With Nelson getting stale and my funds running thin, I returned to the north island and set up shop in Wellington, to knock on the public relation industry doors myself. Now I know why most elevators in business buildings have mirrors. The crosssection of businesses I found on the lobby boards of the skyscrapers were interesting, though in hindsight I guess every business needs to sit somewhere. I found an oil company I never heard of, all kinds of doctors and specialists to get you to the peak of health and beyond, numerous government departments and a heap of IT-businesses with funny names and (supposedly) interchangeable business plans. We take the sh out of IT.
http://abstrusegoose.com/380
None of the PR agencies are hiring at the moment, so I'll look around the movie business if they need a ticket salesperson or a stagehand somewhere.
http://www.viruscomix.com/page413.html
Monday, November 12, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
My brain > Hollywood
Unconscious dream layout
+ conscious rewriting and editing
= Story worth of a movie!
\paragraph{28.09.12}
The view was hideous. The streets were filled with them; pale blue skinned zombies with torn and twisted bodies, staggering around in the central business district, pressing themselves against the large windows of the skyscraper without success. I turned away from the sealed glass doors and faced the lobby. Some survivors were camping out in the waiting areas, reading the glossy magazines that are to be expected in waiting areas, with stories and pictures about dead and forgotten celebrities.
I crossed the room, their heads following me with questioning looks. At the gateway to the stairway, I showed my ID badge to Angelina, sitting in her glass cabin. She smiled at me and said "You've been in the lobby more than any of the others, and I've seen you the whole time. You don't even need that badge anymore to convince me". She winked and opened the stairway doors. In the middle of the small, jet 50 stories high room, I looked up. The stairs were turning around endlessly. I sighed and took the first step. The elevators had broke down several hours ago, and the amounts of energy saved were propably buying us days, but as I climbed up, I couldn't reconcile with that thought.
At the laboratories, I met Dr. Hauser, one of the lab leaders. Not a big shot, but no redshirt, either. We had become close friends since the incident. "Any progress, Dr.?". He smiled and shrugged. "same level as last time you asked. It's frustrating; I was just about to go to the glass house." He meant the lobby, the skyscrapers 'outdoors'; a place to go in one's breaks, to meet new faces among the campers and to look out the windows and watch the world breaking down a bit more. "Just were there; the view hasn't changed since they started to press against the glass. I got a bit of time left, I'll join you." "Because of me or because of Angelina?", he asked with a grin.
We started our descent along the stairs, but before long we smelled them. I looked over the handrail and saw the zombies crawling upwards. "How did they get in? Management told us that the glass is bulletproof! And with the equipment in here it better should've been!" Hauser was on the brink of turning back up. "There are not many of them, we need to see what happened down there!" He sighed, then headed down with me. When we encountered the first zombie, we simply jumped from one side of the staircase to the other, cutting a corner and bypassing the undead.
This way, we made it down to the lobby floor, but when we headed for the door, a zombie that had been behind the stairs bit Hauser. I ran back up a level, observing Hauser. His skin got pale, he coughed blood and gasped "Wait... I don't want to... I can feel it... Don't want..." His eyes lost focus and wandered around, he took a step on wobbly legs. Then he held to the handrail and his eyes found mine once more. "Can fight... The urge... Help me..."
His skin color grew healthy again, the other zombie turned his head back to him and attempted another bite. I shoved it away and led Hauser up the stairs, cautiously of his behaviour. But he got better with every step. "This is amazing, I am alive! I felt what it's like... It was horrible, but... I was dead down there! How did I come back?" "You're the Doctor, you tell me! I'm taking you to management, they have to get the labs on this phenomenon! If you came back, maybe there is a cure for all the others, too!"
Up at the top floor, the suit people were gathered in their conference room, blankly listening to some eggheads lecture without understanding a word. I interrupted the speaking scientist: "Gentlemen, the zombies are in the staircase. That's the bad news, the good news is that Dr. Hauser got bitten! How's that bad news? Because he made it back!" I pointed at the door, where Hauser was entering as on cue, his skin still a bit colorless, the wound in his shoulder gaping at the suits, but evidently a walking, talking, thinking human being.
One of the suits finally spoke. "So, what does that mean? Can any zombie come back and they just don't want to? Did he have some vaccination? And, aehm, shouldn't we analyse his blood and whatnot?" I took a breath, but Hauser spoke first: "You're right, I should go immediatly." With that, he stormed out of the room. When I reached the staircase, he was already one floor down, yelling: "Shouldn't you be in the lobby, investigating how the zombies got in? How they could get past Angelina?" I winced in horror and ran down the staircase once more, dodging and kicking zombies.
Somehow, the main doors had opened, and the lobby was crawling with them. I identified some of the campers, now zombified. Angelina was in her glass cabin, frantically adjusting her radio equipment. I knocked at the back of her cabin, and as she saw me, she got out immediatly. LUckily, the staircase doors held, and the few zombies in the stairway were managable. She sobbed. "Did you hear the transmission? Do you know?" I held her, asking what she meant. "It's the Chinese. They are about to nuke the place; they don't want the problem to spread to them." Just in that moment, I could see a single get fighter pass the city, headed for the center of the outbreak. We stood in silence.
When we saw a mushroom cloud growing into the sky far away, we looked at each other. Then, she seemed to remember something, and she started to wordlessly drag me into the second floor corridor. After a turn, there was a grey body bag on the floor. She stopped, confused. "What is this? ...Who is this? Last time I came through here, this wasn't there." She looked at me, questioning. I kneeled down and opened the body bag. In it lay, seemingly dead, Angelina. I looked at her. "It's ...you?" She turned away in terror. Before any of us could say another word, one of the suits, the only woman up there, came into the corridor. I didn't study her face back up there, but she looked familiar...
"Calm down, both of you! It's got to do with time travel, and time is short right now!" She turned to me. "Help me get her in here!" She started dragging the body bag into the restroom closeby. "Angelina!", she jelled. "Get in here, I'll explain what this is about after we got out of here!" She opened a secret compartment hidden underneath the floor tiles. It contained a small chamber stuffed with strange electronics. She placed the body bag in there, directed the speechless Angelina into a seat and took the last one herself. Looking up to me, she said: "Sorry for that, but you weren't in the plans. You better step back." I stepped towards the windows, where I could see the giant mushroom. Almost simultaneously, the chamber disappeared and left a gaping hole in the floor, and the sound blast of the explosion hit the building.
I just saw this as a draft. Why did I never publish this?
+ conscious rewriting and editing
= Story worth of a movie!
\paragraph{28.09.12}
The view was hideous. The streets were filled with them; pale blue skinned zombies with torn and twisted bodies, staggering around in the central business district, pressing themselves against the large windows of the skyscraper without success. I turned away from the sealed glass doors and faced the lobby. Some survivors were camping out in the waiting areas, reading the glossy magazines that are to be expected in waiting areas, with stories and pictures about dead and forgotten celebrities.
I crossed the room, their heads following me with questioning looks. At the gateway to the stairway, I showed my ID badge to Angelina, sitting in her glass cabin. She smiled at me and said "You've been in the lobby more than any of the others, and I've seen you the whole time. You don't even need that badge anymore to convince me". She winked and opened the stairway doors. In the middle of the small, jet 50 stories high room, I looked up. The stairs were turning around endlessly. I sighed and took the first step. The elevators had broke down several hours ago, and the amounts of energy saved were propably buying us days, but as I climbed up, I couldn't reconcile with that thought.
At the laboratories, I met Dr. Hauser, one of the lab leaders. Not a big shot, but no redshirt, either. We had become close friends since the incident. "Any progress, Dr.?". He smiled and shrugged. "same level as last time you asked. It's frustrating; I was just about to go to the glass house." He meant the lobby, the skyscrapers 'outdoors'; a place to go in one's breaks, to meet new faces among the campers and to look out the windows and watch the world breaking down a bit more. "Just were there; the view hasn't changed since they started to press against the glass. I got a bit of time left, I'll join you." "Because of me or because of Angelina?", he asked with a grin.
We started our descent along the stairs, but before long we smelled them. I looked over the handrail and saw the zombies crawling upwards. "How did they get in? Management told us that the glass is bulletproof! And with the equipment in here it better should've been!" Hauser was on the brink of turning back up. "There are not many of them, we need to see what happened down there!" He sighed, then headed down with me. When we encountered the first zombie, we simply jumped from one side of the staircase to the other, cutting a corner and bypassing the undead.
This way, we made it down to the lobby floor, but when we headed for the door, a zombie that had been behind the stairs bit Hauser. I ran back up a level, observing Hauser. His skin got pale, he coughed blood and gasped "Wait... I don't want to... I can feel it... Don't want..." His eyes lost focus and wandered around, he took a step on wobbly legs. Then he held to the handrail and his eyes found mine once more. "Can fight... The urge... Help me..."
His skin color grew healthy again, the other zombie turned his head back to him and attempted another bite. I shoved it away and led Hauser up the stairs, cautiously of his behaviour. But he got better with every step. "This is amazing, I am alive! I felt what it's like... It was horrible, but... I was dead down there! How did I come back?" "You're the Doctor, you tell me! I'm taking you to management, they have to get the labs on this phenomenon! If you came back, maybe there is a cure for all the others, too!"
Up at the top floor, the suit people were gathered in their conference room, blankly listening to some eggheads lecture without understanding a word. I interrupted the speaking scientist: "Gentlemen, the zombies are in the staircase. That's the bad news, the good news is that Dr. Hauser got bitten! How's that bad news? Because he made it back!" I pointed at the door, where Hauser was entering as on cue, his skin still a bit colorless, the wound in his shoulder gaping at the suits, but evidently a walking, talking, thinking human being.
One of the suits finally spoke. "So, what does that mean? Can any zombie come back and they just don't want to? Did he have some vaccination? And, aehm, shouldn't we analyse his blood and whatnot?" I took a breath, but Hauser spoke first: "You're right, I should go immediatly." With that, he stormed out of the room. When I reached the staircase, he was already one floor down, yelling: "Shouldn't you be in the lobby, investigating how the zombies got in? How they could get past Angelina?" I winced in horror and ran down the staircase once more, dodging and kicking zombies.
Somehow, the main doors had opened, and the lobby was crawling with them. I identified some of the campers, now zombified. Angelina was in her glass cabin, frantically adjusting her radio equipment. I knocked at the back of her cabin, and as she saw me, she got out immediatly. LUckily, the staircase doors held, and the few zombies in the stairway were managable. She sobbed. "Did you hear the transmission? Do you know?" I held her, asking what she meant. "It's the Chinese. They are about to nuke the place; they don't want the problem to spread to them." Just in that moment, I could see a single get fighter pass the city, headed for the center of the outbreak. We stood in silence.
When we saw a mushroom cloud growing into the sky far away, we looked at each other. Then, she seemed to remember something, and she started to wordlessly drag me into the second floor corridor. After a turn, there was a grey body bag on the floor. She stopped, confused. "What is this? ...Who is this? Last time I came through here, this wasn't there." She looked at me, questioning. I kneeled down and opened the body bag. In it lay, seemingly dead, Angelina. I looked at her. "It's ...you?" She turned away in terror. Before any of us could say another word, one of the suits, the only woman up there, came into the corridor. I didn't study her face back up there, but she looked familiar...
"Calm down, both of you! It's got to do with time travel, and time is short right now!" She turned to me. "Help me get her in here!" She started dragging the body bag into the restroom closeby. "Angelina!", she jelled. "Get in here, I'll explain what this is about after we got out of here!" She opened a secret compartment hidden underneath the floor tiles. It contained a small chamber stuffed with strange electronics. She placed the body bag in there, directed the speechless Angelina into a seat and took the last one herself. Looking up to me, she said: "Sorry for that, but you weren't in the plans. You better step back." I stepped towards the windows, where I could see the giant mushroom. Almost simultaneously, the chamber disappeared and left a gaping hole in the floor, and the sound blast of the explosion hit the building.
I just saw this as a draft. Why did I never publish this?
Secret Drawing Project
Gefragt ist:
1. Ein typisches Foto/Beschreibung (oder mehrere) wie ihr euch portraitieren lassen würdet (z.b. lester mit Pfeil/Bogen, Bambi mit ihrer Mütze und niedlich, etc. pp.)
2. Eure Lieblingsfarbe.
Meine Antwort:
1a. Heldenhafte Pose, mit Streitaxt, langen wallenden Locken, in Orange
1b. Nachrichtenmoderator, mit langen wallenden Locken und konservativem Anzug, in gruen
Hier einige Fotos, zur Orientierung:
Das war vor meiner Abreise, im konservativen Anzug (ohne Fotoshop, mit awesome):
Hier ist mein Lebenslauf-Foto von April oder so.
Der Bart ist ab.
Hier habe ich gerade das Schach-Billard erfunden. Kurz darauf habe ich doppelt verloren.
Gordon-Freeman-Bart, empfohlen von Felix Fink. Du hattest Recht, das sieht gut aus. Augenmerk ausserdem an die langsam laenger werdenden Haare. Ich nenne es den automatischen Vokuhila. Ohne Frisoer wird es hinten laenger und vorne
Vorgestern.
Nixon. Fuer das experimentelle Zeichenprojekt haette ich gerne etwas Nixon-esques fuer meinen Nachrichtensprecher. Ich mag diese Gesichtszuege einfach. I'm Not A Crook!Politiker der Weltgeschichte: Henry Kissinger versucht, wie ich auszusehen, und scheitert aufs haesslichste.
Mit Blogger Fotos zu arrangieren ist hoellisch!
Mobi
Hollywood is lying!
This is a great year to be in an country where movies aren't dubbed. The Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, Looper, Total Recall, Dredd, Spiderman (just kidding), Resident Evil (not kidding).
An interesting effect is how the message and even the genre of a movie can shift if you watch it with the idea of voluntarism lodged in your brain. You can even watch your favourite movies for a second 'first time', and they might not even be your favourites afterwards! Here's what I think:
Dredd:
It is the age of the remake. When it was first attempted to bring the Judge to the big screen, they gave him character development. And for that to work, they gave him a character. Who took off his helmet.
The new one is not a remake of that movie, but a new attempt to turn the comic into one, with a Dredd that has no character and no face. He is the law. He keeps his helmet on and is nothing more than what the Hall of Justice considers the ideal Judge. To give the movie a character, he gets a psychic sidekick who doesn't wear a helmet at all. Other than Spidey3's Venom, there is an explanation for it, it interferes with her abilities. Fine by me.
So, we have the 'good ones', fighting the 'bad ones', a drug producing gang that lives in a tower whose other inhabitants propably don't like the violence in front of their doors, no matter from whom. If you look past the good-bad thingy, the movie is no longer a crime-fighting action movie, but a nihilistic explodium. But that makes it all the more interesting. If you don't listen to the good-bad narratice to know wether an action is good or bad, but analyse it according to your own moral framework (say, UPB), this movie is as educational as it is entertaining.
And entertaining it is. No shaking cameras, beautiful slo-mo sceneries (Shut up, I like them). And they find an in-universe explanation for that, too: The drug itself is Slo-Mo! Brilliant! There remains just one question: when you use 3D, then why do you still need this effect where you shift the camera focus from a far object to a near one? With all the techology we have, can't we show everything clear, so I can decide myself what object I focus on?
My two cents in a nutshell: I enjoyed it and whould have seen it again, whould it not have vanished from the cinemas within two weeks.
Looper:
It is also the age of the new and original story that has never been before! Looper is from the subgenre of science-fiction wherein a technology is introduced into a society that resembles ours. The difference is that it is not used by the scientist who invented it (e.g. Back To The Future) or the military/police (e.g. minority report), but by reckless criminals who cleverly use it for their own profit (e.g. Inception).
It's been a while since I watched it, and I lost my notes on this one, but I really liked it. Willis doesn't want to talk about how time travel works because he'd be ending up drawing diagrams with ketchup? Brilliant! And following the important 'show don't tell', we get to see what happens to future you if past you gets captured... One of the most memorable moments of time-travel science-fiction is that most unusual chase scene.
Other than that, the world we see is not too distant from ours, but the telekinesis comes out of nowhere, that may have been solved more smoothly. But what do I know about writing a screenplay?
I should do some reading on how to write a decent movie critique, this is closer to what I talked about with other viewers afterwards. See it yourself if you want to know how it is.
Oh, I also watched Atlas Shrugged and was kinda disappointed. It feels rushed, they have to cover 400 pages in one movie. Also, the collectivists are too obviously evil, i.e. doing it to gain control by knowing the right people. As far as I see it, the councils were established with the genuin purpose of doing the best for everyone, and people only turned to personal favourism after they saw that altruism doesn't work out.
An interesting effect is how the message and even the genre of a movie can shift if you watch it with the idea of voluntarism lodged in your brain. You can even watch your favourite movies for a second 'first time', and they might not even be your favourites afterwards! Here's what I think:
Dredd:
It is the age of the remake. When it was first attempted to bring the Judge to the big screen, they gave him character development. And for that to work, they gave him a character. Who took off his helmet.
The new one is not a remake of that movie, but a new attempt to turn the comic into one, with a Dredd that has no character and no face. He is the law. He keeps his helmet on and is nothing more than what the Hall of Justice considers the ideal Judge. To give the movie a character, he gets a psychic sidekick who doesn't wear a helmet at all. Other than Spidey3's Venom, there is an explanation for it, it interferes with her abilities. Fine by me.
So, we have the 'good ones', fighting the 'bad ones', a drug producing gang that lives in a tower whose other inhabitants propably don't like the violence in front of their doors, no matter from whom. If you look past the good-bad thingy, the movie is no longer a crime-fighting action movie, but a nihilistic explodium. But that makes it all the more interesting. If you don't listen to the good-bad narratice to know wether an action is good or bad, but analyse it according to your own moral framework (say, UPB), this movie is as educational as it is entertaining.
And entertaining it is. No shaking cameras, beautiful slo-mo sceneries (Shut up, I like them). And they find an in-universe explanation for that, too: The drug itself is Slo-Mo! Brilliant! There remains just one question: when you use 3D, then why do you still need this effect where you shift the camera focus from a far object to a near one? With all the techology we have, can't we show everything clear, so I can decide myself what object I focus on?
My two cents in a nutshell: I enjoyed it and whould have seen it again, whould it not have vanished from the cinemas within two weeks.
Looper:
It is also the age of the new and original story that has never been before! Looper is from the subgenre of science-fiction wherein a technology is introduced into a society that resembles ours. The difference is that it is not used by the scientist who invented it (e.g. Back To The Future) or the military/police (e.g. minority report), but by reckless criminals who cleverly use it for their own profit (e.g. Inception).
It's been a while since I watched it, and I lost my notes on this one, but I really liked it. Willis doesn't want to talk about how time travel works because he'd be ending up drawing diagrams with ketchup? Brilliant! And following the important 'show don't tell', we get to see what happens to future you if past you gets captured... One of the most memorable moments of time-travel science-fiction is that most unusual chase scene.
Other than that, the world we see is not too distant from ours, but the telekinesis comes out of nowhere, that may have been solved more smoothly. But what do I know about writing a screenplay?
I should do some reading on how to write a decent movie critique, this is closer to what I talked about with other viewers afterwards. See it yourself if you want to know how it is.
Oh, I also watched Atlas Shrugged and was kinda disappointed. It feels rushed, they have to cover 400 pages in one movie. Also, the collectivists are too obviously evil, i.e. doing it to gain control by knowing the right people. As far as I see it, the councils were established with the genuin purpose of doing the best for everyone, and people only turned to personal favourism after they saw that altruism doesn't work out.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Still alive
OK, noone reads the text walls here anyway, so the tl;dr version:
After the dunes up north, we went back to Auckland, dropped of Phillip, and Felix drove off to Opotiki, searching for a job. I looked around for one in Auckland, but had no luck. But I found out that doing nothing is a horrible thing when you have to make a conscious choice about it. I booked for one night, and in the evening of that night, I booked the next one. For two and a half weeks. When I snapped out of it and realised that the rest of the mails whould not be answered anyway, I made my way to Tauranga to get Auckalnd out of the system by being at the beach for a day or two. Then, I went to Whakatane and visited my favourite beach again, this time with camera. Internet here is slow, though.
In Opotiki, I spent a week with Felix and the other guests at the Central Oasis Backpackers. It feels like last time I've been there was centuries ago. Felix, I and Anne, one of his colleagues at work, make a day tour around the east cape, watching the sun rise over fog banks on the pacific from a cliff. We discover an old ruin and climb around there for hours, finding a bridge to wade underneath, a small lagoon with wood debris floating in the water, and a strange plastic pipe network. We constantly throw video game jokes around, great graphics and water physics, an old temple ā la Tomb Raider, ledges to balance along, you get the idea.
In the evening, we arrive in Gisborne, where I stay. They drive back to Opotiki, I travel along the east cost to Napier (gorgeous Art Deco Architecture) and Wellington, where I take the Ferry to the south island. Right now I am in Picton, the surprisingly small city where the ferry lands. I guess the cities only get smaller from here.
Maybe I'll try upload some photos later, the library has free internet.
Greetings,
Patrick
After the dunes up north, we went back to Auckland, dropped of Phillip, and Felix drove off to Opotiki, searching for a job. I looked around for one in Auckland, but had no luck. But I found out that doing nothing is a horrible thing when you have to make a conscious choice about it. I booked for one night, and in the evening of that night, I booked the next one. For two and a half weeks. When I snapped out of it and realised that the rest of the mails whould not be answered anyway, I made my way to Tauranga to get Auckalnd out of the system by being at the beach for a day or two. Then, I went to Whakatane and visited my favourite beach again, this time with camera. Internet here is slow, though.
In Opotiki, I spent a week with Felix and the other guests at the Central Oasis Backpackers. It feels like last time I've been there was centuries ago. Felix, I and Anne, one of his colleagues at work, make a day tour around the east cape, watching the sun rise over fog banks on the pacific from a cliff. We discover an old ruin and climb around there for hours, finding a bridge to wade underneath, a small lagoon with wood debris floating in the water, and a strange plastic pipe network. We constantly throw video game jokes around, great graphics and water physics, an old temple ā la Tomb Raider, ledges to balance along, you get the idea.
In the evening, we arrive in Gisborne, where I stay. They drive back to Opotiki, I travel along the east cost to Napier (gorgeous Art Deco Architecture) and Wellington, where I take the Ferry to the south island. Right now I am in Picton, the surprisingly small city where the ferry lands. I guess the cities only get smaller from here.
Maybe I'll try upload some photos later, the library has free internet.
Greetings,
Patrick
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
creative writing
I have been planning on a storyline for a book for quite some time now. Then, I decided to get started and write a paragraph:
\begin{document}
They were passing the imaginary line that divided french ocean from international waters unnoticed; noone started to cheer or applaud, in fact, the only one who took note of that moment was Steve Moore, silently watching a computer monitor on the bridge. He was a short man in his late thirties, his dark hair retreating, wearing a dark blue business suit minus jacket and tie. When the arrow of the ship passed the line, he smiled. Here, he was free. Free from the paper-pushers and their regulations. Free to push the boundaries of scientific research as far as possible, without restraints. There whould still be people to lecture him on what he ought not to do, but here, he didn't have to listen.
He remembered the negotiations, the discussions he had with countless people representing countless businesses; pharma corporations, genetic and medical research facilities, manufacturers of laboratory equipment and many people who simply had money and the determination to turn it into more money. It wasn't easy to persuade them, in some cases, he didn't get what he wanted. But he got enough to buy this old container ship [data on ship here] and reshape its interiour into laboratories with the best equipment and every thinkable precaution to work with infectious diseases of all sorts, much safer in fact as most nations regulations whould require. This was a long-term investment, he had argued, it will be worth the money it cost. With the same argument he defended the design of the living space, two rows of of eight transport container stacks on deck, refurbished into appartments, with large windows facing the ocean. No salary could make a top scientist live in windowless bunks for months and years. Maybe the promise of unrestricted research could, but the stacks had the advantage that they could be topped up if needed.
Moore turned to the Craig Webber, the ship's captain [description here] who was already busy giving orders to his crew. When the engines stopped, everyone on board noticed the sudden lack of background humming and vibrating.
\end{document}
After this I realised how little I thought about the little details. So, I read myself through
www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com
After thinking of a good way to train my writing style, I realise that my brain comes up with crazy creative stuff every other night, so I decided to change my neutral, boring dream log and write them down more lively, maybe add or edit some stuff. First results:
\paragraph{25.09.12}
In the ruins of an old castle, me and several hired goons were completing the task of resurrecting a vampire. His written instructions included the location of three silver knives that never saw the light of the day, hidden in a wooden box inside the castle ruins. With theese knives, a virgin was to be sacrificed and her blood spread on the vampires coffin. I placed the knives next to the coffin, but a large creature jumped out of the shades and knocked the knives into the sunlight. I fought the beast throughout the castle grounds and finally shoved it down the tower. Soon, the goons were returning, with the bad news of not having found a virgin to sacrifice. Instead, I settled on a piece of bloody steak, its lifejuice pressed out and spread on the coffin with a silver spoon from the castle kitchen. It still worked, and the vampire was all too pleased with his regained strength as to punish us for our incompetence to follow his instructions.
Me and two of my travelmates were driving out of Auckland to find an event somewhere in the outskirts. We failed to find it, and I embarked on foot back to the city. Instead of taking the highway we came, I took a smaller street, trusting my sense of orientation to guide me back to Auckland. I was tired, and may have taken a wrong turn once or twice, but finally found a small town, with a decor like modern designers wanted it to look like a wild west settlement. Upon closer inspection, I found that the whole town was actually an amusement park. I looked at the park map to find my way back to Auckland, failing to see the fun in a house composed entirely of slides, a cliff to climb, and caves filled with sand to crawl through. I had to take the way through the caves, but merely saw the sand and the other kids as an inconvenience on my way.
\paragraph{27.09.12}
The corridor maze was huge. The narrow corridors were the brightest white, intersecting each other every other step; and between intersections, doorways led to stairways up and down a level, to identical corridor grids. Our group of three was hurrying around, not knowing where we were going. My colleague and I were constantly but fruitlessly trying to keep ahead and behind the princess to protect her from any hazard this maze might hold. Instead of ordering us where to go, she went ahead herself.
Our mission, to find and defeat the ten bosses, was going rather slow, we had not encounterd any of them, or anything else, for that matter. After wandering for a while, I found a piece of orange chalk and began to mark the intersections we were taking. It didn't take long to find out that we were running in circles; I persuaded the princess to turn back to another part of the level, out of the white maze. My argument was that the first boss had to be in an earlyer part of the level. Luckily, she agreed.
We climbed up every stairway we could find and soon, we were at the bottom of a high room, like a rocket silo. I climbed up a small balcony that was one level above the floor, where I found a portrait of Motivation, depicted by Alan Rickman. "Hey, look at this", I shouted, "some kind of easter egg!" When I turned to jump down the other side, I saw Motivation himself sitting at a small table in a comfortable chair, drinking tea. He smiled at me. "You've remembered what you came for. The bosses." "Yes", I replied, "but we are far behind the others already!" Motivation chuckled. "Don't think that you are the only party with problems. You found your focus, that takes you far ahead of some of the others already!" "So, we do have a chance?" "Quite so", Motivation answered in Alan Rickman's rich, dark voice, "You have found focus and... Motivation". He smiled and waved at me. "I can only get you so far. I can throw the dice for you, so to speak, but you have to move your piece yourself. Understand?" I nodded and turned to the handrail of the balcony. Before I jumped down to the others, I looked back, but he was gone, of course. With his words in mind, I led the others back to the entry of the level to start the search over.
\begin{document}
They were passing the imaginary line that divided french ocean from international waters unnoticed; noone started to cheer or applaud, in fact, the only one who took note of that moment was Steve Moore, silently watching a computer monitor on the bridge. He was a short man in his late thirties, his dark hair retreating, wearing a dark blue business suit minus jacket and tie. When the arrow of the ship passed the line, he smiled. Here, he was free. Free from the paper-pushers and their regulations. Free to push the boundaries of scientific research as far as possible, without restraints. There whould still be people to lecture him on what he ought not to do, but here, he didn't have to listen.
He remembered the negotiations, the discussions he had with countless people representing countless businesses; pharma corporations, genetic and medical research facilities, manufacturers of laboratory equipment and many people who simply had money and the determination to turn it into more money. It wasn't easy to persuade them, in some cases, he didn't get what he wanted. But he got enough to buy this old container ship [data on ship here] and reshape its interiour into laboratories with the best equipment and every thinkable precaution to work with infectious diseases of all sorts, much safer in fact as most nations regulations whould require. This was a long-term investment, he had argued, it will be worth the money it cost. With the same argument he defended the design of the living space, two rows of of eight transport container stacks on deck, refurbished into appartments, with large windows facing the ocean. No salary could make a top scientist live in windowless bunks for months and years. Maybe the promise of unrestricted research could, but the stacks had the advantage that they could be topped up if needed.
Moore turned to the Craig Webber, the ship's captain [description here] who was already busy giving orders to his crew. When the engines stopped, everyone on board noticed the sudden lack of background humming and vibrating.
\end{document}
After this I realised how little I thought about the little details. So, I read myself through
www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com
After thinking of a good way to train my writing style, I realise that my brain comes up with crazy creative stuff every other night, so I decided to change my neutral, boring dream log and write them down more lively, maybe add or edit some stuff. First results:
\paragraph{25.09.12}
In the ruins of an old castle, me and several hired goons were completing the task of resurrecting a vampire. His written instructions included the location of three silver knives that never saw the light of the day, hidden in a wooden box inside the castle ruins. With theese knives, a virgin was to be sacrificed and her blood spread on the vampires coffin. I placed the knives next to the coffin, but a large creature jumped out of the shades and knocked the knives into the sunlight. I fought the beast throughout the castle grounds and finally shoved it down the tower. Soon, the goons were returning, with the bad news of not having found a virgin to sacrifice. Instead, I settled on a piece of bloody steak, its lifejuice pressed out and spread on the coffin with a silver spoon from the castle kitchen. It still worked, and the vampire was all too pleased with his regained strength as to punish us for our incompetence to follow his instructions.
Me and two of my travelmates were driving out of Auckland to find an event somewhere in the outskirts. We failed to find it, and I embarked on foot back to the city. Instead of taking the highway we came, I took a smaller street, trusting my sense of orientation to guide me back to Auckland. I was tired, and may have taken a wrong turn once or twice, but finally found a small town, with a decor like modern designers wanted it to look like a wild west settlement. Upon closer inspection, I found that the whole town was actually an amusement park. I looked at the park map to find my way back to Auckland, failing to see the fun in a house composed entirely of slides, a cliff to climb, and caves filled with sand to crawl through. I had to take the way through the caves, but merely saw the sand and the other kids as an inconvenience on my way.
\paragraph{27.09.12}
The corridor maze was huge. The narrow corridors were the brightest white, intersecting each other every other step; and between intersections, doorways led to stairways up and down a level, to identical corridor grids. Our group of three was hurrying around, not knowing where we were going. My colleague and I were constantly but fruitlessly trying to keep ahead and behind the princess to protect her from any hazard this maze might hold. Instead of ordering us where to go, she went ahead herself.
Our mission, to find and defeat the ten bosses, was going rather slow, we had not encounterd any of them, or anything else, for that matter. After wandering for a while, I found a piece of orange chalk and began to mark the intersections we were taking. It didn't take long to find out that we were running in circles; I persuaded the princess to turn back to another part of the level, out of the white maze. My argument was that the first boss had to be in an earlyer part of the level. Luckily, she agreed.
We climbed up every stairway we could find and soon, we were at the bottom of a high room, like a rocket silo. I climbed up a small balcony that was one level above the floor, where I found a portrait of Motivation, depicted by Alan Rickman. "Hey, look at this", I shouted, "some kind of easter egg!" When I turned to jump down the other side, I saw Motivation himself sitting at a small table in a comfortable chair, drinking tea. He smiled at me. "You've remembered what you came for. The bosses." "Yes", I replied, "but we are far behind the others already!" Motivation chuckled. "Don't think that you are the only party with problems. You found your focus, that takes you far ahead of some of the others already!" "So, we do have a chance?" "Quite so", Motivation answered in Alan Rickman's rich, dark voice, "You have found focus and... Motivation". He smiled and waved at me. "I can only get you so far. I can throw the dice for you, so to speak, but you have to move your piece yourself. Understand?" I nodded and turned to the handrail of the balcony. Before I jumped down to the others, I looked back, but he was gone, of course. With his words in mind, I led the others back to the entry of the level to start the search over.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Resident Evil
So, I went on a marathon, four movies in two days. They really do get better after each one, but they don't find their path. Here's a help, an ought-to-be: Resident Evil can become the Bond-movie for the zombie-franchise, like the bond-movies themselves are for the spy/action department. At the end of one movie, just as Alice and her group made it to whatever is the symbol for safety (the surface, a ship, a town, etc.), a new wave of goons gets into formation. In the first few minutes of the next, that fight is fought and the situation dealt with, to go to the movie's main storyline, Alice roaming the zombiefied world and finding a new group of survivors, whom she helps in their various hideouts and fortresses and whatever else the zombie-fan fantasises about. And in the end, we find another umbrella facility with another umbrella operative to give us some umbrella backstory, some exposition, something for the science fiction fan such as myself to enjoy. Alice makes it to safety, new enemy wave, end of movie. One might think that this is as idiot-proof as James Bond ending one movie with one girl in his arms and beginning the next movie with another one. Within the first four parts a pattern like this is more-or-less established.
The fifth one, the new one, blows it; which is a shame because it starts by resolving the last movie's helicopter threat in two minutes. Alice loosing consciousness and waking up as if nothing happenes? Why not, we have to get her to the new plot somehow. From then on, it's a thousand small things, stolen from a thousand other things: mother-instincts from Metroid Other M, organic people pods on walls from Duke Nukem Forever, test chambers from Portal, flooding various landmarks from Roland Emmerich, breaking bones in x-ray vision from Tekken (or was it Street fighter?). Why even show this, we don't see the screen of a medical scanner, its just out of nowhere. We also see the camera images in the chambers, the first-person-perspective of the red queen, so to speak. All right so far, been done, but why show us the picture of the girl (red queen's avatar)? Who is she talking to? Another thing: why is the a.i. all of a sudden evil? I think they forgot what she was doing in the first movie. Yes, she said 'you're all going to die down here', but it was not a threat, merely a piece of information, a fact. The a.i. was programmed to keep the virus separate from uninfected humans, at all costs. She was protecting humanity in the first movie by sealing the facility off. And now, in part five, she wants to get rid of all humans all of a sudden? WTF!
Two ideas to make this interesting again: One, wait five years and make a prequel to the franchise, like everyone is doing these days. Two, make a couple swap: Let Len Wiseman direct the next Resident Evil movie, and in turn Paul Anderson can direct the next 90's science fiction movie remake starring Kate Beckinsale. That way, I don't have to sit in the cinema with the lingering thought that I am watching Paul Anderson's fifth installment of the 'my wife is so hot' franchise.
The fifth one, the new one, blows it; which is a shame because it starts by resolving the last movie's helicopter threat in two minutes. Alice loosing consciousness and waking up as if nothing happenes? Why not, we have to get her to the new plot somehow. From then on, it's a thousand small things, stolen from a thousand other things: mother-instincts from Metroid Other M, organic people pods on walls from Duke Nukem Forever, test chambers from Portal, flooding various landmarks from Roland Emmerich, breaking bones in x-ray vision from Tekken (or was it Street fighter?). Why even show this, we don't see the screen of a medical scanner, its just out of nowhere. We also see the camera images in the chambers, the first-person-perspective of the red queen, so to speak. All right so far, been done, but why show us the picture of the girl (red queen's avatar)? Who is she talking to? Another thing: why is the a.i. all of a sudden evil? I think they forgot what she was doing in the first movie. Yes, she said 'you're all going to die down here', but it was not a threat, merely a piece of information, a fact. The a.i. was programmed to keep the virus separate from uninfected humans, at all costs. She was protecting humanity in the first movie by sealing the facility off. And now, in part five, she wants to get rid of all humans all of a sudden? WTF!
Two ideas to make this interesting again: One, wait five years and make a prequel to the franchise, like everyone is doing these days. Two, make a couple swap: Let Len Wiseman direct the next Resident Evil movie, and in turn Paul Anderson can direct the next 90's science fiction movie remake starring Kate Beckinsale. That way, I don't have to sit in the cinema with the lingering thought that I am watching Paul Anderson's fifth installment of the 'my wife is so hot' franchise.
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