Entering "Another" World...

This post isn’t related to writing or storytelling, nor is a "tidbit" about me. Please forgive. :)

I just wanted to say that I have finally entered the world of online gaming. I know, it seems like I would have jumped in a long time ago. However, I play video games much less frequently than I used to and when I do they are not on a computer but a gaming console. And I am a Nintendo guy [one word: Zelda] so I haven’t had much exposure to online games. But last night I gave it a whirl with Mario Kart Wii. A very strange yet satisfying experience. Not that I expected differently, but as Nintendo does not have a “headset” for chatting yet, it played the same as if I merely played against the game’s AI. It occurred to me that there might not actually be anyone there. I don’t believe that of course. Until I am connected to a friend such as Doc Holiday it will just have to be very similar to regular play with the bizarre twist of shooting red shells at someone I don’t even know.
Just in case you play Mario Kart Wii and are curious if you’re playing against me:

Mii Name: p-t-pi

Peter Pan, the AvengerS?

Well, I made some phone calls to my local comic book shops and found one which still had the MARVEL Comics Avengers Fairy Tales Peter Pan issue that I posted about last time. On the internet I would have paid nearly $12 all told with shipping, but I picked it up with a mere short train ride for cover price. Not to mention avoiding the waiting for it to arrive and the hassles that go with the mail system.

It's very clever, just as I hoped. The "casting" is damn near perfect. For instance, the MARVEL character Klaw lost his hand during the course of his storyline. Take a wild guess who he plays. And who better for Tinker Bell than MARVEL's Wasp? I'm far from being a comic book aficionado, but I thought they did a nice job with the vivid colors and drawing style. Very reminiscent of a storybook of old. Also, I do like the way in which they played around with Barrie's story while still sticking to it rather well. They even put the hook/klaw on the correct hand. My only nitpick would be saying "pixie dust" instead of fairy dust. But then, the whole comic is a stretch of the imagination. And an entertaining one at that.

Re-Imagination Avenged

Well, this page certainly shows quite the turn of imagination. MARVEL Comics has taken its Avengers into familiar terrority with Avengers Fairy Tales. An inventive play on their characters taking on the roles of famous fairy tale personas. The first issue is a retelling of Peter Pan. I must say what have seen from the wonderful post on the link is nothing short of delightful. Clever nuances make it worthwhile. Plus it seems that they've tweaked the story enough to make it their own. I'm going to have to get my hands on this one.

The Baron Conundrum

Another wonderful movie that challenges perceptions of reality is Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. His film is based on a collection of stories (both oral and in print by various storytellers) which themselves were derived from the outlandish tales told by 18th century Karl Friedrich Hieronymus [Freiherr von Münchhausen] who shall we say embellished the events of his life serving as a page to Anthony Ulrich II [Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg] and later in the Russian military. Besides the outrageous escapades of the Baron from the stories (such as sailing to the moon, consorting with Vulcan and riding cannonballs) Terry Gilliam’s film has some oddity of its own.

I’ve watched it quite a number of times and each time I had been determined to unravel its mystery. I’ve since resigned it to being a well-crafted and purposeful enigma. What is the dilemma that arises? It’s impossible to figure out where reality begins and ends in the movie. From the onset, one would imagine it to begin in an established reality. And it probably does – but which is it? The real world or the mind of the Baron? The fantasy of the Baron (who proclaims that he never lies) weaves in and out of alleged real events in the movie. But then, the Baron is relating his exploits to an audience from on stage, correcting the story from the way a troupe of actors had been performing his adventures. To make it even more complicated, flashbacks and past stories intermingle into the present. Also, some of the actors have dual roles (one in the supposed real world and one in the Baron’s stories) which also adds to the confusion. Sure, it’s easy to say that he just included people he met into his tale. But other factors ensue that challenge the nature of the reality of the film. "Real" becomes malleable.

If you have not seen it, give it a whirl. By the time you get to the end, you won’t know if you’re at the end of another story or the beginning of a new one or if it had all been a story or where you or the Baron stand. I admire the film for being simultaneously enchanting and infuriating. See if you can figure it out. I certainly cannot. And at this point, I never want to…

Recounting the Baron's Tales, Finally (or Again.)
Barren Munchausen??

Obsession Isn't All Bad...

On April 10 I posted that I had just finished watching the movie Paprika. I have to admit that I am obsessed with it. I bought not only the movie, but the soundtrack. The majority of my musical diet has been a selection of songs from it. And most of those are variants of the same song. I find that I am always hearing either the “Parade” song or one of those which is a variant of “Meditational Field” in my head. I know how corny this sounds, but they make me happy to be alive, appreciative of the world around me. I’m one of those who likes to analyze films and books and such. So after a while I figured out why I enjoyed it so much. For me it carries within it the same message as The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s as if the songs in Paprika are playing the chords that I had said Narnia struck within me.

My friend Le Trix is also a Narnia fan. After discussing it with her, it seems she did not get the same message/philosophy as me. Neither of us is wrong, we just each got something different out of it. Which means it’s likely that my perception of what’s going in Paprika is not necessarily intended either. But so long as it makes sense to me and brings me comfort, that’s all that matters. Or so think I.

So, since it’s entirely possible that neither work is saying what I believe it to be, I will one day write a novel that presents these ideas in my own format. For I have been thinking about how to easily explain what I grok from those two very different tales. I’ve come up with a metaphor that does so, albeit in simplified form. Thus, I would want to expound upon it in a novel. But I’m not about to put it down in writing before that. ;)

*Note: Paprika is not for everyone. It's certainly not a kid's movie. It does contain nudity, but not gratuitously (believe me I wouldn't like it so much if it were) and it also has many disturbing images. So before you rush out to rent it, make sure you can handle the oddities of anime.

Parents & Teachers Are Right...*sigh*

You’re not going to believe me. Then again, maybe you will.
For it certainly surprises me. Math is required to write fiction.
I’m not a math person. I respect math, I just don’t like it. I’d rather not do it. But parents and teachers are correct. You do need math to accomplish tasks.

Okay, so what on earth could be part of fiction writing that would necessitate math?
Oh, things like figuring out how long a character spent away in relation to her or his age when they left, dealing with time zones, the number of pages per chapter, making timelines of varying length (from minutes to eras), the amount of distance a character travels – many factors. These may not be the best examples. Maybe I’ll start making note of each time I find myself doing arithmetic to get the job done.
For to my chagrin, it comes up more often than I’d like.
C’est la vie.

It's Not Just Me II

For anyone with lingering doubts, here's a link to show that it's not just me who feels Vitalist Theatre's A Passage to India deserves high praise. Bravo!