cry havoc

Kifed this link from Tiercel, who had it posted awhile back but I'd never followed it...damn, I should've. You want Narnia? You want Disney doing Narnia? Here's your response, babe.

Cripes, they're doing a live-action version of Charlotte's Web...with Julia Roberts as Charlotte? Yegawdz.

I seriously heart the Rude Pundit. Today he's writing about the random searches in NYC [read more about what to do if you walk into one], and observes:

This is the warped logic of our discussions of civil liberties: if you are a good, lawful person, then you shouldn't mind having yourself probed, spied on, and frisked. Principles like the Fourth Amendment are merely covers for the guilty.

Read the whole thing.

And this, I want stapled on the forehead of every politico on the hill, right where they can see it and can't frickin' miss it, no matter what:

In an ideal America, government should be open to the sunshine and air, and citizens' lives should be private. But the Bush administration has reversed this foundational principle.

Which in a nutshell sums up the majority of what has me so uncertain about the state of our nation, these days.

A plethora of commentary, thanks to some writer named Hobbs of whom I'd never heard until she decided to blather at a level of superiority only rivalled by A. Rice's declaration that she perfects every sentence completely before going to the next, and this is why she doesn't require an editor. Uh. ( Whatever -- with refs to flist comments. ) I need chocolate.

I just discovered that on a certain ranty little LJ comm, several folks drew a curious conclusion. Being a community full of anonymice, people can post as they please (and damn if it don't get confusing - who are you talking to? they're all anonymous!). So someone rec'd me, and used the phrase 'rinse and repeat'. Apparently, because I've used this phrase myself, the conclusion was drawn that I was praising myself as a sockpuppet.

*pauses to consider that for a moment*

Yes! I must have coined the phrase, and therefore all its royalties for use come back to me! Pay up, all you shampoo companies. You OWE me.

*runs off to trademark office*

In the same thread, I was utterly delighted (if bemused) to read this, too:

She achieved her notoriety by sucking up to and praising almost every writer in the fandom. I've seen the personal emails to prove it. What makes her popular is not her fantastic writing style but her gift of gab. She knows how to flatter and stroke egos. We all know the gundam Wing fandom is full of over blown egos. Her being embraced is merely further testament to that.

I'm starting to think that giving concrit - where you compliment a person's work, while trying to diplomatically point out where things could be improved - must be a rare art. Or maybe it is for the anonymous person who wrote that. Or maybe the person isn't a writer and doesn't realize how painful it is for some writers to post their stuff, and how cruel it would be to not have something nice to say in with any constructive critcism. Maybe I'm too Southern, having this silly notion that if I can't say something nice when critting, why say anything at all? I just never thought I'd be put down for doing something that I consider nothing less than principled, and an expression of treating others how I'd want to be treated - with "this is what I liked" mixed in with "this is what (I think) needs work". I mean, really. A good concrit should leave you with suggestions for how to get better (which hopefully prompts your own ideas), and a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling that someone liked your story.

(And I do not agree that the statement, "well, I took the time to review" should be considered enough, in and of itself, to compliment a writer. People will take the time to write some really nasty stuff, and that's not a compliment in the least. Well, unless you're one of those people who says, "hey! the story did provoke a response in someone, so that's good, right?" Well...I guess.)

Although it's always funny to read people's criticisms of my stories and think, "uh, I won't post on a dead thread, but actually, I agree with you."

*snerk*

Do we have a BIAS, people?

( I'm just cranky recently, I suppose. )

However, I feel so much more enlightened now that I'm aware of yet another frickin' religion in the world. Anarchism! Boy. What would I do without the internet to tell me these things.

Where to start, where to start.

Oh, right.

Mewling.

( The above word should just be stripped, STRIPPED, I say... )

( patterns of speech )

But if I could just get rid of mewling, I'd be happy with that for now. My plans for world domination can wait a bit longer.

[EDIT]: Ah, almost forgot. Merith reminded me, though.

( Brooks Jensen had an article in Lenswork... )