Aeronautic Primates and Other Delights

New post over at Cinema Geek -- Movie Cities I Love: Vienna from The Third Man (1949).

I think I'm kind of finding my rhythm over there. It's less about movies and more about the experience of being a movie lover. I'll probably move some of my movie-related journal posts over there (backdated, of course).

This just makes me sad.

Although, someone in the comments makes the point that traditional film criticism isn't dying so much as its moved -- to the Internet. Of course, you have to know where to look (and try to avoid the sites that are even worse than the soundbite-crazy print newspapers because they don't bother with fact checking).

So. I finished Ender's Game last night. I totally should've seen that ending coming, but I didn't. I lose.

But. All of this reading has me thinking and plotting and considering. I'm not saying I'm returning to writing fiction again any time soon, but I do rather like the gamut of ideas flowing through my brain right now. Strangely, none of them have to do with Card's concepts, really.

I also started Neuromancer and I'm really concerned that my future-noir novel's central conceit is going to need a complete revision if I stumble onto it while I'm educating myself on cyberpunk.

ETA: I am dumb and did not post about the really BIG news. I bought a new MacBook Pro last night! It's the one in the middle. It's very shiny. The only problem is that the screen does not tilt back very far, which causes problems for those of us whose heads are very far from our laps. I may need to get, like, a laptop lap tray or something.

My plan this year regarding NaNoWriMo is not to do it. I've written about 20K words in the last month for Classic-Horror.com. I'm not sure I could plop another unrelated 50K on top of that.

This plan could change and I could go roaring in at midnight on November 1st. But don't count on it.

At some point in September, I started an insane reviewing sprint and I haven't stopped. I've written five reviews for Classic-Horror so far this month. Five. Keep in mind my reviews are usually longer than a thousand words and they're fairly in-depth. Over the life of the site, I've averaged just shy of two a month.

You know that scene in Scanners where the guy's head explodes into hamburger meat? That's me right now.

There are a couple factors. Most of my writers are working on our massive October event. Also, we've had a number of post-2000 reviews on the front page recently, something I like to avoid, given that we are "Classic-Horror", emphasis on "Classic". I've had to bust out a few reviews of 1960s and 70s movies to compensate.

Still, in a given month, we don't usually post more than five reviews unless we're running a special event. My goal has always been eight -- roughly two a week -- but I never have enough writers. So far in September, we've published four reviews with three more in queue. On top of that, we have two screeners that will need reviews before the month is out, one of which I'm handling. That'll be nine reviews. Six will be my own.

I like this month. This is a good month.

( Bonus! Sneak peek at the October logo for Classic-Horror )

NaNoWriMo (due November 30th, so to speak) -- slowed way the hell down. 37,500 words right now, but I wrote nothing yesterday.

Yuletide fic (due December 19th) -- have picked which fandom request I'm covering. Beyond that, still figuring out the details.

Hetfic Holiday Exchange (due sometime after Yuletide) -- again, know which one I'm doing there, but am lost beyond that.

If I owe any of ya'll fic out there, now is the time to speak up.

I can't sleep, so I meme. For those just tuning in, this is a good introduction to what I do occasionally when I get the time or compunction to write:

( Completed works )

( WIPs )

I'm really looking forward to 2006. I want to get off my lazy ass and just write some good fics, finish the ones I've started, etc. My only problem is that I *hate* writing. Hate it. I love having written, though. It's a terrible curse, really.

Title: Charles Gunn Explains How It Is in 70 Questions or Less
Author: Jetpack Monkey
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Charles Gunn somehow survives the whole being perilously close to death thing and decides to hook up with the Watchers' Council. Their psych eval might give him second thoughts.
Disclaimer: Charles Gunn belongs to Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy, and Fox Television. He does not belong to me.
Author’s Note: This is all nemo_gravis's fault.

( Word, up )