So Long 2012, And Thanks For All The Fish

We have come to December 21, 2012 and the potential end of the world (only worry if there is a mass exodus of dolphins, but then, there’s always a back-up earth).  I’d like to take a moment to reminisce on the year that was, and then what I’ll miss most when I raise my hitchhiker ring and attempt to get a ride on a Vogun spaceship.

Stinky Fish of 2012

1. Brave – And here’s an entire blog post why.  I went in with high-expectations for a female led Pixar film in a medieval/fantasy setting.  However, while a visually gorgeous film, it does not meet the potential of Up, Wall-E, or any of the Toy Story movies.

2. Marion Cotliard in The Dark Knight Rises – SPOILER ALERT – While her character begins with promise, her final moments do not live up to the potential of this superb, Oscar-winning actress.  She has a few moments that if she were a European man, she would twist her mustache and let out an evil laugh.  “Yes, Batman, I have tricked you this whole time.  Mwa ha ha.”

3. More Music Reality Shows!  More Celebrity Judges! – I’ve been a nerd about American Idol since the first season, but now, with the dearth of the Voice, the X-factor, the short-lived, poorly conceived Duets on ABC, and the celebritization of the American Idol Judging Panel, the music reality show has clearly over-saturated the market.

While individual contestants are still enjoyable, the focus has become on celebrities instead of on the contestants.  I don’t want bickering, fire-works, back-up dancers, or shiny sets.  I want good performances… although, the saxophone player who co-starred with American Idol winner Philip Phillips in most of his performances is a the best addition to the American Idol enterprise.

How do you raise a level of a show? Boogie with a saxophone.

4. Getting sick the Whole Week Before Christmas – including today.  Always a bummer.  I even missed an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.

5. Still not finished with my Work In Progress.  Almost done, but won’t be able to finish by New Years.  I may have, if number four hadn’t occurred.

Fresh Fish of 2012

1. Two Great Comic Book Movies: The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises.  – Both are epic spectacles that remain grounded in character and story.  Both achieve the impossible.  The Avengers makes a coherent film with a good story, and just enough focus on depth on each character.  The Dark Knight Rises creates a satisfying conclusion with just enough of a happy ending.  Happy endings seem nearly impossible for The Batman.

2. A great album, a good album, and a pretty good by artists I’ve loved for a long time.  Yes, there’s been good music by new artists, but it’s always nice to have artists and bands knock out solid albums more than a decade into their career.  In order, the albums are:Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, North by Matchbox 20, and Battle Born by The Killers.  There may be more revolutionary artists and albums out there, but all three of these albums have been too busy occupying my MP3 player.  Also, how can you not listen to Stronger and fist pump to the awesome?

3. Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles. – I know it’s not new or revolutionary, but I went for the first time this last year.  Having not grown up on Southern Food, I never knew a mix of fried chicken, fresh waffle, and maple syrup could be so good.

4. Cirque Du Solei : Iris at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles – This was my sister Katherine’s birthday/Christmas present to me and it was AMAZING!  If you haven’t seen a Cirque Du Solei show, do it.  Not only are the individual acts and technical wizardry remarkable, but the overall feeling the show paints and journey it takes you on are fun and fascinating.  Iris is about movies and Hollywood, and mixes fun with drama.  The Film Nerd in me was geeking out at the nods to George Melies and to various film dramas.

5. James Bond: Skyfall – Good movie, Classic Bond.

6. Patrick’s Roadhouse – Sitting along the 1 highway, not far from the Santa Monica Pier, this is another long-time Los Angeles eating establishment with great food.  I’ll be going back soon for another delectable burger.

7. Bunheads – New show by the creator of Gilmore Girls, starring Broadway star and Tony Award winner Sutton Foster.  A fun show centered around women and teenage girls who are realistic characters with faults and virtues.  Every episode is quotable, filled with odd film references.  In my house, many conversations become “It’s like that episode of Bunheads where….”  If you haven’t seen it, check out the first part of the first season on Hulu.com.

8. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on Youtube.  – This is a brilliant modern version of Pride and Prejudice as a series of video blogs (vlogs).  The characters are spot-on modern versions, the segments are short and clever, and it’s a lot of fun.  Every Monday and Thursday, my sister says to me, “So, is there a new Lizzie Bennet Diary up?”  By the way, we watched the first fifty episodes in two nights.  (Episodes are between 3-6 minutes long.)

9. Getting acquainted with the Blogosphere and 97 followers.

Future Fish (If The World Doesn’t End Today)

1. The Man of Steel aka Superman the Indie/Art Film

2. Star Trek Into Darkness – Star Trek + Benedict Cumberbacht = Awesome!  I don’t care who Cumberbacht is playing, and I don’t think it’s Kahn.  I do think it’ll be great.

3. News on the upcoming Star Wars movies!  Whether it’s good or bad, it’ll be exciting.

4. Finishing the current draft of my Work In Progress

5. A new Muppet Movie in the works.  So far, we know Ty Burrell will be playing an Interpol inspector.  Also, I’ve heard rumors that Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo have all agreed to contracts.  Fozzie is still in negotiations.  There was a question about how many rubber chickens could be in the film.

6. Doctor Who!

Fish I’ll Miss At The End of the World

1. Ice cream.  Chocolate chip cookies.  Peanut Butter Cups.  I might have a sweet tooth.  Oh, and gummi bears!

2. My family and my dogs

3. My ridiculous hat collection, including the Boba Fett beanie I’m wearing while writing this post.  Stylish and warm.

4. Friends at home and abroad.

5. In the words at the end of various video games: “And you!”

And if the world is going to end, we should at least have a parade.  Thanks Super Mario RPG!

Well, that’s it for this year.  Next week will be spent on Christmas and prepping for the new year.  There may or may not be an exciting announcement around New Years.  It depends on a few factors.

What are your favorite fish from 2012?  What are you looking forward to?  Are you doing anything exciting for Christmas or the holidays?

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and A Happy New Year!

*Disclaimer* I actually dislike all fish except for Swedish Fish.  There’s something about seafood flavor that I don’t like.  However, anything gummy is acceptable.

Presidential Debate: Batman vs. Superman

As the school year comes, so disappears time I’ve had to work on my blog.  I’ll try to post once a week or so, in between doing this to books.

Today, in celebration of the debate, an important quandary:

Would you rather vote for Batman or Superman as President of the United States?

My brother and I had this important discussion yesterday, and here are some of our conclusions:

1. Superman is technically ineligible to run for president because he was not born in the United States. However, as Clark Kent, he has to have a falsified birth certificate in order to be employed and be considered a citizen.  Would Superman/Clark Kent lie in order to become president?

2. They would both run as their alter-egos.  This gives Batman/Bruce Wayne a substantial monetary advantage as well as greater fame than Clark Kent.  Clark Kent would have to work harder for wealthy donors, and probably would not receive campaign contributions from Lex Luthor.

3. Do we want a president who will remain honorable and true no matter what (Superman), or a president who is willing to get his hands a little dirty to get the job done (Batman)?

Join this important debate.  Who would you vote for?  What other super heroes would be good candidates?  Should Green Arrow, Green Lantern, The Green Hornet, and The Hulk form a super-Green party?  Which of the Avengers would be a good president?

My brother and I actually concluded that of the superheroes we were discussing, Iron Man/Tony Stark would actually be a good president.  He’s not the president we want, but he is the president we need.  A genius, and he’ll just make sure things are taken care of.

The Good, The Bad, And The Fan Fiction: Part 3

My Beatles fan fiction for the day.
*Disclaimer* I would rather be a Paperback Writer than a Fan Fiction Writer

Hopefully you’ve read Part 1, on good elements of fan fiction, and Part 2, on the not so good elements of fan fiction.  Now, we’re on to the final section: my own forays into fan fiction.

As a quick reminder, here are the two definitions of fan fiction I’m working with:

1. A piece of fiction that both is based on and pays homage to a previously created work or story.  This is both professional and amateur.
2. A piece of unauthorized fiction based on copyrighted materials.

And now, the final chapter:

My Fan Fiction

Fan fiction served as my training wheels when I was in my teens, and I think that’s the best value of fan fiction: A gateway into expanding your own imagination.  During that period, most characters I created happened to know everything and would clear up any misconceptions and confusions.  Some of these are ideas and concepts from my college years.  A few are a little embarrassing, but also fun.

Original Source: Star Wars

Working Title: Palpatine’s Heir

Overview: Did I mention I’m a Star Wars fan? Here’s the story: Emperor Palpatine has a son and direct heir who’s really a good guy and has a romantic history with Mara Jade (a popular and super cool character from the books who served as The Emperor’s Hand). I think his name was Alec, or Laurence.  I don’t quite remember, but if his name was Alec it wasn’t done as a clever homage to Alec Guinness.  Palpatine’s son later works with Luke, Leia, and Han Solo to overcome a random Imperial bad guy.

Original Source: The Prydain Series by Lloyd Alexander

Working Title: The Dark Lord of Mortimer

Overview: Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series is one of the greatest influences on my own writing.  It’s written for 4-6 grade, but I think the stories and characters resonate with readers of all ages.  When I was younger, I thought my story was more original than it was.  However, the world is very similar to Prydain.  Within my story was a dark overlord, undead armies, and birds with a scorpion tail, all of which were much better written by Lloyd Alexander.  The story itself has taken on many iterations, so I don’t quite remember the plot.

Original Title: Legend of King Arthur

Working Title: Hey, Arthur!  The Musical

Overview:  I took a stab at writing terrible musicals in high school.  Whenever I get my first P.N. Guins podcast up, you’ll have a sample of my… remarkable song writing skills.  However, the intent of this musical was to lampoon the King Arthur legend. I think Monty Python’s Spamalot is far higher quality than what my fourteen year old self could make.

The idea came after reading various takes and versions of the Arthurian legend.  However, the deeper I went, the more I realized King Arthur’s legend is depressing and disturbing.  I think this musical was my response.  I’m grateful for the show Merlin from the BBC, which uses all the good parts of the Arthurian legend without the more disturbing pieces.  Do understand I still enjoy King Arthur.  In fact, I have one story on the back burner involving a secret society of the Round Table.

Original Work: Sleeping Beauty

Working Title: Post-Sleeping Beauty

Overview: This is my current project, and is in the third draft.  The first draft was written in high school, but had enough good elements that I brushed it off about three years ago.  Hopefully, this draft will be publishable.

The short trailer version is: Sleeping Beauty wakes up to find her kingdom destroyed, and the evil queen has won.  Then, the princess goes on an awesome, booty-kicking adventure to defeat the evil queen and find a place in the modern world.

Some similar current pop culture works are Snow White and the Huntsman and Once Upon A Time.  I guess it’s the era of the action princess.  That’s pretty great.

Original Work: The Last Starfighter

Working Title: The Next Starfighter

Overview: In the last scene of The Last Starfighter, Alex’s younger brother Louis runs to the arcade machine to become a Starfighter like his brother.  My story begins there, and jumps to Louis in high school as he tries to defeat the updated Last Starfighter video game with 3-D graphics.  However,  a girl defeats the game and is recruited.  Louis hitch-hikes, and they go on an epic adventure among the stars.  (Did I mention I love spaceships?)  I’ve tried to adapt this to an original plot and setting, because I think it would be fun, but haven’t figured that out… yet.

By the way, in the movie within my mind, Alex’s cruiser space ship enters to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, and there’s a dog fight done to Whole Lotta Love, also by Led Zeppelin.

A LEGO Gunstar model!

Original Work: Sunset Boulevard

Working Title: Thompson Boulevard

Overview: This piece is a short story I wrote in college that is a homage to the film Sunset Boulevard.  However, it is set in the music world and in my home town.  The piece is  different enough to not fall under copyright violation, so I’m working on brushing it off and submitting it for publication.

Original Work: Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, and Inception

Working Title: The Dark Inception Rises

Overview:  I was working on a blog post about this the other day, when I realized it qualifies as fan fiction.  Due to the combination of both being directed by Christopher Nolan, and the large number of actors in the film, it’s clear The Dark Knight Rises could be a sequel to Inception.  While I was working on the piece, however, I discovered this blog post, which has a better plot than what I came up with.

Ultimately, fan fiction isn’t done for fame or fortune.  It is done out of admiration and for fun.  So, to that twelve year old writing their first Harry Potter fiction, keep on working.  Someday, though, use that spark of imagination to create your own world.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this overview.  How do you feel about fan fiction?  Have you dabbled in it too?