroactive is good for cats.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:50 pm

So it is.

Re: Eh?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 14, 2009 7:51 pm

SoOO,

...cat.

Re: Eh?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 14, 2009 7:53 pm

Okay.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, February 8, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Marvin: What's wrong, Collin?
Collin: I fainted. Again.
Marvin: Hmm.
Have you tried Breathing?
Collin: Breathing?
Marvin: Yes.
Breathing.
EVERYONE does it.
SFX: SCRITCH SCRITCH
Collin: Lemme think.
Uhhh...
HMMMM...!
ok.
BUT I WON'T INHALE!

NOTES:
   I had to do an entirely new upload of this one, the first strip ever published (though not the first one drawn,) because the official school file seems to be missing. Weird. Anyway, this gives you a pretty good overview of the characters, alongside what I think to be the cleverest gag in the strip. Or, uh, one of them. It's not all downhill from here or anything, just... That's pretty funny. It's a good start on the right foot, that's it.

More Hits

   Hmm, I'm still on having a love/hate relationship with the hits this blog gets. I guess it depends on the audience. For example:

   Guys, quit visiting my website looking for EMP blueprints. I didn't mean it to be literal. It's a... hypothetical electromagnetic pulse emitting device. I've got a recipe for Greek Fire if you really want. That's genuine and legit. But, seriously, why I am such a prime target for potential terrorists? Don't look for stuff like that! Or at least not on Google. You do realize they keep tabs on such activity, right? Also, don't visit me if you're just a webbot. Please and thank you.

   Actually, come to think of it, go ahead and try that. Vacuumed Etch-a-Sketch fillings causing a blackout? Cool, but it probably won't work... Which means you can get it on video if you want, because the camera won't die on you. Upload that stuff to YouTube and then shoot me the link, please and thank you.

Crazy (Awesome) Asians. (Not Racist)

   Recently watching Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, I realized I probably should have done so earlier. I'm willing to admit I hadn't seen either before. Miyazaki is worthy of the honor we bestow upon him. Like Jackie Chan, doing all his own stunts (he hand draws or redraws a lot of the animation, guys,) becoming something of a mythic figure in the West, well respected in his own field and deserving of that respect.

   I didn't intend that to be racist (they're both Asian,) but I didn't have as much respect for Jackie Chan as I should. He does his own stuns, though, and that's just nuts.

Correspondence 4/12/09 21:07 - 21:19

   Continuing to get back to the Jurassic Park franchise's roots, in our further discussion of what we would do with JPIV.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:07 pm

So it would be like 2 hours long

(jpiii wasn't nearly long enough...)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:10 pm

Yeah, # 3 was short, a # 4 would have to be longer, and carry the feel of the first film I think.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:12 pm

Meaning a sense of awe and wonder that goes horribly awry.

"Yeah, ooh, ahh, that's how all of this starts, before there's running, and screaming."

-Dr. Ian Malcolm.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:14 pm

Yes, I really liked that.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:15 pm

A new character is required, I think.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:16 pm

Yeah, there'd have to be.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:17 pm

And he would discover something. Like in the DnA or something.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:19 pm

Or in the Field.

Correspondence 4/12/09 20:55 - 21:06

   More JP, this time on what the plot would actually be.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:55 pm

Um, the dinosaurs somehow moving into rural areas in south america, and needing to be removed in a very covert way?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:59 pm

I was thinking that mutant dinosaur gene-splicing, like pterodon-velocoratptor hybrids, like in the action figures for jurassic park ii, but that idea may just be a figment of my imagination, and no such action figures exist.

And besides, your idea actually fits in with the books, lost world especially, even though all of those ones wash up on the beach dead.

Right?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:01 pm

Yes, I believe Isla Nublar was off Costa Rica, no? And hybrids could actually be feasible, when you mess with genes, things go wrong. Actually, the dinosaurs could also start blending with currently alive species as well.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:03 pm

Dude.

But isla nublar was destroyed by the costa rican government, and so it 's isla sorna now...

The island that they actually bred the dinos on!

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:04 pm

Oh yeah... I am behind the times, I suppose. Well, from Isla Sorna then.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 9:06 pm

But hybrids can't be the main plot, that wouldn't be Jurassic Park. So it would be some sort of McGuffin.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 9:06 pm

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, doesn't blend well.

Correspondence 4/12/09 20:40 - 20:50

   Continuing Jurassic Park IV brainstorming, we turn to the science and themes to be carried on over the series.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:40 pm

Oh, and continuing the theme of a lucky pack from movies ii and iii, the Jeep driving through the jungle and being slapped by fronds from i and ii, and maybe finally that sleeping t-rex river chase sequence from the first book

(coincidentally, they were going to do a similar scene in Fellowship, which got cut)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:42 pm

Oh my yes, I believe I remember that scene, but it's been so long since i read the book...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:44 pm

And further change the design of the dinosaurs, the first movies did not do the creepiness of the skull shapes justice (spinosaurus's head in particular.)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:47 pm

Oh yes I agree on the skulls(I thought I was the only one who thought this).

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:47 pm

And that new theory about how pterodons took off

(sort of on all fours running with their wings and feet, like a cheetah, to gain enough speed before unfurling their wings and taking off into flight)

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:48 pm

I like that idea a lot, wills up some awesome imagery.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:50 pm

Great. And the actual plot would be...?

Correspondence 4/12/09 20:27 - 20:37

   We brainstorm some awesome ideas for Jurassic Park IV. Universal, take notice.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:27 pm

How 'bout them dinosaurs?

Who would you like to see direct Jurassic Park 4?

Peter Jackson.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:29 pm

And I think he'd do a good job, but I profess I'm none too aware of various directors' skills these days.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:30 pm

Well...

I don't know. King Kong?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:32 pm

Sorry, never saw it...

すみません、みませんでした。。。

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:33 pm

Okay, how's this:

Utahraptors, those dinos from the second book that have the chameleon-ability to blend into the background, and furtherly feathered velocaraptors with Dr Grant forming the theory that the dinosaurs are quickly evolving to become more like their ancient counterparts, which means that the t-rex can now see you even if you don't move.

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:34 pm

Sounds good and sensible, what all cast would there be?

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 12, 2009 8:35 pm

Okay, the guy who played Grant, the guy who played Eric Kirby, maybe Tim and Lex, Malcolm, Bill Brennan...

Re: Birds Cracking Foxy

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 12, 2009 8:37 pm

Yes, you took pretty much all my favorites.

Inside Dwight

   For me, like I said, an idea is its execution. You want an example, do you? Too bad. Examples aren't candies, to be handed out willy-nilly. Oh, all right.

   I've got an idea for a film, let's call it Inside Dwight. A relatively small group of people, all living inside this guy, "Dwight", whose insides are represented by rooms of a house. Think Osmosis Jones but as a neo-sincere indie flick. Yeah, that's high concept.

   Exploring the issues of "inside" and "outside." So you have Dwight live inside a space that is both, or neither, hallways opening into forests and occasionally blank white featureless expanses. Have a character feel like an "outsider" (thus the angst and the Wes Anderson-ness.) Emphasize this theme further subtly in dialogue which could be seen to refer to this slantly: have a scene where they have to move a table or something, it's easier to lift something holding it near the center. Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world. Is it possible to be neither outside nor inside? Or is that just how it feels for one of the characters? Expand on that idea of spaces: the vaguer question of why we live where we live and be where we are and even exist in space. So you have Dwight exist inside himself.

   The end plot may seem kind of trippy (well, the premise was kind of open to that,) so we justify it and ground it, through dialogue and character choices. What makes a character "outside" or "inside." The mentality of why we think of "us" and "them." From here we see a plot begin to emerge, and we establish the archetypes that deal the most with the central theme. The entire film has been built either to emphasize the central point or to take the strain off of it. It may seem artificial when explained that way, but that's just called construction. It is built up carefully, albeit organically, one process leading to the next.

Conception vs. Execution

   Tying it all together, here, I think. I mean, all of it. Skill versus talent and style versus substance. Why I do the things I do. Free will. Not wanting things to go to waste. Maybe. Let's start with that.

   It boils down to waste, even at its core, I think. Not wanting an idea to go to waste. That's why I want to share my ideas, and would find existence meaningless if cut off from the rest of the world unable to share. Hell is other people? Lucky human. He was never alone. (Schlock Mercenary FTW! I guess.)

   Don't waste the idea, don't waste its execution. That's why I do what I do. That's why I'm compelled in so many fields. That's why I'm interested in so many media. There's an ideal way to express a concept, be it through an audio or visual or written medium. It all comes back around. All of it's connected, I guess.

   It's in the conception of an idea, and the execution of it. The core idea. We try our hands at something, and execute it. We establish a practice. How do we caught up in this in the first place? We all say, pssh, that looks easy, so we get into it thinking that it would be, and find that it isn't as much as we thought it would be. By that time, we've learned enough to make continuing down this path worth it, but by now it's become a lifelong quest.

   We've all got ideas. But execution, to execute on those ideas, is harder than it looks. It depends on whom we watch, really. If our only experience with something is through watching the experts do it, we have no sense of scale, or even of awe at what's being accomplished. The experts are experts, and the experts make execution look easy, so it looks easy.

   Garr, I can't make that sound more profound. I mean, that all sounds natural. It sounds like duh. Because it is. It is duh.

   But good conception is made whole through execution. And that requires craft. And craft requires practice. Which is why they call it craft?

   I don't know; I'm able to know all of this, but I don't think I'm able to follow through on that one hundred percent of the time. Meaning, I am by no means saying this from position of expert. But I can see the evolution of skill, on the path that I've only started down, which I guess makes me qualified enough to realize the difficulties ahead.

Super Bowl

   Gearing up for Super Bowl, and for adwatchers such as yours truly, that means, um, ads.

   For the past two years, the hands down Super Bowl "winner" was Chrysler. While certainly not the funniest (which seems to be another competition in itself, one which Chrysler does not play, FTW (which stands for FOR THE WIN!),) they have shown themselves to have the deepest, boldest advertisements of the bunch. From the same guys who brought you the Old Spice Guy, so you know that's legit. They let their ads go on for minutes at a time (in the not-boring way,) in a world where every second costs a hundred thousand dollars. Easily making them the longest-running advertisements of the games (discounting that interactive Coca-Cola polar bear thing; wasn't that awesome?)

   How stupid will the "funny" commercials get this year? How awesome will the Chrysler ad be? Will there be any stupid "funny" parodies of Chrysler ads? I only care about the answer to one of those.