Did you guys ever digitize the tippett studio short films you talked about in this episode? With Trey as an evil hippie?
403 2015-07-01 15:33:03
Re: UK Heatwave (26 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Whereabouts in New England are you? I'm near Stratford, CT, and I agree this summer this year is so, so, so wonderful. The last two years were awful.
404 2015-07-01 12:41:07
Re: UK Heatwave (26 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Ugh. I know how it feels, guys. Hot and humid. Just cause that happens to me more often doesn't mean I'm used to it. I hate it.
405 2015-06-30 17:44:06
Re: Week 6: Reign Of Fire (2002) (3 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)
I love how beat-up and scruffy he looks. Very different from his norm.
406 2015-06-29 17:04:48
Re: Inside Out (spoilers) (18 replies, posted in Off Topic)
its gender politics are bizarrely old-fashioned, especially for Pixar. The main thing I'm talking about is that scene where you see inside the parents' heads and it's all "Oh dad's a dunce who only thinks about sports! Mom's exasperated with her dumb husband and fantasizes about hot South American men!" Like, what year was this written?
Honestly I think that's really unfair. Throughout the movie the dad is smart, fun, and also stressed and worried about his family. So one time he's at dinner and he's thinking about sports. Like really, people do that. Lots of people do that. And this particular guy also does that once.
As for the mom, to be honest I thought it was kind of a nice subversion that she was the one occasionally thinking about another guy. Usually the men are the lust-wandering jerks. But here Pixar took two people who obviously care very deeply about each other and their daughter and showed them at their best and at their worst.
Lots of men occasionally lapse into thinking about sports at the dinner table.
Lots of women wonder what life would have been like with another guy.
And vice versa on everything.
The movie didn't come remotely close to "dad ONLY thinks about sports" or "mum thinks her husband is dumb and thinks about south american men". It just said hey, sometimes dad thinks about sports or work or the awful moving van company and gets distracted. Mum sometimes thinks dad is dumb and wonders if she could have done better with that ONE GUY she met. It happens.
Stupid fathers and husbands as a stereotype bugs me as a husband, but I thought this movie had a great balance of loving, flawed people.
407 2015-06-29 02:44:49
Re: Inside Out (spoilers) (18 replies, posted in Off Topic)
I thought the movie was awesome but I agree about the short. Woulda worked more for me if the lyrics didn't sound like prose horridly twisted to fit a melody. I'm not a fan of stressing the wrong syllables just to fit.
408 2015-06-28 04:52:01
Re: Last movie you watched (2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Just watched Evolution for the first time. Pretty fun movie.
409 2015-06-27 02:38:33
Re: FIYH Movie Club :: Suggestion Thread (96 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)
Oh I can't wait to see who is made worthy to wield the hammer of Grabthar.
410 2015-06-25 15:28:50
Re: Inside Out (spoilers) (18 replies, posted in Off Topic)
There was one about a sheep that had a whole ballad poem over it. And it's pretty good.
411 2015-06-22 12:12:50
Re: N. Hollywood Fire...guess who? (11 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Trey wrote:
It was an apartment fire. Do you not have those in Idaho?
Of course not. Hadn't you heard? Thank god they invented the whatever device.
412 2015-06-21 04:42:19
Re: FIYH Movie Club :: Suggestion Thread (96 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)
That's perfect in my mind
413 2015-06-20 11:26:23
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
I agree with every single thing you just said. Sorry for not picking up the joke, though 
414 2015-06-20 04:51:35
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Maybe I've taken too hard a stance on it, but it's the extremes that annoy me.
Or it's a difference of style? To me, well-developed characters are elements of the story, to be figured out as much as possible along with the plot, so there are fewer wrenches (there are always some) once the actual writing happens.
If the theme of my story is the dark side of loyalty, I had damn well better create characters who reflect that from the get go.
Or "from jump" as Teague would say 
415 2015-06-20 00:20:16
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Squiggly_P wrote:
Dude, if your characters aren't telling you what they should be doing, then you're not listening hard enough.
OK, I understand what some people mean by characters having a personality and, while free-writing, they can behave in ways that surprise the writer.
I get that this is shorthand for "the writer can surprise themselves", but some people go so far as to insist the characters can't be limited by the story. Which is psychotic. The writer created them in his/her head, and they are subject to whatever imagined situation the writer is scribing!
Characters are not people. If they aren't "behaving" then the writer can change them.
Yes, it's important to maintain consistency within a character, but that is the cognitive process of the writer at work.
I assume you mean "pay attention to internal consistency." Which I totally agree with.
The writers who bug me are those who seem to think characters are capable of doing things on their own.
416 2015-06-19 13:19:01
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Well I actually meet a couple of them in person. THEY aren't that bad.
417 2015-06-19 12:41:13
Re: Week 6: Reign Of Fire (2002) (3 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)
Planning on watching this tomorrow! Anybody else? It'd be really cool to get a live chat going.
Like: "Everybody available pause your dvd after such and such logo, then, at precisely 1500 zulu unpause"
418 2015-06-19 12:34:56
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Thanks for your thoughts, friends.
For the record I'm part of a facebook writers' group, but I don't like asking them for advice because all I ever get is hippy-dippy stuff like:
"Let the characters write your story!"
or
"If you're not sure what to do, ask your characters."
or
"Fifty Shades of Grey is a good book!"
I love FIYH forums 
419 2015-06-18 23:22:04
Re: non european fantasy? Cultural appropriation vs some thing different (11 replies, posted in Off Topic)
How about Pacific islanders? I'm currently basing a culture off an amalgam of Norse and Maori culture.
420 2015-06-17 18:12:20
Re: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
In my use, "earned" means that it makes sense for the story.
421 2015-06-17 13:26:05
Topic: Earning a Death Scene (22 replies, posted in Off Topic)
For those who are so inclined, I'm looking for some opinions on having characters die in a book. In the last few years, writers like George Martin have gained a reputation for killing characters all the time, to the point that it becomes their "thing" and turns into a charity auction. In TV and Movies, Joss Whedon seems to have a similar (though lesser) reputation.
Well, I'm writing a book in which death is a real threat, but I hate the idea of exploitative deaths. I haven't read A Song of Ice and Fire, so I can't say whether any of those deaths are exploitative, but some people do have that opinion.
So here's the topic of discussion: What is the difference between a character death that is "earned" vs one that is not? Is there a difference in this between books and tv/movies? How can a character be killed without it being an obvious play on the reader's emotions?
I have opinions on this, but I'm more interested in hearing from other people.
422 2015-06-16 13:07:56
Re: Hey, Whatcha playin'? (149 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Battlefront, man. Freaking Battlefront!
423 2015-06-11 23:31:45
Re: Is Amazon now doomed? (8 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Amazon will just task their drone fleet as his crew. Lose a few of those, nobody cares.
424 2015-06-08 17:21:19
Topic: Chat room rhyming game (6 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Friends In Your…
Recently in the chat a few of us had a ridiculous rhyme game going, which rooted out those who are real sticklers for rules (me), and those who had fun (everyone else). Anyway, I thought it was funny, and so I’ve placed it here to immortalize the exchange, since I think the chat log eventually dumps stuff.
Feel free to ignore this.
BTW I inverted the chat chronology so the flow is top-down instead of bottom-up
Herc: Made some toast. It had Teague, Trey, Brian, Dorkman and Eddie's faces on it.
Herc: Friends in Your Bread
Herc: #dumbjoke
Herc: My only defense is my sleep deprivation.
Saniss: And then Herc finally got some sleep.
Saniss: But it turned out he wasn't alone.
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Bed.
BigDamnArtist: So Herc got really scared and called up some buddies to come over and protect him.
BigDamnArtist: ...Friends in Your Dread.
Saniss: But the whole thing suddenly turned to a zombie outbreak!!!
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Dead.
Herc: What. Have. I. Wrought.
Saniss: The only advice I can give you is to go visit the forum a bit, see if there are Friends in Your Thread.
BigDamnArtist: Maybe you can take a winter wonderland ride.
BigDamnArtist: ...Friends in Your Sled.
BigDamnArtist: Okay so I'm looking at a rhyming dictionary for "Thread" and it just casually throws in "Pwned".
BigDamnArtist: Like... how do YOU pronounce it Rhyming Dictionary???
Saniss: "pownead"
Saniss: Uuuuh
BigDamnArtist: Thou hast surely powned me dear sir.
BigDamnArtist: ...just doesn't quite work.
Boter: I was called to an event that I really didn't want to go to, so a couple of my buddies offered to go in my place.
Boter: …Friends in Your Stead.
Saniss: Oh, damn you!
Writhyn: Cool story. I lived in TN for a while on a large tract of land. We had a small wood workshop I had to walk to at night sometimes. One night some comrades of mine hid in there and scared me.
Writhyn: …Friends in Your Shed
Writhyn: I killed them (because TN) and encased them in a heavy metal to bury them.
Writhyn: …"Friends" in your lead.
Saniss: You seem like a lonely person, Writhyn. Maybe you should play guitars in a heavy metal band and make some pals.
Saniss: …Friends in Your Shred.
BigDamnArtist: i don’t know. i don’t think he’s really got the rep to make that work.
BigDamnArtist: ...friends in your cred.
Writhyn: I'm not lonely! I have voices in my brain that talk to me.
Writhyn: But they're mean. My real pals are behind my mirror in little bottles.
Writhyn: …Friends in your meds.
Writhyn: Didn't see that coming, did ya?
Saniss: Fuck, he's good.
Writhyn: I also know people at school
Writhyn: …Friends in Your Ed
Saniss: Well you can always turn to politics. I hear the communists are looking for people.
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Red.
Writhyn: I already have connections in high-up places, various gov't agencies, that kind of thing.
Writhyn: …Friends in your Fed
Saniss: Oh, that's great! Do you know people over at the Mega-City One Justice Department as well?
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Dredd
Writhyn: That guy's a jerk. He curb-stomped a buddy of mine for no reason.
Writhyn: …Friends in your Tread.
Tomahawk: Not to worry, he's locked away now.
Tomahawk: …Friends in your Shed.
Writhyn: Aha! Ahaha! Repeat! You lose.
Tomahawk: didn't check the log
Writhyn: Well, you should. Because we've milked the dictionary almost dry.
Writhyn: Drained it. Exsanguinated it.
Writhyn: …Friends in your bled.
Saniss: Mind your vocabulary, it won't sit well with the Starks. And they're the kind of people you want on your side.
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Ned.
Boter: It's important to look at what people are saying. Someone I know actually gave a talk at a conference earlier this year.
Boter: ..Friends in your TED.
Saniss: Wow, TED? Really? That's cool stuff for your pals! Be under the spotlights and all!
Saniss: ...Friends in your LED.
Boter: . . . *squinty eyes* I'll allow it.
Writhyn: that was perfectly fine. Delicious, even. Like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Writhyn: …Friends in your Bread
Saniss: HA. REPEAT.
Boter: Wow, so many repeats. I should be writing them down to keep track of them all. Anyone got a pencil?
Boter: Friends in Your Lea- DAMMIT
Saniss: Friends in your leadammit?
Writhyn: Did I repeat?
Saniss: Bread. It's actually the very first one of them all
Writhyn: Do not want!!!!
Boter: Yeah, a better one would have been talking about how you prefer Nutella to go with your peanut butter.
Boter: …Friends in Your Spread.
Saniss: Holy shit, that's a good one.
Writhyn: I was wondering how to make spread work. Nicely done.
Saniss: I can't compete with that. I think I'll just go play with my cats.
Saniss: ...Friends in Your Pets.
Writhyn: What? Disqualified!
Boter: Wasn't even slant rhyme
Writhyn: Get out of here! Quickly. In your car.
Writhyn: …Friends in your Sped
Boter: …Friends in Your Fled
Saniss: Now wait a minute. How does "pet" not work.
Writhyn: .........how do you pronounce "head"?
Writhyn: “het”?
Saniss: Oh come on. It's not like it's the most different-sounding things in your damn language.
Boter: pluralizing it threw it off too
Saniss: Well "meds" was allowed, so.
Boter: Ahh true
Writhyn: But med would have made as much sense. And it already rhymes.
Writhyn: If we're allowing near-rhymes, we should stop now. I vote no.
Saniss: That's weird. You guys seem more severe on rhymes than we are in french.
Boter: Hm, maybe
Saniss: Granted the "e" in pet is shorter than in these other words, but put in a poem, it wouldn't strike me as dissonant.
Saniss: Note that I'm not gonna try and teach you guys your own language. What do I know. I'm just surprised a bit is all.
Boter: Eh, I think we pretty much killed it anyway. (Friends in Your Dead x2)
425 2015-06-08 13:38:37
Re: FIYH Movie Club :: Suggestion Thread (96 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)
I really want this to work. I love the idea of arguing movies' merits/demerits with each other. Just throwing out there it's probably best if we limit ourselves to suggesting movies that can be had on Netflix or at least rented on Google Play, Itunes, or Amazon. Forcing people to find and buy an obscure movie will limit our efforts severely.
As for Reign of Fire, sweet. I want to revisit it.